reak
That maiden's heart in twain!"

"Oh never, oh never, thou lying elf,
That maiden's word is spoken:
The cup of grace left a traitor's hand,
Proud Muncaster's '_Luck_' is broken."

Then scornfully grinned that elfin dwarf,
And aloud he laughed again:
"There's a key in thy castle, Sir Knight, can break
That maiden's heart in twain!"

The knight he turned him on his steed,
And he looked over hill and stream;
But he saw not that elfin dwarf again,
He had vanished as a dream!

The knight came back to his castle hall,
And stabled his good grey steed;
And he is to his chamber gone,
With wild and angry speed.

And he saw the oaken casket, where
Lay hid that cup of grace,
Since that fearful day, when the traitor foe
Wrought ruin on his race.

"Thou cursed thing," he cried in scorn,
"That ever such 'Luck' should be;
From Muncaster's house, ill-boding fiend,
Thou shalt vanish eternally."

He kicked the casket o'er and o'er
With rage and contumely;
When, lo! a tinkling sound was heard--
Down dropped a glittering key!

He remembered well the wondrous speech
Of the spectre dwarf again,
"There's a key in Muncaster Castle can break
A maiden's heart in twain!"

He took the key, and he turned the lock,
And he opened the casket wide;
When the cause of all his agony
The lover now espied.

The holy cup lay glistering there,
And he kissed that blessed token,
For its matchless form unharmed lay,
The "Luck" had ne'er been broken!

The loud halls rung, and the minstrels sung,
And glad rolled the Esk's bonny tide,
When Lonsdale's Lady Margaret
Was Muncaster's winsome bride!

Now prosper long that baron bold,
And that bright and blessed token:
For Muncaster's Luck is constant yet,
And the crystal charm unbroken!

[Illustration: THE PILE OF FOULDREY[i]
_Drawn by G. Pickering._
_Engraved by Edw^d. Finden._]

THE PEEL OF FOULDREY.

"True, treason never prospers; what's the reason?
When treason prospers, 'tis no longer treason!"

The ancient castle of Peel of Fouldrey, the island of fowls, stands a
little beyond the southern extremity of the isle of Walney. The castle
and its site belong to the ladies