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THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH POETRY, FROM THE CLOSE of the ELEVENTH TO THE COMMENCEMENT of the EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED, TWO DISSERTATIONS. I. ON THE ORIGIN OF ROMANTIC FICTION IN EUROPE. II. ON THE INTRODUCTION OF LEARNING INTO ENGLAND.

VOLUME THE FIRST.

By THOMAS WARTON, B. D. FELLOW of TRINITY COLLEGE OXFORD, and of the SOCIETY of ANTIQUARIES.

LONDON: Printed for, and ſold by J. DODSLEY, Pall Mall; J. WALTER, Charing Croſs; T. BECKET, Strand; J. ROBSON, New Bond-Street; G. ROBINSON, and J. BEW, Pater-noſter-Row; and Meſſrs. FLETCHER, at Oxford. M. DCC. LXXIV.

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TO HIS GRACE GEORGE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH, MARQUIS OF BLANDFORD, KNIGHT OF THE MOST NOBLE ORDER of the GARTER, A JUDGE AND A PATRON OF THE POLITE ARTS, THIS WORK IS MOST HUMBLY INSCRIBED

By his Grace's moſt obliged, And moſt obedient Servant, THOMAS WARTON.

PREFACE.

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IN an age advanced to the higheſt degree of refinement, that ſpecies of curioſity commences, which is buſied in contemplating the progreſs of ſocial life, in diſplaying the gradations of ſcience, and in tracing the tranſitions from barbariſm to civility.

That theſe ſpeculations ſhould become the favourite purſuits, and the faſhionable topics, of ſuch a period, is extremely natural. We look back on the ſavage condition of our anceſtors with the triumph of ſuperiority; we are pleaſed to mark the ſteps by which we have been raiſed from rudeneſs to elegance: and our reflections on this ſubject are accompanied with a conſcious pride, ariſing in great meaſure from a tacit compariſon of the infinite diſproportion between the feeble efforts of remote ages, and our preſent improvements in knowledge.

[ii] In the mean time, the manners, monuments, cuſtoms, practices, and opinions of antiquity, by forming ſo ſtrong a contraſt with thoſe of our own times, and by exhibiting human nature and human inventions in new lights, in in unexpected appearances, and in various forms, are objects which forcibly ſtrike a feeling imagination.

Nor does this ſpectacle afford nothing more than a fruitleſs gratification to the fancy. It teaches us to ſet a juſt eſtimation on our own acquiſitions; and encourages us to cheriſh that cultivation, which is ſo cloſely connected with the exiſtence and the exerciſe of every ſocial virtue.

On theſe principles, to develop the dawnings of genius, and to purſue the progreſs of our national poetry, from a rude origin and obſcure beginnings, to its perfection in a poliſhed age, muſt prove an intereſting and inſtructive inveſtigation. But a hiſtory of poetry, for another reaſon, yet on the ſame principles, muſt be more eſpecially productive of entertainment and utility. I mean, as it is an art, whoſe object is human ſociety: as it has the peculiar merit, in its operations on that object, of faithfully recording the features of the times, and of preſerving [iii] the moſt pictureſque and expreſſive repreſentations of manners: and, becauſe the firſt monuments of compoſition in every nation are thoſe of the poet, as it poſſeſſes the additional advantage of tranſmitting to poſterity genuine delineations of life in its ſimpleſt ſtages. Let me add, that anecdotes of the rudiments of a favourite art will always be particularly pleaſing. The more early ſpecimens of poetry muſt ever amuſe, in proportion to the pleaſure which we receive from its finiſhed productions.

Much however depends on the execution of ſuch a deſign, and my readers are to decide in what degree I have done juſtice to ſo ſpecious and promiſing a diſquiſition. Yet a few more words will not be perhaps improper, in vindication, or rather in explanation, of the manner in which my work has been conducted. I am ſure I do not mean, nor can I pretend, to apologiſe for its defects.

I have choſe to exhibit the hiſtory of our poetry in a chronological ſeries: not diſtributing my matter into detached articles, of periodical diviſions, or of general heads. Yet I have not always adhered ſo ſcrupulouſly to the regularity of annals, but that I [iv] have often deviated into incidental digreſſions; and have ſometimes ſtopped in the courſe of my career, for the ſake of recapitulation, for the purpoſe of collecting ſcattered notices into a ſingle and uniform point of view, for the more exact inſpection of a topic which required a ſeparate conſideration, or for a comparative ſurvey of the poetry of other nations.

A few years ago, Mr. MASON, with that liberality which ever accompanies true genius, gave me an authentic copy of Mr. POPE'S ſcheme of a Hiſtory of Engliſh Poetry, in which our poets were claſſed under their ſuppoſed reſpective ſchools. The late lamented Mr. GRAY had alſo projected a work of this kind, and tranſlated ſome Runic odes for its illuſtration, now publiſhed: but ſoon relinquiſhing the proſecution of a deſign, which would have detained him from his own noble inventions, he moſt obligingly condeſcended to favour me with the ſubſtance of his plan, which I found to be that of Mr. POPE, conſiderably enlarged, extended, and improved.

It is vanity in me to have mentioned theſe communications. But I am apprehenſive my vanity will juſtly be thought much greater, when it ſhall appear, that in giving the hiſtory of Engliſh poetry, [v] I have rejected the ideas of men who are its moſt diſtinguiſhed ornaments. To confeſs the real truth, upon examination and experiment, I ſoon diſcovered their mode of treating my ſubject, plauſible as it is, and brilliant in theory, to be attended with difficulties and inconveniencies, and productive of embaraſſment both to the reader and the writer. Like other ingenious ſyſtems, it ſacrificed much uſeful intelligence to the obſervance of arrangement; and in the place of that ſatisfaction which reſults from a clearneſs and a fulneſs of information, ſeemed only to ſubſtitute the merit of diſpoſition, and the praiſe of contrivance. The conſtraint impoſed by a mechanical attention to this diſtribution, appeared to me to deſtroy that free exertion of reſearch with which ſuch a hiſtory ought to be executed, and not eaſily reconcileable with that complication, variety, and extent of materials, which it ought to comprehend.

The method I have purſued, on one account at leaſt, ſeems preferable to all others. My performance, in its preſent form, exhibits without tranſpoſition the gradual improvements of our poetry, at the ſame time that it uniformly repreſents the progreſſion of our language.

[vi] Some perhaps will be of opinion, that theſe annals ought to have commenced with a view of the Saxon poetry. But beſides that a legitimate illuſtration of that jejune and intricate ſubject would have almoſt doubled my labour, that the Saxon language is familiar only to a few learned antiquaries, that our Saxon poems are for the moſt part little more than religious rhapſodies, and that ſcarce any compoſitions remain marked with the native images of that people in their pagan ſtate, every reader that reflects but for a moment on our political eſtabliſhment muſt perceive, that the Saxon poetry has no connection with the nature and purpoſe of my preſent undertaking. Before the Norman acceſſion, which ſucceeded to the Saxon government, we were an unformed and an unſettled race. That mighty revolution obliterated almoſt all relation to the former inhabitants of this iſland; and produced that ſignal change in our policy, conſtitution, and public manners, the effects of which have reached modern times. The beginning of theſe annals ſeems therefore to be moſt properly dated from that era, when our national character began to dawn.

It was recommended to me, by a perſon eminent in the republic of letters, totally to exclude from [vii] theſe volumes any mention of the Engliſh drama. I am very ſenſible that a juſt hiſtory of our Stage is alone ſufficient to form an entire and extenſive work; and this argument, which is by no means precluded by the attempt here offered to the public, ſtill remains ſeparately to be diſcuſſed, at large, and in form. But as it was profeſſedly my intention to compriſe every ſpecies of Engliſh Poetry, this, among the reſt, of courſe claimed a place in theſe annals, and neceſſarily fell into my general deſign. At the ſame time, as in this ſituation it could only become a ſubordinate object, it was impoſſible I ſhould examine it with that critical preciſion and particularity, which ſo large, ſo curious, and ſo important an article of our poetical literature demands and deſerves. To have conſidered it in its full extent, would have produced the unwieldy excreſcence of a diſproportionate epiſode: not to have conſidered it at all, had been an omiſſion, which muſt detract from the integrity of my intended plan. I flatter myſelf however, that from evidences hitherto unexplored, I have recovered hints which may facilitate the labours of thoſe, who ſhall hereafter be inclined to inveſtigate the antient ſtate of dramatic exhibition in this country, with due comprehenſion and accuracy.

[viii] It will probably be remarked, that the citations in the firſt volume are numerous, and ſometimes very prolix. But it ſhould be remembered, that moſt of theſe are extracted from antient manuſcript poems never before printed, and hitherto but little known. Nor was it eaſy to illuſtrate the darker and more diſtant periods of our poetry, without producing ample ſpecimens. In the mean time, I hope to merit the thanks of the antiquarian, for enriching the ſtock of our early literature by theſe new acceſſions: and I truſt I ſhall gratify the reader of taſte, in having ſo frequently reſcued from oblivion the rude inventions and irregular beauties of the heroic tale, or the romantic legend.

The deſign of the DISSERTATIONS is to prepare the reader, by conſidering apart, in a connected and comprehenſive detail, ſome material points of a general and preliminary nature, and which could not either with equal propriety or convenience be introduced, at leaſt not ſo formally diſcuſſed, in the body of the book; to eſtabliſh certain fundamental principles to which frequent appeals might occaſionally be made, and to clear the way for various obſervations ariſing in the courſe of my future enquiries.

CONTENTS OF THE SECTIONS in the FIRST VOLUME.

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SECTION I.
STATE of Language. Prevalence of the French language before and after the Norman conqueſt. Specimens of Norman-Saxon poems. Legends in verſe. Earlieſt love-ſong. Alexandrine verſes. Satirical pieces. Firſt Engliſh metrical romance.
SECTION II.
Satirical ballad in the thirteenth century. The king's poet. Robert of Glouceſter. Antient political ballads. Robert of Brunne. The Brut of England. Le Roman le Rou. Geſts and jeſtours. Erceldoune and Kendale. Biſhop Groſthead. Monks write for the Minſtrels. Monaſtic libraries full of romances. Minſtrels admitted into the monaſteries. Regnorum Chronica and Mirabilia Mundi. Early European travellers into the eaſt. Elegy on Edward the firſt.
SECTION III.
Effects of the increaſe of tales of chivalry. Riſe of chivalry. Cruſades. Riſe and improvements of Romance. View of the riſe of metrical romances. Their currency about the end of the [ii] thirteenth century. French minſtrels in England. Provencial poets. Popular romances. Dares Phrygius. Guido de Colonna. Fabulous hiſtories of Alexander. Pilpay's Fables. Roman d'Alexandre. Alexandrines. Communications between the French and Engliſh minſtrels. Uſe of the Provencial writers. Two ſorts of troubadours.
SECTION IV.
Examination and ſpecimens of the metrical romance of Richard the Firſt. Greek fire. Military machines uſed in the cruſades. Muſical inſtruments of the Saracen armies. Ignorance of geography in the dark ages.
SECTION V.
Specimens of other popular metrical romances which appeared about the end of the thirteenth century. Sir Guy. The Squier of Low Degree. Sir Degore. King Robert of Sicily. The King of Tars. Ippomedon. La Mort Arthure. Subjects of antient tapeſtry.
SECTION VI.
Adam Davie flouriſhed in the beginning of the fourteenth century. Specimens of his poetry. His Life of Alexander. Robert Baſton's comedies. Anecdotes of the early periods of the Engliſh, French, and Italian, drama.
SECTION VII.
Character of the reign of Edward the third. Hampole's Pricke of Conſcience.
SECTION VIII.
Pierce Plowman's Viſions. Antient ſtate and original inſtitution of fairs. Donat explained. Antichriſt.
[iii]SECTION IX.
Pierce the Plowman's Crede. Conſtitution and character of the four orders of mendicant friars. Wickliffe.
SECTION X.
Various ſpecimens of alliterative poetry. Antient alliterative hymn to the Virgin Mary.
SECTION XI.
John Barbour's Hiſtory of Robert Bruce, and Blind Harry's Sir William Wallace. Hiſtorical romances of recent events commence about the cloſe of the fourteenth century. Chieſly compoſed by heralds. Character and buſineſs of antient heralds. Narratives written by them. Froiſſart's Hiſtory. His life and character. Retroſpective view of manners.
SECTION XII.
General view of the character of Chaucer. Boccacio's Teſeide. A Greek poem on that ſubject. Tournaments at Conſtantinople. Common practice of the Greek exiles to tranſlate the popular Italian poems. Specimens both of the Greek and Italian Theſeid. Critical examination of the Knight's Tale.
SECTION XIII.
The ſubject of Chaucer continued. His Romaunt of the Roſe. William of Lorris and John of Meun. Specimens of the French Le Roman de la Roſe. Improved by Chaucer. William of Lorris excells in allegorical perſonages. Petrarch diſlikes this poem.
SECTION XIV.
Chaucer continued. His Troilus and Creſſeide. Boccacio's Troilo. Sentimental and pathetic ſtrokes in Chaucer's poem. Houſe of Fame. A Provencial compoſition. Analyſed. Improperly imitated by Pope.
[iv]SECTION XV.
Chaucer continued. The ſuppoſed occaſion of his Canterbury Tales ſuperior to that of Boccacio's Decameron. Squire's Tale, Chaucer's capital poem. Origin of its fictions. Story of Patient Griſilde. Its origin, popularity, and characteriſtic excellence. How conducted by Chaucer.
SECTION XVI.
Chaucer continued. Tale of the Nun's Prieſt. Its origin and alluſions. January and May. Its imitations. Licentiouſneſs of Boccacio. Miller's Tale. Its ſingular humour and ridiculous characters. Other Tales of the comic ſpecies. Their origin, alluſions, and reſpective merits. Rime of Sir Thopas. Its deſign and tendency.
SECTION XVII.
Chaucer continued. General view of the Prologues to the Canterbury Tales. The Prioreſſe. The Wife of Bath. The Frankelein. The Doctor of Phyſicke. State of medical erudition and practice. Medicine and aſtronomy blended. Chaucer's phyſician's library. Learning of the Spaniſh jews. The Sompnour. The Pardonere. The Monke. Qualifications of an abbot. The Frere. The Parſoune. The Squire. Engliſh cruſades into Lithuania. The Reeve. The Clarke of Oxenford. The Serjeaunt of Lawe. The Hoſte. Supplemental Tale, or Hiſtory of Beryn. Analyſed and examined.
SECTION XVIII.
Chaucer continued. State of French and Italian poetry: and their influence on Chaucer. Riſe of allegorical compoſition in the dark ages. Love-courts, and Love-fraternities, in France. Tales of the troubadours. Dolopathos. Boccacio, Dante, and Petrarch. Decline of Provencial poetry. Succeeded in France by a new ſpecies. Froiſſart. The Floure and the Leafe. Floral games in France. Allegorical beings.

OF THE ORIGIN OF ROMANTIC FICTION in EUROPE.
DISSERTATION I.

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THAT peculiar and arbitrary ſpecies of Fiction which we commonly call Romantic, was entirely unknown to the writers of Greece and Rome. It appears to have been imported into Europe by a people, whoſe modes of thinking, and habits of invention, are not natural to that country. It is generally ſuppoſed to have been borrowed from the Arabians. But this origin has not been hitherto perhaps examined or aſcertained with a ſufficient degree of accuracy. It is my preſent deſign, by a more diſtinct and extended inquiry than has yet been applied to the ſubject, to trace the manner and the period of its introduction into the popular belief, the oral poetry, and the literature, of the Europeans.

It is an eſtabliſhed maxim of modern criticiſm, that the fictions of Arabian imagination were communicated to the [] weſtern world by means of the cruſades. Undoubtedly thoſe expeditions greatly contributed to propagate this mode of fabling in Europe. But it is evident, although a circumſtance which certainly makes no material difference as to the principles here eſtabliſhed, that theſe fancies were introduced at a much earlier period. The Saracens, or Arabians, having been for ſome time ſeated on the northern coaſts of Africa, entered Spain about the beginning of the eighth century a. Of this country they ſoon effected a complete conqueſt: and impoſing their religion, language, and cuſtoms, upon the inhabitants, erected a royal ſeat in the capital city of Cordoua.

That by means of this eſtabliſhment they firſt revived the ſciences of Greece in Europe, will be proved at large in another place b: and it is obvious to conclude, that at the ſame time they diſſeminated thoſe extravagant inventions which were ſo peculiar to their romantic and creative genius. A manuſcript cited by Du Cange acquaints us, that the Spaniards, ſoon after the irruption of the Saracens, entirely neglected the ſtudy of the Latin language; and captivated with the novelty of the oriental books imported by theſe ſtrangers, ſuddenly adopted an unuſual pomp of ſtyle, and an affected elevation of diction c. The ideal tales of theſe eaſtern invaders, recommended by a brilliancy of deſcription, a variety of imagery, and an exuberance of invention, hitherto unknown and unfamiliar to the cold and barren conceptions of a weſtern climate, were eagerly caught up, and univerſally diffuſed. From Spain, by the communications of a conſtant commercial intercourſe through the ports of Toulon and Marſeilles, they ſoon paſſed into France and Italy.

[] In France, no province, or diſtrict, ſeems to have given theſe fictions of the Arabians a more welcome or a more early reception, than the inhabitants of Armorica or Baſſe Bretagne, now Britany; for no part of France can boaſt ſo great a number of antient romances c. Many poems of high antiquity, compoſed by the Armorican bards, ſtill remain d, and are frequently cited by father Lobineau in his learned hiſtory of Baſſe Bretagne e. This territory was as it were newly peopled in the fourth century by a colony or army of the Welſh, who migrated thither under the conduct of Maximus a Roman general in Britain f, and Conan [] lord of Meiriadoc or Denbigh-land g. The Armoric language now ſpoken in Britany is a dialect of the Welſh: and ſo ſtrong a reſemblance ſtill ſubſiſts between the two languages, that in our late conqueſt of Belleiſle, ſuch of our ſoldiers as were natives of Wales were underſtood by the peaſantry. Milton, whoſe imagination was much ſtruck with the old Britiſh ſtory, more than once alludes to the Welſh colony planted in Armorica by Maximus and the prince of Meiriadoc. ‘Et tandem ARMORICOS Britonum ſub lege colonos h.’ And in the PARADISE LOST he mentions indiſcriminately the knights of Wales and Armorica as the cuſtomary retinue of king Arthur.

—What reſounds
In fable or romance, of Uther's ſon
Begirt with BRITISH and ARMORIC knights i.

This migration of the Welſh into Britany or Armorica, which during the diſtractions of the empire, in conſequence of the numerous armies of barbarians with which Rome was ſurrounded on every ſide, had thrown off its dependence on the Romans, ſeems to have occaſioned a cloſe connection between the two countries for many centuries k. Nor will [] it prove leſs neceſſary to our purpoſe to obſerve, that the Corniſh Britons, whoſe language was another dialect of the antient Britiſh, from the fourth or fifth century downwards, maintained a no leſs intimate correſpondence with the natives of Armorica: intermarrying with them, and perpetually reſorting thither for the education of their children, for advice, for procuring troops againſt the Saxons, for the purpoſes of traffick, and various other occaſions. This connection was ſo ſtrongly kept up, that an ingenious French antiquary ſuppoſes, that the communications of the Armoricans with the Corniſh had chiefly contributed to give a roughneſs or rather hardneſs to the romance or French language in ſome of the provinces, towards the eleventh century, which was not before diſcernible l. And this intercourſe will appear more natural, if we conſider, that not only Armorica, a maritime province of Gaul, never much frequented by the Romans, and now totally deſerted by them, was ſtill in ſome meaſure a Celtic nation; but that alſo the inhabitants of Cornwall, together with thoſe of Devonſhire and of the adjoining parts of Somerſetſhire, intermixing in a very ſlight degree with the Romans, and having ſuffered fewer important alterations in their original conſtitution and cuſtoms from the imperial laws and police than any other province of this iſland, long preſerved their genuine manners and Britiſh character: and forming a ſort of ſeparate principality under the government of a ſucceſſion of powerful chieftains, uſually denominated princes or dukes of Cornwall, remained partly in a ſtate of independence during the Saxon heptarchy, and were not entirely reduced till the Norman conqueſt. Cornwall, in particular, retained its old Celtic dialect till the reign of Elizabeth m.

[] And here I digreſs a moment to remark, that in the circumſtance juſt mentioned about Wales, of its connection with Armorica, we perceive the ſolution of a difficulty which at firſt ſight appears extremely problematical: I mean, not only that Wales ſhould have been ſo conſtantly made the theatre of the old Britiſh chivalry, but that ſo many of the favorite fictions which occur in the early French romances, ſhould alſo be literally found in the tales and chronicles of the elder Welſh bards n. It was owing to the perpetual communication kept up between the Welſh, and the people of Armorica who abounded in theſe fictions, and who naturally took occaſion to interweave them into the hiſtory of their friends and allies. Nor are we now at a loſs to give the reaſon why Cornwall, in the ſame French romances, is made the ſcene and the ſubject of ſo many romantic adventures o. In the meantime we may obſerve, what indeed has been already implied, that a ſtrict intercourſe was upheld between Cornwall and Wales. Their languages, cuſtoms, and alliances, as I have hinted, were the ſame; and they were ſeparated only by a ſtrait of inconſiderable breadth. Cornwall is frequently ſtyled Weſt-Wales by the Britiſh writers. At the invaſion of the Saxons, both countries became indiſcriminately the receptacle of the fugitive Britons. We find the Welſh and Corniſh, as one people, often uniting themſelves as in a national cauſe againſt the Saxons. They were frequently ſubject to the ſame prince p, who ſometimes [] reſided in Wales, and ſometimes in Cornwall; and the kings or dukes of Cornwall were perpetually ſung by the Welſh bards. Llygad Gwr, a Welſh bard, in his ſublime and ſpirited ode to Llwellyn, ſon of Grunfludd, the laſt prince of Wales of the Britiſh line, has a wiſh, ‘"May the prints of the hoofs of my prince's ſteed be ſeen as far as CORNWALL q.’ Traditions about king Arthur, to mention no more inſtances, are as popular in Cornwall as in Wales: and moſt of the romantic caſtles, rocks, rivers, and caves, of both nations, are alike at this day diſtinguiſhed by ſome noble atchievement, at leaſt by the name, of that celebrated champion. But to return.

About the year 1100, Gualter, archdeacon of Oxford, a learned man, and a diligent collector of hiſtories, travelling through France, procured in Armorica an antient chronicle written in the Britiſh or Armorican language, entitled, BRUTY-BRENHINED, or THE HISTORY OF THE KINGS OF BRITAIN r. This book he brought into England, and communicated it to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welſh Benedictine monk, an elegant writer of Latin, and admirably ſkilled in the Britiſh tongue. Geoffrey, at the requeſt and recommendation of Gualter the archdeacon, tranſlated this Britiſh chronicle into Latin s, executing the tranſlation with a tolerable degree of purity and great fidelity, yet not without [] ſome interpolations s. It was probably finiſhed after the year 1138 t.

[] It is difficult to aſcertain exactly the period at which our tranſlator's original romance may probably be ſuppoſed to have been compiled. Yet this is a curious ſpeculation, and will illuſtrate our argument. I am inclined to think that the work conſiſts of fables thrown out by different rhapſodiſts at different times, which afterwards were collected and digeſted into an entire hiſtory, and perhaps with new decorations of fancy added by the compiler, who moſt probably was one of the profeſſed bards, or rather a poetical hiſtorian, of Armorica or Baſſe Bretagne. In this ſtate, and under this form, I ſuppoſe it to have fallen into the hands of Geoffrey of Monmouth. If the hypotheſis hereafter advanced concerning the particular ſpecies of fiction on which this narrative is founded, ſhould be granted, it cannot, from what I have already proved, be more antient than the eighth century: and we may reaſonably conclude, that it was compoſed much later, as ſome conſiderable length of time muſt have been neceſſary for the propagation and eſtabliſhment of that ſpecies of fiction. The ſimple ſubject of this chronicle, diveſted of its romantic embelliſhments, is a deduction of the Welſh princes from the Trojan Brutus to Cadwallader, who reigned in the ſeventh century u. It muſt [] be acknowledged, that many European nations were antiently fond of tracing their deſcent from Troy. Hunnibaldus Francus, in his Latin hiſtory of France, written in the ſixth century, beginning with the Trojan war, and ending with Clovis the firſt, aſcribes the origin of the French nation to Francio a ſon of Priam w. So univerſal was this humour, and carried to ſuch an abſurd exceſs of extravagance, that under the reign of Juſtinian, even the Greeks were ambitious of being thought to be deſcended from the Trojans, their antient and notorious enemies. Unleſs we adopt the idea of thoſe antiquaries, who contend that Europe was peopled from Phrygia, it will be hard to diſcover at what period, or from what ſource, ſo ſtrange and improbable a notion could take its riſe, eſpecially among nations unacquainted with hiſtory, and overwhelmed in ignorance. The moſt rational mode of accounting for it, is to ſuppoſe, that the revival of Virgil's Eneid about the ſixth or ſeventh century, which repreſented the Trojans as the founders of Rome, the capital of the ſupreme pontiff, and a city on various other accounts in the early ages of chriſtianity highly reverenced and diſtinguiſhed, occaſioned an emulation in many other European nations of claiming an alliance to the ſame reſpectable original. The monks and other eccleſiaſtics, the only readers and writers of the age, were likely to broach, and were intereſted in propagating, ſuch an opinion. As the more barbarous countries of Europe began to be tinctured with literature, there was hardly one of them but fell into the faſhion of deducing its original from ſome of the nations moſt celebrated in the antient books. Thoſe who did not aſpire ſo [] high as king Priam, or who found that claim preoccupied, boaſted to be deſcended from ſome of the generals of Alexander the Great, from Pruſias king of Bithynia, from the Greeks or the Egyptians. It it not in the mean time quite improbable, that as moſt of the European nations were provincial to the Romans, thoſe who fancied themſelves to be of Trojan extraction might have imbibed this notion, at leaſt have acquired a general knowledge of the Trojan ſtory, from their conquerors: more eſpecially the Britons, who continued ſo long under the yoke of Rome x. But as to the ſtory of Brutus in particular, Geoffrey's hero, it may be preſumed that his legend was not contrived, nor the hiſtory of his ſucceſſors invented, till after the ninth century: for Nennius, who lived about the middle of that century, not only ſpeaks of Brutus with great obſcurity and inconſiſtency, but ſeems totally uninformed as to every circumſtance of the Britiſh affairs which preceded Ceſar's invaſion. There are other proofs that this piece could not have exiſted before the ninth century. Alfred's Saxon tranſlation of the Mercian law is mentioned y. Charlemagne's Twelve Peers, and by an anachroniſm not uncommon in romance, are ſaid to be preſent at king Arthur's magnificent coronation in the city of Caerleon z. It were eaſy to produce inſtances, that this chronicle was undoubtedly framed after the legend of ſaint Urſula, the acts of ſaint Lucius, and the hiſtorical writings of the venerable Bede, had undergone ſome degree of circulation in the world. At the ſame time it contains many paſſages which incline us to determine, that ſome parts of it at leaſt were written after or about the eleventh century. I will not inſiſt on that paſſage, in which the title of legate of the apoſtolic ſee is attributed to Dubricius in the character of primate of Britain; as it appears for obvious reaſons to have been an artful interpolation of the tranſlator, who was an eccleſiaſtic. But I will ſelect other arguments. Canute's foreſt, or Cannock-wood [] in Staffordſhire occurs; and Canute died in the year 1036 z. At the ideal coronation of king Arthur, juſt mentioned, a tournament is deſcribed as exhibited in its higheſt ſplendor. ‘"Many knights, ſays our Armoric fabler, famous for feats of chivalry, were preſent, with apparel and arms of the ſame colour and faſhion. They formed a ſpecies of diverſion, in imitation of a fight on horſeback, and the ladies being placed on the walls of the caſtles, darted amorous glances on the combatants. None of theſe ladies eſteemed any knight worthy of her love, but ſuch as had given proof of his gallantry in three ſeveral encounters. Thus the valour of the men encouraged chaſtity in the women, and the attention of the women proved an incentive to the ſoldier's bravery a."’ Here is the practice of chivalry under the combined ideas of love and military proweſs, as they ſeem to have ſubſiſted after the feudal conſtitution had acquired greater degrees not only of ſtability but of ſplendor and refinement b. And although a ſpecies of tournament was exhibited in France at the reconciliation of the ſons of Lewis the feeble, in the cloſe of the ninth century, and at the beginning of the tenth, the coronation of the emperor Henry was ſolemnized with martial entertainments, in which many parties were introduced fighting on horſeback; yet it was long afterwards that theſe games were accompanied with the peculiar formalities, and ceremonious uſages, here deſcribed c. In the mean time, we [] cannot anſwer for the innovations of a tranſlator in ſuch a deſcription. The burial of Hengiſt, the Saxon chief, who is ſaid to have been interred not after the pagan faſhion, as Geoffrey renders the words of the original, but after the manner of the SOLDANS, is partly an argument that our romance was compoſed about the time of the cruſades. It was not till thoſe memorable campaigns of miſtaken devotion had infatuated the weſtern world, that the ſoldans or ſultans of Babylon, of Egypt, of Iconium, and other eaſtern kingdoms, became familiar in Europe. Not that the notion of this piece being written ſo late as the cruſades in the leaſt invalidates the doctrine delivered in this diſcourſe. Not even if we ſuppoſe that Geoffrey of Monmouth was its original compoſer. That notion rather tends to confirm and eſtabliſh my ſyſtem. On the whole we may venture to affirm, that this chronicle, ſuppoſed to contain the ideas of the Welſh bards, entirely conſiſts of Arabian inventions. And, in this view, no difference is made whether it was compiled about the tenth century, at which time, if not before, the Arabians from their ſettlement in Spain muſt have communicated their romantic fables to other parts of Europe, eſpecially to the French; or whether it firſt appeared in the eleventh century, after the cruſades had multiplied theſe fables to an exceſſive degree, and made them univerſally popular. And although the general caſt of the inventions contained in this romance is alone ſufficient to point out the ſource from whence they were derived, yet I chuſe to prove to a demonſtration what is here advanced, by producing and examining ſome particular paſſages.

The books of the Arabians and Perſians abound with extravagant traditions about the giants Gog and Magog. Theſe they call Jagiouge and Magiouge; and the Caucaſian wall, [] ſaid to be built by Alexander the Great from the Caſpian to the Black Sea, in order to cover the frontiers of his dominion, and to prevent the incurſions of the Sythians d, is called by the orientals the WALL of GOG and MAGOG e. One of the moſt formidable giants, according to our Armorican romance, [] which oppoſed the landing of Brutus in Britain, was Goemagot. He was twelve cubits high, and would unroot an oak as eaſily as an hazel wand: but after a moſt obſtinate encounter with Corineus, he was tumbled into the ſea from the ſummit of a ſteep cliff on the rocky ſhores of Cornwall, and daſhed in pieces againſt the huge crags of the declivity. The place where he fell, adds our hiſtorian, taking its name from the giant's fall, is called LAM-GOEMAGOT, or GOEMAGOT'S LEAP, to this day f. A no leſs monſtrous giant, whom king Arthur ſlew on Saint Michael's Mount in Cornwall, is ſaid by this fabler to have come from Spain. Here the origin of theſe ſtories is evidently betrayed g. The Arabians, or Saracens, as I have hinted above, had conquered Spain, and were ſettled there. Arthur having killed this redoubted giant, declares, that he had combated with none of equal ſtrength and proweſs, ſince he overcame the mighty giant Ritho, on the mountain Arabius, who had made himſelf a robe of the beards of the kings whom he had killed. This tale is in Spenſer's Faerie Queene. A magician brought from Spain is called to the aſſiſtance of Edwin, a prince of Northumberland h, educated under Solomon king of the Armoricans i. In the prophecy of Merlin, delivered to Vortigern after the battle of the dragons, forged perhaps by the tranſlator Geoffrey, yet apparently in the ſpirit and manner of the reſt, we have the Arabians named, and their ſituations in Spain and Africa. ‘"From Conau ſhall come forth a wild boar, whoſe tuſks ſhall deſtroy the oaks of the foreſts of France. The ARABIANS and AFRICANS ſhall dread him; and he ſhall continue his rapid courſe into the moſt diſtant parts of Spain k."’ This is king Arthur. In the ſame prophecy, mention is made of the ‘"Woods of [] Africa."’ In another place Gormund king of the Africans occurs l. In a battle which Arthur fights againſt the Romans, ſome of the principal leaders in the Roman army are Alifantinam king of Spain, Pandraſus king of Egypt, Boccus king of the Medes, Evander king of Syria, Micipſa king of Babylon, and a duke of Phrygia m. It is obvious to ſuppoſe how theſe countries became ſo familiar to the bard of our chronicle. The old fictions about Stonehenge were derived from the ſame inexhauſtible ſource of extravagant imagination. We are told in this romance, that the giants conveyed the ſtones which compoſe this miraculous monument from the fartheſt coaſts of Africa. Every one of theſe ſtones is ſuppoſed to be myſtical, and to contain a medicinal virtue: an idea drawn from the medical ſkill of the Arabians n, and more particularly from the Arabian doctrine of attributing healing qualities, and other occult properties, to ſtones o. Merlin's transformation of Uther into Gorlois, and of Ulfin into Bricel, by the power of ſome medical preparation, is a ſpecies of Arabian magic, which profeſſed to work the moſt wonderful deceptions of this kind, and is mentioned at large hereafter, in tracing the inventions of Chaucer's poetry. The attribution of prophetical language to birds was common among the orientals: and an eagle is ſuppoſed to ſpeak at building the walls of the city of Paladur, now Shafteſbury p. The Arabians cultivated the ſtudy of philoſophy, [] particularly aſtronomy, with amazing ardour o. Hence aroſe the tradition, reported by our hiſtorian, that in king Arthur's reign, there ſubſiſted at Caer-leon in Glamorganſhire a college of two hundred philoſophers, who ſtudied aſtronomy and other ſciences; and who were particularly employed in watching the courſes of the ſtars, and predicting events to the king from their obſervations p. Edwin's Spaniſh magician above-mentioned, by his knowledge of the flight of birds, and the courſes of the ſtars, is ſaid to foretell future diſaſters. In the ſame ſtrain Merlin, prognoſticates Uther's ſucceſs in battle by the appearance of a comet q. The ſame enchanter's wonderful ſkill in mechanical powers, by which he removes the giant's Dance, or Stonehenge, from Ireland into England, and the notion that this ſtupendous ſtructure was raiſed by a PROFOUND PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE MECHANICAL ARTS, are founded on the Arabic literature r. To which we may add king Bladud's magical operations s. Dragons are a ſure mark of orientaliſm. One of theſe in our romance is a ‘"terrible dragon flying from the weſt, breathing fire, and illuminating all the country with the brightneſs of his eyes t."’ In another place we have a giant mounted on a winged dragon: the dragon erects his ſcaly tail, and wafts his rider to the clouds with great rapidity u.

Arthur and Charlemagne are the firſt and original heroes of romance. And as Geoffrey's hiſtory is the grand repoſitory of the acts of Arthur, ſo a fabulous hiſtory aſcribed to Turpin is the ground work of all the chimerical legends which have been related concerning the conqueſts of Charlemagne and his twelve peers. Its ſubject is the expulſion of the Saracens [] from Spain: and it is filled with fictions evidently cogenial with thoſe which characteriſe Geoffrey's hiſtory w.

Some ſuppoſe, as I have hinted above, this romance to have been written by Turpin, a monk of the eighth century; who, for his knowledge of the Latin language, his ſanctity, and gallant exploits againſt the Spaniſh Saracens, was preferred to the archbiſhoprick of Rheims by Charlemagne. Others believe it to have been forged under archbiſhop Turpin's name about that time. Others very ſoon afterwards, in the reign of Charles the Bald x. That is, about the year 870 y.

Voltaire, a writer of much deeper reſearch than is imagined, and the firſt who has diſplayed the literature and cuſtoms of the dark ages with any degree of penetration and comprehenſion, ſpeaking of the fictitious tales concerning Charlemagne, has remarked, ‘"Ces fables qu'un moine ecrivit au onzieme ſiecle, ſous le nom de l'archeveque Turpin z."’ And it might eaſily be ſhewn that juſt before the commencement of the thirteenth century, romantic ſtories about Charlemagne were more faſhionable than ever among the French minſtrels. That is, on the recent publication of this fabulous hiſtory of Charlemagne. Hiſtorical evidence concurs with numerous internal arguments to prove, that it muſt have been compiled after the cruſades. In the twentieth chapter, a pretended pilgrimage of Charlemagne to the holy ſepulchre at Jeruſalem is recorded: a forgery [] ſeemingly contrived with a deſign to give an importance to thoſe wild expeditions, and which would eaſily be believed when thus authenticated by an archbiſhop a.

There is another ſtrong internal proof that this romance was written long after the time of Charlemagne. Our hiſtorian is ſpeaking of the numerous chiefs and kings who came with their armies to aſſiſt his hero: among the reſt he mentions earl Oell, and adds, ‘"Of this man there is a ſong commonly ſung among the minſtrels even to this day b."’ Nor will I believe, that the European art of war, in the eighth century, could bring into the field ſuch a prodigious parade of battering rams and wooden caſtles, as thoſe with which Charlemagne is ſaid to have beſieged the city Agennum c: the cruſades ſeem to have made theſe huge military machines common in the European armies. However we may ſuſpect it appeared before, yet not long before, Geoffrey's romance; who mentions Charlemagne's TWELVE PEERS, ſo laviſhly celebrated in Turpin's book, as preſent at king Arthur's imaginary coronation at Caer-leon. Although the twelve peers of France occur in chronicles of the tenth century d; and they might beſides have been ſuggeſted to Geoffrey's original author, from popular traditions and ſongs of minſtrels. We are ſure it was extant before the year 1122, for Calixtus the ſecond in that year, by papal [] authority, pronounced this hiſtory to be genuine e. Monſieur Allard affirms, that it was written, and in the eleventh century, at Vienna by a monk of Saint Andrew's f. This monk was probably nothing more than ſome Latin tranſlator: but a learned French antiquary is of opinion, that it was originally compoſed in Latin; and moreover, that the moſt antient romances, even thoſe of the Round Table, were originally written in that language g. Oienhart, and with the greateſt probability, ſuppoſes it to be the work of a Spaniard. He quotes an authentic manuſcript to prove, that it was brought out of Spain into France before the cloſe of the twelfth century h; and that the miraculous exploits performed in Spain by Charlemagne and earl Roland, recorded in this romantic hiſtory, were unknown among the French before that period: except only that ſome few of them were obſcurely and imperfectly ſketched in the metrical tales of thoſe who ſung heroic adventures i. Oienhart's ſuppoſition that this hiſtory was compiled in Spain, the centre of oriental fabling in Europe, at once accounts for the nature and extravagance of its fictions, and immediately points to their Arabian origin k. As to the French manuſcript of [] this hiſtory, it is a tranſlation from Turpin's Latin, made by Michel de Harnes in the year 1207 l. And, by the way, from the tranſlator's declaration, that there was a great impropriety in tranſlating Latin proſe into verſe, we may conclude, that at the commencement of the thirteenth century the French generally made their tranſlations into verſe.

In theſe two fabulous chronicles the foundations of romance ſeem to be laid. The principal characters, the leading ſubjects, and the fundamental fictions, which have ſupplied ſuch ample matter to this ſingular ſpecies of compoſition, are here firſt diſplayed. And although the long continuance of the cruſades imported innumerable inventions of a ſimilar complexion, and ſubſtituted the atchievements of new champions and the wonders of other countries, yet the tales of Arthur and of Charlemagne, diverſified indeed, or enlarged with additional embelliſhments, ſtill continued to prevail, and to be the favourite topics: and this, partly from their early popularity, partly from the quantity and the beauty of the fictions with which they were at firſt ſupported, and eſpecially becauſe the deſign of the cruſades had made thoſe ſubjects ſo faſhionable in which chriſtians fought with infidels. In a word, theſe volumes are the firſt ſpecimens [] extant in this mode of writing. No European hiſtory before theſe has mentioned giants, enchanters, dragons, and the like monſtrous and arbitrary fictions. And the reaſon is obvious: they were written at a time when a new and unnatural mode of thinking took place in Europe, introduced by our communication with the eaſt.

Hitherto I have conſidered the Saracens either at their immigration into Spain about the ninth century, or at the time of the cruſades, as the firſt authors of romantic fabling among the Europeans. But a late ingenious critic has advanced an hypotheſis, which aſſigns a new ſource, and a much earlier date, to theſe fictions. I will cite his opinion of this matter in his own words. ‘"Our old romances of chivalry may be derived in a LINEAL DESCENT from the antient hiſtorical ſongs of the Gothic bards and ſcalds.—Many of thoſe ſongs are ſtill preſerved in the north, which exhibit all the ſeeds of chivalry before it became a ſolemn inſtitution.—Even the common arbitrary fictions of romance were moſt of them familiar to the antient ſcalds of the north, long before the time of the cruſades. They believed the exiſtence of giants and dwarfs, they had ſome notion of fairies, they were ſtrongly poſſeſſed with the belief of ſpells and inchantment, and were fond of inventing combats with dragons and monſters m."’ Monſieur Mallet, a very able and elegant inquirer into the genius and antiquities of the northern nations, mantains the ſame doctrine. He ſeems to think, that many of the opinions and practices of the Goths, however obſolete, ſtill obſcurely ſubſiſt. He adds, ‘"May we not rank among theſe, for example, that love and admiration for the profeſſion of arms which prevailed among our anceſtors even to fanaticiſm, and as it were through ſyſtem, and brave from a point of honour?— [] Can we not explain from the Gothic religion, how judiciary combats, and proofs by the ordeal, to the aſtoniſhment of poſterity, were admitted by the legiſlature of all Europe n: and how, even to the preſent age, the people are ſtill infatuated with a belief of the power of magicians, witches, ſpirits, and genii, concealed under the earth or in the waters?—Do we not diſcover in theſe religious opinions, that ſource of the marvellous with which our anceſtors filled their romances; in which we ſee dwarfs and giants, fairies and demons," &c o.’ And in another place. ‘"The fortreſſes of the Goths were only rude caſtles ſituated on the ſummits of rocks, and rendered inacceſſible by thick misſhapen walls. As theſe walls ran winding round the caſtles, they often called them by a name which ſignified SERPENTS or DRAGONS; and in theſe they uſually ſecured the women and young virgins of diſtinction, who were ſeldom ſafe at a time when ſo many enterpriſing heroes were rambling up and down in ſearch of adventures. It was this cuſtom which gave occaſion to antient romancers, who knew not how to deſcribe any thing ſimply, to invent ſo many fables concerning princeſſes of great beauty guarded by dragons, and afterwards delivered by invincible champions p.’

[] I do not mean entirely to reject this hypotheſis: but I will endeavour to ſhew how far I think it is true, and in what manner or degree it may be reconciled with the ſyſtem delivered above.

A few years before the birth of Chriſt, ſoon after Mithridates had been overthrown by Pompey, a nation of Aſiatic Goths, who poſſeſſed that region of Aſia which is now called Georgia, and is connected on the ſouth with Perſia, alarmed at the progreſſive encroachments of the Roman armies, retired in vaſt multitudes under the conduct of their leader Odin, or Woden, into the northern parts of Europe, not ſubject to the Roman government, and ſettled in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and other diſtricts of the Scandinavian territory q. As they brought with them many uſeful arts, particularly the knowledge of letters, which Odin is ſaid to have invented r, they were hoſpitably received by the natives, [] and by degrees acquired a ſafe and peaceable eſtabliſhment in the new country, which ſeems to have adopted their language, laws, and religion. Odin is ſaid to have been ſtiled a god by the Scandinavians; an appellation which the ſuperiour addreſs and ſpecious abilities of this Aſiatic chief eaſily extorted from a more ſavage and unciviliſed people.

This migration is confirmed by the concurrent teſtimonies of various hiſtorians: but there is no better evidence of it, than that conſpicuous ſimilarity ſubſiſting at this day between ſeveral cuſtoms of the Georgians, as deſcribed by Chardin, and thoſe of certain cantons of Norway and Sweden, which have preſerved their antient manners in the pureſt degree s. Not that other ſtriking implicit and internal proofs, which often carry more conviction than direct hiſtorical aſſertions, are wanting to point out this migration. The antient inhabitants of Denmark and Norway inſcribed the exploits of their kings and heroes on rocks, in characters called Runic; and of this practice many marks are ſaid ſtill to remain in thoſe countries t. This art or cuſtom of writing on rocks is Aſiatic u. Modern travellers report, that there are Runic inſcriptions now exiſting in the deſerts of Tartary x. The WRITTEN MOUNTAINS of the Jews are an inſtance that this faſhion was oriental. Antiently, when one of theſe northern chiefs fell honourably in battle, his weapons, his war-horſe, and his wife, were conſumed with himſelf on the ſame funeral pile y. I need [] not remind my readers how religiouſly this horrible ceremony of ſacrificing the wife to the dead huſband is at preſent obſerved in the eaſt. There is a very remarkable correſpondence, in numberleſs important and fundamental points, between the Druidical and the Perſian ſuperſtitions: and notwithſtanding the evidence of Ceſar, who ſpeaks only from popular report, and without preciſion, on a ſubject which he cared little about, it is the opinion of the learned Banier, that the Druids were formed on the model of the Magi z. In this hypotheſis he is ſeconded by a modern antiquary; who further ſuppoſes, that Odin's followers imported this eſtabliſhment into Scandinavia, from the confines of Perſia a. The Scandinavians attributed divine virtue to miſletoe; it is mentioned in their EDDA, or ſyſtem of religious doctrines, where it is ſaid to grow on the weſt ſide of Val-hall, or Odin's elyſium b. That Druidical rites exiſted among the Scandinavians we are informed from many antient Erſe poems, which ſay that the Britiſh Druids, in the extremity of their affairs, ſollicited and obtained aid from Scandinavia c. The Gothic hell exactly reſembles that which we find in the religious ſyſtems of the Perſians, the moſt abounding in ſuperſtition of all the eaſtern nations. One of the circumſtances is, and an oriental idea, that it is full of ſcorpions and ſerpents d. The doctrines of Zeno, who borrowed moſt of his opinions from the Perſian philoſophers, are not uncommon in the EDDA. Lok, the evil [] deity of the Goths, is probably the Arimanius of the Perſians. In ſome of the moſt antient Iſlandic chronicles, the Turks are mentioned as belonging to the juriſdiction of the Scandinavians. Mahomet, not ſo great an inventor as is imagined, adopted into his religion many favourite notions and ſuperſtitions from the bordering nations which were the offspring of the Scythians, and eſpecially from the Turks. Accordingly, we find the Alcoran agreeing with the Runic theology in various inſtances. I will mention only one. It is one of the beatitudes of the Mahometan paradiſe, that blooming virgins ſhall adminiſter the moſt luſcious wines. Thus in Odin's Val-hall, or the Gothic elyſium, the departed heroes received cups of the ſtrongeſt mead and ale from the hands of the virgin-goddeſſes called Valkyres e. Alfred, in his Saxon account of the northern ſeas, taken from the mouth of Ohther, a Norwegian, who had been ſent by that monarch to diſcover a north-eaſt paſſage into the Indies, conſtantly calls theſe nations the ORIENTALS f. And as theſe eaſtern tribes brought with them into the north a certain degree of refinement, of luxury and ſplendor, which appeared ſingular and prodigious among barbarians; one of their early hiſtorians deſcribes a perſon better dreſſed than uſual, by ſaying, ‘"he was ſo well cloathed, that you might have taken him for one of the Aſiatics g."’ Wormius mentions a Runic incantation, in which an Aſiatic inchantreſs is invoked h. Various other inſtances might here [] be added, ſome of which will occaſionally ariſe in the future courſe of our inquiries.

It is notorious, that many traces of oriental uſages are found amongſt all the European nations during their pagan ſtate; and this phenomenon is rationally reſolved, on the ſuppoſition that all Europe was originally peopled from the eaſt. But as the reſemblance which the pagan Scandinavians bore to the eaſtern nations in manners, monuments, opinions, and practices, is ſo very perceptible and apparent, an inference ariſes, that their migration from the eaſt muſt have happened at a period by many ages more recent, and therefore moſt probably about the time ſpecified by their hiſtorians. In the mean time we muſt remember, that a diſtinction is to be made between this expedition of Odin's Goths, who formed a ſettlement in Scandinavia, and thoſe innumerable armies of barbarous adventurers, who ſome centuries afterwards, diſtinguiſhed by the ſame name, at different periods overwhelmed Europe, and at length extinguiſhed the Roman empire.

When we conſider the rapid conqueſts of the nations which may be comprehended under the common name of Scythians, and not only thoſe conducted by Odin, but by Attila, Theodoric, and Genſeric, we cannot aſcribe ſuch ſucceſſes to brutal courage only. To ſay that ſome of theſe irreſiſtible conquerors made war on a luxurious, effeminate, and enervated people, is a plauſible and eaſy mode of accounting for their conqueſts: but this reaſon will not operate with equal force in the hiſtories of Genghizcan and [] Tamerlane, who deſtroyed mighty empires founded on arms and military diſcipline, and who baffled the efforts of the ableſt leaders. Their ſcience and genius in war, ſuch as it then was, cannot therefore be doubted: that they were not deficient in the arts of peace, I have already hinted, and now proceed to produce more particular proofs. Innumerable and very fundamental errors have crept into our reaſonings and ſyſtems about ſavage life, reſulting merely from thoſe ſtrong and undiſtinguiſhing notions of barbariſm, which our prejudices have haſtily formed concerning the character of all rude nations i.

Among other arts which Odin's Goths planted in Scandinavia, their ſkill in poetry, to which they were addicted in a peculiar manner, and which they cultivated with a wonderful enthuſiaſm, ſeems to be moſt worthy our regard, and eſpecially in our preſent inquiry.

As the principal heroes of their expedition into the north were honourably diſtinguiſhed from the Europeans, or original Scandinavians, under the name of Asae, or Aſiatics, ſo the verſes, or language, of this people, were denominated ASAMAL, or ASIATIC ſpeech k. Their poetry contained not only the praiſes of their heroes, but their popular traditions and their religious rites; and was filled with thoſe fictions which the moſt exaggerated pagan ſuperſtition would naturally implant in the wild imaginations of an Aſiatic people. And from this principle alone, I mean of their Aſiatic origin, ſome critics would at once account for a certain capricious ſpirit of extravagance, and thoſe bold eccentric conceptions, which ſo ſtrongly diſtinguiſh the old northern poetry l. Nor [] is this fantaſtic imagery, the only mark of Aſiaticiſm which appears in the Runic odes. They have a certain ſublime and figurative caſt of diction, which is indeed one of their predominant characteriſtics m. I am very ſenſible that all rude nations are naturally apt to cloath their ſentiments in this ſtyle. A propenſity to this mode of expreſſion is neceſſarily occaſioned by the poverty of their language, which obliges them frequently to ſubſtitute ſimilitudes and circumlocutions: it ariſes in great meaſure from feelings undiſguiſed and unreſtrained by cuſtom or art, and from the genuine efforts of nature working more at large in uncultivated minds. In the infancy of ſociety, the paſſions and the imagination are alike uncontrouled. But another cauſe ſeems to have concurred in producing the effect here mentioned. When obvious terms and phraſes evidently occurred, the Runic poets are fond of departing from the common and eſtabliſhed diction. They appear to uſe circumlocution and compariſons not as a matter of neceſſity, but of choice and ſkill: nor are theſe metaphorical colourings ſo much the reſult of want of words, as of warmth of fancy n.

[] Their warmth of fancy, however, if ſuppoſed to have proceeded from the principles above ſuggeſted, in a few generations after this migration into Scandinavia, muſt have loſt much of its natural heat and genuine force. Yet ideas and ſentiments, eſpecially of this ſort, once imbibed, are long remembered and retained, in ſavage life. Their religion, among other cauſes, might have contributed to keep this ſpirit alive; and to preſerve their original ſtock of images, and native mode of expreſſion, unchanged and unabated by climate or country. In the mean time we may ſuppoſe, that the new ſituation of theſe people in Scandinavia, might have added a darker ſhade and a more ſavage complexion to their former fictions and ſuperſtitions; and that the formidable objects of nature to which they became familiariſed in thoſe northern ſolitudes, the piny precipices, the frozen mountains, and the gloomy foreſts, acted on their imaginations, and gave a tincture of horror to their imagery.

A ſkill in poetry ſeems in ſome meaſure to have been a national ſcience among the Scandinavians, and to have been familiar to almoſt every order and degree. Their kings and warriors partook of this epidemic enthuſiaſm, and on frequent occaſions are repreſented as breaking forth into ſpontaneous ſongs and verſes o. But the exerciſe of the poetical [] talent was properly confined to a ſtated profeſſion: and with their poetry the Goths imported into Europe a ſpecies of poets or ſingers, whom they called SCALDS or POLISHERS of LANGUAGE. This order of men, as we ſhall ſee more diſtinctly below, was held in the higheſt honour and veneration: they received the moſt liberal rewards for their verſes, attended the feſtivals of heroic chiefs, accompanied them in battle, and celebrated their victories p.

Theſe Scandinavian bards appear to have been eſteemed and entertained in other countries beſides their own, and by that means to have probably communicated their fictions to various parts of Europe. I will give my reaſons for this ſuppoſition.

In the early ages of Europe, before many regular governments took place, revolutions, emigrations, and invaſions, were frequent and almoſt univerſal. Nations were alternately [] deſtroyed or formed; and the want of political ſecurity expoſed the inhabitants of every country to a ſtate of eternal fluctuation. That Britain was originally peopled from Gaul, a nation of the Celts, is allowed: but that many colonies from the northern parts of Europe were afterwards ſucceſſively planted in Britain and the neighbouring iſlands, is an hypotheſis equally rational, and not altogether deſtitute of hiſtorical evidence. Nor was any nation more likely than the Scandinavian Goths, I mean in their early periods, to make deſcents on Britain. They poſſeſſed the ſpirit of adventure in an eminent degree. They were habituated to dangerous enterpriſes. They were acquainted with diſtant coaſts, exerciſed in navigation, and fond of making expeditions, in hopes of conqueſt, and in ſearch of new acquiſitions. As to Scotland and Ireland, there is the higheſt probability, that the Scutes, who conquered both thoſe countries, and poſſeſſed them under the names of Albin Scutes and Irin Scutes, were a people of Norway. The Caledonians are expreſsly called by many judicious antiquaries a Scandinavian colony. The names of places and perſons, over all that part of Scotland which the Picts inhabited, are of Scandinavian extraction. A ſimple catalogue of them only, would immediately convince us, that they are not of Celtic, or Britiſh, origin. Flaherty reports it as a received opinion, and a general doctrine, that the Picts migrated into Britain and Ireland from Scandinavia q. I forbear to accumulate a pedantic parade of authorities on this occaſion: nor can it be expected that I ſhould enter into a formal and exact examination of this obſcure and complicated [] ſubject in its full extent, which is here only introduced incidentally. I will only add, that Scotland and Ireland, as being ſituated more to the north, and probably leſs difficult of acceſs than Britain, might have been objects on which our northern adventurers were invited to try ſome of their earlieſt excurſions: and that the Orkney-iſlands remained long under the juriſdiction of the Norwegian potentates.

In theſe expeditions, the northern emigrants, as we ſhall prove more particularly below, were undoubtedly attended by their ſcalds or poets. Yet even in times of peace, and without the ſuppoſition of conqueſt or invaſion, the Scandinavian ſcalds might have been well known in the Britiſh iſlands. Poſſeſſed of a ſpecious and pleaſing talent, they frequented the courts of the Britiſh, Scottiſh, and Iriſh chieftains. They were itinerants by their inſtitution, and made voyages, out of curioſity, or in queſt of rewards, to thoſe iſlands or coaſts which lay within the circle of their maritime knowledge. By theſe means, they eſtabliſhed an intereſt, rendered their profeſſion popular, propagated their art, and circulated their fictions, in other countries, and at a diſtance from home. Torfaeus aſſerts poſitively, that various Iſlandic odes now remain, which were ſung by the Scandinavian bards before the kings of England and Ireland, and for which they received liberal gratuities r. They were more eſpecially careſſed and rewarded at the courts of thoſe princes, who were diſtinguiſhed for their warlike character, and their paſſion for military glory.

Olaus Wormius informs us, that great numbers of the northern ſcalds conſtantly reſided in the courts of the kings of Sweden, Denmark, and England s. Hence the tradition in an antient Iſlandic Saga, or poetical hiſtory, may be explained; which ſays, that Odin's language was originally [] uſed, not only in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, but even in England t. Indeed it may be naturally concluded from theſe ſuggeſtions, that the Scandinavian tongue became familiar in the Britiſh iſlands by the ſongs of the ſcalds: unleſs it be rather preſumed, that a previous knowledge of that tongue in Britain was the means of facilitating the admiſſion of thoſe poets, and preparing the way for their reception.

And here it will be much to our preſent argument to obſerve, that ſome of the old Gothic and Scandinavian ſuperſtitions are to this day retained in the Engliſh language. MARA, from whence our Night-mare is derived, was in the Runic theology a ſpirit or ſpectre of the night, which ſeized men in their ſleep, and ſuddenly deprived them of ſpeech and motion u. NICKA was the Gothic demon who inhabited the element of water, and who ſtrangled perſons that were drowning w. BOH was one of the moſt fierce and formidable of the Gothic generals x, and the ſon of Odin: the mention of whoſe name only was ſufficient to ſpread an immediate panic among his enemies y.

[] The fictions of Odin and of his Scandinavians, muſt have taken ſtill deeper root in the Britiſh iſlands, at leaſt in England, from the Saxon and Daniſh invaſions.

That the tales of the Scandinavian ſcalds flouriſhed among the Saxons, who ſucceeded to the Britons, and became poſſeſſors of England in the ſixth century, may be juſtly preſumed z. The Saxons were originally ſeated in the Cimbric Cherſoneſe, or thoſe territories which have been ſince called Jutland, Angelen, and Holſtein; and were fond of tracing the deſcent of their princes from Odin a. They were therefore a part of the Scandinavian tribes. They imported with them into England the old Runic language and letters. This appears from inſcriptions on coins b, ſtones c, and other monuments; [] and from ſome of their manuſcripts d. It is well known that Runic inſcriptions have been diſcovered in Cumberland and Scotland: and that there is even extant a coin of king Offa, with a Runic legend e. But the converſion of the Saxons to chriſtianity, which happened before the ſeventh century, entirely baniſhed the common uſe of thoſe characters f, which were eſteemed unhallowed and necromantic; and with their antient ſuperſtitions, which yet prevailed for ſome time in the popular belief, aboliſhed in ſome meaſure their native and original vein of poetic fabling g. They ſuddenly became a mild and poliſhed people, addicted to the arts of peace, and the exerciſe of devotion; and the poems they have left us are chiefly moral rhapſodies, ſcriptural hiſtories, or religious invocations h. Yet even in theſe pieces they have frequent alluſions to the old ſcaldic fables and heroes. Thus, in an Anglo-Saxon poem on Judith, Holofernes is [] called BALDER, or leader and prince of warriors. And in a poetical paraphraſe on Geneſis, Abimelech has the ſame appellation i. This Balder was a famous chieftain of the Aſiatic Goths, the ſon of Odin, and ſuppoſed to inhabit a magnificent hall in the future place of rewards. The ſame Anglo-Saxon paraphraſt, in his proſopopea of Satan addreſſing his companions plunged in the infernal abyſs, adopts many images and expreſſions uſed in the very ſublime deſcription of the Eddic hell k: Henry of Huntingdon complains of certain extraneous words and uncommon figures of ſpeech, in a Saxon ode on a victory of king Athelſtan l. Theſe were all ſcaldic expreſſions or alluſions. But I will give a literal Engliſh tranſlation of this poem, which cannot be well underſtood without premiſing its occaſion. In the year 938, Anlaff, a pagan king of the Hybernians and the adjacent iſles, invited by Conſtantine king of the Scots, entered the river Abi or Humber with a ſtrong fleet. Our Saxon king Athelſtan, and his brother Eadmund Clito, met them with a numerous army, near a place called Brunenburgh; and after a moſt obſtinate and bloody reſiſtance, drove them back to their ſhips. The battle laſted from daybreak till the evening. On the ſide of Anlaff were ſlain ſix petty kings, and ſeven chiefs or generals. ‘"King Adelſtan, the glory of leaders, the giver of gold chains to his nobles, and his brother Eadmund, both ſhining with the brightneſs of a long train of anceſtors, ſtruck [the adverſary] in war; at Brunenburgh, with the edge of the ſword, they clove the wall of ſhields. The high banners fell. The earls of the departed Edward fell; for it was born within them, even from the loins of their kindred, to defend the treaſures and the houſes of their country, and [] their gifts, againſt the hatred of ſtrangers. The nation of the Scots, and the fatal inhabitants of ſhips, fell. The hills reſounded, and the armed men were covered with ſweat. From the time the ſun, the king of ſtars, the torch of the eternal one, roſe chearful above the hills, till he returned to his habitation. There lay many of the northern men, pierced with lances; they lay wounded, with their ſhields pierced through: and alſo the Scots, the hateful harveſt of battle. The choſen bands of the Weſt-Saxons, going out to battle, preſſed on the ſteps of the deteſted nations, and ſlew their flying rear with ſharp and bloody ſwords. The ſoft effeminate men yielded up their ſpears. The Mercians did not fear or fly the rough game of the hand. There was no ſafety to them, who ſought the land with Anlaff in the boſom of the ſhip, to die in fight. Five youthful kings fell in the place of fight, ſlain with ſwords; and ſeven captains of Anlaff, with the innumerable army of Scottiſh mariners: there the lord of the Normans [Northern-men] was chaſed; and their army, now made ſmall, was driven to the prow of the ſhip. The ſhip ſounded with the waves; and the king, marching into the yellow ſea, eſcaped alive. And ſo it was, the wiſe northern king Conſtantine, a veteran chief, returning by flight to his own army, bowed down in the camp, left his own ſon worn out with wounds in the place of ſlaughter; in vain did he lament his earls, in vain his loſt friends. Nor leſs did Anlaff, the yellowhaired leader, the battle-ax of ſlaughter, a youth in war, but an old man in underſtanding, boaſt himſelf a conqueror in fight, when the darts flew againſt Edward's earls, and their banners met. Then thoſe northern ſoldiers, covered with ſhame, the ſad refuſe of darts in the reſounding whirlpool of Humber, departed in their ſhips with rudders, to ſeek through the deep the Iriſh city and their own land. While both the brothers, the [] king and Clito, lamenting even their own victory, together returned home; leaving behind them the fleſh-devouring raven, the dark-blue toad greedy of ſlaughter, the black crow with horny bill, and the hoarſe toad, the eagle a companion of battles with the devouring kite, and that brindled ſavage beaſt the wolf of the wood, to be glutted with the white food of the ſlain. Never was ſo great a ſlaughter in this iſland, ſince the Angles and Saxons, the fierce beginners of war, coming hither from the eaſt, and ſeeking Britain through the wide ſea, overcame the Britons excelling in honour, and gained poſſeſſion of their land m."’

This piece, and many other Saxon odes and ſongs now remaining, are written in a metre much reſembling that of the ſcaldic dialogue at the tomb of Angantyr, which has been beautifully tranſlated into Engliſh, in the true ſpirit of the original, and in a genuine ſtrain of poetry, by Gray. The extemporaneous effuſions of the glowing bard ſeem naturally to have fallen into this meaſure, and it was probably more eaſily ſuited to the voice or harp. Their verſification for the moſt part ſeems to have been that of the Runic poetry.

As literature, the certain attendant, as it is the parent, of true religion and civility, gained ground among the Saxons, poetry no longer remained a ſeparate ſcience, and the profeſſion of bard ſeems gradually to have declined among them: I mean the bard under thoſe appropriated characteriſtics, and that peculiar appointment, which he ſuſtained among the Scandinavian pagans. Yet their national love of verſe and muſic ſtill ſo ſtrongly predominated, that in the place of their old ſcalders a new rank of poets aroſe, called GLEEMEN or Harpers n. Theſe probably gave [] riſe to the order of Engliſh Minſtrels, who flouriſhed till the ſixteenth century.

And here I ſtop to point out one of the principal reaſons, why the Scandinavian bards have tranſmitted to modern times ſo much more of their native poetry, than the reſt of their ſouthern neighbours. It is true, that the inhabitants of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, whether or no from their Aſiatic origin, from their poverty which compelled them to ſeek fortunes at foreign courts by the exerciſe of a popular art, from the ſucceſs of their bards, the nature of their republican government, or their habits of unſettled life, were more given to verſe than any other Gothic, or even Celtic, tribe. But this is not all: they remained pagans, and retained their original manners, much longer than any of their Gothic kindred. They were not completely converted to chriſtianity till the tenth century o. Hence, under the concurrence however of ſome of the cauſes juſt mentioned, their ſcaldic profeſſion acquired greater degrees of ſtrength and of maturity: and from an uninterrupted poſſeſſion through many ages of the moſt romantic religious ſuperſtitions, and the preſervation of thoſe rough manners which are ſo favourable to the poetical ſpirit, was enabled to produce, not only more genuine, but more numerous, compoſitions. True religion would have checked the impetuoſity of their paſſions, ſuppreſſed their wild exertions of fancy, and baniſhed that ſtriking train of imagery, which their [] poetry derived from a barbarous theology. This circumſtance alſo ſuggeſts to our conſideration, thoſe ſuperior advantages and opportunities ariſing from leiſure and length of time, which they enjoyed above others, of circulating their poetry far and wide, of giving a general currency to their mode of fabling, of rendering their ſkill in verſification more univerſally and familiarly known, and a more conſpicuous and popular object of admiration or imitation to the neighbouring countries. Hence too it has happened, that modern times have not only attained much fuller information concerning their hiſtorical tranſactions, but are ſo intimately acquainted with the peculiarities of their character.

It is probable, that the Daniſh invaſions produced a conſiderable alteration in the manners of our Anglo-Saxon anceſtors. Although their connections with England were tranſient and interrupted, and on the whole ſcarcely laſted two hundred years, yet many of the Daniſh cuſtoms began to prevail among the inhabitants, which ſeem to have given a new turn to their temper and genius. The Daniſh faſhion of exceſſive drinking, for inſtance, a vice almoſt natural to the northern nations, became ſo general among the Anglo-Saxons, that it was found neceſſary to reſtrain ſo pernicious and contagious a practice by a particular ſtatute p. Hence it ſeems likely, that ſo popular an entertainment as their poetry gained ground; eſpecially if we conſider, that in their expeditions againſt England they were of courſe attended by many northern ſcalds, who conſtantly made a part of their military retinue, and whoſe language was underſtood by the Saxons. Rogwald, lord of the Orcades, who was alſo himſelf a poet, going on an expedition into Paleſtine, carried with him two Iſlandic bards q. The noble ode, called [] in the northern chronicles the ELOGIUM OF HACON r, king of Norway, was compoſed on a battle in which that prince, with eight of his brothers fell, by the ſcald Eyvynd; who for his ſuperior ſkill in poetry was called the CROSS of POETS, and fought in the battle which he celebrated. Hacon earl of Norway was accompanied by five celebrated bards in the battle of Jomſburgh: and we are told, that each of them ſung an ode to animate the ſoldiers before the engagement began s. They appear to have been regularly brought into action. Olave, a king of Norway, when his army was prepared for the onſet, placed three ſcalds about [] him, and exclaimed aloud, ‘"You ſhall not only record in your verſes what you have HEARD, but what you have SEEN."’ They each delivered an ode on the ſpot t. Theſe northern chiefs appear to have ſo frequently hazarded their lives with ſuch amazing intrepidity, merely in expectation of meriting a panegyric from their poets, the judges, and the ſpectators of their gallant behaviour. That ſcalds were common in the Daniſh armies when they invaded England, appears from a ſtratagem of Alfred; who, availing himſelf of his ſkill in oral poetry and playing on the harp, entered the Daniſh camp habited in that character, and procured a hoſpitable reception. This was in the year 878 u. Anlaff, a Daniſh king, uſed the ſame diſguiſe for reconnoitring the camp of our Saxon monarch Athelſtan: taking his ſtation near Athelſtan's pavilion, he entertained the king and his chiefs with his verſes and muſic, and was diſmiſſed with an honourable reward w. As Anlaff's dialect muſt have diſcovered him to have been a Dane; here is a proof, of what I ſhall bring more, that the Saxons, even in the midſt of mutual hoſtilities, treated the Daniſh ſcalds with favour and reſpect. That the Iſlandic bards were common in England during the Daniſh invaſions, there are numerous proofs. Egill, a celebrated Iſlandic poet, having murthered the ſon and many of the friends of Eric Blodoxe, king of Denmark or Norway, then reſiding in Northumberland, and which he had juſt conquered, procured a pardon by ſinging before the king, at the command of his queen Gunhilde, an extemporaneous ode x. Egill compliments the king, who probably was his patron, with the appellation of the [] Engliſh chief. ‘"I offer my freight to the king. I owe a poem for my ranſom. I preſent to the ENGLISH CHIEF the mead of Odin y."’ Afterwards he calls this Daniſh conqueror the commander of the Scottiſh fleet. ‘"The commander of the Scottiſh fleet fattened the ravenous birds. The ſiſter of Nera [Death] trampled on the foe: ſhe trampled on the evening food of the eagle."’ The Scots uſually joined the Daniſh or Norwegian invaders in their attempts on the northern parts of Britain z: and from this circumſtance a new argument ariſes, to ſhew the cloſe communication and alliance which muſt have ſubſiſted between Scotland and Scandinavia. Egill, although of the enemy's party, was a ſingular favourite of king Athelſtan. Athelſtan once aſked Egill how he eſcaped due puniſhment from Eric Blodoxe, the king of Northumberland, for the very capital and enormous crime which I have juſt mentioned. On which Egill immediately related the whole of that tranſaction to the Saxon king, in a ſublime ode ſtill extant a. On another occaſion Athelſtan preſented Egill with two rings, and two large cabinets filled with ſilver; promiſing at the ſame time, to grant him any gift or favour which he ſhould chuſe to requeſt. Egill, ſtruck with gratitude, immediately compoſed a panegyrical poem in the Norwegian language, then common to both nations, on the virtues of Athelſtan, which the latter as generouſly requited with two marcs of pure gold b. Here is likewiſe another argument that the Saxons had no ſmall eſteem for the ſcaldic poetry. It is highly reaſonable to conjecture, that our Daniſh king Canute; a potentate of moſt extenſive juriſdiction, and not only king of [] England, but of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, was not without the cuſtomary retinue of the northern courts, in which the ſcalds held ſo diſtinguiſhed and important a ſtation. Human nature, in a ſavage ſtate, aſpires to ſome ſpecies of merit; and in every ſtage of ſociety is alike ſuſceptible of flattery, when addreſſed to the reigning paſſion. The ſole object of theſe northern princes was military glory. It is certain that Canute delighted in this mode of entertainment, which he patroniſed and liberally rewarded. It is related in KNYTLINGA-SAGA, or Canute's Hiſtory, that he commanded the ſcald Loftunga to be put to death, for daring to comprehend his atchievements in too conciſe a poem. ‘"Nemo, ſaid he, ante te, auſus eſt de me BREVES CANTILENAS componere."’ A curious picture of the tyrant, the patron, and the barbarian, united! But the bard extorted a ſpeedy pardon, and with much addreſs, by producing the next day before the king at dinner an ode of more than thirty ſtrophes, for which Canute gave him fifty marcs of purified ſilver c. In the mean time, the Daniſh language began to grow perfectly familiar in England. It was eagerly learned by the Saxon clergy and nobility, from a principle of ingratiating themſelves with Canute: and there are many manuſcripts now remaining, by which it will appear, that the Daniſh runes were much ſtudied among our Saxon anceſtors, under the reign of that monarch d.

The ſongs of the Iriſh bards are by ſome conceived to be ſtrongly marked with the traces of ſcaldic imagination; and theſe traces, which will be reconſidered, are believed ſtill to ſurvive among a ſpecies of poetical hiſtorians, whom they call TALE-TELLERS, ſuppoſed to be the deſcendants of the original Iriſh bards e. A writer of equal elegance and veracity [] city relates, ‘"that a gentleman of the north of Ireland has often told me of his own experience, that in his wolfhuntings there, when he uſed to be abroad in the mountains three or four days together, and laid very ill in the night, ſo as he could not well ſleep, they would bring him one of theſe TALE-TELLERS, that when he lay down would begin a ſtory of a KING, or a GIANT, a DWARF, and a DAMSEL f."’ Theſe are topics in which the Runic poetry is ſaid to have been greatly converſant.

Nor is it improbable that the Welſh bards g might have been acquainted with the Scandinavian ſcalds. I mean before [] their communications with Armorica, mentioned at large above. The proſody of the Welſh bards depended much on alliteration h. Hence they ſeem to have paid an attention to the ſcaldic verſification. The Iſlandic poets are ſaid to have carried alliteration to the higheſt pitch of exactneſs in their earlieſt periods: whereas the Welſh bards of the ſixth century uſed it but ſparingly, and in a very imperfect degree. In this circumſtance a proof of imitation, at leaſt of emulation, is implied i. There are moreover, ſtrong inſtances of conformity between the manners of the two nations; which, however, may be accounted for on general principles ariſing from our comparative obſervations on rude life. Yet it is remarkable that mead, the northern nectar, or favourite liquor of the Goths k, who ſeem to have ſtamped it with the character of a poetical drink, was no leſs celebrated among the Welſh l. The ſongs of both nations abound [] with its praiſes: and it ſeems in both to have been alike the delight of the warrior and the bard. Talieſſin, as Lhuyd informs us, wrote a panegyrical ode on this inſpring beverage of the bee; or, as he tranſlates it, De Mulſorum HYDROMELI k. In Hoel Dha's Welſh laws, tranſlated by Wootton, we have, ‘"In omni convivio in quo MULSUM bibitur l."’ From which paſſage, it ſeems to have been ſerved up only at high feſtivals. By the ſame conſtitutions, at every feaſt in the king's caſtlehall, the prefect or marſhal of the hall is to receive from the queen, by the hands of the ſteward, a HORN OF MEAD. It is alſo ordered, among the privileges annexed to the office of prefect of the royal hall, that the king's bard ſhall ſing to him as often as he pleaſes m. One of the ſtated officers of the king's houſhold is CONFECTOR MULSI: and this officer, together with the maſter of the horſe n, the maſter of the hawks, the ſmith of the palace o, the royal bard p, the firſt [] muſicianq, with ſome others, have a right to ber ſeated in the hall. We have already ſeen, that the Scandinavian ſcalds were well known in Ireland: and there is ſufficient evidence to prove, that the Welſh bards were early connected with the Iriſh. Even ſo late as the eleventh century, the practice continued among the Welſh bards, of receiving inſtructions in the bardic profeſſion from Ireland. The Welſh bards were reformed and regulated by Gryffyth ap Conan, king of Wales, in the year 1078. At the ſame time he brought over with him from Ireland many Iriſh bards, for the information and improvement of the Welſh s. Powell acquaints us, that this prince ‘"brought over with him from Ireland divers cunning muſicians into Wales, who deviſed in a manner all the inſtrumental muſic that is now there uſed: as appeareth, as well by the bookes written of the ſame, [] as alſo by the names of the tunes and meaſures uſed among them to this daie t."’ In Ireland, to kill a bard was highly criminal: and to ſeize his eſtate, even for the public ſervice and in time of national diſtreſs, was deemed an act of ſacrilege u. Thus in the old Welſh laws, whoever even ſlightly injured a bard, was to be fined ſix cows and one hundred and twenty pence. The murtherer of a bard was to be fined one hundred and twenty-ſix cows w. Nor muſt I paſs over, what reflects much light on this reaſoning, that the eſtabliſhment of the houſhold of the old Iriſh chiefs, exactly reſembles that of the Welſh kings. For, beſides the bard, the muſician, and the ſmith, they have both a phyſician, a huntſman, and other correſponding officers x. We muſt alſo remember, that an intercourſe was neceſſarily produced between the Welſh and Scandinavians, from the piratical irruptions of the latter: their ſcalds, as I have already remarked, were reſpected and patroniſed in the courts of thoſe princes, whoſe territories were the principal objects of the Daniſh invaſions. Torfaeus expreſsly affirms this of the Anglo-Saxon and Iriſh kings; and it is [] at leaſt probable, that they were entertained with equal regard by the Welſh princes, who ſo frequently concurred with the Danes in diſtreſſing the Engliſh. It may be added, that the Welſh, although living in a ſeparate and detached ſituation, and ſo ſtrongly prejudiced in favour of their own uſages, yet from neighbourhood, and unavoidable communications of various kinds, might have imbibed the ideas of the Scandinavian bards from the Saxons and Danes, after thoſe nations had occupied and overſpread all the other parts of our iſland.

Many pieces of the Scottiſh bards are ſtill remaining in the high-lands of Scotland. Of theſe a curious ſpecimen, and which conſidered in a more extenſive and general reſpect, is a valuable monument of the poetry of a rude period, has lately been given to the world, under the title of the WORKS OF OSSIAN. It is indeed very remarkable, that in theſe poems, the terrible graces, which ſo naturally characteriſe, and ſo generally conſtitute, the early poetry of a barbarous people, ſhould ſo frequently give place to a gentler ſet of manners, to the ſocial ſenſibilities of poliſhed life, and a more civiliſed and elegant ſpecies of imagination. Nor is this circumſtance, which diſarranges all our eſtabliſhed ideas concerning the ſavage ſtages of ſociety, eaſily to be accounted for, unleſs we ſuppoſe, that the Celtic tribes, who were ſo ſtrongly addicted to poetical compoſition, and who made it ſo much their ſtudy from the earlieſt times, might by degrees have attained a higher vein of poetical refinement, than could at firſt ſight or on common principles be expected among nations, whom we are accuſtomed to call barbarous; that ſome few inſtances of an elevated ſtrain of friendſhip, of love, and other ſentimental feelings, exiſting in ſuch nations, might lay the foundation for introducing a ſet of manners among the bards, more refined and exalted than the real manners of the country: and that panegyrics on thoſe virtues, tranſmitted with improvements [] from bard to bard, muſt at length have formed characters of ideal excellence, which might propagate among the people real manners bordering on the poetical. Theſe poems, however, notwithſtanding the difference between the Gothic and the Celtic rituals, contain many viſible veſtiges of Scandinavian ſuperſtition. The alluſions in the ſongs of Oſſian to ſpirits, who preſide over the different parts and direct the various operations of nature, who ſend ſtorms over the deep, and rejoice in the ſhrieks of the ſhipwrecked mariner, who call down lightning to blaſt the foreſt or cleave the rock, and diffuſe irreſiſtible peſtilence among the people, beautifully conducted indeed, and heightened, under the ſkilful hand of a maſter bard, entirely correſpond with the Runic ſyſtem, and breathe the ſpirit of its poetry. One fiction in particular, the moſt EXTRAVAGANT in all Oſſian's poems, is founded on an eſſential article of the Runic belief. It is where Fingal fights with the ſpirit of Loda. Nothing could aggrandiſe Fingal's heroiſm more highly than this marvellous encounter. It was eſteemed among the antient Danes the moſt daring act of courage to engage with a ghoſt y. Had Oſſian found it convenient, to have introduced religion into his compoſitions z, not only a new ſource had [] been opened to the ſublime, in deſcribing the rites of ſacrifice, the horrors of incantation, the ſolemn evocations of infernal beings, and the like dreadful ſuperſtitions, but probably many ſtronger and more characteriſtical evidences would have appeared, of his knowledge of the imagery of the Scandinavian poets.

Nor muſt we forget, that the Scandinavians had conquered many countries bordering upon France in the fourth century a. Hence the Franks muſt have been in ſome meaſure uſed to their language, well acquainted with their manners, and converſant in their poetry. Charlemagne is ſaid to have delighted in repeating the moſt antient and barbarous odes, which celebrated the battles of antient kings b. [] But we are not informed whether theſe were Scandinavian, Celtic, or Teutonic poems.

About the beginning of the tenth century, France was invaded by the Normans, or NORTHERN-MEN, an army of adventurers from Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. And although the conquerors, eſpecially when their ſucceſs does not ſolely depend on ſuperiority of numbers, uſually aſſume [] the manners of the conquered, yet theſe ſtrangers muſt have ſtill further familiariſed in France many of their northern fictions.

From this general circulation in theſe and other countries, and from that popularity which it is natural to ſuppoſe they muſt have acquired, the ſcaldic inventions might have taken deep root in Europe c. At leaſt they ſeem to have prepared the way for the more eaſy admiſſion of the Arabian fabling about the ninth century, by which they were, however, in great meaſure, ſuperſeded. The Arabian fictions were of a more ſplendid nature, and better adapted to the increaſing civility of the times. Leſs horrible and groſs, they had a novelty, a variety, and a magnificence, which carried with them the charm of faſcination. Yet it is probable, that many of the ſcaldic imaginations might have been blended with the Arabian. In the mean time, there is great reaſon to believe, that the Gothic ſcalds enriched their vein of fabling from this new and fruitful ſource of fiction, opened by the Arabians in Spain, and afterwards propagated by the cruſades. It was in many reſpects cogenial with their own d: and the northern bards, who viſited the countries [] where theſe new fancies were ſpreading, muſt have been naturally ſtruck with ſuch wonders, and were certainly fond of picking up freſh embelliſhments, and new ſtrokes of the marvellous, for augmenting and improving their ſtock of poetry. The earlieſt ſcald now on record is not before the year 750. From which time the ſcalds flouriſhed in the northern countries, till below the year 1157 e. The celebrated ode of Regner Lodbrog was compoſed about the end of the ninth century f.

And that this hypotheſis is partly true, may be concluded from the ſubjects of ſome of the old Scandic romances, manuſcripts of which now remain in the royal library at Stockholm. The titles of a few ſhall ſerve for a ſpecimen; which I will make no apology for giving at large. ‘"SAGAN AF HIALMTER OC OLWER. The Hiſtory of Hialmter king of Sweden, ſon of a Syrian princeſs, and of Olver Jarl. Containing their expeditions into Hunland, and Arabia, with their numerous encounters with the Vikings and the giants. Alſo their leagues with Alſola, daughter of Ringer king of Arabia, afterwards married to Hervor king of Hunland, &c.—SAGAN AF SIOD. The Hiſtory of Siod, ſon of Ridgare king of England; who firſt was made king of England, afterwards of Babylon and Niniveh. [] Comprehending various occurrences in Saxland, Babylon, Greece, Africa, and eſpecially in Eiriceg the region of the giants.—SAGAN AF ALEFLECK. The Hiſtory of Alefleck, a king of England, and of his expeditions into India and Tartary.—SAGAN AF ERIK WIDFORLA. The Hiſtory of Eric the traveller, who, with his companion Eric, a Daniſh prince, undertook a wonderful journey to Odin's Hall, or Oden's Aker, near the river Piſon in India h."’ Here we ſee the circle of the Iſlandic poetry enlarged; and the names of countries and cities belonging to another quarter of the globe, Arabia, India, Tartary, Syria, Greece, Babylon, and Niniveh, intermixed with thoſe of Hunland, Sweden, and England, and adopted into the northern romantic narratives. Even Charlemagne and Arthur, whoſe hiſtories, as we have already ſeen, had been ſo laviſhly decorated by the Arabian fablers, did not eſcape the Scandinavian ſcalds i. Accordingly we find theſe ſubjects among their Sagas. ‘"SAGAN AF ERIK EINGLANDS KAPPE. The Hiſtory of Eric, ſon of king Hiac, king Arthur's chief wreſtler.—HISTORICAL RHYMES of king Arthur, containing his league with Charlemagne.—SAGAN AF IVENT. The Hiſtory of Ivent, king Arthur's principal champion, containing his battles with the giants k.—SAGAN AF [] KARLAMAGNUSE OF HOPPUM HANS. The Hiſtory of Charlemagne, of his champions, and captains. Containing all his actions in ſeveral parts. 1. Of his birth and coronation: and the combat of Carvetus king of Babylon, with Oddegir the Dane l. 2. Of Aglandus king of Africa, and of his ſon Jatmund, and their wars in Spain with Charlemagne. 3. Of Roland, and his combat with Villaline king of Spain. 4. Of Ottuel's converſion to chriſtianity, and his marriage with Charlemagne's daughter. 5. Of Hugh king of Conſtantinople, and the memorable exploits of his champions. 6. Of the wars of Ferracute king of Spain. 7. Of Charlemagne's atchievements in Rouncevalles, and of his death m."’ In another of the Sagas, Jarl, a magician of Saxland, exhibits his feats of necromancy before Charlemagne. We learn from Olaus Magnus, that Roland's magical horn, of which archbiſhop Turpin relates ſuch wonders, and among others that it might be heard at the diſtance of twenty miles, was frequently celebrated in the ſongs of the Iſlandic bards n. It is not likely that theſe pieces, to ſay no more, were compoſed till the Scandinavian tribes had been converted to chriſtianity; that is, as I have before obſerved, about the cloſe of the tenth century. Theſe barbarians had an infinite and a national contempt for the chriſtians, whoſe religion inculcated a ſpirit of peace, gentleneſs, and civility; qualities ſo diſſimilar to thoſe of their own [] ferocious and warlike diſpoſition, and which they naturally interpreted to be the marks of cowardice and puſillanimity o. It has, however, been urged, that as the irruption of the Normans into France, under their leader Rollo, did not take place till towards the beginning of the tenth century, at which period the ſcaldic art was arrived to the higheſt perfection in Rollo's native country, we can eaſily trace the deſcent of the French and Engliſh romances of chivalry from the Northern Sagas. It is ſuppoſed, that Rollo carried with him many ſcalds from the north, who tranſmitted their ſkill to their children and ſucceſſors: and that theſe, adopting the religion, opinions, and language, of the new country, ſubſtituted the heroes of chriſtendom, inſtead of thoſe of their pagan anceſtors, and began to celebrate the feats of Charlemagne, Roland, and Oliver, whoſe true hiſtory they ſet off and embelliſhed with the ſcaldic figments of dwarfs, giants, dragons, and inchantments p. There is, however, ſome reaſon to believe, that theſe fictions were current among the French long before; and, if the principles advanced in the former part of this diſſertation be true, the fables adhering to Charlemagne's real hiſtory muſt be referred to another ſource.

Let me add, that the inchantments of the Runic poetry are very different from thoſe in our romances of chivalry. The former chiefly deal in ſpells and charms, ſuch as would preſerve from poiſon, blunt the weapons of an enemy, procure victory, allay a tempeſt, cure bodily diſeaſes, or call the dead from their tombs: in uttering a form of myſterious words, or inſcribing Runic characters. The magicians of romance are chiefly employed in forming and conducting a train of deceptions. There is an air of barbaric horror in the [] incantations of the ſcaldic fablers: the magicians of romance often preſent viſions of pleaſure and delight; and, although not without their alarming terrors, ſometimes lead us through flowery foreſts, and raiſe up palaces glittering with gold and precious ſtones. The Runic magic is more like that of Canidia in Horace, the romantic reſembles that of Armida in Taſſo. The operations of the one are frequently but mere tricks, in compariſon of that ſublime ſolemnity of necromantic machinery which the other ſo awefully diſplays.

It is alſo remarkable, that in the earlier ſcaldic odes, we find but few dragons, giants, and fairies. Theſe were introduced afterwards, and are the progeny of Arabian fancy. Nor indeed do theſe imaginary beings often occur in any of the compoſitions which preceded the introduction of that ſpecies of fabling. On this reaſoning, the Iriſh tale-teller mentioned above, could not be a lineal deſcendant of the elder Iriſh bards. The abſence of giants and dragons, and, let me add, of many other traces of that fantaſtic and brilliant imagery which compoſes the ſyſtem of Arabian imagination, from the poems of Oſſian, are a ſtriking proof of their antiquity. It has already been ſuggeſted, at what period, and from what origin, thoſe fancies got footing in the Welſh poetry: we do not find them in the odes of Talieſſin or Aneurin q. This reaſoning explains an obſervation [] of an ingenious critic in this ſpecies of literature, and who has ſtudied the works of the Welſh bards with much attention. ‘"There are not ſuch extravagant FLIGHTS in any poetic compoſitions, except it be in the EASTERN; to which, as far as I can judge by the few tranſlated ſpecimens I have ſeen, they bear a near reſemblance r."’ I will venture to ſay he does not meet with theſe flights in the elder Welſh bards. The beautiful romantic fiction, that king Arthur, after being wounded in the fatal battle of Camlan, was conveyed by an Elfin princeſs into the land of Faery, or ſpirits, to be healed of his wounds, that he reigns there ſtill as a mighty potentate in all his priſtine ſplendour, and will one day return to reſume his throne in Britain, and reſtore the ſolemnities of his champions, often occurs in the antient Welſh bards s. But not in the moſt antient. It [] is found in the compoſitions of the Welſh bards only, who flouriſhed after the native vein of Britiſh fabling had been tinctured by theſe FAIRY TALES, which the Arabians had propagated in Armorica, and which the Welſh had received from their connection with that province of Gaul. Such a fiction as this is entirely different from the caſt and complection of the ideas of the original Welſh poets. It is eaſy to collect from the Welſh odes, written after the tenth century, many ſignatures of this EXOTIC imagery. Such as, ‘"Their aſſault was like ſtrong lions. He is valourous as a lion, who can reſiſt his lance? The dragon of Mona's ſons were ſo brave in fight, that there was horrible conſternation, and upon Tal Moelvre a thouſand banners. Our lion has brought to Trallwng three armies. A dragon he was from the beginning, unterrified in battle. A dragon of Ovain. Thou art a prince firm in battle, like an elephant. Their aſſault was as of ſtrong lions. The lion of Cemais fierce in the onſet, when the army ruſheth to be covered with red. He ſaw Llewellyn like a burning dragon in the ſtrife of Arſon. He is furious in fight like an outrageous dragon. Like the roaring of a furious lion, in the ſearch of prey, is thy thirſt of praiſe."’ Inſtead of producing more proofs from the multitude that might be mentioned, for the ſake of illuſtration of our argument, I will contraſt theſe with ſome of their natural unadulterated thoughts. ‘"Fetch the drinking horn, whoſe gloſs is like the wave of the ſea. Tudor is like a wolf ruſhing on his prey. They were all covered with blood when they returned, and the high hills and the dales enjoyed the ſun equally t. O thou virgin, that ſhineſt like the ſnow on the brows of Aran u: like the fine ſpiders webs on the graſs on a ſummer's day. The army at Offa's dike panted [] for glory, the ſoldiers of Venedotia, and the men of London, were as the alternate motion of the waves on the ſeaſhore, where the ſea-mew ſcreams. The hovering crows were numberleſs: the ravens croaked, they were ready to ſuck the proſtrate carcaſes. His enemies are ſcattered as leaves on the ſide of hills driven by hurricanes. He is a warrior, like a ſurge on the beach that covers the wild ſalmons. Her eye was piercing like that of the hawk w: her face ſhone like the pearly dew on Eryri x. Llewellyn is a hero who ſetteth caſtles on fire. I have watched all night on the beach, where the ſea-gulls, whoſe plumes glitter, ſport on the bed of billows; and where the herbage, growing in a ſolitary place, is of a deep green y."’ Theſe images are all drawn from their own country, from their ſituation and circumſtances; and, although highly poetical, are in general of a more ſober and temperate colouring. In a word, not only that elevation of alluſion, which many ſuppoſe to be peculiar to the poetry of Wales, but that fertility of fiction, and thoſe marvellous fables recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth, which the generality of readers, who do not ſufficiently attend to the origin of that hiſtorian's romantic materials, believe to be the genuine offspring of the Welſh poets, are of foreign growth. And, to return to the ground of this argument, there is the ſtrongeſt reaſon to ſuſpect, that even the Gothic EDDA, or ſyſtem of poetic mythology of the northern nations, is enriched with thoſe higher ſtrokes of oriental imagination, which the Arabians had communicated to the Europeans. Into this extravagant tiſſue of unmeaning allegory, falſe philoſophy, and falſe theology, it was eaſy to incorporate their moſt wild and romantic conceptions z.

[] It muſt be confeſſed, that the ideas of chivalry, the appendage and the ſubject of romance, ſubſiſted among the Goths. But this muſt be underſtood under certain limitations. There is no peculiarity which more ſtrongly diſcriminates the manners of the Greeks and Romans from thoſe of modern times, than that ſmall degree of attention and reſpect with which thoſe nations treated the fair ſex, and that inconſiderable ſhare which they were permitted to take in converſation, and the general commerce of life. For the truth of this obſervation, we need only appeal to the claſſic writers: in which their women appear to have been devoted to a ſtate of ſecluſion and obſcurity. One is ſurpriſed that barbarians ſhould be greater maſters of complaiſance than the moſt poliſhed people that ever exiſted. No ſooner was the Roman empire overthrown, and the Goths had overpowered Europe, than we find the female character aſſuming an unuſual importance and authority, and diſtinguiſhed with new privileges, in all the European governments eſtabliſhed by the northern conquerors. Even amidſt the confuſions of ſavage war, and among the almoſt incredible enormities committed by the Goths at their invaſion of the empire, they forbore to offer any violence to the women. This perhaps is one of the moſt ſtriking features in the new ſtate of manners, which took place about the ſeventh century: and it is to this period, and to this people, that we muſt refer the origin of gallantry in Europe. The Romans never introduced theſe ſentiments into their European provinces.

[] The Goths believed ſome divine and prophetic quality to be inherent in their women; they admitted them into their councils, and conſulted them on the public buſineſs of the ſtate. They were ſuffered to conduct the great events which they predicted. Ganna, a prophetic virgin of the Marcomanni, a German or Gauliſh tribe, was ſent by her nation to Rome, and admitted into the preſence of Domitian, to treat concerning terms of peace y. Tacitus relates, that Velleda, another German propheteſs, held frequent conferences with the Roman generals; and that on ſome occaſions, on account of the ſacredneſs of her perſon, ſhe was placed at a great diſtance on a high tower, from whence, like an oracular divinity, ſhe conveyed her anſwers by ſome choſen meſſenger z. She appears to have preſerved the ſupreme rule over her own people and the neighbouring tribes a. And there are other inſtances, that the government among the antient Germans was ſometimes veſted in the women b. This practice alſo prevailed among the Sitones or Norwegians c. The Cimbri, a Scandinavian tribe, were accompanied at their aſſemblies by venerable and hoary-headed propheteſſes, apparelled in long linen veſtments of a ſplendid white d. Their matrons and daughters acquired a reverence from their ſkill in ſtudying ſimples, and their knowledge of healing wounds, arts reputed myſterious. The wives frequently attended their huſbands in the moſt perilous expeditions, and fought with great intrepidity in the moſt bloody engagements e. Theſe nations dreaded [] captivity, more on the account of their women, than on their own: and the Romans, availing themſelves of this apprehenſion, often demanded their nobleſt virgins for hoſtages f. From theſe circumſtances, the women even claimed a ſort of precedence, at leaſt an equality ſubſiſted between the ſexes, in the Gothic conſtitutions.

But the deference paid to the fair ſex, which produced the ſpirit of gallantry, is chiefly to be ſought for in thoſe ſtrong and exaggerated ideas of female chaſtity which prevailed among the northern nations. Hence the lover's devotion to his miſtreſs was encreaſed, his attentions to her ſervice multiplied, his affection heightened, and his ſollicitude aggravated, in proportion as the difficulty of obtaining her was enhanced: and the paſſion of love acquired a degree of delicacy, when controlled by the principles of honour and purity. The higheſt excellence of character then known was a ſuperiority in arms; and that rival was moſt likely to gain his lady's regard, who was the braveſt champion. Here we ſee valour inſpired by love. In the mean time, the ſame heroic ſpirit which was the ſureſt claim to the favour of the ladies, was often exerted in their protection: a protection much wanted in an age of rapine, of plunder, and piracy; when the weakneſs of the ſofter ſex was expoſed to continual dangers and unexpected attacks g. It is eaſy to ſuppoſe the officious emulation and ardour of many a gallant young warrior, preſſing forward to be foremoſt in this honourable ſervice, which flattered the moſt agreeable of all paſſions, and which gratified every enthuſiaſm of the times, [] eſpecially the faſhionable fondneſs for a wandering and military life. In the mean time, we may conceive the lady thus won, or thus defended, conſcious of her own importance, affecting an air of ſtatelineſs: it was her pride to have preſerved her chaſtity inviolate, ſhe could perceive no merit but that of invincible bravery, and could only be approached in terms of reſpect and ſubmiſſion.

Among the Scandinavians, a people ſo fond of cloathing adventures in verſe, theſe gallantries muſt naturally become the ſubject of poetry, with its fictitious embelliſhments. Accordingly, we find their chivalry diſplayed in their odes; pieces, which at the ſame time greatly confirm theſe obſervations. The famous ode of Regner Lodbrog, affords a ſtriking inſtance; in which, being impriſoned in a loathſome dungeon, and condemned to be deſtroyed by venomous ſerpents, he ſolaces his deſperate ſituation by recollecting and reciting the glorious exploits of his paſt life. One of theſe, and the firſt which he commemorates, was an atchievement of chivalry. It was the delivery of a beautiful Swediſh princeſs from an impregnable fortreſs, in which ſhe was forcibly detained by one of her father's captains. Her father iſſued a proclamation, promiſing that whoever would reſcue the lady, ſhould have her in marriage. Regner ſucceeded in the attempt, and married the fair captive. This was about the year 860 h. There are other ſtrokes in Regner's ode, which, although not belonging to this particular ſtory, deſerve to be pointed out here, as illuſtrative of our argument. Such as, ‘"It was like being placed near a beautiful virgin on a couch.—It was like kiſſing a young widow in the firſt ſeat at a feaſt. I made to ſtruggle in the twilight that golden-haired chief, who paſſed his mornings among the young maidens, and loved to converſe with [] widows.—He who aſpires to the love of young virgins, ought always to be foremoſt in the din of arms i."’ It is worthy of remark, that theſe ſentiments occur to Regner while he is in the midſt of his tortures, and at the point of death. Thus many of the heroes in Froiſſart, in the greateſt extremities of danger, recollect their amours, and die thinking of their miſtreſſes. And by the way, in the ſame ſtrain, Boh, a Daniſh champion, having loſt his chin, and one of his cheeks, by a ſingle ſtroke from Thurſtain Midlang, only reflected how he ſhould be received, when thus maimed and disfigured, by the Daniſh girls. He inſtantly exclaimed in a tone of ſavage gallantry, ‘"The Daniſh virgins will not now willingly or eaſily give me kiſſes, if I ſhould perhaps return home k."’ But there is an ode, in the KNYTLINGA-SAGA, written by Harald the VALIANT, which is profeſſedly a ſong of chivalry; and which; excluſive of its wild ſpirit of adventure, and its images of ſavage life, has the romantic air of a ſet of ſtanzas, compoſed by a Provencial troubadour. Harald, appears to have been one of the moſt eminent adventurers of his age. He had killed the king of Drontheim in a bloody engagement. He had traverſed all the ſeas, and viſited all the coaſts, of the north; and had carried his piratical enterpriſes even as far as the Mediterranean, and the ſhores of Africa. He was at length taken priſoner, and detained for ſome time at Conſtantinople. He complains in this ode, that the reputation he had acquired by ſo many hazardous exploits, by his ſkill in ſingle combat, riding, ſwimming, gliding along the ice, darting, rowing, and guiding a ſhip through the rocks, had not been able to make any impreſſion on Eliſſiff, or Eliſabeth, the beautiful daughter of Jarilas, king of Ruſſia l.

Here, however, chivalry ſubſiſted but in its rudiments. Under the feudal eſtabliſhments, which were ſoon afterwards erected in Europe, it received new vigour, and was inveſted [] with the formalities of a regular inſtitution. The nature and circumſtances of that peculiar model of government, were highly favourable to this ſtrange ſpirit of fantaſtic heroiſm; which, however unmeaning and ridiculous it may ſeem, had the moſt ſerious and ſalutary conſequences in aſſiſting the general growth of refinement, and the progreſſion of civiliſation, in forming the manners of Europe, in inculcating the principles of honour, and in teaching modes of decorum. The genius of the feudal policy was perfectly martial. A numerous nobility, formed into ſeparate principalities, affecting independence, and mutually jealous of their privileges and honours, neceſſarily lived in a ſtate of hoſtility. This ſituation rendered perſonal ſtrength and courage the moſt requiſite and eſſential accompliſhments. And hence, even in time of peace, they had no conception of any diverſions or public ceremonies, but ſuch as were of the military kind. Yet, as the courts of theſe petty princes were thronged with ladies of the moſt eminent diſtinction and quality, the ruling paſſion for war was tempered with courteſy. The prize of contending champions was adjudged by the ladies; who did not think it inconſiſtent to be preſent or to preſide at the bloody ſpectacles of the times; and who, themſelves, ſeem to have contracted an unnatural and unbecoming ferocity, while they ſoftened the manners of thoſe valorous knights who fought for their approbation. The high notions of a noble deſcent, which aroſe from the condition of the feudal conſtitution, and the ambition of forming an alliance with powerful and opulent families, cheriſhed this romantic ſyſtem. It was hard to obtain the fair feudatary, who was the object of univerſal adoration. Not only the ſplendor of birth, but the magnificent caſtle ſurrounded with embattelled walls, guarded with maſſy towers, and crowned with lofty pinnacles, ſerved to inflame the imagination, and to create an attachment to ſome illuſtrious heireſs, whoſe point of honour it was to be chaſte and inacceſſible. And the difficulty [] of ſucceſs on theſe occaſions, ſeems in great meaſure to have given riſe to that ſentimental love of romance, which acquieſced in a diſtant reſpectful admiration, and did not aſpire to poſſeſſion. The want of an uniform adminiſtration of juſtice, the general diſorder, and ſtate of univerſal anarchy, which naturally ſprung from the principles of the feudal policy, preſented perpetual opportunities of checking the oppreſſions of arbitrary lords, of delivering captives injuriouſly detained in the baronial caſtles, of puniſhing robbers, of ſuccouring the diſtreſſed, and of avenging the impotent and the unarmed, who were every moment expoſed to the moſt licentious inſults and injuries. The violence and injuſtice of the times gave birth to valour and humanity. Theſe acts conferred a luſtre and an importance on the character of men profeſſing arms, who made force the ſubſtitute of law. In the mean time, the cruſades, ſo pregnant with enterprize, heightened the habits of this warlike fanaticiſm. And when theſe foreign expeditions were ended, in which the hermits and pilgrims of Paleſtine had been defended, nothing remained to employ the activity of adventurers but the protection of innocence at home. Chivalry by degrees was conſecrated by religion, whoſe authority tinctured every paſſion, and was engrafted into every inſtitution, of the ſuperſtitious ages; and at length compoſed that ſingular picture of manners, in which the love of a god and of the ladies were reconciled, the ſaint and the hero were blended, and charity and revenge, zeal and gallantry, devotion and valour, were united.

Thoſe who think that chivalry ſtarted late, from the nature of the feudal conſtitution, confound an improved effect with a ſimple cauſe. Not having diſtinctly conſidered all the particularities belonging to the genius, manners, and uſages of the Gothic tribes, and accuſtomed to contemplate nations under the general idea of barbarians, they cannot look for the ſeeds of elegance amongſt men, diſtinguiſhed [] only for their ignorance and their inhumanity. The rude origin of this heroic gallantry was quickly overwhelmed and extinguiſhed, by the ſuperior pomp which it neceſſarily adopted from the gradual diffuſion of opulence and civility, and that blaze of ſplendor with which it was ſurrounded, amid the magnificence of the feudal ſolemnities. But above all, it was loſt and forgotten in that higher degree of embelliſhment, which at length it began to receive from the repreſentations of romance.

From the foregoing obſervations taken together, the following general and comprehenſive concluſion ſeems to reſult.

Amid the gloom of ſuperſtition, in an age of the groſſeſt ignorance and credulity, a taſte for the wonders of oriental fiction was introduced by the Arabians into Europe, many countries of which were already ſeaſoned to a reception of its extravagancies, by means of the poetry of the Gothic ſ [...]alds, who perhaps originally derived their ideas from the fame fruitful region of invention. Theſe fictions, coinciding with the reigning manners, and perpetually kept up and improved in the tales of troubadours and minſtrels, ſeem to have centered about the eleventh century in the ideal hiſtories of Turpin and Geoffrey of Monmouth, which record the ſuppoſititious atchievements of Charlemagne and king Arthur, where they formed the ground-work of that ſpecies of fabulous narrative called romance. And from theſe beginnings or cauſes, afterwards enlarged and enriched by kindred fancies fetched from the cruſades, that ſingular and capricious mode of imagination aroſe, which at length compoſed the marvellous machineries of the more ſublime Italian poets, and of their diſciple Spenſer.

ON THE INTRODUCTION OF LEARNING into ENGLAND.
DISSERTATION II.

[]

THE irruption of the northern nations into the weſtern empire, about the beginning of the fourth century, forms one of the moſt intereſting and important periods of modern hiſtory. Europe, on this great event, ſuffered the moſt memorable revolutions in its government and manners; and from the moſt flouriſhing ſtate of peace and civility, became on a ſudden, and for the ſpace of two centuries, the theatre of the moſt deplorable devaſtation and diſorder. But among the diſaſters introduced by theſe irreſiſtible barbarians, the moſt calamitous ſeems to have been the deſtruction of thoſe arts which the Romans ſtill continued ſo ſucceſsfully to cultivate in their capital, and which they had univerſally communicated to their conquered provinces. Towards the cloſe of the fifth century, very few traces of the Roman policy, juriſprudence, ſciences, and literature, [] remained. Some faint ſparks of knowledge were kept alive in the monaſteries; and letters and the liberal arts were happily preſerved from a total extinction during the confuſions of the Gothic invaders, by that ſlender degree of culture and protection which they received from the prelates of the church, and the religious communities.

But notwithſtanding the famous academy of Romea with other literary ſeminaries had been deſtroyed by Alaric in the fourth century; yet Theodoric the ſecond, king of the Oſtrogoths, a pious and humane prince, reſtored in ſome degree the ſtudy of letters in that city, and encouraged the purſuits of thoſe ſcholars who ſurvived this great and general deſolation of learning b. He adopted into his ſervice Boethius, the moſt learned and almoſt only Latin philoſopher of that period. Caſſiodorus, another eminent Roman ſcholar, was Theodoric's grand ſecretary: who retiring into a monaſtery in Calabria, paſſed his old age in collecting books, and practiſing mechanical experiments c. He was the author of many valuable pieces which ſtill remain d. He wrote with little elegance, but he was the firſt that ever digeſted a ſeries of royal charts or inſtruments; a monument of ſingular utility to the hiſtorian, and which has ſerved to throw the [] moſt authentic illuſtration on the public tranſactions and legal conſtitutions of thoſe times. Theodoric's patronage of learning is applauded by Claudian, and Sidonius Apollinaris. Many other Gothic kings were equally attached to the works of peace; and are not leſs conſpicuous for their juſtice, prudence, and temperance, than for their fortitude and magnanimity. Some of them were diligent in collecting the ſcattered remains of the Roman inſtitutes, and conſtructing a regular code of juriſprudence d. It is highly probable, that thoſe Goths who became maſters of Rome, ſooner acquired ideas of civility, from the opportunity which that city above all others afforded them of ſeeing the felicities of poliſhed life, of obſerving the conveniencies ariſing from political economy, of mixing with characters reſpectable for prudence and learning, and of employing in their counſels men of ſuperior wiſdom, whoſe inſtruction and advice they found it their intereſt to follow. But perhaps theſe northern adventurers, at leaſt their princes and leaders, were not even at their firſt migrations into the ſouth, ſo totally ſavage and unciviliſed as we are commonly apt to ſuppoſe. Their enemies have been their hiſtorians, who naturally painted theſe violent diſturbers of the general repoſe in the warmeſt colours. It is not eaſy to conceive, that the ſucceſs of their amazing enterprizes was merely the effect of numbers and tumultuary depredation: nor can I be perſuaded, that the laſting and flouriſhing governments which they eſtabliſhed in various parts of Europe, could have been framed by brutal force alone, and the blind efforts of unreflecting ſavages. Superior ſtrength and courage muſt have contributed in a conſiderable degree to their rapid and extenſive conqueſts; but at the ſame time, ſuch mighty atchievements could not have been planned and executed without ſome extraordinary vigour of mind, uniform principles of conduct, and no common talents of political ſagacity.

[] Although theſe commotions muſt have been particularly unfavourable to the more elegant literature, yet Latin poetry, from a concurrence of cauſes, had for ſome time begun to relapſe into barbariſm. From the growing encreaſe of chriſtianity, it was deprived of its old fabulous embelliſhments, and chiefly employed in compoſing eccleſiaſtical hymns. Amid theſe impediments however, and the neceſſary degeneration of taſte and ſtyle, a few poets ſupported the character of the Roman muſe with tolerable dignity, during the decline of the Roman empire. Theſe were Auſonius, Paulinus, Sidonius, Sedulius, Arator, Juvencus, Proſper, and Fortunatus. With the laſt, who flouriſhed at the beginning of the ſixth century, and was biſhop of Poitiers, the Roman poetry is ſuppoſed to have expired.

In the ſixth century Europe began to recover ſome degree of tranquillity. Many barbarous countries during this period, particularly the inhabitants of Germany, of Frieſland, and other northern nations, were converted to the chriſtian faith e. The religious controverſies which at this time divided the Greek and Latin churches, rouſed the minds of men to literary enquiries. Theſe diſputes in ſome meaſure called forth abilities which otherwiſe would have been unknown and unemployed; and, together with the ſubtleties of argumentation, inſenſibly taught the graces of ſtyle, and the habits of compoſition. Many of the popes were perſons of diſtinguiſhed talents, and promoted uſeful knowledge no leſs by example than authority. Political union was by degrees eſtabliſhed; and regular ſyſtems of government, which alone can enſure perſonal ſecurity, aroſe in the various provinces of Europe occupied by the Gothic tribes. The Saxons had taken poſſeſſion of Britain, the Franks became maſters of Gaul, the Huns of Pannonia, the Goths of [] Spain, and the Lombards of Italy. Hence leiſure and repoſe diffuſed a mildneſs of manners, and introduced the arts of peace; and, awakening the human mind to a conſciouſneſs of its powers, directed its faculties to their proper objects.

In the mean time, no ſmall obſtruction to the propagation or rather revival of letters, was the paucity of valuable books. The libraries, particularly thoſe of Italy, which abounded in numerous and ineſtimable treaſures of literature, were every where deſtroyed by the precipitate rage and undiſtinguiſhing violence of the northern armies. Towards the cloſe of the ſeventh century, even in the papal library at Rome, the number of books was ſo inconſiderable, that pope Saint Martin requeſted Sanctamand biſhop of Maeſtricht, if poſſible to ſupply this defect from the remoteſt parts of Germany g. In the year 855, Lupus, abbot of Ferrieres in France, ſent two of his monks to pope Benedict the third, to beg a copy of CICERO DE ORATORE, and QUINTILIAN'S INSTITUTES h, and ſome other books: ‘"for, ſays the abbot, [] although we have part of th [...]ſe books, yet there is no whole or complete copy of them in all France i".’ Albert abbot of Gemblours, who with incredible labour and immenſe expence had collected an hundred volumes on theological and fifty on profane ſubjects, imagined he had formed a ſplendid library k. About the year 790, Charlemagne granted an unlimited right of hunting to the abbot and monks of Sithiu, for making their gloves and girdles of the ſkins of the deer they killed, and covers for their books l. We may imagine that theſe religious were more fond of hunting than reading. It is certain that they were obliged to hunt before they could read: and at leaſt it is probable, that under theſe circumſtances, and of ſuch materials, they did not manufacture many volumes. At the beginning of the tenth century books were ſo ſcarce in Spain, that one and the ſame copy of the bible, Saint Jerom's Epiſtles, and ſome volumes of eccleſiaſtical offices and martyrologies, often ſerved ſeveral different monaſteries m. Among the conſtitutions given to the monks of England by archbiſhop Lanfranc, in the year 1072, the following injunction occurs. At the beginning of Lent, the librarian is ordered to deliver a book to each of the religious: a whole year was allowed for the peruſal of this book: and at the returning Lent, thoſe monks who had neglected to read the books they had reſpectively received, are commanded to proſtrate themſelves before the [] abbot, and to ſupplicate his indulgence n. This regulation was partly occaſioned by the low ſtate of literature which Lanfranc found in the Engliſh monaſteries. But at the ſame time it was a matter of neceſſity, and is in great meaſure to be referred to the ſcarcity of copies of uſeful and ſuitable authors. In an inventory of the goods of John de Pontiſſara, biſhop of Wincheſter, contained in his capital palace of Wulveſey, all the books which appear are nothing more than "Septendecem pecie librorum de diverſis Scienciis o."’ This was in the year 1294. The ſame prelate, in the year 1299, borrows of his cathedral convent of St. Swithin at Wincheſter, BIBLIAM BENE GLOSSATAM, that is, the Bible, with marginal Annotations, in two large folio volumes: but gives a bond for due return of the loan, drawn up with great ſolemnity p. This Bible had been bequeathed to the convent the ſame year by Pontiſſara's predeceſſor, biſhop Nicholas de Ely: and in conſideration of ſo important a bequeſt, that is, "pro bona Biblia dicti epiſcopi bene gloſata," and one hundred marks in money, the monks founded a daily maſs for the ſoul of the donor q. When a ſingle book was bequeathed [] to a friend or relation, it was ſeldom without many reſtrictions and ſtipulations r. If any perſon gave a book to a religious houſe, he believed that ſo valuable a donation merited eternal ſalvation, and he offered it on the altar with great ceremony. The moſt formidable anathemas were peremptorily denounced againſt thoſe who ſhould dare to alienate a book preſented to the cloiſter or library of a religious houſe. The prior and convent of Rocheſter declare, that they will every year pronounce the irrevocable ſentence of damnation on him who ſhall purloin or conceal a Latin tranſlation of Ariſtotle's PHYSICS, or even obliterate the title s. Sometimes a book was given to a monaſtery on condition that the donor ſhould have the uſe of it during his life: and ſometimes to a private perſon, with the reſervation that he who receives it ſhould pray for the ſoul of his benefactor. The gift of a book to Lincoln cathedral, by biſhop Repingdon, in the year 1422, occurs in this form and under theſe curious circumſtances. The memorial is written in Latin, with the biſhop's own hand, which I will give in Engliſh, at the beginning of Peter's BREVIARY OF THE BIBLE. ‘"I Philip of Repyndon, late biſhop of Lincoln, give this book called Peter de Aureolis to the new library to be built within the church of Lincoln: reſerving the uſe and poſſeſſion of it to Richard Tryſely, clerk, canon and prebendary of Miltoun, in fee, and to the term of his life: and afterwards to be given up and reſtored to the ſaid library, or the keepers of the ſame, for the time being, faithfully and without delay. Written with my own hand, A. D. 1422 t."’ When a book was bought, the [] affair was of ſo much importance, that it was cuſtomary to aſſemble perſons of conſequence and character, and to make a formal record that they were preſent on this occaſion. Among the royal manuſcripts, in the book of the SENTENCES of Peter Lombard, an archdeacon of Lincoln has left this entry u. ‘"This book of the SENTENCES belongs to maſter Robert, archdeacon of Lincoln, which he bought of Geoffrey the chaplain, brother of Henry vicar of Northelkington, in the preſence of maſter Robert de Lee, maſter John of Lirling, Richard of Luda, clerk, Richard the almoner, the ſaid Henry the vicar and his clerk, and others: and the ſaid archdeacon gave the ſaid book to God and ſaint Oſwald, and to Peter abbot of Barton, and the convent of Barden w."’ The diſputed property of a book often occaſioned the moſt violent altercations. Many claims appear to have been made to a manuſcript of Matthew Paris, belonging to the laſt-mentioned library: in which John Ruſſell, biſhop of Lincoln, thus conditionally defends or explains his right of poſſeſſion. ‘"If this book can be proved to be or to have been the property of the exempt monaſtery of ſaint Alban in the dioceſe of Lincoln, I declare this to be my mind, that, in that caſe, I uſe it at preſent as a loan under favour of thoſe monks who belong to the ſaid monaſtery. Otherwiſe, according to the condition under which this book came into my poſſeſſion, I will that it ſhall belong to the college of the bleſſed Wincheſter Mary at Oxford, of the foundation of William Wykham. Written with my own hand at Bukdane, 1 Jan. A. D. 1488. Jo. LINCOLN. Whoever ſhall obliterate or deſtroy this writing, let him be anathema x."’ About [] the year 1225, Roger de Inſula, dean of York, gave ſeveral Latin bibles to the univerſity of Oxford, with a condition that the ſtudents who peruſed them ſhould depoſit a cautionary pledge y. The library of that univerſity, before the year 1300, conſiſted only of a few tracts, chained or kept in cheſts in the choir of St. Mary's church z. In the year 1327, the ſcholars and citizens of Oxford aſſaulted and entirely pillaged the opulent Benedictine abbey of the neighbouring town of Abingdon. Among the books they found there, were one hundred pſalters, as many grayles, and forty miſſals, which undoubtedly belonged to the choir of the church: but beſides theſe, there were only twentytwo CODICES, which I interpret books on common ſubjects a. [] And although the invention of paper, at the cloſe of the eleventh century, contributed to multiply manuſcripts, and conſequently to facilitate knowledge, yet even ſo late as the reign of our Henry the ſixth, I have diſcovered the following remarkable inſtance of the inconveniencies and impediments to ſtudy, which muſt have been produced by a ſcarcity of books. It is in the ſtatutes of St. Mary's college at Oxford, founded as a ſeminary to Oſeney abbey in the year 1446. ‘"Let no ſcholar occupy a book in the library above one hour, or two hours at moſt; ſo that others ſhall be hindered from the uſe of the ſame b".’ The famous library eſtabliſhed in the univerſity of Oxford, by that munificent patron of literature Humphrey duke of Glouceſter, contained only ſix hundred volumes c. About the commencement of the fourteenth century, there were only four claſſics in the royal library at Paris. Theſe were one copy of Cicero, Ovid, Lucan, and Boethius. The reſt were chiefly books of devotion, which included but few of the fathers: many treatiſes of aſtrology, geomancy, chiromancy, and medicine, originally written in Arabic, and tranſlated into Latin or French: pandects, chronicles, and romances. This collection was principally made by Charles the fifth, who began his reign [] in 1365. This monarch was paſſionately fond of reading, and it was the faſhion to ſend him preſents of books from every part of the kingdom of France. Theſe he ordered to be elegantly tranſcribed, and richly illuminated; and he placed them in a tower of the Louvre, from thence called, la toure de la libraire. The whole conſiſted of nine hundred volumes. They were depoſited in three chambers; which, on this occaſion, were wainſcotted with Iriſh oak, and cieled with cypreſs curiouſly carved. The windows were of painted glaſs, fenced with iron bars and copper wire. The Engliſh became maſters of Paris in the year 1425. On which event the duke of Bedford, regent of France, ſent this whole library, then conſiſting of only eight hundred and fifty-three volumes, and valued at two thouſand two hundred and twentythree livres, into England; where perhaps they became the ground-work of duke Humphrey's library juſt mentioned e. Even ſo late as the year 1471, when Louis the eleventh of France borrowed the works of the Arabian phyſician Rhaſis, from the faculty of medicine at Paris, he not only depoſited by way of pledge a quantity of valuable plate, but was obliged to procure a nobleman to join with him as ſurety in a deed f, by which he bound himſelf to return it under a conſiderable forfeiture g. The exceſſive prices of books in the middle ages, afford numerous and curious proofs. I will mention a few only. In the year 1174, Walter prior of St. Swithin's at Wincheſter, afterwards elected abbot of Weſtminſter, a writer in Latin of the lives of the biſhops who were his patrons h, purchaſed of the monks of [] Dorcheſter in Oxfordſhire, Bede's Homilies, and ſaint Auſtin's Pſalter, for twelve meaſures of barley, and a pall on which was embroidered in ſilver the hiſtory of ſaint Birinus converting a Saxon king h. Among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh muſeum there is COMESTOR'S SCHOLASTIC HISTORY in French; which, as it is recorded in a blank page at the beginning, was taken from the king of France at the battle of Poitiers; and being purchaſed by William Montague earl of Saliſbury for one hundred mars, was ordered to be ſold by the laſt will of his counteſs Elizabeth for forty livres i. About the year 1400, a copy of John of Meun's ROMAN DE LA ROSE, was ſold before the palacegate at Paris for forty crowns or thirty-three pounds ſix and ſix-pence k. But in purſuit of theſe anecdotes, I am [] imperceptibly ſeduced into later periods, or rather am deviating from my ſubject.

After the calamities which the ſtate of literature ſuſtained in conſequence of the incurſions of the northern nations, the firſt reſtorers of the antient philoſophical ſciences in Europe, the ſtudy of which, by opening the faculties and extending the views of mankind, gradually led the way to other parts of learning, were the Arabians. In the beginning of the eighth century, this wonderful people, equally famous for their conqueſts and their love of letters, in ravaging the Aſiatic provinces, found many Greek books, which they read with infinite avidity: and ſuch was the gratification they received from this fortunate acquiſition, and ſo powerfully their curioſity was excited to make further diſcoveries in this new field of knowledge, that they requeſted their caliphs to procure from the emperor at Conſtantinople the beſt Greek writers. Theſe they carefully tranſlated into Arabic k. But every part of the Grecian literature did not equally gratify their taſte. The Greek poetry they rejected, becauſe it inculcated polytheiſm and idolatry, which were inconſiſtent with their religion. Or perhaps it was too cold and too correct for their extravagant and romantic conceptions l. [] Of the Greek hiſtory they made no uſe, becauſe it recorded events which preceded their prophet Mahomet. Accuſtomed to a deſpotic empire, they neglected the political ſyſtems of the Greeks, which taught republican freedom. For the ſame reaſons they deſpiſed the eloquence of the Athenian orators. The Greek ethics were ſuper [...]eded by their Alcoran, and on this account they did not ſtudy the works of Plato m. Therefore no other Greek books engaged their attention but thoſe which treated of mathematical, metaphyſical, and phyſical knowledge. Mathematics coincided with their natural turn to aſtronomy and arithmetic. Metaphyſics, or logic, ſuited their ſpeculative genius, their love of tracing intricate and abſtracted truths, and their ambition of being admired for difficult and remote reſearches. Phyſics, in which I include medicine, aſſiſted the chemical experiments to which they were ſo much addicted n: and medicine, while it was connected with chemiſtry and botany, was a practical art of immediate utility o. Hence they ſtudied Ariſtotle, Galen, [] and Hippocrates, with unremitted ardour and aſſiduity: they tranſlated their writings into the Arabic tongue p, and by degrees illuſtrated them with voluminous commentaries q. Theſe Arabic tranſlations of the Greek philoſophers produced new treatiſes of their own, particularly in medicine and metaphyſics. They continued to extend their conqueſts, and their frequent incurſions into Europe before and after the ninth century, and their abſolute eſtabliſhment in Spain, imported the rudiments of uſeful knowledge into nations involved in the groſſeſt ignorance, and unpoſſeſſed of the [] means of inſtruction. They founded univerſities in many cities of Spain and Africa r. They brought with them thei [...] books, which Charlemagne, emperor of France and Germany, commanded to be tranſlated from Arabic into Latin s: and which, by the care and encouragement of that liberal prince, being quickly diſſeminated over his extenſive dominions, ſoon became familiar to the weſtern world. Hence it is, that we find our early Latin authors of the dark ages chiefly employed in writing ſyſtems of the moſt abſtruſe ſciences: and from theſe beginnings the Ariſtotelic philoſophy acquired ſuch eſtabliſhment and authority, that from long preſcription it remains to this day the ſacred and uncontroverted doctrine of our ſchools t. From this fountain the infatuations of aſtrology took poſſeſſion of the middle ages, and were continued even to modern times. To the peculiar genius of this people it is owing, that chemiſtry became blended with ſo many extravagancies, obſcured with unintelligible jargon, and filled with fantaſtic notions, myſterious [] pretenſions, and ſuperſtitious operations. And it is eaſy to conceive, that among theſe viſionary philoſophers, ſo fertile in ſpeculation, logic, and metaphyſics, contracted much of that refinement and perplexity, which for ſo many centuries exerciſed the genius of profound reaſoners and captious diſputants, and ſo long obſtructed the progreſs of true knowledge. It may perhaps be regretted, in the mean time, that this predilection of the Arabian ſcholars for philoſophic enquiries, prevented them from importing into Europe a literature of another kind. But rude and barbarous nations would not have been poliſhed by the hiſtory, poetry, and oratory of the Greeks. Although capable of comprehending the ſolid truths of many parts of ſcience, they are unprepared to be impreſſed with ideas of elegance, and to reliſh works of taſte. Men muſt be inſtructed before they can be refined; and, in the gradations of knowledge, polite literature does not take place till ſome progreſs has firſt been made in philoſophy. Yet it is at the ſame time probable, that the Arabians, among their literary ſtores, brought into Spain and Italy many Greek authors not of the ſcientific ſpecies u: [] and that the migration of this people into the weſtern world, while it proved the fortunate inſtrument of introducing into Europe ſome of the Greek claſſics at a very early period, was moreover a means of preſerving thoſe genuine models of compoſition, and of tranſmitting them to the preſent generation u. It is certain, that about the cloſe of the ninth century, polite letters, together with the ſciences, began in ſome degree to be ſtudied in Italy, France, and Germany. Charlemagne, whoſe munificence and activity in propagating the Arabian literature has already been mentioned, founded the univerſities of Bononia, Pavia, Paris, and Oſnaburgh. Charles the Bald ſeconded the ſalutary endeavours of Charlemagne. Lothaire, the brother of the latter, erected ſchools in the eight principal cities of Italy w. The number of monaſteries and collegiate churches in thoſe countries was daily encreaſing x: in which the youth, as a preparation to the [] ſtudy of the ſacred ſcriptures, were exerciſed in reading profane authors, together with the antient doctors of the church, and habituated to a Latin ſtyle. The monks of Caſſino in Italy were diſtinguiſhed before the year 1000, not only for their knowledge of the ſciences, but their attention to polite learning, and an acquaintance with the claſſics. Their learned abbot Deſiderius collected the beſt of the Greek and Roman writers. This fraternity not only compoſed learned treatiſes in muſic, logic, aftronomy, and the Vitruvian architecture, but likewiſe employed a portion of their time in tranſcribing Tacitus y, Jornandes, Joſephus, Ovid's Faſti, Cicero, Seneca, Donatus the grammarian, Virgil, Theocritus, and Homer z.

[] In the mean time England ſhared theſe improvements in knowledge: and literature, chiefly derived from the ſame ſources, was communicated to our Saxon anceſtors about the beginning of the eighth century c. The Anglo-Saxons were converted to chriſtianity about the year 570. In conſequence of this event, they ſoon acquired civility and learning. Hence they neceſſarily eſtabliſhed a communication with Rome, and acquired a familiarity with the Latin language. During this period, it was the prevailing practice among the Saxons, not only of the clergy but of the better ſort of laity, to make a voyage to Rome d. It is natural to imagine with what ardour the new converts viſited the holy ſee, which at the ſame time was fortunately the capital of literature. While they gratified their devotion, undeſignedly and imperceptibly they became acquainted with uſeful ſcience.

In return, Rome ſent her emiſſaries into Britain. Theodore, a monk of Rome, originally a Greek prieſt, a native of Tarſus in Cilicia, was conſecrated archbiſhop of Canterbury, and ſent into England by pope Vitellian, in the year 688 e. He was ſkilled in the metrical art, aſtronomy, arithmetic, church-muſic, and the Greek and Latin languages f. The new prelate brought with him a large library, as it was called and eſteemed, conſiſting of numerous Greek and Latin authors; among which were Homer in a large volume, written on paper with moſt exquiſite elegance, the homilies of ſaint Chryſoſtom on parchment, the pſalter, and Joſephus's Hypomneſticon, all in Greek g. Theodore was accompanied [] into England by Adrian, a Neapolitan monk, and a native of Africa, who was equally ſkilled in ſacred and profane learning, and at the ſame time appointed by the pope to the abbacy of ſaint Auſtin's at Canterbury. Bede informs us, that Adrian requeſted pope Vitellian to confer the archbiſhoprick on Theodore, and that the pope conſented on condition that Adrian, ‘"who had been twice in France, and on that account was better acquainted with the nature and difficulties of ſo long a journey,"’ would conduct Theodore into Britain h. They were both eſcorted to the city of Canterbury by Benedict Biſcop, a native of Northumberland, and a monk, who had formerly been acquainted with them in a viſit which he made to Rome i. Benedict ſeems at this time to have been one of the moſt diſtinguiſhed of the Saxon eccleſiaſtics: availing himſelf of the arrival of theſe two learned ſtrangers, under their direction and aſſiſtance, he procured workmen from France, and built the monaſtery of Weremouth in Northumberland. The church he conſtructed of ſtone, after the manner of the Roman architecture; and adorned its walls and roof with pictures, which he purchaſed at Rome, repreſenting among other ſacred ſubjects the Virgin Mary, the twelve apoſtles, the evangelical hiſtory, and the viſions of the Apocalypſe k. The windows were glazed by artiſts brought from France. But I mention this foundation to introduce an anecdote much to our purpoſe. [] Benedict added to his monaſtery an ample library, which he ſtored with Greek and Latin volumes, imported by himſelf from Italy l. Bede has thought it a matter worthy to be recorded, that Ceolfrid, his ſucceſſor in the government of Weremouth-abbey, augmented this collection with three volumes of pandects, and a book of coſmography wonderfully enriched with curious workmanſhip, and bought at Rome m. The example of the pious Benedict was immediately followed by Acca biſhop of Hexham in the ſame province: who having finiſhed his cathedral church by the help of architects, maſons, and glaſiers hired in Italy, adorned it, according to Leland, with a valuable library of Greek and Latin authors n. But Bede, Acca's cotemporary, relates, that this library was entirely compoſed of the hiſtories of thoſe apoſtles and martyrs to whoſe relics he had dedicated ſeveral altars in his church, and other eccleſiaſtical treatiſes, which he had collected with infinite labour o. Bede however calls it a moſt copious and noble library p. Nor is it foreign to our purpoſe to add, that Acca invited from Kent into Northumberland, and retained in his ſervice during the ſpace of twelve years, a celebrated chantor named Maban: by the aſſiſtance of whoſe inſtructions and ſuperintendance he not only regulated the church muſic of his dioceſe, but introduced the uſe of many Latin hymns hitherto unknown in the northern churches of England q. It appears that before [] the arrival of Theodore and Adrian, celebrated ſchools for educating youth in the ſciences had been long eſtabliſhed in Kent r. Literature, however, ſeems at this period to have flouriſhed with equal reputation at the other extremity of the iſland, and even in our moſt northern provinces. Ecbert biſhop of York, founded a library in his cathedral, which, like ſome of thoſe already mentioned, is ſaid to have been repleniſhed with a variety of Latin and Greek books s. Alcuine, whom Ecbert appointed his firſt librarian, hints at this library in a Latin epiſtle to Charlemagne. ‘"Send me from France ſome learned treatiſes, of equal excellence with thoſe which I preſerve here in England under my cuſtody, collected by the induſtry of my maſter Ecbert: and I will ſend to you ſome of my youths, who ſhall carry with them the flowers of Britain into France. So that there ſhall not only be an encloſed garden at York, but alſo at Tours ſome ſprouts of Paradiſe t," &c.’ William of Malmesbury judged this library to be of ſufficient importance not only to be mentioned in his hiſtory, but to be ſtyled, ‘"Omnium liberalium artium armarium, nobiliſſimam bibliothecam u."’ This repoſitory remained till the reign of king Stephen, when it was deſtroyed by fire, with great part of the city of York w. Its founder Ecbert died in the year 767 x. Before the end of the eighth century, the monaſteries of Weſtminſter, Saint Alban's, Worceſter, Malmesbury, Glaſtonbury, with ſome others, were founded, and opulently endowed. That of Saint Alban's was filled with one hundred monks by king Offa y. Many new biſhopricks were alſo eſtabliſhed in England: all which inſtitutions, by multiplying [] the number of eccleſiaſtics, turned the attention of many perſons to letters.

The beſt writers among the Saxons flouriſhed about the eighth century. Theſe were Aldhelm, biſhop of Shirburn, Ceolfrid, Alcuine, and Bede; with whom I muſt alſo join king Alfred. But in an enquiry of this nature, Alfred deſerves particular notice, not only as a writer, but as the illuſtrious rival of Charlemagne, in protecting and aſſiſting the reſtoration of literature. He is ſaid to have founded the univerſity of Oxford; and it is highly probable, that in imitation of Charlemagne's ſimilar inſtitutions, he appointed learned perſons to give public and gratuitous inſtructions in theology, but principally in the faſhionable ſciences of logic, aſtronomy, arithmetic, and geometry, at that place, which was then a conſiderable town, and conveniently ſituated in the neighbourhood of thoſe royal ſeats at which Alfred chiefly reſided. He ſuffered no prieſt that was illiterate to be advanced to any eccleſiaſtical dignity y. He invited his nobility to educate their ſons in learning, and requeſted thoſe lords of his court who had no children, to ſend to ſchool ſuch of their younger ſervants as diſcovered a promiſing capacity, and to breed them to the clerical profeſſion z. Alfred, while a boy, had himſelf experienced the inconveniencies ariſing from a want of ſcholars, and even of common inſtructors, in his dominions: for he was twelve years of age, before he could procure in the weſtern kingdom a maſter properly qualified to teach him the alphabet. But, while yet unable to read, he could repeat from memory a great variety of Saxon ſongs a. He was fond of cultivating [] his native tongue: and with a view of inviting the people in general to a love of reading, and to a knowledge of books which they could not otherwiſe have underſtood, he tranſlated many Latin authors into Saxon. Theſe, among others, were Boethius OF THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY, a manuſcript of which of Alfred's age ſtill remains a, Oroſius's HISTORY OF THE PAGANS, ſaint Gregory's PASTORAL CARE, the venerable Bede's ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, and the SOLILOQUIES of ſaint Auſtin. Probably ſaint Auſtin was ſelected by Alfred, becauſe he was the favorite author of Charlemagne b. Alfred died in the year 900, and was buried at Hyde abbey, in the ſuburbs of Wincheſter, under a ſumptuous monument of porphyry c.

Aldhelm, nephew of Ina king of the Weſt Saxons, frequently viſited France and Italy. While a monk of Malmeſbury in Wiltſhire, he went from his monaſtery to Canterbury, in order to learn logic, rhetoric, and the Greek language, of archbiſhop Theodore, and of Albin abbot of ſaint Auſtin's d, the pupil of Adrian e. But he had before acquired [] ſome knowledge of Greek and Latin under Maidulf, an Hibernian or Scot, who had erected a ſmall monaſtery or ſchool at Malmeſbury f. Camden affirms, that Aldhelm was the firſt of the Saxons who wrote in Latin, and that he taught his countrymen the art of Latin verſification g. But a very intelligent antiquarian in this ſort of literature, mentions an anonymous Latin poet, who wrote the life of Charlemagne in verſe; and adds, that he was the firſt of the Saxons that attempted to write Latin verſe h. It is however certain, that Aldhelm's Latin compoſitions, whether in verſe or proſe, as novelties were deemed extraordinary performances, and excited the attention and admiration of ſcholars in other countries. A learned cotemporary, who lived in a remote province of a Frankiſh territory, in an epiſtle to Aldhelm has this remarkable expreſſion, ‘"VESTRAE LATINITATIS PANEGYRICUS RUMOR has reached us even at this diſtance i, &c."’ In reward of theſe uncommon merits he was made biſhop of Shirburn in Dorſetſhire in the year 705 k. His writings are chiefly theological: but he has likewiſe left in Latin verſe a book of AENIGMATA, copied from a work of the ſame title under the name of Sympoſius l, a poem de VIRGINITATE hereafter cited, and treatiſes on arithmetic, aſtrologv, rhetoric, and metre. The laſt treatiſe is a proof that the ornaments of compoſition now began to be ſtudied. Leland mentions his CANTIONES SAXONICAE, one of which continued to be commonly ſung in William of Malmeſbury's time: and, as it was artfully interſperſed with many alluſions [] to paſſages of Scripture, was often ſung by Aldhelm himſelf to the populace in the ſtreets, with a deſign of alluring the ignorant and idle, by ſo ſpecious a mode of inſtruction, to a ſenſe of duty, and a knowledge of religious ſubjects o. Malmeſbury obſerves, that Aldhelm might be juſtly deemed ‘"ex acumine Graecum, ex nitore Romanum, et ex pompa Anglum p."’ It is evident, that Malmeſbury, while he here characteriſes the Greeks by their acuteneſs, took his idea of them from their ſcientifical literature, which was then only known. After the revival of the Greek philoſophy by the Saracens, Ariſtotle and Euclid were familiar in Europe long before Homer and Pindar. The character of Aldhelm is thus drawn by an antient chronicler, ‘"He was an excellent harper, a moſt eloquent Saxon and Latin poet, a moſt expert chantor or ſinger, a DOCTOR EGREGIUS, and admirably verſed in the ſcriptures and the liberal ſciences q."’

[] Alcuine, biſhop Ecbert's librarian at York, was a cotemporary pupil with Aldhelm under Theodore and Adrian at Canterbury q. During the preſent period, there ſeems to have been a cloſe correſpondence and intercourſe between the French and Anglo-Saxons in matters of literature. Alcuine was invited from England into France, to ſuperintend the ſtudies of Charlemagne, whom he inſtructed in logic, rhetoric, and aſtronomy r. He was alſo the maſter of Rabanus Maurus, who became afterwards the governor and preceptor of the great abbey of Fulda in Germany, one of [] the moſt flouriſhing ſeminaries in Europe, founded by Charlemagne, and inhabited by two hundred and ſeventy monks s. Alcuine was likewiſe employed by Charlemagne to regulate the lectures and diſcipline of the univerſities t, which that prudent and magnificent potentate had newly conſtituted u. He is ſaid to have joined to the Greek and Latin, an acquaintance with the Hebrew tongue, which perhaps in ſome degree was known ſooner than we may ſuſpect; for at Trinity college in Cambridge there is an Hebrew Pſalter, with a Normanno-Gallic interlinear verſion of great antiquity w. Homilies, lives of ſaints, commentaries on the bible, with the uſual ſyſtems of logic, aſtronomy, rhetoric, and grammar, compoſe the formidable catalogue of Alcuine's numerous writings. Yet in his books of the ſciences, he ſometimes ventured to break through the pedantic formalities of a ſyſtematical teacher: he has thrown one of [] his treatiſes in logic, and I think, another in grammar, into a dialogue between the author and Charlemagne. He firſt adviſed Bede to write his eccleſiaſtical hiſtory of England; and was greatly inſtrumental in furniſhing materials for that early and authentic record of our antiquities y.

In the mean time we muſt not form too magnificent ideas of theſe celebrated maſters of ſcience, who were thus invited into foreign countries to conduct the education of mighty monarchs, and to plan the rudiments of the moſt illuſtrious academies. Their merits are in great meaſure relative. Their circle of reading was contracted, their ſyſtems of philoſophy jejune; and their lectures rather ſerved to ſtop the growth of ignorance, than to produce any poſitive or important improvements in knowledge. They were unable to make [...]xcurſions from their circumſcribed paths of ſcientific inſtruction, into the ſpacious and fruitful regions of liberal and manly ſtudy. Thoſe of their hearers, who had paſſed through the courſe of the ſciences with applauſe, and aſpired to higher acquiſitions, were exhorted to read Caſſiodorus and Boethius; whoſe writings they placed at the ſummit of profane literature, and which they believed to be the great boundaries of human erudition.

I have already mentioned Ceolfrid's preſents of books to Benedict's library at Weremouth abbey. He wrote an account of his travels into France and Italy. But his principal work, and I believe the only one preſerved, is his diſſ [...]rtation concerning the clerical tonſure, and the rites of celebrating Eaſter z. This was written at the deſire of Naiton, a Pictiſh king, who diſpatched ambaſſadors to Ceolfrid for information concerning theſe important articles; requeſting Ceolfrid at the ſame time to ſend him ſome ſkilful architects, who could build in his country a church of ſtone, after the [] faſhion of the Romans a. Ceolfrid died on a journey to Rome, and was buried in a monaſtery of Navarre, in the year 706 b.

But Bede, whoſe name is ſo nearly and neceſſarily connected with every part of the literature of this period, and which has therefore been often already mentioned, emphatically ſtyled the Venerable by his cotemporaries, was by far the moſt learned of the Saxon writers. He was of the northern ſchool, if it may be ſo called; and was educated in the monaſtery of ſaint Peter at Weremouth, under the care of the abbots Ceolfrid and Biſcop c. Bale affirms, that Bede learned phyſics and mathematics from the pureſt ſources, the original Greek and Roman writers on theſe ſubjects d. But this haſty aſſertion, in part at leaſt, may juſtly be doubted. His knowledge, if we conſider his age, was extenſive and profound: and it is amazing, in ſo rude a period, and during a life of no conſiderable length, he ſhould have made ſo ſucceſsful a progreſs, and ſuch rapid improvements, in ſcientifical and philological ſtudies, and have compoſed ſo many elaborate treatiſes on different ſubjects e. It is diverting to ſee the French critics cenſuring Bede for credulity: they might as well have accuſed him of ſuperſtition f. There is much [] perſpicuity and facility in his Latin ſtyle. But it is void of elegance, and often of purity; it ſhews with what grace and propriety he would have written, had his mind been formed on better models. Whoever looks for digeſtion of materials, diſpoſition of parts, and accuracy of narration, in this writer's hiſtorical works, expects what could not exiſt at that time. He has recorded but few civil tranſactions: but beſides that his hiſtory profeſſedly conſiders eccleſiaſtical affairs, we ſhould remember, that the building of a church, the preferment of an abbot, the canoniſation of a martyr, and the importation into England of the ſhin-bone of an apoſtle, were neceſſarily matters of much more importance in Bede's conceptions than victories or revolutions. He is fond of minute deſcription; but particularities are the fault and often the merit of early hiſtorians r. Bede wrote many [] pieces of Latin poetry. The following verſes from his MEDITATIO DE DIE JUDICII, a tranſlation of which into Saxon verſe is now preſerved in the library of Bennet college at Cambridge s, are at leaſt well turned and harmonious.

Inter florigeras foecundi ceſpitis herbas,
Flamine ventorum reſonantibus undique ramis t.

Some of Aldhelm's verſes are exactly in this caſt, written on the Dedication of the abbey-church at Malmesbury to ſaint Peter and ſaint Paul.

Hic celebranda rudisu floreſcit gloria templi,
Limpida quae ſacri celebrat vexilla triumphi.
Hic Petrus et Paulus, tenebroſi lumina mundi,
Praecipui patres populi qui frena gubernant,
Carminibus crebris alma celebrantur in aula.
Claviger o caeli, portam qui pandis in aethra,
Candida qui meritis recludis limina caeli,
Exaudi clemens populorum vota tuorum,
Marcida qui riguis humectant fletibus ora w.

The ſtrict and ſuperabundant attention of theſe Latin poets to proſodic rules, on which it was become faſhionable to write didactic ſyſtems, made them accurate to exceſs in the metrical conformation of their hexameters, and produced a faultleſs and flowing monotony. Bede died in the monaſtery of Weremouth, which he never had once quitted, in the year 735 x.

[] I have already obſerved, and from good authorities, that many of theſe Saxon ſcholars were ſkilled in Greek. Yet ſcarce any conſiderable monuments have deſcended to modern times, to prove their familiarity with that language. I will, however, mention ſuch as have occurred to me. Archbiſhop Parker, or rather his learned ſcribe Jocelin, affirms, that the copy of Homer, and of ſome of the other books imported into England by archbiſhop Theodore, as I have above related, remained in his time y. There is however no alluſion to Homer, nor any mention made of his name, in the writings of the Saxons now exiſting z. In the Bodleian library are ſome extracts from the books of the Prophets in Greek and Latin: the Latin is in Saxon, and the Greek in Latino-greek capital characters. A Latino-greek alphabet is prefixed. In the ſame manuſcript is a chapter of Deuteronomy, Greek and Latin, but both are in Saxon characters a. In the curious and very valuable library of Bennet college in Cambridge, is a very antient copy of Aldhelm DE LAUDE VIRGINITATIS. In it is inſerted a ſpecimen of Saxon poetry full of Latin and Greek words, and at the end of the manuſcript ſome Runic letters occur b. I ſuſpect that their Grecian literature was a matter of oſtentation rather than uſe. William of Malmeſbury, in his life of Aldhelm, cenſures an affectation in the writers of this age; that they were fond of introducing in their Latin compoſitions a difficult and abſtruſe word latiniſed from the Greek c. There are many inſtances of this pedantry in the early charters of Dugdale's Monaſticon. But it is no where more viſible than in the LIFE of Saint WILFRID, archbiſhop of Canterbury, written by Fridegode a monk of Canterbury, in Latin [] heroics, about the year 960 d. Malmeſbury obſerves of this author's ſtyle, ‘"Latinitatem peroſus, Graecitatem amat, Graecula verba frequentat e."’ Probably to be able to read Greek at this time was eſteemed a knowledge of that language. Eginhart relates, that Charlemagne could ſpeak Latin as fluently as his native Frankiſh: but ſlightly paſſes over his accompliſhment in Greek, by artfully ſaying, that he underſtood it better than he could pronounce it f. Nor, by the way, was Charlemagne's boaſted facility in the Latin ſo remarkable a prodigy. The Latin language was familiar to the Gauls when they were conquered by the Franks; for they were a province of the Roman empire till the year 485. It was the language of their religious offices, their laws, and public tranſactions. The Franks who conquered the Gauls at the period juſt mentioned, ſtill continued this uſage, imagining there was a ſuperior dignity in the language of imperial Rome: although this incorporation of the Franks with the Gauls greatly corrupted the latinity of the latter, and had given it a ſtrong tincture of barbarity before the reign of Charlemagne. But while we are bringing proofs which tend to extenuate the notion that Greek was now much known or cultivated, it muſt not be diſſembled, that John Erigena, a native of Aire in Scotland, and one of king Alfred's firſt lecturers at Oxford g, tranſlated into Latin from the Greek original four large treatiſes of Dionyſius the Areopagite, about the year 860 h. This tranſlation, which [] is dedicated to Charles the Bald, abounds with Greek phraſeology and is hardly intelligible to a mere Latin reader. He alſo tranſlated into Latin the Scholia of ſaint Maximus on the difficult paſſages of Gregory Nazianzen i. He frequently viſited his munificent patron Charles the Bald, and is ſaid to have taken a long journey to Athens, and to have ſpent many years in ſtudying not only the Greek but the Arabic and Chaldee languages k.

As to claſſic authors, it appears that not many of them were known or ſtudied by our Saxon anceſtors. Thoſe with which they were moſt acquainted, either in proſe or verſe, ſeem to have been of the lower empire; writers who, in the declenſion of taſte, had ſuperſeded the purer and more anti [...]nt Roman models, and had been therefore more recen [...]ly and frequently tranſcribed. I have mentioned Alfred's tranſlations of Boethius and Oroſius. Prudentius was alſo perhaps one of their favorites. In the Britiſh Muſeum there is a manuſcript copy of that poet's PSYCOMACHIA. It is illuſtrated with drawings of hiſtorical figures, each of which have an explanatory legend in Latin and Saxon letters; the Latin in large red characters, and the Saxon in black, of great antiquity l. Prudentius is likewiſe in Bennet college library at Cambridge, tranſcribed in the time of Charles the Bald, with ſeveral Saxon words written into the text m. Sedulius's hymns are in the ſame repoſitory in Saxon characters, in a volume containing other Saxon manuſcripts n. Bede ſays, [] that Aldhelm wrote his book DE VIRGINITATE, which is both proſe and verſe, in imitation of the manner of Sedulius o. We learn from Gregory of Tours, what is not foreign to our purpoſe to remark, that king Chilperic, who began to reign in 562, wrote two books of Latin verſes in imitation of Sedulius. But it was without any idea of the common quantities p. A manuſcript of this poet in the Britiſh Muſeum is bound up with Nennius and Felix's MIRACLES OF SAINT GUTHLAC, dedicated to Alfwold king of the Eaſt Angles, and written both in Latin and Saxon q. But theſe claſſics were moſt of them read as books of religion and morality. Yet Aldhelm, in his tract de METRORUM GENERIBUS, quotes two verſes from the third book of Virgil's Georgics r: and in the Bodleian library we find a manuſcript of the firſt book of Ovid's Art of Love, in very antient Saxon characters, accompanied with a Britiſh gloſs s. And the venerable Bede, having firſt invoked the Trinity, thus begins a Latin panegyrical hymn on the miraculous virginity of Ethildryde. ‘"Let Virgil ſing of wars, I celebrate the gifts of peace. My verſes are of chaſtity, not of the rape of the adultereſs Helen. I will chant heavenly bleſſings, not the battles of miſerable Troy t."’ Theſe however are rare inſtances. It was the moſt abominable hereſy to have any concern with the pagan fictions. The graces of compoſition were not their objects, and elegance found no place amidſt their ſeverer purſuits in philoſophy and theology 317.

[] It is certain that literature was at its height among our Saxon anceſtors about the eighth century. Theſe happy beginnings were almoſt entirely owing to the attention of king Alfred, who encouraged learning by his own example, by founding [...]eminaries of inſtruction, and by rewarding the labours of ſcholars. But the efforts of this pious monarch were ſoon blaſted by the ſupineneſs of his ſucceſſors, the incurſions of the Danes, and the diſtraction of national affairs. Bede, from the eſtabliſhment of learned biſhops in every dioceſe, and the univerſal tranquillity which reigned over all the provinces of England, when he finiſhed his eccleſiaſtical hiſtory, flatters his imagination in anticipating [] the moſt advantageous conſequences, and triumphantly cloſes his narrative with this pleaſing preſentiment. The Picts, at this period, were at peace with the Saxons or Engliſh, and converted to chriſtianity. The Scots lived contented within their own boundary. The Britons or Welſh, from a natural enmity, and a diſlike to the catholic inſtitution of keeping Eaſter, ſometimes attempted to diſturb the national repoſe; but they were in ſome meaſure ſubſervient to the Saxons. Among the Northumbrians, both the nobility and private perſons rather choſe their children ſhould receive the monaſtic tonſure, than be trained to arms x.

But a long night of confuſion and groſs ignorance ſucceeded. The principal productions of the moſt eminent monaſteries for three centuries, were incredible legends which diſcovered no marks of invention, unedifying homilies, and trite expoſitions of the ſcriptures. Many biſhops and abbots began to conſider learning as pernicious to true piety, and confounded illiberal igno [...]ance with chriſtian ſimplicity. Leland frequently laments the loſs of libraries deſtroyed in the Daniſh invaſions y. Some ſlight attempts were made for reſtoring literary purſuits, but with little ſucceſs. In the tenth century, Oſwald archbiſhop of Canterbury, finding the monaſteries of his province extremely ignorant not only in the common elements of grammar, but even in the canonical rules of their reſpective orders, was obliged to ſend into France for competent maſters, who might remedy theſe evils z. In the mean time, from perpetual commotions, the manners of the people had degenerated from that mildneſs which a ſhort interval of peace and letters had introduced, [] and the national character had contracted an air of rudeneſ [...] and ferocity.

England at length, in the beginning of the eleventh century, received from the Normans the rudiments of that cultivation which it has preſerved to the preſent times. The Normans were a people who had acquired ideas of ſplendor and refinement from their reſidence in France; and the gallantries of their f [...]udal ſyſtem introduced new magnificence and elegance among our rough unpoliſhed anceſtors. The conqueror's army was compoſed of the flower of the Norman nobility; who ſharing allotments of land in different parts of the new territory, diffuſed a general knowledge of various improvements entirely unknown in the moſt flouriſhing eras of the Saxon government, and gave a more liberal turn to the manners even of the provincial inhabita [...]ts. That they brought with them the arts, may yet be ſeen by the caſtles and churches which they built on a more extenſive and ſtately plan a. Literature, in particular, the chief object of our preſent reſearch, which had long been reduced to the moſt abject condition, appeared with new luſtre in conſequence of this important revolution.

Towards the cloſe of the tenth century, an event took place, which gave a new and very fortunate turn to the ſtate of letters in France and Italy. A little before that time, there were no ſchools in Europe but thoſe whic [...] belonged to the monaſteries or epiſcopal churches; and the monks were almoſt the only maſters employed to educate the youth in the principles of ſacred and profane erudition. But at the commencement of the eleventh century, many learned perſons of the laity, as well as of the clergy, undertook in th [...] [] moſt capital cities of France and Italy this important charge. The Latin verſions of the Greek philoſophers from the Arabic, had now become ſo frequent and common, as to fall into the hands of the people; and many of theſe new preceptors having travelled into Spain with a deſign of ſtudying in the Arabic ſchools b, and comprehending in their courſe of inſtitution, more numerous and uſeful branches of ſcience than the monaſtic teachers were acquainted with, communicated their knowledge in a better method, and taught in a much more full, perſpicuous, ſolid, and rational manner. Theſe and other beneficial effects, ariſing from this practice of admitting others beſides eccleſiaſtics to the profeſſion of letters, and the education of youth, were imported into England by means of the Norman conqueſt.

The conqueror himſelf patroniſed and loved letters. He filled the biſhopricks and abbacies of England with the moſt learned of his countrymen, who had been educated at the univerſity of Paris, at that time the moſt flouriſhing ſchool in Europe. He placed Lanfranc, abbot of the monaſtery of Saint Stephen at Caen, in the ſee of Canterbury; an eminent maſter of logic, the ſubtleties of which he employed with great dexterity in a famous controverſy concerning the real preſence. Anſelm, an acute metaphyſician and theologiſt, his immediate ſucceſſor in the ſame ſee, was called from the government of the abbey of Bec in Normandy. Herman, a Norman biſhop of Saliſbury, founded a noble library in the antient cathedral of that ſee c. Many of the Norman prelates [] preferred in England by the conqueror, were polite ſcholars. Godfrey, prior of Saint Swithin's at Wincheſter, a native of Cambray, was an elegant Latin epigrammatiſt, and wrote with the ſmartneſs and eaſe of Martial d. A circumſtance, which by the way ſhews that the literature of the monks at this period was of a more liberal caſt than that which we commonly annex to their character and profeſſion. Geoffrey, a learned Norman, was invited from the univerſity of Paris to ſuperintend the direction of the ſchool of the abbey of Dunſtable; where he compoſed a play called the Play of SAINT CATHARINE e, which was acted by his ſcholars. This was perhaps the firſt ſpectacle of the kind that was ever attempted, and the firſt trace of theatrical repreſentation which appeared, in England. Mathew Paris, who firſt records this anecdote, ſays, that Geoffrey borrowed copes from the ſacriſt of the neighbouring abbey of ſaint Alban's to dreſs his characters. He was afterwards elected abbot of that opulent monaſtery f.

[] The king himſelf gave no ſmall countenance to th [...] clergy, in ſending his ſon Henry Beauclerc to the abbey of Abingdon, where he was initiated in the ſciences under the care of the abbot Grymbald, and Fa [...]ice a phyſician of Oxford. Robert d'Oilly, conſtable of Oxford caſtle, was ordered to pay for the board of the young prince in the convent, which the king himſelf frequently viſited g. Nor was William wanting in giving ample revenues to learning: he founded the magnificent abbies of Battel and Selby, wit [...] other ſmaller convents. His nobles and their ſucceſſors cooperated with this liberal ſpirit in erecting many monaſteries. Herbert de Loſinga, a monk of Normandy, biſhop of Thetford in Norfolk, inſtituted and endowed with large poſſeſſions a Benedictine abbey at Norwich, conſiſting of ſixty monks. To mention no more inſtances, ſuch great inſtitutions of perſons dedicated to religious and literary leiſure, while they diffuſed an air of civility, and ſoftened the manners of the people in their reſpective circles, muſt have afforded powerful invitations to ſtudious purſuits, and have conſequently added no ſmall degree of ſtability to the intereſts of learning.

By theſe obſervations, and others which have occurred in the courſe of our enquiries, concerning the utility of monaſteries, I certainly do not mean to defend the monaſtic ſyſtem. We are apt to paſs a general and undiſtinguiſhing cenſure on the monks, and to ſuppoſe their foundations to have been the retreats of illiterate indolence at every period of time. B [...]t it ſhould be remembered, that our univerſities about the time of the Norman conqueſt, were in a low condition: while the monaſteries contained ample endowments and accommodations, and were the only reſpectable ſeminaries of literature. A few centuries afterwards, as our univerſities began to flouriſh, in conſequence of the diſtinctions and [] [...]onours which they conferred on ſcholars, the eſtabliſhment of colleges, the introduction of new ſyſtems of ſcience, the univerſal ardour which prevailed of breeding almoſt all perſons to letters, and the abolition of that excluſive right of teaching which the eccleſiaſtics had ſo long claimed; the monaſteries of courſe grew inattentive to ſtudies, which were more ſtrongly encouraged, more commodiouſly purſued, and more ſucceſsfully cultivated, in other places: they gradually became contemptible and unfaſhionable as nurſeries of learning, and their fraternities degenerated into ſloth and ignorance. The moſt eminent ſcholars which England produced, both in philoſophy and humanity, before and even below the twelfth century, were educated in our religious houſes. The encouragement given in the Engliſh monaſteries for tranſcribing books, the ſcarcity of which in the middle ages we have before remarked, was very conſiderable. In every great abbey there was an apartment called the SCRIPTORIUM: where many writers were conſtantly buſied in tranſcribing not only the ſervice-books for the choir, but books for the library h. The Scriptorium of Saint Alban's abbey was built by abbot Paulin, a Norman, who ordered many volumes to be written there, about the year 1080. Archbiſhop Lanfranc furniſhed the copies i. Eſtates were often granted for the ſupport of the Scriptorium. That at Saintedmonſbury was endowed with two mills k. The tythes of a rectory were appropriated to the cathedral convent of ſaint Swithin at [] Wincheſter, ad libros tranſcribendos, in the year 1171 k. Many inſtances of this ſpecies of benefaction occur from the tenth century. Nigel, in the year 1160, gave the monks of Ely two churches, ad libros faciendos l. This employment appears to have been diligently practiſed at Croyland; for Ingulphus relates, that when the library of that convent was burnt in the year 1091, ſeven hundred volumes were conſumed n. Fifty-eight volumes were tranſcribed at Glaſtonbury, during the government of one abbot, about the year 1300 o. And in the library of this monaſtery, the richeſt in England, there were upwards of four hundred volumes in the year 1248 p. More than eighty books were thus tranſcribed for ſaint Alban's abbey, by abbot Wethamſtede, who died about 1440 q. Some of theſe inſtances are rather below our period; but they illuſtrate the ſubject, and are properly connected with thoſe of more antient date. I find ſome of the claſſics written in the Engliſh monaſteries very early. Henry, a Benedictine monk of Hyde-abbey near Wincheſter, tranſcribed in the year 1178, Terence, Boethius r, Suetonius s, and Claudian. Of theſe he formed one book, illuminating the initials, and [] forming the brazen boſſes of the covers with his own handsu. But this abbot had more devotion than taſte: for he exchanged this manuſcript a few years afterwards for four miſſals, the Legend of ſaint Chriſtopher, and ſaint Gregory's PASTORAL CARE, with the prior of the neighbouring cathedral conventw. Benedict, abbot of Peterborough, author of the Latin chronicle of king Henry the ſecond, amongſt a great variety of ſcholaſtic and theological treatiſes, tranſcribed Seneca's epiſtles and tragediesx, Terence, Martialy, and Claudian, to which I will add GESTA ALEXANDRIz, about the year 1180a. In a catalogue of theb books of the [] library of Glaſtonbury we find Livy b, Salluſt c, Seneca, Tully DE SENECTUTE and AMICITIA d, Virgil, Perſius, and Claudian, in the year 1248. Among the royal manuſcripts of the Britiſh Muſeum, is one of the twelve books of Statius's Thebaid, ſuppoſed to have been written in the tenth century, which once belonged to the cathedral convent of Rocheſter e. And another of Virgil's Eneid, written in the thirteenth, which came from the library of ſaint Auſtin's at Canterbur [...] f. Wallingford, abbot of ſaint Alban's, gave or ſold from the library of that monaſtery to Richard of Bury, biſhop of Durham, author of the PHILOBIBLON, and a great collector of books, Terence, Virgil, Quintilian, and Jerom againſt Rufinus, together with thirty-two other volumes valued at fifty pounds of ſilver g. The ſcarcity of [] parchment undoubtedly prevented the tranſcription of many other books in theſe ſocieties. About the year 1120, one maſter Hugh, being appointed by the convent of Saintedmondſbury in Suffolk to write and illuminate a grand copy of the bible for their library, could procure no parchment for this purpoſe in England h.

In conſequence of the taſte for letters and liberal ſtudies introduced by the Normans, many of the monks became almoſt as good critics as catholics; and not only in France but in England, a great variety of Latin writers, who ſtudied the elegancies of ſtyle, and the arts of claſſical compoſition, appeared ſoon after the Norman conqueſt. A view of the writers of this claſs who flouriſhed in England for the two [] ſubſequent centuries, till the reſtleſs ſpirit of novelty brought on an attention to other ſtudies, neceſſarily follows from what has been advanced, and naturally forms the concluſion of our preſent inveſtigation.

Soon after the acceſſion of the conqueror, John commonly called Joannes Grammaticus, having ſtudied polite literature at Paris, which not only from the Norman connection, but from the credit of its profeſſors, became the faſhionable univerſity of our countrymen, was employed in educating the ſons of the Norman and Engliſh nobility i. He wrote an explanation of Ovid's Metamorphoſes k, and a treatiſe on the art of metre or verſification l. Among the manuſcripts of the library of New College in Oxford, I have ſeen a book of Latin poetry, and many pieces in Greek, attributed to this writer m. He flouriſhed about the year 1070. In the reign of Henry the firſt, Laurence, prior of the church of Durham, wrote nine books of Latin elegies. But Leland, who had read all his works, prefers his compoſitions in oratory; and adds, that for an improvement in rhetoric and eloquence, he frequently exerciſed his talents in framing Latin defences on dubious caſes which occurred among his friends. He likewiſe, amongſt a variety of other elaborate pieces on ſaints, confeſſors, and holy virgins, in which he humoured the times and his profeſſion, compoſed a critical treatiſe on the method of writing Epiſtles, which appears to have been a favourite [] ſubject n. He died in 1154 o. About the ſame time Robert Dunſtable, a monk of Saint Alban's, wrote an elegant Latin poem in elegiac verſe, containing two books p, on the life of ſaint Alban q. The firſt book is opened thus:

Albani celebrem caelo terriſque triumphum
Ruminat inculto carmine Clio rudis.

We are not to expect Leonine rhymes in theſe writers, which became faſhionable ſome years afterwards r [...] Their [] verſes are of a higher caſt, and have a claſſical turn. The following line, which begins the ſecond book, is remarkably flowing and harmonious, and much in the manner of Claudian.

Pieridum ſtudiis clauſtri laxare rigorem.

Smoothneſs of verſification was an excellence which, like their Saxon predeceſſors, they ſtudied to a fault. Henry of Huntingdon, commonly known and celebrated as an hiſtorian, was likewiſe a terſe and polite Latin poet of this period. He was educated under Alcuine of Anjou, a canon of Lincoln cathedral. His principal patrons were Aldwin and Reginald, both Normans, and abbots of Ramſey. His turn for poetry did not hinder his arriving to the dignity of an archdeacon. Leland mentions eight books of his epigrams, amatorial verſes s, and poems on philoſophical ſubjects t. The proem to his book DE HERBIS, has this elegant invocation.

Vatum magne parens, herbarum Phoebe repertor,
Voſque, quibus reſonant Tempe jocoſa, deae!
Si mihi ſerta prius hedera florente paraſtis,
Ecce meos flores, ſerta parate, fero.

[] But Leland appears to have been moſt pleaſed with Henry's poetical epiſtle to Elfleda, the daughter of Alfred u. In the Bodleian library, is a manuſcript Latin poem of this writer, on the death of king Stephen, and the arrival of Henry the ſecond in England, which is by no means contemptible w. He occurs as a witneſs to the charter of the monaſtery of Sautree in the year 1147 x. Geoffrey of Monmouth was biſhop of Saint Aſaph in the year 1152 y. He was indefatigable in his enquiries after Britiſh antiquity; and was patroniſed and aſſiſted in this purſuit by Walter, archdeacon of Oxford, a diligent antiquarian, and Alexander, biſhop of Lincoln y. His credulity as an hiſtorian has been deſervedly cenſured: but fabulous hiſtories were then the faſhion, and he well knew the recommendation his work would receive from comprehending all the popular traditions z. His latinity riſes far above mediocrity, and his Latin poem on Merlin is much applauded by Leland a.

We muſt not judge of the general ſtate of ſociety by the more ingenious and dignified churchmen of this period; who ſeem to have ſurpaſſed by the moſt diſproportionate degrees in point of knowledge, all other members of the community. Thomas of Becket, who belongs to the twelfth century, and his friends, in their epiſtles, diſtinguiſh each other by the appellation of philoſophers, in the courſe of their correſpondence b. By the preſent diffuſion of literature, even thoſe who are illiterate are yet ſo intelligent as to ſtand more on a level with men of profeſſed ſcience and knowledge; but the learned eccleſiaſtics of thoſe times, as is evident 372 [] from many paſſages in their writings, appear, and not without reaſon, to have conſidered the reſt of the world as totally immerſed in ignorance and barbarity. A moſt diſtinguiſhed ornament of this age was John of Saliſbury b. His ſtyle has a remarkable elegance and energy. His POLICRATICON is an extremely pleaſant miſcellany; replete with erudition, and a judgment of men and things, which properly belongs to a more ſenſible and reflecting period, His familiar acquaintance with the claſſics, appears not only from the happy facility of his language, but from the many citations of the pureſt Roman authors, with which his works are perpetually interſperſed. Montfaucon aſſerts, that ſome parts of the ſupplement to Petronius, publiſhed as a genuine and valuable diſcovery a few years ago, but ſince ſuppoſed to be ſpurious, are quoted in the POLICRATICON c. He was an illuſtrious rival of Peter of Blois, and the friend of many learned foreigners d. I have not ſeen any ſpecimens of his Latin poetry e; but an able judge has pronounced, that nothing can be more eaſy, finiſhed, and flowing than his verſes f. He was promoted to high ſtations in the church by Henry the ſecond, whoſe court was crouded with ſcholars, and almoſt equalled that of his cotemporary William king of Sicily, in the ſplendor which it derived from encouraging erudition, and aſſembling the learned of various countries g. Eadmer was a monk of Canterbury, and endeared [] by the brilliancy of his genius, and the variety of his literature, to Anſelm, archbiſhop of that ſee h. He was an elegant writer of hiſtory, but exceeded in the artifices of compoſition, and the choice of matter, by his cotemporary William of Malmeſbury. The latter was a monk of Malmeſbury, and it reflects no ſmall honour on his fraternity that they elected him their librarian i. His merits as an hiſtorian have been juſtly diſplayed and recommended by lord Lyttelton k. But his abilities were not confined to proſe. He wrote many pieces of Latin poetry; and it is remarkable, that almoſt all the profeſſed writers in proſe of this age made experiments in verſe. His patron was Robert earl of Gloceſter; who, amidſt the violent civil commotions which diſquieted the reign of king Stephen, found leiſure and opportunity to protect and promote literary merit l. Till Malmeſbury's works appeared, Bede had been the chief and principal writer of Engliſh hiſtory. But a general ſpirit of writing hiſtory, owing to that curioſity which more poliſhed manners introduce, to an acquaintance with the antient hiſtorians, and to the improved knowledge of a language in which facts could be recorded with grace and dignity, was now prevailing. Beſides thoſe I have mentioned, Simeon of Durham, Roger Hoveden, and Benedict abbot of Peterborough, are hiſtorians whoſe narratives have a liberal caſt, and whoſe [] details riſe far above the dull unintereſting preciſion of patient annaliſts and regular chronologers. John Hanvill, a monk of Saint Alban's, about the year 1190, ſtudied rhetoric at Paris, and was diſtinguiſhed for his taſte even among the numerous and polite ſcholars of that flouriſhing ſeminary m. His ARCHITRENIUS is a learned, ingenious, and very entertaining performance. It is a long Latin poem in nine books, dedicated to Walter biſhop of Rouen. The deſign of the work may be partly conjectured from its affected Greek title: but it is, on the whole, a mixture of ſatire and panegyric on public vice and virtue, with ſome hiſtorical digreſſions. In the exordium is the following nervous and ſpirited addreſs.

Tu Cyrrhae latices noſtrae, deus, implue menti;
Eloquii rorem ſiccis infunde lab [...]llis:
Diſtillaque favos, quos nondum pallidus auro
Scit Tagus, aut ſitiens admotis Tantalus undis:
Dirige quae timide ſuſcepit dextera, dextram
Audacem pavidamque juva: Tu mentis habenas
Fervoremque rege, &c.

In the fifth book the poet has the following alluſions to the fables of Corineus, Brutus, king Arthur, and the population of Britain from Troy. He ſeems to have copied theſe traditions from Geoffrey of Monmouth n.

—Tamen Architrenius inſtat,
Et genus et gentem quaerit ſtudioſius: illi
Tros genus, et gentem tribuit Lodoneſia, nutrix
Praebuit irriguam morum Cornubia mammam,
Poſt odium fati, Phrygiis inventa: Smaraudus
Hanc domitor mundi Tyrinthius, alter Achilles,
[] Atridaeque timor Corinaeus, ſerra gygantum,
Clavaque monſtrifera, ſociae delegit alumnam
Omnigenam Trojae, pluvioque fluviflua lacte
Filius exilio feſſae dedit ubera matri.
A quo dicta prius Corineia, dicitur aucto
Tempore corrupte Cornubia nominis haeres.
Ille gygantaeos attritis oſſibus artus
Implicuit letho, Tyrrheni littoris hoſpes,
Indomita virtute gygas; non corpore mole
Ad medium preſſa, nec membris denſior aequo,
Sarcina terrifica tumuit Titania mente.
Ad Ligeris ripas Aquitanos fudit, et amnes
Francorum potuit lacrymis, et caede vadoque
Sanguinis enſe ruens, ſatiavit rura, togaque
Punicea veſtivit agros, populique verendi
Grandiloquos fregit animoſa cuſpide faſtus.
Integra, nec dubio bellorum naufraga fluctu,
Nec vice ſuſpecta titubanti ſaucia fato,
Indilata dedit ſubitam victoria laurum.
Inde dato curſu, Bruto comitatus Achate,
Gallorum ſpolio cumulatus, navibus aequor
Exarat, et ſuperis auraque faventibus utens,
Litora felices intrat Toloneſia portus:
Promiſſumque ſoli gremium monſtrante Diana,
Incolumi cenſus loculum ferit Albion alno.
Haec eadem Bruto regnante Britannia nomen
Traxit in hoc tempus: ſolis Titanibus illa,
Sed paucis, habitata domus; quibus uda ferarum
Terga dabant veſtes, cruor hauſtus pocula, trunci
Antra lares, dumeta toros, caenacula rupes,
Praeda cibos, raptus venerem, ſpectacula caedes,
Imperium vires, animum furor, impetus arma,
Mortem pugna, ſepulchra rubus: monſtriſque gemebat
Monticolis tellus: ſed eorum plurima tractus
[] Pars erat occidui terror; majorque premebat
Te furor extremum zephyri, Cornubia, limen.
Hos avidum belli Corinaei robur Averno
Praecipites miſit; cubitis ter quatuor altum
Gogmagog Herculea ſuſpendit in aer [...] lucta,
Anthaeumque ſuum ſcopulo demiſit in aequor [...]
Potavitque dato Thetis ebria ſanguine fluctus,
Diviſumque tulit mare corpus, Cerberus umbram.
Nobilis a Phrygiae tanto Cornubia gentem
Sanguine derivat, ſucceſſio cujus Iulus
In generis partem recipit complexa Pelaſgam
Anchiſaeque domum: ramos hinc Pandraſus, inde
Sylvius extendit, ſocioque a ſidere ſidus
Plenius effundit triplicatae lampadis ignes.
Hoc trifido ſola Corinaei poſtera mundum
Praeradiat pubes, quartique puerpera Phoebi
Pullulat Arthurum, facie dum falſus adulter
Tintagel irrumpit, nec amoris Pendragon aeſtu
Vincit, et omnificas Merlini conſulit artes,
Mentiturque ducis habitus, et rege latente
Induit abſentis praeſentia Gorlois ora o.

There is a falſe glare of expreſſion, and no great juſtneſs of ſentiment, in theſe verſes; but they are animated, and flow in a ſtrain of poetry. They are pompous and ſonorous; but theſe faults have been reckoned beauties even in poliſhed ages. In the ſame book our author thus characteriſes the different merits of the ſatires of Horace and Perſius.

[]
Perſius in Flacci pelago decurrit, et audet
Mendicaſſe ſtylum ſatyrae, ſerraque cruentus
Rodit, et ignorat polientem pectora limam p.

In the third book he deſcribes the happy parſimony of the Ciſtercian monks.

O ſancta, o felix, albis galeata cucullis,
Libera paupertas! Nudo jejunia paſtu
Tracta diu ſolvens, nec corruptura palatum
Mollitie menſae. Bacchus convivia nullo
Murmure conturbat, nec ſacra cubilia mentis
Inquinat adventu. Stomacho languénte miniſtrat
Solennes epulas ventris gravis hoſpita Thetis,
Et paleis armata Ceres. Si tertia menſae
Copia ſuccedat, truncantur oluſcula, quorum
Offendit macies oculos, pacemque meretur,
Deterretque famem pallenti ſobria cultu q.

Among Digby's manuſcripts in the Bodleian library, are Hanvill's Latin epigrams, epiſtles, and ſmaller poems, many of which have conſiderable merit r. They are followed by a metrical tract, entitled DE EPISTOLARUM COMPOSITIONE. But this piece is written in rhyme, and ſeems to be poſterio [...] to the age, at leaſt inferior to the genius, of Hanvill. He [] was buried in the abbey church of ſaint Alban's, ſoon after the year 1200 s. Gyraldus Cambrenſis deſerves particular regard for the univerſality of his works, many of which are written with ſome degree of elegance. He abounds with quotations of the beſt Latin poets. He was an hiſtorian, an antiquary, a topographer, a divine, a philoſopher, and a poet. His love of ſcience was ſo great, that he refuſed two biſhopricks; and from the midſt of public buſineſs, with which his political talents gave him a conſiderable connection in the court of Richard the firſt, he retired to Lincoln for ſeven years, with a deſign of purſuing theological ſtudies t. He recited his book on the topography of Ireland in public at Oxford, for three days ſucceſſively. On the firſt day of this recital he entertained all the poor of the city; on the ſecond, all the doctors in the ſeveral faculties, and ſcholars of better note; and on the third, the whole body of ſtudents, with the citizens and ſoldiers of the garriſon u. It is probable that this was a ceremony practiſed on the like occaſion in the univerſity of Paris w; where Giraldus [] had ſtudied for twenty years, and where he had been elected profeſſor of canon law in the year 1189 x. His account of Wales was written in conſequence of the obſervations he made on that country, then almoſt unknown to the Engliſh, during his attendance on an archiepiſcopal viſitation. I cannot reſiſt the pleaſure of tranſcribing from this book his picture of the romantic ſituation of the abbey of Lantony in Monmouthſhire. I will give it in Engliſh, as my meaning is merely to ſhew how great a maſter the author was of that ſelection of circumſtances which forms an agreeable deſcription, and which could only flow from a cultivated mind. ‘"In the deep vale of Ewias, which is about a bowſhot over, and encloſed on all ſides with high mountains, ſtands the abbey church of ſaint John, a ſtructure covered with lead, and not unhandſomely built for ſo loneſome a ſituation: on the very ſpot, where formerly ſtood a ſmall chapel dedicated to ſaint David, which had no other ornaments than green moſs and ivy. It is a ſituation fit for the exerciſe of religion; and a religious edifice was firſt founded in this ſequeſtered retreat to the honour of a ſolitary life, by two hermits, remote from the noiſe of the world, upon the banks of the river Hondy, which winds through the midſt of the valley.—The rains which mountainous countries uſually produce, are here very frequent, the winds exceedingly tempeſtuous, and the winters almoſt [] continually dark. Yet the air of the valley is ſo happily tempered, as ſcarcely to be the cauſe of any diſeaſes. The monks ſitting in the cloiſters of the abbey, when they chuſe for a momentary refreſhment to caſt their eyes abroad, have on every ſide a pleaſing proſpect of mountains aſcending to an immenſe height, with numerous herds of wild deer feeding aloft on the higheſt extremity of this lofty horizon. The body of the ſun is not viſible above the hills till after the meridian hour, even when the air is moſt clear."’ Giraldus adds, that Roger biſhop of Saliſbury, prime miniſter to Henry the firſt, having viſited this place, on his return to court told the king, that all the treaſure of his majeſty's kingdom would not ſuffice to build ſuch another cloiſter. The biſhop explained him [...]elf by ſaying, that he meant the circular ridge of mountains with which the vale of Ewias was encloſed y. Alexander Neckham was the friend, the aſſociate, and the correſpondent of Peter of Blois already mentioned. He received the firſt part of his education in the abbey of ſaint Alban's, which he afterwards completed at Paris z. His compoſitions are various, and croud the department of manuſcripts in our public libraries. He has left n [...]merous treatiſes of divinity, philoſophy, and morality: but he was likewiſe a poet, a philologiſt, and a grammarian. He wrote a tract on the mythology of the antient poets, Eſopian fables, and a ſyſtem of grammar and rhetoric. I have ſeen his elegiac poem on the monaſtic life a, which contains ſome finiſhed lines. But his capital piece of Latin poetry is On the Praiſe of DIVINE WISDOM, which conſiſts of ſeven books. In the introduction h [...] commemorates the innocent and unreturning pleaſures of his early days, which he paſſed among the learned monks of ſaint Alban's, in theſe perſpicuous and unaffected elegiacs.

[]
—Clauſtrum
Martyris Albani ſit tibi tuta quies.
Hic locus aetatis noſtrae primordia novit,
Annos felices, laetitiaeque dies.
Hic locus ingenuis pueriles imbuit annos
Artibus, et noſtrae laudis origo fuit.
Hic locus inſignes magnoſque creavit alumnos,
Felix eximio martyre, gente, ſitu.
Militat hic Chriſto, noctuque dieque labori
Indulget ſancto religioſa cohors b.

