There sawe I Love upon the wall,

How he his banner did display: Alarme! alarme! he gan to call:

And bad his souldiours kepe aray.

The armes, the which that Cupide bare,

Were pearced hartes with teares besprent, 10 In silver and sable to declare

The stedfast love, he alwayes ment.

There might you se his band all drest

In colours like to white and blacke, With powder and with pelletes prest

To bring the fort to spoile and sacke.

15

Good-wyll, the maister of the shot,

Stode in the rampire brave and proude, For spence of pouder he sparèd not

Assault! assault! to crye aloude.

20

There might you heare the cannons rore;

Eche pece discharged a lovers loke; Which had the power to rent, and tore

In any place whereas they toke.

25

And even with the trumpettes sowne

The scaling ladders were up set, And Beautie walked up and downe,

With bow in hand, and arrowes whet.

30

Then first Desire began to scale,

And shrouded him under [his] targe;
As one the worthiest of them all,
And aptest for to give the charge.

Ver. 30, her. Ed. 1557. so. Ed. 1585.

Then pushed souldiers with their pikes,

And halberdès with handy strokes; The argabushe in fleshe it lightes,

And duns the ayre with misty smokes.

And, as it is the souldiers use

When shot and powder gins to want, I hanged up my flagge of truce,

And pleaded up for my livès grant.

When Fansy thus had made her breche,

And Beauty entred with her band, With bagge and baggage, sely wretch,

I yelded into Beauties hand.

45

Then Beautie bad to blow retrete,

And every souldier to retire,
And mercy wylld with spede to fet

Me captive bound as prisoner.

50

Madame,' quoth I, "sith that this day

Hath served you at all assayes, I yeld to you without delay

Here of the fortresse all the kayes.

And sith that I have ben the marke,

At whom you shot at with your eye; Nedes must you with your handy warke,

Or salve my sore, or let me die.'

55 1589.' in p. 48, having named Skelton, adds, “In the latter end of the same kings raigne [Henry VIII] sprong up a new company of courtly Makers, [poets) of whom Sir Thomas Wyat th' elder, and Henry Earl of Surrey were the two chieftaines, who having travailed into Italie, and there tasted the sweet and stately measures and stile of the Italian poesie. . . greatly polished our rude and homely manner of vulgar poesie . ... In the same time, or not long after was the Lord Nicholas Vaux, a man of much facilitie in vulgar makings.'1_Webbe in his • Discourse of English Poetrie,' 1586, ranges them in the following order, “The E. of Surrey, the Lord Vaux, Norton, Bristow.' And Gascoigne, in the place quoted in the 1st vol. of this work [B. II. No. II.] mentions Lord Vaux after Surrey.- Again, the stile and measure of Lord Vaux's pieces seem too refined and polished for the age of Henry VII. and rather resemble the smoothness and barmony of Surrey and Wyat, than the rude metre of Skelton and Hawes. But what puts the matter out of all doubt, in the British Museum is a copy of his poem, • I lothe that I did love,' [vid. vol. I. ubi supra] with this title, “A dyttye or sonet made by the Lord Vaus, in the time of the noble Quene Marye, representing the image of Death.' Harl. MSS No. 1703, S. 25.

It is evident then that Lord Vaux the poet was not he that flourished in the reign of Henry vij. but either his son, or grandson: and yet according to Dugdale's Baronage, the former was named Thomas, and the latter William: but this difficulty is not great, for none of the old writers mention the christian name of the poetic Lord Vaux?, except Puttenham; and it is more likely that he might be mistaken in that Lord's name, than in the time in which he lived, who was so nearly his contemporary.

Thomas Lord Vaux, of Harrowden in Northamptonshire, was summoned to Parliament in 1531. When he died does not appear; but he probably lived till the latter end of Queen Mary's reign, since his son, William, was not summoned to parl. till the last year of that reign, in 1558. This Lord died in 1595. See Dugdale, V. II. p. 304. Upon the whole I am inclined to believe that Lord Thomas was the Poet..

IX.

SIR ALDINGAR.

This old fabulous legend is given from the Editor's folio MS. with conjectural emendations, and the insertion of some additional stanzas to supply and complete the story.

It has been suggested to the Editor, that the author of this poem seems to have had in his eye the story of Gunhilda, who is sometimes called Eleanor, and was married to the Emperor (here called King) Henry.

li.e. Compositions in English._2 In the Paradise of Dainty Devises, 1596, he is called simply Lord Vanx the elder.'

Our king he kept a false stewarde,

Sir Aldingar they him call;
A falser steward than he was one,

Servde not in bower nor hall.

He wolde have layne by our comelye queene, 6

Her deere worshippe to betraye:
Our queene she was a good woman,

And evermore said him naye.

Sir Aldingar was wrothe in his mind,

With her hee was never content,
Till traiterous meanes he colde devyse,

In a fyer to have her brent.

10

There came a lazar to the kings gate,

A lazar both blinde and lame:
He tooke the lazar upon his backe,

Him on the queenes bed has layne,

15

Lye still, lazar, wheras thou lyest,

Looke thou goe not hence away;
Ile make thee a whole man and a sound

In two howers of the day.'1

20

Then went him forth sir Aldingar,

And hyed him to our king:
'If I might have grace, as I have space,

Sad tydings I could bring.'

25

“Say on, say on, sir Aldingar,

Saye on the soothe to mee.
Our queene hath chosen a new new love,

And shee will have none of thee. 1 He probably insinuates that the king should heal him by his power of touching for the King's Evil.

30

If shee had chosen a right good knight,

The lesse had beene her shame; But she hath chose her a lazar man,

A lazar both blinde and lame.'

If this be true, thou Aldingar,

The tyding thou tellest to me,
Then will I make thee a rich rich knight,

Rich both of golde and fee.

35

But if it be false, sir Aldingar,

As God nowe grant it bee!
Thy body, I sweare by the holye rood,

Shall hang on the gallows tree.'

40

He brought our king to the queenes chamber,

And opend to him the dore. • A lodlye love,' king Harry says,

For our queene dame Elinore!

45

If thou were a man, as thou art none,

Here on my sword thoust. dye;
But a payre of new gallowes shall be built,

And there shalt thou hang on hye.”

50

Forth then hyed our king, I wysse,

And an angry man was hee;
And soone he found queene Elinore,

That bride so bright of blee.

'Now God you save, our queene, madame,

And Christ you save and see;
Heere you have chosen a newe newe love,

And you will have none of mee.

55