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But let me say in few words , that Douglas Castle , and the deeds of valour which it has witnessed , have sounded wide through England ; nor is there a gallant knight or trusty minstrel , whose heart does not throb at the name of the stronghold , which , in former days , the foot of an Englishman never entered , except in hospitality . There is a magic in the very names of Sir John de Walton and Sir Aymer de Valence , the gallant defenders of a place so often won back by its ancient lords , and with such circumstances of valour and cruelty , that it bears , in England , the name of the Dangerous Castle . '' `` Yet I would fain hear , '' answered the knight , `` your own minstrel account of those legends which have induced you , for the amusement of future times , to visit a country which , at this period , is so distracted and perilous . '' `` If you can endure the length of a minstrel tale , '' said Bertram -- `` I for one am always amused by the exercise of my vocation , and have no objection to tell my story , provided you do not prove an impatient listener . '' `` Nay , for that matter , '' said the young knight , `` a fair listener thou shalt have of me ; and if my reward be not great , my attention at least shall be remarkable . '' `` And he , '' said the minstrel , `` must be a poor gleeman who does not hold himself better paid with that , than with gold or silver , were the pieces English rose-nobles . On this condition , then , I begin a long story , which may , in one or other of its details , find subject for better minstrels than myself , and be listened to by such warriors as you hundreds of years hence . ''