IV. "A journey of good fifteen days within the week was done, V. "Yet on to proud Seville I rode; when to the gate I came, VI. "No lists were closed upon the sand, for royal tourney dight; VII. They shut the door, my trusty score of friends were left behind; I would not hear their whisper'd fear, no harm was in my mind; I greeted Pedro, but he turn'd-I wot his look was cold; His brother from his knee he spurn'd- Stand off, thou Master bold VIII. Stand off, stand off, thou traitor strong,' twas thus he said to me, Thy time on earth shall not be long-what brings thee to my knee? My Lady craves a New-year's gift, and I will keep my word; Thy head methinks may serve the shift-Good yeoman, draw thy sword.'" IX. The Master lay upon the floor ere well that word was said, King Pedro greets thee, Lady fair, his gift he sends to thee." X. She gazed upon the Master's head, her scorn it could not scare, XI. She seized it by the clotted hair, and o'er the window flung; XII. And ever as the mastiff tore, his bloody teeth were shown, With growl and snort he made his sport, and pick'd it to the bone. The baying of the beast was loud, and swiftly on the street XIII. Then out and spake King Pedro,-" What governance is this? The rabble rout, my gate without, torment my dogs, I wiss."Then out and spake King Pedro's page, "It is the Master's head, The mastiff tears it in his rage, therewith they him have fed.”— XIV. Then out and spake the ancient Nurse, that nursed the brothers twain, “On thee, King Pedro, lies the curse, thy brother thou hast slain; A thousand harlots there may be within the realm of Spain, But where is she can give to thee thy brother back again ?”— XV. Came darkness o'er King Pedro's brow, when thus he heard her say; XVI. He drew her to a dungeon dark, a dungeon strong and deep; THE DEATH OF QUEEN BLANCHE. THAT PEDRO was accessary to the violent death of this young and innocent Princess whom he had married, and immediately afterwards deserted for ever, there can be no doubt. This atrocious deed was avenged abundantly; for it certainly led, in the issue, to the downfall and death of Pedro himself. Mariana says, very briefly, that the injuries sustained by Queen Blanche had so much offended many of Pedro's own nobility, that they drew up a formal remonstrance, and presented it to him in a style sufficiently formidable; and that he, his proud and fierce temper being stung to madness by what he considered an unjustifiable interference with his domestic concerns, immediately gave orders for the poisoning of Blanche in her prison. In the old French Memoirs of Du Guesclin, a much more improbable story is told at great length. The Queen Blanche, according to this account, had been banished to Medina, the adjoining territory being assigned to her for her maintenance. One of her vassals, a Jew, presumed to do his homage in the usual fashion, that is by kissing Blanche on the cheek, ere his true character was suspected either by her or her attendants. No sooner was the man known to be a Jɛw, than he was driven from the presence of the Queen with every mark of insult; and this sunk so deeply into his mind, that he determined to revenge himself, if possible, by the death of Blanche. He told his story to Maria de Padilla, who prevailed on the King to suffer him to take his own measures; and he accordingly surprised the Castle of Medina by night, at the head of a troop of his own countrymen, and butchered the unhappy lady. The ballad itself is, in all likelihood, as trust-worthy as any other authority; but the true particulars of such a crime were pretty sure to be kept concealed. THE DEATH OF QUEEN BLANCHE. "MARIA DE PADILLA, be not thus of dismal mood, For if I twice have wedded me, it all was for thy good ;* "But if upon Queen Blanche ye will that I some scorn should show, For a banner to Medina my messenger shall go; "The work shall be of Blanche's tears, of Blanche's blood the ground; Such pennon shall they weave for thee, such sacrifice be found." Then to the Lord of Ortis, that excellent baron, He said, "Now hear me, Ynigo, forthwith for this begone." Then answer made Don Ynigo, " Such gift I ne'er will bring, According to Mariana, Pedro had not declared himself married to Maria de Padilla, at the period of Queen Blanche's death. |