Which made Venus speak with laughter,

To Cupid her young son;
Thou hast a gallant father,

His name is Bonny Tom.

These gallant hounds did chase him,

For all his cunning wiles;

And they scorn to forsake him,

Tho' he'd run forty miles.

Over hills and over vallies,

And many a stony rock;

Which made Conyers shout and hollow,
"In faith, we'll pay his dock."

Of foxes, by fair running,

A brace they had destroyed;
In this part, by their cunning,
Our hens and geese annoyed:
Which made the country lasses
For to extol their fame;
They were the bravest hunters
That ever this way came.
This gallant troop hath spenden
A long and pleasant day;
And when the sport was enden

They homeward took their way:

With mirth that was exceeding,

All sorrow to destroy :

Heaven send them a happy meeting,
And send them health and joy.

And when our sport was ended,
I straightway look'd about;
I spy'd a man offended

Because he was left out.

This man was Anty Shadforth,'

A hunter very fierce ;
Cause Wickliff had him cheated

With a Roman snouted horse.

A younger son of Thomas before named.

• This may have been one of the Wycliffes of Offerton; but is strongly suspected to have been John Wycliffe, of Thorpe, æt. 50 in 1655, master of the horse to the Duke of Buckingham.

Tel maitre, tel valet!

TRADITIONS OF TUDHOE.

OWARDS the close of the last century the occupier of Tudhoe mill, a quiet, sober, steady man, had been at Durham on business, and was returning home; but, by the time he reached Sunderland bridge, it was nearly dusk, and being on foot he felt rather desirous of company. The wish had scarcely crossed his mind, when, on looking up the bank before him, he espied, at the distance of about twenty paces, a stiff built man, who seemed to wear a broad-brimmed hat:-he wondered he had not observed him before, as the road was quite straight at this place, however he hastened on to overtake him. It was very strange; the quicker he walked, so much the quicker glided on the person in advance, and yet without appearing to exert himself! They kept at about the same distance the whole of the way, until they arrived at Nicky-nack bridge," and the miller was about to turn off to the gate on the right hand. He withdrew his eyes from the object before him, it might be for a moment, and when he looked again there was nothing on the bridge, nor on the slight ascent beyond it, nor yet in the lane further away. It was suggested to him that probably the man had passed behind some tree, and so escaped observation; but he replied in his quiet, meek manner, that recollecting he never harmed any body, he needed not to fear ill things; and trusting that good was about and around him, he determined to see if he had been mistaken. He therefore proceeded onward, and searched every place which could possibly shield a person from view, but all to no purpose; the mysterious being had vanished "like the morning mist before the summer-sun."

66

Many years previous to the period when the above adventure took place, when there was no public house either in the village of Tudhoe, or nearer than that at Sunderland bridge, a company of reapers had assembled at a farmer's house to enjoy a "Mell supper." A good supply of spirits and ale had been laid in by the fariner, but either the party was larger than had been expected, or they drank more freely, for the supply was exhausted before many of the reapers were satisfied; so they agreed to contribute each a small sum, and send one of the company for more. The mission was entrusted to a poor fellow, who was defective in intellect, and when he had been absent nearly three hours, the distance being only about a mile and half, several began to be impatient for his return. At length one of them swore, with a deep oath, he would wrap a sheet round him and meet him at "Nicky-nack

field," and frighten him. Accordingly he procured a white sheet, drew it round him, and stalked out to meet the poor man. His companions waited long-hour followed hour, and yet neither the reaper nor the messenger appeared; at last when their patience was exhausted, and morning began slowly to break, the latter rushed in amongst them, pale and trembling. When they asked him if he had seen any thing, he said "yes, I saw a white ghost which came and frightened me much, but I saw a black one behind it, so I cried, 'black ghost catch white ghost,' and the white one looked about, and, perceiving the black one, screamed out amain, and attempted to run away; but, blackey was too swift for him, and after much struggling, he flew away with whitey altogether!!" When day dawned and the peasants ventured forth to seek their companion, they discovered in the "field of Nicky-nack," a few fragments of the sheet in which he had been wrapped, but he himself was neither then nor ever afterwards found.

Communicated by Mr. William Pearson, Bishop Auckland.

Judith, the Gipsy Belle.

BY DELTA.

ROM town to town, a wandering life!
Stripling and maiden, husband and wife,
A Gipsy tribe were seen to pass,
With basketted arm, and pannier'd ass.

Road, path, and style, on either hand,
They knew through all Northumberland;
And often, by Tweed, they saunter'd down
As far as pleasant Kelso town.

They roam'd, by day, o'er the flowery lea;

They couch'd, through night, by the spreading tree:

And well could their deep-brow'd mastiff mark

The tread of a stranger's foot-and bark.

But love is lawless, as legends say;
So, by a hedge, on a summer day,
The black-eyed Judith, fair and tall,
Attracted the heir of Riccon Hall.

He check'd his steed, and sigh'd to mark
Her coral lips, her eyes so dark,
And stately bearing,-as she had been
Bred up in courts, and born a queen.

Again he came, and again he came,
Each day with a warmer, a wilder flame;
And still again-till sleep by night,
For Judith's sake, fled his pillow quite.
He brought her gifts, he brought her gold,
Her beauty praised, and his passion told,
Till the woman's heart, within her breast,
Yielded-need I tell the rest.

And did nor father nor mother guess,
Who gifted their child her gaudy dress?
And did no brother bid beware

His sister from the hidden snare ?

No! but amid that wandering throng,
Was one whose bosom fear'd her wrong;
For, jealously, his eye had seen
What pass'd the ill-match'd pair between.
A stalwart man was Gemmel Græme,
With fearless heart and sinewy frame;
But when he thought of his last love, grief
Would seek, in unmanly tears, relief.

But revenge into his spirit crept,
Awakening fires that only slept,
Till all his fierce Egyptian blood
Boil'd over-like a lava flood.

Beneath Eve's star, in thicket green,
Hath Gemmel Græme their meeting seen;
His pistol flash'd, and bleeding lay
The heir of Riccon,-senseless clay!

Forth stepping to Judith, then he said,
"False maiden, now fondle with the dead;
And try if thy wild embrace can charm
His lips to speak, or his heart to warm!"
And turning aloof on his heel, he cried-
"Thine be the downfall that follows pride;
And take back your worthless troth,-ye see
That both your lovers have left you free!"

Straight from her presence, and his clan,
The murderer fled-a branded man!
Nor floats a trace on time's after tide,
Or where he lived, or where he died!
And what became of the Gipsy maid,
By worldly pride, to sin betray'd?
As by the lightning flash the flower,
So a blight came over her heart that hour.
With sun-burnt neck, and tresses black,
Hanging dishevell'd half down her back,
And tatter'd robes, till round her rang
The woods, a maniac roam'd and sang.
For years and years was Judith known,
Queen of a wild world all her own,
By Wooler Haughs, by silver Till,
By Coldstream-bridge and Flodden Hill.
Until at length, one morn, when sleet
Hung frozen round the traveller's feet,
By a grey ruin, on Tweedside,

The creature laid her down,—and died!

Lament.

Lamentation on the death of sir Robert Neville, lord of Raby, in the year 1282; alluding to an ancient custom of offering a stag, at the high altar of Durham Abbey, on Holy Rood day, (Sep. 18th) accompanied with the winding of horns:—

This is probably the oldest genuine rhyme connected with the bishoprick of Durham.-Bishoprick Garland.