THE LORD OF BUTRAGO.1

1385.

- my lord! your gallant

“YOUR horse is faint, my King — my

horse is sick

His limbs are torn, his breast is gored, on his eye the film is thick;

Mount, mount on mine, oh, mount apace,2 I pray thee, mount and fly!

Or in mine arms I'll lift your Grace these trampling hoofs are nigh!

"My King my King! you're wounded sore - the blood runs from your feet;

But only lay a hand before, and I'll lift you to your

seat:

Mount, Juan, for they gather fast! — I hear their com

ing cry;

4.

Mount, mount, and ride for jeopardy 4— I'll save you though I die!

"Stand, noble steed! this hour of need-be gentle as a lamb:

1 The incident which is related in the following ballad is supposed to have occurred on the famous field of Aljubarrota, where King Juan the First, of Castile, was defeated by the Portuguese. The King, who was at the time in a feeble state of health, exposed himself very much during the action; and being wounded, had great difficulty in making his escape.

2 Apace: quickly.

8 Juan Spanish pronunciation, Hoo-an' or Wan.

4 For jeopardy: on account of the peril.

I'll kiss the foam from off thy mouth, thy master dear

I am.

Mount, Juan, mount: whate'er betide, away the bridle

fling,

And plunge the rowels in his side. My horse shall save my king!

"Nay, never speak; my sires, Lord King, received their land from yours,

And joyfully their blood shall spring, so be it thine

secures;

If I should fly, and thou, my King, be found among the dead,

How could I stand 'mong gentlemen, such scorn on my gray head?

"Castile's proud dames shall never point the finger of disdain,

And say there's ONE that ran away when our good lords were slain !

I leave Diego1 in your care-you'll fill his father's

place:

Strike, strike the spur, and never spare God's blessing on your Grace!"

So spake the brave Montañez, Butrago's lord was he, And turned him to the coming host in steadfastness and

glee.

He flung himself among them, as they came down the

hill;

He died, God wot!2 but not before his sword had drunk

its fill.

1 Diego: Spanish pronunciation, De-a'go.

J. G. LOCKHART. Translated from the Spanish.

2 Wot: knows.

THE CAVALIER'S ESCAPE.1

TRAMPLE! trample! went the roan,

Trap! trap! went the gray;

But pad! pad! PAD! like a thing that was mad,
My chestnut broke away.

It was just five miles from Salisbury 2 town,
And but one hour to day.

Thud! THUD! came on the heavy roan,
Rap! RAP! the mettled gray;

But my

chestnut mare was of blood so rare,
That she showed them all the way.
Spur on! spur on!-I doffed my hat,
And wished them all good-day.

They splashed through miry rut and pool,
Splintered through fence and rail;
But chestnut Kate switched over the gate,
I saw them droop and tail.

To Salisbury town-but a mile of down,3
Once over this brook and rail.

1 An incident of the Civil War in England between Charles I. and Parliament. The cavaliers were on the royalist side. Here one of their number escapes, thanks to his good horse, from a band of "Roundheads " of the Parliamentary party.

2 Salisbury: a noted cathedral town of Southern England.

3 Down: see note 11, p. 55.

Trap! trap! I heard their echoing hoofs
Past the walls of mossy stone;

The roan flew on at a staggering pace,
But blood is better than bone.

I patted old Kate, and gave her the spur,
For I knew it was all my own.

But trample! trample! came their steeds,
And I saw their wolf's eyes burn;

I felt like a royal hart at bay,

And made me ready to turn.

I looked where highest grew the May,1
And deepest arched the fern.

I flew at the first knave's sallow throat;
One blow, and he was down.

The second rogue fired twice, and missed;
I sliced the villain's crown,

Clove through the rest, and flogged brave Kate,
Fast, fast to Salisbury town!

Pad! pad! they came on the level sward,
Thud! thud! upon the sand,-

With a gleam of swords and a burning match,2
And a shaking of flag and hand;

But one long bound, and I passed the gate,

Safe from the canting 3 band.

WALTER THORNBURY.

1 May: the hawthorn.

2 Match: a slow-match kept burning to discharge the guns then in use, neither flint nor percussion locks having been invented.

8 Canting: hypocritical; a term of reproach given to the Puritan or "Roundhead" party.

SONG OF MARION'S MEN.

1780-1781.

OUR band is few, but true and tried,
Our leader frank and bold;
The British soldier trembles
When Marion's 1 name is told.
Our fortress is the good greenwood,
Our tent the cypress-tree;
We know the forest round us,

As seamen know the sea;
We know its walks of thorny vines,
Its glades 2 of reedy grass,
Its safe and silent islands
Within the dark morass.

Woe to the English soldiery
That little dread us near!
On them shall light at midnight
A strange and sudden fear;

When, waking to their tents on fire,
They grasp their arms in vain,

1 Marion: General Francis Marion, a hero of the American Revolution. He was born in South Carolina and was of Huguenot descent. When the British besieged Charleston, Marion raised a force of twenty followers, and kept up a three years' warfare which rendered great service to the cause of liberty. His epitaph states with entire truth, that "He lived without fear, and died without reproach."

2 Glades here, a contraction of everglades; a low, marshy tract of country interspersed with land covered with high grass.