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More than thirty yeomen at first presented themselves as competitors,

several of whom were rangers and under-keepers in the royal forests of

Needwood and Charnwood. When, however, the archers understood with whom

they were to be matched, upwards of twenty withdrew themselves from the

contest, unwilling to encounter the dishonour of almost certain defeat.

For in those days the skill of each celebrated marksman was as well

known for many miles round him, as the qualities of a horse trained at

Newmarket are familiar to those who frequent that well-known meeting.

The diminished list of competitors for silvan fame still amounted to

eight. Prince John stepped from his royal seat to view more nearly the

persons of these chosen yeomen, several of whom wore the royal livery.

Having satisfied his curiosity by this investigation, he looked for the

object of his resentment, whom he observed standing on the same spot,

and with the same composed countenance which he had exhibited upon the

preceding day.

" Fellow, " said Prince John, " I guessed by thy insolent babble that thou

wert no true lover of the longbow, and I see thou darest not adventure

thy skill among such merry-men as stand yonder. "

" Under favour, sir, " replied the yeoman, " I have another reason for

refraining to shoot, besides the fearing discomfiture and disgrace. "

" And what is thy other reason? " said Prince John, who, for some cause

which perhaps he could not himself have explained, felt a painful

curiosity respecting this individual.

" Because, " replied the woodsman, " I know not if these yeomen and I are

used to shoot at the same marks; and because, moreover, I know not how

your Grace might relish the winning of a third prize by one who has

unwittingly fallen under your displeasure. "

Prince John coloured as he put the question, " What is thy name, yeoman? "

" Locksley, " answered the yeoman.

" Then, Locksley, " said Prince John, " thou shalt shoot in thy turn, when

these yeomen have displayed their skill. If thou carriest the prize,

I will add to it twenty nobles; but if thou losest it, thou shalt

be stript of thy Lincoln green, and scourged out of the lists with

bowstrings, for a wordy and insolent braggart. "

" And how if I refuse to shoot on such a wager? " said the yeoman. --" Your

Grace's power, supported, as it is, by so many men-at-arms, may indeed

easily strip and scourge me, but cannot compel me to bend or to draw my

bow. "

" If thou refusest my fair proffer, " said the Prince, " the Provost of the

lists shall cut thy bowstring, break thy bow and arrows, and expel thee

from the presence as a faint-hearted craven. "

" This is no fair chance you put on me, proud Prince, " said the yeoman,

" to compel me to peril myself against the best archers of Leicester And

Staffordshire, under the penalty of infamy if they should overshoot me.

Nevertheless, I will obey your pleasure. "

" Look to him close, men-at-arms, " said Prince John, " his heart is

sinking; I am jealous lest he attempt to escape the trial. --And do you,

good fellows, shoot boldly round; a buck and a butt of wine are ready

for your refreshment in yonder tent, when the prize is won. "

A target was placed at the upper end of the southern avenue which led

to the lists. The contending archers took their station in turn, at the

bottom of the southern access, the distance between that station and the

mark allowing full distance for what was called a shot at rovers. The

archers, having previously determined by lot their order of precedence,

were to shoot each three shafts in succession. The sports were regulated

by an officer of inferior rank, termed the Provost of the Games; for the

high rank of the marshals of the lists would have been held degraded,

had they condescended to superintend the sports of the yeomanry.

One by one the archers, stepping forward, delivered their shafts

yeomanlike and bravely. Of twenty-four arrows, shot in succession,

ten were fixed in the target, and the others ranged so near it, that,

considering the distance of the mark, it was accounted good archery. Of

the ten shafts which hit the target, two within the inner ring were shot

by Hubert, a forester in the service of Malvoisin, who was accordingly

pronounced victorious.

" Now, Locksley, " said Prince John to the bold yeoman, with a bitter

smile, " wilt thou try conclusions with Hubert, or wilt thou yield up

bow, baldric, and quiver, to the Provost of the sports? "

" Sith it be no better, " said Locksley, " I am content to try my fortune;

on condition that when I have shot two shafts at yonder mark of

Hubert's, he shall be bound to shoot one at that which I shall propose. "

" That is but fair, " answered Prince John, " and it shall not be refused

thee. --If thou dost beat this braggart, Hubert, I will fill the bugle

with silver-pennies for thee. "

" A man can do but his best, " answered Hubert; " but my grandsire drew a

good long bow at Hastings, and I trust not to dishonour his memory. "

The former target was now removed, and a fresh one of the same size

placed in its room. Hubert, who, as victor in the first trial of skill,

had the right to shoot first, took his aim with great deliberation,

long measuring the distance with his eye, while he held in his hand his

bended bow, with the arrow placed on the string. At length he made a

step forward, and raising the bow at the full stretch of his left arm,

till the centre or grasping-place was nigh level with his face, he

drew his bowstring to his ear. The arrow whistled through the air, and

lighted within the inner ring of the target, but not exactly in the

centre.

