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Upon the Scottish foe he gazed-At once, before his sight amazed,

Sunk banner, spear, and shield; Each weapon-point is downward sent, Each warrior to the ground is bent. 'The rebels, Argentine, repent!

For pardon they have kneel'd.""Aye!-but they bend to other powers, And other pardon sue than ours! See where yon barefoot Abbot stands, And blesses them with lifted hands !t Upon the spot where they have kneel'd, These men will die, or win the field.""Then prove we if they die or win! Bid Gloster's Earl the fight begin.'

XXII.

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Earl Gilbert waved his truncheon high,
Just as the Northern ranks arose,
Signal for England's archery

To halt and bend their bows.
Then stepp'd each yeoman forth a pace,
Glanced at the intervening space,

And raised his left hand high;

To the right ear the cords they bring t
-At once ten thousand bow-strings ring,
Ten thousand arrows fly!
Nor paused on the devoted Scot
The ceaseless fury of their shot;

As fiercely and as fast,

Forth whistling came the gray-goose wing
As the wild hailstones pelt and ring

Adown December's blast.

Nor mountain targe of tough bull-hide,
Nor lowland mail, that storm may bide;
Wo, wo to Scotland's banner'd pride,
If the fell shower may last!
Upon the right, behind the wood,
Each by his steed dismounted, stood

The Scottish chivalry ;-
-With foot in stirrup, hand on mane,
Fierce Edward Bruce can scarce restrain
His own keen heart, his eager train,
Until the archers gain'd the plain;

Then, "Mount, ye gallants free!"

[MS.-" De Argentine! the cowards repent! For mercy they have kneel'd.") "Maurice, abbot of Inchiffray, placing himself on an eminence, celebrated mass in sight of the Scottish army. along the front bare-footed, and bearing a crucifix in his hands. He then passed and exhorting the Scots in few and forcible words, to combat for their rights and their liberty. The Scots kneeled down. They yield,' cried Edward; see, they implore mercy. They do.' answered Ingel am de Umfraville, but not ours. On that field they will be victorious, or die.'"-Annals of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 17.

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[MS.-" Drew to his ear the silken string."]
MS." Their brandish'd spears."]

The English archers commenced the attack with their usual bravery and dexterity. But against a force, whose importance he had learned by fatal experience, Bruce was provided. A small but select body of cavalry were detached from the right, under command of Sir Robert Keith. They rounded, as I conceive, the marsh called Milntown bog, and, keeping the firm ground. charged the left flank and rear of the English archers. bowmen had no spears, nor long weapons fit to defend themAs the selves against horse. they were instantly thrown into disorder, and spread through the whole English army a confusion, from which they never fairly recovered.

"The Inglis archeris schot sa fast,
That mycht thair schot haff' ony last,
It had bene hard to Scottis men.
Bot King Robert, that wele gan ken*
That thair archeris war peralouss,

And thair schot rycht hard and grewouss,
Ordanyt, forouth the assemble,
Hys marschell with a gret menye,
Fyve hundre armyt in to stele,
That on lycht horss war horsyt welle,
For to pryk amang the archeris;
And swa assaile thaim with thair speris,
That thai na laser haiff to schute.
This marschell that Ik of mute.§

That Schyr Robert of Keyth was cauld,
As Ik befor her has yow tauld,
Quhen he saw the bataillis sua
Assembill, and to gidder ga,

And saw the archeris schoyt stoutly;
With all thaim of his cumpany,

In hy apon thaim gan he rid;

And our tuk thaim at a sid;

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He cried; and, vaulting from the ground,
His saddle every horseman found."
On high their glittering crests they toss,
As springs the wild-fire from the moss;
The shield hangs down on every breast,
Each ready lance is in the rest,

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And loud shouts Edward Bruce,'Forth, Marshal, on the peasant foe! We'll tame the terrora of their bow,

And cut the bow-string loose!"'ll
XXIII.

