Francis James Child

THE BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE.

In the twelfth year of Richard II. (1388,) the Scots assembled an extensive army, with the intention of invading England on a grand scale, in revenge for a previous incursion made by that sovereign. But information having been received that the Northumbrians were gathering in considerable force for a counter-invasion, it was thought prudent not to attempt to carry out the original enterprise. While, therefore, the main body of the army, commanded by the Earl of Fife, the Scottish king's second son, ravaged the western borders of England, a detachment of three or four thousand chosen men, under the Earl of Douglas, penetrated by a swift march into the Bishopric of Durham, and laid waste the country with fire and sword. Returning in triumph from this inroad, Douglas passed insultingly before the gates of Newcastle, where Sir Harry Percy lay in garrison. This fiery warrior, though he could not venture to cope with forces far superior to his own, sallied out to break a lance with his hereditary foe. In a skirmish before the town he lost his spear and pennon, which Douglas swore he would plant as a trophy on the highest tower of his castle, unless it should be that very night retaken by the owner. Hotspur was deterred from accepting this challenge immediately, by the apprehension that Douglas would be able to effect a union with the main body of the Scottish army before he could be overtaken, but when he learned, the second day, that the Earl was retreating with ostentatious slowness, he hastily got together a company of eight or ten thousand men, and set forth in pursuit.

The English forces, under the command of Hotspur and his brother, Sir Ralph Percy, came up with the Scots at Otterbourne, a small village about thirty miles from Newcastle, on the evening of the 15th of August. Their numbers were more than double the Scots, but they were fatigued with a long march. Percy fell at once on the camp of Douglas, and a desperate action ensued. The victory seemed to be inclining to the English, when the Scottish leader, as the last means of reanimating his followers, rushed on the advancing enemy with heroic daring, and cleared a way with his battle-axe into the middle of their ranks. All but alone and unsupported, Douglas was overpowered by numbers, and sunk beneath three mortal wounds. The Scots, encouraged by the furious charge of their chieftain, and ignorant of his fate, renewed the struggle with vigor. Ralph Percy was made prisoner by the Earl Mareschal, and soon after Hotspur himself by Lord Montgomery. Many other Englishmen of rank had the same fate. After a long fight, maintained with extraordinary bravery on both sides, the English retired and left the Scots masters of the field. (See Sir W. Scott's History of Scotland, i. 225.)

The ballad which follows, printed from the fourth or revised edition of Percy's Reliques (vol. i. p. 21), was derived from a manuscript in the Cotton library (Cleopatra, c. iv. fol. 64), thought to be written about the middle of the sixteenth century. In the earlier editions, a less perfect copy, from the Harleian collection, had been used. Hume of Godscroft, speaking of the songs made on the battle of Otterbourne, says, "the Scots song made of Otterbourne telleth the time—about Lammas; and also the occasion—to take preys out of England; also the dividing armies betwixt the Earls of Fife and Douglas, and their several journeys, almost as in the authentic history," and proceeds to quote the first stanza of the present ballad. Again, it is said that at Lammas, when the Scotch husbandmen are busy at getting in their hay, the season has been over for a month in most parts of England. From these circumstances, and the occurrence of certain Scottish words, the first part of The Battle of Otterbourne has been regarded as a Scottish composition, retouched by an English hand.

A somewhat mutilated version of this ballad was published in Herd's Scottish Songs. This, though defective, well deserves a place in our Appendix. Sir Walter Scott inserted in the Minstrelsy another edition made up by him from two copies obtained from the recitation of old persons residing in Ettrick Forest, and it is here subjoined to Percy's version.

Genealogical notices of the personages mentioned in this and the following ballad will be found in Percy's Reliques and in Scott's Minstrelsy.

Yt felle abowght the Lamasse tyde,
Whan husbonds wynn ther haye,
The dowghtye Dowglasse bowynd hym to ryde,
In Ynglond to take a praye.

The yerlle of Fyffe, withowghten stryffe,5
He bowynd hym over Sulway:
The grete wolde ever together ryde;
That race they may rue for aye.

Over Ottercap hyll they came in,
And so dowyn by Rodelyffe cragge,10
Upon Grene Leyton they lyghted dowyn,
Styrande many a stagge;

And boldely brent Northomberlonde,
And haryed many a towyn;
They dyd owr Ynglyssh men grete wrange,15
To battell that were not bowyn.

Than spake a berne upon the bent,
Of comforte that was not colde,
And sayd, "We have brent Northomberlond,
We have all welth in holde.20

"Now we have haryed all Bamboroweshyre,
All the welth in the worlde have wee;
I rede we ryde to Newe Castell,
So styll and stalwurthlye."

Uppon the morowe, when it was daye,25
The standards schone fulle bryght;
To the Newe Castelle the toke the waye,
And thether they cam fulle ryght.

Sir Henry Percy laye at the Newe Castelle,
I telle yow withowtten drede;30
He had byn a march-man all hys dayes,
And kepte Barwyke upon Twede.

To the Newe Castell when they cam,
The Skottes they cryde on hyght,
"Syr Harye Percy, and thow byste within,35
Com to the fylde, and fyght:

"For we have brente Northomberlonde,
Thy eritage good and ryght;
And syne my logeyng I have take,
With my brande dubbyd many a knyght."40

Sir Harry Percy cam to the walles,
The Skottyssh oste for to se;
"And thow hast brente Northomberlond,
Full sore it rewyth me.

"Yf thou hast haryed all Bambarowe shyre,45
Thow hast done me grete envye;
For the trespasse thow hast me done,
The tone of us schall dye."

"Where schall I byde the?" sayd the Dowglas,
"Or where wylte thow come to me?"50
"At Otterborne in the hygh way,
Ther maist thow well logeed be.

"The roo full rekeles ther sche rinnes,
To make the game and glee;
The fawkon and the fesaunt both,55
Amonge the holtes on hye.

"Ther maist thow have thy welth at wyll,
"Well looged ther maist be;
Yt schall not be long or I com the tyll,"
Sayd Syr Harry Percye.60

"Ther schall I byde the," sayd the Dowglas,
"By the fayth of my bodye:"
"Thether schall I com," sayd Syr Harry Percy
"My trowth I plyght to the."

A pype of wyne he gave them over the walles,65
For soth, as I yow saye;
Ther he mayd the Douglas drynke,
And all hys oste that daye.

The Dowglas turnyd hym homewarde agayne,
For soth withowghten naye;70
He tooke his logeyng at Oterborne
Uppon a Wedynsday.

And there he pyght hys standerd dowyn,
Hys gettyng more and lesse,
And syne he warned hys men to goo75
To chose ther geldyngs gresse.

A Skottysshe knyght hoved upon the bent,
A wache I dare well saye;
So was he ware on the noble Percy
In the dawnynge of the daye.80

He prycked to his pavyleon dore,
As faste as he myght ronne;
"Awaken, Dowglas," cryed the knyght,
"For hys love, that syttes yn trone.

"Awaken, Dowglas," cryed the knyght,85
"For thow maiste waken wyth wynne;
Yender have I spyed the prowde Percy,
And seven standardes wyth hym."

"Nay by my trowth," the Douglas sayed,
"It ys but a fayned taylle;90
He durste not loke on my bred banner,
For all Ynglonde so haylle.

"Was I not yesterdaye at the Newe Castell,
That stonds so fayre on Tyne?
For all the men the Percy hade,95
He cowde not garre me ones to dyne."

He stepped owt at hys pavelyon dore,
To loke and it were lesse;
"Araye yow, lordyngs, one and all,
For here bygynnes no peysse.100

"The yerle of Mentayne, thow art my eme,
The forwarde I gyve to the:
The yerlle of Huntlay cawte and kene,
He schall wyth the be.

"The lorde of Bowghan, in armure bryght,105
On the other hand he schall be;
Lord Jhonstone and Lorde Maxwell,
They to schall be wyth me.

"Swynton, fayre fylde upon your pryde!
To batell make yow bowen,110
Syr Davy Scotte, Syr Walter Stewarde,
Syr Jhon of Agurstone!"

6. i. e. over Solway frith. This evidently refers to the other division of the Scottish army, which came in by way of Carlisle.—Percy.9-11. sc. the Earl of Douglas and his party.—The several stations here mentioned are well-known places in Northumberland. Ottercap-hill is in the parish of Kirk-Whelpington, in Tynedale-ward. Rodeliffe—(or, as it is more usually pronounced, Rodeley—) Cragge is a noted cliff near Rodeley, a small village in the parish of Hartburn, in Morpeth-ward. Green Leyton is another small village in the same parish of Hartburn, and is southeast of Rodeley. Both the original MSS. read here, corruptly, Hoppertop and Lynton.—P.12. Many a styrande stage, in both MSS. Motherwell would retain this reading, because stagge signifies in Scotland a young stallion, and by supplying "off" the line would make sense. It was one of the Border laws, he remarks, that the Scottish array of battle should be on foot (see v. 15 of the Second Part). Horses were used but for a retreat or pursuit.77. the best bent, MS.101. The Earl of Menteith. At the time of the battle the earldom of Menteith was possessed by Robert Earl of Fife, who was in command of the main body of the army, and consequently not with Douglas.103. The reference is to Sir John Gordon. The use of this designation shows, says Percy, that the ballad was not composed before 1449. In that year the title of Earl of Huntly was first conferred on Alexander Seaton, who married the grand-daughter of the Gordon of Otterbourne.105. The Earl of Buchan, fourth son of King Robert II.

A FYTTE.
[THE SECOND PART.]

The Perssy came byfore hys oste,
Wych was ever a gentyll knyght;
Upon the Dowglas lowde can he crye,
"I wyll holde that I have hyght.

"For thow haste brente Northumberlonde,5
And done me grete envye;
For thys trespasse thou hast me done,
The tone of us schall dye."

The Dowglas answerde hym agayne
With grete wurds up on hye,10
And sayd, "I have twenty agaynst the one,
Byholde, and thow maiste see."

Wyth that the Percye was grevyd sore,
For sothe as I yow saye;
He lyghted dowyn upon his fote,15
And schoote his horsse clene away.

Every man sawe that he dyd soo,
That ryall was ever in rowght;
Every man schoote hys horsse him froo,
And lyght hym rowynde abowght.20

Thus Syr Hary Percye toke the fylde,
For soth, as I yow saye;
Jesu Cryste in hevyn on hyght
Dyd helpe hym well that daye.

But nyne thowzand, ther was no moo,25
The cronykle wyll not layne;
Forty thowsande Skottes and fowre
That day fowght them agayne.

But when the batell byganne to joyne,
In hast ther came a knyght;30
'Then' letters fayre furth hath he tayne,
And thus he sayd full ryght:

"My lorde, your father he gretes yow well,
Wyth many a noble knyght;
He desyres yow to byde35
That he may see thys fyght.

"The Baron of Grastoke ys com owt of the west,
With him a noble companye;
All they loge at your fathers thys nyght,
And the battell fayne wold they see.40

"For Jesus love," sayd Syr Harye Percy,
"That dyed for yow and me,
Wende to my lorde my father agayne,
And saye thou saw me not with yee.

