POEMS OF ADVENTURE AND RURAL SPORTS. CHEVY-CHASE. ADVENTURE. [Percy, Earl of Northumberland, had vowed to hunt for three days in the Scottish border, without condescending to ask leave from Earl Douglas, who was either lord of the soil or lord warden of the Marches. This provoked the conflict which was celebrated in the old ballad of the "Hunting o' the Cheviot." The circumstances of the battle of Otterbourne (A. D 1388) are woven into the ballad, and the affairs of the two events are confounded. The ballad preserved in the Percy Reliques is probably as old as 1574. The one following is a modernized form, of the time of James I.] GOD prosper long our noble king, Our lives and safeties all; A woful hunting once there did In Chevy-Chase befall. To drive the deer with hound and horn The child may rue that is unborn The stout Earl of Northumberland The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chase Who sent Earl Percy present word With fifteen hundred bowmen bold, The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran This vow full well the king performed After at Humbledown ; In one day fifty knights were slain And of the rest, of small account, God save the king, and bless this land, RICHARD SHEALE. LAMENT OF THE BORDER WIDOW. ROBIN HOOD AND ALLEN-A-DALE. [Of Robin Hood, the famous outlaw of Sherwood Forest, and his merry men, there are many ballads; but the limits of this volume forbid our giving more than a single selection. Various periods, ranging from the time of Richard I. to the end of the reign of Edward II., have been assigned as the age in which Robin Hood lived. He is usually described as a yeoman, abiding in Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire. His most noted followers, generally mentioned in the ballads, are Little John, Friar Tuck, his chaplain, and his maid Marian. Nearly all the legends extol his courage, his generosity, his humanity, and his skill as an archer. He robbed the rich only, who could afford to lose, and gave freely to the poor. He protected the needy, was a champion of the fair sex, and took great delight in plundering prelates. The following ballad exhibits the outlaw in one of his most attractive aspects, affording assistance to a distressed lover.] COME, listen to me, you gallants so free, [Sir Walter Scott says: "This ballad relates to the execution of As Robin Hood in the forest stood, Cockburne of Henderland, a border freebooter, hanged over the gate of his own tower by James V. in his famous expedition, in 1529, against the marauders of the border. In a deserted burial-place near the ruins of the castle, the monument of Cockburne and his lady is still shown. The following inscription is still legible, though defaced: "'HERE LYES PERYS OF COKBURNE AND HIS WYFE My love he built me a bonnie bower, There came a man, by middle day, He slew my knight, to me sae dear ; I sewed his sheet, making my mane ; I took his body on my back, But think nae ye my heart was sair, Nae living man I'll love again, ANONYMOUS. All under the greenwood tree, There he was aware of a brave young man, The youngster was clad in scarlet red, And he did frisk it over the plain, As Robin Hood next morning stood The scarlet he wore the day before Then stepped forth brave Little John, Which made the young man bend his bow, "Stand off! stand off!" the young man said, "What is your will with me?" "You must come before our master straight, Under yon greenwood tree." And when he came bold Robin before, "I have no money," the young man said, And that I have kept these seven long years, Robin Hood pulled off the bishop's coat, And put it upon Little John; “I have no money,” then quoth the young man, "By the faith of my body," then Robin said, "No ready gold nor fee, But I will swear upon a book Thy true servant for to be.” "How many miles is it to thy true-love? Come tell me without guile." By the faith of my body," then said the young man, "It is but five little mile." Then Robin he hasted over the plain, He did neither stint nor lin,* Until he came unto the church Where Allen should keep his wedding. "What hast thou here?" the bishop then said, "I prithee now tell unto me. "I am a bold harper," quoth Robin Hood, "And the best in the north country." "O, welcome, 0, welcome," the bishop he said, “That music best pleaseth me." "You shall have no music," quoth Robin Hood, "Till the bride and bridegroom I see. With that came in a wealthy knight, Which was both grave and old ; And after him a finikin lass, Did shine like the glistering gold. "This is not a fit match," quoth Robin Hood, "That you do seem to make here; For since we are come into the church, The bride shall chuse her own dear." Then Robin Hood put his horn to his mouth, * Stop nor stay. "This cloth doth make thee a man." When Little John went into the quire, He asked them seven times in the church "Who gives me this maid?" said Little John, Quoth Robin Hood, "That do I ; And he that takes her from Allen-a-Dale, And then, having ended this merry wedding, And so they returned to the merry greenwood, Amongst the leaves so green. ANONYMOUS. JOCK JOHNSTONE, THE TINKLER. "O, CAME ye ower by the Yoke-burn Ford, "I saw a knight and a lady bright Ride up the cleuch at the break of day; The knight upon a coal-black steed, "And the lady's palfrey flew the first, With many a clang of silver bell : Swift as the raven's morning flight The two went scouring ower the fell. "By this time they are man and wife, And standing in St. Mary's fane; And the lady in the grass-green silk A maid you will never see again.” * Dell. |