Now covering with the wither'd leaves Knows not, nor tries, such various wile, Oft had he shown, in climes afar, Fatigue's faint chill, and famine's throe. Or where La Plata's billows roar, IV. Twas then, in hour of utmost need, *The patience, abstinence, and ingenuity, exerted by the North American Indians, when in pursuit of plunder or vengeance, is the most distinguished feature in their character; and the activity and address which they display in their retreat is equally surprising. Adair, whose absurd hypothesis and turgid style do not affect the general authenticity of his anecdotes, has recorded an instance which seems incredible. "When the Chickasah nation was engaged in a former war with the Muskonge, one of their young warriors set off against them to revenge the blood of a near relation.. He went through the most unfrequented and thick parts of the woods, as such a dangerous enterprise required, till he arrived opposite to the great and old-beloved town of refuge, Koosah, which stands high on the eastern side of a bold river, about 250 yards broad, that runs by the late dangerous Albebama Fort, down to the black poisoning Mobille, and so into the Gulf of Mexico. There he concealed himself under cover of the top of a fallen pine-tree, in view of the ford of the old trading path, where the enemy now and then pass the river in their light poplar canoes. All his war-store of provisions consisted in three stands of barbicued venison, till he had an opportunity to revenge blood, and return home. He waited with watchfulness and patience almost three days, when a young man, a woman, and a girl, passed a little wide of him about an hour before sunset. The former he shot down, tomahawked the other two, and scalped each of them in a trice, in full view of the town. By way of bravado, he shaked the scalps before them, sounding the awful death-whoop, and set off along the trading-path, trusting to his heels, while a great many of the enemy ran to their arms and gave chase. Seven miles from thence he entered the great blue ridge of the Apalahche Mountains. About an hour before day he had run over seventy miles of that mountainous tract; then, after sleeping two hours in a sitting posture, leaning his back against a tree, he set off again with fresh speed. As he threw away the venison when he found himself pursued by the enemy, he was obliged to support nature with such herbs, roots, and nuts, as his sharp eyes, with a running glance, directed him to snatch up in his course. Though I often have rode that war-path alone, when delay might have proved dangerous, and with as fine and strong horses as any in America, it took me five days to ride from the aforesaid Koosah to this sprightly warrior's place in the Chickasah country, the distance of 200 computed miles; yet he ran it, and got home safe and well at about eleven o'clock of the third day, which was only one day and a half and two nights."-ADAIR'S History of the American Indians. Lond. 1775, 4to. p. 395. "What manner of cattle-stealers they are that inhabit these valleys in the marches of both kingdoms, John Lesley, a Scotche man himself, and Bishop of Ross, will inform you. They sally out of their own borders in the night, in troops, through unfrequented by-ways and many intricate windings. All the day-time they refresh themselves and their horses in hirking holes they had pitched upon before, till they arrive in the dark in those places they have a design upon. As soon as they have seized upon the booty, they, in like manner, return home in the night, through blind ways, and fetching many a compass. The more skilful any captain is to pass through those wild deserts, crooked turnings, Now slow he stalk'd with stealthy pace, Oft doubling back in mazy train, Now sought the stream, whose brawling sound There trample steeds, and glimmer spears; If deeper down the copse he drew, V. Then Bertram might the bearing trace and deep precipices, in the thickest mists, his reputation is the greater, and he is looked upon as a man of an excellent head. And they are so very cunning, that they seldom have their booty taken from them, unless sometimes when, by the help of bloodhounds following them exactly upon the tract, they may chance to fall into the hands of their adversaries. When being taken, they have so much persuasive eloquence, and so many smooth insinuating words at command, that if they do not move their judges, nay, and even their adversaries, (notwithstanding the severity of their natures,) to have mercy, yet they incite them to admiration and compassion."