And straight in heart did vow revenge Upon the Lord Percy.

Sir Hugh Montgomery was he called,
Who, with a spear full bright,
Well mounted on a gallant steed,
Ran fiercely through the fight,

And past the English archers all
With naught of dread or fear,
And through Earl Percy's body then
He thrust his hateful spear

With such a vehement force and might
That his body he did gore,

The staff ran through the other side
A large cloth yard and more.

So thus did both those Nobles die,
Whose courage none could stain.
An English archer then perceived
The noble Earl was slain.

He had a good bow in his hand
Made of a trusty tree;
An arrow of a cloth yard long
To the hard head halèd he.

Against Sir Hugh Montgomery
His shaft full right he set;
The grey goose wing that was thereon
In his heart's blood was wet.

This fight from break of day did last Till setting of the sun,

For when they rung the Evening bell
The Battle scarce was done.

With stout Earl Percy there was slain
Sir John of Egerton,

Sir Robert Harcliffe and Sir William,
Sir James that bold baròn;

And with Sir George and with Sir James, Both Knights of good account;

And good Sir Ralph Rabby there was slain Whose prowess did surmount.

For Witherington needs must I wail
As one in doleful dumps,
For when his legs were smitten off,
He fought upon his stumps.

And with Earl Douglas there was slain
Sir Hugh Montgomery,

And Sir Charles Murray that from field
One foot would never flee;

Sir Roger Hever of Harcliffe, too,
His sister's son was he,

Sir David Lamb so well esteemed,

But saved he could not be;

And the Lord Maxwell in like case
With Douglas he did die ;
Of twenty hundred Scottish spears,
Scarce fifty-five did fly ;

Of fifteen hundred Englishmen

Went home but fifty-three;

The rest in Chevy Chase were slain,
Under the greenwood tree.

Next day did many widows come

Their husbands to bewail;

They washed their wounds in brinish tears,

But all would not prevail.

Their bodies, bathed in purple blood,

They bore with them away,

They kissed them dead a thousand times Ere they were clad in clay.

The news was brought to Edinborough
Where Scotland's king did reign,
That brave Earl Douglas suddenly
Was with an arrow slain.

"O heavy news!" King James can say
"Scotland may witness be

I have not any Captain more
Of such account as he!"

Like tidings to King Henry came
Within as short a space,
That Percy of Northumberland

Was slain in Chevy Chase.

"Now God be with him!" said our king, "Sith it will no better be,

I trust I have within my realm

Five hundred as good as he!

"Yet shall not Scots nor Scotland say But I will vengeance take,

And be revenged on them all
For brave Earl Percy's sake."

This vow the king did well perform
After, on Humble down;

In one day fifty knights were slain,
With lords of great renown.

And of the rest, of small account,
Did many hundreds die:

Thus endeth the hunting in Chevy Chase
Made by the Earl Percy.

God save our King, and bless this land
With plenty, joy, and peace;

And grant henceforth that foul debate

'Twixt noble men may cease!

ANONYMOUS.

Old Ballad.

SIR PATRICK SPENS.1

THE king sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blude-red wine:
"O where will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this new ship of mine?

1 This is an old Scotch ballad of great antiquity. There is no historical incident which corresponds exactly to that narrated in the ballad, but the story belongs to the period of Alexander the Third, of Scotland, who died in 1285, and whose daughter married Eric, King of Norway. The daughter of Eric by this mar riage, who was named Margaret and called the maid of Norway, became the heiress of the Scottish crown, and an effort was

0

up and spake an eldern knight,

Sat at the king's right knee:

"Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That ever sailed the sea."

Our king has written a braid letter,
And sealed it with his hand,
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.

"To Noroway, to Noroway,

To Noroway o'er the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis thou maun bring her hame!"

The first word that Sir Patrick read,
Sae loud, loud laughed he,

The neist word that Sir Patrick read,
The tear blindit his e'e.

"O wha is this has done this deed,
And tauld the king o' me,

To send us out at this time of the year,
To sail upon the sea?

"Be it wind, be it weet, be it hail, be it sleet,
Our ship must sail the faem;

The king's daughter of Noroway,

'Tis we must fetch her hame."

made to marry her to Edward, son of Edward I. of England; but she died before her return to Scotland. She is the princess referred to in the ballad, and for whom Sir Patrick Spens was sent, according to the tradition. The version given here is Saken from Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. i., p. 3.