24
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Livingston.
Hell! I can hear no more———Douglas is king,
And rebels all our lords, who prop his pride.
Chancellor.
Had you but seen their grandeur, as they march'd
On neighing steeds, which trod the earth with scorn;
And marked what dignity their brows adorned!
O'er all the rest, a daring lofty air
The Douglasses distinguished!-valiant name———
The clan is numerous, daring, true, and steady,
Their chief, young, vigorous, liberal, brave, and popular.
Hell! I can hear no more———Douglas is king,
And rebels all our lords, who prop his pride.
Chancellor.
Had you but seen their grandeur, as they march'd
On neighing steeds, which trod the earth with scorn;
And marked what dignity their brows adorned!
O'er all the rest, a daring lofty air
The Douglasses distinguished!-valiant name———
The clan is numerous, daring, true, and steady,
Their chief, young, vigorous, liberal, brave, and popular.
This presents no unfaithful picture of the power and magnificence of Douglas, and characterises happily the spirit of the clan. The fall of Douglas was lamented in rude but energetic strains by his followers. The first verse of one of these, which relates to the subject of this drama, is preserved by Hume of Godscroft in his history of Douglas:
Edinburgh-castle, town, and tower,
God grant thou sink for sin;
And that even for the black dinner
Earl Douglas got therein[1].
God grant thou sink for sin;
And that even for the black dinner
Earl Douglas got therein[1].
The popularity of the family was not destroyed by this proscription; but their misfortunes seem rather to have endeared their memory to the common people. In their flourishing state, the superiority of
- ↑ Hume of Godscroft's History of Douglas, Vol. I. p. 288.
