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

HAROLD THE DAUNTLESS.
CANTO SIXTH.
I.
WELL do I hope that this my minstrel tale
Will tempt no traveller from southern fields,
Whether in tilbury, barouche, or mail,
To view the Castle of these Seven Proud
Shields.
Small confirmation its condition yields
To Meneville's high lay,-No towers are seen
On the wild heath, but those that Fancy builds,
And, save a fosse that tracks the moor with
green,
Is nought remains to tell of what may there have
been.
And yet grave authors, with the no small waste
Of their grave time, have dignified the spot
By theories, to prove the fortress placed
By Roman bands, to curb the invading Scot.