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turbulent times to which it hath given rise, shall be remembered to thy

disadvantage. "

" True says the proverb, " said Wamba, interposing his word, but with some

abatement of his usual petulance, --

" 'When the cat is away, The mice will play. '"

" What, Wamba, art thou there? " said Richard; " I have been so long of

hearing thy voice, I thought thou hadst taken flight. "

" I take flight! " said Wamba; " when do you ever find Folly separated from

Valour? There lies the trophy of my sword, that good grey gelding, whom

I heartily wish upon his legs again, conditioning his master lay there

houghed in his place. It is true, I gave a little ground at first, for

a motley jacket does not brook lance-heads, as a steel doublet will. But

if I fought not at sword's point, you will grant me that I sounded the

onset. "

" And to good purpose, honest Wamba, " replied the King. " Thy good service

shall not be forgotten. "

" 'Confiteor! Confiteor! '" --exclaimed, in a submissive tone, a voice near

the King's side--" my Latin will carry me no farther--but I confess my

deadly treason, and pray leave to have absolution before I am led to

execution! "

Richard looked around, and beheld the jovial Friar on his knees, telling

his rosary, while his quarter-staff, which had not been idle during the

skirmish, lay on the grass beside him. His countenance was gathered so

as he thought might best express the most profound contrition, his

eyes being turned up, and the corners of his mouth drawn down, as Wamba

expressed it, like the tassels at the mouth of a purse. Yet this demure

affectation of extreme penitence was whimsically belied by a ludicrous

meaning which lurked in his huge features, and seemed to pronounce his

fear and repentance alike hypocritical.

" For what art thou cast down, mad Priest? " said Richard; " art thou

afraid thy diocesan should learn how truly thou dost serve Our Lady and

Saint Dunstan? --Tush, man! fear it not; Richard of England betrays no

secrets that pass over the flagon. "

" Nay, most gracious sovereign, " answered the Hermit, (well known to the

curious in penny-histories of Robin Hood, by the name of Friar

Tuck, ) " it is not the crosier I fear, but the sceptre. --Alas! that my

sacrilegious fist should ever have been applied to the ear of the Lord's

anointed! "

" Ha! ha! " said Richard, " sits the wind there? --In truth I had forgotten

the buffet, though mine ear sung after it for a whole day. But if the

cuff was fairly given, I will be judged by the good men around, if it

was not as well repaid--or, if thou thinkest I still owe thee aught, and

will stand forth for another counterbuff--"

" By no means, " replied Friar Tuck, " I had mine own returned, and with

usury--may your Majesty ever pay your debts as fully! "

" If I could do so with cuffs, " said the King, " my creditors should have

little reason to complain of an empty exchequer. "

" And yet, " said the Friar, resuming his demure hypocritical countenance,

" I know not what penance I ought to perform for that most sacrilegious

blow! ---"

" Speak no more of it, brother, " said the King; " after having stood

so many cuffs from Paynims and misbelievers, I were void of reason to

quarrel with the buffet of a clerk so holy as he of Copmanhurst. Yet,

mine honest Friar, I think it would be best both for the church and

thyself, that I should procure a license to unfrock thee, and retain

thee as a yeoman of our guard, serving in care of our person, as

formerly in attendance upon the altar of Saint Dunstan. "

" My Liege, " said the Friar, " I humbly crave your pardon; and you would

readily grant my excuse, did you but know how the sin of laziness has

beset me. Saint Dunstan--may he be gracious to us! --stands quiet in his

niche, though I should forget my orisons in killing a fat buck--I stay

out of my cell sometimes a night, doing I wot not what--Saint Dunstan

never complains--a quiet master he is, and a peaceful, as ever was made

of wood. --But to be a yeoman in attendance on my sovereign the King--the

honour is great, doubtless--yet, if I were but to step aside to comfort

a widow in one corner, or to kill a deer in another, it would be, 'where

is the dog Priest? ' says one. 'Who has seen the accursed Tuck? ' says

another. 'The unfrocked villain destroys more venison than half the

country besides, ' says one keeper; 'And is hunting after every shy doe

in the country! ' quoth a second. --In fine, good my Liege, I pray you

to leave me as you found me; or, if in aught you desire to extend your

benevolence to me, that I may be considered as the poor Clerk of Saint

Dunstan's cell in Copmanhurst, to whom any small donation will be most

thankfully acceptable. "

