XVII.-LUCY AND COLIN WAS written by Thomas Tickell, Esq., the celebrated friend of Mr. Addison, and editor of his works. It is a tradition in Ireland, that this song was written at Castletown, in the county of Kildare, at the request of the then Mrs. Conolly-probably on some event recent in that neighbourhood. OF Leinster, fam'd for maidens fair, Reflect so fair a face. Till luckless love and pining care Impair'd her rosy hue, Her coral lip, and damask cheek, And eyes of glossy blue. Oh! have you seen a lily pale, When beating rains descend? So droop'd the slow-consuming maid; Her life now near its end. By Lucy warn'd, of flattering swains Three times, all in the dead of night, Too well the love-lorn maiden knew "I hear a voice you cannot hear, Which beckons me away. "By a false heart, and broken vows, In early youth I die. Am I to blame, because his bride "Ah, Colin! give her not thy vows; Nor thou, fond maid, receive his kiss, "To-morrow in the church to wed, But know, fond maid, and know, false man, That Lucy will be there. "Then, bear my corse, ye comrades, bear, The bridegroom blithe to meet ; He in his wedding-trim so gay, I in my winding-sheet." She spoke, she died;-her corse was borne, She in her winding-sheet. Then what were perjur'd Colin's thoughts? Confusion, shame, remorse, despaire, At once his bosom swell : The damps of death bedew'd his brow, From the vain bride (ah, bride no more!) When, stretch'd before her rival's corse, Then to his Lucy's new-made grave, Oft at their grave the constant hind And plighted maid are seen; But, swain forsworn, whoe'er thou art, This hallow'd spot forbear; XVIII. THE BOY AND THE MANTLE, AS REVISED AND ALTERED BY A MODERN HAND. In the Fabliaux ou Contes, 1781, 5 tom. 12m0, of M. Le Grand (tom. I. p. 54), is printed a modern version of the old tale Le Court Mantel, under a new title, Le Manteau maltaillé, which contains the story of this ballad much enlarged, so far as regards the mantle, but without any mention of the knife or the horn. Sir king, she hath within thy hall "All frolick light and wanton The Rev. Evan Evans, editor of the Specimens of Welsh Poetry, 4to, affirmed that the story of the Boy and the Mantle is taken from what is related in some of the old Welsh MSS. of Tegan Earfron, one of King Arthur's mistresses. She is said to have possessed a mantle that would not fit any immodest or incontinent woman; this (which, the old writers say, was reckoned among the curiosities of Britain) is frequently alluded to by the old Welsh bards. XIX. THE ANCIENT FRAGMENT OF THE MARRIAGE OF SIR GAWAINE. Another poem in this volume, entitled The Marriage of Sir Gawaine, having been offered to the reader with large conjectural supplements and corrections, the old fragment itself is here literally and exactly printed from the Editor's folio MS. with all its defects, inaccuracies, and errata. This ballad had most unfortunately suffered by having half of every leaf in this part of the MS. torn away; and, as about nine stanzas generally occur in the half-page now remaining, it is concluded that the other half contained nearly the same number of stanzas. |