Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Volume Ii Part 20

"I sent ye to the schools, and ye wadna learn; "I bought ye books, and ye wadna read; "Therefore, my blessing ye shall never earn, "Till I see with Bewick thou save thy head."

"Now, G.o.d forbid, my auld father, "That ever sic a thing suld be!

"Billie Bewick was my master, and I was his scholar, "And aye sae weel as he learned me."

"O hald thy tongue, thou limmer lown, "And of thy talking let me be!

"If thou does na end me this quarrel soon, "There is my glove I'll fight wi' thee."

Then Christie Graeme he stooped low Unto the ground, you shall understand;-- "O father, put on your glove again, "The wind has blown it from your hand."

"What's that thou says, thou limmer loun?

"How dares thou stand to speak to me?

"If thou do not end this quarrel soon, "There's my right hand thou shalt fight with me."

Then Christie Graeme's to his chamber gane, To consider weel what then should be; Whether he suld fight with his auld father Or with his billie Bewick, he.

"If I suld kill my billie dear, "G.o.d's blessing I sall never win; "But if I strike at my auld father, "I think 'twald be a mortal sin.

"But if I kill my billie dear, "It is G.o.d's will! so let it be.

"But I make a vow, ere I gang frae hame, "That I shall be the next man's die."

Then he's put on's back a good ould jack, And on his head a cap of steel, And sword and buckler by his side; O gin he did not become them weel!

We'll leave off talking of Christie Graeme, And talk of him again belive; And we will talk of bonnie Bewick, Where he was teaching his scholars five.

When he had taught them well to fence, And handle swords without any doubt; He took his sword under his arm, And he walked his father's close about.

He looked atween him and the sun, And a' to see what there might be, Till he spied a man, in armour bright, Was riding that way most hastilie.

"O wha is yon, that came this way, "Sae hastilie that hither came?

"I think it be my brother dear; "I think it be young Christie Graeme."

"Ye're welcome here, my billie dear, "And thrice you're welcome unto me!"

"But I'm wae to say, I've seen the day, "When I am come to fight with thee.

"My father's gane to Carlisle town, "Wi' your father Bewick there met he; "He says I'm a lad, and I am but bad, "And a baffled man I trow I be.

"He sent me to schools, and I wadna learn; "He gae me books, and I wadna read; "Sae my father's blessing I'll never earn, "Till he see how my arm can guard my head."

"O G.o.d forbid, my billie dear, "That ever such a thing suld be!

"We'll take three men on either side, "And see if we can our fathers agree."

"O hald thy tongue, now, billie Bewick, "And of thy talking let me be!

"But if thou'rt a man, as I'm sure thou art, "Come o'er the d.y.k.e, and fight wi' me."

"But I hae nae harness, billie, on my back, "As weel I see there is on thine."

"But as little harness as is on thy back, "As little, billie, shall be on mine."

Then he's thrown aff his coat of mail, His cap of steel away flung he; He stuck his spear into the ground, And he tied his horse unto a tree.

Then Bewick has thrown aff his cloak, And's psalter-book frae's hand flung he; He laid his hand upon the d.y.k.e, And ower he lap most manfullie.

O they hae fought for twae lang hours; When twae lang hours were come and gane, The sweat drapped fast frae aff them baith, But a drap of blude could not be seen.

Till Graeme gae Bewick an ackward[B] stroke, Ane ackward stroke, strucken sickerlie; He has. .h.i.t him under the left breast, And dead-wounded to the ground fell he.

"Rise up, rise up, now, hillie dear!

"Arise, and speak three words to me!-- "Whether thou'se gotten thy deadly wound, "Or if G.o.d and good leaching may succour thee?"

"O horse, O horse, now billie Graeme, "And get thee far from hence with speed; "And get thee out of this country, "That none may know who has done the deed."

"O I have slain thee, billie Bewick, "If this be true thou tellest to me; "But I made a vow, ere I came frae hame, "That aye the next man I wad be."

He has pitched his sword in a moodie-hill,[C]

And he has leap'd twentie lang feet and three, And on his ain sword's point he lap, And dead upon the grund fell he.

'Twas then came up Sir Robert Bewick, And his brave son alive saw he; "Rise up, rise up, my son," he said, "For I think ye hae gotten the victorie."

"O hald your tongue, my father dear!

"Of your prideful talking let me be!

"Ye might hae drunken your wine in peace, "And let me and my billie be.

"Gae dig a grave, baith wide and deep, "A grave to hald baith him and me; "But lay Christie Graeme on the sunny side, "For I'm sure he wan the victorie."

"Alack! a wae!" auld Bewick cried, "Alack! was I not much to blame!

"I'm sure I've lost the liveliest lad "That e'er was born unto my name."

"Alack! a wae!" quo' gude Lord Graeme, "I'm sure I hae lost the deeper lack!

"I durst hae ridden the Border through, "Had Christie Graeme been at my back.

"Had I been led through Liddesdale, "And thirty hors.e.m.e.n guarding me, "And Christie Gramme been at my back, "Sae soon as he had set me free!

