Chapter IX: Book I (2)

[Ver. 107. _Jhonstone--Maxwell._] These two families of _Johnstone_ Lord of _Johnston_, and _Maxwell_ Lord of _Maxwell_, were always very powerful on the borders. Of the former family was _Johnston_ Marquis of Annandale: of the latter was _Maxwell_ Earl of Nithsdale. I cannot find that any chief of this family was named Sir _Hugh_; but Sir _Herbert Maxwell_ was about this time much distinguished. (See Doug.) This might have been originally written Sir _H. Maxwell_, and by transcribers converted into Sir _Hugh_. So above, in No. I. v. 90. _Richard_ is contracted into _Ric._

[Ver. 109. _Swintone._] _i. e._ The Laird of _Swintone_; a small village within the Scottish border, 3 miles from Norham. This family still subsists, and is very ancient.

[Ver. 111. _Scotte._] The illustrious family of _Scot_, ancestors of the Duke of Buccleugh, always made a great figure on the borders. Sir _Walter Scot_ was at the head of this family when the battle was fought; but his great-grandson, Sir _David Scot_, was the hero of that house when the ballad was written.

[Ibid. _Stewarde._] The person here designed was probably Sir _Walter Stewart_, Lord of Dalswinton and Gairlies, who was eminent at that time. (See Doug.) From him is descended the present Earl of Galloway.

[Ver. 112. _Agurstonne._] The seat of this family was sometimes subject to the kings of Scotland. Thus _Richardus Haggerstoun, miles_, is one of the Scottish knights who signed a treaty with the English in 1249, temp. Hen. III. (Nicholson, p. 2, note).--It was the fate of many parts of Northumberland often to change their masters, according as the Scottish or English arms prevailed.

[Ver. 129. _Murrey._] The person here meant was probably Sir _Charles Murray_ of Cockpoole, who flourished at that time, and was ancestor of the _Murrays_ sometime Earls of Annandale. See Doug. _Peerage_.

[Ver. 139. _Fitz-hughe._] Dugdale (in his _Baron._ v. i. p. 403) informs us that _John_, son of Henry Lord _Fitzhugh_, was killed at the battle of Otterbourne. This was a Northumberland family. Vid. Dugd. p. 403, col. 1, and Nicholson, pp. 33, 60.

[Ver. 141. _Harbotle._] _Harbottle_ is a village upon the river Coquet, about 10 m. west of Rothbury. The family of _Harbottle_ was once considerable in Northumberland. (See Fuller, pp. 312, 313.) A daughter of _Guischard Harbottle_, Esq., married Sir _Thomas Percy_, Knt., son of _Henry_ the fifth,--and father of _Thomas_ seventh, Earls of Northumberland.

FOOTNOTES:

[212] Froissart speaks of both parties (consisting in all of more than 40,000 men) as entering England at the same time: but the greater part by way of Carlisle.

[213] And, according to the ballad, that part of Northumberland called Bamboroughshire; a large tract of land so named from the town and castle of Bamborough; formerly the residence of the Northumbrian kings.

[214] This circumstance is omitted in the ballad. Hotspur and Douglas were two young warriors much of the same age.

[215] Froissart says the English exceeded the Scots in number three to one, but that these had the advantage of the ground, and were also fresh from sleep, while the English were greatly fatigued with their previous march.

[216] By Henry L. Percy, according to this ballad, and our old English historians, as Stow, Speed, &c., but borne down by numbers, if we may believe Froissart.

[217] Hotspur (after a very sharp conflict) was taken prisoner by John, Lord Montgomery, whose eldest son, Sir Hugh, was slain in the same action with an arrow, according to Crawford's _Peerage_ (and seems also to be alluded to in the foregoing ballad, p. 31), but taken prisoner and exchanged for Hotspur, according to this ballad.

[218] Froissart (according to the English translation) says he had his account from two squires of England, and from a knight and squire of Scotland, soon after the battle.

[219] So in Langham's _Letter concerning Queen Elizabeth's entertainment at Killingworth Castle_, 1575, 12°. p. 61. "Heer was no ho in devout drinkyng."

[220] _i. e._ They scorn to take the advantage, or to keep them lingering in long captivity.

[221] The notice of this MS. I must acknowledge with many other obligations, owing to the friendship of _Thomas Tyrwhitt_, Esq., late Clerk of the House of Commons.

