The Abbot of Aberbrothok Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock ; When the rock was hid by the surge's swell, The sun in heaven was shining gay, The sea-birds screamed as they wheeled round, The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen, He felt the cheering power of Spring,— His eye was on the Inchcape Float; And I'll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok." The boat is lowered, the boatmen row, Sir Ralph bent over from the boat, And he cut the bell from the Inchcape Float. Down sunk the Bell with a gurgling sound, The bubbles rose and burst around; Quoth Sir Ralph, " The next who comes to the rock, Won't bless the Abbot of Aberbrothok." Sir Ralph the Rover sailed away, And now grown rich with plundered store, So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky, They cannot see the sun on high; On the deck the Rover takes his stand, Quoth Sir Ralph, "It will be lighter soon; "Can'st hear," said one," the breakers roar? For methinks we should be near the shore; Now where we are I cannot tell, But I wish we could hear the Inchcape Bell." They hear no sound-the swell is strong; The Rover raved and tore his hair, The waves rush in on every side, But, even in his dying fear, One dreadful sound could the Rover hear; THE WELL OF ST. KEYNE. BY ROBERT SOUTHEY: [1798.] "I KNOW not whether it be worth the reporting, that there is in Cornwall, near the parish of St. Neot's, a well, arched over with the robes of four kinds of trees,-withy, oak, elm, and ash,— dedicated to St. Keyne. The reported virtue of the water is this, that whether husband or wife come first to drink thereof, they get the mastery thereby."-FULLER. St. Keyne, the legendary patroness of this talismanic stream, who was styled, in the ancient British language, Keyn-wiri,—i. e., Keyn the Virgin,- -was the daughter of Brachanus, or Brychan, Prince of the country of Garthmatrin, in Wales, which, from him, was afterwards called Brecknock. She died A.D. 490.-S. A WELL there is, in the West Country, An oak and an elm tree stand beside, Droops to the water below. THE WELL OF ST. KEYNE. A traveller came to the Well of St. Keyne; For from cock-crow he had been travelling, And there was not a cloud in the sky. He drank of the water so cool and clear, And he sat down upon the bank, Under the willow-tree. There came a man from the neighbouring town, At the Well to fill his pail; On the Well-side he rested it, And he bade the stranger hail! "Now, art thou a bachelor, stranger?" quoth he, The happiest draught thou hast drank this day "Or has thy good woman, if one thou hast, Ever here in Cornwall been; For an' if she have, I'll venture my life She has drank of the Well of St. Keyne." "I have left a good woman, who never was here," The stranger he made reply; But that my draught should be the better for that, I pray you answer me why." 407 "St. Keyne," quoth the Cornishman, " many a time Drank of this crystal well, And before the angel summoned her, She laid on the water a spell. "If the husband of this gifted Well Shall drink before his wife, A happy man henceforth is he, For he shall be master for life! "But if the wife should drink of it first, God help the husband then!" The stranger stooped to the Well of St. Keyne, And drank of the water again. "You drank of the Well, I warrant, betimes?" He to the Cornishman said; But the Cornishman smiled as the stranger spake, And sheepishly shook his head. "I hastened, as soon as the wedding was done, And left my wife in the porch; But i' faith she had been wiser than me, For she took a bottle to church!" |