"My trowth ys plyght to yonne Skottysh knyght,45
It nedes me not to layne,
That I schulde byde hym upon thys bent,
And I have hys trowth agayne.

"And if that I wende off thys grownde,
For soth, unfoughten awaye,50
He wolde me call but a kowarde knyght
In hys londe another daye.

"Yet had I lever to be rynde and rente,
By Mary, that mykel maye,
Then ever my manhod schulde be reprovyd55
Wyth a Skotte another daye.

"Wherefore schote, archars, for my sake,
And let scharpe arowes flee;
Mynstrells, play up for your waryson,
And well quyt it schall be.60

"Every man thynke on hys trewe love,
And marke hym to the Trenite;
For to God I make myne avowe
Thys day wyll I not fle."

The blodye harte in the Dowglas armes,65
Hys standerde stode on hye;
That every man myght full well knowe;
By syde stode starres thre.

The whyte lyon on the Ynglysh parte,
Forsoth, as I yow sayne,70
The lucetts and the cressawnts both;
The Skotts faught them agayne.

Uppon Sent Andrewe lowde cane they crye,
And thrysse they schowte on hyght,
And syne marked them one owr Ynglysshe men,75
As I have tolde yow ryght.

Sent George the bryght, owr ladyes knyght,
To name they were full fayne;
Owr Ynglysshe men they cryde on hyght,
And thrysse the schowtte agayne.80

Wyth that, scharpe arowes bygan to flee,
I tell yow in sertayne;
Men of armes byganne to joyne,
Many a dowghty man was ther slayne.

The Percy and the Dowglas mette,85
That ether of other was fayne;
They schapped together, whyll that the swette,
With swords of fyne collayne;

Tyll the bloode from ther bassonnetts ranne,
As the roke doth in the rayne;90
"Yelde the to me," sayd the Dowglas,
"Or ells thow schalt be slayne.

"For I see by thy bryght bassonet,
Thow art sum man of myght;
And so I do by thy burnysshed brande;95
"Thow art an yerle, or ells a knyght.

"By my good faythe," sayd the noble Percy,
"Now haste thou rede full ryght;
Yet wyll I never yelde me to the,
Whyll I may stonde and fyght."100

They swapped together, whyll that they swette,
Wyth swordes scharpe and long;
Ych on other so faste they beette,
Tyll ther helmes cam in peyses dowyn.

The Percy was a man of strenghth,105
I tell yow in thys stounde;
He smote the Dowglas at the swordes length,
That he felle to the growynde.

The sworde was scharpe, and sore can byte,
I tell yow in sertayne;110
To the harte he cowde hym smyte,
Thus was the Dowglas slayne.

The stonderds stode styll on eke syde,
With many a grevous grone;
Ther the fowght the day, and all the nyght,115
And many a dowghty man was slayne.

Ther was no freke that ther wolde flye,
But styffly in stowre can stond,
Ychone hewyng on other whyll they myght drye,
Wyth many a bayllefull bronde.120

Ther was slayne upon the Skottes syde,
For soth and sertenly,
Syr James a Dowglas ther was slayne,
That daye that he cowde dye.

The yerle of Mentaye he was slayne,125
Grysely groned uppon the growynd;
Syr Davy Scotte, Syr Walter Steward,
Syr John of Agurstonne.

Syr Charlles Morrey in that place,
That never a fote wold flye;130
Sir Hughe Maxwelle, a lorde he was,
With the Dowglas dyd he dye.

Ther was slayne upon the Skottes syde,
For soth as I yow saye,
Of fowre and forty thowsande Scotts135
Went but eyghtene awaye.

Ther was slayne upon the Ynglysshe syde,
For soth and sertenlye,
A gentell knyght, Sir John Fitz-hughe,
Yt was the more petye.140

Syr James Harebotell ther was slayne,
For hym ther hartes were sore;
The gentyll Lovelle ther was slayne,
That the Percyes standerd bore.

Ther was slayne uppon the Ynglyssh perte,145
For soth as I yow saye,
Of nyne thowsand Ynglyssh men
Fyve hondert cam awaye.

The other were slayne in the fylde;
Cryste kepe their sowles from wo!150
Seying ther was so few fryndes
Agaynst so many a foo.

Then one the morne they mayd them beeres
Of byrch, and haysell graye;
Many a wydowe with wepyng teyres155
Ther makes they fette awaye.

Thys fraye bygan at Otterborne,
Bytwene the nyghte and the day:
Ther the Dowglas lost hys lyfe,
And the Percy was lede awaye.160

Then was ther a Scottyshe prisoner tayne,
Syr Hughe Mongomery was hys name;
For soth as I yow saye,
He borowed the Percy home agayne.

Now let us all for the Percy praye165
To Jesu most of myght,
To bryng hys sowle to the blysse of heven,
For he was a gentyll knyght.

96. Being all in armour he could not know him.—P.128. Both the MSS. read here Sir James, but see above, Pt. I. ver. 112.—P.143. Covelle, MS.162. Supposed to be son of Lord John Montgomery, who took Hotspur prisoner. In The Hunting of the Cheviot this Sir Hugh is said to have been slain with an arrow.

---

THE BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE.

From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, i. 354. In the Complaynt of Scotland (1548), "The Persee and the Mongumrye met," (v. 117 of this piece,) occurs as the title, or rather the catchword, of one of the popular songs of the time.

6. "Light" is the appropriated designation of the Lindsays, as "gay" is that of the Gordons.7. The Jardines were a clan of hardy West-Border men. Their chief was Jardine of Applegirth. Their refusal to ride with Douglas was, probably, the result of one of those perpetual feuds, which usually rent to pieces a Scottish army.—S.35. Douglas insinuates that Percy was rescued by his soldiers.—S.140. Douglas was really buried in Melrose Abbey, where his tomb is still to be seen.

---

THE HUNTING OF THE CHEVIOT.

In the Battle of Otterbourne the story is told with all the usual accuracy of tradition, and the usual fairness of partizans. Not so with the following ballad, which is founded on the same event. "That which is commonly sung of the Hunting of Cheviot," says Hume of Godscroft truly, "seemeth indeed poetical, and a mere fiction, perhaps to stir up virtue; yet a fiction whereof there is no mention either in the Scottish or English chronicle." When this ballad arose we do not know, but we may suppose that a considerable time would elapse before a minstrel would venture to treat an historical event with so much freedom.

We must, however, allow some force to these remarks of Percy: "With regard to the subject of this ballad, although it has no countenance from history, there is room to think it had originally some foundation in fact. It was one of the laws of the Marches, frequently renewed between the nations, that neither party should hunt in the other's borders, without leave from the proprietors or their deputies. There had long been a rivalship between the two martial families of Percy and Douglas, which, heightened by the national quarrel, must have produced frequent challenges and struggles for superiority, petty invasions of their respective domains, and sharp contests for the point of honour; which would not always be recorded in history. Something of this kind, we may suppose, gave rise to the ancient ballad of the Hunting a' the Cheviat. Percy Earl of Northumberland had vowed to hunt for three days in the Scottish border, without condescending to ask leave from Earl Douglas, who was either lord of the soil, or lord warden of the Marches. Douglas would not fail to resent the insult, and endeavour to repel the intruders by force: this would naturally produce a sharp conflict between the two parties; something of which, it is probable, did really happen, though not attended with the tragical circumstances recorded in the ballad: for these are evidently borrowed from the Battle of Otterbourn, a very different event, but which aftertimes would easily confound with it."[1]

The ballad as here printed is of the same age as the preceding. It is extracted from Hearne's Preface to the History of Guilielmus Neubrigensis, p. lxxxii. Hearne derived his copy from a manuscript in the Ashmolean collection at Oxford, and printed the text in long lines, which, according to custom, are now broken up into two.

The manuscript copy is subscribed at the end "Expliceth quoth Rychard Sheale." Richard Sheale (it has been shown by a writer in the British Bibliographer, vol. iv. p. 97-105) was a minstrel by profession, and several other pieces in the same MS. have a like signature with this. On this ground it has been very strangely concluded that Sheale was not, as Percy and Ritson supposed, the transcriber, but the actual author of this noble ballad. The glaring objection of the antiquity of the language has been met, first, by the supposition that the author belonged to the north of England, and afterwards, when it appeared that Sheale lived at Tamworth, about a hundred miles from London, by the allegation that the language of a person in humble life in Warwickshire or Staffordshire would be very far behind the current speech of the metropolis. It happens, however, that the language of the ballad is very much older than the other compositions of Sheale, as a moment's inspection will show. Besides, Sheale's poetical abilities were manifestly of the lowest order, and although he styles himself "minstrel," we have no reason to think that he ever composed ballads. He speaks of his memory being at one time so decayed that he "could neither sing nor talk." Being a mere ballad-singer and story-teller, he would naturally be dependent on that faculty. The fact is very obvious, that Richard Sheale was a mere reciter of songs and tales; at any rate, that all we have to thank him for in the matter of Chevy Chase is for committing to paper the only old copy that has come down to our times.[2]

The Hunting of the Cheviot is mentioned in the Complaynt of Scotland with other, very ancient, ballads. It was consequently popular in Scotland in 1548, ten years before the time that we know Sheale to have written anything. The mention of James the Scottish King forbids us to assign this piece an earlier date than the reign of Henry VI.

It has been customary to understand Sidney's saying of the "old song of Percy and Douglas"—that it moved his heart more than a trumpet—exclusively of Chevy Chase. There is no question which ballad would stand higher in the estimation of the gentle knight, but the terms by which the war-song he admired is described are of course equally applicable to The Battle of Otterbourne. By the way we may remark that if we do understand Sidney to have meant Chevy Chase, then, whatever opinion writers of our day may have of its antiquity, and however probable it may seem to them that Chevy Chase was written by a contemporary of Sir Philip, it appeared to the author of the Defence of Poetry to be "evil apparelled in the dust and cobweb of an uncivil age"!

[1] The Editor of the Reliques afterwards met with the following passage in Collins's Peerage, which he thought might throw some light on the question of the origin of the ballad.

"In this ... year, 1436, according to Hector Boethius, was fought the battle of Pepperden, not far from the Cheviot Hills, between the Earl of Northumberland [IId Earl, son of Hotspur], and Earl William Douglas, of Angus, with a small army of about four thousand men each, in which the latter had the advantage. As this seems to have been a private conflict between these two great Chieftains of the Borders, rather than a national war, it has been thought to have given rise to the celebrated old ballad of Chevy-Chase; which to render it more pathetic and interesting, has been heightened with tragical incidents wholly fictitious."[2] We regret that even Dr. Rimbault has hastily sanctioned this ascription of Chevy-Chase to the "sely" minstrel of Tamworth.

---

THE FIRST FIT.

The PersÈ owt off Northombarlande,
And a vowe to God mayd he,
That he wold hunte in the mountayns
Off Chyviat within days thre,
In the mauger of doughtÈ Dogles,5
And all that ever with him be.