Then spurs were dash'd in chargers' flanks,
They rush'd among the archer ranks.
No spears were there the shock to let,
No stakes to turn the charge were set,
And how shall yeoman's armour slight
Stand the long lance and mace of might?
Or what may their short swords avail,
'Gainst barbed horse and shirt of mail?
Amid their ranks the chargers sprung,
High o'er their heads the weapons swung,
And shriek and groan and vengeful shout
Give note of triumph and of rout!
Awhile, with stubborn hardihood,
Their English hearts the strife made good,
Borne down at length on every side,
Compell'd to flight, they scatter wide.-
Let stags of Sherwood leap for glee,
And bound the deer of Dallom-Lee!
The broken bows of Bannock's shore
Shall in the greenwood ring no more!
Round Wakefield's merry may-pole now,
The maids may twine the summer bough,
May northward look with longing glance,
For those that wont to lead the dance,
For the blithe archers look in vain!
Broken, dispersed, in flight o'erta'en,
Pierced through, trod down, by thousands slain,
They cumber Bannock's bloody plain.

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And ruschyt amang thaim sa rudly,
Stekand thaim sa dispi'ously,
And in sic fusoun berand doun,

And slayand thaim, for owtyn ransoun;"
That thai thaim scalyt euirilkane.!!
And fra that tyme frth thar wes nane
That assemblyt schot to ma §§
Quhen Scottis archeris saw that thai sua
War rebutyt, thai woux hardy,
And with all thair mycht schot egrely
Amang the horss men, that thar raid;
And woundis wid to thaim thai maid.
And slew of thaim a full gret dele."

**

BARBOUR'S Bruce, Book ix., v. 228. remarkable that the Scottish generals do not appear to have pro Aithough the success of this manoeuvre was evident. it is very fited by the lesson. Almost every subsequent battle which they close and compact array of the Scottish phalanx afforded an lost against England, was decided by the archers, to whom the hill, fought scarce twenty years afterwards, was so completely exposed and unresisting mark. The bloody battle of Halidoun gained by the archers, that the English are said to have lost only one knight, one esquire, and a few foot-soldiers. At the battle of Neville's Cross, in 1346, where David II. was defeated and made prisoner, John de Graham, observing the loss which the Scots sustained from the English bowmen, offered to charge and disperse them, if a hundred men-at-arms were put under his com mand. "But, to confess the truth," says Fordun, he could not procure a single horseman for the service proposed." Of such little use is experience in war, where its results are opposed by habit or prejudice.

Roger Ascham quotes a similar Scottish, proverb." whereby they give the whole praise of shooting honestly to Englishmen. saying thus, That every English archer beareth under his girdle twenty-four Scottes. Indeed Toxophilus says before, and truly. of the Scottish nation, The Scottes surely be good men of warre in theyre owne feates as can be; but as for shootinge, they can neither use it to any profite, nor yet challenge it for any praise."' -Works of Ascham, edited by Bennet, 4to. p. 110.

It is said, I trust incorrectly, by an ancient English historian. that the "good Lord James of Douglas" dreaded the superiority of the English archers so much, that when he made any of them prisoner, he gave him the option of losing the forefinger of his right hand, or his right eye, either species of mutilation rendering him incapable to use the bow. I bave mislaid the reference to this singular passage.

Numbers Ransom-↑↑ Dispersed-¦¦ Every one-§§ MakeI Driven back.

Fitter to plunder chase or park,

Than make a manly foe* their mark.-
Forward, each gentleman and knight!
Let gentle blood show generous might,
And chivalry redeem the fight!"
To rightward of the wild affray,
The field show'd fair and level way;

But, in mid-space, the Bruce's care
Had bored the ground with many a pit,
With turf and brushwood hidden yet,t

That form'd a ghastly snare.
Rushing, ten thousand horsemen came,
With spears in rest, and hearts on flame,
That panted for the shock!
With blazing crests and banners spread,
And trumpet clang and clamour dread,
The wide plain thunder'd to their tread,
As far as Stirling rock.

Down! down! in headlong overthrow,
Horseman and horse, the foremost go,t
Wild foundering on the field!
The first are in destruction's gorge,
Their followers wildly o'er them urge;-
The knightly helm and shield,
The mail, the acton, and the spear,
Strong hand, high heart, are useless here!
Loud from the mass confused the cry
Of dying warriors swells on high,
And steeds that shriek in agony !S
They came like mountain torrent red,
That thunders o'er its rocky bed;

They broke like that same torrent's wave,"
When swallow'd by a dark some cave.
Billows on billows burst and boil,
Maintaining still the stern turmoil,
And to their wild and tortured groan
Each adds new terrors of his own!
XXV.

Too strong in courage and in might
Was England yet, to yield the fight.

