The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott ... Notes & life of the author.

CALN TO IlL MA1RM1I0.
With untaught valour shalt compel
Response denied to magic spell.'-'Gramercy,' quoth our monarch free,
Place him but front to.front with me,
And, by this good and honoured brand,
The gift of Coeur-de-Lion's hand,
Soothly I swear, that, tide what tide,
The demon shall a buffet bide.' —
His bearing bold the wizard viewed,
And thus, well pleased, his speech renewed, —'There spoke the blood of Malcolm!-mark:
Forth pacing hence, at midnight dark,
The rampart seek, whose circling crown
Crests the ascent of yonder down;
A southern entrance shalt thou find;
There halt, and there thy bugle wind,
And trust thine elfin foe to see,
In guise of thy worst enemy:
Couch then thy lance, and spur thy steed —
Upon him! and Saint George to speed!
If he go down, thou soon shalt know
Whate'er these airy sprites can show; —
If thy heart fail thee in the strife,
I am no warrant for thy life.'
XXIIL
"Soon as the midnight bell did ring,
Alone, and armed, rode forth the king
To that old camp's deserted round:Sir Knight, you well might mark the mou:l;d
Left hand the town,-the Pictish race
The trench, long, since, in blood did trace;
The moor around is brown and bare,
The space within is green and fair.
The spot our village children know,
For there the earliest wild flowers grow;
But woe betide the wandering wight,
That treads its circle in the night!
The breadth across, a bowshot clear,
Gives ample space for full career;
Opposed to the four points of heaven,
By four deep gaps is entrance given.
The southernmost our monarch past,
Halted, and blew a gallant blast;