" You have not allowed for the wind, Hubert, " said his antagonist,

bending his bow, " or that had been a better shot. "

So saying, and without showing the least anxiety to pause upon his

aim, Locksley stept to the appointed station, and shot his arrow as

carelessly in appearance as if he had not even looked at the mark. He

was speaking almost at the instant that the shaft left the bowstring,

yet it alighted in the target two inches nearer to the white spot which

marked the centre than that of Hubert.

" By the light of heaven! " said Prince John to Hubert, " an thou suffer

that runagate knave to overcome thee, thou art worthy of the gallows! "

Hubert had but one set speech for all occasions. " An your highness

were to hang me, " he said, " a man can but do his best. Nevertheless, my

grandsire drew a good bow--"

" The foul fiend on thy grandsire and all his generation! " interrupted

John, " shoot, knave, and shoot thy best, or it shall be the worse for

thee! "

Thus exhorted, Hubert resumed his place, and not neglecting the

caution which he had received from his adversary, he made the necessary

allowance for a very light air of wind, which had just arisen, and

shot so successfully that his arrow alighted in the very centre of the

target.

" A Hubert! a Hubert! " shouted the populace, more interested in a known

person than in a stranger. " In the clout! --in the clout! --a Hubert for

ever! "

" Thou canst not mend that shot, Locksley, " said the Prince, with an

insulting smile.

" I will notch his shaft for him, however, " replied Locksley.

And letting fly his arrow with a little more precaution than before, it

lighted right upon that of his competitor, which it split to shivers.

The people who stood around were so astonished at his wonderful

dexterity, that they could not even give vent to their surprise in their

usual clamour. " This must be the devil, and no man of flesh and blood, "

whispered the yeomen to each other; " such archery was never seen since a

bow was first bent in Britain. "

" And now, " said Locksley, " I will crave your Grace's permission to plant

such a mark as is used in the North Country; and welcome every brave

yeoman who shall try a shot at it to win a smile from the bonny lass he

loves best. "

He then turned to leave the lists. " Let your guards attend me, " he said,

" if you please--I go but to cut a rod from the next willow-bush. "

Prince John made a signal that some attendants should follow him in

case of his escape: but the cry of " Shame! shame! " which burst from the

multitude, induced him to alter his ungenerous purpose.

Locksley returned almost instantly with a willow wand about six feet in

length, perfectly straight, and rather thicker than a man's thumb. He

began to peel this with great composure, observing at the same time,

that to ask a good woodsman to shoot at a target so broad as had

hitherto been used, was to put shame upon his skill. " For his own part, "

he said, " and in the land where he was bred, men would as soon take for

their mark King Arthur's round-table, which held sixty knights around

it. A child of seven years old, " he said, " might hit yonder target with

a headless shaft; but, " added he, walking deliberately to the other end

of the lists, and sticking the willow wand upright in the ground, " he

that hits that rod at five-score yards, I call him an archer fit to bear

both bow and quiver before a king, an it were the stout King Richard

himself. "

" My grandsire, " said Hubert, " drew a good bow at the battle of Hastings,

and never shot at such a mark in his life--and neither will I. If this

yeoman can cleave that rod, I give him the bucklers--or rather, I yield

to the devil that is in his jerkin, and not to any human skill; a man

can but do his best, and I will not shoot where I am sure to miss. I

might as well shoot at the edge of our parson's whittle, or at a wheat

straw, or at a sunbeam, as at a twinkling white streak which I can

hardly see. "

" Cowardly dog! " said Prince John. --" Sirrah Locksley, do thou shoot; but,

if thou hittest such a mark, I will say thou art the first man ever

did so. However it be, thou shalt not crow over us with a mere show of

superior skill. "

" I will do my best, as Hubert says, " answered Locksley; " no man can do

more. "

