_Henry_.--Now I seem old and weary of this life, So joy I in our death for Scotland's sake; For this death will so wed us to our country, We shall be old in years to all posterity! And it will place a blot on Edward's name, That time may blacken, but can ne'er efface.
_Richard_.--My heart, too, beats as light as if tomorrow Had been, by young love, destined for my bridal; Yet oft a tear comes stealing down my cheek, When I do think me of our _mother_, Henry!
_Henry_.--Oh speak not of our parents! or my heart Will burst ere morning, and from the tyrant rob His well-earned infamy.
_Richard_.--Oh! I must speak of them: They now will wander weeping in their chamber, Or from their window through the darkness gaze, And stretch their hands and sigh towards the camp; Then, when the red east breaks the night away-- Ah! what a sight will meet their eyes, my brother!
_Henry_.--My brother! oh my brother!
_Enter_ FRIAR.
_Guard_.--Who would pass here?
_Friar_.--A friend! a friend!--a messenger of mercy!
_Guard_.--Nay, wert thou mercy's self, you cannot pass.
_Friar_.--Refuse ye, then, your prisoners their confessor?
_Guard_.--Approach not, or ye die!
_Friar_.--Would ye stretch forth your hand 'gainst Heaven's anointed?
_Guard_.--Ay! 'gainst the Pope himself, if he should thwart me.
_Friar_.--Mercy ye have not, neither shall ye find it.
_[Springs forward and stabs him_--_approaches_ RICHARD _and_ HENRY, _and unbinds their fetters_.
_Friar_.--In chains as criminals! Ye are free, but speak not.
_Richard_.--Here, holy father, let me kneel to thank thee.
_Henry_.--And let me hear but my deliverer's name, That my first prayer may waft it to the skies.
_Friar_.--Kneel not, nor thank me here. There's need of neither; But be ye silent, for the ground has ears; Nor let it hear your footsteps.
_[He approaches the fire; kindles a torch and fires the camp_.
_Henry_.--Behold, my brother, he has fired the camp! Already see the flames ascend around him.
_Friar_.--Now! now, my country! here thou art avenged! Fly with me to the beach! pursuit is vain! Thou, Heaven, hast heard me! thou art merciful! _[Exit_.
SCENE X.--_Apartment in_ SETON'S _House_.
_Sir Alex_.--Oh, what is honour to a father's heart? Can it extinguish nature--soothe its feelings-- Or make the small still voice of conscience dumb? My sons! my sons! Though ye should hold me guiltless, there's a tongue Within me whispers, _I'm your murderer!_ Ah! my Matilda! hadst thou been less noble, We both had been less wretched! But do I, To hide my sin, place't on the mother's heart? Though she did hide the _mother_ from _men's_ eyes, Now, crushed by woes, she cannot look on _mine_. But, locked in secret, weeps her soul away, That it may meet her children's! I alone, Widowed and childless, like a blasted oak Reft of its root and branches, must be left For every storm to howl at!
[ELLIOT _enters with a dagger_.
Ah, my sons! Could anguish rend my heartstrings, I should not Behold another sun rise on my misery!
_Elliot [springing upon him]_.--By Heavens, mine enemy, I swear thou shalt not!
_They struggle. Shouting without. Enter_ FRIAR _and_ SETON'S SONS, PROVOST RAMSAY. FRIAR _springs forward_.
_Friar_.--Down! traitor, down! [_Stabs_ ELLIOT.
_Sir Alex_.--My sons! my sons! Angels of mercy, do you mock my sight! My boys! my boys!
_Provost Ramsay_.--Save us a'! save us a'!--callants, come to my arms too! Here's an hour o' joy! This, in my solemn opinion, is what I ca' livin' a lifetime in the twinklin' o' an ee. And what think ye, Sir Alexander! The English camp is a' in a bleeze, and there they are fleeing awa helter-skelter, leaving everything behind them.
_Sir Alex_.--What! they fly too!--thank Heaven! thank Heaven! My cup of joy o'erflows, and floods my heart More than my griefs!
_Richard_.--'Tis true, my father-- To this, our unknown saviour, do we owe Our life and yours!--'twas he, too, seized the torch, And bid the bonfire blaze to Scotland's freedom.
_Sir Alex_.--Forgive me, reverend stranger, if that I, In the delirium of a parent's joy, O'erlooked the hand that saved me: Kneel, my sons, And with your father, at this stranger's feet, Pour out your thanks, and beg his blessing also.
_[They kneel around the supposed friar, who casts off the disguise, and is discovered to be their mother_.
_Lady Seton_.--A _mother_, in her children's cause, fears nothing, And needs not _thanks_-- A _woman_, in her _country's cause_, Can dare what man dare! [_They start up._
_Sir Alex_.--What! my Matilda!
_Richard_.--My mother!
_Henry_.--Ha! my mother!
_Lady Seton_.--Joy, joy, my sons; your mother's done her duty! And joy, my husband, we have saved our _honour_.
_Sir Alex_.--Matilda, thou hast ta'en my heart anew, And with it, too, my words!
_Provost Ramsay_.--The like o' this! I may weel say, what, in the universal globe, tempted me to be a bachelor! [_Exeunt._
XXV.
FAREWELL TO A PLACE ON THE BORDERS.
Lochmaben! I from thee must part, 'Tis destined so to be; Thy lovely lochs, dear to my heart, I never more may see.
The heaven of May is mirror'd clear Within thy waters deep; So shall my soul with loving care Thine image ever keep.
