A Metrical History of England Or, Recollections, in Rhyme, Of some of the most prominent Features in our National Chronology, from the Landing of Julius Caesar to the Commencement of the Regency, in 1812. In Two Volumes ... By Thomas Dibdin |
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 | A Metrical History of England |  |
1. PART THE FIRST.
From the Aborigines to the End of the Heptarchy.
The Ancient Britons.—Four Love Songs of the Young Aborigines—the Romans—Caractacus—Boadicea—the Saxons— the Heptarchy—Kent—Antiquity of Punning—Northumberland—East Anglia—Mercia, Essex, Sussex, Wessex.
Of Nature, roam'd the forest-bounds, at once
Their verdant city, high embowering fane,
And the gay circle of their woodland wars.
Thomson.
To shape the lance, or, decorate the shield:
Ev'n the fair virgin stain'd her native grace,
To give new horrors to the tented field.
Shenstone.
THE ANCIENT BRITONS.
Arose,” by chronicles we're told,
They wore no cov'ring, thro' the land,
But Paint to guard their bodies from the cold.
With Celtic belles, almost as stout,
Thro' wind, and rain, and sun, and dust,
Thus only, kept the weather out:
Some of the ladies (I believe) still wear it:
Wou'd fly their colours;—no—the sturdy elves,
(Spite of the critic's pun-detecting smile)
Beheld their colours fly, and not themselves.
With fish, and fowl, and suns, and moons, and beasts;
And those best painted oftenest ask to dine,
And burn fat prisoners at Druid-feasts.
For oil and turpentine, Historians say,
Were merely white washed, 'tis a custom yet,
Much in observance at this very day.
For what they did not wear, were most admired.
“Some club-arm'd Warrior stood, terrific, nigh,
“With uncouth forms, and shapeless monsters deck'd,
“Who thus implored his mistress, with a sigh:
The ancient Britons were but very young.)
CŒDWALLA to EDDA.
An Ancient British Love-Song.
I.
By those raven-dyed ringlets that float round thy form,And circle that heaven thy beauties display;
By that face, like the sun-beam that peeps thro' the storm,
Our hopes to encourage, our fears to allay;
By that dove, dearest Edda, pourtrayed on thy breast;—
With one smile of assent let Cœdwalla be blest!
Druid Chiefs my suit befriend,
While the misletoe I twine,
Let the sacred flame ascend,
Say, shall Edda's charms be mine?
II.
By the speed of my coursers in hunting and war,Whose trembling impatience for action I prize;
By the scythes on my chariot, less dangerous far,
Than the shafts dearest Edda can dart from her eyes,
I beseech thee, dear Edda, to shorten my pain!
Holy Druid Chiefs, befriend,
While the misletoe I twine,
See the sacred flame ascend,
Edda must, and shall, be mine.
EDDA to CŒDWALLA.
Being the Answer of an Ancient British Damsel in her Teens.
I.
Chief of thy daring tribe, with pride I seeThose looks, of late so dreadful to the foe,
Soften to kindness, when they bend on me,
As melts, in cheering Spring, the mountain's snow.
II.
Yes, seek the altars of our warlike sires,With rev'rence bend before each hallowed shrine,
Pure be thy passion, as their sacred fires,
And, Heaven approving, Edda shall be thine.
'Ere Britons found the way to Gretna Green;
But these, however homely, were the strains
Of lovers of haut ton, and form'd with pains.
When meaner folks by Cupid were perplexed,
Haply a ditty, simple as the next,
Might have been carol'd to a lady's maid,
By some bold serjeant, corporal, or the like,
Should it want force your faculties to strike,
Remember War, not Writing, was his trade.
COURTSHIP of the CANAILLE.
I
My love's so like a fine field day,No colour does she lack;
But varied, as the rainbow gay,
She's straiter in the back.
II
Her nose is red, her lips are blue,Her chin as green as grass;
And what of saffron colour'd hue,
Can Ila's neck surpass?
III
My heart how soft it's grown to prove,Next prisoner I take,
I'll shut him in an image, love,
And burn him for thy sake.
