The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth With Sixteen Illustrations. By Philip Gilbert Hamerton |
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DE ARGENTINE. |
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 | The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of my Youth |  |
209
DE ARGENTINE.
“Come home, come home, De Argentine,
Let prowess find its proper use;
A foeman worthy swords like thine
Is up in arms—the rebel Bruce!”
Let prowess find its proper use;
A foeman worthy swords like thine
Is up in arms—the rebel Bruce!”
He rode to Scotland with the king,
But all his valour could not turn
The day against that chosen ring
Who fought round Bruce at Bannockburn.
But all his valour could not turn
The day against that chosen ring
Who fought round Bruce at Bannockburn.
He left the thickest of the fight,
And sought the king. “This fatal war,”
Said he, “must end before to-night;
You will be safer at Dunbar.”
And sought the king. “This fatal war,”
Said he, “must end before to-night;
You will be safer at Dunbar.”
“Attend me, then, De Argentine!”
But scorn inflamed that soldier's eye:
“Be safety yours, but honour mine,—
'Tis not my wont to fly!”
But scorn inflamed that soldier's eye:
“Be safety yours, but honour mine,—
'Tis not my wont to fly!”
210
He turned his charger as before,
And so fulfilled his lofty boast;
His silver armour, red with gore,
Was trampled by the Scottish host.
And so fulfilled his lofty boast;
His silver armour, red with gore,
Was trampled by the Scottish host.
Sir Giles de Argentine, knt. slain in Scotland at the battel of Bannocksburne near Strivelin, in 7th Edward II. It is said, that the king himself being in that fatal battel, and seeing the danger, by the advice of this Sir Giles (who being then lately come from the wars of Henry de Luzemburg, the emperour, and reputed a stout warrior), fled to Dunbar; and that this Sir Giles, saying he was not wont to fly, returned to the English host, and was slain. —Dugdale.
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