glory done.

II.

Blithe tidings flew from baron's tower,
To peasant's cot, to forest-bower,

And waked the solitary cell,

Where lone Saint Bride's recluses dwell.
Princess no more, fair Isabel,

A vot'ress of the order now,
Say did the rule that bid thee wear
Dim veil and woollen scapulaire,
And reft thy locks of dark-brown hair,

That stern and rigid vow,
Did it condemn the transport high,
Which glisten'd in thy watery eye,
When minstrel or when palmer told
Each fresh exploit of Bruce the bold?—
And whose the lovely form, that shares
Thy anxious hopes, thy fears, thy prayers?
No sister she of convent shade;
So say these locks in lengthen'd braid,
So say the blushes and the sighs,
The tremors that unbidden rise,
When, mingled with the Bruce's fame,
The brave Lord Ronald's praises came.

III.

Believe, his father's castle won, And his bold enterprise begun,

CANTO VI

That Bruce's earliest cares restore The speechless page to Arran's shore: Nor think that long the quaint disguise Conceal'd her from a sister's eyes; And sister-like in love they dwell In that lone convent's silent cell. There Bruce's slow assent allows Fair Isabel the veil and vows; And there, her sex's dress regain'd, The lovely Maid of Lorn remain'd, Unnamed, unknown, while Scotland far Resounded with the din of war; And many a month, and many a day, In calm seclusion wore away.

IV.

worn

These days, these months, to years had
When tidings of high weight were borne
To that lone island's shore;
Of all the Scottish conquests made
By the First Edward's ruthless blade,
His son retain'd no more,
Northward of Tweed, but Stirling's towers,
Beleaguer'd by King Robert's powers;
And they took term of truce,
If England's King should not relieve
The siege ere John the Baptist's eve,
To yield them to the Bruce.
England was roused-on every side
Courier and post and herald hied,

To summon prince and peer,
At Berwick-bounds to meet their Liege,
Prepared to raise fair Stirling's siege,

With buckler, brand, and spear.
The term was nigh-they muster'd fast,
By beacon and by bugle-blast

Forth marshall'd for the field;
There rode each knight of noble Lame,
There England's hardy archers caine,
The land they trode seem'd all on flame,
With banner, blade, and shield!.
And not famed England's powers alone,
Renown'd in arms, the summons own;
For Neustria's knights obey'd,
Gascogne hath lent her horsemen good,'
And Cambria, but of late subdued,
Sent forth her mountain-multitude,
And Connoght pour'd from waste and wood
Her hundred tribes, whose sceptre rude
Dark Eth O'Connor sway'd.

V.

Right to devoted Caledon

The storm of war rolls slow`v on,10

CANTO VI.

457

With menace deep and dread;
So the dark clouds, with gathering power,
Suspend awhile the threaten'd shower,
Till every peak and summit lower

Round the pale pilgrim's head.
Not with such pilgrim's startled eye
King Robert mark'd the tempest nigh!

Resolved the brunt to bide,

His royal summons warn'd the land,
That all who own'd their King's command
Should instant take the spear and brand,'

To combat at his side.

who may tell the sons of fame, That at King Robert's bidding came, To battle for the right!

2

From Cheviot to the shores of Ross,
From Solway-Sands to Marshal's-Moss,
All boun'd them for the fight.
Such news the royal courier tells,
Who came to rouse dark Arran's dells;
But farther tidings must the ear
Of Isabel in secret hear.
These in her cloister walk, next morn,
Thus shared she with the Maid of Lorn.

1 MS.-"Should instant belt them with the brand." MS.-"From Solway's sands to wild Cape-Wrath, From Пlay's Rinns to Colbrand's Path."

3 MS.-" And his mute page were one.
For, versant in the heart of man."

4 MS." If brief and vain repinings wake."
$ M." Her lover's alter'd mood to try."
MS.-"Her aged sire had own'd his reign."
The MS. here presents, erased-

"But all was overruled-a band

And oft his breach of faith he blames-
Forgive him for thine own!"-
VII.

