CANTO  7.	35
XXVII.
A moment now he slack'd his speed,
A moment breathed his panting steed ;
Drew saddle-girth and corslet-band,	285
And loosen'd in the sheath his brand.
On Minto-crags the moonbeams glint,
Where Barnhill hew'd his bed of flint ;
Who flung his outlawed limbs to rest,
Where falcons hang their giddy nest,	290
Mid cliffs, from whence his eagle eye
For many a league his prey could spy ;
Cliffs, doubling on their echoes borne
The terrors of the robber's horn ;
Cliffs, which, for many a later year,	295
The warbling Doric reed shall hear,
When some sad swain shall teach the grove,'
Ambition is no cure for love !
XXVIII.
.Unchallenged, thence pass'd Deloraine,
To ancient Riddel's fair domain,	3°°
Where Aill, from mountains freed,
Down from the lakes did raving come ;
Each wave was crested with tawny foam,
Like the mane of a chestnut steed.
In vain ! no torrent, deep or broad,	305
Might bar the bold moss-trooper's road.
At the first plunge the horse sunk low,
And the water broke o'er the saddlebow;
Above the foaming tide, I ween,
Scarce half the charger's neck was seen :	310*
For he was barded from counter to tail,
And the rider was armed complete in mail ;
Never heavier man and horse
Stemm'd a midnight torrent's force.
D 2