English

A DOMESTIC LEGEND OF THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE

T HE LADY JANE was tall and slim,
The Lady Jane was fair,
And Sir Thomas, her Lord, was stout of limb,
But his cough was short, and his eyes were dim,
And he wore green " specs," with a tortoiseshell rim,
And his hat was remarkably broad in the brim,
And she was uncommonly fond of him, —

A LAY OF ST. THOMAS À BECKET .

Y OU are all aware that
On our throne there once sat
A very great king who'd an Angevin hat,
With a great sprig of broom, which he wore as a badge in it,
Named from this circumstance, Henry Plantagenet.

Pray don't suppose. That I'm going to prose
O'er Queen Eleanor's wrongs, or Miss Rosamond's woes,
With the dagger and bowl, and all that sort of thing,
Not much to the credit of Miss, Queen, or King.

A LAY OF ST. ROMWOLD .

I N Kent we are told,
There was seated of old,
A handsome young gentleman, courteous and bold,
He'd an oaken strong-box, well replenish'd with gold,
With broad lands, pasture, arable, woodland, and wold,
Not an acre of which had been mortgaged or sold;
He'd a Pleasaunce and Hall passing fair to behold,
He had beeves in the byre, he had flocks in the fold,
And was somewhere about five-and-twenty years old.

A FAMILY LEGEND

I T has a jocund sound,
That gleeful marriage chime,
As from the old and ivied tower,
It peals, at the early matin hour,
Its merry, merry round;
And the Spring is in its prime,
And the song-bird, on the spray,
Trills from his throat, in varied note,

A LEGEND OF LANGUEDOC .

Count RAYMOND rules in Languedoc,
O'er the champaign fair and wide,
With town and stronghold many a one,
Wash'd by the wave of the blue Garonne,
And from far Auvergne to Rousillon,
And away to Narbonne,
And the mouths of the Rhone;
And his Lyonnois silks, and his Narbonne honey,
Bring in his lordship a great deal of money

A thousand lances, stout and true,

A LEGEND OF AFRIC .

I N good King Dagobert's palmy days,
When Saints were many, and sins were few,
Old Nick, 'tis said, Was sore bested
One evening, — and could not tell what to do —

He had been East, and he had been West,
And far had he journey'd o'er land and sea;
For women and men. Were warier then,

A LEGEND OF CORNELIUS AGRIPPA .

" And hast thou nerve enough!" he said,
That grey Old Man, above whose head
Unnumber'd years had roll'd, —
" And hast thou nerve to view," he cried,
" The incarnate Fiend that Heaven defied!
— Art thou indeed so bold?

" Say, canst Thou, with unshrinking gaze,
Sustain, rash youth, the withering blaze
Of that unearthly eye,

A LEGEND OF DOVER .

O NCE there lived, as I've heard people say,
An " Old Woman clothed in grey,"
So furrow'd with care, So haggard her air,
In her eye such a wild supernatural stare,
That all who espied her, Immediately shied her,
And strove to get out of her way.

A LEGEND OF BLOIS .

S AINT ALOYS
Was the Bishop of Blois,
And a pitiful man was he,
He grieved and he pined
For the woes of mankind,
And of brutes in their degree, —
He would rescue the rat

A Legend of the North Countree.

IT'S in Bolton Hall, and the clock strikes One,
And the roast meat's brown and the boil'd meat's done,
And the barbecu'd sucking-pig's crisp'd to a turn,
And the pancakes are fried, and beginning to burn;
The fat stubble-goose Swims in gravy and juice,
With the mustard and apple-sauce ready for use;
Fish, flesh, and fowl, and all of the best,
Want nothing but eating — they're all ready drest,
But where is the Host, and where is the Guest?