age has overtaken me, and want, a more insufferable evil, through the change of the times, has wholly disabled me."

Note IV.

Of Ascapart, and Bevis bold.-P. 20.

The "History of Bevis of Hampton" is abridged by my friend Mr George Ellis, with that liveliness which extracts amusement even out of the most rude and unpromising of our old tales of chivalry. Ascapart, a most important personage in the romance, is thus described in an extract:

This geaunt was mighty and strong,
And full thirty foot was long.

He was brisled like a sow;

A foot he had between each brow;

His lips were great, and hung aside;

His eyen were hollow; his mouth was wide;

Lothly he was to look on than,

And liker a devil than a man.

His staff was a young oak,

Hard and heavy was his stroke.

Specimens of Metrical Romances, Vol. II. p. 156.

I am happy to say, that the memory of Sir Bevis is still fragrant in his town of Southampton; the gate of which is centineled by the effigies of that doughty knight-errant, and his gigantic associate.

Note V.

Day set on Norham's castled steep,

And Tweed's fair river, broad and deep.-P. 23.

The ruinous castle of Norham, (anciently called Ubbanford,) is situated on the southern bank of the Tweed, about six miles above Berwick, and where that river is still the boundary between England and Scotland. The extent of its ruins, as well as its historical importance, shew it to have been a place of magnificence, as well as strength. Edward I. resided there when he was created umpire of the dispute concerning the Scottish succession. It was repeatedly taken and retaken during the wars between England and Scotland; and, indeed, scarce any happened, in which it had not a principal share. Norham Castle is situated on a steep bank, which overhangs the river. The repeated sieges which the castle had sustained, rendered frequent repairs necessary. In 1164 it was almost rebuilded by Hugh Pudsey, bishop of Durham, who added a huge keep or donjon; notwithstanding which, King Henry II., in 1174, took the castle from the bishop, and committed the keeping of it to William de Neville. After this period it seems to have been chiefly garrisoned by the king, and considered as a royal fortress. The Greys of Chillinghame Castle were frequently the castellans, or captain of the garrison: Yet, as the castle was situated in the patrimony of St Cuthbert, the property was in the see of Durham till the Reformation.

According to Mr Pinkerton, there is, in the British Museum, Cal. B. 6. 216. a curious memoir of the Dacres on the state of Norham Castle in 1522, not long after the battle of Flodden. The inner ward or keep is represented as impregnable: "The provisions are three great vats of salt eels, forty-four kine, three hogsheads of salted salmon, forty` quartes of grain, besides many cows, and four hundred sheep lying under the castle wall nightly; but a number of the arrows wanted feathers, and a good Fletcher (i. e. maker of arrows) was required."-History of Scotland, Vol. II. p. 201. Note.

The ruins of the castle are at present considerable, as well as picturesque. They consist of a large shattered tower, with many vaults, and fragments of other edifices, inclosed within an outward wall of great circuit.

Note VI.

The donjon keep.-P. 23.

It is perhaps unnecessary to remind my readers, that the donjon, in its proper signification, means the strongest part of a feudal castle; a high square tower, with walls of tremendous thickness, situated in the centre of the other buildings, from which, however, it was usually detached. Here, in case of the outward defences being gained, the garrison retreated to make their last stand. The donjon contained the great hall, and principal rooms of state for solemn occasions, and also the prison of the fortress; from which last, circumstance we derive the modern and restricted use of the

word dungeon. Ducange (voce DUNJO) conjectures, plausibly, that the name is derived from these keeps being usually built upon a hill, which in Celtic is called DUN. Borlase supposes the word came from the darkness of the apartments in these towers, which were thence figuratively called Dungeons; thus deriving the ancient word from the modern application of it.

Note VII.

Well was he armed from head to heel,

In mail, and plate, of Milan steel.-P. 28.

The artists of Milan were famous in the middle ages for their skill in armoury, as appears from the following passage, in which Froissart gives an account of the preparations made by Henry, Earl of Hereford, afterwards Henry IV., and Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marischal, for their proposed combat in the lists at Coventry: "These two lords made ample provision of all things necessary for the combat; and the Earl of Derby sent off messengers to Lombardy, to have armour from Sir Galeas, Duke of Milan. The duke complied with joy, and gave the knight, called Sir Francis, who had brought the message, the choice of all his armour for the Earl of Derby. When he had selected what he wished for in plated and mail armour, the lord of Milan, out of his abundant love for the Earl, ordered four of the best armourers in Milan to accompany the knight to England, that the Earl of Derby might be more completely armed."-JOHN ES' Froissart, Vol. IV. p. 597.

Note VIII.

The golden legend bore aright,

WHO CHECKS AT ME, TO DEATH IS DIGHT.-P. 28. The crest and motto of Marmion are borrowed from the following story. Sir David de Lindsay, first Earl of Crauford, was, according to my authority Bower, not only excelling in wisdom, but also of a lively wit. Chancing to be at the court of London, about 1990, he there saw Sir Piers Courtenay, an English knight, famous for skill in tilting, and for the beauty of his person, parading the palace, arrayed in a new mantle, bearing for device an embroidered falcon, with this rhime,

I bear a falcon, fairest of flight,

Who so pinches at her, his death is dight*

In graith.+

The Scottish knight, being a wag, appeared next day in a dress exactly similar to that of Courtenay, but bearing a magpie instead of the falcon, with a motto ingeniously contrived to rhyme to the vaunting inscription of Sir Piers:

I bear a pie picking at a piece,

Who so picks at her, I shall pick at his nese,+

In faith.

* Prepared.

+ Armour.

‡ Nose.