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

CANTO 1o. THE LADY OF THE AL,. 305
"Up, Urgan, up! to yon mortal hie,
For thou wert christened man;
For cross or sign thou wilt not fly,
For muttered word or ban.
"Lay on him the curse of the withered heart,
The curse of the sleepless eye;
Till he wish and pray that his life would part,
Nor yet find leave to die."
xIV.
BIALLAD-continued'Tis merry,'tis merry, in good green wood,
Though the birds have stilled their singing;
The evening blaze doth Alice raise,
And Richard is faggots bringing.
Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf
Before Lord Richard stands,
And, as he crossed and blessed himself,
"I fear not sign," quoth the grisly elf,
"That is made with bloody bands."
But out then spoke she, Alice Brand,
That woman void of fear"And if there's blood upon his hand,'Tis but the blood of deer."
"Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood!
It cleaves unto his hand,
The stain of thine own kindly blood,
The blood of Ethert Brand."
Then forward stepp'd she, Alice Brand,
And made the holy sign"And if there's blood on Richard's hand,
A spotless hand is mine.
"And I conjure thee, Demon elf,
By Him whom Demons fear,
To show us whence thou-art thyself?
And what thine errand here?"
XV.
BALLAD-continued.
a"'is merry,'tis merry, in Fairy-land,
When fairy birds are singing,