" I understand thee, " said the King, " and the Holy Clerk shall have a

grant of vert and venison in my woods of Warncliffe. Mark, however, I

will but assign thee three bucks every season; but if that do not prove

an apology for thy slaying thirty, I am no Christian knight nor true

king. "

" Your Grace may be well assured, " said the Friar, " that, with the

grace of Saint Dunstan, I shall find the way of multiplying your most

bounteous gift. "

" I nothing doubt it, good brother, " said the King; " and as venison is

but dry food, our cellarer shall have orders to deliver to thee a butt

of sack, a runlet of Malvoisie, and three hogsheads of ale of the first

strike, yearly--If that will not quench thy thirst, thou must come to

court, and become acquainted with my butler. "

" But for Saint Dunstan? " said the Friar--

" A cope, a stole, and an altar-cloth shalt thou also have, " continued

the King, crossing himself--" But we may not turn our game into earnest,

lest God punish us for thinking more on our follies than on his honour

and worship. "

" I will answer for my patron, " said the Priest, joyously.

" Answer for thyself, Friar, " said King Richard, something sternly; but

immediately stretching out his hand to the Hermit, the latter, somewhat

abashed, bent his knee, and saluted it. " Thou dost less honour to my

extended palm than to my clenched fist, " said the Monarch; " thou didst

only kneel to the one, and to the other didst prostrate thyself. "

But the Friar, afraid perhaps of again giving offence by continuing

the conversation in too jocose a style--a false step to be particularly

guarded against by those who converse with monarchs--bowed profoundly,

and fell into the rear.

At the same time, two additional personages appeared on the scene.

CHAPTER XLI

All hail to the lordlings of high degree,

Who live not more happy, though greater than we!

Our pastimes to see,

Under every green tree,

In all the gay woodland, right welcome ye be.

Macdonald

The new comers were Wilfred of Ivanhoe, on the Prior of Botolph's

palfrey, and Gurth, who attended him, on the Knight's own war-horse.

The astonishment of Ivanhoe was beyond bounds, when he saw his master

besprinkled with blood, and six or seven dead bodies lying around in

the little glade in which the battle had taken place. Nor was he less

surprised to see Richard surrounded by so many silvan attendants, the

outlaws, as they seemed to be, of the forest, and a perilous retinue

therefore for a prince. He hesitated whether to address the King as the

Black Knight-errant, or in what other manner to demean himself towards

him. Richard saw his embarrassment.

" Fear not, Wilfred, " he said, " to address Richard Plantagenet as

himself, since thou seest him in the company of true English hearts,

although it may be they have been urged a few steps aside by warm

English blood. "

" Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, " said the gallant Outlaw, stepping forward, " my

assurances can add nothing to those of our sovereign; yet, let me say

somewhat proudly, that of men who have suffered much, he hath not truer

subjects than those who now stand around him. "

" I cannot doubt it, brave man, " said Wilfred, " since thou art of the

number--But what mean these marks of death and danger? these slain men,

and the bloody armour of my Prince? "

" Treason hath been with us, Ivanhoe, " said the King; " but, thanks to

these brave men, treason hath met its meed--But, now I bethink me, thou

too art a traitor, " said Richard, smiling; " a most disobedient traitor;

for were not our orders positive, that thou shouldst repose thyself at

Saint Botolph's until thy wound was healed? "

" It is healed, " said Ivanhoe; " it is not of more consequence than the

scratch of a bodkin. But why, oh why, noble Prince, will you thus vex

the hearts of your faithful servants, and expose your life by lonely

journeys and rash adventures, as if it were of no more value than that

of a mere knight-errant, who has no interest on earth but what lance and

sword may procure him? "

" And Richard Plantagenet, " said the King, " desires no more fame than his

good lance and sword may acquire him--and Richard Plantagenet is prouder

of achieving an adventure, with only his good sword, and his good arm

to speed, than if he led to battle a host of an hundred thousand armed

men. "

" But your kingdom, my Liege, " said Ivanhoe, " your kingdom is threatened

with dissolution and civil war--your subjects menaced with every species

of evil, if deprived of their sovereign in some of those dangers which

it is your daily pleasure to incur, and from which you have but this

moment narrowly escaped. "

" Ho! ho! my kingdom and my subjects? " answered Richard, impatiently; " I

tell thee, Sir Wilfred, the best of them are most willing to repay

my follies in kind--For example, my very faithful servant, Wilfred of

Ivanhoe, will not obey my positive commands, and yet reads his king a

homily, because he does not walk exactly by his advice. Which of us has

most reason to upbraid the other? --Yet forgive me, my faithful Wilfred.

