Tales of the Crusaders. The Talisman

Front matter

TALES OF THE CRUSADERS. Œtye ÆVihstiwut, INTRODUCTION— (1832.) The " Betrothed" did not greatly please one or two friends, who thought that it did not well correspond to the general title of " The Crusaders." They urged, therefore, that, without direct allusion to the manners of the Eastern tribes, and to the romantic conflicts of the period, the title of a " Tale of the Crusaders" would resemble the playbill, which is said to have announced the tragedy of Hamlet, the character of the prince of Denmark being left out. On the other hand, I felt the difficulty of giving a vivid picture of a part of the world with wliich I was almost totally unacquainted, unless by early recollections of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments ; and not only did I labour under the incapacity of ignorance, in which, as far as regards Eastern manners, I was as thickly wrapped as an Egyptian in his fog ; but my contemporaries were, many of them, as much enlightened upon the subject, as if they had been inhabitants of the favoured land of Goshen.

The love of travelling had pervaded all ranks, and carried the subjects of Britain into all quarters of the world. Greece, so attractive by its remains of art, by its struggles for freedom against a Mahomedan tyrant, by its very name, where every fountain had its classical legend ; — Palestine, endeared to the imagination by yet more sacred remembrances, had been of late surveyed by British eyes, and described by recent travellers. Had I, therefore, attempted the difficult task of substituting manners of my own invention, instead of the genuine costume of the East, almost every traveller I met, who had extended his route beyond what was anciently called " The Grand Tour," had acquired a right, by ocular inspection, to chastise me for my presumption. Every member of the Travellers' Club, who could pretend to have thrown his shoe over Edom, was, by having done so, constituted my lawful critic and corrector.

It occurred, therefore, that where the author of Anas tasius, as well as he of Hadji Baba, had described Vol. IV. 687 N°. CCIV. the manners and vices of the Eastern nations, not only with fidelity, but with the humour of Le Sage and the ludicrous power of Fielding himself, one who was a perfect stranger to the subject must necessarily produce an unfavourable contrast. The Poet Laureate also, in the charming tale of " Tha laba," had shewn how extensive might be the re searches of a person of acquirements and talent, by dint of investigation alone, into the ancient doctrines, history, and manners of the Eastern countries, iu which we are probably to look for the cradle of man kind ; Moore, in his " Lallah Rookh," had success fully trod the same path ; in which, too, Byron, joining ocular experience to extensive reading, had written some of his most attractive poems.

Introduction

. were to yield to the Christians. Richard, according to the romance which bears his name, " could no longer repress his fury. The Marquis, he said, was a traitor, who had robbed the Knights Hospitallers of sixty thousand pounds, the present of his father, Henry ; that he was a renegade, whose treachery had occasioned the loss of Acre ; and he concluded by a solemn oath, that he would cause him to be drawu to pieces by wild horses, if he should ever venture to pollute the Christian camp by his pre sence. Philip attempted to intercede iu favour of the Marquis, and throwing down his glove offered to become a pledge for his fidelity to the Chris tians ; but his offer was rejected, and he was obliged to give way to Richard's impetuosity." — History of Chivalry. Conrade of Montserrat makes a considerable figure in those wars, and was at length put to death by one of the followers of the Scheik, or Old Man of the Mountain ; nor did Richard remain free of the suspicion of having instigated his death.

It may be said, iu general, that most of the incidents introduced iu the following tale are fictitious ; and that reality, where it exists, is only retained in the characters of the piece. Abbotsfukd. 1st July, 1*J3t7.

APPENDIX.

TO While warring in the Holy Land, Richard was seized with an ague. The best leeches of the camp were unable to effect the cure of the King's disease ; but the prayers of the army were more successful. He became convalescent, and the first symptom of his recovery was a violent longing for pork. But pork was not likely to be plentiful in a country whose inhabitants had an abhorrence for swine's flesh ; and " though his men should be hanged, They ne might, in that countrfey, For gold, ne silver, ne no money. No pork find, take, ne get, That King Richard might aught of eat. An old knight with Riehard biding, "When he heard of that tiding, That the kingis wants were swyche. To the steward he spake privyliche — ' Our lord the king sore ia sick, I wis, After porck he alonged is ; Ye may none find to selle ; No man be hardy him so to telle !

