Edward III

the whole dominions of the realm;

Which if with grudging he refuse to yield,

I’ll take away those borrow’d plumes of his

And send him naked to the wilderness.

Lorraine

Then, Edward, here, in spite of all thy lords,

I do pronounce defiance to thy face.



Prince Edward

Defiance, Frenchman? we rebound it back,

Even to the bottom of thy master’s throat:

And⁠—be it spoke with reverence of the king

My gracious father, and these other lords.⁠—

I hold thy message but as scurrilous,

And him that sent thee, like the lazy drone

Crept up by stealth unto the eagle’s nest;

From whence we’ll shake him with so rough a storm,

As others shall be warned by his harm.



Warwick

Bid him leave of the lion’s case he wears,

Lest, meeting with the lion in the field,

He chance to tear him piecemeal for his pride.



Artois

The soundest counsel I can give his grace

Is to surrender ere he be constrain’d.

A voluntary mischief hath less scorn,

Than when reproach with violence is borne.



Lorraine

Degenerate traitor, viper to the place

Where thou was foster’d in thine infancy, Drawing his sword.

Bear’st thou a part in this conspiracy?



King Edward

Lorraine, behold the sharpness of this steel: Drawing his.

Fervent desire, that sits against my heart,

Is far more thorny-pricking than this blade;

That, with the nightingale, I shall be scar’d,

As oft as I dispose my self to rest,

Until my colours be display’d in France.

This is thy final answer; so be gone.



Lorraine

It is not that, nor any English brave,

Afflicts me so, as doth his poison’d view,

That is most false, should most of all be true. Exeunt Lorraine and Train.



King Edward

Now, lords, our fleeting bark is under sail:

Our gage is thrown, and war is soon begun,

But not so quickly brought unto an end.⁠—




Enter Sir William Mountague.




But wherefore comes Sir William Mountague?

How stands the league between the Scot and us?



Mountague

Crack’d and dissever’d, my renowned lord.

The treacherous king no sooner was inform’d

Of your withdrawing of our army back,

But straight, forgetting of his former oath,

He made invasion on the bordering towns.

Berwick is won; Newcastle spoil’d and lost;

And now the tyrant hath begirt with siege

The castle of Roxborough, where enclos’d

The Countess Salisbury is like to perish.



King Edward

That is thy daughter, Warwick⁠—is it not?⁠—

Whose husband hath in Britain serv’d so long,

About the planting of Lord Mountford there?



Warwick
It is, my lord.


King Edward

Ignoble David! hast thou none to grieve,

But silly ladies, with thy threat’ning arms?

But I will make you shrink your snaily horns.⁠—

First, therefore, Audley, this shall be thy charge;

Go levy footmen for our wars in France:

And, Ned, take muster of our men at arms:

In every shire elect a several band.

Let them be soldiers of a lusty spirit,

Such as dread nothing but dishonour’s blot:

Be wary therefore; since we do commence

A famous war and with so mighty a nation.

Derby, be thou ambassador for us

Unto our father-in-law, the Earl of Hainault:

Make him acquainted with our enterprise;

And likewise will him, with our own allies

That are in Flanders, to solicit too

The Emperour of Almaine in our name.

Myself, whilst you are jointly thus employ’d,

Will, with these forces that I have at hand,

March and once more repulse the trait’rous Scot.

But, sirs, be resolute; we shall have wars

On every side; and, Ned, thou must begin

Now to forget thy study and thy books

And ure thy shoulders to an armour’s weight.



Prince Edward

As cheerful sounding to my youthful spleen

This tumult is of war’s increasing broils,

As at the coronation of a king

The joyful clamours of the people are

When, “Ave, Caesar!” they pronounce aloud.

Within this school of honour I shall learn,

Either to sacrifice my foes to death

Or in a rightful quarrel spend my breath.

Then cheerfully forward, each a several way;

In great affairs ’tis naught to use delay. Exeunt.



Scene II
Roxborough. Before the castle.




Enter Countess of Salisbury, and certain of her People, upon the walls.


Countess

Alas, how much in vain my poor eyes gaze

For succour that my sovereign should send!

Ah, cousin Mountague, I fear, thou want’st

The lively spirit sharply to solicit

With vehement suit the king in my behalf:

Thou dost not tell him, what a grief it is

To be the scornful captive of a Scot;

Either to be woo’d with broad untuned oaths,

Or forc’d by rough insulting barbarism:

Thou dost not tell him, if he here prevail,

How much they will deride us in the north;

And, in their wild, uncivil, skipping jigs,

Bray forth their conquest and our overthrow,

Even in the barren, bleak, and fruitless air.




Enter King David and Forces; with Douglas, Lorraine, and others.




I must withdraw; the everlasting foe

Comes to the wall: I’ll closely step aside,

And list their babble, blunt and full of pride. Retiring behind the works.



King David

My Lord of Lorraine, to our brother of France

Commend us, as the man in Christendom

That we most reverence and entirely love.

Touching your embassage, return and say

That we with England will not enter parley

Nor never make fair weather or take truce,

But burn their neighbour towns, and so persist

With eager roads beyond their city York.

And never shall our bonny riders rest,

Nor rusting canker have the time to eat

Their light-borne snaffles nor their nimble spurs;

Nor lay aside their jacks of gymold mail;

Nor hang their staves of grained Scottish ash

In peaceful wise upon their city walls;

Nor from their button’d tawny leathern belts

Dismiss their biting whinyards, till your king

Cry out, Enough; spare England now for pity.

Farewell, and tell him, that you leave us here

Before this castle; say, you came from us

Even when we had that yielded to our hands.



Lorraine

I take my leave, and fairly will return

Your acceptable greeting to my king. Exit.



King David

Now, Douglas, to our former task again,

For the division of this certain spoil.



Douglas
My liege, I crave the lady, and no more.


King David

Nay, soft ye, sir, first I must make my choice;

And first I do bespeak her for myself.



Douglas
Why, then, my liege, let me enjoy her jewels.


King David

Those are her own, still liable to her,

And, who inherits her, hath those withal.




Enter a Messenger,