Chapter 8.I. The Encampment.
It was a most lovely day, in the very glow and meridian of an Italian
summer, when a small band of horsemen were seen winding a hill which
commanded one of the fairest landscapes of Tuscany. At their head was a
cavalier in a complete suit of chain armour, the links of which were so
fine, that they resembled a delicate and curious network, but so strongly
compacted, that they would have resisted spear or sword no less effectually
than the heaviest corselet, while adapting themselves exactly and with ease
to every movement of the light and graceful shape of the rider. He wore a
hat of dark green velvet shaded by long plumes, while of two squires
behind, the one bore his helmet and lance, the other led a strong warhorse,
completely cased in plates of mail, which seemed, however, scarcely to
encumber its proud and agile paces. The countenance of the cavalier was
comely, but strongly marked, and darkened, by long exposure to the suns of
many climes, to a deep bronze hue: a few raven ringlets escaped from
beneath his hat down a cheek closely shaven. The expression of his
features was grave and composed even to sadness; nor could all the
loveliness of the unrivalled scene before him dispel the quiet and settled
melancholy of his eyes. Besides the squires, ten horsemen, armed cap-a-
pie, attended the knight; and the low and murmured conversation they
carried on at intervals, as well as their long fair hair, large stature,
thick short beards, and the studied and accurate equipment of their arms
and steeds, bespoke them of a hardier and more warlike race than the
children of the south. The cavalcade was closed with a man almost of
gigantic height, bearing a banner richly decorated, wherein was wrought a
column, with the inscription, "ALONE AMIDST RUINS." Fair indeed was the
prospect which with every step expanded yet more widely its various beauty.
Right before stretched a long vale, now covered with green woodlands
glittering in the yellow sunlight, now opening into narrow plains bordered
by hillocks, from whose mosses of all hues grew fantastic and odorous
shrubs; while, winding amidst them, a broad and silver stream broke into
light at frequent intervals, snatched by wood and hillock from the eye,
only to steal upon it again, in sudden and bright surprise. The opposite
slope of gentle mountains, as well as that which the horsemen now
descended, was covered with vineyards, trained in alleys and arcades: and
the clustering grape laughed from every leafy and glossy covert, as gaily
as when the Fauns held a holiday in the shade. The eye of the Cavalier
roved listlessly over this enchanting prospect, sleeping in the rosiest
light of a Tuscan heaven, and then became fixed with a more earnest
attention on the grey and frowning walls of a distant castle, which, high
upon the steepest of the opposite mountains, overlooked the valley.
"Behold," he muttered to himself, "how every Eden in Italy hath its curse!
Wherever the land smiles fairest, be sure to find the brigand's tent and
the tyrant's castle!"
Scarce had these thoughts passed his mind, ere the shrill and sudden blast
of a bugle that sounded close amongst the vineyards by the side of the path
startled the whole group. The cavalcade halted abruptly. The leader made
a gesture to the squire who led his war-horse. The noble and practised
animal remained perfectly still, save by champing its bit restlessly, and
moving its quick ear to and fro, as aware of a coming danger, - while the
squire, unencumbered by the heavy armour of the Germans, plunged into the
thicket and disappeared. He returned in a few minutes, already heated and
breathless.
"We must be on our guard," he whispered; "I see the glimmer of steel
through the vine leaves."
"Our ground is unhappily chosen," said the Knight, hastily bracing on his
helmet and leaping on his charger; and waving his hand towards a broader
space in the road, which would permit the horsemen more room to act in
union, with his small band he made hastily to the spot - the armour of the
soldiers rattling heavily as two by two they proceeded on.
The space to which the Cavalier had pointed was a green semicircle of
several yards in extent, backed by tangled copses of brushwood sloping down
to the vale below. They reached it in safety; they drew up breast to
breast in the form of a crescent: every visor closed save that of the
Knight, who looked anxiously and keenly round the landscape.
"Hast thou heard, Giulio," he said, to his favourite squire, (the only
Italian of the band,) "whether any brigands have been seen lately in these
parts?"
"No, my Lord; on the contrary, I am told that every lance hath left the
country to join the Grand Company of Fra Moreale. The love of his pay and
plunder has drawn away the mercenaries of every Tuscan Signor."
As he ceased speaking, the bugle sounded again from nearly the same spot as
before; it was answered by a brief and martial note from the very rear of
the horsemen. At the same moment, from the thickets behind, broke the
gleam of mail and spears. One after another, rank after rank, from the
copse behind them, emerged men-at-arms, while suddenly, from the vines in
front, still greater numbers poured forth with loud and fierce shouts.
