In Hawick twinkled many a light; Behind him soon they set in night; And soon he spurr'd his courser keen Beneath the tower of Hazeldean.1 XXVI. The clattering hoofs the watchmen mark ;"Stand, ho! thou courier of the dark.”— "For Branksome, ho!" the knight rejoin'd, And left the friendly tower behind. He turn'd him now from Teviotside, And, guided by the tinkling rill, And gained the moor at Horsliehill; XXVII. A moment now he slack'd his speed, XXVIII. Unchallenged, thence pass'd Deloraine, To ancient Riddel's fair domain,* Where Aill, from mountains freed, Down from the lakes did raving come; Each wave was crested with tawny foam, Like the mane of a chestnut steed. In vain! no torrent, deep or broad, Might bar the bold moss-trooper's road. XXIX. At the first plunge the horse sunk low, 1 See Appendix, Note S. In bitter mood he spurred fast, In solemn wise did rise and fail, Like that wild harp, whose magic tone Is waken'd by the winds alone. But when Melrose he reach'd, 'twas silence all; He meetly stabled his steed in stall, And sought the convent's lonely wall.8 HERE paused the harp; and with its swell His hand was true, his voice was clear, 6 Halidon was an ancient seat of the Kerrs of Cessford, now 2 An ancient Roman road, crossing through part of Rox- demolished. About a quarter of a mile to the northward lay burghshire. the field of battle betwixt Buccleuch and Angus, which is called to this day the Skirmish Field.-See Appendix Note D. Lauds, the midnight service of the Catholic church. 9 Sce Appendix, Note V. The Lay of the Last Minstrel. CANTO SECOND. I. IF thou would'st view fair Melrose aright,' When the broken arches are black in night, When silver edges the imagery, And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die;2 When distant Tweed is heard to rave, And the owlet to hoot o'er the dead man's grave, Then go-but go alone the while- II. Short halt did Deloraine make there; "Who knocks so loud, and knocks so late?" Had gifted the shrine for their souls' repose.1 III. Bold Deloraine his errand said; "In the description of Melrose, which introduces the Second Canto, the reader will observe how skilfully the Author calls in the aid of sentimental associations to heighten the effect of the picture which he presents to the eye."-JEFFREY. 2 See Appendix, Note W. 3 David I. of Scotland, purchased the reputation of sanctity, by founding, and liberally endowing, not only the monastery of Melrose, but those of Kelso, Jedburgh, and many others; which led to the well-known observation of his successor, that he was a sore saint for the crown. And lifted his barred aventayle," IV. "The Ladye of Branksome greets thee by me; V. And strangely on the Knight look'd he, And his blue eyes gleam'd wild and wide; "And, darest thou, Warrior! seek to see What heaven and hell alike would hide? My breast, in belt of iron pent, With shirt of hair and scourge of thorn; For threescore years, in penance spent, My knees those flinty stones have worn: Yet all too little to atone For knowing what should ne'er be known. Would'st thou thy every future year In ceaseless prayer and penance drie, Yet wait thy latter end with fearThen, daring Warrior, follow me !" VI. "Penance, father, will I none; When I ride on a Border foray.6 So speed me my errand, and let me be gone." VII. Again on the Knight look'd the Churchman old, And again he sighed heavily; For he had himself been a warrior bold, And fought in Spain and Italy. And he thought on the days that were long since by When his limbs were strong, and his courage was high Now, slow and faint, he led the way, And beneath their feet were the bones of the dead." 4 The Buccleuch family were great benefactors to the Abbey of Melrose. As early as the reign of Robert II., Robert Scott, Baron of Murdieston and Rankleburn, (now Buccleuch,) gave to the monks the lands of Hinkery, in Ettrick Forest, pro salule animæ suæ.-Chartulary of Melrose, 28th May, 1415. Aventayle, visor of the helmet. 6 See Appendix, Note X. 7 The cloisters were frequently used as places of sepulture. An instance occurs in Dryburgh Abbey, where the cloister has an inscription, bearing, Hie jacet frater Archibaldus. VIII. Spreading herbs, and flowerets bright, The youth in glittering squadrons start ;1 Sudden the flying jennet wheel, And hurl the unexpected dart. He knew, by the streamers that shot so bright, That spirits were riding the northern light. IX. By a steel-clenched postern door, They enter'd now the chancel tall; The darken'd roof rose high aloof On pillars lofty and light and small: The key-stone, that lock'd each ribbed aisle, Was a fleur-de-lys, or a quatre-feuille ; The corbells were carved grotesque and grim; And the pillars, with cluster'd shafts so trim, With base and with capital flourish'd around,3 Seem'd bundles of lances which garlands had bound. X. Full many a scutcheon and banner riven, Around the screened altar's pale; And thine, dark Knight of Liddesdale !5 O fading honours of the dead! O high ambition, lowly laid! XI. The moon on the east oriel shone By foliaged tracery combined; Thou would'st have thought some fairy's hand "Twixt poplars straight the ozier wand, In many a freakish knot, had twined; Then framed a spell, when the work was done, And changed the willow-wreaths to stone. 1 See Appendix, Note Y. 2 Corbells, the projections from which the arches spring, chanted with Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel. He usually cut in a fantastic face, or mask. 8" With plinth and with capital flourish'd around" First Edition. See Appendix, Note Z. 5 Ibid. Note 2 A. 6 Ibid. Note 2 B. 7" Bombay, September 25, 1805.—I began last night to read Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel, as part of my evening readings to my children. I was extremely delighted by the poetical beauty of some passages, the Abbey of Melrose for example, and most of the prologues to the cantos. The costume, too, is admirable. The tone is antique; and it might be read for instruction as a picture of the manners of is surely the man born at last to translate the Iliad. Are not the good parts of his poem the most Homeric of any thing in our language? There are tedious passages, and so are there in Homer."-SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH, Life, Vol. I., pp. 254, 262. 8 A large marble stone, in the chancel of Melrose, is pointed out as the monument of Alexander II., one of the greatest of our early kings; others say, it is the resting-place of Waldeve, one of the early abbots, who died in the odour of sanctity. 9 See Appendix, Note 2 C. 11 See Appendix, Note 2 E. 10 Ibid. Note 2 D. 12 Ibid. Note 2 P. |