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Full text of "The history of English poetry, from the close of the eleventh century to the commencement of the eighteenth century. To which are prefixed, three dissertations: 1. Of the origin of romantic fiction in Europe. 2. On the introduction of learning into England. 3. On the Gesta Romanorum"

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Request  of 

IRev.  ib*  <L  Scabbing,  D. 

to  tbe  library 
of  tbe 

of  Toronto 

1901 


BEQUEST  OF 

REV.  CANON  SCADDIfiG,  D.  D. 
TORONTO,    1901. 


/ITM-OMAS 


KPARTMENirtLL.ua™, ,. 
THE   HISTORY 

OF 

ENGLISH    POETRY, 

FROM  THE 

CLOSE  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY 

TO  THE 

COMMENCEMENT  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

TO  WHICH  ARE  PREFIXED, 

THREE  DISSERTATIONS: 

1.  OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE. 

2.  ON  THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND. 

3.  ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM. 

BY 

THOMAS  WARTON,  B.C. 

FELLOW  OK  TRINITY  COLLEGE,  OXFORD,  AND  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF   ANTIQUARIES,  AND 
PROFESSOR  OF  POETRY  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  OXFORD. 

FROM  THE  EDITION  OF  1824 

SUPERINTENDED  BY  THE  LATE 

RICHARD  PRICE,  ESQ. 

INCLUDING  THE  NOTES  OF  MR.   RITSON,    DR.  ASHBY,  MR.  DOUCE,  AND 
MR.   PARK. 

NOW  FURTHER  IMPROVED  BY  THE  CORRECTIONS  AND  ADDITIONS 
OF  SEVERAL  EMINENT  ANTIQUARIES. 


IN  THREE  VOLUMES. 
VOL.  I. 


LONDON; 

PRINTED  FOR  THOMAS  TEGG,  73  CHEAPSIDE. 

1840. 


troi 
WB 


V.I 

cap. 


PRINTED  BY  RICHARD  AND  JOHN  E.  TAYLOR, 
RED  LION  COURT,  FLEET  STREET. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


THE  Edition  of  1824,  in  four  volumes  octavo,  which  has  for 
some  time  been  out  of  print,  and  upon  which  the  present  is 
founded,  has  been  generally  esteemed  for  its  correctness,  and 
for  a  valuable  body  of  materials  for  the  illustration  of  the  work 
collected  by  Mr.  Park,  including  numerous  manuscript  notes 
by  Ritson,  Ashby,  Douce,  and  other  eminent  antiquaries*,  but 
especially  on  account  of  the  important  corrections  and  additions 
made  by  its  much-lamented  Editor,  Mr.  Richard  Price;  for 
whom,  though  his  name  did  not  appear  on  its  publication,  it 
deservedly  obtained  considerable  reputation. 

With  regard  to  what  he  contributed  under  the  head  of  addi- 
tions, may  be  mentioned  in  particular  his  notes,  or  rather  essays, 
on  the  Lais  of  Marie  de  France,  on  the  Saxon  Ode  on  the  Victory 
of  Athelstan,  on  the  Romance  of  Sir  Tristram,  on  the  Visions 
of  Piers  Plouhman,  and  his  learned  Preface,  in  which  is  con- 
tair?.d  a  very  interesting  view  of  the  inquiries  that  form  the 
subjects  of  Warton's  work,  the  manner  in  which  he  has  treated 
them,  their  progress  since  the  publication  of  his  work,  and  of 
the  controversies  to  which  it  gave  rise.  The  corrections  made  by 
Mr.  Price  must  be  considered  also  as  having  added  much  to  the 
value  of  the  edition  ;  both  those  which  apply  to  errors  in  War- 
ton's  glossarial  notes,  and  those  which  resulted  from  a  collation 
of  many  of  the  specimens  "with  manuscripts  in  the  British 
Museum  or  editions  of  acknowledged  fidelity."  The  latter, 
from  the  great  carelessness  of  Warton  as  a  transcriber,  were  very 
numerous,  and  not  less  important,  many  passages  having  been 
rendered  quite  unintelligible  from  errors  in  copying. 

*  See  Editor's  Preface,  p.  (92). 


IV  ADVERTISEMENT. 

The  very  necessary  task  of  freeing  Warton's  work  from  a 
defect  which  so  greatly  impaired  its  value,  has  however  been 
carried  out  to  a  much  greater  extent  in  the  present  edition, 
through  the  zeal  and  care  of  Sir  Frederic  Madden,  who,  on 
learning  that  the  work  had  once  more  been  placed  in  my 
hands  by  the  Publisher,  not  only  most  kindly  offered  to  collate 
the  text  of  the  specimens  in  the  earlier  period  by  the  best  manu- 
scripts, but  has  contributed  a  considerable  number  of  notes  of 
great  interest,  from  the  important  corrections  and  additional 
information  which  they  contain.  In  addition  to  these,  which 
are  distinguished  by  the  letter  M.,  the  present  Edition  has 
received  an  accession  of  various  valuable  Notes,  which  have 
been  contributed  by  Mr.  Thorpe  and  Mr.  J.  M.  Kemble,  both 
deeply  versed  in  the  earliest  form  of  our  national  poetry;  by 
Mr.  Wright,  Editor  of  the  Collection  of  the  e  Ancient  Political 
Songs5  lately  published  by  the  Camden  Society ;  Mr.  W.  J. 
Thorns,  the  Secretary  of  that  Society;  the  Rev.  R.  Garnett,  of 
the  British  Museum  ;  and  by  my  brother,  Mr.  Edward  Taylor, 
Gresham  Professor  of  Music.  These  are  severally  distinguished 
by  the  initials  T.  or  Th.,  K.,  W.,  W.  J.  T.,  R.  G.,  and  E.  T.  I 
have,  moreover,  ventured  occasionally  to  add  a  few,  which  bear 
my  own  initials. 

It  remains  only  to  state  that  those  Additional  Notes  from  the 
collections  of  Dr.  Ashby  and  Mr.  Park,  which,  having  come 
into  the  hands  of  the  Publisher  too  late  to  be  otherwise  inserted 
in  the  edition  of  1824,  were  printed  at  the  end  of  the  volumes, 
have  in  the  present  Edition  been  annexed  to  the  passages  to 
which  they  relate :  and  as  the  present  enlarged  form  of  the 
page  has  occasioned  numerous  alterations  in  the  references  both 
in  the  Notes  and  Index,  much  care  has  been  taken  to  avoid  the 
errors  which  often  result  from  such  a  change. 

RICHARD  TAYLOR. 

May  18th,  1840. 


SOME  NOTICES  OF  THE  LATE  RICHARD  PRICE,  ESQ. 


Of  my  lamented  friend  Mr.  Price,  to  whom  the  superintendence  of 
the  edition  of  1824  was,  at  my  suggestion,  committed,  the  following 
Notices  may  be  preserved  in  this  page,  as  testimonials  of  the  estima- 
tion in  which  his  character  and  acquirements  have  been  held  by  men 
of  learning. — R.T. 

Dr.  G.  J.  THORKELIN,  in  his  work  entitled  "  De  Danorum  Rebus  Gestis, 
fyc."  being  the  first  edition  of  .Beowulf  published  ;  Copenhagen,  1815. 

"  Quanta  vero  apud  veteres  celebritate  et  admiratione  floruerit  Welandus, 
vel  inde  liquet,  quod  regum  decus  jElfretlus  Magnus  (ut  me  monuit  vir  doc- 
tissimus  et  mini  amicissimus  RICHARDUS  PRICE),  in  sua  versione  Consolationis 
Philosophise  ab  An.  M.  Sever.  Boethio  scriptas,"  &c.,  p.  266. 

Dr.  JAMES  GRIMM,  in  "  Hymnorum  Veterls  Ecclesicp,  Interpretatio  Theotisca;" 
Gottingen,  1830. 

"  Pertzium  V.  Cl.  literarum  causa  iter  Anglicanum  ingredientem  de  his 
Hymnis  compellavi.  Itaque  is  PRICIO  auctor  fuit  viro  doctissimo  et  huma- 
nissimo,  ut  omnes  transscribi  et  ad  me  mitti  curaret,  brevique  tempore  ab  illo 
nactus  sum  quod  antea  frustra  diuque  exspectaveram." — p.  4. 

The  Rev.  W.  D.  CONYBEARE,  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Illustrations  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  Poetry,  by  the  late  Rev.  J.  J.  Conybeare. 

"  He  had  not  inserted  the  original  Saxon,  in  the  understanding  that  it  is 
the  intention  of  Mr.  PRICE  to  publish  it  critically  in  the  work  on  Saxon  Poetry 
which  he  has  announced  in  his  very  valuable  Edition  of  Warton's  History  of 
English  Poetry.  The  learning  and  acuteness  of  that  able  philologist  and  anti- 
quary will  doubtless  clear  away  the  difficulties  which  have,  in  a  few  instances, 
reduced  the  present  translator  to  the  necessity  of  circuitous  and  conjectural 
interpretation." — p.  Ixxxvii. 

The  late  Mr.  EDGAR  TAYLOR,  F.S.A.,  the  translator  of  Wace's  Chronicle  of 
the  Norman  Conquests,  in  his  "Lays  of  the  Minnesingers  and  Troubadours." 

"These  sheets  were  in  the  printer's  hands  when  the  new  Edition  of  Warton's 
History  of  English  Poetry  appeared.  The  reader  is  referred  to  it,  not  only  in 
connexion  with  the  observations  made  above  on  the  romance  of  Tristan  (on 
which  subject  an  excellent  note  will  be  found),  but  in  relation  to  the  romances 

of  Titurel  and  Parcival The  opportunity  must  not  be  omitted  of  bearing 

testimony  to  the  very  great  merit  of  this  new  edition  of  a  work  now  rendered 
doubly  valuable.  The  Editor  brings  to  his  task  that  intimate  acquaintance 
with  ancient  Scandinavian  and  German  literature,  which  is  so  necessary  to  a 
full  development  of  the  subject,  but  in  which  the  French  and  English  anti- 
quaries have  hitherto  been  lamentably  deficient." — p.  109. 

"  For  a  great  deal  of  valuable  information  on  these  points,  I  must  again 
refer  to  the  excellent  Preface  of  the  Editor  of  Warton.  The  little  collection  of 
'  German  Popular  Stories,'  which  he  has  thought  worthy  of  his  notice,  only 
touched  on  a  subject  highly  interesting,  no  doubt,  but  requiring  for  its  full  de- 


vi 

velopment  a  depth  of  research  far  heyond  my  means :  I  would  gladly  leave  it 
in  the  able  hands  into  which  the  Editor's  Preface  shows  that  it  has  fallen."  — 
Ib.  p.  116. 

To  these  maybe  added  the  passage  from  Mr.  Thorpe's  translation  of  the  Saxon 
Grammar  of  the  late  Professor  Rask  of  Copenhagen,  quoted  below  at  p.  Ixxxi : 
also  the  following  from  Mr.  THORPE'S  Preface  to  his  Collection  of  the  "Ancient 
Laws  and  Institutes  of  England,  published  under  the  authority  of  the  Record 
Commission :" — 

"  A  short  space  must  now  be  devoted  to  the  memory  of  a  good  man  and 
highly  accomplished  scholar,  my  lamented  predecessor  in  this  work,  the  late 
RICHARD  PRICE,  Esq.,  by  whose  labours  my  own  have  been  considerably  light- 
ened, and  who,  had  he  been  longer  spared  to  his  friends  and  country,  would, 
no  doubt,  have  raised  another  monument  of  his  industry  and  learning  in  the 
work  subsequently  committed  to  the  care  of  a  less  experienced  successor." 

"  Mr.  PRICE  was  the  editor  of  an  improved  edition  of  Warton's  History  of 
English  Poetry,  in  four  volumes,  8vo ;  also  of  a  valuable  edition  of  Blackstone's 
Commentaries  in  four  volumes,  London,  1830;  and  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle 
to  the  year  1066,  contained  in  the  first  volume  of  the  '  Materials  for  the  History 
of  Great  Britain,'  not  yet  completed." — Preface,  p.  xvii. 


CONTENTS. 

VOL.  I. 


Page 

Author's  Preface     (3) 

Mr.  Price's  Preface  to  the  Edition  of  1824 (9) 

Note  by  R.  T.  on  the  Genealogies  of  the  Northern  Epic  Heroes   ...     (95) 

DISSERTATION  I. 

Of  the  Origin  of  Romantic  Fiction  in  Europe    i 

Note  B.  by  Mr.  Price  on  the  Lais  of  Marie  de  France Ivii 

Note  C.  by  Mr.  Price  on  the  Saxon  Ode  on  the  Victory  of  Athelstan  Ixvi 

DISSERTATION  II. 
On  the  Introduction  of  Learning  into  England Ixxxii 

DISSERTATION  III. 
On  the  Gesta  Romanorum  ..  ..  cxxxix 


THE  HISTORY  OF  ENGLISH  POETRY. 

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-songs.  Alexandrine  Vei'ses.  Satirical  Pieces. 
First  English  Metrical  Romance 1 

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  de  Rou.  Gests  and  Jestours.  Ercel- 
doune  and  Kendale.  Bishop  Grosthead.  Monks  write  for  the  Min- 
strels. 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 42 

Note  by  Mr.  Price  on  the  Romance  of  Sir  Tristrem  95 

Additional  Note  on  Sir  Tristrem  ..  .109 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

SECTION  III.  Page 

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  Thirteenth  Century. 
French  Minstrels  in  England.  Provencial  Poets.  Popular  Romances. 
Dares  Phrygius.  Guido  de  Colonna.  Fabulous  Histories  of  Alex- 
ander. Pilpay's  Fables.  Roman  d'Alexandre.  Alexandrines.  Com- 
munications between  the  French  and  English  Minstrels.  Use  of  the 

Provencial  Writers.     Two  sorts  of  Troubadours    112 

Note  A.  by  Mr.  Price  on  the  Sangreal 149 

SECTION  IV. 

Examination  and  Specimens  of  the  Metrical  Romance  of  Richard  the 
First.  Greek  Fire.  Military  Machines  used  in  the  Crusades.  Mu- 
sical Instruments  of  the  Saracen  Armies.  Ignorance  of  Geography  in 
the  dark  ages 155 

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  Arthur e.     Subjects  of  antient  tapestry    170 

Note  by  R.  T.  on  Robert  the  Devil 207 


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. 


VOL.  I. 


AUTHOR'S     PREFACE. 


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  natu- 
ral. 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  con- 
scious 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. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  manners,  monuments,  customs,  prac- 
tices, 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  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  cul- 

a  2 


(4)  PREFACE. 


tivation,  which  is  so  closely  connected  with  the  existence  and 
the  exercise  of  every  social  virtue. 

On  these  principles,  to  develope  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  the  most 
picturesque  and  expressive  representations  of  manners ;  and,  be- 
cause 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  sim- 
plest 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 a, 
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  con- 
ducted. I  am  sure  I  do  not  mean,  nor  can  I  pretend,  to  apo- 
logise for  its  defects. 

I  have  chose  to  exhibit  the  history  of  our  poetry  in  a  chrono- 
logical series ;  not  distributing  my  matter  into  detached  articles, 

a  [Ritson  has  observed  that  "  The  Hi-  since  it  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the 

story  of  English  Poetry  stands  high  in  highest  testimonies  to  the  merits  of  Mr. 

public    estimation  ;    that   the    subject   is  Warton's  elaborate  and  multifarious  pub- 

equally  curious,  interesting  and  abstruse ;  lication,  that  Ritson  himself,  in  his  lynx- 

and  that  he  should  have  experienced  sa-  eyed   scrutiny,   has   detected  little  more 

tisfaction  in  finding  the  work  entirely  free  than   what    a    liberal    and    candid   mind 

from  error."  Obs.  p.  2.    This  was  penned,  would  have  communicated  to  the  historian 

alas!  with  a  selfish  disregard  to  that  ur-  as  a  mere  table  of  errata. — PARK.] 
bane  moral  maxim,  humanum  est  errare  ; 


PREFACE.  (5) 

of  periodical  divisions,  or  of  general  heads.  Yet  I  have  not  al- 
ways adhered  so  scrupulously  to  the  regularity  of  annals,  but 
that  I  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  in- 
spection 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  sub- 
stance of  his  plan,  which  I  found  to  be  that  of  Mr.  PoPEb,  con- 
siderably 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  En- 
glish poetry,  I  have  rejected  the  ideas  of  men  who  are  its  most 
distinguished  ornaments.  To  confess  the  real  truth,  upon  ex- 
amination and  experiment,  I  soon  discovered  their  mode  of  treat- 
ing my  subject,  plausible  as  it  is,  and  brilliant  in  theory,  to  be 
attended  with  difficulties  and  inconveniences,  and  productive  of 
embarrassment  both  to  the  reader  and  the  writer.  Like  other 


b  [See  Pope's  plan  for  a  History  of  En-  the  classification  of  our  English  poets  by 

glish  Poetry,  with  another  formed  upon  Pope ;  and  Dr.  Warton  made  a  new  ar- 

it  by  Gray,  together  with  a  letter  to  War-  rangement  of  them   into   four   different 

ton,  in  the  Gent.  Mag.  for  1783.     It  has  classes  and  degrees,  because  he  thought 

also  been  inserted  by  Mr.  Mant  and  Mr.  A.  we  do  not  sufficiently  attend  to  the  differ- 

Chalmers  in  their  Lives  of  Warton.     Mr.  ence  between  a  man  of  wit,  a  man  of  sense, 

Malone,    in    vol.    3.    of   Dryden's    Prose  and  a  true  poet.      Ded.  to  Essay  on  Pope. 

Works,  pointed  out  several   mistakes  in  — PA  UK.] 


(6)  PREFACE. 

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  atten- 
tion to  this  distribution,  appeared  to  me  to  destroy  that  free  ex- 
ertion 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  pro- 
gression of  our  language. 

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  subject0 
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 d,  every  reader  that  re- 
flects but  for  a  moment  on  our  political  establishment  must  per- 
ceive, that  the  Saxon  poetry  has  no  connection  with  the  nature 


*  [This  subject  has  since  been  very  was  the  temper  which  dictated  this  forced 

ably  and  learnedly  illustrated  by  the  pen  inference  ;  and  what  a  "picture  in  little  " 

of  Mr.  Sharon  Turner,  in  his  History  of  does  it  exhibit  of  morbid  spleen!!  In- 

the  Anglo-Saxons,  to  which  the  antiqua-  deed,  the  critic  seems  totally  to  misap- 

rian  reader  is  referred. — PARK.]  prehend  the  drift  of  Mr.  Warton's  reason- 

d  [To  evince  the  unhappy  tendency  of  ing;  who  only  infers  that  when  the  Saxons 
Ritson's  criticisms  on  Mr.  Warton's  Hi-  were  converted  to  Christianity,  they  lost 
story,  the  following  comment  upon  this  all  the  wild  imagery  of  their  old  super- 
passage  may  serve  as  a  sufficient  sample.  stitions ;  and  composed  religious  rhap- 
"  It  may  seem  (says  the  critic)  a  very  ex-  sodies  in  lieu  of  their  native  barbaric 
traordinary  idea  in  a  Christian  minister  songs.— See  Gent.  Mag.  Nov.  1782,  p. 
(and  who  is  not  only  the  historian  of  poets  528. — PARK.]  [The  reasoning  upon 
but  a  poet  himself)  that  these  people  could  which  the  author  endeavours  to  justify 
not  have  a  poetical  genius,  because  they  his  neglect  of  the  Saxon  period,  in  a  Hi- 
were  not  pagans  ;  and  that  religion  and  story  of  English  Poetry,  is,  however,  by 
poetry  are  incompatible."  How  pitiable  no  means  satisfactory. — R.  T.] 


PREFACE.  (7) 

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,  consti- 
tution 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  cha- 
racter began  to  dawn. 

It  was  recommended  to  me,  by  a  person  eminent  in  the  re- 
public of  letters,  totally  to  exclude  from  these  volumes  any  men- 
tion 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  consider- 
ed 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  ancient  state  of  dramatic  exhibition  in  this 
country,  with  due  comprehension  and  accuracy. 

It  will  probably  be  remarked,  that  the  citations  in  the  first 
volume  are  numerous,  and  sometimes  very  prolix.  But  it  should 


(8)  PREFACE. 

be  remembered^  that  most  of  these  are  extracted  from  ancient 
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  ac- 
cessions ;  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  fre- 
quent appeals  might  occasionally  be  made,  and  to  clear  the  way 
for  various  observations  arising  in  the  course  of  my  future  in- 
quiries. 


MR.    PRICE'S    PREFACE 

TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 


1  HE  "  History  of  English  Poetry"  assumes  the  first  place  in  the  cata- 
logue of  Warton's  prose  writings,  and,  to  use  the  language  of  his  bio- 
grapher, "  forms  the  most  solid  basis  of  his  reputation."  Though  not 
the  only  labour  of  his  life,  which  embraces  the  study  of  early  English 
poetry  and  antiquities,  it  is  still  the  only  one  to  which  he  devoted  him- 
self with  the  ardour  inspired  by  a  favourite  occupation,  or  in  which  the 
nature  of  his  subject  allowed  him  a  fair  and  appropriate  field  for  the 
display  of  his  genius,  his  erudition,  and  his  taste.  His  other  produc- 
tions are  either  testimonials  of  what  he  felt  due  to  his  rank  in  his  col- 
lege, or  the  amusements  in  which  an  active  mind  indulges  when  relaxing 
from  severer  pursuits ;  and  even  much  of  his  poetry  contains  but  a  va- 
ried disposition  of  the  same  imagery  which  enlivens  the  pages  of  his 
history.  In  this  his  most  voluminous  and  most  important  work,  he 
found  a  subject  commanding  all  the  resources  of  his  richly  stored  and 
fertile  mind  ;  a  task  which  had  excited  the  attention  of  two  distinguished 
poets1,  as  an  undertaking  not  unworthy  of  their  talents;  where  the  du- 
ties were  arduous,  the  path  untrodden,  and  not  a  little  of  public  pre- 
judice to  subdue  against  the  worth  and  utility  of  his  object2.  But 
Warton  was  too  much  in  love  with  his  theme,  and  too  confident  in  his 
own  ability,  to  be  dismayed  by  difficulties  which  industry  might  over- 
come, or  opinions  having  no  better  foundation  than  vulgar  belief  un- 
supported by  knowledge ;  and  the  success  attendant  upon  the  publica- 
tion of  his  first  volume,  which  speedily  reached  a  second  edition3,  en- 

1  The  reader  will  find  Pope's  plan  of      ing  as  was  never  read,"  and  "  the  classics 
his  projected  history,  enlarged  by  Gray,       of  an  age  that  heard  of  none,"  were  still 
in  Dr.  Mant's  Life  of  Warton.     The  rea-       fresh  in  public  recollection. 

sons  for  differing  from  his  predecessors  3  This  second  edition  is  not  a  mere  re- 
are  given  by  Warton  in  the  prtiUce  to  his  print  of  the  title-page  ;  it  is  marked  by 
first  volume.  several  typographical  errors  which  do  not 

2  Pope's  sneers  against  "  all  such  read-  occur  in  the  first. 


(10)  MK.   PRICE'S   PREFACE  TO  THE   EDITION   OF   1824. 

couraged  him  to  persevere  in  his  course.  A  second  and  a  third  volume 
appeared  in  due  succession;  a  small  portion  of  the  fourth  had  been 
committed  to  the  press,  when  death  arrested  his  hand,  just  as  he  was 
entering  on  the  most  interesting  and  brilliant  period  of  our  poetic  an- 
nals— the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

The  comprehensive  plan  upon  which  Warton  had  commenced  this 
work,  so  far  exceeded  his  expectations  of  its  possible  extent,  that 
though  the  original  design  was  to  have  been  completed  in  two  volumes, 
there  was  still  as  much  to  do  as  had  been  accomplished,  when  his  la- 
bours were  thus  abruptly  terminated.  Of  this  plan  it  had  been  a  lead- 
ing principle,  that  the  historian  was  not  to  confine  himself  to  the  strict 
letter  of  his  subject,  a  chronological  account  of  poets  and  their  writings, 
with  an  estimate  of  their  merits  or  defects.  The  range  of  inquiry  was 
to  be  extended  further,  beyond  its  obvious  or  perhaps  its  lawful  limits ; 
and  the  History  of  English  Poetry  to  be  made  a  channel  for  conveying 
information  on  the  state  of  manners  and  customs  among  our  feudal 
ancestry,  the  literature  and  arts  of  England  and  occasionally  of  Europe 
at  large.  A  life  longer  than  Warton's  might  have  been  unequal  to  the 
execution  of  such  an  extensive  project ;  and  there  will  be  as  many 
opinions  upon  the  necessity  of  thus  enlarging  the  boundaries  of  his 
theme,  as  of  the  manner  in  which  he  has  acquitted  himself  in  the  under- 
taking. For  while  the  general  reader  will  complain  of  the  frequent 
calls  upon  his  patience  for  these  repeated  digressions,  the  scholar  will 
regret,  that  subjects  so  attractive  and  copious  in  themselves  are  only 
passingly  or  superficially  treated  of.  Without  attempting  to  justify  or 
deny  the  force  of  these  objections,  it  may  be  more  to  our  present  pur- 
pose to  inquire,  what  may  have  been  the  author's  views  of  his  duty,  and 
the  manner  in  which  this  was  to  be  accomplished.  In  common  with 
every  one  else  who  has  duly  canvassed  the  subject,  Warton  indisputably 
felt  that  the  poetry  of  a  rude  and  earlier  age,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
can  only  command  a  share  of  later  attention  in  proportion  as  it  has  ex- 
ercised an  influence  over  the  times  producing  it,  or  conveys  a  picture 
of  the  institutions,  modes  of  thinking  or  general  habits  of  the  society 
for  which  it  was  written.  To  have  given  specimens  of  these  produc- 
tions in  all  their  native  nakedness,  would  have  been  to  ensure  for  them 
neglect  from  the  listless  student,  and  misapprehension  from  the  more 
zealous  but  uninformed  inquirer.  A  commentary  was  indispensably 
necessary,  not  a  mere  gloss  upon  words,  but  things,  a  luminous  expo- 
sition of  whatever  had  changed  its  character,  or  grown  obsolete  in  the 
lapse  of  time,  and  which,  as  it  unfolded  to  the  reader's  view  the  for- 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (11) 

gotten  customs  of  the  day,  assisted  him  to  live  and  feel  in  the  spirit  of 
the  poet's  age.  For  such  a  purpose  it  was  requisite  to  enter  largely 
into  the  domestic  and  civil  economy  of  our  ancestors,  their  public  and 
private  sports,  the  entertainments  of  the  baronial  hall,  the  martial  ex- 
ercises of  the  tournament,  the  alternate  solemnities  and  buffooneries 
of  misdirected  devotion,  and  those  coarser  pastimes  and  amusements, 
which  relieve  the  toil  of  industry,  and  give  a  zest  to  the  labours  of  the 
humbler  classes.  The  spirit  and  gallant  enterprize  of  chivalry  was  to  be 
recorded  in  conjunction  with  the  juggler's  dexterity  arid  the  necro- 
mancer's art ;  the  avocations  of  the  cloister,  the  wode-craft  of  the  feudal 
lord,  and  the  services  of  his  retainer,  were  each  to  receive  a  share  of 
the  general  notice ;  and  though  romance  and  minstrelsy  might  be  the 
prominent  characteristics  of  the  age,  the  occult  mysteries  of  alchemy 
were  not  to  be  overlooked.  With  these  were  to  be  ranged,  the  popular 
superstitions  of  a  departed  pagan  faith,  and  the  legendary  marvels  of  a 
new  religion  ;  the  relations  of  the  citizen  to  the  state,  and  of  the  eccle- 
siastic to  the  community ;  the  effects  produced  by  the  important  political 
events  of  five  centuries,  and  their  consequences  on  the  progress  of  civi- 
lization and  national  literature.  In  addition  to  these  varied  topics, 
Warton  considered  it  equally  imperative  upon  him  to  account  for  the 
striking  contrast  existing  between  the  poetry  of  the  ancient  and  modern 
world  ;  and,  in  developing  what  he  has  termed  the  origin  of  romantic 
fiction,  to  discuss  the  causes  which  embellished  or  corrupted  it,  and  to 
explain  those  anomalies  which  appear  to  separate  it  both  from  more  re- 
cent compositions  and  the  classic  remains  of  antiquity.  He  also  knew, 
that  though  poetry  be  not  the  child  of  learning,  it  is  modified  in  every 
age  by  the  current  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  that  as  an  imita- 
tive art,  it  is  always  either  borrowing  from  the  imagery  of  existing 
models,  or  wrestling  with  the  excellences  which  distinguish  them.  It 
was  therefore  not  only  necessary  to  investigate  the  degree  of  classic 
lore  which  still  diffused  its  light  amid  the  gloom  of  the  earlier  ages  of 
barbarism,  but  to  show  the  disguises  and  corruptions  under  which  a  still 
greater  portion  had  recommended  itself  to  popular  notice,  and  courted 
attention  as  the  memorials  of  ancient  and  occasionally  of  national  enter- 
prize.  But  the  middle  age  had  also  produced  a  learning  of  its  own,  and 
the  scholar  and  the  poet  were  so  frequently  united  in  the  same  person- 
age, that  in  this  ill-assorted  match  of  science  "  wedded  to  immortal 
verse,"  the  muse  was  often  made  the  mere  domestic  drudge  of  her  abs- 
truse and  erudite  consort.  Of  this  once  highly- valued  knowledge,  so 
little  has  descended  to  our  own  times,  that  the  modern  reader,  without 


(12)          MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

a  guide  to  instruct  him  in  his  progress,  feels  like  the  traveller  before  the 
walls  of  Persepolis,  who  gazes  on  the  inscriptions  of  a  powerful  but  ex- 
tinguished race,  without  a  key  to  the  character  recording  their  deeds. 
Above  all,  it  was  of  importance  to  notice  the  successive  acquisitions, 
in  the  shape  of  translation  or  imitation,  from  the  more  polished  produc- 
tions of  Greece  and  Rome ;  and  to  mark  the  dawn  of  that  ssra,  which, 
by  directing  the  human  mind  to  the  study  of  classical  antiquity,  was  to 
give  a  new  impetus  to  science  and  literature,  and  by  the  changes  it  in- 
troduced to  effect  a  total  revolution  in  the  laws  which  had  previously 
governed  them.  This  is  clearly  the  outline  of  what  Warton  proposed 
to  himself  as  his  duty  : — of  the  mode  in  which  this  design  has  been  ful- 
filled it  must  be  left  to  others  to  determine.  But  let  it  not  be  hastily 
inferred,  that  when  he  has  been  excursive  upon  some  collateral  topic, 
lie  has  consequently  given  it  an  importance  disproportionate  to  its  real 
bearing  on  his  subject ;  or  that  the  languor  produced  upon  the  reader's 
mind  in  certain  periods  of  these  annals,  is  exclusively  the  author's 
fault.  The  results  attendant  upon  literary,  as  well  as  moral  or  political 
changes,  are  not  always  distinguished  by  that  manifest  equality  to  their 
exciting  cause,  which  strikes  the  sense  on  a  first  recital ;  and  the  poetry 
of  so  many  centuries,  like  the  temper  of  the  times,  or  the  constitution 
of  the  seasons,  must  necessarily  exhibit  the  same  fitful  vicissitudes  of 
character,  the  same  alternations  of  fertility  and  unproductiveness.  Of 
the  materials  transmitted  to  his  hands,  whether  marked  by  excellence, 
or  proverbial  for  insipidity,  it  is  still  the  historian's  duty  to  record  their 
existence  ;  and  though  many  of  these  may  contain  no  single  ray  of  genius 
to  redeem  their  numerous  absurdities,  they  yet  may  throw  considerable 
lighten  the  state  of  public  opinion,  and  the  ruling  tastes  or  customs  of 
their  age.  The  most  popular  poetry  of  its  day  is  well  known  not  always 
to  be  the  most  meritorious,  however  safely  we  may  trust  to  the  equity 
of  time  for  repairing  this  injustice.  The  only  question  therefore  will 
be,  as  to  the  degree  in  which  such  compositions  ought  to  be  commu- 
nicated. In  the  earlier  periods,  where  any  memorials  are  exceedingly 
scanty,  and  those  generally  varying  in  their  prevailing  character,  a 
greater  latitude  will  be  granted  than  in  those  where  the  invention  of 
printing  equally  contributed  to  multiply  the  materials,  and  render  the 
documents  more  generally  accessible.  Of  Warton's  consideration  in 
this  respect,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  remark,  that  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury (when  every  man  seems  to  have  been  visited  with  a  call  to  court 
the  muse,  and  had  an  opportunity  of  giving  publicity  to  his  concep- 
tions,) he  has  frequently  consigned  a  herd  of  spiritless  versifiers  to  the 


Mil.   PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (13) 

"narrow  durance"  of  a  note.     There  is  another  point  upon  which  it 
may  be  more  difficult  to  rescue  his  fame  at  the  bar  of  outraged  cri- 
ticism :   but  as  this  seems  to  have  been  a  crime  of  malice  prepense, 
rather  than  inadvertency,  his  name  must  be  left  to  sanctify  the  deed. 
The   want  of  order   in  the  arrangement  of  his  subject  is  a  charge 
which  has  been  repeated  both  by  friends  and  foes.     A  part  of  this 
Warton  seems  to  have  intentionally  adopted.     In  a  letter  to  Gray, 
tracing  the  outline  of  his  forthcoming  history,  he  specifically  states,  "  I 
should  have  said  before,  that  although  I  proceed  chronologically,  yet  I 
often  stand  still  to  give  some  general  view,  as  perhaps  of  a  particular 
species  of  poetry ,  &c.,  and  even  to  anticipate  sometimes  for  this  purpose. 
These  views  often  form  one  section ;  yet  are  interwoven  into  the  tenor 
of  the  work  without  interrupting  my  historical  series4."     He  possibly 
thought,  that  as  it  is  of  the  essence  of  romantic  poetry  "  to  delight  in 
an  intimate  commingling  of  extremes,  in  the  blending  and  contrasting 
of  the  most  opposing  elements5,"  it  was  equally  so  of  its  historian  to 
deviate  from  established  rules;  and  may  have  been  so  smitten  with  his 
ancient  masters  as  to  conceive  some  of  their  distinguishing  character- 
istics not  unworthy  of  occasional  imitation.     But  when  it  is  said  that 
his  materials  are  ill  digested,  that  we  are  frequently  called  upon  in  a 
later  century  to  travel  back  to  one  preceding,  that  we  are  then  treated 
.  with  specimens  which  ought  to  have  found  a  place  in  an  earlier  chap- 
ter6, the  zeal  of  criticism  is  made  to  exceed  the  limits  either  of  justice 
or  candour.     It  is  wholly  overlooked,  that  Warton  was  the  first  adven- 
turer in  the  extensive  region  through  which  he  journeyed,  and  into 
which  the  usual  pioneers  of  literature  had  scarcely  penetrated.    Beyond 
his  own  persevering  industry,  he  had  little  to  assist  his  researches ;  his 
materials  lay  widely  scattered,  and  not  always  very  accessible;   new 
matter  was  constantly  arising,  as  chance  or  the  spirit  of  inquiry  evolved 
the  contents  of  our  public  libraries7,  and  he  had  the  double  duty  to 
perform  of  discovering  his  subject,  and  writing  its  history. 

But  these  objections,  whether  founded  in  error,  or  justified  by  facts, 

4  Chalmers's  Biog.  Diet.  art.  Warton.  he  published  his  first  volume.     It  is  well 

5  Schlegel  on  Dramatic  Literature,  vol.        known,  that  they  were  accidentally  dis- 
iii.  p.  14.  covered  by  Mr.  Tyrwhitt,  while  engaged 

«  See  Monthly  Review  for  1793. — Dr.  in  searching  for   MSS.   of  Chaucer.     A 

Mant,  who  has  refuted   some   of  these  similar  accident  led  to  the  discovery  of 

charges,  states  them  to  have  been  copied  the  alliterative  romance  on  the  adventures 

(without  acknowledgement)  by  Dr.  An-  of  Sir  Gawain,  quoted  vol.  i.  p.   100,  by 

derson,  in  his  Life  of  Warton.     May  we  the  writer  of  this  note  ;  and  which  there  is 

not  rather  infer,  that  Dr.  Anderson  felt  every  reason  to  believe  must  have  passed 

no  obligation  to  acknowledge  a  quotation  through  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ritson.   [Lately 

from  himself?  edited  by  Sir  F.  Madden  for  the  Banna- 

1  The  poems  of  Minot  could  only  have  tyne  Club. — R.T.] 
been  known  to  Warton  by  report,  when 


(14)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

have  all  been  urged  with  temper,  and  are  distinguished  by  that  con- 
sideration for  Warton's  personal  character,  which  every  gentleman  is 
entitled  to,  and  every  liberal  scholar  prides  himself  upon  observing. 
In  those  now  to  be  noticed,  a  widely  different  spirit  was  manifested ; 
and  one  so  opposite  to  every  principle  of  decent  or  manly  feeling,  that 
it  might  be  safely  left  to  the  contempt  which  Warton  in  the  proud 
conviction  of  his  own  honour  and  integrity  bestowed  upon  it,  were  it 
not  interwoven  with  matter  requiring  attention  on  other  accounts,  of 
which  occasional  notice  has  been  taken  in  the  body  of  the  work,  and 
which  must  again  be  the  subject  of  discussion.  The  reader  of  early 
English  poetry  will  be  at  no  loss  to  perceive,  that  the  objections  and 
conduct  here  spoken  of,  are  those  of  the  late  Mr.  Ritson.  To  be 
zealous  in  detecting  error,  exposing  folly,  or  checking  the  presump- 
tuous arrogance  of  any  literary  despot,  is  an  obligation  which  the 
commonwealth  of  learning  imposes  upon  all  her  sons.  The  tone  of 
the  reproof,  and  the  character  of  the  offence,  are  all  that  will  be  de- 
manded of  the  ministrant  in  his  office;  and  so  great  is  the  latitude 
allowed,  that  he  who  will  condescend  "  to  break  a  butterfly  upon  a 
wheel,"  secundum  artem,  runs  no  greater  risk,  than  a  gentle  censure 
for  the  eccentricity  of  his  taste ;  and  even  acrimony,  where  great  pro- 
vocation has  been  given,  may  pass  for  just  and  honest  indignation. 
But  Mr.  Ritson,  in  the  execution  of  his  censorial  duty,  indulged  in  a 
vein  of  low  scurrility  and  gross  personalities,  wholly  without  example 
since  the  days  of  Curll.  He  not  only  combated  Warton's  opinions, 
and  corrected  his  errors,  questioned  his  scholarship,  and  denied  his 
ability ;  but  impugned  his  veracity,  attacked  his  morality,  and  openly 
accused  him  of  all  those  mean  and  despicable  arts,  by  which  a  needy 
scribbler  attempts  to  rifle  the  public  purse.  There  would  have  been 
little  in  this  beyond  the  common  operation  of  a  nine  days'  wonder,  and 
the  ferment  of  the  hour  which  every  deviation  from  established  prac- 
tice is  sure  to  excite,  had  the  charges  been  limited  to  a  single  publi- 
cation. But  for  a  period  of  twenty  years,  both  while  the  object  of 
them  was  living,  and  after  his  decease,  they  were  repeated  in  every 
variety  of  form,  always  from  the  same  amiable  motives,  though  occa- 
sionally in  a  subdued  style  of  animosity.  The  result  of  this  extraor- 
dinary course  was  the  establishment  of  Mr.  Ritson  as  the  critical  lord 
paramount  in  the  realms  of  romance  and  minstrelsy ;  his  fiat  became 
the  ruling  law,  and  no  audacious  hand  was  to  raise  the  veil  which 
covered  the  infirmities  of  the  suzerain.  For  though  he  has  magnified 
those  venial  errors,  which,  as  the  human  mind  is  constituted,  are  almost 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (15) 

inseparable  from  such  an  undertaking  as  Warton's,  into  offences  which 
only  meet  their  parallel  in  the  criminal  nomenclature  of  the  country — 
into  fraud,  imposture  and  forgery — yet  his  own  labours  in  the  same 
department  of  literature,  his  "  Ancient  Songs,"  and  "  Metrical  Ro- 
mances," though  scarcely  equalling  a  tithe  of  the  "  History  of  English 
Poetry,"  are  marked  by  the  same  kinds  of  inaccuracy  as  those  he  has 
so  coarsely  branded.  Indeed  on  such  a  subject  it  would  have  been  as 
marvellous  as  unaccountable,  if  they  had  not : — but  this  is  foreign  to 
our  purpose.  It  will  rather  be  asked,  whether  the  historian  of  English 
poetry  may  not  have  provoked  this  treatment  by  his  own  intemperance 
of  rebuke,  or  want  of  charity  towards  others  ;  and  whether  the  vehe- 
mence of  Mr.  Ritson's  indignation,  and  the  virulence  of  his  invective, 
may  not  have  had  a  more  commensurate  motive,  than  the  misquotation 
of  a  date,  a  name  or  a  text,  or  the  fallacy  of  a  mere  speculative  opinion. 
With  the  exception  of  one  misdemeanor  hereafter  to  be  mentioned, — 
a  sin  in  itself  of  pardonable  levity,  if  it  must  be  so  stigmatized, — War- 
ton's  conduct  towards  his  fellow-labourers  in  the  mine  of  antiquarian 
research,  was  distinguished  by  a  tone  of  courtesy  and  complimentary 
address,  which  the  sterner  principles  of  the  present  day  have  rejected 
as  bordering  too  closely  upon  adulation.  Of  this  therefore  as  a  gene- 
ral charge  he  must  be  acquitted,  and  equally  so  of  any  intention  to 
wound  the  feelings  or  undermine  the  reputation  of  Mr.  Ritson,  as  that 
gentleman's  first  publication  connected  with  early  English  literature8, 
was  his  "  Observations"  on  Warton's  history9.  The  causes  of  this  ex- 

8  A  Collection  of  Garlands  (which  can-  the  vulgar  ballad  of  Old  Simon  the  King, 
not  now  be  referred  to)  may  bear  an  earlier  with  a  strict  injunction  not  to  show  it  to 
date.  But  this  was  a  local  publication,  this  editour  [Mr.  Ritson],  which  however 
not  likely  to  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  he  immediately  brought  him  !"  Yet  these 
a  country  town.  The  "  Observations  "  were  honourable  men  ! 
produced  a  controversy  in  the  Gentleman's  9  In  this  extraordinary  pamphlet,  Mr. 
Magazine  for  1782-83.  The  first  letter  Ritson  made  thirty-eight  remarks  upon 
on  the  subject,  signed  Verax,  was  in  all  the  multifarious  matter  contained  in  War- 
probability  written  by  Warton.  (See  his  ton's  first  volume  (extending  to  p.  224, 
letter  to  Mr.  Nichols  of  the  same  date,  in-  vol.  ii.  of  the  present  edition).  Nine  of 
closing  a  communication  to  that  Miscel-  these  consist  of  those  personalities  already 
lany,  and  requesting  a  concealment  of  the  spoken  of,  or  are  mere  objections  to  the 
writer's  name.)  Those  signed  A.  S.  were  conduct  and  order  of  the  work.  Thirteen 
by  the  late  Mr.  Russell  of  Sydney  College.  are  devoted  to  glossarial  corrections,  among 
The  letter  signed  Vindex  contains  inter-  which  are  the  candid  specimen  recorded 
nal  evidence  of  Mr.  Ritson's  hand,  who  vol.  ii.  p.  5,  note  °,  and  two  literal  inter- 
may  also  have  drawn  up  the  epitome  of  pretations,  instead  of  two  very  appropriate 
his  pamphlet  (1783,  p.  281).  But  who  paraphrases.  The  remaining  fifteen,  or 
was  Castigator  ?  (1782,  p.  571).  Was  it  rather  the  subjects  they  refer  to,  it  may  be 
the  same  worthy  personage  of  whom  his  worth  while  to  analyse.  One  of  these  had 
friend  records  the  following  creditable  been  already  corrected  by  Warton  in  the 
transaction  ?  "  This  venerabilissimus  epi-  Emendations  appended  to  the  second  vo- 
scopus  [the  bishop  of  Dromore],  upon  a  lume, — a  circumstance  which  Mr.  Ritson 
different  occasion,  gave  Mister  Steevens  a  either  knew,  or  ought  to  have  known,  as 
:r;inscM-ipt  from  the  above  [folio]  MS.,  of  he  carefully  picked  his  way  through  this 


(16)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

traordinary  persecution  must  hence  be  sought  for  in  other  directions. 
Among  these  it  is  not  difficult  to  detect  the  sullen  rancour  of  a  jealous 
and  self-appointed  rival,  the  workings  of  an  inferior  mind,  aiming  at 
notoriety  by  an  insolent  triumph  over  talents,  which  it  at  once  envies 
and  despairs  of  equalling.  The  "  taste  and  elegance "  with  which 
Warton  had  embellished  his  narrative,  became  a  source  of  chagrin  to  a 
man  who  sought  distinction  by  a  style  of  orthography,  resembling  any 
thing  but  the  language  of  his  native  country  ;  and  hence  the  sarcastic 
tone  in  which  these  graceful  advantages  are  complimented,  while  they 
are  carefully  contrasted  with  the  historian's  "  habitual  blunders."  War- 
ton's  learning  was  also  of  no  common  order ;  and  his  reading  of  that 
extensive  kind  which  enabled  him  to  illustrate  his  theme  from  the 
varied  circle  of  ancient  and  modern  literature  ;  and  here  again  it  be- 
came matter  of  exultation  to  discover,  that  his  knowledge  of  Italian 
had  once  been  but  limited,  or  to  hint  that  his  acquaintance  with  Hickes's 
Thesaurus  had  been  assisted  by  a  translation  of  "  Wotton's  Conspec- 
tus." But  in  the  gaiety  of  his  heart,  Warton  had  smiled  at  the  solemn 
dullness  of  Hearne,  the  idol  of  Mr.Ritson's  affections;  he  had  descanted 
on  the  laboured  triflings  of  this  diligent  antiquary  in  a  style  of  success- 
ful yet  playful  irony,  and  chose  to  entertain  no  very  exalted  opinion  of 
the  patient  drudgery  by  which  "  Thomas"  was  to  recommend  himself 
to  posterity.  This  was  an  unpardonable  offence,  and  little  short  of  a 
declaration  of  hostilities  by  anticipation :  for  though  genius  will  ap- 
prove the  well-directed  satire  which  exposes  its  own  peculiar  foibles, 
while  portraying  the  follies  of  a  contemporary,  yet  moody  mediocrity 
never  forgives  the  bolt  which,  aimed  at  another's  eccentricities,  inad- 
vertently grazes  its  own  inviolable  person.  In  addition,  the  historian 
of  English  poetry  was  a  Christian,  a  churchman,  and  a  distinguished 
member  of  his  college ;  all  and  either  of  them  sufficient  to  condemn 

additional  matter,  for  the  purpose  of  sup-  Mr.  Ritson  has  convicted  the  historian  of 
plying  two  corrections,  one  of  which  he  "ignorance;"  though  two  of  these  refer 
afterwards  recalled,  and  in  furnishing  the  to  matters  that  are  rather  probable  than 
other  committed  an  error  equally  great  certain:  but  in  four  of  the  remaining  five, 
with  that  he  amended.  A  second  corn-  he  has  offered  objections  or  corrections  on 
prises  the  very  "  egregious  blunder"  of  subjects,  where  the  charges  of  error  only 
calling  a  piece  of  political  rhyme  a  "  bal-  rebound  upon  himself.  The  fifteenth  re- 
lad,"  when  it  is  not  written  in  "  your  fers  to  a  subject  where  Warton  candidly 
ballad-metre."  In  a  third,  Warton  has  acknowledges  his  inability  to  gratify  the 
chosen  to  make  a  direct  inference,  where  reader's  curiosity.  Thus,  with  the  excep- 
the  affair  admits  neither  of  absolute  proof  tion  of  the  glossarial  inaccuracies,  of  which 
nor  disproof.  And  a  fourth  offers  an  opi-  more  will  be  said  hereafter,  Mr.  Ritson 
nion,  but  a  mere  and  guarded  opinion,  as  can  only  be  admitted  to  have  corrected 
to  the  age  of  a  poem,  in  which  there  is  seven  mistakes,  or  more  rigidly  speaking 
every  reason  to  believe  he  was  correct.  five,  in  a  4to  volume  of  468  pages,  and  in 
(See  Mr.  Park's  note,  vol.  ii.  p.  104  c.)  In  the  execution  of  which  he  has  himself  be- 
scven  examples  it  may  be  allowed  that  come  chargeable  with/owr. 


;wi.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

him  in  the  eyes  of  a  man  whose  creed  was  confined  to  a  rigid  absti- 
nence from  animal  food  ;  with  whom  a  clergyman  was  but  another 
name  for  a  "  lazy,  stinking  and  ignorant  monk  ;"  and  who  seems  never 
to  have  been  better  pleased,  than  when  retailing  the  coarse  and  point- 
less ribaldry  of  the  fifteenth  century  against  the  honours  and  dignities 
of  an  University.  To  this  full  measure  of  indiscretion,  Warton  had 
superadded  a  warm  admiration  of  the  powers  and  learning  of  Warbur- 
ton ;  and  had  even  adopted,  and  considerably  amplified,  the  fanciful 
theory  of  this  eminent  prelate  on  the  origin  of  romantic  fiction.  This 
again  was  siding  with  the  enemy.  The  bishop  of  Gloucester  had  con- 
ducted a  merciless  prosecution  against  a  sect  of  which  Mr.Ritson  made 
no  scruple  to  acknowledge  himself  a  follower,  the  "  Kpicureorum  factio, 
sequo  semper  errore  a  vero  devia  et  ilia  existimans  ridenda  quse  ne- 
sciat 10,"  and  unhappily  for  his  fame  and  the  cause  he  advocated,  in  the 
possession  of  a  giant's  strength  had  too  frequently  exercised  it  with  the 
cruelty  of  a  giant.  The  tyranny  of  the  master  was  therefore  to  be 
avenged  on  the  head  of  his  otherwise  too  guilty  pupil ;  and  the  double 
end  to  be  gained,  of  inflicting  an  insidious  wound  upon  a  foe  too  pow- 
erful to  be  encountered  in  the  open  field11,  and  crushing  an  unresisting 
and  applauded  rival.  But  enough  of  this  revolting  subject,  of  which 
justice  to  the  memory  of  an  amiable,  unoffending  and  elegant  scholar 
required  that  some  notice  should  be  taken,  and  which  no  language  can 
be  too  strong  to  mark  with  deserved  reprobation. 

It  is  now  time  to  turn  to  those  objections  of  Mr.  Ritson,  which  em- 
brace the  literary  defects  of  the  History  of  English  Poetry. 

There  can  be  no  intention  of  dragging  the  reader  through  the  minute 
and  tedious  details,  with  which  this  branch  of  the  controversy  is  bur- 
thened.  Wherever  the  better  information  of  Mr.  Ritson  has  been 
available,  (at  least  in  all  cases  where  his  reasoning  has  produced  con- 
viction on  the  editor's  mind,)  his  corrections  will  be  found  submitted  in 
their  appropriate  places.  But  as  the  more  important  of  these  were  di- 

10  Macrobins  Som.  Scipionis,  in  init.  Round    Table."  Ib.  p.  46.      "  The  poet^| 

11  It  is  ludicrous  in  the  extreme  to  ob-  of  Provence  borrowed  their  art  from  the 
serve  a  man  of  Mr.  Ritson's  attainments,  French  or  Normans."  Ib.  p.  50.     "There 
stating  Warburton's  "  distinguishing  cha-  is  but  one  single  romance  existing  that  can 
racteristic"  to  be  "a  want  of  knowledge."  be    attributed    to    a   troubadour."    p.  51. 
The  "habitual  mendacity"  of  the  same  "  Before  the  first  crusade,  or  for  more  than 
learned  prelate  finds  its  parallel,  if  mere  half  a  century  after  it,  there  was  not  one 
errors  of  opinion  must  receive  thij  bland  single    romance   on   the   achievements  of 
distinction,  in  such  hasty  assertions  as  the  Arthur  or    his  knights."    Ib.  p.  52.     To 
following :  "  The  real  chanson  de  Roland  enumerate  all    the   unfounded   assertions 
was  unquestionably  a  metrical  romance  of  contained  in  the  section  immediately  fol- 
great  length."    Introd.  to  Met.  Rom.  p.  37.  lowing  "the  Saxon  and  English  language" 
"  The  Armoricans  never  possessed  a  single  would  be  to  write  a  small  treatise. 

story  on  the  subject  of  Arthur   and    the 

VOL.  I.  1) 


(18)        MR.  PRICE'S  PREPACK  TO  THE  EDITION  OF 

rected  against  opinions  rather  than  facts,  and  consequently,  whether 
correct  or  inadmissible,  could  not  always  be  inserted  or  combated  in 
the  body  of  the  work,  without  deranging  Warton's  text  or  causing  too 
frequent  repetitions,  they  have  been  reserved  for  consideration  here,/ 
and  may  be  classed  under  the  general  heads  of: — objections  to  the 
Dissertation  on  the  Origin  of  Romantic  Fiction,  the  credibility  of 
Geoffrey  of  Monmouth's  history,  the  character  of  Warton's  specimens, 
and  his  glossarial  illustrations  of  them. 

If  the  object  of  this  examination  were  a  mere  defence  of  Warton's 
opinions,  by  exposing  the  false  positions  assumed  by  his  adversary,  it 
would  be  an  easy  task  to  show  that  Mr.  Ritson's  sweeping  assertions 
with  regard  to  the  general  relations  between  the  Moors  in  Spain  and 
their  conquered  subjects,  or  even  their  Christian  foes,  are  not  borne 
out  by  the  facts.  The  inferences  he  has  drawn  would  consequently 
fall  of  themselves  ;  and  it  might  be  added,  that  the  discoveries  of  our 
own  times  have  sufficiently  proved  the  possibility  of  this  decried  system 
being  upheld,  if  the  general  principle  it  assumes,  and  which  has  been 
applied  by  Mr.  Ritson  to  the  progress  of  Romance  in  England,  Italy 
and  Germany,  were  otherwise  allowable.  The  romance  of  Antar  might 
be  offered  as  a  sufficient  type  for  all  subsequent  tales  of  chivalry  ;  and 
the  story  of  the  Sid  Batallah  adduced  as  a  proof,  that  the  Spaniards 
could  endow  a  national  hero  with  a  title  borrowed  from  the  favourite 
champion  of  their  foes 12.  But  this  would  be  creating  a  phantom  for 
the  purpose  of  foiling  an  over-zealous  adversary.  The  ends  of  truth 
will  be  better  advanced  by  examining  the  causes  which  led  to  Warton's 
adoption  of  this  dazzling  theory,  and  an  estimate  of  its  application  to 
the  subject  it  was  intended  to  develope. 

The  light  sketch  given  by  Warburton  of  the  origin  of  romance  in 
Spain,  traced  the  whole  stream  of  chivalrous  fiction  to  two  sources, — 
the  chronicle  of  the  Pseudo-Turpin  relative  to  Charlemagne  and  his 
peers,  and  the  British  history  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth.  In  this  system 
P  there  were  many  points  totally  irreconcileable  with  the  state  of  the 
subject,  both  before  and  after  the  periods  at  which  these  productions 
obtained  a  circulation ;  and  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  account  for 

12  Of  course  this  is  only  stated  hypothe-  among  the  Saracens.      The  Moorish  Sid 

tically.     The  reason  assigned  in  the  Chro-  died  in  the  campaign  against  Constanti- 

nicle  for  the  appellation  is  indisputably  a  nople,    anno   738.     See    Jahrbiicher    der 

fable;  since  every  tributary  Moor  would  Litteratur,  No.  14.   The  German  romances 

have  used  the  same  address,  Sid,  Master,  on    the  story  of  the  'Saint  Graal  (to  be 

to  his  Spanish  liege  lord.     The  Arabian  noticed  hereafter)  are    derived   from  an 

romance  is  noticed  by  Warton,  Diss.  i.  p.  Arabic  source,  through  the  medium  of  the 

xi. ;  and  Mr.  von  Hammer  has  recently  Provei^al. 
borne    evidence   to  its   great   popularity 


MR.   PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (19) 

what  might  be  termed,  the  anticipations  of  their  narratives,  and  even 
their  omissions,  by  the  discovery  of  a  more  prolific  fountain-head.  A 
large  portion  of  the  marvellous  imagery  contained  in  the  early  poetry 
of  Europe,  was  found  to  have  its  counterpart  in  the  creations  of  Ori- 
ental genius.  To  account  for  this,  by  a  direct  communication  between 
the  East  and  West,  was  the  problem  that  Warton  proposed  to  solve  ; 
and  as  the  asra  of  the  first  crusade  was  too  recent  to  meet  the  diffi- 
culties already  alluded  to,  and  Warburton  had  been  supposed  to  prove 
that  the  first  romances  were  of  Spanish  origin,  the  subject  seemed  to 
connect  itself  in  a  very  natural  order  with  the  Moorish  conquest  of 
that  country.  A  more  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  general  litera- 
ture of  the  dark  and  middle  ages  has  fully  proved  the  fallacy  of  this 
assumption,  which  could  only  have  been  entertained  in  the  infancy  of 
the  study.  But  that  such  an  hypothesis  should  have  been  conceived 
in  this  stage  of  the  subject,  will  be  no  impeachment  of  Warton's  gene- 
ral judgement,  when  it  is  recollected,  that  his  contemporary  Dr.  Percy 
had  adopted  a  system  equally  exclusive ;  and  that  Dr.  Ley  den,  at  a 
later  period,  advocated  a  third  upon  the  same  contracted  principles. 
The  analogous  conduct  of  such  men,  though  not  wholly  exculpatory, 
is  at  least  a  proof  that  the  causes  for  this  procedure  rested  on  no  slight 
foundation.  There  is  however  one  leading  error  in  Warton's  Disser- 
tation, an  error  it  only  shares  in  common  with  the  theories  opposed  to 
it,  arising  from  too  confined  a  view  of  the  natural  limits  of  his  subject, 
and  too  general  an  application  of  the  system  in  detail.  The  conse- 
quence has  been  an  unavoidable  confusion  between  the  essence  and 
the  costume  of  romantic  fiction,  and  the  exclusive  appropriation  of  the 
common  property  of  mankind  to  a  particular  age  and  people.  Indeed, 
the  learned  projectors  of  these  several  systems  no  sooner  begin  to  dis- 
close the  details  of  their  schemes,  than  we  instantly  recognise  the  ele- 
ments of  national  fable  in  every  country  of  whose  literature  we  possess 
a  knowledge  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  professed  intention  of  conduct- 
ing an  examination  into  the  origin  of  romantic  fiction,  their  disquisi- 
tions silently  merge  into  the  origin  of  fiction  in  general.  To  such  an 
inquiry  it  is  evident  there  can  be  no  chronological  limits.  The  fictions 
of  one  period,  with  some  modification,  are  found  to  have  had  an  exist- 
ence in  that  immediately  preceding ;  and  the  further  we  pursue  the 
investigation,  the  more  we  become  convinced  of  a  regular  transmis- 
sion through  the  succession  of  time,  or  that  many  seeming  resem- 
blances and  imitations  are  sprung  from  common  organic  causes,  till  at 
length  the  .question  escapes  us  as  a  matter  of  historical  research,  and 

1)2 


(20)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

resolves  itself  into  one  purely  psychological.  It  is  even  difficult  to  con- 
ceive any  period  of  human  existence,  where  the  disposition  to  in- 
dulge in  these  illusions  of  fancy  has  not  been  a  leading  characteristic 
of  the  mind.  The  infancy  of  society,  as  the  first  in  the  order  of 
time,  also  affords  some  circumstances  highly  favourable  to  the  develop- 
ment of  this  faculty.  In  such  a  state,  the  secret  and  invisible  bands 
which  connect  the  human  race  with  the  animal  and  vegetable  creation, 
are  either  felt  more  forcibly  than  in  an  age  of  conventional  refinement, 
or  are  more  frequently  presented  to  the  imagination.  Man  regards  him- 
self then  but  as  the  first  link  in  the  chain  of  animate  and  inanimate  na- 
ture, as  the  associate  and  fellow  of  all  that  exists  around  him,  rather 
than  as  a  separate  being  of  a  distinct  and  superior  order.  His  atten- 
tion is  arrested  by  the  lifeless  or  breathing  objects  of  his  daily  inter- 
course, not  merely  as  they  contribute  to  his  numerous  wants  and  plea- 
sures, but  as  they  exhibit  any  affinity  or  more  remote  analogy  with  the 
mysterious  properties  of  his  being.  Subject  to  the  same  laws  of  life 
and  death,  of  procreation  and  decay,  or  partially  endowed  with  the 
same  passions,  sympathies  and  propensities,  the  speechless  companion 
of  his  toil  and  amusement,  the  forest  in  which  he  resides,  or  the  plant 
which  flourishes  beneath  his  care,  are  to  him  but  varied  types  of 
his  own  intricate  organization.  In  the  exterior  form  of  these,  the  faith- 
ful record  of  his  senses  forbids  any  material  change  ;  but  the  internal 
structure,  which  is  wholly  removed  from  the  view,  may  be  fashioned 
and  constituted  at  pleasure.  The  qualities  which  this  is  to  assume, 
need  only  be  defined  by  the  measure  of  the  will;  and  hence  we  see  that, 
not  content  with  granting  to  each  separate  class  a  mere  generic  vitality 
suitable  to  its  kind,  he  bestows  on  all  the  same  mingled  frame  of  matter 
and  mind,  which  gives  the  chief  value  to  his  own  existence.  Nor  is 
this  playful  exercise  of  the  inventive  faculties  confined  to  the  sentient 
objects  of  the  creation  ;  it  is  extended  over  the  whole  material  and  im- 
material world,  and  applied  to  every  thing  of  which  the  mind  has  either 
a  perfect  or  only  a  faint  conception.  The  physical  phaenomena  of  na- 
ture, the  tenets  of  a  public  creed,  the  speculations  of  ancient  wisdom13, 
or  the  exposition  of  a  moral  duty,  are  alike  subjected  to  the  same  fan- 

18  See  the  celebrated  passage  in  the  cause  of  existence  as  well  as  destruction 
Iliad  viii.  17.  relative  to  the  golden  chain  to  all;  than  me  nothing  higher  is  found, 
of  Jupiter,  with  Heyne's  account  of  the  and  nothing  without  me.  O  friend !  this 
interpretations  bestowed  upon  it  in  the  ALL  hangs  united  on  me  like  the  pearls 
ancient  world.  Mr.  F.  Schlegel  has  given  that  are  strung  on  a  fillet."  Ueber  die 
a  parallel  passage  from  the  Bhagavatgita,  Sprache  und  Weisheit  der  Indier,  p.  303. 
where  Vishnu  illustrates  the  extent  of  his  See  also  II.  i.  422.  with  the  ancient  expo- 
power  by  a  similar  image  : — "  /  am  the  sitors. 


MR.  PKICE's  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF   1824.          (21) 

tastic  impress,  and  made  to  assume  those  forms  which,  by  an  approxi- 
mation to  the  animal  contour,  assist  the  understanding  in  seizing  their 
peculiar  qualities,  and  the  memory  in  retaining  them.     It  is  this  per- 
sonification of  the  blind  efforts  of  nature,  which  has  given  rise  to  those 
wild  and  distorted  elements  that  abound  in  all  profane  cosmogonies ; 
where,  by  a  singular  combination  of  the  awful  and  sublime  with  the 
monstrous  and  revolting,  an  attempt  is  made  to  render  intelligible  those 
infinite  energies  of  matter  which  surpass  the  limits  of  human  compre- 
hension.    The  same  law  is  evident  in  the  obscure  embodiment  of  a 
moral  axiom,  or  an  abstract  quality,  as  shadowed  forth  in  the  enigma14; 
in  all  that  condensed  imagery  which  has  found  its  way  into  the  pro- 
verbial expressions  of  nations  ;  and  some  of  the  most  surprising  in- 
cidents in  romantic  narrative  have  no  better  foundation  than  the  con- 
version of  a  name  into  an  event15.     But  of  this  universal  tendency  to 
confer  a  spiritual  existence  upon  the  lifeless  productions  of  nature,  and 
to  give  a  corporeal  form  and  expression  to  the  properties  and  concep- 
tions of  matter  and  mind,  it  would  be  superfluous  to  offer  any  laboured 
proof.     The  whole  religious  system  of  the  ancient  world,  with  one  ex- 
ception, may  be  adduced  as  an  exemplification  of  the  fact ;  and  even 
the  sacred  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  contain  occasional  indications 
of  a  similar  practice 16. 

The  operation  of  this  principle,  while  it  is  sufficient  to  account  for 
all  the  marvels  of  popular  fiction,  will  also  lead  to  the  establishment  of 
two  conclusions  :  first,  that  wherever  there  may  have  been  any  resem- 
blance in  the  objects  calling  it  forth,  the  imagery  produced  will  exhibit 
a  corresponding  similarity  of  character  ;  and  secondly,  that  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  symbols  thus  brought  into  circulation,  like  the  primitive 
roots  in  language,  will  be  found  recurring  in  almost  every  country,  as 
a  common  property  inherited  by  descent.  In  illustration  of  these  con- 

14  Considerable  collections  on  this  sub-  doubt,  that  we  are  indebted  to  the  name 
ject  are  to  be  found  in  the  preface  to  Re-  of  Cypselus  (a  chest)  for  the  marvellous 
senius's  edition  of  the  Edda.     The  whole  story  related  by  Herodotus,  v.  92.     See 
argument  is   very  elaborately   discussed  also  the  fable   relative    to    Priam    (from 
in  Mr.  Creuzer's  learned  work,  Symbolik  TrpiavOai,  Apollodorus  Biblioth.  ii.  6.  4.) 
und   Mythologie   der   Alten    Volker    be-  and  Ajax  (from  aieros,  Schol.  in   Find, 
senders    der    Griechen,    vol.    i.    Leipsig  1st.  5-'.  76.).    To  the  same  cause,  perhaps, 
1810.  we  may  also  attribute  the  tale  of  Pelops 

15  The  name  of  Coeur  de  Lion  has  fur-  and  his  ivory  shoulder.     The  concurrent 
nished  king  Richard's  romance  with  the  practice  of  the  minstrel  poets  will  show 
well-known  incident  of  his  combat  with  a  these  recitals  not  to  have  been  mere  fancies 
lion.    A  still  more  remarkable  illustration  of  the  grammarians. 

of  the  same  practice  is  to  be  found  in  the  16  See  the  fable  of  the  trees,  Judges  ix. 

German  romance,  Heinrich  der  Lowe,  or  8. ;  of  the  thistle  and  the  cedar,  2  Chro- 

Henry    the    Lion.      See    Gorres    Volks-  nicies  xxv.  18. 
bucher,  p.  91.     There   can   be  as  little 


(22)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 


elusions,  we  need  only  refer  to  those  local  traditions  of  distant  coun- 
tries which  profess  to  record  the  history  of  some  unusual  appearance 
on  the  surface  of  the  soil17,  the  peculiar  character  of  a  vegetable  pro- 
duction, or  the  structure  of  a  public  monument.  Whether  in  ancient 
Greece  or  modern  Europe,  every  object  of  this  kind  that  meets  the 
traveller's  eye  is  found  to  have  a  chronicle  of  its  origin  ;  the  causes 
assigned  for  its  existence,  or  its  natural  and  artificial  attributes,  wear  a 
common  mythic  garb ;  while  in  either  country  these  narratives  are  so 
strikingly  allied  to  the  fictions  of  popular  song,  that  it  is  sometimes  dif- 
ficult to  decide  whether  the  muse  lias  supplied  their  substance,  or  been 
herself  indebted  to  them  for  some  of  her  most  attractive  incidents  Ks.  A 
mound  of  earth  becomes  the  sepulchre  of  a  favourite  heroiy ;  a  pile  of 
enormous  stones,  the  easy  labour  of  some  gigantic  craftsmen20 ;  a  single 
one,  the  stupendous  nstrument  of  daily  exercise  to  a  fabulous  king Q1 ; 


*7  At  the  entrance  of  a  cave  near  the 
plain  of  Marathon,  Pausanias  saw  a  num- 
ber of  loose  stones,  which  at  a  distance 
resembled  goats.  The  country-people 
called  them  Pan's  Flock.  (Attica,  26.) 
A  similar  group  on  Marlborough  Down  is 
still  called  the  Gray  Wethers.  A  tuft  of 
cypresses  near  Psophis,  in  Arcadia,  was 
called  the  Virgins.  (Arcad.  c.  24.)  On  the 
downs  between  Wadebridge  and  St.  Co- 
lumb,  there  is  a  line  of  stones  called  the 
Nine  Maids.  Borlase  Ant.  of  Corn.  p.  159. 
The  Glastonbury  thorn,  which  budded  on 
Christmas  day,  was  a  dry  hawthorn  staff 
miraculously  planted  by  St.  Joseph.  Col- 
linson's  Somersetshire,  ii.  p.  265.  This 
is  a  common  miracle  in  the  history  of  the 
Dionysic  thyrsus.  A  myrtle  at  Trcezene, 
whose  leaves  were  full  of  holes,  was  said 
to  have  been  thus  perforated  by  Phaedra 
in  her  moments  of  despair.  (Paus.  i.  22. 
See  also  ii.  28.  and  32.) 

18  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
story  of  the  Phaeacian  ship  (Od.  xiii.  163.) 
was  taken  from  some  local  tradition  well 
known  at  the  period.  In  the  time  of  Pro- 
copius  it  had  become  localized  at  the  mo- 
dern Cassope ;  notwithstanding  an  inscrip- 
tion explained  the  origin  of  the  votive 
structure  to  which  it  was  attached.  At 
the  present  day,  a  small  island  near  the 
harbour  of  Corfu,  claims  the  honour  of  be- 
ing the  original  bark.  In  the  same  way 
many  incidents  in  the  Argonautica  re- 
ceived a  "  local  habitation."  According 
to  Timonax,  Jason  and  Medea  were  mar- 
ried at  Colchis,  where  the  bridal  bed  was 
shown.  Timeeus  denied  this,  and  referred 
to  the  nuptial  altars  at  Cercyra.  (Schol. 
in  Apoll.  Rhod.  iv.  1217.)  The  earlir::l 
version  of  this  fiction  may  be  supposed  to 


have  confirmed  the  Colchian  tradition  ; 
but  as  the  limits  of  the  sphere  of  action 
became  extended,  the  later  narratives  of 
necessity  embraced  other  fables.  Hence 
the  Argonautic  poems  became  for  ancient 
geography  and  local  tradition,  what  the 
syncretic  statues  of  Cybele  were  for  an- 
cient symbols.  The  passage  in  Apollo- 
nius,  1.  i.  v.  1305.  is  evidently  taken  from 
a  local  fiction,  as  it  refers  to  the  racking- 
stones  commemorating  the  event. 

19  In  localizing  these  traditions,  little 
regard  is  paid  to  the  contending  claims  of 
other  districts.  Several  mounds  are  shown 
in  various  parts  of  Denmark,  as  the  graves 
of  Vidrich  Verlandsen,  and  as  many  of 
the  giant  Langbein.  (Miiller  Saga  Biblio- 
thek,  vol.  ii.  p.  224.)     The  residence  of 
Habor  and  Signe,  so  celebrated  in  Danish 
sang,  has  been  appropriated  in  the  same 
way;  and  has  given  name  to  a  variety  of 
places.  (Udvalgte  Danske  Viser,  vol.  iii. 
p.    403.)     Scottish   tradition   has   trans- 
ferred  the   burial-place   of  Thomas    the 
Rhymer,   from    Erceldown  to  a   tomhan 
which    rises  in   a  plain   near  Inverness. 
Grant's  Essays,  &c.  vol.  ii.  p.  158. 

20  The  Cyclops  were  the  contrivers  of 
these  works  in  ancient  times,  whose  place 
has   been  supplied  by   the  Giants.     See 
the  books  relative  to  Stonehenge,  Giant's 
Causeway,  &c.     The  Arabs  have  a  tra- 
dition, that  Cleopatra's  needle  was  once 
surrounded  by  seven  others,  which  were 
brought   from    mount    Berym    to    Alex- 
andria,  by  seven  giants  of  the  tribe  of 
Aad. 

21  The  common  people  call  a  crom- 
leach,  near  Lligwy  in   Anglesea,  Coeten 
Arthur,  or  Arthur's  Quoit.   Jones's  Bardic 
Mu?.  p.  60.     The  general  character  of  the 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (23) 

the  conformation  of  a  rock,  or  a  mark  upon  its  surface,  attests  the  an- 
ger or  the  presence  of  some  divinity  22 ;  and  the  emblems  and  decora- 
tions of  a  monumental  effigy  must  either  be  explained  from  the  events 
of  popular  history-3,  or  perverted  from  their  original  character  to  give 
some  passage  in  it  a  locality 24.  It  is  thus  too  that  the  volcanic  erup- 
tions of  Lydia,  Sicily,  Cilicia,  and  Boeotia,  were  respectively  attributed 
to  the  agency  of  Typhon" ;  that  the  purple  tints  upon  certain  flowers 
were  said  to  have  originated  with  the  deaths  of  Ajax,  Adonis,  and 
Hyacinthus  ;  that  the  story  of  the  man  in  the  moon  has  found  a  circu- 
lation throughout  the  world ;  and  that  the  clash  of  elements  in  the 
thunder-storm  was  ascribed  in  Hellas  to  the  rolling  chariot-wheels  of 
Jove76,  and  in  Scandinavia  to  the  ponderous  waggon  of  the  Norwegian 
Thor.  The  same  general  principle  has  likewise  led  to  that  community 
of  ideas  entertained  by  all  mankind  of  the  glories  and  felicities  of  the 
past.  Every  age  has  been  delighted  to  dwell  with  sentiments  of  admi- 
ration upon  the  memory  of  the  "  good  old  times  ;"  they  still  continue 
to  form  a  theme  of  fond  and  lavish  applause ;  and  the  philosophic  Agis 
had  to  console  his  desponding  countryman  with  a  remark  which  every 
man's  experience  has  made  familiar,  "  that  the  fading  virtues  of  later 
times  were  a  cause  of  grief  to  his  father  Archidamus,  who  again  had 
listened  to  the  same  regrets  from  his  own  venerable  sire27."  In  this, 
indeed,  the  feelings  and  conduct  of  nations  in  their  collective  capacity, 
only  present  us  with  a  counterpart  to  individual  opinion.  The  sinking 
energies  of  increasing  age,  like  the  dimness  of  enfeebled  vision,  have  a 
constant  tendency  to  deprive  passing  events  of  their  natural  sharpness 
of  outline,  and  the  broader  features  of  their  character  ;  and  we  learn  to 
charge  them  with  an  indistinctness  of  form,  and  a  sombre  tameness  of 
colouring,  which  only  exists  in  the  spectator's  mind.  The  defects  of 
our  own  impaired  and  waning  organs  become  transferred  to  the  change- 
Homeric  poems  will  justify  the  conclusion,  sence  at  the  battle  of  Regillus.  De  Nat. 
that  a  similar  monument  supplied  the  in-  Deor.  iii.  5.  11.  2. 

cident  in  the  Odyssey,  viii.  ver.  194.  The  23  The  statue  of  Nemesis  at  Rhamnus 

Locrians  showed  an  enormous  stone  be-  gave  rise  to  a  Grecian  fable,  that  the  stone 
fore  the  door  of  Euthymus,  which  he  was  of  which  it  was  made  had  been  brought  to 
said  to  have  placed  there  by  his  own  ef-  Marathon  by  the  Persians,  for  the  pur- 
forts.  Ael.  V.  Hist.  viii.  18.  pose  of  erecting  a  victorious  trophy. 
22  At  mount  Sipylus  in  Attica,  there  (Paus.  i.  33.)  That  it  was  a  mere  fable, 
was  a  rock,  which  at  some  distance  re-  every  practice  of  their  enemies  clearly 
sembled  a  woman  weeping;  the  inha-  proves. 

bitants  called  it  Niobe.  (Paus.  i.  21.)  The  24  See  the  account  of  sir  John  Con- 

footstep  of  Hercules  was  seen  imprinted  on  yers's  tomb  in  Gough's  Camden,  iii.  p. 
a  rock  near  the  river  Tyra  in  Scythia,  114. 

Herod,  iv.  82.  In  Cicero's  time  the  marks  25  Schol.  in  Lycoph.  v.  177. 

of  the  horses'  hoofs  of  Castor  and  Pollux  26  Hesychius  in  v.  e\Keffi(3povTa. 

were  still  shown  as  a  proof  of  their  prc?  ~7  Plutarch.  Apophtheg.  Lncon.  17. 


(2<i)       MIL  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 


less  objects  around  us  ;  and  in  proportion  as  the  imagination  recalls  the 
impressions  of  earlier  life,  when  the  sense  enjoyed  the  robust  and 
healthy  action  of  youth,  the  present  is  doomed  to  suffer  by  an  unjust 
and  degrading  contrast.  Thus  also  in  the  lengthened  vista  of  popu- 
lar tradition,  every  thing  which  is  shrouded  in  the  obscurity  of  a  distant 
age,  is  made  to  partake  of  those  physical  and  temporal  advantages 
which  the  fancy  has  bestowed  upon  the  reign  of  Saturn  in  Hesperia-8, 
or  the  joys  of  Asgard  before  the  arrival  of  the  gigantic  visitants  from 
Jotunheim20.  The  qualities  of  the  mind,  and  the  properties  of  the  body, 
are  then  supposed  to  share  in  the  native  vigour  of  a  young  creation;  and 
those  cherished  objects  of  man's  early  wishes,  extreme  longevity  and 
great  corporeal  strength,  are  believed  to  be  the  enviable  lot  of  all30. 
Hence  the  fictions  of  every  country  have  agreed  in  regarding  an  un- 
usual extension  of  the  thread  of  life  as  a  mark  of  divine  favour31;  and 
every  national  hero  has  been  endowed  with  gigantic  stature3'2,  and 


28  See    Diod.    Sic.    iii.    61.      Compare 
also  Hesiod's  account  of  the  golden  age, 
Op.  et  Dies,  v.  108,  &c,     The  comic  side 
of  the  picture  is  to  be  found  in  Athen. 
1.  vi.  p.  267,  &c.     But  the  ancients  always 
had   some  distant   country,  where   these 
fancied  blessings  were  still  enjoyed.     In 
the    earlier   periods,    ^Ethiopia  seems  to 
liave  been  the  name  ascribed  to  this  land 
of  promise  (II.  1.  423.  Od.  i.  22.);  and 
hence  perhaps  the  flattering,  though  some- 
what  sobered  picture,  of  its  inhabitants 
given  by  Herodotus  iii.  c.  17—24.     Later 
traditions  place  the  scene  in  the  country 
of  the  Hyperboraeans,  a  people  changing 
their  locality  from  the  northern  extremity 
of  Asia  to  that  of  Europe,  or  even   the 
coast  of  Gaul  (compare  Diod.  Sic.  2.  c.  47. 
with  Pomponius  Mela,  3.  c.  5.),  and  to 
whom  Strabo,  on  the  authority  of  Simo- 
nides  and  Pindar,  has  given  a  life  of  a 
thousand  years,  lib.  xv.  p.  711.     Another 
chain  of  fiction  assigns  it  to  the  isles  of  the 
West  (Od.  iv.  563),  and  from  hence  have 
sprung  the  descriptions  of  Horace  (Epod. 
xvi.  41),  and  Plutarch  (in  Vit.  Sertor.). 
I'or  similar  accounts  of  India  see  Ctesias 
ap.  Wesseling's  Herod,  p.  831.  and  Pliny 
vii.  2. 

29  Edda  of  Snorro  Dgemesaga,  12. 

a(>  Josephus,  after  noticing  the  age  of 
Noah,  cites  the  testimonies  of  Manetho 
for  the  extreme  longevity  of  the  early 
Egyptians  ;  of  Hieronymus  for  that  of  the 
Phoenicians;  of  Hesiod,  Hecatams,  &c.  for 
the  Grecians  ;  all  of  whom  gave  a  thou- 
sand years  to  the  life  of  man  in  the  first 
periods  of  the  world.  Archseolog.  i.  c.  3. 
§  y.  For  the  same  advantage  enjoyed  by 


the  early  Egyptian  kings,  see  Diod.  Sic.i. 
26.  and  compare  Pliny's  account  of  the 
Arcadians  and  .ZEtolians,  some  of  whom 
lived  three  hundred  years.  Hist.  Nat.  vii. 
48.  The  long-lived  ^Ethiopians  of  Hero- 
dotus, who,  be  it  remembered,  were  the 
tallest  and  most  beautiful  of  mankind, 
usually  lived  120  years.  Herod,  iii.  c.  17. 
23. 

31  At  the  siege  of  Troy  the  "Pylian 
sage  "  was  living  his  third  age.  II.  i.  250. 
A  Lycian  tradition  has  assigned  to  Sar- 
pedon  a  life  of  three  ages,  as  the  favour- 
ite son  of  Jove.  Apollod.  Bibl.  iii.  1,  2. 
Heyne,  forgetful  that  we  are  here  on  my- 
thic ground,  wishes  to  follow  Diodorus, 
who  attempts  to  give  the  narrative  an  air 
of  probability,  by  making  two  Sarpedons, 
a  grandsire  and  his  grandson.     Tiresias 
was  said  to  have  lived  seven  ages,  and 
Agatharchides  more  than  five.  (Meurs.  in 
Lycophr.    v.    682.)     Norna-Gest,    as    he 
lighted  the  candle  on  which  his  existence 
depended,    said    he    was    three    hundred 
years  old.  (Norna-Gest  Saga  in  Miiller's 
Saga-Bibliothek,  vol.  ii.  p.  113.)     Toke 
Tokesen  was  also  fated  to  live  two  ages  of 
man,  Ib.  p.  117.  and  Hildebrand,  the  in- 
vincible champion  and  Mentor  of  Theodo- 
ric,  died  aged  180  or  200  years.  Ib.  278. 

32  The    sandal    of   Perseus  found  at 
Chemnis  was  two  cubits  in  length.   Herod, 
ii.  c.  91.     The  footstep  of  Hercules  shown 
in  Scythia,  was  of  the  same  size.  Ib.  iv.  c. 
82. ;    though    the    more    sober  traditions 
make  his  whole  stature  only  four  cubits 
and  a  foot.    (Herod.  Ponticus  ad  Lycophr. 
v.  663.)      Lycophron  calls   Achilles  TOV 

,  Cass.  v.  860.     The  body  of 


MB.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1821.         (25) 

made  to  possess  all  those  virtues  which  the  common  consent  of  mankind 
unites  in  considering  so,  or  the  ruder  ethics  of  an  earlier  period  have 
substituted  for  such. 

With  regard  to  those  standing  types  of  popular  fiction,  which  have 
been  compared  to  the  roots  of  language,  the  history  of  their  application 
in  various  periods  of  society  displays  the  same  frequent  recurrence  of 
certain  primitive  images,  and  the  same  series  of  ever-changing  analysis 
and  combination  which  mark  the  growth  and  progress  of  language  it- 
self. There  will  appear  something  fanciful  perhaps  in  this  comparison, 
yet  the  nearer  we  investigate  it,  the  more  we  shall  feel  assured,  that 
many  of  the  laws  which  have  governed  the  one  are  strictly  analogous 
with  those  which  have  swayed  the  development  of  the  other ;  and  that, 
however  much  we  may  dispute  as  to  the  causes  which  have  called  forth 
these  important  phenomena  of  the  mind,  their  subsequent  regulation 
is  considerably  less  equivocal.  The  mass  of  primitives  in  every  lan- 
guage, (even  in  those  whose  decided  character  gives  them  the  aspect 
of  parent  dialects,)  is  well  known  to  bear  a  very  small  proportion  to  the 
wealth  of  its  vocabulary ;  and  at  some  stage  of  human  existence,  even 
these  elementary  terms  must  have  been  sufficient  to  express  the  wants, 
and  effect  an  interchange  of  thought,  between  the  several  members  of 
the  community.  As  fresh  necessities  arose,  and  the  bounds  of  know- 
ledge became  extended,  the  original  types  in  their  simple  import  would 
be  unequal  to  the  demands  of  every  new  occasion ;  and  hence  the  in- 
troduction of  a  long  roll  of  meanings  to  the  primitives,  and  all  the  in- 
tricacies of  analysis  and  synthesis,  which  have  given  wealth,  dignity, 
and  expression  to  language.  There  is  however  no  fact  more  certain, 
within  our  knowledge  of  the  past  and  our  experience  of  the  present, 
than  that  words  neither  have  been  nor  are  now  invented;  but  that  they 
always  have  been  compounded  from  existing  roots  in  the  dialect  re- 


Orestes  when  found  measured  seven  cu-  111.)  Theoderic  of  Berne  was  two  ells 
bits.  (Herod,  i.  c.  68.)  And  for  the  large  broad  between  the  shoulders,  tall  as  an 
size  of  Ajax,  Pelops  and  Theseus,  see  Eteu  (giant),  and  stronger  than  any  man 
Pans.  i.  35.  v.  13.  and  Pint,  in  Vit.  c.  36.  would  believe  who  had  not  seen  him. 
A  Feroe  song  says  of  Sigurdr  (the  Sieg-  (Wilkina-Saga,  c.  14.)  The  grave  of 
fred  of  the  Nibelungen  Lied),  that  he  Gavvain  was  fourteen  feet  long,  the  re- 
grew  more  in  one  month  than  others  did  pute.i  stature  of  Little  John.  (Ritson.) 
in  twelve.  (Compare  the  romance  of  Sir  Of  Arthur,  Higden  has  said :  "  Also  have 
Gowghther  and  Homer's  account  of  Otus  mynde  that  Arthures  chyn-bone  that  was 
and  Ephialtes,  Od.  xi.  308.)  He  was  so  thenne  (on  the  discovery  of  his  body  at 
tall,  that  when  he  walked  through  a  field  Glastonbury)  shewed,  was  lenger  by  thre 
of  ripe  rye,  the  point  of  his  sword  (which  ynches  than  the  legge  and  the  knee  of  the 
was  seven  spans  long)  might  be  seen  above  lengest  man,  that  was  thenne  founde. 
the  standing  corn.  (Miiller,  p.  61.)  A  Also  the  face  of  his  forhede,bytvveene  hys 
hair  of  his  horse's  tail,  which  Gest  shuwed  two  cyen,  was  a  sparine  brode."  Trevisa's 
king  Oluf,  measured  seven  ells.  (Ib.  p.  transl.  f.  290.  rec. 


(26)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

quiring  them,  or  borrowed  from  some  collateral  source ;  and  for  this 
very  obvious  reason,  that  any  other  mode  of  proceeding  would  wholly 
defeat  the  only  end  for  which  language  was  intended,  the  communica- 
tion of  our  wishes,  feelings  and  opinions.  That  the  progress  of  popular 
fiction  has  followed  a  nearly  similar  course,  a  slight  consideration  of 
the  subject  will  tend  to  assure  us.  The  extraordinary  process  already 
aHuded  to,  which,  by  endowing  inanimate  objects  with  sense,  feeling, 
and  spirituality,  robs  man  of  his  proudest  distinction,  is  no  new  creation 
of  elementary  forms  previously  unknown,  but  a  simple  transference  of 
peculiar  properties,  the  characteristics  of  a  more  perfect  class  of  beings, 
to  others  less  perfectly  constituted.  The  prophetic  ship,  the  grateful 
ant,  the  courteous  tree33,  et  hoc  genus  omne,  are  none  of  them  subjected 
to  any  mutation  in  their  physical  qualities ;  they  merely  receive  an  ad- 
ditional grant  of  certain  ethical  attributes,  which,  like  secondary  mean- 
ings in  language,  enlarge  their  power  without  varying  their  natural  ap- 
pearance. Even  the  personification  of  immaterial  things,  though  ap- 
proaching nearest  to  the  plastic  nature  of  a  really  creative  power,  is 
but  an  extension  of  the  same  principle.  For  though  in  these  the  ex- 
ternal forms  be  wholly  supplied  by  the  fancy,  the  inherent  qualities  of 
the  thing  personified  furnish  the  outline  of  all  its  moral  endowments ; 
and  the  contrast  between  the  abstract  property  in  its  original  state,  and 
the  living  image  representing  it,  is  not  more  striking  than  between  the 
different  objects  which  are  expressed  in  language  by  one  common  sym- 
bol34. The  wildest  efforts  of  the  imagination  can  only  exhibit  to  us  a 
fresh  combination  of  well-known  types  drawn  from  the  store-house  of 
nature ;  and  it  is  the  propriety  of  the  new  arrangement,  the  felicitous 
juxtaposition  of  the  stranger  elements  in  their  novel  relation  to  each 
other,  which  marks  the  .genius  of  the  artist,  which  fixes  the  distance 
between  a  Boccacio  and  a  Troveur,  a  Shakspeare  and  a  Brooke35. 
The  same  chaste  economy  which  has  regulated  the  development  of  lan- 
guage, is  equally  conspicuous  in  the  history  of  popular  fiction ;  and, 
like  the  vocabulary  of  a  nation  once  supplied  with  a  stock  of  appro- 
priate imagery,  all  its  subsequent  additions  seem  to  have  arisen  in  very 
slow  progression.  For  this  we  must  again  refer  to  the  prevailing  state 

33  See   Grimm's    Kinder-   und   Haus-  and  Popular  Fictions,  and  his  Fairy  My- 

Marchen  and  Muller's  Saga-Bibliothek,  thology. — R.  T.] 

passim.  [See  also  German  Popular  Stories  34  The  burning  lava  of  jEtna  was  made 

translated  from  the  above  work  of  J.  and  the  type  of  Typhceus's  fury ;  but  the  con- 

W.  Grimm,  and  published  with  Notes  in  trast  here  is  not  greater  than  between  those 

2  vols.  12mo.  by  the  late  Mr.  Edgar  Tay-  objects  of  domestic  use  which  are  named 

lor,  1823  and  182G;  and  republished  in  after  animals,  such  as  a  cat,  dog,  horse,  &c. 

