Till they rolled forth upon the air,
And met the river breezes there."

[Illustration: THE LIBRARY, ABBOTSFORD.]



CHAPTER II.


The breeze which swept away the rolling smoke from Norham, curled not
the Tweed alone. Far upon Northumbrian waters, it blew fresh and strong,
bearing on its wings a barque from the Abbey of Whitby on the coast of
Yorkshire, sailing to St. Cuthbert's at Lindisfarne, on Holy Isle.

"The merry seamen laugh'd to see
Their gallant ship so lustily
Furrow the green sea-foam.
Much joy'd they in their honor'd freight;
For, on the deck, in chair of state,
The Abbess of Saint Hilda placed,
With five fair nuns, the galley graced.

"'T was sweet to see these holy maids,
Like birds escaped to green-wood shades,
Their first flight from the cage;
How timid, and how curious, too,
For all to them was strange and new,
And all the common sights they view,
Their wonderment engage."