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' " I ' m weary of dancing now,' she cried ; ' Here tarry a moment, I'll hide, I'll hide ! And, Lovell, be sure thou! rt first to trace The clue to my secret lurking place ' Away she ran, and her friends began Each tower to seaich, and each nook to scan ; And young Lovell cried, ' Oh ' where dost thou hide ? I'm lonesome without thee, my own dear bride !'
" They sought her that night, they sought her next day ! And they sought her in vara, when a week passed away ! In the highest, the lowest, the loneliest spot, Young Lovell sought wildly, but found her not. And yeais flew b y , and their grief at last Was told as a sorrowful tale long past; And when Lovell appeared,the children cried, ' See, the old man weeps for his fairy bride !'
" At length an old chest that had long lam hid Was found in the Castle—they raised the lid— And a skeleton form lay mouldering there, In the bridal wreath of that lady fair. Oh ' sad was her fate—in sportive jest, She hid from her lord in the old oak chest; It closed with a spring, and, dreadful doom ! The bride lay clasped in her living tomb !"
This is all essentially English, particularly the Christmas festivities, when the baron's retainers were wont to keep their Christmas holidays the same as the barons themselves. Mrs. Bayly in the "Life" of her husband, published in 1844, throws no light on the subject, but it seems tolerably evident that the ballad was founded
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