If he did he might die. Now behoves to done as I shall say, Tho" he wete nought of that. Take a Saracen, young and fat ; Id baste let the thief be slain, Opened, and his skin off flaj u ; And sodden full hastily, With powder and with spicery. And with .saffron of good colour. When the king thereof feels savour, Out of ague if he be went, He shall have thereto good talent. When he has a good taste, And eaten well a good repast, And supped of the brewis1 a sup, Slept after and swet a drop, 1 Broth. b'W9

INTRODUCTION.

Through Goddis help and my eounsail, Soon he shall be fresh and hail.' The sooth to say, at wordes few, Slain and sodden was the heathen shrew. Before the king it was forth brought : Quod his men, ' Lord, we have pork sought ; Eatea and sups of tho brewia soote,2 Thorough grace of God it shall be your boot.' Before King Richard carff a knight, He ate faster than he carve might. The king ate the flesh and gnew3 the bsir.es, And drank well after for the nonce. And when he had eaten enough, His folk hem turned away, and 4 lough. He lay still and drew in his arm ; His chamberlain him wrapped warm. He lay and slept, and swet a stound, And became whole and sound. King Richard clad him and arose, And walked abouten in the close." An attack of the Saracens was repelled by Richard iu person, the consequence of which is told in the following lines: " When King Richard had rested a whyle, A knight bis arms 'gan unlace.

Him to comfort and solace. Him was brought a sop in wine. ' The head of that ilke swine. That I of ate !' (the cook he bade,) 1 For feeble I am, and smut and mad. Of mine evil now I am fear ; Serve me therewith at my soupere !' Quod the cook, * That head I ne have." Then said the Icing, ( So God me save, But I see the head of that swine. For sooth, thou shalt lesen thine !" The cook saw none other might be ; He set the head and let him see. He fell on knees, and made a cry — ' Lo, here the head ! my Lord, mercj !' " 8 Sweet. 3 Gnawed. * Laughed. The cook had certainly some reason to fear that his master would be struck with horror at the re collection of the dreadful banquet to which he owed his recovery, but his fears were soon dissipated. " The swarte vis ' when the king seeth, His black beard and white teeth, How his lippes grinned wide, 1 What devil is this V the king cried.

And gran to laugh as he were wode, ' What ' is Saracen's flesh thus good ? That, never erst I nought wist ! By God's death and his uprist, Shall we never die for default, While we may in any assault, Slee Saracens, the flesh may take, And seethen and roasten and do hem bake, [And] Gnawen her flesh to the bones ! Now I have it proved once. For hunger ere I be wo. I and my folk shall eat mo !' The besieged now offered to surrender, upon conditions of safety to the inhabitants ; while all the public treasure, military machines, and arms, were delivered to the victors, together with the further ransom of one hundred thousand bizants. sifter this capitulation, the following extraordinary scene took place. We shall give it in the words of the humorous and amiable George Ellis, the collec tor and the editor of these Romances.

" Though the garrison had faithfully performed the other articles of their contract, they were un able to restore the cross, which was not in their possession, and were therefore treated by the Chris tians with great cruelty. Diiily reports of their sufferings were carried to Saladin ; and as many of them were persons of the highest distinction, that monarch, at the solicitation of their friends, de spatched an embassy to King Richard with mag nificent presents, which he offered for the ransom of the captives. The ambassadors were persons the most respectable from their age, their rank, and their eloquence. They delivered their message in terms of the utmost humility, and without arraign ing the justice of the conqueror in his severe treatment of their countrymen, only solicited a period to that severity, laying at his feet the treasures with whicli they were intrusted, and pledging themselves and their master for the payment of any farther sums which he might demand as the price of mercy.

