Kent. I have inform'd the Earl of Lancaster. Lan. And it sufficeth. Now, my lords, know this,

That Gaveston is secretly arriv'd,

And here in Tynmouth frolics with the king.
Let us with these our followers scale the walls,
And suddenly surprise them unawares.

Y. Mor. I'll give the onset.
War. And I'll follow thee.

Y. Mor. This tatter'd* ensign of my ancestors,
Which swept the desert shore of that Dead Sea
Whereof we got the name of Mortimer,
Will I advance upon this castle['s] walls.-
Drums, strike alarum, raise them from their
sport,

And ring aloud the knell of Gaveston !

Lan. None be so hardy as tot touch the king; But neither spare you Gaveston nor his friends. [Exeunt.

Enter, severally, KING EDWARD and the younger
SPENSER.

K. Edw. O, tell me, Spenser, where is Gaveston?

Y. Spen. I fear me he is slain, my gracious lord.

K. Edw. No, here he comes: now let them spoil and kill.

199

Enter LANCASTER, WARWICK, the younger MORTIMER, and others. Alarums within.

Lan. I wonder how he scap'd.
Y. Mor. Who's this? the queen!

Q. Isab. Ay, Mortimer, the miserable queen,
Whose pining heart her inward sighs have blasted,
And body with continual mourning wasted:
These hands are tir'd with haling of my lord
From Gaveston, from wicked Gaveston;
And all in vain; for, when I speak him fair,
He turns away, and smiles upon his minion.

Y. Mor. Cease to lament, and tell us where's the king?

Q. Isab. What would you with the king? is't him seek? you Lan. No, madam, but that cursed Gaveston: Far be it from the thought of Lancaster

To offer violence to his sovereign !
We would but rid the realm of Gaveston :
Tell us where he remains, and he shall die.

Q. Isab. He's gone by water unto Scarborough:
Pursue him quickly, and he cannot scape;
The king hath left him, and his train is small.
War. Forslow* no time, sweet Lancaster; let's

march.

Y. Mor. How comes it that the king and he is parted?

Q. Isab. That thust your army, going several

ways,
Might be of lesser force, and with the power
That he intendeth presently to raise,
Be easily suppress'd: therefore be gone.

Y. Mor. Here in the river rides a Flemish hoy : Let's all aboard, and follow him amain.

Lan. The wind that bears him hence will fill our sails:

Come, come, aboard! 'tis but an hour's sailing. Y. Mor. Madam, stay you within this castle here.

Isab. No, Mortimer; I'll to my lord the king.

borough.

Q. Isab. You know the king is so suspicious As, if he hear I have but talk'd with you, Mine honour will be call'd in question; And therefore, gentle Mortimer, be gone.

Y. Mor. Madam, I cannot stay to answer you: But think of Mortimer as he deserves.

[Exeunt all except QUEEN ISABELLA.

Q. Isab. So well hast thou deserv'd, sweet
Mortimer,

As Isabel could live with thee for ever.
In vain I look for love at Edward's hand,
Whose eyes are fix'd on none but Gaveston.
Yet once more I'll importune him with prayer:
If he be strange, and not regard my words,
My son and I will over into France,
And to the king my brother there complain
How Gaveston hath robb'd me of his love:
But yet, I hope, my sorrows will have end,
And Gaveston this blessed day be slain.

Enter GAVESTON," pursued,

[Exit.

Gav. Yet, lusty lords, I have escap'd your hands,

Your threats, your 'larums, and your hot pursuits;

*Enter Gaveston, &c] There is such uncertainty about the location of this scene, that I can only mark it-an open country.

It may not be amiss to state the real circumstances which attended the close of Gaveston's career.-The king and Gaveston fled by sea from Tynmouth to Scarborough; the king then repaired to York, while Gaveston remained in Scarborough Castle, to which the Earls of Surrey and Pembroke, commissioned by the Earl of Lancaster, laid siege. "It was in vain that Edward sent them a mandate to retire. The unfortunate Gaveston finding the place untenable, surrendered with the king's consent to the Earl of Pembroke, on condition, that if no accommodation were effected before the first of August, he should be reinstated in the possession of Scarborough. It had been agreed that the prisoner should be confined in his own castle of Wallingford: and the earl and the lord Henry Percy bound themselves for his safety to the king, under the forfeiture of their lands, limbs, and lives. From Scarborough Gaveston proceeded under their protection towards Wallingford; at Dedington, Pembroke left him in the custody of his servants, and departed to spend the night with his countess in the neighbourhood. The captive retired to rest without any suspicion of danger: but the Black Dog [Warwick] had sworn that the favourite should feel his teeth'; and before dawn he received a peremptory order to dress himself and leave his chamber. At the gate, instead of his former guards, he found, to his astonishment, his enemy the earl of Warwick, with a numerous force. He was immediately placed on a mule,