Neckham died abbot of Cirenceſter in the year 1217c. He was much attached to the ſtudious repoſe of the monaſtic profeſſion, yet he frequently travell [...]d into Italyd. Walter Mapes, archdeacon of Oxford, has been very happily ſtyled the Anacreon of the eleventh centurye. He ſtudied at Parisf. His vein was chiefly feſtive and ſatirical g: and as his wit was frequently levelled againſt the corruptions of the clergy, his poems often appeared under fictitious names, or have been aſcribed to othersh. The celebrated drinking odei of this genial archdeacon has the regular returns of the monkiſh rhyme: but they are here applied with a characteriſtical propriety, are ſo happily invented, and ſo humourouſly introduced, that they not only ſuit the genius but heighten the ſpirit of the piece k. He boaſts that good wine inſpires [] him to ſing verſes equal to thoſe of Ovid. In another Latin ode of the ſame kind, he attacks with great livelineſs the new injunction of pope Innocent, concerning the celibacy of the clergy; and hopes that every married prieſt with his bride, will ſay a pater noſter for the ſoul of one who had thus hazarded his ſalvation in their defence.

Ecce jam pro clericis multum allegavi,
Necnon pro preſbyteris plura comprobavi:
PATER NOSTER nunc pro me, quoniam peccavi,
Dicat quiſque Preſbyter, cum ſua Suavi l.

But a miracle of this age in claſſical compoſition was Joſeph of Exeter, commonly called Joſephus Iſcanus. He wrote two epic poems in Latin heroics. The firſt is on the Trojan War; it is in ſix books, and dedicated to Baldwin archbiſhop of Canterbury m. The ſecond is entitled ANTIOCHEIS, the [] War of Antioch, or the Cruſade; in which his patron th [...] archbiſhop was an actor n. The poem of the Trojan war is founded on Dares Phrygius, a favorite fabulous hiſtorian of that time o. The diction of this poem is generally pure, the periods round, and the numbers harmonious: and on the whole, the ſtructure of the verſification approaches nearly to that of poliſhed Latin poetry. The writer appears to have poſſeſſed no common command of poetical phraſeology, and wanted nothing but a knowledge of the Virgilian chaſtity. His ſtyle is a mixture of Ovid, Statius, and Claudian, who ſeem then to have been the popular patterns p. But a few ſpecimens will beſt illuſtrate this criticiſm. He thus, in a ſtrain of much ſpirit and dignity, addreſſes king Henry the ſecond, who was going to the holy war q, the intended ſubject of his ANTIOCHEIS.

—Tuque, oro, tuo da, maxime, vati
Ire iter inceptum, Trojamque aperire jacentem:
Te ſacrae aſſument acies, divinaque bella,
Tunc dignum majore tuba; tunc pectore toto
Nitar, et immenſum mecum ſpargere per orbem r,

The tomb or mauſoleum of Teuthras is feigned with a brilliancy of imagination and expreſſion; and our poet's [] claſſical ideas ſeem here to have been tinctured with the deſcription of ſome magnificent oriental palace, which he had ſeen in the romances of his age.

Regia conſpicuis moles inſcripta figuris
Exceptura ducem, ſenis affulta columnis,
Tollitur: electro vernat baſis, arduus auro
Ardet apex, radioque ſtylus candeſcit eburno.
—Gemmae quas littoris Indi
Dives arena tegit, aurum quod parturit Hermus,
In varias vivunt ſpecies, ditique decorum
Materie contendit opus: quod nobile ductor
Quod clarum geſſit, ars explicat, ardua pandit
Moles, et totum reſerat ſculptura tyrannum r.

He thus deſcribes Pentheſilea and Pyrrhus.

Eminet, horrificas rapiens poſt terga ſecures,
Virginei regina chori: non provida cultus
Cura trahit, non forma juvat, frons aſpera, veſtis
Diſcolor, inſertumque armis iraſcitur aurum.
Si viſum, ſi verba notes, ſi lumina pendas,
Nil leve, nil fractum: latet omni foemina facto.
Obvius ultrices accendit in arma cohortes,
Myrmidonaſque ſuos, curru praevectus anhelo,
Pyrrhus, &c.
—Meritoſque offenſus in hoſtes
Arma patris, nunc ultor, habet: ſed tanta recuſant
Pondera creſcentes humeri, majoraque caſſis
Colla petit, breviorque manus vix colligit haſtam s.

Afterwards a Grecian leader, whoſe character is invective, inſults Pentheſilea, and her troop of heroines, with theſe reproaches.

[]
Tunc ſic increpitans, Pudeat, Mars inclyte, dixit:
En!, tua ſigna gerit, quin noſtra effoeminat arma
Staminibus vix apta manus. Nunc ſtabitis hercle
Perjurae turres; calathos et penſa puellae
Plena rotant, ſparguntque colos. Hoc milite Troja,
His fidit telis. At non patiemur Achivi:
Etſi turpe viris timidas calcare puellas,
Ibo tamen contra. Sic ille: At virgo l [...]quacem
Tarda ſequi ſexum, velox ad praelia, ſolo
Reſpondet jaculo r, &c.—

I will add one of his compariſons. The poet is ſpeaking of the reluctant advances of the Trojans under their new leader Memnon, after the fall of Hector.

Qualiter Hyblaei mellita pericula reges,
Si ſignis iniere datis, labente tyranno
Alterutro, viduos dant agmina ſtridula queſtus;
Et, ſubitum vix nacta ducem, metuentia vibrant
Spicula, et imbelli remeant in praelia roſtro s.

His ANTIOCHEIS was written in ſame ſtrain, and had equal merit. All that remains of it is the following fragment t, in which the poet celebrates the heroes of Britain, and particularly king Arthur.

—Inclyta fulſit
Poſteritas ducibus tantis, tot dives alumnis,
Tot foecunda viris, premerent qui viribus orbem
[] Et fama veteres. Hinc Conſtantinus adeptus
Imperium, Roman tenuit, Byzantion auxit.
Hinc, Senonum ductor, captiva Brennius urbe u
Romuleas domuit flammis victricibus arces.
Hinc et Scaeva ſatus, pars non obſcura tumultus
Civilis, Magnum ſolus qui mole ſoluta
Obſedit, meliorque ſtetit pro Caeſare murus.
Hinc, celebri fato, felici floruit ortu,
Flos regum Arthurus w, cujus tamen acta ſtupori
Non micuere minus: totus quod in aure voluptas,
Et populo plaudente favor x. Quaecunquey priorum
Inſpice: Pellaeum commendat fama tyrannum,
Pagina Caeſareos loquitur Romana triumphos:
Alciden domitis attollit gloria monſtris;
Sed nec pinetum coryli, nec ſydera ſolem
Aequant. Annales Graios Latioſque revolve,
Priſca parem neſcit, aequalem poſtera nullum
Exhibitura dies. Reges ſupereminet omnes:
Solus praeteritis melior, majorque futuris.

Camden aſſerts, that Joſeph accompanied king Richard the firſt to the holy land z, and was an eye-witneſs of that heroic monarch's exploits among the Saracens, which afterwards he celebrated in the ANTIOCHEIS. Leland mentions his love-verſes and epigrams, which are long ſince periſhed a. Heb flouriſhed in the year 1210 c.

[] There ſeems to have been a rival ſpirit of writing Latin heroic poems about this period. In France, Guillaume le Breton, or William of Bretagny, about the year 1230, wrote a Latin heroic poem on Philip Auguſtus king of France, about the commencement of the thirteenth century, in twelve books, entitled PHILIPPIS d. Barthius gives a prodigious character of this poem: and affirms that the author, a few galliciſms excepted, has expreſſed the facility of Ovid with ſingular happineſs e. The verſification much reſembles that of Joſeph Iſcanus. He appears to have drawn a great part of his materials from Roger Hoveden's annals. But I am of opinion, that the PHILIPPID is greatly exceeded by the ALEXANDREID of Philip Gualtier de Chatillon, who flouriſhed likewiſe in France, and was provoſt of the canons of Tournay, about the year 1200 f. This poem celebrates the actions of Alexander the Great, is founded on Quintus Curtius g, conſiſts of ten books, and is dedicated to Guillerm archbiſhop of Rheims. To give the reader an opportunity of comparing Gualtier's ſtyle and manner with thoſe of our countryman Joſephus, I will tranſcribe a few ſpecimens from a beautiful and antient manuſcript of the ALEXANDREID in the Bodleian library h. This is the exordium.

Geſta ducis Macedum totum vulgata per orbem,
Quam late diſperſit opes, quo milite Porum
Vicerit et Darium; quo principe Graecia victrix
[] Riſit, et a Perſis rediere tributa Corinthum,
Muſa, refer h.

A beautiful rural ſcene is thus deſcribed.

—Patulis ubi frondea ramis
Laurus odoriferas celabat crinibus herbas:
Saepe ſub hac memorat carmen ſylveſtre canentes
Nympharum vidiſſe choros, Satyroſque procaces.
Fons cadit a laeva, quem ceſpite gramen obumbrat
Purpureo, veriſque latens ſub veſte locatur.
Rivulus at lento lavat inferiora meatu
Garrulus, et ſtrepitu facit obſurdeſcere montes.
Hic mater Cybele Zephyrum tibi, Flora, maritans,
Pullulat, et vallem foecundat gratia fontis [...]
Qualiter Alpinis ſpumoſo vortice ſaxis
Deſcendit Rhodanus, ubi Maximianus Eoos
Extinxit cuneos, dum ſanguinis unda meatum
Fluminis adjuvit. i.—

He excells in ſimilies. Alexander, when a ſtripling, is thus compared to a young lion.

Qualiter Hyrcanis cum forte leunculis arvis
Cornibus elatos videt ire ad pabula cervos,
Cui nondum totos deſcendit robur in artus,
Nec bene firmus adhuc, nec dentibus aſper aduncis,
Palpitat, et vacuum ferit improba lingua palatum;
Effunditque prius animis quam dente cruorem k.

The ALEXANDREID ſoon became ſo popular, that Henry of Gaunt, archdeacon of Tournay, about the year 1330, complains that this poem was commonly taught in the [] rhetorical ſchools, inſtead of Lucanl and Virgil m. The learned Charpentier cites a paſſage from the manuſcript ſtatutes of the univerſity of Tholouſe, dated 1328, in which the profeſſors of grammar are directed to read to their pupils ‘"De Hiſtoriis Alexandri n."’ Among which I include Gualtier's poem o. It is quoted as a familiar claſſic by Thomas Rodburn, a monkiſh chronicler, who wrote about the year 1420 p. An anonymous Latin poet, ſeemingly of the thirteenth century, who has left a poem on the life and miracles of ſaint Oſwald, mentions Homer, Gualtier, and Lucan, as the three capital heroic poets. Homer, he ſays, has celebrated Hercules, Gualtier the ſon of Philip, and Lucan has ſung the praiſes of Ceſar. But, adds he, theſe heroes much leſs deſerve to be immortaliſed in verſe, than the deeds of the holy confeſſor Oſwald.

In nova fert animus antiquas vertere proſas
Carmina, &c.
[]Alciden hyperbolice commendat HOMERUS,
GUALTERUS pingit torvo Philippida vultu,
Caeſareas late laudes LUCANUS adauget:
TRES illi famam meruerunt, treſque poetas
Auctores habuere ſuos, multo magis autem
Oſwaldi regis debent inſignia dici q.

I do not cite this writer as a proof of the elegant verſification which had now become faſhionable, but to ſhew the popularity of the ALEXANDREID, at leaſt among ſcholars. About the year 1206, Gunther a German, and a Ciſtercian monk of the dioceſe of Baſil, wrote an heroic poem in Latin verſe entitled, LIGURINUS, which is ſcarce inferior to the PHILIPPID of Guillaum le Breton, or the ALEXANDREID of Gualtier: but not ſo poliſhed and claſſical as the TROJAN WAR of our Joſephus Iſcanus. It is in ten books, and the ſubject is the war of the emperor Frederick Barbaroſſa againſt [] the Milaneſe in Liguria q. He had before written a Latin poem on the expedition of the emperor Conrade againſt the Saracens, and the recovery of the holy ſepulchre at Jeruſalem by Godfrey of Bulloign, which he called SOLYMARIUM r. The ſubject is much like that of the ANTIOCHEIS; but which of the two pieces was written firſt it is difficult to aſcertain.

While this ſpirit of claſſical Latin poetry was univerſally prevailing, our countryman Geoffrey de Vineſauf, an accompliſhed ſcholar, and educated not only in the priory of ſaint Frideſwide at Oxford, but in the univerſities of France and Italy, publiſhed while at Rome a critical didactic poem entitled, DE NOVA POETRIA s. This book is dedicated to pope Innocent the third: and its intention was to recommend and illuſtrate the new and legitimate mode of verſification which had lately begun to flouriſh in Europe, in oppoſition to the Leonine or barbarous ſpecies. This he compendiouſly ſtyles, and by way of diſtinction, The NEW Poetry. We muſt not be ſurpriſed to find Horace's Art of Poetry entitled HORATII NOVA POETRIA, ſo late as the year 1389, in a catalogue of the library of a monaſtery at Dover t.

Even a knowledge of the Greek language imported from France, but chiefly from Italy, was now beginning to be diffuſed in England. I am inclined to think, that many [] Greek manuſcripts found their way into Europe from Conſtantinople in the time of the cruſades: and we might obſerve that the Italians, who ſeem to have been the moſt poliſhed and intelligent people of Europe during the barbarous ages, carried on communications with the Greek empire as early as the reign of Charlemagne. Robert Groſthead, biſhop of Lincoln, an univerſal ſcholar, and no leſs converſant in polite letters than the moſt abſtruſe ſciences, cultivated and patroniſed the ſtudy of the Greek language. This illuſtrious prelate, who is ſaid to have compoſed almoſt two hundred books, read lectures in the ſchool of the Franciſcan friars at Oxford about the year 1230 w. He tranſlated Dionyſius the Areopagite and Damaſcenus into Latin x. He greatly facilitated the knowledge of Greek by a tranſlation of Suidas's Lexicon, a book in high repute among the lower Greeks, and at that time almoſt a recent compilation y. He promoted John of Baſingſtoke to the archdeaconry of Leiceſter; chiefly becauſe he was a Greek ſcholar, and poſſeſſed many Greek manuſcripts, which he is ſaid to have brought from Athens into England z. He entertained, as a domeſtic [] in his palace, Nicholas chaplain of the abbot of ſaint Alban's, ſurnamed GRAECUS, from his uncommon proficiency in Greek; and by his aſſiſtance he tranſlated from Greek into Latin the teſtaments of the twelve patriarchs a. Groſthead had almoſt incurred the cenſure of excommunication for preferring a complaint to the pope, that moſt of the opulent benefices in England were occupied by Italians b. But this practice, although notoriouſly founded on the monopoliſing and arbitrary ſpirit of papal impoſition, and a manifeſt act of injuſtice to the Engliſh clergy, probably contributed to introduce many learned foreigners into England, and to propagate philological literature.

Biſhop Groſthead is alſo ſaid to have been profoundly ſkilled in the Hebrew language c. William the conqueror permitted great numbers of Jews to come over from Rouen, and to ſettle in England about the year 1087 d. Their multitude ſoon encreaſed, and they ſpread themſelves in vaſt bodies throughout moſt of the cities and capital towns in England, where they built ſynagogues. There were fifteen hundred at York about the year 1189 e. At Bury in Suffolk [] is a very complete remain of a Jewiſh ſynagogue of ſtone in the Norman ſtyle, large and magnificent. Hence it was that many of the learned Engliſh eccleſiaſtics of theſe times became acquainted with their books and language. In the reign of William Rufus, at Oxford the Jews were remarkably numerous, and had acquired a conſiderable property; and ſome of their Rabbis were permitted to open a ſchool in the univerſity, where they inſtructed not only their own people, but many chriſtian ſtudents, in the Hebrew literature, about the year 1054 f. Within two hundred years after their admiſſion or eſtabliſhment by the conqueror, they were baniſhed the kingdom g. This circumſtance was highly favourable to the circulation of their learning in England. The ſuddenneſs of their diſmiſſion obliged them for preſent ſubſiſtence, and other reaſons, to ſell their moveable goods of all kinds, among which were large quantities of Rabbinical books. The monks in various parts availed themſelves of the diſtribution of theſe treaſures. At Huntingdon and Stamford there was a prodigious ſale of their effects, containing immenſe ſtores of Hebrew manuſcripts, which were immediately purchaſed by Gregory of H [...]ntingdon, prior of the abbey of Ramſey. Gregory ſpeedily became an adept in the Hebrew, by means of theſe valuable acquiſitions, which he bequeathed to his monaſtery about the year 1250 h. Other members of the ſame convent, in conſequence of theſe advantages, are ſaid to have been equal proficients in the ſame language, ſoon after the death of prior Gregory: among which were Robert Dodford, librarian of Ramſey, and Laurence Holbech, who compiled a Hebrew Lexicon i. [] At Oxford, great multitudes of their books fell into the hands of Roger Bacon, or were bought by his brethren the Franciſcan friars of that univerſity k.

But, to return to the leading point of our enquiry, this promiſing dawn of polite letters and rational knowledge was ſoon obſcured. The temporary gleam of light did not arrive to perfect day. The minds of ſcholars were diverted from theſe liberal ſtudies in the rapidity of their career; and the arts of compoſition, and the ornaments of language were neglected, to make way for the barbarous and barren ſubtleties of ſcholaſtic divinity. The firſt teachers of this art, originally founded on that ſpirit of intricate and metaphyſical enquiry which the Arabians had communicated to philoſophy, and which now became almoſt abſolutely neceſſary for defending the doctrines of Rome, were Peter Lombard archbiſhop of Paris, and the celebrated Abelard: men whoſe conſummate abilities were rather qualified to reform the church, and to reſtore uſeful ſcience, than to corrupt both, by confounding the common ſenſe of mankind with frivolous ſpeculation l. Theſe viſionary theologiſts never explained or illuſtrated any ſcriptural topic: on the contrary, they perverted the ſimpleſt expreſſions of the ſacred text, and embarraſſed the moſt evident truths of the goſpel by laboured diſtinctions and unintelligible ſolutions. From the univerſities of France, which were then filled with multitudes of Engliſh ſtudents, this admired ſpecies of ſophiſtry was adopted in England, and encouraged by Lanfranc and Anſelm, archbiſhops of Canterbury m. And ſo ſucceſsful was its progreſs at Oxford, that before the reign of Edward the ſecond, no foreign univerſity could boaſt ſo conſpicuous a catalogue of ſubtle and invincible doctors.

[] Nor was the profeſſion of the civil and canonical laws a ſmall impediment to the propagation of thoſe letters which humaniſe the mind, and cultivate the manners. I do not mean to deny, that the accidental diſcovery of the imperial code in the twelfth century, contributed in a conſiderable degree to civiliſe Europe, by introducing, among other beneficial conſequences, more legitimate ideas concerning the nature of government and the adminiſtration of juſtice, by creating a neceſſity of transferring judicial decrees from an illiterate nobility to the cogniſance of ſcholars, by leſſening the attachment to the military profeſſion, and by giving honour and importance to civil employments: but to ſuggeſt, that the mode in which this invaluable ſyſtem of juriſprudence was ſtudied, proved injurious to polite literature. It was no ſooner revived, than it was received as a ſcholaſtic ſcience, and taught by regular profeſſors, in moſt of the univerſities of Europe. To be ſkilled in the theology of the ſchools was the chief and general ambition of ſcholars: but at the ſame time a knowledge of both the laws was become an indiſpenſable requiſite, at leaſt an eſſential recommendation, for obtaining the moſt opulent eccleſiaſtical dignities. Hence it was cultivated with univerſal avidity. It became ſo conſiderable a branch of ſtudy in the plan of academical diſcipline, that twenty ſcholars out of ſeventy were deſtined to the ſtudy of the civil and canon laws, in one of the moſt ample colleges at Oxford, founded in the year 1385. And it is eaſy to conceive the pedantry with which it was purſued in theſe ſeminaries during the middle ages. It was treated with the ſame ſpirit of idle ſpeculation which had been carried into philoſophy and theology, it was overwhelmed with endleſs commentaries which diſclaimed all elegance of language, and ſerved only to exerciſe genius, as it afforded materials for framing the flimſy labyrinths of caſuiſtry.

[] It was not indeed probable, that theſe attempts in elegant literature which I have mentioned ſhould have any permanent effects. The change, like a ſudden revolution in government, was too rapid for duration. It was moreover premature, and on that account not likely to be laſting. The habits of ſuperſtition and ignorance were as yet too powerful for a reformation of this kind to be effected by a few polite ſcholars. It was neceſſary that many circumſtances and events, yet in the womb of time, ſhould take place, before the minds of men could be ſo far enlightened as to receive theſe improvements.

But perhaps inventive poetry loſt nothing by this relapſe. Had claſſical taſte and judgment been now eſtabliſhed, imagination would have ſuffered, and too early a check would have been given to the beautiful extravagancies of romantic fabling. In a word, truth and reaſon would have chaſed before their time thoſe ſpectres of illuſive fancy, ſo pleaſing to the imagination, which delight to hover in the gloom of ignorance and ſuperſtition, and which form ſo conſiderable a part of the poetry of the ſucceeding centuries.

[]THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH POETRY.

SECT. I.

THE Saxon language ſpoken in England, is diſtinguiſhed by three ſeveral epochs, and may therefore be divided into three dialects. The firſt of theſe is that which the Saxons uſed, from their entrance into this iſland, till the irruption of the Danes, for the ſpace of three hundred and thirty years a. This has been called the Britiſh Saxon: and no monument of it remains, except a ſmall metrical fragment of the genuine Caedmon, inſerted in Alfred's verſion of the Venerable Bede's eccleſiaſtical hiſtory b. The [2] ſecond is the Daniſh Saxon, which prevailed from the Daniſh to the Norman invaſion c; and of which many conſiderable ſpecimens, both in verſed and proſe, are ſtill preſerved: particularly, two literal verſions of the four goſpels e, and the ſpurious Caedmon's beautiful poetical paraphraſe of the Book of Geneſis f, and the prophet Daniel. The third may be properly ſtyled the Norman Saxon; which began about the time of the Norman acceſſion, and continued beyond the reign of Henry the ſecond g.

The laſt of theſe three dialects, with which theſe Annals of Engliſh Poetry commence, formed a language extremely barbarous, irregular, and intractable; and conſequently promiſes no very ſtriking ſpecimens in any ſpecies of compoſition. Its ſubſtance was the Daniſh Saxon, adulterated with French. The Saxon indeed, a language ſubſiſting on uniform principles, and poliſhed by poets and theologiſts, however corrupted by the Danes, had much perſpicuity, ſtrength, and harmony: but the French imported by the Conqueror and his people, was a confuſed jargon of Teutonic, Gauliſh, and vitiated Latin. In this fluctuating ſtate of our national ſpeech, the French predominated. Even before the conqueſt the Saxon language began to fall into contempt, and the French, or Frankiſh, to be ſubſtituted in its ſtead: a circumſtance, which at once facilitated and foretold the Norman acceſſion. In the year 652, it was the common practice of [3] the Anglo-Saxons, to ſend their youth to the monaſteries of France for education h: and not only the language, but the manners of the French, were eſteemed the moſt polite accompliſhments i. In the reign of Edward the Confeſſor, the reſort of Normans to the Engliſh court was ſo frequent, that the affectation of imitating the Frankiſh cuſtoms became almoſt univerſal: and even the lower claſs of people were ambitious of catching the Frankiſh idiom. It was no difficult taſk for the Norman lords to baniſh that language, of which the natives began to be abſurdly aſhamed. The new invaders commanded the laws to be adminiſtered in French k. Many charters of monaſteries were forged in Latin by the Saxon monks, for the preſent ſecurity of their poſſeſſions, in conſequence of that averſion which the Normans profeſſed to the Saxon tongue l. Even children at ſchool were forbidden to read in their native language, and inſtructed in a knowledge of the Norman only m. In the mean time we ſhould have ſome regard to the general and political ſtate of the nation. The natives were ſo univerſally reduced to the loweſt condition of neglect and indigence, that the Engliſh name became a term of reproach: and ſeveral generations elapſed, before one family of Saxon pedigree was raiſed to any diſtinguiſhed honours, or could ſo much as attain the rank of baronage n. Among [4] other inſtances of that abſolute and voluntary ſubmiſſion; with which our Saxon anceſtors received a foreign yoke, it appears that they ſuffered their hand-writing to fall into diſcredit and diſuſe o; which by degrees became ſo difficult and obſolete, that few beſide the oldeſt men could underſtand the characters p. In the year 1095, Wolſtan, biſhop of Worceſter, was depoſed by the arbitra [...]y Normans: it was objected againſt him, that he was ‘"a ſuperannuated Engliſh idiot, who could not ſpeak French q."’ It is true, that in ſome of the monaſteries, particularly at Croyland and Taviſtocke, founded by Saxon princes, there were regular preceptors in the Saxon language: but this inſtitution was ſuffered to remain after the conqueſt, as a matter only of intereſt and neceſſity. The religious could not otherwiſe have underſtood their original charters. William's ſucceſſor, Henry the firſt, gave an inſtrument of confirmation to William archbiſhop of Canterbury, which was written in the Saxon language and letters r. Yet this is almoſt a ſingle example. That monarch's motive was perhaps political: and he ſeems to have practiſed this expedient with a view of obliging his queen, who was of Saxon lineage; or with a deſign of flattering his Engliſh ſubjects, and of ſecuring his title already ſtrengthened by a Saxon match, in conſequence of ſo ſpecious and popular an artifice. It was a common and indeed a very natural practice, for the tranſcribers of Saxon books, to change the Saxon orthography for the Norman, and to ſubſtitute in the place of the original Saxon, Norman words and [5] phraſes. A remarkable inſtance of this liberty, which ſometimes perplexes and miſleads the critics in Anglo-Saxon literature, appears in a voluminous collection of Saxon homilies, preſerved in the Bodleian library, and written about the time of Henry the ſecond s. It was with the Saxon characters, as with the ſignature of the croſs in public deeds; which were changed into the Norman mode of ſeals and ſubſcriptions t. The Saxon was probably ſpoken in the country, yet not without various adulterations from the French: the courtly language was French, yet perhaps with ſome veſtiges of the vernacular Saxon. But the nobles, in the reign of Henry the ſecond, conſtantly ſent their children into France, le [...]t they ſhould contract habits of barbariſm in their ſpeech, which could not have been avoided in an Engliſh education u. Robert Holcot, a learned Dominican friar, confeſſes, that in the beginning of the reign of Edward the third, there was no inſtitution of children in the old Engliſh: he complains, that they firſt learned the French, and from the French the Latin language. This he obſerves to have been a practice introduced by the Conqueror, and to have remained ever ſince w. There is a curious paſſage relating to this ſubject in Treviſa's tranſlation of Hygden's Polychronicon 22. ‘"Children in ſcole, agenſt the uſage and manir of all other nations, beeth compelled for to leve hire owne langage, and for to conſtrue hir leſſons and hire thynges in Frenche; and ſo they haveth ſethe Normans came firſt into Engelond. Alſo gentilmen children beeth taught to ſpeke Frenſche, from the tyme that they bith rokked in here cradell, and kunneth ſpeke and play with a childes broche: and uplondiſſche [6] y men will likne himſelf to gentylmen, and fondethz with greet beſyneſſe for to ſpeke Frenſche to be told of. This maner was moche uſed to for firſt deth a, and is ſith [...]ome dele changed. For John Cornewaile a maiſter of grammer, changed the lore in grammer ſcole, and conſtruction of Frenſche into Engliſche: and Richard Pencriche lernede the manere techynge of him as other men of Pencriche. So that now, the yere of oure Lorde a thouſand thre hundred and four ſcore and five, and of the ſeconde Kyng Richard after the conqueſt nyne, and [in] alle the grammere ſcoles of Engelond children lereth Frenſche and conſtrueth, and lerneth an Engliſche, &c."’ About the ſame time, or rather before, the ſtudents of our univerſities, were ordered to converſe in French or Latin b. The latter was much affected by the Normans. All the Norman accompts were in Latin. The plan of the great royal revenue-rolls, now called the pipe-rolls, were of their conſtruction, and in that language. But from the declenſion of the barons, and prevalence of the commons, moſt of whom were of Engliſh anceſtry, the native language of England gradually gained ground: till at length the intereſt of the commons [...]o far ſucceeded with Edward the third, that an act of parliament was paſſed, appointing all pleas and proceedings of law to be carried on in Engliſh c: although the ſame ſtatute decrees, [7] in the true Norman ſpirit, that all ſuch pleas and proceedings ſhould be enrolled in Latin d. Yet this change did not reſtore either the Saxon alphabet or language. It aboliſhed a token of ſubjection and diſgrace: and in ſome degree, contributed to prevent further French innovations in the language then uſed, which yet remained in a compound ſtate, and retained a conſiderable mixture of foreign phraſeology. In the mean time, it muſt be remembered, that this corruption of the Saxon was not only owing to the admiſſion of new words, occaſioned by the new alliance, but to changes of its own forms and terminations, ariſing from reaſons which we cannot inveſtigate or explain e.

Among the manuſcripts of Digby in the Bodleian library at Oxford, we find a religious or moral Ode, conſiſting of one hundred and ninety-one ſtanzas, which the learned Hickes places juſt after the conqueſt f: but as it contains few Norman terms, I am inclined to think it of rather higher antiquity. In deference however to ſo great an authority, I am obliged to mention it here; and eſpecially as it exhibits a regular lyric ſtrophe of four lines, the ſecond and fourth of which rhyme together. Although theſe four lines may be perhaps reſolved into two Alexandrines; a meaſure concerning which more will be ſaid hereafter, and of which it will be ſufficient to remark at preſent, that it appears to have been uſed very early. For I cannot recollect any ſtrophes of this ſort in the elder Runic or Saxon poetry; nor in any of the old Frankiſh poems, particularly of Otfrid, a monk of Weiſſenburgh, who turned the evangelical hiſtory into Frankiſh verſe about the ninth century, and has left ſeveral [8] hymns in that language f, of Stricker who celebrated the atchievements of Charlemagne g, and of the anonymous author of the metrical life of Anno, archbiſhop of Cologn. The following ſtanza is a ſpecimen h.

i Sende God biforen him man
The while he may to hevene,
For betere is on elmeſſe biforen
Thanne ben after ſevene k.

That is, ‘"Let a man ſend his good works before him to heaven while he can: for one alms-giving before death is of more value than ſeven afterwards."’ The verſes perhaps might have been thus written as two Alexandrines.

Send God biforen him man the while he may to hevene,
For betere is on almeſſe biforen, than ben after ſevene l.

Yet alternate rhyming, applied without regularity, and as rhymes accidentally preſented themſelves, was not uncommon in our early poetry, as will appear from other examples.

Hickes has printed a ſatire on the monaſtic profeſſion; which clearly exemplifies the Saxon adulterated by the Norman, and was evidently written ſoon after the conqueſt, at [9] leaſt before the reign of Henry the ſecond. The poet begins with deſcribing the land of indolence or luxury.

Fur in ſee, bi weſt Spaynge,
Is a lond ihote Cokaygne:
Ther nis lond under hevenriche a
Of wel of godnis hit iliche.
Thoy paradis bi mirib and brigt
Cokaygn is of fairir ſigt.
What is ther in paradis
Bot graſs, and flure, and greneris?
Thoy ther be joy c, and gret dute d,
Ther nis met, bot frute.
Ther nis halle, bure e, no bench;
But watir manis thurſt to quench, &c.

In the following lines there is a vein of ſatirical imagination and ſome talent at deſcription. The luxury of the monks is repreſented under the idea of a monaſtery conſtructed of various kinds of delicious and coſtly viands.

Ther is a wel fair abbei,
Of white monkes and of grei,
Ther beth boures and halles:
All of paſteus beth the walles,
Of fleis of fiſſe, and a rich met,
The likefulliſt that man mai et.
Fluren cakes beth the ſchinglesf alle,
Of church, cloiſter, bours, and halle.
The pinnesg beth fat podinges
Rich met to princes and to kinges.—
Ther is a cloyſter fair and ligt,
Brod and lang of ſembli ſigt.
[10] The pilers of that cloiſter alle
[...]eth iturned of criſtale,
With harlas and capital
Of grene jaſpe and red coral.
In the praer is a tree
Swithe likeful for to ſe,
The rote is gingeur and galingale,
The ſiouns beth al ſed wale.
Trie maces beth the flure,
The rind canel of ſwete odure:
The frute gilofre of gode ſmakke,
Of cucubes ther nis no lakke.—
There beth iiii willish in the abbei
Of tracle and halwei,
Of baume and eke piement i,
Ever ernendk to rigt rent l;
Of thai ſtremis al the molde,
Stonis pretiuſem and golde,
Ther is ſaphir, and uniune,
Carbuncle and aſtiune,
Smaragde, lugre, and praſſiune,
Beril, onyx, topoſiune,
Amethiſte and criſolite,
Calcedun and epetite n.
Ther beth birddes mani and fale
Throſtill, thruiſſe, and nigtingale,
Chalandre, and wodwale,
And othir briddes without tale,
That ſtinteth never bi her migt
Miri to ſing dai and nigt.
[Nonnulla deſunt.]
[11] Yite I do yow mo to witte,
The gees iroſtid on the ſpitte,
Fleey to that abbai, god hit wot,
And gredith o, gees al hote al hote, &c.

Our author then makes a pertinent tranſition to a convent of nuns; which he ſuppoſes to be very commodiouſly ſituated at no great diſtance, and in the ſame fortunate region of indolence, eaſe, and affluence.

An other abbai is ther bi
For ſoth a gret nunnerie;
Up a river of ſwet milk
Whar is plente grete of ſilk.
When the ſummeris dai is hote,
The yung nunnes takith a bote
And doth ham forth in that river
Both with oris and with ſtere:
Whan hi beth fur from the abbei
Hi makith him nakid for to plei,
And leith dune in to the brimme
And doth him ſleilich for to ſwimme:
The yung monkes that hi ſeeth
Hi doth ham up and forth hi fleeth,
And comith to the nunnes anon,
And euch monk him takith on,
And ſnellichp berith forth har prei
To the mochill grei abbei q,
And techith the nonnes an oreiſun
With jambleusr up and dun s.

[12] This poem was deſigned to be ſung at public feſtivals t: a practice, of which many inſtances occur in this work; and concerning which it may be ſufficient to remark at preſent, that a JOCULATOR or bard, was an officer belonging to the court of William the Conqueror u.

Another Norman Saxon poem cited by the ſame induſtrious antiquary, is entitled THE LIFE OF SAINT MARGARET. The ſtructure of its verſification conſiderably differs from that in the laſt-mentioned piece, and is like the French Alexandrines. But I am of opinion, that a pauſe, or diviſion, was intended in the middle of every verſe: and in this reſpect, its verſification reſembles alſo that of ALBION'S ENGLAND, or Drayton's POLYOLBION, which was a ſpecies very common about the reign of queen Eliſabeth w. The rhymes are alſo continued to every fourth line. It appears to have been written about the time of the cruſades. It begins thus.

Olde antx yonge I priety ou, our folies for to lete,
Thinketh on god that yef ou wite, our ſunnes to bete.
Here I mai tellen ou, wit wordes faire and ſwete,
The viez of one maiden was hotena Margarete.
Hire fader was a patriac, as ic ou tellen may,
In Auntioge wif echesb I in the falſe lay,
Deve godesc ant dombe, he ſervid nit and day,
So deden mony othere that ſingeth welaway.
[13] Theodoſius was is nome, on Criſte ne levede he noutt,
He levede on the falſe godes, that weren with honden wroutt.
Tho that child ſculde criſtine ben it com well in thoutt,
Ebed wend it were ibore, to deth it were ibroutt, &c.

In the ſequel, Olibrius, lord of Antioch, who is called a Saracen, falls in love with Margaret: but ſhe being a chriſtian, and a candidate for canonization, rejects his ſollicitations and is thrown into priſon.

Meiden Margarete one nitt in priſon lai
Ho com biforn Olibrius on that other dai.
Meiden Margarete, lef up upon my lay,
And Ihu that thou leveſt on, thou do him al awey.
Lef on me ant be my wife, ful wel the mai ſpede.
Auntioge and Aſie ſcaltou han to mede:
Ciculautone and purpel pall ſcaltou have to wede:
With all the metes of my lond ful vel I ſcal the f fede.

This piece was printed by Hickes from a manuſcript in Trinity college library at Cambridge. It ſeems to belong to the manuſcript metrical LIVES OF THE SAINTS g, which form a very conſiderable volume, and were probably tranſlated or paraphraſed from Latin or French proſe into Engliſh rhyme before [14] the year 1200 h. We are ſure that they were written after the year 1169, as they contain the LIFE of Saint Thomas of Becket i. In the Bodleian library are three manuſcript copies of theſe LIVES OF THE SAINTS k, in which the LIFE of Saint Margaret conſtantly occurs; but it is not always exactly the ſame with this printed by Hickes. And on the whole, the Bodleian Lives ſeem inferior in point of antiquity. I will here give ſome extracts never yet printed.

[15] From the LIFE of Saint Swithin.

l Seint Swythan the confeſſour was her of Engelonde,
Biſyde Wyncheſtre he was ibore, as ich undirſtonde:
Bi the kynges dei Egbert this goode was ibore,
That tho was kyng of Engelonde, and ſomedele eke bifore;
The eihtethe he was that com aftur Kinewolfe the kynge,
That ſeynt Berin dude to criſtendome in Engelonde furſt brynge:
Seynt Auſten hedde bifore to criſtendom i brouht
Athelbryt the goode kynge as al the londe nouht.
Al ſetthem hyt was that ſeynt Berin her bi weſt wende,
And tornede the kynge Kinewolfe as vr lord grace ſende:
So that Egbert was kyng tho that Swythan was bore
The eighth was Kinewolfe that ſo long was bifore, &c.
Seynt Swythan his buſhopricke to al goodneſſe drough
The towne alſo of Wyncheſtre he amended inough,
Ffor he lette the ſtronge bruge withoute the toune arere
And fond therto lym and ſton and the workmen that ther were n.

From the LIFE of Saint Wolſtan.

Seynt Wolſton byſſcop of Wirceter was then in Ingelonde,
Swithe holyman was all his lyf as ich onderſtonde:
The while he was a yonge childe good lyf hi ladde ynow,
Whenne other children orne play toward cherche hi drow.
Seint Edward was tho vr kyng, that now in hevene is,
And the biſſcoppe of Wirceſter Brytthege is hette I wis, &c.
Biſſcop hym made the holi man ſeynt Edward vre kynge
And undirfonge his dignite, and tok hym cros and ringe.
[16] His buſhopreke he wu [...]t wel, and eke his priorie,
And forcede him to ſerve wel god and Seinte Marie.
Ffour ȝer he hedde biſſcop ibeo and not folliche fyve
Tho ſeynt Edward the holi kyng went out of this lyve.
To gret reuge to al Engelonde, ſo welaway the ſtounde,
Ffor ſtrong men that come ſithen and broughte Engelonde to grounde.
Harald was ſithen kynge with treſun, allas!
The crowne he bare of England which while hit was.
As William baſtard that was tho duyk of Normaundye
Thouhte to winne Englonde thoruſg ſtrength and felonye:
He lette hym greith foulke inouh and gret power with him nom,
With gret ſtrengthe in the ſee he him dude and to Engelonde com:
He lette ordayne his oſt wel and his baner up arerede,
And deſtruyed all that he fond and that londe ſore aferde.
Harald hereof tell kynge of Engelonde
He let garke faſt his oſte agen hym for to ſtonde:
His baronage of Engelonde redi was ful ſone
The kyng to helpe and [...]k [...] himſelf as riht was to done.
The warre was then in Engelonde dolefull and ſtronge inouh
And heore either of othures men al to grounde ſlouh:
The Normans and this Engliſch men deiy of batayle nom
There as the abbeye is of the batayle a day togedre com,
To grounde thei ſmiit and ſlowe alſo, as god yaf the cas,
William Baſtard was above and Harald bi n [...]othe was o.

From the LIFE of Saint Chriſtopher.

p Seynt Criſtofre was a Sarazin in the londe of Canaan,
In no ſtud bi him daye mi fond non ſo ſtrong a man:
[17] Ffour and twenti feete he was longe, and thikk and brod inouh,
Such a mon but he weore ſtronge methinketh hit weore wouh:
A la cuntre where he was for him wolde fleo,
Therfore hym ythoughte that no man ageynſt him ſculde beo.
He ſeide he wolde with no man beo but with on that were,
Hext lord of all men and undir hym non othir were.

Afterwards he is taken into the ſervice of a king.

—Criſtofre hym ſerved longe;
The kynge loved melodye much of fitheleq and of ſonge:
So that his jogeler on a dai biforen him gon to pleye faſte,
And in a tyme he nemped in his ſong the devil atte laſte:
Anon ſo the kynge that I herde he bleſed him anon, &c. r [...]

From the LIFE of Saint Patrick [...]

Seyn Pateryk com thoru godes grace to preche in Irelonde
To teche men ther ryt believe Jehu Cryſte to underſtonde:
So ful of wormes that londe he founde that no man ni myghte gon,
In ſom ſtede for worms that he nas wenemyd anon;
Seynt Pateryk bade our lorde Cryſt that the londe delyvered were,
Of thilke foul wormis that none ne com there s.

From the LIFE of Saint Thomas of Becket.

Ther was Gilbert Thomas fadir name the trewe man and gode
He loved God and holi cherche ſetthe he witte ondirſtode t.
The cros to the holi cherche in his ȝouthe he nom,
. . . myd on Rychard that was his mon to Jerlem com,
[18] Ther hy dede here pylgrimage in holi ſtedes fa [...]te
So that among Sarazyns hy wer nom at laſte, &c. u

This legend of Saint Thomas of Becket is exactly in the ſtyle of all the others; and as Becket was martyred in the latter part of the reign of Henry the ſecond from hiſtorical evidence, and as, from various internal marks, the language of theſe legends cannot be older than the twelfth century, I think we may fairly pronounce the LIVES OF THE SAINTS to have been written about the reign of Richard the firſt x.

Theſe metrical narratives of chriſtian faith and perſeverance ſeem to have been chiefly compoſed for the pious amuſement, and perhaps edification, of the monks in their cloiſters. The ſumptuous volume of religious poems which I have mentioned above y, was undoubtedly chained in the cloiſter, or church, of ſome capital monaſtery. It is not improbable that the novices were exerciſed in reciting portions from theſe pieces. In the Britiſh Muſeumz there is a ſet of legendary tales in rhyme, which appear to have been [...]olemnly pronounced by the prieſt to the people on ſundays and holidays. This ſort of poetry a was alſo ſung to the [19] harp by the minſtrels on ſundays, inſtead of the romantic ſubjects uſual at public entertainments b.

In that part of Vernon's manuſcript intitled SOULEHELE, we have a tranſlation of the Old and New Teſtament into verſe; which I believe to have been made before the year 1200. The reader will obſerve the fondneſs of our anceſtors for the Alexandrine: at leaſt, I find the lines arranged in that meaſure.

Oure ladi and h [...]re ſuſtur ſtoden under the roode,
And ſeint John and Marie Magdaleyn with wel ſori moode:
Vr ladi bi heold hire ſwete ſon i brouht in gret pyne,
Ffor monnes gultes nouthen her and nothing for myne.
Marie weop wel ſore and bitter teres leet,
The teres fullen uppon the ſton doun at hire feet.
Alas, my ſon, for ſerwe wel off ſeide heo
Nabbe iche bote the one that honguſt on the treo;
So ful icham of ſerwe, as any wommon may beo,
That iſchal my deore child in all this pyne iſeo:
How ſchal I ſone deore, how haſt i yougt liven withouten the,
Nuſti nevere of ſerwe nought ſone, what ſeyſt you me?
Then ſpake Jheſus wordus gode to his modur dere,
Ther he heng uppon the roode here I the take a fere,
That trewliche ſchal ſerve ye, thin own coſin Jon,
The while that you alyve beo among all thi fon:
Ich the hote Jon, he ſeide, you wite hire both day and niht
That the Gywes hire fon ne don hire non un riht.
Seint John in the ſtude vr ladi in to the temple nom
God to ſerven he hire dude ſone ſo he thider come,
Hole and ſeeke heo duden good that hes founden thore
Heo hire ſerveden to hond and foot, the laſs and eke the more.
[20] The pore folke feire heo fedde there, heo ſege that hit was neode
And the ſeke heo brougte to bedde and met and drinke gon heom beode.
Wy at heore mihte yong and olde hire loveden bothe ſyke and fer
As hit was riht for alle and ſumme to hire ſerviſe hedden meſter.
Jon hire was a trew feer, and nolde nougt from hire go,
He lokid hire as his ladi deore and what heo wolde hit was i do.
Now blowith this newe fruyt that lat bi gon to ſpringe,
That to his kuynd heritage monkunne ſchal bringe,
This new fruyt of whom I ſpeke is vre criſtendome,
That late was on erthe iſow and latir furth hit com,
So hard and luthur was the lond of whom hit ſcholde ſpringe
That wel unnethe eny rote men mougte theron bring,
God hi was the gardener,c &c.

In the archiepiſcopal library at Lambeth, among other Norman-Saxon homilies in proſe, there is a homily or exhortation on the Lord's prayer in verſe: which, as it was evidently tranſcribed rather before the reign of Richard the firſt, we may place with ſome degree of certainty before the year 1185.

Vre feder that in hevene is
That is al ſothfull I wis.
Weo moten to theos weordes iſeon
That to live and to ſaule gode beon.
That weo beon ſwa his ſunes iborene
That he beo feder and we him icorene.
That we don alle his ibeden
And his wille for to reden, &c.
Lauerde God we biddeth thus
Mid edmode heorte gif hit us.
That vre ſoule beo to the icore
Noht for the fleſce for lore.
[21] Dole us to biwepen vre ſunne
That we ne ſternen noht therunne
And gif us, lauerd, that like gifte
Thet we hes ibeten thurh holie ſcrifte. AMEN d.

In the valuable library of Corpus Chriſti college in Cambridge, is a ſort of poetical biblical hiſtory, extracted from the books of Geneſis and Exodus. It was probably compoſed about the reign of Henry the ſecond or Richard the firſt. But I am chiefly induced to cite this piece, as it proves the exceſſive attachment of our earlieſt poets to rhyme: they were fond of multiplying the ſame final ſound to the moſt tedious monotony; and without producing any effect of [...]legance, ſtrength, or harmony. It begins thus:

Man og to luuen that rimes ren.
The wiſſed wel the logede men.
Hu man may him wel loken
Thog he ne be lered on no boken.
Luuen god and ſerven him ay
For he it hem wel gelden may.
And to al criſtenei men
Boren pais and luue by twem.
Than ſal him almighti luuven.
Here by nethen and thund abuuven,
And given him bliſſe and ſoules r [...]ſte.
That him ſal eavermor leſten.
Ut of Latin this ſong is a dragen
On Engleis ſpeche on ſoche ſagen,
Criſtene men ogen ben ſo fagen.
So fueles arn quan he it ſen dagen.
Than man hem telled ſoche tale
Wid londes ſpeche and wordes ſmale
Of bliſſes dune, of ſorwes dale,
[22] Quhu Lucifer that devel dwale
And held him ſperred in helles male,
Til god him frid in manliched
Dede mankinde bote and red.
And unſwered al the fendes ſped
And halp thor he ſag mikel ned
Biddi hie ſingen non other led.
Thog mad hic folgen idel hed.
Fader gode of al thinge,
Almightin louerd, hegeſt kinge,
Thu give me ſeli timinge
To thau men this werdes bigininge.
The lauerd god to wurthinge
Quether ſo hic rede or ſinge e.

We find this accumulation of identical rhymes in the Runic odes. Particularly in the ode of Egill cited above, entitled EGILL'S RANSOM. In the Cotton library a poem is preſerved of the ſame age, on the ſubjects of death, judgment, and hell torments, where the rhymes are ſingular, and deſerve our attention.

Non mai longe lives wene
Ac ofte him lieth the wrench.
Feir weither turneth ofte into reine
And thunderliche hit maketh his blench,
Tharfore mon thu the biwench
At ſchal falewi thi grene.
Weilawei! nis kin ne quene
That ne ſchal drincke of deathes drench,
Mon er thu falle of thi bench
Thine ſunne thu aquench f.

[23] To the ſame period of our poetry I refer a verſion of Saint Jerom's French pſalter, which occurs in the library of Corpus Chriſti college at Cambridge. The hundredth pſalm is thus tranſlated.

Mirthes to god al erthe that es
Serves to louerd in faines.
In go yhe ai in his [...]iht,
In gladnes that is ſo briht.
Whites that louerd god is he thus
He us made and our ſelf noht us,
His folk and ſhep of his fode:
In gos his yhates that are gode:
In ſchrift his worches believe,
In ympnes to him yhe ſchrive.
Heryhes his name for louerde is hende,
In all his merci do in ſtrende and ſtrande g.

In the Bodleian library there is a tranſlation of the pſalms, which much reſembles in ſtyle and meaſure this juſt mentioned. If not the ſame, it is of equal antiquity. The handwriting is of the age of Edward the ſecond: certainly not later than his ſucceſſor. It alſo contains the Nicene creed h, and ſome church hymns, verſified: but it is mutilated and imperfect. The nineteenth pſalm runs thus.

Hevenes tellen godes blis
And wolken ſhewes hond werk his
Dai to dai word riſe riht,
And wiſdom ſhewes niht to niht,
Of whilke that noht is herde thar ſteven.
In al the world out yhode thar corde
And in ende of erthe of tham the worde.
[24] . . . ſunne he ſette his telde to ſtande
And b. bridegroome a. he als of his lourd commande.
He gladen als den to renne the wai
Ffrem heighiſt heven hei outcoming ai,
And his gairenning tilheht ſete,
Ne is qwilke mai him from his hete.
Lagh of louerd unwenned iſſe,
Turnand ſaules in to bliſſe:
Witneſs of lourd is ever trewe
Wiſdom ſervand to littell newe:
Lourd's rihtwiſneſſe riht hertes famand,
But of lourd is liht eghen ſighand,
Drede of lourde hit heli es
Domes of love ful ſori ſothe are ai
Rihted in thamſalve ar thai,
More to be beyorned over golde
Or ſton derwurthi that is holde:
Wel ſwetter to mannes wombe
Ovir honi and to kombe i.

This is the beginning of the eighteenth pſalm.

I ſal love the Lourd of [...]liſſe
And in mine Lourd feſtnes min eſſe,
And in fleming m [...]n als ſo
And in leſſer out of wo k.

I will add another religious fragment on the crucifixion, in the ſhorter meaſure, evidently coeval, and intended to be ſung to the harp.

Vyen i o the rode ſe
Jeſu nayled to the tre,
Jeſu mi lefman,94
[25] Ibunder bloe and blodi,
An hys moder ſtant him bi,
Wepand, and Johan:
Hys bac wid ſcwrge iſwungen,
Hys ſide depe iſtungen,
Ffor ſinne and louve of man,
Weil anti ſinne lete
An nek wit teres wete
Thif i of love can l.

In the library of Jeſus college at Oxford, I have ſeen a Norman-Saxon poem of another caſt, yet without much invention or poetry m. It is a conteſt between an owl and a nightingale, about ſuperiority in voice and ſinging; the deciſion of which is left to the judgment of one John de Guldevord n. It is not later than Richard the firſt. The rhymes are multiplied, and remarkably interchanged.

Ich was in one ſumere dale
In one ſnwe digele hale,
I herde ich hold grete tale,
An huleo and one nightingale.
[26] That plait was ſtif I ſtare and ſtrong,
Sum wile ſofte I lud among.
Another agen other ſval
I let that wole mod ut al.
I either ſeide of otheres cuſte,
That alere worſte that hi wuſte
I hure and I hure of others ſonge
Hi hold plaidung ſuthe ſtronge p.

The earlieſt love-ſong which I can diſcover in our language, is among the Harleian manuſcripts in the Britiſh Muſeum. I would place it before or about the year 1200. It is full of alliteration, and has a burthen or chorus.

Blow northerne wynd, ſent
Thou me my ſuetynge; blow
Northerne wynd, blou, blou, blou.
Ich ot a burde in boure bryht
That fully ſemly is on ſyht,
Menſkful maiden of myht,
Feire ant fre to fonde.
In al this wurhliche won,
A burde of blod and of bon,
Neverq ȝete y nuſter non
Luſſomore in Londe. Blow, &c.
With lokkess lefliche and longe,
With front ant face feir to fonde;
With murthes monie mote heo monge
That brid ſo breme in boure;
With loſſum eie grete and gode,
Weth browen bliſsfoll undirhode,
He that reſt him on the rode
That leflych lyf honoure. Blou, t &c.
[27] Hire bire limmes liht,
Aſe a lantern a nyht,
Hyr bleo blynkyth ſo bryht u.
So feore heo is ant fyn,
A ſuetly ſuyre heo hath to holde,
With armes, ſhuldre as mon wolde,
Ant fyngres feyre forte fold:
God wolde hue were myn.
Middel heo hath menſkfull [...]mall,
Hire loveliche chere as criſtal;
Theyes, legges, fit, and al,
Ywraught of the beſt;
A luſſum ladi laſteleſs,
That ſweting is and ever wes;
A betere burde never was
Yheryed with the heſte,
Heo ys dere worthe in day,
Graciouſe, ſtout, and gaye,
Gentil, joly, ſo the jay,
Workliche when ſhe waketh,
Maiden murgeſtw of mouth
Bi eſt, bi weſt, bi north, bi ſouth,
That nis ficle ne trouth,
That ſuch murthes maketh.
Heo is corall of godneſſe,
Heo is rubie of riche fulneſſe,
Heo is criſtal of clarneſſe,
Ant baner of bealtie,
Heo is lilie of largeſſe,
Heo is parnenke proneſſe,
Heo is ſalſecle of ſuetneſſe,
Ant ladie of lealtie,
[28] To lou that leflich ys in londe
Ytolde as hi as ych underſtonde, &c x.

From the ſame collection I have extracted a part of another amatorial ditty, of equal antiquity; which exhibits a ſtanza of no inelegant or unpleaſing ſtructure, and approaching to the octave rhyme. It is, like the laſt, formed on alliteration.

In a fryhte as y con fare framede
Y founde a wet feyr fenge to fere,
Heo glyſtenide aſe gold when hit glemed,
Nes ner gom ſo gladly on gere,
Y wolde wyte in world who hire kenede
This burde bryht, ȝef hire wil were,
Heo me bed go my gates, leſt hire gremede,
Ne kept heo non henynge here y.

In the following lines a lover compliments his miſtreſs named Alyſoun.

Bytween Merſhe and Averile when ſpray beginneth to ſpringe,
The lutel fowl hath hyre wyl on hyre lud to ſynge,
Ich libbem lonclonginge for ſemlokeſt of all thynge.
He may me blyſſe bringe icham in hire banndonn,
An hendy happe ichabbe yhent ichot from hevene it is me ſent.
From all wymmen mi love is lent and lyht on Aliſoun,
On hers here is fayre ynoh, hire browe bronne, hire eye blake,
With loſſum chere he on me lok with middel ſmal and welymake,
Bote he me wolle to hire take, &c z.

The following ſong, containing a deſcription of the ſpring, diſplays glimmerings of imagination, and exhibits ſome faint [29] ideas of poetical expreſſion. It is, like the three preceding, of the Norman Saxon ſchool, and extracted from the ſame inexhauſtible repoſitory. I have tranſcribed the whole.

In May hit murgeth when hit dawes a [...]
In dounes with this dueres plawes b,
Ant lef is lyht on lynde;
Bloſmes brideth on the bowes,
Al this wylde whytes vowes,
So wel ych under-fynde.
The threſteleuec hym threteth ſo,
Away is huere wynter do,
When woderove ſyngeth ferly fere,
And blyleth on huere wynter wele,
That al the wode ryngeth;
The roſe rayleth hir rode,
The leves on the lyhte wode
Waxen all with will:
The mone mandeth hire bleo
The lilie is loſſum to ſcho;
The fengle and the fille
Wowes this wilde drakes,
Miles huere makes.
As ſtreme that ſtill
Mody moneth ſo doth mo.
Ichott ycham on of tho
For love that likes ille,
The mone mandeth hire liht,
When briddes ſyngeth breme,
Deawes donneth the donnes
Deores with huere derne ronnes,
Domes forte deme,
Wormes woweth under cloude,
Wymmen waxith wondir proude,
[30] So wel hyt wol him ſeme
Yef me ſhall wonte wille of on
This weale is wole forgon
Ant whyt in wode be fleme.

The following hexaſtic on a ſimilar ſubject, is the product of the ſame rude period, although the context is rather more intelligible: but it otherwiſe deſerves a recital, as it preſents an early ſketch of a favourite and faſhionable ſtanza.

Lenten ys come with love to tonne,
With bloſmen and with briddes ronne,
That al this bliſſe bryngeth:
Dayes ezes in this dales
Notes ſuete of nightingales,
Vch foul ſonge ſingeth e.

This ſpecimen will not be improperly ſucceeded by the following elegant lines, which a cotemporary poet appears to have made in a morning walk from Peterborough on the bleſſed Virgin: but whoſe genius ſeems better adapted to deſcriptive than religious ſubjects.

Now ſkruketh roſe and lylie flour,
That whilen ber that ſuete ſavour
In ſomer, that ſuete tyde;
Ne is no quene ſo ſtark ne ſtour,
Ne no luedy ſo bryht in bour
That ded ne ſhal by glyde:
W [...]oſo wol fleſhye luſt for-gon and hevene-bliſſe abyde
On Jheſu be is thoht anon, that tharled was ys ſide f.

To which we may add a ſong, probably written by the ſame author, on the five joys of the bleſſed Virgin.

[31]
Aſe y me rod this ender day,
By grene wode, to ſeche play;
Mid herte y thohte al on a May.
Sueteſte of al thinge:
Lithe, and ich on tell may al of that ſuete thinge g.

In the ſame paſtoral vein, a lover, perhaps of the reign of king John, thus addreſſes his miſtreſs, whom he ſuppoſes to be the moſt beautiful girl, ‘"Bituene Lyncolne and Lyndeſeye, Northampton and Lounde h."’.

When the nytenhale ſinges the wodes waxen grene,
Lef, gras, and bloſme, ſpringes in Avril y wene.
Ant love is to myn harte gon with one ſpere ſo kene
Nyht and day my blod hit drynkes myn hart deth me tene i.

Nor are theſe verſes unpleaſing, in ſomewhat the ſame meaſure.

My deth y love, my lyf ich hate for a levedy ſhene,
Heo is brith ſo daies liht, that is on me wel ſene.
Al y falewe ſo doth the lef in ſomir when hit is grene,
Ȝef mi thoht helpeth me noht to whom ſchal I me mene?
Ich have loved at this yere that y may love na more,
Ich have ſiked moni ſyh, lemon, for thin ore,
. . . my love never the ner and that me reweth ſore;
Suete lemon, thenck on me ich have loved the ſore,
Suete lemon, I preye the, of love one ſpeche,
While y lyve in worlde ſo wyde other nill I ſeche k.

Another, in the following little poem, enigmatically compares his miſtreſs, whoſe name ſeems to be Joan, to various gems and flowers. The writer is happy in his alliteration, and his verſes are tolerably harmonious.

[32]
Ic hot a burde in a bour, aſe beryl ſo bryght,
Aſe ſaphyr in ſelver ſemely on ſyht,
Aſe jaſpel the gentil that lemethm with lyht,
Aſe gernetn in golde and rubye wel ryht,
Aſe onycleo he is on y holden on hyht;
Aſe diamand the dere in day when he is dyht:
He is coral yend with Cayſer and knyght,
Aſe emeraude a morewen this may haveth myht.
The myht of the margaryte haveth this mai mere,
Ffor charbocele iche hire chaſe bi chyn and bi chere,
Hire rede ys as roſe that red ys on ryſe p,
With lilye white leves loſſum he ys,
The primros he paſſeth, the penenke of prys,
With aliſaundre thareto ache and anys:
q Coynte as columbine ſuch hirer cande ys,
Glad under gore in gro and in grys
Heo is bloſme upon bleo brihteſt under bis
With celydone ant ſange as thou thi ſelf ſys,
From Weye he is wiſiſt into Wyrhale,
Hire nome is in a note of the nyhtegale;
In a note is hire nome nempneth hit non
Who ſo ryht redeth ronne to Johon s.

The curious Harleian volume, to which we are ſo largely indebted, has preſerved a moral tale, a Compariſon between age and youth, where the ſtanza is remarkably conſtructed. The various ſorts of verſification which we have already ſeen, evidently prove, that much poetry had been written, and that the art had been greatly cultivated, before this period.

Herkne to my ron,
As ich ou tell con,
Of elde al hou yt ges.
[33]
Of a mody mon,
Hihte Maximion,
Soth without les.
Clerc he was ful god,
So moni mon undirſtod.
Nou herkne hou it wes t.

For the ſame reaſon, a ſort of elegy on our Saviour's crucifixion ſhould not be omitted. It begins thus:

I ſyke when y ſinge for ſorewe that y ſe
When y with wypinge bihold upon the tre,
Ant ſe Jheſu the ſuete
Is hert blod for-lete,
For the love of me;
Ys woundes waxen wete,
Thei wepen, ſtill and mete,
Marie reweth me u.

Nor an alliterative ode on heaven, death, judgement, &c.

Middel-erd for mon was mad,
Un-mihti aren is meſte mede,
This hedy hath on honde yhad,
That hevene hem is haſte to hede.
Ich erde a bliſſe budel us bade,
The dreri domeſdai to drede,
Of ſinful ſauhting ſone be ſad,
That derne doth this derne dede,
This wrakefall werkes under wede,
In ſoule ſoteleth ſone w.
That he ben derne done.

Many of theſe meaſures were adopted from the French chanſons x. I will add one or two more ſpecimens.

[34] On our Saviour's Paſſion and Death.

Jeſu for thi muchele might
Thou ȝef us of thi grace,
That we mowe day and nyht
Thenken of thi face.
In myn hert it doth me god,
When y thenke on Jheſu blod,
That ran down bi ys ſyde;
From is harte doune to ys fote,
For ous he ſpradde is harte blod [...]
His wondes were ſo wyde y.

On the ſame ſubject.

Lutel wot hit any mon
Hou love hym haveth y bounde,
That for us o the rode ron,
Ant boht us with is wonde;
The love of him us haveth ymaked [...]ound,
And y caſt the grimly goſt to ground:
Ever and oo, nyht and day, he haveth us in his thohte,
He nul nout leoſe that he ſo deore boht z.

The following are on love and gallantry. The poet, named Richard, profeſſes himſelf to have been a great writer of loveſongs.

Weping haveth myn wonges wet,
For wilked worke ant wone of wyt,
Unblithe y be til y ha bet,
Bruches broken aſe bok byt:
Of levedis love that y ha let,
That lemeth al with luefly lyt,
Ofte in ſonge y have hem ſet,
That is unſemly ther hit ſyt.
[35] Hit ſyt and ſemethe noht,
Ther hit ys ſeid in ſong
That y have of them wroht,
Y wis hit is all wrong a.

It was cuſtomary with the early ſcribes, when ſtanzas conſiſted of ſhort lines, to throw them together like proſe. As thus:

"A wayle whiyt as whalles bon | a grein in golde that godly ſhon | a tortle that min hart is on | in tonnes trewe | Hire gladſhip nes never gon | while y may glewe b."

Sometimes they wrote three or four verſes together as one line.

With longynge y am lad | on molde y waxe mad | a maide marreth me,
Y grede y grone un glad | for [...]elden y am [...]ad | that ſemly for te ſee.
Levedi thou rewe me | to routhe thou haveſt me rad | be bote of that y bad | my lyf is long on the c.

Again,

Moſt i rydden by rybbes dale | widle wymmen for te wale | ant welde wreek ich wolde:
Founde were the feireſt on | that ever was mad of blod ant bon | in boure beſt with bolde d.

This mode of writing is not uncommon in antient manuſcripts of French poetry. And ſome critics may be inclined to ſuſpect, that the verſes which we call Alexandrine, accidentally aſſumed their form merely from the practice of abſurd tranſcribers, who frugally choſe to fill their pages to the extremity, and violated the metrical ſtructure for the ſake [36] of ſaving their vellum. It is certain, that the common ſtanza of four ſhort lines may be reduced into two Alexandrines, and on the contrary. I have before obſerved, that the Saxon poem cited by Hickes, conſiſting of one hundred and ninety one ſtanzas, is written in ſtanzas in the Bodleian, and in Alexandrines in the Trinity manuſcript at Cambridge. How it came originally from the poet I will not pretend to determine.

Our early poetry often appears in ſatirical pieces on the eſtabliſhed and eminent profeſſions. And the writers, as we have already ſeen, ſucceeded not amiſs when they cloathed their ſatire in allegory. But nothing can be conceived more ſcurrilous and illiberal than their ſatires when they deſcend to mere invective. In the Britiſh Muſeum, among other examples which I could mention, we have a ſatirical ballad on the lawyers e, and another on the clergy, or rather ſome particular biſhop. The latter begins thus:

Hyrd-men hatieth ant vch mones hyne,
For ever uch a parosſhe heo polketh in pyne
Ant claſtreth wyf heore celle:
Nou wol vch fol clerc that is fayly
Wend to the bysſhop ant bugge bayly,
Nys no wyt in is nolle f.

The elder French poetry abounds in allegorical ſatire: and I doubt not that the author of the ſatire on the monaſtic profeſſion, cited above, copied ſome French ſatire on the ſubject. Satire was one ſpecies of the poetry of the Provencial troubadours. Anſelm Fayditt a troubadour of the eleventh century, who will again be mentioned, wrote a ſort of ſatirical drama called the HERESY of the FATHERS, HEREGIA DEL PREYRES, a ridicule on the council which condemned the Albigenſes. The papal legates often fell under [37] the laſh of theſe poets; whoſe favour they were obliged to court, but in vain, by the promiſe of ample gratuities g. Hugues de Bercy, a French monk, wrote in the twelfth century a very lively and ſevere ſatire; in which no perſon, not even himſelf, was ſpared, and which he called the BIBLE, as containing nothing but truth h.

In the Harleian manuſcripts I find an ancient French poem, yet reſpecting England, which is a humorous panegyric on a new religious order called LE ORDRE DE BEL EYSE. This is the exordium.

Qui vodra a moi entendre
Oyr purra e aprendre
L'eſtoyre de un ORDRE NOVEL
Qe mout eſt delitous bel.

The poet ingeniouſly feigns, that his new monaſtic order conſiſts of the moſt eminent nobility and gentry of both ſexes, who inhabit the monaſteries aſſigned to it promiſcuouſly; and that no perſon is excluded from this eſtabliſhment who can ſupport the rank of a gentleman. They are bound by their ſtatutes to live in perpetual idleneſs and luxury: and the ſatyriſt refers them for a pattern or rule of practice in theſe important articles, to the monaſteries of Sempringham in Lincolnſhire, Beverley in Yorkſhire, the Knights Hoſpitalers, and many other religious orders then flouriſhing in England i.

When we conſider the feudal manners, and the magnificence of our Norman anceſtors, their love of military glory, the enthuſiaſm with which they engaged in the cruſades, and the wonders to which they muſt have been familiariſed from thoſe eaſtern enterpriſes, we naturally ſuppoſe, what will hereafter be more particularly proved, that their retinues [38] abounded with minſtrels and harpers, and that their chief entertainment was to liſten to the recital of romantic and martial adventures. But I have been much diſappointed in my ſearches after the metrical tales which muſt have prevailed in their times. Moſt of thoſe old heroic ſongs are periſhed, together with the ſtately caſtles in whoſe halls they were ſung. Yet they are not ſo totally loſt as we may be apt to imagine. Many of them ſtill partly exiſt in the old Engliſh metrical romances, which will be mentioned in their proper places; yet diveſted of their original form, poliſhed in their ſtyle, adorned with new incidents, ſucceſſively moderniſed by repeated tranſcription and recitation, and retaining little more than the outlines of the original compoſition. This has not been the caſe of the legendary and other religious poems written ſoon after the conqueſt, manuſcripts of which abound in our libraries. From the nature of their ſubject they were leſs popular and common; and being leſs frequently recited, became leſs liable to perpetual innovation or alteration.

The moſt antient Engliſh metrical romance which I can diſcover, is entitled the GESTE OF KING HORN. It was evidently written after the cruſades had begun, is mentioned by Chaucer k, and probably ſtill remains in its original ſtate. I will firſt give the ſubſtance of the ſtory, and afterwards add ſome ſpecimens of the compoſition. But I muſt premiſe, that this ſtory occurs in very old French metre in the manuſcripts of the Britiſh Muſeum l, ſo that probably it is a tranſlation: a circumſtance which will throw light on an argument purſued hereafter, proving that moſt of our metrical romances are tranſlated from the French.

Mury, king of the Saracens, lands in the kingdom of Suddene, where he kills the king named Allof. The queen, Godylt, eſcapes; but Mury ſeizes on her ſon Horne, a beautiful [39] youth aged fi [...]teen years, and puts him into a galley, with two of his play-fellows, Achulph and Fykenyld: the veſſel being driven on the coaſt of the kingdom of Weſtneſſe, the young prince is found by Aylmar king of that country, brought to court, and delivered to Athelbrus his ſteward, to be educated in hawking, harping, tilting, and other courtly accompliſhments. Here the princeſs Rymenild falls in love with him, declares her paſſion, and is betrothed. Horne, in conſequence of this engagement, leaves the princeſs for ſeven years; to demonſtrate, according to the ritual of chivalry, that by ſeeking and accompliſhing dangerous enterpriſes he deſerved her affection. He proves a moſt valorous and invincible knight: and at the end of ſeven years, having killed king Mury, recovered his father's kingdom, and atchieved many ſignal exploits, recovers the princeſs Rymenild from the hands of his treacherous knight and companion Fykenyld; carries her in triumph to his own country, and there reigns with her in great ſplendor and proſperity. The poem itſelf begins and proceeds thus:

Alle heo ben blythe, that to my ſonge ylythe m:
A ſonge yet ulle ou ſinge of Alloff the god kynge,
Kynge he was by weſte the whiles hit y leſte;
And Godylt his gode quene, no feyrore myhte bene,
Ant huere ſone hihte Horne, feyrore childe ne myhte be borne:
For reyne ne myhte by ryne ne ſonne myhte ſhine
Feyror childe than he was, bryht ſo ever eny glas,
So whyte ſo eny lilye floure, ſo roſe red was his colour;
He was feyre ant eke bold, and of fyfteene wynter old,
This non his yliche in none kinges ryche.
Tueye ferenn he hadde, that he with him ladde,
Al rychemenne ſonne, and al ſuyth feyre gromes,
Weth hem forte pley anuſteo he loved tueye,
[40] That on was hoten Achulph child, and that other Ffykenild,
Aculph was the beſt, and Ffykenyld the werſte,
Yt was upon a ſomerſday alſo, as ich one telle may,
Allof the gode kynge rode upon his pleying,
Bi the ſe ſide, there he was woned to ride;
With him ne ryde bot tuo, at to felde hue were tho:
He fond bi the ſtronde, aryved on is lond,
Shipes ſyſtene of Sarazins kene:
He aſked what hue ſohten other on his lond brohten.

But I haſten to that part of the ſtory where prince Horne appears at the court of the king of Weſtneſſe.

The kyng com into hall, among his knyghtes alle,
Forth he cleped Athelbrus, his ſtewarde, him ſeyde thus:
"Steward tal thou here my fundling for to lere,
"Of ſome myſtere of woode and of ryvere p,
"And toggen othe harpe with is nayles ſharpe q,
"And teche at the liſtes that thou ever wiſtes,
"Byfore me to kerven, and of my courſe to ſerven r,
[41] "Ant his feren devyſe without other ſurmiſe;
"Horne-childe, thou underſtond, teche hym of harpe and ſonge."
Athelbrus gon leren Horne and hyſe feren;
Horne mid herte laghte al that mon hym taghte,
Within court and withoute, and overall aboute,
Lovede men Horne-child, and moſt him loved Ymenild
The kinges owne dothter, for he was in hire thohte,
Hire loved him in hire mod, for he was faire and eke gode,
And that tyne ne dorſte at worde and myd hem ſpek ner a worde,
Ne in the halle, amonge the knyhtes alle,
Hyre ſorewe and hire payne nolde never fayne,
Bi daye ne bi nyhte for here ſpeke ne myhte,
With Horne that was ſo feir and fre, tho hue ne myhte with him be;
In herte hue had care and wo, and thus hire bihote hire tho:
Hue ſende hyre ſonde Athelbrus to honde,
That he come here to, and alſo childe Horne do,
In to hire boure, for hue bigon to loure,
And the ſonds ſayde, that ſeek was the mayde,
And bed hym quyke for hue nis non blyke.
The ſtewarde was in huerte wo, for he wiſt whit he ſhulde do [...]
That Rymenyld byſohte gret wonder him thohte;
About Horne he yinge to boure forte bringe,
He thohte en his mode hit nes for none gode;
He toke with him another, Athulph Horne's brother t,
"Athulph, quoth he, ryht anon thou ſhalt with me to boure gon,
"To ſpeke with Rymenyld ſtille, and to wyte hire wille,
"Thou art Horne's yliche, thou ſhalt hire by ſuyke,
"Sore me adrede that hire wil Horne mys rede."
Athelbrus and Athulf tho to hire boure both ygo,
[42] Upon Athulf childe Rymenilde con wox wilde,
Hue wende Horne it were, that hue hadde there;
Hue ſetten adown ſtille, and ſeyden hire wille,
In her armes tweye Athulf ſhe con leye,
"Horne, quoth heo, wellong I have lovede thee ſtrong,
"Thou ſhalt thy truth plyht in myne honde with ryht,
"Me to ſpouſe welde and iche the loverde to helde."
"So ſtille ſo hit were, Achulf ſeide in her ere,
"Ne tel thou no more ſpeche may y the byſeche
"Thi tale—thou linne, for Horne his nout his ynne, &c."

At length the princeſs finds ſhe has been deceived, the ſteward is ſeverely reprimanded, and prince Horne is brought to her chamber; when, ſays the poet,

Of is fayre ſyhte al that boure gan lyhte u.

It is the force of the ſtory in theſe pieces that chiefly engages our attention. The minſtrels had no idea of conducting and deſcribing a delicate ſituation. The general manners were groſs, and the arts of writing unknown. Yet this ſimplicity ſometimes pleaſes more than the moſt artificial touches. In the mean time, the pictures of antient manners preſented by theſe early writers, ſtrongly intereſt the imagination: eſpecially as having the ſame uncommon merit with the pictures of manners in Homer, that of being founded in truth and reality, and actually painted from the life. To talk of the groſſneſs and abſurdity of ſuch manners is little to the purpoſe; the poet is only concerned in the juſtneſs and faithfulneſs of the repreſentation.

SECT. II.

[43]

HITHERTO we have been engaged in examining the ſtate of our poetry from the conqueſt to the year 1200, or rather afterwards. It will appear to have made no very rapid improvement from that period. Yet as we proceed, we ſhall find the language loſing much of its antient barbariſm and obſcurity, and approaching more nearly to the dialect of modern times.

In the latter end of the reign of Henry the third, a poem occurs, the date of which may be determined with ſome degree of certainty. It is a ſatirical ſong, or ballad, written by one of the adherents of Simon de Montfort earl of Leiceſter, a powerful baron, ſoon after the battle of Lewes, which was fought in the year 1264, and proved very fatal to the intereſts of the king. In this deciſive action, Richard king of the Romans, his brother Henry the third, and prince Edward, with many others of the royal party, were taken priſoners.

I.
Sitteth alle ſtille, ant herkeneth to me:
The kynge of Alemaigne a, bi mi leaute b,
Thritti thouſent pound aſkede he
For te make the peesc in the countre d,
And ſo ſo he dude more.
Richard, thahe thou be ever tricchard f,
Tricthen ſhall thou never more.
[44]II.
Richard of Alemaigne, whil that he was kying,
He ſpende al is treſour opon ſwyvyng,
Haveth he nout of Walingford oferlyng g,
Let him habbe, aſe he brew, bale to dryng h,
Maugre Wyndeſore i.
Richard, thah thou, &c,
III.
The kyng of Alemaigne wende do ful wel k,
He ſaiſede the mulne for a caſtel l,
With harem ſharpe [...]werdes he grounde the ſtel,
He wende that the ſayles were mangonel n [...]
To help Wyndeſore.
Richard, thah thou, &c.
IV.
The kyng of Alemaigne gederedeo ys oſt,
Makede hym a caſtel of a mulne poſt p,
[45] Wende with is prude q, ant is muckele boſt,
Brohte from Almayne mony ſori goſt r
To ſtore Wyndeſore.
Richard, thah thou, &c.
V.
By god that is aboven ous he dude muche ſynne,
That let paſſen over ſee the erl of Warynne s:
He hath robbed Engelond, the mores, ant the fenne,
The gold, ant the ſelver, and y-boren henne,
For love of Wyndeſore.
Richard, thah thou, &c.
VI.
Syre Simonde de Mountfort hath ſuore bi ys chyn,
Hevedet he nou here the erle of Waryn,
Shuld he never more come to is yn u,
Ne with ſhelde, ne with ſpere, ne with other gyn w,
To help of Wyndeſore:
Richard, thah thou, &c.
VII.
Syre Simond de Montfort hath ſwore bi ys fot,
Hevede he nou here Sire Hue of de Bigot,
[46] Al he ſhulde grante hen twelfemonth ſcot x [...]
Shulde he never more with his ſot pot,
To help Wyndeſore.
Richard thah thou, &c [...]

Theſe popular rhymes had probably no ſmall influence in encouraging Leiceſter's partiſans, and diffuſing his fction. There is ſome humour in imagining that Richard ſuppoſed the windmill to which he retreated, to be a fortification; and that he believed the ſails of it to be military engines. In the manuſcript from which this ſpecimen is tranſcribed, immediately follows a ſong in French, ſeemingly written by the ſame poet, on the battle of Eveſham fought the following year; in which Leiceſter was killed, and his rebellious barons defeated y. Our poet looks upon his hero as a martyr: and particularly laments the loſs of Henry his ſon, and Hugh le Deſpenſer juſtici [...]ry of England. He concludes with an Engliſh ſtanza, much in the ſtyle and ſpirit of thoſe juſt quoted.

A learned and ingenious writer, in a work which places the ſtudy of the law in a new light, and proves it to be an entertaining hiſtory of manners, has obſerved, that this ballad on Richard of Alemaigne probably occaſioned a ſtatute againſt libels in the year 1275, under the title, ‘"Againſt ſlanderous reports, or tales to cauſe diſcord betwixt king and people z."’ That this ſpirit was growing to an extravagance which deſerved to be checked, we ſhall have occaſion to bring further proofs.

I muſt not paſs over the reign of Henry the third, who died in the year 1272, without obſerving, that this monarch [47] entertained in his court a poet with a certain ſalary, whoſe name was Henry de Avranches a. And although this poet was a Frenchman, and moſt probably wrote in French, yet this firſt inſtance of an officer who was afterwards, yet with ſufficient impropriety, denominated a poet laureate in the Engliſh court, deſervedly claims particular notice in the courſe of theſe annals. He is called Maſter Henry the Verſifier b: which appellation perhaps implies a different character from the royal Minſtrel or Joculator. The king's treaſurers are ordered to pay this Maſter Henry one hundred ſhillings, which I ſuppoſe to have been a year's ſtipend, in the year 1251 c. And again the ſame precept occurs under the year 1249 d. Our maſter Henry, it ſeems, had in ſome of his verſes reflected on the ruſticity of the Corniſh men. This inſult was reſented in a Latin ſatire now remaining, written by Michael Blaunpayne, a native of Cornwall, and recited by the author in the preſence of Hugh abbot of Weſtminſter, Hugh de Mortimer o [...]icial of the archbiſhop of Canterbury, the biſhop elect of Wincheſter, and the biſhop of Rocheſter e. While we are ſpeaking of the Verſifier [48] of Henry the third, it will not be foreign to add, that in the thirty-ſixth year of the ſame king, forty ſhillings and one pipe of wine were given to Richard the king's harper, and one pipe of wine to Beatrice his wife e. But why this gratuity of a pipe of wine ſhould alſo be made to the wife, as well as to the huſband, who from his profeſſion was a genial character, appears problematical according to our preſent ideas.

The firſt poet whoſe name occurs in the reign of Edward the firſt, and indeed in theſe annals, is Robert of Gloceſter, a monk of the abbey of Gloceſter. He has left a poem o [...] conſiderable length, which is a hiſtory of England in verſe, from Brutus to the reign of Edward the firſt. It was evidently written after the year 1278, as the poet mentions king Arthur's ſumptuous tomb, erected in that year before the high altar of Glaſtenbury church f: and he declares himſelf a living witneſs of the rema [...]kably diſmal weather which diſtinguiſhed the day on which the battle of Eveſham abovementioned was fought, in the year 1265 g. From theſe and other circumſtances this piece appears to have been compoſed about the year 1280. It is exhibited in the manuſcripts, is cited by many antiquaries, and printed by Hearne, in the Alexandrine meaſure: but with equal probability might have been written in four-lined ſtanzas. This rhyming chronicle is totally deſtitute of art or imagination. The author has cloathed the fables of Geoffrey of Monmouth in rhyme, which have often a more poetical air in Geoffrey's proſe. The [49] language is not much more eaſy or intelligible than that of many of the Norman Saxon poems quoted in the preceding ſection: it is full of Saxoniſms, which indeed abound, more or leſs, in every writer before Gower and Chaucer. But this obſcurity is perhaps owing to the weſtern dialect, in which our monk of Gloceſter was educated. Provincial barbariſms are naturally the growth of extreme counties, and of ſuch as are ſituated at a diſtance from the metropolis: and it is probable, that the Saxon heptarchy, which conſiſted of a cluſter of ſeven independent ſtates, contributed to produce as many different provincial dialects. In the mean time it is to be conſidered, that writers of all ages and languages have their affectations and ſingularities, which occaſion in each a peculiar phraſeology.

Robert of Glouceſter thus deſcribes the ſports and ſolemnities which followed king Arthur's coronation.

The kyng was to ys paleys, tho the ſervyſe was y do g,
Ylad wyth his menye, and the quene to hire alſo.
Vor hii hulde the olde uſages, that men wyth men were
By them ſulve, and wymmen by hem ſulve alſo there h.
Tho hii were echone yſett, as yt to her ſtat bycom,
Kay, king of Aungeo, a thouſand knytes nome
Of noble men, yclothed in ermyne echone
Of on ſywete, and ſervede at thys noble feſt anon.
Bedwer the botyler, kyng of Normandye,
Nom alſo in ys half a vayr companye
Of one ſywytei worto ſervy of the botelerye.
Byvore the quene yt was alſo of al ſuche corteſye,
Vorto telle al the noblye thet ther was ydo,
They my tonge were of ſtel, me ſſolde noght dure therto.
[50] Wymmen ne kepte of no kyngt as in druery k,
Bote he were in armys wel yproved, and atte leſte thrye l.
That made, lo, the wymmen the chaſtore lyf lede,
And the kyngtes the ſtalwordore m, and the betere in her dede.
Sone after thys noble mete n, as ryght was of ſuch tyde,
The kynghts atyled hem aboute in eche ſyde,
In feldys and in medys to prove her bachelerye o.
Somme wyth lance, ſome wyth ſuerd, wythoute vylenye,
Wyth pleyinge at tables, other atte chekere p,
Wyth caſtynge, other wyth ſſettinge q, other in ſome ogyrt manere.
And wuch ſo of eny game adde the mayſtrye,
The kyng hem of ys gyfteth dyde large cortyſye.
Upe the alurs of the caſtles the laydes thanne ſtode,
And byhulde thys noble game, and wyche kyngts were god.
All the thre hexte dawesr ylaſte thys nobleye
In halles and in veldes, of mete and eke of pleye.
Thys men com the verthes day byvore the kynge there,
And he gef hem large gyftys, evere as hii werthe were.
Bisſhopryches and cherches clerkes he gef ſomme,
And caſtles and townes kyngtes that were ycome t.

Many of theſe lines are literally tranſlated from Geoffry of Monmouth. In king Arthur's battle with the giant at [51] Barbesfleet, there are no marks of Gothic painting. But there is an effort at poetry in the deſcription of the giant's fall.

Tho griſlych yal the ſſrewe tho, that griſlych was his bere,
He vel doung as a gret ok, that bynethe ycorve were,
That it thogte that al hul myd the vallynge ſſok u.

That is, ‘"This cruel giant yelled ſo horribly, and ſo vehement was his fall, that he fell down like an oak cut through at the bottom, and all the hill ſhook while he fell."’ But this ſtroke is copied from Geoffry of Monmouth; who tells the ſame miraculous ſtory, and in all the pomp with which it was perhaps dreſſed up by his favourite fablers. ‘"Exclamavit vero inviſus ille; et velut quercus ventorum viribus eradicata, cum maximo ſonitu corruit."’ It is difficult to determine which is moſt blameable, the poetical hiſtorian, or the proſaic poet.

It was a tradition invented by the old fablers, that giants brought the ſtones of Stonehenge from the moſt ſequeſtered deſerts of Africa, and placed them in Ireland; that every ſtone was waſhed with juices of herbs, and contained a medical power; and that Merlin the magician, at the requeſt of king Arthur, tranſported them from Ireland, and erected them in circles on the plain of Ameſbury, as a ſepulchral monument for the Britons treacherouſly ſlain by Hengiſt. This fable is thus delivered, without decoration, by Robert of Gloceſter.

"Sire kyng, quoth Merlin tho, ſuche thynges y wis
"Ne bethe for to ſchewe nogt, but wen gret nede ys,
"For gef iche ſeid in biſmare, other bute it ned were,
"Sone from me he wold wende the goſt, that doth me lere w:
[52] The kyng, tho non other nas, bod hym ſom quoyntiſe
Bithinke about thilk cors that ſo noble were and wyſe x.
"Sire kyng, quoth Merlin tho, gef thou wolt here caſte
"In the honour of men, a worke that ever ſchal ylaſte y,
"To the hul of Kylarz ſend in to Yrlond,
"Aftur the noble ſtones that ther habbeta lenge yſtonde;
"That was the treche of giandes b, for a quoynte work ther ys
"Of ſtones al wyth art ymad, in the world ſuch non ys.
"Ne ther nys nothing that me ſcholde myd ſtrengthe adoune caſt.
"Stode heo here, as heo doth there ever a wolde laſt c."
The kyng ſomdele to lyghe d, tho he herde this tale,
"How mygte, he ſeyde, ſuche ſtones ſo grete and ſo fale e,
"Be ybrogt of ſo fer lond? And get miſt of were,
"Me wolde wene, that in this londe no ſton to wonke nere,"
"Syre kyng, quoth Merlyn, ne make noght an ydel ſuch lyghyng.
"For yt nys an ydel noght that ich tell this tythyng f.
"For in the farreſte ſtude of Affric giands while fette g
"Thike ſtones for medycyne and in Yrlond hem ſette,
"While heo wonenden in Yrlond to make here bathes there,
"Ther undir forto bathi wen thei ſyk were.
"For heo wuld the ſtones waſch and ther enne bathe ywis.
"For ys no ſton ther among that of gret vertu nys h."
The kyng and ys conſeil raddei the ſtones forto fette,
And with gret power of batail gef any more hem lette
[53] Uter the kynges brother, that Ambroſe hett alſo,
In another name ychoſe was therto,
And fifteene thouſant men this dede for to do
And Merlyn for his quointiſe thider went alſo k.

If any thing engages our attention in this paſſage, it is the wildneſs of the fiction; in which however the poet had no ſhare.

I will here add Arthur's intrigue with Ygerne.

At the feſt of Eſtre tho kyng ſende ys ſonde,
That heo comen alle to London the hey men of this londe,
And the levedys al ſo god, to ys noble feſt wyde,
For he ſchulde crowne here, for the hye tyde.
Alle the noble men of this lond to the noble feſt come,
And heore wyves and heore dogtren with hem mony nome,
This feſt was noble ynow, and nobliche y do;
For mony was the faire ledy, that y come was therto.
Ygerne, Gorloys wyf, was faireſt of echon,
That was contaſſe of Cornewail, for ſo fair nas ther non.
The kyng by huld hire faſte y now, and ys herte on hire caſte,
And thogte, thay heo were wyf, to do folye atte laſt.
[54] He made hire ſemblant fair y now, to non other ſo gret.
The erl nas not ther with y payed, tho he yt under get.
Aftur mete he nom ys wyfe myd ſtordy med y now,
And, with oute leve of the kyng, to ys contrei drow.
The kyng ſende to hym tho, to by leve al nygt,
For he moſte of gret conſel habbe ſom inſygt.
That was for nogt. Wolde he nogt the kyng ſende get ys ſonde.
That he by levede at ys parlemente, for nede of the londe.
The kyng was, tho he nolde nogt, anguyſſous and wroth.
For deſpyte he wolde a wreke be he ſwor ys oth,
Bute he come to amendement. Ys power atte laſte
He garkede, and wende forth to Cornewail faſte.
Gorloys ys caſteles a ſtore al a boute.
In a ſtrong caſtel he dude ys wyf, for of hire was al ys doute.
In another hym ſelf he was, for he nolde nogt,
Gef cas come, that heo were bothe to dethe y brogt.
The caſtel, that the erl inne was, the kyng by ſegede faſte,
For he mygte ys gynnes for ſchame to the oter caſte.
Tho he was ther ſene nygt, and he ſpedde nogt,
Igerne the conteſſe ſo muche was in ys thogt,
That he nuſte nen other wyt, ne he ne mygte for ſchame
Telle yt bute a pryve knygt, Ulfyn was ys name,
That he truſte meſt to. And tho the knygt herde this,
"Syre, he ſeide, y ne can wyte, wat red here of ys,
"For the caſtel ys ſo ſtrong, that the lady ys inne,
"For ich wene al the lond ne ſchulde yt myd ſtrengthe wynne.
"For the ſe geth al aboute, but entre on ther nys,
"And that ys up on harde rockes, and ſo narw wei it ys,
"That ther may go bote on and on, that thre men with inne
"Mygte ſle al the londe, er heo com ther inne.
"And nogt for than, gef Merlyn at thi conſeil were,
"Gef any mygte, he couthe the beſt red the lere."
[55] Merlyn was ſone of ſend, pleid yt was hym ſone,
That he ſchulde the beſte red ſegge, wat were to done.
Merlyn was ſory ynow for the kynge's folye,
And natheles, "Sire kyng, he ſeide, there mot to maiſtrie,
"The erl hath twey men hym nert, Brygthoel and Jordan.
"Ich wol make thi ſelf gef thou wolt, thoru art that y can,
"Habbe al tho fourme of the erl, as thou were rygt he,
"And Olfyn as Jordan, and as Brithoel me."
This art was al clene y do, that al changet he were,
Heo thre in the otheres forme, the ſelve at yt were.
Ageyn even he wende forth, nuſte nomon that cas,
To the caſtel heo come rygt as yt evene was.
The porter y ſe ys lord come, and ys moſte privey twei,
With god herte he lette ys lord yn, and ys men beye.
The contas was glad y now, tho hire lord to hire com
And eyther other in here armes myd gret joye nom.
Tho heo to bedde com, that ſo longe a two were,
With hem was ſo gret delyt, that bitwene hem there
Bi gete was the beſte body, that ever was in this londe,
Kyng Arthure the noble mon, that ever worthe underſtonde.
Tho the kynge's men nuſte amorwe, wer he was bi come,
Heo ferde as wodemen, and wende he were ynome.
Heo a ſaileden the caſtel, as yt ſchulde a doun anon,
Heo that with inne were, garkede hem echon,
And ſmyte out in a fole wille, and fogte myd here fon:
So that the erl was y ſlave, and of ys men mony on,
And the caſtel was y nome, and the folk to ſprad there,
Get, tho thei hadde al ydo, heo ne fonde not the kyng there.
The tything to the contas ſone was y come,
That hi [...]e lord was y ſlawe, and the caſtel y nome.
Ac tho the meſſinger hym ſey the erl, as hym thogte,
That he hadde ſo foule plow, ful ſore hym of thogte,
The contaſſe made ſom del deol, for no ſothneſſe heo nuſte.
The kyng, for to glade here, bi clupte hire and cuſt.
[56] "Dame, he ſeide, no ſixt thou wel, that les yt ys al this:
"Ne woſt thou wel ich am olyue. Ich wole the ſegge how it ys.
"Out of the caſtel ſtille [...]iche ych wende al in privete,
"That none of myne men yt nuſte, for to ſpeke with the.
"And tho heo miſte me to day, and nuſte wer ich was,
"Heo ferden rigt as gydie men, myd wam no red nas,
"And fogte with the folk with oute, and habbeth in this manere
"Y lore th [...] caſtel and hem ſ [...]lue, ac wel thou woſt y am here.
"Ac for my caſtel, that is ylore, ſory ich am y now,
"And for myn men, that the kyng and ys power ſlog.
"Ac my power is now to lute, ther fore y drede ſore,
"Leſte the kyng us nyme here, and ſorwe that we were more.
"Ther fore ich wole, how ſo yt be, wende agen the kynge,
"And make my pays with hym, ar he us to ſchame brynge."
Forth he wende, and het ys men that gef the kyng come,
That hei ſchulde hym the caſtel gelde, ar he with ſtrengthe it nome.
So he come to [...]ard ys men, ys own forme he nom,
And levede the erle's fourme, and the kyng Uter by com.
Sore hym of thogte the erle's deth, ac in other half he fonde
Joye in hys herte, for the contaſſe of ſpouſhed was unbonde,
Tho he hadde that he wolde, and payſed with ys ſon,
To the contaſſe he wende agen, me let hym in a non.
Wat halt it to talle longe: bute heo were ſeth at on,
In gret loue longe y now, wan yt nolde other gon;
And hadde to gedere this noble ſone, that in the world ys pere nas,
The kyng Arture, and a dogter, Anne hire name was i.

In the latter end of the reign of Edward the firſt, many officers of the French king having extorted large ſums of [57] money from the citizens of Bruges in Flanders, were murthered: and an engagement ſucceeding, the French army, commanded by the count du Saint Pol, was defeated; upon which the king of France, who was Philip the Fair, ſent a ſtrong body of troops, under the conduct of the count de Artois, againſt the Flemings: he was killed, and the French were almoſt all cut to pieces. On this occaſion the following ballad was made in the year 1301 m.

Luſteneth, lordinges, bothe ȝonge and olde,
Of the Freynſhe men that were ſo proude ante bolde,
How the Flemmyſhe men bohten hem ante ſolde,
Upon a Wedneſday,
Betere hem were at home in huere londe,
Than force ſeche Flemiſhe bi the ſea ſtronde
Whare rouch moni Frenſh wyf wryngeth hire honde,
And ſyngeth welaway.
The kynge of Ffrance made ſtatutes newe,
In the londe of Flaundres among falſe ant trewe,
That the communs of Bruges ful ſore can arewe,
And ſeiden among hem,
Gedere we us to gedere hardilyche at ene,
Take we the bailifs by twenty and bi tene,
Clappe we of the hevedes an oven o the grene,
Ant caſt we in the fen.
The webbes ant the fullaris aſſembled hem alle,
And makeden huere counſail in huere commune halle,
Token Peter conyng huere kynge to call
Ant be huere cheveteyne, &c n.

Theſe verſes ſhew the familiarity with which the affairs of France were known in England, and diſplay the diſpoſition of the Engliſh towards the French, at this period. It [58] It appears from this and previous inſtances, that political ballads, I mean ſuch as were the vehicles of political ſatire, prevailed much among our early anceſtors. About the preſent era, we meet with a ballad complaining of the exhorbitant fees extorted, and the numerous taxes levied, by the king's officers o. There is a libel remaining, written indeed in French Alexandrines, on the commiſſion of trayl-baſton p, or the juſtices ſo denominated by Edward the firſt, during his abſence in the French and Scotch wars, about the year 1306. The author names ſome of the juſtices or commiſſioners, now not eaſily diſcoverable: and ſays, that he ſerved the king both in peace and war in Flanders, Gaſcony, and Scotland q. There is likewiſe a ballad againſt the Scots, traitors to Edward the firſt, and taken priſoners at the battles of Dunbar and Kykenclef, in 1305, and 1306 r. The licentiouſneſs of their rude manners was perpetually breaking out in theſe popular paſquins, although this ſpecies of petulance uſually belongs to more poliſhed times.

Nor were they leſs dexterous than daring in publiſhing their ſatires to advantage, although they did not enjoy the many conveniencies which modern improvements have afforded for the circulation of public abuſe. In the reign of Henry the ſixth, to purſue the topic a little lower, we find a ballad of this ſpecies ſtuck on the gates of the royal palace, ſeverely reflecting on the king and his counſellors then ſitting in parliament. This piece is preſerved in the Aſhmolean muſeum, with the following Latin title prefixed. ‘"Copia ſcedul [...]e valvis domini regis exiſtentis in parliamento ſuo tento apud Weſtmonaſterium menſe marcii anno regni Henrici ſexti viceſimo octavo."’ But the antient ballad was often applied to better purpoſes: and it appears from a valuable collection of theſe little pieces, [59] lately publiſhed by my ingenious friend and fellow-labourer doctor Percy, in how much more ingenuous a ſtrain they have tranſmitted to poſterity the praiſes of knightly heroiſm, the marvels of romantic fiction, and the complaints of love.

At the cloſe of the reign of Edward the firſt, and in the year 1303, a poet occurs named Robert Mannyng, but more commonly called Robert de Brunne. He was a Gilbertine monk in the monaſtery of Brunne, or Bourne, near Depyng in Lincolnſhire: but he had been before profeſſed in the priory of Sixhille, a houſe of the ſame order, and in the ſame county. He was merely a tranſlator. He tranſlated into Engliſh metre, or rather paraphraſed, a French book, written by Groſthead biſhop of Lincoln, entitled, MANUEL PECHE, or MANUEL de PECHE, that is, the MANUAL OF SINS. This tranſlation was never printed s. It is a long work, and treats of the decalogue, and the ſeven deadly ſins, which are illuſtrated with many legendary ſtories. This is the title of the tranſlator. ‘"Here bygynneth the boke that men clepyn in Frenſhe MANUEL PECHE, the which boke made yn Frenſhe Robert Grooſteſte byſhop of Lyncoln."’ From the Prologue, among other circumſtances, it appears that Robert de Brunne deſigned this performance to be ſung to the harp at public entertainments, and that it was written or begun in the year 1303 t.

For lewedu men I undyrtoke,
In Englyſhe tonge to make this boke:
For many beyn of ſuche manere
That talys and rymys wyle blethly w here,
[60] In gamys and feſtys at the ale x
Love men to leſtene trotonale y:
To all cryſtyn men undir ſunne,
And to gode men of Brunne;
And ſpecialli al bi name
The felauſhipe of Symprynghame z,
Roberd of Brunne greteth yow,
In alle godeneſſe that may to prow a.
Of Brymwake yn Keſtevene b
Syxe myle beſyde Sympryngham evene,
Y dwelled in the priorye
Fyftene yere in cumpanye,
In the tyme of gode Dane Jone
Of Camelton that now is gone;
In hys tyme was I ther ten yeres
And knewe and herde of hys maneres;
Sythyn with Dan Jon of Clyntone
Fyve wyntyr wyth hym gan I wone,
Dan Felyp was mayſtyr in that tyme
That I began thys Englysſh ryme,
The yeres of grace fydc than to be
A thouſand and thre hundred and thre.
In that tyme turned y thys
In Englyſh tonge out of Frankys.

[61] From the work itſelf I am chiefly induced to give the following ſpecimen; as it contains an anecdote relating to biſhop Groſthead his author, who will again be mentioned, and on that account.

Y ſhall you tell as I have herd
Of the byſshop ſeynt Roberd,
Hys tonamed is Groſteſte
Of Lyncolne, ſo ſeyth the geſte.
He lovede moche to here the harpe,
For mans witte yt makyth ſharpe.
Next hys chamber, beſyde hys ſtudy,
Hys harper's chamber was faſt the by.
Many tymes, by nightes and dayes,
He hadd ſolace of notes and layes,
One aſkede hem the reſun why
He hadde delyte in mynſtrelſy?
He anſwerde hym on thys manere
Why he helde the harpe ſo dere.
"The virtu of the harp, thurgh ſkyle and ryght,
"Wyll deſtrye the fendyse myght;
"And to the cros by gode ſkeyl
"Ys the harpe lykened weyl.—
"Thirefore, gode men, ye ſhall lere,
"When ye any glemanf here,
"To worſhepe god at your power,
"And Davyd in the ſauter g.
"Yn harpe and tabour and ſymphan gle h
"Worſhip God in trumpes ant ſautre:
[62] "Yn cordes, yn organes, and bells ringyng,
"Yn all theſe worſhip the hevene kyng, &c i."

But Robert de Brunne's largeſt work is a metrical chronicle of England k. The former part, from Aeneas to the death of Cadwallader, is tranſlated from an old French poet called MAISTER WACE or GASSE, who manifeſtly copied Geoffry of Monmouth l, in a poem commonly entitled ROMAN DE ROIS D'ANGLETERRE. It is eſteemed one of the oldeſt of the French romances; and begun to be written by Euſtace, ſometimes called Euſtache, Wiſtace, or Huiſtace, who finiſhed his part under the title of BRUT D'ANGLETERRE, in the year 1155. Hence Robert de Brunne, ſomewhat inaccurately, calls it ſimply the BRUT m. This romance was [63] ſoon afterwards continued to William Rufus, by Robert Wace or Vace, Gaſſe or Gace, a native of Jerſey, educated at Caen, canon of Bayeux, and chaplain to Henry the ſecond, under the title of LE ROMAN LE ROU ET LES VIES DES DUCS DE NORMANDIE, yet ſometimes preſerving its original one, in the year 1160 n. Thus both parts were blended, and became one work. Among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh Muſeum it is thus entitled: ‘"LE BRUT, ke maiſtre Wace tranſlata de Latin en Franceis de tutt les Reis de Brittaigne o."’ That is, from the Latin proſe hiſtory of Geoffry of Monmouth. And that maſter Wace aimed only at the merit of a tranſlator, appears from his exordial verſes.

Maiſtre Gaſſe l' a tranſlatè
Que en conte le veritè.

Otherwiſe we might have ſuſpected that the authors drew their materials from the old fabulous Armoric manuſcript, which is ſaid to have been Geoffry's original.

[64] Al [...]hough this romance, in its antient and early manuſcripts, has conſtantly paſſed under the name of its finiſher, Wace; yet the accurate Fauchett cites it by the name of its firſt author Euſtace p. And at the ſame time it is extraordinary, that Robert de Brunne, in his Prologue, ſhould not once mention the name of Euſtace, as having any concern in it: ſo ſoon was the name of the beginner ſuperſeded by that of the continuator. An ingenious French antiquary very juſtly ſuppoſes, that Wace took many of his deſcriptions from that invaluable and ſingular monument the Tapeſtry of the Norman conqueſt, preſerved in the treaſury of the cathedral of Bayeux q, and lately engraved and explained in the learned doctor Du Carell's Anglo-Norman ANTIQUITIES. Lord Lyttleton has quoted this romance, and ſhewn that important facts and curious illuſtrations of hiſtory may be drawn from ſuch obſolete but authentic reſources r.

The meaſure uſed by Robert de Brunne, in his tranſlation of the former part of our French chronicle or romance, is exactly like that of his original. Thus the Prologue.

Lordynges that be now here,
If ye wille liſtene and lere,
All the ſtory of Inglande,
Als Robert Mannyng wryten it fand,
And on Inglyſch has it ſchewed,
Not for the lered but for the lewed;
For tho that on this lond wonn
That the Latin ne Frankys conn,
For to half ſolace and gamen
In felauſchip when tha ſitt ſamen
And it is wiſdom forto wytten
The ſtate of the land, and hef it wryten,
[65] What manere of folk firſt it wan,
And of what kynde it firſt began.
And gude it is for many thynges,
For to here the dedis of kynges,
Whilk were foles, and whilk were wyſe,
And whilk of tham couth moſt quantyſe;
And whylk did wrong, and whilk ryght,
And whilk mayntened pes and fyght.
Of thare dedes ſall be mi ſawe,
In what tyme, and of what law,
I ſholl yow from gre to gre,
Sen the tyme of Sir Noe:
From Noe unto Eneas,
And what betwixt tham was,
And fro Eneas till Brutus tyme,
That kynde he tells in this ryme.
For Brutus to Cadweladres,
The laſt Briton that this lande lees.
Alle that kynd and alle the frute
That come of Brutus that is the Brute;
And the ryght Brute is told no more
Than the Brytons tyme wore.
After the Bretons the Inglis camen,
The lordſchip of this land thai namen;
South, and north, weſt, and eaſt,
That call men now the Inglis geſt.
When thai firſt among the Bretons,
That now ere Inglis than were Saxons,
Saxons Inglis hight all oliche.
Thai aryved up at Sandwyche,
In the kynges ſynce Vortogerne
That the lande wolde tham not werne, &c.
One mayſter WACE the Frankes telles
The Brute all that the Latin ſpelles,
[66] Fro Eneas to Cadwaladre, &c.
And ryght as mayſter Wace ſays,
I telle myne Inglis the ſame ways, &c s.

The ſecond part of Robert de Brunne's CHRONICLE, beginning from Cadwallader, and ending with Edward the firſt, is tranſlated, in great meaſure, from the ſecond part of a French metrical chronicle, written in five books, by Peter Langtoft, an Auguſtine canon of the monaſtery of Bridlington in Yorkſhire, who wrote not many years before his tranſlator. This is mentioned in the Prologue preceding the ſecond part.

Frankis ſpech is cald romance t,
So ſais clerkes and men of France.
Pers of Langtoft, a chanon
Schaven in the houſe of Bridlyngton
On Frankis ſtyle this ſtorie he wrote
Of Inglis kinges, &c u.

As Langtoft had written his French poem in Alexandrines w, the tranſlator, Robert de Brunne, has followed him, the Prologue excepted, in uſing the double diſtich for one line, after the manner of Robert of Glouceſter. As in the firſt part he copied the metre of his author Wace. But I will exhibit a ſpecimen from both parts. In the firſt, he gives [67] us this dialogue between Merlin's mother and king Vortigern, from Maſter Wace.

Dame, ſaid the kyng, welcom be thow:
Nedeli at the I mette witte how x
Who than gatey thi ſone Merlyn
And on what maner was he thin?
His moder ſtode a throwez and thought
Are ſchoa to the kyng anſuerd ouht:
When ſcho had ſtanden a litelle wight b,
Scho ſaid, by Jheſu in Mari light,
That I ne ſaugh hym never ne knewe
That this knavec on me ſewe d.
Ne I wiſt, ne I herd,
What maner ſchap with me ſo ferd e.
But this thing am I wole ograunt f,
That I was of elde avenaunt g:
One com to my bed I wiſt,
With force he me haiſedh and kiſt:
Alsi a man I him felte,
Als a man he me welte k;
Als a man he ſpake to me.
Bot what he was, myght I not ſe l.

The following, extracted from the ſame part, is the ſpeech of the Romans to the Britons, after the former had built a wall againſt the Picts, and were leaving Britain.

We haf cloſed ther moſt nede was;
And yf ye defend wele that pas
[68] With archersm and with magnels n,
And kepe wele the kyrnels;
Ther may ye bothe ſchote and caſt
Waxes bold and fend you faſt.
Thinkes your faders wan franchiſe,
Be ye no more in other ſerviſe:
Bot frely lyf to your lyves end:
We fro you for ever wende o.

Vortigern king of the Britons, is thus deſcribed meeting the beautiful princeſs Rouwen, daughter of Hengiſt, the Roſamond [69] of the Saxon ages, at a feaſt of waſſaile. It is a curious picture of the gallantry of the times.

Hengeſt that day did his might,
That alle were glad, king and knight,
And as thei were beſt in glading,
Andp wele cop ſchotin knight and king,
Of chambir Rouewen ſo gent,
Be fore the king in halle ſcho went.
A coupe with wyne ſche had in hand,
And hirq hatire was weler farand.
Be fore the king on kne ſett,
And on hir langage ſcho him grett.
"Lauerids king, Waſſaille," ſeid ſche.
The king aſked, what ſuld be.
On that langage the kingt ne couthe.
A knightu ther langagew lerid in youthe.
Bregx hiht that knight born Bretoun,
That lerid the langage ofy Seſſoun.
This Breg was the z latimer.
What ſcho ſaid told Vortager.
[70] "Sir, Breg ſeid, Rowen yow gretis,
"And king callis and lord yowa letis.
"This es ther cuſtom and ther geſt,
"Whan thei are atte the ale or feſt.
"Ilk man that louis quare him think,
"Salle ſay Woſſeille, and to him drink.
"He that bidis ſalle ſay, Waſſaille,
"The tother ſalle ſay again, Drinkhaille.
"That ſais Woſſeille drinkis of the cop,
"Kiſſandb his felaw he gives it up.
"Drinkheille, he ſais, and drinke ther of,
"Kiſſand him in bourd andc ſkof."
The king ſaid, as the knight gand ken,
Drinkheille, ſmil [...]nd on Rouewen.
Rouwen drank as hire liſt,
And gave the king,e ſine him kiſt.
There was the firſt waſſaille in dede,
And that firſt of famef gede.
Of that waſſaille men told grete tale,
And waſſaille whan thei were at ale.
And drinkheille to tham that drank,
Thus was waſſailleg tane to thank.
Feleh ſithes that maidini ying,
Waſſailed and kiſt the king.
Of bodi ſche was rightk avenant,
Of fair colour, with ſwetel ſemblaunt.
[71] Hirm hatire fulle wele it ſemed,
Mervelikn the king ſcheo quemid.
Oute of meſſure was he glad,
For of that maidin he wer alle mad.
Drunkenes the feend wroght,
Of thatp paen was al his thoght.
A meſchaunche that time him led.
He aſked that paen for to wed.
Hengiſtq wild not draw a lite,
Bot graunted him alle ſo tite.
And Hors his brother conſentid ſone.
Her frendis ſaid, it were to done.
Thei aſked the king to gife hir Kent,
In douary to take of rent.
O pon that maidin his hert ſo caſt,
That thei aſkid the king made faſt.
I wene the king toke her that day,
And wedded hirer on paiens lay.
Of preſt was ther nos beniſon
No mes ſongen, no oriſon.
In ſeiſine he had her that night.
Of Kent he gave Hengiſt the right.
The erelle that time, that Kent alle held,
Sir Goragon, that had the ſcheld,
Of that gift no thingt ne wiſt
Tou he was caſt outew with Hengiſt x.

In the ſecond part, copied from Peter Langtoft, the attack of Richard the firſt, on a caſtle held by the Saracens, is thus deſcribed.

[72]
The dikes were fulle wide that cloſed the caſtle about,
And depe on ilka ſide, with bankis hie without.
Was ther non entre that to the caſtelle gan ligge x,
Bot a ſtreiht kauce y; at the end a drauht brigge.
With grete duble cheynes drauhen over the gate,
And fifti armed ſuyenesz porters at that yate.
With ſlenges and magnelesa thei kaſtb to kyng Rychard
Our criſten by parcelles kaſted ageynward c.
Ten ſergeauns of the beſt his targe gan him bere
That egre were and preſt to covere hym and to were d.
Himſelf as a geaunt the cheynes in tuo hew,
The targe was his warant e, that non tille him threw.
Right unto the gate with the targe thei yede
Fightand on a gate, undir him the ſlouh his ſtede,
Therfor ne wild he ſeſſe f, alone into the caſtele
Thorgh tham all wild preſſe on fote faught he fulle wele.
And whan he was withinne, and fauht as a wilde leon,
He fondred the Sarazins otuynne g, and fauht as a dragon,
Without the criſten gan crie, allas! Richard is taken,
Tho Normans were ſorie, of contenance gan blaken,
To ſlo downe and to ſtroye never wild thei ſtint
Thei left for dede no noye h, ne for no wound no dynt,
That in went alle their pres, maugre the Sarazins alle,
And fond Richard on des fightand, and wonne the halle i.

From theſe paſſages it appears, that Robert of Brunne has ſcarcely more poetry than Robert of Gloceſter. He has however taken care to acquaint his readers, that he avoided [73] high deſcription, and that ſort of phraſeology which was then uſed by the minſtrels and harpers: that he rather aimed to give information than pleaſure, and that he was more ſtudious of truth than ornament. As he intended his chronicle to be ſung, at leaſt by parts, at public feſtivals, he found it expedient to apologiſe for theſe deficiencies in the prologue; as he had partly done before in his prologue to the MANUAL OF SINS.

I mad noght for no diſours k
Ne for ſeggers no harpours,
Bot for the luf of ſymple men,
That ſtrange Inglis cannot ken l:
For many it erem that ſtrange Inglis
In ryme waten never what it is.
I made it not for to be prayſed,
Bot at the lewed men were ayſed o.

He next mentions ſeveral ſorts of verſe, or proſody; which were then faſhionable among the minſtrels, and have been long ſince unknown.

If it were made in ryme couwce,
Or in ſtrangere or enterlacè, &c.

He adds, that the old ſtories of chivalry had been ſo diſguiſed by foreign terms, by additions and alterations, that they [74] were now become unintelligible to a common audience: and particularly, that the tale of SIR TRISTRAM, the nobleſt of all, was much changed from the original compoſition of its firſt author THOMAS.

I ſee in [...]ong in ſedgeying tale p
Of Erceldoune, and Kendale,
Non tham ſays as thai tham wroght q,
Andr in ther ſaying it ſemes noght,
That may thou here in Sir Triſtram s;
Over geſtes t it has the ſteem u,
Over all that is or was,
If men yt ſayd as made Thomas.—
[75] Thai ſayd in ſo quaynte Inglis
That manyonew wate not what it is.—
And forſooth I couth nought
So ſtrange Inglis as thai wroght.

On this account, he ſays, he was perſuaded by his friends to write his chronicle in a more popular and eaſy ſtyle, that would be better underſtood.

And men beſought me many a time,
To turn it bot in light ryme.
Thai ſaid if I in ſtrange it turne
To here it manyon would ſkurne x,
For it are names fulle ſelcouthe y
That ere not uſed now in mouth.—
In the hous of Sixille I was a throwe z
Danz Robert of Meltone,a that ye knowe,
Did it wryte for felawes ſake,
When thai wild ſolace make b.

Erceldoune and Kendale are mentioned, in ſome of theſe lines of Brunne, as old romances or popular tales. Of the latter I can diſcover no traces in our antient literature. As to the former, Thomas Erceldoun, or Aſhelington, is ſaid to have written Prophecies, like thoſe of Merlin. Leland, from the Scalae Chronicon c, ſays, that ‘"William Banaſtre d, and [76] Thomas Erceldoune, ſpoke words yn figure as were the prophecies of Merlin e."’ In the library of Lincoln cathedral, there is a metrical romance entitled, THOMAS OF ERSELDOWN, which begins with the uſual addreſs, ‘Lordynges both great and ſmall.’ In the Bodleian library, among the theological works of John Lawern, monk of Worceſter, and ſtudent in theology at Oxford, about the year 1448, written with his own hand, a fragment of an Engliſh poem occurs, which begins thus:

Joly chepert [ſheperd] of Aſkeldowne f.

In the Britiſh Muſeum a manuſcript Engliſh poem occurs, with this French title prefixed, ‘"La Counteſſe de Dunbar, demanda a Thomas Eſſedoune quant la guere d' Eſcoce prendret fyn g."’ This was probably our propheſier Thomas of Erceldown. One of his predictions is mentioned in an antient Scots poem entitled, A NEW YEAR'S GIFT, written in the year 1562, by Alexander Scott h. One Thomas Leirmouth, or Rymer, was alſo a prophetic bard, and lived at Erſlingtoun, ſometimes perhaps pronounced Erſeldoun. [77] This is therefore probably the ſame perſon. One who perſonates him, ſays,

In ERSLINGTOUN I dwell at hame,
THOMAS RYMER men call me.

He has left vaticinal rhymes, in which he predicted the union of Scotland with England, about the year 1279 i. Fordun mentions ſeveral of his prophecies concerning the future ſtate of Scotland k.

Our author, Robert de Brunne, alſo tranſlated into Engliſh rhymes the treatiſe of cardinal Bonaventura, his cotemporary l, De coena et paſſione domini et poenis S. Mariae Virginis, with the following title. ‘"Medytaciuns of the Soper of our Lorde Jheſu, and alſo of hys Paſſyun, and eke of the Peynes of hys ſwete Modyr mayden Marye, the whyche made yn Latyn Bonaventure Cardynall m."’ But I forbear to give further extracts from this writer, who appears to have poſſeſſed much more induſtry than genius, and cannot at preſent be read with much pleaſure. Yet it ſhould be remembered, that even ſuch a writer as Robert de Brunne, uncouth and unpleaſing as he naturally ſeems, and chiefly employed in turning the theology of his age into rhyme, contributed to form a ſtyle, to teach expreſſion, and to poliſh his native tongue. In the infancy of language and compoſition, nothing is wanted but writers: at that period even the moſt artleſs have their uſe.

[78] Robert Groſthead, biſhop of Lincoln n, who died in 1253, is ſaid in ſome verſes of Robert de Brunne, quoted above, to have been fond of the metre and muſic of the minſtrels. He was moſt attached to the French minſtrels, in whoſe language he has left a poem, never printed, of ſome length. This was probably tranſlated into Engliſh rhyme about the reign of Edward the firſt. Nor is it quite improbable, if the tranſlation was made at this period, that the tranſlator was Robert de Brunne; eſpecially as he tranſlated another of Groſthead's pieces. It is called by Leland Chateau d'Amour o. But in one of the Bodleian manuſcripts of this book we have the following title, Romance par Meſtre Robert Groſſeteſte p. In another it is called, Ce eſt la vie de D. Jhu de ſa humanite fet a ordine de Saint Robert Groſſeteſte ke fut eveque de Nichole q. And in this copy, a very curious apology to the clergy is prefixed to the poem, for the language in which it is written r. ‘"Et quamvis lingua romana [romance] coram CLERICIS SAPOREM SUAVITATIS non habeat, tamen pro laicis qui minus intelligunt opuſculum illud aptum eſt s."’ This piece profeſſes to treat of the creation, the redemption, the day of judgment, the joys of heaven, and the torments of hell: but the whole is a religious allegory, and under the ideas of chivalry the fundamental articles of chriſtian belief are repreſented. It has the air of a ſyſtem of divinity written [79] by a troubadour. The poet, in deſcribing the advent of Chriſt, ſuppoſes that he entered into a magnificent caſtle, which is the body of the immaculate virgin. The ſtructure of this caſtle is conceived with ſome imagination, and drawn with the pencil of romance. The poem begins with theſe lines.

Ki penſe ben, ben peut dire:
Sanz penſer ne poet ſuffiſe:
De nul bon oure commencer
Deu nos dont de li penſer
De ki par ki, en ki, ſont
Tos les biens ki font en el mond.

But I haſten to the tranſlation, which is more immediately connected with our preſent ſubject, and has this title. ‘"Her bygenet a tretys that ys yclept CASTEL OF LOVE that biſcop Groſteyzt made ywis for lewde mennes byhove t."’ Then follows the prologue or introduction.

That good thinketh good may do,
And God wol help him thar to:
Ffor nas never good work wrougt
With oute biginninge of good thougt.
Ne never was wrougt non vuelu thyng
That vuel thougt nas the biginnyng.
God ffuder, and ſone and holigoſte
That alle thing on eorthe ſixtw and woſt,
That one God art and thrillihod x,
And threo perſones in one hod y,
Withouten end and bi ginninge,
To whom we ougten over alle thinge,
[80] Worſchepe him with trewe love,
That kineworthe king art us above,
In whom, of whom, thorw whom beoth,
Alle the good ſchipes that we hire i ſeoth,
He leve us thenche and worchen ſo,
That he us ſchylde from vre fo,
All we habbeth to help neode
That we ne beth all of one theode,
Ne i boren in one londe,
Ne one ſpeche undirſtonde,
Ne mowe we al Latin wite z
Ne Ebreu ne Grua that beth i write,
Ne Ffrench, ne this other ſpechen,
That me mihte in worlde ſechen.
To herie god our derworthi drihte b,
As vch mon ougte with all his mihte;
Loft ſong ſyngen to god ȝerne c,
With ſuch ſpeche as he con lerne:
Ne monnes mouth ne be i dut
Ne his ledened i hud,
To ſerven his god that him wrougte,
And maade al the worlde of nougte.
Of Engliſche I ſhal nir reſun ſchowen
Ffor hem that can not i knowen,
Nouther French ne Latyn
On Engliſch I chulle tullen him.
Wherefor the world was i wroht,
Ther after how he was bi tauht,
[81] Adam vre ffader to ben his,
With al the merthe o [...] paradys
To wonen and welden to ſuch ende
Til that he ſcholde to hevene wende,
And hou ſone he hit fu les
And ſeththen hou for bouht wes,
Thurw the heȝe kynges ſone
That here in eorthe wolde come,
Ffor his ſuſtren that were to boren,
And ffor a priſon thas was for loren
And hou he made as ȝe ſchal heren
That heo i cuſt and ſauht weren
And to wruche a caſtel he alihte, &c.

But the following are the moſt poetical paſſages of this poem.

God nolde a lihte in none manere,
But in feir ſtudee and in clere,
In feir and clene ſiker hit wes,
Ther god almihti his in ches f [...]
In a CASTEL well comeliche,
Mucheg and ffeire, and loveliche,
That is the caſtell of alle floure,
Of ſolas and of ſocour,
In the mere he ſtont bi twene two,
Ne hath he forlak for no fo:
For the tourh is ſo wel with outen,
So depe i diched al abouten,
That non kunnes aſayling,
Ne may him derven fer no thing;
He ſtont on heiȝ rocke and ſound,
And is y planed to the ground,
[82] That ther may won non vueli thing,
Ne derve ne gynnes caſtyng;
And thaug he be ſo lovliche,
He is ſo dredful and hatcliche,
To all thulke that ben his fon,
That heo flen him everichon;
Ffor ſmal toures that beth abouten,
To witen the heige toure withouten,
Sethek beoth thre bayles withalle l,
So feir i diht with ſtrunge walle,
As heo beth here after I write,
Ne may no man them feirſchipe i wite,
Ne may no tongue ne may hit telle,
Ne thougt thincke, ne mouthe ſpelle:
On truſti rocke heo ſtondeth faſt,
And with depe diches bethe bi caſt,
And the carnelsn ſo ſtondeth upright,
Wel I planed, and feir i dight:
Seven barbicanes ther beth i wrouht
With gret ginne al bi thouht o,
And evrichon hath gat and toure,
Ther never fayleth ne ſocoure.
Never ſchal fo him ſtonde with
That thider wold flen to ſechen grith p.
This caſtel is ſiker fair abouten,
And is al depeynted withouten,
With threo heowes that wel beth ſene q;
So is the foundement al grene,
[83] That to the rock faſt lith.
Wel is that ther murthe i ſith,
Ffor the greneſchip laſteth evere,
And his heuh ne leoſeth nevere,
Sethen abouten that other heug
So is ynde ſo ys blu r.
That the midel heug we clepeth ariht
And ſchyneth ſo faire and ſo briht.
The thridde heug an ovemaſt
Over wrigeth al and ſo ys i caſt
That withinnen and withouten,
The caſtel lihteth al abouten,
And is raddore than eny roſe ſchal
That ſhunneth as hit barnds were t.
Withinne the caſtel is whit ſchinynge
Sou the ſnows that is ſnewynge,
And caſteth that liht ſo wyde,
After long the tour and be ſyde,
That never cometh ther wo ne woug,
As ſwetneſſe ther is ever i noug.
Amydde w the heige toure is ſpringynge
A well that ever is eorninge x
With four ſtremes that ſtriketh wel,
And erneth upon the gravel,
And fulleth the duches about the wal,
Much bliſſe ther is over al,
Ne dar he ſeeke non other leche
That mai riht of this water eleche.
[84] In y thulke derworthi faire toure
Ther ſtont a trone with much honour,
Of whit yvori and feirore of liht
Than the ſomeres day when heis briht,
With cumpas i throwen and with gin al i do
Seven ſteppes ther beoth therto, &c.
The ffoure ſmale toures abouten,
That with the heige tour withouten,
Ffour had thewes that about hire i ſeoth,
Ffoure vertus cardinals beoth, &c.
And z which beoth threo bayles get,
That with the carnels ben ſo wel i ſet,
And i caſt with cumpas and walled abouten
That wileth the heihe tour with outen:
Bote the inmoſt bayle i wote
Bitokeneth hire holi maydenhode, &c.
The middle bayle that wite ge,
Bitokeneth hire holi chaſtite
And ſethen the overmaſt bayle
Bitokeneth hire holi ſpoſaile, &c.
The ſeven kernels abouten,
That with greot gin beon y wrought withouten,
And witeth this caſtel ſo well,
With arwe and with quarrel a,
That beoth the ſeven vertues with wunne
To overcum the ſeven deadly ſinne, &c. b

[85] It was undoubtedly a great impediment to the cultivation and progreſſive improvement of the Engliſh language at theſe early periods, that the beſt authors choſe to write in French. Many of Robert Groſthead's pieces are indeed in Latin; yet where the ſubject was popular, and not immediately addreſſed to learned readers, he adopted the Romance or French language, in preference to his native Engliſh. Of this, as we have already ſeen, his MANUEL PECHE, and his CHATEAU D' AMOUR, are ſufficient proofs, both in proſe and verſe: and his example and authority muſt have had conſiderable influence in encouraging this practice. Peter Langtoft, our Auguſtine canon of Bridlington, not only compiled the large chronicle of England, above recited, in French; but even tranſlated Herbert Boſcam's Latin Life of Thomas of Beckett into French rhymes c. John Hoveden, a native of London, doctor of divinity, and chaplain to queen Eleanor mother of Edward the firſt, wrote in French rhymes a book entitled, Roſarium de Nativitate, Paſſione, Aſcenſione, Jheſu Chriſti d. Various other proofs have before occurred. Lord Lyttelton quotes from the Lambeth library a manuſcript poem in French or Norman verſe on the ſubject of king Dermod's expulſion from Ireland, and the recovery of his kingdom e. I could mention many others. Anonymous French [86] pieces both in proſe and verſe, and written about this time, are innumerable in our manuſcript repoſitories f. Yet this faſhion proceeded rather from neceſſity and a principle of convenience, than from affectation. The vernacular Engliſh, as I have before remarked, was rough and unpoliſhed: and although theſe writers poſſeſſed but few ideas of taſte and elegance, they embraced a foreign tongue, almoſt equally familiar, and in which they could convey their ſentiments with greater eaſe, grace, and propriety. It ſhould alſo be conſidered, that our moſt eminent ſcholars received a part of their education at the univerſity of Paris. Another, and a very material circ [...]mſtance, concurred to countenance this faſhionable practice of compoſing in French. It procured them readers of rank and diſtinction. The Engliſh court, for more than two hundred years after the conqueſt, was totally French: and our kings, either from birth, kindred, or marriage, and from a perpetual intercourſe, ſeem to have been more cloſely connected with France than with England. It was however fortunate that theſe French pieces were written, as ſome of them met [87] with their tranſlators: who perhaps unable to aſpire to the praiſe of original writers, at leaſt by this means contributed to adorn their native tongue: and who very probably would not have written at all, had not original writers, I mean their cotemporaries who wrote in French, furniſhed them with models and materials.

Hearne, to whoſe diligence even the poetical antiquarian is much obliged, but whoſe conjectures are generally wrong, imagines, that the old Engliſh metrical romance, called RYCHARDE CUER DE LYON, was written by Robert de Brunne. It is at leaſt probable, that the leiſure of monaſtic life produced many rhymers. From proofs here given we may fairly conclude, that the monks often wrote for the minſtrels: and although our Gilbertine brother of Brunne choſe to relate true ſtories in plain language, yet it is reaſonable to ſuppoſe, that many of our antient tales in verſe containing fictitious adventures, were written, although not invented, in the religious houſes. The romantic hiſtory of Guy earl of Warwick, is expreſſly ſaid, on good authority, to have been written by Walter of Exeter, a Franciſcan Friar of Carocus in Cornwall, about the year 1292 g. The libraries of the monaſteries were full of romances. Bevis of Southampton, in French, was in the [88] library of the abbey of Leiceſter h. In that of the abbey of Glaſtonbury, we find Liber de Excidio Trojae, Geſta Ricardi Regis, and Geſta Alexandri Regis, in the year 1247 i. Theſe were ſome of the moſt favorite ſubjects of romance, as I ſhall ſhew hereafter. In a catalogue of the library of the abbey of Peterborough are recited, Amys and Amelion k, Sir Triſtram, Guy de Burgoyne, and Geſta Oſuelis l, all in French: together with Merlin's Prophecies, Turpin's Charlemagne, and the Deſtruction of Troy m. Among the books given to Wincheſter college by the founder William of Wykeham, a prelate of high rank, about the year 1387, we have Chronicon Trojae n. In the library of Windſor college, in the reign of Henry the eighth, were diſcovered in the midſt of miſſals, pſalters, and homilies, Duo libri Gallici de Romances, de quibus unus liber de ROSE, et alius difficilis materiae o. This is the language of the king's commiſſioners, who ſearched the archives of the college: the firſt of theſe two French romances is perhaps John de Meun's Roman de la Roſe. A friar, in Pierce Plowman's Viſions, is ſaid to be much better acquainted with the Rimes of [89] Robin Hood, and Randal of Cheſter, than with his Pater-noſter p. The monks, who very naturally ſought all opportunities of amuſement in their retired and confined ſituations, were fond of admitting the minſtrels to their feſtivals; and were hence familiariſed to romantic ſtories. Seventy ſhillings were expended on minſtrels, who accompanied their ſongs with the harp, at the feaſt of the inſtallation of Ralph abbot of Saint Auguſtin's at Canterbury, in the year 1309. At this magnificent ſolemnity, ſix thouſand gueſts were preſent in and about the hall of the abbey q. It was not deemed an occurrence unworthy to be recorded, that when Adam de Orleton, biſhop of Wincheſter, viſited his cathedral priory of Saint Swithin in that city, a minſtrel named Herbert was introduced, who ſung the Song of Colbrond a Daniſh giant, and the tale of Queen Emma delivered from the plough-ſhares, in the hall of the prior Alexander de Herriard, in the year 1338. I will give this very curious article, as it appears in an antient regiſter of the priory. ‘"Et cantabat Joculator quidam nomine Herebertus CANTICUM Colbrondi, necnon Geſtum Emme regine a judicio ignis liberate, in aula prioris r."’ In an annual accompt-roll of the Auguſtine priory of Biceſter in Oxfordſhire, for the year 1431, the following entries relating to this ſubject occur, which I chuſe to exhibit in the words of the original. ‘"DONA PRIORIS. Et in datis cuidam citharizatori in die ſancti Jeronimi, viii. d.—Et in datis alt [...]ri citharizatori [90] in ffeſto Apoſtolorum Simonis et Jude cognomine Hendy, xii d.—Et in datis cuidam minſtrallo domini le Talbot infra natale domini, xii. d.—Et in datis miniſtrallis domini le Straunge in die Epiphanie, xx. d.—Et in datis duobus miniſtrallis domini Lovell in craſtino S. Marci evangeliſte, xvi. d.—Et in datis miniſtrallis ducis Glo [...]eſtrie in ffeſto nativitatis beate Marie, iii s. iv d."’ I muſt add, as it likewiſe paints the manners of the monks, ‘"Et in datis cuidam Urſario, iiii d. s"’ In the prior's accounts of the Auguſtine canons of Maxtoke in Warwickſhire, of various years in the reign of Henry the ſixth, one of the ſtyles, or general heads, is DE JOCULATORIBUS ET MIMIS. I will, without apology, produce ſome of the particular articles; not diſtinguiſhing between Mimi, Joculatores, Jocatores, Luſores, and Cithariſtae: who all ſeem alternately, and at different times, to have exerciſed the ſame arts of popular entertainment. ‘"Joculatori in ſeptimana S. Michaelis, iv d.—Cithariſte tempore natalis domini et aliis jocatoribus, iv d.—Mimis de Solihull, vi d.—Mimis de Coventry, xx d.—Mimo domini Ferrers, vi d.—Luſoribus de Eton, viii d.—Luſoribus de Coventry, viii d.—Luſoribus de Daventry, xii d.—Mimis de Coventry, xii d.—Mimis domini de Aſteley, xii d.—Item iiii. mimis domini de Warewyck, x d.—Mimo ceco, ii d.—Sex mimis domini de Clynton.—Duobus Mimis de Rugeby, x d.—Cuidam cithariſte, vi d.—Mimis domini de Aſteley, xx d.—Cuidam cithariſte, vi d.—Cithariſte de Coventry, vi. d.—Duobus cithariſtis de Coventry, viii d.—Mimis de Rugeby, viii d.—Mimis domini de Buckeridge, xx d.—Mimis domini de Stafford, ii s.—Luſoribus de Coleſhille, viii d. t"’ Here we may obſerve, that [91] the minſtrels of the nobility, in whoſe families they were conſtantly retained, travelled about the county to the neighbouring monaſteries; and that they generally received better gratuities for theſe occaſional performances than the others. Solihull, Rugby, Coleſhill, Eton, or Nun-Eton, and Coventry, are all towns ſituated at no great diſtance from the priory u. Nor muſt I omit that two minſtrels from Coventry made part of the feſtivity at the conſecration of John, prior of this convent, in the year 1432, viz. ‘"Dat. duobus mimis de Coventry in die conſecrationis prioris, xii d. w"’ Nor is [92] it improbable, that ſome of our greater monaſteries kept minſtrels of their own in regular pay. So early as the year 1180, in the reign of Henry the ſecond, Jeffrey the harper received a corrody, or annuity, from the Benedictine abbey of Hide near Wincheſter x; undoubtedly on condition that he ſhould ſerve the monks in the profeſſion of a harper on public occaſions. The abbies of Conway and Stratflur in Wales reſpectively maintained a bard y: and the Welſh monaſteries in general were the grand repoſitories of the poetry of the Britiſh bards z.

In the ſtatutes of New-college at Oxford, given about the year 1380, the founder biſhop William of Wykeham orders his ſcholars, for their recreation on feſtival days in the hall after dinner and ſupper, to entertain themſelves with ſongs, and other diverſions conſiſtent with decency: and to recite poems, chronicles of kingdoms, the wonders of the world, together with the like compoſitions, not miſbecoming the clerical character. I will tranſcribe his words. ‘"Quando ob dei reverentiam aut ſue matris, vel alterius fancti cujuſcunque, tempore yemali, ignis in aula ſociis miniſtratur; tunc ſcolaribus et ſociis poſt tempus prandii aut cene, liceat gracia recreationis, in aula, in Cantilenis et aliis ſolaciis honeſtis, moram facere condecentem; et Poemata, regnorum Chronicas, et mundi hujus Mirabilia, ac cetera [93] que ſtatum clericalem condecorant, ſerioſius pertractare a."’ The latter part of this injunction ſeems to be an explication of the former: and on the whole it appears, that the Cantilenae which the ſcholars ſhould ſing on theſe occaſions, were a ſort of Poemata, or poetical Chronicles, containing general hiſtories of kingdoms b. It is natural to conclude, that they preferred pieces of Engliſh hiſtory: and among Hearne's manuſcripts I have diſcovered ſome fragments on vellum c, containing metrical chronicles of our kings; which, from the nature of the compoſition ſeem to have been uſed for this purpoſe, and anſwer our idea of theſe general Chronicae regnorum. Hearne ſuppoſed them to have been written about the time of Richard the firſt d: but I rather aſſign them to the reign of Edward the firſt, who died in the year 1307. But the reader ſhall judge. The following fragment begins abruptly with ſome rich preſents which king Athelſtan received from Charles the third, king of France: a nail which pierced our Saviour's feet on the croſs, a ſpear with which Charlemagne fought againſt the Saracens and which ſome ſuppoſed to be the ſpear which pierced our Saviour's ſide, a part of the holy croſs encloſed in cryſtal, three of the thorns from the crown on our Saviour's head, and a crown formed entirely of precious ſtones, which wer [...] endued with a myſtical power of reconciling enemies.

Ther in was cloſyd a nayle grete
That went thorw oure lordis fete.
[94] Gyte he preſentyd hym the ſpere
That Charles was wont to bere
Agens the Saraſyns in batayle;
Many ſwore and ſayde ſaunfayle f,
That with that ſpere ſmerte g
Our lorde was ſtungen to the herte.
And a partyh of the holi croſſe
In cryſtal done in a cloos.
And three of the thornes kene
That was in Criſtes hede ſene,
And a ryche crowne of golde
Non rycher kyng wer y ſcholde,
Y made within and withowt
With pretius ſtonys alle a bowte,
Of eche manir vertu thry i
The ſtonys hadde the mayſtry
To make frendes that evere were fone,
Such a crowne was never none,
To none erthelyche mon y wrogth
Syth God made the world of nogth.
Kyng Athelſtune was glad and blythe,
And thankud the kynge of Ffraunce ſwythe,
Of gyfts nobul and ryche
In cryſtiante was no hym leche.
In his tyme, I underſtonde,
Was Guy of Warwyk yn Inglonde,
And ffor Englond dede batayle
With a mygti gyande, without fayle;
His name was hote Colbrond [...]
Gwy hym ſlough with his hond.
[95] Seven yere kyng Athelſton
Held this his kyngdome
In Inglond that ys ſo mury,
He dyedde and lythe at Malmeſbury k.
After hym regned his brother Edmond
And was kyng of Ingelond,
And he ne regned here,
But unneth nine yere,
Sith hyt be falle at a feſte
At Caunterburyl a cas unwreſt m,
As the kyng at the mete ſat
He behelde and under that
Of a theef that was deſgyſe
Amonge hys knyghtes god and wiſe;
The kyng was heſty and ſterte uppe
And hent the thefe by the toppe n [...]
And caſt hym doune on a ſton:
The theefe brayde out a knyfe a non
And the kyng to the hert threſte,
Or any of his knightes weſte o:
The baronys ſterte up anone,
And ſlough the theefe ſwythe ſone,
But arſtp he wounded many one,
Thrugh the ffleſh and thrugh the bone:
[96] To Glaſtenbury they bare the kynge,
And ther made his buryinge q.
After that Edmund was ded,
Reyned his brother Edred;
Edred reyned here
But unnethe thre yere, &c.
After hym reyned ſeynt Edgare,
A wyſe kynge and a warre:
Thilke nyghte that he was bore,
Seynt Dunſtan was glad ther fore;
Ffor herde that ſwete ſtevene
Of the angels of hevene:
In the ſonge thei ſonge bi ryme,
"Y bleſſed be that ylke tyme
"That Edgare y bore y was,
"Ffor in hys tyme ſchal be pas,
"Ever more in hys kyngdome r."
The while he liveth and ſeynt Dunſton,
Ther was ſo meche grete foyſon s,
Of all good in every tonne;
All wyle that laſt his lyve,
Ne lored he never fyght ne ſtryve.

* * *

The knyghtes of Wales, all and ſome
Han to ſwery and othes holde,
And trewe to be as y told,
To bring trynge hym trewaget yeare,
CCC. wolves eche ȝere;
[97] And ſo they dyde trewliche
Three yere pleyneverlyche,
The ferthe yere myght they fynde non
So clene thay wer all a gon,

* * *

And the kyng hyt hem forgat
For he nolde hem greve,
Edgare was an holi man
That oure lorde, &c.

Although we have taken our leave of Robert de Brunne, yet as the ſubject is remarkable, and affords a ſtriking portraiture of antient manners, I am tempted to tranſcribe that chronicler's deſcription of the preſents received by king Athelſtane from the king of France; eſpecially as it contains ſome new circumſtances, and ſupplies the defects of our fragment. It is from his verſion of Peter Langtoft's chronicle abovementioned.

At the feſte of oure lady the A [...]umpcion,
Went the king fro London to Abindon.
Thider out of France, fro Charles kyng of fame,
Com the of Boloyn, Adulphus was his name,
And the duke of Burgoyn Edmonde ſonne Reynere.
The brouht kynge Athelſton preſent withouten pere:
Fro Charles kyng ſanz faile thei brouht a gonfaynoun u
That ſaynt Morice in batayle before the legioun;
And ſcharp lance that thrilled Jheſu ſide;
And a ſuerd of golde, in the hilte did men hide
Tuo of tho nayles that war thorh Jheſu f [...]te;
Tachedw on the croys, the blode thei out lete;
And ſom of the thornes that don were on his heved,
And a fair pece that of the croys leved x,
That ſaynt Heleyn ſonne at the batayle won
[98] Of the ſoudan of Aſkalone his name was Madan.
Than blewe the trumpets full loud and full ſchille,
The kyng com in to the halle that hardy was of wille:
Than ſpak Reyner Edmunde ſonne, for he was meſſengere,
"Athelſtan, my lord the gretes, Charles that has no pere;
"He ſends the this preſent, and ſais, he wille hym bynde
"To the thorhy Ilde thi ſiſtere, and tille alle thi kynde."
Befor the meſſengers was the maiden brouht,
Of body ſo gentill was non in erthe wrouht;
No non ſo faire of face, of ſpech ſo luſty,
Scho granted befor tham all to Charles hir body:
And ſo did the kyng, and alle the baronage,
Mikelle was the richeſſe thei purveied in hir paſſage z.

Another of theſe fragments, evidently of the ſame compoſition, ſeems to have been an introduction to the whole. It begins with the martyrdom of ſaint Alban, and paſſes on to the introduction of Waſſail, and to the names and diviſion of England.

And now he ys alle ſo hole y fonde,
As whan he was y leyde on grounde.
And gyf ge wille nota trow me,
Goth to Weſtmynſtere, and ye mow ſe.
In that tyme Seynt Albon,
For Goddys loveb tholed martirdome,
And xl. yere with ſchame andc ſchonde
Wasd drowen oute of Englond.
In that tymee weteth welle,
Cam ferſt Waſſayle and drynkehayl
[99] In to this lond, with owtef wene,
Thurghe a maydeg brygh andh ſchene.
Sche wasi cleput mayde Ynge.
For hur many dothe rede and ſynge
Lordyngysk gent and free.
This lond hath y hadde namys thre.
Fereſt hit was cleput Albyon,
And ſythl for Brut Bretayne a non,
And now Ynglond cleput hit ys,
Aftir mayde Ynge y wyſſe.
Thilke Ynge fro Saxone was come,
And with here many a moder ſonne.
For gret hungure y underſtonde
Ynge went oute of hure londe.
And thorow leue of oure kyng
In this land ſche hadde reſtyng.
As meche lande of the kyng ſchem bade,
As with a hole hyden me mygth ſprede.
The kyngo graunt he bonne.
A ſtrong caſtel ſche made ſone,
And whan the caſtel was al made,
The kyng to the mete ſche p bade.
The kyng graunted here a none.
He wyſt not what thay wold done.

* * *

And ſayde toq ham in this manere,
"The kyng to morow ſchal ete here.
"He and alle hys men,
"Everr one of us and one of them,
[100] "To geder ſchal ſitte at the mete.
"And when thay have al moſt y ete,
"I wole ſay waſſayle to the kyng,
"And ſle hym with oute anys leyng.
"And loke that ye in this manere
"Eche of gow ſle hist fere."
And ſo ſche dede thenne,
Slowe the kyng and alle hys men.
And thus, thorowgh hereu queyntyſe,
This londe was wonne in this wyſe.
Sythw a non ſone anx ſwythe
Was Englondy deled on fyve,
To fyve kynggys trewelyche,
That were nobyl and ſwythe ryche.
That one hadde alle the londe of Kente,
That ys free and ſwythe gente.
And in hys lond bysſhopus tweye.
Worthy menz where theye.
The archebysſhop of Caunturbery,
And of Rocheſtore that ys mery.
The kyng of Eſſex oa renon
He hadde to his portion
Weſtſchire, Barkſchire,
Souſſex, Southamptſhire.
And ther to Dorſetſhyre,
All Cornewalle and Devenſhire.
All thys were of hysb anpyre.
The king hadde on his hond
Five bysſhopes ſtarke and ſtrong,
Of Salusſbury was that on.

As to the Mirabilia Mundi, mentioned in the ſtatutes of New College at Oxford, in conjunction with theſe Poemata [101] and Regnorum Chronicae, the immigrations of the Arabians into Europe and the cruſades produced numberleſs accounts, partly true and partly fabulous, of the wonders ſeen in the eaſtern countries; which falling into the hands of the monks, grew into various treatiſes, under the title of Mirabilia Mundi. There were alſo ſome profeſſed travellers into the Eaſt in the dark ages, who ſurpriſed the weſtern world with their marvellous narratives, which could they have been contradicted would have been believed c. At the court of the grand Khan, perſons of all nations and religions, if they diſcovered any diſtinguiſhed degree of abilities, were kindly entertained and often preferred..

In the Bodleian library we have a ſuperb vellum manuſcript, decorated with antient deſcriptive paintings and illuminations, entitled, Hiſtoire de Graunt Kaan et des MERVEILLES DU MONDE d. The ſame work is among the royal manuſcripts e. A Latin epiſtle, ſaid to be tranſlated from the Greek by Cornelius Nepos, is an extremely common manuſcript, entitled, De ſitu et Mirabilibus Indiae f. It is from [102] Alexander the Great to his preceptor Ariſtotle: and the Greek original was moſt probably drawn from ſome of the fabulous authors of Alexander's ſtory.

There is a manuſcript, containing La Chartre que Preſtre Jehan maunda a Fredewik l' Empereur DE MERVAILLES DE SA TERRE g. This was Frederick Barbaroſſa, emperor of Germany, or his ſucceſſor; both of whom were celebrated for their many ſucceſsful enterpriſes in the holy land, before the year 1230. Preſter John, a chriſtian, was emperor of India. I find another tract, DE MIRABILIBUS Terrae Sanctae h. A book of Sir John Mandeville, a famous traveller into the Eaſt about the year 1340, is under the title of Mirabilia Mundi i. His Itinerary might indeed have the ſame title k. An Engliſh title in the Cotton library is, ‘"The Voiage and Travailes of Sir John Maundevile knight, which treateth of the way to Hieruſaleme and of the MARVEYLES of Inde with other ilands and countryes."’ In the Cotton library there is a piece with the title, Sanctorum Loca, MIRABILIA MUNDI, &c l. Afterwards the wonders of other countries [103] were added: and when this ſort of reading began to grow faſhionable, Gyraldus Cambrenſis compoſed his book De MIRABILIBUS Hiberniae m. There is alſo another De MIRABILIBUS Angliae n. At length the ſuperſtitious curioſity of the times was gratified with compilations under the comprehenſive title of MIRABILIA Hiberniae, Angliae, et Orientalis o. But enough has been ſaid of theſe infatuations. Yet the hiſtory of human credulity is a neceſſary ſpeculation to thoſe who trace the gradations of human knowledge. Let me add, that a ſpirit of rational enquiry into the topographical ſtate of foreign countries, the parent of commerce and of a thouſand improvements, took its riſe from theſe viſions.

I cloſe this ſection with an elegy on the death of king Edward the firſt, who died in the year 1307.

I.
Alle that beoth of huert trewe p
A ſtounde herkneth to my ſonge q,
Of duel that Dethe has dihte us newe.
That maketh me ſeke and ſorewe amonge:
Of a knyht that wes ſo ſtronge
Of whom god hath done ys wille;
Methunchethr that Deth has don us wronge
That hes ſo ſone ſhall ligge ſtille.
[104]II.
Al England ahtet forte knowe:
Of whom that ſong ys that yſynge,
Of Edward kynge that ys ſo bolde,
Gentu al this world is nome con ſpringe:
Treweſt mon of al thinge,
Ant in werre ware and wiſe;
For hym we ahte our hondenw wrynge,
Of criſtendome he bare the pris.
III.
Byfore that oure kynge was ded
He ſpeke as mon that was in care
"Clerkes, knyhts, barrons, he ſed
"Ycharge oux by oure ſware y
"That ye be to Englonde trewe,
"Y deȝez y ne may lyven na more;
"Helpeth mi ſone, ant crowneth him newe,
"For he isa neſt to buen y-core.
IV.
"Iche biqueth myn hirte aryht,
"That hit be write at mi devys,
"Over the ſea that Hueb be diht,
"With fourſcore knyghtes al of pris,
"In werre that buen war aut wys,
"Agein the hethene for te fyhte,
"To wynne the croize that lowe lys,
"Myſelf ycholde gef thet y myhte.
[105]V.
Kyng of Fraunce! thou hevedeſt ſunne c,
That thou the counſail woldeſt fonde,
To latted the wille of kyng Edward,
To wende to the holi londe;
Thet oure kynge hede take on honde,
All Engelond toe ȝeme and wyſſe f,
To wenden in to the holy londe
To wynnen us hevericheg bliſſe.
VI.
The meſſager to the pope com
And ſeyede that our kynge was dede h,
Ys i owne honde the lettre he nom k,
Ywis his herte wes ful gret:
The pope himſelf the lettre redde,
And ſpec a word of gret honour.
"Alas! he ſeid, is Edward ded?
"Of criſtendome he ber the flour!"
[106]VII.
The pope is to chaumbre wende
For dole ne mihte he ſpeke na more;
Ant aftur cardinales he ſende
That muche couthen of Criſtes lore.
Both the laſſel ant eke the more
Bed hem both red ant ſynge:
Gret deol men myhte ſe thore m,
Many mon is honde wrynge.
VIII.
The pope of Peyters ſtod at is maſſe
With ful gret ſolempnete,
Ther me cono the ſoule bliſſe:
"Kyng Edward, honoured thou be:
"God love thi ſone come after the,
"Bringe to [...]nde that thou haſt bygonne,
"The holy crois ymade of tre
"So fain thou woldeſt hit have ywonne.
IX.
"Jeruſalem, thou haſt ilore
"The floure of al chivalrie,
"Now kyng Edward liveth na more,
"Alas, that he yet ſhulde deye!
"He wolde ha rered up ful heyge
"Our baners that bueth broht to grounde:
"Wel longe we may clepep and crie,
"Er we ſuch a kyng have yfounde!"
[107]X.
Now is Edward of Carnarvan q,
Kyng of Engelond al aplyht r;
God lete hem ner be worſe man
Then his fader ne laſſe of myht,
To holden is pore man to ryht
And underſtende good counſail,
All Englond for to wyſſe and dyht
Of gode knightes darhs hym nout fail.
XI.
Thah mi tonge were mad of ſtel
Ant min herte yzote of bras
The godneſs myht y never telle
That with kyng Edward was.
Kyng as thou art cleped conquerour
In vch battaile thou heedeſt prys,
Gode bringe thi ſoule to the honeur
That ever was and ever ys t.

That the pope ſhould here pronounce the funeral panegyric of Edward the firſt, is by no means ſurpriſing, if we conſider the predominant ideas of the age. And in the true ſpirit of theſe ideas, the poet makes this illuſtrious monarch's atchievements in the holy land, his principal and leading topic. But there is a particular circumſtance alluded to in [108] theſe ſtanzas, relating to the cruſading character of Edward, together with its conſequences, which needs explanation. Edward, in the decline of life, had vowed a ſecond expedition to Jeruſalem: but finding his end approach, in his laſt moments he devoted the prodigious ſum of thirty thouſand pounds to provide one hundred and forty knights u, who ſhould carry his heart into Paleſtine. But this appointment of the dying king was never executed. Our elegiſt, and the chroniclers, impute the crime of witholding ſo pious a legacy to the advice of the king of France, whoſe daughter Iſabel was married to the ſucceeding king. But it is more probable to ſuppoſe, that Edward the ſecond, and his profligate minion Piers Gaveſton, diſſipated the money in their luxurious and expenſive pleaſures.

SECT. III.

[109]

WE have ſeen, in the preceding ſection, that the character of our poetical compoſition began to be changed about the reign of the firſt Edward: that either fictitious adventures were ſubſtituted by the minſtrels in the place of hiſtorical and traditionary facts, or reality diſguiſed by the miſrepreſentations of invention; and that a taſte for ornamental and even exotic expreſſion gradually prevailed over the rude ſimplicity of the native Engliſh phraſeology. This change, which with our language affected our poetry, had been growing for ſome time; and among other cauſes was occaſioned by the introduction and increaſe of the tales of chivalry.

The ideas of chivalry, in an imperfect degree, had been of old eſtabliſhed among the Gothic tribes. The faſhion of challenging to ſingle combat, the pride of ſe [...]king dangerous adventures, and the ſpirit of avenging and protecting the fair ſex, ſeem to have been peculiar to the northern nations in the moſt uncultivated ſtate of Europe. All theſe cuſtoms were afterwards encouraged and confirmed by correſponding circumſtances in the feudal conſtitution. At length the cruſades excited a new ſpirit of enterpriſe, and introduced into the courts and ceremonies of European princes a higher degree of ſplendor and parade, caught from the riches and magnificence of eaſtern cities a. Theſe oriental expeditions [110] eſtabliſhed a taſte for hyperbolical deſcription, and propagated an infinity of marvellous tales, which men returning from diſtant countries eaſily impoſed on credulous and ignorant minds. The unparalleled emulation with which the nations of chriſtendom univerſally embraced this holy cauſe, the pride with which emperors, kings, barons, earls, biſhops, and knights ſtrove to excel each other on this intereſting occaſion, not only in proweſs and heroiſm, but in ſumptuous equipages, gorgeous banners, armorial cogniſances, ſplendid pavilions, and other expenſive articles of a ſimilar nature, diffuſed a love of war, and a fondneſs for military pomp. Hence their very diverſions became warlike, and the martial enthuſiaſm of the times appeared in tilts and tournaments. Theſe practices and opinions co-operated with the kindred ſuperſtitions of dragons b, dwarfs, fairies, giants, and enchanters, which the traditions of the Gothic ſcalders had already planted; and produced that extraordinary ſpecies of compoſition which has been called ROMANCE.

Before theſe expeditions into the eaſt became faſhionable, the principal and leading ſubjects of the old fablers were the atchievements of king Arthur with his knights of the round table, and of Charlemagne with his twelve peers. But in the romances written after the holy war, a new ſet of champions, of conqueſts and of countries, were introduced. Trebizonde took place of Rouncevalles, and Godfrey of Bulloigne, Solyman, Nouraddin, the caliphs, the ſouldans, and the cities of Aegypt and Syria, became the favourite topics. The troubadours of Provence, an idle and unſettled race of men, took up arms, and followed their barons [111] in prodigious multitudes to the conqueſt of Jeruſalem. They made a conſiderable part of the houſhold of the nobility of France. Louis the ſeventh, king of France, not only entertained them at his court very liberally, but commanded a conſiderable company of them into his retinue, when he took ſhip for Paleſtine, that they might ſolace him with their ſongs during the dangers and inconveniencies of ſo long a voyage c. The antient chronicles of France mention Legions de poetes as embarking in this wonderful enterpriſe d. Here a new and more copious ſource of fabling was opened: in theſe expeditions they picked up numberleſs extravagant ſtories, and at their return enriched romance with an infinite variety of oriental ſcenes and fictions. Thus theſe later wonders, in ſome meaſure, ſupplanted the former: they had the recommendation of novelty, and gained ſtill more attention, as they came from a greater diſtance e.

In the mean time we ſhould recollect, that the Saracens or Arabians, the ſame people which were the object of the cruſades, had acquired an eſtabliſhm [...]nt in Spain about the ninth century: and that by means of this earlier intercourſe, many of their fictions and fables, together with their literature, muſt have been known in Europe before the chriſtian armies invaded Aſia. It is for this reaſon the elder Spaniſh romances have profeſſedly more Arabian alluſions than any other. Cervantes makes the imagined writer of [112] Don Quixote's hiſtory an Arabian. Yet excluſive of their domeſtic and more immediate connection with this eaſtern people, the Spaniards from temper and conſtitution were extravagantly fond of chivalrous exerciſes. Some critics have ſuppoſed, that Spain having learned the art or faſhion of romance-writing, from their naturaliſed gueſts the Arabians, communicated it, at an early period, to the reſt of Europ [...] f.

It has b [...]en imagined that the firſt romances were compoſed in metre, and ſung to the harp by the poets of Provence at f [...]ſtival ſolemnities: but an ingenious Frenchman, who has made deep reſearches into this ſort of literature, attempts to prove, that this mode of reciting romantic adventures was in high reputation among the natives of Normandy, above a century before the troubadours of Provence, who are generally ſuppoſed to have led the way to the poets of Italy, Spain, and France, commenced about the year 1162 g. If the critic means to inſinuate, that the French troubadours acquired their art of verſifying from theſe Norman bards, this reaſoning will favour the ſyſtem of thoſe, who contend that metrical romances lineally took their riſe from the hiſtorical odes of the Scandinavian ſcalds: for the Normans were a branch of the Scandinavian ſtock. But Fauchett, at the ſame time that he allows the Normans to have been fond of chanting the praiſes of their heroes in verſe, expreſſly h [113] pronounces that they borrowed this practice from the Franks or French.

It is not my buſineſs, nor is it of much conſequence, to diſcuſs this obſcure point, which properly belongs to the French antiquaries. I therefore proceed to obſerve, that our Richard the firſt, who began his reign in the year 1189, a diſtinguiſhed hero of the cruſades, a moſt magnificent patron of chivalry, and a Provencial poet h, invited to his court many minſtrels or troubadours from France, whom he loaded with honours and rewards i. Theſe poets imported into England a great multitude of their tales and ſongs; which before or about the reign of Edward the ſecond became familiar and popular among our anceſtors, who were ſufficiently acquainted with the French language. The [114] moſt early notice of a profeſſed book of chivalry in England, as it ſhould ſeem, appears under the reign of Henry the third; and is a curious and evident proof of the reputation and eſteem in which this ſort of compoſition was held at that period. In the revenue-roll of the twenty-firſt year of that king, there is an entry of the expence of ſilver claſps and ſtuds for the king's great book of romances. This was in the year 1237. But I will give the article in its original dreſs. ‘"Et in firmaculis hapſis et clavis argenteis ad magnum librum ROMANCIS regis k."’ That this ſuperb volume was in French, may be partly collected from the title which they gave it: and it is highly probable, that it contained the Romance of Richard the firſt, on which I ſhall enlarge below. At leaſt the victorious atchievements of that monarch were ſo famous in the reign of Henry the ſecond, as to be made the ſubject of a picture in the royal palace of Clarendon near Saliſbury. A circumſtance which likewiſe appears from the ſame antient record, under the year 1246. ‘"Et in camera regis ſubtus capellam regis apud Clarendon lambruſcanda, et muro ex tranſverſo illius camerae amovendo et hyſtoria Antiochiae in eadem depingenda cum DUELLO REGIS RICARDI l."’ To theſe anecdotes we may add, that in the royal library at Paris there is, ‘"Lancelot du Lac mis en Francois par Robert de Borron, du commandement d' Henri roi de Angleterre avec figures m."’ And the ſame manuſcript occurs twice again in that library in three volumes, and in four volumes of the largeſt folio n. Which of our [115] Henrys it was who thus commanded the romance of LANCELOT DU LAC to be tranſlated into French, is indeed uncertain: but moſt probably it was Henry the third juſt mentioned, as the tranſlator Robert Borron is placed ſoon after the year 1200 o.

But not only the pieces of the French minſtrels, written in French, were circulated in England about this time; but tranſlations of theſe pieces were made into Engliſh, which containing much of the French idiom, together with a ſort of poetical phraſeology before unknown, produced various innovations in our ſtyle. Theſe tranſlations, it is probable, were enlarged with additions, or improved with alterations of the ſtory. Hence it was that Robert de Brunne, as we have already ſeen, complained of ſtrange and quaint Engliſh, of the changes made in the ſtory of SIR TRISTRAM, and of the liberties aſſumed by his cotemporary minſtrels in altering facts and coining new phraſes. Yet theſe circumſtances enriched our tongue, and extended the circle of our poetry. And for what reaſon theſe fables were ſo much admired and encouraged, in preference to the languid poetical chronicles of Robert of Glouceſter and Robert of Brunne, it is obvious to conjecture. The gallantries of chivalry were exhibited with new ſplendour, and the times were growing more refined. The Norman faſhions were adopted even in Wales. In the year 1176, a ſplendid carouſal, after the manner of the Normans, was given by a Welſh prince. This was Rhees ap Gryffyth king of South Wales, who at Chriſtmas made a great feaſt in the caſtle of Cardigan, then [116] called Aberteivi, which he ordered to be proclaimed throughout all Britain; and to ‘"which came many ſtrangers, who were honourably received and worthily entertained, ſo that no man departed diſcontented. And among deeds of arms and other ſhewes, Rhees cauſed all the poets of Walesp to come thither: and provided chairs for them to be ſet in his hall, where they ſhould diſpute together to try their cunning and gift in their ſeveral faculties, where great rewards and rich giftes were appointed for the overcomers q."’ [117] Tilts and tournaments, after a long diſuſe [...] were revived with ſuperiour luſtre in the reign of Edward the firſt. Roger earl of Mortimer, a magnificent baron of that reign, erected in his ſtately caſtle of Kenelwo [...]th a Round Table, at which he reſtored the rites of king Arthur. He entertained in this caſtle the conſtant retinue of one hundred knights, and as many ladies; and invited thither adventurers in chivalry from every part of chriſtendom r. Theſe fables were therefore an image of the manners, cuſtoms, mode of life, and favourite amuſements, which now prevailed, not only in France but in England, accompanied with all the decorations which fancy could invent, and recommended by the graces of romantic fiction. They complimented the ruling paſſion of the times, and cheriſhed in a high degree the faſhionable ſentiments of ideal honour, and fantaſtic fortitude.

Among Richard's French minſtrels, the names only of three are recorded. I have already m [...]ntioned Blondell de Neſle. Fouqu [...]t of Marſeilles, and Anſ [...]lme Fayditt, many of whoſe compoſitions ſtill remain, were alſo among the poets patroniſed and entertained in England by Richard. They are both celebrated and ſometimes imitated by Dante and Petrarch. Fayditt, a native of Avignon, united the profeſſions of muſic and verſe; and the Provencials uſed to call his poetry de bon mots e de bon ſon. Petrarch is ſuppoſed to have copied, in his TRIUMFO DI AMORE, many ſtrokes of high imagination, from a poem written by Fayditt on a ſimilar ſubject: particularly in his deſcription of the Palace of Love. But Petrarch has not left Fayditt without his due panegyric: he ſays that Fayditt's tongue was ſhield, helmet, ſword, and ſpear s. He is likewiſe in Dante's Paradiſe. Fayditt was extremely profuſe and voluptuous. On the [118] death of king Richard, he travelled on foot for near twenty years, ſeeking his fortune; and during this long pilgrimage he married a nun of Aix in Provence, who was young and lively, and could accompany her huſband's tales and ſonnets with her voice. Fouquett de Marſeilles had a beautiful perſon, a ready wit, and a talent for ſinging: theſe popular accompliſhments recommended him to the courts of king Richard, Raymond count of Tholouſe, and Beral de Baulx; where, as the French would ſay, il fit les delices de cour. He fell in love with Adelaſia the wife of Beral, whom he celebrated in his ſongs. One of his poems is entitled, Las complanchas de Beral. On the death of all his lords, he received abſolution for his ſin of poetry, turned monk, and at length was made archbiſhop of Tholouſe t. But among the many French minſtrels invited into England by Richard, it is natural to ſuppoſe, that ſome of them made their magnificent and heroic patron a principal ſubject of their compoſitions u. And this ſubject, by means of the conſtant communication [119] between both nations, probably became no leſs faſhionable in France: eſpecially if we take into the account the general popularity of Richard's character, his love of chivalry, his gallantry in the cruſades, and the favours which he ſo liberally conferred on the minſtrels of that country. We have a romance now remaining in Engliſh rhyme, which celebrates the atchievements of this illuſtrious monarch. It is entitled RICHARD CUER DU LYON, and was probably tranſlated from the French about the period above-mentioned. That it was, at leaſt, tranſlated from the French, appears from the Prologue.

In Fraunce theſe rymes were wroht,
Every Englyſhe ne knew it not.

From which alſo we may gather the popularity of his ſtory, in theſe lines.

King Richard is the beſte w
That is found in any geſte x.

That this romance, either in French or Engliſh, exiſted before the year 1300, is evident from its being cited by Robert of Glouceſter, in his relation of Richard's reign. ‘In Romance of him imade me it may finde iwrite z.’ This tale is alſo mentioned as a romance of ſome antiquity among other famous romances, in the prologue of a voluminous metrical tranſlation of Guido de Colonna, attributed to Lidgate y. It is likewiſe frequently quoted by Robert [120] de Brunne, who wrote much about the ſame time with Robert of Glouceſter.

Whan Philip tille Acres cam litelle was his dede,
The ROMANCE ſais gret ſham who ſo that pasz wil rede.
The ROMANCER it ſais Richard did make a pele a.—
The ROMANCE of Richard ſais he wan the toun b.—
He tellis in the ROMANCE ſen Acres wonnen was
How God gaf him fair chance at the bataile of Caifas c.—
Sithen at Japhet was ſlayn fanuelle his ſtede
The ROMANS tellis gret pas of his douhty dede d.—
Soudan ſo curteys never drank no wyne,
The ſame the ROMANS ſais that is of Richardyn e.
In priſoun was he bounden, as the ROMANCE ſais,
In cheynes and lede wonden that hevy was of peis f.—

I am not indeed quite certain, whether or no in ſome of theſe inſtances, Robert de Brunne may not mean his French original Peter Langtoft. But in the following lines he mani [...]eſtly refers to our romance of RICHARD, between which and Langtoft's chronicle he expreſſly makes a diſtinction. And in the concluſion of the reign,

[121]
I knowe no more to ryme of dedes of kyng Richard:
Who ſo wille his dedes all the ſothe ſe,
The romance that men reden ther is propirte.
This that I have ſaid it is Pers ſawe g.
Als he in romanceh lad ther after gan I drawe i.

It is not improbable that both theſe rhyming chroniclers cite from the Engliſh tranſlation: if ſo, we may fairly ſuppoſe that this romance was tranſlated in the reign of Edward the firſt, or his predeceſſor Henry the third. Perhaps earlier. This circumſtance throws the French original to a ſtill higher period.

In the royal library at Paris, there is ‘"Hiſtoire de Richard Roi d'Angleterre et de Maquemore d'Irlande en rime k."’ Richard is the laſt of our monarchs whoſe atchievements were adorned with fiction and fable. If not a ſuperſtitious belief of the times, it was an hyperbolical invention ſtarted by the minſtrels, which ſoon grew into a tradition, and is gravely recorded by the chroniclers, that Richard carried with him to the cruſades king Arthur's celebrated ſword CALIBURN, and that he preſented it as a gift, or relic, of ineſtimable value to Tancred king of Sicily, in the year 1191 l. Robert of Brunne calls this ſword a jewel m.

And Richard at that time gaf him a faire juelle,
The gude ſwerd CALIBURNE which Arthur luffed ſo well n.

[122] Indeed the Arabian writer of the life of the ſultan Saladin, mentions ſome exploits of Richard almoſt incredible. But, as lord Lyttelton juſtly obſerves, this hiſtorian is highly valuable on account of the knowledge he had of the facts which he relates. It is from this writer we learn, in the moſt authentic manner, the actions and negotiations of Richard in the courſe of the enterpriſe for the recovery of the holy land, and all the particulars of that memorable war o.

But before I produce a ſpecimen of Richard's Engliſh romance, I ſtand ſtill to give ſome more extracts from its Prologues, which contain matter much to our preſent purpoſe: as they have very fortunately preſerved the ſubjects of many romances, perhaps metrical, then faſhionable both in France and England. And on theſe therefore, and their origin, I ſhall take this opportunity of offering ſome remarks.

Many romayns men make newe
Of good knightes and of trewe:
Of ther dedes men make romauns,
Both in England and in Fraunce;
Of Rowland and of Olyvere,
And of everie Doſepere p,
Of Alyſaundre and Charlemayne,
Of kyng Arthur and of Gawayne;
How they wer knyghtes good and courtoys,
Of Turpin and of Oger the Danois.
Of Troye men rede in ryme,
Of Hector and of Achilles,
What folk they ſlewe in pres, &c q.

And again in a ſecond Prologue, after a pauſe has been made by the minſtrel in the courſe of ſinging the poem.

[123]
Herkene now how my tale gothe
Though I ſwere to you no othe
I wyll you rede romaynes none
Ne ofr Pertonape, ne of Ypomedon,
Ne of Aliſaunder, ne of Charlemayne,
Ne of Arthur, ne of Gawayne,
Ne of Lancelot du Lake,
Ne of Bevis, ne of Guy of Sydrake s [...]
Ne of Ury, ne of Octavian,
Ne of Hector the ſtrong man,
Ne of Jaſon, neither of Achilles,
Ne of Eneas, neither Hercules t.

[124] Here, among others, ſome of the moſt capital and favourite ſtories of romance are mentioned, Arthur, Charlemagne, the Siege of Troy with its appendages, and Alexander the Great: and there are four authors of high eſteem in the dark ages, Geoffry of Monmouth, Turpin, Guido of Colonna, and Calliſthenes, whoſe books were the grand repoſitories of theſe ſubjects, and contained moſt of the traditionary fictions, whether of Arabian or claſſical origin, which conſtantly ſupplied materials to the writers of romance. I ſhall ſpeak of theſe authors, with their ſubjects, diſtinctly.

But I do not mean to repeat here what has been already obſervedu concerning the writings of Geoffry of Monmouth and Turpin. It will be ſufficient to ſay at preſent, that theſe two fabulous hiſtorians recorded the atchievements of Charlemagne and of Arthur: and that Turpin's hiſtory was artfully forged under the name of that archbiſhop about the year 1110, with a deſign of giving countenance to the cruſades from the example of ſo high an authority as Charlemagne, whoſe pretended viſit to the holy ſepulchre is deſcribed in the twentieth chapter.

As to the Siege of Troy, it appears that both Homer's poems were unknown, at leaſt not underſtood in Europe, from the abolition of literature by the Goths in the fourth century, to the fourteenth. Geoffry of Monmouth indeed, who wrote about the year 1160, a man of learning for that age, produces Homer in atteſtation of a fact aſſerted in his hiſtory: but in ſuch a manner, as ſhews that he knew little more than Homer's name, and was but imperfectly acquainted with Homer's ſubject. Geoffry ſays, that Brutus having ravaged the province of Acquitain with fire and ſword, came to a place where the city of Tours now ſtands, as Homer teſtifies x. But the Trojan ſtory was ſtill kept alive [125] in two Latin pieces, which paſſed under the names of Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretenſis. Dares's hiſtory of the deſtruction of Troy, as it was called, pretended to have been tranſlated from the Greek of Dares Phrygius into Latin proſe by Cornelius Nepos, is a wretched performance, and forged under thoſe ſpecious names in the decline of Latin literature y. Dictys Cretenſis is a proſe Latin hiſtory of the Trojan war, in ſix books, paraphraſed about the reign of Diocleſian or Conſtantine by one Septimius, from ſome Grecian hiſtory on the ſame ſubject, ſaid to be diſcovered under a ſepulchre by means of an earthquake in the city of Cnoſſus, about the time of Nero, and to have been compoſed by Dictys, a Cretan, and a ſoldier in the Trojan war. The fraud of diſcovering copies of books in this extraordinary manner, in order to infer from thence their high and indubitable antiquity, ſo frequently practiſed, betrays itſelf. But that the preſent Latin Dictys had a Greek original, now loſt, appears from the numerous greciſms with which it abounds: and from the literal correſpondence of many paſſages with the Greek fragments of one Dictys cited by antient authors. The Greek original was very probably forged under the name of Dictys, a traditionary writer on the ſubject, in the reign of Nero, who is ſaid to have been fond of the Trojan ſtory z. On the whole, the work appears to [126] have been an arbitrary metaphraſe of Homer, with many fabulous interpolations. At length Guido de Colonna, a native of Meſſina in Sicily, a learned civilian, and no contemptible Italian poet, about the year 1260, engrafting on Dares and Dictys many new romantic inventions, which the taſte of his age dictated, and which the connection between Grecian and Gothic fiction eaſily admitted; at the ſame time comprehending in his plan the Theban and Argonautic ſtories from Ovid, Statius, and Valerius Flaccus a, compiled a grand proſe romance in Latin, containing fifteen books, and entitled in moſt manuſcripts Hiſtoria de Bello Trojano b. It was written at the requeſt of Mattheo de Porta, archbiſhop of Salerno. Dares Phrygius and Dictys Cretenſis ſeem to have been in ſome meaſure ſuperſeded by this improved and comprehenſive hiſtory of the Grecian heroes: and from this period Achilles, Jaſon, and Hercules, were adopted into romance, and celebrated in common with Lancelot, Rowland, Gawain, Oliver, and other chriſtian champions, whom they ſo nearly reſembled in the extravagance of their adventures c. This work abounds with oriental imagery, of which the ſubject was extremely ſuſceptible. It has alſo ſome traites of Arabian literature. [127] The Trojan horſe is a horſe of braſs; and Hercules is taught aſtronomy, and the ſeven liberal ſciences. But I forbear to enter at preſent into a more particular examination of this hiſtory, as it muſt often occaſionally be cited hereafter. I ſhall here only further obſerve in general, that this work is the chief ſource from which Chaucer derived his ideas about the Trojan ſtory; that it was profeſſedly paraphraſed by Lydgate, in the year 1420, into a prolix Engliſh poem, called the Boke of Troye d, at the command of king Henry the fifth; that it became the ground-work of a new compilation in French, on the ſame ſubject, written by Raoul le Feure chaplain to the duke of Burgundy, in the year 1464, and partly tranſlated into Engliſh proſe in the year 1471, by Caxton, under the title of the Recuyel of the hiſtories of Troy, at the requeſt of Margaret dutcheſs of Burgundy: and that from Caxton's book afterwards moderniſed, Shakeſpeare borrowed his drama of Troilus and Creſſida e.

[128] Proofs have been given, in the two prologues juſt cited, of the general popularity of Alexander's ſtory, another branch of Grecian hiſtory famous in the dark ages. To theſe we may add the evidence of Chaucer.

Aliſaundres ſtorie is ſo commune,
That everie wight that hath diſcrecioune
Hath herde ſomewhat of or al of his fortune f.

And in the Houſe of Fame, Alexander is placed with Hercules g. I have already remarked, that he was celebrated in a Latin poem by Gualtier de Chatillon, in the year 1212 h. Other proofs will occur in their proper places i. The truth [129] is, Alexander was the moſt eminent knight errant of Grecian antiquity. He could not therefore be long without his romance. Calliſthenes, an Olinthian, educated under Ariſtotle with Alexander, wrote an authentic life of Alexander k. This hiſtory, which is frequently referred to by antient writers, has been long ſince loſt. But a Greek life of this hero, under the adopted name of Calliſthenes, at preſent exiſts, and is no uncommon manuſcript in good libraries l. It is entitled, [...]. That is, The Life and Actions of Alexander the Macedonian m. This piece was written in Greek, being a tranſlation from the Perſic, by Simeon Seth, ſtyled Magiſter, and protoveſtiary or wardrobe keeper of the palace of Antiochus at Conſtantinople n, about the year 1070, under the emperor Michael Ducas o. [130] It was moſt probably very ſoon afterwards tranſlated from the Greek into Latin, and at length from thence into [131] French, Italian, and German p. The Latin tranſlation was printed Colon. Argentorat. A. D. 1489 q. Perhaps before. For among Hearne's books in the Bodleian library, there is an edition in quarto, without date, ſuppoſed to have been printed at Oxford by Frederick Corſellis, about the year 1468. It is ſaid to have been made by one Aeſopus, or by Julius Valerius r: ſuppoſititious names, which ſeem to have been forged by the artifice, or introduced through the ignorance, of ſcribes and librarians. This Latin tranſlation, however, is of high antiquity in the middle age of learning: for it is quoted by Gyraldus Cambrenſis, who flouriſhed about the year 1190 s. About the year 1236, the ſubſtance [132] of it was thrown into a long Latin poem, written in elegiac verſe t, by Aretinus Quilichinus u. This fabulous narrative of Alexander's life and atchievements, is full of prodigies and extravagancies w. But we ſhould remember its origin. The Arabian books abound with the moſt incredible fictions and traditions concerning Alexander the Great, which they probably borrowed and improved from the Perſians. They call him Eſcander. If I recollect right, one of the miracles of this romance is our hero's horn. It is ſaid, that Alexander gave the ſignal to his whole army by a wonderful horn of immenſe magnitude, which might be heard at the diſtance of ſixty miles, and that it was blown or ſounded by ſixty men at once x. This is the horn which Orlando won from the giant Jatmund, and which, as Turpin and the Iſlandic bards report, was endued with magical power, and might be heard at the diſtance of twenty miles. Cervantes ſays, that it was bigger than a maſſy beam y. Boyardo, [133] Berni, and Arioſto have all ſuch a horn: and the fiction is here traced to its original ſource. But in ſpeaking of the books which furniſhed the ſtory of Alexander, I muſt not forget that Quintus Curtius was an admired hiſtorian of the romantic ages. He is quoted in the POLICRATICON of John of Saliſbury, who died in the year 1181 z. Eneas Sylvius relates, that Alphonſus the ninth, king of Spain, in the thirteenth century, a great aſtronomer, endeavoured to relieve himſelf from a tedious malady by reading the bible over fourteen times, with all the gloſſes; but not meeting with the expected ſucceſs, he was cured by the conſolation he received from once reading Quintus Curtius a. Peter Bleſenſis, archdeacon of London, a ſtudent at Paris about the year 1150, mentioning the books moſt common in the ſchools, declares that he profited much by frequently looking into this author b. Vincentius Bellovacenſis, cited above, a writer of the thirteenth century, often quotes Curtius in his Speculum Hiſtoriale c. He was alſo early tranſlated into French. Among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh Muſeum, there is a fine copy of a French tranſlation of this claſſic, adorned with elegant old paintings and illuminations, entitled, Quinte Curſe Ruf, des faiz d' Alexandre, ix liv. tranſlate par Vaſque de Lucene Portugalois. Eſcript par la main de Jehan du Cheſne, a Lille d. It was made in 1468. But I believe the Latin tranſlations of Simeon Seth's romance on this ſubject, were beſt known and moſt eſteemed for ſome centuries.

The French, to reſume the main tenour of our argument, had written metrical romances on moſt of theſe ſubjects, before or about the year 1200. Some of theſe ſeem to have [134] been formed from proſe hiſtories, enlarged and improved with new adventures and embelliſhments from earlier and more ſimple tales in verſe on the ſame ſubject. Chreſtien of Troys wrote Le Romans du Graal, or the adventures of the Sangrale, which included the deeds of king Arthur, Sir Triſtram, Lancelot du Lake, and the reſt of the knights of the round table, before 1191. There is a paſſage in a coeval romance, relating to Chreſtien, which proves what I have juſt advanced, that ſome of theſe hiſtories previouſly exiſted in proſe.

Chriſtians qui entent et paine
A rimoyer le meillor conte,
Par le commandement le Conte,
Qu'il ſoit contez in cort royal
Ce eſt li contes del Graal
Dont li quens li bailla le livre e.

