And on the floor at random cast,
The untasted goblet fell.
But when the Warder in his ear
Tells other news, his blither cheer
Returns like sun of May,

When through a thunder-cloud it beams!-
Lord of two hundred isles, he seems
As glad of brief delay,

As some poor criminal might feel,
When, from the gibbet or the wheel,
Respited for a day.

VI.

"Brother of Lorn," with hurried voice
He said, "And you, fair lords, rejoice!
Here, to augment our glee,

Come wandering knights from travel far,
Well proved, they say, in strife of war,
And tempest on the sea.-

Ho! give them at your board such place
As best their presences may grace,
And bid them welcome free!'
With solemn step, and silver wand,
The Seneschal the presence scann'd
Of these strange guests; and well he knew
How to assign their rank its due;

For though the costly furs

That erst had deck'd their caps were torn,
And their gay robes were over-worn,
And soil'd their gilded spurs,

Yet such a high commanding grace
Was in their mien and in their face,
As suited best the princely dais,"
And royal canopy;

And there he marshall'd them their place,
First of that company.

VII.

Then lords and ladies spake aside,
And angry looks the error chide,
That gave to guests unnamed, unknown,
A place so near their prince's throne;
But Owen Erraught said-
"For forty years a seneschal,
To marshall guests in bower and hall
Has been my honour'd trade.
Worship and birth to me are known,
By look, by bearing, and by tone,
Not by furr'd robe or broider'd zone;
And 'gainst an oaken bough

I'll gage my silver wand of state,
That these three strangers oft have sate

In higher place than now."—

a Dais-the great hall-table-elevated a step or two above the rest of the room.

VIII.

"I, too," the aged Ferrand said,

Am qualified by minstrel trade

Of rank and place to tell ;Mark'd ye the younger stranger's eye, My mates, how quick, how keen, how high, How fierce its flashes fell, Glancing among the noble rout

As if to seek the noblest out,

Because the owner might not brook
On any save his peers to look ?

And yet it moves me more,
That steady, calm, majestic brow,
With which the elder chief even now
Scann'd the gay presence o'er,
Like being of superior kind,
In whose high-toned impartial mind
Degrees of mortal rank and state
Seem objects of indifferent weight
The lady too-though, closely tied,
The mantle veil both face and eye,
Her motions' grace it could not hide,
Nor could her form's fair symmetry.'
IX.

Suspicious doubt and lordly scorn
Lour'd on the haughty front of Lorn.
From underneath his brows of pride,
The stranger guests he sternly eyed,
And whisper'd closely what the ear
Of Argentine alone might hear;

Then question'd, high and brief,
If, in their voyage, aught they knew
Of the rebellious Scottish crew,
Who to Rath-Erin's shelter drew,

With Carrick's outlaw'd Chief? C

And if, their winter's exile o'er,
They harbour'd still by Ulster's shore,
Or launch'd their galleys on the main,
To vex their native land again?

X.

That younger stranger, fierce and high,
At once confronts the Chieftain's eye
With look of equal scorn;--
"Of rebels have we nought to show;
But if of royal Bruce thou 'dst know,
I warn thee he has sworn,
Ere thrice three days shall come and go,
His-banner Scottish winds shall blow,
Despite each mean or mighty foe,
From England's every bill and bow,
To Allaster of Lorn."

Kindled the mountain Chieftain's ire,
But Ronald quench'd the rising fire:-

Brother, it better suits the time

To chase the night with Ferrand's rhyme, Then wake, 'midst mirth and wine, the jars That flow from these unhappy wars.""Content," said Lorn; and spoke apart With Ferrand, master of his art, Then whisper'd Argentine,"The lay I named will carry smart To these bold strangers' haughty heart, If right this guess of mine." He ceased, and it was silence all, Until the minstrel waked the hall.

XI.

The Brooch of Lorn."

"Whence the brooch of burning gold,
That clasps the Chieftain's mantle-fold,
Wrought and chased with rare device,
Studded fair with gems of price,
On the varied tartans beaming,

As, through night's pale rainbow gleaming,
Fainter now, now seen afar,

Fitful shines the northern star?

Gem! ne'er wrought on Highland mountain,
Did the fairy of the fountain,

Or the mermaid of the wave,
Frame thee in some coral cave?
Did, in Iceland's darksome mine,

Dwarf's swart hands thy metal twine?
Or mortal-moulded, comest thou here,
From England's love, or France's fear?

XII.

Song continued.

"No!-thy splendours nothing tell
Foreign art or faëry spell.
Moulded thou for monarch's use,
By the overweening Bruce,
When the royal robe he tied

O'er a heart of wrath and pride;
Thence in triumph wert thou torn,
By the victor hand of Lorn!

"When the gem was won and lost,
Widely was the war cry toss'd!
Rung aloud Bendourish fell,
Answer'd Douchart's sounding dell,
Fled the deer from wild Teyndrum,
When the homicide, o'ercome,

Hardly 'scaped, with scathe and scorn,
Left the pledge with conquering Lorn!

Then whisper'd Argentine,"The lay I named will carry smart To these bold strangers' haughty heart, If right this guess of mine."

He ceased, and it was silence all,

Until the minstrel waked the hall.