ld nobly grace."
"Out, out, De Vaux! can fear supply,
And jealousy, no sharper eye? 520
Afar, ere to the hill he drew,
That stately form and step I knew;
Like form in Scotland is not seen,
Treads not such step on Scottish green.
'Tis James of Douglas, by Saint Serle! 525
The uncle of the banished Earl.
Away, away, to court, to show
The near approach of dreaded foe;
The King must stand upon his guard;
Douglas and he must meet prepared." 530
Then righthand wheeled their steeds, and straight
They won the castle's postern gate.

XX

The Douglas, who had bent his way
From Cambus-Kenneth's abbey gray,
Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, 535
Held sad communion with himself:
"Yes! all is true my fears could frame;
A prisoner lies the noble Graeme,
And fiery Roderick soon will feel
The vengeance of the royal steel. 540
I, only I, can ward their fate--
God grant the ransom come not late!
The Abbess hath her promise given,
My child shall be the bride of heaven.
Be pardoned one repining tear! 545
For He, who gave her, knows how dear,
How excellent!--but that is by,
And now my business is--to die.
--Ye towers! within whose circuit dread
A Douglas by his sovereign bled; 550
And thou, O sad and fatal mound!
That oft hast heard the death-ax sound,
As on the noblest of the land
Fell the stern headsman's bloody hand--
The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb 555
Prepare--for Douglas seeks his doom!
--But hark! what blithe and jolly peal
Makes the Franciscan steeple reel?
And see! upon the crowded street,
In motley groups what maskers meet! 560
Banner and pageant, pipe and drum,
And merry morris dancers come.
I guess, by all this quaint array,
The burghers hold their sports today.
James will be there; he loves such show, 565
Where the good yeoman bends his bow,
And the tough wrestler foils his foe,
As well as where, in proud career,
The high-born tilter shivers spear.
I'll follow to the Castle-park, 570
And play my prize--King James shall mark
If age has tamed these sinews stark,
Whose force so oft, in happier