1

66

England has here enow of spies
In Lady Heron's witching eyes:"
To Marchmount thus, apart, he said,
But fair pretext to Marmion made.
The right hand path they now decline,
And trace against the stream the Tyne.

X.

At length up that wild dale they wind,
Where Crichtoun Castle' crowns the bank;
For there the Lion's care assigned

A lodging meet for Marmion's rank.
That Castle rises on the steep

Of the green vale of Tyne:
And far beneath, where slow they creep,
From pool to eddy, dark and deep,
Where alders moist, and willows weep,

You hear her streams repine.

The towers in different ages rose;
Their various architecture shows
The builders' various hands;
A mighty mass, that could oppose,
When deadliest hatred fired its foes,
The vengeful Douglas bands.

XI.

Crichtoun! though now thy miry court
But pens the lazy steer and sheep,
Thy turrets rude, and totter'd Keep,
Have been the minstrel's loved resort.

[See Appendix, Note K.; and, for a fuller description of Crichton Castle, see Sir Walter Scott's Provincial Antiquities of Scotland, 4to, 1826, vol. i.]

Oft have I traced, within thy fort,

Of mouldering shields the mystic sense, Scutcheons of honour, or pretence, Quarter'd in old armorial sort,

Remains of rude magnificence.
Nor wholly yet had time defaced
Thy lordly gallery fair;

Nor yet the stony cord unbraced,
Whose twisted notes, with roses laced,
Adorn thy ruin'd stair.
Still rises unimpair'd below,

The court-yard's graceful portico;
Above its cornice, row and row
Of fair hewn facets richly show
Their pointed diamond form,
Though there but houseless cattle go,
To shield them from the storm.
And, shuddering, still may we explore,
Where oft whilom were captives pent,
The darkness of thy Massy More;'

Or, from thy grass-grown battlement,
May trace, in undulating line,
The sluggish mazes of the Tyne.

XII.

Another aspect Crichtoun show'd,
As through its portal Marmion rode;
But yet 'twas melancholy state
Received him at the outer gate;
For none were in the Castle then,
But women, boys, or aged men.

The pit, or prison vault. 15

VOL. II.

-

[See Appendix, Note K.]

With eyes scarce dried, the sorrowing dame,
To welcome noble Marmion, came;

Her son, a stripling twelve years old,
Proffer'd the Baron's rein to hold;

For each man that could draw a sword
Had march'd that morning with their lord,
Earl Adam Hepburn,-he who died
On Flodden, by his sovereign's side,'
Long may his Lady look in vain!
She ne'er shall see his gallant train,
Come sweeping back through Crichtoun-Dean.
'Twas a brave race, before the name
Of hated Bothwell stain'd their fame.2

XIII.

And here two days did Marmion rest,
With every rite that honour claims,
Attended as the King's own guest;-

Such the command of royal James,

'He was the second Earl of Bothwell, and fell in the field of Flodden, where, according to an ancient English poet, he distinguished himself by a furious attempt to retrieve the day:

"Then on the Scottish part, right proud,
The Earl of Bothwell then out brast,
And stepping forth, with stomach good,
Into the enemies' throng he thrast;
And Bothwell! Bothwell! cried bold,
To cause his souldiers to ensue,

But there he caught a wellcome cold,

The Englishmen straight down him threw.

Thus Haburn through his hardy heart

His fatal fine in conflict found," &c.

Flodden Field, a Poem; edited by H. Weber. Edin. 1808

* Adam was grandfather to James, Earl of Bothwell, too wel

known in the history of Queen Mary.

Who marshall'd then his land's array,
Upon the Borough-moor that lay.
Perchance he would not foeman's eye
Upon his gathering host should pry,
Till full prepared was every band
To march against the English land.
Here while they dwelt, did Lindesay's wit
Oft cheer the Baron's moodier fit;
And, in his turn, he knew to prize

Lord Marmion's powerful mind, and wise,-
Train'd in the lore of Rome and Greece,
And policies of war and peace.

XIV.

It chanced, as fell the second night,
That on the battlements they walk'd,
And, by the slowly fading light,

Of varying topics talk'd;

And, unaware, the Herald-bard

Said, Marmion might his toil have spared,
In travelling so far;

For that a messenger from heaven
In vain to James had counsel given
Against the English war:'
And, closer question'd, thus he told
A tale, which chronicles of old
In Scottish story have enroll'd :-

XV.

SIR DAVID LINDESAY'S Tale.
"Of all the palaces so fair,
Built for the royal dwelling,

'[See Appendix, Note L.]

Y

In Scotland far beyond compareom od W
Linlithgow is excellinggorod et noq J
And in its park, in jovial June goedɔrs¶
How sweet the merry, dinnet's tune, noqʊ
How blithe the blackbird's, lay

HT

bast deiland got tenings dum of

[In Scotland there are about twenty palaces, castles, and remains, or sites of suchiboom oral edt 19odo fìo

66

Where Scotig's kings of other year ni bɑA

....

had their royal bome baim Inwog 'nojgrig bro I Linlithgow distinguished by the combined strength and beauty of its situation, must have been early selected as a royal residence. David, who bought the title of saint by his liberality to the church, refers several of his charters to his town of Linlithgow; and in that of Holyrood expressly bestows on the new monastery all the skin of the tunis, wes, and tambal beldnging to his castle of Lightéh, which shallddie during the Fear . . . . The convenience afforded for the sport, of falconry, which was so great a favourite during the feudal, was of the attachment of the ancient Scottish monarchs to Linlithgow VET Uue cause and its fine lake. The sport hunting was also followed with success in the neighbourhood, from Which Circumstance it probably arises that the ancient arms of the city represent a black greyhound bitch tied toch tree.The situation of Linlithgow Palace is eminently beautiful, It stands, on, promontory of some elevation, which advances almost into the midst of the lake. The form is that of a square court, composed of buildings of four audi boleoutThe stories high, with towers at the angles. The fronts within the square, and the windows, are highly ornamented, and the size of the rooms, as well as the width and character of the staircases, are upon a magnificent scale. One banquet-room is ninety-four feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty-three feet high, with a gallery for music, The king's wardrobe, or dressing room, looking to the west, projects over the walls, so as to have a delicious prospect on three sides, and one of the most éliviable boudoirs we have ever seengrill SYRbWALDER Sebrics Provincial Antiquities.]