IV
Or shou'd we e'er be put to flight,And savage foes give chace,
I'll pierce thy bosom with delight,
To save thee from disgrace.
The MAIDEN's REPLY.
I
My love, of pilfering Danes the dread,What warrior may abide?
A lion's painted on his head,
A dragon decks his side.
II
A wolf grins lovely on his chest,A serpent twines his arms,
And captives' hides which form his vest
Add softness to his charms.
III
When forth he strides with martial glee,No peasant dares to laugh;
He wears a bull upon each knee,
A cow on either calf.
IV
I know a little Druid's cell,I know the Druid too,
And, if we ask him, who can tell,
What gold for us may do?
V
They say true lovers oft he weds,And with a sacred bough
Sprinkles cold water on their heads,
To warm the mutual vow.
Till Veni, Vidi, Vici, came among 'em.
No Nelson on the well-defended main
Was there, to beat the Roman back again;
Of heroes, who'd have wrapt their fleet in flames,
O'erpower the Muse: Ah! had the least of those
Been placed between Britannia and her foes;
Cæsar had prov'd a baffled, beaten, fool,
Had fled with foul dishonour from our shore;
Nor had I, and some thousand dunces more,
Been, through his Commentaries, whipt at school.
England, including Wales, was. at the invasion of the Romans, divided into the following seventeen states:
CALLED BY THE ROMANS, 1 The Danmonii; now, the counties of Cornwall and Devon. 2 Durotriges; Dorsetshire. 3 Belgæ; Somerset, Wilts, part of Hants. 4 Attrebatii; Berks. 5 Regni; Surrey, Sussex, and remaining part of Hants. 6 Cantii; Kent. 7 Dobuni; Gloucester and Oxon. 8 Cattieuchlani; Bucks, Bedford, and Herts. 9 Trinobantes; Essex, and Middlesex. 10 Iceni; Suffolk, Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Cambridge. 11 Coritani; Northampton, Leicester, Rutland, Lincoln, Nottingham. and Derby. 12 Cornavi; Warwick, Worcester, Stafford, Chester, and Shropshire. 13 The Silures; Radnor, Brecon, Glamorgan, Monmouth, and Hereford. 14 Demetœ; Pembroke, Cardigan, Caermarthen. 15 Ordovices; Montgomery, Merioneth, Caernarvon, Flint, and Denbigh. 16 The Brigantes; York, Durham, Lancashire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland. 17 Ottadini; Northumberland to the Tweed.
Ballad, by Collins.
It was about fifty-five years before the Christian Æra that Rome, at the height of her glory as a Republic, determined to add Britain to her Empire.
Lucan, Horace, Tacitus, and Tibullus dissent from the idea of the absolute Conquest of Britain. The latter says:—
“The Blood of Ages, bootless to secure
“Beneath an Empire's yoke a stubborn Isle,
“Disputed hard, and never quite subdu'd.”
Thomson.
THE ROMANS.
A. C. 55.
Came back, return'd, and met his fate in Rome;
'Tis said, he somewhat civilized our sires,
Quench'd, for a time, their sacrificial fires;
Gave some slight notion of domestic life,
And taught the use of clothes to maid and wife.
But yet, whate'er improvement they obtained
Was bought with Freedom, for the Romans reign'd.
By acquiescence, bade our burthens cease;
Left Britain all her freedom but the name;
Crack-brain'd Caligula, like modern France,
In big bravado, bade his powers advance;
Then too, like Gaul, forgot to keep his word,
And, loudly threatening—sheathed th' invading sword.
He bent the stubborn island to obey;
Nor bold Caractacus, his country's pride,
Nor bravest chieftains fighting by his side,
Prevail'd before the legionary band,
Whose iron discipline subdued the land;
While the great victim to a conqueror's laws,
Greater than King, when chain'd in Freedom's cause,
From Cæsar's self extorts deserv'd applause.
