The Maiden Tribute
The next in order, “The Maiden Tribute,” deals with a demand of the Moorish monarch Abderahman that a hundred Christian virgins should annually be delivered into his hands. King Ramíro refused to comply with such a shameful custom, and marched to meet the Moor. A two days’ battle was fought near Alveida, and at the conclusion of the first day’s hostilities the superior discipline of the Saracens had told heavily against the Castilians. During the night, St Iago, the patron saint of Spain, appeared to the King in a vision and promised his aid in the field next day. With morning the battle was joined once more, the Saint, true to his word, led the Spanish charge, and the Saracens were cast into headlong rout. The maiden tribute was never afterward paid.
Lockhart’s ballad, or rather translation, certainly does not enhance the original.
If the Moslem must have tribute, make men your tribute-money,
Send idle drones to tease them within their hives of honey,
is the commonest of crambo, and
Must go, like all the others, the proud Moor’s bed to sleep in—
In all the rest they’re useless, and nowise worth the keeping,
is reminiscent of the pantomime days of our youth. Mr Fitzmaurice Kelly contents himself by remarking about this ballad that it scarcely calls for comment.