Chreſtien alſo wrote the romance of Sir Percival, which belongs to the ſame hiſtory f. Godfrey de Leigni, a cotemporary, [135] finiſhed a romance begun by Chreſtien, entitled La Charette, containing the adventures of Launcelot. Fauchett affirms, that Chreſtien abounds with beautiful inventions g. But no ſtory is ſo common among the earlieſt French poets as Charlemagne and his Twelve peers. In the Britiſh Muſeum we have an old French manuſcript containing the hiſtory of Charlemagne, tranſlated into proſe from Turpin's Latin. The writer declares, that he preferred a ſober proſe tranſlation of this authentic hiſtorian, as hiſtories in rhyme, undoubtedly very numerous on this ſubject, looked ſo much like lies h. His title is extremely curious. ‘"Ci comence l' Eſtoire que Turpin le Erceveſque de Reins fit del bon roy Charlemayne, coment il conquiſt Eſpaigne, e delivera des Paens. Et pur ceo qe Eſtoire rimee ſemble menſunge, eſt ceſte mis in proſe, ſolun le Latin qe Turpin meſmes fiſt, tut enſi cume il le viſt et viſt i."’

Oddegir the Dane makes a part of Charlemagne's hiſtory; and, I believe, is mentioned by archbiſhop Turpin. But his exploits have been recorded in verſe by Adenez, an old French poet, not mentioned by Fauchett, author of the two metrical romances of Berlin and Cleomades, under the name of Ogier le Danois, in the year 1270. This author was maſter of the muſicians, or, as others ſay, herald at arms, to the duke of Brabant. Among the royal manuſcripts in the Muſeum, we have a poem, Le Livre de Ogeir de Dannemarche k. The French have likewiſe illuſtrated this [136] champion in Leonine rhyme. And I cannot help mentioning, that they have in verſe Viſions of Oddegir the Dane in the kingdom of Fairy, ‘"Viſions d' Ogeir le Danois au Royaume de Faerie en vers Francois,"’ printed at Paris in 1548 l.

On the Trojan ſtory, the French have an antient poem, at leaſt not poſterior to the thirteenth century, entitled Roman de Troye, written by Benoit de Sainct More. As this author appears not to have been known to the accurate Fauchett, nor la Croix du Maine; I will cite the exordium, eſpecially as it records his name; and implies that the piece tranſlated from the Latin, and that the ſubject was not then common in French.

Cette eſtoire n'eſt pas uſée,
N'en gaires livres n'eſt trouvée:
La retraite ne fut encore
Mais Beneoit de ſainte More,
L' a tranſlatè, et fait et dit,
Et a ſa main les mots ecrit.

He mentions his own name again in the body of the work, and at the end.

Je n'en fait plus ne plus en dit;
Beneoit qui c'eſt Roman fit m.

Du Cange enumerates a metrical manuſcript romance on this ſubject by Jaques Millet, entitled De la Deſtruction de Troie n. Montfaucon, whoſe extenſive enquiries nothing could eſcape, mentions Dares Phrigius tranſlated into French verſe, at Milan, about the twelfth century o. We find alſo, among the royal manuſcripts at Paris, Dictys Cretenſis, [137] t [...]anſlated into French verſe p. To this ſubject, although almoſt equally belonging to that of Charlemagne, we may alſo refer a French romance in verſe, written by Philipes Mouſques, canon and chancellor of the church of Tournay. It is in fact, a chronicle of France: but the author, who does not chuſe to begin quite ſo high as Adam and Eve, nor yet later than the Trojan war, opens his hiſtory with the rape of Helen, paſſes on to an ample deſcription of the ſiege of Troy; and, through an exact detail of all the great events which ſucceeded, conducts his reader to the year 1240. This work comprehends all the fictions of Turpin's Charlemagne, with a variety of other extravagant ſtories diſperſed in many profeſſed romances. But it preſerves numberleſs curious particulars, which throw conſiderable light on hiſtorical facts. Du Cange has collected from it all that concerns the French emperors of Conſtantinople, which he has printed at the end of his entertaining hiſtory of that city.

It was indeed the faſhion for the hiſtorians of theſe times, to form ſuch a general plan as would admit all the abſurdities of popular tradition. Connection of parts, and uniformity of ſubject, were as little ſtudied as truth. Ages of ignorance and ſuperſtition are more affected by the marvellous than by plain facts; and believe what they find written, without diſcernment or examination. No man before the ſixteenth century preſumed to doubt that the Francs derived their o [...]igin from Francus, a ſon of Hector; that the Spaniards were deſcended from Japhet, the Britons from Brutus, and the Scotch from Fergus. Vincent de Beauvais, who lived under Louis the ninth of France, and who, on account of his extraordinary erudition, was appointed preceptor to that king's ſons, very gravely claſſes archbiſhop Turpin's Charlemagne among the real hiſtories, and places it on a level with Suetonius and Ceſar. He was himſelf an hiſtorian, [138] and has left a large hiſtory of the world, fraught with a variety of reading, and of high repute in the middle ages; but edifying and entertaining as this work might have been to his cotemporaries, at preſent it ſerves only to record their prejudices, and to characteriſe their credulity q.

Hercules and Jaſon, as I have before hinted, were involved in the Trojan ſtory by Guido de Colonna, and hence became familiar to the romance writers r. The Hercules, the Theſeus, and the Amazons of Boccacio, hereafter more particularly mentioned, came from this ſource. I do not at preſent recollect any old French metrical romances on theſe ſubjects, but preſume that there are many. Jaſon ſeems to have vied with Arthur and Charlemagne; and ſo popular was his expedition to Colchos, or rather ſo firmly believed, that in honour of ſo reſpectable an adventure, a duke of Burgundy inſtituted the order of the Golden Fleece, in the year 1468. At the ſame time his chaplain Raoul le Feure illuſtrated the ſtory which gave riſe to this magnificent inſtitution, in a prolix and elaborate hiſtory, afterwards tranſlated by Caxton s. But I muſt not forget, that among the royal manuſcripts in the Muſeum, the French romance of Hercules occurs in two books, enriched with numerous antient paintings t. Pertonape and Ypomedon, in our Prologue, ſeem to be Parthenopeus and Hippomedon, belonging to the Theban ſtory, and mentioned, I think, in Statius. An Engliſh romance in verſe, called Childe Ippomedone, will be cited hereafter, moſt probably tranſlated from the French.

[139] The conqueſts of Alexander the great were celebrated by one Simon, in old Pictavian or Limoſin, about the twelfth century. This piece thus begins:

Chanſon voil dis per ryme et per Leoin
Del fil Filippe lo roy de Macedoin u.

An Italian poem on Alexander, called Trionfo Magno, was preſented to Leo the tenth, by Dominicho Falugi Anciſeno, in the year 1521. Creſcimbeni ſays it was copied from a Provencial romance w. But one of the moſt valuable pieces of the old French poetry is on the ſubject of this victorious monarch, entitled, Roman d' Alexandre. It has been called the ſecond poem now remaining in the French language, and was written about the year 1200. It was confeſſedly tranſlated from the Latin; but it bears a nearer reſemblance to Simeon Seth's romance, than to Quintus Curtius. It was the confederated performance of four writers, who, as Fauchett expreſſes himſelf, were aſſociez en leur JONGLERIE x. Lambert li Cors, a learned civilian, began the poem; and it was continued and completed by Alexander de Paris, John le Nivelois, and Peter de Saint Cloſt y. The poem is cloſed with Alexander's will. This is no imagination of any of out three poets, although one of them was a civil lawyer. Alexander's will, in which he nominates ſucceſſors to his provinces and kingdom, was a tradition commonly received, and is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, and Ammianus Marcellinus. [140] z. I know not whether this work was ever printed. It is voluminous; and in the Bodleian library at Oxford is a vaſt folio manuſcript of it on vellum, which is of great antiquity, richly decorated, and in high preſervation a. The margins and initials exhibit, not only fantaſtic ornaments and illuminations exquiſitely finiſhed, but alſo pictures executed with ſingular elegance, expreſſing the incidents of the ſtory, and diſplaying the faſhion of buildings, armour, dreſs, muſical inſtruments b, and other particulars appropriated to the times. At the end we read this hexameter, which points out the name of the ſcribe.

Nomen ſcriptoris eſt THOMAS PLENUS AMORIS.

Then follows the date of the year in which the tranſcript was completed, viz. 1338. Afterwards there is the name and date of the illuminator, in the following colophon, written in golden letters. ‘"Che livre fu perfais de la enluminiere an xviiio. jour davryl par Jehan de griſe l' an de grace m. ccc. xliii. c"’ Hence it may be concluded, that the illuminations and paintings of this ſuperb manuſcript, which were moſt probably begun as ſoon as the ſcribe had finiſhed his part, took up ſix years: no long time, if we conſider the attention of an artiſt to ornaments ſo numerous, ſo various, ſo minute, and ſo laboriouſly touched. It has been ſuppoſed, that before the appearance of this poem, the Romans, or thoſe pieces which celebrated GESTS, were conſtantly compoſed in ſhort verſes of ſix or eight ſyllables: and that in this Roman d' Alexandre verſes of twelve ſyllables were firſt uſed. It has therefore been imagined, that the verſes called ALEXANDRINES, the preſent French heroic meaſure, took [141] their riſe from this poem; Alexander being the hero, and Alexander the chief of the four poets concerned in the work. That the name, ſome centuries afterwards, might take place in honour of this celebrated and early effort of French poetry, I think is very probable; but that verſes of twelve ſyllables made their firſt appearance in this poem, is a doctrine which, to ſay no more, from examples already produced and examined, is at leaſt ambiguous d. In this poem Gadifer, hereafter mentioned, of Arabian lineage, is a very conſpicuous champion.

Gadifer fu moult preus, d'un Arrabi lignage.

A rubric or title of one of the chapters is, ‘"Comment Alexander fuit mys en un veſal de vooire pour veoir le merveiles, &c."’ This is a paſſage already quoted from Simeon Seth's romance, relating Alexander's expedition to the bottom of the ocean, in a veſſel of glaſs, for the purpoſe of inſpecting fiſhes and ſea monſters. In another place, from the ſame romance, he turns aſtronomer, and ſoars to the moon by the help of four gryphons. The caliph is frequently mentioned in this piece; and Alexander, like Charlemagne, has his twelve peers.

Theſe were the four reigning ſtories of romance. On which perhaps Engliſh pieces, tranſlated from the French, exiſted before or about the year 1300. But there are ſome other Engliſh romances mentioned in the prologue of RICHARD CUEUR DE LYON, which we likewiſe probably received from the French in that period, and on which I ſhall here alſo enlarge.

BEUVES de Hanton, or Sir Beavis of Southampton, is a French romance of conſiderable antiquity, although the hero is not older than the Norman conqueſt. It is alluded to in [142] our Engliſh romance on this ſtory, which will again be cited, and at large.

Forth thei yode ſo ſaith the boke e.

And again more expreſly,

Under the bridge wer ſixty belles,
Right as the Romans telles f.

The Romans is the French original. It is called the Romance of Beuves de Hanton, by Pere Labbe g. The very ingenious Monſieur de la Curne de ſainte Palaye mentions an antient French romance in proſe, entitled Beufres de Hanton h. Chaucer mentions BEVIS, with other famous romanc [...]s, but whether in French or Engliſh is uncertain i. Beuves of Hantonne was printed at Paris in 1502 k. Aſcapart was one of his giants, a characterl in very old French romances. Bevis was a Saxon chieftain, who ſeems to have extended his dominion along the ſouthern coaſts of England, which he is ſaid to have defended againſt the Norman invaders. He lived at Downton in Wiltſhire. Near Southampton is an artificial hill called Bevis Mount, on which was probably a fortreſs m. It is pretended that he was earl of Southampton. His ſword is ſhewn in Arundel caſtle. This piece was evidently written after the cruſades; as Bevis is knighted by the king of Armenia, and is one of the generals at the ſiege of Damaſcus.

GUY EARL OF WARWICK is recited as a French romance by Labbe n. In the Britiſh Muſeum a metrical hiſtory in very old French appears, in which Felicia, or Felice, is called the [143] daughter of an earl of Warwick, and Guido, or Guy of Warwick, is the ſon of Seguart the earl's ſteward. The manuſcript is at preſent imperfect o. Montfaucon mentions among the royal manuſcripts at Paris, Roman de Guy et Beuves de Hanton. The latter is the romance laſt mentioned. Again, Le Livre de Guy de Warwick et de Harold d' Ardenne p. This Harold d'Arden is a diſtinguiſhed warriour of Guy's hiſtory, and therefore his atchievements ſometimes form a ſeparate romance: as in the royal manuſcripts of the Britiſh Muſeum, where we find Le Romant de Herolt Dardenne q. In the Engliſh romance of Guy, mentioned at large in its proper place, this champion is called Syr Heraude of Arderne r. At length this favourite ſubject formed a large proſe romance, entitled Guy de Warwick Chevalier d'Angleterre et de la belle fille Felix ſamie, and printed at Paris in 1525 s. Chaucer mentions Guy's ſtory among the Romaunces of Pris t: and it is alluded to in the Spaniſh romance of Tirante il Blanco, or Tirante the White, ſuppoſed to have been written not long after the year 1430 u. This romance was compoſed, or perhaps enlarged, after the cruſades; as we find, that Guy's redoubted encounters with Colbrond the Daniſh giant, with the monſter of Dunſmore heath, and the dragon of Northumberland, are by no means equal to ſome of his atchievements in the holy land, and the trophies which he won from the ſoldan under the command of the emperor Frederick.

The romance of SIDRAC, often entitled, Le Livere Sydrac le philoſophe le quel hom appele le livere de le funtane de totes Sciences, appears to have been very popular, from the preſent frequency of its manuſcripts. But it is rather a romance of Arabian philoſophy than of chivalry. It is a ſyſtem of natural knowledge, and particularly treats of the virtues of [144] plants. Sidrac, the philoſopher of this ſyſtem, was aſtronomer to an eaſtern king. He lived eight hundred and fortyſeven years after Noah, of whoſe book of aſtronomy he was poſſeſſed. He converts Bocchus, an idolatrous king of India, to the chriſtian faith, by whom he is invited to build a mighty tower againſt the invaſions of a rival king of India. But the hiſtory, no leſs than the ſubject of this piece, diſplays the ſtate, nature, and migrations of literature in the dark ages. After the death of Bocchus, Sidrac's book fell into the hands of a Chaldean renowned for piety. It then ſucceſſively becomes the property of king Madian, Namaan the Aſſyrian, and Grypho archbiſhop of Samaria. The latter had a prieſt named Demetrius, who brought it into Spain, and here it was tranſlated from the Greek into Latin. This tranſlation is ſaid to be made at Toledo, by Roger de Palermo, a minorite friar, in the thirteenth century. A king of Spain then commanded it to be tranſlated from Latin into Arabic, and ſent it as a moſt valuable preſent to Emir Elmomenim, lord of Tunis. It was next given to Frederick the Second, emperor of Germany, famous in the cruſades. This work, which is of conſiderable length, was tranſlated into Engliſh verſe, and will be mentioned on that account again. Sidrac is recited as an eminent philoſopher, with Seneca and king Solomon, in the Marchaunt's Second tale, aſcribed to Chaucer w.

It is natural to conclude, that moſt of theſe French romances were current in England, either in the French originals, which were well underſtood at leaſt by the more polite readers, or elſe by tranſlation or imitation, as I have before hinted, when the romance of Richard Cuer de Lyon, in whoſe prologue they are recited, was tranſlated into Engliſh. That the latter was the caſe as to ſome of them, [145] at leaſt, we ſhall ſoon produce actual proofs. A writer, who has conſidered theſe matters with much penetration and judgment, obſerves, that probably from the reign of our Richard the firſt, we are to date that remarkable intercommunication and mutual exchange of compoſitions which we diſcover to have taken place at ſome early period between the French and Engliſh minſtrels. The ſame ſet of phraſes, the ſame ſpecies of characters, incidents, and adventures, and often the identical ſtories, being found in the metrical romances of both nations x. From cloſe connection and conſtant intercourſe, the traditions and the champions of one kingdom were equally known in the other: and although Bevis and Guy were Engliſh heroes, yet on theſe principles this circumſtance by no means deſtroys the ſuppoſition, that their atchievements, although perhaps already celebrated in rude Engliſh ſongs, might be firſt wrought into romance by the French y. And it ſeems probable, that we continued for ſome time this practice of borrowing from our neighbours. Even the titles of our oldeſt romances, ſuch as Sir Blandamoure, [146] Sir Triamoure, Sir Eglamoure, of Artoys z, La Mort d [...] Arthur, with many more, betray their French extraction. It is likewiſe a preſumptive argument in favour of this aſſertion, that we find no proſe romances in our language, before Caxton tranſlated from the French the Hiſtory of Troy, the Life of Charlemagne, the Hiſtories of Jaſon, Paris, and Vyenne a, the Death of King Arthur, and other proſe pieces of chivalry: by which, as the profeſſion of minſtrelſy decayed and gradually gave way to a change of manners and cuſtoms, romances in metre were at length imperceptibly ſuperſeded, or at leaſt grew leſs in uſe as a mode of entertainment at public feſtivities.

Various cauſes concurred, in the mean time, to multiply books of chivalry among the French, and to give them a ſuperiority over the Engliſh, not only in the number but in the excellence of thoſe compoſitions. Their barons lived in greater magnificence. Their feudal ſyſtem flouriſhed on a more ſumptuous, extenſive, and laſting eſtabliſhment. Schools were inſtituted in their caſtles for initiating the young nobility in the rules and practice of chivalry. Their tilts and tournaments were celebrated with a higher degree of pomp; and their ideas of honour and gallantry were more exaggerated and refined.

[147] We may add, what indeed has been before incidentally remarked, that their troubadours were the firſt writers of metrical romances. But by what has been here advanced, I do not mean to inſinuate without any reſtrictions, that the French entirely led the way in theſe compoſitions. Undoubtedly the Provencial bards contributed much to the progreſs of Italian literature. Raimond the fourth of Arragon, count of Provence, about the year 1220, a lover and a judge of letters, invited to his court the moſt celebrated of the ſongſters who profeſſed to poliſh and adorn the Provencial language by various ſorts of poetry b. Charles the firſt, his ſon-in-law, and the inheritor of his virtues and dignities, conquered Naples, and carried into Italy a taſte for the Provencial literature. At Florence eſpecially this taſte prevailed, where he reigned many years with great ſplendour, and where his ſucceſſors reſided. Soon afterwards the Roman court was removed to Provence c. Hitherto the Latin language had only been in uſe. The Provencial writers eſtabliſhed a common dialect: and their examples convinced other nations, that the modern languages were no leſs adapted to compoſition than thoſe of antiquity d. They introduced a love of reading, and diffuſed a general and popular taſte for poetry, by writing in a language intelligible to the ladies and the people. Their verſes being conveyed in a familiar tongue, became the chief amuſement of princes and feudal lords, whoſe courts had now begun to aſſume an air of [148] greater brilliancy: a circumſtance which neceſſarily gave great encouragement to their profeſſion, and by rendering theſe arts of ingenious entertainment univerſally faſhionable, imperceptibly laid the foundation of polite literature. From theſe beginnings it were eaſy to trace the progreſs of poetry to its perfection, through John de Meun in France, Dante in Italy, and Chaucer in England.

This praiſe muſt undoubtedly be granted to the Provencial poets. But in the mean time, to recur to our original argument, we ſhould be cautious of aſſerting in general and indiſcriminating terms, that the Provencial poets were the firſt writers of metrical romance: at leaſt we ſhould aſcertain, with rather more preciſion than has been commonly uſed on this ſubject, how far they may claim this merit. I am of opinion that there were two ſorts of French troubadours, who have not hitherto been ſufficiently diſtinguiſhed. If we diligently examine their hiſtory, we ſhall find that the poetry of the firſt troubadours conſiſted in ſatires, moral fables, allegories, and ſentimental ſonnets. So early as the year 1180, a tribunal called the Court of Love, was inſtituted both in Provence and Picardy, at which queſtions in gallantry were decided. This inſtitution furniſhed eternal matter for the poets, who threw the claims and arguments of the different parties into verſe, in a ſtyle that afterwards led the way to the ſpiritual converſations of Cyrus and Clelia e. Fontenelle does not ſcruple to acknowledge, that gallantry was the parent of French poetry f. But to ſing romantic and chivalrous adventures was a very different taſk, and required very different talents. The troubadours therefore who compoſed metrical romances form a different ſpecies, and ought always to be conſidered ſeparately. And [149] this latter claſs ſeems to have commenced at a later period, not till after the cruſades had effected a great change in the manners and ideas of the weſtern world. In the mean time, I hazard a conjecture. Cinthio Giraldi ſuppoſes, that the art of the troubadours, commonly called the Gay Science, was firſt communicated from France to the Italians, and afterwards to the Spaniards g. This perhaps may be true: but at the ſame time it is highly probable, as the Spaniards had their JUGLARES or convivial bards very early, as from long connection they were immediately and intimately acquainted with the fictions of the Ara [...]ians, and as they were naturally fond of chivalry, that the troubadours of Provence in great meaſure caught this turn of fabling from Spain. The communication, to mention no other obvious means of intercourſe in an affair of this nature, was eaſy through the ports of Toulon and Marſeilles, by which the two nations carried on from early times a conſtant commerce. Even the French critics themſelves univerſally allow, that the Spaniards, having learned rhyme from the Arabians, through this very channel conveyed it to Provence. Taſſo preferred Amadis de Gaul, a romance originally written in Spain, by Vaſco Lobeyra, before the year 1300 h, to the moſt celebrated pieces of the Provencial poets i. But this is a ſubject which will perhaps receive illuſtration from a writer of great taſte, talents, and induſtry, Monſieur de la Curne de Sainte Palaye, who will ſoon oblige the world with an ample hiſtory of Provencial poetry; and whoſe reſearches into a kindred ſubject, already publiſhed, have opened a new and extenſive field of information concerning the manners, inſtitutions, and literature of the feudal ages k.

SECT. IV.

[150]

VARIOUS matters ſuggeſted by the Prologue of RICHARD CUEUR DE LYON, cited in the laſt ſection, have betrayed us into a long digreſſion, and interrupted the regularity of our annals. But I could not neglect ſo fair an opportunity of preparing the reader for thoſe metrical tales, which having acquired a new caſt of fiction from the cruſades and a magnificence of manners from the encreaſe of chivalry, now began to be greatly multiplied, and as it were profeſſedly to form a ſeparate ſpecies of poetry. I now therefore reſume the ſeries, and proceed to give ſome ſpecimens of the Engliſh metrical romances which appeared before or about the reign of Edward the ſecond: and although moſt of theſe pieces continued to be ſung by the minſtrels in the halls of our magnificent anceſtors for ſome centuries afterwards, yet as their firſt appearance may moſt probably be dated at this period, they properly coincide in this place with the tenour of our hiſtory. In the mean time, it is natural to ſuppoſe, that by frequent repetition and ſucceſſive changes of language during many generations, their original ſimplicity muſt have been in ſome degree corrupted. Yet ſome of the ſpecimens are extracted from manuſcripts written in the reign of Edward the third. Others indeed from printed copies, where the editors took great liberties in accommodating the language to the times. However in ſuch as may be ſuppoſed to have ſuffered moſt from depravations of this ſort, the ſubſtance of the ancient ſtyle ſtill remains, and at leaſt the ſtructure of the ſtory. On the whole, we mean to give the reader an idea of thoſe popular heroic tales in verſe, profeſſedly written for the harp, which began to be multiplied among us about the beginning of the fourteenth [151] century. We will begin with the romance of RICHARD CUEUR DE LYON, already mentioned.

The poem opens with the marriage of Richard's father, Henry the ſecond, with the daughter of Carbarryne, a king of Antioch. But this is only a lady of romance. Henry married Eleanor the divorced queen of Louis of France. The minſtrels could not conceive any thing leſs than an eaſtern princeſs to be the mother of this magnanimous hero.

—His barons him redde a
That they graunted hem a wyfe to wedde,
Haſtily he ſent his ſonde
Into many a divers londe
The fayreſt woman that was on lyve
They ſholde bringe him to wyve.

The meſſengers or embaſſadors, in their voyage, meet a ſhip adorned like Cleopatra's galley.

Suche ne ſawe they never none,
For it was ſo gay begone
Every nayle with gold ygrave
Of pure gold was his ſklave b,
Her maſt was of yvory,
Of ſamyte her ſayle wytly,
Her ropes al of whyte ſylke,
As whyte as ever was ony mylke.
The noble ſhyp was wythout
With clothes of gold ſpred about,
And her loftc and her wyndlace d
Al of gold depaynted was:
In the ſhyppe there were dyght
Knyghtes and lordes of myght,
[152] And a lady therein was
Bryght as ſonne thorowe the glas.
Her men abrode gon ſtonde
And becked them with her honde,
And prayed them for to dwell
And theyr aventures to tell.—
"To dyverſe londes do we wende
"For kynge Harry hath us ſende
"For to ſeche hym a quene,
"The fayreſt that myght on [...]rthe bene."
Up aroſe a kynge of chayre
With that word, and ſpake fayre,
The chayre was of carbunkell ſtone,
Suche ſawe they never none,
And other dukes hym beſyde,
Noble men of moche pryde,
And welcomed the meſſengers every chone,
Into the ſhippe they gan gone.—
Clothes of ſylke wer ſprad on borde,
The kyng then anon badde,
As it is in ryme radde e,
That his doughter wer forthe fet
And in a chayre by hym ſet,
Trompettes bigan to blowe,
She was ſet in a throwe f
With xx knygtes her aboute
And double ſo many of ladyes ſtoute.—
Whan thei had done their mete
Of adventures they bygyn to ſpeke.
The kyng them told in his reaſon,
How it cam hym in a vyſyon,
In his lond that he came fro
In to Engelond for to go
[153] And hys doughter that was hym der [...]
For to wende with hym in fere g,
And in this manner we bi dyght
Unto your londe to wende ryght.
Then anſwerede a meſſengere,
His name was cleped Barnagere,
"Ferther we will ſeeke nought
"To my lorde ſhe ſhal be brought."

They ſoon arrive in England, and the lady is lodged in the tower of London, one of the royal caſtles.

The meſſengers the kyng have tolde
Of that lady fayre and bolde
There ſhe lay in the toure
The lady that was whyt as floure;
Kyng Harry gan hym dyght
With erles, barons, and many a knyght,
Ayenſt that ladye for to wende,
For he was courteys and hende:
The damoſell to londe was ladde
Clothes of golde bifore her ſpradde,
The meſſengers on eche a ſyde,
And mynyſtrells of moche pryde.
Kyng Harry liked her ſeynge
That fayre lady, and her fader the kynge.—
To Weſtminſtir they went in fere
Lordes, ladies, that ther were,
Trompettes bigan for to blowe
To meteh thei went in a throwe, &c i.

The firſt of our hero's atchievements in chivalry is at a ſplendid tournament held at Saliſbury. Clarendon near Saliſbury was one of the king's palaces k.

[154]
Kynge Rychard gan hym dyſguyſe
In a full ſtronge queyntyſe l:
He cam out of a valaye
For to ſe of theyr playe,
As a knyght avanturous
His atyre was orgulous m,
Al together cole blacke
Was his horſe without lacke,
Upon his creſt a raven ſtoode
That yanedn as he were wode.—
He bare a ſhafte that was grete and ſtronge
It was fourtene fote longe,
And it was gret and ſtoute,
One or two inches aboute:
The fyrſt knyght that he ther mette
Full egerly he hym grette,
With a dint amyd the ſhelde
His hors he bare downe in the feld, &c o.

[155] A battle-ax wh [...]ch Richard carried with him from England into the holy land is thus deſcribed.

Kyng Rycharde I underſtonde
Or he went out of Engelonde
Let him make an axep for the nones
To brake therewith the Saraſyns 634bones.
The heed was wroght right wele
Therein was twenti bounder of ſtele:
And when he com into Cyprys londe
The axe toke he in his honde
All that he hytte he all to frapped
The gryffonss away faſte rapped.
And the pryſon when he came to
With his axe he ſmote ryght tho
Dores, barres, and iron chaynes, &c. t

This formidable axe is again mentioned at the ſi [...]ge of Acon, or Acre, the antient Ptolemais.

Kyng Rycharde after anone ryght
Towarde Acrys gan hym dyght,
And as he ſayled towarde Surrye u,
He was warned of a ſpye,
How the folke of the hethen law,
A gret chayne thei had i drawe
[156] Over the haven of Acres [...]ers
Was faſtened to two pyllers
That no ſhyppe ſholde in wynne w.—
Therfore ſeven yers and more
All cryſten kynges laye thore
And with hongre ſuffre payne
For lettyng of that ſame chayne.
Whan kyng Rycharde herde that tydinge
For joye his herte bigan to ſprynge,
A ſwyfte ſtrong galey he toke.
Trenchemere x, ſo ſaith the boke.—
The galey yede as ſwift
As ony fowle by the lyfte y,
And kynge Rycharde that was ſo goode,
With his axe afore the ſhippe ſtoode
And whan he came to the chayne,
With his axe he ſmote it a twayne z,
That all the barons verament
Sayd it was a noble dent,
And for joye of that dede
The cuppes faſte aboute yede a,
With good wyne, pyment and clarè,
And ſailed towards Acrys cityè.
Kynge Rycharde out of his galye
Let caſte wilde fire into the ſkye.
His trompettes yede in his galye
Men might here it to the ſkye,
Trompettes, horne, and ſhalmys b,
The ſea burnt al of fyre grekys c.

[157] This fyre grekys, or Grecian fire, ſeems to be a compoſition belonging to the Arabian chemiſtry. It is frequently mentioned by the Byzantine hiſtorians, and was very much uſed in the wars of the middle ages, both by ſea and land. It was a ſort of wild-fire, ſaid to be inextinguiſhable by water, and chiefly uſed for burning ſhips, againſt which it was thrown in pots or phials by the hand. In land engagements it ſeems to have been diſcharged by machines conſtructed on purpoſe. The oriental Greeks pretended that this artificial fire was invented by Callinicus, an architect of Heliopolis, under Conſtantine; and that Conſtantine prohibited them from communicating the manner of making it to any foreign people. It was however in common uſe among the nations confederated with the Byzantines: and Anna Commena has given an account of its ingredients d, which were bitumen, ſulphur, and naptha. It is called feu gregois in the French chronicles and romances. Our minſtrell, I believe, is ſingular in ſaying that Richard ſcattered this fire on Saladin's ſhips: many monkiſh hiſtorians of the holy war, in deſcribing the ſiege of Acon, relate that it was employed on that occaſion, and many others, by the Saracens againſt the Chriſtians e. Procopius, in his hiſtory of the Goths, calls it MEDEA'S OIL, as if it had been a preparation uſed in the ſorceries of that enchantreſs f.

The quantity of huge battering rams and other military engines, now unknown, which Richard is ſaid to have tranſported into the holy land, was prodigious. The names of ſome of them are given in another part of this romance g. [158] It is an hiſtorical fact, that Richard was killed by the French from the ſhot of an arcubaliſt, a machine which he often worked ſkillfully with his own hands: and Guillaume le Briton, a Frenchman, in his Latin [...]poem called Philippeis, introduces Atropos making a decree, that Richard ſhould die by no other means than by a wound from this deſtructive inſtrument; the uſe of which, after it had been interdicted by the pope in the year 1139, he revived, and is ſuppoſed to have ſhewn the French in the cruſades g.

Gynnesh he had of wonder wyſe,
Mangenellesi of grete quyentyſe k,
Arblaſt bowe made with gynne
The holy land therewith to wynne;
Over all other utterly
He had a mylel of grete mayſtry,
In the myddes of a ſhyppe to ſtonde
Suche ne ſawe they never in no londe,
[159] Foure ſayles were therto all newe
Yelowe and grene rede and blewe,
With canvas i layde all aboute
Full coſtly within and withoute,
And all within ful of fyre
Of torches made of wexe clere,
Overth wart and endlonge,
With ſpryngellesm of fyre they dyde honde,
Grounde they neyther corne ne good,
But robbed as thei were wood;
Out of their eyen cam rede blode n:
Before the trough one ther ſtode
That all in blode was begone
Such another was never none
And hornes he had upon his hede
The Saraſyns of hym had grete drede o.

[160] The laſt circumſtance recalls a fiend-like appearance drawn by Shakeſpeare; in which, excluſive of the application, he has converted ideas of deformity into the true ſublime, and rendered an image terrible, which in other hands would have probably been ridiculous.

—Methought his eyes
Were two full moons, he had a thouſand noſes,
Horns whelk'd and wav'd like the enridged ſea.
It was ſome fiend p—.

At the touch of this powerful magician, to ſpeak in Milton's language, ‘"The grieſly terrror grows tenfold more dreadful and deform."’

The moving caſtles deſcribed by our minſtrell, which ſeem to be ſo many fabrics of romance, but are founded in real hiſtory, afforded ſuitable materials for poets who deal in the marvellous. Accordingly they could not eſcape the fabling genius of Taſſo, who has made them inſtruments of enchantment, and accommodated them, with great propriety, to the operations of infernal ſpirits.

At the ſiege of Babylon, the ſoldan Saladin ſends king Richard a [...]orſe. The meſſenger ſays,

"Thou ſayſt thy God is full of myght:
"Wilt thou graunte with ſpere and ſhelde,
"To detryve the ryght in the felde,
"With helme, hauberke, and brondes bryght,
"On ſtronge ſtedes gode and lyght,
"Whether ben of more power,
"Thy God almight or Jupyter?
"And he ſent me to ſaye this
"Yf thou wylt have an hors of his,
[161] "In all the londes that thou haſt gone
"Suche ne thou ſaweſt never none:
"Favell of Sypres, ne Lyard of Prys q,
"Ben not at ned as he ys;
"And yf thou wylte, this ſame daye,
"He ſhall be brought the to aſſaye."
Rycharde anſwered, "thou ſayeſt well
"Suche an horſe, by ſaynt Myghell,
"I wolde have to ryde upon.—
"Bydde hym ſende that hors to me,
"And I ſhall aſſaye what they be,
"Yf he be truſti, withoute fayle,
"I kepe none other to me in batayle."
The meſſengers tho home wente,
And told the ſowdan in preſente,
That Rycharde in the felde wolde come hym unto:
The ryche ſowdan bade to com hym unto
A noble clerke that coulde wel conjoure,
That was a mayſter nygromanſoure r:
He commaunded, as I you telle,
Thorugh the fende's myght of helle,
Two ſtrong fendes of the ayre
In lykenes of two ſtedes fayre
[162] Both lyke in hewe and here,
As men ſayd that ther were:
No man ſawe never none ſyche
That was one was a mare iliche,
That other a colte, a noble ſtede,
Where that he wer in ony mede,
(Were the knyghts never ſo bolde,)
Whan the mare nyet wolde,
(That hym ſholde holde ayenſt his wylle,)
But ſoone he wolde go her tylle u,
And kneel downe and ſoukew his dame,
Therewhyle the ſowdan with ſhame
Sholde kynge Rychard quelle,
All this an aungell gan him telle,
That to hym came aboute mydnyght,
"Awake, he ſayd, goddis knyght:
"My lordex doth the to onderſtonde
"That the ſhal com on hors to londe,
"Fayre it is, of body ipyght,
"To betray the if the ſowdan myght;
"On hym to ryde have thou no drede
"For he the helpe ſhall at nede."

The angel then gives king Richard ſeveral directions about managing this infernal horſe, and a general engagement enſuing, between the Chriſtian and Saracen armies, y

He lepte on hors whan it was lyght;
Or he in his ſadel did lepe
[163] Of many thynges he toke kepe.—
His men brought hem that he ba [...],
A ſquare tree of fourty fete,
Before his ſadell anone he it ſete
Faſte that they ſhould it braſe, &c.
Hymſelf was richely begone,
From the creſte ryght to the tone z,
He was covered wonderſly wele
All with ſplentes of good ſtele,
And ther above an hauberke.
A ſhafte he had of truſty werke,
Upon his ſhoulders a ſhelde of ſtele,
With the lybardesa painted wele;
And helme he had of ryche entayle,
Truſty and trewe was his ventayle:
Upon his creſte a dove whyte
Sygnyfycaune of the holy ſprite,
Upon a croſs the dove ſtode
Of gold iwroght ryche and gode,
Godb hymſelf Mary and Johon
As he was done the rode upon c,
In ſygnyfycaunce for whom he faught,
The ſpere h [...]d forgat he nauht,
Upon his ſhaft he wolde it have
Goddis name theron was grave,
Now herken what othe he ſware,
Or thay to the battayle went there:
"Yf it were ſo, that Rycharde myght
"Slee the ſowdan in felde with fyght,
"At our wylle everychone
"He and his ſhold gone
[164] "In to the cyte of Babylone;
"And the kynge of Maſydoyne
"He ſholde have under his honde;
"And yf the [...]owdan of that londe
"Myght ſlee Rycharde in the felde
"With ſwerde or ſpere under ſhelde,
"That Cryſten men ſholde go
"Out of that londe for ever mo,
"And the Saraſyns theyr wyll in wolde."
Quod kynge Rycharde, "Therto I holde,
"Therto my glove, as I am knyght."
They be armyd and redy dyght:
Kynge Rycharde to his ſadell dyde lepe,
Certes, who that wolde take kepe
To ſe that fyght it were fayre;
Ther ſtedes ranne with grete ayre d,
Al ſo hard as thei myght dyre e,
After theyr fete ſprange out fyre:
Tabours and trompettes gan blowe:
Ther men myght ſe in a throwe
How kynge Rycharde that noble man
Encountred with the ſowdan,
The chefe was tolde of Damas f
His truſte upon his mare was,
And tharfor, as the boke us telles g,
Hys crouper henge full of belles h,
[165] And his peytrell i and hys arſowne k
Thre myle men myght here the ſowne.
His mare nyghed, his belles dyd rynge,
For grete pryde, withoute leſynge,
A faucon brodel in honde he bare,
For he thoght he wolde thare
Have ſlayne Rycharde with treaſowne
Whan his colte ſholde knele downe
As a colte ſholde ſouk his dame,
And he was ware of that ſhame,
His eresm with waxe were ſtopped faſte,
Therefore Rycharde was not agaſte,
He ſtroke the ſtede that under hym wente,
And gave the Sowdan his deth with a dente:
In his ſhelde verament
Was paynted a ſerpent,
Wyth the ſpere that Rycharde helde
He bare hym thorugh under hys ſhelde,
Non of hys armure myght hym laſte,
Brydell and peytrell al to braſte,
Hys gyrthes and hys ſteropes alſo
Hys mare to grounde wente tho;
Maugre her heed, he made her ſeche
The grounde, withoute more ſpeche,
Hys feete towarde the fyrmament,
Bihynde hym the ſpere outwent
Ther he fell dede on the grene,
Rycharde ſmote the fende with ſporesn kene,
[166] And yn the name of the holi gooſt
He dryveth ynto the hethen hooſt,
And as ſone as he was come,
Aſonder he brake the ſheltron o,
And al that ever afore hym ſtode,
Hors and man to the grounde yode,
Twenti fote on either ſyde, &c.
Whan the kyng of Fraunce and hys men wyſte
That the maſtry had the Cryſten,
They waxed bold, and gode herte toke
Stedes beſtrode, and ſhaftes ſhoke p.

Richard arming himſelf is a curious Gothic picture. It is certainly a genuine picture, and drawn with ſome ſpirit; as is the ſhock of the two necromantic ſteeds, and other parts of this deſcription. The combat of Richard and the Soldan, on the event of which the chriſtian army got poſſeſſion of the city of Babylon, is probably the DUEL OF KING RICHARD, painted on the walls of a chamber in the royal palace of Clarendon q. The ſoldan is repreſented as meeting Richard with a hawk on his fiſt, to ſhew indifference, or a contempt of his adverſary; and that he came rather prepared for the chace, than the combat. Indeed in the feudal times, and long afterwards, no gentleman appeared on horſeback, unleſs going to battle, without a hawk on his fiſt. In the Tapeſtry of the Norman conqueſt, Harold is exhibited on horſeback, with a hawk on his fiſt, and his dogs running before him, going on an embaſſy from king Edward the Confeſſor to William Duke of Normandy r [...] [167] Tabour, a drum, a common accompanyment of war, is mentioned as one of the inſtruments of martial muſic in this battle with characteriſtical propriety. It was imported into the European armies from the Saracens in the holy war. The word is conſtantly written tabour, not tambour, in Joinville's HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS, and all the elder French romances. Joinville deſcribes a ſuperb bark or galley belonging to a Saracen chief, which he ſays was filled with cymbals, tabours, and Saracen horns s. Jean d'Orronville, an old French chronicler of the life of Louis duke of Bourbon, relates, that the king of France, the king of Thraſimere, and the king of Bugie landed in Africa, according to their cuſtom, with cymbals, kettle drums, tabours t, and whiſtles u. Babylon, here ſaid to be beſieged by king Richard, and ſo frequently mentioned by the romance writers and the chroniclers of the cruſades, is Cairo or Bagdat. Cairo and Bagdat, ci [...]ies of recent foundation, were perpetually confounded with Babylon, which had been deſtroyed many centuries before, and was ſituated at a conſiderable diſtance from either. Not the leaſt enquiry was made in the dark ages concerning the true ſituation of places, or the diſpoſition of the country in Paleſtine, although the theatre of ſo important [168] a war; and to this neglect were owing, in a great meaſure, the ſignal defeats and calamitous diſtreſſes of the chriſtian adventurers, whoſe numerous armies, deſtitute of information, and cut off from every reſource, periſhed amidſt unknown mountains, and impracticable waſtes. Geography at this time had been but little cultivated. It had been ſtudied only from the antients: as if the face of the earth, and the political ſtate of nations, had not, ſince the time of thoſe writers, undergone any changes or revolutions.

So formidable a champion was king Richard againſt the infidels, and ſo terrible the remembrance of his valour in the holy war, that the Saracens and Turks uſed to quiet their froward children only by repeating his name. Joinville is the only writer who records this anecdote. He adds another of the ſame ſort. When the Saracens were riding, and their horſes ſtarted at any unuſal object, ‘"ils diſoient a leurs chevaulx en les picquent de l'eſperon, [...]t cuides tu que ce ſoit le ROY RICHART w?"’ It is extraordinary, that theſe circumſtances ſhould have eſcaped Malmeſbury, Matthew Paris, Benedict, Langtoft, and the reſt of our old hiſtorians, who have exaggerated the character of this redoubted hero, by relating many particulars more likely to be fabulous, and certainly leſs expreſſive of his proweſs.

SECT. V.

[169]

THE romance of SIR GUY, which is enumerated by Chaucer among the ‘"Romances of pris,"’ affords the following fiction, not uncommon indeed in pieces of this ſort, conc [...]rning the redemption of a knight from a long captivity, whoſe priſon was inacceſſible, unknown, and enchanted a. His name is Amis of the Mountain.

Here beſyde an Elfiſh knyhte b
Has taken my lorde in fyghte,
And hath him ledde with him away
In the Fayry c, Syr, permafay.
Was Amis, quoth Heraude, your huſbond?
A doughtyer knygte was none in londe.
Then tolde Heraude to Raynborne,
How he loved his father Guyon:
Then ſayd Raynburne, for thy ſake,
To morrow I ſhall th [...] way take,
And nevermore come agayne,
Tyll I bring Amys of the Mountayne.
[170] Raynborne roſe on the morrow erly,
And armed hym full richely.—
Raynborne rode tyll it was noone,
Tyll he came to a rocke of ſtone;
Ther he founde a ſtrong gate,
He bliſſed hym, and rode in thereat [...]
He rode half a myle the waie,
He ſaw no light that came of daie,
Then cam he to a watir brode,
Never man ovir ſuche a one rode.
Within he ſawe a place greene
Suche one had he never erſt ſeene.
Within that place there was a pallaice,
Cloſed with walles of heatheneſſe d:
The walles thereof were of criſtall,
And the ſommers of corall.
Raynborne had grete dout to paſſe,
The watir ſo depe and brode was:
And at the laſte his ſteede leepe
Into the brode watir deepe.
Thyrty fadom he ſanke adowne,
Then clepede he to god Raynborne.
God hym help, his ſteede was goode,
And bure hym ovir that hydious floode.
To the pallaice he yodef anone,
And lyghted downe of his ſteede full ſoone.
[171] Through many a chamber yede Raynborne,
A knyghte he found in dongeon.
Raynborne grete hym as a knyght courtoiſe,
Who oweth, he ſaid, this fayre Pallaice?
That knyght anſwered hym, yt is noght,
He oweth it that me hither broght.
Thou art, quod Raynburne, in feeble plight,
Tell me thy name, he ſayd, ſyr knight:
That knyghte ſayd to hym agayne,
My name is Amys of the Mountayne.
The lord is an Elviſh man
That me into thys pryſon wan.
Arte thou Amys, than ſayde Raynborne,
Of the Mountaynes the bold barrone?
In grete perill I have gone,
To ſeke thee in this rocke of ſtone.
But bliſſed be God now have I thee
Thou ſhalt go home with me.
Let be, ſayd Amys of the Mountayne,
Great wonder I have of thee certayne;
How that thou hythur wan:
For ſyth this world fyrſt began
No man hyther come ne myghte,
Without leave of the Elviſh knyghte.
Me with thee thou mayeſt not lede, &c. t

Afterwards, the knight of the mountain directs Raynburne to find a wonderful ſword which hung in the hall of the palace. With this weapon Raynburne attacks and conquers the Elviſh knight; who buys his life, on condition of conducting his conqueror over the perillous ford, or lake, above deſcribed, and of delivering all the captives confined in his ſecret and impregnable dungeon.

[172] Guyon's expedition into the Souldan's camp, an idea furniſhed by the cruſades, is drawn with great ſtrength and ſimplicity.

Guy aſked his armes anone,
Hoſen of yron Guy did upon:
In hys hawberke Guy hym clad,
He drad no ſtroke whyle he it had.
Upon hys head hys helme he caſt,
And haſted hym to ryde full faſt.
A ſyrcleh of gold thereon ſtoode,
The emperarour had none ſo goode;
Aboute the ſyrcle for the nones
Were ſett many precyous ſtones.
Above he had a coate armour wyde;
Hys ſword he toke by hys ſyde:
And lept upon his ſtede anone,
Styrrope with foote touched he none.
Guy rode forth without boſte,
Alone to the Soudan's hoſte:
Guy ſaw all that countrie
Full of tentes and pavylyons bee:
On the pavylyon of the Soudone
Stoode a carbuncle-ſtone:
Guy wiſt therebie it was the Soudones
And drew hym thyther for the nones,
Alt the meetei he founde the Soudone,
And hys barrons everychone,
And tenne kynges aboute hym,
All they were ſtout and grymme:
Guy rode forth, and ſpake no worde,
Tyll he cam to the Soudan's borde k;
[173] He ne rought l with whom he mette,
But on thys wyſe the Soudan he grette.
"God's curſe have thou and thyne
"And tho that levem on Apoline."
Than ſayd the Soudan, "What art thou
"That thus prowdlie ſpeakeſt now?
"Yet found I never man certayne
"That ſuche wordes durſt me ſayne."
Guy ſayd, "So God me ſave from hell,
"My ryght nam I ſhall the tell,
"Guy of Warwicke my name is."
Than ſayd the Sowdan ywis,
"Arte thou the bolde knyght Guyon,
"That art here in my pavylyon?
"Thou ſlueſt my coſyn Coldran
"Of all Saraſyns the boldeſt man, &c n.

[174] I will add Guy's combat with the Daniſh giant Colbrond, as it is touched with great ſpirit, and may ſerve to illuſtrate ſome preceding hints concerning this part of our hero's hiſtory.

Then came Colbronde forthe anone,
On foote, for horſe could bare hym none.
For when he was in armure dight
Fower horſe ne bare hym might.
A man had ynough to done
To bere hym hys wepon.
Then Guy rode to Colbronde,
On hys ſtede ful wele rennende o:
Colbronde ſmote Guy in the fielde
In the middeſt of Syr Guyes ſhelde;
Through Guyes hawberk that ſtroke went
And for no maner thyng it withſtent p.
In two yt ſhareq Guyes ſtedes body
And fell to ground haſtily.
Guy upſtert as an eger lyoune,
And drue hys gode ſworde browne:
To Colbronde he let it flye,
But he might not reche ſo hye.
On hys ſhoulder the ſtroke fell downe
Through all hys armure ſhare Guyon r.
Into the bodie a wounde untyde
That the red blude gan oute glyde.
Colbronde was wroth of that rap,
He thought to give Guy a knap.
He ſmote Guy on the helme bryght
That out ſprang the fyre lyght.
Guy ſmote Colbronde agayne,
Through ſhielde and armure certayne.
[175] He made his ſwerde for to glyde
Into his bodie a wound ryht wyde.
So ſmart came Guyes bronde
That it braſte in hys hond.

The romance of the SQUIRE OF LOW DEGREE, who loved the king's daughter of Hungary s, is alluded to by Chaucer in the Rime of Sir Topas t. The princeſs is thus repreſented in her cloſet, adorned with painted glaſs, liſtening to the ſquire's complaint u.

That ladi herde hys mournyng alle,
Ryght undir the chambre walle:
In her oryallw there ſhe was,
Cloſyd well with royall glas,
Fulfyllyd yt was with ymagery,
Every windowe by and by
On eche ſyde had ther a gynne,
Sperdex with manie a dyvers pynne.
Anone that ladie fayre and fre
Undyd a pynne of yvere,
And wyd the wyndowes ſhe open ſet,
The ſunne ſhonne yn at hir cloſet.
In that arbre fayre and gaye
She ſaw where that ſqyure lay, &c.

[176] I am perſuaded to tranſcribe the following paſſage, becauſe it delineates in lively colours the faſhionable diverſions and uſages of antient times. The king of Hungary endeavours to comfort his daughter with theſe promiſes, after ſhe had fallen into a deep and incurable melancholy from the ſuppoſed loſs of her paramour.

To morow ye ſhall yn huntyng fare;
And yede, my doughter, yn a chare,
Yt ſhal be coverd wyth velvette reede
And clothes of fyne golde al about your heede,
With damaſke whyte and aſure blewe
Well dyaperd y with lyllyes newe:
[177] Your pomelles ſhalbe ended with golde,
Your chaynes enameled many a folde.
Your mantell of ryche degre
Purple palle and armyne fre.
Jennets of Spayne that ben ſo wyght
Trapped to the ground with velvet bryght.
Ye ſhall have harpe, ſautry, and ſonge,
And other myrthes you amonge,
Ye ſhal have rumney, and maleſpine,
Both ypocraſſe and vernage wyne;
Mountreſe and wyne of Greke,
Both algrade and deſpice eke;
Antioche and baſtarde,
Pyment z alſo, and garnarde;
[178] Wine of Greke, and muſcadell,
Both clare, pyment, and rochell,
The reed your ſtomake to defye
And pottes of oſey ſett you bye.
You ſhall have venyſon ybake a,
The beſt wylde fowle that may be take:
A leſe of harehoundb with you to ſtreke,
And hart, and hynde, and other lyke,
Ye ſhalbe ſet at ſuch a tryſt
That hart and hynde ſh [...]ll come to you fyſt.
Your de [...]eaſe to dryve ye fro,
To here the bugles there yblowe.
[179] Homward thus ſhall ye ryde,
On haukyng by the ryvers ſyde,
With goſhauke and with gentil fawcon
With buglehorn and merlyon.
When you come home your menie amonge,
Ye ſhall have revell, daunces, and ſonge:
Lytle chyldren, great and ſmale,
Shall ſyng as doth the nyghtyngale,
Than ſhal ye go to your evenſong,
With tenours and trebles among,
Threſcore of copes of damaſk bryght
Full of perles they ſhalbe pyghte.—
Your ſenſours ſhalbe of golde
Endent with aſure manie a folde:
Your quere nor organ ſonge ſhal want
With countre note and dyſcaunt.
The other halfe on orgayns playing,
With yong chyldren ful fayn ſyngyng.
Than ſhal ye go to your ſuppere
And ſytte in tentis in grene arbere,
With clothe of arras pyght to the grounde,
With ſaphyres ſet of dyamounde.—
A hundred knyghtes truly tolde
Shall plaie with bowles in alayes colde.
Your diſeaſe to dryve awaie,
To ſe the fisſhes yn poles plai [...].
To a drawe brydge then ſhal ye,
Thone halfe of ſtone, thother of tre,
A barge ſhal meet you full ryht,
With xxiiii ores ful bryght,
With trompettes and with claryowne,
The freſshe watir to rowe up and downe.
Than ſhal you, doughter, aſke the wyne
Wyth ſpiſes that be gode and fyne:
[180] Gentyll pottes, with genger grene,
Wyth dates and deynties you betweene.
Fortie torches brenynge bright
At your brydges to bring you lyght.
Into youre chambre they ſhall you brynge
Wyth muche myrthe and more lykynge.
Your blankettes ſhal be of fuſtyane,
Your ſhetes ſhal be of cloths of rayne c:
Your head-ſhete ſhal be of pery pyght d,
Wyth dy [...]mondes ſet and rubys bryght.
Whan you are layd in bed ſo ſofte,
A cage of golde ſhal hange aloft,
Wythe longe peper fayre burning,
And cloves that be ſwete ſmellyng,
Frankinſenſe and olibanum,
That whan ye ſlepe the taſte may come
And yf ye no reſt can take
All nyght mynſtrels for you ſhall wake e.

SYR DEGORE is a romance perhaps belonging to the ſame period f. After his education under a hermit, Sir Degore's firſt adventure is againſt a dragon. This horrible monſter is marked with the hand of a maſter g.

[181]
Degore went furth his waye,
Through a foreſt half a daye:
He [...]erd no man, nor ſawe none,
Tyll yt paſt the hygh none,
Then herde he grete ſtrokes falle,
That yt made grete noyſe with alle,
Full ſone he thoght that to ſe,
To wete what the ſtrokes myght be:
There was an erle, both ſtout and gaye,
He was com ther that ſame daye,
For to hunt for a dere or a do,
But hys houndes were gone hym fro.
Then was ther a dragon grete and grymme,
Full of fyre and alſo venymme,
Wyth a wyde throte and tuſkes grete,
Uppon that knygte faſt gan he bete.
And as a lyon then was hys feete,
Hys tayle was long, and full unmeete:
Betwene hys head and hys tayle
Was xxii fote withouten fayle;
Hys body was lyke a wyne tonne,
He ſhone ful bryght agaynſt the ſunne:
Hys eyen were bright as any glaſſe,
His ſcales were hard as any braſſe;
And therto he was necked lyke a horſe,
He bare hys hed up wyth grete force:
The breth of hys mouth that did out blow
As yt had been a fyre on lowe.
He was to loke on, as I you telle,
As yt had bene a fiende of helle.
Many a man he had ſhent,
And many a horſe he had rente.

As the minſtrell profeſſion became a ſcience, and the audience grew more civiliſed, refinements began to be [182] ſtudied, and the romantic poet ſought to gain new attention, and to recommend his ſtory, by giving it the advantage of a plan. Moſt of the old metrical romances are, from their nature, ſuppoſed to be incoherent rhapſodies. Yet many of them have a regular integrity, in which every part contributes to produce an intended end. Through various obſtacles and difficulties one point is kept in view, till the final and general cataſtrophe is brought about by a pleaſing and unexpected ſurpriſe. As a ſpecimen of the reſt, and as it lies in a narrow compaſs, I will develope the plan of the fable now before us, which preſerves at leaſt a coincidence of events, and an uniformity of deſign.

A king's daughter of England, extremely beautiful, is ſollicited in marriage by numerous potentates of various kingdoms. The king her father vows, that of all theſe ſuitors, that champion alone ſhall win his daughter who can unhorſe him at a tournament. This they all attempt, but in vain. The king every year aſſiſted at an anniverſary maſs for the ſoul of his deceaſed queen, who was interred in an abbey at ſome diſtance from his caſtle. In the journey thither, the princeſs ſtrays from her damſels in a ſolitary foreſt: ſhe is diſcovered by a knight in rich armour, who by many ſollicitations prevails over her chaſtity, and, at parting, gives her a ſword without a point, which he charges her to keep ſafe; together with a pair of gloves, which will fit no hands but her own g. At length ſhe finds the road to her father's caſtle, where, after ſome time, to avoid diſcovery, ſhe is ſecretly delivered of a boy. Soon after the delivery, the princeſs having carefully placed the child in a cradle, with twenty pounds in gold, ten pounds in ſilver, the gloves given her by the ſtrange knight, and a letter, conſigns him to one [183] of her maidens, who carries him by night, and leaves him in a wood, near a hermitage, which ſhe diſcerned by the light of the moon. The hermit in the morning diſcovers the child; reads the letter, by which it appears that the gloves will fit no lady but the boy's mother, educates him till he is twenty years of age, and at parting gives him the gloves found with him in the cradle, telling him that they will fit no lady but his own mother. The youth, who is called Degore, ſets forward to ſeek adventures, and ſaves an earl from a terrible dragon, which he kills. The earl invites him to his palace, dubs him a knight, gives him a horſe and armour, and offers him half his territory. Sir Degore refuſes to accept this offer, unleſs the gloves, which he had received from his foſter-father the hermit, will fit any lady of his court. All the ladies of the earl's court are called before him, and among the reſt the earl's daughter, but upon trial the gloves will fit none of them. He therefore takes leave of the earl, proceeds on his adventures, and meets with a large train of knights; he is informed that they were going to tourney with the king of England, who had promiſed his daughter to that knight who could conquer him in ſingle combat. They tell him of the many barons and earls whom the king had foiled in ſeveral trials. Sir Degore, however, enters the liſts, overthrows the king, and obtains the princeſs. As the knight is a perfect ſtranger, ſhe ſubmits to her father's commands with much reluctance. He marries her; but in the midſt of the ſolemnities which preceded the conſummation, recollects the gloves which the hermit had given him, and propoſes to make an experiment with them on the hands of his bride. The princeſs, on ſeeing the gloves, changed colour, claimed them for her own, and drew them on with the greateſt eaſe. She declares to Sir Degore that ſhe was his mother, and gives him an account of his birth: ſhe told him that the knight his father gave her a pointleſs ſword, which was to be delivered to no perſon but the ſon [184] that ſhould be born of their ſtolen embraces. Sir Degore draws the ſword, and contemplates its breadth and length with wonder: is ſuddenly ſeized with a deſire of finding out his father. He ſets forward on this ſearch, and on his way enters a caſtle, where he is entertained at ſupper by fifteen beautiful damſels. The lady of the caſtle invites him to her bed, but in vain; and he is lulled aſleep by the ſound of a harp. Various artifices are uſed to divert him from his purſuit, and the lady even engages him to encounter a giant in her cauſe h. But Sir Degore rejects all her temptations, and purſues his journey. In a foreſt he meets a knight richly accoutred, who demands the reaſon why Sir Degore preſumed to enter his foreſt without permiſſion. A combat enſues. In the midſt of the conteſt, the combatants being both unhorſed, the ſtrange knight obſerving the ſword of his adverſary not only to be remarkably long and broad, but without a point, begs a truce for a moment. He fits the ſword to a point which he had always kept, and which had formerly broken off in an encounter with a giant; and by this circumſtance diſcovers Sir Degore to be his ſon. They both return into England, and Sir Degore's father is married to the princeſs his mother.

The romance of KYNG ROBERT OF SICILY begins and proceeds thus i.

Here is of kyng Robert of Cicyle,
Hou pride dude him beguile.
Princes proude that beth in pres,
I wol ou tell thing not lees.
[185] In Ciſyle was a noble kyng,
Faire and ſtrong and ſumdele ȝyng k;
He hadde a broder in greete Roome,
Pope of al criſtendome;
Another he hadde in Alemayne,
An emperour that Sarazins wrougte payne.
The kynge was hetel kynge Robert,
Never mon ne wuſte him ferte,
He was kyng of great honour
Ffor that he was conquerour:
In al the worlde nas his peer,
Kyng ne prince, far ne neer:
And, for he was of chivalrie flour,
His broder was made emperour:
His oder broder, godes vikere,
Pope of Rome, as I ſeide ere;
The pope was hote pope Urban,
He was goode to god and man:
The emperour was hote Valemounde,
A ſtronger warreoure nas non founde,
After his brother of Ciſyle,
Of whom that I ſchal telle awhyle.
The kynge yhoughte he hadde no peer
In al the world, far no neer,
And in his yougt he hadde pryde
Ffor he was nounpere in uche ſyde.
At midſomer a ſeynt Jones niht,
The king to churche com ful riht,
Ffor to heren his even-ſong;
Him thouhte he dwelled ther ful long,
He thouhte more in worldes honour
Than in Criſt our ſaveour:
[186] In Magnificatm he herde a vers,
He made a clerke het him rehers,
In language of his own tonge,
In Latyn he nuſten what heo ſonge;
The vers was this I tell ye,
"Depoſuit potentes de ſede
"Et exaltavit humiles,"
This was the vers withouten les
The clerke ſeide anone righte,
"Sire ſuche is godes mihte,
"That he make heyge lowe,
"And lowe heyge, in luytell throwe;
"God may do, withoute lyge o,
"His wil in twenkling of an eige p,
The kynge ſeide, with hert unſtabl
"All yor ſong is fals and fable:
"What man hath ſuch power
"Me to bringe lowe in daunger?
"I am floure of chivalrye,
"Myn enemys I may diſtruye:
"No man lyveth in no londe
"That may me withſtonde.
"Then is this a ſong of noht."
This erreur he hadde in thought,
And in his thought a ſleep him tok,
In his pulput r, as ſeith the boke.
Whan that evenſong was al don,
A kyng i lyk hem out gon
And all men with hem wende,
Kyng Roberd lefte oute of mynde s.
[187] The newet kyng was, as I yow telle,
Godes aungell his pruide to felle.
The aungell in hall joye made,
And all men of hym weore glade.
The kynge wakede that laye in churche,
His men he thouhte wo to werche;
Ffor he was left ther alon,
And dark niht hym fel upon.
He gan crie after his men,
Ther nas non that ſpak agen.
But the ſextune atten ende
Of the churche him gan wende u,
And ſaide, "what doſt thou nouth here,
"Thou fals thef, thou loſenger?
"Thou art her with felenye
"Holy chirche to robby, &c."
The kyng bigon to renne out faſte;
As a mon that was wood,
At his paleys gate he ſtood,
And hail the porter gadelyng w,
And bad him com in higing x:
The porter ſeide, "Who clepethy ſo?"
He anſwerde, "Anone tho,
"Thou ſchalt witen ar I go;
"Thi kyng I am thou ſchalt knowe:
"In priſoun thou ſchall ligge lowe,
"And ben an hanged and to drawe
"As a traytour bi the lawe,
"You ſchal wel witen I am kynge, &c."

When admitted, he is brought into the hall; where the angel, who had aſſumed his place, makes him the fool of the hall, and cloathes him in a fool's coat. He is then ſent out [188] to lie with the dogs; in which ſituation he envies the condition of thoſe dogs, which in great multitudes were permitted [...]o remain in the royal hall. At length the emperor Valemounde ſends letters to his brother king Robert, inviting him to viſit, with himſelf, their brother the pope at Rome. The angel, who perſonates king Robert, welcomes the meſſengers, and cloathes them in the richeſt apparel, ſuch as could not be made in the world.

The aungell welcomede the meſſagers,
And gaf them clothes riche of pers z,
Ffurred al with ermyne,
In cryſtendone is non ſo fyne;
And all was chouched midd [...] perre a,
Better was non in criſtantè:
Such clothe, and hit werre to dihte,
Al criſtendom hit make ne mihte,
Of that wondrede al that londe,
How that clothe was wrought with honde,
Where ſuch cloth was to ſelle,
He ho hit made couthe no mon telle.
The meſſengers went with the kynge b [...]
To grete Rome, withoute lettynge;
The Fool Robert alſo went,
Clothed in lodlyc garnement,
With ffoxes tayles mony a boute d,
Men mihte him knowen in the route,
The aungel was clothed al in whyt
Was never ſeygee ſuch ſamyt f:
And al was crouched on pe [...]les riche,
Never mon ſeighe non hem liche.
[189] Al whit attyr was, and ſteede,
The ſteede was fair ther he yede g,
So feir a ſteede as he on rod
Was never mon that ever bi ſtrod.
The aungel cam to Roome ſone
Realh as fel a kyng to done.
So rech a kyng com never in Roome
All men wondrede whether he come.
His men weore reallichei dight
Heorek riches can ſeothe no wiht,
Of clothis, gurdles, and other thing,
Evriche ſqyzerl thoughte a kyng;
And al ride of riche array,
Botem kyng Robert, as i ow ſay,
Al men on him gan pyke,
For he rod al other unlyke.
An ape rod of his clothing
In tokne that he was underling.
The pope and the emperour alſo,
And other lordes mony mo,
Welcommede the aungel as for kyng
And made joye of his comyng;
Theoſe three bredrene made cumfort,
The aungel was broder mad bi ſort,
Wel was the pope and emperour
That hadden a broder of ſuch honour.

Afterwards they return in the ſame pomp to Sicily, where the angel, after ſo long and ignominious a penance, reſtores king Robert to his royalty.

Sicily was conquered by the French in the eleventh century n, and this tale might have been originally got or [190] written during their poſſeſſion of that iſland, which continued through many monarchies o. But Sicily, from its ſituation, became a familiar country to all the weſtern continent at the time of the cruſades, and conſequently ſoon found its way into romance, as did many others of the mediterranean iſlands and coaſts, for the ſame reaſon. Another of them, Cilicia, has accordingly given title to an antient tale called, the KING OF TARS; from which I ſhall give ſome extracts, touched with a rude but expreſſive pencil.

"Her bigenneth of the KYNG OF TARS, and of the Soudan of Dammias p, how the Soudan of Dammias was criſtened thoru godis gras q."
Herkeneth now, bothe old and ȝyng,
Ffor Marie love, that ſwete thyng:
Howe a werre bi gan
Bi tweene a god criſtene kyng,
And an hethene heih lordyng,
Of Damas the Soudan.
The kyng of Tars hadde a wyf,
The feireſte that mihte bere lyf,
That eny mon telle can:
A doughter thei hadde ham bi tweene,
That heorer rihte heire ſcholde ben;
Whit ſos father of ſwan:
[191] Chaaſt heot was, and feir of chere,
With rodeu red ſo bloſme on brere,
Eigenw ſtepe and gray,
Lowe ſchuldres, and whyt ſwere x;
Her to ſeoy was gret preyere
Of princes pert in play.
The wordez of hire ſpronge ful wyde
Ffeor and ner, bi vch a ſyde:
The Soudan herde ſay;
Him thougte his herte wolde broke on five
Bote he mihte have hire to wive,
That was ſo feire a may,
The Soudan ther he ſatte in halle;
He ſent his meſſagers faſte with alle,
To hire fader the kyng.
And ſeyde, hou ſo hit ever bi falle,
That mayde he wolde clothe in palle
And ſpouſen hire with his ryng.
"And allesa I ſwere withouten fayle
"I chullb hire winnen in pleye battayle
"With mony an heih lordyng, &c."

The Soldan, on application to the king of Tarſus for his daughter, is refuſed; and the meſſengers return without ſucceſs. The Soldan's anger is painted with great characteriſtical ſpirit.

The Soudan ſate at his des,
I ſerved of his furſte mes;
Thei comen into the halle
To fore the prince proud in pres,
Heore tale thei tolde withouten les
And on heore knees gan falle:
[192] And ſeide, "Sire the king of Tars
"Of wikked wordes nis not ſcars,
"Hethene hounde e he doth thef calle;
"And or his dogtur he give the tille g
Thyn herte blode he woll ſpille
"And thi barrons alle."
Whan the Soudan this i herde,
As a wod man he ferde,
His robe he rent adoune;
He tar the harh of hed and berde,
And ſeide he wold her wene with ſwerde,
Beo his lord ſeynt Mahoune.
The table adoune rihte he ſmote,
In to the the floore foote hot i,
He lokede as a wylde lyoun;
Alle that he hitte he ſmotte down riht
Both ſergeaunt and kniht,
Erle and eke baroun.
So he ferde forſothe a plihte,
Al a day, al a nihte,
That no man mihte him chaſte k:
A morwen when hit was day lihte,
He ſent his meſſagers ful rihte,
After his barouns in haſte:
"Lordynges, he ſeith, what to rede l,
"Me is done a grete myſdede,
"Of Taars the criſten kyng;
"I bad him both land and lede
"To have his doughter in worthli wede,
"And ſpouſen hire with my ryng.
[193] "And he ſeide, withouten fayle
"Firſt he wolde me ſle in batayle,
"And mony a grete lordynge.
"At ſertesm he ſchal be forſwore,
"Or to wrothele n that he was bore,
"Bote he hit thertoo bryng.
"Therefore lordynges, I have after ow ſent
"Ffor to come to my parliment,
"To wite of ȝow counſayle."
And all onſwerde with gode entent
Thei wolde be at his commaundement
Withouten any fayle.
And when thei were alle at his heſte,
The Soudan made a well grete feſte,
For love of his battayle;
The Soudan gedrede a hoſte unryde p,
With Sarazyns of muchel pryde,
The kyng of Taars to aſſayle.
Whan the kyng hit herde that tyde
He ſent about on vche ſyde,
All that he mihte off ſeende;
Grat werre tho bi gan to wrake
Ffor the marriage ne moſt be take
Of that ſame mayden heende q.
Battayle thei ſette uppon a day,
With inne the thridde day of May,
Ne longer nolde thei leende r.
The Soudan com with grete power,
With helme briht, and feir banere,
Uppon that kyng to wende.
[194] The Soudan ladde an huge oſt,
And com with muche pruyde and coſt,
With the kyng of Taars to fihte.
With him mony a Sarazyn feer s,
All the feolds feor and neer,
Of helmes leomede t lihte.
The kyng of Taars com alſo
The Soudan battayle for to do
With mony a criſtene knihte;
Either oſt gon othur aſſayle
Ther bi gon a ſtrong batayle
That griſly che was of ſihte.
Threo hethene agen twey criſtene men,
And felde hem down in the fen,
With wepnes ſtif and goode:
The ſteorne Sarazyns in that fihte,
Slowe vr criſten men doun rihte,
Thei fouhte as heo weore woode.
The Souldan's oſte in that ſtounde
Ffeolde the criſtene to the grounde,
Mony a freoly foode;
The Sarazyns, with outen fayle,
The criſtens culd u in that battayle,
Nas non that hem withſtoode.
Whan the king of Taars ſaw the ſiht
Wood he was for wrathe w a pliht;
In honde he hent a ſpere,
And to the Soudan he rode ful riht,
With a dunt x of much miht,
Adoun he gon him bere:
The Souldan neigh he hadde iſlawe,
But thritti thouſant of hethen lawe
Commen him for to were;
[195] And brougten him agen upon his ſtede,
And holpe him wel in that nede,
That no mon miht him dere y.
When he was brouht uppon his ſtede,
He ſprong as ſparkle doth of glede z,
Ffor wrathe and for envye;
All that he hotte he made them blede,
He ferde as he wolde a wede a,
Mahoun help, he gan crye.
Mony an helm ther was unweved,
And mony a bacinet b to cleved,
And ſaddles mony emptye;
Men miht ſe uppon the felde
Moni a kniht ded under ſchelde,
Of the criſten cumpagnie.
Whon the kyng of Taars ſaug hem ſo ryde,
No longer then he nold abyde,
Bote fleyh c to his owne citè:
The Sarazyns, that ilke tyde,
Sloug a doun bi vche ſyde
Vr criſtene folk ſo fre.
The Sarazyns that tyme, ſauns fayl [...],
Slowe vre criſtene in battayle,
That reuthe it was to ſe;
And on the morwe for heore d ſake
Truwes thei gunne for to gidere take e,
A moneth and dayes thre.
As the kyng of Taars ſatte in his halle,
He made ful gret deol f withalle,
Ffor the folk that he hedde ilore g:
[196] His douhter com in riche palle,
On kneos he h gan biforen hym falle,
And ſeide with ſything ſore:
"Ffather, he ſeide, let me bi his wyf
"That ther be no more ſtryf, &c."

To prevent future bloodſhed, the princeſs voluntarily declares ſhe is willing to be married to the Soldan, although a Pagan: and notwithſtanding the king her father peremptorily refuſes his conſent, and reſolves to continue the war, with much difficulty ſhe finds means to fly to the Soldan's court, in order to produce a ſpeedy and laſting reconciliation by marrying him.

To the Souldan heo i is i fare;
He com with mony an heig lordyng,
Ffor to welcom that ſwete thyng,
Theor he com in hire chare k:
He cuſt l hire with mony a ſithe
His joye couthe no man hithe m,
A wei was al hire care.
Into chambre heo was led,
With riche clothes heo was cled,
Hethene as thaug heo were n.
The Souldan ther he ſatte in halle,
He commaunded his knihtes alle
That mayden ffor to fette,
On cloth of riche purpil palle,
And on here hed a comli calle,
Bi the Souldan ſhe was ſette.
Unſemli was hit ffor to ſe
Heo that was ſo bright of ble
To habbe o ſo foule a mette p, &c.

[197] They are then married, and the wedding is ſolemniſed with a grand tournament, which they both view from a high tower. She is afterwards delivered of a ſon, which is ſo deformed as to be almoſt a monſter. But at length ſhe perſuades the Soldan to turn chriſtian; and the young prince is baptiſed, after which ceremony he ſuddenly becomes a child of moſt extraordinary beauty. The Soldan next proceeds to deſtroy his Saracen idols.

He hente a ſtof with herte grete,
And al his goddis he gan to bete,
And drough hem al adoun;
And leyde on til that he con ſwete,
With ſterne ſtrokes and with grete,
On Jovyn and Plotoun,
On Aſtrot and ſire Jovyn
On Termagaunt and Apollin,
He brak them ſcul and croun;
On Termagaunt, that was heore brother,
He left no lym hol witte other,
Ne on his lorde ſeynt Mahoun, &c.

The Soldan then releaſes thirty thouſand chriſtians, whom he had long detained priſoners. As an apoſtate from the pagan religion, he is powerfully attacked by ſeveral neighbouring Saracen nations: but he ſollicits the aſſiſtance of his father in law the king of Tars; and they both joining their armies, in a pitched battle, defeat five Saracen kings, Kenedoch, Leſyas king of Taborie, Merkel, Cleomadas, and Membrok. There is a warmth of deſcription in ſome paſſages of this poem, not unlike the manner of Chaucer. The reader muſt have already obſerved, that the ſtanza reſembles that of Chaucer's RIME OF SIR TOPAS q.

[198] IPOMEDON is mentioned among the romances in the Prologue of RICHARD CUER DE LYON; which, in an antient copy of the Britiſh muſeum, is called SYR IPOMYDON: a name borrowed from the Theban war, and transferred here to a tale of the feudal times r. This piece is evidently derived from a French original. Our hero Ippomedon is ſon of Ermones king of Apulia, and his miſtreſs is the fair heireſs of Calabria. About the year 1230, William Ferrabras s, and his brethren, ſons of Tancred the Norman, and well known in the romantic hiſtory of the Paladins, acquired the ſignories of Apulia and Calabria. But our Engliſh romance ſeems to be immediately tranſlated from the French; for Ermones is called king of Poyle, or Apulia, which in French is Pouille. I have tranſcribed ſome of the moſt intereſting paſſages t.

Ippomedon, although the ſon of a king, is introduced waiting in his father's hall, at a grand feſtival. This ſervitude was ſo far from being diſhonourable, that it was always required as a preparatory ſtep to knighthood u.

Everie yere the kyng weld
At Whytſuntyde a feſt held
Of dukis, erlis, and barouns,
Mani ther com frome diverſe tounes,
Ladyes, maydens, gentill and fre,
Come thedyr frome ferre countrè:
And grette lordis of ferre lond,
Thedyr were prayd by fore the hond w.
Whan all were com to gidyr than
Ther was joy of mani a man;
[199] Ffull ryche I wene were there pryſe,
Ffor better might no man devyſe.
Ippomedon that day ſervyde in halle,
All ſpake of hym both grete and ſmalle,
Ladyes and mayden by helde hym on,
So goodly a youth they had ſene non:
Hys feyre chere in halle theym ſmerte
That mony a lady ſon ſmote throw the herte.
And in theyr hartys they made mone
That there lordis ne were ſuche one.
After mete they went to pley,
All the peple, as I you ſay;
Some to chambre, and ſome to boure,
And ſome to the hye toure x;
And ſome on the halle ſtode
And ſpake what hem thoht gode:
Men that were of that cite y
Enquired of men of other cuntrè, &c.

Here a converſation commences concerning the heireſs of Calabria: and the young prince Ippomedon immediately forms a reſolution to viſit and to win her. He ſets out in diſguiſe.

Now they furth go on their way,
Ippomedon to hys men gan ſay,
That thei be none of them alle,
So hardi by his name hym calle,
Whenſo thei wend farre or neare,
Or over the ſtraunge ryvere;
[200] Ne no man telle what I am
Where I ſchall go, ne where I came.
All they graunted his commaundement,
And furthe thei went with one conſent.
Ippomedon and Thelomew
Robys had on and mantills newe,
Of the richeſt that might be,
Ther nas ne ſuche in that cuntrèe:
Ffor many was the riche ſtone
That the mantills were uppon.
So long there waie they have nome z
That to Calabre they are come:
Thei come to the caſtell yate
The porter was redy there at,
The porter to them thei gan calle
And prayd him go into the halle
And ſay thy lady a gent and fre,
That commen are men of farre contrèe,
And yf yt pleaſe hir we will her pray,
That we might ete with hyr to day.
The porter ſeyd full corteſſly
"Your errand to do I am redy."
The ladie to her mete was ſette,
The porter cam and fayr her grette,
"Madame, he ſeyde, god yow ſave,
"At your gate geſtis you have,
"Straunge men us for to ſe
"Thei aſke mete for charytè."
The ladie commaundeth ſone anone
That the gates wer undone,
[201] "And brynge them alle bifore me
"Ffor welle at eſe ſhall thei be."
Thei took heyr pagis hors and alle,
Theſe two men went into the halle,
Ippomedon on knees hym ſette,
And the ladye feyre he grette:
"I am a man of ſtraunge countrè
"And prye yow of your will to be
"That I myght dwelle with you to gere
"Of your nourture for to lere b,
"I am com from farre lond;
"Ffor ſpeche I here bi fore the hand
"That your nourture and your ſervyſe,
"Ys holden of ſo grete empryſe,
"I pray you that I may dwell here
"Some of your ſervyſe to bere."
The ladye by held Ippomedon,
He ſemed wel a gentilmon,
She knew non ſuche in her lande,
So goodli a man and wel farrand c;
She ſawe alſo bi his norture
He was a man of grete valure:
She caſt ful ſone in hire thoght
That for no ſervyſe cum he noght;
But hit was worſhip her untoo
In feir ſervyſe hym to do.
She ſayd, "Syr, welcome ye be,
"And al that comyn be with the;
"Sithe ye have had ſo grete travayle,
"Of a ſervyſe ye ſhall not fayle:
"In this cuntre ye may dwell here
"And al your will for to here,
[202] "Of the cuppe ye ſhall ſerve me
"And all your men with you ſhal be,
"Ye may dwell here at your wille,
"Bote d your beryng be full ylle."
"Madame, he ſaid, grantmercy,"
He thanked the ladye corteyſly.
She commandith him to the mete,
But or he ſette in ony ſete,
He ſaluted theym greete and ſmalle,
As a gentillmon ſhuld in halle;
All thei ſaid ſone anon,
Thei ſaw nevir ſo godli a mon,
Ne ſo light, ne ſo glad,
Ne non that ſo ryche atire had:
There was none that ſat nor yede e,
But thei had merveille of his dede f,
And ſeyd, he was no lytell ſyre
That myht ſhowe ſoche atyre.
Whan thei had ete, and grace ſayd,
And the tabyll awaye was layd;
Upp then aroos Ippomedon,
Ant to the bottery he went anon,
Ant hys mantyl hym a boute;
On hym lokyd all the route,
Ant everie mon ſeyd to other there,
"Will ye ſe the proude ſqueer
"Shall ſerve g my ladye of the wyne,
"In hys mantyll that is ſo fyne?"
That they hym ſcornyd wiſt he noght
On othyr thyng he had his thoght.
He toke the cuppe of the botelere,
And drewe a lace of ſylke ful clere,
[203] Adowne than felle hys mantylle by,
He preyed hym for hys curteſy,
That lytell gyfte h that he wold nome
Tell afte ſum better come.
Up it toke the bottelere,
By fore the lady he gan it bere
Ant preyd the ladye hartely
To thanke hym of his curteſſie,
Al that was tho in the halle
Grete honoure they ſpake hym alle.
And ſayde he was no lytyll man
That ſuch gyftis giffie kan.
There he dwelled moni a day,
And ſervyd the ladye wel to pay,
He bare hym on ſo fayre manere
To knightis, ladyes, and ſquyere,
All loved hym that com hym by,
Ffor he bare hym ſo corteſſly.
The ladye had a coſyn that hight Jaſon,
Full well he loved Ippomedon;
When that he yed in or oute,
Jaſon went with hym aboute.
The lady lay, but ſhe ſlept noght,
For of the ſquyerre ſhe had grete thoght;
How he was feyre and ſhapè wele,
Body and armes, and everie dele:
Ther was non in al hir londe
So wel he ſemyd dougti of honde.
But ſhe howde wele for no caſe,
Whence he came nor what he was,
Ne of no man could enquere
Other than of that ſquyere.
[204] She hire bi thought of a quayntyſe,
If ſhe miht know in any wiſe,
To wete whereof he were come;
This was hyr thoght al their ſome
She thoght to wode hyr men to tame i
That ſhe myght knowe hym by his game.
On the morow whan yt was day
To her men ſhe gan to ſay,
"To morrowe whan it is day light,
"Lok ye be al redy dight,
"With your houndis more and leſſe,
"In fforreſt to take my greſſe,
"And thare I will myſelf be
"Your game to by holde and ſe."
Ippomedon had houndis three
That he broght from his cuntree;
Whan thei were to the wode gone,
This ladye and her men ichone,
And with hem her houndis ladde,
All that any houndis hadde.
Syr Tholomew for gate he noght,
Hys maiſtres houndes thedyr he broght,
That many a day he had ronne ere,
Fful wel he thoght to note hem there.
When thei came to the launde on hight,
The quenes pavylyon thar was pight,
That ſhe might ſee al the beſt,
All the game of the forreſt,
And to the lady broght mani a beſt k,
Herte and hynd, buck and doo,
And othir beſtis many mo.
The houndis that wer of gret priſe,
Plucked down dere all atryſe,
[205] Ippomedon he with his hounds throo
Drew down both buck and doo,
More he took with houndes thre
Than al that othir cumpagnie,
Thare ſquyres undyd hyr dere
Eche man after his manere:
Ippomedon a dere gede unto,
That ful konningly gon he hit undo,
So feyre that venyſon he gan to dight,
That both hym by held ſquyere and knight:
The ladye looked oute of her pavylyon,
And ſawe hym dight the venyſon.
There ſhe had grete dainte
And ſo had all that dyd hym ſee:
She ſawe all that he down droughe
Of huntynge ſhe wiſt he coude ynoghe
And thoght in her hert then
That he was com of gentillmen:
She bade Jaſon hire men to calle
Home then paſſyd grete and ſmalle:
Home thei com ſon anon,
This ladye to hir met gan gon,
And of venery l had her fille
Ffor they had take game at wille.

He is afterwards knighted with great ſolemnity.

The heraudes gaff the childe m the gee,
And M pounde he had to fee,
Mynſtrelles had giftes of gold
And fourty dayes thys feſt was holde n.

The metrical romance entitled, LA MORT ARTHURE, preſerved in the ſame repoſitory, is ſuppoſed by the learned and [206] accurate Wanley, to be a tranſlation from the French: who adds, that it is not perhaps older than the times of Henry the ſeventh o. But as it abounds with many Saxon words, and ſeems to be quoted in SYR BEVYS, I have given it a place here p. Notwithſtanding the title, and the exordium which promiſes the hiſtory of Arthur and the Sangreal, the exploits of Sir Lancelot du Lake king of Benwike, his intrigues with Arthur's queen Geneura, and his refuſal of the beautiful daughter of the earl of Aſcalot, form the greateſt part of the poem. At the cloſe, the repentance of Lancelot and Geneura, who both aſſume the habit of religion, is introduced. The writer mentions the Tower of London. The following is a deſcription of a tournament performed by ſome of the knights of the Round Table q.

Tho to the caſtelle gon they fare,
To the ladye fayre and bryhte:
Blithe was the ladye thare,
That thei wold dwell with her that nyght.
Haſtely was there ſoper yare r
Of mete and drinke richely dight;
On the morowe gan thei dine and fare
Both Lancellot and that othir knight.
Whan they come in to the felde
Myche ther was of game and play,
Awhile they lovid s and bi held
How Arthur's knightis rode that day,
t Galehodis party bigun to u held
On fote his knightis ar led away.
Launcellott ſtiffe was undyr ſchelde,
Thenkis to help yf that he may.
[207] Beſyde him come than ſyr Gawayne,
Breme w as eny wilde bore;
Lancellot ſpringis hem agayne x,
In rede armys that he bore:
A dynte he gaff with mekill mayne,
Syr Ewayne was unhorſid thare,
That al men went y he had be [...] ſlayne
So was he woundyd wondyr ſare z.
Syr Beorte thoughte no thinge good,
When Syr Ewaine unhorſyd was;
Fforth he ſpringis, as he were wode,
To Launcelott withouten leſe:
Launcellot [...] hitt hym on the hode,
The next way to grounde he cheſe:
Was non ſo ſtiffe agayne hym ſtode
Fful thin he made the thikkeſt prees a.
Syr Lyonell be gonne to tene b,
And haſtely he made hym bowne c,
To Launcellott, with herte kene,
He rode with helme and ſword browne;
Launcellott hytt hym as I wene,
Through the helme in to the crowne:
That eny aftir it was ſene
Bothe horſe and man ther yod adoune.
The knightis gadrede to gedre than
And gan with crafte, &c.

I could give many more ample ſpecimens of the romantic poems of theſe nameleſs minſtrells, who probably flouriſhed before or about the reign of Edward the ſecond d. But it [208] is neither my inclination nor intention to write a catalogue, or compile a miſcellany. It is not to be expected that this work ſhould be a general repoſitory of our antient poetry. I cannot however help obſerving, that Engliſh literature and [209] Engliſh poetry ſuffer, while ſo many pieces of this kind ſtill remain concealed and forgotten in our manuſcript libraries. They contain in common with the proſe-romances, to moſt of which indeed they gave riſe, amuſing images of antient cuſtoms and inſtitutions, not elſewhere to be found, or at leaſt not otherwiſe ſo ſtrikingly delineated: and they preſerve pure and unmixed, thoſe fables of chivalry which formed the taſte and awakened the imagination of our elder Engliſh claſſics. The antiquaries of former times overlooked or rejected theſe valuable remains, which they deſpiſed as falſe and frivolous; and employed their induſtry in reviving obſcure fragments of uninſtructive morality or unintereſting hiſtory. But in the preſent age we are beginning to make ample amends: in which the curioſity of the antiquarian is connected with taſte and genius, and his reſearches tend to diſplay the progreſs of human manners, and to illuſtrate the hiſtory of ſociety.

As a further illuſtration of the general ſubject, and many particulars, of this ſection and the three laſt, I will add a new proof of the reverence in which ſuch ſtories were held, and of the familiarity with which they muſt have been known, by our anceſtors. Theſe fables were not only perpetually repeated at their feſtivals, but were the conſtant objects of their eyes. The very walls of their apartments were clothed with romantic hiſtory. Tapeſtry was antiently the faſhionable furniture of our houſes, and it was chiefly filled with lively repreſentations of this ſort. The ſtories of the tapeſtry in the royal palaces of Henry the eighth are ſtill preſerved e; which I will here give without reſerve, including other ſubjects as they happen to occur, equally deſcriptive of the times. In the tapeſtry of the tower of London, the original [210] and moſt antient ſeat of our monarchs, there are recited Godfrey of Bulloign, the three kings of Cologn, the emperor Conſtantine, ſaint George, king Erkenwald f, the hiſtory of Hercules, Fame and Honour, the Triumph of Divinity, Eſther and Ahaſuerus, Jupiter and Juno, ſaint George, the eight Kings, the ten Kings of France, the Birth of our Lord, Duke Joſhua, the riche hiſtory of king David, the ſeven Deadly Sins, the riche hiſtory of the Paſſion, the Stem of Jeſſe g, our Lady and Son, king Solomon, the Woman of Canony, Meleager, and the dance of Maccabre h. At Durhamplace we find the Citie of Ladies i, the tapeſtrie of Thebes and of Troy, the City of Peace, the Prodigal Son k, Eſther, and other piec [...]s of ſcripture. At Windſor caſtle the ſiege of Jeruſalem, Ahaſuerus, Charlemagne, the ſiege of Troy, and [211] hawking and hunting l. At Nottingham caſtle Amys and Amelion m. At Woodſtock manor, the tapeſtri [...] of Charlemagne n. At the More, a palace in Hertfordſhire, king Arthur, Hercules, Aſtyages and Cyrus. At Richmond, the arras of Sir Bevis, and Virtue and Vice fighting o. Many of theſe ſubjects are repeated at Weſtminſter, Greenwich, Oatelands, Bedington in Surry, and other royal ſeats, ſome of which are now unknown as ſuch p. Among the reſt we have alſo Hannibal, Holofernes, Romulus and Remus, Aeneas, and Suſannah q. I have mentioned romances written on many of theſe ſubjects, and ſhall mention [...]thers. In the romance of SYR GUY, that hero's combat with the dragon in Northumberland is ſaid to be repreſented in tapeſtry in Warwick caſtle.

In Warwike the truth ſhall ye ſee
In arras wrought ful craftely r.

This piece of tapeſtry appears to have been in Warwick caſtle before the year 1398. It was then ſo diſtinguiſhed and valued a piece of furniture, that a ſpecial grant was made of it by king Richard the ſecond in that year, conveying ‘"that ſuit of arras hangings in Warwick caſtle, which contained the ſtory of the famous Guy earl of Warwick,"’ [212] together with the caſtle of Warwick, and other poſſeſſions, to Thomas Holland, earl of Kent s. And in the reſtoration of forfeited property to this lord after his impriſonment, theſe hangings are particularly ſpecified in the patent of king Henry the fourth, dated 1399. When Margaret, daughter of king Henry the ſeventh, was married to James king of Scotland, in the year 1503, Holyrood Houſe at Edinburgh was [...]plendidly decorated on that occaſion; and we are told in an antient record, that the ‘"hanginge of the queenes grett chammer repreſented the yſtory of Troye t [...]une."’ Again, ‘"the king's grett chammer had one table, w [...]r was ſatt, hys chammerlayn, the grett ſqyer, and many others, well ſerved; the which chammer was haunged about with the ſtory of Hercules, together with other yſtorys t."’ And at the ſame ſolemnity, ‘"in the hall wher the qwene's company wer ſatt in lyke as in the other, an wich was haunged of the hiſtory of Hercules, &c. u"’ A ſtately chamber in the caſtle of Heſdin in Artois, was furniſhed by a duke of Burgundy with the ſtory of Jaſon and the Golden Fleece, about the year 1468 w. The affecting ſtory of Coucy's Heart, which gave riſe to an old metrical Engliſh romance entitled, the KNIGHT OF COURTESY, and the LADY OF FAGUEL, was woven in tapeſtry in Coucy caſtle in France x. I have ſeen an antient ſuite of arras, containing Arioſto's Orlando and Angelica, where, at every groupe, the ſtory was all along illuſtrated with ſhort rhymes in romance or old French. Spenſer ſometimes dreſſes the ſuperb bowers of his fairy caſtles with this ſort of hiſtorical drapery. [213] In Hawes's Poem called the PASTIME OF PLEASURE, written in the reign of Henry the ſeventh, of which due notice will be taken in its proper place, the hero of the piece ſees all his future adventures diſplayed at large in the ſumptuous tapeſtry of the hall of a caſtle. I have before mentioned the moſt valuable and perhaps moſt antient work of this ſort now exiſting, the entire ſeries of duke William [...] deſcent on England, preſerved in the church of Bayeux in Normandy, and intended as an ornament of the choir on high feſtivals. Bartholinus relates, that it was an art much cultivated among the antient Iſlanders, to weave the hiſtories of their giants and champions in tapeſtry y. The ſame thing is recorded of the old Perſians; and this furniture is ſtill in high requeſt among many oriental nations, particularly in Japan and China z. It is well known, that to frame pictures of heroic adventures in needle-work, was a favourite practice of claſſical antiquity.

SECT. VI.

[214]

ALTHOUGH much poetry began to be written about the reign of Edward the ſecond, yet I have found only one Engliſh poet of that reign whoſe name has deſcended to poſterity a. This is Adam Davy or Davie. He may be placed about the year 1312. I can collect no circumſtances of his life, but that he was marſhall of Stratford-le-bow near London b. He has left ſeveral poems never printed, which are almoſt as forgotten as his name. Only one manuſcript of theſe pieces now remains, which ſeems to be coeval with it's author c. They are VISIONS, THE BATTELL OF JERUSALEM, THE LEGEND OF SAINT ALEXIUS, SCRIPTURE HISTORIES, OF FIFTEEN TOKNES BEFORE THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT, LAMENTATIONS OF SOULS, and THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER d.

In the VISIONS, which are of the religious kind, Adam Davie draws this picture of Edward the ſecond ſtanding before the ſhrine of Edward the Confeſſor in Weſtminſter abbey at his coronation. The lines have a ſtre [...]gth ariſing from ſimplicity.

To our Lorde Jeſhu Criſt in heven
Iche to day ſhawe myne ſweven e,
[215] That iche mottef in one nycht,
Of a knycht of mychel mycht:
His name isg yhote ſyr Edward the kyng,
Prince of Wales Engelonde the fair thynge;
Me mott that he was armid wele,
Bothe with yrne and with ſtele,
And on his helme that was of ſtel,
A coroune of gold bicom him wel.
Bifore the ſhryne of Seint Edward he ſtood,
Myd glad chere and myld of mood h.

Moſt of theſe Viſions are compliments to the king. Our poet then proceeds thus:

Another ſuevene me mette on a twef [...]it i
Bifore the feſt of Alhalewen of that ilke knigt,
His name is nempnedk hure bifore,
Bliſſed be the time that he was bore, &c.
Of Syr Edward oure derworthl kyng
Iche mette of him anothere faire metyng, &c.
Me thought he wod upon an aſſe,
And that ich take God to witneſſe;
A wondur he was in a mantell gray,
Toward Rome he nomm his way,
Upon his hevede ſate a gray hure,
It ſemed him wel a meſure;
He wood withouten hoſe and ſho,
His wonen was not ſo to do;
His ſhankes ſemeden al bloodrede,
Myne herte wopn for grete drede;
As a pylgrym he rood to Rome,
And thider he com wel ſwithe ſone.
[216] The thrid ſuevene me mette a nigt
Rigt of that derworth knight:
On wednyſday a nigt it was
Next the dai of ſeint Lucie bifore Chriſtenmaſſe, &c.
Me thougth that ich was at Rome,
And thider iche come ſwithe ſone,
The pope and ſyr Edward our kyng
Botheo hy hadde a new dublyng, &c.
Thus Criſt ful of grace
Graunte our kyng in every place
Maiſtrie of his witherwines
And of al wicked Saraſynes.
Me met a ſuevene one worthigp a nigth
Of that ilche derworthi knigth,
God iche it ſhewe and to witneſſe take
And ſo ſhilde me fro, &c.
Into a chapel I cum of vre lefdy q,
Jhe Criſt her lever ſon ſtod by,
On rods he was an loveliche mon,
Al thilke that on rode was don
He unneledt his honden two, &c.
Adam the marchal of Strattford atte Bowe
Wel ſwithe wide his name is iknowe
He himſelf mette this metyng,
To witneſſe he taketh Jhu hevene kynge,
On wedenyſſdayw in clene leinte u
A voyce me bede I ſchulde nougt feinte,
Of the ſuevenes that her ben write
I ſhulde ſwithe donx my lord kyng to wite.
The thurſday next the beryngy of our lefdy
Me thougth an aungel com ſyr Edward by, &c.
[217] Iche tell you forſoth withoutten les z,
Als God of hevene maide Marie to moder ches a,
The aungell com to me Adam Davie and ſeide
Bot [...]thou Adam ſhewe this thee worthe wel yvel mede, &c.
Whoſo wil ſpeke myd me Adam the marchal
In Stretforde bowe he is yknown and over al,
Iche ne ſchewe nougt this for to have mede
Bot for God almigtties drede.

There is a very old proſe romance, both in French and Italian, on the ſubject of the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem b. It is tranſlated from a Latin work, in five books, very popular in the middle ages, entitled, HEGESIPPI de Bello Judaico et Excidio Urbis Hieroſolymitanae Libri quinque. This is a licentious paraphraſe of a part of Joſephus's Jewiſh hiſtory, made about the fourth century: and the name Hegeſippus is moſt probably corrupted from Joſephus, perhaps alſo called Joſippus. The paraphraſt is ſuppoſed to be Ambroſe of Milan, who flouriſhed in the reign of Theodoſius c. On the ſubject of Veſpaſian's ſiege of Jeruſalem, as related in this book, our poet Adam Davie has left a poem entitled the BATTELL OF JERUSALEM d. It begin thus.

[218]
Liſteneth all that beth alyve,
Both criſten men and wyve:
I wol you telle of a wondur cas,
How Jheſu Criſt bihated was,
Of the Jewes felle and kene,
That was on him ſithe yſene,
Goſpelles I drawe to witneſſe
Of this matter more or leſſe,e &c.

In the courſe of the ſtory, Pilate challenges our Lord to ſingle combat. This ſubject will occur again.

Davie's LEGEND OF SAINT ALEXIUS THE CONFESSOR, SON OF EUPHEMIUS, is tranſlated from Latin, and begins thus:

All that willen here in ryme,
Howe gode men in olde tyme,
Loveden God almigth;
That weren riche, of grete valoure,
Kynges ſones and emperoure
Of bodies ſtrong and ligth;
Ȝee habbeth yherde ofte in geſte,
Of holi men maken feſte
Both day and nigth,
For to have the joye in hevene
(With aungells ſong, and merry ſtevene,)
The which is brode and brigth:
To you all heige and lowe
The rigth ſothe to biknowe
Ȝour ſoules for to ſave, &c f.

Our author's SCRIPTURE HISTORIES want the beginning. Here they begin with Joſeph, and end with Daniel.

[219]
Ffor thritti pensg thei ſold that childe
The ſeller higth Judas,
h Itho Ruben com him and myſſed him
Ffor ynow he was i.

His FIFTEEN TOKNESk BEFORE THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, are taken from the prophet Jeremiah.

The firſt ſigne thar ageins, as our lord hymſelfe ſede,
Hungere ſchal on erthe be, trecherie, and falſhede,
Batteles, and littell love, ſekeneſſe and haterede,
And the erthe ſchal quaken that vche man ſchal ydrede:
The mone ſchal turne to blood, the ſunne to derkhede l, &c.

Another of Davie's poems may be called the LAMENTATION OF SOULS. But the ſubject is properly a congratulation of Chriſt's advent, and the lamentation, of the ſouls of the fathers remaining in limbo, for his delay.

Off joye and bliſſe is my ſong care to bileve m,
And to here hym among that altour ſoroug ſhal reve,
Ycome he is that ſwete dewe, that ſwete hony drope,
The kyng of alle kynges to whom is our hope:
Becom he is our brother, whar was he ſo long?
He it is and no other, that bougth us ſo ſtrong:
Our brother we mowen hym clepe wel o, ſo ſeith hymſelf ilome p.

My readers will be perhaps ſurpriſed to find our language improve ſo ſlowly, and will probably think, that Adam Davie writes in a leſs intelligible phraſe than many more antient bards already cited. His obſcurity however ariſes in great [220] meaſure from obſolete ſpelling, a mark of antiquity which I have here obſerved in exact conformity to a manuſcript of the age of Edward the ſecond; and which in the poetry of his predeceſſors, eſpecially the minſtrell-pieces, has been often effaced by multiplication of copies, and other cauſes. In the mean time it ſhould be remarked, that the capricious peculiarities and even ignorance of tranſcribers, often occaſion an obſcurity, which is not to be imputed either to the author or his age q.

But Davie's capital poem is the LIFE OF ALEXANDER, which deſerves to be publiſhed entire on many accounts. It ſeems to be founded chiefly on Simeon Seth's romance abovementioned; but many paſſages are alſo copied from the French ROMAN D' ALEXANDRE, a poem in our author's age perhaps equally popular both in England and France. It is a work of conſiderable length r. I will firſt give ſome extracts from the Prologue.

Divers in this myddel erde
To lewed men ands lered, &c.
Natheles wel fele and fulle
Bethe ifound in hart and ſkulle,
That hadden lever a rybaudye,
Then here of god either ſeint Marye;
Either to drynke a copful ale,
Than to heren any gode tale:
Swiche ich wolde weren out biſhet
For certeynlich it were nett
For hy ne habbeth wilbe ich woot wel
Bot in the got and the barrel, &c. t

[221] Adam Davie thus deſcribes a ſplendid proceſſion made by Olympias.

In thei tyme faire and jalyf u.
Olympias that fayre wyfe,
Wolden make a riche feſt
Of knightes and lefdyesw honeſt,
Of burges and of jugelors
And of men of vch meſters x,
For mon ſeth by north and ſouth y
Wymen .....
Mychalz ſhe deſireth to ſhewe hire body,
Her fayre hare, her face rody a,
To have leesb and al praiſing,
And al is folye by heven king.
She has marſhales and knyttes
..... to ride and ryttes,
And levadyes and demoſile
Which ham .... thouſands fele,
In fayre attyre in dyvers ... c.
Many thar roodd in rich wiſe.
So dude the dame Olympias
Forto ſhawe hire gentyll face.
A mule alſo, whyte ſoe mylke,
With ſadel of gold, ſambuc of ſylke,
Was ybrought to the quene
And mony bell of ſylver ſhene,
Yfaſtened on orfreysf of mounde
That hangen nere downe to grounde:
[222] Fourth ſhe ferdg myd her route,
A thouſand lefydes of rych ſoute h.
A ſperweki that was honeſt k [...]
So ſat on the lefdye's [...]yſt:
Ffoure trompes tofornel hire blewe;
Many men that day hire knewe.
A hundred thouſand, and eke moo,
Alle alontonm hire untoo.
All the towne bihongedn was
Agenso the lefdy Olympias p:
Orgues, chymbes, vche maner glee q,
Was drynan ayen that levady fre,
Wythoutin the tounis murey r
Was mered vche maner pley s,
Thar was knyttes tornaying,
Thar was maydens karoling,
Thar was champions ſkirmynge t,
..... alſo wreſtlynge.
Of lyons chace, and bare bayting,
A bay of bore u, of bole ſlayting w.
Al the city was byhonge
With ryche ſamytesx and pellesy longe.
Dame Olympias, myd this prees z,
Sangle rooda al mantelleſs.—
[223] Hire yalewe harb was fayre attired
Mid riche ſtrenge of golde wyred,
It helydc hire abouten al
To hire gentil myddle ſmal.
Bryght and ſhine was hir face d
Everie fairehedee in hir was f.

Much in the ſame ſtrain the marriage of Cleopatras is deſcribed.

There was many a blithe grome:
Of olive and of rugeg floures
Weren yſtrewed halle and boures:
Wyth ſamytes and baudekyns
Weren curtayned the gardyns.
All the innes of the ton
Hadden litel foyſon h,
That day that comin Cleopatras,
So michel people with hir was.
She rode on a mule white ſo mylke,
Her harneys were gold-beaten ſylke:
[224] The prince hir lad of Sandas,
And of Sydoyne Sir Jonachas.
Ten thouſand barons hir come myde,
And to chirche with hir ryde.
Yſpouſed ſhe is and ſett on deys:
Nowe gynneth geſtes of grete nobleys:
At the feſt was harpyng
And pipyng and tabouryng i.

We have frequent opportunities of obſerving, how the poets of theſe times engraft the manners of chivalry on antient claſſical hiſtory. In the following lines Alexander's education is like that of Sir Triſtram. He is taught tilting, hunting, and hawking.

Now can Alexander of ſkirmyng,
And of ſtedes derayning,
Upon ſtedes of juſtyng,
And witte ſwordes turneying,
Of aſſayling and defendyng:
In green wood and of huntyng:
And of ryver of haukyng k:
Of battaile and of alle thyng.

In another place Alexander is mounted on a ſteed of Narbone; and amid the ſolemnities of a great feaſt, rides through the hall to the high table. This was no uncommon practice in the ages of chivalry l.

[225]
On a ſtede of Narabone,
He dasſheth forth upon thi londe,
The ryche coroune on hys honde,
Of Nicholas that he wan:
Beſide hym rydeth mony a gentil man,
To the paleys he comethe ryde,
And fyndeth this feſte and all this pryde;
Fforth good Aliſaundre ſauns ſtable
Righth unto the hith table m.

His horſe Bucephalus, who even in claſſical fiction is a horſe of romance, is thus deſcribed.

An horne in the forehead armyd ward
That wolde perce a ſhelde hard.

To which theſe lines may be added.

Aliſaunder ariſen is,
And in his deys ſitteth ywys:
His dukes and barons ſauns doute
Stondeth and ſitteth him aboute, &c n.

The two following extracts are in a ſofter ſtrain, and not inelegant for the rude ſimplicity of the times.

Mery is the blaſt of the ſtynoure o,
Mery is the touchyng of the harpoure p:
[226] Sweete is the ſmellynge of the flower,
Sweete it is in maydens bower:
Appel ſweete beneth faire col [...]ure q.

Again,

In tyme of May the nightingale
In wood maketh mery gale,
So don the foules grete and ſmale,
Sum in hylles and ſum in dale r.

Much the ſame vernal delights, cloathed in a ſimilar ſtyle, with the addition of knights turneying and maidens dancing, invite king Philip on a progreſs; who is entertained on the road with hearing tales of antient heroes.

Mery tyme yt is in May
The foules ſyngeth her lay,
The knightes loveth to tournay;
Maydens do dauncen and they play,
The kyng ferth rydeth his journay,
Now hereth geſts of grete noblay s.

Our author thus deſcribes a battle t.

Aliſaundre tofore is ryde,
And many gentill a knigth hym myde;
As for to gader his meigne free,
He abideth under a tree:
Ffourty thouſande of chyvalerie
He taketh in his compaignye,
He dasſheth hym than faſt forthward,
And the other cometh afterward.
He ſeeth his knigttes in meſchief,
He taketh it gretlich a greef,
[227] He takes Bultyphalu by thi ſide,
So as a ſwalewe he gynneth forth glide,
A duke of Perce ſone he mett
And with his launce he hym grett.
He perceth his breny, cleveth his ſheldè,
The herte tokeneth the yrnè
The duke fel downe to the grounde,
And ſtarf quickly in that ſtounde:
Aliſaunder aloud than ſeide,
Other tol never ich ne paiede,
Ȝut ȝee ſchullen of myne paie,
Or ich gon mor aſſaie.
Another launce in honde he hent
Again the prince of Tyre he went
He .... hym thorow the breſt and thare w
And out of ſadel and crouthe hym bare,
And I ſigge for ſoothe thyng
He braak his neck in the fallyng.
...... with mychell wonder,
Antiochus hadde hym under,
And with ſwerd wolde his heved
From his body habbe yreved:
He ſeig Aliſaundre the gode gome,
Towardes hym ſwithe come,
He lete his pray, and flew on hors,
Ffor to ſave his owen cors:
Antiochus on ſtede lep,
Of none woundes ne tok he kep,
And eke he had foure forde
All ymade with ſperes ord x.
Tholomeus and alle his felawen y
Of this ſocour ſo weren welfawen,
[228] Alyſaunder made a cry hardy
"Ore toſt aby aby."
Then the knigttes of Achaye
Juſted with them of Arabye,
Thooz of Rome with hem of Mede
Many londe .....
Egipte juſted with hem of Tyre,
Simple knigtts with riche ſyre:
Ther nas foregift ne forberyng
Bitwene vavaſourea ne kyng;
To fore men migtten and by hynde
Cuntecke ſeke and cunteckeb fynde.
With Perciens fougtten the Gregeys953,
Ther wos cry and gret honteys d.
They kiddene that they weren mice
They broken ſperes alto ſlice.
Ther migth knigth fynde his pere,
Ther lesf many his deſtrere g:
Ther was quyk in litell thrawe h,
Many gentill knigth yſlawe:
Many arme, many heved i
Some from the body reved:
Many gentill lavedy k
Ther les quyk her amy l.
Ther was many maym yled m,
Many fair penſel bibled n:
Ther was ſwerdes liklakyng o,
There was ſperes bathing p
Both kynges ther ſaunz doute
Beeth in dasſht with al her route.
[229] ..... ſpeke
The other his harmes for to wreke.
Many londes neir and ferre
Leſen her lord in that werre.
..... quaked of her rydyng,
The wedarq thicked of her cryeyng:
The blode of hem that weren yſlawe
Ran by floods to the lowe, &c.

I have already mentioned Alexander's miraculous horn.

He blewe in horne quyk ſans doute,
His folk hym ſwither aboute:
And hem he ſaid with voice clere
Iche bidde frendes that ge ine here
Aliſaunder is comen in this londe
With ſtrong knittes with migty honde, &c.

Alexander's adventures in the deſerts among the Gymnoſophiſts, and in Inde, are not omitted. The authors whom he quotes for his vouchers, ſhew the reading and ideas of the times s.

Tho Aliſaunder went thoroug deſert,
Many wonders he ſeig apert t,
Whiche he dude wel deſcryve,
By gode clerkes in her lyve;
By Ariſtotle his maiſtr that was,
Beeter clerk ſithen non nas;
He was with him, and ſew and wroot,
All thiſe wondre god it woot:
Salomon that al the world thoroug yede
In ſoothe witneſſe held hym myde.
[230] Yſidreu alſo that was ſo wys
In his boke telleth this:
Maiſter Euſtroge bereth hym witneſſe,
Of the wondres more and leſſe.
Seynt Jerome gu ſchullen ywyte
Them hath alſo in book ywryte:
And Mageſtene, the gode clerk,
Hath made therof mychel werk,
... that was of gode memorie
It ſheweth al in his boke of ſtorie:
And alſo Pompie w, of Rome lorde,
.... writen everie worde.
Bie heldeth me thareof no fynder x [...]
Her bokes ben my ſhewer:
And the Lyf of Alyſaunder
Of whom fleig ſo riche ſklaunder.
Gif gee willeth give liſtnyng,
Nowe gee ſhullen here gode thyng.
In ſomers tyde the daye is long,
Foules ſyngeth and maketh ſong:
Kyng Alyſaunder ywent is,
With dukes, erles, and folk of pris,
With many knigths, and douty men,
Toward the city of Fa .... aen;
After kyng Porus, that floweny was
Into the citee of Bandas,
He woulde wende thorough deſert
This wonders to ſene apert,
Gromyes he nomez of the londe,
Ffyve thouſand, I underſtonde,
[231] That hem ſhulden lede ryth a
Thoroug deſerts, by day and nyth.
The Sy .. res loveden the kyng nougth,
And wolden have him bicaugth.
Thii ledden hym therefore, als I fynde,
In the ſtraungeſt peril of Ynde:
As ſo iche fynd in thi book
Thii weren asſhreynt in her crook.
Now rideth Alyſaunder with his ooſt,
With mychel pryde and mychel booſt;
As ar hii comen to a caſtel .. ton.
I ſchullen ſpeken another leſſon.
Lordynges, alſo I fynde
At Mede ſo bigynneth Ynde,
Fforſothe ich woot it ſtretcheth ferreſt
Of all the londes in the Eſt
And oth theb ſouthhalf ſikerlyk
To the ſee of Affryk,
And the north half to a mountayne
That is ycleped Caucaſayne c:
Fforſothe ȝee ſhullen undirſtonde,
Twyes is ſomer in that londe,
And nevermore wynter, ne chele d,
That lond is ful of all wele.
Twyes hii gaderen fruyt there
And wyne and corne in one yere.
In the londe alſo I fynd of Ynde
Bene cites fyve-thouſynd,
Withouten ydles, and caſtelis,
And borugh tounnes ſwithe feles e.
In the londe of Ynde thou migth lere
Vyve thouſand folk of ſelcouthf manere
[232] That ther non is other ylyche
Bie holde thou it nougth ferlyche,
And bi that thou underſta [...]de the geſtes,
Both of men and of beſtes, &c.

Edward the ſecond is ſaid to have carried with him to the ſiege of Stirling caſtle, in Scotland, a poet named Robert Baſton. He was a Carmelite friar of Scarborough; and the king intended that Baſton, being an eye-witneſs of the expedition, ſhould celebrate his conqueſt of Scotland in verſe. Hollingſhead, an hiſtorian not often remarkable for penetration, mentions this circumſtance as a ſingular proof of Edward's preſumption and confidence in his undertaking againſt Scotland: but a poet ſeems to have been a ſtated officer in the royal retinue when the king went to war g. Baſton, however, appears to have been chiefly a Latin poet, and therefore does not properly fall into our ſeries. At leaſt his poem on the ſiege of Striveling caſtle is written in monkiſh Latin hexameters h: and our royal bard being taken priſoner in the expedition, was compelled by the Scotch to write a panegyric, for his ranſom, on Robert Brus, which is compoſed in the ſame ſtyle and language i. Bale mentions his Poemata, et Rhythmi, Tragaediae et Comoediae vulgares k. Some of theſe indeed appear to have been written in Engliſh: but no Engliſh pieces of t [...]is author now remain. In the mean time, the bare exiſtence of dramatic compoſitions in England at this period, even if written in [233] the Latin tongue, deſerve notice in inveſtigating the progreſs of our poetry. For the ſame reaſon I muſt not paſs over a Latin piece, called a comedy, written in this reign, perhaps by Peter Babyon; who by Bale is ſtyled an admirable rhetorician and poet, and flouriſhed about the year 1317. This comedy is thus entitled in the Bodleian manuſcript, De Babione et Croceo domino Babionis et Viola filiaſ [...]ra Babionis quam Croceus duxit invito Babione, et Pecula uxore Babionis et Fodio ſuo, &c l. It is written in long and ſhort Latin verſes, without any appearance of dialogue. In what manner, if ever, this piece was repreſented theatrically, cannot eaſily be diſcovered or aſcertained. Unleſs we ſuppoſe it to have been recited by one or more of the characters concerned, at ſome public entertainment. The ſtory is in Gower's CONFESSIO AMANTIS. Whether Gower had it from this performance I will not enquire. It appears at leaſt that he took it from ſome previous book.

I find writte of Babio,
Which had a love at his menage,
Ther was no fairer of hir age,
And hight Viola by name, &c.
And had affaited to his hande
His ſervant, the which Spodius
Was hote, &c.
A freſh a free and friendly man, &c.
Which Croceus by name hight, &c m.

In the mean time it ſeems moſt probable, that this piece has been attributed to Peter Babyon, on account of the likeneſs of the name BABIO, eſpecially as he is a ridiculous character. On the whole, there is nothing dramatic in the ſtructure of this nominal comedy; and it has certainly no claim to that title, only as it contains a familiar and comic ſtory carried [234] on with much ſcurrilous ſatire intended to raiſe mirth. But it was not uncommon to call any ſhort poem, not ſerious or tragic, a comedy. In the Bodleian manuſcript, which comprehends Babyon's poem juſt mentioned, there follows COMEDIA DE GETA: this is in Latin long and ſhort verſes n, and has no marks of dialogue o. In the library of Corpus Chriſti college at Cambridge, is a piece entitled, COMEDIA ad monaſterium de Hulme ordinis S. Benedicti Dioceſ. Norwic. directa ad Reformationem ſequentem, cujus data eſt primo die Septembris ſub anno Chriſti 1477, et a morte Joannis Faſtolfe militis eorum benefactoris p precipui 17, in cujus monaſterii eccleſia humatur q. This is nothing more than a ſatyrical ballad in Latin; yet ſome allegorical perſonages are introduced, which however are in no reſpect accommodated to ſcenical repreſentation. About the reign of Edward the fourth, one Edward Watſon, a ſcholar in grammar at Oxford, is permitted to proceed to a degree in that faculty, on condition that within two years he would write one hundred verſes in praiſe of the univerſity, and alſo compoſe a COMEDY r. The nature and ſubject of Dante's COMEDIES, as they are ſtyled, is well known. The comedies aſcribed to Chaucer are probably his Canterbury tales. We learn from Chaucer's own words, that tragic tales were called TRAGEDIES. In the Prologue to the MONKES TALE.

TRAGEDY is to tell a certaine ſtory,
As old bokis makin ofte memory,
[235] Of hem that ſtode in grete proſperite,
And be fallen out of her high degree, &c s.

Some of theſe, the Monke adds, were written in proſe, others in metre. Afterwards follow many tragical narratives: of which he ſays,

TRAGIDIES [...]irſt wol I tell
Of which I have an hundred in my cell.

Lidgate further confirms what is here ſaid with regard to comedy as well as tragedy.

My maiſter Chaucer with freſh COMEDIES,
Is dead, alas! chief poet of Britaine:
That whilom made ful piteous TRAGEDIES t.

The ſtories in the MIRROR OF MAGISTRATES are called TRAGEDIES, ſo late as the ſixteenth century u. Bale calls his play, or MYSTERY, of GOD'S PROMISES, a TRAGEDY, which appeared about the year 1538.

I muſt however obſerve here, that dramatic entertainments, repreſenting the lives of ſaints and the moſt eminent ſcriptural ſtories, were known in England for more than two centuries before the reign of Edward the ſecond. Theſe ſpectacles they commonly ſtyled MIRACLES. I have [236] already mentioned the play of ſaint Catharine, acted at Dunſtable about the year 1110 x. William Fitz-Stephen, a writer of the twelfth century, in his DESCRIPTION of LONDON, relates that, ‘"London, for its theatrical exhibitions, has holy plays, or the repreſentation of miracles wrought by confeſſors, and of the ſufferings of martyrs y."’ Theſe pieces muſt have been in high vogue at our preſent period; for Matthew Paris, who wrote about the year 1240, ſays that they were ſuch as ‘"MIRACULA VULGARITER APPELLAMUS z."’ And we learn from Chaucer, that in his time PLAYS OF MIRACLES were the common reſort of idle goſſips in Lent.

Therefore made I my viſitations,
To prechings eke and to pilgrimagis,
To PLAYS of MIRACLES, and mariagis, &c a.

This is the genial WIFE OF BATH, who amuſes herſelf with theſe faſhionable diverſions, while her huſband is abſent in London, during the holy ſeaſon of Lent. And in PIERCE PLOWMAN'S CREDE, a piece perhaps prior to Chaucer, a friar Minorite mentions theſe MIRACLES as not leſs frequented than markets or taverns.

We haunten no tavernes, ne hobelen abouten,
Att markets and MIRACLES we medeley us never b.

Among the plays uſually repreſented by the guild of Corpus Chriſti at Cambridge, on that feſtival, LUDUS FILIORUM [237] ISRAELIS was acted in the year 1355 c. Our drama ſeems hitherto to have been almoſt entirely confined to religious ſubjects, and theſe plays were nothing more than an appendage to the ſpecious and mechanical devotion of the times. I do not find expreſſly, that any play on a profane ſubject, either tragic or comic, had as yet been exhibited in England. Our very early anceſtors ſcarce knew any other hiſtory than that of their religion. Even on ſuch an occaſion as the triumphant entry of a king or queen into the city of London, or other places, the pageants were almoſt entirely ſcriptural d. Yet I muſt obſerve, that an article in one of the pipe-rolls, perhaps of the reign of king John, and conſequently about the year 1200, ſeems to place the rudiments of hiſtrionic exhibition, I mean of general ſubjects, at a much higher period among us than is commonly imagined. It is in theſe words. ‘"Nicola uxor Gerardi de Canvill, reddit computum de centum marcis pro maritanda Matildi filia ſua cuicunque voluerit, exceptis MIMICIS regis e." — "Nicola, wife of Gerard of Canville, accounts to the king for one hundred marks for the privilege of marrying his [238] daughter Maud to whatever perſon ſhe pleaſes, the king's MIMICS excepted."’ Whether or no MIMICI REGIS are here a ſort of players kept in the king's houſhold for diverting the court at ſtated ſeaſons, at leaſt with performances of mimicry and maſquerade, or whether they may not ſtrictly imply MINSTRELLS, I cannot indeed determine. Yet we may remark, that MIMICUS is never uſed for MIMUS, that certain theatrical entertainments called maſcarades, as we ſhall ſee below, were very antient among the French, and that theſe MIMICI appear, by the context of this article, to have been perſons of no very reſpectable character f. I likewiſe find in the wardrobe-rolls of Edward the third, in the year 1348, an account of the dreſſes, ad faciendum LUDOS domini regis ad ffeſtum Natalis domini celebratos apud Guldeford, for furniſhing the plays or ſports of the king, held in the caſtle of Guildford at the feaſt of Chriſtmas g. In theſe LUDI, ſays my record, were expended eighty tunics of buckram of various colours, forty-two viſours of various ſimilitudes, that is, fourteen of the faces of women, fourteen of the faces of men with beards, fourteen of heads of angels, made with ſilver; twenty-eight creſts h, fourteen mantles embroidered with heads of dragons: fourteen white tunics wrought with heads and wings of peacocks, fourteen heads of ſwans with wings, fourteen tunics painted with eyes of peacocks, fourteen tunics of Engliſh linen painted, and as many tunics embroidered with ſtars of gold and ſilver i. In the rolls of [239] the wardrobe of king Richard the ſecond, in the year 1391, there is alſo an entry which ſeems to point out a ſport of much the ſame nature. ‘"Pro xxi coifs de tela linea pro hominibus de lege contrafactis pro LUDO r [...]gis tempore natalis domini anno xii k."’ That is, ‘"for twenty-one linen coifs for counterfeiting men of the law in the king's play at Chriſtmas."’It will be ſufficient to add here on the laſt record, that the ſerjeants at law at their creation, antiently wore a cap of linen, lawn, or ſilk, tied under the chin: this was to diſtinguiſh them from the clergy who had the tonſure. Whether in both theſe inſtances we are to underſtand a dumb ſhew, or a dramatic interlude with ſpeeches, I leave to the examination of thoſe who are profeſſedly making enquiries into the [...]hiſtory of our ſtage from its rudeſt origin. But that plays on general ſubjects were no uncommon mode of entertainment in the royal palaces of England, at leaſt at the commencement of the fifteenth century, may be collected from an old memoir of ſhews and ceremonies exhibited at Chriſtmas, in the reign of Henry the ſeventh, in the palace of Weſtminſter. It is in the year 1489. ‘"This criſtmas I ſaw no diſguyſings, and but right few PLAYS. But ther was an abbot of Miſrule, that made much ſport, and did right well his office."’ And again, ‘"At nyght the kynge, the qweene, and my ladye the kynges moder, cam into the Whitehall, and ther hard a PLAY l."’

[240] As to the religious dramas, it was cuſtomary to perform this ſpecies of play on holy feſtivals in or about the churches. In the regiſter of William of Wykeham, biſhop of Wincheſter, under the year 1384, an epiſcopal injunction is recited, againſt the exhibition of SPECTACULA in the cemetery of his cathedral m. Whether or no theſe were dramatic SPECTACLES, I do not pretend to decide. In ſeveral of our old ſcriptural plays, we ſee ſome of the ſcenes directed to be repreſented cum cantu et organis, a common rubric in the miſſal. That is, becauſe they were performed in a church where the choir aſſiſted. There is a curious paſſage in Lambarde's Topographical Dictionary written about the year 1570, much to our purpoſe, which I am therefore tempted to tranſcribe n. ‘"In the dayes of ceremonial religion, they uſed at Wytney (in Oxfordſhire) to ſet fourthe yearly in maner of a ſhew, or interlude, the reſurrection of our Lord, &c. For the which purpoſes, and the more lyvely heareby to exhibite to the eye the hole action of the reſurrection, the prieſtes garniſhed out certain ſmalle puppettes, repreſenting the perſons of Chriſte, the watchmen, Marie, and others; amongeſt the which, one bare the parte of a wakinge watchman, who eſpiinge Chriſte to ariſe, made a continual noyce, like to the ſound that is cauſed by the metynge of two ſtyckes, and was thereof commonly called Jack Snacker of Wytney. The like toye I myſelf, beinge then a childe, once ſawe in Poule's churche [241] at London, at a feaſt of Whitſuntyde; wheare the comynge downe of the Holy Goſt was ſet forthe by a white pigion, that was let to fly out of a hole that yet is to be ſene in the mydſt of the roofe of the greate ile, and by a longe cenſer which deſcendinge out of the ſame place almoſt to the verie grounde, was ſwinged up and downe at ſuche a lengthe, that it reached with thone ſwepe almoſt to the weſt-gate of the churche, and with the other to the quyre ſtaires of the ſame; breathinge out over the whole churche and companie a moſt pleaſant perfume of ſuch ſwete thinges as burned therein. With the like doome ſhewes alſo, they uſed everie where to furniſh ſondrye parts of their church ſervice, as by their ſpectacles of the nativitie, paſſion, and aſcenſion, &c."’

This practice of acting plays in churches, was at laſt grown to ſuch an enormity, and attended with ſuch inconvenient conſequences, that in the reign of Henry the [...]ighth, Bonner, biſhop of London, iſſued a proclamation to the clergy of his dioceſe, dated 1542, prohibiting ‘"all maner of common plays, games, or interludes to be played, ſet forth, or declared, within their churches, chapels, &c o."’ This faſhion ſeems to have remained even after the Reformation, and when perhaps profane ſtories had taken place of religious p. Archbiſhop Grindal, in the year 1563, remonſtrated againſt the danger of interludes: complaining that players ‘"did eſpecially on holy days, ſet up bills inviting to their play q."’ From this eccleſiaſtical ſource of the modern drama, plays continued to be acted on ſundays ſo late as the reign of Elizabeth, and even till that of Charles [242] the firſt, by the choriſters or ſinging-boys of Saint Paul's cathedral in London, and of the royal chapel.

It is certain, that theſe MIRACLE-PLAYS were the firſt of our dramatic exhibitions. But as theſe pieces frequently required the introduction of allegorical characters, ſuch as Charity, Sin, Death, Hope, Faith, or the like, and as the common poetry of the times, eſpecially among the French, began to deal much in allegory, at length plays were formed entirely conſiſting of ſuch perſonifications. Theſe were called MORALITIES. The miracle-plays, or MYSTERIES, were totally deſtitute of invention or plan: they tamely repreſented ſtories according to the letter of ſcripture, or the reſpective legend. But the MORALITIES indicate dawnings of the dramatic art: they contain ſome rudiments of a plot, and even attempt to delineate characters, and to paint manners. From hence the gradual tranſition to real hiſtorical perſonages was natural and obvious. It may be alſo obſerved, that many licentious pleaſantries were ſometimes introduced in theſe religious repreſentations. This might imperceptibly lead the way to ſubjects entirely profane, and to comedy, and perhaps earlier than is imagined. In ar Myſtery of the MASSACRE OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS, part of the ſubject of a ſacred drama given by the Engliſh fathers at the famous council of Conſtance, in the year 1417 s, a low buffoon of Herod's court is introduced, deſiring of his lord to be dubbed a knight, that he might be properly qualified to go on the adventure of killing the mothers of the children of Bethlehem. This tragical buſineſs is treated with the moſt ridiculous levity. The good women of Bethlehem attack our [...]night-errant with their ſpinning-wheels, break his head with their diſtaffs, abuſe him as a coward and a diſgrace to chivalry, and ſend him home to Herod as a recreant champion with much ignominy. It is in an enlightened age only [243] that ſubjects of ſcripture hiſtory would be ſupported with proper dignity. But then an enlightened age would not have choſen ſuch ſubjects for theatrical exhibition. It is certain that our anceſtors intended no ſort of impiety by theſe monſtrous and unnatural mixtures. Neither the writers nor the ſpectators ſaw the impropriety, nor paid a ſeparate attention to the comic and the ſrious part of theſe motley ſcenes; at leaſt they were perſuaded that the ſolemnity of the ſubject covered or excuſed all incongruities. They had no juſt idea of decorum, conſequently but little ſenſe of the ridiculous: what appears to us to be the higheſt burleſque, on them would have made no ſort of impreſſion. We muſt not wonder at this, in an age when courage, devotion, and ignorance, compoſed the character of European manners; when the knight going to a tournament, firſt invoked his God, then his miſtreſs, and afterwards proceeded with a ſafe conſcience and great reſolution to engage his antagoniſt. In theſe Myſteries I have ſometimes ſeen groſs and open obſcenities. In a play of the Old and New Teſtament t, Adam and Eve are both exhibited on the ſtage naked, and converſing about [244] their nakedneſs: this very pertinently introduces the next ſcene, in which they have coverings of fig-leaves. This extraordinary ſpectacle was beheld by a numerous aſſembly of both ſexes with great compoſure: they had the authority of ſcripture for ſuch a repreſentation, and they gave matters juſt as they found them in the third chapter of Geneſis. It would have been abſolute hereſy to have departed from the ſacred text in perſonating the primitive appearance of our firſt parents, whom the ſpectators ſo nearly reſembled in ſimplicity: and if this had not been the caſe, the dramatiſts were ignorant what to reject and what to retain.

In the mean time, profane dramas ſeem to have been known in France at a much earlier period u. Du Cange gives the following picture of the king of France dining in public, before the year 1300. During this ceremony, a ſort of farces or drolls ſeems to have been exhibited. All the great officers of the crown and the houſhold, ſays he, were preſent. The company was entertained with the inſtrumental muſic of the minſtrells, who played on the kettle-drum, the flagellet w, the cornet, the Latin cittern, the Bohemian flute, [245] the trumpet, the Mooriſh cittern, and the fiddle. Beſides there were ‘"des FARCEURS, des jongleurs, et des plaiſantins, qui divertiſſeoient les compagnies par leur faceties et par leur COMEDIES, pour l'entretien."’ He adds, that many noble families in France were entirely ruined by the prodigious expences laviſhed on thoſe performers x. The annals of France very early mention buffoons among the minſtrells at theſe ſolemnities; and more particularly that Louis le Debonnaire, who reigned about the year 830, never laughed aloud, not even when at the moſt magnificent feſtivals, players, buffoons, minſtrels, ſingers, and harpers, attended his table y. In ſome conſtitutions given to a cathedral church in France, in the year 1280, the following clauſe occurs. ‘"Nullus SPECTACULIS aliquibus quae aut in Nuptiis aut in Scenis exhibentur, interſit z."’ Where, by the way, the word Scenis ſeems to imply ſomewhat of a profeſſed ſtage, although the eſtabliſhment of the firſt French theatre is dated not before the year 1398. The play of ROBIN and MARIAN is ſaid to have been performed by the ſchool-boys of Angiers, according to annual cuſtom, in the year 1392 a. A royal carouſal given by Charles the fifth of France to the emperor Charles the fourth, in the year 1378, was cloſed with the theatrical repreſentation of the Conqueſt of Jeruſalem by Godfrey of Bulloign, which was [246] exhibited in the hall of the royal palace b. This indeed was a ſubject of a religious tendency; but not long afterwards, in the year 1395, perhaps before, the intereſting ſtory of PATIENT GRISILDE appears to have been acted at Paris. This piece ſtill remains, and is entitled, Le MYSTERE de Griſildis marquiſe de Saluce c. For all dramatic pieces were indiſcriminately called MYSTERIES, whether a martyr or a heathen god, whether ſaint Catharine or Hercules was the ſubject.

In France the religious MYSTERIES, often called PITEAUX, or PITOUX, were certainly very faſhionable, and of high antiquity: yet from any written evidence, I do not find them more antient than thoſe of the Engliſh. In the year 1384, the inhabitants of the village of Aunay, on the ſunday after the feaſt of ſaint John, played the MIRACLE of Theophilus, ‘"ou quel Jeu avoit un perſonnage de un qui devoit getter d'un canon d."’ In the year 1398, ſome citizens of Paris met at ſaint Maur to play the PASSION of CHRIST. The magiſtrates of Paris, alarmed at this novelty, publiſhed an ordonnance, prohibiting them to repreſent, ‘"aucuns jeux de perſonages ſoit de vie de ſaints ou autrement,"’ without the royal licence, which was ſoon afterwards obtained e. In the year 1486, at Anjou, ten pounds were paid towards ſupporting the charges of acting the PASSION of CHRIST, which was repreſented by maſks, and, as I ſuppoſe, by perſons hired for the purpoſe f. The chaplains of Abbeville, in the year 1455, gave four pounds and [247] ten ſhillings to the PLAYERS of the PASSION g. But the French MYSTERIES were chiefly performed by the religious communities, and ſome of their FETES almoſt entirely conſiſted of a dramatic or perſonated ſhew. At the FLAST of ASSES, inſtituted in honour of Baalam's Aſs, the clergy walked on Chriſtmas day in proceſſion, habited to repreſent the prophets and others. Moſes appeared in an alb and cope, with a long beard and rod. David had a green veſtment. Baalam with an immenſe pair of ſpurs, rode on a wooden aſs, which incloſed a ſpeaker. There were alſo ſix Jews and ſix Gentiles. Among other characters the poet Virgil was introduced as a gentile prophet and a tranſlator of the Sibylline oracles. They thus moved in proceſſion, chanting verſicles, and converſing in character on the nativity and kingdom of Chriſt, through the body of the church, till they came into the choir. Virgil ſpeaks ſome Latin hexameters, during the ceremony, not out of his fourth eclogue, but wretched monkiſh lines in rhyme. This feaſt was, I believe, early ſuppreſſed h. In the year 1445, Charles the ſeventh of France ordered the maſters in Theology at Paris to forbid the miniſters of the collegiatei churches to celebrate at Chriſtmas the FEAST of FOOLS in their churches, where the [...]lergy danced in maſques and antic dreſſes, and exhibited pluſieurs [248] mocqueries ſpectacles publics, de leur corps deguiſements, farces, rigmeries, with various enormities ſhocking to decency. In France as well as England it was cuſtomary to celebrate the feaſt of the boy-biſhop. In all the collegiate churches of both nations, about the feaſt of Saint Nicholas, or the Holy Innocents, one of the children of the choir completely apparelled in the epiſcopal veſtments, with a mitre and croſier, bore the title and ſtate of a biſhop, and exacted ceremonial obedience from his fellows, who were dreſſed like prieſts. They took poſſeſſion of the church, and performed all the ceremonies and offices i, the maſs excepted, which might have been celebrated by the biſhop and his prebendaries k. In the ſtatutes of the archiepiſcopal cathedral of Tulles, given in the year 1497, it is ſaid, that during the celebration of the feſtival of the boy-biſhop, ‘"MORALITIES were preſented, and ſhews of MIRACLES, with farces and other ſports, but compatible with decorum.—After dinner they exhibited, without their maſks, but in proper dreſſes, ſuch farces as they were maſters of, in different parts of the city l."’ It is probable that the ſame entertainments attended the ſolemniſation of this ridiculous feſtival in England m: and from this ſuppoſition ſome critics may be inclined [249] to deduce the practice of our plays being acted by the choir-boys of St. Paul's church, and the chapel royal, which continued, as I before obſerved, till Cromwell's uſurpation. The Engliſh and French ſtages mutually throw light on each other's hiſtory. But perhaps it will be thought, that in ſome of theſe inſtances I have exemplified in nothing more than farcical and geſticulatory repreſentations. Yet even theſe traces ſhould be attended to. In the mean time we may obſerve upon the whole, that the modern drama had its foundation in our religion, and that it was raiſed and ſupported by the clergy. The truth is, the members of the eccleſiaſtical ſocieties were almoſt the only perſons who could read, and their numbers eaſily furniſhed performers: they abounded in leiſure, and their very relaxations were religious.

I did not mean to touch upon the Italian ſtage. But as ſo able a judge as Riccoboni ſeems to allow, that Italy derived her theatre from thoſe of France and England, by way of an additional illuſtration of the antiquity of the two laſt, I will here produce one or two MIRACLE-PLAYS, acted much earlier in Italy than any piece mentioned by that ingenious writer, or by Creſcimbeni. In the year 1298, on ‘"the feaſt of Pentecoſt, and the two following holidays, the repreſentation of the PLAY OF CHRIST, that is of his paſſion, reſurrection, aſcenſion, judgment, and the miſſion of the holy ghoſt, was performed by the clergy of [250] Civita Vecchia, in [...]uria domini patriarchae Auſtriae civitatis honorifice et laudabiliter n."’ And again, ‘"In 1304, the chapter of Civita Vecchia exhibited a Play of the creation of our firſt parents, the annunciation of the virgin Mary, the birth of Chriſt, and other paſſages of ſacred ſcripture o."’ In the mean time, thoſe critics who contend for the high antiquity of the Italian ſtage, may adopt theſe inſtances as new proofs in defence of that hypotheſis.

In this tranſient view of the origin and progreſs of our drama, which was incidentally ſuggeſted by the mention of Baſton's ſuppoſed Comedies, I have treſpaſſed upon future periods. But I have chiefly done this for the ſake of connection, and to prepare the mind of the reader for other anecdotes of the hiſtory of our ſtage, which will occur in the courſe of our reſearches, and are reſerved for their reſpective places. I could have enlarged what is here looſely thrown together, with many other remarks and illuſtrations: but I was unwilling to tranſcribe from the colle [...]ions of thoſe who have already treated this ſubject with great comprehenſion and penetration, and eſpecially from the author of the Supplement to the Tranſlator's Preface of Jarvis's Don Quixote p. I claim no other merit from this digreſſion, than that of having collected ſome new anecdotes relating to the early ſtate of the Engliſh and French ſtages, the original of both which is intimately connected, from books and manuſcripts not eaſily found, nor often examined. Theſe hints may perhaps prove of ſome ſervice to thoſe who have leiſure and inclination to examine the ſubject with more preciſion.

SECT. VII.

[251]

EDWARD the third was an illuſtrious example and patron of chivalry. His court was the theatre of romantic elegance. I have examined the annual rolls of his wardrobe, which record various articles of coſtly ſtuffs delivered occaſionally for the celebration of his tournaments; ſuch as ſtandards, pennons, tunics, capariſons, with other ſplendid furniture of the ſame ſort: and it appears that he commanded theſe ſolemnities to be kept, with a magnificence ſuperior to that of former ages, at Litchfield, Bury, Guildford, Eltham, Canterbury, and twice at Windſor, in little more than the ſpace of one year a. At his triumphant return from Scotland, he was met by two hundred and thirty knights at Dunſtable, who received their victorious monarch with a grand exhibition of theſe martial exerciſes. He eſtabliſhed in the caſtle of Windſor a fraternity of twentyfour knights, for whom he erected a round table, with a round chamber ſtill remaining, according to a ſimilar inſtitution [252] of king Arthur b. Anſtis treats the notion, that Edward in this eſtabliſhment had any retroſpect to king Arthur, as an idle and legendary tradition c. But the fame of Arthur was ſtill kept alive, and continued to be an object of veneration long afterwards: and however idle and ridiculous the fables of the round table may appear at preſent, they were then not only univerſally known, but firmly believed. Nothing could be more natural to ſuch a romantic monarch, in ſuch an age, than the renovation of this moſt antient and revered inſtitution of chivalry. It was a prelude to the renowned order of the garter, which he ſoon afterwards founded at Windſor, during the ceremonies of a magnificent feaſt, which had been proclaimed by his heralds in Germany, France, Scotland, Burgundy, Heynault, and Brabant, and laſted fifteen days d. We muſt not try the modes and notions of other ages, even if they have arrived to ſome degree of refinement, by thoſe of our own. Nothing is more probable, than that this latter foundation of Edward the third, took its riſe from the exploded ſtory of the garter of the counteſs of Saliſbury e. Such an origin is interwoven with the manners and ideas of the times. Their attention to the fair ſex entered into every thing. It is by no means unreaſonable to ſuppoſe, that the fantaſtic collar of Eſſes, worn by the knights of this Order, was an alluſion to her name. Froiſſart, an eye-witneſs, and well acquainted [253] with the intrigues of the court, relates at large the king's affection for the counteſs; and particularly deſcribes a grand carouſal which he gave in conſequence of that attachment f. The firſt feſtival of this order was not only adorned by the braveſt champions of chriſtendom, but by the preſence of queen Philippa, Edward's conſort, accompanied with three hundred ladies of noble families g. The tournaments of this ſtately reign were conſtantly crouded with ladies of the firſt diſtinction; who ſometimes attended them on horſeback, armed with daggers, and dreſſed in a ſuccinct ſoldier-like habit or uniform prepared for the purpoſe h. In a tournament exhibited at London, ſixty ladies on palfries appeared, each leading a knight with a gold chain. In this manner they paraded from the tower to Smithfield i. Even Philippa, a queen of ſingular elegance of manners k, partook ſo much of the heroic ſpirit which was univerſally diffuſed, that juſt before an engagement with the king of Scotland, ſhe rode round the ranks of the Engliſh army encouraging the ſoldiers, and was with ſome difficulty perſuaded or compelled to relinquiſh the field l. The counteſs of Montfort is another eminent inſtance of female heroiſm in this age. When the ſtrong town of Hennebond, near Rennes, was beſieged by the French, this redoubted [254] amazon rode in complete armour from ſtreet to ſtreet, on a large courſer, animating the gariſon m. Finding from a high tower that the whole French army was engaged in the aſſault, ſhe iſſued, thus completely accoutred, through a convenient poſtern at the head of three hundred choſen ſoldiers, and ſet fire to the French camp n. In the mean time riches and plenty, the effects of conqueſt, peace, and proſperity, were ſpread on every ſide; and new luxuries were imported in great abundance from the conquered countries. There were few families, even of a moderate condition, but had in their poſſeſſion precious articles of dreſs or furniture; ſuch as ſilks, fur, tapeſtry, embroidered beds, cups of gold, ſilver, porcelain, and cryſtal, bracelets, chains, and necklaces, brought from Caen, Calais, and other opulent foreign cities o. The encreaſe of rich furniture appears in a foregoing reign. In an act of Parliament of Edward the firſt p, are many regulations, directed to goldſmiths, not only in London, but in other towns, concerning the ſterling allay of veſſels and jewels of gold and ſilver, &c. And it is ſaid, ‘"Gravers or cutters of ſtones and ſeals ſhall give every one their juſt weight of ſilver and gold."’ It ſhould be [255] remembered, that about this period Europe had opened a new commercial intercourſe with the ports of India q. No leſs than eight ſumptuary laws, which had the uſual effect of not being obſerved, were enacted in one ſeſſion of parliament during this reign r. Amid theſe growing elegancies and ſuperfluities, foreign manners, eſpecially of the French, were perpetually encreaſing; and the native ſimplicity of the Engliſh people was perceptibly corrupted and effaced. It is not quite uncertain that maſques had their beginning in this reign s. Theſe ſhews, in which the greateſt perſonages of the court often bore a part, and which arrived at their height in the reign of Henry the eighth, encouraged the arts of addreſs and decorum, [...]nd are [...]ym [...]t [...]ms of the riſe of poliſhed manners t.

In a reign like this, we ſhall not be ſurpriſed to fi [...]d ſuch a poet as Chaucer: with whom a new era in Engliſh poetry begins, and on whoſe account many of th [...]ſe circumſtances are mentioned, as they ſerve to prepare the reader for his character, on which they throw no inconſider [...]ble light.

But before we enter on ſo ample a field, it will be perhaps leſs embarraſſing, at leaſt more conſiſtent with our preſcribed method, if we previouſly diſplay the merits of two or three poets, who appeared in the former part of the reign of Edward the third, with other incidental matters.

The firſt of theſe is Richard Hampole, an eremite of the order of ſaint Auguſtine. He was a doctor of divi [...]ity, and lived a ſolitary life near the nuns of Hampole, four miles from Doncaſter in Yorkſhire. The neighbourhood of this female ſociety could not withdraw our recluſe from his devotions [256] and his ſtudies. He flouriſhed in the year 1349 u. His Latin theological tracts, both in proſe and ve [...]ſe, are numerous; in which Leland juſtly thinks he has di [...]played more erudition than eloquence. His principal pieces of Engliſh rhyme are a Paraphraſe of part of the book of Job, of the lord's prayer, of the ſeven penitential pſalms, and the PRICKE OF CONSCIENCE. But our hermit's poetry, which indeed from theſe titles promiſes but little entertainment, has no tincture of ſentiment, imagination, or elegance. The following verſes are extracted from the PRICKE OF CONSCIENCE, one of the moſt common manuſcripts in our libraries, and I propheſy that I am its laſt tranſcriber. But I muſt obſerve firſt, that this piece is divided into ſeven parts. I. Of man's nature. II. Of the world. III. Of death. IV. Of purgatory. V. Of the day of judgment. VI. Of the torments of hell. VII. Of the joys of heaven w.

Monkynde is to godus wille
And alle his biddyngus to fulfille
Ffor of al his makyng more and les
Man moſt principal creature es
All that he made for man hit was done
As ye ſchal here aftir lone
God to monkynde had gret love
When he ordeyned to monnes behove
This world and heven hym to glade
There in myddulerd mon laſt he made
To his likenes in feire ſtature
To be moſt worthy creature
Beforen all creatures of kynde
He yef hym wit ſkile and mynde
[257] Ffor too knowe bothe good and ille
And als he yaf him a fre wille
Fforto cheſe and forto holde
Good or yvel whedur he wolde
And as he ordeyned mon to dwelle
To lyve in erthe in fleſſch and fell
To knowe his workus and hym worſhepe
And his comaundement to kepe
And yif he be to god buxome
To endeles blis aftir to come
And yif he wrongly here wende
To peyne of helle withouten ende
God made to his owne likenes
Eche mon lyving here more and les
To whom he hath gyven wit and ſkil
Ffor to knowe bothe good and il
And wille to theſe as they vouchſave
Good or evil whether thei wole have
He that his wille to good wole bowe
God wole hym with gret mede allowe
He that wukudnes wole and wo
Gret peyne ſhall he have alſo
That mon therfore holde is for wood
That cheſuth the evel and leveth the good
God made mon of moſt dignite
Of all creatures moſt fre
And namely to his owne liknes
As bifore tolde hit es
And moſt hath gyven and yit gyveth
Than to any creature that lyveth
And more hath het hym yit therto
Hevene blis yif he wel do
And yit when he had don amys
And hadde loſt that ilke blis
[258] God tok monkynde for his ſake
And for his love deth wolde take
And with his blod boughte hem ayene
To his bliſſe fro endeles peyne.
PRIMA PARS DE MISERIA HUMANAE CONDITIONIS.
Thus gret love god to man kidde
And mony goode dedus to hym didde
Therefore eche mon lernd and lewed
Schulde thynke on love that he hem ſchewed
And theſe gode dedus holde in mynde
That he thus dide to monkynde
And love and thanke hym as he con
And ellus he is unkynde mon
Bot he ſerve hym day and nyght
And his yiftes uſen hem right
To ſpende his wit in godus ſervyſe [...]
Certainly ellus he is not wiſe
Bot he knowe kyndely what god es [...]
And what mon is that is les
Thou febul mon is ſoule and body
Thou ſtrong god is and myghty
Thou mon greveth god that doth not welle
What mon is worthi therefore to fele
Thou mercyfull and gracious god is
And thou full of alle goodneſs
Thou right wis and thou ſothfaſte
What he hath done and ſhal atte laſte
And eche day doth to monkynde
This ſchulde eche mon have in mynde
Ffor the rihte waye to that blis
That leduth mon thidur that is this
The waye of mekenes principally
To love and drede god almighty
[259] This is the waye into wiſdome
Into whuche waye non may come
Withouten knowing of god here
His myghtus and his workes ſere
But ar he to that knowyng wynne
Hymſelf he mot knowe withynne
Ellus knowyng may not be
To wiſdom way non entre
Some han wit to undurſtonde
And yit thei are ful unknowonde
And ſome thing hath no knowyng
That myght them ſture to good lyving
Tho men had nede to lerne eche day
Of men that con more then thay
That myhte to knowynge hem lede
In mekenes to love god and drede
Which is waye and goode wiſſyng
That may to heven blis men brynge
In gret pil [peril] of ſowle is that mon
That hath wit mynde and no good con
And wole not lerne for to knawe
The workus of god and his lawe
He nyle do afturmeſt no leſt
Bot lyveth lyke an unſkilfull beſt
That nouther hath ſkil wit nor mynde
That mon lyveth ayeyn his kynde
Yit excuſeth not his unknowyng
That his wit uſeth not in leryng
Namely in that him oweth to knowe
To meke his herte and make it lowe
The unknowyng ſchulde have wille
To lerne to know good and ille
He that ought con ſchulde lere more
To knowe al that nedeful wore
[260] For the unknowyng by lerning
May brought be to underſtondyng
Of mony thyngus to knowe and ſe
That hath bin is and ſhal be
And ſo to mekenes ſture his wille
To love and drede god and leve al ille
Mony ben glad triful to here
And vanitees woll gladly lere
Biſy they bin in word and thought
To lerne that ſoul helputh nought
Bot that that n [...]deful were to knowe
To here they are wondur-ſlowe
Therefore con thei nothing ſe
The pereles thei ſchulde drede and fle
And what weye thei ſchulde take
And whiche weye thei ſchulde forſake
No wondur is though thei go wronge
In derknes of unknowyng they gonge
Without light of undurſtondynge
Of that that falluth to right knowynge
Therefore eche criſten mon and wommon
That wit and wiſdom any con
That tou the righte weye not ſen
Nor flie the periles that wiſe flen
Schulde buxom be and biſy
To heren and leren of hem namely
That undurſtonden and knowen ſtil
Wheche weye is good and wheche is il
He that wole right weye of lyving loke
Shall thus bigynne ſeith the boke
To know firſt what hymſelf is
So may he come to mekenys
That ground of all virtues is laſt
On whiche all virtues may be ſtedefaſt
[261] He that knoweth well and con ſe
What he is was and ſchal be
A wiſere man may be told
Whethur he be young or old
Then he that con al other thing
And of hymſelf hath no knowyng
He may no good knowe ny fele
Bot he furſt knowe hym ſelven wele
Therfore a m [...]n ſchulde furſt lere
To knowe hymſelf propurly here
Ffor yif he knewe hymſelf kyndely
Then may he knowe god almighty
And on endyng thinke ſchulde he
And on the laſt day that ſchal be
Knowe ſchulde he what this worlde es
Full of pompe and lecherouſnes
And lerne to knowe and thynke with alle
What ſchal aftir this lyf bifalle
Knowyng of this ſchulde hym lede
To mete with mekenes and with drede
So may he come to good lyvyng
And atte laſt to good endyng
And when he of this worlde ſchal wende
Be brought to blis withouten ende
The bigynnyng of this proces
Right knowyng of a mon hymſelf hit es
Bot ſomme mon han gret lettynge
That thei may have no right knowynge
Of hemſelfe that thei ſchulde firſt knawe
That firſt to mekenes ſchulde hem draw
Ther of ſome thyngus I fynde
That monnes wit makuth ofte blynde
And knowyng of hymſelf hit lettuth
Wherefore he hymſelf foryetuth
[262] To this witnes Bernard anſwers
And tho four are written in thes vers x, &c.

In the Bodleian library I find three copies of the PRICKE OF CONSCIENCE very different from that which I have juſt cited. In theſe this poem is given to Robert Groſthead biſhop of Lincoln, above mentioned y. With what probability, I will not ſtay to enquire; but haſten to give a ſpecimen. I will only premiſe, that the language and hand-writing are of conſiderable antiquity, and that the lines are here much longer. The poet is deſcribing the future rewards and puniſhments of mankind.

The goode ſoule ſchal have in his herynge
Gret joye in hevene and grete lykynge:
Ffor hi ſchulleth yhere the aungeles ſong,
And with hem hi ſchullethz ſynge ever among,
With delitable voys and ſwythe clere,
And alſo with that hi ſchullen have ire a [...]
All other maner of ech a melodye,
Off well lykyng noyſe and menſtralſye,
And of al maner tenesb of muſike,
The whuche to mannes beorte migte like,
Withoute eni maner of travayle,
The whuche ſchal never ceſſe ne fayle:
And ſoc ſchil ſchal that noyſe bi, and ſo ſwete [...]
And ſo delitable to ſmale and to grete,
That al the melodye of this worlde heer
That ever was yhuryd ferre or neer
Were thertod bote as ſorwee and care
To the bliſſe that is in hevene well ȝare f.
[263]Of the contrarie of that bliſſe.
Wel grete ſorwe ſchal the ſynfolkeg bytyde,
Ffor he ſchullen yhere in ech a ſyde h,
Well gret noyſe that the feondesi willen make,
As thei al the worlde ſcholde alto ſchake;
And alle the men lyvynge that migte hit yhure,
Scholde here witk looſe, and no lengere alyvel dure.
Thanne him ſchulleth for ſorwe here hondes wringe,
And ever weilaway hi ſchullethe be cryinge, &c.
The gode men ſchullethe have worſchipes grete,
And eche of them ſchal be yſet in a riche ſete,
And ther as kynges be ycrownid fayre,
And digte with riche perrien and ſo yſetuno in a chayre,
And with ſtones of vertu and preciouſe of choyſe,
As David thy ſaid to god with a mylde voyce,
Poſuiſti, domine, ſuper caput eorum, &c.
"Lorde, he ſeyth, on his heved thou ſetteſt wel arigt
"A coronne of a pretious ſton richeliche ydigt."
And ſo fayre a coronne nas never non yſene,
In this worlde on kynges hevede p, ne on quene;
Ffor this coronnc is the coronne of bliſſe,
And the ſton is joye whereof hi ſchilleth never miſſe, &c.
The ſynfolke ſchulleth, as I have afore ytold,
[...]fele outrageous hete, and afterwards to muche colde;
Ffor nowe he ſchullethe freoſe, and now brenne q,
And ſo be ypyned that non ſchal other kenne r,
And alſo be ybyte with dragonnes felle and kene,
The whuche ſchulleth hem deſtrye outrigte and clene,
[264] And with other vermyn and beſtes felle,
The whiche beothe nougt but fendes of helle, &c.

We have then this deſcription of the New Jeruſalem.

This citie is yſet on an hei hille,
That no ſynful man may therto tille s:
The whuche ich likne to beril clene,
And ſo fayr berel may non be yſene.
Thulke hyl is nougt elles to underſtondynge
Bote holi thugt, and deſyr brennynge,
The whuche holi men hadde heer to that place,
Whiles hi hadde on eorthe here lyves ſpace;
And i likne, as ymay ymagene in my thougt,
The walles of hevene, to walles that were ywrougt
Of all maner preciouſe ſtones yſet yfere t,
And yſemented with gold brigt and clere;
Bot ſo brigt gold, ne non ſo clene,
Was in this worlde never yſene, &c.
The wardes of the cite of hevene brigt
I likne to wardes that wel were ydygt,
And clenly ywrougt and ſotely enteyled,
And on ſilver and gold clenly avamayled u, &c.
The torettesw of hevene grete and ſmale
I likne to the torrettes of clene criſtale, &c.

I am not, in the mean time, quite convinced that any manuſcript of the PRICKE OF CONSCIENCE in Engliſh belongs to Hampole. That this piece is a tranſlation from the Latin appears from theſe verſes.

Therefore this boke is in Englis drawe
Of felex matters that bene unknawe
[265] To lewed men that are unkonande y
That con no latyn undirſtonde z.

The Latin original in proſe, entitled, STIMULUS CONSCIENT [...]AE a, was moſt probably writtten by Hampole: and it is not very likely that he ſhould tranſlate his own work. The author and tranſlator were eaſily confounded. As to the copy of the Engliſh poem given to biſhop Groſthead, he could not be the tranſlator, to ſay nothing more, if Hampole wrote the Latin original. On the whole, whoever was the author of the two tranſlations, at leaſt we may pronounce with ſome certainty, that they belong to the reign of Edward the third.

SECT. VIII.

[266]

THE next poet in ſucceſſion is one who deſerves more attention on various accounts. This is Robert Longlande, author of the poem called the VISION OF PIERCE PLOWMAN, a ſ [...]cular prieſt, and a fellow of Oriel college, in Oxford. He flouriſhed about the year 1350 a. This poem contains a ſeries of diſtinct viſions, which the author imagines himſelf to have ſeen, while he was ſleeping, after a long ramble on Malverne-hills in Worceſterſhire. It is a ſatire on the vices of almoſt every profeſſion: but particularly on the corruptions of the clergy, and the abſurdities of ſuperſtition. Theſe are ridiculed with much humour and ſpirit, couched under a ſtrong vein of allegorical invention. But inſtead of availing himſelf of the riſing and rapid improvements of the Engliſh language, Longland prefers and adopts the ſtyle of the Anglo-Saxon poets. Nor did he make theſe writers the models of his language only: he likewiſe imitates their alliterative verſification, which conſiſted in uſing an aggregate of words beginning with the ſame letter. He has therefore rejected rhyme, in the place of which he thinks it ſufficient to ſubſtitute a perpetual alliteration. But this impoſed conſtraint of ſeeking identical initials, and the affectation of obſolete Engliſh, by demanding a conſtant and neceſſary departure from the natural and obvious forms of expreſſion, while it circumſcribed the powers of our author's genius, contributed alſo to render his [267] manner extremely perplexed, and to diſguſt the reader with obſcurities. The ſatire is conducted by the agency of ſeveral allegorical perſonages, ſuch as Avarice, Bribery, Simony, Theology, Conſcience, &c. There is much imagination in the following picture, which is intended to repreſent human life, and its various occupations.

Then gan I to meten a mervelouſe ſweven,
That I was in wildernes, I wyſt never where:
As I beheld into theaſt, on highe to the ſunne
I ſaw a tower on a loft, rychlych ymaked,
A depe dale beneth, a dungeon therein,
With depe diches and darcke, and dreadfull of ſyght:
A fayre felde ful of folke found I ther betwene,
Of all maner men, the meane and the riche,
Working and wandring, as the world aſketh;
Some put hem to the plough [...], pleiden full ſelde,
In ſetting and ſowing ſwonken full harde:
And ſome put hem to pryd b, &c.

The following extracts are not only ſtriking ſpecimens of our author's allegorical ſatire, but contain much ſenſe and obſervation of life, with ſome ſtrokes of poetry c.

Thus robed in ruſſet, I romed aboute
All a ſomer ſeaſon, for to ſeked DOWEL
And freynede full oft, of folke that I mette
If any wight wiſt, wher DOWELf was at inne,
And what man he might be, of many man I aſked,
Was never wight as I went, that me wyſhg could
[268] Where this ladde lenged h, leſſe or more,
Tyll it befell on a Fryday, two fryers I mette
Maiſters of the minours i, men of greate wytte
I halſed hem hendelye k, as I had learned
And prayed hem for charitie, or they paſſed furthur
If they knewe any courte or countrye as they went
Where that DOWELL dwelleth, do me to wytte l
For they be men on this mould, that moſt wide walke
And knowe contries and courts, and many kinnesm places
Both princes palaces, and pore menes cotes
And DOWEL and DOEVIL, where they dwell both,
Amongeſt us quoth the minours, that man is dwellinge
And ever hath as I hope, and ever ſhall hereafter,
Contra quod I, as a clarke, and cumſed to diſputen
And ſayde hym ſothelye, Septies in die cadit juſtus,
Sevenn ſythes ſayeth the boke, ſynneth the rightfull,
And who ſo ſynneth I ſay, doth evel as me thinketh,
And DOWEL and DOEVYL may not dwel togither,
Ergo he is not alway among you fryers
He is other whyle els where, to wyſhen the people.
I ſhal ſay the my ſonne, ſayde the frier than
Howe ſeven ſithes the ſaddeo man on a day ſynneth,
By a forviſnep quod the fryer, I ſhal the faire ſhewe
Let bryng a man in a bote, amyd the brode water
The winde and the water, and the bote waggyng
Make a man many time, to fall and to ſtande
For ſtand he never ſo ſtiffe, he ſtumbleth if he move
And yet is he ſafe and ſounde, and ſo hym behoveth,
For if he ne ariſe the rather, and raght to the ſtere,
The wind would with the water the boote overthrow.
And than were his life loſt through latchesq of himſelf.
And thus it falleth quod the frier, bi folk here on erth
[269] The water is likned to the world, that waneth and wexeth
The goods of this world ar likened to the gret waves
That as winds and wethers, walken a bout.
The boote is likende to our body, that brytil is of kynd
That through the fleſhe, and the frayle worlde
Synneth the ſadde man, a day ſeven tymes
And deadly ſynne doeth he not, for DOWEL him kepeth
And that is CHARITIE the chapion, chiefe helpe agayne ſinne,
For he ſtrengtheth man to ſtand, and ſtirreth mans ſoule
And thoughe thy bodi bowe, as bote doth in water,
Aye is thy ſoule ſafe, but if thou wylt thy ſelf
Do a deadlye ſinne, and drenche ſo thy ſoule
God wyll ſuffer wel thy ſlouth, if thy ſelfe lyketh
For he gafe the two yereſgifts, to teme wel thy ſelfe
And that is witte and frewil, to every wight a portion
To flyinge fowles, to fiſhes, and to beaſtes
And man hath moſte therof, and moſt is to blame
But if he worch wel therwith, as DOWEL hym teacheth.
I have no kind knowyng quoth I, to coceive all your wordes
And if I may live and loke, I ſhal go learne better
I bikenne the Chriſt, that on the croſſe dyed
And I ſaid the ſame, ſave you from miſchaunce
And give you grace on this ground good me to worth.
And thus I went wide wher, walking mine one
By a wyde weldernes, and by a woddes ſyde,
Bliſſe of the birdes, brought me on ſlepe,
And under a lynder on a land, lened I a ſtounde s
To lyth the layes t, tho lovely fowles made,
Myrthe of her mouthes made me there to ſlepe
The marvelouſeſt metelles, metteu me than
That ever dremed wyght, in world as I wente.
A much man as me thought, and like to my ſelfe,
Came and called me, by my kindew name
[270] What art thou quod I tho, thou that my name knoweſte
That thou wotteſt wel quod he, and no wight better
Wot I what thou art? THOUGHT ſayd he than,
I have ſuedx the this ſeven yeres, ſe ye me no rather?
Art thou THOUGHT quoth I tho, thou couldeſt me wysſhe
Wher that DOWEL dwelleth, and do me that to knowe
DOWEL and DOBETTER, and DOBEST the thirde quod he
Are thre fayre vertues, and be not farre to finde,
Who ſo is true of hys tonge, and of hys two handes
And through his labor or his lod, his livelod wineth y
And is truſty of hys taylyng z, taketh but his owne
And is no drunklewea ne dedigious, DOWEL him followeth
DOBET doth ryght thus, and he doth much more
He is as lowe as a lamb, and lovely of ſpeache
And helpeth al men, after that hem nedeth
The bagges and the bigirdles, he hath to brokb hem al,
That the erle avarous helde and hys heyres
And thus to mamons mony he hath made him frendes
And is runne to religion, and hath rendredc the bible
And preached to the people, ſaynte Paules werdes.
Libenter ſuffertis inſipientes cum ſitis ipſi ſapientes.
And ſuffereth the unwyſe, wyth you for to lyve
And with glad wil doth he good, for ſo god you hoteth
DOBEST is above boeth, and beareth a biſhops croſſe
Is hoked on that one ende to halyed men from hell
A pyke is on the potente to pull downe the wyked
That wayten anye wykednes, DOWELL to tene
And DOWELL and DOBET, amongeſt hem have ordeyned
To crowne one to be kynge, to rule hem boeth
That if DOWELL and DOBET, arnef agaynſte DOBESTE
Then ſhall the kynge com, and caſt hem in yrons
And but if DOBEST byd for hem, they be there for ever
[271] Thus DOWELL and DOBET, and DOBESTE the thyrd
Crouned one to be king, to kepen hem al
And to rule the realme, by herg thre wyttes
And none other wiſe, but as they thre aſſentyd.
I thanked THOUGHT tho, that he me thus taught
And yet ſavoreth me not thy ſuging, I covet to lerne,
How DOWEL DOBEST, and DOBETTER, done among the people
But WYT can wiſh theh quoth THOUGHT, wer thoi iii dwell
Els wot I none that can tell, that nowe is alyve.
THOUGHT and I thus, thre dayes we yeden k
Diſputynge upon DOWELL, daye after other.
And ere we were ware, with WYT gan we mete
He was longe and leane, lyke to none other
Was no pryde on hys apparell, nor poverty nether
Sadde of hys ſemblaunce, and of ſoft chere
I durſte not move no matter, to make hym to laughe,
But as I bade THOUGHT tho be meane betwene
And put forth ſome purpoſe, to prevent his wyts
What was DOWELL fro DOBET, and DOBEST fro hem both.
Than THOUGHT in that tyme, ſayd theſe wordes
Whether DOWELL DOBET, and DOBEST ben in land
Here is wyl wold wyt, if WIT could teach him
And whether he be man or woman, this man fain wold eſpy
And worch as they thre wold, this is his enten,
Here DOWELL dwelleth quod WIT, not a day hence
In a caſtel that kindl made, of four kins things
Of earth and ayre is it made, mingled togithers
With wind and with water, witterlym enjoyned
KYNDE hath cloſed therin, craftely withall
A Lemmann that he loveth, like to him ſelfe
ANIMA ſhe hyght, and Envye her hateth
[272] A proude pricke [...] of Fraunce, princeps hujus mundi
And woulde wynne her away with wiles and h [...] myghte
And KIND knoweth thys well, and kepeth he the better.
And dothe her with ſir DOWELL is duke of thys marches
DOBET is her damoſell, ſir DOWEL'S daughter
To ſerve this lady lelly o, both late and rathe p.
DOBEST is above both a byſhops pere,
That he byd moote be dooq he ruleth them all
ANIMA that lady, is led by his lerning,
And the conſtable of the caſtell, that kepeth al the watche,
Is a wyſe knight withall, ſir Inwit he hight
And hath fyve fayre ſonnes by his fyrſt wyfe
Syr Seewel and Saywel, and Hearwell the end
Syr Worchwel with thy hand, a wight man of ſtrength
And Syr Godfray Gowel, great lordes forſoth
Theſe fyve bene ſet, to ſave this lady Anima
Tyl KIND com or ſend, to ſave her for ever
What kins thing is KIND quod I, canſt thou me telle
Kynd quod Witte is a creator, of al kinnis thinges
Father and former of all, that ever was makyd
And that is the great god that ginning had never
Lord of lyfe and of light, of blys and of payne
Angels and al thing arne at his wyl,
And man is him moſt like, of marker and of ſhape,
For through the word that he ſpake, wexen forth beſtes
And made Adam, likeſt to him ſelfe one
And Eve of his ribbe bone, without any meane
For he was ſinguler him ſelfe, and ſayde faciamus
As who ſay more muſt hereto, then my worde one
My might muſt helpe now with my ſpeche,
Even as a lord ſhuld make leters, and he lacked perchment
Though he could write never ſo wel, if he had no pen
The letters for al his lordſhip, I leve wer never imaked
[273] And ſo it ſemeth by him, as the bible telleth,
There he ſayde, Dixit et facta ſunt.
He muſt worch with hys word, and his wit ſhewe
And in this maner was man made, by might of God almighty
With his word and his workmaſhip, and with life to laſt
And thus God gave him a goſte s, of the godhed of heven
And of his great grace, graunted him blyſſe
And that is life that aye ſhal laſt, to al our linage after
And that is the caſtel that KINDE made, Caro it hight
And is as much to meane, as man with a ſoule
And that he wrought with work, and with word both
Through might of the majeſty, man was imaked
Inwyt and Alwyts, cloſed bene therin
For love of the ladie Anima, that life is nempned t
Over al in mans body, ſhe walketh and wandreth
And in the herte is hir home, and hir moſtu reſt
And Inwit is in the head, and to the herte loketh
What Anima is leef or loth w, he leadith hyr at his wil.—
Than had WIT a wife, was hote dame STUDY,
That leve was of lere, and of liche boeth.
She was wonderli wroght, Wit me ſo teched
And al ſtaryng dame Study, ſternely ſayde.
Wel art you wiſe quoth ſhe to Wyt, any wyſdomes to tell
To flatterers or to foles, that frentyke be of wyttes
And blamed him and bannedx him, and bade him be ſtyl
Wyth ſuch wyſe wordes, to wyſh any ſottes
And ſayde, Noli mittere man, Margarite Pearles
Amonge hogges, that have hawes at wyll.
They do but drivel theron,y drafe were hem lever z,
Than al precious pearles that in paradice waxeth a.
I ſay it by ſuch, quod ſhe, that ſhew it by her works,
[274] That hem were lever land b, and lordſhyp on earth,
Or ryches or rentes, and reſt at her wyll,
Than al the ſoth ſawes, that Salomon ſayde ever.
Wyſedome and wytte, nowe is not worth a kerſe c
But if it be carded with covetis d, as clothers kemb her woule
Whoſo can contryve deceites, and conſpyre wrongs
And lead forth a love daye e, to let wyth truth
He that ſuch craftes can, is oft cleped to counſell,
They lead lords with leaſinges, and belieth truth
Job the gentel in his geſtes, greatly wytneſſeth
That wicked men welden the wealth of this world
The pſalter ſayeth the ſame, by ſuch as done evyl
Ecce ipſi peccatores habundantes in ſeculo obtinuerunt divitias.
Lo ſayth holy lecture, which lords be theſe ſhrewes?
Thilke that god geveth moſt, leſt good they dealeth
And moſt unkind be to that comen, that moſt catel weldeth f.
Que perfeciſti deſtruxerunt, juſtus autem &c.
Harlots for her harlotrye, maye have of her goodes
And japers and judgelers g, and jangelers of jeſtes
And he that hath holy wryte, aye in his mouth
And can tell of Tobie, and of the twelve apoſtles
Or preache of the penauce, that Pilate falſely wrought
To Jeſu the gentle, that Jewes to drawe:
Lyttle is he loved, that ſuche a leſſon ſheweth
Or daunten or drawe forth, I do it on god him ſelfe
But thoh that faine hem foles, and with faytingi liveth
Againe the lawe of our lorde, and lien on hem ſelfe
Spitten and ſpuen, and ſpeake foule wordes
Drynken and drivelen, and do men for to gape
Lyken men, and lye on hem, and leneth hem no giftes
They cank no more minſtrelſy ne muſyke men to glad
[275] Than Mundie the milner, of multa fecit deus.
Ne were hir vyle harlotry, have god my trouth
Shoulde never kynge ne knyght, ne canon of Poules
Gyve hem to her yeres gyfte, ne gyft of a grote,
And myrth and minſtrelſy amongeſt men is nought
Lechery, loſenchery l, and loſels tales,
Glotony and greate othes, this mirthe they loveth,
And if thei carpenm of Chriſt, theſe clerkes and theſe lewed.
And they meet in her mirth, whan mynſtrels ben ſtyll
Whan telleth they of the trinitie, a tale or twaine
And bringeth forth a blade reaſon, and take Bernardn to witnes
And put forth a preſumption to preve the ſoth
Thus they dreveil at her dayſeo the deitie to ſcorn
And gnawen God to hyr gorgep whan hyr guts fallen
And the carfullq may crye, and carpen at the gate
Both a fyngerd and a furſte, and for chelr quake
Is none to nymen hem nere, his noyes to amend
But hunten hym as a hounde, and hoten hym go hence,
Litle loveth he that lorde that lent hym all that bliſſe,
That thus parteth withe pore, a percel whan him nedeth
Ne were mercy in mean men, more than in rich
Mendynauntes meatles t, myght go to bedde.
God is much in the gorge of theſe greate maiſters,
And amonges meane men, his mercy and hys worckes
And ſo ſayeth the pſalter, I have ſene it oft.
Clarkes and other kinnes men, carpen of god faſt
And have him much in the mouth, and meane men in hert
Friers and fayters, have founden ſuch queſtions
To pleſe wyth the proud men, ſith the peſtilence time
And preachen at S. Paules, for pure envi of clarks
That folke is not firmed in the faythe, ne fre of her goodes
[276] Ne ſory for her ſynnes, ſo is pryde waxen,
In religion, and in al the realme, amongeſt rich and pore
That prayers have no pore, the peſtilence to lette
And yet the wretches of this worlde, are none ware by other
Ne for dreade of the death, withdraw not her prid
Ne ben plentuous to the pore, as pure charitie wold
But in gaines and in glotony, forglote goods hem ſelfe
And breketh not to the begger, as the boke teacheth.
And the more he wynneth, and wexeth welthy in riches
And lordeth in landes, the leſſe good he dealeth
Tobie telleth ye not ſo, takehede ye ryche
Howe the byble boke of hym beareth wytnes,
Who ſo hath much ſpend manly, ſo meaneth Tobit
And who ſo lytle weldeth, rule hym thereafter,
For we have no letter of our life, how long it ſhal endure
Suche leſſons lordes, ſhoulde love to heare
And how he myght moſt meyny, manlych fynde
Not to fare as a fideler, or a frier to ſeke feaſtes,
Homely at other mens houſes, and haten her owne.
Elengeu is the hal every day in the weke
There the lorde ne the lady lyketh not to ſytte
Nowe hath eche ryche a rule w, to eaten by hem ſelfe
In a privie parler, for poore mens ſake
Or in chambre wyth a chymney, and leave the chiefe hal
That was made for meales, men to eate in.—
And whan that Wytte was ware, what dame Studie told
He became ſo confuſe he cunneth not loke
And as dombe as death, and drew him arere x
And for no carping I cold after, ne kneling to therth
I myght get no grayne, of his grete wyttis
But al laughynge he louted, and loked upon Study
In ſygne that I ſhulde, beſechen hyr of grace
[277] And when I was war of his wil, to his wife I loutid
And ſayde mercie madame, your man ſhal I worth
As longe as I live both late and earlie
For to worchen your wil, the whyle mi life endureth
With this that ye ken me kindlye, to know to what is DOWEL
For thi mekenes man quod ſhe, and for thi milde ſpech
I ſhal ken the to my coſen, that Clergye is hoten y
He hath weddyd a wyfe, within theſe ſyx moneths
Is ſybz to the ſeven artes, Scripture is hyr name
They two as I hope, after my teachinge
Shal wiſhen the Dowel, I dare under take.
Than was I as fayne a, as fouleb of fayr morow
And glader then the glemanc that gold [...] hath to gyfte
And aſked hir the high way where that Clergied dwelt
And tellme ſome token quod I, for tyme is that I wend
Aſke the hygh waye quod ſhe, hence to ſuffer
Both wel and woo, if that thou wylt learne
And ryde forthe by riches, and reſt thou not therin,
For if thou coupleſt ye therwith to clergie comeſt thou never,
And alſo the licores lande that lechery hight
Leav [...] it on thy left half, a large mile and more,
Tyll thou come to a courte, kepe well thy tonge
Fro leaſinges and lyther ſpeach e, and licorous drinckes
Than ſhalt thou ſe Sobrietie, and Simplicitie of ſpeche
That ech might be in his wyll, hys wytte to ſhewe
And thus ſhalt ye come to Cleargye that can mani thinges
Saye hym thys ſigne, I ſette him to ſchole
And that I grete wel his wife, for I wrot her many bokes
And ſet hir to Sapience, and to the pſalter gloſe
Logike I learned her, and manye other lawes,
And all the uniſons to muſike, I made hir to know,
Plato the poete, I put hem firſte to boke,
[278] Ariſtotle and other moe, to argue I taught
Grammer for gyrles, I garde firſte to wryte
And beat hem with a bales, but if they would learne
Of all kinnes craftes, I contrived tooles
Of carpentre of carvers, and compaſſed maſons
And learned hem level and line, though I loke dimme
And Theologie hath tened me, ſeven ſcore times,
The more I muſe therin, the miſtier it ſemeth
And the deper I devine, the darker me it thynketh.

The artifices and perſuaſions of the monks to procure donations to their convents, are thus humorouſly ridiculed, in a ſtrain which ſeems to have given riſe to Chaucer's SOMPNOUR'S TALE.

Than he aſſoyled her ſone, and ſithen he ſayde:
We have a windowe in working, wil ſet us ful high,
Woudſt thou glaſe the gable, and grave therin thy name,
Scher ſhoulde thy ſoule be heven to have f, &c.

COVETISE or Covetouſneſs, is thus drawn in the true colours of ſatirical painting.

[279]
And then came COVETIS, can I him no diſcrive,
So hungerly and hollowe, ſo ſternely he loked,
He was bittle-browed and baberlypped alſo;
Wyth two blered eyen as a blinde hagge,
And as a lethren purſe lolled his chekes,
Well ſyder than his chyn they ſhevered for colde:
And as a bound man of his bacon his berd was bidrauled,
With a hode on his heade, and a louſy hatte above.
And in a tawny taberde g, of twelve winter age,
Alle torne and baudye, and full of lyce creepinge;
But that yf a louſe could have lepen the better,
She had not walked on the welte, ſo was it thredbare.
I have been Covetiſe, quoth this catife,
For ſometime I ſervid Symme at ſtyle,
And was hys prentice plight, his profyt to wate.
Fyrſt I lernid to lye, a leef other twayne
Wychedly to way, was my firſt leſſon:
To Wy and to Wincheſter h I went to the fayre
[280] With mani manner merchandiſe, as mi maſter me hight.—
[281] Than drave I me among drapers my doneti to lerne.
To drawe the lyfer along, the longer it ſemed
Among the rich rayes, &c k.

Our author, who probably could not get preferment, thus inveighs againſt the luxury and diverſions of the prelates of his age.

[282]
And now is religion a rider, a romer by the ſtreete,
A leader of lovedayesl and a loudem b [...]ggar,
A prick [...]r on a palfrey from maner to maner,
An heape of hound [...]s at his arſe as he a lord were n.
And yf but his knave knele, that ſhall hys cope bryng,
He loured on hym, and aſked who taught hym curteſye o.

There is great pictureſque humour in the following lines.

HUNGER in heſt tho hent waſtour by the maw,
And wrong him ſo by the wombe that both his eies watered:
[283] He buffeted the breton about the chekes
That he loked lyke a lanterne al his life after p.

And in the following, where the Vices are repreſented as converted and coming to confeſſion, among which is the figure of Envy.

Of a freres froke were the fore ſleves,
And as a l [...]ke that hath lied long in the ſunne
So looked he with leane chekes, lowering foule q.

It would be tedious to tranſcribe other ſtrokes of humour with which this poem abounds. Before one of the Viſions the poet falls aſleep while he is bidding his beads. [...]n another he deſcribes Antichriſt, whoſe banner is borne by Pride, as welcomed into a monaſtery with ringing of bells, and a ſolemn congratulatory proceſſion of all the monks marching out to meet and receive him r.

Theſe images of mercy and truth are in a different ſtrain.

Out of the weſt coſt, a wenche as me thought,
Come walking in the way, to hevnward ſhe loked;
Mercy hight that mayde, a meke thyng withall,
A full benigne byrde, and buxome of ſpeech;
Hyr ſyſter, as yt ſeemed, came worthily walking,
Even out of theſte, and weſtward ſhe loked,
A ful comely creature, Truth ſhe hyght,
For the vertue that her folowed afered was ſhe never.
When theſe maydens mette, Mercy and Truth,
Eyther aſked other of this gret marvel,
Of the din and of the darknes, &c s.

[284] The imagery of Nature, or KINDE, ſending forth his diſeaſes from the planets, at the command of CONSCIENCE, and of his attendants AGE and DEATH, is conceived with ſublimity.

KYNDE CONSCIENCE then heard, and came out of the planetts,
And ſent forth his forriours Fevers, and Fluxes,
Coughes, and Cardiacles, Crampes, and Toth-aches,
Reumes, and Radgondes, and raynous Scalles,
Byles, and Botches, and burnynge Agues,
Freneſes and foule Evill, foragers of KYNDE!
Ther was "Harowe! and Helpe! here cometh KYNDE!
"With Death that is dreadfull, to undo us all!"
The lord that lyveth after luſt tho aloud cried.—
Age the hoore, he was in the vaw-ward,
And bare the banner before Death: by ryght he it claimed.
KYNDE came after, with many kene ſores,
As Pockes and Peſtilences, and much people ſhent.
So KYNDE through corruptions, kylled full many:
DEATH came dryvyng after, and all to duſt paſhed
Kyngs and Kayſers, knightes and popes.
Many a lovely lady, and lemman of knightes,
Swoned and ſwelted for ſorowe of DEATH'S dyntes.
CONSCIENCE, of his curteſye, to KYNDE he beſoght
To ceaſe and ſufire, and ſe where they wolde
Leave Pride prively, and be perfite chriſten,
And KYNDE ceaſed tho, to ſee the people amende t.

Theſe lines at leaſt put us in mind of Milton's Lazarhouſe u.

..... Immediately a place
Before his eyes appeared, ſad, noiſome, dark:
A lazar-houſe it ſeem'd, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diſeas'd: all maladies
[285] Of gaſtly ſpaſm, or racking torture, qualms
Of heart-ſick agony, all feverous kinds,
Convulſions, epilepſies, fierce catarrhs,
Inteſtine ſtone, and ulcer, cholic pangs,
Demoniac phrenzy, moping melancholy,
And moon-ſtruck madneſs, pining atrophy,
Maraſmus, and wide-waſting Peſtilence:
Dropſies and aſthma, and joint-racking rheum.
Dire was the Toſſing! Deep the groans! DESPAIR
Tended the ſick, buſy from couch to couch;
And over them triumphant DEATH his dart
Shook, but delay'd to ſtrike, &c.

At length FORTUNE or PRIDE ſends forth a numerous army led by LUST, to attack CONSCIENCE.

And gadered a greate hoſte, all agayne CONSCIENCE:
This LECHERY led on, with a laughyng chere,
And with a privye ſpeeche, and paynted wordes,
And armed him in idleneſs and in high bearyng.
He bare a bowe in his hand, and many bloudy arrowes,
Were fethered with faire beheſt, and many a falſe truth w.

Afterwards CONSCIENCE is beſieged by Antichriſt, and ſeven great giants, who are the ſeven capital or deadly ſins: and the aſſault is made by SLOTH, who conducts an army of more than a thouſand prelates.

It is not improbable, that Longland here had his eye on the old French ROMAN D' ANTECHRIST, a poem written by Huon de Meri, about the year 1228. The author of this piece ſuppoſes that Antichriſt is on earth, that he viſits every profeſſion and order of life, and finds numerous partiſans. The VICES arrange themſelves under the banner of ANTECHRIST, and the VIRTUES under that of CHRIST. [286] Theſe two armies at length come to an engagement, and the battle ends to the honour of the Virtues, and th [...] total defeat of the Vices. The BANNER OF ANTICHRIST has before occurred in our quotations from Longland. The title of Huon de Meri's poem deſerves notice. It is TURNOYEMENT DE L' ANTECHRIST. Theſe are the concluding lines.

Par ſon droit nom a peau cet livre
Qui treſbien s' avorde a l' eſcrit
Le Tournoiement de l' Antechriſt.

The author appears to have been a monk of St. Germain des Pres, near Paris. This allegory is much like that which we find in the old dramatic MORALITIES. The theology of the middle ages abounded with conjectures and controverſies concerning Antichriſt, who at a very early period was commonly believed to be the Roman pontiff x.

SECT. IX.

[287]

TO the VISION OF PIERCE PLOWMAN has been commonly annexed a poem called PIERCE THE PLOWMAN'S CREDE, and which may properly be conſidered as its appendage a. It is profeſſedly written in imitation of our VISION, but by a different hand. The author, in the character of a plain uninformed perſon, pretends to be ignorant of his creed; to be inſtructed in the articles of which, he applies by turns to the four orders of mendicant friers. This circumſtance affords an obvious occaſion of expoſing in lively colours the tricks of thoſe ſocieties. After ſo unexpected a diſappointment, he meets one Pierce, or Peter, a plowman, who reſolves his doubts, and teaches him the principles of true religion. In a copy of the CREDE lately preſented to me by the biſhop of Glouceſter, and once belonging to Mr. Pope, the latter in his own hand has inſerted the following abſtract of its plan. ‘"An ignorant plain man having learned his Pater-noſter and Ave-mary, wants to learn his creed. He aſks ſeveral religious men of the ſeveral orders to teach it him. Firſt of a friar Minor, who bids him beware of the Carmelites, and aſſures him they can teach him nothing, deſcribing their faults, &c. But that the friars Minors ſhall ſave him, whether he learns his creed or not. [288] He goes next to the friars Preachers, whoſe magnificent monaſtery he deſcribes: there he meets a fat friar, who declaims againſt the Auguſtines. He is ſhocked at his pride, and goes to the Auguſtines. They rail at the Minorites. He goes to the Carmes; they abuſe the Dominicans, but promiſe him ſalvation, without the creed, for money. He leaves them with indignation, and finds an honeſt poor PLOWMAN in the field, and tells him how he was diſappointed by the four orders. The plowman anſwers with a long invective againſt them."’

The language of the CREDE is leſs embarraſſed and obſcure than that of the VISION. But before I proceed to a ſpecimen, it may not be perhaps improper to prepare the reader, by giving an outline of the conſtitution and character of the four orders of mendicant friars, the object of our poet's ſatire: an enquiry in many reſpects connected with the general purport of this hiſtory, and which, in this place at leaſt, cannot be deemed a digreſſion, as it will illuſtrate the main ſubject, and explain many particular paſſages, of the PLOWMAN'S CREDE b.

Long before the thirteenth century, the monaſtic orders, as we have partly ſeen in the preceding poem, in conſequence of their ample revenues, had degenerated from their primitive auſterity, and were totally given up to luxury and indolence. Hence they became both unwilling and unable to execute the purpoſes of their eſtabliſhment: to inſtruct the people, to check the growth of hereſies, or to promote in any reſpect the true intereſts of the church. They forſook all their religious obligations, deſpiſed the authority of their ſuperiors, and were abandoned without ſhame or remorſe to every ſpecies of diſſipation and licentiouſneſs. About the beginning therefore of the thirteenth century, the condition and circumſtances of the church rendered it abſolutely neceſſary [289] to remedy theſe evils, by introducing a new order of religious, who being deſtitute of fixed poſſeſſions, by the ſeverity of their manners, a profeſſed contempt of riches, and an unwearied perſeverance in the duties of preaching and prayer, might reſtore reſpect to the monaſtic inſtitution, and recover the honours of the church. Theſe were the four orders of mendicant or begging friars, commonly denominated the Franciſcans, the Dominicans, the Carmelites, and the Auguſtines d.

Theſe ſocieties ſoon ſurpaſſed all the reſt, not only in the purity of their lives, but in the number of their privileges, and the multitude of their members. Not to mention the ſucceſs which attends all novelties, their reputation aroſe quickly to an amazing height. The popes, among other uncommon immunities, allowed them the liberty of travelling wherever they pleaſed, of converſing with perſons of all ranks, of inſtructing the youth and the people in general, and of hearing confeſſions, without reſerve or reſtriction: and as on theſe occaſions, which gave them opportunities of appearing in public and conſpicuous ſituations, they exhibited more ſtriking marks of gravity and ſanctity than were obſervable in the deportment and conduct of the members of other monaſteries, they were regarded with the higheſt eſteem and veneration throughout all the countries of Europe.

In the mean time they gained ſtill greater reſpect, by cultivating the literature then in vogue, with the greateſt aſſiduity and ſucceſs. Gianoni ſays, that moſt of the theological [290] profeſſors in the univerſity of Naples, newly founded in the year 1220, were choſen from the mendicants e. They were the principal teachers of theology at Paris, the ſchool where this ſcience had received its origin f. At Oxford and Cambridge reſpectively, all the four orders had flouriſhing monaſteries. The moſt learned ſcholars in the univerſity of Oxford, at the cloſe of the thirteenth century, were Franciſcan friars: and long after this period, the Franciſcans appear to have been the ſole ſupport and ornament of that univerſity g. Hence it was that biſhop Hugh de Balſham, founder of Peter-houſe at Cambridge, orders in his ſtatutes given about the year 1280, that ſome of his ſcholars ſhould annually repair to Oxford for improvement in the ſciences h. That is, to ſtudy under the Franciſcan readers. Such was the eminence of the Franciſcan friary at Oxford, that the learned biſhop Groſthead, in the year 1253, bequeathed all [291] his books to that celebrated ſeminary i. This was the houſe in which the renowned Roger Bacon was educated; who revived, in the midſt of barbariſm, and brought to a conſiderable degree of perfection the knowledge of mathematics in England, and greatly facilitated many modern diſcoveries in experimental philoſophy k. The ſame fraternity is likewiſe ſaid to have ſtored their valuable library with a multitude of Hebrew manuſcrips, which they purchaſed of the Jews on their baniſhment from England l. Richard de Bury, biſhop of Durham, author of PHILOBIBLON, and the founder of a library at Oxford, is prolix in his praiſes of the mendicants for their extraordinary diligence in collecting books m. Indeed it became difficult in the beginning of the fourteenth century to find any treatiſe in the arts, theology, or canon law, commonly expoſed to ſale: they were all univerſally bought up by the friars n. This is mentioned by Richard Fitzralph, archbiſhop of Armagh, in his diſcourſe before the pope at Avignon in 1357, their bitter and profeſſed antagoniſt; who adds, without any intention of paying them a compliment, that all the mendicant convents were furniſhed with a ‘"grandis et nobilis libraria o."’ Sir Richard Whittington built the library of the Grey Friars in London, which was one hundred and twenty-nine [292] feet long, and twelve broad, with twenty-eight deſks p. About the year 1430, one hundred marks were paid for tranſcribing the profound Nicholas de Lyra, in two volumes, to be chained in this library q. Leland relates, that John Wallden, a learned Carmelite, bequeathed to the ſame library as many manuſcripts of approved authors, written in capital roman characters, as were then eſtimated at more than two thouſand pieces of gold r. He adds, that this library, even in his time, exceeded all others in London for multitude of books and antiquity of copies s. Among many other inſtances which might be given of the learning of the mendicants, there is one which greatly contributed to eſtabliſh their literary character. In the eleventh century, Ariſtotle's philoſophy had been condemned in the univerſity of Paris as heretical. About a hundred years afterwards, theſe prejudices began to ſubſide; and new tranſlations of Ariſtotle's writings were publiſhed in Latin by our countryman Michael Scotus, and others, with more attention to the original Greek, at leaſt without the pompous and perplexed circumlocutions which appeared in the Arabic verſions hitherto uſed. In the mean time the mendicant orders ſprung up: who happily availing themſelves of theſe new tranſlations, and making them the conſtant ſubject of their ſcholaſtic lectures, were the firſt who revived the doctrines of this philoſopher, and acquired the merit of having opened a new ſyſtem of ſcience t. The Dominicans of Spain were accompliſhed adepts in the [293] learning and language of the Arabians; and were employed by the kings of Spain in the inſtruction and converſion of the numerous Jews and Saracens who reſided in their dominions u.

The buildings of the mendicant monaſteries, eſpecially in England, were remarkably magnificent, and commonly much exceeded thoſe of the endowed convents of the ſecond magnitude. As theſe fraternities were profeſſedly poor, and could not from their original inſtitution receive eſtates, the munificence of their benefactors was employed in adorning their houſes with ſtately refectories and churches: and for theſe and other purpoſes they did nor want addreſs to procure multitudes of patrons, which was facilitated by the notion of their ſuperior ſanctity. It was faſhionable for perſons of the higheſt rank to bequeath their bodies to be buried in the friary churches, which were conſequently filled with ſumptuous ſhrines and ſuperb monuments w. In the [294] noble church of the Grey friars in London, finiſhed in the year 1325, but long ſince deſtroyed, four queens, beſides upwards of ſix hundred perſons of quality, were buried, whoſe beautiful tombs remained till the diſſolution x. Theſe interments imported conſiderable ſums of money into the mendicant ſocieties. It is probable that they derived more benefit from caſual charity, than they would have gained from a regular endowment. The Franciſcans indeed enjoyed from the popes the privilege of diſtributing indulgences, a valuable indemnification for their voluntary poverty y.

On the whole, two of theſe mendicant inſtitutions, the Dominicans and the Franciſcans, for the ſpace of near three centuries, appear to have governed the European church and ſtate with an abſolute and univerſal ſway: they filled, during that period, the moſt eminent eccleſiaſtical and civil ſtations, taught in the univerſities with an authority which ſilenced all oppoſition, and maintained the diſputed prerogative of the Roman pontiff againſt the united influence of prelates and kings, with a vigour only to be paralleled by its ſucceſs. The Dominicans and Franciſcans were, before the Reformation, exactly what the Jeſuits have been ſince. They diſregarded their monaſtic character and profeſſion, and were employed, not only in ſpiritual matters, but in temporal affairs of the greateſt conſequence; in compoſing the differences of princes, concluding treaties of peace, and concerting alliances: they preſided in cabinet councils, levied national ſubſidies, influenced courts, and managed the machines of every important operation and event, both in the religious and political world.

From what has been here ſaid it is natural to ſuppoſe, that the mendicants at length became univerſally odious. The high eſteem in which they were held, and the tranſcendent degree of authority which they had aſſumed, only ſerved to [295] render them obnoxious to the clergy of every rank, to the monaſteries of other orders, and to the univerſities. It was not from ignorance, but from a knowledge of mankind, that they were active in propagating ſuperſtitious notions, which they knew were calculated to captivate the multitude, and to ſtrengthen the papal intereſt; yet at the ſame time, from the vanity of diſplaying an uncommon ſagacity of thought, and a ſuperior ſkill in theology, they affected novelties in doctrine, which introduced dangerous errors, and tended to ſhake the pillars of orthodoxy. Their ambition was unbounded, and their arrogance intolerable. Their encreaſing numbers became, in many ſtates, an enormous and unweildy burthen to the commonwealth. They had abuſed the powers and privileges which had been entruſted to them; and the common ſenſe of mankind could not long be blinded or deluded by the palpable frauds and artifices, which theſe rapacious zealots ſo notoriouſly practiſed for enriching their convents. In England, the univerſity of Oxford reſolutely reſiſted the perpetual encroachments of the Dominicans z; and many of our theologiſts attacked all the four orders with great vehemence and ſeverity. Excluſive of the jealouſies and animoſities which naturally ſubſiſted between four rival inſtitutions, their viſionary refinements, and love of diſputation, introduced among them the moſt violent diſſenſions. The Dominicans aimed at popularity, by an obſtinate denial of the immaculate conception. Their pretended ſanctity became at length a term of reproach, and their learning fell into diſcredit. As polite letters and general knowledge encreaſed, their ſpeculative and pedantic divinity gave way to a more liberal turn of thinking, and a more perſpicuous mode of writing. Bale, who was himſelf a Carmelite friar, ſays, that his order, which was eminently diſtinguiſhed for ſcholaſtic erudition, began to loſe their eſtimation about the year 1460. Some of them were imprudent [296] enough to engage openly in political controverſy; and the Auguſtines deſtroyed all their repute and authority in England by ſeditious ſermons, in which they laboured [...]o ſupplant the progeny of Edward the fourth, and to eſtabliſh the title of the uſurper Richard a. About the year 1530, Leland viſited the Franciſcan friary at Oxford, big with the hopes of finding, in their celebrated library, if not many valuable books, at leaſt thoſe which had been bequeathed by the learned biſhop Groſthead. The delays and difficulties with which he procured admittance into this venerable repoſitory, heightened his curioſity and expectations. At length, after much ceremony, being permitted to enter, inſtead of an ineſtimable treaſure, he ſaw little more than empty ſhelves covered with cobwebs and duſt b.

After ſo prolix an introduction, I cannot but give a large quotation from our CREDE, the humour and tendency of which will now be eaſily underſtood: and eſpecially as this poem is not only extremely ſcarce, and has almoſt the rarity of a manuſcript, but as it is ſo curious and lively a picture of an order of men who once made ſo conſpicuous a figure in the world.

For firſt I fraynedc the freres, and they me full tolden,
That al the fruyt of the fayth, was in her foure orders,
And the cofres of chriſtendom, and the keie bothen
And the lock of byleve d, lyeth locken in her hondes
Then wennede e, I to wytte, and with a whight I mette
A Minoure in amorwetide, and to this man I ſaide,
[297] Sir for greate godes love, the graithf thou me tell,
Of what myddel erde man myght I beſt lerne
My crede, for I can it nought, my care is the more,
And therfore for Chriſtes love, thy counſeyl I preie,
A Carmeg me hath ycovenant, ye nede me to teche.
But for thou knoweſt Carmes wel, thy counſaile I aſke.
This Minour loked on me, and laughyng he ſayde
Leve chriſten man, I leveh that thou madde.
Whough ſhuld thei teche the God, that con non hemſelve?
They ben but jugulers, and japers of kynde,
Lorels and lechures, and lemans holden,
Neyther in order ne out but unneth lybbeth i,
And byjapeth the folk with geſtesk of Rome.
It is but a faynt folke, yfounded up on japes,
They maketh hem Maries men l, and ſo thei men tellen.
And leieth on our lady many a long tale.
And that wicked folk wymmen betraieth,
And begileth hem of her good with glavering wordes.
And therm with holden her hous in harlotes warkes.
And ſo ſave me God I hold it great ſynne,
To gyven hem any good, ſwiche glotones to fynde
To maintaine ſwiche maner men the michel good deſtruieth
Yetn ſeyn they in her ſutiltie, to ſottes in townes
Thei comen out of Carmeli, Chriſt for to folwen.
And feyneth hem with holyneſſe, the yvele hem biſemeth.
Thei lyven more in lecherie, and lieth in her tales,
Than ſueno any good liif, but lurken in her ſelles,
But wynnen werdlichep good, and waſten it in ſynne,
[298] And gifq thei couthenr her crede other on Chriſt leveden
Thei weren nought ſo hardy, ſwyche harlotri uſen,
Sikerli I can nought fynden who hem firſt founded,
But the foles foundeden hem ſelf freres of the pye,
And maken hem mendyans, and marre the pule.
But what glut of the gomes may any good kachen,
He wil kepen it hem ſelfe, and cofrene it faſte.
And thoigh his felawes fayle good, for bi he mai ſterve
Her monei mai bi queſt, and teſtament maken
And none obedience here, but don as hym luſte.
And right as Robartes men raken aboute
At feyres and at full ales, and fyllen the cuppe s
And precheth al of pardon, to pleſen the puple,
But patience is al paſed, and put out to ferme
And pride is in her povertie, that litell is to preiſen
And at the lullyng of our lady t, the wymmen to lyken
And miracles of mydwyves, and maken wymmen to wenen
That the lace of our lady ſmok lighteth hem of children.
Thei ne prechen nought of Powel u, ne penaunce for ſynne,
But al of merci and menſk w, that Marie may helpen.
With ſterne ſtaves and ſtronge, thei overlond ſtraketh,
Thider as here lemans liggeth, and lurketh in townes.
Grey grete heded quenes, with gold by the eighe [...],
And ſeyne that her ſuſtern thei ben that ſojurneth about [...],
And thus abouten the gon and godes folke betrayeth,
It is the puple that Powel preched of in his tyme.
He ſeyde of ſwiche folke that ſo aboute wente
[299] Wepyng, I warne you of walkers aboute,
It beth enemyes of the cros that Chriſt upon tholede.
Swiche ſlomreersx in ſlepe ſlaughtey is her end.
And glotonye is her god, with glopping of drink
And gladneſſe in glees, and grete joye ymaked
In the ſhendingz of ſwiche ſhal mychel folk lauwghe.
Therfore frend for thy feith fond to don beter,
Leve nought on tho loſels, but let hem forth paſen,
For thei ben fals in her faith, and feele mo other.
Alas frere, quath I tho, my purpos is yfailed,
Now is my comfort a caſt, canſt ou no bote,
Wher I might meten with a man that might me wyſſen
For to conne my crede, Chriſt for to folwen.
Certeyn felawe, quath the frere, withouten any fayle
Of al men upon molda we Minorites moſt ſheweth
The pure apoſteles leif, with penance on erthe,
And ſuenb hem in ſanctite, and ſufferen wel harde.
We haunten not tavernes, ne hobelenc abouten
At marketes and miracles we medeley us never d.
We houldene no moneye, but moneliche faren f
And haven hunger at the mete, at ich a mel ones.
We haven forſaken the world, and in wo libbeth g
In penaunce and poverte, and prechethe the puple h [...]
By enſample of our liif, ſoules to helpen
And in poverte preien, for al oure part [...]neres
That gyveth us any good, God to honouren
Other bel other book, or bred to our foode,
Other catel other cloth, to coveren with oure bones i:
Money, other money worth, here mede is in hevene
For we buildeth a burugh k, a brod and a large,
[300] A chirch and a chapitle l, with chaumbers a lofte.
With wide wyndowes ywrought, and walles wel heye
That mote ben portreid, and paint and pulched ful clene m.
With gay glitering glas, glowing as the ſunne,
Andn mighteſtou amenden us with money of thyne owen,
Thou ſhouldeſt knely before Chriſt in compas of gold,
In the wyde windowe weſtward wel neigh in the middell o,
And ſaint Franceis him ſelf, ſhal folde the in his cope,
And preſent the to the trinite, and praye for thy ſynnes,
Thy name ſhal noblich be wryte and wrought for the nones
And in remembraunce of the, praid therfor ever p,
And brother be thou nought aferd, bythenkin thyne hert
Though thou coneq nought thy crede, care thou no more
I ſhal aſoilenr the ſyr, and ſetten it on my ſoule.
And thou may maken this good, thenke thou non other.
Sir (I ſayde) in certaine I ſhal gon and aſaye,
And he ſet on me his hond, and aſoiled me clene,
And there I parted him fro, withouten any peyne,
In covenant that I come agayn, Chriſt he me be taught.
Than ſaide I to myſelf, here ſemeth litel treuthe,
Firſt to blame his brother, and bakbyten hym foule,
Ther [...] as curteis Chriſt clerliche ſayde:
Whow might thou in thy brothers eighe a bare mote loke
And in thyne owen eighe nought a beme toten,
See firſt on thy ſelf, and ſithen on a nother,
And clenſe clene thy ſight, and kepe wel thyne eighe,
And for another mannes eighe, ordeyne after
And alſo I ſee coveitiſe, catel to fongen s,
[301] That Chriſt hath clerliche forboden t, and clenliche deſtruede
And ſayde to his ſueres u, for ſothe on this wyſe:
Nought thy neighbors good coveyte in no tyme.
But charite and chaſtite, ben chaſed out clene,
But Chriſt ſeide by her fruit, men ſhal hem ful knowen.
Thanneſaide I, certeine ſyr, thou demeſt ful trewe.
Than thought I to fraynew the firſt of this foure ordres.
And preſed to the Prechoures x, to proven her wille.
Ich highedy to her houſe, to herken of more,
And when I came to that court, I gaped about,
Swich a bild bold ybuld upon erthe heighte,
Say I nought in certeyn ſyththe a long tyme z.
Ia ſemed upon that hous, and yerneb theron loked,
Whow the pileres weren ypaint and pulchudc ful clene,
And queyntly ycorven, with curious knottes,
With wyndowes wel ywrought, wyde up alofte,
And than I entred in, and even forthe wente,
And all was walled that wone d, though it wiid were
With poſternes in privite to paſſen when hem liſte.
Orcheyardes, and erberese eueſed well clene,
And a curious cros, craftly entayled f,
With tabernacles ytight to toteng al abouten.
The pris of a ploughlond, of penies ſo round [...],
To aparaile that pyler, were pure litel h,
Than I munte mei forth, the mynſterek to knowen,
Andl awayted woon, wonderly wel ybild,
With arches on everich half, and bellychem yeorven
With crochetes on corneres, with knottes of gold.
Wyde wyndowes ywrought ywriten ful thikke n
[302] Shynen o with ſhapen ſheldes, to ſhewen aboute,
With p merkes of merchauntes, ymedeled betwene,
Mo than twentie and two, twyſe ynoumbbred;
Ther is non heraud that hath half ſwich a rolle q
Right as a rageman hath rekned hem newe
Tombes upon tabernacles, tylde upon lofte r,
Houſeds in hornes, harde ſet abouten t
Of armede alabauſtre, clad for the nones,
Maad opon marbel in many manner wyſe
Knyghtes in ther coniſante u clad for the nones
Alle it ſemed ſeyntes, yſacred opon erthe,
And lovely ladies ywrought, leyen by her ſydes
In many gay garnemens, that weren gold beten,
Though the tax often yere were trewely gadered,
Nolde it nought maken that hous, half as I trowe.
Than cam I to that cloyſtre, and gaped abouten,
[303] Whough it was pilered and peynt, and portreyd well clene
Alhyledw with leed, lowe to the ſtones,
And ypaved, with poynttyl x, ich point after other
With cundites of clene tyn cloſed al aboute y,
With lavoures of lattin z, loveliche ygreithed a
I trowe the gaynage of the ground, in a gret ſhyre
Nold aparaile that place, oo poynt tyl other ende b.
Thane was the chapitre houſe wrought as a greet chirch
Corven and covered, ant queytelyche entayled c
With ſemliche ſelure yſeet on lofte d
As a parlement hous ypeynted aboute e.
[304] Thanne ferd I into fraytoure f, and fond there a nother,
An halle for an hygh kynge, an houſhold to holden,
With brod bordes abouten, ybenched wel clene,
With wyndowes of glaſs, wrought as a chirche g.
Than walkede I ferrer h, and went al abouten
And ſeighi halles ful heygh, and houſes ful noble,
Chambres with chymneys, and chapels gaye,
And kychenes for an high kynge, in caſtels to holden,
And her dortourek ydight, with dores ful ſtronge
Fermerye and fraitur l, with fele mo houſes m
And al ſtrong ſton wal ſterne opon heithe
With gaye garites, and grete, and iche hole glaſed.
And other houſes ynowe, to hereberwe the queene n,
And yet theſe bilderes wiln beggen a bagge ful of whete
Of a pure pore man, that may onethe paye o
Half his rent in a yere, and half ben byhynde.
Than turned I apen whan I hadde al ytoted p
And fond in a freitoure a frere on a benche,
[305] A greet chorl and a grym, growen as a tonne,
With a face ſo fat, as a ful bleddere r,
Blowen bretful of breth, and as a bagge honged.
On bothen his chekes, and his chyn, with a chol lollede
So greet a gos ey, growen al of grece.
That al wagged his fleiſh, as a quick mire s,
His copet that biclypped him, wel clene was it folden
Of double worſtede ydyght, doun to the hele.
His kyrtel of clene whiit, clenlyche yſewed
Hit was good ynow of ground, greyn for to baren.
I haylſede that thirdman, and hendliche I ſayde,
Gode ſire for godes love, canſt on me graith tellen,
To any worthely wiight, that wiſſen me couthe,
Whom I ſhuld conne my crede, Chriſt for to folwe,
That lenede lellicheu hym ſelfe, and lyved ther after,
That feynede no falſhede, but fully Chriſt ſuwede,
Forſith a certeyn man ſyker wold I troſten
That he wold tell me the trewth, and turn to none other.
And an Auſtyn this ender day, eggedw me faſte
That he wold techen me wel, he plyght me his treuthe
And ſeyde me certeyn, ſighten Chriſt deyed
Oure ordre was evels, and erſt yfounde.
Firſt felaw [...] quath he, fy on his pylthe
He is but abortiif, eked with cloutes.
He holdeth his ordinaunce with hores and theves,
And purchaſeth hem privileges, with penyes ſo rounde.
It is a pure pardoners craft, prove and aſay
For have they thy money, a moneth therafter
Certes theigh thou come agen, he wil ye nought knowen.
But felawe oure foundement was firſt of the other
And we ben founded fulliche, withouten fayntiſe
And we ben clerkes renowen, cunning in ſchole
Proued in proceſſion by proceſſe of lawe.
[304] [...][305] [...]
[306] Of oure order ther beth bichopes wel manye,
Seyntes on ſundry ſtedes, that ſuffreden harde
And we ben proved the priis of popes at Rome
And of gretteſt degre, as goſpelles telleth.

I muſt not quit our Ploughman without obſerving, that ſome other ſatirical pieces anterior to the Reformation, bear the adopted name of PIERS THE PLOWMAN. Under the character of a plowman the religious are likewiſe laſhed, in a poem written in apparent imitation of Longland's VISION, and attributed to Chaucer. I mean the PLOWMAN'S TALE x. The meaſure is different, and it is in rhyme. But it has Longland's alliteration of initials: as if his example had, as it were, appropriated that mode of verſification to the ſubject, and the ſuppoſed character which ſupports the ſatire y. All theſe poems were, for the moſt part, founded on the doctrines newly broached by Wickliffe z: who maintained, [307] among other things, that the clergy ſhould not poſſeſs eſtates, that the eccleſiaſtical ceremonies obſtructed true devotion, and that mendicant friars, the particular object of our Plowman's CREDE, were a public and inſupportable grievance. But Wickliffe, whom Mr. Hume pronounces to have been an enthuſiaſt, like many other reformers, carried his ideas of purity too far; and, as at leaſt it appears from the two firſt of theſe opinions, under the deſign of deſtroying ſuperſtition, his undiſtinguiſhing zeal attacked even the neceſſary aids of religion. It was certainly a lucky circumſtance, that Wickliffe quarrelled with the pope. His attacks on ſuperſtition at firſt probably proceeded from reſentment. Wickliffe, who was profeſſor of divinity at Oxford, finding on many occaſions not only his own province invaded, but even the privileges of the univerſity frequently violated by the pretenſions of the mendicants, gratified his warmth of temper by throwing out ſome ſlight cenſures againſt all the four orders, and the popes their principal patrons and abettors. Soon afterwards he was deprived of the wardenſhip of Canterbury hall, by the archbiſhop of Canterbury, who ſubſtituted a monk in his place. Upon this he appealed to the pope, who confirmed the archiepiſcopal ſentence, by way of rebuke for the freedom with which he had treated the monaſtic profeſſion. Wickliffe, highly exaſperated at this uſage, immediately gave a looſe to his indignation, and without reſtraint or diſtinction attacked [308] in numerous ſermons and treatiſes, not only the ſcandalous enormities of the whole body of monks, but even the uſurpations of the pontifical power itſelf, with other eccleſiaſtical corruptions. Having expoſed theſe palpable abuſes with a juſt abhorrence, he ventured ſtill farther, and proceeded to examine and refute with great learning and penetration the abſurd doctrines which prevailed in the religious ſyſtem of his age: he not only exhorted the laity to ſtudy the ſcriptures, but tranſlated the bible into Engliſh for general uſe and popular inſpection. Whatever were his motives, it is certain t [...]at theſe efforts enlarged the notions of mankind, and ſowed thoſe ſeeds of a revolution in religion, which were quickened at length and brought to maturity by a favourable coincidence of circumſtances, in an age when the encreaſing growth of literature and curioſity naturally led the way to innovation and improvement. But a viſible diminution of the authority of the eccleſiaſtics, in England at leaſt, had been long growing from other cauſes. The diſguſt which the laity had contracted from the numerous and arbitrary encroachments both of the court of Rome, and of their own clergy, had greatly weaned the kingdom from ſuperſtition; and conſpicuous ſymptoms had appeared, on various occaſions, of a general deſire to ſhake off the intolerable bondage of papal oppreſſion.

SECT. X.

[309]

LONGLAND'S peculiarity of ſtyle and verſification, ſeems to have had many cotemporary imitators. One of theſe is a nameleſs author on the faſhionable hiſtory of Alexander the Great: and his poem on this ſubject is inſerted at the end of the beautiful Bodleian copy of the French ROMAN D'ALEXANDRE, before mentioned, with this reference a. ‘"Here fayleth a proſſeſſe of this romaunce of Alixaunder the whiche proſſeſſe that fayleth ye ſchulle fynde at the ende of thys boke ywrete in Engeliche ryme."’ It is imperfect, and begins and proceeds thus b.

How Alexander partyd thennys c.
When this weith at his wil wedinge
Hadde, fful rathe rommede he rydinge
Thedince ſo ondrace with his oſt
Alixandre wendeth there wilde contre
[310] Was wiſt and wonderfull peple
That weren proved ful proude, and prys of hevi helde
Of bodi went thei thare withoute any wede
And had grave on the ground many grete cavys
There here wonnynge was wyntur [...]s and ſomerus
No ſyte nor no ſur ſtede ſothli thei ne hadde
But holus holwe in the grounde to hide hem inne
Now is that name to mene the nakid wiſe
Wan the kiddeſte of the cavus that was kinge holde
Hurde tydinge telle and loknynge wiſte
That Alixaundre with his oſt at lede thidince
To beholden of hom hure hieȝeſt prynce
Than waies of worſhipe wittie and quainte
With his lettres he let to the lud ſende
Thanne ſouthte thei ſone the foreſaide prynce
And to the ſchamleſe ſchalk ſchewen hur lettres
Than rathe let the .... reden the ſonde
That newe tythinge is tolde in this wiſe
The gentilc Geneoſophiſtians that gode were of witte
To the emperour Alixandre here aunſweris wreten
This is worſchip of word worthi to have
And in conquerer kid in contres manie
Us is ſertefyed ſeg as we ſoth heren
That thou haſt ment with the man among us ferre
But yf thou kyng to us come with caere to figte
Of us getiſt thou no good gome we the warne
For what richeſſe ... us might you us bi reve
Whan no wordliche wele is with us founde
We ben ſengle of us ſilfe and ſemen ful bare
Nouht welde we nowe but naked we wende
And that we happili her haven of kynde
May no man but god make us fine
Thei thou fonde with thi folke to fighte us alle
We ſchulle us kepe on caugt our cavns withinne
Nevere werred we with wigth upon erthe
[311] For we ben hid in oure holis or we harme laache hadde
Thus ſaide ſothli the loude that thi ſente
And al ſo cof as the king kende the ſawe
New lettres he let the .... bi take
And with his ſawes of ſoth he hem alle
That he wolde faire with his folke in a faire wiſe
To bi holden here home and non harme wurke
So heth the king with hem ſente and ſithen with his peple
..... coſli til hem to kenne of hure fare
But whan thai ſieu the ſeg with ſo manye ryde
Thei war a griſon of his grym and wende gref tholie
Ffaſt heiede thei to holis and hidden there
And in the cavus hem kept from the king ſterne, &c.

Another piece, written in Longland's manner, is entitled, THE WARRES OF THE JEWES. This was a favourite ſubject, as I have before obſerved, drawn from the Latin hiſtorical romance, which paſſes under the name of HEGESIPPUS DE EXCIDIO HIERUSALEM.

In Tyberyus tyme the trewe emperour
Syr Seſar hym ſulſ ſayſed in Rome
Whyle Pylot was provoſt under that prynce ryche
And ſewen juſtice alſo in Judeus londis
Herodes under his empire as heritage wolde
King of Galile was ycallid whan that Criſt deyad
They Seſar ſakles wer that oft ſyn hatide
Throw Pilet pyned he was and put on the rode
A pyler pygt was don upon the playne erthe
His body bouden therto beten with ſcourgis
Whippes of quyrbole by went his white ſides
Til he al on rede blode ran as rayn on the ſtrete
Such ſtockyd hym an a ſtole with ſtyf menes hondis
Blyndfelled hym as a be and boffetis hym ragte
Ȝif you be a prophete of pris prophecie they ſayde
[312] Which man her aboute bolled the laſte
A thrange thorn crown was thraſte on his hed
... caſten hym with a cry and on a cros ſlowen
Ffor al the harme that he had haſted he nogt
On hym the vyleny to venge that hys venys broſten
Bot ay taried on the tyme gif they tone wolde
Gaf he ſpace that him ſpilede they he ſpeede lyte
Yf aynt was as yfynde and no fewer d, &c.

Notwithſtanding what has been ſuppoſed above, it is not quite certain, that Longland was the firſt who led the way in this ſingular ſpecies of verſification. His VISION was written on a popular ſubject, and is the only poem, compoſed in this capricious ſort of metre, which has been printed. It is eaſy to conceive how theſe circumſtances contributed to give him the merit of an inventor on this occaſion.

The ingenious doctor Percy has exhibited ſpecimens of two or three other poems belonging to this claſs e. One of theſe is entitled DEATH AND LIFE: it conſiſts of two hundred and twenty-nine lines, and is divided into two parts or Fitts. It begins thus:

Chriſt chriſten king that on the croſs tholed,
Hadde paines and paſſyons to defend our ſoules;
Give us grace on the ground the greatlye to ſerve
For that royall red blood that rann from thy ſide.

The ſubject of this piece is a VISION, containing a conteſt for ſuperiority between Our lady Dame LIFE, and the ugly fiend [313] Dame DEATH: who with their ſeveral attributes and concomitants are perſonified in a beautiful vein of allegorical painting. Dame LIFE is thus forcibly deſcribed.

Shee was brighter of her blee than was the bright ſonn:
Her rud redder than the roſe that on the riſe hangeth:
Meekely ſmiling with her mouth, and merry in her lookes;
Ever laughing for love, as ſhee like would:
And as ſhe came by the bankes the boughes eche one
They lowted to that ladye and layd forth their branches;
Bloſſomes and burgens breathed full ſweete,
Flowers flouriſhed in the frith where ſhe forth ſtepped,
And the graſſe that was gray grened belive.

The figure of DEATH follows, which is equally bold and expreſſive. Another piece of this kind, alſo quoted by doctor Percy, is entitled CHEVELERE ASSIGNE, or DE CIGNE, that is the Knight of the Swan. This is a romance which is extant in a proſe tranſlation from the French, among Mr. Garrick's noble collection of old plays f. We muſt not forget, that among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh Muſeum, there is a French metrical romance on this ſubject, entitled L'YSTOIRE DU CHEVALIER AU SIGNE g. Our Engliſh poem begins thus h:

All-weldynge god, whence it is his wyll [...],
Wele he wereth his werke with his owene honde,
For ofte harmes were hente that help wene mygte
[314] Nere the hygnes of hem that lengeth in hevene
For this, &c.

This alliterative meaſure, unaccompanied with rhyme, and including many peculiar Saxon idioms appropriated to poetry, remained in uſe ſo low as the ſixteenth century. In doctor Percy's Antient Ballads, there is one of this claſs called THE SCOTTISH FEILDE, containing a very circumſtantial narrative of the battle of Flodden fought in the year 1513.

In ſome of the earlieſt of our ſpecimens of old Engliſh poetry i, we have long ago ſeen that alliteration was eſteemed a faſhionable and favourite ornament of verſe. For the ſake of throwing the ſubject into one view, and further illuſtrating what has been here ſaid concerning it, I chuſe to cite in this place a very antient hymn to the Virgin Mary, never printed, where this affectation profeſſedly predominates k.

I.
Hail beo yowl Marie, moodur and may,
Mylde, and meke, and merciable;
Heyl folliche fruit of ſothfaſt fay,
Agayn vche ſtryf ſtudefaſt and ſtable!
Heil ſothfaſt ſoul in vche a ſay,
Undur the ſon is non ſo able.
Heil logge that vr lord in lay,
The formaſt that never was founden in fable,
Heil trewe, trouthfull, and tretable,
Heil cheef i choſen of chaſtite,
Heil homely, hende, and amyable
To preye for us to thi ſone ſo fre! AVE.
[315]II.
Heil ſtern, that never ſtinteth liht;
Heil buſh, brennyng that never was brent;
Heil rihtful rulere of everi riht,
Schadewe to ſchilde that ſcholde be ſchent.
Heil, bleſſed be yowe bloſme briht,
To trouthe and truſt was thine entent;
Heil mayden and modur, moſt of miht,
Of all miſcheves and amendement;
Heil ſpice ſprong that never was ſpent,
Heil trone of the trinitie;
Heil ſoienem that god us ſone to ſent
Yowe preye for us thi ſone fre! AVE.
III.
Heyl hertely in holineſſe.
Heyl hope of help to heighe and lowe,
Heyl ſtrength and ſtel of ſtabylneſſe,
Heyl wyndowe of hevene wowe,
Heyl reſon of rihtwyſneſſe,
To vche a caityf comfort to knowe,
Heyl innocent of angerneſſe,
Vr takel, vr tol, that we on trowe,
Heyl [...]end to all that beoth fortth flowe
Heyl liht of love, and of bewte,
Heyl brihter th [...]n the blod on ſnowe,
Yow preye for us thi ſone ſo fre! AVE.
IV.
Heyl mayden, heyl modur, heyl martir trowe,
Heyl kyndly i knowe confeſſour,
Heyl evenere of old lawe and newe,
Heyl buildor bold of criſtes bour,
[316] Heyl roſe higeſt of hyde and hewe,
Of all [...]ruytes feireſt fflour,
Heyl turtell truſtieſt and trewe,
Of all trou [...]he thou art treſour,
Heyl puyred princeſſe of paramour,
Heyl bloſme of brere brihteſt of ble,
Heyl owner of eorthly honour,
Yowe preye for us thi ſone ſo fre! AVE, &c.
V.
Heyl hende, heyl holy empereſſe,
Heyle queene corteois, comely, and kynde,
Heyl diſtruyere of everi ſtriſſe,
Heyl mender of everi monnes mynde,
Heil bodi that we ouht to bleſſe,
So feythful frend may never mon fynde,
Heil levere and lovere of largeneſſe
Swete and ſweteſt that never may ſwynde,
Heil botenere of everie bodi blynde,
Heil borgun brihtes of all bounte,
Heyl trewore then the wode bynde,
Yow preye for us thi ſone ſo fre! AVE.
VI.
Heyl modur, heyl mayden, heyl hevene quene,
Heyl gatus of paradys,
Heyl ſterre of the ſe that ever is ſene,
Heyl riche, royall, and ryhtwys,
Heyl burde i bleſſed mote yowe bene,
Heyl perle of al perey the pris,
Heyl ſchadewe in vche a ſchour ſchene,
Heyl fairer thae that flour de lys,
[317] Heyl cher choſen that never nas chis
Heyl chef chamber of charite
Heyl in wo that ever was wis
Yowe preye for us thi ſone ſo fre! AVE, &c. &c. n.

Theſe rude ſtanzas remind us of the Greek hymns aſcribed to Orpheus, which entirely conſiſt of a cluſter of the appellations appropriated to each divinity.

SECT. XI.

[318]

ALTHOUGH this work is profeſſedly confined to England, yet I cannot paſs over two Scotch poets of this period, who have adorned the Engliſh language by a ſtrain of verſification, expreſſion, and poetical imagery, far ſuperior to their age; and who conſequently deſerve to be mentioned in a general review of the progreſs of our national poetry. They have written two heroic poems. One of them is John Barbour, archdeacon of Aberdeen. He was educated at Oxford; and Rymer has printed an inſtrument for his ſafe paſſage into England, in order to proſecute his ſtudies in that univerſity, in the years 1357 and 1365 a. David Bruc [...], king of Scotland, gave him a penſion for life, as a reward for his poem called the HISTORY OF ROBERT BRUCE, KING OF THE SCOTS b. It was printed at Glaſgow in the year 1671 c. A battle [...]ought by lord Douglas is thus deſcribed.

When that thus thir two batttles were
Aſſembled, as I ſaid you air,
The Stewart Walter that then was,
And the good lord als of Dowglas,
In a battle when that they ſaw
The earl, foroutten dread or aw,
Aſſemble with his company
On all that folk ſo ſturdily,
For to help him they held their way,
And their battle with good array,
[319] Beſide the earl a little by,
They ſembled all ſo hardily,
That their foes felt ther coming well;
For with weapons ſtallwort of ſteel,
They dang on them with all their might,
Their foes received well, I heght,
With ſwords and ſpears, and als with maſs,
The battle there ſo fellon was,
And ſo right great ſpilling of blood,
That on the erd the ſlouces ſtood.
The Scottiſhmen ſo well them bare,
And ſo great ſlaughter made they there,
And fra ſo feil the lives they reav'd,
That all the field was bloody leav'd.
That time that thir three battles were
All ſide by ſide fighting well near,
There might men hear many a dint,
And weapons upon arms ſtint,
And might ſee tumble knights and ſteeds,
And many rich and royal weeds
Foully defiled under feet.
Some held on loft, ſome tint the ſuet.
A long while fighting thus they were,
That men in no wiſe might hear there.
Men might hear nought but groans and dints
That flew, as men ſtrike fire on flints.
They fought ilk ane ſo eagerly,
That they made neither noiſe nor cry,
But dang on other at their might,
With weapons that were burniſht bright.
The arrows alſo thick there flaw,
(That they well might ſay, that them ſaw)
That they a hideous ſhower can ma;
For where they fe [...]l, I underta,
[320] They left after them tokening,
That ſhall need, as I trow, leeching.
The Engliſh archers ſhot ſo faſt,
That might their ſhot have any laſt,
It had been hard to Scottiſhmen.
But king Robert, that well can ken,
That their archers were perillous,
And their ſhot right hard and grievous,
Ordain'd forouth the aſſembly,
His marſhal, with a great menȝie,
Five hundred armed into ſteel,
That on light horſe were horſed well,
For to prick amongſt the archers,
And to aſſail them with their ſpears,
That they no leiſure have to ſhoot.
This marſhal that I hereof mute,
Sir Robert of Keith he was call'd,
And I before here have you tould.
When that he ſaw the battles ſo
Aſſemble, and together go,
And ſaw the archers ſhoot ſtoutly,
With all them of his company,
In hy upon them can he ride,
And overtake them at a ſide,
And ruſh'd among them ſo rudely,
Sticking them ſo deſpiteouſly,
And in lik fuſion bearing down,
And ſlaying them forout ranſoun,
That they them ſkailed e'erilkane;
And, fra that time forth, ther [...] was nan [...]
That aſſembled, ſhot for to ma.
When Scots archers ſaw that they ſa
Reboted were, they wax'd hardy,
And with their might ſhot eagerly
[321] Among the horfemen that there rade,
And wounds wide to them they made,
And ſlew of them a full great deal.
They bore them hardily and well;
For fra tbat their foes archers were
Skailed, as I ſaid to you air,
They more than they were b [...] great thing,
So that they dread not their ſhooting.
They wax'd ſo hardy, that them thought,
They ſhould ſet all their foes at nought d.

The following is a ſpecimen of our author's talent at rural deſcription. The verſes are extremely ſoft.

This was in midſt of month of May,
When birds ſing in ilka ſpray,
Melland their notes with ſeemly ſoun,
For ſoftneſs of the ſweet ſeaſoun,
And leaves of the branches ſpreeds,
And blooms bright beſide them breeds,
And fields ſtrawed are with flowers
Well ſavouring of ſeir colours,
And all thing worthis, blyth and gay e.

The other wrote a poem on the exploits of Sir William Wallace. It was firſt printed in 1601. And very lately reprinted at Edinburgh in quarto, with the following title, ‘"The acts and deeds of the moſt famous and valiant champion Sir William Wallace, knight, of Ellerſlie. Written by BLIND HARRY in the year 1361. Together with ARNALDI BLAIR RELATIONES. Edinburgh, 1758."’ No circumſtances of the life of our blind bard appear in Dempſter f. This poem, which conſiſts of twelve books, is tranſlated from the Latin of Robert Blare, or Blair, chaplain [322] to Sir William Wallace f. The following is a deſcription of the morning, and of Wallace arming himſelf in his tent g.

Into a vale by a ſmall river fair,
On either ſide where wild deer made repair,
Set watches out that wiſely could them keep,
To ſupper went, and timeouſly they ſleep,
Of meat and ſleep they ceaſe with ſuffiſaunce,
The night was mirk, overdrave the darkſom chance,
The merry day ſprang from the orient,
With beams bright illuminate occident,
After Titan Phebus upriſeth fair,
High in the ſphere, the ſigns he made declare.
Zephyrus then began his morning courſe,
The ſweet vapour thus from the ground reſourſe;
The humble bregth down from the heaven avail
In every mead, both frith, foreſt and dale.
The clear rede among the rockis rang
Through grene branches where the byrds blythly ſang,
With joyous voice in heavenly harmony,
When Wallace thought it was no time to ly:
He croſſyd him, ſyn ſuddenly aroſe,
To take the air out of his pallion goes
Maiſter John Blair was ready to reveſs,
In goode intent ſyne bouned to the maſs.
[323] When it was done, Wallace can him array,
In his armore, which goodly was and gay;
His ſhining ſhoes that birniſht was ful been,
His leg-harneſs he clapped on ſo clean,
Pullane grees he braced on full faſt,
A cloſe birnie with many ſiker claſp,
Breaſt-plate, braſars, that worthy were in wear:
Beſide him forth Jop could his baſnet bear;
His glittering gloves that graven on either ſide,
He ſeemed well in battell to abide.
His good girdle, and ſyne his buirly brand,
A ſtaffe of ſteel he gripped in his hand.
The hoſt him bleſt, &c.
Adam Wallaice and Boyd forth with him yeed
By a river, throughout a floriſht mead [...]
And as they walk attour the fields ſo green,
Out of the ſouth they ſaw when that the queen
Toward the hoſt came riding ſoberly,
And fi [...]ty ladies in her company, &c.

The four following lines on the ſpring are uncommonly terſe and elegant.

Gentle Jupiter, with his mild ordinance,
Both herb and tree reverts into pleaſance;
And freſh Flora her flowery mantle ſpread,
In every dale both hop, hight, hill, and mead h.

A different ſeaſon of the year is here ſtrongly painted.

The dark region appearing wonder faſt,
In November when October was paſt,
The day failed through right courſe worthit ſhort,
To baniſht man that is no great comfort:
[324] With their power in paths worthis gang,
Heavy they think when that the night is lang.
Thus good Wallace ſaw the night's meſſenger;
Phebus had loſt his fiery beams ſo clear:
Out of the wood thei durſt not turn that ſide
For adverſours that in their way would hide i.

The battle of Black-Ernſide ſhews our author a maſter in another ſtyle of painting.

Kerlie beheld unto the bold heroun,
Upon Fawdoun as he was looking down,
A ſubtil ſtroke upward him took that tide
Under the cheeks the grounden ſword gart glide,
By the mail good, both halſe and his craig-bane
In ſunder ſtrake; thus ended that chiftain,
To ground he fell, feil folk about him throng,
Treaſon, they cry'd, traitors are us among.
Kerlie, with that, fled out ſoon at a ſide,
His fellow Steven then thought no time to bide.
The fray was great, and faſt away they yeed,
Both toward Ern; thus ſcaped they that dread.
Butler for wo of weeping might not ſtint.
Thus rakleſly this good knight hav [...] they tint.
They deemed all that it was Wallace men,
Or elſe himſelf, though they could not him ken;
He is right near, we ſhall him have but fail,
This feeble wood may little him avail.
Forty there paſt again to Saint Johnſtoun,
With this dead corps, to burying made it bown.
Parted their men, ſyne divers ways they rode,
A great power at Doplin ſtill there bode.
To Dalwryeth the Butler paſt but let,
At ſundry fords the gate they unbeſet,
[325] To keep the wood while it wa, day they thought.
As Wallace thus in the thick foreſt ſought,
For his two men in mind he had great pain,
He wiſt not well, if they were tane or ſlain,
Or ſcaped haill by any jeopardy.
Thirteen were left with him, no more had he;
In the Gaſk-hall their lodging have they tane.
Fire got they ſoon, but meat then had they nane;
Two ſheep they took beſide them of a fold,
Ordain'd to ſup into that ſeemly hold:
Graithed in haſte ſome food for them to dight:
So heard they blow rude horns upon hight.
Two ſent he forth to look what it might be;
They bode right long, and no tidings heard he,
But bouſteous noiſe ſo bryvely blowing faſt;
So other two into the wood forth paſt.
None came again, but bouſteouſly can blaw,
Into great ire he ſent them forth on raw.
When that alone Wallace was leaved there,
The awful blaſt abounded meikle mare;
Then trow'd he well they had his lodging ſeen;
His ſword he drew of noble metal keen,
Syne forth he went where at he heard the horn.
Without the door Fawdoun was him beforn,
As to his ſight, his own head in his hand;
A croſs he made when he ſaw him ſo ſtand.
At Wallace in the head he ſwakked there,
And he in haſte ſoon hint it by the hair,
Syne out again at him he could it caſt,
Into his heart he greatly was agaſt.
Right well he trow'd that was do ſprit of man,
It was ſome devil, that ſic malice began.
He wiſt uo wale there longer for to bide.
Up through the hail thus wight Wallace can glide,
[326] To a cloſe ſtair, the boards they rave in twin,
Fifteen foot large he lap out of that inn.
Up the water he ſuddenly could fare,
Again he blink'd what pearance he ſaw there,
He thought he ſaw Fawdoun, that ugly [...]ire,
That haiil hall he had ſet into a fire;
A great rafter he had into his hand.
Wallace as then no longer would he ſtand.
Of his good men full great marvel had he,
How they were tint through his feil fantaſie.
Truſt right well that all this was ſooth indeed,
Suppoſe that it no point be of the creed.
Power they had with Lucifer that fell,
The time when he parted from heaven to hell.
By ſik miſchief if his men might be loſt,
Drowned or ſlain among the Engliſh hoſt;
Or what it was in likeneſs of Fawdoun.
Which brought his men to ſudden confuſion;
Or if the man ended in ill intent,
Some wicked ſprit again for him preſent.
I cannot ſpeak of ſik divinity,
To clerks I will let all ſic matters be:
But of Wallace, now forth I will you tell.
When he was won out of that peril fell,
Right glad was he that he had ſcaped ſa,
But for his men great mourning can he ma.
Flait by himſelf to the Maker above
Why he ſuffer'd he ſhould ſik paining prove.
He wiſt not well if that it was God [...]s will;
Right or wrong his fortune to fulfil,
Had he pleas'd God, he trow'd it might not be
He ſhould him thole in ſik perplexitie.
But great courage in his mind ever drawe,
Of Engliſhmen thinking amends to have.
[327] As he was thus walking by him alone
Upon Ern ſide, making a piteous moan,
Sir John Butler, to watch the fords right,
Out from his men of Wallace had a ſight;
The miſt again to the mountains was gone,
To him he rode, where that he made his mone.
On loud he ſpeir'd, What art thou walks that gate?
A true man, Sir, though my voyage be late;
Erands I paſs from Down unto my lord,
Sir John Stewart, the right for to record,
In Down is now, newly come from the king.
Then Butler ſaid, this is a ſelcouth thing,
You lied all out, you have been with Wallace,
I ſhall thee know, ere you come off this place,
To him he ſtart the courſer wonder wight,
Drew out a ſword, ſo made him for to light.
Above the knee good Wallace has him tane,
Through thigh and brawn in ſunder ſtrake the bane.
Derfly to dead the knight fell on the land.
Wallace the horſe ſoon ſeized in his hand,
An ackward ſtroke ſyne took him in that ſtead,
His craig in two; thus was the Butler dead.
An Engliſhman ſaw their chiftain was ſlain,
A ſpear in reſt he caſt with all his main,
On Wallace drave, from the horſe him to bear;
Warily he wrought, as worthy man in wear.
The ſpear he wan withouten more abode,
On horſe he lap, and through a great rout rode;
To Dalwryeth he knew the ford full well:
Before him came feil ſtuffed in fine ſteel.
He ſtrake the firſt, but bade, on the blaſoun,
While horſe and man both fleet the water down.
Another ſoon down from his horſe he bare,
Stamped to ground, and drown'd withouten mare.
[328] The third he hit in his harneſs of ſteel,
Throughout the coſt, the ſpear it brake ſome deal.
The great power then [...]fter him can ride.
He ſaw no waill there longer for to bide.
His burniſht brand braithly in hand he bare,
Whom he hit right they followed him na mare.
To ſtuff the chaſe feil freiks followed faſt,
But Wallace made the gayeſt ay agaſt.
The muir he took, and through their power yeed,
The horſe was good, but yet he had great dread
For failing ere he wan unto a ſtrength,
The chaſe was great, ſkail'd over breadth and length,
Through ſtrong danger they had him ay in ſight.
At the Blackford there Wallace down can light,
His horſe ſtuffed, for way was deep and lang,
A large great mile wightly on foot could gang.
Ere he was hors'd riders about him caſt,
He ſaw full well long ſo he might not laſt.
Sad men indeed upon him can renew,
With returning that night twenty he ſlew,
The fierceſt ay rudely rebuted he,
Keeped his horſe, and right wiſely can flee,
While that he came the mickeſt muir amang.
His horſe gave over, and would no further gang m.

I will cloſe theſe ſpecimens with an inſtance of our author's allegorical invention.

In that ſlumber coming him thought he ſaw,
An aged man faſt toward him could draw,
Soon by the hand he hint him haſtily,
I am, he ſaid, in voyage charg'd with thee.
A ſword him gave of baſely burniſht ſteel,
Good ſon, he ſaid, this wand you ſhall bruik well.
[329] Of topaz ſtone him thought the plummet was,
Both hilt and hand all glittering like the glaſs.
Dear ſon, he ſaid, we tarry here too long,
Thou ſhalt go ſee where wrought is meikle wrong;
Then he him led to a mountain on hight,
The world him thought he might ſee at a ſight.
He left him there, ſyne ſoon from him he went,
Thereof Wallace ſtudied in his intent,
To ſee him more he had ſtill great deſire,
Therewith he ſaw begin a fellon fire,
Which braithly burnt in breadth through all the land,
Scotland all over, from Roſs to Solway-ſand.
Then ſoon to him there deſcended a queen,
Illuminate, light, ſhining full bright and ſheen [...]
In her preſence appeared ſo meikle light,
That all the fire ſhe put out of his ſight,
Gave him a wand of colour red and green,
With a ſapphire ſaved his face and eyn,
Welcome, ſhe ſaid, I chooſe thee for my love [...]
Thou art granted by the great God above,
To help people that ſuffer meikle wrong,
With thee as now I may not tarry long,
Thou ſhalt return to thy own uſe again,
Thy deareſt kin are here in meikle pain;
This right region you muſt redeem it all,
Thy laſt reward in earth ſhall be but ſmall;
Let not therefore, take redreſs of t [...]is miſs,
To thy reward thou ſhalt have laſting bliſs.
Of her right hand ſhe beraught him a book,
And humbly thus her leave full ſoon ſhe took,
Unto the cloud aſcended off his ſight.
Wallace brake up the book in all his might.
Into three parts the book well written was,
The fir [...]t writing was groſs letters of braſs,
[330] The ſecond gold, the third was ſilver ſheen.
Wallace marvell'd what this writing ſhould mean;
To read the book he buſied him ſo faſt,
His ſpirit again to waking mind is paſt,
And up he ro [...]e, ſyne [...]oundly forth he went.
This clerk he found, and told him his intent
Of his viſion, as I have ſaid before,
Completely through, what needs any words more.
Dear ſon, he ſaid, my wit unable is
To ranſack ſik, for dread I ſay amiſs;
Yet I ſhall deem, though my cunning be ſmall,
God grant no charge after my words may fall.
Saint Andrew was gave thee that ſword in hand,
Of ſaints he is the vower of Scotland;
That mountain is, where he had thee on hight,
Knowledge to have of wrong that thou muſt right;
The fire ſhall be fell tidings, ere ye part,
Which ſhall be told in many ſundry airt.
I cannot well wit what queen that ſhould be,
Whether Fortune, or our Lady ſo free,
Likely it is, by the brightneſs ſhe brought,
Mother of him that all the world has wrought.
The pretty wand, I trow, by mine intent,
Aſſigns to you rule and cruel judgment;
The red colour, who graithly underſtood,
Betokens all to great battle and blood;
The green, courage, that thou art now among,
In trouble and war thou ſhalt continue long;
The ſapphire ſtone ſhe bleſſed thee withal,
Is laſting grace, will God, ſhall to thee fall;
The threefold book is but this broken land,
Thou muſt redeem by worthineſs of hand;
The braſs letters betokens but to this,
The great oppreſs of war and meikle miſs,
[331] The which you ſhall bring to the right again,
But you therefore muſt ſuffer meikle pain;
The gold betokens honour and worthineſs,
Victory in arms, that thou ſhalt have by grace;
The ſilver ſhews clean life and heaven's bliſs,
To thy reward that mirth thou ſhalt not miſs,
Dread not therefore, be out of all deſpair.
Further as now hereof I can na mare.

About the preſent period, hiſtorical romances of recent events ſeem to have commenced. Many of theſe appear to have been written by heralds k. In the library of Worceſter college at Oxford, there is a poem in French, reciting the atchievements of Edward the Black Prince, who died in the year 1376. It is in the ſhort verſe of romance, and was written by the prince's herald, who attended cloſe by his perſon in all his battles, according to the eſtabliſhed mode of thoſe times. This was John Chandois-herald, frequently mentioned in Froiſſart. In this piece, which is of conſiderable length, the names of the Engliſhmen are properly ſpelled, the chronology exact, and the epitaph l, forming a ſort of peroration to the narrative, the ſame as was ordered by the prince in his will m. This poem, indeed, may ſeem to claim no place here, becauſe it happens to be written in the French language: yet, excluſive of its ſubject, a circumſtance I have mentioned, that it was compoſed by a herald, deſerves particular attention, and throws no ſmall illuſtration on the poetry of this era. There are ſeveral proofs which indicate that many romances of the fourteenth century, if not in verſe, at leaſt thoſe written 1327 [332] in proſe, were the work of heralds. As it was their duty to attend their maſters in battle, they were enabled to record the moſt important tranſactions of the field with fidelity. It was cuſtomary to appoint none to this office but perſons of diſcernment, addreſs, experience, and ſome degree of education n. At ſolemn tournaments they made an eſſential part of the ceremony. Here they had an opportunity of obſerving acoutrements, armorial diſtinctions, the number and appearance of the ſpectators, together with the various events of the turney, to the beſt advantage: and they were afterwards obliged to compile an ample regiſter of this ſtrange mixture of foppery and ferocity o. They were neceſſarily connected with the minſtrells at public feſtivals, and thence acquired a facility of reciting adventures. A learned French antiquary is of opinion, that antiently the French heralds, called Hiraux, were the ſame as the minſtrells, and that they ſung metrical tales at feſtivals p. They frequently received fees or largeſſe in common with the minſtrells q. They travelled into different countries, and ſaw the faſhions of foreign courts, and foreign tournaments. They not only committed to writing the proceſs of the liſts, but it was alſo their [333] buſineſs, at magnificent feaſts, to deſcribe the number and parade of the diſhes, the quality of the gueſts, the brilliant dreſſes of the ladies, the courteſy of the knights, the revels, diſguiſings, banquets, and every other occurrence moſt obſervable in the courſe of the ſolemnity. Spenſer alludes expreſsly to theſe heraldic details, where he mentions the ſplendor of Florimel's wedding.

To tell the glory of the feaſt that day [...]
The goodly ſervyſe, the deviſefull ſights,
The bridegrome's ſtate, the bride's moſt rich array [...]
The pride of ladies, and the worth of knights,
The royall banquettes, and the rare delights,
Were work fit for an HERALD, not for me r.

I ſuſpect that Chaucer, not perhaps without ridicul [...], glances at ſome of theſe deſcriptions, with which his age abounded; and which he probably regarded with leſs reverence, and read with leſs edification, than did the generality of his cotemporary readers.

Why ſhulde I tellen of the rialte
Of that wedding? or which courſe goth beforn?
Who blowith in a trumpe, or in a horn s?

Again, in deſcribing Cambuſcan's feaſt.

Of which ſhall I tell all the array,
Then would it occupie a ſommer's day:
And eke it nedeth not to deviſe,
At everie courſe the order of ſerviſe:
I will not tellen as now of her ſtrange ſewes,
Ne of her ſwans, ne of her heronſewes t.

[334] And at the feaſt of Theſeus, in the KNIGHT'S TALE u.

The minſtralcie, the ſervice at the feſte,
The grete geftes alſo to the moſt and leſte,
The riche array of Theſeus palleis,
Ne who ſat firſt or laſt upon the deis,
What ladies feyriſt ben, or beſt daunſing,
Or which of them can beſt dauncin or ſing,
Ne who moſt felingly ſpekith of love,
Ne what haukes ſittin on perchis above,
Ne what houndes liggen on the floure adoun,
Of all this now I make no mentioun.

In the FLOURE and the LEAF, the ſame poet has deſcribed, in eleven long ſtanzas, the proceſſion to a ſplendid tournament, with all the prolixity and exactneſs of a herald w. The ſame affectation, derived from the ſame ſources, occurs often in Arioſto.

It were eaſy to illuſtrate this doctrine by various examples. The famous French romance of SAINTRE was evidently the performance of a herald. John De Saintre, the knight of the piece, was a real perſon, and, according to Froiſſart, was taken priſoner at the battle of Poitiers, in the year 1356 x. But the compiler confounds chronology, and aſcribes to his hero many pieces of true hiſtory belonging to others. This was a common practice in theſe books. Some authors have ſuppoſed that this romance appeared before the year 1380 y. But there are reaſons to prove, that it was written by Antony de la Sale, a Burgundian, author of a book of CEREMONIES, from his name very quaintly entitled LA SALLADE, and frequently cited by our learned antiquary Selden z. This Antony came into England to ſee the ſolemnity [335] of the queen's coronation in the year 1445 a. I have not ſeen any French romance which has preſerved the practices of chivalry more copiouſly than this of SAINTRE. It muſt have been an abſolute maſter-piece for the rules of tilting, martial cuſtoms, and public ceremonies prevailing in its author's age. In the library of the Office of Arms, there remains a very accurate deſcription of a feaſt of Saint George, celebrated at Windſor in 1471 b. It appears to have been written by the herald Blue-mantle Pourſuivant. Meneſtrier ſays, that Guillaume Rucher, herald of Henault, has left a large treatiſe, deſcribing the tournaments annually celebrated at Liſle in Flanders c. In the reign of Edward the Fourth, John Smarte, a Norman, garter king at arms, deſcribed in French the tournament held at Bruges, for nine days, in honour of the marriage of the duke of Burgundy with Margaret the king's daughter d. There is a French poem, entitled, Les noms et les armes des ſeigneurs, &c. a l'aſſiege de Karleverch en Eſcoce, 1300 e. This was undoubtedly written by a herald. The author thus deſcribes the banner of John duke of Bretaigne.

Baniere avoit cointee et paree
De or et de aſur eſchequeree
Au rouge ourle o jaunes lupars
Determinee eſtoit la quarte pars f.

[336] The pompous circumſtances of which theſe heraldic narratives conſiſted, and the minute prolixity with which they were diſplayed, ſeem to have infected the profeſſed hiſtorians of this age. Of this there are various inſtances in Froiſſart, who had no other deſign than to compile a chronicle of real facts. I will give one example out of many. At a treaty of marriage between our Richard the ſecond and Iſabel daughter of Charles the fifth king of France, the two monarchs, attended with a noble retinue, met and formed ſeveral encampments in a ſpacious plain, near the caſtle of Guynes. Froiſſart expends many pages in relating at large the coſtly furniture of the pavilions, the riches of the ſide-boards, the profuſion and variety of ſumptuous liquors, ſpices, and diſhes, with their order of ſervice, the number of the attendants, with their addreſs and exact diſcharge of duty in their reſpective offices, the preſents of gold and precious ſtones made on both ſides, and a thouſand other particulars of equal importance, relating to the parade of this royal interview g. On this account, Caxton, in his exhortation to the knights of his age, ranks Froiſſart's hiſtory, as a book of chivalry, with the romances of Lancelot and Percival; and recommends it to their attention, as a manual equally calculated to inculcate [337] the knightly virtues of courage and courteſy h. This indeed was in an age when not only the courts of princes, but the caſtles of barons, vied with one another in the luſtre of their ſhews: when tournaments, coronations, royal interviews, and ſolemn feſtivals, were the grand objects of mankind. Froiſſart was an eye-witneſs of many of the ceremonies which he deſcribes. His paſſion ſeems to have been that of ſeeing magnificent ſpectacles, and of hearing reports concerning them i. Although a canon of two churches, he paſſed his life in travelling from court to court, and from caſtle to caſtle k. He thus, either from his own obſervation, or the credible informations of others, eaſily procured ſuitable materials for a hiſtory, which profeſſed only to deal in ſenſible objects, and thoſe of the moſt ſplendid and conſpicuous kind. He was familiarly known to two kings of England, and one of Scotland l. But the court which he moſt admired was that of Gaſton earl of Foix, at Orlaix in Bearn; for, as he himſelf acquaints us, it was not only the moſt brilliant in Europe, but the grand center for tidings of martial adventures m. It was crouded with knights of England and Arragon. In the mean time it muſt not be forgot, that Froiſſart, who from his childhood was [...]trongly attached to carouſals, the muſic of minſtrells, and the ſports of hawking and hunting n, cultivated the poetry of the troubadours, and was a writer of romances o. This turn, it muſt [338] be confeſſed, might have ſome ſhare in communicating that romantic caſt to his hiſtory which I have mentioned. During his abode at the court of the earl of Foix, where he was entertained for twelve weeks, he preſented to the earl his collection of the poems of the duke of Luxemburgh, conſiſting of ſonnets, balades, and virelays. Among theſe was included a romance, compoſed by himſelf, called, MELIADER, or THE KNIGHT OF THE SUN OF GOLD. Gaſton's chief amuſement was to hear Froiſſart read this romance p every evening after ſupper q. At his introduction to Richard the ſecond, he preſented that brilliant monarch with a book beautifully illuminated, engroſſed with his own hand, bound in crimſon velvet, and embelliſhed with ſilver boſſes, claſps, and golden roſes, comprehending all the matters of AMOURS and MORALITIES, which in the courſe of twenty-four years he had compoſed r. This was in the year 1396. When he left [339] England the ſame year s, the king ſent him a maſſy goblet of ſilver, filled with one hundred nobles t.

As we are approaching to Chaucer, let us here ſtand ſtill, and take a retroſpect of the general manners. The tournaments and carouſals of our antient princes, by forming ſplendid aſſemblies of both ſexes, while they inculcated the moſt liberal ſentiments of honour and heroiſm, undoubtedly contributed to introduce ideas of courteſy, and to encourage decorum. Yet the national manners ſtill retained a great degree of ferocity, and the ceremonies of the moſt refined courts in Europe had often a mixture of barbariſm, which rendered them ridiculous. This abſurdity will always appear at periods when men are ſo far civiliſed as to have loſt their native ſimplicity, and yet have not attained juſt ideas of politeneſs and propriety. Their luxury was inelegant, their pleaſures indelicate, their pomp cumberſome and unwieldy. In the mean time it may ſeem ſurpriſing, that the many ſchools of philoſophy which flouriſhed in the middle ages, ſhould not have corrected and poliſhed the times. But as their religion was corrupted by ſuperſtition, ſo their philoſophy degenerated into ſophiſtry. Nor is it ſcience alone, even if founded on truth, that will poliſh nations. [340] For this purpoſe, the powers of imagination muſt be awakened and exerted, to teach elegant feelings, and to heighten our natural ſenſibilities. It is not the head only that muſt be informed, but the heart muſt alſo be moved. Many claſſic authors were known in the thirteenth century, but the ſcholars of that period wanted taſte to read and admire them. The pathetic or ſublime ſtrokes of Virgil would be but little reliſhed by theologiſts and metaphyſicians.

SECT. XII.

[341]

THE moſt illuſtrious ornament of the reign of Edward the third, and of his ſucceſſor Richard the ſecond, was Jeffrey Chaucer; a poet with whom the hiſtory of our poetry is by many ſuppoſed to have commenced; and who has been pronounced, by a critic of unqueſtionable taſte and diſcernment, to be the firſt Engliſh verſifier who wrote poetically a. He was born in the year 1328, and educated at Oxford, where he made a rapid progreſs in the ſcholaſtic ſciences as they were then taught: but the livelineſs of his parts, and the native gaiety of his diſpoſition, ſoon recommended him to the patronage of a magnificent monarch, and rendered him a very popular and acceptable character in the brilliant court which I have above deſcribed. In the mean time, he added to his accompliſhments by frequent tours into France and Italy, which he ſometimes viſited under the advantages of a public character. Hitherto our poets had been perſons of a private and circumſcribed education, and the art of verſifying, like every other kind of compoſition, had been confined to recluſe ſcholars. But Chaucer was a man of the world: and from this circumſtance we are to account, in great meaſure, for the many new embelliſhments which he conferred on our language and our poetry. The deſcriptions of ſplendid proceſſions and gallant carouſals, with which his works abound, are a proof that he was converſant with the practices and diverſions of polite life. Familiarity with a variety of things and objects, opportunities of acquiring the faſhionable and courtly modes [342] of ſpeech, connections with the great at home, and a perſonal acquaintance with the vernacular poets of foreign countries, opened his mind and furniſhed him with new lights b. In Italy he was introduced to Petrarch, at the wedding of Violante, daughter of Galeazzo duke of Milan, with the duke of Clarence: and it is not improbable that Boccacio was of the party c. Although Chaucer had undoubtedly ſtudied the works of theſe celebrated writers, and particularly of Dante, before this fortunate interview; yet it ſeems likely, that theſe excurſions gave him a new reliſh for their compoſitions, and enlarged his knowledge of the Italian fables. His travels likewiſe enabled him to cultivate the Italian and Provencial languages with the greateſt ſucceſs; and induced him to poliſh the aſperity, and enrich the ſterility of his native verſification, with ſofter cadences, and a more copious and variegated phraſeology. In this attempt, which was authoriſed by the recent and popular examples of Petrarch in Italy and Alain Chartier in France d, he was countenanced and aſſiſted by his friend John Gower, the early guide and encourager of his ſtudies e. The revival of learning in moſt countries appears to have firſt owed its riſe to tranſlation. At rude periods the modes of original thinking are unknown, and the arts of original compoſition have [343] not yet been ſtudied. The writers therefore of ſuch periods are chiefly and very uſefully employed in importing the ideas of other languages into their own. They do not venture to think for themſelves, nor aim at the merit of inventors, but they are laying the foundations of literature: and while they are naturaliſing the knowledge of more learned ages and countries by tranſlation, they are imperceptibly improving the national language. This has been remarkably the caſe, not only in England, but in France and Italy. In the year 1387, John Treviſa canon of Weſtbury in Wiltſhire, and a great traveller, not only finiſhed a tranſlation of the Old and New Teſtaments, at the command of his munificent patron Thomas lord Berkley f, but alſo tranſlated Higden's POLYCHRONICON, and other Latin pieces g. But theſe tranſlations would have been alone inſufficient to have produced or ſuſtained any conſiderable revolution in our language: the great work was reſerved for Gower and Chaucer. Wickliffe had alſo tranſlated the bible h: and in other reſpects his attempts to bring about a reformation in religion at this time proved beneficial to Engliſh literature. The orthodox divines of this period generally wrote in Latin: but Wickliffe, that his arguments might be familiariſed to common readers and the bulk of the people, was obliged to compoſe in Engliſh his numerous theological treatiſes againſt the papal corruptions. Edward the third, while he perhaps intended only to baniſh a badge of conqueſt, greatly contributed to eſtabliſh [344] the national diaiect, by aboliſhing the uſe of the Norman tongue in the public acts and judicial proceedings, as we have before obſerved, and by ſubſtituting the natural language of the country. But Chaucer manifeſtly firſt taught his countrymen to write Engliſh; and formed a ſtyle by naturaliſing words from the Provencial, at that time the moſt poliſhed dialect of any in Europe, and the beſt adapted to the purpoſes of poetical expreſſion.

It is certain that Chaucer abounds in claſſical alluſions: but his poetry is not formed on the antient models. He appears to have been an univerſal reader, and his learning is ſometimes miſtaken for genius: but his chief ſources were the French and Italian poets. From theſe originals two of his capital poems, the KNIGHT'S TALE i, and the ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE, are imitations or tranſlations. The firſt of theſe is taken from Boccacio.

Boccacio was the diſciple of Petrarch: and although principally known and deſervedly celebrated as a writer or inventor of tales, he was by his cotemporaries uſually placed in the third rank after Dante and Petrarch. But Boccacio having ſeen the Platonic ſonnets of his maſter Petrarch, in a fit of deſpair committed all his poetry to the flames k, except a ſingle poem, of which his own good taſte had long taught him to entertain a more favourable opinion. This piece, thus happily reſcued from deſtruction, is at preſent ſo ſcarce and ſo little known, even in Italy, as to have left [345] its author but a ſlender proportion of that eminent degree of poetical reputation, which he might have juſtly claimed from ſo extraordinary a performance. It is an heroic poem, in twelve books, entitled LE TESEIDE, and written in the octave ſtanza, called by the Italians ottava rima, which Boccacio adopted from the old French chanſons, and here firſt introduced among his countrymen l. It was printed at Ferrara, but with ſome deviations from the original, and even miſrepreſentations of the ſtory, in the year 1475 m. Afterwards, I think, in 1488. And for the third and laſt time at Venice, in the year 1528 n. But the corruptions have been ſuffered to remain through every edition.

Whether Boccacio was the inventor of the ſtory of this poem is a curious enquiry. It is certain that Theſeus was an early hero of romance o. He was taken from that grand repoſitory of the Grecian heroes, the Hiſtory of Troy, written by Guido de Colonna p. In the royal library at Paris, there is a manuſcript entitled, The ROMAN DE THESEUS ET DE GADIFER q. Probably this is the printed French romance, under the title, ‘"Hiſtoire du Chevalier THESEUS de Coulogne, par ſa proüeſſe empereur de Rome, et auſſi de ſon fils Gadifer empereur du Greece, et de trois enfans du dit Gadifer, traduite de vieille rime Picarde en proſe Francoiſe. Paris, 1534 r."’ Gadifer, with whom Theſeus is joined in this antient tale, written probably by a troubadour of Picardy, is a champion in the oldeſt French romances s. He is [346] mentioned frequently in the French romance of Alexander t. In the romance of PERCEFORREST, he is called king of Scotland, and ſaid to be crowned by Alexander the Great u. But whether or no this proſe HISTOIRE DU CHEVALIER THESEUS is the ſtory of Theſeus in queſtion, or whether this is the ſame Theſeus, I cannot aſcertain. There is likewiſe in the ſame royal library a manuſcript, called by Montfaucon, HISTORIA THESEI IN LINGUA VULGARI, in ten books w. The Abbe Goujet obſerves, that there is in ſome libraries of France an old French tranſlation of Boccacio's THESEID, from which Anna de Graville formed the French poem of PALAMON and ARCITE, at the command of queen Claude, wife of Francis the firſt, about the year 1487 x. Either the tranſlation uſed by Anna de Graville, or her poem, is perhaps the ſecond of the manuſcripts mentioned by Montfaucon. Boccacio's THESEID has alſo been tranſlated into Italian proſe, by Nicolas Granuci, and printed at Lucca in 1579 y. Boccacio himſelf mentions the ſtory of Palamon and Arcite. This may ſeem to imply that the ſtory exiſted before his time: unleſs he artfully intended to recommend his own poem on the ſubject by ſuch an alluſion. It is where he introduces two lovers ſinging a portion of this tale. ‘"Dioneo e Fiametta gran pezza canterona inſieme d'ARCITE e di PALAMONE z."’ By Dioneo, Boccacio repreſents himſelf; and by Fiametta, his miſtreſs, Mary of Arragon, a natural daughter of Robert king of Naples.

[347] I confeſs I am of opinion, that Boccacio's THESEID is an original compoſition. But there is a Greco-barbarous poem extant on this ſubject, which, if it could be proved to be antecedent in point of time to the Italian poem, would degrade Boccacio to a mere tranſlator on this occaſion. It is a matter that deſerves to be examined at large, and to be traced with accuracy.

This Greek poem is as little known and as ſcarce as Boccacio's THESEID. It is entitled, [...]. It was printed in quarto at Venice in the year 1529. Stampata in Vinegia per Giovanantonio et fratelli da Sabbio a requiſitione de M. Damiano de Santa Maria de Spici M. D. XXIX. del Meſe de Decembrio a. It is not mentioned by Cruſius or Fabricius; but is often cited by Du Cange in his Greek gloſſary, under the title, DE NUPTIIS THESEI ET AEMILIAE. The heads of the chapters are adorned with rude wooden cuts of the ſtory. I once ſuſpected that Boccacio, having received this poem from ſome of his learned friends among the Grecian exiles, who being driven from Conſtantinople took refuge in Italy about the fourteenth century, tranſlated it into Italian. Under this ſuppoſition, I was indeed ſurpriſed to find the ideas of chivalry, and the ceremonies of a tournament minutely deſcribed, in a poem which appeared to have been written at Conſtantinople. But this difficulty was ſoon removed, when I recollected that the Franks, Venetians, and Germans had been in poſſeſſion of that city for more than one hundred years; and that Baldwin earl of Flanders was elected emperor of Conſtantinople in the year 1204, and was ſucceeded by four Latin or Frankiſh emperors, down to the year 1261 b. Add [348] to this, that the word, [...], a TOURNAMENT, occurs in the Byzantine hiſtorians c. From the ſame communication likewiſe, I mean the Greek exiles, I fancied Boccacio might have procured the ſtories of ſeveral of his tales in the DECAMERON: as, for inſtance, that of CYMON and IPHIGENIA, where the names are entirely Grecian, and the ſcene laid in Rhodes, Cyprus, Crete, and other parts of Greece belonging [349] to the imperial territory d. But, to ſay no more of this, I have at preſent no ſort of doubt of what I before aſſerted, that Boccacio is the writer and inventor of this piece. Our Greek poem is in fact a literal tranſlation from the Italian THESEID. It conſiſts of twelve books, and is written in Boccacio's octave ſtanza, the two laſt lines of every ſtanza rhyming together. The verſes are of the iambic kind, and ſomething like the VERSUS POLITICI, which were common among the Greek ſcholars a little before and long after Conſtantinople was taken by the Turks, in the year 1443. It will readily be allowed, that the circumſtance of the ſtanzas and rhymes is very ſingular in a poem compoſed in the Greek language, and is alone ſufficient to prove this piece to be a tranſlation from Boccacio. I muſt not forget to obſerve, that the Greek is extremely barbarous, and of the loweſt period of that language.

It was a common practice of the learned and indigent Greeks, who frequented Italy and the neighbouring ſtates about the fifteenth and ſixteenth centuries, to tranſlate the popular pieces of Italian poetry, and the romances or tales moſt in vogue, into theſe Greco-barbarous iambics e. PASTOR FIDO was thus tranſlated. The romance of AL [...]XANDER THE GREAT was alſo tranſlated in the ſame manner by Demetrius Zenus, who flouriſhed in 1530, under the title of [...], and printed at Venice in the year 1529 f. In the very year, and at the ſame place, when and where our Greek poem on Theſeus, or Palamon and Arcite, was printed. APOLLONIUS OF TYRE, another famous romance of the middle ages, was tranſlated in the ſame manner, and [350] entitled [...] g [...] h. The ſtory of king Arthur they alſo reduced into the ſame language. The learned Martinus Cruſius, who introduced the Greco-barbarous language and literature into the German univerſities, relates, that his friends who ſtudied at Padua ſent him in the year 1564 [...] together with Homer's Iliad, [...] REGIS ARTHURI, ALEXANDER above-mentioned, and other fictitious hiſtories or ſtory-books of a [351] ſimilar caſt k. The French hiſtory or romance of BERTRAND DU GUESCELIN, printed at Abbeville in 1487 l, and that of BELISAIRE, or Be [...]iſarius, they rendered in the ſame language and metre, with the titles [...] m, and [...], &c n. Boccacio himſelf, in the DECAMERON o, mentions the ſtory of Troilus and Creſſida in Greek verſe: which I ſuppoſe had been tranſlated by ſome of the fugitive Greeks with whom he was connected, from a romance on that ſubject; many antient copies of which now remain in the libraries of France p. The ſtory of FLORIUS AND PLATZFLORA, a romance which Ludovicus Vives with great gravity condemns under the name of Florian and Blanca-Flor, as one of the pernicious and unclaſſical popular hiſtories current in [352] Flanders about the year 1523 q, of which there are old editions in French, Spaniſh r, and perhaps Italian, is likewiſe extant very early in Greek iambics, moſt probably as a tranſlation into that language s. I could give many others; but I haſten to lay before my readers ſome ſpecimens both of the Italian and the Greek PALAMON AND ARCITE t. Only premiſing, that both have about a thouſand verſes in each of the twelve books, and that the two firſt books are introductory: the firſt containing the war of Theſeus with the Amazons, and the ſecond that of Thebes, in which Palamon and Arcite are taken priſoners. Boccacio thus deſcribes the Temple of Mars.

N e icampi Tracii ſotto icieli hyberni
D a tempeſta continua agitati
D oue ſchieré di nimbi ſempiterni
D auenti or qua e or la traſmutati
I n uarii loghi ne iguazoſi uerni
E de aqua globi per fredo agropati
G itati ſono eneue tutta uia
C he in giazo amano aman ſe induria
[353]
E una ſelua ſterile de robuſti
C erri doue eran folti e alti molto
N odoſi aſpri rigidi e uetuſti
C be de ombra eterna ricopreno il uolto
D el triſto ſuolo enfra li antichi fuſti
D i ben mille furor ſempre rauolto
V i ſi ſentia grandiſſimo romore
N e uera beſtia anchora ne paſtore
I n queſta nide la cha delo idio
A rmipotente qu [...]ſta edificata
T utta de azzaio ſplendido e pulio
D alquale era del ſol riuerberata
L aluce che aboreua il logho rio
T utta differro era la ſtretta entrata
E le porte eran de eterno admante
F errato dogni parte tutte quante
E le le colone di ferro cuſtei
V ide ch [...] lo edificio ſoſteneano
L i imp [...]ti de menti parue alei
V eder ch [...] fieri dela porta uſiano
E il ciecho pechàre e ogne omei
S imilemente quiui ſi uedeano
V idiue le ire roſſe come focho
E la paura palida in quel locho
E con gli occulti ferri itradimenti
V ide ele inſidie con uiſta apparenza
L i diſcordia ſedea eſanguinenti
F erri auea in mano eogni differenza
E tutti iloghi pareano ſtrepenti
D aſpre minaze edi crudel intenza
E n mezo illocho la uertu triſtiſſima
S edea di degne laude poueriſſima
[354]
V ideui ancora lo alegro furore
E oltre acio con uolto ſanguinoſo
L a morte armata uide elo ſtupore
E ogni altare qui uera copioſo
D i ſangue ſol ne le bataglie fore
D i corpi human cacciato eluminoſo
E ra ciaſchun di focho tolto aterre
A rſe ediffate per le triſte guerre
E t era il tempio tutto hiſtoriato u
D i ſocil mano e diſopra edintorno
E cio che pria ui uide deſignato
E ran le prede de nocte edi giorno
T olto ale terre equalunque ſforzato
F u era qui in habito muſorno
V ideanuiſſi le gente incatenate
P orti di ferro e forteze ſpezate
V edeui ancor le naue bellatrici
I n uoti carri eli uolti guaſtati
E i miſeri pianti & infelici
E t ogni forza con li aſpecti e lati
O gni ferita ancor ſi vedea lici
E ſangue con le terre meſcolati
E ogni logo con aſpecto fi [...]ro
S i uedea Marte turbido e altiero, &c. x

[355] The Temple of Venus has theſe imageries.

P oi preſſo aſe uidde paſſar belleza
S enza ornamento alchun ſe riguardando
E gir con lei uidde piaceuolleza
E luna laltra ſecho comendano
P oi con lor uidde iſtarſi gioueneza
D eſtra e adorna molto feſtegiando
E daltra parte uidde el fole ardire
L uſinge e ruffiania in ſieme gire
I n mezo el locho in ſu alte colone
D i rame uidde un tempio al qual dintorno
D anzando giouenette uidde e done
Q ual da ſe belle: e qual de habito adorno
D iſcinte e ſchalze in giube e in gone
E in cio ſol diſpendeano il giorno
P oi ſopra el tempio uidde uolitare
P aſſere molte e columbi rugiare
E alentrata del tempio uicina
V idde che ſi ſedeua piana mente
M adona pace: e in mano una cortina
N anzi la porta tenea lieue mente
A preſſo lei in uiſta aſſai tapina
P acientia ſedea diſcreta mente
P allida ne lo aſpecto: e dogni parte
E intorno alei uidde promeſſe e carte
P oi dentro al tempio entrata di ſoſpiri
V i ſenti un tumulto che giraua
F ochoſo tutto di caldi deſiri
Q ueſto glialtri tutti aluminaua
D i noue [...]iame nate di martiri
D i qua ciaſchun di lagrime grondaua
M oſſe da una dona cruda e ria
C he uidde li chiamata giloſia, &c.

[356] Some of theſe ſtanzas are thus expreſſed in the Grecobarbarous tranſlation w.

[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...]
[...] x.

[357] In paſſing through Chaucer's hands, this poem has received many new beauties. Not only thoſe capital fictions and deſc [...]iptions, the temples of Mars, Venus, and Diana, with their allegorical paintings, and the figures of Lycurgus and Emetrius with their retinue, are ſo much heightened by the bold and ſpiri [...]ed manner of the Britiſh bard, as to ſtrike us with an air of originality. In the mean time it is to be remarked, that as Chaucer in ſome places has thrown in ſtrokes of his own, ſo in others he has contracted the unintereſting and tedious prolixity of narrative, which he found in the Italian poet. And that he might avoid a ſervile imitation, and indulge himſelf as he pleaſed in an arbitrary departure from the original, it appears that he neglected the embarraſſment of Boccacio's ſtanza, and preferred the Engliſh heroic couplet, of which this poem affords the firſt conſpicuous example extant in our language.

The ſituation and ſtructure of the temple of Mars are thus deſcribed.

—A forreſt
In which there wonneth nether man ne beſt:
With knotty knarry barrein treys old,
Of ſtubbys ſhape, and hideous to behold,
In which ther was a rombyll and a ſwough a
As though a ſtorm ſhulde burſtein every bough.
And downward from a hill, under a bent b,
There ſtode the temple' of Mars armipotent,
Wrought all of burnydc ſtele: of which th' entr [...]
Was long, and ſtreight, and gaſtly for to ſe:
And therout came ſuch a rage and avyſe d [...]
That it made al the gatys for to ryſe e.
[358]The northern light in at the doris ſhone,
For window on the wall ne was ther none,
Throgh which men mightin any light diſſern.
The dore was al of adamant eterne,
Yclenchid overthwart and endelong,
With iron tough, for to makin it ſtrong.
Every pillar the tempyl to ſuſtene
Was tonnè gretef of yren bright and ſhene.

The gloomy ſanctuary of this tremendous fane, was adorned with theſe characteriſtical imageries.

There ſaw I firſt the dark Ymagining
Of Felony, and all the compaſſing:
The cruell Irè, redde as any glede g.
The Pikpurſe alſo, and eke the pale Drede h;
The Smyter with the knife undir the cloke i:
The ſhepin brenning with the blakè ſmoke k;
The Treaſon of the murdering in the bedde l,
The opin Warre with woundis all bebledde;
Contekem with bloodie knyves n, and ſharpe Menace,
All full of chirkino was that ſory place!
[359]The ſlear of himſelfe yet ſawe I there,
His hertè blode hath bathid all his here,
The naile ydryvyn in the ſhodep anyght q,
With the cold deth the mouth gapyng upryght r.
Amiddis of the temple ſate Miſchaunce,
With diſcomfort, and ſory countenance.
Yet ſawe I Wodeneſss laughing in his rage.
Armid complaint of Theft, and fers Corage;
The carrein in the buſh with throte ycorve t,
A thouſand ſleyne and not of qualme yſtorve u.
The tyrant with the prey by force yreft,
The town deſtroyid ther was nothing left.
Yet ſaw I brent the ſhips upon ſteris,
The hunter ſtraunglid with the wild boris.
The ſow frettingw the chyld right in the cradel,
The coke ſcaldid for all his longè ladel.
Nought was forgott the infortune of Mart;
The cartirx overriddin by his cart y,
Under the whele he lay full low adowne.
There were alſo of Marts diviſioune,
The Barbour, and the Butcher, and the Smith
That forgith ſharpè ſwerdis on the ſtith z.
And all above, depeintid in a towr,
Saw I Conqueſt ſitting in grete honour,
With the ſharpe ſwerdè right ovir his hed,
Hanging but by a ſubtill-twined thred a.

[360] This groupe is the effort of a ſtrong imagination, unacquainted with ſelection and arrangement of images. It is rudely thrown on the canvas without order or art. In the Italian poets, who deſcribe every thing, and who cannot, even in the moſt ſerious repreſentations, eaſily ſuppreſs their natural predilection for burleſque and familiar imagery, nothing is more common than this mixture of ſublime and comic ideas b. The form of Mars follows, touched with the impetuous daſhes of a ſavage and ſpirited pencil.

The ſtatue c of Mars upon a cartd ſtode,
Armid, and lokid grym as he were wode e.
A wolfe ther ſtod before him at his fete
With eyin red, and of a man he ete.
With ſotill penſil paintid was the ſtorie,
Inf redouting Mars and of his glorie g.

But the ground-work of this whole deſcription is in the Thebaid of Statius. I will make no apology for tranſcribing the paſſage at large, that the reader may judge of the reſemblance. Mercury viſits the temple of Mars, ſituated in the frozen and tempeſtuous regions of Thrace h.

[361]
Hic ſteriles delubra notat Mavortia ſylvas,
Horreſcitque tuens: ubi mille furoribus illi
Cingitur, adverſo domus immanſueta ſub Aemo.
Ferrea compago laterum, ferro arcta teruntur
Limina, ferratis incumbunt tecta columnis.
Laeditur adverſum Phoebi jubar, ipſaque ſedem
Lux timet, et dirus contriſtat ſydera fulgor.
Digna loco ſtatio. Primis ſubit impetus amens
E foribus, caecumque Nefas, Iraeque rubentes,
Exangueſque Metus; occultiſque enſibus aſtant
Inſidiae, geminumque tenens Diſcordia ferrum.
Innumeris ſtrepit aula minis. Triſtiſſima Virtus
Stat medio, laetuſque Furor, vultuque cruento
Mors armata ſedet. Bellorum ſolus in aris
Sanguis, et incenſis qui raptus ab urbibus ignis.
Terrarum exuviae circum, et faſtigia templi
Captae inſignibant gentes, coelataque ferro
Fragmina portarum, bellatriceſque carinae,
Et vacui currus, protritaque curribus ora i.

Statius was a favourite writer with the poets of the middle ages. His bloated magnificence of deſcription, gigantic images, and pompous diction, ſuited their taſte, and were ſomewhat of a piece with the romances they ſo much admired. They neglected the gentler and genuine graces of Virgil, which they could not reliſh. His pictures were too correctly and chaſtly drawn to take their fancies: and truth of deſign, elegance of expreſſion, and the arts of compoſition, [362] were not their objects k. In the mean time we muſt obſerve, that in Chaucer's Temple of Mars many perſonages are added: and that thoſe which exiſted before in Statius have been retouched, enlarged, and rendered more diſtinct and pictureſque by Boccacio and Chaucer. Arcite's addreſs to Mars, at entering the temple, has great dignity, and is not copied from Statius.

O ſtrongè god, that in the reignis cold
Of Thrace honourid art, and God yhold!
And haſt in everie reign, and everie lond,
Of armis al the bridil in thy hond;
And them fortuniſt, as they leſt deviſe,
Accept of me my pitous ſacrifice l.

The following portrait of Lycurgus, an imaginary king of Thrace, is highly charged, and very great in the gothic ſtyle of painting.

Ther mayſt 'oum ſee, commyng with Palamon,
Lycurgus himſelf, the grete king of Thrace;
Blake was his berde, and manly was his face:
The circles of his eyin in his hede
They glowdin betwixtè yalowe and rede:
And like a lyon lokid he about,
With kempid heris on his browis ſtout:
His limis grete, his brawnis herd and ſtrong,
His ſhulderes brode, his armis round and long.
And as the guiſe ywas in his contrè
Full high upon a char of gold ſtode he:
With four grete white bullis in the tracis.
Inſtead of court cote armur, on his harneis
[363] With yalowe nailes, and bright as any gold,
He hath a berisn ſkinn cole-blak for old.
His long here was kemped behind his bak,
As any raven's fether't ſhone for blak.
A wrethe of golde armgrete o, of hugè weight,
Upon his hed, ſett ful of ſtonis bright,
Of fine rubies, and clere diamondes.
About his char ther wentin white alandes p,
Twentie and more, as grete as any ſtere,
To huntin at the lyon or wild bere;
And folowid him with moſilq faſt ybound,
Coleres of goldr and torretess filidt round.
A hundrid lordis had he irr his rout,
Armid ful wele, with hertis ſtern and ſtout u.

The figure of Emetrius king of India, who comes to the aid of Arcite, is not inferior in the ſame ſtyle, with a mixture of grace.

[364]
With Arcitè, in ſtorys as men find,
The grete Emetrius, the king of Ind,
Upon a ſtedè bay, trappid in ſtele,
Coverid with clothe of gold diapridw wel,
Cam riding like the god of armis Mars:
His cote armure was of the clothes of Tars x,
Couchid with perles white and round and grete;
His ſadill was of brenty gold new ybete,
A mantlet upon his ſhuldères hanging,
Bretfullz of rubies redde as fire ſparkling.
His criſpè here like ringesa was yronne,
And yt was yalowe, glittering as the ſonne.
His noſe was high, his eyin bright citryn b [...]
Ruddy his lippes, his colour was ſangyn.
And a fewe frekles in his face yſpreint c,
Betwixt yalowe and ſomedele blak ymeint d.
And as a lyon he his eyis keſt e.
Of five and twenty yere his age I gheſt.
His berde was well begonning for to ſpring,
His throte was as a trompet thondiring.
Upon his hede he wered, of laurer grene
A garlond freſhe, and luſtie for to ſene.
Upon his honde he bore for his delite
An egle tame, as ony lilie white f.
[365]An hundrid lordis had he with them there,
All armid, ſaaf their heddis, in their gere g.
About this king ther ran on every part
Full many a tamè lyon, and libart h.

The banner of Mars diſplayed by Theſeus, is ſublimely conceived.

The red ſtatue of Mars, with ſpere and targe,
So ſhineth in his white banner large
That al the feldis glittrin up and down i.

This poem has many ſtrokes of pathetic deſcription, of which theſe ſpecimens may be ſelected.

Upon that other ſide when Palamon
Wiſt that his coſin Arcite was ygon,
Such ſorowe makith he, that the grete tour
Reſoundid of his yelling and clamour:
The fetteris upon his ſhinnis grete
Werin of his bitter ſalt teris wete k.

Arcite is thus deſcribed, after his return to Thebes, where he deſpairs of ſeeing Emilia again.

His ſlepe, his mete, his drink, is hym byreſt;
That lene he waxith, and drie as a ſheft:
His eyin hollow, griſlie to behold
His hew ſallowe, and pale as aſhinl cold:
Solitary he was, evir alone,
And wayling all the night making his mone.
And if he herdè ſong or inſtrument,
Than would he wepin, he might not be ſtent m.
So febyll were his ſpirits and ſo low,
And chaungid ſo that no man might him know n.

[366] Palamon is thus introduced in the proceſſion of his rival Arcite's funeral.

Tho gan this wofull Theban Palamon
With ſloteryo berde, and ruggy aſhey heres,
In clothis blak bedropped all with teres,
And, paſſing ovir weping Emily,
Was rufulliſt of all the company p.

To which may be added the ſurpriſe of Palamon, concealed in the foreſt, at hearing the diſguiſed Arcite, whom he ſuppoſes to be the ſquire of Theſeus, diſcover himſelf at the mention of the name of Emilia.

—Through his herte
He felt a cold ſwerde ſuddenly to glide:
For ire he quoke, no longer wold he bide,
And whan that he had heard Arcitis tale,
As he were wode, wyth face al dede and pale,
He ſterte him up out of the buſhis thick, &c. q

A deſcription of the morning muſt not be omitted; which vies, both in ſentiment and expreſſion, with the moſt finiſhed modern poetical landſcape, and finely diſplays our author's talent at delineating the beauties of nature.

The mery lark, meſſengere of the day,
Salewithr in her ſong the morowe gray;
And firie Phebus ryſith up ſo bright,
That all the orient laugith at the ſight s:
And with his ſtremis dryeth in the greves t
The ſilvir dropis hanging in the leves u.

[367] Nor muſt the figure of the blooming Emilia, the moſt beautiful object of this vernal picture, paſs unnoticed.

—Emilie, that fairir was to ſene
Than is the lillie upon the ſtalk grene;
And freſhir than the May with flouris newe,
For with the roſy colour ſtrofe hir hewe w.

In other parts of his works he has painted morning ſcenes con amore: and his imagination ſeems to have been peculiarly ſtruck with the charms of a rural proſpect at ſun-riſing.

We are ſurpriſed to find, in a poet of ſuch antiquity, numbers ſo nervous and flowing: a circumſtance which greatly contributed to render Dryden's paraphraſe of this poem the moſt animated and harmonious piece of verſification in the Engliſh language. I cannot leave the KNIGHT'S TALE without remarking, that the inventor of this poem, appears to have poſſeſſed conſiderable talents for the artificial conſtruction of a ſtory. It exhibits unexpected and ſtriking turns of fortune; and abounds in thoſe incidents which are calculated to ſtrike the fancy by opening reſources to ſublime deſcription, or intereſt the heart by pathetic ſituations. On this account, even without conſidering the poetical and exterior ornaments of the piece, we are hardly diſguſted with the mixture of manners, the confuſion of times, and the like violations of propriety, which this poem, in common with all others of its age, preſents in almoſt every page. The action is ſuppoſed to have happened ſoon after the marriage of Theſeus with Hippolita, and the death of Creon in the ſiege of Thebes: but we are ſoon tranſported into more recent periods. Sunday, the celebration of matins, judicial aſtrology, heraldry, tilts and tournaments, knights of England, and targets of Pruſſia x, occur in the city of Athens under the reign of Theſeus.

SECT. XIII.

[368]

CHAUCER'S ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE is tranſlated from a French poem entitled, LE ROMAN DE LA ROSE. It was begun by William of Lorris, a ſtudent in juriſprudence, who died about the year 1260 a. Being left unfiniſhed, it was completed by John of Meun, a native of a little town of that name, ſituated on the river Loire near Orleans, who ſeems to have flouriſhed about the year 1310 b. This poem is eſteemed by the French the moſt valuable piece of their old poetry. It is far beyond the rude efforts of all their preceding romancers: and they have nothing equal to it before the reign of Francis the firſt, who died in the year 1547. But there is a conſiderable difference in the merit of the two authors. William of Lorris, who wrote not one quarter of the poem, is remarkable for his elegance and luxuriance of deſcription, and is a beautiful painter of allegorical perſonages. John of Meun is a writer of another caſt. He poſſeſſes but little of his predeceſſor's inventive and poetical vein; and in that reſpect was not properly qualified to finiſh a poem begun by William of Lorris. But he has ſtrong ſatire, and great livelineſs c. He was one of the wits of the court of Charles le Bel.

The difficulties and dangers of a lover, in purſuing and obtaining the object of his deſires, are the literal argument of this poem. This deſign is couched under the allegory of [369] a Roſe, which our lover after frequent obſtacles gathers in a delicious garden. He traverſes vaſt ditches, ſcales lofty walls, and forces the gates of adamantine and almoſt impregnable caſtles. Theſe enchanted fortreſſes are all inhabited by various divinities; ſome of which aſſiſt, and ſome oppoſe, the lover's progreſs d.

Chaucer has luckily tranſlated all that was written by William of Lorris e: he gives only part of the continuation of John of Meun f. How far he has improved on the French [370] original, the reader ſhall judge. I will exhibit paſſages ſelected from both poems; reſpectively placing the French under the Engliſh, for the convenience of compariſon. The renovation of nature in the month of May is thus deſcribed.

That it was May, thus dremed me, g,
In time of love and jollite,
That all thing ginnith waxin gay,
For ther is neither buſhe nor hay h
In May that it n'ill ſhroudid bene,
And it with newe levis wrene i:
Theſe wooddis eke recoverin grene,
That drie in winter ben to ſene;
And the erth waxith proude withall
For ſote dewis that on it fall,
And the povir eſtate forgette
In whiche that winter had it ſette:
And than becometh the grounde ſo proude,
That it will have a newè ſhroud;
And make ſo quaynt his robe and fayre,
That it had hewes an hundred payre,
[371]Of graſſe and flowris Inde and Pers:
And many hewis ful divers
That is the robe I mene iwis,
Through which the ground to praiſin is,
The birdis, that han lefte thir ſonge
While they han ſuffrid cold ful ſtronge,
In wethers grillek and darke to ſight,
Ben in May, for the ſunnè bright
So glad, &c l.

In the deſcription of a grove, within the garden of Mirth, are many natural and pictureſque circumſtances, which are not yet got into the ſtorehouſe of modern poetry.

Theſe trees were ſett as I deviſe m,
One from another in a toiſe,
Five fadom or ſixe, I trowe ſo,
But they were hie and gret alſo;
And for to kepe out wel the ſunne,
The croppis were ſo thik yrunne n,
And everie branch in othir knitte
And ful of grene levis ſitte o,
That ſunnè might ther none diſcende
Leſt the tendir graſſis ſhende p.
Ther might men does and roes iſe q,
And of ſquirels ful grete plente,
[372]From bow to bow alwaie lepinge;
Connisr ther were alſo playing s.
That comin out of ther clapers t,
Of ſondrie colors and maners;
And madin many a turneying
Upon the freſhe graſſe ſpringing u.

Near this grove were ſhaded fountains without frogs, running into murmuring rivulets, bordered with the ſofteſt graſs enamelled with various flowers.

In placis ſawe I wellis there w
In whichè ther no froggis were,
And faire in ſhadow was eche wel;
But I ne can the nombre tel
Of ſtremis ſmale, that by deviſe
Mirth had don com thorough condiſe x,
Of which the watir in renning,
Gan makin a noiſe ful liking.
About the brinkis of theſe wellis,
And by the ſtremes ovir at ellis
Sprange up the graſſe as thick iſett
And ſoft eke as any velvett.
[373]On which man might his leman ley
As ſofte as fetherbed to pley.—
There ſprange the violet all newe,
And freſh perwinkey riche of hewe;
And flouris yalowe white and rede,
Such plenti grew ther ner in mede:
Full gaie was al the grounde and queint
And poudrid, as men had it peint,
With many a freſh and ſondry floure
That caſtin up ful gode ſavoùre z.

But I haſten to diſplay the peculiar powers of William de Lorris in delineating allegorical perſonages; none of which have ſuffered in Chaucer's tranſlation. The poet ſuppo [...]es, that the garden of Mirth, or rather Love, in which grew the Roſe, the object of the lover's wiſhes and labours, was encloſed with embatlled walls, richly painted with various figures, ſuch as Hatred, Avarice, Envy, Sorrow, Old Age, and Hypocriſy. Sorrow is thus repreſented.

SORROWE was paintid next ENVIE a
Upon that wal of maſonrie.
But wel was ſeen in her colour,
That ſhe had livid in languour;
Her ſeemid to have the jaundice,
Not half ſo pale was AVARICE,
[374] Ne nothing alike of leneneſſe
For ſorowe, thought, and grete diſtreſſe.
A ſ'rowful thing wel ſemid ſhe;
Nor ſhe had nothing ſlow ybe
For to beſcrachin of hir face,
And for to rent in many place
Hir clothes, and for to tere her ſwire b,
As ſhe that was fulfilled of ire:
And al to torn lay eke hir here
About hir ſhoulders, here and there;
As ſhe that had it all to rent
For angre and for male talent c.

Nor are the images of HATRED and AVARICE inferior.

Amiddis ſawe I HATE yſtonde d.—
And ſhe was nothing wel araide
But like a wode woman afraide:
Yfrowncid foule was hir viſage,
And grinning for diſpiteous rag [...],
Her noſe yſnortid up for tene e
Full hideous was ſhe forti ſene,
Full foul and ruſtey was ſh [...] this,
Her hed iwrithin was iwis,
Full grimly with a grete towaile, &c f.

The deſign of this work will not permit me to give the portrait of Idleneſs, the portreſs of the garden of Mirth, and of others, which form the groupe of dancers in the garden: but I cannot reſiſt the pleaſure of tranſcribing thoſe [375] of Beauty, Franchiſe, and Richeſſe, three capital figures in this genial aſſembly.

The God of love, jolife and light g,
Ladde on his honde a ladie bright,
Of high priſe, and of gret degre,
Thi ladie called was BEAUTIE.
And an arowe, of which I told,
Full well ythewidh was ſhe holde:
Ne was ſhe darke ne browne, but bright,
And clere as is the monè light.—
Her fleſhe was tendre as dewe of floure,
Her chere was ſimple as birde in boure:
As white as lilie, or roſe in riſe i,
Her face was gentil and tretiſe k;
Fetisl ſhe was, and ſmal to ſe,
No wintridm browis heddè ſhe;
No poppedn here, for't neded nought
To windiro her or to peint ought.
Her treſſes yalowe and long ſtraughten p
Unto her helis down theq raughten r.

Nothing can be more ſumptuous and ſuperb than the robe, and other ornaments, of RICHESSE, or Wealth. They are [376] imagined with great ſtrength of fancy. But it ſhould be remembered, that this was the age of magnificence and ſhew; when a profuſion of the moſt ſplendid and coſtly materials were laviſhed on dreſs, generally with little taſte and propriety, but often with much art and invention.

RICHESSE a robe of purpre on had s,
Ne trow no [...] that I lie or mad t,
For in this world is none it liche u,
Ne by a thouſand delew ſo riche,
Ne none ſo faire: For it full wele
With orfraiesx laid was everie dele,
And purtraied in the ribaninges y
Of dukis ſtories and of kinges;
And with a bendz of gold taſſiled,
And knoppisa fine of gold amiled b.
[377] About her neck, of gentle' entaile c,
Was ſet the richè cheveſaile d;
In which ther was ful grete plente
Of ſtonis clere and faire to ſe.
RICHESE a girdle had upon
The bokille of it was of ſton
Of vertu grete and mokillf might,
For who ſo bare the ſton ſo bright
Of venim durſt him nothing doubt
While he the ſton had him about.—
The mordauntg wrought in noble guiſe
Was of a ſton ful precious,
That was ſo fin and vertuous
That whole a man it couth ymake
Of palſie, and of the tothe ake:
And yet the ſton had ſoche a grace
That he was ſikreh in evvrie place
All thilkè daie not blinde to bene
That faſting might that ſton ſene.
The barrisi were of gold full fine
Upon a tiſſue of ſattin,
Full hevie, grete, and nothing light,
In everiche was a beſaunt wight k.
[378] Upon the treſſis of RICHESSE
Was ſett a circle of nobleſſe,
Of brendel gold, that full light yſhone,
So faire, trowe I, was nevir none.
But he were konning for the nones m
That could deviſin all the ſtones,
That in the circle ſhewin [...]lere,
It is a wonder thing to here:
For no man could or praiſe n, or geſſe,
Of [...]hem the value or richeſſe:
Rubies ther were, ſaphirs, ragounces o,
And emeraudes more than two ounces:
[379] But all before full ſubtilly
A fine carboncle ſet ſawe I:
The ſtone ſo clere was and ſo bright,
That al ſo ſone as it was night,
Men mightin ſe to go for nede,
A mile or two, in length or brede;
Soche light yſprang out of the ſtone [...]
That RICHESSE wondir bright yſhone
Both on her hedde and all hir face
And eke about her all the place p.

The attributes of the portrait of MIRTH are very expreſſive [...]

Of berde unnethe had he nothing q,
For it was in the [...]irſtè ſpring:
Ful young he was and merie' of thought,
And in ſametter with birdis wrought,
And with golde bete ful fetouſly,
His bodie was clad full richely;
Wrought was his robe in ſtraunge giſe,
And all to ſlittereds for queintiſe,
In many a place lowe and hie,
And [...]hod he was, with grete maiſtrie,
With ſhone decopid t and with lace,
By drurieu and eke by ſolace;
[380] His lefew a roſin chapelet
Had made and on his hedde it ſet x.

FRANCHISE is a no leſs attractive portrait, and ſketched with equal grace and delicacy.

And next him daunſid dame FRANCHISE y,
Arayid in ful noble guiſe.
She n'as not broune ne dunne of hewe,
But white as ſnowe ifallin newe,
Her noſe was wrought at point deviſe z,
For it was gentill and tretiſe;
With eyin glad and browis bent,
Her hare down to her helis went a:
Simple ſhe was as dove on tre,
Ful debonaire of hart was ſhe b.

The perſonage of DANGER is of a bolder caſt, and may ſerve as a contraſt to ſome of the preceding. He is ſuppoſed ſuddenly to ſtart from an ambuſcade; and to prevent Bialcoil, or Kind Reception, from permitting the lover to gather the roſe of beauty.

With that anon out ſtart DANGERE c,
Out of the place where he was hidde;
His malice in his chere was kidde d;
[381] Full grete he was, and blacke of hewe,
Sturdie and hideous whoſo him knewe;
Like ſharpe urchons 1552 his heere was grow,
His eyes red ſparcling as fire glow,
His noſe frouncidf full kirkidg ſtoode,
He come criandeh as he were woode i.

Chaucer has enriched this figure. The circumſtance of DANGER'S hair ſtanding erect like the prickles on the urchin or hedge-hog, is his own, and finely imagined.

Hitherto ſpecimens have been given from that part of this poem which was written by William de Lorris, its firſt inventor. Here Chaucer was in his own walk. One of the moſt ſtriking pictures in the ſtyle of allegorical perſonification, which occurs in Chaucer's tranſlation of the additional part, is much heightened by Chaucer, and indeed owes all its merit to the tranſlator; whoſe g [...]nius was much better adapted to this ſpecies of painting than that of John of Meun, the continuator of the poem.

With her, Labour and eke Travaile k,
Lodgid bene, with ſorowe and wo,
That nevir out of her court go.
Pain and Diſtreſſe, Sickneſſe and Ire,
And Melanc'ly that angry [...]ire,
Ben of her palaisl ſenators;
Groning and Grutching her herbegeors m;
The day and night her to tourment,
With cruill deth thei her preſent,
[382] And tellin her erlichen and late,
That DETH ſtondith armid at her gate.
Then bring they to remembraunce,
The foly dedes of hir enfance o.

The fiction that Sickneſs, Melancholy, and other beings of the like ſort, were counſellors in the palace of OLD AGE, and employed in telling her day and night, that ‘"DEATH ſtood armed at her gate,"’ was far beyond the ſentimental and ſatirical vein of John of Meun, and is conceived with great vigour of imagination.

Chaucer appears to have been early ſtruck with this French poem. In his DREME, written long before he begun this tranſlation, he ſuppoſes, that the chamber in which he ſlept was richly painted with the ſtory of the ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE p. It is natural to imagine, that ſuch a poem muſt have been a favorite with Chaucer. No poet, before William of Lorris, either Italian or French, had delineated allegorical perſonages in ſo diſtinct and enlarged a ſtyle, and with ſuch a fullneſs of characteriſtical attributes: nor had deſcriptive poetry ſelected ſuch a variety of circumſtances, and diſcloſed ſuch an exuberance of embelliſhment, in forming agreeable repreſentations of nature. On this account, we are ſurpriſed that Boileau ſhould mention Villon as the firſt poet of France who drew form and order from the chaos of the old French romancers.

Villon ſçeut le PREMIER, dans ces ſiecles groſſiers
Debroüiller l'ART CONFUS de nos vieux ROMANCIERS q.

But the poetry of William of Lorris was not the poetry of Boileau.

[383] That this poem ſhould not pleaſe Boileau, I can eaſily conceive. It is more ſurpriſing that it ſhould have been cenſured as a contemptible performance by Petrarch, who lived in the age of fancy. Petrarch being deſired by his friend Guy de Gonzague to ſend him ſome new piece, ſent the ROMAN DE LA ROSE. With the poem, inſtead of an encomium, he returned a ſevere criticiſm; in which he treats it as a cold, inartificial, and extravagant compoſition: as a proof, how much France, who valued this poem as her chief work, was ſurpaſſed by Italy in eloquence and the arts of writing r. In this opinion we muſt attribute ſomething to jealouſy. But the truth is, Petrarch's genius was too cultivated to reliſh theſe wild excurſions of imagination: his favorite claſſics, whom he revived, and ſtudied with ſo much attention, ran in his head. Eſpecially Ovid's ART OF LOVE, a poem of another ſpecies, and evidently formed on another plan; but which Petrarch had been taught to venerate, as the model and criterion of a didactic poem on the paſſion of love reduced to a ſyſtem. We may add, that although the poem before us was founded on the viſionary doctrines and refinements concerning love invented by the Provencial poets, and conſequently leſs unlikely to be favourably received by Petrarch, yet his ideas on that delicate ſubject were much more Platonic and metaphyſical.

SECT. XIV.

[384]

CHAUCER'S poem of TROILUS and CRESSEIDE is ſaid to be formed on an old hiſtory, written by Lollius, a native of Urbino in Italy a. Lydgate ſays, that Chaucer, in this poem,

—made a tranſlacion
Of a boke which called is TROPHE
In Lumbarde tongue, &c. b.

It is certain that Chaucer, in this piece, frequently refers to ‘"MYNE AUCTOR LOLLIUS c."’ But he hints, at the ſame time, that Lollius wrote in Latin d. I have never ſeen this hiſtory, either in the Lombard or the Latin language. I have before obſerved, that it is mentioned in Boccacio's Decameron, and that a tranſlation of it, was made into Greek verſe by ſome of the Greek fugitives in the fourteenth century. Du Freſne, if I miſtake not, ſomewhere mentions it in Italian. In the royal library at Paris it occurs often as an antient French romance.‘"Cod. 7546. Roman de Troilus."— "Cod. 7564. Roman de Troilus et de Briſeida ou Criſeida."’—Again, as an original [385] work of Boccacio. ‘"Cod. 7757. Philoſtrato dell' amoroſe fatiche de Troilo per GIOVANNI BOCCACIO."’ ‘"Les ſuivans (adds Montfaucon d) contiennent les autres oeuvres de Boccace."’ Much fabulous hiſtory concerning Troilus, is related in Guido de Columna's Deſtruction of Troy. Whatever were Chaucer's materials, he has on this ſubject conſtructed a poem of conſiderable merit, in which the viciſſitudes of love are depicted in a ſtrain of true poetry, with much pathos and ſimplicity of ſentiment e. He calls it, ‘"a litill tragedie f."’ Troilus is ſuppoſed to have ſeen Creſſide in a temple; and retiring to his chamber, is thus naturally deſcribed, in the critical ſituation of a lover examining his own mind after the firſt impreſſion of love.

And whan that he in chambre was alone,
He down upon his beddis fete him ſette,
And firſt he gan to ſihe g, and then to grone,
And thought aie on her ſo withoutin lette:
That as he ſatte and woke, his ſpirit mette h
That he her ſaugh, and temple, and all the wiſe i
Right of her loke, and gan it newe aviſe k.

There is not ſo much nature in the ſonnet to Love, which follows. It is tranſlated from Petrarch; and had Chaucer followed his own genius, he would not have diſguſted us [386] with the affected gallantry and exaggerated compliments which it extends through five tedious ſtanzas. The doubts and delicacies of a young girl diſcloſing her heart to her lover, are exquiſitely touched in this compariſon.

And as the n [...]we abaſhid nightingale
That ſtintithm firſt, when ſhe beginith ſing,
When that ſhe herith any herdisn tale,
Or in the hedgis anie wight ſtirring,
And after ſikiro doth her voice outring;
Right ſo Creſſeidè when that her drede ſtent p
Op [...]ned her herte and told him her intent q.

The following pathetic ſcene may be ſelected from many others. Troilus ſeeing Creſſide in a ſwoon, imagines her to be dead. H [...] unſheaths his ſword with an intent to kill himſelf, and utters theſe exclamations.

And thou, cite, in which I live in wo,
And thou Priam, and brethren al ifere r,
And thou, my mother, farwel, for I go:
And, Atropos, make ready thou my bere:
And thou Creſeidè, O ſweet hertè dere,
Receive thou now my ſpirit, would he ſay,
With ſwerd at hert all redy for to dey.
But as god would, of ſwoughs ſhe tho abraide t,
And gan to ſighe, and TROILUS ſhe cride:
And he anſwerid, Lady mine Creſeide,
Livin ye yet? And let his ſword doune glide,
Yes, hertè mine, that thankid be Cupide,
[387] Quoth ſhe: and therwithall ſhe ſorè ſight u
And he began to glad her as he might.
Toke her in armis two, and kiſt her oft,
And her to glad he did all his entent:
For which her ghoſt, that flickered aie alo
Into her woefull breaſt aien it went:
But at the laſt, as that her eyin glent w
Aſide, anon ſhe gan his ſwerde aſpie,
As it lay bere, and gan for fere to crie:
And aſkid him why he had it outdrawe?
And Troilus anon the cauſe hir tolde,
And how therwith himſelf he would have ſlawe:
For which Creſeide upon him gan behold,
And gan him in her armis faſt to fold;
And ſaid, O mercy, God, to whiche a dede
Alas! how nere we werin bothè dede x!

Pathetic deſcription is one of Chaucer's peculiar excellencies.

In this poem are various imitations from Ovid, which are of too particular and minute a nature to be pointed out here, and belong to the province of a profeſſed and formal commentator on the piece. The Platonic notion in the third booky about univerſal love, and the doctrine that this principle acts with equal and uniform influence both in the natural and moral world, are a tranſlation from Boethius z. And in the KNIGHT'S TALE he mentions, from the ſame favorite ſyſtem of philoſophy, the FAIRE CHAINE OF LOVE a. It is worth obſerving, that the reader is referred to Dar [...]s [388] Phrygius, inſtead of Homer, for a diſplay of the atchievements of Troilus.

His worthi dedis who ſo liſt him here,
Rede DARES, he can tel hem all ifere a.

Our author, from his exceſſive fondneſs for Statius, has been guilty of a very diverting and what may be called a double anachroniſm. He repreſents Creſſide, with two of her female companions, ſitting in a pavid parlour, and reading the THEBAID of Statius b, which is called the Geſte of the Siege of Thebes c, and the Romance of Thebis d. In another place, Caſſandra tranſlates the Arguments of the twelve books of the THEBAID e. In the fourth book of this poem, Pandarus endeavours to comfort Troilus with arguments concerning the doctrine of predeſtination, taken from Brawardine, a learned archbiſhop and theologiſt, and nearly Chaucer's cotemporary f.

This poem, although almoſt as long as the Eneid, was intended to be ſung to the harp, as well as read.

And redde where ſo thou be, or ellis ſonge g.

It is dedicated to the morall Gower, and to the philoſophical Strode. Gower will occur as a poet hereafter. Strode was [389] eminent for his ſcholaſtic knowledge, and tutor to Chaucer's ſon Lewis at Merton college in Oxford.

Whether the HOUSE OF FAME is Chaucer's invention, or ſuggeſted by any French or Italian poet, I cannot determine. But I am apt to think it was originally a Provencial compoſition, among other proofs, from this paſſage.

And ther came out ſo gret a noiſe,
That had it ſtandin upon OYSE,
Men might have herd it eſily,
I trow, to ROME ſikerly h.

The Oyſe is a river in Picardy, which falls into the river Seine, not many leagues from Paris. An Engliſhman would not have expreſſed diſtance by ſuch an unfamiliar illuſtration. Unleſs we reconcile the matter, by ſuppoſing that Chaucer wrote this poem during his travels. There is another paſſage where the ideas are thoſe of a foreign romance. To the trumpeters of renown the poet adds,

—All that uſid clarion
In Caſteloigne or Arragon i.

Caſteloigne is Catalonia in Spain k. The martial muſicians of Engliſh tournaments, ſo celebrated in ſtory, were a more natural and obvious alluſion for an Engliſh poet l.

This poem contains great ſtrokes of Gothic imagination, yet [390] bordering often on the moſt ideal and capricious extravagance. The poet, in a viſion, ſees a temple of glaſs,

In which were more images
Of gold ſtondinge in ſundrie ſtages,
Sette in more riche tabernacles,
And with perrem more pinnacles,
And more curious pourtraituris,
And quaint manir of figuris,
Of golde work than I ſawe evir n.

On the walls of this temple were engraved ſtories from Virgil's Eneid o, and Ovid's Epiſtles p. Leaving this temple, he ſees an eagle with golden wings ſoaring near the ſun.

—Faſte by the ſonne on hie,
As kennyng myght I with mine eie,
Methought I ſawe an egle ſore;
But that it ſemid mochil more q,
Then I had any egle ſene r.—
It was af gold, and ſhone ſo bright,
That nevir man ſawe ſuche a ſight s, &c.

The eagle deſcends, ſeizes the poet in his talons, and mounting again, conveys him to the Houſe of Fame; which is [391] ſituated, like that of Ovid, between earth and ſea. In their paſſage thither, they fly above the ſtars; which our author leaves, with clouds, tempeſts, hail, and ſnow, far beneath him. This aerial journey is partly copied from Ovid's Phaeton in the chariot of the ſun. But the poet apologiſes for this extravagant fiction, and explains his meaning, by alledging the authority of Boethius; who ſays, that Contemplation may ſoar on the wings of Philoſophy above every element. He likewiſe recollects, in the midſt of his courſe, the deſcription of the heavens, given by Marcianus Capella in his book De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii t, and Alanus in his Anticlaudian u. At his arrival in the confines of the Houſe of Fame, he is alarmed with confuſed murmurs iſſuing from thence, like diſtant thunders or billows. This circumſtance is alſo borrowed from Ovid's temple w. He is left b [...] the eagle near the houſe, which is built of materials bright as poliſhed glaſs, and ſtands on a rock of ice of exceſſive height, and almoſt inacceſſible. All the ſouthern ſide of this rock was covered with engravings of the names of famous men, which were perpetually melting away by the heat of the ſun. The northern ſide of the rock was alike covered with names; but being here ſhaded from the warmth of the ſun, the characters remained unmelted and uneffaced. The ſtructure of the houſe is thus imagined.

—Me thoughtin by ſainct Gile,
That all was of ſtone of berille,
Both the caſtle and the toure,
And eke the hall and everie boure x:
[392] Without pecis or joynynges,
And many ſubtill compaſſyngs,
As barbicansy and pinnacles,
Imageries and tabernacles
I ſawe, and full eke of windowis
As flakis fallin in grete ſnowis.

In theſe lines, and in ſome others which occur hereafter z, the poet perhaps alludes to the many new decorations in architecture, which began to prevail about his time, and gave riſe to the florid Gothic ſtyle. There are inſtances of this in his other poems. In his DREAME, printed 1597 a.

And of a ſute were al the touris,
Subtily carven aftir flouris.—
With many a ſmal turret hie.

And in the deſcription of the palace of PLEASAUNT REGARDE, in the ASSEMBLIE OF LADIES b.

Fairir is none, though it were for a king,
Deviſid wel and that in every thing;
The towris hie, ful pleſante ſhal ye finde,
With fannis freſh, turning with everie winde.
The chambris, and the palirs of a ſorte,
With bay windows, goodlie as may be thought:
As for daunſing or othir wiſe diſporte,
The galeries be al right wel ywrought.

In Chaucer's Life by Anthony Hall, it is not mentioned that he was appointed clerk of the king's works, in the palace of Weſtminſter, in the royal manors of Shene, Kenington, Byfleet, and Clapton, and in the Mews at Charing c. [393] Again in 1380, of the works of St. George's chapel at Windſor, then ruinous c. But to return.

Within the niches formed in the pinnacles ſtood all round the caſtle,

—All manir of minſtrelis,
And jeſtoursd that tellyn tales
Both of weping and eke of game.

That is, thoſe who ſung or recited adventures either tragic or comic, which excited either compaſſion or laughter. They were accompanied with the moſt renowned harpers, among which were Orpheus, Arion, Chiron, and the Briton Glaſkerion e. Behind theſe were placed, ‘"by many a thouſand time twelve,"’ players on various inſtruments of muſic. Among the trumpeters are named Joab, Virgil's Miſenus, and Theodamas f. About theſe pinnacles were alſo marſhalled the moſt famous magicians, juglers, witches, propheteſſes, ſorcereſſes, and profeſſors of natural magic,g which ever exiſted in antient or modern times: ſuch as Medea, Circe, Calliope, Hermes h, Limotheus, and Simon Magus i. [394] At entering the hall he ſees an infinite multitude of heralds, on the ſurcoats of whom were richly embroidered the armorial enſigns of the moſt redoubted champions that ever tourneyed in Africa, Europe, or Aſia. The floor and roof of the hall were covered with thick plates of gold, ſtudded with the coſtlieſt gems. At the upper end, on a lofty ſhrine made of carbuncle, ſate Fame. Her figure is like thoſe in Virgil and Ovid. Above her, as if ſuſtained on her ſhoulders, ſate Alexander and Hercules. From the throne to the gates of the hall, ran a range of pillars with reſpective inſcriptions. On the firſt pillar made of lead and iron k, ſtood Joſephus, the Jewiſh hiſtorian, ‘"That of the Jewis geſtis told,"’ with ſeven other writers on the ſame ſubject. On the ſecond pillar, made of iron, and painted all over with the blood of tigers, ſtood Statius. On another higher than the reſt ſtood Homer, Dares Phrygius, Livy l, Lollius, Guido of Columna, and Geoffry of Monmouth, writers of the Trojan ſtory. On a pillar of ‘"tinnid iron clere,"’ ſtood Virgil: and next him, on a pillar of copper, appeared Ovid. [395] The figure of Lucan was placed on a pillar of iron ‘wroght full ſternly,’ accompanied with many Roman hiſtorians m. On a pillar of ſulphur ſtood Claudian, ſo ſymboliſed, becauſe he wrote of Pluto and Proſerpine.

That bare up all the fame of hell;
Of Pluto and of Proſerpine
That queen is of the darkè pine n.

The hall was filled with the writers of antient tales and romances, whoſe ſubjects and names were too numerous to be recounted. In the mean time crouds from every nation and of every condition filled the hall, and each preſented his claim to the queen. A meſſenger is diſpatched to ſummon Eolus from his cave in Thrace; who is ordered to bring his two clarions called SLANDER and PRAISE, and his trumpeter Triton. The praiſes of each petitioner are then reſounded, according to the partial or capricious appointment of Fame; and equal merits obtain very different ſucceſs. There is much ſatire and humour in theſe requeſts and rewards, and in the diſgraces and honours which are indiſcriminately diſtributed by the queen, without diſcernment and by chance. The poet then enters the houſe or labyrinth of RUMOUR. It was built of [...]allow twigs, like a cage, and therefore admitted every ſound. Its doors were alſo more numerous than leaves on the trees, and always ſtood open. Theſe are romantic exaggerations of Ovid's inventions on the ſame ſubject. It was moreover ſixty miles in length, and perpetually turning round. From this houſe, ſays the poet, iſſued tidings of every kind, like fountains and rivers from the ſea. Its inhabitants, who were eternally employed in hearing or telling news, together with the riſe of reports, and the formation [396] of lies are then humourouſly deſcribed: the company is chiefly compoſed of ſailors, pilgrims, and pardoners. At length our author is awakened at ſeeing a venerable perſonage of great authority: and thus the Viſion abruptly concludes.

Pope has imitated this piece, with his uſual elegance of diction and harmony of verſification. But in the mean time, he has not only miſrepreſented the ſtory, but marred the character of the poem. He has endeavoured to correct it's extravagancies, by new refinements and additions of another caſt: but he did not conſider, that extravagancies are eſſential to a poem of ſuch a ſtructure, and even conſtitute it's beauties. An attempt to unite order and exactneſs of imagery with a ſubject formed on principles ſo profeſſedly romantic and anomalous, is like giving Corinthian pillars to a Gothic palace. When I read Pope's elegant imitation of this piece, I think I am walking among the modern monuments unſuitably placed in Weſtminſter-abbey.

SECT. XV.

[397]

NOTHING can be more ingeniouſly contrived than the occaſion on which Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES are ſuppoſed to be recited. A company of pilgrims, on their journey to viſit the ſhrine of Thomas a Beckett at Canterbury, lodge at the Tabarde-inn in Southwark. Although ſtrangers to each other, they are aſſembled in one room at ſupper, as was then the cuſtom; and agree, not only to travel together the next morning, but to relieve the fatigue of the journey by telling each a ſtory a. Chaucer undoubtedly intended to imitate Boccacio, whoſe DECAMERON was then the moſt popular of books, in writing a ſet of tales. But the circumſtance invented by Boccacio, as the cauſe which gave riſe to his DECAMERON, or the relation of his hundred ſtories b, is by no means ſo happily conceived as that of Chaucer for a ſimilar purpoſe. Boccacio ſuppoſes, that when the plague began to abate at Florence, ten young perſons of both ſexes retired to a country houſe, two miles from the city, with a deſign of enjoying freſh air, and paſſing ten days agreeably. Their principal and eſtabliſhed amuſement, inſtead of playing at cheſs after dinner, was for each to tell a tale. One ſuperiority which, among others, Chaucer's plan afforded above that of Boccacio, was [398] the opportunity of diſplaying a variety of ſtriking and dramatic characters, which would not have eaſily met but on ſuch an expedition. A circumſtance which alſo contributed to give a variety to the ſtories. And for a number of perſons in their ſituation, ſo natural, ſo practicable, ſo pleaſant, I add ſo rational, a mode of entertainment could not have been imagined.

The CANTERBURY TALES are unequal, and of various merit. Few, if any, of the ſtories are perhaps the invention of Cha [...]cer. I have already ſpoken at large of the KNIGHT'S TALE, one of our author's nobleſt compoſitions c. That of the CANTERBURY TALES, which deſerves the next place, as written in the higher ſtrain of poetry, and the poem by which Milton deſcribes and characteriſes Chaucer, is the SQUIER'S TALE. The imagination of this ſtory conſiſts in Arabian fiction engrafted on Gothic chivalry. Nor is this Arabian fiction purely the ſport of arbitrary fancy: it is in great meaſure founded on Arabian learning. Cambuſcan, a king of Tartary, celebrates his birth-day feſtival in the hall of his palace at Sarra, with the moſt royal magnificence. In the midſt of the ſolemnity, the gueſts are alarmed with a miraculous and unexpected ſpectacle: the minſtrells ceaſe on a ſudden, and all the aſſembly is huſhed in ſilence, ſurpriſe, and ſuſpence.

While that the king ſate thus in his noblay,
H [...]rkining his minſtrelis ther thingis play,
Beforn him at his bord deliciouſly:
In at the hallè dore, ful ſodeinly,
There came a knight upon a ſtede of braſs;
And in his honde a brode mirroùr of glaſs:
Upon his thombe he had of gold a ring,
[399] And by his ſide a nakid ſword hanging.
And up he rideth to the hiè bord:
In all the hall ne was there ſpoke a word,
For marveile of this knight him to behold d.

Theſe preſents were ſent by the king of Araby and Inde to Cambuſcan in honour of his feaſt. The Horſe of braſs, on the ſkillful movement and management of certain ſecret ſprings, tranſported his rider into the moſt diſtant region of the world in the ſpace of twenty-four hours; for, as the rider choſe, he could fly in the air with the ſwiftneſs of an eagle: and again, as occaſion required, he could ſtand motionleſs in oppoſition to the ſtrongeſt force, vaniſh on a ſudden at command, and return at his maſter's call. The Mirrour of glaſs was endued with the power of ſhewing any future diſaſters which might happen to Cambuſcan's kingdom, and diſcovered the moſt hidden machinations of treaſon. The Naked Sword could pierce armour deemed impenetrable,

"Were it as thik as is a branchid ok [...]."

And he who was wounded with it could never be healed, unleſs its poſſeſſor could be entreated to ſtroke the wound with its edge. The Ring was intended for Canace, Cambuſcan's daughter; and, while ſhe bore it in her purſe, or wore it on her thumb, [...]nabled her to underſtand the language of every ſpecies of birds, and the virtues of every plant.

[400]
And whan this knight hath firſt his tale ytold,
He ridd out of the hall and down he light:
His Stede, which that ſhone as the ſunnè bright,
Stant in the court as ſtill as any ſtone.
The knight is to his chamber lad anon,
He is unarmed and to the mete yſette:
And all theſe preſents full riche bene yfette,
That is to ſaine, the Sword and the Mirroùr,
All born anon was unto the high tour,
With certayn officers ordayned therefore:
And unto Canace the Ring is bore
Solemnly ther as ſhe ſate at the table e.

I have mentioned, in another place, the favorite philoſophical ſtudies of the Arabians f. In this poem the nature of thoſe ſtudies is diſplayed, and their operations exemplified: and this conſideration, added to the circumſtances of Tartary being the ſcene of action, and Arabia the country from which theſe extraordinary preſents are brought, induces me to believe this ſtory to be one of the many fables which the Arabians imported into Europe. At leaſt it is formed on their principles. Their ſciences were tinctured with the warmth of their imaginations; and conſiſted in wonderful diſcoveries and myſterious inventions.

This idea of a horſe of braſs took it's riſe from their chemical knowledge and experiments in metals. The treatiſe of Jeber a famous Arab chemiſt of the middle ages, called LAPIS PHILOSOPHORUM, contains many curious and uſeful proceſſes concerning the nature of metals, their fuſion, purification, and malleability, which ſtill maintain a place in modern ſyſtems of that ſcience g. The poets of romance, [401] who deal in Arabian ideas, deſcribe the Trojan horſe as made of braſs h. Theſe ſages pretended the power of giving life or ſpeech to ſome of their compoſitions in metal. Biſhop Groſthead's ſpeaking brazen head, ſometimes attributed to Bacon, has its foundation in Arabian philoſophy i. In the romance of VALENTINE and ORSON, a brazen head fabricated by a necromancer in a magnificent chamber of the caſtle of Clerimond, declares to thoſe two princes their royal parentage k. We are told by William of Malmeſbury, that Pope Sylveſter the [...]econd, a profound mathematician who lived in the eleventh century, made a brazen head, which would ſpeak when ſpoken to, and oracularly reſolved many difficult queſtions l. Albertus Magnus, who was alſo a profound adept in thoſe ſciences which were taught by the Arabian ſchools, is ſaid to have framed a man of braſs; which not only anſwered queſtions readily and truly, but was ſo loquacious, that Thomas Aquinas while a pupil of Albertus Magnus, afterwards a ſeraphic doctor, knocked it in pieces as the diſturber of his abſtruſe ſpeculations. This was about the year 1240 m. Much in the ſame manner, the notion of our knight's horſe being moved by means of a concealed engine, correſponds with their pretences of producing preternatural effects, and their love of ſurpriſing by geometrical powers. Exactly in this notion, Rocail, a giant in fome of the Arabian romances, is ſaid to have built a palace, together with his own ſepulchre, of moſt magnificent architecture, [402] and with ſingular artifice: in both of theſe he placed a great number of gigantic ſtatues, or images, figured of different metals by taliſmanic ſkill, which, in conſequence of ſome occult machinery, performed actions of real life, and looked like living men n. We muſt add, that aſtronomy, which the Arabian philoſophers ſtudied with a ſingular enthuſiaſm, had no ſmall ſhare in the compoſition of this miraculous ſteed. For, ſays the poet,

He that it wrought couth many a gin,
He waitid many a conſtellation
Ere he had don this operation o.

Thus the buckler of the Arabian giant Ben Gian, as famous among the orientals as that of Achilles among the Greeks, was fabricated by the powers of aſtronomy p. And Pope Sylveſter's brazen head, juſt mentioned, was prepared under the influence of certain conſtellations.

Natural magic, improperly ſo called, was likewiſe a favorite purſuit of the Arabians, by which they impoſed falſe appearances on the ſpectator. This was blended with their aſtrology. Our author's FRANK [...]LEIN'S TALE is entirely founded on the miracles of this art.

[403]
For I am ſikerq ther be ſciences,
By which men maken divers appearances,
Soche as theſe ſotill tragetoriesr plaie:
For oft at feſtis, I have herdè ſaie,
That tragetors, within a hallè large,
Have made to comin watir in a barge,
And in the hallè rowin up and down:
Sometime hath ſemid come a grim liown,
And ſometime flouris ſpring as in a maede;
Sometimes a vine, and grapis white and rede;
Sometimes a caſtill, &c s.

Afterwards a magician in the ſame poem ſhews various ſpecimens of his art in raiſing ſuch illuſions: and by way of diverting king Aurelius before ſupper, preſents before him parks and foreſts filled with deer of vaſt proportion, ſome of which are killed with hounds and others with arrows. He then ſhews the king a beautiful lady in a dance. At the clapping of the magician's hands all theſe deceptions diſappear t. Theſe feats are ſaid to be performed by conſultation of the ſtars u. We frequently read in romances of illuſive [404] appearances framed by magicians w, which by the ſame powers are made ſuddenly to vaniſh. To trace the matter home to it's true ſource, theſe fictions have their origin in a ſcience which profeſſedly made a conſiderable part of the Arabian learning x. In the twelfth century the number of magical and aſtrological Arabic books tranſlated into Latin was prodigious y. Chaucer, in the fiction before us, ſuppoſes that ſome of the gueſts in Cambuſcan's hall believed the Trojan horſe to be a temporary illuſion, effected by the power of magic z.

An appearaunce ymade by ſome magike,
As jogleurs playin at theſe feſtis grete a.

In ſpeaking of the metallurgy of the Arabians, I muſt not omit the ſublime imagination of Spenſer, or rather ſome Britiſh bard, who feigns that the magician Merlin intended to build a wall of braſs about Cairmardin, or Carmarthen; but that being haſtily called away by the Lady of the Lake, and ſlain by her perfidy, he has left his fiends ſtill at work on this mighty ſtructure round their brazen cauldrons, under a rock among the neighbouring woody cliffs of Dynevaur, who dare not deſiſt till their maſter returns. At this day, ſays the poet, if you liſten at a chink or cleft of the rock,

[405]
—Such gaſtly noyſe of yron chaines
And braſen cauldrons thou ſhalt rombling heare,
Which thouſand ſprights with long enduring paines
Do toſſe, that it will ſtunn thy feeble braines.
And oftentimes great grones and grievous ſtowndes
When too huge toile and labour them conſtraines,
And oftentimes loud ſtrokes and ringing ſowndes
From under that deepe rocke moſt horribly reboundes.
X.
The cauſe ſome ſay is this: a little while
Before that Merlin dyde, he dyd intend
A BRASEN WALL in compaſſe to compyle
About Cairmardin, and did it commend
Unto thoſe ſprights to bring to perfect end:
During which work the Lady of the Lake,
Whom long he lovd for him in haſte did ſend,
Who therby forſt his workemen to forſake,
Them bounde, till his returne, their labour not to ſlake.
XI.
In the mean time, through that falſe ladies traine,
He was ſurprized, and buried under beare,
Ne ever to his work returnd againe:
Nathleſſe thoſe feends may not their worke forbeare,
So greately his commandement they feare,
But there do toyle and travayle night and day,
Until that BRASEN WALL they up do reare b.

This ſtory Spenſer borrowed from Giraldus Cambrenſis, who during his progreſs through Wales, in the twelfth century, picked it up among other romantic traditions propagated [406] by the Britiſh bards c. I have before pointed out the ſource from which the Britiſh bards received moſt of their extravagant fictions.

Optics were likewiſe a branch of ſtudy which ſuited the natural genius of the Arabian philoſophers, and which they purſued with incredible delight. This ſcience was a part of the Ariſtotelic philoſophy; which, as I have before obſerved, they refined and filled with a thouſand extravagancies. Hence our ſtrange knight's MIRROR OF GLASS, prepared on the moſt profound principles of art, and endued with preternatural qualities.

And ſome of them wondrin on the mirrour,
That born was up into the maſter tour:
How men mightin in it ſuch thingis ſe.
And othir ſeid, certis it wel might be
Naturally by compoſitiouns
Of angles, and of ſly reflectiouns:
And ſaide, that at Rome was ſoche an one,
Thei ſpak of Alcen and Vitellion,
And Ariſtote, that writith in their lives
Of queint MIRROURIS, and of PERSPECTIVES d.

And again.

The mirrour eke which I have in my hand,
Hath ſuch a might, that men may in it ſe
When there ſhall fall any adverſite
Unto your reigne, &c. e.

Alcen, or Alhazen, mentioned in theſe lines, an Arabic philoſopher, wrote ſeven books of perſpective, and flouriſhed [407] about the eleventh century. Vitellio, formed on the ſame ſchool, was likewiſe an eminent mathematician of the middle ages, and wrote ten books of Perſpective. The Roman mirrour here mentioned by Chaucer, as ſimilar to this of the ſtrange knight, is thus deſcribed by Gower.

When Rome ſtoode in noble plite
Virgile, which was the par [...]ite,
A mirrour made of his clergie f
And ſette it in the townes eie
Of marbre on a pillar without,
That thei be thyrte mile aboute
By daie and eke alſo bi night
In that mirrour behold might
Her enemies if any were, &c. g.

The oriental writers relate, that Giamſchid, one of their kings, the Solomon of the Perſians and their Alexander the Great, poſſeſſed, among his ineſtimable treaſures, cups, globes, and mirrours, of metal, glaſs, and cryſtal, by means of which, he and his people knew all natural as well as ſupernatural things. A title of an Arabian book, tranſlated from the Perſian, is, ‘"The Mirrour which reflects the World."’ There is this paſſage in an antient Turkiſh poet, ‘"When I am purified by the light of heaven my ſoul will become the mirrour of the world, in which I ſhall diſcern all abſtruſe ſecrets."’ Monſieur l'Herbelot is of opinion, that the orientals took theſe notions from the patriarch Joſeph's cup of divination, and Neſtor's cup in Homer, on which all nature was ſymbolically repreſented h. Our great countryman Roger [408] Bacon, in his OPUS MAJUS, a work entirely formed on the Ariſtotelic and Arabian philoſophy, deſcribes a variety of Specula, and explains their conſtruction and uſes i. This is the moſt curious and extraordinary part of Bacon's book, which was written about the year 1270. Bacon's optic tube, with which he pretended to ſee future events, was famous in his age, and long afterwards, and chiefly contributed to give him the name of a magician k. This art, with others of the experimental kind, the philoſophers of thoſe times were fond of adapting to the purpoſes of thaumaturgy; and there is much occult and chimerical ſpeculation in the diſcoveries which Bacon affects to have made from optical experiments. He aſſerts, and I am obliged to cite the paſſage in his own myſterious expreſſions, ‘"Omnia ſciri per Perſpectivam, quoniam omnes actiones rerum fiunt ſecundum ſpecierum et virtutum multiplicationem ab agentibus hujus mundi in materias patientes, &c. l."’ Spenſer feigns, that the magician Merlin made a glaſſie globe, and preſented it to king Ry [...]nc [...], which ſhewed the approach of enemies, and diſcovered treaſons m. This fiction, which exactly correſponds with Chaucer's Mirrour, Spenſer borrowed from ſome romance, perhaps of king Arthur, fraught with oriental fancy. From the ſame ſources came a like fiction of Camo [...]ns, in the Luſiad n, where a globe is ſhewn to Vaſco de Gama, repreſenting the univerſal fabric or ſyſtem of the world, in which he ſees future kingdoms and future events. The Spaniſh hiſtorians report an American tradition, but more [409] probably invented by themſelves, and built on the Saracen fables, in which they were ſo converſant. They pretend that ſome years before the Spaniards entered Mexico, the inhabitants caught a monſtrous fowl, of unuſual magnitude and ſhape, on the lake of Mexico. In the crown of the head of this wonderful bird, there was a mirrour or plate of glaſs, in which the Mexicans ſaw their future invaders the Spaniards, and all the diſaſters which afterwards happened to their kingdom. Theſe ſuperſtitions remained, even in the doctrines of philoſophers, long after the darker ages. Cornelius Agrippa, a learned phyſician of Cologne, about the year 1520, author of a famous book on the Vanity of the Sciences, mentions a ſpecies of mirrour which exhibited the form of perſons abſent, at command o. In one of theſe he is ſaid to have ſhewn to the poetical earl of Surry, the image of his miſtreſs, the beautiful Geraldine, ſick and repoſing on a couch p. Nearly allied to this, was the infatuation of ſeeing things in a beryl, which was very popular in the reign of James the firſt, and is alluded to by Shakeſpeare. The Arabians were alſo famous for other machineries of glaſs, in which their chemiſtry was more immediately concerned. The philoſophers of their ſchool invented a ſtory of a magical ſteel-glaſs, placed by Ptolemy on the ſummit of a lofty pillar near the city of Alexandria, for burning ſhips at a diſtance. The Arabians called this pillar He madeſlaeor, or the pillar of the Arabians q. I think it is mentioned by Sandys. [410] Roger Bacon has left a manuſcript tract on the formation of burning-glaſſes r: and he relates that the firſt burningglaſs which he conſtructed coſt him ſixty pounds of Pariſian money s. Ptolemy, who ſeems to have been confounded with Ptolemy the Egyptian aſtrologer and geographer, was famous among the eaſtern writers and their followers for his ſkill in operations of glaſs. Spenſer mentions a miraculous tower of glaſs built by Ptolemy, which concealed his miſtreſs the Egyptian Phao, while the inviſible inhabitant viewed all the world from every part of it.

Great Ptolomee it for his leman's ſake
Ybuilded all of glaſs by magicke power,
And alſo it impregnable did make t.

But this magical fortreſs, although impregnable, was eaſily broken in pieces at one ſtroke by the builder, when his miſtreſs ceaſed to love. One of Boyardo's extravagancies is a prodigious wall of glaſs built by ſome magician in Africa, which obviouſly betrays its foundation in Arabian fable and Arabian philoſophy u.

The Naked Sword, another of the gifts preſented by the ſtrange knight to Cambuſcan, endued with medical virtues, [411] and ſo hard as to pierce the moſt ſolid armour, is likewiſe an Arabian idea. It was ſuggeſted by their ſkill in medicine, by which they affected to communicate healing qualities to various ſubſtances w, and from their knowledge of tempering iron and hardening all kinds of metal x. It is the claſſical ſpear of Peleus, perhaps originally fabricated in the ſame regions of fancy.

And othir folk han wondrid on the Sworde,
That wold ſo percin thorow everie thing;
And fell in ſpeche of Telephus the king,
And of Achilles for his quyntè ſpere
For he couth with it bothè hele and dere y
Right in ſoche wiſe as men may by that ſworde,
Of which right now you have your ſelfis harde.
Thei ſpake of ſundri harding of metall
And ſpake of medicinis ther withall,
And how and when it ſholdin hardin be, &c z.

The ſword which Berni in the ORLANDO INNAMORATO, gives to the hero Ruggiero, is tempered by much the ſame ſort of magic.

Quel brando con tal tempra fabbricato,
Che taglia incanto ad ogni fatatura a.

So alſo his continuator Arioſto,

Non vale incanto, ov'elle mette il taglio b.

[412] And the notion that this weapon could reſiſt all incantations, is like the fiction above-mentioned of the buckler of the Arabian giant Ben Gian, which baffled the force of charms and enchantments made by giants or demons c. Spenſer has a ſword endued with the ſame efficacy, the metal of which the magician Merlin mixed with the juice of meadow-wort, that it might be proof againſt enchantment; and afterwards, having forged the blade in the flames of Etna, he gave it hidden virtue by dipping it ſeven times in the bitter waters of Styx d. From the ſame origin is alſo the golden lance of Berni, which Galafron king of Cathaia, father of the beautiful Angelica and the invincible champion Argalia, procured for his ſon by the help of a magician. This lance was of ſuch irreſiſtible power, that it unhorſed a knight the inſtant he was touched with its point.

—Una lancia d'oro,
Fatto con arte, e con ſottil lavoro.
E quella lancia di natura tale,
Che reſiſter non puoſſi alla ſua ſpinta;
Forza, o deſtrezza contra lei non vale,
Convien che l'una, e l'altra reſti vinta:
Incanto, a cui non è nel mondo eguale,
L'ha di tanta poſſanza intorno cin [...]a,
Che nè il conte di Brava, nèi Rinaldo,
Nè il mondo al colpo ſuo ſtar [...]bbe ſaldo e.

Britormart in Spenſer is armed with the ſame enchanted ſpear, which was made by Bladud an antient Britiſh king ſkilled in magic f.

[413] The Ring, a gift to the king's daughter Canace, which taught the language of birds, is alſo quite in the ſtyle of ſome others of the occult ſciences of theſe inventive philoſophers g: and it is the faſhion of the oriental fabuliſts to give language to brutes in general. But to underſtand the language of birds, was peculiarly one of the boaſted ſciences of the Arabians; who pretend that many of their countrymen have been ſkilled in the knowledge of the language of birds, ever ſince the time of king Solomon. Their writers relate, that Balkis the queen of Sheba, or Saba, had a bird called Hudhud, that is, a lapwing, which ſhe diſpatched to king Solomon on various occaſions; and that this truſty bird was the meſſenger of their amours. We are told, that Solomon having been ſecretly informed by this winged confident, that Balkis intended to honour him with a grand embaſſy, encloſed a ſpacious ſquare with a wall of gold and ſilver bricks, in which he ranged his numerous troops and attendants in order to receive the embaſſadors, who were aſtoniſhed at the ſuddenneſs of theſe ſplendid and unexpected preparations h. Monſieur l'Herbelot tells a curious ſtory of an Arab feeding his camels in a ſolitary wilderneſs, who was accoſted for a draught of water by Alhejaj a famous Arabian commander, and who had been ſeparated from his retinue in hunting. While they were talking together, a bird flew over their heads, making at the ſame time an unuſual ſort of noiſe; which the camel-feeder hearing, looked ſtedfaſtly on Alhejaj, and demanded who he was. Alhejaj, not chooſing to return him a direct anſwer, deſired to know the reaſon of that queſtion. ‘"Becauſe, replied the camel-feeder, this bird aſſured me, that a company of people is coming this [414] way, and that you are the chief of them."’ While he was ſpeaking, Alheja [...]'s attendants arrived i.

This wonderful ring alſo imparted to the wearer a knowledge of the qualities of plants, which formed an important part of the Arabian philoſophy k.

The vertues of this ring if ye woll here
Are theſe, that if ſhe liſt it for to were,
Upon her thomb, or in her purſe it bere,
There is no fowle that fleith undir heven
That ſhe ne ſhal wele underſtond his ſteven l,
And know his mening opinly and plain,
And anſwere him in his language againe.
And everie graſſe that growith upon rote,
She ſhal wele knowe, and whom it woll do bote:
All be his woundis never ſo depe and wide m.

Every reader of taſte and imagination muſt regret, that inſtead of our author's tedious detail of the quaint effects of Canace's ring, in which a falcon relates her amours, and talks familiarly of Troilus, Paris, and Jaſon, the notable atchievements we may ſuppoſe to have been performed by the aſſiſtance of the horſe of braſs, are either loſt, or that this part of the ſtory, by far the moſt intereſting, was never written. After the ſtrange knight has explained to Cambuſcan the management of this magical courſer, he vaniſhes on a ſudden, and we hear no more of him.

And aftir ſuppir goth this nobil king
To ſene this Horſe of Braſs, with all his rout
Of lordis and of ladies him about:
[415] Soch wondering was ther on this Horſe of Braſs n,
That ſithin the grete ſiege of Troyè was,
Ther as men wondrid on an horſe alſo,
Ne was ther ſoch a wondering as was tho o.
But finally the king aſkith the knight
The vertue of this courſere and the might;
And prayid him to tell his governaunce [...]
The hors anon gan forth to trip and daunce,
When that the knight laid hold upon his reine.—
Enfourmid when the king was of the knight,
And hath conceivid in his wit aright,
The mannir and the form of all the thing,
Full glad and blyth, this nobil doubty king
Repairith to his revell as beforne:
The brydil is into the Toure yborn,
And kept among his jewelsp lefe and dere:
The horſe vaniſhith: I'not in what manere q.

By ſuch inventions we are willing to be deceived. Theſe are the triumphs of deception over truth.

Magnanima menſogna, hor quando è al vero
Si bello, che ſi poſſa à te preporre?

The CLERKE OF OXENFORDES TALE, or the ſtory of Patient Griſilde, is the next of Chaucer's Tales in the ſerious ſtyle which deſerves mention. The Clerke declares in his Prologue, that he learned this tale of Petrarch at Padua. [416] But it was the invention of Boccacio, and is the laſt in his DECAMERON r. Petrarch, although moſt intimately connected with Boccacio for near thirty years, never had ſeen the Decameron till juſt before his death. It accidentally fell into his hands, while he reſided at Arque between Venice and Padua, in the year one thouſand three hundred and ſeventy-four. The tale of Griſilde ſtruck him the moſt of any: ſo much, that he got it by heart to relate it to his friends at Padua. Finding that it was the moſt popular of all Boccacio's tales, for the benefit of thoſe who did not underſtand Italian, and to ſpread its circulation, he tranſlated it into Latin with ſome alterations. Petrarch relates this in a letter to Boccacio: and adds, that on ſhewing the tranſlation to one of his Paduan friends, the latter, touched with the tenderneſs of the ſtory, burſt into ſuch frequent and violent fits of tears, that he could not read to the end. In the ſame letter he ſays, that a Veroneſe having heard of the Paduan's exquiſiteneſs of feeling on this occaſion, reſolved to try the experiment. He read the whole aloud from the beginning to the end, without the leaſt change of voice or countenance; but on returning the book to Petrarch, confeſſed that it was an affecting ſtory: ‘"I ſhould have wept, added he, like the Paduan, had I thought the ſtory true. But the whole is a manifeſt fiction. There never was, nor ever will be, ſuch a wife as Griſilde s."’ Chaucer, as our Clerke's declaration in the Prologue ſeems to imply, received this tale from Petrarch, and not from Boccacio: and I am inclined to think, that he did not take it from Petrarch's Latin tranſlation, but that he was one of thoſe friends to whom Petrarch uſed to relate it at Padua. This too ſeems ſufficiently pointed out in the words of the Prologue.

[417]
I wolle you telle a talè which that I
Lernid at Padow of a worthie clerke:—
Frauncis Petrarke, the laureate poete,
Hightin this clerke, whoſe rhetorike ſo ſwete
Enluminid Italie of poetrie t.

Chaucer's tale is alſo much longer, and more circumſtantial, than Boccacio's. Petrarch's Latin tranſlation from Boccacio was never printed. It is in the royal library at Paris, and in that of Magdalene college at Oxford u.

The ſtory ſoon became ſo popular in France, that the comedians of Paris repreſented a Myſtery in French verſe entitled LE MYSTERE DE GRISEILDIS MARQUIS DE SALUCES, in the year 1393 w. Lydgate, almoſt Chaucer's cotemporary, in his manuſcript poem entitled the TEMPLE OF GLASS x, among the celebrated lovers painted on the walls of the temple y, [418] mentions Dido, Medea and Jaſon, Penelope, Alceſtis, PATIENT GRISILDE, Bel Iſoulde and Sir Triſtram z, Pyramus and Thiſbe, Theſeus, Lucretia, Canace, Palamon and Emilia a.

The pathos of this poem, which is indeed exquiſite, chiefly conſiſts in invention of incidents, and the contrivance of the ſtory, which cannot conveniently be developed in this place: and it will be impoſſible to give any idea of it's eſſential excellence by exhibiting detached parts. The verſification is equal to the reſt of our author's poetry.

SECT. XVI.

[419]

THE TALE of the NONNES PRIEST is perhaps a ſtory of Engliſh growth. The figment of Dan Burnell's Aſs is taken from a Latin poem entitled SPECULUM STULTORUM a, written by Nigellus de Wireker, monk and precentor of Canterbury cathedral, a profound theologiſt, who flouriſhed about the year 1200 b. The narrative of the two pilgrims is borrowed from Valerius Maximus c. It is alſo related by Cicero, a leſs known and a leſs favorite author d. There is much humour in the deſcription of the prodigious confuſion which happened in the farm-yard after the fox had conveyed away the cock.

—Aftir him they ran,
And eke with ſtavis many anothir man.
Ran Coll our dogge, Talbot, and eke Garlond e,
And Malkin with her diſtaffe in her hond.
Ran cowe and calfe, and eke the very hogges.—
The duckis cryed as men would hem quell f,
The geeſe for fere flewin ovir the trees,
Out of the hivis came the ſwarme of bees g.

Even Jack Strawe's inſurrection, a recent tranſaction, was not attended with ſo much noiſe and diſturbance.

[420]
So hidious was the noiſe, ah Benedicite!
Certes ne Jacke Strawe, ne all his meine,
Ne madin nevir ſhoutis half ſo ſhrill [...] &c h.

The importance and affectation of ſagacity with which dame Partlett communicates her medical advice, and diſplays her knowledge in phyſic, is a ridicule on the ſtate of medicine and its profeſſors i.

In another ſtrain, the cock is thus beautifully deſcribed, and not without ſome ſtriking and pictureſque alluſions to the manners of the times.

—A cocke hight chaunticlere,
In al the land of crowing nas his pere.
His voice was merier than the merie orgon
On maſſe-daiès that in the churchis gon.
Wel ſikererl was his crowing in his loge m
Than is a clock, or abbey horologe.—
His comb was reddir than the fine corall,
And battelledn as it were a caſtill wall,
His bake was blacke as any get it ſhone,
Like aſure were his leggis, and his tone o:
His nailis whiter than the lillie floure,
And like the burnid golde was his colore p.

In this poem the fox is compared to the three arch-traitors Judas Iſcariot, Virgil's Sinon, and Ganilion who betrayed the Chriſtian army under Charlemagne to the Saracens, and is mentioned by archbiſhop Turpin q. Here alſo are cited, as writers of high note or authority, Cato, Phyſiologus or Pliny the elder, Boethius on muſic, the author of the legend 1716 [421] of the life of ſaint Kenelme, Joſephus, the hiſtorian of Sir Lancelot du Lake, Saint Auſtin, biſhop Brawardine, Jeffrey Vineſauf who wrote a monody in Latin verſe on the death of king Richard the firſt, Eccleſiaſtes, Virgil, and Macrobius.

Our author's JANUARY and MAY, or the MARCHAUNT'S TALE, ſeems to be an old Lombard ſtory. But many paſſages in it are evidently taken from the POLYCRATICON of John of Salisbury. De moleſtiis et oneribus conjugiorum ſecundum Hieronymum et alios philoſophos. Et de pernicie libidinis. Et de mulieris Epheſinae et ſimilium fide r. And by the way, about forty verſes belonging to this argument are tranſlated from the ſame chapter of the POLYCRATICON, in the WIFE OF BATH'S Prologue s. In the mean time it is not improbable, that this tale might have originally been oriental. A Perſian tale is juſt publiſhed which it extremely reſembles t; and it has much of the allegory of an eaſtern apologue.

The following deſcription of the wedding-feaſt of January and May is conceived and expreſſed with a diſtinguiſhed degree of poetical elegance.

Thus ben thei weddid with ſolempnite,
And at the feſte ſittith both he and ſhe,
[422] With othir worthy folk upon the deis u:
All ful of joye and bliſs is the paleis,
And ful of inſtruments and of vitaile,
And the moſt dayntyiſt of al Itaile.
Before him ſtode ſoche inſtruments of ſoune,
That Orpheus, ne of Thebis Amphioune
Ne madin nevir ſoche a melodie;
At everie cours cam the loud minſtr [...]lcie,
That never Joab trompid w, for to here,
Neither Theodamas yet half ſo clere,
At Thebis, when the cite was in dout y.
Bacchus the wine them ſkinkithz al about,
And Venus laugith blithe on everie wight,
For January was become her knight,
And wold in both aſſayin his corage
In liberty and eke in marriage,
And with her firebronde in her hond aboute
Dauncith before the bride and al the route.
And certeinly I dare ſay wel right this,
Hymeneus that god of wedding is
Saw never ſo mery a wedded man.
Hold thou thy p [...]ace, thou poet Marcian a,
That writiſt us that ilk wedding merry
Of Philology and of Mercury,
And of the ſongis that the Muſes ſong;
Too ſmall is both thy pen, and eke thy tong,
[423] For to deſcrivin of his marriage,
When tendir Youth has married ſtooping Age.—
MAY that ſittin with ſo benign a chere
That her to behold it ſemed a feirie a:
Quene Heſter lokid ner with ſoch an eye
On Aſſuere, ſo meke a loke hath ſhe:
I may you not devis al her bewte,
But thus much of her bewte tel I may
That ſhe was like the bright morowe of May,
Fulfilled of all bewte and pleſaunce.
Tho JANUARY is raviſhed in a trance
At everie time he lokid in her face,
But in his hert he gan her to menace, &c b.

Dryden and Pope have moderniſed the two laſt mentioned poems. Dryden the tale of the NONNES PRIEST, and Pope that of JANUARY and MAY: intending perhaps to give patterns of the beſt of Chaucer's Tales in the comic ſpecies. But I am of opinion that the MILLER'S TALE has more true humour than either. Not that I mean to palliate the levity of the ſtory, which was moſt probably choſen by Chaucer in compliance with the prevailing manners of an unpoliſhed age, and agreeable to ideas of feſtivity not always the moſt delicate and refined. Chaucer abounds in liberties of this kind, and this muſt be his apology. So does Boccacio, and perhaps much more, but from a different cauſe. The licentiouſneſs of Boccacio's tales, which he compoſed per cacciar le malincolia delle femine, to amuſe the ladies, is to be vindicated, at leaſt accounted for, on other principles: it was not ſo much the conſequence of popular incivility, as it was owing to a particular event of the writer's age. Juſt before Boccacio wrote, the plague at Florence had totally changed the cuſtoms and manners of the people. Only a few of the [424] women had ſurvived this fatal malady; who having loſt their husbands, parents, or friends, gradually grew regardleſs of thoſe conſtraints and cuſtomary formalities which before of courſe influenced their behaviour. For want of female attendants, they were obliged often to take men only into their ſervice: and this circumſtance greatly contributed to deſtroy their habits of delicacy, and gave an opening to various freedoms and indecencies unſuitable to the ſex, and frequently productive of very ſerious conſequences. As to the monaſteries, it is not ſurpriſing that Boccacio ſhould have made them the ſcenes of his moſt libertine ſtories. The plague had thrown open their gates. The monks and nuns wandered abroad, and partaking of the common liberties of life, and the levities of the world, forgot the rigour of their inſtitutions, and the ſeverity of their eccleſiaſtical characters. At the ceaſing of the plague, when the religious were compelled to return to their cloiſters, they could not forſake their attachment to theſe ſecular indulgences; they continued to practice the ſame free courſe of life, and would not ſubmit to the diſagreeable and unſocial injunctions of their reſpective orders. Cotemporary hiſtorians give a ſhocking repreſentation of the unbounded debaucheries of the Florentines on this occaſion: and eccleſiaſtical writers mention this period as the grand epoch of the relaxation of monaſtic diſcipline [...] Boccacio did not eſcape the cenſure of the church for theſe compoſitions. His converſion was a point much laboured; and in expiation of his follies, he was almoſt perſuaded to renounce poetry and the heathen authors, and to turn Carthuſian. But, to ſay the truth, Boccacio's life was almoſt as looſe as his writings; till he was in great meaſure reclaimed by the powerful remonſtrances of his maſter Petrarch, who talked much more to the purpoſe than his confeſſor. This Boccacio himſelf acknowledges in the fifth of his eclogues, which like thoſe [425] of Petrarch are enigmatical and obſcure, entitled PHILOSOTROPHOS.

But to return to the MILLER'S TALE. The character of the Clerke of Oxford, who ſtudied aſtrology, a ſcience then in high repute, but under the ſpecious appearance of decorum, and the maſk of the ſerious philoſopher, carried on intrigues, is painted with theſe lively circumſtances.

This clerke yclepid was hend Nicholas c,
Of dernèd love he couth and of ſolas:
And th [...]rto was he ſlie, and right prive,
And like unto a maidin for to ſe.
A chambre had he in that hoſtelrie e
Alone, withoutin any company,
Ful fetouſly ydight with herbis ſote f;
And he himſelf as ſwete as in the rote g
Of licoris, or any ſeduwall h.
His almagiſt i, and bokis grate and ſmall,
His aſterlagourk longing for his art,
His augrim ſtonisl lying feire apart,
[426] On ſhelvis, al couchid at his beddis hede;
His preſſem ycoverid with a folding rede:
And all above there lay a gay ſautrie n,
On which he made on nightis melodie
So ſwetely that al the chamber rung,
And Angelus ad Virginem he ſung o.

In the deſcription of the young wife of our philoſopher's hoſt, there is great elegance with a mixture of burleſque alluſions. Not to mention the curioſity of a female portrait, drawn with ſo much exactneſs at ſuch a diſtance of time.

Faire was this yongè wife, and therwithall
As a weſillp her bodie gent and ſmall.
A ſeint ſhe werid, barrid all with ſilk r,
A barmecloths eke, as white as morrow milk,
Upon her lendis, full of many a gore t.
White was her ſmok, embroudid all bifore u,
And eke behind, on her colere about,
Of coleblak ſilk, within, and eke without.
The tapisw of her whitè volipere x
Were of the ſamè ſute of her colere y.
[427] Her fillitu brode of ſilke, and ſet ful hie,
And ſikerlyw ſhe had a licorous eie.
Full ſmall ypullidx were her browis two,
And thoy were bentz and blak as any ſlo.
And ſhe was moche more blisfull for to ſe
Than is the newè perieneta tre;
And ſofter than the wool is of a wether:
And by her girdil hong a purſe of lether,
Taſſidb with ſilke, and parlidc with latoun d.
In all this world to ſekin up and down,
There nis no man ſo wiſe that couthè thence
So gay a popeletee or ſo gay a wench.
Full brightir was the ſhining of her hewe
Than in the Towre the noblef forgid newe.
But of her ſong ſhe was ſo loud and yerne g,
As any ſwallow ſitting on a berne.
Therto ſhe couthe ſkip, and make a game,
As any kid or calfe foll'wing her dame.
Hir mouth was ſwete as brackith or the methe,
Or hord of applis layd in hay or heth.
Winſing ſhe was as is a jolly colt,
Long as a maſt, and upright as a bolt i.
A brochek ſhe bare upon her low collere
As brode as is the boſſe of a bokelere l.
Her ſhoes were lacid on her leggis hie, &c m.

Nicholas, as we may ſuppoſe, was not proof againſt the charms of his blooming hoſteſs. He has frequent opportunities [428] of converſing with her: for her huſband is the carpenter of Oſeney Abbey near Oxford, and often abſent in the woods belonging to the monaſtery n. His rival is Abſalom, a pariſh-clerk, the gaieſt of his calling, who being amorouſly inclined, very naturally avails himſelf of a circumſtance belonging to his profeſſion: on holidays it was his buſineſs to carry the cenſer about the church, and he takes this opportunity of caſting unlawful glances on the handſomeſt dames of the pariſh. His gallantry, agility, affectation of dreſs and p [...]rſonal elegance, ſkill in ſhaving and ſurgery, ſmattering in the law, taſte for muſic, and many other accompliſhments, are thus inimitably repreſented by Chaucer, who muſt have much reliſhed ſo ridiculous a character.

Now was ther of the chirch a pariſh clerke,
The which that was yclepid Abſalon,
Crull was his heere, and as the gold it ſhone,
And ſtroutid as a fannè longe and brode,
Ful ſtraight and even lay his jolly ſhode o.
His rudep was redde, his eyin gray as goſe,
With Poulis windows carvin on his ſhoſe q.
In hoſin r [...]d he went ful fetouſly:
Yclad he was ful ſmale and propirly
Al in a kirtilr of a light watchet,
Ful fayre, and thickè be the pointis ſet:
And thereuppon he hadde a gaie ſurplice
As white as is the bloſome on the rice s.
A merie child he was, ſo god me ſave,
Well couth he lettin blode, and clip, and ſhave.
[429] Or make a chartre of land or acquittaunce;
In twentie manir couth he trip and daunce,
After the ſchole of Oxenfordi tho,
And with his leggis caſtin to and fro.
And pleyin ſongis on a ſmale ribible s,
Therto he ſometimes ſoud a long quinible t.

His manner of making love muſt not be omitted. He ſerenades her with his guittar.

He wakith al the night, and al the day,
He kembith his lockes brode, and made him gay.
He woith her by menis and brocage u,
And ſwore that he would ben her ownè page.
He ſingith brokingw as a nightingale.
He ſent her piment x, methe, and ſpicid ale,
And wafirs piping hot out of the glede y,
And, for ſhe was of town, he proffred mede z.—
[430] Sometimes to ſhew his lightneſs and maiſtry
He playith heraudesa on a ſcaffold hie.

Again,

When that the firſtè cok hath crow anon,
Upriſt this jolly lovir Abſolon;
And him arayith gay at point deviſe.
But firſt he chewith greynsb and licorice,
To ſmellin ſote, ere he had kempt his here.
Under his tongue a true love knot he bare,
For therby wend he to be graciouſe;
Then romith to the carpenteris houſe c.

In the mean time the ſcholar, intent on accompliſhing his intrigue, locks himſelf up in his chamber for the ſpace of two days. The carpenter, alarmed at this long ſecluſion, and ſuppoſing that his gueſt might be ſick or dead, tries to gain admittance, but in vain. He peeps through a crevice of the door, and at length diſcovers the ſcholar, who is conſcious that he was ſeen, in an affected trance of abſtracted meditation. On this our carpenter, reflecting on the danger of being wiſe, and exulting in the ſecurity of his own ignorance, exclaims,

A man wott littil what ſhall him betide!
This man is fallen with his aſtronomy
In ſome wodeneſs, or in ſome agony.
[431] I thoughtin ay wele how it ſhuldè be:
Men ſhuldè not knowd of gods privite.
Yea bleſſid be alway the lewdè-man e,
That nought but only his belefe can f.
So farde another clerke with aſtronomy;
He walkid in the feldis for to pry
Upon the ſtarres to wate what ſhuld bifall
Tyll he was in a marlèpit yfall;
He ſaw not that. But yet, by ſeint Thomas,
Me ruith ſore on hendè Nicholas:
He ſhall be ratid for his ſtudying.

But the ſcholar has ample gratification for this ridicule. The carpenter is at length admitted; and the ſcholar continuing the farce, gravely acquaints the former that he has been all this while making a moſt important diſcovery by means of aſtrological calculations. He is ſoon perſuaded to believe the prediction: and in the ſequel, which cannot be repeated here, this humourous contrivance crowns the ſcholar's ſchemes with ſucceſs, and proves the cauſe of the carpenter's diſgrace. In this piece the reader obſerves that the humour of the characters is made ſubſervient to the plot.

I have before hinted, that Chaucer's obſcenity is in great meaſure to be imputed to his age. We are apt to form romantic and exaggerated notions about the moral innocence of our anceſtors. Ages of ignorance and ſimplicity are thought to be ages of purity. The direct contrary, I believe, is the caſe. Rude periods have that groſſneſs of manners which is not leſs friendly to virtue than luxury itſelf. In the middle ages, not only the moſt flagrant violations of modeſty were frequently practiſed and permitted, but the moſt infamous vices. Men are leſs aſhamed as they are le [...]s poliſhed. Great refinement multiplies criminal pleaſures, but [432] at the ſame time prevents the actual commiſſion of many enormities: at leaſt it preſerves public decency, and ſuppreſſes public licentiouſneſs.

The REVES TALE, or the MILLER of TROMPINGTON, is much in the ſame ſtyle, but with leſs humour i. This ſtory was enlarged by Chaucer from Boccacio k. There is an old Engliſh poem on the ſame plan, entitled, A ryght pleaſant and mery [...] hiſtory of the Myln [...]r of A [...]ington, with his Wife and faire Daught [...]r, and [...]wo poore Scholars of Cambridge l. It begins with theſe lines.

"Faire lordinges, if you liſt to heere
"A mery jeſtm your minds to cheere."

This piece is ſuppoſed by Wood to have been written by Andrew Borde, a phyſician, a wit, and a poet, in the reign of Henry the eighth n. It was at leaſt evidently written [433] after the time of Chaucer. It is the work of ſome taſteleſs imitator, who has ſufficiently diſguiſed his original, by retaining none of its ſpirit. I mention theſe circumſtances, leſt it ſhould be thought that this frigid abridgment was the ground-work of Chaucer's poem on the ſame ſubject. In the claſs of [...]umourous or ſatirical tales, the SOMPNOUR'S TALE, which expoſes the tricks and extortions of the mendicant friars, has alſo diſtinguiſhed merit. This piece has incidentally been mentioned above with the PLOWMAN'S TALE, and Pierce Plowman.

Genuine humour, the concomitant of true taſte, conſiſts in diſcerning improprieties in books as well as characters. We therefore muſt remark under this claſs another tale of Chaucer, which till lately has been looked upon as a grave heroic narrative. I mean the RIME OF SIR THOPAS. Chaucer, at a period which almoſt realiſed the manners of romantic chivalry, diſcerned the leading abſurdities of the old romances: and in this poem, which may be juſtly called a prelude to Don Quixote, has burleſqued them with exquiſite ridicule. That this was the poet's aim, appears from many paſſages. But, to put the matter beyond a doubt, take the words of an ingenious critic. ‘"We are to obſerve, ſays he, that this was Chaucer's own Tale: and that, when in the progreſs of it, the good ſenſe of the hoſt is made to break in upon him, and interrupt him, Chaucer approves his diſguſt, and changing his note, tells the ſimple inſtructive Tale of MELIBOEUS, a moral tale vertuous, as he terms it; to ſhew what ſort of fictions were moſt expreſſive of real life, and moſt proper to be put into the hands of the people. It is further to be noted, that the Boke of Th [...] Giant Olyphant, and Chylde Thop [...]s, was not a fiction of [434] his own, but a ſtory of antique fame, and very celebrated in the days of chivalry: ſo that nothing could better ſuit the poet's deſign of diſcrediting the old romances, than the choice of this venerable legend for the vehicle of his ridicule upon them o.’ But it is to be remembered, that Chaucer's deſign was intended to ridicule the frivolous deſcriptions, and other tedious impertinencies, ſo common in the volumes of chivalry with which his age was overwhelmed, not to degrade in general or expoſe a mode of fabling, whoſe ſublime extravagancies conſtitute the marvellous graces of his own CAMBUSCAN; a compoſition which at the ſame time abundantly demonſtrates, that the manners of romance are better calculated to anſwer the purpoſes of pure poetry, to captivate the imagination, and to produce ſurpriſe, than the fictions of claſſical antiquity.

