And nowe the kinge, with all his barons, Rose uppe from offe his seate, And downe he stepped into the listes That curteous knighte to greete. 170
But he, for payne and lacke of bloude, Was fallen into a swounde, And there, all walteringe in his gore, Lay lifelesse on the grounde.
"Come downe, come downe, my daughter deare, 175 Thou art a leeche of skille; Farre lever had I lose halfe my landes Than this good knighte sholde spille."
Downe then steppeth that fayre ladye, To helpe him if she maye: 180 But when she did his beavere raise, "It is my life, my lord!" she sayes, And shriekte and swound awaye.
Sir Cauline juste lifte up his eyes, When he heard his ladye crye: 185 "O ladye, I am thine owne true love; For thee I wisht to dye."
Then giving her one partinge looke, He closed his eyes in death, Ere Christabelle, that ladye milde, 190 Begane to drawe her breathe.
But when she found her comelye knighte Indeed was dead and gone, She layde her pale, cold cheeke to his, And thus she made her moane: 195
"O staye, my deare and onlye lord, For mee, thy faithfulle feere; 'Tis meet that I shold followe thee, Who hast bought my love so deare."
Then fayntinge in a deadlye swoune, 200 And with a deep-fette sighe That burst her gentle heart in twayne, Fayre Christabelle did dye.
69. "Syr Cauline here acts up to the genuine spirit of perfect chivalry. In old romances no incident is of more frequent occurrence than this, of knights already distinguished for feats of arms laying aside their wonted cognizances, and, under the semblance of stranger knights, manfully performing right worshipful and valiant deeds. How often is the renowned Arthur, in such exhibitions, obliged to exclaim, "O Jhesu, what knight is that arrayed all in grene (or as the case may be)? he justeth myghtily!" The Emperor of Almaine, in like manner, after the timely succor afforded him by Syr Gowghter, is anxious to learn the name of his modest but unknown deliverer." [So in the romance of _Roswall and Lillian_, &c.]--MOTHERWELL.
_Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, iii. 252.
The story of _Fair Annie_ is widely disseminated. The substance of it is found in the beautiful romance of Marie de France, the _Lai le Frein_, of which an ancient English translation is printed in Weber's _Metrical Romances_, i. 357. The Swedish and Danish ballads go under the same name of _Fair Anna_, and may be seen in Arwidsson's _Svenska Fornsånger_, i. 291; Geijer's _Svenska Folk-Visor_, i. 24; and Nyerup's _Danske Viser_, iv. 59. Jamieson has rendered the Danish ballad very skilfully, in the Scottish dialect, from Syv's edition of the _Kæmpe Viser_. In Dutch, the characters are Maid Adelhaid and King Alewijn (Hoffmann's _Holländische Volkslieder_, 164.) The story as we have found it in German is considerably changed. See _Die wiedergefundene Königstochter_, in _Des Knaben Wunderhorn_, ii. 274, and _Südeli_, Uhland's _Volkslieder_, i. 273.