1839  in  1  vol.  under  the  title  of  Gammer  35  See  Brooke's  poem  on  the  subject  of 

Grcthel ;  see  also  Mr.  Keightlcy's  Tales  Romeo  and  Juliet  in  Malonc's  Shakspeare. 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (27) 

of  society  and  the  condition  of  those  common  agents  by  whom  both 
subjects  have  been  fostered.  The  more  degraded  the  intellectual  cul- 
ture of  a  nation  upon  its  first  appearance  in  history,  the  poorer  will  be 
found  its  vocabulary,  with  reference  to  the  innate  resources  of  the  lan- 
guage ;  and  the  subsequent  wealth  of  every  dialect  will  be  discovered 
to  have  been  attendant  upon  the  progress  of  civilization,  and  the  acqui- 
sition of  new  ideas36.  The  patrons  of  popular  fiction,  as  the  very  name 
implies,  belong  to  that  class  of  the  community  which,  amid  all  the 
changes  and  revolutions  that  are  operating  around  it,  always  retains  a 
considerable  portion  of  its  primitive  characteristics.  Among  these  may 
be  reckoned  the  narrow  circle  of  its  necessities  in  the  use  of  language 
and  expression,  and  the  modest  demands  of  its  intellectual  tastes,  so 
opposite  to  that  later  epicurism  of  the  mind,  a  refined  and  learned  taste, 
which  is  only  to  be  appeased  by  an  unceasing  round  of  novelties.  Lin- 
acquainted  with  the  feverish  joys  occasioned  by  the  use  of  strong  and 
fresh  excitements,  popular  taste  only  asks  for  a  repetition  of  its  favour- 
ite themes ;  and,  blest  with  the  pure  and  limited  wants  of  infancy,  it 
listens  to  the  "  twice-told  tale"  with  the  eagerness  and  simplicity  of  a 
child.  It  is  on  this  principle  that  every  country  in  Europe  has  invested 
its  popular  fictions  with  the  same  common  marvels ;  that  all  acknow- 
ledge the  agency  of  the  lifeless  productions  of  nature ;  the  intervention 
of  the  same  supernatural  machinery;  the  existence  of  elves,  fairies, 
dwarfs,  giants,  witches  and  enchanters ;  the  use  of  spells,  charms  and 
amulets ;  and  all  those  highly-gifted  objects,  of  whatever  form  or  name, 
whose  attributes  refute  every  principle  of  human  experience,  which  are 
to  conceal  the  possessor's  person,  annihilate  the  bounds  of  space,  or 
command  a  gratification  of  all  our  wishes.  These  are  the  constantly- 
recurring  types  which  embellish  the  popular  tale,  which  hence  have 
been  transferred  to  the  more  laboured  pages  of  romance ;  and  which, 
far  from  owing  their  first  appearance  in  Europe  to  the  Arabic  conquest 
of  Spain,  or  the  migration  of  Odin  to  Scandinavia,  are  known  to  have 
been  current  on  its  eastern  verge  long  anterior  to  the  aera  of  legitimate 
history 37.  The  Nereids  of  antiquity,  the  daughters  of  the  "  sea-born 

36  "J'ai  eu  des  idees  nouvelles  ;  il  a  Grimm,  Sir  W.Scott's  Essay  on  the  Faeries 

bien  fallu  trouver  des  nouveaux  mots,  ou  of  Popular  Superstition  (Minstrelsy,  vol. 

donner  aux  anciens  de  nouvelles  accep-  ii.),  and  some  useful  collections  in  Brand's 

tions,"  says  Montesquieu  in  the  Adver-  Popular  Antiquities,   vol.  ii.     A  further 

tisement  to  his  Esprit  des  Loix.  consideration  of  the  subject  is  reserved  for 

3?  It  will  be  felt,  that  this  intricate  and  another   occasion  ;    when  the  authorities 

copious  subject  could  only  be  generally  for    some    opinions,    which    may  appear 

noticed  here.     More  ample  sources  of  in-  either  too  bold  or  paradoxical,  and  which 

formation  are  to  be  found  in  the  preface  could  not  be  introduced  here,  will  be  given 

and    notes   to    the    Kinder-    und    Hans-  at  length. 
Marchen  of  Messrs.   Jacob  and  William 


(28)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OP  1824. 


seer,"  are  evidently  the  same  with  the  Mermaids  of  the  British  and 
Northern  shores ;  the  habitations  of  both  are  fixed  in  crystal  caves,  or 
coral  palaces,  beneath  the  waters  of  the  ocean ;  and  they  are  alike  di- 
stinguished for  their  partialities  to  the  human  race,  and  their  prophetic 
powers  in  disclosing  the  events  of  futurity.  The  Naiads  only  differ  in 
name  from  the  Nixen38  of  Germany  and  Scandinavia  (Nisser),  or  the 
Water- Elves  of  our  countryman  ^Elfric  ;  and  the  Nornae,  who  wove  the 
web  of  life  and  sang  the  fortunes  of  the  illustrious  Helga,  are  but  the 
same  companions  who  attended  Ilithyia  at  the  births  of  lamos  and  Her- 
cules39, Indeed  so  striking  is  the  resemblance  between  these  divinities 
and  the  Grecian  Mcerae,  that  we  not  only  find  them  officiating  at  the 
birth  of  a  hero,. conferring  upon  him  an  amulet  which  is  to  endow  him 
with  a  charmed  existence,  or  cutting  short  the  thread  of  his  being,  but, 
like  their  prototype  or  parallel,  varying  in  their  number — from  three  to 
nine, — as  they  figure  in  their  various  avocations,  of  Nornae  or  Valkyriar, 
as  Parcae  or  Muses40.  In  the  Highland  Urisks41,  the  Russian  Le- 
schies42,  and  the  Pomeranian  or  Wendish  Berstucs43,  we  perceive  the 


38  The  Russian  Rusalkis  belong  to  the 
same  family.     They  are  represented  as  a 
race  of  beautiful  virgins,  with  long  green 
hair,  living  in  lakes  and  rivers,  and  who 
were    generally   seen    swinging   on   the 
branches  of  trees,  bathing  in  the  flood,  or 
dressing  their  hair  in  the  meads  beside  a 
running  stream.     Mone's  continuation  of 
Creuzer's  Symbolik,  vol.  i.  p.  145. 

39  Compare  Helga  quitha  hin  fyrsta,  in 
Saemund's  Edda,  with  Pindar  Ol.  vi.  72. 
and  Anton.  Liberalis,  c.  29. 

40  A  further  illustration  of  this  subject 
must  also  be  reserved  for  a  future  publi- 
cation. 

41  The  Urisk  has  a  figure  between  a 
goat  and  a  man  ;  in  short,  precisely  that 
of  a  Grecian  Satyr. — Notes  to  the  Lady 
of  the  Lake,  p.  356.     There  are  few  anti- 
quarian subjects  requiring  more  revision 
tHan   the   modern   nomenclature   of  this 
sylvan  family.     This  confusion  of  charac- 
ter and  name  is  no  where  more  apparent 
than  in  the  account  of  the  ancient  monu- 
ments in  the  British  Museum.     The  Gre- 
cian Satyr  is  perfectly  human  in  the  lower 
extremities  of  his  person;  but  the  Panes 
(for  the  ancients  acknowledged  more  than 
one  Pan,  as  well  as  more  than  one  Sile- 
nus)  and  Panisci  preserved  the  legs  and 
thighs  of  a  goat. 

42  These  Russian  divinities  had  a  hu- 
man body,  horns  on  the  head,  projecting 
pointed  ears,  and  a  bushy  beard.     Below 
they  were  formed  like  a  goat.     (Compare 
the  well-known  group  of  Pan  and  Olym- 


pus in  the  Villa  Albani,  and  the  repre- 
sentations of  the  same  subject  in  the  Pit- 
ture  d'Ercolano.)  They  had  the  power 
of  changing  their  stature  as  they  pleased. 
When  they  walked  through  the  grass, 
they  were  just  seen  above  it ;  in  walking 
through  forests,  their  heads  ranged  above 
the  highest  trees.  Woods  and  groves 
were  consecrated  to  them,  and  no  one 
dared  offend  them,  as  they  excited  in  the 
culprit's  mind  the  most  appalling  terrors, 
or  in  a  feigned  voice  seduced  him  through 
unknown  ways  to  their  caves,  where  they 
tickled  him  to  death.  Mone,  p.  143. 
Among  the  Finns  these  practices  were  at- 
tributed to  a  god  Lekkio  and  a  goddess 
Ajataa.  The  first  assumed  the  form  of  a 
man,  dog,  crow,  or  some  other  bird,  for 
the  purpose  of  exciting  terror ;  and  the 
latter  led  the  traveller  astray.  Ib.  59.  The 
reader  will  not  fail  to  recognise  in  this  the 
Panic  terrors  of  the  Arcadian  god  ;  and  to 
be  reminded  of  the  Olympian  invocation, 
which  called  Pan  Rhea's  Kvva  Travro- 
Sairov.  Find.  Frag.  ap.  Aristot.  Rhetor, 
ii.  24.  The  irritable  temperament  of  tlvese 
sylvan  deities  is  also  common  to  their  par- 
allel. Theocritus,  Id.  i.  v.  15. 

43  The  worship  of  these  deities  appears 
to  have  been  common  to  all  the  Sclavonic 
tribes  situated  between  the  Vistula  and  the 
Elbe.  This  district  has  been  divided  by 
some  chroniclers  into  Pomerania  and 
Vandalia,  an  arrangement  which  has 
caused  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  to  be 
confounded  with  the  Teutonic  invaders  of 


MR.  PRICK'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (29) 


same  sylvan  family,  who,  under  the  name  of  Panes  and  Panisci,  presided 
over  the  fields  and  forests  of  Arcadia.  The  general  meetings  of  the  first 
were  held  on  Ben-Venew,  like  the  biennial  assembly  of  the  Fauns  on 
mount  Parnassus ;  and  the  Sclavonian  hunter  invoked  the  assistance  of 
his  Zlebog44,  the  Finn  of  his  Wainamoinen45,  and  the  Laplander  of  his 
Storjunkare'46,  with  the  same  solemnity  as  that  with  which  the  Greek 
implored  the  aid  of  the  "  shaggy  god  of  Arcady."  Another  feature 
in  the  national  creed  of  the  same  mountainous  district  of  Greece,  is  to 
be  met  with  in  the  ballad  of  the  Elfin-Gray47 ;  and  if  the  testimony  of 
^Elfric,  in  his  translation  of  Dryades  by  Wudu-Elfen,  is  to  be  received 
as  any  thing  more  than  a  learned  exercise48,  the  same  notion  must  have 
prevailed  in  this  country.  But  the  collection  from  whence  the  ballad 
alluded  to  has  been  taken,  the  Danish  Kiaempe-Viser,  contains  more 
than  this  single  example  of  such  a  belief ;  and  the  reader  will  find  be- 
low49 a  local  tradition,  preserved  in  Germany,  which  will  remind  him 


the  Empire.  The  term  in  the  text  has 
been  borrowed  from  the  German  to  avoid 
this  inaccuracy;  but  Trevisa  has  shown 
that  there  was  a  name  for  it  in  England  : 
"  Wyntlandia,  that  ilonde  is  by-west  Den- 
mark, and  is  a  barren  londe ;  and  men 
[go  there]  out  of  byleve,  they  selle  wynde 
to  the  shypmen  that  come  to  theyr  portes 
and  havenes,  as  it  were  closed  under 
knottes  of  threde.  And  as  the  knottes  be 
unknytte  the  wynde  wexe  at  theyr  wylle." 
f.  32.  In  all  their  attributes  the  Berstucs 
appear  to  have  been  the  same  with  the 
Russian  Leschies. 

44  The  head  of  the  Berstucs  was  Zlebog, 
usually  explained  The  angry  god.     Fren- 
eel  de  Diis  Soraborum  et  aliorum  Slavo- 
rum   ap.  Hoffmann  Script.    Rer.   Lusat. 
torn.  ii.  p.  234-6.     Care  must  be  taken 
not  to  confound  them  with  the  Prussian 
dwarfs,  called  Barstuck  ;  and  who  perhaps 
have  usurped  a  name  which   designates 
their  form  rather  than  their  occupation. 
In   Durham  and  Newcastle  the  English 
Puck  is  called  Bar-quest. 

45  Wainamoinen  was  the  inventor  of 
the  kandele  (a  stringed  instrument  played 
like  the  guitar),  and  the  author  of  all  in- 
ventions which  have  benefited  the  human 
race.     He  was  implored  by  the  hunter, 
the  fisherman  and  the  birdcatcher,  to  play 
upon  his  kandele,  that  the  game  might 
fall  into  their  nets.     Mone,  54. 

46  This  name  has  been  borrowed  from 

the  Norwegians.  In  Tornea  Lapland  the 
same  deity  is  called  Seite.  He  is  supreme 
lord  of  the  whole  animal  creation  (with 
the  exception  of  the  human  race),  and 
patron  of  hunting,  fishing,  &c.  He  fre- 


quently appears  to  the  fishermen  &c.  of 

Lulea  Lapmark,  dressed  like  a  Norwegian 
nobleman  in  black,  of  a  tall  and  com- 
manding figure,  with  the  feet  of  a  bird, 
and  with  a  gun  on  his  shoulder.  His  ap- 
pearance never  fails  to  produce  a  success- 
ful fishery  or  chase.  Mone,  36. 

4?  See  the  Notes  to  the  Lady  of  the 
Lake. 

48  It  may  be  questioned,  whether  this 
catalogue  of^Elfric's(dun-elfen,berg-elfen, 
munt-elfen,   feld-elfen,    wudu-elfen,   sss- 
elfen,  water-elfen,)   ever  obtained  a  cir- 
culation among  the  people.     It  is  at  least 
rendered    extremely    suspicious    by    its 
strict  accordance  with  the  import  of  the 
Grecian  names. 

49  "A   peasant  named    Hans    Krepel, 
being  one  day  at  work  on  a  heath  near 
Salzburg,   'a  little    wild    or    moss-wifie' 
appeared   to    him,   and   begged  that   on 
leaving  his  labour   he    would   cut   three 
crosses  on  the  last  tree  he  hewed  down. 
This  request  the  man  neglected  to  comply 
with.     On  the  following  day  she  appeared 
again,  saying,  '  Ah  !  my  man,  why  did  you 
not  cut  the  three  crosses  yesterday  ?     It 
would  have  been  of  service  both  to  me  and 
yourself.     In  the  evening,  and  especially 
at  night,  we  are  constantly  hunted  by  the 
wild  huntsmen,  and  are  obliged  to  allow 
them  to  worry  us,  unless  we  can  reach 
one  of  these  trees  with  a  cross  on  it ;  for 
from  thence  they  have  no  power  to  remove 
us.'     To  this  the  boor  replied  with  his 
wonted  churlishness,    '  Pooh  !    pooh  !    of 
what  use  can  it  be  ?  how  can  the  crosses 
help  you?  I  shall  do  no   such   thing  to 
please  you,  indeed.'     Upon  this  the  wyfie 


(30)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

of  the  conversation  between  Peraebius  and  an  Hamadryad.  How  far 
the  Duergar  of  the  Edda  were  originally  distinct  from  a  similar  class  of 
dwarfish  agents,  who  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  popular  creed  of  every 
European  nation,  cannot  now  be  precisely  ascertained50.  The  earliest 
memorials  of  them  in  the  fictions  of  Germany  and  Scandinavia,  present 
us  with  the  same  metallurgic  divinities  who  in  the  mythology  of  Hellas 
were  known  by  the  various  names  of  Cabiri,  Hephsesti,  Telchines,  and 
Idaean  Dactyli51.  In  the  other  countries  of  Europe,  the  traces  of  their 


flew  upon  him,  and  squeezed  him  so 
forcibly  that  he  became  ill  after  it,  not- 
withstanding he  was  a  stout  fellow.  Such 
wyfies,  and  even  mannikins,  are  said  to 
dwell  upon  that  heath,  under  the  ground, 
or  in  obscure  parts  of  the  forest,  and  to 
have  holes,  in  which  they  lie  on  green 
moss,  as  indeed  they  are  said  to  be  clothed 
all  over  with  moss."  Praetorius  says,  he 
heard  this  story  from  an  old  dame,  who 
knew  the  before-mentioned  Hans  Krepel, 
and  adds,  the  time  of  day  was  a  [little] 
after  noon,  an  hour  not  usually  devoted 
to  labour,  because  at  such  a  time  "this 
sort  of  diablerie  frequently  occurs."  An- 
thropodemusPlutonicus,  Magdeburg  16C6. 
vol.  ii.  p.  231.  For  this  superstitious  at- 
tention to  silence  at  noon,  see  Theocritus, 
Id.  i.  v.  15.;  and  for  the  persecution  of 
the  Nymphs  by  Pan,  the  romance  of 
Longus,  p.  63.  ed.  Villoison,  where  it  is 
said  of  him,  Traverai  de  ovdeTroTe  Apv- 
acriv  evo")(Xi>)v,  KCLI  ETri/ti^Xicri  Nvju^ais 
TTjoayjwara  Trape^wv.  The  passage  re- 
lative to  the  Hamadryad,  who  threatened 
Peraebius  with  the  consequences  of  neg- 
lecting to  prop  the  falling  oak,  in  which 
she  lived,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Schol.  to 
Apollon.  Rhod.  ii.  v.  479. 

50  The  Northern  traditions  relative  to 
the  Duerga,  are  among  the  most  obscure 
points  of  Eddaic  lore,  and  are  too  import- 
ant to  be  discussed  in  a  note.  Their  re- 
sidence in  stone  seems  to  be  a  portion  of 
the  same  belief  which  gave  rise  to  the 
XiOoL  e/ii//t^oi  of  antiquity.  The  author 
of  the  Orphic  poem  on  stones  mentions  one 
in  the  possession  of  Helenus,  which  not 
only  uttered  oracular  responses,  but  was 
perceived  to  breathe,  ver.  339.  et  seq. 
Photius  (coll.  242.  p.  1062,  from  the  life 
of  Isidorus  by  Damascius)  mentions  an- 
other in  the  possession  of  a  certain  Euse- 
bius.  This  was  a  meteoric  stone,  which 
had  fallen  from  heaven.  On  being  asked 
to  what  deity  it  belonged,  it  replied, 
Gennaeus — a  god  worshiped  at  the  Sy- 
rian Heliopolis.  Others  were  said  to  be 
subject  to  Saturn,  Jupiter,  the  Sun,  &c. 
(For  this  notion  of  the  daemons  being  the 


subordinate  followers  of  some  superior 
god,  whose  name  they  bore,  see  Plutarch 
de  Defectu  Orac.  21.)  This  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  account  given  by  Pausanias 
of  the  thirty  stones  at  Pharae,  each  of 
which  was  inscribed  with  the  name  of 
some  god.  (vii.  c.  22.)  Damascius  thought 
the  stone  in  question  to  be  under  divine, 
Isidorus  only  demoniacal  influence.  Pho- 
tius treats  the  whole  story  as  a  mere  piece 
of  jugglery.  Plato,  however,  has  said, 
that  these  lithic  oracles  were  of  the  same 
antiquity  as  that  of  the  oak  at  Dodona. 
Phaedrus  276. 

51  The  spirit  of  later  times,  with  its 
characteristic  tendency  of  studying  beauty 
of  form  in  all  its  imagery,  having  con- 
verted these  ancient  deities  into  the  youth- 
ful Curetes,  Corybantes  and  Dioscuri,  a 
confusion  arose  in  the  nomenclature  of 
them  which  wholly  baffled  the  attempts  of 
Strabo  to  reduce  into  a  system.  See  the 
tenth  book  of  this  geographer,  under  the 
head  of  Theologoumena.  The  Dwarf  of 
ancient  mythology  is  perhaps  best  repre- 
sented on  the  coins  of  Cossyra,  where  the 
figure  closely  accords  with  the  description 
of  the  mining  dwarf  given  by  Praetorius, 
i.  p.  243.  Another  representation,  from 
the  creed  of  Egypt,  may  be  seen  among 
the  terracottas  of  the  British  Museum, 
No.  42.  Mr.  Coombe  calls  "this  short 
naked  human  figure "  Osiris ;  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt,  that  it  exhibits  the 
dwarfish  god  of  Memphis,  whose  deformity 
excited  the  scorn  and  ridicule  of  Cam- 
byses.  This  deity,  whether  we  call  him 
Phthas  or  Hephaestus,  resembled  in  his 
person  the  Pataeci  or  tutelary  divinities  of 
Phoenicia,  to  whom  Herodotus  has  assign- 
ed the  figure  of  a  pygmy  man.  (Thalia,  c. 
37.)  The  attributes  on  this  anda  similar  mo- 
nument may  be  easily  accounted  for.  The 
reader  who  is  desirous  of  learning  the  es- 
teem in  which  these  divinities  were  held 
in  the  ancient  world,  may  consult  a  treatise 
"  On  the  Deities  of  Samothrace "  by 
Mr.  von  Schelling,  a  gentleman  chiefly 
known  in  Europe  for  his  philosophical 
works,  but  who  is  known  to  his  friends 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF   1824.          (31) 

existence  as  a  separate  class,  chiefly  occupied  in  the  labours  of  the 
forge,  are  not  so  clearly  defined;  and  if  a  few  scattered  traditions52 
seem  to  favour  a  contrary  opinion,  it  is  equally  certain  that  they  have 
been  more  frequently  confounded  with  a  kindred  race,  the  Brownies  or 
Fairies.  The  former,  as  is  well  known,  are  the  same  diminutive  beings 
with  the  Lares  of  Latium,  an  order  of  beneficent  spirits,  whom  Cicero 53 
has  taught  us  to  consider  as  nearly  identical  with  the  Grecian  Daemon, 
In  Germany  they  have  received  a  long  catalogue  of  appellations,  all 
descriptive  of  their  form,  their  disposition,  or  their  dress  ;  but  whether 
marked  by  the  title  of  Gutichen,  Brownie,  Lar,  or  Daemon,  we  observe 
in  all  the  same  points  of  general  resemblance ;  all  have  been  alike  re- 
garded as  the  guardians  of  the  domestic  hearth,  the  awarders  of  pros- 
perity, and  the  averters  of  evil ;  and  the  author  of  the  Orphic  Hymn 
endows  the  particular  Daemon  of  his  invocation  with  the  same  attri- 
butes that  are  given  by  Hildebrand  to  the  whole  tribe  of  Gutichens  or 
"gude  neighbours54."  The  English  Puck,  the  Scottish  Bogle,  the 
French  Esprit  Follet,  or  Goblin — the  Gobelinus  of  monkish  Latinity — 
and  the  German  Kobold,  are  only  varied  names  for  the  Grecian  Koba- 
lus65 ;  whose  sole  delight  consisted  in  perplexing  the  human  race,  and 
calling  up  those  harmless  terrors  that  constantly  hover  round  the  minds 
of  the  timid.  To  excite  the  wrath,  indeed,  of  this  mischievous  spirit, 
was  attended  with  fatal  consequences  to  the  luckless  objects  who  rashly 
courted  it;  and  Preetorius  (i.  p.  140.)  has  preserved  a  notice  of  his 
cruelty  to  some  miners  of  St.  Anneberg,  to  whom  he  appeared  under  the 
guise  of  the  Scottish  Kelpie,  with  a  horse's  head,  and  whom  he  destroy- 
ed by  his  pestiferous  breath.  The  midnight  depredators  mentioned  by 

for  his  extensive  erudition  in  every  branch  names  for  any  kind  of  spirit,  and  corre- 

of  ancient  and  modern  learning,  and  who,  spond  to  the  "  Pouk  "  of  Piers  Plouhman. 

among  the  numerous  virtues  that  adorn  In  Danish  "  spog  "  means  a  joke,  trick  or 

his  private  character,  is  particularly  di-  prank;  and  hence  the  character  of  Robin 

stinguished    for    his    hospitality    to    the  Goodfellow.  In  Iceland,  Puki  is  regarded 

"stranger,    who    sojourns    in    a    foreign  as  an  evil  sprite ;  and  in  the  language  of 

land."  that  country  "atpukra"  means  both  to 

52  Essay  on  the  Faeries  of  popular  Su-  make  a  murmuring  noise,  and  to  steal 
perstition,  p.  163.  clandestinely.     The  names  of  these  spirits 

53  "  Quanquam   enim    Daemon    latius  seem  to  have  originated  in  their  boisterous 
patere  quodam  modo  videatur,  non  du-  temper.     "  Spuken,"  Germ.,  to  make  a 
bito  tamen  quin  melius  sit,  Larem,  quam  noise  ;  "  spog,"  Dan.,  obstreperous  mirth  ; 
Dsemonem  vertere,  ut  sit  species  pro  ge-  "  pukke,"  Dan.  to  boast,  scold.   The  Ger- 
nere."   De  Universitate.  mans  use  "pochen,"  in  the  same  figurative 

54  Hymn    72.    and    Hildebrand    vom  sense,  though  literally  it  means  to  strike, 
Hexenwerke,  p.  310.  beat,  and  is  the  same  with  our  poke.     In 

55  See  the  Scholiast  to  Aristoph.  Plut.  Ditmarsh,  the  brownie,  or  domestic  fairy, 
v.  279.     The  English  and  Scottish  terms  is  called  Nitsche-Puk.  The  French  "gobe- 
are  the  same  as  the  German  "  Spuk,"  and  lin  "  seems  to  spring  either  from  a  dimi- 
the  Danish  "  Spogelse,"  without  the  sibi-  nutive — Koboldein  ?  or  a  feminine  termi- 
lant  aspiration.     These  words  are  general  nation,  Koboldinn  ? 


(32)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

Gervase  of  Tilbury,  who  oppressed  the  sleeper,  injured  his  person,  de- 
spoiled his  property,  and  bore  off  his  children,  are  either  confounded 
by  that  worthy  chronicler  with  the  separate  characters  of  the  Ephialtes 
and  Lamia ;  or  the  local  creed  of  some  particular  spot  had  concentrated 
in  his  day  the  propensities  of  both  in  one  personage.  The  numerous 
tales  gathered  by  Praetorius  observe  the  classical  distinctions  of  anti- 
quity ;  with  them  it  is  the  Incubus  or  Alp,  who  causes  those  painful 
sensations  during  sleep,  which  the  ancient  physicians  have  so  aptly 
termed  the  nocturnal  epilepsy ;  and  it  is  the  same  race  of  misshapen 
old  hags  with  the  Lamiae  of  Gervase  56,  who,  like  the  ancient  Lamia 
larvata,  alternately  terrify  and  carry  away  the  infant  from  his  cradle. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  from  whose  Essay  "  on  the  Faeries  of  Popular  Su- 
perstition "  the  preceding  notice  of  the  Lamiae  recorded  by  Gervase 
has  been  taken,  has  also  extracted  from  the  Physica  Curiosa  of  Schott, 
a  Frisian  account  of  the  same  destructive  tribe,  where  a  similar  con- 
fusion appears  to  prevail,  though  with  a  different  class  of  spirits.  "  In 
the  time  of  the  Emperor  Lotharius,  in  830,"  says  Schott,  "  many  spectres 
infested  Friesland,  particularly  the  white  nymphs  of  the  ancients,  which 
the  moderns  denominate  witte  wiven,  who  inhabited  a  subterraneous 
cavern,  formed  in  a  wonderful  manner,  without  human  art,  on  the  top 
of  a  lofty  mountain.  These  were  accustomed  to  surprise  benighted 
travellers,  shepherds  watching  their  herds  and  flocks,  and  women  newly 
delivered,  with  their  children;  and  convey  them  into  their  caverns, 
from  which  subterraneous  murmurs,  the  cries  of  children,  the  groans 
and  lamentations  of  men,  and  sometimes  imperfect  words  and  all  kinds 
of  musical  sounds  were  heard  to  proceed."  Divested  of  the  colouring 
which  seems  to  identify  these  spectres  "  with  the  fairies  of  popular  opi- 
nion," a  parallel  fiction  is  related  by  Antonius  Liberalis  (c.  8.)  in  his 
account  of  Sybaris,  to  whom  others  gave  the  more  appropriate  title  of 
Lamia  ;  and,  with  a  change  of  sex  in  the  agent,  the  same  idea  is  found 

56  With  this  class  must  also  be  reckon-  racter ;  and  of  which  Vossius  has  said  : 

ed  the  Gyre-Carline,  or  mother-witch  of  "  Nam  erunt  Lamise  spectra  in  formosa- 

Scotland,  whose  name  is  so  expressive  of  rum  mulierum  figuram  conformata,  quse 

her    character    (gyr-falcon,     ger-hound,  adolescentes  formosos   voluptatibus   deli- 

Trevisa).  niebant,  dum  eos  devorarent."  Etymolog. 

Thair   dwelt  ane  grit  Gyre-Carling,   in  S.  Lat.  in  Lamia.     Compare  also' Diodo- 

awld  Betokis  bour,  rus  s  account  of  the  queen  of  Libyssa, 

That  levit  upoun  Christiane  menis  flesche,  L  «•  ?•  754'    Vossius  has  likewise  shown 

and  rewheids  unleipit.  that  the  same  notion  was  current  m  Jud^a. 

There  is  one  circumstance  in  the  history 

In  this  she  becomes  identified  with  the  of  the  Gyre-Carline,  which  runs  through 

"  Raw-head-and-bloody-bone,s  "    of    the  all  mythology  : 

English  nursery.     In  the  fiction  on  which  T 

the  beautiful  ballad  of  Glenfinlas  is  found-  ^  P*  Betok  was  l'°rn 

ed,  we  have  the  poetic  version  of  her  cha-  Scho  (the  G'  Carhne)  bred  °f  an  acorn*- 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (33) 

in  the  curious  narratives  of  Pausanias  and  ^Elian,  relative  to  the  "  dark 
daemon  "  or  hero  of  Temessa 57.  The  earliest  memorial  of  them  in 
European  fiction  is  preserved  to  us  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  poem  of  Beo- 
wulf. In  this  curious  repository  of  genuine  Northern  tradition,  by  far 
the  most  interesting  portion  of  the  work  is  devoted  to  an  account  of  the 
hero's  combats  with  a  male  and  female  spirit,  whose  nightly  ravages  in  the 
hall  of  Hrothgar  are  marked  by  all  the  atrocities  of  the  Grecian  fable. 

Under  the  comprehensive  name  of  Fairy,  almost  every  member  of 
the  preceding  catalogue  has  been  indiscriminately  mingled  in  the 
living  recitals  of  the  cotter's  family  circle,  and  the  printed  collections 
of  our  popular  tales.  A  slight  attention,  however,  to  the  distinctive 
marks  established  in  the  ancient  world,  will  easily  remedy  the  confusion  ; 
and  few  readers  will  require  to  be  told,  that  the  fairies  who  attend  the 
birth  and  foretell  the  fortunes  of  a  hero  or  heroine,  who  connect  the 
destinies  of  some  favoured  object  with  the  observance  of  a  command  or 
the  preservation  of  an  amulet,  are  the  venerable  Parca?  of  antiquity. 
The  same  rule  will  hold  good  of  the  rest ;  and  it  therefore  only  remains 
to  notice  the  Fairy  of  romance,  and  the  Elf  or  Fairy  of  the  mountain- 
heath.  The  former  has  been  considered  to  have  derived  her  origin 
from  the  same  country  which  has  supplied  us  with  the  name.  For  this 
hypothesis  there  is  better  reason  than  usually  attaches  itself  to  the  so- 
lution of  an  antiquarian  problem  by  the  etymologist ;  and  Warton  has 

57  Vid.  jElian.  Hist.  viii.  c.  18.  Pau-  nicors  or  nicers,  a  species  of  sea  monster 
sanias,  vi.  6.  The  people  of  Temessa  of  which  many  fables  are  current  at  the 
having  slain  a  companion  of  Ulysses,  (who  present  day  in  Iceland,  and  who  in  the 
had  violated  the  chastity  of  a  virgin,)  his  true  spirit  of  a  berserkr,  undertakes  the 
spirit  sought  revenge,  by  carrying  slaugh-  task  of  subduing  Grendel  from  a  pure  love 
ter  and  destruction  into  every  house  and  of  glory.  The  result  in  both  fables  is  the 
the  whole  country  round.  The  Pythian  same.  The  dark  daemon  is  worsted  and 
oracle  recommended  the  erection  of  a  sinks  into  a  lake,  where  he  afterwards  is 
temple,  the  consecration  of  a  grove,  and  found  dead  of  his  wounds.  The  female 
an  annual  sacrifice  of  the  fairest  virgin  in  spirit  is  Grendel's  mother's,  who  answers 
Temessa,  as  the  only  means  of  appeasing  to  the  description  of  A.  Liberalis.  It  may 
the  angry  spirit.  This  was  done.  On  one  be  worth  noticing,  that  a  picture  preserved 
of  these  occasions,  an  Olympian  victor  at  Temessa,  representing  the  combat  of 
named  Euthymus,  inspired  by  mingled  Euthymus,  exhibited  the  daemon  clothed 
feelings  of  love  and  compassion  for  the  in  a  wolf-skin,  and  the  name  of  the  north- 
beautiful  victim,  resolved  on  effecting  her  ern  hero  is  Beo-wulf,  the  wolf-tamer, 
rescue;  and  having  awaited  the  arrival  of  [If  ulfbe  considered  to  mean  Help,  as 
the  daemon,  a  struggle  ensued,  from  which  in  Rad-ulf,  Bot-ulf,  &c.,  the  w  may  belong 
the  latter  made  his  escape,  and  for  ever,  to  the  first  syllable.  In  a  short  note  which 
by  sinking  into  the  sea.  The  ravages  of  I  communicated  to  Mr.  Conybeare  (Illus- 
Grendel  appear  have  been  prompted  by  trations  of  A.  Sax.  Poetry,  1826,  p.  286,) 
the  death  of  an  uncle.  Hrothgar  (in  whose  I  suggested  that  Beaw,  or  Beowius,  of  the 
palace  the  spirit's  nightly  incursions  are  genealogies  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle  and 
made)  and  his  council  vainly  implore  the  W.  of  Malrnesbury,  was  identical  with 
powers  of  hell  (it  is  a  Christian  who  thus  Beowulf,  "  Cutha  and  Cuthwulf  being  also 
denominates  the  gods  of  the  heathen  king)  used  indifferently :  comp.  A.  495  and  854." 
for  the  means  of  commuting  the  deadly  Beaw  occupies  the  same  place  in  the  series 
feud.  The  intelligence  reaches  Beowulf,  with  Biaf  of  Snorro's  Edda,  ed.  Goransson, 
a  champion  who  had  acquired  an  exten-  p.  6. — R.T.] 
sive  reputation  by  his  victories  over  the 

VOL.  I.  C 


(34)         MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 


already  shown  that  the  titles  of  the  most  distinguished  in  European 
romance  are  borrowed  almost  to  the  letter  from  the  fables  of  the  East. 
The  Persian  Mergian  and  Urganda  have  unquestionably  furnished  Ita- 
lian poetry  with  its  Morgana  and  Urganda ;  and  there  is  considerable 
plausibility  in  the  assertion 58,  that  the  Peri  of  the  former  country  has 


58  This  guarded  mode  of  expression 
must  not  be  mistaken  for  a  love  of  para- 
dox ;  it  has  proceeded  from  doubts  in  the 
writer's  mind,  which  at  present  he  wants 
leisure  to  satisfy.  The  French  term  for 
our  fairy  or  fay  is  fee;  and,  like  the  Ita- 
lian fata,  is  said  to  be  derived  from  fatua. 
"  Faerie"  was  a  general  name  for  an  illu- 
sion ;  a  sense  in  which  it  is  always  used 
by  Chaucer.  As  an  appellation  for  the 
elfin-race,  in  this  country,  it  is  certainly 
of  late  date ;  and  perhaps  a  mere  corrup- 


tion, a  name  given  to  the  agent  from  his 
acts.  It  is  certainly  not  of  Northern  ori- 
gin. Some  of  the  earliest  French  tales  of 
"faerie"  acknowledge  a  Breton  source; 
may  not  the  term  itself  be  Celtic  ?  The 
"  Ionic  Pheres  of  Hesychius,"  which  has 
been  mentioned  as  an  apparent  synonym 
with  the  Persian  Peri,  is  but  a  different 
aspiration  of  the  Attic  6rjp  (Germ."thier"); 
and  which,  whether  applied  to  centaurs  or 
satyrs,  could  only  b,ave  been  given  to  mark 
their  affinity  with  the  animal  race. 


[Further  examination  wholly  excludes  the  supposed  connection  of  the  word  FAIRY 
with  the  Persian  Peri.  Indeed  as  Feerie  is  obviously  formed  from  Fee  in  the  same 
manner  as  diablerie  from  diable,  or  chevalerie  from  cheval,  the  origin  of  the  mono- 
syllable Fay  or  Fee  only  is  to  be  sought,  without  the  formative  termination ;  and  the 
forms  in  which  this  word  and  its  congeners  exist  in  the  Romance  dialects  seem  to 
leave  no  doubt  that  the  Latin  Fatum  is  its  real  source, 


Latin. 
Fatum. 
Fata,  the  Fates. 


Italian. 
Fato. 
Fata,  enchantress. 


Spanish. 


Hadas,  Hadadas,  witches, 

enchanttd  nymphs. 
Hadar,  to  divine. 
Hadado,  lucky. 


Fatare,  to  charm. 

Fatatum,  destined.     Fatato,  destined, 
(Sallust,  B.  Cat.  c.  47.)     charmed. 

Hadador,  sorcerer. 
Fatatura,  charm. 

Thus,    Fatum,      Fee,  Fairy: 
just  as  Pratum,   Pre,   Prairie. 

Mr.  Tyrwhitt  has  the  following  note  on 
the  word  Faerie,  in  the  Wif  of  Bathes 
Tale  :  "  Feerie,  Fr.  from  fee,  the  French 
name  for  those  fantastical  beings  which  in 
the  Gothick  languages  are  called  Alfs  or 
Elves.  The  corresponding  names  to  fee 
in  the  other  Romance  dialects  are  fata, 
Ital.,  and  hada,  Span. ;  so  that  it  is  pro- 
bable that  all  three  are  derived  from  the 
Lat.  fatum,  which  in  the  barbarous  ages 
was  corrupted  into  fatus  and  fata.  See 
Menage,  in  v.  Fee.  Du  Cange,  in  v.  Fadus. 

Mr.  Keightley,  in  his  Tales  and  Popu- 
lar Fictions,  1834,  p.  340,  expresses  his 
opinion,  "  that,  as  from  the  Latin  grains 
came  the  Italian  verb  aggradare,  and  the 
French  agreer,  so  from  fatum  came  affa- 
tare,fatare,  (Ital.)  and  faer,  feer,  (Fr.), 
signifying  to  enchant ;  and  that  fato,  fata, 
fae,faee,fee,  are  participles  of  these  verbs. 
I  believe  there  is  not  a  single  passage  in 
the  old  French  romances,  in  which  these 
last  words  occur,  where  they  may  not  be 
taken  participially ;  such  are  les  chevaliers 
faes,  les  dames  faees,  and  the  continually 
recurring  phrase  elle  sembloit  (or  ressem- 
bloit)fee.  La  fee  is,  therefore,  lafemme 


French. 
Fee. 

Feer,  to  enchant. 
Fee. 


Feerie. 


fee,  and  une  fee  is  une  femmefee In 

the  Pentamerone/ata  and  fatata  are  evi- 
dently employed  as  equivalents.  I  there- 
fore regard  fata  as  nothing  more  than 
fatata,  contracted  after  the  usual  rule  of 
the  Italian  language,  and  esteem  unafatato 
signify  merely  una  donnafatata." 

See  also  Mr.  Keightley's  Fairy  Mytho- 
logy, 1833,  vol.  i.  p.  1 1,  and  vol.  ii.  pp.  239, 
309  ;  where  the  conclusions  at  which  he 
arrives  coincide  with  those  given  in  the 
above  note,  which,  with  Mr.  Price's  appro- 
bation, I  appended  to  the  Edition  of  1824, 
vol.  iv.  p.  482. 

Mr.  Keightley  enumerates  the  following 
conjectures  as  to  the  etymology  of  Fay, 
and  Fairy  :  Hebr.  IKS),  beauty  :  Greek, 
0»/,oes :  Lat.  Fatua  the  wife  of  Faunus, 
and  the  last  syllable  of  Nym-pha  :  Per- 
sian peri :  Breton,/*^,  or  mat,  good  :  A.S. 
far  an,  to  go :  O.  Eng.  feres,  companions  : 
Eng.  fair.  The  A.  Sax.  fcege,  or  fceie, 
Scotch  fey,  resembles  in  appearance  ;  but 
I  am  not  aware  that  it  has  ever  been  re- 
ferred to,  and  its  meaning  is  fated  to  die. 
Vide  infra,  p.  Ixxi. — R.  TAYLOR.] 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (35) 

been  transmitted  through  the  medium  of  the  Arabic.    But  uniformity  of 
name,  even  admitting  an  identity  of  character,  is  insufficient  to  prove 
that  the  idea  attached  to  the  new  appellative  is  of  no  older  date  in  the 
country  to  which  it  has  been  transferred  than  the  period  when  the 
stranger  term  was  first  introduced.     The  Pelasgian  priesthood  recom- 
mended the  adoption  of  Egyptian  titles  for  the  unnamed  divinities  of 
Hellenic  worship,  on  discovering  that  their  secret  had  been  divulged  ; 
and  the  adoration  of  the  Bsetyli  precedes  the  annals  of  authentic  history 
in  Greece,  while  the  name  is  of  foreign  extraction,  and  evidently  bor- 
rowed at  a  very  late  period.     If  therefore  the  English  *  fairy,'  or  the 
French  (  f eerie,'  have  been  imported  from  the  East,  the  term  itself 
must  be  of  comparatively  recent  date ;   though  the  popular  notion  re- 
specting the  nature  and  attributes  of  the  beings  who  bore  it  is  wholly 
lost  in  the  twilight  of  antiquity.     There  is  no  essential  difference  be- 
tween the  Persian  Peri  and  the  Grecian  Nymph,  however  variedly  the 
inventive  genius  of  either  country  may  have  endowed  them  in  points 
of  minor  consideration.     They  are  both  the  common  offspring  of  the 
same  speculative  opinion,  which  peopled  the  elements  with  a  race  of 
purer  essences,  as  the  connecting  link  between  man  and  his  Creator; 
and  the  modern  Persian,  in  adopting  those  "  who  hover  in  the  balmy 
clouds 59,  live  in  the  colours  of  the  rainbow,  and  exist  on  the  odour  of 
flowers,"  has  only  fixed  his  choice  upon  a  different  class  from  the  an- 
cient Greek.     It  will  however  be  remembered,  that  in  the  particulars 
just  enumerated,  the  Fairies  of  Italian  romance  bear  no  resemblance 
to  the  Peris  of  the  East ;  and  that,  in  almost  every  thing  else  except 
the  name,  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  only  a  reproduction  of  the  Circe 
and  Calypso  of  the  Odyssey.     The  Fairies  in  the  Lays  of  Lanval  and 
Graelent,  or  in  the  romances  of  Melusina  and  Partenopex  de  Blois, 
have  neither  the  gross  propensities  of  the  daughter  of  Helios,  nor  the 
power  and  exalted  rank  of  the  Ogygian  enchantress.     They  approach 
nearer,  both  in  character  and  fortunes,  to  the  nymphs  who  sought  the 
alliance  or  yielded  to  the  importunities  of  Daphnis  and  Rhoecus60,  and, 
like  their  Grecian  predecessors,  were  equally  doomed  to  experience 
the  hollow  frailty  of  human  engagements.     The  conditions  imposed 
upon  the  heroes  of  Hellenic  fable  were  the  same  in  substance,  though 
somewhat  differing  in  form,  from  those  enjoined  the  knights  of  French 

59  These  aerial  nymphs  were  not  foreign  60  For   Daphnis  see  Parthenius,  c.  18  ; 

to  the  Grecian  creed ;  at  least  the  celestial  for  Rhoecus    Schol.    in   Apoll.   Rhod.   ii. 

nymphs  of  Mnesimachus  can  only  be  ac-  v.  479.     See  also  the  history  of  Caunus  in 

counted   for    on    this  notion.     Schol.    in  Conon,  c.  2. ;  and  of  Philammon,  Ib.  c.  7. 
Apollon.  Rhod.  iv.  v.  1412. 

c2 


(36)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREPACR  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

romance,  and  were  alike  transgressed  from  motives  of  self-gratification, 
or  a  weak  compliance  with  the  solicitations  of  others.  There  is  some- 
thing more  consolatory  in  the  final  catastrophe  attached  to  the  modern 
fictions ;  but  this,  as  is  well  known,  has  been  taken,  in  common  with 
the  general  outline  of  the  events,  from  the  beautiful  apologue  of  Apu- 
leius  One  of  the  earliest  tales  of  faery  in  our  own  language,  and  per- 
haps the  most  important  for  the  influence  it  seems  to  have  had  on  later 
productions,  is  contained  in  the  old  romance  of  Orfeo  and  Heurodis61. 
The  leading  incidents  of  this  poem  have  been  borrowed  from  the  clas- 
sical story  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  and  Mr.  Ritson  has  truly  pro- 
nounced its  character  in  saying,  This  lay  or  tale  is  a  Gothic  metamor- 
phosis of  the  episode  so  beautifully  related  by  Ovid.  A  later  writer, 
from  whose  authority  it  is  rarely  safe  to  deviate,  and  to  whose  illustra- 
tions of  popular  fiction  the  present  sketch  is  so  much  indebted,  has  re- 
jected this  opinion,  and  produced  it  as  an  example  of  "Gothic  mythology 
engrafted  on  the  fables  of  Greece62."  In  support  of  this  assertion, 
even  Sir  Walter  Scott's  extensive  knowledge  of  the  subject  might  find 
it  difficult  to  offer  anything  like  satisfactory  proof. 

The  minor  embellishments  of  the  poem,  the  rank  and  quality  of  Or- 
pheus, the  picture  of  his  court,  the  occupations  of  the  Elfin  king,  and 
the  fortunate  issue  of  the  harper's  descent,  are  certainly  foreign  to  the 
Grecian  story,  and  have  been  either  copied  from  the  institutions  of  the 
minstrel's  age,  or  are  the  ready  suggestions  of  his  own  invention.  But 
the  whole  machinery  of  the  fable — the  power  of  Pluto  and  his  queen 
(for  such  Chaucer  has  instructed  us  to  call  the  king  of  Faery),  the 
brilliant  description  of  Elfin  land,  its  glorious  abodes  and  delightful 
scenery,  and  the  joyous  revelry  of  those  who  had  secured  a  residence 
in  the  regions  of  bliss,  and  the  miseries 

Of  folke  that  were  thidder  ybrought, 
And  thought  dead  and  were  nought, — 

are  of  legitimate  Grecian  origin,  and  may  be  read  with  little  variety  of 
style,  though  with  less  minuteness  of  detail,  in  the  visions  of  Thespesius 
and  Timarchus,  recorded  by  Plutarch 63. 

61  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Ritson  De  Genio  Socrat.  c.  22.     If  to  these  the 
chose  to  follow  the  Harleian  MS.  of  this  reader  will  add  Pindar's  description  of  the 
romance,  which  is  so  palpably  inferior  to  Elysian  amusements  (cited  in  Plut.Consol. 
the  Auchinleck  copy.  ad  Apoll.  c.  35.  and  with  some  additions 

62  Essay  on  the  Faeries,  &c.  ut  supra.  in  his  tract  De  Occulte  Vivendo,  c.  vii.) 
[Also  Mr.  Keightley's  Fairy  Mythology.]  and  the  narrative  of  the  Socratic  yEschines 

61  De  Sera   Num.  Vind.  c,  22.    (where  (Axiochus,  §  20.)  on  the  same  subject,  he 

the  text  reads  Soleus  the  Thespesian  ;  but  will  find  a  parallel  for  almost  every  pecu- 

Wyttenbach  has  approved  of  Reiske's  cor-  liarity  of  these  regions  mentioned  in  the 

rection,  which   reverses   the   terms)  and  Auchinleck  MS.  of  Orfeo.     The  popular 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

The  history  of  such  descents,  whether  professing  to  be  made  in  per- 
son, or  by  a  separation  of  •"  the  intelligent  soul  "  from  its  grosser  fel- 
low, and  the  body64,  was  a  favourite  topic  in  the  ancient  world ;  and 
many  visions  of  the  infernal  regions  which  are  made  to  figure  in  modern 
hagiology,  from  the  narrative  of  Bede6b  to  the  metrical  legend  of  Owain 
Miles,  have  borrowed  largely  from  these  pagan  sources.  It  is  however 
obvious,  that  Chaucer's  "  Pluto  king  of  Fayrie"  and  his  "  Queen  Pros- 
erpina" have  been  derived  from  this  or  a  similar  source;  and  the  con- 
fusion which  has  arisen  between  the  Fairies  of  Romance  and  the  Elves 
of  rural  tradition,  may  in  all  probability  be  ascribed  "  to  those  poets 
who  have  adopted  his  phraseology."  By  Dunbar,  Pluto  is  styled  "  an 
elricke  incubus  in  a  clothe  of  grene,"  the  well-known  elfin  livery  ;  and 
Montgomery  confers  upon  the  "  king  of  Pharie"  the  same  verdant 
garb,  an  elvish  stature,  and  weds  him  to  the  Elf-queen. 

All  grathed  into  green, 

Some  hobland  on  a  hemp-stalk,  hovand  to  the  hight, 
The  king  of  Pharie  and  his  court,  with  the  Elf-queen, 
With  many  elfish  incubus  was  ridand  that  night. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  "  Marchaunt's  Tale"  to  justify  this  diminution 
of  king  Pluto's  fair  proportions,  or  to  identify  Queen  Proserpina  with 
the  Elf-queen.  But  in  another  of  Chaucer's  tales,  the  practices  of  the 
latter  and  her  followers  are  called  "  faeries"  or  illusive  visions ;  and  it 
will  easily  be  felt,  that  the  use  of  a  common  name  to  denote  their  re- 
spective actions,  might  eventually  lead  to  the  notion  of  a  community  of 
character. 

In  olde  dayes  of  the  king  Artour — 
All  was  this  lond  ful  filled  of  faerie  ; 


view  of  the  subject  is  discussed  in  his  deeply  into  Northern  and  Oriental  mytho- 
usual  manner  by  Lucian  in  his  several  logy.  The  lady  Similt,  while  seated  be- 
pieces,  Ver.  Hist.  ii.  Necyom.  Catapl.  and  neath  a  linden  tree,  is  carried  off  by  king 
Philops.,  and  a  compound  of  esoteric  and  Laurin  in  the  same  clandestine  manner 
exoteric  doctrines  on  the  same  point  is  to  that  the  king  of  Faerie  conveys  away 
be  found  in  the  Frogs  of  Aristophanes.  Heurodis.  (See  Weber's  Illustrations  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott  justly  considers  the  ymp-  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  150.)  The  rock 
tree,  a  tree  consecrated  to  some  daemon,  of  entrance  to  the  fairy  realm  is  the  Xew- 
rather  than  a  grafted  tree,  as  interpreted  icada  TreTprjv  of  the  Odyssey,  xxiv.  11.; 
by  Mr.  Ritson.  This  point  of  popular  and  perhaps  the  lapis  manalis  of  Latium. 
superstition  seems  to  be  referred  to  by  64  See  Wyttenbach's  note  to  the  vision 
Socrates  in  the  Phaedrus,  where,  with  his  of  Thespesius,  concerning  this  division  of 
accustomed  style  of  irony,  he  ascribes  a  the  soul  into  vovs  and  ip^X*??  an<l  the 
sudden  fit  of  nympholepsy  to  the  vicinage  sources  from  whence  Plutarch  obtained  it. 
of  a  plane-tree  adorned  with  images,  and  C5  Hist.  Ecclesiast.,  lib.  v.  c.  13.  Corn- 
dedicated  to  the  Nymphs.  (Phaedr.  276.)  pare  also  the  vision  or  trance  of  the  Pam- 
But  this  idea  of  daemoniacal  trees  enters  phylian  Er  in  Plato's  Itep.  lib.  x.  in  fine, 


(38)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

The  elf-quene  with  her  joly  compaynie, 
Danced  ful  oft  in  many  a  grene  mede. — 
But  now  can  no  man  see  non  elves  mo, 
For  the  grete  charitee  and  prayeres 
Of  limitoures,  and  other  holy  freres, 
That  serchen  euery  land,  and  euery  streme — 
This  maketh  that  ther  ben  no  faeries. 
For  ther  as  wont  to  walken  was  an  elf 
Ther  walketh  now  the  limitour  himself. 

WIFE  OF  BATH'S  TALE. 

However  this  may  be,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  at  one  period  the 
popular  creed  made  the  same  distinctions  between  the  queen  of  Faerie 
and  the  Elf-queen  that  were  observed  in  Grecian  mythology  between 
their  undoubted  parallels,  Artemis  and  Persephone.  At  present  the 
traces  of  this  division  are  only  faintly  discernible ;  and  in  the  Scottish 
ballad  of  Tamlane,  (Minstrelsy,  vol.  ii.)  the  hero,  though  "a  wee  wee 
man,"  declares  himself  &  fairy  both  in  "  lyth  and  limb,"  a  communica- 
tion which  leaves  us  at  no  loss  to  divine  the  size  of  the  fairy  queen 
who  had  "  borrowed  him."  The  beautiful  ballad  of  Thomas  the 
Rhymer66,  and  even  the  burlesque  imitation  of  some  forgotten  romance 
by  Chaucer  in  his  "  Rhyme  of  Sir  Thopas,"  make  the  Elf-queen 
either  joint  or  sole  sovereign  of  fairy-land;  while  the  locality,  scenery 
and  inhabitants  of  the  country  prove  it  to  be  the  same  district  de- 
scribed in  Sir  Orfeo.  In  the  former  fiction  she  is  represented  as  only 
quitting  the  court  of  her  grisly  spouse,  to  chase  the  "  wild  fee"  upon 
earth6?;  her  costume  and  attributes  are  of  the  same  sylvan  cast  with 
those  which  distinguished  the  huntress-queen  of  antiquity ;  and  the 
fame  of  her  beauty  inspires  the  lovelorn  Sir  Thopas  with  the  same  rash 
resolves  which  from  a  similar  cause  were  said  to  have  fired  the  bosom 
of  Pirithous.  In  the  remaining  details  of  Thomas  the  Rhymer,  she  is 

66  The  editor  has  already  sinned  too  of  his  birth-place.     The  strong  power  of 

deeply  against  the  fame  of  true  Thomas,  local  association  has  been  sufficiently  ma- 

(see  infra,  p.  96.)  to  make  the  conceal-  nifested  in  the  character  acquired  by  a 

inent  of  his  opinion  respecting  this  my-  recent  residence  at  Erceldoune.    See  pre- 

sterious  personage  a  saving  condition  on  face  to  Sir  Tristram. 

which  he  might  build  a  hope  of  forgive-  6?  A  very  veracious  gentleman  in  one  of 

ness   for    his  previous  indiscretion.      He  Lucian's  dialogues,  has  borne  testimony 

will  therefore  further  state  that,  after  con-  to  the  hunting  propensities  of  the  Queen 

trasting  the  little  we  know  of  the  real,  of  Hell,  whom  he  calls  Hecate.    (Philops. 

withthefictitioushistoryofauldRymer,"  c.  17.)     The  account  of  the  elf-queen  and 

he  has  arrived  at  that  conviction,  which  is  her  followers  while  engaged  in  the  chase 

easier  felt  than  accounted  for,  that  the  laird  maybe  compared  with  Od.  vii.  101.  and 

of  Erccldoun  has  usurped  the  honours  and  Virgil's  imitation   of  the    same  passage, 

reputation  of  some  earlier  seer,  and  ga-  JEn.  i.  498. 
thercd  round  his  name  the  local  tradition 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (39) 

clearly  identified  with  the  daughter  of  Demeter ;  and  the  description 
of  the  journey  to  Eli-land68  will  remind  the  reader  of  a  story  in  ^lian 
respecting  the  fabled  Anostos,  or  that  country  whose  expressive  name 
has  been  so  aptly  paraphrased, 

The  bourne  from  whence  no  traveller  returns. 

In  the  Grecian  fiction,  "the  blude  that's  shed  on  earth"  seems  rather 
to  have  impregnated  the  atmosphere69,  than  dyed  "  the  springs  of 
that  countrie  :"  but  the  rivers  that  flowed  around  it,  the  waters  of  joy 
and  grief,  each  produced  a  tree,  whose  fruits  were  as  marvellous  in 
their  effects  as  the  apple  bestowed  on  "  true  Thomas."  Nor  is  the 
prophetic  power  acquired  by  the  Rhymer  in  consequence  of  his  visit 
to  this  unearthly  region,  a  novel  feature  in  the  history  of  such  fictions. 
In  one  of  Plutarch's  tracts70,  a  certain  Cleombrotus  entertains  the 
company  with  an  account  of  an  eastern  traveller,  whose  character  and 
fortunes  are  still  more  remarkable  than  those  of  the  Scottish  seer.  Of 
this  man  we  are  told,  that  he  only  appeared  among  his  fellow  mortals 
once  a  year.  The  rest  of  his  time  was  spent  in  the  society  of  the 
nymphs  and  demons,  who  had  granted  him  an  unusual  share  of  per- 
sonal beauty,  had  rendered  him  proof  against  disease,  and  supplied  him 
with  a  fruit,  which  was  to  satisfy  his  hunger,  and  of  which  he  partook 
only  once  a  month.  He  was  moreover  endowed  with  a  miraculous  gift 
of  tongues,  his  conversation  resembled  a  spontaneous  flow  of  verse,  his 
knowledge  was  universal,  and  an  annual  visitation  of  prophetic  fervor 
enabled  him  to  unfold  the  hidden  secrets  of  futurity. 

The  Elves  and  Fairies  of  rural  tradition  who  "  dance  their  ringlets 
to  the  whistling  wind,"  and  the  traces  of  whose  midnight  revels  are  still 
detected  on  the  sward,  seem  originally  to  have  been  distinguished  from 
the  Fairies  of  romance,  by  their  diminutive  stature  and  the  use  of  a 
common  livery.  In  the  former  circumstance  popular  fiction  has  only 

68  Three  days  they  travel  through  dark-  «  See  Milan,  Var.  Hist.  iii.  18.     In  Lu- 

ness,  up  to  their  knees  in  water,  and  only  cian's  Ver.  Hist.  ii.  3.  (and  which  contains 

hear   the  "  swowyng  of  the  flode."     In  only  exaggerated  statements  of  popular 

this  we  have  the  ocean  stream  and  Cim-  opinion),  one  of  the  rivers  encompassing 

merian  darkness,  Od.  xi.  13.     The  spot  his  region  of  torment  flows  with  blood, 

where  Thomas  laid  his  head  in  the  lady's  The  bloody  Acherousian  rock  in  Aristo- 

lap,  is  the  same  cross-way  in  which  Minos,  phanes  (Frogs,  474.)  appears  to  be  con- 

Rhadamanthus,    and   ^Eacus  held   their  nected  with  a  similar  notion, 
tribunal;  one  of  whose  roads  led  to  the  7°  De  Defectu  Oraculorum,  c,  21.    Lu- 

isles  of  the  blest,  and  the  other  to  Tarta-  cian  plays  upon  the  supposed  knowledge 

rus.    Plat.  Gorg.  p.  524.     The  forbidden  of  future  events  gained  by  a  visit  to  the 

fruit,  whose  taste  cut  off  all  hope  of  re-  infernal  regions,  in  his  Ver.  Hist.  ii.  and. 

turn,  is  another  version  of  the  pomegra-  Philops.     For  the  use  made  of  it  by  mo- 

natc-apple  which  figures  so  mysteriously  dern  poets  see  Heyne's  fourteenth  Excur- 

in  the  history  of  Proserpine.  sus  to  the  sixth  book  of  the  JEneid. 


(40)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

been  faithful  to  the  earliest  creed  of  nations,  respecting  the  size  and 
form  of  their  domestic  and  inferior  deities ;  and  of  which  examples  are 
to  be  found  in  the  household  gods  of  Laban,  the  Pataeci  of  Phenicia, 
the  Cabiri  of  Egypt  and  Samothrace,  the  Idaean  Dactyli  of  Crete,  the 
Anaces  of  Athens,  the  Dioscuri  of  Lacedaemon,  the  earth-god  Tages 
of  Etruria,  and  the  Lares  of  Latium.  It  would  be  out  of  place  to  enter 
here  upon  the  probable  causes  which  have  led  to  this  community  of 
opinions  as  to  the  stature  of  these  subordinate  divinities ;  and  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  remark,  that  the  practice  of  romance  in  elevating  them  to 
the  standard  of  "human  mortals71,"  has  only  followed  an  ancient  pre- 
cedent already  noticed  in  speaking  of  the  dwarfs.  There  is  even  reason 
to  believe,  that  the  occasional  adoption  of  a  larger  form  was  not  wholly 
inconsistent  with  the  popular  belief  on  the  subject ;  since  the  fairy  of 
Alice  Pearson  once  appeared  to  her  in  "  the  guise  of  a  lustie  man,"  and 
the  ballad  of  Tamlane  admits  a  change  of  shape  to  be  a  leading  cha- 
racteristic of  the  whole  fairy  race : 

Our  shape  and  size  we  can  convert 
To  either  large  or  small ; 

An  old  nutshell 's  the  same  to  us 
As  is  the  lofty  hall.?' 

But  the  stature  of  the  Elves  and  Fairies  who  presided  over  the  mountain- 
heath,  will  find  a  parallel  in  a  kindred  race,  the  rural  Lars  of  Italy ; 
while  their  attributes,  their  habitations,  their  length  of  life,  and  even 
their  name,  will  establish  their  affinity  with  the  Grecian  nymphs. 
"  Their  drinking-cup  or  horn,"  which  was  "  to  prove  a  cornucopia  of 
good  fortune  to  him  who  had  the  courage  to  seize  it73,"  is  the  sacred 
chalice  of  the  Nymphs,  whose  inexhaustible  resources  are  so  frequently 
noticed  in  Grecian  fable,  and  to  which  we  shall  again  have  occasion  to 

71  A  distinction  used  by  Titania  in  the  7*  See  the  Essay  on  the  Fairies,  &c., 
Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  act  ii.  sc.  2.  where  mention  is  made  of  the  goblet  pre- 

72  The  minor  details  of  this  ballad  wear  served  in  Eden-hall  in  Cumberland,  on 
too  modern  an  aspect  to  make  it  of  au-  which   the   prosperity   of  the   Musgrave 
thority,  unless  supported  by  other  testi-  family  depended.     Prsetorius  informs  us, 
mony.    The  story  however  is  indisputably  that  a  member  of  the  house  of  Alvesch- 
ancient.     The  same  power  has  been  al-  leben   received  a  ring  from   a  Nixe,  to 
ready  noticed  in  the  Russian  Leschies,  which  the  future  fortunes  of  his  desc<nd- 
and  is  also  ascribed  to  king  Laurin  in  the  ants  were  said  to  be  attached.  Anthropode- 
Little  Garden  of  Roses,  p.  153.  mus  Plutonicus,  i.  p.  113.     Another  Ger- 
Little  was  king  Laurin,  but  from  many  man  family,  the  Ranzaus,  held  their  pros- 

a  precious  gem  perity  by  the  tenure  of  a  fairy  spindle. 

His  wondrous  strength  and  power  and  his  lb-  P-    1J5.      The  Scholiast  to  Lucian's 

bold  courage  came  ;  Rllet-  Praecept  says,  that  every  prosperous 

Tall  at  times  his  stature  grew,  with  spells  person  was  supposed  to  have  Amaltheea's 

ofgrammary,  [he  be.  horn  in  his  possession. 

Then  to  the  noblest  princes  fellow  might 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (41) 

refer.  The  places  of  their  abode, — the  interior  of  green  hills,  or  the 
islands  of  a  mountain-lake,  with  all  the  gorgeous  decorations  of  their 
dwellings, — are  but  a  repetition  of  the  Dionysic  and  Nymphseic  caves 
described  by  Plutarch  and  Diodorus74  ;  and  their  term  of  life,  like  the 
existence  of  the  daughters  of  Ocean,  though  extending  to  an  immea- 
surable length75  when  compared  with  that  of  the  human  race,  had  still 
its  prescribed  and  settled  limits.  To  this  it  may  be  added,  that  the  dif- 
ferent appellations  assigned  them  in  Hellas  and  Northern  Europe,  ap- 
pear to  have  arisen  from  a  common  idea  of  their  nature ;  and  that  in 
the  respective  languages  of  these  countries  the  words  elf  and  nymph 76 
convey  a  similar  meaning. 

After  this  brief  review  of  a  most  important  subdivision  of  the  ele- 
ments of  popular  fiction,  it  will  not  be  too  much  to  affirm,  that  if  their 
introduction  into  Europe,  and  their  application  to  the  embellishment  of 
romantic  poetry,  had  been  dependent  upon  foreign  agency,  the  national 
creed  of  Greece  has  the  fairest  claim  to  be  considered  as  the  parent 
source.  But  in  this,  as  in  so  many  other  points  of  public  faith  com- 
mon to  the  Greek  and  the  Barbarian,  it  is  impossible  not  to  perceive 
the  fragments  of  a  belief  brought  from  some  earlier  seat  of  empire,  and 
which  neither  could  have  been  imported  into  Hellas  and  Western  Europe 
by  a  new  dynasty  of  kings,  nor  communicated  by  a  band  of  roving 
minstrels.  In  the  illustrations  they  have  received  during  the  long  course 
of  their  preservation,  and  under  circumstances  so  varying  as  all  the 
public  and  private  events  that  fill  the  histories  of  these  countries,  there 
will  of  course  be  many  particulars  exhibiting  little  affinity  with  each 
other,  and  which  taken  separately  may  seem  to  deny  this  community 
of  their  origin.  But  even  these,  when  carefully  examined,  will  be 
mostly  found  to  resolve  themselves  into  distinctions  arising  from  a  dif- 
ference of  national  character,  or  corruptions  produced  by  some  later 
change  in  national  institutions ;  and  the  most  discordant  will  hardly 
afford  a  stronger  contrast  in  their  lineaments,  than  the  physical  differ- 

?4  See  Plutarch  de  Sera  Num.  Vind.,  a  stream  of  running  water,  and  hence  the 

and  Diod.  Sic.  lib.  iii.  c.  68.  name  of  the  river  Elbe.  The  Grecian 

?3  For  the  lives  of  the  fairies,  see  Mr.  vv[A<f>t)  has  the  same  import  with  the  Latin 

Reed's  note  to  the  Midsummer  Night's  lympha,  an  idea  which  is  also  preserved 

Dream,  in  the  variorum  edition  of  Shak-  in  the  Roman  name  for  the  disease  called 

speare ;  for  that  of  the  Nymphs  (which  Nympholepsy.  "  Vulgo  autem  memoriae 

Hesiod  makes  equal  to  nine  thousand  proditum  est,  quicumque  speciem  quan- 

seven  hundred  and  twenty  years),  Plu-  dam  e  fonte,  id  est,  effigiem  nyrr.phae  vi- 

tarch  De  Defectu  Oraculor.  c.  xi.  Pindar  derint,  furendi  non  fecisse  (inem,  quos 

gives  the  Dryads  a  much  shorter  term,  or  Graeci  vv[j,(po\riTrTovs,  Latini  lymphalos 

a  life  equivalent  to  that  of  the  trees  they  appellant."  Fcstus,  ap.  Salm.  Exercit. 

inhabit.  Ib.  Plin.  7C5.  [Alveus  ;  Alpheus.] 

76  In  the  Northern  languages  elf  means 


(42)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

ences  displayed  in  the  conformation  of  the  human  frame  upon  the 
shores  of  the  ^JEgean  Sea  and  the  banks  of  the  Frozen  Ocean.  In 
Greece,  like  every  thing  else  which  has  been  exposed  to  the  refining 
taste  of  that  extraordinary  people,  they  will  all  be  found  submitted  to 
the  same  plastic  norm  which  fitted  the  bard's  "  thick-coming  fancies" 
for  the  studies  of  the  sculptor :  and  in  modern  Europe,  a  new  religion, 
in  attempting  to  curtail  their  influence  or  obliterate  the  remembrance 
of  them,  has  more  or  less  corrupted  the  memorials  of  their  attributes. 
It  is  to  the  latter  that  we  must  more  particularly  look  for  an  explanation 
of  those  anomalies,  which  not  only  appear  to  contradict  our  recollec- 
tions of  antiquity,  but  occasionally  to  exhibit  the  popular  faith  as  being 
at  variance  with  itself.  It  will  scarcely  need  remark,  that  the  intro- 
duction of  Christianity  among  the  nations  of  the  West,  must  speedily 
have  effected  a  change  in  general  opinion,  as  to  the  right,  and  the  de- 
gree, in  which  these  imaginary  divinities  were  commissioned  to  exert  a 
power  over  the  destinies  of  man.  But  so  gradual  were  the  successes 
of  the  triumphant  faith  over  this  particular  branch  of  the  ancient  creed, 
that  although  the  memory  of  "Thunaer,  Wodan,  and  Saxnote77,"(?)  is 


77  Such  are  the  names  of  the  three  di- 
vinities mentioned  in  the  Francic  profes- 
sion of  faith  published  by  Eccard.  Francia 
Orientalis,  vol.  i.  p.  440.  Ek  forsacho 
Thunaer  ende  Woden,  ende  Sax- 
note,  end  allem  them  unholdum  the  hira 
genotas  sint.  I  renounce  (forsake)  Thu- 
naer and  Wodan  and  Saxnote,  and  all 
those  impious  (spirits)  that  are  their  as- 
sociates. The  name  of  Saxnote  has  been 
a  stumbling-block  to  the  critics,  and  ap- 
pears likely  to  remain  so.  In  its  present 
condition  the  word  has  certainly  no  intel- 
ligible meaning,  and,  if  correct,  refers  to 
a  deity  of  whom  no  other  trace  exists. 
The  usual  interpretation,  Saxon  Odin,  is 
a  mere  conjecture,  and  certainly  not  a 
happy  one.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Mr. 
A.  W.  Schlegel's  emendation  (Indische 
Bibliothek,  p.  256.)  of  Saxrnote  or  assem- 
bly of  the  Saxons,  at  which  they  celebrated 
heathen  festivals,  and  which  is  as  objec- 
tionable on  the  score  of  grammar  as  the 
decried  Saxnote.  One  remarkable  cir- 
cumstance in  the  present  text  is,  that 
Thunaer  and  Wodan  are  not  inflected, 
while  the  conjunction  has  gained  the  very 
addition  in  which  they  are  defective.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  no  one  has  consulted 
the  original  document  since  the  publica- 
tion of  the  first  transcript. — It  is  difficult 
to  understand  why  this  formulary  should 
be  made  the  foundation  of  a  theory,  that 
Wodan  and  Odin  are  distinct  personages. 


The  well-known  practice  of  the  Scandi- 
navian dialects,  which  suppresses  the  aspi- 
rate in  all  those  words  that  in  the  cog- 
nate tongues  begin  with  a  w,  will  suffi- 
ciently account  for  the  difference  of  ortho- 
graphy. That  they  occupied  the  same 
rank  in  the  respective  mythologies  of  the 
two  great  Teutonic  stocks,  is  confirmed 
by  the  days  named  after  them.  In  En- 
gland we  have  had  successively  Wodnes- 
dag  and  Wednesday  (prout  Wensday). 
In  Denmark  it  has  been  Odins-dagr  and 
Oens-dag.  It  was  from  this  circumstance, 
in  all  probability,  coupled  with  the  notion 
of  Wodan's  or  Odin's  psychopompic  du- 
ties, that  the  Romans  were  induced  to 
consider  him  as  the  same  deity  with  their 
own  Mercury.  In  an  Etruscan  patera 
published  by  Winkelmann  and  afterwards 
by  Lanzi,  this  god  is  seen  weighing  the 
souls  of  Memnon  and  Achilles;  which 
would  afford  another  reason  for  the  sup- 
posed affinity.  But  the  worship  of  Odin 
as  supreme  God,  like  that  of  Dionysus  in 
his  mysteries,  and  perhaps  of  Osiris  (see 
Zoega  De  Usu  Obeliscorum),  appears  to 
have  been  a  comparatively  recent  feature 
in  the  Northern  creed.  Thunaer,  Thor, 
was  the  Thunderer,  and  hel'd  the  same 
precedence  in  Norway,  the  last  refuge  of 
his  worship,  that  he  does  in  the  Francic 
renunciation.  The  day  consecrated  by  his 
name  was  also  the  Northern  sabbath. 
There  is  so  much  affinity  between  some 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (43) 

scarcely  distinguishable  among  the  documents  of  several  centuries,  a 
continued  belief  in  the  agency  of  their  subordinate  associates  still  main- 
tains its  sway  over  every  sequestered  district  of  Northern  Europe. 
Perhaps  the  sweeping  clause  which  was  to  embrace  the  whole  of  this 
fraternity,  and  who  were  far  too  numerous  to  be  specifically  named, 
either  admitted  of  an  accommodating  latitude  in  the  interpretation,  or 
was  taken  with  considerable  mental  reservation.  However  this  may 
be,  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  the  expounders  of  the 
new  religion  were  rarely  free  from  those  impressions  which,  imbibed  in 
early  infancy,  the  reason  vainly  struggles  to  eradicate  in  after  life,  and 
of  which  it  may  be  said,  that  however  little  they  generally  appear  to 
govern  our  external  conduct,  they  always  maintain  their  ground  in  the 
recesses  of  the  mind.  Few  could  have  been  bold  enough  to  assert  that 
the  memorials  of  the  past,  and  the  alleged  experience  of  the  present, 
had  no  better  foundation  than  the  terrors  and  caprice  of  an  over-heated 
imagination,  or  those  illusions  of  the  sense  which  owe  their  existence 
to  disease  or  defective  organization.  Many  must  have  retained  a  lurk- 
ing conviction  of  the  truth  of  their  former  belief ;  and  even  where  this 
was  not  the  case,  the  weapon  which  had  been  so  successfully  wielded 
in  crushing  the  rule  of  Wodan,  could  only  be  exerted  with  diminished 
effect ;  since  the  same  day  which  heard  the  proofs  of  his  identity  with 
the  Evil  One,  also  witnessed  the  suppression  of  that  ceremonial  which 
alone  ensured  the  permanency  of  the  public  faith.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  superstitions  of  the  forest,  the  mountain,  or  the  domestic  hearth, 
were  attended  with  but  few  rites,  and  those  of  such  a  nature  as  to  be 
easily  concealed  from  the  general  eye.  The  divinities  addressed  were 
mostly  local,  either  attached  to  particular  places,  persons,  or  things, 
and  only  petitioned  or  deprecated  in  matters  of  private  interest.  And 
however  forcibly  it  might  be  urged  that  their  interference  in  human 
affairs  was  only  prompted  by  the  machinations  of  Satan,  yet  as  this 
was  nothing  better  than  a  change  of  name  in  the  cause,  without  denying 
the  effect,  and  no  equivalent  agency  was  made  to  supply  its  place,  these 
arguments  only  tended  to  corrupt  without  extirpating  the  obnoxious 
opinions.  The  consequence  of  such  a  temporizing  system, — but  which, 
with  reference  to  the  state  of  society  that  it  was  called  upon  to  influ- 
ence, contains  more  practical  wisdom  than  it  has  usually  received  credit 
for, — was  a  gradual  amalgamation  of  the  ancient  and  established  faith. 

parts  of  the  history  of  Odih,  Dionysus,  and  and  ^Egyptian  mythology,  without  viola- 
Osiris,  that  the  name  of  either  might  be  ting  the  general  truth  of  the  recital, 
substituted  in  the  respective  accounts  of          ["Vodden,  er  ver  kaullum  OJrin."  Snor- 
Snorro,  and  the  several  writers  on  Greek  ro's  Edda,  p.  6.] 


(44)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OP  1824. 

In  those  documents  approaching  nearest  to  the  aera  of  a  nation's  con- 
version, such  as  the  oldest  Icelandic  Sagas,  we  find  the  mention  of  these 
domestic  deities  attended  with  no  diminution  of  their  power,  or  dero- 
gation from  their  former  rank.  In  later  periods  they  are  chiefly  noticed 
to  mark  the  malignancy  of  their  disposition,  or  to  ridicule  their  impo- 
tent pretensions,  and  occasionally  they  are  brought  forward  to  bear  their 
reluctant  testimony  to  the  superiority  of  the  dominant  faith.  From  this 
source  have  emanated  those  recitals  which  exhibit  to  us  either  dwarfs 
or  fairies  expressing  a  desire  of  procuring  the  baptismal  rite  for  their 
infant  offspring ;  and  those  corruptions  of  a  still  later  age,  which  repre- 
sent their  condition  as  only  seemingly  felicitous,  and  the  joys  and  mar- 
vels of  their  subterranean  abodes  as  the  mere  varnished  exterior  of 
misery  and  filth78.  It  is  true,  where  the  stream  of  tradition  has  con- 
tinued pure,  we  still  find  them  spoken  of  as  the  beneficent  friends  and 
protectors  of  mankind ;  as  still  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  attributes  and 
pleasures,  their  gardens  of  ever-blooming  verdure,  'their  adamantine 
palaces,  their  feasts,  their  revelry,  their  super-earthly  and  entrancing 
music.  The  Gael  indeed  has  condemned  his  Daoine  Shi'  to  the  hollow 
mockery  of  these  delights ;  but  the  Cymry,  more  faithful  to  the  tenets 
of  his  ancestors,  believes  his  Tylwyth  Teg  to  be  in  the  continuance  of 
their  former  rights  and  happiness,  which  the  folly  alone  of  the  human 
race  has  deprived  the  present  generation  from  sharing  in79. 

There  will  be  no  necessity  for  entering  minutely  into  those  embel- 
lishments of  popular  fiction,  which  owe  their  existence  to  a  general  be- 
lief in  the  powers  of  magic,  sortilege,  and  divination 80.  The  conformity 

78  Perhaps  to  these  ought  to  be  added  human  nature  has  frailties  enough  to  an- 

"  the  paying  the  kane  to  hell;"  but  if,  as  swer  for,  without  ascribing  to  its  "  malig- 

it  is  believed,  the  whole  fairy  system  be  nity  "  the  invention  of  magic  rites  and  ce- 

but  another  name  for  the  ancient  demon-  remonies.  Nothing  can  be  more  clear  in 

ology,  the  fine  may  be  explained  upon  this  important  chapter  of  the  history  of 

other  principles.  The  same  argument  the  human  mind,  than  that  the  invocation 

will  then  apply  to  the  declaration  of  the  and  the  charm  have  regularly  descended 

Northumbrian  dwarf,  who  hoped  for  an  from  the  exploded  liturgies  of  the  temple  ; 

ultimate  though  remote  salvation.  See  and  that  the  discarded  mantle  of  infant 

notes  to  the  Lady  of  the  Lake.  The  bet-  science  has  "  rested  on"  the  wizard  and 

ter  portion  of  the  ancient  demons  were  the  crone.  The  beldame  who  mutters  the 

souls  in  a  progressive  advancement  to-  spell  over  the  bruise  or  the  wound,  only 

wards  perfection,  and  on  their  return  to  practises  the  same  honourable  "  craft " 

their  celestial  birth-place.  which  proved  the  divine  descent  of  the 

?9  See  Grahame's  Sketches,  &c.  quoted  Asclepiades ;  and  the  cattle-spayer  of  Fin- 

in  the  notes  to  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  and  land  publicly  chants  the  Runic  rhyme, 

Davies's  Celtic  Mythology,  p.  156.  at  the  present  day,  with  the  same  assu- 

80  It  may  be  right  to  caution  the  reader  ranee  of  its  efficacy  with  which  the  epode 

against  a  very  common  error,  in  which  was  sung  by  the  priests  of  Pergamus  and 

the  motives  that  gave  rise  to  the  practice  Epidaurus.  Comp.  Pind.  Pyth.  iii.  91. 

of  magic  and  divination  have  been  con-  These  arts,  like  their  names,  bore  once  a 

founded  with  the  criminal  abuses  that  sacred  character  ;  and  however  much  they 

sprang  from  their  use  in  later  times.  Poor  may  have  been  made  to  minister  to  the 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF   1824.          (45) 

of  practice  between  the  ancient  and  modern  world  in  their  application 
of  these  several  arts  has  been  generally  acknowledged,  and  no  exclusive 
theory  has  obtained  to  account  for  the  mode  of  their  transmission. 
Warton  indeed  has  observed,  that  "the  Runic  (Northern)  magic  is 
more  like  that  of  Canidia  in  Horace,  the  Romantic  resembles  that  of 
Armida  in  Tasso :"  but  this  is  an  artificial  distinction,  which  had  no 
existence  in  the  popular  creed,  however  much  it  may  seem  to  be  au- 
thorized by  the  documents  to  which  he  has  referred.  The  magic  of 
the  North  (like  the  poetry  in  which  it  is  found)  may  in  a  great  degree 
be  considered  as  only  a  genial  reflex  of  the  practices  of  daily  life  ;  since 
many  of  the  records  preserving  it  were  written  at  a  period  when  the 
charms  to  produce  the  surprising  effects  noticed  by  Warton  might  more 
or  less  be  procured  at  every  wizard's  cell.  The  magic  of  romance  with 
"  the  sublime  solemnity  of  its  necromantic  machinery  "  was  obviously  a 
matter  of  only  traditional  belief.  A  few  vain  pretenders  to  superior 
intelligence  in  the  art  could  alone  have  professed  to  accomplish  its 
marvels81,  or  some  equally  silly  boasters  to  have  witnessed  them;  and 
having  sprung  from  the  busy  workings  of  the  fancy  in  decorating  the 
tamer  elements  of  the  popular  faith,  could  have  no  other  existence  than 
in  its  own  fictitious  memorials.  On  this  account  it  is  of  necessity 
wanting  in  all  those  poems  which,  like  the  early  Icelandic  songs,  make 
the  slightest  pretensions  to  historical  worth ;  and  can  only  abound  in 
such  productions  as  either  treat  of  subjects  professedly  mythological, 
or  are  the  manifest  creation  of  the  writer's  invention.  An  injudicious 
comparison  of  these  very  opposite  kinds  of  composition,  has  clearly  led 
to  the  erroneous  opinion  offered  by  Warton  ;  and  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  remark,  that  the  legitimate  spell  of  "  grammarye"  is  to  be  found  in 

follies  and  vices  of  the  multitude,  in  their  attention,  and  to  invest  himself  with  the  ti- 
decried  and  degraded  state,  they  are  clear-  tie  Faustus  junior :  "  Sic  enim  titulum  sibi 
ly  referable  in  their  origin  to  one  of  the  convenientem  formavit  magister  Georgius 
most  exalted  principles  of  our  nature,  or  Sabellicus  Faustus  junior,  fons  necroman- 
(to  use  the  language  of  Prometheus)  were  ticorum,  astrologus,  magus  secundus,  chi- 
first  resorted  to  daipoaiv  TTOOS  rjdovr)v  romanticus,  agromariticus,  pyromanticus, 
(^Esch.  P.  V.  v.  494.).  Their  history  may  et  in  hydra  arte  secundus."  Mr.  Gb'rres 
tend  to  confirm  the  axiom, — that  the  re-  has  given  this  passage  from  a  letter  of 
ligious  usages  of  one  age  often  become  Trithemius,  dated  August  20,  1507.  The 
the  superstition  of  a  succeeding  one  :  but  venerable  Abbot,  after  noticing  several  of 
it  will  also  teach  the  more  consolatory  his  idle  boasts,  proceeds  :  "  In  ultima  quo- 
doctrine,  that  the  impulses  of  the  human  que  hujus  anni  quadragesima  venit  Stau- 
heart  may  be  founded  in  error,  without  ronesum  (Creutznach),  et  simili  stultitia 
necessarily  involving  either  malignity  or  gloriosus  de  se  pollicebatur  ingentia,  di- 
crime.  cens  se  in  Alchemia  omnium  qui  fuerint 
81  Among  these  may  be  reckoned  the  unquam  esse  perfectissimum,  et  scire  at- 
mysterious  personage,  who  in  the  six-  que  posse  quicquid  homines  optaverint" 
teenth  century  availed  himself  of  a  widely  See  Gorres  Volks-biicher,  p.  242, 
circulated  tradition  to  excite  the  public 


(46)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

the  Odyssey,  the  Edda,  and  the  popular  tale82,  as  well  as  in  those  ro- 
mances which  suggested  the  use  of  it  to  Tasso.  If  more  frequently 
resorted  to  in  later  compositions  than  in  the  earlier  fictions,  we  must 
rather  attribute  this  circumstance  to  the  spirit  of  the  times  in  which 
they  were  written,  than  to  any  want  of  faith  in  the  auditors  of  a  ruder 
age :  the  extravagant  events  of  Beowulf's  life  might  make  many  a  bold 
romancer  blush  for  the  poverty  of  his  imagination. 

In  referring  to  those  various  objects  of  inanimate  nature  whose  mar- 
vellous attributes  are  usually  classed  among  the  chief  attractions  of  ro- 
mance, it  will  be  equally  unnecessary  to  enter  largely  into  the  question 
of  their  origin,  as  the  recent  labours  of  abler  antiquaries83  have  clearly 
proved  that  we  are  not  indebted  to  the  middle  age  for  their  first  ap- 
pearance in  popular  poetry.  For  every  purpose  of  the  present  inquiry, 
it  will  be  sufficient  to  enumerate  a  few  of  the  most  important  points  of 
coincidence  between  the  fictions  of  the  ancient  and  modern  world  ;  and, 
in  noticing  some  of  the  disguises  under  which  a  common  idea  has  been 
made  to  pass  from  one  narrative  to  another,  to  evince  the  fondness  of 
popular  taste  for  a  constant  recurrence  of  its  favourite  types.  MM. 
Grimm  have  already  shown  that  the  fatal  garment  of  Dejanira, — and 
which  by  Euripides  has  been  connected  with  a  later  fable, — still  lives 
in  the  German  tale  of  Faithful  John ;  and  that  no  image  is  more  com- 
mon, or  assumes  a  greater  variety  of  forms,  in  the  current  fictions  of 
their  native  country,  than  the  insidious  present  sent  by  Vulcan  to  his 
mother  Juno84. 

Another  favourite  symbol,  and  entering  deeply  into  the  decorations 
of  romance,  is  the  talisman  of  virtue,  by  which  the  frailties  of  either 
sex  were  exposed  to  public  detection ;  and  which  Mr.  Dunlop,  with 
his  accustomed  accuracy,  has  referred  to  the  trial  at  the  Stygian  foun- 
tain, and  traced  through  the  Greek  romances  of  the  Empire  to  the 
romances  of  chivalry  and  the  pages  of  Ariosto.  In  the  prose  romance 
of  Tristram,  whence  the  poet  of  Ferrara  most  probably  borrowed  it, 
the  ordeal  consists  in  quaffing  the  beverage  of  a  drinking-horn,  which 
no  sooner  approaches  the  culprit's  lips,  than  the  contents  are  wasted 
over  his  person.  In  Perceforest  and  in  Amadis,  a  garland  and  rose, 
which  "  bloom  on  the  head  of  her  who  is  faithful,  and  fade  upon  the 
brow  of  the  inconstant,"  are  the  proofs  of  the  appellant's  purity  :  and 

82  See  the  Odyss.  x'rii.  190.    Thor's  ad-  German  Popular  Stories,  translated  from 

ventures  at  Utgarda,  Daemesaga,  41.  and  that  work]  ;  and  a  valuable  essay  on  the 

Chaucer's  Frankelein's  Tale.  same  subject  contained  in  the  Quarterly 

88   See   the  preface   and  notes  to  the  Review,  No.  xxxvii. 

Kinder-    und    Haus-Marchen    of    MM.  M  Kinder-  und  Haus-Marchen,  vol.  iii. 

Grimm  [also  the  late  Mr.  Edgar  Taylor's  p.  19  and  149. 


MB.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1821.        (4?) 

in  the  ballad  published  by  Dr.  Percy,  of  the  Boy  and  the  Mantle, 
where  the  same  test  is  introduced,  the  minstrel  poet  has  adhered  to  the 
traditions  of  Wales,  which  attribute  a  similar  power  to  the  mantle,  the 
knife,  and  the  goblet  of  Tegau  Euroron,  the  chaste  and  lovely  bride 
of  Caradoc  with  the  strong  arm86.  From  hence  it  may  have  been 
transferred  to  the  girdle  of  Florimel,  in  the  Fairy  Queen ;  while  Al- 
bertus  Magnus,  in  affirming  that  "  a  magnet  placed  beneath  the  pillow 
of  an  incontinent  woman  will  infallibly  eject  her  from  her  bed,"  has 
preserved  to  us  the  vulgar,  and  perhaps  the  earliest,  belief  on  the  sub- 
ject86. The  glass  of  Agrippa,  which,  till  our  own  times,  played  a  di- 
stinguished part  in  the  history  of  the  gallant  Surry,  has  been  recently 
made  familiar  to  the  reader's  acquaintance  by  the  German  story  of 
Snowdrop87.  But  this,  in  all  probability,  has  only  descended  to  us 
from  a  mirror  preserved  near  the  temple  of  Ceres  at  Patras;  or 
one  less  artificially  constructed,  though  more  miraculously  gifted,  a 
well  near  the  oracle  of  Apollo  Thurxis,  in  Lycia88.  The  zone  of 
Hippolyte89,  which  gave  a  supernatural  vigour  to  the  "  thews  and 
limbs  "  of  the  wearer,  is  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  girdle  of  the 
Norwegian  Thor ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt,  that  the  brisingamen 
of  Freyia,  which  graced  the  person  of  the  same  pugnacious  deity  on 
his  visit  to  Thrymheim90,  is  the  cestus  of  Venus  under  another  name 
and  form.  Without  possessing  either  the  aegis-hialmr  of  the  Edda,  or 
the  aegis  of  Minerva,  it  might  be  dangerous  to  assert  that  these  petri- 
fying objects  are  verbally  identical ;  since  nothing  short  of  their  terrific 
power  would  be  a  sufficient  protection  against  the  host  of  Hellenic 
philologers,  whom  such  a  declaration  would  infallibly  call  to  arms  91. 

85  Jones's  Bardic  Museum,  p.  60  ;  from  88  See  Pausanias,  vii.  21.     The  former 
whence  all  the  subsequent  notices  of  Bri-  only  exhibited  the  person  and  condition 
tish  marvel  have  been  taken.  of  health  of  the  party  inquired  after ; — 

86  This  power  is  given  to  the  magnet,  the  latter  displayed  whatever  was  desired, 
in  the  Orphic  poem  on  Stones,  v.  314,  &c.  89  Et%e  $e  'iTnroXvTri  TOV  Apeos  %ta- 

87  See   the    German   Popular    Stories  <rr?7pa,(rujU/3oXovrov7rpwreuen>d7ra<ra>v. 
from  the  Kinder-  und  Haus-Marchen  of  Apollod.  Bibl.  ii.  5.  9.     In  Parsee  lore  the 
MM.  Grimm,  p.  133.     It  is  to  be  hoped  girdle  was  a  symbol  of  power  over  Ahri- 
that  the  ingenious  translator  of  this  col-  man.     In  the  Little  Rose-garden,  the  belt 
lection  will  continue  his  labours.     The  of  Thor  has  descended  to  king  Laurin. 
nature  of  his  plan  seems  to  have  excluded  Weber,  p.  153.  The  ring  given  by  the  lady 
many  of  the  tales  most  interesting  to  an  Similt  to  her  brother  Dietlieb,  also  ensured 
antiquary  ;  but  a  supplementary  volume,  victory  to  him  who  wore  it.     Ib.  p.  164. 
containing   some   of  these,  accompanied  90  See  Ssemund's  Edda,  Thryms-Quida. 
with  that  illustration  which  the  translator  91  Aiyis  may  have  meant  a  breastplate 
appears   so  well  able  to   supply,   would  or  helmet  made  of  goat-skin,  just  as  KWCIJ 
greatly  increase   our   obligation   to   him.  meant  a  skull-cap  or  helmet  made  of  dog- 
[The  late  Mr.  Edgar  Taylor  subsequently  skin ;  but  the  fable  on  which  the  Greek 
published  a  second  volume,  but  on  the  grammarians  have  accounted  for  the  ap- 
same  plan  as  the  first :  these  he  re-edited,  plication  of  the  term  to  the  armour  of 
shortly  before  his  decease,  in  one  volume,  Jupiter  and  his  daughter,  is  an  idle  fabri- 
with  the  title  "  Gammer  Grethel,"  1839.]  cation.     The  qualities  of  this  weapon  un- 


(48)       MB.  PRICK'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

In  obedience,  therefore,  to  the  dictates  of  "  the  better  part  of  valour," 
it  will  be  most  prudent  to  remark,  that  they  strikingly  agree  in  their 
appalling  attributes,  and  that  the  thunderer  of  Norway  was  as  efficient- 
ly armed  for  combat  as  his  brother  of  Olympus.  This  segis-hialmr  is 
affirmed  to  have  been  the  crafty  workmanship  of  the  dwarfs,  the  re- 
puted authors  of  every  "  cunning  instrument  "  in  Northern  fiction  ;  and 
who  manufactured  for  An  the  Bow-swinger  and  Orvar  Odd  those  highly  - 
tempered  arrows,  which,  like  the  fabled  dart  of  Procris,  never  missed 
their  object  ;  and  having  inflicted  a  mortal  wound,  returned  to  the 
bowstring  which  had  emitted  themr2.  Another  specimen  of  their  in- 
genuity is  the  ship  of  Freyr,  called  Skidbladnir,  which  though  suffi- 
ciently spacious  to  contain  the  whole  tribe  of  the  Asse,  with  their  arms 
and  equipments,  was  yet  so  artfully  contrived,  that  it  might  be  folded 
like  a  handkerchief  and  carried  about  in  the  pocket13.  The  sails  of 
this  extraordinary  vessel  were  no  sooner  hoisted  than  a  favourable  wind 
sprang  up  ;  an  attribute  which  has  descended  to  another  ornament  of 
Icelandic  fable,  the  bark  Ellide  :  but  this,  like  the  first,  and  often  est- 
sung,  of  ancient  ships,  was  also  gifted  with  the  power  of  understanding 
human  speech94.  Homer,  however,  has  told  us,  that  the  fleets  of  Alci- 
nous  combined  the  advantage  of  the  favouring  gale  with  an  intelligence 
which  enabled  them  to  divine  the  wishes  of  those  they  bore,  and  that 
they  also  had  the  power  of  reaching  their  destined  port  without  the 
assistance  of  a  helmsman  or  a  guide. 

