Is weapon'd to avenge a brother's death : If thou hast heart to step a furlong off, And change three blows,-even for so short a space As these good men may say an avemarie, So, Heaven be good to me! I will forgive thee Thy deed and all its consequences. BER. Were not my right hand fetter'd by the thought That slaying thee were but a double guilt In which to steep my soul, no bridegroom ever Stepp'd forth to trip a measure with his bride More joyfully than I, young man, rush To meet thy challenge. would LIN. He quails, and shuns to look A destined victim, train'd on to the doom His frantic jealousy prepared for me. He fix'd a quarrel on me, and we fought. Can I forget the form that came be tween us, And perish'd by his sword? 'T was then I fought For vengeance; until then I guarded life, But then I sought to take it, and prevail'd. LIN. Wretch! thou didst first dishonour to thy victim, And then didst slay him! BER. There is a busy fiend tugs at my heart, But I will struggle with it. Youthful knight, My heart is sick of war, my hand of slaughter; I come not to my lordships, or my land, But just to seek a spot in some cold cloister, Which I may kneel on living, and, when dead. Which may suffice to cover me. Forgive me that I caused your brother's death, And I forgive thee the injurious terms With which thou taxest me. LIN. Take worse and blacker. Murderer, adulterer! Art thou not moved yet? BER. Do not press me further. The hunted stag, even when he seeks the thicket, Compell'd to stand at bay, grows dangerous. Most true thy brother perish'd by my hand, And if you term it murder I must bear it. Thus far my patience can; but if thou brand The purity of yonder martyr'd saint Whom then my sword but poorly did avenge, With one injurious word, come to the valley, And I will show thee how it shall be answer'd. NIN. This heat, Lord Berkeley, doth but ill accord With thy late pious patience. BER. Father, forgive, and let me stand excused To Heaven and thee, if patience brooks Can rouse thy sluggard mettle. For it shall be on earth thy last devotion. [They are going off. WAL. (rushing forward). Madmen, stand! Stay but one second, answer but one question: There, Maurice Berkeley, canst thou look upon That blessed sign, and swear thou'st spoken truth? BER. I swear by Heaven, And by the memory of that murder'd innocent, Each seeming charge against her was as false As our bless'd Lady's spotless. Hear, each saint! Hear me, thou holy rood! Hear me from heaven, Thou martyr'd excellence! Hear me from penal fire (For sure not yet thy guilt is expiated), Stern ghost of her destroyer! WAL. (throws back his cowl). He LIN. My brother! and alive! No tie of kindred binds me to the world; All were renounced when, with reviving life, Came the desire to seek the sacred cloister. Alas, in vain! for to that last retreat, Like to a pack of bloodhounds in full chase, My passion and my wrongs have follow'd me, Wrath and remorse; and, to fill up the cry, Thou hast brought vengeance hither. To do the act and duty of a brother. WAL. I ceased to be so when I left the world; But if he can forgive as I forgive, BER. Make then obeisance to the God sends me here a brother in mine To pray for me and with me. If thou The votary Maurice lays the title down. canst, De Berkeley, give thine hand. BER. (gives his hand). It is the will Of Heaven, made manifest in thy preservation, To inhibit further bloodshed; for De Berkeley, Go to his halls, Lord Richard, where a maiden, Kin to his blood, and daughter in affection, Heirs his broad lands. If thou canst love her, Lindesay, Woo her, and be successful. THE DOOM OF DEVORGOIL. PREFACE. THE first of these dramatic pieces* was long since written, for the purpose of obliging the late Mr. Terry, then Manager of the Adelphi Theatre, for whom the Author had a particular regard. The manner in which the mimic goblins of Devorgoil are intermixed with the supernatural machinery was found to be objectionable, and the production had other faults, which rendered it unfit for representation.† I have called the piece a Melodrama, for want of a better name; but, as I learn from the unquestionable authority of Mr. Colman's "Random Records" that one species of the drama is termed an extrava. ganza, I am sorry I was not sooner aware of a more appropriate name than that which I had selected for Devorgoil. The Author's Publishers thought it advisable that the scenes, long condemned to oblivion, should be united to similar attempts of the same kind; and as he felt indifferent on the subject, they are printed in the same volume with Halidon Hill and MacDuff's Cross, and thrown off in a separate form, for the convenience of those who possess former editions of the Author's Poetical Works. The general story of the Doom of Devorgoil is founded on an old Scottish tradition, the scene of which lies in Galloway. The crime supposed to have occasioned the misfortunes of this devoted house is similar to that of a Lord Herries of Hoddam Castle, who is the principal personage of Mr. Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe's interesting ballad, in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol iv. p. 307. In remorse for his crime, he built the singular monument called the Tower of Repentance. In many cases the Scottish superstitions allude to the fairies, or those who, for sins of a milder description, are permitted to wander with the "rout that never rest,” as they were termed by Dr. Leyden. They imitate human labour and human amusements, but their toil is useless and without any advantageous result, and their gaiety is unsubstantial and hollow. The phantom of Lord Erick is supposed to be a spectre of this character. The story of the Ghostly Barber is told in many countries; but the best narrative founded on the passage is the tale called Stumme Liebe, among the legends of Musaeus. I think it has been introduced upon the English stage in some pantomime, which was one objection to bringing it upon the scene a second time. ABBOTSFORD, April, 1830. "The Doom of Devorgoil" and "Auchindrane" were published together in an octavo volume, in the spring of 1830. + Mr. Daniel Terry, the comedian, distinguished for a very peculiar style of humour on the stage, and, moreover, by personal accomplishments of various sorts not generally shared by members of his profession, was, during many years, on terms of intimacy with Sir Walter Scott. Terry died 22nd June, 1829. DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. OSWALD OF DEVORGOIL, a decayed LANCELOT BLACKTHORN, a Companion of LEONARD, in love with KATLEEN. GULLCRAMMER, a conceited Student. OWLSPIEGLE and,sented by BLACK- Peasants, Shepherds, and Vassals of inferior rank. ELEANOR, Wife of Oswald, descended of obscure parentage. FLORA, Daughter of OSWALD. The hills have evening's deepest glow, Each to the loved one's side. The noble dame, on turret high, The village maid, with hand on brow, Now to their mates the wild swans row, [KATLEEN has come out of the |