" King Riehard spake with wordes mild, ' The gold to take, God me shield ! Among you partesevery charge. I brought in shippes and in barge, More gold and silver with me, Than has your lord, and swilke three. . To his treasure have I no need ! But for my love I you bid. To meat with me that ye dwell ; And afterward I shall you tell. Thorough counsel I shall you answer. What bode3 ye shall to your lord bear.' 1 [slack rise. -2 Wvlsle. 3 Measusgs;. (19(1 " The invitation was gratefully accepted. Richard, in the meantime, gave secret orders to his marshal that he should repair to the prison, select a certain number of the most distinguished captives, and, after carefully noting their names on a roll of parchment, cause their heads to be instantly struck off ; that these heads should be delivered to the cook with instructions to clear away the hair, and after boiling them in a caldron, to distribute thera on several platters, one to each guest, observing to fasten on the forehead of each the piece of parch ment expressing the name and family of the victim.

" ' An hot head bring me besom, As I were well apayed withall, Eat thereof fast I shall : As it were a tender chick. To see how the others will like." " This horrible order was punctually executed. At noon the guests were summoned to wash by the music of the waits ; the king took his seat, attended by the principal officers of his court, at the high table, and the rest of the company were marshalled at a long table below him. On the cloth were placed portions of salt at the usual distances, but neither bread, wine, nor water. The ambassadors, rather surprised at this omission, but still free from apprehension, awaited in silence the arrival of the dinner, which was announced by the sounds of pipes, trumpets, and tabours ; and beheld, with horror and dismay, the unnatural banquet introduced by the steward and his officers.

Yet their sentiments of disgust and abhorrence, and even their fears, were for a time suspended by their curiosity. Their eyes were fixed on the king, who, without the slightest change of countenance, swallowed the morsels as fast as they could be supplied by tlie knight who carved them. " Every man then poked other; They said, ' This is the devil's brother, That slays our men, and thus hem eats ! " Their attention was then involuntarily fixed on the smoking heads before them ; they traced in the swollen and distorted features the resemblance of a friend or near relation, and received from the fatal scroll which accompanied each dish the sad assurance that this resemblance was not imaginary. They sat in torpid silence, anticipating their own fate in that of their countrymen, while their fero cious entertainer, with fury in his eyes, but with courtesy on his lips, insulted them by frequent invitations to merriment.

At length this first course w,as removed, and its place supplied by venison, cranes, and other dainties, accompanied by the richest wines. The king then apologized to them for what had passed, which he attributed to his ignorance of their taste ; and assured them of his religious respect for their character as ambassadors, and of his readiness to grant them a safe-conduct for their return. This boon was all that they now wished to claim ; and

APPENDIX.

TO

INTRODUCTION.

. ' King Richard spake to an old man, 1 Wendea home to your Soudan ! His melancholy that ye abate ; And .sayes that ye came too late. Too slowly was your time y-guessed ; Ere ye came, the flesh was dressed. That men shoulden serve with me. Thus at noon, and my meynie. Say him, it shalt him nought avail. Though he for-bar us our vitail, Bread, wine, fish, flesh, salmon, and conger ; Of us none shall die with hunger, While we may wenden to fight. And slay the Saracens downright. Wash the flesh, and roast the head. With oo -1 Saracen I may well feed Well a nine or a ten Of my good Christian men. King Richard shall warrant. There is no flesh so nourissant Unto an English man, Partridge, plover, heron, ne swan, Cow ne ox, sheep ne swine, As the head ofa Sarazyn. There he is fat, and thereto tender.

And my men be lean and slender. While any Saracen quick be. Livand now in this Syrie, For meat will we nothing care. Abouten fast we shall fare, And every day we shall eat All so many as we may get. To England will we nought gon, Till they be eaten every one.' " Ellts's Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, vol. ii. p. 236. The reader may be curious to know owing to what circumstances so extraordinary an invention as that which imputed cannibalism to the King of England, should have found its way into his history. Mr James, to whom we owe so much that is curious, seems to have traced the origin of this extraordinary rumour. u With the army of the cross also was a multitude of men,'* the same author declares, " who made it a profession to be without money ; they walked barefoot, carried no arms, and even preceded the beasts of burden in their march, living upon roots 1 One. 691 and herbs, and presenting a spectacle both disgusting and pitiable.

