Volume 3 — 162 THE HUNTING OF THE CHEVIOT

A. MS. Ashmole, 48, 1550 or later, Bodleian Library, in Skeat’s Specimens of English Literature, etc., third edition, 1880, p. 67.^[169]

B. a. ‘Chevy Chase,’ Percy MS., p. 188, Hales and Furnivall, II, 7. b. Pepys Ballads, I, 92, No 45, Magdalene College, Cambridge, broadside, London, printed for M. G. c. Douce Ballads, fol. 27^b, Bodleian Library, and Roxburghe Ballads, III, 66, British Museum, broadside, printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and J. Wright, d. Wood Ballads, 401, 48, Bodleian Library, broadside, printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and W. Gilbertson. e. Bagford Ballads, I, No 32, British Museum, broadside, printed by and for W. Onley. f. A Scottish copy, without printer, Harvard College Library.

A was first printed by Hearne in Guilielmi Neubrigensis Historia, I, lxxxii ff, 1719; then by Percy, Reliques, I, 1, 1765, with a judicious preface. The whole manuscript, in which this piece is No 8, was edited by Thomas Wright for the Roxburghe Club in 1860: Songs and Ballads, with other short Poems, chiefly of the Reign of Philip and Mary.

B may probably be found in any of the larger sets of broadsides. It is included in such collections as Dryden’s Miscellanies, II, 238, 1702; Pills to purge Melancholy, IV, 289, 1719; Old Ballads, I, 111, 1723; Percy’s Reliques, I, 235, 1765. b has many readings of a, the copy in the Percy MS. There is a second Bagford copy, II, No 37, printed like e, for W. Onley. f, the Scottish copy, is probably of a date near 1700. Like the edition printed at Glasgow, 1747, it is, in the language of Percy, “remarkable for the wilful corruptions made in all the passages which concern the two nations”: Folio Manuscript, Hales and Furnivall, II, 1, note, and Reliques, 1765, I, 234. The Scots are made fifteen hundred, the English twenty, in 6, 13, 53, 54; the speeches of King James and King Henry are interchanged in 58, 60; 62, 63, are dropped.

The ‘Hunttis of Chevet’ is among the “sangis of natural music of the antiquite” mentioned as sung by the “shepherds” in The Complaynt of Scotland, a book assigned to 1549. It was an old and a popular song at the middle of the sixteenth century. The copy in the Ashmolean manuscript is subscribed Expliceth, quod Rychard Sheale, upon which ground Sheale has been held to be the author,^[170] and not, as Percy and Ritson assumed, simply the transcriber, of the ballad. Sheale describes himself as a minstrel living at Tamworth, whose business was to sing and talk, or to chant ballads and tell stories. He was the author of four pieces of verse in the same manuscript, one of which is of the date 1559 (No 56). This and another piece (No 46), in which he tells how he was robbed of above three score pound, give a sufficient idea of his dialect and style and a measure of his ability. This ballad was of course part of his stock as minstrel; the supposition that he was the author is preposterous in the extreme.

The song “which is commonly sung of the Hunting of Chiviot,” says Hume of Godscroft, “seemeth indeed poeticall and a meer fiction, perhaps to stirre up vertue; yet a fiction whereof there is no mention, neither in the Scottish nor English chronicle”: p. 104. To 304this the general replication may be made that the ballad can scarcely be a deliberate fiction. The singer is not a critical historian, but he supposes himself to be dealing with facts; he may be partial to his countrymen, but he has no doubt that he is treating of a real event; and the singer in this particular case thought he was describing the battle of Otterburn, the Hunting of the Cheviot being indifferently so called: st. 65. The agreement to meet, in A, st. 9, corresponds with the plight in Otterburn, st. 16; 17⁴ corresponds to Otterburn 12⁴, 30⁴; 47, 56, 57, are the same as Otterburn 58, 61, 67; 31, 32, 66, are variants of Otterburn 51, 52, 68; Douglas’s summons to Percy to yield, Percy’s refusal, and Douglas’s death, 33¹, 35–37², may be a variation of Otterburn, 51³, 55–56; Sir John of Agarstone is slain with Percy in 52, and with Douglas in Otterburn 60; Sir Hugh Montgomery appears in both.

The differences in the story of the two ballads, though not trivial, are still not so material as to forbid us to hold that both may be founded upon the same occurrence, the Hunting of the Cheviot being of course the later version,^[171] and following in part its own tradition, though repeating some portions of the older ballad. According to this older ballad, Douglas invades Northumberland in an act of public war; according to the later, Percy takes the initiative, by hunting in the Scottish hills without the leave and in open defiance of Douglas, lieutenant of the Marches. Such trespasses,^[172] whether by the English or the Scots, were not less common, we may believe, than hostile incursions, and the one would as naturally as the other account for a bloody collision between the rival families of Percy and Douglas, to those who consulted “old men” instead of histories: cf. stanza 67. The older and the later ballad concur (and herein are in harmony with some chroniclers, though not with the best) as to Percy’s slaying Douglas. In the older ballad Percy is taken prisoner, an incident which history must record, but which is somewhat insipid, for which reason we might expect tradition to improve the tale by assigning a like fate to both of the heroic antagonists.

