The lady watcht this kinsman false, But the traitor knight dasht the casket down The lady shriekt, the lady wail'd, PART THIRD. The knight of Muncaster went to woo, He stay❜d not for bog, he stay'd not for brier, Nor ever he slacken'd his courser's rein, Beside that well was a castle fair, In that lady's breast was a heart of stone, Now smooth that brow of scorn, fair maid, And to my suit give ear; There's never a dame in Cumberland, Such a look of scorn doth wear.' 'Haste, haste thee back,' the lady cried, 'For a doomed man art thou; I wed not the heir of Muncaster, 'Luck' is broken now!' Thy 'O, say not so, for on my sire Th' unerring doom was spent; I heir not his ill luck, I trow, 'The doom is thine, as thou art his, A moody man was the lover then; Beside the well, at Lord Lowther's gate, 'Out of my sight, thou fearsome thing! Or I will fling thine ugly bones To the crows this blessed day. But the elfin dwarf he skipt and ran And ever as Muncaster's lord spurr'd on, The lover he slacken'd his pace again, 'What ho, sir page, what luckless chance Up spake then first that shrivelled thing, 'Why lowers the cloud on Muncaster's brow, And the foam tracks his troubled way?' 'There's a lady, the fairest in all this land,” The haughty chief replied; 'But that lady's love in vain I've sought, And I'll woo none other bride.' And is there not beauty in other lands, That thou must pine for a maiden cold, ⚫O, there is beauty in every land,' The sorrowing knight replied; But I'd rather Margaret of Lonsdale wed, Than the fairest dame beside.' And thou shalt the Lady Margaret wed,' 'There's a key in Muncaster Castle can break 'O never, O never, thou lying elf, Then scornfully grinn'd that elfin dwarf, There's a key in thy castle, sir knight, can break The knight he turn'd him on his steed, The knight came back to his castle hall, And he saw the oaken casket, where Since that fearful day, when the traitor foe 'Thou cursed thing,' he cried in scorn, • 'That ever such Luck' should be; From Muncaster's house, ill-boding fiend, He kickt the casket o'er and o'er, When, lo! a tinkling sound was heard, He remember'd well the wondrous speech There's a key in Muncaster Castle can break He took the key, and he turn'd the lock, When the cause of all his agony The holy cup lay glistering there, The loud halls rung, and the minstrels sung, Was Muncaster's winsome bride! Now prosper long that baron bold, (Muncaster, and the manor of Muncaster, have long been enjoyed by the Penningtons, who appear to have possessed it about forty years before the Conquest, and ever since—sometimes ellaterally, but for the most part in lineal descent by their issue male-to this present time. Gamel de Pennington is the first ancestor of the family of whom there is any recorded account: he was a person of great note and property at the time of the Conquest, and the family having quitted their original seat of Pennington, in Lancashire, (where the foundation of a square building called the Castle is still visible,) he fixed his residence at Mealeastre, now called Muncaster. The old tower of the present Mansion-house at Muncaster was built by the Romans, to guard the ford called St. Michael's Ford, over the river Esk, when Agricola went to the north, and to watch, also, the great passes into the country over the Fells, and over Hard Knot, where is the site of another fortress constructed by them, apparent from the traces existing to this day. The room in which Henry the Sixth was concealed is still called Henry the Sixth's room. The posts of the bed in which he slept, which are of handsome carved oak, are also in the same room, in good preservation. When John, Lord Muncaster, the first of the family who obtained a peerage, entered into possession of Muncaster Castle, after his elevation in 1793, he found it still surrounded with a moat, and defended by a strong portcullis. The family having of late years entirely resided upon their estate of Wartee, in Yorkshire, the house was in so very dilapidated a state, that Lord Muncaster was chiged to rebuild it almost entirely, with the exception of Agriccla's tower, the walls of which are nine feet thick. The elevation of the new part is in unison with that of the Roman tower, and forms altogether a handsome castellated building. The situation is eminently striking, and was well chosen for commanding the several passes over the mountains. It is surrounded with mountain scenery on the north, south, and east, while extensive plantations, a rich and elevated country, with the sea in the distance, make a combination of scenery, than which it is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful or picturesque. In the words of its noble ov ner, who himself so greatly exntributed to its renovation, it consists of ⋅ wood, park, lawn, valley, river, sea, and mountain."— hory.j This Ancient Ballad,' as it is there called, is taken from 'Legends of the Library at Lilies, by the Lord and Lady there,' London, 1832. The only information afforded respecting it is as follows:- To such as are well read in the rare work of autobiography lately published by Sir Jonah Barrington, so singular will the coincidence appear between the relation he gives of the strange fate of Mr. Joseph Kelly and Mr. Peter Alley, in 'My Brother's Hunting Lodge,' and the catastrophe of the following tale, that, except for the doubtless authenticity of the first-mentioned narrative, it might almost be thought to have been founded on this ancient ballad, which bears evidence of having been written about the middle of the sixteenth century, by a person who was himself a witness of the event he celebrates. As it is, the two stories will probably be taken as equally true, and strongly confirmatory of each other."] GOODLYE romaunte you shal heere, I wis, Tis ycleped of Alle Deuiles Halle, Likewyse of the Feaste of Alle Deuiles it is, And of what dyd there befalle. |