To prove a dæmon blended with a man,
Mona, to tyrant priesthood only known,
The Druid's senate, sanctum, and their throne,
Became the seat of war;—destruction flew
O'er the devoted sanguinary crew;
Their fates we mourn not, they, whose bloodstain'd knife,
In mock religion prey'd on human life.
Whose pow'r, increasing thro' successive reigns,
For centuries had held the mind in chains;
Worthy to die on that polluted spot
Where Virtue was, in Virtue's name, forgot.
Preserv'd, from more than barb'rous Roman rage,
Great Boadicea, glory of thy race,
Britannia's honor, and thy foe's disgrace;
In burning fancy I behold each fight
Where female valour warr'd for Albion's right:
Thy very fall perpetuates thy fame,
And Suetonius' laurels droop with shame.
But soften'd martial into milder law;
Agricola, tho' form'd for warlike strife,
Revered the decencies of social life;
He chaced Galgacus o'er the Northern plain,
And bound his footsteps with a mural chain.
Adrian and Severus the work pursued,
A work extinct, and ne'er to be renewed.
No wall again shall British hearts divide,
Whose union, is their best, their safest, pride.
Tho', heav'n knows, they must be rather better than these rhymes;
Give ear unto my narrative, and it will plainly shew,
That things were ten times worse almost two thousand years ago.
And the people, like most people, grumbled;
At grievances all had a dig,
'Till down the whole edifice tumbled.
Their freedom, their name, or what not,
At Rome were so busy, each helping itself,
Our Island alone was forgot.
Among other curious impositions practised on their devotees, the Druids were in the habit of borrowing large sums of them, to be repaid in the other world.—“Druidæ pecuniam mutuo accipiebant in posteriore vita reddituri.” Patricius.
Agricola totally defeated Galgacus, who commanded the last Army the Country could raise, reduced almost the whole of England and Scotland to the denomination of a Roman Province, and began to build the famous Barrier called Picts'-Wall
THE BRITONS.
Each Briton rejoic'd with his brother;
'Till, finding they'd not one competitor left,
They wisely fell out with each other.
The Wall too was idly forgot;
And, leaping its boundary, hourly you'd spy
A stern Pict or a muckle bra' Scot.
“To Ætius, thrice Consul,” who sighs; 446
But turns the ambassadors back as they went,
Without one single word of supplies.
Flies to the ocean from the foe's attack;
Nor less relentless, the destructive wave
Devours or hurls them to their tyrants back.
The Picts, (so called from Pictich, a Plunderer, and not from Picti, painted) and the Scots, from Scuite, a Wanderer, in the Celtic Tongue, were only different tribes of Caledonians. Dr. Henry.
Ætius, Prefect of Gaul, was thus addressed by “The Groans of the wretched Britons, to the thrice-appointed Consul, Ætius.—The Barbarians drive us into the Sea, and the Sea forces us back on the swords of the Barbarians.” Ætius was too closely engaged in opposing Attila, the renowned King of the Huns, to spare them any attention. Destruction of the Brittaines.
THE SAXONS.
A. D. 447.
Proclaims assistance? 'tis the Saxon band,
By Hengist led, and Horsa;—see, they smile,
And greet their hosts, with false, insidious hand.
And beauty, too, must aid the plan they lay;
Rowena, form'd to bear a nobler heart,
Can stoop a falling monarch to betray.
What! yield a throne to Woman's asking eye!
But then, the prince was wrong,—and so am I.
Presents a prospect, like the boundless main,
The ruins of a once tremendous pile,
Where white-rob'd Druids held their orgies vile,
Yet rise upon the sight;—and here, 'tis said,
Where still repose in heaps, the slaughter'd dead,
Three hundred nobles of our drooping state,
Betray'd by Hengist, met a savage fate.
Stone-Henge yet called,—perhaps, the words impart
The traitor's name, and texture of his heart.
Succeeding fought to stem the Saxon tide;
In Ailsford's desp'rate battle, Horsa slain,
Adds to their names who for ambition died.
Weak Vortigern, restored to pow'rless name,
Yields Hengist all the profit and the fame.