So saying, he again bent his bow, but on the present occasion looked

with attention to his weapon, and changed the string, which he thought

was no longer truly round, having been a little frayed by the two former

shots. He then took his aim with some deliberation, and the multitude

awaited the event in breathless silence. The archer vindicated their

opinion of his skill: his arrow split the willow rod against which it

was aimed. A jubilee of acclamations followed; and even Prince John, in

admiration of Locksley's skill, lost for an instant his dislike to his

person. " These twenty nobles, " he said, " which, with the bugle, thou

hast fairly won, are thine own; we will make them fifty, if thou wilt

take livery and service with us as a yeoman of our body guard, and be

near to our person. For never did so strong a hand bend a bow, or so

true an eye direct a shaft. "

" Pardon me, noble Prince, " said Locksley; " but I have vowed, that if

ever I take service, it should be with your royal brother King Richard.

These twenty nobles I leave to Hubert, who has this day drawn as brave

a bow as his grandsire did at Hastings. Had his modesty not refused the

trial, he would have hit the wand as well I. "

Hubert shook his head as he received with reluctance the bounty of the

stranger, and Locksley, anxious to escape further observation, mixed

with the crowd, and was seen no more.

The victorious archer would not perhaps have escaped John's attention

so easily, had not that Prince had other subjects of anxious and more

important meditation pressing upon his mind at that instant. He called

upon his chamberlain as he gave the signal for retiring from the lists,

and commanded him instantly to gallop to Ashby, and seek out Isaac the

Jew. " Tell the dog, " he said, " to send me, before sun-down, two thousand

crowns. He knows the security; but thou mayst show him this ring for a

token. The rest of the money must be paid at York within six days. If

he neglects, I will have the unbelieving villain's head. Look that thou

pass him not on the way; for the circumcised slave was displaying his

stolen finery amongst us. "

So saying, the Prince resumed his horse, and returned to Ashby, the

whole crowd breaking up and dispersing upon his retreat.

CHAPTER XIV

In rough magnificence array'd,

When ancient Chivalry display'd

The pomp of her heroic games,

And crested chiefs and tissued dames

Assembled, at the clarion's call,

In some proud castle's high arch'd hall.

--Warton

Prince John held his high festival in the Castle of Ashby. This was

not the same building of which the stately ruins still interest the

traveller, and which was erected at a later period by the Lord Hastings,

High Chamberlain of England, one of the first victims of the tyranny

of Richard the Third, and yet better known as one of Shakspeare's

characters than by his historical fame. The castle and town of Ashby, at

this time, belonged to Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, who, during

the period of our history, was absent in the Holy Land. Prince John, in

the meanwhile, occupied his castle, and disposed of his domains without

scruple; and seeking at present to dazzle men's eyes by his hospitality

and magnificence, had given orders for great preparations, in order to

render the banquet as splendid as possible.

The purveyors of the Prince, who exercised on this and other occasions

the full authority of royalty, had swept the country of all that could

be collected which was esteemed fit for their master's table. Guests

also were invited in great numbers; and in the necessity in which he

then found himself of courting popularity, Prince John had extended his

invitation to a few distinguished Saxon and Danish families, as well as

to the Norman nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood. However

despised and degraded on ordinary occasions, the great numbers of

the Anglo-Saxons must necessarily render them formidable in the civil

commotions which seemed approaching, and it was an obvious point of

policy to secure popularity with their leaders.

It was accordingly the Prince's intention, which he for some time

maintained, to treat these unwonted guests with a courtesy to which they

had been little accustomed. But although no man with less scruple

made his ordinary habits and feelings bend to his interest, it was

the misfortune of this Prince, that his levity and petulance were

perpetually breaking out, and undoing all that had been gained by his

previous dissimulation.

Of this fickle temper he gave a memorable example in Ireland, when sent

thither by his father, Henry the Second, with the purpose of buying

golden opinions of the inhabitants of that new and important acquisition

to the English crown. Upon this occasion the Irish chieftains contended

which should first offer to the young Prince their loyal homage and

the kiss of peace. But, instead of receiving their salutations with

courtesy, John and his petulant attendants could not resist the

temptation of pulling the long beards of the Irish chieftains; a

conduct which, as might have been expected, was highly resented by these

insulted dignitaries, and produced fatal consequences to the English

domination in Ireland. It is necessary to keep these inconsistencies

of John's character in view, that the reader may understand his conduct

during the present evening.