The singer all but startles us with his historical lore when he informs us in 63 that King Harry the Fourth “did the battle of Hombylldown” to requite the death of Percy; for though the occasion of Homildon was really another incursion on the part of the Scots, and the same Percy was in command of the English who in the ballad meets his death at Otterburn, nevertheless the battle of Homildon was actually done fourteen years subsequent to that of Otterburn and falls in the reign of Henry Fourth. The free play of fancy in assigning the cause of Homildon must be allowed to offset the servility to an accurate chronology; and such an extenuation is required only in this instance.^[173] Not only is the fourth Harry on the throne of England at the epoch of Otterburn, but Jamy is the Scottish king, although King James I was not crowned until 1424, the second year of Henry VI.

But here we may remember what is well said by Bishop Percy: “A succession of two or three Jameses, and the long detention of one of them in England, would render the name familiar to the English, and dispose a poet in those rude times to give it to any Scottish king he happened to mention.” The only important inference from the mention of a King James is that the minstrel’s date is not earlier than 1424.

The first, second, and fourth James were contemporary with a Henry during the whole of their reign, and the third during a part of his; with the others we need not concern ourselves. It has given satisfaction to some 305who wish to reconcile the data of the ballad with history to find in a Scottish historiographer a record of a fight between a Percy and a Douglas in 1435 or 1436, at the very end of the reign of James I. Henry Percy of Northumberland, says Hector Boece, made a raid into Scotland with four thousand men (it is not known whether of his own motion or by royal authority), and was encountered by nearly an equal force under William Douglas, Earl of Angus, and others, at Piperden, the victory falling to the Scots, with about the same slaughter on both sides: Scotorum Historia, 1526, fol. ccclxvi, back. This affair is mentioned by Bower, Scotichronicon, 1759, II, 500 f, but the leader of the English is not named,^[174] wherefore we may doubt whether it was a Percy. Very differently from Otterburn, this battle made but a slight impression on the chroniclers.

Sidney’s words, though perhaps a hundred times requoted since they were cited by Addison, cannot be omitted here: “Certainly I must confesse my own barbarousnes. I never heard the olde song of Percy and Duglas that I found not my heart mooved more then with a trumpet; and yet is it sung but by some blinde crouder, with no rougher voyce then rude stile: which, being so evill apparrelled in the dust and cobwebbes of that uncivill age, what would it worke trymmed in the gorgeous eloquence of Pindar!”^[175] Sidney’s commendation is fully justified by the quality of The Battle of Otterburn, but is merited in even a higher degree by The Hunting of the Cheviot, and for that reason (I know of no other) The Hunting of the Cheviot may be supposed to be the ballad he had in mind. The song of Percy and Douglas, then, was sung about the country by blind fiddlers about 1580 in a rude and ancient form, much older than the one that has come down to us; for that, if heard by Sidney, could not have seemed to him a song of an uncivil age, meaning the age of Percy and Douglas, two hundred years before his day. It would give no such impression even now, if chanted to an audience three hundred years later than Sidney.^[176]

B is a striking but by no means a solitary example of the impairment which an old ballad would suffer when written over for the broadside press. This very seriously enfeebled edition was in circulation throughout the seventeenth century, and much sung (says Chappell) despite its length.^[177] It is declared by Addison, in his appreciative and tasteful critique, Spectator, Nos 70, 74, 1711, to be the favorite ballad of the common people of England.^[178] Addison, who knew no other version, informs us that Ben Jonson used to say that he had rather have been the author of Chevy Chase than of all his works. The broadside copy may possibly have been the only one 306known to Jonson also, but in all probability the traditional ballad was still sung in the streets in Jonson’s youth, if not later.

A 3. By these “shyars thre” is probably meant three districts in Northumberland which still go by the name of shires and are all in the neighborhood of Cheviot. These are Islandshire, being the district so named from Holy Island; Norehamshire, so called from the town and castle of Noreham or Norham; and Bamboroughshire, the ward or hundred belonging to Bamborough castle and town. Percy’s Reliques, 1794, I, 5, note.

15. Chyviat Chays, well remarks Mr Wheatley in his edition of the Reliques, I, 22, becomes Chevy Chace by the same process as that by which Teviotdale becomes Tividale, and there is no sufficient occasion for the suggestion that Chevy Chase is a corruption of chevauchée, raid, made by Dr. E. B. Nicholson, Notes and Queries, Third Series, XII, 124, and adopted by Burton, History of Scotland, II, 366.

38 f. “That beautiful line taking the dead man by the hand will put the reader in mind of Æneas’s behavior towards Lausus, whom he himself had slain as he came to the rescue of his aged father” (Ingemuit miserans graviter, dextramque tetendit, etc., Æn. X, 823, etc.): Addison, in Spectator, No 70.

