CHAPTER V.

SONG ON THE CRUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSIANS.

Behold them, the priests at their head, Behold them, the Cath'lic Crusaders! The red cross on their breasts, And the Christ on their lips, The fagot in one hand, The sword in the other! Behold them in our dear land of Languedoc! Behold them, the Cath'lic Crusaders, Behold them, the priests at their head! What wrong have we done to these priests? Oh, what wrong have we done unto them!

From all the quarters of old Gaul, They rush into Albigeois, the Cath'lic Crusaders. At their head march the legate of the Pope, and Reynier, the Abbot of Citeaux, And with them many a bishop and many an archbishop: The Archbishop of Sens, and he of Rheims, The Bishop of Cahors, and he of Limoges; The Bishop of Nevers, and he of Clermont; The Bishop of Agde, and he of Autun. What wrong have we done to these priests? Oh, what wrong have we done unto them!

The Knighthood is numerous also: Simon, bloodthirsty Count of Montfort, their commander. Him follow the Count of Narbonne and the Count of St. Paul, The Viscount of Turenne and Adhemar of Poitiers, Bertrand of Cardaillac and Bertrand of Gordon, The Count of Le Forez and he of Auxerre, Peter of Courtenay and Foulques of Bercy, Hugues of Lascy and Lambert of Limoux, Neroweg of the Templars' Order, Also knight Gerard of Lancon, And many more! So many more!

What an army! What an army! Twenty-thousand knights, all cased in iron. Two hundred thousand footmen, strollers, serfs and vagabonds. From near and far, all, to the call of the priests, They have come to deluge in blood our Languedoc. They have come from Auvergne and from Burgundy, From Rouergue and from Poitou, From Normandy and from Saintogne, From Lorraine and from Brittany. Over hills and over valleys, by the land and by the water They have come, and still they come. They all approach with the cry: "To the heretics, death!"

Behold them, the priests at their head, Behold them, the Cath'lic Crusaders! The red cross on their breasts, The Christ on their lips, The fagot in one hand, The sword in the other! Behold them in our dear land of Languedoc! Behold them, the Cath'lic Crusaders, Behold them, the priests at their head! What wrong have we done to these priests? Oh, what wrong have we done unto them!