So  shalt  thou  instant  reach  the  realm  assign'd, 
In  wondrous  ships,  self-moved,  instinct  with  mind  : 
No  helm  secures  their  course,  no  pilot  guides  ; 
Like  men  intelligent,  they  plough  the  tides  ; 
Conscious  of  every  coast  and  every  bay 
That  lies  beneath  the  sun's  alluring  ray. 

In  other  fictions  common  to  the  ancient  and  modern  world,  this  idea 

doubtedly  had  some  connexion  with  its  "que  cieret,"  JEn.  viii.  354,  For  the  same 
name  :  reason,  and  not  from  his  goatish  form,  we 

auti  V  ap'  W/tot<nv  fiaXer  aiytia  Ov*.  m**  be  asfsu,red'  the  g°d  of  Arcadia>  *h? 
ct^yi.  K  p.  author  of  the  Panic  terror,  was  called 

™™   HEPI  MEN  HANTH  4>OBOS  ^&n'     In     eandic  "«r  "  mean*  the 


FSTE^ANQTO               11   v   738  stormy  sea  ;  and  in  Anglo-Saxon  we  have 

"  eggian  "  to  excite,  "  eg-stream  "  a  tor- 

The  verb  aiffffu),  from  whence  this  term  rent,  "  ege  "  fear,  and  "  egesian"  to  scare. 

takes  its  derivation,  meant  —  to  move  ra-  92  Compare  Muller's  Saga-Bibliothek, 

pidly,  to  be  violently  agitated  ;  and  hence  p.  532-41,  with  Hyginus,  ed.  Staveren, 

atyiv,  the  tempestuous  wind,  and  ai£,  the  p.  189. 

appellation  given  to  the  stormy  Capella,  93  Edda  of  Snorro,  Daemesaga  37. 

or  the  star  whose  rising  was  productive  of  e4  Muller's  Saga-Bibliothek,  vol.  ii.  p. 

hurricanes.     The  aegis-bearing  Jupiter  of  459.  and  592. 
Virgil  is  the  cloud-compeller  —  "nimbos- 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (49) 

has  been  improved  on,  and  applied  to  a  vast  variety  of  objects  for  con- 
veying the  person  from  place  to  place.  Herodotus,  with  his  charac- 
teristic love  of  the  marvellous,  (tempered  as  this  passion  was  by  an  un- 
rivalled perception  of  the  truth,)  found  it  impossible  to  pass  unnoticed 
the  fable  of  Abaris  and  his  dart-'5.  He  has,  however,  only  mentioned 
the  common  tradition  of  his  day,  that  it  transported  the  Hyperborean 
philosopher  wherever  he  wished,  and  left  to  Jamblichus  the  further 
particulars  of  its  history.  From  the  Pythagorean  romance  of  this 
writer  we  learn,  that  Abaris  had  procured  it  in  the  temple  of  the  Hy- 
perborean Apollo ;  and  that  in  addition  to  the  services  it  had  rendered 
him  in  his  several  journeys  "  by  flood  and  field,"  it  had  assisted  him  in 
performing  lustrations,  expelling  pestilences,  and  allaying  the  fury  of 
the  winds96.  The  place  of  its  deposit  clearly  shows  it  to  have  been  the 
same  miraculous  weapon  employed  by  the  Delian  god  in  destroying  the 
Cyclops ;  for  another  authority  informs  us,  he  buried  this  fatal  dart  in 
an  Hyperborean  mountain,  and  that  when  banished  from  Olympus,  it 
was  daily  borne  to  him  on  the  winds,  laden  with  all  the  fruits  of  the 
season97.  In  this  latter  attribute  it  becomes  identified  with  the  horn 
of  Amalthaea,  and  serves  to  explain  the  mystery  overlooked  by  Jam- 
blichus, how  Abaris,  like  another  Epimenides,  might  devote  his  time 
to  the  service  of  the  gods,  and  yet  never  be  seen  to  eat  or  drink.  In 
the  traditions  of  Wales,  this  dart  has  been  accommodated  to  the  more 
stately  fashions  of  later  times ;  and  one  of  the  thirteen  marvellous  pro- 
ductions of  Britain  is  the  car  of  Morgan,  which  carried  the  possessor 
to  whatever  district  he  desired.  But  here  again  we  have  only  another 
form  for  the  talaria  of  the  Nymphs,  with  which  Perseus  winged  his 
way  to  the  residence  of  Medusa ;  or  the  ring  in  the  German  tale,  The 
King  of  the  Golden  Mountain, — while  in  the  popular  story  of  Fortu- 
natus  it  assumes  the  humbler  guise  of  a  wishing-cap,  and  in  the  rela- 
tions of  the  Kurds,  and  the  history  of  Tom  Thumb,  it  has  descended 
to  the  lowly  shape  of  a  pair  of  seven-leagued  boots.  Another  object 
enumerated  among  the  thirteen  marvellous  productions  of  Britain,  is 
the  veil  or  mask  of  Arthur,  which  had  the  power  of  rendering  the 
wearer's  person  invisible,  without  interrupting  his  view  of  the  things 
around  him.  In  other  fables  of  the  same  country,  this  property  is  also 
given  to  the  ring  of  Eluned 9R,  the  Lunet  of  the  old  English  romance 
of  Ywaine  and  Gawaine :  and  in  several  German  tales  the  hero  is  made 

93  Melpom.  c.  36.  a  conclusion,  that  the  Welsh  and  English 

96  Jamblichus,  Vit.  Pythag.  c.  19.  28.  romances  follow  a  different  tradition.     In 

97  Hyginus,  Astron.  c.  15.  the  Heldenbuch  this  ring  is  given  to  Otnit 

98  Mr.  Jones  calls  Eluned  the  lover  of  by  his  mother.     Weber,  p.  49. 
Owain  ;  which,  if  correct,  would  justify 

VOL.  I.  d 


(50)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

to  conceal  himself  from  the  "  ken"  of  his  companions  by  the  assistance 
of  an  enchanted  cloak.  The  romance  of  king  Laurin,  and  the  far- 
famed  Nibelungen-lied,  follow  the  general  traditions  of  the  North, 
which  confine  this  mysterious  attribute  to  a  nebel-kappe,  or  fog-cap. 
But  however  varied  the  objects  to  which  this  quality  has  been  assigned, 
we  cannot  fail  to  recognise  the  same  common  property  which  distin- 
guished the  helm  of  Pluto,  worn  by  Perseus  in  his  combat  with  Me- 
dusa, or  the  equally  notorious  ring  of  Gyges,  whose  history  has  been 
recorded  by  Plato ".  Without  detaining  the  reader  to  trace  the  lyre 
of  Hellenic  fable  through  the  hands  of  its  several  possessors,  from  Mer- 
cury to  Amphion — 

Dictus  et  Amphion,  Thebanae  conditor  arcis, 
Saxa  movere  sono  testudinis,  et  prece  blanda 
Ducere  quo  vellet—  Hon.  Ar.  Poet.  v.  393. 

we  may  proceed  to  remark,  that  the  earliest  notice  of  its  occurrence  in 
Northern  fiction  is  to  be  found  in  the  mythology  of  Finland.  Waina- 
moinen, the  supreme  god  of  the  Finnish  Olympus,  was  the  inventor  of 
a  stringed  instrument  called  the  kandele,  which,  resembling  a  kit  in  its 
construction,  is  still  played  as  a  guitar.  "  When  this  beneficent  deity 
presented  the  result  of  his  labours  to  mankind,  no  mortal  hand  pos- 
sessed the  skill  to  awake  its  harmonies,  till  the  god  himself,  touching 
the  strings,  and  accompanying  its  notes  with  his  voice,  caused  the 
birds  in  the  air,  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  the  fishes  of  the  sea  to  listen 
attentively  to  the  strain,  and  even  Wainamoinen  was  moved  to  tears, 
which  fell  like  pearls  adown  his  robe  10°."  This  account,  which  is  lite- 
rally copied  from  Finnish  tradition,  will  lose  nothing  by  a  comparison 
with  the  Grecian  fable  of  Orpheus,  and  will  recall  to  the  reader's  me- 
mory the  celebrated  gem  representing  Pan,  the  Grecian  Wainamoinen, 
playing  upon  his  pipe  in  the  centre  of  the  ecliptic.  The  fictions  of  our 

99  De  Repub.  iii.   p.  359.      Plato  has  lustration  is  given,  cannot  be  more  speci- 

most  vexatiously  dismissed  a  part  of  the  fically  referred  to  than  by  citing  the  Scholia 

history  of  this  ring  with  a  icae ....  aXXa  to  Pluto  published  by  Riihnken. 

Te  St]  a  fivOoXoyovin,  little  thinking  that  10°  Mone's  continuation  of  Creutzer,  i. 

the  modern   antiquary  would  have  been  p.  54.     But  this  tradition  appears  to  have 

more  beholden  to  him  for  information  on  found  its  way  into  Scotland.     In  a  singu- 

this  head  than  for  all  the  subtleties  of  the  lar  composition,  published  by  Sir  Walter 

Cratylus,  or  the  speculations  of  the  Par-  Scott,  "  An  Interlude  on  the  laying  of  a 

menides.     Eucrates,    in  '  Lucian's  Philo-  Gaist,"  we  find  the  following  allusion  to 

pseudes,  unblushingly  affirms  that  he  had  it: 
one  of  these  rings  in  his  possession,  and 

had  used   it   on  a  very  trying  occasion  And  sune  mareit  the  gaist  the  fle, 

The  ancients  explained  the  helm  of  Pluto  And  cround  him  kinS  of  Kandelie ; 

to  be  an  impervious   cloud  surrounding  And  they  Sat  theme  betwene 

the  person  of  the  wearer  (such  no  doubt  Orpheus  king  and  Elpha  quene. 

as  is  described  in  the  Little  Garden  of  Minstrelsy,  vol.  i.  p.  164. 
Roses)  :  but  the  passage  in  which  this  il- 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OP  1824.          (51) 

own  country,  or  more  correctly  speaking  those  of  Scotland  and  Wales, 
have  substituted  the  harp,  as  a  more  decidedly  national  instrument,  for 
the  lyre  and  kandele,  and  bestowed  it  upon  two  native  musicians, 
Glaskyrion  and  Glenkindie,  if  indeed  we  are  justified  in  separating 
these  persons101.  The  former  is  the  hero  of  a  well-known  ballad  in 
Dr.  Percy's  Reliques,  (vol.  iii.  p.  84-,)  and  is  placed  by  Chaucer  in  the 
same  rank  of  eminence  with  the  son  of  Calliope  : 

There  herde  I  play  on  a  harpe, 

That  sowned  both  well  and  sharpe, 

Hym  Orpheus  full  craftily  ; 

And  on  this  side  fast  by, 

Sate  the  harper  Orion  (Amphion  ?)* 

And  Eacides,  Chirion, 

And  other  harpers  many  one, 

And  the  Briton  Glaskyrion.         House  of  Fame. 

The  powers  of  Glenkindie's  harp  exceed  all  that  has  been  said  of  its 
rival  instruments : 

He  'd  harpit  a  fish  out  o  saut  water, 

Or  water  out  o'  a  stane, 
Or  milk  out  o'  a  maiden's  breast, 

That  bairn  had  never  nane 102. 

From  hence  the  transition  to  the  horn  of  Oberon,  "  which  if  softly 
sounded  would  make  every  one  dance  who  was  not  of  an  irreproachable 
character;"  or  the  harp  of  Sigurd l03,  which  caused  inanimate  objects 
to  caper  in  the  wildest  confusion,  was  but  an  easy  step.  In  popular 
story  the  same  qualities  have  been  conferred  upon  the  fiddle  of  the 
German  tale  The  Jew  in  the  Bush,  and  the  pipe  of  Jack  in  The  mery 

101  j^|r>   Jamieson    seems    to   consider  fame,  for  the  spirited  manner  in  which  he 

Glenkindie   a   corruption   of  some  local  shook  off  the  trammels  of  the  Ritsonian 

name,  which    has    been    substituted    for  school,  in  his  first  publication,  and  vindi- 

Glaskyrion.     There  can  be  no  doubt  that  cated  the  tasteful  labours  of  Warton  and 

the  ballad  published  by  him,  as  well  as  Dr.  Percy. 

that   in  Dr.  Percy's    collection,  refers  to  *  The  "  harper  Orion"  is  not  meant 

the  same  personage  ;    but  who  this  cele-  by  Chaucer  for  AmpMon,  as  Price  strangely 

brated  harper  may  have  been,  whether  a  conjectures,  butdrion. — R.G. 

native  of  Wales,  Scotland,  or  any  other  102  Jamieson's  Scottish  Ballads,  vol.  i. 

country,  is  not  so  clear.     The  same  ra-  p.  93. 

tionale  will  also  apply  to  the  name. — It  is  103  Herraud  of  Bosa's  Saga,  p.  49-51. 
to  be  regretted  that  a  gentleman  so  emi-  The  pipes  of  Dorco  and  Daphnis,  in  the 
nently  qualified  as  Mr.  Jamieson  to  illus-  pastoral  romance  of  Longus,  seem  to  have 
trate  the  popular  antiquities  of  his  native  had  much  the  same  effect  upon  their  re- 
country,  should  have  abandoned  a  career  spective  flocks.  See  pp.  25.  111.  112.  (ed. 
in  which  he  has  already  attained  so  much  Villoison.)  The  pipe  of  Pan,  in  the  same 
distinction,  and  might  have  acquired  still  romance,  equals  any  thing  recorded  of  its 
greater.  His  name  must  ever  be  held  in  modern  parallels, 
estimation  by  the  friends  of  Warton's 

(12 


(52)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

Geste  of  the  Frere  and  the  Boye,  and  have  thus  developed  the  oppo- 
site and  contrasting  elements  contained  in  this  as  in  every  other  fable, 
and  without  which  no  mythos  seems  to  be  complete. 

A  still  more  favourite  ornament  of  popular  fiction  is  the  highly- 
gifted  object,  of  whatever  form  or  name,  which  is  to  supply  the  fortu- 
nate owner  with  the  gratification  of  some  particular  wish,  or  to  furnish 
him  with  the  golden  means  of  satisfying  every  want.  In  British  fable 
this  property  has  been  given  to  the  dish  or  napkin  of  Rhydderch  the 
Scholar,  which,  like  the  table,  or  table-cloth,  introduced  into  a  variety 
of  German  tales,  no  sooner  received  its  master's  commands,  than  it  be- 
came covered  with  a  sumptuous  banquet.  The  counterpart  of  Rhyd- 
derch's  dish  is  to  be  found  in  another  British  marvel,  the  horn  of  Bran, 
which  spontaneously  produced  whatever  liquor  was  called  for :  and  a 
repetition  of  the  same  idea  occurs  in  the  goblet  given  by  Oberon  to 
Huon  of  Bourdeaux,  which  in  the  hands  of  a  good  man  became  filled 
with  the  most  costly  wine.  In  Fortunatus,  and  those  tales  which  are 
either  imitations  of  his  adventures  or  copied  from  a  common  original, 
an  inexhaustible  purse  is  made  to  meet  the  demands  of  every  occasion ; 
while  in  others,  a  bird,  a  tree,  and  even  the  human  person,  are  made  to 
generate  in  the  same  miraculous  manner  a  daily  provision  of  gold104. 
A  modification  of  the  same  idea  is  also  found  in  the  basket  of  Gwyddno, 
which  no  sooner  received  a  deposit  of  food  for  one,  than  the  gift  be- 
came multiplied  into  a  supply  for  a  hundred  ;  or  in  those  stories,  where 
the  charity  bestowed  upon  the  houseless  wanderer  is  rewarded  by  an 
endless  stock  of  some  requisite  article  of  subsistence105.  In  Hellenic 
fable,  we  have  already  seen  the  dart  of  Apollo  enabling  Abaris  to  live 
without  appearing  to  partake  of  sustenance  ;  and  the  narrative  of  Cle- 
ombrotus,  also  noticed  before,  seems  to  imply  some  similar  resource  on 
the  part  of  his  Eastern  traveller.  Another  mysterious  personage  of 
early  Grecian  fable,  and  whose  goetic  practices,  like  those  of  Abaris, 
have  secured  for  him  a  dubious  fame,  is  Epimenides  the  Cretan.  Of 
him  we  are  also  told  that  he  was  never  known  to  eat,  but  that  he  allayed 
his  hunger  by  occasionally  tasting  a  precious  edible  bestowed  upon 
him  by  the  Nymphs ;  and  which  he  carefully  kept  preserved  in  an  ox's 

104  Mr.  Gorreshns  observed,  in  speaking  MM.  Grimm's  collection.      The  note  on 
of  Fortunatus,  that  the  story  of  the  goose  this  story  contains  references  to  the  same 
which  laid  a  golden  egg  is  only  a  variation  idea  in  the  fictions  of  Greece,  China,  and 
of  this  prolific  subject;  and  that  the  history  India.     It  seems    to  have  escaped   these 
of  the  world  contains  little  more  than  a  learned  German  antiquaries,  that  a  much 
kind  of  Argonautic  expedition  after  the  earlier    notice    of   the    same    miraculous 
same  golden  fleece.     For  the  other  par-  agency  is   to  be  found  in  the  "  widow's 
ticnlars  referred  to  in  the  text,  see  Kinder-  cruse"  of  the  Old  Testament,    1   Kings, 
und  Haus-Marchen,  No.  60.  122.  130.  chap.  xvii. 

105  See  Der  Arme  und  der  Rciche,  in 


MR.   PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION   OB1  1821.       (53) 


hoof106.  The  popular  creed  of  Attica,  which  seems  to  have  delighted 
in  investing  the  Theban  Hercules  with  much  the  same  absurdities  that 
Northern  fable  has  gathered  round  the  person  of  Thor,  had  recourse 
to  a  similar  invention  as  the  only  appropriate  means  of  appeasing  this 
divinity's  ravenous  appetites.  It  has  accordingly  conferred  upon  him 
the  horn  of  AmalthaBa,  the  fruit  of  his  victory  over  the  river-god  Ache- 
lous  ;  and  of  which  the  earliest  tradition  on  record  has  given  the  popu- 
lar view  of  its  powers,  that  it  never  failed  to  produce  a  constant  store 
of  food  107.  As  such,  it  becomes  identified  with  the  ^Ethiopian  table  of 
the  sun,  mentioned  by  Herodotus  108  ;  but  in  later  fictions  this  idea  has 
been  refined  into  a  horn,  containing  every  possible  delicacy  of  the  ve- 
getable kingdom,  overflowing  with  all  earthly  good,  and  conferring 
wealth  and  prosperity  upon  every  one  who  might  chance  to  possess 


This  necessarily  brings  us  to  the  history  of  the  holy  Graal110,  or  a 


106  See  Diogenes  Laertius,  ed.  Menage, 
vol.  i.  p.  73. 

W  See  Eustath.  ad  Dionys.  Perieg.  v. 
433.  and  Pherecydes  in  Apollod.  Bibl.  ii. 
7.  5. 

108  See  Herod,  ill.  18.  Mela,  c.  10.  (qua> 
passim    apposita   sunt,   affirmant   innasci 
subinde  divinitus) :  and  Soliuus,  c.  30. 

109  See  the  Scholiast  to  Lucian's  Rhet. 
Prsecept.,  and  Eustathius,  as  before.    The 
"  Navigium"  of  the  same  writer  contains 
some  curious  allusions  to  different  points 
of  popular  belief,  and  which  may  be  com- 
pared with  the  subjects  treated  of  in  the 
text.     One  of  the  parties  wishes  for  a  set 
of  rings  to  endow  him  with  the  following 
qualities  and  advantages  :  a  never-failing 
store  of  health  ;  a  person  invulnerable,  in- 
visible, of  irresistible  charms,  and  having 
the  concentrated  strength  of  10,000  men  ; 
a  power  of  flying  through  the  air,  of  en- 
tering every  dwelling-house  strongly  se- 
cured, and  of  casting  a  deep  sleep  upon 
whom  he  chose.     Another  person  in  the 
same  piece  asks  for  the  wand  of  Mercury, 
which  is  to  ensure  him  an  inexhaustible 
supply  of  gold.     For  this  wand  of  wealth 
and  luck,  see  the  Homeric  Hymn  to  Mer- 
cury, v.  529  ;  and' compare  Epict.  ap.  Ar- 
rian.  Diss.  iii.  20.  p.  435.  ed.  Schweigh., 
where  it  is  said  to  convert  every  thing  it 
touched  into  gold.     This  idea  of  its  power 
found  an  early  .circulation  in  the  North; 
for  one  of  the   Glossaries  published   by 
Professor  Nyerup,  in  his  Symbol.  Teut., 
and  certainly  not  of  a  later  date  than  the 
tenth  century,  translates  caduceuma,  uun- 
shiligarta.     The  Vilkina  Saga  mentions 
a  ring  which  is  to  excite  affection  in  the 
wearer  towards  the  donor  (Muller,  p.  233.), 


and  the  love-stone  of  Helen  is  well  known. 
Servius  (ad  ^En.  iii.  279.)  notices  an  oint- 
ment, prepared  by  Venus,  which  had  si- 
milar powers.  The  Horny  Siegfried  be- 
comes invulnerable  by  bathing  in  the 
blood  of  a  slaughtered  dragon  ;  and  Medea 
gave  Jason  an  ointment  producing  the 
same  effect  for  the  space  of  four-and- 
twenty  hours.  (Apollod.  Bibl.  i.  9.  23.) 
Orvar  Odd  had  a  kirtel  which  was  to  pre- 
serve him  against  death  by  fire  or  water, 
hunger  or  the  sword,  so  long  as  he  never 
turned  his  back  upon  a  foe.  Muller,  533. 
110  The  connexion  between  these  sym- 
bols, a  horn  and  a  cup,  will  be  apparent, 
on  recollecting  that  the  former  was  the 
most  ancient  species  of  drinking-vessel 
.  both  among  Greeks  and  Barbarians.  See 
Athen.  xi.  c.  51.  Xenophon  also  notices 
the  application  of  horns  to  the  same  pur- 
pose among  the  Thracians.  Anab.  vii.  2. 
23  :  and  it  will  be  needless  to  offer  any 
examples  from  the  well-known  customs 
of  Western  Europe.  It  will  also  be  evi- 
dent why  both  these  utensils  should  be 
chosen  as  the  types  of  fecundity,  abun- 
dance, and  vivification,  when  we  remem- 
ber that  both  were  the  receptacles  of  that 
element,  which  was  either  the  symbol  of 
life  (£w?7S  TO  vypov  avpfioXov,  Proclus  in 
Timaeum,  p.  318,)  or  the  principal  co- 
operating power  in  generation  (<rwepyei 
yap  yevecret  .  ...  TO  vdwp.  Porphyrius 
de  Antro  Nymph,  c.  17.).  Hence  the  cor- 
nucopia was  bestowed  upon  all  those  dei- 
ties who  presided  over  fertility  or  human 
prosperity  ;  upon  Achelous  and  the  Nile, 
Bonus  Eventus  and  Annona,  from  their 
share  in  fostering  the  fruits  of  the  earth  ; 
upon  Tyche  or  Fortuna,  the  Agatho- 


(54)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

sacred  cup,  which  in  the  house  of  king  Pecheur  "  appeared  daily  at  the 
hour  of  repast,  in  the  hands  of  a  lady,  who  carried  it  three  times  round 
the  table,  which  was  immediately  replenished  with  all  the  delicacies  the 
guests  could  desire."  The  origin  of  this  miraculous  vessel,  and  the 
manner  of  its  transmission  to  Europe,  are  thus  related  by  Robert  Bor- 
"  The  day  on  which  the  Saviour  of  the  world  suffered,  death 


ron 


was  destroyed,  and  our  life  restored :  on  that  day  there  were  few  who 
believed  on  him ;  but  there  was  a  knight  named  Joseph  of  Arimatheea, 
(a  fine  city  in  the  land  of  Aromat).  In  this  city  Joseph  was  born,  but 
had  come  to  Jerusalem  seven  years  before  our  Lord  was  crucified,  and 
had  embraced  the  Christian  faith  ;  but  did  not  dare  to  profess  it  for  fear 
of  the  wicked  Jews.  He  was  full  of  wisdom,  free  from  envy  and  pride, 
and  charitable  to  the  poor.  This  Joseph  was  at  Jerusalem  with  his 


daemon,  the  tutelary  Genii  of  towns  or 
persons  (such  as  the  Roman  emperors), 
the  Lares,  &c.  from  their  beneficial  aid  in 
the  direction  of  human  affairs.  A  cor- 
nucopia of  good  fortune  has  already  been 
noticed  in  the  possession  of  the  Northern 
Elves  or  Fays  ;  and  one  of  the  Nymphs 
in  the  celebrated  relievo  of  Callimachus 
leads  the  way  with  this  identical  symbol. 
On  the  same  principle,  we  meet  with  a 
Demeter  Poteriophorus,  and  a  Rhea  Cra- 
terophorus,  the  Bonas  Dese  and  Magnae 
Matres  of  the  ancient  world  ;  and  the  mo- 
dius  of  Serapis,  the  giver  and  the  receiver, 
is  clearly  referable  to  the  same  source. 
(Serapidis  capiti  modius  superpositus,  quia 
indicet  vitam  mortalibus  frugum  largitate 
praeberi.  Rufinus  Hist.  Eccles.  ii.  23.) 
For  further  illustration  of  this  copious 
subject,  see  Mr.  Creuzer's  Dionysus,  sive 
Commentationes  Academicae  de  Rerum 
Bacchicarum  Orphicarumque  Originibus 
et  Causis;  Heidelbergae  1808. 

111  Mr.  Ritson  has  declared  Robert 
Borron  to  be  "  a  man  of  straw."  But  as 
he  has  offered  no  authority  for  such  an 
assertion,  the  mere  CLVTOS  etya  of  this  critic 
is  not  likely  to  have  much  weight  beyond 
his  school.  The  Vatican  manuscript,  No. 
1687,  commences  with  these  words,  "Me- 
sir  Robert  de  Boron,  qui  cheste  estore 
translata  de  Latin  en  Romance,  par  le 
commandement  de  sainte  eglise :"  and  no 
one  can  for  a  moment  doubt  the  influence 
of  the  Romish  priesthood,  in  the  peculiar 
colouring  given  to  the  narrative.  Mr. 
Ritson  has  also  been  a  strenuous  opponent 
of  all  such  declarations  as  claim  a  Latin, 
Greek,  or  Arabic  original  for  the  subject- 
matter  recorded.  There  may  be  occasional 
grounds  for  scepticism  on  this  point ;  but 
the  sweeping  incredulity  which  rejects 
every  assertion  of  the  kind,  is  equally 


prejudicial  to  a  right  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  with  the  easy  faith  it  affects  to 
despise.  We  know  the  mutations  inflicted 
upon  the  "  Seven  Wise  Masters"  prior  to 
its  receiving  an  English  dress ;  a  variety 
of  Italian  tales  and  French  fabliaux  are  of 
Arabic  or  Oriental  origin ;  Greek  fable 
must  have  been  the  immediate  source  of 
Alexander's  story ;  the  expedition  of  At- 
tila,  and  Amis  and  Amillion  still  exist  in 
Latin  verse ;  and  "  Walther  [of  Aquitain's] 
and  Hildegund's  flight  from  Attila,  was 
sung  in  Latin  hexameters,  on  the  model 
of  Virgil  and  Lucan,  by  Eckhart,  a  priest 
of  St.  Galle  (An.  973.)"  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  fragment  of  Judith  was  not  taken 
directly  from  the  Apocryphal  narrative. 
The  variations  indeed  from  this  document 
are,  generally  speaking,  of  such  a  kind  as 
any  translator  might  be  supposed  to  in- 
dulge in,  without  our  having  recourse  to 
another  original.  But  in  one  passage  we 
meet  with  a  very  distinct  mention  of  a 
musquito-net ;  an  article  of  furniture  not 
specified  in  the  Book  of  Judith,  which 
could  not  have  been  in  use  in  these  North- 
ern realms,  and  of  which  the  account  must 
have  travelled  from  the  countries  situated 
on  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  original 
legend  or  romance  must  hence  have  been 
composed  in  a  Southern  dialect:  and  those 
who  remember  the  alleged  proficiency  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  monks  in  Greek,  may 
be  induced  to  fix  their  election  on  that 
language.  The  immediate  source  from 
whence  the  Scop  derived  his  narrative,  is 
of  course  beyond  our  inquiry  ;  but  such  a 
fact  will  teach  us  circumspection  in  form- 
ing any  general  theory  as  to  the  trans- 
mission of  romantic  fictions.  Apollonius 
of  Tyre,  another  Greek  romance,  also  ex- 
ists in  Anglo-Saxon  prose.  [Lately  edited 
by  Mr.  Thorpe.] 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (55) 

wife  and  son,  who  was  also  named  Joseph.  His  father's  family  crossed 
the  sea  to  that  place  which  is  now  called  England,  but  was  then  called 
Great  Britain ;  and  crossed  it  '  sans  aviron  au  pan  de  sa  chemise112.' 
Joseph  had  been  in  the  house  where  Jesus  Christ  took  his  last  supper 
with  his  apostles ;  he  there  found  the  plate  off  which  the  Son  of  God 
had  eaten  ;  he  possessed  himself  of  it,  carried  it  home,  and  made  use  of 
it  to  collect  the  blood  which  flowed  from  his  side,  and  his  other  wounds  ; 
and  this  plate  is  called  the  Saint  Graal."  This,  however,  is  only  the 
Breton  or  British  account  of  the  Saint  Graal.  The  German  romancers 
have  followed  a  different  version  of  its  history,  and  derive  their  know- 
ledge of  the  subject,  though  indirectly,  from  an  Oriental  source.  The 
Titurel  and  Parcifal  of  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach  n3  are  respectively 
devoted  to  the  discovery  and  the  quest  of  this  miraculous  vessel :  and 
in  both  we  find  a  similar  account  of  its  powers  to  that  given  in  the  nar- 
rative of  Robert  Borron.  The  circumstances,  however,  and  the  agents 
which  have  been  connected  with  it,  are  wholly  different  from  those 
contained  in  the  rival  version.  The  name  of  Arthur  is  more  sparingly 
introduced  than  in  the  Western  fiction ;  and  the  theatre  of  its  most  im- 
portant events  is  laid  in  either  Asia  or  Africa.  The  immediate  source 
of  Eschenbach's  poem  was  a  Provencal  romance  written  by  one  Kyot 
or  Guiot.  Of  this  writer  nothing  further  appears  to  be  known,  than 
the  memorial  of  his  labours  preserved  in  the  Parcifal  of  his  German 
translator,  and  a  notice  of  his  strictures  upon  Chretien  de  Troyes114, 

112  This  account   has   been    extracted  is  referred  to  the  late  Mr.  Edgar  Taylor's 
from  a  version  of  Borron' s  prologue,  in  "  Lays  of  the  Minnesingers  or  German 
the   British   Bibliographer,   vol.  i.     The  Troubadours  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
translator  has  there  rendered  "  sans  avi-  centuries  ;  illustrated  by  specimens  of  the 
ron, — without  oars."     The  original  has  cotemporary  Lyric  Poetry   of  Provence 
been  given  in  the  text  from  Roquefort's  and  other  parts  of  Europe :    with  histo- 
Glossary :  it  contains  no  verbal  obscurity,  rical  and  critical  notices,  and  engravings 
but  the  allusion  is  not  intelligible  to  the  from   the    MS.   of  Minnesingers   in   the 
writer  of  this  note.  King's  library  at  Paris,  and  from  other 

[The  allusion  is  to  a  very  common  mi-  sources.     London,  1825."     This  elegant 

racle  in  Roman  catholic  legends.     When  volume,  sent  forth  without  the  name  of 

a  saint  wants  to  cross  the  water,  he  gene-  the  author,  and  under  a   title    perhaps 

rally   makes  his   cloak,  or   some  similar  not  adapted  for  attracting  notice,  did  not 

garment,  serve  as  a  ferry-boat ;  thus  get-  meet  with  the  success  which  it  so  well 

ting  safely  conveyed  to  his  place  of  desti-  merited.     An-  analysis   of  the    story   of 

nation  without  oar,  sail,  or  rudder.     The  Parcifal   has  been   given  in  the  Biblio- 

Portuguese   missionary    Gouvea    gravely  theque  Univ.  de  Geneve,  for  Sept.  1837, 

relates  a  like  exploit  of  the  Grand  Lama,  where  the  Saint  Graal  is  said  to  have  been 

whom  he  calls  the  bishop  of  Tibet. — R.G.]  "  une  pierre  precieuse  qui  se  detacha  de 

113  These    notices    of     Eschenbach's  la  couronne  de  Satan,  lorsqu'il  fut  pre- 
poems    have    been    collected   from    Mr.  cip'te  du  ciel." — R.T.] 

Gorres's  preface  to  Lohengrin,  an  old  Ger-  m  The  language  of  Eschenbach  is  thus 

man  romance,  founded  on  the  same  fiction  given   by   Mr.  Gorres   from   the  printed 

as  the  Chevelere  Assigne.     (See  vol.  ii.  p.  edition  of  the  Parcifal : 
107.  [For  information  respecting  Wolfram  Ob  von  Troys  meister  Christian 

von  Eschenbach,  and  other  German  poets  Diesem  Maere  hat  Unrecht  getan, 

of  the  same  class  in  the  middle  ages,  as  Daz  (des)  mach  wohl  zurnen  Kyot, 

well  as  those  of  Provence,  the  North  of  Der  unz  die  rechten  Maere  enbot. 

France,  Italy,  and  Catalonia,  the  reader  i.  c.  Since  Master  Christian  of  Troyes  has 


(56)       MR.  PRICK'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

who,  like  most  of  the  Norman  troveurs,  seems  to  have  drawn  his  ma- 
terials from  an  Armorican  source.  From  Wolfram's  poem  we  gather, 
that  Master  Kyot  obtained  his  first  knowledge  of  the  Graal  from  a  ma- 
nuscript he  discovered  at  Toledo.  This  volume  was  written  in  a  heathen 
character,  of  which  the  troubadour  was  compelled  to  make  himself  mas- 
ter; and  the  baptismal  rite  enabled  him  to  accomplish  this  arduous 
task  without  the  aid  of  necromancy.  The  author  of  this  mysterious 
record  was  a  certain  heathen  astronomer,  Flegetanis  by  name,  who  on 
the  mother's  side  traced  up  his  genealogy  to  king  Solomon  ;  but  having 
a  Saracen  father,  he  had  adhered  to  his  paternal  faith,  and  worshiped 
a  calf.  Flegetanis  was  deeply  versed  in  all  the  motions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies ;  and  in  the  hallowed  volume  deposited  at  Toledo,  he  had  care- 
fully inscribed  the  result  of  his  nocturnal  studies.  But  the  book  con- 
tained nothing  more  than  the  astronomer  had  really  read  most  myste- 
riously depicted  in  the  skies  U5.  Even  the  name  of  the  Graal  was  there 
emblazoned,  together  with  the  important  fact,  that  a  band  of  spirits  had 
left  it  behind  them  upon  earth,  as  they  winged  their  way  to  their  ce- 
lestial abodes. 

The  acquisition  of  this  knowledge  stimulated  Kyot  to  further  in- 
quiries, and  he  proceeded  to  search  in  Latin  books  for  the  name  of  that 
people  which  had  been  considered  worthy  of  guarding  the  Graal.  He 
perused  the  chronicles  of  Brittany,  France  and  Ireland,  without  much 
success ;  but  in  the  annals  of  Anjou  he  found  the  whole  story  recount- 
ed :  he  there  read  a  complete  history  of  Mazadan  and  his  race,  how 
Titurel  brought  the  Graal  to  Amfortas,  whose  sister  Herzelunde  be- 
came the  wife  of  Gamuret  and  the  mother  of  Parcifal.  This  is  clearly 
borrowed  from  the  proeme  of  Kyot.  Divested  of  its  extraordinary 
colouring)  we  may  receive  it  as  amounting  to  this :  that  Kyot  was  in- 
debted to  an  Arabic  original  for  some  of  his  details,  and  that  the  rest 
were  collected  from  European  records  of  the  same  fiction.  The  truth 
of  this  is  supported  by  the  internal  evidence.  The  scene  for  the  most 
part  is  not  only  laid  in  the  East,  but  a  large  proportion  of  the  names 
are  of  decidedly  Oriental  origin.  The  Saracens  are  always  spoken  of 
with  consideration ;  Christian  knights  unhesitatingly  enroll  themselves 
under  the  banner  of  the  Caliph ;  no  trace  of  religious  animosities  is  to 
be  found  between  the  followers  of  the  Crescent  and  the  Cross ;  and  the 

done  this  tale  an  injustice,  Kyot  may  well  adoption  of  Greek  traditions,  there  is  the 

be  angry,  who  has  presented  us  with  the  most  convincing  proof  in  what  is  said  of 

right  narrative.  the  aspis  Eccidsemon  and  the  fish  Galeotes. 

*  In   the  work   already   referred   to,  The  latter  is  intimately  connected  with 

Mr.  Gb'rres  has  endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  Northern   fiction  relative  to  the   Ni- 

Flegetanis  must  have  had  a  Greek  original  cors,  so  frequently    mentioned  in   Beo- 

before  him.     Of -this,  or  at  least  of  the  wulf. 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (57) 

Arabic  appellations  of  the  seven  planets  are  thus  distinctly  enumerated  : 
Z\val  (Zuhael),  Saturn;  Musteri,  Jupiter;  Muret  (Meryt),  Mars; 
Samsi  (Shems),  the  Sun;  Alligasir  (the  brilliant),  Venus;  Kitr(Kedr, 
the  obscure),  Mercury ;  Kamer  (Ksemer),  the  Moon.  Whether  the 
name  of  Parcifal  be  taken  from  the  Arabic  Parse  or  Parseh  Fal,  the 
pure  or  the  poor  dummling,  as  conjectured  by  Mr.  Gorres,  must  be 
left  to  the  decision  of  the  Oriental  scholar:  but  the  narrative  already 
given  affords  a  strong  corroboration  of  his  opinion,  that  Flegetanis  is 
a  corruption  of  Felek-daneh,  an  astronomer. 

The  Breton  and  Proven9al  fictions,  as  we  have  seen,  unite  in  bring- 
ing this  mysterious  vessel  from  the  East,  a  quarter  of  the  globe  whose 
earliest  records  present  us  with  a  marvellous  cup,  as  extraordinary  in 
its  powers  as  any  thing  attributed  to  the  Graal.  Such  a  cup  is  well 
known  to  have  occupied  a  conspicuous  place  among  the  traditions  of 
the  Jews,  and  from  the  Patriarch  Joseph116,  the  chaste  and  provident 
minister  of  Pharaoh,  to  have  descended  to  the  great  object  of  Hebrew 
veneration  and  glory,  the  illustrious  king  Solomon117.  It  will  there- 
fore be  no  matter  of  surprise  to  those  who  remember  the  talismanic 
effect  of  a  name  in  the  general  history  of  fiction,  that  a  descendant  of 
this  distinguished  sovereign  should  be  found  to  write  its  history  ;  or 
that  another  Joseph  should  be  made  the  instrument  of  conveying  it  to 
the  kingdoms  of  Western  Europe.  In  Persian  fable,  the  same  miracu- 
lous vessel  has  been  bestowed  upon  the  great  Jemshid118,  the  pattern 

16  "  Is   not  this  it  in  which  my  lofd  science,  which  has  so  beneficially  unfold- 

drinketh  ?     And  whereby  indeed  he  di-  ed  the  destinies  of  the  West.     A  parallel 

vinetli  1 "    Gen.  xliv.  5.  In  Norden's  time  fable  is  found  in  Messenian  story.    When 

the  custom  of  divining  by  a  cup  was  still  the  Lacedaemonians  stormed  the  fortress 

continued.     "  Je  sais,"  dit  Baram  Cashef  on  mount  Ira,  Aristomenes,  warned  by 

de    Derri   au    Juif,  qui   servoit  d'entre-  the  Delphic  oracle,  secreted  in  the  earth 

metteur      aux      voyageurs      Europeens,  some  unknown  article,  which  was  to  be  a 

"  quelles  gens  vous  etes  ;  j'ai  consulte  ma  future  talisman  of  security  to  his  unfortu- 

coupe,  et  j'y  ai  trouve,   que  vous   etiez  nate    countrymen.     After    the   battle    of 

ceux,  dont  un  de  nos  prophetes  a  dit,  qu'il  Leuctra,  the  Argive  commander  Epiteles 

viendroit  des  Francs  travestis,  qui  feraient  was  directed  in  a  dream  to  exhume  this 

enfin  venir   un    grand   nombre    d'autres  mysterious  deposit.  It  was  then  discover- 

Francs,  qui  feroient  la  conquete  du  pays,  ed  to  be  a  brazen  ewer,  containing  a  roll 

et  examineroienttout."  Voyage  d'Egypte  of  finely  beaten  tin,  on  which  were  in- 

et  de  Nubie,  iii.  08.     The  lecanomanty  scribed  the  mysteries  of  the  great  divini- 

of  the  Greeks  is  well  known.  ties  (TO>V  jueyctXwv  Qewv  . . . .  r)  TeXerrj. 

1J7  The  Clavicula  Salomonis  contains  a  Pans.  iv.  c.  20.  26.) 

singular  variation  of  this  fiction.  The  118  "  Giam  en  Perse  signifie  un  coupe 
supernatural  knowledge  of  Solomon  was  ou  verre  a  boire,  et  un  miroir.  Les  Ori- 
recorded  in  a  volume,  which  Rehoboam  entaux,  qui  fabriquent  cette  espece  de 
inclosed  in  an  ivory  ewer,  and  deposited  vases  ou  ustensiles  de  toutes  sortes  des 
in  his  father's  tomb.  On  repairing  the  metaux  aussi  bien  que  de  verre  ou  de  cry- 
royal  sepulchre,  some  wise  men  of  Baby-  stal,  et  en  plusieurs  figures  differentes, 
Ion  discovered  the  cup,  and  having  ex-  rnais  qui  approchent  toutes  de  spherique, 
tracted  the  volume,  an  angel  revealed  the  donnent  aussi  ce  nom  a  un  globe  celeste, 
key  to  its  mysterious  writing  to  one  Troes  Us  disent,  que  1'ancien  roi  Gianschid,  qui 
a  Greek  ;  and  hence  the  stream  of  occult  .  est  Ic  Salomon  des  Perses,  et  Alexandre 


(58)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

of  perfect  kings,  in  whose  reign  the  golden  age  was  realized  in  Iran, 
and  under  whose  mild  and  beneficent  sway  it  became  a  land  of  undis- 
turbed felicity.  On  digging  the  foundations  of  Estakar  (Persepolis), 
this  favourite  of  Orrnuzd,  and  his  legitimate  representative  upon  earth, 
discovered  the  goblet  of  the  Sun ;  and  hence  the  cause  of  all  those 
blessings  which  attended  his  prosperous  reign,  and  his  unbounded 
knowledge  of  both  terrestrial  and  celestial  affairs.  From  the  founder 
of  the  Persian  monarchy  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Alexander  the 
Great110,  the  hero  of  all  later  Oriental  fiction  ;  and  Ferdusi  introduces 
the  Macedonian  conqueror  addressing  this  sacred  cup  as  "  the  ruling 
prince  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  as  the  auspicious  emblem  of  his 
victorious  career."  By  other  Eastern  poets  it  has  been  referred  to  as 
a  symbol  of  the  world,  and  the  fecundating  powers  of  Nature ;  while 
others  again  have  considered  it  as  the  source  of  all  true  divination  and 
augury,  of  the  mysterious  arts  of  chemistry,  and  the  genuine  philoso- 
pher's stone120.  A  goblet  of  the  Sun  also  forms  a  favourite  object  in 
Grecian  fable121.  On  approaching  the  shores  of  the  Western  Ocean, 
this  divinity  was  supposed  to  abandon  his  chariot,  and,  placing  himself 
in  a  cup,  to  be  borne  through  the  centre  of  the  earth.  Having  visited 
(according  to  Stesichorus)  his  mother,  wife  and  children,  he  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  opposite  point  of  the  hemisphere,  where  another  car 
awaited  his  arrival,  with  which  he  resumed  his  diurnal  course.  The 
Theban  Hercules,  the  original  type  of  all  erratic  champions,  once  ven- 
tured to  attack  the  son  of  Hyperion  ;  but  on  being  reproved  for  his 
temerity  he  withheld  his  hand,  and  received  as  a  reward  for  his  obe- 
dience the  golden  chalice  of  the  god.  This  he  now  ascended ;  and 

le  Grand,  avoient  de  ces  coupes,  globes,  testate  nostra."     Shahnameh,  as  quoted 

ou  miroirs,  par  le  moyen  desquels  ils  con-  in   Wilkins's  Persian  Chrestomathia,  p. 

noissoient  toutes  les  choses  naturels,  et  171,  and  Creuzer's  Dionysus,  p.  62. 
quelquefois  meme  les  surnaturelles.     La  12°  In  the  article  already  referred  to, 

coupe  qui  servoit  a  Joseph  le  Patriarche  Herbelot  says,  The  Persian  poets  make  of 

pour  deviner,  et  celle  de  Nestor  dans  Ho-  this  cup,  "  tantot  le  symbole  de  la  nature 

mere,  ou  toute  la  nature  etoit  represented  et  du  monde,  tantot  celui  du  vin,  quelque- 

symboliquement,  ont  pu  fournir  aux  Ori-  fois  celui  de  la  divination  et  des  augures, 

entaux  le  sujet  de  cette  fiction.  Un  poete  et  enfin  de  la  chymie,  et  de  la  pierre  phi- 

Turc  dit,  Lorsque  j'aurai  ete  eclaire  des  losophale." 

lumieres  du  ciel,  mon  ame  deviendra  le  m  See  the  fragments  of  this  mythos, 

miroir  du  monde,  dans  lequel  je  decouvrai  as  variously  related  in  Athenaeus,  lib.  xi. 

les   secrets   les  plus   caches."     Herbelot  p.  469-70.  Mimnermus  calls  it  the  couch 

Biblioth.  Orient,  s.  v.  Giam.  of  the  Sun,  in  allusion,  as  Athenaeus  ob- 

119  "  Quum  Alexander  pervenisset  in  serves,  to  the  concave  form  of  the  cup. 

palatium  suum,  gyrantes  exierunt  Graeci  This  seems  to  have  been  a  common  me- 

locis  suis,   et  laeti   non  viderunt  noctem  tonymy  ;  for  in  the  passage  already  cited 

regis,  (viderunt  autem)  quatuor  pocula.  from  Pausanias,  the  brazen  ewer  depo- 

Gyrantibus  ita  locutus  est  (Alexander)  :  sited  by  Aristomenes  is  termed  a  brazen 

Salvi  estote,  laetamini  hoc  fausto  omine  bed  by  the  old  man  who  appeared  to  Epi- 

nostro,  hie  enim  scyphus  in  pugna  est  teles  in  his  dream, 
salus  nostra,  princeps  siderum  est  in  po- 


MR.  PRICED  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (59) 

during  a  furious  storm,  excited  for  the  purpose  of  putting  his  courage 
to  the  test,  he  traversed  the  ocean  in  it  till  he  reached  the  western 
island  of  Erythsea122.  The  Platonists  have  dwelt  at  large  upon  Her- 
cules thus  completing  his  labours  in  the  West ;  and,  connecting  this 
circumstance  with  the  fancied  position  of  the  islands  of  the  blest,  have 
implied  that  it  was  here  he  overcame  the  vain  illusions  of  a  terrestrial 
life,  and  that  henceforth  he  resided  in  the  realms  of  truth  and  eternal 
light.  With  them,  as  in  the  school  from  whence  their  leading  dogmas 
were  derived — the  mysteries  of  Paganism — a  cup  is  the  constant  sym- 
bol of  "  vivific  power  ;  "  and  this  goblet  of  the  Sun  becomes  the  same 
type  of  regeneration  and  a  return  to  a  better  life  with  the  Graal  of 
romantic  fiction.  Another  version  of  the  contest  between  Hercules 
and  the  Sun,  or  Apollo,  transfers  the  scene  of  action  to  Delphi,  and 
makes  the  object  of  strife  between  these  heaven-born  kinsmen  the  cele- 
brated tripod  of  the  oracle.  But  in  the  symbolical  language  of  Greece, 
a  tripod  and  a  goblet  (crater)  were  synonymous  terms 123 ;  and  the 
grammarians  have  informed  us,  that  from  this  combat  between  the 
brothers,  and  their  subsequent  reconciliation,  arose  the  prophetic 


122  From  the  Grecian  terminology  of 
their  drinking-vessels,  it  is  clear  that  a 
cup  and  a  ship  were  originally  correlative 
ideas;  and  the  catalogue  of  Athenseus 
(lib.  xi.)  recites  several  words  indiscri- 
minately implying  either  the  one  or  the 
other.  The  twofold  import  of  these  terms 
will  tend  to  explain  an  apparent  deviation 
on  the  part  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
from  the  general  type  adopted  by  other 
nations  in  the  form  of  their  receptacles 
for  the  dead.  The  vase  or  urn  of  the 
former,  the  larnax  of  Egypt,  the  ship  or 
boat  of  Western  Europe,  and  the  canoe 
of  the  American  savage,  are  all  connected 
with  the  same  primitive  idea  expressed 
in  the  Welsh  apophthegm :  "  Pawb  a  ddaw 
i'r  Ddavar  Long — Every  one  will  come 
into  the  ship  of  the  earth."  By  whatever 
steps  the  Greek  proceeded  from  liis  simple 
bowl  or  boat,  to  all  the  luxury  of  form  dis- 
played in  his  cinereal  urns,  the  larnax, 
ship,  or  coffin  of  other  nations  was  by  no 
means  a  needful  accommodation  to  the 
doctrine,  which  forbade  the  incremation 
of  the  dead.  The  ashes  of  Balldur  (Dse- 
mesaga,  c.  43.)  were  deposited  in  the  ship 
Hringhorne,  the  body  of  Scyld  (Beowulf, 
c.  1.)  in  a  bark  laden  with  arms  and  rai- 
ment, and  committed  to  the  guidance  of 
the  ocean.  The  varying  language  of  the 
Iliad  seems  to  countenance  a  similar  di- 
stinction between  Greek  and  Phrygian 
rites.  The  ashes  of  Patroclus  are  consign- 
ed to  a  golden  cup  (es  xpvffctlv 


xxiii.  253.) ;  those  of  Hector  to  a  golden 
ark  or  coffer  (xpvcreiijv  es\apvaica,  xxiv. 
795.  Compare  Thucydides,  ii.  34);  forit 
is  by  no  means  clear,  that  the  latter  term 
ever  implied  an  urn,  however  much  such 
an  interpretation  might  be  justified  by 
analogy.  We  are  not,  however,  to  infer, 
that  either  of  these  utensils  was  the  em- 
blem of  death  or  annihilation,  or  that  this 
application  to  funereal  purposes  was  in 
any  way  at  variance  with  the  Platonic 
doctrine  of  the  text.  For  as  the  cup  or 
vase  was  the  symbol  of  vivific  power,  of 
generation,  or  an  earthly  existence,  so 
also  it  was  the  type  of  regeneration,  or  a 
continued  life  in  a  happier  and  more  ex- 
alted state.  The  savage  is  buried  in  his 
canoe,  that  he  may  be  conveyed  to  the 
residence  of  departed  souls ;  the  Greek 
was  taught  in  the  mysteries,  that  the  Di- 
onysic  vase  would  be  a  passport  to  the 
Elysian  fields  ;  and  the  religion  of  Egypt 
enjoined,  that  every  worshiper  of  Osiris 
should  appear  before  his  subterranean 
judge  in  the  same  kind  of  receptacle  as 
that  which  had  inclosed  the  mortal  frame 
of  this  divinity.  It  only  remains  to  ob- 
serve, that  a  boat  of  glass  was  the  symbol 
of  initiation  into  the  Druidical  mysteries. 
Davies's  Celtic  Mythology,  p.  211. 

123  Kcu  TO  viKtjTrjpiov  ev  &iovvaovt 
rpnrovs  ....  dei  de  voeiv  rpiTroda  rov 
Aiovvffov,  TOV  Kparrtpa.  Athenaeus  ii. 
143. 


(60)     MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

powers  of  Hercules.  It  will  however  be  remembered,  that  the  trans- 
lators of  the  Septuagint,  in  their  version  of  the  Hebrew  text,  have  ren- 
dered the  divining  cup  of  Joseph  by  the  Greek  term  "  Condy."  Of 
this  vessel  Athenseus  has  preserved  the  following  account  from  Nico- 
machus.  "  The  name  of  this  cup  is  Persian.  It  originally  meant  the 
celestial  lantern  of  Hermes,  which  in  form  resembled  the  world,  and 
was  at  once  the  source  of  the  divine  marvels,  and  all  the  fruits  that 
abound  upon  earth.  On  this  account  it  is  used  in  libations 124."  The 
reader  of  Plato  will  have  no  difficulty  in  connecting  this  mundane  cup 
with  the  first  crater,  in  which  the  Demiurgus  of  the  universe  mixed 
the  materials  of  his  future  creation ;  in  which  the  soul  of  the  world 
was  tempered  to  its  due  consistency,  and  from  whence  the  souls  that 
animate  corporeal  substances  were  dispersed  among  the  stars125.  The 
mention  of  this  primary  bowl  gave  rise  among  the  Platonists  to  a  se- 
cond or  distributive  cup  of  souls,  which  they  bestowed  upon  Dionysus, 
as  lord  of  the  sensitive  universe  ;  and  hence  the  Nymphs,  as  ministrants 
and  followers  of  this  divinity,  as  the  authorized  inspectors  of  genera- 
tion, were  said  to  be  supplied  with  the  same  symbol.  According  to 
some  authorities,  these  goblets  are  placed  at  opposite  points  of  the 
firmament,  and  are  respectively  the  types  of  generation,  or  the  soul's 
descent  into  this  realm  of  sensual  pleasure,  and  of  palingenesy,  or  the 
soul's  return  to  those  celestial  regions  from  whence  it  sprang126.  The 
former  stands  between  the  signs  of  Cancer  and  Leo,  immediately  before 
the  human  portal ;  and  a  draught  of  the  oblivious  beverage  it  contains 
occasions  forgetfulness  of  those  pure  delights  in  which  the  soul  had 
previously  lived,  and  excites  a  turbulent  propensity  towards  a  material 
and  earthly  existence127.  The  latter  is  placed  at  one  extremity  of  the 

124  Athenseus,  xi.  478.     The  present  genuine   record,  appears   to   occupy  the 
version  is  founded  on  the  correction   of  same  place  in  Celtic  mythology.  (See  the 
Mr.  Creuzer,  who  has  at  length  rendered  Hanes   Taliessin   in  Mr.  Davies's  Celtic 
this  passage  intelligible  by  reading  'Eppov  Myth.)  Ceridwen,  we  are  told,  was  "  the 
ITTVOS,  where  both  Casaubon  and  Schweig-  goddess  of  various   seeds,"   from   whose 
haiiser  have 'EPJWITTTTOS.     The  latter  critic  caldron  was  derived  every  thing  sacred, 
has  acknowledged  the  advantage  of  this  pure  and  primitive.     Gwyon   the   Little 
emendation.     See  Dionysus,  &c.  p.  26  et  sits  watching  the  caldron  of  inspiration, 
seq.     Nicomachus  has  used  the  term  ap-  till  three  drops  of  the  precious  compound 
^)lied  by  Plato  (Leg.  i.  644.)  to  the  whole  alight  on  his  finger.     On  tasting  these, 
animal  creation,  TOJV  Oewv  TO.  OavpctTa.  every  event  of  futurity  becomes  unfolded 

125  Timseus,  41,  42.  to  his  view.   This  appears  to  be  the  "  no- 

126  See   Mr.   Creuzer's   Symbolik,  &c.  vum  potum  materialis  alluvionis,"  the  in- 
vol.  iii.  410,  &c.  who  has  collected  the  toxicating   draught    which    inspires    the 
scattered  notices  of  Proclus  and  Plotinus  soul  with  an  irresistible  propensity  to  a 
on  the  subject.    Compare  also  Porphyry's  corporeal  existence.     "  Hsec   est   autem 
interesting  tract  De  Antro  Nympharum,  hyle,  quae  omne  corpus  mundi  quod  ubi- 
and  Macrobius's  Somnium  Scipionis.  cumque    cernimus    ideis    impressa    for- 

127  See  Macrobius,  S.  Scip.  i.  c.  12.  The  mavit."  (Macrob.  i.  12.)   It  is  this  which 
caldron    of  Ceridwen,  if  founded    on  a  protrudes  the  soul  into  Leo,  and  furnishes 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (61) 

table  of  the  gods  (the  milky  way).  It  is  held  by  Ganymede  or  Aqua- 
rius, the  guardian  of  the  southern  fishes  (king  Pecheur?);  and  it  is 
only  by  a  favourable  lot  from  this  urn  of  destiny,  that  the  soul  is 
enabled  to  find  a  passage  through  the  portal  of  the  gods  (Capricorn) 
to  the  circle  of  eternal  felicity. 

The  sacred  vessel  of  modern  fiction  is  no  less  distinguished  for  its 
attributes.  The  seat  reserved  for  it  at  the  Round  Table,  was  called 
"  the  siege  perilous,"  of  which  a  hermit  had  declared,  "  There  shall 
never  none  sit  in  that  siege  but  one,  but  if  he  be  destroyed,"  [and  that 
one]  "shall  win  the  Sancgreall128."  On  the  day  this  seat  was  to  re- 
ceive its  appointed  tenant,  two  inscriptions  were  found  miraculously 
traced  upon  it :  "  Four  hundred  winters  and  four  and  fifty  accom- 
plished after  the  birth  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ought  the  siege  to  be 
fulfilled :"  and,  "  This  is  the  siege  of  Sir  Galahad  the  good  knight." 
The  healing  virtues  of  the  Graal  are  exemplified  on  the  wounded  per- 
sons of  Sir  Bors  and  Sir  Percival120,  two  of  the  knights  destined  to 


it  with  a  prescience  of  its  future  career 
("  cum  vero  ad  Leonem  labendo  perve- 
nerint,  illic  conditionis  futurae  auspicantur 
exordium."  Ib.).  Gwyon  is  now  pursued 
by  Ceridwen,  and  transforms  himself  suc- 
cessively into  a  hare,  a  fish,  and  a  bird, 
while  the  goddess  becomes  a  greyhound- 
bitch,  an  otter,  and  a  sparrow-hawk.  De- 
spairing of  escape  he  assumes  the  form  of 
a  grain  of  wheat,  and  is  swallowed  by 
Ceridwen  in  the  shape  of  a  black  high- 
crested  hen.  Ceridwen  becomes  pregnant, 
and  at  the  expiration  of  nine  months 
brings  forth  Taliessin,  whom  she  exposes 
in  a  boat  or  coracle.  In  this  we  appear 
to  have  the  soul's  progression  through  the 
various  elements  which  supply  it  with  the 
vehicles  necessary  for  incorporation.  "Ter~ 
tius  vero  elementorum  ordo,  ita  ad  nos 
conversus,  habeatur,  ut  terram  ultimam 
facial,  et  caeteris  in  medium  redactis  in 
terram  desinat,  tarn  ima  quam  summa 
postremitas :  igitur  sphaera  Martis  ignis 
habeatur,  aer  Jovis;  Saturni  aqua,  terra 
vero  Aplanes,  in  qua  Elysios  campos  esse 
puris  animis  deputatos  antiquitas  nobis 
intelligendum  reliquit  :  de  his  campis 
anima,  cum  in  corpus  emittitur,  per  tres 
elementorum  ordines,  trina  morte,  ad 
corpus  usque  descendit."  (Ib.)  The  pur- 
suit of  Ceridwen  would  then  be  a  personi- 
fication of  that  necessity,  by  which  souls 
are  compelled  to  descend,  in  order  that 
the  economy  of  the  universe  may  be  su- 
stained. "  For  the  sensitive  life  suffers 
from  the  external  bodies  of  fire  and  air, 
earth  and  water  falling  upon  it ;  and  con- 
sidering all  the  passions  as  mighty  through 


the  vileness  of  its  life,  is  the  cause  of  tu- 
mult to  the  soul."  Procl.  in  Tim.  as  cited 
by  Mr.  T.  Taylor,  ii.  p.  513.  Another 
favourite  figure  of  the  same  school  is,  that 
the  soul  is  hurled  like  seed  into  the 
realms  of  generation.  Ib.  510.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  tale  is  a  piece  of  common 
mythology.  Mr.  Davies  admits  that  the 
bardic  lore  was  a  compound  of  Pagan  and 
Christian  dogmas  ;  and  it  therefore  be- 
comes a  question,  whether  this  Paganism 
was  purely  Druidical,  or  that  syncretic 
system  adopted  by  Pelagius  from  the 
Platonizing  fathers  of  the  Eastern  church. 
The  theological  tenets  of  the  triads  (Wil- 
liams's  Poems,  vol.  ii.)  are  obviously  de- 
rived from  this  source. 

128  Morte  Arthur,  P.  iii.  c.  1. 

129  On  this  occasion  Sir  Percival  "  had 
a  glimmering  of  that  vessel,  and  of  the 
maiden  that  bore  it ;  for  he  was  perfect 
and  clene."  (M.  Arth.  c.  14.)     And  again : 
"  I  wot  wele  what  it  is.     It  is  an  holy 
vessel   that  is   borne  by  a  maiden,  and 
thereon  is  a  part  of  the  holy  blood  of  our 
blessed  Saviour."  Ib.     There  is  no  clue 
in  the  romance  to  the   genealogy  of  this 
damsel.     But  Mr.  Creuzer  has  shown  that 
"  a  perfect  and  clean  maiden"  who  bore 
a  holy  vessel,  was  a  well-known  character 
in  Grecian  story.     Amymone,  the  blame- 
less daughter  of  Danaus,  was  exempt  from 
the  punishment  inflicted  upon  her  father's 
children,  because  she  had  resisted  the  soli- 
citations of  a  Satyr  (sensual  love).   Hence 
she  was  permitted  to  draw  the  cooling  re- 
viving draught  of  consolation  and   bliss 
in  a  perfect  vase.     Her  sisters,  who  had 


(62)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

accomplish  the  Quest.  A  cripple  of  ten  years'  suffering  is  restored  to 
health  by  touching  the  table  on  which  it  is  borne ;  and  a  nameless 
knight  of  perfect  and  unspotted  life  is  admitted  to  kiss  it,  and  finds  an 
instantaneous  cure  for  his  maladies.  But  the  courage,  prowess  and 
chivalric  accomplishments  of  Sir  Launcelot  are  rendered  unavailing  in 
the  Quest,  by  his  guilty  commerce  with  Queen  Guenever.  He  is  per- 
mitted to  see  its  marvellous  effects  upon  the  knight  already  mentioned, 
and  who,  less  worthy  than  himself  in  earthly  endowments,  is  yet  uncon- 
taminated  by  mortal  sin ;  and  once  indeed  he  is  suffered  to  approach 
the  chamber  containing  it.  But  a  voice  forbids  his  penetrating  to  the 
interior  of  the  sanctuary :  yet,  having  rashly  disregarded  the  admoni- 
tion, he  falls  a  victim  to  his  fatal  curiosity,  and  continues  in  an  almost 
lifeless  condition  for  four-and-thirty  days.  A  similar  punishment  is 
inflicted  upon  king  Evelake,  who  having  "  nighed  so  nigh"  to  the  holy 
vessel  "  that  our  Lord  was  displeased  with  him,"  he  became  "  blasted 
with  excess  of  light,"  and  remained  "  almost  blind"  the  rest  of  his 
life130.  The  most  solemn  instance  of  its  agency  in  the  presence  of  a 
profane  assembly,  occurs  on  the  day  of  Sir  Galahad's  assuming  the 
siege  perilous :  "  Then  anon  they  heard  cracking  and  crying  of  thun- 


yielded  to  temptation,  who  had  resigned 
themselves  to  Desire,  were  doomed  to 
spend  their  time  in  fruitless  attempts  to 
fill  a  bottomless  or  broken  vase,  or  a  per- 
forated sieve ;  and  to  become  the  standing 
types  of  the  uninitiated,  or  souls  wallow- 
ing in  the  mire  of  material  existence. 
(The  story  of  the  murder  was  unknown  to 
Homer  and  Apollodorus,  and  was  doubt- 
lessly a  later  fiction.)  The  Greeks  also 
placed  a  vase  upon  the  graves  of  the  un- 
married persons,  as  a  symbol  of  celibacy  ; 
a  practice  that  seems  to  illustrate  the  lan- 
guage of  Joseph  of  Arimathy  to  Sir  Per- 
cival :  "  And  wotest  thou  wherefore  [our 
Lord]  hath  sent  me  more  than  other  ?  for 
thou  hast  resembled  me  in  two  things  ; 
one  is,  that  thou  hast  seen  the  Sancgreall, 
and  the  other  is  that  thou  hast  been  a 
dene  maiden  as  I  am."  c.  103. 

130  The  punishment  here  inflicted  upon 
Sir  Lancelot  and  king  Evelake,  is  founded 
upon  an  idea,  which  seems  to  have  per- 
vaded the  mythology  of  most  nations,  that 
the  person  of  the  Deity  is  too  effulgent 
for  mortal  sight,  and  that  any  attempt  at 
a  direct  inspection  is  sure  to  be  punished 
with  a  loss  of  vision  or  the  senses.  Hence 
the  stories  of  Tiresias  and  Actaeon,  of 
Herse  and  Aglauros  (Paus.  i.  18.),  of  Eu- 
rypylus  (Ib.  vii.  19.),  and  Maneros  (Plut. 
de  Isid.  et  Osirid.  c.  17.)  ;  and  the  explana- 
tion given  to  the  disease  called  nympho- 


lepsy  is  clearly  referable  to  the  same  opi- 
nion :  "  Vulgo  autem  memoriae  proditum 
est,  quicumque  speciem  quandam  e  fonte, 
id  est,  effigiem  nymphae,  viderint,  furendi 
non  fecisse  finem,  quos  Graeci  w\ityo\r}- 
TTTOVS,  Latini  lymphatos  appellant."  Fes- 
tus.  Hence  also  the  eyes  were  averted 
on  meeting  a  hero  or  heroical  demon ; 
and  an  Heroon  was  passed  in  silence. 
Schol.  in  Aristoph.  Aves,  1490-3.  The 
same  opinion  appears  to  have  been  cur- 
rent among  the  Germanic  tribes  who  wor- 
shiped the  goddess  Hertha.  Her  annual 
circuit  was  made  in  a  veiled  car ;  but  the 
servants  who  washed  the  body  of  the  god- 
dess on  her  return,  and  who  consequently 
must  have  gazed  upon  her  person,  were  re- 
ported to  have  been  "  swallowed  up  quick" 
by  the  earth.  When  Hercules  demanded 
an  epiphany  of  the  god  Ammon,  we  are  told 
this  divinity  assumed  a  ram's  vizor,  a  fic- 
tion which  seems  to  be  connected  with  the 
same  common  opinion.  (Herod,  ii.  42.) 
The  numerous  veiled  statues  seen  by 
Pausanias  in  his  tour  through  Greece,  the 
veiled  goblet  carried  in  the  Dionysic  pro- 
cession at  Alexandria  (Athen.  lib.  v.  268.), 
and  the  general  introduction  of  the  Graal 
(wherein  was  "  a  part  of  the  holy  blood  of 
our  blessed  Saviour")  covered  with  sa- 
myte,may  be  considered  as  further  illus- 
trations. 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (63) 

der,  that  hem  thought  the  place  should  all  to-rive.  In  the  midst  of  the 
blast,  entered  a  sunbeam,  more  clear  by  seven  times  than  ever  they  saw 
day;  and  all  they  were  alighted  of  the  grace  of  the  holy  ghost131. 
Then  there  entered  into  the  hall,  the  holy  Grale  covered  with  white 
samite ;  but  there  was  none  that  might  see  it,  nor  who  bare  it ;  and 
then  was  all  the  hall  full  filled  with  good  odours  ;  and  every  knight 
had  such  meat  and  drink  as  he  best  loved  in  this  world  ;  and  when  the 
holy  Grale  had  been  borne  through  the  hall,  then  the  holy  vessel  de- 
parted suddenly,  that  they  wist  not  where  it  became."  (c.  35.)  But 
these  are  the  mere  secular  benefits  in  the  power  of  the  sacred  cup  to 
bestow.  To  those  allowed  to  share  in  its  spiritual  advantages,  who  by 
a  life  of  purity  and  blameless  conduct  had  capacitated  themselves  for 
a  more  intimate  communion  with  it,  it  became  a  cup  of  eternal  life 
and  salvation.  On  its  first  epiphany  to  Sir  Galahad  and  his  fellows, 


131  In  the  ancient  world  a  cup  or  gob- 
let was  not  only  considered  as  the  most 
suitable  kind  of  vessel  for  libations,  but  it 
was  also  regarded  as  an  appropriate  type 
of  the  Deity.  This  no  doubt  arose  from 
the  widely  extended  dogma,  that  the  De- 
miurgus  of  the  universe  framed  the  world 
in  his  own  image.  The  illustrations  of 
this  opinion,  as  exemplified  in  votive  offer- 
ings, in  the  form  of  an  egg,  a  globe,  sphere, 
hemisphere,  cup,  dish,  &c.  would  fill  a 
volume ;  and  happily  Mr.  Creuzer  by  his 
"  Dionysus"  has  rendered  further  proof 
on  the  subject  unnecessary.  In  ^Egyp- 
tian processions  a  vase  led  the  way  as  an 
image  of  Osiris  (Plut.  496) ;  a  small  urn 
was  the  effigy  of  Isis  (Apuleius,  Meta- 
morph.  xi.  p.  693)  ;  a  bowl  or  goblet  was 
borne  on  a  chariot,  as  the  emblem  of  Dio- 
nysus, in  the  festival  described  by  Calixe- 
nus  (Athenaeus,  v.  268)  ;  and  hence  the 
long  catalogue  of  craters,  tripods,  &c.  so 
common  in  the  furniture  of  ancient  tem- 
ples. That  the  same  symbol  was  acknow- 
ledged in  other  countries  previously  to 
any  general  intercourse  with  the  Roman 
powers,  is  more  than  probable.  Herodo- 
tus has  stated  of  the  Issedones,  that  they 
decorated  the  skulls  of  the  departed  with 
gold,  reserving  them  as  images  (see  Salmas. 
in  Solin.  p.  192.)  of  their  ancestors,  when 
they  performed  those  annual  rites  which 
the  Greeks  called  yeveaia.  From  this  we 
may  infer  that  the  Issedones  entertained 
the  same  notions  of  the  dead  that  we  find 
prevailing  in  almost  every  ancient  and 
modern  nation  in  a  Pagan  state ;  and  that 
they  enrolled  their  deceased  relatives 
among  those  domestic  deities  who  by  a 
general  system  of  euphemy  have  been 
called  Oeot  xp'jo^ot,  Dii  Manes,  Gutichen 


and  Guid  Neighbours.  As  the  guardians 
of  the  family  hearth,  and  the  household 
gods  of  their  descendants,  the  same  class 
of  spirits  was  also  termed  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  Oeoi  KctToiKtdtoi,  Lares,  Trarpipoi 
Oeot,  and  Dii  Penates.  (See  Salmasius 
Exercit.  Plin.  p.  46.)  Now  the  images 
shown  at  Lavinium,  as  the  identical  sta- 
tues of  the  Penates  brought  to  Italy  by 
JEne&s,  consisted  of  KijpvKia  fftdrjpa  cat 
Xa\Ka,  icai  Kepapov  Tpwi'jcoy.  (Dion. 
Hal.  i.  67.)  With  the  true  or  fictitious 
history  of  ^Eneas  we  are  not  concerned  ; 
it  is  sufficient  to  know  the  form  of  those 
symbols  which  were  acknowledged  in  Italy 
as  suitable  representations  of  the  Penates. 
For  an  explanation  of  the  caduceal  figures 
we  may  refer  to  Servius  :  "  Nullus  enim 
locus  sine  Genio  est,  qui  per  anguem  ple- 
rumque  ostenditur."  The  Trojan  bowl 
and  Issedonian  skull  will  illustrate  each 
other.  Livy  has  also  said,  "  Galli  Boii 
caput  ducis  (Postumii)  praecisum  ovantes 
templo — intulere  :  purgato  inde  capite,  ut 
mos  iis  est,  calvum  auro  caelavere  ;  idque 
sacrum  vas  iis  erat,  quo  solennibus  liba- 
rent ;  poculumque  idem  sacerdoti  esse  ac 
templi  antistitibus."  It  will  be  remem- 
bered, that  according  to  the  Edda,  the  skull 
of  Ymir  was  converted  into  the  canopy  of 
heaven  (Daemesaga).  Something  is  said 
on  this  subject  at  page  xxvi.  below,  which, 
though  written  without  the  passages  above 
cited  being  in  the  Editor's  recollection,  he 
by  no  means  wishes  to  retract,  so  far  as 
the  moderns  are  concerned.  Through  in- 
advertency the  authorities  for  that  note 
have  been  omitted,  viz.  Bartholin  for  the 
facts,  and  the  "  Transactions  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian Society,"  page  323.  1813.  for  the 
correction. 


(64)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

the  great  mystery  of  the  Romish  church  is  visibly  demonstrated  before 
them.  The  transubstantiation  of  the  sacred  wafer  is  effected  in  their 
presence,  palpably  and  sensibly;  the  hallowed  "  bread  become  flesh" 
is  deposited  in  the  cup ;  and  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  emerges  from 
it  to  administer  to  his  "  knights  servants  and  true  children,  which 
[were]  come  out  of  deadly  life  into  spiritual  life,  the  high  meat  .which 
[they]  had  so  much  desired."  Still  they  "  did  not  see  that  which 
they  most  desired  to  see,  so  openly  as  they  were  to  behold  it  in  the  city 
of  Sarras  in  the  spiritual  place."  Here  Sir  Galahad's  vision  of  the 
transcendent  attributes  of  the  Graal.is  perfected  ;  his  participation  in 
its  hallowed  contents  is  consummated  to  the  full  extent  of  his  wishes ; 
he  has  now  obtained  the  only  meed  for  which  this  life  is  worth  en- 
during— a  certainty  of  passing  to  a  better :  his  earthly  travails  close, 
"  his  soul  departs  unto  Christ,  and  a  great  multitude  of  angels"  is  seen 
to  "  bear  it  up  to  heaven.  Also  his  two  fellows  saw  come  from  heaven 
a  hand,  but  they  saw  not  the  body;  and  then  it  came  right  to  the  vessel 

and  took  it and  so  bare  it  up  to  heaven.     Sithence  was  there 

never  no  man  so  hardy  for  to  say  that  he  had  seen  the  Sangreall." 

In  the  Arabic  version  the  holy  vessel  is  delivered  by  an  angel  to 
Titurel,  at  whose  birth  another  minister  of  heaven  attended,  and  fore- 
told the  infant  hero's  future  glory,  by  declaring  that  he  was  destined 
to  wear  the  crown  of  Paradise.  By  him  a  temple  is  built  for  its  pre- 
servation upon  Montsalvaez,  "  a  sacred  mountain,  which  stands  in  Sal- 
vatierra132,  a  district  of  Arragon,  and  lying  adjacent  to  the  valley  of 
Roncevalles  and  upon  the  high  road  from  France  to  Compostella." 
The  materials  for  this  structure  are  of  the  most  costly  and  imperishable 
description :  they  are  all  produced  in  their  appropriate  forms  and  con- 
nection by  the  miraculous  power  of  the  Graal ;  and  the  outline  of  the 
building  is  unexpectedly  discovered  upon  a  rock  of  onyx,  which  the 
day  before  had  been  cleansed  of  the  weeds  and  herbage  that  encum- 
bered it.  The  access  to  the  sanctuary  is  rendered  invisible  to  all,  ex- 
cept the  chosen  few,  by  an  impervious  forest  of  cedar,  cypress  and 
ebony  surrounding  it.  By  the.  daily  contemplation  of  the  Graal, 
Titurel's  life  is  prolonged  to  "  more  than  five  hundred  years ;"  just  as 
the  glorious  career  of  Jemshid  was  extended  to  nearly  seven  centuries 
from  a  similar  cause ;  and  he  only  sinks  to  the  sleep  of  death,  from 
omitting  to  visit  it  during  the  space  of  ten  days.  In  Lohengrin,  Mont- 

132  This  Montsalvaez  in  Salvatierra  is  in  would  account   for   the    castle   of  Luces 

all  probability  the  Salisberi  of  the  Norman  Sieur  de  Gast  being  "  pres  de  Salisberi," 

Romancers ;    the   Mons   salutis    (Sawles-  or  adjoining  the  sanctuary  in  which  the 

byrig?)    of  the   Christian   world.      This  Graal  was  preserved. 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF   1824.         (65) 

salvaez  assumes  the  place  of  the  isle  of  Avalon  in  British  romance l33 ; 
and  forms  the  fabled  place  of  retreat  of  Arthur  and  his  followers.  It 
is  here  that  the  British  monarch  awaits  the  hour  of  his  re-appearance 
upon  earth 134 ;  but  far  from  remaining  insensible  to  those  chivalric 
duties  which  rendered  his  court  an  asylum  for  injured  beauty  and 
distressed  sovereigns,  he  still  holds  a  communication  with  the  world, 
and  occasionally  dispatches  a  faithful  champion  to  grant  assistance  in 
cases  of  momentous  need l36.  Here  also  the  Graal  maintains  the  sanc- 


133  The  retreat  of  Arthur  to  the  isle  of 
Avalon  forms  an  exact  parallel  to  what 
Hesiod  has  sung  of  the  heroes  who  fell  in 
the  Trojan  war,  &c.  (Op.  et  Dies,  140.) 
The  skolion  of  Callistratus  relative  to 
Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton  shows  how 
late  this  beautiful  fiction  continued  to  be 
a  favourite  with  the  Athenians.  In  the 
Islands  of  the  Blest  we  hear  of  Semele 
being  married  to  Rhadamanthus,  and 
Helen  to  Achilles.  The  offspring  of  this 
latter  union  was  a  winged  boy,  Eupho- 
rion,  who  was  destroyed  by  Jupiter  in  the 
island  of  Melos.  (Ptolem.  Hephsest.  c.  4.) 
Mr.  Owen  has  said  of  "  Arthur  the  son  of 
Uthyr  Bendragon,  that  he  was  a  mytholo- 
gical and  probably  allegorical  personage, 
and  the  Arcturus  or  Great  Bear"  of  the 
celestial  sphere.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  the  Welsh  antiquaries  have  told  us 
so  little  of  this  mystic  Arthur.  The  Fins, 
one  of  the  oldest  European  tribes,  and 
whose  destinies  have  been  even  more 
evil-starred  than  those  of  the  Celts,  retain 
the  following  article  of  their  ancient  faith : 
— When  the  soul  is  permitted  to  ascend 
the  shoulders  of  Ursa  Major,  it  passes  into 
the  highest  heaven,  and  the  last  stage  of 
felicity.  (Mone,  ubi  supra,  62.)  Some- 
thing of  this  kind  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  make  many  parts  of  the  Morte  Arthur 
intelligible ;  for  that  in  this  we  have  to 
do  with  the  mythological  Arthur,  would 
be  clear  even  to  those  who  had  no  know- 
ledge of  an  historical  British  prince.  Not 
that  the  compilers  of  these  fictions  were  at 
all  aware  of  the  ground  they  were  tread- 
ing, any  more  than  Homer,  when  he  de- 
scribed the  contest  between  Vulcan  and 
the  Scamander,  believed  himself  "  to  be 
philosophizing  Orphically,"  to  speak  with 
Philostratus.  (Heroic,  p.  100.  ed.  Boisson- 
nade.)  The  writers  of  romance,  like  the 
great  Maeonian  (si  licet  componere,  Sic.), 
appear  to  have  poured  forth  in  song  the 
sacred  lore  of  an  earlier  period,  but  which 
having  already  received  a  secular  or  hi- 
storical cast,  was  uttered  as  such  by  them 
with  the  most  unsuspecting  good  faith. 

131  The  doctrine  of  the  rnetempsycho- 

VOL.  I. 


sis,  which  formed  so  conspicuous  an  arti- 
cle of  the  Celtic  creed,  would  be  sufficient 
to  account  for  the  Breton  tradition  rela- 
tive to  Arthur's  re-appearance  upon  earth. 
A  similar  belief  was  entertained  respect- 
ing Ogier  le  Danois,  whose  identity  with 
Helgi,  a  hero  of  Ssemund's  Edda,has  been 
already  noticed.  At  the  close  of  the  song 
"  Helgi  and  Svava,"  it  is  stated,  that  these 
persons  were  born  again  ;  and  at  the  end 
of  the  second  song  concerning  Helgi  Hun- 
dings-bane,  we  have,  "  It  was  believed  in 
the  olden  time  that  men  might  be  bora 
again.  Helgi  and  SSgrunr  are  said  to 
have  been  regenerated.  He  was  then 
called  Helgi  Haddingia-skate ;  but  she, 
Kara  Halfdens  daughter."  The  compiler 
of  this  collection  does  not  fail  to  add,  that 
in -his  time  this  opinion  was  regarded  as 
an  old-wives'  tale.  The  French  romances 
however  have  perpetuated  the  tradition. 

135  The  author  of  Lohengrin  makes 
Eschenbach  assert,  that  his  information 
respecting  Arthur's  "  residence  in  the 
mountain,  the  manner  in  which  the  Bri- 
tish monarch  and  his  hundred  followers 
were  provided  with  food,  raiment,  horses, 
and  armour,  and  the  names  of  the  cham- 
pions whom  he  had  dispatched  to  aid  the 
Christian  world,"  was  obtained  from  St. 
Brandan.  Lohengrin  or  the  "  Chevelere 
Assigne  "  was  one  of  these  heroes.  In 
this  Arthur  assumes  the  duty  allotted  to 
Proserpine,  who,  according  to  Pindar, 
"  having  cleansed  the  soul  of  its  impu- 
rities, re-dispatches  it  to  the  upper  sun, 
where  it  becomes  distinguished  for  its 
wisdom  or  its  power,  and  in  after-time  is 
ranked  among  the  heroes  of  public  vene- 
ration." See  Plato's  Meno  81.  and  Her- 
mann's disposition  of  this  fragment  in  the 
3rd  volume  of  Heyne's  Pindar.  In  Ger- 
many this  tradition  respecting  the  Graal 
became  localized :  Four  miles  from  Dann, 
St.  Barbara's  hill  is  seen  to  rise  conically 
from  the  centre  of  a  plain.  By  many  in- 
fatuated Germans  this  hill  is  called  the 
Graal,  who  also  believe  that  it  contains 
numerous  living  persons,  whose  lives  will 
be  prolonged  till  the  day  of  judgement, 


(66)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

tity  of  its  character ;  and  becomes  at  once  the  register  of  human 
grievances  and  necessities,  and  the  interpreter  of  the  will  of  Heaven 
as  to  the  best  mode  of  redressing  them 13(5.  But  even  here  its  tran- 
scendent purity  requires  a  similar  degree  of  unblemished  worth  in 
those  who  consult  its  dictates:  the  attendant  knights  in  Arthur's 
train  are  too  corrupt  and  sensual  to  approach  the  hallowed  fane  ; 
and  the  infant  children  of  Perceval  and  Lancelot,  and  the  daughter 
of  the  courteous  Gawaine  are  alone  considered  fit  to  step  within  the 
sacred  shrine.  Perhaps  this  would  be  the  place  to  connect  these 
scattered  fragments  of  general  tradition,  and  to  offer  a  few  remarks 
upon  the  import  of  a  symbol  which  has  thus  found  its  way  into  the 
popular  creed  of  so  many  distant  nations.  But  a  history  of  romantic 
fiction  forms  no  part  of  the  present  attempt,  nor  an  exposition  of  those 
esoteric  doctrines,  which,  taught  in  the  heathen  temple  and  perpetuated 
in  the  early  stages  of  the  Romish  church,  have  descended  to  the  mul- 
titude in  a  less  impressive  but  more  attractive  guise. 

There  is,  however,  one  point  upon  which  it  may  be  necessary  to 
make  a  more  explicit  avowal,  lest  the  general  tendency  of  the  preceding 
remarks  should  be  construed  into  an  acquiescence  in  opinions  wholly 
disclaimed.  Though  the  marvels  of  popular  fiction,  both  in  the  an- 
cient and  modern  world,  have  thus  been  referred  to  the  same  common 
origin,  it  is  by  no  means  intended  to  affirm  that  the  elements  of  ficti- 
tious narrative  in  Greek  and  Roman  literature  are  nowhere  to  be  found 
embodied  in  the  productions  of  the  middle  age137.  Such  an  assertion 
would  be  at  variance  with  the  most  limited  experience  of  the  subject, 
and  might  be  refuted  by  a  simple  reference  to  the  German  tales  of 
MM.  Grimm.  In  the  story  of  the  "  Serpent-leaf,"  the  principal  inci- 
dent accords  with  the  account  of  Glaucus  and  Polyidus,  as  related  by 
Apollodorus 138 ;  the  cranes  of  Ibycus  figure  under  another  form  in  the 

and  who  pass  their  time  there  in  a  round  of  seems  more  probable  than  that  the  corn- 
continued  revelry  and  pleasure.  Theod-  posers  of  romance  were  well  acquainted 
eric  a  Niem.  lib.  ii.  de  Schismat.  c.  20.  with  the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin  poets." 
as  cited  by  Praetorius,  i.  395.  (Met.  Rom.  iii.  p.  324.)  But  here  his  own 

136  The  distress  of  Elsam  von  Brabant  favourite  figure  in  dialectic  inight  cer- 

is  made  known  to  Arthur  by  her  ringing  tainly  have  been  retorted  upon  him  :  Is  it 

a  bell,  a  subject  upon  which  there  is  no  so  nominated  in  the  bond  ? 
space  to  dilate.     But  the  reader  will  not  i»  Compare    Grimm's    Kinder-    und 

fail  to  remember  that  a  brazen  vessel  (or  Haus-Marchen,  No.    16,   with   Apollod. 

bell)  is  sounded  when  Simaetha  invokes  Biblioth.  iii.  3.  1.     There  is  perhaps  no 

Hecate   (Theocritus,  ii.  36.),  and  that  a  fable  that  has  obtained  a  more  extensive 

similar  rite  was  observed  at  Athens  when  circulation  than  this.     Another  version  of 

the  Hierophant  invoked  the  same  Goddess  the  story  attributes  the  cure  of  Glaucus  to 

as  Core  or  Proserpine.     See  Apollodorus,  .ZEsculapius  (Hyg.  Astron.  14.)  :  and  ac- 

as  cited  by  the  Scholiast  to  Theocritus,  cording  to  Xanthus,  as  cited  by  Pliny 

and  compare  the  preceding  note,  (Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xxv.  c.  5.),  it  formed  a 

1S?  Mr.   Ritson    has    said,    "  Nothing  piece  of  Lydian  history.     A  recent  num- 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF   1824.          (67) 


tale  of  the  Jew  and  the  Skinker13' ;  and  the  slipper  of  Cinderella  finds 
a  parallel,  though  somewhat  sobered,  in  the  history  of  the  celebrated 
Rhodope140.  In  another  story  of  the  same  collection  we  meet  with  the 
fabled  punishment  of  Regulus,  inflicted  on  the  persons  of  two  cul- 
prits141; Ovid's  Baucis  and  Philemon  may  be  said  to  have  furnished 
the  basis  of  the  Poor  and  the  Rich  Man  l42;  the  Gaudief  and  his  Master 
contains  the  history  of  the  Thessalian  Erisichthon143 ;  the  Boeotian 
Sphinx  exerts  her  agency  in  a  variety  of  forms 144 ;  and  the  descent  of 
Rhampsinitus,  and  his  diceing  with  Demeter,  is  shadowed  forth  in  a 
series  of  narratives145.  Another  of  Ovid's  fables,  the  history  of  Picus 
and  Circe,  is  in  strict  analogy  with  a  considerable  portion  of  the  "  Two 
Brothers ;"  other  incidents  may  be  said  to  have  been  borrowed  from 
the  account  of  the  same  enchantress  in  the  Odyssey :  the  annual  sacri- 
fice of  a  virgin  to  the  destructive  dragon  forms  a  pendant  to  the  story 
in  Pausanias  concerning  the  dark  demon  of  Temessa ;  and  the  test  of 
the  hero's  success,  the  production  of  the  dragon's  tongue,  which  also 


ber  of  the  Quarterly  Review  (No.  58.)  has 
cited  the  following  illustration  of  it  from 
Roger  Bacon's  Opus  Majus :  "  At  Paris 
there  was  lately  a  sage,  who  sought  out 
the  serpent's  nest,  and  selecting  one  of  the 
reptiles,  he  cut  it  into  small  pieces,  leaving 
only  as  much  undissected  membrane  as 
was  sufficient  to  prevent  the  fragments 
from  falling  asunder.  The  dying  serpent 
crawled  as  well  as  it  could  until  it  found 
a  leaf,  whose  touch  immediately  united 
the  severed  body ;  and  the  sage,  thus 
guided  by  the  "creature  whom  he  had 
mangled,  was  taught  to  gather  a  plant  of 
inestimable  virtue."  While  this  sheet 
was  passing  through  the  press,  a  similar 
story  was  related  to  the  Editor,  of  an  old 
crone  practising  leech-craft  in  Glamorgan- 
shire at  the  present  day.  The  ancient 
name  of  this  valuable  herb  was  balis  or 
ballis.  (Comp.  Pliny  with  the  Etymol. 
Magnum.)  In  the  Lai  d'Eliduc,  two 
weasels  are  substituted  for  the  serpents  of 
the  ancient  fiction. 

"9  Grimm,  No.  115.      Cic.  Tusc.  4.  c. 
43. 

