Theamiable light in which the character of Anthony Widville, the gallant Earl Rivers, has been placed by the elegant author of theCatal. of Noble Writers[Horace Walpole], interests us in whatever fell from his pen. It is presumed, therefore, that the insertion of this little sonnet will be pardoned, tho' it should not be found to have much poetical merit. It is the only original poem known of that nobleman's; his more voluminous works being only translations. And if we consider that it was written during his cruel confinement in Pomfret castle a short time before his execution in 1483, it gives us a fine picture of the composure and steadiness with which this stout earl beheld his approaching fate.
This ballad we owe to Rouse, a contemporary historian, who seems to have copied it from the earl's own handwriting. "In tempore," says this writer, "incarcerationis apud Pontem-fractum edidit unumbaletin anglicis, ut mihi monstratum est, quod subsequitur sub his verbis:Sum what musyng, &c." Rossi,Hist.8vo. 2 ed. p. 213. In Rouse the second stanza, &c. is imperfect, but the defects are here supplied from a more perfect copy printed inAncient Songs, from the time of King Henry III. to the Revolution, p. 87 [by Joseph Ritson].
This little piece, which perhaps ought rather to have been printed in stanzas of eight short lines, is written in imitation of a poem of Chaucer's, that will be found in Urry's ed. 1721, p. 555, beginning thus:
"Alone walkyng, In thought plainyng,And sore sighying, All desolate.My remembrying Of my livyngMy death wishyng Bothe erly and late.Infortunate Is so my fateThat wote ye what, Out of mesureMy life I hate; Thus desperateIn such pore estate, Doe I endure," &c.[310]
"Alone walkyng, In thought plainyng,And sore sighying, All desolate.My remembrying Of my livyngMy death wishyng Bothe erly and late.Infortunate Is so my fateThat wote ye what, Out of mesureMy life I hate; Thus desperateIn such pore estate, Doe I endure," &c.[310]
[This gallant and learned nobleman (brother of Edward IV.'s queen), who was murdered in the forty-first year of his age, figures as a character in Shakspere'sRichard III., and as a ghost appears to warn the tyrant on the eve of the battle of Bosworth:
[This gallant and learned nobleman (brother of Edward IV.'s queen), who was murdered in the forty-first year of his age, figures as a character in Shakspere'sRichard III., and as a ghost appears to warn the tyrant on the eve of the battle of Bosworth:
"Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow,Rivers that died at Pomfret! despair and die."]
"Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow,Rivers that died at Pomfret! despair and die."]
Sumwhat musyng, And more mornyng,In remembring The unstydfastnes;This world being Of such whelyng,Me contrarieng, What may I gesse?I fere dowtles, Remediles,5Is now to sese My wofull chaunce.[For unkyndness, Withouten less,And no redress, Me doth avaunce,With displesaunce, To my grevaunce,And no suraunce Of remedy.]10Lo in this traunce, Now in substaunce,Such is my dawnce, Wyllyng to dye.Me thynkys truly, Bowndyn am I,And that gretly, To be content:Seyng playnly, Fortune doth wry[311][312]15All contrary From myn entent.My lyff was lent Me to on intent,Hytt is ny[313]spent. Welcome fortune!But I ne went Thus to be shent,[314][315]But sho[316]hit ment; Such is hur won.[317]20
Sumwhat musyng, And more mornyng,In remembring The unstydfastnes;This world being Of such whelyng,Me contrarieng, What may I gesse?
I fere dowtles, Remediles,5Is now to sese My wofull chaunce.[For unkyndness, Withouten less,And no redress, Me doth avaunce,
With displesaunce, To my grevaunce,And no suraunce Of remedy.]10Lo in this traunce, Now in substaunce,Such is my dawnce, Wyllyng to dye.
Me thynkys truly, Bowndyn am I,And that gretly, To be content:Seyng playnly, Fortune doth wry[311][312]15All contrary From myn entent.
My lyff was lent Me to on intent,Hytt is ny[313]spent. Welcome fortune!But I ne went Thus to be shent,[314][315]But sho[316]hit ment; Such is hur won.[317]20
FOOTNOTES:[310][See Aldine edition ofChaucer's Poetical Works, ed. Morris, vol. vi. p. 305. We ought, perhaps, to read "attributed to Chaucer."][311][turn aside.][312]Ver. 15. That fortune, Rossi,Hist.[313][it is near.][314][abashed.][315]V. 19. went,i.e.weened.[316][she.][317][wont or custom.]
[310][See Aldine edition ofChaucer's Poetical Works, ed. Morris, vol. vi. p. 305. We ought, perhaps, to read "attributed to Chaucer."]
[310][See Aldine edition ofChaucer's Poetical Works, ed. Morris, vol. vi. p. 305. We ought, perhaps, to read "attributed to Chaucer."]
[311][turn aside.]
[311][turn aside.]
[312]Ver. 15. That fortune, Rossi,Hist.
[312]Ver. 15. That fortune, Rossi,Hist.
[313][it is near.]
[313][it is near.]
[314][abashed.]
[314][abashed.]
[315]V. 19. went,i.e.weened.
[315]V. 19. went,i.e.weened.
[316][she.]
[316][she.]
[317][wont or custom.]
[317][wont or custom.]
Thereader will think that infant poetry grew apace between the times of Rivers and Vaux, tho' nearly contemporaries; if the following song is the composition of that Sir Nicholas (afterwards Lord) Vaux, who was the shining ornament of the court of Henry VII., and died in the year 1523 [1524, see below].