"For God, for the Emperor, and for the Colonna!" cried the Knight, closing
his visor; and the little band, closely serried, the lance in every rest,
broke upon the rush of the enemy in front. A score or so, borne to the
ground by the charge, cleared a path for the horsemen, and, without waiting
the assault of the rest, the Knight wheeled his charger and led the way
down the hill, almost at full gallop, despite the roughness of the descent:
a flight of arrows despatched after them fell idly on their iron mail.
"If they have no horse," cried the Knight, "we are saved!"
And, indeed, the enemy seemed scarcely to think of pursuing them; but
(gathered on the brow of a hill) appeared contented to watch their flight.
Suddenly a curve in the road brought them before a broad and wide patch of
waste land, which formed almost a level surface, interrupting the descent
of the mountain. On the commencement of this waste, drawn up in still
array, the sunlight broke on the breastplates of a long line of horsemen,
whom the sinuosities of the road had hitherto concealed from the Knight and
his party.
The little troop halted abruptly - retreat - advance alike cut off; gazing
first at the foe before them, that remained still as a cloud, every eye was
then turned towards the Knight.
"An thou wouldst, my Lord," said the leader of the Northmen, perceiving the
irresolution of their chief, "we will fight to the last. You are the only
Italian I ever knew whom I would willingly die for!"
This rude profession was received with a sympathetic murmur from the rest,
and the soldiers drew closer around the Knight. "Nay, my brave fellows,"
said the Colonna, lifting his visor, "it is not in so inglorious a field,
after such various fortunes, that we are doomed to perish. If these be
brigands, as we must suppose, we can yet purchase our way. If the troops
of some Signor, we are strangers to the feud in which he is engaged. Give
me yon banner - I will ride on to them."
"Nay, my Lord," said Giulio; "such marauders do not always spare a flag of
truce. There is danger - "
"For that reason your leader braves it. Quick!"
The Knight took the banner, and rode deliberately up to the horsemen. On
approaching, his warlike eye could not but admire the perfect caparison of
their arms, the strength and beauty of their steeds, and the steady
discipline of their long and glittering line.
As he rode up, and his gorgeous banner gleamed in the noonlight, the
soldiers saluted him. It was a good omen, and he hailed it as such. "Fair
sirs," said the Knight, "I come, at once herald and leader of the little
band who have just escaped the unlooked-for assault of armed men on yonder
hill - and, claiming aid, as knight from knight, and soldier from soldier,
I place my troop under the protection of your leader. Suffer me to see
him."
"Sir Knight," answered one, who seemed the captain of the band, "sorry am I
to detain one of your gallant bearing, and still more so, on recognising
the device of one of the most potent houses of Italy. But our orders are
strict, and we must bring all armed men to the camp of our General."
"Long absent from my native land, I knew not," replied the Knight, "that
there was war in Tuscany. Permit me to crave the name of the general whom
you speak of, and that of the foe against whom ye march."
The Captain smiled slightly.
"Walter de Montreal is the General of the Great Company, and Florence his
present foe."
"We have fallen, then, into friendly, if fierce, hands," replied the
Knight, after a moment's pause. "To Sir Walter de Montreal I am known of
old. Permit me to return to my companions, and acquaint them that if
accident has made us prisoners, it is, at least, only to the most skilful
warrior of his day that we are condemned to yield."
The Italian then turned his horse to join his comrades.
"A fair Knight and a bold presence," said the Captain of the Companions to
his neighbour, "though I scarce think it is the party we are ordered to
intercept. Praised be the Virgin, however, his men seem from the North.
Them, perhaps, we may hope to enlist."
The Knight now, with his comrades, rejoined the troop. And, on receiving
their parole not to attempt escape, a detachment of thirty horsemen were
despatched to conduct the prisoners to the encampment of the Great Company.
Turning from the main road, the Knight found himself conducted into a
narrow defile between the hills, which, succeeded by a gloomy track of wild
forest-land, brought the party at length into a full and abrupt view of a
wide plain, covered with the tents of what, for Italian warfare, was
considered a mighty army. A stream, over which rude and hasty bridges had
been formed from the neighbouring timber, alone separated the horsemen from
the encampment.
"A noble sight!" said the captive Cavalier, with enthusiasm, as he reined
in his steed, and gazed upon the wild and warlike streets of canvass,
traversing each other in vistas broad and regular.
One of the captains of the Great Company who rode beside him, smiled
complacently.
"There are few masters of the martial art who equal Fra Moreale," said he;
"and savage, reckless, and gathered from all parts and all countries - from
cavern and from marketplace, from prison and from palace, as are his
troops, he has reduced them already into a discipline which might shame
even the soldiery of the Empire."