" A Norman, who, according to all accounts, was of noble birth, but who, having lost his horse, con tinued to follow as a foot soldier, took the strange resolution of putting himself at the head of this race of vagabonds, who willingly received him as their king. Amongst the Saracens these men be came well-known under the the name of Thafurs, (which Guibert translates Trudentes,) and were beheld with great horror, from the general persua sion that they fed on the dead bodies of theirenemies ; a report which was occasionally justified, and which the king of the' Thafurs took care to encourage. This respectable monarch was frequently iu the habit of stopping his followers, one by one, in a narrow defile, and of causing them to be searched carefully, lest the possession of the least sura of money should render them unworthy of the name of his subjects.

If even two sous were found upon any one, he was instantly expelled the society of his tribe, the king bidding him contemptuously buy arms and fight. u This troop, so far from being cumbersome to the army, was infinitely serviceable, carrying bur dens, bringing in forage, provisions, and tribute ; working the machines in the sieges, and, above all, spreading consternation among the Turks, who feared death from the lances of the knights less than that farther consummation they heard of under the teeth of the Thafurs." 2 It is easy to conceive, that an ignorant minstrel, finding the taste and ferocity of the Thafurs com memorated in the historical accounts of the Holy Wars, has ascribed their practices and propensities to the Monarch of England, whose ferocity was con sidered as an object of exaggeration as legitimate as his valour. 3 James's History of Chivalry, p. 178. Abbotsforo, 1st July, 1832. TALES OF THE CRUSADERS. TALE II. SH&e ®ali$man.

Chapter I

They, too, retired To tlie wilderness, but 'twaswitli arms. Paradise Regained. The burning sun of Syria had not yet attained its highest point in the horizon, when a knight of the Red-cross, who had left his distant northern home, and joined the host of the Crusaders in Pales tine, was pacing slowly along the sandy deserts which lie in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, or, as it is called, the Lake Asphaltites, where the waves of the Jordan pour themselves into an inland sea, from which there is no discharge of waters. The warlike pilgrim had toiled among cliffs and precipices during the earlier part of the morning ; more lately, issuing from those rocky and dangerous denies, he had entered upon that great plain, where the accursed cities provoked, in ancient days, the direct and dreadful vengeance of the Omnipotent.

The toil, the thirst, the dangers of the way, were forgotten, as the traveller recalled the fearful catas trophe, which had converted into an arid and dismal wilderness the fair and fertile valley of Siddim, once well watered, even as the Garden of the Lord, now a parched aud blighted waste, condemned to eternal sterility. Crossing himself, as he viewed the dark mass of rolling waters, in colour as in quality unlike those of every other lake, the traveller shuddered as he remembered, that beneath these sluggish waves lay the once proud cities of the plain, whose grave was dug by the thunder of the heavens, or the eruption of subterraneous fire, and whose remains were hid, even by that sea which holds no living fish in its bosom, bears no skiff on its surface, and, as if ita own dreadful bed were the only fit receptacle for its sullen waters, sends not, like other lakes, a tribute to the ocean.

The whole land around, as in the days of Moses, was " brimstone and salt ; it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth thereon ;" the land as well as the lake might be termed dead, as producing nothing having resemblance to vege tation, and even the very air was entirely devoid of its ordinary winged inhabitants, deterred probably 692 by the odour of bitumen and sulphur, which the burning sun exhaled from the waters of the lake, in steaming clouds, frequently assuming the appear ance of waterspouts. Masses of the slimy and sul phurous substance called naphtha, which floated idly on the sluggish and sullen waves, supplied those rolling clouds with new vapours, and afforded awful testimony to the truth of the Mosaic history. Upon this scene of desolation the sun shone with almost intolerable splendour, and all living nature seemed to have hidden itself from the rays, excepting the solitary figure which moved through the Hitting sand at a foot's pace, and appeared the sole breathing thing on the wide surface of the plain.