54^3,4, and B 50^3,4. Witherington’s prowess was not without precedent, and, better still, was emulated in later days. Witness the battle of Ancrum Muir, 1545, or “Lilliard’s Edge,” as it is commonly called, from a woman that fought with great bravery there, to whose memory there was a monument erected on the field of battle with this inscription, as the traditional report goes:

“Fair maiden Lilliard lies under this stane;

Little was her stature, but great her fame;

On the English lads she laid many thumps,

And when her legs were off, she fought upon her stumps.”^[179]

The giant Burlong also fought wonderfully on his stumps after Sir Triamour had smitten his legs off by the knee: Utterson’s Popular Poetry, I, 67, 1492–94, cited by Motherwell; Percy MS., Hales and Furnivall, II, 131. Sir Graysteel fights on one leg: Eger and Grine, Percy MS., I, 386 f, 1032, 1049. Nygosar, in Kyng Alisaunder, after both his armes have been cut off, bears two knights from their steeds “with his heved and with his cors”: 2291–2312, Weber, I, 98 f. Still better, King Starkaðr, in the older Edda, fights after his head is off: Helgakviða Hundingsbana, ii, 27, Bugge, p. 196.^[180]

“Sed, etiam si ceciderit, de genu pugnat,” Seneca, De Providentia 2, 4 (cited in The Gentleman’s Magazine, 1794, I, 306), is explained by Seneca himself, Epis. lxvi, 47: “qui, succisis poplitibus, in genua se excepit nec arma dimisit.” “In certaminibus gladiatorum hoc sæpe accidisse et statuæ existentes docent, imprimis gladiator Borghesinus.” Senecæ Op. Phil., Bouillet, II, 12.

61¹. “Lovely London,” as Maginn remarks, Blackwood’s Magazine, VII, 327, is like the Homeric Αὐγειὰς ἐρατεινάς, Ἀρήνην ἐρατεινήν, Il., ii, 532, 591, etc. Leeve, or lovely, London, is of frequent occurrence: see No 158, 1¹, No 168, appendix, 7⁵, No 174, 35¹, etc. So “men of pleasant Tivydale,” B 14¹, wrongly in B a, f, “pleasant men of Tiuydale.”

64³. Glendale is one of the six wards of Northumberland, and Homildon is in this ward, a mile northwest of Wooler.

30765². That tear begane this spurn “is said to be a proverb, meaning that tear, or pull, brought about this kick”: Skeat. Such a proverb is unlikely and should be vouched. There may be corruption, and perhaps we should read, as a lamentation, That ear (ever) begane this spurn! Or possibly, That tear is for That there, meaning simply there.

For genealogical illustrations may be consulted, with caution, Percy’s Reliques, 1794, I, 34 ff, 282 ff. With respect to 53¹, Professor Skeat notes: “Loumle, Lumley; always hitherto printed louele (and explained Lovel), though the MS. cannot be so read, the word being written loūle. ‘My Lord Lumley’ is mentioned in the ballad of Scotish Feilde, Percy Fol. MS., I, 226, l. 270; and again in the ballad of Bosworth Feilde, id., III, 245, l. 250.”

A is translated by Herder, II, 213; by R.

v. Bismarck, Deutches Museum, 1858, I, 897; by Von Marées, p. 63; by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, p. 84, No 13. Into Latin by Dr. William Maginn, in Blackwood’s Magazine, 1819–20, VI, 199, VII, 323.

B is translated by Bothe, p. 6; by Knortz, L. u. R. Alt-Englands, p. 24, No 7; by Loève-Veimars, p. 55; (in part) by Cantù, p. 802. Into Latin by Henry Bold, Dryden’s Miscellanies, ed. 1702, II, 239; by Rev. John Anketell, Poems, etc., Dublin, 1793, p. 264.

A

MS. Ashmole, 48 Bodleian Library, in Skeat’s Specimens of English Literature, 1394–1579, ed. 1880, p. 67.

1

The Persë owt off Northombarlonde,

and avowe to God mayd he

That he wold hunte in the mowntayns

off Chyviat within days thre,

In the magger of doughtë Dogles,

and all that euer with him be.

2

The fattiste hartes in all Cheviat

he sayd he wold kyll, and cary them away:

‘Be my feth,’ sayd the dougheti Doglas agayn,

‘I will let that hontyng yf that I may.’

3

The[n] the Persë owt off Bamborowe cam,

with him a myghtee meany,

With fifteen hondrith archares bold off blood and bone;

the wear chosen owt of shyars thre.

4

This begane at a Monday at morn,

in Cheviat the hillys so he;

The chylde may rue that ys vn-born,

it wos the mor pittë.

5

The dryvars thorowe the woodës went,

for to reas the dear;

Bomen byckarte vppone the bent

with ther browde aros cleare.

6

Then the wylde thorowe the woodës went,

on euery sydë shear;

Greahondes thorowe the grevis glent,

for to kyll thear dear.

7

This begane in Chyviat the hyls abone,

yerly on a Monnyn-day;

Be that it drewe to the oware off none,

a hondrith fat hartës ded ther lay.

8

The blewe a mort vppone the bent,

the semblyde on sydis shear;

To the quyrry then the Persë went,

to se the bryttlynge off the deare.

9

He sayd, It was the Duglas promys

this day to met me hear;

But I wyste he wold faylle, verament;

a great oth the Persë swear.

10

At the laste a squyar off Northomberlonde

lokyde at his hand full ny;

He was war a the doughetie Doglas commynge,

with him a myghttë meany.

11

Both with spear, bylle, and brande,

yt was a myghtti sight to se;

Hardyar men, both off harte nor hande,

wear not in Cristiantë.

30812

The wear twenti hondrith spear-men good,

withoute any feale;

The wear borne along be the watter a Twyde,

yth bowndës of Tividale.