[222] Ver. 2. _winn their heaye. Harl. MS._ This is the Northumberland phrase to this day: by which they always express "getting in their hay."

[223] [prepared.]

[224] [earl.]

[225] _Robert Stuart_, second son of K. _Robert II._

[226] _i. e._ "over Solway frith." This evidently refers to the other division of the Scottish army, which came in by way of Carlisle. _Bowynd_, or _Bounde him_; _i. e._ hied him.

[227] _They_: 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. It lies south-east of Ottercap, and has, within these few years, been distinguished by a small tower erected by Sir Walter Blacket, Bart., which in _Armstrong's_ map of Northumberland is pompously called _Rodely-castle_. _Green Leyton_ is another small village in the same parish of Hartburn, and is south-east of Rodeley. Both the original MSS. read here corruptly, _Hoppertop_ and _Lynton_.

[228] [stirring.]

[229] V. 12. This line is corrupt in both the MSS., viz. "_Many a_ _styrande stage_." Stags have been killed within the present century on some of the large wastes in Northumberland.

[230] [burnt.]

[231] [pillaged.]

[232] [wrong.]

[233] [ready.]

[234] [man.]

[235] [field.]

[236] [advise.]

[237] [stoutly.]

[238] _Marche-man_, _i. e._ a scourer of the marches.

[239] [aloud.]

[240] [art.]

[241] Ver. 39. _Syne_ seems here to mean _since_.

[242] [regrets.]

[243] [injury.]

[244] [the one.]

[245] Otterbourn is near the old Watling Street road, in the parish of Elsdon. The Scots were encamped in a grassy plain near the river _Read_. The place where the Scots and English fought, is still called Battle Riggs.

[246] [roe.]

[247] Ver. 53. _Roe-bucks_ were to be found upon the wastes not far from Hexham in the reign of Geo. I.--Whitfield, Esq., of Whitfield, is said to have destroyed the last of them.

[248] [falcon and pheasant.]

[249] [woods on high.]

[250] V. 56. _hye_, MSS.

[251] [come unto thee.]

[252] [truth.]

[253] [pitched.]

[254] [booty.]

[255] [then.]

[256] [hovered.]

[257] Ver. 77. _upon the best bent._ MS.

[258] [spy.]

[259] [aware.]

[260] [spurred.]

[261] [enthroned.]

[262] [joy.]

[263] [broad.]

[264] [strong.]

[265] [force.]

[266] [peace.]

[267] The Earl of Menteith.

[268] [uncle.]

[269] [van.]

[270] [cautious.]

[271] The Lord Buchan.

[272] [ready.]

[273] Ver. 1, 13. _Pearcy_, all MSS.

[274] [promised or engaged.]

[275] V. 4. I will hold to what I have promised.

[276] Ver. 10. _hye_, MSS.

[277] He probably magnifies his strength to induce him to surrender.

[278] V. 11. _the one_, MS.

[279] All that follows, included in brackets, was not in the first edition.

[280] [let go.]

[281] [royal.]

[282] [rout.]

[283] [deceive.]

[284] [eye.]

[285] [break my word.]

[286] [rather.]

[287] [flayed?]

[288] [great maid.]

[289] [reward.]

[290] [commit himself to God by a sign.]

[291] [say to you.]

[292] The ancient arms of Douglas are pretty accurately emblazoned in the former stanza, and if the readings were, _The crowned harte_, and _Above stode starres thre_, it would be minutely exact at this day. As for the Percy family, one of their ancient badges of cognizances was a _whyte lyon_ statant, and the _silver crescent_ continues to be used by them to this day. They also give _three luces argent_ for one of their quarters.

[293] _i. e._ the English.

[294] [swapped? _i.e._ smote.]

[295] [Cologne steel.]

[296] [helmets.]

[297] [steam.]

[298] [sword.]

[299] Being all in armour he could not know him.

[300] [guessed.]

[301] [time.]

[302] Ver. 116. slayne. MSS.

[303] [man.]

[304] [fight.]

[305] [each one.]

[306] [endure.]

[307] V. 124, _i.e._ He died that day.

[308] [dreadfully.]

[309] Our old minstrel repeats these names, as Homer and Virgil do those of their heroes:

"----fortemque Gyam, fortemque Cloanthum," &c. &c.

