IX.

“Now here, within Tantallon Hold, To Douglas late my tale I told, To whom my house was known of old. Won by my proofs, his falchion bright This eve anew shall dub me knight. These were the arms that once did turn The tide of fight on Otterburne, And Harry Hotspur forced to yield, When the dead Douglas won the field. These Angus gave—his armourer’s care, Ere morn, shall every breach repair; For naught, he said, was in his halls, But ancient armour on the walls, And aged chargers in the stalls, And women, priests, and grey-haired men; The rest were all in Twisel Glen. And now I watch my armour here, By law of arms, till midnight’s near; Then, once again a belted knight, Seek Surrey’s camp with dawn of light.