I've seen Edina's rocky walls, Her palaces and bowers; I've gazed on London's lofty halls, And monumental towers.
In yon green isle towards the west, I've roamed without control; And many a wild, romantic coast Has charm'd my inmost soul.
But aye to me the sunniest rays Have thrown their sweetest gleams Where Bruce was born, and summer days Inspired my youthful dreams.
The water lilies there shall rest, And minnows round them play; The coot shall build her floating nest, When I am far away.
But ah! no more thy streams and glens Shall bless my sight, Lochmaben; Farewell, farewell, lochs, woods, and fens-- Farewell, farewell, Lochmaben!
GLOSSARY AND GENERAL INDEX.
GLOSSARY.
--A--
A', _adj._ all.
ABAK, _adv._ behind.
ABASIT, _part. pa._ confounded; abashed.
ABBACY, _s._ an abbey.
ABEE--_to let abee_, to let alone; not to meddle with.
ABEECH, ABIEGH, _adv._ aloof; "at a shy distance;" keep aloof.
ABLE, ABLIS, ABLINS, AIBLINS, _adv._ perhaps; peradventure.
ABONE, ABOW, ABOON, ABUNE, _prep_, above.
ABOOT, _prep_, about.
AE, _adj._ one; only; single.
AFF, _adv._ off; away.
AFFCAST, _s._ a castaway.
AFFCOME, s. the termination of any business. "I gied him his _affcome_," I gave him a down-setting, or offset.
AFEIRD, _part. pa._ afraid.
AFFHAND, _adj._ plain; honest; blunt; without premeditation.
AFFLUFF, _adv._ extempore.
AFORE, _prep_, before.
AFFPUT, _s._ pretence for delay.
AFFPUTTING, _adj._ trifling; delaying.
AFFSIDE, _s._ offside.
AFT, _adv._ often.
AFTEN, _adv._ often.
AFTERHEND, _adv._ afterwards.
AGAYNE, _prep_, against.
AGAIT, _adv._ on the way or road.
AGEE, _adv._ to one side; ajar; a little open.
AGLEY, A-GLY, _adv._ off the right line; obliquely; wrong.
AHIND, AHINT, _adv._ behind.
AIK, _s._ the oak.
AILEN, _part. pa._ ailing.
AIN, _adj._ own.
AINS, _adv._ once.
AIR, _adv._ early in the morning.
AIR, AIRE, AYR, _s._ an heir.
AIRMS, _s. pl._ arms.
AIRN, _s._ iron.
AIRT, AIRTH, _s._ point of the compass.
AISLAIR, _adj._ a polished substance.
AITS, _s. pl._ oats.
AITEN, _adj._ oaten.
AITH, _s._ an oath.
AIZLE, _s._ a hot ember.
ALANE, _adj._ alone.
ALANG, _adv._ along.
ALD, AULD, _adj._ old.
ALMOUS, AUMES, _s. pl._ alms.
AMAIST, _adv._ almost.
AMANG, _prep._ among.
AMBRY, _s._ a press or closet where victuals are kept for daily use.
AN', _conj_. and.
ANE, _adj._ one.
ANENT, _prep_, over against; opposite.
ANETH, _prep_, beneath.
ANEUCH, _adv._ enough.
ANIEST, _adv._ or _prep._ on this side of; on the nearest side.
ANITHER, _adj._ another.
ANKERSTOCK, _s._ a loaf made of rye, sweetened with treacle.
ANSE, _adv._ once.
APERT, _adj._ brisk; bold; free.
APERTLY, _adv._ briskly; readily.
APON, APOUN, _prep._ upon.
APPARELLE, _s._ equipage; furniture for warfare.
APPLERINGIE, _s._ the plant called southernwood.
ARCH, _adj._ averse; reluctant.
_To_ ARGLE-BARGLE, ARGIE-BARGIE, _v. a._ to contend; to bandy backwards and forwards.
ARK, _s._ a large chest used for holding meal or corn.
ARK _of a Mill_, _s._ the place in which the water-wheel moves.
_To_ ARLE, _v. a._ to give earnest of any kind.
ARLES, _s._ earnest of any kind.
ARLY, _adv._ early.
ARMYN, ARMYNG; _s._ armour; arms.
ART _and_ PART, accessory to, or abetting.
ASSE, _s._ ashes, plural _assis_ and _aiss_.
ASSHOLE, _s._ place for receiving ashes under the grate.
ASCHET, _s._ a large plate, on which meat is brought to table.
ASK, AWSK, _s._ an eft or water newt; a lizard.
ASKLENT, ASCLENT, ASKLINT, _adv._ obliquely; asquint; on one side.
_To_ ASSAILYIE, _v. a._ to attack, to assail.
_To_ ASSOLYIE, _v. a._ to acquit.
ASTEER, _adv._ in confusion; in a bustle.
A'THEGITHER, _adv._ altogether.
ATHORT, _prep_, through, athwart.
ATOUR, ATTOURE, _prep._ over.
ATTOMIE, _s._ a skeleton.
ATTELED, _part. pa._ aimed.
ATTER-CAP, ATTIR-COP, _s._ 1. a spider; 2. an ill-tempered person; one of a malignant or virulent disposition.
ATWEESH, _prep_, between; betwixt.
AUGHT, _pret. pa._ possessed.
AUCHT, _s._ property; possession; that which is exclusively one's own. _In aw my aucht_, all I am possessed of.