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 of the Cheviot." The circumstances of the battle of Otterbourne (A. D 1388) are woven into the ballad, and the affairs of the two events are 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.]

His host he parted had in three,

As leader ware and tried ;
And soon his spearmen on their foes
Bore down on every side.

Throughout the English archery
They dealt full many a wound;
But still our valiant Englishmen
All firmly kept their ground.

And throwing straight their bows away,
They grasped their swords so bright;
And now sharp blows, a heavy shower,
On shields and helmets light.

They closed full fast on every side,
No slackness there was found;
And many a gallant gentleman
Lay gasping on the ground.

In truth, it was a grief to see

How each one chose his spear,
And how the blood out of their breasts
Did gush like water clear.

At last these two stout earls did meet ;
Like captains of great might,
Like lions wode, they laid on lode,
And made a cruel fight.

They fought until they both did sweat,
With swords of tempered steel,
Until the blood, like drops of rain,
They trickling down did feel.

"Yield thee, Lord Percy," Douglas said,
"In faith I will thee bring
Where thou shalt high advanced be

By James, our Scottish king.

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."

A knight amongst the Scots there was
Who saw Earl Douglas die,
Who straight in wrath did vow avenge
Upon the Earl Percy.

Sir Hugh Mountgomery was he called,
Who, with a spear full bright,
Well mounted on a gallant steed,
Ran fiercely through the fight;

And past the English archers all,
Without a dread or fear;
And through Earl Percy's body then
He thrust his hateful spear.

With such vehement force and might
He did his body gore,

The staff ran through the other side
A large cloth-yard and more.

So thus did both these nobles die, Whose courage none could stain. An English archer then perceived The noble earl was slain.

He had a bow bent in his hand,

Made of a trusty tree; An arrow of a cloth-yard long To the hard head haled he.

Against Sir Hugh Mountgomery
So right the shaft he set,
The gray goose wing that was thereon
In his heart's blood was wet.

This fight did last from break of day Till setting of the sun;

For when they rung the evening-bell The battle scarce was done.

With stout Earl Percy there were slain
Sir John of Egerton,

Sir Robert Rateliff, and Sir John,
Sir James, that bold baron.

And with Sir George and stout Sir James,
Both knights of good account,
Good Sir Ralph Raby there was slain,
Whose prowess did surmount.

For Witherington my heart is woe
That ever he slain should be,
For when his legs were hewn in two,
He knelt and fought on his knee.

And with Earl Douglas there were slain Sir Hugh Mountgomery,

Sir Charles Murray, that from the field One foot would never flee;

Sir Charles Murray of Ratcliff, too,
His sister's son was he;
Sir David Lamb, so well esteemed,
But saved he could not be.

And the Lord Maxwell in like case
Did with Earl Douglas die :
Of twenty hundred Scottish spears,
Scarce fifty-five did fly.

Of fifteen hundred Englishmen,
Went home but fifty-three;
The rest in Chevy-Chase were slain,
Under the greenwood tree.

Next day did many widows come,
Their husbands to bewail;
They washed their wounds in brinish tears,
But all would not prevail.

Their bodies, bathed in purple blood,
They bore with them away;
They kissed them dead a thousand times,
Ere they were clad in clay.

The news was brought to Edinburgh,
Where Scotland's king did reign,
That brave Earl Douglas suddenly
Was with an arrow slain :

"O heavy news," King James did say ; "Scotland can witness be

I have not any captain more
Of such account as he."

Like tidings to King Henry came
Within as short a space,
That Percy of Northumberland
Was slain in Chevy-Chase :

"Now God be with him," said our King, "Since 't will no better be;

I trust I have within my realm
Five hundred as good as he :

"Yet shall not Scots or Scotland say But I will vengeance take;

I'll be revenged on them all

For brave Earl Percy's sake."

"Yesterday I should have married a maid, But she was from me ta'en,

And chosen to be an old knight's delight, Whereby my poor heart is slain."

"What is thy name?" then said Robin Hood, "Come tell me without any fail."

And when they came into the churchyard,
Marching all in a row,

The very first man was Allen-a-Dale,
To give bold Robin his bow.

"This is thy true-love," Robin he said, Young Allen, as I hear say;

Before we depart away."