Ballad of Chevy Chase
This ballad was entered in the Stationers' Register in 1624. The
title is alternatively spelled Chevy Chace. The ballad is generally
thought to describe the Battle of
Otterburn. Some of the verses correspond to the that battle, but
not all. The Battle of Otterburn took place in 1388. At that Battle
Henry Percy (Hotspur) was captured, not killed. He was killed in
1403 in an uprising against Henry IV.
According to Child another possibility is the border warfare between
a Percy and a Douglas in 1435 or 1436. Henry Percy of Northumberland
made a raid into Scotland with 4,000 men. He was met by William
Douglas, Earl of Angus at
Piperdene. There were great losses on each side, but the Scots
prevailed.
A knight among the Scots there was
Who saw Earl Douglas die;
Who straight in wrath did vow revenge
Upon the Lord Percy:
Sir Hugh Montgomery was he called,
Who, with a spear full
bright,
Well mounted on a gallant steed,
Ran fiercely through
the fight;
And past the English archers all,
Without all
dread or fear,
And through Earl Percy's body then
He thrust
his hateful spear.
This fight did last from break of day
Till setting of the sun;
For when they rung the evening bell
The battle scarce was done.
And the Lord Maxwell in like case
Did with Earl Douglas die;
Of twenty hundred Scottish spears
Scarce fifty-five did fly;
Of fifteen hundred Englishmen
Went home but fifty-three;
The rest were slain in Chevy Chase
Under the greenwood tree.
Next day did many widows come
Their husbands to bewail;
They washed their wounds in brinish
tears,
But all would not prevail.
Their bodies bathed in
purple gore
They bore with tbem away;
They kissed their dead a
thousand times
When they were clad in clay.
God save our
king, and bless this land
With plenty, joy and peace,
And
grant henceforth that foule debate
'Twixt noblemen may cease!
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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