And by the crownè that was set
Also upon his bassinet,
And to-ward him he went in hie.
And, when the King sae apertly 1
Saw him come forouth all his feres,2
In haste till him his horse he steers.
And, when Sir Henry saw the King
Come on, forouten abasing3
Till him he rade in full great hie.
He thocht that he should weel lichtly
Win him, and have him at his will,
Since he him horsit saw sae ill.
Sprent they samin intill a ling ;*
Sir Henry missit the noble King.
And he, that in his stirrups stood,
With the axe that was hard and good,
With sae great main raucht him a dint,
That neither hat ne helm micht stint
The heavy dusch that he him gave,
That near the head till the harnis 9 clave.
The hand-axe shaft fruschit 10 in twa;
And he down to the earth gan gae,
All flatlins; for him failit micht."
11
This was the first stroke of the fight.
When that the King reparrit 13 was,
The lordis of his company
Blamit him, as they durst, greatumly,14
That he him put in aventure 15
To meet sae stith 16 a knicht and stour 17
In sic point 18 as he was then seen.
For," they said, "weell it micht have been
Cause of their tinesel 19 everilkane." 20
The King answer has made them nane;
But meenit 21 his hand-axe shaft swa 22
Was with the strak broken in twa.
2 Beyond his companions.
4 They sprang forward together at a gallop. 6 Reached, or struck him a blow.
15 That he had put himself in
18 In such condition.
21 Lamented (bemoaned).
When all this thing thus treatit was,
And affirmit with sickerness,2
The King to Cardross went in hie;
And there took him sae fellèly 3
The Sickness, and him travailled sae
That he wist him behovit mae 4
Of all his life the common end:
That is to dead,5 when God will send.
Therefore his letters soon sent he
For the lordès of his countree;
And they come as they bidding had. . . .
He said, "Lordings swa is it gane
With me that there is nocht but ane,6-
That is the dead, withouten drede,
That ilk man maun thole of need."
And I thank God, that has me sent
Space in this life me to repent;
For through me and my werraying
Of blood has been richt great spilling
Where many sackless9 men were slain :
Therefore this sickness and this pain
I tak in thank for my trespass.
And mine heart fixit sickerly 10 was
When I was in prosperity,
Of my sinnès to savit be,
To travail upon Goddès faes,11
And, sin He now me till Him taes,12
Sae that the body may nae wise
Fulfil that the heart gan devise,
I would the heart were thither 13 sent
Wherein conceived was this intent.
Therefore I pray you ever ilkane,
That ye amang ye cheise14 me ane
That be honest, wise, and wicht,
And of his hand a noble knicht,
On Goddès faes my heart to bear,
When saul and corse 15 dissevered are;
1 The peace with the English, and the marriage of Bruce's son, David, with the sister of Edward III. 2 Sureness, certainty. 3 Cruelly.
5 Death.
6 Nought but one thing remaining.
7 Which every man must necessarily suffer.
9 Guiltless.
11 To labour or fight against God's foes (in an expedition to the Holy Land).. 14 Choose. 15 Soul and body.
For I would it were worthily
Brocht there, sin God will nocht that I
Have power thitherward to gae."
Then they went forth with dreary mood.
Amang them they thocht it good
That the worthy Lord of Douglas
Best shapen for that travail was.
And, when the King heard that they sae
Had ordainit him his heart to tae
That he maist yearnit should it have,
He said, "Sae God Himself me save!
I hald1 me richt weell payit that ye
Have chosen him; for his bountie,
And his worship, set my yearning,
Aye sin I thocht to do this thing,
That he it with him there should bear;
And, sin ye all assentit are,
It is the mair likeand2 to me.
Lat see now what theretill says he."