The fattiste hartes in all Cheviat
He sayd he wold kill, and cary them away:
"Be my feth," sayd the dougheti Doglas agayn,
"I wyll let that hontyng yf that I may."10

Then the PersÈ owt of Banborowe cam,
With him a myghtee meany;
With fifteen hondrith archares bold off blood and bone,
The wear chosen owt of shyars thre.

This begane on a Monday at morn,15
In Cheviat the hillys so he;
The chyld may rue that ys un-born,
It was the mor pittÈ.

The dryvars throrowe the woodÈs went,
For to reas the dear;20
Bomen byckarte uppone the bent
With ther browd aras cleare.

Then the wyld thorowe the woodÈs went,
On every sydÈ shear;
Grea-hondes thorowe the grevis glent,25
For to kyll thear dear.

The begane in Chyviat the hyls above,
Yerly on a Monnyn day;
Be that it drewe to the oware off none,
A hondrith fat hartes ded ther lay.30

The blewe a mort uppone the bent,
The semblyd on sydis shear;
To the quyrry then the PersÈ went,
To se the bryttlynge off the deare.

He sayd, "It was the Duglas promys35
This day to met me hear;
But I wyste he wold faylle, verament:"
A great oth the PersÈ swear.

At the laste a squyar of Northombelonde
Lokyde at his hand full ny;40
He was war a' the doughetie Doglas comynge,
With him a myghttÈ meany;

Both with spear, byll, and brande;
Yt was a myghti sight to se;
Hardyar men, both off hart nar hande,45
Wear not in ChristiantÈ.

The wear twenty hondrith spear-men good,
WithowtÈ any feale;
The wear borne along be the watter a Twyde,
Yth' bowndes of Tividale.50

"Leave of the brytlyng of the dear," he sayde,
"And to your bowys lock ye tayk good heed;
For never sithe ye wear on your mothars borne
Had ye never so mickle ned."

The dougheti Dogglas on a stede55
He rode att his men beforne;
His armor glytteryde as dyd a glede;
A bolder barne was never born.

"Tell me whos men ye ar," he says,
"Or whos men that ye be:60
Who gave youe leave to hunte in this Chyviat chays,
In the spyt of me?"

The first mane that ever him an answear mayd,
Yt was the good lord PersÈ:
"We wyll not tell the whoys men we ar," he says,65
"Nor whos men that we be;
But we wyll hount hear in this chays,
In the spyt of thyne and of the.

"The fattiste hartes in all Chyviat
We have kyld, and cast to carry them a-way:"70
"Be my troth," sayd the doughtÈ Dogglas agayn,
"Ther-for the ton of us shall de this day."

Then sayd the doughtÈ Doglas
Unto the lord PersÈ:
"To kyll all thes giltles men,75
Alas, it wear great pittÈ!

"But, PersÈ, thowe art a lord of lande,
I am a yerle callyd within my contrÈ;
Let all our men uppone a parti stande,
And do the battell off the and of me."80

"Nowe Cristes cors on his crowne," sayd the lord PersÈ,
"Whosoever ther-to says nay;
Be my troth, doughttÈ Doglas," he says,
"Thow shalt never se that day.

"Nethar in Ynglonde, Skottlonde, nar France,85
Nor for no man of a woman born,
But, and fortune be my chance,
I dar met him, on man for on."

Then bespayke a squyar off Northombarlonde,
Richard Wytharyngton was him nam;90
"It shall never be told in Sothe-Ynglonde," he says,
"To kyng Herry the fourth for sham.

"I wat youe byn great lordes twaw,
I am a poor squyar of lande;
I wyll never se my captayne fyght on a fylde,95
And stande myselffe, and loocke on,
But whyll I may my weppone welde,
I wyll not [fayl] both hart and hande."

That day, that day, that dredfull day!
The first fit here I fynde;100
And youe wyll here any mor a' the hountyng a' the Chyviat,
Yet ys ther mor behynd.

5. magger.11. The the.13. archardes.14. By these shyars thre is probably meant three districts in Northumberland, which still go by the name of shires, and are all in the neighbourhood of Cheviot. These are Islandshire, being the district so named from Holy-Island: Norehamshire, so called from the town and castle of Noreham (or Norham): and Bamboroughshire, the ward or hundred belonging to Bamborough-castle and town.—Percy.31. blwe a mot.41. ath the.43. brylly.52. boys.71. agay.81. sayd the the.99. "That day, that day, that gentil day," is cited in The Complaynt of Scotland, (ii. 101,) not, we imagine, as the title of a ballad (any more than "The Persee and the Mongumrye met," ante, p. 19,) but as a line by which the song containing it might be recalled.

THE SECOND FIT.

The Yngglyshe men hade ther bowys yebent,
Ther hartes were good yenoughe;
The first off arros that the shote off,
Seven skore spear-men the sloughe.

Yet byddys the yerle Doglas uppon the bent,5
A captayne good yenoughe,
And that was sene verament,
For he wrought hom both woo and wouche.

The Dogglas pertyd his ost or thre,
Lyk a cheffe cheften off pryde,10
With suar spears off myghttÈ tre,
The cum in on every syde:

Thrughe our Yngglyshe archery
Gave many a wounde full wyde;
Many a doughete the garde to dy,15
Which ganyde them no pryde.

The Ynglyshe men let thear bowys be,
And pulde owt brandes that wer bright;
It was a hevy syght to se
Bryght swordes on basnites lyght.20

Throrowe ryche male and myneyeple,
Many sterne the stroke downe streght;
Many a freyke that was full fre,
Ther undar foot dyd lyght.

At last the Duglas and the PersÈ met,25
Lyk to captayns of myght and of mayne;
The swapte togethar tyll the both swat,
With swordes that wear of fyn myllÀn.

Thes worthÈ freckys for to fyght,
Ther-to the wear full fayne,30
Tyll the bloode owte off thear basnetes sprente,
As ever dyd heal or rayne.

"Holde the, PersÈ," sayde the Doglas,
"And i' feth I shall the brynge
Wher thowe shalte have a yerls wagis35
Of Jamy our Scottish kynge.

"Thoue shalte have thy ransom fre,
I hight the hear this thinge,
For the manfullyste man yet art thowe,
That ever I conqueryd in filde fightyng."40

"Nay," sayd the lord PersÈ,
"I tolde it the beforne,
That I wolde never yeldyde be
To no man of a woman born."

With that ther cam an arrowe hastely,45
Forthe off a myghttÈ wane;
Hit hathe strekene the yerle Duglas
In at the brest bane.

Throroue lyvar and longs, bathe
The sharp arrowe ys gane,50
That never after in all his lyffe-days,
He spayke mo wordes but ane:
That was, "Fyghte ye, my myrry men, whyllys ye may,
For my lyff-days ben gan."

The PersÈ leanyde on his brande,55
And sawe the Duglas de;
He tooke the dede mane be the hande,
And sayd, "Wo ys me for the!

"To have savyde thy lyffe, I wolde have pertyde with
My landes for years thre,60
For a better man, of hart nare of hande,
Was not in all the north contrÈ."

Off all that se a Skottishe knyght,
Was callyd Sir Hewe the Monggonbyrry;
He sawe the Duglas to the deth was dyght,65
He spendyd a spear, a trusti tre:—

He rod uppon a corsiare
Throughe a hondrith archery:
He never stynttyde, nar never blane,
Tyll he cam to the good lord PersÈ.70

He set uppone the lord PersÈ
A dynte that was full soare;
With a suar spear of a myghttÈ tre
Clean thorow the body he the PersÈ ber,

A' the tothar syde that a man myght se75
A large cloth yard and mare:
Towe bettar captayns wear nat in CristiantÈ,
Then that day slain wear ther.

An archar off Northomberlonde
Say slean was the lord PersÈ;80
He bar a bende-bowe in his hand,
Was made off trusti tre.

An arow, that a cloth yarde was lang,
To th' harde stele haylde he;
A dynt that was both sad and soar,85
He sat on Sir Hewe the Monggonbyrry.

The dynt yt was both sad and soar,
That he on Monggonberry sete;
The swane-fethars, that his arrowe bar,
With his hart-blood the wear wete.90

Ther was never a freak wone foot wolde fle,
But still in stour dyd stand,
Heawyng on yche othar, whyll the myght dre,
With many a balfull brande.

This battell begane in Chyviat95
An owar befor the none,
And when even-song bell was rang,
The battell was nat half done.

The tooke on ethar hand
Be the lyght off the mone;100
Many hade no strength for to stande,
In Chyviat the hillys aboun.

Of fifteen hondrith archars of Ynglonde
Went away but fifti and thre;
Of twenty hondrith spear-men of Skotlonde,105
But even five and fifti:

But all wear slayne Cheviat within;
The hade no strenge to stand on hy;
The chylde may rue that ys unborne,
It was the mor pittÈ.110

Thear was slayne withe the lord PersÈ,
Sir John of Agerstone,
Sir Rogar, the hinde Hartly,
Sir Wyllyam, the bolde Hearone.

Sir Jorg, the worthÈ Lovele,115
A knyght of great renowen,
Sir Raff, the ryche RugbÈ,
With dyntes wear beaten dowene.

For Wetharryngton my harte was wo,
That ever he slayne shulde be;120
For when both his leggis wear hewyne in to,
Yet he knyled and fought on hys kny.

Ther was slayne with the dougheti Duglas,
Sir Hewe the Monggonbyrry,
Sir Davy Lwdale, that worthÈ was,125
His sistars son was he:

His Charls a MurrÈ in that place,
That never a foot wolde fle;
Sir Hewe Maxwell, a lorde he was,
With the Doglas dyd he dey.130

So on the morrowe the mayde them byears
Off birch and hasell so gray;
Many wedous with wepyng tears
Cam to fach ther makys away.

Tivydale may carpe off care,135
Northombarlond may mayk grat mon,
For towe such captayns as slayne wear thear,
On the March-perti shall never be non.

Word ys commen to Eddenburrowe,
To Jamy the Skottishe kyng,140
That dougheti Duglas, lyff-tenant of the Merches,
He lay slean Chyviot with-in.

His handdes dyd he weal and wryng,
He sayd, "Alas, and woe ys me!"
Such an othar captayn Skotland within,145
He sayd, ye-feth shuld never be.

Worde ys commyn to lovly Londone,
Till the fourth Harry our kyng,
That lord PersÈ, leyff-tenante of the Merchis,
He lay slayne Chyviat within.150

"God have merci on his soll," sayd kyng Harry,
"Good lord, yf thy will it be!
I have a hondrith captayns in Ynglonde," he sayd,
"As good as ever was he:
But PersÈ, and I brook my lyffe,155
Thy deth well quyte shall be."

As our noble kyng mayd his a-vowe,
Lyke a noble prince of renowen,
For the deth of the lord PersÈ
He dyde the battell of Hombyll-down:160

Wher syx and thrittÉ Skottishe knyghtes
On a day wear beaten down:
Glendale glytteryde on ther armor bryght,
Over castill, towar, and town.