SECT. XVII.

[435]

BUT Chaucer's vein of humour, although conſpicuous in the CANTERBURY TALES, is chiefly diſplayed in the Characters with which they are introduced. In theſe his knowledge of the world availed him in a peculiar degree, and enabled him to give ſuch an accurate pic [...]ure of antient manners, as no cotemporary nation has tranſmitted to poſt [...]rity. It is here that we view the purſuits and employments, the cuſtoms and diverſions, of our anceſtors, copied from the life, and repreſented with equal truth and ſpirit, by a judge of mankind, whoſe penetration qualified him to diſcern their foibles or diſcriminating peculiarities; and by an artiſt, who underſtood that proper ſelection of circumſtances, and thoſe predominant characteriſtics, which form a finiſhed portrait. We are ſurpriſed to find, in ſo groſs and ignorant an age, ſuch talents for ſatire, and for obſervation on lif [...]; qualities which uſually exert themſelves at more civiliſed periods, when the improved ſtate of ſociety, by ſubtiliſing our ſpeculations, and eſtabliſhing uniform modes of b [...]haviour, diſpoſes mankind to ſtudy themſelves, and renders deviations of conduct, and ſingularities of character, more immediately and neceſſarily the obj [...]cts of cenſure and ridicule. Theſe curious and valuable remains are ſpecimens of Chaucer's native genius, unaſſiſted and unalloyed. The figures are all Britiſh, and bear no ſuſpicious ſignatures of claſſical, Italian, or French imitation. The characters of Theophraſtus are not ſo lively, particular, and appropriated. A few traites from this celebrated part of our author, yet too little taſted and underſtood, may be ſufficient to prove and illuſtrate what is here advanced.

[436] The character of the PRIORESSE is chiefly diſtinguiſhed by an exceſs of delicacy and decorum, and an affectation of courtly accompliſhments. But we are informed, that ſhe was educated at the ſchool of Stratford at Bow near London, perhaps a faſhionable ſeminary for breeding nuns.

There was alſo a nonne a Prioreſſe
That of her ſmiling was ſimble and coy;
Her gretiſt othe was but by ſaint Eloye b.
And French ſhe ſpake full fayre and fetiſly,
Aftir the ſchole of Stratford atte Bowe,
For French of Paris was to her unknowe.
At metèc was ſhe well ytaught withall;
She let no morſell from her lippis fall,
Ne wet her fingris in the ſaucè depe;
Well couth ſhe carry a morſel, and well kepe,
That no dropè ne fell upon her breſt;
In curteſie was ſett ful much her leſt d.
Her ovirlippè wipid ſhe ſo clene,
That in her cup ther was no ferthing ſene
Of grecè, when ſhe dronkin had hir draught,
Full ſemily aftir hir mete ſhe raught e.—
And painid hir to counterfetè chere
Of court, and to ben ſtately of manere f.

She has even the falſe pity and ſentimentality of many modern ladies.

She was ſo charitable and ſo pitous,
She wouldè wepe if that ſhe ſaw a mous
Caught in a trapp, if it were ded or bled.
Of ſmalè houndis had ſhe that ſhe fed
[437] With roſtid fleſh, or milk, or waſtell bred g:
But ſore wept ſhe if any of them were ded,
Or if men ſmote them with a yardèh ſmert:
And all was conſcience and tendir hert i.

The WIFE OF BATH is more amiable for her plain and uſeful qualifications. She is a reſpectable dame, and her chief pride conſiſts in being a conſpicuous and ſignificant character at church on a Sunday.

Of clothmakingk ſhe haddè ſuch a haunt
She paſſid them of Ipre and of Gaunt l.
In all the pariſh, wife ne was there none
That to the offryng was bifore her gone;
And if ther did, certain ſo wroth was ſhe,
That ſhe was outin of all charite.
Her coverchefesm were large and fine of ground,
I durſt to ſwere that thei weyid three pound,
That on a ſonday were upon hir hedde:
Her hoſin werin of fine ſcarlett redde,
Full ſtrait iſtreynid, and hir ſhoos ful newe:
Bold was hir face, and fayr and redde hir hewe.
She was a worthy woman all her live:
n Husbandes at the chirche dore had ſhe had five o.

[438] The FRANKELEIN is a country gentleman, whoſe eſtate conſiſted in free land, and was not ſubject to feudal ſervices or payments. He is ambitious of ſhewing his riches by the plenty of his table: but his hoſpitality, a virtue much more practicable among our anceſtors than at preſent, often degenerates into luxurious exceſs. His impatience if his ſauces were not ſufficiently poignant, and every article of his dinner in due form and readineſs, is touched with the hand of Pope or Boileau. He had been a preſident at the ſeſſions, knight of the ſhire, a ſheriff, and a coroner p.

An houſholder, and that a gret, was he:
Saint Julian he was in his countre q.
His brede, his ale, was alway aftir one;
A bettir viendidr men was no wher none.
Withoutin bake mete never was his houſe
Of fiſh and fleſhe, and that ſo plenteouſe,
It fnewids in his houſe of mete and drink,
And of all dainties that men couth of think.
Aftir the ſondrie ſeaſons of the yere,
So chaungid he his mete t, and his ſupp [...]re.
Many a fat partriche had he in mewe,
And many a breme, and many a luce u, in ſtewe.
Woe was his cooke, but that his ſaucis were
Poinant and ſharpe, and redy all his gere!
His table dormauntw in the hall [...] alway,
Stode redy coverid, all the longè day x.

[439] The character of the Doctor of PHISICKE preſerves to us the ſtate of medical knowledge, and the courſe of medical erudition then in faſhion. He treats his patients according to rules of aſtronomy: a ſcience which the Arabians engrafted on medicine.

For he was groundid in aſtronomie:
He kept his pacients a full gret dele
In houris by his magike natural y.

Petrarch leaves a legacy to his phyſician John de Dondi, of Padua, who was likewiſe a great aſtronomer, in the year 1370 z. It was a long time before the medical profeſſion was purged from theſe ſuperſtitions. Hugo de Eveſham, born in Worceſterſhire, one of the moſt famous phyſicians in Europe about the year 1280, educated in both the univerſities of England, and at others in France and Italy, was eminently ſkilled in mathematics and aſtronomy a. Pierre d'Apono, a celebrated profeſſor of medicine and aſtronomy at Padua, wrote commentaries on the problems of Ariſtotle, in the year 1310. Roger Bacon ſays, ‘"aſtronomiae pars melior medicina b."’ In the ſtatutes of New-College at Oxford, given in the year 1387, medicine and aſtronomy are mentioned as one and the ſame ſcience. Charles the fifth king of France, who was governed entir [...]ly by aſtrologers, and who commanded all the Latin treatiſes which could be found relating to the ſtars, to be tranſlated into French, eſtabliſhed a college in the univerſity of Paris for the ſtudy of medicine and aſtrology c. There is a ſcarce and very curious book, entitled, ‘"Nova medicinae methodus curandi morbos ex mathematica ſcientia deprompta, nunc denuo [440] reviſa, &c. Joanne Hasfurto Virdungo, medico et aſtrologo doctiſſimo, auctore, Haganoae excuſ. 1518 d."’ Hence magic made a part of medicine. In the MARCHAUNTS ſecond tale, or HISTORY OF BERYN, falſely aſcribed to Chaucer, a chirurgical operation of changing eyes is partly performed by the aſſiſtance of the occult ſciences.

—The whole ſcience of all ſurgery,
Was undyd or the chaunge was made of both eye,
With many ſotill enchantours, and eke nygrymauncers,
That ſent wer for the nonis, maiſtris, and ſcoleris e.

Leland mentions one William Glatiſaunt, an aſtrologer and phyſician, a fellow of Merton college in Oxford, who wrote a medical tract, which, ſays he, ‘"neſcio quid MAGIAE ſpirabat f."’ I could add many other proofs g.

The books which our phyſician ſtudied are then enumerated.

Well knew he the old Eſculapius,
And Dioſcorides, and eke Rufus,
Old Hippocrates, Haly, and Galen,
Serapion, Raſis, and Avicen,
Averrois, Damaſcene, Conſtantine,
Bernard, and Gattiſden, and Gilbertin.

Rufus, a phyſician of Epheſus, wrote in Greek, about the time of Trajan. Some fragments of his works ſtill remain h. Haly was a famous Arabic aſtronomer, and a commentator on Galen, in the eleventh century, which produced ſo many famous Arabian phyſicians i. John Serapion, of the ſame age and country, wrote on the practice of [441] phyſic k. Avicen, the moſt eminent phyſician of the Arabian ſchool, flouriſhed in the ſame century l. Rhaſis, an Aſiatic phyſician, practiced at Cordoua in Spain, where he died in the tenth century m. Averroes, as the Aſiatic ſchools decayed by the indolence of the Caliphs, was one of thoſe philoſophers who adorned the Mooriſh ſchools erected in Africa and Spain. He was a profeſſor in the univerſity of Morocco. He wrote a commentary on all Ariſtotle's works, and died about the year 1160. He was ſtyled the moſt Peripatic of all the Arabian writers. He was born at Cordoua of an antient Arabic family n. John Damaſcene, ſecretary to one of the Caliphs, wrote in various ſciences, before the Arabians had entered Europe, and had ſeen the Grecian philoſophers o. Conſtantinus Afer, a monk of Caſſino in Italy was one of the Saracen phyſicians who brought medicine into Europe, and formed the Salernitan ſchool, chiefly by tranſlating various Arabian and Grecian medical books into Latin p. He was born at Carthage: and learned grammar, logic, geometry, arithmetic, aſtronomy, and natural philoſophy, of the Chaldees, Arabians, Perſians, Saracens, Egyptians, and Indians, in the ſchools of Bagdat. Being thus completely accompliſhed in theſe ſciences, after thirty-nine years ſtudy, he returned into Africa. where an attempt was formed againſt his life. Conſtantine, having fortunately diſcovered this deſign, privately took ſhip and came to Salerno [442] in Italy, where he lurked ſome time in diſguiſe. But he was recogniſed by the Caliph's brother then at Salerno, who recommended him as a ſcholar univerſally ſkilled in the learning of all nations, to the notice of Robert duke of Normandy. Robert entertained him with the higheſt marks of reſpect: and Conſtantine, by the advice of his patron, retired to the monaſtery of Caſſino, where being kindly received by the abbot Deſiderius, he tranſlated in that learned ſociety the books above-mentioned, moſt of which he firſt imported into Europe. Theſe verſions are ſaid to be ſtill extant. He flouriſhed about the year 1086 q. Bernard, or Bernardus Gordonius, appears to have been Chaucer's cotemporary. He was a profeſſor of medicine at Montpelier, and wrote many treatiſes in that faculty r. John Gatiſden was a fellow of Merton college, where Chaucer was educated, about the year 1320 s. Pitts ſays, that he was profeſſor of [443] phyſic in Oxford t. He was the moſt celebrated phyſician of his age in England; and his principal work is entitled, ROSA MEDICA, divided into five books, which was printed at Paris in the year 1492 u. Gilbertine, I ſuppoſe is Gilbertus Anglicus, who flouriſhed in the thirteenth century, and wrote a popular compendium of the medical art w. About the ſame time, not many years before Chaucer wrote, the works of the moſt famous Arabian authors, and among the reſt thoſe of Avicenne, Averroes, Serapion, and Rhaſis, above-mentioned, were tranſlated into Latin x. Theſe were our phyſician's library. But having mentioned his books, Chaucer could not forbear to add a ſtroke of ſatire ſo naturally introduced.

His ſtudie was but litill in the bible y.

The following anecdotes and obſ [...]rvations may ſerve to throw general light on the learning of the authors who compoſe this curious library. The Ariſtotelic or Arabian philoſophy continued to be communicated from Spain and Africa to the reſt of Europe chieſly by means of the Jews: particularly to France and Italy, which were over-run with Jews about the tenth and eleventh centuries. About theſe p [...]riods, not only the courts of the Mahometan princes, but even that of the pope himſelf, were filled with Jews. Here they principally gained an eſtabliſhment by the profeſſion of [444] phyſic; an art then but imperfectly known and practiced in moſt parts of Europe. Being well verſed in the Arabic tongue, from their commerce with Africa and Egypt, they had ſtudied the Arabic tranſlations of Galen and Hippocrates; which had become ſtill more familiar to the great numbers of their brethren who reſided in Spain. From this ſource al [...]o the Jews learned philoſophy; and Hebrew verſions made about this period from the Arabic, of Ariſtotle and the Greek phyſicians and mathematicians, are ſtil [...] extant in ſome libraries y. Here was a beneficial effect of the diſperſion and vagabond condition of the Jews: I mean the diffuſion of knowledge. One of the moſt eminent of theſe learned Jews was Moſes Maimonides, a phyſician, philoſopher, aſtrologer, and theologiſt, educated at Cordoua in Spain under Averroes. He died about the year 1208. Averroes being accuſed of heretical opinions, was ſentenced to live with the Jews in the ſtreet of the Jews at Cordoua. Some of theſe learned Jews began to flouriſh in the Arabian ſchools in Spain, as early as the beginning of the ninth century. Many of the treatiſes of Averroes were tranſlated by the Spaniſh Jews into Hebrew: and the Latin pieces of Averroes now extant were tranſlated into Latin from theſe Hebrew verſions. I have already mentioned the ſchool or univerſity of Cordoua. Leo Africanus ſpeaks of ‘"Platea bibliothecariorum Cordouae."’ This, from what follows, appears to be a ſtreet of bookſellers. It was in the time of Averroes, and about the year 1220. One of our Jew philoſophers having fallen in love, turned poet, and his verſes were publicly ſold in this ſtreet z. My author ſays, that renouncing the dignity of the Jewiſh doctor, he took to writing verſes a.

[445] The SOMPNOUR, whoſe office it was to ſummon uncanonical offend [...]rs into the archdeacon's court, where they were very rigorouſly puniſhed, is humourouſly drawn as counteracting his profeſſion by his example: he is libidinous and voluptuous, and his roſy countenance belies his occupation. This is an indirect ſatire o [...] the eccleſiaſtical proceedings of thoſe times. His affectation of Latin terms, which he had picked up from the decrees and pleadings of the court, muſt have formed a character highly ridiculous.

And when that he well dronkin had the wine,
Then would he ſpekè no word but Latine.
A few ſchole termis couth he two or thr [...],
That he had lernid out of ſome decre.
No wonder is, he herd it all the day:
And ye well knowin eke, how that a jay
Can clepè wult as well as can the pope:
But whoſo couth in other things him grope b,
Then had he ſpent al his philoſophie,
A queſtio quid juris c would he crie d.

He is with great propriety made the friend and companion of the PARDONERE, or diſpenſer of indulgences, who is juſt arrived from the pope, ‘"brimful of pardons come from Rome al hote:"’ and who carries in his wall [...]t, among other holy curioſities, the virgin Mary's veil, and part of the ſail of Saint Peter's ſhip e.

The MONKE is repreſented as more attentive to horſes and hounds than to the rigorous and obſolete ordinances of Saint Benedict. Such are his ideas of ſecular pomp and pleaſure, that he is even qualified to be an abbot f.

[446]
An outrider that lovid venery g,
A manly mon, to ben an abbot able:
Many a dainty horſe he had in ſtable.—
This ilkèh monke let old thingis to pace,
And heldin aftir the new world to trace.
He gave not of the text a pullid hen i
That ſaith, that hunters be not holy men k.

He is ambitious of appearing a conſpicuous and ſtately figure on horſeback. A circumſtance repreſented with great elegance.

And when he rode, men might his bridle here
Gingiling in a whiſtling wind, as clere
And eke as loud, as doth the chapel bell l.

The gallantry of his riding-dreſs, and his genial aſpect, is painted in lively colours.

I ſee his ſleves purfilidm at the hande,
With grys n, and that the finiſt in the lande.
And to ſuſtene his hode undir his chin
He had of gold wrought a ful curious pin,
A love-knot in the greter end ther was.
His hed was bald, and ſhone as any glas,
And eke his [...]ace as he had been anoint:
He was a lorde ful fat, and in gode point.
[447] His eyin ſtepe, and rolling in his hed,
That ſtemith as a furneis of led.
His bootes ſouple, his hors in great eſtate,
Now certeinly he was a fayr prelate!
He was not pale as a forpynid ghoſt;
A fat ſwan lovde he beſt of any roſt.
His palfry was as brown as is the berry o.

The FRERE, or friar, is equally fond of diverſion and good living; but the poverty of his eſtabliſhment obliges him to travel about the country, and to practice various artifices to provide money for his convent, under the ſacred character of a confeſſor p.

A frere there was, a wanton and a merry;
A limitour q, and a ful ſolempne man:
In all the orders four r is none that can
So much of daliaunce, and of faire langage.—
Ful ſwetely herde he their confeſſioune:
Ful pleſant was his abſolutioune.
His tippit was aye farfid ful of knives
And pinnis for to givin to faire wives.
And certainly he had a merry note:
Wele couthe he ſing and playin on a rote r.
[448] Of yeddings he bare utterly the price.
Ther n'as no man no where ſo vertuouſe;
He was the beſt beggare in all his houſe t.
Somewhat he lipſid for his wantonneſſe,
To make his Engliſh ſwete upon his tonge;
And in his harping, when that he had ſonge,
His eyi [...] twinkelid in his hede aright
As donn the ſtarris in a froſtie night u.

With theſe unhallowed and untrue ſons of the church is contraſted the PARSOUNE, or pariſh-prieſt: in deſcribing whoſe ſanctity, ſimplicity, ſincerity, patience, induſtry, courage, and conſcientious impartiality, Chaucer ſhews his good ſenſe and good heart. Dryden imitated this character of the GOOD PARSON, and is ſaid to have applied it to biſhop Ken.

The character of the SQUIRE teaches us the education and requiſite accompliſhments of young gentlemen in the gallant reign of Edward the third. But it is to be remembered, that our ſquire is the ſon of a knight, who has performed feats of chivalry in every part of the world; which the poet thus enumerates with great dignity and ſimplicity.

At Aliſſandre' he was whan it was won,
Full oft timis had he the bourd begon w,
Abovin allè naciouns in Pruce x.
In Lettowy had he riddin and in Luce z:
[449] No criſten man ſo oft of his degree
In Granada, and in the ſege had he be
Of Algezir a, and ridd in Belmary b.
At Leyisc was he, and at Sataly d,
When they were won: and in the gretè ſea:
At many a noble army had he be:
At mortal battailes had he ben fiftene,
And foughtin for our faith at Tramiſene e
In lyſtis thrys, and alway ſlein his fo.
This ilkè worthy Knight had ben alſo
Sometimis with the lord of Palathy f:
Ayensg another hethen in Turky.
And evirmore he had a ſovrane prize,
And thoug that he was worthy he was wiſe h.

The poet in ſome of theſe lines implies, that after the Chriſtians were driven out of Paleſtine, the Engliſh knights of his days joined the knights of Livonia and Pruſſia, and attacked the pagans of Lithuania, and its adjacent territories. Lithuania was not converted to chriſtianity till towards the cloſe of the fourteenth century. Pruſſian targets are mentioned, as we have before ſeen, in the KN [...]GHT'S TALE. Thomas duke of Glouceſter, youngeſt ſon of king Edward the third, and Henry earl of Derby, afterwards king Henry the fourth, travelled into Pruſſia: and in conjunction with [450] the grand Maſters and Knights of Pruſſia and Livonia, fought the infidels of Lithuania. Lord Derby was greatly inſtrumental in taking Vilna, the capital of that county, in the year 1390 h. Here is a ſeeming compliment to ſome of theſe expeditions. This invincible and accompliſhed champion afterwards tells the heroic tale of PALAMON and ARCITE. His ſon the SQUIER, a youth of twenty years, is thus delineated.

And he had been ſometime in chivauchie 1871
In Flandris, in Artois, and Picardie:
And born him wele, as of ſo littill ſpace,
In hope to ſtandin in his ladies grace.
Embroudid was he as it were a mede
All ful of freſh flouris both white and rede.
Singing he w [...]s and floityng al the day,
He was as freſh as in the month of May.
Schort was his gown with ſlevis long and wide,
Wel couth he ſit an hors, and faire yride.
And ſongis couth he make, and wel endite,
Juſt, and eke daunce, and wel portraie, and write k.

To this young man the poet, with great obſervance of decorum gives the tale of Cambuſcan, the next in knightly dignity to that of Palamon [...]nd Arcite. He is attended by a y [...]oman, whoſe figure revives the ideas of the foreſt laws.

And he was clad in cote and hode of grene:
A ſhaft of pecocke arrows bright and kene l.
[451] Undir his belt he bare ful thriftily:
Wel couth he dreſs his tackle yomanly:
His arrows droupid not with featheris low;
And in his hand he bare a mighty bow.
Upon his arm he bare a gay bracer m,
And by his ſide a ſword and bokeler.—
A Chriſtophern on his breſt of ſilver ſhene:
A horn he bare, the baudrick was of grene o,

The character of the REEVE, an officer of much greater truſt and authority during the feudal conſtitution than at preſent, is happily pictured. His attention to the care and cuſtody of the manors, the produce of which was then kept in hand for furniſhing his lord's table, perpetually employs his time, preys upon his thoughts, and makes him le [...]n and choleric. He is the terror of baili [...]s and hinds: and is rem [...]rkable for his circumſpection, vigil [...]nc [...], and ſ [...]btlety. He is n [...]v [...]r in arrears, and no auditor is able to ov [...]r-reach or detect him in his accounts: yet he makes more commodious purch [...]ſes for himſelf than for his maſter, without forf [...]iting the good will or bounty of th [...] latter. Amidſt th [...]ſe ſtrokes of [...]atire, Chaucer's genius for deſcriptive painting breaks forth in this ſimple and beautiful deſcription of th [...] REEVE'S rural habitation.

[451]
His wonningp was ful fayre upon a heth,
With grene trees yſhadowed was his place q.

In the CLERKE OF OXENFORDE our author glances at the inattention paid [...]o literature, and the unprofitableneſs of philoſophy. He is emaciated with ſtudy, clad in a threadbare cloak, and rides a ſteed lean as a rake.

For he had gotten him no benefice,
Ne was ſo worldly for to have office:
For him had leverr han at his bedſhed
Twentie bokis, yclad in with black or red,
Of Ariſtotle and his philoſophie,
Th [...]n robis rich, fithell s, or gay ſautrie:
But albe that he was a philoſopher,
Yet had he but little gold in his coffer t.

His unwearied attention to logic had tinctured his converſation with much pedantic formality, and taught him to ſpeak on all ſubjects in a preciſe and ſententious ſtyle. Yet his converſation was inſtructive: and he was no leſs willing to ſubmit than to communicate his opinion to others.

Sowning in moral virtue was his ſpeche,
And gladly would he learn, and gladly teche u.

The perpetual importance of the SERJEANT OF LAWE, who by habit or by affectation has the faculty of appearing buſy when he has nothing to do, is ſketched with the ſpirit and conciſeneſs of Horace.

[453]
No where ſo buſy'a man as he ther n'as,
And yet he ſemid buſier than he was w.

There is ſome humour in making our lawyer introduce the language of his pleadings into common converſation. He addreſſes the hoſte,

Hoſte, quoth he, de pardeux jeo aſſent x.

The affectation of talking French was indeed general, but it is here appropriated and in character.

Among the reſt, the character of the HOSTE, or maſter of the Tabarde inn where the pilgrims are aſſembled, is conſpicuous. He has much good ſenſe, and diſcovers great talents for managing and regulating a large company; and to him we are indebted for the happy propoſal of obliging every pilgrim to tell a ſtory during their journey to Canterbury. His interpoſitions between the tales are very uſeful and enlivening; and he is ſomething like the chorus on the Grecian ſtage. He is of great ſervice in encouraging each perſon to begin his part, in conducting the ſcheme with ſpirit, in making proper obſervations on the merit or tendency of the ſeveral [454] ſtories, in ſettling diſputes which muſt naturally ariſe in the courſe of ſuch an entertainment, and in connecting all the narratives into one continued ſyſtem. His love of good cheer, experience in marſhalling gueſts, addreſs, authoritative deportment, and facetious diſpoſition, are thus expreſſively diſplayed by Chaucer.

Grete chere our Hoſtè made us everichone,
And to the ſuppere ſet he us anone;
And ſervid us with vitailes of the beſt:
Strong was his wine, and wele to drink us leſt y.
A ſemely man our Hoſtè was withal
To bene a marſhall in a lordis hal.
A largè man was he, with eyin ſtepe,
A fayrer burgeis is there none in Chepe z.
Bold of his ſpeche, and wiſe, and well ytaught,
And of manhodè lakid him right nought.
And eke therto he was a merry man, &c a.

Chaucer's ſcheme of the CANTERBURY TALES was evidently left unfiniſhed. It was intended by our author, that every pilgrim ſhould likewiſe tell a Tale on their return from Canterbury b. A poet who lived ſoon after the CANTERBURY TALES made their appearance, ſeems to have deſigned a ſupplement [455] to this deficiency, and with this view to have written a Tale called the MARCHAUNT'S SECOND TALE, or the HISTORY OF BERYN. It was firſt printed by Urry, who ſuppoſed it to be Chaucer's c. In the Prologue which is of conſiderable length, there is ſome humour and contrivance: in which the author, happily enough, continues to characteriſe the pilgrims, by imagining what each did, and how each behaved, when they all arrived at Canterbury. After dinner was ordered at their inn, they all proceed to the cathedral. At entering the church one of the monks ſprinkles them with holy water. The Knight with the better ſort of the company goes in great order to the ſhrine of Thomas a Beckett. The Miller and his companions run ſtaring about the church: they pretend to blazon the arms painted in the glaſs windows, and enter into a diſpute in heraldry: but the Hoſte of the Tabarde reproves them for their improper behaviour and impertinent diſcourſe, and directs them to the martyr's ſhrine. When all had finiſhed their devotions, they return to the inn. In the way thither they purchaſe toys for which that city was famous, called Canterbury brochis: and here much facetiouſneſs paſſes betwixt the Frere and the Sompnour, in which the latter vows revenge on the former, for telling a Tale ſo palpably levelled at his profeſſion, and proteſts he will retaliate on their return by a more ſevere ſtory. When dinner is ended, the Hoſte of the Tabarde thanks all the company in form for their ſeveral Tales. The party then ſeparate till ſupper-time by agreement. The Knight goes to ſurvey the walls and bulwarks of the city, and explains to his ſon the Squier the nature and ſtrength of them. Mention is here made of great guns. The Wife of Bath is too weary to walk far; ſhe propoſes to the Prioreſſe to divert themſelves in the garden, which abounds with herbs proper for making ſalves. Others wander about the ſtreets. The Pardoner has a low adventure, which ends [456] much to his diſgrace. The next morning they proceed on their return to Southwark: and our genial maſter of the Tabarde, juſt as they leave Canterbury, by way of putting the company into good humour, begins a panegyric on the morning and the month of April, ſome lines of which I ſhall quote, as a ſpecimen of our author's abilities in poetical deſcription c.

Lo! how the ſeſon of the yere, and Averelld ſhouris,
Doithe the busſhis burgynf out bloſſomes and flouris.
Lo! the prymeroſys of the yere, how freſh they bene to ſene,
And many othir flouris among the graſſis grene.
Lo! how they ſpringe and ſprede, and of divers hue,
Beholdith and ſeith, both white, red, and blue.
That luſty bin a [...]d comfortabyll for mannis ſight,
For I ſay for myſ [...]lf it makith my hert to light g.

On caſting lots, it falls to the Marchaunt to tell the firſt tale, which then follows. I cannot allow that this Prologue and Tale were written by Chaucer. Yet I believe them to be nearly coeval.

SECT. XVIII.

[457]

IT is not my intention to dedicate a volume to Chaucer, how much ſoever he may deſerve it; nor can it be expected, that, in a work of this general nature, I ſhould enter into a critical examination of all Chaucer's pieces. Enough has been ſaid to prove, that in elevation, and elegance, in harmony and perſpicuity of verſification, he ſurpaſſes his predeceſſors in an infinite proportion: that his genius was univerſal, and adapted to themes of unbounded variety: that his merit was not leſs in painting familiar manners with humour and propriety, than in moving the paſſions, and in repreſenting the beautiful or the grand objects of nature with grace and ſublimity. In a word, that he appeared with all the luſtre and dignity of a true poet, in an age which compelled him to ſtruggle with a barbarous language, and a national want of taſte; and when to write verſes at all, was regarded as a ſingular qualification. It is true indeed, that he lived at a time when the French and Italians had made conſiderable advances and improvements in poetry: and although proofs have already been occaſionally given of his imitations from theſe ſources, I ſhall cloſe my account of him with a diſtinct and comprehenſive view of the nature of the poetry which ſubſiſted in France and Italy when he wrote: pointing out in the mean time, how far and in what manner the popular models of thoſe nations contributed to form his taſte, and influence his genius.

I have already mentioned the troubadours of Provence, and have obſerved that they were fond of moral and allegorical fables a. A taſte for this ſort of compoſition they [458] partly acquired by reading Boethius, and the PSYCHOMACHIA of Prudentius, two favorite claſſics of the dark ages; and partly from the Saracens their neighbours in Spain, who were great inventors of apologues. The French have a very early metrical romance DE FORTUNE ET DE FELICITE, a tranſlation from Boethius's book DE CONSOLATIONE, by Reynault de Louens a Dominican friar b. From this ſource, among many others of the Provencial poems, came the Tournament of ANTICHRIST above-mentioned, which contains a combat of the Virtues and Vices c: the Romaunt of Richard de Liſle, in which MODESTY fighting with LUSTd is thrown into the river Seine at Paris: and, above all, the ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE, tranſlated by Chaucer, and already mentioned at large in its proper place. Viſions were a branch of this ſpecies of poetry, which admitted the moſt licentious excurſions of fancy in forming perſonifications, and in feigning imaginary b [...]ings and ideal habitations. Under theſe we may rank Chaucer's HOUSE OF FAME, which I have before hinted to have been probably the p [...]oduction of Provence.

But the principal ſubject of their poems, dictated in great meaſure by the ſpirit of chivalry, was love: eſpecially among the troubadours of rank and diſtinction, whoſe caſtles being crowded with ladies, preſented perpetual ſcenes of the moſt ſplendid gallantry. This paſſion they ſpiritualiſed into various metaphyſical refinements, and filled it with abſtracted notions of viſionary perfection and felicity. Here too they were perhaps influenced by their neighbours the Saracens, whoſe philoſophy chiefly conſiſted of fantaſtic abſtractions. It is [459] manifeſt, however, that nothing can exceed the profound pedantry with which they treated this favorite argument. They defined the eſſence and characteriſtics of true love with all the parade of a Scotiſt in his profeſſorial chair: and bewildered their imaginations in ſpeculative queſtions concerning the moſt deſperate or the moſt happy ſituations of a ſincere and ſentimental heart e. But it would be endleſs, and indeed ridiculous, to deſcribe at length the ſyſtematical ſolemnity with which they cloathed this paſſion f. The ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE which I have juſt alledged as a proof of their all [...]goriſing turn, is not leſs an inſtance of their affectation in writing on this ſubject: in which the poet, under the [...]gency of allegorical perſonages, diſplays the gradual approach [...]s and impediments to fruition, and introduces a regular diſputation conducted with much formality between Reaſon and a lover. Chaucer's TESTAMENT OF LOVE is alſo formed on this philoſophy of gallantry. It is a lover's parody of Boethius's book DE CONSOLATIONE mentioned above. His poem called LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCY g, and his ASSEMBLE OF LADIES, are from the ſame [460] ſchool h. Chaucer's PRIORESSE and MONKE, whoſe lives were devoted to religious reflection and the moſt ſerious engagements, and while they are actually travelling on a pilgrimage to viſit the ſhrine of a ſainted martyr, openly avow the univerſal influence of love. They exhibit, on their apparel, badges entirely inconſiſtent with their profeſſion, but eaſily accountable for from theſe principles. The Prioreſſe wears a bracelet on which is inſcribed, with a crowned A, Amor vincit omnia i. The Monke ties his hood with a true-lover's knot k. The early poets of P [...]ovence, as I before hinted, formed a ſociety called the COURT OF LOVE, which gave riſe to others in Gaſcony, Languedoc, Poictou, and Dauphiny: and Picardy, the conſtant rival of Provence, had a ſimilar inſtitution called Plaids et Gieux ſous l'Ormel. Theſe eſtabliſhments conſiſted of ladies and gentlemen of the higheſt rank, exerciſed and approved in courteſy, who tried with the moſt conſummate ceremony, and decided with ſupreme authority, caſes in love brought before their tribunal. Martial d'Avergne, an old French poet, for the diverſion and at the requeſt of the counteſs of Beaujeu, wrote a poem entitled ARRESTA AMORUM, or the Decrees of Love, which is a humourous deſcription of the Plaids of Picardy. Fontenelle has recited one of their proceſſes, which conveys an idea of all the reſt l. A queen of France was appealed to from an unjuſt ſentence pronounced in the love-pleas, where the counteſs of Champagne preſided. The queen did not chuſe to interpoſe in a matter of ſo much conſequence, nor to reverſe the decrees of a court whoſe deciſion was abſolute and final. She anſwered, ‘"God forbid, that I ſhould preſume to contradict the ſentence of the counteſs of Champagne!"’ This was about the year 1206. Chaucer has a poem called the COURT [461] OF LOVE, which is nothing more than the love-court of Provence n: it contains the twenty ſtatutes which that court preſcribed to be univerſally obſerved under the ſevereſt penalties o. Not long afterwards, on the ſame principle, a ſociety was eſtabliſhed in Languedoc, called the Fraternity of the Penitents of Love. Enthuſiaſm was here carried to as high a pitch of extravagance as ever it was in religion. It was a contention of ladies and gentlemen, who ſhould beſt ſuſtain the honour of their amorous fanaticiſm. Their object was to prove the exceſs of their love, by ſhewing with an invincible fortitude and conſiſtency of conduct, with no leſs obſtinacy of opinion, that they could bear extremes of heat and cold. Accordingly the reſolute knights and eſquires, the dames and damſels, who had the hardineſs to embrace this ſevere inſtitution, dreſſed themſelves during the heat of ſummer in the thickeſt mantles lined with the warmeſt fur [...] In this they demonſtrated, according to the antient poets, that love works the moſt wonderful and extraordinary changes. In winter, their love again perverted the nature of the ſeaſons: they then cloathed themſelves in the lighteſt and thinneſt ſtuffs which could be procured. It was a crime to wear fur on a day of the moſt piercing cold; or to appear with a hood, cloak, gloves, or muff. The flame of love kept them ſufficiently warm. Fires, all the winter, [462] were utterly baniſhed from their houſes; and they dreſſed their apartments with evergreens. In the moſt intenſe froſt their beds were covered only with a piece of canvaſs. It muſt be remembered, that in the mean time they paſſed the greater part of the day abroad, in wandering about from caſtle to caſtle; inſomuch, that many of theſe devotees, during ſo deſperate a pilgrimage, periſhed by the inclemency of [...] the weather, and died martyrs to their profeſſion p.

The early univerſality of the French language greatly contributed to facilitate the circulation of the poetry of the troubadours in other countries. The Frankiſh language was familiar even at Conſtantinople and its dependent provinces in the eleventh century, and long afterwards. Raymond Montaniero, an hiſtorian of Catalonia, who wrote about the year 1300, ſays, that the French tongue was as well known in the Morea and at Athens as at Paris. ‘"E parlavan axi belle Francis com dins en Paris q."’ The oldeſt Italian poetry ſeems to be founded on that of Provence. The word SONNET was adopted from the French into the Italian verſification. It occurs in the ROMAN DE LA ROSE, ‘"Lais d'amour et SONNETS courtois r."’ Boccacio copied many of his beſt Tales from the troubadours s. Several of Dante's fictions are [463] derived from the ſame fountain. Dante has honoured ſome of them with a ſ [...]at in his Paradiſe s: and in his tract DE VULGARI ELOQUENTIA, has mentioned Thiebault king of Navarre as a pattern for writing poetry t. With regard to Dante's capital work the INFERNO, Raoul de Houdane, a Provencial bard about the year 1180, wrote a poem entitled, LE VOYE OU LE SONGE D'ENFER u. Both Boccacio and Dante ſtudied at Paris, where they much improved their taſte by reading the ſongs of Thiebauld king of Navarre, Gaces Brules, Chatelain de Coucy, and other antient French fabuliſts w. Petrarch's refined ideas of love are chiefly drawn from thoſe amorous reveries of the Provencials which I have above deſcribed; heightened perhaps by the Platonic ſyſtem, and exaggerated by the ſubtiliſing ſpirit of Italian fancy. Varchi and Pignatelli have written profeſſed treatiſes on the nature of Petrarch's love. But neither they, nor the reſt of the Italians who, to this day, continue to debate a point of ſo much conſequence, conſider how powerfully Petrarch muſt have been influenced to talk of love in ſo peculiar a ſtrain by ſtudying the poets of Provence. His TRIUMFO DI AMORE has much imagery copied from Anſelm Fayditt, one of the moſt celebrated of theſe bards. He has likewiſe many imitations from the works of Arnaud Daniel, who is called the moſt eloquent of the troubadours x. Petrarch, [464] in one of his ſonnets, repreſents his miſtreſs Laura ſailing on the river Rhone, in company with twelve Provencial ladies, who at that time preſided over the COURT OF LOVE y.

Paſquier obſerves, that the Italian poetry aroſe as the Provencial declined z. It is a proof of the decay of invention among the French in the beginning of the fourteenth century, that about that period they began to tranſlate into proſe their old metrical romances: ſuch as the fables of king Arthur, of Charlemagne, of Oddegir the Dane, of Renaud of Montauban, and other illuſtrious champions, whom their early writers had celebrated in rhyme a. At length, about the year 1380, in the place of the Provencial a new ſpecies of poetry ſucceeded in France, conſiſting of Chants Royaux b, [465] Balades, Rondeaux, and Paſtorales c. This was diſtinguiſhed by the appellation of the NEW POETRY: and Froiſſart, who has been mentioned above chiefly in the character of an hiſtorian, cultivated it with ſo much ſucceſs, that he has been called its author. The titles of Froiſſart's poetical pieces will alone ſerve to illuſtrate the nature of this NEW POETRY: but they prove, at the ſame time, that the Provencial caſt of compoſition ſtill continued to prevail. They are, The Paradiſe of Love, A Panegyric on the Month of May, The Temple of Honour, The Flower of the Daiſy, Amorous Lays, Paſtorals, The Amorous Priſon, Royal Ballads in honour of our Lady, The Ditty of the Amourous Spinett, Virelais, Rondeaus, and The Plea of the Roſe and Violet d. Whoever examines Chaucer's ſmaller pieces will perceive that they are altogether formed on this plan, and often compounded of theſe ideas. Chaucer himſelf declares, that he wrote

—Many an hymne for your holidaies
e That hightin balades, rondils, virelaies f.

But above all, Chaucer's FLOURE AND THE LEAFE, in which an air of rural deſcription predominates, and where the allegory is principally conducted by myſterious alluſions to the virtues or beauties of the vegetable world, to flowers and plants, excluſive of its general romantic and allegoric vein, [466] bears a ſtrong reſemblance to ſome of theſe ſubjects. The poet is happily placed in a delicious arbour, interwoven with eglantine. Imaginary troops of knights and ladies advance: ſome of the ladies are crowned with flowers, and other [...] with chaplets of agnus caſtus, and theſe are reſpectively ſubject to a Lady of the Flower, and a Lady of the Leaf g. Some are cloathed in green, and others in white. Many of the knights are diſtinguiſhed in much the ſame manner. But others are crowned with leaves of oak or of other trees: others carry branches of oak, laurel, hawthorn, and woodbine h. Beſides this profuſion of vernal ornaments, the whole proceſſion glitters with gold, pearls, rubies, and other coſtly decorations. They are preceded by minſtrels cloathed in green and crowned with flowers. One of the ladies ſings a bargaret, or paſtoral, in praiſe of the daiſy.

Ai bargaret in praiſing the daiſie,
For as methought among her notis ſwete
She ſaid ſi douce eſt le margaruite k.

This might have been Froiſſart's ſong: at leaſt this is one of his ſubjects. In the mean time a nightingale, ſeated in a laurel-tr [...]e, whoſe ſhade would cover an hundred perſons, ſings the whole ſervice, ‘"longing to May."’ Some of the knights and ladies do obeyſance to the leaf, and ſome to the [467] flower of the daiſy. Others are repreſented as worſhipping a bed of flowers. Flora is introduced ‘"of theſe flouris goddeſſe."’ The lady of the leaf invites the lady of the flower to a banquet. Under theſe ſymbols is much morality couched. The leaf ſignifies perſeverance and virtue: the flower denotes indolence and pleaſure. Among thoſe who are crowned with the leaf, are the knights of king Arthur's round table, and Charlemagne's Twelve Peers; together with the knights of the order of the garter now juſt eſtabliſhed by Edward the third l.

But theſe fancies ſeem more immediately to have taken their riſe from the FLORAL GAMES inſtituted in France in the year 1324 m, which filled the French poetry with images of this ſort n. They were founded by Clementina Iſaure counteſs of Tholouſe, and annually celebrated in the month of May. She publiſhed an edict, which aſſembled all the poets of France in artificial arbours dreſſed with flowers: and he that produced the beſt poem was rewarded with a violet of gold. There were likewiſe inferior prizes of flowers made in ſilver. In the mean time the conquerors were crowned with natural chaplets of their own reſpective flowers. During the ceremony, degrees were alſo conferred. He who had won a prize three times was created a doctor en gaye Science, the name of the poetry of the Provencial troubadours. The inſtrument of creation was in verſe o. This inſtitution, however fantaſtic, ſoon became common through the whole kingdom of France: and theſe romantic rewards, diſtributed with the moſt impartial attention to merit, at leaſt infuſed an uſeful emulation, and in ſome meaſure revived the languiſhing genius of the French poetry.

[468] The French and Italian poets, whom Chaucer imitates, abound in allegorical perſonages: and it is remarkable, that the early poets of Greece and Rome were fond of theſe creations. Homer has given us, STRIFE, CONTENT [...]ON, FEAR, TERROR, TUMULT, DESIRE, PERSUASION, and BENEVOLENCE. We have in Heſiod, DARKNESS, and many others, if the Shield of Hercules be of his hand. COMUS occurs in the Agamemnon of Eſchylus; and in the Promet heus of the ſame poet, STRENGTH and FORCE are two perſons of the drama, and perform the capital parts. The fragments of Ennius indicate, that his poetry conſiſted much of perſonifications. He ſays, that in one of the Carthaginian wars, the gigantic image of SORROW appeared in every place: ‘"Omnibus endo locis ingens apparet imago TRISTITIAS."’ Lucretius has drawn the great and terrible figure of SUPERSTITION, ‘"Quae caput e coeli regionibus oſtendebat."’ He alſo mentions, in a beautiful proceſſion of the Seaſons, CALOR ARIDUS, HYEMS, and ALGUS. He introduces MEDICINE muttering with ſilent fear, in the midſt of the deadly peſtilence at Athens. It ſeems to have eſcaped the many critics who have written on Milton's noble but romantic allegory of SIN and DEATH, that he took the perſon of Death from the Alceſtis of his favorite tragedian Euripides, where ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ is a principal agent in the drama. As knowledge and learning encreaſe, poetry begins to deal leſs in imagination: and theſe fantaſtic beings give way to real manners and living characters.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Appendix A

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AN INDEX TO THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH POETRY By THOMAS WARTON, B. D. FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, AND LATE PROFESSOR OF POETRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR LACKINGTON, ALLEN, AND CO. TEMPLE OF THE MUSES, FINSBURY SQUARE. 1806.

Appendix B ADVERTISEMENT.

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THE Index to WARTON'S HISTORY of ENGLISH POETRY, which is here presented to the world, was not originally intended for publication. The great inconvenience arising from the want of its assistance, must have been severely felt by all who have, in the course of their literary pursuits, had occasion to refer to this noble treasure of poetical knowledge. To obviate the disadvantage, as it related exclusively to himself, the compiler, at a period of leisure, drew out the present Index. The experience of its utility suggested the idea of multiplying the copies, by which it is trusted that a commendable service has been rendered to literature. Though none can with reason think these pages wholly useless, some may not find it needful to their studies to possess them; therefore, it has been thought fit to suffer the impression of them to fall far short of that of the History. It does not exceed one-fourth of the number.

Whether an entire Index of the three volumes together would not have been a plan more desirable than that which has been pursued, is a question not now to be examined. It has been considered, and this is the reply: The HISTORY of ENGLISH POETRY is an unfinished work. The learned and elegant historian was "gathered to his fathers" almost in the midst of his instructive and entertaining labours. Much yet remains to be done; and as it is the reverse of improbable that some other foot (we faintly hope, "passibus aequis,") will traverse the ground, which he has left untrodden, it cannot be denied, that with regard to uniformity, a separate table to each volume was the preferable mode to adopt.

If an Index be copious and correct, it possesses the first qualities belonging to the nature of such an undertaking. This merit, as far as human diligence could succeed, the compiler claims, with, in his opinion, the no mean praise of having been useful.

Appendix C INDEX TO THE FIRST VOLUME OF WARTON'S Hiſtory of Engliſh Poetry.

[]
  • ABELARD'S Letters, tranſlated, 368
  • Adam de Orleton, Biſhop of Wincheſter, 89
  • Adenez, a French Poet, 135
  • Aegidius Romanus, 343
  • Aeneae Geſta poſt Deſtructionem Trojae, 88
  • Aeneas, Romance of, 134
  • Aeneas, Story of, on tapeſtry, 211
  • Aſer Conſtantinus, 441, 442
  • Agrippa, Cornelius, 402, 404, 409
  • Alanus, Anticlaudian of, 391
  • Alardus Lampridius, 378
  • Alban, Saint, Martyrdom of, a Poem, 98
  • Albertus Magnus, 401
  • Albion's England, by Warner, 12
  • Albumaſar, an Arabian Aſtrologer, 441
  • Alcabutius or Alchabitius, Abdilazi, Iſagoge in Aſtrologiam, by, 426
  • Alcen, or Alhazen, an Arabic Philoſopher, 406
  • Alceſtis, Romance of, 428
  • Alchabitius, 426
  • Age and Youth, Compariſon between, a Poem, 32
  • Alcock, Biſhop of Ely, 307
  • Aldred, Archbiſhop, 303
  • Alexander Magnus, Ariſtoteli praeceptori ſuo ſalutem dicit, 101
  • Alexander, Romance of, 123, 124, 128, 131, 133. By Adam Davie, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 309, 310, 311, 346, 349, 350
  • Alexander, Life and Actions of, tranſlated from the Perſian, into Greek, by Simeon Seth, 129
  • Alexander de Paris, 139
  • Alexander, Roman de, 136, 309
  • Alexandre, la Vengeaunce du Graunt, 139
  • Αλεξανδρευς ὁ Μακεδων, tranſlated by Demetrius Zenus, 132, 349
  • Alexius, Saint, Legend of, by Adam Davie, 218
  • Alfred's Verſion of Bede's Eccleſiaſtical Hiſt. 1
  • Allen, Thomas, 291
  • Almaſor, or Albumaſar, and Rhaſis, 441
  • Alphonſus, King of Caſtile, 393
  • Amadis de Gaul, Romance of, 149
  • Amazonida, by Boccacio, 344
  • Ambroſe of Milan, Paraphraſe of the Siege of Jeruſalem, by, 217
  • Ambroſe, Saint, 394
  • Amille, a French Morality, 88
  • Amorous Priſon, a Poem, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Amorous Lays, a Poem, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Amoris Incendium, by Hampole, 265
  • Amys and Amilion, Romance of, 88, 21 [...]
  • Anciſeno Dominicho Falugi, an Italian Poem, on Alexander, by, 139
  • Amour Eſpris, le Livre de Cuer d', 417
  • Anderſon's Hiſtory of Commerce, 176
  • Anglicus Gilbertus, 443
  • Anna Commena, 50, 157, 348
  • Anna de Graville, 346
  • [ii] Anno, Archbiſhop of Cologn, Metrical Life of, 8
  • Annunciada, Order of the, 252
  • Anſwers of the Sybills, 368
  • Antechriſt, the Banner of, 286
  • Antechriſt, Tournoyement de l', Roman de, par H [...]on de Meri, 285, 458
  • Anthony de la Sale, 334
  • Anticlaudian, by Alanus, 391
  • Antiochiae Liber de Captione, 88
  • Antiochiae Geſta et Regum aliorum, &c. 114
  • Anuar Sohaili, 131. See Pilpay's Fables
  • Apponus, 393
  • Apolonius of Tyre, Romance of, 349, 350
  • Apolonii Tyanaei Hiſtoria, 350
  • Appolin Roy de Thir, la Cronique d', 350
  • Apono Pierre, Commentaries on the Problems of Ariſtotle, by, 439
  • Apuleius, 394
  • Aquinas, Thomas, 401
  • Argenteus Codex, 1
  • Argonauticon, by Valerius Flaccus, 126
  • Arioſ [...]o, 133, 146, 334, 411
  • Ariſtotle, 292, 378, 432, 441, 444
  • Art de Dictier, Ballades et Rondelles, 465
  • Art de Kalender, par Rauſ, 74
  • Arreſ [...]a Amorum, or the Decrees of Love, a Poem, 460
  • Arthur, King, Rom. of, 110, 117, 121, 123, 124, 134, 139, 140, 146, 205, 206, 207, 211, 252, 350, 408, 418, 464, 467
  • Arthur, King, Rites of, re [...]ored by Roger, Earl of Mortimer, 117
  • Artois, Count d', Ballad on the Defeat of the [...] 57
  • A [...]mole, Elias, 252
  • Aſheldown, Joly Chepert, of, a Romance, by John Lawerne, 76
  • Aſkew, Dr. 352
  • Aſſemblie of Foules, by Chaucer, 372, 394
  • Aſſemblie of Ladies, by Chaucer, 459
  • Aſſes, Feaſt of, Myſtery of the, 7
  • Aſtyages and Cyrus, Hiſtory of, on [...]apeſtry, 211
  • Athanaſius, Creed of, verſified, 23
  • Athelſtan, King, a Poem on, 93
  • Athys and Prophylias, a French Metrical Rom. 139, 146, 334, 411
  • Averroes, an Aſiatic Philoſopher, 441, 443, 444
  • Avicen, or Avicenne, an Arabian Phyſician, 441
  • Avranches, Henry d', or Henry the Veri [...]er, 47
  • Auſtin, Saint, 394, 421
B
  • Babyon, Peter, 233
  • Babione de [...] et Croceo domino Babionis, et Viola filiaſtra Babionis, quam croceus duxit invito Babione, et Pecula Uxore Babionis, et Fodio ſuo, 233
  • Bacon, Roger, 101, 291, 403, 408, 410, 439
  • Bale, John, 87, 126, 232, 235, 295
  • Ballades et Rondelles, l' Art de Dictier, 465
  • Balſham, Hugh de, 290
  • Ba [...]aſtre, or Baneſter, William, 75. Gilbert, 75
  • Bartholinus, or Bartholine, 127, 213
  • Barbour, John, 318, 319, 320, 321
  • Barcham, John, 454
  • Barnabas of Cyprus, 393
  • Barrington's Obſervations on the Ancient Statutes, 46, 453
  • Baſton, R [...]bert, 232, 251
  • Batrachomyomachia of Homer, tranſlated by Demetrius Zenus, 351
  • Battayle of Troye, by Guido de Colum [...]a, 127
  • [iii] Battell of Jeruſalem, a Poem, by Adam Davie, 217
  • Bayard, La Vie, et les Geſ [...]es du Preux Chevalier, 418
  • Beauvais, Vincent de. See Vincent de Beauvais, 14, 16
  • Becket, Saint Thomas of, L [...]g [...]nd of, 18
  • Bede, 128
  • Beauchamp, Lord, 145
  • Beliſaire, or Beliſarius, Romance of, 351
  • Belle Dame ſans Mercy, by Chaucer, 459
  • Belliſaire, ou le Conquerant, 351 [...]
  • Bellovacenſis Vincentius, 125, 133
  • Bellum contra Runcivallum, 88
  • Beltrand or Bertrand's Amours with Chryſatſa, 351
  • Benedictus, Alexander, 133, 158
  • Benjamin, a Jew Traveller, 101
  • Benoit de Sainct More, 136
  • Beowulf, a Daniſ [...] Saxon Poem, celebrating the Wars of, 2
  • Beral, las complanchas de, a Poem, by Fouquett, 118
  • Bercy, Hugues de, 37
  • Berlin, Romance of, 135
  • Berlington, John, 76
  • Berni, 133, 411, 412
  • Berners, Lord, Tranſlation of Froiſſart's Chronicle, by, 336
  • Bertrand du Gueſcelin, French Romance of, 351
  • Beryn, Tale of, or Marchant's Second Tale, 144, 438, 440, 455
  • Beuves de Hanton, Romance of, by Pere Labbe. See Sir Beavis
  • Bevis of Southampton. See Sir Beavis
  • Bible, a Satire, by Hugues de Bercy, 37
  • Bidpai's Pilpay's Fables. See Pilpay's Fables
  • Biorner, M. 12
  • Blair, or Blare, Robert, 321, 322
  • Blair Arnaldi Relationes, by Blind Harry, 321
  • Blandamoure, Sir, Romance of, 145, 208
  • Blaunpayne, Michael, 47, 48
  • Bleſenſis, Archdeacon of London, 133
  • Blind Harry, 321, 322, 324, 325, 326, [...]27, 328, 329, 330, 331
  • Blondell de Neſle, Minſtrel to Rich. I [...] 113, 117
  • Boccacio Giovanni, 138, 190, 342, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 357, 362, 384, 385, 397, 416, 417, 423, 424, 432, 462.
  • Boe [...]hius, 368, 387, 458, 459
  • B [...]illeau, 382
  • Bokenham, Oſberne, 14
  • Bonaventure de caena et paſſione Domini, et Poenis S. Mariae Virginis, tranſlated into Engliſh Rymes, by Rob. de Brunne, 77
  • Bonner, Biſhop of London, 241
  • Booke of Certaine Triumphs, 335
  • Borde, Andrew, 432
  • Borron, Roberts, Tranſlation of the Romance of Lancelot du Lac, by, 114, 115
  • Boſcam, Herbert, Life of Thomas of Becket, by, 85
  • Bourdour, Account of the, 173
  • Boy, Biſhop, Ceremony of the, 248
  • Boyardo, 133, 410
  • Brawardine, Archbiſhop, 388, 421
  • Bridlington, or Berlington, John, 76
  • Brithnorth, Offa's Ealdorman, Ode in praiſe of, 2
  • Brit [...]e, or Brithe, Walter, 287
  • Brooke, William de, 290
  • Bruce, Robert, King of Scots, Poem on, by John Barbour, 232, 318, 319, 320, 321
  • Bruit le Petit, by Rauſe de Boun, 62
  • Brun, Monſ. Le, Avantures d' Apolonius de Thyr, par, 350
  • Brunne, Robert de. See Robert de Brunne
  • [iv] Brus, or Bru [...], Robert, Poem on, 232. See Bruce
  • Brut, a French Romance, 62, 337
  • Bru [...] d' Angleterre, by Euſtace, 62
  • Bruto, Liber de, et de geſtis Anglorum, me [...]rificatus, 63
  • Burgh, Thomas, 14
  • Burton, Robert, 62, 432
C
  • Caedmon, 1, 2
  • Calaileg and Damnag, 130. See Pilpay's Fables
  • Callinicus, Inventor of the Grecian Fire, 157
  • Callimachus and Chryſorrhoe, the Loves of, a Rom. 348
  • Calliſtines, 124, 129, 131
  • Cambrenſis Gyraldus, 103, 131, 312, 405, 406
  • Camden, Hugh, Tranſlation of the Romance of Sidrac, by, 208
  • Camera Obſcura diſcovered by Roger Bacon, 438
  • Camoens, 408
  • Cantacuzenus, John, 348
  • Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer
  • Chanon Yeman's Tale, 169, 425
  • Fra [...]kelein's Tale, 302, 393, 402, 405 to 415, 438
  • Freere's Tale, 390
  • Clerk of Oxenford's Tale, 415, 416, 417, 418
  • Knight's Tale, 173, 222, 334, 344, 358, 367, 387
  • Man of Lawe's Tale, 333, 350
  • Marchant's Tale, 389, 391, 393, 395, 421, 422, 423
  • Miller's Tale, 379, 423, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431
  • Monke's Tale, 234, 235, 282, 432
  • Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer
  • Nonnes Prieſt's Tale, 215, 393, 419, 423
  • Wife of Bath's Tale, 390, 437
  • Prologue to the Wi [...]e of Bath's Tale, 236, 421, 425
  • Reve's Tale, 422
  • Sompnour' [...] Tale, 278, 425, 433, 445
  • Shipman's Tale, 432
  • Squier's Tale, 173, 333, 398
  • Cantilenae, or Poetical Chronicles, 93
  • Canute, King, 1
  • Capella Marcianus de Nuptiis Philogiae, et Mercurii, 391
  • Carew, Sir George, 85, 87
  • Carmina Vatacinalia, by John Bridlington, 76
  • Caroli Geſta Secundum Turpinum, 88
  • Carpentier's Supplement to Du Cange, 177, 189, 210, 246, 388
  • Caſſianus, Joannes, 14
  • Caſtle of Love, by Biſhop Groſthead, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84
  • Catharine, Saint, Play of, 236
  • Cauſa Dei, by B [...]awardine, 388
  • Caxton, 14, 62, 127, 138, 336
  • Ce [...]io, Philip, or Chriſtopher, 126
  • Certaine Triumphes, Bo [...]ke of, 335
  • Certamen inter Johannem et Barones, verſifice, 88
  • Cervantes, 111, 132, 415
  • Chant, Royal, 464
  • Charette, La, Roman, par Chreſtien, 135
  • Charicell and Droſilla, Loves of, a Romance, 348
  • Charite, William, 88
  • Charito, Romance of, 348
  • Charlemagne, Romance of, 88, 110, 124, 135, 137, 146, 210, 211, 464, 467
  • Chartier, Alain, 342
  • Chateau d'Amour of Robert Groſ [...]head, [...] by Robert de Brunne, 78, 85
  • Chatelain de Courcy, 463
  • [v] C [...]aucer, 38, 68, 74, 126, 127, 128, 142, 143, 144, 148, 164, 165, 169, 172, 173, 175, 197, 208, 215, 220, 222, 224, 234, 235, 236, 255, 278, 282, 302, 306, 334, 339, 341, 342, 343, 350, 357, 358, 359, 360, 362, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370 to 384, to the end
  • Cheſter Myſteries, Acc. of the, 243
  • Chevalier au Signe, l'Yſtoire du, a Romance, 348
  • Chevalrye, or Knighthood, Booke of the Order of, tranſlated out of French, 337
  • Chevelere Aſſigne, or De Cigne, or the Knight of the Swan, Romance of, 313
  • Chelde Ippomedone, Romance of, 138
  • Chreſtien of Troys, Roman du Graal et Roman de Perceval le Galois, by, 134, 135
  • Chriſti Paſſionis et Reſurrectionis Geſta, 74
  • Chriſtopher, Saint, Life of, 16
  • Chriſt's Paſſion, &c. [...]lay of, 249
  • Chriſt's Reſurrection, a Poem on, 237
  • Chriſ [...]ana of Piſa, 342
  • Chronicae Regnorum, 93, 10 [...]
  • Chronicon Trojae, 88
  • Chronicum Brittannorum, 127
  • Chronicum Magnum Libris, 127
  • Cicero, 394, 419
  • Cinnamus, 348
  • Cithariſtae, Account of the, 90
  • Citie of Ladies, French Romance of the, 310
  • Claudian, 390, 395
  • Cleomades, Romance of, 135
  • Clergy, Satirical Balad on the, 36
  • Codex Argenteus, 1
  • Colbrond, Song of, 89
  • Collet, Dean, his [...]rammaticus Rudimenta, 281
  • Commedia de Geta, 234
  • Commena, Anna, the Alexiad of, 50, 157, 348
  • Con [...]eſſio Amantis, 339
  • Conqueſt of Jeruſalem by Godſrey of Bulloigne, Theatrical R [...]preſentation of, 245
  • Co [...]ſtantine, Emperor, 210
  • Conſtantinopolis Chriſtiana, by Du Cange, 158
  • Continens, by R [...]aſis, an Aſiatic Phyſician, 441
  • Cooper, Mrs. 107
  • Copia S [...]edulae valvis domini regis exiſtentis in Parliamento, ſuo tento apud Weſtmonaſterium, menſe marcii anno Reg [...] Henerici Sexti viceſſimo octavo, a Satirical Balad, ſtuck on the Gates of the Royal Palace, 58
  • Cornwaile, John, 6
  • Coventry Myſteries, Acc. of, 92, 243
  • Co [...]nubyence, Girard, or Cornubienſis Giraldus, 87
  • Corona Precioſa, by Stephen, a Sabio, 351
  • Cors, Lambert li, 139
  • Cotgrave, 68
  • Court of Love, Tribunal of the, 148, 460, 466
  • Court of Love, a Poem, by Chaucer, 466
  • Creation of the World, Miracle Play of 237, 293
  • Creed of Saint Athanaſius, verſified, 23
  • Creſcimbini, 139, 249, 464
  • Crucifixion, Poem on the, 24, 33
  • Cruſius Martinus, 350
  • Curias and Florela, Romance of, 352
  • Curſor Mundi, a B [...]k [...] of Stories, 123 [...]
  • Curtius, Quintus, 133
  • Cyder, an early drink, Acc. of [...] 429
  • Cymon and [...]phigenia, by Boccacio, 348
D
  • Damaſcene, John, 441
  • Dan Burnell's Aſ [...], 419
  • Dance-Maccabre, Acc [...] of, 210
  • Daniel Arnaud, 463
  • Daniel, the Prophet, Book of, paraphraſed by Caedman, 2
  • Dante, 117, 147, 148, 234, 342, 344, 354, 390, 432, 462, 463
  • Dares, Phrygius, 125, 126, 136, 388, 394
  • David, King, Hiſtory of, 210, 418
  • D'Avranches, Henry, or Henry the Ver [...]iſier, 47
  • Davy, or Davie, Adam, 214, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232
  • Death and Life, Poem of, 312
  • De Brooke, William, 290
  • Decameron of Boccacio, 348, 351, 384, 397, 416, 417
  • De Graville, Ann [...], 346
  • De Griſe, Jehan, 140
  • De Gulvorde, John, 25
  • De Hales, Thomas, 78
  • De Lyra, Nicholas, 292
  • De Meun, John. See John de Meun.
  • De Mont [...]ort, Simon, Balad on, 43
  • De Orlton, Adam, Biſhop of Wincheſter, 89
  • Dermod, King, Poem on his Expulſion from his Kingdom of Ireland, 69, 85
  • Deſtruction of Troy. See Troy.
  • Degore, Sir, or Syr Dyare, Romance of, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184
  • Deſtruction of Jeruſalem, Romance of. See Jeruſalem.
  • Dictys Cretenſis, 125, 126, 136
  • Dido, Romance of, 418
  • Digby, 7
  • Diſſolution of the World, a Po [...]m on the, 127
  • Ditty of the Amorous Spinett, a Poem, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Dolopathos, or Seven Sages of Greece, Romance of, 462
  • Dom Johans, 462
  • Domeſdie Book, 12, 167
  • Donatus Aelius, 281
  • Donnet, 281
  • Dorman, Saint, 18
  • Dorohernenſis Gervaſus, [...]03
  • Dow, Mr. 421
  • Drayton, Michael, 12, 117, 142, 406, 409, 425
  • Dryden, John, 358, 359, 367, 416, 4 [...]3, 448
  • Du Carell's Anglo-Norman Antiquities, 64
  • Du Cange, 136, 137, 146, 157, 158, 159, 164, 165, 167, 168, 173, 177, 210, 244, 347, 349, 350, 351, 354, 364, 378, 388
  • Du Freſ [...]e, 384
  • Du Halde, 404
  • Du Mons, Jaques Pelloutier, [...]'Art Poetique du, 465
  • Du Ri [...], Pierros, Romance of, Judas Macchabee, by, 417
  • Duclos, Monſ. 244
  • D [...]gdale, 177, 302, 303
  • Dunbar, La Counte [...]e de, demanda a Thomas Eſſendoune quant la guere d'Eſcoce prendret ſyn, 76
E
  • Eccleſiae de Corrupto Statu, 47
  • Edward I. King, Elegy on, 103
  • Edward the Black Princ [...], the Achievements of, a P [...]em in Fr [...]nch, 331
  • Egill's Ranſom, a Poe [...], 22
  • Eglamoure, Sir, of Artoys, Romance of, 146, 170, 173
  • Eight Kings, The, Hiſtory of, on tapeſtry, 210
  • [vii] Emathiu [...], or Euſ [...]athius, a Romance, 348
  • Emendatio Vitae, a Poem, by R. Hampole, 265
  • Emma Queen, delivered from the Ploughſhares, Tale of, 89
  • Eneas, Romance of, 134
  • England, Hiſtory of, in Verſe, by Robert of Glouceſter. See Robert of Glouceſter, 48
  • Ennius, 468
  • Epiſcopus Puerorum, Ceremony of the, 248
  • Eraſtus, Romance of, 462
  • Erceldoune, Romance of, 75
  • Erceldoune, or Aſhelington, Thomas, 75, 76
  • Erkenwald, King, Hiſtory of, on tape [...]ry, 210
  • Eſchylus, 468
  • Eſter and Ahaſuerus, 210
  • Eſton, Adam, 292
  • Eveſham, Poem on the Battle of, 46
  • Eugenianus Nicetas, 348
  • Euripides, 468
  • Euſtace, or Euſtache, Wiſtice, or Huiſtace, Poem of, Br [...]t d' Angleterre, by, 62, 64
  • Euſtathius, Commentary on Homer, by, 125
  • Euſtathius, or Eumathius, Rom. of, 348
  • Exodus, Book of, Poetical Biblical Hiſtory, extracted from, 21
  • Expoſitio in Pſalterium, by Hampole, 265
F
  • Fabliaux, 463
  • Fabricius, 442
  • Fabyan, 156
  • Fair Roſamond, Hiſt. of, 304
  • Falconet, Mr. 464
  • Fa [...]ol [...]e, or Falſtaff, Sir John, 234
  • Fauchet, 109, 112, 113, 134, 135, 136, 139, 190, 212
  • Fayditt, Anſelm, 36, 117, 11 [...], 235, 463
  • Feaſt of Aſſes, Myſtery of the, 247
  • Feaſt of Fools, Myſtery of the, 247
  • Ferrabrach, Guillaume, 190
  • Feſtival, or Feſtiall, 14
  • Fifteen Tokenes be [...]ore the Day of Judgement, a Poem, by Adam Davie, 219
  • Fitzralph, Richard, Archbiſhop o [...] Armaugh, 291, 343
  • Fitzrauf. See Fitzralph.
  • Fitzſtephen, William, 236
  • Five Joys of the Bleſſed Virgin, a Song, 30
  • Flacius, Matthias, 47
  • Flamma Gualvanei de la, Chronicle of the Vicecomites of Milan, by, 293
  • Fleetwood, Biſhop, 13
  • Flodde [...], Battle of, a Ballad on the, 314
  • Floral Games, Account of the, 467
  • Flores et de Blanchefleur, Hiſtoire Amoreuſe de, traduite de l'Eſpagnol par Jaques Vincent, 352
  • Flores y Blanca [...]or, Romance of, 352
  • Florian and Blanca-Flor, Romance of, 351, 352
  • Florimont et Paſſeroze, Romance of, tranſlated into French Proſe, 352
  • Florius and Platzaflora, Hiſtory of, 348, 351
  • Flowre and the Leaf, by Chaucer, 334, 364, 365, 466, 467
  • Flower of the Daiſy, a Poem, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Flower, Robert, 298
  • Fontaine, Jane de la, 346
  • Fontenelle, 148, 235, 460, 466
  • Fools, Feaſt of, Myſtery of the, 247
  • Fordun, 232
  • Fortune et de Felicité, Roman de, 458
  • Forze d' Ercole, by Boccacio, 344
  • Fouquett of Marſeilles, 117, 118
  • Fraternity of the Penitents of Love, Society of the, 461
  • [viii] Friars, Outline of the Con [...]itution of the Four Orders of Mendicant, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296
  • Froiſſart, 69, 178, 252, 253, 331, 332, 336, 337, 338 Acc. of his Poems, 465, 466
  • Fructus Temporum, 62
  • Fyre Greky [...], or Grecian Fire, Ac [...]. of, 157
G
  • Galen, tranſlated into Latin, 443, 444
  • Garin, Rom [...]n de, 69, 422
  • Garter, Account of the Order of the, 252
  • Gatiſden, John, 442
  • Gaulmin, Gilbert, Tranſlation of Pilpay's Fables into French, by, 130
  • Gawain, Romance of, 208
  • Geneſis, Book of, paraphraſed by Caedmon, 2
  • Geneſis, Book of, Poetical Biblical Hiſtory, extracted from, 21
  • Geoffry of Monmouth, 48, 49, 50, 51, 62, 63, 124, 128, 394, 400, 442
  • George, Saint. See Saint George
  • Gervays, Biſhop of Wincheſter, 451
  • Geſta Alexandri Regis, 88
  • Geſta Aeneae poſt deſtructionem Trojae, 88
  • Geſta A [...]tiochaeiae, et Regum aliorum &c. 113
  • Geſta Caroli ſecundum Turpinum, 88
  • Geſta Oſuelis, 88
  • Geſta Paſſionis et Reſurrectionis Chriſti, 74
  • Geſta Ricardi Regis, 88
  • Geſte of King Horn. See Horn.
  • Giamſchid, King, Acc. of, 407
  • Gianoni, 289
  • Giant, Oliphant and Chylde, Thopas, 433, 434
  • Gilbertine, or Gilbertus Anglicus, 443
  • Gildas, 128
  • Gilote and Johanne, Adventures of, [...] Poem, in French, 86
  • Girard de Vienne, Le Roman d [...], par Bertrand le Clere, 146
  • Giraldi Cinthio, 149
  • Glaſkerion, the Briton, 393
  • Glateſaunt, William, an Aſtrologer, 440
  • Godfrey de Leigni, 134
  • [...]od ureiſun to ure Leſdi, a Saxon Poem, 314
  • Godfrey of Bulloign's Conqueſt of [...]eruſalem, a Play, 245
  • Godfrey of Bullogne, Romance of, 110, 210, 211
  • Godfrey of Viterbo's Pantheon, 350
  • God's Promiſes, Myſtery of, by Bale, 23 [...]
  • Golden Legende, 14, 282
  • Gonzaque, Guy de, 383
  • Gordionus Bernardus, 442
  • Gorionides, Joſeph, or P [...]eudo-Gorionides, his tranſlation of the Li [...]e and Actions of Al [...]xander the Great into Hebrew, 131
  • Gouget, Abbé, 346
  • Gower, John, 223, 233, 342, 343, 350, 388, 393, 401, 407, 448, 460
  • Graal, Saint, 211
  • Grandiſon, Biſhop, 281
  • Granuci, Nicholas, tranſlation of the Theſeid of Boccacio into Italian Proſe, by, 346
  • Graville, Anna de, 346
  • Graunt, Kaan, Hiſtoire de, et des Merveilles du-Monde, 101
  • Gray, Thoma [...], 75. John, 75
  • Grecian Fire, Acc. of the, 157
  • Gregora [...] Nicephorus, 348
  • Grenailles, 351
  • Greſeildis, Marquis de Sa [...]u [...]es, Le Myſter [...] de, 417
  • Greſieldis Vita, per Fr. P [...]trarcham, de Vulgare in Latinam Linguam traduct [...], 417
  • [ix] Gri [...]dal, Archbiſhop, 241
  • Groſthead, Robert, Biſhop of Lincoln, 59, 60, 61, 62, 78, 79, 85, 262, 265, 290, 296, 393, 401
  • Gualo, a Latin Poet, 47
  • Gualtier de Belleperche, Romance of Judas-Macchabee, by, 417
  • Gualtier de Chatillon, 128
  • Gualvanci de la Flamma, Chronicle o [...] the Vicecomites of Milan, by, 293
  • Guido de Colona, or Columna, 119, 124, 126, 138, 345, 385, 394
  • Guillaume le Briton, Philippeis, a Latin Poem, by, 158
  • Guldevorde, John de, 25
  • Guy, Romance of. See Sir Guy
  • Guy, Earl of Warwick, Romance of, 87, 89, 142, 145, 211
  • Guy de Warwick, Chevalier d' Angleterre, et la belle [...]ille Felix ſamie, 143
  • Guy and Colbrand, a Poem on, 87
  • Guy de Burgoyne, 88
  • Guy de Warwick, le livre de, et de Harold d' Ardenne, a Romance, 143
  • Guy of Warwyk, here gynneth the Liff of, out of Latyn, made by the Chronycler called of old Girard Cornubyence, 87
  • Gyrart de Vianne, Hiſtoire de, et de ſes Freres, 146
H
  • Hakem, an Arabian Juggler, 404
  • Hakluyt, 101, 426, 430
  • Hales, Thomas de, 78
  • Hall, Anthony, 39 [...]
  • Hall, Joſeph, Biſhop, 410
  • Haly, a [...]amou [...] Arabic Aſtronomer, 440
  • Hampole, Richard, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265
  • Hannibal, 211
  • Hantwille, Bartholomew, 342
  • Harmony of the [...]our Goſpels, 1, 2
  • Harper, Account of the King's, 48
  • Harri [...]'s Hibernia, 85
  • Hawes, Stephen, Paſtime of Pleaſure, by, 213, 363
  • Heaven, Death, Judgment, &c. alliterative Ode on, 33
  • Hearne, 6, 13, 48, 62, 87, 88, 92, 93, 126, 131, 173, 193, 307, 390
  • Hebers, Romance of the Seven Sages of Greece, tranſlated by, 462
  • Hegeſippi de Bello Judaico, et Excidio Urbis-Hieroſolymitanae Libri quinque, 217
  • Hegeſippus de Excidio Hieruſalem, 311
  • Heliodorus, 348
  • Hemperius, the Erotic, Hiſtory of, 348
  • Henricus Verificator Magnus, 47
  • Henry de Avranches, or Henry the Verſi [...]ier, 47
  • Henry of Huntingd [...]n, 47, 128, 378
  • Henry, King, the Firſt, Elegy on, 107
  • Herbelot, Monſ. 402, 404, 407, 412, 413
  • Herbert, a Minſtrel, 89
  • Hercules, French Romance of, 138
  • Hercules, Hiſtory of, on tapeſtry, 210, 211, 212
  • Herculis and Jaſon, Romance of, 138
  • Heregia del Preyres, or Hereſy of the Fathers, a Satirical Drama, by Fayditt, 36
  • Hermes Triſmegiſtus, 393
  • Herod, Pageant of, repreſented, 293
  • Herolt Dardenne, Le Romant de, 143
  • Heſiod, 468
  • Hibernia [...] by Harris, 85
  • Hic [...]es's Theſaurus, 2, 7, 8, 13, 36
  • Higden, Ralph, Polychronicon, by, 5, 80, 343
  • Hildebert, Eveque du Mons. Otuvres de, 378
  • [x] Hippocrates, tranſlated into Latin, 443, 444
  • Hiſtoire d' Angleterre, en Vers, par Maiſtre Waſe, 63
  • Hiſtoria de Bello Trojano, 126
  • Holbein, Hans, 211
  • Holcot, Robert, 5
  • Hollingſhead, 232, 237, 238, 406
  • Holofernes, Hiſtor [...] of, on [...]ape [...]ry, 211
  • Holy Ghoſt, Order of the, 252
  • Homer, 42, 124, 184, 388, 394, 468
  • Horn, Geſte of King, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
  • Horn Childe and Maiden Rinivel, a Poem, 42
  • Houdane, Raoul de, a Provençal, 463
  • Hoveden, John, 85
  • Houſe of Fame, by Chaucer, 74, 128, 378, 389
  • Hu [...], or Hue. See Lucas, 115
  • Huet, 112
  • Hugh de Balſham, Founder o [...] Pe [...]r Houſe, Cambridge, 290
  • Hugo, Prior de Montacuto, his Planctus de Excidio Trojae, 48
  • Hugo de Eveſham, 439
  • Hugolin of Piſa, Story of, 390
  • Hugues de Bercy, 37
  • Humagoun Nameh, (i. e. the Royall Book). See Pilpay's Fables, 130
  • Hume, Mr. 307
  • Huon de Meri, Roman d' Antechriſt, par, 285 [...] 286
  • Hurd, Dr. 286, 434
J
  • Jacobus de Voragine, 14
  • Jack Snacker of Witney, 240
  • Jack Strawe, 420
  • Jack Upland, 306
  • Jaſon, Romanc [...] of, 138, 146
  • Jaſon and the Golden Fleece, Hiſtory of, on tapeſtry, 212
  • Javidian Chrad, i. e. Ae [...]erna Sapientia, 131
  • Ici commence la Paſſyun Jhu Chriſt, en Engleys, 25
  • Jean d' Orronville, 167
  • Jeber, an Arabian Chemiſt, Lapis I hiloſophorum, by, 400
  • Jeffrey the Harper, 92
  • Jehan du Cheſne, 133
  • Jehan de Griſe, 140
  • Jehan de Nivelois, 139
  • Jehan de Vignay, French Tranſlation of the Legenda Aurea, by, 14
  • Jerome, Saint, French Pſalter, by, tranſlated, 23
  • Jeruſalem, the Deſtruction of, a [...]roſe Romance, 217
  • Jeruſalem, Battell of, a Poem, by Adam Davie, 214, 217, 218
  • Jeruſalem, le Roman de la Priſe de, par Titus, 217
  • Jeu de Perſonages, 246
  • Illyrius (Illyricus) Flacius, 8
  • Incendium Amoris, by Richard Hampole, 265
  • Indiae de Situ et Mirabilibu [...], 101
  • Job, Book of, parapbraſed by Richard Hampole, 265
  • Jocatores, Account of the, 90
  • Joculator, or Bard, Account of, 12, 90
  • Joel, Rabbi, his Tranſlation of Pilpay's Fables into Hebrew, 130
  • Johanni de Wallis, 48
  • Johannes of Capua, Tranſlation of P [...]lpay's Fables into Latin, by, 130
  • John Chandois Herald, Poem on Edward the Black Prince, by, 331
  • John of Baſing, 281
  • John de Dondi, 439
  • John de Guldevorde, 25
  • John de Langres, Tranſla [...]ion of Boethius, by, 458
  • John de Meun, 88, 148, 368, 369, 38 [...], 453, 458
  • John of Hoveden, 47
  • [xi] John of Saliſbury, 47, 133, 238, 244, 403, 404, 421
  • John, Prior of Saint Swithin's, Wincheſter, 307
  • Jo [...]nſon (Johnſ [...]on), N. 62
  • Joinville, 159, 167, 168, 173
  • Joly Chepert of Aſkeldown, a Romance, by Lawern, 76
  • Jordan, William, 237
  • Joſaphas, Saint, Life of, 14
  • Joſeph of Arimathea, Hiſtory of, 134
  • Joſephus, Flavius, 217, 394, 421
  • Ipomedon, Romance of, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205
  • Ippo [...]is, Sir, Romance of, 208
  • Iſagoge in Aſtrologiam, by Alchabitius, 426
  • Iſame, Fi [...]th King of the Indians, the ſuppoſed Author of Pilpay's Fables, 131. See Pilpay
  • Iſaure, Clementina, Counteſs of Tholouſe, 467
  • Iſodorus Hiſpalen [...]s, 230
  • Judas Macchabee, French metrical Romance of, 417
  • Juglers, Account of, 225, 394
  • Juliane, S [...]inte, Legend of, 13
  • Julius Valerius, 131
  • Jupiter and Juno, Hiſt. of, on tapeſtry, 210
K
  • Kaan, Hiſtoire de Graunt, et des Merveilles du monde, 101
  • Kalila ve Damma, 130. See Pilpay's Fables
  • Karlewerch en Eſcoce, les Noms et les Armes des Seigneurs [...] à l' Aſſize de, 335
  • Katherine, Saint, Life of, 14
  • Keigwin, John, 237
  • Kendale, Romance of, 75
  • Kenelme, Saint, Life of, 421
  • Kennet, Biſhop, 90
  • Killingworth Caſtle, Entertainment at, 91
  • Kinaſton, or Kynaſton, Sir Francis, 385
  • King Arthur, Romance of [...] See Arthur
  • King Horn, Geſte of, 38
  • King of Tars, and the Soudan of Dammias, Tale of the, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197
  • Kirther, 110
  • Knight of Courtèſy and Lady of Faguel, Romance of the, 212
  • Knight of the Swan, Romance of th [...], 313
  • Kolſon, an Ancient Northern Chief, 50
L
  • Labbe Pere, Romance of Beuves de Hanton, by, 142
  • Lady of Faguel and Knight of Courtèſy, Romance of the, 212
  • Lambarde, 240
  • Lambeccius Petrus, 384
  • Lamentation of Souls, a Poem, by Adam Davi [...], 219
  • La Morte d' Arthur. See Arthur
  • Lancelot du Lac, Romance of, 114, 115, 134, 206, 336, 421
  • Lancelot du Lac, mis en Francois par Robert de Borron, du Commandement d' Henri Roi d' Angleterre, av [...]c figures, 114
  • Laneham, 91
  • La [...]gto [...]t's Chronicle, 62, 66, 71, 85, 95, 97, 120, 121, 168
  • Lapidary, a Treatiſe on G [...]ms, 378
  • Lapidum de Speciebus, 378
  • Laſcaris, Conſtantius, 125
  • Lattini, 147
  • Lannoy, 3
  • Lawern, John, 76
  • Lawyers, Satiricall Balad on the, 36
  • Lazamon, 63
  • Le Brun, Monſieur, Avantures d' Apolonius de Thyr, par, 350
  • Legenda Aurea, 14
  • Legende of Good Women, 344, 370, 390, 466
  • [xii] Leirmouth, or Rymer, Thomas, 76
  • Leland, 75, 102, 290, 291, 296, 314, 397, 440, 443
  • Leonela and Canamor, Romance of, 352
  • Leonico, Angelo, l' Amore de Troleo et Greſeida, que ſi Tratta in buone parte la Guerra di Troja, di, 351
  • Letter of Cupide, by Occleve, 369
  • Libeaux, Sir, Ro [...]ance of, 197, 208
  • Libro d' Amore, 464
  • Lidgate, 119, 120, 127, 173, 178, 210, 235, 345, 384, 401, 410, 417, 429, 451
  • Lives of the Saints, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 94, 123
  • Livre de cuer d' Amour eſpris, a French Romance, 417
  • Livy, 394
  • Lobeyra, Vaſco, Romance of Amadis de Gaul, by, 149
  • Lollius, 384, 385, 394
  • Longland, Robert, the Author of Pierce Plowman's Viſion, &c. 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 309, 311, 312
  • Lord's Prayer, homily, or exhortation, in Ver [...]e, 20
  • Lord's Prayer, paraphraſed by Rich. Hampole, 265
  • Lorris, William de. See William de Lorris
  • Love and Gallantry, a Poem on, 34
  • Love Song, the earlieſt, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
  • Loves of Rhodante and Doſicles, Romance of the, 348
  • Louis, Duke of Bourbon, Life of, by Jean Orronville, 167
  • Louis, Saint, Romance of, by Joinville, 167
  • Lowth's Life of William of Wykham, 255
  • Lucan, 395, 432
  • Lucanus Nicholaus, 351
  • Lucas, Chevalier, Sieur du Chaſtel du Gaſt, pres de Saliſberi, le Roman de Triſtram et Iſeult, traduit de Latin en François par, 115
  • Lucretius, 361
  • Ludus, Filiorum Iſraelis, 237
  • Ludus Reſurrectionis Domini, 247
  • Luſores, Account of the, 90, 91
  • Lwyhd, Edward, 25, 237
  • Lybiſ [...]er and Rhodamna, a Greek Poem, 347, 348
  • Lydgate. See Lidgate.
  • Lynne, Nicholas, 425, 426
  • Lyra, Nicholas de, 292
  • Lyttleton, Lord, 64, 85, 122
M
  • Mabillon, 3, 4, 125
  • Macchabee, Judas, French Metrical Romance of, 417
  • Maccabre, Dance of, on tapeſtry, 210
  • Maccabus, Romance of, 217
  • Macon, Count de, Romantic Hiſtory of [...] 399
  • Macrobius, 393, 394
  • Madox, 146
  • Maimonides, Moſes, 444
  • Mandeule, John, Parſon of Burnham Thorpe, 63
  • Mandeville, Sir John, 101, 102, 403
  • Mannyng, Robert. See Robert d [...] Brunne
  • Manual of Sins, by Robert de Brunne, 73
  • Manuel Peche, or Manuel de Peche, tranſlated by Robert de Brunne, 59, 73, 85
  • Mapes, Walter, 63, 421
  • Mappa Mundi, by Sir John Mandeville, 102
  • [xiii] Marbode, Biſhop of Rennes, Latin Poem on Precious Stones, tranſlated into French Verſe, by, 378
  • Marchaunt's Second Tale, 144, 440, 455
  • Margaret, Saint, Life of, 12, 13, 14
  • Marian, Mayd, 245
  • Marian and Robin, Play of, 245
  • Marine, Saint, Life of, 18
  • Martial d' Avergne, a French Poet, 460
  • Martin, Mr. 121
  • Maſſacre of the Holy Innocents, Myſtery of the, 242
  • Maſſieu, Mon [...]. 465
  • Maſques, Account of, 255
  • Mauleon, Savarie de, 113
  • Maurus Rhabanus, 8
  • Maximus, Valerius, 419, 421, 432
  • Medea and Jaſon, 418
  • Medeae et Jaſonis, Hiſtoria, à Guidone de Columna, 138
  • Medytaciuns of the Soper of our Lorde Jheſu, and alſo of his Paſſyun, and eke of the Peynes of his ſweet Modyr, Mayden Marye, the which made yn Latin, Bonaventure, Cardynall, by Robert de Brunne, 77
  • Meliader, or the Knight of the Sun of Gold, Romance of, 338
  • Meliboeus, Tale of, by Chaucer, 433
  • Memoriae Saeculorum, by Godfrey o [...] Viterbo, 350
  • Meneſier, 134
  • Meri, Huon de, 285, 286
  • Merlin, Ambroſe, 88, 401, 404, 408, 412
  • Merlini Prophetiae, verſifice, 88
  • Merveilles du Mo [...]de, Hiſtoire des, et de Graunt Kaan, 101
  • Meun, John de. See John de Meun.
  • Meurvin, preux fils d' Ogier le Danoi [...], l'Hiſtoire de, 136
  • Mezeray, 111
  • Mille [...], Jaques, 136
  • Milton, John, 129, 468
  • Mimi, Acc. of the, 90, 237, 238, 240
  • Mimici, Account of the, 237, 238
  • Minſtrels, Account of the, 74, 90, 91, 116, 238
  • Mirabilia Hi [...]erniae, Angliae, et Orientalis, 103
  • Mirabilia Mundi, 100, 101, 102
  • Mirabilia Terrae Sanctae, 102
  • Miracles, or Miracle Plays, Account of the, 235, 236, 237
  • Miracles of the Virgin, French Romance of the, 303
  • Mirrour for Magiſtrates, 235
  • Mirrour which reflects the World, 407
  • Miſyn, Richard, 265
  • Moller, Har [...]lieb, tranſlation of Pilpay's Fables into German, by, 131
  • Mon [...]chus, Johannes, 131
  • Montaniero Raymond, 462
  • Montfaucon, 136, 143, 335, 350, 351, 378, 411
  • Montfort, Simon de, Ballad on, 43
  • Montfort, Counteſs of, Acc. of the, 253
  • Moralities, Acc. of, 241, 243, 245, 248, [...]86
  • Morgan, Biſhop, tranſlation of the New Teſtament into Welch, by, 447
  • Moriſotus, 410
  • Mort d' Arthur. See Arthur.
  • Mortimer, Roger Earl, reſtored, the Rites of the Round Table, 117
  • Mouſques, Philipes, 137
  • Murray, Mr. 93
  • Muſes Library, 107
  • Mylner of Abington, with his Wi [...]e and Faire Daughter, and two Poore Scolars of Cambridge, Hiſtory of the, a Poem, 432
  • Myſtere de Greſildis, Marquiſe de Saluce, 246
  • Myſ [...]eries, Acc. of, 24 [...], 243, 245, 246, 247, 248
N
  • Naſrallah, a Tranſlator of Pilpay's Fables, 130
  • Nennius, 128
  • Nepos, Cornelius, 101, 125
  • Neſle, Blondell de, 113, 117
  • Neuf Preux, le Graunt Tappis de, on tape [...]ry, 211
  • Neuf Preux, le Triumphe des, a French Romance, 351
  • New Years Gi [...]t, an Ancient Scots Poem, by Alexander Scott, 76
  • Nicene Creed, ver [...]i [...]ied, 23
  • Nicholas de Lyra, 292
  • Nidzarde, Adam, 378
  • Nigellus de Wireker, 419
  • Nightingale, a Book in French Rymes, 85
  • Nivelois, Jehan le, 139
  • Noſtradamus, 113, 118, 463
  • Nyne Worthys, 211
O
  • O'Flaherty, 312
  • Occleve, 369
  • Octavian, Romance of, 207
  • Odoeporicon Ricardi Regis, a Latin Poem, by Peregrinus, 232
  • Odorick, a Friar, 101
  • Oger, or Ogier, or Oddegir the Dane, R [...]mance of, 135, 136, 464
  • Old and New Teſtament, Myſtery of the, 243, 245,
  • Old and New Teſtament, tranſ [...]ated into Verſe, 19, 20
  • Opus Majus, by Roger Bacon, 408
  • Ordre de Bel Eyſe, [...]umorous Panageric on the, 37
  • Orientis de Regi [...]nibus, 101
  • Orleton, Adam de, Biſhop of Wincheſter, 89
  • Orronville, Jean d', 167
  • Ot [...]rid, Monk of Weiſſenburgh, 7, 8
  • Otheniem, Empereur de Rome, Ro [...]unce de, 208
  • Otuel, Romance of, 88
  • Ovid, 134, 361, 383, 388, 390, 391, 394, 395
  • Oure Saviour's Deſcent into Hell, a Poem, 18
  • Our Saviour's Crusifixon, Elegy on, 33
  • Owl and the Nightingale, Conteſt between, a Poem, 25
P
  • Pageant repreſenting the Birth of our Saviour, 237
  • Pageants, Account of, 239
  • Palamon and Arcite, 344, 346, 349, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356. By Chaucer, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 366, 367, 450, 45 [...]
  • Palamon and Emilia, 418
  • Palaye, M. de la Curne de Sainte, 74, 142, 149, 337, 417, 459, 461
  • Palermo, Roger de, 144
  • Panegyric on the Month of May, a Poem, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Paradiſe of Love, a Poem, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Parement des Dames, 417
  • Paraſols, Cinque belles Tragedies des Geſtes d [...] Je [...]nne Reine de Naples, par, 235
  • Paris, Hiſtory of, Romance of the, 146
  • Paris, Alexander de, 139
  • Paris, Matthew, 168, 236
  • Partonepex, [...] French Romance, 388
  • Parvum Job, or the Book of Job par [...] phraſed, 265
  • Pa [...]etes, a Jugler, Account of, 404
  • Paſquier, 464, 465
  • Pa [...]ion of Chriſt, acted at A [...]jou, 246
  • Paſ [...]ion and Death of our Saviour, a Poem, 34
  • Paſſy [...]n a Jhus Criſt, en Englys, 25
  • Paſtime of Pleaſure, by Hawes, 213, 363
  • Pa [...]or Fido, tranſlated into Greek, 349
  • [xv] [...]aſtorals, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Patient Gri [...]ilde, Story of, 246, 415, 416, 418
  • Patrick, Saint, Life of, 17
  • Patrum Vitae, 14
  • Peacham, Henry, 176
  • Peckward, 63
  • Pencriche, Richard, 6
  • Penelope, Romance of, 418
  • Percaval le Galois, par Meſſenier, 134
  • Perceforeſt, Romance of, 346, 464
  • Percival, Sir, Romance of, 134
  • Percy, Dr. Biſhop of Dromore, 59, 208, 250, 280, 312, 393
  • Percy, Henry, Fifth Earl of Northumberland, Houſehold Eſtabliſhment of, 280
  • Pere, l'Abbe, 142
  • Peregrinus Gulielmus, 232
  • Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Play of, 350
  • Perizon, 125
  • [...]rtonape and Ipomedon, 138
  • P [...]rtonape, Romance of, tranſlated from the French, 388
  • Peter de Saint Cloſt, 139
  • Petrarch, 118, 147, 342, 344, 383, 385, 394, 415, 416, 417, 4 [...]4, 425, 439, 461, 463
  • Philippa, Queen of Edward the Third, Account of, 253
  • Phillippeis, a Latin Poem, by Guillaume le Breton, 158
  • Philobiblion, by Richard de Bury, 291
  • Philoſotrophos of Boccacio
  • Pierce Plowman's Viſion, 60, 74, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 288, 312, 433
  • Pierce the Plowman's Cre [...]de, 236, 287, 288, 296, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307
  • Pignatelli, 463
  • [...]ilpay's Fables, tranſlated into various Languages, 129, 130, 131
  • Piteaux, or Pitoux, i. e. Religious Myſteries, 246
  • Plaids et Gieux ſous l'Ormel, 460
  • Plato, 125, 361, 394
  • Plays, Account of, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245
  • Plays prohibited by Biſhop Bonner, 241
  • Plea of the Roſe and the Violet, a Poem, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Plowman, Pierce. See Pierce Plowman
  • Plowman's Tale, 306, 433
  • Poetical Bi [...]lical Hiſtory, 21
  • Policraticon. See John of Saliſbury
  • Polo Marco, de Regionibus O [...]ientis, by, 101
  • Polychronicon, by Higden, 5, 80 [...] 343,
  • Polyhiſtor of Julius Solinus, 103
  • Pope, Mr. 396, 423
  • Poul, Saint, Viſions o [...], won he-was rapt in Paradys, 19
  • Powell's Cambria, 92, 116
  • Precious Stone [...], Saxon T [...]eatiſe on, 378
  • Preſter, John, 102
  • Pricke of Conſ [...]ience, by Richard Hampole, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 265
  • Pricke of Love, treating on the three Degrees of Love, a [...]ter Hampole, 265
  • Prickynge of Love, by Bonaventure [...] 77
  • Procopius, 157, 351
  • Prodigal Son, Story of, on tape [...]ry, 210
  • Prodromus Theodorus, 348
  • Prophecies of Baniſter of England, 75
  • Proſerpinae de Raptu, by Claudian, 390
  • Pſalms, Book of, tranſlated, 23
  • P [...]olemy, Account of, 410. Book of Aſtronomy, by, 425
  • Purchas, 101
  • Pylgrymages of the Holi Land, 214
  • Pyramus and Thiſ [...]e, Romance of, 352,
Q
  • Quilichinus Aretinus, 132
  • Quintus Curtius, 133
R
  • Ramſay, Mr. 352
  • Randal of Cheſ [...]er, 89
  • Randolph's Muſes Looking Glaſ [...], 210
  • Raoul de Houdane, a Provencial Bard, le Voye ou le Songe d' Enfer, par, 463
  • Raoul le Feure, 138
  • Ravalerie l' Eveque de la, Revolution de Langue Francoiſe, à la Suite des Poeſies du Roi de Navarre, 112
  • Rauf, Art de Kalender, par, 74
  • Rau [...]e de Boun, le Petit Bruit, pa [...] 62
  • Rauol de Biavais, 134
  • Reaſon and Senſ [...]alitie, a Poem, by Lidgate, 429
  • Regiſ [...]rum Librorum Omnium et Jocali [...]m i [...] Monaſ [...]erio S. Mariae de Pratis prope Leyceſ [...]riam, 88
  • Renaud of Montauban, Romance of, 464
  • R [...]ſurrectionis Domini Ludus, 247
  • Reynault de Lou [...]ns, French Me [...]rical Romance, de Fortune et de Fclicite, par, 458
  • Reynholds, Sir Joſhua, 390
  • Reyne d' Ireland, Hiſt. of, on tapeſtry, 211
  • Rex Stultorum, Office of, 247
  • Rhaſis, an Aſiatic Phyſician, 441, 443
  • Rhees ap Gryffyth, 115, 116,
  • Rhodante and Doſicle [...], the Loves of, a Romance, 348
  • Riccomboni, 249
  • Richard, a Poet, 34
  • Richard the Firſt, a Poet, Account of, 213
  • Richard Cuer de Lyon, 69, 74, 87, 119, 141, 144, 150, 151, 152, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 1 [...], 198, [...]07
  • Richard Roi d'Angleterre, et de Maquemore d' Irelande, Hiſtoire de, en Rim [...], 121
  • Richard of Alemaigne, King of the Romans, Satirical Ballad on, 43, 44, 45, 46
  • Richard de Liſle, Romance of, 458
  • Richard de Bury, Biſhop of Durham, 291
  • Richard, Seigneur de Barbezeiuz, 463
  • Robert de Brun [...]e, 40, 44, 59, 62, 64, 66, 72, 77, 78, 95, 97, 105, 115, 116, 120, 121, 156, 158, 161, 166, 173, 193, 214, 225, 253
  • Robert of Glouceſter, 5, 44, 48, 49, 62, 66, 72, 95, 115, 119, 120, 193, 304
  • Robert of Sicily, Romance of, 184, 185 [...] 186, 187, 188, 189
  • Robert le Diabl [...], Rom [...]n de, 189
  • Robin and Marian, Play of, 245
  • Roger de Palermo, tranſlation of Sidra [...] by, 144
  • Rois d' Angleterre, Roman de, 62
  • Rollo, the Story of, a Romance, 62
  • Roman le Rou, et les Vies des D [...]cs de Normandie, 63, 338
  • Roman de Rois d' Angleterre, 62
  • Roman du Graal, or the Adv [...]ntures of Sangral, by Chre [...]tien of Troys, 134
  • Roman de Tiebes, qui [...]ut Racine de Troye la Grande, 126
  • Roman de la Roſe, 68, 88, 177, 368, 372, 378, 383, 393, 462
  • Romanus, Aegidius, Book de Regimine Principum, by, 343
  • Romaunt of the Roſe, by Chaucer, 68, 88, 173, 177, 344, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383, 430, 453, 458, 459
  • Romulus and Remus, Story of, [...]n tapeſtry, 211
  • Rondeaus, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Roſa Medica [...] by John Gatiſde [...], 44 [...]
  • [xvii] Roſamund, Fair, Hiſtory of, 304
  • Roſamund's Chamber, 304
  • Roſarium de Nativitate, Paſſione, Aſcenſione Jheſu Chriſti, or the Nightingale, a Book in French Rymes, 85
  • Roudeki, a celebrated Perſian Poet, 130
  • Round Table of Arthur revived by Roger, Earl of Mortimer, 117, and by King Edward the Third, 251
  • Rouſe, John, 145
  • Rowland and Olyvere, Romance of, 122
  • Roy Marc, Romance of, 134
  • Royal Ballads in Honour of Our Lady, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Rubruquis, William de, 101
  • Rucher, Guillaume, 335
  • Rudell, Jeffrey, 118
  • Ru [...]us, a Phyſician of Epheſus, 440
  • Runcivallum Bellum contra, 88
  • Rutebeu [...] a Troubadour, 462
  • Rymer, 113, 318
S
  • Sabio, or Sabiu [...], Stephen, his Grecobarbarous Lexicon, 351
  • Saint Alban, Martyrdom of, a Poem, 98
  • Saint Alexius the Confeſſor, Son of Euphemius, L [...]gend of, by Adam Davie, 218
  • Saint Ambroſe, 394
  • Saint Athanaſius, Creed of, verſified, 23
  • Saint Auſtin, 394, 421
  • Saint Catharine, Play of, 236
  • Saint Cloſt, Peter de, [...]39
  • Saint Dorman, 18
  • Saint George, Feaſt of, celebrated at Windſor, Deſcription of, 330. Hiſtory of, on tapeſtry, 210
  • Saint Graal, 211
  • Saint Jerome, 14, his French Pſalter, tranſlated, 23
  • Saint Joſaphas, Life of, 18
  • Saint Kenelme, Life of, 421
  • Saint Katherine, Life of, 14
  • Saint Louis, Romance of, by Joinville, 167
  • Saint Margaret, Life of, a Poem, 12, 13, 14
  • Saint Marine, Life of, 18
  • Saint Theſeu [...], le Tappis de la Vie d [...], 211
  • Saint Thomas of Becket, Legend of, 1 [...], 18
  • Sainte Palaye, Monſ. de la Curne d [...]. See Palaye
  • Saint Wini [...]red, Life and Miracles of, 13
  • Saintre, French Romance of, 331, 334, 335
  • Saintre, John, 334
  • Salade, la, a Booke of Ceremonies, by Anthony de la Sale, 334
  • Saladin, Sultan, Life of the, 122
  • Sale, Anthony de la, 334
  • Saliſbury, Earl of, a Poet, 342
  • Salamonis Chriſtiani L [...]byrinthus, 411
  • Sanctorum Loca, &c. 102
  • Salus Anime, or Sowle Hele, a Poem, 14, 19
  • Sandaber, an Indian Writer of Proverbs, firſt Compoſer of the Romance of the Seven Sages of Greece, 462
  • Sandford, James, tranſlation of the Vanity of Sciences of Cornelius Agrippa, by, 409
  • Sandys, 409
  • Sangral, Adventure [...] of, [...] Ro [...]ance, 134
  • Satire on the Monaſtic Pro [...]eſſion, [...] Poem [...] 9, 10, 11, 12
  • Savile, Sir Henry, 388
  • Saxon Homilies, 5
  • Scalds, Account of th [...], 112, 128
  • Scalae Chronicon, an Ancient French Chr [...] nicle of England, 75
  • Schilterus, Johannis, 8
  • Scotch Prophecies, 75
  • Scott, Alexander, 76
  • Scott, Johan, 80
  • [xviii] Scottiſh Field, a Poem, 314
  • Scotu [...], Michael, 29 [...]
  • Scripture Hiſtories, by Adam Davie, 218
  • Seinte Juliane, L [...]g [...]nd of, 13
  • Selden, 116, 425, 432
  • S [...]ptimus, Parap [...]raſ [...] of Dictys Cretenſis, by, 125
  • Serapion, John, 440, 443
  • Seth, Simeon, 129, 133, 139, 141, 220
  • Seven Deadly Sins, Story of, on tap [...]ſtry, 210, 211
  • Seven Penet [...]ntial Pſalms, by Hampole, 265
  • Seven Sages of Greece, or Dolopathos, Romance of, tranſlated into various Langu [...]ge [...], 462
  • Seven Wiſe Maſters, Romance of th [...], 410, 414
  • Shakeſpeare, 127, 160, 206, 350, 409
  • Sheldon, Ralph, 13
  • Sidrac, Romance of, 143, 144, 208
  • Sigeros, Nicholas, 394
  • Simon, Alexander [...]lebrated by, [...]39
  • Sir Beavis of Southampton, Roma [...]c [...] of, 87, 141, 145, 170, 177, 192, 206, 208, 211
  • Sir Blandamoure, Romanc [...] of, 145, 208
  • Sir Degore, or Syr Dyare, 180, 181, 182, 183 [...] 184
  • Sir Eglamoure of Artoys, 146, 170, 173
  • Sir Gawaine, Romance of, 208
  • Sir G [...]y, Romance of, 169, 170 [...] 171, 172, 173, 174, 175 [...] 211, 442
  • Sir Ippotis, Romance of, 208
  • Sir Ipomedon, Romance of, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205
  • Sir Lance [...]ot [...]du Lak, Romance of, [...]4, 115, 134, 206, 336, 42 [...]
  • Sir Libeaux, or L [...]bius Diſconius, Romance of, 197, 208
  • Sir Percival, Romanc [...] of, 134
  • Sir Topas, Rime of, by Chaucer, [...]8, 143, 175, 197, 208, 224, 429, 433
  • Sir Triamoure, Roma [...]ce of, 145
  • Sir Triſtram, Romance of, 74, 88, 115, 134, 224, 418
  • Smarte, John, 335
  • Solinus, [...]lius, Polyhiſtor of, 103
  • Solomon, King, Book on Gems, by, 378
  • Some, John, 425
  • Sowle Hele, or Salus Anime, a Poem, 14, 19
  • Spectacula, or Dramatic Spectacles, Account of, 240
  • Speculum Stultorum, a Latin Poem, 419
  • Speight, 378, 449
  • Spenſer, Edmund, 116, 176, 200, 301, 333 [...] 387, 404, 405, 408, 412
  • Squire of Lowe Degree, 89, 169, 175, 224
  • Stanley, Mr. 352
  • Statius, 126 [...] 360, 361, 362, 388, 394
  • Steevens Monaſticon, 92
  • Stem of Jeſſe, Story of the, on tapeſtry, 210
  • Στεφανιτης και Ιχνηλατης, 129
  • Stimulus Conſcientiae, by R. Hampole, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 265
  • Stonehenge, Account of, by Geoffry of Monmouth, 51, 52, 53
  • Stowe, John, 126, 236, 245, 253
  • Stricker, 8
  • Strode, 388
  • Suetonius, 432
  • Surrey, Lord, 409
  • Suſanuah, Story of, on tape [...], 211
  • Swithin, Saint, Li [...] of, 15
  • Sylveſter, [...]op [...], the Second, [...]01, 402
T
  • Tanc [...]ed and Sigi [...]m [...]nda, by Boccacio, 190
  • Tapeſtry, Acco [...]n [...] of var [...]us Romances up [...], 209, 210, [...]11
  • Tape [...]try of the Norman Conqueſt, 64
  • [xix] Tars, King of, and the Soudan of Dammias, Romanc [...] of, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197
  • Taſſo, 68, 149, 160, 184
  • Tatius Achilles, 348
  • Taylor, Silas, 14
  • Temple of Glaſs, by Lidgate, 345, 410, 417
  • Temple of Honour, a Poem, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Ten Commandments of Love, by Chaucer, 461
  • Ten Kings of France, Hiſtory of, on tapeſtry, 210
  • Teſeide, Le, by Boccacio, 345
  • Teſoro, by Brunetto Latini, 147
  • Teſtament, the Old and New, tranſlated into Verſe, 19, 20
  • Teſtament of Love, by Chaucer, 282, 459, 466
  • Thake [...]i Hegiage, Ebn Yuſelf al, 414
  • Thebaid of Statius, 388
  • Thebes, Geſte of, 388
  • Thebis, Romance of, 388
  • Theophilus, Miracl [...] Play of, 246
  • Theophraſtus, 421, 435
  • Θησεος και γαμȣ της Εμηλιας, 347
  • Theſei in Lingua v [...]lgari Hiſtoria, 246
  • Theſei et Aemiliae, de N [...]ptiis, 347
  • Theſeid of Boccacio, 346, 347, 351
  • Theſeus et de Gade [...]ir, Roman de, 345
  • Theſeus, Hiſtoire du Chevalier, 345 [...] 346
  • Theſeus, Saint, le Tap [...]i [...] de la Vie de, 211
  • Thiebault, King of Navarre, 463
  • Third Blaſt of Retrait from Plaies, [...]41
  • Thomas, the Author of the Romance of Syr Triſtram, 74
  • Thoma [...] de Hales, 78
  • Thomas the Rymer, Prophecy of, 77
  • Thomas of Sha [...]teſbury, 442
  • Thomas Plenus Amoris, 140
  • Tiebes qui [...]ut ra [...]ine de Troy la Grande, le Roman d [...], 126
  • Tirante il Blanco, or Tirante the White [...] Romance of, 143
  • Titus and Veſpaſian, Romance of, 217
  • Tobiah, Me [...]rical Life of, in French, 85
  • Toiſon d' Or, Order of the, 252
  • Tom Thumb, Hiſtory of, 432
  • Topas, Sir, Rime of, by Chaucer, 38, 143, 175, 197, 208, 224, 429, 433
  • Tractatus quidam in Anglico, a Religious or M [...]ral Ode, 7
  • Trayl-baſton, Libel on the Commiſſion of, 58
  • Trebizonde, Hiſtory of, on tapeſtry, 110
  • Treviſa, John, 5, 80, 291, 343
  • Triamoure, Sir, Romance of, 145
  • Trionſo Magno, a Poem, by Dominich [...] Falugi Anciſeno, 139
  • Triſtram, Sir, Romance of, 74, 88, 115, 134, 224, 418
  • Triſtran et Iſeult, Le Roman de, traduit de Latin en Franç [...]is par Lucas, 115
  • Trivett, Nicholas, 458
  • Triumphes, Booke of certaine, 335
  • Triumpho di Amore of Petrarch, 117
  • Trojae Chronicon, 88
  • Trojae Liber de Excidio, 88
  • Trojano de Bello Hiſtoria, 126
  • Troilus, le Roman de, 351, 384
  • Troilus and Creſſida, Play of, 127
  • Troilus a [...]d Creſſida, Story of, in Gr [...]ek Verſe, 351
  • Troilus and Cre [...]eide, Poem by Chaucer, 220, 362, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389
  • Trojomanna Saga, 138
  • Troleo et Griſeida l'Amore di que [...]i tratta in buone parte la Guerra di Troja, 351
  • Troubadours, Account of the, 110, 111, 118, 147, 457, 462
  • Troy, the Deſtruction of, a Romance, 88, 124, 136, 137, 146, 210, 345, 385
  • Troy, Recuel of the Hiſtories of, tranſlated by Caxton, 127
  • [xx] Tully's Somnium Scipionis, 394
  • Turke and Gawaine, Romanc [...] of the, 203
  • Turnoyement de l'Antechriſt, par Huon de Mere, 285, 286
  • Turpin, 88, 124, 132, 135, 137, 146, 420, 432
  • Twyne, 432
  • Tyrenſis, Wilhelmu [...], 68
  • Tz [...]tes's Chiliads, 349
V
  • Vaez, Huſſien, tranſlation of P [...]pay's Fables, by, 130
  • Valentine and Orſon, Romance of, 401, 415
  • Valerius ad Ru [...]num de non ducendâ Uxore, by Wal [...]er Mapes, 421
  • Valeriu [...] Flaccus, 126
  • Valerius Julius, 131
  • Vandyke, 351
  • Varchi, 463
  • Velſerius, 350
  • Vengeance of Goddes Death, a Poem, by Adam Davie. See Davy
  • Vernon, Edward, 14
  • Verſus de Ludo Scaccorum, 88
  • Verſus Politici, 349
  • Verſus Vaticinales, by John Bridlington, 76
  • Vertue the Engraver, 140
  • Vignay, Jehan de, Tranſlation of the Legenda Aurea, by, 14
  • Villani Giovanni, 147
  • Villon, 382
  • Vincent de Beauvais, 137, 164
  • Vincent, Jaques, 352
  • Vineſauſ, Jeffrey, 421
  • Virdungus, Hasſurtus Joannes, 440
  • Virelais, by Froiſſart, 465
  • Virgidemarium, by Hall, 410
  • Virgil, 184, 340, 361, 390, 394
  • Virgin, Five Joy [...] on the Bleſſed, a Song [...] 30
  • Virgin, Miracles of the, a French Romanc [...], 303
  • Virgin Mary, an Antient Hymn to the, 314
  • Virtue and Vice Fighting, Story of, on [...]ap [...]ſ [...]ry, 211
  • Viſions, by Adam Davie, 214, 215, 216,
  • Viſions of Saint Poul won he was rapt in Paradys, 19
  • Viſions of Pierce Plowman. See Pierce Plowman
  • Viſions d' Ogeir le Danois au Royaume de Faerie, en Vers François, 1 [...]6
  • Vitae Patrum, 14
  • Vitellio, 407
  • Vives Ludovicus, 351
  • Voragine, Jacobus de, 14
  • Voye ou le Songe d' Enſer, by Raoul d [...] Houdane, 463
  • Ury, Romance of, 208
  • Uſelt le Blonde, Romance of, 134
  • Vyenne, Hiſtory of, 146
W
  • Wace, or Gaſſe, Maiſter, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 338
  • Wallace, Sir William, Acts and Deeds of, by Blind Harry, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331
  • Wallden, John, 292
  • Walo, verſificator, 47
  • Walpole, Mr. 85, 113
  • Walter of Exeter, Author of the Romance of Guy, Earl of Warwick, 87
  • Wanley, 155, 206
  • Warburton, Biſhop of Gloceſter, 287, 335
  • Warres of the Jewes, a Romance, 311
  • Warwick, Guy, Earl of, a Romance. See Guy.
  • Watſon, Edward, 234, 292
  • Waynflete, William, Biſhop of Wincheſter, 450
  • Whittington, Sir Richard, 291
  • [xxi] Why Poor Prieſts have no Benefices, by Wicliffe, 306
  • Wicliffe, 164, 282, 287, 306, 307, 308, 343, 358
  • William de Brooke, 290
  • William de Rubruqui [...], 101
  • Wil [...]iam of Lorris, 368, 369, 373, 374, 381 393
  • William of Malmſbury, 401
  • William of Wykeham, 92, 240, 255, 306
  • William, Prior of Kenilworth, 85
  • William the Firſt, King, Precept in Saxon to the Sheriff of Somerſ [...]tſhire, from, 3 [...]
  • Williams, Richard, Dean of Lichfield 307
  • Wini [...]red, Saint, Life and Mir [...]cles of, 13
  • Wireker, Nigellus, 419
  • Wolſtan, Biſhop of Worceſ [...]er, 4. Saint, 15
Z
  • Zabulus, 393
  • Zeno Apoſtolo, an Italian D [...]amatt [...] Writer, 417
  • Zenophon, th [...] Epheſian, Romanc [...] of [...] 348
  • Zenus Demetrius, 349, 351

Appendix D INDEX TO THE TWO DISSERTATIONS Prefixed to the Firſt Volume of WARTON'S Hiſtory of Engliſh Poetry.

[]
  • ABELARD, cxlix
  • Abdella, King of Perſia; account of a Clock preſented to Charlemagne by, xcviii
  • Abotika, or Ariſtotle's Poetics, tranſlated into Arabic by Abou Muſcha Metta, xc
  • Acca, Biſhop of Hexham, xcv
  • Adrian, Abbot of Saint Auſtin' [...] Canterbury, xciv, ci
  • Aelſsin, c
  • Aenigmata, by Aldhelm, xcix
  • Aeneid of Virgil, x, cxx
  • A [...]er Leo, li
  • Alanus de Inſulis, cxliii,
  • Alaric, lxxiv
  • Alban, Saint, Latin Poem on the Life of, by Robert Dunſ [...]able, cxxiii
  • Albert, Abbot of Gemblour [...], lxxvii
  • Albin, Abbot of Saint Auſtins, xcviii
  • Alcuine, lxxxix, xcvi, xcvii, c, ci, cii, cxxiv
  • Aldhelm, Biſhop of Shirburn, xcvii, xcviii, xcix, c, cii, cvi, cx
  • Aldrid, c
  • Aldwin, Abbot of Ramſey, cxxiv
  • Alefleck, Sagan of, lviii
  • Alexander the Great, xiv
  • Alexander, Biſhop of Lincoln, cxxv
  • Alexandreid, by Philip Gualtier de Chatillon, cxli, cxlii, cxliii, cxliv
  • Alexandri Geſ [...]a, cxix
  • Alfred's, King, Saxon Tranſlation of the Mercian Law, xi. His Account of the Northern Seas, xxvii—xliv, xcvii, xcviii, cxi
  • Alfred of Beverly, ix
  • Allard, Monſieur, xx
  • Al—Manum Caliph, Account of the, lxxxviii
  • Andrew, a Jew, cxlvi
  • A [...]e [...]i [...], a Welch Bard, lxi
  • Angantyr, Scaldic Dialogue at the Tomb of, xl. Tranſlated by Gray, xl
  • Anlaff, a Daniſh King, xliv
  • Anſelm, Archbiſhop of Canterbury, cxiv, cxxvii, cxlix
  • An [...]eclaudian, by Alanus, cxliii
  • Antiocheis, by Joſeph of Exeter, cxxxvi, cxxxix
  • Antiochenus, Johannes, cxx
  • Antonius, Nicholas, cxix
  • Apuleius, cx
  • Arator, lxxvi
  • Architrenius, by John Hanvill, cxxviii
  • Arioſto, xx
  • Ariſtotle, lxxxvii, lxxxix, xc, c, cxlvii, cxlix
  • [ii] Ariſtotle's Logic, tranſlated into Latin by S. Auſtin, lxxxix. Poetic [...] tranſlated into Arabic by Abou Muſcha Metta, xc. His Works tranſlated, xc
  • Arthur, King, vii, viii, xi, xii, xv, xvii, xxi, lviii, lxxii, cxi
  • Aſamal (or Aſiatic Verſes) Account of the, xxix
  • Athelard, a Monk of Bath, the Arabic Euclid tranſlated into Latin by, xc
  • Athelſtan, King, Ode on, xxxvii, xxxviii, xxxix, xl—xliv, xlv
  • Attila, Verſes in Praiſe of, liv
  • Aventinus, Johannes, liv
  • Averroes, lxxxvii, xc
  • Auguſtodunus, Honorius, cxxxi
  • Aungerville, Richard. See Richard of Bury
  • Aurelianus, Coelius, cxi
  • Auſonius, lxxvi
  • Auſtin, Saint, lxxxv, lxxxix, xcviii
B
  • Bacon, Roger, cxlvi, cxlvii, cxlix
  • Bale, John, xciv, civ
  • Banier, xxvi
  • Barbaroſſa, Frederick, Latin Poem on the Wars of, by Gunther, cxliv, cxlv
  • Bards, Iriſh, Account of the, xlvi. Welch, Account of the, xlvii, xlviii, xlix. Celtic, Account of the, liv
  • Barthius, cxli
  • Baſingſtoke, John of. See John
  • Batthall, an Arabian Warrior, Life of, &c. xii, xiii
  • Bathonienſis, Adelardus, Quintilian's Declamations, abridged by, lxxvii
  • Beauclerc, Henry, cxvi
  • Beccatelli, Antonio, cxx
  • Becket, St. Thomas of, cxxv
  • Bede, xi, lxxxv, xciv, xcv, xcvii, civ, cv, cxxiii, cxxvii
  • Belle-perche, Gaultier Arbaleſtrier de, cxxiv
  • Benedict, Abbot of Peterborough, cxix, cxxvii
  • Bernard's Homilies on the Canticles, lxxxii
  • Bever's Manuſcript Chronicle, lxxxv
  • Bevi [...], Romance of. See Sir Bevis
  • Bible, lxxix. Hiſtory of the, by Leoninus, cxxiii
  • Bible Hyſtoriaus la, ou les Hiſtoires Eſcolaſtres, lxxxv
  • Bilfrid, c
  • Birinus, Saint, Hiſtory of, repreſented on the Ancient Font in Wincheſter Cathedral, &c. lxxxv. Account of, xcii. Life of, cxlv
  • Biſcop, Benedict, xciv, civ
  • Blaunpayne, Michael, cxliv
  • Blois, Peter de, cxxvi, cxxxi, cxxxiv. William de, cxxvi, cxxvii
  • Blondus Flavius, cxx
  • Boerhaave, lxxxvii
  • Boethius, lxxiv, lxxxiii, lxxxix, xcviii, ciii, cxviii
  • Borlaſe's Hiſtory of Cornwall, xxxvi
  • Boſton, cxxxvi
  • Boun o Hamtun Yſtori, xxxvii
  • Boy and the Mantle, or le Court Mantel, Story of, vi
  • Boyardo, xx
  • Bretomanna Saga, lviii
  • Breton, Guillaume, le, cxli, cxliv
  • Britannus Eremita, xii
  • Brut-y-Brenhined, or Hiſt. of the Kings of Britain, tranſlated into Latin by Geoffrey of Monmouth, vii, viii, ix, x, xi, xii, xiii, xiv, xv, xvi, xvii
  • Bulloign, Godfrey of. See Godfrey
  • Bury's Philobiblion, lxxxiv
  • Bury, Richard of. See Richard
C
  • Caeſar, xxvi
  • [iii] Caedmon, xxv
  • Calixtus the Second, xix
  • Calliopius, cxix
  • Calligraphy, Account of the Speci [...]ens of, c, ci
  • Cambrenſis Gyraldus, cxxxii, [...]xxxiii, cxxxiv
  • Camden, cxl
  • Canute, Hiſtory of, xlvi, [...]xix
  • Carpe [...]tier, cxliii
  • Caſſiodorus, lxxiv, ciii
  • Catharine, Saint, Play of, by Geo [...]rey Abbot o [...] Dunſtable, cxv
  • Cedrenu [...], lxxxviii
  • Cel [...]us Apuleius, cxi
  • Ceol [...]rid, xcvii, ciii, civ
  • Chardin, xxv
  • Charlemagne, xi, xvii, xviii, xxi, lvii, lix, lx, lxxii, lxxviii, xci, xcvii, xcix, [...]i, cii [...]
  • Charle [...] the Fi [...]th, Account of his Collection of Books, lxxxiv [...]
  • Charle [...] the Bald, xci
  • Chaucer, vi, cxviii, cxxxi [...]
  • Chilperic, King, Two Books of Latin Verſes by, cx
  • Chiron, cxi
  • Chriſtopher, Saint, Legend of, cxix
  • Chryſoſtom, Saint, xciii
  • Cicero, lxxvii, lxxxiii, xcii, cxx
  • Claudian, lxxv, cxviii, cxix, cxx, cxxiv
  • Columella, lxxvii
  • Comeſtor, Peter, Scholaſtic Hiſtory of, lxxxii. Tranſlated into French, lxxxv
  • Commediae et Tragediae, by William of Blois, cxxvii
  • Conrade, Emperor, Latin Poem on the Expedition o [...], againſt the Saracens, by Gunther, cxlv
  • Conſtantius, lxxv
  • Conſtantinople, Proſe Hiſtory of the Siege of, by Gunther, cxlv
  • Cor et Oculum, Diſputa [...]io inter, cxxxv, cxxxvi
  • Court Mantel le, or the Boy and the Mantle, Story of, vi
  • Cujentos de Viejas, xx
  • Curtius, Quintus, xxxii [...] cxli
  • Cyveilog, Owain, Prince of Powi [...], a Po [...] by, [...]
D
  • Damaſcenu [...], tranſlated into Latin by Robert Groſthead, cxlvi
  • Danois, Mademoiſelle, xx
  • Dares, Phrygius, de Bello Trojano, cxxxvii. Tranſlated into French Rymes by God [...]rey of Water [...]ord, xxi
  • Dead Man's Song, a Ballad, cv
  • Deſiderius, xcii
  • De Vineſauf, Geoffrey, cxlv
  • Dha Hoel, Welch Laws by, xlix
  • Die Judicii Meditatio de, by Bede, tranſlated into Saxon Verſe, cvi
  • Dionyſi [...]s the Areopagite, 4 Treati [...]es of, tranſlated into Latin by John Erigena, cviii. By Robert Gro [...]thead, cxlvi
  • Dioſcorides, Ancient Mſs. of, cxi
  • Dodford, Robert, cxlviii
  • Domitian, lxvi
  • Donatus, xcii
  • Dubricius, xi
  • Du Cange, ii
  • Dugdale, cvii
  • Dunſtable, Robert, cxxiii
  • Dunſtan, Saint, c, ci
E
  • Eadſrid Biſhop of Durham, Book of the Goſpel Written by, c
  • Eadmer, cxxvi, cxxvii
  • Eadwin, cxi
  • Ecbert Biſhop of York, xcvi, ci
  • Edda, the, xxvi, xxxii, lxiv, lxv
  • Edda, a Monk of Ca [...]terbury, c
  • Edeſſenus, Theophilus, Homer, tranſlated into Syriac by, lxxxvi
  • [iv] Eginhart, curious Account of a Clock by, xcviii
  • Egill, an Iſlandic Poet, xliv, xlv
  • Eiddin, My [...]nydaw, a Poem celebrating the Battles of, lxi
  • Elfleda, Daughter of Alfred, Poetical Epi [...]tle to, by Henry of Huntingdon, cxxv
  • Elſric, a Saxon Abbot of Malmſbury, ci
  • Eliduc, Tale of, iii
  • Engelbert, Abbot of Trevoux
  • Englyn, Milur, or the Warrior's Song, xlviii
  • E [...]INIKION, Rythmo Teutonico Ludovico Regi ac [...]lamatum cum Northmannos, Anno [...]ccccxxxiii viciſſit, lv
  • Eremita Britannus, xii
  • Eric Widſorla, Sagan af [...] lviii
  • Erigena, John, Tranſlation of Four Treatiſes of Dionyſius the Areopagite into Latin by, cviii, cix
  • Ervene, ci
  • Eſpagne, Relation du Voyage d', xx
  • Eſſeby, Alexander, cxliv
  • Ethelwold, Biſhop of Durham, c
  • Etheldryde, Panegyrical Hymn on the Miraculous Virginity of, by Bede, cx
  • Evans' Di [...]ertatio de Bardis, lxii
  • Euclid, c
  • Exeter, Joſeph of. See Iſcanus Joſephus
  • Eyvynd, Elogium of Hacon, King of Norway, by, xliii
F
  • Fabian, xl, xli
  • Fabricius, cxx
  • Farabi, xc
  • Farice [...] cxvi
  • Faries, Arabian Account of [...]he, lxii, lxiii
  • Faryn, Li [...]e of S. cxxiii
  • Felix, cx
  • Flaherty, xxxiii
  • Flaura and Marcus, a Latin Tragic Poem, by William of Blois, cxxvii
  • Flodoard of Rheims, xix
  • Florentinus. See Poggius
  • Florus, xcii
  • Fortunatus, lxxvi
  • Francus Hunnibaldus, Latin Hiſtory of France by, x
  • Franeth, Nicholas, cxix
  • Freſne, Tale of, iii
  • Fridegode, cvii
  • Froiſſart, lxix
  • Frontinus, xcii
G
  • Galen, lxxxvii
  • Ganna, a Prophetic Virgin, Account of, lxvi
  • Geneſis. Poetical Paraphraſe of, by Junius, xxxv, xxxviii
  • Geoffrey of Monmouth, vii, viii [...] ix, xiii, xiv [...] xv. xvi [...] xvii, xxxvi [...] xl, xli, lvii, lxiv [...] lxxii, cvii, cxxv, cxxviii, cxliii
  • Geoffrey [...] Abbot of Dunſtable, Play of St. Catharine, by, cxv
  • Geoffrey de Vi [...]eſau [...], cxlv
  • Gerveys. John, Biſhop of Wincheſter, cxxi
  • Geſta Alexandri, cxix
  • Gla [...]onbury, John of. See John
  • Gleemen, Account of, xl
  • Glouce [...]er, Robert of. See Robert
  • God [...]re [...] of Bulloign, Latin Poem on, by Gunther [...] cxlv
  • Godfrey of Water [...]ord [...] Tranſlation of Dares P [...]ryg [...]us into French Rymes, by, xxi
  • Godfrey, Prior of St. Swithin's, Wincheſter, cxv
  • Gododin, a Poem, by Aneurin, lxi
  • Gog and Magog, Account of, xiii, xiv
  • Golius, lxxxvii
  • [v] Grammaticus, Johanne [...], cxxii
  • Gray, xl
  • Gregory, Saint, his Paſtoral Care, cxix
  • Gregory of Huntingdon, cxlviii
  • Gregory of Tours, xlviii, cx
  • Groſthead, Robert, cxlvi, cxlvii
  • Grymbald, cxvi
  • Guallenſis, Johannes, cxxii
  • Gualter, Archdeacon of Oxford, vii, cxxv
  • Gualtier, Philip de Chatillon, cxli, cxliii, cxliv
  • Guigemar, Tale of, iii
  • Guillaume le Breton, cxli, cxliv
  • Gunther, cxliv
  • Guthlac, Saint, Miracles in Latin and Saxon, cx
  • Guttyn, Owen, a Welſh Bard, vii
  • Guy, Sir, Romance of, lxxxviii
  • Gyraldus Cambrenſis, cxxxii, cxxxiii, cxxxiv
H
  • Hacon, Elogium of, xliii
  • Hanvill, John, cxxviii, cxxix, cxxx, cxxxi
  • Haral [...] the Valliant, lxix
  • Hardraade, Harold, King of Norway, a Poet, xxxi
  • Harnes, Michel de, xxi
  • Harpers, Account of, xl
  • Hearne, ix
  • Hen [...]y, a Monk of Hyde Abbey, cxviii
  • Henry of Gaunt, Archdeacon of Tournay, cxlii
  • Henry, a Benedictine Monk, cxviii
  • Henry of Huntingdon, viii, xxxviii, cxxiv
  • Henry the Second, King, Latin C [...]ronicle of, by Benedict, Abbot of Peterborough, cxix. Latin Poem on, by Henry of Huntingdon, cxxv
  • Herbelot, M. D. xii
  • Herbert de Loſinga, cxvi
  • Herculides, cxi
  • Herman, Biſhop of Saliſbury, ci, cxiv
  • Heroes, Book of, a Poetical Hiſtory, lv
  • Hervarer Saga, liii, lvi
  • Hialmar, Hiſtory of, a Runic Romance, lxvii
  • Hialmter oc Oliver, Sagan af, an old Scandic Romance, lvii
  • Hickes, xxviii, xxxv, liii, c
  • Hippocrates, lxxxviii
  • Hirla [...], a Poem, by Cyveilog Prince of Powis, [...]
  • Hiſtoria Brittonum, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, ix
  • Hiſtorical Rymes of King Arthur, &c. lviii
  • Hoel Dha's Wel [...]h Laws, xlix
  • Holbech, Laurence, cxlviii
  • Holcott, Robert, cxxi
  • Homer, lxxiv, lxxxvi, xciii, c, cvii, cxliii
  • Homer's Iliad and Ody [...]ey, written on a Dragon's Gut, lxxiv
  • Homer's Iliad and Odyſſey, tranſlated into Syriac, by Theophilus Edeſſenus, lxxxvi
  • Honain, Ariſtotle's Morals, tranſlated by, xc
  • Horace, lxi, xcii, cxxx, cxlv
  • Hoveden, Roger, cxxvii, cxli
  • Hugh, Maſter, cxxi
  • Humphrey, Duke of Glouceſter, lxxxiii
  • Hunnibaldus, Francus, x
  • Huntingdon, Gregory of. See Gregory. Henry of. See Henry
J
  • Jagiouge and Magiouge, or Gog and Magog, Account of, xiii, xiv, xv
  • Jeber, an Arabic Chemiſt, lxxxvii
  • [vi] Jerom of Padua, cxix
  • Jerome, Saint, lxxviii, cxx
  • Illuminated Mſs. among the Saxons, Account of, c, ci
  • Ingulphus, cxviii
  • Inſula, Roger d', lxxxii
  • Jocelin, cvii
  • John of Baſingſtoke, c [...]lvi
  • John of Glaſtonbury, ci
  • John of Saliſbury, lxxvii, cxix, cxxvi, cxxxi, cxliii
  • Jornande [...], xcii
  • Joſeph of Exeter. See Iſcanus, Joſephus
  • Joſephus, xcii, xciii
  • Jovius, Paulus, xxv, c [...]x
  • Iſcanus [...] Joſephus, cxxxvi, cxxxvii, cxxxviii, cxxxix, cxl, cxliii, cxliv
  • Judiciary Combats, Account of, xxiii
  • Judith, Anglo-Saxon Poem on, xxxvii, xxxviii
  • Ivent, Sagan af, lviii
  • Julianus [...] Duke, Son of S. Giles, Hiſtory of, l [...]x
  • Juni [...]s, Poetical Paraphraſe of Ge [...]eſis, by, xxxv
  • Juvenal, cxxxi
  • Juvencus, lxxiv
K
  • Karlamagnuſe of Hoppum Hans, Sagan af, lix
  • Karlotis, a Po [...]m, cxli
  • Keating's Hiſtory o [...] Ireland [...] xlvii
  • Kenneth, King of Scotland, xlvii
  • K [...]ytlinga-Saga [...] or Hiſtory of Canute, by Harald the Valiant. x [...]vi, lxix
  • Kyrie E [...]eiſon, or Mil [...]tary Choru [...], Account of, lv
L
  • Lambeccius, cxi
  • Lan [...]ranc. Archbiſhop of Canterbury, lxxviii, lxxix, cxiv, cxvii, cxlix
  • Lapis Philoſophorum, by Jeber, lxxxvii
  • Largus Scribonius, cx
  • Laſſe, Martin, de Oreſpe, cxliii
  • Launval or Launſal, Tale of, by Thomas Cheſtre, iii
  • Lebeuf, L'Abbé, v
  • Leland, lxxxiii, cxxii, cxxiv, cxxv, cxxxvi
  • Leo, lxxxvi
  • Leoninus, cxxiii
  • Lhuyd, vii
  • Ligurinus, a Latin Poem by Gunther, cxliv
  • Livy, lxxxiv, xcii, cxx
  • Llanidan in the Iſle of Angleſy, Account of a Druid's Manſion at, xlvii
  • Lloyd, Biſhop, ix
  • Llwellyn, Ode to, by Llyzad Gwr, vii
  • Llygad Gwr, a Welſh Bard, vii
  • Llywarchen, a Welſh Bard, iv
  • Lobineau, iii
  • Lodbrog, Regner, Epicedium of, xxxi, xxxii, lvii, lx, lxviii
  • Loſtunga, a Scald, xlvi
  • Lombard, Peter, Archbiſhop of Paris, lxxx [...], cxlix
  • Loſinga, Herbert de, cxvi
  • Lucan, lxxxiii. Tranſlated, cxliii
  • Lucius, Saint, Acts of, xi
  • Lucretius, lxxvii
  • Luernius, a Celtic Chief, Account of, by Poſidonius, liv
  • Lupus, Abbot of Ferrieres, lxxvii
  • Lyra, Nicholas de, lxxxv
  • Lyttleton, Lord, cxxvii
M
  • Maban, a celebrated Chantor, xcv
  • Maccabeus, Judas, Romance of, by Gualtier Arbaleſtrier de Belle-perche, cxxiv
  • Machaon, cxi
  • Macpherſon, lvi
  • Maidu [...]ph, xcix
  • [vii] Mailros, John, cii
  • Mallet, Monſieur, xxii
  • Maniliu [...], lxxvii
  • Map [...]s, Walter, cxxxv, [...]xxxvi
  • Mara, or Night Mare, Account of, xxxv
  • Marcellu [...], cx
  • Mart [...]al, cxix
  • Marville, M. de Vigneul, cv
  • Maundev [...]lle, Sir John, li
  • Mauranus, Rabanus, ci, cii, cxviii [...] cxlv
  • Maximus, a Roman General, Account of, iii, iv
  • Maximu [...], Saint, cix
  • Mayan [...] D [...]n Gregorio, Life of Cervantes, by, xxi
  • Mead, a Favorite Liquor of the Goths, Account [...]f, xlviii
  • Menologe, or Saxon Poctic Calendar, xxxvii
  • Menſa Rotunda de, et Strenuis Equitibu [...] xii
  • Mergian Peri, or Mergian the Fairy, Account of, lx [...]i
  • Merlac, Daniel, cxiv
  • Mer in's Prophecies, viii, xv, xvi
  • Merlin, Po [...]m on, by Geoff [...]ey of Monmouth, cxxv
  • Metamorph [...]ſis of Ovid [...] Explanation of, by Johannes Grammaticus, cxxii
  • Metta Abou Mu [...]ar, Ariſtotle's P [...]etics, tranſlated into Arabic by, xc
  • Meun, John de, lxxxv
  • Michel de Harnes, tranſlation of Turpin's Charlemagne, by, xxi
  • Milton, John, iv [...] cv, cxxviii
  • Mimus or Mimic, Account of, [...]lix
  • Miſ [...]etoe, Divine Virtue attributed to the, xxvi
  • Mogiah-edir Scirat al, xiii
  • Monk's Tale, by Chaucer, cxviii
  • Monmou [...]h, Geo [...]rey of. See Geoffrey
  • Montague, W. Earl of Saliſ [...]ury, lxxxv
  • Montague, Mrs. Eſſay on Shakeſpeare, by, lvi
  • Monte, Robert de, ix
  • Mon [...]aucon, cxxvi
  • Montichelli, Cardinal, cxliii
  • Morris, Mr. of Penryn, viii
  • Mulſo de, [...]eu Hyd [...]omeli, or, Mead and Methlegin, a panegyrical Ode on, xlvii, xlviii
  • Mut [...]us, cxxiii
N
  • Naiton, a P [...]ctiſh King, ciii
  • Nazianzen, Gregory [...] cix
  • Necham, Alex. cxx, cxxxiv, cxxxv
  • Nennius, xi, cx
  • Nepo [...], Cornelius, cxxxvi
  • Neville, Archbiſhop of York, cxxxii
  • Nicholas de Lyra, lxxxv
  • Nicholas de Ely, lxxix
  • Nigel, cxviii
  • Niger, cxi
O
  • Odin or Woden, Account of, xxiv, xxv, xxvi [...] xxvii, xxviii, xxxvi, xliii
  • Oell, Earl [...] xix
  • Ohther, xxvii
  • Offa, King, xxxvii
  • Oienhart, xx
  • Oilly, R [...]bert d', cxvi
  • Olave, King of Norway, xliii
  • Olaus, Magnus, lix
  • Oroſiu [...], [...]iſtory of the Pagans, by, xcviii
  • Oſſian's Poem [...], xxvi, lii, [...]iii, lvi, lxi
  • O [...]ald, Ar [...]hbiſhop of York, cxii
  • Oſwa [...]d, Saint, Li [...]e and Miracles of, cxliii
  • Ovid [...] iii, lxxxiii, xcii, cx, cxxii, cxxxvii
  • Ovid's Art of Love, Firſt Book of, in Sax [...]n [...]haracters, cx
  • Ovid' [...] Metamorph [...]ſes, Explanati [...]n of, by Joannes Grammaticus, cxxii
  • [viii] Owen, Guttyn, a celebrated Welſh Bard, vii
P
  • Pagans, Hiſtory of the, by Oroſius, xcviii
  • Pamphilus, cxi
  • Paris, Matthew, lxxxi, cxlvi
  • Parker, Archbiſhop, cvii
  • Paſtoral Care, by Saint Gregory, cxix
  • Paulin, Abbot, cxvii
  • Paulinus, lxxvi
  • Peckham, Archbiſhop, ix
  • Pedianus, Aſconius, lxxvii
  • Pelloutier, iv
  • Percy, Dr. xxii, xxxii
  • Pergaus, Appolonius, lxxxviii
  • Periphiſmeriſmus, by John Erigena, cviii
  • Perſius, cxx, cxxx
  • Peter de Rupibu [...], cxliv
  • Peter of Blois, cxxvi, cxxxi, cxxxiv
  • Petrarch, cxxi
  • Petronius, cxxvi
  • Philippid, by Guillaume le Breton, cxli, cxliv
  • Philobiblion, by Richard of B [...]ry. lxxxiv [...] cxx, cxxi
  • Philoponus, Johannes, cxxii
  • Philoſophorum Lapis, by Jeber, lxxxvii
  • Phrygius, Dares, Poem on the Trojan War by, cxxxvii. Tranſlat [...]d i [...]to French Rymes by God [...]rey of Waterford, xxi
  • Pindar, lxxxvi, c
  • Pithou, cxli
  • Plato, tranſlated into Arabic, lxxxvii
  • Pl [...]utu [...], xcii
  • Pliny, cxi
  • Poggius, lxxvii, lxxviii, xcii, cxx
  • Policraticon, John of Saliſbury, cxxvi
  • Pon [...]iſſara, John de, Biſhop of Wincheſ [...]er, lxxix
  • Poſidonius, liv
  • Powel's Hiſtory of Wales, iv
  • Priſcus, cxi
  • Prophets, Extracts from the Books of, in Greek and Latin, cvii
  • Proſper, lxxvi
  • Pruda, Aſbiom, xxxi
  • Prudentius, cix
  • Pſalter, illuminated with Letters of Gold, by Eadwin, ci
  • Pſalter, Account of an Ancient MS. of the, in Hebrew, cii
  • Pſycomachia [...] cix
  • Pulice & Muſca de, by William of Blois, cxxvii
Q
  • Quintilian's Inſtitutes, lxxvii, cxx
R
  • Rabanu [...], Mauru [...], ci, cii, cxviii, cxlv
  • Reginald, Abbot of Ramſey, cxxiv
  • Regner, Lodbrog, Ode of. See Lodbrog
  • Reineſius, lxxxvi, lxxxvii
  • Repingdon, Biſhop of Lincoln, lxxx
  • Revel [...]tion [...] of St. John, lxv
  • Richard of Bury, cxx, cxxi
  • Richard the Firſt [...] [...]om [...]nc [...] of, xix, cxl
  • Robert de Monte, ix
  • Robert d'Oilly, cxvi
  • Robert of Glouceſter, cxxvii
  • Rodburn, Thomas, cxliii
  • Roger de Inſula, lxxxii
  • Roger de Weſcham, cxlvi
  • Rogwald, Lord of Orcades, xlii
  • Rollo, a Norman Leader, Account of, lx
  • Romae de Mirabilibus, cxxxvii
  • Romaunt of the Roſe, by Chaucer, vi
  • Roſamund and Earl William, lix
  • Roſe, Roman de la, by John de Meun, lxxxv, cxxvi
  • Roſſo Philippo, lxxviii
  • Rudbeckius, Olaus, xxv
  • Runes, or Letters, Account of the, xxv, xxvi, xxvii
  • Rupibus, Peter de, cxliv
  • Ruſſell, John, Biſhop of Lincoln, lxxxi
S
  • Saint Auſtin, lxxxv, lxxxix, xcviii
  • Saint Birinus, Hiſtory of, repreſented on the Antient Font in Wincheſter Cathedral, &c. lxxxv
  • Saint Catharine, Play of, cxv
  • Saint Chryſoſtom, xciii
  • Saint Chriſtopher, Legend of, cxix
  • Saint Dunſtan, c
  • Saint Gregory's Paſtoral Care, xcviii
  • Saint Jerom, lxxviii
  • Saint Lucius, Acts of, xi
  • Saint Oſwald, Life and Miracles of, cxliii
  • Saint Urſula, Legend of, xi
  • Saint, Lives of the, i [...] Latin Verſe, by Alexander Eſſeby, cxliv
  • Saliſbury, John of. See Joh [...]
  • Salluſt, lxxvii, cxx
  • Sanchem, Graal, by Eremita Britannus, xii
  • Sanctamund, Biſhop of Maeſtricht, lxxvii
  • Saxo Grammaticus, xxxii
  • Scalds, Account of the, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxvi, 1
  • Schilters, Theſaurus Antiquitatum Teutonicarum, lv
  • Schola Salernitana, by Giovanni di Milano, lxxxvii, cxxiii
  • Scotus, Michael, cxlvi
  • Sedulius, lxxvi. Hymns of, cix
  • Selling, William, cxx
  • Seneca, xcii, cxix, cxx
  • Shakeſpeare, William, lvi
  • Sidelas, Marcellus, a Phyſician, cxi
  • Sidonius, Appolinaris, lxxv, lxxvi
  • Sig [...]uſſon, Soem [...]nd, the Firſt Edda, compiled by, lxv
  • Simeon of Durham, cxxvii
  • Siod, Sagan af, or Hiſtory of Siod, lvii
  • Sir Bevis, Romance of, xxxvii
  • Sir Guy, Romance of, xxxvii
  • Snorro Sturleſton, Second Edda, compiled by, lxv
  • Solymarium, or a Latin Poem on the Expedition of the Emperor Conrade againſt the Saracens, by Gunther, cxlv
  • Somner, cx
  • Spenſer, Edmund, xv, xxxvi, lvii
  • Statius, xcii, cxx, cxxxvii
  • Stephen, King, Latin Poem on, &c. by Henry of Huntingdon, cxxv
  • Stephen of Tournay, cxxxvii
  • Stonehenge, Ancient Fictions relating to, xvi, xvii
  • Sturleſon, Snorro, the Second Edda, compiled by, lxv
  • Suetonius, cxviii
  • Suidas, Lexicon of, tranſlated by Robert Groſthead, cxlvi
  • Summaripa, Georgio, cxxxi
  • Sympoſius, xcix
T
  • Tacitus, lxvi, xcii
  • Tale-tellers, or Poetical Hiſtorians, Account of, xlvi, xlvii, lxi
  • Talieſſin, Ode in Praiſe of Mead, by, xlix, lxi
  • Taſſo, lxi, cxxxvii
  • Terence, xcii, cxviii, cxix, cxx
  • Tertullian, lxxvii
  • Thamyris, xxiv
  • Thebaid of Statius, cxx
  • Theocritus, xcii
  • Theodoric the Second, King of the Oſtrogoths, lxxiv, lxxv
  • Theodore, Archbiſhop of Canterbury, xciii, xcviii, ci
  • Theodoſius the Younger, lxxiv
  • Thetide de, et de Lyaeo, cxxxv
  • Tor [...]aeus, xxxiv
  • Tours, Gregory of. See Gr [...]gory
  • Triſtram a Wales, Tale of, iii
  • [x] Trithemi [...]s, lv
  • T [...]ivet, Nicholas, cxix
  • Troilus and Creſſeide, by Chaucer, cxxxi
  • Tully. See Cicero
  • Turpin's Hiſtory of Charlemagne, xvii, xviii, xxi, lvii, lix, lxxii
  • Tyſſilio, Hiſtory of Britain, by, vii
V
  • Valens, lxxiv
  • Valeriu [...], lxxvii
  • Vellida, a German Propheteſs, Account of, lxvi
  • Victorinus, Marius, cxxiv
  • Vincent of Beauvais, lxxvii
  • Vineſauf, Geoffrey de, cxlv
  • Virgil, x, xcii, cxx, cxliii
  • Voltaire, xviii, cxxxvii
  • Urſula, Saint, Legend of, xi
W
  • Wallingford, Abbot of St. Alban's, cxx
  • Walter, Prior of Saint Swithin's, lxxxiv
  • Walter or Gualter, Archdeacon of Oxford, vii, cxxv
  • Wareham, Archbiſhop, cxxxiii
  • Waſſenback, Erneſt Caſſimer, lvi
  • Waterford, Godfrey of. See Godfrey
  • Weſcham, Roger de, cxlvi
  • Wil [...]rid, Saint, Archbiſhop of Canterbury, Life of, by Fridegode, cvii
  • William the Baſtard, Hiſtory of, lviii, cxiv [...] cxlvii
  • William Ru [...]us, Hiſtory of the Deſtruction of the Monaſtri [...]s, by, lviii
  • William of Blois, cxxv [...], cxxvii
  • William of Bretagne. See Guillaume l [...] Breton
  • William of Cheſter, cxxvii
  • William of Malmſbury, viii, xcv, cvii, cxxvii
  • Willibold, xcii
  • Woden or Odin, Account of, xxiv, xxv, xxvi, xxvii, xxviii, xxxvi, xliii
  • Wolſtan, a Monk of Wincheſter, c
  • Wonnius, Olaus, xxvii, xxxiii, xxxiv, liii, lvi
  • Woton, xlix
  • Writing on the Rocks, Account of the Ancient Cuſtom of, xxv
X
  • Xenocrates, cxi
Z
  • Zeno, xxvi
  • Zonares, lxxiv
  • Zaid, Mahomet's Secretary, lxxxv [...]
Notes
a
See ALMAKIN, edit. Pocock. p. 72.
b
See the ſecond Diſſertation.
c
‘"Arabico eloquio ſublimati, &c.’ Du Cang. Gloſſ. Med. Inf. Latinitat. tom. i. Praef. p. xxvii. §. 31.
c
The reaſon on which this concluſion is founded will appear hereafter.
d

In the Britiſh Muſeum is a ſet of old French tales of chivalry in verſe, written, as it ſeems, by the bards of Bretagne. MSS. Harl. 978. 107.

‘"TRISTRAM a WALES"’ is mentioned, f. 171. b.

‘Triſtram ki bien ſaveit HARPEIR.’

In the adventure of the knight ELIDUC. f. 172. b.

En Bretaigne un chevalier
Pruz, e curteis, hardi, e fier.

Again, under the ſame champion, f. 173.

Il tient ſun chemin tut avant
A la mer vient ſi eſt paſſez
En Toteneis eſt arrivez
Pluſurs reis ot en la tere
Entre eus eurent e ſtrif e guere
Vers Exceſtre en cil pais.

TOTENEIS is Totneſs in Devonſhire.—

Under the knight MILUN. f. 166.

Milun fu de Suthwales nez.

He is celebrated for his exploits in Ireland, Norway, Gothland, Lotharingia, Albany, &c.

Under LAUNVAL, f. 154. b.

En Bretains lapelent Launval.

Under GUIGEMAR. f. 141.

La chambre eſt peint tut entur
Venus de deveſſe damur
Futres bien en la paintur
Le traiz muſtres e la natur
Coment hume deit amur tenir
E lealment e bien ſervir
Le livre Ovide ou il enſeine, &c.

This deſcription of a chamber painted with Venus and the three myſteries of nature, and the alluſion to Ovid, prove the tales before us to be of no very high antiquity. But they are undoubtedly taken from others much older, of the ſame country. At the end of ELIDUC'S tale we have theſe lines. f. 181.

Del aventure de ces trais
Li auntien BRITUN curteis
Firent le lai pour remember
Q'hum nel deuſt pas oublier.

And under the tale of FRESNE, f. 148.

Li BRITUN enfirent un lai.

At the concluſion of moſt of the tales it is ſaid that theſe LAIS were made by the poets of Bretaigne. Another of the tales is thus cloſed. f. 146.

Que ceſt kunte ke oi avez
Fu Guigemar le LAI trouvez
Q hum fait en harpe en rote
Bone eſt a oir la note.
e
HISTOIRE DE BRETAGNE, ii. tom. fol.
f
Maximus appears to have ſet up a ſeparate intereſt in Britain, and to have engaged an army of the provincial Britons on his ſide, againſt the Romans. Not ſucceeding in his deſigns, he was obliged to retire with his Britiſh troops to the continent, as in the text. He had a conſiderable intereſt in Wales, having married Ellena daughter of Eudda a powerful chieftain of North-wales. She was born at Caernarvon, where her chapel is ſtill ſhewn. Mon. Antiq. p. 166. ſeq.
g
See Hiſt. de Bretagne, par d'Argentre, p. 2. Powel's WALES, p. 1. 2. ſeq. and p. 6. edit. 1584. Lhuyd's Etymol. p. 32. col. 3. And Galfrid. Mon. HIST. BRIT. Lib. v. c. 12. vii. 3. ix. 2. Compare Borlaſe, Antiq. Cornwall, B. i. ch. 10. p. 40.
h
MANSUS.
i
Parad. L. i. 579. Compare Pelloutier, MEM. ſur la Langue Celt. fol. tom. i. 19.
k
This ſeceſſion of the Welſh, at ſo critical a period, was extremely natural, into a neighbouring maritime country, with which they had conſtantly trafficked, and which, like themſelves, had diſclaimed the Roman yoke. It is not related in any Greek or Roman hiſtorian. But their ſilence is by no means a ſufficient warrant for us to reject the numerous teſtimonies of the old Britiſh writers concerning this event. It is mentioned, in particular, by Llywarchen, a famous bard, who lived only one hundred and fifty years afterwards. Many of his poems are ſtill extant, in which he celebrates his twenty-four ſons who wore gold chains, and were all killed in battles againſt the Saxons.
l
M. l'Abbé Lebeuf. RECHERCHES, &c. Mem. de Litt. tom. xvii. p. 718. edit. 4to. ‘"Je penſe que cela dura juſqu'à ce que le commerce de ces provinces avec les peuples du Nord, et de l'Allemagne, et SUR TOUT celui des HABITANS DE L'ARMORIQUE AVEC L'ANGLOIS, vers l'onzieme ſiecle, &c."’
m
See Camd. Brit. i. 44. edit. 1723. Lhuyd's Arch. p. 253.
n
The ſtory of LE COURT MANTEL, or the BOY AND THE MANTLE, told by an old French troubadour cited by M. de Sainte Palaye, is recorded in many manuſcript Welſh chronicles, as I learn from original letters of Lhuyd in the Aſhmolean Muſeum. See Mem. Anc. Chev. i. 119. And Obſ. Spenſer, i. §. ii. p. 54. 55. And from the ſame authority I am informed, that the fiction of the giant's coat compoſed of the beards of the kings whom he had conquered, is related in the legends of the bards of both countries. See Obſ. Spenſ. ut ſupr. p. 24. ſeq. But inſtances are innumerable.
o
Hence in the Armorican tales juſt quoted, mention is made of Totneſs and Exeter, anciently included in Cornwall. In Chaucer's ROMAUNT OF THE ROSE we have ‘"Hornpipis of Cornewaile,"’ among a great variety of muſical inſtruments. v. 4250. This is literally from the French original, v. 3991.
p
Who was ſometimes choſen from Wales and Cornwall, and ſometimes from ARMORICA. Borlaſe, ubi ſupr. p. 403. See alſo p. 375. 377. 393. And Concil. Spelman. tom. i. 9. 112. edit. 1639. fol. Stillingfleet's Orig. Brit. ch. 5. p. 344. ſeq. edit. 1688. fol. From CORNUWALLIA, uſed by the Latin monkiſh hiſtorians, came the preſent name Cornwall. Borlaſe, ibid. p. 325.
q
Evans, p. 43.
r
In the curious library of the family of Davies at Llanerk in Denbighſhire, there is a copy of this chronicle in the handwriting of Guttyn Owen, a celebrated Welſh bard and antiquarian about the year 1470, who aſcribes it to Tyſſilio a biſhop, and the ſon of Brockmael-Yſcythroc prince of Powis. Tyſſilio indeed wrote a HISTORY OF BRITAIN; but that work, as we are aſſured by Lhuyd in the ARCHAEOLOGIA, was entirely eccleſiaſtical, and has been long ſince loſt.
s
See Galfr. Mon. L. i. c. 1. xii. 1. 20. ix. 2. Bale, ii. 65. Thompſon's Pref. to Geoffrey's Hiſt. Tranſl. edit. Lond. 1718. p. xxx. xvi.
s

Geoffrey confeſſes, that he took ſome part of his account of king Arthur's atchievements from the mouth of his friend Gualter, the archdeacon; who probably related to the tranſlator ſome of the traditions on this ſubject which he had heard in Armorica, or which at that time might have been popular in Wales. Hiſt. Brit. Galfr. Mon. lib. xi. c. i. He alſo owns that Merlin's prophecies were not in the Armorican original. Ib. vii. 2. Compare Thompſon's Pref. ut ſupr. p. xxv. xxvii. The ſpeeches and letters were forged by Geoffrey; and in the deſcription of battles, our tranſlator has not ſcrupled frequent variations and additions.

I am obliged to an ingenious antiquarian in Britiſh literature, Mr. Morris of Penbryn, for the following curious remarks concerning Geoffrey's original and his tranſlation. ‘"Geoffrey's SYLVIUS, in the Britiſh original, is SILIUS, which in Latin would make JULIUS. This illuſtrates and confirms Lambarde's, BRUTUS JULIUS. Peramb. Kent, p. 12. So alſo in the Britiſh bards. And hence Milton's objection is removed. Hiſt. Engl. p. 12. There are no FLAMINES or ARCHFLAMINES in the Britiſh book. See Uſher's Primord. p. 57. Dubl. edit. There are very few ſpeeches in the original, and thoſe very ſhort. Geoffrey's FULGENIUS is in the Britiſh copy SULIEN, which by analogy in Latin would be JULIANUS. See Milton's Hiſt. Eng. p. 100. There is no LEIL in the Britiſh; that king's name was LLEON. Geoffrey's CAERLISLE is in the Britiſh CAERLLEON, or Weſt-Cheſter. In the Britiſh, LLAW AP CYNFARCH, ſhould have been tranſlated LEO, which is now rendered LOTH. This has brought much confuſion into the old Scotch hiſtory. I find no BELINUS in the Britiſh copy; the name is BELI, which ſhould have been in Latin BELIUS, or BELGIUS. Geoffrey's BRENNUS in the original is BRAN, a common name among the Britons; as BRAN AP DYFNWAL, &c. See Suida's [...]. It appears by the original, that the Britiſh name of CARAUSIUS was CARAWN; hence TREGARAUN, i. e. TREGARON, and the river CARAUN, which gives name to ABERCORN. In the Britiſh there is no diviſion into books and chapters, a mark of antiquity. Thoſe whom the tranſlator calls CONSULS of Rome, when Brennus took it, are in the original TWYSOGION, i. e. princes or generals. The Gwalenſes, GWALO, or GWALAS, are added by Geoffrey, B. xii. c. 19."’ To what is here obſerved about SILIUS, I will add, that abbot Whethamſted, in his MS. GRANARIUM, mentions SILOIUS the father of Brutus. ‘"Quomodo Brutus SILOII filius ad litora Angliae venit," &c.’ GRANAR. Part. i. Lit. A. MSS. Cotton. NERO, C. vi. Brit. Muſ. This gentleman has in his poſſeſſion a very antient manuſcript of the original, and has been many years preparing materials for giving an accurate and faithful tranſlation of it into Engliſh. The manuſcript in Jeſus college library at Oxford, which Wynne pretends to be the ſame which Geoffrey himſelf made uſe of, is evidently not older than the ſixteenth century. Mr. Price, the Bodleian librarian, to whoſe friendſhip this work is much indebted, has two copies lately given him by Mr. Banks, much more antient and perfect. But there is reaſon to ſuſpect, that moſt of the Britiſh manuſcripts of this hiſtory are tranſlations from Geoffrey's Latin: for Britannia they have BRYTTAEN, which in the original would have been PRYDAIN. Geoffrey's tranſlation, and for obvious reaſons, is a very common manuſcript. Compare Lhuyd's Arch. p. 265.

t
Thompſon ſays, 1128. ubi ſupr. p. xxx. Geoffrey's age is aſcertained beyond a doubt, even if other proofs were wanting, from the cotemporaries whom he mentions. Such as Robert earl of Gloceſter, natural ſon of Henry the firſt, and Alexander biſhop of Lincoln, his patrons: he mentions alſo William of Malmeſbury, and Henry of Huntingdon. Wharton places Geoffrey's death in the year 1154. Epiſc. Aſſav. p. 306. Robert de Monte, who continued Sigebert's chronicle down to the year 1183, in the preface to that work expreſly ſays, that he took ſome of the materials of his ſupplement from the HISTORIA BRITONUM, lately tranſlated out of Britiſh into Latin. This was manifeſtly Geoffrey's book. Alfred of Beverly, who evidently wrote his ANNALES, publiſhed by Hearne, between the years 1148 and 1150, borrowed his account of the Britiſh kings from Geoffrey's HISTORIA, whoſe words he ſometimes literally tranſcribes. For inſtance, Alfred, in ſpeaking of Arthur's keeping Whitſuntide at Caerleon, ſays, that the HISTORIA BRITONUM enumerated all the kings who came thither on Arthur's invitation: and then adds, ‘"Praeter hos non remanſit princeps alicujus pretii citra Hiſpaniam qui ad iſtud edictum non venerit."’ Alured. Bev. Annal. p. 63. edit. Hearne. Theſe are Geoffrey's own words; and ſo much his own, that they are one of his additions to the Britiſh original. But the curious reader, who deſires a complete and critical diſcuſſion of this point, may conſult an original letter of biſhop Lloyd, preſerved among Tanner's manuſcripts at Oxford, num. 94.
u
This notion of their extraction from the Trojans had ſo infatuated the Welſh, that even ſo late as the year 1284, archbiſhop Peckham, in his injunctions to the dioceſe of St. Aſaph, orders the people to abſtain from giving credit to idle dreams and viſions, a ſuperſtition which they had contracted from their belief in thedream of their founder Brutus, in the temple of Diana, concerning his arrival in Britain. The archbiſhop very ſeriouſly adviſes them to boaſt no more of their relation to the conquered and fugitive Trojans, but to glory in the victorious croſs of Chriſt. Concil. Wilkins, tom. ii. p. 106. edit. 1737. fol.
w
It is among the SCRIPTORES RER. GERMAN. Sim. Schard. tom. i. p. 301. edit. Baſil. 1574. fol. It conſiſts of eighteen books.
x
See infr. SECT. iii. p. 127, 128.
y
L. iii. c. 13.
z
L. ix. c. 12.
z
L. vii. c. 4.
a
L. ix. c. 12.
b
Pitts mentions an anonymous writer under the name of EREMITA BRITANNUS, who ſtudied hiſtory and aſtronomy, and flouriſhed about the year 720. He wrote, beſides a book in an unknown language, entitled, Sanchem Graal, De Rege Arthuro et rebus geſtis ejus. Lib. i. De Menſa rotunda et STRENUIS EQUITIBUS, lib. i. See Pitſ. p. 122. Bale, x. 21. Uſſer. Primord. p. 17. This ſubject could not have been treated by ſo early a writer.
c

See infr. SECT. iii. p. 109. xii. p. 347, 348. I will here produce, from that learned orientaliſt M. D'Herbelot, ſome curious traites of Arabian knight-errantry, which the reader may apply to the principles of this Diſſertation as he pleaſes.

‘"BATTHALL.—Une homme hardi et vaillant, qui cherchè des avantures tels qu' etoient les chevaliers errans de nos anciens Romans."’ He adds, that Batthall, an Arabian, who lived about the year of Chriſt 740, was a warrior of this claſs, concerning whom many marvellous feats of arms are reported: that his life was written in a large volume, ‘"mais qu'elle eſt toute remplie d' exaggerations et de menteries."’ Bibl. Oriental. p. 193. a. b. In the royal library at Paris, there is an Arabian book entitled, ‘"Scirat al Mogiah-edir,"’ i. e. ‘"The Lives of the moſt valiant Champions.’ Num. 1079.

d
Compare M. Petis de la Croix, Hiſt. Genghizcan, l. iv. c. p.
e
Herbelot. Bibl. Oriental. p. 157. 291. 318. 438. 470. 528. 795. 796. 811, &c. They call Tartary the land of Gajiouge and Majiouge. This wall, ſome few fragments of which ſtill remain, they pretend to have been built with all ſorts of metals. See Abulfaraj Hiſt. Dynaſt. edit. Pococke, p. 62. A. D. 1673. It was an old tradition among the Tartars, that the people of Jajgioue and Majiouge were perpetually endeavouring to make a paſſage through this fortreſs; but that they would not ſucceed in their attempt till the day of judgment. See Hiſt. Geneal. des Tartars, d'Abulgazi Bahadut Khân. p. 43. About the year 808, the caliph Al Amin having heard wonderful reports concerning this wall or barrier, ſent his interpreter Salam, with a guard of fifty men, to view it. After a dangerous journey of near two months, Salam and his party arrived in a deſolated country, where they beheld the ruins of many cities deſtroyed by the people of Jajiouge and Majiouge. In ſix days more they reached the caſtles near the mountain Kokaiya or Caucaſus. This mountain is inacceſſibly ſteep, perpetually covered with ſnows and thick clouds, and encompaſſes the country of Jagiouge and Magiouge, which is full of cultivated fields and cities. At an opening of thi [...] mountain the fortreſs appears: and trave ling forwards, at the diſtance of two ſtages, they found another mountain, with a ditch cut through it one hundred and fifty cubits wide; and within the aperture an iron gate fifty cubits high, ſupported by vaſt buttreſſes, having an iron bulwark crowned with iron turrets, reaching to the ſummit of the mountain itſelf, which is too high to be ſeen. The valves, lintels, threſhold, bolts, lock and key, are all repreſented of proportionable magnitude. The governor of the caſtle abovementioned, once in every week mounted on horſeback with ten others on horſeback, comes to this gate, and ſtriking it three times with a hammer weighing five pounds, and then liſtening, hears a murmuring noiſe from within. This noiſe is ſuppoſed to proceed from the Jagiouge and Magiouge confined there. Salam was told that they often appeared on the battlements of the bulwark. He returned after paſſing twentyeight months in this extraordinary expedition. See Mod. Univ. Hiſt. vol. iv. B. i. § 2. pag. 15. 16. 17. And Anc. vol. xx. pag. 23. Pliny, ſpeaking of the PORTAE CAUCASIAE, mentions, ‘"ingens naturae opus, montibus interruptis repente, ubi fores obditae ferratis trabibus," &c.’ Nat. Hiſt. lib. vi. c. 2. Czar Peter the firſt, in his expedition into Perſia, had the curioſity to ſurvey the ruins of this wall: and ſome leagues within the mountain he found a ſkirt of it which ſeemed entire, and was about fifteen feet high. In ſome other parts it is ſtill ſix or ſeven feet in heighth. It ſeems at firſt ſight to be built of ſtone: but it conſiſts of petrified earth, ſand, and ſhells, which compoſe a ſubſtance of great ſolidity. It has been chiefly deſtroyed by the neighbouring inhabitants, for the ſake of its materials: and moſt of the adjacent towns and villages are built out of its ruins. Bentink's Notes on Abulgazi, p, 722. Eng. edit. See Chardin's Travels. p. 176. And Struys's Voyage, B. iii. c. 20. p. 226. Olearius's Travels of the Holſtein Ambaſſad. B. vii. p. 403. Geograph. Nubienſ. vi. c. 9. And Act. Petropolit. vol. i. p. 405. By the way, this work probably preceded the time of Alexander: it does not appear, from the courſe of his victories, that he ever came near the Caſpian gates. The firſt and fabulous hiſtory of the eaſtern nations, will perhaps be found to begin with the exploits of this Grecian hero.
f
Lib. i. c. 16.
g
L. x. c. 3.
h
The Cumbrian and Northumbrian Britons, as powerful opponents of the Saxons, were ſtrongly allied to the Welſh and Corniſh.
i
Lib. xii. c. 1, 4, 5, 6.
k
Lib. vii. c. 3.
l
Lib. xii. 2. xi. 8. 10.
m
Lib. x. c. 5. 8. 10.
n
See infr. SECT. i. p. 10. And SECT. xiii. p. 378. infr.
o
This chronicle was evidently compiled to do honour to the Britons and their affairs, and eſpecially in oppoſition to the Saxons. Now the importance with which theſe romancers ſeem to ſpeak of Stonehenge, and the many beautiful fictions with which they have been ſo ſtudious to embelliſh its origin, and to aggrandiſe its hiſtory, appear to me ſtrongly to favour the hypotheſis, that Stonehenge is a Britiſh monument; and indeed to prove, that it was really erected in memory of the three hundred Britiſh nobles maſſacred by the Saxon Hengiſt. See SECT. ii. infr. p. 52. No DRUIDICAL monument, of which ſo many remains were common, engaged their attention or intereſted them ſo much, as this NATIONAL memorial appears to have done.
p
Lib. ii. c. 9. See SECT. inf. xv. p. 413.
o
See DISS. ii. And SECT. xv. inf. p. 402.
p
Lib. ix. c. 12.
q
L. viii. c. 15.
r
L. viii. c. 10. See infr. SECT. xv. paſſim.
s
L. ii. 10.
t
L. x. c. 2.
u
L. vii. c. 4.
w
I will mention only one among many others. The chriſtians under Charlemagne are ſaid to have found in Spain a golden idol, or image of Mahomet, as high as a bird can fly. It was framed by Mahomet himſelf of the pureſt metal, who by his knowledge in necromancy had ſealed up within it a legion of diabolical ſpirits. It held in its hand a prodigious club; and the Saracens had a prophetic tradition, that this club ſhould fall from the hand of the image in that year when a certain king ſhould be born in France, &c. J. Turpini Hiſt. de Vit. Carol. Magn. et Rolandi. cap. iv. f. 2. a.
x
See Hiſt. Acad. des Inſcript. &c. vii. 293. edit. 4to.
y
See Catel, Mem. de l'Hiſt. du Languedoc. pag. 545.
z
"Hiſt. Gen. ch. viii. Oeuvr, tom. i. p. 84. edit. Genev. 1756.
a
See infr. SECT. iii. p. 124.
b
‘"De hoc canitur in Cantilena [...]ſque ad hodiernum diem."’ cap. xi. f. 4. b. edit. Schard. Francof. 1566. fol. Chronograph. Quat.
c
Ibid. cap. ix. f. 3. b. The writer adds, ‘"Caeteriſque artificiis ad capiendum, &c."’ See alſo cap. x. ibid. Compare SECT. iv. infr. p. 160. In one of Charlemagne's battles, the Saracens advance with horrible viſors bearded and horned, and with drums or cymbals. ‘"Tenenteſque ſinguli TYMPAN [...], quae manibus fortiter percutiebant."’ The unuſual ſpectacle and ſound terrified the horſes of the chriſtian army, and threw them into confuſion. In a ſecond engagement, Charlemagne commanded the eyes of the horſes to be covered, and their ears to be ſtopped. Turpin. cap. xviii. f. 7. b. The latter expedient is copied in the Romance of RICHARD THE FIRST, written about the eleventh century. See SECT. iv. infr. p. 165. See alſo what is ſaid of the Saracen drums. ibid. p. 167.
d
Flodoard of Rheims firſt mentions them, whoſe chronicle comes down to 966.
e
Magn. Chron. Belgic. pag. 150. ſub ann. Compare J. Long. Bibl. Hiſt. Gall. num. 6671. And Lambec. ii. p. 333.
f
Bibl. de Dauphiné. p. 224.
g
See infr. SECT. viii. p. 464.
h
See infr. SECT. iii. p. 135.
i
Arnoldi Oienharti Notit. utriuſque Vaſconiae, edit. Pariſ. 1638. 4to. pag. 397. lib. iii. c. 3. Such was Roland's ſong, ſung at the battle of Haſtings. But ſee this romance, cap. xx. f. 8. b. Where Turpin ſeems to refer to ſome other fabulous materials or hiſtory concerning Charlemagne. Particularly about Galafar and Braiamant, which make ſuch a figure in Boyardo and Arioſto.
k
Innumerable romantic ſtories, of Arabian growth, are to this day current among the common people of Spain, which they call CUJENTOS DE VIEJAS. I will relate one from that lively picture of the Spaniards, RELATION DU VOYAGE D'ESPAGNE, by Madamoiſelle Danois. Within the antient caſtle of Toledo, they ſay, there was a vaſt cavern whoſe entrance was ſtrongly barricadoed. It was univerſally believed, that if any perſon entered this cavern, the moſt fatal diſaſters would happen to the Spaniards. Thus it remained cloſely ſhut and unentered for many ages. At length king Roderigo, having leſs credulity but more courage and curioſity than his anceſtors, commanded this formidable receſs to be opened. At entering, he began to ſuſpect the traditions of the people to be true: a terrible tempeſt aroſe, and all the elements ſeemed united to embarraſs him. Nevertheleſs, he ventured forwards into the cave, where he diſcerned by the light of his torches certain figures on ſtatues of men, whoſe habiliments and arms were ſtrange and uncouth. One of them had a ſword of ſhining braſs, on which it was written in Arabic characters, that the time approached when the Spaniſh nation ſhould be deſtroyed, and that it would not be long before the warriors, whoſe images were placed there, ſhould arrive in Spain. The writer adds, ‘"Je n'ai jamais été en aucun endroit, où l'on faſſe PLUS DE CAS des CONTES FABULEUX qu'en Eſpagne."’ Edit. a la Haye, 1691. tom. iii. p. 158. 159. 12mo. See infr. SECT. iii. p. 112. And the LIFE of CERVANTES, by Don Gregorio Mayans. §. 27. §. 47. §. 48. §. 49.
l

See Du Cheſne, tom. v. p. 60. And Mem. Lit. xvii. 737. ſeq. It is in the roval library at Paris, Num. 8190. Probably the French Turpin in the Britiſh Muſeum is the ſame, Cod. MSS. Harl. 273. 23. f. 86. See infr. SECT. iii. p. 135. See inſtances of the Engliſh tranſlating proſe Latin books into Engliſh, and ſometimes French, verſe. SECT. ii. infr. paſſim.

