The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott, with memoir of the author.

CANTO I.] ROKEBY. 55
Ask how he died, that hunter bold,
The tameless monarch of the wold,
And age and infancy can tell,
By brother's treachery he fell.
Thus warn'd by legends of my youth,
I trust to no associate's truth.
XXI.
"When last we reason'd of this deed,
Nought, I bethink me, was agreed,
Or by what rule, or when, or where,
The wealth of forftham we should shareThen list, while I the portion name,
Our differing laws give each to claim.
Thou, vassal sworn to England's throne,
Her rules of heritage must own;
They deal thee, as to nearest heir,
Thy kinsman's lands and livings fair,
And these I yield;-dlo thou revere
The statutes of the Buccaneer.'
1 The " statutes of the Buccaneers " were, in reality, more
equitable than could have been expected from the state of
society under which they had been formed. They chiefly
related, as may readily be conjectured, to the distribution
and the inheritance of their plunder.
When the expedition was completed, the fund of prizemoney acquired was thrown together, each party taking his
oath that he had retained or concealed no part of the common
stock. If any one transgressed in this important particular,
the punishment was, his being set ashore on some desert key
or island, to shift for himself as he could. The owners of the
vessel had then their share assigned for the expenses of the