Walter Scott

Name: The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth
Author: Walter Scott

The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

Summary

“The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth”, published in 1805, is a work by Walter Scott. It explores elements such as Whitslade, schaw and Dacre.

Quotes from The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (Walter Scott)

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ In youth might tame his rage for arms;
And still in age he spurned at rest,
And still his brows the helmet pressed;
Albeit the blanched locks below
Were white as Dinlay's spotless snow;
Five stately warriors drew the sword
Before their father's band;
A braver knight than Harden's lord
Ne'er belted on a brand.
X.
Whitslade the Hawk, and Headshaw came,
And warriors more than I may name;
But better hearts o’er Border sod
To siege or rescue never rode. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ Lord Howard and Lord Dacre stout
Sped to the front of their array,
To hear what this old knight should say.
XIX.
"Ye English warden lords, of you
Demands the Ladye of Buccleuch,
Why, 'gainst the truce of Border-tide,
In hostile guise, ye dare to ride,
With Kendal bow, and Gilsland brand,
And all yon mercenary band,
Upon the bounds of fair Scotland?
My Ladye reades you swith return;
And, if but one poor straw you burn,
Or do our towers so much molest,
As scare one swallow from her nest,
St Mary! but we'll light a brand
Shall warm your hearths in Cumberland." ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ The boy is ripe to look on war;
I saw him draw a cross-bow stiff,
And his true arrow struck afar
The raven's nest upon the cliff;
The red cross, on a southern breast,
Is broader than the raven's nest:
Thou, Whitslade, shalt teach him his weapon to wield,
And o'er him hold his father's shield. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ And but that Lord Dacre's steed was wight,
And bare him ably in the flight,
Himself had seen him dubbed a knight.
For the young heir of Branksome's line,
God be his aid, and God be mine;
Through me no friend shall meet his doom;
Here, while I live, no foe finds room.
Then if thy Lords their purpose urge,
Take our defiance loud and high;
Our slogan is their lyke-wake [12] dirge,
Our moat the grave where they shall lie. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ And hot Lord Dacre, with many a spear,
And all the German hagbut-men [4] ,
Who have long lain at Askerten:
They crossed the Liddle at curfew hour,
And burned my little lonely tower;
The fiend receive their souls therefor! ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ What make you here, from aid so far,
Before you walls, around you war?
Your foemen triumph in the thought,
That in the toils the lion's caught.
Already on dark Ruberslaw
The Douglas holds his weapon-schaw [13] ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ Dacre for England, win or die!"
XXVII.
"Yet hear," quoth Howard, "calmly hear,
Nor deem my words the words of fear;
For who in field or foray slack
Saw the blanche lion e'er fall back?
But thus to risque our Border flower
In strife against a kingdom's power,
Ten thousand Scots 'gainst thousands three,
Certes, were desperate policy. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ The Harper smiled, well pleased; for ne'er
Was flattery lost on poet's ear:
A simple race! they waste their toil
For the vain tribute of a smile; ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ Sweet Teviot! on thy silver tide,
The glaring bale-fires blaze no more;
No longer steel-clad warriors ride
Along thy wild and willowed shore; ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ Played "Noble Lord Dacre, he dwells on the Border."
XV.
Behind the English bill and bow,
The mercenaries, firm and slow,
Moved on to fight, in dark array,
By Conrad led of Wolfenstein,
Who brought the band from distant Rhine,
And sold their blood for foreign pay.
The camp their home, their law the sword,
They knew no country, owned no lord ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ E'er conscious of the advancing aid:
Let Musgrave meet fierce Deloraine
In single fight, and, if he gain,
He gains for us; but if he's crossed,
'Tis but a single warrior lost.
The rest, retreating as they came,
Avoid defeat, and death, and shame."
XXVIII.
Ill could the haughty Dacre brook
His brother-warden's sage rebuke ”

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Source: Wikisource

Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (1805)

“ Their drooping fancy wakes at praise,
And strives to trim the short-lived blaze.
Smiled then, well pleased, the Aged Man,
And thus his tale continued ran.
↑ An inroad commanded by the warden in person. ↑ The broken ground in a bog. ↑ Bonds-man. ↑ Musketeers. ↑ Powder flasks. ↑ Battlement. ↑ Ancient pieces of artillery. ↑ An asylum for outlaws. ↑ Border treason. ↑ Plundered. ↑ Note of assault. ↑ Lyke-wake, the watching a corpse previous to interment ↑ Weapon-schaw, the military array of a county. ”

Walter Scott

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Quotes from The Lay of the Last Minstrel — Canto Fourth (Walter Scott)

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