Both the MSS. read here, "_Sir James_," but see above, Pt. I., ver. 112.

[310] [truth.]

[311] Ver. 143. Covelle. MS. For the names in this page, see the remarks at the end of this ballad.

[312] V. 153. one, _i.e._ on.

[313] [mates.]

[314] [fetch.]

[315] sc. captive.

[316] In the Cotton MS. is the following note on ver. 164, in an ancient hand:--

"Syr Hewe Mongomery takyn prizonar, was delyvered for the restorynge of Perssy."

[317] Ver. 165. _Percyes._--_Harl. MS._

[318] [Sir Walter Scott suggests that the person here alluded to was one of the Rutherfords, barons of Edgerstane or Edgerston, who at this time were retainers of the house of Douglas, but in _Chevy Chase_ Sir John of Agerstone was on Percy's side.]

[319] [This is a misreading, as the person intended was a Lumley.]

[320] Sir W. Scott supposes "Sir Raffe the ryche Rugbè" to be Sir Ralph Neville of Raby Castle, son of the first Earl of Westmoreland, and cousin-german to Hotspur. He is called Sir Ralph Raby in the modern version of the ballad.

[321] More probably the Sir David Lambwell of the modern version.

III.

THE JEW'S DAUGHTER,

A SCOTTISH BALLAD,

Is founded upon the supposed practice of the Jews in crucifying or otherwise murdering Christian children, out of hatred to the religion of their parents: a practice which has been always alledged in excuse for the cruelties exercised upon that wretched people, but which probably never happened in a single instance. For, if we consider, on the one hand, the ignorance and superstition of the times when such stories took their rise, the virulent prejudices of the monks who record them, and the eagerness with which they would be catched up by the barbarous populace as a pretence for plunder; on the other hand, the great danger incurred by the perpetrators, and the inadequate motives they could have to excite them to a crime of so much horror; we may reasonably conclude the whole charge to be groundless and malicious.

The following ballad is probably built upon some Italian legend, and bears a great resemblance to the Prioresse's Tale in Chaucer: the poet seems also to have had an eye to the known story of _Hugh of Lincoln_, a child said to have been there murdered by the Jews in the reign of Henry III. The conclusion of this ballad appears to be wanting: what it probably contained may be seen in Chaucer. As for _Mirry-land Toun_, it is probably a corruption of _Milan_ (called by the Dutch _Meylandt_) _Town_: the _Pa_ is evidently the river _Po_; although the Adige, not the Po, runs through Milan.

Printed from a MS. copy sent from Scotland.

* * * * *

[This ballad, which is also known under the title of _Sir Hugh of_
_Lincoln_, was at one time so widely popular that it is preserved
in six different versions, besides fragments, and has originated
a literature of its own. Mons. Francisque Michel discovered a
Norman-French version in the Royal Library at Paris, which is
supposed to date back to the period when the murder of Sir Hugh
was to have been committed. This was first published in the year
1834 under the title, "Hugues de Lincoln: Recueil de Ballades
Anglo-Normande et Ecossoises relatives au meurtre de cet enfant
commis par les Juifs en MCCLV." The Rev. Dr. A. Hume communicated
a very full paper on the subject of the tradition to the Literary
and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, on November 13, 1848,
which is published in the Proceedings (No. 5), and Mr. J. O.
Halliwell printed, in 1849, a small volume containing "Ballads
and Poems respecting Hugh of Lincoln." In the _Athenæum_ for Dec.
15, 1849, there is a condemnatory review of Dr. Hume's work, to
which the reviewer has added some valuable information of his own.
Percy's remark that _Mirry-land town_ is a corruption of Milan
town, and _Pa_ of the river Po, seems far-fetched, as there is
no reason for supposing that the ballad was in any way connected
with Italy. Jamieson's version reads _Merry Lincoln_, and in
Motherwell's the scene is changed to Maitland town. In some parts
of England the ballad has degenerated into a sort of nursery
rhyme, the Northamptonshire version reading "Merry Scotland," and
the Shropshire one, "Merry-cock land." Mr. J. H. Dixon suggests
_mere-land town_, from the mere or fen lakes, and reads wa' for
Pa'. (_Notes and Queries_, 3rd Series, vol. ix. p. 30, note.)