In the king's library at Paris, there is a tranſlation of Dares Phrygius into French rhymes by Godfrey of Waterford an Iriſh Jacobin, a writer not mentioned by Tanner, in the thirteenth century. Mem. Litt. tom. xvii. p. 736. Compare SECT. iii. infr. p. 125. In the Notes.

m
Percy, on, ANTIENT METR. ROM. i. p. 3. 4. edit. 1767.
n
For the judiciary combats, as alſo for common athletic exerciſes, they formed an amphitheatrical circus of rude ſtones. ‘"Quaedam [ſaxa] CIRCOS claudebant, in quibus gigantes et pugiles DUELLO ſtrenue decertabant."’ Worm. p. 62. And again, ‘"Nec mora, CIRCUATUR campus, milite CIRCUS ſtipatur, concurrunt pugiles."’ p. 65. It is remarkable, that circs of the ſame ſort are ſtill to be ſeen in Cornwall, ſo famous at this day for the athletic art: in which alſo they ſometimes exhibited their ſcriptural interludes. See infr. SECT. vi. p. 237. Frotho the Great, king of Denmark, in the firſt century, is ſaid to have been the firſt who commanded all controverſies to be decided by the ſword. Worm. p. 68. In favour of this barbarous inſtitution it ought to be remembered, that the practice of thus marking out the place of battle muſt have prevented much bloodſhed, and ſaved many innocent lives: for if either combatant was by any accident forced out of the circus, he was to loſe his cauſe, or to pay three marks of pure ſilver as a redemption for his life. Worm. p. 68, 69. In the year 987, the ordeal was ſubſtituted in Denmark inſtead of the duel; a mode of deciſion, at leaſt in a political ſenſe, leſs abſurd, as it promoted military ſkill.
o
Mallet, Introduction a l' Hiſtoire de Dannemarc, &c. tom. ii. p. 9.
p
Ib. ch. ix. p. 243. tom. ii.
q
‘"Unicam gentium Aſiaticarum Immigrationem, in orbem Arctoum factam, noſtrae antiquitates commemorant. Sed eam tamen non primam. Verum circa annum tandem viceſimum quartum ante natum Chriſtum, Romanis exercitibus auſpiciis Pompeii Magni in Aſiae parte, Phrygia Minore, graſſantibus. Illa enim epocha ad hanc rem chronologi noſtri utuntur. In cujus (GYLVI SU [...]CIAE regis) tempora incidit Odinus, Aſiaticae immigrationis, ſactae anno 24 ante natum Chriſtum, anteſignanus."’ Crymogaea, Arngrim. Jon. lib. i. cap. 4. p. 30. 31. edit. Hamburg. 1609. See alſo Bartholin. Antiquitat. Dan. Lib. ii. cap. 8. p. 407. iii. c. 2. p. 652. edit. 1689. Lazius, de Gent. Migrat. L. x. fol. 573. 30. edit. fol. 1600. Compare Ol. Rudbeck. cap. v. ſect. 2. p. 95. xiv. ſect. 2. p. 67. There is a memoir on this ſubject lately publiſhed in the Peterſburgh Tranſactions, but I chuſe to refer to original authorities. See tom v. p. 297. edit. 1738. 4to.
r
‘"Odino etiam et aliis, qui ex Aſia huc devenere, tribuunt multi antiquitatum Iſlandicarum periti; unde et Odinus RUNHOFDI ſeu Runarum (i. e. Literarum) auctor vocatur."’ Ol. Worm. Liter. Runic. cap. 20. edit. Hafn. 1651. Some writers refer the origin of the Grecian language, ſciences, and religion to the Scythians, who were connected towards the ſouth with Odin's Goths. I cannot bring a greater authority than that of Salmaſius, ‘"Satis certum ex his colligi poteſt linguam, ut gentem, HELLENICAM, a ſeptentrione et SCYTHIA originem traxiſſe, non a meridie. Inde LITERAE GRAECORUM, inde MUSAE PIERIDES, inde ſacrorum initia."’ Salmaſ. de Helleniſt. p. 400. As a further proof I ſhall obſerve, that the antient poet Thamyris was ſo much eſteemed by the Scythians, on account of his poetry, [...], that they choſe him their king. Conon. Narrat. Poet. cap. vii. edit. Gal. But Thamyris was a Thracian: and a late ingenious antiquarian endeavours to prove, that the Goths were deſcended from the Thracians, and that the Greeks and Thracians were only different clans of the ſame people. Clarke's Connexion, &c. ch. ii. p. 65.
s
See Po [...]toppidan. Nat. Hiſt. Norway, tom. ii. c. 10. §. 1. 2. 3.
t
See Saxo Grammat. Praef. ad Hiſt. Dan. And Hiſt. lib. vii. See alſo Ol. Worm. Monum. Dan. lib. iii.
u
Paulus Jovius, a writer indeed not of the beſt credit, ſays, that Annibal engraved characters on the Alpine rocks, as a teſtimony of his paſſage over them, and that they were remaining there two centuries ago. Hiſt. lib. xv. p. 163.
x
See Voyage par Strahlemberg, &c. A Deſcription of the northern and eaſtern Parts of Europe and Aſia. Schroder ſays, from Olaus Rudbeckius, that RUNES, or letters, were invented by Magog the Scythian, and communicated to Tuiſco the celebrated German chieftain, in the year of the world 1799. Praef. ad Lexicon Latino-Scandic.
y
See Keyſler, p. 147. Two funeral ceremonies, one of BURNING, the other of BURYING their dead, at different times prevailed in the north; and have diſtinguiſhed two eras in the old northern hiſtory. The firſt was called the AGE OF FIRE, the ſecond the AGE of HILLS.
z
Mytholog. Expliq. ii. p. 628. 4to.
a
M. Mallet. Hiſt. Dannem. i. p. 56. See alſo Keyſler, p. 152.
b
EDD. ISL. fab. xxviii. Compare Key [...]ler, Antiquit. Sel. Sept. p. 304. ſeq. The Germans, a Teutonic tribe, call it to this day ‘"the Branch of Spectres."’ But ſee Dr. Percy's ingenious note on this paſſage in the EDDA. NORTHERN ANTIQUITIES, vol. ii. p. 143.
c
Oſſian's Works. CATHLIN, ii, p. 216. Not. edit. 1765. vol. ii. They add, that among the auxiliaries came many magicians.
d
See Hyde, Relig. Vet. Perſ. p. 399. 404. But compare what is ſaid of the EDDA, towards the cloſe of this Diſcourſe.
e
Odin only, drank wine in Valhall. EDD. Myth. xxxiv. See Keyſler, p. 152.
f
See Preface to Alfred's Saxon Oroſius, publiſhed by Spelman. VIT. AELFREDI. Spelm. Append. vi.
g
LANDNAMA-SAGA. See Mallet. Hiſt. Dannem. c. ii.
h
Lit. Run. p. 209, edit. 1651. The Goths came from the neighbourhood of Colchis, the region of Witchcraft, and the country of Medea, famous for her incantations. The eaſtern pagans from the very carlieſt ages, have had their enchanters. Now the magicians of Egypt, they alſo did in like manner with their enchantments. Exod. vii. 11. See alſo vii. 18, 19. ix. 11, &c. When the people of Iſrael had over-run the country of Balak, he invites Baalam a neighbouring prince to curſe them, or deſtroy them by magic, which he ſeems to have profeſſed. And the elders of Moab departed with the rewards of DIVINATION in their hand. Num. xxii. 7. Surely there is no ENCHANTMENT againſt Iſrael. xxiii. 23. And he went out, as at other times, to ſeek for ENCHANTMENTS. xxiv. 1. &c. Odin himſelf was not only a warrior, but a magician, and his Aſiatics were called Incantationum auctores. Chron. Norweg. apud Bartholin. L. iii. c. 2. p. 657. Crymog. Arngrim. L. i. cap. vii. p. 511. From this ſource, thoſe who adopt the principles juſt mentioned in this diſcourſe, may be inclined to think, that the notion of ſpells got into the ritual of chivalry. In all legal ſingle combats, each champion atteſted upon oath, that he did not carry about him any herb, SPELL, or ENCHANTMENT. Dugdal. Orig. Juridic. p. 82. See Hickes's account of the ſilver Dano-Saxon ſhield, dug up in the iſle of Ely, having a magical Runic inſcription, ſuppoſed to render thoſe who bore it in battle invulnerable. Apud Hickeſ. Theſaur. Diſſertat. Epiſtol. p. 187.
i
See this argument purſued in the following DISSERTATION.
k
‘"Linguam Danicam antiquam, cujus in rythmis uſus fuit, veteres appellarunt ASAMAL, id eſt Aſiaticam, vel ASARUM SERMONEM; quod eum ex Aſia Odinus ſecum in Daniam, Norwegiam, Sueciam, aliaſque regiones ſeptentrionales, invexerit."’ Steph. Stephan. Praefat. ad Saxon. Grammat. Hiſt.
l
A moſt ingenious critic obſerves, that ‘"what we have been long accuſtomed to call the ORIENTAL VEIN of poetry, becauſe ſome of the EARLIEST poetical productions have come to us from the eaſt, is probably no more ORIENTAL than OCCIDENTAL."’ Blair's Crit. Diſſ. on Oſſian. vol. ii. p. 317. But all the LATER oriental writers through all ages have been particularly diſtinguiſhed for this VEIN. Hence it is here characteriſtical of a country not of an age. I will allow, on this writer's very juſt and penetrating principles, that an early northern ode ſhall be as ſublime as an eaſtern one. Yet the ſublimity of the latter ſhall have a different character; it will be more inflated and gigantic.
m
Thus, a Rainbow is called, the bridge of the gods. Poetry, the mead of Odin. The earth, the veſſel that floats on ages. A ſhip, the horſe of the waves. Ice, the vaſt bridge. Herbs, the fleece of the earth. A Battle, a bath of blood, the hail of Odin, the ſhock of bucklers. A Tongue, the ſword of words. Night, the veil of cares. Rocks, the bones of the earth. Arrows, the hailſt [...]nes of [...]elmets, &c. &c.
n
In a ſtrict geographical ſenſe, the original country of theſe Aſiatic Goths might not be ſo ſituated as phyſically to have produced theſe effects. Yet it is to be obſerved, that intercourſe and vicinity are in this caſe ſometimes equivalent to climate. The Perſian traditions and ſuperſtitions were current even in the northern parts of Tartary. Georgia, however, may be fairly conſidered as a part of Perſia. It is equal in fertility to any of the eaſtern Turkiſh provinces in Aſia. It affords the richeſt wines, and other luxuries of life, in the greateſt abundance. The moſt beautiful virgins for the ſeraglio are fetched from this province. In the mean time, thus much at leaſt may be ſaid of a warm climate, excluſive of its ſuppoſed immediate phyſical influence on the human mind and temperament. It exhibits all the productions of nature in their higheſt perfection and beauty: while the exceſſive heat of the ſun, and the fewer incitements to labour and induſtry, diſpoſe the inhabitants to indolence, and to living much abroad in ſcenes of nature. Theſe circumſtances are favourable to the operations of fancy.
o
Harold Hardraade, king of Norway, compoſed ſixteen ſongs of his expedition into Africa. Aſbiorn Pruda, a Daniſh champion, deſcribed his paſt life in nine ſtrophes, while his enemy Bruce, a giant, was tearing out his bowels. ‘"i. Tell my mother Suanhita in Denmark, that ſhe will not this ſummer comb the hair of her ſon. I had promiſed her to return, but now my ſide ſhall feel the edge of the ſword. ii. It was far otherwiſe, when we ſate at home in mirth, chearing ourſelves with the drink of ale; and coming from Hordeland paſſed the gulf in our ſhips; when we quaffed mead, and converſed of liberty. Now I alone am fallen into the narrow priſons of the giants. iii. It was far otherwiſe, &c."’ Every ſtanza is introduced with the ſame choral burden. Bartholin. Antiquit. Danic. L. i. cap. 10. p. 158. edit. 1689. The noble epicedium of Regner Lodbrog is more commonly known. The champion Orvarodd, after his expeditions into various countries, ſung, on his death-bed, the moſt memorable events of his life in metre. Hallmund, being mortally wounded, commanded his daughter to liſten to a poem which he was about to deliver, containing hiſtories of his victories, and to engrave it on tablets of wood. Bartholin. ibid. p. 162. Saxo Grammaticus gives us a regular ode, uttered by the ſon of a king of Norway, who by miſtake had been buried alive, and was diſcovered and awakened by a party of ſoldiers digging for treaſure. Sax. Grammat. L. 5. p. 50. There are inſtances recorded of their ſpeaking in metre on the moſt common occurrences.
p
The Sogdians were a people who lived eaſtward of the Caſpian ſea, not far from the country of Odin's Goths. Quintus Curtius relates, that when ſome of that people were condemned to death by Alexander on account of a revolt, they rejoiced greatly, and teſtified their joy by SINGING VERSES and dancing. When the king enquired the reaſon of their joy, they anſwered, ‘"that being ſoon to be RESTORED TO THEIR ANCESTORS by ſo great a conqueror, they could not help celebrating ſo honourable a death, which was the WISH of all brave men, in their own ACCUSTOMED SONGS."’ Lib. vii. c. 8. I am obliged to doctor Percy for pointing out this paſſage. From the correſpondence of manners and principles it holds forth between the Scandinavians and the Sogdians, it contains a ſtriking proof of Odin's migration from the eaſt to the north: firſt, in the ſpontaneous exerciſe of the poetical talent; and ſecondly, in the opinion, that a glorious or warlike death, which admitted them to the company of their friends and parents in another world, was to be embraced with the moſt eager alacrity, and the higheſt ſenſations of pleaſure. This is the doctrine of the Edda. In the ſame ſpirit, RIDENS MORIAR is the triumphant cloſe of Regner Lodbrog's dying ode. [See Keyſler, ubi infr. p. 127.] I cannot help adding here another ſtroke from this ode, which ſeems alſo to be founded on eaſtern manners. He ſpeaks with great rapture of drinking, ‘"ex concavis crateribus craniorum."’ The inhabitants of the iſland of Ceylon to this day carouſe at their feaſts, from cups or bowls made of the ſculls of their deceaſed anceſtors. Ives's VOYAGE TO INDIA, ch. 5. p. 62. Lond. 1773. 4to. This practice theſe iſlanders undoubtedly received from the neighbouring continent. Compare Keyſler, Antiquitat. Sel. Septentrional. p. 362. ſeq.
q

It is conjectured by Wormius, that Ireland is derived from the Runic Yr, a bow, for the uſe of which the Iriſh were once famous. Lit. Run. c. xvii. p. 101. The Aſiatics near the lake Maeotis, from which Odin led his colony in Europe, were celebrated archers. Hence Hercules in Theocritus, Idyll. xiii. 56.

[...].

Compare Salmaſ. de Hellen. p. 369. And Flahert. Ogyg. Part. iii. cap. xviii. p. 188. edit. 1685. Stillingfleet's Orig. Brit. Praef. p. xxxviii.

r
Torf. Hiſt. Orcad. in Praefat.
s
Lit. Dan. p. 195. ed. 4to.
t
Bartholin. iii. 2. p. 651. It was a conſtant old Britiſh tradition, that king Arthur conquered Ireland, Gothland, Denmark, and Norway. See Galfrid. Monum. ix. 11. Rob. of Glouc. ed. Hearne, p. 180. 182. What is ſaid in the text muſt have greatly facilitated the Saxon and Daniſh conqueſts in England. The works of the genuine Caedmon are written in the language of the antient Angles, who were nearly connected with the Jutes. Hence that language reſembled the antient Daniſh, as appears from paſſages of Caedmon cited by Wanley. Hence alſo it happened, that the later Dano-Saxonic dialect, in which Junius's POETICAL PARAPHRASE OF GENESIS was written, is likewiſe ſo very ſimilar to the language of the antient Angles, who ſettled in the more northern parts of England. And in this dialect, which indeed prevailed in ſome degree almoſt over all England, many other poems are compoſed, mentioned likewiſe in Wanley's Catalogue. It is the conſtant doctrine of the Daniſh hiſtorians, that the Danes and Angles, whoſe ſucceſſors gave the name to this iſland, had the ſame origin.
u
See Keyſler, Antiquitat. Sel. Septentrional. p. 497. edit. 1720.
w
See Keyſler, ut ſupr. p. 261. And in ADDEND. ibid. p. 588.
x
See Keyſler, ibid. p. 105. p. 130.
y
See Temple's Eſſays, part 4. pag. 346. See alſo inſtances of conformity between Engliſh and Gothic ſuperſtitions in Bartholinus, L. ii. cap. 2. p. 262. 266. It may be urged, that theſe ſuperſtitions might be introduced by the Danes; of whom I ſhall ſpeak below. But this brings us to juſt the ſame point. The learned Hickes was of opinion, from a multitude of inſtances, that our trials by a jury of Twelve, was an early Scandinavian inſtitution, and that it was brought from thence into England. Yet he ſuppoſes, at a period later than is neceſſary, the Norman invaſion. See Wootton's Conſpectus of Hickes's Theſaur. pag. 46. Lond. 1708. And Hickeſ. Theſaur. Diſſertat. Epiſtol. vol. i. p. 38. ſeq. The number TWELVE was ſacred among the Septentrional tribes. Odin's Judges are TWELVE, and have TWELVE ſeats in Gladheim. EDD. ISL. fab. vii. The God of the Edda has TWELVE names, ibid. fab. i. An Ariſtocracy of TWELVE is a well known antient eſtabliſhment in the north. In the Dialogue between Hervor and Angantyr, the latter promiſes to give Hervor TWELVE MENS DEATHS. Hervarer-Saga, apud Ol. Verel. cap. vii. p. 91. The Druidical circular monuments of ſeparate ſtones erect, are more frequently of the number TWELVE, than of any other number. See Borlaſe, ANTIQUIT. Cornw. B. iii. ch. vii. edit. 1769. fol. And Toland, Hiſt. Druid. p. 89. 158. 160. Se alſo Martin's Hebrid. p. 9. In Zealand and Sweden, many antient circular monuments, conſiſting each of twelve rude ſtones, ſtill remain, which were the places of judicature. My late very learned, ingenious, and reſpected friend, doctor Borlaſe, pointed out to me monuments of the ſame ſort in Cornwall. Compare Keyſler, p. 93. And it will illuſtrate remarks already made, and the principles inſinuated in this Diſſertation, to obſerve, that theſe monuments are found in Perſia near Tanris. Geoffrey of Monmouth affords inſtances in his Britiſh Hiſtory. The knights ſent into Wales by Fitzhammon, in 1091, were TWELVE. Powel, p. 124. ſub anno. See alſo an inſtance in Du Carell, Anglo-Norman ANTIQ. p. 9. It is probable that Charlemagne formed his TWELVE PEERS on this principle. From whom Spenſer evidently took his TWELVE KNIGHTS.
z
‘"Ex vetuſtioribus poetis Cimbrorum, nempe Scaldis et Theotiſcae gentis verſificatoribus, plane multa, ut par eſt credere, ſumpſere."’ Hickeſ. Theſaur. i. p. 101. See p. 117.
a
See Gibſon's Chron. Saxon. p. 12. ſeq. Hiſtorians mention WODEN'S BEORTH, i. e. Woden's hill, in Wiltſhire. See Milton, Hiſt. Engl. An. 588.
b
See Sir A. Fountaine's Pref. Saxon Money. OFFA. REX. SC. BOTRED MONETARIUS, &c. See alſo Serenii Diction. Anglo-Suecico-Latin. Praef. pag. 21.
c
See Hickes's Theſaur. BAPTISTERIUM BRIDEKIRKENSE. Par. iii. p. 4. Tab. ii [...] SAXUM REVELLENSE apud Scotos. Ibid. Tab. iv. pag. 5.—CRUX LAPIDEA apud Beaucaſtle. Wanley Catal. MSS. Anglo-Sax. pag. 248. ad calc. Hickeſ. Theſaur. ANNULUS AUREUS. Drake's York, Append. p. 102. Tab. N. 26. And Gordon's Itin. Septentr. p. 168.
d
See Hickes's Theſaur. Par. i. pag. 135. 136. 148. Par. iii. Tab. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. It may be conjectured, that theſe characters were introduced by the Danes. It is certain that they never grew into common uſe. They were at leaſt inconvenient, as conſiſting of capitals. We have no remains of Saxon writing ſo old as the ſixth century. Nor are there any of the ſeventh, except a very few charters. [Bibl. Bodl. NE. D. 11. 19. ſeq.] See Hickes's Theſaur. Par. i. pag. 169. See alſo CHARTA ODILREDI AD MONASTERIUM DE BERKING. Tab. i. Caſley's Cat. Bibl. Reg. In the Britiſh Muſeum.
e
See ARCHAEOL. vol. ii. p. 131. A. D. 1773. 4to.
f
But ſee Hickes, ubi ſupr. i. p. 140.
g
It has been ſuggeſted to me by an ingenious friend, that GUY and ſir BEVIS, the firſt of which lived in the reign of Athelſtan, and the latter, as ſome ſuppoſe, in that of Edgar, both chriſtian champions againſt the pagan Danes, were originally ſubjects of the genuine Saxon bards. But I rather think, they begun to be celebrated in or after the cruſades; the nature of which expeditions dictated to the romance-writers, and brought into vogue, ſtories of chriſtians fighting with infidel heroes. The cauſe was the ſame, and the circumſtances partly parallel; and this being once the faſhion, they conſulted their own hiſtories for heroes, and combats were feigned with Daniſh giants, as well as with the Saracen. See infr. SECT. iii. p. 142. 143. 145. There is the ſtory of BEVIS in Britiſh, YSTORI BOUN O HAMTUN. Lhuyd's Arch. Brit. p. 264.
h
Except an ode on Athelſtan, tranſlated below. See SECT. i. p. z. See alſo the deſcription of the city of Durham. Hickes, p. 179. It has nothing of the wild ſtrain of poetry. The ſaints and relics of Durham church ſeem to have ſtruck the poet moſt, in deſcribing that city. I cannot diſcern the ſuppoſed ſublimity of thoſe myſterious dithyrambics, which cloſe the Saxon MENOLOGE, or poetic calendar, written about the tenth century, printed by Hickes, Gramm. Anglo-Sax. p. 207. They ſeem to be propheſies and proverbs; or rather, ſplendid fragments from different poems, thrown together without connection.
i
See Hickeſ. Theſaur. i. p. 10. Who adds many more inſtances.
k
Fab. xlix. See Hickes, ubi ſupr. p. 116.
l
Who has greatly miſrepreſented the ſenſe by a bad Latin tranſlation. Hiſt. Lib. v. p. 203.
m
The original was firſt printed by Wheloc in the Saxon Chronicle, p. 555. Cant. 1644. See Hickeſ. Theſ. Praefat. p xiv. And ibid. Gramm. Anglo-Sax. p. 181.
n

GLEEMAN anſwers to the Latin JOCULATOR. Fabyan, ſpeaking of Blagebride, an antient Britiſh king, famous for his ſkill in poetry and muſic, calls him ‘"a conynge muſicyan, called of the Britons god of GLEEMEN.’ CHRON. f. xxxii. ed. 1533. This, Fabyan tranſlated from Geoffrey of Monmouth's account of the ſame Britiſh king, ‘"ut DEUS JOCULATORUM videretur."’ Hiſt. Brit. lib. i. cap. 22. Itappears from the injunctions given to the Britiſh church in the year 680, that female harpers were not then uncommon. It is decreed that no biſhop, or any eccleſiaſtic, ſhall keep or have CITHARAEDAS, and it is added QUAECUMQUE SYMPHONIACA; nor permit plays or ſports, LUDOS VEL JOCOS, undoubtedly mimical and geſticulatory entertainments, to be exhibited in his preſence. Malmeſb. Geſt. Pontif. lib. iii. p. 263. edit. vet. And Concil. Spelman. tom. i. p. 159. edit. 1639. fol.

o
See biſhop Lloyd's Hiſt. Account of Church Government in Great Britain, &c. chap. i. §. 11. pag. 4to. Lond. 1684. And Crymog. Arngrim. L. i. cap. 10. p. 104.
p
See Lambarde's Archaionom. And Bartholin. ii. c. xii. p. 542.
q
g Ol. Worm. Lit. Run. p. 195. edit. 1636.
r

In this ode are theſe very ſublime imageries and proſopopeas.

"The goddeſſes who preſide over battles come, ſent forth by Odin. They go to chuſe among the princes of the illuſtrious race of Yngvon a man who is to periſh, and to go to dwell in the palace of the gods."

"Gondola leaned on the end of her lance, and thus beſpoke her companions. The aſſembly of the gods is going to be increaſed: the gods invite Hacon, with his numerous hoſt, to enter the palace of Odin."

"Thus ſpake theſe glorious nymphs of war: who were ſeated on their horſes, who were covered with their ſhields and helmets, and appeared full of ſome great thought."

"Hacon heard their diſcourſe. Why, ſaid he, why haſt thou thus diſpoſed of the battle? Were we not worthy to have obtained of the gods a more perfect victory? It is we, ſhe replied, who have given it thee. It is we who have put thine enemies to flight."

"Now, added ſhe, let us puſh forward our ſteeds acroſs thoſe green worlds, which are the reſidence of the god [...]. Let us go tell Odin that the king is coming to viſit him in his palace."

"When Odin heard this news, he ſaid, Hermode and Brago, my ſons, go to meet the king: a king, admired by all men for his valour, approaches to our hall."

"At length king Hacon approaches; and arriving from the battle is ſtill all beſprinkled and running down with blood. At the ſight of Odin he cries out, Ah! how ſevere and terrible does this god appear to me!"

"The hero Brago replies, Come, thou that waſt the terror of the braveſt warriors: Come hither, and rejoin thine eight brothers: the heroes who reſide here ſhall live with thee in peace: Go, drink Ale in the circle of heroes."

"But this valiant king exclaims, I will ſtill keep my arms: a warrior ought carefully to preſerve his mail and helmet: it is dangerous to be a moment without the ſpear in one's hand."—

"The wolf Fenris ſhall burſt his chain [...] and dart with rage upon his enemies, before ſo brave a king ſhall again appear upon earth, &c."

Snorron. Hiſt. Reg. Sept. i. p. 163. This ode was written ſo early as the year 960. There is a great variety and boldneſs in the tranſitions. An action is carried on by a ſet of the moſt aweful ideal perſonages, finely imagined. The goddeſſes of battle, Odin, his ſons Hermode and Brago, and the ſpectre of the deceaſed king, are all introduced, ſpeaking and acting as in a drama. The panegyric is nobly conducted, and ariſes out of the ſublimity of the fiction.

s
Bartholin. p. 172.
t
Olaf. Sag. apud Verel. ad HERV. SAG. p. 178. Bartholin. p. 172.
u
Ingulph: Hiſt. p. 869. Malmeſb. ii. c. 4. p. 43.
w
Malmeſb. ii. 6. I am aware, that the truth of both theſe anecdotes reſpecting Alfred and Anlaff has been controverted. But no ſufficient argument has yet been offered for pronouncing them ſpurious, or even ſuſpicious. See an ingenious Diſſertation in the ARCHAEOLOGIA, vol. ii. p. 100. ſeq. A. D. 1773. 4to.
x
See Crymogr. Angrim. Jon. Lib. ii. pag. 125 edit. 1609.
y
See Ol. Worm. Lit. Run. p. 227. 195. All the chiefs of Eric were alſo preſent at the recital of this ode, which is in a noble ſtrain.
z
See the Saxon epinicion in praiſe of king Athelſtan. ſupr. citat. Hen. Hunting. L. v. p. 203. 204.
a
Torfaeus Hiſt. Orcad. Praefat. ‘"Rei ſtatim ordinem metro nunc ſatis obſcuro expoſuit."’ Torfaeus adds, which is much to our purpoſe, ‘"nequaquam ita narraturus NON INTELLIGENTI."’
b
Crymog. Arn. Jon. p. 129. ut ſupr.
c
Bartholin. Antiquit. Danic. Lib. i. cap. 10. p. 169. 170. See KNYTLINGA SAGA, in Catal. Codd. MSS. Bibl. Holm. Hickeſ. Theſaur. ii. 312.
d
Hickes, ubi ſupr. i. 134. 136.
e

We are informed by the Iriſh hiſtorians, that ſaint Patrick, when he converted Ireland to the Chriſtian faith, deſtroyed three hundred volumes of the ſongs of the Iriſh bards. Such was their dignity in this country, that they were permitted to wear a robe of the ſame colour with that of the royal family. They were conſtantly ſummoned to a triennial feſtival: and the moſt approved ſongs delivered at this aſſembly were ordered to be preſerved in the cuſtody of the king's hiſtorian or antiquary. Many of theſe compoſitions are referred to by Keating, as the foundation of his hiſtory of Ireland. Ample eſtates were appropriated to them, that they might live in a condition of independence and eaſe. The profeſſion was hereditary: but when a bard died, his eſtate devolved not to his eldeſt ſon, but to ſuch of his family as diſcovered the moſt diſtinguiſhed talents for poetry and muſic. Every principal bard retained thirty of inferior note, as his attendants; and a bard of the ſecondary claſs was followed by a retinue of fifteen. They ſeem to have been at their height in the year 558. See Keating's Hiſtory of Ireland, p. 127. 132. 370. 380. And Pref. p. 23. None of their poems have been tranſlated.

There is an article in the LAWS of Keneth king of Scotland, promulged in the year 850, which places the bards of Scotland, who certainly were held in equal eſteem with thoſe of the neighbouring countries, in the loweſt ſtation. ‘"Fugitivos, BARDOS, otio addictos, ſ [...]urras et hujuſmodi hominum genus, loris et flagris caedunto."’ Apud Hector. Boeth. Lib. x. p. 201. edit. 1574. But Salmaſius very juſtly obſerves, that for BARDOS we ſhould read VARGOS, or VERGOS, i. e. Vagabonds..

f
Sir W. Temple's Eſſays, part iv. p. 349.
g

The bards of Britain were originally a conſtitutional appendage of the druidical hierarchy. In the pariſh of Llanidan in the iſle of Angleſey, there are ſtill to be ſeen the ruins of an arch-druid's manſion, which they call TRER DREW, that is the DRUID'S MANSION. Near it are marks of the habitations of the ſeparate conventual ſocieties, which were under his immediate orders and inſpection. Among theſe is TRER BEIRD, or, as they call it to this day, the HAMLET OF THE BARDS. Rowlands's MONA, p. 83. 88. But ſo ſtrong was the attachment of the Celtic nations, among which we reckon Britain, to poetry, that, amidſt all the changes of government and manners, even long after the order of Druids was extinct, and the national religion altered, the bards, acquiring a ſort of civil capacity, and a new eſtabliſhment, ſtill continued to flouriſh. And with regard to Britain, the bards flouriſhed moſt in thoſe parts of it, which moſt ſtrongly retained their native Celtic character. The Britons living in thoſe countries that were between the Trent or Humber and the Thames, by far the greateſt portion of this iſland, in the midſt of the Roman garriſons and colonies, had been ſo long inured to the cuſtoms of the Romans, that they preſerved very little of the Britiſh; and from this long and habitual intercourſe, before the fifth century, they ſeem to have loſt their original language. We cannot diſcover the ſlighteſt trace, in the poems of the bards, the LIVES of the Britiſh ſaints, or any other antient monument, that they held any correſpondence with the Welſh, the Corniſh, the Cumbrian, or the Strathcluyd Britons. Among other Britiſh inſtitutions grown obſolete among them, they ſeem to have loſt the uſe of Bards; at leaſt there are no memorials of any they had, nor any of their ſongs remaining: nor do the Welſh or Cumbrian poets ever touch upon any tranſactions that paſſed in thoſe countries, after they were relinquiſhed by the Romans.

And here we ſee the reaſon why the Welſh bards flouriſhed ſo much and ſo long. But moreover the Welſh, kept in awe as they were by the Romans, harraſſed by the Saxons, and eternally jealous of the attacks, the encroachments, and the neighbourhood of aliens, were on this account attached to their Celtic manners: this ſituation, and theſe circumſtances, inſpired them with a pride and an obſtinacy for mantaining a national diſtinction, and for preſerving their antient uſages, among which the bardic profeſſion is ſo eminent.

h
See infr. SECT. x. p. 32.
i
I am however informed by a very intelligent antiquary in Britiſh literature, that there are manifeſt marks of alliteration in ſome druidical fragments ſtill remaining, undoubtedly compoſed before the Britons could have poſſibly mixed in the ſmalleſt degree with any Gothic nation. Rhyme is likewiſe found in the Britiſh poetry at the earlieſt period, in thoſe druidical triplets called ENGLYN MILWR, or the WARRIOR'S SONG, in which every verſe is cloſed with a conſonant ſyllable. See a metrical Druid oracle in Borlaſe's Antiquit. Cornwall. B. iii. ch. 5. p. 185. edit. 1769.
k
And of the antient Franks. Gregory of Tours mentions a Frank drinking this liquor; and adds, that he acquired this habit from the BARBAROUS or Frankiſh nations. Hiſt. Franc. lib. viii. c. 33. p. 404. ed. 1699. Pariſ. fol.
l
See infr. SECT. xvi. p. 430.
k
Tanner Bibl. p. 706.
l
LEG. WALL. L. i. cap. xxiv. p. 45.
m
Ibid. L. i. cap. xii. p. 17.
n
When the king makes a preſent of a horſe, this officer is to receive a fee; but not when the preſent is made to a biſhop, the maſter of the hawks, or to the Mimus. The latter is exempt, on account of the entertainment he afforded the court at being preſented with a horſe by the king: the horſe is to be led out of the hall with capiſtrum teſticulis alligatum. Ibid. L. i. cap. xvii. p. 31. MIMUS ſeems here to be a MIMIC, or a geſticulator. Carpentier mentions a ‘"JOCULATOR qui ſciebat TOMBARE, to tumble."’ Cang. Lat. Gloſſ. Suppl. V. TOMBARE. In the Saxon canons given by king Edgar, about the year 960, it is ordered, that no prieſt ſhall be a POET, or exerciſe the MIMICAL or hiſtrionical art in any degree, either in public or private. Can. 58. Concil. Spelman, tom. i. p. 455. edit. 1639. fol. In Edgar's Oration to Dunſtan, the MIMI, Minſtrels, are ſaid both to ſing and dance. Ibid. p. 477. Much the ſame injunction occurs in the Saxon Laws of the NORTHUMBRIAN PRIESTS, given in 988. Cap. xli. ibid. p. 498. MIMUS ſeems ſometimes to have ſignified THE FOOL. As in Gregory of Tours, ſpeaking of the MIMUS of Miro a king of Gallicia. ‘"Erat enim MIMUS REGIS, qui ei per VERBA JOCULARIA LAETITIAM crat ſolitus EXCITARE. Sed non cum adjuvit aliquis CACHINNUS, neque praeſtigiis artis ſuae, &c."’ Gregor. Turonenſ. MIRACUL. S. Martin. lib. iv. cap. vii. p. 1119. Opp. Pariſ. 1699. fol. edit. Ruinart.
o
He is to work free: except for making the king's cauldron, the iron bands, and other furniture for his caſtle-gate, and the iron-work for his mills. LEG. WALL. L. i. cap. xliv. p. 67.
p

By theſe conſtitutions, given about the year 940, the bard of the Welſh kings is a domeſtic officer. The king is to allow him a horſe and a woollen robe; and the queen a linen garment. The prefect of the palace, or governor of the caſtle, is privileged to ſit next him in the hall, on the three principal feaſt days, and to put the harp into his hand. On the three feaſt days he is to have the ſteward's robe for a fee. He is to attend, if the queen deſires a ſong in her chamber. An ox or cow is to be given out of the booty or prey (chiefly conſiſting of cattle) taken from the Engliſh by the king's domeſtics: and while the prey is dividing, he is to ſing the praiſes of the BRITISH KINGS or KINGDOM. If, when the king's domeſtics go out to make depredations, he ſings or plays before them, he is to receive the beſt bullock. When the king's army is in array, he is to ſing the Song of the BRITISH KINGS. When inveſted with his office, the king is to give him a harp, (other conſtitutions ſay a cheſs-board,) and the queen a ring of gold: nor is he to give away the harp on any account. When he goes out of the palace to ſing with other bards, he is to receive a double portion of the largeſſe or gratuity. If he aſk a gift or favour of the king, he is to be fined by ſinging an ode or poem: if of a nobleman or chief, three; if of a vaſſal, he is to ſing him to ſleep. LEG. WALL. L. i. cap. xix. p. 35. Mention is made of the bard who gains the CHAIR in the hall. Ibid. ARTIC. 5. After a conteſt of bards in the hall, the bard who gains the chair, is to give the JUDGE OF THE HALL, another officer, a horn, (cornu bubalinum) a ring, and the cuſhion of his chair. Ibid. L. i. cap. xvi. p. 26. When the king rides out of his caſtle, five bards are to accompany him. Ibid. L. i. cap. viii. p. 11. The Cornu Bubalinum may be explained from a paſſage in a poem, compoſed about the year 1160, by Owain Cyveiliog prince of Powis, which he entitled HIRLAS, from a large drinking horn ſo called, uſed at feaſts in his caſtle-hall. ‘"Pour out, o cup-bearer, ſweet and pleaſant mead (the ſpear is red in the time of need) from the horns of wild oxen, covered with gold, to the ſouls of thoſe departed heroes."’ Evans, p. 12.

By theſe laws the king's harp is to be worth one hundred and twenty pence: but that of a gentleman, or one not a vaſſal, ſixty pence. The king's cheſs-board is valued at the ſame price: and the inſtrument for fixing or tuning the ſtrings of the king's harp, at twenty-four pence. His drinking-horn, at one pound. Ibid. L. iii. cap. vii. p. 265.

q
There are two muficians: the Muſicus PRIMARIUS, who probably was a teacher, and certainly a ſuperintendant over the reſt; and the HALL-MUSICIAN. LEG. ut ſupr. L. i. cap. xlv. p. 68.
r
‘"Jus cathedrae."’ Ibid. L. i. cap. x. p. 13.
s
See Selden, Drayt. POLYOLB. S. ix. pag. 156. S. iv. pag. 67. edit. 1613. fol.
t
Hiſt. of Cambr. p. 191. edit. 1584.
u
Keating's Hiſt. Ireland, pag. 132.
w

LEG. WALL. ut ſupr. L. i. cap. xix. pag. 35. ſeq. See alſo cap. xlv. p. 68. We find the ſame reſpect paid to the bard in other conſtitutions. ‘"QUI HARPATOREM, &c. whoever ſhall ſtrike a HARPER who can harp in a public aſſembly, ſhall compound with him by a compoſition of four times more, than for any other man of the ſame condition."’ Legg. Ripuariorum et Weſinorum. Lindenbroch. Cod. LL. Antiq. Wiſigoth. etc. A. D. 1613. Tit. 5. §. ult.

The caliphs, and other eaſtern potentates, had their bards: whom they treated with equal reſpect. Sir John Maundeville, who travelled in 1340, ſays, that when the emperor of Cathay, or great Cham of Tartary, is ſeated at dinner in high pomp with his lords, ‘"no man is ſo hardi to ſpeak to him except it be MUSICIANS to ſolace the emperour."’ chap. lxvii. p. 100. Here is another proof of the correſpondence between the eaſtern and northern cuſtoms: and this inſtance might be brought as an argument of the bardic inſtitution being fetched from the eaſt. Leo Afer mentions the Poetae curiae of the Caliph's court at Bagdad, about the year 990. De Med. et Philoſ. Arab. cap. iv. Thoſe poets were in moſt repute among the Arabians, who could ſpeak extemporaneous verſes to the Caliph. Euſeb. Renaudot. apud Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xiii. p. 249. Thomſon, in the CASTLE of INDOLENCE, mentions the BARD IN WAITING being introduced to lull the Caliph aſleep. And Maundeville mentions MINSTRELLES as eſtabliſhed officers in the court of the emperor of Cathay.

x
See Temple, ubi ſupr. p. 346.
y
Bartholin. De Contemptu Mortis apud Dan. L. ii. c. 2. p. 258. And ibid. p. 260. There are many other marks of Gothic cuſtoms and ſuperſtitions in Oſſian. The faſhion of marking the ſepulchres of their chiefs with circles of ſtones, correſponds with what Olaus Wormius relates of the Danes. Monum. Danic. Hafn. 1634. p. 38. See alſo Ol. Magn. Hiſt. xvi. 2. In the HERVARER SAGA, the ſword of Suarfulama is forged by the dwarfs, and called Tirſing. Hickes, vol. i. p. 193. So Fingal's ſword was made by an enchanter, and was called the SON of LUNO. And, what is more, this Luno was the Vulcan of the north, lived in Juteland, and made complete ſuits of armour for many of the Scandinavian heroes. See TEMORA, B. vii. p. 159. OSSIAN, vol. ii. edit. 1765. Hence the bards of both countries made him a celebrated enchanter. By the way, the names of ſword-ſmiths were thought worthy to be recorded in hiſtory. Hoveden ſays, that when Geoffrey of Plantagenet was knighted, they brought him a ſword from the royal treaſure, where it had been laid up from old times, ‘"being the workmanſhip of GALAN, the moſt excellent of all ſword-ſmiths."’ Hoved. f. 444. ii. SECT. 50. The mere mechanic, who is only mentioned as a ſkilful artiſt in hiſtory, becomes a magician or a preternatural being in romance.
z
This perplexing and extraordinary circumſtance, I mean the abſence of all religious ideas from the poems of Oſſian, is accounted for by Mr. Macpherſon with much addreſs. See DISSERTATION prefixed, vol. i. p. viii. ix. edit. 1765. See alſo the elegant CRITICAL DISSERTATION of the very judicious Dr. Blair, vol. ii. p. 379.
a
Hickeſ. Theſ. i. part ii. p. 4.
b

Eginhart. cap. viii. n. 34. Bartholin. i. c. 10. p. 154. Diodorus Siculus ſays, that the Gauls, who were Celts, delivered the ſpoils won in battle, yet reeking with blood, to their attendants: theſe were carried in triumph, while an epinicial ſong was chanted, [...]. Lib. 5. p. 352. See alſo p. 308. ‘"The Celts, ſays Aelian, I hear, are the moſt enterpriſing of men: they make thoſe warriors who die bravely in fight the ſubject of ſongs, [...]."’ Var. Hiſt. Lib. xxii. c. 23. Poſidonius gives us a ſpecimen of the manner of a Celtic bard. He reports, that Lu [...]rnius, a Celtic chief, was accuſtomed, out of a deſire of popularity, to gather crouds of his people together, and to throw them gold and ſilver from his chariot. Once he was attended at a ſumptuous banquet by one of their bards, who received in reward for his ſong a purſe of gold. On this the bard renewed his ſong, adding, to expreſs his patron's exceſſive generoſity, this hyperbolical panegyric, ‘"The earth over which his chariot-wheels paſs, inſtantly brings forth gold and precious gifts to enrich mankind."’ Athen. vi. 184.

Tacitus ſays, that Arminius, the conqueror of Varus, ‘"is yet ſung among the barbarous nations."’ That is, probably among the original Germans. A [...]nal. ii. And Mor. Germ. ii. 3. Joannes Aventinus, a Bavarian, who wrote about the year 1520, has a curious paſſage, ‘"A great number of verſes in praiſe of the virtues of Attila, are ſtill extant among us, patrio ſermone more majorum perſcripta."’ Annal. Boior. L. ii. p. 130. edit. 1627. He immediately adds, ‘"Nam et adhuc VULGO CANITUR, et eſt popularibus noſtris, etſi LITERARUM RUDIBUS, notiſſimus."’ Again, ſpeaking of Alexander the Great, he ſays, ‘"Boios eidem bellum indixiſſe ANTIQUIS CANITUR CARMINIBUS."’ ibid. Lib. i. p. 25. Concerning king Brennus, ſays the ſame hiſtorian, ‘"Carmina vernacul [...] ſermone facta legi in bibliothecis."’ ibid. Lib. i. p. 16. and p. 26. And again, of Ingeram, Adalogerion, and others of their ancient heroes, ‘"Ingerami et Adalogerionis nomina frequentiſſime in faſtis referuntur; ipſos, more majorum, antiquis proavi celebrarunt carminibus, quae in bibliothecis extant. Subſequuntur, quos patrio ſermone adhuc canimus, Laertes atque Ulyſſes."’ ibid. Lib. i. p. 15. The ſame hiſtorian alſo relates, that his countrymen had a poetical hiſtory called the BOOK of HEROES, containing the atchievements of the German warriors. ibid. Lib. i. p. 18. See alſo ibid. Lib. vii. p. 432. Lib. i. p. 9. And many other paſſages to this purpoſe. Suffridus Petrus cites ſome old Friſian rhymes, De Orig. Friſior. l. iii. c. 2. Compare Robertſon's Hiſt. Charles V. vol. i. p. 235. edit. 1772. From Trithemius a German abbot and hiſtorian, who wrote about 1490, we learn, that among the antient Franks and Germans, it was an exerciſe in the education of youth, for them to learn to repeat and to ſing verſes of the atchievements of their heroes. Compend. Annal. L. i. p. 11. edit. Francof. 1601. Probably theſe were the poems which Charlemagne is ſaid to have committed to memory.

The moſt antient Theotiſc or Teutonic ode I know, is an Epinicion publiſhed by Schilter, in the ſecond volume of his THESAURUS ANTIQUITATUM TEUTONICARUM, written in the year 883. He entitles it EI [...]INIKION rythmo Teutonico Ludovico regi acclamatum cum Nortbmannos anno DCCCCXXXIII viciſſet. It is in rhyme, and in the four-lined ſtanza. It was tranſcribed by Mabillon from a manuſcript in the monaſtery of Saint Amand in Holland. I will give a ſpecimen from Schilter's Latin interpretation, but not on account of the merit of the poetry. ‘"The king ſeized his ſhield and lance, galloping haſtily. He truly wiſhed to revenge himſelf on his adverſaries. Nor was there a long delay: he found the Normans. He ſaid, thanks be to God, at ſeeing what he deſired. The king ruſhed on boldly, he firſt begun the cuſtomary ſong Kyrie eleiſon, in which they all joined. The ſong was ſung, the battle begun. The blood appeared in the cheeks of the impatient Franks. Every ſoldier took his revenge, but none like Louis. Impetuous, bold, &c."’ As to the military chorus Kyrie eleiſon, it appears to have been uſed by the chriſtian emperors before an engagement. See Bona, Rer. Liturg. ii. c. 4. Voſſius, Theolog. Gentil. i. c. 2. 3. Matth. Brouerius de Niedek, De Populor. vet. et recent. Adorationibus, p. 31. And, among the antient Norvegians, Erlingus Scacchius before he attacked carl Sigund, commanded his army to pronounce this formulary aloud, and to ſtrike their ſhields. See Dolmerus ad HIRD-SKRAAN, ſive Jus Aulicum antiq. Norvegic. p. 51. p. 413. edit. Hafn. 1673. Engelhuſius, in deſcribing a battle with the Huns in the year 934, relates, that the chriſtians at the onſet cried. Kyrie eleiſon, but on the other ſide, diabolica vox hiu, hiu, hiu, auditur. Chronic. p. 1073. in tom. ii. Scriptor. Brunſ. Leibnit. Compare Bed. Hiſt. Eccleſ. Anglican. lib. ii. c. 20. And Schilterus, ubi ſupr. p. 17. And Sarbiev. Od. 1. 24. The Greek church appears to have had a ſet of military hymns, probably for the uſe of the ſoldiers, either in battle or in the camp. In a Catalogue of the manuſcripts of the library of Berne, there is ‘"Sylloge Tacticorum Leonis Imperatoris cui operi [...]inem imponunt HYMNI MILITARES quibus iſte titulus, [...], &c."’ Catal. Cod, &c. p. 600. See Meurſius's edit. of Leo's TACTICS, c. xii. p. 155. Lugd. Bat. 1612. 4to. But to return to the main ſubject of this tedious note. Wagenſeil, in a letter to Cuperus, mentions a treariſe written by one Erneſt Caſimir Waſſenback, I ſuppoſe a German, with this title, ‘"De Bardis ac Barditu, five antiquis Carminibus ac Cantilenis veterum Germanorum Diſſertatio, cui junctus eſt de S. Annone Colonienſi archiepiſcopo vetuſtiſſimus omnium Germanorum rhythmus et monumentum."’ See Polen. Supplem. Theſaur. Gronov. et Graev. tom. iv. p. 24. I do not think it was ever publiſhed. See Joach. Swabius, de Semnotheis veterum Germanorum philoſophis. p. 8. And SECT. i. infr. p. 7 8. Pelloutier, ſur la Lang. Celt. part i. tom. i. ch. xii. p. 20.

We muſt be careful to diſtinguiſh between the poetry of the Scandinavians, the Teutonics, and the Celts. As moſt of the Celtic and Teutonic nations were early converted to chriſtianity, it is hard to find any of their native ſongs. But I muſt except the poems of Oſſian, which are noble and genuine remains of the Celtic poetry.

c
Of the long continuance of the Celtic ſuperſtitions in the popular belief, ſee what is ſaid in the moſt elegant and judicious piece of criticiſm which the preſent age has produced, Mrs. Montague's ESSAY ON SHAKESPEARE. p. 145. edit. 1772.
d
Beſides the general wildneſs of the imagery in both, among other particular circumſtances of coincidence which might be mentioned here, the practice of giving names to ſwords, which we find in the ſcaldic poems, occurs alſo among the Arabians. In the HERVARER SAGA, the ſword of Suar [...]ulama is called TIRFING. Hickeſ. Theſ. i. p. 193. The names of ſwords of many of the old northern chiefs are given us by Olaus Wormius, Lit Run. cap. xix. p. 110. 4to. ed. Thus, Herbelot recites a long catalogue of the names of the ſwords of the moſt famous Arabian and Perſic warriors. V. SAIF. p. 736. b. Mahomet had nine ſwords, all which are named. As were alſo his bows, quivers, cuiraſſes, helmets, and lances. His ſwords were called The Piercing, Ruin, Death, &c. Mod. Univ. Hiſt. i. p. 253. This is common in the romance-writers and Arioſto. Mahomet's horſes had alſo pompous or heroic appellations. Such as the Swift, The Thunderer, Shaking the earth with his hoof, The Red, &c. As likewiſe his mules, aſſes, and camels. Horſes were named in this manner among the Runic heroes. See Ol. Worm. ut ſupr. p. 110. Odin's horſe was called SLEIPNER. See EDDA Iſland. fab. xxi. I could give other proofs. But we have already wandered too far, in what Spenſer calls, this delightfull londe of Faerie. Yet I muſt add, that from one, or both, of theſe ſources, king Arthur's ſword is named in Geoffrey of Monmouth, Lib. ix. cap. 11. Ron is alſo the name of his lance. ibid. cap. 4. And Turpin calls Charlemagne's ſword Gaudioſa. See Obſ. Spenſ. i. §. vi. p. 214. By the way, from theſe correſpondencies, an argument might be drawn, to prove the oriental origin of the Goths. And ſome perhaps may think them proofs of the doctrine juſt now ſuggeſted in the text, that the ſcalds borrowed from the Arabians.
e
Ol. Worm. Lit. Run. p. 241.
f
Id. Ibid. p. 196.
g
In the Latin EIRICAEA REGIONE. f. Erſe or Iriſh land.
h
Wanley, apud Hickes, iii. p. 314. ſeq.
i
It is amazing how early and how univerſally this fable was ſpread. G. de la Flamma ſays, that in the year 1339, an antient tomb of a king of the Lombards was broke up in Italy. On his ſword was written, ‘"C'el eſt l'eſpée de Meſer Triſtant, un qui occiſt l'Amoroyt d'Yrlant."’—i. e. ‘"This is the ſword of ſir Triſtram, who killed Amoroyt of Ireland."’ SCRIPT. ITAL. tom. xii. 1028. The Germans are ſaid to have ſome very antient narrative ſongs on our old Britiſh heroes, Triſtram, Gawain, and the reſt of the knights Von der Tafel-ronde. See Goldaſt. Not. Vit. Carol. Magn. p. 207. edit. 1711.
k

They have alſo, ‘"BRETOMANNA SAGA, The Hiſtory of the Britons, from Eneas the Trojan to the emperor Conſtantius."’ Wanl. ibid. There are many others, perhaps of later date, relating to Engliſh hiſtory, particularly the hiſtory of William the Baſtard and other chriſtians, in their expedition into the holy land. The hiſtory of the deſtruction of the monaſteries in England, by William Rufus. Wanl. ibid.

In the hiſtory of the library at Upſal, I find the following articles, which are left to the conjectures of the curious enquirer. Hiſtoria Biblioth. Upſalienſ. per Celſium. Upſ. 1745. 8vo.—pag. 88. Artic. vii. Variae Britannorum fabulae, quas in carmine converſas olim, atque in conviviis ad citharam decantari ſolitas fuiſſe, perhibent. Sunt autem relationes de GUIAMARO equite Britanniae meridionalis Aeſkeliod Britannis veteribus dictae. De Nobilium duorum conjugibus gemellos enixis; et id genus alia.—pag. 87. Artic. v. Drama [...], fol. in membran. Res continet amatorias, olim, ad jocum concitandum Iſlandica lingua ſcriptum.—ibid. Artic. vii. The hiſtory of Duke Julianus, ſon of S. Giles. Containing many things of Earl William and Roſamund. In the antient Iſlandic. See OBSERVATIONS ON THE FAIRY QUEEN, i. pag. 203. 204. §. vi.

l
Mabillon thinks, that Turpin firſt called this hero a Dane. But this notion is refuted by Bartholinus, Antiq. Danic. ii. 13. p. 578. His old Gothic ſword, SPATHA, and iron ſhield, are ſtill preſerved and ſhewn in a monaſtery of the north. Bartholin. ibid. p. 579.
m
Wanley, ut ſupr. p. 314.
n
See infr. SECT. iii. p. 132.
o
Regner Lodbrog, in his DYING ODE, ſpeaking of a battle fought againſt the chriſtians, ſays, in ridicule of the euchariſt, ‘"There we celebrated a MASS [Miſſu, Iſland.] of weapons."’
p
Percy's Eſſ. Metr. Rom. p. viii.
q
Who flouriſhed about the year 570. He has left a long ſpirited poem called GODODIN, often alluded to by the later Welſh bards, which celebrates a battle fought againſt the Saxons near Cattraeth, under the conduct of Mynnydawe Eiddin, in which all the Britons, three only excepted, among which was the bard Aneurin himſelf, were ſlain. I will give a ſpecimen. ‘"The men whoſe drink was mead, comely in ſhape, haſtened to Cattraeth. Theſe impetuous warriors in ranks, armed with red ſpears, long and bending, began the battle. Might I ſpeak my revenge againſt the people of the Deiri, I would overwhelm them, like a deluge, in one ſlaughter: for unheeding I have loſt a friend, who was brave in reſiſting his enemies. I drank of the wine and metheglin of Mordai, whoſe ſpear was of huge ſize. In the ſhock of the battle, he prepared food for the eagle. When Cydwal haſtened forward, a ſhout aroſe: before the yellow morning, when he gave the ſignal, he broke the ſhield into ſmall ſplinters. The men haſtened to Cattraeth, noble in birth: their drink was wine and mead, out of golden cups. There were three hundred and ſixty three adorned with chains of gold; but of thoſe, who filled with wine, ruſhed on to the fight, only three eſcaped, who hewed their way with the ſword, the warrior of Acron, Conan Dacarawd, and I the bard Aneurin, red with blood, otherwiſe I ſhould not have ſurvived to compoſe this ſong. When Caradoc haſtened to the war, he was the ſon of a wild boar, in hewing down the Saxons; a bull in the conflict of fight, he twiſted the wood [ſpear] from their hands. Gurien ſaw not his father after he had lifted the gliſtening mead in his hand. I praiſe all the warriors who thus met in the battle, and attacked the foe with one mind. Their life was ſhort, but they have left a long regret to their friends. Yet of the Saxons they ſlew more than ſeven ..... There was many a mother ſhedding tears. The ſong is due to thee who haſt attained the higheſt glory: thou who waſt like fire, thunder and ſtorm: O Rudd Fedell, warlike champion, excellent in might, you ſtill think of the war. The noble chiefs deſerve to be celebrated in verſe, who after the fight made the rivers to overflow their banks with blood. Their hands glutted the throats of the darkbrown eagles, and ſkilfully prepared food for the ravenous birds. Of all the chiefs who went to Cattraeth with golden chains,"’ &c. This poem is extremely difficult to be underſtood, being written, if not in the Pictiſh language, at leaſt in a dialect of the Britons very different from the modern Welſh. See the learned and ingenious Mr. Evans's DISSERTATIO DE BARDIS, p. 68.—75.
r
Evans, ubi ſupr. Pref. p. iv.
s
The Arabians call the Fairies Ginn, and the Perſians Peri. The former calls Fairy-land Ginniſtian, many beautiful cities of which they have deſcribed in their fabulous hiſtories. See Herbelot. Bibl. Orient. GIAN. p. 306. a. GENN. p. 375. a. PERI. p. 701. b. They pretend that the fairies built the city of Eſthekar, or Perſepolis. Id. in. V. p. 327. a. One of the moſt eminent of the oriental fairies was MERGIAN PERI, or Mergian the Fairy. Herbel. ut ſupr. V. PERI. p. 702. a. THAHAMURATH, p. 1017. a. This was a good fairy, and impriſoned for ages in a cavern by the giant Demruſch, from which ſhe was delivered by Thahamurath, whom ſhe afterwards aſſiſted in conquering another giant, his enemy. Id. ibid. And this is the fairy or elfin queen, called in the French romances MORGAIN LE FAY, Morgain the fairy, who preſerved king Arthur. See Obſ. on Spenſer's Fairy Queen, i. 63. 65. §. ii.
t
The high mountains in Merionethſhire.
u
A beautiful periphraſis for noon day, and extremely natural in ſo mountainous a country as Wales. This circumſtance of time added to the merit of the action.
w
See infr. SECT. xiii. p. 380.
x
Mountains of ſnow, from Eiry, ſnow.
y
See Evans, ubi ſupr. p. 8. 10. 11. 15. 16. 21. 22. 23. 26. 28. 34. 37. 39. 40. 41. 42. And his Diſſ. de Bard. p. 84. Compare Aneurin's ode, cited above.
z

Huet is of opinion, that the EDDA is entirely the production of Snorro's fancy. But this is ſaying too much. See Orig. Roman. p. 116. The firſt Edda was compiled, undoubtedly with many additions and interpolations, from fictions and traditions in the old Runic poems, by Soemund Sigfuſſon, ſurnamed the Learned, about the year 1057. He ſeems to have made it his buſineſs to ſelect or digeſt into one body ſuch of theſe pieces as were beſt calculated to furniſh a collection of poetic phraſes and figures. He ſtudied in Germany, and chiefly at Cologne. This firſt Edda, being not only prolix, but perplexed and obſcure, a ſecond, which is that now extant, was compiled by Snorro Sturleſon, born in the year 1179.

It is certain, and very obſervable, that in the EDDA we find much more of giants, dragons, and other imaginary beings, undoubtedly belonging to Arabian romance, then in the earlier Scaldic odes. By the way, there are many ſtrokes in both the EDDAS taken from the REVEL ATIONS of Saint John, which muſt come from the compilers who were Chriſt ians.

y
Dio. lib. lxvii. p. 761.
z
Hiſt. lib. iv. p. 953. edit. D'Orlean. fol.
a
He ſays juſt before, ‘"ea virgo late imperitabat."’ Ibid. p. 951. He ſaw her in the reign of Veſpaſian. De Morib. German. p. 972. Where he likewiſe mentions Aurinia.
b
See Tacit. Hiſt. lib. v. p. 969. ut ſupr.
c
De Morib. German. p. 983. ut ſupr.
d
Strab. Geograph. lib. viii. p. 205. edit. Iſ. Caſ. 158 [...]. fol. Compare Keyſler, Antiquit. Sel. Septentrional. p. 371. viz. DISSERTATIO de Mulieribus Fatidicis veterum Celtarum gentiumque Septentrionalium. See alſo Cluverius's GERMANIA ANTIQUA, lib. i. cap. xxiv. pag. 165. edit. fol. Lugd. Bat. 1631. It were eaſy to trace the WEIRD ſiſters, and our modern witches, to this ſource.
e
See SECT. vii. infr. p. 254. Diodorus Siculus ſays, that among the Scythians the women are trained to war as well as the men, to whom they are not inferior in ſtrength and courage. L. ii. p. 90.
f
Tacit. de Morib. Germ. pag. 972. ut ſupr.
g
See inſtances of this ſort of violence in the antient HISTORY of HIALMAR, a Runic romance, p. 135. 136. 140. Diſſ. Epiſt. Ad calc. Hickeſ. Theſaur. vol. i. Where alſo is a challenge between two champions for king Hialmar's daughter. But the king compoſes the quarrel by giving to one of them, named Ulfo, among other rich preſents, an ineſtimable horn, on which were inlaid in gold the images of Odin, Thor, and Freya: and to the other, named Hramur, the lady herſelf, and a drum, emboſſed with golden imagery, which foretold future events. This piece, which is in Runic capital characters, was written before the year 1000. Many ſtories of this kind might be produced from the northern chronicles.
h
See Torf. Hiſt. Norw. tom. i. lib. 10. Saxo Grammat. p. 152. And Ol. Worm. Lit. Rom. p. 221. edit. 4. I ſuſpect that the romantic amour between Regner and Aſlauga is the forgery of a much later age See REGNARA LODBROG'S Saga. C. 5. apud Biorneri Hiſtor. Reg. Her. et Pugil. Res. praeclar. geſt. Stockholm. 1737.
i
St.. 13. 14. 19. 23.
k
Chron. Norveg. p. 136.
l
Bartholin. p. 54.
a
Theodoſius the younger, in the year 425, founded an academy at Conſtantinople, which he furniſhed with able profeſſors of every ſcience, intending it as a rival inſtitution to that at Rome. Gianon. Hiſt. Napl, ii. ch. vi. ſect. 1. A noble library had been eſtabliſhed at Conſtantinople by Conſtantius and Valens before the year 380, the cuſtody of which was committed to four Greek and three Latin antiquaries or curators. It contained ſixty thouſand volumes. Zonaras relates, that among other treaſures in this library, there was a roll one hundred feet long, made of a dragon's gutt or inteſtine, on which Homer's Iliad and Odyſſey were written in golden letters. See Bibl. Hiſtor. Literar. Select. &c. Ienae, 1754: p. 164. ſeq. Literature flouriſhed in the eaſtern empire, while the weſtern was depopulated by the Goths; and for many centuries afterwards. The Turks deſtroyed one hundred and twenty thouſand volumes, I ſuppoſe in the imperial library, when they ſacked Conſtantinople in the year 1454. HOD. DE GRAEC. ILLUSTR. ii. 1. p. 192.
b
He died A. D. 526. See Caſſiodor. Epiſt. lib. i. 39. See alſo Func. de inerti et decrep. Latin. Linguae Senectut. cap. ii. p. 81.
c
Func. ut ſupr. xiii. p. 471. xi. p. 595.
d
Cave. Saecul. Eutych. Hiſt Lit. p. 391.
d
Gianon. Hiſt. Nap. iii. c. 1
e
Cave. Saecul. Monoth. p. 440.
g
Concil. Tom. xv. pag. 285. edit. Paris, 1641.
h
There are very early manuſcripts of Quintilian's Inſtitutes, as we ſhall ſee below; and he appears to have been a favorite author with ſome writers of the middle ages. He is quoted by John of Saliſbury, a writer of the eleventh century. Polycrat. vii. 14. iii. 7. x. 1. &c. And by Vincent of Beauvais, a writer of the thirteenth. Specul. Hiſt. x. 11. ix. 125. His declamations are ſaid to have been abridged by our countryman Adelardus Bathonienſis, and dedicated to the biſhop of Bayeux, about the year 1130. See Catal. Bibl. Leidenſ. p. 381. A. D. 1716. Poggius Florentinus, an eminent reſtorer of claſſical literature, ſays, that in the year 1446, he found a much more correct copy of Quintilian's Inſtitutes than had been yet ſeen in Italy, almoſt periſhing, at the bottom of a dark neglected tower of the monaſtery of ſaint Gall, in France, together with the three firſt books, and half the fourth of Valerius Flaccus's Argonautics, and Aſconius Pedianus's comment on eight orations of Tully. See Poggii Op. p. 309. Amſt. 1720. 8vo. The very copy of Quintilian, found by Poggius, is ſaid to have been in lord Sunderland's noble library now at Blenheim. Poggius, in his Dialogue De Infelicitate Principum, ſays of himſelf, that he travelled all over Germany in ſearch of books. It is certain that by his means Quintilian, Tertullian, Aſconius Pedianus, Lucretius, Salluſt, Silius Italicus, Columella, Manilius, Tully's Orations, Ammianus Marcellinus, Valerius Flaccus, and ſome of the Latin grammarians, and other antient authors, were recovered from oblivion, and brought into general notice by being printed in the fifteenth century. Fr. Babarus Venetus, Collaudat. ad Pogg. dat. Venet. 1417. 7 Jul. See alſo Giornale de Letterati d' Italia, tom. ix. p. 178. x. p. 417. And Leonard. Aretin. Epiſt. lib. iv. p. 160. Chaucer mentions the Argonautics of Valerius Flaccus, as I have obſerved, SECT. iii. p. 126. infr. Colomeſius affirms, that Silius Italicus, is one of the claſſics diſcovered by Poggius in the tower of the monaſtery of Saint Gaul. Ad Gyrald. de Poet. Dial. iv. p. 240. But Philippo Roſſo, in his Rit [...]rato di Roma antica, mentions a very antient manuſcript of this poet brought from Spain into the Vatican, having a picture of Hannibal, il quale boggi ſi ritrova nella pr [...]ditta libraria, p. 83.
i
Murator. Antiq. Ital. iii. p. 8 [...]5. And Lup. Ep. ad Baron. ad an. 856. n. 8, 9, 10.
k
Fleury. Hiſt. Eccl. l. lviii. c. 52.
l
Mabillon. De Re Dipl. p. 611.
m
Fleury, ubi ſupr. l. liv. c. 54. See other inſtances in Hiſt. Lit. Fr. par Rel. Benedict. vii. 3.
n
‘"Unuſquiſque reddat librum qui ad legendum ſibi alio anno fuerat commendatus: et qui cognoverat ſe non legiſſe librum, quem recepit, proſtratus culpam dicat, et indulgentiam petat. Iterum librorum cuſtos unicuique fratrum alium librum tribuat ad legendum."’ Wilkinſ. Concil. i. 332. See alſo the order of the Provincial chapter, De occupatione monacharum. Reyner, Append. p. 129.
o
Regiſtr. Pontiſſar. f. 126. MS.
p
‘"Omnibus Chriſti fidelibus preſentes literas viſuris vel inſpecturis, Johannes dei gracia Wynton epiſcopus, ſalutem in domino. Noveritis nos ex commodato recepiſſe a dilectis filiis noſtris Priore et conventu eccleſie noſtre Wynton, unam Bibliam in duobus voluminibus bene gloſatam, que aliquando fuit bone memorie domini Nicolai Wynton epiſcopi predeceſſoris noſtri, termino perpetuo, ſeu quamdiu nobis placuerit, inſpiciendam, tenendam, et habendam. Ad cujus Reſtitutionem eiſdem fideliter et ſine dolo faciendam, obligamus nos per preſentes: quam ſi in vita noſtra non reſtituerimus eiſdem, obligamus executores noſtros, et omnia bona noſtra mobilia et immobilia, eccleſiaſtica et mundana, cohercioni et diſtrictioni cujuſcunque judicis eccleſiaſtici et ſecularis quem predictus Prior et conventus duxerit eligendum, quod poſſint eoſdem executores per omnimodam diſtrictionem compellere, quouſque dicta Biblia dictis filiis et fratribus ſit reſtituta. In cujusrei teſtimonium, ſigillum, &c. Dat. apud Wulveſeye, vi. Kal. Maii, anno 1299."’ Regiſtr. Pontiſſar. ut ſupr. f. 193.
q
Ibid. f. 19.
r
As thus: ‘"Do Henrico Morie ſcolari meo, ſi contingat eum preſbyterari: aliter erit liber domini Johannis Sory, ſic quod non vendatur, ſed tranſeat inter cognatos meos, ſi fuerint aliqui inventi: ſin autem, ab uno preſbytero ad alium."’ Written at the end of Latin Homelies on the Canticles, MSS. Reg. 5. C. iii. 24. Brit. Muſ.
s
MSS. Reg. 12 G. ii.
t
MSS. Reg. 8 G. fol. iii. Brit. Muſ.
u
It is in Latin.
w
9 B. ix. 1.
x
Written in Latin. Cod. MSS. Reg. 14 C. viii. 2. fol. In this manuſcript is written by Matthew Paris in his own hand, Hunc Librum dedit frater Matthaeus Pariſienſis—Perhaps, deo et eccleſiae S. Albani, ſince eraſed.
y
Wood, Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. ii. 48. col. 1. It was common to lend money on the depoſit of a book. There were public cheſts in the univerſities, and perhaps ſome other places, for receiving the books ſo depoſited; many of which ſtill remain, with an inſertion in the blank pages, containing the conditions of the pledge. I will throw together a few inſtances in this note. In Peter Comeſtor's SCHOLASTICAL HISTORY, ‘"Cautio Thomae Wybaurn excepta in Ciſta dé Chichele, A. D. 1468, 20 die menſ. Auguſti. Et eſt liber M. Petri, &c. Et jacet pro xxvi s. viii d."’ Muſ. Brit. MSS. Reg. 2 C. fol. i. In a PSALTER cum gloſſa, ‘"A. D. 1326, [...]ſte Liber impignoratur Mag. Jacobo de [...]ſpania canonico S. Pauli London, per fratrem Willielmum de Rokeſle de ordine et conventu Praedicatorum Londonie, pro xx [...]. quem idem frater Willielmus recepit mutuo de predicto Jacobo ad opus predicti conventus, ſolvendos in quindena S. Michaelis proxime ventura. Condonatur quia pauper."’ Ibid. 3 E vii. fol. In Bernard's HOMELIES ON THE CANTICLES, ‘"Cautio Thome Myllyng impoſita ciſte de Rodbury, 10 die Decemb. A. D. 1491. Et jacet pro xx s."’ Ibid. 6 C. ix. Theſe pledges, among other particulars, ſhew the prices of books in the middle ages, a topic which I ſhall touch upon below.
z
Regiſtr. Univ. Oxon. C. 64. a.
a
Wood, Hiſt. ut ſupr. i. 163. col. 1. Leland mentions this library, but it is juſt before the diſſolution of the monaſtery. ‘"Cum excu [...]erem pulverem et blattas Abbandunenſis bibliothecae."’ Script. Brit. p. 238. See alſo J. Twyne, Comm. de Reb. Albionic. lib. ii. p. 130. edit. Lond. 1590. I have mentioned the libraries of many monaſteries below. See alſo what is ſaid of the libraries of the Mendicant Friars, SECT. ix. p. 292. infr. That of Grey Friars in London was filled with books at the coſt of five hundred and fifty-ſix pounds in the year 1432. Leland. Coll. i. 109. In the year 1482, the library of the abbey of Leiceſter contained eight large ſtalls which were filled with books. Gul. Charyte, Regiſtr. Libr. et Jocal. omnium in monaſt. S. Mar. de pratis prope Leceſtriam. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Laud. l. 75. fol. membr. See f. 139. There is an account of the library of Dover priory, MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Arch. B. 24. Leland ſays, that the library of Norwich priory was ‘"bonis refertiſſima libris."’ Script. Brit. p. 247. See alſo Leland's account of St. Auſtin's library at Canterbury, ibid. p. 299. Concerning which, compare Liber Thomae Sprotti de libraria S. Auguſtini Cantuaria [...], MSS. C. C. C. Oxon. 125. And Bibl Cotton. Brit. Muſ. JUL. C. vi. 4. And Leland, Coll. iii. 10. 120. Leland who was librarian to Henry the eighth, removed a large quantity of valuable manuſcripts from St. Auſtin's Canterbury and from other monaſteries at the diſſolution, to that king's library at Weſtminſter. See Script. Brit. ETHELSTANUS. And MSS. Reg. 1 A. xviii. For the ſake of connection I will obſerve, that among our cathedral libraries of ſecular canons, that of the church of Wells was moſt magnificent: it was built about the year 1420, and contained twentyfive windows on either ſide. Leland, Coll. i. p. 109. In which ſtate, I believe, it continues at preſent. Nor is it quite foreign to the ſubject of this note to add, that king Henry the ſixth intended a library at Eton college, fifty-two feet long, and twenty-four broad: and another at King's college in Cambridge of the ſame breadth, but one hundred and two feet in length. Ex Teſtam. dat. xii. Mar. 1447.
b
‘"Nullus occupet unum librum, vel occupari faciat, ultra unam horam et duas ad majus: ſic quod caeteri retrahantur a viſu et ſtudio ejuſdem."’ Statut. Coll. S. Mariae pro Oſeney. DE LIBRARIA. f. 21. MSS. Rawlinſ. Bibl. Bodl. Oxon.
c
Wood, ubi ſupr. ii. 49. col. ii. It was not opened till the year 1480. Ibid. p. 50. col. 1.
e
See M. Boivin, Mem. Lit. ii. p. 747. 4to. Who ſays, that the regent preſented to his brother in law Humphrey duke of Glouceſter a rich copy of a tranſlation of Livy into French, which had been preſented to the king of France.
f
See Bury's PHILOBIBLON, mentioned at large below, De modo communicandi ſtudentibus libros noſtros. cap. xix.
g
Robertſon's Hiſt. Charles V. vol. i. p. 281. edit. 8vo.
h
William Giffard and Henry de Blois, biſhops of Wincheſter.
h
Regiſtr. Priorat. S. Swithin. Winton. ut ſupr. MS. quatern... ‘"Pro duodecim menſ. (or mod.) ordei, et una palla bruſdata in argento cum hiſtoria ſancti Birini convertentis ad fidem Kynegylſum regem Gewyſeorum: necnon Oſwaldi regis Northumbranorum ſuſcipientis de fonte Kynegylſum."’ Gewyſeorum is the Weſt Saxons. This hiſtory, with others of ſaint Birinus, is repreſented on the antient font of Norman workmanſhip in Wincheſter cathedral: on the windows of the abbey-church of Dorcheſter near Oxford: and in the weſtern front and windows of Lincoln cathedral. With all which churches Birinus was connected. He was buried in that of Dorcheſter, Whart. Angl. Sacr. i. 190. And in Bever's manuſcript Chronicle, or his Continuator, cited below, it is ſaid, that a marble cenotaph of marvellous ſculpture was conſtructed over his grave in Dorcheſter church about the year 1320. I find no mention of this monument in any other writer. Bever. Chron. MSS. Coll. Trin. Oxon. Num. x. f. 66.
i
MSS. 19 D ii. LA BIBLE HYSTORIAUS, ou LES HISTORIES ESCOLASTRES. The tranſcript is of the fourteenth century. This is the entry, ‘"Ceſt livre fuſt pris oue le roy de France a la bataille de Peyters: et le bon counte de Saresbirs William Montagu la achata pur cent mars, et le dona a ſa compaigne Elizabeth la bone counteſſe, que dieux aſſoile.—Le quele lyvre le dite counteſſe aſſigna a ſes executours de le rendre pur xl. livres."’
k
It belonged to the late Mr. Ames, author of the TYPOGRAPHICAL ANTIQUITIES. In a blank leaf was written, ‘"Ceſt lyvir coſt a palas du Parys quarante corones d' or ſans mentyr."’ I have obſerved in another place, that in the year 1430, Nicholas de Lyra was tranſcribed at the expence of one hundred marcs. SECT. ix. p. 292. infr. I add here the valuation of books bequeathed to Merton college at Oxford, before the year 1300. A Scholaſtical Hiſtory, 20 s. A Concordantia, 10 s. The four greater Prophets, with gloſſes, 5 s. Liber Anſelmi cum quaeſtionibus Thomae de Malo, 12 s. Quodlibetae H. Gandavenſis et S. Thomae Aquinatis, 10 s.- A Pſalter with gloſſes, 10 s. Saint Auſtin on Geneſis, 10 s. MS. HIST. of MERTON COLLEGE, by A. Wood. Bibl. Bodl. Cod. Rawlinſ. I could add a variety of other inſtances. The curious reader who ſeeks further information on this ſmall yet not unentertaining branch of literary hiſtory, is referred to Gabr. Naud. Addit. à l' Hiſt. de Louys xi. par Comines. edit. Freſn. tom. iv. 281, &c.
k
See Abulfarag. per Pocock, Dynaſt. p. 160. Greek was a familiar language to the Arabians. The accompts of the caliph's treaſury were always written in Greek till the year of Chriſt 715. They were then ordered to be drawn in Arabic. Many proofs of this might be mentioned. Greek was a familiar language in Mahomet's houſhold. Zaid, one of Mahomet's ſecretaries, to whom he dictated the Koran, was a perfect maſter of Greek. Sale's Prelim. Diſc. p. 144, 145. The Arabic gold coins were always inſcribed with Greek legends till about the year 700.
l
Yet it appears from many of their fictions, that ſome of the Greek poets were not unfamiliar among them, perhaps long before the period aſſigned in the text. Theophilus Edeſſenus, a Maronite, by profeſſion an aſtronomer, tranſlated Homer into Syriac about the year 770. Theophan. Chronogr. p. 376. Abulfarag. ut ſupr. p. 217. Reineſius, in his very curious account of the manuſcript collection of Greek chemiſts in the library of Saxe-Gotha, relates, that ſoon after the year 750, the Arabians tranſlated Homer and Pindar, amongſt other Greek books. Erneſt. Salom. Cyprian. Catal. Codd. MSS. Bibl. Gothan. p. 71. 87. Apud Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xii. p. 753. It is however certain, that the Greek philoſophers were their objects. Compare Euſeb. Renaudot. de Barb. Ariſtotel. Verſionib. apud Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xii. p. 252. 258.
m
Yet Reineſius ſays, that about the year 750, they tranſlated Plato into Arabic: together with the works of S. Auſtin, Ambroſe, Jerom, Leo, and Gregory the Great. Ubi ſupr. p. 260. Leo Africanus mentions, among the works of Averroes, EXPOSITIONES REIPUBLICAE PLATONIS. But he died ſo late as the year 1206. De Med. et Philoſoph. Arab. cap. xx.
n
The earlieſt Arab chemiſt, whoſe writings are now extant, was Jeber. He is about the ſeventh century. His book, called by Golius his Latin tranſlator, Lapis Philoſophorum, was written firſt in Greek, and af [...]erwards tranſlated by its author into Arabic. For Jeber was originally a Greek and a chriſtian, and afterwards went into Aſia, and embraced Mohammediſm. See L [...]o African. lib. iii. c. 106. The learned Boerhaave aſſerts, that many of Jeber's experiments are verified by preſent practice, and that ſeveral of them have been revived as modern diſcoveries. Boerhaave adds, that, except the fancies about the philoſopher's ſtone, the exactneſs of Jeber's operations is ſupriſing. Hiſt. Chemiſtr. p. 14. 15. Lond. 1727.
o
Their learning, but eſpecially their medical knowledge, flouriſhed moſt in Salerno, a city of Italy, where it formed the famous Schola Salernitana. The little book of medical precepts in leonine heroics, which bears the name of that ſchool, is well known. This ſyſtem was compoſed at the deſire of Robert duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror's brother: who returning from Jeruſalem in one of the cruſades, and having heard of the fame of thoſe Salernitan phyſicians, applied to them for the cure of a wound made by a poiſoned arrow. It was written not only in verſe, but in rhyming verſe, that the prince might more eaſily retain the rules in his memory. It was publiſhed 1100. The author's name is Giovanni di Milano, a celebrated Salernitan phyſician. The monks of Caſſino, hereafter mentioned, much improved this ſtudy. See Chron. Caſſin. 1. iii. c. 35. Medicine was at firſt practiſed by the monks or the clergy, who adopted it with the reſt of the Arabian learning. See P. Diac. De Vir. illuſtr. cap. xiii. et ibid. Not. Mar. See alſo Ab. De Nuce ad Chron. Caſſin. 1. i. c. 9 And Leon. Oſtienſ. Chron. 1. iii. c. 7. See SECT. xvii. p. 442. infr.
p
Compare Renaudot. ubi ſupr. p. 258.
q

Their caliph Al-manun, was a ſingular encourager of theſe tranſlations. He was a great maſter of the ſpeculative ſciences; and for his better information in them, invited learned men from all parts of the world to Bagdat. He favoured the learned of every religion: and in return they made him preſents of their works, collected from the choiceſt pieces of eaſtern literature, whether of Indians, Jews, Magians, or oriental chriſtians. He expended immenſe ſums in purchaſing valuable books written in Hebrew, Syriac, and Greek, that they might be tranſlated into Arabic. Many Greek treatiſes of medicine were tranſlated into that language by his orders. He hired the moſt learned perſons from all quarters of his vaſt dominions to make theſe tranſlations. Many celebrated aſtronomers flouriſhed in his reign: and he was himſelf famed for his ſkill in aſtronomy. This was about the year of Chriſt 820. See Leo African. de Med. et Phil. Arab. cap. i. Al-Makin, p. 139, 140. Eutych. p. 434, 435.

A curious circumſtance of the envy with which the Greeks at Conſtantinople treated this growing philoſophy of the Arabians, is mentioned by Cedrenus. Al-Manun hearing of one Leo, an excellent inathematician at Conſtantinople, wrote to the emperor, requeſting that Leo might be permitted to ſettle in his dominions, with a moſt ample ſalary, as a teacher in that ſcience. The emperor by this means being made acquainted with Leo's merit, eſtabliſhed a ſchool, in which he appointed Leo a profeſſor, for the ſake of a ſpecious excuſe. The caliph ſent a ſecond time to the emperor, entreating that Leo might reſide with him for a ſhort time only; offering likewiſe a large ſum of money, and terms of laſting peace and alliance. On which the emperor immediately created Leo biſhop of Theſſalonica. Cedren. Hiſt. Comp. 548. ſeq. Herbelot alſo relates, that the ſame caliph, ſo univerſal was his ſearch after Greek books, procured a copy of Apollonius Pergaeus; the mathematician. But this copy contained only ſeven books. In the mean time, finding by the Introduction that the whole conſiſted of eight books, and that the eighth book was the foundation of the reſt, and being informed that there was a complete copy in the emperor's library at Conſtantinople, he applied to him for a tranſcript. But the Greeks, merely from a principle of jealouſy, would not ſuffer the application to reach the [...]mperor, and it did not take effect. Biblioth. Oriental. p. 978. col. a.

r
See Hotting. Hiſt. Eccl. Saec. ix. ſect. ii. lit. G g. According to the beſt writers of oriental hiſtory, the Arabians had made great advances on the coaſts communicating with Spain, I mean in Africa, about the year of Chriſt 692. And they became actually maſters of Spain itſelf in the year 712. See Mod. Univ. Hiſt. vol. ii. p. 168. 179. edit. 1759. It may be obſerved, that Sicily became part of the dominion of the Saracens, within ſixty years after Mahomet's death, and in the ſeventh century, together with almoſt all Aſia and Africa. Only part of Greece and the leſſer Aſia then remained to the Gre [...]ian empire at Conſtantinople Conring. De Script. &c. Comment. p. 101. edit. Wratiſl. 1727. See alſo, Univ. Hiſt. ut ſupr.
s
Cuſpinian. de Caeſarib. p. 419.
t
Yet it muſt not be forgot, that S. Auſtin had tranſlated part of Ariſtotle's logic from the original Greek into Latin before the fifth century; and that the peripatetic philoſophy muſt have been partly known to the weſtern ſcholars from the writings and tranſlations of Boethius, who flouriſhed about the year 520. Alcuine, Charlemagne's maſter, commends S. Auſtin's book De Praedicamentis, which he calls, DECEM NATURAE VERBA. Rog. Bacon, de Util. Scient. cap. xiv. See alſo Op. Maj. An ingenious and learned writer, already quoted, a [...]ir [...]s, that in the age of Charlemagne there were many Greek ſcholars who made tranſlations of Ariſtotle, which were in uſe below the year 1100. I will not believe that any Europeans, properly ſo called, were competently ſkilled in Greek for this purpoſe in the time of Charlemagne: nor, if they were, is it likely that of themſelves they ſhould have turned their thoughts to Ariſtotle's philoſophy. Unleſs, by viri Graece d [...]i, this writer means the learned Arabs of Spain, which does not appear from his context. See Euſeb. Renaudot. ut ſupr. p. 247.
u
It muſt not be forgot, that they tranſlated Ariſtotle's POETICS. There is extant ‘"Averroys Summa in Ariſtotelis poetriam ex Arabico ſermone in Latinum traducta ab Hermano Alemanno; Praemittitur determinatio Ibinroſdin in poetria Ariſtotelis. Venet. 1515."’ There is a tranſlation of the POETICS into Arabic by Abou Muſchar Metta, entitled, ABOTIKA. See Herbel. Bibl. Oriental. p. 18. col. a. p. 971. b. p. 40. col. 2. p. 337. col. 2. Farabi, who ſtudied at Bagdad about the year 930, one of the tranſlator's of Ariſtotle's ANALYTICS, wrote ſixty books on that philoſopher's Rhetoric; declaring that he had read it over two hundred times, and yet was equally defirous of reading it again. Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xiii. 265. Herbelot mentions Ariſtotle's MORALS, tranſlated by Honain. Bibl. Oriental. p. 963. a. See alſo p. 971. a. 973. p. 974. b. Compare Moſheim. Hiſt. ch. i. p. 217. 288. Note C, p. 2. ch. 1. Averroys alſo paraphraſed Ariſtotle's RHETORIC. There are alſo tranſlations into Arabic of Ariſtotle's ANALYTICS, and his treatiſe of INTERPRETATION. The firſt they called ANALUTHICA, and the ſecond, BARI ARMENIAS. But Ariſtotle's logic, metaphyſics, and phyſics pleaſed them moſt; particularly the eight books of his phyſics, which exhibit a general view of that ſcience. Some of our countrymen were tranſlators of theſe Arabic books into Latin. Athelard, a monk of Bath, tranſlated the Arabic Euclid into Latin, about 1000. Leland. Script. Brit. p. 200. There are ſome manuſcripts of it in the Bodleian library, and elſewhere. But the moſt beautiful and elegant copy I have ſeen is on vellum, in Trinity college library at Oxford. Cod. MSS. Num. 10.
u
See what I have ſaid concerning the deſtruction of many Greek claſſics at Conſtantinople, in the Preface to Theocritus, Oxon. 1770. tom. i. Prefat. p. xiv. xv. To which I will add, that ſo early as the fourth century, the chriſtian prieſts did no ſmall injury to antient literature, by prohibiting and diſcouraging the ſtudy of the old pagan philoſophers. Hence the ſtory, that Jerom dreamed he was whipped by the devil for reading Cicero. Compare what is ſaid of Livy below.
w
A. D. 823. See Murator. Scriptor. Rer. Italic [...]r. i. p. 151.
x
Cave mentions, ‘"Coenobia Italica, Caſſinenſe, Ferrarienſe: Germanica, Fuldenſe, Sangellenſe, Augienſe, Lobienſe: Gallica, Corbienſe, Rhemenſe, Orbacenſe, Floriacenſe," &c.’ Hiſt. Lit. Saec. Photian. p. 503. edit. 1688. Charlemagne alſo founded two archbiſhopricks and nine biſhopricks in the moſt conſiderable towns of Germany. Aub. Miraei Op. Diplomat. i. p. 16. Charlemagne ſeems to have founded libraries. See J. David. Koe [...]er, Diſſ. De Bibliotheca Caroli Mag. Al [...]org. 1727. And Act. Erudit. et curioſ. Francon. P. x. p. 716. ſeq. 60. And Hiſt. Lit. Franc. tom. iv. 4to. p. 223. Compare Laun. c. iv. p. 30. Eginhart mentions his private library. Vit. Car. Mag. p. 41. a. edit. 1565. He even founded a library at Jeruſalem, for the uſe of thoſe weſtern pilgrims who viſited the holy ſepulchre. Hiſt. Lit. ut ſupr. p. 373. His ſucceſſor alſo, Charles the Bald, erected many libraries. Two of his librarians, Holduin and Ebbo, occur under that title in ſubſcriptions. Bibl. Hiſt. Liter. Struvii et Jugl. cap. ii. ſect. xvii. p. 172. This monarch, before his laſt expedition into Italy about the year 870, in caſe of his deceaſe, orders his large library to be divided into three parts, and diſpoſed of accordingly. Hiſt. Lit. ut ſupr. tom. v. p. 514. Launoy juſtly remarks, that many noble public inſtitutions of Charles the Bald, were referred, by ſucceeding hiſtorians, to their more favorite hero Charlemagne. Ubi ſupr. p. 53. edit. Fabric. Their immediate ſucceſſors, at leaſt of the German race, were not ſuch conſpicuous patrons of literature.
y
Lipſius ſays, that Leo the tenth gave five hundred pieces of gold for the five firſt books of Tacitus's Annals, to the monks of a convent in Saxony. This Lipſius calls the reſurrection of Tacitus to life. Ad Annal. Tacit. lib. ii. c. 9. At the end of the edition of Tacitus, publiſhed under Leo's patronage by Beroaldus in 1515, this edict is printed, ‘"Nomine Leonis X. propoſita ſunt praemia non mediocria his qui ad eum libros veteres neque hactenus editos adtul [...]rint."’
z
Chron. Caſſin. Monaſt. lib. iii. c. 35. Poggius Florentinus found a STRATAGEMATA of Frontinus, about the year 1420, in this monaſtery. Mabillon. Muſ. Ital. tom. i. p. 133. Manuſcripts of the following claſſics now in the Harleian collection, appear to have been written between the eighth and tenth centuries incluſively. Two copies of Terence, Brit. Muſ. MSS. Harl. 2670. 2750. Cicero's Paradoxa Stoicorum, the firſt book De Natura D [...]orum, Orations againſt Cataline, De Oratore, De Inventione Rhetorica, Ad Herennium, n. 2622. 2716. 2623. And the Epiſtles, with others of his works, n. 2682. A fragment of the Aeneid, n. 2772. Livy, n. 2672. Lucius Florus, n. 2620. Ovid's Metamorphoſes and Faſti, n. 2737. Quintilian, n. 2664. Horace, the Odes excepted, n. 2725. Many of the ſame and other claſſic authors occur in the Britiſh Muſeum, written in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. See n. 5443. 2656. 2475. 2624. 2591. 2668. 2533. 2770. 2492. 2 [...]09 2655. 2654. 2664. 2728. 5534. 2609. 2724. 5412. 2643. 5304. 2633. There are four copies of Statius, one of the twelfth century, n. 2720. And three others of the thirteenth, n. 2608. 2636. 2665. Plautus's Comedies are among the royal manuſcripts, written in the tenth, 15 C. xi. 4. And ſome parts of Tully in the ſame, ibid. 1. Suetonius, 15 [...] C. iv. 1. Horace's Art of Poetry, Epiſtles, and Satires, with Eutropius, in the ſame, 15 B. vii. 1. 2. 3. xvi. 1. &c. Willibold, one of the learned Saxons whoſe literature will be mentioned in its proper place, having viſited Rome and Jeruſalem, retired for ſome time to this monaſtery, about the year 730. Vit. Williboldi, Cani [...]. Antiq. Lect. xv. 695. And Pantal. de Vir. Illustr. par. ii. p. 263. And Birinus, who came into England from Rome about the year 630, with a deſign of converting the Saxons, brought with him one Benedict, a monk of Caſſino, whom he placed over the monks or church of Wincheſter. Wharton, Angl. Sacr. i. 190.
c
Cave, Saecul. Eutych. p. 382.
d
‘"Hiis temporibus multi Anglorum gentis nobiles et ignobiles viri et foeminae, duces et privati, divini numinis inſtinctu, Romam venire conſueverant."’ &c. Bede, DE TEMP. Apud Leland, Script. Brit. CEOLFRIDUS.
e
Birchington, apud Wharton, Angl. Sacr. i. 2. Cave, Hiſt. Lit. p. 464. Parker, Antiquitat. Brit. p. 53.
f
Bed. Hiſt. Eccleſiaſt. Gent. Angl. iv. 2. Bede ſays of Theodore and of Adrian mentioned below, ‘"Uſque hodie ſuperſunt de eorum diſcipulis, qui Latinam Graecamque linguam, aeque ut propriam in qua nati ſunt, norunt."’ See alſo ibid. c. 1.
g
Parker, ut ſupr. p. 80. See alſo Lambarde's Peramb. Kent, p. 233. A tranſcript of the Joſephus 500 years old was given to the public library at Cambridge, by the archbiſhop. See Fabric. Bibl. Gr. x. 109.
h
Bed. Hiſt. Eccl. iv. 1. ‘"Et ob id majorem notitiam hujus itineris, &c."’
i
See Math. Weſtmon. ſub. an. 703. Lel. Script. Brit. p. 109.
k
See Bede, Hiſt. Abbat. Wiremuth. p. 295. 297. edit. Cantab. In one of his expeditions to Rome, he brought over John, arch-chantor of St. Peter's at Rome, who introduced the Roman method of ſinging maſs. Bed. ibid. p. 295. He taught the monks of Benedict's abbey; and all the ſingers of the monaſteries of that province came from various parts to hear him ſing. Bed. Hiſt. Eccl. iv. 18. He likewiſe brought over from Rome two ſilken palls of exquiſite workmanſhip, with which he afterwards purchaſed of king Aldfrid, ſucceſſor of Elfrid, two pieces of land for his monaſtery. Bed. Vit. Abb [...] ut ſupr. p. 297. Bale cenſures Benedict for being the firſt who introduced into England painters, glaſiers, et id genus alios AD VOLUPTATEM artifices. Cent. i. 82. This is the language of a PURITAN in LIFE, as well as in Religion.
l
Lel. ubi ſupr. 110.
m
Bede, Hiſt. Abbat. Wiremuth. p. 299. Op. Bed. edit. Cantab.
n
Lel. ibid p. 105.
o
Bed. Hiſt. v. 21.
p
Hiſt. v. c. 20.
q
Bed. Hiſt. Eccl. v. c. 21. Maban had been taught to ſing in Kent by the ſucceſ [...]ors of the diſciples of ſaint Gregory. Compare Bed. iv. 2. If we may believe William of Malmeſbury, who wrote about the year 1120, they had organs in the Saxon churches before the conqueſt. He says that archbiſhop Dunſtan, in king Edgar's reign, gave an organ to the abbeychurch of Malmeſbury; which he deſcribe [...] to have been like thoſe in uſe at preſent. ‘"Organa, ubi per aereas fiſtulas muſicis menſuris elaboratas, dudum conceptas follis vomit anxius auras."’ William, who was a monk of this abbey, adds, that this benefaction of Dunſtan was inſcribed in a Latin diſtich, which he quotes, on the organ pipes. Vit. Aldhelm. Whart. Ang. Sacr. ii. p. 33. See what is ſaid of Dunſtan below. And Oſb. Vit. S. Dunst. Wharton, Angl. Sacr. ii. 93.
r
See Bed. Op. per Smith, p. 724. [...]q. Append.
s
[...]el. p. 114.
t
[...]al [...], ii. 15.
u
De Reg. i. 1.
w
Pits, p. 154.
x
Cave, Hiſt. Lit. p. 486.
y
A. D. 793. See Dudg. Mon. i. p. 177.
y
MS. Bever. MSS. Coll. Trin. Oxon. Codd. xlvii. f. 82.
z
Bever, ibid.
a
Flor. Vigorn. ſub ann. 871. Brompton, Chron. in ALFR. p. 814. And MS. Bever, ut ſupr. It is curious to obſerve the ſimplicity of this age, in the method by which Alfred computed time. He cauſed ſix wax tapers to be made, each twelve inches long, and of as many ounces in weight: on theſe tapers he ordered the inches to be regularly marked; and having found that one of them burned juſt four hours, he committed the care of them to the keepers of his chapel, who from time to time gave due notice how the hours went. But as in windy weather the candles were more waſted; to remedy this inconvenience he invented lanthorns, there being then no glaſs to be met with in his dominions. Aſſer. Menev. Vit. Alfr. p. 68. edit. Wi [...]e. In the mean time, and during this very period, the Perſians imported into Europe a machine, which preſented the firſt rudiments of a ſtriking clock. It was brought as a preſent to Charlemagne, from Abdella king of Perſia, by two monks of Jeruſalem, in the year 800. Among other preſents, ſays Eginhart, was an horologe of braſs, wonderfully conſtructed by ſome mechanical artifice, in which the courſe of the twelve hours ad [...]epſ [...]dram vertebatur, with as many little braſen balls, which at the cloſe of each hour dropped down on a ſort of bells underneath, and ſounded the end of the hour. There were alſo twelve figures of ho [...]ſemen, who, when the twelve hours were completed, iſſued out at twelve windows, which till then ſtood open, and returning again, ſhut the windows after them. He adds, that there were many other curioſities in this inſtrument, which it would be tedious to recount. Eginhart, Kar. Magn. p. 108. It is to be remembered, that Eginhart was an eye-witneſs of what is here deſcribed; and that he was an abbot, a ſkilful architect, and very learned in the ſciences.
a
MSS. Cott. OTH. A. 6. 8vo. membr.
b
He was particularly fond of Auſtin's book DE CIVITATE DEI. Eginhart. Vit. Car. Magn. p. 29.
c
Aſſer. Menev. p. 72. ed. Wiſe.
d
Bede ſays, that Theodore and Adrian taught Tobias biſhop of Rocheſter the Greek and Latin tongues ſo perfectly, that he could ſpeak them as fluently as his native Saxon. Hiſt. Eccl. v. 23.
e
Lel. p. 97. Thorn ſays, that Albin learned Greek of Adrian. Chron. Dec. Script. p. 1771.
f
W. Malmſb. ubi infr. p. 3.
g
Wiltſh. p. 116. But this Aldhelm affirms of himſelf in his treatiſe on Metre. See W. Malmſb. apud. Wharton, Angl. Sacr. ii. 4. ſeq.
h
Conringius, Script. Comment. p. 108. This poem was printed by R [...]neccius at Helmſtadt many years ago, with a large commentary. Compare Voſs. Hiſt. Lat. iii. 4.
i
W. Malmſ [...]. ut. ſup [...]. p. 4.
k
Cave, p. 466.
l
See Fabric. Bibl. Med. Lat. iv. p. 693. And Bibl. Lat. i. p. 681. And. W. Malm [...] ubi ſupr. p. 7. Among the manuſcripts of Exeter cathedral is a book of AENIGMATA in Saxon, ſome of which are written in Runic characters, 11. fol. 98.
o
Malmſ [...]. ubi ſupr. p. 4.
p
Ubi ſupr. p. 4.
q

Chron. Anon. Leland. Collectan. ii. 278. To be ſkilled in ſinging is often mentioned as an accompliſhment of the antient Saxon eccleſiaſtics. Bede ſays, that Edda a monk of Canterbury, and a learned writer, was ‘"primus cantandi magiſter."’ Hiſt. lib. iv. cap. 2. Wolſtan, a learned monk of Wincheſter, of the ſame age, was a celebrated ſinger, and even wrote a treatiſe de TONORUM HARMONIA, cited by William of Malmeſbury, De Reg. lib. ii. c. 39. Lel. Script. Brit. p. 165. Their ſkill in playing on the harp is alſo frequently mentioned. Of ſaint Dunſtan, archbiſhop of Canterbury, about the year 988, it is ſaid, that among his ſacred ſtudies, he cultivated the arts of writing, harping, and painting. Vit. S. Dunſtan. MSS. Cott. Brit. Muſ. FAUSTIN. B. 13. Hickes has engraved a figure of our Saviour drawn by ſaint Dunſtan, with a ſpecimen of his writing, both remaining in the Bodleian library. Gram. Saxon. p. 104. cap. xxii. The writing and many of the pictures and illuminations in our Saxon manuſcripts were executed by the prieſts. A book of the goſpel, preſerved in the Cotton library, is a fine ſpecimen of the Saxon calligraphy and d [...]corations. It is written by Eadfrid biſhop of Durham, in the moſt exquiſite manner. Ethelwold his ſucceſſor did the illuminations, the capital letters, the picture of the croſs, and the evangeliſts, with infinite labour and elegance: and Bilfrid, the anachoret [...] covered the book, th [...]s written and adorned, with gold and ſilver plates and precious ſtones. All this is related by Aidred, the Saxon gloſſator, at the end of St. John's goſpel. The work was finiſhed about the year 720. MSS. Cott. Brit. Muſ. NERO. D. 4. Cod. membr. fol. quadrat. Aelfsin, a monk, is the elegant ſcribe of many Saxon pieces chiefly hiſtorical and ſcriptural in the ſame library, and perhaps the painter of the figures, probably ſoon after the year 978. Ibid. TITUS. D. 26. Cod. membr. 8vo. The Saxon copy of the four evangeliſts, which king Athelſtan gave to Durham church, remains in the ſame library. It has the painted images of S. Cuthbert, radiated and crowned, bleſſing king Athelſtan, and of the four evangeliſts. This is undoubtedly the work of the monks; but Wanley believed it to have been done in France. OTHO. B. 9. Cod. membran. fol. At Trinity college in Cambridge is a Pſalter in Latin and Saxon, admirably written, and illuminated with letters in gold, ſilver, miniated, &c. It is full of a variety of hiſtorical pictures. At the end is the figure of the writer Eadwin, ſuppoſed to be a monk of Canterbury, holding a pen of metal, undoubtedly uſed in ſuch ſort of writing; with an inſcription importing his name, and excellence in the calligraphic art. It appears to be performed about the reign of king Stephen. Cod. membr. fol. poſt Claſſ. a dextr. Ser. Med [...] 5. [among the Single Codices.] Eadwin was a famous and frequent writer of books for the library of Chriſt-church at Canterbury, as appears by a catalogue of their books taken A. D. 1315. In Bibl. Cott. GALB. E 4. The eight hiſtorical pictures richly illuminated with gold of the Anunciation, the Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, &c. in a manuſcript of the goſpel, are alſo thought to be of the reign of king Stephen, yet perhaps from the ſame kind of artiſts. The Saxon clergy were ingenious artificers in many other reſpects. S. Dunſtan above-mentioned, made two of the bells of Abingdon abbey with his own hands. Mona [...]t. Anglic. tom. i. p. 104. John of Glaſtonbury, who wrote about the year 1400, relates, that there remained in the abbey at Glaſtonbury, in his time, croſſes, incenſe-veſſels, and veſtments, made by Dunſtan while a monk there. cap. 161. He adds, that Dunſtan alſo handled, ‘"ſcalpellum ut ſculperet."’ It is ſaid, that he could model any image in braſs, iron, gold, or ſilver. Oſb. Vit. S. Dunſtan. apud Whart. ii [...] 94. Ervene, one of the teachers of Wolſtan biſhop of Worceſter, perhaps a monk of Bury, was famous for calligr [...]phy, and ſkill in colours. To invite his pupils to read, he made uſe of a Pſalter and Sacramentary, whoſe capital letters he had richly illuminated with gold. This was about the year 980. Will. Malmeſb. Vit. W [...]lſt. Wharton, Angl. Sacr. p. 244. William of Malmeſbury ſays, that Elfric, a Saxon abbot of Malmeſbury, was a ſkilful architect, a [...]dificandi g [...]arus. Vit. Aldhelm. Wharton, Angl. Sacr. ii. p. 33. Herman, one of the Norman biſhops of Salisbury, about 1080, condeſcended to write, bind, and illuminate books, Monaſt. Angl. tom. iii. p. 375.

In ſome of theſe inſtances I have wandered below the Saxon times. It is indeed evident from various proofs which I could give, that the religious practiſed theſe arts long afterwards. But the object of this note was the exiſtence of them among the the Saxon clergy.

q
Dedicat. Hiſt. Eccl. Bed.
r
Eginhart. Vit. Kar. Magn. p. 30. ed. 1565. 4to.
s
Rabanus inſtructed them not only in the ſcriptures, but in profane literature. A great number of other ſcholars frequented theſe lectures. He was the firſt founder of a library in this monaſtery. Cave, Hiſt. Lit. p. 540. Saec. Phot. His leiſure hours being entirely taken up in reading or tranſcribing; he was accuſed by ſome of the idle monks of attending ſo much to his ſtudies, that he neglected the public duties of his ſtation, and the care of the revenues of the abbey. They therefore removed him, yet afterwards in vain attempted to [...]call him. Serrar. Rer. Mogunt. lib. iv. p. 625.
t
John Mailros, a Scot, one of Bede's ſcholars, is ſaid to have been employed by Charlemagne in founding the univerſity of Pavia. Dempſt. xii. 904.
u
See Op. Alcuin. Pariſ. 1617. fol. Praeſat. Andr. Quercetan. Mabillon ſays, that Alcuine pointed the homilies, and St. Au [...]tin's [...]piſtles, at the inſtance of Charlemagne. CARL. MAGN. R. Diplomat. p. 52. a. Charlemagne was moſt fond of a [...]tronomy. He learned alſo arithmetic. In his treaſury he had three tables of ſilver, and a fourth of gold, of great weight and ſize. One of theſe, which was ſquare, had a picture or repreſentation of Conſtantinople: another, a round one, a map of Rome: a third, which was of the moſt exquiſite workmanſhip, and greateſt weight, conſiſting of three orbs, contained a map of the world. Eginhart, ubi ſupr. p. 29. 31. 41.
w
MSS. Cod. Coll. S. S. Trin. Cant. Claſſ. a dextr. Ser. Med. 5. membran. 4to. Bede ſays, that he compiled part of his CHRONICON, EX HEBRAICA VERITATE, that is from S. Jerom's Latin tranſlation of the bible; for he adds, ‘"nos qui per beati interpretis Hieronymi induſtriam puro HEBRAICAE VERITATIS fonte potamur," &c.’ And again, ‘"Ex Hebraica veritate, quae ad nos per memoratum interpretem pure perveniſſe," &c.’ He mentions on this occaſion the Greek Septuagint tranſlation of the bible, but not as if he had ever ſeen or conſulted it. Bed. CHRON. p. 34. edit. Cant. [...]p. Bed.
y
Dedicat. Hiſt. Eccl. Bed. To king Ceolwulphus, p. 37. 38. edit. Op. Cant.
z
Bed, Hiſt. Eccl. v. 22. And Concil. Gen. vi. p. 1423.
a
Bed. Hiſt. Eccl. ib. c. 21. iv. 18.
b
Bed. Hiſt. Abb. p. 300.
c
Bed. Hiſt. Eccl. v. 24.
d
ii. 94.
e
‘"Libros ſeptuaginta octo edidit, quos ad finem HISTORIAE ſuae ANGLICANAE edidit. [See Op. edit. Cant. p. [...]22. 223. lib. v. c. 24.] Hic ſuccumbit ing [...]uium, deficit [...]loquium, ſufficienter admirari hominem a ſcholaſtico exercitio tam procul amotum, tam ſobrio ſermone tanta elabora [...] volumina," &c.’ Chron. Praef. Bever. MSS. Coll. Trin. Oxon. ut ſupr. f. 65. [Bever was a monk of Weſtminſter circ. A. D. 1400.] For a full and exact liſt of Bede's works, the curious reader i [...] referred to Mabillon, Saec. iii. p. i. p. 539. Or Cave, Hi [...]t. Lit. ii. p. [...]2.
f
It is true, that Bede has introduced many miracles and viſions into his hiſtory. Yet ſome of theſe are pleaſing to the imagination: they are [...]inctured with the gloom of the cloiſt [...]r, operating on the extravagancies of oriental inv [...]ntion. I will give an inſtance or two. A monk of Northumberland di [...]d, and was brought again to life. In this interval of death, a young man in ſhining apparel came and led him, without ſpeaking, to a valley of infinite depth, length, and breadth: one ſide was formed by a prodigious ſheet of fire, and the oppoſite ſide filled with hail and ice. Both ſides were ſwarming with ſouls o [...] departed men; who were for ever in ſearch of reſt, alternately ſhifting their ſituation to theſe extremes of heat and cold. The monk ſuppoſing this place to be hell, was told hy his guide that he was miſtaken. The guide then led him, greatly terrified with this ſpectacle, to a more diſtant place, where he ſays, ‘"I ſaw on a ſudden a darkneſs come on, and every thing was obſcured. When I entered this place I could diſcern no object, on account of the encreaſing darkneſs, except the countenance and glittering garments of my conductor. As we went forward I beheld vaſt torrents of flame ſpouting upwards from the ground, as from a large well, and falling down into it again. As we came near it my guide ſuddenly vaniſhed, and left me alone in the midſt of darkneſs and this horrible viſion. Deformed and uncouth ſpirits aroſe from this blazing chaſm, and attempted to draw me in with fiery forks."’ But his guide here returned, and they all retired at his appearance. Heaven is then deſcribed with great ſtrength of fancy. I have ſeen an old ballad, called the Dead Man's Song, on this ſtory. And Milton's hell may perhaps be taken from this idea. Bed. Hiſt. Eccl. v. 13. Our hiſtorian in the next chapter relates, that two moſt beautiful youths came to a perſon lying ſick on his death-bed, and offered him a book to read, richly ornamented, in which his good actions were recorded. Immediately after this, the houſe was ſurrounded and filled with an army of ſpirits of moſt horrible aſpect. One of them, who by the gloom of his darkſome countenance appeared to be their leader, produced a book, codic [...]m horr [...]ndae viſionis, et magnitudinis enormis et pond [...]ris paene importabilis, and ordered ſome of his attendant demons to bring it to the ſick man. In this were contained all his ſins, &c. ib. cap. 14.
r
An ingenious author, who writes under the name of M. de Vigneul Marville, obſerves, that Bede, ‘"when he ſpeaks of the Magi who went to worſhip our Saviour, is very particular in the account of their names, age, and reſpective offerings. He ſays, that Melchior was old, and had grey hair, with a long beard; and that it was he who offered gold to Chriſt, in acknowledgment of his ſovereignty. That Gaſpar, the ſecond of the magi, was young, and had no beard, and that it was he who offered frankincenſe, in recognition of our Lord's divinity: and that Balthaſar the third, was of a dark complexion, had a large beard, and offered myrrh to our Saviour's humanity."’ He is likewiſe very circumſtantial in the deſcription of their dreſſes. Melanges d' l'Hiſt. et de Lit. Paris, 1725. 12mo. tom. iii. p. 283, &c. What was more natural than this in ſuch a writer and on ſuch a ſubject? In the mean time it may be remarked, that this deſcription of Bede, taken perhaps from conſtant tradition, is now to be ſeen in the old pictures and popular repreſentations of the Wi [...]e Men's Off [...]ring.
s
Cod. MSS. lxxix. P. 161.
t
Malmſb. apud Whart. ut ſupr. p. 8.
u
Recent. Newly built.
w
W. Malmſb. ut ſupr. Apud Whart. p. 8.
x
Cave, ubi ſupr. p. 473. Saec. Eiconocl.
y
Antiquitat. [...]rit. p. 80.
z
See SECT. iii. p. 124. infr. Where it is obſerved, that Homer is cited by Geoffrey of Monmouth. But he is not mentioned in Geoffrey's Armoric original.
a
NE. D. 19. MSS. membr. 8vo. fol. 24. 19.
b
Cod. MSS. K 12.
c
Ubi ſupr. p. 7 [...]
d
Printed by Mabillon, Saec. Benedictin. iii. p. 1. P. 169.
e
Geſt. Pontific. i. f. 114.
f
Vit. Kar. Magn. p. 30.
g
Wood Hiſt. Antiquit. Univ. Oxon. i. 15.
h
This tranſlation, with dedications in verſe and proſe to Charles the Bald, occurs twice in the Bodleian library, viz. MSS. Muſ. 148. And Hyper. Bodl. 148. p. 4. ſeq. See alſo Laud. [...]. 59. And in Saint John's college Oxford, A. xi. 2. 3. William of Malmeſbury ſays, that he wrote a book entitled, PERIPHISMERISMUS, (that is [...]) and adds, that in this piece ‘"a Latinorum tramite deviavit, dum in Graecos acriter oculos intendit."’ Vit. Aldhelm. p. 28. Wharton. Angl. Sacr. ii. It was printed at Oxford by Gale. Erigena, in one of the dedications above-mentioned, ſays, that he had tranſlated into Latin ten of Dionyſius's Epiſtles. Hoveden and Matthew Paris have literally tranſcribed the words of Malmeſbury juſt cited, and much more, Hov. fol. 234. And M. Paris, p. 253. It is doubtful whether the VERSIO MORALIUM ARISTOTELIS is from the Greek: it might be from the Arabic. Or whether our author's. See Praefat. Op. nonnull. Oxon. edit. per Gale, cum Not. 1681. fol.
i
Printed at Oxford as above. Erigena died at Malmeſbury, where he had opened a ſchool in the year 883. Cave, Hiſ [...]. Lit. Saec. Phot. p. 548. 549. William of Malmeſbury ſays, that Erigena was one of the wits of Charles the Bald's table, and his conſtant companion. Ubi ſupr. p. 27.
k
Spelm. Vit. Aelfred. Bale xiv. 3 [...]. Pitſ. p. 168.
l
MSS. Cott. CLEOPATR. C. 8. membr. 8vo.
m
Miſcellan. MSS. M. membran.
n
MSS. S. 11. Cod. membran.
o
Eccl. Hiſt. 19.
p
Gregor. Turonenſ. l. vi. c. 46.
q
MSS. Cotton. VESP. D. xxi. 8vo.
r
W. Malmeſb. Vit. Aldhelm. Wharton. Angl. Sacr. ii. 4.
s
NE D. 19. membr. 8vo. [...]ol. 37.
t
Bed. Eccl. Hiſt. iv. 20.
317

u Medicine was one of their favorite ſciences, being a part of the Arabian learning. We have now remaining Saxon manuſcript tranſlations of Apuleius de VIRIBUS HERBARUM. They have alſo left a larg [...] ſyſtem of medicine in Saxon, often cited by Somner in his Lexicon, under the title of LIBER MEDICINALIS. It appears by this tract, that they were well acquainted with the Latin phyſicians and naturaliſts, Marcellus, Scribonius Largu [...], Pliny [...] Caelius Aurelianus, Theodore, Priſcus, &c. MSS. Bibl. Reg. Brit. Muſ. Cod. membr. ... It is probable that this manuſcript is of the age of king Alfred. Among Hatton's books in the Bodleian library, is a Saxon manuſcript which has been entitled by Junius MEDICINA EX QUADRUPEDIBUS. It is pretended to be taken from Idpart, a fabulous king of Egypt. It is followed by two epiſtles in La [...]in of Evax king of the Arabians to Tiberius Ceſar, concerning the names and virtu [...]s of oriental precious ſtones uſed in medicine. Cod. Hatton. 100. membr. fol. It is believed to be a manuſcript before the conqueſt. Theſe ideas of a king of Egypt, and another of Arabia, and of the uſe of oriental precious ſtones in the medical art, evidently betray their origin. Apuleius's HERBARIUM occurs in the Briti [...]h Muſeum in Latin and Saxon, ‘"quod accepit ab ESCULAPIO et a CHIRONE CENTAURO MAGISTRO ACHILLIS."’ Together with the MEDICINA EX QUADRUPEDIBUS abovementioned. MSS. Cot. VITEL. C. iii. Cod. membr. fol. iii. p. 19. iv. p. 75. It is remarkable that the Arabians attribute the invention of SIMIA, one of their magical ſciences, to KIRUN or CARUN, that is Chiron the centaur, the maſter of Achilles. See Herbelot. Dict. Orient. Artic. SIMIA. p. 1005.

The Greeks reputed Chiron the inventor of medicine. His medical books are mentioned by many antient writers, particularly by Apuleius Celſus, De Herbis: and Kircher obſerves, that Chiron's treatiſe of MULO [...]DICINA was familiar to the Arabians. Oedip. Egypt. tom. iii. p. 68. Lambeccius deſcribes a very curious and antient manuſcript of Dioſcorides: among the beautiful illuminations with which it was enriched, was a ſquare picture with a gold ground, on which were repreſented the ſeven antient phyſician [...], Machaon [...] CHIRON, Niger, Her [...]ulides [...] Mantias, Xenocrates, and Pamphilus. P. Lambecc. de Bibl. Vindob. lib. ii. p. 525. ſeq. I have mentioned above, MEDICINA [...]X QUADRUPEDIBUS. A Greek poem or fragment called MEDICINA EX PISCI [...]US has been attributed to Chiron. It was written by Marcellus Sidetas of Pamphylia, a phyſician under Marcus Antoninus, and is printed by Fabricius. Bibl. Gr. i. p. 16. ſeq. And ſee xiii. p. 317. The MEDICINA EX QUADRUPEDIBUS ſeems to be the treatiſe entitled, MEDICINA EX ANIMALIBUS, under the name of Sextu [...] Platonicus, and printed in Stephens's [...]DICAE ARTIS PRINCIPES, p. 684. This was a favorite medical ſyſtem of the dark ages. See Fabric. ibid. xiii. 395 [...] xii. 613.

x
Bede, Eccl. Hiſt. v. 23.
y
See Malmeſb. apud Lel. Coll. 1. p. 140. edit. n [...]p.
z
Wharton. Angl. Sacr. ii. 201. Many [...]vid [...]n [...]s of the ignorance which prevailed in other countries during the tenth century have been collected by Muratori, Antiquit. Ital. Med. aev. iii. 831. ii. 141. And Boulay, Hiſt. Acad. Pariſ. i. 288.
a
This point will be further illuſtrated in a work now preparing for the preſs, entitled, OBSERVATIONS CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL, ON CASTLES, CHURCHES, MONASTERIES, and other MONUM [...]NTS O [...] ANTIQUITY IN VARIOUS P [...]RTS OF ENGLAND. To which will be prefixed, THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND.
b
This faſhion continued for a long time. Among many who might here be mentioned was Daniel Merlac, an Engliſhman, who, in the year 1185, went to Toledo to learn mathematics, and brought back with him into England ſeveral books of the Arabian philoſophy. Wood Antiq. Univ. Oxon. i. p. 56. col. i.
c
‘"Nobilem bibliothecam, comparatis in hoc optimis juxta ac antiquiſſimis illuſtrium autorum monumentis, Severiae poſuit."’ Leland. Script. Brit. p. 174. He died 1099. He was ſo fond of letters, that he did not diſdain to bind and illuminate books. Mon. Angl. iii. p. 375. Vid. ſupr. The old church of Saliſbury ſtood within the area of that noble antient military work, called Old-caſtle. Leland ſays, that he finiſhed the church which his i predeceſſor Herman had begun, and filled its chapter with eminent ſcholars.
d
Camden has cited ſeveral of his [...]pigrams. Remains, p. 421. edit. 1674. I have read all his pieces now remaining. The chief of them are, ‘"PROVERBIA, ET EPIGRAMMATA SATYRICA."’‘"CARMINA HISTORICA, DE REGE CANUTO, REGINA EMMA," &c.’ Among theſe laſt, none of which were ever printed, is an eulogy on Walkelin biſhop of Wincheſter, and a Norman, who built great part of his ſtately cathedral, as it now ſtands, and was biſhop there during Godfrey's priorate, viz.
Conſilium, virtutis amor, facundia comis,
WALCHELINE pater, fixa fuere tibi.
Corrector juvenum, [...]enibus documenta miniſtrans,
Exemplo vitae paſtor utroſque regis.
Pes [...]ueras claudis, caecis imitabile lumen,
Portans invalidos, qui cecidere levans.
Divitiis dominus, facilis largitor earum,
Dum reſicis multo [...], de [...]icis ipſe tibi, &c.
Among the Epigram [...], the following is not cited by Camden.
Pauca Titus pretioſa dabat, ſed vilia plura:
Ut meliora habeam, pauca det, or [...], Titus.
Theſe pieces are in the Bodleian library, MSS. Digb. 65. ut. 112. The whole collection is certainly worthy of publication. I do not mean merely as a curioſity. Leland mentions his epiſtles ‘"familiari illo et DULCI ſtylo editae."’ Script. Brit. p. 159. Godfrey died 1107. He was made prior of Wincheſter A. D. 1082. Wharton. Angl. Sacr. i. 324. He was interred in the old chapter-houſe, whoſe area now makes part of the dean's garden.
e
See infr. SECT. vi. p. 236.
f
Vit. Abbat. ad calc Hi [...]t. p. 56. edit. 1639. See alſo. Bul. Hiſt. Acad. Pariſ. ii. 225.
g
Hiſt. Anti [...]. Univ. Oxon. i. 46.
h
This was alſo a practice in the monaſteries abroad; in which the boys and novices were chiefly employed. But the miſſals and bibles were ordered to be written by monks of mature age and diſcretion. Du Freſne, Gloſſ. Lat. Med. V. SCRIPTORIUM. And Praefat. f. vi. edit. prim. See alſo Monaſt. Anglic. ii. 726. And references in the windows of the library of ſaint Alban's abbey. Ibid. 183. At the foundation of Wincheſter college, one or more tranſcribers were hired and employed by the founder to make books for the library. They tranſcribed and took their commons within the college, as appears by computations of expences on their account now remaining.
i
Mat. Paris, p. 1003. See Lelan [...]. Script. Brit. p. 166.
k
Regiſtr. Nigr. S. Edmund. Abbat. fol. 228.
k

Regiſtr. Joh. Pontiſſar. epiſcop. Wint. f. 164. MS.

See Mon. Angl. i. 131. Heming. Chartul. per Hearne, p. 265. Compare alſo Godwin. de Praeſul. p. 121. edit. 1616.

l
Wharton, Angl. Sacr. i. p. 619. See alſo, p. 634, and 278. Hearne has publiſhed a grant from R. De Paſton to Bromholm abbey in Norfolk, of 12d. per annum, a rent-charge on his lands, to keep their books in repair, ad emendacionem librorum. Ad. Domerham. Num. iii.
n
Hiſt. Croyland. Dec. Script. p 98.
o
Tanner, Not. Mon. edit. 8vo. Pref.
p
See Joann. Glafton. ut infr. And Leland, Script. Brit. p. 131.
q
Weaver, Fun. Mon. p. 566.
r
It is obſervable, that Boethius in his metres conſtantly follows Seneca's tragedies. I believe there is not one form of verſe in Boethius but what is taken from Seneca.
s
Suetonius is frequently cited by the writers of the middle ages, particularly by Vincentius Bellovacenſis. Specul. Hiſt. lib. x. c. 67. And Rabanus Maurus, Art. Gram. Op. tom. i. p. 46. Lupus, abbot of Ferrieres, about the year 838, a learned philoſophical writer, educated under Rabanus Maurus, deſires abbot Marquard to ſend him Suetonius, On the Caeſars, ‘"in duos nec magnos codices diviſum."’ Epiſtol. Lup. Ferrarienſ. xcix. Apud Andr. Du Cheſne, Script. Rer. Franc. tom. ii. p. 726. Iſidorus Hiſpalenſis, a biſhop of the ſeventh century, gives the origin of Poetry from Suetonius, Origin. viii. 7. Chaucer's tale of Nero in the MONKE'S TALE, is taken from Suetonius, ‘"as tellith us Suetonius."’ v. 491. p. 164. edit. Urr.
u
‘"Suis manibus apices literarum artificioſe pinxit et illuminavit, necnon aereos umbones in tegminibus appinxit."’ MS. Regiſtr. Priorat. S. Swithin, Winton. Quatern. . . In archiv. Wulveſ. Many of the monks were ſkilful illuminators. They were alſo taught to bind books. In the year 1277, theſe conſtitutions were given to the Benedictine monaſteries of the province of Cante [...]bury. ‘"Abbates monachos ſuos clauſtrales, loco operis manualis, ſecundum ſuam habilitatem caeteris occupationibus deputent: in ſtudendo, libros ſcribendo, corrigendo, illuminando, ligando."’ Capit. Gen. Ord. Benedictin. Provinc. Cant. 1277. apud MSS. Br. Twyne, 8 p. 272. archiv. Oxon.
w
Ibid.
x
Nicholas Antonius ſays, that Nicholas Franeth, a Dominican, illuſtrated Seneca's tragedies with a gloſs, ſoon after the year 1300. Bibl. Vet. Hiſpan. apud Fabric. Bibl. Lat. lib. ii. c. 9. He means Nicholas Trivet, an Engliſh Dominican, author of the ANNALS publiſhed by Hearne.
y
John of Saliſbury calls Martial COCUS, Policrat. vi. 3. As do ſeveral writers of the middle ages. Martial is cited by Jerom of Padua, a Latin poet and phyſician, who flouriſhed about the year 1300. See Chriſtian. Daumii Not. ad Catonis Diſtich. p. 140. One of the two famous manuſcripts of Terence in the Vatican, is ſaid to have been written in the time, perhaps under the encouragement, of Charlemage; and to have been compared with the more antient copies by Calliopius Scholaſticus. Fontanin. Vindic. Antiquit. Diplomat. p. 37. S [...]hola [...]icus means a maſter in the eccleſiaſtical ſchools. Engelbert, abbot of Tr [...] voux, a writer of the tenth century, mentions Terentius Poeta, but in ſuch a manner as ſhews h [...] had but little or no knowledge of him. He confounds this poet with Terentius the Roman ſenator, whom Scipio delivered from priſon at Carthage, and brought to Rome. Bibl. Patr. tom. xxv. edit. Lugd. p. 370.
z
See SECT. iii. infr. p. 128.
a
Swaffham, Hiſt. Caenob. Burg. ii. p. 97. per Joſ. Sparke. ‘"Epiſtolae Senecae cum aliis Senecis in uno volumine, Martialis totus et Terentius in uno volumine," &c.’ Sub. Tit. De Libris ejus. He died in 1193. In the library of Peterborough abbey, at the diſſolution, there were one thouſand and ſeven hundred books in manuſcript. Gunton's Peterb. p. 173.
b
See Chron. Joh. Glaſton. edit. Hearne, Oxon. 1726. viz. Num [...]rus Librorum Glaſtonienſis eccleſiae qui fuerunt de LIBRARIA anno gracia [...], M. CC. XL. VII. p. 423. Leland, who viſited all the monaſteries juſt before their diſſolution, ſeems to have been ſtruck with the venerable air and amplitude of this room. Script. Brit. p. 196. See what is ſaid of the monaſtery libraries above.
b
It is pretended, that Gregory the Great, in the year 580, ordered all the manuſcripts of Livy to be burnt which could be found, as a writer who enforced the doctrine of prodigies. By the way, Livy himſelf often in [...]inuates his diſbelief of thoſe ſuperſtitions. He ſtudies to relate the mo [...]t ridiculous portents; and he only meant, when it came in his way, to record the credulity of the people, not to propagate a belief of ſuch abſurdities. It was the ſuperſtition of [...]he people, not of the hiſtorian. Antonio Beccatelli is ſaid to have purchaſed of Poggius a beautiful manuſcript of Livy, for which he gave the latt [...]r a large field, in the year 1455. Gallaeſ. De Bibliothecis, p. 186. Se [...] Liron, Singularites Hiſt. et [...]itt. tom i. p. 166.
c
Fabricius mentions two manuſcripts of Salluſt, one written in the year 1178, and and the other in the year 900. Bibl. Lat. L. i. c. 9. Salluſt is cited by a Byzantine writer, Joannes Antiochenus, of an early century. Excerpt. Peireſc. p 393. Mr. Hume ſays, that Salluſt's larger hiſtory is cited by Fitz Stephens, in his d [...]ſcription of London. Hiſt. Engl. ii. 440. 4to. edit.
d
Paulus Jovius ſays, that Poggius, about the year 1420, firſt brought T [...]lly's books De Fini [...]us and De Legibus into Italy, tranſ [...]ribed by himſelf from other manuſcript [...]. Vo [...]. Hiſt. Lat. p. 550. About the ſame time BRUTUS de Claris Oratoribus, and ſome of the Rhetorical pieces, with a complete copy of De Oratore, were diſcovered and circulated by Flavius Blondus, and his friends. Flav. Blond. Ital. Illuſtrat. p. 346. Leland ſays, that William Selling, a monk of Canterbury, about 1480, brought with him from Italy Cicero's book De Republica, but that it was burnt with other manuſcripts. Script. Brit. CELLINGUS.
e
15 C. x. 1.
f
15 B vi.
g
Vit. Abbat. S. Albani. Brit. Muſ. MSS. Cotton. Claud. E. iv. In the royal manuſcripts in John of Saliſbury's ENTENTICUS, there is written, ‘"Hunc librum fecit dominus Symon abbas S. Albani: quem poſtea venditum domino RICARDO DE BURY, epiſcopo Dunelmenſi emit Michael abbas S. Albani ab executoribus praedicti epiſcopi, A. D. 1345."’ MSS. 13 D. iv. 3. Richard de Bury, otherwiſe called Richard Aungervylle, is ſaid to have alone poſſeſſed more books than all the biſhops of England together. Beſides the fixed libraries which he had formed in his ſeveral palaces, the floor of his common apartment was ſo covered with books, that thoſe who entered could not with due reverence approach his preſence. Gul. Chambre, Contin. Hiſt. Dunelm. apud Whart. Angl. Sacr. i. 765. He kept binders, illuminators, and writers in his palaces. ‘"Antiquariorum, ſcriptorum, correctorum, colligatorum, illuminatorum, &c."’ Philobibl. cap. viii. p. 34. edit. 1599. Petrarch ſays, that he had once a converſation with Aungervylle, concerning the iſland called by the antients Thule, whom he calls Virum ardentis i [...]genii. Pe [...]arch, Epiſt. i. 3. His book entitled PHILOBIBLON, or De Amore librorum [...]t inſtitutione Bibliothecae, ſuppoſed to be really written by Robert Holcott a Dominican friar, was finiſhed in his manor of Aulkland, A. D. 1343. He fo [...]nded a libr [...]ry at Oxford: and it is remarkable, that in the book abovementioned, he apologiſe [...] for admitting th [...] poets into his collection. ‘"Quare non negleximus FABULAS POETARUM."’ Cap. xiii. p. 43. xviii. p. 57. xix. 58. But he is more complaiſant to the prejudices of his age, wh [...]re he ſays, that the laity are unworthy to be admitted to any commerce with books. ‘"Laici omnium librorum communione ſunt indigni."’ Cap. xvii. p. 55. He prefers books of the liberal arts to treatiſes in law. Cap. xi. p. 41. He laments that good literature had entirely ceaſed in the univerſity of Paris. Cap. ix. p. 38. He admits Pa [...]letos exiguos into his library. Cap. viii. 30. He employed Sta [...]ionari [...]s and Librarios, not only in England, but in France, Italy, and Germany. Cap. x. p. 34. He regrets the total ignorance of the Greek language; but adds, that he has provided for the ſtudents of his library both Greek and Hebrew grammars. Ibid. p. 40. He calls Paris the paradiſe of the world, and ſays, that he purchaſed there a variety of invaluable volumes in all ſciences, which yet were neglected and periſhing. Cap. viii. p. 31. While chancellor and treaſurer of England, inſtead of the uſual preſents and new-year's gifts appendant to his office, he choſe to receive thoſe perquiſites in books. By the favour of Edward the third he gained acceſs to the libraries of the moſt capital monaſteries; where he ſhook off the duſt from volumes preſerved in cheſts and preſſes which had not been opened for many ages. Ibid. 29, 30.
h
Monaſt. Angl. i. p. 200. In the great revenue-roll of one year of John Gerveys, biſhop of Wincheſter, I find expended ‘"in parcheamento empto ad rotulos, vs."’ This was a conſiderable ſum for ſuch a commodity in the year 1266. But as the quantity or number of the rolls is not ſpecified, no preciſe concluſion can be drawn. Comp. MS. membran. in archiv. Wulveſ. Winton. Compare Anderſon, Comm. i. 153. ſub ann. 131 [...].
i
See Bale, iv. 40.
k
Integumenta ſuper Ovidii Metamorphoſes. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. ſup. A 1. Art. 86. Where it is given to Johannes Guallenſis, a Franciſcan friar of Oxford, and afterwards a ſtudent at Paris. It is alſo MSS. Dig [...]. 104. fol. 323. The ſame piece is extant under the name of this latter John, entitled, Expoſitiones [...]ive moralitates in Lib. 1. Metamorphoſeos [...]ive Fabularum, &c. Printed at Paris 1599. But this Johannes Guallenſis ſeems to have been chiefly a philoſopher and theologiſt. He flouriſhed about A. D. 1250. Alexander Necham wrote in Metamorphoſin Ovidii. Tann. Bibl. p. 540 [...]
l
Another title of this piece is, Poetria magna Johannis Anglici, &c. Cantabr. MSS. More, 121. It is both in proſe and verſe. He begins with this panegyric on the univerſity of Paris. ‘"Pariſiana jubar diffundit gloria clerus."’ He likewiſe wrote Compendium Grammatices.
m
MSS. Bibl. Coll. Nov. Oxon. 236. 237. But theſe are ſaid to belong to Joannes Philoponus. See Phot. Bibl. Cod. lxxv. Cave, p 441. edit. 1.
n
See what is ſaid of John Hanvill below.
o
Lel. Script. Brit [...] p. 204. 205.
p
It is a long poem, containing thirte [...]n hundred and ſixty lines.
q
In the Britiſh Muſeum, MSS. Cott. JU [...]. D. iii. 2. CLAUD. E. 4 [...] There are more of his Latin poems on ſacred [...]ubjects in the Britiſh Muſeum. But moſt of them are of an inferior compoſition, and, as I ſuppoſe, of another hand.
r

Leonine verſes are ſaid to have been invented and firſt uſed by a French monk of Saint Victor at Marſeilles, named Leoninus, or Leonine, about the year 1135. Paſquier, Recherch. de la France, vii. 2. p. 596. 3. p. 600. It is however certain, that rhymed Latin verſes were in uſe much earlier. I have before obſerved, that the Schola Salernitana was publiſhed 1100. See Maſſieu, Hiſt. Fr. Poeſ. p. 77. Fauchett, Rec. p. 52. 76. ſeq. And I have ſeen a Latin poem of four hundred lines, ‘"Moyſis Mutii Bergomatis de rebus Bergomenſibus, Juſtiniani hujus nominis ſecundi Byzantii Imperato [...]is juſſu conſcrip [...]um, anno a ſalute noſtra 707."’ The author was the emperor's ſcribe or ſecretary. It begins thus:

Alme Deus, rector qui mundi regna gubernas,
Nec ſinis abſque modo ſedes fluitare ſupernas.

It is at the end of ‘"Achillis Mutii theatrum. Bergomi, typis Comini Venturac, 1596."’ Pelloutier has given a very early ſpecim [...]n of Latin Rhymes. Mem. ſur la Lang. Celt. part i. vol. i. ch. xii. p. 20. He quotes th [...] writer of the life of S. Faron, who relates, that Clotarius the ſecond, having conquered the Saxons in the beginning of the ſevent [...] century, commanded a Latin panegyrical ſong to be compoſed on that occaſion, [...]hich was ſung all over France. It is ſomewhat in the meaſure of their vernacular poetry [...] at that time made to be ſung to the harp [...] and begins with this ſtanza.

De Clotario eſt c [...]nere rege Francoru [...]
Qui ivit pug [...]are cum gente Saxonum
Quam graviter proveniſſet mi [...]is Saxo nu [...]
Si non fuiſſet inclitu [...] Faro de gente Burgundionum.

Latin rhymes ſeem to have been firſt uſed in the church-hymns. But Leonine verſe [...] are properly the Roman hexamet [...]rs or pe [...] tameters rhymed. And it is not improbab [...]e that they took their name from the monk abovementioned, who was the moſt popular [...]nd almoſt only Latin poet of his time in France. He wrote many Latin pie [...]es not in rhyme, and in a good ſtyle of Latin ver [...]ification. Particularly a Latin heroi [...] poem in twelve books, containing the hiſtory of the bible from th [...] creation of the world to the ſtory of Ruth. Alſo ſome elegies [...] which have a tolerable degree of claſſic purity. Some ſuppoſe, that pope Leo the ſecond, about the year 680, a great reformer of the chants and hymns of the church, invented this ſort of verſe.

It is remarkable, that Bede who lived in the eigh [...]h century, in his book [...]E ART [...] M [...]TRICA, does not ſee [...] to have know [...] that rhyme was a common ornament of the church hymns of his time, many of which he quotes. See Opp. tom. i. 34 [...] cap. penult. But this chapter, I think, is all take [...] [...]rom Marius Victorinus, a much older writer. The hymns which Bede quotes are extremely barbarous, conſiſting of a modulated ſtructure, or a certain number of fee [...] without quantity; like the odes of the minſtrels or ſcalds of that age. ‘"Ut ſunt, he ſays, carmina VULGARIUM POETARUM."’ In the mean time we muſt not forget, that the early French troubadours mention a ſort of rhyme in their vernacular poetry partly diſtinguiſhed from the common ſpecies, which they call Leonine or Leonime. Thus Gualtier Arbaleſtrier de Belle-perche, in the beginning of his romance of Judas Maccabeus, written before the year 1280.

Je ne di pas k' aucun biau dit
Ni mette par faire la ryme
Ou conſon [...]nte ou leonime.

But enough has been ſaid on a ſubject of ſo little importance.

s
See Wharton, Angl. Sacr. ii. 29.
t
Lel. Script. Brit. p. 197.
u
Ut ſupr.
w
MSS. Digb. 65. fol. 27. His writings are numerous, and of various kinds. In Trinity college library at Oxford there is a fine copy of his book De imagine Mundi. MSS. Cod. 64. pergamen. This is a very common manuſcript.
x
Wharton, Ang. Sacr. ii. 872.
y
Wharton, Eccleſ. Aſſav. p. 306.
y
Wharton, Eccleſ. Aſſav. p. 306.
z
Leland, Script. Brit. p. 190.
a
See SECT. iii. infr. p. 124.
b
In the Britiſh Muſeum, MSS. Cot [...] TIT. A. xix. VESPAS. E. iv.
372
See Quadrilog. Vit. T. Becket, Bruxell. 1682. 4to. And Concil. Mag. Brit. et Hib. tom. i. p. 441. Many of theſe epiſtle [...] are ſtill in manuſcript.
b
‘"Studuit in Italia omnium bonarum artium facile poſt Graeciam parente."’ Leland. Script. Brit. p. 207. But he likewiſe ſpent ſome time at Oxford. Policrat. viii. 22.
c

Bibl. MSS. There is an alluſion to the Policraticon in the ROMAN DE LAROSE.

Et verras en POLICRATIQUE.
v. 7056.
d
Lel. ibid.
e
Except the fable of the belly and members in long and ſhort. Fabric. Med. Aev. iv. p. 877.
f
Lel. ut ſupr. p. 207.
g
See Leland, Script. Brit. p. 210. Henry the ſecond ſent Gualterus, ſtyled ANGLICUS, his chaplain, into Sicily, to inſtruct William king of Sicily in literature. William was ſo pleaſed with his maſter, that he made him archbiſhop of Palermo. Bale, xiii. 73. He died in 1177. Peter of Blois was Gualter's coadjutor; and he tells us, that he taught William the rudiments ‘"verſificatoriae artis et literatoriae."’ Epiſt. Petr. Bleſenſ. ad Gualt. Pitt [...] mentions a piece of Gualterus De lingu [...]e Latinae rudimentis, p. 141. There is a William of Blois, cotemporary with Peter and his brother, ther, whom I mention here, as he appears to have written what were called Com [...]edi [...]e [...]t Trag [...]ediae, and to have been preferred to an abbacy in Sicily. [See SECT. vi. inf. p. 234.] Peter mentions this William in his epiſtles, ‘"Illud nobile ingenium fratris mei magiſtri Gulielmi, quandoque in ſcribendis Comoediis et Tragoediis quadam occupatione ſervili degenerans, &c."’ Epiſt. lxxvi. And again to the ſaid William, ‘"Nomen veſtrum diuturniore memoria quam quatuor abbatiae commendabile reddent Tragoedia veſtra de FLAURA et MARCO, verſus de PULICE ET MUSCA, Comoedia veſtra DE ALDA, &c."’ Epiſt. xciii.
h
Leland, Script. Brit. p. 178. There is a poem DE LAUDIBUS ANSELMI, and an epicedion on that prelate, commonly aſcribed to Eadmer. See Fabric. Bibl. Med. Lat. ii. p. 210. ſeq. Leland doubts whether theſe piece [...] belong to him or to William of Cheſter, a learned monk, patroniſed by Anſelm. Script. Brit. p. 185.
i
Lel. p. 195. But ſee Wharton, Angl. Sacr. ii. Praef. p. xii.
k
In his Hiſtory of Henry the ſecond.
l
See Cave, Hiſt. Lit. p. 661.
m
Lel. p. 259.
n
See Hiſt. Galfrid. Mon. i. xi. xvi. xvii. &c.
o

Milton appears to have been much [...]truck with this part of the antient Britiſh Hiſtory, and to have deſigned it for the ſubject of an epic poem. EPITAPH. DAMONIS, v. 162.

Ipſe ego Dardanias Rutupina per aequora puppes
Dicam, et Pandraſidos regnum vetus Inogeniae,
Brennumque Arviragumque duces, priſcumque Belinum,
Et tandem Armoricos Britonum ſub lege colonos:
Tum gravidam Arturo, fatali fraude, Iogernen,
Mendaces vultus, aſſumptaque Gorlois arma,
Merlini dolus.—
See alſo Milton's MANSUS, v. 80.
p
Juvenal is alſo cited by John of Saliſbury, Peter of Blois, Vincentius Bellovacenſis, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and other writers of the middle ages. They often call him ETHICUS. See particularly Petr. Bleſ. Epiſt. lxxvii. Some lines from Juvenal [...]re cited by Honorius Auguſtodunus, a prieſt of Burgundy, who wrote about 1300, in his De Philoſophia Mundi, Prae [...]at. [...]d lib. iv. The tenth ſatire of Juvenal is quoted by Chaucer in TROILUS and CRESSEID [...], b. iv. v. 197. pag. 307. edit. Urr. There is an old Italian metaphraſe of Juvenal done in 1475, and publiſhed ſoon afterwards, by Georgio Summaripa, of Verona. Giornale de Letterati d'Italia, tom. viii. p. 41. Juvenal was printed at Rome as early as 1474.
q
There are two manuſcripts of this poem [...] from which I tranſcribe, in the Bodleian library. MSS. Digb. 64. and 157. One of theſe has a gloſs, but not that of Hugo Legatus, mentioned by Baillet. J [...]g [...]m [...] Sav. iv. p. 257. edit. 4to. This poem is ſaid to have been printed at P [...]is 1517, 4to. Bibl. Thuan. tom. ii. p. 286. This edition I have never ſeen, and believe it to be an extremely ſcarce book.
r
Cod. Digb. 64. ut ſupr.
s
Bale. iii. 49.
t
Wharton. Angl. Sacr. ii. 374.
u
Wood. Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. i. 56.
w
But W [...]d inſinuates, that this ſumptuous entertainment was partly given by Gyr [...]ldus, as an inceptor in the arts. Ubi [...]upr. p. 25. col. 1. Which practice I have mentioned, S [...]CT. ix. p. 290. in [...]. And I will here add o [...]her inſtances, eſpecially as they are proofs of the eſtimation in which letters, at leaſt literary honours, were held. In [...]he year 1268, the inceptors in civil law at Oxford were ſo nume [...]ous, and attended by ſuch a number of g [...]eſts, [...]at the academical houſes or hoſtels were no [...] ſufficient for their accommodation: [...]nd the company filled not only theſe, but even the re [...]ec [...]ory, cloiſ [...]e [...]s, and many apartmen [...] o [...] Oſeney abbey, near the ſuburbs of Oxford. At which time many Italians ſtudying at Oxford were admitted in that faculty. Wood, ubi ſupr. p. 25. col. 1. It appears that the mayor and citizens of Oxford were conſtantly invited to theſe ſolemnities. In the year 1400, two monks of the priory of Chriſt Church in Canterbury were ſeverally admitted to the degree of doctor in divinity and civil law at Oxford. The expences were paid by their monaſtery, and amounted to 118l. 3s. 8d. Regiſ [...]r. Priorat. pergamen. MSS. Tanner, Oxon. Num. 165. [...]ol. 212. [...]. Among other articles there is, ‘"In ſolutione facta HISTRIONIBUS."’ [...]ol. 213. a. [See SECT. ii. p. 91. in [...]r.] At length theſe ſcholaſtic banquets grew to ſuch exceſs, that it was ordered in the year 1434 [...] that no inceptor in arts ſhould expend more than ‘"3000 groſſos Turonenſes."’ Vet. Stat. Se [...] Leland, Coll. P. ii. tom. i. p. 296, 297. edit. 1770. But the limitation was a conſiderable ſum. Each is ſomewhat leſs than an Engliſh groat. Notwithſtanding, Neville, afterwards archbiſhop of York, on his admiſſion to the degree of maſter of a [...]ts in 1452, [...]eaſted the academics and many ſtrangers for two ſucceſſive days, at two entertainments, conſiſting of nine hundred coſtly diſhes. Wood. ibid. 219. col. 1. 2. Nor was this reverence to learning, and attention to its inſtitutions, confined to the circle of our univerſities. Such was the pedantry of the times, that in the year 1503, archbiſhop Wareham, chancellor of Oxford, at his feaſt of inthroniſation, ordered to be introduced in the firſt courſe a curious diſh, in which were exhibited the eight towers of the univerſity. In every tower ſ [...]ood [...] bedell; and under the towers were figures of the king, to whom the ch [...]ncellor Wareham, encircled with many doctors properly habited, preſented four Latin verſes, which were anſwered by his majeſty. The eight towers were thoſe of Merton, Magdalene, and New College, and of the monaſteries of Oſeney, Rewley, the Dominican, Auguſtine, and Franciſcan friars, which five laſt are now utterly deſtroyed. Wood, ubi ſupr. lib. i. p. 239. col. 1. Compare Robinſon's Charles V. i. 323. ſeq.
x
Wharton, ibid.
y
Girald. Cambrenſ. ITIN. CAMB [...]. Lib. i. c. 3. p. 89. ſeq. Lond. 1585. 12mo.
z
L [...]l. Script. Brit. p. 240. ſeq.
a
Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Digb. 65. f. 18.
b
Apud Lel. Script. Brit. p. 240.
c
Willis, Mitr. Abb. i. 61, 62.
d
Lel. ibid.
e
Lord Lyttelton's Hiſt. Hen. II. Not. B. ii. p. 133. 4to.
f
See infr. SECT. ii. p 63.
g
Tanner, Bibl. p. 507.
h
Cave, Hiſt. Lit. p. 706. Compare Tanner, Bibl. 351. 507. In return, many pieces went under the name of our author. As, for inſtance, De Thetide [...]t de Ly [...]o, which is a ridiculous pi [...]ce of ſcurrility. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Digb. 166. f. 104.
i
See Camd. Rem. p. 436. RYTHMI.
k
In Bibl. Bodl. a piece De Nugis Curialium is given to Mapes. MSS. Arch. B. 52. It was written A. D. 1182. As appears from Diſtin [...]t. iv. cap. 1. It is in five books. Many Latin poems in this manuſcript are given to Mapes. One in particular, written in a flowing ſtyle, in ſhort lines, preſerving no fixed metrical rule, which ſeems to have been intended for ſinging. In another manuſcript I find various pieces of Latin poe [...]ry, by ſome attributed to Mapes, Bibl. Bodl. NE. F. iii. Some of theſe are in a good taſte. Camden has printed his Diſputatio inter Cor [...]t Oculum. Rem. p. 439. It is written in a ſort of Anacreontic verſe, and has ſome humour. It is in MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Digb. ut ſupr. 166. See alſo Camd. ibid. p. 437.
l
Camd. Rem. ut ſupr.
m
See lib. i. 32. It was firſt printed at Baſil, but very corruptly, in the year 1541. 3vo. Under the name of Cornelius Nepo [...]. The exiſtence and name of this poem ſeem to have been utterly unknown in England when Leland wrote. He firſt met with a manuſcript copy of it by mere accident in Magdalene college library at Oxford. He never had even heard of it before. He afterwards [...]ound two more copies at Paris. But theſe were all imperfect, and without the name o [...] the author, except a marginal hint. At length he diſcovered a complete copy of it in the library of Thorney abbey in Cambridgeſhire, which ſeems to have aſcertained the author's name, but not his country. Script. Brit. p. 238. The neglect of this poem among our anceſtors, I mean in the ages which followed Iſcanus, appears from the few manuſcripts of [...] now remaining in England. Leland [...] who ſearched all our libraries, could find only two. There is at preſent one in the church of Weſtminſter. Another in Bibl. Bodl. Digb. 157. That in Magdalen college is MSS. Cod. 50. The beſt edition is at the end of ‘"Dictys Cretenſis et Dares Phrygius, in u [...]. Sereni [...]. Delph. cum Interpret. A. Daceriae, &c. Amſtael. 1702."’ 4to. But all the printed copies have omitted paſſages which I find in the Digby manuſcript. Particularly they omit, in the addreſs to Baldwin, four lines after v. 32. lib. i. Thirteen lines, in which the poet alludes to his intended ANTIOCHEIS, are omitted before v. 962. lib. vi. Nor have they the verſes in which he compliments Henry the ſecond, ſaid by Leland to be at the end of the fourth book, Script. Brit. p. 238. The truth is, theſe paſſages would have betrayed their firſt editor's pretence of this poem being written by Cornelius Nepos. As it is, he was obliged in the addreſs to Baldwin, to change Cantia, KENT, into Tantia; for which he ſubſtitutes Pontia in the margin, as an ingenious conjecture.
n
Leland, p. 224, 225.
o
The manuſcript at Magdalen college, mentioned by Leland [...] is entitled, Dares Phrygius de bello Trojano. Lel. p. 236. As alſo MSS. Digb. ſupr. citat. But ſee SECT. iii. p. 135. infr.
p
Statius is cited in the epiſtles of Stephen of To [...]rnay, a writer of the twelfth century. ‘"Divinam ejus reſponſionem, ut Thebais Aeneida, longe ſequor, et veſtigia-ſemp [...]r adoro."’ He died in 1200. EPISTOLAE, Pariſ. 1611. 4to. Epiſt. v. p. 535. On account of the variety of his matter, and the facility of his manner, none of the antient poets are more frequently cited in the writers of the dark ages than Ovid. His FASTI ſeems to have been their favorite: a work thus admirably characteriſed by an ingenious French writer. ‘"Les Faſtes d' Ovide renferment plus d' erudition qu' aucun autre ouvrage de l' antiquité. C'eſt le chef d' oeuvre de ce poete, et une eſpece de devotion paienne."’ Vigneul Marville, Miſc. Hiſt. et Lit. tom. ii. p. 306. A writer of the thirteenth century, DE MIRABILIBUS ROMAE, publiſhed by Montfaucon, calls this work MARTILOGIUM Ovidii in Faſtis. Montf. Diar. Italic. c. xx. p. 293.
q
Voltaire has expreſſed his admiration of the happy choice of ſubject which Taſſo made. We here ſee a poet of an age much earlier than Taſſo celebrating the ſame ſort of expedition.
r
Lib. 1. 47.
r
Lib. iv. 451.
s
Lib. vi. p. 589.
r
Lib. vi. 609.
s
Lib. vi. 19.
t
Camd. Rem. p. 410. POEMS. See alſo Camd. Brit. Leland having learned from the B [...]llum Trojanum that Joſephus had likewiſe written a poem on the cruſade, ſearched for it in many places, but without ſucceſs. At length he found a pi [...]ce of it in the library of Abingdon abbey in Berkſhire. ‘"Cum excuterem pulverem et tineas Abbandunenſis bibliothecae."’ Ut ſupr. p. 238. Here he diſcovered that Joſephus was a native of Exeter, which city was highly celebrated in that fragment.
u
f. ‘"Captiva Brennus in."’
w
From this circumſtance, Pits abſurdly recites the title of this poem thus. Antiocheis in Regem Arthurum. JOS. ISC.
x
The text ſeems to be corrupt in this ſentence. Or perhaps ſomewhat is wanting. I have changed favus, which is in Camden, into favor.
y
f. Quemcunque.
z
Rem. ut ſupr. p. 407.
a
Leland, ut ſupr. p. 239. Our biographers mention Panegyricum in Henricum. But the notion of this poem ſeems to have taken riſe from the verſes on Henry the ſecond, quoted by Leland from the Bellum Trojanum. He is likewiſe ſaid to have written in Latin verſe De Inſtitutione Cyri.
b
Italy had at that time produced no writer comparable to Iſcanus.
c
Bale, iii. 60. Compare Dreſenius ad Lectorem. Prefixed to the DE BELLO TROJANO. Fancof. 1620. 4to. Mr. Wiſe the late Radcliffe librarian, told me, that a manuſcript of the ANTIOCHEIS was in the library of the duke of Chandois at Canons.
d
He wrote it at fifty-five years of age. PHILIPP. lib. iii. v. 381. It was firſt printed in Pithou's Eleven Hiſtorians of France, Francof. 1536. fol. Next in D [...] Cheſne, SCRIPT. FRANC. tom. v. p. 93. Pariſ. 1694. fol. But the beſt edition is with Barthius's notes, Cygn. 1657. 4to. Brito ſays in the PHILIPPIS, that he wrote a poem called KARLOTTIS, in praiſe of Petri Carlotti ſui, then not fifteen years old. PHILIPP. lib. i. v. 10. This poem was never printed, and is hardly known.
e
In Not. p. 7. See alſo Adverſar. xliii. 7. He prefers it to the ALEXANDREIS mentioned below, in Not. p. 528. See Mem. Lit. viii. 536. edit. 4to.
f
It was firſt printed, Argent. 1513. 8vo. And two or three times ſince.
g
See infr. SECT. iii. p. 139. And Barth. Adverſ. lii. 16.
h
MSS. Digb. 52. 4to.
h
fol. 1. a. [...]
i
fol. xiii. a.
k
fol. xxi. a.
l
Here, among many other proofs which might be given, and which will occur hereafter, is a proof of the eſtimation in which Lucan was held during the middle ages. He is quoted by Geoffrey of Monmouth and John of Saliſbury, writers of the eleventh century. Hiſt. Brit. iv. 9. and Policrat. p. 215. edit. 1515. &c. &c. There is an anonymous Italian tranſlation of Lucan, as early as the year 1310. The Italians have alſo Lucano in volgare, by cardinal Montichelli, at Milan 1492. It is in the octave rime, and in ten books. But the tranſlator has ſo much departed from the original, as to form a ſort of romance of his own. He was tranſlated into Spaniſh proſe, Lucano poeta y hiſtoriador antiquo, by Martin Laſſe de Oreſpe, at Antwerp, 1585. Lucan was firſt printed in the year 1469. And before the year 1500, there were ſix other editions of this claſſic, whoſe declamatory manner rendered him very popular. He was publiſhed at Paris in French in 1500. Labb. Bibl. p. 339.
m

See Hen. Gandav. Monaſtichon. c. 20. and Fabric. Bibl. Gr. ii. 218. Alanus de Inſulis, who died in 1202, in his poem called ANTI-CLAUDIANUS, a Latin poem of nine books, much in the manner of Claudian, and written in defence of divine providence againſt a paſſage in that poet's RUFINUS, thus attacks the riſing reputation of the ALEXANDREID.

Maevius in coelis ardens os ponere mutum,
GESTA DUCIS MACEDUM, tenebroſi carminis umbra,
Dicere dum tentat.—
n
Suppl. Du Cang. Lat. Gloſſ. tom. ii. p. 1255. V. METRIFICATURA. By which barbarous word they ſignified the Art of Poetry, or rather the Art of writing Latin verſes.
o
See SECT. iii. p. 128. infr.
p
Hiſt. Maj. Winton. apud Wharton [...] Angl. Sacr. i. 242.
q
I will add ſome of the exordial lines almoſt immediately following, as they contain names, and other circumſtances, which perhaps may lead to point out the age if not the name of the author. They were never before printed.
Tu quoque digneris, precor, aſpirare labori,
Flos cleri, MARTINE, meo; qui talis es inter
Abbates, qualis eſt patronus tuus inter
Pontifices: hic eſt primas, tu primus eorum, &c.
Hic per Aidanum ſua munificentia munus
Illi promeruit, &c.
Tuque benigne Prior, primas, et prime Priorum,
Qui cleri, ROGERE, roſam geris, annue vati, &c.
Tuque Sacriſta, ſacris inſtans, qui jure vocaris
SYMON, id [...]ſt humilis, quo nemo benignior alter
Abbatis praecepta ſui velocior audit,
Tardius obloquitur: qui tot mea carmina ſervas
Scripta voluminibus, nec plura requirere ceſſas.
Praeteritos laudas, praeſentes dilige verſus, &c.
The manuſcript is Bibl. Bodl. A. 1. 2. B. (Langb. 5. p. 3.) This piece begins at f. 57. Other pieces precede, in Latin poetry. As VITAE SANCTORUM. T. Becket. f. 3. ‘Qui moritur? Praeſul. Cur? pro Grege, &c.’ Prol. pr. f. 23. ‘Detineant alios Parnaſſi culmina, Cyrrhae Plauſus, Pieridum vox, Heliconis opes.’ D [...] partu Virginis. f. 28. b. ‘Nectareum rorem terris, &c.’ S. Birinus, f. 42. ‘Et pudet, et fateor, &c.’ The author of the life of Birinus ſays, he was commanded to write by Peter, probably Peter de Rupibus, biſhop of Wincheſter. Perhaps he is Michael Blaunpayne. Alexander Eſſeby wrote lives of ſaints in Latin verſe. See MSS. Harl. 1819. 531.
q
Firſt printed Auguſt. Vindel. 1507. fol. And frequently ſince.
r
He mentions it in his LIGURIUM, lib. i. v. 13. ſeq. v. 648. ſeq. See alſo Voſſ. Poet. Lat. c. vi. p. 73. It was never printed. Gunther wrote a proſe hiſtory of the ſack of Conſtantinople by Baldwin: The materials were taken from the mouth of abbot Martin, who was preſent at the ſiege, in 1204. It was printed by Caniſius, Antiqu. Lect. tom. iv. P. ii p. 358. Ingolſtad. 1604. 4to. Again, in a new edition of that compilation, Amſt. 1725. fol [...] tom. iv. See alſo Pagi, ad A. D. 1519. [...]. xiv.
s
It has been often printed. I think it is called in ſome manuſcripts, De Arte dict [...]ndi, verſificandi, et transferendi. See Selden, Praefat. DEC. SCRIPTOR. p. xxxix. And Selden, Op. ii. 168. He is himſelf no contemptible Latin poet, and is celebrated by Chaucer. See Urry's edit. [...]. 468. 560. He ſeems to have lived about 1200.
t
Ex Matricula monach. Monaſt. Dover. apud MSS. Br. Twyne, notat. 8. p. 758. archiv. Oxon. Yet all Horace's writings were often tranſcribed, and not unfamiliar, in the dark ages. His odes are quoted by Fitz-Stephens in his DESCRIPTION of LONDON. Rabanus Maurus above-mentioned quotes two verſes from the ART O [...] POETRY. Op. tom. ii. p. 46 [...] edit. Colon. 1627. fol.
w
Kennet, Paroch. Antiq. p. 217.
x
Leland, Script. Brit. p. 283.
y
Boſton of Bury ſays, that he tranſlated the book called SUDA. Catal. Script. Eccleſ. ROBERT. LINCOLN. Boſton lived in the year 1410. Such was their ignorance at this time even of the name of this lexicographer.
z

Lel. Script. Brit. p. 266. Matthew Paris aſſerts, that he introduced into England a knowledge of the Greek numeral letters. That hiſtorian adds, ‘"De quibus figuris HOC MAXIME ADMIRANDUM, quod unica figura quilibet numerus repraeſentatur: quod non eſt in Latino vel in Algoriſmo."’ Hiſt. edit. Lond. 1684. p. 721. He tranſlated from Greek into Latin a grammar which he called DONATUS GRAECORUM. See Pegge's Life of Roger de Weſeham, p. 46. 47. 51. And infr. p. 281. He ſeems to have flouriſhed about the year 1230. Bacon alſo wrote a Greek grammar, in which is the following curious paſſage. ‘"Epiſcopus conſecrans eccleſiam, ſcribat Alphabetum Graecum in pulvere cum cuſpide baculi paſtoralis: ſed omnes epiſcopi QUI GRAECUM IGNORANT, ſcribant tres notas num [...]rorum quae non ſunt literae, &c."’ GR. GRAM. cap. ult. p. iii. MSS. Apud MSS. Br. Twyne, 8. p. 649. archiv. Oxon. See what is ſaid of the new tranſlations of Ariſtotle, from the original Greek into Latin, about the twelfth century. SECT. ix. p. 292. infr. I believe the tranſlators underſtood very little Greek. Our countryman Michael Scotu [...] was one of the firſt of them; who was aſſiſted by Andrew a Jew. Michael was aſtrologer to Frederick emperor of Germany, and appears to have executed his tranſlations at Toledo in Spain, about the year 1220. Theſe new verſions were perhaps little more than corrections from thoſe of the early Arabians, made under the inſpection of the learned Spaniſh [...] Saracens. To the want of a true knowledge of the original language of the antient Greek philoſophers, Roger Bacon attributes the [...]low and imperfect advances of real ſcience at this period. On this account their improvements were very inconſiderable, notwithſtanding the appearance of erudition, and the [...]ervour with which almoſt every branch of philoſophy had been now ſtudied in various countries for near half a century. See Wood, Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. i. 120. ſeq. Dempſter, xii [...] 940. Baconi Op. Maj. per Jebb, i. 15. ii. 8. Tanner, Bibl. p. 526. And MSS. Cotton. C. 5. fol. 138. Brit. Muſ.

A learned writer affirms, that Ariſtotle's books in th [...] original Greek were brought out of the eaſt into Europe about the ye [...]r 1200. He is alſo of opinion, that during the cruſades many Europeans, from their commerce with the Syrian Paleſtines, got a knowledge of Arabic: and that importing into Europe Arabic verſions of ſome parts of Ariſtotle's works, which they found in the eaſt, they turned them into Latin. Theſe were chiefly his Ethics and Politics. And theſe NEW TRANSLATORS he further ſuppoſes were employed at their return into Europe in reviſing the old tranſlations of other parts of Ariſtotle, made from Arabic into Latin. Euſeb. Renaudot. De Barba [...]. Ariſtot. Verſionib. apu [...] Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xii p. 248. S [...]e alſo Murator. Antiq. It [...]. Med. Aev. iii. 936 [...]

a
See MSS. Reg. B [...]it. Muſ. 4 D. vii. 4. Wood, Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. O [...]on. i. 82. And M. Paris, ſub anno. 1242.
b
Godwin, Epiſc. p. 348. edit. 1616.
c
He is mentioned again, SECT. ii. p. 61. 78. infr.
d
Hollingſh. Chron. ſub ann. p. 15. a.
e
Anderſ. Comm. i. 93.
f
Angl. Judaic. p. 8.
g
Hollingſh. ibid. ſub. ann. 1289. p. 285. a. Matthew of Weſtminſter ſays, that 16511 were baniſhed. Flor. Hiſt. ad an. 1290. Great numbers of Hebrew rolls and charts [...] relating to their eſtates in England, and eſcheated to the king, are now remaining in the Tower among the royal records.
h
Leland, Script. Brit. p. 321. And MSS. Bibl. Lambet [...]. Wharton, L. p. 661. ‘"Libri Prioris Gregorii de Rameſey. Prima pars Bibliothecae Hebraicae," &c.’
i
Bale, iv. 41. ix. 9. Lel. ubi ſupr. p. 452.
k
Wood, Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. i. 77. 132. See alſo SECT. ix. p. 291. infr.
l
They both flouriſhed about the year 1150.
m
‘"Baccalaureus qui legit textum (ſc. S. Scripturae) ſuccumbit lectori SENTENTIARUM Pariſiis, &c."’ Rog. Bacon, ap [...]d A. Wood, Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. i. p. 53. Lombard was the author of the Sente [...]ces.
a
The Saxons came into England A. D. 450.
b
Lib. iv. cap. 4. Some have improperly referred to this dialect the HARMONY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS, in the Cotton library; the ſtyle of which approaches in purity and antiquity to that of the CODEX ARGENTEUS. It is Frankiſh. See Brit. Muſ. MSS. Cotton. CALI [...]. A. 7. membran. octavo. This book is ſuppoſed to have belonged to king Canute. Eight richly illuminated hiſtorical pictures are bound up with it, evidently taken from another manuſcript, but probably of the age of king Stephen.
c
A. D. 1066.
d
See Hickeſ. Theſ. Ling. Vett. Sept. P. i. cap. xxi. pag. 177. And Praefat. fol. xiv. The curious reader is alſo referred to a Daniſh Saxon poem, celebrating the wars which Beowulf, a noble Dane, deſcended from the royal ſtem of Scyldinge, waged againſt the kings of Swedeland. MSS. Cotton. ut ſupr. VITELL. A. 15. Cod. membran. ix. fol. 130. Compare, written in the ſtyle Caedmon, a fragment of an ode in praiſe of the exploits of Brithnoth, Offa's ealdorman, or general, in a battle fought againſt the Danes. Ibid. OTH. A. 12. Cod. membran. 4to. iii. Brithnoth, the hero of this piece, a Northumbrian, died in the year 991.
e
MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Oxon. Cod. membran. in Pyxid. 4to grand. quadrat. And MSS. Cotton. ut ſupr. OTHO. Nor. D. 4. Bot [...] theſe manuſcripts were written and ornamented in the Saxon times, and are of the higheſt curioſity and antiquity.
f
Printed by Junius, Amſt. 1655. The greateſt part of the Bodleian manuſcript of this book, is believed to have been written about A. D. 1000.—Cod. Jun. xi. membran. fol.
g
He died 1189.
h
Dugd. Mon. i. 89.
i
Ingulph. Hiſt. p. 62. ſub. ann. 1043.
k
But there is a precept in Saxon from William the firſt, to the ſheriff of Somerſetſhire. Hickeſ. Theſ. i. par. i. pag. 106. See alſo Praefat. ibid. p. xv.
l
The Normans who practiced every ſpecious expedient to plunder the monks, demanded a ſight of the written evidences of their lands. The monks well knew, that it would have been uſeleſs or impolitic to have produced theſe evidences, or charters, in the original Saxon; as the Normans not only did not underſtand, but would have received with contempt, inſtruments written in that language. Therefore the monks were compelled to the pious fraud of forging them in Latin: and great numbers of theſe forged Latin charters, till lately ſuppoſed original, are ſtill extant. See Spelman, in Not. ad Concil. Anglic. p. 125. Stillingfl. Orig. Eccle [...]. Britann. p. 14. Marſham, Praefat. ad D [...]gd. Monaſt. And Wharton, Angl. Sacr. vol. ii. Praefat. p. ii. iii. iv. See alſo Ingulph. p. 512. Launoy and Mabillon have treated this ſubject with great learning and penetration.
m
Ingulph. p. 71. ſub. ann. 1066.
n
See Brompt. Ch [...]on. p. 1026. Abb [...] Rieval. p. 339.
o
Ingulph, p. 85.
p
Ibid. p. 98. ſub. ann. 1091.
q
Matt. Pariſ. ſub. ann.
r
H. Wharton, Auctar. Hiſtor. Dogmat. p. 388. The learned Mabillon is miſtaken in aſſerting, that the Saxon way of writing was entirely aboliſhed in England at the time of the Norman conqueſt. See Mabillon. De Re Diplomat. p. 52. The French antiquaries are fond of this notion. There are Saxon characters in Herbert Loſinga's charter for founding the church of Norwich. Temp. Will. Ruf. A. D. 1110. See Lambarde's Diction. V. NORWICH. See alſo Hickeſ. Theſaur. i. Par. i. p. 149. See alſo Praefat. p. xvi. An intermixture of the Saxon character is common in Engliſh and Latin manuſcripts, before the reign of Edward the third: but of a few types only.
s
MSS. Bodl. NE. F. 4. 12. Cod. membran. fol.
t
Yet ſome Norman charters have the croſs.
u
Gervaſ. Tilbur. de Otiis Imperial. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. lib. iii. See du Cheſne, iii. p. 363.
w
Lect. in Libr. Sapient. Lect. ii. Pariſ. 1518. 4to.
22
x Lib. i. cap. 59. MSS. Coll. S. Johan. Cantabr. But I think it is printed by Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde. Robert of Glouceſter, who wrote about 1280, ſays much the ſame, edit. Hearne, p. 364.
y
Country.
z
Delights, tries.
a
Time.
b
In the ſtatutes of Oriel College in Oxford, it is ordered, that the ſcholars, or fellows, ‘"ſiqua inter ſe proferant, colloquio Latino, vel ſaltem Gallico, perfruantur."’ See Hearne's Trokelowe, pag. 298. Theſe ſtatutes were given 23 Maii, A. D. 1328. I find much the ſame injunction in the ſtatutes of Exeter College, Oxford, given about 1330. Where they are ordered to uſe, ‘"Romano aut Gallico ſaltem ſermone."’ Hearne's MSS. Collect. num. 132. pag. 73. Bibl. Bodl. But in Merton College ſtatutes, mention is made of the Latin only. In cap. x. They were given 1271. This was alſo common in the greater monaſteries. In the regiſter of Wykeham, biſhop of Wincheſter, the domicellus of the Prior of S. Swythin's at Wincheſter, is ordered to addreſs the biſhop, on a certain occaſion, in French, A. D. 1398. Regiſtr. Par. iii. fol. 177.
c
But the French formularies and terms of law, and particularly the French feudal phraſeology, had taken too deep root to be thus haſtily aboliſhed. Hence, long after the reign of Edward the third, many of our lawyers compoſed their tracts in French. And reports and ſome ſtatutes were made in that language. See Forteſcut. de Laud. Leg. Angl. cap. xlviii.
d
Pulton's Statut. 36. Edw. iii. This was A. D. 1363. The firſt Engliſh inſtrument in Rymer is dated 1368. Foed. vii. p. 526.
e
This ſubject will be further illuſtrated in the next ſection.
f
Ling. Vett. Theſ. Part. i. p. 222. There is another copy not mentioned by Hickes, in Jeſus College library at Oxford, MSS. 85. infr. citat. This is entitled Tractatus guidam in Anglico. The Digby manuſcript has no title.
f
See Petr. Lambec. Comment. de Bibl. Caeſar. Vindebon. pag. 418. 457.
g
See Petr. Lambec. ubi ſupr. lib. ii. cap. 5. There is a circumſtance belonging to the antient Frankiſh verſification, which, as it greatly illuſtrates the ſubject of alliteration, deſerves notice here. Otfrid's dedication of his Evangelical hiſtory to Lewis the firſt, king of the oriental France, conſiſts of four lined ſtanzas in rhyming couplets: but the firſt and laſt line of every ſtanzas begin and end with the ſame letter: and the letters of the title of the dedication reſpectively, and the word of the laſt line of every tetraſtic. Flaccus Illyrius publiſhed this work of Otfrid at Baſil, 1571. But I think it has been ſince more correctly printed by Johannes Schilterus. It was written about the year 880. Otfrid was the diſciple of Rhabanus Maurus.
h
St. xiv.
i
Sende god biforen him man,
þe hƿile he mai to heuene;
For betere iſ on elmeſſe biforen
Danne ben after [...]euene.
This is perhaps the true reading, from the Trinity manuſcript at Cambridge, written about the reign of Henry the ſecond, or Richard the firſt. Cod. membran. 8vo. Tractat. I. See Abr. Wheloc. Eccleſ. Hiſt. Bed. p. 25. 114.
k
MSS. Digb. A. 4. membran.
l
As I recollect, the whole poem is thus exhibited in the Trinity manuſcript.
a
Heaven. Sax.
b
Merry, chearful. ‘"Although Paradiſe is chearful and bright, Cokayne is a much more beautiful place."’
c
101. Orig.
d
Pleaſure.
e
Butt [...]ry.
f
Shingles. ‘"The tiles, or covering of the houſe, are of rich cakes."’
g
The Pinnacles.
h
Fountains.
i
This word will be explained at large hereafter.
k
Running. Sax.
l
Courſe. Sax.
m
The Arabian Philoſophy imported into Europe, was full of the doctrine of precious ſtones.
n
Our old poets are never ſo happy as when they can get into a catalogue of things or names. See Obſer [...]at. on the Fairy Queen, i. p. 140.
o
Crieth. Gallo-Franc.
p
Quick, quickly. Gallo-Franc.
q
‘"To the great Abbey of Grey Monks."’
r
Laſcivious motions. Gambols. Fr. Gambiller.
s
Hickeſ. Theſaur. i. Part i. p. 231. ſeq.
t
As appears fro [...] this line.‘Lordinges gode and hende, &c.’

It is in MSS. More, Cantabrig. 784. f. 1.

u
His lands are cited in Doomſday Book. ‘"GLOUCESTERSCIRE. Berdic, Joculator Regis, habet iii. villas et ibi v. car. nil redd."’ See Anſtis, Ord. Gart. ii. 304.
w
It is worthy of remark, that we find in the collection of ancient northern monuments, publiſhed by M. Biorner, a poem of ſome length, ſaid by that author to have been compoſed in the twelfth or thirteenth century. This poem is profeſſedly in rhyme, and the meaſure like that of the heroic Alexandrine of the French poetry. See Mallet's Introd. Dannem. &c. ch. xiii.
x
And. Fr.
y
I direct. Fr. ‘"I adviſe you, your, &c."’
z
Life. Fr.
a
Called. Saxon.
b
Choſe a wife. Sax. ‘"He was married in Antioch."’
c
‘"Deaf gods, &c."’
d
In bed.
e
Checklaton. See Obſ. Fair. Q. i. 194.
f

Hickeſ. i. 225. The legend of Scint [...] Juliane in the Bodleian library is rather older, but of much the ſame verſification. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. NE. 3. xi. membran. 8vo. iii. fol. 36. This manuſcript I believe to be of the age of Henry the third or king John: the compoſition much earlier. It was tranſlated from the Latin. Theſe are the five laſt lines.

þƿhen d [...]ihtin o domeſdei þindþeð hiſ hþeate,
And þer ƿeð þaet duſti chef to hellene heate,
þe mote beon a corn i godeſ guldene edene,
De turde ðiſ of latin to Engliſche ledene
And he þaet he [...] leaſt onþ [...]at ſþa aſ he cuþe. AMEN.

That is, ‘"When the judge at doomſday winnows his wheat and drives the duſty chaff into the heat of hell; may there be a corner in god's golden Eden for him who turned this book into Latin, &c."’

g
The ſame that are mentioned by Hearne, from a manuſcript of Ralph Sh [...]idon. See Hearne's Petr. Langt. p. 542. 607. 608. 609. 611. 628. 670. Saint Winifred's Life is printed from the ſame collection by biſhop Fleetwood, in his Life and Miracles of S. [...]inifred, p. 125. ed. 1713.
h
It is in fact a metrical hiſtory of the feſtivals of the whole year. The life of the reſpective Saint is deſcribed under every Saints day, and the inſtitutions of ſome ſundays, and feaſts not taking their riſe from ſaints, are explained, on the plan of the Legenda Aurea, written by Jacobus de Voragine, archbiſhop of Genoa, about the year 1290, from which Caxton, through the medium of a French verſion entitled Legend Doré [...], tranſlated his Golden Legend. The Feſtival, or Fe [...]iall, printed by Wynkin de Worde, is a book of the ſame ſort, yet with homilies intermixed. See MSS. Harl. 2247. fol. and 2371. 4to. and 2391. 4to. and 2402. 4to. and 2800. ſeq. Manuſcript lives of Saints, detached, and not belonging to this collection, are frequent in libraries. The Vitae Patrum were originally drawn from S. Jerome and Johannes Caſſianus. In Greſham college library are metrical lives of ten Saints chiefly from the Golden Legend, by Oſberne Bokenham, an Auguſtine canon in the abbey of Stoke-clare in Suffolk, tranſcribed by Thomas Burgh at Cambridge 1477. The Life of S. Katharine appears to have been compoſed in 1445. MSS. Coll. Greſh. 315. The French tranſlation of the L [...]g [...]nda Aurea was made by Jehan de Vignay, a monk, ſoon after 1300.
i
Aſhmole cites this Life, Inſtit. Ord. Gart. p. 21. And he cites S. Brandon's Life, p. 507. Aſhmole's manuſcript was in the hands of Silas Taylor. It is now in his Muſeum at Oxford. MSS. Aſhm. 50. [7001.]
k
MSS. Bodl. 779.—Laud, L. 70. And they make a conſiderable part of a prodigious folio volume, beautifully written on vellum, and elegantly illuminated, where they have the following title, which alſo comprehends other antient Engliſh religious poems. ‘"Here begynnen the tytles of the book that is cald in Latyn tonge SALUS ANIME, and in Englyſh tonge SOWLEHELE."’ It was given to the Bodleian library by Edward Vernon eſquire, ſoon after the civil war. I ſhall cite it under the title of MS. Vernon. Although pieces not abſolutely religious are ſometimes introduced, the ſcheme of the compiler or tranſcriber ſeems to have been, to form a complete body of legendary and ſcriptural hiſtory in verſe, or rather to collect into one view all the religious poetry he could find. Accordingly the Lives of the Saints, a diſtinct and large work of itſelf, properly conſtituted a part of his plan. There is another copy of the Lives of the Saints in the Britiſh Muſeum, MSS. Harl. 2277. And in Aſhmole's Muſeum, MSS. Aſhm. ut ſupr. I think this manuſcript is alſo in Ben [...] college library. The Lives ſeem to be placed according to their reſpective feſtivals in the courſe of the year. The Bodleian copy (marked 779.) is a thick folio, containing 310 leaves. The variations in theſe manuſcripts ſeem chiefly owing to the tranſcribers. The Life of Saint Margaret in MSS. Bodl. 779. begins much like that of Trinity library at Cambridge. ‘Old ant yonge I preye you your folyis for to lete, &c.’ I muſt add here, that in the Harleian library, a few Lives, from the ſame collection of Lives of the Saints, occur, MSS. 2250. 23. f. 72. b. ſeq. chart. fol. See alſo ib. 19. f. 48. Theſe Lives are in French rhymes, ib. 2253. f. 1.
l

Thus in MSS. Harl. fol. 78.

Seint Swiþþin ðe confeſſour was here of Engelonde
Biſide Wyncheſtre hi was ibore as ic vnderſtonde.
m
Since.
n
f. 93. MS. Vernon.
o
MS. Vernon. fol. 76. b.
p

MSS. Harl. ut ſupr. fol. 101. b.

Seint Criſtofre was Sarazin in ðe lond of Canaan
In no ſtede bi his daye ne fond me ſo ſtrong a man
Four and tuenti [...]et he was long and þiche and brod y-noug, &c.
q
Fiddle.
r
MS. Vernon, fol. 119.
s
Bodl. MSS. 779. fol. 41. b.
t
MSS. Harl. fol. 195. b.
Gilbert was Thomas fader name þat true was and gód
And lovede god and holi church ſiþþe he wit undérſtod.
This Harleian manuſcript is imperfect in many parts.
u
MSS. Bodl. 779. f. 41. b.
x

Who died 1199. In the Cotton library I find the lives of Saint Joſaphas and Saint Dorman: where the Norman ſeems to predominate, although Saxon letters are uſed. Brit. Muſ. MSS. Cott. CALIG. A. ix. Cod. membran. 4to. ii. fol. 192.

Ici commence la vie de ſeint Ioſaphaz.

Ri uout vout a nul bien aentendre
Per eſſample poet mlt aprendre.

iii. fol. 213. b. Ici commence la vie de Seint Dormanz.

La vertu deu iur tut iuſ [...] dure
E tut iurz eſt certeine epure.

Many legends and religious pieces in Norman rhyme were written about this time. See MSS. Harl. 2253 f. 1. membr. fol. [...]upr. citat. p. 14.

y
Viz. MS. Vernon.
z
MSS. Harl. 2391. 70. The dialect is perfectly northern.
a

That legends of Saints were ſung to the harp at feaſts, appears from The Life of Saint Marine, MSS. Harl. 2253. fol. memb. f. 64. b.

Herketh hideward and beoth ſ [...]ille,
Y [...] praie ou ȝif hit be or wille,
And ȝe ſhule here of one virgin
That was ycleped ſaint Maryne.

And from various other inſtances.

Some of theſe religious poems contain the uſual addreſs of the minſtrel to the company. As in a poem of our Saviour's deſcent into hell, and his diſcourſe there with Sathanas the porter, Adam, Eve, Abraham, &c. MSS. ibid. f. 57.

Alle herkeneth to me now,
A ſtrif wolle ye tellen ou:
Of Jheſu and of Sathan,
Tho Jheſu wes to hell y-gan.

Other proofs will occur occaſionally.

b

As I collect from the following poem, MS. Vernon, fol. 229.

The Viſions of Seynt Poul won be was ra [...]t into Paradys.

Luſteneth lordynges leof and dere,
Ȝe that wolen of the Sonday here;
The Sonday a day hit is
That angels and archangels joyn i wis
More in that ilke day
Then any odur, &c.
c
MS. Vernon, fol. 8.
d
Quart. minor. 185. Cod. membran. vi. f. 21. b.
e
MSS. R. 11. Cod. membran. octavo. It ſeems to be in the northern dialect.
f
Bibl. Cotton, MSS. CALIG. A. ix.—vi. f. 243.
g
O. 6. Cod. membr. 4to.
h
Hickes has printed a metrical. verſion of the creed of St. Athanaſius. To whom, to avoid prolix and obſelete ſpecimens already printed, I refer the reader. Th [...]ſaur. P. i. p. 233. I believe it to be of the age of Henry the ſecond.
i
MSS. Bodl. pergamen. fol. 425. f. 5.
k
Ibid. f. 4.
94
Sic.
l
MSS. Bibl. Bodl. B. 3. 18. Th. f. 101. b. (Langb. vi. 209.)
m
It is alſo in Bibl. Cotton. MSS. CALIG. ix. A. 5. fol. 230.
n
So it is ſaid in Catal. MSS. Angl. p. 69. But by miſtake. Our John de Guldevorde is indeed the author of the poem which immediately precedes in the manuſcript, as appears by the following entry at the end of it, in the hand-writing of the very Iearned Edward Lwyhd.
"On part of a broken leaf of this MS. I find theſe verſes written, whearby the author may be gueſt at.
Mayſter Johan eu greteth of Guldworde tho,
And ſendeth eu to ſeggen that ſynge he nul he wo,
On thiſſe wiſe he will endy his ſonge,
God louerde of hevene, beo us alle amonge.
"

The piece is entitled and begins thus;

Ici commence la Paſſyun Ihu Criſt en engleys.
I hereth eu one lutele tale that ich eu wille telle
As we vyndeth hit iwrite in the godſpelle,
Nis hit nouht of Karlemeyne ne of the Duzpere
As of Criſtes thruwynge, &c.
It ſeems to be of equal antiquity with that mentioned in the text. The whole manuſcript, conſiſting of many detached pieces both in verſe and proſe, was perhaps written in the reign of Henry the ſixth.
o
Owl.
p
MSS. Coll. Jeſ. Oxon. 86. membr.
q
Yet.
r
Knew not.
s
Lively.
t
Sic.
u
Blee. Complexion.
w
Merrieſt.
x
MSS. Harl. 2253. fol. membran. f. 72. b.
y
MSS. ibid. f. 66. The pieces which I have cited from this manuſcript, appear to be of the hand-writing of the reign of Edward the firſt.
z
MSS. ibid. f. 63. b.
a
‘"It is mery at dawn."’
b
Plays.
c
Throſtle. Thruſh.
e
MSS. ibid. f. 71. b.
f
Ibid. f. 80.
114
MSS. ibid. ut ſupr. f. 71. b.
g
MSS. ibid. f. 81. b.
h
London.
i
Ibid. f. 80. b.
k
Ibid. f. 80. b.
l
Jaſper.
m
Streams, ſhines.
n
Garnet.
o
Onyx.
p
Branch.
q
Quaint.
r
White complexion.
s
MSS. ibid. f. 63.
t
Ibid. f. 82.
u
Ibid. f. 80.
w
Ibid. f. 62. b.
x
See MSS. Harl. ut ſupr. f. 49. 76.
y
Ibid. f. 79. Probably this ſong has been ſomewhat moderniſed by tranſcribers.
z
Ibid. f. 128. Theſe lines afterwards occur, burleſqued and parodied, by a writer of the ſame age.
a
Ibid. f. 66.
b
Ut ſupr. f. 67.
c
Ibid. 63. b.
d
Ibid. f. 66.
e
MSS. ut ſup [...]. f. 70. b.
f
Ibid. f. 71.
g
Fontenelle, Hiſt. Theatr. Fr. p. 18. [...]dit 1742.
h
See Fauchett, Rec. p. 151.
i
MSS. ibid. f. 121.
k
Rim. Thop. 3402. Urr.
l
MSS. Harl. 527. b. f. 59. Cod. membr.
m
Liſten.
n
Companions.
o
Alike.
p

So Robert de Brunne of king Marian. Hearne's Rob. Gloc. p. 622.

