Then four determined men were seized and bound,
And Robert in this desperate number found. 280
In prison fetter’d, he deplored his fate,
And cursed the folly he perceived too late.
James was a favourite with his lord—the zeal
He show’d was such as masters ever feel;
If he for vengeance on a culprit cried,
Or if for mercy, still his lord complied;
And now, ’twas said, he will for mercy plead,
For his own brother’s was the guilty deed;