In execution of the resolution which he had formed during his cooler

moments, Prince John received Cedric and Athelstane with distinguished

courtesy, and expressed his disappointment, without resentment, when the

indisposition of Rowena was alleged by the former as a reason for her

not attending upon his gracious summons. Cedric and Athelstane were both

dressed in the ancient Saxon garb, which, although not unhandsome in

itself, and in the present instance composed of costly materials, was

so remote in shape and appearance from that of the other guests, that

Prince John took great credit to himself with Waldemar Fitzurse for

refraining from laughter at a sight which the fashion of the day

rendered ridiculous. Yet, in the eye of sober judgment, the short close

tunic and long mantle of the Saxons was a more graceful, as well as a

more convenient dress, than the garb of the Normans, whose under garment

was a long doublet, so loose as to resemble a shirt or waggoner's frock,

covered by a cloak of scanty dimensions, neither fit to defend the

wearer from cold or from rain, and the only purpose of which appeared

to be to display as much fur, embroidery, and jewellery work, as the

ingenuity of the tailor could contrive to lay upon it. The Emperor

Charlemagne, in whose reign they were first introduced, seems to have

been very sensible of the inconveniences arising from the fashion of

this garment. " In Heaven's name, " said he, " to what purpose serve these

abridged cloaks? If we are in bed they are no cover, on horseback they

are no protection from the wind and rain, and when seated, they do not

guard our legs from the damp or the frost. "

Nevertheless, spite of this imperial objurgation, the short cloaks

continued in fashion down to the time of which we treat, and

particularly among the princes of the House of Anjou. They were

therefore in universal use among Prince John's courtiers; and the

long mantle, which formed the upper garment of the Saxons, was held in

proportional derision.

The guests were seated at a table which groaned under the quantity of

good cheer. The numerous cooks who attended on the Prince's progress,

having exerted all their art in varying the forms in which the ordinary

provisions were served up, had succeeded almost as well as the modern

professors of the culinary art in rendering them perfectly unlike their

natural appearance. Besides these dishes of domestic origin, there were

various delicacies brought from foreign parts, and a quantity of rich

pastry, as well as of the simnel-bread and wastle cakes, which were only

used at the tables of the highest nobility. The banquet was crowned with

the richest wines, both foreign and domestic.

But, though luxurious, the Norman nobles were not generally speaking

an intemperate race. While indulging themselves in the pleasures of

the table, they aimed at delicacy, but avoided excess, and were apt to

attribute gluttony and drunkenness to the vanquished Saxons, as vices

peculiar to their inferior station. Prince John, indeed, and those who

courted his pleasure by imitating his foibles, were apt to indulge to

excess in the pleasures of the trencher and the goblet; and indeed it is

well known that his death was occasioned by a surfeit upon peaches and

new ale. His conduct, however, was an exception to the general manners

of his countrymen.

With sly gravity, interrupted only by private signs to each other, the

Norman knights and nobles beheld the ruder demeanour of Athelstane

and Cedric at a banquet, to the form and fashion of which they were

unaccustomed. And while their manners were thus the subject of sarcastic

observation, the untaught Saxons unwittingly transgressed several of the

arbitrary rules established for the regulation of society. Now, it is

well known, that a man may with more impunity be guilty of an actual

breach either of real good breeding or of good morals, than appear

ignorant of the most minute point of fashionable etiquette. Thus Cedric,

who dried his hands with a towel, instead of suffering the moisture to

exhale by waving them gracefully in the air, incurred more ridicule than

his companion Athelstane, when he swallowed to his own single share

the whole of a large pasty composed of the most exquisite foreign

delicacies, and termed at that time a " Karum-Pie". When, however, it

was discovered, by a serious cross-examination, that the Thane of

Coningsburgh (or Franklin, as the Normans termed him) had no idea

what he had been devouring, and that he had taken the contents of the

Karum-pie for larks and pigeons, whereas they were in fact beccaficoes

and nightingales, his ignorance brought him in for an ample share of the

ridicule which would have been more justly bestowed on his gluttony.