And yet to this lord it is attributed by Puttenham in hisArt ofEng. Poesie, 1589, 4to., a writer commonly well informed. Take the passage at large: "In this figure [Counterfait Action] the Lord Nicholas Vaux, a noble gentleman and much delighted in vulgar making, and a man otherwise of no great learning, but having herein a marvelous facilitie, made a dittie representing the Battayle and Assault of Cupide, so excellently well, as for the gallant and propre application of his fiction in every part, I cannot choose but set downe the greatest part of his ditty, for in truth it cannot be amended.When Cupid Scaled," &c. p. 200. For a farther account of Nicholas, Lord Vaux, see Mr. Walpole'sNoble Authors, vol. i.
Since this song was first printed off, reasons have occurred which incline me to believe that Lord Vaux, the poet, was not the Lord Nicholas Vaux who died in 1523, but rather a successor of his in the title. For, in the first place, it is remarkable that all the old writers mention Lord Vaux, the poet, as contemporary, or rather posterior, to Sir Thomas Wyat and the E. of Surrey, neither of which made any figure till long after the death of the first Lord Nicholas Vaux. Thus Puttenham, in hisArt of English Poesie, 1589, in p. 48, having named Skelton, adds: "In the latter end of the same kings raigne [Henry VIII.] sprong up a new company of courtly Makers [Poets], of whom Sir Thomas Wyat th' elder, and Henry Earl of Surrey were the two chieftaines, who having travailed into Italie, and there tasted the sweet and stately measures and stile of the Italian poesie ... greatly polished our rude and homely manner of vulgar poesie.... In the same time, or not long after, was the Lord Nicholas Vaux, a man of much facilitie in vulgar makings."[318]Webbe, in hisDiscourse of EnglishPoetrie, 1586, ranges them in the following order: "The E. of Surrey, the Lord Vaux, Norton, Bristow." And Gascoigne, in the place quoted in the first volume of this work [B. ii. No. 2.] mentions Lord Vaux after Surrey. Again, the stile and measure of Lord Vaux's pieces seem too refined and polished for the age of Henry VII., and rather resemble the smoothness and harmony of Surrey and Wyat, than the rude metre of Skelton and Hawes. But what puts the matter out of all doubt, in the British Museum is a copy of his poem,I lothe that I did love[vid. vol. i.ubi supra], with this title, "A dyttye or sonet made by the Lord Vaus, in the time of the noble Quene Marye, representing the image of Death." Harl. MSS. No. 1703, sec. 25.
It is evident then that Lord Vaux, the poet, was not he that flourished in the reign of Henry VII., but either his son or grandson; and yet, according to Dugdale'sBaronage, the former was named Thomas and the latter William: but this difficulty is not great, for none of the old writers mention the Christian name of the poetic Lord Vaux,[319]except Puttenham; and it is more likely that he might be mistaken in that lord's name, than in the time in which he lived, who was so nearly his contemporary.
Thomas, Lord Vaux, of Harrowden, in Northamptonshire, was summoned to parliament in 1531. When he died does not appear, but he probably lived till the latter end of Queen Mary's reign, since his son William was not summoned to parliament till the last year of that reign, in 1558. This lord died in 1595. See Dugdale, vol. ii. p. 304. Upon the whole I am inclined to believe that Lord Thomas was the poet.
The following copy is printed from the first edition of Surrey'sPoems, 1557, 4to. See another song of Lord Vaux's in the preceding volume, B. ii. No. 2.
[Percy is correct in his supposition that the poet was Thomas, second Lord Vaux, and not his father Nicholas, who died May 14th, 1524, only seventeen days after he was advanced to the peerage.]
[Percy is correct in his supposition that the poet was Thomas, second Lord Vaux, and not his father Nicholas, who died May 14th, 1524, only seventeen days after he was advanced to the peerage.]
When Cupide scaled first the fort,Wherein my hart lay wounded sore;The batry was of such a sort,That I must yelde or die therfore.There sawe I Love upon the wall,5How he his banner did display;Alarme, alarme, he gan to call:And bad his souldiours kepe aray.The armes, the which that Cupide bare,Were pearced hartes with teares besprent,[320]10In silver and sable to declareThe stedfast love, he alwayes ment.There might you se his band all drestIn colours like to white and blacke,With powder and with pelletes prest15To bring the fort to spoile and sacke.Good-wyll, the maister of the shot,Stode in the rampire[321]brave and proude,For spence[322]of pouder he spared notAssault! assault! to crye aloude.20There might you heare the cannons rore;Eche pece discharged a lovers loke;Which had the power to rent, and toreIn any place whereas they toke.And even with the trumpettes sowne[323]25The scaling ladders were up set,And Beautie walked up and downe,With bow in hand, and arrowes whet.Then first Desire began to scale,And shrouded him under 'his' targe;[324][325]30As one the worthiest of them all,And aptest for to geve the charge.Then pushed souldiers with their pikes,And halberdes with handy strokes;The argabushe[326]in fleshe it lightes,35And duns the ayre with misty smokes.And, as it is the souldiers useWhen shot and powder gins to want,I hanged up my flagge of truce,And pleaded up for my livès grant.40When Fansy thus had made her breche,And Beauty entred with her band,With bagge and baggage, sely[327]wretch,I yelded into Beauties hand.Then Beautie bad to blow retrete,45And every souldier to retire,And mercy wyll'd with spede to setMe captive bound as prisoner.Madame, quoth I, sith that this dayHath served you at all assayes,50I yeld to you without delayHere of the fortresse all the kayes.And sith that I have ben the marke,At whom you shot at with your eye;Nedes must you with your handy warke,55Or salve my sore, or let me die.
