-'Fain would I find the guide you want,
But ill may spare a pursuivant,
The only men that safe can ride
Mine errands on the Scottish side:
And though a bishop built this fort,
Few holy brethren here resort;
Even our good chaplain, as I ween,

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Since our last siege, we have not seen:

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The mass he might not sing or say,
Upon one stinted meal a-day;
So, safe he sat in Durham aisle,

And pray'd for our success the while.
Our Norham vicar, woe betide,

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Is all too well in case to ride;

The priest of Shoreswood-he could rein

The wildest war-horse in your train;

But then, no spearman in the hall

Will sooner swear, or stab, or brawl.
Friar John of Tillmouth were the man:
A blithesome brother at the can,
A welcome guest in hall and bower,
He knows each castle, town, and tower,
In which the wine and ale is good,
'Twixt Newcastle and Holy-Rood.
But that good man, as ill befalls,
Hath seldom left our castle walls,
Since, on the vigil of St. Bede,
In evil hour, he cross'd the Tweed,

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To teach Dame Alison her creed.

Old Bughtrig found him with his wife;
And John, an enemy to strife,

Sans frock and hood, fled for his life.

The jealous churl hath deeply swore,

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That, if again he venture o'er,

He shall shrieve penitent no more.
Little he loves such risks, I know;

Yet, in your guard, perchance will go.'

XXII.

Young Selby, at the fair hall-board,
Carved to his uncle and that lord,
And reverently took up the word.
'Kind uncle, woe were we each one,
If harm should hap to brother John.
He is a man of mirthful speech,
Can many a game and gambol teach;
Full well at tables can he play,
And sweep at bowls the stake away.
None can a lustier carol bawl,
The needfullest among us all,

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May end in worse than loss of hood.
Let Friar John, in safety, still

In chimney-corner snore his fill,

Roast hissing crabs, or flagons swill:

Last night, to Norham there came one,

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Will better guide Lord Marmion.'-
'Nephew,' quoth Heron, 'by my fay,

Well hast thou spoke; say forth thy say.'

XXIII.

'Here is a holy Palmer come,

From Salem first, and last from Rome;
One, that hath kiss'd the blessed tomb,
And visited each holy shrine,

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In Araby and Palestine;

On hills of Armenie hath been,

Where Noah's ark may yet be seen;
By that Red Sea, too, hath he trod,
Which parted at the Prophet's rod;
In Sinai's wilderness he saw

The Mount, where Israel heard the law,

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'Mid thunder-dint and flashing levin,
And shadows, mists, and darkness, given.
He shows Saint James's cockle-shell,

Of fair Montserrat, too, can tell;

And of that Grot where Olives nod, Where, darling of each heart and eye, From all the youth of Sicily,

Saint Rosalie retired to God.

XXIV.

'To stout Saint George of Norwich merry, Saint Thomas, too, of Canterbury,

Cuthbert of Durham and Saint Bede,

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But, when our John hath quaff'd his ale,

As little as the wind that blows,

And warms itself against his nose,

Kens he, or cares, which way he goes.'

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XXV.

'Gramercy!' quoth Lord Marmion,
'Full loth were I, that Friar John,
That venerable man, for me,
Were placed in fear or jeopardy.
If this same Palmer will me lead
From hence to Holy-Rood,

Like his good saint, I'll pay his meed,
Instead of cockle-shell, or bead,

With angels fair and good.

I love such holy ramblers; still
They know to charm a weary hill,

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With song, romance, or lay: Some jovial tale, or glee, or jest, Some lying legend, at the least,

They bring to cheer the way.'—

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XXVI.

'Ah! noble sir,' young Selby said,

And finger on his lip he laid,

'This man knows much, perchance e'en more Than he could learn by holy lore.

Still to himself he's muttering,

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And shrinks as at some unseen thing.

Last night we listen'd at his cell;

Strange sounds we heard, and, sooth to tell,

He murmur'd on till morn, howe'er

No living mortal could be near.

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Sometimes I thought I heard it plain,
As other voices spoke again.

-'Let pass,' quoth Marmion; 'by my fay,
This man shall guide me on my way,
Although the great arch-fiend and he
Had sworn themselves of company.
So please you, gentle youth, to call
This Palmer to the Castle-hall.'
The summon'd Palmer came in place;
His sable cowl o'erhung his face;
In his black mantle was he clad,
With Peter's keys, in cloth of red,

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On his broad shoulders wrought;
The scallop shell his cap did deck;
The crucifix around his neck

Was from Loretto brought;
His sandals were with travel tore,
Staff, budget, bottle, scrip, he wore;
The faded palm-branch in his hand
Show'd pilgrim from the Holy Land.

XXVIII.

When as the Palmer came in hall,

Nor lord, nor knight, was there more tall,
Or had a statelier step withal,

Or look'd more high and keen;

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Poor wretch! the mother that him bare,
If she had been in presence there,

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In his wan face, and sun-burn'd hair,

Hard toil can roughen form and face,

And want can quench the eye's bright grace,

Nor does old age a wrinkle trace

More deeply than despair.

Happy whom none of these befall,

But this poor Palmer knew them all.

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