13

‘Leave of the brytlyng of the dear,’ he sayd,

‘and to your boÿs lock ye tayk good hede;

For neuer sithe ye wear on your mothars borne

had ye neuer so mickle nede.’

14

The dougheti Dogglas on a stede,

he rode alle his men beforne;

His armor glytteryde as dyd a glede;

a boldar barne was never born.

15

‘Tell me whos men ye ar,’ he says,

‘or whos men that ye be:

Who gave youe leave to hunte in this Chyviat chays,

in the spyt of myn and of me.’

16

The first mane that ever him an answear mayd,

yt was the good lord Persë:

‘We wyll not tell the whoys men we ar,’ he says,

‘nor whos men that we be;

But we wyll hounte hear in this chays,

in the spyt of thyne and of the.

17

‘The fattiste hartës in all Chyviat

we haue kyld, and cast to carry them away:’

‘Be my troth,’ sayd the doughetë Dogglas agay[n],

‘therfor the ton of vs shall de this day.’

18

Then sayd the doughtë Doglas

unto the lord Persë:

‘To kyll alle thes giltles men,

alas, it wear great pittë!

19

‘But, Persë, thowe art a lord of lande,

I am a yerle callyd within my contrë;

Let all our men vppone a parti stande,

and do the battell off the and of me.’

20

‘Nowe Cristes cors on his crowne,’ sayd the lorde Persë,

‘who-so-euer ther-to says nay!

Be my troth, doughttë Doglas,’ he says,

‘thow shalt neuer se that day.

21

‘Nethar in Ynglonde, Skottlonde, nar France,

nor for no man of a woman born,

But, and fortune be my chance,

I dar met him, on man for on.’

22

Then bespayke a squyar off Northombarlonde,

Richard Wytharyngton was him nam;

‘It shall neuer be told in Sothe-Ynglonde,’ he says,

‘to Kyng Herry the Fourth for sham.

23

‘I wat youe byn great lordës twaw,

I am a poor squyar of lande;

I wylle neuer se my captayne fyght on a fylde,

and stande my selffe and loocke on,

But whylle I may my weppone welde,

I wylle not [fayle] both hart and hande.’

24

That day, that day, that dredfull day!

the first fit here I fynde;

And youe wyll here any mor a the hountynge a the Chyviat,

yet ys ther mor behynde.

25

The Yngglyshe men hade ther bowys yebent,

ther hartes wer good yenoughe;

The first off arros that the shote off,

seven skore spear-men the sloughe.

26

Yet byddys the yerle Doglas vppon the bent,

a captayne good yenoughe,

And that was sene verament,

for he wrought hom both woo and wouche.

27

The Dogglas partyd his ost in thre,

lyk a cheffe cheften off pryde;

With suar spears off myghttë tre,

the cum in on euery syde;

28

Thrughe our Yngglyshe archery

gave many a wounde fulle wyde;

Many a doughetë the garde to dy,

which ganyde them no pryde.

29

The Ynglyshe men let ther boÿs be,

and pulde owt brandes that wer brighte;

It was a hevy syght to se

bryght swordes on basnites lyght.

30

Thorowe ryche male and myneyeple,

many sterne the strocke done streght;

Many a freyke that was fulle fre,

ther vndar foot dyd lyght.

30931

At last the Duglas and the Persë met,

lyk to captayns of myght and of mayne;

The swapte togethar tylle the both swat,

with swordes that wear of fyn myllan.

32

Thes worthë freckys for to fyght,

ther-to the wear fulle fayne,

Tylle the bloode owte off thear basnetes sprente,

as euer dyd heal or ra[y]n.

33

‘Yelde the, Persë,’ sayde the Doglas,

‘and i feth I shalle the brynge

Wher thowe shalte haue a yerls wagis

of Jamy our Skottish kynge.

34

‘Thoue shalte haue thy ransom fre,

I hight the hear this thinge;

For the manfullyste man yet art thowe

that euer I conqueryd in filde fighttynge.’

35

‘Nay,’ sayd the lord Persë,

‘I tolde it the beforne,

That I wolde neuer yeldyde be

to no man of a woman born.’

36

With that ther cam an arrowe hastely,

forthe off a myghttë wane;

Hit hathe strekene the yerle Duglas

in at the brest-bane.

37

Thorowe lyvar and longës bathe

the sharpe arrowe ys gane,

That neuer after in all his lyffe-days

he spayke mo wordës but ane:

That was, Fyghte ye, my myrry men, whyllys ye may,

for my lyff-days ben gan.

38

The Persë leanyde on his brande,

and sawe the Duglas de;

He tooke the dede mane by the hande,

and sayd, Wo ys me for the!

39

‘To haue savyde thy lyffe, I wolde haue partyde with

my landes for years thre,

For a better man, of hart nare of hande,

was nat in all the north contrë.’

40

Off all that se a Skottishe knyght,

was callyd Ser Hewe the Monggombyrry;

He sawe the Duglas to the deth was dyght,

he spendyd a spear, a trusti tre.

41

He rod vppone a corsiare

throughe a hondrith archery:

He neuer stynttyde, nar neuer blane,

tylle he cam to the good lord Persë.

42

He set vppone the lorde Persë

a dynte that was full soare;

With a suar spear of a myghttë tre

clean thorow the body he the Persë ber,

43

A the tothar syde that a man myght se

a large cloth-yard and mare:

Towe bettar captayns wear nat in Cristiantë

then that day slan wear ther.