140  Grimm,  No.  21.     JElian.  Var.  Hist, 
lib.  xiii.  c.  32. 

141  Grimm,  No.  13.     Appian  in  Liby- 
cis.     In  the  note  to  the  "  Three  Manni- 
kins  in  the  Wood,"  it  is  stated  from  the 
Great    Chronicle    of  Holland,    that    this 
punishment  was  inflicted  on  Gerhard  van 
Velzen,  for  the  murder  of  Count  Florence 
V.  of  Holland  (1296).     After  being  rolled 
in  the  cask  for  three  days,  he  was  asked 
how  he  felt,  when  he  intrepidly  replied  : 


Ich  ben  noch  dezelve  man 
Die  Graaf  Floris  zyn  leven  nam. 
I  am  still  the  self-same  man  who  took 
away  the  life  of  Count  Florence!  The 
same  punishment  is  also  mentioned  in  the 
Swedish  popular  ballads  published  by 
Geyer  and  Afzelius,  i.  No.  3  ;  the  Danish 
Kiempe  Viser,  No.  165;  in  Perrault's 
Fairy  Tale  "  Les  Fees,"  and  the  Penta- 
merone,  iii.  10.  (Grimm.)  [See  also  Mr. 
Edgar  Taylor's  German  Popular  Stories, 
and  the  Notes.] 

142  Grimm,  No.  87.     Ovid.  Met.  viii. 
679,  where  the  presence  of  a  divinity  is 
manifested  by  a  miracle  running  through 
the  fictions  of  every  country: 

Interea,  quoties  haustum  cratera,  repleri 
Sponte  sua,  per  seque  vident  succrescere 

vina, 

Attoniti,  &c. 
Compare  note  105.  p.  (52)  above. 

143  Grimm,  No.  68,     Ovid.  Met.   viii. 
738.  and  .Elian.  Var.  Hist.  i.  28. 

144  The  popular  view  of  this  subject  in 
the  ancient  world  is  given  by  Pausanias, 
ix.  c.  26.  who  represents  the  Sphinx  as 
a  natural  daughter  of  Laius,  entrusted 
with  a  secret  delivered  to  Cadmus  by  the 
oracle  at  Delphi.     The  rightful  heir  to 
the  throne  was  in  possession  of  the  solu- 
tion to  this  mystery  ;  the  illegitimate  pre- 
tenders were  detected  by  their  ignorance 
of  it,  and  suffered  the  penalty  due  to  their 
deceit. 

145  Grimm,  No.  82,  and  the  note  con- 
taining the  several  variations  of  the  tale. 
Herodotus  ii.  122. 


(68)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 


occurs  in  the  romances  of  Wolf-dietrich  and  Tristram,  is  to  be  met  with 
in  the  local  history  of  Megara146.  The  mysterious  cave  of  "Gaffer 
Death"  receives  its  chief  importance  from  its  resemblance  to  a  similar 
scene  in  the  vision  of  Timarchus 147 ;  and  the  most  interesting  tale  in 
the  whole  collection — whether  we  speak  with  reference  to  its  contents, 
or  the  admirable  style  of  the  narrative — the  Machandel  Boom148 —  is 


146  Grimm,  No.  60.  Ovid.  Met.  xiv. 
327.  Odyss.  x.  230-335.  Comp.  Ovid.  xiv. 
270.  Pausanias  vi.  c.  6.  (See  note  57.  p. 
(33)  above.)  Weber's  Northern  Antiqui- 
ties, p.  123.  Sir  Tristram,  fytte  2.  st.  37. 
The  scholiast  to  Apollonius  Rhodius  re- 
lates, on  the  authority  of  the  Megarica, 
that  Alcathous  the  son  of  Pelops,  having 
slain  Chrysippus,  fled  from  Megara,  and 
settled  in  some  other  town.  The  Mega- 
raean  territory  being  afterwards  ravaged 
by  a  lion,  persons  were  dispatched  to  de- 
stroy it ;  but  Alcathous,  meeting  the  mon- 
ster, slew  it,  and  cut  out  the  tongue,  with 
which  he  returned  to  Megara.  The  party 
sent  to  perform  the  exploit  also  returned, 
averring  the  success  of  their  enterprise ; 
when  Alcathous  advanced,  and  produced 
the  lion's  tongue,  to  the  confusion  of  his 
adversaries.  Schol.  in  Apoll.  Rhod.  lib. 
i.  v.  517. 

14?  Grimm,  No.  44.  «  Gaffer  Death... 
now  led  the  physician  into  a  subterranean 
cavern,  containing  an  endless  number  of 
many  thousand  thousand  lighted  candles. 
Some  were  long,  others  half-burnt,  and 
others  again  almost  out.  Every  instant 
some  of  these  candles  became  extinguished, 
and  others  lighted  anew ;  and  the  flame  was 
seen  to  move  from  one  part  of  the  cave  to 
another.  Look  here  !  (said  Death  to  his 
companion,)  these  are  the  vital  sparks  of 
human  existence."  In  Plutarch's  tract 
"  De  Genio  Socratis,"  Timarchus  is  made 
to  address  his  mysterious  guide  thus : 
"  But  I  see  nothing  except  a  number  of 
stars  shooting  about  the  chasm,  some  of 
which  are  plunging  into  it,  and  others 
shining  brilliantly  and  rising  out  of  it." 
These  are  said  to  be  the  intellectual  por- 
tions of  the  soul  (Nous),  or  demoniacal 
intelligences,  and  the  ascending  stars  souls 
upon  their  return  from  earth  ;  the  others, 
souls  descending  into  life.  c.  22.  In  this 
we  receive  the  key  to  the  attribute  be- 
stowed upon  the  ancient  divinities  who 
presided  over  generation  and  childbirth, 
such  as  Lucina,  Artemis-Phosphorus,  &c. 
and  hence  also  the  analogy  between  the 
stories  of  Meleager  and  Norna-Gest  may 
be  explained  from  a  common  point  of  po- 
pular faith. 

148  This  extraordinary  tale  will  be 
found  in  the  second  volume  of  Mr.  Edgar 


Taylor's  German  Popular  Stories,  now  on 
the  eve  of  publication.  To  this  the  reader 
is  referred,  who  will  feel  grateful  that  no 
garbled  abstract  of  it  is  here  attempted. 
The  points  of  coincidence  may  be  thus 
briefly  stated.  In  the  Cretan  fable,  the 
destruction  of  Zagreus  is  attributed  to  the 
jealousy  of  his  step-mother  Juno  ;  and  the 
Titans  (those  telluric  powers  who  were 
created  to  avenge  their  mother's  connubial 
wrongs)  are  the  instruments  of  her  cruelty. 
The  infant  god  is  allured  to  an  inner 
chamber,  by  a  present  of  toys  and  fruit 
(among  these  an  apple},  and  is  forthwith 
murdered.  The  dismembered  body  is 
now  placed  in  a  kettle,  for  the  repast  of 
his  destroyers;  but  the  vapour  ascending 
to  heaven,  the  deed  is  detected,  and  the 
perpetrators  struck  dead  by  the  lightning 
of  Jove.  Apollo  collects  the  bones  of  his 
deceased  brother,  and  buries  them  at  Del- 
phi, where  the  palingenesy  of  Bacchus 
was  celebrated  periodically  by  the  Hosii 
and  Thyades.  (Compare  Clemens  Alex. 
Protrept.  p.  15.  ed.  Potter;  Nonnus  Dio- 
nys.  vi.  174,  &c.  and  Plutarch  de  Isid.  et 
Osirid.  c.  35.  et  De  Esu  Carnium,  i.  c.  vii.) 
But  this  again  is  only  another  version  of 
the  Egyptian  mythos  relative  to  Osiris, 
which  will  supply  us  wrth  the  chest,  the 
tree,  the  sisterly  affection,  and  perhaps  the 
bird  (though  the  last  may  be  explained 
on  other  grounds).  (Plut.  de  Isid.  &c.  c. 
13.  et  seqq.)  Mr.  Grimm  wishes  to  con- 
sider the  "  Machandel-Boom"  the  ju- 
niper-tree ;  and  not  the  "  Mandel,"  or  al- 
mond-tree. It  will  be  remembered,  that 
the  latter  was  believed  by  the  ancient 
world  to  possess  very  important  properties. 
The  fruit  of  one  species,  the  Amygdala, 
impregnated  the  daughter  of  the  river 
Sangarius  with  the  Phrygian  Attys  (Pans, 
vii.  17)  ;  and  another,  the  Persea,  was  the 
sacred  plant  of  Isis,  so  conspicuous  on 
Egyptian  monuments.  (For  this  inter- 
pretation of  the  Persea,  see  S.  de  Sacy's 
Abd-allatif  Relation  de  1'Egypte,  p.  47- 
72,  and  the  Christian  and  Mahommedan 
fictions  there  cited.)  This  story  of  dress- 
ing and  eating  a  child  is  historically  re- 
lated of  Atreus,  Tantalus,  Procne,  Harpa- 
lice  (Hyginus  ed.  Staveren,  206),  and 
Astyages  (Herod,  i.  1 19)  ;  and  is  obviously 
a  piece  of  traditional  scandal  borrowed 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF   1824.          (69) 

but  a  popular  view  of  the  same  mythos  upon  which  the  Platonists  have 
expended  so  much  commentary — the  history  of  the  Cretan  Bacchus 
or  Zagreus.  In  Sweden,  the  story  of  Hero  and  Leander  has  become 
localized,  and  forms  the  subject  of  an  interesting  national  ballad ;  the 
fate  of  Midas  is  to  be  found  incorporated  as  an  undoubted  point  of 
Irish  history  149 ;  and  the  treasury  of  Rhampsinitus  has  passed  from 
Egypt  to  Greece,  and  from  Mycenae  to  Venice160.  The  youthful  hi- 
story of  Theseus  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  many  parts  of  Sir  De- 
gore;  the  white  and  black  sails,  the  emblems'of  his  success  or  failure, 
are  attached  to  the  history  of  Tristram  and  fair  Ysoude ;  the  ball  of 
silk  given  him  by  Ariadne  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Russian 
witch  Jaga-Baba ;  and  the  heroic  feat  which  was  to  establish  the  proof 
of  his  descent,  has  been  inserted  in  the  lives  of  Arthur,  and  the  North- 
ern Sigurdr131.  The  talisman  of  Meleager — "Althaea's  firebrand"— 
has  been  conferred  upon  the  aged  Norna-Gest,  a  follower  of  king 
Olaf )52 ;  the  artifice  of  Jack  the  Giant-killer,  in  throwing  a  stone  among 
his  enemies,  occurs  in  the  histories  of  Cadmus  and  Jason153 ;  and  the 
perilous  labour  of  Alcmene  is  circumstantially  related  in  the  Scottish 
ballad  of  Willie's  Lady  li4.  Among  the  marvellous  tales  with  which 
the  traveller  Pytheas  chose  to  enliven  the  narrative  of  his  voyage,  at 

from  ancient  mythology.    The  Platonistic  ions  than  the  Grecian  hero ;  for  on  the  day 

exposition  of  it  will  be  found  in  Mr.  Tay-  king  Olaf  recommended  him  to  try  the 

lor's    tract   upon  the   Bacchic    Mysteries  experiment  of  lighting  the  candle,  he  was 

(Pamphleteer,  No.  15.).  300  years  old.  Ib. 

"9  Keating's  Hist,  of  Ireland,  as  cited  153  Schol.  in  Apoll.  Rhod.  Hi.  1178. 

by  MM.  Grimm,  iii.  391.  154  Minstrelsy   of  the   Border,  vol.  ii. 

150  Compare  Herod,  ii.  c.  121.    Schol.  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  observed,  that  the 
in  Aristoph.  Nub.  508.  and  the  notes  to  billie-blind,    who    detects    the    mother's 
Childe  Harold,  canto  iv.  charm  in  this  ballad,  was  a  species  of  do- 

151  Compare  Plutarch's  Life  of  Theseus  mestic  spirit  or  Brownie.     The  Thebans 
with  Sir  Degore,  as  published  in  the  "  Se-  appear  to  have  held  a  similar  opinion  re- 
lect  Pieces   of  Early   Popular    Poetry  ;  "  lative  to  Galinthias,  whom  they  considered 
Scott's  Sir  Tristram,  p.  199;  Prince  Wla-  a  ministrant  of  Hecate,  and  to  whom  the 
dimir  and  his  Round  Table,  a  collection  first  sacrifice  was  performed  during  the 
of  early  Russian  Heroic  Songs,  Leipzig  festival  of  Hercules.     (Anton.  Lib.  c.  29.) 
1819,  8vo,  as  cited  by  Mone   130;   the  They  were  hence  reputed  to  worship  a 
Morte  Arthur,  P.  I.  c.  4 ;   and  the  Vol-  weasel  (j£lian.  Hist.  Nat.  xii.  v.),  an  ani- 
sunga  Saga,  Miiller,  p.  31.  mal  of  an  exceedingly  ominous  character 

152  Apollod.  Biblioth.  i.  c.  8.  1.     "  At  in  the  ancient  world.  (Theophrastus  Cha- 
length  Gest  told  them  the  reason  of  his  ract.  17.)  In  the  reputed  house  of  Amphi- 
being  called  Norna-Gest.     Three  Volar  tryon,  Pausanias  (ix.  11.)  saw  a  relievo 
cast  his  nativity  ;    the   two  first  spaced  representing  the  Sorceresses  (Pharmaci- 
every  thing  that  was  good,  but  the  last  des)  sent  by  Juno  to  obstruct  Alcmene's 
became    displeased,    and   said   the    child  labour.     According  to  him  (and  he  ga- 
should   not  live  longer  than  the  candle  thered  the  account  at  Thebes),  they  were 
lasted  which  was  then  burning.  Upon  this  defeated  by  Historis,  a  daughter  of  Ti- 
the two  Volar  seized  the  light,  and  bade  resias ;  which  again  confirms  the  analogy 
his  mother  preserve  it,  saying,  it  was  not  between  the  ancient  and  modern  fiction, 
to  be  lighted  till  the  day  of  his  death."  for  Tiresias  and  his  family  move  in  The- 
Norna-Gest's    Saga,   Miiller    113.      Gest  ban  story  with  all  the  importance  of  tute- 
was  more  fortunate  in  his  family  connex-  lary  divinities. 


(70)          MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

the  risk  of  sacrificing  his  character  for  discernment  and  veracity,  the 
following  has  been  preserved  by  the  Scholiast  to  Apollonius  Rhodius : 
"  Vulcan  appears  to  have  taken  up  his  abode  in  the  islands  of  Lipara 
and  Strongyle,...  ...and  it  was  formerly  said,  that  whoever  chose  to  carry 

there  a  piece  of  unwrought  iron,  and  at  the  same  time  deposited  the 
value  of  the  labour,  might  on  the  following  morning  come  and  have  a 
sword,  or  whatever  else  he  wished,  for  itli5."  This  fiction  has  a  double 
claim  upon  our  attention,  both  from  the  manner  in  which  it  became 
localized  at  a  very  early  period  in  England,  and  from  the  interest  it 
has  recently  excited  by  its  reception  into  one  of  those  unrivalled  pro- 
ductions* which  have  given  a  new  character  to  the  literature  of  the 
day.  In  a  letter  written  by  Francis  Wise  to  Dr.  Mead,  "  concerning 
some  antiquities  in  Berkshire,  particularly  the  White  Horse,"  an  ac- 
count is  given  of  a  remarkable  pile  of  stones,  to  which  the  following 
notice  is  attached  :  "  All  the  account  which  the  country  people  are  able 
to  give  of  it  is :  At  this  place  lived  formerly  an  invisible  smith ;  and  if 
a  traveller's  horse  had  left  a  shoe  upon  the  road,  he  had  no  more  to  do 
than  to  bring  the  horse  to  this  place  with  a  piece  of  money,  and 
leaving  both  there  for  some  little  time,  he  might  come  again,  and  find 
the  money  gone,  but  the  horse  new  shoed.  The  stones  standing  upon 
the  Rudgeway,  as  it  is  called,  I  suppose  gave  occasion  to  the  whole 
being  called  Wayland-Smith,  which  is  the  name  it  was  always  known 
by  to  the  country-people."  The  reader  will  have  no  difficulty  in  de- 
tecting here  the  previous  recital  of  Pytheas,  or  in  recognising  in  this 
simple  tradition  the  germ  of  a  more  recent  fiction,  as  it  has  been  un- 
folded in  the  novel  of  Kenilworth  *.  But  he  may  not  be  equally  aware, 
that  the  personage  whose  abilities  it  has  so  unostentatiously  transmitted, 
is  a  very  important  character  in  early  Northern  poetry ;  and  that  the 
fame  of  "  Wayland-Smith,"  though  less  widely  extended  than  it  now 
promises  to  become,  was  once  the  theme  of  general  admiration,  from 
the  banks  of  the  Bosphorus156  to  the  Atlantic  and  Frozen  oceans. 

155  Schol.  in  Apoll.  Rhod.  iv.  761.  Belle-SauvageonLudgateHill,(chap.xiii.) 
*  [Alfred  the  Great  speaks  of  Welond  &c.  &c.  So  mean  a  profanation  of  an  an- 
"  the  wise  smith  "  as  a  renowned  person-  cient  poetic  tradition  is  far  from  being  de- 
age  of  the  remotest  antiquity  ;  and,  para-  serving  of  praise,  but  must  be  considered 
phrasing  the  reflections  of  Boethius  on  the  as  one  of  those  bookmaking  expedients  re- 
transient  nature  of  human  glory,  exclaims,  sorted  to  for  the  supply  of  the  incessant 
"Where  are  now  the  bones  of  Welond?  or  demands  of  a  lucrative  and  recklessly 
who  knows  the  place  where  they  were  de-  prolific  manufacture. — R.  T.] 
posited  ?  "  Sir  Walter  Scott,  however,  has  156  In  the  Vilkina-Saga  he  is  called 
no  scruple  in  producing  him  as  a  matter-  Velent :  but  the  author  adds,  he  bore  the 
of-fact  parish  blacksmith  and  mountebank  name  of  Volundr  among  the  Varingar. 
of  Berkshire,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza-  These  Bapayyoi  were  mercenaries  in  the 
beth,  uttering  much  common-place  gossip,  service  of  the  Greek  emperors.  See  Anna 
shopping  in  Fleet  Street,  putting  up  at  the  Cornn.,  Codrin.,  &c.  and  Ducange  v.  Ba- 


MB.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF   1824. 

The  first  historical  song  in  the  Edda  of  Saemund — if  it  be  lawful  to  give 
this  name  to  a  composition  containing  such  a  strong  admixture  of 
mythological  matter — is  devoted  to  the  fortunes  of  a  celebrated  smith 
called  Volundr*.  The  Vilkina-Saga,  a  production  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  enters  more  fully  into  his  history ;  and  he  is  spoken  of  by  va- 
rious writers  between  the  ninth  and  fourteenth  centuries157  as  the  fa- 
bricator of  every  curious  weapon,  or  unusual  piece  of  art.  In  the  out- 
line of  his  story  there  is  a  very  strong  analogy  f  with  the  events  that 
shine  so  marvellously  in  the  life  of  Daedalus.  The  flight  of  Volundr 
from  his  native  country,  like  that  of  the  Athenian  artist,  is  attributed 
to  an  act  of  violence  upon  the  persons  of  two  rival  craftsmen.  His  first 
reception  at  the  court  of  Nidung  is  attended  by  every  demonstration 
of  kindness  and  attention;  but  an  accidental  offence  occasions  the 
seizure  and  mutilation  of  his  person,  and  he  is  compelled  to  labour  in- 
cessantly in  the  duties  of  the  forge  for  his  tyrannical  host.  The  double 
cruelties  inflicted  on  him,  in  the  loss  of  liberty  and  his  bodily  injuries, 
inspire  him  with  sentiments  of  revenge :  the  infant  sons  of  his  perse- 
cutor fall  the  victims  of  his  artifice  ;  their  sister  is  seduced  and  publicly 
disgraced;  and  the  triumphant  artist,  having  attached  wings  to  his 
person,  takes  his  way  through  the  air  to  seek  a  more  friendly  em- 
ployer158. It  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  the  only  term  in  the  Ice- 
landic language  to  designate  a  labyrinth  is  Volundar-hus — a  Weland's 
house159. 

rangii.  In  the  eleventh  century,  the  to  auctore,  (but  who  was  living  in  1159,) 
Northern  portion  of  this  body-guard  p.  252.  See  also  the  romance  of  Horn- 
amounted  to  300,  according  to  the  Flatos  child  and  Maiden  Riminild,  in  Ritson's 
Codex,  c.  507-8,  which  makes  a  distinc-  Met.  Rom.  vol.  iii.  p.  295. 
tion  between  them  and  the  French  and  f  [See  Mr.  T.  Keightley's  "  Tales  and 
Flemings  in  the  Imperial  service.  Miiller,  Popular  Fictions,  their  Resemblance  and 
149.  Transmission  from  Country  to  Country," 

*  [Conybeare's  Illustrations,  p.  236.]  1834,  p.   271.     He  scarcely  admits  the 

ls?  Some  of  these  have  been  already  analogy.] 

noticed.     (See  Alfred's  Boethius,  and  the  158  These  circumstances  are  taken  from 

poem  of  Beowulf,  and  note y  p.  Ixii.  below.)  the   recital  given   in   the   Vilkina-Saga. 

The  following  may  be  added  from  M  tiller's  (Miiller,  154.)     The  Eddaic  song  makes 

Saga-Bibliothek  :  "  Et  nisi  duratis  Vue-  no  mention  of  Volundr's  flight  to  the  court 

landia  fabrica  giris  obstaret .  .  .  ."  from  a  of  Nithuthur  (Nidung),  nor  of  his  killing 

Latin  poem  of  the  ninth  century,  entitled  his  instructors  the  Dwarfs :  a  deed  of  mere 

"  De  prima  Expeditione  Attilae  regis  Hun-  self-defence  according  to  the  Vilkina-Saga, 

norum  in  Gallia,  ac  de  rebus  gestis  Walt-  since,  his  rapid  improvement  having  ex- 

harii   Aquitanorum  principis."       Lipsiae  cited  their  envy,  they  were  devising  apian 

1780.   In  Labbe's  Bibliotheca  MSS.  Nova,  for  destroying  him. 

torn,    ii.,    the   following    notice    occurs  :  159  The  name  of  Volundr  became  a  ge- 

"  Gillermus  Sector  Ferri  hoc  nomen  sor-  neral  name  in  the  North  for  any  distin- 

titus  est,  quia  cum   Normannis  confligens  guished  artist,  whether  working  in  stone 

venire  solito  conflictu  deluctans,  ense  corto  or  iron.     The  same  may  be  said  of  Dse- 

vel  scorto  durissimo,  quern  Valandus  faber  dalus  in  Greece  (datda\\eiv,  daiSaXci), 

condiderat,  per  medium  corpus  loricatum  whose  labours  are  found  to  run  through  a 

secavit  una  percussione."     Historia  Ponti-  succession  of  ages  ;  and  who,  in  addition 

ficum  et  Comitum  Engolismensium  incer-  to  his  numerous  inventions,  constructed 


(72)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

The  resemblances  here  detailed  are  obviously  too  intimate  to  have 
been  the  result  of  accident,  or  a  common  development  of  circumstances 
possessing  some  general  affinity.  The  majority,  on  investigation,  will 
be  found  to  have  been  derived,  however  indirectly,  from  sources  of 
classical  antiquity ;  and  their  existence  in  this  dismembered  state  forci- 
bly illustrates  a  remark  of  Mr.  Campbell's,  which  is  equally  distinguished 
for  its  truth  and  beauty :  "  that  fiction  travels  on  still  lighter  wings 
[than  science],  and  scatters  the  seeds  of  her  wild  flowers  imperceptibly 
over  the  world,  till  they  surprise  us  by  springing  up  with  similarity,  in 
regions  the  most  remotely  divided160."  But  while  these  resemblances 
tend  to  establish  the  fact,  that  popular  fiction  is  in  its  nature  traditive161, 
they  necessarily  direct  our  attention  to  another  important  question — 
the  degree  of  antiquity  to  be  ascribed  to  the  great  national  fables  rela- 
tive to  Arthur,  Theoderic,  and  Charlemagne.  It  will  be  almost  need- 
less to  remark,  that  the  admixture  of  genuine  occurrences  in  all  these 
romances  is  so  disproportionate  to  the  fictitious  materials  by  which  it 
is  surrounded,  that  without  the  influence  of  particular  names,  and  the 
locality  given  to  the  action,  we  should  never  connect  the  events  de- 
tailed with  personages  of  authentic  history.  The  deeds  ascribed  to 
Charlemagne,  by  a  mere  change  of  scene,  become  as  "  germane"  to  the 
life  of  the  most  illustrious  of  the  Gothic  kings  as  any  of  the  circum- 
stances advanced  in  his  own  veracious  Vilkina-Saga.  A  similar  trans- 
ference might  be  effected,  in  the  "  most  antient  and  famous  history  of 
Prince  Arthur,"  without  violating  the  probability  or  disturbing  the  ac- 
curacy of  the  account :  and  the  same  process  might  be  applied,  with 
equal  success,  to  almost  every  other  romance  laying  claim  to  an  histori- 
cal character.  But  though  all  parties  may  be  agreed,  that  the  sub- 
structure of  these  recitals  is  essentially  fabulous,  the  great  point  to  be 
investigated,  is  the  sera  when  each  fable  first  obtained  a  circulation. 
Are  the  fictitious  memorials  thus  united  to  the  names  of  these  several 
European  kings  the  sole  invention  of  an  age  posterior  to  their  respect- 
ive reigns  ?  or  the  accumulated  traditions  of  a  long  succession  of  cen- 

such  enormous  works  in  Egypt,  Sicily  and  To  this  may  be  added  the  doctrine  of  an 
Crete.  In  the  former  country  he  received  ancient  aphorism  cited  by  Demosthenes 
divine  honours  (Diod.  Sic.  i.  p.  109.) ;  the  (De  falsa  legatione)  : 

mythologic  character  of  Volundr  is  clear        -          *,>  -\  \  « 

^    .  f       3>nun  o  ov  TIS  irainrav  airo\\VTai.  riv- 

from  the  Edda;  and  Praetonus  speaks  of  n          r 

o    •    •  i         •>  i  117    t.        XT'  TlVCt  TTOAAOt 

Spirits  Volands  and  Water- ruxen  as  syn-         .  ,        y  Q 

Aaoi  d>nui£w0r   Oeos  vv    TIS    eon    Kai 
onymous  terms.    If  we  allow  the  daugh-  Y  '• 

ter  of  Nidung  to  take  the  place  of  Pasi- 

phae,  the  Athenian  proverb  will  be  fully  61  Suppose  we  on  things  traditive  divide, 

substantiated  :  ev  TTCLVTI  fivOy  KO.I  TO  Aat-  .  And  both  appeal  to  Scripture  to  de- 

<$a\ov  fjLvaos.  Suidas,  i.  p.  752.  cide. — DRYDEN. 
160  Essay    on    English   Poetry,  p.  30. 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (73) 

turies,  both  antecedent  and  subsequent  to  the  period  in  which  the  events 
are  placed?  It  cannot  be  expected  that  such  an  extensive  subject  will 
receive  the  discussion  it  merits,  on  the  present  occasion  ;  but  as  some 
of  the  preceding  remarks  are  founded  on  an  assumption  that  the  latter 
position  is  demonstrable,  the  general  question  may  be  illustrated  by 
one  example  out  of  many,  of  the  mode  in  which  this  amalgamation  has 
been  effected  in  Northern  Romance. 

The  life  of  Theoderic  of  Berne,  the  mirror  of  German  chivalry,  has 
been  connected  in  later  romance  with  the  adventures  of  Siegfried,  the 
hero  of  the  Nibelungen  Lied*.  The  authentic  history  of  this  latter 
prince  is  wholly  beyond  the  hope  of  recovery ;  but  under  the  more  de- 
cidedly Northern  name  of  Sigurdr,  he  has  been  allowed  the  same  di- 
stinction in  Icelandic  fiction,  that  attends  him  in  the  fables  of  Germany. 
In  Saemund's  Edda  his  achievements  are  recorded  in  a  series  of  simple 
narrative  songs ;  and  the  Volsunga-Saga  is  wholly  devoted  to  the  for- 
tunes of  his  family.  The  ground-work  of  Siegfried's  story  is  indis- 
putably the  fatal  treasure,  originally  the  property  of  Andvar  the  dwarf; 
but  which,  extorted  from  him  by  violence,  as  a  ransom  for  three  cap- 
tive deities,  receives  a  doom  from  the  injured  Duergr,  which  involves 
every  after-possessor  in  the  same  inevitable  ruin  as  the  necklace  of 
Eriphyle  in  Grecian  story.  In  the  Nibelungen  Lied  the  previous  hi- 
story of  the  "  hoard"  is  wholly  overlooked ;  and  its  acquisition  by  Sieg- 
fried, notwithstanding  the  important  part  assigned  it  in  the  subsequent 
stages  of  the  recital,  forms  only  a  subsidiary  argument.  The  Edda 
dwells  with  a  spirit  of  eager  yet  mournful  pleasure  upon  the  successive 
acts  of  iniquity  by  which  the  threat  of  Andvar  is  substantiated ;  and 
the  iron  mask  of  destiny  obtrudes  itself  at  every  step,  with  the  same 
appalling  rigour  as  in  the  tragic  theatre  of  Greece.  But  in  either  nar- 
rative, the  hero  of  the  tale,  whether  Sigurdr  or  Siegfried,  is  spoken  of 
as  the  son  of  Sigmund,  and  to  him  are  attributed  the  destruction  of  the 
dragon,  and  the  consequent  spoliation  of  the  treasure.  A  document 
nearer  home,  but  which  has  evidently  wandered  to  these  shores  from 
the  North,  the  Anglo-Saxon  poem  of  Beowulf,  gives  a  different  version 
of  the  story.  In  this  interesting  record  of  early  Danish  fable,  the  dis- 
comfiture of  Grendel  gives  occasion  for  the  introduction  of  a  Scop,  or 
bard,  who,  like  Demodocus  in  the  Odyssey,  entertains  the  warriors  at 
Hrothgar's  table  with  an  account  of  deeds  of  earlier  adventure.  In 
compliment  to  Beowulf,  he  selects  the  most  distinguished  event  in 
Northern  history ;  and  the  subject  of  his  song  is  the  slaughter  of 

*  [See  the  late  Mr.  E.  Taylor's  Lays  of  the  Minnesingers,  above  referred  to.] 


(74)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

the  dragon,  and  the  seizure  of  the  treasure  by  Sigmund  the  Wael- 
sing 162.  We  are  not  to  consider  this  as  an  accidental  variation,  either 
intentionally  or  ignorantly  supplied  by  the  Christian  translator  or  re- 
novator of  the  poem  ;  the  celebrity  of  Sigmund  is  supported  by  the 
mention  of  his  name  in  other  Northern  documents.  In  the  Hyndlu- 
Lioth  he  is  connected  with  Hermod163  as  a  favourite  of  the  Gods, 
upon  whom  Odin  had  bestowed  a  sword  as  a  mark  of  his  approval. 
And  in  the  celebrated  Drapr  upon  the  death  of  Eric  Blodoxe,  who 
was  slain  in  a  descent  upon  the  English  coast  during  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, and  which  is  perhaps  the  oldest  Icelandic  poem  having  reference 
to  a  contemporary  historical  event,  Sigmund  is  summoned  by  Odin,  as 
the  most  distinguished  member  of  Valhalla,  to  advance  and  receive  the 
Norwegian  king.  But  independently  of  this  collateral  testimony,  the 
song  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  scop  contains  internal  evidence  of  its  fidelity 
to  the  genuine  tradition.  The  Edda  and  the  Volsunga-Saga  make 
Sigmund  the  son  of  a  king  Volsungr,  whom  they  place  at  the  head  of 
the  genealogic  line  ;  and  consider  as  the  founder  of  the  Volsunga  dy- 
nasty. It  is  however  certain,  that  this  Volsungr  is  a  mere  fictitious 
personage ;  since,  on  every  principle  of  analogy,  the  Volsunga  race 
must  have  derived  their  family  appellative  from  an  ancestor  of  the 
name  of  Vols,  just  as  the  Skioldings  obtained  theirs  from  Skiold,  the 
Skilfings  from  Skilf,  and  the  Hildings  from  Hildr.  Now  this  is  the 
genealogy  observed  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  scop  ;  who  first  speaks  gene- 
rally of  the  Waelsing  race,  and  then  specifically  of  Sigmund  the  off- 
spring of  Waels l65.  From  this  it  will  be  clear  that  Sigurdr  or  Siegfried 

162  The  text  of  Thorkelin  reads,  Dedit  Hermodo 

Thaet  he  framsige  Galeam  et  loricam, 

Munde  secgan  &c.  p.  68.  At  Sigmundo 

Ensem  accipere  (ferre,  habere). 
The  manuscript,  Thig  .g  dearly  the  sigmund  of  the  Anglo_ 

Thset  he  fram  Sigemunde  Saxon  scop,  who  immediately  passes  to 

Secgan  hyrde.  the  history  of  Hermod.     The  same  may 

[Ed.  Kemble,  1.  1743.]  be  said   of  the   Sigmund  mentioned  in 

Mr.  Grundtvig,  a  Danish  poet,  has  the  K.in*  J.ric>8  draPr>  wh.ere  he  is  conjoined 

merit  of  first  making  known  the  connection  J1*   J™  son   Smfioti.      (Compare  Sm- 

between  this  song  and  the   Edda,  by  a  fiotla-lok  in  Saemund  s  Edda.) 

communication  inserted  in  the  «  Kjoben-  16°  Waelsinges   gewm-Waelses   eafera, 

havns  Skilderi."   (Miiller,  p.  381.)   It  was  fd'   .Th°£eh?'  P'  68A'   6?'  0Of  the  Icf 

detected  in  the  first  sheets  sent  to  this  landic  Volundr,  the  Anglo-Saxons  made 

country  as  a  specimen  of  the  forthcoming  We.land>  «f  th.ey  h  Jve  mad*  W«ls  °.f  V.ols- 

publication.      [A  correct-  edition  of  the  —Any  objection  that  might  be  raised  to 

text  of  Beowulf  was  published  in  1833  by  the  antlqultY  of  the  Edda  from  this  cir- 

Mr.  J.  M.  Kemble,  to  whose  Prefaces  and  ^umstance  would  only  apply  to  the  Intro- 

Appendix  the  reader  is  referred.— R.  T.]  d"ctl(m  to  the  son^'  whlch  "confessedly 

or  a  more  recent  date.     It  will  hence  be 

63  Gaf  han  Hermpthi  clear,  that  at  the  time  when  these  poems 

Hialm  ac  bryniu,  were  collected,  the  fiction  was  of  such  an- 

En  Sigmundi  tiquity  that  it  had  become  corrupted  at  the 

Sverth  at  thiggia.        vol.  i.  p.  315.  source.     The  authenticity  of  the    Edda 


MB.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (75) 


in  the  great  event  of  his  history  has  been  made  to  assume  the  place  of 
his  father  Sigmund,  upon  the  same  arbitrary  principle  that  the  Theban 
Hercules  has  gathered  round  his  name  the  achievements  of  so  many 
earlier  heroes.  Nor  is  this  perhaps  the  only  mutation  to  which  the 
Northern  fiction  has  been  subjected.  The  catastrophe  of  the  fable,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  is  wholly  dependent  upon  the  treasure  of  And- 
var ;  and  the  founder  of  the  Wselsing  dynasty  bears  a  name,  which  in 
the  Icelandic  and  Anglo-Saxon  language  is  nearly  synonymous  with 
wealth  or  riches 166. 


certainly  does  not  stand  in  need  of  the 
additional  support  here  given ;  but  it 
must  be  gratifying  to  those  who  have 
favoured  the  integrity  of  these  Songs,  to 
find  their  opinions  confirmed  by  such  con- 
clusive and  unimpeachable  testimony. 
Mr.  Miiller,  in  the  interesting  volume  so 
repeatedly  referred  to  in  various  parts  of 
this  preface,  has  satisfactorily  accounted 
for  the  silence  of  Saxo  Grammaticus  upon 
this  branch  of  fabulous  Northern  history. 
In  his  day  the  fiction  had  become  lo- 
calized on  the  Rhine,  and  was  received  by 
him  as  a  portion  of  authentic  German 
story.  (Saga-Bibliothek,  ii.  p.  401.) 

166  Upon  a  future  occasion  the  Editor 
will  offer  his  reasons  for  believing  that  the 
present  song  has  been  transposed  from 
its  proper  place,  to  make  way  for  an  epi- 
sode upon  the  exploits  of  Hengest,  in- 
serted at  p.  82.  ed.  Thorkelin.  The  sub- 
ject of  this  latter  document  is  evidently 
taken  from  a  larger  poem,  of  which  a 
fragment  has  been  published  by  Hickes  ; 
and  is  known  under  the  name  of  the 
Battle  of  Finsburh.  In  Beowulf  the  actors 
are  Fin,  Hnaef,  Hengest,  Guthlaf  and 
Oslaf;  in  the  fragment  the  same  names 
occur,  with  the  substitution  of  Ordlaf  for 
Oslaf.  The  scene  in  either  piece  is  Finnes - 
ham,  or  Finnes-burh,  the  residence  of  the 
before-mentioned  Fin.  That  in  these  we 
have  an  allusion  to  the  founder  of  the 
kingdom  of  Kent,  and  not  to  a  purely  fa- 
bulous personage  of  the  same  name,  will 
be  rendered  probable,  on  recollecting  that 
the  events  recorded  contain  no  admixture 
of  marvellous  matter.  Both  productions 
are  clearly  of  the  same  historical  class, 
and  written  in  the  same  sober  spirit,  with 
the  fragment  of  Brythnoth ;  for  the 
Eotena-cyn  of  Beowulf,  over  whom  Fin 
is  said  to  reign,  is  a  general  term  in 
Northern  poetry  for  any  hostile  nation  not 
of  the  Teutonic  stock.  From  hence  it  is 
desired  to  make  two  deductions :  First, 
that  the  events  alluded  to  are  anterior  to 
the  close  of  the  fifth  century;  and  second- 
ly, that  the  introduction  of  this  episode 
into  the  present  poem  was  not  likely  to  be 


made  after  the  year  723,  when  Egbert 
expelled  the  last  monarch  of  Kent  and 
dissolved  the  heptarchy.  For  this  last 
deduction  more  explicit  reasons  will  be 
given  as  before  stated  on  another  occa- 
sion. It  only  remains  to  observe,  that 
the  Hengest  mentioned  in  Beowulf  was  a 
native  of  Friesland,"  and  to  ask  whether 
Fin  was  a  Celt  ?  and  can  the  Gaelic  anti- 
quaries connect  him  with  any  Erse  sove- 
reign bearing  this  name  ? 

[The  Battle  of  Finsburh  has  been  print- 
ed with  Dr.  Grundtvig's  and  Mr.  Kemble's 
"  Beowulf,"  and  in  Conybeare's  Illustra- 
tions, p.  173.  in  which  work  there  is  also 
a  translation,  by  the  Editor,  the  Rev. 
W.  D.  Conybeare,  of  The  Death  of  Byrht- 
noth,  p.  xc.  the  original  text  of  which  is 
given  in  Mr.  Thorpe's  Analecta,  under 
the  title  of  The  Battle  of  Maldon. — With 
regard  to  the  age  of  Beowulf,  Mr.  Kemble 
says,  "  the  poem  was  probably  brought 
hither  by  some  of  those  Anglo-Saxons 
who,  in  A.D.  495,  accompanied  Cerdic 
and  Cyneric."  Pref.  p.  xix.  Some  par- 
ticulars relative  to  the  mythic  personages 
whose  names  occur  in  these  Saxon  poems, 
were,  subsequently  to  the  publication  of 
the  last  edition,  communicated  by  Mr. 
Price,  through  me,  to  the  Rev.  W.  D.  Co- 
nybeare, and  were  given  in  the  Note,  p. 
281.  appended  to  the  "  Illustrations,"  on 
its  publication  in  1826,  together  with  some 
remarks  of  my  own,  suggested  by  a  com- 
parison which  I  had  made  of  the  Genealo- 
gies in  the  Saxon  Chronicle  with  those  of 
Nennius,  both  in  Gale's  edition,  and  in 
that  which  had  recently  been  published 
from  the  Vatican  MS.  by  my  venerable 
friend  the  Rev.  W.  Gunn. 

I  there  ventured  to  suggest  in  the  note, 
p.  286.  that  the  Beaw  of  the  Saxon 
Chronicle,  An.  854.  might  be  Beowulf: 
— "  9.  Beaw  or  Eeowius:— [for  Beowulf? 
—So  Cutha  and  Cuthwulf  are  indiffer- 
ently read  in  the  Genealogies  :  compare 
An.  495.  and  854.]" 

My  conjecture  has  now  .been  satisfacto- 
rily confirmed  in  the  Postscript  to  the  Pre- 
face of  Mr.  Kemble's  Beowulf,  vol.  ii.  con- 


(76')          MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

The  great  length  to  which  the  preceding  remarks  have  been  carried  * 
will  make  it  necessary  to  be  less  excursive  in  considering  the  second  of 
Mr.  Ritson's  objections ;  and  fortunately  the  previous  labours  of  Mr. 
Ellis167  have  rendered  any  discussion  of  the  subject  almost  superfluous. 
The  fidelity  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  in  the  execution  of  his  labours 
— at  least  his  scrupulous  exactness  in  preparing  the  readers  mind  for 
any  important  deviations  from,  or  suppression  of,  his  original — has 
been  so  satisfactorily  established,  that  we  might  cite  his  example  as  an 
instance  of  good  faith  that  would  have  done  honour  to  a  more  critical 
age,  and  shining  conspicuously  amid  the  general  laxity  of  his  own  168. 
The  licences  he  has  allowed  himself,  in  the  shape  of  amplification,  are 
to  all  appearance  nothing  more  than  a  common  rhetorical  exercise,  in- 
herited by  the  middle  ages  from  the  best  days  of  antiquity :  and  the 
letters  and  speeches  introduced,  admitting  them  to  be  of  his  own  com- 
position, are  the  necessary  appendage  of  the  school  in  which  he  was 
disciplined.  To  charge  him  with  "  imposture  and  forgery  "  for  pur- 
suing such  a  course,  is  as  just  as  it  would  be  to  doubt  the  general  pro- 
bity of  Livy,  for  a  similar  practice  in  the  Roman  History:  and  to  ques- 
tion his  veracity,  because  the  subject  of  his  translation  is  a  record  of 
incredible  events,  is  a  degree  of  hypercriticism  which  could  only  have 

taining  a  very  learned  and  able  investiga-  emigration."     Hist,  of  England,  vol.  i.  p. 

tion  relative  to  these  Genealogies,  and  the  448.     It  is  difficult  to  understand   why 

heroes  of  the  northern  mythology.  Geoffrey  was   more   or   less   a  "  mere  " 

I  am  led,  however,  to  dissent  from  Mr.  translator  for  these  omissions,  or  how  such 

Kemble's  conjecture,  p.  vii.  that  in  Bo-  a  practice   could   make   him   an  original 

erinus  the  r  is  substituted  by  a  mistake  of  writer.— The  editor  has  to  apologize  for 

the  copyer  (in  the  time  of  Hen.  VI.)  for  not    having  referred   to   this    interesting 

the  Saxon  w  ;  as  I  find  in  a  corresponding  work  of  Mr.  Turner's  in  the  early  portion 

genealogy  in    Resenius's   edition   of  the  of  Warton's  History  :  but  an. absence  from 

Edda,  that  the  next  person  to  Skiold  is  his  native  country  at  the  period  of  its  pub- 

Biaff  or  Bjar  ;  and  in  that  of  Goransson,  lication,   and  for  some  years  afterwards, 

Biaf,  or  Baur ;  which  shows  that  the  r  in  caused  him  to  be  unacquainted  with  its 

Boerinus  is  founded  upon  an  ancient  syn-  contents.     It  will  be  needless  to  add,  how 

onym.     "  Biaf,  er  ver  kaullum  Baur  :  " —  much  he  might  have  been  benefited  per- 

"  Biaf,  nobis  Bear."     Edda,  Gorans,  p.  6.  sonally  by  an  earlier  knowledge  of  its  ex- 

— R.  TAYLOR.]  istence,  and  the  trouble  he  might  have 

*  See  note  appended  to  this  Preface,  been  spared  in  travelling  over  much  of  the 

p.  (93).  same   ground    Mr.    Turner   has    now   so 

16?  Metrical  Romances,  vol.  i.  Introd.  agreeably  shortened  to  every  future  in- 

168  Mr.  Sharon  Turner  (in  a  recent  quirer.  While  thus  reading  his  confession, 
work)  has  persevered  in  his  objections  to  the  editor  will  also  express  his  regret  at 
Geoffrey's  fidelity  :  "  Several  of  Jeffrey's  being  unacquainted  (from  the  same  cause) 
interspersed  observations  imply,  that  he  with  a  most  valuable  Essay  on  the  Popu- 
has  rather  made  a  book  of  his  own,  than  lar  Mythology  of  the  Middle  Ages  con- 
merely  translated  an  author.  If  he  merely  tained  in  the  Quarterly  Review  for  Janu- 
translated,  why  should  he  decline  to  han-  ary  1820,  and  to  which  his  attention  was 
die  particular  points  of  the  history  be-  directed  by  a  general  reference  in  a  fo- 
cause  Gildas  had  already  told  them,  or  reign  publication,  Grimm's  Kinder-March- 
told  them  better?  He  assumes  here  a  en.  [Since  repeated  in  the  English  trans- 
right  of  shaping  his  work  as  he  pleased,  as  lation,  entitled  "German  Popular  Sto- 
he  does  also  when  he  declares  his  inten-  ries."] 
tion  of  relating  elsewhere  the  Armorican 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (77) 

been  resorted  to  by  a  mind  eager  to  escape  conviction.  But  in  this,  as 
in  almost  everything  else  which  was  exposed  to  the  reprobation  of  Mr. 
Ritson,  there  was  a  secondary  design  in  the  back-ground,  of  more  im- 
portance than  the  original  proposition ;  and  an  unqualified  denial  of 
Geoffrey's  Armorican  original  was  an  indispensable  step  towards  ad- 
vancing a  favourite  theory  of  his  own.  The  substance  of  this  theory 
may  be  given  in  the  language  of  its  author  :  "  That  the  English  ac- 
quired the  art  of  romance-writing  from  the  French  seems  clear  and 
certain,  as  most  of  the  specimens  of  that  art  in  the  former  language  are 
palpable  and  manifest  translations  of  those  in  the  other :  and  this  too 
may  serve  to  account  for  the  origin  of  romance  in  Italy,  Spain,  Ger- 
many and  Scandinavia.  But  the  French  romances  are  too  ancient  to 
be  indebted  for  their  existence  to  more  barbarous  nations  169."  With 
the  truth  or  fallacy  of  this  hypothesis  we  are  not  at  present  concerned. 
But  it  will  be  obvious  that  its  success  must  at  any  time  have  depended 
upon  the  degree  of  credit  assigned  to  the  repeated  declarations  of  Geof- 
frey, and  the  claims  possessed  by  Armorica  to  an  original  property  in  the 
British  Chronicle170.  A  sweeping  contradiction  therefore,  without  the 
shadow  of  proof — as  if  proof  in  such  a  case  would  have  been  an  insult 
to  the  reader's  understanding — was  to  destroy  every  belief  in  the 
former;  while  a  constant  call  for  proof,  a  most  vehement  "  iteration" 
for  the  original  documents,  and  an  unmeaning  speculation  upon  the 
physical  inabilities  of  the  whole  Armorican  nation,  from  the  rugged- 
ness  of  their  language,  to  cultivate  poetry,  was  to  silence  every  preten- 
sion of  the  latter.  A  more  candid  spirit  of  criticism  has  at  length  con- 
ceded, that  a  general  charge  of  imposture  unsupported  by  testimony, 

169  Metrical  Romances,  i.  p.  c.  It  may  Norman  minstrels  could  thus  descend  to 
be  as  well  to  subjoin  the  succeeding  para-  poach  upon  Armorican  ground,  they  might 
graph  in  Mr.  Ritson's  dissertation,  for  the  also  have  gleaned  their  intelligence  rela- 
benefit  of  those  who  can  reconcile  the  con-  tive  to  Bevis  of  Hampton  and  Guy  of  War- 
tradiction  it  contains,  to  the  doctrine  wick  on  an  English  soil.  But  this  again 
avowed  in  the  passage  cited  above  :  "  It  would  destroy  the  sneer  against  the  "  hi- 
is,  therefor,  a  vain  and  futile  endeavour  storian  of  English  Poetry,"  who  has  call- 
to  seek  for  the  origin  of  romance:  in  all  ed  these  redoubted  champions  "  English 
agees  and  countrys,  where  literature  has  heroes." — "  Wis  "  is  a  genuine  Saxon 
been  cultivateed,  and  genius  and  taste  name  occurring  in  the  Chronicle,  and 
have  inspire'd,  whether  in  India,  Persia,  Beo-wis  might  be  formed  on  the  analogy 
Greece,  Italy  or  France,  the  early-  of  Beo-wulf.  That  the  Norman  minstrels, 
est  product  of  that  cultivation,  and  that  like  their  brothers  of  Germany  and  Scan- 
genius  and  taste,  has  been  poetry  and  ro-  dinavia,  should  have  sought  in  every  di- 
mance,  with  reciprocal  obligations,  per-  rection  for  subjects  of  romantic  adventure, 
haps,  between  one  country  and  another.  will  be  considered  no  disparagement  to 
The  Arabians,  the  Persians,  the  Turks,  their  genius,  except  by  that  gentle  band 
and,  in  short,  almost  every  nation  in  the  of  critics  who  believe  that  the  dramatist 
globe  abound  in  romancees  of  their  own  who  borrows  his  plot  is  inferior  to  the 
invention."  Ibid.  ci.  play-wright  who  invents  one. 

tf°  There  are  those  who  will  say,  If  the 


(78)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

or  even  a  showing  of  some  adequate  motive  for  the  concealment  of 
the  truth,  is  not  to  overrule  the  repeated  affirmations  of  a  writer  no 
ways  interested  in  maintaining  a  false  plea ;  and  that,  however  much 
the  tortuous  propensities  of  one  man's  mind  might  incline  him  to  prefer 
the  crooked  policy  of  fraud  to  the  more  simple  path  of  plain-dealing, 
the  contagion  of  such  a  disease  was  not  likely  to  extend  itself  to  a  long 
list  of  authorities,  all  of  whom  must  have  been  injured  rather  than 
benefited  by  the  confession,  who  could  have  had  no  common  motives 
with  the  first  propounder  of  the  deceit,  and  who  were  divided  both  by 
time  and  situation  from  any  connexion  with  him,  and  generally  speak- 
ing from  any  intercourse  with  each  other.  The  concurrent  testimony 
of  the  French  romancers  is  now  admitted  to  have  proved  the  existence 
of  a  large  body  of  fiction  relative  to  Arthur  in  the  province  of  Brit- 
tany :  and  while  they  confirm  the  assertions  of  Geoffrey  in  this  single 
particular,  it  is  equally  clear  they  have  neither  echoed  his  language, 
nor  borrowed  his  materials.  Every  further  investigation  of  the  subject 
only  tends  to  support  the  opinion  pronounced  by  Mr.Douce  ;  that  "the 
tales  of  Arthur  and  his  knights,  which  have  appeared  in  so  many  forms, 
and  under  the  various  titles  of  the  St.  Graal,  Tristan  de  Leonnois,  Lan- 
celot du  Lac,  &c.  were  not  immediately  borrowed  from  the  work  of 
Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  but  from  his  Armoric  originals171. 

The  great  evil  with  which  this  long-contested  question  appears  to 
be  threatened  at  the  present  day,  is  an  extreme  equally  dangerous 
with  the  incredulity  of  Mr.  Ritson — a  disposition  to  receive  as  authen- 
tic history,  under  a  slightly  fabulous  colouring,  every  incident  recorded 
in  the  British  Chronicle.  An  allegorical  interpretation  is  now  inflicted 
upon  all  the  marvellous  circumstances ;  a  forced  construction  imposed 
upon  the  less  glaring  deviations  from  probability ;  and  the  usual  sub- 
terfuge of  baffled  research, — erroneous  readings,  and  etymological 
sophistry, — is  made  to  reduce  every  stubborn  and  intractable  text  to 
something  like  the  consistency  required.  It  might  have  been  expected 
that  the  notorious  failures  of  Dionysius  and  Plutarch  in  Roman  history 
would  have  prevented  the  repetition  of  an  error,  which  neither  learning 
nor  ingenuity  can  render  palatable;  and  that  the  havoc  and  deadly  ruin 
effected  by  these  ancient  writers  (in  other  respects  so  valuable)  in  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  and  interesting  monuments  of  traditional  story, 
would  have  acted  as  a  sufficient  corrective  on  all  future  aspirants. 
The  favourers  of  this  system  might  at  least  have  been  instructed  by 
the  philosophic  example  of  Livy — if  it  be  lawful  to  ascribe  to  philo- 

171  See  below,  p.  xiii. 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (79) 

sophy  a  line  of  conduct  which  perhaps  was  prompted  by  a  powerful 
sense  of  poetic  beauty, — that  traditional  record  can  only  gain  in  the 
hands  of  the  -future  historian,  by  one  attractive  aid,  the  grandeur  and 
lofty  graces  of  that  incomparable  style  in  which  the  first  decade  is 
written  ;  and  that  the  best  duty  towards  antiquity,  and  the  most  agree- 
able one  towards  posterity,  is  to  transmit  the  narrative  received  as  an 
unsophisticated  tradition,  in  all  the  plenitude  of  its  marvels,  and  the 
awful  dignity  of  its  supernatural  agency.  For  however  largely  we  may 
concede  that  real  events  have  supplied  the  substance  of  any  traditive 
story,  yet  the  amount  of  absolute  facts,  and  the  manner  of  those  facts, 
the  period  of  their  occurrence,  the  names  of  the  agents,  and  the  locality 
given  to  the  scene — are  all  combined  upon  principles  so  wholly  beyond 
our  knowledge,  that  it  becomes  impossible  to  fix  with  certainty  upon 
any  single  point  better  authenticated  than  its  fellow.  Probability  in 
such  decisions  will  often  prove  the  most  fallacious  guide  we  can  follow ; 
for,  independently  of  the  acknowledged  historical  axiom,  that  "  le  vrai 
n'est  pas  toujours  le  vraisemblable,"  innumerable  instances  might  be 
adduced,  where  tradition  has  had  recourse  to  this  very  probability,  to 
confer  a  plausible  sanction  upon  her  most  fictitious  and  romantic  inci- 
dents172. It  will  be  a  much  more  useful  labour,  wherever  it  can  be 
effected,  to  trace  the  progress  of  this  traditional  story  in  the  country 
where  it  has  become  located,  by  a  reference  to  those  natural  or  arti- 
ficial monuments  which  are  the  unvarying  sources  of  fictitious  events l73 ; 

172  The  story  of  the  doves  at  Dodona  told  Solon,  "  You  Greeks  are  always  chil, 
and  the  origin  of  the  oracle  there,  is  too  dren  "  (Plato,  Tim.  p.  22.)  ;  and  that  the 
well  known  to  require  a  repetition.  There  Greeks,  who  believed  every  tale  these  art- 
is  a  connexion  and  propriety  in  the  solu-  ful  foreigners  chose  to  impose  upon  them, 
tion  given  by  Herodotus,  which  on  a  first  were  proverbial  for  their  admiration  of  the 
perusal  carries  conviction  to  the  reader's  wondrous  out  of  their  own  country.  (Vide 
mind.  Yet  nothing  can  be  more  ques-  Paus.  ix.  c.  36.)  This  strong  predilection 
tionable  than  the  whole  recital.  The  for  Egyptian  marvels  did  not  escape  the  no- 
honours  of  the  sacred  oak  were  shared  in  tice  of  Heliodorus.  Aiyvirnov  yap  O.KOV- 
common  with  Jupiter,  by  Dione,  whose  cpa  KO.I  dirjyr][J,a  Trav,  'EXXrjvucrjs  ctKOTjs 
symbol,  a  golden  dove,  like  the  golden  eTrayorarov.  Lib.  ii.  p.  92.  ed.  Coray.  A 
swallows  on  the  brazen  roof  of  Apollo  at  desire  of  tracing  every  thing  to  an  Egyp- 
Delphi,  (Find.  Frag.  vol.  Hi.  p.  54.)  was  tian  origin  is  as  conspicuous  in  the  whole 
seen  suspended  from  the  branches  of  the  body  of  Grecian  story,  as  the  propensity 
venerable  tree.  (Philostrat.  Icon.  ii.  34.  of  the  middle  ages  to  trace  their  institu- 
p.  858-9.)  Hence  the  tradition.  The  tions  and  genealogic  stock  to  king  Priam, 
explanation  of  the  Egyptian  priesthood  is  According  to  Sir  Stamford  Raffles,  the 
rendered  intelligible  by  a  passage  in  the  Malays  universally  attempt  to  trace  their 
Horapollo  (ii.  32.),  where  it  is  stated  that  descent  from  Alexander  and  his  followers, 
a  black  dove  was  the  sacred  symbol,  under  Pamphleteer,  vol.  8. 

which  these  people  expressed  a  woman  173  Higden  Will  inform  us  how  busily 
maintaining  her  widowhood  till  death.  tradition  works  in  this  way :  "  There  is 
That  this  obvious  source  of  the  Dodonaan  another  sygne  and  token  before  ye  Popes 
fable  should  have  yielded  to  the  impro-  palays,  an  horse  of  bras,  and  a  man  syt- 
bable  dictum  of  the  Theban  priesthood,  tyng  theron,  and  holdeth  his  right  honde 
will  not  appear  remarkable,  when  we  re-  as  though  he  spake  to  the  peple,  and  hold- 
member  that  the  same  class  of  men  had  eth  his  brydell  in  his  lyfte  honde,  and 


(80)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

and,  by  a  strict  comparison  of  its  details  with  the  analogous  memorials 
of  other  nations,  to  separate  those  elements  which  are  obviously  of  na- 
tive growth,  from  the  occurrences  bearing  the  impress  of  a  foreign 
origin174.  We  shall  gain  little  perhaps  by  such  a  course  for  the  history 
of  human  events ;  but  it  will  be  an  important  accession  to  our  stock  of 
knowledge  on  the  history  of  the  human  mind.  It  will  infallibly  dis- 
play, as  in  the  analysis  of  every  similar  record,  the  operation  of  that 
refining  principle  which  is  ever  obliterating  the  monotonous  deeds  of 
violence  that^n*!!  the  chronicle  of  a  nation's  early  career ;  and  exhibit 
the  brightest  attribute  in  the  catalogue  of  man's  intellectual  endow- 
ments— a  glowing  and  vigorous  imagination, — bestowing  upon  all  the 
impulses  of  the  mind  a  splendour  and  virtuous  dignity,  which,  however 
fallacious  historically  considered,  are  never  without  a  powerfully  re- 
deeming good,  the  ethical  tendency  of  all  their  lessons. 

The  character  of  the  specimens  interspersed  throughout  Warton's 
History  is  a  subject  of  more  immediate  moment;  as  it  is  intimately 
connected  with  a  question  which  must  be  previously  adjusted,  before 
we  can  hope  to  see  any  advances  towards  a  history  of  the  English 
language.  The  most  zealous  friend  of  his  fame  will  readily  admit, 
that  his  extracts  from  our  early  poetry  have  not  been  made  with 

hath  a  cucko  bytwen  his  hors  heres.  And  hym  with  his  honde,  and  bare  hym  into 

a  seke  dvverf  under  his  feet.     Pylgryms  the  cyte.     And  for  drede  leste  he  sholde 

callen  that  man  Theodericus.     And  the  helpe  hymselfe  with  his  craft  yf  he  myght 

comyns  call  him  Constantinus;  but  clerkes  speke,   he    threwe  hym    undir    the  hors 
of  the  courte  calle  hym  Marcus  and  Q,uin-  .     feet,  and  the  horse  al  to-trade  hym.     And 

tus  Curtius They  that  calle  hym  Mar-  therfor  that  ymage  was  made  in  remem- 

cus,  telle  this  reson  and  skyll.  There  was  braunce  of  this  dede."  Then  follows  the 
a  dwerf  of  the  kynred  of  Messenis,  his  account  of  those  who  called  it  Q.  Curtius. 
craft  was  Nygromancye.  Whan  he  had  Trevisa's  Translation,  p.  24. 
subdewed  kynges  that  dwelled  nyghe  J?4  The  manner  in  which  national  fable 
hym,  and  made  hem  subgette  to  hym,  swelled  its  mass  of  incident  in  the  ancient 
thenne  he  wente  to  Rome,  to  warre  with  world,  by  having  recourse  to  this  practice, 
the  Romayns.  And  with  his  craft  he  be-  has  been  already  noticed  at  pp.  (22)  (23). 
nam  the  Romayns  power  and  might  for  to  With  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  every  hero 
smyte,  and  beseged  hem  longe  tyme  iclosed  whom  they  found  celebrated  in  a  foreign 
within  the  cyte.  This  dwerf  went  every  soil  for  his  prowess  against  wild  beasts, 
day  tofore  the  sonne  rysyng  in  to  the  felde  robbers  or  tyrants,  was  their  own  divinity 
for  to  do  his  crafte.  Whan  the  Romayns  Hercules ;  and  every  traveller  who  had 
had  espyed  that  maner  doynge  of  the  touched  on  a  distant  coast,  Ulysses.  This 
dwerf,  they  spake  to  Marcus,  a  noble  system  of  appropriating  the  native  tra- 
knyght,  and  behyghthym  lordshyp  of  the  ditions  of  their  neighbours  was  not  con- 
cyte,  and  a  memoryall  in  mynde  for  ever-  fined  to  the  ancients.  The  followers  of 
more,  yf  he  wolde  defende  hem  and  save  King  Sigurd  lorlafar,  who  visited  Constan- 
the  cyte.  Thenne  Marcus  made  an  hole  tinople  in  the  year  1111,  on  their  return 
thrugh  the  walle,  longe  er  it  were  daye,  from  the  holy  land,  brought  an  account  to 
for  to  abyde  his  crafte  to  cache  this  dwerf.  Norway  that  they  had  seen  the  images  of 
And  whan  it  was  tyme,  the  cucko  sange,  their  early  kings,  the  Asae,  the  Volsunga?, 
and  warned  hym  of  the  daye.  Thenne  and  the  Giukings,  erected  in  the  Hippo- 
Marcus  reysed  to,  and  bycause  he  myght  drome  of  the  Imperial  city.  Heimskrin- 
not  hytte  the  dwerf  with  wepen,  he  caught  gla,  vol.  iii.  p.  245. 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (81) 

that  attention  to  the  orthography  of  his  manuscripts,  which  the  ex- 
ample and  authority  of  Mr.  Ritson  have  since  established  as  an  indis- 
pensable law.  There  are  occasional*  instances  also,  where  inadvertency 
has  produced  some  confusion  of  the  sense,  by  erroneous  readings  of  his 
text ;  and  a  few  errors  involving  the  same  results,  from  indistinct- 
ness in  the  manuscript,  or  the  difficulty  of  deciphering  correctly  some 
unusual  or  obsolete  term.  For  the  last  of  these  deficiencies  no  further 
justification  will  be  offered,  than  that  they  are  of  a  kind  which  every 
publisher  of  early  poetry  must  be  more  or  less  exposed  to;  that  they 
are  neither  so  important  nor  so  numerous  as  they  are  usually  consi- 
dered ;  and  that  some  allowance  is  due  to  the  lax  opinions  entertained 
upon  the  subject  when  Warton's  History  made  its  appearance.  The 
former  will  require  a  more  minute  investigation,  both  from  the  obloquy 
cast  upon  his  reputation  for  omitting  to  observe  it,  and  the  importance 
it -has  been  made  to  assume  in  the  labours  of  every  subsequent  anti- 
quary. The  golden  rule  of  Mr.  Ritson,  enforced  by  the  precept  and 
example  of  twenty  years,  and  scrupulously  adhered  to  by  his  disciples, 
is  "  integrity  to  the  original  text."  The  genius  of  the  language,  the 
qualifications  of  the  transcriber,  and  the  power  of  oral  delivery  upon 
the  original  writer,  have  been  considered  so  subsidiary  to  this  primary 
and  elemental  point,  that  they  are  scarcely  noticed,  or  wholly  omitted, 
in  the  discussion  of  the  question.  Every  thing  written  has  had  con- 
ferred upon  it  the  authority  of  an  explicit  statute,  and  fidelity  to  the 
letter  of  a  manuscript  is  only  to  be  infringed  under  certain  obvious 
limitations.  There  might  have  been  something  to  colour  the  rigid 
course  thus  prescribed,  if  it  had  been  either  proved  or  found  that  there 
was  a  general  consistency  observed  in  any  single  manuscript  with  itself, 
or  that  the  various  modes  of  writing  the  same  word  in  one  document 
were  countenanced  by  a  systematic  mode  of  deviation  in  another.  But 
so  far  is  this  from  being  the  case,  that  a  single  line  often  exhibits  a 
cfiange  in  the  component  letters  of  the  same  word  (and  which  may 
have  been  written  in  the  previous  pages  with  every  variety  it  is  capable 
of) ;  and  no  diligence  or  ingenuity  can  establish  a  rule,  which  will  re- 
concile the  orthography  of  one  manuscript  to  that  of  its  fellow,  upon 
any  principle  of  order  or  grammatical  analogy.  There  is,  however, 
nothing  singular  in  this  state  of  our  early  English  texts,  or  of  a  nature 
not  to  admit  of  a  comparatively  easy  solution.  By  far  the  greater  num- 

*  £It  might  more  truly  be  said,  '  fre-  tions,  but  had  often  obliterated  the  sense 

quent  instances.'  Mr.  Price  treats  this  sub-  of  the  original,  giving  occasion  to  glossa- 

ject  with  too  much  indulgence  ;  as  War-  rial  conjectures  which  the  collation  of  the 

ton's  errors  in  transcribing  were  by  no  text  has  shown  to  be  wholly  groundless,, 

means  confined  to  orthographical  varia-  — 11. T.] 

VOL.  I.  f 


(82)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

bcr  of  these  discrepancies  may  be  fairly  ascribed  to  the  inattention  of 
transcribers,  a  class  of  men  whose  heedless  blunders  have  cast  a  pro- 
verbial stigma  upon  their  labours,  and  who,  to  pass  over  the  charges 
left  against  them  by  the  ancient  world,  have  been  successively  exposed 
to  the  anathemas  of  Orm  and  the  censures  of  Chaucer.  For  the  rest, 
we  must  refer  to  the  circumstances  under  which  the  original  documents 
were  written,  or  the  autographs  as  they  were  dismissed  from  the  hands 
of  their  respective  authors. 

At  whatever  age  we  assume  the  subject,  subsequent  to  the  Norman 
conquest,  and  previous  to  the  invention  of  printing,  the  very  absence 
of  this  most  important  of  human  arts  might  of  itself  assure  us,  that  the 
forms  of  orthography  would  be  more  or  less  fluctuating,  from  the  total 
want  of  any  considerable  number  of  copies  following  one  general  prin- 
ciple in  the  composition  of  their  words.  There  never  could  have  been, 
as  at  the  present  day,  any  multiplied  exemplars  of  the  same  work,  the 
literal  fac-similes  of  each  other, — and  consequently  the  reciprocal  gua- 
rantees of  their  respective  integrity  and  fidelity  to  the  original  text ; 
nor  any  acknowledged  standard  of  appeal  which  was  to  direct  the  mind 
in  cases  of  dubious  issue.  Hence  every  writer  would  of  course  adopt 
the  general  style  acquired  during  his  school  instruction  ;  and  where  this 
chanced  to  be  defective,  he  would  naturally  fly  to  analogy  as  the  best 
arbitrator  of  his  doubts.  Now,  though  nothing  is  more  certain  than 
that  the  existing  laws  of  our  language  are  the  consequences  of  some 
antecedent  ones,  and  that  all  are  governed  by  an  analogy  systematic  in 
its  constitution ;  yet  nothing  also  is  more  clear,  than  that  unless  we 
pursue  this  analogy  according  to  its  governing  principle,  it  will  lead  us 
to  the  most  erroneous  and  indefensible  conclusions.  Let  any  one  for  ex- 
ample assume  some  particular  letters,  as  the  unvarying  representatives 
of  any  determinate  sound ;  and  having  applied  them  .in  conjunction 
with  the  remaining  symbols  making  up  the  different  words  in  which 
this  sound  recurs,  compare  his  novel  mode  of  association  with  that  ge- 
nerally received.  The  result  will  give  him  a  language  strongly  resem- 
bling the  written  compositions  of  all  our  early  manuscripts,  with  one 
grand  distinction, — that  though  this  kind  of  analogy  has  been  chiefly 
followed,  it  was  never  systematically  adhered  to ;  and  that  the  excep- 
tions to  the  rule  have  been  hardly  less  numerous  than  the  cases  in 
which  it  has  been  applied.  This  we  may  readily  conceive  to  have 
arisen  from  the  influence  of  the  style  acquired  enforcing  one  kind 
of  analogy,  and  the  unbiassed  judgement  of  the  writer — unbiassed 
except  by  the  natural  power  of  oral  delivery — giving  direction  to 
another.  The  latter  indeed  must  have  been  the  universal  guide  in 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION   OF  1824.         (83) 

all  cases  of  -uncertainty ;  and,  for  the  reason  before  given,  both  a 
varying  and  unsatisfactory  one.  In  addition  to  these  difficulties,  there 
was  another  co-operating  cause,  which  will  of  itself  explain  a  large 
body  of  minor  variations.  The  study  of  the  English  language,  in  com- 
mon with  that  of  every  vernacular  dialect  in  Europe,  was  the  offspring 
of  comparatively  recent  ages ;  and  of  the  component  parts  which  fill 
the  measure  of  this  study,  orthography  was  nearly  the  last  to  occupy 
public  attention.  That  it  would  have  followed  in  the  order  of  time, 
without  the  invention  of  printing,  is  clear  from  the  attention  bestowed 
upon  it  by  the  ancient  world175.  But  it  never  could  have  demanded 
any  share  of  serious  notice,  until  the  literature  of  the  country  had  been 
to  a  certain  degree  matured ;  until  grammar  as  a  science  had  become 
sedulously  pursued  ;  and  the  labours  of  grammarians  had  established 
certain  rules  of  orthoepy,  which  every  writer  would  have  willingly  fol- 
lowed. From  a  combination  of  these  causes,  therefore,  the  unsettled 
state  of  early  orthography  is  easily  deducible.  The  confusion  it  has 
originated  will  be  evident  on  the  perusal  of  a  single  page  in  Mr.  Ritson's 
Romances  :  but  the  corollary  which  has  been  drawn  from  it — that  the 
manuscripts  exhibit  a  text  whose  integrity  ought  invariably  to  be  pre- 
served— can  only  be  admitted  under  a  presumption  that  the  enuncia- 
tion of  those  who  wrote  them  was  as  fluctuating  as  their  graphic  forms. 
The  latter  proposition  is  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  previous  in- 
ference; and  is  a  position  in  itself  so  unwarrantable  and  incredible,  that 
it  needs  only  to  be  considered  with  reference  to  its  practicability,  to 
receive  the  condemnation  it  merits. 

It  is  true,  a  great  deal  of  traditionary  opinion  might  be  cited  in 
favour  of  such  an  hypothesis,  and  several  distinguished  writers  of  our 
own  day  have  been  found  to  lend  it  the  countenance  of  their  names. 
Mr.  Mitford  has  declared,  that  the  Brut  of  Layamon  displays  "  all  the 
appearance  of  a  language  thrown  into  confusion  by  the  circumstances, 
of  those  who  spoke  it176;"  and  Mr.  Sharon  Turner  has  observed  of  our 

175  The  state  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  ma-  startling  to  the  zealous  admirer  of  our 
nuscripts  and  the  labours  of  vElfric  alone  early  literature,  he  will  rather  attribute 
might  be  cited  in  proof  of  these  positions.  them  to  the  same  cause  which  during  an 

176  See  Mr.  Mitford's  Harmony  of  Lan-  age  of  romantic  poetry  makes  the  effusions 
guage.     The  expressions  in  the  text  have  of  Mr.  Campbell's  muse  appear  an  echo  of 
been  taken  from  Mr.  Campbell's  citation,  the  chaste  simplicity  and  measured  energy 
in  his  Essay  on  English  Poetry,    p.  33,  of  Attic  song.     [The  much  -desired  pub- 
where  the  reader  will  also  find  an  able  re-  lication  of  the  two  texts  of  Layamon  by 
futation  of  Mr.  Ellis's  opinions  upon  the  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  with  the  glos- 
progress  of  the  English  language. — It  is  sarial  annotations  of  Sir  F.  Madden,  will 
impossible  that  Mr.  Campbell  should  not  throw  much  light  on  the  early  history  of 
at  all  times  be  awake  to  the  spirit  of  ge-  our   language.     The  same  may  be  said 
nuine  poetry,  however  disguised  by  the  of  some  of  the  pieces  lately  printed  in  the 
rust  of  antiquity.     And  if  some   of  the  Re.li.qni(p  Antique  of  Messrs.  Wright  and 
criticisms  in  this  genial  Essay  prove  rather  Halliwell,  and  in  other  collections  :  whilst 

f2 


(84)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREPACK  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

language,  in  a  still  earlier  stage, — "  The  Saxon  anomalies  of  grammar 
seem  to  have  been  so  capricious,  and  so  confused,  that  their  meaning 
must  have  been  often  rather  conjectured,  than  understood ;  and  hence 
it  is,  that  their  poetry,  especially  in  Beowulf,  is  often  so  unintelligible 
to  us.  There  is  no  settled  grammar  to  guarantee  the  meaning ;  we 
cannot  guess  so  well  nor  so  rapidly  as  they,  who,  talking  every  day  in 
the  same  phrases,  were  familiar  with  their  own  absurdities.  Or  per- 
haps when  the  harper  recited,  they  often  caught  his  meaning  from  his 
gesticulation,  felt  it  when  they  did  not  understand  it,  and  thought  ob- 
scurity to  be  the  result  of  superior  ability 177."  It  will  be  no  disparage- 
ment to  the  talents  of  these  distinguished  historians,  that  a  subject  un- 
connected with  the  general  tenor  of  their  studies,  and  only  incidentally 
brought  before  them,  should  have  eluded  their  penetration ;  or  that  a 
plausible  theory,  rather  extensively  accredited,  should  have  surprised 
them  into  an  acquiescence  in  its  doctrines.  But  when  it  is  asserted, 
under  the  authority  of  a  name  so  deservedly  esteemed  as  Mr.  Mitford's, 
that  political  disturbances  have  produced  a  corresponding  confusion  in 
the  structure  of  a  nation's  language,  and  that  a  disjointed  time  has  been 
found  to  subvert  the  whole  economy  of  a  dialect,  we  are  in  justice 
bound  to  inquire,  by  what  law  of  our  nature  these  singular  results  en- 
sue, and  in  what  degree  the  example  given  will  warrant  such  a  con- 
clusion. We  may  readily  grant  the  learned  advocate  of  this  hypothesis 
any  state  of  civil  confusion  he  chooses  to  assume,  in  the  ages  imme- 
diately following  upon  the  Norman  conquest ;  and  still,  with  every  ad- 
vantage of  this  concession,  the  position  he  has  adopted  must  preserve 
all  the  native  nakedness  of  its  character.  For,  until  it  shall  be  shown 
that  political  commotions  have  a  decided  tendency  to  derange  the  in- 
tellectual and  physical  powers,  in  the  same  degree  that  they  disorganize 
civil  society  ;  and  that,  under  the  influence  of  troubled  times,  men  are 

by  the  printing  of  the  Exeter  Book,  under  real  existence,  and  your  reasons  for  its  dis- 
the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Thorpe,  to  continuance.  Both  propositions  are  equally 
whose  care  it  has  been  entrusted  by  the  defensible,  and  entitled  to  the  same  de- 
Saxon  Committee  of  the  Society  of  And-  gree  of  credence.  It  is  a  common  piece 
quaries,  a  very  considerable  addition  to  of  address  with  the  favourers  of  this 
the  body  of  Anglo-Saxon  poetry  will  be  theory,  to  refer  us  to  the  language  of  some 
made  accessible  to  the  student. — R.T.]  savage  Indian  tribe,  of  whom  we  know  as 
J7?  History  of  England,  vol.  i.  p.  564.  much  as  the  traveller  has  been  pleased  to 
All  opinions  of  this  kind  are  evidently  inform  us.  The  personal  qualifications  of 
founded  upon  the  belief  that  language  is  the  latter  to  speak  upon  the  question  we 
the  product  of  man's  invention  ;  and  that  have  no  means  of  deciding.  In  a  parallel 
the  succession  of  time  alone  has  perfected  case,  Dr.  Johnson  justly  charged  Montes- 
the  first  crude  conceptions  of  his  mind.  quieu  with  want  of  fairness,  for  deducing 
To  such  a  belief  we  may  apply  the  argu-  a  general  principle  from  some  observance 
ment  opposed  to  those  who  conceive  the  obtaining  in  Mexico  or  Japan,  it  might  be, 
human  race  to  have  grown  out  of  the  earth  for  which  he  could  adduce  no  better  au- 
like  so  many  cabbages.  Bring  forward  thority  than  the  vague  account  of  some 
your  proof  that  this  phenomenon  had  a  traveller  whom  accident  had  taken  there. 


MR.   PRICE'S   PREFACE  TO  THE   EDITION  OF   1824.         (85) 

prone  to  forget  the  natural  means  of  communicating  their  ideas,  to 
falter  in  their  speech,  and  recur  to  the  babble  of  their  infancy, — we 
certainly  have  not  advanced  beyond  the  threshold  of  the  argument. 
That  such  effects  have  ever  occurred  from  the  cause  alleged,  in  any 
previous  age,  remains  yet  to  be  demonstrated ;  that  they  do  not  occur 
in  the  existing  state  of  society, — that  they  are  not  therefore  the  neces- 
sary results  of  any  acknowledged  law  of  our  nature,— the  experience 
of  the  last  thirty  years  of  European  warfare  and  political  change  may 
at  least  serve  as  a  testimony. 

An  influx  of  foreigners,  or  a  constant  intercourse  with  and  depend- 
ence upon  them,  may  corrupt  the  idiom  of  a  dialect  to  a  limited  extent, 
or  charge  it  with  a  large  accumulation  of  exotic  terms;  but  this  change 
in  the  external  relation  of  the  people  speaking  the  dialect,  will  neither 
confound  the  original  elements  of  which  it  is  composed,  nor  destroy  the 
previous  character  of  its  grammar.  The  lingua  franca,  as  it  is  called, 
of  the  shores  washed  by  the  Mediterranean  sea,  contains  an  admixture 
of  words  requiring  all  the  powers  of  an  erudite  linguist  to  trace  the 
several  ingredients  to  their  parent  sources  ;  yet  with  all  the  corruptions 
and  innovations  to  which  this  oddly  assorted  dialect  has  been  subject- 
ed, it  invariably  acknowledges  the  laws  of  Italian  grammar.  A  similar 
inundation  of  foreign  terms  is  to  be  found  in  the  German  writers  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  where  the  mass  of  Latin,  Greek  and  French  ex- 
pressions almost  exceeds  the  number  of  vernacular  words  :  yet  here 
again  the  stranger  matter  has  been  made  to  accommodate  itself  to  the 
same  inflections  and  modal  changes  as  those  which  govern  the  native 
stock.  In  considering  the  language  of  Layamon,  however,  there  is  no 
necessity  for  having  recourse  to  this  line  of  argument.  In  the  speci- 
men published  by  Mr.  Ellis,  not  a  Gallicism  is  to  be  found,  nor  even  a 
Norman  term :  and  so  far  from  exhibiting  any  "  appearance  of  a  lan- 
guage thrown  into  confusion  by  the  circumstances  of  those  who  spoke 
it,"  nearly  every  important  form  of  Anglo-Saxon  grammar  is  rigidly 
adhered  to  ;  and  so  little  was  the  language  altered  at  this  advanced 
period  of  Norman  influence,  that  a  few  slight  variations  might  convert 
it  into  genuine  Anglo-Saxon.  That  some  change  had  taken  place  in 
the  style  of  composition  and  general  structure  of  the  language,  since 
the  days  of  Alfred,  is  a  matter  beyond  dispute  ;  but  that  these  muta- 
tions were  a  consequence  of  the  Norman  invasion,  or  were  even  acce- 
lerated by  that  event,  is  wholly  incapable  of  proof;  and  nothing  is  sup- 
ported upon  a  firmer  principle  of  rational  induction,  than  that  the  same 
effects  would  have  ensued  if  William  and  his  followers  had  remained  in 
their  native  soil.  The  substance  of  the  change  is  admitted  on  all  hands 


(86)       MR,  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

to  consist  in  the  suppression  of  those  grammatical  intricacies,  occasion- 
ed by  the  inflection  of  nouns,  the  seemingly  arbitrary  distinctions  of 
gender,  the  government  of  prepositions,  &c.*  How  far  this  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  result  of  an  innate  law  of  the  language,  or  some  general 
law  in  the  organization  of  those  who  spoke  it,  we  may  leave  for  the 
present  undecided :  but  that  it  was  no  way  dependent  upon  external 
circumstances,  upon  foreign  influence  or  political  disturbances,  is  esta- 
blished by  this  undeniable  fact, — that  every  branch  of  the  Low  German 
stock,  from  whence  the  Anglo-Saxon  sprang,  displays  the  same  simpli- 
fication of  its  grammar.  In  all  these  languages,  there  has  been  a  con- 
stant tendency  to  relieve  themselves  of  that  precision  which  chooses  a 
fresh  symbol  for  every  shade  of  meaning,  to  lessen  the  amount  of  nice 
distinctions,  and  detect  as  it  were  a  royal  road  to  the  interchange  of 
opinion.  Yet  in  thus  diminishing  their  grammatical  forms  and  simpli- 
fying their  rules,  in  this  common  effort  to  evince  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  usual  effects  of  civilization,  all  confusion  has  been  prevented  by  the 
very  manner  in  which  the  operation  has  been  conducted :  for  the  revo- 
lution produced  has  been  so  gradual  in  its  progress,  that  it  is  only  to 
be  discovered  on  a  comparison  of  the  respective  languages  at  periods 
of  a  considerable  interval. 

The  opinions  of  Mr.  Turner178  upon  the  character  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  language  might  be  safely  left  to  the  decision  of  the  practical  in- 
quirer, who,  without  allowing  himself  to  be  dazzled  by  the  brilliancy  of 
an  abstract  speculation,  or  to  be  swayed  by  the  influence  of  a  long- 
established  prejudice,  considers  every  theory  with  reference  to  man  in 

[*  A  similar  revolution  took   place  in  as  well  perhaps  to  offer  one  instance  out 

the  Greek  language,  in  the  decline  of  the  of  a  thousand,  in  proof  of  the  assistance  to 

Byzantine  empire,  as  has  been  noticed  by  be  gained  by  a  knowledge  of  the  Anglo- 

Dr.  Priestley,  Lecture  xiv.  On  the  Theory  Saxon  grammar.     The  following  passage, 

of  Language  ; — also  by  A.  W.  Schlegel  in  as  it  stands  in  our  present  text,  is  false  in 

his  "Observations  sur  la  Langue  Pro-  its  grammatical  construction,  and  defective 

ven9ale,"  1818,  p.  13,  where  he  terms  it  a  in  alliteration  : 

change  from  the  synthetic  to  the  analytic  Gif  thu  Grendles  dearst 

form,  answering   to  Priestley's  divisions  Night  longne 

into  complex  and  simple.— R.T.]  Fyrstne  anbidan. 

««  It  would  take  a  much  greater  space,  Mr.  Turner's  translation  : 

to  offer  a  detailed  refutation  of  Mr.  Tur-  Tf. .,        , 

ner's  opinions,  than  is  occupied  in  the  ori-  {J™  daref  ^e  Gre.n?el 

ginal  recital  of  them.     But  in  a  future  ™e  ?™  °f  a  long  ni8ht 
publication,   when  examining  Mr.   Tyr- 

whitt's  Essay  on  the  Language  and  Versi-  Restore  the  grammar,  and  we  obtain  the 

fication  of  Chaucer,   the  editor  pledges  alliteration,without  changing  a  letter  of  the 

himself  to  substantiate  by  the  most  irre-  text : 

fragable  proofs  all  that  he  has  advanced.  Gif  thu  Grendles  dearst 

In  the  present  state  of  the  question,  he  AHght-longne  fyrst 

can  only  appeal  to  the  common  sense  and  .Mean  bidan. 

daily  experience  of  the  reader,  coupled  If   thou    darest   Grendles   (encounter, 

with  an  assurance  that  the  counsel  and  gething,o(  t\ie  context) 

practice  of  Junius  and  Hickes  are  directly  (A)  night  long  space 

opposed  to  this  novel  theory.     It  may  be  Near  abide. 


MR.  PRICK'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (87) 

society.  To  him  we  might  appeal  for  the  solution  of  our  doubts,  as  to 
the  possibility  of  conducting  the  commonest  concerns  of  life,  with  these 
imperfect  means  of  communicating  our  wants ;  or  how  the  Babel-like 
confusion  attendant  upon  a  people,  who  had  "  no  settled  grammar  to 
guarantee  their  meaning,  who  were  compelled  to  guess  the  import  of 
their  mutual  absurdities,"  was  not  to  involve  a  second  dissolution  of  the 
social  compact,  and  another  separation  of  the  families  of  the  earth  so 
visited.  But  fortunately  Mr.  Turner,  in  the  same  spirit  of  candour  that 
attends  all  his  investigations,  has  supplied  us  with  the  proofs  upon 
which  his  conclusions  are  grounded ;  and  in  so  doing  has  afforded  us 
the  most  satisfactory  means  of  producing  a  refutation  of  his  opinions. 
It  may  appear  surprising,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  of  the  nume- 
rous specimens  adduced  in  support  of  the  "  capricious  anomalies  "  to  be 
found  in  Saxon  grammar,  not  a  single  instance  occurs  which  is  not 
rigidly  in  unison  with  the  laws  of  that  grammar :  and  so  strikingly  con- 
sistent is  the  obedience  they  display  to  the  rules  there  enforced,  that 
any  future  historian  of  the  language  might  select  the  same  examples  in 
proof  of  a  contrary  position.  He  would  only  have  to  apprise  the  reader 
of  some  peculiarities  in  those  laws,  which  Mr.  Turner  seems  to  have 
misunderstood,  or  not  to  have  been  acquainted  with ;  and  to  inform  him 
that  the  simple  rule  observed  in  our  own  times  respecting  the  genders 
of  nouns,  was  not  acknowledged  in  Saxon  grammar ;  and  consequently, 
that  in  this  department  there  was  a  greater  degree  of  complexity  ;  that 
the  inflection  of  nouns  was  governed  by  no  single  norm,  but  varied  as 
in  the  languages  of  the  ancient  world ;  that  every  class  embraced  in  this 
same  part  of  speech,  was  not  alike  perfectly  inflected  ;  that  some  exhibit 
a  change  of  termination  in  almost  every  case,  while  others  approach  the 
simplicity  of  our  present  forms,  having  only  a  change  in  the  genitive ; 
that  a  difference  in  the  sense  produced  a  change  in  the  government  of 
the  prepositions179;  and  lastly,  that  the  adjective  was  differently  in- 
flected, as  it  was  used  in  conjunction  with  the  definite  or  indefinite  ar- 
ticle. With  these  observances,  a  reader  unacquainted  with  a  single  line 
of  Anglo-Saxon,  and  only  assisted  by  the  paradigm  of  declensions  con- 
tained in  any  grammar,  might  reduce  Mr.  Turner's  anomalies  to  their 
original  order ;  and  collect  from  the  regularity  with  which  they  conform 
to  the  standards  given,  the  general  spirit  of  uniformity  that  obtained 
throughout  the  language.  Indeed  there  is  nothing  more  striking,  or 
more  interesting  to  the  ardent  philologer,  than  the  order  and  regularity 
preserved  in  Anglo-Saxon  composition,  the  variety  of  expression,  the 

1?9  Mr.  Turner  has  noticed  this  pecu-       was  systematically  observed ;  which  is  the 
liarity,  but  then  he  has  denied  that  it       point  at  issue. 


(88)       MR.  PRICK'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

innate  richness,  and  plastic  power  with  which  the  language  is  endowed  ; 
and  there  are  few  things  more  keenly  felt  by  the  student  of  Northern 
literature,  or  a  mind  strongly  alive  to  the  same  qualities  as  they  are  re- 
tained in  the  language  of  Germany,  than  that  all  these  excellences 
should  have  disappeared  in  our  own.  But  it  will  be  better  to  remain 
silent  on  a  subject  of  such  vain  regret,  and  to  avail  ourselves  of  the 
only  advantage  to  be  derived  from  the  knowledge  of  it.  It  is  capable 
of  demonstration,  that  in  the  golden  days  of  Anglo-Saxon  literature, 
the  sera  of  Alfred,  the  language  of  written  composition  was  stable  in  its 
character,  and  to  all  appearance  continued  so  till  the  cultivation  of  it 
among  the  learned  became  no  longer  an  object  of  emulation.  The 
mutations  that  ensued,  it  has  been  already  asserted,  were  not  the  result 
of  any  capricious  feeling,  acknowledging  no  general  principle  of  action  ; 
but  a  revolution  effected  upon  certain  and  determinate  laws,  which, 
however  undefined  in  their  origin,  are  sufficiently  evident  in  their  con- 
sequences. The  general  result  has  been,  a  language  whose  grammatical 
rules  have  been  long  ascertained,  at  least  in  every  particular  bearing 
upon  the  present  subject ;  and  we  are  thus  supplied  with  two  unvarying 
standards  of  appeal  at  the  extremes  of  the  inquiry.  Now,  in  such  a 
state  of  the  question,  it  will  be  obvious  that  every  word  which  has 
retained  to  our  own  times  the  orthography  bestowed  upon  it  by  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  must  during  the  intervening  periods  have  preserved  in 
the  enunciation  a  general  similarity  of  sound ;  and  that  however  differ- 
ently it  may  be  written,  or  whatever  additional  letters  or  variations  of 
them  may  have  been  conferred  upon  it  by  transcribers,  there  could 
have  been  only  one  legitimate  form  of  its  orthography.  The  changes 
introduced  could  only  have  been  caused  by  an  attempt  to  reconcile  the 
orthography  with  the  sounds  emitted  in  delivery ;  and  ought  not  to  be 
considered  as  in  any  degree  indicative  of  a  fluctuation  in  the  mode  of 
pronouncing  them.  In  another  numerous  class  of  words,  it  is  equally 
clear  that  a  change  of  orthography  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  forms  has 
arisen  solely  from  the  abolition  of  the  accentual  marks  which  distin- 
guished the  long  and  short  syllables.  As  a  substitute  for  the  former, 
the  Norman  scribes,  or  at  least  the  disciples  of  the  Norman  school  of 
writing,  had  recourse  to  the  analogy  which  governed  the  French  lan- 
guage ;  and  to  avoid  the  confusion  which  would  have  sprung  from  ob- 
serving the  same  form  in  writing  a  certain  number  of  letters  differently 
enounced  and  bearing  a  different  meaning,  they  elongated  the  word,  or 
attached  as  it  were  an  accent  instead  of  superscribing  it.  From  hence 
has  emanated  an  extensive  list  of  terms,  having  final  e's  and  duplicate 
consonants ;  and  which  were  no  more  the  representatives  of  additional 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (89) 

syllables,  than  the  acute  or  grave  accent  in  the  Greek  language  is  a 
mark  of  metrical  quantity180.  Of  those  variations  which  arose  from 
elision,  a  change  in  the  enunciation,  or  from  the  adoption  of  a  new 
combination  of  letters  for  the  same  sound,  it  is  impossible  to  speak 
briefly ;  and  a  diligent  comparison  of  our  early  texts,  and  a  clear  un- 
derstanding of  the  analogies  which  have  prevailed  in  the  constitution 
of  words,  can  alone  enable  us  to  speak  decisively.  But  with  this  know- 
ledge before  us  of  the  real  state  of  the  question,  it  is  high  time  to  re- 
lieve ourselves  of  the  arbitrary  restrictions  imposed  by  a  critic  wholly 
ignorant  of  the  first  principles  by  which  language  is  regulated ;  whose 
acquaintance  with  the  fountain  head  of  "English  undefikd"  induced 
him  to  call  it  "  a  meagre  and  barren  jargon  which  was  incapable  of  dis- 
charging its  functions,"  (though  possessing  all  the  natural  copiousness 
and  plastic  power  of  the  Greek) ;  and  whose  love  for  the  lore  itself 
seems  rather  to  have  arisen  from  a  blind  admiration  of  those  barbaric 
innovations  which  make  it  repulsive  to  the  scholar  and  the  man  of  taste, 
than  from  any  feeling  of  the  excellences  that  adorn  it181.  The  tram- 
mels of  the  Ritsonian  school  can  only  perpetuate  error,  by  justifying 
the  preconceived  notions  of  "  confusion  and  anomalies,"  from  the  very 
documents  that  ought  to  contain  a  refutation  of  such  opinions ;  and  we 
can  never  hope  to  obtain  a  legitimate  series  of  specimens,  duly  illus- 
trating the  rise  and  progress  of  the  language,  till  we  recur  to  the  same 
principles  in  establishing  our  texts  that  have  been  observed  by  every 
editor  of  a  Greek  or  Roman  classic.  With  such  a  system  for  our  guide, 
we  may  expect  to  see  the  natural  order  which  prevailed  in  the  enunci- 
ation of  the  language,  restored  to  the  pages  recording  it ;  and  an  effect- 
ual check  imposed  upon  the  "  multiplying  spawn"  of  reprints,  which, 
in  addition  to  all  the  errors  preserved  in  the  first  impression  from  the 
manuscript,  uniformly  present  us  with  the  further  mistakes  of  the  ty- 
pographer. Whether  such  a  principle  was  felt  by  Warton,  in  the  sub- 
stitution he  has  made  of  more  recent  forms  in  his  text,  for  the  unsettled 
orthography  of  his  manuscripts,  must  now  be  a  fruitless  inquiry ;  but 
we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  convincing  ourselves,  that  his  specimens 
would  have  been  more  intelligible  to  the  age  in  which  they  were  writ- 
ten, if  enounced  by  a  modern,  than  the  transcripts  of  Mr.  Ritson  with 
all  their  scrupulous  fidelity. 

