NORTHUMBRIAN

CHIEFTAIN,

OR

SPECTRE OF THE ABBEY.

A

LEGENDARY TALE.

[COLLECTED FROM AN ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT.]

BY

JOSEPH D. M'ARTHUR.

"TENANT of the tomb! Has thy soul left this earth,
charged with some foul crime that bars the gates of Paradise against
thee? Hast thou hid in the earth, the widow or the orphan's gold,
and now in expiation of that guilt, pour'st, at the midnight hour,
the shriek of misery? I'll dig that treasure up, though guarded by
hell's dragons! Speak!-I will not blanch, nor stop the affrighted
ear!"
SCHILLER.

66

Mournful sight!

Her very eyes weep blood, and every groan
She heaves is big with horror!—but the foe,
Like a staunch murderer, steady to his purpose,
Pursues her close."

Newcastle upon Tyne:

BLAIR.

PRINTED BY D. bass, foot of PILGRIM-STREET,

AND MAY BE HAD OF ALL THE BOOKSELLERS.

1803.

(Price One Shilling.)

CHAP. I.

Cowards die many times before their deaths-
The valiant never taste of dea l but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It feems to me moft ftrange, that men fhould fear,
Seeing that death, a neceffary end,
Will come, when it will come.

Nor him the churlish winter fpares;

His drenched frame, and hoary locks,

The rude winds lafh his filvery hairs;
The pelting ftorm his mifery mocks.

Shakespeare.

The Storm-the Pilgrim-Effects of Fear-the noble Impulfes of Humanity-true Benevolence.

K

EEN blew the blaft, and the angry north appalled the frighted traveller--the fnow filvered the withered face of the dejected pilgrim-terror trod his every step, and pallid fearhad marked him as her own-his wallet, filled with the produce of humanity, lay neglected; and frequently he covered his head aneath the

B

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