Down she threw the mantle,

No longer bold or gay,

But, with a face all pale and wan, To her chamber slunk away.

Then forth came an old knight
A pattering o'er his creed,
And proffered to the little boy
Five nobles to his meed:

"And all the time of Christmas Plum-porridge shall be thine, If thou wilt let my lady fair Within the mantle shine."

A saint his lady seemed,

With step demure and slow,

And gravely to the mantle

With mincing face doth go.

When she the same had taken
That was so fine and thin,

It shrivelled all about her,
And showed her dainty skin.

Ah! little did her mincing,

Or his long prayers bestead; She had no more hung on her Than a tassel and a thread.

Down she threw the mantle,
With terror and dismay,
And with a face of scarlet

To her chamber hied away.

Sir Cradock called his lady,

And bade her to come near: "Come win this mantle, lady, And do me credit here:

"Come win this mantle, lady,
For now it shall be thine,
If thou hast never done amiss,
Since first I made thee mine."

The lady, gently blushing,

With modest grace came on;
And now to try the wondrous charm
Courageously is gone.

When she had ta'en the mantle,

And put it on her back,
About the hem it seemed

To wrinkle and to crack.

"Lie still," she cried, "O mantle!
And shame me not for naught;

I'll freely own whate'er amiss

Or blameful I have wrought

"Once I kissed Sir Cradock
Beneath the greenwood tree;
Once I kissed Sir Cradock's mouth,
Before he married me."

When she had thus her shriven,
And her worst fault had told,
The mantle soon became her,
Right comely as it should.

Most rich and fair of color,

Like gold it glittering shone,

And much the knights in Arthur's court

Admired her every one.

The ballad goes on to tell of two more trials of a similar kind, made by means of a boar's head and a drinking-horn, in both of which the result was

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equally favorable with the first to Sir Cradock and his lady. It then concludes as follows:

I

Thus boar's head, horn, and mantle

Were this fair couple's meed;
And all such constant lovers,
God send them well to speed.

Percy's Reliques.

CHAPTER VIII.

LAUNCELOT OF THE LAKE.

KING BAN, of Brittany, the faithful ally of Arthur, was attacked by his enemy Claudas, and, after a long war, saw himself reduced to the possession of a single fortress, where he was besieged by his enemy. In this extremity he determined to solicit the assistance of Arthur, and escaped in a dark night, with his wife Helen and his infant son Launcelot, leaving his castle in the hands of his seneschal, who immediately surrendered the place to Claudas. The flames of his burning citadel reached the eyes of the unfortunate monarch during his flight, and he expired with grief. The wretched Helen, leaving her child on the brink of a lake, flew to receive the last sighs of her husband, and on returning perceived the little Launcelot in the arms of a nymph, who, on the approach of the queen, threw herself into the lake with the child. This nymph was Viviane, mistress of the enchanter Merlin, better known by the name of the Lady of the Lake. Laun

celot received his appellation from having been educated at the court of this enchantress, whose palace was situated in the midst, not of a real, but, like the appearance which deceives the African traveller, of an imaginary lake, whose deluding resemblance served as a barrier to her residence. Here she dwelt not alone, but in the midst of a numerous retinue, and a splendid court of knights and damsels.

The queen, after her double loss, retired to à convent, where she was joined by the widow of Bohort, for this good king had died of grief, on hearing of the death of his brother Ban. His two sons, Lionel and Bohort, were rescued by a faithful knight, and arrived in the shape of greyhounds at the palace of the lake, where, having resumed their natural form, they were educated along with their cousin Launcelot.

The fairy, when her pupil had attained the age of eighteen, conveyed him to the court of Arthur, for the purpose of demanding his admission to the honor of knighthood; and at the first appearance of the youthful candidate, the graces of his person, which were not inferior to his courage and skill in arms, made an instantaneous and indelible impression on the heart of Guenever, while her charms inspired him with an equally ardent and constant passion. The mutual attachment of these lovers exerted, from that time forth, an influence over the whole history of Arthur. For the sake of Guenever, Launcelot achieved the conquest of Northumberland,