a ballad of doubtful date which is superbly ‘glossed’ in Las Almenas de Toro by Lope de Vega, who uses the old romances with astonishing felicity. But the most ancient poem in the whole series of the Cid ballads is a composition, said to be unconnected with any antecedent epic, and possibly dating (in its primitive form) from the fourteenth century:—
Hélo, hélo por dó viene el moro por la calzada.[48]
This romance has been done into English by Gibson with considerable success, as you may judge by the opening stanzas:—
He comes, he comes, the Moorman comes
Along the sounding way;
With stirrup short, and pointed spur,
He rides his gallant bay....
He looks upon Valencia’s towers,
And mutters in his ire: