as otherwise--the unfortunate chanter lay stretched on the
ground in his last agony. De Poininges flew on with redoubled speed.

"Treachery!" he cried. His men knew the signal, and galloped towards
him; but their aid was too late. A shack-bolt, aimed with a sure hand,
pierced him at this moment.

"Take her--Margaret de la Bech! The prior--a murderer--ravisher! Fly
to"--

The remaining words fell unuttered. His faithful attendants bore off the
lifeless body, together with the hapless Margaret, who was soon placed
in safety, far from the relentless fangs of the Prior of Burscough.

Fearful and undeniable was the testimony and accusation they brought,
but in vain. No effort was spared to bring upon this monster the just
recompense of his crime; yet, from the great scandal which a public
execution must have drawn upon the Church, but more especially from the
great influence he possessed amongst the nobles and chief dignitaries of
the land, not only did he escape unpunished, but he received the king's
most gracious pardon, in the twenty-first year of Edward the Third: so
true are the following words from an historian of that reign:--

"These men had so entrenched themselves in privileges and immunities,
and so openly challenged an exemption from all secular jurisdiction,
that no civil penalty could be inflicted on them for any malversation in
office, and even treason itself was declared to be no canonical
offence."

FOOTNOTES:

[10] _Beaufort_, Duke of Somerset. Somerset, Duke of Beaufort, now bears
the _portcullis_ for his crest. There is an engraving by Vertue, from a
painting in the royal collection at Kensington Palace by Maubeugius in
1496, of the three children of Henry VII. and Elizabeth his queen,
_Prince Henry, Prince Arthur_, and _Princess Margaret,_ which is
ornamented at the top with the _portcullis_ surmounted with roses.

[11] Glazebrook's Southport.

[Illustration: THE EAGLE AND CHILD.]

THE EAGLE AND CHILD.

"She's over the muir,
An' over the border,
An' ower the blue hills far awa':
With her callant, I trow,--
On his saddle-bow,
While the mist-wreaths around them fa'."

The main facts of the following narrative, lying scattered through a
wide field of barren inquiry, the author has been at considerable pains
to collect and arrange in a continuous narrative.

Little needs be said by way of introduction, the traditions here
interwoven with the