When Cupide scaled first the fort,Wherein my hart lay wounded sore;The batry was of such a sort,That I must yelde or die therfore.
There sawe I Love upon the wall,5How he his banner did display;Alarme, alarme, he gan to call:And bad his souldiours kepe aray.
The armes, the which that Cupide bare,Were pearced hartes with teares besprent,[320]10In silver and sable to declareThe stedfast love, he alwayes ment.
There might you se his band all drestIn colours like to white and blacke,With powder and with pelletes prest15To bring the fort to spoile and sacke.
Good-wyll, the maister of the shot,Stode in the rampire[321]brave and proude,For spence[322]of pouder he spared notAssault! assault! to crye aloude.20
There might you heare the cannons rore;Eche pece discharged a lovers loke;Which had the power to rent, and toreIn any place whereas they toke.
And even with the trumpettes sowne[323]25The scaling ladders were up set,And Beautie walked up and downe,With bow in hand, and arrowes whet.
Then first Desire began to scale,And shrouded him under 'his' targe;[324][325]30As one the worthiest of them all,And aptest for to geve the charge.
Then pushed souldiers with their pikes,And halberdes with handy strokes;The argabushe[326]in fleshe it lightes,35And duns the ayre with misty smokes.
And, as it is the souldiers useWhen shot and powder gins to want,I hanged up my flagge of truce,And pleaded up for my livès grant.40
When Fansy thus had made her breche,And Beauty entred with her band,With bagge and baggage, sely[327]wretch,I yelded into Beauties hand.
Then Beautie bad to blow retrete,45And every souldier to retire,And mercy wyll'd with spede to setMe captive bound as prisoner.
Madame, quoth I, sith that this dayHath served you at all assayes,50I yeld to you without delayHere of the fortresse all the kayes.
And sith that I have ben the marke,At whom you shot at with your eye;Nedes must you with your handy warke,55Or salve my sore, or let me die.
FOOTNOTES:[318]i.e.Compositions in English.[319]In theParadise of Dainty Devises, 1596, he is called simply "Lord Vaux the elder."[320][besprinkled.][321][rampart.][322][expense.][323][sound.][324]Ver. 30. her, ed. 1557, so ed. 1585.[325][shield.][326][harquebuss, or old-fashioned musket.][327][simple.]
[318]i.e.Compositions in English.
[318]i.e.Compositions in English.
[319]In theParadise of Dainty Devises, 1596, he is called simply "Lord Vaux the elder."
[319]In theParadise of Dainty Devises, 1596, he is called simply "Lord Vaux the elder."
[320][besprinkled.]
[320][besprinkled.]
[321][rampart.]
[321][rampart.]
[322][expense.]
[322][expense.]
[323][sound.]
[323][sound.]
[324]Ver. 30. her, ed. 1557, so ed. 1585.
[324]Ver. 30. her, ed. 1557, so ed. 1585.
[325][shield.]
[325][shield.]
[326][harquebuss, or old-fashioned musket.]
[326][harquebuss, or old-fashioned musket.]
[327][simple.]
[327][simple.]
Thisold fabulous legend is given from the Editor's folio MS. with conjectural emendations, and the insertion of some additional stanzas to supply and compleat the story.
It has been suggested to the Editor that the author of this poem seems to have had in his eye the story of Gunhilda, who is sometimes called Eleanor, and was married to the Emperor (here called King) Henry.
Percy's MS. note in his folio is as follows: "Without some corrections this will not do for myReliques." Readers will be able to judge for themselves as to the relative beauties of the two, now that the original is printed at the end of Percy's amended copy. To make the interpolations more apparent, Percy's added verses are placed between brackets, and it will be seen that these contain much of the phraseology and many of the stock prettinesses of the polite ballad-monger; some of the most vivid bits of the old ballad being passed over. Percy keeps tolerably to the story, except that he makes the second messenger one of the queen's damsels instead of a man. Sir Walter Scott supposesSir Aldingarto be founded upon the kindred ballad ofSir Hugh le Blond, but, as Professor Child says, without any reason. The story occurs in most of the literatures of Europe.
Percy's MS. note in his folio is as follows: "Without some corrections this will not do for myReliques." Readers will be able to judge for themselves as to the relative beauties of the two, now that the original is printed at the end of Percy's amended copy. To make the interpolations more apparent, Percy's added verses are placed between brackets, and it will be seen that these contain much of the phraseology and many of the stock prettinesses of the polite ballad-monger; some of the most vivid bits of the old ballad being passed over. Percy keeps tolerably to the story, except that he makes the second messenger one of the queen's damsels instead of a man. Sir Walter Scott supposesSir Aldingarto be founded upon the kindred ballad ofSir Hugh le Blond, but, as Professor Child says, without any reason. The story occurs in most of the literatures of Europe.