"No! never to Lord Ronald's bower
Will I again as paramour"-
"Nay, hush thee, too impatient maid,
Until my final tale be said!—
The good King Robert would engage
Edith once more his elfin page,
By her own heart, and her own eye,
Her lover's penitence to try-
Safe in his royal charge and free,
Should such thy final purpose be,
Again unknown to seek the cell,
And live and die with Isabel."

Thus spoke the maid-King Robert's eye
Might have some glance of policy;
Dunstaffnage had the monarch ta’en,
And Lorn had own'd King Robert's reign;"
Her brother had to England fled,
And there in banishment was dead;
Ample, through exile, death, and flight,
O'er tower and land was Edith's right;
This ample right o'er tower and land
Were safe in Ronald's faithful hand.

VIII.

Embarrass'd eye and blushing cheek
Pleasure and shame, and fear bespeak!
Yet much the reasoning Edith made:
"Her sister's faith she must upbraid,
Who gave such secret, dark and dear,
In council to another's ear.

Why should she leave the peaceful cell?—
How should she part with Isabel?—
How wear that strange attire agen?
How risk herself 'midst martial men?-
And how be guarded on the way ?-
At least she might entreat delay."
Kind Isabel, with secret smile,
Saw and forgave the maiden's wile,
Reluctant to be thought to move
At the first call of truant love."

And Love, howe'er the maiden strive,
Must with reviving hope revive!
A thousand soft excuses came,

To plead his cause 'gainst virgin shame.
Pledged by their sires in earliest youth,
He had her plighted faith and truth-
Then, 'twas her Liege's strict command,
And she, beneath his royal hand,
A ward in person and in land:-
And, last, she was resolved to stay
Only brief space-one little day-
Close hidden in her safe disguise

From all, but most from Ronald's eyes-
But once to see him more !-nor blame
Her wish-to hear him name her name !-
Then, to bear back to solitude

The thought he had his falsehood rued!
But Isabel, who long had seen
Her pallid cheek and pensive mien,
And well herself the cause might know,
Though innocent, of Edith's woe,
Joy'd, generous, that revolving time
Gave means to expiate the crime.
High glow'd her bosom as she said,
"Well shall her sufferings be repaid!"
Now came the parting hour-a band
From Arran's mountains left the land;
Their chief, Fitz-Louis,' had the care
The speechless Amadine to bear
To Bruce, with honor, as behooved
To page the monarch dearly loved.

X.

The King had deem'd the maiden bright
Should reach him long before the fight,
But storms and fate her course delay:
It was on eve of battle-day,
When o'er the Gillie's-hill she rode.
The landscape like a furnace glow'd,
And far as e'er the eye was borne,
The lances waved like autumn-corn.

1 See Appendix, Note 3 P.

2 MS. Nearest and plainest to the eye."

3 See Appendix, Note 3 Q.

MS. One close beneath the hill was laid."

See Appendix, Note 3 R.

As a reward for the loyalty and distinguished bravery of the men of Ayr on the occasion referred to in the text, King Robert the Bruce granted them upwards of 1300 Scots acres of land, part of the bailliery of Kyle Stewart, his patrimonial inheritance, lying in the immediate vicinity of the town of Ayr, which grant King James VI. confirmed to their successors by two charters; one to the freemen of Newton-upon-Ayr, the other to the freemen of Prestwick, both boroughs of barony in the same parish, with all the peculiarities of the original constitution.

"The former charter contains forty-eight freedoms or baronies--as these subdivisions are called-and the latter thirtysix. The right of succession to these freeholds is limited. A son succeeds his father, nor can his right of succession be any

In battles four beneath their eye,❜
The forces of King Robert lic.`
And one below the hill was laid,*
Reserved for rescue and for aid;
And three, advanced, form'd vaward-line,
"Twixt Bannock's brook and Ninian's shrine.
Detach'd was each, yet each so nigh
As well might mutual aid supply.
Beyond, the Southern host appears,
A boundless wilderness of spears,
Whose verge or rear the anxious eye
Strove far, but strove in vain, to spy.
Thick flashing in the evening beam,
Glaives, lances, bills, and banners gleam;
And where the heaven join'd with the hill,
Was distant armor flashing still,

So wide, so far the boundless host
Seem'd in the blue horizon lost.