Her noblest all are here;
Names that to fear were never known,
Bold Norfolk's Earl De Brotherton,

And Oxford's famed De Vere.
There Gloster plied the bloody sword,
And Berkeley, Grey, and Hereford,
Bottetourt and Sanzavere,
Ross, Montague, and Mauley, came,
And Courtenay's pride, and Percy's fame-
Names known too well** in Scotland's war,
At Falkirk, Methven, and Dunbar,
Blazed broader yet in after years,
At Cressy red and fell Poitiers.
Pembroke with these, and Argentine,
Brought up the rearward battle-line.

[MS.- An armed foe."]

[MS. With many a pit the ground to bore,

With turfand brushwood cover'd o'er,

Had form d," &c.]

It is generally alleged by historians, that the English men-atams fell into the hidden snare which Bruce had prepared for them. Barbour does not mention the circumstance. According to his account, Randolph, seeing the slaughter made by the ca valry on the right wing among the archers, advanced courageously against the main body of the English, and entered into close combat with them Douglas and Stuart, who commanded the Scottish centre, led their division also to the charge, and the battle becomitig general along the whole line, was obstinately maintained on both sides for a long space of time; the Scottish archers doing great execution among the English men-at-arms, after the bowmen of England were dispersed.

$1 have been told that this line requires an explanatory note; and, indeed, those who witness the silent patience with which horses submit to the most cruel usage, may be permitted to doubt, that, in moments of sudden or intolerable anguish, they utter a most melancholy cry. Lord Erskine, in a speech made in the House of Lords, upon a bill for enforcing humanity towards animals, noticed this remarkable fact, in language which I will not mutilate by attempting to repeat it. It was my fortune, upon one occasion, to hear a horse, in a moment of agony, utter a thrilling Beream, which I still consider the most melancholy sound I ever beard.

The MS. has

"When plunging down some darksome cave,
Billow on billow rushing on,

Follows the path the first had gone."

It is impossible not to recollect our author's own lines

"As Bracklin's chasm, so black and steep,
Receives her roaring linn,

As the dark caverns of the deep

With caution o'er the ground they tread,
Slippery with blood and piled with dead,
Till hand to hand in battle set,

The bills with spears and axes met,
And, closing dark on every side,
Raged the full contest far and wide.
Then was the strength of Douglas tried,
Then proved was Randolph's generous pride
And well did Stewart's actions grace
The sire of Scotland's royal race!

Firmly they kept their ground;
As firmly England onward press'd,
And down went many a noble crest,
And rent was many a valiant breast,
And Slaughter revell'd round.

XXVI.
Unflinching foottt 'gainst foot was set,
Unceasing blow by blow was met;

The groans of those who fell
Were drown'd amid the shriller clang,
That from the blades and harness rang,
And in the battle-yell.

Yet fast they fell, unheard, forgot,
Both Southern fierce and hardy Scot;
And O! amid that waste of life,

What various motives fired the strife!
The aspiring Noble bled for fame,
The Patriot for his country's claim;

This Knight his youthful strength to prove,
And that to win his lady's love;

Some fought from ruffian thirst of blood,
From habit some, or hardihood.
But ruffian stern, and soldier good,

The noble and the slave,

From various cause the same wild road,
On the same bloody morning, trode,
To that dark inn, the Grave !‡‡

XXVII.

The tug of strife to flag begins,
Though neither loses yet nor wins.§§
High rides the sun, thick rolls the dust,
And feebler speeds the blow and thrust.
Douglas leans on his war-sword now,
And Randolph wipes his bloody brow;
Nor less had toil'd each Southern knight,
From morn till mid-day in the fight.
Strong Egremont for air must gasp,
Beauchamp undoes his visor-clasp,
And Montague must quit his spear,
And sinks thy falchion, bold De Vere!
The blows of Berkeley fall less fast,
And gallant Pembroke's bugle-blast
Hath lost its lively tone;

Suck the wild whirlpool in ;

So did the deep and darksome pass

Devour the battle's mingled mass."

Lady of the Lake, Canto vi. stanza 18.)

TIMS.-" Ross, Tybtot, Neville, Mauley, came."] **(MS" Names known of yore," &c.]

(MS.-" Unshifting foot," &c.]

1: [ All these, life's rambling journey done, Have found their home, the grave."

