been rendered frustrate by his enemies that if he whereof he saw plainly his enemies marching toward should be brought to a battle the next day, it would him wherefore when the whole army was come over please him of his great mercy to grant him the victory, as his trust was only in him, and in the right which he had given him. Being thus armed with faith, about midnight he laid himself upon a pallet or mattress to take a little repose; but he arose again betimes and heard mass, with his son the young prince, and received absolution, and the body and blood of his Redeemer, as did the prince also, and most of the lords and others who were so disposed.»-Barnes. Thus also before the battle of Agincourt « after prayers and supplications of the king, his priests, and people, done with great devotion, the king of England in the morning very early set forth his hosts in array.» -Stowe. The roundel. Note 174, page 42, col. 2. The shield of dignity. this mountain, he commanded that there they should make an halt, and so fit themselves for fight. At that instant the lord John Chandos brought his ensign folded up, and offered it to the prince, saying, 'Sir, here is my guidon: I request your highness to display it abroad, and to give me leave to raise it this day as my banner; for I thank God and your highness, I have lands and possessions sufficient to maintain it withall. Then the prince took the pennon, and having cut off the tail. made it a square banner, and this done, both he and king Don Pedro for the greater honour, holding it between their hands displayed it abroad, it being or, a sharp pile gules; and then the prince delivered it unto the lord Chandos again, saying, ‘Sir John, behold here your banner. God send you much joy and honour with it. And thus being made a knight banneret, the is A shield too weak for service, which lord Chandos returned to the head of his men, and said, was borne before the general of an army. Note 175, page 43, col. 1. They might meet the battle. The conduct of the English on the morning of the battle of Crecy is fallowed in the text. «All things being thus ordered, every lord and captain under his own banner and pennon, and the ranks duly settled, the valorous young king mounted on a lusty white hobby, and with a white wand in his hand, rode between his two marshals from rank to rank, and from one battalia unto another, exhorting and encouraging every man that day to defend and maintain his right and honour: and this he did with so chearful a countenance, and with such sweet and obliging words, that even the most faint-hearted of the army were sufficiently assured thereby. By that time the English were thus prepared; it was nine o'clock in the morning, and then the king commanded them all to take their refreshment of meat and drink, which being done, with small disturbance they all repaired to their colours again, and then laid themselves in their order upon the dry and warm grass, with their bows and helmets by their side, to be more fresh and vigorous upon the approach of the enemy.» -Joshua Barnes. The English before the battle of Azincour « fell prostrate to the ground, and committed themselves to God, every of them tooke in his mouth a little piece of earth, in remembrance that they were mortall and made of earth, as also in remembrance of the holy communion.» Stowe. Note 176, page 43, col. 2. To see the pennons rolling their long waves The pennon was long, ending in two points, the An incident before the battle of Nagera exemplifies «As the two armies approached near together, this. Here, gentlemen, behold my banner and yours. Take and keep it, to your honour and mine.' And so they took it with a shout, and said by the grace of God and St George they would defend it to the best of their powers. But the banner remained in the hands of a gallant English esquire named William Allestry, who bore it all that day, and acquitted himself in the service right honourably.» - Barnes. <<< It was a Joshua Barnes seems to have been greatly impressed with the splendour of such a spectacle. glorious and ravishing sight, no doubt,» says he, «to behold these two armies standing thus regularly embattled in the field, their banners and standards waving in the wind, their proud horses barbed, and kings, lords, knights, and esquires richly armed, and all shining in their surcoats of satin and embroidery.» Thus also at Poictiers, « there you might have beheld a most beautiful sight of fair harness, of shining steel. feathered crests of glittering helmets, and the rich embroidery of silken surcoats of arms, together with golden standards, banners, and pennons gloriously moving in the air.»> And at Nagera «the sun being now risen, it was a ravishing sight to behold the armies, and the sun reflecting from their bright steel and shining armour. For in those days the cavalry were generally armed in mail or polished steel at all points, and besides that, the nobi lity wore over their armour rich surtouts of silk and satin embroidery, whereon was curiously sticht or beaten, the arms of their house, whether in colour or metal.»