-CAMDEN'S Britannia. The inhabitants of the valleys of Tyne and Reed, were, in ancient times, so inordinately addicted to these depredations, that in 1564, the Incorporated Merchant-adventurers of Newcastle made a law that none born in these districts should be admitted apprentice. The inhabitants are stated to be so generally addicted to rapine, that no faith should be reposed in those proceeding from" such lewde and wicked progenitors." This regulation continued to stand unrepealed until 1771. A beggar, in an old play, describes himself as "born in Redesdale, in Northumberland, and come of a wight-riding surname, called the Robsons, good honest men and true, saving a little shifting for their living, God help them!"-a description which would have applied to most Borderers on both sides. Reidswair, famed for a skirmish to which it gives name, [see Border Minstrelsy, ante, p. 67.] is on the very edge of the CarterFell, which divides England from Scotland. The Rooken is a place upon Reedwater. Bertram, being described as a native of these dales, where the habits of hostile depredation long survived the union of the crowns, may have been, in some degree, prepared by education for the exercise of a similar trade in the wars of the Bucaniers. [MS.- Where traces in the dew remain."] That in each pass finds foe and net," &c.] [In the MS. the stanza concludes thus: After one of the recent battles, in which the Irish rebels were defeated, one of their most active leaders was found in a bog, in which he was immersed up to the shoulders, while his head was concealed by an impending ledge of turf. Being detected and seized, notwithstanding his precaution, he became solicitous to know how his retreat had been discovered. "I caught," answered the Sutherland Highlander, by whom he was taken, the sparkle of your eye." Those who are accustomed to mark hares upon their form usually discover them by the same circumstance.* laid aside all other field-sports, and he used to say jocularly, that he had more [Sir Walter Scott continued to be fond of conrsing hares long after he had pleasure in being considered an excellent finder, than in all his reputation as a trouveur.-Ed. Disorder'd from his glowing cheek; Mien, face, and form, young Redmond speak. But every feature had the power VI. Well Risingham young Redmond knew: But Bertram, as he backward drew, [These six couplets were often quoted by the late Lord Kinnedder as giving in his opinion an excellent portrait of the author himself.-Ed.] [In the MS. this image comes after the line "to aid the expression of the hour," and the couplet stands: "And like a flexile aspen play'd [MS.-"The chase he heads, whate'er the cause."] And, while his stretch'd attention glows, The Campanula Latifolia, grand throatwort, or Canterbury bes, grows in profusion upon the beautiful banks of the river Creta, where it divides the manors of Brignall and Scargill, about three miles above Greta Bridge. TIMS. "show'd, That voice of thine, that shouts so loud, VIII. He listen'd long with anxions heart, Rear'd to the sun its pale gray breast; grew In sullen mood he lay reclin'd, Here stood a wretch, prepared to change But though his vows, with such a fire ** [The MS. adds: "Yet as he gazed, he fail'd to find According image touch his mind."] ++ [MS." Then thought he on his life betray'd."Į 1: It is agreed by all the writers upon magic and witchcraft, that revenge was the most common motive for the pretended compact between Satan and his vassals. The ingenuity of Reginald Scot has very happily stated how such an opinion came to root itself, not only in the minds of the public and of the judges, but even in that of the poor wretches themselves who were ac cused of sorcery, and were often firm believers in their own power and their own guilt. "One sort of such as are said to be witches, are women which be commonly old, lame, blear-eyed, pale, foul, and full of wrin kles: poor, sullen, superstitious, or papists, or such as know no religion; in whose drowsie minds the devil bath gotten a fine seat; so as what mischief, mischance, calamity, or slaughter is brought to pass, they are easily perswaded the same is done by themselves, imprinting in their minds an earnest and constant imagination thereof... These go from house to house, and For vengeance dark and fell, were made,* X. Oft, mingled with the direful theme, His eyes, that on the cliff were bent, Like sunbeam flash'd from sword or lance. But not a foeman was in sight; He heard the cushat's murmur hoarse, He heard the river's sounding course; The solitary woodlands lay, As slumbering in the summer ray. XI. Instant his sword was in his hand, From Rokeby's band was razed with shame."