180  The  converse  of  this  can  only  be  peruseers,of  such  a  collection  are  deceive'd 
maintained,  under  an  assumption  that  the  and  impose'd  upon  ;  the  pleasure  they  re- 
Anglo-Saxon  words  of  one  syllable  multi-  ceive  is  derive 'd  from  the  idea  of  antiquity, 
plied  their  numbers  after  the  conquest,  which  in  fact  is  perfect  illusion  !  "     There 
and  in  some  succeeding  century  subsided  is  no  parrying  an  objection  of  this  kind, 
into  their  primitive  simplicity.  which,  forcible  as  it  may  be,  is  not  quite 

181  Mr.  Ritson  has  thus  spoken  of  Dr.  original.   It  is  the  language  of  that  worthy 
Percy's   corrections    of  the    Reliques    of  gentleman,  M.  la  Rancune,  in  the  Roman 
English  Poetry :   "  The  purchaseers  and  Comique,  troisieme  partie,  e.  9. 


(90)       MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

The  glossarial  notes  of  Warton  form  so  small  a  portion  of  his  labours 
that  they  would  not  have  required  a  distinct  enumeration,  had  they  not 
been  made  the  subject  of  Mr.  Ritson's  animadversion.  That  they  con- 
stituted no  essential  part  of  his  undertaking,  that  his  general  views  of 
our  early  poetry,  and  his  opinions  upon  the  respective  merits  of  our 
poets,  would  have  been  as  accurate  and  perspicuous  without  subjoining 
a  single  glossarial  illustration,  or  failing  to  thrice  the  extent  in  which 
he  has  committed  himself,  will  be  felt  by  any  liberal  critic  who  will 
take  the  trouble  of  examining  how  fe\v  of  Warton's  positions  are  affected 
by  these  deficiencies.  The  amount  of  obsolete  terms  in  any  early 
writer  bears  so  small  a  proportion  to  the  general  mass  of  his  matter, 
that  his  genius  might  be  appreciated,  and  his  excellences  portrayed, 
by  a  person  unable  to  refer  to  a  single  gloss  on  the  text.  The  assist- 
ance thus  acquired  may  develope  particular  beauties,  or  give  a  firmer 
comprehension  of  their  effect ;  but  the  poetry  which  depends  for  its 
merit  upon  the  felicity  of  single  phrases,  whose  import  is  only  to  be 
gathered  from  isolated  terms,  can  scarcely  suffer  by  our  want  of  ability 
to  detect  its  disjointed  meaning.  For  every  purpose  of  an  historian, 
Warton's  skill  in  glossography  was  certainly  sufficient ;  and  if  not  co- 
extensive with  the  vaunted  acquirements182  of  his  opponent,  it  will 
hardly  rank  him  lower  in  the  scale  of  such  attainments  than  the  place 
allotted  his  adversary.  There  are  few  men  at  the  present  day  who  have 
given  their  attention  to  this  subject,  that  will  think  otherwise  than 
lightly  of  the  "  utmost  care  observed  in  the  glossary  "  to  the  Metrical 
Romances ;  and  no  one  who  has  advanced  to  any  proficiency  in  the 
study,  who  will  not  readily  acknowledge  the  easy  nature  of  such  la- 
bours, how  little  of  success  is  to  be  considered  as  the  result  of  mental 
energy,  the  effort  of  genius  rather  than  passive  industry. 

It  now  only  remains  to  give  an  account  of  the  plan  upon  which  the 
present  Edition  has  been  conducted.  The  text  of  Warton  has  been 
scrupulously  preserved  with  the  exception  of  a  few  unimportant  cor- 
rections, of  which  notice  is  given  by  the  interpolations  being  printed 

182  Whenever  Mr.  Ritson  felt  disposed  of  him.'      The  boy  however  manifestly 

to  read  a  lecture  on  glossography,  Mr.  El-  intends  our  seedy  knight  no  compliment 

lis  was  usually  summoned  before  the  ma-  in  the  question  he  asks  :  '  Is  he  aught/ 

gisterial  chair.  The  following  amusing  spe-  says  he,  '  but  a  wretch   (or  begerly  ras- 

cimen  may  be  cited  by  way  of  example  :  cal)  ?  What  does  any  one  care  for  him'  ? " 

"Thanseyde  f/te  &oy,Nyshebutawrecche?  Now  simple  as  this  passage  maybe,  Mr. 

What  thar  any  man  of  hym  recche?  Ritson  has  contrived  to  "  misconceive"  it 

Mister  Ellis  hath  strangely  misconceive'd  in  two  places :  first  by  affixing  a  note  of 

this  simple  passage;  supposeing  awreche  interrogation  to  wrecche;  and  secondly  by 

as  it  is  there  printed  [i.  e.  in  Ways  Fab-  overlooking  the  verb  "thar"  (need).  This 

liaux]  to  be  one  word,  and  the  meaning  obsolete  term  occurs  frequently  in  Mr. 

'  He  is  not  without  his  revenge  (i.  e.  com-  Ritson's  volumes,  but  finds  no  place  in  hii 

pemation)  whatever  any  man  may  think  glossary. 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.          (91  ) 

within  brackets.  The  specimens  of  early  poetry  have  been  either  col- 
lated with  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum !83,  or  copied  from  editions  of 
acknowledged  fidelity184;  and  the  glossarial  notes  corrected  wherever 
the  editor's  ability  was  equal  to  the  task.  But  less  attention  has  been 
directed  to  this  latter  subject  than  would  otherwise  have  been  bestowed 
upon  it,  from  an  intention  long  entertained  of  giving  a  general  glossary 
to  the  whole  work,  which  should  embrace  Warton's  numerous  omis- 
sions. The  additional  notes  are  such  as  appeared  necessary,  either  for 
illustration  or  emendation  of  the  subjects  noticed :  but  the  editor  was 
early  taught  that  the  former  would  comprise  a  small  part  of  his  duties, 
since,  however  lavish  Warton  may  appear  in  the  communication  of  his 
matter,  it  will  be  obvious  to  any  one  who  will  trace  him  through  his 
authorities,  that  he  has  been  parsimonious  rather  than  prodigal  in  the 
use  of  his  resources.  With  such  a  hint,  it  was  therefore  considered  in- 
cumbent to  give  no  additional  illustration  which  could  by  possibility 
have  been  within  his  knowledge.  To  the  First  Dissertation  such  notes 
have  been  added  as  could  be  conveniently  introduced  without  inter- 
fering with  Warton's  theory ;  the  Second  is  so  complete  in  itself,  that 
the  editor  has  been  unable  to  detect  in  the  more  recent  labours  of  Eich- 
horn,  Heeren,  Turner  and  Berrington,  any  omission  which  may  not  be 
considered  as  intentional.  The  Third  relates  to  a  subject  of  which  War- 
ton  has  rather  uncovered  the  surface  than  explored  the  depths ;  and 
which,  notwithstanding  the  subsequent  and  important  labours  of  Mr. 
Douce,  still  awaits  a  further  investigation.  In  this  Edition,  however,  it 
has  been  made  to  follow  those  originally  prefixed  by  Warton  to  his  first 
volume,  from  a  conviction  that  it  will  be  found  equally  useful  in  prepa- 
ring the  reader's  mind  for  the  topics  discussed  in  the  succeeding  pages. 

But  though  thus  compelled  to  speak  of  his  own  labours  as  first  in  the 
order  of  time,  and  with  reference  to  the  disposition  of  the  work,  the 
editor  has  the  pleasing  task  of  communicating  that  the  most  important 
contributions  to  these  volumes  have  flowed  from  other  sources.  Nearly 
the  whole  of  Warton's  first  and  second  volume  had  been  sent  to  the 
press  when  the  publisher  acquired  by  purchase  the  papers  of  Mr.  Park, 
a  gentleman  whose  general  acquaintance  with  early  English  literature 
is  too  well  known  to  need  remark,  and  whose  attention  for  many  years 

183  Mr.  Park's  collations  of  the  Oxford  cond.   [In  the  present  edition,  vol.  ii.  pp. 
MSS.  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  re-  338 — 360.]  It  has  been  faithfully  reprinted 
spective     volumes    containing    Warton's  from  Warton's  text  with  all  the  inaccura- 
transcripts.      [These  collations  are  now  cies  of  the  first  transcripts  (as  they  were 
incorporated  into  the  text.]  gathered  at  the  time  from  periodical  pub- 

184  The  section  on  the  Rowleian  con-  lications),  that  the  reader  interested  in  the 
troversy  forms  an  exception.     It  was  ori-  subject  might  form  an  estimate  of  the  state 
ginally  intended  to  throw  this  chapter  into  of  the  question  when  Warton  pronounced 
an  appendix;  but  a  new  division  of  the  his  decision. 

volumes  brought  it  to  the  close  of  the  se- 


(92)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

has  been  directed  to  an  improved  edition  of  the  History  of  English 
Poetry.  Among  the  accessions  thus  obtained  were  found  some  valu- 
able remarks  by  Mr.  Ritson,  Mr.  Douce,  and  an  extract  of  every  thing 
worthy  of  notice  in  the  copious  notes  of  Dr.  Ashby 185,  and  an  extensive 
body  of  illustrations  either  collected  or  written  by  Mr.  Park,  of  which 
it  would  be  presumption  in  a  person  so  little  qualified  as  their  present 
editor  to  offer  an  opinion.  To  have  incorporated  this  newly  acquired 
matter  in  the  respective  pages  to  which  it  refers  was  found  impossible, 
without  cancelling  nearly  the  whole  impression,  and  it  has  therefore 
been  subjoined  in  the  shape  of  additional  notes  at  the  close  of  each 
volume*.  Fortunately,  however,  the  greater  share  of  Mr.  Park's  com- 
mentary was  directed  to  the  contents  of  Warton's  Third  Volume,  and 
was  consequently  obtained  in  time  to  be  inserted  beneath  the  original 
text.  For  this  portion  of  the  edition,  indeed,  Mr.  Park  may  be  considered 
responsible,  as  the  editor's  notes  were  withdrawn  wherever  they  touched 
upon  a  common  subject,  and  those  remaining  are  too  few  to  need  any 
specific  mention.  It  would  have  been  more  agreeable  if  such  an  oppor- 
tunity had  presented  itself  in  an  earlier  stage  of  the  work ;  but  however 
much  might  have  been  gained  by  having  the  same  information  com- 
municated in  a  more  pleasing  form,  this  was  not  thought  sufficient  to 
countervail  the  objection  that  might  have  been  brought  against  the 
work  for  its  extensive  repetitions.  Wherever  therefore  Mr.  Park's 
remarks  on  the  previous  volumes  referred  to  a  common  subject  without 
supplying  any  further  illustration  of  it,  they  have  been  suppressed :  but 
this,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  animadversions  of  a  sectarian  tendency, 
and  one  or  two  notes  copied  from  other  writers,  and  obviously  inaccu- 
rate, forms  the  whole  that  has  been  withdrawn  from  the  public  eye. 

In  the  progress  of  his  duties,  a  variety  of  subjects  presented  them- 
selves to  the  editor's  mind,  as  requiring  some  further  illustration  than 
could  be  lawfully  comprised  within  the  limits  of  a  note  ;  and  under 
this  impression  he  more  than  once  ventured  to  promise  a  further  dis- 
cussion of  the  points  at  issue,  in  some  subsequent  part  of  the  work. 
But  the  materials  connected  with  these  topics  have  so  grown  under  his 
hands,  that  he  has  been  compelled  to  relinquish  the  intention,  and  to 
reserve  for  a  separate  and  future  undertaking  the  inquiries  to  which 
they  relate.  The  promised  account  of  the  distinctions  of  dialect  in 
the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  and  the  state  of  their  poetry186,  has  been 

185  The  papers  of  Dr.  Ashby  were  also  they  will  bear  no  comparison,  as  to  value 

purchased  at  the  same  time  (at  no  small  and  importance,  with  those  of  Mr.  Price, 

expense)  ;  but  they  were  not  found  to  con-  — R.T.j 

tain  anything  of  consequence  which  had  186  The   Anglo-Saxon  ode  given  at  p. 

not  been  previously  used  by  Mr.  Park.  Ixvi.    will    be    considered    a    substitute 

*  [In  the  present  edition  they  are  in-  perhaps  for  this  omission.     One   of  the 

corporated.     It  is  admitted,  however,  that  obscurities  in  that  poem  may  be  removed 


MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824.         (93) 

in  part  withheld  for  the  same  reasons ;  arid  partly  from  a  knowledge 
subsequently  obtained  that  the  subject  was  in  much  better  hands.  A 
volume  containing  numerous  specimens  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  Anglo- 
Norman  poetry,  with  translations  and  illustrations  by  the  Rev.  J.  J. 
Conybeare,  is  on  the  eve  of  publication  *. 


NOTE  omitted  at  p.  (76.)  1. 1. 

FOR  the  same  reason  (want  of  space)  it  has  been  found  necessary  to 
omit  any  examination  of  the  general  style  of  the  romantic  tale,  and  the 
tone  and  colouring  of  its  events,  as  compared  with  similar  productions 
of  the  ancient  world.  The  latter  indeed  are  only  preserved  to  us  in 
the  meagre  notices  of  the  grammarians ;  but  even  these  inadequate 
memorials  contain  the  traces  of  all  those  lineaments  which  have  been 
supposed  to  confer  an  original  character  upon  the  poetry  of  modern 
Europe.  The  same  love  of  adventure,  of  heroic  enterprise,  and  gallant 
daring ;  the  same  fondness  for  extraordinary  incident  and  marvellous 
agency  obtrudes  itself  at  every  step  :  and  to  take  one  example  out  of 
many,  the  Life  of  Perseus  might  be  made  to  pass  for  the  outline  of  an 
old  romance  or  the  story  of  a  genuine  chevalier  preux.  Let  the  reader 
only  remember  the  illegitimate  but  royal  descent  of  this  hero,  his  ex- 
posure to  almost  certain  death  in  infancy,  his  providential  escape,  the 
hospitality  of  Dictys,  the  criminal  artifices  of  Polydectes,  the  gallant 
vow  by  which  the  unsuspecting  stranger  hopes  to  lessen  his  obligation 
to  the  royal  house  of  Seriphus,  the  consequences  of  that  vow,  the  aid 
he  receives  from  a  god  and  goddess,  the  stratagem  by  which  he  gains 
a  power  over  the  monstrous  daughter  of  Phorcys — who  alone  can  in- 
struct him  in  the  road  which  leads  to  the  dwelling  of  the  Nymphs — the 
gifts  conferred  upon  him  by  the  latter,  the  magic  scrip  (which  is  to 
conceal  the  Gorgon's  head  without  undergoing  petrifaction},  the  winged 
sandals  (which  are  to  transport  him  through  the  air),  the  helmet  of 
Pluto  (which  is  to  render  him  invisible),  the  sword  of  Mercury,  or,  ac- 
cording to  other  traditions,  of  Vulcan,  and  the  assistance  given  him  by 
Minerva  in  his  encounter  with  the  terrific  object  of  his  pursuit, — let 
the  reader  only  recall  these  circumstances  to  his  memory,  and  he  will 
instantly  recognise  the  common  details  of  early  European  romance. 
Again :  his  punishment  of  the  inhospitable  and  wily  Atlas,  the  rescue 
of  Andromeda,  and  the  slaughter  of  the  monster  about  to  devour  her  ; 
the  rivalry  and  defeat  of  Phineus,  the  delivery  of  Danae  from  the  lust 
of  Polydectes,  and  the  ultimate  succession  of  Perseus  to  the  throne  of 
Argos,  which  he  forgoes  that  he  may  become  the  founder  of  another 
kingdom, — only  complete  the  train  of  events,  which  make  up  the  suc- 
cessful course  of  a  modern  hero's  adventures.  A  mere  change  of 
names  and  places, — with  the  substitution  of  a  dwarf  for  Mercury,  and 

by  a  slight  emendation  of  the  text.     [See  his  brother,  the   Rev.  Will.  Dan.  Cony- 

the   proposed    emendation,    "  we  rig  and  beare,  rector  of  Sully,  who  has  made  many 

wiges  ssed,"  in  note  12,  p.  Ixxii.]  valuable   additions.     It  is  however  con- 

*  [The  lamented   death   of  Mr.  Cony-  fined    to    the  Anglo-Saxon   period,   and 

beare  retarded  for  some  time  the  appear-  does  not  include   the  Anglo-Norman. — 

ance  of  this  volume,  but  it  was  eventually  M.] 
published  in  1826  under  the  editorship  of 


(94)      MR.  PRICE'S  PREFACE  TO  THE  EDITION  OF  1824. 

a  fairy  for  Minerva,  of  a  giantess  for  the  Phorcydes,  of  a  mild  enchan- 
tress for  the  Nymphs,  a  magician  for  Atlas,  and  the  terrific  flash  of  the 
hero's  eyes  for  the  petrifying  power  of  Medusa's  head — an  Icelandic 
romance  would  say  "  at  hafa  aegishialmr  i  augom," — with  a  due  ad- 
mixture of  all  the  pageantry  of  feudal  manners,  would  give  us  a  ro- 
mance, which,  for  variety  of  incident  and  the  prolific  use  of  supernatu- 
ral agency,  might  vie  with  any  popular  production  of  the  middle-age*. 
The  extraordinary  properties  of  the  sandals  and  helmet  have  already 
been  shown  to  occupy  a  conspicuous  rank  among  the  wonders  of  mo- 
dern romance ;  the  sword  of  Mercury  was  called  Harpe,  as  that  of 
Arthur  was  named  Excalibor ;  while  to  prove  the  affinity  of  this  sin- 
gular story  with  the  genuine  elements  of  popular  fiction,  all  its  inci- 
dents are  to  be  found  in  the  life  of  the  Northern  Sigurdr,  or  the  Nea- 
politan tale  of  Lo  Dragone  (Pentamerone,  Giorn.  iv.  Nov.  85.). 

There  is  another  point  connected  with  the  present  subject,  upon 
which  a  similar  silence  has  been  observed,  and  found  exclusively  in 
modern  romance, — the  tone  of  chivalric  devotion  to  the  commands 
and  wishes  of  the  softer  sex,  and  the  general  spirit  of  gallantry,  which 
without  the  influence  of  passion  acknowledged  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges. On  a  future  occasion  it  will  be  shown,  that  in  considering  this 
question,  the  expressions  of  Tacitus  in  his  Germany  have  been  too 
literally  interpreted.  There  is  little  in  this  valuable  tract,  relative  to 
the  female  sex,  which  does  not  find  a  parallel  in  the  institutions  of 
other  nations  of  the  ancient  world,  wherever  we  find  a  notice  of  them, 
under  a  similar  degree  of  civilization.  The  respect  paid  to  female  in- 
spiration ought  not  to  receive  a  more  enlarged  acceptation  than  is 
given  to  the  remark  of  Pythagoras  :  "  He  further  observed,  that  the 

inventor  of  names perceiving  the  genus  of  women  is  most  adapted 

to  piety,  gave  to  each  of  their  ages  the  appellation  of  some  Deity.  In 
conformity  to  which  also,  the  oracles  in  Dodona  and  at  Delphi  are 
unfolded  into  light  by  a  woman."  (Iamb.  Life  of  Pythagoras,  c.  xi. 
Taylor's  Transl.)  Indeed  the  customs  of  the  Doric  States  have  been 
wholly  overlooked  in  settling  this  question,  and  the  Attic  or  Ionic 
system  of  seclusion  taken  for  the  general  practice  of  all  Greece  f.  Is 
there  any  thing  in  Tacitus  more  decidedly  in  favour  of  female  rights, 
than  the  apophthegm  of  Gorgo  preserved  by  Plutarch  (and  quoted 
from  memory)?  "  Of  all  your  sex  in  Greece,"  said  a  stranger,  "  you 
Lacedaemonian  women  alone  govern  the  men."  "  True,"  replied 
Gorgo ;  "  but  then  we  alone  are  the  mothers  of  men."  The  elder  Cato 
met  a  similar  charge  by  observing, — "  Omnes  homines  mulieribus  im- 
perant,  nos  omnibus  hominibus,  nobis  mulieres."  But  here  again  it 
was  insufficient  to  check  those  results  so  mournfully  portrayed  by 
Tacitus  in  his  Annals  and  his  History.  If,  however,  this  feeling  were 
of  Northern  or  Germanic  origin,  we  might  naturally  expect  that  it 
would  be  most  apparent  among  those  nations  who  were  last  converted 
to  Christianity,  and  who  are  known  to  have  preserved  so  many  of  their 
ancient  opinions.  Now  Mr.  Muller,  who  has  just  risen  from  the  per- 
usal of  all  the  Northern  Sagas,  assures  us,  that  there  is  no  trace  of 
romantic  gallantry  in  any  of  these  productions :  and  it  is  clear  from 
his  analysis  of  many,  that  the  Scandinavian  women  in  early  times  were 

*  [See  Keightley's  Mythology,  ed.  2.  and  Private  Life  of  the  Ancient  Greeks," 
p.  414.]  a  translation  of  which  has  been  lately 

t  [See  Dr.  Heinrich  Hase's  "  Public       published,— R.T.] 


NOTE  ON  THE  XOUTHKRN"  GENEALOGIES.        (95) 

cuffed  and  buffeted  with  as  little  compunction  as  Amroo  and  Morfri 
castigate  Ibla.  (See  Antar,  i.  331.  ii.  71.)  We  might  with  equal  pro- 
priety attempt  to  trace  to  the  forests  of  Germany  all  the  subtleties  of 
the  scholastic  philosophy  (and  which  arose  in  the  same  age  as  the 
courts  of  Love),  as  to  claim  for  their  inhabitants  that  reverence  and 
adoration  of  the  female  sex  which  has  descended  to  our  own  times. 
This  deference  to  female  rights  and  the  establishment  of  an  equality 
between  the  sexes  have  in  their  origin  been  wholly  independent  of 
love  as  a  passion,  (whose  language  in  all  ages  and  among  all  nations 
has  been  the  same,)  and  are  manifestly  the  offspring  of  that  dispensa- 
tion which  has  purified  religion  of  every  sensual  rite,  and  which,  by 
spiritualizing  all  our  hopes  and  wishes  of  a  future  existence,  has  shed 
the  same  refining  influence*  on  our  present  institutions :  "  L'amour  de 
Dieu  et  des  dames"  was  not  a  mere  form. 

[*  See  Aikin's  Epistles  on  Women,  1810;  Ep.  iii.  1.  248.] 


NOTE  ON  THE  GENEALOGIES  OF  THE  NORTHERN  EPIC  HEROES. 

I  subjoin  the  genealogy  from  the  Edda  of  Snorro  Sturleson  to  which  I  have 
alluded  in  my  note  (p.  75.)  ;  and  if  I  am  right  in  supposing  that  it  was  over- 
looked formerly  by  Mr.  Conybeare  and  Mr.  Price  in  their  inquiries  relative  to 
the  mythic  personages  of  Anglo-Saxon  poetry  in  which  I  had  the  pleasure  to 
participate,  and  recently  by  Mr.  Kemble  in  the  very  interesting  disquisitions  in 
which  he  has  so  ably  followed  up  these  investigations,  I  shall  be  glad  that  it 
has  once  more  fallen  in  my  way  to  contribute  anything  to  the  elucidation  of  a 
question  which  long  ago  interested  me,  when  I  was  first  led  to  suggest  that 
Beow-ulf  was  the  Beaw  of  the  Saxon  genealogies. 

Whether  we  are  to  consider  the  names  in  these  genealogies  as  those  of  per- 
sonages having  really  existed,  and  indebted  for  their  supernatural  attributes  to 
traditionary  exaggeration, — or  of  the  mythic  personifications  of  principles  or 
attributes  which  were  worshipped  as  gods,  and  "  from  being  gods,  have  sunk 
into  epic  heroes,"  may  afford  matter  for  curious  speculation.  Mr.  Kemble  ap- 
pears to  have  come  over  to  the  latter  opinion,  upon  grounds  which  he  states 
much  at  length  in  his  Postscript.  He  there  suggests  that  Beow  might  have 
been  the  principle  of  fertility,  or  god  of  harvest,  (as  Eostre  was  the  goddess  of 
spring,)  whence  his  connection  with  Sceaf ; — that  Scildwa  was  an  appellative 
of  the  Deity  as  a  protector]  Geata,  as  the  author  of  abundance ;  and  so  of  others, 
from  etymological  conjecture.  He  concludes  that  when  all  the  names  are  re- 
jected from  the  lists  "  which  are  mere  appellatives  of  God,  there  remain  to  us 
five  only,  Sceafa,  Beowa,  Geat,-  Finn,  and  Woden  •"  "of  these  five  the  two  last 
and  three  first  seem  respectively  classed  together,  and  denote  the  active, 
moving  godhead,  and  the  fruitful  increase-giving  godhead."  p.  xxvi. ;  and  he 
thence  argues  "  that  the  three  first  are  names  of  Woden  himself  in  one  of  his 
characters, — and  the  two  last  in  another  of  his  characters."  Yet  though  ori- 
ginally "  mere  appellatives  of  God,"  he  nevertheless  looks  upon  all  the  names 
as  having  acquired  personality,  and  thus  been  "  introduced  into  epic  poetry, 
and  represented  as  gods  to  be  worshipped  with  altars  and  sacrifice,  until 
Christianity,  by  overturning  the  old  creed,  reduced  them  to  the  rank  of  heroes." 
p.  xxvi. 

I  confess,  however,  that  such  a  view  of  the  subject  appears  to  me  rather  to 
originate  in  notions  derived  from  philosophical  speculation  or  later  schemes  of 
theology,  involving  even  the  meaning  of  the  terms  '  person'  and  'personality,' 
than  in  what  can  be  conceived  of  a  barbarous  people  in  such  early  times : 
and  I  should  still  be  inclined,  instead  of  attributing  to  their  deities  this 
ideal  origin,  to  seek  for  them  as  really  distinct  persons,  of  whose  individual ' 


(96) 


NOTE  ON  THE  NORTHERN  GENEALOGIES. 


existence  traces  may  perhaps  still  be  found  among  the  earliest  records  of  the 
north. 


Edda  of  Snorro  Sturleson. 

Saxon  Chron. 

TextusRoffensis 

Edit.ofResenius. 

Goransson's  edit. 

An.  854. 

Wesscx  geneal. 

MS.  Trin. 

Siff 

Sif,  the~sybill 

Adam 

Adam,  &c. 

Noah. 

Loride 

Lorrithi 

Seth 

Japhet. 

Henrede 

En  oh 

Wyngethor 

Vingithor 

Jared 

Wingener 

Vingener 

Matusalem 

Matlmsal 

Moda 

Moda 

Lamech 

Lamec 

Mage 

Mage 

Noe 

Cespheth 

Sefsmeg 

Sceaf, 

Sceaf,  Sescef, 

Strepheus. 

[id  est,  filius 

fuit  filius  Noae 

Noe].  &c. 

natusin  Area 

Lieding, 

Bedvig 

Bedwig 

Bedwig 

Bedegius. 

(Livding) 

Hwala 

Guala. 

Athra, 

Atra, 

Hathra 

Hadra 

Hadra. 

(Annann) 
Urmann 

(nobis  Annan) 
Itrman 

Itermon 

Heraman 

Sternodius. 

Modar 

Eremodr 

Heremod 

Heremod 

Sceph. 

Skialdun, 

Skialldun, 

Sceldwa 

Scealdwa 

Sceldius. 

(nobis  Skiold) 

BlAFF, 

(nobis  Skiolld) 

BlAF, 

BEAW 

BEAW 

BOERINUS. 

(nobis  Bjar) 

(nobis  Bear) 

Nennius, 

Gunn's  edit. 

Taetwa 

Tethwa 

Jat 

Jat 

Geat 

Eata 

•Geta,  qiiifttit 

Gudolff 

Gudolfr 

Godwulf 

Godulf,  [aliis 

filius  del. 

Geta] 

Foleguald. 

Finn 

Finr 

Finn 

Fhm 

Finn 

Friallaff, 

Frialafr, 

Frithuwulf 

Fredulf. 

(nobis  Friedlieff) 

(nobis  Fridleif  ) 

Freawine 

Frealaf 

Frealof. 

Frithuwald 

VODIN, 

VODDEN, 

WODEN 

WODEN  Frea- 

WODEN. 

(nobis  Odinn) 
Wegdeck 
Viturgils 
Bseldeck 
Brand 

(nobis  O]?in) 

Odin's  4  sons, 
fVegdreg 
Beldeg 
<^       nobis  Baldr 

Ba?ldseg 
Brond 
Frithugar 
Freawine 

lafing 
Baldaeg 
Brand 
Freodegar 
Freawine 

Guechta. 

Freawine 
Sigge 
Ignr 

I  Sigi 
LSkiolld 

Wig 
Gewis 
Esla 

Wig 
Gewis 

Esla 

Guicta. 
Guictglis. 
II  en  gist  & 

Elesa 

Elesa 

7/or.vrt. 

Cerdic 

Cerdic 

Creoda 

Creoda 

Cynric 

Cynric 

Ceawlin[Celm 

Ceawlin 

Cuthwine 

Cud  wine 

Cutha[-wulf] 

Cutha 

Ceolwald 

Ceolward 

Cenred 

Cenred 

Thus  "  Beaf  and  Beir"  are  not  to  be  "  at  once  rejected  as  Norse  blunder*, 
occurring  only  in  the  Fornaldar  Sbg,"  as  Mr.  Kemble  (Postscript,  p.  xiii.)  had 
supposed.  Buri,  mentioned  by  him  at  p.  xxv.  as  a  progenitor  of  Woden,  is  a 
name  also  having  some  resemblance  to  Boerinus.  Lieding,  in  the  edition  of 
Kesemus,  may  have  been  the  error  of  a  transcriber  for  Bedwig;  as  probably  Stre- 
pheus has  been  for  Scepheus,  Sternodius  either  for  Itermon  or  Heremod,  and 

•olepald  in  Gale  for  Folcpalb,  who  in   Nennius  takes  the  place  of  Godulf. 

subject  will  probably  receive  further  illustration  whenever  Mr.  Thorpe 

shall  publish  his  translation,  with  notes  and  additions,  of  Lappenberg's  valuable 

history  ot  England  during  the  Saxon  period.— R,  TAYLOR. 


OF  THE 


ORIGIN   OF  ROMANTIC   FICTION 


IN    EUROPE. 


DISSERTATION    I. 

JLHAT  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  f.  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  ap- 
plied to  the  subject,  to  trace  the  manner  and  the  period  of  its  introduc- 
tion 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 


*  ["  It  cannot  be  true,"  says  Ritson, 
"  that  romance  was  entirely  unknown  to 
the  writers  of  Greece  and  Rome ;  since, 
without  considering  the  Iliad,  Odyssey, 
jEneid,  &c.  in  that  point  of  view,  we  have 
many  ancient  compositions,  which-clearly 
fall  within  that  denomination  :  as  the  pas- 
toral of  Daphnis  and  Chloe  by  Longus; 
the  ./Ethiopicks  of  Heliodorus ;  Xenophon's 
Ephesian  History,"  &c.  &c.  (MS-,  note  in 
Dr.  Raine's  copy  of  Warton's  History, 
purchased  from  Ritson's  library.)  To 
these  recollections,  Mr.  Douce  has  added 
the  romance  of  Apuleius  ;  the  loves  of 
Clitophon  and  Leucippe,  by  Achilles  Ta- 
tius  ;  and  the  very  curious  Adventures  of 
Rhodanes  and  Sinonis,  or  the  Babylonic. 
Romance,  of  which  an  epitome  is  preserved 
by  Photius  in  his  Bibliotheca,  Cod.  xciv. 
"  This,"  says  Mr.  D.,  "is  perhaps  the  old- 
est work  of  the  kind,  being  composed  by 
one  lamblicus,  who  lived  under  Marcus 
Aurelius." 

"  The  progress  of  romance  and  the  state 

VOL.  I. 


of  learning  in  the  middle  ages  (says  Gib- 
bon, Decline  and  Fall,)  are  illustrated  by 
Mr.  Thomas  Warton  with  the  taste  of  a 
poet,  and  the  minute  diligence  of  an  anti- 
quarian. I  have  derived  much  instruction 
from  the  two  learned  dissertations  prefixed 
to  the  first  volume  of  his  History  of  En- 
glish Poetry."— PARK.] 

[This  is  a  mere  cavil  of  Mr.  Ritson's, 
who  could  not  believe  a  scholar  of  Warton's 
attainments  to  have  been  unacquainted 
with  these  erotic  novels.  Several  of  them 
are  mentioned  in  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xii.  note  b 
(second  series).  In  the  dissertation  on  Ro- 
mance and  Minstrelsy,  Warton  is  even  re- 
proached for  describing  another — the  loves 
of  Clitophon  and  Leucippe — as  a  "poetical 
novel  of  Greece."  In  fact,  it  is  manifest 
from  this  expression,  that  Warton  chose  to 
exclude  this  and  similar  productions  from 
the  title  of  romantic  fictions. — PRICE.] 

t  [See  Huet,  Traite  de  1'Origine  des 
Romans,  who  has  discussed  this  opinion 
at  large. — DOUCE.] 


11  DISSERTATION    I. 

Arabian  imagination  were  communicated  to  the  western  world  by 
means  of  the  Crusades.  Undoubtedly  those  expeditions  greatly  con- 
tributed to  propagate  this  mode  of  fabling  in  Europe.  But  it  is  evi- 
dent (although  a  circumstance  which  certainly  makes  no  material  dif- 
ference 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  Cordova*. 

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 
diction0.  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  univer- 
sally 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 f. 

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  ArmoricaJ  or  Basse-Bretagne,  nowBritany§  ;  for  no  part 

a  See  Almakin,  edit.  Erpenius,  p.  72.  but  one  mentioned  by  any  ancient  writer, 

*  [The  conquest  of  Spain  by  the  Ara-  which  existed  before  the  first  Crusade  un- 

bians  becomes  one  of  the  most  curious  and  der  Godfrey  earl  of  Bologne,  afterward 

important  events  recorded  in  history,  when  king  of  Jerusalem,  in  1097. — PARK.] 
it  is  considered  as  having  in  a  great  degree  J  [From  Ar  y-mor  ucha',  i.  e.  on  the 

contributed  to  the  progress  of  civilization  upper  sea.     See   Jones's  Relicks  of  the 

in  Europe,  and  to  the  diffusion  of  science  Welsh  Bards. — PARK.] 
and  art.    (See  this  illustrated  in  the  Ara-  §  ["The  laws  of  this  country,"  says  Rit- 

bian  Antiquities  of  Spain,  by  J.C.  Murphy.)  son,  "  were  anciently  very  celebrated,  al- 

"  But  there  is  evidence,  though  not  the  most  though  not  one,  nor  even  the  smallest  ves- 

satisfactory,"  says  Mr.  Douce,  "  that  the  tige  of  one,  in  its  vernacular  language  (a 

fabulous  stories  of  Arthur  and  his  Knights  dialect  of  the  Britanno-Celtic)  is  known 

existed  either  among  the  French  or  En-  to  exist.  The  Bretons  have  but  one  single 

glish  Britons,  before  the  conquest  of  Spain  poem,  of  any  consequence,  in  their  native 

by  the  Arabians." — PARK.]  idiom,  ancient  or  modern :  the  predictions 

b  See  the  second  Dissertation.  of  a  pretended  prophet,  named  Gwinglaff, 

c  "  Arabico  eloquio  sublimati,"  &c.  Du  the  MS.  whereof  is  dated  1450."-     Notes 

Cang.  Gloss.  Med.  Inf.  Latinitat.  torn.  i.  to  Metric.  Rom.  iii.  329.     Ritson  after- 

Prsef.  p.  xxvii.  §  31.  wards  expresses  his  belief,  that  by  Bre- 

f  [Ritson  avers,  that  there  is  not  one  tagne  and  Bretons  were  meant  the  island 

single  French  romance  now  extant,  and  and  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain.     At  the 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE. 


Ill 


of  France  can  boast  so  great  a  number  of  antient  romances0.  Many 
poems  of  high  antiquity,  composed  by  the  Armorican  bards,  still 
remain d,  and  are  frequently  cited  by  Father  Lobineau  in  his  learned 


same  time,  it  does  not  (he  thinks)  appear, 
that  any  such  lays  are  preserved  in  Wales 
any  more  than  in  Basse- Bretagne,  if,  in 
fact,  they  ever  existed  in  either  country. 
Ibid.  p.  332.  In  his  Dissertation  on  Ro- 
mance and  Minstrelsy,  (p.  xxiv.)  Ritson 
adds  two  other  Armoric  poems  to  the  pre- 
dictions of  Gwinglaff,  viz.  the  life  of  Gwe- 
nole,  abbot  of  Landevenec,  one  of  their 
fabulous  saints ;  and  a  little  dramatic  piece 
on  the  taking  of  Jerusalem.  Thus,  our 
doughty  critic,  from  being  too  positive  and 
too  peremptory,  had  cause  to  correct  his 
own  hallucinations  as  well  as  those  of 
others. — PARK.] 

[See  the  "Essais  Historiques  sur  les 
Bardes,"  &c.  by  the  late  Abbe  de  la  Rue, 
torn.  i.  pp.  1-100.  8vo.  Caen,  1834. — M.] 
c  The  reason  on  which  this  conclusion 
is  founded,  will  appear  hereafter.  ["It  is 
difficult,"  says  Mr.  Douce,  "  to  conceive, 
that  the  people  of  Britany  could  have  been 
influenced  by  the  Arabians  at  any  period." 
—PARK.] 

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. 

[These  tales  were  not  written  by  the 
bards  of  Bretagne,  but  by  a  poetess  of  the 
name  of  Marie  de  France,  of  whom  no- 
thing is  known.  In  one  of  these  lais  she 
names  herself,  and  says  that  most  of  her 
tales  are  borrowed  from  the  old  British 
lais.  The  scenes  of  several  of  these  stories 
are  laid  in  Bretagne,  which  appears  some- 
times to  mean  Britany  in  France,  and 
sometimes  Great  Britain1.  — DOUCE.] 

[Marie  is  not  mentioned  in  Le  Grand's 
catalogue,  though  he  has  modernised  and 
published  her  Fables  in  French,  from  king 
Alfred's  Anglo-Saxon  version  of  ^Esop. 
That  she  had  written  lays  seems  not  to 
have  been  known  to  him.  M.  de  la  Rue 
has  given  a  list  of  her  lays  in  Archaeol.  xiii. 
42.  They  are  twelve  in  number  and  one 
of  them  contains  1184  verses.  She  also 
wrote  a  history  or  tale  in  French  verse,  of 
St.  Patrick's  Purgatory,  two  copies  of  which 
are  in  the  British  Museum.  This  was  early 
translated  into  English  under  the  title  of 
O  wayne  Miles  (Sir  Owen).  Mr.  Ellis,  in  his 
Specimens  of  early  English  Metrical  Ro- 
mances, has  introduced  an  abstract  or  ana- 
lysis of  the  lays  of  Marie,  which  he  informs 
us  that  Ritson  either  neglected  to  read,  or 
was  unable  to  understand  ;  since  he  de- 


nied their  Armorican  origin.  See  his  ob- 
servations, vol.  i.  p.  137.  Mr.  Way  pub- 
lished an  elegant  version  of  the  first  of 
these  lays  (Guigemar)  in  his  Fabliaux; 
and  Mr.  Ellis  printed  an  early  translation 
of  the  third  (Lai  le  Fresne)  from  the  Au- 
chinleck  MS.  in  his  Romance  Specimens. 
— PARK.] 

"  TRISTRAM  a  WALES"  is  mentioned, 
f.  171.  b. 

Tristram  ki  bien  saveit  HARPEIR. 

In  the  adventure  of  the  knight  ELIDUC, 
f.  172.  b. 

En  Bretaine  ot  un  chevalier 
Pruz,  6  curteis,  hardi,  e  fier. 

Again,  under  the  same  champion,  f.  173. 

II  tient  sun  chemin  tut  avant. 

A  la  mer  vient,  si  est  passez, 

En  Toteneis  est  arrivez ; 

Plusurs  reis  ot  en  la  tere, 

Entr'eus  eurent  estrif  6  guere, 

Vers  Excestre  en  eel  pais — 
TOTENEIS  is  Totness  in  Devonshire. — 
Under  the  knight  MILUN,  f.  166. 

Milun  fu  de  Suthwales  nez. 
He  is  celebrated  for  his  exploits  in  Ire- 
land, Norway,  Gothland,  Lotharingia,  Al- 
bany, &c. 
Under  LAUNVAL,  f.  154.  b. 

En  Bretun  1'apelent  Lanval. 
Under  GUIGEMAR,  f.  141. 

La  caumbre  ert  painte  tut  entur : 
Venus  le  dieuesse  d'amur, 
Fu  tres  bien  mis  en  la  peinture, 
Les  traiz  mustrez  e  la  nature, 
Cument  hum  deit  amur  tenir, 
E  lealment  e  bien  servir. 
Le  livre  Ovide  u  il  ensegne,  &c. 
This  description  of  a  chamber  painted 
with  Venus  and  the  three  mysteries  of  na- 
ture, and  the  allusion  to  Ovid,  prove  the 
tales  before  us  to  be  of  no  very  high  anti- 
quity.    But  they  are  undoubtedly  taken 
from    others    much  older,    of   the  same 
country. 

[Mr.  Douce  observes  that  Warton  has  to- 
tally misunderstood  these  lines,  in  which 
there  is  nothing  about  the  mysteries  of  na- 
ture ;  and  they  mean  no  more  than  that 
the  chamber  exhibited  the  description  and 
manner  how  a  man  should  fall  in  love,  &c. 
Mustrez  is  put  for  montre. — PARK.] 

At  the  end  of  ELIDUC'S  tale  we  have 
these  lines,  f.  181. 


1  See  Note  B.  at  the  end  of  this  Dissertation. 
02 


IV  DISSERTATION    I. 

history  of  Basse-Bretagne6.  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  Conau,  lord  of  Meiriadoc  or  Denbighland  &.  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  (1756),  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  colonosh. 
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  knights1. 

This  migration  of  the  Welsh  into  Britany  or  Armorica,  which 
during  the  distraction  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  occa- 
sioned a  close  connexion  between  the  two  countries  for  many  centu- 
ries11. Nor  will  it  prove  less  necessary  to  our  purpose  to  observe,  that 

Del  aventure  de  ces  treis,  chieftain  of  North  Wales.     She  was  born 

Li  auncien  BRETUN  curteis  at  Caernarvon,  where  her  chapel  is  still 

Firent  le  lai  pour  remembrer  shown.     Mon.  Antiq.  p.  166.  seq. 

Que  hum  nel'  deust  pas  oublier.  s  See  Hist,  de  Bretagne,par  d'Argentre, 

And  under  the  tale  of  FRESNE,  f.  148.  P-  2.     Peel's  Wales,  p.  1,  2.  seq.  and 

p.  6.  edit.  1584.     Lhuyd's  Etymol.  p.  32. 

Li  BRETUN  en  firent  un  to.  ^    3      And  Galfrid/Mon.  yHist.  PBrit. 

At  the  conclusion  of  most  of  the  tales  it  is  lib>  v<  c>  12.  yii.  3.  ix.  2.  Compare  Borlase, 

said  that  these  LAIS  were  made  by  the  Antiq.  Cornwall,  b.  i.  ch.  10.  p.  40. 
poets  of  Bretaigne.     Another  of  the  tales  *  [Mr.  Ellis  further  observes,  that  the 

is  thus  closed,  f.  146.  Sclavonian  sailors,  employed  on  board  of 

De  cest  conte  k'o'i  avez  Venetian  ships  in  the  Russian  trade,  never 

Fu  Gugemer  le  LAI  trovez  fail  to  recognise  a  kindred  dialect  on  their 

Q,ui  hum  dist  en  harpe  e  en  rote  arrival   at   St.   Petersburgh.       Historical 

Bone  en  est  a  oi'r  la  note.  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the 

e  Histoire  de  Bretagne,  ii.  torn.  fol.  [Mr.  English  Poetry  and  Language,  i.    8.— 

Ritson  says,  he  repeatedly,  but  unsuccess-  PARK.] 
fully,  examined  Lobineau  for  these  cita-  h  Mansus. 

tions,  and  that  Mr.  Douce  had  equally  failed  l  Parad.  L.  i.  579.    Compare  Pelloutier, 

in  discovering  them. — PRICE.]  Mem.  sur  la  Langue  Celt.  fol.  torn.  i.  19. 

f  Maximus  appears  to  have  set  up  a  se-  k  This  secession  of  the  Welsh,  at  so  cri- 

parate  interest  in  Britain,  and  to  have  en-  tical  a  period,  was  extremely  natural,  into 

gaged  an  army  of  the  provincial  Britons  a  neighbouring  maritime  country,   with 

on  his  side  against  the  Romans.    Not  sue  -  which  they  had  constantly  trafficked,  and 

ceeding  in  his  designs,  he  was  obliged  to  which,  like  themselves,  had  disclaimed  the 

retire  with  his  British  troops  to  the  con-  Roman  yoke. 

tinent,  as  in  the  text.    He  had  a  consider-  [That  the  British  soldiers,  enrolled  by 

able  interest  in   Wales,  having  married  Maximus,  wandered  into  Armorica  after 

EUena  daughter  of  Eudda,   a  powerful  his  death,  and  new  named  it,  seems  to  be 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.  V 

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:  inter- 
marrying with  them,  and  perpetually  resorting  thither  for  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children,  for  advice,  for  procuring  troops  against  the 
Saxons,  for  the  purposes  of  traffick,  and  various  other  occasions.  This 
connexion  was  so  strongly  kept  up,  that  an  ingenious  French  antiquary 
supposes,  that  the  communications  of  the  Arrnoricans  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  discernible1.  And  this  inter- 
course will  appear  more  natural,  if  we  consider,  that  not  only  Armo- 
rica*, a  maritime  province  of  Gaul,  never  much  frequented  by  the 
Remans,  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  con- 
quest. Cornwall,  in  particular,  retained  its  old  Celtic  dialect  till  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth"1. 

And  here  I  digress  a  moment  to  remark,  that  in  the  circumstance  just 

unfounded.    I  cannot  avoid  agreeing  with  prince  of  the  Cambrian  Britons,  which  was 

Du  Bos,  that  "quant  aux  terns  ou  la  peu-  published  with  the  original  text  in  1792. 

plade  des  Britons  insulaires  s'est  etablie  It  comprises  the  poem  mentioned  by  Mr. 

dans  les  Gaules,"  it  was  not  before  the  year  Warton,  which  is  marked  by  many  poetic 

513.    Hist.  Crit.  ii.  470. — TURNER.]  and  pathetic  passages.  Lly  ware  flourished 

It  is  not  related  in  any  Greek  or  Ro-  from  about  A.D.  520  to  630,  at  the  period 

man  historian.     But  their  silence  is  by  no  of  Arthur  and  Cadwallon.     See  Owen's 

means  a  sufficient  warrant  for  us  to  reject  Cambrian  Biography. — PARK.] 

the  numerous  testimonies  of  the  old  Bri-  l  M.  1'Abbe   Lebeuf,  Recherches,  &c. 

tish  writers  concerning  this  event.     It  is  Mem.  de  Litt.  torn.  xvii.  p.  718.  edit.  4to. 

mentioned,  in  particular,  by  Lly  ware  Hen,  "  Je  pense  que  cela  dura  jusqu'a  ce  que  le 

a  famous  bard,  who  lived  only  one  hun-  commerce  de  ces  provinces  avec  les  peu- 

dred  and  fifty  years  afterwards.    Many  of  pies  du  Nord,  et  de  rAllemagne,  et  SUR 

his  poems  are  still  extant,  in  which  he  TOUT  celui  des  HABITANS  DE  L'ARMO- 

celebrates  his  twenty-four  sons  who  wore  RIQUE  AVEC  L'ANGLOIS,  vers  1'onzierae 

gold  chains,  and  were  all  killed  in  battles  sidcle,"  &c. 

against  the  Saxons.  *  [Armorica  was  the  north-west  corner 

[Eight  of  the  Elegies  of  Llywarc  Hen,  of  Gaul,  included  between  the  Loire,  the 

or  Llywarc  the  Aged,  were  selected  and  Seine,  and  the  Atlantic. — PARK.] 

translated  by  Richard  Thomas,  A.  B.  of  m  See  Camd.  Brit.  i.  44.  edit.  1723. 

Jesus  College,  Oxford;  but  these  transla-  Lhuyd's  Arch.  p.  253.     [It  did  not  en- 

tions  being  more  distinguished  by  their  tirely  cease  to  be  spoken  till  of  late  years, 

elegance  than  fidelity,  the  learned  Mr.  as  may  be  gathered  from  an  account  of  the 

Owen  produced  a  literal  version  of  the  death  of  an  old  Cornish  woman,  in  the 

Heroic  Elegies,  and  other  pieces  of  this  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1785. — PARK.] 


VI  DISSERTATION    I. 

mentioned  about  Wales,  of  its  connexion  with  Armorica,  we  perceive 
the  solution  of  a  difficulty,  which  at  first  sight  appears  extremely  pro- 
blematical: 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 
favourite  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  adventures0.  In  the  mean  time  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  re- 
sided in  Whales,  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  Grun- 
fludd,  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**." 
Traditions  about  king  Arthur,  to  mention  no  more  instances,  are  as 
popular  in  Cornwall  as  in  Wales;  and  most  of  the  romantic  castles, 

n  The  story  of  LE  COURT  MANTEL, or  more  probably  the  "Pays  de  Cornuaille  " 

the  BOY  AND  THE  MANTLE,  told  by  an  in  France,  a  name  formerly  given  to  a  part 

old   French  troubadour  cited  by  M.  de  of  Bretagne. — DOUCE.] 

Sainte  Palaye,  is  recorded  in  many  manu-  *  [The  chronicle  of  the  Abbey  of  Mont 

script  Welsh  chronicles,  as  I  learn  from  St.  Michael,  gives  the  year  513  as  the  pe- 

original  letters  of  Lhuydin  the  Ashmolean  riod  of  the  flight  into  Bretagne:    Anno 

Museum.     See  Mem.  Anc.  Chev.  i.  119.  513  venerunt  transmarini  Britanni  in  Ar- 

And  Obs.  Spenser,  i.  §  ii.  p.  54. 55.     And  moricam,  id  est  minorem  Britanniam.  The 

from  the  same  authority  I  am  informed,  ancient  Saxon  poet  (apud  Duchesne  Hist, 

that  the  fiction  of  the  giant's  coat  com-  Franc.  Script.  2.  p.  148.)  also  peoples  Bre- 

posed  of  the  beards  of  the  kings  whom  he  tagne  after  the  Saxon  conquest. — TUR- 

had  conquered,  is  related  in  the  legends  NER.] 

of  the  bards  of  both  countries.     See  Obs.  p  Who    was    sometimes    chosen  from 

Spens,  ut  supr.  p.  24.  seq.     But  instances  Wales  and  Cornwall,  and  sometimes  from 

are  innumerable.  ARMORICA.     Borlase,  ubi  supr.  p.  403. 

•  Hence  in   the  Armorican  tales  just  See  also  p.  375.  377.  393.     And  Concil. 

quoted,  mention  is  made  of  Totness  and  Spelman.   torn.  i.  9.  112.   edit.  1639.  fol. 

Exeter,  anciently  included  in  Cornwall.  Stillingfleet's  Orig.  Brit.  ch.  5.  p.  344.  seq. 

In  Chaucer's  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  we  edit.    1688.   fol.     From  CORNUWALLIA, 

have  "  Hornpipis  of  Cornewaile,"  among  used  by  the    Latin   monkish  historians, 

a  great  variety  of  musical   instruments,  came  the  present  name  Cornwall.     Bor- 

v.  4250.    This  is  literally  from  the  French  lase,  ibid.  p.  325. 

original,  v.  3991.     [The  Cornwall  men-  q  Evans,  p.  43. 
tioned  in  the  Romance  of  the  Rose   was 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE. 


Vll 


rocks,  rivers,  and  caves  of  both  nations,  are  alike  at  this  day  distin- 
guished by  some  noble  achievement,  at  least  by  the  name,  of  that  cele- 
brated champion.  But  to  return. 

About  the  year  1100,  Walter,  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,  BRUT-Y-BRENHINEJ>,  or  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE 
KINGS  OF  BRITAIN^  This  book  he  brought  into  England,  and  com- 
municated 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  Walter,  the  archdea- 
con, translated  this  British  chronicle  into  Latin 8,  executing  the  transla- 
tion with  a  tolerable  degree  of  purity  and  great  fidelity,  yet*  not  without 


*  In  the  curious  library  of  the  family  of 
Davies  at  Llanerk  in  Denbighshire,  there 
is  a  copy  of  this  chronicle  in  the  hand- 
writing  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-Yscyth- 
roc  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. 

[The  Brut  of  Tyssilio  was  published  in 
the  second  volume  of  the  Welsh  Archaeo- 
logy. A  translation  by  the  Rev.  P.  Roberts 
has  since  appeared  [1811]  under  the  title 
of  A  Chronicle  of  the  British  Kings.  The 
first  book  of  Guttyn  Owain's  copy  being 
much  more  ample  in  its  details  than  the 
other  MSS.,  was  incorporated  by  Mr.  Ro- 
berts in  his  volume.  The  remaining 
books  appear  to  contain  no  material  varia- 
tions.— PRICE.] 

[From  a  critical  comparison  of  the  Welsh 
texts,  as  translated  by  Mr.  Roberts,  with 
the  Latin  of  Geoffrey,  there  does  not  re- 
main the  slightest  doubt  in  my  mind,  that 
the  former  were  all  taken  from  the  latter, 
and  are  much  more  recent. — M.] 

8  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. 

*  Geoffrey  confesses,  that  he  took  some 
part   of   his    account  of   king    Arthur's 
achievements  from  the  mouth  of  his  friend 
Walter,  the  archdeacon;  who  probably 
related  to  the  translator  some  of  the  tra- 
ditions 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  antiqua- 
rian 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  J  ULIUS.  This  illustrates  and 
confirms  Lambarde's  BRUTUS  JULIUS. 
Peramb.  Kent,  p.  12.  See  also  in  the  Bri- 
tish bards.  And  hence  Milton's  objection 
is  removed.  Hist.  Engl.  p.  12.  There 
are  no  FL AMINES  or  ARCHFL AMINES  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  Mil- 
ton'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  CAER LLEON,  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  com- 
mon name  among  the  Britons ;  as  BRAN 
AP  DYFNWAL,  &c.  See  Suidas's  JSprjv. 
It  appears  by  the  original,  that  the  British 
name  of  CARAUSIUS  was  CARAWN  ;  hence 
TREGARAUN,  i.  e.  TREGARON,  and  the 
river  CAR  AUN,  which  gives  name  to  ABER- 
CORN.  In  the  British  there  is  no  division 
into  books  and  chapters,  a  mark  of  anti- 
quity. Those  whom  the  translator  calls 
CONSULS  of  Rome  when  Brennus  took 
it,  are  in  the  original  TWYSOGION,  i.  e. 


Vlll 


DISSERTATION    I. 


some  interpolations.     It  was  probably  finished  after  the  year  1138U 
[1128*]. 

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  dif- 
ferent 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  con- 
siderable length  of  time  must  have  been  necessary  for  the  propagation 
and  establishment  of  that  species  of  fiction.  The  simple  subject  of  this 


princes  or  generals.  The  Gwalenses, 
GWALO,  or  GWALAS,  are  added  by  Geof- 
frey, B.  xii.  c.  19."  To  what  is  here  ob- 
served about  SILIUS,  I  will  add,  that  ab- 
bot Whethamsted,  in  his  MS.  Granarium, 
mentions  SILOIUS  the  father  of  Brutus. 
"  Quomodo  Brutus  SILOII  filius  ad  litora 
Anglise  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  ma- 
terials for  giving  an  accurate  and  faithful 
translation  of  it  into  English.  The  manu- 
script 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.  [Certainly  an  error ;  the  manu- 
script cannot  be  later  than  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth. — M.]  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  BRYT- 
TAEN,  which  in  the  original  would  have 
beenPRYDAiN.  Geoffrey's  translation,  and 
for  obvious  reasons,  is  a  very  common  ma- 
nuscript. Compare  Lhuyd's  Arch.  p.  265. 
u  Thompson  says,  1128.  ubi  supr.  p.  xxx. 
Geoffrey's  age  is  ascertained  beyond  a 
doubt,  even  if  other  proofs  were  wanting, 
from  the  contemporaries  whom  he  men- 
tions. Such  as  Robert  earl  of  Glocester, 
natural  son  of  Henry  the  First,  and  Alex- 
ander 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  ex- 
pressly says,  that  he  took  some  of  the  ma- 
terials of  his  supplement  from  the  HISTO- 
RIA  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 
11 50  [in  the  year  11 29. — TURNER.],  bor- 
rowed 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,  "  Prseter  hos 
non  remansit  princeps  alicujus  pretii  citra 
Hispaniam  qui  ad  istud  edictum  non  ve- 
nerit."  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  com- 
plete and  critical  discussion  of  this  point, 
may  consult  an  original  letter  of  bishop 
Lloyd,  preserved  among  Tanner's  manu- 
scripts at  Oxford,  num.  94, 

[This  letter  was  printed  in  Gutch's 
Collectanea  Curiosa,  and  in  Owen's  Bri- 
tish Remains,  and  affords  little  information 
worthy  of  notice.— DOUCE.] 

*  [See  Mr.  Turner's  History  of  En- 
gland, i.  p.  457.— PRICE.] 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.          IX 

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 v.     It  must  be  acknowledged,  that  many  European 
nations  were  antiently  fond  of  tracing  their  descent  from  Troy.     Hun- 
nibaldus  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  Tro- 
jans, 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  Vir- 
gil'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  cele- 
brated in  the  antient  books.     Tfrose  who  did  not  aspire  so  high  as  king 
Priam,  or  who  found  that  claim  pre-occupied,  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  is  not  in  the  mean 
time  quite  improbable,  that  as  most  of  the  European  nations  were  pro- 
vincial 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*. 
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  suc- 

v  This  notion  of  their  extraction  from  them  to  boast  no  more  of  their  relation  to 

the  Trojans  had  so  infatuated  the  Welsh,  the  conquered  and  fugitive  Trojans,  but 

that  even  so  late  as  the  year  1284,  arch-  to  glory  in  the  victorious  cross  of  Christ, 

bishop  Peckham,  in  his  injunctions  to  the  Condi.  Wilkins,  torn.  ii.  p.  106.  edit.  1737. 

diocese  of  St.  Asaph,  orders  the  people  to  fol. 

abstain  from  giving  credit  to  idle  dreams  w  It  is  among  the  Scriptores  Rer.  Ger- 

and  visions,  a  superstition  which  they  had  man.   Sim.  Schard.   torn.  i.  p.  301.  edit, 

contracted  from  their  belief  in  the  dream  Basil.  1574.  fol.     It  consists  of  eighteen 

of  their  founder  Brutus,  in  the  temple  of  books. 

Diana,  concerning  his  arrival  in  Britain,  *   See  infr.  Sect.  iii.  p.  131. 
The   archbishop   very    seriously   advises 


X  DISSERTATION    I. 

cessors  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  Caesar'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  x,  and  Charlemagne's  Twelve  Peers,  by  an  anachronism  not 
uncommon  in  romance,  are  said  to  be  present  at  king  Arthur's  magni- 
ficent coronation  in  the  city  of  Caerleony.  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  cha- 
racter 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  1036Z.  At  the 
ideal  coronation  of  king  Arthur  just  mentioned,  a  tournament  is  de- 
scribed as  exhibited  in  its  highest  splendor.  "Many  knights,"  says  our 
Armoric  fabler,  "  famous  for  feats  of  chivalry,  were  present,  with  appa- 
rel 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  com- 
batants. 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  consti- 
tution had  acquired  greater  degrees  not  only  of  stability  but  of  splen- 
dor and  refinement15.  And  although  a  species  of  tournament  was  ex- 
hibited 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  enter- 
tainments, in  which  many  parties  were  introduced  fighting  on  horse- 
back ;  yet  it  was  long  afterwards  that  these  games  were  accompanied 
with  the  peculiar  formalities,  and  ceremonious  usages,  here  described0. 

x  L.  iii.  c.  13.  y  L.  ix.  c.  12.  et  rebus  gestis  ejus.     Lib.  i.     De  Mensa 

*  L.  vii.  c.  4.  a  L.  ix.  c.  12.  rotunda  et  STRENUIS  EQUITIBUS.    Lib.  i. 

b  Pitts  mentions  an  anonymous  writer  See  Pitts,  p.  122.     Bale,  x.  21.     Usser. 

under  the  name  of  EREMITABRITANNUS,  Primord.  p.  17.     This  subject  could  not 

who  studied  history  and  astronomy,  and  have  been  treated  by  so  early  a  writer. 

flourished  about  the  year  720.    He  wrote,  ["Why  so,"  says  Mr.  Ashby,  "  if  Arthur 

besides,  a  book  in  an  unknown  language,  reigned  in  506  ?" — PARK.] 

entitled,  Sanctum  Graal,  De  Rege  Arthuro  c  See  infr.  Sect.  iii.  p.  1 13.  and  Sect.  xii. 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.  XI 

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  ren- 
ders 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  mis- 
taken 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  de- 
livered 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  gene- 
ral cast  of  the  inventions  contained  in  this  romance  is  alone  sufficient 
to  point  out  the  source  from  whence  they  were  derived,  yet  I  choose 
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  Scy- 

in  the  account  of  Boccacio's  Theseid,  and  Arabian  book  entitled,  "  Scirat  al  Mogiah- 
the  Greco-barbarous  poem  DeNuptiis  The-  edir,"  i.  e.  "The  Eaves  of  the  most  valiant 
sei  et  Emiliae,  vol.  ii.  I  will  here  produce,  Champions."  Num.  1079. 
from  that  learned  orientalist  M.D'Herbe-  *  [It  is  not  easy  to  conjecture  whence 
lot,  some  curious  traits  of  Arabian  knight-  Warton  derived  this  singular  statement, 
errantry,  which  the  reader  may  apply  to  The  words  of  Geoffrey,  when  speaking  of 
the  principles  of  this  Dissertation  as  he  Hengist's  burial,  are :  "At  Aurelius,  ut 
pleases.  erat  in  cunctis  rebus  modestus,  jussit  eum 
"  BATTHALL. — Une  homme  hardi  et  sepeliri,  et  cumulum  terras  super  corpus 
vaillant,  qui  cherche  des  avantures  tels  ejus,  pagano  more,  apponi,"  lib.  viii.  c.  7. ; 
qu'etoient  les  chevaliers  errans  de  nos  an-  and  the  passage  is  literally  so  translated 
ciens  Romans."  He  adds,  that  Batthall,  by  Wace,  La3amon,  and  Robert  of  Brunne. 
an  Arabian,  who  lived  about  the  year  of  Warton  refers  toGeoffrey's  original,  as  con- 
Christ  740,  was  a  warrior  of  this  class,  fidently  as  if  such  an  acknowledged  text 
concerning  whom  many  marvellous  feats  were  actually  in  existence,  when  in  reali- 
of  arms  are  reported  :  that  his  life  was  ty  we  have  nothing  but  the  recent  Welsh 
written  in  a  large  volume,  "  mais  qu'elle  versions  of  Geoffrey's  Latin  history,  with 
est  toute  remplie  ft  exaggerations  et  de  which  in  the  above  passage  they  perfectly 
menterics."  Bibl.  Oriental,  p.  193  a.  b.  agree. — M.] 
In  the  royal  library  at  Paris,  there  is  an 


Xll 


DISSERTATION    I. 


thiansd,  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  Goema- 
got.  He  was  twelve  cubits  high,  and  would  unroot  an  oak  as  easily 


d  Compare  M.  Petit  de  la  Croix,  Hist. 
Genghizcan,  1.  iv.  c.  9. 

e  Herbelot,  Bibl.  Oriental,  p.  157.  291. 
318.  438.  470.  528.  795.  796.  811.  &c. 
They  call  Tartary  the  land  of  Jagiouge 
and  Magiouge.  This  wall,  some  few  frag- 
ments 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 
Jagiouge  and  Magiouge  were  perpetually 
endeavouring  to  make  a  passage  through 
this  fortress ;  but  that  they  would  not  suc- 
ceed in  their  attempt  till  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. See  Hist.  Geneal.  des  Tartars 
d'  Abulgazi  Bahadut  Khan,  p.  43.  About 
the  year  808,  the  caliph  Al  Amin  having 
heard  wonderful  reports  concerning  this 
wall  or  barrier,  sent  his  interpreter  Sa- 
lam,  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  peo- 
ple of  Jagiouge  and  Magiouge.  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  this  moun- 
tain the  fortress  appears:  and  travelling 
forwards,  at  the  distance  of  two  stages, 
they  found  another  mountain,  with  a  ditch 
cut  through  it  one  hundred  and  fifty  cu- 
bits wide  :  and  within  the  aperture  an  iron 
gate  fifty  cubits  high,  supported  by  vast 
buttresses,  having  an  iron  bulwark  crown- 
ed with  iron  turrets,  reaching  to  the  sum- 
mit of  the  mountain  itself,  which  is  too 
high  to  be  seen.  The  valves,  lintels, 
threshold,  blots,  lock  and  key,  are  all  re- 
presented of  proportionable  magnitude. 
The  governor  of  the  castle,  above  men- 
tioned, once  in  every  week,  mounted  on 
horseback  with  ten  others  on  horseback, 
comes  to  this  gate,  and  striking  it  three 
times  with  a  hammer  weighingfive  pounds, 
an  d  then  listening,  hears  a  murmuring  noise 
from  within.  This  noise  is  supposed  to  pro- 
ceedfromthe  Jagiouge  and  Magiouge  con- 
fined there.  Salam  was  told  that  they 
often  appeared  on  the  battlements  of  the 
bulwark.  He  returned  after  passing  twen- 
ty-eight months  in  this  extraordinary 


expedition.  See  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  vol. 
iv.  B.  i.  §  2.  p.  15,  16,  17.  And  Anc. 
vol.  xx.  pag.  23.  [See  Weber's  note  on 
Gog  and  Magog  in  his  Metr.  Rom.  vol.  iii. 
p.  321. — M.]  [It  is  by  no  means  impro- 
bable that  the  mention  of  Gog  and  Magog 
in  the  Apocalypse  gave  rise  to  their  gene- 
ral notoriety  both  in  the  East  and  West. 
This  prophecy  must  have  been  applied  to 
the  Huns  under  Attila  at  a  very  early  pe- 
riod ;  for  in  the  Anonymous  Chronicle 
of  Hungary,  published  by  Schwandtner 
(Scriptor.  Rer.  Hungar.  Tom.  i.)  we  find 
it  making  a  part  of  the  national  history. 
Attila  is  there  said  to  be  a  descendant  of 
Magog,  the  son  of  Japhet,  (Genesis  ch.  x. 
ver.  2.)  from  whom  the  Hungarians  are 
also  called  Moger.  This  is  evidently  not 
the  production  of  the  writer's  own  imagi- 
nation, but  the  simple  record  of  a  tradi* 
tion,  which  had  obtained  a  currency  among 
his  countrymen,  and  which,  combined  with 
the  subsequent  history  of  Almus  and  Ar- 
pad,  wears  the  appearance  of  being  ex- 
tracted from  some  poetic  narrative  of  the 
events. — PRICE.]  Pliny,  speaking  of  the 
PORT.S:  CAUCASIA,  mentions,  "ingens 
naturae  opus,montibus  interrupts  repente, 
ubi  fores  obditaeferratis  trabibus,"  &c.  Nat. 
Hist.  lib.  vi.  c.  2.  Czar  Peter  the  First, 
in  his  expedition  into  Persia,  had  the.  cu- 
riosity 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 
height.  It  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  built 
of  stone:  but  it  consists  of  petrified  earth, 
sand,  and  shells,  which  compose  a  sub- 
stance of  great  solidity.  It  has  been 
chiefly  destroyed  by  the  neighbouring  in- 
habitants, for  the  sake  of  its  materials  : 
and  most  of  the  adjacent  towns  and  vil- 
lages are  built  out  of  its  ruins.  Bentinck's 
Notes  on  Abulgazi,  p.  722.  Engl.  edit. 
See  Chardin's  Travels,  p.  1 76.  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. 


OP  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.        Xlll 

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  GOEMA- 
GOT'S  LEAP,  to  this  dayf.  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  &.  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  Aravius,  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  as- 
sistance of  Edwin  a  prince  of  Northumberland11,  educated  under 
Solomon,  king  of  the  Armoricans1.  In  the  prophecy  of  Merlin,  de- 
livered 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  V  This  is  king  Arthur.  In  the 
same  prophecy,  mention  is  made  of  the  "  Woods  of  Africa."  In 
another  place  Gormund  king  of  the  Africans  occurs1.  In  a  battle 

f  Lib.  i.  c.  16.  ed  in  so  mariy  forms,  and  under  the  various 
[Mr.  Roberts  in  his  extreme  zeal  for  titles  of  the  St.  Graal,  Tristam  de  Leon- 
stripping  the  British  History  of  all  its  fie-  nois,  Lancelot  du  Lac,  &c.,  were  not  im- 
tions,  and  every  romantic  allusion,  con-  mediately  borrowed  from  the  work  of 
ceives  this  name  a  fabrication  from  the  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  but  from  his  Ar- 
mint  of  Geoffrey.  The  Welsh  copies  read  moric  originals.  The  St.  Graal  is  a  worlc 
Gogmagog ;  yet  as  PonticusVirunnius,  who  of  great  antiquity,  probably  of  the  eighth 
lived  in  the  fifteenth  century,  reads  Goer-  century.  There  are  Welsh  MSS.  of  it  still 
magog,  Mr.  Roberts  has  "  little  doubt  but  existing,  which,  though  not  very  old,  were 
that  the  original  was  Cawr-Madog,  i.  e.  the  probably  copied  from  earlier  ones,  and  are, 
giant  or  great  warrior"  Beliagog  is  the  it  is  to  be  presumed,  more  genuine  copies 
name  of  a  giant  in  Sir  Tristram. — PRICE.]  of  the  ancient  romance,  than  any  other  ex- 

*  [But  there  is  a  Saint  Michael's  Mount  tant. — DOUCE.] 

in  Normandy,  which  is  called  Tombelaine,  h  The  Cumbrian  and  Northumbrian 
and  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  says  the  place  Britons,  as  powerful  opponents  of  the  Sax- 
was  called  Tumba  Helense,  to  which  the  ons,  were  strongly  allied  to  the  Welsh  and 
combat  is  said  to  have  related. — DOUCE.]  Cornish. 

[The  Norrnan  Mount  St.  Michael  is  un-  *  Lib.  xii.  c.  1.  4,  5,  6. 

doubtedly  the  one  referred  to  by  Geoffrey.  k  Lib.  vii.  c.  3. 

See  the  "Histoire  Pittoresque  du  Mont-  l  Lib.  xii.  2.  xi.  8.  10. 

Saint-Michel et de Tombelene.   ParMaxi-  ["Gormund,"   says   Mr.   Ritson,    "in 

milien  Raoul.  8vo.  Par.  1833.  and  Le  Livre  authentic  history  was  a  king  of  the  Danes 

des  Legendes.  Par  L^  Roux  de  Lincy.  In-  who  infested  England  in  the  ninth  cen- 

troduction,  p.  104.  8vo.  Par.  1836. — M.]  tury,  and  was  defeated  and  baptized  by 

e  L.  x.  c.  3.  Alfred."     Dissertation  on  Romance,  &c. 

[It  is  very  certain  that  the  tales  of  Ar-  p.  23. — PARK.] 
thur  and  his  Knights  which  have  appear- 


XIV  DISSERTATION    I. 

Avhich  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  Phrygiam.  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  inex- 
haustible 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  °.  Merlin's  transforma- 
tion of  Uther  into  Gorlois,  and  of  Ulfin  into  Bricel,  by  the  power  of 
some  medical  preparation,  is  a  species  of  Arabian  magic,  which  pro- 
fessed to  work  the  most  wonderful  deceptions  of  this  kind,  and  is  men- 
tioned 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^. 
Hence  arose  the  tradition,  reported  by  our  historian,  that  in  king  Ar- 
thur'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  observations1".  Ed- 
win'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  comet8.  The  same  enchanter's  wonderful  skill  in 
mechanical  powers,  by  which  he  removes  the  giant's  Dance,  or  Stone- 
henge, 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*.  To 

m  Lib.  x.  c.  5.  8.  10.  .*  three  hundred  British  nobles  massacred 

n  See  infr.  p.  9.  And  vol.ii.  Sect.  xiii.  by  the  Saxon  Hengist.  See  Sect.  ii.  infr. 

Note  on  the  description  of  RICHESSE  in  pp.  50,  51.     No  DRUIDICAL  monument, 

the  Romaunt  of  the  Rose.  of  which  so  many  remains  were  common, 

0  This  chronicle  was  evidently  compiled  engaged  their  attention  or  interested  them 

to  do  honour  to  the  Britons  and  their  af-  so  much,  as  this  NATIONAL  memorial  ap- 

fairs,  and  especially  in  opposition  to  the  pears  to  have  done. 

Saxons.     Now  the  importance  with  which  p  Lib.  ii.  c.  9.     See  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xv. 

these  romancers  seem  to  speak  of  Stone-  on  the  Squier's  Tale. 

henge,  and  the  many  beautiful  fictions  q  See  Diss.  ii.  And  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xv.  near 

with  which  they  have  been  so  studious  to  the  end. 

embellish  its  origin,  and  to  aggrandise  its  r  Lib.  viii.  c.  15. 

history,  appear  to  me  strongly  to  favour  *  Lib.  ix.  c.  12. 

the  hypothesis,  that  Stonehenge  is  a  Bri-  *  Lib.  viii.  c.  10.     See  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xv. 

tish  monument ;  and  indeed  to  prove,  that  passim. 

it  was  really  erected  in  memory  of  the 


OP  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE. 


XV 


which  we  may  add  king  Bladud's  magical  operations".  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  eyesv."  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 w. 

Arthur  and  Charlemagne  are  the  first  and  original  heroes  of  ro- 
mance. 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  concern- 
ing the  conquests  of  Charlemagne  and  his  twelve  peers  f.  Its  subject 
is  the  expulsion  of  the  Saracens  from  Spain:  and  it  is  filled  with 
fictions  evidently  congenial  with  those  which  characterise  Geoffrey's 
history*. 

Some  suppose,  as  I  have  hinted  above,  this  romance  to  have  been 
written  by  Turpin,  a  monk  of  the  eighth  century ;  who,  for  his  know- 
ledge 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  arch- 


u  Lib.  ii.  c.  10. 

*  [The  stability  of  Mr.  Warton's  asser- 
tion has  been  shaken  by  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
who  states  that  the  idea  of  this  fabulous 
animal  was  familiar  to  the  Celtic  tribes  at 
an  early  period,  and  was  borne  on  the 
banner  of  Pendragon,  who  from  that  cir- 
cumstance derived  his  name.  A  dragon 
was  also  the  standard  of  the  renowned 
Arthur.  A  description  of  this  banner,  the 
magical  work  of  Merlin,  occurs  in  the  ro- 
mance of  Arthur  and  Merlin  in  the  Au- 
chinleck  MS. 

Merlin  bar  her  gonfanoun ; 
Upon  the  top  stode  a  dragoun, 
Swithe  griseliche  a  lilel  croune, 
Fast  him  biheld  al  tho  in  the  toune, 
For  the  mouth  he  had  grinninge 
And  the  tong  out  flatlinge 
That  out  kest  sparkes  of  fer, 
Into  the  skies  that  flowen  cler ;  &c. 

In  the  Welsh  triads  (adds  the  same  au- 
thority) I  find  the  dragon  repeatedly  men- 
tioned :  and  in  a  battle  fought  at  Bedford, 
about  752,  betwixt  Ethelbald  king  of 
Mercia,  and  Cuthred  king  of  Wessex,  a 
golden  dragon,  the  banner  of  the  latter,  was 
borne  in  the  front  of  the  combat  by  Edel- 
heim  or  Edelhun,  a  chief  of  the  West 
Saxons.  Notes  on  Sir  Tristram,  p.  290. — 
PARK.] 

[Among  the  Celtic  tribes,  as  among  the 
Finns  and  Sclavonians,  the  serpent  ap- 
pears to  have  been  held  in  sacred  estima- 
tion ;  and  the  early  traditions  of  the  North 


abound  in  fables  relative  to  dragons  who 
lay  slumbering  upon  the  golden  "hoard" 
by  day,  and  wandered  through  the  air 
by  night.  But  as  the  heroes  of  North- 
ern adventure  are  usually  engaged  in  ex- 
tirpating this  imaginary  race,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  some  of  these  narratives 
may  have  been  founded  on  the  conflicts 
between  the  Finnish  and  Scandinavian 
priesthoods. — PRICE.] 

v  Lib.  x.  c.  2. 

w  Lib.  vii.  c.  4. 

•f-  ["But  this,"  says  Ritson,  "requires 
it  to  have  been  written  before  the  year 
1066,  when  the  adventures  and  exploits 
of  Charlemagne,  Rowland  and  Oliver  were 
chaunted  at  the  battle  of  Hastings;  where- 
as there  is  strong  internal  proof  that  this 
romance  was  written  long  after  the  time 
of  Charlemagne."  Dissert,  on  Rom.  and 
Minst.  p.  47. — PARK.] 

*  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  Ro- 
landi,  cap.  iv.  f.  2.  a. 


XVI  DISSERTATION   I. 

bishop  Turpin's  name  *  about  that  time.  Others  very  soon  afterwards, 
in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Bald".  That  is,  about  the  year  870". 

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  1'archeveque 
Turpin  z."  And  it  might  easily  be  shown  that  just  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  thirteenth  century,  romantic  stories  about  Charle- 
magne were  more  fashionable  than  ever  among  the  French  minstrels. 
That  is,  on  the  recent  publication  of  this  fabulous  history  of  Charle- 
magne. Historical  evidence  concurs  with  numerous  internal  argu- 
ments 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*. 

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  dayb." 
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  Agennumc :  the  crusades  seem  to  have  made  these 

*  ["Whose  true  name,"  says  Ritson,  relate  to  Oel.     The  romance  of  Ogier  Da- 
"was  Tilpin,  and  who  died  before  Charle-  nois,  originally  written  in  rhyme,  is  here 
magne;   though   Robert  Gaguin,  in   his  probably   referred    to. — DOUCE.] — [The 
licentious  translation  of  the  work,  1527,  language  of  Turpin  seems  rather  to  imply 
makes  him  relate  his  own  death.  Another  a  ballad  or  song  on  the  achievements  of 
pretended  version  of  this  Pseudo- Turpin,  this  hero,  such  as  is  still  to  be  found  in  the 
said  to  have  been  made  by  one  Mickius  or  Danish  Kjempe  Viser.     The  name,  how- 
Michael  le  Harnes,  who  lived  in  1206,  has  ever  written, — Oger,  Ogier,  Odiger,  Hoi- 
little  or  nothing  in  common  with  its  false  ger, — clearly  refers  to  Helgi,  a  hero  of  the 
original."  Diss.  on  Rom.  and  Minst.  p.  46.  Edda   and  the   Volsunga-Saga.     In  the 
—PARK..]  earlier  traditions  the  theatre  of  his  actions 

*  See  Hist.  Acad.  des  Inscript.  &c.  vii.  is  confined  to  Denmark  and  the  neigh- 
293.  edit.  4to.  bouring  countries ;  but  the  later  fictions 

y  See  Catel,  Mem.  de  1'Hist.  du  Lan-  embellish  his  career  with  all  the  marvels 

guedoc,  p.  545.  of  romance  ;  and  after  leading  him  as  a 

*  Hist.  Gen.  ch.  viii.  CEuvr.  tom.i.  p.  84.  conqueror  over  the  greater  part  of  Europe 
edit.  Genev.  1756.  and  Asia,  transport  him  to  the  isle  of  Ava- 

3  See  infr.  p.  128.  Ion,  where  he  still  resides  with  Morgan  la 

b  "  De  hoc  canitur  in  cantilena  usque  ad  faye. — PRICE.] 

hodiernum  diem."  cap.  xi.  f.4.b.  edit.Schard.  c  Ibid.  cap.  ix.  f.  3.  b.     The  writer  adds, 

Francof.  1566.  fol.  Chronograph.  Quat.  "  Cseterisque  artificiis  ad  capiendum,"  &c. 

[In  the  best  MSS.  of  Turpin,  the  above  See  also  cap.  x.  ibid.     Compare  Sect.  iv. 

passage  refers  to  Oger  king  of  Denmark,  infr.  p.  162.      In  one  of  Charlemagne's 

whose  name  is  omitted  in  that  followed  battles,  the  Saracens  advance  with  hor- 

by  the  editor  of  Turpin's  history  here  ci-  rible  visors  bearded  and  horned,  and  with 

ted.     There  is  no  work  that  is  known  to  drums  or  cymbals.      "  Tenentesque  sin- 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUIIOPK.       XVII 

huge  military  machines  common  in  the  European  armies.  However, 
\ve  may  suspect  it  appeared  before,  yet  not  long  before,  Geoffrey's  ro- 
mance;  who  mentions  Charlemagne's  TWELVE  PEERS,  so  lavishly  ce- 
lebrated in  Turpin's  book,  as  present  at  King  Arthur's  imaginary  coro- 
nation 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  genuine6.  Monsieur  Allard  affirms  that  it  was  writ- 
ten, and  in  the  eleventh  century,  at  Vienne  by  a  monk  of  Saint  An- 
drew'sf.  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,  sup- 
poses it  to  be  the  work  of  a  Spaniard.  He  quotes  an  authentic  ma- 
nuscript to  prove  that  it  was  brought  out  of  Spain  into  France  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  twelfth  century h;  and  that  the  miraculous  ex- 
ploits 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  imper- 
fectly sketched  in  the  metrical  tales  of  those  who  sung  heroic  adven- 
tures1. 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  origin1"'.  As  to  the  French  manuscript  of  this  history,  it  is  a 

guli  TYMPANA,  quse  manibus  fortiter  per-  sung  at  the  battle  of  Hastings.     But  see 

cutiebant."     The   unusual  spectacle  and  this  romance,  cap.  xx.  f.  8.  b.  where  Tur- 

sound  terrified  the  horses  of  the  Christian  pin  seems  to  refer  to  some  other  fabulous 

army,  and  threw  them  into  confusion.    In  materials  or  history  concerning  Charle- 

a  second  engagement,  Charlemagne  com-  magne.     Particularly  about  Galafar  and 

inanded  the  eyes  of  the  horses  to  be  co-  Braiamant,  which  make  such  a  figure  in 

vered,  and  their  ears  to  be  stopped.    Tur-  Boyardo  and  Ariosto. 

pin,  cap.  xviii.  f.  7.  b.     The  latter  expe-  k  Innumerable  romantic  stories,  of  Ara- 

dient  is  copied  in  the  Romance  of  Richard  bian  growth,  are  to  this  day  current  among 

the    First,    written    about   the    eleventh  the    common    people    of    Spain,    which 

century.     [About  the   year   1300. — M.]  they  call  CUJENTOS  DE  VIEJAS.     I  will 

See  Sect.  iv.  infr.  p.  163.     See  also  what  relate    one    from    that  lively   picture    of 

is   said  of  the    Saracen   drums,   ibid.   p.  the  Spaniards,  Relation  du  Voyage  d'E- 

169.  spagne,  by  Mademoiselle  Dunois.     Within 

d  Flodoard  of  Rheims   first  mentions  the   antient  castle  of  Toledo,    they  say, 

them,    whose    chronicle   comes    down    to  there  was  a  vast  cavern,  whose  entrance 

966.  was  strongly   barricadoed.     It  was  uni- 

e  Magn.  Chron.  Belgic.  pag.  150.  sub  versally  believed,  that  if  any  person  en- 

ann.     Compare  J.  Long.  Bibl.  Hist.  Gall.  tered  this  cavern,  the  most  fatal  disasters 

num.  6671.     And  Lambec.  ii.  p.  333.  would  happen  to  the  Spaniards.     Thus  it 

f  Bibl.  de  Dauphine,  p.  224.  remained  closely  shut  and  unentered  for 

B  See  vol.  ii.  p.  221.  Note3.  many  ages.      At  length  king  Roderigo, 

h  See  infr.  p.  138.  having  less  credulity  but  more  courage  and 

1  Arnoldi    Oienharti    Notit.    utriusque  curiosity  than  his  ancestors,  commanded 

Vasconiae,  edit.  Paris,  1638.  4to.  page  397.  this  formidable  recess  to  be  opened.     At 

lib.  iii.  c.  3.      Such  was    Roland's   song,  entering,  he  began  to  suspect  the  traditions 

VOL.  T.  I 


XV1U  DISSERTATION    I. 

translation  from  Turpin's  Latin,  made  by  Michael  le  Harnes  in  the 
year  12071.  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  funda- 
mental fictions,  which  have  supplied  such  ample  matter  to  this  singular 
species  of  composition,  are  here  first  displayed.  Arid  although  the  long 
continuance  of  the  crusades  imported  innumerable  inventions  of  a  si- 
milar complexion,  and  substituted  the  achievements  of  new  champions 
and  the  wonders  of  other  countries,  yet  the  tales  of  Arthur  and  of 
Charlemagne,  diversified  indeed,  or  enlarged  with  additional  embellish- 
ments, 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  ob- 
vious :  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  opi- 
nion of  this  matter  in  his  own  words.  "  Our  old  romances  of  chivalry 

of  the  people  to  be  true:  a  terrible  tempest  l  See  Du  Chesne,  torn.  v.  p.  60.  And 
arose,  and  all  the  elements  seemed  united  Mem.  Lit.  xvii.  737.  seq.  It  is  in  the  royal 
to  embarrass  him.  Nevertheless,  he  ven-  library  at  Paris,  Num.  8190.  Probably  the 
tured  forwards  into  the  cave,  where  he  French  Turpin  in  the  British  Museum  is 
discerned  by  the  light  of  his  torches  cer-  the  same,  Cod.  MSS.  Harl.  273.  23.  f.  86. 
tain  figures  or  statues  of  men,  whose  ha-  See  infr.  p.  137.  See  instances  of  the 
biliments  and  arms  were  strange  and  un-  English  translating  prose  Latin  books 
couth.  One  of  them  had  a  sword  of  shining  into  English,  and  sometimes  French  verse, 
brass,  on  which  it  was  written  in  Arabic  Sect.  ii.  infr.  passim, 
characters,  that  the  time  approached  when  In  the  king's  library  at  Paris,  there  is 
the  Spanish  nation  should  be  destroyed,  a  translation  of  Dares  Phrygius  into  French 
and  that  it  would  not  be  long  before  the  rhymes  by  Godfrey  of  Waterford  an  Irish 
warriors,  whose  images  were  placed  there,  Jacobin,  a  writer  not  mentioned  by  Tan- 
should  arrive  in  Spain.  The  writer  adds,  ner,  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Mem. 
"  Je  n'ai  jamais  ete  en  aucun  endroit,  oii  Litt.  torn.  xvii.  p.  736.  Compare  Sect.  iii. 
Ton  fasse  PLUS  DE  CAS  des  CONTES  FA-  infr.  p.  128,  Note  y.  [See  De  la  Rue's 
BULEUX  qu'enEspagne."  Edit,  a  la  Haye,  Essais  sur  les  Bardes,  &c.  torn.  iii.  p.  211. 
1691.  torn.  iii.  pp.  158,  159.  12mo.  See  who  adds,  that  this  writer  was  assisted  in 
infr.  Sect.  iii.  pp.  114,  115.  And  the  Life  his  translation  by  Gervais  Copale,  and  re- 
of  Cervantes,  by  Don  Gregorio  Mayans.  fers  to  MS.  7856.  Bibl.  du  Roi,  for  copies 
§  27.  §  47.  §  48.  §  49.  of  the  works  ascribed  to  them.— M.] 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN   EUROPE.         XIX 

may  be  derived  in  a  LINEAL  DESCENT  from  the  antient  historical  songs 
of  the  Gothic  bards  and  scalds.— Many  of  those  songs  are  still  pre- 
served in  the  north,  which  exhibit  all  the  seeds  of  chivalry  before  it  be- 
came a  solemn  institution. — Even  the  common  arbitrary  fictions  of  ro- 
mance 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  monsters1"."  Monsieur  Mallet,  a 
very  able  and  elegant  inquirer  into  the  genius  and  antiquities  of  the 
northern  nations,  maintains  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  ex- 
ample, that  love  and  admiration  for  the  profession  of  arms  which  pre- 
vailed among  our  ancestors  even  to  fanaticism,  mad  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" ;  and  how,  even  to  the  present  age,  the  people  are  still  infatu- 
ated with  a  belief  of  the  power  of  magicians,  witches,  spirits,  and 
genii,  concealed  under  the  earth  or  in  the  waters? — Do  we  not  dis- 
cover 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.°  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  know  not  how  to 
describe  any  thing  simply,  to  invent  so  many  fables  concerning 

m  Percy  on  Antient  Metr.  Rom.  i.  p.  3,  who  commanded  all  controversies  to  be  de- 

4,  edit.  1767.  cided  by  the  sword.  Worm.  p.  68.    Infa- 

"  For  the  judiciary  combats,  as  also  for  vour  of  this  barbarous  institution  it  ought 

common   athletic  exercises,  they  formed  to  be  remembered,  that  the  practice  of  thus 

an  amphitheatrical  circus  of  rude  stones.  marking  out  the  place  of  battle  must  have 

"Quaedam  [saxa]  CIRCOS  claudebant,  in  prevented  much  bloodshed,  and  saved  many 

quibus  gigantes  et  pugiles  DUELLO  strenue  innocent  lives :  for  if  either  combatant  was 

decertabant."  Worm.  p.  62.    And  again,  by  any  accident  forced  out  of  the  circus,  he 

"Nee  mora,  CIRCUATUR  campus,  milite  was  to  lose  his  cause,  or  to  pay  three  marks 

CIRCUS  stipatur,  concurrunt  pugiles."  p.  of  pure  silver  as  a  redemption  for  his  life. 