And, when the good Lord of Douglas
Wist that thing that spoken was,
He came and kneelit to the king,
And on this wise made him thanking :
66 I thank you greatly, Lord," said he,
"Of mony largesse and great bountie
That ye have done me felè sies3
Sin first I come to your service;
But ower all thing I mak thanking
That ye sae dign and worthy thing
As your heart, that enlumined wes
Of all bountie and all prowess,
Will that I in my yemselR tak.
For you, sir, I will blythely mak
This travail, gif that God me give
Leisure and space so long to live."
The King him thankit tenderly.
Then was nane in that company
That they na weepit for pity. . . .
And the King's infirmity
Wox mair and mair, while at the last
The duleful dead' approachit fast;
And, when he had gart till him do
All that good Christen man fell to
1 Hold.
8 Many times.
4 Such an honourable (dignus) and worthy thing.
6 Keeping, guardianship.
7 Death.
With very1 repentance he gave
The ghaist, that God till heaven have
Amang the chosen folk to be,
In joy, solace, and angel glee.
And frae his folk wist he was dead,
The sorrow rase frae stead to stead.
There micht men see men rive their hair,
And commonly knichts greet2 full sair,
And their nieves oft samin drive,3
And as wud4 men their claithis rive.
Regrettand his worthy bountie,
His art, his strength, his honesty,
And, ower all, the great company
That he them made oft courteisly.
"All our defence," they said, "alas !
And he that all our comfort was,
Our art, and all our governing,
Alas! is brought here till ending!"
And when they lang thus sorrowit had,
They have had him to Dunfermline,
And him solemply erdit syne
In a fair tomb intill the quire.
JOHN LYDGATE.
(1370 ?-1446.)
CHAUCER, for a hundred and eighty years after his death, continued pre-eminent among the poets of Britain. The most notable of his younger contemporaries and successors was John Lydgate, a voluminous writer of the reigns of Henry V. and Henry VI. After a period of study in the universities of Oxford, Paris, and in Italy, Lydgate established himself as a Benedictine monk at Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. In his youth he was a friend and disciple of the aged Chaucer; and he was about thirty years old when Chaucer died. The most important of his poems, in point of size, were (1), The Destruction of Troy, and (2), The Story of Thebes, translated from two romances of Guido de Colonna, a Sicilian writer of
3 Knock their fists together. 4 Mad. 5 Clothes. 7 Solemnly buried (earthed) him then.
the preceding century, and (3), The Fall of Princes, a translation into English of the De Casibus of Boccaccio. This last work, consisting of a series of gloomy narrations, exerted, at a later date, a very remarkable influence on our literature. But Lydgate did not restrict himself to translating the works of foreign poets. Among his extant writings are poems upon every subject and in every style,—coronation poems, satirical ballads, moral and devotional verses, humorous tales, legends, and love-songs. Lydgate's fluency was unprecedented, and there was a popular element in some of his verses which is not found in the poetry of his English predecessors. The Ballad of London Lackpenny, relating the ill success of a poor countryman in the London Courts of Law, has been frequently reprinted. Lydgate's Testament, one of the pleasantest of his minor poems, is the narration, by an old man, of the follies of a mis-spent youth.
FROM THE BALLAD OF LONDON LACKPENNY.
To London once my steps I bent,
Where truth in no wise should be faint;
To Westminster-ward1 I forthwith went,
To a Man of Law to make complaint.
I said, "For Mary's love, that holy saint,
Pity the poor that would proceed!" 2
But, for lack of money, I could not speed.
And, as I thrust the press3 among,
By froward chance my hood was gone;
Yet for all that I stayed not long
Till to the King's Bench I was come.
Before the Judge I kneeled anon,
And prayed him for God's sake take heed ;—
But, for lack of money, I might not speed.
Beneath them sat Clerks, a great rout,3
Which fast did write by one assent;
There stood up one, and cried about
Richard, Robert, and John of Kent ;"
I wist not well what this man meant,
1 The four ancient Law-Courts of England, called the Court of Chancery, the Court of King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of Exchequer, were held, after the year 1224, within Westminster Hall. 2 Go to law.
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