44

An archar off Northomberlonde

say slean was the lord Persë;

He bar a bende bowe in his hand,

was made off trusti tre.

45

An arow that a cloth-yarde was lang

to the harde stele halyde he;

A dynt that was both sad and soar

he sat on Ser Hewe the Monggombyrry.

46

The dynt yt was both sad and sar

that he of Monggomberry sete;

The swane-fethars that his arrowe bar

with his hart-blood the wear wete.

47

Ther was neuer a freake wone foot wolde fle,

but still in stour dyd stand,

Heawyng on yche othar, whylle the myghte dre,

with many a balfull brande.

48

This battell begane in Chyviat

an owar befor the none,

And when even-songe bell was rang,

the battell was nat half done.

49

The tocke . . on ethar hande

be the lyght off the mone;

Many hade no strenght for to stande,

in Chyviat the hillys abon.

50

Of fifteen hondrith archars of Ynglonde

went away but seuenti and thre;

Of twenti hondrith spear-men of Skotlonde,

but even five and fifti.

51

But all wear slayne Cheviat within;

the hade no streng[th]e to stand on hy;

310The chylde may rue that ys unborne,

it was the mor pittë.

52

Thear was slayne, withe the lord Persë,

Ser Johan of Agerstone,

Ser Rogar, the hinde Hartly,

Ser Wyllyam, the bolde Hearone.

53

Ser Jorg, the worthë Loumle,

a knyghte of great renowen,

Ser Raff, the ryche Rugbe,

with dyntes wear beaten dowene.

54

For Wetharryngton my harte was wo,

that euer he slayne shulde be;

For when both his leggis wear hewyne in to,

yet he knyled and fought on hys kny.

55

Ther was slayne, with the dougheti Duglas,

Ser Hewe the Monggombyrry,

Ser Dauy Lwdale, that worthë was,

his sistars son was he.

56

Ser Charls a Murrë in that place,

that neuer a foot wolde fle;

Ser Hewe Maxwelle, a lorde he was,

with the Doglas dyd he dey.

57

So on the morrowe the mayde them byears

off birch and hasell so g[r]ay;

Many wedous, with wepyng tears,

cam to fache ther makys away.

58

Tivydale may carpe off care,

Northombarlond may mayk great mon,

For towe such captayns as slayne wear thear

on the March-parti shall neuer be non.

59

Word ys commen to Eddenburrowe,

to Jamy the Skottishe kynge,

That dougheti Duglas, lyff-tenant of the Marches,

he lay slean Chyviot within.

60

His handdës dyd he weal and wryng,

he sayd, Alas, and woe ys me!

Such an othar captayn Skotland within,

he sayd, ye-feth shuld neuer be.

61

Worde ys commyn to lovly Londone,

till the fourth Harry our kynge,

That lord Persë, leyff-tenante of the Marchis,

he lay slayne Chyviat within.

62

‘God haue merci on his solle,’ sayde Kyng Harry,

‘good lord, yf thy will it be!

I haue a hondrith captayns in Ynglonde,’ he sayd,

’as good as euer was he:

But, Persë, and I brook my lyffe,

thy deth well quyte shall be.’

63

As our noble kynge mayd his avowe,

lyke a noble prince of renowen,

For the deth of the lord Persë

he dyde the battell of Hombyll-down;

64

Wher syx and thrittë Skottishe knyghtes

on a day wear beaten down;

Glendale glytteryde on ther armor bryght,

over castille, towar, and town.

65

This was the hontynge off the Cheviat,

that tear begane this spurn;

Old men that knowen the grownde well yenoughe

call it the battell of Otterburn.

66

At Otterburn begane this spurne,

vppone a Monnynday;

Ther was the doughtë Doglas slean,

the Persë neuer went away.

67

Ther was neuer a tym on the Marche-partës

sen the Doglas and the Persë met,

But yt ys mervele and the rede blude ronne not,

as the reane doys in the stret.

68

Ihesue Crist our balys bete,

and to the blys vs brynge!

Thus was the hountynge of the Chivyat:

God send vs alle good endyng!

311

B

a. Percy MS., p. 188, Hales and Furnivall, II, 7. b. Pepys Ballads, I, 92, No 45, broadside printed for M. G. c. Douce Ballads, fol. 27^b, and Roxburghe Ballads, III, 66, broadside printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and J. Wright. d. Wood’s Ballads, 401, 48, broadside printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and W. Gilbertson. e. Bagford Ballads, I, No 32, broadside printed by and for W. Onley. f. A Scottish copy, without printer.

1

God prosper long our noble king,

our liffes and saftyes all!

A woefull hunting once there did

in Cheuy Chase befall.

2

To driue the deere with hound and horne

Erle Pearcy took the way:

The child may rue that is vnborne

the hunting of that day!

3

The stout Erle of Northumberland

a vow to God did make

His pleasure in the Scottish woods

three sommers days to take,

4

The cheefest harts in Cheuy C[h]ase

to kill and beare away:

These tydings to Erle Douglas came

in Scottland, where he lay.

5

Who sent Erle Pearcy present word

he wold prevent his sport;

The English erle, not fearing that,

did to the woods resort,

6

With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,

all chosen men of might,

Who knew ffull well in time of neede

to ayme their shafts arright.