The time I have spent, and am yet to spend in concealment, is, as I

explained to thee at Saint Botolph's, necessary to give my friends

and faithful nobles time to assemble their forces, that when Richard's

return is announced, he should be at the head of such a force as enemies

shall tremble to face, and thus subdue the meditated treason, without

even unsheathing a sword. Estoteville and Bohun will not be strong

enough to move forward to York for twenty-four hours. I must have news

of Salisbury from the south; and of Beauchamp, in Warwickshire; and of

Multon and Percy in the north. The Chancellor must make sure of London.

Too sudden an appearance would subject me to dangers, other than

my lance and sword, though backed by the bow of bold Robin, or the

quarter-staff of Friar Tuck, and the horn of the sage Wamba, may be able

to rescue me from. "

Wilfred bowed in submission, well knowing how vain it was to contend

with the wild spirit of chivalry which so often impelled his master

upon dangers which he might easily have avoided, or rather, which it

was unpardonable in him to have sought out. The young knight sighed,

therefore, and held his peace; while Richard, rejoiced at having

silenced his counsellor, though his heart acknowledged the justice of

the charge he had brought against him, went on in conversation with

Robin Hood. --" King of Outlaws, " he said, " have you no refreshment to

offer to your brother sovereign? for these dead knaves have found me

both in exercise and appetite. "

" In troth, " replied the Outlaw, " for I scorn to lie to your Grace,

our larder is chiefly supplied with--" He stopped, and was somewhat

embarrassed.

" With venison, I suppose? " said Richard, gaily; " better food at need

there can be none--and truly, if a king will not remain at home and

slay his own game, methinks he should not brawl too loud if he finds it

killed to his hand. "

" If your Grace, then, " said Robin, " will again honour with your presence

one of Robin Hood's places of rendezvous, the venison shall not be

lacking; and a stoup of ale, and it may be a cup of reasonably good

wine, to relish it withal. "

The Outlaw accordingly led the way, followed by the buxom Monarch,

more happy, probably, in this chance meeting with Robin Hood and his

foresters, than he would have been in again assuming his royal state,

and presiding over a splendid circle of peers and nobles. Novelty in

society and adventure were the zest of life to Richard Coeur-de-Lion,

and it had its highest relish when enhanced by dangers encountered

and surmounted. In the lion-hearted King, the brilliant, but useless

character, of a knight of romance, was in a great measure realized and

revived; and the personal glory which he acquired by his own deeds of

arms, was far more dear to his excited imagination, than that which a

course of policy and wisdom would have spread around his government.

Accordingly, his reign was like the course of a brilliant and rapid

meteor, which shoots along the face of Heaven, shedding around an

unnecessary and portentous light, which is instantly swallowed up by

universal darkness; his feats of chivalry furnishing themes for bards

and minstrels, but affording none of those solid benefits to his country

on which history loves to pause, and hold up as an example to posterity.

But in his present company Richard showed to the greatest imaginable

advantage. He was gay, good-humoured, and fond of manhood in every rank

of life.

Beneath a huge oak-tree the silvan repast was hastily prepared for the

King of England, surrounded by men outlaws to his government, but who

now formed his court and his guard. As the flagon went round, the rough

foresters soon lost their awe for the presence of Majesty. The song

and the jest were exchanged--the stories of former deeds were told

with advantage; and at length, and while boasting of their successful

infraction of the laws, no one recollected they were speaking in

presence of their natural guardian. The merry King, nothing heeding his

dignity any more than his company, laughed, quaffed, and jested among

the jolly band. The natural and rough sense of Robin Hood led him to be

desirous that the scene should be closed ere any thing should occur to

disturb its harmony, the more especially that he observed Ivanhoe's brow

clouded with anxiety. " We are honoured, " he said to Ivanhoe, apart, " by

the presence of our gallant Sovereign; yet I would not that he dallied

with time, which the circumstances of his kingdom may render precious. "

" It is well and wisely spoken, brave Robin Hood, " said Wilfred, apart;

" and know, moreover, that they who jest with Majesty even in its gayest

mood are but toying with the lion's whelp, which, on slight provocation,

uses both fangs and claws. "

" You have touched the very cause of my fear, " said the Outlaw; " my

men are rough by practice and nature, the King is hasty as well as

good-humoured; nor know I how soon cause of offence may arise, or how

warmly it may be received--it is time this revel were broken off. "

" It must be by your management then, gallant yeoman, " said Ivanhoe;

" for each hint I have essayed to give him serves only to induce him to

prolong it. "

" Must I so soon risk the pardon and favour of my Sovereign? " said Robin

Hood, pausing for all instant; " but by Saint Christopher, it shall be

so. I were undeserving his grace did I not peril it for his good. --Here,

Scathlock, get thee behind yonder thicket, and wind me a Norman blast on

thy bugle, and without an instant's delay on peril of your life. "

Scathlock obeyed his captain, and in less than five minutes the

revellers were startled by the sound of his horn.