- I reck not. In a war to strive, Where, save the leaders, none can thrive. Who watch'd with me in midnight dark, from door to door, for a pot of milk, yest, drink, pottage, or some such relief, without the which they could hardly live; neither obtaming for their service or pains, nor yet by their art, nor yet at the devil's hands, (with whom they are said to make a perfect and visible bargain,) either beauty, money, promotion, wealth, pleasure, honour, knowledge, learning, or any other benefit what soever. It falleth out many a time, that neither their necessities nor their expectation is answered or served in those places where they beg or borrow, but rather their lewdness is by their neighbours reproved. And farther, in tract of time the witch waxeth odious and tedious to her neighbours, and they again are despised and despited of her; so as sometimes she curseth one, and sometimes another, and that from the master of the house, his wife, children, cattle, &c., to the little pig that lieth in the stic. Thus, in process of time, they have all displeased her, and she hath wished evil luck unto them all; perhaps with curses and impre cations made in form. Doubtless (at length) some of her neighbours die or fall sick, or some of their children are visited with diseases that vex them strangely, as apoplexies, epilepsies, convulsions, hot fevers, worms, &c., which, by ignorant parents, are supposed to be the vengeance of witches. The witch on the other side, expecting her neighbours' mischances, and seeing things sometimes come to pass according to her wishes, curses, and incantations, (for Bodin himself confesses, that not above two in a hundred of their witchings or wishings take effect,) being called before a justice, by due examination of the circumstances, is driven to see her imprecations and desires, and het neighbours' harms and losses, to concur, and, as it were, to take effect; and so confesseth that she (as a goddess) hath brought such things to pass. Wherein not only she, but the ac cur and also the justice, are fully deceived and abused, as being, through her confession, and other circumstances, perswaded (to the injury of God's glory) that she hath done, or can do. that which is proper only to God himself."-Scor's Discovery of Witchcraft. Lond. 1655, fol. p. 4, 5. [MS." For deep and dark revenge were made, As well might wake hell's lowest shade."] How think'st thou ?"-" Speak thy purpose out; I love not mystery or doubt." XII. "Then, list.-Not far there lurk a crew Of trusty comrades, stanch and true, For Mortham's death, thy steps way-laid, Will yield to chief renown'd as thou." XIII. "Even now," thought Bertram, "passion-stirr'd, I call'd on hell, and hell has heard !** What lack I, vengeance to command, This Denzil, vow'd to every evil, Might read a lesson to the devil. Well, be it so! each knave and fool But tell me where thy comrades lie?"- "Do thou," said Bertram, "lead the way." Then through the Greta's streams they went; XIV. With wonder Bertram heard within He saw, appearing to the air, A little entrance, low and square, ["Bertram is now alone: the landscape around is truly grand, partially illuminated by the sun; and we are reminded of the scene in The Robbers, in which something of a similar contrast is exhibited between the beauties of external nature and the agitations of human passion. It is in such pictures that Mr. Scott delights and excels."-Monthly Review. One is surprised that the reviewer did not quote Milton rather than Schiller: -"The fiend Saw undelighted all delight."-ED.] : [MS.-"Look'd round -no foeman was in sight."] $ The troops of the King, when they first took the field, were as well disciplined as could be expected from circumstances. But as the circumstances of Charles became less favourable, and his funds for regularly paying his forces decreased, habits of military license prevailed among them in greater excess. Lacy the player, who served his master during the Civil War, brought out, after the Restoration, a piece called The Old Troop, in which he seems to have commemorated some real incidents which occurred in his military career. The names of the officers of the Troop sufficiently express their habits. We have Flea-flint PlunderMaster-General, Captain Ferret-farm, and Quarter Master Burndrop. The officers of the Troop are in league with these wor thies, and connive at their plundering the country for a suitable share in the booty. All this was undoubtedly drawn from the life, which Lacy had an opportunity to study. The moral of the whole is comprehended in a rebuke given to the lieutenant, whose disorders in the country are sud to prejudice the King's cause more than his courage in the field could recompense. The piece is by no means void of farcical humour. [MS. Unscrupulous, gallant Risingham."] TIMS.-Thy nead at price, thy steps way-laid." ** [.. "I but half wish'd To see the devil, and he's here already."-OTWAY. :: [MS.-" But when Guy Denzil pull'd the spray, 520 Here enter'd Denzil, Bertram here; And Brignall's woods, and Scargill's wave, With his own crimes reproaching heaven; XV. Hark! the loud revel wakes again, By what strange features Vice hath known, Now, 'gainst the vault's rude walls reclined, The cottage, once his sire's, he sees, Fast flies his dream-with dauntless air, Till sense and sorrow both are drown'd; Peals his loud song!