Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. 2 of 2] / Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a history of the manners, customs, and amusements, superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age

by Nathan Drake

but the roaring of the sea is heard in the descent, and at length the traveller wades knee-deep through rivers of blood,

"For a' the blude that's shed on earth,

Rins thro' the springs o' that countrie;"[320:A]

yet, when arrived, the land is full of pleasantness, a garden of the loveliest green, self-illumined, and whose halls have roofs of beaten gold, and floors of purest chrystal.[320:B]

In conformity to these Scottish traditionary features of Fairy-land, and in reference to the popular tale of Thomas the Rhymer, who, daring to salute the Fairy Queen, was carried off in early life to this region of enchantment, and there broke the vow of silence enjoined on all who entered its precincts[320:C], Dr. Leyden has executed the following glowing picture:—

"The fairy ring-dance now, round Eildon-tree,

Moves to wild strains of elfin minstrelsy:

On glancing step appears the fairy queen;—

Or, graceful mounted on her palfrey gray,

In robes, that glister like the sun in May,