That swells with silence in the tortur'd soul;
There lies the substance: and I thank thee, king,
For thy great bounty, that not only giv'st
Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way
How to lament the cause. I'll beg one boon,
And then begone and trouble you no more.
Shall I obtain it?

Bolingbroke.

Name it, fair cousin.

K. Richard. "Fair cousin"? I am greater than a

king:

For when I was a king, my flatterers

Were then but subjects; being now a subject,

I have a king here to my flatterer.

Being so great, I have no need to beg.

Bolingbroke. Yet ask.

K. Richard. And shall I have?

Bolingbroke. You shall.

K. Richard. Then give me leave to go.
Bolingbroke. Whither?

K. Richard. Whither you will, so I were from your sights.

Bolingbroke. Go, some of you, convey him to the Tower.

ACT V

SCENE IV. WINDSOR. A Room in the Castle. (Enter Bolingbroke as King, York, Lords, and Attendants. Enter Exton, with Attendants bearing a

coffin.)

Exton. Great king, within this coffin I present Thy buried fear: herein all breathless lies

The mightiest of thy greatest enemies,

Richard of Bordeaux, by me hither brought. Bolingbroke. Exton, I thank thee not; for thou hast wrought

A deed of slander, with thy fatal hand,

Upon my head and all this famous land.

Exton. From your own mouth, my lord, did I this deed.

Bolingbroke. They love not poison that do poison need,

Nor do I thee: though I did wish him dead,
I hate the murtherer, love him murtherèd.
The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labour,
But neither my good word nor princely favour:
With Cain go wander thorough1 shades of night,
And never show thy head by day nor light.
Lords, I protest, my soul is full of woe,

That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow :
Come, mourn with me for that I do lament,
And put on sullen black incontinent.2

I'll make a voyage to the Holy Land,

To wash this blood off from my guilty hand :
March sadly after; grace my mournings here;
In weeping after this untimely bier.

[Exeunt.

THE BATTLE OF OTTERBURNE

THE standing feud with Scotland gave rise to numberless raids across the Border. The following old ballad tells of a famous encounter between those two hot-headed young chieftains, James, Earl of Douglas, and the redoubtable Harry Percy. In 1388 Douglas, at the head of three thousand Scottish spears, made a raid into Northumberland and, before the walls of Newcastle, engaged Percy in single combat, capturing his lance with the attached pennon. Douglas retired in triumph, but Hotspur mustered the full force of the Border and, following hard on the Scottish rear, made a night attack upon the camp of Douglas at Otterburne, about twenty miles from the frontier. Then ensued a moonlight battle, fought on either side with unflinching bravery, and ending in the defeat of the English, Percy being taken prisoner. the Douglas was slain in the midst of the fray.

It fell about the Lammas tide,1
When muirmen 2 win their hay,

That the doughty Earl of Douglas rade
Into England to fetch a prey.

And he has ta'en the Lindsays light,
With them the Gordons gay;

But the Jardines wad not with him ride,
And they rue it to this day.

Then they hae harried3 the dales o' Tyne,
And half o' Bambrough-shire,

And the Otter-dale they burned it haill,1
And set it a' on fire.

Then he cam' up to New Castel,

And rade it round about:

But

"O who is the lord of this castel,
Or who is the lady o't?"

But up and spake Lord Percy then,
And O but he spake hie:

"It's I am the lord of this castel,
My wife is the lady gay."

"If thou'rt the lord of this castel,
Sae weel it pleases me!

For ere I cross the Border fell,1
The tane 2 of us shall dee."

He took a lang spear in his hand,
Shod with the metal free;
And forth to meet the Douglas then,
He rade richt furiouslie.

But O how pale his lady looked
Frae aff the castle wa',

As doun before the Scottish spear
She saw proud Percy fa'!

"Had we twa been upon the green,
And never an eye to see,

I wad hae had you, flesh and fell,3
But your sword shall gae wi' me."

"Now gae up to the Otterburne,
And bide there dayis three,
And gin I come not ere they end,
A fause knight ca' ye me!"

1 highland.

2 the one.

3 skin.

4 if.

"The Otterburne is a bonnie burn,1
'Tis pleasant there to be;
But there is nought at Otterburne
To fend my men and me.

"The deer rins wild on hill and dale,
The birds fly wild frae tree to tree;
But there is neither bread nor kale,2
To fend my men and me.

"Yet I will stay at Otterburne,
Where you shall welcome be;
And, if ye come not at three dayis end,
A fause lord I'll ca' thee."

"Thither will I come," Earl Percy said,
"By the might of our Ladye!"
"There will I bide thee," said the Douglas,
"My troth I plight to thee!"

They lichted high on Otterburne,
Upon the bent sae broun;
They lichted high on Otterburne,
And pitched their pallions 6 doun.

And he that had a bonnie boy,

He sent his horse to grass;
And he that had not a bonnie boy,
His ain servant he was.

Then up and spake a little boy,