The dress of the rider and the accoutrements of his horse, were peculiarly unfit for the traveller in such a country. A coat of linked mail, with long sleeves, plated gauntlets, and a steel breastplate, had not been esteemed a sufficient weight of armour; there was also his triangular shield suspended round his neck, and his barred helmet of steel, over which he had a hood and collar of mail, which was drawn around the warrior's shoulders and throat, and filled up the vacancy between the hauberk and the head piece. His lower limbs were sheathed, like his body, in flexible mail, securing the legs and thighs, while the feet rested in plated shoes, which corres ponded with the gauntlets. A long, broad, straight shaped, double-edged falchion, with a handle formed like a cross, corresponded with a stout poniard, on the other side.

The Knight also bore, secured to his saddle, with one end resting ou his stirrup, the long steel-headed lance, his own proper weapon, which, as he rode, projected backwards, and dis played its little pennoncelle, to dally with the faint breeze, or drop in the dead calm. To this cumbrous equipment must be added a surcoat of embroidered cloth, much frayed and worn, which was thus far useful, that it excluded the burning rays of the sun from the armour, which they would otherwise have rendered intolerable to the wearer. The surcoat bore, iu several places, the arms of the owner, although much defaced. These seemed to be a couchaut leopard, with the motto, " I sleep — wake me not." An outline of the same device might be traced ou his shield, though many a blow had ■almost effaced the painting.

The flat top of his cumbrous cylindrical helmet was unadorned with any crest. 1\\ retaining their own unwieldy defensive armour, the northern Crusaders seemed to set at defiance the nature of the climate and country to which they had come to war. The accoutrements of the horse were scarcely less massive and unwieldy than those of the rider. Tlie animal had a heavy saddle plated with steel, uniting in front with a species of breast-plate, and behind with defensive armour made to cover the loins. Then there was a steel axe, or hammer, called a mace-of-arms, and which hung to the saddle-bow ; the reins were secured by chain-work, and the front stall of the bridle was a steel plate, with apertures for the eyes and nostrils, having in the midst a short sharp pike, projecting from the forehead of the horse like the horn of the fabulous unicorn.

But habit had made the endurance of this load of panoply a second nature, both to the knight and his gallant charger. Numbers, indeed, ofthe wes tern warriors who hurried to Palestine, died ere they became inured to the burning climate ; but there were others to whom that climate became innocent and even friendly, and among this fortu nate number was the solitary horseman who now traversed the border of the Dead Sea. Nature, whicli cast his limbs in a mould of uncom mon strength, fitted to wear his linked hauberk with as much ease as if the meshes had been formed of cobwebs, had endowed him with a constitution as strong as his limbs, and which bade defiance to almost all changes of climate, as well as to fatigue and privations of every kind. His disposition seemed, in some degree, to partake of the qualities of his bodily frame ; and as the one possessed great strength and endurance, united with the power of violent exertion, the other, under a calm and undisturbed semblance, had much of the fiery and enthusiastic love of glory which constituted the principal attribute of the renowned Norman line, and had rendered them sovereigns in every corner of Europe, where they had drawn their adventurous swords.

It was not, however, to all the race that fortune proposed such tempting rewards ; and those obtained by the solitary knight during two years' cam paign in Palestine, had been only temporal fame, and, as he was taught to believe, spiritual privileges. Meantime, his slender stock of money had melted away, the rather that he did not pursue any of the ordinary modes by which the followers of the Crusade condescended to recruit their diminished resources, at the expense of the people of Palestine; he exacted no gifts from the wretched natives for sparing their possessions when engaged in warfare with the Saracens, and he had not availed himself of any opportunity of enriching himself by the ransom of prisoners of consequence. The small train which had followed him from his native country, had been gradually diminished, as the means of maintaining them disappeared, and his only remaining squire was at present on a sick-bed, and unable to attend his master, who travelled, as we have seen, singly and alone.

