English and Scottish Ballads Volume I Part 13

And afterwards I offered upp 85 The use of weapons solemnlye At Winchester, whereas I fought, In sight of manye farr and nye.

'But first,' neare Winsor, I did slaye A bore of pa.s.sing might and strength; 90 Whose like in England never was For hugenesse both in bredth and length.

Some of his bones in Warwicke yett Within the castle there doth lye; One of his sheeld-bones to this day 95 Hangs in the citye of Coventrye.

On Dunsmore heath I alsoe slewe A monstrous wyld and cruell beast, Calld the Dun-cow of Dunsmore heath; Which manye people had opprest. 100

Some of her bones in Warwicke yett Still for a monument doth lye, And there exposed to lookers viewe, As wondrous strange, they may espye.

A dragon in Northumberland 105 I alsoe did in fight destroye, Which did bothe man and beast oppresse, And all the countrye sore annoye.

At length to Warwicke I did come, Like pilgrim poore, and was not knowne; 110 And there I lived a hermitts life A mile and more out of the towne.

Where with my hands I hewed a house Out of a craggy rocke of stone, And lived like a palmer poore 115 Within that cave myself alone:

And daylye came to begg my bread Of Phelis att my castle gate; Not knowne unto my loved wiffe, Who dailye mourned for her mate. 120

Till att the last I fell sore sicke, Yea, sicke soe sore that I must dye; I sent to her a ring of golde, By which shee knew me presentlye.

Then shee repairing to the cave, 125 Before that I gave up the ghost, Herself closd up my dying eyes; My Phelis faire, whom I lovd most.

Thus dreadful death did me arrest, To bring my corpes unto the grave, 130 And like a palmer dyed I, Wherby I sought my soule to save.

My body that endured this toyle, Though now it be consumed to mold, My statue, faire engraven in stone, 135 In Warwicke still you may behold.

9, The proud Sir Guy, PC.

17, Two hundred, MS. and PC.

ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.

(From Percy's _Reliques_, iii. 278.)

The following rhymed legend, which, like several other pieces in this Book, can be called a ballad only by an objectionable, though common, extension of the term, was printed by Percy (with some alterations) from two "ancient" black-letter copies in the Pepys collection.

Real popular ballads on St. George's victory over the Dragon exist in several languages, though not in English.[B] Such a ballad is known to have been sung by the Swedes at the battle of Brunkeberg in 1471, and one is still sung by the people both of Denmark and Sweden.

Grundtvig gives three copies of the Danish ballad, two of the 16th and 17th centuries, and one of the present. Four versions of the Swedish have been published, of various ages (e.g. _Svenska Folkvisor_, ii.

252). A German ballad is given by Meinert, _Altdeutsche Volkslieder_, p. 254; after him by Erlach, iv. 258; and Haupt and Schmaler have printed two widely different versions of the ballad in Wendish, _Volkslieder der Wenden_, vol. i. No. 285, ii. No. 195. These are all the proper traditional ballads upon this subject which are known to be preserved, unless we include a piece called _Jurg Drachentodter_ in Zuccalmaglio's _Deutsche Volkslieder_, No. 37, which is of suspicious authenticity. The piece called _Ritter St. Georg_, in _Des Knaben Wunderhorn_, i. 151, is not a proper ballad, but a rhymed legend, like the one here printed, though intended to be sung.

[B] What follows is abridged from Grundtvig, _Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser_, ii. 554.

The hero of these ballads, St. George of Cappadocia, is said to have suffered martyrdom during the persecution in Syria, in the year 303.

In the 6th century he was a recognized saint both in the western and the eastern churches, and his reputation was limited to this character until the 13th. Reinbot von Dorn, (1231-53,) in his poem _Der Heilige Georg_, (Von der Hagen and Busching's _Deutsche Gedichte des Mittelalters_,) and Vincent de Beauvais (died 1262) in his _Speculum Historiale_ (XII. 131-32), content themselves with recounting his martyrdom, and appear to know nothing about his fight with the Dragon.

The first known writer who attributes this exploit to St. George is Jacobus a Voragine (died 1298), in the _Golden Legend_. Of course it does not follow that the story originated there. It is probable that the legend of the Dragon arose at the time of the Crusades, and indeed was partly occasioned by them, though we ought not hastily to admit, what has been suggested, that it was founded upon some tradition which the Crusaders heard in Syria.

The Byzantians had long before ascribed various miracles to St.

George, but it was the Normans, who, so to say, first pressed him into active military service.

It was he that commanded the heavenly host that came to the help of the Crusaders against the Turks, under the walls of Antioch, in the year 1098, on which occasion he was seen on his white horse, bearing the white banner with the red cross. He manifested himself again at the storming of Jerusalem in the following year, and a hundred years later was seen to fight in the front rank against the Moors in Spain, and for Frederic Barbarossa, in his crusade in 1190. But though he had entered into the service of the German emperor, this did not prevent his aiding the orthodox William of Holland in taking Aix-la-Chapelle from the excommunicated Emperor Frederic in 1248.--The most various races have contended for his protection. His feast was in 1222 ordered to be kept as a holiday throughout all England: from the beginning of the 14th century, or since the Mongol dominion was shaken off, he has been one of the guardian saints of Russia: in 1468, the Emperor Frederic III. founded the Austrian Order of St. George for the protection of the Empire against the Turks, and a few years later, in 1471, at the momentous battle of Brunkeberg, his name was the war-cry of both parties, Swedes and Danes.

