And the ladye into a towre so hye
There left to wayle and weepe.

The queene she was Syr Caulines friend,
And to the kinge sayd shee:

I praye you save Syr Caulines life,

And let him banisht bee.

Now, dame, that traitor shall be sent

Across the salt sea fome:
But here I will make thee a band,
If ever he come within this land,
A foule deathe is his doome.

All woe-begone was that gentil knight
To parte from his ladyè;
And many a time he sighed sore,
And cast a wistfulle eye:
Faire Christabelle, from thee to parte,
Farre lever had I dye.

Faire Christabelle, that ladye bright,
Was had forthe of the towre;
But ever shee droopeth in her minde,
As nipt by an ungentle winde
Doth some faire lillye flowre.

And ever shee doth lament and weepe
To tint her lover soe:
Syr Cauline, thou little think'st on mee,
But I will still be true.

Many a kinge, and manye a duke,

And lorde of high degree,
Did sue to that fayre ladye of love;
But never shee wolde them nee.

When manye a daye was past and gone,
Ne comforte she colde finde,

The kynge proclaimed a tourneament,
To cheere his daughters mind:

Thy head, syr king, must goe with mee; 95
Or else thy daughter deere;

And there came lords, and there came knights, Or else within these lists soe broad

For whenever they lookt on the grim soldàn, Quoth hee, But heaven be now my speede,

And quhat wul ze doe wi' zour towirs and Lord Hailes.

VI.

King Estmere.

THIS old Romantic Legend (which is given | lad, the character of the old Minstrels (those

from two copies, one of them in the Editor's folio MS., but which contained very great variations) bears marks of considerable antiquity, and perhaps ought to have taken place of any in this volume. It should seem to have 'been written while part of Spain was in the hands of the Saracens or Moors; whose empire there was not fully extinguished before the year 1491. The Mahometans are spoken of in ver. 49, &c., just in the same terms as in all other old Romances. The author of the ancient Legend of Sir Bevis represents his hero, upon all occasions, breathing out defiance against

successors of the bards) placed in a very respectable light;* here he will see one of them represented mounted on a fine horse, accompanied with an attendant to bear his harp after him, and to sing the poems of his composing. Here he will see him mixing in the company of kings without ceremony: no mean proof of the great antiquity of this poem. The further we carry our inquiries back, the greater respect we find paid to the professors of poetry and music among all the Celtic and Gothic nations. Their character was deemed so sacred, that under its sanction our famous King Alfred (as we have already seent) made no scruple to enter the Danish camp, and was at once admitted to the king's re-head-quarters. Our poet has suggested the same expedient to the heroes of this ballad. All the histories of the North are full of the great reverence paid to this order of men. Harold Harfagre, a celebrated king of Norway, was wont to seat them at his table above all the officers of his court: and we find another Norwegian king placing five of them by his side in a day of battle, that they might be eye-witnesses of the great exploits they

"Mahound and Termagaunte;"* and so full of zeal for his religion, as to turn the following polite message to a Paynim king's fair daughter, who had fallen in love with him, and sent two Saracen knights to in

vite him to her bower:

"I wyll not ones stirre off this grounde, To speake with an heathen hounde. Unchristen houndes, I rede you fle, Or I your harte bloud shall se."† Indeed they return the compliment by calling him elsewhere “A Christen hounde.”‡

This was conformable to the real manners of the barbarous ages: perhaps the same excuse will hardly serve our bard; for that the Adland should be found lolling or leaning at his gate (ver. 35) may be thought perchance a little out of character. And yet the great painter of manners, Homer, did not think it inconsistent with decorum to represent a king of the Taphians leaning at the gate of Ulysses to inquire for that monarch, when he touched at Ithaca as he was taking a voyage with a ship's cargo of iron to dispose in traffic. So little ought we to judge of ancient manners by our own.

Before I conclude this article, I cannot help observing that the reader will see, in this bal

* See a short Memoir at the end of this Ballad, Note t+t
† Sign. C. ii. b.
? Odyss. A. 105.

Sign. C. i. b.

were to celebrate. As to Estmere's riding into the hall while the kings were at table, this was usual in the ages of chivalry; and even to this day we see a relic of this custom still kept up, in the champion's riding into Westminster-hall during the coronation dinner.||

Some liberties have been taken with this tale by the Editor, but none without notice to the reader, in that part which relates to the subject of the Harper and his attendant.

* See Note subjoined to 1st Pt. of Beggar of Bednal, &c. Sen the Essay on the ancient Minstrels prefixed to this worl..

Even so late as the time of Froissart, we find Minstrels and Heralds mentioned together, as those who might

securely go into an enemy's country. Cap. cxl.

2 Bartholini Antiq. Dan. p. 173.-Northern Antiquities, &c., vol. i. pp. 386, 389, &c.

See also the account of Edward II., in the Essay on the Minstrels, and Note (X.)