-The muse has found XVI. SONG. O, Brignall banks are wild and fair, A maiden on the castle wall Was singing merrily,- *The banks of the Greta, below Rutherford Bridge, abound in seams of grayish slate, which are wrought in some places to a very great depth under ground, thus forming artificial caverns, which, when the seam has been exhausted, are gradually hidden by the underwood which grows in profusion upon the romantic banks of the river. In times of public confusion, they might be well adapted to the purposes of banditti. ["We should here have concluded our remarks on the characters of the drama, had not one of its subordinate personages been touched with a force of imagination, which renders it wor thy even of prominent regard and attention. The poet has just presented us with the picture of a gang of banditti, on which he has bestowed some of the most gloomy colouring of his powerful CHORUS. "And, O! though Brignall banks be fair, Yet mickle must the maiden dare, "Maiden! a nameless life I lead, A nameless death I'll die; The fiend whose lantern lights the mead,s And when I'm with my comrades met," Beneath the greenwood bough, What once we were we all forget, "Yet Brignall banks are fresh and fair, pencil. In the midst of this horrible group, is distinguished the exquisitely natural and interesting portrait which follows:See yon pale stripling!' &c.") Critical Review. [MS.-" And soon the loudest wassailer he, And life of all their revelry."] $ [MS." The goblin-light on fen or mead."] [MS." And were I with my true love set Under the greenwood bough. What once I was she must forget, Nor think what I am now."] XIX. At length his wondrous tale he told : His awe for Bertram scarce repress'd "Twere hard," he said, "for sage or seer,* At this he paused-for angry shame And gave his wrath another theme. I saw thee crouch like chasten'd hound, He won it bravely with his brand, When Spain waged warfare with our land.§ Nor couple Bertram's name with fear; XXI. Soon quench'd was Denzil's ill-timed mirth; (MS-Twere hard, my friend,' he said, 'to spell [MS. : [MS "hath his gold, &c.] The gold he won on indian soil."] 5 There was a short war with Spain in 1625-6, which will be found to agree pretty well with the chronology of the poem. But probably Bertram held an opinion very common among the ma time heroes of the age, that there was no peace beyond the Line." The Spanish guarda costas were constantly employed in aggressions upon the trade and settlements of the English and French, and, by their own severities, gave room for the system of buraniering, at first adopted in self-defence and retaliation, and afterwards persevered in from habit and thirst of plunder. IMS." Denzil's mood of mirth; He would have rather seen the earth," &c.] [The MS. has not this couplet.] There was a laughing devil in his sneer, [MS.-"And when the bloody fight was done, > his I wrangled for the share he won." The laws of the Bucaniers, and their successors the Pirates, VOL. L-3 N But since return'd from over sea, A sullen and a silent mood Hath numb'd the current of his blood. And our stout knight, at dawn of morn Yet, trust me, friend, Matilda fair ་་ XXII. On his sad brow nor mirth nor wine But when he laugh'd, each luckless mate XXIII. "I loved him well-His fearless part, however severe and equitable, were, like other laws, often set aside by the stronger party. Their quarrels about the division of the spoil fill their history, and they as frequently arose out of mere frolic, or the tyrannical humour of their chiefs. An anecdote of Teach, (called Blackbeard,) shows that their habitual indifference for human life extended to their companions, as well as their enemies and captives. "One night, drinking in his cabin with Hands, the pilot, and another man, Blackbeard, without any provocation, privately draws out a small pair of pistols, and cocks them under the table, which, being perceived by the man, he withdrew upon deck, leaving Hands, the pilot, and the captain together. When the pistols were ready, he blew out the candles, and, crossing his hands, discharged them at his company. Hands, the master, was shot through the knee, and lamed for life; the other pistol did no execution."-JOHNSON'S History of Pirates. Lond. 1724, 8vo. vol. i. p. 38. Another anecdote of this worthy may be also mentioned, "The hero of whom we are writing was thoroughly accomplished this way, and some of his frolics of wickedness were so extravagant, as if he aimed at making his men believe he was a devil incarnate; for, being one day at sea, and a little flushed with drink, Come,' says he, let us make a hell of our own, and try how long we can bear it. Accordingly, he, with two or three others, went down into the hold, and closing up all the hatches, filled se veral pots full of brimstone and other combustible matter, and set it on fire, and so continued till they were almost suffocated, when some of the men cried out for air. At length he opened the hatches, not a little pleased that he held out the longest."Ibid, p. 90. |