CHEVY-CHASE.

[Percy, Earl of Northumberland, had vowed to hunt for three days in the Scottish border, without condescending to ask leave from Earl Douglas, who was either lord of the soil or lord warden of the Marches. This provoked the conflict which was celebrated in the old ballad of the "Hunting a' the Cheviot." The circumistances of the battle of Otterbourne (A. D. 1388) are woven into the ballad and the affairs of the two events confounded. The ballad preserved in the Percy Reliques is probably as old as 1574- The one following is a modernized form of the time of James I.]

GOD prosper long our noble king,

Our lives and safeties all;

A woful hunting once there did
In Chevy-Chase befall.

To drive the deer with hound and horn
Earl Percy took his way;

The child may rue that is unborn
The hunting of that day.

The stout Earl of Northumberland
A vow to God did make,

His pleasure in the Scottish woods
Three summer days to take, -

The chiefest harts in Chevy-Chase
To kill and bear away.
These tidings to Earl Douglas came,
In Scotland where he lay ;
Who sent Earl Percy present word
He would prevent his sport.
The English earl, not fearing that,
Did to the woods resort,
With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,
All chosen men of might,
Who knew full well in time of need
To aim their shafts aright.
The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran
To chase the fallow deer;
On Monday they began to hunt

When daylight did appear;

And long before high noon they had
A hundred fat bucks slain;
Then, having dined, the drovers went
To rouse the deer again.

"Then cease your sports," Earl Percy said, "And take your bows with speed;

"And now with me, my countrymen,
Your courage forth advance;
For never was there champion yet,
In Scotland or in France,
"That ever did on horseback come,
But if my hap it were,

I durst encounter man for man,
With him to break a spear."

Earl Douglas on his milk-white steed,
Most like a baron bold,

Rode foremost of his company,

Whose armor shone like gold.

"Show me," said he, "whose men you be, That hunt so boldly here,

That, without my consent, do chase
And kill my fallow-deer."

With that there came an arrow keen

Out of an English bow,

Which struck Earl Douglas to the heart, -
A deep and deadly blow;

Who never spake more words than these:
"Fight on, my merry men all;
For why, my life is at an end;
Lord Percy sees my fall."

Then leaving life, Earl Percy took

The dead man by the hand;
And said, "Earl Douglas, for thy life
Would I had lost my land.

"In truth, my very heart doth bleed
With sorrow for thy sake;
For sure a more redoubted knight
Mischance did never take."

God save the king, and bless this land,
With plenty, joy, and peace;
And grant, henceforth, that foul debate
"Twixt noblemen may cease.

RICHARD SHEALE.

ROBIN HOOD AND ALLEN-A-DALE.

[Of Robin Hood, the famous outlaw of Sherwood Forest, and his merry men, there are a large number of ballads; but the limits of this volume necessitate our giving a selection only.

Various periods, ranging from the time of Richard I. to the end of the reign of Edward II., have been assigned as the age in which Robin Hood lived. He is usually described as a yeoman, and his place of abode Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire. His most noted followers, and those generally spoken of in the ballads, are Little John, Friar Tuck, his chaplain, and his maid Marian. Nearly all the legends extol his courage, generosity, humanity, and skil as an archer. He robbed the rich only, who could afford to lose, and gave freely to the poor. He protected the needy, was a chumpion of the fair sex, and took great delight in robbing prelates. The following ballad exhibits the outlaw in one of his inost attractive aspects, — affording assistance to a distressed lover.]

COME, listen to me, you gallants so free,

All you that love mirth for to hear, And I will tell you of a bold outlaw, That lived in Nottinghamshire.

As Robin Hood in the forest stood,

All under the greenwood tree,

There he was aware of a brave young man, As fine as fine might be.

The youngster was clad in scarlet red,
In scarlet fine and gay;
And he did frisk it over the plain,
And chanted a roundelay.

As Robin Hood next morning stood

Amongst the leaves so gay,

There did he espy the same young man Come drooping along the way.

The scarlet he wore the day before
It was clean cast away;

And at every step he fetched a sigh,
"Alas! and a well-a-day!"

Then stepped forth brave Little John,
And Midge, the miller's son ;
Which made the young man bend his bow,
Whenas he see them come.

"Stand off! stand off!" the young man said, "What is your will with me?"

"You must come before our master straight,

Under yon greenwood tree."

And when he came bold Robin before,

Robin asked him courteously,

"O, hast thou any money to spare,

For my merry men and me?"

"What wilt thou give me," said Robin Hood, "In ready gold or fee,

To help thee to thy true-love again,
And deliver her unto thee?"

"I have no money," then quoth the young man, "No ready gold nor fee,

But I will swear upon a book

Thy true servant for to be."

"How many miles is it to thy true-love? Come tell me without guile."

"By the faith of my body," then said the young

man,

"It is but five little mile."

Then Robin he hasted over the plain,
He did neither stint nor linn,*

Until he came unto the church

Where Allen should keep his weddin'.

"What hast thou here?" the bishop then said, "I prithee now tell unto me."

"I am a bold harper," quoth Robin Hood, "And the best in the north country."

"O. welcome, 0, welcome," the bishop he said, "That music best pleaseth me."

"You shall have no music," quoth Robin Hood, "Till the bride and bridegroom I see."

With that came in a wealthy knight,

Which was both grave and old;

And after him a finikin lass,

Did shine like the glistering gold.

“This is not a fit match," quoth Robin Hood, "That you do seem to make here; For since we are come into the church,

The bride shall chuse her own dear."

Then Robin Hood put his horn to his mouth,
And blew blasts two and three ;
When four-and-twenty yeomen bold
Come leaping over the lea.

Stop nor stay.