t did not end with the first canto (1773-4).

And yet poor Edwin was no vulgar boy,
Deep thought oft seemed to fix his infant eye.
Dainties he heeded not, nor gaude, nor toy,
Save one short pipe of rudest minstrelsy;
Silent when sad, affectionate, tho' shy;
And now his look was most demurely sad;
And now he laughed aloud, though none knew why.
The neighbors stared and sighed, yet blessed the lad;
Some deemed him wondrous wise, and some believed him mad.

Canto i. 16.

_Minstrel_ (_Lay of the Last_). Ladye Margaret, "the flower of Teviot,"
was the daughter of Lord Walter Scott, of Branksome Hall. She loved
Baron Henry, of Cranstown; but between the two families a deadly feud
existed. One day the elfin page of Lord Cranstown inveigled the heir of
Branksome Hall (then a lad) into the woods, where he fell into the hands
of the English, who marched with 3000 men to Branksome Hall; but, being
told that Douglas was coming to the rescue with 10,000 men, the two
armies agreed to settle by single combat whether the lad should be given
up to the mother or be made King Edward's page. The two champions were
Sir Richard Musgrave (_English_) and Sir William Deloraine (_Scotch_).
The Scotch champion slew Sir Richard, and the boy was delivered to his
mother. It now turned out that Sir William Deloraine was Lord Cranstown,
who claimed and received the hand of Ladye Margaret as his reward.--Sir
W. Scott (1805).

=Minstrel of the Border=, Sir W. Scott; also called "The Border Minstrel"
(1771-1832).

My steps the Border Minstrel led.

Wordsworth, _Yarrow Revisited_.

Great Minstrel of the Border.

Wordsworth.

=Minstrel of the English Stage= (_The Last_), James Shirley, last of the
Shakespeare school (1594-1666).

[Asterism] Then followed the licentious French school, headed by John
Dryden.

=Minstrels= (_Royal Domestic_).

Of William I., Berdie, called _Regis Jocula'tor_.

Of Henry I., Galfrid and Royer, or Raher.

Of Richard I., Blondel.

=Mint Julep=, a Virginian beverage, celebrated in song by Charles Fenno
Hoffman (185-). A favorite variety of this drink is compounded of
brandy, water, sugar, mint-leaves and pounded ice, and is called a
"hail-storm."

"The draught was delicious, and loud the acclaim,
'Though something seemed wanting for all to bewail;
But JULEPS the drink of immortals became
When Jove himself