God save our king, and bless this land

In plentye, joy, and peace;

And grant henceforth, that foule debate

"Twixt noblemen may cease.

265

Since the former impression of these volumes, hath been published a new edition of Collins's Peerage, 1779, &c. 9 vols. 8vo., which contains, in volume ii. p. 334, an historical passage that may be thought to throw considerable light on the subject of the preceding ballad: viz.

"In this . . . . year, 1436, according to Hector Boethius, was fought the battle of Pepperden, not far from the Cheviot Hills, between the Earl of Northumberland [second Earl, son of Hotspur] and Earl William Douglas, of Angus, with a small army of about 4,000 men each, in which the latter had the advantage. As this seems to have been a private conflict between these two great chieftains of the Borders, rather than a national war, it has been thought to have given rise to the celebrated old ballad of Chevy-Chase, which, to render it more pathetic and interesting, has been heightened with tragical incidents wholly fictitious."-See Ridpath's Border Hist. 4to. p. 401.

The surnames in the foregoing ballad are altered, either by accident or design, from the old original copy, and in common editions extremely corrupted. They are here rectified, as much as they could be. Thus,

Page 279, ver. 202. Egerton.] This name is restored (instead of Ogerton, com. ed.) from the Editor's folio MS. The pieces in that MS. appear to have been collected, and many of them composed (among which might be this ballad) by an inhabitant of Cheshire; who was willing to pay a compliment here to one of his countrymen, of the emi

nent family De or Of Egerton, (so the name was first written,) ancestors of the present Duke of Bridgwater: and this he could do with the more propriety, as the Percies had formerly great interest in that county: at the fatal battle of Shrewsbury all the flower of the Cheshire gentlemen lost their lives fighting in the cause of Hotspur.

Ver. 203. Ratcliff.] This was a family much distinguished in Northumberland. Edw. Radcliffe, mil. was sheriff of that county in 17 of Hen. VII., and others of the same surname afterwards. (See Fuller, p.313.) Sir George Ratcliff, knt. was one of the commissioners of inclosure in 1552. (See Nicholson, p. 330.) Of this family was the late Earl of Derwentwater, who was beheaded in 1715. The Editor's folio MS. however, reads here "Sir Robert Harcliffe and Sir William."

The Harcleys were an eminent family in Cumberland. (See Fuller, p. 224.) Whether this may be thought to be the same name, I do not determine.

Ver. 204. Baron.] This is apparently altered (not to say corrupted) from Hearone, in pag. 14, ver. 114.

Ver. 207. Raby.] This might be intended to celebrate one of the ancient possessors of Raby Castle, in the county of Durham. Yet it is written Rebbye in the fol. MS. and looks like a corruption of Rugby or Rokeby, an eminent family in Yorkshire. See pp. 14, 36. It will not be wondered that the Percies should be thought to bring followers out of that county, where they themselves were originally seated, and had always such extensive property and influence.

Ver. 215. Murray.] So the Scottish copy. In the common edition it is Carrel or Currel; and Morrell in the fol. MS.

Page 280, ver. 217. Murray.] So the Scot. edit.-The com. copies read Murrel. The fol. MS. gives the line in the following peculiar manner,

"Sir Roger Heuer of Harcliffe too."

Ver. 219. Lamb.] The folio MS. has

"Sir David Lambwell well esteemed."

This seems evidently corrupted from Lwdale or Liddell, in the old copy, pp. 15, 37.

II.

Death's Final Conquest.

These fine moral stanzas were originally intended for a solemn funeral song in a play of James Shirley's, entitled The Contention of Ajax and Ulysses: no date, 8vo.— Shirley flourished as a dramatic writer early in the reign of Charles I.; but he outlived the Restoration. His death happened Oct. 29, 1666, æt. 72.

This little poem was written long after many of those that follow, but is inserted here as a kind of dirge to the foregoing piece. It is said to have been a favourite song

with King Charles II.

THE glories of our birth and state

Are shadows, not substantial things;

There is no armour against fate :

Death lays his icy hands on kings:

Scepter and crown

Must tumble down,

And in the dust be equal made

With the poor crooked scythe and spade.

5

Some men with swords may reap the field,

And plant fresh laurels where they kill;

But their strong nerves at last must yield,
They tame but one another still.

10

Early or late

They stoop to fate,

And must give up their murmuring breath,

When they pale captives creep to death.

The garlands wither on your brow,

Then boast no more your mighty deeds;

Upon death's purple altar now

See where the victor victim bleeds:

All heads must come

To the cold tomb,

Only the actions of the just

Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust.

15

20

III.

The Rising in the North.

The subject of this ballad is the great Northern insurrection in the twelfth year of Elizabeth, 1569; which proved so fatal to Thomas Percy, the seventh Earl of Northumberland.

There had not long before been a secret negotiation entered into between some of the Scottish and English nobility, to bring about a marriage between Mary Queen of Scots, at that time a prisoner in England, and the Duke of Norfolk, a nobleman of excellent character, and firmly attached to the Protestant religion. This match was proposed to all the most considerable of the English nobility, and among the rest to the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, two noblemen very powerful in the north. As it seemed to promise a speedy and safe conclusion of

the troubles in Scotland, with many advantages to the crown of England, they all consented to it, provided it should prove agreeable to Queen Elizabeth. The Earl of Leicester (Elizabeth's favourite) undertook to break the matter to her; but before he could find an opportunity, the affair had come to her ears by other hands, and she was thrown into a violent flame. The Duke of Norfolk, with several of his friends, was committed to the Tower, and summons were sent to the northern earls instantly to make their appearance at court. It is said that the Earl of Northumberland, who was a man of a mild and gentle nature, was deliberating with himself whether he should not obey the message, and rely upon the queen's candour and clemency, when he was forced into desperate measures by a sudden report at midnight, Nov. 14, that a party of his enemies were come to seize on his person.* The earl was then at his house at Topcliffe in Yorkshire: when rising hastily out of bed, he withdrew to the Earl of Westmoreland, at Brancepeth, where the country came in to them, and pressed them to take arms in their own defence. They accordingly set up their standards, declaring their intent was to restore the ancient religion; to get the succession of the crown firmly settled, and to prevent the destruction of the ancient nobility, &c. Their common banner† (on which was displayed the Cross, together with the five wounds of Christ) was borne by an ancient gentleman, Richard Norton, Esq., of NortonConyers; who with his sons (among whom, Christopher, Marmaduke, and Thomas, are expressly named by Camden,) distinguished himself on this occasion. Having entered Durham, they tore the Bible, &c., and caused mass to be said there: they then marched on to Clifford

*This circumstance is overlooked in the ballad.

Besides this, the ballad mentions the separate banners of the two noblemen.