7

The gallant greyhound[s] swiftly ran

to chase the fallow deere;

On Munday they began to hunt,

ere daylight did appeare.

8

And long before high noone the had

a hundred fat buckes slaine;

Then hauing dined, the drouyers went

to rouze the deare againe.

9

The bowmen mustered on the hills,

well able to endure;

Theire backsids all with speciall care

that day were guarded sure.

10

The hounds ran swiftly through the woods

the nimble deere to take,

That with their cryes the hills and dales

an eccho shrill did make.

11

Lord Pearcy to the querry went

to veiw the tender deere;

Quoth he, Erle Douglas promised once

this day to meete me heere;

12

But if I thought he wold not come,

noe longer wold I stay.

With that a braue younge gentlman

thus to the erle did say:

13

‘Loe, yonder doth Erle Douglas come,

hys men in armour bright;

Full twenty hundred Scottish speres

all marching in our sight.

14

‘All men of pleasant Tiuydale,

fast by the riuer Tweede:’

‘O ceaze your sportts!’ Erle Pearcy said,

‘and take your bowes with speede.

15

‘And now with me, my countrymen,

your courage forth advance!

For there was neuer champion yett,

in Scottland nor in Ffrance,

16

‘That euer did on horsbacke come,

[but], and if my hap it were,

I durst encounter man for man,

with him to breake a spere.’

17

Erle Douglas on his milke-white steede,

most like a baron bold,

Rode formost of his company,

whose armor shone like gold.

18

‘Shew me,’ sayd hee, ‘whose men you bee

that hunt soe boldly heere,

That without my consent doe chase

and kill my fallow deere.’

19

The first man that did answer make

was noble Pearcy hee,

Who sayd, Wee list not to declare

nor shew whose men wee bee;

20

‘Yett wee will spend our deerest blood

thy cheefest harts to slay.’

312Then Douglas swore a solempne oathe,

and thus in rage did say:

21

‘Ere thus I will outbraued bee,

one of vs tow shall dye;

I know thee well, an erle thou art;

Lord Pearcy, soe am I.

22

‘But trust me, Pearcye, pittye it were,

and great offence, to kill

Then any of these our guiltlesse men,

for they haue done none ill.

23

‘Let thou and I the battell trye,

and set our men aside:’

‘Accurst bee [he!]’ Erle Pearcye sayd,

‘by whome it is denyed.’

24

Then stept a gallant squire forth—

Witherington was his name—

Who said, ‘I wold not haue it told

to Henery our king, for shame,

25

‘That ere my captaine fought on foote,

and I stand looking on.

You bee two Erles,’ quoth Witheringhton,

and I a squier alone;

26

‘I’le doe the best that doe I may,

while I haue power to stand;

While I haue power to weeld my sword,

I’le fight with hart and hand.’

27

Our English archers bent their bowes;

their harts were good and trew;

Att the first flight of arrowes sent,

full foure score Scotts the slew.

28

To driue the deere with hound and horne,

Dauglas bade on the bent;

Two captaines moued with mickle might,

their speres to shiuers went.

29

They closed full fast on euerye side,

noe slacknes there was found,

But many a gallant gentleman

lay gasping on the ground.

30

O Christ! it was great greeue to see

how eche man chose his spere,

And how the blood out of their brests

did gush like water cleare.

31

At last these two stout erles did meet,

like captaines of great might;

Like lyons woode they layd on lode;

the made a cruell fight.

32

The fought vntill they both did sweat,

with swords of tempered steele,

Till blood downe their cheekes like raine

the trickling downe did feele.

33

‘O yeeld thee, Pearcye!’ Douglas sayd,

‘and in faith I will thee bringe

Where thou shall high advanced bee

by Iames our Scottish king.

34

‘Thy ransome I will freely giue,

and this report of thee,

Thou art the most couragious knight

[that ever I did see.]’

35

‘Noe, Douglas!’ quoth Erle Percy then,

‘thy profer I doe scorne;

I will not yeelde to any Scott

that euer yett was borne!’

36

With that there came an arrow keene,

out of an English bow,

Which stroke Erle Douglas on the brest

a deepe and deadlye blow.

37

Who neuer sayd more words then these:

Fight on, my merry men all!

For why, my life is att [an] end,

lord Pearcy sees my fall.

38

Then leauing liffe, Erle Pearcy tooke

the dead man by the hand;

Who said, ‘Erle Dowglas, for thy life,

wold I had lost my land!

39

‘O Christ! my verry hart doth bleed

for sorrow for thy sake,

For sure, a more redoubted knight

mischance cold neuer take.’

40

A knight amongst the Scotts there was

which saw Erle Douglas dye,

Who streight in hart did vow revenge

vpon the Lord Pearcye.

41

Sir Hugh Mountgomerye was he called,

who, with a spere full bright,

313Well mounted on a gallant steed,

ran feircly through the fight,

42

And past the English archers all,

without all dread or feare,

And through Erle Percyes body then

he thrust his hatfull spere.

43

With such a vehement force and might

his body he did gore,

The staff ran through the other side

a large cloth-yard and more.

44

Thus did both those nobles dye,

whose courage none cold staine;

An English archer then perceiued

the noble erle was slaine.