This was of little consequence to the Crusader, who was accustomed to consider his good sword as his safest escort, and devout thoughts as his best companion. Nature had, however, her demands for refresh ment and repose, even ou the iron frame and patient disposition of the Knight of the Sleeping Leopard ; 693 and at noon, when the Dead Sea lay at some dis tance on his right, he joyfully hailed the sight of two or three palm-trees, which arose beside tlie well which was assigned for his mid-day station. His good horse, too, which had plodded forward with the steady endurance of his master, now lifted his head, expanded his nostrils, and quickened his pace, as if he snuffed afar off the living waters, which marked tho place of repose and refreshment. But labour and danger were doomed to intervene ere the horse or horseman reached the desired spot.

As the Knight ofthe Couchant Leopard continued to fix his eyes attentively on the yet distant cluster of palm-trees, it seemed to him as if some object was moving among thera. The distant form separated itself from the trees, wliich partly hid its motions, and advanced towards the knight with a, speed which soon shewed a mounted horseman, whom 1ns turban, long spear, and green caftan floating in the wind, on his nearer approach, shewed to be a Saracen cavalier. " In the desert," saith an Eastern proverb, '■ no man meets a friend." The Crusader was totally indifferent whether the infidel, who now approached on his gallant barb, as if borne on the wings of an eagle, came as friend or foe — perhaps, as a vowed champion of the Cross, he might rather have preferred the latter. He dis engaged 1ns lance from his saddle, seized it with the right hand, placed it in rest with its point half ele vated, gathered up the reins in the left, waked his horse's mettle with the spur, and prepared to en counter the stranger with the calm self-confidence, belonging to the victor in many contests.

The Saracen came on at the speedy gallop of an Arab horseman, managing his steed more by his limbs, and the inflection of his body, than by any use of the reins, which hung loose in his left hand ; so that he was enabled to wield the light round buckler of the skin of the rhinoceros, ornamented with silver loops, which he wore on his arm, swinging it as if he meant to oppose its slender circle to the formidable thrust of the western lance. His own long spear was not couched or levelled like that of his antagonist, but grasped by the middle with his right hand, and brandished at arm's length above his head. As the cavalier approached his enemy at full career, lie seemed to expect that the Knight of the Leopard should put his horse to the gallop to encounter him. But the Christian knight, well acquainted with the customs of Eastern war riors, did not mean to exhaust his good horse by any unnecessary exertion ; and, on the contrary, made a dead halt, confident that if the enemy ad vanced to the actual shock, his own weight, and that of his powerful charger, would give him suffi cient advantage, without the additional momentum of rapjd motion.

Equally sensible and apprehen sive of such a probable result, the Saracen cavalier, when he had approached towards the Christian within twice the length of his lance, wheeled his steed to the left with inimitable dexterity, aud rode twice round his antagonist, who, turning without quitting his ground, and presenting his front con stantly to his enemy, frustrated his attempts to attack him on an unguarded point ; so that the Saracen, wheeling his horse, was fain to retreat to the distance of an hundred yards. A second time, like a hawk attacking a heron, the Heathen renewed the charge, and a second time was fain to retreat without coming to a close struggle. A third time he approached in the same manner, when the Chris tian knight, desirous to terminate this elusory war fare, in which he might at length have been worn out by the activity of his foeman, suddenly seized the mace which hung at his saddlebow, and, with a strong hand and unerring aim, hurled it against the head of the Emir, for such and not less his enemy appeared.

The .Saracen was just aware of the formidable missile in time to interpose his light buckler betwixt the mace and his head ; but the violence of the blow forced the buckler down on his turban, and though that defence also contributed to deaden its violence, the Saracen was beaten from his horse. Ere the Christian could avail himself of this mishap, his nimble foeman sprung from the ground, and calling on his horse, which instantly returned to his side, he leaped into his seat without touching the stirrup, and regained all the advantage of which the Knight ofthe Leopard hoped to deprive him. But the latter had in the meanwhile recovered his mace, and the Eastern cavalier, who remem bered the strength and dexterity with which his antagonist had aimed it, seemed to keep cautiously out of reach of that weapon, of which he had so lately felt the force, while he shewed his purpose of waging a distant warfare with missile weapons of his own.