This was the Hontynge off the Cheviat;165
That tear begane this spurn:
Old men that knowen the grownde well yenoughe,
Call it the Battell of Otterburn.

At Otterburn began this spurne
Uppon a Monnyn day:170
Ther was the dougghtÈ Doglas slean,
The PersÈ never went away.

Ther was never a tym on the March-partes
Sen the Doglas and the PersÈ met,
But yt was marvele, and the rede blude ronne not,175
As the reane doys in the stret.

Jhesue Christ our ballys bete,
And to the blys us brynge!
Thus was the Hountynge of the Chivyat:
God send us all good endyng!180

1-4. It is well known that the ancient English weapon was the long-bow, and that this nation excelled all others in archery, while the Scottish warriors chiefly depended on the use of the spear. This characteristic difference never escapes our ancient bard.—Percy.17. boys.18. briggt.22. done.26. to, i. e. tow.32. ran.33. helde.36. Scottih.45. a narrowe. So again in v. 83, and a nowar in v. 96. This transference of final n to the succeeding word is of common occurrence in old poetry.87. sar.88. of.99. a word has dropped out.102. abou.115. lo[=u]le.125. Lwdale, i. e. Liddel.132. gay.149. cheyff.163. Glendale is one of the seven wards of Northumberland. In this district the village of Homildown is situated, about a mile from Wooler. On the 14th of September, 1402, a battle was fought at this place between the Percys and Archibald, Earl of Douglas, in which the Scots were totally routed, and Douglas taken prisoner.170. Nonnyn.

---

CHEVY-CHACE.

The text of this later ballad of Chevy-Chace is given as it appears in Old Ballads (1723), vol. i. p. 111, and in Durfey's Pills to Purge Melancholy, vol. iv. p. 289, and differs very slightly from that of the Reliques (i. 265), where the ballad was printed from the folio MS., compared with two other black-letter copies.

The age of this version of the story is not known, but it is certainly not later, says Dr. Rimbault, than the reign of Charles the Second. Addison's papers in the Spectator (Nos. 70 and 74) evince so true a perception of the merits of this ballad, shorn as it is of the most striking beauties of the grand original, that we cannot but deeply regret his never having seen the ancient and genuine copy, which was published by Hearne only a few days after Addison died. Well might the Spectator dissent from the judgment of Sidney, if this were the rude and ill-apparelled song of a barbarous age.

God prosper long our noble king,
Our lives and safeties all;
A woful hunting once there did
In Chevy-Chace befall.

To drive the deer with hound and horn,5
Erle Piercy took his way;
The child may rue that is unborn,
The hunting of that day.

The stout Earl of Northumberland
A vow to God did make,10
His pleasure in the Scottish woods
Three summer's days to take;

The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chace
To kill and bear away:
The tidings to Earl Douglas came,15
In Scotland where he lay.

Who sent Earl Piercy present word,
He would prevent his sport;
The English earl not fearing this,
Did to the woods resort,20

With fifteen hundred bow-men bold
All chosen men of might,
Who knew full well in time of need
To aim their shafts aright.

The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran,25
To chase the fallow deer;
On Monday they began to hunt,
When day-light did appear.

And long before high noon they had
An hundred fat bucks slain;30
Then having din'd, the drovers went
To rouze them up again.

The bow-men muster'd on the hills,
Well able to endure;
Their backsides all, with special care,35
That day were guarded sure.

The hounds ran swiftly thro' the woods,
The nimble deer to take,
And with their cries the hills and dales
An eccho shrill did make.40

Lord Piercy to the quarry went,
To view the tender deere;
Quoth he, "Earl Douglas promised
This day to meet me heer.

"If that I thought he would not come,45
No longer would I stay."
With that, a brave young gentleman
Thus to the Earl did say:

"Lo, yonder doth Earl Douglas come,
His men in armour bright;50
Full twenty hundred Scottish spears,
All marching in our sight.

"All men of pleasant Tividale,
Fast by the river Tweed:"
"Then cease your sport," Erle Piercy said,55
"And take your bows with speed.

"And now with me, my countrymen,
Your courage forth advance;
For there was never champion yet
In Scotland or in France,60

"That ever did on horseback come,
But, if my hap it were,
I durst encounter man for man,
With him to break a spear."

Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,65
Most like a baron bold,
Rode foremost of the company,
Whose armour shone like gold.

"Show me," he said, "whose men you be,
That hunt so boldly here,70
That, without my consent, do chase
And kill my fallow-deer."

The man that first did answer make
Was noble Piercy he;
Who said, "We list not to declare,75
Nor show whose men we be.

"Yet we will spend our dearest blood,
Thy chiefest hart to slay;"
Then Douglas swore a solemn oath,
And thus in rage did say;80

"Ere thus I will out-braved be,
One of us two shall dye:
I know thee well, an earl thou art;
Lord Piercy, so am I.

"But trust me, Piercy, pity it were,85
And great offence, to kill
Any of these our harmless men,
For they have done no ill.

"Let thou and I the battel try,
And set our men aside:90
"Accurs'd be he," Lord Piercy said,
"By whom this is deny'd."

Then stept a gallant squire forth,
(Witherington was his name)
Who said, "I would not have it told95
To Henry our king for shame,

"That ere my captaine fought on foot,
And I stood looking on:
You be two earls," said Witherington,
"And I a squire alone.100

"I'll do the best that do I may,
While I have power to stand;
While I have power to wield my sword,
I'll fight with heart and hand."

Our English archers bent their bows,105
Their hearts were good and true;
At the first flight of arrows sent,
Full three score Scots they slew.

To drive the deer with hound and horn,
Earl Douglas had the bent;110
A captain mov'd with mickle pride
The spears to shivers sent.

They clos'd full fast on every side,
No slacknes there was found;
And many a gallant gentleman115
Lay gasping on the ground.

O Christ! it was a grief to see,
And likewise for to hear,
The cries of men lying in their gore,
And scatter'd here and there.120

At last these two stout earls did meet,
Like captains of great might;
Like lions mov'd they laid on load,
And made a cruel fight.

They fought until they both did sweat,125
With swords of temper'd steel;
Until the blood, like drops of rain,
They trickling down did feel.

"Yield thee, Lord Piercy," Douglas said;
"In faith I will thee bring,130
Where thou shalt high advanced be
By James, our Scottish king.

"Thy ransom I will freely give,
And thus report of thee,
Thou art the most couragious knight135
That ever I did see.

"No, Douglas," quoth Earl Piercy then,
"Thy proffer I do scorn;
I will not yield to any Scot
That ever yet was born."140

With that, there came an arrow keen
Out of an English bow,
Which struck Earl Douglas to the heart,
A deep and deadly blow:

Who never spoke more words than these,145
"Fight on, my merry men all;
For why, my life is at an end,
Lord Piercy sees my fall."

Then leaving life, Earl Piercy took
The dead man by the hand;150
And said, "Earl Douglas, for thy life
Would I had lost my land!

"O Christ! my very heart doth bleed
With sorrow for thy sake;
For sure, a more renowned knight155
Mischance did never take."

A knight amongst the Scots there was,
Which saw Earl Douglas dye,
Who straight in wrath did vow revenge
Upon the Earl Piercy.160

Sir Hugh Montgomery was he call'd,
Who, with a spear most bright,
Well-mounted on a gallant steed,
Ran fiercely thro' the fight;

And pass'd the English archers all,165
Without all dread or fear,
And through Earl Piercy's body then
He thrust his hateful spear.

With such a veh'ment force and might
He did his body gore,170
The spear ran through the other side
A large cloth-yard, and more.

So thus did both these nobles dye,
Whose courage none could stain;
An English archer then perceiv'd175
The noble earl was slain.

He had a bow bent in his hand,
Made of a trusty tree;
An arrow of a cloth-yard long
Up to the head drew he.180

Against Sir Hugh Montgomery
So right his shaft he set,
The grey goose-wing that was thereon
In his heart's blood was wet.

This fight did last from break of day185
Till setting of the sun;
For when they rung the evening-bell,
The battel scarce was done.

With the Earl Piercy, there was slain
Sir John of Ogerton,190
Sir Robert Ratcliff, and Sir John,
Sir James, that bold baron.

And with Sir George and good Sir James,
Both knights of good account,
Good Sir Ralph Rabby there was slain,195
Whose prowess did surmount.

For Witherington needs must I wail,
As one in doleful dumps;
For when his legs were smitten off,
He fought upon his stumps.200

And with Earl Douglas, there was slain
Sir Hugh Montgomery,
Sir Charles Currel, that from the field
One foot would never fly.

Sir Charles Murrel, of Ratcliff, too,205
His sister's son was he;
Sir David Lamb, so well esteem'd,
Yet saved could not bee.

And the Lord Maxwell in like wise
Did with Earl Douglas dye;210
Of twenty hundred Scottish spears
Scarce fifty-five did fly.

Of fifteen hundred Englishmen,
Went home but fifty-three;
The rest were slain in Chevy-Chace,215
Under the green-wood tree.

Next day did many widows come,
Their husbands to bewail;
They wash'd their wounds in brinish tears,
But all would not prevail.220

Their bodies, bath'd in purple blood,
They bore with them away:
They kiss'd them dead a thousand times,
When they were clad in clay.

This news was brought to Edinburgh,225
Where Scotland's king did reign,
That brave Earl Douglas suddenly
Was with an arrow slain.

"O heavy news," King James did say;
"Scotland can witness be,230
I have not any captain more
Of such account as he."

Like tidings to King Henry came,
Within as short a space,
That Piercy of Northumberland235
Was slaine in Chevy-Chace.

"Now God be with him," said our king,
"Sith 't will no better be;
I trust I have within my realm
Five hundred as good as he.240

"Yet shall not Scot nor Scotland say,
But I will vengeance take,
And be revenged on them all,
For brave Earl Piercy's sake."

This vow full well the king perform'd,245
After, on Humbledown;
In one day, fifty knights were slain,
With lords of great renown.

And of the rest, of small account,
Did many thousands dye:250
Thus endeth the hunting of Chevy-Chace,
Made by the Earl Piercy.

God save the king, and bless the land
In plenty, joy, and peace;
And grant henceforth, that foul debate255
'Twixt noblemen may cease!

62. since.—O. B.123. Percy has lions wood.137. To.187. Sc. the Curfew bell, usually rung at eight o'clock; to which the modernizer apparently alludes, instead of the "Evensong bell," or bell for vespers of the original author, before the Reformation.—Percy.198. "I, as one in deep concern, must lament." The construction here has generally been misunderstood.—P.

This phrase may help us to determine the date of the authorship of the ballad. "Doleful dumps" suggested nothing ludicrous to a writer of the age of Elizabeth, but not long after became burlesque. The observation is Percy's.220. They.—O. B.

---

SIR ANDREW BARTON.

From Percy's Reliques, ii. 193.