45

He had [a] good bow in his hand,

made of a trusty tree;

An arrow of a cloth-yard long

to the hard head haled hee.

46

Against Sir Hugh Mountgomerye

his shaft full right he sett;

The grey-goose-winge that was there-on

in his harts bloode was wett.

47

This fight from breake of day did last

till setting of the sun,

For when the rung the euening-bell

the battele scarse was done.

48

With stout Erle Percy there was slaine

Sir Iohn of Egerton,

Sir Robert Harcliffe and Sir William,

Sir Iames, that bold barron.

49

And with Sir George and Sir Iames,

both knights of good account,

Good Sir Raphe Rebbye there was slaine,

whose prowesse did surmount.

50

For Witherington needs must I wayle

as one in dolefull dumpes,

For when his leggs were smitten of,

he fought vpon his stumpes.

51

And with Erle Dowglas there was slaine

Sir Hugh Mountgomerye,

And Sir Charles Morrell, that from feelde

one foote wold neuer flee;

52

Sir Roger Heuer of Harcliffe tow,

his sisters sonne was hee;

Sir David Lambwell, well esteemed,

but saved he cold not bee.

53

And the Lord Maxwell, in like case,

with Douglas he did dye;

Of twenty hundred Scottish speeres,

scarce fifty-fiue did flye.

54

Of fifteen hundred Englishmen

went home but fifty-three;

The rest in Cheuy Chase were slaine,

vnder the greenwoode tree.

55

Next day did many widdowes come

their husbands to bewayle;

They washt their wounds in brinish teares,

but all wold not prevayle.

56

Theyr bodyes, bathed in purple blood,

the bore with them away;

They kist them dead a thousand times

ere the were cladd in clay.

57

The newes was brought to Eddenborrow,

where Scottlands king did rayne,

That braue Erle Douglas soddainlye

was with an arrow slaine.

58

‘O heauy newes!’ King Iames can say;

‘Scottland may wittenesse bee

I haue not any captaine more

of such account as hee.’

59

Like tydings to King Henery came,

within as short a space,

That Pearcy of Northumberland

was slaine in Cheuy Chase.

60

‘Now God be with him!’ said our king,

‘sith it will noe better bee;

I trust I haue within my realme

fiue hundred as good as hee.

61

‘Yett shall not Scotts nor Scottland say

but I will vengeance take,

And be revenged on them all

for braue Erle Percyes sake.’

62

This vow the king did well performe

after on Humble-downe;

314In one day fifty knights were slayne,

with lords of great renowne.

63

And of the rest, of small account,

did many hundreds dye:

Thus endeth the hunting in Cheuy Chase,

made by the Erle Pearcye.

64

God saue our king, and blesse this land

with plentye, ioy, and peace,

And grant hencforth that foule debate

twixt noble men may ceaze!

A.

Without division of stanzas, and in long lines, in the MS., and so printed by Hearne, Wright, and Skeat.

“The MS. is a mere scribble, and the spelling very unsatisfactory:” Skeat.

1². and A vowe: for avowe, see 63¹.

1⁴. days iij.

3². xv. C archardes.

3⁴. iij.

5¹. 30¹, 37¹. throrowe.

7¹. Ther: cf. 4¹.

8¹. mot.

10³. war ath the.

11¹. brylly and.

12¹. xx. C.

22⁴. Herry the iiij..

24³. mor athe: athe chyviat.

27¹. in iii..

36¹. A narrowe.

39². years iij..

43¹. athe.

44¹. A narchar.

45². haylde.

48². A nowar.

50¹. xvC.

50². vij^x.

50³. xxC.

60³. A-nothar.

61². the iiij..

61³. cheyff tenante.

62³. a C..

68¹. ballys.

And for & always.

Expliceth quoth Rychard Sheale.

B. a.

1³. there was.

3⁴. 3.

6¹. 1500.

8¹. a 100.

9⁴. that they.

13³. 20.

14¹. pleasant men of.

25³. 2.

27¹. bend.

28³, 31¹. 2.

31³. Lyons moods.

36³. who scorke Erle.

38³. thy sake; but compare A 41¹. b, c, have life; sake was caught from 39².

41. 2^d parte.

43². that his body.

48¹. slaine. There is a dot for the i, but nothing more in the MS.: Furnivall.

49³. & good.

50². in too full; perhaps wofull.

53³. 20.

53⁴. 55.

54¹. 1500.

54². 53.

55³. They washt they.

56³. a 1000.

59¹. in Cheuy chase was slaine.

60⁴. 500.

62³. 50.

And always for &.

b, c, d, e.

b, c, d (and I suppose e), in stanzas of eight lines.

b.

A memorable song vpon the vnhappy hunting in Cheuy Chase betweene the Earle Pearcy of England and Earle Dowglas of Scotland. To the tune of Flying Fame.

London, Printed for M. G. Error for H. G.? Henry Gosson (1607–41).

c.

A Memorable song on the unhappy Hunting in Chevy-Chase between Earl Piercy of England and Earl Dowglas of Scotland. Tune of Flying Fame.

Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere and J. Wright. (1655–80?)

d.

Title as in c. To the tune, etc.

Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere and W. Gilbertson. (1648–61?)

e.

An Unhappy Memorable Song of the Hunting; the rest as in d.

