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 |
 | I. |
 | 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
|
|
|
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
| II. |
 | A Metrical History of England |  |
151
“But who shall teach my harp to gain
“A sound of the romantic strain
“Whose Anglo-Norman tones while're
“Cou'd win the royal Henry's ear.
“Famed Beauclere call'd, for that he loved,
“The minstrel, and his lay approved.”
Walter Scott.
“A sound of the romantic strain
“Whose Anglo-Norman tones while're
“Cou'd win the royal Henry's ear.
“Famed Beauclere call'd, for that he loved,
“The minstrel, and his lay approved.”
Walter Scott.
“For learning is better than house or land.”
School Boy's Poetry.
School Boy's Poetry.
“Henry was called ‘Beauclerc,’ from his attention to
learning, he had heard his father say, that ‘Illiterate Kings
were little better than crowned asses,” and determined not
to come under that description.”
Camden.
HENRY BEAUCLERC.
Of Henry's learning, and the wise reform,
He in the royal houshold made,—nay more,
Abolish'd nightly curfew bells that rung
Throughout the land of Albion, and deranged
At early hour the interesting chat
Of lovers just affianc'd—or of friends,
Who, brought to council by the hope of gain
On trade, were speculating hundreds deep;
Or learned clerks, in disquisition grave,
By classic lamps; or poets, poor as we,
Condemn'd to rhyme for ways and means to eat;
Sing, muse historic—Widows too, we learn,
By his command have jointures, and are free
To marry as they list, and marry did,
Merely to shew the loyal reverence
They bore the King's behest.—The laws 'erst made
By the Confessor Edward were restored
By Henry, who, to please the English, wed
With Maud, descendant of the Scottish King,
And Edgar Ath'ling's sister. —At this time
King Henry's Brother Robert claim'd the crown,
And from the Holy Land return'd with troops
His fancied right to aid—subdued, forgiven,
And set at liberty, again he fights
Against his brother; captive ta'en, and sent
To Cardiff, whence, in vain, he tries escape,
And, first deprived of sight, soon finds a grave;
Glo'ster Cathedral holds the Duke's remains,
Encag'd in trellis'd iron. Heart of Oak
Supplies a figure, armed cap-a-pie,
But such as modern warriors would disdain,
And ladies' ridicule on gay parade.
Lewis, of France, invades the Norman lands,
Him Henry meets, and quells th' invading King.
But when returning, mournful is the tale,
Prince William, Beauclerc's son, a splendid train
Of Knights and Nobles, with the Princess Maud,
And many worthies perish'd in the waves!
And when to Normandy the King return'd,
By (not habitual) intemp'rance, he
Met also with his death. He was interred
At Reading Abbey, which his zeal endow'd.
Twice did he wed—his second Queen, the child
Of Godfrey, of Loraine. In time of dearth
(From April till the harvest time,) he fed
Ten thousand of his Norman subjects,—built,
In Oxfordshire, famed Woodstock Palace, which
Still bears the stamp of his munificence.
He in the royal houshold made,—nay more,
Abolish'd nightly curfew bells that rung
Throughout the land of Albion, and deranged
At early hour the interesting chat
Of lovers just affianc'd—or of friends,
Who, brought to council by the hope of gain
On trade, were speculating hundreds deep;
Or learned clerks, in disquisition grave,
By classic lamps; or poets, poor as we,
152
Sing, muse historic—Widows too, we learn,
By his command have jointures, and are free
To marry as they list, and marry did,
Merely to shew the loyal reverence
They bore the King's behest.—The laws 'erst made
By the Confessor Edward were restored
By Henry, who, to please the English, wed
With Maud, descendant of the Scottish King,
And Edgar Ath'ling's sister. —At this time
153
And from the Holy Land return'd with troops
His fancied right to aid—subdued, forgiven,
And set at liberty, again he fights
Against his brother; captive ta'en, and sent
To Cardiff, whence, in vain, he tries escape,
And, first deprived of sight, soon finds a grave;
Glo'ster Cathedral holds the Duke's remains,
Encag'd in trellis'd iron. Heart of Oak
Supplies a figure, armed cap-a-pie,
But such as modern warriors would disdain,
And ladies' ridicule on gay parade.
Lewis, of France, invades the Norman lands,
Him Henry meets, and quells th' invading King.
But when returning, mournful is the tale,
Prince William, Beauclerc's son, a splendid train
Of Knights and Nobles, with the Princess Maud,
And many worthies perish'd in the waves!
And when to Normandy the King return'd,
By (not habitual) intemp'rance, he
Met also with his death. He was interred
At Reading Abbey, which his zeal endow'd.