That muster rebels thus against your king) To seet his royal sovereign once again.

and conducted to the castle of Warwick, where his arrival was announced by martial music and shouts of triumph. There the chiefs of the party sat in council over the fate of their prisoner. To a proposal to save his life, a voice replied, 'You have caught the fox: if you let him go, you will have to hunt him again': and it was ultimately resolved to disregard the capitulation, and to put him to death in conformity with one of the ordinances. When his doom was announced, Gavestou threw himself at the feat of the earl of Lancaster; and implored, but in vain, the pity and protection of his 'gentle lord.' He was hurried to Blacklow-hill (now Gaversike), and beheaded in the presence of the earls of Laucaster, Hereford, and Surrey." Lingard's Hist. of England, vol. iii. 15, ed. 1849. * malgrado] i. e. in spite of (Ital.).

† see] So 4tos 1612, 1622.-2to 1598 "these."

our hands] After these words, a line in which Warwick said something about Gaveston's being beheaded, has dropt out.

And drives his nobles to these exigents

Enter ARUNDEL.

Lan. How now, my Lord of Arundel !

Arun. My lords, King Edward greets you all

by me.

War. Arundel, say your message.

taken Gaveston,*

Entreateth you by me, yet but he may

See him before he dies; for why, he says,

And sends you word, he knows that die he shall;

And, if you gratify his grace so far,

He will be mindful of the courtesy.

War. How now !

Gav. Renowmèd‡ Edward, how thy name Revives poor Gaveston !

War. No, it needeth not: Arundel, we will gratify the king

In other matters; he must pardon us in this.— Soldiers, away with him!

Gav. Why, my Lord of Warwick,

Will now these short delays beget my hopes? §
I know it, lords, it is this life you aim at :
Yet grant King Edward this.

Y. Mor. Shalt thou appoint

What we shall grant-Soldiers, away with him!

Thus we'll gratify the king;

We'll send his head by thee: let him bestow
His tears on that, for that is all he gets
Of Gaveston, or else his senseless trunk.

Lan. Not so, my lord, lest he bestow more cost In burying him than he hath ever earn'd.

Arun. My lords, it is his majesty's request, And in the honour of a king he swears, He will but talk with him, and send him back. War. When, can you tell? Arundel, no; we wot,

He that the care of his realm remits, T

hearing that you had taken Gaveston] Qy. either "hearing you had taken Gaveston"? or "hearing that you had ta'en Gaveston"?

t for why] i.e. because, for this reason that. Renowmed] See note 1, p 11. So 4to 1598.-2tos 1612, 1622,"Renowned."

§ Will now these short delays beget my hopes] Old eds., "Will not these delaies beget my hopes?"

The modern editors print,

"Will these delays beget me any hopes?"

in] i, e. on. See note t, p. 17.

He that the care of his realm remits] Here "care" is

a dissyllable, -as in a later line of the play.

"My lord, be going: care not for these ".

(So, too, we presently have "spare" as a dissyllable,— "And, Spenser, spare them not, lay it on.") 2to 1598,

Y. Mor. "Tis honourable in thee to offer this;

But, for we know thou art a noble gentle

man,

We will not wrong thee so,

To make away a true* man for a thief.

Gav. How mean'st thou, Mortimer? that is over-base.

Y. Mor. Away, base groom, robber of king's

renown!

Question with thy companions and mates.

Pem. My Lord Mortimer, and you, my lords, each one,

To gratify the king's request therein,
Touching the sending of this Gaveston,
Because his majesty so earnestly
Desires to see the man before his death,

I will upon mine honour undertake

To carry him, and bring him back again;
Provided this, that you, my Lord of Arundel,
Will join with me.

War. Pembroke, what wilt thou do?
Cause yet more bloodshed? is it not enough
That we have taken him, but must we now
Leave him on "Had I wist," and let him go?

Pem. My lords, I will not over-woo your