Ivanhoe: A Romance, Page 43

  CHAPTER XLI

  All hail to the lordlings of high degree, Who live not more happy, though greater than we! Our pastimes to see, Under every green tree, In all the gay woodland, right welcome ye be. Macdonald

  The new comers were Wilfred of Ivanhoe, on the Prior of Botolph'spalfrey, and Gurth, who attended him, on the Knight's own war-horse.The astonishment of Ivanhoe was beyond bounds, when he saw his masterbesprinkled with blood, and six or seven dead bodies lying around inthe little glade in which the battle had taken place. Nor was he lesssurprised to see Richard surrounded by so many silvan attendants, theoutlaws, as they seemed to be, of the forest, and a perilous retinuetherefore for a prince. He hesitated whether to address the King as theBlack Knight-errant, or in what other manner to demean himself towardshim. Richard saw his embarrassment.

  "Fear not, Wilfred," he said, "to address Richard Plantagenet ashimself, since thou seest him in the company of true English hearts,although it may be they have been urged a few steps aside by warmEnglish blood."

  "Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe," said the gallant Outlaw, stepping forward, "myassurances can add nothing to those of our sovereign; yet, let me saysomewhat proudly, that of men who have suffered much, he hath not truersubjects than those who now stand around him."

  "I cannot doubt it, brave man," said Wilfred, "since thou art of thenumber--But what mean these marks of death and danger? these slain men,and the bloody armour of my Prince?"

  "Treason hath been with us, Ivanhoe," said the King; "but, thanks tothese brave men, treason hath met its meed--But, now I bethink me, thoutoo art a traitor," said Richard, smiling; "a most disobedient traitor;for were not our orders positive, that thou shouldst repose thyself atSaint Botolph's until thy wound was healed?"

  "It is healed," said Ivanhoe; "it is not of more consequence than thescratch of a bodkin. But why, oh why, noble Prince, will you thus vexthe hearts of your faithful servants, and expose your life by lonelyjourneys and rash adventures, as if it were of no more value than thatof a mere knight-errant, who has no interest on earth but what lance andsword may procure him?"

  "And Richard Plantagenet," said the King, "desires no more fame than hisgood lance and sword may acquire him--and Richard Plantagenet is prouderof achieving an adventure, with only his good sword, and his good armto speed, than if he led to battle a host of an hundred thousand armedmen."

  "But your kingdom, my Liege," said Ivanhoe, "your kingdom is threatenedwith dissolution and civil war--your subjects menaced with every speciesof evil, if deprived of their sovereign in some of those dangers whichit is your daily pleasure to incur, and from which you have but thismoment narrowly escaped."

  "Ho! ho! my kingdom and my subjects?" answered Richard, impatiently; "Itell thee, Sir Wilfred, the best of them are most willing to repaymy follies in kind--For example, my very faithful servant, Wilfred ofIvanhoe, will not obey my positive commands, and yet reads his king ahomily, because he does not walk exactly by his advice. Which of us hasmost reason to upbraid the other?--Yet forgive me, my faithful Wilfred.The time I have spent, and am yet to spend in concealment, is, as Iexplained to thee at Saint Botolph's, necessary to give my friendsand faithful nobles time to assemble their forces, that when Richard'sreturn is announced, he should be at the head of such a force as enemiesshall tremble to face, and thus subdue the meditated treason, withouteven unsheathing a sword. Estoteville and Bohun will not be strongenough to move forward to York for twenty-four hours. I must have newsof Salisbury from the south; and of Beauchamp, in Warwickshire; and ofMulton and Percy in the north. The Chancellor must make sure of London.Too sudden an appearance would subject me to dangers, other thanmy lance and sword, though backed by the bow of bold Robin, or thequarter-staff of Friar Tuck, and the horn of the sage Wamba, may be ableto rescue me from."

  Wilfred bowed in submission, well knowing how vain it was to contendwith the wild spirit of chivalry which so often impelled his masterupon dangers which he might easily have avoided, or rather, which itwas unpardonable in him to have sought out. The young knight sighed,therefore, and held his peace; while Richard, rejoiced at havingsilenced his counsellor, though his heart acknowledged the justice ofthe charge he had brought against him, went on in conversation withRobin Hood.--"King of Outlaws," he said, "have you no refreshment tooffer to your brother sovereign? for these dead knaves have found meboth in exercise and appetite."