"The transactions which did the greatest honour to the Earl of Surrey and his family at this time [A. D. 1511], was their behaviour in the case of Barton, a Scotch sea-officer. This gentleman's father having suffered by sea from the Portuguese, he had obtained letters of marque for his two sons to make reprisals upon the subjects of Portugal. It is extremely probable, that the court of Scotland granted these letters with no very honest intention. The council-board of England, at which the Earl of Surrey held the chief place, was daily pestered with complaints from the sailors and merchants, that Barton, who was called Sir Andrew Barton, under pretence of searching for Portuguese goods, interrupted the English navigation. Henry's situation at that time rendered him backward from breaking with Scotland, so that their complaints were but coldly received. The Earl of Surrey, however, could not smother his indignation, but gallantly declared at the council-board, that while he had an estate that could furnish out a ship, or a son that was capable of commanding one, the narrow seas should not be infested.

"Sir Andrew Barton, who commanded the two Scotch ships, had the reputation of being one of the ablest sea officers of his time. By his depredations, he had amassed great wealth, and his ships were very richly laden. Henry, notwithstanding his situation, could not refuse the generous offer made by the Earl of Surrey. Two ships were immediately fitted out, and put to sea with letters of marque, under his two sons, Sir Thomas and Sir Edward Howard. After encountering a great deal of foul weather, Sir Thomas came up with the Lion, which was commanded by Sir Andrew Barton in person; and Sir Edward came up with the Union, Barton's other ship [called by Hall, the Bark of Scotland]. The engagement which ensued was extremely obstinate on both sides; but at last the fortune of the Howards prevailed. Sir Andrew was killed, fighting bravely, and encouraging his men with his whistle, to hold out to the last; and the two Scotch ships, with their crews, were carried into the River Thames [Aug. 2, 1511]." (Guthrie's Peerage, as quoted by Percy.)

An old copy in the precious Manuscript furnished the foundation for Percy's edition of this noble ballad. The editor states that the text of the original was so incorrect as to require emendations from black-letter copies and from conjecture. These emendations, where they are noted, we have for the most part disregarded. We would fain believe that nothing except a defect in the manuscript could have reconciled the Bishop to adopting the four lines with which the ballad now begins.

The common, or black-letter copies, are somewhat abridged as well as modernized. One of these is given in the Appendix.

THE FIRST PART.

When Flora with her fragrant flowers
Bedeckt the earth so trim and gaye,
And Neptune with his daintye showers
Came to present the monthe of Maye,
King Henrye rode to take the ayre,5
Over the river of Thames past hee;
When eighty merchants of London came,
And downe they knelt upon their knee.

"O yee are welcome, rich merchÀnts,
Good saylors, welcome unto mee:"10
They swore by the rood, they were saylors good,
But rich merchÀnts they cold not bee.
"To France nor Flanders dare we pass,
Nor Bordeaux voyage dare we fare;
And all for a robber that lyes on the seas,15
Who robbs us of our merchant ware."

King Henrye frownd, and turned him rounde,
And swore by the Lord that was mickle of might,
"I thought he had not beene in the world,
Durst have wrought England such unright."20
The merchants sighed, and said, "Alas!"
And thus they did their answer frame;
"He is a proud Scott, that robbs on the seas,
And Sir Andrewe Barton is his name."

The king lookt over his left shoulder,25
And an angrye look then looked hee;
"Have I never a lorde in all my realme,
Will feitch yond traytor unto mee?"
"Yea, that dare I," Lord Charles Howard sayes;
"Yea, that dare I, with heart and hand;30
If it please your grace to give me leave,
Myselfe will be the only man."

"Thou art but yong," the kyng replyed,
"Yond Scott hath numbred manye a yeare:"
"Trust me, my liege, Ile make him quail,35
Or before my prince I will never appeare."
"Then bowemen and gunners thou shalt have,
And chuse them over my realme so free;
Besides good mariners, and shipp-boyes,
To guide the great shipp on the sea."40

The first man that Lord Howard chose,
Was the ablest gunner in all the realm,
Thoughe he was threescore yeeres and ten;
Good Peter Simon was his name.
"Peter," sais hee, "I must to the sea,45
To bring home a traytor live or dead;
Before all others I have chosen thee,
Of a hundred gunners to be the head."

"If you, my lord, have chosen mee
Of a hundred gunners to be the head,50
Then hang me up on your maine-mast tree,
If I misse my marke one shilling bread."
My lord then chose a boweman rare,
Whose active hands had gained fame;
In Yorkshire was this gentleman borne,55
And William Horseley was his name.

"Horsley," sayd he, "I must with speede
Go seeke a traytor on the sea,
And now of a hundred bowemen brave
To be the head I have chosen thee."60
"If you," quoth hee, "have chosen mee
Of a hundred bowemen to be the head,
On your main-mast Ile hanged bee,
If I miss twelvescore one penny bread."

With pikes, and gunnes, and bowemen bold,65
This noble Howard is gone to the sea;
With a valyant heart and a pleasant cheare,
Out at Thames mouth sayled he.
And days he scant had sayled three,
Upon the journey he tooke in hand,70
But there he mett with a noble shipp,
And stoutely made itt stay and stand.

"Thou must tell me," Lord Howard said,
"Now who thou art, and what's thy name;
And shewe me where thy dwelling is,75
And whither bound, and whence thou came."
"My name is Henry Hunt," quoth hee,
With a heavye heart, and a carefull mind;
"I and my shipp doe both belong
To the Newcastle that stands upon Tyne."80

"Hast thou not heard, nowe, Henrye Hunt,
As thou hast sayled by daye and by night,
Of a Scottish robber on the seas;
Men call him Sir Andrew Barton, knight?"
Then ever he sighed, and sayd "Alas!"85
With a grieved mind, and well-away,
"But over-well I knowe that wight;
I was his prisoner yesterday.

"As I was sayling uppon the sea,
A Burdeaux voyage for to fare,90
To his hach-borde he clasped me,
And robd me of all my merchant ware.
And mickle debts, God wot, I owe,
And every man will have his owne,
And I am nowe to London bounde,95
Of our gracious king to beg a boone."

"That shall not need," Lord Howard sais;
"Lett me but once that robber see,
For every penny tane thee froe
It shall be doubled shillings three."100
"Nowe Gode forefend," the merchant said,
"That you shold seek soe far amisse!
God keepe you out of that traitors hands!
Full litle ye wott what a man hee is.

"Hee is brasse within, and steele without,105
With beames on his topcastle stronge;
And eighteen pieces of ordinance
He carries on each side along.
And he hath a pinnace deerlye dight,
St. Andrewes crosse, that is his guide;110
His pinnace beareth ninescore men,
And fifteen canons on each side.

"Were ye twentye shippes, and he but one,
I sweare by kirke, and bower, and hall,
He wold overcome them everye one,115
If once his beames they doe downe fall."
"This is cold comfort," sais my lord,
"To wellcome a stranger thus to the sea:
Yet Ile bring him and his shipp to shore,
Or to Scotland hee shall carrye mee."120

"Then a noble gunner you must have,
And he must aim well with his ee,
And sinke his pinnace into the sea,
Or else hee never orecome will bee.
And if you chance his shipp to borde,125
This counsel I must give withall,
Let no man to his topcastle goe
To strive to let his beams downe fall.

"And seven pieces of ordinance,
I pray your honour lend to mee,130
On each side of my shipp along,
And I will lead you on the sea.
A glasse Ile sett, that may be seene,
Whether you sayle by day or night;
And to-morrowe, I sweare, by nine of the clocke,
You shall meet with Sir Andrewe Barton, knight."135

1-4. from the printed copy.54. from the printed copy.91. The MS. has here archborde, but in Part II. v. 5, hachebord.115. It should seem from hence, that before our marine artillery was brought to its present perfection, some naval commanders had recourse to instruments or machines, similar in use, though perhaps unlike in construction, to the heavy Dolphins made of lead or iron used by the ancient Greeks; which they suspended from beams or yards fastened to the mast, and which they precipitately let fall on the enemies' ships, in order to sink them, by beating holes through the bottoms of their undecked triremes, or otherwise damaging them.—Percy.

THE SECOND PART.

The merchant sett my lorde a glasse,
Soe well apparent in his sight,
And on the morrowe, by nine of the clocke,
He shewed him Sir Andrewe Barton, knight.
His hachebord it was hached with gold,5
Soe deerlye dight it dazzled the ee;
"Nowe by my faith," Lord Howarde sais,
"This is a gallant sight to see.

"Take in your ancyents, standards eke,
So close that no man may them see;10
And put me forth a white willowe wand,
As merchants use to sayle the sea."
But they stirred neither top nor mast;
Stoutly they past Sir Andrew by;
"What English churles are yonder," he sayd,15
"That can soe litle curtesye?

"Now by the roode, three yeares and more
I have been admirall over the sea,
And never an English nor Portingall
Without my leave can passe this way."20
Then called he forth his stout pinnÀce;
"Fetch backe yond pedlars nowe to mee:
I sweare by the masse, yon English churles
Shall all hang att my maine-mast tree."

With that the pinnace itt shott off;25
Full well Lord Howard might it ken;
For itt stroke down my lord's fore-mast,
And killed fourteen of his men.
"Come hither, Simon," sayes my lord,
"Looke that thy word be true, thou said;30
For at my main-mast thou shalt hang,
If thou misse thy marke one shilling bread."

Simon was old, but his heart itt was bold;
His ordinance he laid right lowe,
He put in chaine full nine yardes long,35
With other great shott, lesse and moe,
And he lette goe his great gunnes shott;
Soe well he settled itt with his ee,
The first sight that Sir Andrew sawe,
He see his pinnace sunke in the sea.40

And when he saw his pinnace sunke,
Lord, how his heart with rage did swell!
"Nowe cutt my ropes, itt is time to be gon;
Ile fetch yond pedlars backe mysell."
When my lord sawe Sir Andrewe loose,45
Within his heart hee was full faine;
"Nowe spread your ancyents, strike up drummes,
Sound all your trumpetts out amaine."

"Fight on, my men," Sir Andrewe sais,
"Weale, howsoever this geere will sway;50
Itt is my lord admirall of EnglÀnd,
Is come to seeke mee on the sea."
Simon had a sonne, who shott right well,
That did Sir Andrewe mickle scare;
In att his decke he gave a shott,55
Killed threescore of his men of warre.

Then Henrye Hunt, with rigour hott,
Came bravely on the other side;
Soone he drove downe his fore-mast tree,
And killed fourscore men beside.60
"Nowe, out alas!" Sir Andrewe cryed,
"What may a man now thinke or say?
Yonder merchant theefe, that pierceth mee,
He was my prisoner yesterday.

"Come hither to me, thou Gordon good,65
That aye wast readye att my call;
I will give thee three hundred pounds,
If thou wilt let my beames downe fall."
Lord Howard hee then calld in haste,
"Horselye, see thou be true in stead;70
For thou shalt at the maine-mast hang,
If thou misse twelvescore one penny bread."