COWPER.]

$$"The dramatic, and even Shakspearian spirit of much of this battle must, we think, strike and delight the reader. We pass over much alternate, and much stubborn and 'unflinching' contest

'The tug of strife to flag begins, Though neither loses yet nor wins ;' last for ever. but the description of it, as we have ventured to prophesy, will

"It will be as unnecessary for the sake of our readers, as it would be useless for the sake of the author, to point out many of the obvious defects of these splendid passages, or of others in the poem. Such a line as

The tug of strife to flag begins' must wound every ear that has the least pretension to judge of poetry; and no one, we should think, can miss the ridiculous point of such a couplet as the subjoined

'Each heart had caught the patriot spark, Old man and stripling, priest and clerk."" Monthly Review.) A["The adventures of the day are versified rather too literally from the contemporary chronicles. The following passage, however, is emphatic; and exemplifies what this author has so often exemplified, the power of well-chosen and well-arranged names, to excite lofty emotions, with little aid either from sentiment or description."-JEFFREY.]

Sinks, Argentine, thy battle-word, And Percy's shout was fainter heard, My merry-men, fight on!"

XXVIII.

Bruce, with the pilot's wary eye,
The slackening of the storm could spy.
"One effort more, and Scotland's free!
Lord of the Isles, my trust in thee

Is firm as Ailsa Rock;

Rush on with Highland sword and targe,
I, with my Carrick spearmen, charge;t

Now, forward to the shock !"t
At once the spears were forward thrown,
Against the sun the broadswords shone:
The pibroch lent its maddening tone,
And lond King Robert's voice was known-
"Carrick, press on-they fail, they fail!
Press on, brave sons of Innisgail,

The foe is fainting fast!

Each strike for parent, child, and wife,
For Scotland, liberty, and life, -
The battle cannot last!"

XXIX.

The fresh and desperate onset bore The foes three furlongs back and more, Leaving their noblest in their gore.

Alone, de Argentine

Yet bears on high his red-cross shield,
Gathers the relics of the field,
Renews the ranks where they have reel'd,
And still makes good the line.
Brief strife, but fierce, his efforts raise,
A bright but momentary blaze.
Fair Edith heard the Southern shout,
Beheld them turning from the rout,
Heard the wild call their trumpets sent,
In notes 'twixt triumph and lament.
That rallying force, combined anew,
Appear'd in her distracted view,

To hem the Islesmen round;

*(MS.-"The sinking," &c.]

When the engagement between the main bodies had lasted some time, Bruce made a decisive movement, by bringing up the Scottish reserve. It is traditionally said, that at this crisis, he addressed the Lord of the Isles in a phrase used as a motto by some of his descendants, "My trust is constant in thee." Barbour intimates, that the reserve "assembled on one field," that is, on the same line with the Scottish forces already engaged; which leads Lord Hailes to conjecture that the Scottish ranks must have been much thinned by slaughter, since, in that circumscribed ground, there was room for the reserve to fall into the line. But the advance of the Scottish cavalry must have contributed a good deal to form the vacancy occupied by the reserve. [MS." Then hurry to the shock !"] § [MS.

"of lead or stone."]

MS. To us, as well as them, belongs."]

The followers of the Scottish camp observed, from the Gillies' Hill in the rear, the impression produced upon the English army by the bringing up of the Scottish reserve, and, prompted by the enthusiasm of the moment, or the desire of plunder, assumed, in a tumultuary manner, such arms as they found nearest, fastened sheets to tent-poles and lances, and showed themselves like a new army advancing to battle.

"Yomen, and swanys, and pitaill,t
That in the Park yemyt wictaill,
War left; quhen thai wyst but lesing,5
That thair lordis, with fell fechtyng,
On thair fayis assemblyt wer;
Ane off thaim selwyn that war thar
Capitane of thaim all thai maid.
And schetis, that war sumedele
Thai festnyt in steid off baneris,
Apon lang treys and speris:
And said that thai wald se the fycht;
And help thair lordis at thair mycht.
Quhen her till all assentyt wer,
In a rout assemblit er ;**

brad,

and stout.

Fyftene thowsand thai war, or ma.
And than in gret hy gan thai ga,
With thair baneris, all in a rout,
As thai had men bene styth
Thai come, with all that assemblé,
Rycht quhill thai mycht the batail se;
Than all at anys thai gave a cry.
'Sla! Sla! Apon thaim hastily!"

BARBOUR'S Bruce, Book ix., v. 410. The unexpected apparition, of what seemed a new army, completed the confusion which already prevailed among the Eng lish, who fled in every direction, and were pursued with immense slaughter. The brook of Bannock, according to Barbour, was so choked with the bodies of men and horses, that it might Swain-1 Rabble. Kept the provision Iying. SelvesSomewhat. Are. -11 Bur

"O God! the combat they renew,
And is no rescue found!