That tells, in fine, how Saxon wiles prevail'd;
I turn the retrospect from that dark age,
When every manly, patriot, effort fail'd:
When British worth was driven to give place
To fancied friendship, and a foreign race.
For brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins:
Call'd this the sweetest island under heaven,
And split one little kingdom into seven.
The Saxons, it is supposed, gained great advantages over Britain by means of a foolish passion which the old Vortigern conceived for the young and beautiful Rowena, niece to Hengist “She presented him,” (say our old Historians) “on her knee, with a cup of wine, saying ‘Waes heal, hlaford cyning,’ or, ‘Be of health, Lord King’! to which Vortigern, being instructed in the custom, answered ‘Drinc heal,’ or, ‘I drink your health’—This introduction led to the subsequent marriage of Rowena to Vort gern, who felt no more anxiety respecting the Saxon encroachments on his dominions. Verstegan, &c. &c.
The British Kings from Vortigern, till the settlement of the Saxons at the time of the Heptarchy, after which Wales became the seat of Government of the genuine Britons, were Aurelius, Ambrosius, Uther Pendragon, Arthur, Constantine II. Conan, Vortipor, Malyo, Coranus, Caractacus II. Cadwan, Cadwallan, Cadwallader; —for the succession of Welch Princes see the reign of Edward I.
The Saxons seem to have anticipated the descriptive mode of naming the months adopted by the modern French Kalendar, the floreal, Germinal, &c. of which, though more elegant, are not more expressive of the Seasons than the following:
December—their first month was styled “Midwinter Monath.” January—“Aefter Yula,” or, after Christmas. February—“Sol Monath,” from the returning Sun. March—“Rede” or, “Rethe Monath,” Rugged Month. April—“Easter Monath,” from a Saxon Goddess, whose name we still preserve. May—“Trimilchi,” from Cows being then milked thrice a day. June—“Sere Monath,” dry month. July—“Mœd Monath,” the meads being then in their bloom. August—“Weod Monath,” from the luxuriance of weeds. September—“Hœfest, (or, Harvest) Monath.” October—“Winter Fyllith,” from Winter approaching, with the full moon of that month. November—“Blot Monath,” from the blood of Cattle slain that month, and stored for winter provisions.
Wordsworth.
“Which nation rise the glorious Lord of all.”
Creech's Lucretius.
THE HEPTARCHY.
Odd numbers are deem'd fortunate, we know,And yet, 'tis odd enough they should be so;
The graces, muses, with their threes and nines,
Were dear to Pagan reverend divines.
The number seven, too, a stand has made;
Seven wonders once the universe displayed;
Seven deadly sins, seven sacraments assist,
Seven sleepers, and my readers in the list;
Seven days each week;—on seven if longer dwelling,
'Twill cost me seven too many lines the telling.
Seven kingdoms once our little isle admitted,
Each with a king, and queen, and courtiers, fitted.
East Anglia, Mercia, Essex, Sussex, Kent,
Northumberland, and Wessex; each extent
Mark'd carefully, of course, by sovereign order,
To settle rates of postage on the border.
Who, in each court, wou'd undertake the task
Of Clement-Cottrellizing? sure, no dunce,
Six English embassies to name at once.
The Plenipo from Persia, when with us,
Could ne'er create more diplomatic fuss;
The newspaper, when things unkindly went,
Announces “The Ambassador from Kent—
“Having received a warm official note,
“Has left this country—in a Gravesend boat.”
“The Essex envoy, too, has turn'd his back,
“And quits the kingdom—in a neutral hack,
“Attended by a confidential friend,
“Whose passport goes no further than Mile-end.”
“Bold Sussex, in a ministerial rage,
“Departs to-morrow—in the Brighton stage!”
“While great East-Anglia, flouncing like a dragon,
“Has taken places in the Norwich waggon.”
Critics will smoke by this time, without doubt.
London and Essex both obey'd one king—
Agreed, grave sirs, and now the blunder's out,
Let my joke pass, and take your ample swing.
