The following lines are still remembered by the members of the Elton family:
Upon Sir Abraham Elt being knighted, and taking
the name of Elton.
In days of yore old Abraham Elt,
When living, had nor sword nor belt;
But now his son, Sir Abraham Elton,
Being knighted, has both sword and belt on.
MS. Harl. Brit. Mus. 7318, p. 206.
[NOEL.]
N. for a word of deniance,
E. with a figure of L. fiftie,
Spelleth his name that never
Will be thriftie.
MS. Sloane 2497, of the sixteenth century.
[COLLINGWOOD.]
The Collingwoods have borne the name,
Since in the bush the buck was ta'en;
But when the bush shall hold the buck,
Then welcome faith, and farewell luck.
Alluding to the Collingwood crest of a stag beneath an oak tree.
[THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON.]
This fairy or goblin was seldom seen, but his gambols were heard nightly in the hall of the great house. He overturned everything in the kitchen after the servants had gone to bed, and was, in short, one of the most mischievous sprites you could imagine. One night, however, the kitchen happened to be left in great confusion, and the goblin, who did everything by contraries, set it completely to rights; and the next morning it was in perfect apple-pie order. We may be quite sure that, after this occurrence, the kitchen was not again made orderly by the servants.
Notwithstanding, however, the service thus nightly rendered by the Cauld Lad, the servants did not like it. They preferred to do their own work without preternatural agency, and accordingly resolved to do their best to drive him from their haunts. The goblin soon understood what was going on, and he was heard in the dead of night to warble the following lines in a melancholy strain: