, and, if tradition may be trusted, the first attempt to rob
it of some of its awful power was made by an ancient abbot, who hung a
bell over it, so that the winds and waves should cause it to ring, and
thus warn mariners who were in danger.

Southey's ballad of Sir Ralph the Rover tells the story of how the good
abbot's design was frustrated, and how the perpetrator of a foul deed
was punished:--

"The buoy of the Inchcape bell was seen,
A darker speck on the ocean green:
Sir Ralph the Rover walked his deck,
And he fixed his eye on the darker speck.

"He felt the cheering power of spring,
It made him whistle, it made him sing;
His heart was mirthful to excess,
But the Rover's mirth was wickedness.

"His eye was on the Inchcape float.
Quoth he, 'My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I'll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.'

"The boat is lowered, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,
And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float.

"Down sunk the bell with a gurgling sound,
The bubbles rose and burst around.
Quoth Sir Ralph, 'The next who comes to the rock
Won't bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok.'

"Sir Ralph the Rover sailed away,
He scoured the seas for many a day;
And now grown rich with plundered store,
He steers his course for Scotland's shore.

"So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky,
They cannot see the sun on high;
And the wind hath blown a gale all day--
At evening it hath died away.

"On the deck the Rover takes his stand;
So dark it is they see no land.
Quoth Sir Ralph, 'It will be lighter soon,
For there is the dawn of the rising moon.'

"'Canst hear,' said one, 'the breakers roar?
For methinks we should be near the shore.'
'Now, where we are I cannot tell,
But I wish I could hear the Inchcape bell!'

"They hear no sound, the swell is strong;
Though the wind hath fallen they drift along,
Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock--
'O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!'

"Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,
He curst himself in his despair;
The waves rush in on every side,
The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

"But even in his dying fear
One dreadful sound could the Rover hear--
A sound as if with the Inchcape bell
The devil below was ringing his knell."

Many after attempts were made to put beacons upon the Inchcape, b