was shed,

The bloodiest field betwixt the White Rose, and the Red,

O well near fifteen fought in England first and last: "But whilst the goodly Wharfe doth thus tow'rds Humber baste, [Nyde, From Warnside bill not far, outflows the nimble Through Nydersdale along, as neatly she doth

glide [rill, Tow'rds Knaresburgh on her way, a pretty little Call'd Kebeck, stows her stream, her mistress' banks to fill,

[stands, To entertain the Whafe where that brave forest' Entitled by the town, who with upreared hands Makes signs to her of joy, and doth with garlands [down

crown

The river passing by; but Wharfe that hasteth To meet her mistress Ouse, her speedy course doth hve;

Dent, Rother, Rivel, Gret, so on me set have I, Which from their fountains there all out of me do flow,

Yet from my bounty I on Lancashire bestow,
Because my rising soil doth shut them to the west:
But for my mountains I will with the isle contest,
All other of the north in largeness shall exceed,
That ages long before it finally decreed,
That Ingleborow hill, Pendle, and Penigent,
Should named be the high'st betwixt our Tweed
and Trent.
[side, and thou Cam,
My hills, brave Whelpston then, thou Wharn-
Since 1 West-riding still your only mother am;
All that report can give, and justly is my due,
I as your natural dam share equally with you;
And let me see a hill that to the north doth stand,
The proudest of them all, that dare but lift a
hand

[mount, O'er Penigent to peere; not Skiddo that proud Although of him so much, rude Cumberland ac. count, [boast Not Cheviot, of whose height Northumberland doth Albania to survey; nor those from coast to coast That well near run in length, that row of mountains tall, [learned call; By th' name of th' English Alps, that our most As soon shall those, or these remove out of their place,

As by their lofty looks, my Penigent outface: Ye thus behold my hills, my forests, dales, and chases

[places

Upon my spacious breast: note too how nature Far up into my west, first Langstrethdale doth lie, And on the bank of Wharfe, my pleasant Bardon by, [hand:

With Wharfdale hard by her, as taking hand in Then lower tow`rds the sea brave Knarsborough doth stand,

As higher to my north, my Niddersdale by Nyde,
And Bishop's-dale above upon my setting side,
Marshland, and Hatfield Chase, my eastern part
do bound,
[water'd ground:
And Barnsdale there doth butt on Don's well-
And to my great disgrace, if any shall object
That I no wonder have that's worthy of respect

them say;

At Giggleswick where I a fountain can you show, That eight times in a day is said to ebb and flow, Who sometime was a nymph, and in the mountains high [sky, Of Craven, whose blue heads for caps put on the Amongst th' Oreads there, and sylvans made abode,

(It was ere human foot upon those hills had trod) Of all the mountain kind and since she was most It was a satyr's chance to see her silver hair [fair, Flow loosely at her back, as up a cliff she clame, Her beauties noting well, her features, and her

frame,

And after her he goes; which when she did espy, Before him like the wind, the nimble nymph doth fly, [drive;

They hurry down the rocks, o'er hill and dale they To take her he doth strain, t' outstrip him she doth strive, [his rape,

Like one his kind that knew, and greatly fear'd And to the topic gods' by praying to escape, They turn'd her to a spring, which as she then did pant, [wondrous scant: When wearied with her course, her breath grew Even as the fearful nymph, then thick and short did blow, [and flow. Now made by them a spring, so doth she ebb And near the stream of Nyde, another spring

have I,

[supply, As well as that, which may a wonder's place Which of the form it bears, men Dropping-well do call,

Because out of a rock, it still in drops doth fall, Near to the foot whereof it makes a little pon, Which in as little space converteth wood to stone; Chevin, and Kilnsey Crags, were they not here

in me,

In any other place, right well might wonders be,
For their gigantic height, that mountains do tran-
scend:
[an end.
But such are frequent here," and thus she makes
When Your thus having heard the genius of this
Her well-deserved praise so happily to act, [tract,
This river in herself that was extremely loth,
The other to defer, since that she was to both
Indifferent, straightly wills West-riding there to

cease;

