The Whole Prophecies of Scotland, England, Ireland, France & Denmark/Chapter 12
BRITAIN.
IN Scotland ſhall reign the moſt noble and valient chieftain that ever was; full of wiſdom and policy, cruel in juſtice as a lion, and fierce. He ſhall be meek as a lamb, but ſomewhat inclined to fragility of his fleſh. In his time ſhall be great juſtice and peace; but, alas, for ſorrow! for by treaſon he ſhall be deſtroyed. This lamb ſhall make many good houſes and fair places: he ſhall take great adventurous travels: and a little before his death he ſhall have war with them that ſhould be his friends, and he ſhall get victory over them: but by falſct of his own, he ſhall be drawn to a place of battle, where he ſhall get great diſcomfort, by the which he ſhall die. Therefore alas for ſorrow of his line, which ſhall be in great trouble. And after him there ſhall be a chiftain of the Kyth, unſtable ⟨as⟩ the wind, wavering as the waves of of the ſea. In his time ſhall the church tremble as an aſpen leafe, and great trouble in all manner of eſtates: but it ſhall not long laſt
Alſo the wolf ſhall riſe against him out of the north-weſt, and make him great trouble; but he ſhall not prevail; for by help of the wolf's brother and the fox, the wolf ſhall be ſlain by a water-ſide: and ſoon after, there ſhall come out of the north a dragon, and a wolf, the which ſhall be the help of the lion, and bring the realm to great reſt and peace with glory, with the moſt joy and triumph, that the like was never ſeen theſe many years before. For by the ſweet ſmell of the lillie and the flower-de-luce, there ſhall be a chieſtain of the Kyth who ſhall chooſe forth himſelf, ſtable as a ſtone, ſtedfaſt as the chryſtal, firm as the adamant, true as the ſteel, immaculate as the sun, without all treaſon: He ſhall ſail on the ſea, with walls on every ſide, and that with great glory and joy, to deliver the Kyth out of all thraldom and dolour; for he ſhall be ſtrong as the wolf, wiſe as the ſerpent, humble as the lamb, ſimple as the dove, victorious as the lion, prince of juſtice, the weal of this nation: He ſhall bind his tail with the red dragon, and accompany him with the lion, theſe three ſhall riſe againſt the moldiwart the which is curſed of God: This moldiwart ſhall have an earthly ſkin as a goat, the vengeance of God ſhall fall upon him for ſin and the ſuffering of the great pride of his people unpuniſhed. Alſo they ſhall thruſt him out of his realm, and make all the four chief foods of his realm to run blood, and after that the moldiwart ſhall flee, and take a ſhip to ſave himſelf: for he ſhall have no more power of his realm: and after that he ſhall be glad to give the third part of his realm, to have the fourth part in peace, and he ſhall not get it: for the will of God is, that no man ſhall have mercy, but he that is merciful, and after that he ſhall live in ſorrow all his life time, and die by adventure ſuddenly in a flood of the ſea; and his progeny ſhall be fatherleſs in ſtrange countries and lands for evermore, becauſe they were gotten again the law of God: for by that generation the realm of England is repleat of all iniquity and abomination of ſin. And ſo the wolf, the dragon with the lion, ſhall divide the realm of England, and ſo ſhall the land be conqueſt by the power and will of God, and not by the ſtrength of man.
And he that is an Engliſhman born, ſhall deny and perjure his native nation and realm; but yet they ſhall be as tributaries to theſe aforeſaid three beaſts, and all wholly ſubdued to them. And then the ſpouſe of God ſhall be glad of her deliverance, and her children ſhall inhabit their lands with joy in the ſervice of their father by creation. Well is the man that keepeth his true part to that time: for after thoſe days the law of the ſpouſe ſhall be well.
But in the mean time, that religious perſons ſhall ſuffer patiently perſecution, and eſpecially the poor, which have left all for their ſpouſe ſake, for they shall be glad to flee to the mountains and caves for their ſafeguard; but he, for whoſe ſake they do ſuffer, shall redreſs their dolour to joy without end.
And the idle of Britain shall be in all joy and peace, and the juſt shall be glad in the ſuppreſſing of their adverſaries; and then shall all good men and women give perfect laud and praiſe to God omnipotent; for God doth ſuffer men to be punished for ſin.
And then shall the owl, the bear with the eagle, be all deſtroyed, becauſe they were untrue to the moon, and changed into blood; for by their counſel, the old lion, gentle of nature, was degenerate, and mad againſt them that was his truſty friends: for he shall be the cauſe of great and much trouble, and shedding of much innocent blood, and the beginning of great diſcord among them that should be friends: and as for his ſucceſſion, they shall never inherit their lands. And then shall the Bruce beware, and take good heed that he shed not blood in these lands, but draw him to his ſtrength; for the wolf shall await him at an advantage and be his death, and then shall all the birds of the wood ſing for joy, that the wolf is made watchman, and an enemy to the fox: for all shall be one in truth and peace, treaſon shall be no more known, and the ſun shall shine clear, but the moon shall be under covert, and dark till God be pleaſed to redreſs; the white lion ramping, shall have his den at large, for his ſtedfaſt truth that he kept to the Kyth.
And he shall keep the birds in their bounds with all glory; but the unicorn shall couch full low for falſehood that he wrought with the raven yalping, and that was for his greedineſs and treaſon that they shall do by the ſea, and under a great hill: for the cock that should have been true was falſe, and drew with him the papingo; by which the roſe gave no ſmell that was ever pleaſant to the Kyth; and ſo in their train they shall draw the beſt fowls in the wood: wherefore, alas! but then let them take heed; for then comes their diſtreſs: the horn shall blow ſuch a dolorous sound, that all the caſtles of Tyne shall quake; and the hart shall run, and make little debate: woe shall be, but it shall not long laſt, for the wolf with the dragon, and the lion, shall they releaſe, that lay long in their den, and juſtice shall be had for that which was ſtayed to riſe; then shall tremble and quake the ſtalwart and the ſtarke; and the right shall be had, that juſtice shall draw, and woe shall be to them that no pity would have for the chieftain of the Kyth, that God would guide, and ſtrike treaſon down on every ſide.
And happy is that man that may it ſee,
But happier that chieftain, whoever he be.