65.     It  is  remarkable,  that  circs  of  the  Worm.  p.  68,  69.    In  the  year  987,  the 

same  sort  are  still  to  be  seen  in  Cornwall,  ordeal  was  substituted  in  Denmark  instead 

so  famous  at  this  day  for  the  athletic  art :  of  the  duel ;  a  mode  of  decision,  at  least 

in  which  also  they  sometimes  exhibited  in  a  political  sense,  less  absurd,  as  it  pro- 

their  scriptural  interludes,  vol.  ii.  p.  70.  moted  military  skill. 
Frotho  the  Great,  king  of  Denmark,  in  the  °  Mallet,  Introduction  £  1'Histoire  de 

first  century,  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  Dannemarc,  &c.  torn.  ii.  p.  9. 


XX  DISSERTATION  I. 

princesses  of  great  beauty  guarded  by  dragons,  and  afterwards  deli- 
vered by  invincible  champions'1." 

I  do  not  mean  entirely  to  reject  this  hypothesis;  but  I  will  endea- 
vour to  show  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  pos- 
sessed that  regio-n  of  Asia  which  PS  now  called  Georgia,  and  is  con- 
nected on  the  south  with  Persia,  alarmed  at  the  progressive  encroach- 
ments 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  Den- 
mark, Norway,  Sweden,  and  other  districts  of  the  Scandinavian 
territory'1.  As  they  brought  with  them  many  useful  arts,  particularly 
the  knowledge  of  letters,  which  Odin  is  said  to  have  invented1",  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  t©  have 
been  styled  a  god  by  the  Scandinavians;  an  appellation  which  the 
superior  address  and  specious  abilities  of  this  Asiatic  chief  easily  ex- 
torted 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  con- 
spicuous similarity  subsisting  at  this  day  between  several  customs-  of 

p  Mallet,  IntvocL  ch.  ix.  p.  243.  torn.  ii.  lahdicarum  periti ;  unde  et  Odinus  RUN- 

[This   and   other   similar   passages   in  HOFDI  seu  Runarum  (i.  e.  Literarum)  auc- 

Mallet's  lively  history  would  form  an  ex-  tor  vocatur."  OI.  Worm.  Liter.  Runic,  cap. 

eellent  supplement  to  the  Homeric  alle-  20.  edit.  Hafn.  1651.    Some  writers  refer 

gories  of  Heraclides  Panticus. — PRICE.]  the  origin  of  the  Grecian  language,  sci- 

q  "  Unicam  gentium  Asiaticarurn  im-  ences,  and  religion  to  the  Scythians,  who 

migrationem,  in  orbem  Arctoum  factam,  were  connected  towards  the   south  with 

uostroe    antiquitates  commemorant.     Sed  Odin's   Goths.    I  cannot  bring  a  greater 

earn  tamen  non  primam.      Verum  circa  authority  than  that  of  Salmasius,  "  Satis 

annum  tandem  vicesimum  quartum  ante  certum  ex  his  colligi  potest  linguam,  ut 

natum  Christum,  Romanis  exercitibus  au-  gentem,  HELLENICAM,  a  septentrione  et 

spiciis  Pompeii  Magni  in  Asiae  parte,  Phry-  SCYTHIA  originem  traxisse,  non  a  meridie. 

gia  Minore,  grassantibus.    Ilia  enim  epo-  Inde  LITERS  GR^ECORUM,  inde  Mus£: 

chaad  hanc  rem  chronologi  nostri  utuntur.  PIERIDES,  inde  sacrorum  initia."  Stlmas. 

In  cujus  (GYLVI  SUECI^E  regis)  tempora  de  Hellenist,  p.  400.    As  a  further  proof  I 

incidit    Odinus,    Asiaticae    immigrationis,  shall  observe,  that  the  antient  poet  Tha- 

factoe  anno  24  ante  natum  Christum,  an-  myris  was  so  much  esteemed  by  the  Scy- 

tesignanus."      Crymogsea,  Arngrim.  Jon.  thians  on  account  of  his  poetry,  KiBapwdid, 

lib.  i.  cap.  4.  p.  30,  31.  edit.   Hamburg.  that  they  chose  him  their  king.    Conon. 

1609.  See  also  Bartholin.  Antiquitat.  Dan.  Narrat.  Poet.  cap.  vii.  edit.  Gal.  But  Tha- 

lib.  55.  cap.  8.  p.  407.  555.  c.  2.  p.  652.  edit.  myris  was  a  Thracian :   and  a  late  inge- 

1689.     Lazius,  de  Gent.  Migrat.  1.  x.  fol.  nious   antiquarian    endeavours    to    prove, 

573.  30.  edit.  fol.  1600.  Compare  Ol.  Rud-  that  the  Goths  were  descended  from  the 

beck.  cap.  v.  sect.  2.  p.  95.  xiv.  sect.  2.  p.  Thracians,  and  that  the  Greeks  and  Thra- 

67.    There   is  a  memoir  on  this  subject  cians  were  only  different  clans  of  the  same 

lately  published  in  the  Petersburg  Trans-  people.     Clarke's  Connexion,  &c.  ch.  ii. 

actions,  but  I  choose  to  refer  to  original  au-  p.  65. 
thorhies.  See  torn.  v.  p.  297.  edit.  1738. 4to.          [See  also  Mr.  Pinkerton's  Dissertation 

*  "  Odino  etiam  et  aliis,  qui  ex  Asia  hue  on  the  Goths,  and  Dr.  Jamiesou's  Hermes 

devenere,  tribuunt  multi  antiquitatum  Is-  Scythicus.— PRICE.] 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.        XXI 

the  Georgians,  as  described  by  Chardin,  and  those  of  certain  cantons 
of  Norway  and  Sweden,  which  have  preserved  their  antient  manners 
in  the  purest  degree8.  Not  that  other  striking  implicit  and  internal 
proofs,  which  often  carry  more  conviction  than  direct  historical  asser- 
tions, 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  countries1.  This  art  or  custom 
of  writing  on  rocks  is  Asiatic ".  Modern  travellers  report,  that  there 
are  Runic  inscriptions  now  existing  in  the  deserts  of  Tartary*.  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  piley.  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  remark- 
able correspondence,  in  numberless  important  and  fundamental  points, 
between  the  Druidical  and  the  Persian  superstitions:  and  notwith- 
standing the  evidence  of  Caesar,  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  Magiz.  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*.  The 
Scandinavians  attributed  divine  virtue  to  the  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  elysiumh.  That  Druidical 

*  See  Pontoppidan.  Nat.  Hist.  Norway,      noticed  by  Pococke  and  Niebuhr.     But  it 
torn.  ii.  c.  JO.  §  1,  2,  3.  is  not  at  all  certain  that  these  inscriptions 

1  See  Saxo  Grammat.  Praef.ad  Hist.  Dan.  were  written  by  the  Jews,  nor  is  it  yet  de- 

and  Hist.  lib.  vii.  See  also  OL  Worm.  Mo-  termined  in  what  character  they  appear, 

num.  Dan.  lib.  iii.  Engravings  of  the  whole  are  given  in  the 

u  Paulus  Jovius,  a  writer  indeed  not  of  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Li- 
the best  credit,  says,  that  Annihal  engraved  terature,  vol.  ii.  part  i.  p.  147. — M.] 
characters  on  the  Alpine  rocks,  as  a  testi-  y  See  Keysler,  p.  147.  Two  funeral  ce- 
mony  of  his  passage  over  them,  and  that  remonies,  one  of  BURNING,  the  other  of 
they  were  remaining  there  two  centuries  BURYING  their  dead,  at  different  times 
ago.  Hist.  lib.  xv.  p.  163.  prevailed  in  the  north;  and  have  distiri- 

*  See  Voyage  par  Strahlemberg,  &c%.  A  guished  two  eras  in  the  old  northern  his- 
Description  of  the  Northern  and  Eastern  tory.  The  first  was  called  the  AGE  OF  FIRE, 
Parts  of  Europe  and  Asia.  Schroder  says,  the  second  the  AGE  OF  HILLS, 

from  Olaus  Rudbeckius,  that  RUNES,  or  z  Mytholog.  Expliq.  ii.  p.  628.  4to. 

letters,  were  invented  by  Magog  the  Scy-  a  M.  Mallet,  Hist.   Dannem.  i.   p.    56. 

thian,  and  communicated  to  Tuisco  the  ce-  See  also  Keysler,  p.  152. 

lebrated  German  chieftain,  in  the  year  of  b  Edd.  Isl.  fab.  xxviii.     Compare  Keys- 

the  world  1799.  Praef.  ad  Lexicon  Latino-  ler,  Antiquit.  Sel.  Sept.  p.  304.  seq.    The 

Scandic.  Germans,  a  Teutonic  tribe,  call  it  to  this 

*  [Warton  here  refers  to  the  sculptured  day  «'  the  Branch  of  Spectres."    But  see 
rocks  described  in  "  a  Journal  from  Grand  Dr.  Percy's  ingenious  note  on  this  passage 
Cairo  to  Mount  Sinai  and  back  again;"  in  the  Edda.  Northern  Antiquities, vol.  ii. 
edited  by  Dr.  Robert  Clayton,  bishop  of  p.  143. 

Clogher,  4to.  Lond.  1753.  p.  34.  and  also 


XXII  DISSERTATION  I. 

rites  existed  among  the  Scandinavians  we  are  informed  from  many 
antient  Erse  poems,  which  say  that  the  British  Druids,  in  the  extre- 
mity of  their  affairs,  solicited  and  obtained  aid  from  Scandinavia0. 
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  pro- 
bably the  Arimanius  of  the  Persians.  In  some  of  the  most  antient 
Jslandic  chronicles,  the  Turks  are  mentioned  as  belonging  to  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Scandinavians.  Mahomet,  not  so  great  an  inventor  as  is 
imagined,  adopted  into  his  religion  many  favourite  notions  and  super- 
stitions 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  Valkyres6.  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  splendour,  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 8."  Wormius 
mentions  a  Runic  incantation,  in  which  an  Asiatic  enchantress  is 
invoked11.  Various  other  instances  might  here  be  added,  some  of 
which  will  occasionally  arise  in  the  future  course  of  our  inquiries. 

c  Ossian's  Works.    Cathlin,  ii.  p.  216.  ants  of  the  Scandinavian  peninsula,  whose 

Not.  edit.  1765.  vol.  ii.     They  add,  that  country  lay  upon  his  starboard   quarter, 

among  the  auxiliaries  came  many  magi-  while  steering  due  north  from  Halgoland 

cians.  in  Norway.— PRICE.] 

d  See  Hyde, Relig.  Vet.  Pers.  p.  399. 404.          g  LANDNAMA-SAGA.    See  Mallet,  Hist. 

But  compare  what  is  said  of  the  Edda,  to-  Dannem.  c.  ii. 
wards  the  close  of  this  Discourse.  h  Lit.  Run.  p.  209,  edit.  1651.     The 

*  Odin   only  drank   wine  in   Val-hall,  Goths  came  from  the  neighbourhood  of 

Edd.  Myth,  xxxiv.  See  Keysler,  p.  152.  Colchis,  the  region  of  witchcraft,  and  the 

f  See  Preface  to  Alfred's  Saxon  Oro-  country  of  Medea,  famous  for  her  incanta- 
sius,  published  by  Spelman.  [And  since  tions.  The  eastern  pagans  from  the  very 
by  Daines  Barrington.]  Vit.  jElfredi.  earliest  ages  have  had  their  enchanters. 
Spelm.  Append,  vi.  [Oht-here  was  not  sent  Now  the  magicians  of  Egypt,  they  also  did 
by  Alfred.  This  voyage  was  undertaken  in  like  manner  with  their  enchantments. 
for  the  gratification  of  his  own  curiosity,  Exod.  vii.  11.  See  also  vii.  18,  19.  ix.  11, 
and  the  furtherance  of  his  commercial  &c.  When  the  people  of  Israel  had  overrun 
views.  He  was  doubtlessly  ignorant  of  the  the  country  of  Balak,  he  invites  Balaam,  a 
existence  of  Asia.  The  Orientals,  to  use  the  neighbouring  pi-ince,  to  curse  them,  or  He- 
language  of  the  text,  were  those  inhabit-  stroy  them  by  magic,  which  he  seems  to 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE. 

It  is  notorious,  that  many  traces  of  oriental  usages  are  found  amongst 
all  the  European  nations  during  their  pagan  state ;  and  this  pheno- 
menon 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,  monu- 
ments, 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  expedi- 
tion of  Odin's  Goths,  who  formed  a  settlement  in  Scandinavia,  and 
those  innumerable  armies  of  barbarous  adventurers,  who  some  centu- 
ries 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,  Theoderic  and  Genseric,  we 
cannot  ascribe  such  successes  to  brutal  courage  only.  To  say  that 
some  of  these  irresistible  conquerors  made  war  on  a  luxurious,  effemi- 
nate, 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 
t  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  nations1. 

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. 

have  professed.  And  the  elders  of  Moab  de-  spells  got  into  the  ritual  of  chivalry.    In  all 

parted  with  the  rewards  of  DIVINATION  in  legal  single  combats,  each  champion  at- 

their  hand.  Num.  xxii.  7.    Surely  there  is  tested  upon  oath,  that  he  did  not  carry 

no  ENCHANTMENT  against  Israel,    xxiii.  about  him  any  herb,  SPELL,  or  ENCH AN T- 

23.  And  he  went  out,  as  at  other  times,  to  MENT.    Dugdal.  Orig.  Juridic.  p.  82.    See 

seek  for   ENCHANTMENTS,  xxiv.   1,  &c.  Hickes's  account  of  the  silver  Dano-Saxon 

Odin  himself  was  not  only  a  warrior,  but  shield,  dug  up  in  the  Isle  of  Ely,  having  a 

a  magician,  and  his   Asiatics  were  called  magical   Runic  inscription,   supposed   to 

Jncantationum  auctores.    Chron.  Norweg.  render  those  who  bore  it  in  battle  invulne- 

apud  Bartholin.  1.  iii.  c.  2.  p.  657.     Cry-  rable.  Apud   Hickes.  Thesaur.  Dissertat. 

mog.  Arngrim.  lib.   i.   cap.  vii.   p.    511.  Epistol.  p.  187. 

From  this  source,  those  who  adopt  the  prin-  »  See  this  argument  pursued  in  the  Se- 

ciples  just  mentioned  in  this  discourse,  may  cond  Dissertation, 
be   inclined   to  think,  that  the  notion  of 


XXIV  DISSERTATION  1. 

As  the  principal  heroes  of  their  expedition  into  the  north  were 
honourably  distinguished  from  the  Europeans,  or  original  Scandina- 
vians, under  the  name  of  AS^E,  or  Asiatics,  so  the  verses  or  language, 
of  this  people,  were  denominated  ASAMAL,  or  ASIATIC  speech1*. 
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  poetry1.  Nor  is  this  fantastic  imagery  the  only  mark  of 
Asiaticism  which  appears  in  the  Runic  odes.  They  have  a  certain  sub- 
lime and  figurative  cast  of  diction,  which  is  indeed  one  of  their  predo- 
minant characteristics"1.  I  am  very  sensible  that  all  rude  nations  are 
naturally  apt  to  cloathe  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  imaginations  are  alike  uncontroled. 
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  esta- 
blished diction.  They  appear  to  use  circumlocution  and  comparisons 
not  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  but  of  choice  and  skill :  nor  are  these  me- 
taphorical colourings  so  much  the  result  of  want  of  words,  as  of 
warmth  of  fancy". 

k  "  Linguam  Danicam  antiquam,  cujus  have  a  different  character ;  it  will  be  more 

in  rythmis  usus  fuit,  veteres  appellarunt  inflated  and  gigantic. 

ASAMAL,  id  est  Asiaticam,  vel  ASARUM  m  Thus,  a  rainbow  is  called,  the  bridge 

SERMONEM  ;  quod  eum  ex  Asia  Odinus  of  the  gods.  Poetry,  the  mead  of  Odin.  The 

serum  in  Daniam,  Norwegian!,  Sueciam,  earth,  the  vessel  that  floats  on  ages.  A  ship, 

ttliasque  regiones  septentrionales,   invex-  the  horse  of  the  waves.    Ice,  the  vast  bridge. 

erit."    Steph.   Stephan.  Prafat.  ad  Saxon.  Herbs,  the  fleece  of  the  earth.     A  battle,  a 

(irammat.  Hist.  bath  of  blood,  the  hail  of  Odin,  the  shock  of 

1  A  most  ingenious  critic  observes,  that  bucklers.    A  tongue,  the  sword  of  words. 

"  what  we  have  been  long  accustomed  to  Night,  the  veil  of  cares.     Rocks,  the  bones 

call  the  ORIENTAL  VEIN  of  poetry,  because  of  the  earth.    Arrows,  the  hailstones  ofhel- 

some  of  the  EARLIEST  poetical  productions  mets,  fyc.  fyc. 

have  come  to  us  from  the  east,  is  probably  n  In  a  strict  geographical  sense,  the  ori- 

no  more  ORIENTAL  than  OCCIDENTAL."  ginal  country  of  these  Asiatic  Goths  might 

Blair's  Crit.  Diss.  on  Ossian,  vol.  ii.  p.  317.  not  be  so  situated  as  physically  to  have  pro- 

But  all  the  LATER  oriental  writers  through  duced  these  effects.    Yet  it  is  to  be  obser- 

all    ages   have   been    particularly   distin-  ved,  that  intercourse  and  vicinity  are  in 

puished  for  this  VEIN.    Hence  it  is  here  this  case  sometimes  equivalent  to  climate, 

characteristical  of  a  country,  not  of  an  age.  The  Persian  traditions  and  superstitions 

I  will  allow,  on  this  writer's  very  just  and  were  current  even  in  the  northern  parts  of 

penetrating  principles,  that  an  early  north-  Tartary.  Georgia,  however,  may  be  fairly 

ern  ode  shall  be  as  sublime  as  an   eastern  considered  as  a  part  of  Persia.    It  is  equal 

one:  yet  the  sublimity  of  the  latter  shall  in  fertility  to  any  of  the  eastern  Turkish 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.        XXV 


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  tinc- 
ture 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  epi- 
demic enthusiasm,  and  on  frequent  occasions  are  represented  as 
breaking  forth  into  spontaneous  songs  and  verses0.  But  the  exercise 
of  the  poetical  talent  was  properly  confined  to  a  stated  profession :  and 


provinces  in  Asia.  It  affords  tlie  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  cli- 
mate, exclusive  of  its  supposed  immediate 
physical  influence  on  the  human  mind  and 
temperament.  It  exhibits  all  the  produc- 
tions of  nature  in  their  highest  perfection 
and  beauty ;  while  the  excessive  heat  of 
the  sun,  and  the  fewer  incitements  to  la- 
bour 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. 

0  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  site  will 
•not  this  summer  comb  the  hair  of  her  son. 
I  had  promised  her  to  return,  but  noiv  my 
side  shall  feel  the  edge  of  the  sword,  ii.  It 
was  far  otherwise,  when  ive  sate  at  home 
in  mirth,  cheering  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  narrorv  prisons  of 
the  grants,  iii.  It  was  far  otherwise,"  &c. 
Every  stanza  is  introduced  with  the  same 


choral  burden.  Bartholin.  Antiquit.  Danic. 
1.  i.  cap.  10.  p.  158.  edit.  1689.  [Asbiorn 
Pruda  lived  at  the  close  of  the  tenth  and  the 
beginning  of  the  eleventh  century.  But 
his  Saga,  which  abounds  in  the  most  mar- 
vellous adventures,  and  this  celebrated 
death-song,  were  fabricated  in  the  four- 
teenth century.  See  Suhm's  History  of 
Denmark,  vol.  3,  p.  294.— PRICE.]  The 
noble  epicedium  of  Regner  Lodbrog  is 
more  commonly  known.  The  champion 
Orvar-Odd,  after  his  expeditions  into  va- 
rious countries,  sung,  on  his  death-bed, 
the  most  memorable  events  of  his  life  in 
metre.  [Orvar-Odd's  Saga,  from  which 
Torfseus  (Hist.  Norv.  P.  i.  p.  263—284) 
has  extracted  the  more  sober  parts  of  the 
narrative,  is  a  romantic  composition  of 
the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century.  It 
is  even  very  uncertain  whether  such  a 
person  ever  existed. — PRICE.]  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  ta- 
blets 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.  lib.  5.  p.  50.  There  are 
instances  recorded  of  their  speaking  in 
metre  on  the  most  common  occurrences. 


XXVI 


DISSERTATION  I. 


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  victories11. 

These  Scandinavian  bards  appear  to  have  been  esteemed  and  enter- 
tained 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  north- 
ern parts  of  Europe  were  afterwards  successively  planted  in  Britain  and 
the  neighbouring  islands,  is  an  hypothesis  equally  rational,  and  not  al- 
together destitute  of  historical  evidence.  Nor  was  any  nation  more 
likely  than  the  Scandinavian  Goths,  1  mean  in  their  early  periods,  to 


p  The  Sogdians  were  a  people  who  lived 
eastward  of  the  Caspian  sea,  not  far  from 
the  country  of  Odin's  Goths.  Quintus  Cur- 
tius  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  inquired  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  Dr.  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  exer- 
cise of  the  poetical  talent ;  and  secondly, 
in  the  opinion,  that  a  glorious  or  warlike 
death,  which  admitted  them  to  the  com- 
pany of  their  friends  and  parents  in  an- 
other world,  was  to  be  embraced  with  the 
most  eager  alacrity,  and  the  highest  sen- 
sations 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.  154.]  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.  Septentr.  p.  362.  seq. 

[Silius  Italicus  charges  the  Celts  with 
indulging  in  a  similar  practice : 

At  Celtae  vacui  capitis  circundare  gaudent 
Ossa  (nefas)  auro,   et  mensis  ea  pocula 
servant. 

And  the  Longobardic  and  Bavarian  histo- 
ries record  single  examples  of  its  occurrence 
for  the  gratification  of  personal  revenge. 
But  except  the  passage  quoted  by  Warton, 
there  is  no  authority  for  the  existence  of 
such  a  custom  in  the  North  as  a  national 
habit ;  and  in  this  a  violent  and  far-fetched 
metaphor  has  been  erroneously  translated, 
to  be  made  the  basis  of  an  imputation 
equally  revolting  and  absurd.  The  origi- 
nal Islandic  text  stands  thus : 

Drekkum  bior  at  bragdi 
Ur  biug-vidom  hausa. 

Instantly  we  shall  drink  ale 
From  the  skull's  winding  trees. 

Or  in  the  sober  phrase  of  common  par- 
lance: "We  shall  drink  our  beer  out  of 
horns."  The  Celtic  antiquaries  may  per- 
haps be  able  to  offer  a  similar  vindication 
of  their  uncivilized  ancestors. — PRICE.] 


OP  THE  ORIGIN  OF   ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.      XXV11 

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  ac- 
quisitions. 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  Nor- 
way. The  Caledonians  are  expressly  called  by  many  judicious  antiqua- 
ries a  Scandinavian  colony.  The  names  of  places  and  persons,  over  all 
that  part  of  Scotland  which  the  Picts  inhabited,  are  of  Scandinavian  ex- 
traction. 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  1.  I  forbear  to  accumulate  a  pe- 
dantic 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  si- 
tuated more  to  the  north,  and  probably  less  difficult  of  access  than  Bri- 
tain, 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  po- 
tentates. 

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  fre- 
quented 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 

q  It  is  conjectured  by  Wormius,   that  [The  Celtic  population  of  Ireland  pre- 

Ireland  is  derived  from  the  Runic  Yr,  a  cedes   the   period  of  legitimate  history, 

bow,  for  the  use  of  which  the  Irish  were  Their  migration  to  Scotland  has  been  re- 

once  famous.     Lit.  Run.  c.  xvii.  p.  92.  ferred  with  great  probability  to  the  earlier 

The  Asiatics,  near  the  lake  Mseotis,  from  part  of  the  fourth  century.     But  the  origin 

which  Odin  led  his  colony  into  Europe,  of  the  Picts,  their  language,  the  etymology 

were  celebrated  archers.    Hence  Hercules  "  of  the  names  of  places  and  persons  over 

in  Theocritus,  Idyll,  xiii.  56.  that  part  of  Scotland  which  they  inhabit- 

-M«,*,™  *.&,„  „*«?*>•  «g«.  e  J'"  is  a  subject  which  divides  the  opinions 

of  Scottish  antiquaries.      See  Mr.  Chal- 

Compare    Salmas.    de    Hellen.    p.    3G9.  mers's  Caledonia,  and  Dr.  Jamieson's  Ety- 

And  Flahert.  Ogyg.  Part.  iii.  cap.  xviii.  mological  Scottish  Dictionary  (Tntroduc- 

p.   188.  edit.   1685.      Stillingfleet's  Orig,  tion). — PRICE.] 
Brit.  Prsef.  p.  xxxviii. 


XXV111  DISSERTATION  I. 

were  sung  by  the  Scandinavian  bards  before  the  kings  of  England  and 
Ireland,  and  for  which  they  received  liberal  gratuities1".  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 
England3.  Hence  the  tradition  in  an  antient  Islandic  Saga,  or  poetical 
history,  may  be  explained ;  which  says,  that  Odin's  language  was  ori- 
ginally 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.  NICK  A  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  was  sufficient  to  spread  an 
immediate  panic  among  his  enemies y. 

*  Torf.  Hist.  Oread,  in  Praefat.  [See  the  some  degree  almost  over  all  England,  many 

Sagas  of  Egill,  and  Gunnlaug  Ormstunga.  other  poems  are  composed,  mentioned  like- 

— PRICE.]  wise  in  Wanley's  Catalogue.  [See  the  Pre- 

8  Lit.  Dan.  p.  195.  ed.  4to.  face  to  this  edition. — PRICE.]  Itisthecon- 

1  Bartholin.  iii.  2.  p.  651.      It  was  a  stant  doctrine  of  the  Danish  historians,  that 

constant  old  British  tradition,  that  king  the  Danes  and  Angles,  whose  successors 

Arthur  conquered  Ireland,  Gothland,  Den-  gave  the  name  to  this  island,  had  the  same 

mark,  and  Norway.    See  Galfrid.  Monum.  origin. 

ix.  11.  Rob.  of  Glouc.  ed.  Hearne,  p.  180.  u  See  Keysler,  Antiquitat.  Sel.  Septen- 

182.     What  is  said  in  the  text  must  have  trional.  p.  497.  edit.  1720. 

greatly  facilitated  the  Saxon  and  Danish  w  See  Keysler,  ut  supr.  p.  261.    And  in 

conquests  in  England.     The  works  of  the  Addend,  ibid.  p.  588. 

genuine  Caedmon  are  written  in  the  Ian-  x  See  Keysler,  ibid.  p.  105.  p.  130. 

guage  of  the  antient  Angles,  who  were  y  See  Temple's  Essays,  part  4.  p.  346. 

nearly  connected  with  the  Jutes.     Hence  See  also  instances  of  conformity  between 

that  language  resembled  the  antient  Da-  English  and  Gothic  superstitions  in  Bar- 

nish,  as  appears  from  passages  of  Csedmon  tholinus,  1  ii.  cap.  2.  p.  262.  266.  It  may 

cited  by  Wanley.     Hence  also  it  happen-  be  urged,  that  these  superstitions  might  be 

ed,  that  the  later  Dano-Saxonic  dialect,  introduced  by  the  Danes ;  of  whom  I  shall 

in  which  Junius's  Poetical  Paraphrase  of  speak  below.     But  this  brings  us  to  just 

Genesis  was  written,  is  likewise  so  very  the  same  point.    The  learned  Hickes  was 

similar  to    the  language  of  the    antient  of  opinion,  from  a  multitude  of  instances, 

Angles,  who  settled  in  the  more  northern  that  our  trial  by  a  jury  of  Twelve,  was  an 

parts  of  England.     [See,  in   relation    to  early  Scandinavian  institution,  and  that  it 

this  imaginary  Dano-Saxonic  dialect,  Mr.  was  brought  from  thence  into  England  ; 

Thorpe's  remarks,  in  the  preface  to  his  yet  he  supposes,  at  a  period  later  than  is 

edition  of  Caedmon,  8vo.  1832. — M.]   And  necessary,    the    Norman    invasion.       See 

in  this  dialect,  which  indeed  prevailed  in  VVootton's  Conspectus  of  Hickes'sThesaur. 


OP  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC   FICTION  IN   EUROPE.       XXIX 

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  presumed2.  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 


p.  46.  Lond.  1708.  And  Hickes.  The- 
snur.  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  Eddahas  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 
MEN'S  DEATHS.  [He  gives  her  that  which 
is  to  be  the  death  of  twelve  men — the 
sword  Tirfing. — PRICE.]  Hervarar-Saga, 
apud  01.  Verel.  cap.  vii.  p.  91.  The  Druid- 
ical  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.  See  also  Martin's  Hebrid. 
p.  9.  In  Zealand  and  Sweden,  many  an- 
tient circular  monuments,  consisting  each 
of  twelve  rude  stones,  still  remain,  which 
were  the  places  of  judicature.  My  late 
very  learned,  ingenious,  and  respected 
friend,  Dr.  Borlase,  pointed  out  to  me 
monuments  of  the  same  sort  in  Cornwall. 
Compare  Keysler,  p.  93.  And  it  will  il- 
lustrate remarks  already  made,  and  the 
principles  insinuated  in  this  Dissertation, 
to  observe,  that  these  monuments  are  found 
in  Persia,  near  Tauris.  [See  the  Voyages 
de  Chardin,  p.  377.  ed.  1686.  12mo.  It  is 
astonishing,  that  after  the  most  evident 
proofs  of  these  stone  monuments  being  the 
production  of  our  northern  ancestors,  wri- 
ters will  persist  without  any  authority  what- 
ever in  calling  them  Druidical. — DOUCE.] 
[It  is  also  "astonishing,"  that  with  such 
"evident  proofs''  of  their  existence  in  al- 
most every  part  of  Europe  and  Asia,  they 
should  be  exclusively  assigned  either  to 
"our  northern  ancestors,"  or  their  Celtic 
antagonists.  The  occurrence  of  such  mo- 
numents in  Cornwall,  where  the  Saxons 
only  obtained  a  footing  at  a  very  late  pe- 
riod, and  in  those  parts  of  Ireland  which 
were  frequented  by  neither  Saxons  nor 
Scandinavians,  clearly  forbids  the  assump- 


tion of  their  Teutonic  origin;  while  their 
name  (Thing-stadar),  and  the  purpose  to 
which  they  were  applied  in  the  North  of 
Europe,  may  receive  an  illustration  from 
the  page  of  Homer. 

KyovKts  §'«£«  Aaov  igtjruav'  ol  $i  ytgovrtg 

EiUr'  ifl  %l<rTOiffl  KlQotg,   llgto  (VI  XVX*.U. 

II.  xviii.  503. 

These  "sacred  circles"  in  the  North  were 
not  only  used  as  places  of  public  assembly, 
but  were  the  scenes  of  all  judicial  proceed- 
ings. From  a  passage  in  the  67th  chapter 
,of  Egills-Saga,  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
that  they  were  also  made  the  theatres  of  the 
"  trial  by  battle."  The  Irish  antiquaries 
consider  them  to  have  been  places  of  public 
worship.  "Magh-Adhair,  a  plain  of  ado- 
ration, where  stood  an  open  temple  consist- 
ing of  a  circle  of  tall  straight  stone  pillars 
with  a  very  large  flat  stone  called  Crom- 
leac,  serving  for  an  altar,  constructed  by 
the  Druids  and  similar  to  that  in  Exodus 

xxiv.     'And  Moses builded  an  altar 

under  the  hill,  and  twelve  pillars,  accord- 
ing to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.'"  O'Brian 
in  voc. — PRICE.]  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth 
affords  instances  in  his  British  History. 
The  knights  sent  into  Wales  by  Fitzham- 
mon,  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. 

[In  the  poem  of  Beowulf  'twolf  wintra 
tid,'  the  time  of  twelve  winters,  is  evidently 
a  mere  epic  form  of  expression  to  denote 
an  indefinite  period.  It  is  like  the  forty 
days  of  the  Hebrews,  the  inn/aug  of  the 
Iliad,  the  eleven  of  Piers  Plowman.  This 
number  therefore  ought  not  to  be  inter- 
preted too  literally,  unless  supported  by 
the  context. — PRICE.] 

z  "Ex  vetustioribus  poetis  Cimbrorutn, 
nempe  Scaldis  et  Theotiscae  gentis  versifi- 
catoribus,  plane  multa,  ut  par  est  credere, 
sumpsere."  Hickes.  Thesaur.  i.  p.  101, 
See  p.  117. 


XXX 


DISSERTATION   I. 


the  descent  of  their  princes  from  Odina.  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,  stones0,  and  other  monuments;  and  from  some  of  their  manu- 
scripts'1. 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  legend6.  But  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons  to 
Christianity,  which  happened  before  the  seventh  century,  entirely  ba- 
nished the  common  use  of  those  characters^  which  were  esteemed  un- 
hallowed 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 ?.  They  sud- 
denly 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  invocations11.  Yet  even 


*  See  Gibson's  Chron.  Saxon,  p.  12.  seq. 
Historians  mention  WODEN'S  BEORTH, 
i.  e.  Woden's  hill,  in  Wiltshire.  See  Mil- 
ton, Hist.  Engl.  An.  588. 

b  See  Sir  A.  Fountaine's  Pref.  Saxon 
Money.  OFFA.  REX.  Sc.  BOTRED  MONE- 
TARIUS,  &c.  See  also  Serenii  Diction. 
Anglo- Suecico- Latin.  Praef.  p.  21. 

c  See  Hickes's  Thesaur.  BAPTISTERIUM 
BRIDEKIRKENSE.  Par.  Hi.  p.  4.  Tab.  ii. — 
SAXUM  REVELLENSE  apud  Scotos.  Ibid. 
Tab.  iv.  p.  5. — CRUX  LAPIDEA  apudBeau- 
castle.  Wanley  Catal.  MSS.  Anglo-Sax, 
pag.  248.  ad  calc.  Hickes.  Thesaur.  AN- 
NULUS  AUREUS.  Drake's  York,  Append. 
p.  J02.  Tab.  N.  26.  And  Gordon's  Itin. 
Septentr.  p.  168. 

d  See  Hickes's  Thesaur.  Par.i.  p.  135. 
136.  148.  Par.  iii.  Tab.  1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6. 
It  may  be  conjectured  that  these  charac- 
ters 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  re- 
mains 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.]  [This  reference  can- 
not be  correct,  since  the  only  MS.  that 
answers  to  the  mark  NE.  D.  ii.  (there  is  no 
xi.)  19,  is  now  in  the  Auctarium,  F.  3.  34, 
and  contains  no  charters  whatever.  Pre- 
fixed to  it  is  the  portrait  of  St.  Dunstan, 
engraved  by  Hickes  and  Strutt,  and  ab- 
surdly supposed  to  have  been  drawn  by 
Dunstan  himself.  See  infr.  Diss.  ii.  page 
ci.  note  p. — M.]  See  Hickes's  Thesaur. 
Par.  i.  p.  169.  See  also  CHARTA  ODIL- 

REDI    AD    MONASTERIUM    DE    BERKING. 

Tab.  i.  Casley's  Cat.  Bibl,  Reg.  in  the  Bri- 
tish Museum. 


e  See  Archaeol.  vol.  ii.  p.  131.  A.  D. 
1773.  4to. 

f  But  see  Hickes,  ubi  supr.  i.  p.  140. 

E  It  has  been  suggested  to  me  by  an  in- 
genious friend,  that  GUY  and  SIR  BEVIS, 
the  first  of  whom  lived  in  the  reign  of 
Athelstan,  and  the  latter,  as  some  sup- 
pose, in  that  of  Edgar,  both  Christian  cham- 
pions against  the  pagan  Danes,  were  ori- 
ginally subjects  of  the  genuine  Saxon  bards. 
But  I  rather  think,  they  began  to  be  cele- 
brated in  or  after  the  crusades ;  the  nature 
of  which  expeditions  dictated  to  the  ro- 
mance-writers, and  brought  into  vogue, 
stories  of  Christians  fighting  with  infidel 
heroes.  The  cause  was  the  same,  and  the 
circumstances  partly  parallel ;  and  this  be- 
ing 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.  pp.  143. 
144.  There  is  the  story  of  BEVIS  in 
British,  YSTORI  BOUN  o  HAMTUN. 
Lhuyd's  Arch.  Brit.  p.  264. 

h  Except  an  ode  on  Athelstan,  trans- 
lated below.  See  Sect.  i.  p.  2.  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  seen  to  have  struck  the 
poet  most,  in  describing  that  city.  I  can- 
not 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  prophecies  and  proverbs ; 
or  rather  splendid  fragments  from  differ- 
ent poems,  thrown  together  without  con- 
nection. 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC   FICTION   IN  EUROPE.       XXXI 

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  para- 
phrase on  Genesis,  Abimelech  has  the  same  appellation  *.  This  Balder 
was  a  famous  chieftain  of  the  Asiatic  Goths,  the  son  of  Odin,  and  sup- 
posed to  inhabit  a  magnificent  hall  in  the  future  place  of  rewards.  The 
same  Anglo-Saxon  paraphrast,  in  his  prosopopoeia  of  Satan  addressing 
his  companions  plunged  in  the  infernal  abyss,  adopts  many  images  and 
expressions  used  in  the  very  sublime  description  of  the  Eddie  hell k : 
Henry  of  Huntingdon  '  complains  of  certain  extraneous  words  and  un- 
common figures  of  speech,  in  a  Saxon  ode  on  a  victory  of  king  Athelstan. 
These  were  all  scaldic  expressions  or  allusions.  But  I  will  give  a  literal 
English  translation  of  this  poem,  which  cannot  be  well  understood  with- 
out premising  its  occasion.  In  the  year  938,  Anlaif*,  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  [aetheling],  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  day-break  till  the  evening.  On  the  side  of  An- 
laff  were  slain  five  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  stran- 
gers. 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 

1  See  Hickes.  Thesaur.  i.  p.  10.  who  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  i.  p.  343.  Anlaf,whom 

adds  many  more  instances.  Athelstan  had  expelled  from  the  kingdom 

k  Fab.  xlix.  See  Hickes,  ubi  supr.  p.  of  North-humbria,  was  in  all  probability  a 

116.  [See  Conybeare'slllustr.p.  190;  and  Christian.  Wulstan  archbishop  of  York, 

Thorpe's  Csedmon,  p.  271,  274,  285,  &c.]  who  united  with  Anlaf  in  his  second  at- 

1  Who  has  greatly  misrepresented  the  tempt  to  recover  his  inheritance,  would 

sense  by  a  bad  Latin  translation.  Hist.  hardly  have  fought  under  a  Pagan  banner, 

lib.  v.  p.  203.  — PRICE.] 

*  [See    Mr.    Turner's    History    of   the 


XXXH  DISSERTATION  I. 

with  Anlaffin  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  [Northernmen]  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  yellow-haired 
leader,  the  battle-ax  of  slaughter,  a  youth  in  war,  but  an  old  man  in  un- 
derstanding, 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  ofHumber,  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  Bri- 
tons excelling  in  honour,  and  gained  possession  of  their  land"1." 

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  natu- 
rally to  have  fallen  into  this  measure,  arid  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  re- 
mained 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 


m  The   original  was   first   printed   by  of  Gibson,  and  of  course  shares  the  faults 

Wheloc  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  p.  555.  of  its  original. — PRICE.] 

Cant.    1644.    See    Hickes.  Thes.  Prsefat.  *  [The  invocation  of  Hervor  at  the  tomb 

p.    xiv.     And   ibid.  Gramm.   Anglo-Sax.  of  her  father  Angantyr  was  translated  in 

p.  181.  prose  by  Dr.  Hickes.     It  was  republished 

[At  the   close  of  this  Dissertation  the  with  emendations  by  Dr.  Percy  in  1763, 

reader    will  find  the  original  ode  and  a  and  has  since  been  closely  and  paraphra- 

nearly  literal  version  of  it.     The  transla-  stically  versified  by  Mr.  Mathias  and  Miss 

tion  in  the  text  was  made  from  the  Latin  Seward. — PARK.] 


OP  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE. 

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".  These  probably 
gave  rise  to  the  order  of  English  Minstrels,  who  flourished  till  the  six- 
teenth 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  their  fortunes  at  foreign  courts  by  the  exercise  of  a  popular  art, 
from  the  success  of  their  bards,  the  nature  of  their  republican  govern- 
ment, 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  re- 
mained pagans,  and  retained  their  original  manners,  much  longer  than 
any  of  their  Gothic  kindred.  They  were  not  completely  converted  to 
Christianity  till  the  tenth  century0.  Hence,  under  the  concurrence  how- 
ever of  some  of  the  causes  just  mentioned,  their  scaldic  profession  ac- 
quired greater  degrees  of  strength  and  of  maturity ;  and  from  an  unin- 
terrupted 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  arid  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  in- 
timately acquainted  with  the  peculiarities  of  their  character. 

It  is  probable,  that  the  Danish  invasions  produced  a  considerable  al- 

n  GLEEMAN  answers  to  the  Latin  Jo-  decreed  that  no  bishop,  or  any  ecclesiastic, 
CULATOR.  Fabyan  speaking  of  Blage-  shall  keep  or  have  CITHAR./EDAS,  and  it  is 
bride,  an  ancient  British  king,  famous  for  added  QU^ECUMQUE  SYMPHONIACA  ;  nor 
his  skill  in  poetry  and  music,  calls  him  "  a  permit  plays  or  sports,  LUDOS  VEL  Jocos, 
conynge  musicyan,  called  of  the  Britons  undoubtedly  inimical  and  gesticulatory  en- 
god  of  GLEEMEN."  Chron.  f.  xxxii.  ed.  tertainments,  to  be  exhibited  in  his  pre- 
1533.  This  Fabyan  translated  from  Geof-  sence.  Malmesb.  Gest.  Pontif.  lib.  iii.  p. 
frey  of  Monmouth's  account  of  the  same  263.  edit.  vet.  And  Concil.  Spelman.  1. 1. 
British  king,  "ut  DEUS  JOCULATOUUM  p.  159.  edit.  1639.  fol. 
videretur."  Hist.  Brit.  lib.  i.  c.  22.  It  °  See  bishop  Lloyd's  Hist.  Account  of 
appears  from  the  injunctions  given  to  the  Church  Government  in  Great  Britain,  &c. 
British  church  in  the  year  680,  that  female  chap.  i.  §.11.  4to.  Lond.  1684.  And  Cry- 
harpers  were  not  then  uncommon.  It  is  mog.  Arngrim.  L.  i.  cap.  10.  p.  104, 
VOL.  I.  C 


XXXIV 


DISSERTATION     I. 


teration  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  cus- 
toms 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,  be- 
came so  general  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  that  it  was  found  necessary 
to  restrain  so  pernicious  and  contagious  a  practice  by  a  particular  sta- 
tute1*. 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  lan- 
guage was  understood  by  the  Saxons.  Rogwald  lord  of  the  Orcades, 
who  was  also  himself  a  poet,  going  on  an  expedition  into  Palestine,  car- 
ried with  him  two  Islandic  bards'1.  The  noble  ode,  called  in  the  north- 
ern chronicles  the  ELOGIUM  OF  HACONr,  king  of  Norway,  was  com- 
posed on  a  battle  in  which  that  prince  with  eight  of  his  brothers  fell, 


p  See  Lambarde's  Archaionom.  And 
Bartholin.  ii.  c.  xii.  p.  542. 

q  Ol.  Worm.  Lit.  Run.  p.  195.  ed.  1636. 

*  In  this  ode  are  these  very  sublime 
imageries  and  prosopopoeias. 

"  The  goddesses  who  preside  over  bat- 
tles come,  sent  forth  by  Odin.  They  go  to 
choose  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." 

"  Gondula  leaned  on  the  end  of  her  lance, 
and  thus  bespoke  her  companions.  The 
assembly  of  the  gods  is  going  to  be  increa- 
sed: the  gods  invite  Hacon,  with  his  nu- 
merous 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  hel- 
mets, 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  ob- 
tained 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  gods.  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  be- 


sprinkled and  runningdown  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  bro- 
thers :  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  care- 
fully 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  chains 
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  awful  ideal  personages, 
finely  imagined.  The  goddesses  of  battle, 
Odin,  his  sons  Hermode  and  Brago,  and 
the  spectre  of  the  deceased  king,  are  all  in- 
troduced, speaking  and  acting  as  in  adrama. 
The  panegyric  is  nobly  conducted,  and 
arises  out  of  the  sublimity  of  the  fiction. 

[A  somewhat  different  version  of  the 
above  ode  is  printed  in  Percy's  Five  Runic 
pieces.  By  the  wolf  Fenris,  he  observes, 
the  northern  nations  understood  a  kind  of 
demon,  or  evil  principle,  at  enmity  with 
the  gods,  who  though  at  present  chained 
up  from  doing  mischief,  was  hereafter  to 
break  loose  and  destroy  the  world.  See 
F.dda.— PARK.] 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN   EUROPE.        XXXV 

by  the  scald  Eyvynd  ;  who  for  his  superior  skill  in  poetry  was  called  the 
CROSS  OF  POETS,  [Eyvindr  Skalldaspillir*,]  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 
began9.  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*.  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.  An- 
lafff ,  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  hos- 
tilities, treated  the  Danish  scalds  with  favour  and  respect.  That  the  Is- 
landic  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  odex.  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  Odiny." 
Afterwards  he  calls  this  Danish  conqueror  the  commander  of  the  Scot- 
tish fleet.  "  The  commander  of  the  Scottish  fleet  fattened  the  ravenous 

*  [Skalldaspillir,  poetarum  alpha,  cui  w  Malmesb.  ii.  6.  I  am   aware,  that  the 

omnesinvidentpoetae.]  truth  of  both  these  anecdotes  respecting 

s  Bartholin.  p.  172.  Alfred  and  Anlaff  has  been  controverted. 

1  Olaf.  Sag.  apud  Verel.  ad  Herv.  Sag.  But  no  sufficient  argument  has  yet  been 

p.  178.     Bartholin.  p.  172.  offered  for  pronouncing  them  spurious,  or 

u  Ingulph.   Hist.  p.  869.  Malmesb.  ii.    c  even  suspicious.     See  an  ingenious  Dis- 
ci. 4.  p.  43.  sertation  in   the  Archaeologia,  vol.  ii.  p. 

f  [This  is  the  same  Anlaff  mentioned  100.  seq.  A.  D.  1773.  4to. 

above,  p.  xxxi.      Though  of  Danish  de-  x  See  Crymogr.  Angrim.  Jon.  lib.  ii.  p. 

scent,  yet  as  his  family  had  possessed  the  125.  edit.  1609. 

throne  of  North-humbria  for  more  than  y  See  Ol.  Worm.  Lit.  Run.  p.  227.  195. 

one  generation,  it  is  most  probable  that  he  All  the  chiefs  of  Eric  were  also  present  at 

spoke  the  dialect  of  his  province  or  what  the  recital  of  this  ode,  which  is  in  a  noble 

Hickes  calls  the  Dano-Saxon. — PHICE.]  strain. 

cc2 


XXXVI  DISSERTATION      I. 

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  Britain7-: 
and  from  this  circumstance  a  new  argument  arises,  to  show  the  close 
communication  and  alliance  which  must  have  subsisted  between  Scot- 
land 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  North- 
umberland, for  the  very  capital  and  enormous  crime  which  I  have  just 
mentioned.  On  which  Egill  immediately  related  the  whole  of  that  trans- 
action to  the  Saxon  king,  in  a  sublime  ode  still  extant3.  On  another 
occasion  Athelstan  presented  Egill  with  two  rings,  and  two  large  cabi- 
nets filled  with  silver;  promising  at  the  same  time,  to  grant  him  any  gift 
or  favour  which  he  should  choose  to  request.  Egill,  struck  with  grati- 
tude, immediately  composed  a  panegyrical  poem  in  the  Norwegian  lan- 
guage, then  common  to  both  nations,  on  the  virtues  of  Athelstan, 
which  the  latter  as  generously  requited  with  two  marcs  of  pure  goldb. 
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 
lie  patronized  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  achievements  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  bar- 
barian, 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 

56  See  the  Saxon  epinicion  in  praise  of  p.  169,  170.  See  Knytlinga-Saga,  in 

king  Athelstan.  supr.  citat.  p.  xxxi.  Hen.  Catal.  Codd.  MSS.  Bibl.  Holm.  Hickes. 

Hunting.  1.  v.  p,  203.  204.  Thesaur.  ii.  312. 

*  [Egill  fought  on  Athelstan's  side,  and  [Canute's  threat — for  he  did  not  "  corn- 
did  signal  service  in  the  battle  at  Brunan-  maud  the  scald  to  be  put  to  death" — is 
burh. — PRICE.]  thus  translated  by  Mr.  Turner  :  "Are  you 

B  Torfeus  Hist.  Oread.  Praefat.  "  Rei  not  ashamed  to  do  what  none  but  your- 

statim  ordinem  metro  nunc  satis  obscuro  self  has  dared,  to  write  a  short  poem  upon 

exposuit."  Torfseus  adds,  which  is  much  me  ?  Unless  by  to-morrow's  dinner  you 

to  our  purpose, "  nequaquam  ita  narraturus  produce  above  thirty  strophes  on  the  same 

NON  INTELLIGENTI."  subject,  your  head  shall  be  the  penalty." 

b  Crymog.  Am.  Jon.  p.  129.  ut  supr.  Hist,  of  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  i.  p.  437.  The 

F  Bartholin.  Antiquit.  Danic.  lib.  i.  c.  10.  result  was  as  Warton  states. — PRICE.] 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION   IN   EUROPE.       XXXVU 


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  bards6.  A  writer  of  equal  elegance  and 
veracity  relates,  "  that  a  gentleman  of  the  north  of  Ireland  has  told  me 
of  his  own  experience,  that  in  his  wolf-huntings  there,  when  he  used  to 
be  abroad  in  the  mountains  three  or  four  days  together,  and  laid  very 
ill  a-nights,  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  GYANT,  a  DWARF,  and  a  DAMOSEL*?'  These  are  topics  in 
which  the  Runic  poetry  is  said  to  have  been  greatly  conversant. 

Nor  is  it  improbable  that  the  Welsh  bards  *  might  have  been  ac- 


d  Hickes,  ubi  supr.  i.  134.136. 

e  We  are  informed  by  the  Irish  histo- 
rians, that  saint  Patrick,  when  he  convert- 
ed 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 
w.ear  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  as- 
sembly were  ordered  to  be  preserved  in 
the  custody  of  the  king's  historian  or  an- 
tiquary. Many  of  these  compositions  are 
referred  to  by  Keating,  as  the  foundation 
of  his  History  of  Ireland.  Ample  estates 
were  apropriated  to  them,  that  they  might 
live  in  a  condition  of  independence  and 
ea>e.  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  ta- 
lents for  poetry  and  music.  Every  prin- 
cipal bard  retained  thirty  of  inferior  note, 
as  his  attendants;  and  a  bard  of  the  se- 
condary 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  Ke- 
neth  king  of  Scotland,  promulged  in  the 
year  850,  which  places  the  bards  of  Scot- 
land, who  certainly  were  held  in  equal  es- 
teem with  those  of  the  neighbouring  coun- 
tries, in  the  lowest  station.  "Fugitivos, 
BARDOS,  otio  addictos,  scurras  et  hujus- 


modi  hominum  genus,  loris  et  flagris  cae- 
dunto."  Apud  Hector.  Boeth.  Lib.  x.p.201. 
edit.  1574.  But  Salmasius  very  justly  ob- 
serves, that  for  BARDOS  we  should  read 
VARGOS,  or  VERGOS,  i.  e.  Vagabonds. 

[Such,  said  the  late  ingenious  Mr. 
Walker,  was  the  celebrity  of  the  Irish  mu- 
sic, that  the  Welsh  bards  condescended  to 
receive  instructions  in  their  musical  art 
from  those  of  Ireland.  Gryffydd  ap  Co- 
nan,  king  of  North  Wales,  about  the  time 
that  Stephen  was  king  of  England,  deter- 
mined to  reform  the  Welsh  bards,  and 
brought  over  many  Irish  bards  for  that 
purpose.  This  Gryffydd,  according  to  the 
intelligent  Mr.  Owen,  was  a  distinguished 
patron  of  the  poets  and  musicians  of  his 
native  country,  and  called  several  con- 
gresses, wherein  laws  were  established  for 
the  better  regulation  of  poetry  and  music, 
as  well  as  of  such  as  cultivated  those  sci- 
ences. These  congresses  were  open  to  the 
people  of  Wales,  as  well  as  of  Ireland  and 
Scandinavia,  and  professors  from  each 
country  attended :  whence  what  was  found 
peculiar  to  one  people,  and  worthy  of  adop- 
tion, was  received  and  established  in  the 
rest.  Hist.  Mem.  of  Irish  Bards,  p,  103> 
Cambrian  Biogr.  p.  145. — PARK.] 

f  Sir  W.  Temple's  Essays,  part  iv.  p, 
349. 

s  The  bards  of  Britain  were  originally 
a  constitutional  appendage  of  the  druidical 
hierarchy.  In  the  parish  of  Llanjdan  in 
the  isle  of  Anglesey,  there  are  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  ruins  of  an  arch-druid's  man- 
sion, which  they  call  TRER  DREW,  that  is 
the  DRUID'S  MANSION,  Near  it  are  mark* 


XXXV111 


DISSERTATION     I. 


quainted  with  the  Scandinavian  scalds.  I  mean  before  their  communi- 
cations 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 *.  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  cele- 
brated among  the  Welsh1.  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  inspiring  beverage  of  the  bee ;  or,  as  he  translates  it,  De  Mulso 


of  the  habitations  of  the  separate  conven- 
tual societies,  which  were  under  his  imme- 
diate orders  and  inspection.  Among  these  is 
TRER  BEIRD,  or,  as  they  call  it  to  this  day, 
the  HAMLET  OF  THE  BARDS.  Rowland'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  co- 
lonies, 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  ancient  monument,  that  they 
held  any  correspondence  with  the  Welsh, 
the  Cornish,  the  Cumbrian,  or  the  Strath- 
cluyd  Britons.  Among  other  British  in- 
stitutions 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,  harassed 
by  the  Saxons,  and  eternally  jealous  of  the 
attacks,  the  encroachments,  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  aliens,  were  on  this  account 
attached  to  their  Celtic  manners  :  this  si- 
tuation, and  these  circumstances  inspired 
them  with  a  pride  and  an  obstinacy  for 
maintaining  a  national  distinction,  and  for 
preserving  their  ancient  usages,  among 
which  the  bardic  profession  is  so  eminent. 

h  See  vol.  ii.  p.  106.  note". 

*  I  am  however  informed  by  a  very  in- 
telligent antiquary  in  British  literature, 
that  there  are  manifest  marks  of  allitera- 
tion in  some  druidical  fragments  still  re- 
maining, 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  dru- 
idical 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  An- 
tiquit.  Cornwall.  B.  iii.  ch.  5.  p.  185.  edit. 
1769. 

k  And  of  the  ancient  Franks.  Gre- 
gory of  Tours  mentions  a  Frank  drinking 
this  liquor;  and  adds,  that  he  acquired 
this  habit  from  the  BARBAROUS  or  Frank- 
ish  nations.  Hist.  Franc,  lib.  viii.  c.  33. 
p.  404.  ed.  1699.  Paris,  fol. 

1  See  vol.ii.  p.  195. 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF   ROMANTIC   FICTION  IN  KUBOPE.       XXXIX 

seu  HYDROMELI  k.  In  Hoel  Dha's  Welsh  laws,  translated  by  Wotton,  we 
have,  "In  omni  convivio  in  quo  MULSUM  bibitur1."  From  which  pas- 
sage, it  seems  to  have  been  served  up  only  at  high  festivals.  By  the 
same  constitutions,  at  every  feast  in  the  king's  castle-hall,  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  an- 
nexed 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  household  is  CONFECTOR  MULSI  :  and  this  officer,  together  with 
the  master  of  the  horse n,  the  master  of  the  hawks,  the  smith  of  the  pa- 
lace0, the  royal  bard?,  the  first  musician 4,  with  some  others,  have  a  right 


k  Tanner  Bibl.  p.  706. 

1  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  alUgatum.  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"  Gang.  Lat.  Gloss. 
Suppl.  Verb.  TOMBARE.  In  the  Saxon 
canons  given  by  king  Edgar,  about  the 
year  9GO,  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.  Spel- 
man,  tpm.i.  p.  455.  edit.  1639.  fol.  In 
Edgar's  Oration  to  Dunstan,  the  Ml  Ml, 
Minstrels,  are  said  to  sing  and  dance. 
Ibid.  p.  477.  Much  the  same  injunction 
occurs  in  the  Saxon  Laws  of  the  North- 
umbrian Priests,  given  in  988.  Cap. 
xli.  ibid.  p.  498.  MIMUS  seems  some- 
times to  have  signified  THE  FOOL.  As 
in  Gregory  of  Tours,  speaking  of  the 
MIMUS  of  Miroakingof  Gallicia:  "  Erat 
enim  MIMUS  REGIS,  qui  ei  per  VETCBA 
JOCULARIA  LiETixiAM  erat  solitus  EX- 
CITARE.  Sed  non  cum  adjuvit  aliquis 
CACHINNUS,  neque  praestigiis  artis  suae," 
&c.  Gregor.  Turonens.  Miracul.  S.  Mar- 
tin, lib.  iv.  cap.  vii.  p.  1119.  Opp.  Paris. 
1699.  fol.  edit.  Ruinart. 

0  He  is  to  work  free :  except  for  ma- 
king the  king's  caldron,  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,  (he  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  i*  to  at- 
tend, 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  de- 
predations, 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  ac- 
count. 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.  Artie.  5.  After  a  con- 
test 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.  1 1.  The  Cornu  Bubalinum  may  be  ex- 
plained from  a  passage  in  a  poem,  com- 
posed about  the  year  1160,  by  Owain 
Cyveiliog,  prince  of  Powis,  which  he  en- 
titled HIRLAS,  from  a  large  drinking-horn 
so  called,  used  at  feasts  in  his  castle-hall. 
"  Pour  out,  O  cup-bearer,  sweet  and  plea- 
sant mead  (the  spear  is  red  in  the  time  of 


X  DISSERTATION     I. 

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  im- 
provement of  the  Welsh 9.  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  daieV  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  cowsw. 
Nor  must  I  pass  over,  what  reflects  much  light  on  this  reasoning,  that  the 
establishment  of  the  household  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  *.  We  must  also  remember,  that  an  intercourse  was  necessarily 

need)  from  the  horns  of  wild  oxen,  RipuariorumetWesinorum.  Lindenbroch. 

covered  with  gold,  to  the  souls  of  those  Cod.  LL.  Antiq.  Wisigoth.  etc.  A.D.  613. 

departed  heroes."  Evans,  p.  12.  Tit.  5.  §  ult. 

By  these  laws  the  king's  harp  is  to  be  The  caliphs,  and  other  eastern  potent- 
worth  one  hundred  and  twenty  pence  ;  ates,  had  their  bards,  whom  they  treated 
but  that  of  a  gentleman,  or  one  not  a  with  equal  respect.  Sir  John  Maunde- 
vassal,  sixty  pence.  The  king's  chess-  ville,  who  travelled  in  1340,  says,  that 
board  is  valued  at  the  same  price :  and  when  the  emperor  of  Cathay,  or  great 
the  instrument  for  fixing  or  tuning  the  Cham  of  Tartary,  is  seated  at  dinner  in 
strings  of  the  king's  harp,  at  twenty-four  high  pomp  with  his  lords,  "  no  man  is  so 
pence.  His  drinking-horn,  at  one  pound.  hardi  to  speak  to  him  except  it  be  Musi- 
Ibid.  L.  iii.  cap.  vii.  p.  265.  CIANS  to  solace  the  emperor."  chap.  Ixvii. 

'  There  are  two  musicians:  the  Mu-  p.  100.  Here  is  another  proof  of  the  cor- 

sicus  1'niMARius,  who  probably  was  a  respondence  between  the  eastern  and 

teacher,  and  certainly  a  superintendent  northern  customs  :  and  this  instance  might 

over  the  rest;  and  the  HALL-MUSICIAN.  be  brought  as  an  argument  of  the  bardic 

Leg.  ut  supr.  L.  i.  cap.  xlv.  p.  68.  institution  being  fetched  from  the  east. 

T  "  Jus  cathedrae."  Ibid.  L.  i.  cap.  x.  Leo  Afer  mentions  thePoeto  curia:  of  the 

p.  13.  Caliph's  court  at  Bagdad,  about  the  year 

•  See  Selden,    Drayt.    Polyolb.    S.  ix.  990.     De  Med.  et  Philos.  Arab.  cap.  iv. 
pag.  156.  S.  iv.  pag.  67.  edit.  1613.  fol.  Those  poets  were  in  most  repute  among 

*  Hist,  of  Cambr.  p.  191.  edit.  1584.  the  Arabians,  who  could  speak  extempo- 
"  Keating's  Hist.  Ireland,  pag.  132.              raneous  verses  to  the  Caliph.   Euseb.  Re- 
w  Leg.   Wall,  ut  supr.   L.  i.  cap.  xix.        naudot.   apud   Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr.  xiii.    p. 

pag.  35.   seq.     See    also  cap.  xlv.   p.  68.  249.     Thomson,  in   the  Castle   of  Indo- 

We  find   the   same   respect  paid  to  the  lence,  mentions  the  BARD  IN  WAITING 

bard  in  other  constitutions.  "  Qui  HAR-  being  introduced  to  lull  the  Caliph  asleep. 

PATOREM,   &c.     Whoever  shall  strike  a  And  Maundeville  mentions  MINSTKELLES 

HARPER  who  can  harp  in  a  public  assem-  as  established  officers  in  the  court  of  the 

bly,  shall  compound  with  him  by  a  com-  emperor  of  Cathay, 
position  of  four  times  more,  than  for  any  x  See  Temple,  ubi  supr.  p.  346. 

other  man  of  the  same  condition."  Legg. 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.  xll 

produced  between  the  Welsh  and  Scandinavians  from  the  piratical  ir- 
ruptions 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  arid  Irish  kings  ;  and  it  is  at  least  pro- 
bable, 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  de- 
tached 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  highlands 
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  ge- 
nerally constitute,  the  early  poetry  of  a  barbarous  people,  should  so 
frequently  give  place  to  a  gentler  set  of  manners,  to  the  social  sensi- 
bilities 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  com- 
mon principles  be  expected  among  nations,  whom  we  are  accustomed  to 
call  barbarous ;  that  some  few  instances  of  an  elevated  strain  of  friend- 
ship, 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  Scan- 
dinavian 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  EXTRAVA- 
GANT in  all  O^sian's  poems,  is  founded  on  an  essential  article  of  the 


xlii 


DISSERTATION     I. 


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  ancient  Danes  the 
most  daring  act  of  courage  to  engage  with  a  ghost y.  Had  Ossian  found 
it  convenient  to  have  introduced  religion  into  his  compositions2,  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*.  Hence  the 
Franks  must  have  been  in  some  measure  used  to  their  language,  well 
acquainted  with  their  manners,  and  conversant  in  their  poetry.  Charle- 
magne is  said  to  have  delighted  in  repeating  the  most  ancient  and 
barbarous  odes,  which  celebrated  the  battles  of  ancient  kings b.  But  we 


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,  corre- 
sponds with  what  Olaus  Wormius  relates 
of  the  Danes.  Monum.  Danic.  Hafn.  1634. 
p.  38.  See  also  Ol.  Magn.  Hist.  xvi. 
2.  In  the  Hervarar  Sega,  the  sword  of 
Suarfulama  is  forged  by  the  dwarfs,  and 
called  Tirfing.  Hick es,  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.  Hove- 
den  says,  that  when  Geoffrey  of  Planta- 
genet  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  ex- 
cellent of  all  sword-smiths."  Hoved.  f.444. 
ii.  Sect.  50.  The  mere  mechanic,  who  is 
only  mentioned  as  a  skilful  artist  in  hi- 
story, becomes  a  magician  or  a  preter- 
natural being  in  romance. 

[The  sword-smith  here  recorded,  is  the 
hero  of  the  Volundar-quitha  in  Saemund's 
Edda.  He  is  called  Weland  in  the  poem 
of  Beowulf;  Welond  by  king  Alfred  in 
his  translation  of  Boethius  ;  and  Guielan- 
dus  by  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth.  Mr.  Ellis 
affirms  that  he  is  also  spoken  of  in  the 
Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish  Border.  This 
has  escaped  me  ;  but  it  is  to  this  circum- 
stance, perhaps,  that  we  are  indebted  for 


the  introduction  of  his  name  in  the  novel 
of  Kenilworth. — PRICE.] 

[The  preposterous  introduction  of  this 
venerable  mythic  personage  into  a  novel, 
the  time  of  which  is  laid  in  the  reign  of  Eli- 
zabeth, may  be  ascribed  to  Scott's  eagerness 
to  turn  every  thing  thriftily  to^eccount  in 
his  wholesale  literary  manufactory. — R.T.] 

[See  on  the  subject  of  the  Smith  Ve- 
lant,  an  article  by  G.  B.  Depping,  in  the 
New  Monthly  Magazine  for  1822,  p.  527, 
and  the  same  paper  very  much  augmented 
in  "  Veland  le  Forgeron  ;  Dissertation  sur 
une  tradition  du  moyen  age ;  par  G.  B. 
Depping  et  Francisque  Michel."  8vo.  Par. 
1833.— M.] 

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,  Traiavi^o vres  Kai  adov- 
res  vp,vov  GTTIVIKIOV.  Lib.  v.  p.  352.  See 
also  p.  308.  "  The  Celts,"  says  ^lian, 
"  I  hear,  are  the  most  enterprising  of  men  : 
they  make  those  warriors  who  die  bravely 
in  fight  the  subject  of  songs,  rwv  Aer/ta- 
Twv."  Var.  Hist.  Lib.  xxii.  c.  23.  Posi- 
donius  gives  us  a  specimen  of  the  manner 
of  a  Celtic  bard.  He  reports,  that  Luer- 
nius,  a  Celtic  chief,  was  accustomed,  out 
of  a  desire  of  popularity,  to  gather  crowds 
of  his  people  together,  and  to  throw  them 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.      xliii 


are  not  informed  whether  these  were  Scandinavian,  Celtic,  or  Teutonic 
poems. 


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  gene- 
rosity, 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  con- 
queror of  Varus,  "  is  yet  sung  among  the 
barbarous  nations."  That  is,  probably 
among  the  original  Germans.  Annal.  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,  pa- 
trio  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,  no- 
tissimus."  Again,  speaking  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  he  says,  "  Boios  eidem  bellum 
indixisse  ANTIQUIS  CANITUR  CARMINI- 
BUS."  ibid.  Lib.  i.  p.  25.  Concerning 
king  Brennus,  says  the  same  historian, 
"  Carmina  vernaculo  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,  La- 
ertes 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 
achievements  of  the  German  warriors, 
ibid.  Lib.i.  p.  18.  See  also  ibid.  Lib.vii. 
p.  432.  Lib.  i.  p.  9.  And  many  other  pas- 
sages to  this  purpose.  [The  reader  who 
is  desirous  of  further  information  on  this 
copious  subject,  may  consult  Mr.  von  der 
Hagen's  republication  of  the  "  Helden- 
buch,"  or  his  "  Grundriss  zur  Geschichte 
der  Deutschen  Poesie." — PRICE.]  Suffri- 
dus  Petrus  cites  some  old  Frisian  rhymes, 
De  Orig.  Frisior.  1.  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 
1 490,  we  learn,  that  among  the  ancient 
Franks  and  Germans,  it  was  an  exercise  in 
the  education  of  youth,  for  them  to  learn 
to  repeat  and  to  sing  verses  of  the 
achievements  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  ancient  Theotisc  or  Teutonic 
ode  I  know,  is  an  Epinicion  published  by 
Schilter,  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
Thesaurus  Antiquilatum  Teutonicarum, 
written  in  the  year  883.  He  entitles  it 
EHINIKION  rhythmo  Teutonico  Ludo- 
vico  regi  acclamatum  cum  Northmannos 
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  spe- 
cimen from  Schiller's  Latin  interpreta- 
tion, 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  adver- 
saries. 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  [rather,  the  holy  song, 
lioth  frono]  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  mili- 
tary chorus  Kyrie  eleison,  it  appears  to 
have  been  used  by  the  Christian  emperors 
before  an  engagement.  See  B.ona,  Rer. 
Liturg.  ii.  c.  4.  Vossius,  Theolog.  Gentil. 
i.  c.  2.  3.  Matth.  Brouerius  de  Niedek, 
De  Populor.  vet.  et  recent.  Adorationi- 
bus,  p.  31.  And  among  the  ancient  Nor- 
vegians,  Erlingus  Scacchius,  before  he 
attacked  earl  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  torn.  ii.  Scriptor.  Bruns.  Leib- 
nit.  Compare  Bed.  Hist.  Eccles.  A  nglican. 
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 
finemimponunt  HYMNI  MILITARES  qui- 


XtlV 


DISSERTATION     I 


About  the  beginning  of  the  tenth  century,  France  was  invaded  by 
the  Normans,  or  NORTHERN-MEN,  an  army  of  adventurers  from  Nor- 
way, Denmark,  and  Sweden.  And  although  the  conquerors,  espe- 
cially 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  Europe0.  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 


bus  iste  titulus,  Aico\ov8ia 
€7Tt  Ka.Tev(i)$n)(rei  KO.I  o-UjLt/ia^i^  errpa- 
T-OB,"  &c.  Catal.  Cod.  &c.  p.  600.  See 
Meursius's  edit,  of  Leo's  Tactics,  c.  xii. 
p.  155.  Lugd.  Bat.  1612.  .4 to.  But  to 
return  to  the  main  subject  of  this  tedious 
note.  Wagenseil,  in  a  letter  to  Cuperus, 
mentions  a  treatise  written  by  one  Ernest 
Casimir  Wassenback,  I  suppose  a  German, 
with  this  title,  "  De  Bardis  ac  Barditu, 
sive  antiquis  Carminibus  ac  Cantilenis 
veterum  Germanorum  Dissertatio,  cui 
junctus  est  de  S.  Annone  Coloniensi  archi- 
episcopo  vetustlssimus  omnium  Germa- 
norum rhythmus  el  monumentum."  See 
Polen.  Supplem.  Thesaur.  Gronov.  et 
Graev.  torn.  iv.  p.  24.  I  do  not  think  it 
was  ever  published.  See  Joach.  Swabius, 
de  Semnotheis  veterum  Germanorum  phi- 
losophis.  p.  8.  And  Sect.  i.  infr.  p.  7. 
PeHoutier,  sur  la  Lang.  Celt.  part.  i.  torn.  i. 
ch.xii.  p.  20. 

£Mr  Warton  in  this  note  refers  to  Vos- 
sius ;  but  that  author  does  not  speak  of 
the  Kyrie  eleisoii  as  a  war-cry,  but  merely 
as  a  common  invocation  to  the  Deity 
among  the  Christians. — DOUCE.] — [But 
Warton  is  perfectly  correct  as  to  the  fact, 
though  he  may  have  misquoted  his  au- 
thority: "  Kyrie  eleison  cantantes  more 
fidelium  militum  properantium  ad  bel- 
lum,  saliendo  ingress!  sunt  Rhenum." — 
Mirac.  S.  Verenae,  torn.  i.  Sept.  p.  170. 


col.  2.  Carpentier  in  voce. — Bede  records 
a  similar  practice.  "  Tune  subito  Germa- 
nos  signifer  universes  admonet  et  prsedicat, 
ut  voci  suse  uno  clamore  respondeant,  se- 
curisque  hostibns  qui  se  insperatos  adesse 
confiderent  ALLELUIA  tertio  repetitum 
Sacerdotes  exclamabant.  Sequitur  una 
vox  omnium  et  elatum  clarnorem  reper- 
cusso  aere  montium  conclusa  multipli- 
cant,"  &c.  Beda,  Lib.  i  Eccl.  Hist.  Anglic, 
cap.  xx.  But  see  Schiller's  notes  to  this 
Epinicion,  v.  94  ;  where  other  authorities 
are  cited. — PRICE.] 

We  must  be  careful  to  distinguish  be- 
tween 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. 

[A  contrary  opinion  of  their  genuine- 
ness is  now  generally  and  with  justice  re- 
ceived as  the  true  one.  See  Laing's 
edition  of  Ossian,  and  Adelung's  Mithri- 
dates.— M.] 

c  Of  the  long  continuance  of  the  Celtic 
superstitions  in  the  popular  belief,  see 
what  is  said  in  the  most  elegant  and  ju- 
dicious piece  of  criticism  which  the  pre- 
sent age  has  produced,  Mrs.  Montague's 
Essay  on  Shakspeare,  p.  145.  edit.  1772. 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OP   ROMANTIC   FICTION   IN   EUROPE.  xlv 

respects  congenial  to  their  ownd:  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  aug- 
menting 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  1157e.  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.  Con- 
taining their  expeditions  into  Hunland,  and  Arabia,  with  their  numerous 
encounters  with  the  Vikings  and  the  giants.  Also  their  leagues  with  Alsota, 
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,  after- 
wards of  Babylon  and  Niniveh.  Comprehending  various  occurrences 
in  Saxland,  Babylon,  Greece,  Africa,  and  especially  in  Eirice*  the 
region  of  the  giants. — SAGAN  AF  ALEFLECK.  The  History  of  Ale- 


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  Hervarar  Saga,  the 
sword  of  Suarfulama  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  like- 
wise his  mules,  asses,  and  camels.  Horses 
were  named  in  this  manner  among  the 
Runic  heroes.  See  Ol.  Wurm.  ut  supr. 
p.  110.  Odin's  horse  was  called  SLEIPNER. 
See  Edda  Island,  fab.  xxi.  I  could  give 
other  proofs ;  but  we  have  already  wan- 


dered too  far,  in  what  Spenser  calls,  this 
delightfull  londc  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  Charle- 
magne's sword  Gaudiosa.  See  Obs. 
Spens.  i.  §.  vi.  p.  214.  By  the  way, 
from  these  correspondencies,  an  argu- 
ment might  be  drawn,  to  prove  the  ori- 
ental 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  Ara- 
bians. 

[See  a  very  curious  description  of 
Gaileon's  sword  Duransard  in  the  ro- 
mance of  "  La  plaisante  et  delectable 
Histoire  de  Gerileon  d'Angleterre."  Paris 
1572.  p.  47.  A  sword  of  a  most  enormous 
size  is  related  by  Froissart  to  have  been 
used  by  Archibald  Douglas.  See  Lib.  ii. 
c.  10. — DOUCE.] 

[See  also  Taylor's  Glory  of  Regality, 
p.  71.— PRICE.] 

e  Ol.  Worm.  Lit.  Run.  p.  241. 

f  Jd.  Ibid.  p.  196.  Vid.  infr.  p.  xlvii. 
note  °. 

g  In  the  Latin  EIRIC^EA  REGIONE.  f. 
Erst-  or  Irish  land. 


xlvi 


DISSERTATION     I. 


fleck,  a  king  of  England,  and  of  his  expeditions  into  India  and 
Tartanj.— SAG  AN  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^"  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  Nini- 
veh,  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  Scandina- 
vian scalds1.  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  giantsk. SAGAN  AF  KARLAMAG- 

NUSE  OF  HOPPUM  HANS.  The  History  of  Charlemagne,  of  his  cham- 
pions, 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  Dane1.  2.  Of  Aglandus  king  of  Africa, 
and  of  his  son  Jatmund,  and  their  wars  in  Spain  with  Charlemagne. 


"  Wanley,  apud  Hickes,  iii.  p.  314. 
seq. 

1  It  is  amazing  how  early  and  how  uni- 
versally this  fable  was  spread.  G.  de  la 
Flamma  says,  that  in  the  year  1339,  an 
ancient  tomb  of  a  king  of  the  Lombards 
was  broke  up  in  Italy.  On  his  sword  was 
written,  "  C'el  est  1'espee  de  Meser  Tris- 
tant,  un  qui  occist  1'Amoroyt  d'Yrlant." 
— i.  e.  "  This  is  the  sword  of  sir  Tris- 
tram, who  killed  Amoroyt  of  Ireland." 
Script.  Ital.  torn.  xii.  1028.  The  Ger- 
mans are  said  to  have  some  very  ancient 
narrative  songs  on  our  old  British  heroes, 
Tristram,  Gawain,  and  the  rest  of  the 
knights  Von  der  Tafel-ronde.  See  Gol- 
dast.  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  Con- 
stantius."  Wanl.  ibid.  There  are  many 
others,  perhaps  of  later  date,  relating  to 
English  history,  particularly  the  history 
of  William  the  Bastard  and  other  chris- 
tians,  in  their  expedition  into  the  holy 
land.  The  history  of  the  destruction  of 
the  monasteries  in  England,  by  William 
Rufus.  Wanl.  ibid. 

[It  will  perhaps  be  superfluous  to  re- 
mark, that  all  the  Sagas  mentioned  in  the 
text,  are  the  production  of  an  age  long 


subsequent  to  the  reign  of  William  Rufus. 
— PRICE.] 

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. 
Artie,  vii.  Varise  Britannorum  fabulae, 
quas  in  carmine  conversas  olim,  atque 
in  conviviis  ad  citharam  decantari  solitas 
fuisse,  perhibent.  Sunt  autem  relationes 
de  GUIAMARO  equite  Britannise  meri- 
dionalis  ^Eskeliod  Britannis  veteribus 
dictae.  De  Nobilium  duorum  conjugibus 

gemellos  enixis ;  et  id  genus  alia. 

pag.  37.  Artie,  v.  Drama  epwriKov  fol.  in 
membran.  Res  continet  amatorias,  olim, 
ad  jocum  concitandum  Islandica  lingua 
scriptum. — ibid.  Artie,  vii.  The  history 
of  Duke  Julianus,  son  of  S.  Giles.  Con- 
taining many  things  of  Earl  William  and 
Rosamund.  In  the  ancient  Islandic. 
See  Observations  on  the  Fairy  Queen, 
i.  p.  203.  204.  §.  vi. 

1  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  pre- 
served and  shown  in  a  monastery  of  the 
north,  Bartholin.  ibid.  p.  579. 


OP  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.       xlvil 

3.  Of  Roland,  and  his,  combat  with  Villaline  king  of  Spain.  4.  Of 
Ottuel's  conversion  to  Christianity,  and  his  marriage  with  Charle- 
magne'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  achievements  in  Rouncevalles, 
and  of  his  death1"."  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  arch- 
bishop 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".  It  is  not  likely  that  these  pieces, 
to  say  no  more,  were  not  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  natu- 
rally interpreted  to  be  the  marks  of  cowardice  and  pusillanimity0.  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  chil- 
dren and  successors;  and  that  these,  adopting  the  religion,  opinions, 
and  language  of  the  new  country,  substituted  the  heroes  of  Christen- 
dom, 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  enchantments'1.  There  is,  however,  some  reason  to  be- 
lieve, 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  enchantments  of  the  Runic  poetry  are  very 

m  Wanley,  ut  supr.  p.  314.  mall,  who  was  said  to  have  written  it  at 

n  See  infr.  Sect.iii.  p.  135.  the  request  of  Aslaug,  Lodbrog's  widow. 

0  Regner  Lodbrog,  in  his  Dying  Ode,  But   Mr.  Erichsen,   the   learned   and  ju- 

speaking  of  a  battle  fought  against  the  dicious  editor  of  the  Royal  Mirror  and 

Christians,  says,  in  ridicule  of  the  eucha-  Gunlaug  Ormstunga   Saga,  selected  this 

rist,    "   There    we    celebrated    a   MASS  very  expression  (odda  messu)  as  a  proof 

[Missu,  Island.~\  of  weapons."  of  its  later  origin,  and  of  the  author  being 

[As  the  narrative  of  this  ode  is  couched  a  Christian.     It  is  now  usually  assigned 

in  the  first  person,  it  was  for  a  long  time  to  the  close  of  the  eleventh  or  beginning 

considered   to  be  Regner's  own  produc-  of  the  twelfth  century. — PRICE.] 

tion.     A  more   sober  spirit  of  criticism  p  Percy's  Ess.  Metr.  Rom.  p.  viii. 
afterwards  referred  it  to  Bragi  hinn  ga- 


xlviii  DISSERTATION     I. 

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  my- 
sterious 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  glitter- 
ing with  gold  and  precious  stones.  The  Runic  magic  is  more  like  that 
of  Canidia  in  Horace,  the  romantic  resembles  that  of  Armida  in 
Tas»o.  The  operations  of  the  one  are  frequently  but  mere  tricks,  in 
comparison  of  that  sublime  solemnity  of  necromantic  machinery  which 
the  other  so  awfully  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  in- 
troduction 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  com- 
poses 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 
Aneurinq.  This  reasoning  explains  an  observation  of  an  ingenious 


*  [With  the  exception  of  the  "fairies,"  overwhelm  them,  like  a  deluge,  in  one 

this  is  strikingly  incorrect.  The  Edda  and  slaughter:  for  unheeding  I  have  lost  a 

Beowulf,  the  earliest  remains  of  Northern  friend,  who  was  brave  in  resisting  his 

poetry,  make  frequent  mention  of  giants  enemies.  I  drank  of  the  wine  and  rne- 

(Jotna-kyn,  Eotena-cyn,  the  Etens-kin)  theglin  of  Mordai,  whose  spear  was  of 

and  dragons.  The  latter  speaks  of  both  huge  size.  In  the  shock  of  the  battle  he 

land  and  sea  dragons,  (eord-draca,  sae-  prepared  food  for  the  eagle.  When  Cyd- 

draca,  earth-drake,  sea-drake). — PRICE.]  wal  hastened  forward,  a  shout  arose: 

q  Who  flourished  about  the  year  570.  before  the  yellow  morning,  when  he  gave 

He  has  left  a  long  spirited  poem  called  the  signal,  he  broke  the  shield  into  small 

GODODIX,  often  alluded  to  by  the  later  splinters.  The  men  hastened  to  Catt- 

Welsh  bards,  which  celebrates  a  battle  raeth,  noble  in  birth :  their  drink  was 

fought  against  the  Saxons  near  Cattraeth,  wine  and  mead  out  of  golden  cups.  There 

under  the  conduct  of  Mynnydawe  Eiddin,  were  three  hundred  and  sixty-three 

in  which  all  the  Britons,  three  only  ex-  adorned  with  chains  of  gold;  but  of  those 

cepted,  among  which  was  the  bard  Aneurin  who,  filled  with  wine,  rushed  on  to  the 

himself,  were  slain.  I  will  give  a  speci-  fight,  only  three  escaped,  who  hewed 

men.  "  The  men  whose  drink  was  mead,  their  way  with  the  sword,  the  warrior  of 

comely  in  shape,  hastened  to  Cattraeth.  Acron,  Conan  Dacarawd,  and  I  the  bard 

These  impetuous  warriors  in  ranks,  armed  Aneurin,  red  with  blood,  otherwise  I 

with  red  spears,  long  and  bending,  began  should  not  have  survived  to  compose  this 

the  battle.  Might  I  speak  my  revenge  song.  When  Caradoc  hastened  to  the 

against  the  people  of  the  Deiri,  I  would  war,  he  was  the  son  of  a  wild  boar,  in 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.        xlix 

critic  in  this  species  of  literature,  and  who  has  studied  tiie  works  of 
the  Welsh  bards  with  much  attention.  "  There  are  not  such  extrava- 
gant 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*"  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  Cainlan,  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  bards8;  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  connexion 
with  that  province  of  Gaul.  Such  a  fiction  as  this  is  entirely  different 
from  the  cast  and  complexion  of  the  ideas  of  the  original  Welsh  poets. 
It  is  easy  to  collect  from  the  Welsh  odes,  written  after  the  tenth  cen- 
tury, many  signatures  of  this  EXOTIC  imagery.  Such  as,  "  Their 
assault  was  like  strong  lions.  He  is  valorous  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 

hewing  down  the  Saxons ;  a  bull  in  the  modern  Welsh.  See  the  learned  and  in- 
conflict  of  fight,  he  twisted  the  wood  genious  Mr.  Evans's  Dissertatio  de  Bardis,, 
[spear]  from  their  hands.  Gurien  saw  p.  68 — 75. 
not  his  father  after  he  had  lifted  the  glis-  r  Evans,  ubi  supr.  Pref.  p.  iv. 
tening  mead  in  his  hand.  I  praise  all  the  s  The  Arabians  call  the  Fairies  Ginn, 
warriors  who  thus  met  in  the  battle,  and  and  the  Persians  Peri.  The  former  call 
attacked  the  foe  with  one  mind.  Their  Fairy-land,  Ginnistian,  many  beautiful 
life  was  short,  but  they  have  left  a  long  cities  of  which  they  have  described  in 
regret  to  their  friends.  Yet  of  the  Saxons  their  fabulous  histories.  See  Herbclot, 
they  slew  more  than  seven  .  .  .  ,  .  There  Bibl.  Orient.  Gian.  p.  306  a.  Genn.  p.  375 
was  many  a  mother  shedding  tears.  The  a.  Peri.  p.  701  b.  They  pretend  that  the 
song  is  due  to  thee  who  hast  attained  the  fairies  built  the  city  of  Esthekar,  or  Per- 
highest  glory:  thou  who  wast  like  fire,  sepolis.  Id.  in  V.  p.  327  a.  One  of  the  most 
thunder  and  storm:  O  Rudd  Fedell,  war-  eminent  of  the  Oriental  fairies  was  MER- 
like  champion,  excellent  in  might,  you  GIAN  PERI,  or  Mergian  the  Fairy.  Herbel. 
still  think  of  the  war.  The  noble  chiefs  ut  supr.  V.  Peri,  p.  702  a.  Thahamurath, 
deserve  to  be  celebrated  in  verse,  who  p.  1017  a.  This  was  a  good  fairy,  and 
after  the  fight  made  the  rivers  to  over-  imprisoned  for  ages  in  a  cavern  by  tha 
flow  their  banks  with  blood.  Their  hands  giant  Demrusch,  from  which  she  was  de-- 
glutted the  throats  of  the  dark-brown  livered  by  Thahamurath,  whom  she  after- 
eagles,  and  skilfully  prepared  food  for  the  wards  assisted  inconqueringanothergiant, 
ravenous  birds.  Of  all  the  chiefs  who  his  enemy.  Id.  ibid.  And  this  is  the  fairy 
went  to  Cattraeth  with  golden  chains,"  or  elfin  queen,  called  in  the  French  ro- 
&c.  This  poem  is  extremely  difficult  to  mances  MORGAN  LE  FAY,  Morgain  the 
be  understood,  being  written,  if  not  in  fairy,  who  preserved  king  Arthur.  See 
the  Pictish  language,  at  least  in  a  dialect  Obs.  on  Spenser's  Fairy  Queen,  i.  63.  65. 
»f  the  Britons  very  different  from  the  §.  ii. 
VOL.  I.  d 


1  DISSERTATION    I. 

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  burn- 
ing dragon  in  the  strife  of  Arson.  He  is  furious  in  fight  like  an  out- 
rageous 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  unadul- 
terated 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*.  O  thou  virgin,  that  shinest  like 
snow  on  the  brows  of  Aran " ;  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  sea  shore,  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  hawkw:  her  face  shone  like  the  pearly  dew  on 
Eryri*.  Llewellyn  is  a  hero  who  setteth  castles  on  fire.  I  have 
watched  all  night  on  the  beadh,  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  V  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  con- 
ceptions*. 

1  A  beautiful  periphrasis  for  noon-day,  v  See  Evans,  ubi  supr.  p.  8.  10,  11.  15, 

and  extremely  natural  in  so  mountainous  16.  21,  22,  23.  26.  28.  34.  37.  39,  40,  41, 

a  country  as  Wales.     This   circumstance  42.    And  his  Diss.  de  Bard.  p.  84.    Com- 

of  time  added  to  the  merit  of  the  action.  pare  Aneurin's  ode,  cited  above. 

u  The  high  mountains  in  Merioneth-  *  Huet  is  of  opinion,  that  the  EDDA  is 

entirely  the  production  of  Snorro's  fancy. 

See  it.fr.  vol.  n.  p.  158.  note3.  But  this  is  saying  too  much.     See  Orig. 

Mountains  of  snow,  from  Eiry,  snow.  Roman,  p.  1 16.     The  first  Edda  was  com.- 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF   ROMANTIC   FICTION   IN   EUROPE.  Il 

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  incon- 
siderable 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  sur- 
prised 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  author- 
ity, and  distinguished  with  new  privileges,  in  all  the  European  govern- 
ments established  by  the  northern  conquerors.  Even  amidst  the  con- 
fusions 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  jMace  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  con- 
duct the  great  events  which  they  predicted.  Ganna,  a  prophetic  virgin 

piled,  undoubtedly  with  many  additions  ligible  and  connected  prose  narrative, 
and  interpolations,  from  fictions  and  tra-  The  object  of  Saemund  appears  to  have 
ditions  in  the  old  Runic  poems,  by  Saemund  been,  the  formation  of  a  poetic  Antho- 
Sigfusson,  surnamed  the  Learned,  [Sage]  logy,  rather  than  a  regular  series  of  mythic 
about  the  year  1057.  He  seems  to  have  and  historic  documents; — that  of  Snorro, 
made  it  his  business  to  select  or  digest  to  offer  a  general  outline  of  the  Northern 
into  one  body  such  of  these  pieces  as  were  mythology.  The  Rev.  P.  Erasmus  Miiller, 
best  calculated  .to  furnish  a  collection  of  in  his  tract  "  Ueber  die  Asalehre"  has 
poetic  phrases  and  figures.  He  studied  successfully  vindicated  Snorro  from  the 
in  Germany,  and  chiefly  at  Cologne.  charge  of  palming  upon  the  world  his 
This  first  Edda  being  not  only  prolix,  but  own  inventions  as  the  religious  code  of 
perplexed  and  obscure,  a  second,  which  is  the  North.  It  should  however  be  remark- 
that  now  extant,  was  compiled  by  Snorro  ed,  that  tradition  alone  or  very  recent  ma- 
Sturleson,  born  in  the  year  1179.  nuscripts  attribute  the  formation  of  the 
[This  has  been  copied  from  Mallet,  first  collection  to  Saenmnd.  This  does 
who  seems  only  to  have  seen  the  Edda  not  rest  on  certain  testimony. — PRICE.] 
of  Snorro  as  published  by  Resenius.  It  is  certain,  and  very  observable,  that 
The  Edda  of  Saemund  has  since  been  in  the  EDDA  we  find  much  more  of  giants, 
published  at  Copenhagen  by  the  Arnse-  dragons,  and  other  imaginary  beings,  un- 
Magnaean  Commission.  The  labours  of  doubtedly  belonging  to  Arabian  romance, 
Saemund  were  confined  to  collecting  the  than  in  the  earlier  Scaldic  odes.  By  the 
mythological  and  historical  songs  of  his  way,  there  are  many  strokes  in  both  the 
country,  which  he  probably  prefaced  and  EDDAS  taken  from  the  REVELATION  of 
interspersed  with  a  few  remarks  in  prose;  St.  John,  which  must  come  from  the  com- 
— those  of  Snorro,  to  reducing  the  same  pilers  who  were  Christians, 
or  a  similar  collection  into  a  more  intel- 


Hi  DISSRRTATION    I. 

of  the  Marcomanni,  a  German  or  Gaulish  tribe,  was  sent  by  her  nation 
to  Rome,  and  admitted  into  the  presence  of  Domitian,  to  treat  concern- 
ing 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  messenger2. 
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  Norwe- 
gians0. The  Cimbri,  a  Scandinavian  tribe,  were  accompanied  at  their 
assemblies  by  venerable  and  hoary-headed  prophetesses,  appareled  in 
long  linen  vestments  of  a  splendid  white d.  Their  matrons  and  daugh- 
ters 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  engagements6. 
These  nations  dreaded  captivity,  more  on  the  account  of  their  women, 
than  on  thefr  own  :  and  the  Romans,  availing  themselves  of  this  appre- 
hension, 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  con- 
stitutions. 

