With Baird, with Ferguson and Græme,1 A leader worthy of the name, And fought in pride of Scotland's ancient fame, And where'er on hostile ground A Scot or hardy Celt is found, JOANNA BAILLIE. THE FALL OF THE KNIGHTS 1314. The Knights of the Temple, warlike monks, who were vowed to defend Jerusalem, were cruelly slandered and destroyed in 1307, chiefly through the influence of the King of France, Philip IV. The Temple in Fleet Street, London, was their property, and was given to the Knights of St. John, who leased it to the law students. The following poem, by Lord Houghton, is on the ruin of the Templars and the extinction of the crusading spirit. This is only a portion, speaking of— THE warriors of the sacred grave Who looked to Christ for laws, And perished for the faith they gave Their comrades and the cause." Lord Lynedoch, who won the battle of Busaco in the Peninsular War. * The Templars who would not accuse their brethren of horrid crimes were tortured; many were burnt alive. They perished in one fate alike, Where'er the regal arm could strike To torture and destroy. While darkly down the stream of time, Float murmurs of mysterious crime, How oft, when avarice, hate, or pride, The outer world, that scorns the side Echoes each foul derisive word, Yet by these lessons men awake For even in our best essay Our present sympathies. 1 This verse means that though there ought to be unity and concord there can never be absolute oneness of view on all points, and that to try to enforce absolute uniformity of mind leads to cruelty. And love, however bright it burns For what it holds most fond, And still the earth has many a knight To high vocation bound, To conquer in enduring fight, The Spirit's holy ground. And manhood's pride and hopes of youth Still meet the Templar's doom! Crusaders of the ascended truth, Not of the empty tomb. LORD HOUGHTON. THE FIELD OF BANNOCKBURN. 1314. This extract, from Scott's "Lord of the Isles," commences with an account of the evening before the battle. Lorn, arrives. A Scottish lady, Edith of WHEN o'er the Gillie's-hill she rode, In battles four beneath their eye And three, advanced, formed vanward' line 2 Glaives, lances, bills,3 and banners gleam; So far, so wide, the boundless host II. Down from the hill the maiden passed, 1 In front. 2 Swords. • Where earth and sky seem to meet. 3 Axes. With these the valiant of the Isles1 Beneath their chieftains rank'd their files There in the centre, proudly raised, But oh! unseen for three long years, III. To centre of the vanward line Arm'd, all on foot, that host appears The warriors there of Lodon's hand. 1 The Hebrides. This is the ensign of the Lord of the Isles, but Lord Ronald as well as Edith of Lorn are imaginary persons. 3 Her assumed name. + Locked together. 5 Borderers. |