Miss Agnes Strickland communicated the following lines obtained
from oral tradition at Godalming, in Surrey, to Mr. Halliwell, who
printed them in his tract:--

"He toss'd the ball so high, so high,
He toss'd the ball so low;
He toss'd the ball in the Jew's garden,
And the Jews were all below.

"Oh! then out came the Jew's daughter,
She was dressèd all in green:
'Come hither, come hither, my sweet pretty fellow,
And fetch your ball again.'"

The tradition upon which this ballad is founded--that the Jews
use human blood in their preparation for the Passover, and are
in the habit of kidnapping and butchering Christian children
for the purpose--is very widely spread and of great antiquity.
Eisenmenger[322] refers to a case which occurred at Inmestar, in
Syria, so early as the year 419, but the earliest case recorded
as having occurred in Europe is that of William of Norwich,
in 1137. The following is a translation from a passage in the
_Peterborough Chronicle_ (which ends with the death of Stephen
and the accession of Henry the Second), relating to this remarkable
superstition:--"Now we will say something of what happened in King
Stephen's time. In his time the Jews of Norwich bought a Christian
child before Easter, and tortured him with all the same torturing
that our Lord was tortured. And on Good Friday (lang fridæi) they
hanged him on a cross, for our Lord's love; and afterwards buried
him. They thought (wenden) that it should be concealed, but our
Lord showed that he was a holy martyr (mr), and the monks took
him and buried him solemnly in the monastery (minst). And he maketh
through our Lord wonderful and manifold miracles. And he was called
Saint William." Mr. Earle, in his note to this passage,[323] says
that "S. William seems to have retained his celebrity down to the
time of the Reformation, at least in Norfolk. In Loddon church,
which is advanced perpendicular of about 1500, there is a painting
of his crucifixion on a panel of the rood-screen, still in fair
preservation."

St. William's fame, however, was eclipsed in other parts of England
by that of Sir Hugh of Lincoln, whose death was celebrated by
historians and poets. Henry III. being often in want of money, was
glad to take any opportunity of extorting it from the unfortunate
Jews, and in 1255 his exchequer particularly required replenishing
on account of the expected arrival in England of his son Edward's
newly married wife, Eleanor of Castile. In this year a young boy
was murdered, and, opportunely for the king, the crime was charged
to the Jews. It was asserted that the child had been stolen,
fattened on bread and milk for ten days, and crucified with all
the cruelties and insults of Christ's passion, in the presence of
all the Jews in England, who had been summoned to Lincoln for the
purpose. The supposed criminals were brought to justice, and the
king's commission for the trial, and the warrant to sell the goods
of the several Jews who were found guilty, are still preserved.
The Jew into whose house the child had gone to play, tempted by
the promise of his life, made a full confession, and threw the
guilt upon his brethren. Ninety-one Jews of Lincoln were sent
to London as accomplices, and thrown into dungeons. Eighteen of
the richest were hanged on a gallows, and twenty more imprisoned
in the Tower of London. The king was enriched by the spoils, and
the clergy of Lincoln did not lose their opportunity, for the
minster was made famous by the possession of the martyr's tomb.
Dean Milman, in relating these circumstances, says: "Great part
of the story refutes itself, but I have already admitted the
possibility that among the ignorant and fanatic Jews there might
be some who, exasperated by the constant repetition of the charge,
might brood over it so long, as at length to be tempted to its
perpetration."[324] Any such explanation as this, however, does not
seem necessary, for the wide-spread existence of the superstition
goes far to prove the entire falsehood at least of the later cases,
and the story of Sir Hugh was but a revival of that of St. William.
It is worth mentioning, in passing, that this calumny was in fact a
recoil upon the Jews themselves of a weapon they had used against
the Christians. As early as the third century they affirmed that
Christians in celebrating their mysteries used to kill a child and
eat its flesh. Pagans probably learnt the calumny from the Jews,
and also charged the Christians with eating children.

The whole proceedings in the case of Sir Hugh are chronicled by
Matthew Paris, who was in high favour with Henry III., and from
his pages the account is transferred to the Chronicles of Grafton,
Fabyan, and Holinshed. Chaucer most probably consulted the same
source when he included the story in his _Canterbury Tales_,
although he shifts the scene to Asia, and makes his Prioress say,
when ending her tale with a reference to Sir Hugh:--

"O younge Hughe of Lyncoln; slayn also
With cursed Jewes (as it is notable,
For it nys _but a litel while ago_)."