Our king he kept a false stewàrde,Sir Aldingar they him call;[A falser steward than he was one,Servde not in bower nor hall.]He wolde have layne by our comelye queene,5Her deere worshippe to betraye:Our queene she was a good womàn,And evermore said him naye.Sir Aldingar was wrothe in his mind,With her hee was never content,10[Till traiterous meanes he colde devyse,]In a fyer to have her brent.[328]There came a lazar[329]to the kings gate,A lazar both blinde and lame:He tooke the lazar upon his backe,15Him on the queenes bed has layne."Lye still, lazàr, wheras thou lyest,Looke thou goe not hence away;Ile make thee a whole man and a soundIn two howers of the day."[330]20Then went him forth sir Aldingar,[And hyed him to our king:]"If I might have grace, as I have space,["Sad tydings I could bring."]Say on, say on, sir Aldingar,25Saye on the soothe[331]to mee."Our queene hath chosen a new new lòve,And shee will have none of thee."If shee had chosen a right good knight,The lesse had beene her shame;30But she hath chose her a lazar man,A lazar both blinde and lame."If this be true, thou Aldingar,The tyding thou tellest to me,Then will I make the a rich rich knight,35Rich both of golde and fee.But if it be false, sir Aldingar,[As God nowe grant it bee!Thy body, I sweare by the holye rood,]Shall hang on the gallows tree.40[He brought our king to the queenes chambèr,And opend to him the dore.]A lodlye[332]love, king Harry says,For our queene dame Elinore!If thou were a man, as thou art none,45[Here on my sword thoust dye;]But a payre of new gallowes shall be built,And there shalt thou hang on hye.[Forth then hyed our king, I wysse,And an angry man was hee;50And soone he found queene Elinore,That bride so bright of blee.[333]]Now God you save, our queene, madame,And Christ you save and see;Heere you have chosen a newe newe love,55And you will have none of mee.If you had chosen a right good knight,The lesse had been your shame:But you have chose you a lazar man,A lazar both blinde and lame.60[Therfore a fyer there shall be built,And brent all shalt thou bee.——]"Now out alacke!" said our comly queene,"Sir Aldingar's false to mee.Now out alacke!" sayd our comlye queene,65[My heart with griefe will brast.[334]]I had thought swevens[335]had never been true,I have proved them true at last.I dreamt in my sweven on thursday eve,In my bed wheras I laye,70I dreamt a grype[336]and a grimlie beastHad carryed my crowne awaye;My gorgett[337]and my kirtle[338]of golde,And all my faire head-geere:And he wold worrye me with his tush[339]75And to his nest y-beare:Saving there came a litle 'gray' hawke,[340]A merlin him they call,Which untill the grounde did strike the grype,That dead he downe did fall.80Giffe[341]I were a man, as now I am none,A battell wold I prove,To fight with that traitor Aldingar;Att him I cast my glove.But seeing Ime able noe battell to make,85My liege, grant me a knightTo fight with that traitor sir Aldingar,To maintaine me in my right.""Now forty dayes I will give theeTo seeke thee a knight therin:90If thou find not a knight in forty dayesThy bodye it must brenn."[Then shee sent east, and shee sent west,By north and south bedeene:[342]But never a champion colde she find,]95Wolde fight with that knight soe keene.[Now twenty dayes were spent and gone,Noe helpe there might be had;Many a teare shed our comelye queeneAnd aye her hart was sad.100Then came one of the queenes damsèlles,And knelt upon her knee,"Cheare up, cheare up, my gracious dame,I trust yet helpe may be:"And here I will make mine avowe,[343]105And with the same me binde;That never will I return to thee,Till I some helpe may finde."Then forth she rode on a faire palfràyeOer hill and dale about:110But never a champion colde she finde,Wolde fighte with that knight so stout.And nowe the daye drewe on a pace,When our good queene must dye;All woe-begone was that faire damsèlle,115When she found no helpe was nye.All woe-begone was that faire damsèlle,And the salt teares fell from her eye:]When lo! as she rode by a rivers side,She met with a tinye boye.120[A tinye boye she mette, God wot,All clad in mantle of golde;]He seemed noe more in mans likenèsse,Then a childe of four yeere olde.[Why grieve you, damselle faire, he sayd,125And what doth cause you moane?The damsell scant wolde deigne a looke,But fast she pricked on.]Yet turn againe, thou faïre damsèlle,And greete thy queene from mee:130When bale[344]is att hyest, boote[345]is nyest,Nowe helpe enoughe may bee.Bid her remember what she dreamtIn her bedd, wheras shee laye;How when the grype and the grimly beast135Wolde have carried her crowne awaye,Even then there came the litle gray hawke,And saved her from his clawes:Then bidd the queene be merry at hart,[For heaven will fende[346]her cause.]140Back then rode that faire damsèlle,And her hart it lept for glee:And when she told her gracious dameA gladd woman then was shee.[But when the appointed day was come,145No helpe appeared nye:Then woeful, woeful was her hart,And the teares stood in her eye.And nowe a fyer was built of wood;And a stake was made of tree;150And now queene Elinor forth was led,A sorrowful sight to see.Three times the herault he waved his hand,And three times spake on hye:Giff any good knight will fende this dame,155Come forth, or she must dye.No knight stood forth, no knight there came,No helpe appeared nye:And now the fyer was lighted up,Queen Elinor she must dye.160And now the fyer was lighted up,As hot as hot might bee;]When riding upon a little white steed,The tinye boy they see."Away with that stake, away with those brands,165And loose our comelye queene:I am come to fight with sir Aldingar,And prove him a traitor keene."Forthe then stood sir Aldingar,But when he saw the chylde,170He laughed, and scoffed, and turned his backe,And weened[347]he had been beguylde."Now turne, now turne thee, Aldingar,And eyther fighte or flee;I trust that I shall avenge the wronge,175Thoughe I am so small to see."The boye pulld forth a well good swordeSo gilt it dazzled the ee;The first stroke stricken at AldingarSmote off his leggs by the knee.180"Stand up, stand up, thou false traitòr,And fight upon thy feete,For and thou thrive, as thou begin'st,Of height wee shall be meete."A priest, a priest, sayes Aldingàr,185While I am a man alive.A priest, a priest, sayes Aldingàr,Me for to houzle and shrive.[348]I wolde have laine by our comlie queene,Bot shee wolde never consent;190Then I thought to betraye her unto our kingeIn a fyer to have her brent.There came a lazar to the kings gates,A lazar both blind and lame:I tooke the lazar upon my backe,195And on her bedd had him layne.[Then ranne I to our comlye king,These tidings sore to tell.]But ever alacke! sayes Aldingar,Falsing never doth well.200Forgive, forgive me, queene, madame,The short time I must live."Nowe Christ forgive thee, Aldingar,As freely I forgive."Here take thy queene, our king Harryè,205And love her as thy life,[For never had a king in Christentye,A truer and fairer wife.King Henrye ran to claspe his queene,And loosèd her full sone:210Then turnd to look for the tinye boye;——The boye was vanisht and gone.But first he had touchd the lazar man,And stroakt him with his hand:The lazar under the gallowes tree215All whole and sounde did stand.]The lazar under the gallowes treeWas comelye, straight and tall;King Henrye made him his head stewàrdeTo wayte withinn his hall.220
Our king he kept a false stewàrde,Sir Aldingar they him call;[A falser steward than he was one,Servde not in bower nor hall.]