  "In troth," replied the Outlaw, "for I scorn to lie to your Grace,our larder is chiefly supplied with--" He stopped, and was somewhatembarrassed.

  "With venison, I suppose?" said Richard, gaily; "better food at needthere can be none--and truly, if a king will not remain at home andslay his own game, methinks he should not brawl too loud if he finds itkilled to his hand."

  "If your Grace, then," said Robin, "will again honour with your presenceone of Robin Hood's places of rendezvous, the venison shall not belacking; and a stoup of ale, and it may be a cup of reasonably goodwine, to relish it withal."

  The Outlaw accordingly led the way, followed by the buxom Monarch,more happy, probably, in this chance meeting with Robin Hood and hisforesters, than he would have been in again assuming his royal state,and presiding over a splendid circle of peers and nobles. Novelty insociety and adventure were the zest of life to Richard Coeur-de-Lion,and it had its highest relish when enhanced by dangers encounteredand surmounted. In the lion-hearted King, the brilliant, but uselesscharacter, of a knight of romance, was in a great measure realized andrevived; and the personal glory which he acquired by his own deeds ofarms, was far more dear to his excited imagination, than that which acourse of policy and wisdom would have spread around his government.Accordingly, his reign was like the course of a brilliant and rapidmeteor, which shoots along the face of Heaven, shedding around anunnecessary and portentous light, which is instantly swallowed up byuniversal darkness; his feats of chivalry furnishing themes for bardsand minstrels, but affording none of those solid benefits to his countryon which history loves to pause, and hold up as an example to posterity.But in his present company Richard showed to the greatest imaginableadvantage. He was gay, good-humoured, and fond of manhood in every rankof life.

  Beneath a huge oak-tree the silvan repast was hastily prepared for theKing of England, surrounded by men outlaws to his government, but whonow formed his court and his guard. As the flagon went round, the roughforesters soon lost their awe for the presence of Majesty. The songand the jest were exchanged--the stories of former deeds were toldwith advantage; and at length, and while boasting of their successfulinfraction of the laws, no one recollected they were speaking inpresence of their natural guardian. The merry King, nothing heeding hisdignity any more than his company, laughed, quaffed, and jested amongthe jolly band. The natural and rough sense of Robin Hood led him to bedesirous that the scene should be closed ere any thing should occur todisturb its harmony, the more especially that he observed Ivanhoe's browclouded with anxiety. "We are honoured," he said to Ivanhoe, apart, "bythe presence of our gallant Sovereign; yet I would not that he dalliedwith time, which the circumstances of his kingdom may render precious."

  "It is well and wisely spoken, brave Robin Hood," said Wilfred, apart;"and know, moreover, that they who jest with Majesty even in its gayestmood are but toying with the lion's whelp, which, on slight provocation,uses both fangs and claws."

  "You have touched the very cause of my fear," said the Outlaw; "mymen are rough by practice and nature, the King is hasty as well asgood-humoured; nor know I how soon cause of offence may arise, or howwarmly it may be received--it is time this revel were broken off."

  "It must be by your management then, gallant yeoman," said Ivanhoe;"for each hint I have essayed to give him serves only to induce him toprolong it."

  "Must I so soon risk the pardon and favour of my Sovereign?" said RobinHood, pausing for all instant; "but by Saint Christopher, it shall beso. I were undeserving his grace did I not peril it for his good.--Here,Scathlock, get thee behind yonder thicket, and w
ind me a Norman blast onthy bugle, and without an instant's delay on peril of your life."

  Scathlock obeyed his captain, and in less than five minutes therevellers were startled by the sound of his horn.

  "It is the bugle of Malvoisin," said the Miller, starting to his feet,and seizing his bow. The Friar dropped the flagon, and grasped hisquarter-staff. Wamba stopt short in the midst of a jest, and betookhimself to sword and target. All the others stood to their weapons.

  Men of their precarious course of life change readily from the banquetto the battle; and, to Richard, the exchange seemed but a succession ofpleasure. He called for his helmet and the most cumbrous parts of hisarmour, which he had laid aside; and while Gurth was putting them on,he laid his strict injunctions on Wilfred, under pain of his highestdispleasure, not to engage in the skirmish which he supposed wasapproaching.

  "Thou hast fought for me an hundred times, Wilfred,--and I have seenit. Thou shalt this day look on, and see how Richard will fight for hisfriend and liegeman."