The long feast had at length its end; and, while the goblet circulated

freely, men talked of the feats of the preceding tournament, --of

the unknown victor in the archery games, of the Black Knight, whose

self-denial had induced him to withdraw from the honours he had

won, --and of the gallant Ivanhoe, who had so dearly bought the honours

of the day. The topics were treated with military frankness, and the

jest and laugh went round the hall. The brow of Prince John alone was

overclouded during these discussions; some overpowering care seemed

agitating his mind, and it was only when he received occasional hints

from his attendants, that he seemed to take interest in what was passing

around him. On such occasions he would start up, quaff a cup of wine

as if to raise his spirits, and then mingle in the conversation by some

observation made abruptly or at random.

" We drink this beaker, " said he, " to the health of Wilfred of Ivanhoe,

champion of this Passage of Arms, and grieve that his wound renders him

absent from our board--Let all fill to the pledge, and especially Cedric

of Rotherwood, the worthy father of a son so promising. "

" No, my lord, " replied Cedric, standing up, and placing on the table his

untasted cup, " I yield not the name of son to the disobedient youth, who

at once despises my commands, and relinquishes the manners and customs

of his fathers. "

" 'Tis impossible, " cried Prince John, with well-feigned astonishment,

" that so gallant a knight should be an unworthy or disobedient son! "

" Yet, my lord, " answered Cedric, " so it is with this Wilfred. He left my

homely dwelling to mingle with the gay nobility of your brother's court,

where he learned to do those tricks of horsemanship which you prize so

highly. He left it contrary to my wish and command; and in the days

of Alfred that would have been termed disobedience--ay, and a crime

severely punishable. "

" Alas! " replied Prince John, with a deep sigh of affected sympathy,

" since your son was a follower of my unhappy brother, it need not

be enquired where or from whom he learned the lesson of filial

disobedience. "

Thus spake Prince John, wilfully forgetting, that of all the sons of

Henry the Second, though no one was free from the charge, he himself had

been most distinguished for rebellion and ingratitude to his father.

" I think, " said he, after a moment's pause, " that my brother proposed to

confer upon his favourite the rich manor of Ivanhoe. "

" He did endow him with it, " answered Cedric; " nor is it my least quarrel

with my son, that he stooped to hold, as a feudal vassal, the very

domains which his fathers possessed in free and independent right. "

" We shall then have your willing sanction, good Cedric, " said Prince

John, " to confer this fief upon a person whose dignity will not

be diminished by holding land of the British crown. --Sir Reginald

Front-de-Boeuf, " he said, turning towards that Baron, " I trust you will

so keep the goodly Barony of Ivanhoe, that Sir Wilfred shall not incur

his father's farther displeasure by again entering upon that fief. "

" By St Anthony! " answered the black-brow'd giant, " I will consent that

your highness shall hold me a Saxon, if either Cedric or Wilfred, or the

best that ever bore English blood, shall wrench from me the gift with

which your highness has graced me. "

" Whoever shall call thee Saxon, Sir Baron, " replied Cedric, offended

at a mode of expression by which the Normans frequently expressed their

habitual contempt of the English, " will do thee an honour as great as it

is undeserved. "

Front-de-Boeuf would have replied, but Prince John's petulance and

levity got the start.

" Assuredly, " said be, " my lords, the noble Cedric speaks truth; and

his race may claim precedence over us as much in the length of their

pedigrees as in the longitude of their cloaks. "

" They go before us indeed in the field--as deer before dogs, " said

Malvoisin.

" And with good right may they go before us--forget not, " said the Prior

Aymer, " the superior decency and decorum of their manners. "

" Their singular abstemiousness and temperance, " said De Bracy,

forgetting the plan which promised him a Saxon bride.

" Together with the courage and conduct, " said Brian de Bois-Guilbert,

" by which they distinguished themselves at Hastings and elsewhere. "

While, with smooth and smiling cheek, the courtiers, each in turn,

followed their Prince's example, and aimed a shaft of ridicule at

Cedric, the face of the Saxon became inflamed with passion, and

he glanced his eyes fiercely from one to another, as if the quick

succession of so many injuries had prevented his replying to them in

turn; or, like a baited bull, who, surrounded by his tormentors, is at

a loss to choose from among them the immediate object of his revenge.

At length he spoke, in a voice half choked with passion; and, addressing

himself to Prince John as the head and front of the offence which he had

received, " Whatever, " he said, " have been the follies and vices of our

race, a Saxon would have been held 'nidering', " [21] (the most emphatic

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