He wolde have layne by our comelye queene,5Her deere worshippe to betraye:Our queene she was a good womàn,And evermore said him naye.
Sir Aldingar was wrothe in his mind,With her hee was never content,10[Till traiterous meanes he colde devyse,]In a fyer to have her brent.[328]
There came a lazar[329]to the kings gate,A lazar both blinde and lame:He tooke the lazar upon his backe,15Him on the queenes bed has layne.
"Lye still, lazàr, wheras thou lyest,Looke thou goe not hence away;Ile make thee a whole man and a soundIn two howers of the day."[330]20
Then went him forth sir Aldingar,[And hyed him to our king:]"If I might have grace, as I have space,["Sad tydings I could bring."]
Say on, say on, sir Aldingar,25Saye on the soothe[331]to mee."Our queene hath chosen a new new lòve,And shee will have none of thee.
"If shee had chosen a right good knight,The lesse had beene her shame;30But she hath chose her a lazar man,A lazar both blinde and lame."
If this be true, thou Aldingar,The tyding thou tellest to me,Then will I make the a rich rich knight,35Rich both of golde and fee.
But if it be false, sir Aldingar,[As God nowe grant it bee!Thy body, I sweare by the holye rood,]Shall hang on the gallows tree.40
[He brought our king to the queenes chambèr,And opend to him the dore.]A lodlye[332]love, king Harry says,For our queene dame Elinore!
If thou were a man, as thou art none,45[Here on my sword thoust dye;]But a payre of new gallowes shall be built,And there shalt thou hang on hye.
[Forth then hyed our king, I wysse,And an angry man was hee;50And soone he found queene Elinore,That bride so bright of blee.[333]]
Now God you save, our queene, madame,And Christ you save and see;Heere you have chosen a newe newe love,55And you will have none of mee.
If you had chosen a right good knight,The lesse had been your shame:But you have chose you a lazar man,A lazar both blinde and lame.60
[Therfore a fyer there shall be built,And brent all shalt thou bee.——]"Now out alacke!" said our comly queene,"Sir Aldingar's false to mee.
Now out alacke!" sayd our comlye queene,65[My heart with griefe will brast.[334]]I had thought swevens[335]had never been true,I have proved them true at last.
I dreamt in my sweven on thursday eve,In my bed wheras I laye,70I dreamt a grype[336]and a grimlie beastHad carryed my crowne awaye;
My gorgett[337]and my kirtle[338]of golde,And all my faire head-geere:And he wold worrye me with his tush[339]75And to his nest y-beare:
Saving there came a litle 'gray' hawke,[340]A merlin him they call,Which untill the grounde did strike the grype,That dead he downe did fall.80
Giffe[341]I were a man, as now I am none,A battell wold I prove,To fight with that traitor Aldingar;Att him I cast my glove.
But seeing Ime able noe battell to make,85My liege, grant me a knightTo fight with that traitor sir Aldingar,To maintaine me in my right."
"Now forty dayes I will give theeTo seeke thee a knight therin:90If thou find not a knight in forty dayesThy bodye it must brenn."
[Then shee sent east, and shee sent west,By north and south bedeene:[342]But never a champion colde she find,]95Wolde fight with that knight soe keene.
[Now twenty dayes were spent and gone,Noe helpe there might be had;Many a teare shed our comelye queeneAnd aye her hart was sad.100
Then came one of the queenes damsèlles,And knelt upon her knee,"Cheare up, cheare up, my gracious dame,I trust yet helpe may be:
"And here I will make mine avowe,[343]105And with the same me binde;That never will I return to thee,Till I some helpe may finde."
Then forth she rode on a faire palfràyeOer hill and dale about:110But never a champion colde she finde,Wolde fighte with that knight so stout.
And nowe the daye drewe on a pace,When our good queene must dye;All woe-begone was that faire damsèlle,115When she found no helpe was nye.
All woe-begone was that faire damsèlle,And the salt teares fell from her eye:]When lo! as she rode by a rivers side,She met with a tinye boye.120
[A tinye boye she mette, God wot,All clad in mantle of golde;]He seemed noe more in mans likenèsse,Then a childe of four yeere olde.
[Why grieve you, damselle faire, he sayd,125And what doth cause you moane?The damsell scant wolde deigne a looke,But fast she pricked on.]
Yet turn againe, thou faïre damsèlle,And greete thy queene from mee:130When bale[344]is att hyest, boote[345]is nyest,Nowe helpe enoughe may bee.