  In the meantime, Robin Hood had sent off several of his followers indifferent directions, as if to reconnoitre the enemy; and when he sawthe company effectually broken up, he approached Richard, who was nowcompletely armed, and, kneeling down on one knee, craved pardon of hisSovereign.

  "For what, good yeoman?" said Richard, somewhat impatiently. "Have wenot already granted thee a full pardon for all transgressions? Thinkestthou our word is a feather, to be blown backward and forward between us?Thou canst not have had time to commit any new offence since that time?"

  "Ay, but I have though," answered the yeoman, "if it be an offence todeceive my prince for his own advantage. The bugle you have heardwas none of Malvoisin's, but blown by my direction, to break off thebanquet, lest it trenched upon hours of dearer import than to be thusdallied with."

  He then rose from his knee, folded his arm on his bosom, and in a mannerrather respectful than submissive, awaited the answer of the King,--likeone who is conscious he may have given offence, yet is confident in therectitude of his motive. The blood rushed in anger to the countenanceof Richard; but it was the first transient emotion, and his sense ofjustice instantly subdued it.

  "The King of Sherwood," he said, "grudges his venison and his wine-flaskto the King of England? It is well, bold Robin!--but when you come tosee me in merry London, I trust to be a less niggard host. Thou artright, however, good fellow. Let us therefore to horse and away--Wilfredhas been impatient this hour. Tell me, bold Robin, hast thou never afriend in thy band, who, not content with advising, will needs directthy motions, and look miserable when thou dost presume to act forthyself?"

  "Such a one," said Robin, "is my Lieutenant, Little John, who is evennow absent on an expedition as far as the borders of Scotland; and Iwill own to your Majesty, that I am sometimes displeased by the freedomof his councils--but, when I think twice, I cannot be long angry withone who can have no motive for his anxiety save zeal for his master'sservice."

  "Thou art right, good yeoman," answered Richard; "and if I had Ivanhoe,on the one hand, to give grave advice, and recommend it by the sadgravity of his brow, and thee, on the other, to trick me into what thouthinkest my own good, I should have as little the freedom of mine ownwill as any king in Christendom or Heathenesse.--But come, sirs, let usmerrily on to Coningsburgh, and think no more on't."

  Robin Hood assured them that he had detached a party in the direction ofthe road they were to pass, who would not fail to discover and apprizethem of any secret ambuscade; and that he had little doubt they wouldfind the ways secure, or, if otherwise, would receive such timely noticeof the danger as would enable them to fall back on a strong troop ofarchers, with which he himself proposed to follow on the same route.

  The wise and attentive precautions adopted for his safety touchedRichard's feelings, and removed any slight grudge which he might retainon account of the deception the Outlaw Captain had practised upon him.He once more extended his hand to Robin Hood, assured him of his fullpardon and future favour, as well as his firm resolution to restrain thetyrannical exercise of the forest rights and other oppressive laws, bywhich so many English yeomen were driven into a state of rebellion. ButRichard's good intentions towards the bold Outlaw were frustrated by theKing's untimely death; and the Charter of the Forest was extortedfrom the unwilling hands of King John when he succeeded to his heroicbrother. As for the rest of Robin Hood's career, as well as the taleof his treacherous death, they are to be found in those black-lettergarlands, once sold at the low and easy rate of one halfpenny.

  "Now cheaply purchased at their weight in gold."

  The Outlaw's opinion proved true; and the King, attended by Ivanhoe,Gurth, and Wamba, arrived, without any interruption, within view of theCastle of Coningsburgh, while the sun was yet in the horizon.

  There are few more beautiful or striking scenes in England, than arepresented by the vicinity of this ancient Saxon fortress. The soft andgentle river Don sweeps through an amphitheatre, in which cultivation isrichly blended with woodland, and on a mount, ascending from the river,well defended by walls and ditches, rises this ancient edifice, which,as its Saxon name implies, was, previous to the Conquest, a royalresidence of the kings of England. The outer walls have probably beenadded by the Normans, but the inner keep bears token of very greatantiquity. It is situated on a mount at one angle of the inner court,and forms a complete circle of perhaps twenty-five feet in diameter.The wall is of immense thickness, and is propped or defended by six hugeexternal buttresses which project from the circle, and rise up againstthe sides of the tower as if to strengthen or to support it. Thesemassive buttresses are solid when they arise from the foundation, and agood way higher up; but are hollowed out towards the top, and terminatein a sort of turrets communicating with the interior of the keep itself.The distant appearance of this huge building, with these singularaccompaniments, is as interesting to the lovers of the picturesque, asthe interior of the castle is to the eager antiquary, whose imaginationit carries back to the days of the Heptarchy. A barrow, in the vicinityof the castle, is pointed out as the tomb of the memorable Hengist; andvarious monuments, of great antiquity and curiosity, are shown in theneighbouring churchyard. [57]