154
Of Godfrey, of Loraine. In time of dearth
(From April till the harvest time,) he fed
Ten thousand of his Norman subjects,—built,
In Oxfordshire, famed Woodstock Palace, which
Still bears the stamp of his munificence.
Yet will the liberal minded mourn to hear
That, having ta'en in war a hapless bard,
Who in some paltry measures (like to mine,)
Had ridiculed his greatness, his revenge,
(Tho' Sov'reigns for the poet pleaded hard,)
Depriv'd the wretched captive of his eyes,
Whose agony ensuing caus'd his death.
Henry Beauclerc, of all our British Kings,
Shou'd have respected the proud name he bore,
Nor by inordinate and mean revenge,
Have own'd the poet's satyre had its force.
In this King's reign a house of monks first gave
The Dunmow Charter, which entitles those
Who live in wedlock, sans debate, one year
To a fine flitch of bacon—one blest pair
Ask'd and obtained it; and about that time,
Thames water fail'd, the river bed was dry,
Men, women, children, walked across where now
Stands London Bridge—This and the happy two
Who gain'd the Dunmow Flitch, astonish'd much
The gaping vulgar, and we hav'nt heard
That either prodigy occur'd again.
That, having ta'en in war a hapless bard,
Who in some paltry measures (like to mine,)
Had ridiculed his greatness, his revenge,
(Tho' Sov'reigns for the poet pleaded hard,)
Depriv'd the wretched captive of his eyes,
Whose agony ensuing caus'd his death.
Henry Beauclerc, of all our British Kings,
Shou'd have respected the proud name he bore,
Nor by inordinate and mean revenge,
Have own'd the poet's satyre had its force.
155
The Dunmow Charter, which entitles those
Who live in wedlock, sans debate, one year
To a fine flitch of bacon—one blest pair
Ask'd and obtained it; and about that time,
Thames water fail'd, the river bed was dry,
Men, women, children, walked across where now
Stands London Bridge—This and the happy two
Who gain'd the Dunmow Flitch, astonish'd much
The gaping vulgar, and we hav'nt heard
That either prodigy occur'd again.
A Muse, cotemporary with the King
By way of Elegy, thus chose to sing.
By way of Elegy, thus chose to sing.
Queen Maud, or Matilda, was the delight of the English, both on account of her descent and goodness of heart. To her we owe the first stone arched bridges England ever possessed:— she built two at Stratford, in Essex, (thence called De Arcubus, or Le Bow,) where she had nearly been drowned for want of such a convenience. What follows is part of an eulogy on her, preserved by Camden:
Prospera non lætam facere, nec aspera tristem,
Prospera terror ei, aspera risus erant,
Non decor efficit fragilem non sceptra superbam
Sola potens humilis, sola Pudica decens.
Prospera terror ei, aspera risus erant,
Non decor efficit fragilem non sceptra superbam
Sola potens humilis, sola Pudica decens.
Imitated.
By woes her mind was near cast down,Nor by success beguiled,
She met good fortune with a frown,
At fortune's frowns she smiled:
Where shall we find a Queen with this to pair,
Tho' sceptred, humble—chaste, tho' great and fair?
J.P. Andrews.
“No, no,” said the irritated King to a great foreign Prince who interceded for the wretched poet, “for this man being forsooth a Wit, a Bard, and a Minstrel, hath composed many indecent songs against me, and moreover hath sung them openly to the great entertainment of my enemies. Now, since it hath pleased God to deliver him into my hands, he shall be punished to deter others from the like petulance.” So the sentence took place, and the imprudent poet died of the wounds he receiv'd in struggling with the executioner. Ordericus Vitelis.—Vide Andrews.
156
Poetry of the Year 1135.
[King Henry is ded! bewty of the world]
King Henry is ded! bewty of the world,
For whom is grete dole;
The Goddes now maken room for their kind brother,
For he is Sole.
Mercurius in speech, Marce in battayle,
In hest strong Appollo;
Jupiter in hest, egall with Saturn,
And enemie to Cupido;
King he was a right,
And man of most myght,
And glorious in rayninge.
For whom is grete dole;
The Goddes now maken room for their kind brother,
For he is Sole.
Mercurius in speech, Marce in battayle,
In hest strong Appollo;
Jupiter in hest, egall with Saturn,
And enemie to Cupido;
King he was a right,
And man of most myght,
And glorious in rayninge.
And when he left his crowne
Then fell honour down,
For misse of such a King;
Normandy then gan Lowre,
For loss of their flowre,
And sange wel-a-way!
Englond made mone,
And Scotland did grone,
For to see that day!
Then fell honour down,
For misse of such a King;
Normandy then gan Lowre,
For loss of their flowre,
And sange wel-a-way!
Englond made mone,
And Scotland did grone,
For to see that day!
Vide “The Muse's Library.”
| A Metrical History of England | |