Tyrwhitt, in his edition of Chaucer, notes that he found in the
first four months of the _Acta Sanctorum_ of Bollandus the names of
five children canonized as having been murdered by the Jews, and he
supposes that the remaining eight months would furnish at least as
many more. Tyrwhitt accepts Percy's interpretation of Mirry-land
as a corruption of the name of Milan, and under this erroneous
impression he suggests that the real occasion of the ballad may
have been the murder of the boy Simon, at Trent, in 1475.[325]

The superstition upon which all these stories are founded is said
still to prevail among the ignorant members of the Greek Church,
and it was revived at Damascus in 1840 in consequence of the
disappearance of a priest named Thomaso. Two or three Jews were put
to death before a proper judicial examination could be made, and
the popular fury was so excited that severe persecution extended
through a large part of the Turkish empire. Sir Moses Montefiore
visited the various localities with the object of obtaining redress
for his people, and he was successful. On November 6, 1840, a
firman for the protection of the Jews was given at Constantinople,
which contained the following passage:--"An ancient prejudice
prevailed against the Jews. The ignorant believed that the Jews
were accustomed to sacrifice a human being, to make use of his
blood at the Passover. In consequence of this opinion the Jews of
Damascus and Rhodes, who are subjects of our empire, have been
persecuted by other nations.... But a short time has elapsed since
some Jews dwelling in the isle of Rhodes were brought from thence
to Constantinople, where they had been tried and judged according
to the new regulations, and their innocence of the accusations made
against them fully proved." The calumny, however, was again raised
in October, 1847, and the Jews were in imminent peril when the
missing boy, who had been staying at Baalbec, reappeared in good
health.

Within the last few years the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople has
issued a pastoral letter, in which he points out the wickedness
of the Christian persecution of the Jews. He says: "Superstition
is a detestable thing. Almost all the Christian nations of the
East have taken up the extravagant idea that the Israelites enjoy
shedding Christian blood, either to obtain thereby a blessing from
heaven, or to gratify their national rancour against Christ. Hence
conflicts and disturbances break out, by which the social harmony
between the dwellers in the same land, yea, the same fatherland,
is disturbed. Thus a report was lately spread of the abduction of
little Christian children in order to give a pretext for suspicion.
We on our side abhor such lying fancies; we regard them as the
superstitions of men of weak faith and narrow minds; and we disavow
them officially."

The superstition, however, still lives on, and according to the
_Levant Herald_ (1874), the Mahometans are beginning to fall into
the delusion that the sacrificial knife is applied by the Jews to
young Turks as well as to young Christians.]

* * * * *

The rain rins doun through Mirry-land toune,
Sae dois it doune the Pa:
Sae dois the lads of Mirry-land toune,
Quhan they play at the ba'.[326]

Than out and cam the Jewis dochtèr, 5
Said, Will ye cum in and dine?
"I winnae cum in, I cannae cum in,
Without my play-feres[327] nine."

Scho[328] powd[329] an apple reid and white
To intice the yong thing in: 10
Scho powd an apple white and reid,
And that the sweit bairne did win.

And scho has taine out a little pen-knife,
And low down by her gair,[330]
Scho has twin'd[331] the yong thing and his life; 15
A word he nevir spak mair.

And out and cam the thick thick bluid,
And out and cam the thin;
And out and cam the bonny herts bluid:
Thair was nae life left in. 20

Scho laid him on a dressing borde,
And drest him like a swine,
And laughing said, Gae nou and pley
With your sweit play-feres nine.

Scho rowd[332] him in a cake of lead, 25
Bade him lie stil and sleip.
Scho cast him in a deip draw-well,
Was fifty fadom deip.

Quhan bells wer rung, and mass was sung,
And every lady went hame: 30
Than ilka lady had her yong sonne,
Bot lady Helen had nane.

Scho rowd hir mantil hir about,
And sair sair gan she weip:
And she ran into the Jewis castèl, 35
Quhan they wer all asleip.