Then Gordon swarved the maine-mast tree,
He swarved it with might and maine;
But Horseley with a bearing arrowe,75
Stroke the Gordon through the braine;
And he fell unto the haches again,
And sore his deadlye wounde did bleede:
Then word went through Sir Andrews men,
How that the Gordon hee was dead.80

"Come hither to mee, James Hambilton,
Thou art my only sisters sonne;
If thou wilt let my beames downe fall,
Six hundred nobles thou hast wonne."
With that he swarved the main-mast tree,85
He swarved it with nimble art;
But Horseley with a broad arrowe
Pierced the Hambilton thorough the heart.

And downe he fell upon the deck,
That with his blood did streame amaine:90
Then every Scott cryed, "Well-away!
Alas a comelye youth is slaine!"
All woe begone was Sir Andrew then,
With griefe and rage his heart did swell;
"Go fetch me forth my armour of proofe,95
For I will to the topcastle mysell.

"Goe fetch me forth my armour of proofe,
That gilded is with gold soe cleare;
God be with my brother John of Barton!
Against the Portingalls hee it ware.100
And when he had on this armour of proofe,
He was a gallant sight to see;
Ah! nere didst thou meet with living wight,
My deere brothÈr, could cope with thee."

"Come hither, Horseley," sayes my lord,105
"And looke your shaft that itt goe right;
Shoot a good shoote in time of need,
And for it thou shalt be made a knight."
"Ile shoot my best," quoth Horseley then,109
"Your honour shall see, with might and maine;
But if I were hanged at your maine-mast,
I have now left but arrowes twaine."

Sir Andrew he did swarve the tree,
With right good will he swarved then,
Upon his breast did Horseley hitt,115
But the arrow bounded back agen.
Then Horseley spyed a privye place,
With a perfect eye, in a secrette part;
Under the spole of his right arme
He smote Sir Andrew to the heart.120

"Fight on, my men," Sir Andrew sayes,
"A little Ime hurt, but yett not slaine;
Ile but lye downe and bleede a while,
And then Ile rise and fight againe.
Fight on, my men," Sir Andrew sayes,125
"And never flinche before the foe;
And stand fast by St. Andrewes crosse,
Untill you heare my whistle blowe."

They never heard his whistle blow,
Which made their hearts waxe sore adread:130
Then Horseley sayd, "Aboard, my lord,
For well I wott Sir Andrew's dead."
They boarded then his noble shipp,
They boarded it with might and maine;
Eighteen score Scots alive they found,135
The rest were either maimed or slaine.

Lord Howard tooke a sword in hand,
And off he smote Sir Andrewes head;
"I must have left England many a daye,
If thou wert alive as thou art dead."140
He caused his body to be cast
Over the hatchbord into the sea,
And about his middle three hundred crownes:
"Wherever thou land, this will bury thee."

Thus from the warres Lord Howard came,145
And backe he sayled ore the maine;
With mickle joy and triumphÌng
Into Thames mouth he came againe.
Lord Howard then a letter wrote,
And sealed it with seale and ring;150
"Such a noble prize have I brought to your grace
As never did subject to a king.

"Sir Andrewes shipp I bring with mee,
A braver shipp was never none;
Nowe hath your grace two shipps of warr,155
Before in England was but one."
King Henryes grace with royall cheere
Welcomed the noble Howard home;
"And where," said he, "is this rover stout,
That I myselfe may give the doome?"160

"The rover, he is safe, my leige,
Full many a fadom in the sea;
If he were alive as he is dead,
I must have left England many a day.
And your grace may thank four men i' the ship165
For the victory wee have wonne;
These are William Horseley, Henry Hunt,
And Peter Simon, and his sonne."

"To Henry Hunt," the king then sayd,
"In lieu of what was from thee tane,170
A noble a day now thou shalt have,
Sir Andrewes jewels and his chayne.
And Horseley thou shalt be a knight,
And lands and livings shalt have store;
Howard shall be Erle Surrye hight,175
As Howards erst have beene before.

"Nowe, Peter Simon, thou art old,
I will maintaine thee and thy sonne;
And the men shall have five hundred markes
For the good service they have done."180
Then in came the queene with ladyes fair,
To see Sir Andrewe Barton, knight;
They weend that hee were brought on shore,
And thought to have seen a gallant sight.

But when they see his deadlye face,185
And eyes soe hollow in his head,
"I wold give," quoth the king, "a thousand markes,
This man were alive as hee is dead.
Yett for the manfull part hee playd,
Which fought soe well with heart and hand,190
His men shall have twelvepence a day,
Till they come to my brother kings high land."

13. i.e. did not salute.84. pounds. MS.121-4. This stanza occurs also in Johnie Armstrang, vol. vi. p. 44.156. That is the Great Harry, built in 1504, at an expense of fourteen thousand pounds. "She was," says Hume, "properly speaking, the first ship in the English navy. Before this period, when the prince wanted a fleet, he had no other expedient than hiring or pressing ships from the merchants."175-6.... Erle of Nottingham, And soe was never, &c. MS.

FLODDEN FIELD.

From Ritson's Ancient Songs, ii. 70.

"The battle of Flodden, in Northumberland, was fought the 9th of September, 1513, being the fifth year of King Henry the Eighth (who, with a great army, was then before Terouen in France), between Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, commander-in-chief of the English forces, and James the Fourth, King of Scots, with an inferior army of 15,000 men, who were entirely routed with great slaughter, their heroic sovereign being left dead upon the field.

"The following ballad may possibly be as ancient as any thing we have on the subject. It is given from The most pleasant and delectible history of John Winchcomb, otherwise called Jack of Newberry, written by Thomas Deloney, who thus speaks of it: 'In disgrace of the Scots, and in remembrance of the famous atchieved victory, the commons of England made this song, which to this day is not forgotten of many.'"

This ballad is very evidently not the work of Deloney, but derived by him from tradition.

There is a piece called Flodden Field in Herd's Scottish Songs, i. 86. It is made up of certain ridiculous anonymous verses, and of the stanzas written by Miss Jane Elliot and by Mrs. Cockburn to the old air The Flowers of the Forest,—"I've heard them lilting," and "I've seen the smiling." The first and last lines of the first stanza of Miss Elliot's verses are from an ancient and now forgotten song.

A lady repeated to Sir Walter Scott another fragment of the original ballad.

Minstrelsy, iii. 333.

QUEEN JEANIE.

Jane Seymour, queen of Henry VIII., died shortly after giving birth to Prince Edward (Oct. 1537). There was a report that the CÆsarian operation had been necessary to effect the delivery, and on this story the present ballad is founded.

There is a woful ditty on this subject in The Crown Garland of Golden Roses, Percy Society, vol. vi. p. 29 (or Collection of Old Ballads, ii. 115). The following piece is popular throughout Scotland. It is taken from Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 116. A fragment had been previously published in Jamieson's Popular Ballads, i. 182. We have added another, but imperfect, version from a recent publication.

THE DEATH OF QUEEN JANE.

From Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, edited by Robert Bell, p. 113. Taken down from the singing of a young gipsy girl.

THE MURDER OF THE KING OF SCOTS.

Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, ii. 210.

"The catastrophe of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, the unfortunate husband of Mary Queen of Scots, is the subject of this ballad. It is here related in that partial imperfect manner, in which such an event would naturally strike the subjects of another kingdom, of which he was a native. Henry appears to have been a vain, capricious, worthless young man, of weak understanding, and dissolute morals. But the beauty of his person, and the inexperience of his youth, would dispose mankind to treat him with an indulgence, which the cruelty of his murder would afterwards convert into the most tender pity and regret: and then imagination would not fail to adorn his memory with all those virtues he ought to have possessed.

"Darnley, who had been born and educated in England, was but in his 21st year when he was murdered, Feb. 9, 1567-8. This crime was perpetrated by the Earl of Bothwell, not out of respect to the memory of Riccio, but in order to pave the way for his own marriage with the queen.

"This ballad (printed, with a few corrections, from the Editor's folio MS.) seems to have been written soon after Mary's escape into England in 1568, see v. 65.—It will be remembered, at v. 5, that this princess was Queen Dowager of France, having been first married to Francis II., who died Dec. 4, 1560."—Percy.

THE RISING IN THE NORTH.

Percy's Reliques, i. 285.

The subject of this ballad is the insurrection of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, in the twelfth year of Queen Elizabeth, 1569.

These two noblemen were the leaders of the Catholic party in the North of England, and interested themselves warmly in various projects to restore Mary Stuart to her liberty. When a marriage was proposed between the Duke of Norfolk and the Scottish Queen, they, with many of the first persons in the kingdom, entered zealously into the scheme, having the ulterior view, according to Hume, of placing Mary on the throne of England. Norfolk endeavored to conceal his plans from Elizabeth, until he should form a combination powerful enough to extort her consent, but the Queen received information betimes, and committed the Duke to the Tower. Several of his abettors were also taken into custody, and the two Northern Earls were summoned to appear at court, to answer to the charge of an intended rebellion. They had proceeded too far to trust themselves willingly in the hands of their enraged sovereign, and the summons precipitated them into an insurrection for which they were not prepared. They hastily gathered their followers, and published a manifesto, in which they declared that they maintained an unshaken allegiance to the Queen, and sought only to reËstablish the religion of their ancestors, and to restore the Duke of Norfolk to liberty and to the Queen's favor.

"Their common banner (on which was displayed the cross, together with the five wounds of Christ,) was borne by an ancient gentleman, Richard Norton, Esq., of Norton-Conyers: who with his sons (among whom, Christopher, Marmaduke, and Thomas, are expressly named by Camden) distinguished himself on this occasion. Having entered Durham, they tore the Bible, &c., and caused mass to be said there: they then marched on to Clifford Moor near Wetherbye, where they mustered their men. Their intention was to have proceeded on to York; but, altering their minds, they fell upon Barnard's castle, which Sir George Bowes held out against them for eleven days."—Percy.

The insurgents' army amounted to about six thousand men. The Earl of Sussex, supported by Lord Hunsdon and others, marched against them with seven thousand, and the Earl of Warwick with still greater forces. Before these superior numbers the rebels dispersed without striking a blow. Northumberland fled to the Scots, by whom, as we shall see in the next ballad, he was betrayed to Elizabeth. The Earl of Westmoreland escaped to Flanders, and died there in penury.

Another outbreak following close upon the above was suppressed by Lord Hunsdon. Great cruelties were exercised by the victorious party, no less than eight hundred having, it is said, suffered by the hands of the executioner.

The ballad was printed by Percy from two MS. copies, one of them in the editor's folio collection. "They contained considerable variations, out of which such readings were chosen as seemed most poetical and consonant to history."

"The Fate of the Nortons," we need hardly say, forms the subject of Wordsworth's White Doe of Rylstone.

NORTHUMBERLAND BETRAYED BY DOUGLAS.

Percy's Reliques, i. 295.

The Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, after the dispersion of their forces took refuge with the Scots on the Borders. The Elliots drove them from Liddesdale, and they sought the protection of the Armstrongs in the Debatable Land. Northumberland took up his residence with a man of that tribe called Hector of Harlaw, relying on his plighted faith and on his gratitude for many past favors. By this miscreant the Earl was betrayed for money to the Regent Murray. He was confined in Lochleven Castle until 1572, when he was handed over to Lord Hunsden, and executed at York.

