"O Bothwell banks! that bloom so bright Beneath the sun of May, The heaviest cloud that ever blew Is bound for you this day. "And Scotland! thou mayst veil thy head In sorrow and in pain: The sorest stroke upon thy brow Hath fallen this day in Spain! "We'll bear them back unto our ship, We'll bear them o'er the sea, And lay them in the hallowed earth Within our own countrie. [Illustration: HELD THE HEART ALOFT] "And be thou strong of heart, Lord King, For this I tell thee sure, The sod that drank the Douglas' blood Shall never bear the Moor!" The King he lighted from his horse, He flung his brand away, And took the Douglas by the hand, So stately as he lay. "God give thee rest, thou valiant soul! That fought so well for Spain; I'd rather half my land were gone, So that thou wert here again!" We bore the good Lord James away, And the priceless heart we bore, And heavily we steered our ship Towards the Scottish shore. No welcome greeted our return, Nor clang of martial tread, But all were dumb and hushed as death Before the mighty dead. We laid our chief in Douglas Kirk, The heart in fair Melrose; And woful men were we that day,-- God grant their souls repose! THE SKELETON IN ARMOR _By_ HENRY W. LONGFELLOW "Speak! speak! thou fearful guest! Who with thy hollow breast Still in rude armor drest, Comest to daunt me! Wrapt not in Eastern balms, But with thy fleshless palms Stretched, as if asking alms, Why dost thou haunt me?" Then, from those cavernous eyes Pale flashes seemed to rise, As when the northern skies Gleam in December; And, like the water's flow Under December's snow, Came a dull voice of woe From the heart's chamber. "I was a Viking[1] old! My deeds, though manifold, No Skald[2] in song has told, No Saga[3] taught thee! [Footnote 1: _Vikings_ was the name given to the bold Norse seamen who in the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries infested the northern seas. Tradition maintains that a band of these rovers discovered America centuries before Columbus.] [Footnote 2: A skald was a Norse poet who celebrated in song the deeds of warriors.] [Footnote 3: A saga is an ancient Scandinavian legend or tradition, relating mythical or historical events.] "Take heed, that in thy verse Thou dost the tale rehearse, Else dread a dead man's curse; For this I sought thee. "Far in the Northern Land, By the wild Baltic's strand, I, with my childish hand, Tamed the gerfalcon;[4] And, with my skates fast-bound, Skimmed the half-frozen Sound, That the poor whimpering hound Trembled to walk on. [Footnote 4: A gerfalcon is a large falcon of Northern Europe.]