" It is the bugle of Malvoisin, " said the Miller, starting to his feet,

and seizing his bow. The Friar dropped the flagon, and grasped his

quarter-staff. Wamba stopt short in the midst of a jest, and betook

himself to sword and target. All the others stood to their weapons.

Men of their precarious course of life change readily from the banquet

to the battle; and, to Richard, the exchange seemed but a succession of

pleasure. He called for his helmet and the most cumbrous parts of his

armour, which he had laid aside; and while Gurth was putting them on,

he laid his strict injunctions on Wilfred, under pain of his highest

displeasure, not to engage in the skirmish which he supposed was

approaching.

" Thou hast fought for me an hundred times, Wilfred, --and I have seen

it. Thou shalt this day look on, and see how Richard will fight for his

friend and liegeman. "

In the meantime, Robin Hood had sent off several of his followers in

different directions, as if to reconnoitre the enemy; and when he saw

the company effectually broken up, he approached Richard, who was now

completely armed, and, kneeling down on one knee, craved pardon of his

Sovereign.

" For what, good yeoman? " said Richard, somewhat impatiently. " Have we

not already granted thee a full pardon for all transgressions? Thinkest

thou our word is a feather, to be blown backward and forward between us?

Thou canst not have had time to commit any new offence since that time? "

" Ay, but I have though, " answered the yeoman, " if it be an offence to

deceive my prince for his own advantage. The bugle you have heard

was none of Malvoisin's, but blown by my direction, to break off the

banquet, lest it trenched upon hours of dearer import than to be thus

dallied with. "

He then rose from his knee, folded his arm on his bosom, and in a manner

rather respectful than submissive, awaited the answer of the King, --like

one who is conscious he may have given offence, yet is confident in the

rectitude of his motive. The blood rushed in anger to the countenance

of Richard; but it was the first transient emotion, and his sense of

justice instantly subdued it.

" The King of Sherwood, " he said, " grudges his venison and his wine-flask

to the King of England? It is well, bold Robin! --but when you come to

see me in merry London, I trust to be a less niggard host. Thou art

right, however, good fellow. Let us therefore to horse and away--Wilfred

has been impatient this hour. Tell me, bold Robin, hast thou never a

friend in thy band, who, not content with advising, will needs direct

thy motions, and look miserable when thou dost presume to act for

thyself? "

" Such a one, " said Robin, " is my Lieutenant, Little John, who is even

now absent on an expedition as far as the borders of Scotland; and I

will own to your Majesty, that I am sometimes displeased by the freedom

of his councils--but, when I think twice, I cannot be long angry with

one who can have no motive for his anxiety save zeal for his master's

service. "

" Thou art right, good yeoman, " answered Richard; " and if I had Ivanhoe,

on the one hand, to give grave advice, and recommend it by the sad

gravity of his brow, and thee, on the other, to trick me into what thou

thinkest my own good, I should have as little the freedom of mine own

will as any king in Christendom or Heathenesse. --But come, sirs, let us

merrily on to Coningsburgh, and think no more on't. "

Robin Hood assured them that he had detached a party in the direction of

the road they were to pass, who would not fail to discover and apprize

them of any secret ambuscade; and that he had little doubt they would

find the ways secure, or, if otherwise, would receive such timely notice

of the danger as would enable them to fall back on a strong troop of

archers, with which he himself proposed to follow on the same route.

The wise and attentive precautions adopted for his safety touched

Richard's feelings, and removed any slight grudge which he might retain

on account of the deception the Outlaw Captain had practised upon him.

He once more extended his hand to Robin Hood, assured him of his full

pardon and future favour, as well as his firm resolution to restrain the

tyrannical exercise of the forest rights and other oppressive laws, by

which so many English yeomen were driven into a state of rebellion. But

Richard's good intentions towards the bold Outlaw were frustrated by the

King's untimely death; and the Charter of the Forest was extorted

from the unwilling hands of King John when he succeeded to his heroic

brother. As for the rest of Robin Hood's career, as well as the tale

of his treacherous death, they are to be found in those black-letter

garlands, once sold at the low and easy rate of one halfpenny.