And ye that look thus tamely on,
And see your native land o'erthrown,
O! are your hearts of flesh or stone?"§
XXX.

The multitude that watch'd afar,
Rejected from the ranks of war,
Had not unmoved beheld the fight,
When strove the Bruce for Scotland's right;
Each heart had caught the patriot spark,
Old man and stripling, priest and clerk,
Bondsman and serf; even female hand
Stretch'd to the hatchet or the brand:
But, when mute Amadine they heard
Give to their zeal his signal-word,

A frenzy fired the throng;
"Portents and miracles impeach
Our sloth-the dumb our duties teach-
And he that gives the mute his speech,
Can bid the weak be strong.

To us, as to our lords, are given
A native earth, a promised heaven;
To us, as to our lords, belongs||
The vengeance for our nation's wrongs;
The choice, 'twixt death or freedom, warms
Our breasts as theirs-To arms, to arms!"
To arms they flew,-axe, club, or spear,-
And mimic ensigns high they rear, T
And, like a banner'd host afar,
Bear down on England's wearied war.
XXXI.

Already scatter'd o'er the plain,
Reproof, command, and counsel vain,
The rearward squadrons fled amain,
Or made but doubtful stay ;-**
But when they mark'd the seeming show
Of fresh and fierce and marshall'd foe,
The boldest broke array.

O give their hapless prince his due !tt
In vain the royal Edward threw

have been passed dry shod. The followers of the Scottish camp fell upon the disheartened fugitives, and added to the confusion and slaughter. Many were driven into the Forth, and perished there, which, by the way, could hardly have happened, had the armies been drawn up east and west, since, in that case, to get at the river, the English fugitives must have fled through the victo rious army. About a short mile from the field of battle is a place called the Bloody Folds. Here the Earl of Gloucester is sand to have made a stand, and died gallantly at the head of lus own military tenants and vassals. He was much regretted by both sides; and it is said the Scottish would gladly have saved his life, but, neglecting to wear bis surcoat with armorial bearings over his armour, he fell unknown, after his horse had been stabbed with spears.

Sir Marmaduke Twenge, an English knight, contrived to conceal himself during the fury of the pursuit, and when it was somewhat slackened, approached King Robert. Whose prisoner are you, Sir Marmaduke?" said Bruce, to whom he was person ally known. "Yours, sir," answered the knight. "I receive you," answered the king, and, treating him with the utmost cour tesy, loaded him with gifts, and dismissed him without ransom. The other prisoners were all well treated. There might be policy in this, as Bruce would naturally wish to acquire the good opinion of the English barons, who were at this time at great variance with their king. But it also well accords with his high chivalrous character.

** [MS." And rode in bands away."]

tt Edward II., according to the best authorities, showed, in the fatal field of Bannockburn, personal gallantry not unworthy of his great sire and greater son. He remained on the field till forced away by the Earl of Pembroke, when all was lost. He then rode to the Castle of Stirling, and demanded admittance; but the governor, remonstrating upon the imprudence of shutting him self up in that fortress, which must so soon surrender, he assembled around his person five hundred men-at-arms, and, avoiding the field of battle and the victorious army, fled towards Linlithgow, pursued by Douglas with about sixty horse. They were augmented by Sir Lawrence Abernethy with twenty more, whom Douglas met in the Torwood upon their way to join the English army, and whom he easily persuaded to desert the defeated monarch, and to assist in the pursuit. They hung upon Edward's flight as far as Dunbar, too few in number to assail him with ef fect, but enough to harass his retreat so constantly, that whoever fell an instant behind, was instantly slain, or made prisoner. Edward's ignominious flight terminated at Dunbar, where the Earl of March, who still professed allegiance to him, "received him full gently." From thence, the monarch of so great an em pire, and the late commander of so gallant and numerous an army, escaped to Bamborough in a fishing vessel.

Bruce, as will appear from the following document, lost no time in directing the thunders of parliamentary censure against such part of his subjects as did not return to their natural allegi ance after the battle of Bannockburn.

2

His person mid the spears,
Cried "Fight!" to terror and despair,
Menaced, and wept, and tore his hair,*

And cursed their caitiff fears;
Till Pembroke turned his bridle rein,
And forced him from the fatal plain."
With them rode Argentine, until
They gain'd the summit of the hill,
But quitted there the train:-
"In yonder field a gage I left,-
I must not live of fame bereft ;

I needs must turn again.