—Marian faire in chere
He couthe of wod and ryvere
In alle maner of venrie, &c.
q
In another part of the poem he is introduced playing on his harp.
Horne ſett hi abenche, his harpe he gan clenche,
He made Rymenild a lay ant he ſeide weilaway, &c.
In the chamber of a biſhop of Wincheſter at Merdon caſtle, now ruined, we find mention made of benches only. Comp. MS. J. Gerveys, Epiſcop. Winton, 1266. ‘"Iidem red. comp. de ii. menſis in aula ad m [...]gnum deſcum. Et de iii. menſis, ex una parte, et ii. menſis ex altera parte c [...]m treſſellis in aula. Et de i. menſa cum treſſellis in camera dom. epiſcopi. Etv. [...]ormis in eadem camera."’ Deſcus, in old Engliſh dees, is properly a canopy over the high table. See a curious account of the goods in the palace of the biſhop of Nivernois in France, in the year 1287, in Montf. Cat. MSS. ii. p. 984. col. 2.
r
According to the rules of chivalry, every knight before his creation paſſed through two offices. He was firſt a page: and at fourteen years of age he was formally admitted an eſquire. The eſquires were divided into ſeveral departments; that of the body, of the chamber, of the ſtable, and the carving eſquire. The latter ſtood in the hall at dinner, where he carved the different diſhes with proper ſkill and addreſs, and directed the diſtribution of them among the gueſts. The inferior offices had alſo their reſpective eſquires. Mem. anc. Cheval. i [...] 16. ſeq.
s
Meſſenger.
t
Companion, friend.
u

MSS. ibid. f. 83. Where the title is written, ‘"þ geſte of kynge Horne."’ There is a copy, much altered and moderniſed, in the Advocates library at Edinburgh, W. 4. i. Numb. xxxiv. The title Horn-childe and Maiden Rinivel. The begining,

Mi leve frende dere,
Herken and ye ſhall here.
a
The king of the Romans.
b
Loyalty.
c
Peace.
d
The barons made this offer of thirty thouſand pounds to Richard.
e
Though.
f
Treacherous.
g
Overlyng. i. e. ſuperiour. But perhaps the word is o [...]terlyng, for eſterlyng, a French piece of money. Wallingford was one of the honours conferred on Richard, at his marriage with Sanchia daughter of the count of Provence.
h
‘"Let him have, as he brews, poiſon to drink."’
i
Windſor-caſtle was one of the king's chief fortreſſes.
k
‘"Thought to do full well."’
l

Some old chronicles relate, that at the battle of Lewes Richard was taken in a windmill. Hearne MSS. Coll. vol. 106. p. 82. Robert of Glouceſter mentions the ſame circumſtance, edit. Hearne, p. 547. ‘The king of Alemaigne was in a windmulle inome.’ Richard and prince Edward took ſhelter in the Grey-friars at Lewes, but were afterwards impriſoned in the caſtle of Wallingford. See Hearne's Langtoft, Glo [...]. p. 616. And Rob. Glouc. p. 548. Robert de Brunne, a poet of whom I ſhall ſpeak at large in his proper place, tranſlates the onſet of this battle with ſome ſpirit, edit. Hearne, p. 217.

Symon com to the felde, and put up his banere,
The king ſchewed forth his ſchelde, his dragon ful auſtere:
The kyng ſaide on hie, Simon ieo vous defie, &c.
m
Their.
n
Battering-rams.
o
Gathered.
p
Mill-poſt.
q
Pride.
r
He brought with him many foreigners, when he returned to England, from taking poſſeſſion of his dignity of king of the Romans. This gave great offence to the barons. It is here inſinuated, that he intended to garriſon Windſor-caſtle with theſe [...]oreigners. The barons obliged him to diſmiſs moſt of them ſoon after he landed in England.
s
The earl of Warren and Surry, and Hugh le Bigot the king's juſticiary, mentioned in the ſeventh ſtanza, had fled into France.
t
Had.
u
Habitation, home.
w
Engine, Weapon.
x
Year's tax. I had tranſcribed this ballad from the Britiſh Muſeum, and written theſe few curſory explanations, before I knew that it was printed in the ſecond [...]dition of doctor Percy's Ballads, ii. 1. See MSS. Harl. ut ſupr. f. 58. b.
y

f. 59. It begins,

Chaunter meſtoit | mon ever le voit | en un duré langage,
Tut en pluraunt | fuſt fet le chaunt | de noitre duz Baronage, &c.
z
OBSERVATIONS UPON THE STATUTES, CHIEFLY THE MORE ANCIENT, &c. edit. 1766. p. 71.
a
See Carew's Surv. Cornw. p. 58. edit. 1602.
b
Henry of Huntingdon ſays, that Walo Verſificator wrote a panegyric on Henry the firſt. And that the ſame Walo Verſificator wrote a poem on the park which that king made at Woodſtock. Apud Leland's Collectan. vol. ii. 303. i. 197. edit. 1770. Perhaps he was in the department of Henry mentioned in the text. One Gualo, a Latin poet, who flouriſhed about this time, is mentioned by Bale, iii. 5. and Pitts, p. 233. He is commended in the POLICRATICON. A copy of his Latin hexametrical ſatire on the monks is printed by Mathias Flacius, among miſcellaneous Latin poems De corrupto Eccleſiae ſtatu, p. 489. Baſil. 1557. oct.
c
‘"Magiſtro Henrico Verſificatori."’ See Madox, Hiſt. Excheq. p. 268.
d
Ibid. p. 674. In MSS. Digb. Bibl. Bodl. I find, in John of Hoveden's Salutationes quinquaginta Mariae, ‘"Mag. Henricus, VERSIFICATOR MAGNUS, de B. Virgine, &c."’
e

MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Arch. Bodl. 29. in pergam. 4to. viz. ‘"Verſus magiſtri Michaelis Cornubi [...]nſis contra Mag. Henricum Abricenſem coram dom. Hugone abba [...]e Weſtmon. et aliis."’ fol. 81. b. Pri [...]. ‘"ARCHIPOETA vide quod non ſit cura tibi de."’ See alſo fol. 83. b. Again, fol. 85.

Pendo po [...]ta prius [...]e diximus ARCHIPOETAM,
Quam pro poſtico nunc dicimus eſſe poetam,
Imo poeticulum, &c.

Archipoeta means here the king's chief poet.

In another place our Corniſh ſatiriſt thus attacks maſter Henry's perſon.

Eſt tibi gamba capri, crus paſſeris, et latus apri;
Os leporis, catuli naſus, dens et gena muli:
Frons vetulae, tauri caput, et color undique mauri.

In a blank page of the Bodleian manuſcript, from which theſe extracts are made, is written, ‘"Iſte liber conſtat ffratri Johanni de Wallis monacho Rameſeye."’ The name is elegantly enriched, with a device. This manuſcript contains, among other things, Planctus de Excidio Trojae, by Hugo Prior de Montacuto, in rhyming hexameters and pentameters, viz. fol. 89. Camden cites other Latin verſes of Michael Blaunpain, whom he calls ‘"Merry Michael the Corniſh poet."’ Rem. p. 10. See alſo p. 489. edit. 1674. He wrote many other Latin pieces, both in proſe and verſe.

e
Rot. Pip. an. 36. Henr. iii. ‘"Et in uno dolio vini empto et dato magiſtro Ricardo Cithariſtae regis, xl. ſol. per Br. Reg. Et in uno dolio empto et dato Beatrici uxori ejuſdem Ricardi."’
f
Pag. 224. edit. Hearne. Oxon. 1724.
g
Pag. 560.
g
‘"When the ſervice in the church was finiſhed."’
h
‘"They kept the antient cuſtom at feſtivals, of placing the men and women ſeparate. Kay, king of Anjou, brought a thouſand noble knights cloathed in ermine of one ſuit, or ſecta."’
i
‘"Brought alſo, on his part, a fair company cloathed uniformly."’
k
Modeſty, decorum.
l
Thrice.
m
More brave.
n
‘"Soon after this noble feaſt, which was proper at ſuch an occaſion, the knights accoutred themſelves."’
o
Chivalry, courage, or youth.
p
Cheſs. It is remarkable, that among the nine exerciſes, or accompliſhments, mentioned by Kolſon, an antient northern chief, one is Playing at cheſs. Bartholin. ii. c. 8. p. 420. This game was familiariſed to the Europeans after the cruſades. The romances which followed thoſe expeditions are full of it. Kolſon, above-mentioned, had made a pilgrimage into the holy land. But from the principles advanced in the firſt INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION, this game might have been known in the North before. In the mean time, it is probable that the Saracens introduced it into Spain before the cruſades. It is mentioned by G. of Monmouth, and in the Alexiad of Anna Commena. See Mem. Acad. Lit. v. 232.
q
Different ways of playing at cheſs. ‘"The ladies ſtood on the walks made within the battlements of the caſtle."’
r
‘"All the three high, or chief days. In hills and fields, of feaſting, and turneying, &c."’
s
Fourth.
t
Pag. 191. 192.
u
Pag. 208.
w
If I ſhould ſay any thing out of wantoneſs or vanity, the ſpirit, or demon, which teaches me, would immediately leave me. ‘"Nam ſi ea in deriſionem, ſive vanitatem, proferrem, taceret Spiritus qui me docet, et, cum opus ſuperveniret, rec [...] deret."’ Galfrid. Mon. viii. 10.
x
‘"Bade him uſe his cunning, for the ſake of the bodies of thoſe noble and wiſe Britons."’
y
‘"If you would build, to their honour, a laſting monument."’
z
‘"To the hill of Kildare."’
a
Have.
b
‘"The dance of giants."’ The name of this wonderful aſſembly of immenſe ſtones.
c
‘"Grandes ſunt lapides, nec eſt aliquis cujus virtuti cedant. Quod ſi eo modo, quo ibi poſiti ſunt, circa plateam locabuntur, ſtabunt in aeternum."’ Galfrid. Mon. viii. x. 11.
d
‘"Somewhat laughed."’
e
‘"So great and ſo many."’
f
Tyding.
g
‘"Giants once brought them from the fartheſt part of Africa, &c."’
h
‘"Lavabant namque lapides et infra balnea diffundebant, unde aegroti curabantur. Miſcebant etiam cum herbarum con [...]ectionibus, unde vuln [...]rati ſanabantur. Non eſt ibi lapis qui medica mento careat."’ Galfrid. Mon. ibid.
i
Rode.
k
Pag. 145. 146. 147. That Stonehenge is a Britiſh monument, erected in memory of Hengiſt's ma [...]acre, reſts, I believe, on the ſole evidence of Geoffry of Monmouth, who had it from the Britiſh bards. But why ſhould not the teſtimony of the Britiſh bards be allowed on this occaſion? For they did not invent facts, ſo much as fables. In the preſent caſe, Hengiſt's maſſacre in an allowed event. Remove all the apparent [...]iction, and the bards only ſay, that an immenſe pile of ſtones was raiſed on the plain of Ambreſbury in memory of that event. They lived too near the time to forge this origin of Stonehenge. The whole ſtory was recent, and from the immenſity of the work itſelf, muſt have been ſtill more notorious. Therefore their forgery would have been too glaring. It may be objected, that they were fond of referring every thing ſtupendous to their favourite hero Arthur. This I grant: but not when known authenticated facts ſtood in their way, and while the real cauſe was remembered. Even to this day, the maſſacre of Hengiſt, as I have partly hinted, is an undiſputed piece of hiſtory. Why ſhould not the other part of the ſtory be equally true? Beſides the ſilence of Nennius, I am aware, that this hypotheſis is ſtill attended with many difficulties and improbabilities. And ſo are all the ſyſtems and conjectures ever yet framed about this amazing monument. It appears to me, to be the work of a rude people who had ſome ideas of art: ſuch as we may ſuppoſe the Romans left behind them among the Britons. In the mean time I do not remember, that in the very controverted etymology of the word Stone [...]enge the name of HENGIST has been properly or ſufficiently conſidered.
i
Chron. p. 156.
m
The laſt battle was fought that year, Jul. 7.
n
MSS. Harl. 2253. f. 73. b.
o
Ibid. f. 64. There is a ſong half Latin and half French, much on the ſame ſubject. Ibid. f. 137. b.
p
See Spelman and Dufreſne in Voc. And Rob. Brunne's Chron. ed. Hearne, p. 328.
q
MSS. Harl. ibid. f. 113. b.
r
Ibid. f. 59.
s
MSS. Bibl. Bodl. N. 415. membr. fol. Cont. 80. pag. Pr.‘"Fadyr and ſone and holy goſte." ’And MSS. Harl. 1701.
t
Fol. 1. a.
u
Laymen, illiterate.
w
x Gladly.
x

So in the Viſion of P. Plowman, fol. xxvi. b. edit. 1550.

I am occupied every day, holy day and other,
With idle tales at the Al [...], &c.

Again, fol. 1. b.

Foughten at the Al [...]
In glotony, godwote, &c.

Chaucer mentions an Aleſtake, Prol. v. 669. Perhaps, a May-pole. And in the Plowman's Tale, p. 185. Urr. edit. v. 2110.

‘And the chief chantours at the nal [...].
y
Truth and all.
z
The name of his order.
a
Profit.
b
A part of Lincolnſhire. Chron. Br. p. 311. ‘At Lincoln the parlement was in Lyndeſay and Keſtevene.’ Lyndeſay is Lincolnſhire, ibid. p. 248. See a ſtory of three monks of Lyndeſay, ibid. p. 80.
c
Fell.
d
Surname. See Rob. Br. Chron. p. 168. ‘"Thei cald hi this toname, &c."’ Fr. ‘"Eſt ſurnomez, &c."’
e
Fiend's. The Devil's.
f
Harper. Minſtrel.
g
Pſalter.
h

Chaucer R. Sir Thop. v. 3321. Urr. edit. p. 135.

Here wonnith the queene of Fairie,
With harpe, and pipe, and Simphoni [...].
i
Fol. 30. b. There is an old Latin ſong in Burton's Melancholy, which I find in this MS. poem. Burton's Mel. Part iii. § 2. Memb. iii. pag. 423.
k
The ſecond part was printed by Hearne at Oxford, which he calls PETER LANGTOFT'S CHRONICLE, 1725. Of the Firſt part Hearne has given us the Prologue, Pref. p. 96. An Extract, ibid. p. 188. And a few other paſſages in his Gloſſary to Robert of Glouceſter. But the Firſt Part was never printed entire. Hearne ſays this Chronicle was not finiſhed till the [...]ear 1338. Rob. Glouceſt. Pref. p. 59. It appears that our author was educated and graduated at Cambridge, from Chron. p. 337.
l
In the Britiſh Muſeum there is a fragment of a poem in very old French verſe, a romantic hiſtory of England, drawn from Geoffry of Monmouth, perhaps before the year 1200. MSS. Harl. 1605. 1. f. 1. Cod. membran. 4to. In the manuſcript library of doctor N. Johnſon of Pontefract, now perhaps diſperſed, there was a manuſcript on vellum, containing a hiſtory in old Engliſh verſe from Brute to the eighteenth year of Edward the ſecond. And in that of Baſil lord Denbigh, a metrical hiſtory in Engliſh from the ſame period, to Henry [...]he third. Wanly ſuppoſed it to have been of the hand-writing of the time of Edward the fourth.
m
The BRUT OF ENGLAND, a proſe Chronicle of England, ſometimes continued as low as Henry the ſixth, is a common manuſcript. It was at firſt tranſlated from a French Chronicle [MSS. Harl. 200. 4to.] written in the beginning of the reign of Edward the third. I think it is printed by Caxton under the title of Fructus Temporum. The French have a famous ancient proſe romance called BRUT, which includes the hiſtory of the Sangreal. I know not whether it is exactly the ſame. In an old metrical romance, The ſtory of ROLLO, there is this paſſage. MS. Vernon, Bibl. Bodl. f. 123.
Lordus gif ye wil leſten to me,
Of Croteye the nobile citee
As wrytten i fynde in his ſtory
Of BRUIT the chronicle, &c.
In the Britiſh Muſeum we have Le petit Bruit, compiled by Meiſtre Raufe de Boun, and ending with the death of Edward the firſt. MSS. Harl. 902. f. 1. Cod. chart. fol. It is an abridgement of the grand BRUT. In the ſame library I find Liber de BRUTO et de geſtis Anglorum metrificatus. That is, turned into rude Latin hexameters. It is continued to the death of Richard the ſecond. Many proſe annotations are intermixed. MSS. ibid. 1808. 24. f. 31. Cod. membran. 4to. In another copy of this piece, one Peckward is ſaid to be the verſifier. MSS. i [...]. 2386. 23. f. 35. In another manuſcript the grand BRUT is ſaid to be tranſlated from the French by ‘"John Maundeule parſon of Brunham Thorpe."’ MSS. ibid. 2279. 3.
n
See Lenglet, Biblioth. des Romans, ii. p. 226. 227. And Lacombe, Diction. de vieux Lang. Fr. pref. p. xviii. Pariſ. 1767. 8vo. And compare Montfauc. Catal. Manuſcr. ii. p. 1669. See alſo M. Galland, Mem. Lit. iii. p. 426. 8vo.
o
3 A. xxi. 3. It occurs again, 4 C. xi. ‘"Hiſtoire d'Angleterre en vers, par Maiſtre Wace."’ I cannot help correcting a miſtake into which both Wanley and biſhop Nicholſon have fallen, with regard to this Wace. In the Cotton library, a Saxo-norman manuſcript occurs twice, which ſeems to be a tranſlation of Geoffry's Hiſtory, or very like it. Calig. A. ix. And Otho. C. 13. 4to. In vellum. The tranſlator is one Lazamon, a prieſt, born at Ernly on Severn. He ſays, that he had his original from the book of a French clergyman, named Wa [...]e; which book Wate the author, had preſented to Eleanor, queen of Henry the ſecond. So Lazamon in the preface. ‘"Bot he nom the thridde, leide ther amidden: tha makede a frenchis clerc: Wate [Wa [...]e] wes ihoten, &c."’ Now becauſe Geoffry of Monmouth in one of his prefaces, cap. i. b. 1. ſays, that he received his original from the hands of Walter Mapes, archdeacon of Oxford; both Wanly and Nicholſon ſuppoſe that the Wate mentioned by Lazamon is Walter Mapes. Whereas Lazamon undoubtedly means Wace, perhaps written or called Wate, author of LE ROMAN LE ROU above-mentioned. Nor is the Saxon t [t] perfectly diſtinguiſhable from c. See Wanley's Catal. Hickes's Theſaur. ii. p. 228. And Nicholſon Hiſt. Libr. i. 3. And compare Leland's Coll. vol. i. P. ii. p. 509. edit. 1770.
p
Rec. p. 82. edit. 1581.
q
Monſ. Lancelot, Mem. Lit. viii. 602. 4to. And ſee Hiſt. Acad. Inſcript. xiii. 41. 4to.
r
Hiſt. Henr. II. vol. iii. p. 180.
s
Hearne's edit. Pref. p. 98.
t
The Latin tongue ceaſed to be ſpoken in France about the ninth century; and was ſucceeded by what was called the ROMANCE tongue, a mixture of Frankiſh and bad Latin. Hence the firſt poems in that language are called ROMANS or ROMANTS. Eſſay on POPE, p. 281. In the following paſſages of this Chronicle, where Robert de Brunne mentions ROMANCE, he ſometimes means Langto [...]t's French book, from which he tranſlated. viz. Chron. p. 205.
This that I have ſaid it is Pers ſawe
Als he in Romance laid thereafter gan I drawe.
See Chauc. Rom. R. v. 2170. Alſo Balades, p. 554. v. 508. Urr. And Creſcembin. Iſtor. della Volg. Poeſ. vol. i. L. v. p. 316. ſeq.
u
Hearne's edit. Pref. p. 106.
w
Some are printed by Hollinſh. Hiſt. iii. 469. Others by Hearne, Chron. Langt. Pref. p. 58. And in the margin of the pages of the Chronicle.
x
‘"I muſt by all means know of you."’
y
Begott.
z
Awhile.
a
E'er ſhe.
b
White, while.
c
Child.
d
Begott.
e
Lay.
f
Aſſured.
g
‘"I was then young and beautiful."’
h
Embraced.
i
As.
k
Wielded, moved.
l
Apud Hearne's Gl. Rob. Glouc. p.
m
Not Bowmen, but apertures in the wall for ſhooting arrows. Viz. In the repairs of Taunton caſtle, 1266. Comp. J. Gerneys, Epiſc. Wint. ‘"TANTONIA. Expenſe domorum. In mercede Cementarii pro muro erigendo juxta turrim ex parte orientali cum Kernellis et Archeriis faciendis, xvi. s. vi. d."’ In Archiv. Wolveſ. apud Wint. Kernells mentioned here, and in the next verſe, were much the ſame thing: or perhaps Battlements. In repairs of the great hall at Wolveſey-palace I find, ‘"In kyrnillis emptis ad idem, xii. d."’ Ibid. There is a patent granted to the monks of Abingdon, in Berkſhire, in the reign of Edward the third, ‘Pro kernellatione monaſterii.’ Pat. an. 4. par. 1.
n

Cotgrave has abſurdly interpreted this word, an old-faſhioned ſ [...]ing. V. MANGONEAU. It is a catapult, or battering-ram. Viz. Rot. Pip. An. 4. Hen. iii. [A. D. 1219.] ‘"NORDHANT. Et in expenſis regis in obſidione caſtri de Rockingham, 100l. per Br. Reg. Etcuſtodibus ingeniorum [engines] regis ad ea carianda uſque Biſham, ad caſtrum illud obſidendum, 13s. 10d. per id. Br. Reg. Et pro duobus coriis, emptis apud Northampton ad fundas petrariarum et mangonellorum regis faciciendas, 5s. 6d. per. id. Br. Reg."’—Rot. Pip. 9. Hen. iii. [A. D. 1225.] ‘"SURR. Comp. de Cnareburc. Et pro vii. cablis emptis ad petrarias et mangonellos in eodem caſtro, 7s. 11d."’ Rot. Pip. 5. Hen. iii. [A. D. 1220.] ‘"DEVONS. Et in cuſto poſito in 1. petraria et 11. mangonellis cariatis a Nottingham uſque Biſham, et in eiſdem reductis a Biſham uſque Nottingham, 7l. 4s."’ Chaucer mentions both Mangon [...]ls and Kyrnils, in a caſtle in the Romaunt of th [...] Roſe, v. 4195. 6279. Alſo archers, i. e. archeriae, v. 4191. So in the French R [...] man de la Roſe, v. 3945.

Vous puiſſiez bien les Mango [...]aul [...],
Veoir la par-deſſus les Creneaulx.
Et aux archieres de la Tour
Sont arbaleſtres tout entour.

Archieres occur often in this poem. Chaucer, in tranſlating the above paſſage, has introduced guns, which were not known when the original was written, v. 4191.

I am of opinion, that ſome of the great military battering engines, ſo frequently mentioned in the hiſtories and other writers of the dark ages, were fetched from the cruſades. See a ſpecies of the catapult, uſed by the Syrian army in the ſiege of Mecca, about the year 680. Mod. Univ. Hiſt. B. i. c. 2. tom. ii. p. 117. Theſe expeditions into the eaſt undoubtedly much improved the European art of war. Taſſo's warlike machines, which ſeem to be the poet's invention, are formed on deſcriptions of ſuch wonderful machines which he had read in the cruſade hiſtorians, particularly Wilhelmus Tyrenſis.

o
Gloſſ. Rob. Glouc. p. 664.
p
Sending about the cups apace. Carouſing briſkly.
q
Attire.
r
Very rich.
s
Lord.
t
Was not ſkilled.
u
The.
w
Learned.
x
Was called.
y
Saxons.
z
For Latiner, or Latinier, an Interpreter. Thus, in the Romance of KING RICHARD, hereafter cited at large, Saladin's Latimer at the ſiege of Babylon proclaims a truce to the chriſtian army from the walls of the city. Signat. M. i.
The LATEMERE tho tourned his eye
To that other ſyde of the toune,
And cryed trues with gret ſoune.
In which ſenſe the French word occurs in the Roman de GARIN. MSS. Bibl. Reg. Pariſ. Num. 7542.
LATIMER fu ſi ſot parler Roman,
Englois, Gallois, et Breton, et Norman.
And again,
Un LATINI [...]R vieil ferant et henu
Molt ſot de plet, et molt entreſnie ſu.
And in the manuſcript Roman de ROU, which will again be mentioned.
L' archeveſque Franches a Jumeges ala,
A Rou, et a ſa gent par LATINIER parla.
We find it in Froiſſart, tom. iv. c. 87. And in other antient French writers. In the old Norman poem on the ſubject of king Dermod's expulſion from his kingdom of Ireland, in the Lambeth library, it ſeems more properly to ſignify, in a limited ſenſe, the king's domeſtic SECRETARY.
Par ſon demein [...] LATINIER
Que moi conta de luy l' hiſtoire, &c.
See lord Lyttelton's Hiſt. Hen ii. vol. iv. App. p. 270. We might here render it literally his Latiniſt, an officer retained by the king to draw up the public inſtruments in Latin. As in DOMESDAI-BOOK. ‘"Godwinus accipitrarius, Hugo LATINARIUS, Milo portarius."’ MS. Excerpt. penes me. But in both the laſt inſtances the word may bear its more general and extenſive ſignification. Camden explains LATIMER by interpreter. Rem. p. 158. See alſo p. 151. edit. 1674.
a
Eſteems.
b
Kiſſing.
c
Sport, joke.
d
To ſignify.
e
Since, afterwards.
f
Went.
g
Taken.
h
Many times.
i
Young.
k
Handſome, gracefully ſhaped, &c.
l
Countenance.
m
Attire.
n
Marvellouſly.
o
Pleaſed.
p
Pagan, heathen.
q
Would not fly off a bit.
r
In pagans law. According to the heatheniſh cuſtom.
s
Benediction, bleſſing.
t
Knew not.
u
Till.
w
By.
x
Hearne's Gl. Rob. Glo. p. 695.
x
Lying.
y
Cauſey.
z
S [...]ain [...], young men, ſoldiers.
a
Mangonels. vid. ſupr.
b
Caſt.
c
In Langtoft's French,
"Dis ſeriauntz des plus feres e de melz vanez,
Devaunt le cors le Reis ſa targe ount portez."
d
Ward, defend.
e
Guard, defence.
f
‘"He could not ceaſe."’
g
‘"He formed the Saracens into two parties."’
h
Annoy.
i
Chron. p. 182. 183.
k
Tale-tellers, Narratores, Lat. Con [...]eours, Fr. Seggers in the next line perhaps means the ſame thing, i. e. Sayers. The writers either of metrical or of proſe romances. See Antholog. Fran. p. 17. 1765. 8vo. Or Diſours may ſignify Diſcourſe, i. [...]. adventures in proſe. We have the ‘"Devil's diſours,"’ in P. Plowman, fol. xxxi. b. edit. 1550. Diſour preciſely ſignifies a tale-teller at a feaſt in Gower, Conf. Amant. Lib. vii. fol. 155. a. edit. Berthel. 1554. He is ſpeaking of the coronation feſtival of a Roman Emperor.
When he was gladeſt at his mete,
And every minſtrell had plaide
And every DISSOUR had ſaide
Which moſt was pleaſaunt to his ere.
Du Cange ſays, that Diſeurs were judges of the turney. Diſſ. Joinv. p. 179.
l
Know.
m
It ere, There are.
n
Knew.
o
Eaſed.
p
‘"Among the romances that are ſung, &c."’
q
‘"None recite them as they were firſt written."’
r
‘"As They tell them."’
s
‘"This you may ſee, &c."’
t
Hearne ſays that Geſts were oppoſed to Romance. Chron. Langt. Pref. p. 37. But this is a miſtake. Thus we have the Geſte of kyng Horne, a very old metrical Romance. MSS. Harl. 2253. p. 70. Alſo in the Prologue of Rychard Cuer de Lyon.
King Richard is the b [...]ſt
That is found in any jeſte.
And the paſſage in the text is a proof againſt his aſſertion. Chaucer, in the following paſſage, by JESTOURS, does not mean Jeſters in modern ſignification, but writers of adventures. Houſe of Fame, v. 108.
And JESTOURS that tellen tales
Both of wepyng and of game.
In the Houſe of Fame he alſo places thoſe who wrote ‘"olde Geſtes." v. 425. It is however obvious to obſerve from whence the preſent term Jeſt aroſe. See Fauchet, Rec. p. 73. In P. Plowman, we have Job's Jeſtes. fol. xlv. b. ‘Job the gentyl in his jeſtes, greatly wytneſſeth.’That is, ‘"Job in the account of his Life."’ In the ſame page we have, ‘And japers and judgelers, and jangelers of jeſtes. That is, Minſtrels, Reciters of tales. Other illuſtrations of this word will occur in the courſe of the work. Ch [...]nſons de geſtes were common in France in the thirteenth century among the troubadours. See Mem. concernant les principaux monumens de l' hiſtoire de France, Mem. Lit. xv. p. 582. By the very learned and ingenious M. de la Curne de Sainte Palaye. I add the two firſt lines of a manuſcript entitled, Art de K [...]l [...]nd [...]r par Rauf, who lived 1256. Bibl. Bodl. J. b. 2. Th. [Langb. MSS. 5. 439.]
De geſte ne voil pas chanter,
Ne veilles eſtoires el canter.
There is even Geſta Paſſ [...]onis et Reſurrectionis Chriſti, in many manuſcript libraries.
u
Eſteem.
w
Many a one.
x
Scorn.
y
Strange.
z
A little while.
a
‘"Sir Robert of Malton."’ It appears from hence that he was born at Malton in Lincolnſhire.
b
Pref. Rob. Glouc. p. 57. 58.
c
An antient French hiſtory or Chronicle of England never printed, which Leland ſays was tranſlated out of French rhyme into French proſe. Coll. vol. i. P. ii. pag. 59. edit. 1770. It was probably written or reduced by Thomas Gray into proſe. Londinenſ. Antiquitat. Cant. lib. i. p. 38. Others affirm it to have been the work of John Gray, an eminent churchman, about the year 1212. It begins, in the uſual form, with the creation of the world, paſſes on to Brutus, and cloſes with Edward the third.
d
One Gilbert Baneſtre was a poet and muſician. The Propheſies of Baniſter o [...] England are not uncommon among manuſcripts. In the Scotch Propheſies, printed at Edinburgh, 1680, Banaſter is mentioned as the author of ſome of them. ‘"As Berlington's books and Baneſter tell us."’ p. 2. Again, ‘"Beid hath briev [...]d in his book and Baneſter alſo."’ p. 18. H [...] ſeems to be confounded with William Baniſter, a writer of the reign of Edward the third. Berlington is probably John Bridlington, an auguſtine canon of Bridlington, who wrote three books of Carmina Vaticinalia, in which he pretends to foretell many accidents that ſhould happen to England. MSS. Digb. Bibl. Bodl. 89. And 186. There are alſo Verſus Vaticinales under his name, MSS. Bodl. NE. E. ii. 17. f. 21. He died, aged ſixty, in 1379. He was canoniſed. There are many other Prophetiae, which ſeem to have been faſhionable at this time, bound up with Bridlington in MSS. Digb. 186.
e
Ub ſupr. p. 510.
f
MSS. Bodl. 692. fol.
g
MSS. Harl. 2253. f. 127. It begins thus,
When man as mad a kingge of a capped man
When mon is lever other monnes thynge then ys owen.
h
Ancient Scots poems, Edinb. 1770. 12mo. p. 194. See the ingenious editor's notes, p. 312.
i
Se [...] Scotch Propheſies, ut ſupr. p. 19. 11. 13. 18. 36. viz. The Propheſy of Thomas Rymer. Pr. ‘"Stille on my wayes as I went."’
k
Lib. x. cap. 43. 44. I think he is alſo mentioned by Spotſwood. See Dempſt. xi. 810.
l
He died 1272. Many of Bonaventure's tracts were at this time tranſlated into Engliſh. In the [...]arleian manuſcripts we have, ‘"The Treatis that is kallid Prickynge of Love, made bi a Frere menour Bonaventure, that was Cardinall of the courte of Rome."’ 2254. 1. f. 1. This book belonged to Dame Alys Braintwat ‘"the worchypfull prioras of Dartforde."’ This is not an uncommon manuſcript.
m
MSS. Harl. 1701. f. 84. The firſt line is, ‘Almighti god in trinite.’ It was never printed.
n
See DISS. ii.—The author and tranſlator are often thus confounded in manuſcripts. To an old Engliſh religious poem on the holy Virgin, we find the following title. Incipit quid [...]m cantus quem compo [...]uit frater Thom [...]s de Hales de ordine fratrum minorum, &c. MSS. Coll. Jeſ. Oxon. 85. ſupr. citat. But this is the title of our friar's original, a Latin hymn de B. MARIA VIRGINE, improperly adopted in the tranſlation. Thomas de Hales was a Franciſcan friar, a doctor of the Sorbonne, and [...]ouriſhed about the year 1340. We ſhall ſee other proofs of this.
o
Script. Brit. p. 285.
p
MSS. Bodl. NE. D. 69.
q
F. 16. Laud. fol. membran. The word Nicole is perfectly French, for Lincoln. See likewiſe MSS. Bodl. E. 4. 14.
r
In the hand-writing of the poem itſelf, which is very antient.
s
f. 1. So alſo in M [...]S. C. C. C. Oxon. 232. In MSS. Harl. 1121. 5. ‘"De Roberd Groſſeteſte le eveſque de Nichole un tretis en Franceis, del commencement du monde, &c."’ f. 156. Cod. membran.
t
Bibl. Bodl. MS. Vernon, f. 292. This tranſlation was never printed: and is, I believe, a rare manuſcript.
u
Well, good.
w
F. hext. higheſt.
x
Trinity.
y
Unity.
z
Underſtand.
a
Greek. In John Treviſas's dialogue concerning the tranſlation of the Polychronicon, MSS. Harl. 1900. b. f. 42. ‘"Ariſtotile's bokes, &c. were tranſlated out of grue into Latin. Alſo with praying of kyng Charles [the Bald], Johan Scott tranſlated Denys bookes out of gru into Latyn."’
b
‘"To bleſs God our beloved lord."’
c
Earneſtly.
d
Language.
e
Place.
f
‘"Choſe his habitation."’
g
Great.
h
‘La tur eſt ſi bien en clos.’ Fr. Orig.
i
Vile.
k
‘Tres bailes en tour.’ Fr. Orig.
l
Moreover there are three, &c.
m
Beauty.
n
Kernels.—Kerneaus bien poli. Fr. Orig.
o
‘Pur bon engin [...]ait.’ Fr. Orig.
p
Counſel.
q
La chaſtel eſt a bel bon
De hors de peint a en virun
De treis culurs diverſement.
Fr. Orig.
r
‘Si eſt ynde ſi eſt blu.’ Fr. Orig.
s
Burned, on fire.
t
Plus eſt vermail ke neſt roſe
E piert un ardant choſe.
Fr. Orig.
u
As.
w
In mi la tur plus hautein [...]
Eſt ſurdant une funtayne
Dunt iſſent quater ruiſſell.
Ki bruinet par le gravel, &c.
F [...]. Orig.
x
Running.
y
En cele bel tur a bone
A de yvoire un trone
Ke pluſa ei [...]i blanchor
Ci en mi eſte la beau jur
Par engin e [...]t compaſſez, &c.
Fr. Orig.
z
Les treis bailles du chaſtel
Ki ſunt overt au kernel
Qui a compas ſunt en virun
E defendent le dungun.
Fr. Orig.
a
Les barbicanes [...]eet
Kis hors de bailles ſunt fait,
Ki bien gardent le chaſtel,
E de ſeete e de quarrel.
Fr. Orig.
b
Afterwards the fountain is explained to be God's grace: Charity is conſtable of the caſt [...]e, &c. &c.
c
Pitſ. p. 890. Append. Who with great probability ſuppoſes him to have been an Engliſhman.
d

MSS. Bibl. C. C. C. Cant. G. 16. where it is alſo called the Nightingale. Pr. ‘"Alme feſſe lit de pereſſe."’ Our author, John Hoveden, was alſo ſkilled in ſacred muſic, and a great writer of Latin hymns. He died, and was buried, at Hoveden, 1275. Pitſ. p. 356. Bale, v. 79.

There is an old French metrical life of Tobiah, which the author, moſt probably an Engliſhman, ſays he undertook at the requeſt of William, Prior of Kenilworth in Warwickſhire. MSS. Jeſ. Coll. Oxon. 85. ſupr. citat.

Le prior Gwilleyme me prie
De l' eglyſe ſeynte Marie
De Kenelworth an Ardenne,
Ki porte le plus haute peyne
De charite, ke nul eglyſe
Del reaume a devyſe
Ke jeo liz en romaunz le vie
De k [...]lui ki ont nun Tobie, &c.
e
Hiſt. Hen. ii. vol. iv. p. 270. Notes. It was tranſlated into proſe by Sir George Carew in Q. Eliſabeth's time: this tranſlation was printed by Harris in his HIBERNIA. It was probably written about 1190. See Ware, p. 56. And compare Walpole's Anecd. Paint. 1. 28. Notes. The Lambeth manuſcript ſeems to be but a fragment. viz. MSS. Bibl. Lamb. Hib. A. See ſupr. p. 70.
f

I have before hinted that it was ſometimes cuſtomary to intermix Latin with French. As thus. MSS. Harl. 2253. f. 137. b.

Di [...]u roy de Mageſte,
Ob perſonas trinas,
Noſtre roy e ſa meyne
Ne perire ſinas, &c.

Again, ibid [...] f. 76. Where a lover, an Engliſhman, addreſſes his miſtreſs who was of Paris.

Dum ludis floribus velut lacinia,
Le dieu d' amour moi tient en tiel Anguſtia, &c.

Sometimes their poetry was half French and half Engliſh. As in a ſong to the holy virgin on our Saviour's paſſion. Ibid. f. 83.

Mayden moder milde, oyez cel oreyſoun,
From ſhome thou me ſhilde, e de ly mal feloun:
For love of thine childe me menez de treſoun,
Ich wes wod and wilde, ore ſu en priſoun, &c.

In the ſame manuſcript I find a French poem probably written by an Engliſhman, and in the year 1300, containing the adventures of Gilote and Johanne, two ladies of gallantry, in various parts of England and Ireland; particularly at Wincheſter and Pontefract. f. 66. b. The curious reader is alſo referred to a French poem, in which the poet ſuppoſes that a minſtrel, jugleour, travelling from London, cloathed in a rich tabard, met the king and his retinue. The king aſks him many queſtions; particularly his lord's name, and the price of his horſe. The minſtrel evades all the king's queſtions by impertinent anſwers; and at laſt preſumes to give his majeſty advice. Ibid. f. 107. b.

g
Carew's Surv. Cornw. p. 59. edit. ut ſupr. I ſuppoſe Carew means the metrical Romance of GUY. But Bale ſays that Walter wrote Vitam Guidonis, which ſeems to imply a proſe hiſtory. x. 78. Giraldus Cambrenſis alſo wrote Guy's hiſtory. Hearne has printed an Hiſtoria Guidonis de Warwik, Append. ad Annal. Dunſtaple, num. xi. It was extracted from Girald. Cambrenſ. hiſt. Reg. Weſt-Sax. capit. xi. by Girardus Cornubienſis. Lydgate's life of Guy, never printed, is tranſlated from this Girardus; as Lydgate himſelf informs us at the end. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Laud. D. 31. f. 64. Tit. Her [...] gyuneth the liff of Guy of Warwyk.
Out of the Latyn made by the Chronycler
Called of old GIRARD CORNUBYENCE:
Which wrote the dedis, with grete diligence,
Of them that were in We [...]tſex crowned kynges, &c.
See Wharton, Angl. Sacr. i. p. 89. Some have thought, that Girardus Cornubienſis and Giraldus Cambrenſis were the ſame perſons. This paſſage of Lydgate may perhaps ſhew the contrary. We have alſo in the ſame Bodleian manuſcript, a poem on Guy and Colbrand, viz. MSS. Laud. D. 31. f. 87. More will be ſaid on this ſubject.
h
See Regiſtrum Librorum omnium et Jocalium in monaſteri [...] S. Maria [...] de Pratis prope Leyceſtriam. fol. 132. b. In MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Laud. I. 75. This catalogue was written by Will. Charite one of the monks, A. D. 1517. fol. 139.
i
Hearne's Joann. Glaſton. Catal. Bibl. Glaſton. p. 435. One of the books on Troy is called bonus et magnus. There is alſo ‘"Liber de Captione Antiochiae, Gallice. legibilis."’ ibid.
k
The ſame Romance is in MSS. Harl. Brit. Muſ. 2386. §. 42. See Du Cang. Gloſſ. Lat. i. Ind. Auctor. p. 193. There is an old manuſcript French MORALITY on this ſubject, Comment Amille tue ſes deux enfans pour guerir Amis ſon compagnon, &c. Beauchamps, Rech. Theatr. Fr. p. 109. There is a Fr [...]nch metrical romance Hiſtoire d'Amys et Amilion, Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 12. C. xii. 9.
l
There is a Romance called OTUEL, MSS. Bibl. Adv. Edingb. W. 4. 1. xxviii. I think he is mentioned in Charlemagne's ſtory. He is converted to chriſtianity, and marries Charlemagne's daughter.
m
Gunton's Peterb. p. 108. ſeq.—I will give ſome of the titles as they ſtand in the catalogue. Dares Phrygius de Excidio Trojae, bis. p. 180. Prophetiae Merlini verſifice. p. 182. Geſta Caroli ſecundùm Turpinum. p. 187. Geſta Aeneae poſt deſtructionem Trojae. p. 198. Bellum contra Runcivallum, p. 202. There are alſo the two following articles, viz. ‘"Certamen inter regem Johannem et Barones, verſi [...]ice. Per H. de Davenech."’ p. 188. This I have never ſeen, nor know any thing of the author. ‘"Verſus de ludo ſcaccorum."’ p. 195.
n
Ex archivis Coll. Wint.
o
Dugd. Mon. iii. Eccleſ. Collegiat. p. 80.
p
Fol. xxvi. b. edit. 1550.
q
Dec. Script. p. 2011.
r
Regiſtr. Priorat. S. Swithini Winton. MSS. pergamen. in Archiv. de Wolveſey Wint. Theſe were local ſtories. Guy fought and conquered Colbrond a Daniſh champion, juſt without the northern walls of the city of Wincheſter, in a meadow to this day called Danemarch: and Colbrond's battle-ax was kept in the treaſury of S. Swithin's priory till the diſſolution. Th. Rudb. apud Wharton, Angl. Sacr. i. 211. This hiſtory remained in rude painting [...]gainſt th [...] walls of the north tranſept of the cathedral till within my memory. Queen Emma was a patroneſs of this church, in which ſhe underwent the tryal of walking blindfold over nine red hot ploughſhares. Colbrond is mentioned in the old romanc [...] of the Squyr of Lowe Degree. Sign [...]t. a. iii.
Or els ſo doughty of my honde
As was the gyaunte ſyr Colbronde.
See what is ſaid above of Guy earl of Warwick, who will again be mentioned.
s
Ex. Orig. in Rotul. pergamen. Tit. ‘"Compotus dni Ricardi Parentyn Prioris, et fratris Ric. Albon canonici, burſarii ibid [...]m, de omnibus bonis per [...]oſdem receptis et liberatis a craſtino Michaelis anno Henrici Sexti poſt conqueſtum octavo uſque in idem craſtinum anno R. Henrici praedicti nono."’ In Theſauriar. Coll. SS. Trin. Oxon. Biſhop Kennet has printed a Computus of the ſame monaſtery under the ſame reign, in which three or four entries of the ſame ſort occur. Paroch. Antiq. p. 578.
t
Ex orig. penes me.
u

In the antient annual rolls of accompt of Wincheſter college, there are many articles of this ſort. The few following, extracted from a great number, may ſerve as a ſpecimen. They are chiefly in the reign of Edward iv. viz. In the year 1481. ‘"Et in ſol. miniſtrallis dom. Regis venientibus ad collegium xv. die Aprilis, cum 12 d. ſolut. miniſtrallis dom. Epiſcopi Wynton venientibus ad collegium primo die junii, iiii s. iiii d.—Et in dat. miniſtrallis dom. Arundell ven. ad Coll. cum viii d. dat. miniſtrallis dom. de Lawarr, ii s. iiii d."’In the year 1483. ‘"Sol. miniſtrallis dom. Regis ven. ad Coll. iii s. iiii d."’ In the year 1472. ‘"Et in dat. miniſtrallis dom. Regis cum viii d. dat. duobus Berewardis ducis Clarentie, xx d.—Et in dat. Johanni Stulto quondam dom. de Warewyco, cum iiii d. dat. Thome Nevyle taborario.—Et in datis duobus miniſtrallis ducis Gloceſtrie, cum iiii d. dat. uni miniſtrallo ducis de Northumberlond, viii d.—Et in datis duobus citharatoribus ad vices venient. ad collegium viii d."’In the year 1479. ‘"Et in datis ſatrapis Wynton venientibus ad coll. feſto Epiphanie, cum xii d. dat. miniſtrallis dom. epiſcopi venient. ad coll. infra octavas epiphanie, iii s."’In the year 1477. ‘"Et in dat. miniſtrallis dom. Principis venient. ad coll. feſto Aſcenſionis Domini, cum xx d. dat. miniſtrallis dom. Regis, v s."’In the year 1464. ‘"Et in dat. miniſtrallis comitis Kancie venient. ad Coll. in menſe julii, iiii s. iiii d."’In the year 1467. ‘"Et in datis quatuor mimis dom. de Arundell venient. ad Coll. xiii. die ffebr. ex curialitate dom. Cuſtodis, ii s."’In the year 1466. ‘"Et in dat. ſatrapis, [ut ſupr.] cum ii s. dat. iiii. interludentibus et J. Meke cithariſtae codem ffeſto, iiii s."’In the year 1484. ‘"Et in dat. uni miniſtrallo dom. principis, et in aliis miniſtrallis ducis Gloceſtrie v. die julii, xx d."’—The minſtrels of the biſhop, of lord Arundel, and the duke of Glouceſter, occur very frequently. In domo muniment. coll. praedict. in ciſta ex orientali latere.

In rolls of the reign of Henry the ſixth, the counteſs of Weſtmoreland, ſiſter of cardinal Beaufort, is mentioned as being entertained in the college; and in her retinue were the minſtrels of her houſhold, who received gratuities. Ex Rot. Comp. orig.

In theſe rolls there is an entry, which ſeems to prove that the Luſores were a ſort of actors in dumb ſhow or maſquerade. Rot. ann. 1467. ‘"Dat luſoribus de civitate Winton venientibus ad collegium in apparatu ſuo menſ. julii, v s. viii d."’ This is a large reward. I will add from the ſame rolls, ann. 1479. ‘"In dat. Joh. Pontiſbery and ſocio ludentibus in aula in die circumciſionis, iis."’

w
Ibid. It appears that the Coventry-men were in high repute for their performances of this ſort. In the entertainment preſented to queen Eliſabeth at Killingworth caſtle, in the year 1575, The Coventrymen exhibited ‘"their old ſtoriall ſheaw."’ Laneham's Narrative, &c. p. 32. Minſtrels were hired from Coventry to perform at Holy Croſſe feaſt at Abingdon, Berks, 1422. Hearne's Lib. Nig Scacc. ii. p. 598. See an account of their play on Corpus Chriſti day, in Stevens's Monaſticon, i. p. 138. And Hearne's Fordun, p. 1450. ſub. an. 1492.
x
Madox, Hiſt. Exchequer, p. 251. Where he is ſtyled, ‘"Galfridus citharoedus."’
y
Powel's CAMBRIA. To the Reader. pag. 1. edit. 1581.
z
Evans's Diſſ. de Bardis. Specimens of Welſh poetry. p. 92. Wood relates a ſtory of two itinerant prieſts coming, towards night, to a cell of Benedictines near Oxford, where, on a ſuppoſition of their being mimes or minſtrels, they gained admittance. But the cellarer, ſacriſt, and others of the brethren, hoping to have been entertained with their geſticulatoriis ludicriſque artibus, and finding them to be nothing more than two indigent eccleſiaſtics who could only adminiſter ſpiritual conſolation, and being conſequently diſappointed of their mirth, beat them and turned them out of the monaſtery. Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. i. 67. Under the year 1224.
a
Rubric. xviii. The ſame thing is enjoined in the ſtatutes of Wincheſter college, Rubr. xv. I do not remember any ſuch paſſage in the ſtatutes of preceding colleges in either univerſity. But this injunction is afterwards adopted in the ſtatutes of Magdalene college; and from thence, if I recollect right, was copied into thoſe of Corpus Chriſti, Oxford.
b
Hearne thus underſtood the paſſage. ‘"The wiſe founder of New college permitted them [metrical chronicles] to be ſung by the fellows and ſcholars upon extraordinary days."’ Heming. Cartul. ii. APPEND. Numb. ix. § vi. p. 662.
c
Given to him by Mr. Murray. See Heming. Chartul. ii. p. 654. And Rob. Glouc. ii. p. 731. Nunc MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Oxon. RAWLINS. Cod. 4to. [E. Pr. 87.]
d
Ubi ſupr.
e
Yet. Moreover.
f
Without doubt. Fr.
g

Sharp, ſtrong. So in the Lives of the Saints, MSS. ſupr. citat. In the Life of S. [...]dmund.

For Saint Edmund had a ſmerte ȝerde, &c.

i. e. ‘"He had a ſtrong rod in his hand, &c."’

h
Part. Piece.
i
Three.
k
To which monaſtery he gave the fragment of the holy croſs given him by the king of France. Rob. Glouc. p. 276.
King Athelſton lovede much Malmeſbury y wis,
He gef of the holy croſs ſom, that there gut ys.
It is extraordinary that Peter Langto [...]t ſhould not know where Athelſtan was buried: and as ſtrange that his tranſlator Rob. de Brunne ſhould ſupply this defect by mentioning a report that his body was lately found at Hexham in Northumberland. Chron. p. 32.
l
Rob. of Glouceſter ſays that this happened at Pucklechurch near Briſtol. p. 277. But Rob. de Brunne at Canterbury, whither the king went to hold the feaſt of S. Auſtin. p. 33.
m
A wicked miſchance.
n
Head.
o
Perceived.
p
Areſt. Firſt.
q
At Glouceſter, ſays Rob. de Brunne, p. 33. But Rob. of Glouceſter ſays his body was brought from Pucklechurch, and interred at Glaſtonbury: and that hence the town of Pucklechurch became part of the poſſeſſions of Glanſtonbury abbey. p. 278.
r
This ſong is in Rob. Gl. Chron. p. 281.
s
Proviſion.
t
Ready.
u
Banner.
w
Tacked. Faſtened.
x
Remained.
y
‘"Thee through."’
z
Chron. p. 29. 30. Afterwards follows the combat of Guy with ‘"a hogge [huge] geant, high Colibrant."’ As in our fragment. p. 31. See Will. Malmſ. Geſt. Angl. ii. 6. The lance of Charlemagne is to this day ſhewn among the reli [...]s of St. Dennis's in France. Carpentier, Suppl. Gloſſ. Lat. Du-cang. tom. ii. p. 994. edit. 1766.
a
Believe.
b
Suffered.
c
Confuſion.
d
Driven, drawn.
e
Know ye.
f
Doubt.
g
Bright.
h
Fair.
i
Called.
k
Gentle.
l
From, becauſe of.
m
Requeſted, deſired.
n
Men might.
o
Granted her requeſt.
p
Bid.
q
Then.
r
Every.
s
Lye.
t
Companion.
u
Stratagem.
w
After.
x
Very.
y
Divide [...].
z
Were.
a
Renown.
b
Empire.
c
The firſt European traveller who went far Eaſtward, is Benjamin a Jew of Tudela in Navarre. He penetrated from Conſtantinople through Alexandria in Aegypt and Perſia to the frontiers of Tzin, now China. His travels end in 1173. He mentions the immenſe wealth of Conſtantinople; and ſays that its port ſwarmed with ſhips from all countries. He exaggerates in ſpeaking of the prodigious number of Jews in that city. He is full of marvellous and romantic ſtories. William de Rubruquis, a monk, was ſent into Per [...]ic Tartary, and by the command of S. Louis king of France, about the year 1245. As was alſo Carpini, by Pope Innocent the fourth. Their books abound with improbabilities. Marco Polo a Venetian nobleman travelled eaſtward into Syria and Perſia to the country conſtantly called in the dark ages Cathay, which proves to be the northern part of China. This was about the year 1260. His book is entitled De R [...]gionibus Ori [...]ntis. He mentions the immenſe and opulent city of Cambalu, undoubtedly Pekin. Hakluyt cites a friar; named Oderick, who travelled to Cambalu in Cathay, and whoſe deſcription of that city correſponds exactly with Pekin. Friar Bacon about 1280, from theſe travels formed his geography of this part of the globe, as may be collected from what he relates of the Tartars. See Purchas Pilgr. iii. 52. And Bac. Op. Maj. 228. 235.
d
MSS. Bodl. F. 10. fol. praegrand. ad calc. Cod. The hand-writing is about the reign of Edward the third. I am not ſure whether it is not Mandeville's book.
e
Brit. Muſ. MSS. Bibl. Reg. 19 D. i. 3.
f
It was firſt printed à Jacobo Catalanenſi without date or place. Afterwards at Venice 1499. The Epiſtle is inſcribed: Alexander Magnus Ariſto [...]eli praeceptori ſ [...]o ſalutem dicit. It was never extant in Gree [...].
g
Ibid. MSS. Reg. 20 A. xii. 3. And in Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Bodl. E. 4. 3. ‘"Literae Joannis Preſbiteri ad Fredericum Imperatorem, &c."’
h
MSS. Reg. 14 C. xiii. 3.
i
MSS. C. C. C. Cant. A. iv. 69. We find De Mirabilibus Mundi Liber, MSS. Reg. ut ſupr. 13. E. ix. 5. And again, De Mirabilibus Mundi et Viris illuſtribus Tractatus 14. C. vi. 3.
k
His book is ſuppoſed to have been interpolated by the monks. Leland obſerves, that Aſia and Africa were parts of the world at this time, ‘"Anglis de ſola fere nominis umbra cognitas."’ Script. Br. p. 366. He wrote his Itinerary in French, Engliſh, and Latin. It extends to Cathay, or China, before mentioned. Leland ſays, that he gave to Beckett's ſhrine in Canterbury cathedral a glaſs globe encloſing an apple, which he probably brought from the eaſt. Leland ſaw this curioſity, in which the apple remained freſh and undecayed. Ubi ſupr. Maundeville, on returning from his travels, gave to the high altar of S. Alban's abbey church a ſort of Patera brought from Aegypt, now in the hands of an ingenious antiquary in London. He was a native of the town of S. Alban's, and a phyſician. He ſays that he left many MERVAYLES unwritten; and refers the curious reader to his MAPPA MUNDI, chap. cviii. cix. A hiſtory of the Tartars became popular in Europe about the year 1310, written or dictated by Aiton a king of Armenia, who having traverſed the moſt remarkable countries of the eaſt, turned monk at Cyprus, and publiſhed his travels; which, on account of the rank of the author, and his amazing adventures, gained great [...]ſte [...]m.
l
Galb. A. xxi. 3.
m
It is printed among the Scriptores Hiſt. Angl. Francof. 1602. fol. 692. Written about the year 1200. It was ſo favourite a title that we have even De MIRABILIBUS Veteris et Novi Teſtamenti. MSS. Coll. Aen. Naſ. Oxon. Cod. 12. f. 190. a.
n
Bibl. Bodl. MSS. C. 6.
o
As in MSS. Reg. 13 D. i. 11. I muſt not forget that the Polyhiſtor of Julius Solinus appears in many manuſcripts under the title of Solinus de Mirabilibus Mundi. This was ſo favourite a book, as to be tranſlated into hexameters by ſome monk in the twelfth century, according to Voſſ. Hiſt. Latin. iii. p. 721.
p
‘"Be of true heart."’
q
A little while.
r
Methinks.
s
The king.
t
Ought for to.
u
Through. Sax. gent. Yent.
w
Hands.
x
You.
y
Oath.
z
De [...]e. DEYE, die.
a
‘"Next, to be choſen."’
b
One of his Officers.
c
Sin.
d
Let, hinder.
e
geme, protect.
f
Govern.
g
Every.
h
He died in Scotland, Jul. 7, 1307. The chroniclers pretend, that the Pope knew of his death the next day by a viſion or ſome miraculous information. So Robert of Brunne, who recommends this tragical ev [...]nt to thoſe who ‘"Singe and ſay in romance and ryme."’ Chron. p. 340. edit. ut ſupr.
The Pope the tother day wiſt it in the court of Rome.
The Pope on the morn bifor the clergi cam
And tolde tham biforn, the floure of criſtendam
Was ded and lay on bere, Edward of Ingeland.
He ſaid with hevy chere, in ſpirit he it fond.
He adds, that the Pope granted five years of pardon to thoſe who would pray for his ſoul.
i
In his.
k
Took.
l
Le [...]s.
n
Men.
m
There.
o
Began.
p
Call.
q
Edward the ſecond born in Carnarvon caſtle.
r
Completely.
s
Thar, there.
t
MSS. Harl. 2253. f. 73. In a Miſcellany called the Muſes Library, compiled, as I have been informed, by an ingenious lady of the name of Cooper, there is an elegy on the death of Henry the firſt, ‘"wrote immediately after his death, the author unknown."’ p. 4. Lond. Pr. for T. Davies, 1738. octavo. But this piece, which has great merit, could not have been written till ſome centuries afterwards. From the claſſical alluſions and general colour of the phraſeology, to ſay nothing more, it with greater probability belongs to Henry the eighth. It eſcaped me till juſt before this work went to preſs, that Dr. Percy had printed this elegy, Ball. ii. 9.
u
The poet ſays eighty.
a
I cannot help tranſcribing here a curious paſſage from old Fauchett. He is ſpeaking of Louis the young, king of France about the year 1150. ‘"Le quel fut le premier roy de ſa maiſon, qui monſtra dehors ſes richeſſes allant en Jeruſalem. Auſſi la France commença de ſon temps a s'embellir de baſtimens plus magni [...]iques: prendre plaiſir a pierrieres, et autres delicateſſes gouſtus en L [...]vant par luy, ou les ſeigneurs qui avoient ja fait ce voyage. De ſorte qu'on peut dire qu'il a eſte le premier tenant Cour de grand Roy: eſtant ſi magnifique, que ſa femme dedaignant la ſimplicité de ſes predeceſſeurs, luy fit elever une ſepulture d'argent, au lieu de pierre."’ RECUEIL de la Lang. et Poeſ. Fr. ch. viii. p. 76. edit. 1581. He adds, that a great number of French romances were compoſed about this period.
b
See Kircher's Mund. Subterran. viii. § 4. He mentions a knight of Rhodes made grand maſter of the order for killing a dragon, 1345.
c
Velley, Hiſt. Fr. ſub. an. 1178.
d
Maſſieu, Hiſt. Poeſ. Fr. p. 105. Many of the troubadours, whoſe works now exiſt, and whoſe names are recorded, accompanied their lords to the holy war. Some of the French nobility of the firſt rank were troubadours about the eleventh century: and the French critics with much triumph obſerve, that it is the GLORY of the French poetry to number counts and dukes, that is ſovereigns, among its profeſſors, from its commencement. What a glory! The worſhipfull company of Merchant-taylors in London, if I recollect right, boaſt the names of many dukes, earls, and princes, enrolled in their community. This is indeed an honour to that otherwiſe reſpectable ſociety. But poets can derive no luſtre from counts, and dukes, or even princes, who have been enrolled in their liſts; only in proportion as they have adorned the art by the excellence of their compoſitions.
e
The old French hiſtorian Mezeray goes ſo far as to derive the origin of the French poetry and romances from the cruſades. Hiſt. p. 416, 417.
f
Hu [...]t in ſome meaſure adopts this opinion. But that learned man was a very incompetent judge of theſe matters. Under the common term Romance, he confounds romanc [...]s of chivalry, romances of gallantry, and all the fables of the Provencial poets. What can we think of a writer, who having touched upon the gothic romances, at whoſe [...]ictions and barbariſms he is much ſhocked, talks of the co [...]ſummate d [...]gr [...] of art and elegance to which the French are at preſent arrived in romances? He adds, that the ſuperior refinem [...]nt and politeſſ [...] of the French gallantry has happily given them an advantage of ſhining in thi [...] ſpecies of compoſition. Hiſt. Rom. p. 138. But the ſophiſtry and ignorance of Huet's Treatiſe has been already detected and expoſed by a critic of another caſt, in the SUPPLEMENT TO JARVIS'S PREFACE, prefixed to the Tranſlation of Don Quixot [...].
g
Monſ. L' Eveque de la Ravalerie, in his Revolutions de Langue Françoiſe, à la ſuite des POESIES DU ROI DE NAVARRE.
h
‘"Ce que les Normans avoyent pris des François."’ Rec. liv. i. p. 70. edit. 1581.
h
See Obſervations on Spenſer, i. § i. p. 28. 29. And Mr. Walpole's Royal and Noble authors, i. 5. See alſo Rymer's Short View of Tragedy, ch. vii. p. 73. edit. 1693. Savarie de Mauleon, an Engliſh gentleman who lived in the ſervice of Saint Louis king of France, and one of the Provencial poets, ſaid of Richard,
Coblas a teira faire adroitement
Pou voz oillez enten dompna gentiltz.
‘"He could make ſtanzas on the eyes of gentle ladies."’ Rymer, ibid. p. 74. There is a curious ſtory recorded by the French chroniclers, concerning Richard's [...]kill in the minſtrel art, which I will here relate.—Richard, in his return from the cruſade, was taken priſoner about the year 1193. A whole year elapſed before the Engliſh knew where their monarch was impriſoned. Blondell de Neſle, Richard's favourite [...]inſtrel, reſolved to find out his lord; and after travelling many days without ſucceſs, at laſt came to a caſtle where Richard was detained in cuſtody. Here he found that the caſtle belonged to the duke of Auſtria, and that a king was there impriſoned. Suſpecting that the priſoner was his maſter, he found means to place himſelf directly before a window of the chamber where the king was kept; and in this ſituation began to ſing a French chanſon, which Richard and Blondell had formerly written together. When the king heard the ſong, he knew it was Blondell who ſung it; and when Blondell pauſed after the firſt half of the ſong, the king began the other half and completed it. On this, Blondell returned home to England, and acquainted Richard's baro [...]s with the place of his impriſonment, from which he was ſoon afterwards releaſed. See alſo Fauchett, Rec. p. 93. Richard lived long in Provence, where he acquired a taſte for their poetry. The only relic of his ſonnets is a ſmall fragment in old French accurately cited by Mr. Walpole, and written during his captivity; in which he remonſtrates to his men and barons of England, Normandy, Poictiers, and Gaſcony, that they ſuffered him to remain ſo long a priſoner. Catal. Roy. and Nob. Auth. i. 5. Noſtradamus's account of Richard is full of falſe facts and anachroniſms. Poet. Provenc. artic. RICHARD.
i
‘"De regno Francorum cantores et joculatores muneribus allexerat."’ Rog. Hoved. Ric. i. p. 340. Theſe gratuities were chiefly arms, cloaths, horſes, and ſometimes money.
k
Rot. Pip. an. 21. Henr. iii.
l
Rot. Pip. an. 36. Henr. iii. Richard the firſt performed great feats at the ſiege of Antioch in the cruſade. The Duellum was another of his exploits among the Saracens. Compare Walpole's Anecd. Paint. i. 10. Who mentions a certain great book [...]orrowed for the queen, written in French containing GESTA ANTIOCHIAE et reg [...]m aliorum, &c. This was in the year 1249. He adds, that there was a chamber in the old palace of Weſtminſter painted with this hiſtory, [...]n the reign of Henry the third, and therefore called the ANTIOCH-CHAMBER: and another in the Tower.
m
Cod. 6783. fol. max. See Mont [...]auc. Catal. MSS. p. 785. a.
n
See Montf. ibid.
o
Among the infinite number of old manuſcript French romances on this ſubject in the ſame noble repoſitory, the learned Montfaucon recites, ‘"Le Roman de Triſtan et Iſeult traduit de Latin en François par Lucas chevalier ſieur du chaſtel du Gaſt pres de Saliſberi, Anglois, avec figures."’ Cod. 6776. fol. max. And again, ‘"Livres de Triſtan mis en François par Lucas chevalier ſieur de chateau du Gat."’ Cod. 6956. ſeq. fol. max. In another article, this tranſlator the chevali [...]r Lucas, of whom I can give no account, is called Hu [...] or Hue. Cod. 6976. ſeq. Nor do I know of any caſtle, or place, of this name near Saliſbury. See alſo Cod. 7174
p
In illuſtration of the argument purſued in the text we may obſerve, that about this time the Engliſh minſtrels flouriſhed with new honours and rewards. At the magnificent marriage of the counteſs of Holland, daughter of Edward the firſt, every king minſtrel received xl. ſhillings. See Anſtis Ord. Gart. ii. p. 303. And Dugd. Mon. i. 355. In the ſame reign a multitude of minſtrels attended the ceremony of knighting prince Edward on the feaſt of Pentecoſt. They entered the hall, while the king was ſitting at dinner ſurrounded with the new knights. Nic. Trivet. Annal. p. 342. edit. Oxon. The whole number knighted was two hundred and ſixty-ſeven. Dugd. Bar. i. 80. b. Robert de Brunne ſays, this was the greateſt royal feaſt ſince king Arthur's at Carleon: concerning which he adds, ‘"therof yit men rime." p. 332. In the wardrobe-roll of the ſame prince, under the year 1306, we have this [...]ntry. ‘"Will. Fox et Cradoco ſocio ſuo CANTATORIBUS cantantibus coram Principe et aliis magnatibus in comitiva ſua exiſtente apud London, &c. xx s."’ Again, ‘"Willo Ffox et Cradoco [...]ocio ſuo cantantibus in praeſentia principis et al. Magnatum apud London de dono ejuſdem dni p [...]r manus Johis de Ringwode, &c. 8. di [...] jan. xx s."’ Afterwards, in the ſame roll, four ſhillings are given, ‘"Miniſtr [...]llo comitiſſa [...] Mareſchal. facienti meneſtral [...]iam ſuam coram principe, &c. in comi [...]iva ſua exiſt [...]nt. apud Penreth."’ Comp. Garderob. Edw. Princip. Wall. ann. 35. Edw. i. This I chiefly cite to ſhew the greatneſs of the gratuity. Minſtrel [...] were part of the eſtabliſhment of the houſhold of our nobility before the year 1307. Thomas earl of Lancaſter allows at Chriſtmas, cloth, or veſtis liberata, to his houſholdminſtrels at a great expence, in the year 1314. Stowe's Surv. Lond. p. 134. edit. 1618. See ſupr. p. 91. Soon afterwards the minſtrels claimed ſuch privileges that it was thought neceſſary to reform them by an edict, in 1315. See Hearne's Append. Leland. Collectan. vi. 36. Yet, as I have formerly remarked in OBSERVATIONS ON Spenſer's FAIERIE QUEENE, we find a perſon in the character of a minſtrel entering Weſtminſter-hall on horſeback while Edward the ſecond was ſolemnizing the feaſt of P [...]ntecoſt as above, and preſenting a letter to the king. See Walſing. Hiſt [...] Angl. Franc. p. 109.
q
Powell's Wales, 237. edit. 1584. Who adds, that the bards of ‘"Northwales won the prize, and amonge the muſicians Rees's owne houſhold men were counted beſt."’ Rhees was one of the Welſh princes who, the preceding year, attended the parliament at Oxford, and were magnificently entertained in the caſtle of th [...] city by Henry the ſecond. Lord Lyttelton's Hiſt. Hen. ii. edit. iii. p. 302. It may not be foreign to our preſent purpoſe to mention here, that Henry the ſecond, in the year 1179, was entertained by Welſh bards at Pembroke caſtle in Wales in his paſſage into Ireland. Powell, ut ſupr. p. 238. The ſubject o [...] their ſongs was the hiſtory of king Arthur. See Selden on POLYOLB. ſ. iii. p. 53.
r
Drayton's Heroic. Epiſt. MORT. ISABEL [...] [...]. 53. And Notes ibid. from Walſingham.
s
Triunf. Am. c. iv.
t
See Beauchamps, Recherch. Theatr. Fr. Paris, 1735. p. 7. 9. It was Jeffrey, Richard's brother, who patroniſed Jeffrey Rudell, a famous troubadour of Provence, who is alſo celebrated by Petrarch. This poet had heard, from the adventurers in the cruſades, the beauty of a counteſs of Tripoly highly extolled. He became enamoured from imagination: embarked for Tripoly, fell [...]ick in the voyage through the fever of expectation, and was brought on ſhore at Tripoly half expiring. The counteſs, having received the news of the arrival of this gallant ſtranger, haſtened to the ſhore and took him by the hand. He opened his eyes; and at once overpowered by his diſeaſe and her kindneſs, had juſt time to ſay inarticulately, that having ſeen her he died ſatisfied. The counteſs made him a moſt ſplendid funeral, and erected to his memory a tomb of porphyry, inſcribed with an epitaph in Arabian verſe. She commanded his ſonnets to be richly copied and illuminated with letters of gold; was ſeized with a pro [...]ound melancholy, and turned nun. I will endeavour to tranſlate one of the ſonnets which he made on his voyage. Yrat [...]t dolent m'en partray, &c. It has ſome pathos and ſentiment, ‘"I ſhould depart penſive, but for this love of mine ſo far away; for I know not what difficulties I have to encounter, my native land being ſo far away. Thou who haſt made all things, and who formed this love of mine ſo far away, give me ſtrength of body, and then I may hope to ſee this love of mine ſo far away. Surely my love muſt be founded on true merit, as I love one ſo far away! If I am eaſy for a moment, yet I fe [...]l a thouſand pains for her who is ſo far away. No other love ever touched my heart than this for her ſo far away. A fairer than ſhe never touched any heart, either near, or far away."’ Every fourth line ends with du luench. See Noſtradamus, &c.
u
Fayditt is ſaid to have written a Chant ſunebre on his death. Beauchamps, ib. p. 10.
w
This agrees with what Hoveden ſays, ubi ſupr. ‘"Dicebatur ubique quod non erat talis in orbe."’
x
Impr. for W. C. 4to. It contains Sign. A. 1.—Q. iii. There is another edition impr. W. de Worde, 4to. 1528. There is a manuſcript copy of it in Caius College at Cambridge, A. 9.
z
Chron. p. 487.
y

Many ſpeken of men that romaunces rede, &c.

Of Bevys, Gy, and Gawayne,
Of KYNG RYCHARD, and Owayne,
Of Triſtram, and Percyvayle,
Of Rowl [...]d ris, and Aglavaule,
Of Archeroun, and of Octavian,
Of Charles, and of Caſſibedlan,
Of Keveloke, Horne, and of Wade,
In romances that of hem bi made
That geſtours dos of him geſtes
At mangeres and at great feſtes,
Here d [...]dis ben in remembraunce,
In many ſair romaunce.
But of the worthieſt wyght in wede,
That ever byſtrod any ſtrede
Spek [...]s no man, ne in romaunce redes,
Off his battayle ne of his d [...]des;
Off that battayle ſpekes no man,
There all prowes of knyghtes began,
Thet was forſothe of the batayle
Thet at TROYE was ſaunfayle,
Of ſwythe a fyght as ther was one, &c.—
Ffor ther were in thet on ſide,
Sixti kynges and dukes of pride.—
And there was the beſt bodi in dede
Thet ever yit wered wed [...],
Sithen the world was made ſo ferre,
That was ECTOR in eche werre, &c.
Laud K. 76. f. 1. fol. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Cod. membr. Whether this poem was written by Lidgate, I ſhall not enquire at preſent. I ſhall only ſay here, that it is totally different from eith [...]r of Lidgate's two poems on the THEBAN and TROJAN WARS; and that the manuſcript, which is beautifully written, appears to be of the age of Henry the ſixth.
z
PASSUS. Compare Percy's Ball. ii. 66. 398. edit. 1767.
a
p. 157.
b
Ibid.
c
P. 175.
d
P. 175.
e
P. 188.
f
p. 198.
g
‘"The words of my original Peter Langtoft."’
h
In French.
i
p. 205. Du Cange recites an old French manuſcript proſe romance, entitled Hiſtoire de la Mort de Richard Roy d'Angleterre. Gloſſ. Lat. IND. AUCT. i. p. cxci. There was one, perhaps the ſame, among the manuſcripts of the late Mr. Martin of Palgrave in Suffolk.
k
Num. 7532.
l
In return for ſeveral veſſels of gold and ſilver, horſes, bales of ſilk, four great ſhips, and fifteen gallies, given by Tancred. Benedict. Abb. p. 642. edit. Hearne.
m
Jocale. In the general and true ſenſe of the word. Robert de Brunne, in another place, calls a rich pavilion a jowelle. p. 152.
n
Chron. p. 153.
o
See Hiſt. of Hen. ii. vol. iv. p. 361. App.
p
Charlemagne's Tw [...]lve peers. Douze Pairs. Fr.
q
Fol. 1. a.
r
Perhaps Parthenope, or Parthenopeus.
s
Read, ‘"ne of Guy ne of Sydrake."
t

Signat. P. iii. To ſome of theſe romances the author of the manuſcript LIVES OF THE SAINTS, written about the year 1200, and cited above at large, alludes in a ſort of prologue. See SECT. i. p. 14. ſupr.

Wel auht we loug criſtendom that is ſo dere y bougt,
With oure lorde's herte blode that the ſpere hath y ſougt.
Men wilnethe more yhere of batayle of kyngis,
And of knygtis hardy, that mochel is l [...] ſyngis.
Of Roulond and of Olyvere, and Gy of Warwyk,
Of Waway [...]n and Triſtram that ne foundde her [...] y like.
Who ſo loveth to here tales of ſuche thinge,
Here he may y here thyng that nys no leſynge,
Of poſtoles and marteres that hardi knygttes were,
And ſtedfaſt were in bataile and fledde nogt for no fere, &c.

The anonymous author of an antient manuſcript poem, called ‘"The boke of Stories, called CURSOR MUNDI,"’ tranſlated from the French, ſeems to have been of the ſame opinion. His work conſiſts of religious legends: but in the prologue he takes occaſion to mention many tales of another kind, which were more agreeable to the generality of readers. MSS. Laud, K. 53. f. 117. Bibl. Bodl.

Men lykyn Jeſtis for to here
And romans rede in divers manere
Of Alexandre the conquerour,
Of Julius Ceſar the emperour,
Of Gr [...]ece and Troy the ſtrong ſtryf,
Ther many a man loſt his lyf:
Of Brut that baron bold of hand
The firſt conquerour of Englond,
Of kyng Art [...]ur that was ſo ryche,
Was non in hys tyme ſo ilyche:
Of wonders that among his knyghts [...]elle,
And auntyrs dedyn as men her telle,
As Gaweyn and othir full abylle
Which that kept the round tabyll,
How kyng Charles and Rowland fawght
With Sarazins, nold thei be cawght;
Of Tryſtram and Yſ [...]ude the ſwete,
How thei with love firſt gan mete.
Of kyng John and of Iſenbras
Of Ydoyne and Amadas.
Stories of divers thynges
Of princes, prelates, and kynges,
Many ſongs of divers ryme
As Engliſh, French, and Latyne, &c.
This ylke boke is tranſlate
Into Engliſh tong to rede
For the love of Engliſh lede
Ffor comyn folk of England, &c.
Syldyn yt ys for any chaunce
Engliſh tong preched is in Fraunce, &c.
See Montf. Par. MSS. 7540. And p. 119. ſupr.
u
See Diſſ. i.
x
L. i. ch. 14.
y
In the Epiſtle prefixed, the pretended tranſlator Nepos ſays, that he found this work at Athens, in the hand-writing of Dares. He adds, ſpeaking of the controverted authenticity of Homer, De [...]a re At [...]enis JUDICIUM [...]uit, cum pro inſano Homerus haberetur quod deos cum hominibus belligeraſſe deſcrip [...]it. In which words he does not refer to any public decree of the Athenian judges, but to Plato's opinion in his REPUBLIC. Dares, with Dictys Cretenſis next mentioned in the text, was firſt printed at Milan in 1477. Mabillon ſays, that a manuſcript of the Pſeudo-Dares occurs in the Laurentian library at Florence, upwards of eight hundred years old. Muſ. Ital. i. p. 169. This work was abridged by Vincentius Bellovacenſis, a friar of Burgundy, about the year 1244. See his Specul. Hiſtor. lib. iii. 63.
z
See Perizon. Diſſertat. de Dict. Cretenſ. ſect. xxix. Conſtantinus Laſcaris, a learned monk of Conſtantinople, one of the reſtorers of Grecian literature in Europe near four hundred years ago, ſays that Dictys Cretenſis in Greek was loſt. This writer is not once mentioned by Euſtathius, who lived about the year 1170, in his elaborate and extenſive commentary on Homer.
a
The Argonautics of Valerius Flaccus are cited in Chaucer's Hypſipile and Medea. ‘"Let him reade the boke Argonauticon."’ v. 90. But Guido is afterwards cited as a writer on that ſubject, ibid. 97. Valerius Flaccus is a common manuſcript. See pag. 133. infr.
b
It was firſt printed Argentorat, 1486. and ibid. 1489. fol. The work was finiſhed, as appears by a note at the end, in 1287. It was tranſlated into Italian by Philip or Chriſtopher Ceffio, a Florentine, and this tranſlation was firſt printed at Venice in 1481. 4to. It has alſo been tranſlated into German. See Lambec. ii. 948. The purity of our author's Italian ſtyle has been much commended. For his Italian poetry, ſee Mongitor, ubi ſupr. p. 167. Compare alſo, Diar. Eruditor. Ital. xiii. 258. Montfaucon mentions, in the royal library at Paris, Le ROMAN de Ti [...]bes qui futracine de Troy [...] la grande. Catal. MSS. ii. p. 923—198.
c
Bale ſays, that Edward the firſt, having met with our author in Sicily, in returning from Aſia, invited him into England, xiii. 36. This prince was intereſted in the Trojan ſtory, as we ſhall ſee below. Our hiſtorians relate, that he wintered in Sicily in the year 1270. Chron. Rob. Brun. p. 227. A writer quoted by Hearne, ſuppoſed to be John Stowe the chronicler, ſays, that ‘"Guido de Columpna arriving in England at the commaundement of king Edward the firſte, made ſcholies and annotations upon Dictys Cretenſis and Dares Phrigius. Beſides theſe, he writ at large the Battayle of Troye."’ Heming. Cartul. ii. 649. Among his works is recited Hiſtoria de Regibus Rebuſque Angliae. It is quoted by many writers under the title of Chronicum Britannorum. He is ſaid alſo to have written Chronicum Magnum libris xxxvi. See Mongitor. Bibl. Sic. i. 265.
d

Who mentions it in a French as well as Latin. edit. 1555. Signat. B. i. pag. 2.

As in the latyn and the frenſhe yt is. It occurs in French, MSS. Bibl. Reg. Brit. Muſ. 16 F. ix. This manuſcript was probably written not long after the year 1300.

e

The weſtern nations, in early times, have been fond of deducing their origin from Troy. This tradition ſeems to be couched under Odin's original emigration from that part of Aſia which is connected with Phrygia. Aſgard, or Aſia's [...]ortr [...]ſs, was the city from which Odin led his colony; and by ſome it is called Troy. To this place alſo they ſuppoſed Odin to return after his death, where he was to receive thoſe who died in battle, in a hall roofed with glittering ſhields. See Bartholin. L. ii. cap. 8. p. 402, 403. ſeq. This hall, ſays the Edda, is in the city of Aſgard, which is called the Fi [...]ld of Ida. Bartholin. ibid. In the very ſublime ode on the Diſſolution of the World, cited by Bartholine, it is ſaid, that after the twilight of the gods ſhould be ended, and the new world appear, the Aſae ſhall meet in the field of Ida, and tell of the deſtroyed habitations. Barthol. L. ii. cap. 14. p. 597. Compare Arngrim. Jon. Crymog, l. i. c. 4. p. 45, 46. See alſo Edda, [...]ab. 5. In the proem to Reſenius's Edda, it is ſaid, ‘"Odin appointed twelve judges or princes, at Sigtune in Scandinavia, as at TROY; and eſtabliſhed there all the laws of TROY, and the cuſtoms of the TROJANS."’ See Hickeſ. Theſaur. i. Diſſertat. Epiſt. p. 39. See alſo Mallett's Hiſt. Dannem. ii. p. 34. Bartholinus thinks, that the compiler of the Eddic mythology, who lived A. D. 1070, finding that the Britons and Francs drew their deſcent from Troy, was ambitious of aſſigning the ſame boaſted origin to Odin. But this tradition appears to have been older than the Edda. And it is more probable, that the Britons and Francs borrowed it from the Scandinavian Goths, and adapted it to themſelves; unleſs we ſuppoſe that theſe nations, I mean the former, were branches of the Gothic ſtem, which gave them a ſort of inherent right to the claim. This reaſoning may perhaps account for the early exiſtence and extraordinary popularity of the Trojan ſtory among nations ignorant and illiterate, who could only have received it by tradition. Geoffry of Monmouth took this deſcent of the Britons from Troy, from the Welſh or Armoric bards, and they perhaps had it in common with the Scandinavian ſcalders. There is not a ſyllable of it in the authentic hiſtorians of England, who wrote before him; particularly thoſe antient ones, Bede, Gildas, and the uninterpolated Nennius. Henry of Huntingdon began his hiſtory from Caeſar; and it w [...]s only on further information that he added Brute. But this information was from a manuſcript found by him in his way to Rome in the abbey of Bec in Normandy, probably Geoffry's original. H. Hunt. Epiſtol. ad Warin. MSS. Cantabr. Bibl. publ. cod. 251. I have mentioned in another place, that Witlaf, a king of the Weſt Saxons, grants in his charter, dated A. D. 833, among other things, to Croyland-abbey, his robe of tiſſue, on which was embroidered The Deſtruction of Troy. Obſ. on Spenſer's Fairy Queen, i. ſect. v. p. 176. This proves the ſtory to have been in high veneration even long before that period: and it ſhould at the ſame time be remembered, that the Saxons came from Scandinavia.

This fable of the deſcent of the Britons from the Trojans was ſolemnly alledged as an authentic and undeniable proof in a controverſy of great national importance, by Edward the firſt and his nobility, without the leaſt objection from the oppoſite party. It was in the famous diſpute concerning the ſubjection of the crown of England to that of Scotland, about the year 1301. The allegations are in a letter to pope Bonifa [...], ſigned and ſealed by the king and his lords. Ypodigm. Neuſtr. apud Camd. Angl. Norman. p. 492. Here is a curious inſtance of the implicit faith with which this tradition continued to be believed, even in a more enlightened age [...] and an evidence that it was equally credited in Scotland.

f
V. 656. p. 165. Urr. ed.
g
V. 323.
h
See Second Diſſertation.
i

In the reign of Henry the firſt, the ſheriff of Nottinghamſhire is ordered to procure the queen's chamber at Nottingham to be painted with the HISTORY of ALEXANDER. Madox, Hiſt. Exch. p. 249—259. ‘"Depingi facias HISTORIAM ALEXANDRI undiquaque."’ In the Romance of Richard, the minſtrell ſays of an army aſſembled at a ſiege in the holy land, Sign. Q. iii.

Covered is both mount and playne,
Kyng ALYSAUNDER and Charlemayne
He never had halfe the route
As is the city now aboute.

By the way, this is much like a paſſage in Milton, Par. Reg. iii. 337.

Such forces met not, nor ſo wide a camp,
When Agrican, &c.
k
See Recherch. ſur la Vie et les ouvrages de Calliſthene. Par M. l'Abbe Sevin. Mem. de Lit. viii. p. 126. 4to. But many very antient Greek writers had corrupted Alexander's hiſtory with fabulous narratives, ſuch as Orthagoras, Oneſicritus, &c.
l
Particularly Bibl. Bodl. Oxon. MSS. Barocc. Cod. xvii. And Bibl. Reg. Paris. Cod. 2064. See Montfauc. Catal. MSS. p. 733. See paſſages cited from this manuſcript, in Steph. Byzant. Abr. Berckel. V. [...]. Caeſar Bulenger de Circo, c. xiii. 30, &c. And Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xiv. 148. 149. 150. It is adduced by Du Cange, Gloſſar. Gr. ubi vid. Tom. ii. Catal. Scriptor. p. 24.
m
Undoubtedly many ſmaller hiſtories, now in our libraries were formed from this greater work.
n
[...], Protoveſtiarius. See du Cange, Conſtantinop. Chriſt. lib. ii. § 16. n. 5. Et and Zonar. p. 46.
o
Allat. de Simeonibus. p. 181. And Labb. Bibl. nov. MSS. p. 115. Sim [...]on Seth tranſlated many Perſic and Arabic books into Greek. Allat. ubi ſupr. p. 182. ſeq. Among them he tranſlated from Arabic into Greek, about the year 1100, for the uſe or at the requeſt of the emperor Alexius Commenus, the celebrated Indian Fables now commonly called the Fables of Pilpay. This work he entitled, [...], and divided it into fifteen books. It was printed at Berlin, by [...]eb. Godfr. Starchius, A. D. 1697. 8vo. Under the title, [...]. Theſe are the names of two African or Aſiatic animals, called in Latin Thoes, a ſort of fox, the principal interlocutors in the fable [...]. Sect. i. ii. This curious monument of a ſpecies of inſtruction peculiar to the orientals, is upwards of two thouſand years old. It has paſſed under a great vari [...]ty of names. Khoſru a king of Perſia, in whoſe reign Mahomet was born, ſent his phyſician named Burzviſch into India, on purpoſe to obtain this book, which was carefully preſerved among the treaſures of the kings of India: and commanded it to be tranſlated out of the Indian language into the antient Perſic. H [...]belot. Dict. Oriental. p. 456. It was ſoon afterwards turned into Syriac, under the title C [...]laileg and Damnag. Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vi. p. 461. About the year of Chriſt 750, one of the caliphs ordered it to be tranſlated from the antient Perſic into Arabic, under the name Kalila ve Damna. Herbel. ubi ſupr. In the year 920, the Sultan Ahmed, of the dynaſty of the Samanides, procured a tranſlation into more modern Perſic: which was ſoon afterwards put into verſe by a celebrated Perſian poet named Roudeki. Herbel. ibid. Fabric. ibid. p. 462. About the year 1130, the Sultan Bahram, not ſatisfied with this Perſian verſion, ordered another to be executed by Naſrallah, the moſt eloquent man of his age, from the Arabic text of Mocanna: and this Perſian verſion is what is now extant under the title Kalila ve Damna. Herbel. ibid. See alſo Herbel. p. 118. But as even this laſt-mentioned verſion had too many Arabic idioms and obſolete phraſes, in the reign of Sultan Hoſein Mirza, it was thrown into a more modern and intelligible ſtyle, under the name of Anuar So [...]eli. Fraſer's Hiſt. Nad. Shaw. Catal. MSS. p. 19. 20. Nor muſt it be forgotten, that about the year 1100, the Emir Sohail, general of the armies of Huſſain, Sultan of Khoraſſan of the poſterity of Timer, cauſed a new tranſlation to be made by the doctor Huſſien Vaez, which exceeded all others in elegance and perſpicuity. It was named Anwair So [...]aili, SPLENDOR Can [...]pi, from the Emir who was called after the name of that ſtar. Herbel. p. 118. 245. It would be tedious to mention every new title and improvement which it has paſſed through among the eaſtern people. It has been tranſlated into the Turkiſh language both in proſe and verſe: particularly for the uſe of Bajazet the ſecond and Solyman the ſecond. Herbel. p. 118. It has been alſo tranſlated into Hebrew, by Rabbi Joel: and into Latin, under the title Directorium Vitae humanae, by Johannes of Capua. [fol. ſine ann.] From thence it got into Spaniſh, or Caſtilian: and from the Spaniſh was made an Italian verſion, printed at Ferrara, A. D. 1583. oct. viz. Lelo Damno [for Calilah u Damna [...]] del Governo de regni, ſotto morali, &c. A ſecond edition appeared at Ferrara in 1610. oct. viz. Philoſophia moral [...] del doni, &c. But I have a notion there was an Italian edition at Venice, under the laſt-mentioned title, with old rude cuts, 1552. 4to. From the Latin verſion it was tranſlated into German, by the command of Eberhard firſt duke of Wirtenberg: and this tranſlation was printed at Ulm, 1583. fol. At Straſburgh, 1525. fol. Without name of place, 1548. 4to. At Francfourt on the Mayne, 1565. oct. A French tranſlation by Gilb. Gaulmin from the Perſic of Naſrallah above-mentioned appeared at Paris, 1698. But this is rather a paraphraſe, and was reprinted in Holland. See Starchius, ubi ſupr. praef. §. 19. 20. 22. Fabric [...]bi ſupr. p. 463. ſeq. Another tranſlation was printed at Paris, viz. ‘"Contes et Fables Indiennes de Bidpai et De Lokman traduits d'Ali Tchelchi-Bengalek auteur Turc, par M. Galland, 1714."’ ii vol. Again, Paris, 1724. ii vol. Fabricius ſays, that Monſ. Galland had procured a Turkiſh copy of this book four times larger than the printed copies, being a verſion from the original Perſic, and entitled Humagoun Nameh, that is, The royal or imperial book, ſo called by the orientals, who are of opinion that it contains the whole art of government. See Fabric. ubi ſupr. p. 465. Herbel. p. 456. A Tranſlation into Engliſh from the French of the four firſt books was printed at London in 1747, under the title of PILPAY'S FABLES.—As to the name of the author of this book, Herbelot ſays that Bidpai was an Indian philoſopher, and that his name ſignifies the mer [...]iful phyſician. See Herbelot. p. 206 456. And Bibl. Lugdun. Catal. p. 301. Others relate, that it was compoſed by the Bramins of India, under the title Kurtuk D [...]mnik. Fraſer, ubi ſupr. p. 19. It is alſo ſaid to have been written by Iſame fifth king of the Indians, and tranſlated into Arabic from the Indian tongue three hundred years before Alexander the Macedonian. Abraham Ecchelens. Not. ad Catal. Ebed Jeſu, p. 87.—The Indians reckon this book among the three things in which they ſurpaſs all other nations. viz. ‘"Liber CULILA et DIMNA, ludus Shatangri, et novem figurae numerariae."’ Saphad. Comment. ad Carm. Tograi. apud Hyde, prolegom. ad lib. de lud. Oriental. d. 3. Hyde intended an edition of the Arabic verſion. Praefat. ad lib. de lud. Oriental. vol. ii. 1767. edit. ad calc. I cannot forſake this ſubject without remarking, that the Perſians have another book, which they eſteem older than any writings of Zoroaſter, entitled Javidan Chrad, that is, aeterna Sapientia. Hyde Praefat. Relig. Vet. Perſarum. This has been alſo one of the titles of Pilpay's Fables.
p
Caſaub. Epiſt. ad Jos. Scaliger. 402. 413. Scalig. Epiſt. ad Caſaubon. 113. 115. Who mentions alſo a tranſlation of this work from the Latin into H [...]brew, by one who adopted the name of Jos. Gorionides, called Pſeudo-Gorionides. This Latin hiſtory was tranſlated into German by John Hartlieb Moller, a German phyſician, at the command of Albert duke of Bavaria, and publiſhed Auguſt. Vindel. A. D. 1478. fol. See Lambecc. lib. ii. de Bibl. Vindobon. p. 949. Labbe mentions a fabulous hiſtory of Alexander; written, as he ſays, in 1217, and tranſcribed in 1455. Undoubtedly this in the text. Londinenſis quotes ‘"pervetuſtum quendam librum manuſcriptum de actibus Alexandri."’ Hearne's T. Caius ut infr. p. 82. See alſo p. 86. 258.
q
Lenglet mentions ‘Hiſtoria fabuloſa incerti authoris de Alexandri Magni praeliis.’ fol. 1494. He adds, that it is prin [...]ed in the laſt edition of Caeſar's Commentaries by Graevius in octavo. Bibl. des Romans, ii. p. 228. 229. edit. Amſt. Compare Vogt's Catalogus librorum rarior, pag. 24. edit. 1753. Montfaucon ſays this hiſtory of Calliſthenes occurs often in the royal library at Paris, both in Greek and Latin: but that he never ſaw either of them printed. Cat. MSS. ii. pag. 733.—2543. I think a life of Alexander is ſubjoined to an edition of Quintus Curtius in 1584, by Joannes Monachus.
r
Du Cange Gloſſar. Gr. v. [...]. Jurat. ad Symmach. iv. 33. Barth. Adverſar. ii. 10. v. 14.
s
Hearne, T. Caii Vindic. Antiquit. Acad. Oxon. tom. ii. NOT. p. 802. Who thinks it a work of the monks. ‘"Nec dubium quin monachus quiſpiam Latine, ut potuit, ſcripſerit. Eo modo, quo et alios id genus foetus parturiebant ſcriptores aliquot monaſtici, c fabulis quas vulgo admodum placere ſciebant."’ ibid.
t
A Greek poem on this ſubject will be mentioned below, wr [...]tten in politic verſes, entitled [...].
u
Labb. Bibl. Nov. MSS. p. 68. Ol. Borrich. Diſſertat. de Poet. p. 89.
w
The writer relates, that Alexander, incloſed in a veſſel of glaſs, dived to the bottom of the ocean for the ſake of getting a knowledge of fiſhes and ſea monſters. He is alſo repreſented as ſoaring in the air by the help of gryphons. At the end, the opinions of di [...]ferent philoſophers are recited concerning the ſepulchre of Alexander. Nectabanos, a magician and aſtrologer, king of Aegypt, is a very ſignificant character in this romance. He transforms himſelf into a dragon, &c. Compare Herbelot. Bibl. Oriental. p. 319. b. ſeq. In ſome of the manuſcripts of this piece which I have ſeen, there is an account of Alexander's viſit to the trees of the ſun and moon: but I do not recollect this in the printed copies. Undoubtedly the original has had both interpolations and omiſſions. Pſeudo-Gorionides above-mentioned ſeems to hint at the ground-work of this hiſtory of Alexander in the following paſſage. ‘"Caeteras autem res ab Alexandro geſtas, et egregia ejus facinora ac quaecunque demum perpetravit, ea in libris Medorum et Perſarum, atque apud Nicolaum, Titum, et Strabonem; et in libris nativitatis Alexandri, rerumque ab ipſo geſtarum, quos Magi ac Aegyptii eo anno quo Alexander deceſſit, compoſuerunt, ſcripta reperies."’ Lib. ii. c. 12.—22. [Lat. Verſ.] p. 152. edit. Jo. Frid. Briethaupt.
x
It is alſo in a manuſcript entitled Secretum Secretorum Ariſtotelis, Lib. 5. MSS. Bodl. D. 1. 5. This treatiſe, aſcribed to Ariſtotle, was antiently in high repute. It is pretended to have been tranſlated out of Greek into Arabic or Chaldee by one John a Spaniard; from thence into Latin by Philip a Frenchman; at length into Engliſh verſe by Lidgate: under whom more will be ſaid of it. I think the Latin is dedicated to Theophina, a queen of Spain.
y
See Obſervat. Fair. Qu. i. § v. p. 202.
z
viii. 18.
a
Op. p. 476.
b
Epiſt. 101. Frequenter inſpicere hiſtorias Q. Curtii, &c.
c
iv. 61, &c. Montfaucon, I think, mentions a manuſcript of Q. Curtius in the Colbertine library at Paris eight hundred years old. See Barth. ad Claudian. p. 1165. Alexander Bened [...]ctus, in his hiſtory of Venice, tranſcribes whole pages from this hiſtorian. I could give other proofs.
d
17 F. i. Brit. Muſ. And again, 20 C. iii. And 15 D. iv.
e
Apud Fauchett, Rec. p. 99. Who adds, ‘"Je croy bien que Romans que nous avons ajourdhuy imprimez, tels que Lancelot du Lac, Triſtan, et autres, ſont refondus ſus les vielles proſes et rymes et puis refraichis de language."’ Rec. liv. ii. x. The oldeſt manuſcripts of romances on theſe ſubjects which I have ſeen are the following. They are in the royal manuſcripts of the Britiſh Muſeum. Le Romanz de Triſtran, 20 D. ii. This was probably tranſcribed not long after the year 1200.—Hiſt [...]ire du Lancelot ou S. Graal, ibid. iii. Perhaps older than the year 1200.—Again, Hiſt [...]ire du S. Graal, ou Lancelot, 20 C. vi. 1. Tranſcribed ſoon after 1200. This is imperfect at the beginning. The ſubject of Joſeph of Arimathea bringing a veſſel of the Sanguis realis, or Sangral, that is our Saviour's blood, into England, is of high antiquity. It is thus mentioned in Morte Arthur. ‘"And then the old man had an harpe, and he ſung an olde ſonge how Joſeph of Arimathy came into this lande."’ B. iii. c. 5.
f
Fauchett, p. 103. This ſtory was alſo written in very old rhyme by one Meneſſier, not mentioned in Fauchett, from whence it was reduced into proſe 1530. [...]ol. Pariſ. PERCAVAL LE GALOIS, le quel acheva les avantures du Saint Graal, avec aucun faits du chevalier Gavain, tranſlatée du rime de l'ancien aut [...]ur MESSENIER, &c. In the royal library at Paris is LE ROMAN DE PERSEVAL le Galois, par CRESTIEN DE TROYES. In verſe. fol. Monſ. Galland thinks there is another romance under this title, Mem. de Lit. iii. p. 427. ſeq. 433. 8vo. The author of which he ſuppoſes may be Rauol de Biavais, mentioned by Fauchet, p. 142. Compare Lenglet, Bibl. Rom. p. 250. The author of this laſt-mentioned Percevall, in the exordium, ſays that he wrote among others, the romances of Eneas, Roy Marc, and Uſelt le Blonde: and that he tranſlated into French, Ovid's Art of Love.
g
P. 105. ibid.
h
There is a curious paſſage to this purpoſe in an old French proſe romance of Charlemagne, written before the year 1200. ‘"Baudouin Comte de Hainau trouva a ſens en Bourgongne le VIE de Charlemagne: et mourant la donna a ſa ſour Yolond Comteſſe de S. Paul qui m'a prie que je la mette en Roman ſans ryme. Parce que tel ſe delitera el Roman qui del Latin n'ent cure; et par le Roman ſera mielx gardee. Maintes gens en ont ouy conter et chanter, mais n'eſt ce menſonge non ce qu'ils en diſent et chantent cil conteour n [...] cil jugleor. NUZ CONTES RYMEZ N'EN EST VRAIS: TOT MENSONGE CE QU'ILS DIENT."’ Liv. quatr.
i
MSS. Harl. 273. 23. Cod. membr. f. 86. There is a very old metrical romance on this ſubject, ibid. MSS. Harl. 527. 1. f. 1. Cod. membr. 4to.
k
15 E. vi. 4.
l
8vo. There is alſo L'Hiſtoire du preux Meurvin fils D'OGIER le DANOIS. Pariſ. 1359. 4to. And 1540. 8vo.
m
See M. Galland ut ſupr. p. 425.
n
Gloſſ. Lat. IND. AUT. p. cxciii.
o
Monum. Fr. i. 374.
p
See Mont [...]. Catal. MSS. ii. p. 1669.
q
He flouriſhed about 1260.
r
The TROJOMANNA SAGA, a Scandic manuſcript at Stockholm, ſeems to be poſteriour to Guido's publication. It begins with Jaſon and Hercules, and their [...]oyage to Colchos: proceeds to the rape of Helen, and ends with the ſiege and deſtruction of Troy. It celebrates all the Grecian and Aſiatic heroes concerned in that war. Wanl. Antiquit. Septentr. p. 315. col. 1.
s
See Obſervat. on Spenſer's Fairy Queen, i. § v. P. 176. ſeq. Montfaucon mentions M [...]d [...]ae et Ja [...]onis Hi [...]loria a Guidone de Columna. Catal. MSS. Bibl. Coiſlin. ii. p. 1109.—818.
t
17 E. ii.
u
Fauch. p. 77.
w
Iſtor. Volg. Poeſ. i. iv. p. 332. In the royal manuſcripts there is a French poem entitled La Vengeaunce du graunt Alexandre. 19 D. i. 2. Brit. Muſ. I am not ſure whether or no it is not a portion of the French Alexander, mentioned below, written by Jehan li Nivelois.
x
Fauchett, Rec. p. 83.
y
Fauchett, ibid. Monſ. Galland mentions a French romance in verſe, unknown to Fauchett, and entitled Roman [...]'At [...]s et de Prophylias, written by one Alexander, whom he ſuppoſes to be this Alexander of Paris. Mem. Lit. iii. p. 429. edit. Amſt. It is often cited by Carpentier, Suppl. Cang.
z
See Fabric. Bibl. Gr. c. iii. l. viii. p. 205.
a
MSS. Bodl B. 264. fol.
b
The moſt frequent of theſe are organs, h [...]gpipes, lutes, and trumpets.
c
The biſhop of Glouceſter has a moſt beautiful French manuſcript on vellum of Mort d'Arthur, ornamented in the ſame manner. It was a preſent from Vertue the engraver.
d
See Pref. Le Roman de la Roſe, par Monſ. L'Abbè Lenglet, i. p. xxxvi.
e
Sign. P. ii.
f
Signat. E. iv.
g
Nov. Bibl. p. 334. edit. 1652.
h
Mem. Lit. xv. 582. 4to.
i
Rim. Thop.
k
4to. Percy's Ball. iii. 217.
l
Selden's Drayton. Polyolb. ſ. iii. p. 37.
m
It is now incloſed in the beautiful gardens of General Sir John Mordaunt, and gives name to his ſeat.
n
Ubi ſupr.
o
MSS. Harl. 3775. 2.
p
Catal. MSS. p. 792.
q
15 E. vi. 8. fol.
r
Sign. L. ii. verſ.
s
Fol. And again, ib. 1526. 4to.
t
Rim. Thop.
u
Percy's Ball. iii. 100.
w
Urr. p. 616. v. 1932. There is an old tranſlation of SIDRAC into Dutch, MSS. Marſhall, Bibl. Bodl. 31. fol.
x
Percy's Eſſ. on Anc. Engl. Minſtr. p. 12.
y
Dugdale relates, that in the reign of Henry the fourth, about the year 1410, a lord Beauchamp, travelling into the eaſt, was hoſpitably received at Jeruſalem by the Soldan's lieutenant: ‘"Who hearing that he was deſcended from the famous Guy of Warwick, whoſe ſtory they had in books of their own language, invited him to his palace; and royally feaſting him, preſented him with three precious ſtones of great value, beſides divers cloaths of ſilk and gold given to his ſervants."’ Baron. i. p. 243. col. 1. This ſtory is delivered on the credit of John Rouſe, the traveller's cotemporary. Yet it is not ſo very improbable that Guy's hiſtory ſhould be a book among the Saracens, if we conſider, that Conſtantinople was not only a central and connecting point between the eaſtern and weſtern world, but that the French in the thirteenth century had acquired an eſtabliſhment there under Baldwin earl of Flanders: that the French language muſt have been known in Sicily, Jeruſalem, Cyprus, and Antioch, in conſequence of the conqueſts of Robert Guiſcard, Hugo le Grand, and Godfrey of [...]ulloigne: and that pilgrimages into the holy land were exceſſively frequent. It is hence eaſy to ſuppoſe, that the French imported many of their ſtories or books of this ſort into the eaſt; which being thus underſtood there, and ſuiting the genius of the orientals, were at length tranſlated into their language. It is remarkable, that the Greeks at Conſtantinople, in the twelfth century, and ſince, called all the Europeans by the name of Franks; as the Turks do to this day. See Seld. Polyolb. §. viii. p. 130.
z
In our Engliſh SYR EGLAMOUR OF ARTOYS, there is this reference to the French from which it was tranſlated. Sign. E. i.
His own mother there he wedde,
In ROMAUNCE as we rede.
Again, fol. ult.
In ROMAUNCE this cronycle ys.
The authors of theſe pieces often refer to their original. Juſt as Arioſ [...]o mentions Turpin for his voucher.
a
But I muſt not omit here that Du Cange recites a metrical French romance in manuſcript, Le Roman de Girard de Vienne, written by Bertrand le Clerc. Gloſſ. Lat. i. IND. AUCT. p. [...]xciii. Madox has printed the names of ſeveral French romances found in the reign of Edward the third, among which one on this ſubject occurs. Formul. Anglic. p. 12. Compare Obſervations on Sp [...]nſer's Fairy Qu [...]n, vol. ii. §. viii. p. 43. Among the royal manuſcripts, in the Britiſh Muſeum, ther [...] is in verſe Hiſtoir [...] de G [...]ra [...]t [...]e Vianne et de ſes freres. 20 D. xi. 2. This manuſcript was perhaps written before the year 1300.
b
Giovan. Villani, Iſtor. [...]. vi. c. 92.
c
Villani acquaints us, that Brunetto Latini, Dante's maſter, was the firſt who attempted to poliſh the Florentines by improving their taſte and ſtyle; which he did by writing his grand work the TESORO in Provencial. He died in 1294. See Villan. ibid. [...]. ix. c. 135.
d
Dante deſigned at firſt that his Inferno, and Treatiſe on monarchy, ſhould appear in Latin. But finding that he could not ſo effectually in that language impreſs his ſatirical ſtrokes and political maxims on the laity, or illiterate, he altered his mind, and publiſhed thoſe pieces in [...]talian. Had Petrarch written his Africa, his Eclogues, and his proſe compoſitions in Italian, the literature of his country would much ſooner have arrived at perfection.
e
This part of their character will be inſiſted upon more at large when we come to ſpeak of Chaucer.
f
Theatr. Fr. p. 13.
g
Apud Huet, Orig. Rom. p. 108.
h
Nic. Antonius, Bibl. Hiſpan. Vet. tom. ii. l. viii. c. 7. num. 291.
i
Diſc. del Poem. Eroic. l. ii. p. 45. 46.
k
See Memoires ſur l'ancienne Chevalerie, &c. Paris, 1759. ii. tom. 12mo.
a
Adviſed.
b
Rudder. Clavus.
c
Deck.
d
Windlaſs.
e
i. e. The French original.
f
Immediately.
g
Company.
h
To dinner.
i
Sign. A. ii.—A. iiii.
k
In the pipe-rolls of this king's reign, I find the following articles relating to this ancient palace, which has been already mentioned incidentally. Rot. Pip. 1. Ric. i. ‘"WILTES. Et in cariagio vini Regis a Clarendon uſque Woodeſtoke, 34s. 4d. per Br. Reg. Et pro du [...]endis 200 m. [marcis] a Sareſburia uſque Briſtow, 7s. 4d. p [...]r Br. Reg. Et pro ducendis 2500 libris a Sareſburia uſque Gloceſtriam, 26 s. 10 d. per Br. Reg. Et pro tonellis et clavis ad eoſdem denarios. Et in cariagio de 4000 marcis a Sarum uſque Suthanton, et pro tonellis et aliis neceſſariis, 8 s. et 1 d. per Br. Reg."’ And again in the reign of Henry the third. Rot. Pip. 30. Hen. iii. ‘"WILTESCIRE. Et in una marcelſia ad opus regis et reginae apud Clarendon cum duobus intercluſoriis, et duabus cameris privatis, hoſ [...]io veteris aulae amovendo in porticu, et de eadem aula camera facienda cum camino et feneſtris, et camera privata, et quadam magna coquina quadrata, et aliis operationibus, contentis in Brevi, inceptis per eundem Nicolaum et non perfectis, 526. l. 16 s. 5 d. ob. per Br. Reg."’ Again, Rot. Pip. 39. H [...]n. iii. ‘"SUDHAMT. Comp. Novae foreſtae. Et in triginta miliaribus ſcindularum [ſhingles] faciend. in eadem foreſta et cariand. eaſdem uſque Clarendon ad domum regis ibidem cooperiandam, 6l. et 1 marc. per Br. Reg. Et in 30 mill. ſcindularum faciend. in eadem, et cariand. uſque Clarendon, 11 l. 10 s."’ And again, in the ſame reign the canons of Ivy church receive penſions for celebrating in the royal chapel there. Rot. Pip. 7. Hen. iii. ‘"WILTES. Et canonicis de monaſterio ederoſo miniſtrantibus in Capella de Clarendon. 35 l. 7 d. ob."’ Stukeley is miſtaken in ſaying this palace was built by king John.
l
See Du Cange, Gl. Lat. COINTISE.
m
Proud, pompous.
n
Yawned.
o
Ib.
p
Richard's battle-ax is alſo mentioned by Brunne, and on this occaſion, Chron. p. 159.
634
q

The cruſades imported the phraſe Jeu Sarrazionois, for any ſharp engagement, into the old French romances.—Thus in the ROMAN of ALEXANDER, MSS. Bibl. Bodl. ut ſupr. P. i.

Tholom [...]r le regrette et le plaint en Grijois,
Et diſt que s'il cuſſent o culz telz vingt et trois,
Il nous euſſent fet un JEU SARRAZIONOIS.
r
F. pound [...].
s
The Byzantine Greeks are often called Griffones by the hiſtorians of the middle ages. See Du Cange Gloſſ. Ville-Hard. p. 363. See alſo Rob. Brun. Chron. p. 151. 157. 159. 160. 165. 171. 173. Wanley ſuppoſes that the Griffin in heraldry was intended to ſignify a Greek, or Saracen, whom they thus repreſented under the figure of an imaginary eaſtern monſter, which never exiſted but as an armorial badge.
t
Sign. G. i.
u
Syria.
w
So Fabyan of Roſamond's bower, ‘"that no creature, man or woman, myght wynne to her."’ i. e. go in, by contraction, Win. Chron. vol. i. p. 320. col. i. edit. 1533.
x

Rob. Brun. Chron. p. 170.

‘The kynge's owne galeie he cald it Trencthemere.
y
A bird on wing.
z
In two. Thus R. de Brunne ſays, ‘"he fondred the Sarazyns otuynne."’ p. 574. He forced the Saracens into two parties.
a
Went.
b
Shawms.
c
Sign. G. iii.
d
See Du Cange, Not. ad Joinvil. p. 71. And Gl. Lat. V. IGNIS GRAECUS.
e
See more particularly Chron. Rob. Brun. p. 170. And Benedict. Abb. p. 652. And Joinv. Hiſt. L. p. 39. 46. 52. 53. 62. 70.
f
iv. 11.
g
Twenty grete gynnes for the nones
Kynge Richard ſent for to caſt ſtones,
&c.
Among theſe were the Mategri [...]on and the Robynet. Sign. N. iii. The [...]ormer of theſe is thus deſcribed. Sign. E. iiii.
I have a caſtell I underſtond [...]
Is made of tembre of Englonde
With ſyxe ſtages full of toure [...]les
Well flourysſhed with cornelles,
&c.
See Du Cange Not. Joinv. p. 68. MATEGRYFFON is the Terror or plague of the Greeks. Du Cange, in his Gallo-Byzantine hiſtory, mentions a caſtle of this name in Peloponneſus. Benedict ſays, that Richard erected a ſtrong caſtle, which he called Mat [...]-gryff [...]n, on the brow of a ſteep mountain without the walls of the city of Meſſina in Sicily. Benedict. Abb. p. 621. ed. Hearn. ſub ann. 1190. Robert de Brunne mentions this engine from our romance. Chron. p. 157.
The romancer it ſais Richarde did make a pele,
On kaſtelle wiſe allwais wrought of tre ful wele.—
In ſchip he ded it lede, &c.—
His pele from that dai forward he cald it Mate-griffon.
P [...]le is a houſe. Archbiſhop Turpin mentions Charlemagne's wooden caſtles at the ſiege of a city in France. cap. ix.
g
See Carpentier's Suppl. Du Cange, Lat. Gl. tom. i. p. 434. And Du Cange ad Ann. Alex. p. 357.
h
Engines.
i
See ſupr. p. 157. It is obſervable, that MANGANUM, Mangonell, was not known among the Roman military machines, but exiſted firſt in Byzantine Greek [...], a circumſtance which ſeems to point out its inventors, at leaſt to ſhew that it belonged to the oriental art of war. It occurs often in the Byzantine Tactics, although at the ſame time it was perhaps derived from the Latin Machina: yet the Romans do not appear to have uſed in their wars ſo formidable and complicated an engine, as this is deſcribed to have been in the writers of the dark ages. It was the capital machine of the wars of thoſe ages. Du Cange in his CONSTANTINOPOLIS CHRISTIANA mentions a vaſt edifice at Conſtantinople in which the machines of war were kept. p. 155.
k
See ſupr. p. 154.
l
Mill.
m
Eſpringalles, Fr. engines. See Du Cange, Gl. Lat. SPINGARDA, QUADRELLUS. And Not. Joinv. p. 78. Perhaps he means pellets of tow dipped in the Grecian fire, which ſometimes were thrown from a ſort of mortar. Joinville ſays, that the Greek fire thrown from a mortar looked like a huge dragon flying through the air, and that at midnight the flaſhes of it illuminated the chriſtian camp, as if it had been broad day. When Louis's army was encamped on the banks of the Thanis in Aegypt, ſays the ſame curious hiſtorian, about the year 1249, they erected two chats chateil [...], or covered galleries, to ſhelter their workmen, and at the end of them two b [...]frois, or vaſt moveable wooden towers, full of croſs-bow men who kept a continual diſcharge on the oppoſite ſhore. Beſides eighteen other new-invented engines for throwing ſtones and bolts. But in one night, the deluge of Greek fire ejected from the Saracen camp utterly deſtroyed theſe enormous machines. This was a common diſaſter; but Joinville ſays, that his pious monarch ſometimes averted the danger, by proſtrating himſelf on the ground, and invoking our Saviour with the appellation of Beau Sire. p. 37. 39.
n
This device is thus related by Robert of Brunne, chron. p. 175. 176.
Richard als ſuithe did raiſe his engyns
The Inglis wer than blythe, Normans and Petevyns:
In bargeis and galeis he ſet mylnes to go,
The ſailes, as men ſais, ſom were blak and blo,
Som were rede and grene, the wynde about them blewe.—
The ſtones were of Rynes, the noyſe dreadfull and grete
It affraied the Sarazins, as leven the fyre out ſchete.
The noyſe was unride, &c.
Rynes is the river Rhine, whoſe ſhores or bottom ſupplied the ſtones ſhot from their military engines. The Normans, a barbarous people, appear to have uſed machines of immenſe and very artificial conſtruction at the ſiege of Paris in 885. See the laſt note. And Vit. Saladin. per Schultens, p. 135. 141. 167, &c.
o
Sign. ut ſupr.
p
King Lear, iv. vi.
q

Horſes belonging to Richard, ‘"Favel of Cyprus and Lyard of Paris."’ Robert de Brunne mentions one of theſe horſes, which he calls PHANUEL. Chron. p. 175.

Sithen at Japhet was ſlayn PHANUEL his ſtede,
The Romans telles gret pas ther of his douhty dede.

This is our romance, viz. Sign. Q. iii.

To hym gadered every chone
And ſlewe FAVELL under hym,
Tho was Richard wroth and grym.

This was at the ſiege of Jaſſe, as it is h [...]r [...] called. Favell of Cyprus is again mentioned, Sign. O. ii.

FAVELL of Cyprus is forth [...]et
And in the ſadell he hym ſett.

Robert of Brunne ſays that Saladin's brother ſent king Richard a horſe. Chron. p. 194.

He ſent to king Richard a ſtede for curteiſie
On of the beſt reward that was in p [...]emic.
r
Necromancer.
s
His Rider.
t
Neigh.
u
Go to her.
w
Suck.
x
God.
y
In which the Saracen line extended tw [...]lve miles in length, and
The grounde myght unnethe be ſene
For bryght armure and ſperes kene.
Again,
Lyke as ſnowe lyeth on the mountaynes
So were fulſylled hylles and playnes
With hauberkes bryght and harneys clere
Of tromp [...]ttes, and tabourere.
z
From head to foot.
a
Leopards.
b
Our Saviour.
c

‘"As he died upon the croſs."’ So in an old fragment cited by Hearne, Glo [...]. Rob. Br. p. 634.

Pyned under Ponce Pilat,
Don on the rod after that.
d
Ire.
e
Dare.
f
I do not underſtand this. He ſeems to mean the Sultan of Damas, or Damaſcus. See Du Cange, Joinv. p. 87.
g
The French romance.
h
Antiently no perſon ſeems to have been gallantly equipped on horſeback, unleſs the horſe's bridle or ſome other part of the furniture, was ſtuck full of ſmall bells. Vincent of Beauvais, who wrote about 1264, cenſures this piece of pride in the knights templar [...]. They have, he ſays, bridles embroidered, or gilded, or adorned with ſilver, ‘"Atque in pectoralibus CAMPANULAS INFIXAS MAGNUM emittentes SONITUM, ad gloriam eorum et decorem."’ Hiſt. lib. xxx. cap. 85. Wicliffe, in his TRIALOGE, inveighs againſt the prieſts for their ‘"fair hors, and jolly and gay ſadeles, and bridles ringing by the way, &c."’ Lewis's WICKLIFFE, p. 121. And hence Chaucer may be illuſtrated, who thus deſcribes the ſtate of a monk on horſeback. Prol. Cant. v. 170.
And when he rode, men might his bridell here
GINGLING in a whiſtling wind as clere,
And eke as lowde, as doth the chapell bell.
That is, becauſe his horſe's bridle or trappings were ſtrung with bells.
i

The breaſt-plate, or breaſt-band of a horſe. Poitral, Fr. Pectorale, Lat. Thus Chaucer of the Chanon YEMAN'S horſe.

Chan. Yon. Prol. v. 575. Urr.

‘About the PAYNTRELL ſtoode the fome ful hie.’
k
The ſaddle-bow. ‘"Arcenarium extencellatum cum argento,"’ occurs in the wardrobe rolls, ab an. 21 ad an. 23 Edw. iii. Membr. xi. This word is not in Du Cange or his ſupplement.
l
F. bird.
m
Ears.
n
Spurs.
o
Schiltron. I believe ſoldiers drawn up in a circle. Rob. de Brunne uſes it in deſcribing the battle of Fowkirke, Chron. p. 305. ‘Thar SCHELTRON ſone was ſhad with Inglis that wer gode.’ Shad is ſeparated.
p
Signat. M. ii.
q
See ſupr. p. 114.
r
The hawk on the fiſt was a mark of great nobility. We frequently find it, upon antique ſeals and miniatures, attributed to perſons of both ſexes. So ſacred was this bird eſteemed, that it was forbidden in a code of Charlemagne's laws, for any one to give his hawk or his ſword as part of his ranſom. ‘"In compoſitionem Wirigildi volumus ut ea dentur quae in lege continentur excepto accipitre et ſpatha."’ Lindebrog. Cod. Leg. Antiq. p. 895. In the year 1337, the biſhop of Ely excommunicated certain perſons for ſtealing a hawk, ſitting on her perch, in the cloiſters of the abbey of Bermondſey in Southwark. This piece of ſacrilege, indeed, was committed during ſervice-time in the choir: and the hawk was the property of the biſhop. Regiſtr. Adami Orleton, Epiſc. Winton. fol. 56. b. In Archiv. Winton. In DOMESDEI-BOOK, a Hawk's Airy, Aira Accipitris, is ſometim [...]s returned among the moſt valuable articles of property.
s
Hiſtoir. de S. Loys, p. 30. The original has ‘"Cors Sarazinois."’ See alſo p. 52. 56. And Du Cange's Notes, p. 61.
t
I cannot find Glais, the word that follows, in the French dictionaries. But perhaps it anſwers to our old Engliſh Gl [...]. See Du Cange, Gl. Lat. V. CLASSICUM..
u
Cap. 76. Nacaires, is here the word for kettle-drums. See Du Cange, ubi ſupr. p. 59. Who alſo from an old roll d [...] la chambre des COMPTES de Paris recites, among the houſhold muſicians of a French nobleman, ‘"Meneſtrel du Cor Sarazin [...]i [...]," ib. p. 60. This inſtrument is not uncommon in the French romances.
w
Hiſt. de S. Loyis, p. 16. 104. Who had it from a French manuſcript chronicle of the holy war. See Du Cange's Notes, p. 45.
a
The Romance of Sir Guy is a conſiderable volume in quarto. My edition is without date, ‘"Imprinted at London in Lothburye by Wyllyam Copland."’ with rude wooden cuts. It runs to Sign. S. ii. It ſeems to be older than the S [...]uyr of lowe degree, in which it is quoted. Sign. [...]. iii.
Or els ſo bolde in chivalrie
As was ſyr Gawayne or ſyr GIE.
The two beſt manuſcripts of this romance are at Cambridge, MS [...]. Bibl. Publ. Mor. 690. 33. And MSS. Coll. Caii, A. 8.
b
In Chaucer's Tale of the Chano [...] Yeman, chemiſtry is termed an ELFISH art, that is, taught or conducted by Spirits. This is an Arabian idea. Chan. Y [...]m. T. p. 122. v. 772. Urry's edit.
Whan we be ther as we ſhall exerciſe
Our ELVISHE craft.—
Again, ibid. v. 863.
Though he ſit at his boke both daie and night,
In lerning of this ELVISH nicè lore.
c
‘"Into the land of Fairy, into the region of Spirits."’
d

‘"Walls built by the Pagans or Saracens. Walls built by magic."’ Chaucer, in a verſe taken from Syr Bevys, [Sign. a. ii.] ſays that his knight had travelled,

‘As well in Chriſtendom as in HETHNESS.’

Prol. p. 2. v. 49. And in Syr Eglamour of Artoys, Sign. E. ii.

Eglamour ſayd to hym yeys,
I am come out of HETHENES.

Syr Bevys of Hamptoun. Sign. b. iii.

They found ſhippes more and leſſe
Of panimes and of hethen [...]ſſe.

Alſo, Sign. C. i.

The firſt dede withouten leſſe
That Bevys dyd in hethen [...]ſſe.
e
Called.
f
Went.
t
Sign. K k. iii. ſeq.
h
Circle.
i
At dinner.
k
Table. Chaucer, Squ. T. 105.
And up he rideth to the hi [...] borde.
Chaucer ſays that his knight had often "beg [...]n the bord abovin all nations."’ Prol. 52. The term of chivalry, to begin the board, is to be placed in the uppermoſt ſeat of the hall. Anſtis, Ord. Gart. i. App. p. xv. ‘"The earl of Surry began the borde in preſence: the earl of Arundel waſhed with him, and ſatt both at the firſt meſſe. . . . Began the borde at the chamber's end."’ i. e. ſat at the head of that table which was at the end of the chamber. This was at Windſor, A. D. 1519. In Syr Eglamour of Artoys, we have to begin the d [...]ſ [...], which is the ſame thing.
Lordes in halle wer ſette
And waytes blewe to the mete.—
The two knyghtes the deſe began.
Sign D iii. See Chaucer, Squ. T. 99. And Kn. T. 2002. In a celebration of the feaſt of Chriſtmas at Greenwich, in the year 1488, we have, ‘"The duc of Bedeford [...]ega [...]ne the table on the right ſide of the hall, and next untoo hym was the lorde Dawbeney [...], &c."’ That is, He ſate at the head of t [...]e [...]abl [...]. Leland. Coll. iii. 237. edit. 1770. To begin the bourd is to begin the tournam [...]nt. Lydgate, Chron. Troy, B. ii. ch. 14. ‘The grete juſtes, bordes, or tournay. I will here take occaſion to correct Hearne's explanation of the word Bourder in Brunne's Chron. p. 204.
A knygt a BOURDOUR king Richard hade
A douty man in ſtoure his name was Markade.
BOURDOUR, ſays Hearne, is boarder, penſioner. But the true meaning is, a Wag, an arch fellow, for he is h [...]re introduced putting a joke on the king of France. BOURDE is j [...]ſt, trick, from the French. See above, p. 70. Chau [...]. Gam. 1974. and Non. Urr. 2294. Knyghton, mentions a favourite in the court of England who could procure any grant from the king burdando. Du Cange Not. Joinv. p. 116. Who adds, ‘"De là vient le mot de Bourdeurs qui eſtoient ces farceurs ou plaiſantins qui divertiſſoient les princes par le recit des fables et des hiſtoires des Romans.—Aucuns eſtiment que ce mot vient des behourds qui eſtoit une eſpece des Tournois."’ See alſo Diſſ. Joinv. p. 174.
l

Cared, valued. Chaucer, Rom. R. 1873.

‘I ne rought of deth ne of life.’
m
Thoſe who believe.
n
Sign. Q. iii.
o
Running.
p
‘"Nothing could ſtop it."’
q
Divided.
r
‘"Guy cut through all the giant's armour."’
s
It contains thirty-eight pages in quarto. ‘"Imprinted at London by me Wyllyam Copland."’ I have never ſeen it in manuſcript.
t
See Obſervations on the Fairy Queen, i. §. iv. p. 139.
u
Sign. a. iii.
w
An Oriel ſeems to have been a receſs in a chamber, or hall, formed by the projection of a ſpacious bow-window from top to bottom. Rot. Pip. an. 18. Hen. iii. [A. D. 1234.] ‘"Et in quadam capella pulchra et decenti facienda ad caput Orioli camere regis in caſtro Herefordie, de longitudine xx: pedum."’ This Oriel was at the end of the king's chamber, from which the new chapel was to begin. Again, in the caſtle of Kenilworth. Rot. Pip. an. 19. Hen. iii. [A. D. 1235.] ‘"Et in uno magno Oriollo pulchro et competenti, ante oſtium magne camere regis in caſtro de Kenilworth faciendo, vil. xvis. iv d. per Brev. regis."’
x
Cloſed, ſhut. In P. Plowman, of a blind man. "unſparryd his eine."’ i. e. opened his eyes.
y
Embroidered, Diverſified. Chaucer of [...] bow, Rom. R. v. 934.
And it was painted wel and thwitten
And ore all diapred, and written, &c.
Thwitten is, twiſted, wreathed. The following inſtance from Chaucer is more to our purpoſe. Knight's Tale, v. 2160.
Upon a ſtede bay, trappid in ſ [...]le,
Coverid with cloth of gold diaprid wele.
This term, which is partly heraldic, occurs in the Proviſor's rolls of the Greatwardrobe, containing deliveries for furniſhing rich habiliments, at tilts and tournaments, and other ceremonies. ‘"Et ad faciendum tria harneſia pro Rege, quorum duo de velvetto albo operato cum garteriis de blu et di [...]ſ [...]r [...] per totam campedinem cum wodehouſes."’ Ex Comp. J. Coke clerici, Proviſor. Magn. Garderob. ab ann. xxi. Edw. iii. de 23 membranis. ad ann. xxiii. memb. x. I believe it properly ſignifies embroidering on a rich ground, as tiſſu [...], cloth of gold, &c. This is confirmed by Peacham. ‘"DIAPERING is a term in drawing.—It chi [...]fly ſerveth to counterfeit cloth of gold, ſilver, damaſk, brancht velvet, camblet, &c."’ Compl. Gent. p. 345. Anderſon, in his Hiſtory of Commerce, conjectures, that Dia [...]r, a ſpeci [...]s of printed linen, took it's name from the city of Ypres in Flanders, where it was firſt made, being originally called d'ipr [...]. But that city, and others in Flanders, were no leſs famous for rich manufactures of ſtuff; and the word in queſtion has better pretenſions to ſuch a derivation. Thus rich cloth [...]mbroidered with raiſed work we called d'ipre, and from thence diaper; and to do this, or any work like it, was called to diaper, from whence the participle. Sattin of Brug [...]s, another city of Flanders, often occurs in inventories of monaſtic veſ [...]ments, in the r [...]ign of Henry the eighth: and the cities of Arras and Tours are celebrated for their t [...]p [...]ſtry in Spenſer. All theſe cities and others in their neighbourhood, became [...]amous for this ſort of workmanſhip before 1200. The Arm [...]tor of Edward the third, who [...]iniſhes all the coſtly apparatus for the ſhews above-mentioned, conſiſting, among other things, of variety of the moſt ſumptuous and ornamented embroideries on velvet, ſa [...]in, tiſſu [...], &c. is John of Cologn. Unleſs it be Colonia in It [...]ly. Rotul. praedict. memb. viii. memb. xiii. ‘"Quae omnia ordinata fu [...]unt per garderob [...]rium competentem, de precepto ipſius Regis: et facta et parata par manus Johis de Colonia, Armatoris ipſius domini noſtri Regis."’ Johannes de Straweſburgh [Straſburgh] is mentioned as broudator r [...]gis, i. e. of Richard the ſecond, in Anſtis [...] Ord. Gart. i. 55. See alſo, ii. 42. I will add a paſſage from Chaucer's Wife of Bath, v. 450.
Of cloth-making ſhe had ſuch a haunt,
She paſſid them of Ipre and of Gaunt.
‘"Cloth of Gaunt,"’ i. e. Ghent, is mentioned in the Romaunt of the Roſe, v. 574. Bruges was the chief mart for Italian commodities, about the thirteenth century. In the year 1318, five Venetian gal [...]aſſes, laden with Indian goods, arrived at this city in order to diſpoſe of their cargoes at the fair. L. Guic. Deſcr. di Paeſi baſs. p. 174. Silk manufactures were introduced from the eaſt into Italy, before 1130. Gianon. Hiſt. Napl. xi. 7. The cruſades much improved the commerce of the Italian ſtates with the eaſt in this article, and produced new artificers of their own. But to recur to the ſubject of this note. Diaper occurs among the rich ſilks and ſtuffs in the French Roman de la Roſ [...], where it ſeems to ſignify Damaſk. v. 21867. ‘Samites, dyaprés, camelots.’ I find it likewiſe in the Roman d'Alexandre, written about 1200. MSS. Bodl. fol. i. b. col. 2. Dyapres d'Antioch, ſamis de Romanie.’ Here is alſo a proof that the Aſiatic ſtuff [...] were at that time famous: and probably Romani [...] is Romania. The word often occurs in old accounts of rich eccleſiaſtical veſtments. Du Cange derives this word from the Italian diaſpro, a jaſper, a precious ſtone which ſhifts its colours. V. DIASPRUS. In Dugdale's Monaſticon we have diaſperatus, diapered. ‘"Sandalia cum caligis de rubeo ſameto DIASPERATO breudata cum imaginibus regum."’ tom. iii. 314. And 321.
z

Sometimes written pimeate. In the romance of Syr B [...]vys, a knight juſt going to repoſe, takes the uſual draught of pimeate: which mixed with ſpices is what the French romances call vin du couch [...]r, and for which an officer, called ESPICIER, was appointed in the old royal houſhold of France. Signat. m. iii.

The knight and ſhe to chamber went:—
With pimea [...]e, and with ſpiſery,
When they had dronken the wyne.

See Carpentier, Suppl. Gloſſ. Lat. Du Cange, tom. iii. p. 842. So Chaucer, Leg. Dido, v. 185.

The ſpicis parted, and the wine agon,
Unto his chamber he is lad anon.

Froiſſart ſays, among the delights of his youth, that he was happy to taſte,

—Au couchier, pour mieulx dormir,
Eſpeces, clairet, et rocelle.

Mem. Lit. x. 665. Not. 4to. Lidgate of Tideus and Polimite in the palace of Adraſtus at Thebes. Stor. Theb. p. 634. ed. Chauc. 1687.

—Gan anon repaire
To her lodging in a ful ſtately toure;
Aſſigned to hem by the herbeiour.
And aftir ſpicis plenty and the wine
In cuppis grete wrought of gold ful fyne,
Without tarrying to bedde ſtraightes they gone, &c.

Chaucer has it again, Squ. T. v. 311. p. 62. Urr. And Mill. T. v. 270. p. 26. ‘He ſent her piment, methe, and ſpicid ale.’ Some orders of monks are enjoined to abſtain from drinking pigmentum, or piment. Yet it was a common refection in the monaſteries. It is a drink made of wine, honey, and ſpices. ‘"Thei ne could not medell the gefte of Bacchus to the clere honie; that is to ſay, they could not make ne piment ne clarre."’ Chaucer's Boeth. p. 371. a. Urr. Clarre is clarified wine. In French Cla [...]ey. Perhaps the ſame as piment, or hypocraſs. See Mem. Lit. viii. p. 674. 4to. Compare Chauc. Sh. T. v. 2579. Urr. Du Cange, Gloſſ. Lat. V. PIGMENTUM. SPECIES. And Suppl. Carp. And Mem. ſur l'anc. Chevalier. i. p. 19. 48. I muſt add, that [...], or [...], ſignified an Apothecary among the middle and lower Greeks. See Du Cange, Gl. Gr. in Voc. i. 1167. And ii. Append. Etymolog. Vocab. Ling. Gall. p. 301. col. 1. In the regiſter of the biſhop of Nivernois, under the year 1287, it is covenanted, that whenever the biſhop ſhall celebrate maſs in S. Mary's abbey, the abbeſs ſhall preſent him with a peacock, and a cup of piment. Carpentier, ubi ſupt. vol. iii. p. 277.

a

Chaucer ſays of the Frankelein, Prol. p. 4. Urr. v. 345. ‘Withoutin bake mete never was his houſe.’ And in this poem, Signat. B. iii.

With birds in bread ybake,
The tele the duck and drake.
b
In a manuſcript of Froiſſart full of paintings and illuminations, there is a repreſentation of the grand entrance of queen Iſabel of England into Paris, in the year 1324. She is attended by a greyhound who has a flag, powdered with fleurs de lys, bound to his neck. Montf. Monum. Fr. ii. p. 234.
c
Cloath, or linen, of Rennes, a city in Britany. Chaucer, Dr. v. 255.
And many a pilowe, and every bere
Of cloth [...] of raynes to ſlepe on ſofte,
Him thare not nede to turnin ofte.
Tela de Reynes is mentioned among habits delivered to knights of the garter, 2 Rich. ii. Anſtis, Ord. Gart. i. 55.
d
‘"Inlaid with jewels."’ Chaucer, Kn. T. v. 2938. p. 22. Urr.

And then with cloth of gold and with perie.

And in numberleſs other places.

e
Sign. D. ii. ſeq. At the cloſe of the romance it is ſaid, that the king, in the midſt of a great feaſt which laſted forty days, created the ſquire king in his room; in the preſence of his TWELVE LORDS. See what I have obſerved concerning the number TWELVE, Introd. DISS. i.
f
It contains thirty-two pages in quarto. Coloph. ‘"Thus endeth the Tretyſe of Syr Degore, imprynted by Willyam Copland."’ There is another copy dated 1560. There is a manuſcript of it among biſhop More's at Cambridge, Bibl. Publ. 690. 36. Syr DEGARE.
g
Sign. B. ii.
g
Gloves were antiently a coſtly article of dreſs, and richly decorated. They were ſometimes adorned with precious ſtones. Rot. Pip. an. 53. Hen [...]. iii. [A. D. 1267.] ‘"Et de i. pectine auri c [...]m lapidibus pretioſis ponderant. xliii s. et iii d. ob. Et de ii. paribus chirothecarum cum LAPIDIBUS."’ This golden comb, ſet with jewels, realiſes the wonders of romance.
h
All the romances have ſuch an obſtacle as this. They have all an enchantreſs, who detains the knight from his queſt by objects of pleaſure; and who is nothing more than the Calypſo of Homer, the Dido of Virgil, and the Armida of Taſſo.
i
MS. Vernon, ut ſupr. Bibl. Bodl. f. 299. It is alſo in Caius College Camb. MSS. Claſſ. E. 147. 4. And Bibl. Publ. Cambr. MSS. More, 690. 35. And Brit. Muſ. MSS. Harl. 525. 2. f. 35. Cod. membran. Never printed.
k
Young.
l
Named.
m
The hymn ſo called.
n
He wiſt. Knew not.
o
Lie.
p
Eye.
r
Stall, or ſeat.
s
‘"A king like him went out of the chapel, and all the company with him; while the real king Robert was forgotten and left behind."’
t
Suppoſed.
u
Went to him.
w
Renegado, traitor.
x
At the call.
y
Calls.
z
Price.
a
Precious ſtones.
b
That is, the Angel.
c
Lothly, loathſome.
d
In many knots.
e
Seen.
f
Cloth of gold.
g
Went.
h
Royal.
i
Royally.
k
Their.
l
Squire.
m
But.
n
There is an old French Romance, ROBERT LE DIABLE, often quoted by Carpentier in his Supplement to Du Cange. And a French Morality, without date, or name of the author, in manuſcript, Comment il fut enjoint a ROBERT le diable, fils du du [...] de Normandie, pour ſes mesfaites, de faire le fol ſang parler, et depuis N. S. ut merc [...] du lui. Beauchamps, Rech. Theat. Fr. p. 109. This is probably the ſame Robert.
o
A paſſage in Fauchett, ſpeaking of rhyme, may perhaps deſerve attention here. ‘"Pour le regard de Sicili [...]ns, je me tiens preſque aſſeure, que Guillaume Ferrabrach frere de Robert Guiſchard et autres ſeigneurs de Calabre et Pouille enfans de Tancred François-Normand, l'ont portee aux pais de leur conqueſte, eſtant une conſtume des gens de deça chanter, avant que combattre, les beaux faits de leurs anceſtres, compoſez en vers."’ Rec. p. 70. Boccacio's Tancred, in his beautiful Tale of TANCRED AND SIGISMUNDA, was one of theſe Franco-Norman kings of Sicily. Compare Nouv. Abreg. Chronol. Hiſt. Fr. pag. 102. edit. 1752.
p
Damaſcus.
q
MS. Vernon. Bibl. Bodl. f. 304. It is alſo in Bibl. Adv. Edingb. W. 4. 1. Num. iv. In five leaves and a half. Never printed.
r
Their.
s
As.
t
She.
u
Ruddy.
w
Eyes.
x
Neck.
y
See.
z
The report of her.
a
Alſo.
b
Shall.
e

A phraſe often applied to the Saracens. So in Syr Bevys, Signat. C. ii. b.

To ſpeke with an hethene hound [...].

f
Thee.
g
‘"Before his daughter is given to [...]hee."’
h
‘"Tore the hair."’
i
Struck. Stamped.
k
Check.
l
‘"What counſel ſhall we take."’
m
‘"But certainly."’
n
Loſs of health or ſafety. Malediction. So R. of Brunne, Chron. Apud. Hearne's Rob. Glouc. p. 737. 738.
Morgan did after conſeile,
And wrought him ſelfe to wrotherheile.
Again,
To ȝow al was a wikke conſeile,
That ȝe ſelle ſe full wrotherheile.
o
‘"To that iſſue."’
p
Unright. Wicked.
q
Hend. Handſome.
r
Tarry.
s
Companion.
t
Shone.
u
Killed.
w
Wraþþe. Orig.
x
Dint. Wound, ſtroke.
y
Hurt.
z
Coal. Fire-brand.
a
‘"As if he was mad."’
b
Helmet.
c
Flew.
d
Their.
e
‘"They began to make a truce together."’
f
Dole. Grief.
g
Loſt.
h
She.
i
She.
k
Chariot.
l
Ki [...]t.
m
Know.
n
‘"As if ſhe had been a heathen. One of that country."’
o
Have.
p
Mate.
q
The romance of SIR LIBEAUX or LYBIUS DISCONIUS, quoted by Chaucer, is in this ſtanza. MSS. Cott. CAL. A. 2. f. 40.
r
MSS. Harl. 2252. 44. f. 54. And in the library of Lincoln cathedral, (K k. 3. 10.) is an ancient imperfect printed copy, wanting the firſt ſheet.
s
Bras de fer. Iron arms.
t
MSS. f. 55.
u
See p. ſupr.
w
Before-hand.
x
In the feudal caſtles, where many perſons of both ſexes were aſſembled, and who did not know how to ſpend the time, it is natural to ſuppoſe that different parties were formed, and different ſchemes of amuſement invented. One of theſe, was to mount to the top of one of the higheſt towers in the caſtle.
y
The Apulians.
z
Took.
a
She was lady, by inheritance, of the ſignory. The female feudataries exerciſed all the duties and honours of their feudal juriſdiction in perſon. In Spenſer, where we read of the Lady of the Caſtle, we are to underſtand ſuch a character. See a ſtory of a Comteſſe, who entertains a knight in her caſtle with much gallantry. Mem. ſur l'anc. Chev. ii. 69. It is well known that anciently in England ladies were ſheriffs of counties.
b
Learn.
c
Handſome.
d
Unleſs.
e
Walked.
f
Behaviour.
g
‘"Who is to ſerve."’
h
i. e. His mantle.
i
f. Tempt.
k
Beaſt.
l
Veniſon.
m
Ippomedon.
n
MS. f. 61. b.
o
MSS. Harl. 2252. 49. f. 86. Pr. ‘"Lordinges that are leffe and deare."’ Never printed.
p
Signat. K. ii. b.
q
MS. f. 89. b.
r
Ready. See GLOSSARY to the Oxford edition of Shakeſpeare, 1771. In Voc.
s
Hovered.
t
Sir Galaad's.
u
Perhaps yeld, i. e. yield.
w
Fierce.
x
Againſt
y
Weened.
z
Sore.
a
Crowd.
b
Be Troubled.
c
Ready.
d

Octavian is one of the romances mentioned in the Prologue to Cure de Lyon, above cited. See alſo p. 119. In the Cotton manuſcripts there is the metrical romance of Octavian imp [...]rator, but it has nothing of the hiſtory of the Roman emperors. Pr. ‘"Jheſu þat was with ſpere yſtonge."’ Calig. A. 12. f. 20. It is a very ſingular ſtanza. In Biſhop More's manuſcripts at Cambridge, there is a poem with the ſame title, but a very different b [...]ginning, viz. ‘"Lytyll and mykyll olde and younge."’ Bibl. Publ. 690. 30. The emperor Octavyen, perhaps the ſame, is mentioned in Chaucer's Dreme, v. 368. Among Hatton's manuſcripts in Bibl. Bodl. we have a French poem, Romaunce de Otheniem Empereur de Rome. Hyper. Bodl. 4046. 21.

In the ſame line of the aforeſaid Prologue, we have the romance of Ury. This is probably the father of the celebrated Sir Ewaine or Yvain, mentioned in the Court Mantell. Mem. Anc. Cheval. ii. p. 62.

Li rois pris par la deſtre main
L' amiz monſeignor Yvain
Qui au ROI URIEN fu filz,
Et bons chevaliers et hardiz,
Qui tant ama chiens et oiſiaux.

Specimens of the Engliſh Syr Bevys may be ſeen in Percy's Ball. iii. 216, 217, 297. edit. 1767. And Obſervations on the Fairy Queen, §. ii. p. 50. It is extant in the black letter. It is in manuſcript at Cambridge, Bibl. Publ. 690. 30. And Coll. Caii. A. 9. 5. And MSS. Bibl. Adv. Edingb. W. 4. 1. Num. xxii.

Si [...]racke was tranſlated into Engliſh verſe by one Hugh Campden; and printed, probably not long after it was tranſlated, at London, by Thomas God [...]r [...]y, at the coſt of Dan Robert Saltwood, monk of ſaint Auſtin's in Canterbury, 1510. This piece therefore belongs to a lower period. I have ſeen only one manuſcript copy of it. Laud, G. 57. fol. membran.

Chaucer mentions, in Sir Topaz, among others, the romantic poems of Sir Blandamoure, Sir Libeaux, and Sir Ippotis. Of the former I find nothing more than the name occurring in Sir Libeaux. To avoid prolix repetitions from other works in the hands of all, I refer the reader to Percy's Eſſay on antient metrical Romances, who has analyſed the plan of Sir Libeaux, or Sir Libius Diſconius, at large, p. 17. See alſo p. 24. ibid.

As to Sir Ippotis, an antient poem with that title occurs in manuſcript, MSS. Cotton, Calig. A. 2. f. 77. and MS. Vernon, f. 296. But as Chaucer is ſpeaking of romances of chivalry, which he means to ridicule, and this is a religious legend, it may be doubted whether this is the piece alluded to by Chaucer. However I will here exhibit a ſpecimen of it from the exordium. MS. Vernon, f. 296.

Her bi ginnith a tretys
That men cl [...]peth YPOTIS.
Alle that wolleth of wiſdom lere,
Luſteneth now, and ȝe may here;
Of a tale of holi writ
Seynt John the evangeliſt witneſſeth it.
How hit bifelle in grete Rome,
The cheef citee of criſtendome,
A childe was ſent of mihtes moſt,
Thorow vertue of the holi goſt:
The emperour of Rome than
His name was hoten [...]ire Adrian;
And when the child of grete honour
Was come bifore the emperour,
Upon his knees he him ſette
The emperour full faire he grette:
The emperour with milde chere
Aſkede him whethence he come were, &c.

We ſhall have occaſion, in the progreſs of our poetry, to bring other ſpecimens of theſe compoſitions. See Obſ. on Spenſer's Fairy Queen, ii. 42, 43.

I muſt not forget here, that Sir Gawaine, one of Arthur's champions, is celebrated in a ſeparate romance. Among Tanner's manuſcripts, we have the Weddynge of Sir Ga [...]vain, Numb. 455. Bibl. Bodl. It begins, ‘"Be ye blythe and liſteneth to the lyf of a lorde riche."’ Dr. Percy has printed the Marriage of Sir Gawayne, which he believes to have furniſhed Chaucer with his Wife of Bath. Ball. i. 11. It begins, ‘"King Arthur lives in merry Carliſle."’ I think I have ſomewhere ſeen a romance in verſe entitled, The Turke and Gawaine."

e
‘"The ſeconde part of the Inventorye of our late ſovereigne lord kyng Henry the eighth, conteynynge his guardrobes, houſhold-ſtuff, &c. &c."’ MSS. Harl. 1419. fol. The original. Compare p. 114. ſupr. and Walpole's Anecd. Paint. i. p. 10.
f
So in the record. But he was the third biſhop of St. Paul's, London, ſon of king O [...]fa, and a great benefactor to St. Paul's church, in which he had a moſt ſuperb ſhrine. He was canoniſed. Dugdale, among many other curious particulars relating to his ſhrine, ſays, that in the year 1339 it was decorated anew, when three goldſmiths, two at the wages of [...]ive ſhillings by the week, and one at eight, worked upon it for a whole year. Hiſt. St. Paul's, p. 21. See al [...]o p. 233.
g
This was a favourite ſubject for a large gothic window. This ſubject alſo compoſed a branch of candleſticks thence called a JESSE, not unuſual in the antient churches. In the year 1097, Hugo de Flori, abbot of S. Auſt. Canterb. bought for the choir of his church a great branch-candleſtick. ‘"Candelabrum magnum in choro aeneum quod j [...]ſ [...] vocatur in partibus emit tranſmarinis."’ Thorn, Dec. Script. col. 1796. About the year 1330, Adam de Sodbury, [...]bbot of Glaſtonbury, gave to his convent ‘"Unum dorſale lan [...]um le JESSE."’ Hearn. Joan. Glaſton. p. 26 [...]. That is, piece of tapeſtry embroidered with the [...]iem of Jeſſ [...], to be hung round the choir, or other parts of the church, on high feſtivals. He alſo gave a tapeſtry of this ſubject for the abbot's hall. Ibid. And I cannot help adding, what indeed is not immediately connected with the ſubject of this note, that he gave his monaſtery, among other coſtly preſents, a great clock, proceſſionibus et ſpectaculis inſignitum, an organ of prodigious ſize, and eleven bells, ſix for the tower of the church, and five for the clock tower. He alſo new vaulted the nave of the church, and adorned the new roof with beautiful paintings. Ibid.
h
f [...] 6. In many churches of France there was an antient ſhew or mimicry, in which all ranks of life were perſonated by the [...]ccleſiaſtics, who all danced together, and diſappeared one after another. It was called DANCE MACCABRE, and ſeems to have been often performed in St. Innocent's at Paris, where was a famous painting on this ſubject, which gave riſe to Lydgate's poem under the ſame title. See Carpent. Suppl. Du Cange, Lat. Gl. ii. p. 1103. More will be ſaid of it when we come to Lydgate.
i
A famous French allegorical romance.
k
A picture on this favourite ſubject is mentioned in Shakeſpeare. And in Randolph's Muſes Looking-glaſs. ‘"In painted cloth the ſtory of the PRODIGAL."’ Dodſ [...]. Old Pl. vi. 260.
l
f. 298.
m
f. 364.
n
f. 318.
o
f. 346.
p
Some of the tapeſtry at Hampton-court, deſcribed in this inventory, is to be ſeen ſtill in a fine old room, now remaining in its original ſtate, called the Exchequer.
q
Montfaucon, among the tapeſtry of Charles the Fifth, king of France, in the year 1370, mentions, Le tappis de la vie du ſ [...]int Th [...]ſeus. Here the officer who made the entry calls Theſeus a ſaint. The ſeven D [...]adly Sins, Le ſaint Graal, Le graunt tappis de Neuf Preux, Reyne d'Ireland, and Godfrey of B [...]lloign. Monum. Fr. iii. 64. The neuf preux are the Nine Worthies. Among the ſtores of Henry the eighth, taken as above, we have, ‘"two old ſtayned clothes of the ix worthies for the greate chamber,"’ at Newhall in Eſſex, f. 362. Theſe were pictures. Again, at the palace of Weſtminſter in the little ſtudy called the Newe Librarye, which I believe was in Holbein's elegant Gothic gatehouſe lately demoliſhed, there is, ‘"Item, xii pictures of men on horſebacke of enamelled ſtuffe of the Nyne Worthies, and others upon ſquare tables."’ f. 188. MSS. Harl. 1419. ut ſupr.
r
Signat. Ca. 1. Some perhaps may think this circumſtance an innovation or addition of later minſtrells. A practice not uncommon.
s
Dugd. Bar. i. p. 237.
t
Leland. Coll. vol. iii. p. 295, 296. Opuſcul. edit. 1770.
u
Ibid.
w
See Obſ [...] Fair. Qu. i. p. 177.
x
Howel's Letters, xx, § vi. B. i. This is a true ſtory, about the y [...]ar 1180. Fauchett relates itat large from an old authentic French chronicle; and then adds, ‘"A [...]nſi finerint les amours du Chaſtelain du Couci et de la dame de Faiel."’ Our Caſtellan, whoſe name is Regnard de Couci, was famous for his chanſons and chivalry, but more ſo for his unfortunate love, which became proverbial in the old French romances. See [...]auch. Rec. p. 124. 128.
y
Antiquit. Dan. Lib. i. 9. p. 51.
z
In the royal palace of Jeddo, which overflows with a pro [...]uſion of the moſt exquiſite and ſuperb eaſtern embelliſhments, the tapeſtry of the emperor's audience-hall is of the fineſt ſilk, wrought by the moſt ſkilful arti [...]icers of that country, and adorned with pearls, gold, and ſilver. Mod. Univ. Hiſt. B. xiii. c. ii. vol. ix. p. 83. (Not. G.) edit. 1759.
a
Robert de Brunne, above mentioned, lived, and perhaps wrote ſome of his pieces, in this reign; but he more properly belongs to the laſt.
b
This will appear from citations which follow.
c
MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Laud I. 74. fol. membran. It has been much damaged, and on that account is often illegible.
d
In the manuſcript there is alſo a piece in proſe, intitled, The Pylgrymages of the holi land. f. 65.—66. It begins. ‘"Qwerr ſoever a cros ſtandyth ther is a forgivenes of payne."’ I think it is a deſcription of the holy places, and it appears at leaſt to be of the hand-writing of the reſt.
e
Dream.
f
Thought, dreamed. In the firſt ſenſe, we have me m [...]tte in Chaucer, Non. Pr. T. v. 1013. Urr. And below.
g
Named.
h
[...]ol. 27.
i
Twel [...]th-night.
k
Named.
l
Dear-worthy.
m
Took.
n
Wept.
o
They.
p
Worþig. Orig.
q
Lady.
r
Dear.
s
Croſs.
t
Unnailed.
w
Wodenis day. Woden's day. Wedneſday.
u
Lent.
x
Make haſte.
y
Chriſtmaſs-day.
z
Lies.
a
‘"As ſure as God choſe the Virgin Mary to be Chriſt's Mother."’
b
In an antient inventory of books, all French romances, made in England in the reign of Edward the third, I find the romance of TITUS and VESPASIAN. Madox, Formul. Anglican. p. 12. See alſo Scipio Maffei's Traduttori Italiani, p. 48. Creſcimbeni (Volg. Poeſ. vol. i. l. 5. p. 317.) does not ſeem to have known of this romance in Italian. Du Cange mentions Le Roman de 'a Priſe de Jeruſalem par Titus, in verſe. Gloſs. Lat. i. IND. AUCT. p. cxciv. A metrical romance on this ſubject is in the royal manuſcripts. 16 E viii. 2. Brit. Muſ. There is an old French play on this ſubject, acted in 1437. It was printed in 1491. fol. M. Beauchamps, Rech. Fr. Theat. p. 134.
c
He mentions Conſtantinople and New Rome: an [...] the provinces of Scotia and Saxonia. From this work the Maccabe [...]s ſeem to have got into romance. It was firſt printed at Paris. fol. 1511. Among the Bodleian manuſcripts there is a moſt beautiful copy of this book, believed to be written in the Saxon times.
d

The latter part of this poem appears detached, in a former part of our manuſcript, with the title THE VENGEAUNCE OF GODDES DEATH, viz. f. 22. b. Thi [...] latter part begins with theſe lines.

And at the fourty dayes ende,
Whider I wolde he bade me we [...]de,
Upon the mount of olyvete, &c.
e
MS. ut ſupr. f. 72. b.
f
MS. ut ſ [...]pr. f. 22.—72. b.
g
Thirty pence
h
Iþo. Orig.
i
MS. ut ſupr. f. 66.—72. b.
k
Tokens.
l
MS. ut ſupr. f. 71. b.
m
Leave.
n
May.
o
Sometimes.
p
MS. ut ſupr. f. 72.
q
Chaucer in TROILUS AND CRESSIDA mentions ‘"the grete diverſite in Engliſh, and in writing of our tongue."’ He therefore prays God, that no perſon would miſwrite, or miſſe-metre his poem. lib. ult. v. 1792. ſeq.
r
MS. ut ſupr. f. 28.—65.
s
Leg. lerd. Learned.
t
The work begins thus. f. 28.
Whilom clarkes wel ylerede
On thre digten this myddel erde,
And cleped him in her maiſtrie,
Europe, Affryk, and Aſie:
At Aſie alſo mychel ys
As Ethiope, and Affryke, I wis, &c.
And ends with this diſtich. f. 65.
Thus ended Aliſander the kyng:
God graunte us his bliſſyng. Amen.
u
Jolly.
w
Ladies.
x
Of each, or every, profeſſion, trade, ſort.
y
‘"All mankind are agreed."’
z
Much.
a
Ruddy.
b
Praiſe.
c
F. Guiſe.
d
Rode.
e
As.
f
Embroidered work, cloth of gold. Auri [...]rigrium, Lat.
g
Fared. Went.
h
Sort.
i
Sparrow-hawk. A hawk.
k
Well-bred.
l
Before.
m
Went. Aller, Fr.
n
‘"Hung with tapeſtry."’ We find this ceremony practiſed at the entrance of lady Eliſabeth, queen of Henry the ſeventh, into the city of London.—‘"Al the ſtrets ther whiche ſhe ſhulde paſſe by wer clenly dreſſed and beſene with cloth, of tappeſtrye and arras, and ſome ſtreetes as Chepe, hanged with riche clothes of golde, velvettes and ſilkes."’ This was in the year 1481. Leland. Coll. iv. Opuſcul. p. 220. edit. 1770.
o
‘"Againſt her coming."’
p
See the deſcription of the tournament in Chaucer, Knight's Tale, where the city is hanged with cloth of gold. v. 2570. Urr.
q
‘"Organs, chimes, all manner of muſic."’
r
The town-wall.
s
‘"All ſorts of ſports."’
t
Skirmiſhing.
u
‘"Baying, or bayting of the boar."’
w
Slaying bulls, bull-feaſts. Chaucer ſays that the chamber of Venus was painted with ‘"white bolis grete."’ Compl. of Mars and Ven. v. 86.
x
Sattin.
y
Skins.
z
Croud. Company.
a
Rode ſingle.
b
Yellow hair.
c
‘"Covered her all over."’
d
fol. 55. a.
e
Beauty.
f
John Gower, who lived an hundred years after our author, has deſcribed the ſame proceſſion. Confeſſ. Amant. lib. vi. fol. 137. a. b. edit. Berthel. 1554.
But in that citee then was
The quene, whiche Olimpias
Was hote, and with ſolempnitee
The feſte of hir nativitee,
As it befell, was than hold:
And for hir luſt to be behold,
And preiſed of the people about,
She ſhop hir for to ridenout,
Al aftir meet al opinly.
Anon al men were redie;
And that was in the month of Maie:
This luſty quene in gode araie
Was ſette upon a mule white
To ſene it was a grete delite
The joye that the citie made.
With freſh thinges and with glade
The noble towne was al behonged;
And everie wight was ſon alonged
To ſee this luſtie ladie ryde.
There was great mirth on al ſyde,
When as ſhe paſſed by the ſtreate
There was ful many a tymbre beate,
And many a maide carolende.
And thus throughout the town plaiende
This quene unto the plaiene rode
Whar that ſhe hoved and abode
To ſe divers games plaie,
The luſtie folke juſt and tornaye.
And ſo couth every other man
Which play with, his play began,
To pleaſe with this noble queen.
Gower continues this ſtory, from a romance mentioned above, to fol. 140.
g
Red.
h
Proviſion.
i
fol. 63. a.
k
Chaucer, R. of Sir Thop. v. 3245. Urry's edit. p. 145.
He couth hunt al the wild dere,
And ride an hawkyng by the rivere.
And in the Squyr of low degree, ſ [...]pr. citat. p. 179.
—Shall ye ryde
On hawkyng by the river ſyde.
Chaucer, Frankleins Tale, v. 1752. p. 111. Urr. edit.
Theſe fauconers upon a faire rivere
That with the hawkis han the heron ſ [...]aine.
l
See Obſervations on the Fairy Queen, i. §. v. p. 146.
m
fol. 64.
n
MS. ut ſupr. f. 46. b.
o
I cannot explain this word. It is a wind-inſtrument.
p
This poem has likewiſe, in the ſame vein, the following well-known old rhyme, which paints the manners, and is perhaps the true reading. fol. 64.
Merry ſwithe it is in halle
When the [...]erdes waveth alle.
And in another place we have,
Merry it is in halle to here the harpe;
The minſtrelles ſynge, the jogelours carpe.
fol. ſine num. ad [...]in. Here, by the way, it appears, that the minſtrels and juglers were diſtinct characters. So Robert de Brunne, in deſcribing the coronation of king Arthur, apud Anſtis, Ord. Gart. i. p. 304.
Jogeleurs wer ther inouh
That wer queitiſe for the drouh,
Mynſtrels many with dyvers glew, &c.
And Chaucer mentions ‘"minſtrels and eke joglours."’ Rom. R. v. 764. But they are often confounded or made the ſame.
q
fol. 40.
r
Ibid.
s
fol. ſine num.
t
MS. ut ſupr. f. 45. b.
u
Bucephalus.
w
Sic.
x
Point.
y
Fellows.
z
They.
a
Servant. Subject.
b
Strife.
953
c Greeks.
d
Shame.
e
Thought.
f
Loſt.
g
Horſe. Lat. Dextrarius.
h
Short time.
i
Head.
k
Lady.
l
Paramour.
m
‘"Led along, maimed, wounded."’
n
‘"Many a rich banner, or flag, ſprinkled with blood."’
o
Claſhing.
p
MS. baþing. I do not underſtand the word.
q
Weather. Sky.
r
Came, followed.
s
MS. ut ſupr. f. 50.
t
Saw openly.
u
[...]ſidor [...]. He means, I ſuppoſe, Iſidorus Hiſpalenſis, a Latin writer of the ſeventh century.
w
He means Juſtin's Trogus Pompeius the hiſtorian, whom he confounds with Pompey the Great.
x
‘"Don't look on me as the inventor."’
y
Fled.
z
Took.
a
Strait.
b
MS. oþþe.
c
Caucaſus.
d
Chill. Cold.
e
Very many.
f
Uncommon.
g
Leland. Script. Brit. p. 338. Hollingſh. Hiſt. ii. p. 217. 220. Tanner mentions, as a poet of England, one Gulielmus Peregrinus, who accompanied Richard the firſt into the holy land, and ſung his atchievements there in a Latin poem, entitled ODOEPORICON RICARDI REGIS, lib. i. It is dedicated to Herbert archbiſhop of Canterbury, and Stephen Turnham, a captain in the expedition. He flouriſhed about A. D. 1200. Tann. Bibl. p. 591. See Voſſ. Hiſt. Lat. p. 441. He is called ‘"poeta per eam aetatem excellens."’ See Bal. iii. 45. Pitſ. 266.
h
It is extant in Fordun's Scoti-chron. c. xxiii. l. 12.
i
Leland. ut ſupr. And MSS. Harl. 1819. Brit. Muſ. See alſo Wood, Hiſt. Ant. Univ. Oxon. i. p. 101.
k
Apud Tanner, p. 79.
l
Arch. B. 52.
m
Lib. v. f. 109. b. Edit. Berth. 1554.
n
Carmina compoſuit, voluitque placere poeta.
o
f. 121.
p
In the epiſcopal palace at Norwich is a curious piece of old wainſcot brought from the monaſtery of Hulme at the time of its diſſolution. Among other antique ornaments are the arms of Sir John Falſtaff, their principal benefactor. This magnificent knight was alſo a benefactor to Magdalene College in Oxford. He bequeathed eſtates to that ſociety, part of which were appropriated to buy liveries for ſome of the ſenior ſcholars. But this benefaction, in time, yielding no more than a penny a week to the ſcholars who received the liveries, they were called, by way of contempt, Falſtaff's buckram-men.
q
Miſcell. M. p. 274.
r
Hiſt. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. ii. 4. col. 2.
s
v. 85. See alſo, ibid. v. 103. 786. 875.
t
Prol. F. Pr. v. i. See alſo Chaucer's Troil. and Cr. v. 1785. 1787.
u
The elegant Fontenelle mentions one Paraſols a Limoſin, who wrote Cinque belles TRAGEDIES des geſtes de Jeanne reine de Naples, about the year 1383. Here he thinks he has diſcovered, ſo early as the fourteenth century, ‘"une Poete tragique."’ I have never ſeen theſe five Tragedies, nor perhaps had Fontenelle. But I will venture to pronounce, that they are nothing more than five tragical narratives: Queen Jane murthered her four huſbands, and was afterwards put herſelf to death. See Fontenelle's Hiſt. de Theatr. Fr. Oevr. tom. troiſ. p. 20. edit. Paris, 1742. 12mo. Nor can I believe that the Tragedies and Comedi [...]s, as they are called, of Anſelm Fayditt, and other early troubadours, had any thing dramatic. It is worthy of notice, that pope Clement the ſeventh rewarded Paraſols for his five tragedies with two canonries. Compare Recherches ſur les Theatr. de France, par M. de Beauchamps, Paris, 1735. 4to. p. 65.
x
DISSERTATION ii.
y
‘"Lundonia pro ſpectaculis theatralibus, pro ludis ſcenicis, ludos habet ſanctiores, repreſentationes miraculorum quae ſancti confeſſores operati ſunt, ſeu repreſentationes paſſionum quibus claruit conſtantia martyrum."’ Ad calc. STOWE'S SURVEY OF LONDON, p. 480. edit. 1599. The reader will obſerve, that I have conſtrued ſanctiores in a poſitive ſenſe. Fitz-Stephen mentions at the end of his tract, ‘"Imperatricem Matildem, Henricum regem tertium, et beatum Thomam. &c."’ p. 483. Henry the third did not accede till the year 1216. Perhaps he implied futurum regem tertium.
z
Vit. Abbat. ad calc. Hiſt. p. 56. edit. 1639.
a
Prol. Wif. B. v. 555. p. 80. Urr.
b
Signat. A. iii. b. edit. 1561.
c
Maſters's Hiſt. C. C. C. C. p. 5. vol. i. What w [...]s the antiquity of the Guary-Miracle, or Miracle-Play in Cornwall, has not been determined. In the Bodleian library ar [...] three Corniſh interludes, written on parchment. B. 40. Art. In the ſame library there is alſo another, written on paper in the year 1611. Arch. B. 31. Of this laſt there is a tranſlation in the Britiſh Muſeum. MSS. Harl. 1867. 2. It is entitled the CREATION OF THE WORLD. It is called a Corniſh play or opera, and ſaid to be written by Mr. William Jordan. The tranſlation into Engliſh was made by John Keigwin of Mouſhole in Cornwall, at the requeſt of Trelawney, biſhop of Exeter, 1691. Of this William Jordan I can give no account. In the Britiſh Muſeum there is an antient Corniſh poem on the death and reſurrection of Chriſt. It is on vellum, and has ſome rude pictures. The beginning and end are loſt. The writing is ſuppoſed to be of the fifteenth century. MSS. Harl. 1782 4to. See the learned Lwhyd's Archaeol. Brit. p. 265. And Borlaſe's Cornwall, Nat. Hiſt. p. 295. edit. 1758.
d
When our Henry the ſixth ent [...]red Paris in 1431, in the quality of king of France, he was met at the gate of Saint Denis by a Dumb Shew, repreſenting the birth of the Virgin Mary and her marriage, the adoration of the three kings, and the parable of the ſower. This pageant indeed was given by the French: but the readers of Hollingſhead will recollect many inſtances immediately to our purpoſe. See Monſtrelet. apud Fonten. Hiſt. Theatr. ut ſupr. p. 37.
e
Rot. incert. ut videtur Reg. Johann. Apud. MSS. James, Bibl. Bodl. vii. p. 104.
f
John of Saliſbury, who wrote about 1160, ſays, ‘"Hiſtriones et mimi non poſſunt recipere ſacram communionem."’ POLICRAT. i. 8.
g
Comp. J. Cooke, Proviſoris Magnae Garderob. ab ann. 21. Edw. i. ad ann. 23. Membr. ix.
h
I do not perfectly underſtand the Latin original in the place. viz. ‘"xiiij Creſtes cum tibiis reverſatis et calceatis, xiiij Creſtes cum montibus et cuniculis."’ Among the ſtuffs are ‘"viii pelles de Roan."’ In the ſame wardrobe rolls, a little above, I find this entry, which relates to the ſame feſtival. ‘"Et ad faciendum vi pennecellos pro tubis et clarionibus contra ffeſtum natalis domini, de ſyndone, vapulatos de armis regis quartellatis."’ Membr. ix.
i
Some perhaps may think, that theſe were dreſſes for a MASQUE at court. If ſo, Hollingſhead is miſtaken in ſaying, that in the year 1512, ‘"on the daie of Epiphanie at night, the king with eleven others were diſguiſed after the manner of Italie called a ma [...]ke, a thing not ſeen before in England. They were apparelled in garments long and broad wrought all with gold, with viſors and caps of gold, &c."’ Hiſt. vol. iii. p. 812. [...]. 40. Beſides, theſe maſkings moſt probably came to the Engliſh, if from Italy, through the medium of France. Hollingſhead alſo contradicts him [...]elf: for in another place he ſeems to allow their exiſtence under our Henry the fourth, A. D. 1400. ‘"The conſpi [...]ators ment upon the ſudden to have to have ſet upon the king in the caſtell of Windſor, under colour of a maſke or mummerie, &c."’ ibid. p. 515. b. 50. Strype ſays there were PAGEAUNTS exhibited in London when queen Eleanor rode through the city to her coronation, in 1236. And for the victory over the Scots by Edward the firſt in 1298. Anecdot. Brit. Topograph. p. 725. Lond. edit. 1768.
k
Comp. Magn. Gard [...]rob. an. 14. Ric. ii. f. 193. b.
l
Leland. Coll. iii. Append. p. 256. edit. 1770.
m
Regiſtr. lib. iii. f. 88. ‘"Canere Cantilenas, ludibriorum ſpectacula facere, ſaltationes et alios ludos inhoneſtos frequentare, choreas, &c."’ So in Statut. Eccleſ. Nannett. A. D. 1405. No ‘"mimi vel joculatores, ad monſtra larvarum in eccleſia et cemeterio,"’ are permitted. Marten. Theſaur. Anecd. iv. p. 993. And again, ‘"Joculatores, hiſtriones, ſaltatrices, in eccleſia, cemeterio, vel porticu.—nec aliquae choreae."’ Statut. Synod. Eccleſ. Leod. A. D. 1287. apud Marten. ut ſupr. p. 846. Fontenelle ſays, that antiently among the French, comedies were acted after divine ſervice, in the church-yard. ‘"Au ſortir du ſermon ces bonnes gens alloient a la Comedie, c'eſt a dire, qu'ils changeoint de Sermon."’ Hiſt. Theatr. ut ſupr. p. 24. But theſe were ſcriptural comedies, and they were conſtantly preceded by a BENEDICITE, by way of prologue. The French ſtage will occur again below.
n
Pag. 459. edit. 1730. 4to.
o
Burnet, Hiſt. Ref. i. Coll. Rec. pag. 225.
p
From a puritanical pamphlet entitled THE THIRD BLAST OF RETRAIT FROM PLAIES, &c. 1580. 12mo. p. 77. Where the author ſays, the players are ‘"permitted to publiſh their mamettrie in everie temple of God, and that, throughout England, &c."’ This abuſe of acting plays in churches is mentioned in the canon of James the firſt, which forbids alſo the profanation of churches by court-leets, &c. The canons were given in the year 1603.
q
Strype's Grindall, p. 82.
r
MSS. Digb. 134. Bibl. Bodl.
s
L'Enſant. ii. 440.
t
MSS. Harl. 2013, &c. Exhibited at Cheſter in the year 1327, at the expence of the different trading companies of that city. The Fall of Lucifer by the Tanners. The Creation by the Drapers. The Deluge by the Dyers. Abraham, Melchiſ [...]dech, and Lot by the Barbers. Moſes, Balak, and Balaam by the Cappers. The Salutation and Nativity by the Wrightes. The Shepherds feeding their flocks by night by the Painters and Glaziers. The three Kings by the Vintners. The Oblation of the three Kings by the Mercers. The Killing of the Innocents by the Goldſmiths. The Purification by the Blackſmiths. The Temptation by the Butchers. The laſt Supper by the Bakers. The Blindmen and Lazarus by the Glovers. Jeſus and the Lepers by the Corveſarys. Chriſt's Paſſion by the Bowyers, Fletchers, and Ironmongers. Deſcent into Hell by the Cooks and Innkeepers. The Reſurrection by the Skinners. The Aſcenſion by the Taylors. The election of S. Matthias, Sending of the holy ghoſt, &c. by the Fiſhmongers. Antechriſt by the Clothiers. Day of Judgment by the Webſters. The reader will perhaps ſmile at ſome of theſe COMBINATIONS. This is the ſubſtance and order of the former part of the play. God enters creating the world: he breathes life into Adam, leads him into Paradiſe, and opens his ſide while ſleeping. Adam and Eve appear naked and not aſhamed, and the old ſerpent enters lamenting his fall. He converſes with Eve. She eats of the forbidden fruit and gives part to Adam. They propoſe, according to the ſtage-direction, to make themſelves ſubligacula a foliis quibus tegamus Pudenda. Cover their nakedneſs with leaves, and converſe with God. God's curſe. The ſerpent exit hiſſing. They are driven from Paradiſe by four angels and the cherubim with a flaming ſword. Adam appears digging the ground, and Eve ſpinning. Their children Cain and Abel enter: The former kills his brother. Adam's lamentation. Cain is baniſhed, &c.
u
John of Saliſbury, a writer of the eleventh century, ſpeaking of the common diverſions of his time, ſays, ‘"Noſtra aetas prolapſa ad fabulas et quaevis inania, non modo aures et cor proſtituit vanitati, &c."’ POLICRAT. i. 8. An ingenious French writer, Monſ. Duclos, thinks that PLAYS are here implied. By the word Fabula, ſays he, ſom [...]thing more is ſignified than dances, geſticulation, and ſimple dialogue. Fable properly means compoſition, and an arrangement of things which conſtitute an action. Mem. Acad. Inſcr. xvii. p. 224. 4to. But perhaps fabula has too vague and general a ſenſe, eſpecially in its preſent combination with quaevis inania, to bear ſo preciſe and critical an interpretation. I will add, that if this reaſoning be true, the words will be equally applicable to the Engliſh ſtage.—At Conſtantinople it ſeems that the ſtage flouriſhed much under Juſtinian and Theodora, about the year 540. For in the Baſilical codes we have the oath of an actreſs [...]. Tom. vii. p. 682. edit. Fabrot. Graeco-Lat. The antient Greek fathers, particularly ſaint Chryſoſtom, are full of declamation againſt the drama: and complain, that the people heard a comedian with much more pleaſure than a preacher of the goſpel.
w
I believe, a ſort of pipe. This is the French word, viz. Demy-canon. See Carpent. Du Cange, Gl. Lat. i. p. 760.
x
Diſſertat. Joinv. p. 161.
y
Ibid.
z
Montfauc. Catal. Manuſcript. p. 1158. See alſo Marten. Theſaur. Anecd. tom. iv. p. 506. Statut. Synod. A. D. 1468. ‘"Larvaria ad Nuptias, &c."’ Stowe, in his SURVEY OF LONDON, mentions the practice of acting plays at weddings.
a
The boys were deguiſiez, ſays the old French record: and they had among them un Fillette deſguiſeè. Carpent. ubi ſupr. V. ROBINET. PENTECOSTE. Our old character of MAYD MARIAN may be hence illuſtrated. It ſeems to have been an early faſhion in France for ſchool-boys to preſent theſe ſhews or plays. In an antient manuſcript, under the year 1477, there is mentioned ‘"Certaine MORALITE, ou FARCE, que les eſcolliers de Pontoiſe avoit fait, ainſi qu'il eſt de couſtume."’ Carpent. ubi ſupr. V. MORALITAS. The MYSTERY OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT is ſaid to have been repreſented in 1424, by the boys of Paris placed like ſtatues againſt a wall, without ſpeech or motion, at the entry of the duke of Bedford, regent of France. See J. de Paris, p. 101. And Sauval, Ant. de Paris. ii. 101.
b
Felib. tom. ii. p. 681.
c
It has been printed, more than once, in the black letter. Beauchamps, p. 110.
d
Carpentier, Suppl. Du Cange Lat. Gl. V. LUDUS.
e
Beauchamps, ut ſupr. p. 90. This was the firſt theatre of the French: the actors were incorporated by the king, under the title of the Fraternity of the paſſion of our Saviour. Beauch. ibid. See above, Sect. ii. p. 91. n. The Jeu de perſonages was a very common play of the young boys in the larger towns, &c. Carpentier, ut ſupr. V. PERSONAGIUM. And LUDUS PERSONAG. At Cambray mention is made of the ſhew of a boy larvatus cum maza in collo with drums, &c. Carpent. ib. V. KALENDAE JANUAR.
f
‘"Decem libr. ex parte nationis, ad onera ſupportanda hujus Mi [...]terii."’ Carpent. ut ſupr. V. PERSONAGIUM.
g
Carpent. ut ſupr. V. LUDUS. Who adds, from an antient Computus, that three ſhillings were paid by the miniſters of a church in the year 1537, for parchment, for writing LUDUS RESURRECTIONIS DOMINI.
h
See p. 210.
i
Marten. Anecd. tom. i. col. 1804. See alſo B [...]let. de Divin. offi [...]. cap. 72. And Guſſanvill. poſt. Not. ad Petr. Bl [...]ſenſ. Feilbien confounds La Fete de Fous et la Fete de Sotiſe. The latter was an entertainment of dancing called Les Sa [...]ltes, and thence corrupted into Soties or Sotiſe. See Mem. Acad. Inſcript. xvii. 225. 226. See alſo Probat. Hiſt. Antiſſiodor. p. 310. Again, the Feaſt of Fools ſeems to be pointed at in Statut. S [...]nonenſ. A. D. 1445. Inſtr. tom. xii. Gall. Chriſtian. Coll. 96. ‘"Tempore divini ſervitii larvatos et monſtruoſos vultus def [...]re [...]do, cum veſtibus mulierum, aut lenonum, aut hiſtrionum, choreas in eccleſia [...]t choro ejus ducendo, &c."’ With the moſt immod [...]ſt ſpectacles. The nuns of ſome French convents are ſaid to have had Ludibr [...]a on ſaint Mary Magdal [...]ne's and other f [...]ſtivals, when they wore the habits of ſeculars, and dan [...]ed with them. Carpent. ubi ſupr. V. KALENDAE. There was the office of Rex Stultorum in Beverley church, prohibited 1391. Dugd. Mon. iii. Append. 7.
i
In the ſtatutes of Eton-college, given 1441, the EPISCOPUS PUERORUM is ordered to perform divine ſervice on ſaint Nicholas's day. Rubr. xxxi. In the ſtatutes of Wincheſter-college, given 1380, PUERI, that is, the boy-biſhop and his fellows, are permitted on Innocent's-day to execute all the ſacred offices in the chapel, according to the uſe of the church of Sarum. Rubr. xxix. This ſtrange piece of religious mockery flouriſhed greatly in Saliſbury cathedral. In the old ſtatutes of that church there is a chapter DE EPISCOPO CHORISTARUM: and their Proceſſionale gives a long and minute account of the whole ceremony. edit. Rothom. 1555.
k
This ceremony was aboliſhed by a proclamation, no later than 33 Hen. viii. Brit. Muſ. MSS. Cott. TIT. B. 1. f. 208. In the inventory of the treaſury of York cathedral, taken in 1530, we have ‘"Item una mitra parva cum petris pro epiſcopo puerorum, &c."’ Dudgd. Monaſt. iii. 169. 170. See alſo 313. 314. 177. 279. See alſo Dugd. Hiſt. S. Paul's, p. 205. 206. Where he is called EPISCOPUS PARVULORUM. See alſo Anſtis Ord. Gart. ii. 309. Where, inſtead of Nihilenſis, read Nicolenſis, or NICOLATENSIS.
l
Statut. Eccleſ. Tullenſ. apud Carpent. Suppl. Lat. Gl. Du Cang. V. KALENDAE.
m
It appears that in England, the boybiſhop with his companions went about to different parts of the town; at leaſt viſited the other religious houſes. As in Rot. Comp. Coll. Winton. A. D. 1461. ‘"In Dat. epiſcopo Nicolatenſi."’ This I ſuppoſe, was one of the children of the choir of the neighbouring cathedral. In the ſtatutes of the collegiate church of S. Mary Ottery, founded by biſhop Grandiſon in 1337, there is this paſſage. ‘"Item ſtatuimus, quod nullus canonicus, vicarius, vel ſecundarius, pueros choriſtas in feſto ſanctorum Innocentium extra Parochiam de Otery trahant, aut eis licentiam vagandi concedant."’ cap. 50. MS. Regiſtr. Priorat. S. Swithin. Winton. quat. 9. In the wardrobe-rolls of Edward iii. an. 12. we have this entry, which ſhews that our mock-biſhop and his chapter ſometimes exceeded their adopted clerical commiſſion, and exerciſed the arts of ſecular entertainment. ‘"EPISCOPO PUERORUM eccleſiae de Andeworp cantanti coram domino rege in camera ſua in feſto ſanctorum Innocentium, de dono ipſius dom. regis. xiii s. vi d."’
n
Chron. Forojul. in Append. ad Monum. Eccl. Aquilej. pag. 30. col. 1.
o
Ibid. pag. 30. col. 1. It is extraordinary, that the Miracle-plays, even in the churches, ſhould not ceaſe in Italy till the year 1660.
p
See alſo Doctor Percy's very ingenious ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH STAGE, &c.
a
Comp. J. Cooke, Proviſoris Magn. Garderob. ab ann. 21. Edw. iii. ad ann. 23. ſupr. citat. I will give, as a ſpecimen, this officer's accompt for the tournament at Canterbury.
"Et ad faciendum diverſos apparatus pro corpore regis et ſuorum pro haſtiludio Cantuarienſi, an. reg. xxii. ubi Rex dedit octo herneſia de ſyndone ynde facta, et vapulata de armis dom. Stephani de Coſyngton militis, dominis principibus comiti Lancaſtriae, comiti Suffolciae, Johanni de Gray, Joh. de Beauchamp, Roberto Maule, Joh. Chandos, et dom. Rogero de Beauchamp. Et ad faciendum unum harneſium de bokeram albo pro rege, extencellato cum argento, viz. tunicam et ſcutum operata cum dictamine Regis,
"Hay Hay the wythe ſwan
"By Godes ſoule I am thy man."
Et croparium, pectorale, teſtarium, et arcenarium extencellata cum argento. Et ad parandum i. tunicam Regis, et i. clocam et capuciam cum c. garteriis paratis cum boucles, barris, et pendentibus de argento. Et ad faciendum unum dublettum pro Rege de tela linea habente, circa manicas et [...]imbriam, unam borduram de panno longo viridi operatam cum nebulis et vineis de auro, et cum dictamine Regis. It is as it is."
Membr. xi. [A. D. 1349.]
b
Walſing, p. 117.
c
Ord. Gart. ii. 92.
d
Barnes, i. ch. 22. p. 292. Froiſſart, c. 100. Anſtis, ut ſupr.
e
Aſhmole proves, that the orders of the Annunciada, and of the Toiſon d'Or, had the like origin. Ord. Gart. p. 180. 181. Even in the enſigns of the order of the Holy Ghoſt, founded ſo late as 1578, ſome lovemyſteri [...]s and emblems were concealed under [...]yphers introduced into the blaſonrie. See L [...] Labourer, Contin. des Mem. de Caſtelnau, p. 895. ‘"Il y eut plus de myſſteres d'amourettes que de religion, &c."’ But I cannot in this place help obſerving, that the fantaſtic humour of unriddling emblematical myſteries, ſuppoſed to be concealed under all enſigns and arms, was at length carried to ſuch an extravagance, at leaſt in England, as to be checked by the legiſlature. By a ſtatute of queen Eliſabeth, a ſevere penalty is laid, ‘"on all fond phantaſtical prophecies upon or by the occaſion of any arms, fields, beaſtes, badges, or the like things accuſtomed in arms, cogniſaunces, or ſignetts, &c."’ Statut. v. Eliz. ch. 15. A. D. 1564.
f
Ubi ſupr.
g
They ſoon afterwards regularly received robes, with the knights companions, for this ceremony, powdered with garters. Aſhmol. Ord. Gart. 217. 594. And Anſtis, ii. 123.
h
Knyghton, Dec. Script. p. 2597.
i
Froiſſart apud Stowe's Surv. Lond. p. 718. edit. 1616. At an earlier period, the growing gallantry of the times appears in a public inſtrument. It is in the reign of Edward the firſt. Twelve jurymen depoſe upon oath the ſtate of the king's lordſhip at Woodſtock: and among other things it is ſolemnly recited, that Henry the ſecond often reſided at Woodſtock, ‘"pro amore cujuſdam mulieris nomine Roſamunda."’ Hearne's Aveſbury, Append. p. 331.
k
And of diſtinguiſhed beauty. Hearne ſays, that the ſtatuaries of thoſe days uſed to make queen Philippa a model for their images of the Virgin Mary. Gloſſ. Rob. Brun. p. 349. He adds, that the holy virgin, in a repreſentation of her aſſumption was conſtantly figured young and beautiful; and that the artiſts before the Reformation generally ‘"had the moſt beautiful women of the greateſt quality in their view, when they made ſtatues and figures of her."’ ibid. p. 550.
l
Froiſſart. i. c. 138.
m
Froiſſart ſays, that when the Engliſh proved victorious, the counteſs came out of the caſtle, and in the ſtreet kiſſed Sir Walter Manny the Engliſh general, and his captains, one after another, twice or thrice, [...]omme noble et valliant dame. On another like occaſion, the ſame hiſtorian relates, that ſhe went out to meet the officers, whom ſhe kiſſed and ſumptuouſly entertained in her caſtle. i. c. 86. At many magnificent tournaments in France, the ladies determined the prize. See Mem. anc. Cheval. i. p. 175. ſeq. p. 223. ſeq. An Engliſh ſquire, on the ſide of the French, captain of the caſtle of Beaufort, called himſelf le Pourſuivant d'amour, in 1369. Froiſſart, l. i. c. 64. In the midſt of grand engagements between the French and Engliſh armies, when perhaps the intereſts of both nations are vitally concerned, Froiſſart gives many inſtance [...] of officers entering into ſeparate and perſonal combat to diſpute the beauty of their reſpective miſtreſſes. Hiſt. l. ii. ch. 33. 43. On this occaſion an ingenious French writer obſerves, that Homer's heroes of antient Greece are juſt as extravagant, who in the heat of the ſight, often ſtop on a ſudden, to give an account of the genealogy of themſelves or of their horſes. Mem. anc. Cheval. ubi ſupr. Sir Walter Manny, in 1343, in attacking the caſtle of Guigard exclaims, ‘"let me never be beloved of my miſtreſs, if I refuſe this attack, &c."’ Froiſſart, i. 81.
n
Froiſſart, i. c. 80. Du Cheſne, p. 656. Mezeray, ii. 3. p. 19. ſeq.
o
Walſing. Ypodigm. 121. Hiſt. 159.
p
A. D. 1300. Edw. i. an. 28. cap. xx.
q
Anderſon, Hiſt. Comm. i. p. 141.
r
Ann. 37. Edw. iii. cap. viii. ſeq.
s
See ſupr. p. 338.
t
This ſpirit of ſplendor and gallantry was continued in the reign of his ſucceſſor. See the genius of that reign admirably charact [...]riſed, and by the hand of a maſter, in biſhop Lowth's LIFE OF WYKEHAM, pag. 222. See alſo Hollingſh. Chron. ſub ann. 1399. p. 508. col. 1.
u
Wharton, App. ad Cave, p. 75. Saecul. Wickley.
w

STIMULUS CONSCIENTIAE thys boke ys namyd. MS. Aſhmol. fol. No. 41. There is much tranſpoſition in this copy. In MS. Digb. Bibl. Bodl. 87. it is called THE KEY OF KNOWING. Princ.