"I've lost my hopes, I've lost my joy, "I've lost the key but and the lock; "I durst hae ridden the world round, "Had Christie Graeme been at my back."

[Footnote A: The ostler's copy reads very characteristically-- "It was all for good wine and _hay_."]

[Footnote B: _Ackward_--Backward.]

[Footnote C: _Moodie-hill_--Mole-hill.]

THE DUEL OF WHARTON AND STUART. IN TWO PARTS.

Duels, as may be seen from the two preceding ballads, are derived from the times of chivalry. They succeeded to the _combat at outrance_, about the end of the sixteenth century; and, though they were no longer countenanced by the laws, nor considered a solemn appeal to the Deity, nor honoured by the presence of applauding monarchs and mult.i.tudes, yet they were authorised by the manners of the age, and by the applause of the fair.[A] They long continued, they even yet continue, to be appealed to, as the test of truth; since, by the code of honour, every gentleman is still bound to repel a charge of falsehood with the point of his sword, and at the peril of his life. This peculiarity of manners, which would have surprised an ancient Roman, is obviously deduced from the Gothic ordeal of trial by combat. Nevertheless, the custom of duelling was considered, at its first introduction, as an innovation upon the law of arms; and a book, in two huge volumes, ent.i.tuled _Le vrai Theatre d' Honneur et de la Chivalerie_, was written by a French n.o.bleman, to support the venerable inst.i.tutions of chivalry against this unceremonious mode of combat. He has chosen for his frontispiece two figures; the first represents a conquering knight, trampling his enemy under foot in the lists, crowned by Justice with laurel, and preceded by Fame, sounding his praises. The other figure presents a duellist, in his s.h.i.+rt, as was then the fas.h.i.+on (see the following ballad), with his b.l.o.o.d.y rapier in his hand: the slaughtered combatant is seen in the distance, and the victor is pursued by the Furies. Nevertheless, the wise will make some scruple, whether, if the warriors were to change equipments, they might not also exchange their emblematic attendants.

The modern mode of duel, without defensive armour, began about the reign of Henry III. of France, when the gentlemen of that nation, as we learn from Davila, began to lay aside the c.u.mbrous lance and cuira.s.s, even in war. The increase of danger being supposed to contribute to the increase of honour, the national ardour of the french gallants led them early to distinguish themselves by neglect of every thing, that could contribute to their personal safety. Hence, duels began to be fought by the combatants in their s.h.i.+rts, and with the rapier only. To this custom contributed also the art of fencing, then cultivated as a new study in Italy and Spain, by which the sword became, at once, an offensive and defensive weapon. The reader will see the new "science of defence," as it was called, ridiculed by Shakespeare, in _Romeo and Juliet_, and by Don Quevedo, in some of his novels. But the more ancient customs continued for some time to maintain their ground. The sieur Colombiere mentions two gentlemen, who fought with equal advantage for a whole day, in all the panoply of chivalry, and, the next day, had recourse to the modern mode of combat. By a still more extraordinary mixture of ancient and modern fas.h.i.+ons, two combatants on horseback ran a tilt at each other with lances, without any covering but their s.h.i.+rts.

[Footnote A: "All things being ready for the ball, and every one being in their place, and I myself being next to the queen (of France), expecting when the dancers would come in, one knockt at the door somewhat louder than became, as I thought, a very civil person. When he came in, I remember there was a sudden whisper among the ladies, saying, 'C'est Monsieur Balagny,' or, 'tis Monsieur Balagny; whereupon, also, I saw the ladies and gentlewomen, one after another, invite him to sit near them; and, which is more, when one lady had his company a while, another would say, 'you have enjoyed him long enough; I must have him now;' at which bold civility of theirs, though I were astonished, yet it added unto my wonder, that his person could not be thought, at most, but ordinary handsome; his hair, which was cut very short, half grey, his doublet but of sackcloth, cut to his s.h.i.+rt, and his breeches only of plain grey cloth. Informing myself of some standers by who he was, I was told he was one of the gallantest men in the world, as having killed eight or nine men in single fight; and that, for this reason, the ladies made so much of him; it being the manner of all French women to cherish gallant men, as thinking they could not make so much of any one else, with the safety of their honour."--_Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury,_ p. 70. How near the character of the duellist, originally, approached to that of the knight-errant, appears from a transaction, which took place at the siege of Juliers, betwixt this Balagny and Lord Herbert. As these two noted duellists stood together in the trenches, the Frenchman addressed Lord Herbert: _"Monsieur, on dit que vous etes un des plus braves de votre nation, et je suis Balagny; allons voir qui fera le mieux."_ With these words, Balagny jumped over the trench, and Herbert as speedily following, both ran sword in hand towards the defences of the besieged town, which welcomed their approach with a storm of musquetry and artillery. Balagny then observed, this was hot service; but Herbert swore, he would not turn back first; so the Frenchman was finally fain to set him the example or retreat. Notwithstanding the advantage which he had gained over Balagny, in this "jeopardy of war,"