We are assured that this Hector, who had been rich, fell into poverty after his treachery, and became so infamous that "to take Hector's cloak" was a proverb for a man who betrayed his friend.

In Pinkerton's Poems from the Maitland MS. (pp. 219-234) are three bitter invectives on this subject. In one of these we are told that the traitor Eckie of Harlaw said he sold the Earl "to redeem his pledge," that is, says Scott, the pledge which had been exacted from him for his peaceable demeanor.

"The interposal of the Witch-Lady (v. 53)" hath some countenance from history; for, about twenty-five years before, the Lady Jane Douglas, Lady Glamis, sister of the Earl of Angus, and nearly related to Douglas of Lough-leven, had suffered death for the pretended crime of witchcraft; who, it is presumed, is the witch-lady alluded to in verse 133.

"The following is selected (like the former) from two copies, which contained great variations; one of them in the Editor's folio MS. In the other copy some of the stanzas at the beginning of this ballad are nearly the same with what in that MS. are made to begin another ballad on the escape of the Earl of Westmoreland, who got safe into Flanders, and is feigned in the ballad to have undergone a great variety of adventures."—Percy.

59. Of the Earl of Morton, the Regent.—P.78. i. e. Lake of Leven, which hath communication with the sea. Edinburgh was at that time in the hands of the opposite faction.—P.119. The Lord Warden of the East Marches.—P.123. Governor of Berwick.—P.139. Warden of the Middle-march.—P.224. fol. MS. reads land, and has not the following stanza.

KING OF SCOTS AND ANDREW BROWNE.

From Reliques of English Poetry, ii. 217.

"This ballad is a proof of the little intercourse that subsisted between the Scots and English, before the accession of James I. to the crown of England. The tale which is here so circumstantially related, does not appear to have had the least foundation in history, but was probably built upon some confused hearsay report of the tumults in Scotland during the minority of that prince, and of the conspiracies formed by different factions to get possession of his person. It should seem from ver. 97 to have been written during the regency, or at least before the death, of the Earl of Morton, who was condemned and executed June 2, 1581; when James was in his fifteenth year.

"The original copy (preserved in the archives of the Antiquarian Society, London,) is entitled, A new ballad, declaring the great treason conspired against the young king of Scots, and how one Andrew Browne, an English-man, which was the king's chamberlaine, prevented the same. To the tune of Milfield, or els to Green-sleeves. At the end is subjoined the name of the author, W. Elderton. 'Imprinted at London for Yarathe James, dwelling in Newgate Market, over against Ch. Church,' in black-letter folio."—Percy.

This ballad was licensed to James on the 30th of May, 1581.

MARY AMBREE.

Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, ii. 230.

"In the year 1584, the Spaniards, under the command of Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, began to gain great advantages in Flanders and Brabant, by recovering many strongholds and cities from the Hollanders, as Ghent (called then by the English Gaunt), Antwerp, Mechlin, &c. See Stow's Annals, p. 711. Some attempt made with the assistance of English volunteers to retrieve the former of those places, probably gave occasion to this ballad. I can find no mention of our heroine in history, but the following rhymes rendered her famous among our poets. Ben Jonson often mentions her, and calls any remarkable virago by her name. See his Epic[oe]ne, first acted in 1609, Act 4, sc. 2: his Tale of a Tub, Act 4, sc. 4: and his masque entitled The Fortunate Isles, 1626, where he quotes the very words of the ballad,

She is also mentioned in Fletcher's Scornful Lady, Act 5, sub finem.

"This ballad is printed from a black-letter copy in the Pepys Collection, improved from the Editor's folio MS., and by conjecture. The full title is, "The valourous acts performed at Gaunt by the brave bonnie lass Mary Ambree, who, in revenge of her lovers death, did play her part most gallantly". The tune is, The blind beggar, &c."—Percy.

BRAVE LORD WILLOUGHBEY.

Percy's Reliques, ii. 235.

"Peregrine Bertie, Lord Willoughby of Eresby, had, in the year 1586, distinguished himself at the siege of Zutphen, in the Low Countries. He was the year after made general of the English forces in the United Provinces, in room of the Earl of Leicester, who was recalled. This gave him an opportunity of signalizing his courage and military skill in several actions against the Spaniards. One of these, greatly exaggerated by popular report, is probably the subject of this old ballad, which, on account of its flattering encomiums on English valour, hath always been a favourite with the people.

"Lord Willoughbie died in 1601.—Both Norris and Turner were famous among the military men of that age.

"The subject of this ballad (which is printed from an old black-letter copy, with some conjectural emendations) may possibly receive illustration from what Chapman says in the dedication to his version of Homer's Frogs and Mice, concerning the brave and memorable retreat of Sir John Norris, with only 1000 men, through the whole Spanish army, under the Duke of Parma, for three miles together." Percy.

Lord Willoughby was son of that Duchess of Suffolk, whose extraordinary adventures, while in exile on the continent during the reign of Queen Mary, are the subject of an often-printed ballad called the Duchess of Suffolk's Calamity. See Strange Histories, Percy Society, iii. 17, and the Appendix to this volume.

THE BONNY EARL OF MURRAY.

From The Tea-Table Miscellany, ii. 188.

In consequence of a suspicion that the Earl of Murray had been party to an attempt of his cousin, the notorious Bothwell, against the person of the King (James VI.), a commission was issued for bringing Murray before the sovereign for examination. The arrest was inconsiderately entrusted to the Earl of Huntly, Murray's mortal enemy. The young earl was at that time peacefully residing at Dunnibirsel, the house of his mother, Lady Downe. Huntly surrounded the place and summoned the inmates to surrender, and the demand not being complied with, set fire to the mansion. Murray escaped from the flames, but was overtaken by his foes and savagely slain. The event took place on the night of the 7th of February, 1592.

The youth, beauty, and accomplishments of the victim of this outrage made him a favourite with the people, and there was a universal clamor for revenge. On the 10th of the month, proclamation was made for all noblemen and barons, in a great number of shires, to rise in arms, to join the King for the pursuit of the Earl of Huntly, who, however, surrendered himself, and was dismissed, on security for his appearance to answer for the crime. The moderation of James gave rise to a scandalous report, that the king countenanced the murderer, out of jealousy for the favor with which the bonny earl was regarded by the Queen.

The ballad of Young Waters (vol. iii. p. 89) has, without convincing reasons, been supposed to be founded on the story of the Earl of Murray.

The first of the two pieces which follow is from Ramsay's Tea-Table Miscellany. The second, which may perhaps be a part of the same ballad, was first printed in Finlay's collection.

THE BONNIE EARL O' MURRAY.

From Finlay's Scottish Ballads, ii. 21.

THE WINNING OF CALES.

This is one of many exulting effusions which were called forth by the taking of Cadiz (vulgarly called Cales). The town was captured on the 21st of June, 1596, the Earl of Effingham being high-admiral of the fleet, and Essex general of the land forces. Sir W. Raleigh, Lord Thomas Howard, and other distinguished soldiers had commands in the expedition. The praise here bestowed on Essex's humanity was richly deserved, and the booty taken by the conquerors is not exaggerated. The whole loss of the Spaniards, in their city and their fleet, was estimated at twenty millions of ducats.

We give this ballad from Deloney's Garland of Good Will, as reprinted by the Percy Society, vol. xxx. p. 113. The copy in the Reliques (ii. 241), which was corrected by the editor, differs but slightly from the present.

SIR JOHN SUCKLING'S CAMPAIGN.

"When the Scottish Covenanters rose up in arms, and advanced to the English borders in 1639, many of the courtiers complimented the king by raising forces at their own expense. Among these none were more distinguished than the gallant Sir John Suckling, who raised a troop of horse, so richly accoutred, that it cost him 12,000l. The like expensive equipment of other parts of the army made the king remark, that "the Scots would fight stoutly, if it were but for the Englishmen's fine cloaths." When they came to action, the rugged Scots proved more than a match for the fine showy English: many of whom behaved remarkably ill, and among the rest this splendid troop of Sir John Suckling's." Percy.

This scoffing ballad, sometimes attributed to Suckling himself, is taken from the Musarum DeliciÆ of Sir John Mennis and Dr. James Smith (p. 81 of the reprint, Upon Sir John Sucklings most warlike preparations for the Scotish warre). The former is said by Wood to have been the author. Percy's copy (Reliques, ii. 341) has one or two different readings.—The first stanza is a parody on John Dory.

15.

Percy.22. John de Wert was a German general of reputation, and the terror of the French in the reign of Louis XIII. Hence his name became proverbial in France, where he was called De Vert. Percy.

THE BATTLE OF PHILIPHAUGH.

From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, ii. 177.

By a rapid series of extraordinary victories, (see The Haws of Cromdale, and The Battle of Alford in the Appendix,) Montrose had subdued Scotland to the royal arms, from the Grampians to Edinburgh. After taking possession of the capital, he marched forward to the frontiers, with the intention of completing the subjugation of the southern provinces, and even of leading his wild array into England to the support of King Charles. Having traversed the Border, and strengthened his army (greatly diminished by the departure of the Irish and many of the Highlanders) with some small reinforcements, Montrose encamped on the 12th of September, 1645, at Philiphaugh, a large plain, separated by the river Ettrick from the town of Selkirk, and extending in an easterly direction from a wooded hill, called the Harehead-wood, to a high ground which forms the banks of the river Tweed. Here the infantry were very conveniently disposed, while the general took up his quarters with all his cavalry at Selkirk, thus interposing a river between his horse and foot. This extraordinary error, whether rashness or oversight, was destined to be severely expiated. The very next morning, the Covenanters, under General David Lesly, recalled from England by the danger threatened their cause by the victories of Montrose, crossed the Ettrick and fell on the encampment of the infantry, unperceived by a single scout. A hopeless discomfiture was the natural consequence. Montrose, roused by the firing, arrived with a few of his cavalry too late to redeem the day, and beheld his army slaughtered, or scattered in a retreat in which he was himself fain to join. The fruit of all his victories was lost in this defeat, and he was never again able to make head in Scotland against the Covenanters.

The following ballad was first printed by Sir Walter Scott, with prefatory remarks which we have here abridged. It is preserved by tradition in Selkirkshire, and coincides closely with historical fact.

THE GALLANT GRAHAMS.

From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, ii. 187

In this lament for the melancholy fate of Montrose and his heroic companions, it was clearly the humble minstrel's aim to sketch the chief incidents in the great Marquis's career as the champion and the martyr of Royalty. The derangements and omissions which may be found in the verses as they now stand are but the natural effects of time. The ballad was first published in Scott's Minstrelsy, as obtained from tradition, with enlargements and corrections from an old printed copy (entitled The Gallant Grahams of Scotland) furnished by Ritson.

