Page:The Lay of the Last Minstrel - Scott (1805).djvu/140

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131

To every chief and lord they paid
Meet thanks for prompt and powerful aid;
And told them how a truce was made,
And how a day of fight was ta'en
'Twixt Musgrave and stout Deloraine;
  And how the Ladye prayed them dear,
That all would stay the fight to see,
And deign, in love and courtesy,
  To taste of Branksome cheer.
Nor, while they bade to feast each Scot,
Were England's noble Lords forgot;
Himself, the hoary Seneschal,
Rode forth, in seemly terms to call
Those gallant foes to Branksome Hall.
Accepted Howard, than whom knight
Was never dubbed, more bold in fight;
Nor, when from war and armour free,
More famed for stately courtesy:
But angry Dacre rather chose
In his pavilion to repose.