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  increased,  his  attentions 
to  her  service  multiplied,  his  affection  heightened,  and  his  solicitude 
aggravated,  in  proportion  as  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  her  was  en- 
hanced :  and  the  passion  of  love  acquired  a  degree  of  delicacy,  when 
controlled  by  the  principles  of  honour  and  purity.  The  highest  ex- 
cellence 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, 

*  Dio.  lib.  Ixvii.  p.  761.  Dissertatio  de  Mulieribus  Fatidicis  vete- 

*  Hist.  lib.  iv.  p.  953.  edit.  D'Orlean.       rum  Celtarum  gentiumque  Septentriona- 
f°l'  Hum.      See    also   Cluverius's   Germania 

He  says  just  before,  "  ea   virgo   late  Antiqua,   lib.  i.  cap.  xxiv.  pag.  165.  edit, 

imperitabat."    Ibid.  p.  951.     He  saw  her  fol.   Lugd.  Bat.   1631.     It  were  easy  to 

in   the   reign   of  Vespasian.     De  Morib.  trace  the  WEIRD  sisters,  and  our  modern 

German,  p.  972.  where  he  likewise  men-  witches,  to  this  source, 

tions  Aurinia.  e  See  Sect  vii    infr  VQ,  n   p  33      DJ 

b  See   Tacit.    Hist.    lib.  v.   p.  969.    ut  odorus  Siculus  says,  that  among  the  Scy- 

8UPr-  thians  the  women  are  trained  to  war  as 

De  Morib.  German,  p.  983.  ut  supra.  well  as  the  men,  to  whom  they  are  not  in- 

*  Strab.  Geograph.  lib.  viii.  p.  205.  edit.  fe-rior  in  strength  and  courage.  L.  ii.  p.  90. 
Is.  Cas.   1587.   fol.      Compare    Keysler,  '  Tacit,   de  Morib.  Germ.  pag.  972.  ut 
Amiquit.  Sel.  Septentrional,  p.  371.  viz.  supr. 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.          liii 

the  same  heroic  spirit  which  was  the  survest  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* 
It  is  easy  to  suppose  the  officious  emulation  and  ardour  of  many  a 
gallant  young  warrior,  pressing  forward  to  be  foremost  in  this  honour- 
able service,  which  flattered  the  most  agreeable  of  all  passions,  and 
which  gratified  every  enthusiasm  of  the  times,  especially  the  fashionable 
foulness  for  a  wandering  and  military  life.  In  the  mean  time,  we  may 
conceive  the  lady  thus  won,  or  thus  defended,  conscious  of  her  own  im- 
portance, affecting  an  air  of  stateliness  :  it  was  her  pride  to  have  pre- 
served 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 
achievement  of  chivalry.  It  was  the  delivery  of  a  beautiful  Swedish 
princess  from  an  impregnable  fortress,  in  which  she  was  forcibly  de- 
tained by  one  of  her  father's  captains.  Her  father  issued  a  proclama- 
tion, 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  [not*]  like'  being  placed  near  a  beautiful  virgin  on  a 
couch.  —  It  was  [not*]  like  kissing  a  young  widow  in  the  first  seat  at 

g  See  instances  of  this  sort  of  violence  [This    "  History    of   Hialmar  "   is   a 

in  the  ancient  HISTORY  OF  HIALMAR,  a  modern  forgery.  See  the  Rev.  P.  Miiller's 

Runic    romance,  p.  135,  136.  140.    Diss.  preface     to    Haldorsen's    Islandic     Dic- 

Epist.    ad  calc.  Hickes.    Thesaur.  vol.  i.  tionary,  where  other  "figments"  of  a.  si- 

where  also  is  a  challenge   between    two  milar  kind  are  catalogued.  —  PRICE.] 
champions  for  king  Hialmar's  daughter.  „  Histor.  Norw.  torn.  i.  lib 


erich  presents  .     ines.ivnaoe  h 

:?  ±;  ?hoVnr  ££?  2s  r  fhe: 

other,  mmA  Hramur,  «,  e  Udy  herse.f, 


r  fhe:  »<  Asiruga  the       a   h 


praeclara  6est*  s'ockholm- 

piece,  which  is  in  Runic  capital  characters, 

was  written  before  the  year  1000.    Many  *  [The  original  in  both  passages  reads, 

stories  of  this  kij^d  might  be  produced  Verat  sem  —  It  was  not  like.  —  PRICE.] 
from  the  northern  chronicles. 


Hv  DISSERTATION    I. 

a  feast.  I  made  to  struggle  in  the  twilight*  that  golden-haired  chief 
who  passed  his  mornings  among  the  young  maidens,  and  loved  to  con- 
verse with  widows.— lie  who  aspires  to  the  love  of  young  virgins, 
ought  always  to  be  foremost  in  the  din  of  arms1."  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, 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  o^is 
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  homek."  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  Dron- 
theim  in  a  bloody  engagement.  He  had  traversed  all  the  seas,  and 
visited  all  the  coasts,  of  the  north  ;  and  had  carried  his  piratical  enter- 
prises even  as  far  as  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  shores  of  Africa.  He 
was  at  length  taken  prisoner,  and  detained  for  some  time  at  Constan- 
tinople. 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  Elis- 
siff,  or  Elisabeth,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  Jarilas,  king  of  Russia1. 

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  regu- 
lar 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 

*  [Dr.  Percy  has  it,  "  in  the  twilight  I  saw  retire  the  fair-haired 

of  death,"  which  adds  greatly  to  the  sub-  Maids-lad  at  morning, 

limity  of  the  passage.     See  the  second  of  And  sort-speaker  of  (the)  widow. 

?Jr*  Pi™S  °frJ^  P°e«y'  I1"1"16*  ln  The   Perso"   "lluded   to   w«s   A»™>  * 

1 , 63.     The  «  Chief"  was  Harold  Harfax,  ince  £  the  Hebrides.     Mr.  Park  pro- 

king  of  Norway  -PARK  ]  ^bly  means  Harald  Harfager,  who  was 

[Unhappily  the  Islandic  text  makes  no       not  born  at  the  time.-PRiCE.] 
mention  of  the  "  twilight.  i  gt    jg    ^    jp   9^ 

Har-fagran  sa  ek  hraukva,  fc  Chron.  Norveg.  p.  136. 

Meyar-dreng  at  morgni,  1  Bartholin.  p.  54. 

Oe  mal-vin  eckio, 


OF  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ROMANTIC  FICTION  IN  EUROPE.  lv 

teaching  modes  of  decorum.     The  genius  of  the  feudal  policy  was  per- 
fectly martial.     A  numerous  nobility,  formed  into  separate  principali- 
ties, 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  con- 
ception 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  pas- 
sion for  war  was  tempered  with  courtesy.     The  prize  of  contending 
champions  was  adjudged  by  the  ladies ;  who  did  not  think  it  incon- 
sistent to  be  present  or  to  preside  at  the  bloody  spectacles  of  the  times; 
and  who,  themselves,  seem  to  have  contracted  an  unnatural  and  unbe- 
coming 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  constitu- 
tion, and  the  ambition  of  forming  an  alliance  with  powerful  and  opu- 
lent families,  cherished  this  romantic  system.     It  was  hard  to  obtain 
the  fair  feudatory,  who  was  the  object  of  universal  adoration.     Not 
only  the  splendour  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  attach- 
ment to  some  illustrious  heiress,  whose  point  of  honour  it  was  to  be 
chaste  and  inaccessible.     And  the  difficulty  of  success  on  these  occa- 
sions 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  administra- 
tion of  justice,  the  general  disorder,  and  state  of  universal  anarchy, 
which  naturally  sprung  from  the  principles  of  the  feudal  policy,  pre- 
sented 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  preg- 
nant 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  author- 
ity 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, 


v  DISSERTATION     I. 

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  gal- 
lantry was  quickly  overwhelmed  and  extinguished  by  the  superior 
pomp  which  it  necessarily  adopted  from  the  gradual  diffusion  of  opu- 
lence and  civility,  and  that  blaze  of  splendour  with  which  it  was  sur- 
rounded, 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  ro- 
mance. 

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  scalds,  who  perhaps  originally  derived  their  ideas  from 
the  same  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  centred  about  the 
eleventh  century  in  the  ideal  histories  of  Turpin  and  Geoffrey  of  Mon- 
mouth,  which  record  the  supposititious  achievements  of  Charlemagne 
and  king  Arthur,  where  they  formed  the  groundwork  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. 


[NOTE. — The  whole  of  this  essay  is  extremely  illogical  and  unsatisfactory.  War- 
ton's  leading  position. — respecting  the  influence  of  Arabic  literature  in  Europe,— is 
unsound,  and  most  of  the  proofs  which  he  alleges  are  matters  which  require  proving 
themselves.  The  two  poems  of  Beowulf  and  the  Nibelungen  Lied,  are  a  complete 
practical  refutation  of  his  entire  system.— R.  G.] 


Note  B. 
BY  MR.  PRICE. 

ON  THE  LAIS  OF  MARIE  DE  FRANCE. 

See  DISSERTATION  I.  page  iii.  Note  [d]. 

THE  opinion  advanced  in  this  note  [d],  that  the  "  Lays  of  Brittany" 
were  written  in  French  by  bards  of  that  province,  was  withdrawn  in  a 
subsequent  volume.  (See  vol.  ii.  p.  323,  note  A.)  Since  then,  the 
poems  of  Marie  have  been  published  under  the  following  title:  "  Poesies 
de  Marie  de  France,  ou  Recueil  de  Lais,  Fables  et  autres  Productions 
de  cette  Femme  celebre,  par  B.  de  Roquefort:  Paris,  1820:  2  vols. 
8vo."  In  addition  to  the  twelve  Lays  contained  in  the  Harl.  MS.  (cited 
above),  M.  Roquefort  has  inserted  the  Lai  de  Graelent,  given  in  Bar- 
bazan  (tom.iv.  p.  157),  arid  the  Lai  de  1'Epine,  analysed  by  Le  Grand 
(torn.  iii.  p.  24-4?).  We  are  not  informed  upon  what  authority  these 
pieces  are  assigned  to  Marie,  and  it  is  probable  that  internal  evidence 
alone  has  governed  the  editor  in  his  decision.  This  is  sufficiently 
striking  to  arrest  the  attention  of  a  foreigner  little  acquainted  with  the 
niceties  of  the  dialect  in  which  they  are  written  :  but  the  fact,  if  such, 
ought  to  have  been  stated.  On  the  authority  of  a  line  which  does  not 
occur  in  M.  Roquefort's  copy,  M.  de  la  Rue  is  disposed  to  ascribe  the 
Lai  de  1'Epine  to  Guillaume-le-Normand.  Such  an  omission  would  not 
be  extraordinary  in  different  manuscripts  of  the  same  work,  whether 
the  result  of  accident  or  design :  but  M.  Roquefort  mentions  the  cir- 
cumstance as  if  he  and  his  learned  friend  had  both  consulted  the  same 
document.  If  this  be  the  case,  it  may  be  observed  in  corroboration 
of  the  objection  raised  by  the  latter  to  the  claim  of  Guillaume,  that 
the  introduction  to  the  Lay  shows  it  to  have  formed  one  of  a  series,  and 
that  it  was  not  an  occasional  or  unconnected  production. 

Les  aventures  trespassers, 
Que  diversement  ai  contees, 
NeV  ai  pas  dites  sans  garant ; 
Les  estores  en  tra'i  avant ; 
Ki  encore  sont  a  Carlion, 
Ens  le  monstier  Saint  Aaron, 
Et  en  Bretaigne  sont  seues*. 

The  late  Mr.  Ritson  chose  to  deny  the  Armorican  origin  of  these 
Lays  ;  and  to  infer,  in  a  long  and  specious  note  appended  to  the  romance 
of  Emare,  that  by  the  terms  "  Bretagne  and  Bretons,"  so  repeatedly 
mentioned  in  them,  were  intended  "  the  country  and  people  of  Great 
Britain."  To  a  part  of  this  proposition  Mr.  Douce  also  seems  to  assent. 

*  v.  3. 


Iviii  NOTE    ON    THE    LAIS 

The  evident  design  of  Mr.  Ritson  in  this  singular  declaration,  was  to 
counteract  a  belief  that  there  ever  existed  a  mass  of  popular  poetry  in 
Brittany,  recording  either  native  traditions,  or  romantic  history  con- 
nected with  the  country  from  whence  a  portion  of  its  inhabitants  had 
migrated.  It  was  of  importance  to  disprove  this  fact,  as  it  so  powerfully 
militated  against  a  favourite  principle  laid  down  in  the  "  Dissertation 
on  Romance,"  that  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  was  the  inventor  of  the 
Chronicle  bearing  his  name, — that  the  labours  of  this  "  impostour" 
became  the  storehouse  of  every  after  fabler  on  the  British  story, — and 
that  previous  to  its  appearance  the  minstrels  of  France  were  as  unac- 
quainted with  the  exploits  of  Arthur  and  his  followers,  as  their  Kal- 
muck brethren  are  at  the  present  day.  By  investing  Marie  with  the 
character  of  an  original  writer,  the  question  of  Geoffrey's  veracity,  as 
to  the  means  by  which  he  obtained  possession  of  his  original,  and  his 
fidelity  in  executing  a  translation,  became  materially  circumscribed ; 
and  the  wild  assertion  of  the  editor  of  Pelloutier's  Dictionary,  that  "  the 
Armorican  Britons  have  not  cultivated  poetry,  and  the  language  such  as 
they  speak  it,  does  not  appear  able  to  ply  to  the  measure,  or  to  the  sweet- 
ness and  to  the  harmony  of  verse"  might  then  be  said  to  stand  uncon- 
fronted  by  opposing  testimony.  It  will  be  needless  to  enter  here  upon 
either-  of  these  positions,  which  affect  a  subject  to  be  discussed  here- 
after ;  and  it  will  be  sufficient  to  offer  a  general  protest  against  the  col- 
lateral evidence  adduced  by  Mr.  Ritson,  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word 
"  Breton"  in  several  old  French  romances.  There  is  but  one  passage 
out  of  many  thus  unnecessarily  pressed  into  the  service,  which  contains 
any  thing  more  than  a  general  reference  to  "  Breton  lays  :" 

Bons  Lais  de  harpe  vus  apris 
Lais  Bretuns  de  nostre  pais. 

This  is  given  from  a  fragment  in  Mr.  Douce's  possession,  and  is  cited 
in  the  language  of  Tristan  to  Ysolt.  But  Mr.  Ritson  has  omitted  to 
mention  that  it  was  uttered  by  Tristan  in  the  presence  of  king  Mark, 
when  he  had  assumed  the  character  of  a  madman,  and  was  just  arrived 
from  a  foreign  country,  of  which  the  name  is  not  specified.  In  all  pro- 
bability this  country  was  Brittany,  as  the  adventure  seems  the  coun- 
terpart to  his  assumption  of  the  beggar's  garb  in  our  English  romance. 

But  admitting  there  was  a  slight  discrepancy  between  the  language 
of  various  romances,  as  to  the  position  of  Bretagne,  the  question  of 
Marie's  claim  to  the  invention  of  these  lays  can  neither  be  invalidated 
nor  supported  by  it.  Every  one  is  aware  that  there  is  no  topic  upon 
which  the  general  language  of  romance  is  more  unsettled  and  contra- 
dictory, than  its  geographical  details.  The  same  liberties  allowed  in 
forming  a  genealogic  line  for  the  hero,  were  extended  to  the  fictitious 
scene  of  his  actions ;  and  countries  the  most  remote  were  as  reacjily 
transferred  to  a  close  and  intimate  proximity,  as  their  customs  and  lan- 
guages were  rendered  identical.  It  would  be  of  the  essence  of  hyper- 


OF    MARIK    DE    FRANCE.  lix 

criticism  to  censure  this  practice,  which  might  be  justified  by  the  very 
charter-rolls  of  romance,  as  indeed  it  would  be  the  height  of  absurdity 
to  bring  such  details  to  the  test  of  chorographic  truth.  The  only 
object  for  consideration  in  applying  the  information  thus  conveyed, 
must  be  the  apparent  intentions  of  the  communicant,  the  probable  ex- 
tent of  his  personal  knowledge,  or  the  accuracy  of  his  avowed  author- 
ities, and  how  far,  in  the  exercise  of  these  resources,  he  is  likely  to 
have  been  swayed  by  the  suggestions  of  his  fancy,  or  misdirected  by 
his  ignorance.  It  will  be  worse  than  useless  to  heap  together,  as 
Mr.  Ritson  has  done,  the  whole  mass  of  evidence  to  be  gathered  from 
every  source,  without  regard  to  the  varied  character  of  the  proofs  thus 
collected,  and  by  drawing  a  general  inference,  to  assign  the  same  author- 
ity to  that  which  is  confessedly  fabulous,  as  to  that  which  may  have 
been  uttered  in  good  faith.  Every  writer  ought  to  be  weighed  in  his 
own  scale ;  and  the  only  hope  we  can  have  of  eliciting  an  author's  in- 
tentions, must  be,  by  resorting  to  his  own  declarations  in  illustration 
of  his  own  peculiar  meaning.  Now  with  respect  to  Marie,  M.  de  la 
Rue*  has  already  shown,  from  the  prologue  to  the  poems,  that  she  only 
aspired  to  the  character  of  a  translator.  Her  first  intention  was  to  have 
given  a  version  in  Romance,  of  some  Latin  writer;  but  finding  the 
ground  preoccupied,  she  abandoned  this  design,  and  resolved  on  versi- 
fying the  Breton  tales  which  she  had  heard  recited  or  found  recorded. 

Des  Lais  pensai  k'o'i  aveie 
Ne  dutai  pas,  bien  le  saveie, 
Ke  pur  remanbrance  les  firent 
Des  aventures  k'il  oi'rent — 

Plusurs  en  ai  o'i  conter, 
Ne  voil  laisser  nes'  oblier  ; 
Rimez  en  ai,  e  fait  ditie 
Soventes  fiez  en  ai  veillie. 

This  is  frequently  referred  to  in  various  parts  of  her  poems  ;  some  of 
which  were  translated  from  written  documents ;  others  versified  from 
recollection,  or  oral  communication  ;  while  the  majority  either  acknow- 
ledge a  Breton  original,  or  contain  decided  proofs  of  a  connection  with 
that  country.  Of  this  the  evidence  shall  now  be  submitted. 

The  first  poem  in  M.  Roquefort's  collection  is  the  Lai  de  Gugemer, 
which  opens  with  the  following  exordium  : 

Les  cuntes  ke  jo  sai  verais 
Dunt  li  Bretun  unt  fait  lor  Lais, 
Vus  cunterai  assez  briefment 
El  cief  de  cest  coumencement. 
Sulunc  la  lettre  e  lescriture 
Vus  musterai  une  aventure 

*  Archaeologia,  vol.  xiii. 


Jx  tfOTE    ON    THE    LAIS 

Ki  en  Bretuiyne  la  menur, 
Avint  al  tens  ancienur*. 

The  Lai  d'Equitan  who  was  "  Sire  de  Nauns,"  (and  of  whose  achieve- 
ments "  LiBretun  firent  un  Lai")  also  commences  with  a  direct  tes- 
timony to  the  practice  of  recording  deeds  of  chivalry  and  heroic  adven- 
ture in  that  country : 

Mut  unt  est6  noble  Barun, 
Cil  de  Bretaine  li  Bretun  ; 
Jadis  suleient  par  pruesce, 
Par  curteisie,  e  par  noblesce, 
Des  aventures  qu'ils  oieent, 
Ki  a  plusur  gent  aveneient 
Fere  les  Lais  pur  remenbrance 
Qu'en  ne  les  meist  en  ubliance. 
N'ent  firent  ceo  o'i  cuntur 
Ki  n'est  fet  mie  a  ublier. 

The  Lai  de  Bisclaveret  is  not  specifically  acknowledged  as  a  Breton 
lay ;  but  the  scene  is  laid  in  "  Bretaine,"  and  the  Breton  term  from 
which  the  story  derives  its  name,  is  cited  in  contradistinction  to  that 
current  in  the  adjoining  'duchy  of  Normandy  : 

Bisclaveret  ad  nun  en  Bretan, 
Garwell  1'apelent  li  Norman. 

From  the  Lai  deLausticf  we  obtain  a  similar  testimony,  with  the 
additional  declaration  of  its  being  a  Breton  lay  : 

Une  aventure  vus  dirai 
Dunt  li  Bretun  firent  un  Lai; 
Laustic  ad  nun  ceo  m'est  avis, 
Si  1'apelent  en  lur  pai's  ; 
Ceo  est  Reisun  en  Franceis, 
E  Nihtegale  en  dreit  Engleis. 

The  scene  is  at  St.  Maloes.  Of  the  Lai  des  deux  Amans  and  of  the 
Lai  de  Graelent  it  is  said,  "  Un  Lai  en  firent  li  Bretun  ;"  of  the  Lai  de 
1'Epine,  "  Li  Breton  en  firent  un  Lai ;"  and  of  the  Lai  d'Eliduc, 

*  v.  21.  the  Nightingale  and  her  plaintive  song 

•f-  MM.  de  la  Rue  and  Roquefort  speak  are  declared  to  be  typical  of  the  doctrines 

of  an  English  version  of  this  lay,  and  refer  and  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ. 

to  the  Cotton  MS.  Cal.  A.  II.    These  gen-  [The  English   poem   is   a   translation 

tlemen  were  either  misled  by  a  similarity  from  the  Latin  one  composed   by  John 

in    the   title    of  the   poem    in    question,  Hoveden,  chaplain   to  Eleanor,  queen  of 

(Nightingale,)   or  a  manuscript  note  in  Edward  the  First,  intitled  Meditatio   de 

the  Museum  copy  of  the  catalogue  of  the  Nativitate   $c.  Domini  vocata  Philomela 

Cotton  MSS.      The  English   poem  is   a  Canticum.  See  Tanner,  roc. Hoveden. — M.] 
mystic  rhapsody  on  holy  living  ;  in  which 


OP    MARIE    DE    FRANCE.  x 

De  un  mut  ancien  Lai  Bretun 
Le  cunte  e  tute  la  reisun, 
Vus  dirai  si  cum  jeo  entent 
La  verite  mun  escient. 

Of  these  four,  the  scene  of  the  first  is  laid  in  Normandy,  and  of  the 
rest  in  "  Bretaine."  Of  the  remaining  six,  the  Lai  du  Frene  places  the 
action  in  "  Bretaine,"  without  giving  a  more  positive  locality  to  the 
scene.  It  was  a  tale  which  Marie  had  heard  recounted,  but  which  she 
does  not  expressly  claim  as  a  "  Breton  lay."  The  Lai  de  Chevrefeuille 
was  translated  from  a  written  original : 

Plusurs  le  m'unt  cunte  e  dit, 

E  jeo  lai  trove  en  escrit. 

• 
It  contains  no  reference  to  "  Bretaine "  or  the  "  Bretons  :"  and,  if  we 

could  forget  Mr.  Ritson's  arbitrary  dogmas  relative  to  the  poverty  of 
native  genius  both  before  and  after  the  Conquest,  might  be  supposed  to 
owe  its  existence  to  some  English  poem  now  no.  more : 

Tristam  ki  bien  saveit  harper, 
En  aveit  feit  un  nuvel  Lai 
Asez  brevement  le  numerai. 
Gotelef  1'apelent  en  Engleis, 
Chevrefoil  li  nument  en  Franceis ; 
Dit  vus  en  ai  la  ve"rite 
Del'  Lai  que  j'ai  ici  cunte. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  the  Lai  de  Milun  is  not  of  Breton  origin, 
as  Marie  deviates  from  her  usual  phraseology  in  announcing  her 
authority. 

De  lur  amur  e  de  lur  bien 

Firent  un  Lai  li  Auncien  ; 

E  jeo  qui  1'ai  mis  en  escrit 

Ai  recunter  mut  me  delit. 

The  hero  was  born  in  South  Wales  : 

Milun  fu  de  Suht- Wales  nez  : 
a  country  also  called  Gales : 

Jeo  quid  k'il  est  de  Gales  nez: 
E  si  est  Milun  apelez. 

Mention  is  likewise  made  of  Northumberland  ;  but  the  younger  Milun's 
journey  from  England  to  Brittany  is  so  circumstantially  narrated,  that 
every  doubt  as  to  the  geographical  position  of  the  latter  must  be  re- 
moved : 

A  Suht-hamptune  vait  passer, 

Cum  il  ainz  pot  se  mist  en  mer, 

A  Barbefluet  (Barfleur.  R.)  est  arrivez, 

Dreit  en  Brutaine  est  alez. 


Lxii  NOTE    ON    THE    LAIS 

With  reference  to  the  same  journey  it  is  afterward  said : 

En  Normendie  est  passez, 
Puis  est  desque  Bretaine  alez. 

We  also  gather  from  the  same  lay  the  names  by  which  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  and  several  adjoining  countries  were  designated. 

Al  munt  Seint-Michel  s'asemblerent, 
Normein,  e  Bretun  i  alerent ; 
E  li  Flamenc,  e  li  Franceis, 
Mes  ni  ot  guere  de  Engleis. 

In  these  specimens  there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  to  prove,  as  as- 
serted by  Mr.  Ritson,  that  by  "  Bretaine  and  Breton  were  intended  the 
country  and  people  of  Great  Brittain."  On  the  contrary  whenever 
Marie  enters  into  detail,  we  constantly  find  that  by  "  Bretaine"  she 
understood  Brittany,  and  by  "  Breton "  either  the  inhabitants  or  lan- 
guage of  that  province.  No  specific  mention  is  made  of  England  as  a 
country  ;  but  the  people  and  their  dialect  are  alike  called  Engleis  ; 
and  the  unequivocal  appellation  given  to  Wales  precludes  all  possibility 
of  supposing  it  was  implied  under  .the  name  of  "  Bretaine." 

We  now  come  to  those  Lays  which  Mr.  Ritson  has  selected  as  con- 
taining the  strongest  confirmation  of  his  opinion  :  "  She  must  however 
[by  Bretaine]  mean  Great  Britain  in  the  Lay  of  Lanval,  where  she 
mentions  Kardoel,  and  that  of  Ywenec  where  she  speaks  of  Carwent 
(i.e.  Venta  Silurum,  now  Chepstow),  which  she  places  upon  the  Du- 
glas  instead  of  the  Wye."  Unhappily  for  the  accuracy  of  this  conclu- 
sion, the  name  of  Bretaine  never  occurs  throughout  the  Lai  de  Lanval. 
Marie  certainly  cites  the  Bretons  as  her  authority  for  the  narrative  : 

Od  li  s'en  vait  en  Avalon, 
Ce  nus  racuntent  li  Breton — 

and  calls  Lanval  a  Breton  name : 

L'aventure  d'un  autre  Lai 
Cum  il  avint  vus  cunterai ; 
Feit  fu  d'un  mult,  riche  vassal, 
En  Bretun  1'apelent  Lanval. 

But  we  have  already  seen  that  these  terms  can  have  no  reference  to 
Great  Britain.  The  Lai  d'Ywenec  certainly  favours  Mr.  Ritson's  opi- 
nion. It  speaks  of  Caerwent  (which,  though  the  Roman  Venta  Silurum, 
is  not  Chepstow,)  and  places  it  in  Bretaigne  : 

En  Bretaigne  aveit  jadis 

Uns  riches  Huns  vielz  et  ancis ; 

De  Caerwent  fut  avoez, 

Et  du  pa'is  Sire  clamez  : 

La  cite  si  est  sor  Dnglas 


OF    MARIE    DE    FRANCE. 

A  similar  combination  occurs  in  the  Lai  de  1'Epine : 

Les  estores  en  tra'i  avant ; 
Ki  encore  sont  a  Carlion^ 
Ens  le  monstier  Saint-Aaron, 
Et  en  Bretaigne  sont  seues — 

It  would  seem  as  if  M.  Roquefort  had  suspected  that  Marie  in  this 
passage  was  not  alluding  to  Caerleon  in  Wales ;  for  he  observes  in  a 
note  :  "  II  existoit  en  France  une  ile  Saint- Aaron.  Elle  a  ete  ren- 
fermee  dans  la  ville  de  Saint-Malo,  au  moyen  d'une  chaussee."  That 
there  either  was  a  Caerleon  in  Armorica,  or,  what  is  far  more  probable, 
that  Marie  by  her  own  powerful  dictum  transferred  this  town  from  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Channel,  is  evident  from  a  passage  in  the  Lai  de 
Chaitivel.  The  events  of  this  poem  are  stated  to  have  transpired  "  en 
Bretaine  a  Nantes :"  but  iij  the  course  of  the  narrative,  without  the 
slightest  indication  of  a  change  of  scene,  we  find  the  following  'date 
produced  as  the  period  when  some  of  the  transactions  occurred  : 

A  la  feste  Saint- Aaron, 
K'uni  celebroit  a  Carlion. 

In  this  we  have  the  clearest  acknowledgement,  that  in  the  estimation 
of  the  writer,  Nantz  and  Caerleon  were  towns  of  the  same  province  ; 
and  the  previous  testimony,  with  one  exception,  has  declared  that  pro- 
vince to  have  been  Bretaine  in  France.  If,  however,  we  accept  Marie's 
representation  of  herself,  and  consider  her  as  the  translator  of  these 
poems,  even  this  exception  loses  its  force.  For  what  could  be  more 
natural  to  suppose  on  her  part,  than  that  the  scene  of  those  adventures 
which  formed  the  theme  of  Armorican  song  should  be  laid  in  Armorica? 
or  that  even  where  her  original  made  mention  of  Britain  (Wales)  as 
the  theatre  of  the  events  it  registered,  she  should  through  ignorance 
or  design  interpret  the  expression  as  referring  to  Brittany  ?  How 
much  more  probable  is  it,  that  either  of  these  causes  may  have  ope- 
rated in  producing  the  seeming  contradiction  between  the  Lai  d'Ywenec 
and  every  other  poem  in  the  collection,  than  that  Marie  should  have 
stultified  herself  by  confounding  two  countries  under  one  common 
name,  for  both  of  which  on  other  occasions  she  had  a  distinctive  ap- 
pellation ! 

Of  the  interpretation  given  to  her  language  or  that  of  her  contem- 
poraries in  this  country,  we  have  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  in 
Chaucer : 

Thise  old  gentil  Bretons  in  hir  dayes, 
Of  diverse  aventures  maden  layes, 
Rimeyed  in  hir  firste  Breton  tonge ; — 
And  on  of  hem  have  I  in  remembrance, — 
In  Armorike,  that  called  is  Bretaigne,  &c. 


NOTE    OX    THK     LAIS 

This  may  be  contrasted  with  the  conclusion  of  the  Lai  d'Eliduc. 
Del'  Aventure  de  ces  treis, 
Li  auncien  Bretun  curteis 
Firent  le  Lai  pur  remembrer, 
Que  hum  nel'  deust  pas  oblier. 

Even  Mr.  Ritson  has  admitted,  that  the  author  of  Sir  Orpheo  may 
"  perhaps  allude  to  the  Armorican  Britons,"  when  he  says  : 

In  Brytayn  this  layes  arne  ywrytt, 
Furst  y  founde  and  forthe  ygete, 
Of  aventures  that  fillen  by  dayes 
Wherof  Brytons  made  her  layes. 

This  is  but  a  similar  declaration  to  the  language  of  Marie  already  cited 
from  the  Lai  d'Equitan.  Of  the  popularity  of  "Orpheo's"  story  in 
Armorica,  we  have  a  sufficient  testimony  in  the  Lai  d'Epine : 

Le  Lais  escoutent  d'Aielis, 

Que  uns  Yrois  doucement  note 

Mout  le  sonne  ens  sa  rote. 

Apries  celi  d'autre  commenche, 

Nus  d'iaus  ni  noise  ne  ni  tenche  ; 

Le  Lai  lor  sone  d'  Orphey — 

There  is  one  peculiarity  in  the  language  of  Marie  relative  to  this 
subject  which  remains  to  be  noticed.  In  the  Lai  de  Graelent  she  speaks 
of  "  Bretaigne  le  menur,"  an  expression  which  occurs  once  again  in  the 
Lai  d'Eliduc.  But  this  refinement  is  not  preserved  throughout  either 
of  the  poems :  for  in  the  first  we  have  "  En  Bretaigne  est  venue  al 
port ;"  and  in  the  second,  "  En  Bretaine  ot  un  Chevalier," — both  with 
reference  to  the  same  country.  Of  a  "  Bretaine  le  grand"  there  is  no 
trace  in  the  whole  collection  :  and  if  it  be  allowable  to  speculate  upon 
a  question  so  perfectly  beyond  the  grasp  of  certainty,  the  utmost  we 
can  venture  to  infer  will  be,  that  though  Marie  may  have  found  this 
distinctive  nomenclature  in  her  original  text,  she  evidently  neglected  to 
observe  it.  We  know  from  other  sources,  that  in  her  time  one  of  these 
countries  was  better  known  by  its  subdivision  into  the  realms  of  Engle- 
terre  and  Gales. 

The  second  volume  of  M.Roquefort's  edition  of  Marie's  Poems  con- 
tains her  Fables.  It  is  not  intended  to  exhaust  the  reader's  patience 
by  entering  into  a  discussion  of  the  source  from  whence  these  fables 
were  derived ;  but  as  MM.  de  la  Rue  and  Roquefort  have  attempted  to 
claim  her  English  original  as  the  production  of  Henry  the  First,  the 
subject  cannot  be  wholly  passed  over  in  silence.  These  gentlemen  do 
not  seem  to  have  known  that  a  copy  of  the  fables  preserved  at  Oxford 
unites  with  the  Harleian  MS.  78.  in  attributing  the  English  version  to 
king  Alfred : 


OF  MARIE   DK  FRANCE.  IxV 

Le  reiz  Alurcz  que  mut  1'ama 
Le  translata  puis  en  Engleis*. 

This,  supported  as  it  is  by  the  several  disguises  of  the  Pasquier  and 
King's  MSS.  which  read  Auvert  and  Affrus,  and  the  declaration  of  the 
Latin  version  (King's  MS.  15.  A.  vii.),  that  the  same  fables  "  were 
rendered  into  English  by  the  orders  of  king  Alfred,"  is  more  than  suffi- 
cient to  outweigh  the  testimony  of  the  Harleian  MSS.  4333,  which 
ascribes  Marie's  original  to  a  king  Henry.  It  also  seems  to  have 
escaped  the  same  diligent  antiquaries,  that  the  English  language  of 
Henry  the  First  could  not  have  differed  materially  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  of  Alfred ;  that  any  person,  whether  native  or  foreigner,  who 
could  master  the  one,  would  find  no  difficulty  in  comprehending  the 
other ;  arid  consequently,  that  the  argument  raised  on  the  imagined 
obscurities  of  the  earlier  copy  is  perfectly  groundless.  As  to  "  the 
uncouth  language  of  Robert  of  Gloucester,"  which  is  supposed  to  have 
cost  Marie  so  much  labour  in  acquiring,  we  must  remember,  that  how- 
ever horrific  this  dialect  may  appear  to  modern  Frenchmen, — printed 
as  it  is  with  a  chevaux-de-frise  of  Saxon  consonants, — its  rude  ortho- 
graphy only  slightly  varied  from  the  language  of  general  conversation 
in  the  Chronicler's  age.  There  could  be  no  greater  difficulty  in  learning 
to  read  or  speak  it,  than  is  felt  by  a  foreigner  in  modern  English.  In 
addition,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that  in  Marie's  time,  some  popular 
Anglo-Saxon  subjects  were  rendered  accessible  to  the  modern  reader, 
by  the  same  process  which  fitted  the  early  poetry  of  Italy  for  general 
circulation  at  the  present  day.  We  know,  from  certain  testimony,  that 
at  a  subsequent  period  the  Brut  of  Layamon  was  made  intelligible  by 
a  more  recent  version  ;  and  probability  seems  to  favour  the  belief,  that 
such  was  the  case  with  the  "  Sayings  of  Alfred,"  formerly  in  the  Cotton 
Library.  If  these  "  Sayings"  were  registered  by  one  of  Alfred's  con- 
temporaries, or  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  they  were  doubtlessly 
written  in  the  same  metre  as  the  translation  appended  to  the  edition  of 
his  Boethius,  and  would  only  have  received  the  dress  in  which  they  are 
exhibited  by  Wanley,  about  the  time  of  Richard  I.,  or  John.  Mr.  Sha- 
ron Turner  has  produced  this  collection  of  apophthegms  as  the  first 
specimen  of  English  prose  ;  but  they  are  evidently  written  in  the  same 
mixed  style  of  rhyme  and  alliterative  metre  which  we  find  in  Layamon. 
It  is  this  circumstance  which  has  suggested  the  possibility  of  their  being 
recorded  at  an  earlier  date  than  the  language  in  which  they  are  written. 

*  MSS.  JAMES,  viii.  p.  23.  Bibl.  Bodl.  the  period  when  she  lived,  see  De  la  Rue's 

cited  below,  vol.  ii.  p.  253.  "  Essais  sur  les  Bardes,  les  Jongleurs,  et 

[Mr.  Price  was  not  aware  in  producing  les  Trouveres,"  torn.  iii.  pp.  47 — 100;  Ro- 

this  additional  authority,  that  the  MS.  bert,  "  Fables  inedits  des  12e,  13e,  et  14e 

James  only  contains  a  recent  copy  by  siecles,"  torn.  i.  pp.  clii — clix.  8vo.  Par, 

James  himself  of  the  Harleian  MS.,  and  1825;  Meon's  Preface  to  the  "  Roman  du 

consequently  adds  nothing  to  the  argu-  Renart."  8vo.  Par.  1826  ;  and  Miss  L,  S. 

ment.  In  addition  to  the  works  referred  Costello's  Specimens  of  the  Early  Poetry  of 

to  for  information  respecting  Marie  and  France,  pp.  43-49.  8vo.  Lond.  1835. — M.] 

VOL.  i.  e 


NOTE    ON    THE    SAXON    ODE 

seems  to  indicate :  but  of  course  neither  this,  nor  the  claim  of  Alfred 
to  the  English  version  of  ^sop,  is  insisted  upon  as  demonstrable.  The 
only  object  of  these  remarks  is  to  impugn  the  evidence  which  MM.  de 
la  Rue  and  Roquefort  consider  as  conclusive  in  favour  of  Henry  I. 

In  closing  this  excursive  note  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  observe,  that 
the  Harl.  MS.  calls  Marie's  collection  of  fables  L'Ysopet  or  the  little 
jEsop,  of  which  a  Dutch  translation  is  said  to  have  been  made  in  the 
13th  century.  (See  Van  Wyn,  Historische  Avondstonden,  p.  263.) 
This  title  appears  to  have  been  given  it  by  way  of  distinction  from 
another  collection  of  fables,  probably  made  at  an  earlier  period  and 
derived  from  a  purer  source.  The  latter  is  mentioned  in  the  prologue 
to  Merlant's  Spiegel  Historiael. 

In  Cyrus  tiden  was  Esopus 

De  Favelare,  wi  lessent  dus, 

Die  de  favele  conde  maken 

Hoe  beesten  en  vogle  spraken  : 

Hierute  es  gemaect  Aviaen 

En  andere  boeken,  sender  waen, 

Die  man  Esopus  heet,  bi  namen. 

Waren  oec  die  si  bequamen 

Die  hevet  Calfstaf  en  Nodekyn 

Ghedicht,  en  rime  scone  en  fyn. 

i.  e.  We  read  that  Esop,  the  fabler,  who  made  fables  how  the  birds  and 
beasts  converse,  lived  in  the  time  of  Cyrus.  No  doubt  Aviaen  (Avi- 
enus?)  drew  from  it  and  other  books  which  people  call  Esopus. 
Calfstaf  and  Noydekyn  put  into  fair  rhymes  those  which  they  took 
pleasure  in. 


NOTE  C. 

BY  MR.  PRICE. 

ON  THE  SAXON  ODE  ON  THE  VICTORY  OF  ATHELSTAN. 

See  DISSERTATION  I.  page  xxxii.  Note[m]. 

THE  text  of  this  poem  has  been  formed  from  a  collation  of  the  Cotton 
MSS.  Tiberius  A.  vi.  B.  i.  B.  iv.  In  the  translation  an  attempt  has  been 
made  to  preserve  the  original  idiom  as  nearly  as  possible  without  pro- 
ducing obscurity;  and  in  every  deviation  from  this  rule,  the  literal 
meaning  has  been  inserted  within  brackets  *.  The  words  in  parentheses 
are  supplied  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  narrative  more  connected, 

*  [The  words  in  Italics  in  the  present  have  been  added:  and  the  references  to 
edition  are  inserted  in  conformity  with  the  Beowulf  are  adapted  to  the  text  of  Mr 
corrections  pointed  out  in  the  Notes  which  Kemble.— R  T  ] 


ON    THE    VICTORY    OF    ATHKLSTAN. 


Jxvii 


and  have  thus  been  separated  from  the  context,  that  one  of  the  leading 
features  in  the  style  of  Anglo-Saxon  poetry  might  be  more  apparent  to 
the  English  reader.  For  the  benefit  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  student,  a  close 
attention  has  been  paid  in  rendering  the  grammatical  inflections  of  the 
text,  a  practice  almost  wholly  disused  since  the  days  of  Hickes ;  but 
which  cannot  be  too  strongly  recommended  to  every  future  translator 
from  this  language,  whether  of  prose  or  verse.  The  extracts  from  Mr. 
Turner's  and  Mr.  Ingram's  versions  cited  in  the  notes,  have  been  taken 
from  the  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  ii.,  and  the  recent  edition  of 
the  Saxon  Chronicle,  An.  938.  But  those  variations  alone  have  been 
noticed  which  differed  in  common  from  the  present  translation. 


j^Ethelstan  cyning, 
eorla  drihten, 
beorna  beah-gyfa, 
and  his  brother  eac, 
Eadmund  aetheling l, 
ealdor  langne  tir2, 

1  The  reader  must  be  cautioned  against 
receiving  this  literal  interpretation  of  the 
text,  in  the  same  literal  spirit.  The  terms 
eorl  and  beorn — man  and  bairn — are  used 
with  great  latitude  of  meaning  in  Anglo- 
Saxon  poetry ;  and  though  generally  ap- 
plied to  persons  of  eminent  rank  or  ex- 
alted courage,  we  have  no  proof  of  their 
appropriation  as  hereditary  titles  of  di- 
stinction at  the  early  period  when  this  ode 
was  composed.  The  word  "  y£theling" 
— strictly  speaking  The  son  of  the  aethel 
or  noble — appears  to  have  gained  an  im- 
port in  England  nearly  corresponding  to 
our  modern  prince.  In  the  Saxon  Chro- 
nicle it  is  almost  always,  if  not  exclusively, 
confined  to  personages  of  the  blood  royal. 
Perhaps  there  is  neither  of  these  terms 
whose  modern  representative  differs  so  es- 
sentially from  its  original  as  "  ealdor."  At 
the  present  day  no  idea  of  rank  is  attached 
to  the  word  "  elder,"  and  none  of  autho- 
rity except  among  some  religious  sects, 
and  a  few  incorporated  societies.  In  An- 
glo-Saxon poetry  it  rarely,  if  ever,  occurs  as 
marking  seniority  in  point  of  age.  Even  the 
infant  Edward  is  called  an  "  elder  of  earls." 

And  feng  his  beam 

syth-than  to  cyne-rice ; 

cyld  unweaxen, 

eorla  ealdor, 

tham  waes  Eadweard  nama. 

And  his  bairn  took 

after  that  to  the  kingdom  ; 

child  unwaxen, 

elder  of  earls, 

to  whom  was  Edward  name. 

['Beorn,'    masc.,  a  warrior,   chieftain, 


JEthelstan  (the)  king, 

lord  of  earls,  \_men~\ 

bracelet-giver  of  barons,  [chieftains'] 

and  his  brother  eke, 

Eadmund  (the)  prince, 

very  illustrious  chieftain,  \Jiif e-long glory~\ 

baron,  &c.  pi. beornas;  while  'beam,'  neut. 
(Scott,  bairn)  a  child,  has  its  sing,  and  pi. 
alike.  '  Eorl '  is  frequently  used  for  man  in 
Anglo-Saxon  poetry,  and  "is  not  a  title  as 
with  us  any  more  than  beorn." — Kemble.] 
2  Elder !  a  lasting  glory,  T.  Elder,  of 
ancient  race,  I.  But "  tir  "  is  not  used  sub- 
stantively  in  the  present  instance.  "  Eald- 
or langne-tir,"  or  "  Langne-tir  ealdor," 
exhibits  the  same  inverted  construction  as 
"  flota  fami -heals,"  ship  foamy-necked; 
"  aetheling  aer-god,"  noble  exceeding-good, 
&c.  The  present  translation  of  "tir" 
is  founded  upon  an  etymology  pointed  out 
in  the  glossary  to  Saemund's  Edda,  where 
it  is  declared  to  be  synonymous  with  the 
Danish  "  zyr,"  and  the  German  "  zier." 
In  the  Low  German  dialects,  the  z  of  the 
upper  circles  (which  is  compounded  of  t,  s, 
like  the  Greek  £  of  d,  s)  is  almost  always 
represented  by  t,  and  splendour,  bright- 
ness, glory,  &c.  are  certainly  among  the 
most  prevalent  ideas  attached  to  "  tir " 
when  used  as  a  substantive.  If  this  in- 
terpretation be  correct, — power,  dominion, 
or  victory,  must  be  considered  as  only  se- 
condary meanings;  and  the  compound  ad- 
jectives "tir-meahtig"  (exceeding  mighty), 
"  tir-faest  "  (exceeding  faster  firm),  "  tir- 
eadig"  (exceeding  blessed),  evidently 
point  to  the  first  of  these.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  but  the  following  passage  of  Beowulf 
(iv.)  preserves  another  compound  of"  tir :" 
Ed.  Thorkelin,  p.  24 :  ed.  Kemble,  1.  583. 

Swylce  ic  magu-thegnas, 

mine  hate, 

with  feonda  gehwone, 

flotan  eowerne, 

niw  tyr-wydne, 


Ixviii 


NOTE    ON    THE    SAXON    ODE 


geslogon  *  set  secce, 
sweorda  ecgum, 
ymbe  Brunanburh. 
Bord-weal  clufon, 
heowon  heatho-linda3, 


combated  in  [at]  battle,  [in  battle  won] 

with  edges  of  swords, 

near  Brunanburh. 

(They)  clove  the  board-wall, 

hewed  the  high  lindens  [war  -lindens], 


nacan  on  sande, 
arum  healdan- 

And  I  will  also 

order  my  fellow-thanes, 

against  every  foe, 

your  vessel 

deep  (and)  exceeding  wide, 

boat  on  the  sand, 

carefully  to  hold. 

"  Niwe  "  is  here  equivalent  to  "  niwel ; " 
as  in  the  expression  "  niwe  be  naesse, 
low  by  the  nose  or  promontory.  "  Tyr- 
wydne  nacan"  is  clearly  synonymous 
with  "  sid-faethmed  scip,"  the  wide-bo- 
somed ship,  occurring  shortly  afterwards. 
The  learned  editor's  version,  pice  obduc- 
tam,  is  founded  on  an  expression  still  pre- 
served in  his  native  language  (Icelandic), 
and  of  which  Hire  has  recorded  the  fol- 
lowing example :  "  Let  ban  leggia  eld  i 
tyrwid  oc  gb'ra  bala  scipino ; "  Jussit  ig- 
nem  taedae  subjiciendum,  pyramque  in 
nave  struendam.  "  Arum,"  which  the  La- 
tin version  renders  "  remis,"  is  used  ad- 
verbially, like  hwilum,  gyddum,  &c.  The 
vessel  lay  upon  the  beach,  and  was  after- 
wards moored;  there  could  therefore  be 
no  use  for  her  oars.  The  present  version 
of  "arum"  is  founded  on  the  following 
passage,  where  Waltheow  says  she  has  no 
doubt  but  Hrothulf  will  prove  a  kind  pro- 
tector to  her  children  : 

ThaRt  he  tha  geogothe  wile, 

arum  healdan. 

That  he  the  youths  will 

carefully  protect  (hold).   1.  2363. 
"Arum"  (lit.  with  cares,  attentions,)  is  in 
the  dative  case  plural.     See  note  34. 

["  The  objections  to  Mr.  Turner's  and  Mr. 
Ingram's  translations  are  not  greater  than 
those  to  Mr.  Price's,  but  his  note  is  more 
objectionable  still.  Tir,  says  the  note,  is 
an  adjective:  1  know  none  such  ;  nor  even 
were  there  such  an  adjective,  compounded 
with  another  adjective,  could  the  first  part 
of  the  compound  have,  when  joined  with 
the  second,  an  accusative  case.  In  this  it 
differs  from  the  compounds  cited  in  the 
note,  and  from  all  others ;  for  the  first 
\vord  in  a  compound  never  has  either 
gender,  number  or  case.  The  same  ob- 
jection does  not  apply  to  the  new  reading 
cited  from  Beowulf;  yet,  were  it  to  be 
translated  as  Mr.  Price  thinks,  not  niw- 
tirwydne,  new-pitched,  but  niw  tir-wydne, 
deep  and  exceedingly  wide,  it  would  remain 


to  be  shown  why  one  adjective  was,  as  it 
ought  to  be,  in  the  masc.  ace.  sing.,  while 
the  first  remained  altogether  without  an 
inflection  :  of  course  nacan,  rymbam,  would 
require  niwne  as  well  as  tyr-wydne. 
The  fact  is  thattir  is  a  substantive,  ealdor- 
langne  the  compound  adjective  [so  "  ond- 
langne,"  p.  Ixxiii.  —  R.  T.]  agreeing  with 
it,  and  the  whole  passage  must  be  trans- 
lated thus,  'a  life-long  glory  —  they  won 
by  striking,  at  the  battle.'  Ealdor,  vita, 
is  quite  as  common  in  A.-S.  poetry  as 
ealdor,  princeps."  —  K.] 

*  [geslogon,  &c.  Thus  Caedm.  p.  129. 
1.  26. 

ac  J»u  most  heonon  hufte  laedan. 

]>e  ic  be  set  hilde  gesloh. 

but  thou  hence  may'stlead  the  spoil, 

which  I  for  thee  have  won  in  battle. 
See  also  Grundtvig's  Pref.  to  transl.  of 
Beow.  p.  xxvi.] 

3  They  hewed  the  noble  banners,  T. 
And  hewed  their  banners,  I.  In  this  in- 
terpretation of  "  lind"  all  our  vocabu- 
laries agree.  The  translation  of  the  text 
has  been  founded  upon  the  following  au- 
thorities. When  Beowulf  resolves  to 
encounter  the  "fire-drake"  who  had  laid 
waste  his  territory,  he  orders  a  "  wig- 
bord,"  war-board  (as  it  is  called),  of  iron 
to  be  made  ;  for  we  are  told  that, 

Wisse  he  gearwe, 

thaet  him  holt-wudu, 

helpan  ne  meahte, 

lind  with  lige. 

He  knew  readily, 

that  him  forest-wood 

might  not  help, 

linden  against  fire.  1.4673. 

And  when  Wiglaf  prepares  to  join  his 
lord  in  the  combat,  it  is  said  of  him  : 

Hond-rond  gefeng, 

Geolwe  linde, 

Hand-round  he  seized 

the  yellow  linden.  1.  5215. 

[Rask  objects  to  this  translation,  Angl. 
Sax.  Gr..  Pref.  Iviii.,  as  erroneously  im- 
plying a  connexion  between  the  adjective 
round  and  the  Iceland.  rond,clypeus,  and 
suggests  manuale  scutum  as  the  more  pro- 
per version.  —  M.] 

In  the  fragment  of  Judith,  (Thorpe, 
Anal.  p.  137.)  "lind"  and  "  bord"  are 
used  in  the  same  connexion  as  in  the  pre- 
sent text  : 


ON    THE    VICTORY    OF    ATHBLSTAN. 


Ixix 


hamora  lafura4, 
eaforan  Eadweardes. 
Swa  him  geoethele 5  wses 


with  relics  of  hammers  (i.  e.  swords), 
(the)  children  \_offspring~\  of  Edward. 
Such  [so]  was  to  them  (their  native)  no- 
\_As  was  their  nature]  [bility, 


Stopon  heatho-rincas, 

beornas  to  beadowe, 

bordum  betheahte, 

hwealfum  linduin. 

(The)  [lofty]  warriors  stepped, 

bairns  [barons']  to  (the)  battle, 

bedeckt  (with)  boards, 

(with)  concave  lindens. 
The  following  extract  from  the  fragment 
of  Brithnoth  shows  both  terms  to  have 
been  synonymous  : 

Leofsunu  gemaelde, 

and  his  lind  ahof, 

bordtogebeorge.    Thorpe,  An.  p.  128. 

Leofsunu  spoke, 

and  hove  up  his  linden, 

[his]  board  for  protection. 
It  may,  however,  be  contended,  that 
though  "  lind  "  in  all  these  passages  evi- 
dently means  a  shield ;  yet  "  heatholind," 
whose  qualifying  adjective  seems  rather 
an  inappropriate  epithet  for  a  buckler, 
may  have  a  different  import.  The  fol- 
lowing examples  of  a  similar  combination 
will  remove  even  this  objection  : 

Ne  hyrde  ic  cymlicor 

ceol  gegyrwan, 

hilde-waepnum, 

and  heatho-wsedum, 

billum  and  byrnum.          Beow.  1.  75. 

Nor  heard  I  of  a  comelier 

keel  (ship)  prepared, 

(with)  war  weapons, 

and  high-weeds,  (garments)  [battle- 

with  bills  and  burnies.  weeds] 

Nemne  him  heatho-byrne 

helpe  gefremede. 

Unless  him  (his)  high-burnie  [war- 

with  help  had  assisted.  mail] 

Mr.  Grimm  found  this  expression  in  the 
Low-Saxon  fragment  of  Hildebrand  and 
Hathubrand,  where,  misled  by  the  com- 
mon interpretation  of  "  lind-wiggende," 
vexilliferi — he  has  expended  much  inge- 
nuity and  learning  in  making  a  very  sim- 
ple narrative  unnecessarily  obscure. 

hewun  harmlicco 

huitte  scilti, 

unti  im  iro  lintun 

luttilo  wurtun. 

(they)  hewed  harm-like 

(their)  white  shields, 

until  to  them  their  lindens 

became  little. 


Mr.  Grimm  translates  "lintun,"  gebende 
—  bands  or  girdles. 

["  Heafto  does  not  signify  altus,  the  in- 
congruity of  which  epithet  when  applied 
to  a  shield  has  not  escaped  Mr.  Price.  It 
denotes  bellum,  and  is  merely  a  prefix. 
See  the  Gloss.  Beow.  vol.  i."—  K.] 

4  The  survivors  of  the  family,  T.  With 
the  wrecks  of  their  hammers,  I.  The 
only  authority  for  the  former  interpreta- 
tion is  a  meaning  assigned  to  "  hamora" 
in  Lye's  vocabulary.  It  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  remark,  that  if  there  were  any 
thing  like  probability  to  justify  such  a 
translation,  we  ought  at  least  to  read 
"  With  the  survivors  of  the  family  ;"  as 
"  lafum"  stands  in  the  ablative  case  plu- 
ral. A  similar  expression  occurs  once  in 
Beowulf,  where  we  know  from  the  con- 
text that  neither  of  the  versions  cited  above 
would  suit  the  sense.  The  sword  of 
Wiglaf  has  recently  severed  the  dragon's 
body  in  two  :  with  reference  to  which  it 
is  said, 

Ac  him  irenna, 

ecga  fornamon, 

hearde  heatho-scearde, 

homera  lafe, 

thaet  se  wid-floga, 

wundum  stille, 

hreas  on  hrusan, 

hord-aerne  neah, 

But  him  iron 

edges  seized, 

the  hard  high-sherd  [war-sherds]^ 

(the)  relic  of  hammers, 

that  the  wide-flier, 

still  (quiet)  with  wounds, 

fell  on  the  earth, 

hoard-hall  near.  1.  5651. 

In  this  poem  "  gomel-laf,  eald-laf,  yrfe- 
laf,"  are  common  expressions  for  - 
sword  ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubr  jut 
the  language  of  the  text  is  a  m^aPno" 
rical  description  of  such  a  w 
similar  phrase  in  Icelandic 


w°uld 


occasion   no   difficulty. 
Gloss.  Beow.  vol.  i.  p.  2"' 


;e    Kemble 
' 


ancestors,  T.     **; 
kindred   zeal,  I.   °re'?  thele,  ls 
Xeyopei/ov.     ~!  y,ersl°n  °f  ;he  text  is 
founded  on  ,/e  foll°w«ng  declaration  of 

^lfwine?jIlowerofBrithnoth: 
jc  vlle  mine  aethelo 
p.  urn  gecythan. 


Ixx 


NOTE    ON    THE    SAXON    ODE 


from  cneo-maegum 
thaet  hie  aet  campe  oft6, 
with  lathra  gehwaene, 
land  ealgodon, 
hord  and  hamas, 
hettend  crungon7. 

thaet  ic  waes  on  Myrcon 
miccles  cynnes. 

I  will  my  nobility 

manifest  to  all, 

that  I  among  Mercians  was 

of  a  mickle  kin.    Thorpe,  An.  p.  127. 

Mr.  Ingram's  translation  of  cneo-maegum 
— kindred  zeal,  is  perfectly  indefensible. 
[Rask,  in  the  Preface  to  his  Anglo- 
Saxon  Grammar,  p.  Iviii.,  remarks  on 
Price's  translation  of  this  word:  "  geseSele 
baud  invenit  [scil.  in  Bjbrnonis  Haldor- 
sonii  Lexico],  itaque  per  a)?elo,  i.  e.  aejjelo 
nobilitas  exposuit,  quum  tamen  ae]?elo  gen. 
fern,  sit,  et  a  geaeftele  neut.  gen.  diversum ; 
scribitur  enim  hoc  (ge,  more  Isl.  abjecto) 
Islandis  eftli,  et  a  Bjbrnone  aeque  recte 
natura,  indoles,  genius  vertitur." — M.] 

6  That  they  in  the  field  often,  T.    That 
they   at   camp   often,   I.      Yet  "  camp- 
stede  "  is  translated  battle-place  by  Mr. 
Tui'ner,  and  field  of  battle  by  Mr.  Ingram. 
"  JEt  campe  "  would  have  been  equally 
descriptive    of  a    sea-fight.     It   has   no 
connexion  with  our  modern  camp,    Fr. 
campus,  Lat. 

7  Pursuing  they  destroyed  the  Scottish 
people,    T.      Pursuing   fell  the    Scottish 
clans,  I.     In  these  translations  "  hettend 
crungon  "  is  separated  from  its  context ; 
and  though  it  is  a  common  practice  of 
Anglo-Saxon  poetry  to  unite  by  the  alli- 
teration, lines  wholly  unconnected  by  the 
sense,  yet  in  the  present  instance  both 
are  terminated  by  the  same  period.     It 
may  be    questioned  whether  "  hettan," 
persequi,  has  any  existence   beyond  the 
pages  of  Lye,  where  it  is  inserted  as  the 
root  of  "  hettend."     There  is  reason  to 

Mieve,'  that  it  was  obsolete  at   a  very 
al-r  period,  and  that  its  participle  pre- 
mt  a.ne  was  retained  in  a  substantive 
au  n  to  denote  an  enemy  or  pur- 
suing one.   xyhen  the  verb  wag  required 
it  would  .eem,havebeenuaed 
the  aspirate  : 

Ehtende  waes  \ 
deorc  death  scua, 
duguthe  and  geogov^ 

Pursuing  was 

(the)  dark  death  shado 

old  (ad  lit.  valentes)  and 

Beowulf, 


from  (their)  ancestors, 

that  they  in  [at]  battle  oft, 

against  every  foe  [loathed  one], 

(the)  land  preserved  [defended] , 

hoard  and  homes, 

(the)  enemy  crushed,  [cringed,  actively.'] 


At  all  events,  the  examples  recorded  by 
Lye  only  exhibit  the  substantive  hettend, 
to  which  the  following  may  be  added : 

Gif  ic  thaet  gefricge, 
ofer  floda-begang, 
thaet  thec  ymbsittende 
egesan  thywath, 
swa  thec  hetende 
hwilum  dydon. 

If  I  that  hear, 

over  the  floods-gang, 

that  thee  the  round-sitting  ones 

oppress  with  terror, 

so  (as)  thee  enemies 

(ere)  while  did.  Beow.  1.  3648. 

Syth-than  hie  gefricgeath 

frean  userne 

ealdor-leasne ; 

thone  the  aer  geheold, 

with  hettendum, 

hord  and  rice. 

After  that  they  hear 

our  sovereign  (to  be) 

life-less ; 

he  who  ere  held, 

against  (our)  foes, 

hoard  and  kingdom.          Ib.  I.  5999. 

Mr.  Ingram's  translation  is  obviously  in- 
correct. The  whole  context  proves  the 
Scots  to  have  been  the  yielding  party, 
and  consequently  they  were  the  pur- 
sued, not  those  pursuing;  and  if,  with 
Mr.  Turner,  we  apply  "  pursuing"  to 
the  victors,  Athelstan  and  Edward,  the 
participle  (as  it  then  would  be)  ought  to 
stand  in  the  nominative  case  plural — 
hettende — and  not  in  the  accusative  sin- 
gular. 

["  There  is  a  dangerous  mixture  of 
ehtian,  persequi,  and  hatian,  odlsse,  in 
this  note ;  I  should  be  inclined  to  think 
that  ehtian  comes  from  oht,  terror.  Het- 
tan, according  to  the  custom  of«the  A.  S. 
which  in  certain  cases  doubles  a  conso- 
nant instead  of  writing  it  before  i  or  jt 
corresponds  to  the  Gothic  hatjan,  odisse. 
There  is,  however,-another  verb  in  Gothic, 
viz.  hatan,  and  this  the  Anglo-Saxon 
seems  to  have  followed  in  its  verb,  while 
it  recorded  the  existence  of  the  other  by 
forming  from  it  such  a  participial  noun 
as  hettend,  inimicus,  which,  like  feond, 
hostis,  freond,  amicus,  is  really  the  par- 


ON    THE    VICTORY    OF    ATHELSTAN. 


Ixxi 


Scotta  leode, 
and  scip-flotan, 
faege  feollon8. 
Feld  dennade*, 
secga  swate 9, 


(The)  Scottish  people, 
and  the  mariners, 
fated  fell. 

The  field ,  \_flw!  d\ 

with  warriors'  blood, 


ticiple  of  a  verb  used  as  a  noun.  There 
should  be  a  full  stop  after  hamas.  Het- 
tend  is  the  nom.  to  crungon :  the  foes 
bowed,  cringed.  So  in  Beowulf,  1.  2419, 
'  he  under  rande  gecranc,'  he  cringed  under 
shield,  i.e.  died." — K.] 

»  They  fell  dead,  T.  In  numbers  fell,  I. 
This  expression  occurs  again  below,  "faege 
to  feohte,"  where  Mr.  Ingram  expounds 
it,  the  hardy  fight.  It  seems  almost  su- 
perfluous to  add,  that  one  of  these  inter- 
pretations must  be  erroneous  ;  and  it  will 
be  shown  immediately  that  neither  is 
correct.  Mr.  Turner  with  more  consist- 
ency translates  the  second  example  "  for 
deadly  fight;"  making  "  faege"  an  adjec- 
tive agreeing  with  "  feohte,"  and  conse- 
quently like  its  substantive  governed  by 
the  preposition  "to."  But  independently 
of  the  impossibility  to  produce  an  ex- 
ample, where  any  Anglo-Saxon  prepo- 
sition exhibits  this  twofold  power, — a 
retroactive  and  prospective  regimen, — 
the  dative  singular  and  plural  of  "faege" 
would  be  either  "  faegum  "  or  "  faegan," 
accordingly  as  it  was  used  with  the  defi- 
nite or  indefinite  article.  In  the  lan- 
guages of  the  North,  "  faege,"  however 
written,  means  fated  to  die ;  or,  to  use 
the  interpretation  of  the  Glossary  to  Sae- 
mund's  Edda,  morti  jam  destinatus,  brevi 
moriturus.  [The  Scotch  Fey.'}  This  is  the 
only  version  equally  suited  to  both  ex- 
amples in  the  present  text ;  and  it  might 
be  supported  by  numerous  instances  from 
Caedmon  and  Beowulf.  A  confirmation  of 
its  general  import  may  also  be  drawn  from 
the  use  of  "  unfaegne  "  in  the  latter  poem. 

Wyrd  oft  nereth 
unfaegne  eorl, 
thonne  his  ellen  deah. 

Fate  oft  preserveth 
a  man  not  fated  to  die, 
when  his  courage  is  good  for  aught. 
Beowulf,  1.  1139. 

[The  word  occurs  in  similar  passages  of 
Layamon  :  fseie  ther  feollen,  1.  1742. 

feollen  the  faeie 
falewede  nebbes.   K  4162. 
See,  further,  the  Additional  Note  in  p. 
Ixxxi.— R.  T.] 

*  The  Cotton  MS.  Tiberius  B.  iv.  reads 
"  dennode ;"  Tiberius  A.  vi.  and  B.  i. 
read  "  dennade,"  which  is  supported  by 
the  Cambridge  MS.  For  this  unusual 
expression  no  satisfactory  meaning  has 


been  found ;  and  it  is  left  to  the  ingenuity 
and  better  fortune  of  some  future  trans- 
lator. Mr.  Turner  and  Mr.  Ingram,  who 
render  this  line  —  the  field  resounded, 
mid  the  din  of  the  field — have  followed  a 
reading  recorded  by  Gibson, "  dynede," — 
and  which,  notwithstanding  the  collective 
authority  of  four  excellent  manuscripts  in 
favour  of  the  present  text,  is  possibly  cor- 
rect. In  this  case,  however,  "  dynede  " 
must  not  be  interpreted  in  a  literal  sense, 
but  considered  as  synonymous  with  the 
Icelandic  "  dundi,"  from  "  dynia,"  re- 
sonare,  irruere.  "  Blodid  dundi  [dynede] 
og  tarin  tidt,"  Creberrima  erat  stillatio 
turn  sanguinis,  turn  lacrymarum.  "  Hridin 
dynr  yfir," — procella  cum  strepitu  irruit. 
— [Rask  confirms  Mr.  Price's  conjecture, 
and  refers  to  Biorn  Haldorsen's  Lexic. 
Island.*  v.  Dyn. — Hen.  Huntind.  reads 
"  colles  resonuerunt."  Layamon  has 
"eorthe  dunede;"  1.21230.— R.  T.] 

9  The  warriors  swate,  T.  The  warrior 
swate,  I.  To  justify  these  translations 
we  ought  to  read  either,  "  secgas  switon" 
or  "  secg  swat."  The  latter,  which  offers 
least  violence  to  the  text,  is  clearly  im- 
possible, since  no  line  of  Anglo-Saxon 
poetry  can  have  less  than  four  syllables. 
There  is  however  no  necessity  for  chan- 
ging a  single  letter  of  the  text,  as  "  swate  " 
is  the  dat.  case  sing,  of  "  swat,"  blood,  and 
"  secga  "  the  gen.  plural  of  "  secg."  It 
may  be  safely  asserted  that  "  swat "  in 
Anglo-Saxon  poetry  never  means  "sweat" 
in  its  modern  acceptation. 

Tha  thaet  sweord  ongan, 

setter  heatho-swate, 

hilde  gicelum, 

wig-bil  wanian. 

Then  that  sword  began, 

after  the  mighty  blood  [war-blood~], 

with  battle-droppings, 

war-bill  (to)  wane.      Beowulf,  1.  3210. 

Swa  thaet  blod  gesprang, 

hatost  heatho-swata. 

So  that  blood  sprang, 

hottest  mighty  gorelbattle-gore}.  1.3333. 

Wulf  Wonreding 

waepne  geraehte, 

thaet  him  for  swenge, 

swat  aedrum  sprong. 

Wolf  the  son  of  Wonred 

reached  (him)  with  weapon, 

that  to  him  for  the  swinge  (blow) 

blood  from  the  veins  sprang.      1.  5925. 


Ixxii 


NOTE    ON    THE    SAXON    ODE 


sith-than  sunne  up, 

on  inorgen-tld, 

maere  tuncgol, 

glad  ofer  grundas101, 

Godes  candel  beorht, 

eces  Drihtnes ; 

oth-thset  sio  aethele  gesceaft, 

sah  to  setle11. 

Thaer  laeg  secg  monig, 

garuni  ageted, 

guman  northerne, 

ofer  scyld  scoten. 

Swylc  Scyttisc  eac, 

werig  wiges  saed 12. 

West-Seaxe  forth, 

ondlangne  daeg, 


since  the  sun  up, 

on  morrow-tide, 

mighty  planet, 

glided  over  grounds,  [Me  deeps~\ 

bright  candle  of  God, 

of  the  eternal  Lord  ; 

till  the  noble  creature 

sank  to  (her)  seat  [settle}. 

There  lay  many  a  warrior, 

strewed  by  darts, 

northern  man*,  [mewj 

shot  over  (the)  shield. 

So  Scottish  eke, 

weary  of  war  — .  [weary p,  sated  with  war.'] 

The  West- Saxons  forth, 

the  continuous  day, 


The  German  "  schweiss  "  (sweat)  still 
means  the  blood  of  a  wild  boar. 

[The  above  assertion  concerning  the 
meaning  of  swat  in  Anglo-Saxon  poetry 
must  be  taken  with  some  limitation,  for  in 
the  three  instances  of  its  use  referred  to 
in  the  Index  to  Caedmon,  the  first  is, 
p.  31.  1.  8. 

sceolde  on  wite  a 
mid  swate  and  mid  sorgum, 
siftftan  libban, 

where  it  can  have  no  other  meaning  but 
sweat,  and  is  so  rendered  by  Thorpe. — 
If.] 

1°  Glad,  T.  and  I.     But  "  glad  "  is  the 
past  tense  of  glidan,  to  glide  ;  and  formed 
like  rad  from  ridan,  bad  from  bidan,  &c. 
in  all  of  which  the  accentuated  a  was  pro- 
nounced like  o  in  rode.     It  is  the  glode 
of  "  Le  Bone  Florence  of  Rome." 
Thorow  the  foreste  the  lady  rode, 
All  glemed  there  sche  glode, 

Till  sche  came  in  a  felde.       v.  1710. 
In  Sir  Launfal,  Mr.  Ritson  leaves  it  un- 
explained. 

Another  cours  together  they  r6d, 
That  syr  Launfal  helm  of-glod.     v.  574. 
Unless  we   admit   this  interpretation  of 
"glad,"  the  first  part  of  the  proposition 
will  be  a  mere  string  of  predicates  with- 
out a  verb.     The  antithesis  to  "glad  ofer 
grundas  "  is  "  sah  to  setle." 

[In  Beowulf,  1.  4140.  Mr.  Kemble  ren- 
ders "syththan  heofones  gim  glad  ofer 
grundas,"."  after  the  gem  of  heaven  glided 
over  the  deeps." — R.  T.] 

11  Hastened  to  her  setting,  T.  Sat  in 
the  western  main,  I.  Sah  is  the  past 
tense  of  sigan,  to  incline,  sink  down  ; 
and  follows  the  same  norm  as  stall,  from 
stigan  ;  hnah,  from  hnigan,  &c. 

'  ["man"  is  wrong.     The  line  is  an 


apposition  to  "  secg  monig,"  and  is  in  the 
nom.  pi. — THORPE.] 

12  Weary  with  ruddy  battle,  T.  The 
mighty  seed  of  Mars,  I.  In  the  first  of 
these  versions  the  reading  of  the  Cotton 
MSS.  Tiberius  B.  iv.  has  been  followed  : 
"  werig  wiges  raed."  This  manuscript, 
however,  exhibits  great  marks  of  negli- 
gence on  the  part  of  the  transcriber,  and, 
if  correct  in  its  orthography  on  the  pre- 
sent occasion,  is  equally  obscure  with  the 
language  of  the  other  copies.  "  Raed  " 
cannot  be  the  adjective  red,  as  this  would 
give  us  a  false  concord. — [Mr.  Bosworth 
gives  "saed"  in  his  text,  and  'ruddy'  in 
his  version.  Mr.  Henshall,  in  that  which 
he  seems  to  have  led  Mr.  Ellis  to  believe 
a  literal  version,  and  therefore  obscure ! 
(Specimens,  vol.  i.p.  15.) renders  the  pass- 
age "red  with  worrying  war"!]  If  "saed" 
be  the  genuine  reading,  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  point  out  a  better  authenticated 
version  than  Mr.  Ingram's,  provided  the 
word  is  to  be  taken  substantively.  But 
even  this  has  been  rejected,  from  a  feeling 
that  the  context  requires  a  verb,  and  a 
doubt  whether  such  a  metaphor  be  in  uni- 
son with  the  general  spirit  of  Anglo-Saxon 
poetry.  [Mr.  Price  adds,  in  a  note  in 
p.  (119),  edit.  1824,  of  his  preface,  "  If 
for  '  werig  wiges  saed  '  we  read  '  werig  and 
wiges  saed,'  weary  and  sad  of  (on  account 
of,  the)  war,  the  present  difficulty  va- 
nishes, and  the  expression  may  be  justi- 
fied by  the  '  hilde  ssedne  '  of  Beowulf,  ed. 
Thorkelin,  p.  202,"  where  it  is  errone- 
ously printed  "  faedne."  Mr.  Kemble's 
rendering  is,  however,  without  doubt  the 
right  one,  "satiated  with  battle";  see  his 
edition,  1837,  and  Glossary.  So  also 
M.  Goth,  "sad,  sothjan,"  satur,  satin-are; 
Is),  "saddr,"  Gerrn.  ''satt,"  Fris.  "saath." 
-R.T.] 


ON  THE  VICTORY  OF  ATHELSTAN. 


Ixxiii 


eorod-cystum 13, 
on  last  laegdon 
lathum  theodum. 
Heowon  here-flyman, 
hindan  thearle14, 
mecum  mylen-scearpum 
Myrce  ne  wyrndon 
heardes  hand-plegan, 
haeletha  nanum, 
thara  the  mid  Anlafe, 
ofer  ear-geblond, 
on  lides  bosme,     • 
land  gesohton, 
faege  to  feohte. 
Fife  laegon, 
on  tham  campstede, 
cyningas  geonge, 
sweordum  aswefede. 

Swylc  seofen  eac, 
eorlas  Anlafes ; 
unrim  heriges 16, 


in  battalions, 

laid  on  the  foot-steps 

to  the  loathed  race. 

(They)  hewed  (the)  fugitives 
hind  wards  exceedingly  \_from  behind  amain,~] 
5.      with  swords  mill-sharp. 

The  Mercians  refused  not 

the  hard  hand-play, 

to  none  of  the  men  \_to  any  heroes^ 

of  those  who  with  Anlaf, 

over  the  ocean, 

in  [on]  the  ship's  bosom, 

sought  (our)  land, 

fated  to  the  fight. 

Five  lay, 

on  the  battle-stead, 

young  kings, 

soothed  [slumbered,  act.~]  with  swords. 
[by  swords  in  slumber  laid.] 

So  seven  eke, 

earls  of  Anlaf 's ; 

numberless  of  the  army, 


13  With  a  chosen  band,  T.  With  chosen 
troops,    I.      The   Anglo-Saxon    "  cysta," 
though  clearly  derived  from  "  ceosan  "  to 
choose,  appears  to  have  obtained  a  speci- 
fic meaning  somewhat  similar  to  our  regi- 
ment or  battalion. 

Hsefde  cista  gehwilc, 
cuthes  werodes, 
gar-berendra, 
guth-fremmendra, 
tyn  hund  geteled. 
Had  each  cista, 
of  approved  troops, 
of  spear-bearing, 
of  war  enacting  (ones) 
ten  hundred  taled  (numbered). 
Caedm.  67.  25.— Ed.  Thorpe,  192. 

["cista"  is  the  gen.  pi.  and  cannot 
have  the  same  form  in  the  nom. ;  the  geni- 
tive of  cista  would  be  cistena.  The  nom. 
is  cist,  gen.  cista. — THORPE.] 

14  The  behind  ones  fiercely,  T.     Scat- 
tered  the  rear,  I.     But  "  hindan  "  pos- 
sesses   the    same     adverbial    power    as 
"eastan"  occurring  below.    [This  power, 
however,  is  derived  from  its  termination 
"on,"  which,  like  the  Greek  9ev,   de- 
notes motion  from  a   place.    See    Rask, 
339.— II.  T.] 

15  This  reading  has  been  retained  on 
the  authority  of  the  Cotton  MSS.  Tibe- 
rius A.  vi.  B.  i.     The  reasons  for  such 


an  epithet  are  not  so  clear,  however  ob- 
vious this  would  be  if  applied  to  modern 
times.  But  with  our  present  limited 
knowledge  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language, 
and  of  the  arts,  customs  and  modes  of 
thinking  of  our  ancestors,  it  would  be 
highly  absurd  to  reject  an  expression, 
merely  because  its  propriety  is  not  felt. 
The  more  intelligible  reading  "  mycel 
scearpum  "  wears  all  the  appearance  of  a 
gloss.  [Mill-sharp;  from  the  grindstone 
with  which  the  weapons  were  made  keen  : 
so  "  scur-heard,"  hardened  by  scouring  ; 
"feol-scearp,"  sharpened  with  the  file, 
file-sharp. — KKMBLE.] 

16  And  innumerable  of  the  army  of  the 
fleet — and  the  Scots.  There  was  chased 
away,  the  lord  of  the  Northmen,  by  ne- 
cessity driven  to  the  voice  of  the  ship. 
With  a  small  host,  with  the  crew  of  his 
ship,  the  king  of  the  fleet  departed  on  the 
yellow  flood.  T.  And  of  the  ship's  crew 
unnumbered  crowds.  There  was  dis- 
persed the  little  band  of  hardy  Scots,  the 
dread  of  the  Northern  hordes  urged  to 
the  noisy  deep  by  unrelenting  fate.  The 
king  of  the  fleet  with  his  slender  craft 
escaped  with  his  life  on  the  felon  flood.  I. 
The  present  translation  differs  occasion- 
ally from  both  these  versions.  Where  it 
agrees  with  either,  no  vindication  will  be 
necessary;  but  some  of  its  variations  are 
too  important  not  to  require  an  account 


Ixxiv 


NOTE  ON  THE  SAXON  ODE 


flotan  and  Sceotta. 
Thaer  geflymed  wearth 
Northmanna  bregu, 
nyde  geb^ded, 
to  lides  stefne, 


of  sailors  and  Scots. 

There  was  chased  away 

the  leader  of  the  Northmen,  (i.  e.  Anlaf.) 

compelled  by  need, 

to  the  ship's  prow, 


of  the  authorities  from  whence  they  are 
derived. — The  Anglo-Saxon  "flota"  (the 
floater)  equally  meant  a  ship  and  a  sailor. 

Flota  waes  on  ythum, 

bat  under  beorge. 

Ship  was  on  the  waters, 

boat  under  rock.  Beowulf,  1.  419. 
Of  its  secondary  meaning,  a  sailor, — an 
example  has  already  occurred  in  the  com- 
pound, "  scip-flota ; "  and  the  fragment  of 
Brithnoth  has  preserved  the  simple  sub- 
stantive, as  in  the  present  text: 

Se  flod  ut-gewat, 

tha  flotan  stodon  gearowe, 

wicinga  fela, 

wiges  georne. 

The  flood  departed  out, 

the  sailors  stood  prepared, 

of  the  vikings  many, 

desirous  of  battle. 

Thorpe,  Anal.  p.  123. 
"Stefn  "  like  "  flota  "  had  also  a  twofold 
meaning.  Lye  has  only  recorded  one  of 
these — the  human  voice, — and  upon  this 
both  the  interpretations  cited  above  are 
evidently  founded.  But  it  likewise  im- 
plied the  prow  of  a  ship ;  and  this  is  the 
only  sense  which  will  give  connexion  or 
intelligence  to  the  present  narrative.  A 
similar  example  occurs  in  Beowulf: 

Flota  waes  on  ythum, 

bat  under  beorge, 

beornas  gearwe 

on  stefn  stigon. 

Ship  was  on  the  waters, 

boat  under  rock, 

(the)  bairns  [barons]  readily 

ascended  the  prow.  1.  419. 

[So  "  from  stem  to  stern  :  "  and  Milton 
"stemming  nightly  tow'rd  the  pole." — 
R.  T.]  In  German,"  Steven  "  still  means 
the  stem  of  a  ship ;  and  in  Danish  this  part 
of  a  vessel  is  called  the  For-staevn,  by  way 
of  distinction  from  the  Bag-stsevn,  or  stern. 
It  will  also  be  found  in  the  second  part  of 
the  Edda: 

Brim-runar  scaltu  rista, 

ef  thu  vilt  borgit  hafa, 

a  sundi  segl-maurom; 

a  stafni  thaer  seal  rista, 

oc  a  starnar-blatha, 

oc  leggia  eld  i  ar. 

Sea-runes  shalt  thou  carve, 

if  thou  wilt  have  protected, 

sail-horses  (ships)  in  the  sea ; 


in  the  prow  shalt  (thou)  carve 

and  in  the  stern-blade,  (rudder) 

and  lay  fire  in  the  oar. 
But  "stefn  "  must  not  be  confounded  with 
"  stefna,"  a  ship,  frequently  occurring  in 
Beowulf,  and  which  the  Latin  translation 
always  (I  believe)  renders  "  prora." 

Gewat  thse  ofer  waeg-holm, 

winde  gefysed, 

flota  fami-heals, 

fugle  gelicost. 

Oth-thset  ymb  an  tid, 

otheres  dogores, 

wunden  stefna, 

gewaden  haefde, 

thset  tha  lithende 

land  gesawon. 

Departed   then   over  (the)    billowy 

hastened  by  the  wind,  [main, 

the  foamy-necked  ship, 

likest  to  a  fowl. 

Till  that  about  six  o'clock 

of  the  other  (next)  day, 

the  curved  bark 

had  (so)  waded, 

that  the  voyagers 

saw  land.  1.  432. 

For  an  illustration  of  "cread"  the  reader 
is  referred  to  vol.  ii.  p.  71,  where  this  line 
is  translated.  And  in  further  support  of 
the  version  there  given,  the  following  ex- 
tract from  the  fragment  of  Brithnoth  may 
be  quoted:  (Thorpe,  Anal.  p.  122.) 

We  willath  mid  tham  sceattum, 

us  to  scype  gangan, 

on-flot  iferan, 

and  eow  frithes  healdan. 

We  will  with  the  scot  (treasures) 

us  to  ship  gang, 

afloat  proceed, 

and  hold  peace  with  you. 
["  It  should  be  remarked  that  the 
distinction  between  stefn,  prora,  and 
stefn,  vox,  depends  upon  their  genders, 
the  former  being  masc.,  the  latter  fern. 
When  a  is  appended  to  a  substantive  of 
this  nature,  it  converts  it  into  a  kind  of 
epicene  masc.,  denoting  that  the  person 
represented  is  distinguished  by  the  pos- 
session of,  or  partaking  in,  that  which  the 
original  substantive  signified  :  thus  neb,  a 
beak,  has  hyrned-nebba,  the  horned  beak- 
ed one,  i.  e.  the  raven.  Here,  also,  wun- 
den-stefna  means  the  curved  prowed  one, 
i.  e.  the  «/iip."— K.] 


ON  THE  VICTORY  OF  ATHELSTAN. 


Ixxv 


litle  werede. 

Cread  cnear*  on-flot, 

cyning  ut-gewat, 

on  fealone  flod, 

feorh  generede. 

Swylc  thaer  eac  se  froda17, 

mid  fleame  corn, 

on  his  cyththe  north, 

Constantinus, 

har  hylderinc 18. 

Hreman  ne  thorfte 

meca  gemanan-f-. 

Her  waes  his  maga  sceard19, 


with  a  little  band. 

(The)  ship  drove  [crowded]  afloat, 

(the)  king  departed  out, 

on  the  fallow  flood, 

preserved  (his)  life. 

So  there  also  the  sapient  \_venerable~]  one 

by  flight  came 

on  \_to~]  his  country  north, 

Constantine, 

hoary  warrior. 

He  needed  not  to  boast 

of  the  commerce  of  swords.  men'] 

Here  was  his  kindred  troop  [bandofkins- 


*  [Ohg.  chnar  O.  N.  knorr,  navis  mer- 
catoria,  navigium.— TH.] 

17  The   routed    one,    T.    the    valiant 
chief,  I.     By  which  of  these  epithets  are 
we  to  translate  the  title  bestowed  upon 
Saemund,  for  his  extraordinary  learning  ? 
— Saemundr  Iciinnfrodi.    The  age  of  Con- 
stantine procured  for  him  this  distinction, 
which  in  Beowulf  is  so  frequently  applied 
to  the  veteran  Hrothgar. — [Mr.  Kemble's 
Glossary  to  Beowulf  has  "  frod,  setate  pro- 
vectus,  prudens."] 

18  The  hoarse  din  of  Hilda,  T.     The 
hoary  Hildrinc,  I.  It  is  quite  an  assump- 
tion of  modern  writers,  that  this  goddess 
of  war  was  acknowledged  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxons;  and  no  ingenuity  can  reconcile 
Mr.  Turner's  translation  with  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  text.  Mr.  Ingram  most  unnecessarily 
makes  "  hylderinc  "  a  proper  name,  which, 
if  correct  on  the  present  occasion,  would  be 
equally  so  in  the  following  passage,  where 
Beowulf  plunges  into  the  "mere"  to  seek 
the  residence  of  Grendel's  mother: 

Brim-wylm  onfeng 

hilderince: 

Sea- wave  received 

(the)  warrior:  1.  2988. 

or  in  the  preamble  to  Brithnoth's  dying 
address : 

Tha  gyt  that  word  gecwseth 

har  hilderinc. 

Then  yet  the  word  quoth 

(the)  hoary  warrior. 

Thorpe,  Anal.  p.  126. 
With  these  examples  before  us,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  but  that  we  ought  to  insert 
"rinc"  in  the  following  extract  relating 
to  the  funeral  obsequies  of  Beowulf: 

That  waes  wunden  gold, 

on  waen  hladen, 

seghwaes  unrim, 

aethelinge  boren, 

har  hilde  [rinc]  [deor,  K.] 

to  Hrones-naesse. 


Then  was  the  twisted  gold 

on  wain  laden, 

numberless  of  each 

with  the  atheling  borne, 

hoary  warrior, 

to  Hron's-ness.  1.  6262. 

f  Mr.  Ingram,  who  reads  "  maecan 
gemanan,"  translates  it  "  among  his 
kindred."  But  "  maeca,"  if  it  exist  at 
all  as  a  nominative  case,  can  never  mean 
"  a  relative." 

19  He  was  the  fragment  of  his  relations, 
of  his  friends  felled  in  the  folk-place,  T. 
Here  was  his  remnant  of  relations  and 
friends  slain  with  the  sword  in  the  crowd- 
ed fight,  I.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  upon 
what  principle  the  soldiers  of  Constantine, 
who  fell  in  the  battle,  could  be  called 
either  the  fragment  or  remnant  of  his  fol- 
lowers. A  similar  expression — here-laf — 
is  afterwards  applied  with  evident  pro- 
priety to  the  survivors  of  the  conflict. 
The  present  translation  has  been  hazard- 
ed, from  a  belief  that  "  sceard  "  is  syno- 
nymous with  "  sceare "  (the  German 
schaar,  a  band  or  troop) ;  and  "  maga- 
sceard,"  like  "mago-driht,"  descriptive 
of  the  personal  or  household  troops  of 
Constantine. 

Tha  wses  Hrothgare, 

here-sped  gyfen, 

wiges  weorth-mynd; 

thast  him  his  wine-magas, 

georne  hyrdon— 

oth  thaet  seo  geogoth  geweox 

-mago-driht  micel. 

Then  was  to  Hrothgar 

army-success  given, 

honour  of  war ; 

that  him  his  friendly-relatives 

willingly  heard  (obeyed) — 

till  the  youth  waxed  (in  years) — 

mickle  kindred  band.  1.  128. 


Ixxvi 


NOTE  ON  THE  SAXON  ODE 


freonda*  gefylled, 
on  folc-stede, 
beslaegen  aet  secce; 
and  his  sunu  (he)  forlet 
on  wsel-stowe, 
wundum-forgrunden, 
geongne  aet  guthe. 
Gylpan  ne  thorfte, 
beorn  blanden-feax20, 
bill-geslehtes, 
eald  inwitta21; 
ne  Anlaf  thy  ma, 
mid  heora  here-lafum, 
hlihan  ne  thorfton, 
thset  hi  beadu-weorca 22 
beteran  wurdon, 
on  camp-stede, 
cumbol-gehnastes, 
gar  mittinge23, 
gumena  gemotes, 
waepen-gewrixles, 


of  friends  destroyed  (felled),  \_deprivedof 

on  the  folk-stead,  friends'] 

slain  \_bereft-\~\  in  [at]  battle; 

and  his  son  he  left 

on  the  slaughter-place, 

mangled  with  wounds, 

young  in  [at]  the  fight. 

He  needed  not  to  boast, 

bairn  \_warrior~]  blended- haired, 

of  the  bill-clashing, 

old  deceiver; 

nor  Anlaf  any  more, 

with  the  relics  of  their  armies, 

needed  not  to  laugh, 

that  they  of  warlike  works 

better  (men)  were, 

on  the  battle-stead, 

at  [of]  the  conflict  of  banners, 

the  meeting  of  spears, 

the  assembly  of  men, 

the  interchange  of  weapons, 


*  [That  is,  deprived  through  their  be- 
ing felled  (befylled.)— TH.] 

f  [Bereft  through  their  being  slain  (be- 
slaegen) :  such  in  these  two  instances  and 
elsewhere  being  the  force  of  the  privative 
it?.— TH.] 