Speed hence, my Liege, for on your trace
The fiery Douglas takes the chase,
I know his banner well.

God send my Sovereign joy and bliss,
And many a happier field than this!-
Once more, my Liege, farewell."
XXXII.

Again he faced the battle-field,,
Wildly they fly, are slain, or yield.t

"Now then," he said, and couch'd his spear,
My course is run, the goal is near;
One effort more, one brave career

Must close this race of mine.'
Then in his stirrups rising high,
He shouted loud his battle-cry,

"Saint James for Argentine!"

And of the bold pursuers, four,
The gallant knight from saddle bore;
But not unharm'd-a lance's point

Has found his breastplate's loosen'd joint,
An axe has razed his crest;
Yet still on Colonsay's fierce lord,
Who press'd the chase with gory sword,
He rode with spear in rest,
And through his bloody tartans bored,
And through his gallant breast.
Nail'd to the earth, the mountaineer
Yet writhed him up against the spear,

And swung his broadsword round!
-Stirrup, steel-boot, and cuish gave way,
Beneath that blow's tremendous sway,

The blood gush'd from the wound;

And the grim Lord of Colonsay

Hath turn'd him on the ground,

And laugh'd in death-pang, that his blade
The mortal thrust so well repaid.

APUD MONASTERIUM DE CAMBUSKENNETH,
VI DIE NOVEMBRIS, M,CCC,XIV.

Judicium Reditum apud Kambuskinet contra omnes illos qui tunc fuerunt contra fidem et pacem Domini Regis. Anno gracie millesimo tricentisimo quarto decimo sexto die *Novembris tenente parliamentum suum Excellentissimo principe Domino Roberto Dei gracia Rege Scottorum Illustri in monasteno de Cambuskyneth concordatum fuit finaliter Judicatum [ac er] hoc statutum de Concilio et Assensu Episcoporum et ceteTorum Prelatorum Comitum Baronum et aliorum nobilium regni Scocie nec non et tocius communitatis regni predicti quod omnes qui contra fidem et pacem dicti domini regis in bello seu alibi mortui sunt [vel qui dic] to die ad pacem ejus et fidem non veneraut lieet sepius vocati et legitime expectati fuissent de terris et tenementis et omni alio statu infra regnum Scocie perpetuo sint exheredati et habeantur de cetero tanquam inimici Regis et Regni ab omni vendicacione juris hereditarii vel juris alterius cujuscunque in posterum pro se et heredibus suis in perpetuum privati Ad perpetuam igitur rei memoriam et evidentem probacionem hujus Judicii et Statuti sigilla Episcoporum et aliorum Prelatorum nec non et comitum Baronum ac ceterorum nobilium dicti Regni =presenti ordinacioni Judicio et statuto sunt appensa.

Sigillum Domini Regis

Sigillum Willelmi Episcopi Sancti Andree Sigillum Roberti Episcopi Glascuensis

Sigillum Willelmi Episcopi Dunkeldensis

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XXXIII.

Now toil'd the Bruce, the battle done,
To use his conquest boldly won;‡
And gave command for horse and spear
To press the Southern's scatter'd rear,
Nor let his broken force combine,
-When the war-cry of Argentine

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Fell faintly on his ear;

Save, save his life," he cried, "O save
The kind, the noble, and the brave!"
The squadrons round free passage gave,
The wounded knight drew near;

He raised his red-cross shield no more,
Helm, cuish, and breastplate stream'd with gore
Yet, as he saw the King advance,

He strove even then to couch his lance-
The effort was in vain!

The spur-stroke fail'd to rouse the horse;
Wounded and weary, in mid course

He stumbled on the plain.

Then foremost was the generous Bruce
To raise his head, his helm to loose ;-
Lord Earl, the day is thine!

My Sovereign's charge, and adverse fate,
Have made our meeting all too late :

Yet this may Argentine,

As boon from ancient comrade, crave-
A Christian's mass, a soldier's grave."

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[MS.

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And ba de them hope amid despair."]
[The MS. has not the seven lines which follow.]

I [MS.-"Now toiled the Bruce as leaders ought,
To use his conquest boldly bought."]

The remarkable circumstances attending the death of De Argentine have been already noticed (p. 584.) Besides this renowned warrior, there fell many representatives of the noblest houses in England, which never sustained a more bloody and disastrous det at. Barbour says that two hundred pairs of gilded spurs were taken from the field of battle; and that some were left the author can bear witness, who has in his possession a curious antique spur, dug up in the morass not long since.