And having made a sign to all the wat❜ry prease For silence, which at once, when her command had won,

The proud North-riding thus for her great self begun. [thou art bound "My sovereign flood," quoth she, "in nature T' acknowledge me of three to be the worthiest ground: [sends, For note of all those floods, the wild West-riding There's scarcely any one thy greatness that attends, Till thou hast passed York, and drawest near thy fall;

And when thou hast no need of their supplies at all, Then come they flatt'ring in, and will thy followers be;

Nymphs of the mountains.

• The supposed genius of the place.

10

Your, the chiefest river of Yorkshire, who after her long course, by the confluence of other floods, gets the name of Quse.

Upon his future age, yet there's not one will lend A farthing to relieve his sad distressed state, [fate Not knowing what may yet befal him; but when Doth pour upon his head his long expected good, Then shall you see those slaves, aloof before that

stood,

[crouch, And would have let him starve, like spaniels to him And with their glavering lips, his very feet to touch:

[ine, So do they by the Your; whereas the floods in That spring and have their course, (even) given thy life to thee:

For till that thou and Swale, into one bank do take, Meeting at Borough-bridge, thy greatness there to make: [owe, Till then the name of Ouse thou art not known to A term in former times the ancients did bestow On many a full-bank'd flood; but for my greater grace,

These floods of which I speak, I now intend to trace From their first springing founts, beginning with the Your [the power, From Morvil's mighty foot which rising, with That Bant from Sea-mere brings, her somewhat

more doth fill,

Near Bishop's-dale at hand, wher. Cover, a clear rill, Next cometh into Your, whereas that lusty chase For her lov'd Cover's sake, doth lovingly embrace Your as she yields along, amongst the parks and groves, [roves, In Middleham's amorous eye, as wand'ringly she At Rippon meets with Skell, which makes to her amain, [train, Whom when she hath receiv'd into the nymphish (Near to the town" so fami'd for colts there to be bought, [sought) For goodness far and near, by horsemen that are Fore-right upon her way she with a merrier gale, To Borough-bridge makes on, to meet her sister Yale

(A wondrous holy flood (which name she ever hath) For when the Saxons first receiv'd the Christian faith,

Paulinus of old York, the zealous bishop then, In Swale's abundant stream christen'd ten thousand men,

With women and their babes, a number more beside, Upon one happy day, whereof she boasts with pride) Which springs not far from whence Your hath her silver head;

And in her winding banks along my bosom led, As she goes swooping by, to Swaledale whence she springs, [brings, That lovely name she leaves, which forth a forest The vallies' style that bears, a braver sylvan maid Scarce any shire can show, when to my river's aid, Come Barney, Arske, and Marske, their sovereign | Swale to guide, [side. From Applegarth's wide waste, and from New Forest Whose fountains by the fawns, and satyrs, many a year, [stay them there, With youthful greens were crown'd, yet could not But they will serve the Swale, which in her wand'ring course, (whose force, A nymph nam'd Holgat hath, and Risdale, all'

"Rippon fair.

Small though (Got wot) it be, yet from their southern shore,

With that salute the Swale, as others did before, At Richmond and arrive, which much doth grace the flood, [stood s

For that her precinct long amongst the shires hath But Yorkshire wills the same her glory to resign. When passing thence the Swale, this minion flood of mine [girl, Next takes into her train, clear Wiske, a wanton As though her watery path were pav'd with orient pearl, [gyre,

So wondrous sweet she seems, in many a winding As though she gambolds made, or as she did desire, Her labyrinth-like turns, and mad meander'd trace, With marvel should amaze, and coming doth imbrace

North-Alerton, by whom her honour is increas'd,
Whose liberties include a county at the least,
To grace the wand'ring Wiske, then well upon her
way,
[sway;
Which by her count'nance thinks to carry all the
When having her receiv'd, Swale bonny Colbeck
brings,

And Willowbeck with her, two pretty rivellings,
And Bedall bids along, then almost at the Ouse,
Who with these rills enrich'd begins herself to

rouse.

contrive.

