XXIII. Now, clear the ring! for, hand to hand, The manly wrestlers take their stand. Two o'er the rest superior rose, And proud demanded mightier foes, Nor call'd in vain; for Douglas came. --For life is Hugh of Larbert lame; Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, Whom senseless home his comrades bear. Prize of the wrestling match, the King To Douglas gave a golden ring, While coldly glanced his eye of blue, As frozen drop of wintry dew. Douglas would speak, but in his breast His struggling soul his words suppress'd; Indignant then he turn'd him where Their arms the brawny yeoman bare, To hurl the massive bar in air. When each his utmost strength had shown, The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone From its deep bed, then heaved it high, And sent the fragment through the sky, A rood beyond the farthest mark;-- And still in Stirling's royal park, The gray-haired sires, who know the past, To strangers point the Douglas-cast,[310] And moralize on the decay Of Scottish strength in modern day. [310] The throw made by Douglas. XXIV. The vale with loud applauses rang, The Ladies' Rock[311] sent back the clang. The King, with look unmoved, bestow'd A purse well fill'd with pieces broad. Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, And threw the gold among the crowd, Who now, with anxious wonder, scan, And sharper glance, the dark gray man; Till whispers rose among the throng, That heart so free, and hand so strong, Must to the Douglas blood belong; The old men mark'd, and shook the head, To see his hair with silver spread, And wink'd aside, and told each son Of feats upon the English done, Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand Was exiled from his native land. The women praised his stately form, Though wreck'd by many a winter's storm; The youth with awe and wonder saw His strength surpassing nature's law. Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd, Till murmur rose to clamors loud. But not a glance from that proud ring Of peers who circled round the King, With Douglas held communion kind, Or call'd the banish'd man to mind; No, not from those who, at the chase, Once held his side the honor'd place, Begirt[312] his board, and, in the field, Found safety underneath his shield; For he, whom royal eyes disown, When was his form to courtiers known! [311] A point from which the ladies of the court viewed the games. [312] Surrounded. XXV.