Hero-myths & Legends Of The British Race

HERO-MYTHS & LEGENDS OF THE BRITISH RACE BY M. I. EBBUTT M. A. WITH FIFTY-ONE FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. H. F. BACON A.R.A. BYAM SHAW W. H. MARGETSON R.I. GERTRUDE DEMAIN HAMMOND AND OTHERS GEORGE G. HARRAP & COMPANY LTD. LONDON CALCUTTA SYDNEY Robin Hood and the Black Monk William Sewell [Page 331] First published August 1910 by George G. Harrap & Co. 39-41 Parker Street, Kingsway, London, W.C.2 Reprinted: October 1910 September 1911 December 1914 May 1916 December 1917 February 1920 June 1924 Printed in Great Britain at The Ballantyne Press by Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd. Colchester, London & Eton TO MISS JULIA KENNEDY IN TOKEN OF THE ADMIRATION AND AFFECTION OF AN OLD PUPIL THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED [Pg ix] PREFACE IN refashioning, for the pleasure of readers of the twentieth century, these versions of ancient tales which have given pleasure to story-lovers of all centuries from the eighth onward, I feel that some explanation of my choice is necessary. Men’s conceptions of the heroic change with changing years, and vary with each individual mind; hence it often happens that one person sees in a legend only the central heroism, while another sees only the inartistic details of mediæval life which tend to disguise and warp the heroic quality. It may be that to some people the heroes I have chosen do not seem heroic, but there is no doubt that to the age and generation which wrote or sang of them they appeared real heroes, worthy of remembrance and celebration, and it has been my object to come as close as possible to the mediæval mind, with its elementary conceptions of honour, loyalty, devotion, and duty. I have therefore altered the tales as little as I could, and have tried to put them as fairly as possible before modern readers, bearing in mind the altered conditions of things and of intellects to-day. In the work of selecting and retelling these stories I have to acknowledge with most hearty thanks the help and advice of Mr. F. E. Bumby, B.A., of the University College, Nottingham, who has been throughout a most kind and candid censor or critic. His help has been in every way invaluable. I have also to acknowledge the generous permission given me by Mr. W. B. Yeats to write in prose the story of his beautiful play, “The Countess Cathleen,” and to adorn it with quotations from that play. The poetical quotations are attributed to the authors [Pg x] from whose works they are taken wherever it is possible. When mediæval passages occur which are not thus attributed they are my own versions from the original mediæval poems. M. I. EBBUTT Tanglewood Barnt Green July 1910 [Pg xi] CONTENTS CHAP. I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. PAGE Introduction Beowulf The Dream of Maxen Wledig The Story of Constantine and Elene The Compassion of Constantine Havelok the Dane Howard the Halt Roland, the Hero of Early France The Countess Cathleen Cuchulain, the Champion of Ireland The Tale of Gamelyn William of Cloudeslee Black Colin of Loch Awe The Marriage of Sir Gawayne King Horn Robin Hood Hereward the Wake GLOSSARY AND INDEX xvii 1 42 50 63 73 95 119 156 184 204 225 248 265 286 314 334 353 [Pg xiii] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Robin Hood and the Black Monk (William Sewell) “The demon of evil, with his fierce ravening, greedily grasped them” (J. H. F. Bacon, A.R.A.) Beowulf replies haughtily to Hunferth (J. H. F. Bacon, A.R.A.) Beowulf finds the head of Aschere (J. H. F. Bacon, A.R.A.) Beowulf shears off the head of Grendel (J. H. F. Bacon, A.R.A.) The death of Beowulf (J. H. F. Bacon, A.R.A.) The dream of the Emperor (Byam Shaw) Frontispiec e To face page 4 12 22 26 40 46 The Queen’s dilemma (Byam Shaw) They filled the great vessel of silver with pure