The migt of the fader almiti
The wiſdom of the ſone al witti.
x
Compare Tanner, Bibl. p. 375. col. 1. And p. 374. col. 1. Notes. And GROSTHEAD. And MSS. Aſhm. 52. pergamen. 4to.
y

Laud. K. 65. pergamen. And G. 21. And MSS. Digb. 14. Princ.

"The migt of the fader of hevene
"The wit of his ſon with his giftes ſevene."
z
Shall.
a
Ever, always.
b
Tunes.
c
Shrill.
d
But.
e
Sorrow.
f
Prepared.
g
Sinners.
h
Either ſide.
i
Devils.
k
Senſes.
l
Remain.
m
They.
n
Precious ſtones.
o
Seated.
p
Head.
q
This is the Hell of the monks, which Milton has adopted.
r
Know.
s
Come.
t
Together.
u
Aumayled.
w
Turretts.
x
Many.
y
Ignorant.
z
MSS. Digb. ut ſupr. 87. ad princip.
a
In the Cambridge manuſcript of Hampole's PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER, above-mentioned, containing a prolix deſcription of human virtues and vices, at the end, this remark appears. ‘"Explicit quidam tractatus ſuper Pater noſter ſecundum Ric. Hampole qui obiit A. D. MCCCLXXXIV."’ [But the true date of his death is in another place, viz. 1348.] MSS. More, 215. Princ.
"Almighty God in trinite
"In whom is only perſonnes thre."
The PARAPHRASE ON THE BOOK OF JOB, mentioned alſo before, ſeems to have exiſted firſt in Latin proſe under the title of PARVUM JOB. The Engliſh begins thus: ‘"Lieff lord my ſoul thou ſpare."’ In Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Laud. F. 77. 5, &c. &c. It is a paraphraſe of ſome Excerpta from the book of Job. THE SEVEN PENITENTIAL PSALMS begin thus: ‘"To goddis worſchippe that d [...]re us bougt."’ MSS. Bodl. Digb. 18. Hampole's EXPOSITIO IN PSALTERIUM is not uncommon in Engliſh. It has a preface in Engliſh rhymes in ſome copies, in praiſe of the author and his work. Pr. ‘"This bleſſyd boke that hire."’ MSS. Laud. F. 14, &c. Hampole was a very popular writ [...]r. Moſt of his many theological pieces ſeem to have been tranſlated into Engliſh ſoon after they appeared: and thoſe pieces abound among our manuſcripts. Two of his tracts were tranſlated by Richard Miſyn, prior of the Carmelites at Lincoln, about the year 1435. The INCENDIUM AMORIS, at the requeſt of Margaret Hellingdon a recluſ [...]. Princ. ‘"To the aſkynge of thi deſire."’ And DE EMENDATIONE VITAE. ‘"Tarry thou not to oure."’ They are in the tranſlator's own hand-writing in the library of C. C. C. Oxon. MSS. 237. I find other antient tranſlations of both theſe pieces. Particularly, The PRICKE OF LOVE after Richard Hampol treting of the thre [...] d [...]grees of love. MSS. Bodl. Arch. B. 65. f. 109. As a proof of the confuſions and uncertainties attending the works of our author, I muſt add, that we have a tranſlation of his tract DE EMENDATIONE under this title. The [...]orm of p [...]r [...]yt living, which [...]oly Richard the hermit wrote [...]o a recluſe named Margaret [...]. MS. Vernon. But Margarete is evidently the recluſe, at whoſe requeſt Richard Miſyn, many years after Ha [...] pole's death, tranſlated the INCENDIUM AMORIS. Theſe obſervations, to which others might be added, are ſuf [...]ici [...]nt to conf [...]rm the ſuſpicions inſinuated in the text. Many of Hampole's Latin th [...]ologi [...]al trac [...]s were printed very early at Pa [...]is and Cologne.
a
I have here followed a date commonly received. But it may be obſerved, that there is in this poem an alluſion to the fall of Edward the ſecond. The ſi [...]ge of Calais is alſo mentioned as a recent fact; and Bribery accuſes Conſcience of obſtructing the conqueſt of France. See more in Obſervations on the Fairy Queen, ii. §. xi. p. 281.
b
Fol. i. a. edit. 1550. By Roberte Crowley. 4to. He printed three editions in this one year. Another was printed [with Pierce Plowman's CREDE annexed] by Owen Rogers, 1561 [...] 4to. See Strype, Ann. Re [...]ormat. i. 135. And Ames, Hiſt. Print. p. 270.
c
F. 39. ſeq. Paſſ. viii. ſeq. edit. 1550.
d
Do-well.
e
Enquired.
f
Lived.
g
Inform me.
h
Lived.
i
The friers minors.
k
Saluted them civilly.
l
Know.
m
Sorts of.
n
Times.
o
Sober. Good.
p
Similitude.
q
Lazineſs.
r
Lime tree.
s
A while.
t
Liſten.
u
Dreamed.
w
Own.
x
Sought.
y
Getts.
z
Dealing. Reckoning.
a
Drunkard.
b
Broke to pieces.
c
Tranſlated.
d
Draw.
e
Staff.
f
Are.
g
Their.
h
Thee.
i
They.
k
Went.
l
Nature
m
Cunningly.
n
Paramour.
o
Fair lady.
p
Early.
q
Muſt be done.
r
Faſhion. Similitude.
s
Spirit.
t
Named.
u
Greateſt.
w
Willing.
x
Curſed.
y
See Dra [...]eſack. Chauc. Urr. p. 33. v. 1098.
z
Rather.
a
Grow.
b
They had rather.
c
Not worth a ſtraw.
d
Covetouſneſs.
e
Lady.
f
Commands.
g
Jugglers.
h
They.
i
Deceiving.
k
Know.
l
Lying.
m
Speak.
n
S. Bernard.
o
Their table.
p
Throat.
q
Poor.
r
Cold.
s
Trouble.
t
Beggars ſupperleſs.
u
Strange, deſerted. Henry the eighth in a letter to Anne Bullen, ſpeaks of his Ellengneſs ſince her departure. Hearne's Aveſb. p. 260.
w
Cuſtom.
x
Back.
y
Named.
z
Mother.
a
Chearful.
b
Bird.
c
Harper.
d
Learning.
e
Wanton.
f
fol. xii. a. b. Theſe, and the following lines, are plainly copied by Chaucer, viz. ‘And I ſhall cover your kyrke, and your cloiſture do maken.’ Chaucer, Sompn. T. p. 93. v. 835. edit. Urr. But with new ſtrokes of humour.
Yeve me then of thy golde to make our cloyſter,
Quod he, for many a muſcle and many an oyſter,
Whan othir men have been full well at eaſe,
Have ben our fode our cloyſter for to reyſe.
And yet, god wote, unnethe the fundament
Parfourmid is, ne of our pavement
Thar is not yet a tile within our wones,
Bigod, we owe fourtie pound for ſtones.
So alſo in the PLOUGHMAN'S CREDE, hereafter mentioned. Sign. B. iii. A friar ſays,
So that thou mow amende our houſe with money other els
With ſom catal, other corn or cuppes of ſylvere.
And again, Sign. A. iii. ibid.
And mighteſt on amenden as with money of thine own,
Thou ſholdeſt knely bifore Chriſt in compas of gold,
In the wide wyndowe weſtward, wel nigh in the midel.
That is, ‘"your figure ſhall be painted in glaſs, in the middle of the weſt window, &c."’ But of this paſſage hereafter.
g
Tabard. A coat.
h

Antiently, before many flouriſhing towns were eſtabliſhed, and the neceſſaries or ornaments of life, from the convenience of communication and the encreaſe of provincial civility, could be procured in various places, goods and commodities of every kind, were chiefly ſold at fairs; to which, as to one univerſal mart, the people reſorted periodically, and ſupplied moſt of their wants for the enſuing year. The diſplay of merchandiſe, and the conflux of cuſtomers, at theſe principal and almoſt only emporia of domeſtic commerce, was prodigious: and they were therefore often held on open and extenſive plains. One of the chief of them ſeems to have been that of St. Giles's hill or down near Wincheſter, to which our poet here refers. It was inſtituted and given as a kind of revenue to the biſhop of Wincheſter, by William the conqueror; who by his charter permitted it to continue for three days. But in conſequence of new royal grants, Henry the third prolonged its continuance to ſixteen days. Its juriſdiction extended ſeven miles round, and comprehended even Southampton, then a capital trading town: and all merchants who ſold wares within that circuit, forfeited them to the biſhop. Officers were placed at a conſiderable diſtance, at bridges and other avenues of acceſs to the fair, to exact toll of all merchandiſe paſſing that way. In the mean time, all ſhops in the city of Wincheſter were ſhut. In the fair was a court called the pavilion, at which the biſhop's juſticiaries and other officers aſſiſted, with power to try cauſes of v [...]rious ſorts for ſeven miles round: nor among other ſingular claims could any lord of a manor hold a court-baron within the ſaid circuit, without licence from the pavilion. During this time, the biſhop was empowered to take toll of [...]very load or parcel of goods paſſing through the gates of the city. On Saint Giles's eve, the mayor, bailiffs, and citizens of the city of Wincheſter, delivered the keys of the four city gates to the biſhop's officers; who, during the ſaid ſixteen days, appointed a mayor and bailiff of their own to govern the city, and alſo a coroner to act within the ſaid city. Tenants of the biſhop, who held lands by doing ſervice at the pavilion, attended the ſame with horſes and armour, not only to do ſuit at the court there, but to be ready to aſſiſt the biſhop's officers in the execution of writs and other ſervices. But I cannot here enumerate the many extraordinary privileges granted to the biſhop on this occaſion; all tending to obſtruct trade, and to oppreſs the people. Numerous foreign merchants frequented this fair: and it appears, that the juſticiaries of the pavilion, and the treaſurer of the biſhop's palace of Wolveſey, received annually for a fee, according to antient cuſtom, four baſons and ewers, of thoſe foreign merchants who ſold braſen veſſels in the fair, and were called mercat [...]res diaunteres. In the fair ſeveral ſtreets were formed, aſſigned to the ſale of different commodities; and called the Drap [...]ry, the Pottery, the Spicery, &c. Many monaſteries, in and about Wincheſter, had ſhops, or houſes, in theſe ſtreets, uſed only at the fair, which they held under the biſhop, and often lett by leaſe for a term of years. One place in the fair was called Speciarium San [...]i [...]wythini, or the Spicery of Saint Swithin's monaſtery. In the revenue-rolls of the antient biſhops of Wincheſter, this fair makes a grand and ſeparate article of reception, under this title. FERIA. Computus [...]iae ſancti Egidii. But in the revenue-roll of biſhop Will. of Waynflet [...], [an. 1471.] it appears to have greatly decayed: in which, among other proofs, I find mention made of a diſtrict in the fair being unoccupied, ‘"Ubi homines Cornubiae ſtare ſolebant."’ From whence it likewiſe appears that different counties had their different ſtations. The whole reception to the biſhop this year from the fair, amoun [...]ed only to 45 l. 18 s. 5d. Yet this ſum, ſmall as it may ſeem, was worth upwards of 400 l. Edward the firſt ſent a precept to the ſheriff of Hampſhire, to reſtore to the biſhop this fair; which his eſcheator Malcolm de Harlegh had ſeized into the king's hands, without command of the treaſurer and barons of the exchequer, in the year 1292. Regiſtr. Joh. de Pontiſſara, Epiſc. Wint. fol. 195. After the charter of Henry the third, many kings by charter confirmed this fair, with all its privileges, to the biſhops of Wincheſter. The laſt charter was of Henry the eighth to biſhop Richard Fox and his ſucceſſors, in the year 1511. But it was followed by the uſual confirmation-charter of Charles the ſecond. In the year 1144, when Brian Fitz-count, lord of Wallingford in Berkſhire, maintained Walling [...]ord caſtle, one of the ſtrongeſt garriſons belonging to Maud the empreſs, and conſequently ſent out numerous parties for contributions and proviſions, Henry de Blois biſhop of Wincheſter enjoined him not to moleſt any paſſengers that were coming to his fair at Wincheſter, under pain of excommunication. Omnibus ad FERIAM MEAM ve [...]entibus, &c. MSS. Dodſworth. vol. 89. f. 76. Bibl. Bodl. This was in king Stephen's reign. In that of Richard the firſt, in the year 1194, the king grants to Portſmouth a fair laſting for [...]fteen days, with all the privileges of Saint Giles's fair at Wincheſter. Anderſ. Hiſt. Com. i. 197. In the year 1234, the eighteenth of Henry the ſecond, the fermier of the city of Wincheſter paid twenty pounds to Ailward chamberlain of Wincheſter caſtle, to buy a robe at this fair for the king's ſon, and divers ſilver implements for a chapel in the caſtle. Madox, Exch. p. 251. It appears from a curious record now remaining, containing The Eſtab [...]iſhment and Expences of the houſhold of Henry Percy, fifth earl of Northumberland, in the year 1512, and printed by doctor Percy, that the ſtores of his lordſhip's houſe at Wreſille, for the whole year, were laid in from fairs. ‘"He that ſtandes charged with my lordes houſe for the houll yeir, if he may poſſible, ſhall be at all FAIRES where the groice emptions ſhall be boughte for the houſe for the houlle yeire, as wine, wax, beiffes, multons, wheite, and maltie."’ p. 407. This laſt quotation is a proof, that fairs ſtill continued to be the principal marts for purchaſing neceſſaries in large quantities, which now are ſupplied by frequent trading towns: and the mention of beiffes and [...]ultons, which were ſalted oxen and ſheep, ſhews that at ſo late a period they knew but little of breeding cattle. Their ignorance of ſo important an article of huſbandry, is alſo an evidence, that in the reign of Henry the eighth the ſtate of population was much lower among us than we may imagine.

In the ſtatutes of Saint Mary Ottery's college in Devonſhire, given by biſhop Grandiſon the founder, the ſtewards and ſacriſt are ordered to purch [...]ſe annually two hundred pounds of wax for the choir of the college, at this fair. ‘"Cap. lxvii.—Pro luminaribus vero omnibus ſupradictis inveniendis, etiam ſtatuimus, quod ſeneſcalli ſcaccarii per viſum et auxilium ſacriſte, omni anno, in NUNDINIS WYNTON, vel alibi apud Toryngton et in partibus Barnſtepol, ceram ſufficientem, quam ad ducentas libras aeſtimamus pro uno anno ad minus, faciant provideri."’ Theſe ſtatutes were granted in the year 1338. MS. apud Regiſtr. Priorat. S. Swithin. Winton. In Archiv. Wolveſ. In the accompts of the Priories of Maxtoke in Warwickſhire, and of Biceſter in Oxfordſhire, under the reign of Henry the ſixth, the monks appear to have laid in yearly ſtores of various yet common neceſſaries, at the fair of Sturbridge in Cambridgeſhire, at leaſt one hundred miles diſtant from either monaſtery. It may ſeem ſurpriſing, that their own neighbourhood, including the cities of Oxford and Coventry, could not ſupply them with commodities neither rare nor coſtly, which they thus fetched at a conſiderable expence of carriage. It is a rubric in ſome o [...] the monaſtic rules, De Euntibus ad Nundinas. See Dugd. Mon. Angl. ii. p. 746. It is hoped the reader will excuſe this tedious note, which at leaſt developes antient manners and cuſtoms.

i
Leſſon. Properly a Grammar, from Aelius Donatus the grammarian. Chaucer, Teſtam. L. p. 504. b. edit. Urr. ‘"No paſſe [...] to vertues of this Margarite, but therin al my donet can I lerne."’ In the ſtatutes of Wincheſter-college, [written about 1386,] grammar is called ‘"Antiquus donatus,"’ i. e. the old donat, or the name of a ſyſtem of grammar at that time in vogue, and long before. The French have a book entitled ‘"LE DONNET, traité de grammaire, baillé a feu roi Charles viii."’ Among Rawlinſon's manuſcripts at Oxford, I have ſeen Donatus optimus noviter compilatus, a manuſcript on vellom, given to Saint Alban's, by John Stoke, abbot, in 1450. In the introduction, or lytell Proheme, to Dean Colet's GRAMMATICES RUDIMENTA, we find mention made of ‘"certayne introducyons into latyn ſpeche called Donates, &c."’ Among the books written by biſhop Pecock, there is the DONAT into chriſtian religion, and the Folower to the DONAT. Lewis's PECOCK, p. 317. I think I have before obſerved, that John of Baſing, who flouriſhed in the year 1240, calls his Greek Grammar DONATUS GRAECORUM. Pegge's WESEHAM, p. 51. Wynkyn de Worde printed DONATUS ad Anglicanarum ſcholarum uſum. Cotgrave (in V.) quotes an old French proverb, ‘"Les diables eſtoient encores a leur DONAT, The devils were but yet in their grammar."’
k
fol. xxiii. a. b.
l
Levadies. Ladies.
m
Lewd.
n
Walter de Suffield, biſhop of Norwich, bequeathes by will his pack of hounds to the king, in 1256. Blome [...]ield's Norf. ii. 347. See Chauc [...]r's Monke, Prol. v. 165. This was a common topic of ſatire. It occurs again, fol. xxvii. a. See Chaucer's TESTAMENT OF LOVE, p. 492. col. ii. Urr. The archd [...]acon o [...] Ri [...]hmond, on his viſitation, com [...]s to the pricr [...] of Bridlington in Yorkſhire, in 1216, with nin [...]tyſ [...]ven horſes, twenty-on [...] dogs, and three hawks, Dugd. Mon. ii. 65.
o
Fol. l. a. The following prediction, although a probable concluſion, concerning a king, who after a time would ſuppreſs the rel [...]gious houſes, is remarkable. I imagined it was foiſted into the copies, in the reign of king Henry the eighth. But it is in manuſcripts of this poem older than the year 1400. fol. l. a. b.
And THER SHALL COME A KING, and confeſſe your religions,
And bete you as the bible telleth, for breking of your rule:
And amende moniales, monkes and chanoines.—
And then [...]ri [...]rs in her freytor ſhall fynd a key
Of Conſtantynes coffers, in which is the catal
That Gregories godchyldren had it diſpended.
And than ſhall the abot of Abingdon, a [...]d all his iſſue for ever,
HAVE a KNOCKE of a KING, and INCURABLE THE WOUND.
Again, fol. lxxxv. a. Where he alludes to the knights-templers, lately ſuppreſſed.
—Men of holie kirke
Shall turne as templars did, the tyme approcheth nere.
This, I ſuppoſe, was a favourite doctrine in Wickliffe's diſcourſes. I cannot help taking notice of a paſſage in Piers Plowman, which ſhews how the reigning paſſion for chivalry infected the ideas and expreſſions of the writers of this period. The poet is deſcribing the crucifixion, and ſpeaking of the perſon who pierced our Saviour's ſide with a ſpear. This perſon our author calls a knight, and ſays that he came forth, ‘"with his ſpere in hand, and j [...]ſted with Jeſus."’ Afterwards for doing ſo baſe an act as that of wounding a dead body, he is pronounced a diſgrace to knighthood: and our ‘"Champion chevaler c [...]ſe knyght"’ is ordered to yield himſelf recreant. fol. lxxxviii. b. This knight's name is Longis, and he is blind: but receives his ſight from the blood which ſprings from our Saviour's ſide. This miracle is recorded in the GOLDEN LEGENDE. He is called Longias, ‘"A blinde knight men ycallid Longias,"’ in Chaucer, Lam. Mar. Magd. v. 177.
p
fol. xxiii. b.
q
[...]l. xlii. a.
r
f [...]l. cxii. a.
s
fol. lxxxviii. b.
t
fol. cxiii. a.
u
Par. L. ii. 475.
w
Ibid.
x
See this topic diſcuſſed with ſingular penetration and perſpicuity, by doctor Hurd, in TWELVE SERMONS INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY OF THE PROPHECIES. Lond. 1772. p. 206. ſeq.
a
The firſt edition is by R. Wolfe, London, 1553. 4to. In four ſheets. It was reprinted, and added to Rogers's, or the fourth edition of the Viſion, 1561. It was evidently written after the year 1384. Wickliffe died in that year, and he is mentioned as no longer living in Signat. C. ii. edit. 1561. Walter Britte or Brit [...]e, a follower of Wickliffe, is alſo mentioned, Signat. C. iii. Britte is placed by Bale in 1390. Cent. vi. 94. See alſo Fuller's Worth. p. 8. Wales. The reader will pardon this ſmall anticipation for the ſake of connection.
b
And of ſome perhaps quoted above from the VISION.
d
The Franciſcans were often ſtyled friars-minors, or minorites, and greyfriars: the Dominicans, friars-preachers, and ſometimes black-friars: The Carmelites white-friars; and the Auſtins greyfriars. The firſt eſtabliſhment of the Dominicans in England was at Oxford in 1221. Of the Franciſcans at Canterbury. Theſe two were the moſt eminent of the four orders. The Dominican friary at Oxford ſtood in an iſland on the ſouth of the city, ſouth-weſt of the Franciſcan friary, the ſite of which is hereafter deſcribed.
e
Hiſt. Nap. xvi. 3.
f
See Boul. Hiſt. Academ. Pariſ. iii. p. 138. 240. 244. 248, &c.
g

This circumſtance in ſome degree rouſed the monks from their indolence, and induced the greater monaſteries to procure the foundation of ſmall colleges in the univerſities for the education of their novices. At Oxford the monks had alſo ſchools which bore the name of their reſpective orders: and there were ſchools in that univerſity which were appropriated to particular monaſteries. Kennet's Paroch. Ant. p. 214. Wood, Hiſt. Ant. Univ. Oxon. i. 119. Leland ſays, that even in his time, [...]t Stamford, a temporary univerſity, the names of halls inhabited by the novices of Peterborough, Sempringham, and Vauldrey abbies, were remaining. Itin. vi. p. 21. And it appears, that the greater part of the proceeders in theology at Oxford and Cambridge, juſt before the reformation, were monks. But we do not find, that in conſequence of all theſe efforts, the monks made a much greater figure in literature.

In this rivalry which ſubſiſted between the mendicants and the monks, the latter ſometimes availed themſelves of their riches: and with a view to attract popularity, and to eclipſe the growing luſtre of the former, proceeded to their degrees in the univerſities with prodigious parade. In the year 1298, William de Brooke, a Benedictine of Saint Peter's abbey at Glouceſter, took the degree of doctor in divinity at Oxford. He was attended on this important occaſion by the abbot and whole convent of Glouceſter, the abbots of Weſtminſter, Reading, Abingdon, Eveſham, and Malmeſbury, with one hundred noblemen and eſquires, on horſes richly capariſoned. Theſe were entertained at a ſumptuous feaſt in the refectory of Glouceſter college. But it ſhould be obſerved, that he was the firſt of the Benedictine order that attained this dignity. Wood, Hiſt. Ant. Univ. Oxon. i. 25. col. 1. See alſo Stevens, Mon. 1. 70.

h
‘"De ſcholaribus emittendis ad univerſitatem Oxonie pro doctrina."’ Cap. xviii.
i
Leland. Script. Brit. p. 283. This houſe ſtood juſt without the city walls, near Little-gate. The garden called Paradiſe was their grove or orchard.
k
It is probable, that the treatiſes of many of Bacon's ſcholars and followers, collected by Thomas Allen in the reign of James the firſt, ſtill remain among the manuſcripts of Sir Kenelm Digby in the Bodleian library.
l
Wood, ubi ſupr. 1. 77. col. 2.
m
Philobibl. cap. v. This book was written, 1344.
n
Yet I find a decree made at Oxford, where theſe orders of friars flouriſhed ſo greatly, in the year 1373, to check the exceſſive multitude of perſons ſelling books in the univerſity without licence. Vet. Stat. Univ. Oxon. D. fol. 75. Archiv. Bodl.
o
MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Propoſitio coram papa, &c. And MSS. C. C. C. Oxon. 182. Propoſitio coram, &c. S [...]e a tranſlation of this Sermon by Treviſa, MSS. Harl. 1900. fol. Pergam. 2. See f. 11. See alſo Browne's append. Faſcic. Rer. expetend. fugiend. ii. p. 466. I believe this diſcourſe has been printed twice or thrice at Paris. In which, ſays the archbiſhop, there were thirty thouſand ſcholars at Oxford in my youth, but now (1357,) ſcarce ſix thouſand. At Bennet in Cambridge, there is a curious manuſcript of one of Fitzrauf's Sermons, in the firſt leaf of which there is a drawing of four devils, hugging four mendi [...]ant friars, one of each of the four orders, with great familiarity and aff [...]ction. MSS. L. 16. This book belonged to Adam Eſton, a very learned Benedictine of Norwich, and a witneſs againſt Wickliffe at Rome, where he lived the greateſt part of his life, in 1370.
p
Stowe's Surv. Lond. p. 255. edit. 1599.
q
Stowe, ibid. p. 256. Stevens, Monaſt. i. 112.
r
Aurei.
s
Script. Brit. p. 441. And Collectan. iii. p. 52.
t
See Joann. Laun. de varia Ariſtotel. Fortun. in Acad. Pariſ. p. 78. edit. Pariſ. 1662.
u
R. Simon's Lett. Choif. tom. iii. p. 112. They ſtudied the arts of popular entertainment. The mendi [...]ants, I believe, were the only religious in England who acted pl [...]ys. The CREATION OF THE WORLD, annually performed by the Grey ſriars at Coventry, is ſtill extant. See ſupr. p. 92. 243. And they ſeem to have been famous abroad for theſe exhibitions. Gualva [...]ei de la Flamma, who flouriſhed about the year 1340, has the following curious paſſage in his chronicle of the VICECOMITES of Milan, publi [...]hed by Muratori. In the year 1336, ſays he, on the feaſt of Epiph [...]ny, the firſt feaſt of the three kings was celebrated at Milan, by the convent of the friars preachers. The three kings appeared crowned on three great horſes, r [...]chly habited, ſurrounded by pages, body-guards, and an innumerable retinue. A golden ſtar was exhibited in the ſky, going before them. They proceeded to the pillars of S. Lawrence, where king H [...]rod was repreſented with his ſ [...]ribes and wiſe-men. The three kings aſk Herod where Chriſt ſhould be born: and his wiſemen having conſulted their books, anſwer him at Bethlehem. On which, the three kings with their golden crowns, having in their hands golden cups filled with frankincenſe, myrrh, and gold, the ſtar ſtill going before, marched to the church of S. Euſtorgius, with all their attendants; preceeded by trumpets and horns, apes, baboons, and a great variety of animals. In the church, on one ſide of the high altar, there was a manger with an ox and an aſs, and in it the infant Chriſt in the arms of his mother. Here the three kings offer their gifts, &c. The concourſe of the people, of knights, ladi [...]s, and ec [...]l [...]iaſtics, was ſuch as never before was beheld, &c. Rer. Italic. S [...]riptor. tom. xii. col. 1017. D. fol. Mediolan. 1728. Compare p. 249. ſupr. This feaſt in the ritual is called [...] he feaſt of the Star. Joann. Epiſcop. Abrin [...]. de Offic. Eccl. p. 30.
w
Their churches were eſteemed more ſacred than others.
x
Weav. Fun. Mon. p. 388.
y
See Baluz. Miſcellan. tom. iv. 490. vii. 392.
z
Wood, ut ſupr. i. 150. 154. 196.
a
Newcourt, Repert. i. 289.
b
Leland deſcribes this adventure with ſome humour. ‘"Contigit ut copiam peterem videndi bibliothecam Franciſcanorum, ad quod obſtreperunt aſini aliquot, rudentes nulli prorſus mortalium tam ſanctos aditus et receſſus adire, niſi Gardiano [...]et ſacris ſui collegii baccalariis. Sed ego urgebam, et principis diplomate munitus, tantum non coegi ut ſacraria illa aperirent. Tum unus e majoribus aſinis multa ſubrudens tandem fores aegre reſeravit. Summe Jupiter quid ego illic inveni? Pulverem autem inveni, telas aranearum, tineas, blattas, ſitum denique et ſquallorem. Inveni etiam et libros, ſed quos tribus obolis non emerem."’ Script. Brit. p. 286.
c
Aſked.
d
Belief.
e
Thought.
f
Truth.
g
Carmelite.
h
Believe.
i
Deceiveth.
k
Legends.
l
The Carmelites, ſometimes called the brethren of the Bleſſed Virgin, were fond of boaſting their familiar intercourſe with the Virgin Mary. Among other things, they pretended that the Virgin aſſumed the Carmelite habit and profeſſion: and that ſhe appeared to Simon Sturckius, general of their order, in the thirteenth century, and gave him a ſolemn promiſe, that the ſouls of thoſe chriſtians who died with the Carmelite ſcapulary upon their ſhoulders ſhould infallibly eſcape damnation.
m
Their.
n
Say.
o
Follow.
p
Wordly.
q
If.
r
Knew.
s
I ſuppoſe the FRIARS ROBERTINES, inſtituted by Robert Flower, hermit of Knareſburgh, in the reign of king John, a branch of the Trinitarians, who were a branch of the Franciſcans. See Dugd. Mon. ii. 833. And Leland. Itin. i. 82. The poet cannot mean the Ciſtercians, founded by Robert, abbot of Moleſme in Burgundy.
t
The Carmelites pretended that their order was originally founded on Mount Carmel where Elias lived: and that their firſt convent was placed there, within an antient church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in the year 1121.
u
St. Paul.
w
Mercy.
x
Slumberers.
y
Sloth.
z
Deſtr [...]ying.
a
Earth.
b
Follow.
c
Skip. Run.
d
See ſupr. p. 236.
e
Collect. Hide. Poſſeſs. Hoard.
f
Live like m [...]nks, like men dedicated to religion. Or rather, moneyleſs poor.
g
Live.
h
People.
i
Either bells, or books, or bread, or cattel, &c.
k
A houſe.
l
A chapter-houſe. Capitulum. ‘"May. Might."’
m
Painted and beautifully adorned.
n
If you would help us with your money.
o
Your figure kneeling to C [...]riſt ſhall be painted in the great weſt window. This was the way of repreſenting benefactors in painted glaſs. See ſupr. p. 278.
p
Your name ſhall be written in our table of benefactors for whoſe ſouls we pray. This was uſually hung up in the church. Or elſe he means, Written in the windows, in which manner benefactors were frequently recorded.
q
Know.
r
Abſolve.
s
Take. Receive.
t
Forbidden.
u
Followers.
w
To aſk.
x
I haſtened to the friars preachers.
y
I went to their monaſtery.
z
It is long ſince I have ſeen ſo fine a building.
a
Gazed.
b
Earneſtly.
c
Poliſhed.
d
Houſe Habitation.
e
Arbour [...].
f
Carved. See Spenſer, ii. 3. 27. 6. 29.
g
To look.
h
The price of a carucate of land would not raiſe ſuch another building.
i
Went.
k
Church.
l
I ſaw one.
m
Beautifully.
n
With texts, or names.
o
That is, coats of arms of benefactors painted in the glaſs. So in an antient roll in verſe, exhibiting the deſcent of the family of the lords of Clare in Suffolk, preſ [...]rved in the Auſtin friary at Clare, and written in the year 1356.
Dame Mault, a lady full honorable,
Borne of the Ulſters, as ſheweth ry [...]e
Hir armes of glaſſe in the eaſtern gable.—
—So conjoyned be
Ulſtris armes and Gloceſtris thurgh and thurgh,
As ſhewith our Wyndowes in houſes thre,
Dortur, chapiter-houſe, and fraitour, which ſhe
Made out the grounde both plancher and wall.
Dugdale cites this roll, Mon. Angl. i. p. 535. As does Weaver, who dates it in 1460. Fun. Mon. p. 734. But I could prove this faſhion to have been of much higher antiquity.
p
Imagery brought from foreign countries. Marke is uſed for image in Chaucer, Frank. T. v. 2426. Urr.
Sin mankinde is ſo faire parte of thy worke.
That thou it madiſt like to thine owne merke.
And Prol. W. B. v. 696. See P. Plowm. Viſ. f. 42. a. edit. 1550. Theſe were ymedel [...]d between, that is, intermixed, interſperſed.
q
Such a roll.
r
Set up on high.
s
Surrounded with iron rails. Horns ſeems to be irons.
t
Placed very cloſe or thick about the church.
u

In their proper habiliments. In their cogniſances, or ſurcoats of arms. So again, Signat. C. ii. b.

For though a man in her minſtre a maſſe wolde heren,
His ſight ſhall alſo byſet on ſondrye workes,
The pennons, and the poinells, and pointe [...] of ſheldes
Withdrawen his devotion and duſken his harte.

That is, the banners, atchievements, and other armorial ornaments, hanging over the tombs.

w
Covered.
x
Point en point is a French phraſe for in order, exactly. This explains the latter part of the line. Or poyntill may mean tiles in ſquares or dies, in chequer-work. See Skinner in POINT, and Du Freſne in PUNCTURA. And then ich POINT after other will be one SQUARE after another. So late as the reign of Henry the eighth, ſo magnificent a ſtructure as the refectory of Chriſtchurch at Oxford was, at its firſt building, paved with green and yellow tiles. The whole number was two thouſand ſix hundred, and each hundred coſt three ſhillings and ſix-pence. MSS. Br. Twyne, Archiv. Oxon. 8 p. 352. Wolſey's great hall at Hampton Court, evidently built in every reſpect on the model of this at Chriſtchurch, was very probably paved in the ſame manner. See OBSERVAT. on SPENS. vol. ii. §. p. 232.
y
Spouts. Or channels for conveying the water into the Lavatory, which was uſually placed in the cloyſter.
z
Laten, a metal ſo called.
a
Prepared. Adorned.
b
From one end to the other.
c
The chapter-houſe was magnificently conſtructed in the ſtyle of church-architecture, finely vaulted, and richly carved.
d
A ſeemly cieling, or roof, very lofty.
e
That they painted the walls of rooms, before tapeſtry became faſhionable, I have before given inſtances, OBSERVAT. SPENS. vol. ii. §. p. 232. I will here add other proofs. In an old French romance on the MIRACLES OF THE VIRGIN, liv. i. Carpent. Suppl. Lat. Gl. Du Cang. V. LAMBROISSARE.
Lors mouſtiers tiennent ors et ſals,
Et lor cambres, et lor grans ſales,
Font lambroiſſier, paindre, et pourtraire.
Gervaſius Dorobernenſis, in his account of the burning of Canterbury Cathedral in the year 1174, ſays, that not only the beam-work was deſtroyed, but the cieling underneath it, or concameration called coelum, being of wood beautifully painted, was alſo conſumed. ‘"Coelum inferius [...]gregie depictum, &c."’ p. 1289. Dec. Script. Lond. 1652. And Stubbes, Actus Pontif. Eborac [...]nſium, ſays, that arch biſhop Aldred, about 1060, built the whole church of York from the Preſbytery to the Tower, and ‘"ſuperius opere pictorio quod Coelum vocant auro multi [...]ormiter intermixto, mirabili arte conſtruxit."’ p. 1704. Dec. Script. ut ſupr. There are many inſtances in the pipe-rolls, not yet printed. The roof of the church of Caſſino in Italy is ordered to be painted in 1349, like that of St. John Lateran at Rome. Hiſt. Caſſin. tom. ii. p. 545. col. 1. Dugdale has printed an antient French record, by which it appears that there was a hall in the caſtle of Dover called Arthur's hall, and a chamber called Geneura's chamber. Monaſt. ii. 2. I ſuppoſe, becauſe the walls of theſe apartments were reſpectively adorned with paintings of each. Geneura is Arthur's queen. In the pipe-rolls of Henry the third we have this notice, A. D. 1259. ‘"Infra portam caſtri et birbecanam, etc. ab exitu CAMERAE ROSAMUNDAE uſque capellam ſancti Thomae in Caſtro Wynton."’ Rot. Pip. Henr. iii. an. 43. This I once ſuppoſed to be a chamber in Wincheſter caſtle, ſo called becauſe it was painted with the figure or ſome hiſtory of fair Roſamond. But a ROSAMUND-CHAMBER was a common apartment in the royal caſtles, perhaps in imitation of her BOWER at Woodſtock, literally nothing more than a chamber, which yet was curiouſly conſtructed and decorated, at leaſt in memory of it. The old proſe paraphraſt of the Chronicle of Robert of Gloceſter ſays, ‘"BOURES hadde the Roſamonde a bout in Engelonde, which this kynge [Hen. ii.] for hir ſake made: atte Waltham biſhope's, in the caſtelle of Wyncheſter, atte park of Fremantel, atte Marteleſton, atte Woodeſtoke, and other fele [many] places."’ Chron. edit. Hearne, 479. This paſſage indeed ſeems to imply, that Henry the ſecond himſelf provided for his fair concubine a BOWER, or chamber of peculiar conſtruction, not only at Woodſtock, but in all the royal palaces; which, as may be concluded from the pipe-roll juſt cited, was called by her name. Leland ſays, that in the ſtately caſtle of Pickering in Yorkſhire, ‘"in the firſt court be a [...]oure Toures, of the which one is caullid R [...] ſamundes Toure."’ Itin. fol. 71. Probably becauſe it contained one of theſe bowers or chambers. Or, perhaps we ſhould read ROSAMUNDES BOURE. Compare Walpole's Ane [...]d. Paint. i. p. 10. 11.
f
Fratry.
g
A ſeries of ſtately Gothic windows.
h
Further.
i
Saw.
k
Dormitory.
l
Infirmary, &c.
m
Many other apartments.
n
To lodge the qu [...]en.
o
Scarcely.
p
Obſerved.
r
Bladder.
s
Quag-mire.
t
Covered.
u
Truly.
w
Moved.
x
Perhaps falſely. Unleſs Chaucer wrote the Crede, which I cannot believe. For in Chaucer's PLOWMAN'S TALE this Crede is alluded to. v. 3005.
And of Freris I have before
Told in a making of a Cr [...]de;
And yet I could tell worſe and more.
This paſſage at leaſt brings the PLOWMAN'S TALE below the CREDE in time. But ſome have thought, very improbably, that this Crede is Jack Upland.
y
It is extraordinary that we ſhould find in this poem one of the abſurd arguments of the puritans againſt eccleſiaſtical eſtabliſhments. v. 2253. Urr. edit.
For Chriſt made no cathedralls,
Ne with him was no Cardinalls.
But ſee what follows, concerning Wickliffe.
z
It is remarkable, that they touch on the very topics which Wickliffe had juſt publiſhed in his OBJECTIONS OF FRERES charging them with fifty hereſi [...]s. As in the following. ‘"Alſo Freres buildin many great churches, and coſty waſt houſes and cloiſteres, as it wern caſtels, and that wit [...]uten nede, &c."’ Lewis's WICKLIFF, p. 22. I will here add a paſſage from Wickliffe's tract entitled WHY POOR PRIESTS HAVE NO BENEFICES. Lewis [...] App. Num. xix. p. 289. ‘"And yet they [lords] wolen not preſent a clerk able of kunning of god's law, but a kitchen clerk, or a penny clerk, or wiſe in buil [...] ing caſtle [...], or worldly doing, though he kunne not reade well his ſauter, &c."’ Here is a manifeſt piece of ſatire on Wykeham, biſhop of Winche [...]er, Wickliffe's cotemporary; who is ſuppoſed to have recommended himſelf to Edward the third by rebuilding the caſtle of Windſor. This was a recent and notorious inſtance. But in this appointment the king probably paid a compliment to that prelate's ſingular talents for buſineſs, his activity, circumſpection, and management, rather than to any ſcientific and profeſſed ſkill in architecture which he might have poſſeſſed. It ſeems to me that he was only a ſuperviſor or comptroller on this occaſion. It was common to depute churchmen to this department, from an idea of their ſuperior prudence and probity. Thus John, the prior of St. Swithin's at Wincheſter in 1280, is commiſſioned by brief from the king, to ſuperviſe large repairs done by the ſheriff in the caſtle of Wincheſter, and the royal manor of Wolmer. MS. Regiſtr. Priorat. Quat. 19. fol. 3. The biſhop of S. David's was maſter of the works at building King's College. Hearne's Elmh. p. 353. Alcock, biſhop of Ely, was comptroller of the royal buildings under Henry the ſeventh. Parker Hiſt. Cambr. p. 119. He, like Wykeham, was a great builder, but not therefore an architect. Richard Williams, dean of Litchfield and chaplain to Henry the eighth, bore the ſame office. MSS. Wood, Litchfield. D. 7. Aſhmol. Nicholas Townley clerk, was maſter of the works at Cardinal College. MS. Twyne, 8. f. 351. Se [...] alſo Walpole, i. Anecd. Paint. p. 40.
a
See above, p. 240. It is in a different hand yet with Saxon characters. See ad calc. cod. f. 209. It has miniatures in water colours.
b

There is a poem in the Aſhmolean muſeum, complete in the former part, which I believe is the ſame. MSS. Aſhm. 44. It has twenty-ſeven paſſus, and begins thus:

Whener folk faſtid and fed, fayne wolde thei her
Some farand thing, &c.
c
At the end are theſe rubrics, with void ſpaces, intended to be filled.
"How Alexandre remewid to a flood that is called Phiſon."
"How king Duidimus ſente lettres to king Alexandre."
"How Duidimus enditid to Alexaundre of here levyng."
"How he ſpareth not Alexandre to telle hym of hys governance."
"How he telleth Alexandre of his maumetrie."
"How Alexandre ſente aunſwere to Duidimus by lettres."
"How Duidimus ſendyd an anſwere to Alexandre by lettre."
"How Alexandre ſente Duidimus another lettre."
"How Alexandre pight a pelyr of marbyl ther."
c
Gymnoſophiſts.
d
Laud... 22. MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Ad calc. ‘"Hic tractatur bellum Judaicum apud Jeruſalem."’ f. 19. b. It is alſo in Brit. Mu [...]. Cott. MSS. CALIG. A. 1. fol. 109.—123. Gyraldus Cambrenſis ſays, that the Welſh and Engliſh uſe alliteration, ‘"in omni ſermone exquiſito."’ Deſcript. Cambr. cap. xi. p. 889. O'Flaherty alſo ſays of the [...]riſh, ‘"Non parvae eſt apud nos in oratione elegantiae ſchema, quod Paromaeon, i. e. Aſſimile, dicitur: quoties multae dictiones, ab eadem litera incipientes, ex ordine collocantur."’ Ogyg. part. iii. 30. p. 242. See alſo Dr. Percy's judicious Eſſay on the METRE OF PIERCE PLOWMAN'S VISIONS.
e
Eſſay on the Metr. of P. P. Viſ. p. 8. ſeq.
f
K. vol. 10. ‘"Imprinted at London by me Wylliam Copland."’ There is an edition on parchment by W. de Worde, 1512. ‘"Newly tranſlated out of Frenſhe into Englyſhe at thinſtigacion of the puyſſaunt prynce lorde Edward duke of Buckynghame."’ Here I underſtand French proſe.
g
15 E. vi. 9. fol. And in the Royal library at Paris, MS. 7192. ‘"Le Roman du Chevalier au Cigne en vers."’ Montf. Cat. MSS. ii. p. 789.
h
See MSS. Cott. CALIG. A. i. f. 109. 123.
i
See Sect. i.
k

Among the Cotton manuſcripts there is a Norman Saxon alliterative hymn to the Virgin Mary. NER. A. xiv. f. 240. cod. membran. 8vo. ‘"On god ureiſun to ure leſdi."’ That is, A good prayer to our lady.

Criſteſ milde moder ſeynte Marie
Mineſ hueſ leonie, mi leoue leſdi.
l
See ſome pageant-poetry, full of alliteration, written in the reign of Henry the ſeventh, Leland. Coll. iii. App. 180. edit. 1770.
m
F. Seyen. S [...]yon.
n
MS. Vernon. f. 122. In this manuſcript are ſeveral other pieces of this ſort.
a
Fo [...]d. vi. 31. 478.
b
Tanner, Bibl. p. 73.
c
12mo.
d
p. 262.
e
p. 326.
f
See Dempſt. viii. 349. 662.
f

Tit. GESTA WILLELMI WALLAS. See Dempſt. ii. 148. He [...]louriſhed in 1300. He has left another Latin poem, DE LIBERATA TYRANNIDE SCOTIA. Arnald Blair, mentioned in the title page in the text, probably Robert's brother, if not the ſame, was alſo [...]haplain to Wallace, and monk of Dumferling about the year 1327. Relat. [...]t ſupr. p. 1. B [...]t ſee p. 9, 10. In the fifth book of the Scotch poem we have this paſſage, p. 94. v. 533.

Maiſter JOHN BLAIR was oft in that meſſage,
A worthy clerk, both wiſe and als right ſage,
Levyt he was before in PARYS town, &c.
He was the man that principell undertook,
That firſt compild in dyte the Latin book,
Of WALLACE life, right famous in renſown,
And THOMAS GRAY parſoun of LI [...]ERTOUN,
With him they were and put in ſtory all
Oft one or both mickle of his travell, &c.
g
P. 229. B. viii. v. 65. The editor ſeems to have moderniſed the ſpelling.
h
Lib. ix. v. 22. ch. i. p. 250.
i
L. v. ch. 1. p. 78. v. 1.
m
p. 82.
k
See Le Pere Mene [...]rier, Cheval. Ancien. c. v. p. 225. Par. 12mo.
l
It is a fair and beautiful manuſcript on vellum. It is an oblong octavo, and formerly belonged to Sir William Le Neve Clarencieux herald.
m
The hero's epitaph is frequent in romances. In the French romance of SAINTRE, written about this time, hi [...] epitaph is introduced.
1327
n p. 150.
n
Le Pere Meneſtrier Cheval. Ancien. [...]t ſupr. p. 225. ch. v. ‘"Que l'on croyoit avoir l'Eſprit, &c."’ Feron ſays, that they gave this attendance in order to make a true report. L'Inſtit. des Roys et Herauds, p. 44. a. See alſo Favin. p. 57. See a curious deſcription in Froiſſart, of an interview between the Chandois herald, mentioned above, and a marſhal of France, where they enter into a warm and very ſer [...]ous diſput [...] concerning the devices d'amour borne by each army. Liv. i. ch. 161.
o
‘"L'un des principaux fonctions des Herautes d'armes etoit ſe trouver au jouſts, &c. ou ils gardoient les ecus pendans, recevoient les noms et les blaſons des chevaliers, en tenoient REGISTRE, et en compoſoient recueils, &c."’ Meneſ [...]r. Orig. des Armoir. p. 180. See alſo p. 119. Theſe regiſters are mentioned in Perceforeſt, xi. 68. 77.
p
Carpentier, Suppl. Du-Cang. Gloſſ. Lat. p. 750. tom. ii.
q
Thus at St. George's feaſt at Windſor we have, ‘"Diverſis heraldis et miniſtrallis, &c."’ Ann. 21. Ric. ii. 9 Hen. vi. Apud Anſtis, Ord. Gart. i. 56. 108. And again, Exit. Pell. M. ann. 22. Edw. iii. ‘"Magiſtro Andreae Roy Norreys, [a herald,] Lybekin le Piper, et Hanakino filio ſuo, et ſex aliis meneſ [...]rallis regis in denariis eis liberatis de dono regis, in ſubſidium expenſarum ſuarum, lv. s. iv. d."’Exit. Pell. P. ann. 33. Edw. ii. ‘"Willielmo Volaunt regi heraldorum et miniſtrallis exiſtentibus apud Smithfield in ultimo haſtiludio de dono regis, x.l."’ I could give many other proofs.
r
[...]. Q. v. iii. [...].
s
Man of Lawe's T. v. 704.
t
Squire [...] T. v. 83 [...]
u
V. 2199. p. 17. Urr.
w
From v. 204. to v. 287.
x
Froiſſart [...] Hiſt. i. p. 178.
y
Bysſhe, Not. in Upton. Milit. Offic. p. 56. Meneſtrier, Orig. Arm. p. 23.
z
Tit. Hon. p. 413, &c.
a
Anſt. Ord. Gart. ii. 321.
b
MSS. O [...]ic. Arm. M. 15. fol. 12. 13.
c
‘"Guillaume Rucher, heraut d'armes du titre de Heynaut, a fait un gros volume des rois de l'Epinette a Liſle [...]n Flanders; c'eſt une ceremonie, ou un feſte, dont il a decrit les jouites, tournois, noms, armoiries, livrees, et equipages de divers ſeign [...]urs, qui ſe rendoient de divers endroits, avec le catalogues de rois de cette feſte."’ Meneſtr. l'Orig. des Armoir. p. 64.
d
See many other inſtances in MSS. Harl. 69. fol. entit. THE BOOKE OF CERTAIN [...] TRIUMPHES. See alſo APPENDIX to the new edition of Leland's COLLECTANEA.
e
MSS. Cott. Brit. Muſ.
f
The biſhop of Gloceſter has moſt obligingly condeſcended to point out to me another ſource, to which many of the romances of the fourteenth century owed their exiſtence. Montfaucon, in his MONUMENS DE LA MONARCHIE FRANÇOISE, has printed the Statuts de l'Ordre du Saint Eſprit au droit deſir ou du No [...]ud etabli par Louis d'Anjou roi de Jeruſalem et Sicile en 1352-3-4. tom. ii. p. 329. This was an annual celebration au Chaſtel de l'Euf enchanti du merveilleux peril. The caſtle, as appears by the monuments which accompany theſe ſtatutes, was built at the foot of the obſcure grot of the ENCHANTMENTS of Virgil. The ſtatutes are as extraordinary as if they had been drawn up by Don Quixote himſelf, or his aſſeſſors the curate and the barber. From the ſeventh chapter we learn, that the knights who came to this yearly feſtival at the chat [...]l de l'euf, were obliged to deliver in writing to the clerks of the chapel of the caſtle their yearly adventures. Such of theſe hiſtories as were thought worthy to be recorded, the clerks are ordered to tranſcribe in a book, which was called Le livre des av [...]n [...]ments aux chevaliers, &c. Et demerra le dit livre toujours en la dicte chapelle. This ſacred regiſter certainly furniſhed from time to time ample materials to the romance-writers. And this circumſtance gives a new explanation to a reference which we ſo frequently find in romances: I mean, that appeal which they ſo conſtantly make to ſome authentic record.
g
See Froiſſart's CRONYCLE, tranſlated by Lord Berners. Pinſon, 1523. vol. ii. f. 242.
h
Boke of the Ordre of Chevalrye or Knighthood: tranſlated out of the Frenſhe and imprinted by Wylliam Caxton. S. D. Perhaps 1484. 4to.
i
His father was a painter of armories. This might give him an early turn for ſhews. See M. de la Curne de S. Palaye, Mem. Lit. tom. x. p. 664. edit. 4to.
k
He was originally a clerk of the chamber to Philippa, queen of Edward the third. He was afterwards canon and treaſurer of Chimay in Henault, and of Liſle in Flanders: and chaplain to Guy Earl of Caſtellon. Labor. Introd. a l'Hiſt de Charle [...] vi. p. 69. Compare alſo Froiſſart's Chron. ii. f. 29. 305. 319. And Bullart, Academ. des Arts et des Scienc. i. p. 125. 126.
l
Cron. ii. f. 158. 161.
m
Cron. ii. f. 30. This was in 1381.
n
See Mem. Lit. ut ſupr. p. 665.
o
Speaking of the death of king Richard, Froiſſart quotes a prediction from the old French proſe romance of BRUT, which he ſays was fulfilled in that cataſtrophe. [...]v. iv. c. 119. Froiſſart will be mentioned again as a poet.
p

I t [...]ke this opportunity of remarking, that romantic tales or hiſtories appear at a very early period to have been RE AD as well as SUNG at feaſts. So Wace in the Roman du ROU, in the Britiſh Muſeum, above-mentioned.

Doit l'en les vers et les regeſ [...]es,
Et les eſtoires LIRE as feſtes.
q
Froiſſart brought with him for a preſent to Gaſton Earl of Foix four greyhounds, which were called by the romantic names of Triſtram, He [...]tor, Brut, and Roland. Gaſton was ſo [...]nd of hunting, that he kept upwards of ſix hundred dogs in his caſtle. M. de la Curne, ut ſupr. p. 676. 678. He wrote a treatiſe on hunting, printed 1520. See Verdier, Art. GASTON Comte de Foix. In illuſtration of the former part of this note, Creſcimbeni ſays, ‘"Che in molte nobiliſſime famiglie Italiane, ha 400 a più anni, paſſarono' i nomi de' Lancillotti, de' Triſtani, de Galvani, di Gal [...]otti, delle Iſotte, [Iſoulde] delle Genevre, e d'altri cavalieri, à dame in eſſe TAVOLA RITONDA operanti, &c."’ Iſtor. Volg. Poeſ. vol. i. lib. v. p. 327. Venez. 4to.
r
I ſhould think that this was his romance of MELIADER. Froiſſart ſays, that the king at receiving it, aſked him what the book treated of. He anſwered d' Amour. The king, adds our hiſtorian, ſeemed much pleaſed at this; and examined the book in many places, for he was fond of reading as well as ſpeaking French. He then ordered Richard Crendon, the chevalier in waiting, to carry it into his privy chamber, dont il me [...]it bo [...]e ch [...]re. He gave copies of the ſeveral parts of his chronicle [...] as they were finiſhed, to his different patrons. Le La [...]oureur ſays, that Froiſſart ſent fifty-ſix quires of his ROMAN AU CRONIQUES to Guillaume de Bailly an illuminator; which, when illuminated, were intended as a preſent to the king of England. Hiſt. ch. vi. En la vie de Louis duc d'Anjou. p. 67. ſeq. See alſo Cron. i. iv. c. 1.—iii. 26. There are two or three fine illuminated copies of Froiſſart now remaining among the royal manuſcripts in the Britiſh Muſeum. Among the ſtores of Henry the eighth at his manor of Bedington in Surry, I [...]ind the faſhionable reading of the times exempli [...]ed in the following books, viz. ‘"Item, a great book of parchmente written and lymned with gold of graver's work De Confeſſione Amantis, with xviii other bookes, Le premier volume de Lancelot, FROISSART, Le grant voiage de Jeruſalem, Enguerain de Monſtrellot, &c."’ MSS. Harl. 1419. f. 382. Froiſſart was here properly claſſed.
s
Froiſſart ſays, that he accompanied the king to various palaces, ‘"A Elten, a Ledos, a Kinkeſtove, a Cenes, a Certeſée et a Windſor."’ That is, Eltham, Leeds, Kingſton, Chertſey, &c. Cron. liv. iv. c. 119. p. 348. The French are not much improved at this day in ſpelling Engliſh places and names.
t
Cron. f. 251. 252. 255. 319. 348. Bayle, who has an article on Froiſſart, had no idea of ſearching for anecdotes of Froiſſart's life in his CHRONICLE. Inſtead of which, he ſwells his notes on this article with the contradictory accounts of Mor [...]ri, Voſſius, and others: whoſe diſputes might have been all eaſily ſettled by recurring to Froiſſart himſelf, who has interſperſed in his hiſtory many curious particulars relating to his own life and works.
a
Johnſon's DICTION. Pref. p. 1.
b
The earl of Saliſbury, beheaded by Henry the fourth, could not but patroniſe Chaucer. I do not mean for political reaſons. The earl was a writer of verſes, and very fond of poetry. On this account, his acquaintance was much cultivated by the famous Chriſtina of Piſa; whoſe works, both in proſe and verſe, compoſe ſo conſiderable a part of the old French literature. She uſed to call him, ‘"Gracieux chevalier, aimant dictiez, et lui-meme gracieux dicteur."’ See M. Boivin, Mem. Lit. tom. ii. p. 767. ſeq. 4to. I have ſeen none of this earl's Ditties. Otherwiſe he would have been here conſidered in form, as an Engliſh poet.
c
Froiſſart was alſo preſent. VIE DE PETRARQUE. iii. 772. Amſt. 1766. 4to. I believe Paulus Jovius is the firſt who me [...] tions this anecdote. Vit. Galeaſ. ii. p. 152.
d
Leland Script. Brit. 421.
e
Gower, Confeſſ. Amant. l. v. fol. 190. b. Barthel. 1554.
And grete wel Chaucer, when ye mete,
As my diſ [...]ple and my poete:
For in the flowers of his youth,
In ſundrie wiſe as he well couth,
Of dites and of ſonges glade
The which he for my ſake made, etc.
f
See H. Wharton, Append. Cav. p. 49.
g
Such as Bartholomew Hantwille De Propri [...]ta [...]ibus Rerum, lib. xix. Printed by Wynkyn de Worde, 1494. fol. And Vegetius De Arte Militari. MSS. Digb. 233. Bibl. Bodl. In the ſame manuſcript is Aegidius Romanus De R [...]gimine Principum, a tranſlation probably by Treviſa. He alſo tranſlated ſome pieces of Richard Fitzralph, archbiſhop of Armagh. See ſupr. p. 291. He wrote a tract, prefixed to his verſion of the POLYCHRONICON, on the utility of tranſlations. De Utilitate Tranſlationum, Dialogus int [...]r Clericum et Patronum. See more of his tranſlations in MSS. Harl. 1900. I do not find his ENGLISH BIBLE in any of our libraries, nor do I believe that any copy of it now remains. Caxton mentions it in the preface to his edition of the Engliſh POLYCHRONICON.
h
It is obſervable, that he made his tranſlation from the vulgate Latin verſion of Jerom. It was finiſhed 1383. See MS. Cod. Bibl. Coll. Eman. Cant. 102.
i

Chaucer alludes to ſome book from whence this tale was taken, more than once, viz. v. 1. ‘"Whilom, as olde ſtories tellin us."’ v. 1465. ‘"As olde bookes to us ſaine, that all this ſtorie telleth more plain."’ v. 2814. ‘"Of ſoulis fynd I nought in this regiſtre."’ That is, this Hiſtory, or narrative. See alſo v. 2297. In the Legende of good women, where Chau [...]r's works are mentioned, is this paſſage, which I do not well underſtand. v. 420.

And al the love of Palamon and Arcite
Of Thebis, though the ſtorie is known lite.
k
Goujet, Bibl. Fr. Tom. vii. p. 328. But we muſt except, that beſides the poem mentioned below, Boccacio's AMAZONIDA, E FORZE D'ERCOLE, are both now extant: and were printed at Ferrara in, or about, the year 1475. fol.
l
See Creſcimben. I [...]tor. Volgar. Poeſ. vol. i. L. i. p. 65. Ven. 1731. 4to.
m
Poema della TESEIDE del Boccacio chioſato, e dichia [...]ato du Andrea de Baſſi in Ferrara, 1475. fol.
n
4to.
o
In Lydgate's TEMPLE OF GLAS, never printed, among the lovers painted on the wall is The [...]eus killing the Mino [...]aure. I ſuppoſe from Ovid. Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Fair [...]ax, 16. Or from Chaucer, Legende Ar [...]adne.
p
See [...] p. 126. ſupr. And foregoing not [...].
q
MSS. Bibl. [Reg. Pariſ.] Tom. ii. 974. E.
r
Fol. tom. ii. Again [...] ibid. 4to. Bl. Lett. See Lenglet, Bibl. Rom. p. 191.
s
The chevaliers of the courts of Charles the fifth and ſixth adopted names from the old romances, ſuch as Lancelot, Gadifer, Carados, &c. Mem. anc. Cheval. i. p. 340.
t
See p. 141. ſupr.
u
See Hiſtorie du Perce [...]orreſt roy de la Gr. Bretagne, et Gadiffer roy d'Eſcoſſe, &c. 6 tom. Paris, 1531. fol.
w
Bibl. MSS. ut ſupr. p. 773.
x
Ut ſupr. p. 329.
y
4to. There is a French proſe tranſlation with it. The THESEID has alſo been tranſlated into French proſe by D. C. C. 1597. 12mo. Paris. ‘"La THESEIDE de Jean Boccace, contenant les chaſtes amours de deux chevaliers Thebans, Arcite et Polemon, &c."’ Jane de la Fontaine alſo tranſlated into French verſe this poem. She died 1536. Her tranſlation was never printed. It is applauded by Joannes Secundus, Eleg. xv.
z
Giorn. vii. Nov. 10. pag. 348. edit. Vineg. 1548. 4to. Chaucer himſelf alludes to this ſtory, B [...]. Kn. v. 369. Perhaps on the ſame principle.
a
A manuſcript of it is in the Royal library at Paris, Cod. 2569. Du Cange, Ind. Auct. Gloſſ. Gr. Barb. ii. p. 65. col. 1.
b
About which period it is probable that the anonymous Greek poem, called the Loves of Lybiſter and Rhodamna, was written. This appears by the German name Frederic, which often occurs in it, and is greciſed, with many other German words. In a manuſcript of this poem which Cruſius ſaw, were many paintings and illuminations; where, in the repreſentation of a battle, he obſerved no guns, but javelins, and bows and arrows. He adds, ‘"et muſicae teſtudines."’ It is written in the iambic meaſure mentioned below. It is a ſeries of wandering adventures with little art or invention. Lybiſter, the ſon of a Latin king, and a Chriſtian, ſets forward accompanied with an hundred attendants in ſearch of Rhodamna, whom he had loſt by the ſtratagems of a certain old woman ſkilled in magic. He meets Clitophon ſon of a king of Armenia. They undergo various dangers in different countries. Lybiſter relates his dream concerning a partridge and an eagle; and how from that dream he fell in love with Rhodamna daughter of Chyſes a pagan king, and communicated his paſſion by ſending an arrow, to which his name was affixed, into a tower, or caſtle, called Argyrocaſtre, &c. See Cruſii Turco-Graecia, p. 974. But we find a certain ſpecie [...] of erotic romances, ſome in verſe and ſome in proſe, exi [...]ting in the Greek empire, the remains and the dregs of Heliodorus, Achilles Tatius, Xenophon the Epheſian, Charito, Euſtathius or Eumathius, and others, about or rather before the year 1200. Such are the Loves of Rhodan [...]e and Doſicles of Theodorus Prodromus, who wrote about the year 1130. This piece was imitated by Nicetas Eugenianus in the Loves of Charicell and Droſilla. See Labb. Bibl. Nov. Manu [...]cript. p. 220. Whether or no The Loves of Cal [...]imac [...]us and [...]hryſorrhoe, The Erot [...]c hiſtory of Hemperius, The hiſtory of the Loves of Florius and Platzaflora, with ſome others, all by anonymous authors, and in Greco-barbarous iambics, were written at Conſtantinople; or whether they were the compoſitions of the learned Greeks after their diſperſion, of whom more will be [...]aid hereafter, I am not able to determine. See Neſſell. i. p. 342. 343. Meurſ. Gloſſ. Gr. Barb. V. [...]. And Lambecc. v. p. 262. 264.
c
As alſo [...], Ha [...]tiludium. Fr. Tour [...]oi. And [...], haſtiludio co [...]tendere. John Cantacuzenus relates, that when Anne of Savoy, daughter of Amadeus, the fourth earl of the Allobroges, was married to the emperor Andronicus, junior, the Frankiſh and Savoya [...]d nobles, who accompanied the princeſs, held tilts and tournaments before the court at Conſtantinople; which, he adds, the Greeks learned o [...] the Franks. This was in the year 1326. Hiſt. Byzant. [...]. i. cap. 42. But Nicetas ſays, that when the emperor Manuel made ſome ſtay at Antioch, the Greeks held a ſolemn tournament againſt the Franks. This was about the year 1160. Hiſt. Byzant. l. iii. cap. 3. Cinnamus obſerves, that the ſame emperor Manuel altered the ſhape of the [...]hields and lances of the Greeks to thoſe of the Franks. Hiſt. Byzant. lib. iii. Nicephorus [...]regoras, who wrote about the year 1340 [...] affirms, that the Greeks learned this practice from the Franks. Hiſt. Byzant. l. x. p. 339. edit. fol. Genev. 1615. The word [...], Knights, Ch [...]valiers, occurs often in [...]he Byzantine hiſto [...]ians, even as early as Anna Commena, who wrote about 1140. Alexiad. lib. xiii. p. 411. And we have in J. Cantacuzenus, ‘" [...],"’ He conferred the honour of Knighthood. This indeed is ſaid of the Franks. Hiſt. ut ſupr. l. iii. cap. 25. And in the Greek poem now under conſideration one of the titles is, ‘" [...]."’ How Theſeus dubbed the two Thebans Knights. lib. vii. Signatur. [...]. fol. verſ.
d
Giorn. v. Nov. 1.
e
That is verſus politici abovementioned, a ſort of looſe iambic. See Langii PHILOLOGIA GRAECO-BARBARA. Tzetes's Chiliads are written in this verſification. See Du Cange, Gl. Gr. ii. col. 1. 96.
f
Cruſ. ut ſupr. p. 373. 399. See ſupr. p. 129.
g
That is, Rhythmically, Poetically. Gr. Barb.
h
Du Cange mentions, ‘" [...]."’ Ind. Auct. Gloſſ. Gr. Barb. ii. p. 36. col. b. Compare Fabricius, Bibl. Gr. vi. 821. I believe it was firſt printed at Venice, 1563. viz. ‘"Hiſtoria Apollonii Tyanaei, [Tyrenſis] Ven. 1563. Liber Eroticus, Gr. barb. lingua exaratus ad modum rythmorum noſtrorum, rariſſimus audit, &c."’ Vogt. Catal. libr. rarior. p. 345. edit. 1753. I think it was reprinted at Venice, 1696. apud Nicol. Glycem. 8vo. In the works of Velſerus, there is Narratio Eorum quae Apolloni [...] regi acciderunt, &c. He ſays it was firſt written by ſome Greek author. Velſeri Op. p. 697. edit. 1682. fol. The L [...]tin is in Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Laud, 39.—Bodl. F. 7. 7. And F. 11. 45. In the preface, Velſerus, who died 1614, ſays, that he believes the original in Greek ſtill remains at Conſtantinople, in the library of Manuel Eugenicus. Montſaucon mentions a noble copy of this romance, written in the thirteenth century, in the royal library at Paris. Bibl. MSS. p. 753. Compare MSS. Langb. Bibl. Bodl. vi. p. 15. G [...]ſta Apollonii, &c. There is a manuſcript in Saxon of the romance of APOLLONIUS OF TYRE. Wanley's Catal. apud Hickes, ii. 146. See Martin. Cruſii Turco-Graec. p. 209. edit. 1594 Gower recites many ſtories of this romance in his CONFESSIO AMANTIS. He calls Apollonius ‘"a yonge, a freſhe, a luſtie knight."’ See Lib. viii. fol. 175. b.—185. a. But he refers to Godfrey of Viterbo's PANTH [...]ON, or univerſal Chronicle, called alſo Memoriae Saeculorum, partly in proſe, partly verſe, from the Creation of the world, to the year 1186. The author died in 1190.
—A Croni [...]e in daies gone
The which is cleped Panteone, &c.
fol. 175. a. The play called PERICLE [...] PRINCE OF TYRE, attributed to Shakeſpeare, is taken from this ſtory of Apollonius as told by Gower, who ſpeaks the Prologue. It exiſted in Latin before the year 900. See Barth. Adverſar. lviii. cap. i. Chaucer calls him ‘"of Tyre Apolloneus."’ PROL. Man. L. TALE. v. 81. p. 50. Urr. edit. And quotes from this romance,
How that the curſid king Antiochus
Biraſte his daughter of hir maidinhede,
That is ſo horrible a tale to rede,
When he her drewe upon the pavement.
In the royal library there is ‘"Hiſtoire d'Apollin roy de Thir."’ Brit. Muſ. MSS. Reg. 20 C. ii. 2. With regard to the French editions of this romance, the oldeſt I have ſeen is, ‘"Plaiſante et agreable Hiſtoire d' Apollonius prince de Thyr en Affrique et Toy d' Antioch, tradulte par Gilles Corozet, Paris, 1530. 8vo."’ And there is an old black-letter edition, printed in quarto at Geneva, entitled, ‘"La Chronique d' Appollin roy de Thir."’ [...] the ſtory appeared in a modern dreſs by M. le Brun, under the title of ‘"Avantures d'Apollonius de Thyr,"’ printed in twelves at Paris and Roterdam, in 1710. And again at Paris the following year.
k
So I tranſlate ‘"alios id genus minores libellos."’ Cruſ. ibid. p. 489. Cruſius was born in 1526, and died 1607.
l
At the end of Le Triumphe des NEUF PREUX, &c. fol. That is, The NINE WORTHIES.
m
See du Cange, Gl. Gr. Barb. ii. Ind. Auctor. p. 36. col. b. This hiſtory contains Beltrand's, or Bertrand's amours with [...], Chryſatſa, the king of Antioch's daughter.
n
See Lambecc. Bibl. Caeſar. Lib v. p. 264. It is remarkable, that the ſtory of Date obolum Beliſ [...]rio is not in Procopius, but in this romance. Probably Vandyck got this ſtory from a moderniſed edition of it, called B [...]LLISAIRE ou le Conquerant, Pariſ. 1643. 8vo. Which, however, is ſaid in the title-page to be taken from Procopius. It was written by the ſieur de Grenailles.
o
They ſometimes applied their Greek iambics to the works of the antient Greek poets. Demetrius Zenus, above-mentioned, tranſlated Homer's [...]: and Nicolaus Lucanus, the Iliad. The firſt was printed at Venice, and afterwards reprinted by Cruſius, Turco-Graec. p. 373. The latter was alſo printed at Venice, 1526. apud Steph. Sabium. This Demetrius Zenus is ſaid to be the author of the [...], or BATTLE OF THE CATS AND MICE. See Cruſ. ubi ſupr. 396. And Fabric. Bibl. Gr. i. 264. 223. On account of the Greco-barbarous books which began to grow common, chiefly in Italy, about the year 1520, Stephen a Sabio, or Sabius, above-mentioned, the printer of many of them, publiſhed a Greco-barbarous lexicon at Venice, 1527, entitled, ‘"CORONA PRETIOSA, [...]."’ It is a mixture of modern and antient Greek words, Latin and Italian. It was reprinted at Venice by Petrus Burana, 1546.
p
See Lenglet's Bibl. Rom. p. 253. ‘"Le Roman de Troylus."’ And Montfaucon, Bibl. MSS. p. 792. 793. &c. &c. There is, ‘"L'Amore di Troleo et Griſeida que ſi tratta in buone parte la Guerra di Troja, d'Angelo Leonico, Ven. 1553."’ in octave rhyme. 8vo. More will be ſaid of this hereafter, p. 384.
q
Lud. Viv. de Chriſtiana Femina. lib. i. cap. cui tit. Qui non legendi Scriptores, &c. He lived at Bruges. He mentions other romances common in Flanders, LEONELA AND CANAMOR, CURIAS AND F [...]ORELA, and PYRAMUS AND THISBE.
r
FLORES y BLANCAFLOR. En Alcala, 1512. 4to.—Hiſtoire Amoreuſe de FLORES et de BLANCHEFLEUR, traduite de l'Eſpagnol par Jacques Vincent. Paris, 1554. 8vo.—FLORIMONT ET PASSEROZE, traduite de l'Eſpagnol en proſe Françoiſe, Lyon, 15... 8vo. There is a French edition at Lyons, 1571. It was perhaps originally Spaniſh.
s
See ſupr. p. 348. In the Notes. Where, for want of further information, I left this point doubtful.
t
For the uſe of the Greek THESEID I am obliged to the politeneſs of Mr. Stanley, who condeſcends to patroniſe and aſſiſt the ſtudies he ſo well underſtands. I believe there is but one more copy in England, belonging to Mr. Ramſay the painter. Yet I have been told that Dr. George, provoſt of King's, had a copy. The firſt edition of the Italian book, no leſs valuable a curioſity, is in the excellent library of the very learned and communicative Dr. Aſkew. This is the only copy in England. See BIBL. SMITH. Addend. fol. xl. Venet. 1755. 4to.
u
Thus, [...] means paintings, properly hiſtory-paintings, and [...], and [...], is to paint, in barbarous Greek. There are various examples in the Byzantine writers. In middle Latinity Hiſtoricgraphus ſignifies literally a Painter. Perhaps our HISTORIOGRAPHER ROYAL was originally the king's Illuminator. [...] occurs in an Inſcription publiſhed by Du Cange, Diſſertat. Joinv. xxvii. p. 319. Where [...] implies an artiſt who painted in moſaic work called [...], or [...], Muſivum. In the Greek poem before us [...] is uſed for a Painter, lib. ii.
[...].
In the middle Latin writers we have deping [...] HISTORIALITER, To paint with hiſtories or figures, viz. ‘"Forinſecus dealbavit illud [delubrum,] intrinſecus autem depinxit hiſtorialiter."’ Dudo de Act. Norman. l. iii. p. 153. Dante uſes the Italian word before us in the ſame ſenſe. Dante, Purgat. Cant. x.
Quivi era HISTORIATA l' alta gloria
Del Roman Prince.—
[...] frequently occurs, ſimply for picture or repreſentation in colours. Nilus Monach. lib. iv. Epiſt. 61. [...]. ‘"PICTURES of birds, ſerpents, and plants."’ And in a thouſand other inſtances.
x
L. vii.
w
From which it was thought proper to give on larger ſpecimen, as the language is intelligible only to a very few curious ſcholars.
x
L. vii. Sign. μ g.
a
Sound.
b
Precipice.
c
Burniſhed.
d
Noiſe.
e
‘"It ſtrained the doors: Almoſt forced them from their hinges."’
f
A great tun. A tun-weight.
g
Coal.
h
Fear.
i

Dryden has converted this image into clerical hypocriſy, under which he takes an opportunity of gratifying his ſpleen againſt the clergy. Knight's Tale, B. ii. p. 56. edit. 1713.

Next ſtood Hypocriſy with holy leer,
Soft-ſmiling and demurely looking down,
But hid the dagger underneath the gown.
k
Perhaps, for ſhepyn we ſhould read chepyn, or cheping, i. e. a town, a place of trade. This line is therefore to repreſent, A City on fire. In Wickliffe's bible we have, ‘"It is lyk to children ſittynge in CHEPYNGE."’ Matt. xi. 16.
l
Dryden has lowered this image,
Th' aſſaſſinating wife.—
m
Strife.
n

This image is likewiſe entirely miſrepreſented by Dryden, and turned to a ſatire on the church.

Conteſt with ſharpen'd knives in cloyſters drawn,
And all with blood beſpread the holy lawn.
o
Any diſagreeable noiſe, or hollow murmur. Properly, the jarring of a door upon the hinges. See alſo Chaucer's Boeth. p. 364. b. Urr. edit. ‘"When the felde chirkinge agriſethe of the colde, by the fellneſſe of the wind Aquilon."’ The original is, ‘"Vento Campus inhorruit."’
p
Head.
q
In the night.
r
This couplet refers to the ſuicide in the preceding one: who is ſuppoſed to kill himſelf by driving a nail into his head in the night, and to be found dead and cold in his bed, with his ‘"mouth gapyng upryght."’ This is properly the meaning of his ‘"hair being bathed in blood."’ Shode, in the text, is literally a buſh of hair. Dryden has finely paraphraſed this paſſage.
s
Madneſs.
t
Throat cut.
u
‘"Slain, not deſtroyed by ſickneſs or dying a natural death."’
w
Devouring.
x
Charioteer.
y
Chariot.
z
Anvil.
a
v. 1998. p. 16. Urr.
b
There are many other inſtances of this mixture. v. 1179. ‘"We ſtrive as did the houndis for the bone."’ v. 1264. ‘"We fare as he that dronk is as a mouſe, &c."’ v. 2762. ‘"Farewel phyſick! Go bere the corſe to church."’ v. 2521. ‘"Some ſaid he lokid grim and he wolde [...]ight, &c."’
c
Form, or figure. Statuary is not implied here. Thus he mentions the ſtatue of Mars on a banner, ſupr. v. 977. I cannot forbear adding in this place theſe fine verſes of Mars arming himſelf in haſte, from our author's Complaint of Mars and Venus, v. 99.
He throwith on his helme of hugè weight;
And girt him with his ſworde, and in his hond
His mighty ſpere, as he was wont to feight,
He ſhekith ſo, that it al [...]oſt to wende.
Here we ſee the force of deſcription without a profuſion of idle epithets. Theſe verſes are all ſinew: they have nothing but verbs and ſubſtantives.
d
Chariot.
e
Mad.
f
Recording.
g
v. 2043.
h

Chaucer points out this very temple in the introductory lines, v. 1981.

Like to the eſtries of the griſly place
That hight the grete temple of Mars in Thrace.
In thilke cold and froſty region,
Ther as Mars has his ſovran manſion.
i
Stat. Theb. vii. 40. And below we have Chaucer's Doors of adamant eterne, viz. v. 68.
—Clauſaeque adamante perenni
Diſſiluere fores.—
Statius alſo calls Mars, Armipotens. v. 78. A ſacrifice is copied from Statius, where ſays Chaucer, v. 2296.
And did her thingis as men might behold
In Stace of Thebes.—
I think Statius is copied in a ſimile, v. 1640. The introduction of this poem is alſo taken from the Thebaid, xii. 545. 481. 797. Compare Chaucer's lines, v. 870. ſeq. v. 917. ſeq. v. 996. ſeq. The funeral pyre of Arcite is alſo tranſlated from Theb. vi. 195. ſeq. See Ch. v. 2940. ſeq. I likewiſe take this opportunity of obſerving, that Lucretius and Plato are imitated in this poem. Together with many paſſages from Ovid and Virgil.
k
In Troilus and Creſſide he has tranſlated the arguments of the twelve books of the Thebaid of Statius. See B. v. p. 1479. ſeq.
l
v. 2375.
m
You.
n
A bear's.
o
As big as your arm.
p
Greyhounds. A favourite ſpecies of dogs in the middle ages. In the antient pipe-rolls, payments are frequently made in greyhounds. Rot. Pip. an. 4. Reg. Johann. [A. D. 1203.] ‘"Rog. Conſtabul. Ceſtrie debet D. Marcas, et X. palfridos et X. laiſſas Leporariorum pro habenda terra Vidonis de Loverell de quibus debet reddere per ann. C. M."’ Ten leaſhes of greyhounds. Rot. Pip. an. 9. Reg. Johann. [A. D. 1208.] ‘"SUTHANT. Johan. Teingre debet C. M. et X. leporarios magnos, pulchros, et bonos, de redemtione ſua, &c."’ Rot. Pip. an. 11. Reg. Johan. [A. D. 1210.] ‘"EVERVEYCSIRE. Rog. de Mallvell redd. comp. de I. palefrido velociter currente, et II. Laiſiis leporariorum pro habendis literis deprecatoriis ad Matildam de M."’ I could give a thouſand other inſtances of the ſort.
q
Muzzle.
r
In Hawes's PASTIME OF PLEASURE, [written temp. Hen. vii.] Fame is attended with two greyhounds; on whoſe golden collars Grace and Governaunce, are inſcribed in diamond letters. See next note.
s
Rings. The faſtening of dogs collars. They are often mentioned in the INVENTORY of furniture, in the royal palaces of Henry the eighth, above cited. MSS. Harl. 1419. In the Caſtle of Windſor. Article COLLARS. f. 409. ‘"Two greyhoundes collars of crimſun velvett and cloth of gold, lacking torrettes." — "Two other collars with the kings armes, and at the ende portcullis and roſe." — "Item, a collar embrawdered with pomegranates and roſes with turrets of ſilver and gilt." — "A collar garniſhed with ſtoleworke with one ſhallop ſhelle of ſilver and gilte, with torrettes and pendauntes of ſilver and guilte." — "A collar of white velvette, embrawdered with perles, the ſwivels of ſilver."’
t
Filed. Highly poliſhed.
u
v. 2129.
w
See this word expl [...]ined above, p. 176.
x

Not of Tarſus in Cilicia. It is rather an abbreviation for Tartarin, or Tartarium. See Chaucer's Flowre and Leafe, v. 212.

On every trumpe hanging a brode bannere
Of fine Tartarium full richely bete.

That it was a coſtly ſtuff appears from hence. ‘"Et ad faciendum unum Jupoun de Tartaryn blu pouderat. cum garterii [...] blu paratis cum boucles et pendants de argento deaurato."’ Comp. J. Coke Proviſoris Magn. Garderob. temp. Edw. iii. ut ſupr. It often occurs in the wardrob [...] accounts for furniſhing to [...]naments. Du Cange ſays, that this was a fine cloth manufactured in Tartary. Glo [...]. Tartarium. But Skinner in V. derives it from Torto [...]a in the Milaneſe. He cites Stat. 4. Hen. viii. c. vi.

y
Burnt. Burniſhed.
z
Quite full.
a
Rings.
b
Lemon-colour. Lat. Citrinus.
c
Sprinkled.
d
‘"A mixture of black and yellow."’
e
Caſt. Darted.
f
See ſupr. p. 166.
g
Armour.
h
Libbard. v. 2157.
i
v. 977.
k
v. 1277.
l
Aſhes.
m
Stayed.
n
V. 1363.
o
Squallid.
p
V. 2884.
q
V. 1576.
r
Saluteth.
s
In the Greek, [...]. iii. Signat. ε e iiii. [...], &c. See Dante, Purgat. c. 1. p. 234.
t
Groves. Buſhes.
u
1493.
w
V. 1037.
x
The knights of the Teutonic order were ſettled in Pruſſia, before 1300. See alſo Ch. Prol. v. 53. Where tournaments in Pruſſia are mentioned. Arcite quotes a fable from Aeſop, v. 1179.
a
Fauchet, p. 198.
b
Id. ibid. p. 200. He alſo tranſlated Boethius De Conſolatione, and Abelard's Letters, and wrote Anſwers of the Sybills, &c.
c

The poem conſiſts of 22734 verſes. William of Lorris's part ends with v. 4149. viz.

"A peu que je ne m'en deſeſpoir."
d
In the preface of the edition printed in the year 1538, all this allegory is turned to religion. The Roſe is proved to be a ſtate of grace, or divine wiſdom, or eternal beatitude, or the Holy Virgin to which heretics cannot gain acceſs. It is the white Roſe of Jericho, Quaſi plantatio Roſ [...] in Jericho, &c. &c. The chemiſts, in the mean time, made it a ſearch for the Philoſopher's Stone: and other profeſſions, with laboured commentaries, explained it into their own reſpective ſciences.
e
See Occleve's Letter of Cupide, written 1402. Urry's Chaucer, p. 536. v. 283. Who calls John of Moon the author of the Romaunt of the Roſe.
f

Chaucer's poem conſiſts of 7699 verſes: and ends with this verſe of the original, viz. v. 13105.

"Vous aurez abſolution."

But Chaucer has made ſeveral omiſſions in John of Meun's part, before he comes to this period. He has tranſlated all William of Lorris's part, as I have obſerved; and his tranſlation of that part ends with v. 4432. viz.

"Than ſhuldin I fallin in wanhope."

Chaucer's cotemporaries called his Romant of the Roſe, a tranſlation. Lydgate ſays that Chaucer

—Notably did his buſineſſe
By grete avyſe his wittes to diſpoſe,
To tranſlate the ROMANS OF THE ROSE.

Prol. Boch. ſt. vi. It is manifeſt that Chaucer took no pains to diſguiſe his tranſlation. He literally follows the French, in ſaying, that a river was ‘"leſſe than Saine."’ i. e. the Seine at Paris. v. 118. ‘"No wight in all Paris."’ v. 7157. A grove has more birds ‘"than ben in all the relme of Fraunce,v. 495. He calls a pine, ‘"A tree in France men call a pine."’ v. 1457. He ſays of roſes, ‘"ſo faire werin nevir in Rone."’ v. 1674. ‘"That for Paris ne for Pavie."’ v. 1654. He has ſometimes reference to French ideas, or words, not in the original. As ‘"Men clepin hem Sereins in France."’ v. 684. ‘"From Jeruſalem to Burgoine."’ v. 554. ‘"Grein de Paris."’ v. 1369. Where Skinner ſays, Paris is contracted for Paradiſe. In mentioning minſtrells and juglers, he ſays, that ſome of them ‘"Songin ſonges of Loraine."’ v. 776. He adds,

For in Loraine there notis be
Full ſwetir than in this contre.

There is not a ſyllable of theſe ſongs, and ſingers, of Loraine, in the French. By the way, I ſuſpect that Chaucer tranſlated this poem while he was at Paris. There are alſo many alluſions to Engliſh affairs, which I ſuſpected to be Chaucer's; but they are all in the French original. Such as, ‘"Hornpipis of Cornevaile."’ v. 4250. Theſe are called in the original, ‘"Chalemeaux de Cornouaille."’ v. 3991. A knight is introduced, allied to king ‘"Arthour of Bretaigne."’ v. 1199. Who is called, ‘"Bon roy Artus de Bretaigne."’ Orig. v. 1187. Sir Gawin, and Sir Kay, two of Arthur's knights, are characteriſed, v. 2206. ſeq. See Orig. v. 2124. Where the word Keulx is corrupt for Keie. But there is one paſſage, in which he mentions a Bachelere as fair as ‘"The Lordis ſonne of Windiſore."’ v. 1250. This is added by Chaucer, and intended as a compliment to ſome of his patrons. In the Legende of good Women, Cupid ſays to Chaucer, v. 329.

For in plain text, withoutin nede of gloſe,
Thou haſt tranſlatid the Romaunt of the Roſe.
g
Qu'on joli moys de May ſongeoye,
Ou temps amoreux plein de joye,
Qu [...] toute choſe ſi s' [...]ſgaye,
Si qu'il n'y a buiſſons ne haye
Qui en May parer ne ſe vueille,
Et couvrir de nouvelle fueille:
Les boys recouvrent leur verdure,
Qui ſont ſces tant qui l'hiver dure;
La terre meſmes s'en orgouille
Pour la rougée qui ta mouille,
En oublian la povretè
Où elle a tout l'hiver eſtè;
Lors devient la terre ſi gobe,
Qu'elle veult avoir neuſve robe;
Si ſçet ſi cointe robe faire,
Que de couleurs y a cent paire,
D'herbes, de [...]leures Indes and Perſes:
Et de maintes couleurs diverſes
Eſt la robe que je deviſe
Parquoy la terre mieulx ſe priſe.
Les oiſeaulx qui tant ſe ſont teuz
Pour l'hiver qu'ils ont tous ſentuz,
Et pour le froit et divers temps,
Sont en May, et par la printemps,
Si liez, &c.
v. 51.
h
Buſh, or hedge-row. Sometimes Wood. Rot. Pip. an 17. Henr. iii. ‘"Et Heremitae ſancti Edwardi in haga de Birchenwude, xl. ſol."’
i
Hide. From wrie, or wrey, to cover.
k
Cold.
l
v. 51.
m
Mais ſachiès que les arbres furent
Si loing a loing comme eſtre durent
L'ung fut de l'autre loing aſſis
De cinque toiſes voyre de ſix,
Mais moult furent [...]ueilluz et haulx
Pour gardir de l'eſte le chaulx
Et ſi eſpis par deſſus furent
Que chaleurs percer ne lis peuvent
Ne ne povoient bas deſcendre
Ne faire mal a l'erbe tendre.
Au vergier eut dains & chevreleux,
Et auſſi beaucoup d'eſcureux,
Qui par deſſus arbres ſailloyent;
Conuins y avoit qui yſſoient
Bien ſouvent hors de leurs tanieres,
En moult de diverſes manieres.
v. 1368.
n
‘"The tops, or boughs, were ſo thickly twiſted together."’
o
Set.
p
Be hurt.
q
See.
r
Conies.
s
Chaucer imitates this paſſage in the Aſſemble of Foules. v. 190. ſeq. Other paſſages of that poem are imitated from Roman de la Roſe.
t
Burroughs.
u
v. 1391.
w
Par lieux y eut cleres fontaines,
Sans barbelotesa and ſans raines,
Qui des arbres eſtoient umbrez,
Par moy ne vous ſeront nombrez,
Et petit ruiſſeaulx, que Deduit
Avoit la trouvés par conduit;
L'eaue alloit aval faiſant
Son melodieux et plaiſant.
Aux bortz des ruiſſeaulx et des rives
Des fontaines cleres et vives
Poignoit l'erbe dru et plaiſant
Grant ſoulas et plaiſir faiſant.
Amy povoit avec ſa mye
Soy deporter ne'r doubtez mye.—
Violette y fut moult belle
Et auſſi parvenche nouvelle;
Fleurs y eut blanches et vermeilles,
Ou ne pourroit trouver pareilles,
De toutes diverſes couleurs,
De haulx pris et de grans valeurs,
Si eſtoit ſoef flairans
Et reflagrans et odorans.
v. 1348.
a
A ſp [...]cies of inſect o [...]ten found in ſtagnant water.
x
Conduits.
y
Periwinkle.
z
v. 1411.
a
De les ENVIE etoit TRISTESS [...]
Painte auſſi et garny [...] d'angoiſſe.
Et bien paroit à ſa couleur
Qu'elle avoit a cueur grant douleur:
Et ſembloit avoir la jaunice,
La n'y faiſoit riens AVARICE,
Le paliſſ [...]ur ne de maigreſſe
Car le travaile et la deſtreſſe, &c.
Moult ſembloit bien que fuſt dolente;
Car el n'avoit pas eſte lente
D'eſgratignier toute ſa chiere;
Sa robe ne luy eſtoit chiere
En mains lieux l'avoit deſſirée,
Comme culle qui fut yrée.
Ses cheveulx dérompus eſtoient,
Qu'autour de ſon col pendoient,
Preſque les avoit tous deſroux
De maltalent et de corroux.
v. 300.
b
Neck.
c
v. 300.
d
Au milieu de mur je vy HA [...]NE.
Si n'eſtoit pas bien atournée,
Ains ſembloit eſtre forcence
Rechignée eſtoit et fron [...]é
Avoit le nez et rebo [...]rſe.
Moult hydeuſe eſtoit et ſouilleè
Et fut ſa teſte entortilleè
Tres ordement d'un touaille,
Qui moult eſtoit d'horrible taille.
143.
e
Anger.
f
v. 147.
g
Le Dieu d'amours ſi s'eſtoit pris
A une dame de hault pris,
Pres ſe tenoit de ſon coſté
Celle dame eut nom BEAULTE.
Ainſi comme une des cinque fleſches
En ille aut toutes bonnes taiches:
Point ne fut obſcur, ne brun,
Mais fut clere comme la lune.—
Tendre eut la chair comme rouſée,
Simple fut comme une eſpouſée.
Et blanch comme fleur de lis,
Viſage eut bel doulx et alis,
Elle eſtoit greſle et alignée
N'eſtoit fardi [...] ne pignée,
Car elle n'avoit pas meſtier
De ſoy farder et affaictier.
Les cheveulx ent blons et ſi longs
Qu' ils batoient aux talons.
v. 1004.
h
Having good qualities. See ſupr. v. 939. ſeq.
i
On the buſh. Or, In perfection. Or, A budding roſe.
k
Well proportioned.
l
F [...]tious. Handſome.
m
Contracted.
n
Affectedly dreſſed. Properly, dreſſed up like a puppet.
o
To trim. To adorn.
p
Stretch [...]d. Spread abroad.
q
Reached.
r
v. 1003.
s
De pourpre fut le veſtement
A RICHESSE, ſi noblement,
Qu'en tout le monde n'euſt plus bel,
Mieulx fait, ne auſſi plus nouvel:
Pourtraictes y furent d'orfroys
Hyſtoryes d'empereurs et roys.
Et encores y avoit-il
Un ouvrage noble et ſobtil;
A noyaulx d'or au col fermoit,
Et a bendes d'azur tenoit:
Noblement cut le chief parè
De riches pierres decorè
Qui gettoient moult grant clartè,
Tout y eſtoit bien aſſortè.
Puis eut une riche ſainture
Sainte par deſſus ſa veſture:
Le boucle d'une pierre fu,
Groſſe et de moult grant vertu
Celluy qui ſur ſoy le protoit
De tous venins garde eſtoit.—
D'autre pierre fut le mordans
Qui gueriſſoit du mal des dens.
Ceſt pierre portoit bon cur,
Qui l'avoit pouvoit eſtre aſſeur
De ſa ſantè et de ſa vei,
Quant à jeun il l'avoit vei:
Les cloux furent d'or epurè,
Par deſſus le tiſſu doré,
Qui eſtoient grans et peſans,
En chaſcun avoit deux beſans.
Si eut avecques a Richeſſe
Uns cadre d'or mis ſur la treſſe,
Si riche, ſi plaiſant, et ſi bel,
Qu'onques ou ne veit le pareil:
De pierres eſtoit fort garny,
Precieuſes et aplany,
Qui bien en vouldroit deviſer,
On ne les pouvroit pas priſer
Rubis, y eut ſaphirs, jagonces,
Eſmerandes plus de cent onces:
Mais devant eut par grant maiſtriſe,
Un eſcarboucle bien aſſiſe
Et le pierre ſi clere eſtoit
Que cil qui devant la mettoit
Si en povoit veoir au beſoing
A ſoy conduire une lieue loing,
Telle clartè ſi en yſſoit
Que Richeſſe en reſplandiſſoit
Par tout le corps et par ſa face
Auſſi d'autour d'elle la place.
v. 1066.
t
‘"That I lie, or am mad."’
u
Like.
w
Parts.
x
Embroidery in gold.
y
Laces laid on robes. Embroideries.
z
Band. Knott.
a
Knobbs. Buttons.
b
Enameled. Enameling, and perhaps pictures in enamel, were common in the middle ages. From the Teſtament of Joh. de Foxle, knight, Dat. apud Bramſhill Co. Southampt. Nov. 5. 1378. ‘"Item lego domino abbati de Waltham unum annulum auri groſſi, cum una ſaphiro infixa, et nominibus trium regum [of Cologne] ſculptis in eodem annulo. Item lego Margarite ſorori mee unam tabulam argenti deaurati et amelitam, minorem de duabus quas habeo, cum diverſis ymaginibus ſculptis in eadem.—Item lego Margerie uxori Johannis de Wilton unum monile auri, cum S. litera ſculpta et amelita in eodem."’ Regiſtr. Wykeham, Epiſc. Winton. P. ii. fol. 24. See alſo Dugd. Bar. i. 234. a.
c
Of good workmanſhip, or carving [...] From Intagliare. Ital.
d
Necklace.
e
Buckle.
f
Muck [...]l. Great.
g
Tongue of a buckle. Mordeo. Lat.
h
Certain.
i
I cannot give the preciſe meaning of Barris, nor of Cloux in the French. It ſeems to be part of a buckle. In the wardrobe-roll, quoted above, are mentioned, ‘"One hundred garters cum boucles, barris, et pendentibus de argento."’ For which were delivered, ‘"ccc barrs argenti."’ An. 21. Edw. iii.
k
‘"The weight of a beſant."’ A byzant was a ſpecies of gold-coin, ſtamped at Byza [...]tium. A wedge of gold.
l
Burniſhed.
m
‘"Well-ſkilled in theſe things."’
n
Appraiſe. Value.
o
The gem called a Jacinth. We ſhould read, in Chaucer's text, Jagonces inſtead of Ragounces, a word which never exiſted; and which Speght, who never conſulted the French Roman de la Roſe, interprets merely from the ſenſe of the context, to be ‘"A kind of precious ſtone."’ Gloſſ. Ch. in V. The knowledge of precious ſtones was a grand article in the natural philoſophy of this age: and the medical virtue of gems, alluded to above, was a doctrine much inculcated by the Arabian naturaliſts. Chaucer refers to a treatiſe on gems, called the LAPID [...]RY, famous in that time. Houſe of Fame, L. ii. v. 260.
And thei were ſett as thicke of ouchis
Fine, of the finiſt ſtonis faire
That [...]en r [...]di [...] in the LAPIDAIRE.
Montfaucon, in the royal library at Paris, recites, ‘"Le LAPIDAIRE, de la vertu des pierres."’ Catal. MSS. p. 794. This I take to be the book here referred to by Chaucer. Henry of Huntingdon wrote a book D [...] Gemmis. He flouriſhed about 1145. Tann. Bibl. p. 395. See a Greek Treatiſe, Du Cange, Gloſſ. Gr. Barb. ii. [...]d. Auctor, p. 37. col. 1. In the Cotton library is a Saxon Treatiſe on precious ſtones. TIBER. A. 3. liii. fol. 98. The writing is more antient than the conqueſt. See ſupr. p. 10. SECT. i. Pelloutier mentions a Latin poem of the eleventh century on Precious Stones, written by Marbode biſhop of Rennes, and ſoon afterwards tranſlated into French verſe. Mem. Lang. Celt. part. i. vol. i. ch. xiii. p. 26. The tranſlation begins,
Evax fut un mult riche reis
Lu reigne tint d' Arabeis.
It was printed in OEUVRES de Hildebert Eveque du Mons, edit. Ant. Beaugendre, col. 1638. This may be reckoned one of the oldeſt pieces of French verſification. A manuſcript De Speciebus Lapidum, occurs twice in the Bodleian library, [...]alſely attributed to one Adam Nidzarde, Cod. Digb. 28. f. 169.—Cod. Laud. C. 3. Prin [...]. ‘"Evax rex Arabum legitur ſcripſiſſe."’ But it is, I think, Marbode's book abovementioned. Evax is a fabulous Arabian king, ſaid to have written on this ſubject. Of this Marbode, or Marbodaeus, ſee Ol. Borrich. Diſſ. Acad. de Poet. pag. 87. §. 78. edit. Francof. 1683. 4to. His poem was publiſhed, with notes, by Lampridius Alardus. The eaſtern writers pretend, that king Solomon, among a variety of phyſiological pieces, wrote a book on Gems: one chapter of which treated of thoſe precious ſtones, which reſiſt or repel evil Genii. They ſuppoſe that Ariſtotle ſtole all his philoſophy from Solomon's books. See Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xiii. 387. ſeq. And i. p. 71. Compare Herbelot, Bibl. Oriental. p. 962. b. Artic. [...]ETAB alahgiar. ſeq.
p
v. 1071.
q
Et ſi n'avoit barbe a menton
Si non petit poil follaton;
Il etoit jeune damoyſaulx;
Son bauldrier fut portrait d'oiſeaulx
Qui tout etoit è or batu,
Tres richement eſtoit veſtu
D'un' robe moult deſgyſée,
Qui fut en maint lieu inci [...]ée,
Et decouppeè par quointiſe,
Et fut chauſ [...] par mignotiſe
D'un [...]ouliers decouppés à las
Par joyeuſete et ſoulas [...]
Et ſa neye luy [...]i [...]t chapeau
De roſes gracieux et beau.
v. 832.
r
Samit [...]. Sattin. Explained above.
s
Cut and ſlaſhed.
t
Cut or marked with figures. From Decouper, Fr. To cut. Thus the pariſh clerk Abſolon, in the Miller's Tale, v. 210. p. 26. Urr.
With Poulis windowes carven on his ſhoſe.
I ſuppoſe Poulis windows was a cant phraſe for a fine device or ornament.
u
Modeſty.
w
Miſtreſs.
x
v. 833.
y
Apres tous ceulx eſtoit FRANCHISE,
Qui ne [...]ut ne brune ne biſe;
Ains [...]ut comme la neige blanche
Courtoiſe eſtoit, joyeuſe et franche,
Le nez avoit long et tretis
Yeulx vers rins, ſoureils ſaitis,
Les cheveulx eut tres-blons et longs,
Simple feut comme les coulons.
Le cueur eut doulx et debonnaire.
v. 1190.
z
With the utmoſt exactneſs.
a
All the females of this poem have grey eyes and yellow hair. One of them is ſaid to have ‘"Her eyen graie as is a faucon."’ v. 546. Where the original word, tranſlated graie, is vers. v. 546. We have this colour again, Orig. v. 822. ‘"Les yeulx eut vers."’ This too Chaucer tranſlates, ‘"Her eyin graie."’ 862. The ſame word occurs in the French text before us, v. 1195. This compariſon was natural and beautiful, as drawn from a very familiar and favourite object in the age of the poet. Perhaps Chaucer means ‘"grey as a falcon's eyes."
b
v. 1211.
c
A tant ſaillit villain DANGERE,
De là on il eſtoit mueè;
Grant fut, noir et tout hericè
S'ot, les yeulx rouges comme feux,
Le vis froncè, le nez hydeux
Et ſcerie tout forcenez.
v. 2959.
d
‘"Was diſcovered by his behaviour, or countenance."’ Perhaps we ſhould read cheke, for chere.
1552
e Urchins. Hedge-hogs.
f
Contracted.
g
Cr [...]ok [...]. Turned upwards.
h
‘"Crying as if he was mad."’
i
v. 3130.
k
Travaile et douleur la hebergent,
Mais ill le lient et la chargent,
Que mort prochaine luy preſentent,
Et talent de ſeq repentir;
Tant luy ſont de fleaux ſentir;
Adonc luy vient en remembraunce,
En ceſt tardifve preſence,
Quant et ſe voit foible et chenue.
v. 4733.
l
Palace.
m
Chamberlains.
n
Early.
o
v. 4994.
p
v. 322. Chaucer alludes to this poem in The MARCHAUNT'S TALE, v. 1548. p. 72. Urr.
q
Art. Poet. ch. i. He died about the year 1456.
r
See Petrarch. Carm. L. i. Ep. 30.
a
Petrus Lambeccius enumerates Lollius Urbicus among the Hiſtorici Latini profani of the third century. Prodrom. p. 246. Hamb. 1659. See alſo Voſſ. Hiſtoric. Latin. ii. 2. p. 163. edit. Ludg. Bat. But this could not be Chaucer's Lollius. Chaucer places Lollius among the hiſtorians of Troy, in his Houſe of Fame, iii. 380. It is extraordinary, that Du Freſne, in the Iudex Auct [...]rum, uſed by him for his Latin gloſſary, ſhould mention this Lollius Urbicus of the third century. Tom. i. p. 141. edit. i. As I apprehend, none of his works remain. A proof that Chaucer tranſlated from ſome Italian original is, that in a manuſcript which I have ſeen of this poem, I find, M [...]neſteo for Meneſtes, Rupheo for Ruphes, Phebuſeo for Phebuſes, lib. iv. 50. ſeq. Where, by the way, Xantippe, a Trojan chief, was perhaps corruptly written for Xantippo, i. e. Xantippus. As Joſeph. Iſcan. iv. 10. In Lydgate's Troy, Zantiphus, iii. 26. All corrupted from Antiphus, Dict. Cret. p. 105. In the printed copies we have Aſcalapho for Aſcalaphus. lib. v. 319.
b
Prol. Boch. ſt. iii.
c
See lib. i. v. 395.
d
Lib. ii. v. 10.
d
Bibl. p. 793. col. 2. Compare Lengl. Bibl. Rom. ii. p. 253.
e
Chaucer however claims no merit of invention in this poem. He invokes Clio to favour him with rhymes only; and adds,
—To everie lover I me' excuſe
That of no ſentiment I this endite
But out of latin in my tonge it write.
L. ii. v. 10. ſeq. But Sir Francis Kinaſton who tranſlated TROILUS AND CRESSEIDE [1635.] into Latin rhymes, ſays, that Chaucer in this poem ‘"has taken the liberty of his own inventions."’ In the mean time, Chaucer, by his own references, ſeems to have been ſtudious of ſeldom departing from Lollius. In one place, he pays him a compliment, as an author whoſe excellencies he could not reach. L. iii. v. 1330.
Bot ſothe is, though I can not tellen all,
As can mine author of his excellence.
See alſo L. iii. 576. 1823.
f
L. ult. v. 1785.
g
Sigh.
h
Thought. Imagined.
i
Manner.
k
L. i. v. 359.
m
Stops.
n
Herdſman. A Shepherd.
o
With confidence.
p
Her fears ceaſed.
q
L. iii. v. 1239.
r
Together.
s
Swoon.
t
Then awaked.
u
Sighed.
w
Glanced.
x
L. iv. v. 1205.
y
v. 1750.
z
Conſolat. Philoſoph. L. ii. Met. ult. iii. Met. 2. Spenſer is full of the ſame doctrine. See Fairy Queen, i. ix. 1. iv. x. 34. 35, &c. &c. I could point out many other imitations from Boethius in this poem.
a
v. 2990. Urr.
a
L. iv. v. 1770.
b
L. ii. v. 81.
c
L. ii. v. 84.
d
L. ii. v. 100. Biſhop Amphiorax is mentioned, ib. v. 104. Pandarus ſays v. 106.
—All this I know my ſelve,
And all the aſſiege of Thebes, and all the care;
For herof ben ther makid bokis twelve.
In his Dreme, Chaucer, to paſs the night away, rather than play at cheſs, calls for a Romaunce; in which ‘"were writtin fables of quenis livis and of kings, and many othir thingis ſmale."’ This proves to be Ovid. v. 52. ſeq. See Man. of L. T. v. 54. Urr. There was an old French Romance called PARTONEPEX, often cited by Du Cange and Carpentier. Gl. Lat. This is Parthenopeus, a hero of the Theban ſtory. It was tranſlated into Engliſh, and called PERTONAPE. See p. 123. ſupr.
e
L. v. v. 1490. I will add here, that Creſſide propoſes the trial of the Ordeal to Troilus. L. iii. v. 1048. Troilus, during the times of truce, amuſes himſelf with hawking. L. iii. v. 1785.
f
In his book DE CAUSA DEI, publiſhed by Sir Henry Savile, 1617. He touches on this controverſy, Nonne's Pr. T. v. 1349. Urr. See alſo Tr. Cr. L. iv. v. 961. ſeq.
g
L. ult. v. 1796.
h
L. ii. v. 838.
i
B. iii. v. 157.
k
See MARCHAUNT'S TALE, v. 1231. p. 70. Urr. He mentions a rock higher than any in Spain. B. ii. v. 27. But this I believe was an Engliſh proverb.
l
He mentions a plate of gold, ‘"As fine as duckett in Veniſe."’ B. iii. v. 258. But he ſays, that the Galaxy is called Watlyngſtrete. B. ii. v. 431. He ſwears by Thomas a Beckett, B. iii. v. 41. In one place he is addreſſed by the name of GEOFFREY. B. ii. v. 221. But in two others by that of PETER. B. i. v. 526. B. iii. v. 909. Among the muſicians, he mentions ‘"Pipirs of all the Duche tong."’ B. iii. v. 144.
m
Jewels.
n
B. i. v. 120.
o
Where he mentions Virgil's hell, he likewiſe refers to Claudian De Raptu Proſerpinae, and Dante's Inferno. v. 450. There is a tranſlation of a few lines from Dante, whom he calls ‘"the wiſe poet of Florence,"’ in the WIFE OF BATH'S TALE, v. 1125. p. 84. Urr. The ſtory of Hugolin of Piſa, a ſubject which Sir Joſhua Reynolds has lately painted in a capital ſtyle, is tranſlated from Dante, ‘"the grete poete of Italie that hight Dante,"’ in the MONKES TALE, v. 877. A ſentence from Dante is cited in the LEGENDE OF GOOD WOMEN, v. 360. In the FREERE'S TALE, Dante is compared with Virgil, v. 256.
p
It was not only in the fairy palaces of the poets and romance-writers of the middle ages, that Ovid's ſtories adorned the walls. In one of the courts of the palace of Noneſuch, all Ovid's Metamorphoſes were cut in ſtone under the windows. Hearne, Coll. MSS. 55. p. 64. But the Epiſtles ſeem to have been the favorite work, the ſubject of which coincided with the gallantry of the times.
q
Greater.
r
The eagle ſays to the poet, that this houſe ſtands
"Right ſo as thine ane boke tellith."
B. ii. v. 204.
That is, Ovid's Metamorphoſes. See Met. L. xii. v. 40, &c.
s
B. i. v. 496. ſeq.
t
See The MARCHAUNT'S TALE, v. 1248. p. 70. Urr. And Lidg. Stor. Theb. fol. 357.
u
A famous book in the middle ages. There is an old French tranſlation of it. Bibl. Reg. Pariſ. MSS. Cod. 7632.
w
See Met. xii. 39. And Virg. Aen. iv. 173. Val. Flacc. ii. 117. Lucan. i. 469.
x
Chamber.
y
Turrets.
z
B. ii. v. 211.
a
v. 81. p. 572. Urr.
b
V. 158.
c
Clauſ. 8. Ric. ii.
c
Pat. 14. Ric. ii. Apud Tanner, Bibl. p. 166. Not. e.
d
This word is above explained.
e
Concerning this harper, ſee Percy's Ballads.
f
See alſo The MARCHAUNT'S TALE, v. 1236. ſeq. p. 70. Urr.
g
See the FRANKELEIN'S TALE, where ſeveral [...]eats are deſcribed, as exhibited at a feaſt done by natural magic, a favorite ſcience of the Arabians. Chaucer there calls it ‘"An art which ſotill tragetoris plaie."’ v. 2696. p. 110. Urr. Of this more will be ſaid hereafter.
h
None of the works of the firſt Hermes Triſmegiſtus now remain. See Cornel. Agrip. Van. Scient. cap. xlviii. The aſtrological and other philoſophical pieces under that name are ſuppoſititious. See Fabr. Biblioth. Gr. xii. 708. And Chan. Y [...]M. TALE, v. 1455. p. 126. Urr. Some of theſe pieces were publiſhed under the fictitious names of Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Solomon, Saint Paul, and of many of the patriarchs and fathers. Cornel. Agripp. De Van. Scient. cap. xlv. Who adds, that theſe [...]ri [...]ies were followed by Alphonſus king of Caſtile, Robert Groſthead, Bacon, and Apponus. He mentio [...]s Zabulus and Barnabas of Cyprus as famous writers in magic. See alſo Gower's Confeſſ. Amant. p. 134. b. 149. b. Edit. 1554. fol. per Berthelette. In ſpeaking of antient authors, who were known or celebrated in the middle ages, it may be remarked, that Macrobius was one. He is mentioned by William de Lorris in the ROMAN DE LA ROSE, v. 9. ‘"Ung aucteur qui ot nom Macrobe."’ A line literally tranſlated by Chaucer, ‘"An author that hight Macrobes."’ v. 7. Chaucer quotes him in his DREME, v. 284. In the NONNES PRIEST'S TALE, v. 1238. p. 171. Urr. In the ASSEMBLIE OF FOWLES, v. 111. ſee alſo ibid. v. 31. He wrote a comment on Tully's SOMNIUM SCIPIONIS, and in theſe paſſages he is referred to on account of that piece. Petrarch, in a letter to Nicolas Sigeros, a learned Greek of Conſtantinople, quotes Macrobius, as a Latin author of all others the moſt familiar to Nicolas. It is to prove that Homer is the fountain of all invention. This is in 1354. Famil. Let. ix. 2. There is a manuſcript of the firſt, and part of the ſecond book of Macrobius, [...]legantly written, as it ſeems, in France, about the year 800. MSS. Cotton. VITELL. C. iii. Cod. Membr. fol. viii. fol. 138. M. Planudes, a Conſtantinopolitan monk of the fourteenth century, is ſaid to have tranſlated Macrobius into Greek. But ſee Fabric. Bibl. Gr. x. 534. It is remarkable, that in the above letter, Petrarch apologiſes for calling Plato the Prince of Philoſophers, after Cicero, Seneca, Apuleius, Plotinus, Saint Ambroſe, and Saint Auſtin.
i

Among theſe he mentions Juglers, that is, in the preſent ſenſe of the word, thoſe who practiſed Legerdemain: a popular ſcience in Chaucer's time. Thus in Squ. T. v. 239. Urr.

As jugelours playin at theſe feſtis grete.

It was an appendage of the occult ſciences ſtudied and introduced into Europe by the Arabians.

k
In the compoſition of theſe pillars, Chaucer diſplays his chemical knowledge.
l
Dares Phrygius and Livy are both cited in Chaucer's DREME, v. 1070. 1084. Chaucer is fond of quoting Livy. He was alſo much admired by Petrarch; who, while at Paris, aſſiſted in tranſlating him into French. This circumſtance might make Livy a favorite with Chaucer. See Vie de Petrarque, iii. p. 547.
m
Was not this intended to characteriſe Lucan? Quintilian ſays of Lucan, ‘"Oratoribus magis quam poetis annumerandus."’ Inſtit. Orat. L. x. c. i.
n
B. iii. v. 419. Chaucer alludes to this poem of Claudian in the MARCHAUNT'S TALE, where he calls Pluto, the king of ‘"fayrie."’ v. 1744. p. 73. Urr.
a
There is an inn at Burford in Oxfordſhire, which accommodated pilgrims on their road to Saint Edward's ſhrine in the abbey of Glouceſter. A long room, with a ſeries of Gothic windows, ſtill remains, which was their refectory. Leland mentions ſuch another, Itin. ii. 70.
b
It is remarkable, that Boccacio choſe a Greek title, that is, [...], for his Tales. He has alſo given Gre [...]k names to the ladies and gentlemen who recite the tales. His Eclogues are full of Greek words. This was natural at the revival of the Greek language.
c
The reader will excuſe my irregularity in not conſidering it under the CANTERBURY TALES. I have here given the reaſon, which is my apology, in the text.
d
v. 96. S [...]e a fine romantic ſtory of a Count de Macon: who, while revelling in his hall with many knights, is ſuddenly alarmed by the entrance of a gigantic figure of a black man, mounted on a black ſteed. This terrible ſtranger, without receiving any obſtruction from guards or gates, rides directly forward to the high table; and, with an imperious tone, orders the count to follow him, &c. Nic. Gillos, chron. ann. 1120. See alſo O [...]S. FAIR. QU. §. v. p. 146.
e
v. 188.
f
Diſſ. i. ii.
g
The Arabians call chemiſtry, as treating of minerals and metals, SIMIA. From SIM, a word ſignifying the veins of gold and ſilver in the mines. Herbelot, Bibl. Orient. p. 810. b. Hither, among many other things, we might refer Merlin's two dragons of gold finiſhed with moſt exquiſite workmanſhip, in Geoffrey of Monmouth, l. viii. c. 17. See alſo ibid. vii. c. 3. Where Merlin propheſies that a brazen man on a brazen horſe ſhall guard the gates of London.
h
See Lydgate's TROYE BOKE, B. iv. c. 35. And Gower's CONF. AMANT. B. i. f. 13. b. edit. 1554. ‘"A horſe of braſſe thei lette do forge."’
i
Gower, Confeſ. Amant. ut ſupr. L. iv. fol. lxiiii. a. edit. 1554.
For of the greate clerke Grooſteſt
I red, how redy that he was
Upon clergy a HEAD of BRASSE
To make, and forge it for to telle.
Of ſuch things as befell, &c.
k
Ch. xxviii. ſeq.
l
De Geſt. Reg. Angl. lib. ii. cap. 10. Compare Majer. Symbolor [...] Aure [...]e Me [...]ae, lib. x. p. 453.
m
Delrio, Diſquiſ. Magic. lib. i. cap. 4 [...]
n
H [...]rb [...]lot, Bibl. Orient. V. ROCAIL. p. 717. [...].
o
v. 149. I do not preciſely underſtand the line immediately following.
And knew ful many ſele and many a bond.
Sele, i. e. S [...]al, may mean a taliſmanic ſigil uſed in aſtrology. Or the Hermetic ſeal uſed in chemiſtry. Or, connected with B [...]nd, may ſignify contracts made with ſpirits in chemical operations. But all theſe belong to the Arabian philoſophy, and are alike to our purpoſe. In the Arabian books now extant, are the alphabets out of which they formed Taliſmans to draw down ſpirits or angels. The Arabian work KIMIA, not only ſignifies chemiſtry, but a magical and ſuperſtitious ſcience, by which they bound ſpirits to their will and drew from them the information required. See Herbelot, Dict. Orient. p. 810. 1005. The curious and more inquiſitive reader may conſult Cornelius Agrippa, De Vanit. Scient. cap. xliv. xlv. xlvi.
p
Many myſteries were concealed in the compoſition of this ſhield. It deſtroyed all the charms and enchantments which either demons or giants could make by g [...]etic or magic art. Herbelot ubi ſupr. V. GIAN. p. 396. a.
q
Sure.
r
Juglers.
s
v. 2700. Urr.
t
But his moſt capital performance is to remove an immenſe chain of rocks from the ſea-ſhore: this is done in ſuch a manner, that for the ſpace of one week, ‘"it ſemid all the rockis were away."’ ibid. 2849. By the way, this tale appears to be a tranſlation. He ſays, ‘"As the boke doth me remember."’ v. 2799. And ‘"From Garumne to the mouth of Seine."’ v. 2778. The Garonne and Seine are rivers in France.
u
See Frankel. T. v. 2820. p. 111. Urr. The Chriſtians called this one of the diabolical arts of the Saracens or Arabians. And many of their own philoſophers, who afterwards wrote on the ſubject or performed experiments on it's principles, were ſaid to deal with the devil. Witneſs our Bacon, &c. From Sir John Maundeville's Travels it appear [...], that theſe ſciences were in high requeſt in the court of the Cham of Tartary about the year 1340. He ſays, that, at a great feſtival, on one ſide of the Emperor's table, he ſaw placed many philoſophers ſkilled in various ſciences, ſuch as aſtronomy, necromancy, geometry, and pyromancy: that ſome of theſe had before them aſtrolabes of gold and precious ſtones, others had horologes richly furniſhed, with many other mathematical inſtruments, &c. chap. lxxi. Sir John Maundeville began his travels into the Eaſt in 1322, and finiſhed his book in 1364. chap. cix. See Joa [...]nnes Sariſb. Polycrat. L. i. cap. xi. fol. 10. b.
w
See what is ſaid of Spenſer's FALSE FLORIMEL, OBS. SPENS. §. xi. p. 123.
x
Herbelot mentions many oriental pieces, ‘"Qui traittent de cette art pernicieux et defendu."’ Dict. Orient. V. SCHR. Compare Agrippa, ubi ſupr. cap. xlii. ſeq.
y
‘"Irrepſit hac aetate etiam turba aſtrologorum et Magorum, ejus farinae libris una cum aliis de Arabico in Latinum converſis.’ Conring. Script. Comment. Saec. xiii. cap. 3. p. 125. See alſo [...] Bibl. Orient. V. KETAB. paſſim.
z
John of Saliſbury ſays, that magicians are thoſe who, among other deceptions, ‘"Rebus adimunt ſpecies ſuas."’ Polycrat. i. 10. fol. 10. b. Agrippa mentions one Paſetes a jugler, who ‘"was wont to ſhewe to ſtrangers a very ſumptuouſe banket, and when it pleaſed him, to cauſe it vaniſhe awaye, al they which ſate at the table being diſapointed both of meate and drinke, &c."’ Van. Scient. cap. xlviii. p. 62. b. Engl. Tranſl. ut infr. Du Halde mentions a Chineſe en [...]hanter, who, when the Emperour was inconſolable for the loſs of his deceaſed queen, cauſed her image to appear before him. Hiſt. Chin. iii. §. iv. See the deceptions of Hakem an Arabian jugler in Herbelot, in. V. p. 412. See ſupr. p. 393. 394.
a
v. 238.
b
Fairy Queen, iii. 3. 9 ſeq.
c
See Girald. Cambrenſ. Itin. Cambr. i. c. 6. Hollingſh. Hiſt. i. 129. And Camden's Brit. p. 734. Drayton has this fiction, which he relates ſomewhat differently. Polyolb. lib. iv. p. 62. edit. 1613. Hence Bacon's wall of braſs about England.
d
v. 244.
e
v. 153.
f
Learning. Philoſophy.
g
Con [...]eſſ. Amant. l. v. [...]ol. xciv. 6. edit. Berth. 1554. ut ſupr.
h
Herbelot. Dict. Oriental. V. GIAM. p. 392. col. 2. John of Salisbury mentions a ſpecies of diviners called SPECULARII, who predicted future events, and told various ſecrets, by conſulting mirrours, and the ſurfaces of other poliſhed reflecting ſubſtances. Polycrat. i. 12. pag. 32. edit. 1595.
i
Edit. Jebb. p. 253. Bacon, in one of his manuſ [...]ripts, complains, that no perſon read lectures in Oxford DE PERSPECTIVA, before the year 1267. He adds, that in the univerſity of Paris, this ſcience was quite unknown. In Epiſt. ad OPUS MINUS. Clementi iv. Etibid. OP. MIN. iii. cap. ii. MSS. Bibl. Coll. Univ. Oxon. c. 20. In another he affirms, that Julius C [...]ſar, before he invaded Britain, viewed our harbours and ſhores with a teleſcope from the Britiſh coaſt. MSS. lib. DE PERSPECTIVIS. He accurately deſcribes reading glaſſes or ſpectacles, Op. Maj. p. 236. And the Camera Obſcura, I believe, is one of his diſcoveries.
k
Wood, Hiſt. Antiquit. Univ. Oxon. i. 122.
l
Op. Min. MSS. ut ſupr.
m
Fairy Queen, iii. ii. 21.
n
Can t. x.
o
It is diverting in this book to obſerve the infancy of experimental philoſophy, and their want of knowing how to uſe or apply the mechanical arts which they were even actually poſſeſſed of. Agrippa calls the inventor of magnifying glaſſes, ‘"without doubte the beginner of all diſhoneſtie."’ He mentions various ſorts of diminiſhing, burning, reflecting, and multiplying glaſſes, with ſome others. At length this profound thinker cloſes the chapter with this ſage reflection, ‘"All theſe thinges are vaine and ſuperfluous, and invented to no other end but for pomp [...] and idle pleaſure!"’ Chap. xxvi. p. 36. A tranſlation by James Sandford, Lond. 1569. 4to. Bl. Let.
p
Drayton's Heroical Epiſt. p. 87. b. edit. 1598.
q
The ſame fablers have adapted a ſimilar fiction to Hercules: that he erected pillars at Cape Fineſt [...]rre, on which he raiſed magical looking-glaſſes. In an eaſtern romance, called the SEVEN WISE MASTERS, of which more will be ſaid hereafter, at the ſiege of Hur in Perſia, certain philoſophers terrified the enemy by a device of placing a habit (ſays an old Engliſh tranſlation) ‘"of a giant-like proportion, on a tower, and covering it with burningglaſſes, lookingglaſſes of criſtall, and other glaſſes of ſeveral colours, wrought together in a marvellous order, &c."’ ch. xvii. p. 182. edit. 1674. The Conſtantinopolitan Greeks poſſeſſed theſe arts in common with the Arabians. See Moriſotus, ii. 3. Who ſays, that in the year 751, they ſet fire to the Saracen fleet before Conſtantinople by means of burning glaſſes.
r
MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Digb. 183. And Arch. A. 149. But I think it was printed at Francfort, 1614. 4to.
s
Twenty pounds ſterling. Compend. Stud. Theol. c. i. p. 5. MS.
t
Fairy Queen, iii. ii. 20.
u

Hither we might alſo refer Chaucer's Houſe of Fame, which is built of glaſs, and Lydgate's TEMPLE OF GLASS. It is ſaid in ſome romances written about the time of the Cruſades, that the city of Damaſcus was walled with glaſs. See Hall's VIRGIDEM. or Satyres, &c. B. iv. S. 6. written in 1597.

Or of Damaſcus magicke wall of glaſſe,
Or Solomon his ſwea [...]ing piles of braſſe, &c.
w
The notion, mentioned before, that every ſtone of Stone-henge was waſhed with juices of herbs in Africa, and tinctured with healing powers, is a piece of the ſame philoſophy.
x
Montfaucon cites a Greek chemiſt of the dark ages, ‘"CHRISTIANI LABYRINTHUS SALOMONIS, de temperando ferro, conficiendo cryſtallo, et de aliis naturae arcanis."’ Palaeogr. Gr. p. 375.
y
Hurt. Wound.
z
v. 256.
a
Orl. Innam. ii. 17. ſt. 13.
b
Orl. Fur. xii. 83.
c
Amadis de Gaul has ſuch a ſword. See Don Quixote, B. iii. Ch. iv.
d
Fairy Queen, ii. viii. 20. See alſo Arioſt. xix. 84.
e
Orl. Innam. i. i. ſt. 43. See alſo, i. ii. ſt. 20, &c. And Arioſto, viii. 17. xviii. 118. xxiii. 15.
f
Fairy Queen, iii. 3. 60. iv. 6. 6. iii. 1. 4.
g
Rings are a frequent implement in romantic enchantment. Among a thouſand inſtances, ſee Orland. Inn [...]m. 1. 14. Where the palace and gardens of Dragontina vaniſh at Angelica's ring of virtue.
h
Herbelot, Dict. Oriental. V. BALKIS, p. 182.
i
See Herbel [...] ubi ſupr. V. HEGIAGE [...]BN YUSEF AL THAKEFI. p. 442. This Arabian commander was of the eighth cent [...]ry. In the SEVEN WISE MASTERS, one of the tales is founded on the language of bird [...]. [...]. xvi.
k
See what is ſaid of this in the DISSERTATIONS.
l
Language.
m
v. 166.
n
Cervantes mentions a horſe of wood, which, like this of Chaucer, on turning a pin in his forehead, carried his rider through the air. This horſe, Cervantes adds, was made by Merlin for Peter of Provence; with which that valorous knight carried off the fair Magalona. From what romance Cervantes took this I do not recollect: but the reader ſees its correſpondence with the fiction of Chaucer's horſe, and will refe [...] it to the ſame original. See Don Quixote, B. iii. ch. 8. We have the ſame thing in VALENTINE AND ORSON, ch. xxxi.
o
Then.
p
Jocalia. Precious things.
q
v. 322. ſeq. 355. ſeq.
r
Giorn. x. Nov. 10. Dryden, in the ſuperficial but liv [...]ly Preface to his Fables, ſays, ‘"The Tale of Griſilde was the invention of Petrarch: by him ſent to Boccace, from whom it came to Chaucer."’
s
Vie de Petrarch, iii. 797.
t
v. 1057. p. 96. Urr. Afterwards Petrarch is mentioned as dead. He died of an apoplexy, Jul. 18. 1374. See v. 2168.
u
Viz. ‘"Vita Griſildis per Fr. Petrarcham de vulgari in Latinam linguam traducta."’ But Rawlinſon cites, ‘"Epiſtola Franciſci Petrarchae de inſigni obedientia et [...]ide uxoria Griſeldis in Waltherum Ulme, impreſs."’ per me R.... A. D. 1 [...]3. MS. Not. in Mattairii Typogr. Hiſt. i. i. p. 104. In Bibl. Bodl. Oxon. Among the royal manuſcripts, in the Britiſh Muſeum, there is, ‘"Fr. Petrarchae ſuper Hiſtoriam Walterii Marchionis et Griſeldis uxoris ejus."’ 8. B. vi. 17.
w
It was many years afterwards printed at Paris, by Jean Bonnefons. The writers of the French ſtage do not mention this piece. See p. 246. Their firſt theatre is that of Saint Maur, and it's commencement is placed five years later, in the year 1398. Afterwards Apoſtolo Zeno wrote a theatrical piece on this ſubject in Italy. I need not mention that it is to this day repreſented in England, on a ſtage of the loweſt ſpecies, and of the higheſt antiquity: I mean at a puppet-ſhow. The French have this ſtory in their PAREMENT DES DAMES, ſee Mem. Lit. Tom. ii [...] p. 743. 4to.
x
And in a Balade, tranſlated by Lydgate from the Latin, ‘"Griſilde's humble patience"’ is recorded. Urr. Ch. p. 550. v. 108.
y
There is a more curious mixture in Chaucer's Balade to king Henry iv. Where Alexander, Hector, Julius Ceſar, Judas Maccabeus, David, Joſhua, Charlemagne, Godfrey of Bulloign, and king Arthur, are all thrown together as antient heroes. v. 281. ſeq. But it is to be obſerved, that the French had a metrical romance called Jud [...]s Macchabé [...], begun by Gualtier de Belleperche, before 1240. It was finiſhed a few years afterwards by Pierros du Rie [...]. Fauch. p. 197. S [...]e alſo Lydgate, Urr. Chauc. p [...] 550. v. 89. M. de la Curne de Sainte Palaye, has given us an extract of an old Provencial poem, in which, among heroes of love and gallantry, are enumerated Paris, Sir Triſ [...]ram, Ivaine the inventor of gloves and other articles of elegance in dreſs, Apollonius of Tyre, and king Arthur. Mem. Chev. Extr. de Poeſ. Prov. ii. p. 154. In a French romance, Le livre de cu [...]r a' amour eſpris, written 1457, the author introduces the blaſoning of the arms of ſeveral celebrated lovers: among which are king David, Nero, Mark Antony, Theſeus, Hercules, Eneas, Sir Lancelot, Sir Triſtram, Arthur duke of Bretagne, Gaſton du Foix, many French dukes, &c. Mem. Lit. [...]iii. p. 592. edit. 4to. The chevalier Bayard, who died about the year 1524, is compared to Scipio, Hannibal, Theſeus, king David, Samſon, Judas Maccabeus, Orlando, Godfrey of Bulloign, and monſieur de Paliſſe, marſhal of France. LA VIE ET LES GESTES DU PREUX CHEVALIER BAYARD, &c. Printed 1525.
z
From MORTE ARTHUR. They are mentioned in Chaucer's ASSEMBLIE OF FOWLES, v. 290. See alſo Compl. Bl. Kn. v. 367.
a
MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Fairfax. 16.
a
v. 1427. p. 172. Urr.
b
Or John of Saliſbury. Printed at Cologn in 1449.
c
v. 1100.
d
See Val. Max. i. 7. And Cic. de Divinat. i. 27.
e
Names of dogs.
f
Kill.
g
V. 1496.
h
v. 1509. This is a proof that the CANTERBURY TALES were not written till after the year 1381.
i
v. 1070.
l
Clearer.
m
Pen. Yard.
n
Embattelled.
o
Toes.
p
v. 962.
q
v. 1341. See alſo Monk. T. v. 806.
1716
Organ.
r
L. viii. c. 11. fol. 193. b. edit. 1513.
s
Mention is made in this Prologue of St. Jerom and Theophraſt, on that ſubject, v. 671. 674. The author of the Polycraticon quotes Th [...]ophraſtus from Jerom, viz. ‘"Fertur auctore Hieronimo aurcolus Theophraſti libellus de non ducenda uxore."’ fol. 194. a. Chaucer likewiſe, on this occaſion, cites Val [...]rie, v. 671. This is not the favorite hiſtorian of the middle ages, Valerius Maximus. It is book written by Walter Mapes, archdeacon of Oxford, under the aſſumed name of Valerius, entitled, Valerius ad Ru [...]inum de non ducenda uxore. This piece is in the Bodleian library with a large Gloſs. MSS. Dibg. 166. ii. 147. Mapes perhaps adopted this name, becauſe one Valerius had written a treatiſe on the ſame ſubject, inſerted in St. Jerom's works. Some copies of this Prologue, inſtead of ‘"Valeric and Theophraſt," read Paraphraſt. If that be the true reading, which I do not believe, Chaucer alludes to the gloſs abovementioned. Helowis, cited juſt afterwards, is the celebrated Eloiſa. Trottula is mentioned, v. 677. Among the manuſcripts of Merton College in Oxford, is, ‘"Trottula Mulier Salernitana de paſſionibus mulicrum."’ There is alſo extant, ‘"Trottula, ſeu potius Erotis medici muliebrium liber."’ Baſil. 1586, 4to. See alſo Montfauc. Catal. MSS. p. 385. And Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xiii. p. 439.
t
By Mr. Dow, ch. xv. p. 252.
u

I have explained this word, p. 40. But will here add ſome new illuſtrations of it. Undoubtedly the high table in a public refectory, as appears from theſ [...] words in Matthew Paris, ‘"Priore prandente ad MAGNAM MENSAM quam DAIS vulgo appellamus."’ In Vit. Abbat. S. Albani, p. 92. And again the ſame writer ſays, that a cup, with a foot, or ſtand, was not permitted in the hall of the monaſtery, ‘"Niſi tantum in MAJORI MENSA quam DAIS appellamus."’ Additam. p. 148. There is an old French word, DAIS, which ſignifies a throne, or canopy, uſually placed over the head of the principal perſon at a magnificent feaſt. Hence it was transferred to the table at which he ſate. In the antient French Roman de Garin;

‘Au plus haut DAIS ſiſt roy Anſeis.’

Either at the firſt table, or, which is much the ſame thing, under the higheſt canopy.

w
Such as Joab never, &c.
y
Danger.
z
Fill, pour.
a
See ſupr, p, 391.
a
A phantaſy, enchantment.
b
v. 1225. Urr.
c
The g [...]ntle Nicholas.
d
S [...]cret.
e
H [...]ſpitium, one of the old hoſtels at Oxford, which were very numerous before the foundation of the colleges. This is one of the citizens houſes: a circumſtance which gave riſe to the ſtory.
f
Sweet.
g
Root.
h
The herb Valerian.
i
A book of aſtronomy written by Ptolemy. It was in thirteen books. He wrote alſo four books of judicial aſtrology. He was an Egyptian aſtrologiſt, and flouriſhed under Marcus Antoninus. He is mentioned in the Sompnour's Tale, v. 1025, and the Wife of Bath's Prologue, v. 324.
k
Aſterlabore. An aſtrolabe.
l
Stones for computation. Augri m is Algorithm, the ſum of the principal rules of common arithmetic. Chaucer was himſ [...]lf an adept in this ſort of knowledge. Th [...] learned Seld [...]n is of opinion, that his Aſtrolabe was compiled from the Arabian aſ [...]ronomers and mathematicians. See his Pref. to Notes on Drayt. Polyolb. p. 4 [...] where the word Dulcarnon, (Troil. [...]r. iii. 933, 935.) is explained to be an Arabic term for a root in calculation. His CHANON YEMAN'S TALE, proves his intimate acquaintance with the Hermetic philoſophy, then much in vogue. There is a ſtatute of Henry the fifth, againſt the tranſmutation of metals, in Statut. an. 4 Hen. V. cap. iv. viz. A. D. 1416. Chaucer, in the Aſtrolab [...], refers to two famous mathematicians and aſtronomers of his time, John Some, and Nicholas Lynne, both Carmelite friars of Oxford, and perhaps his friends, whom he calls ‘"reverent clerkes."’ Aſtrolabe, p. 440. col. i. Urr. They both wrote calendars, which, like Chaucer's Aſtrolabe, were conſtructed for the meridian of Oxford. Chaucer mentions Alcabucius, an aſtronomer, that is, Abdilazi Alchabitius, whoſe I [...]agoge in aſtrologiam was printed at Venice, 1485, 4to. Ib. fol. 440. col. ii. Compare Herbelot. Bibl. Oriental. p. 963. b. V. KETAB. Al [...]ſt [...]orlab. p. 141. a. Nicholas Lynne abovementioned is ſaid to have made ſeveral voyages to the moſt northerly parts of the world, charts of which he preſented to Edward the third. Perhaps to Iceland, and the coaſts of Norway, for aſtronomical obſervations. Theſe charts are loſt. Haklu [...]t apud Anderſon. Hiſt. Com. i. p. 191. ſub. ann. 1360. (See Hakl. Voy. i. 121. ſeq. [...]d. 1598.)
m
Preſs.
n
Pſaltery. An inſtrument like a harp.
o
v. 91. p. 24. Urr.
p
Weaſle.
r
‘"A girdle edged with ſilk."’ But we have no exact idea of what is here meant by barrid. See ſupr. p. 377. The DOCTOR OF PHISICKE is ‘"girt with a ſeint of ſilk with barris ſmale."’ Prol. v. 138. I once conjectured barded. See Hollingſh. Chron. iii. 84. col. ii. 850. col. 1. &c. &c.
s
Apron.
t
Plait. Fold.
u
Edged. Adorned.
w
Tapes. Strings.
x
Head-dreſs.
y
Collar.
u
Knot. Top-knot.
w
Certainly.
x
‘"Made ſmall or narrow, by plucking."’
y
They.
z
Arched.
a
A young pear-tree. Fr. Poir jeunet.
b
Taſſeled. Fringed.
c
I would read purfild.
d
Latoun, or chekelaton, is cloth of gold.
e
‘"So pretty a puppet."’
f
A piece of money.
g
Shrill.
h
Bragget. A drink made of honey, ſpices. &c.
i
‘"Straight as an arrow."’
k
A jewel.
l
Buckler.
m
v. 125. Urr.
n

See v. 557.

—I trow that he bewent
For timber, there our abbot hath him ſent:
For he is wont for timber for to go,
And dwellin at the grange a day or two.
o
Hair.
p
Complexion.
q
See p. 379. ſupr.
r
Jacket.
s
Hawthorn.
s

v. 224. A ſpecies of guittar. Lydgate, MSS. Bibl. Bodl. Fairf. 16. In a poem never printed, called Reaſon and Senſuallite, compyled by Jhon Lydgate.

Lutys, rubibis, (l. ribibles) and geternes,
More for eſtatys than tavernes.
t
Treble.
u
By offering money: or a ſettlement.
w
Quavering.
x
Explained above, p. 178.
y
The coals. The oven.
z
See RIME OF SIR THOPAS, v. 3357. p. 146. Urr. Mr. Walpole has mentioned ſome curious particulars concerning the liquors which antiently prevailed in England. Anecd. Paint. i. p. 11. I will add, that cyder was very early a common liquor among our anceſtors. In the year 1295, an. 23 Edw. I. the king orders the ſher [...]ff of Southamptonſhire to provide with all ſpeed four hundred quarters of wheat, to be collected in parts of his bailiwick neareſt the ſea, and to convey the ſame, being well winnowed, in good ſhips from Portſinouth to Win [...]helſea. Alſo to put on board the ſaid ſhips, at the ſame time, two hundred tons of cyder. Teſt. R. apud Canterbury. The coſt to be paid immediately from the king's wardrobe. This precept is in old French. Regiſtr. Joh. Ponti [...]ſ [...]r. Epiſc. Winton. fol. 172. It is remarkable that Wickliffe tranſlates, Luc. i. 21. ‘"He ſchal not drinke wyn ne ſydyr."’ This tranſlation was made about A. D. 1380. At a viſitation of St. Swithin's priory at Wincheſter, by the ſaid biſhop, it appears that the monks claimed to have, among other articles of luxury, on many feſtivals, ‘"Vinum, tam a [...] bum quam rubeum, claretum, medonem, burgaraſtrum, &c."’ This was ſo early as the year 1285. Regiſtr Priorat. S. Swith. Winton. MS. ſupr. citat. quatern. 5. It appears alſo, that the Horda [...]i [...]s and Cam [...] rarius claimed every year of the prior ten dolia vini, or twenty pounds in money, A. D. 1337. Ibid. quatern. 5. A bene [...]actor grants to the ſaid convent on the day of his anniverſary, ‘"unam pipam vini pret. xx. s." for their r [...]f [...]ction, A. D. 1286 Ibid. quatern. 10. Before the year 1200, ‘"Vina et medones"’ are mentioned as not uncommon in the abbey of Eveſham in Worceſterſhire. Stevens Monaſt. Append. p. 138. The uſe of mead, medo, ſeems to have been very antient in England. See Mon. Angl. i. 26. Thorne, Chron. ſub. ann. 1114. Compare DISSERTAT. i.
a
Speght explains this ‘"feats of activity, furious parts in a play."’ Gloſſ. Ch. Urr. Perhaps the character of HEROD in a MYSTERY.
b
Greyns, or grains, of Paris, or Paradiſe, occurs in the ROMANT OF THE ROSE. v. 1369. A rent of herring pies is an old payment from the city of Norwich to the king, ſeaſoned among other ſpices with half an ounce of grains of Paradiſe. Blomf. Norf. ii. 264.
c

v. 579. It is to be remarked, that in this tale the carpenter ſwears, with great propriety, by the patroneſs ſaint of Oxford, ſaint Frideſwide, v. 340.

This carpenter to bliſſin him began,
And ſeide now help in us ſaint Frideſwide.
d
‘"Pry into the ſecrets of nature."’
e
Unlearned.
f
‘"Who knows only what he believes." ’Or, his Creed.
i
See alſo THE SHIPMAN'S TAL [...], which was originally taken from ſome comic Fren [...]h trobadour. But Chaucer had it [...]rom Boccacio. The ſtory of Zenobia, in the MONKES TALE, i [...] from Boccacio's Caſ. Vir. Illuſtr. (See Lydg. Boch. viii. 7.) That of Hugolin of Piſa in the ſame Tale, from Dante. That of Pedro of Spain, from archbiſhop Turpin, ibid. Of Julius Ceſar, from Lucan, Suetonius, and Valerius Maximus, ibid. The idea of this TALE was ſuggeſted by Boccacio's book on the ſame ſubjec [...].
k
Decamer. Giom. ix. Nov. 6.
l
A manifeſt miſtake for Oxford, unleſs we read Trumpington for Abingdon, or retaining Abingdon we might rea [...] Oxford for Cambridge. Imprint. at London by Rycharde Jones, 4to. Bl. Let. It is in Bibl. Bodl. Selden, C. 39. 4to. This book was probably given to that library, with many other petty black l [...]tter hiſtories, in proſe and verſe, of a ſimilar caſt, by Robert Burton, author of the ANATOMY of MELANCHOLY, who was a great collector of ſuch pieces. One of his books now in the Bodleian is the HISTORY OF TOM THUMB; whom a learned antiquary, while he lam [...]nts that antient hiſtory ha [...] been much diſguiſed by romantic narratives, pronounces to have been no leſs important a perſonage than king Edgar's dwarf.
m
Story.
n
See Wood's Athen. Oxon. BORDE. And Hearne' [...] Bened. Abb. i. Prae [...]at. p. xl. lv. I am of opinion that Solere-Hall, in Cambridge, mentioned in this poem, was Aula Solarii. The hall, with the upper ſtory, at that time a ſufficient circumſtance to diſtinguiſh and de [...]ominate one of the academical hoſpitia. Although Chaucer calls it, ‘"a grete college,"’ v. 88. Thus in Oxford we had Chimney-hall, Aula cum Camino, an almoſt parallel proof of the ſimplicity of their antient houſes of learning. Twyne alſo mentions Solerehall, at Oxford. Alſo Aula Selarii, which I doubt not is properly Solarii. Compare Wood. Ant. Oxon. ii. 11. col. i. 13. col. i. 12. col. 2. Caius will have it to be Clarehall. Hiſt. Acad. p. 57. Thoſe who read Scholars-hall (of Edw. iii.) may conſult Wacht. V. SOLLER [...] In the mean time for the reaſons aſſigned, one of th [...]ſe two hal [...]s or colleg [...]s at Cambridge, might at firſt have been commonly called Soler-hall. A hall near Brazen-noſe coll [...]ge, Oxford, was called Glazen-hall, having glaſs windows, antiently not common. See Twyn [...] Miſcel. quaedam, &c. ad calc. Apol. Antiq. Aca [...] Oxon.
o
See Dr. Hurd's LETTERS ON CHIVALRY AND ROMANCE. Dialogues, &c. iii. 218. edit. 1765.
b
Seyntè Loy, i. e. Saint Lewis. The ſame [...]ath occurs in the FR [...]ERE' [...] TALE, v. 300. p. 88. Urr.
c
Dinner.
d
Pleaſure. Deſire.
e
Literally, Stretched.
f
Prol. v. 124.
g
Bread of a [...]iner ſort.
h
Stick.
i
v. 143.
k
It is to be obſerved, that ſhe lived in the neighbourhood of Bath; a country famous for clothing to this day.
l
See above, p. 177.
m
Head dreſs.
n
At the ſouthern entrance of Norwich cathedral, a repreſentation of the ESPOU [...]ALS, or ſacrament of marriage, is carved in ſtone; for here the hands of the couple were joined by the prieſt, and great part of the ſervice performed. Here alſo the bride was endowed with what was called Dos ad oſtium eccleſiae. This ceremony is exhibited in a curious old picture engraved by Mr. Walpole, where king Henry the ſeventh is married to his queen, ſtanding at the facade or weſtern portal of a magnificent Gothic church. Anecd. Paint. i. 31. Compare Marten. Rit. Eccl. Anecdot. ii. p. 630. And Hearne's Antiquit. Glaſtonb. Append. p. 310.
o
v. 449.
p
An office antiently executed by gentlemen of the greateſt reſpect and property.
q
Simon the leper, at whoſe houſe our Saviour lodged in Pethany, is called, in the [...]egends, Julian the good [...]rborow, and biſhop of Bethpage. In the TALE OF BIRYN, St. Julian is invoked to revenge a traveller who had been traiterouſly uſed in his lodgings. See Urr. Ch. p. 599. v. 625.
r
Better vianded.
s
Snowed.
t
Dinner.
u
Pike.
w
Never removed.
x
v. 356.
y
v. 416.
z
See Acad. Inſcript. xx. 443.
a
Pitſ. p. 370. Bale, iv. 50. xiii. 86.
b
Bacon, Op. Maj. edit. Jebb, p. 158. See alſo p. 240. 247.
c
Montfaucon, Bibl. Manuſc [...]pt. tom. ii. p. 791. b.
d
In quarto.
e
v. 2989. Urr. Ch.
f
Lel. apud Tann. Bibl. p. 262. And Lel. Script. Brit. p. 400.
g
See Ames's Hiſt. Print. p. 147.
h
Conring. Script. Com. Saec. i. cap. 4. p. 66. 67. The Arabians have tranſlations of him. Herbel. Bibl. Orient. p. 972. b. 977. b.
i
Id. ibid. Saec. xi. cap. 5. p. 114. Haly, called Abbas, was likewiſe an eminent phyſician of this period. He was called, ‘"Simia Galeni."’ Id. ibid.
k
Id. ibid. p. 113, 114.
l
Id. ibid. See Pard. T. v. 2407. Urr. p. 136.
m
Conring. ut ſupr. Saec. x cap. 4. p. 110. He wrote a large and famous work, called Continens. Rhaſis and Almaſor, (f. Albuma [...]ar, a great Arabian aſtrologer,) occur in the library of Peterborough Abby, Matric. Libr. Monaſt. Burgi S. Petri. Gunton, Peterb. p. 187. See Hearne, Ben. Abb. Praef. lix.
n
Conring. ut ſupr. Saec. xii. cap. 2. p. 118.
o
Voſs Hiſt. Gr. L. iii. c. 24.
p
Petr. Diacon. de Vir. illuſtr. Monaſt [...] Caſſin. cap. xxiii. See the DISSERTATIONS. He is again mentioned by our author in the MARCHAUNT'S TALE, v. 1326. p. 71. Urr.
And lectuaries had he there full fine,
Soche as the curſid monk Dan Conſtantine
Hath written in his boke de Coitu.
The title of this book is, ‘"DE COITU, quibus pro [...]it aut obſit, quibus medicaminibus et alimentis acuatur impediaturve."’ Inter Op. Baſ [...]l. 1536. fol.
q
See Leo Oſtienſis, or P. Diac. Auctar. [...]d Leon. Chron. Mon. Caſſin. lib. iii. c. 35. p. 445. Scriptor. Italic. tom. iv. Murator. In his book DE INCANTATIONI [...]US, one of his enquiries is, An invenerim i [...] libris GR [...]ECORUM [...]c qualiter in INDORUM lib [...]is eſt invenire, &c. Op. tom. i. ut ſupr.
r
Petr. Lambec. Prodrom. Sa [...]c. xiv. p. 274. edit. ut ſupr.
s
It has been before obſerved, that at the introduction of philoſophy into Europe by the Saracens, the clergy only ſtudied and pr [...]cticed the medical art. This faſhion prevailed a long while afterwards. The Prior and Convent of S. Swithin's at Wincheſter granted to Thomas of Shafteſbury, clerk, a corrody, conſiſting of two diſhes daily from the Prior's kitchen, bread, drink, robes, and a competent chamber in the monaſtery, for the term of his life. In conſideration of all which conceſſions, the ſaid Thomas paid them fifty marcs: and moreover is obliged, ‘"deſervire nobis in Art [...] medicin [...]. Dat. in dom. Capitul. Feb. 15. A. D. 1319."’ Regiſtr. Priorat. S. Swithin. Winton. MS. ſupr. citat. The moſt l [...]arn [...]d and accurate Fabricius has a ſeparate article on THEOLOGI MEDICI [...] Bibl. Gr. xii. 739. ſeq. See alſo Gianon. Iſtor. Neapol. l. x. ch. xi. §. 491. In the romance of SIR GUY, a monk heals the knight's wounds [...] Signat. G. iiii.
There was a monk [...] beheld him well
That could of l [...]ach cra [...]te ſome d [...]ll.
In G. of Monmouth, who wrote in 1128, Eopa intending to poiſon Ambroſius, introduces himſelf as a phyſician. But in order to ſuſtain this character with due propri [...]ty, he firſt ſhaves his head, and aſſumes the habit of a monk. lib. viii. c. 14. John Arundale, afterwards biſhop of Chich [...]ſter, was chaplain and firſt phyſician to H [...]nry the ſixth, in 1458. Wharton, Angl. ſacr. i. 777. Faricius abbot of Abingdon, about 1110, was eminent for his ſkill in medicine; and a great cure p [...]rformed by him is recorded in the r [...]giſt [...]r of th [...] abbey. Hearne's Bened. Abb. Pr [...]f. xlvii. King John, while ſick at N [...]wark, mad [...] uſe of William de Wod [...]ſtoke, ab [...]ot of the neighbouring monaſtery of Croxton, as his phyſician. B [...]v [...]r, Chron. MSS. Harl. ap [...]d Hearne, P [...]a [...]f [...] ut ſupr. p. xlix M [...]ny ot [...] [...]nſtances may be added. The phyſic [...]n [...] of the univerſity of Paris were not allowed to marry till the year 1452. Menagian [...] p. 333. In the ſame univerſity, antiently at the admiſſion to the degree of doctor in phyſ [...]c, they took an oath that they were not married. MSS. Br. Twyne, 8. p. 249.
t
p. 414.
u
Tanner, Bibl. p. 312. Leland ſtyles this work, ‘"opus lu [...]ulentum juxta ac eruditum."’ Script. Brit. p. 355.
w
Conring. ut ſupr. S [...]ec. xiii. cap. 4. p. 127. And Leland. Script. Brit. p. 291. Who ſays, that Gilbert's Practica [...]t C [...]mpendium M [...]dicinae was moſt carefully ſtudied by many ‘"ad quoeſ [...]um properantes [...]"’ H [...] adds, that it was common, about this time, for foreign writers to aſſume the ſurname Anglicus, as a plauſible recommendation.
x
Conring. ut ſupr. Saec. xiii. cap. 4. p. 126. About the ſame time, the works of Galen and Hippocrates were firſt tran [...]lated from Greek into Latin: but in a moſt barbarous ſtyle. Id. ibid. p. 127.
y
v. 440.
y
Euſeb. Renaudot. apud Fabric. Bibl. Gr. xii. 254.
z
Leo African. de Med. et Philoſoph. Hebr. c. xxviii. xxix.
a
Leo ibid. ‘"Amore capitur, [...]t DIGNITATE DOCTORUM POSTHABITA coepit edere carmina."’ See alſo Simon. in Suppl. ad Leon. Mutinenſ. de Ritib. Hebr. p. 104.
b
Examine.
c
Read ‘"Aye, queſtio, &c."’
d
v. 639.
e
v. 670. ſ [...]q.
f
There is great humour in the circumſtances which qualify our monk [...]o be an abbot. Some time in the thirteenth century, the prior and convent of Saint Swithin's at Winche [...]ter, appear to have recommended one of their brethren to the convent of Hyde as a proper perſon to be preferred to the abbacy of that convent, then vacant. Theſe are his merits. ‘"Eſt eni [...] con [...]rater ille noſter in gloſanda [...]acra pagina bene callens, in ſcriptura [tranſcribing] peritus, in capitalibus literis appingendis bonus artifex, in regula S. Benedicti inſtructiſſimus, pſallendi doctiſſimus, &c."’ MS. Regi [...]tr. ut ſupr. quat. . . Theſe were the oſtenſible qualities of the maſter of a capital monaſtery. But Chaucer, in the verſes before us, ſeems to have told the real truth, and to have given the real character as it actually exiſted in life. I believe, that our indu [...]rious confrere, with all his knowledge of gloſſing, writing, illuminating, chanting [...] and Benedict's rules, would in fact have been leſs likely to ſucceed to a vacant abbey, than one of the g [...]nial complexion and popular accompliſhments here inimitably deſcribed.
g
Hunting.
h
Same.
i
‘"He did not care a ſtraw for the text, &c."’
k
v. 176. ſeq.
l
See ſupr. p. 164.
m
Fringed.
n
Fur.
o
v. 193.
p
A friar that had a particular grant for begging or hearing confeſſions within certain limits. See ſupr. p. 288. ſeq.
q
Of mendicants.
r

In Urry's Gloſſary this expreſſion, on a Rote, is explained, by Rote. But a rote is a muſical inſtrument. Lydgate, MSS. Fairfax, Bibl. Bodl. 16.

For ther was Rotys of Almayne,
And eke of Arragon and Spayne.

Again, in the ſame manuſcript,

Harpys, [...]itheles, and eke rotys,
Wel acording to ther notys.

Where fitheles is fiddles, as in the Prol. Cl. Oxenf. v. 590. So in the Roman d' Alexandre, MSS. Bibl. Bodl. ut ſupr. fol. i. b. col. 2.

Rote, harpe, viole, et gigne, et ſiphonie.

I cannot help mentioning in this place, a pleaſant miſtake of biſhop Morgan, in his tranſlation of the New Teſtament into Welch, printed 1567. He tranſlates the VIALS of wrath, in the Revelations, by Crythan i. e. Crouds or Fiddles, Rev. v. 8. The greek is [...]. Now it is probable that the biſhop tranſlated only from the Engliſh, where he found VIALS, which he took for VIOLS.

r

In Urry's Gloſſary this expreſſion, on a Rote, is explained, by Rote. But a rote is a muſical inſtrument. Lydgate, MSS. Fairfax, Bibl. Bodl. 16.

For ther was Rotys of Almayne,
And eke of Arragon and Spayne.

Again, in the ſame manuſcript,

Harpys, [...]itheles, and eke rotys,
Wel acording to ther notys.

Where fitheles is fiddles, as in the Prol. Cl. Oxenf. v. 590. So in the Roman d' Alexandre, MSS. Bibl. Bodl. ut ſupr. fol. i. b. col. 2.

Rote, harpe, viole, et gigne, et ſiphonie.

I cannot help mentioning in this place, a pleaſant miſtake of biſhop Morgan, in his tranſlation of the New Teſtament into Welch, printed 1567. He tranſlates the VIALS of wrath, in the Revelations, by Crythan i. e. Crouds or Fiddles, Rev. v. 8. The greek is [...]. Now it is probable that the biſhop tranſlated only from the Engliſh, where he found VIALS, which he took for VIOLS.

s
Yelding, i. e. dalliance.
t
Convent.
u
v. 208.
w
See this phraſe explained above, p. 172. I will here add a ſimilar expreſſion from Gower, Conf. Amant. lib. viii. fol. 177, b. edit. B [...]rthel. 1554.
—Bad his marſhall of his hall
To ſetten him in ſuch degre,
That he upon him myght ſe.
The kyng was ſoone ſette and ſerved:
And he which had his priſe deſerved,
After the kyngis own worde,
Was made b [...]gyn a myddle borde.
That is, ‘"he was ſeated in the middle of the table, a place of diſtinction and dignity."’
x
Pruſſia.
y
Lithuania.
z
Livonia.
a
A city of Spain. Perhaps Gibraltar.
b
Speght ſuppoſes it to be that country in Barbary which is called Benamarin. It is mentioned again in the KNIGHT'S TALE, v. 2632. p. 20. Urr.
Ne in Balmarie ther is no lion,
That huntid is, &c.
By which at leaſt we may conjecture it to be ſome country in Africa. Perhaps a corruption for Barbarie.
c
Some ſuppoſe it to be Laviſſa, a city on the continent, near Rhodes. Others Lybiſſa, a city of Bithynia.
d
A city in Anatolia, called Atalia. Many of theſe places are mentioned in the hiſtory of the cruſades.
e
‘"In the holy war at Thraſimene, a city in Barbary.’
f
Palathia, a city in Anatolia. See Froiſſart, iii. 40.
g
Againſt.
h
v. 51.
h
See Hakluyt's Voyages, i. 122. ſeq. edit. 1598. See alſo Hakluyt's account of the conqueſt of Pruſſia by the Dutch Knights Hoſpitalaries of Jeruſalem, ibid.
1871

i Chivalry, riding, exerciſes of horſemanſhip, Compl. M [...]r. Ven. v. 144.

Ciclinius riding in his chi vauhcie
From Venus.—
k
v. 85.
l

Comp. Gul. Waynflete, epiſc. Winton. an. 1471. (ſupr. citat.) Among the ſtores of the biſhop's caſtle of Farnham. ‘" [...] [...]um [...]h [...]rdi [...]. Et red. comp. de xxiv. a [...]cubus cum xxiv. chordis de remanent [...]a.—Sagittae [...]gnae. Et de cxliv. ſagitt [...]s magnis barbatis cum pennis pavonum."’ In a Computus of biſhop Gervays, [...]piſc. Winton. an. 1266. (ſupr. citat.) among the ſtores of the bi [...]hop's caſtle of Taunton, one of the heads or ſtyles is, Caudae p [...]von [...]m, which I ſuppoſe were uſed for [...]eathering arrows. In the articles of Arma, which are part of the epiſcopal ſtores of the ſaid caſtl [...], I find enumerated one thouſand four hundre [...] and twenty-one great arrows for croſs bows, remaining over and above three hundred and ſeventy-one delivered to the biſhop's vaſſals [...]empore gu [...]rr [...]. Under the ſame title occur croſs-bows made of horn. Arrows with feathers of the peacock o [...]cur in Lydgate's Chronicle of Troy, B. iii. cap. 2 [...]. ſign. O iii. [...]dit. 1555. fol.

—Many good archers
Of Boeme, which with their arrows kene.
And with fethirs of peco [...]ke fr [...]ſh [...] and ſhene, &c.
m
Armour for the arm [...].
n
A ſaint who preſided over the weather. The patron of field ſports.
o
v. 1 [...]3.
p
Dwelling.
q
v. 608.
r
Rather.
s
Fiddle. See ſupr. p. 147.
t
v. 293. Or it may be explained, ‘"Yet he could not find the philoſopher' [...] ſtone."’
u
v. 300.
w
v. 323. He is ſaid to have ‘"oftin yben at the parviſe."’ v. 312. It is not my deſign to enter into the diſputes concerning the meaning or etymology of parvis: from which parviſia, the name for the public ſchools in Oxford, is derived. But I will obſerve, that parvis is mentioned as a court or portico before the church of Notre Dame at Paris, in John de Meun's part of the Roman de la Roſe, v. 12529.
A Paris n'euſt hommes ne femme
Au parvis devant Noſtre Dame.
The paſſage is thus tranſlated by Chaucer Rom. R. v. 7157.
Ther n'as no wight in all Paris
Before our Ladie at Parvis.
The word is ſuppoſed to be contracted from Paradiſe. This perhaps ſignified an ambulatory. Many of our old religious houſe [...] had a place called Paradiſe. In the year 1300, children were taught to read and ſing in the Pa [...]vis of St. Martin's church at Norwich. Blomf. Norf. ii. 748. Our Serjeant is afterwards ſaid to have received many f [...]es and robes, v. 319. The ſerjeants and all the officers of the ſuperior courts of law, antiently received winter and ſummer robes from the king's wardrobe. He is likewiſe ſaid to cite caſes and deciſions, ‘"that from the time of king William were full,"’ v. 326. For this line ſee the very learned and ingenious Mr. Barrington's Obſervations on the antient Statutes.
x
v. 309.
y
‘"We liked."’
z
Cheapſide.
a
Prol. v. 749.
b
Or rather, two on their way thither, and two on their return. Only Chaucer himſelf tells two tales. The poet ſays, that there were twenty-nine pilgrims in company: but in the CHARACTERS he deſcribes more. Among the TALES which remain, there are none of the Prioreſſe's Chaplains, the Haberdaſher, Carpynter, Webbe, Dyer, Tapicer, and Hoſte. The Chanon Yeman has a TALE, but no CHARACTER. The Plowman's Tale is cert [...]inly ſuppoſititious. See ſupr. p. 3 [...]6. And Obſ. Sp [...]nſ. ii. 217. It is omitted in the beſt manuſcript of the CANTERBURY TALES, MSS. Harl. 1758. fol. membran. Theſe TALES were ſuppoſed to be ſpoken, not written. But we have in the Plowman's, ‘"For my WRITING me allow."’ v. 3309. Urr. And in other places. ‘"For my WRITING if I have blame."’‘"Of my WRITING have me excus'd."’ etc. See a NOTE at the beginning of the CANT. TALES, MSS. Laud. K. 50. Bibl. Bodl. written by John Barcham. But the diſcuſſion of theſe points properly belongs to an editor of Chaucer.
c
Urr. Chauc. p. 595.
c
There is a good deſcription of a magical palace, v. 1973—2076.
d
April.
e
Make.
f
Shoot.
g
v. 690.
a
See ſupr. p. 148.
b
See Mem. Lit. tom. xviii. p. 74 [...]. 4to. And tom. vii. 293. 294. I have before mentioned John of Meun's tranſlation of Boethius. It is in verſe. John de Langres is ſaid to have made a tranſlation in proſe, about 1336. It is highly probable that Chaucer tranſlated Boethius from ſome of the French tranſlations. In the Bodleian library there is an EXPLANATIO of Boethius's CONSOLATION by our countryman Nicholas Trivett, who died before 1329.
c
See ſupr. p. 285.
d
PUTERIE. Properly Bawdry, Obſcenity. MODESTY is drowned in the river, which gives occaſion to this concluſion, ‘"Dont vien que plus n'y a HONTE dans Paris."’ The author lived about the year 1300.
e
In the mean time the greateſt libertie [...] and indecencies were practiced and encouraged. Theſe doctrines did not in [...]luence the manners of the times. In an old French tale, a counteſs in the abſence of her lord having received a knight into her caſtle, and conducted him in great ſtate to his repoſe, will not ſuffer him to ſle [...]p alone: with in [...]inite politeneſs ſhe orders one of her damſels, la plus cortoiſe et la plus b [...]l [...], into his bed-chamb [...]r, av [...] [...]e ch [...]valier g [...]ſir. Mem. Cheval. ut ſupr. tom. ii. p. 70. Not. 17.
f
This infatuation continued among the French down to modern times. ‘"Les gens de qualitè, ſays the ingenious M. de la Curne de Sainte Palaye, conſervoient encore ce goût que leurs pères avoient pris dans nos anciennes cours: ce fut ſans doute pour complaire a ſon fondateur, que l'Academie Françoiſe traita, dans ſes premiers ſéances, pluſieurs ſujets qui concernoient l'AMOUR; et l'on vit encore dans l'hotel du Longueville les perſonnes les plus qualifées et le plus ſpiritualles du ſiecle de Louis xiv. ſe diſputer a qui commenteroit et et ra [...]n [...]roit le mieux ſur la delicateſſe du coeur et des ſentimens, a qui [...]eroit, ſur ce chapitre, les diſtinctions le plus ſubtiles."’ Mem. Cheval. [...]t ſupr. tom. ii. P. v. pag. 17.
g
Tranſlated or imitated from a French poem of Alain Chartier, v. 11.
Which Maiſtir Alayne made of remembrance
Chief ſecretary to the king of France.
He was ſecretary to Charles the ſixth and ſeventh. But he is chiefly famous for his proſe.
h
So is Gower's CONFESSIO AMANTIS, a [...] we ſhall ſee hereafter.
i
v. 162.
k
v. 197.
l
Hiſt. Theat. Franc. p. 15. tom. iii. Oe [...]vr. Paris, 1742.
n
See alſo Chaucer's TEN COMMANDMENTS O [...] LOVE, p. 554. Urr.
o

Vie de Petrarque, tom. ii. Not. xix. p. 60. Probably the Cour d'Amour was the origin of that called La C [...]ur Amorcuſe, eſtabliſhed under the gallant reign of Charles the ſixth, in the year 1410. The latter had the moſt conſiderable families of France for its members, and a parade of grand officers, like thoſe in the royal houſhold and courts of law. See Hiſt. Acad. Inſcript. Tom. vii. p. 287. ſeq. 4to. See alſo Hiſt. Langued. tom. iii. p. 25. ſeq.

The moſt uniform and unembarraſſed view of the eſtabliſhment and uſages of this COURT, which I can at preſent recollect, is thrown together from ſcattered and ſcarce materials by the ingenious author of VIE DE PETRAQUE, tom. ii. p. 45. ſeq. Not. xix. But for a complete account of theſe inſtitutions, and other curious particular [...] relating to the anti [...]nt manners and antient poetry of the French, the public waits with impatience for the hiſtory of the Provencial poets writte [...] by Monſ. de la Curne de Sainte Palaye, who has copied moſt of their manuſcripts with great care and expence.

p
See D. Vaiſette, Hiſt. du Languedoc, [...]om. iv. p. 184. ſeq. Compare p. 145. Note, y.
q
Hiſt. Arragon. c. 261.
r
v. 720.
s
Particularly from Rutebeuf and Hebers. Rutebeuf was living in the year 1310. He wrote tales and ſtories of entertainment in verſe. It is certain that Boccacio took, from this old French minſtrel, Nov. x. Giorn. ix. And perhaps two or three others. Hebers lived about the year 1200. He wrote a French romance, in verſe, called the Sev [...]n Sag [...]s of Greece, or Dol [...] pathos. He tranſlated it from the Latin of Dom Johans, a monk of the abbey of Haute-ſelve. It has great variety, and contains ſeveral agreeable ſtories, pleaſant adve [...]tures, [...]mblems, a [...]d proverbs. Boccacio has taken from it four Tal [...]s, viz. Nov. ii. Giorn. iii. Nov. iv. Gior [...]. vii. Nov. viii. Giorn. viii. And the Tal [...] of the Boy who had never ſeen a woman, ſince finely touched by Fo [...]taine. An Italian book called Eraſtus is compiled from this Roman [...]f the Seven Sag [...]s. It is ſaid to have been firſt compoſed by Sandaber the Indian, a writer of proverbs: that it afterwards appeared ſucceſſively in Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and Greek; was at length tranſlated i [...]to Latin by the monk abovementioned, and from thence into French by Hebers. It is very probable that the monk tranſlated it from ſome Greek manuſcript of the dark ages, which Huet ſays was to be found in ſome libraries. Three hundred years after the Roman of Hebers, it was tranſlated into Dutch, and again from the Dutch into Latin. There is an Engliſh abridgement of it, which is a ſtory-book for children. See Mem. Lit. Tom. ii. p. 731. 4to. Fauchett, p. 106. 160. Huet, Orig. Fab. Rom. 136. Fabric. Bibl. Gr. x. 339. Maſſieu, Poeſ. Fr. p. 137. Creſcimben. V [...]lg. Poeſ. Vol. i. L. v. p. 332. Many of the old French minſtrels deal much in Tales and novels of humour and amuſement, like thoſe of Boccacio's Decameron. They call them Fabliaux.
s
See [...] p. 117. ſupr. Compare Creſcim [...]en. Volg. Poeſ. L. i. c. xiv. p. 162.
t
See p. 43. 45. And Commed. Infern. cant. xxii.
u
Fauch. Rec. p. 96.
w
See Fauchett, Rec. p. 47. 116. And Huet, Rom. p. 121. 108.
x
See p. 117. ſupr. He lived about 1189. Recherch. Par Beauchamps, p. 5. Noſtradamus aſſerts, that Petrarch ſtole many things from a troubadour called Richard ſeigneur de Barbezeiuz, who is placed under 1383. Petrarch however was de [...]d at that time.
y
Sonnet. clxxxviii. Dodici Donne, &c. The academicians della Cruſca, in their Dictionary, quote a manuſcript entitled, LIBRO D'AMORE of the year 1408. It is alſo referred to by Creſcimbeni in his Lives of the Provencial poets. It contains verdicts or determinations in the Court of Love.
z
Paſq. Les Recherch. de la France. vii. 5. p. 609. 611. edit. 1633. [...]ol.
a
Theſe tranſlations, in which the originals were much enlarged, produced an infinite number of other romances in proſe: and the old metrical romances ſoon became unfaſhionable and neglec [...]ed. The romance of PERCEFORREST, one of the largeſt of the French romances of chivalry, was written in verſe about 1220. It was not [...]ill many years afterwards tranſlated into proſ [...]. M. Falconet, an ingenious enquirer into the early literature of France, is of opinion, that the moſt antient romances, ſuch as that of the ROUND TABLE, were firſt written in Latin proſe: it being well known that Turpin's CHARLEMAGNE, as it is now extant, was originally compoſed in that language. He thinks they were tranſlated into French rhymes, and at laſt into French proſe, tels que nous les avons aujourduy. See Hiſt. Acad. Inſcript. vii. 293. But part of this doctrine may be juſtly doubted.
b
With regard to the Chaunt royal, Paſquier deſcribes it to be a ſong in honour of God, the holy Virgin, or any other argument of dignity, eſpecially if joined with diſtreſs. It was written in heroic ſtanzas, and cloſed with a l'Envoy, or ſtanza containing a recapitulation, dedication, or the like. Chaucer calls the Chant royal abovementioned, a Kyngis Note. Mill. T. v. 111. p. 25. His Complaintof Venus, Cuckow and Nightingal [...], and La belle Dameſans Mercy, Have all a l'Envoy, and belong to this ſpecies of French verſe. His l'Envoy to the Complaint of Venus, or Mars and Venus, ends with theſe lines, v. 79.
And eke to me it is a grete penaunce,
Sith rime in Engliſh hath ſoche ſcarcite,
To follow word by word the curioſite
Of granſonflour of them that make in Fraunce.
Make ſignifies to write poetry; and here we ſee that this poem was tranſlated from the French. See alſo Chaucer's Dreame, v. 2204. Petrarch has the Envoi. I am inclined to think, that Chaucer's Aſſemble of Fowles was partly planned in imitation of a French poem written by Gace de la Vigne, Chaucer's cotemporary, entitled, Roman d'Oiſeaux, which treats of the nature, properties, and management of all birds de chaſſ [...]. But this is merely a conjecture, for I have never ſeen the French poem. At leaſt there is an evident ſimilitude of ſubject.
c
About this time, a Prior of S. Genevieve at Paris wrote a ſmall treatiſe entitled, L'Art de Dictier BALLADES, ET RONDELLES. See Monſ. Beauchamps Rech. Theatr. p. 88. M. Maſſieu ſays this is the firſt ART OF POETRY printed in France. Hiſt. Poeſ. Fr. p. 222. See L'ART POETIQUE du Jaques Pelloutier du Mons. Lyon, 555. 8vo. Liv. 11. ch. i. Du [...]'ODE.
d
Paſquier, ubi ſupr. p. 612. Who calls ſuch pieces MIGNARDISES.
e
Here is an elleipſis. He means, A [...]d poems.
f
Prol. Leg. G. W. v. 422. He mentions this ſort of poetry in the Frankelein's Tale, v. 2493. p. 109. Urr.
Of which matere [love] madin he many layes,
Songis, Complaintis, Roundils, Virelayes.
Compare Chaucer's DREME, v. 973. In the FLOURE AND LEAFE we have th [...] words of a French Roundeau, v. 177.
g
In a deciſion of the COURT OF LOVE cited by Fontenelle, the judge is called Le Marquis d [...]s [...]l [...]ures et violettes. Font. ubi ſupr. p. 15.
h
v. 270.
i
Rather B [...]rg [...]rett [...]. A ſong du Berger, of a ſhepherd.
k
v. 350. A panegyric on this flower is again introduced in the Prologue to the Leg. of G. Wom. v. 180.
The long dai [...] I ſhope me for to abide
For nothing ellis, and I ſhall not lie
But for to lokin upon the daiſie,
That wel by reaſon men it callè maie
The D [...]iſie, or els the eye of the daie:
The empriſe, and the floure, of flouris al, &c.
All this while he means to pay a compliment to Lady Margaret, counteſs of Pembroke, king Edward's daughter, one of his patroneſſes. See the Balade beginning I [...] Fevrere, &c. p. 556. Urr. v. 688. Froiſſart's ſong in praiſe of the daiſy might have the ſame tendency: for he was patroniſed both by Edward and Philipp [...]. Margarui [...]e is French for Daiſy. Chaucer perhaps intends the ſame compliment by the ‘"Margari [...]e perle,"’ Teſt. Love, p. 483. col. i. &c. Urr. See alſo Prol. L [...]g. G. Wom. v. 218. 224. That Prologue has many images like thoſe in the Flower and the L [...]afe. It was evidently written after that poem.
l
v. 516. 517. 519.
m
Mem. Lit. tom. vii. p. 422. 4to.
n
Hence Froiſſart in the EPINETTE AMOUREUSE, deſcribing his romantic amuſements, ſays he was delighted with
Violettes en leur ſaiſons
Et roſes blanches et vermeilles, &c.
See Mem. Lit. tom. x. p. 665. 287. 4to.
o
Recherches ſur les poetes couronnez, Mem. Lit. tom. x. p. 567. 4to.
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TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 5308 The history of English poetry from the close of the eleventh to the commencement of the eighteenth century To which are prefixed two dissertations By Thomas Warton pt 1. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-61D3-8