  When Coeur-de-Lion and his retinue approached this rude yetstately building, it was not, as at present, surrounded by externalfortifications. The Saxon architect had exhausted his art in renderingthe main keep defensible, and there was no other circumvallation than arude barrier of palisades.

  A huge black banner, which floated from the top of the tower, announcedthat the obsequies of the late owner were still in the act of beingsolemnized. It bore no emblem of the deceased's birth or quality,for armorial bearings were then a novelty among the Norman chivalrythemselves and, were totally unknown to the Saxons. But above thegate was another banner, on which the figure of a white horse,rudely painted, indicated the nation and rank of the deceased, by thewell-known symbol of Hengist and his Saxon warriors.

  All around the castle was a scene of busy commotion; for such funeralbanquets were times of general and profuse hospitality, which not onlyevery one who could claim the most distant connexion with the deceased,but all passengers whatsoever, were invited to partake. The wealth andconsequence of the deceased Athelstane, occasioned this custom to beobserved in the fullest extent.

  Numerous parties, therefore, were seen ascending and descending the hillon which the castle was situated; and when the King and his attendantsentered the open and unguarded gates of the external barrier, the spacewithin presented a scene not easily reconciled with the cause of theassemblage. In one place cooks were toiling to roast huge oxen, and fatsheep; in another, hogsheads of ale were set abroach, to be drained atthe freedom of all comers. Groups of every description were to be seendevouring the food and swallowing the liquor thus abandoned totheir discretion. The naked Saxon serf was drowning the sense ofhis half-year's hunger and thirst, in one day of gluttony anddrunkenness--the more pampered burgess and guild-brother was eating hismorsel wi
th gust, or curiously criticising the quantity of the malt andthe skill of the brewer. Some few of the poorer Norman gentry might alsobe seen, distinguished by their shaven chins and short cloaks, and notless so by their keeping together, and looking with great scorn on thewhole solemnity, even while condescending to avail themselves of thegood cheer which was so liberally supplied.

  Mendicants were of course assembled by the score, together withstrolling soldiers returned from Palestine, (according to their ownaccount at least,) pedlars were displaying their wares, travellingmechanics were enquiring after employment, and wandering palmers,hedge-priests, Saxon minstrels, and Welsh bards, were muttering prayers,and extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes. [58]

  One sent forth the praises of Athelstane in a doleful panegyric;another, in a Saxon genealogical poem, rehearsed the uncouth and harshnames of his noble ancestry. Jesters and jugglers were not awanting,nor was the occasion of the assembly supposed to render the exercise oftheir profession indecorous or improper. Indeed the ideas of the Saxonson these occasions were as natural as they were rude. If sorrow wasthirsty, there was drink--if hungry, there was food--if it sunk downupon and saddened the heart, here were the means supplied of mirth, orat least of amusement. Nor did the assistants scorn to avail themselvesof those means of consolation, although, every now and then, as ifsuddenly recollecting the cause which had brought them together, the mengroaned in unison, while the females, of whom many were present, raisedup their voices and shrieked for very woe.

  Such was the scene in the castle-yard at Coningsburgh when it wasentered by Richard and his followers. The seneschal or steward deignednot to take notice of the groups of inferior guests who were perpetuallyentering and withdrawing, unless so far as was necessary to preserveorder; nevertheless he was struck by the good mien of the Monarch andIvanhoe, more especially as he imagined the features of the latter werefamiliar to him. Besides, the approach of two knights, for such theirdress bespoke them, was a rare event at a Saxon solemnity, and could notbut be regarded as a sort of honour to the deceased and his family. Andin his sable dress, and holding in his hand his white wand of office,this important personage made way through the miscellaneous assemblageof guests, thus conducting Richard and Ivanhoe to the entrance of thetower. Gurth and Wamba speedily found acquaintances in the court-yard,nor presumed to intrude themselves any farther until their presenceshould be required.