THE KINGDOM OF KENT.
Began 457—Ended 823.—Metropolis, Canterbury.
“Is term'd the civil'st place of all this isle:—
“Sweet is the country,—beauteous,—full of riches,—
“The people liberal,—valiant,—active,—worthy.”
Shakespeare.
THE KINGDOM OF KENT.
Garden of Britain! whose white cliffs have namedOur island Albion.—Kent! so justly famed
For bow-men, bishops, monks, and monasteries,
For warriors, watering-places, hops, and cherries.
I name thy monarchs of the Saxon race;
Escus, then Octa, ruled in Hengist's place;
Next Hermenric, and Ethelbert succeed;
The last, renowned for many a valiant deed,
But most renowned, that, to the Pagan's loss,
By Austin taught, he rear'd the sacred cross,
His ear and heart inclin'd to Christian lore,
And light diffus'd, where darkness reign'd before.
St. Paul's Cathedral, form'd but rudely then, 604
First rose where now the spot is graced by Wren.
By Pontiff Gregory, to name their home.
“We're Angli called,” the British spokesman cried.
“Say rather Angeli,” the Pope replied.
“So would ye be, were you of Christian race.”
And Austin's mission, hence, 'tis said, took place.
This Gregory, most pious and most wise,
Made, at that time, three similar replies.
We have thought proper to select but one,
To shew the Ancients not disdain'd a pun;
That even Popes, of Toleration full,
A joke enjoy'd, and patroniz'd a bull.
While this dull age, as duller people name it,
Sees wit, folks tell ye, winking in the socket,
And swears, who makes a pun, howe'er he frame it,
The son of Ethelbert, unlike his sire,
(To Woden's worship and incestuous fire
Basely devoted) scorn'd religion's ties,
And, in too-late repentance, clos'd his eyes.—
Ercombert, Egbert, Lothaire, Widred, reign'd,
Eadbert and Ethelbert the crown sustain'd;
Next Alric, Egbert, Cuthred, Baldred, sway'd,
'Till one great Egbert all the land obey'd.
Enquiring further the name of their Province, he was answered Deiri; (a district of Northumberland) “Deiri” replied he, “that is good; they are called to the Mercy of God from his Anger; that is, De Ira.” “But how is the King of that Province named?” He was told Ælla, or Alla; “Alleluia!” cried he, “we must endeavor that the praises of God be sung in their Country.” Hume.
KINGDOM OF NORTHUMBERLAND.
Began A. D. 547.—Ended 792.—Comprised two Kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira.—Bamburgh and York were the Capitals.
KINGDOM OF NORTHUMBERLAND.
Scene of full many a desp'rate border fight!(Where Northern Chiefs, in ancient order dight,
By Percys led, met gallant Scots in arms;—
Percys, for prowess fam'd and female charms,)
Thy first king Adelfrid historians name,
'Till conquest prov'd young Edwin's better claim.
(Such just administration his, we're told,
Infants might safely bear uncounted gold!)
'Till slain by Mercian Penda. Civil jars
Divide Northumbria; and continued wars
By Osric, Eanfrid, Oswald, Oswy, waged,
Destroyed those monarchs; nor less furious raged,
While Egfrid, Alfred, Osred, Celwolf,—all,
Fought but to reign; and only reign'd to fall.
Like Celwold, Osred, Ethelbert, they closed
A list of horrors, fated not to cease,
'Till Egbert Union gave, and Union Peace.
THE KINGDOM OF EAST-ANGLIA.
Began 575.—Ended 793.—Included Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, and the Isle of Ely.—Dunwich was the Royal Residence.
THE KINGDOM OF EAST-ANGLIA.
Matter of fact is dull, when told at best,Then how can coarsest poetry digest
Such names as Uffa, Earpwold, and a host
Of Egrics, Alduffs, Elfwolds; who but boast
Short usurpation, or sad length of feud,
With fate of friends and subjects' blood imbrued!