> Note 179, page 43, col. 2. Nos ancestres, et notamment du temps de la guerre the prince went over a little hill, in the descending des Anglois, en combats solemnels et journées assignées, se mettoient la plus-part du temp tous à pied ; pour ne se fier à autre chose qu'à leur force propre et viguer de luer courage et de luer membres, de chose si chere que l'honneur et la vie.-Montaigne, liv. i, c. 48. In the battle of Patay, Monstrelet says, « les François moult de pres mirent pied à terre, et descendirent la plus grand partie de leur chevaulx.» In El Cavallero Determinado, an allegorical romance, translated from the French of Olivier de la Marche by Hernando de Acuña, Barcelona, 1565, this custom is referred to by Understanding, when giving the knight directions for his combat with Atropos. En esto es mi parecer Que en cavallo no te fies; Tu lymosna y bien bazer. Note 180, page 43, col. 2. Their javelins lessen'd to a wieldy length. Thus at Poictiers, the three battails being all ready ranged in the field, and every lord in his due place under his own banner, command was given that all men should put off their spurs, and cut their spears to five foot length, as most commodious for such who had left their horses.»-Barnes. Note 181, page 43, col. 2. Hræsvelger starting. Hrasvelger vocatur Qui sedet in extremitate coeli, Gigas exuvias amictus aquila: Ex ejus alis Ferunt venire ventum Omnes super homines. Vafthrudnismal. Where the Heavens' remotest bound The Edla of Sæmund, transl. by A. S. Cottle. At the promontory of Malea on the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, there is a chapel built to the honour of Michael the archangel. Here we could not but laugh at the foolish superstition of the sailors, who say, when the wind blows from that place, that it is occasioned by the violent motion of St Michael's wings, because, forsooth, he is painted with wings. And for that reason, when they sail by Michael they pray to him that he may hold his wings still.-Baumgarten. Note 182, page 44, col. 1. Or with the lance protended from his front. In a combat fought in Smithfield 1467, between the lord Scales and the bastard of Burgoyne, << the lord Scales' horse had on his chafron a long sharp pike of steele, and as the two champions coaped together, the same horse thrust his pike into the nostrils of the bastard's horse, so that for very paine, he mounted so high that he fell on the one side with his master.»Stowe. This weapon is mentioned by Lope de Vega, and by an old Scotch poet. Unicornio el cavallo parecia Con la fuerte pyramide delante, Que en medio del bocal resplandecia Como si fuera punta de diamante. Jerusalem Conquistada, I. 10. His horse in fine sandel was trapped to the heele, And, in bis cheveron biforne. Stode as an unicorne, Als sharp as a thorne, An anlas of stele. Sir Gawan and Sir Galaron. The Abyssinians use it at this day; Bruce says it is a very troublesome useless piece of their armour. Note 183, page 44, col. 1. To snatch the shield of death. Thus did Juba catch up the shield of death to defend himself from ignominy.-Cleopatra. Note 184, page 44, col. 1. Their tower of strength. Ώσπερ γαρ μιν πύργον εν οφθαλμοισιν ορωσιν. ΤΥΡΤΑΙΟΣ. Quarles has made this expression somewhat ludicrous by calling Sampson Great army of men, the wonder of whose power Note 185, page 44, col. 2. And when the boar's head. Two carols for this occasion are preserved in Mr Ritson's valuable collection of Ancient Songs. The first of these, here alluded to, is as follows: Caput apri defero Reddens laudes domino. The bore's heed in hand bring I With garlands gay and rosemary, The bore's heed I understande Be gladde lordes bothe more and lasse with him in the kingdom, upon the day of coronation, When Henry II had his eldest son crowned as fellow king Henry, the father, served his son at the table as sewer, bringing up the bore's head with trumpets before it, according to the manner; whereupon (according to the old adage, Immutant mores homines cum dantur honores) the young man conceiving a pride in his heart, beheld he had been wont. The archbishop of York who sat by the standers-by with a more stately countenance than him, marking his behaviour, turned unto him and said, the world that hath such a sewer at his table.» To «Be glad, my good son, there is not another prince in this the new king answered as it were disdainfully thus: «Why dost thou marvel at that? my father in doing it thinketh it not more than becometh him, he being born of princely blood only on the mother's side, serveth me that am a king born, having both a king to my father and a queen to my mother.» Thus the young man of an evil and perverse nature, was puffed up in pride by his father's unseemly doings. But the king his father hearing his talk was very sorrowful in his mind, and said to the archbishop softly in his ear, << It repenteth me, it repenteth me, my lord, says, -de la main leurs coutelas trouverent Bien aiguisez qui de l'arçon pendoyent. appears in a very unfavourable light. Henry Windsor writes thus of him:-« hit is not unknown that cruelle and vengible he hath byn ever, and for the most part withoute pite and mercy. I can no more, but vade et corripe eum, for truly he cannot bryng about his matiers in this word (world), for the word is not for him. I suppose it wolnot chaunge yett be likeleness, but i beseche you sir help not to amend hym onely, but every other man yf ye kno any mo mysse disposed.»