The Knight made no reply; but, spurring his horse over one of the rugged
bridges, soon found himself amidst the encampment. But that part at which
he entered little merited the praises bestowed upon the discipline of the
army. A more unruly and disorderly array, the Cavalier, accustomed to the
stern regularity of English, French, and German discipline, thought he had
never beheld: here and there, fierce, unshaven, half-naked brigands might
be seen, driving before them the cattle which they had just collected by
predatory excursions. Sometimes a knot of dissolute women stood -
chattering, scolding, gesticulating - collected round groups of wild
shagged Northmen, who, despite the bright purity of the summer-noon, were
already engaged in deep potations. Oaths, and laughter, and drunken
merriment, and fierce brawl, rang from side to side; and ever and anon some
hasty conflict with drawn knives was begun and finished by the fiery and
savage bravoes of Calabria or the Apennines, before the very eyes and
almost in the very path of the troop. Tumblers, and mountebanks, and
jugglers, and Jew pedlers, were exhibiting their tricks or their wares at
every interval, apparently well inured to the lawless and turbulent market
in which they exercised their several callings. Despite the protection of
the horsemen who accompanied them, the prisoners were not allowed to pass
without molestation. Groups of urchins, squalid, fierce, and ragged,
seemed to start from the ground, and surrounded their horses like swarms of
bees, uttering the most discordant cries; and, with the gestures of
savages, rather demanding than beseeching money, which, when granted,
seemed only to render them more insatiable. While, sometimes mingled with
the rest, were seen the bright eyes and olive cheek, and half-pleading,
half-laughing smile of girls, whose extreme youth, scarce emerged from
childhood, rendered doubly striking their utter and unredeemed abandonment.
"You did not exaggerate the decorum of the Grand Company!" cried the
Knight, gravely, to his new acquaintance.
"Signor," replied the other, "you must not judge of the kernel by the
shell. We are scarcely yet arrived at the camp. These are the outskirts,
occupied rather by the rabble than the soldiers. Twenty thousand men from
the sink, it must be owned, of every town in Italy, follow the camp, to
fight if necessary, but rather for plunder, and for forage: - such you now
behold. Presently you will see those of another stamp."
The Knight's heart swelled high. "And to such men is Italy given up!"
thought he. His revery was broken by a loud burst of applause from some
convivialists hard by. He turned, and under a long tent, and round a board
covered with wine and viands, sate some thirty or forty bravoes. A ragged
minstrel, or jongleur, with an immense beard and mustachios, was tuning,
with no inconsiderable skill, a lute which had accompanied him in all his
wanderings - and suddenly changing its notes into a wild and warlike
melody, he commenced in a loud and deep voice the following song: -
The Praise of the Grand Company.
1.
Ho, dark one from the golden South, -
Ho, fair one from the North;
Ho, coat of mail and spear of sheen -
Ho, wherefore ride ye forth?
"We come from mount, we come from cave,
We come across the sea,
In long array, in bright array,
To Montreal's Companie."
Oh, the merry, merry band.
Light heart, and heavy hand -
Oh, the Lances of the Free!
2.
Ho, Princes of the castled height -
Ho, Burghers of the town;
Apulia's strength, Romagna's pride,
And Tusca's old renown!
Why quail ye thus? why pale ye thus?
What spectre do ye see?
"The blood-red flag, and trampling march,
Of Montreal's Companie."
Oh, the sunshine of your life -
Oh, the thunders of your strife!
Wild Lances of the Free!
3.
Ho, scutcheons o'er the vaulted tomb
Where Norman valour sleeps,
Why shake ye so? why quake ye so!
What wind the trophy sweeps?
"We shake without a breath - below,
The dead are stirred to see,
The Norman's fame revived again
In Montreal's Companie."
Since Roger won his crown,
Who hath equalled your renown,
Brave Lances of the Free?
4.
Ho, ye who seek to win a name,
Where deeds are bravest done -
Ho, ye who wish to pile a heap,
Where gold is lightest won;
Ho, ye who loathe the stagnant life,
Or shun the law's decree,
Belt on the brand, and spur the steed,
To Montreal's Companie.
And the maid shall share her rest,
And the miser share his chest,
With the Lances of the Free!
The Free!
The Free!
Oh! the Lances of the Free!
Then suddenly, as if inspired to a wilder flight by his own minstrelsy, the
jongleur, sweeping his hand over the chords, broke forth into an air
admirably expressive of the picture which his words, running into a rude,
but lively and stirring doggerel, attempted to paint.
The March of the Grand Company.
