XXV.

But different far the change has been, Since Marmion, from the crown Of Blackford, saw that martial scene Upon the bent so brown: Thousand pavilions, white as snow, Spread all the Borough Moor below, Upland, and dale, and down:— A thousand, did I say? I ween, Thousands on thousands there were seen, That chequered all the heath between The streamlet and the town; In crossing ranks extending far, Forming a camp irregular; Oft giving way, where still there stood Some relics of the old oak wood, That darkly huge did intervene, And tamed the glaring white with green: In these extended lines there lay A martial kingdom’s vast array.