Rent crest and shatter'd coronet,
Of Baron, Earl, and Banneret;
And the best names that England knew,
Claim'd in the death-prayer dismal due.*
Yet mourn not, Land of Fame!
Though ne'er the leopards on thy shield
Retreated from so sad a field,

Since Norman William came.
Oft may thine annals justly boast
Of battles stern by Scotland lost;
Grudge not her victory,

When for her freeborn rights she strove;
Rights dear to all who freedom love,†
To none so dear as thee!

XXXVI.

Turn we to Bruce, whose curious ear
Must from Fitz-Louis tidings hear;
With him, a hundred voices tell
Of prodigy and miracle,

For the mute page had spoke.""Page!" said Fitz-Louis, "rather say, An angel sent from realms of day,

To burst the English yoke.

I saw his plume and bonnet drop,
When hurrying from the mountain top;
A lovely brow, dark locks that wave,
To his bright eyes new lustre gave.
A step as light upon the green,
As if his pinions waved unseen !"-

"It wes forsuth a gret ferly,

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To see samyn sa fele dede lie.
Twa hundre payr of spuris reid, t

War tane of knichtis that war deid."

I am now to take my leave of Barbour, not without a sincere wish that the public may encourage the undertaking of my friend Dr. Jamieson, who has issued proposals for publishing an accurate edition of his poem, and of Blind Harry's Wallace. I The only good edition of The Bruce was published by Mr. Pinkerton, in three volumes, in 1790; and, the learned editor having had no personal access to consult the manuscript, it is not without errors; and it has besides become scarce. Of Wallace there is no tolerable edition; yet these two poems do no small honour to the early state of Scottish poetry, and The Bruce is justly regarded as containing authentic historical facts.

The following list of the slain at Bannockburn, extracted from the continuator of Trivet's Annals, will show the extent of the national calamity.

LIST OF THE SLAIN.

Barons and Knights Bannerets. Robert de Felton Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Glou- Michael Poyning,

cester,

Robert de Clifford,

Payan Tybetot,

William Le Mareschal, John Comyn,

William de Vescey,
John de Montfort,
Nicolas de Hasteleigh,
William Dayncourt,
Ægidius de Argenteyne,
Edmond Comyn,

John Lovel, (the rich,)
Edmond de Hastynge,
Milo de Stapleton,

Barons and Baronets.

Edmund Maulley
Sumon Ward.

Knights.
Henry de Boun,
Thomas de Ufford,
John de Elsingfolde,
John de Harcourt,
Walter de Hakelut,
Philip de Courtenay
Hugo de Scales,
Radulph de Beauchamp,
Jolm de Penbrigge.

With thirty three others of the same rank not named.

PRISONERS.

Henry de Boun, Earl of Hereford,

Lord John Giffard,
William de Latimer,
Maurice de Berkley,

Ingelram de Umfraville,

Marmaduke de Twenge,
John de Wyletone,
Robert de Maulee,
Henry Fitz Hugh,
Thomas de Gray,
Walter de Beauchamp,
Richard de Charon,
John de Wevelinton,
Robert de Nevil,

John de Segrave,
Gilbert Peeche,

John de Clavering,

Antony de Lucy,
Radulph de Camys,
John de Evere,

Andrew de Abremhyn.
Knights.

Thomas de Berkeley,

The son of Roger Tyrrel,

• Together.

Real, or gilded.

Anselm de Mareschal,
Giles de Beauchamp,
John de Cyfrewast,
John Bluwet,
Roger Corbet,
Gilbert de Boun,
Bartholomew de Enefeld,
Thomas de Ferrers,

Radulph and Thomas Bottetort,
John and Nicholas de Kingstone,
(brothers,)
William Lovel,
Henry de Wileton,
Baldwin de Frevil,
John de Clivedon.§
Adomar la Zouche,
John de Merewode,
John Manfe,!!

Thomas and Odo Lele Ercedekene.

Robert Beaupel, (the son,) John Mautra vers. (the son.) William and William Giffard, and thirty-four other knights, not named by the historian.

# [The extracts from Barbour in this edition of Sir Walter Scott's poems have been uniformly corrected by the text of Dr. Jamieson's Bruce published, ang with Blind Harry's Wallace, Elin. 1820. 2 vols. 4to.-Ed]

§ Supposed Clinton."