Tira, tirala - trumpet and drum -
Rising bright o'er the height of the mountain they come!
German, and Hun, and the Islandrie,
Who routed the Frenchman at famed Cressie,
When the rose changed its hue with the fleur-de-lis;
With the Roman, and Lombard, and Piedmontese,
And the dark-haired son of the southern seas.
Tira, tirala - more near and near
Down the steep - see them sweep; - rank by rank they appear!
With the Cloud of the Crowd hanging dark at their rear -
Serried, and steadied, and orderlie,
Like the course - like the force - of a marching sea!
Open your gates, and out with your gold,
For the blood must be spilt, or the ransom be told!
Woe, Burghers, woe! Behold them led
By the stoutest arm and the wisest head,
With the snow-white cross on the cloth of red; -
With the eagle eye, and the lion port,
His barb for a throne, and his camp for a court:
Sovereign and scourge of the land is he -
The kingly Knight of the Companie!
Hurrah - hurrah - hurrah!
Hurrah for the army - hurrah for its lord -
Hurrah for the gold that is got by the sword -
Hurrah - hurrah - hurrah!
For the Lances of the Free!
Shouted by the full chorus of those desperate boon-companions, and caught
up and re-echoed from side to side, near and far, as the familiar and well-
known words of the burthen reached the ears of more distant groups or
stragglers, the effect of this fierce and licentious minstrelsy was
indescribable. It was impossible not to feel the zest which that daring
life imparted to its daring followers, and even the gallant and stately
Knight who listened to it, reproved himself for an involuntary thrill of
sympathy and pleasure.
He turned with some impatience and irritation to his companion, who had
taken a part in the chorus, and said, "Sir, to the ears of an Italian
noble, conscious of the miseries of his country, this ditty is not welcome.
I pray you, let us proceed."
"I humbly crave your pardon, Signor," said the Free Companion; "but really
so attractive is the life led by Free Lances, under Fra Moreale, that
sometimes we forget the - ; but pardon me - we will on."
A few moments more, and bounding over a narrow circumvallation, the party
found themselves in a quarter, animated indeed, but of a wholly different
character of animation. Long lines of armed men were drawn up on either
side of a path, conducting to a large marquee, placed upon a little
hillock, surmounted by a blue flag, and up this path armed soldiers were
passing to and fro with great order, but with a pleased and complacent
expression upon their swarthy features. Some that repaired to the marquee
were bearing packets and bales upon their shoulders - those that returned
seemed to have got rid of their burthens, but every now and then,
impatiently opening their hands, appeared counting and recounting to
themselves the coins contained therein.
The Knight looked inquiringly at his companion.
"It is the marquee of the merchants," said the captain; "they have free
admission to the camp, and their property and persons are rigidly
respected. They purchase each soldier's share of the plunder at fair
prices, and either party is contented with the bargain."
"It seems, then, that there is some kind of rude justice observed amongst
you," said the Knight.
"Rude! Diavolo! Not a town in Italy but would be glad of such even
justice, and such impartial laws. Yonder lie the tents of the judges,
appointed to try all offences of soldier against soldier. To the right,
the tent with the golden ball contains the treasurer of the army. Fra
Moreale incurs no arrears with his soldiery."
It was, indeed, by these means that the Knight of St. John had collected
the best equipped and the best contented force in Italy. Every day brought
him recruits. Nothing was spoken of amongst the mercenaries of Italy but
the wealth acquired in his service, and every warrior in the pay of
Republic or of Tyrant sighed for the lawless standard of Fra Moreale.
Already had exaggerated tales of the fortunes to be made in the ranks of
the Great Company passed the Alps; and, even now, the Knight, penetrating
farther into the camp, beheld from many a tent the proud banners and
armorial blazon of German nobility and Gallic knighthood.
"You see," said the Free Companion, pointing to these insignia, "we are not
without our different ranks in our wild city. And while we speak, many a
golden spur is speeding hitherward from the North!"
All now in the quarter they had entered was still and solemn; only afar
came the mingled hum, or the sudden shout of the pandemonium in the rear,
mellowed by distance to a not unpleasing sound. An occasional soldier,
crossing their path, stalked silently and stealthily to some neighbouring
tent, and seemed scarcely to regard their approach.
"Behold! we are before the General's pavilion," said the Free Lance.
Blazoned with purple and gold, the tent of Montreal lay a little apart from
the rest. A brooklet from the stream they had crossed murmured gratefully
on the ear, and a tall and wide-spreading beech cast its shadow over the
gorgeous canvass.
While his troop waited without, the knight was conducted at once to the
presence of the formidable adventurer.
