at what I have said is true," concluded Merlin. The
king commanded that a search, such as the youth had recommended,
should be commenced under his (Merlin's) directions. Means were taken
to drain the lake, which was discovered without difficulty, and, true
enough, two horrible dragons were found. On the caverns being opened,
the monsters, one red and the other white, rushed at each other. A
terrible conflict took place between them, ending in the red dragon's
death.

Merlin, in reply to the king's inquiries as to what all this
portended, informed his Majesty that evil days were drawing near--that
the time was not far distant when the Britons would be compelled to
fly before the Saxons, and seek refuge among the caves and mountains
of the earth, and that many of them would perish, for the red dragon
signified the Britons, and the white monster the Saxons. But he
assured the king that the Saxons would not always triumph, as a boar
would come from the forest and devour the white dragon. Merlin
predicted for Vortigern disappointments, defeats, and at last a
miserable death, all of which came to pass.

It is reported of Merlin, that after King Vortigern was driven from
power, he sought to amuse him in his solitude by bringing strange
sights before his eyes, and causing pleasant sounds to salute his
ears. The king supposed he heard melodious music in the air, and
imagined that shepherds and shepherdesses, in rustic costume, danced
before him. At times eagles and falcons were seen pursuing their prey;
and whatever bird the king wished for his dinner, fell down dead, as
if shot by a fowler. Hares and hounds were also made to appear in the
clouds, for the king's amusement. On his castle-tower he could stand
and watch a stag hunt with all the vividness of an ordinary chase.
Merlin professed to have the power of transforming a man into a beast,
and of making a man or woman look like a wild animal.

In the year 1474 the Duchess of Bedford was charged with having, by
the aid of an image of lead made like a maid, turned the love of King
Edward IV. from Dame Elianor Butteler, daughter of the Earl of
Shrewsbury, to whom he was affianced, and transferred the royal
affections to her own daughter.

The Holy Maid of Kent, a nun of great sanctity, having, according to
common belief in the time of Henry VIII., the gift of prophecy, and
the power of working miracles, pronounced the doom of speedy death
against that monarch for his marria