The Cleveland north from these, a state that doth maintain,

Leaning her lusty side to the great German main,
Which if she were not here confined thus in me,
A shire even of herself might well be said to be.
"Nor less hath Pickering Leigh her liberty than
this;

North-Alerton a shire so likewise reckon'd is;
And Richmond of the rest, the greatest in estate,
A county justly call'd, that them accommodate;
So I North-Riding am, for spaciousness renown'd,
Our mother Yorkshire's eld'st, who worthily is
crown'd

[for we, The queen of all the shires, on this side Trent, The Ridings, several parts of her vast greatness be, In us, so we again have several seats, whose bounds Do measure from their sides so many miles of grounds, [king, That they are called shires; like to some mighty May Yorkshire be compar'd, (the lik'st of any thing)

Who hath kings that attend, and to his state retain,
And yet so great, that they have under them again
Great princes, that to them be subject, so have we
Shires subject unto us, yet we her subjects be;
Although these be enough sufficiently to show,
That I the other two for bravery quite out-go:
Yet look ye up along into my setting side,
Where Teis first from my bounds rich Dunelm "2
doth divide,

And you shall see those rills, that with their watery prease,

Their most beloved Teis so plenteously increase, The clear yet lesser Lune, the Bauder, and the Gret,

All out of me do flow; then turn ye from the set, And look but tow'rds the rise, upon the German main,

Those rarities, and see, that I in me contain; My Scarborough, which looks as though in Heaven it stood,

To those that lie below, from th' Bay of Robin

Hood,

Even to the fall of Teis; let me but see the man, That in one tract can show the wonders that I can; Like Whitby's self I think, there's none can show but I, [geese fly, O'er whose attractive earth there may no wild But presently they fall from off their wings to ground: [found?

If this no wonder be, where's there a wonder And stones like serpents there, yet may ye more behold,

That in their natural gyres are up together roll'd. The rocks by Moul-grave too, my glories forth to set,

Out of their cranny'd cleves, can give you perfect jet, [find,

And upon Huntclipnab, you every where may (As though nice nature lov'd to vary in this kind) Stones of a spheric form of sundry mickles fram'd, That well they globes of stone, or bullets might be nam'd [blows,

For any ordnance fit: which broke with hammers' Do headless snakes of stone, within their rounds enclose. [so nice, Mark Gisborough's gay scite, where nature seems As in the same she makes a second paradise,

"The bishopric of Durham.

Whose soil embroider'd is, with so rate sundry
flowers,
[bowers

Her large oaks so long green, as summer there her
Had set up all the year, her air for health refin'd,
Her earth with allom veins most richly intermin'd.
In other places these might rarities be thought,
So common but in me, that I esteem as nought.
Then could I reckon up my Ricall, making on
By Ryedale, towards her dear-lov'd Darwent, who's
not gone
[goes;
Far from her pearly springs, but under ground she
As up towards Craven hills, I many have of those,
Amongst the cranny'd cleves, that through the
[deep;

cavern creep,

And dimbles hid from day, into the earth so That oftentimes their sight the senses doth appal, Which for their horrid course, the people Helbecks call, [set, Which may for aught I see, be with my wonders And with much marvel seen: that I am not in debt [they me lend." To none that neighboureth me; nor ought can When Darwent bade her stay, and there her [plead: For that East-riding call'd, her proper cause to For Darwent a true nymph, a most impartial maid, And like to both ally'd, doth will the last should

speech to end,

To those two former parts, yet what I seem to In largeness, for that I am in my compass scant; Yet for my scite I know, that I them both excel; For mark me how I lie, ye note me very well,› How in the east I reign, (of which my name I take)