Bid her remember what she dreamtIn her bedd, wheras shee laye;How when the grype and the grimly beast135Wolde have carried her crowne awaye,
Even then there came the litle gray hawke,And saved her from his clawes:Then bidd the queene be merry at hart,[For heaven will fende[346]her cause.]140
Back then rode that faire damsèlle,And her hart it lept for glee:And when she told her gracious dameA gladd woman then was shee.
[But when the appointed day was come,145No helpe appeared nye:Then woeful, woeful was her hart,And the teares stood in her eye.
And nowe a fyer was built of wood;And a stake was made of tree;150And now queene Elinor forth was led,A sorrowful sight to see.
Three times the herault he waved his hand,And three times spake on hye:Giff any good knight will fende this dame,155Come forth, or she must dye.
No knight stood forth, no knight there came,No helpe appeared nye:And now the fyer was lighted up,Queen Elinor she must dye.160
And now the fyer was lighted up,As hot as hot might bee;]When riding upon a little white steed,The tinye boy they see.
"Away with that stake, away with those brands,165And loose our comelye queene:I am come to fight with sir Aldingar,And prove him a traitor keene."
Forthe then stood sir Aldingar,But when he saw the chylde,170He laughed, and scoffed, and turned his backe,And weened[347]he had been beguylde.
"Now turne, now turne thee, Aldingar,And eyther fighte or flee;I trust that I shall avenge the wronge,175Thoughe I am so small to see."
The boye pulld forth a well good swordeSo gilt it dazzled the ee;The first stroke stricken at AldingarSmote off his leggs by the knee.180
"Stand up, stand up, thou false traitòr,And fight upon thy feete,For and thou thrive, as thou begin'st,Of height wee shall be meete."
A priest, a priest, sayes Aldingàr,185While I am a man alive.A priest, a priest, sayes Aldingàr,Me for to houzle and shrive.[348]
I wolde have laine by our comlie queene,Bot shee wolde never consent;190Then I thought to betraye her unto our kingeIn a fyer to have her brent.
There came a lazar to the kings gates,A lazar both blind and lame:I tooke the lazar upon my backe,195And on her bedd had him layne.
[Then ranne I to our comlye king,These tidings sore to tell.]But ever alacke! sayes Aldingar,Falsing never doth well.200
Forgive, forgive me, queene, madame,The short time I must live."Nowe Christ forgive thee, Aldingar,As freely I forgive."
Here take thy queene, our king Harryè,205And love her as thy life,[For never had a king in Christentye,A truer and fairer wife.
King Henrye ran to claspe his queene,And loosèd her full sone:210Then turnd to look for the tinye boye;——The boye was vanisht and gone.
But first he had touchd the lazar man,And stroakt him with his hand:The lazar under the gallowes tree215All whole and sounde did stand.]
The lazar under the gallowes treeWas comelye, straight and tall;King Henrye made him his head stewàrdeTo wayte withinn his hall.220
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[Thefollowing is the original version from the folio MS reprinted from Hales and Furnivall's ed. vol. i. p. 166:
[Thefollowing is the original version from the folio MS reprinted from Hales and Furnivall's ed. vol. i. p. 166:
Our king he kept a ffalse steward,men called him Sir Aldingarhe wold haue layen by our comely queene,her deere worshipp to haue betraide.4our queene shee was a good woman,& euer more said him nay.Aldingar was offended in his mind,with her hee was neuer content,8but he sought what meanes he cold find out,in a fyer to haue her brent.There came a lame lazer to the Kings gates,a lazer was [b]lind & lame;12he tooke the lazer vpon his backe,vpon the queenes bed he did him lay:he said, "lye still, lazer, wheras thou lyest,looke thou goe not away,16Ile make thee a whole man & a soundin 2 howres of a day."& then went forth Sir Aldingarour Queene for to betray,20and then he mett with our comlye King,saies, "god you saue & see!"If I had space as I haue grace,A message I wold say to thee."24"Say on, say on, Sir Aldingar,say thou on and vnto me.""I can let you now see one of [the] greiuos[est] sightsthat euer Christen King did see:28Our Queene hath chosen a New New loue,She will haue none of thee;"If shee had chosen a right good Knight,the lesse had beene her shame,32but she hath chosen a Lazar manwhich is both blinde & lame.""If this be true, thou Aldingar,that thou dost tell to me,36then will I make thee a rich Knightboth of gold and fee;"But if it be false, Sir Aldingar,that thou doest tell to me,40then looke for noe other deathbut to be hangd on a tree.goe with me," saide our comly king,"this Lazar for to see."44When the King he came into the queenes chamber,standing her bed befor,"there is a lodly lome," says Harry King"for our dame Queene Elinor!48"If thou were a man, as thou art none,here thou sholdest be slaine;but a paire of new gallowes shall be biil[t]thoust hang on them soe hye;52"and fayre fyer there shalbe bett,and brent our Queene shal bee."fforth then walked our comlye King,& mett with our comly Queene,56saies, "God you saue, our Queene, Madam,and Christ you saue & see!heere you [haue] chosen a new new loue,and you will haue none of mee.60"If you had chosen a right good Knightthe lesse he beene your shame,but you haue chosen a lazar manthat is both blind & lame."64"Euer alacke!" said our comly Queene,"Sir Aldingar is false to mee;but euer alacke!" said our comly Queene,"Euer alas, & woe is mee!68"I had thought sweuens had neuer been true;I haue prooued them true at the last;I dreamed in my sweauen on thursday at eueningein my bed wheras I lay,72"I