> The order of the garter was taken from Fastolffe for his conduct at Patay. He suffered a more material loss in the money he expended in the service of the state. In 1455, 40831. 15. 7. were due to him for costs and charges during his services in France, « whereof the sayd Fastolffe hath had nouther payement nor assignation.» So he complains. Note 191, page 45, col. 1. Battle-axe. In a battle between the Burgundians and Dauphinois near Abbeville (1421) Monstrelet especially notices the On this passage the commentator observes, «l'au- conduct of John Villain, who had that day been made theur arme Thus Desmarets says of the troops of Clovis, A tous pend de l'arçon, à leur mode guerriere, Et la hache tranchante, et la masee meurtriere. a knight. He was a nobleman from Flanders, very tall, And when Clovis on foot and without a weapon hears very. In this way he met Poton de Xaintrailles, who, the shrieks of a woman, he sees his horse Y en última defensa de la vida, Y desde cuya guarnicion dorada says, Jerusalem Conquistada. Note 190, page 45, col. 1. after the battle was over, declared the wonders he did, and that he got out of his reach as fast as he could. Vol. v, p. 294 Note 192, page 45, col. 2. His buckler now splinter'd with many a stroke. L'écu des chevaliers était ordinairement un bouclier de forme à peu près triangulaire, large par le haute pour couvrir le corps, et se terminant en pointe par le bas, afin d'être moins lourd. On les faisait de bois qu'on recouvrait avec du cuir bouilli, avec des nerfs ou autres matières dures, mais jamais de fer ou d'acier. Seulement il était permis, pour les empêcher d'être coupés trop aisément par les épées, d'y mettre un cercle d'or, d'argent, ou de fer, qui les entourât.-Le Grand, Note 193, page 46, col. 1. Threw o'er the slaughter'd chief his blazon'd coat. This fact is mentioned in Andrews's History of England. I have merely versified the original expressions. «The herald of Talbot sought out his body among the slain. 'Alas my lord! and is it you! I pray God pardon you all your misdoings. I have been your officer of arms forty years and more: it is time that I should surrender to you the ensigns of my office. Thus saying, with the tears gushing from his eyes, he threw his coat of arms over the corpse, thus performing one of the ancient rites of sepulture.»> Note 194, page 46, col. 2. Pour'd on the monarch's head the mystic oil. The Frenchmen wonderfully reverence this oyle; and at the coronation of their kings, fetch it from the church where it is kept, with great solemnity. For it is brought (saith Sleiden in his commentaries) by the In the original letters published by Mr Fenn, Fastolffe prior sitting on a white ambling palfrey, and attended Fastolffe, all fierce and haughty. as he was. gage, and the king, when it is by the archbishop brought to the altar, bowing himself before it with great rever by his monkes; the archbishop of the town (Rheims) The Vision of the Maid of Orleans. Divinity hath oftentimes descended Upon our slumbers, and the blessed troupes SHIRLEY. The Grateful Servant. ADVERTISEMENT. ORLEANS was hush'd in sleep. Stretch'd on her couch For busy fantasy, in other scenes Awaken'd: whether that superior powers, By wise permission, prompt the midnight dream, Or that the soul, escaped its fleshly clog, Along a moor, Black clouds, driven fast before the stormy wind, She stands, amid whose stagnate waters, hoarse As ever by the wretch was heard Wan was the pilot's countenance, her eyes Hollow, and her sunk cheeks were furrow'd deep, The plumeless bat with short shrill note flits by, There, a mouldering pile Its head; the earth was heaved with many a mound, And here and there a half-demolish'd tomb. And now, So saying he arose, and drawing on, Her, to the abbey's inner ruin, led Round the dismantled column; imaged forms Of saints and warlike chiefs, moss-canker'd now He dragg'd her on « Look here!» he cried, « Damsel, look here! survey this house of death: O soon to tenant it! soon to increase These trophies of mortality! for hence Is no return. Gaze here! behold this skull, peace, Is none of suffering here; here all is So spake Despair. The damp earth gave A dim sound as they pass'd: the tainted air Was cold, and heavy with unwholesome dews. « Behold!» the fiend exclaim'd, « how gradual here The fleshly burden of mortality Moulders to clay!» then fixing his broad eye Full on her face, he pointed where a corpse Lay livid; she beheld, with loathing look, The spectacle abhorr'd by living man. That priest consign'd her, for her lover went Fearfully The Maid look'd down, and saw the well-known face That feed on heroes. Though long years were thine, This murder'd youth; murder'd by thee! for thou The Maid stood motionless, « Avaunt, Despair! Eternal Wisdom deals The fiend rejoin'd, « And thou dost deem it impious to destroy This is his consummation!-think again! What, Maiden, canst thou hope from lengthen'd life But lengthen'd sorrow? If protracted long, Till on the bed of death thy feeble limbs Stretch out their languid length, oh think what thoughts, Assail the sinking heart! Slow beats the pulse, Seizes the throbbing heart; the faltering lips Pour out the impious prayer, that fain would change «Such, Maiden, are the pangs that wait the hour Coward wretch! |