[lake,

And my broad side do bear up to the German Which bravely I survey; then turn ye and behold [ous Ould Upon my pleasant breast, that large and spaciOf York that takes the name, that with delighted eyes,

When he beholds the Sun out of the seas to rise, With pleasure feeds his flocks, for which he scarce gives place [grace, To Cotswold, and for what becomes a pastoral Doth go beyond him quite; then note upon my south, [mouth, How all along the shore, to mighty Humber's Rich Holderness I have, excelling for her grain, By whose much plenty I, not only do maintain Myself in good estate, but shires far off that lie, Up Humber that to Hull, come every day to buy, To me beholden are; besides, the neighbouring towns, [Downs, Upon the verge whereof, to part her and the Hull down to Humber hastes, and takes into her bank

Some less but lively rills, with waters waxing rank,

She Beverley salutes, whose beauties so delight The fair-enamour'd flood, as ravish'd with the sight, [to view,

That she could ever stay, that gorgeous fane11 But that the brooks and bourns so hotly her pursue,

naine,

Of Humber-bord'ring Hull, who hath not heard

the fame :

[mine: And for great Humber's self, I challenge him for For whereas Fowlwy first, and Shelfleet do combine, [twine, By meeting in their course, so courteously to 'Gainst whom on th' other side, the goodly Trent comes in, [reign, From that especial place, great Humber hath his Beyond which he's mine own: so I my course maintain, [shore, From Kilnsey's pyle-like point, along the eastern And laugh at Neptune's rage, when loudl'est he doth roar,

Till Flamborough jut forth into the German sea." And as th' East-riding more yet ready was to say,

Ouse in her own behalf doth interrupt her speech, And of th' imperious land doth liberty beseech. Since she had passed York, and in her wand'ring race,

By that fair city's scite, received bad such grace, She might for it declaim, but more to honour

[slain,

For Richard duke of York, at Wakefield battle Who first that title broach'd, in the sixth Henry's réign,

From Edmond, a fifth son of Edward, did descend, That justly he thereby no title could pretend, Before them conie from Gaunt, well known of all to be,

The fourth to Edward born, and therefore a degree Before him to the crown: but that which did prefer His title, was the match with dame Anne Mortimer, [claim, Of Roger earl of March the daughter, that his From Clarence the third son of great king Edward [other,

came,

Which Anne deriv'd alone, the right before all Of the delapsed crown, from Philip her fair mother, Daughter and only heir of Clarence, and the bride To Edmond earl of March; this Anne her daughter ty'd [right In wedlock to the earl of Cambridge, whence the Of Richard, as I said, which fell at Wakefield fight,

Descended to his son, brave Edward after king, (Henry the Sixth depos'd) thus did the Yorkists bring

plant."

By this the Ouse perceiv'd great Humber to look grim;

(For evermore she hath a special eye to him) As tho' he much disdain'd each one should thus be heard,

And he their only king until the last deferr'd, At which he seem'd to frown; wherefore the Ouse off breaks, [speaks: And to his confluent floods, thus mighty Humber "Let Trent her tribute pay, which from their several founts, [counts, For thirty floods of name, to me ber king that Be much of me belov'd, brave river; and from [thee. Receive those glorious rites that fame can give to And thou marsh-drowning Don, and all those that repair

me,

(Aire,

With thee, that bring'st to me thy easy ambling Embodying in one bank and Wharfe, which by thy fall [you all, Dost much augment my Ouse, let me embrace My brave West-riding brooks, your king you need not scorn, [born; Proud Naiades neither ye, North-riders that are My yellow-sanded Your, and thou my sister Swale,

renown

[dale, That dancing come to Ouse, thro' many a dainty Do greatly me enrich, clear Darwent driving down From Cleveland; and thou Hull, that highly dost [king, Th' East-riding by thy rise, do homage to your And let the sea-nymphs thus of mighty Humber sing; [tain, That full an hundred floods my wat'ry court mainWhich either of themselves, or in their greater's train, [name, Their tribute pay to me; and for my princely From Humber king of Hunns, as anciently it

came ;

