Chapter 25

A merry place, 'tis said, in times of yore,
But something ails it now--the place is cursed.
WORDSWORTH.

The place on which the skirmish had occurred, and the deliverance
of the Lady Eveline had been effected, was a wild and singular
spot, being a small level plain, forming a sort of stage, or
resting-place, between two very rough paths, one of which winded
up the rivulet from below, and another continued the ascent above.
Being surrounded by hills and woods, it was a celebrated spot for
finding game, and, in former days, a Welsh prince, renowned for
his universal hospitality, his love of _crw_ and of the
chase, had erected a forest-lodge, where he used to feast his
friends and followers with a profusion unexampled in Cambria.
The fancy of the bards, always captivated with magnificence, and
having no objections to the peculiar species of profusion
practised by this potentate, gave him the surname of Edris of the
Goblets; and celebrated him in their odes in terms as high as
those which exalt the heroes of the famous Hirlas Horn. The
subject of their praises, however, fell finally a victim to his
propensities, having been stabbed to the heart in one of those
scenes of confusion and drunkenness which were frequently the
conclusion of his renowned banquets. Shocked at this catastrophe,
the assembled Britons interred the relics of the Prince on the
place where he had died, within the narrow vault where Eveline had
been confined, and having barricaded the entrance of the sepulchre
with fragments of rock, heaped over it an immense _cairn_, or
pile of stones, on the summit of which they put the assassin to
death. Superstition guarded the spot; and for many a year this
memorial of Edris remained unviolated, although the lodge had gone
to ruin, and its vestiges had totally decayed.

In latter years, some prowling band of Welsh robbers had
discovered the secret entrance, and opened it with the view of
ransacking the tomb for arms and treasures, which were in ancient
times often buried with the dead. These marauders were
disappointed, and obtained nothing by the violation of the grave
of Edris, excepting the knowledge of a secret place, which might
be used for depositing their booty, or even as a place of retreat
for one of their number in a case of emergency.

When the followers of Damian, five or six in number, explained
their part of the history of the day to Wilkin Flammock, it
appeared that Damian had ordered them to horse at break of day,
with a more considerable body, to act, as they understood, against
a party of insurgent peasants, when of a sudden he had altered his
mind, and, dividing his force into small bands, employed himself
and them in reconnoitring more than one