III.

Young Henry Blount, meanwhile, the cost Had reckoned with their Scottish host; And, as the charge he cast and paid, “Ill thou deserv’st thy hire,” he said; “Dost see, thou knave, my horse’s plight? Fairies have ridden him all the night, And left him in a foam! I trust that soon a conjuring band, With English cross, and blazing brand, Shall drive the devils from this land, To their infernal home: For in this haunted den, I trow, All night they trampled to and fro.” The laughing host looked on the hire— “Gramercy, gentle southern squire, And if thou com’st among the rest, With Scottish broadsword to be blest, Sharp be the brand, and sure the blow, And short the pang to undergo.” Here stayed their talk; for Marmion Gave now the signal to set on. The Palmer showing forth the way, They journeyed all the morning day.