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Fair stands the ancient⁽³³⁾ Rectory, The Rectory of Croft,

The sun shines bright upon it,

The breezes whisper soft.

From all the house and garden,

Its inhabitants come forth,

And muster in the road without,

And pace in twos and threes about,

The children of the North.

Some are waiting in the garden,

Some are waiting at the door,

And some are following behind,

And some have gone before.

But wherefore all this mustering?

Wherefore this vast array?

A gallant feat of horsemanship

Will be performed to-day.

To eastward and to westward,

The crowd divides amain,

Two youths are leading on the steed,

Both tugging at the rein;

And sorely do they labour,

For the steed⁽³⁴⁾ is very strong, And backward moves its stubborn feet,

And backward ever doth retreat,

And drags its guides along.

And now the knight hath mounted,

Before the admiring band,

Hath got the stirrups on his feet,

The bridle in his hand.

Yet, oh! beware, sir horseman!

And tempt thy fate no more,

For such a steed as thou hast got

Was never rid before!

The rabbits bow before thee,

And cower in the straw;

The chickens⁽³⁵⁾ are submissive, And own thy will for law;

Bullfinches and canary

Thy bidding do obey;

And e’en the tortoise in its shell

Doth never say thee nay.

But thy steed will hear no master,

Thy steed will bear no stick,

And woe to those that beat her,

And woe to those that kick!⁽³⁶⁾

For though her rider smite her,

As hard as he can hit,

And strive to turn her from the yard,

She stands in silence, pulling hard

Against the pulling bit.

And now the road to Dalton

Hath felt their coming tread,

The crowd are speeding on before,

And all have gone ahead.

Yet often look they backward,

And cheer him on, and bawl,

For slower still, and still more slow,

That horseman and that charger go, And scarce advance at all.

And now two roads to choose from

Are in that rider’s sight:

In front the road to Dalton,

And New Croft upon the right.

“I can’t get by!” he bellows,

“I really am not able!

Though I pull my shoulder out of joint,

I cannot get him past this point,

For it leads unto his stable!”

Then out spake Ulfrid Longbow,⁽³⁷⁾

A valiant youth was he,

“Lo! I will stand on thy right hand

And guard the pass for thee!”

And out spake fair Flureeza,⁽³⁸⁾

His sister eke was she,

“I will abide on thy other side,

And turn thy steed for thee!”

And now commenced a struggle

Between that steed and rider,

For all the strength that he hath left

Doth not suffice to guide her.

Though Ulfrid and his sister

Have kindly stopped the way,

And all the crowd have cried aloud,

“We can’t wait here all day!”

Round turned he as not deigning

Their words to understand,

But he slipped the stirrups from his feet

The bridle from his hand,

And grasped the mane full lightly,

And vaulted from his seat,

And gained the road in triumph,⁽³⁹⁾

And stood upon his feet.

All firmly till that moment

Had Ulfrid Longbow stood,

And faced the foe right valiantly,

As every warrior should.

But when safe on terra firma

His brother he did spy,

“What did you do that for?” he cried, Then unconcerned he stepped aside

And let it canter by.

They gave him bread and butter,⁽⁴⁰⁾

That was of public right,

As much as four strong rabbits

Could munch from morn to night, For he’d done a deed of daring,

And faced that savage steed,

And therefore cups of coffee sweet,

And everything that was a treat,

Were but his right and meed.

And often in the evenings,

When the fire is blazing bright, When books bestrew the table

And moths obscure the light,

When crying children go to bed,

A struggling, kicking load;

We’ll talk of Ulfrid Longbow’s deed,

How, in his brother’s utmost need,

Back to his aid he flew with speed,

And how he faced the fiery steed,

And kept the New Croft Road.