" Now cheaply purchased at their weight in gold. "

The Outlaw's opinion proved true; and the King, attended by Ivanhoe,

Gurth, and Wamba, arrived, without any interruption, within view of the

Castle of Coningsburgh, while the sun was yet in the horizon.

There are few more beautiful or striking scenes in England, than are

presented by the vicinity of this ancient Saxon fortress. The soft and

gentle river Don sweeps through an amphitheatre, in which cultivation is

richly blended with woodland, and on a mount, ascending from the river,

well defended by walls and ditches, rises this ancient edifice, which,

as its Saxon name implies, was, previous to the Conquest, a royal

residence of the kings of England. The outer walls have probably been

added by the Normans, but the inner keep bears token of very great

antiquity. It is situated on a mount at one angle of the inner court,

and forms a complete circle of perhaps twenty-five feet in diameter.

The wall is of immense thickness, and is propped or defended by six huge

external buttresses which project from the circle, and rise up against

the sides of the tower as if to strengthen or to support it. These

massive buttresses are solid when they arise from the foundation, and a

good way higher up; but are hollowed out towards the top, and terminate

in a sort of turrets communicating with the interior of the keep itself.

The distant appearance of this huge building, with these singular

accompaniments, is as interesting to the lovers of the picturesque, as

the interior of the castle is to the eager antiquary, whose imagination

it carries back to the days of the Heptarchy. A barrow, in the vicinity

of the castle, is pointed out as the tomb of the memorable Hengist; and

various monuments, of great antiquity and curiosity, are shown in the

neighbouring churchyard. [57]

When Coeur-de-Lion and his retinue approached this rude yet

stately building, it was not, as at present, surrounded by external

fortifications. The Saxon architect had exhausted his art in rendering

the main keep defensible, and there was no other circumvallation than a

rude barrier of palisades.

A huge black banner, which floated from the top of the tower, announced

that the obsequies of the late owner were still in the act of being

solemnized. It bore no emblem of the deceased's birth or quality,

for armorial bearings were then a novelty among the Norman chivalry

themselves and, were totally unknown to the Saxons. But above the

gate was another banner, on which the figure of a white horse,

rudely painted, indicated the nation and rank of the deceased, by the

well-known symbol of Hengist and his Saxon warriors.

All around the castle was a scene of busy commotion; for such funeral

banquets were times of general and profuse hospitality, which not only

every one who could claim the most distant connexion with the deceased,

but all passengers whatsoever, were invited to partake. The wealth and

consequence of the deceased Athelstane, occasioned this custom to be

observed in the fullest extent.

Numerous parties, therefore, were seen ascending and descending the hill

on which the castle was situated; and when the King and his attendants

entered the open and unguarded gates of the external barrier, the space

within presented a scene not easily reconciled with the cause of the

assemblage. In one place cooks were toiling to roast huge oxen, and fat

sheep; in another, hogsheads of ale were set abroach, to be drained at

the freedom of all comers. Groups of every description were to be seen

devouring the food and swallowing the liquor thus abandoned to

their discretion. The naked Saxon serf was drowning the sense of

his half-year's hunger and thirst, in one day of gluttony and

drunkenness--the more pampered burgess and guild-brother was eating his

morsel with gust, or curiously criticising the quantity of the malt and

the skill of the brewer. Some few of the poorer Norman gentry might also

be seen, distinguished by their shaven chins and short cloaks, and not

less so by their keeping together, and looking with great scorn on the

whole solemnity, even while condescending to avail themselves of the

good cheer which was so liberally supplied.

Mendicants were of course assembled by the score, together with

strolling soldiers returned from Palestine, (according to their own

account at least, ) pedlars were displaying their wares, travelling

mechanics were enquiring after employment, and wandering palmers,

hedge-priests, Saxon minstrels, and Welsh bards, were muttering prayers,

and extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes. [58]

One sent forth the praises of Athelstane in a doleful panegyric;

another, in a Saxon genealogical poem, rehearsed the uncouth and harsh

names of his noble ancestry. Jesters and jugglers were not awanting,

nor was the occasion of the assembly supposed to render the exercise of

their profession indecorous or improper. Indeed the ideas of the Saxons

on these occasions were as natural as they were rude. If sorrow was

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