dreamed the grype & a grimlie beasthad carryed my crowne away,my gorgett & my kirtle of golde,and all my faire heade geere;76"How he wold haue worryed me with his tush& borne me into his nest,saving there came a litle hawkflying out of the East,80"saving there came a litle Hawkewhich men call a Merlion,vntill the ground he stroke him downe,that dead he did fall downe.84"giffe I were a man, as I am none,a battell I would proue,I wold fight with that false traitor;att him I cast my gloue!88"Seing I am able noe battell to make,you must grant me, my leege, a Knightto fight with that traitor, Sir Aldingar,to maintaine me in my right."92"Ile giue thee 40 dayes," said our King,"to seeke thee a man therin;if thou find not a man in 40 dayes,in a hott fyer thou shall brenn."96Our Queene sent forth a Messenger,he rode fast into the south,he rode the countryes through & through,soe ffar vnto Portsmouth;100he cold find never a man in the south countrythat wold fight with the knight soe keene.the second messenger the Queen forth sent,rode far into the east,104but—blessed be God made sunn and moone!—he sped then all of the best:as he rode then by one riuer side,there he mett with a litle child,108he seemed noe more in a mans likenessethen a child of 4 yeeres old;He askt the Queenes Messenger how far he rode:loth he was him to tell;112the litle one was offended att him,bid him adew, farwell!Said, "turne thou againe, thou messenger,greete our Queene well from me;116when Bale is att hyest, boote is att next,helpe enough there may bee!"bid our queene remember what she did dreamein her bedd wheras shee lay;120shee dreamed the grype & the grimly beasthad carryed her crowne away,"her gorgett & her kirt[l]e of gold,alsoe her faire head geere,124ne wold have werryed her with his tushe& borne her into her nest,"Saving there came a litle hawke—men call him a merlyon—128vntill the ground he did strike him downe,that dead he did ffall downe."bidd the queene be merry att her hart,euermore light & glad,132when bale is att hyest, boote is at next,helpe enoughe there shalbe [had."]then the Queenes Messenger rode backe,a gladed man then was hee;136when he came before our Queene,a gladd woman then was shee;shee gaue the Messenger 20li:O lord, in gold & ffee,140saies, "spend & spare not while this doth last,then feitch thou more of me."Our Queene was put in a tunne to burne,She thought no thing but death;144thé were ware of the litle onecame ryding forth of the Eastwith a Mu (line cut away) ...a louelie child was hee:148when he came to that fier,he light the Queene full nigh;said, "draw away these brands of firelie burning before our Queene,152& feitch me hither Sir Aldingarthat is a knight soe keene."When Aldingar see that litle one,ffull litle of him hee thought,156if there had beene halfe a 100 such,of them he wold not haue wrought.hee sayd, "come hither Sir Aldingar,thou see-must as bigge as a ffooder!160I trust to god, ere I haue done with thee,God will send to vs anger."saies, "the first stroke thats giuen, Sir Aldingar,I will giue vnto thee,164& if the second giue thou may,looke then thou spare not mee."the litle one pulld forth a well good sword,I-wis itt was all of guilt,168it cast light there over that feild,it shone soe all of guilt:he stroke the first stroke att Aldingar,he stroke away his leggs by his knee,172sayes, "stand vp, stand vp, thou false traitor,& fight vpon thy feete!"for & thou thriue as thou begins,of a height wee shalbe meete."176"A preist, a preist!" sayes Aldingar,"me for to houzle & shriue!A preist, a preist," sayes Aldingar,"while I am a man liuing a-liue!180"I wold haue laine by our comlie Queene;to it shee wold neuer consent;I thought to haue betrayed her to our King,in a fyer to haue had her brent;184"there came a lame lazer to the Kings gates,a lazar both blind & lame;"I tooke the lazar vpon my backe,in the Queenes bed I did him lay,188I bad him 'lie still, Lazar, where he lay,looke he went not away,I wold make him a whole man & a soundin 2 houres of a day.'192"euer alacke!" sayes Sir Aldingar,"falsing neuer doth well;"forgiue, forgiue me, Queene, Madam!for Christs loue forgiue me!"196"God forgaue his death, Aldingar,& freely I forgiue thee.""Now take thy wife, thou K[ing] Harry,& loue her as thou shold;200thy wiffe shee is a[s] true to theeas stone that lies on the castle wall."the Lazar vnder the gallow treewas a pretty man & small,204the Lazar vnder the gallow treewas made steward in King Henerys hall.
Our king he kept a ffalse steward,men called him Sir Aldingarhe wold haue layen by our comely queene,her deere worshipp to haue betraide.4our queene shee was a good woman,& euer more said him nay.
Aldingar was offended in his mind,with her hee was neuer content,8but he sought what meanes he cold find out,in a fyer to haue her brent.
There came a lame lazer to the Kings gates,a lazer was [b]lind & lame;12he tooke the lazer vpon his backe,vpon the queenes bed he did him lay:
he said, "lye still, lazer, wheras thou lyest,looke thou goe not away,16Ile make thee a whole man & a soundin 2 howres of a day."
& then went forth Sir Aldingarour Queene for to betray,20and then he mett with our comlye King,saies, "god you saue & see!
"If I had space as I haue grace,A message I wold say to thee."24"Say on, say on, Sir Aldingar,say thou on and vnto me."
"I can let you now see one of [the] greiuos[est] sightsthat euer Christen King did see:28Our Queene hath chosen a New New loue,She will haue none of thee;
"If shee had chosen a right good Knight,the lesse had beene her shame,32but she hath chosen a Lazar manwhich is both blinde & lame."