The sanction of the venerable Bede,
Who saw so many monarchs reign and bleed,
Pourtrays a cheerless picture of that time,
When crime expelled was but expelled by crime;
When chiefs, alternate doom'd to smile or groan,
Saw Anglia fall before the Mercian throne!
Yet here, 'mid deeds that sullied British earth,
Cambridge! thy seat of learning first had birth
From Sigebert;—like the eastern star it rose,
To cheer the dim horizon;—Sigebert's name
Derives from hence more enviable fame,
Than from a thousand fields of slaughter'd foes.
THE KINGDOM OF MERCIA.
Began 582.—Ended 847.—Contained Huntingdon, Rutland, Lincoln, Northampton, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Oxford, Chester, Salop, Gloucester, Worcester, Stafford, Warwick, Bucks, Bedford.—Metropolis, Leicester.
THE KINGDOM OF MERCIA.
O'er midland Mercia, Wibba rul'd;—his crôwnHe left to Leorl.—Penda's chief renown
Sprang from his turbulence; by Oswy slain,
Peada, and swift-succeeding sovereigns reign,
Then Offa, well-beloved by Charlemagne.
Wiglaff, last ruler, Egbert taught to yield
Lord of his fate, and master of the field.
THE KINGDOM OF ESSEX,
OR, EAST SAXONS.
Began 527.—Ended 746.—Contained Essex, Middlesex, Part of Herts.—Capital, London.
THE KINGDOM OF ESSEX,
OR, EAST SAXONS.
Of Essex monarchs, little more is saidThan, that two kings among them lov'd white bread:
That Offa took great Penda's child to wife,
And vow'd, when married, to be chaste for life:
That Westminster, if records are believ'd,
From Sebert's gift her Abbey Church receiv'd;
By Sleda govern'd first, by Sigered last,
This state, with other states, to Egbert pass'd.
Sexted and Seward, sons and conjunct successors to Sebert, grandson of Erkinwin, who founded the kingdom of Essex. To shew the rude manner of living in that age, Bede tells us, that these two kings expressed great desire to eat the white bread distributed by Mellitus, the bishop, at the communion. But on his refusing them, unless they would submit to be baptised, they expelled him their dominions. Hume.
THE KINGDOM OF SUSSEX,
OR, SOUTH SAXONS.
Began 490.—Ended 600.—Contained Sussex and Surrey.— Metropolis, Chichester.
THE KINGDOM OF SUSSEX,
OR, SOUTH SAXONS.
Sussex! of modern summer beaux the boast,When British beauty gladdens Albion's coast;
Where waves transparent soften, more than hide,
Those charms, encircled by the happy tide.
Sussex! which erst saw conqu'ring William land,
And subject England to his iron hand.
Thine ancient chronicles have less in store,
Than the imperfect legends sung before;
A long parenthesis of names, I ween
From Œlla down to Adelwalch is seen;
'Till Egbert's, paramount by all confess'd,
Like Aaron's pow'rful rod engulphs the rest.
THE KINGDOM OF WESSEX,
OR, WEST SAXONS.
Began 519.—Ended 1066,—Comprised Hants, Berks, Wilts, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Part of Cornwall, and the Isle of Wight.—Chief City, Winchester.
THE KINGDOM OF WESSEX,
OR, WEST SAXONS.
A race of warlike princes, whose successThis realm increas'd, and other realms made less,
From Cerdic and his sons, to Brithric reign'd,
And still accession of domain obtain'd.
Wessex each neighbouring monarch could controul,
And spread, like snows that gather as they roll.
'Till Egbert's genius, by misfortune taught,
In camps and courts each gainful lesson caught;
By travel tutor'd, and by woes made wise,
By others' fall instructed how to rise,
And made the Seven Kingdoms all his own.
—Though Egbert became Monarch of England, he was not perfectly absolute;—he actually possessed Wessex, Sussex, Kent, and Essex, which had been peopled by Saxons and Jutes, and contented himself with preserving the sovereignty over the other three Kingdoms, (originally inhabited by the Angles) and permitting them to be governed by Kings who were his vassals.
| A Metrical History of England | |