My bonny sir Hew, my pretty sir Hew,
I pray thee to me speik.
"O lady, rinn to the deip draw-well,
Gin[333] ye your sonne wad seik." 40

Lady Helen ran to the deip draw-well,
And knelt upon her kne:
My bonny sir Hew, an[334] ye be here,
I pray thee speik to me.

"The lead is wondrous heavy, mither, 45
The well is wondrous deip,
A keen pen-knife sticks in my hert,
A word I dounae[335] speik.

Gae hame, gae hame, my mither deir,
Fetch me my windling sheet, 50
And at the back o' Mirry-land toun,
Its thair we twa fall meet."
* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[322] _Entdecktes Judenthum_, vol. ii. p. 220.

[323] _Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel_, 1865, p. 371.

[324] _History of the Jews_, ed. 1863, vol. iii. p. 249.

[325] Mr. Hales points out to me the following reference to the superstition in Marlowe's _Jew of Malta_, act iii.:--

"_Friar Jacomo._ Why, what has he done?

_Friar Barnardine._ A thing that makes me tremble to unfold.

_Jac._ What, has he crucified a child?

_Bar._ No, but a worse thing; 'twas told me in shrift;
Thou know'st 'tis death, an if it be reveal'd."

Dyce in his note quotes from Reed a reference to Tovey's _Anglio_ _Judaica_, where instances of such crucifixion are given.

[326] [ball.]

[327] [play-fellows.]

[328] [she.]

[329] [pulled.]

[330] [dress.]

[331] [parted in two.]

[332] [she rolled.]

[333] [if.]

[334] [if.]

[335] [cannot.]

IV.

SIR CAULINE.

This old romantic tale was preserved in the Editor's folio MS. but in so very defective and mutilated a condition (not from any chasm in the MS. but from great omission in the transcript, probably copied from the faulty recitation of some illiterate minstrell), and the whole appeared so far short of the perfection it seemed to deserve, that the Editor was tempted to add several stanzas in the first part, and still more in the second, to connect and compleat the story in the manner which appeared to him most interesting and affecting.

There is something peculiar in the metre of this old ballad: it is not unusual to meet with redundant stanzas of six lines; but the occasional insertion of a double third or fourth line, as ver. 31, &c. is an irregularity I do not remember to have seen elsewhere.

It may be proper to inform the reader before he comes to Pt. ii. v. 110, 111, that the Round Table was not peculiar to the reign of K. Arthur, but was common in all the ages of chivalry. The proclaiming a great turnament (probably with some peculiar solemnities) was called "holding a Round Table." Dugdale tells us, that the great baron Roger de Mortimer "having procured the honour of knighthood to be conferred 'on his three sons' by K. Edw. I. he, at his own costs, caused a tourneament to be held at Kenilworth; where he sumptuously entertained an hundred knights, and as many ladies, for three days; the like whereof was never before in England; and there began the Round Table, (so called by reason that the place wherein they practised those feats was environed with a strong wall made in a round form:) And upon the fourth day, the golden lion, in sign of triumph, being yielded to him; he carried it (with all the company) to Warwick."--It may further be added, that Matthew Paris frequently calls justs and turnaments _Hastiludia Mensæ Rotundæ_.

As to what will be observed in this ballad of the art of healing being practised by a young princess; it is no more than what is usual in all the old romances, and was conformable to real manners: it being a practice derived from the earliest times among all the Gothic and Celtic nations, for women, even of the highest rank, to exercise the art of surgery. In the Northern Chronicles we always find the young damsels stanching the wounds of their lovers, and the wives those of their husbands.[336] And even so late as the time of Q. Elizabeth, it is mentioned among the accomplishments of the ladies of her court, that the "eldest of them are skilful in surgery." See Harrison's _Description of England_, prefixed to Hollinshed's _Chronicle, &c._

* * * * *

[This story of _Sir Cauline_ furnishes one of the most flagrant
instances of Percy's manipulation of his authorities. In the
following poem all the verses which are due to Percy's invention
are placed between brackets, but the whole has been so much altered
by him that it has been found necessary to reprint the original
from the folio MS. at the end in order that readers may compare the
two. Percy put into his version several new incidents and altered
the ending, by which means he was able to dilute the 201 lines of
the MS. copy into 392 of his own. There was no necessity for this
perversion of the original, because the story is there complete,
and moreover Percy did not sufficiently indicate the great changes
he had made, for although nearly every verse is altered he only
noted one trivial difference of reading, viz. aukeward for backward
(v. 109).