So still I stick to him: for from that eastern king
Once in me drown'd, as I my pedigree do bring:
So his great name receives no prejudice thereby ;
For as he was a king, so know ye all that I
Am king of all the floods, that north of Trent do
How;

Then let the idle world no more such cost bestow,
Nor of the muddy ile, so great a wonder take
Though with her bellowing fall, she violently make,
The neighbouring people deaf; nor Ganges so

much praise,

[lays That where he narrowest is, eight miles in broadness His bosom; nor so much hereafter shall be spoke Of that (but lately found) Guianian Oronoque, Whose cataract a noise so horrible doth keep, That it even Neptune frights; what flood comes to the deep,

Than Humber that is heard more horribly to roar? For when my Higre comes 14, I make my either

shore

Even tremble with the sound, that I afar do send." No sooner of this speech had Humber made an end, [shout, But the applauding floods sent forth so shrill a That they were eas❜ly heard all Holderness about,

14 The roaring of the waters at the coming in of the tide.

Above the beachy brack, amongst the marshes rude,

When the East-riding her oration to conclude, Goes on: "My sisters boast that they have little shires [theirs; Their subjects, I can show the like of mine for My Howdon 15 hath as large a circuit, and as free,

On Ouse, and Humber's banks, and as much graceth me,

My latitude compar'd with those that me oppugn: Not Richmond nor her like, that doth to them belong, [my coast; Doth grace them more than this doth me, upon And for their wondrous things whereof so much

they boast,

Upon my eastern side, which juts upon the sea, Amongst the white-scalp'd cleeves this wonder see they may, [find, The mullet, and the awke my fowlers there do Of all Great Britain brood, birds of the strangest kind, [band, That building in the rocks, being taken with the And cast beyond the cliff that pointeth to the land, Fall instantly to ground, as though it were a stone,

But put out to the sea, they instantly are gone, And fly a league or two before they do return, As only by that air, they on their wings were borne. Then my prophetic spring at Veipsey, I may show, [doth flow; That some years is dry'd up, some years again But when it breaketh out with an immoderate birth

It tells the following year of a penurious dearth." Here ended she her speech, the Ridings all made friends, [ends. And from my tired hand, my labour'd canto 15 A liberty in the East-riding.

Thus silently to pass, and not be heard to sing? When as two countries are contending for my [name, For Cumberland, to which the Cumri gave the Accounts it to be hers, Northumberland the same, Will needsly hers should be, for that my spring doth rise

So equally 'twixt both, that he were very wise, Could tell which of these two, me for her own may

claim.

[fame, But as in all these tracts, there's scarce a flood of But she some valley hath, which her brave name doth bear: [here, My Teisdale nam'd of me, so likewise have I At my first setting forth, through which I nimbly slide; [side, Then Yorkshire which doth lie upon my setting Me Lune and Bauder lends, as in the song before Th' industrious Muse hath show'd: my Dunelmenian shore, [other becks Sends Huyd to help my course, with some few Which time (as it should seem) so utterly neglects, That they are nameless yet; then do I bid adieu, To Bernard's battled towers, and seriously pursue My course to Neptune's court, but as forthright I

run,

haste,

And rashly runs herself into my widen'd waist.
In pomp I thus approach great Amphitrite's state."
But whilst Teis undertook her story to relate,
Wer waxeth almost wood, that she so long should
stand,

[land Upon those lofty terms, as though both sea and Were ty'd to hear her talk: quoth Wer, "What would'st thou say, [a way Vain-glorious bragging brook, hadst thou so clear T' advance thee as I have, hadst thou such means and might, [height How would'st thou then exult? O then to what a Wouldst thou put up thy price? hadst thou but

such a trine

C c