That the subjugation of the Dragon (a symbolical mode of representing the extinction of Evil common to all times and peoples) should be attributed to St. George, would seem to be sufficiently explained by his having become the Christian Hero of the Middle Ages. A special reason may, however, be alleged for his connection with such a legend.

Long before the Crusades, he was depicted by the artists of the Oriental Church as the Great Martyr, with the Dragon (Anti-Christ or the Devil) at his feet, and a crowned virgin (the Church) at his side.

In like manner had Constantine the Great had himself drawn, and many other saints are represented in the same way, as Theodore, Victor, and Margaret. This symbolic representation would naturally lead to the Crusaders making St. George the hero in an achievement which was well known in connection with other names: and it would then not be too much to a.s.sume that the Normans (who, as already said, were the first to recognize his presence in battle),--the same Normans who were properly the creators of the romantic poetry of the Middle Ages,--were also the first to connect St. George with the conquest of the Dragon.

But however we may account for St. George's being introduced into such a legend, so much is sure; that from the 14th century on, the story and the hero have been inseparable: all the legendaries and all the pictures of him exhibit him as the conqueror of the Dragon: his martyrdom is nearly lost sight of, and in ballads is entirely forgotten.--As to the place which was the scene of the fight, there are many opinions. Some have fixed it in Cappadocia, others in Lybia, others in Syria, and some European nations have a.s.signed the adventure to a locality within their own bounds. Thus the Wallachians lay the scene at Orwoza, one of the Wendish ballads at Berlin, the Germans at Leipsic, the Dutch at Oudenarde, and--the people of the island of Funen at Svendborg!

Of Hector's deeds did Homer sing, And of the sack of stately Troy, What griefs fair Helena did bring, Which was Sir Paris' only joy: And by my pen I will recite 5 St. George's deeds, an English knight.

Against the Sarazens so rude Fought he full long and many a day, Where many gyaunts he subdu'd, In honour of the Christian way; 10 And after many adventures past, To Egypt land he came at last.

Now, as the story plain doth tell, Within that countrey there did rest A dreadful dragon, fierce and fell, 15 Whereby they were full sore opprest: Who by his poisonous breath each day Did many of the city slay.

The grief whereof did grow so great Throughout the limits of the land, 20 That they their wise men did intreat To shew their cunning out of hand; What way they might this fiend destroy, That did the countrey thus annoy.

The wise men all before the king, 25 This answer fram'd incontinent: The dragon none to death might bring By any means they could invent; His skin more hard than bra.s.s was found, That sword nor spear could pierce nor wound. 30

When this the people understood, They cryed out most piteouslye, The dragon's breath infects their blood, That every day in heaps they dye; Among them such a plague is bred, 35 The living scarce could bury the dead.

No means there were, as they could hear, For to appease the dragon's rage, But to present some virgin clear, Whose blood his fury might a.s.swage; 40 Each day he would a maiden eat, For to allay his hunger great.

This thing by art the wise men found, Which truly must observed be; Wherefore, throughout the city round, 45 A virgin pure of good degree Was, by the king's commission, still Taken up to serve the dragon's will.

Thus did the dragon every day Untimely crop some virgin flowr, 50 Till all the maids were worn away, And none were left him to devour; Saving the king's fair daughter bright, Her father's only heart's delight.

Then came the officers to the king, 55 That heavy message to declare, Which did his heart with sorrow sting; "She is," quoth he, "my kingdom's heir: O let us all be poisoned here, Ere she should die, that is my dear." 60

Then rose the people presently, And to the king in rage they went; They said his daughter dear should dye, The dragon's fury to prevent: "Our daughters all are dead," quoth they, 65 "And have been made the dragon's prey;

"And by their blood we rescued were, And thou hast sav'd thy life thereby; And now in sooth it is but faire, For us thy daughter so should die." 70 "O save my daughter," said the king, "And let ME feel the dragon's sting."

Then fell fair Sabra on her knee, And to her father dear did say, "O father, strive not thus for me, 75 But let me be the dragon's prey; It may be, for my sake alone This plague upon the land was thrown.

"'Tis better I should dye," she said, "Than all your subjects perish quite; 80 Perhaps the dragon here was laid, For my offence to work his spite, And after he hath suckt my gore, Your land shall feel the grief no more."

"What hast thou done, my daughter dear, 85 For to deserve this heavy scourge?

It is my fault, as may appear, Which makes the G.o.ds our state to purge; Then ought I die, to stint the strife, And to preserve thy happy life." 90

Like mad-men, all the people cried, "Thy death to us can do no good; Our safely only doth abide In making her the dragon's food."

"Lo! here I am, I come," quoth she, 95 "Therefore do what you will with me."

"Nay stay, dear daughter," quoth the queen, "And as thou art a virgin bright, That hast for vertue famous been, So let me cloath thee all in white; 100 And crown thy head with flowers sweet, An ornament for virgins meet."