Motherwell reprinted this ballad in his _Minstrelsy_, and in his
prefatory note he made the following shrewd guess, which we now
know to be a correct one:--"We suspect too that the ancient ballad
had a less melancholy catastrophe, and that the brave Syr Cauline,
after his combat with the 'hend Soldan' derived as much benefit
from the leechcraft of fair Cristabelle as he did after winning the
Eldridge sword." Professor Child has expressed the same view in his
note to the ballad.

Buchan printed a ballad entitled _King Malcolm and Sir Colvin_,
which is more like the original than Percy's version, but Mr. Hales
is of opinion that this was one of that collector's fabrications.]

* * * * *

THE FIRST PART.

[In Ireland, ferr over the sea,
There dwelleth a bonnye kinge;
And with him a yong and comlye knighte,
Men call him syr Caulìne.

The kinge had a ladye to his daughter, 5
In fashyon she hath no peere;
And princely wightes that ladye wooed
To be theyr wedded feere.[337]]

Syr Cauline loveth her best of all,
But nothing durst he saye; 10
Ne descreeve[338] his counsayl to no man,
But deerlye he lovde this may.[339]

Till on a daye it so beffell,
Great dill[340] to him was dight;[341]
The maydens love removde his mynd, 15
To care-bed went the knighte.

One while he spred his armes him fro,
One while he spred them nye:
And aye! but I winne that ladyes love,
For dole[342] now I mun[343] dye. 20

And whan our parish-masse was done,
Our kinge was bowne[344] to dyne:
He sayes, Where is syr Cauline,
That is wont to serve the wyne?

Then aunswerde him a courteous knighte, 25
And fast his handes gan wringe:
Sir Cauline is sicke, and like to dye
Without a good leechìnge.[345]

Fetche me downe my daughter deere,
She is a leeche fulle fine: 30
Goe take him doughe,[346] and the baken bread,
And serve him with the wyne soe red;
Lothe I were him to tine.[347]

Fair Christabelle to his chaumber goes,
Her maydens followyng nye: 35
O well, she sayth, how doth my lord?
O sicke, thou fayr ladyè.

Nowe ryse up wightlye,[348] man, for shame,
Never lye soe cowardlee;
For it is told in my fathers halle, 40
You dye for love of mee.

Fayre ladye, it is for your love
That all this dill I drye:[349]
For if you wold comfort me with a kisse,
Then were I brought from bale to blisse, 45
No lenger wold I lye.

[Sir knighte, my father is a kinge,
I am his onlye heire;
Alas! and well you knowe, syr knighte,
I never can be youre fere. 50

O ladye, thou art a kinges daughtèr,
And I am not thy peere,
But let me doe some deedes of armes
To be your bacheleere.[350]

Some deedes of armes if thou wilt doe, 55
My bacheleere to bee,
(But ever and aye my heart wold rue,
Giff[351] harm shold happe to thee,)]

Upon Eldridge[352] hill there groweth a thorne,
Upon the mores brodinge;[353] 60
And dare ye, syr knighte, wake there all nighte
Until the fayre mornìnge?

For the Eldridge knighte, so mickle[354] of mighte,
Will examine you beforne:[355]
And never man bare life awaye, 65
But he did him scath[356] and scorne.

[That knighte he is a foul paynìm,[357]
And large of limb and bone;
And but if heaven may be thy speede,
Thy life it is but gone. 70

Nowe on the Eldridge hilles Ile walke,[358]
For thy sake, fair ladìe;]
And He either bring you a ready tokèn,
Or He never more you see

The lady is gone to her own chaumbère, 75
Her maydens following bright:
[Syr Cauline lope[359] from care-bed soone,
And to the Eldridge hills is gone,]
For to wake there all night.

Unto midnight, that the moone did rise, 80
He walked up and downe;
Then a lightsome bugle heard he blowe
Over the bents[360] soe browne;
Quoth hee, If cryance come till[361] my heart,
I am ffar from any good towne. 85

And soone he spyde on the mores so broad,
A furyous wight and fell;[362]
A ladye bright his brydle led,
Clad in a fayre kyrtèll:
And soe fast he called on syr Caulìne, 90
O man, I rede[363] thee flye,
For 'but' if cryance comes till thy heart,
I weene but thou mun dye.