XI.

Down from the hill the maiden pass'd,
At the wild show of war aghast;
And traversed first the rearward host,
Reserved for aid where needed most.
The men of Carrack and of Ayr,
Lennox and Lanark, too, were there,"

And all the western land;

With these the valiant of the Isles Beneath their chieftains rank'd their files,

In many a plaided band.

There, in the centre, proudly raised,
The Bruce's royal standard blazed,
And there Lord Ronald's banner bore
A galley driven by sail and oar.
A wild, yet pleasing contrast, made
Warriors in mail and plate array'd,
With the plumed bonnet and the plaid
By these Hebrideans worn;
But O! unseen for three long years,
Dear was the garb of mountaineers
To the fair Maid of Lorn!

wise affected by the amount of his father's debts. A widow having no son may enjoy her husband's freehold as long as she lives, but at her death it reverts to the community, the female line being excluded from the right of succession. Nor can any freeman dispose of his freehold except to the community, who must, within a certain time, dispose of it to a neutral person, as no freeman or baron can possess more than one allotment, whereby the original number of freemen is always kept up. "Each freeholder has a vote in the election of the baillies, who have a jurisdiction over the freemen for the recovery of small debts. But though they have the power of committing a freeman to prison, they cannot, in right of their office, lock the prison doors on him, but if he leaves the prison without the proper liberation of the baillies, he thereby forfeits his baronship or freedom."-Inquisit. Special, pp. 72, 555, 782.— Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. ii pp. 263, 264, 581.-Chalmers' Caledonia, vol. iii. pp. 504 508.-Note from Mr. Joseph Train (1840).

7 See Appendix, Note 3 S.

For one she look'd-but he was far
Busied amid the ranks of war-
Yet with affection's troubled eye
She mark'd his banner boldly fly,
Gave on the countless foe a glance,

And thought on battle's desperate chance.

XII.

To centre of the vaward-line
Fitz-Louis guided Amadine.1
Arm'd all on foot, that host appears
A serried mass of glimmering spears.
There stood the Marchers' warlike band,
The warriors there of Lodon's land;
Ettrick and Liddell bent the yew,
A band of archers fierce, though few;
The men of Nith and Annan's vale,
And the bold Spears of Teviotdale;-
The dauntless Douglas these obey
And the young Stuart's gentle sway.
Northeastward by Saint Ninian's shrine,
Beneath fierce Randolph's charge, combine
The warriors whom the hardy North
From Tay to Sutherland sent forth.
The rest of Scotland's war-array
With Edward Bruce to westward lay,
Where Bannock, with his broken bank
And deep ravine, protects their flank.
Behind them, screen'd by sheltering wood,
The gallant Keith, Lord Marshal, stood:
His men-at-arms bear mace and lance,

And plumes that wave, and helms that glance.
Thus fair divided by the King,
Centre, and right, and left-ward wing,
Composed his front; nor distant far
Was strong reserve to aid the war.
And 'twas to front of this
array,
Her guide and Edith made their way.

XIII.

Here must they pause; for, in advance
As far as one might pitch a lance,
The Monarch rode along the van,2
The foe's approaching force to scan,
His line to marshal and to range,

And ranks to square, and fronts to change.
Alone he rode-from head to heel
Sheathed in his ready arms of steel;
Nor mounted yet on war-horse wight,
But, till more near the shock of fight,
Reining a palfrey low and light.
A diadem of gold was set
Above his bright steel basinet,
And clasp'd within its glittering twine

1 MS." Her guard conducted Amadine." 2 See Appendix, Note 3 T.

Was seen the glove of Argentine;
Truncheon or leading staff he lacks,
Bearing, instead, a battle-axe.
He ranged his soldiers for the fight,
Accoutred thus, in open sight

Of either host.-Three bow-shots far,
Paused the deep front of England's war,
And rested on their arms awhile,
To close and rank their warlike file,
And hold high council, if that night
Should view the strife, or dawning light.

