These fine moral stanzas were originally intended for a folemn funeral fong in a play of James Shirley's, intitled "The Contention of Ajax and Ulyffes: „ no date, 8vo. = Shirley flourished as a Dramatic writer early in the reign of Charles I: but be outlived the Restoration. His death hap pened Oct. 29. 1666. Æt. 72. This little poem was written long after many of those that follow, but is inferted here as a kind of Dirge to the foregoing piece. THE THE glories of our blood and state Are fhadows, not substantial things; Muft tumble down, And in the duft be equal made With the poor crooked scythe and spade. Some men with fwords may reap the field, But their ftrong nerves at last must yield They ftoop to fate, And muft give up their murmuring breath, The garlands wither on your brow, Then boast no more your mighty deeds, See where the victor victim bleeds: All heads must come To the cold tomb, Only the actions of the just Smell fweet, and bloffom in the dust. III. THE RISING IN THE NORTH. The fubject of this ballad is the great Northern Infurretion in the 12th year of Elizabeth, 1569; which proved so fatal to Thomas Percy the Seventh earl of Northumberland. There 2 There had not long before been a Secret negotiation entered into between Some of the Scottish and English nobility, to bring about a marriage between Mary Q. of Scots, at that time a prifoner in England, and the Duke of Norfolk, a nobleman of excellent character and firmly attached to the protestant religion. This match was proposed to all the most confiderable of the English nobility, and among the rejt to the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland two noblemen very powerful in the North. As it Seemed to promise a Speedy and Safe conclufion of the troubles in Scotland, with many advantages to the crown of England, they all readily confented to it, provided it should prove agreeable to Q. Elizabeth. The Earl of Leicester (Elizabeth's favourite) undertook to break the matter to her, but before he could find an opportunity, the affair had come to her ears by other bands, and She was thrown into a violent flame. The Duke of Norfolk, with feveral of his friends, was committed to the tower, and fummons where fent to the Northern Earls instantly to make their appearance at court. It is faid that the Earl of Northumberland, who was a man of a mild and gentle nature, was deliberating with himself whether he should not obey the meage, and rely upon the queen's candour and clemency, when he was forced into defperate measures by a fudden report at midnight, Nov. 14, that a party of his enemies were come to feize on his perfon *. The Earl was » then at his house at Topcliffe in Yorkshire. haftily out of bed, he withdrew to the Earl of Westmoreland, at Brancepeth, where the country came in to them and pressed them to take arms in their own defence. They accordingly fet up their standards, declaring their intent was to restore › the When rifing ancient * This circumstance is over-looked in the ballad. VOL. III. P 1 were ancient religion, to remove evil counsellers from the queen, and cause justice to be done to the D. of Norfolk, and other lords in prison. Their common banner (on which was difplayed the croß, together with the five wounds of Chrift) was borne by an ancient gentleman, Richard Norton, Esq. of Norton - conyers: who with his fons ( among whom, Christopher, Marmaduke and Thomas, are expreßly named by Camden) distinguished himself on this occafion. Having entered Durham and caused maß to be faid there, they marched on to Clifford-moor` near Wetherbye, where they muftered their men. Their intention was to have marched to York, but altering their minds they fell upon Barnards caftle, which Sir George Bowes held out against them for eleven days. The two earls, who spent their large estates in hofpitality, and were extremely beloved on that account, mafters of little ready money; the E. of Northumberland bringing with him only 8000 crowns and the E. of Westmoreland nothing at all for the Subfiftence of their forces, they were not able to march to London, as they had at first intended. In these circumstances, Westmoreland began so vifibly to defpond that many of his men flunk away, tho' Northumberland still kept up his refolution, and was master of the field till December 13. when the Earl of Sussex, accompanied with Lord Hunfden and others, having marched out of York at the head of a large body of forces, and being followed by a still larger army under the command of Ambrofe Dudley Earl of Warwick, the infurgents retreated northwards, towards the borders, and there dismissing their followers, made their escape into Scotland. Tho' this infurrection had been fuppreffed with so little bloodshed, the Earl of SufSex * * Besides this, the ballad mentions the separate banners of the two noblemen, Sex and Sir George Bowes, marshall of the army, put vast numbers to death by martial law, without any regular tryal. The former of these caused at Durham fixty three conftables to be hanged at once. And the latter made his boast that for fixty miles in lenght and forty in breadth, betwixt Newcastle and Wetherby, there was hardly a town or village wherein he had not executed fome of the inhabitants. This exceeds the cruelties practised in the West after Monmouth's rebellion : but that was not the age of tenderneß and humanity. Such is the account collected from Stow, Speed, Camden, Carte and Rapin; it agrees in most particulars with the following ballad, which was apparently the production of Some northern minstrel, who was well affected to the two noblemen. It is here printed from two MS. copies, one of them in the editor's folio collection. They contained confiderable variations, out of which such readings were chosen as seemed most poetical and confonant to history. LISTEN, lively lordings all, Lithe and liften unto mee, And I will fing of a noble earle, The nobleft earle in the north countrie. Earle Percy is into his garden gone, I heare a bird fing in mine eare, P. Now * This lady was Anne daughter of Henry Somerset E. of Worcester. |