13 Page 204.-' Ye towers of Julius. Henry the Sixth, George Duke of Clarence, Edward the Fifth, Richard Duke of York, &c., believed to be murdered secretly in the Tower of London. The oldest part of that structure is vulgarly attributed to Julius Cæsar. 14 Page 204.-The bristled Boar. The silver boar was the badge of Richard the Third; whence he was usually known in his own time by the name of the Boar. 15 Page 204.-Half of thy heart we consecrate. Eleanor of Castile died a few years after the conquest of Wales. The heroic proof she gave of her affection for her lord is well known. The monuments of his regret and sorrow for the loss of her are still to be seen at Northampton, Gaddington, Waltham, and other places. 16 Page 204. No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail. It was the common belief of the Welsh nation, that King Arthur was still alive in Fairy-land, and would return again to reign over Britain. 17 Page 204. All-hail, ye genuine Kings, Britannia's issue, hail! Both Merlin and Thalliessin had prophesied, that the Welsh should regain their sovereignty over this island; which seemed to be accomplished in the house of Tudor. 18 Page 205. Her lion-port, her awe-commanding face. Speed, relating an audience given by Queen Elizabeth to Paul Dzialinski, ambassador of Poland, says, "And thus she, lion-like rising, daunted the malapert orator no less with her stately port and majestical deporture, than with the tartnesse of her princelie checkes." 19 Page 205. Hear from the grave, great Talliessin. Talliessin, chief of the Bards, flourished in the sixth century. His works are still preserved, and his memory held in high veneration among his country men. 20 Page 207.-And sad Chatillon, on her bridal morn. Mary de Valentia, Countess of Pembroke, daughter of Guy de Chatillon, Comte de St. Paul in France; of whom tradition says, that her husband, Audemar de Valentia, Earl of Pembroke, was slain at a tournament on the day of his nuptials. She was the foundress of Pembroke College or Hall, under the name of Aula Mariæ de Valentia. 21 Page 208.-And princely Clare. Elizabeth de Burg, Countess of Clare, was wife of John de Burg, son and heir of the Earl of Ulster, and daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, by Joan of Acres, daughter of Edward the First. Hence the poet gives her the epithet of princely. She founded Clare Hall. 22 Page 210. To be found in the Orcades of Thormodus Torfæus; Hafniæ, 1697, folio: and also in Bartholinus. Vitt er orpit fyrir valfali, &c. In the eleventh century, Sigurd, Earl of the Orkney Islands, went with a fleet of ships and a considerable body of troops into Ireland, to the assistance of Sictryg with the silken beard, who was then making war on his father-in-law Brian, king of Dublin: the earl and all his forces were cut to pieces, and Sictryg was in danger of a total defeat; but the enemy had a greater loss by the death of Brian, their king, who fell in the action. On Christmas-day (the day of the battle) a native of Caithness, in Scotland, saw at a distance a number of persons on horseback, riding full speed towards a hill, and seeming to enter into it. Curiosity led him to follow them, till looking through an opening in the rocks he saw twelve gigantic figures, resembling women: they were all employed about a loom; and as they wove, they sung the dreadful song, ante, p. 210; which, when they had finished, they tore the web into twelve pieces, and (each taking her portion) galloped six to the north, and as many to the south. These were the Valkyriur, female divinities, servants of Odin (or Woden) in the Gothic Mythology. Their name signifies Choosers of the slain. They were mounted on swift horses, with drawn swords in their hands; and in the throng of battle selected such as were destined to slaughter, and conducted them to Valkalla, the hall of Odin, or paradise of the brave; where they attended the banquet, and served the departed heroes with horns of mead and ale. 23 Page 212.-To Hela's drear abode. Niflheimr, the hell of the Gothic nations, consisted of nine worlds, to which were devoted all such as died of sickness, old age, or by any other means than it battle. Over it presided Hela, the goddess of Death. 24 Page 215. Till Lok has burst his tenfold chain. Lok is the Evil Being, who continues in chains till the Twilight of the gods approaches; when he shall break his bonds; the human race, the stars, and sun, shall disappear; the earth sink in the seas, and fire consume the skies: even Odin himself, and his kindred deities, shall perish. For a further explanation of this mythology, see "Introduction à l'Histoire de Dannemarc, par Mons. Mallet," 1755, quarto; or rather a translation of it published in 1770, and intitled "Northern Antiquities;" in which some mistakes in the original are judiciously corrected. 25 Page 218. Mr. Gray's Elegy in a Country Church-Yard, before it appeared in print, was handed about in manuscript; and amongst other eminent personages who saw and admired it, was the Lady Cobham, who resided at the Mansion-house, at Stoke-Pogeis. The performance induced her to wish for the author's acquaintance; and Lady Schaub and Miss Speed, then at her house, undertook to effect it. These two ladies waited upon the author at his aunt's solitary mansion, where he at that time resided; and not finding him at home, they left their names and a billet. Mr Gray, surprised at such a compliment, returned the visit. And as the beginning of this acquaintance wore a little of the face of romance, he soon after gave a fanciful and pleasant account of it in the copy of verses which he entitled, "A Long Story." 26 Page 219.-Fame, in the shape of Mr. P—t. The allusion here is to Mr. Robert Purt, a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, who died of the small-pox, April, 1752, soon after the publication of the poem. He was a neighbour of Mr. Gray's, when the latter resided at Stoke. 27 Page 225.-Far from, &c. Between this and the preceding stanza, in Mr. Gray's first MS. of the poem, were the four following: The thoughtless world to Majesty may bow, Exalt the brave, and idolize success; But more to innocence their safety owe, Than Pow'r or Genius e'er conspir'd to bless. And thou who, mindful of the' unhonour'd Dead, By night and lonely contemplation led To wander in the gloomy walks of fate: Hark! how the sacred calm, that breathes around, No more, with reason and thyself at strife, Pursue the silent tenour of thy doom. And here the poem was originally intended to conclude, before the happy idea of the hoary-headed swain, &c., suggested itself to him. 28 Page 226. To meet the sun upon the upland lawn. Variation:-On the high brow of yonder hanging lawn. After which, in the first manuscript, followed this stanza: Him have we seen the greenwood side along, While o'er the heath we hied, our labour done, 29 Page 227. Before the epitaph, Mr. Gray originally inserted a very beautiful stanza, which was printed in some of the first editions, but afterwards omitted because he thought that it was too long a parenthesis in this place. The lines however are, in themselves, exquisitely fine, and demand preservation. There scatter'd oft, the earliest of the year, By hands unseen are showers of violets found; 30 Page 238. This epitaph was written at the request of Mr. Frederick Montague, who intended to have inscribed it on a monument at Bellisle, at the siege of which this accomplished youth was killed, 1761, but from some difficulty attending the erection of it, this design was not executed. |