Maule.

"Spoke he with none?"- With none-one word
Burst when he saw the Island Lord,s
Returning from the battle-field."-

"What answer made the Chief?"-"He kneel'd,
Durst not look up, but mutter'd low,
Some mingled sounds that none might know,
And greeted him 'twixt joy and fear,
As being of superior sphere."

XXXVII.

Even upon Bannock's bloody plain,
Heap'd then with thousands of the slain,
Mid victor monarch's musings high,
Mirth laugh'd in good King Robert's eye.
"And bore he such angelic air,

Such noble front, such waving hair?
Hath Ronald kneel'd to him?" he said,
"Then must we call the church to aid-
Our will be to the Abbot known,
Ere these strange news are wider blown,
To Cambuskenneth straight ye pass,
And deck the church for solemn mass,¶
To pay for high deliverance given,
A nation's thanks to gracious Heaven.
Let him array, besides, such state,
As should on princes' nuptials wait.
Ourself the cause, through fortune's spite,
That once broke short that spousal rite,
Ourself will grace, with early morn,
The bridal of the Maid of Lorn."**

And in sum there were there slain, along with the Earl of Gloucester, forty-two baronis and bannerets. The number earls, barons, and bannerets made captive, was twenty-two, and sixty-eight knighs. Many clerks and esquires were also there slain or taken. Roger de Northburge, Keeper of the King's signet, (Custos Targia Domini Regis,) was made pnsuri with his two clerks, Roger de Wakenfelde and Thomas de Switon, upon which the King caused a seal to be made, and entitled it his privy seal, to distinguish the same from the signet so lost. The Earl of Hereford was exchanged against Br Queen, who had been detamed in captivity ever since the year 1306. The Targia, or signet, was restored to England through the intercession of Ralph de Monthermer, ancestor of Lord Men, who is said to have found favour in the eyes of the Sco king.-Continuation of TRIVET S Annals, Hail's edit. Of 13, 1712, vol. ii., p. 14.

Such were the immediate consequences of the field of Bas nockburn. Its more remote etleets, in completely estabdistre the national independence of Scotland, afford a boundless field t speculation.

* [MS." And the best names that England owns
Swell the sad death prayer's dismal tones."]

↑ [MS.--" When for her rights her sword was bare,
Rights dear to all who freedom share."]

["The fictitious part of the story is, on the whole, the least interesting-though we think that the author has hazarded rather too httle embellishment in recording the adventures of the Bran There are many places, at least, in which he has evidently givea an air of heaviness and flatness to his narration, by adhering 19 closely to the authentic history; and has lowered down the tope of his pa try to the tame level of the rude chroniclers by wika the incidents were originally recorded. There is a more serc 4 and general fault, however, in the conduct of all this part of the story-and that is, that it is not sufficiently national-and breathes nothing either of that animosity towards England, of that exultation over her defeat, which must have animated al Scotland at the period to which he refers; and ought, conse quently, to have been the ruling passion of his poem. Mr. S however, not only dwells fondly on the valour and generosity of the invaders, but actually makes an elaborate apology to the English for having ventured to select for bis theme a story which records their disasters. We hope this extreme courtesy is t intended merely to appease critics, and attract readers in the southern part of the island.-and yet it is difficult to see for what other purposes it could be assumed. Mr. Scott certainly need not have been afraid either of exciting rebellion among his country men, or of bringing his own liberality and loyalty into question, although, in speaking of the events of that remote period, where an overbearing conqueror was overthrown in a lawless attemp to subdue an independent kingdom, he had given full express3] to the hatred and exultation which must have prevailed among the victors, and are indeed the only passions which can be s posed to be excited by the story of their exploits. It is not natural, and we are sure it is not poetical, to represent the agents in such tremendous scenes as calm and indulgent judges of the motives or merits of their opponents; and, by lending such a character to the leaders of his host, the author has actualy le sened the interest of the mighty fight of Bannockburn, to that which might be supposed to belong to a well-regulated tournament among friendly rivals."-JEFFREY.]

$IMS. Excepted to the Island Lord,
When turning," &c.]

[MS.-"Some mingled sounds of joy and wo."]
[The MS. adds:-

"That priests and choir, with morning beams,
Prepare with reverence as beseems

To pay," &c.}

**[" Bruce issues orders for the celebration of the nuptials.

whether they were ever solemnized, it is impossible to say. As

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