Thame, luiks to freits, my mafter deir, Then freits wil follow thame: Let it neir be faid brave Edom o' Gordon Was daunted by a dame. V. 98, 102. O gin, &c. a Scottish idiom to express great admiration. V. 109, 110. Thame, &c. i. e. Them that look after omens of ill luck, ill luck will follow. Vol. 2 MAG CHAR RELJ DUES OF ANCIENT POETRY, &c. SERIES THE BOOK I. I. RICHARD OF ALMAIGNE, “A ballad made by one of the adherents to Simon de "Montfort, earl of Leicester, foon after the battle of Lewes, "which was fought May 14, 1264," -affords a curious fpecimen of ancient Satire, and fhers that the liberty, affumed by the good people of this realm, of abufing their kings and princes at pleafure, is a privilege of very long standing. VOL. II, B To To render this antique libel intelligible, the reader is to understand that just before the battle of Lewes which proved fo fatal to the interefts of Henry III. the barons had offered his brother Richard King of the Romans 30,000l. to procure a peace upon fuch terms, as would have divested Henry of all his regal power, and therefore the treaty proved abortive. The confequences of that battle are well known; the king, prince Edward his fon, his brother Richard, and many of his friends fell into the hands of their enemies: while two great barons of the king's party, John earl of Warren, and Hugh Bigot the king's Jufticiary, had been glad to escape into France. In the ft ftanza the aforefaid fum of THIRTY THOUSAND pounds is alluded to, but with the ufual mifrepresentation of party malevolence, is afferted to have been the exorbitant demand of the king's brother. With regard to the 2d ft. the Reader is to note that Richard, along with the earldom of Cornwall, had the honours of WALINGFORD and Eyre confirmed to him on his marriage with Sanchia daughter of the Count of Provence, in 1243. WINDSOR caftle was the chief fortress belonging to the king, and had been garrisoned by foreigners: a circumftance, which furnishes out the burthen of each stanza. a The 3d ft. alludes to a remarkable circumftance, which happened on the day of the battle of Lewes. After the battle was loft, Richard king of the Romans took refuge in á Windmill, which he baricadoed, and maintained for fome time against the Barons, but in the evening was obliged to Jurrender. See a very full account of this, in the Chronicle of Mailros. Oxon. 1684. p. 229. The 4th ft. is of obvious interpretation: Richard, who had been elected king of the Romans in 1256, and had afterwards gone over to take poffeffion of his dignity, was in the year 1259 about to return into England, when the barons raifed a popular clamour, that he was bringing with him foreigners to over-run the kingdom: upon which he was forced to difmifs almost all his followers, otherwise the barons. would have oppofed his landing. In |