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Then Horseley spied a privy place,

With a perfect eye, in a secret part,-~ Under the spole of his right arm,

He smote Sir Andrew to the heart.

Fight on, my men, Sir Andrew says,

A little I'm hurt, but yet not slain: I'll but lie down and bleed a-while, And then I'll rise and fight again. Fight on, my men, Sir Andrew says, And never flinch before the foe; And stand fast by St. Andrew's cross, Until you hear my whistle blow.

They never heard his whistle blow,

Which made their hearts wax sore a-dread:

Then Horseley said, Aboard, my Lord,

For well I wot Sir Andrew's dead.

They boarded then his noble ship,

They boarded it with might and main: Eighteen score Scots alive they found,

The rest were either maimed or slain.

Lord Howard took a sword in his hand,

And off he smote Sir Andrew's head,-
I must have left England many a day,
If thou wert alive as thou art dead.

He caused his body to be cast

Over the hatch-board into the sea;

And about his middle three hundred crowns ;Where'er thou land, this will bury thee.

Thus from the wars Lord Howard came,
And back he sailed o'er the main,-

With mickle joy and triumphing,

Into Thames' mouth he came again.

152

Lord Howard then a letter wrote,

And sealed it with a seal and ring,—
Such a noble prize have I brought to your Grace,
As never did subject to a King.

Sir Andrew's ship I bring with me,—
A braver ship was never none:
Now hath your Grace two ships of war,-
Before in England was but one.*
King Henry's Grace, with royal cheer
Welcomed the noble Howard home,—
And where, said he, is this rover stout,
That I myself may give the doom?

The rover he is safe, my Liege,

Full many a fathom in the sea;
If he were alive as he is dead,

I must have left England many a day.

And

your Grace may thank four men in the ship, For the victory we have won :

These are William Horseley, Henry Hunt,

And Peter Simon, and his son.

To Henry Hunt, the King then said,
In lieu of what was from thee ta'en,
A noble a-day now thou shalt have,—
Sir Andrew's jewels, and his chain.
And Horseley, thou shalt be a Knight,

And lands and livings shalt have store;

* This is an instance which Dr. Percy has alleged in confirmation of the authenticity of this ballad; the account being confirmed by historical record. Seven years before, in the year 1504 (19th Hen. VII.), was built the Great Harry, at the expense of 14,000l.; which was, in fact, as Hume observes, the first beginning, at that period, of an armed royal navy; before which, the King was accustomed to hire ships from the merchants. Of this ship, the Great Harry, otherwise "Harry Grace a Dieu," the Editor has somewhere seen a painting, in which it appears to have had four masts, he believes in the hall of Greenwich Hospital.

Howard shall be Earl Surrey hight,
As Howards, erst, have been before.

Now, Peter Simon, thou art old,—

I will maintain thee and thy son: †
And the men shall have five hundred marks,
For the good service they have done.
Then in came the Queen, with Ladies fair,
To see Sir Andrew Barton, knight:
They weened that he were brought on shore,
And thought to have seen a gallant sight.

But when they see his deadly face,

And eyes so hollow in his head,

I would give, quoth the King, a thousand marks,
This man were alive as he is dead.

Yet for the manful part he played,

Which fought so well with heart and hand,--
His men shall have twelve pence a-day,

PERCY.

Till they come to my brother King's high land.

Father to the noble Poet; and, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Lord High Admiral at the time of the Spanish Armada, when his services proved very valuable.

+ In Mr. Ritson's copy, the sums are specified;-a crown a-day to Peter Simon, and half-a-crown to his son; and to the sailors, seven shillings each, (or more probably, a noble,-68. 8d.). At this rate, in the division of five hundred marks, there would have been one thousand men. This bounty, even if we multiply it twenty times, to correspond with the present day, does not seem very munificent.

BALLAD,

ON THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS MARGARET, (DAUGHTER OF HENRY VII.), TO JAMES IV. OF SCOTLAND.

1503.

EVANS.

O FAIR! fairest of every fair!
Princess, most pleasant and preclare,
The lustiest alive that been;-
Welcome to Scotland to be Queen!

Young tender plant of pulchritude,
Descended of imperial blood!

Fresh pageant flower of fairhood sheen!
Welcome, of Scotland to be Queen!

Sweet lusty* imp of beauty clear!
Most mighty King's daughter dear,
Born of a princess most serene ;—
Welcome, of Scotland to be Queen!

Welcome the Rose, both Red and White!
Welcome, the flower of our delight!
Our spirit rejoicing from the spleen ;-
Welcome! of Scotland to be Queen!

* This did not, at that time, imply what would now be called en bon point; it was intended to express perfect vigour and health, both of mind and body; and was therefore applicable to the slightest and most graceful proportions.

JOHNNY ARMSTRONG'S

GOOD-NIGHT.

-

THE hero of the following ballad lived in Westmoreland, near the river Ewse; and subsisted, himself, and a large body of men, by levying contributions and tribute on his neighbours, both Scotch and English; he was, in short, a moss-trooper. James V. raised a small army, and encamped near the river Ewse, with the purpose of destroying the banditti; when John Armstrong, being aware of his danger, held a converse with some of the king's officers, who persuaded him to make his submission, assuring him of a favourable reception. He accordingly set out, with an attendance of sixty men unarmed, and, anticipating no hostility, neglected to provide passes and a safe conduct; when these treacherous advisers laid an ambush for him, and carried him and his men to the king as prisoners, where they not only denounced him for the offences he had actually committed, but added a false accusation,-that he had plotted to deliver up that part of the country to the English. On this deceptive suggestion, and from this instance of truly Punic faith, the unhappy man was hanged, with fifty-four of his companions; the remaining six being retained as hostages. Mr. Evans observes, that the author of the ballad has thought proper to elevate the catastrophe of his hero, by causing him to die in fight, assigning to him eight score attendants, instead of three, and laying the scene in Edinburgh; which are the only deviations from the truth of history. This ballad is a standard and popular one.

Is there never a man in all Scotland,

From the highest estate to the lowest degree,
That can shew himself before our King,

Scotland is so full of treachery?

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