Licensd and Enterd according to Order.

London, Priented by and for W. Onley, and are to be sold by C. Bates, at the Sun and Bible in Pye-corner, (1650–1702?)

1³. d. The woful.

1⁴. there did.

2². his way.

4³. e. The tidings.

5³. fearing this.

7¹. gray-hounds.

7⁴. when day light.

8². b, c, d. an.

8⁴. c, d, e. rouze them up.

9³. d. The.

9⁴. that day.

10³. c, d, e. And with.

11³. c, d, e. once wanting.

12¹. e. If that I.

14¹. b. pleasant men of. c, d, e. men of pleasant.

14³. Then cease your sport.

15³. c, d, e. For never was their (there).

15⁴. or in.

16². b, c. but if. d. but since.

16³. d. I wanting.

17¹. c, d, e. on a.

17³. c, d, e. of the.

18¹. c, d, e. he said.

19¹. The man that first.

19⁴. c, d. now shew.

20¹. b, c, d. Yet will we.

22³. b, c, d. Then wanting. e. And for any. c, e. harmless.

22⁴. c, d, e. no ill.

23³. be he. c, d, e. Lord P.

23⁴. c, d, e. this is.

24³. c, d. said he would.

25¹. d. ever.

25². c, d, e. I stood.

25³. d. two be. b. quod W. c, d, e. said W.

27¹. bent.

27⁴. c, e. threescore.

28². c, d, e. Earl D. c. had the bent. d. bad the bent.

31528³. A captain: mickle pride.

28⁴. The spears. e. sent for went.

29³. And many.

30¹. b. a for great.

30². b. each one chose. c, d, e. and likewise for to hear.

30^3,4. c, d, e. The cries of men lying in their gore, and scattered here and there.

31³. lions mov’d.

31⁴. and made.

32³. Vntill the blood like drops of raine.

33¹. Yeeld thee Lord Piercy.

33². and wanting.

33³. shalt.

33⁴. b. with Iames. d. the for our.

34¹. c, d. will I.

34². and thus.

34⁴. that ever I did see.

35¹. e. To for Noe.

36³. b. And stroke E. D. to the heart. c, d, e. Which struck E. D. to the heart.

36⁴. e. and a.

37¹. c, d, e. never spake (spoke).

37³. at an end.

38³. c, d, e. And said. b, c, d, e. thy life.

39². with sorrow.

39³. c, d, e. more renowned.

39⁴. c, d. did. e. did ever.

40¹. b. among.

40³. in wrath.

40⁴. the Earl.

41². c, e. most bright.

43². b. his body he did. c, d, e. he did his body.

43³. c, d, e. The spear went.

44¹. c, d, e. So thus. b. both these two. c, e. these.

45¹. b. a good bow in. c, d, e. a bow bent in.

45⁴. c, d, e. unto the head drew he.

46¹. d. Montgomery then.

46². so right his shaft.

46⁴. heart.

47¹. fight did last from break of day.

48¹. c, d, e. With the Earl.

48². Ogerton.

48³. c, d, e. Ratcliff and Sir Iohn.

49¹. and good.

49³. And (of a) wanting.

50². b. wofull. c, d, e. doleful.

50⁴. b. still vpon.

51³. And wanting: the field. c, e. Charles Currel.

51⁴. flye.

52¹. b. Sir Robert. c, d, e. Sir Charles Murrel of Ratcliff too.

52². d. sisters sisters.

52³. c, d, e. Lamb so well.

52⁴. yet saved could.

53¹. Markwell: c, d, e. in likewise.

53². did with E. Dowglas dye.

53³. b, d. peers for speeres.

54³. c, d, e. rest were slain in C. C.

56⁴. c, d, e. when for ere.

57¹. c, d, e. This news.

58¹. did say.

58². can for may.

59⁴. was slain in Chevy Chase.

60². twill.

61¹. c, e. Scot.

61⁴. e. Lord for Erle.

62¹. c, d, e. vow full well the king performd.

62⁴. b. of high.

63³. ended. d. of for in.

63⁴. b. Lord for Erle.

64¹. c, d, e. the king: the land.

64². c, d, e. in plenty.

f.

The copy reprinted by Maidment, Scotish Ballads and Songs Historical and Traditionary, 1868, I, 80. This copy was given Maidment by Mr Gibb, “for many years one of the sub-librarians in the library of the Faculty of Advocates. It had belonged to his grandmother, and was probably printed in Edinburgh about the beginning of the last or end of the preceding century.”

5³. fearing him.

6¹. twenty hundred.

13³. fifteen hundred.

14¹. All pleasant men, as in a, b.

27¹. Our Scotish archers bent.

27⁴. they four score English slew.

28². Douglas bade on the bent.

30¹. O but it was a grief to see; and again, 39¹, O but for O Christ.

46³. wings that were.

46⁴. were.

50⁴. fought still on the stumps.

53³. Of fifteen hundred.

53⁴. went hame but fifty three.

54¹. twenty hundred.

54². scarce fifty five did flee.

55⁴. could.

56⁴. when they were cold as clay.

58¹. 60 is substituted here.

60. 58 is substituted, with change of James to Henry, and, in the next line, of Scotland to England.

61, 62 are omitted.

63¹. Now of.

64³. debates.

316