The sexton paused and took a draught of ale. "'Twas there," he said, "I joined 'em at the gate, My uncle and the pedlar. What they sang, The little shadowy throng of men that walked Behind the scutcheoned coach with bare bent heads I know not; but 'twas very soft and low. They walked behind the rest, like shadows flung Behind the torch-light, from that strange dark hearse. And, some said, afterwards, they were the ghosts Of lovers that this queen had brought to death. A foolish thought it seemed to me, and yet Like the night-wind they sang. And there was one An olive-coloured man,--the pedlar said Was like a certain foreigner that she loved, One Chastelard, a wild French poet of hers. Also the pedlar thought they sang 'farewell' In words like this, and that the words in French Were written by the hapless Queen herself, When as a girl she left the vines of France For Scotland and the halls of Holyrood:-- I Though thy hands have plied their trade Eighty years without a rest, Robin Scarlet, never thy spade Built a house for such a guest! Carry her where, in earliest June, All the whitest hawthorns blow; Carry her under the midnight moon, Singing very soft and low. Slow between the low green larches, carry the lovely lady sleeping, Past the low white moon-lit farms, along the lilac-shadowed way! Carry her through the summer darkness, weeping, weeping, weeping, weeping! Answering only, to any that ask you, whence ye carry her,--_Fotheringhay!_ II She was gayer than a child! --_Let your torches droop for sorrow._-- Laughter in her eyes ran wild! --_Carry her down to Peterboro'._-- Words were kisses in her mouth! --_Let no word of blame be spoken._-- She was Queen of all the South! --_In the North, her heart was broken._-- They should have left her in her vineyards, left her heart to her land's own keeping, Left her white breast room to breathe, and left her light foot free to dance. Out of the cold grey Northern mists, we carry her weeping, weeping, weeping,-- _O, ma patrie, La plus cherie, Adieu, plaisant pays de France!_ III