The summer following the rout at Philiphaugh, King Charles committed himself to the treacherous protection of the Presbyterians. They required of him that his faithful lieutenant should at once disband his forces and leave the country. During three years of exile, Montrose resided at various foreign courts, either quite inactive, or cultivating the friendship of the continental sovereigns, by whom he was overwhelmed with attentions and honors. The execution of the King drew from him a solemn oath "before God, angels, and men," that he would devote the rest of his life to the avenging the death of his master and reËstablishing his son on the throne. He received from Charles II. a renewal of his commission as Captain-General in Scotland, and while Charles was treating with the Commissioners of the Estates concerning his restoration (negotiations which Montrose regarded with no favor), set out for the Orkneys with a few hundred men, mostly Germans. His coming, even with this feeble band, struck a great terror into the Estates, and Lesly was ordered to march against him with four thousand men. Destitute of horse to bring him intelligence, Montrose was surprised at Corbiesdale, on the confines of Ross-shire, by a body of Covenanting cavalry under Colonel Strachan, which had been sent forward to check his progress. The whole of his little army was destroyed or made prisoners. Montrose escaped from the field after a desperate resistance, and finally gave himself up to Macleod of Assaint, who sold him to his enemies for four hundred bolls of meal!

"He was tried," says Scott, "for what was termed treason against the Estates of the Kingdom; and, despite the commission of Charles for his proceedings, he was condemned to die by a Parliament who acknowledged Charles to be their king, and whom, on that account only, Montrose acknowledged to be a Parliament."

(See Scott's Minstrelsy, Hume, ch. lx., and Napier's Montrose and the Covenanters.)

THE BATTLE OF LOUDON HILL.

Graham of Claverhouse and Balfour of Kinloch, commonly called Burly, the principal persons mentioned in this ballad, are characters well known to the readers of Old Mortality, in the earlier chapters of which the skirmish at Loudon Hill is described.

A few weeks after the memorable assassination of Archbishop Sharpe, Robert Hamilton, a fierce Cameronian, Burly, and a few others of the proscribed "Westlan' men" resolved to take up arms against the government. They began their demonstrations by entering the royal burgh of Rutherglen, on the 29th of May, 1679 (which, as the anniversary of the Restoration, was appointed by Parliament to be kept as a holyday) extinguishing the bonfires made in honor of the occasion, and burning at the cross certain acts in favor of Prelacy and for the suppression of Conventicles. After this exploit, and affixing to the cross a solemn protest against the obnoxious acts, they encamped at Loudon Hill, being by this time increased to the number of five or six hundred men. Claverhouse was in garrison at Glasgow, and immediately marched against the insurgents, with about a hundred and fifty cavalry. Hamilton, the commander of the Whigs, had skilfully posted his men in a boggy strait with a broad ditch in front, and the dragoons in attempting to charge were thrown into utter disorder. At this critical moment they were vigorously attacked by the rebels and easily routed. Claverhouse barely escaped being taken prisoner, and lost some twenty of his troopers, among them his cornet, Robert Graham, whose fate is alluded to in the ballad. Burly, though not the captain, was a prominent leader in this action. See Scott's Minstrelsy, vol. ii. 206, et seq.

THE BATTLE OE BOTHWELL BRIDGE.

From Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, ii. 237.

The success of the Cameronians at Loudon Hill induced a considerable number of the moderate Presbyterians to join the army of the insurgents. But though increased numbers gave the revolt a more formidable appearance, they cannot be said to have added much to the strength of the rebels, since there was no concert between the two factions, each having its own set of officers, and issuing contrary orders at the same time. An army of ten thousand men under the Duke of Monmouth advanced from Edinburgh against these distracted allies, who, in all not more than four thousand, were encamped near Hamilton, on the western side of the Clyde, and had possession of the bridge between that point and the village of Bothwell. While the Duke was preparing to force a passage, the more moderate of the Whigs offered terms, and while they were debating the Duke's reply, the Cameronians, who bravely defended the bridge, were compelled to abandon their post. The Duke's army then crossed the river without opposition, because the rebels were at that juncture occupied with cashiering their officers and electing new ones. The first discharge of Monmouth's cannon caused the cavalry of the Covenanters to wheel about, and their flight threw the foot into irrecoverable disorder. Four hundred of the rebels were killed, and a body of twelve hundred surrendered at discretion, and were preserved from death by the clemency of the Duke. This action took place on the 22d of June, 1679.

Scott informs us that there were two Gordons of Earlstoun engaged in the rebellion, a father and son. The former was not in the battle, but was met hastening to it by English dragoons, and was killed on his refusing to surrender. The son, who is supposed to be the person mentioned in the ballad, was of the milder Presbyterians, and fought only for freedom of conscience and relief from the tyrannical laws against non-conformists. He escaped from the battle, and after being several times condemned to die, was finally set at liberty, and restored to his forfeited estates.

In this ballad Claverhouse's unsparing pursuit of the fugitives is imputed to a desire to revenge the death of his kinsman at Loudon Hill, and his anger at being thwarted is, with great simplicity, asserted to have led to the execution of Monmouth.

Scott's copy of this ballad was given from recitation. In the First Series of Laing's Fugitive Scottish Poetry, there is an amusingly prosaic Covenanting ditty upon this subject, called Bothwell Lines, and in the Second Series, a Cavalier song, entitled The Battell of Bodwell Bridge, or The Kings Cavileers Triumph.

THE BATTLE OF KILLIECRANKIE.

This battle was fought on the evening of the 27th of July, 1689, a little to the north of the pass of Killiecrankie, in the Highlands of Perthshire, between King William's army under General Mackay, and a body of Highlanders under the renowned Claverhouse, the bravest and most faithful adherent of the house of Stuart. Mackay's troops, which were partly Dutch and partly English, amounted to 4,500 foot and two companies of horse. The Highlanders were not much more than half as numerous. They consisted of the followers of Maclean, Macdonald of Sky, Clanronald, Sir Evan Cameron of Lochiel, and others, with a few Irish. The left wing of Mackay's army was almost instantly routed by a furious charge of the Macleans. The right wing stood their ground manfully, and even repulsed the assault of the Macdonalds, but being taken in flank by the Camerons and a part of the Macleans, they were forced to retire and suffered great loss. While directing the oblique movement of the Camerons, Claverhouse received a mortal wound under the arm, and with him fell the cause of King James.

This ballad, which is taken from Herd's Scottish Songs, i. 163, was printed as a broadside near the time of the battle. The author is unknown. There was an old song called Killiecrankie, which, with some alterations, was inserted in Johnson's Museum (p. 302). It is also found in Hogg's Jacobite Relics, i. 32, with an additional stanza. A contemporary Latin ballad on the same event by Herbert Kennedy, a professor in the University of Edinburgh, is given in the Museum, and may be seen in our Appendix.

17. The Highlanders have only one pronoun, and as it happens to resemble the English her, it has caused the Lowlanders to have a general impression that they mistake the feminine for the masculine gender. It has even become a sort of nickname for them, as in the present case, and in a subsequent verse, (31,) where it is extended to her-nain-sell. Chambers, Scottish Songs, p. 48.

THE BATTLE OF SHERIFF-MUIR.

Fought on the 13th of November, 1715, between the Duke of Argyle, general of the forces of King George the First, and the Earl of Mar, for the Chevalier de St. George. The right wing of both armies, led by the respective commanders, was successful, and the left wing of both was routed. Hence the victory was claimed by both sides. The Chevalier's army was much the larger of the two, and all the advantages of the contest remained with the other party.

This ballad is printed in Herd's Scottish Songs, i. 170, and in many subsequent collections. It is ascribed by Burns to the "Rev. Murdoch M'Lellan, minister of Crathie, Dee-side." Our copy is taken from Hogg's Jacobite Relics, ii. 1, where the stanzas in brackets appear for the first time. The notes are from Chambers's Scottish Songs, p. 408.

There are several other ballads upon this battle: Up and war them a', Willie, Johnson's Museum, p. 195, and (different) Herd's Scottish Songs, ii. 234: From Bogie Side, or, The Marquis's Raide, a false and scurrilous party song, Hogg's Jacobite Relics, ii. 13: A Dialogue between Will Lick-Ladle and Tom Clean-Cogue, &c., written by the Rev. John Barclay of Edinburgh, many years after the event: and The Battle of Sherramoor, altered and abridged by Burns from this last, for Johnson's Museum, (p. 290.) See Appendix.

LORD DERWENTWATER.

James Radcliff, Earl of Derwentwater, fell into the hands of the Whigs at the surrender of Preston, on the very day of the battle of Sheriff-Muir, and suffered death in February, 1716, for his participation in the rebellion. Smollet has described him as an amiable youth,—brave, open, generous, hospitable, and humane. "His fate drew tears from the spectators, and was a great misfortune to the country in which he lived. He gave bread to multitudes of people whom he employed on his estate;—the poor, the widow, and the orphan rejoiced in his bounty." (History of England, quoted by Cromek.) We are told that the aurora borealis was remarkably vivid on the night of the earl's execution, and that this phenomenon is consequently still known in the north by the name of "Lord Derwentwater's Lights."

Although this ballad is said to have been extremely popular in the North of England for a long time after the event which gave rise to it, no good copy has as yet been recovered. The following was obtained by Motherwell (Minstrelsy, p. 349) from the recitation of an old woman. Another copy, also from recitation but "restored to poetical propriety," is given in the Gentleman's Magazine, for June, 1825 (p. 489), and fragments of a third in Notes and Queries, vol. xii. p. 492. Two spurious ballads on the death of Lord Derwentwater have been sometimes received as genuine: one by Allan Cunningham, first published in Cromek's Nithsdale and Galloway Song, p. 129, another (Lord Derwentwater's Goodnight) by Surtees, printed in Hogg's Jacobite Relics, ii. 31. Still another modern imitation is Young Ratcliffe, in Sheldon's Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 401.

There is a ballad on the disgraceful capitulation of Preston in Hogg's Jacobite Relics, ii. 102, also, Northumberland Garland, p. 85, beginning "Mackintosh was a soldier brave."

THE BATTLE OF TRANENT-MUIR, OR OF PRESTON-PANS

Herd's Scottish Songs, i. 166: Ritson's Scotish Songs, ii. 76.

This ballad is the work of Adam Skirving, a clever and opulent farmer, father of Archibald Skirving, the portrait painter. It was printed shortly after the battle as a broadside, and next appeared in The Charmer, vol. ii. p. 349, Edinb. 1751. Neither of those editions contains the eleventh stanza. The foot-notes commonly attached to the subsequent reprints are found in The Charmer. (Laing in Johnson's Museum, iv. 189*.)

To Skirving is also attributed with great probability the excellent satirical song of Johnnie Cope, or Cope are you waking yet. The original words are in Ritson, Scotish Songs, ii. 84: another set at p. 82: a third, with alterations and additions by Burns, in Johnson's Museum, p. 242. Allan Cunningham once heard a peasant boast that he could sing Johnnie Cope with all its nineteen variations. See Appendix.

The battle took place on the 22d of September, 1745, between the villages of Tranent and Prestonpans, a few miles from Edinburgh. The king's lieutenant-general, Sir John Cope, was disgracefully defeated by the Highlanders under Charles Edward, and nearly all his army killed or taken. The details of the conflict are vividly described in the 46th and 47th chapters of Waverley.