XIV.

O gay, yet fearful3 to behold,
Flashing with steel and rough with gold,

And bristled o'er with bills and spears,
With plumes and pennons waving fair,
Was that bright battle-front! for there

Rode England's King and peers: And who, that saw that monarch ride, His kingdom battled by his side, Could then his direful doom foretell!Fair was his seat in knightly selle, And in his sprightly eye was set Some spark of the Plantagenet. Though light and wandering was his glance, It flash'd at sight of shield and lance. "Know'st thou," he said, "De Argentine, Yon knight who marshals thus their line ?""The tokens on his helmet tell

The Bruce, my Liege: I know him well.""And shall the audacious traitor brave The presence where our banners wave?""So please my Liege," said Argentine, "Were he but horsed on steed like mine, To give him fair and knightly chance, I would adventure forth my lance.""In battle-day," the King replied, "Nice tourney rules are set aside. -Still must the rebel dare our wrath? Set on him-sweep him from our path!" And, at King Edward's signal, soon Dash'd from the ranks Sir Henry Boune.

And dazzled was each gazing eyeThe heart had hardly time to think, The eyelid scarce had time to wink,' While on the King, like flash of flame, Spurr'd to full speed the war-horse came! The partridge may the falcon mock, If that slight palfrey stand the shock— But, swerving from the Knight's career, Just as they met, Bruce shunn'd the spear. Onward the baffled warrior bore

His course-but soon his course was o'er!

High in his stirrups stood the King,

And gave his battle-axe the swing. Right on De Boune, the whiles he pass'd, Fell that stern dint-the first-the last!Such strength upon the blow was put, The helmet crash'd like hazel-nut; The axe-shaft, with its brazen clasp, Was shiver'd to the gauntlet grasp, Springs from the blow the startled horse, Drops to the plain the lifeless corse; -First of that fatal field, how soon, How sudden, fell the fierce De Boune!

XVI.

One pitying glance the Monarch sped,
Where on the field his foe lay dead;
Then gently turn'd his palfrey's head,
And, pacing back his sober way,
Slowly he gain'd his own array.
There round their King the leaders crowd
And blame his recklessness aloud,
That risk'd 'gainst each adventurous spear
A life so valued and so dear.
His broken weapon's shaft survey'd
The King, and careless answer made,—
"My loss may pay my folly's tax;
I've broke my trusty battle-axe."
Twas then Fitz-Louis, bending low,
Did Isabel's commission show ;
Edith, disguised, at distance stands,
And hides her blushes with her hands.
The Monarch's brow has changed its
hue,

Away the gory axe he threw,
While to the seeming page he drew,

Clearing war's terrors from his eye.
Her hand with gentle ease he took,
With such a kind protecting look,

As to a weak and timid boy Might speak, that elder brother's care And elder brother's love were there.

XVII.

CANTO VI

"Fear not," he said, "young Amadine !” Then whisper'd, "Still that name be thine. Fate plays her wonted fantasy," Kind Amadine, with thee and me, And sends thee here in doubtful hour. But soon we are beyond her power; For on this chosen battle-plain, Victor or vanquish'd, I remain. Do thou to yonder hill repair; The followers of our host are there, And all who may not weapons bear.— Fitz-Louis, have him in thy care.— Joyful we meet, if all go well;

If not, in Arran's holy cell

Thou must take part with Isabel;

For brave Lord Ronald, too, hath sworn,

Not to regain the Maid of Lorn (The bliss on earth he covets most), Would he forsake his battle-post, Or shun the fortune that may fall To Bruce, to Scotland, and to all.But, hark! some news these trumpets tell; Forgive my haste-farewell!-farewell !"— And in a lower voice he said,

"Be of good cheer-farewell, sweet maid !”