For Study with the Glossary: yeoman, baldric, provost, sith, an (in old times meaning if), runagate, exhorted, clout, competitor, crave, whittle, jerkin, vindicated, acclamations, nobles, reluctance. Phrases: try conclusions (have a contest), give him the bucklers (yield him the prize).

Review Questions. 1. The last three selections have told stories of Robin Hood. What have you learned about him? 2. Was he good-natured or sullen? independent or fawning? brave or timid? 3. Give incidents to support your opinions. 4. Tell what you have learned about England in Robin Hood's time. 5. What things are mentioned in these last three selections about Robin Hood that we do not have to-day? 6. Name some things which we have which would astonish Robin Hood. 7. Name some other heroes who, like Robin Hood, have opposed tyrants. 8. Are any of these heroes told about in this Reader?

SIR WALTER SCOTT

When SIR WALTER SCOTT was eighteen months old, an illness deprived him of the use of his right leg. His earliest memory was of lying wrapped in the skin of a sheep just killed, while his grandmother tried to persuade him to creep. Sheepskins and other remedies failed to cure him; and, though he became a healthy and active child, he remained lame throughout his life. At his grandmother's, even before he was old enough to read, he learned many songs and legends of the border country between England and Scotland.

As a small boy he learned to ride and swim and was soon reading Shakespeare and acting the plays with other children. He read indeed all the books that he could find which told stories of olden days, and by the time he was twelve had made collections

Willy Popany

SCOTT

of the old ballads, including those told of Robin Hood and his merry men. He could recite long passages from Spenser's Faery Queen; and excursions about Scotland had filled him with a love for its beautiful scenery of mountain, lake, and glen. A lady described him as "the most extraordinary genius of a boy I ever saw."

Scott grew to be a tall and powerful man, but he continued to love the things which had delighted his boyhood - ballads, stories, and songs of the daring deeds of ancient days. He went on reading widely and storing his mind with knowledge of history; and began to write poems and stories that told of the manners and men of the past. His novels are what we call historical novels because they tell of some persons who really lived and describe the dress, homes, and customs of past times. No other writer ever succeeded as did he in making the past real and interesting. Indeed, few greater writers have ever lived.

Sir Walter Scott became rich and famous, and no one ever worked harder or lived a busier life. Up in the mornings by five, he was at his desk by six, and by ten had usually written many pages of one of his splendid romances. At Abbotsford, the beautiful house that he had built not far from Edinburgh, he entertained many guests, including Washington Irving and other Americans. Much of the time he spent outdoors, riding, fishing, or taking long tramps, for in spite of his lameness he could make thirty miles in a day. His dogs he counted among his closest friends, and he loved to play with children. His last years were sad ones, but bravely spent working to pay off great debts with which he had become involved by business failures. He died in 1832, sixty-two years of age. "My dear, be a good man" were his last words to his son-in-law, Lockhart. Few men have more sincerely lived up to this advice than Scott himself.

Of Scott's novels, perhaps the best to read first are Ivanhoe, Quentin Durward, Kenilworth, and the Talisman. The Talisman tells of King Richard during his crusade to Palestine in an effort to win that land from the Saracens. A selection from the opening chapter is given in the SIXTH READER. Of Scott's poems, two of the best are represented in this Reader, the Lady of the Lake by the "Hunting Song" on p. 40, and the Last Minstrel by "Love of Country" on p. 198.

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THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS

Norman's Woe, the scene of this wreck, is a reef off the coast of Massachusetts. The poem is based on fact, and is written in a style imitating that of the old ballads. The three preceding stories have told some of the adventures of Robin Hood. The "Wreck of the Hesperus" and the two stories that follow bring us back to the United States, to the New England of the past.

It was the schooner Hesperus,

That sailed the wintry sea;

And the skipper had taken his little daughter,

To bear him company.

Blue were her eyes, as the fairy flax,

Her cheeks like the dawn of day,

And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds,

That ope in the month of May.

The skipper he stood beside the helm,

His pipe was in his mouth,

And he watched how the veering flaw did blow

The smoke now west, now south.

Then up and spake an old sailor,
Had sailed the Spanish Main,
"I pray thee put into yonder port,

For I fear a hurricane.

5

"Last night the moon had a golden ring, And to-night no moon we see!"

10

The skipper he blew a whiff from his pipe,

And a scornful laugh laughed he.

Colder and louder blew the wind,
A gale from the northeast,

The snow fell hissing in the brine,

15

And the billows frothed like yeast.

Down came the storm, and smote amain
The vessel in its strength;

She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable's length.

20

"Come hither! come hither! my little daughter,

And do not tremble so;

For I can weather the roughest gale

That ever wind did blow."

E