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 |  |
159
“King Stephen was a worthy Peer.”
Old Ballads.
Old Ballads.
“A fellow of infinite jest.”
Shakespeare.
Shakespeare.
“Stephen was a man of great facetiousness, and much of
his success is to be imputed to the familiar pleasantry of
his conversation.”
William of Malmsbury.
“Since they have made me their King,” said the gallant
Stephen, “why do they now forsake me? By the birth of
“God I will not be called an abdicated Monarch.”
Ibidem.—Vide J. P. Andrews.
STEPHEN.
Brave to a fault, of humour fair and free,
Yet his possession of Old England's Throne,
Was a faux pas, since reasons strong there be,
To prove the property was not his own.
Yet his possession of Old England's Throne,
Was a faux pas, since reasons strong there be,
To prove the property was not his own.
The daughter of King Henry, Maud by name,
(Matilda, ladies, sounds more sweet, I ween,)
Was heiress—and King Stephen, to his shame,
Had sworn allegiance to her as his Queen.
(Matilda, ladies, sounds more sweet, I ween,)
Was heiress—and King Stephen, to his shame,
Had sworn allegiance to her as his Queen.
160
Not that I blame the Monarch for his oath,
'Twas merely common honesty to take it,
But every gentleman should be right loath
Having an affidavit made to break it.
'Twas merely common honesty to take it,
But every gentleman should be right loath
Having an affidavit made to break it.
Much in this fashion too Matilda thought,
Whose reasons were so back'd with horse and foot,
That tho', while axe and sword were good, he fought,
He lost his liberty and crown to boot.
Whose reasons were so back'd with horse and foot,
That tho', while axe and sword were good, he fought,
He lost his liberty and crown to boot.
But “fortune de la guerre” is quick in change,
Stephen was freed, and Maud forced to be off in
(Conveyance for a living Queen most strange,)
Not coach or chariot, but a screw'd up coffin.
Stephen was freed, and Maud forced to be off in
(Conveyance for a living Queen most strange,)
Not coach or chariot, but a screw'd up coffin.
In strains of Scott we next declare,
How “Scotland's dauntless King and Heir,
“(Although with them they led
“Galwegians, wild as ocean's gale,
“And Lodon's Knights, all sheath'd in mail,
“And the bold men of Teviotdale,)
“Before his standard fled.”
How “Scotland's dauntless King and Heir,
“(Although with them they led
“Galwegians, wild as ocean's gale,
“And Lodon's Knights, all sheath'd in mail,
161
“Before his standard fled.”
Next came Plantagenet (Matilda's son),
To make essay for what his mother won;
But England's Monarch kept the youth at bay,
Till Eustace, Stephen's hope and heir,
(Death shews for princes little care,)
Was from the scene of warfare snatch'd away.
To make essay for what his mother won;
But England's Monarch kept the youth at bay,
Till Eustace, Stephen's hope and heir,
(Death shews for princes little care,)
Was from the scene of warfare snatch'd away.
Then, and you wo'nt imagine him unwise,
King Stephen, to conclude the strife,
With his opponent made this compromise,
He was to wear the crown while he had life,
Mean time young Henry swore to keep the peace,
And take the sceptre at the King's decease.
King Stephen, to conclude the strife,
With his opponent made this compromise,
He was to wear the crown while he had life,
Mean time young Henry swore to keep the peace,
And take the sceptre at the King's decease.
Nor did he long survive.—For nineteen years
But little in this reign appears,
Save contests sung of—and that Chiefs had leave,
Often in law's despite,
To build strong castles, and bereave,
By force and arms, the poor man of his right.
The Canon law, cotemporaries say,
First in this reign, to England found its way.
But little in this reign appears,
162
Often in law's despite,
To build strong castles, and bereave,
By force and arms, the poor man of his right.
The Canon law, cotemporaries say,
First in this reign, to England found its way.
Stephen's remains at Faversham inurn'd,
Remain'd until, disgrace upon their names,
Reformers, who dug up, pull'd down, and burn'd,
Threw the once valiant Sov'reign in the Thames;
With sacrilegious hands profaned the dead,
For paltry plunder of his coffin'd lead.
Remain'd until, disgrace upon their names,
Reformers, who dug up, pull'd down, and burn'd,
Threw the once valiant Sov'reign in the Thames;
With sacrilegious hands profaned the dead,
For paltry plunder of his coffin'd lead.
Maud, or Matilda, first married the Emperor Henry IV. and afterwards Geoffry Plantagenet, Earl of Anjou, by whom she had King Henry II. of England.
Several historians represent a coffin as the vehicle in which the Empress was reduced to make her escape.
This was attributed by the superstition of the times (when David I. with his son Henry, invaded Northumberland, in 1136,) to the holy banner of St. Cuthbert, under which the English marched, and owed to its efficacy the great victory they obtained in the bloody battle of Northallerton, or Arton Moor. Vide Margerion, Notes to Canto II.
| A Metrical History of England | |