"If this be true, thou Aldingar,that thou dost tell to me,36then will I make thee a rich Knightboth of gold and fee;
"But if it be false, Sir Aldingar,that thou doest tell to me,40then looke for noe other deathbut to be hangd on a tree.goe with me," saide our comly king,"this Lazar for to see."44
When the King he came into the queenes chamber,standing her bed befor,"there is a lodly lome," says Harry King"for our dame Queene Elinor!48
"If thou were a man, as thou art none,here thou sholdest be slaine;but a paire of new gallowes shall be biil[t]thoust hang on them soe hye;52
"and fayre fyer there shalbe bett,and brent our Queene shal bee."fforth then walked our comlye King,& mett with our comly Queene,56
saies, "God you saue, our Queene, Madam,and Christ you saue & see!heere you [haue] chosen a new new loue,and you will haue none of mee.60
"If you had chosen a right good Knightthe lesse he beene your shame,but you haue chosen a lazar manthat is both blind & lame."64
"Euer alacke!" said our comly Queene,"Sir Aldingar is false to mee;but euer alacke!" said our comly Queene,"Euer alas, & woe is mee!68
"I had thought sweuens had neuer been true;I haue prooued them true at the last;I dreamed in my sweauen on thursday at eueningein my bed wheras I lay,72
"I dreamed the grype & a grimlie beasthad carryed my crowne away,my gorgett & my kirtle of golde,and all my faire heade geere;76
"How he wold haue worryed me with his tush& borne me into his nest,saving there came a litle hawkflying out of the East,80"saving there came a litle Hawkewhich men call a Merlion,vntill the ground he stroke him downe,that dead he did fall downe.84
"giffe I were a man, as I am none,a battell I would proue,I wold fight with that false traitor;att him I cast my gloue!88
"Seing I am able noe battell to make,you must grant me, my leege, a Knightto fight with that traitor, Sir Aldingar,to maintaine me in my right."92
"Ile giue thee 40 dayes," said our King,"to seeke thee a man therin;if thou find not a man in 40 dayes,in a hott fyer thou shall brenn."96
Our Queene sent forth a Messenger,he rode fast into the south,he rode the countryes through & through,soe ffar vnto Portsmouth;100
he cold find never a man in the south countrythat wold fight with the knight soe keene.
the second messenger the Queen forth sent,rode far into the east,104but—blessed be God made sunn and moone!—he sped then all of the best:
as he rode then by one riuer side,there he mett with a litle child,108he seemed noe more in a mans likenessethen a child of 4 yeeres old;
He askt the Queenes Messenger how far he rode:loth he was him to tell;112the litle one was offended att him,bid him adew, farwell!
Said, "turne thou againe, thou messenger,greete our Queene well from me;116when Bale is att hyest, boote is att next,helpe enough there may bee!
"bid our queene remember what she did dreamein her bedd wheras shee lay;120shee dreamed the grype & the grimly beasthad carryed her crowne away,
"her gorgett & her kirt[l]e of gold,alsoe her faire head geere,124ne wold have werryed her with his tushe& borne her into her nest,
"Saving there came a litle hawke—men call him a merlyon—128vntill the ground he did strike him downe,that dead he did ffall downe.
"bidd the queene be merry att her hart,euermore light & glad,132when bale is att hyest, boote is at next,helpe enoughe there shalbe [had."]
then the Queenes Messenger rode backe,a gladed man then was hee;136when he came before our Queene,a gladd woman then was shee;
shee gaue the Messenger 20li:O lord, in gold & ffee,140saies, "spend & spare not while this doth last,then feitch thou more of me."
Our Queene was put in a tunne to burne,She thought no thing but death;144thé were ware of the litle onecame ryding forth of the East
with a Mu (line cut away) ...a louelie child was hee:148when he came to that fier,he light the Queene full nigh;
said, "draw away these brands of firelie burning before our Queene,152& feitch me hither Sir Aldingarthat is a knight soe keene."
When Aldingar see that litle one,ffull litle of him hee thought,156if there had beene halfe a 100 such,of them he wold not haue wrought.
hee sayd, "come hither Sir Aldingar,thou see-must as bigge as a ffooder!160I trust to god, ere I haue done with thee,God will send to vs anger."
saies, "the first stroke thats giuen, Sir Aldingar,I will giue vnto thee,164& if the second giue thou may,looke then thou spare not mee."
the litle one pulld forth a well good sword,I-wis itt was all of guilt,168it cast light there over that feild,it shone soe all of guilt:
he stroke the first stroke att Aldingar,he stroke away his leggs by his knee,172
sayes, "stand vp, stand vp, thou false traitor,& fight vpon thy feete!"for & thou thriue as thou begins,of a height wee shalbe meete."176
"A preist, a preist!" sayes Aldingar,"me for to houzle & shriue!A preist, a preist," sayes Aldingar,"while I am a man liuing a-liue!180
"I wold haue laine by our comlie Queene;to it shee wold neuer consent;I thought to haue betrayed her to our King,in a fyer to haue had her brent;184
"there came a lame lazer to the Kings gates,a lazar both blind & lame;
"I tooke the lazar vpon my backe,in the Queenes bed I did him lay,188I bad him 'lie still, Lazar, where he lay,looke he went not away,I wold make him a whole man & a soundin 2 houres of a day.'192
"euer alacke!" sayes Sir Aldingar,"falsing neuer doth well;
"forgiue, forgiue me, Queene, Madam!for Christs loue forgiue me!"196"God forgaue his death, Aldingar,& freely I forgiue thee."
"Now take thy wife, thou K[ing] Harry,& loue her as thou shold;200thy wiffe shee is a[s] true to theeas stone that lies on the castle wall."
the Lazar vnder the gallow treewas a pretty man & small,204the Lazar vnder the gallow treewas made steward in King Henerys hall.
ffins.]