He sayth, 'No' cryance comes till my heart,
Nor, in faith, I wyll not flee; 95
For, cause thou minged[364] not Christ before,
The less me dreadeth thee.

[The Eldridge knighte, he pricked his steed;
Syr Cauline bold abode:
Then either shooke his trustye speare,] 100
And the timber these two children[365] bare
Soe soone in sunder slode.[366]

Then tooke they out theyr two good swordes,
And layden[367] on full faste,
[Till helme and hawberke, mail and sheelde, 105
They all were well-nye brast.[368]]

The Eldridge knight was mickle of might,
And stiffe in stower[369] did stande,
But syr Cauline with a 'backward' stroke,[370]
He smote off his right hand; 110
That soone he with paine and lacke of bloud
Fell downe on that lay-land.[371]

[Then up syr Cauline lift his brande
All over his head so hye:
And here I sweare by the holy roode, 115
Nowe, caytiffe, thou shalt dye.

Then up and came that ladye brighte,
Fast wringing of her hande:
For the maydens love, that most you love,
Withold that deadlye brande: 120

For the maydens love, that most you love,
Now smyte no more I praye;
And aye whatever thou wilt, my lord,
He shall thy hests[372] obaye.

Now sweare to mee, thou Eldridge knighte, 125
And here on this lay-land,
That thou wilt believe on Christ his laye,[373]
And therto plight thy hand:

And that thou never on Eldridge come
To sporte, gamon,[374] or playe: 130
And that thou here give up thy armes
Until thy dying daye.

The Eldridge knighte gave up his armes
With many a sorrowfulle sighe;
And sware to obey syr Caulines hest, 135
Till the tyme that he shold dye.]

And he then up and the Eldridge knighte
Sett him in his saddle anone,
And the Eldridge knighte and his ladye
To theyr castle are they gone. 140

[Then he tooke up the bloudy hand,
That was so large of bone,
And on it he founde five ringes of gold
Of knightes that had be slone.[375]

Then he tooke up the Eldridge sworde, 145
As hard as any flint:
And he tooke off those ringès five,
As bright as fyre and brent.

Home then pricked[376] syr Cauline
As light as leafe on tree: 150
I-wys he neither stint ne blanne,[377]
Till he his ladye see.

Then downe he knelt upon his knee
Before that lady gay:
O ladye, I have bin on the Eldridge hills: 155
These tokens I bring away.

Now welcome, welcome, syr Caulìne,
Thrice welcome unto mee,
For now I perceive thou art a true knighte,
Of valour bolde and free. 160

O ladye, I am thy own true knighte,
Thy hests for to obaye:
And mought I hope to winne thy love!--
Ne more his tonge colde say.

The ladye blushed scarlette redde, 165
And fette[378] a gentill sighe:
Alas! syr knight, how may this bee,
For my degree's soe highe?

But sith thou hast hight,[379] thou comely youth,
To be my batchilere, 170
Ile promise if thee I may not wedde
I will have none other fere.[380]

Then shee held forthe her lilly-white hand
Towards that knighte so free;
He gave to it one gentill kisse, 175
His heart was brought from bale to blisse,
The teares sterte[381] from his ee.

But keep my counsayl, syr Caulìne,
Ne let no man it knowe;
For and ever my father sholde it ken, 180
I wot he wolde us sloe.[382]

From that daye forthe that ladye fayre
Lovde syr Caulìne the knighte:
From that daye forthe he only joyde
Whan shee was in his sight. 185

Yea and oftentimes they mette
Within a fayre arbòure,
Where they in love and sweet daliaunce
Past manye a pleasaunt houre.]

* * * * *

[***] In this conclusion of the _First Part_, and at the beginning
of the _Second_, the reader will observe a resemblance to the story
of _Sigismunda and Guiscard_, as told by Boccace and Dryden. See
the latter's description of the lovers meeting in the cave; and
those beautiful lines, which contain a reflection so like this of
our poet, "_everye white_," &c., viz.:

"But as extremes are short of ill and good,
And tides at highest mark regorge their flood;
So Fate, that could no more improve their joy,
Took a malicious pleasure to destroy
Tancred, who fondly loved," &c.