J. F. Campbell Collection > Minstrelsy of the Scottish border > Volume 3

THE SCOTTISH BOllUEE. 25
" without the den ; whereupon his servant set fire to the
" peats upon the wheel, at the top of the lance, and
'* John Somerville, advancing with a full gallop, thrust
" the same with the wheel, and a great part of the lance,
" directly into the serpent's mouth, which wente down
" its throat into the belly, and was left there, the lance
" breaking by the rebounding of the horse, and giving
*' a deadly wound to the dragoun ; for which action he
" was knighted by King William ; and his effigies was
" cut in ston in the posture he performed this actione,
" and placed above the principal church door of Lin-
" toun, where it is yet to be seen, with his name and
" sirname : and the place, where this monster was kill-
" ed, is at this day called, by the common people, who
" have the foresaid story by tradition, the Wormes Glen.
" And further to perpetuate this actione, the barons of
" Lintoun, Cowthally, and Drum, did always carry for
" crest, a wheel, and thereon a dragoun." — Extracted
from a genealogical MS. in the Advocates' Library,
written about I68O. The falcon on the champion's arm,
in the monument, may be supposed to allude to his of-
fice of falconer to William of Scotland.
The ballad of Kcmpion is given chiefly from Mrs
Brown's MS. with corrections from a recited fragment.