20  The  lad  with  flaxen  hair,  T.     The 
fair-haired  youth,  I.    Mr.  Turner  appears 
to  refer  these  expressions  to  Constantine's 
son  ;  Mr.  Ingram  certainly  does.     There 
would  be  little  propriety  in  declaring  a 
dead  man's  inability  to  boast,  or  the  un- 
fitness  of  such  a  proceeding  even  if  there 
were  any  thing  to  colour  such  an  inter- 
pretation.    But  blonden-feax  is  a  phrase 
which  in  Anglo-Saxon  poetry  is  only  ap- 
plied to  those  advanced  in   life ;  and  is 
used  to    denote   that  mixture   of  colour 
which  the  hair  assumes  on  approaching 
or    increasing    senility.       The    German 
"  blond,"  at  the  present  day,  marks  a  co- 
lour neither  white  nor  brown,  but  mingled 
with  tints  of  each.  [In  Csedmon,  "blonden 
feax"  is  applied  to  Sarah  and  to  Lot  See 
Mr.  Thorpe's  edit,  and  the  note,  p.  141. 
-R.  T.] 

21  The  old  in  wit,  T.   Nor  old  Inwood, 
I.     The  orthography  of  the  present  text 
is  supported  by  the  Cotton  MSS.  Tiberius 
A.  vi.  &   B.  i.     Mr.   Ingram  reads  "  in- 
widda,"  of  which  he  has  made  "  Inwood ;" 
though  the  learned  translator  has  omitted 
to  inform  us  who  this  venerable  personage 
might  be.     It  is  rather  singular  that  he 
should  appear  again,  with  no  slight  ubi- 
quity of  person,  in  the  fragment  of  Judith : 


Swa  se  inwidda, 
ofer  ealne  daeg, 
dryht-guman  sine 
drencte  mid  wine. 

So  the  deceiver, 
over  the  whole  day, 
his  followers 
drenched  with  wine. 

Thorpe,  Anal.  p.  132. 

[Mr.  Henshall  has  made  of  it  "  old  in 
wisdom ;"  and  of  "  Beorn  blanden  feax, 
bill  geslihtes,"  "  His  barons  bold  in  fight, 
slaughtered  by  the  bill;"  "With  Bad 
wardes  eaforan  plegodon,"  "  Guarded  by 
an  oath  of  or  en  pledged."  His  version, 
indeed,  abounds  throughout  with  the  most 
preposterous  blunders  and  absurdities ; 
yet  it  seems  to  have  been  accepted  with 
thankfulness  by  Mr.  G.  Ellis,  and  was  in- 
serted in  his  Specimens  with  unsuspecting 
faith,  as  being  "  as  literal  as  possible." — 
R.  T.] 

22  That  they  for  works  of  battle  were, 
T.     That  they  on  the  field  of  stern  com- 
mand better    workmen    were,    I.      But 
"  beado-weorca"    is    the    genitive    case 
plural  of  "  beadu-weorc,"  and  to  justify 
these    translations    ought    to    have    been 
"  beadu-weorcum "     (T.)     or     "  beadu- 
wyrhtan"  (I). 

23  Mr.  Ingram  reads  "mittinges,"  which 
can  only  owe  its  existence  to  the  negli- 
gence of  a  transcriber.     The  genitive  case 
of  "  milling  "  is  "  mittinge." 


ON  THE  VICTORY  OF  ATHELSTAN. 


Ixxvii 


thaes  the  hie  on  wael-felda 

with  Eadweardes 

eaforan  plegodon. 

Gewiton  hym  tha  Northmen, 

naegledon  cnearrum, 

dreorig  daretha  laf 24, 

on  dinges25  mere26, 

ofer  deop  wseter, 

Dyflin  secan, 

eft  Yraland27, 

sewisc-mode. 

Swylcef  tha  gebrother, 

begen  aet  samne, 

cyninsr  and  aetheling, 

cyththe  sohton, 

West  Seaxna  land, 

wiges  hremige28. 

Laeton  him  behindan, 


of  that  which*  they  on  the  slaughter-field 

with  Edward's 

P 

children  played. 
The  Northmen  departed, 
(in  their)  nailed  ships, 
gory  relic  of  the  darts, 

on, 

over  deep  water, 

Dublin  to  seek, 

Ireland  again, 

with  a  shamed  mind. 

So  too  the  brothers, 

both  together, 

king  and  prince, 

sought  (their)  country, 

land  of  the  West  Saxons, 

of  \_in~\  (the)  war  exulting. 

(They)  left  behind  them, 


*  [For  that  they,  $c.~\  [From  the  time 
that,$c.— TH.] 

24  Dreary  relics  of  the  darts,  T.  Dreary 
remnant,  I.  This  expression  seems  rath- 
er to  refer  to  the  wounded  condition  of 
the  fugitives.  The  present  version  may 
be  justified  by  the  following  extracts  from 
Beowulf: 

Thonne  wses  theos  medo-heal, 

driht-sele  dreor-fah, 

thonne  daeg  lixte, 

eal  benc-thelu, 

blode  bestymed. 

Then  was  this  mead-hall, 

troop-hall  gore  stained, 

when  day  lighted  (dawned), 

all  (the)  table, 

sprinkled  with  blood.  1.  962. 

Thonne  blode-fah, 
husa  selest, 
heoro-dreorig  stod. 

Then  stained  with  blood, 

the  best  of  houses, 

stood  sword-gory.  1.  1862. 

Water  under  wolcnum, 
wael-dreore  fah. 

Water  under  clouds, 

stained  with  slaughter-gore.  1.  3261. 

85  This  reading  has  been  retained  in 
preference  to  the  "dinnes"  of  Gibson,  on 
the  authority  of  Tiberius  B.  i.  The  other 
Cotton  MSS.  read  "  dynges"  A.  vi. 
"  dynges  "  B.  iv. 

26  On  the  stormy  sea,  T.  On  the 
roaring  sea,  I.  There  is  every  probability 
that  these  translations  give  the  sense  of 
this  passage,  though  some  doubts  may  be 


entertained  as  to  the  integrity  of  the  pre- 
sent text.  If  "  dynges-mere  "  be  the 
genuine  reading,  it  must  be  considered  as 
a  parallel  phrase  with  "  wiges-heard, 
hordes-heard,"  &c.  where  two  substantives 
are  united  in  one  word,  the  former  of 
which  stands  in  the  genitive  case  with  an 
adjective  power.  Of  this  practice  the  ex- 
amples are  too  numerous  and  too  noto- 
rious to  require  further  illustration. 
"Dinges-mere  "  would  then  be  a  "ken- 
ningar  nafn  "  given  to  the  ocean  from  the 
continual  clashing  of  its  waves.  For  it 
will  be  remembered  that  the  literal  im- 
port of  "  mere  "  is  a  mere  or  lake,  [qu.] 
and  this  could  not  be  applied  to  the  Irish 
channel  without  some  qualifying  expres- 
sion. Ids  clearly  impossible  that  "dinges," 
if  correct,  can  stand  alone,  as  "on"  never 
governs  a  genitive  case.  On  "  thone 
mere,"  on  "  thsene  mere."  See  Lye  in 
voce. 

27  Mr.  Ingram  retains  "  heora  land" 
in  the  text,  and  translates  the  variation 
— Yraland.     All  the  Cotton  MSS.  unite 
in  reading  "  eft ";  and  we  learn  from  other 
sources  that  this  statement  is  historically 
correct. 

f  [Postea  frater  uterque  rediit  West- 
sexe,  belli  reliquias  post  se  deserentes, 
carnes  virorum  in  escam  paratas.  Ergo 
corvus  niger,  ore  cornutus,  et  buffo  livens, 
aquila  cum  milvo,  canis  lupusque  mixtus 
colore,  his  sunt  deliciis  diu  recreati.  Hen. 
Huntind.  lib.  v.] 

28  The  screamers  of  war,  T.     In  fight 
triumphant,  I.     It  has  already  been  said 
of  the  fugitive  Constantine  that  he  had  no 
cause  to  exult — hreman  ne  thorfte ;  this 
is  left  to  the   victors.     This   expression 


Ixxviii 


NOTE  ON  THE  SAXON  ODE 


hra  brittian, 

salowig  padan*211, 

thone  sweartan  hraefn, 

hyrned-nebban ; 

and  thone  hasean  padan 

occurs  repeatedly  in  Beowulf,  where  it  is 
always  applied  to  the  successful  party: 

Thanon  eft  gewat, 

huthe  hremig, 

to  ham  faran, 

mid  thaere  wael-fylle, 

wica  neosan. 

Thence  (Grendel)  again  departed, 

with  prey  exulting, 

to  home  (to)  go, 

with  the  slaughtered-slain, 

to  approach  (his)  dwelling.      1.  246. 

Guth-rinc  gold-wlanc, 

graes-moldan  trsed, 

since  hremig. 

Warrior  (Beowulf)  bright  in  gold, 

grass-mould  trode, 

with  wealth  exulting.  1.  3758. 

Nu  her  thara  banena, 

byre  nat  hwylces, 

fraetwum  hremig, 

on  flet  gseth  ; 

morthres  gylpeth, 

and  thone  maththum1  byreth, 

thone  the  thu  mid  rihte 

raedan  sceoldest. 

Now  of  those  banes  (murderers), 

(the)  son  (I)  know  not  of  which, 

with  ornaments  exulting, 

in  (the)  hall  goeth-; 

boasteth  of  the  murder, 

and  the  jewel  (i.  e.  a  sword)  beareth, 

that  thou  by  right 

shouldest  command  (or  wield). 

1.  4101. 

29  The  dismal  kite,  T.  The  sallow 
kite,  I.  Whatever  idea  may  have  been 
attached  to  "  padan  ",  it  is  manifestly  not 
a  species  but  a  genus.  It  occurs  again 
immediately  as  characteristic  of  the  eagle. 
There  is,  however,  reason  to  believe  that 
these  lines  have  been  transposed,  and  that 
we  ought  to  read 

Thone  sweartan  hrsefn, 
salowig  padan. 

Caedmon  unites  with  the  present  text 
in  calling  the  raven  both  "  swarth  and 
sallow :" 

Let  tha  ymb  worn  daga 
sweartne  fleogan, 
hraefn  ofer  heah  flod. 
Noe  tealde, 
thaet  he  on  neode  hine 


(the)  corse  to  enjoy, 

(the)  sallowy ,  [salloiu  of  coat'] 

(the)  swarth  raven, 

the  horned  nibbed  one ;   [with  horned  nib'] 

and  the  dusky  — 


-,  [coated?']  [toad] 


secan  wolde  ; 

ac  se  feond, 

salwig  fethera, 

secan  nolde.   Ed.  Thorpe,  p.  86.1.  30. 

Then  after  some  days  (he)  let 

swarth  fly, 

raven  over  high  flood. 

Noah  reckoned  (told) 

that  he  from  need  him 

seek  would; 

but  the  fiend, 

sallowy  of  feathers, 

would  not  seek  (him).  33.  5. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  "blac"  was  equivalent  to  our  black 
and  yellow.  [Ger.  bleich,  pale,  hence  Angl. 
to  bleach.] 

[In  Beowulf,  1.  3599.  we  have  "thaet 
hraefn  blaca,"  which  Mr.  Kemble  renders 
"  the  pale  raven."  In  the  Glossary  to  Beo- 
wulf, vol.  i.p.  250,  he  refers  "pada"  to  the 
Gothic  Paida,  tunica ;  and  points  out  the 
following  epithets  as  formed  with  it  : 
"  salo-pad,"  and  "  sal  wig-pad,"  in  the 
Exeter  Book,  fol.  87  b. ;  and  "salwig- 
pada"  Judith,  p.  24  ;  as  also  in  the  text 
above :  qui  vestem  fulvum  gerit : — which 
then  would  be  dun-coated,  tawny-vested. 
See  also  the  Glossary  to  Thorpe's  Ana- 
lecta. — R.  T.] 

*  [salowig  padan  (sallow  of  coat)  is  cer- 
tainly an  epithet  of  the  sweartan  hraefn 
in  the  next  line.  There  is  no  occasion,  in 
such  a  composition,  to  suppose,  with  Mr. 
Price,  any  transposition.  See  n.  29. — TH.] 

f  [pada  here  may  signify  toad  (pad- 
dock) the  bufo  of  Hen.  Hunt.— TH.] 

30  And  the  hoarse  toad,  T.  And  the 
hoarse  vulture,  I.  The  latter  version  is 
totally  without  authority.  The  former 
is  justified  in  part  by  our  vocabularies, 
though  evidently  at  variance  with  the 
context.  The  Cotton  MSS.  Tiberius  A.  vi. 
reads  haso  (the  nom.  case),  which  shows 
this  word  to  have  had  a  twofold  termina- 
tion: haso  and  haswe — like  salo  and 
salwe,  fealo  and  fealwe.  The  nomencla- 
ture of  Anglo-Saxon  colours  must  neces- 
sarily be  very  obscure;  but  as  we  find  ihe 
public  road  called  "  fealwe  straete  "  (Beo- 
wulf); and  the  passage  made  for  the  Is- 
raelites over  the  Red  Sea  "  haswe  straeda" 
(Caedmon),  the  version  of  the  present 
text  cannot  be  materially  out. 


1  Maththum  must   not  be  confounded  with  mathmum,  the   dative  case  plural   of 
mathm. 


ON  THE  VICTORY  OF  ATHELSTAN. 


Ixxix 


earn  seftan  hwit31, 
aeses  brucan, 
graedigne  guth-hafoc ; 
and  thaet  graege  deor, 
wulf  on  wealde. 
Ne  wearth  wael  mare, 
on  thys  igland, 
aefre  gyta, 
folces  gefylled, 
beforan  thissum, 
sweordes  ecgum, 
thaes  the  us  secgath  bee, 

ealde  uthwitan, 
sith-than  eastan  hider 
Engle  and  Seaxe 
up  becomon, 
ofer  brade  brimu32 
Brytene  sohton, 
wlance  wig-smithas, 
Wealas33  ofer-comon, 


eagle  white  behind  [after], 

(of)  the  corse  to  enjoy, 

greedy  war-hawk  ; 

and  that  [t1ie~\  gray  beast  [deer], 

(the)  wolf  on  \_in~\  the  wold. 

Nor  was  (there)  a  greater  slaughter, 

on  this  island, 

ever  yet, 

of  folk  felled, 

before  this, 

by  (the)  sword's  edges, 

of  [/rom]that  that  say  to  us  (in)  books, 

[according  to  what  books  tell  us,'] 

old  historians, 

since  eastward  [from  *  the  east]  hither 

Angles  and  Saxons 

up  came, 

over  (the)  broad  seas 

Britain  sought, 

splendid  \^proud~\  war-smiths, 

overcame  (the)  Welsh,  [the  strangers,~\ 


31  The  eagle  afterwards  to  feast  on  the 
white  flesh,  T.  And  the  eagle  swift  to 
consume  his  prey,  I.  The  very  simplicity 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  text  appears  to  have 
excited  distrust  in  the  only  translation 
these  words  are  susceptible  of.  The  or- 
nithologist will  perceive  in  it  a  description 
of  the  Haliaetus  alUcilla,  or  white-tailed 
sea-eagle.  The  phrase  is  not  without  a 
parallel  in  Beowulf,  where  the  bard  is  de- 
scribing the  ashen  lances  with  their  steel- 
clad  points: 

Garas  stodon, 
saemanna  searo, 
samod  set  gaedere, 
sesc  holt  ufan  gvaeg. 

The  spears  stood, 

weapons  of  the  seamen, 

collected  together, 

ash-wood  gray  above.  1.  fi54. 

There  is  so  close  a  resemblance  between 
the  present  text  and  a  passage  in  the 
fragment  of  Judith,  that  it  will  not  be  too 
much  to  assume  that  they  have  been 
drawn  from  some  common  source,  or  that 
the  one  has  had  its  influence  in  producing 
the  other: 

Thaes  se  hlanca  gefeah, 

wulf  in  walde, 

and  se  wanna  hrefn, 

wael-gifre  fugel, 

westan  begen, 

thaet  him  tha  theod-guman 

thohton  tilian 


fylle  on  faegum. 
Ac  him  fleah  on  laste 
earn  setes  georn, 
urig  fethera, 
salowig  pada, 
sang  hilde  leoth, 
hyrned  nebba. 

Of  this  rejoiced  the  lank 

wolf  in  the  wold  ; 

and  the  wan  raven, 

slaughter-desiring  fowl, 

westward  both,  [from  the  west] 

that  to  them  the  people, 

thought  to  prepare 

a  falling  among  the  fated. 

But  on  their  footsteps  flew 

eagle  of  food  desirous, 

dewy  (?)  of  feathers, 

sallowy ,  [coated~\ 

sang  the  war  song, 
horned  nibbed  one. 

Thorpe,  Anal.  p.  137. 
[From  Caedmon  may  also  be  added : 

Sang  se  wanna  fugel 
under  deoreth-sceaftum 
deawig  fethera. 

Ed.  Thorpe,  p.  1 1 9. 1.  22.— R.  T.] 
*  [Rask,  No.  339.] 

32  Mr.  Ingram  reads  "brimum  brade," 
which  is  a  false  concord.     All  the  Cotton 
MSS.  agree  in  the  reading  of  the  present 
text. 

33  As  this  name  is  foreign  to  the  Celtic 
dialects,  it  probably  was  conferred  upon 
the  inhabitants  by  their  Teutonic  neigh- 


Ixxx 


NOTE  ON  TUB  SAXON  ODK 


eorlas  drhwate34, 
eard  begeaton. 


earls  [men~]  exceeding  bold  [keen], 
obtained  (the)  earth. 

[a  territory  or  dwelling  : — "  Eard:  "  not  "eorthe."] 


hours.  In  old  German  poetry  every  thing 
translated  from  a  foreign  language  was 
said  to  be  taken  from  the  Walsche 
(Welsh),  and  the  Pays  de  Vaud  is  still 
called  the  Walliser-land.  The  following 
singular  passage  is  taken  from  Hartmann 
von  Awe's  romance  of  Iwain  (and  Ga- 
wain,)  where  Welsch  indisputably  means 
English. 

Er  was  Hartman  genant, 

and  was  ain  Awere, 

der  bracht  disc  mere 

zvi  Tisch  als  ich  han  vernommen, 
.     do  er  usz  Engellandt  was  commen, 

da  er  vil  zit  was  gewessen, 

hat  ers   an   den   Welschen   buchen 
gelesen. 

He  was  named  Hartman, 
and  was  an  Auwer, 
who  brought  this  tale 
into  German  as  I  have  heard, 
after  he  came  out  of  England, 
where  he  had  been  a  long  time, 
(and  where)  he  had  read  it  in  the 
Welsh  books. 

84  The  earls  excelling  in  honour,  T. 
most  valiant  earls,  I.  In  Anglo-Saxon 
"  hwate  "  and  "  cene  "  are  synonymous, 
meaning  both  keen  and  bold.  It  is  usual 
to  consider  "arhwate"  and  many  other 
similar  expressions  as  compounded  of 
"are,"  honour;  an  error  which  has  arisen 
from  not  sufficiently  attending  to  the  di- 
stinction between  the  substantive  and  the 
preposition  "ar."  In  such  combinations 
as  "  ar-wurthe,"  "  ar-faest,"  "  ar-hwate," 
"aer-god,"  the  preposition  is  prefixed  in 
the  sense  of  excess,  as  in  the  comparative 
degree  of  adjectives  it  is  subjoined.  "Ar- 
wurthe,"  venerable,  is  from  "  ar-wurth- 
ian,"  to  esteem  greatly :  and  the  follow- 
ing passage  from  Beowulf  exhibits  one  of 
the  combinations  above  cited,  in  a  sense 
which  cannot  be  mistaken.  ' 

(a)  scolde  eorl  wesan 
eer-god  swylc  jEschere  waes. 
Ever  should  an  earl 
be  exceeding  good  as  ^Escher  was. 
1.  2657. 

The  most  simple  and  perhaps  original 
idea  attached  to  this  preposition  (of  such 
extensive  use  in  all  the  dialects  of  the 
North)  was  priority,  from  whence  by  an 
easy  transition  it  came  to  mean  priority 
in  point  of  magnitude,  and  thence  in  point 
of  excellence  (honour).  The  analogous 
expressions  prime  good,  prime  strong, 
prime  ripe,  &c.,  may  be  heard  in  every 
province.  The  compounds  "  ar-full,"  pro- 


pitious, "  ar-leas,"  impious,  are  formed 
from  the  substantive  "  ar,"  a  word  of  very 
extensive  signification,  and  which  may  be 
rendered  goodness,  kindness,  benefit,  care, 
favour,  &c. 

Tha  sprsec  guth-cyning, 

Sodoma  aklor, 

secgum  gefylled, 

to  Abrahame ; 

him  wees  ara  thearf. 

Then  spoke  the  war-king, 

prince  of  Sodom, 

whose  warriors  were  felled, 

to  Abraham  ; 

to  him  was  need  of  kindnesses. 

Caedmon  46,  2. 

It  is  impossible  to  translate  "  secgum 
gefylled"  literally,  without  causing  ob- 
scurity. [Mr.  Thorpe  reads  "  befylled," 
and  renders  it  "  of  his  warriors  bereft," 
and  "  ara"  he  translates  wealth,  p.  12S.] 

./Ela  frea  beorhte, 

folces  scyppend, 

gemilse  thin  mod, 

me  to  gode, 

sile  thyne  are, 

thyne  earminge. 

O  bright  Lord, 

creator  of  (the)  folk, 

soften  thy  mind, 

me  to  good, 

grant  thy  favour, 

thy  commiseration,  [to  thy  poor  one.] 

Cotton  Prayers,  Jul.  A.  2. 
[earming  or  yrming,  from  '  earm '  miser. 
To  thy  poor  wretch.] 

Faegre  acende  — 

beornum  to  frofre, 

eallum  to  are, 

ylda  bearnum. 

Fair  brought  forth — 

for  bairns  [chiefs]  consolation, 

for  the  benefit  of  all 

sons  of  men.  Jul.  A.  2. 

Here  too  the  dative  cases  plural  cannot 
be  translated.  This  term  is  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  old  English  poetry,  where 
the  context  having  supplied  the  meaning, 
the  glossographers  had  only  to  contend 
about  the  etymon. 

Lybeaus  thurstede  sore 

And  sayde  Maugys  thyn  ore, 

Lyd.  Dis.  v.  1337. 
The  maister  fel  adoun  on  kne,  and  criede 

mercy  and  ore.        R.  Glouc.  p.  9. 
Y  aske  mercy  for  Goddys  ore. 

Erl  of  Tholous.  v.  583. 
The  meaning  of  "  ore  "  when  contrast- 


ON  THE  VICTORY  OF  ATITELSTAN. 


Ixxxi 


ed  with  the  preceding  extracts,  will  be  too 
obvious  to  require  any  comment.  The 
substitution  of  o  for  a  was  evidently  the 
work  of  the  Normans.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
a  was  pronounced  like  the  Danish  aa,  the 

Swedish  a,  or  our  modern  o  in  more,  fore, 
&c.  The  strong  intonation  given  to  the 
words  in  which  it  occurred  would  strike 
a  Norman  ear  as  indicating  the  same  or- 
thography that  marked  the  long  syllables 
of  his  native  tongue,  and  he  would  ac- 
cordingly write  them  with  an  e  final.  It 
is  from  this  cause  that  we  find  har,  sar, 
hat,  bat,  wa,  an,  ban,  stan,  &c.  written 


hore  (hoar),  sore,  hote  (hot),  bote  (boat), 
woe,  one,  bone,  stone,  some  of  which  have 
been  retained.  The  sane  principle  of 
elongation  was  extended  to  all  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  vowels  that  were  accentuated ; 
such  as  rec,  reke  (reek),  lif,  life,  god, 
gode  (good),  scur,  shure  (shower)  ;  and 
hence  the  majority  of  those  e's  mute  upon 
which  Mr.  Tyrwhitt  has  expended  so 
much  unfounded  speculation. — This  sub- 
ject will  be  resumed  in  a  supplementary 
volume,  in  an  examination  of  that  inge- 
nious critic's  "  Essay  upon  the  Language 
and  Versification  of  Chaucer." 


[The  passage  in  Rask's  Postscriptum  referred  to  in  some  of  the  added  notes  (p.  Ixx. 
&c.)  is  the  following,  and  is  given  here  as  bearing  testimony  to  the  talents  and  learning 
of  Mr.  Price.— R.  T.] 

"  Ne  nuperrimus  quidem  Editor  War- 
toni  Hist.  Poeseos  Anglorum  excipiendus 
videtur,  etsi  vir  doctissimus,  subsidiis 
egregiis  ex  Scandinavia  nostra  adjutus, 
multa  sane  contulit  ad  Poemata  Anglo- 
Saxonica  melius  explicanda :  v.  c.  in  notis 
ad  Poema  de  praelio  Brunanburgensi  (t. 
i  p.  91.)  'dennade'  vel,  ut  Gibson  habet, 
*  dynode  '  recte  per  Isl.  '  dundi '  expli- 
cavit,  verbis  usus  Bjornonis  Haldorsonii, 
in  Lexico,  ubi  sub  1 .  pers.  '  eg  dyn  '  facile 
invenitur  ;  sed  'geaeftele  '  (ib.  p.  90.)  haud 
invenit,  itaque  per  '  ajjelo '  (i.  e.  sej>elo) 
nobilitas  exposuit,  quum  tamen  '  ae^elo  ' 


gen.  fern,  sit,  et  a  '  geseftele  '  neut.  gen. 
diversum  ;  scribitur  enim  hoc  (ge,  more 
Isl.  abjecto)  Islandis  '  eftli,'  et  a  Bjornone 
seque  recte  natura,  indoles,  genius.  Sic 
'hond-rond'  (Ib.  p.  89.)  per  Angl.  hand 
round  exposuit,  quum  manuale  scutum 
vertere  debuisset ;  '  rond '  scil.  nihil  est 
aliud  quam  Isl.  '  rond  '  (quemadmodum 
etiam  '  hond,'  Isl.  'hbnd'  dicitur),  quod 
apud  eundem  Bjbrnonem  recte  vertituv 
clypeus  militaris,  nee  quicquam  sane  cum 
round  Angl.  commune  habet." — Rask's 
Anglo-Saxon  Grammar,  Mr.  Thorpe's 
Edition,  p.  Iviii.] 


[Faege :  p.  Ixxi.  note  8. 

Hickes  has  well  explained  the  word  "  Faege"  Thes.  114,  where  he  instances  "slege- 
faege,"  yet  modern  translators  have  been  strangely  at  a  loss  with  regard  to  it.  In 
the  same  sense  we  have  also  "  veich,  veige,"  in  the  Heldenbuch  and  Nibelungen  Lied  ; 
"  veegh,  veygh,"  in  Kilian ;  "  feigr,"  mox  moribundus,  in  the  Edda;  "  feigd,"  mortis 
vicinitas  inopina,  Biorn  Haldorson,  Gl.  Isl. ;  "  vceie"  in  Layamon  ;  and  "  feegifeig  "  in 
the  Frisic  Glossary  of  Outzen,  who  says  that  Wachter  is  mistaken  in  supposing  the  word 
to  be  obsolete,  as  it  is  still  in  use  in  Friesland  and  Denmark. — R.  T.] 

[The  following  descriptions  of  battles  will  show  how  much  the  characteristics  of  the 
earlier  Saxon  poetry  continued  to  prevail  even  till  the  reign  of  king  John.  It  is 
from  the  Brut  of  Layamon,  (supposed  to  be  of  that  date,)  the  publication  of  which  by 
the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  under  the  superintendence  of  Sir  F.  Madden,  will  be  a  ser- 
vice of  the  highest  value  to  English  philology. — R.T. 


To-gadere  heo  tuhten, 

&  lathliche  fuhten : 

hardeliche  heuwen, 

helmes  ther  gullen 

starcliche  to-stopen 

mid  steles  egge. 

Alle  dsei  ther  ilaeste 

fseht  mid  tham  maeste, 

a  thet  that  thustere  niht 

to-daelde  heore  muchele  fiht. 

Lseien  a  ba  halue 

cnihtes  to-heouwen.  1.  9794. 


Tha  ferden  heom  imetten, 

fastliche  on-slogen  ; 

snelle  heore  kenpen, 

feollen  tha  veeie, 

rolden  to  grunde, 

ther  wes  muchel  blod  gute ; 

balu  ther  wes  rive, 

brustlede  scaeftes, 

beornes  ther  veollen.  1.  20073. 


VOL.  I. 


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  deplo- 
rable 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  success- 
fully to  cultivate  in  their  capital,  and  which  they  had  universally  com- 
municated 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  in- 
vaders, by  that  slender  degree  of  culture  and  protection  which  they  re- 
ceived from  the  prelates  of  the  church  and  the  religious  communities. 
But  notwithstanding  the  famous  academy  of  Romea  with  other  lite- 

*  Theodosius  the  younger,  in  the  year  dred  feet  long,  made  of  a  dragon's  gut 
425,  founded  an  academy  at  Constant!-  or  intestine,  on  which  Homer's  Iliad  and 
nople,  which  he  furnished  with  able  pro-  Odyssey  were  written  in  golden  letters, 
fessors  of  every  science,  intending  it  as  See  Bibl.  Histor.  Literar.  Select.  &c. 
a  rival  institution  to  that  at  Rome.  Gia-  lenae,  1754.  p.  164.  seq.  Literature 
non.  Hist.  Napl.  ii.  ch.  vi.  sect.  1.  A  flourished  in  the  eastern  empire,  while 
noble  library  had  been  established  at  the  western  was  depopulated  by  the 
Constantinople  by  Constantius  and  Va-  Goths ;  and  for  many  centuries  after- 
lens  before  the  year  380,  the  custody  of  wards.  The  Turks  destroyed  one  hun- 
which  was  committed  to  four  Greek  and  dred  and  twenty  thousand  volumes,  I 
three  Latin  antiquaries  or  curators.  It  suppose  in  the  imperial  library,  when 
contained  sixty  thousand  volumes.  Zo-  they  sacked  Constantinople  in  the  year 
naras  relates,  that  among  other  treasures  1454.  HOD.  De  Grsec.  Illustr.  ii.  1.  p. 
in  thu  library,  there  was  a  roll  one  him-  192. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.      IxXXHl 

rary  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  deso- 
lation 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  experiments0.  He  was  the  author  of 
many  valuable  pieces  which  still  remain d.  He  wrote  with  little  ele- 
gance, 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  trans- 
actions 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  construct- 
ing a  regular  code  of  jurisprudence6.  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  conveniences  arising 
from  political  economy,  of  mixing  with  characters  respectable  for  pru- 
dence and  learning,  and  of  employing  in  their  counsels  men  of  superior 
wisdom,  whose  instruction  and  advice  they  found  it  their  interest  to  fol- 
low. 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  ene- 
mies have  been  their  historians,  who  naturally  painted  these  violent  dis- 
'  turbers  of  the  general  repose  in  the  warmest  colours.  It  is  not  easy  to 
conceive,  that  the  success  of  their  amazing  enterprises  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  achieve- 
ments could  not  have  been  planned  and  executed  without  some  extraor- 
dinary vigour  of  mind,  uniform  principles  of  conduct,  and  no  common 
talents  of  political  sagacity. 

Although  these  commotions  must  have  been  particularly  unfavorable 

b  He  died  A.D.  526.     See  Cassiodor.  c  Func.  ut  supr.xiii.  p.  471.  xi.  p.  595. 

Rpist.    lib.  i.    39.      See    also  Func.    de  d   Cave,    Saecul.    Eutych.     Hist.     Lit. 

inerti  et  decrep.  Latin.  Linguae  Senectut.  p.  391. 

cap.  ii.  p.  81.  e  Gianon.  Hist.  Nap.  iii.  c.  1. 


DISSERTATION     11. 

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  increase  of  Christianity,  it  was  deprived  of  its  old  fabulous  em- 
bellishments, 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  tran- 
quillity. Many  barbarous  countries  during  this  period,  particularly  the 
inhabitants  of  Germany,  of  Friesland,  and  other  northern  nations,  were 
converted  to  the  Christian  faith f.  The  religious  controversies  which  at 
this  time  divided  the  Greek^and  Latin  churches,  roused  the  minds  of 
men  to  literary  inquiries.  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  se- 
curity, 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  pro- 
per objects. 

In  the  mean  time,  no  small  obstruction  to  the  propagation  or  rather 
revival  of  letters  was  the  paucity  of  valuable  books.  The  libraries,  par- 
ticularly 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  re- 
quested Sanctamand  bishop  of  Maestricht,  if  possible,  to  supply  this 
defect  from  the  remotest  parts  of  Germany  &.  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 
INSTITUTES11,  and  some  other  books :  "  for,"  says  the  abbot, "  although 

f  Cave.  Saecul.  Monoth.  p.  440.  Quintilian's  Institutes,  as  we  shall  see  be- 

B  Concil.  Tom.  xv.  pag.  285.  edit.  Paris,  low;  and  he  appears  to  have  been  a  fa- 

641.  vourite  author  with  some  writers  of  the 

h   There  are  very  early  manuscripts  of  middle  ages.     He  is  quoted  by  John  of 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.         1XXXV 


we  have  part  of  these  books,  yet  there  is  no  whole  or  complete  copy  of 
them  in  all  France1."  Albert  abbot  of  Gemblours,  who  with  incredible 
labour  and  immense  expense  had  collected  a  hundred  volumes  on  the- 
ological and  fifty  on  profane  subjects,  imagined  he  had  formed  a  splen- 
did 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  f.  It  is  certain  that  they  were  obliged  to  hunt 


Salisbury,  a  writer  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, Polycrat.  vii.  14.  iii.  7.  x.  1.  &c. ; 
and  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  a  writer  of 
the  thirteenth,  Specul.  Hist.  x.  1 1.  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  Ar- 
gonautics,  and  Asconius  Pedianus's  com- 
ment on  eight  orations  of  Tully.  See 
Poggii  Opp.  p.  309.  Atns*.  1720.  8vo. 
The  very  copy  of  Quintilian  found  by 
Poggius  is  said  to  have  been  in  lord  Sun- 
derland's  noble  library  now  at  Blenheim. 
Poggius,  in  his  dialogue  De  Infelicitate 
Principum,  says  of  himself,  that  he  tra- 
velled all  over  Germany  in  search  of  books. 
It  is  certain  that  by  his  means  Quintilian, 
Tertullian,  Asconius  Pedianus,  Lucretius, 
Sallust,  Silius  Italicus,  Columella,  Mani- 
lius,  Tully's  Orations,  Ammianus  Mar- 
cell  inus,  Valerius  Flaccus,  and  some  of 
the  Latin  grammarians,  and  other  ancient 
authors,  were  recovered  from  oblivion  and 
brought  into  general  notice  by  being  print- 
ed in  the  fifteenth  century.  Fr.  Babarus 
Venetus,  Collaudat.  ad  Pogg.  dat.  Venet. 
1417.  7  Jul.  See  .also  Giornale  de  Lette- 
ratid 'Italia,  torn.  ix.  p.  178.  x.  p.  41 7  ;  and 
Leonard.  Aretin.  Epist.  lib.  iv.  p.  160. 
Chaucer  mentions  the  Argonautjcs  of  Va- 
lerius Flaccus,  as  I  have  observed  Sect, 
iii.  p.  129.  infr.  Colomesius  affirms  that 
Silius  Italicus  is  one  of  the  classics  disco- 
vered by  Poggius  in  the  tower  of  the  mo- 
nastery of  Saint  Gall.  Ad  Gyrald.  de  Poet. 
Dial.  iv.  p,  240.  But  Philippo  Rosso,  in  his 
Rittrato  di  Roma  antica,  mentions  a  very 
ancient  manuscript  of  this  poet  brought 
from  Spain  into  the  Vatican,  having  a  pic- 


ture of  Hannibal,  il  quale  hoggi  si  ritrova 
nella  preditta  libraria,  p.  83. 

[From  the  following  passage  in  one  of 
Poggius's  letters  to  Niccolo  Niccoli,  it  ap- 
pears that  he  had  also  travelled  into  Eng- 
land for  the  same  purpose :  "  Mittas  ad 
me  oro  Bucolicam  Calphurnii  et  portiuncu- 
lam  Petronii  quas  misi  tibi  ex  Britannia." 
See  Ambr.  Traversari  Lat.  Epist.  &c.  i. 
Praef.  p.  49.  It  is  probable,  that  upon  this 
occasion  he  met  with  the  copy  of  Quinti- 
lian above  mentioned. — DOUCE.] 

1  Murator.  Antiq.  Ital.  iii.  p.  835  ;  and 
Lup.  Ep.  ad  Baron,  ad  an.  856.  n.  8,  9,  10. 
k  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccl.  1.  IviiL  c.  52. 
*  [This  permission  was  not  granted  un- 
til after  much  entreaty  on  the  part  of  the 
monks,  and  an  assurance  that  the  flesh  of 
the  deer  would  be  the  means  of  re-esta- 
blishing the  health  of  their  sick  brethren, 
as  well  as  for  the  other  reasons  above  men- 
tioned. That  monks  were  addicted  to  the 
pleasures  of  the  chase,  appears  from  Chau- 
cer's description  of  the  monk  in  his  Can- 
terbury Tales. — DOUCE.] 

1  Mabillon,  De  Re  Dipl.  p.  6 11. 
f  [Hunting  appears  to  have  been  ex- 
pressly forbidden  the  religious  of  all  deno- 
minations, as  a  profane  amusement  alto- 
gether incompatible  with  their  profession. 
They  obtained,  however,  this  indulgence 
under  certain  restrictions,  particularly  set 
forth  in  their  charters.  It  was  a  privilege 
allowed  even  to  nuns.  See  more  on  this 
subject  in  M.  le  Grand's  Vie  privee  des 
Franqais,  torn.  i.  p.  323.  By  the  laws  of 
Eadgar,  priests  were  prohibited  from  hunt- 
ing, hawking,  and  drinking:  "  Docemus 
etiam  ut  sacerdos  non  sit  venator,  neque 
accipitrarius,  neque  potator.  Sed  incum- 
fcat  libris  suis  sicut  ordinem  ipsius  decet." 
Wilkins's  Leges  Anglo-Saxon,  p.  86. — 
DOUCE.] 

[The  Latin  version  which  is  here  fol- 
lowed, is  as  usual  inaccurate.  The  ori- 
ginal text  forbids  a  less  disgraceful  indul- 
gence than  "compotation,"  and  contains  a 
ludicrous  play  of  words,  hardly  admissible 
in  our  present  legal  enactments  :  "  ne  tae- 
flere,  ac  plegge  on  his  bocum  swa  his  hada 


DISSERTATION   If. 

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  Epi- 
stles, and  some  volumes  of  ecclesiastical  offices  and  martyrologies,  often 
served  several  different  monasteries"1.  Among  the  constitutions  given 
to  the  monks  of  England  by  archbishop  Lan franc,  in  the  year  1072, 
the  following  injunction  occurs.  At  the  beginning  of  Lent,  the  libra- 
rian 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".  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  li- 
brorum  de  diversis  Scienciis0"  This  was  in  the  year  1294.  The  same 
prelate,  in  the  year  1299,  borrows  of  his  cathedral  convent  of  St.  Swi- 
thin  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  im- 
portant a  bequest,  that  is,  "  pro  bona  Biblia  dicti  episcopi  bene  glosaia" 

gebirath:"i.e.  nor  tabler  (player  at  tables),  dei  gracia  Wynton.  episcopus,  salutem  in 

but  let  him  play  in  his  books  as  becomes  domino.  Noveritis  nos  ex  commodato  re- 

his  order  (hood). — PRICE.]  cepisse  a  dilectis  filiis  nostris  Priore  et  con- 

[Price  does  not  exhibit  his  usual  accu-  ventu  ecclesie  nostre  Wynton.  unam  Bibli- 
racy  in  his  version  of  Edgar's  law.  '  Plegge  am,  in  duobus  voluminibus  bene  glosatam, 
pn  his  bocum'  does  not  mean  play  in  his  que  aliquando  fuit  bone  memorie  domini 
books,  but  ply  his  books ;  nor  does  '  hade '  Nicolai  Wynton.  episcopi,  predecessoris 
signify  hood,  but  quality,  condition,  per-  nostri,  termino  perpetuo,  seu  quamdiu  no- 
son. — R.  G.]  bis  placuerit,  inspiciendam,  tenendam,  et 

m  Fleury,  ubi  supr.  1.  liv.  c.  54.  See  habendam.  Ad  cujus  Restitutionem  eis- 

other  instances  in  Hist.  Lit.  Fr.  par  Rel.  dem  fideliter  et  sine  dolo  faciendam,  obli- 

Benedict.  vii.  3.  gamus  nos  per  presentes :  quam  si  in  vita 

n  "  Unusquisque  reddat  librum  qui  ad  nostra  non  restituerimus  eisdem,  obliga- 

legendum  sibi  alio  anno  fuerat  commen-  mus  executores  nostros,  et  omnia  bona 

datus :  et  qui  cognoverat  se  non  legisse  nostra  mobilia  et  immobilia,  ecclesiastica 

librum,  quern  recepit,  prostratus  culpam  et  mundana,  cohercioni  et  districtioni  cu- 

dicat,  et  indulgentiam  petat.  Iterum  li-  juscunque  judicis  ecclesiastici  et  secularis 

brorum  custos  unicuique  fratrum  alimn  quern  predictus  Prior  etconventus  duxerit 

librum  tribuat  ad  legendum."  Wilkins.  eligendum,  quod  possint  eosdem  execu- 

Concil.  i.  332.  See  also  the  order  of  the  tores  per  omnimodam  districtionem  com- 

Provincial  chapter,  De  occupatione  mona-  pellere,  quousque  dicta  Biblia  dictis  filiis  et 

chorum.  Reyner,  Append,  p.  129.  fratribus  sit  restituta.  In  cujus  rei  testi- 

0  Registr.  Pontissar.  f.  126.  MS.  monium,  sigillum,  &c.  Dat.apud  Wulve- 

"  Omnibus  Christi  fidelibus  presentes  seye,  vi.  Kal.  Mail,  anno  1299."  Registr. 

literas  visuris  vel  inspecturis,  Johannes  Pontissar.  ut  supr.  f.  193. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND. 

and  one  hundred  marks  in  money,  the  monks  founded  a  daily  mass  for 
the  soul  of  the  donor  1.  When  a  single  book  was  bequeathed  to  a 
friend  or  relation,  it  was  seldom  without  many  restrictions  and  stipu- 
lations1". 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  pro- 
nounce the  irrevocable  sentence  of  damnation  on  him  who  shall  pur- 
loin or  conceal  a  Latin  translation  of  Aristotle's  PHYSICS,  or  even  ob- 
literate the  title8.  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  re- 
ceives 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  me- 
morial 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  Fryesby, 
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  de- 
lay. Written  with  my  own  hand,  A.D.  1422V  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  ma- 
nuscripts, in  the  book  of  the  SENTENCES  of  Peter  Lombard,  an  arch- 
deacon of  Lincoln  has  left  this  en  try u.  "  This  book  of  the  SENTENCES 
belongs  to  master  Roger,  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 

*  Ibid.  f.  19.  Mill.'  cccclx.  and  the  yere  of  kynge  Hen- 

*  As  thus  :  "  Do  Henrico  Morie  scolari  ry  the  Sixte   after  the  conquest  xxxix. 
meo,  si  contingat  eum  presbyterari :  aliter  And  the  said  John  Burton  bequethe  to 
erit  liber  domini  Johannis  Sory,  sic  quod  dame   Kateryne  Burton   his   doubter,   a 
non  vendatur,  sed  transeat  inter  cognates  boke   callyd    Legenda   scor'.   the    seyde 
meos,  si  fuerint  aliqui  inventi :  sin  autem,  Kateryne  to  have  hit  and  to  occupye  to 
ab  uno  presbytero  ad  alium."    Written  at  hir  owne  use  and  at  hir  owne  liberte  du- 
the  end  of  Latin  Homelies  on  the  Canticles,  rynge  hur  lyfe,  and  after  hur  decesse  to 
MSS.  Reg.  5.  C.  iii.  24.  Brit.  Mus.  remayne  to  the  prioresse  and  the  covent 

8  MSS.  Reg.  12  G.  ii.  of  Halywelle  for  ev~more,  they  to  pray  for 

*  [At  the  end  of  a  MS.  of  the  Golden  the  saide  John  Burton  and  Johne  his  wife 
Legend  in  Mr.  Douce's  possession  is  the  and  alle  crystene  soyles.     And  who  that 
following  bequest :    "  Be  hit  remembryd  lettithe  the  execucion  of  this  bequest  he 
that  John  Burton  citizen  and  mercer  of  the  lawe  standeth." — PARK.] 

London,  past  oute  of  this  .lyfe  the  xx  l  MSS.  Reg.  8  G.  fol.  iii.  Brit.  Mu«. 

day  of  Novemb"  the  yere  of  oure  Lorde  °  It  is  in  Latin. 


DISSERTATION  II. 

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  founda- 
tion of  William  Wykham.  Written  with  my  own  hand  at  Bukdene, 
1  Jun.  A.D.  1488.  Jo.  LINCOLN.  Whoever  shall  obliterate  or  destroy 
this  writing,  let  him  be  anathemax."  About  the  year  1225,  Roger  de 
Insula,  dean  of  York,  gave  several  Latin  bibles  to  the  university  of  Ox- 
ford, with  a  condition  that  the  students  who  perused  them  should  de- 
posit a  cautionary  pledge?.  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  church2.  In  the  year  1327,  the  scholars  and 
citizens  of  Oxford  assaulted  and  entirely  pillaged  the  opulent  Benedic- 
tine 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  twenty-two  CODICES,  which  I  interpret 
books  on  common  subjects8.  And  although  the  invention  of  paper,  at 

*  [Correct  thus :  "  Peter  de  Barton  ab-       Psalter  cum  glossa,  "A.D.  1326,  Iste  Li- 
bot,  and  the  convent  of  Bardeney." — M.]       her  impignoratur  Mag.  Jacobo  de  Ispania 

w  9  B.  ix.  1.  canonicoS.Pauli  London, per  fratremWil- 

*  Written  in  Latin.  Cod.  MSS.  Reg.  14  C.  lielmum  de  Rokesle  de  ordine  et  conventu 
vii.  2.  fol.     In  this  manuscript  is  written  Praedicatorum  Londonie,  pro  xx  s.  quern 
by  Matthew  Paris  in  his  own  hand,  Hunc  idem  frater  Willielmus  recepit  mutuo  de 
Librum  dedit  frater  Matthaeus  Parisieji~  predicto  Jacobo  ad  opus  predicti  conventus, 
sis — Perhaps,  Deo  et  ecclesiee  S.  Albani,  solvendos  in  quindena  S.  Michaelis  prox- 
since  erased.  ime  ventura.     Condonatur  quia  pauper." 

y  Wood,  Hist.  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon.  ii.  48.  Ibid.  3  E.  vii.  fol.     In  Bernard's  Homelies 

col.  1.    It  was  common  to  lend  money  on  on  the  Canticles,  "Cautio  Thome  Myllyng 

the  deposit  of  a  book.     There  were  pub-  imposita  ciste  de  Rodbury,  10  die  Decemb. 

lie  chests  in  the  universities,  and  perhaps  A.D.  1491.    Et  jacet  pro  xx*."    Ibid.  6  C. 

some  other  places,  for  receiving  the  books  ix.      These  pledges,  among  other  parti- 

so  deposited;  many  of  which  still  remain,  culars,  show  the  prices  of  books  in  the 

with  an  insertion  in  the  blank  pages,  con-  middle  ages,  a  topic  which  I  shall  touch 

taining  the  conditions  of  the  pledge.     I  upon  below. 

will  throw  together  a  few  instances  in  this  [There  are  many  similar  instances  re- 
note.      In   Peter  Comestor's  Scholastical  corded  in  Raine's  Catalogue  of  the  MSS.  in 
History,  "  Cautio  Thomae  Wybaurn  ex-  the  Cathedral  library  at  Durham. — M.] 
cepta  in  Cista  de  Chichele,  A.D.   1468,  z  Registr.  Univ.  Oxon.  C.  64  a. 
20  die  mens.  Augusti.     Et  est  liber  M.  *  Wood,  Hist,  ut  supr.  i.  163.  col.  1. 
Petri,  &c.      Et  jacet  pro  xxvis.  viiid."  Leland  mentions  this  library,  but  it  is  just 
Mus.  Brit.  MSS,  Reg.  2  C.  fol.  i.     In  a  before  the  dissolution  of  the  monastery. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND. 

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  in- 
stance of  the  inconveniences  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  ]  4-46.  "  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  sameV  The  famous  library  established  in  the  univer- 
sity of  Oxford  by  that  munificent  patron  of  literature  Humphrey  duke 
of  Gloucester  contained  only  six  hundred  volumes0.  About  the  com- 
mencement of  the  fourteenth  century,  there  were  only  four  classics  in 
the  royal  library  at  Paris.  These  were  one  copy  of  Cicero,  Ovid,  Lu- 
can,  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  col- 
lection 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  king- 
dom 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  hun- 
dred volumes.  They  were  deposited  in  three  chambers;  which,  on 

"Cum  excuterem  pulverem  et  blattas  Ab-  brarian  to  Henry  the  Eighth,  removed  a 

bandunensis  bibliothecae : "     Script.  Brit.  large    quantity   of  valuable    manuscripts 

p.  238.     See  also  J.  Twyne,  Comm.  de  from   St.  Austin's  Canterbury  and  from 

Reb.  Albionic.  lib.  ii.  p.  130.  edit.  Lond.  other  monasteries  at  the   dissolution,  to 

1590.     I  have  mentioned  the  libraries  of  that  king's  library  at  Westminster.     See 

many  monasteries  below.     See  also  what  Script.  Brit.  ETHELSTANUS;  and  MSS. 

is  said  of  the  libraries  of  the  Mendicant  Reg.  1  A.  xviii.     For  the  sake  of  connec- 

Friars,  Sect.  ix.  vol.ii.  p.  89.  That  of  Grey  tion  I  will  observe,  that  among  our  cathe- 

Friars  in  London  was  filled  with  books  at  dral  libraries  of  secular  canons,  that  of  the 

the  cost  of  five  hundred  and  fifty-six  pounds  church  of  Wells  was  most  magnificent:  it 

in  the  year  1432.  Leland,  Coll.  i.  109.   In  was  built  about  the  year  1420,  and  con- 

the  year  1482,  the  library  of  the  abbey  tained  twenty-five  windows  on  either  side, 

of  Leicester  contained  eight  large  stalls  Leland,  Coll.  i.  p.  109,  in  which  state,  I 

which  were  filled  with  books.    Gul.  Cha-  believe,  it  continues  at  present.    Nor  is  it 

ryte,  Registr.  Libror.  et  Jocal.  omnium  in  quite  foreign  to  the  subject  of  this  note  to. 

monast.  S.  Mar.  de  pratis  prope  Leces-  add,  that  king  Henry  the  Sixth  intended  a 

triam.    MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  Laud.  I.  75.  fol.  library  at  Eton  college,  fifty-two  feet  long, 

membr.    See  f.  139.    There  is  an  account  and  twenty-four  broad;  and  another  at 

of  the  library  of  Dover  priory,  [compiled  King's  college  in  Cambridge  of  the  same 

in  1389. — M.]  MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  Arch.  B.  breadth,  but  one  hundred  and  two  feet  in 

24.    Leland  says,  that  the  library  of  Nor-  length.    Ex  Testam.  dat.  xii.  Mar.  1447. 
wich  priory  was  "  bonis  refertissima  li-  b    "  Nullus  occupet  unum  librum,  vel 

bris."    Script.  Brit.  p.  247.     See  also  Le-  occupari  facial,  ultra  unam  horam  et  duas 

land's  account  of  St.  Austin's  library  at  ad  majus :  sic  quod  cseteri  retrahantur  a 

Canterbury,    ibid.   p.   299.      Concerning  visu  et  studio  ejusdem."     Statut.  Coll.  S. 

which,  compare  Liber  Thomcc  Sprotti  de  Mariae  pro  Oseney.     De  Libraria.  f.  21. 

libraria   S.  Augustini   Cantuari<z,  MSS.  MSS.  Rawlins.  Bibl.  Bodl.  Oxon. 
C.  C.  C.  Oxon.  125. ;  and  Bibl.  Cotton.  c  Wood,  ubi  supr.  ii.  49.  col.  ii.    It  was 

Brit.  Mus.  Jul.  C.  vi.  4.;    and  Leland,  not  opened  till  the  year  1480.  Ibid.  p.50. 

Coll.  iii.  10.  120.     Leland,  who  was  li-  col.  i. 


XC  DISSERTATION  II. 

this  occasion,  were  wainscoted  with  Irish  oak,  and  ceiled  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 
his  whole  library,  then  consisting  of  only  eight  hundred  and  fifty-three 
volumes,  and  valued  at  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-three 
livres,  into  England ;  where  perhaps  they  became  the  ground-work  of 
duke  Humphrey's  library  just  mentioned d.  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  deed6, 
by  which  he  bound  himself  to  return  it  under  a  considerable  forfeiture f. 
The  excessive  prices  of  books  in  the  middle  ages  afford  numerous  and 
curious  proofs.  I  will  mention  a  few  only.  In  the  year  1 1 74,  Walter 
prior  of  St.  Swithin's  at  Winchester,  afterwards  elected  abbot  of  West- 
minster, a  writer  in  Latin  of  the  lives  of  the  bishops  who  were  his  pa- 
trons s,  purchased  of  the  canons  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  kingh.  Among  the  royal  manuscripts  in  the  Bri- 
tish 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 
livres1.  About  the  year  1400,  a  copy  of  John  of  Meun's  ROMAN  DE 

A  See  M.  Boivin,  Mem.  Lit.  ii.  p.  747.  cathedral,  on  the  windows  of  the  abbey- 
4to. ;  who  says,  that  the  regent  presented  church  of  Dorchester  near  Oxford,  and 
to  his  brother-in-law  Humphrey  duke  of  in  the  western  front  and  windows  of  Lin- 
Gloucester  a  rich  copy  of  a  translation  of  coin  cathedral;  with  all  which  churches 
Livy  into  French,  which  had  been  pre-  Birinus  was  connected.  He  was  buried  in 
sented  to  the  king  of  France.  that  of  Dorchester,  Whart.  Angl.  Sacr.  i. 

e  See  [Richard  of]  Bury's  PhiloUUon,  190:  and  in  Bever's  manuscript  Chronicle, 

mentioned  at  large  below.  De  modo  com-  or  his  Continuator,  cited  below,  it  is  said, 

municandi  studentibus  libros  nostros.  cap.  that  a  marble  cenotaph  of  marvellous 

xix.  sculpture  was  constructed  over  his  grave 

1  Robertson's  Hist.  Charles  V.  vol.  i.  in  Dorchester  church  about  the  year  1320. 

p.  281.  edit.  8vo.  I  find  no  mention  of  this  monument  in  any 

8  William  Giffard  and  Henry  de  Blois,  other  writer.  Bever.  Chron.  MSS.  Coll. 

bishops  of  Winchester.  Trin.  Oxon.  Num.  x.  f.  66. 

h  Registr.  Priorat.  S.  Swithin.  Winton.  *  MSS.  19  D.  ii.  La  Bible  Hystoriaus, 

ut  supr.  MS.  quatern.  .  .  "  Pro  duodecim  ou  Les  Histories  escolastres.  The  tran- 

mens.  (or  mod.)  ordei,  et  una  palla  brus-  script  is  of  the  fourteenth  century.  This 

data  in  argento  cum  historia  sancti  Birini  is  the  entry  :  "  Cest  livre  fust  pris  oue  le 

convertentis  ad  fidem  Kynegylsum  regem  roy  de  France  a  la  bataille  de  Peyters:  et 

GewyseorumjnecnonOswaldiregis  North-  le  bon  counte  de  Saresbirs  William  Mon- 

umbranorum  suscipientis  de  fonte  Kyne-  tagu  la  achata  pur  cent  mars,  et  le  dona  a 

gylsum."  Gewyseorum  is  the  West  Sax-  sa  compaigne  Elizabeth  la  bone  countesse, 

ons.  This  history,  with  others  of  Saint  que  dieux  assoile. — Le  quele  lyvre  le  dite 

Birinus,  is  represented  on  the  ancient  font  countesse  assigna  a  ses  executours  de  le 

of  Norman  workmanship  in  Winchester  rendre  pur  xl.  livres." 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND. 


XC1 


LA  ROSE  was  sold  before  the  palace-gate  at  Paris  for  forty  crowns  or 
thirty-three  pounds  six  and  six-penceJ.  But  in  pursuit  of  these  anec- 
dotes, I  am  imperceptibly  seduced  into  later  periods,  or  rather  am  de- 
viating from  my  subject. 

After  the  calamities  which  the  state  of  literature  sustained  in  con- 
sequence of  the  incursions  of  the  northern  nations,  the  first  restorers 
of  the  ancient  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  fortu- 
nate 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  con- 
ceptions '.  Of  the  Greek  history  they  made  no  use,  because  it  recorded 


J  It  belonged  to  the  late  Mr.  Ames,  au- 
thor 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  an- 
other place,  that  in  the  year  1430,  Nicho- 
las de  Lyra  was  transcribed  at  the  expense 
of  one  hundred  marcs.  Sect.  ix.  vol.  ii. 
p.  90.  1  add  here  the  valuation  of  books 
bequeathed  to  Merton  college  at  Oxford, 
before  the  year  1300.  A  Scholastical  Hi- 
story, 20s.  A  Concordantia,  10s.  The 
four  greater  Prophets,  with  glosses,  5s. 
Liber  Anselmi  cum  quaestionibus  Thomae 
de  Malo,  12s.  Quodlibetae  H.  Ganda- 
vensis  et  S.  Thomae  Aquinatis,  10s.  A 
Psalter  with  glosses,  10s.  Saint  Austin 
on  Genesis,  10s.  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.  a  1'  Hist, 
de  Louys  XI.  par  Comines.  edit.  Fresn. 
torn.  iv.  281,  &c. 

k  See  Abulfarag.  per  Pocock,  Dynast, 
p.  160.  Greek  was  a  familiar  language 
to  the  Arabians.  The  accounts  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  Ma- 
homet's household.  Zaid,  one  of  Ma- 
homet'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  in- 
scribed with  Greek  legends  till  about  the 
year  700. 

1  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  Ho- 
mer into  Syriac  about  the  year  770.  Theo- 
phan.  Chronogr.  p.  376.  Abulfarag.  ut 
supr.  p.  217.  Reinesius,  in  his  very  cu- 
rious 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.  pp.  71.  87.  Apud 
Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr.  xii.  p.  753.  It  is  how- 
ever certain,  that  the  Greek  philoso- 
phers were  their  objects.  Compare  Eu- 
seb.  Renaudot  de  Barb.  Aristotel.  Ver- 
sionib.  apud  Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr.  xii.  pp.  252. 
258. 


XC11 


DISSERTATION  II, 


events  which  preceded  their  prophet  Mahomet.  Accustomed  to  a  de- 
spotic 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  superseded 
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  know- 
ledge. 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";  and  medicine,  while  it  was  connected  with 
chemistry  and  botany,  was  a  practical  art  of  immediate  utility0.  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  1.  These 


m  Yet  Reinesius  says,  that  about  the 
year  750  they  translated  Plato  into  Ara- 
bic, together  with  the  works  of  St.  Austin, 
Ambrose,  Jerom,  Leo,  and  Gregory  the 
Great.  Ubi  supr.  p.  260.  Leo  Africanus 
mentions  among  the  works  of  Averroes, 
Expositiones  Reipublicee  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  afterwards  translated  by  its 
author  into  Arabic :  for  Jeber  was  ori- 
ginally a  Greek  and  a  Christian,  and  af- 
terwards went  into  Asia,  and  embraced 
Mahometism.  See  Leo  African,  lib.  iii. 
c.  106.  The  learned  Boerhaave  asserts, 
that  many  of  Jeber's  experiments  are 
verified  by  present  practice,  and  that  se- 
veral of  them  have  been  revived  as  mo- 
dern discoveries.  Boerhaave  adds,  that 
except  the  fancies  about  the  philosopher's 
stone,  the  exactness  of  Jeber's  operations 
is  surprising.  Hist.  Chemistr.  pp.  14,  15. 
Lond.  1727. 

0  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  son  ; 
who  returning  from  Jerusalem  in  one  of 
the  crusades,  and  having  heard  of  the 


fame  of  those  Salernitan  physicians,  ap- 
plied 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  pub- 
lished 1100.  The  author's  name  is  Gio- 
vanni di  Milano,  a  celebrated  Salernitan 
physician.  The  monks  of  Cassino,  here- 
after 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.  vol.  ii. 
p.  204.  infr. 

p  Compare  Renaudot,  ubi  supr.  p.  258. 

q  Their  caliph  Al-manun  was  a  sin- 
gular 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  Bagdad.  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  lan- 
guage by  his  orders.  He  hired  the  most 
learned  persons  from  all  quarters  of  his 
vast  dominions  to  make  these  translations. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND, 


XC111 


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  in- 
volved in  the  grossest  ignorance,  and  unpossessed  of  the  means  of 
instruction.  They  founded  universities  in  many  cities  of  Spain  and 
Africa1".  They  brought  with  them  their  books,  which  Charlemagne, 
emperor  of  France  and  Germany,  commanded  to  be  translated  from 
Arabic  into  Latin8 ;  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  :  arid  from  these  beginnings  the 
Aristotelic  philosophy  acquired  such  establishment  and  authority,  that 
from  long  prescription  it  remains  to  this  day  the  sacred  and  uncontro- 
verted  doctrine  of  our  schools*.  From  this  fountain  the  infatuations  of 


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,  pp. 
139, 140.  Eutych.  pp.  434,  435. 

A  curious  circumstance  of  the  envy  with 
which  the  Greeks  at  Constantinople  treat- 
ed this  growing  philosophy  of  the  Arabians, 
is  mentioned  by  Cedrenus.  Al-manun, 
hearing  of  one  Leo  an  excellent  mathe- 
matician 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  cre- 
ated Leo  bishop  of  Thessalonica.  Cedren. 
Hist.  Comp.  548.  seq.  Herbelot  also  re- 
lates, that  the  same  caliph,  so  universal 
was  his  search  after  Greek  books,  pro- 
cured a  copy  of  Apollonius  Pergseus  the 
mathematician.  But  this  copy  contained 
only  seven  books.  In  4the  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  emperor,  and 
it  did  not  take  effect.  Biblioth.  Oriental, 
p.  978.  col.  a. 

r  See  Hotting.  Hist.  Eccl.  Sane.  ix. 
sect.  ii.  lit.  Gg.  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.  pp.  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  Grecian  empire  at  Constantinople. 
Conring.  De  Script.  &c.  Comment,  p.  101. 
edit.  Wratisl.  1727.  See  also  Univ.  Hist, 
ut  supr. 

*  Cuspinian.  de  Caesarib.  p.  419. 

1  Yet  it  must  not  be  forgot,  that  St. 
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.  Al- 
cuine,  Charlemagne's  master,  commends 
St.  Austin's  book  DbPreedicamentis,  which 
he  calls,  Decent  Natural  Verba.  Rog. 
Bacon,  de  Util.  Sclent,  cap.  xiv.  See 
also  Op.  Maj.  An  ingenious  and  learned 
writer,  already  quoted,  affirms,  that  in  the 
age  of  Charlemagne  there  were  many 


DISSERTATION  II. 

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  extravagances,  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  inquiries  prevented 
them  from  importing  into  Europe  a  literature  of  another  kind.  But 
rude  and  barbarous  nations  would  not  have  been  polished  by  the  hi- 
story, poetry,  and  oratory  of  the  Greeks.  Although  capable  of  com- 
prehending 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  gra- 
dations 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";  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 

Greek  scholars  who  made  translations  of  had  read  it  over  two  hundred  times,  and 
Aristotle,  which  were  in  use  below  the  yet  was  equally  desirous  of  reading  it 
year  1100.  I  will  not  believe  that  any  again.  Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr.  xiii.  265.  Her- 
Europeans,  properly  so  called,  were  com-  belot  mentions  Aristotle's  Morals,  trans- 
petently  skilled  in  Greek  for  this  purpose  lated  by  Honain,  Bibl.  Oriental,  p.  963  a. 
in  the  time  of  Charlemagne  ;  nor,  if  they  See  also  p.  971  a.  973.  p.  974  b.  Corn- 
were,  is  it  likely  that  of  themselves  they  pare  Mosheim,  Hist.  ch.  i.  pp.  217.  288. 
should  have  turned  their  thoughts  to  note  C.  p.  2.  ch.  1.  Averroys  also  pa- 
Aristotle's  philosophy.  Unless  by  viri  raphrased  Aristotle's  Rhetoric:  There 
Grace  docti  this  writer  means  the  learned  are  also  translations  into  Arabic  of  Ari- 
Arabs  of  Spain,  which  does  not  appear  stotle's  Analytics  and  his  treatise  of  Inter- 
from  his  context.  See  Euseb.  Renaudot,  pretation.  The  first  they  called  Analuthica, 
ut  supr.  p.  247.  and  the  second,  BariArmenias.  ButAri- 
u  It  must  not  be  forgot,  that  they  trans-  stotle's  logic,  metaphysics,  and  physics 
lated  Aristotle's  Poetics.  There  is  extant  pleased  them  most;  particularly  the  eight 
"  Averroys  Summa  in  Aristotelis  poetriam  books  of  his  physics,  which  exhibit  a  ge- 
ex  Arabico  sermone  in  Latinum  traducta  neral  view  of  that  science.  Some  of  our 
ab  Hermano  Alemanno  :  Praemittitur  de-  countrymen  were  translators  of  these  f 
terminatio  Ibinrosdin  in  poetria  Aristo-  Arabic  books  into  Latin.  Athelard,  a 
telis.  Venet.  1515."  There  is  a  transla-  monk  of  Bath,  translated  the  Arabic 
tion  of  the  Poetics  into  Arabic  by  Abou  Euclid  into  Latin,  about  1000.  Leland. 
Muschar  Metta,  entitled  Abotica.  See  Script.  Brit.  p.  200.  There  are  some  ma- 
Herbel.  Bibl.  Oriental,  p.  18.  col.  a.  p.  971  nuscriptsof  it  in  the  Bodleian  library,  and 
b.  p.  40.  col.  2.  p.  337.  col.  2.  Farabi,  elsewhere;  but  the  most  beautiful  and 
who  studied  at  Bagdad  about  the  year  elegant  copy  I  have  seen  is  on  vellum,  in 
930,  one  of  the  translators  of  Aristotle's  Trinity  college  library  at  Oxford.  Cod. 
Analytics,  wrote  sixty  books  on  that  phi-  MSS.  Num.  10. 
losopher's  Rhetoric ;  declaring  that  he 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING   INTO  ENGLAND. 


XCV 


present  generation v.  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  endea- 
vours of  Charlemagne.  Lothaire,  the  brother  of  the  latter,  erected 
schools  in  the  eight  principal  cities  of  Italy  w.  The  number  of  monas- 
teries and  collegiate  churches  in  those  countries  was  daily  increasing x; 
in  which  the  youth,  as  a  preparation  to  the  study  of  the  sacred  scrip- 
tures, were  exercised  in  reading  profane  authors,  together  with  the 
ancient  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,  astro- 
nomy, and  the  Vitruvian  architecture,  but  likewise  employed  a  portion 
of  their  time  in  transcribing  Tacitus ?,  Jornandes,  Josephus,  Ovid's 
Fasti,  Cicero,  Seneca,  Donatus  the  grammarian,  Virgil,  Theocritus,  and 
Homer2. 


v  See  what  I  have  said  concerning  the 
destruction  of  many  Greek  classics  at 
Constantinople  in  the  Preface  to  Theo- 
critus, Oxon.  1770.  torn.  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  ancient  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.  Ltalicav.  i.  p.  151. 

*  Cave  mentions,  "  Csenobia  Italica, 
Cassinense,  Ferrariense  :  Germanica,  Ful- 
dense,  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. 
Koeler,  Diss.  De  Bibliotheca  Caroli  Mag. 
Altorg.  1727.  and  Act.  Erudit.  et  Curios. 
Francon.  P.  x.  p.  716.  seq.  60.  and  Hist. 
Lit.  Franc,  torn.  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  li- 
braries. Two  of  his  librarians,  Holduin 
and  Ebbo,  occur  under  that  title  in  sub- 
scriptions. Bibl.  Hist.  Liter.  Struvii  et 
Jugl.  cap.  ii.  sect.  xvii.  p.  172.  This  mon- 
arch, before  his  last  expedition  into  Ita- 
ly, 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.  torn.  v. 
p.  514.  Launoy  justly  remarks,  that  many 
noble  public  institutions  of  Charles  the 
Bald  were  referred  by  succeeding  histo- 
rians to  their  more  favourite  hero  Charle- 
magne. Ubi  supr.  p.  53. .  edit.  Fabric. 
Their  immediate  successors,  at  least  of 
the  German  race,  were  not  such  conspi- 
cuous 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  pub- 
lished under  Leo's  patronage  by  Beroaldus 
in  1515,  this  edict  is  printed,  "Nomine 
Leonis  X.  proposita  sunt  prsemia  non  me- 
diocria  his  qui  ad  eum  libros  veteres 
neque  hactenus  editos  adtulerint." 

z  Chron.  Cassin.  Monast.  lib.  iii.  c.  35. 


xcvi  DISSERTATION    II. 

In  the  mean  time  England  shared  these  improvements  in  knowledge; 
and  literature,  chiefly  derived  from  the  same  sources,  was  communi- 
cated to  our  Saxon  ancestors  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury0. 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  Romed. 
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  litera- 
ture. While  they  gratified  their  devotion,  undesignedly  and  imper- 
ceptibly 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 
Vitalian,  in  the  year  668 e.  He  was  skilled  in  the  metrical  art,  astro- 
nomy, 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  ex- 
quisite elegance,  the  homilies  of  saint  Chrysostom  on  parchment,  the 

Poggius  Florentinus  found  a  Stratagemata  Horace's  Art  of  Poetry,  Epistles,  and 
of  Frontinus,  about  the  year  1420,  in  this  Satires,  with  Eutropius,  in  the  same, 
monastery.  Mabillon,  Mus.  Ital.  torn.  i.  15  B.  vii.  1.  2.  3.  xvi.  1,  &c.  Willibold, 
p.  133.  Manuscripts  of  the  following  one  of  the  learned  Saxons  whose  literature 
classics,  now  in  the  Harleian  collection,  will  be  mentioned  in  its  proper  place, 
appear  to  have  been  written  between  the  having  visited  Rome  and  Jerusalem,  re- 
eighth  and  tenth  centuries  inclusively.  tired  for  some  time  to  this  monastery, 
Two  copies  of  Terence,  Brit.  Mus.  MSS.  about  the  year  730.  Vit.  Williboldi, 
Harl.  2670.  2750.  Cicerc's  Paradoxa  Stoi-  Canis.  Antiq.  Lect.  xv.  695.  and  Pantal. 
corum,  the  first  book  De  Natura  Deorum,  de  Vir.  Illustr.  par.  ii.  p.  263.  And  Biri- 
Orations  against  Catiline,  De  Oratore,  nus,  who  came  into  England  from  Rome 
De  Inventione  Rhetorica,  AdHerennium,  about  the  year  630,  with  a  design  ofcon- 
n.  2622.  2716.  2623.  and  the  Epistles,  verting  the  Saxons,  brought  with  him  one 
with  others  of  his  works,  n.  2682.  A  frag-  Benedict,  a  monk  of  Cassino,  whom  he 
ment  of  the  jEneid,  n.  2772.  Livy,  n.  2672.  placed  over  the  monks  or  church  of  Win- 
Lucius  Florus,  n.  2620.  Ovid's  Metamor-  Chester.  Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  i.  190. 
phoses  and  Fasti,  n.  2737.  Quintilian,  c  Cave,  Saecul.  Eutych.  p.  382. 
n.  2664.  Horace,  the  Odes  excepted,  n.  d  "  Hiis  temporibus  multi  Anglorum 
2725.  Many  of  the  same  and  other  gentis  nobiles  et  ignobiles  viri  et  fceminge, 
classic  authors  occur  in  the  British  Mu-  duces  et  privati,  divini  numinis  instinctu, 
seum,  written  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  Romam  venire  consueverant."  &c.  Bede, 
centuries.  See  n.  5443.  2656.  2475.  2624.  De  Temp.  Apud  Leland,  Script.  Brit. 
2591.  2668.  2533.  2770.  2492.  2709.  CEOLFRIDUS. 

2655.   2654.    2664.   2728.    5534.    2609.  e  Birchington,  apud    Wharton,    Angl. 

2724.  5412.   2643.  5304.  2633.     There  Sacr.  i.  2.  Cave,  Hist.  Lit.  p.  464.  Parker, 

are  four  copies   of  Statius,   one   of  the  Antiquitat.  Brit.  p.  53. 
twelfth  century,  n.  2720  ;  and  three  others  *  Bed.  Hist.  Ecclesiast.  Gent.  Angl.  iv.  2. 

of  the  thirteenth,  n.  2608.  2636.  2665.  Bede  says  of  Theodore  and  of  Adrian  men- 

Plautus's  Comedies  are  among  the  royal  tioned  below,  "  Usque  hodie  stipersunt  de 

manuscripts,  written  in   the  tenth,  15  C.  eorum  discipulis,  qui  Latinam  Grsscamque 

xi.  4.  and   some    parts   of   Tully   in  the  linguam   aeque   ut  propriam  in  qua  nati 

tame,    ibid.   1.  Suetonius,    15    C.   iv.    1.  sunt,  nonint."     See  also  ibid.  c.  1. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING   INTO  ENGLAND.          XCvil 

Psalter,  and  Josephus's  Hypomnesticon,  all  in  Greeks.  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  Vitalian  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  Britain11.  They  were  both 
escorted  to  the  city  of  Canterbury  by  Benedict  Biscop,  a  native  of  North- 
umberland, and  a  monk,  who  had  formerly  been  acquainted  with  them 
in  a  visit  which  he  made  to  Rome1.  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  Apoca- 
lypse11. 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  Italy1. 
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  ca- 
thedral 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".  But  Bede,  Acca's  cotemporary,  relates,  that  this 

E  Parker,  utsupr.  p.  80.    See  also  Lam-  that  province  came  from  various  parts   to 

barde'sPeramb.  Kent,  p.  233.  A  transcript  hear  him  sing.     Bed.  Hist.  Eccl.  iv.  18. 

of  the  Josephus  500  years  old  was  given  He  likewise  brought  over  from  Rome  two 

to  the  public  library  at  Cambridge  by  the  silken    palls    of  exquisite    workmanship, 

archbishop.     See  Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr.  x.  109.  with  which   he  afterwards    purchased  of 

h  Bed.   Hist.   Eccl.  iv.  1.     "  Et  ob  id  king  Aldfrid,  successor  of  Elfrid,  two  pieces 

majorem  notitiam  hujus  itineris,"  &c.  of  land  for  his  monastery.  Bed.  Vit.  Abb. 

'  See    Math.    Westmon.    sub  an,   703.  ut  supr.  p.  297.     Bale  censures  Benedict 

Lei.  Script.  Brit.  p.  109.  for  being  the  first  who    introduced  into 

k  See  Bede,   Hist.  Abbat.   Wiremuth.  England   painters,   glasiers,  et   id  genus 

pp.  295.  297.  edit.    Cantab.     In    one  of  alios  AD  VOLUPTATEM  artifices.     Cent.  i. 

his  expeditions  to  Rome,  he  brought  over  82.     This  is  the  language  of  a  Puritan  in 

John,  arch-chantor  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  life,  as  well  as  in  religion, 
who   introduced    the  Roman   method  of  '  Lei.  ubi  supr.  110. 

singing    mass.     Bed.    ibid.    p.  295.      He  m  Bede,  Hist.  Abbat.  Wiremuth.  p.  299. 

taught   the  monks   of  Benedict's  abbey;  Op.  Bed.  edit.  Cantab, 
and  all  the  singers  of  the  monasteries  of  "  Lei.  ibid.  p.  105. 

VOL.  I.  •  Q 


DISSERTATION  II. 

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 
labour0.  Bede  however  calls  it  a  most  copious  and  noble  library?. 
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  1.  It 
appears  that  before  the  arrival  of  Theodore  and  Adrian,  celebrated 
schools  for  educating  youth  in  the  sciences  had  been  long  established 
in  Kent1".  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  books8.  Al- 
cuine,  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  inclosed  garden  at  York,  but  also  at  Tours  some  sprouts  of 
Paradise*,"  &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  biblio- 
thecamu."  This  repository  remained  till  the  reign  of  King  Stephen, 
when  it  was  destroyed  by  fire,  with  great  part  of  the  city  of  York v.  Its 
founder  Ecbert  died  in  the  year  767 w.  Before  the  end  of  the  eighth 
century,  the  monasteries  of  Westminster,  Saint  Alban's,  Worcester, 

0  Bed.  Hist.  v.  21.           p  Ibid.  v.  c.  20.  Dunstan  below.    And  Osb.  Vit.  S.  Dunst. 

q  Bed.  Hist.  Eccl.  v.  c.  21.    Maban  had  Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  ii.  93. 

been  taugbt  to  sing  in  Kent  by  the  sue-  [Mr.  Turner  has  quoted  a  passage  from 

cessors  of  the  disciples  of  Saint  Gregory.  Aldhelm's  poem  "  De  Laude  Virginum," 

Compare  Bed.  iv.  2.     If  we  may  believe  which  confirms  this  statement  of  Malmes- 

William  of  Malmesbury,  who  wrote  about  bury, 
the  year  1120,  they  had  organs  in  the 

Saxon  churches  before  the  Conquest.    He  Maxima  millems  auscultans  organa  fla- 
says   that    archbishop  Dunstan,  in  king 

Edgar's   reign,  gave    an    organ    to   the  Mulceat  auditum  ventosis  follibus  iste, 
abbey-church  of  Malmesbury ;   which  he  Quamhbet  auratis  fulgescant  csetera  cap- 
describes  to  have  been  like  those  in  use  S1S"  VoL  iL  P- 408.— PRICE.] 
at  present.     "  Organa,  ubi  per  eereas  fis-  r  See  Bed.  Op.  per  Smith,  p.  724.  seq. 
tulas  musicis  mensuris  elaboratas,  dudum  Append. 

conceptas  follis  vomit  anxius  auras."  Wil-  *  Lei.  p.  114.  [The  only  Greek  classic 

liam,  who  was  a  monk  of  this  abbey,  adds,  was  Aristotle. — PRICE.] 

that  this  benediction  of  Dunstan  was  in-  l  Bale,  ii.  15.                 u  De  Reg.  i.  1. 

scribed  in  a  Latin  distich,  which  he  quotes,  Y  Pits,  p.  154. 

on  the  organ  pipes.  Vit.  Aldhelm.  Whart.  w  Cave,  Hist.  Lit.  p.  486. 
Ang.  Sacr.  ii.  p.  33.     See  what  is  said  of 


INTRODUCTION  OP  LEARNING   INTO  ENGLAND.  XC1X 

Malmesbury,  Glastoribury,  with  some  others,  were  founded  and  opu- 
lently endowed.  That  of  Saint  Alban's  was  filled  with  one  hundred 
monks  by  King  Offax.  Many  new  bishopricks  were  also  established 
in  England :  all  which  institutions,  by  multiplying  the  number  of  eccle- 
siastics, turned  the  attention  of  many  persons  to  letters. 

The  best  writers  among  the  Saxons  flourished  about  the  eighth  cen- 
tury. 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  ecclesi- 
astical dignity  y.  He  invited  his  nobility  to  educate  their  sons  in  learn- 
ing, and  requested  those  lords  of  his  court  who  had  no  children  to  send 
to  school  such  of  their  younger  servants  as  discovered  a  promising  ca- 
pacity, and  to  breed  them  to  the  clerical  profession2.  Alfred,  while  a 
boy,  had  himself  experienced  the  inconveniences  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  king- 
dom 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.  life  was  fond  of  cultivating  his  native  tongue  :  and  with 

*  A.  D.   793.     See    Dugd.    Monast.  i.       sented  the  first  rudiments  of  a  striking 
p.  177.  clock.     It  was  brought  as  a  present  to 

y  MS.  Bever,  MSS.  Coll.  Trin.  Oxon.  Charlemagne,  from  Abdella  king  of  Per- 

Codd.  xlvii.  f.  82.  z  Bever,  ibid.  sia,  by  two  monks  of  Jerusalem,  in  the 

*  Flor.  Vigorn.  sub  ann.  871.     Bromp-  year  800.     Among  other  presents,  says 
ton,  Chron.  in  Alfr.  p.  814.     And  MS.  Eginhart,  was  an  horologe  of  brass,  won- 
Bever,  ut  supr.     It  is  curious  to  observe  derfully  constructed  by  some  mechanical 
the  simplicity  of  this  age,  in  the  method  artifice,  in  which  the  course  of  the  twelve 
by   which   Alfred   computed    time.       He  hours   ad  clepsydram  vertebatur,  with  as 
caused  six  wax  tapers  to  be  made,  each  many  little  brasen  balls,  which  at  the  close 
twelve  inches  long,  and  of  as  many  ounces  of  each  hour  dropped  down  on  a  sort  of 
in  weight:  on  these  tapers  he  ordered  the  bells  underneath,  and  sounded  the  end  of 
inches  to  be  regularly  marked  ;  and  having  the  hour.     There  were  also  twelve  figures 
found  that  one  of  them  burned  just  four  of  horsemen,  who,  when  the  twelve  hours 
hours,  he  committed  the  care  of  ihstn  to  were  completed,  issued  out  at  twelve  win- 
the  keepers  of  his  chapel,  who  from  time  dows,  which  till  then  stood  open,  and  re- 
to  time  gave   due  notice  how  the  hours  turning   again,    shut  the   windows    after 
went.     But  as  in  windy  weather  the  can-  them.     He  adds,  that  there  were  many 
dies  were  more  wasted,  to  remedy  this  other  curiosities  in  this  instrument,  which 
inconvenience  he  invented  lanthorns,  there  it  would  be  tedious  to  recount.    Eginhart, 
being  then  no  glass  to  be  met  with  in  his  Car.  Magn.  p.  108.     It  is  to  be  remem- 
dominions.     Asser.   Menev.  Vit.   Alfr.  p.  bered,  that  Eginhart  was  an  eye-witness 
68.  edit.  Wise.     In  the  mean  time,  and  of  what  is  here  described;  and  that  he 
during  this  very  period,  the  Persians  im-  was  an  abbot,  a  skilful  architect,  and  very 
ported  into  Europe  a  machine,  which  pre-  learned  in  the  sciences. 

9% 


C  DISSERTATION  If. 

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 b,  Orosius's  HISTORY  OF  THE  PA- 
GANS, Saint  Gregory's  PASTORAL  CARE,  the  venerable  Bede's  ECCLE- 
SIASTICAL HISTORY,  and  the  SOLILOQUIES  of  Saint  Austin.  Probably 
Saint  Austin  was  selected  by  Alfred  because  he  was  the  favourite  au- 
thor of  Charlemagne0,  Alfred  died  in  the  year  900,  and  was  buried 
at  Hyde  abbey,  in  the  suburbs  of  Winchester,  under  a  sumptuous  mo- 
nument of  porphyry  d. 

Aldhelm,  kinsman  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's6,  the  pupil  of  Adrian f.  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  #. 
Camden  affirms,  that  Aldhelm  was  the  first  of  the  Saxons  who  wrote  in 
Latin,  and  that  he  taught  his  countrymen  the  art  of  Latin  versification11. 
But  a  very  intelligent  antiquarian  in  this  stfrt  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'.  It  is  however  certain,  that  Aldhelin's  Latin  compositions, 
whether  in  verse  or  prose,  as  novelties  were  deemed  extraordinary  per- 
formances, and  excited  the  attention  and  admiration  of  scholars  in  other 
countries.  A  learned  cotemporary,  who  lived  in  a  remote  province  of 
a  Prankish  territory,  in  an  epistle  to  Aldhelm,  has  this  remarkable  ex- 
pression, "VESTRY  LATINITATIS  PANEGYRICUS  RUMOR  has  reached 
us  even  at  this  distance11,"  &c.  In  reward  of  these  uncommon  merits 
he  was  made  bishop  of  Shirburn  in  Dorsetshire  in  the  year  705 l.  His 
writings  are  chiefly  theological :  but  he  has  likewise  left  in  Latin  verse.* 
a  book  of  ^ENIGMATA,  copied  from  a  work  of  the  same  title  under  the 
name  of  Symposius01,  a  poem  De  VIRGINITATE  hereafter  cited,  and 

b  MSS.  Cott.  Oth.  A.  6.  8vo.  raembr.  See  W.  Malmesb.  apud  Wharton,  Angl. 

c  He  was  particularly  fond  of  Austin's  Sacr.  ii.  4.  seq. 

book  De   Civitate  Dei.      Eginhart,   Vit.  *  Conringius,  Script.  Comment,  p.  108. 

Car.  Magn.  p.  29.  This  poem  was  printed  by  Reineccius  at 

d  Asser.  Menev.  p.  72.  ed.  Wise.  Helmstadt  many  years  ago,  with  a  large 

e  Bede  says,  that  Theodore  and  Adrian  commentary.  Compare  Voss.Hist.Lat.iii.4. 
taught   Tobias   bishop   of  Rochester   the  k  W.  Malmesb.  ut  supr.  p.  4. 

Greek  and  Latin  tongues  so  perfectly,  that  '  Cave,  p.  466. 

he  could  speak  them  as  fluently  as  his'na-  m  See  Fabric.  Bibl.  Med.  Lat.  iv.  p.  693. 

tive  Saxon.     Hist.  Eccl.  v.  23.  And  Bibl.  Lat.  i.  p.  681.     And  W.  Malm. 

{  Lei.  p.  97.     Thorn  says,   that   Albin  ubi  supr.  p.  7.    Among  the  manuscripts  of 

learned  Greek  of  Adrian.     Chron.   Dec.  Exeter  cathedral  is  a  book  of  JEnigmata  in 

Script,  p.  1771.  Saxon,  some  of  which  are  written  in  Runic 

g  W.  Malmesb.  ubi  infr.  p.  3.  characters,  11.  fol.  98.  [This  book  is  now 

h  Wiltsh.  p.  116.     But  this,  Aldhelm  in  the  press  for  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 

affirms  of  himself  in  his  treatise  on  Metre.  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Thorpe.] 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND. 


Cl 


treatises  on  arithmetic,  astrology,  rhetoric,  and  metre.  The  last  treatise 
is  a  proof  that  the  ornaments  of  composition  now  began  to  be  studied. 
Leland  mentions  his  CANTIONES  SAXONIC^E,  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  in- 
struction, to  a  sense  of  duty,  and  a  knowledge  of  religious  subjects". 
Malmesbury  observes,  that  Aldhelm  might  be  justly  deemed  "  ex  acu- 
mine  Graecum,  ex  nitore  Romanurn,  et  ex  pompa  Anglum0."  It  is 
evident,  that  Malmesbury,  while  he  here  characterizes  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  philoso- 
phy by  the  Saracens,  Aristotle  and  Euclid  were  familiar  in  Europe  long 
before  Homer  and  Pindar.  The  character  of  Aldhelm  is  thus  drawn 
by  an  ancient  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  sci- 
ences P." 


n  Malmesb.  ubi  supr.  p.  4. 

0  Ubi  supr.  p.  4. 

p  Chron.  Anon.  Leland.  Collectan.  ii. 
278.  To  be  skilled  in  singing  is  often  men- 
tioned as  an  accomplishment  of  the  an- 
cient 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.  Lei.  Script.  Brit.  p.  165.  Their 
skill  in  playing  on  the  harp  is  also  fre- 
quently mentioned.  Of  Saint  Dunstan, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  about  the  year 
988,  it  is  said,  that  among  his  sacred  stu- 
dies, 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  Sa- 
viour 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  decorations. 
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  anachorete  co- 


vered the  book,  thus  written  and  adorned, 
with  gold  and  silver  plates  and  precious 
stones.  All  this  is  related  by  Aldred,  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.  jElfsin,  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  St.  Cuthbert,  ra- 
diated and  crowned,  blessing  king  Athel- 
stan, and  of  the  four  evangelists.  [Since 
engraved  in  the  third  volume  of  Strutt's 
Manners  and  Customs  of  the  English : 
and  in  vol.  i.  of  the  same  work  there  is  an 
engraving  of  the  figure  of  our  Saviour  by 
St.  Dunstan  mentioned  in  this  note.—— 
PARK.]  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  per- 


Cll 


DISSERTATION  II. 


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  super- 
intend the  studies  of  Charlemagne,  whom  he  instructed  in  logic,  rhe- 
toric, and  astronomy1".  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 
monks8.  Alcuine  was  likewise  employed  by  Charlemagne  to  regulate 
the  lectures  and  discipline  of  the  universities4,  which  that  prudent  and 
magnificent  potentate  had  newly  constituted".  He  is  said  to  have 


formed  about  the  reign  of  King  Stephen. 
Cod.  membr.  fol.  post  Class,  a  dextr.  Ser. 
Med.  5.  [among  the  Single  Codices,~\  Ead- 
win  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  Annunciation,  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.  St.  Dunstan  above  mentioned 
made  two  of  the  bells  of  Abingdon  abbey 
with  his  own  hands.  Monast.  Anglic,  torn, 
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  calligraphy,  and  skill  in  co- 
lours. To  invite  his  pupils  to  read,  he 
made  use  of  a  Psalter  and  Sacramentary, 
whose  capital  letters  he  had  richly  illu- 
minated with  gold.  This  was  about  the 
year  980.  Will.  Malmesb.  Vit.  Wulst. 
Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  p.  244.  William 
of  Malmesbury  says,  that  Elfric,  a  Saxon 
abbot  of  Malmesbury,  was  a  skilful  archi- 
tect, adificandi  gnarus.  Vit.  Aldhelm. 
Wharton,  Ansl.  Sacr.  ii,  p.  33.  Herman, 
one  of  the  Norman  bishops  of  Salisbury, 
about  1080,  condescended  to  write,  bind, 
and  illuminate  books.  Monast.  Angl.  torn, 
iii.  p.  375. 

In  some  of  these  instances  I  have  wan- 


dered below  the  Saxon  times.  It  is  in- 
deed evident  from  various  proofs  which  I 
could  give,  that  the  religious  practised 
these  arts  long  afterwards.  But  the  ob- 
ject of  this  note  was  the  existence  of  them 
among  the  Saxon  clergy. 

q  Dedicat.  Hist.  Eccl.  Bed.  [See  note  x 
in  next  page. — M.] 

r  Eginhart.  Vit.  Car.  Magn.  p.  30.  ed. 
1565.  4to. 

8  Rabanus  instructed  them  not  only  in 
the  Scriptures,  but  in  profane  literature. 
A  great  number  of  other  scholars  fre- 
quented these  lectures.  He  was  the  first 
founder  of  a  library  in  this  monastery. 
Cave,  Hist.  Lit.  p.  540.  Ssec.  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  there- 
fore removed  him,  yet  afterwards  in  vain 
attempted  to  recall  him.  Serrar.  Rer.  Mo- 
gunt.  lib.  iv.  p.  625. 

1  John  Mailros,  a  Scot,  one  of  Bede's 
scholars,  is  said  to  have  been  employed 
by  Charlemagne  in  founding  the  univer- 
sity of  Pavia.  Dempst.  xii.  904. 

*  See  Op.  Alcuin.  Paris.  1617.  fol.  Prae- 
fat.  Andr.  Quercetan.  Mabillon  says,  that 
Alcuine  pointed  the  homilies,  and  St.  Aus- 
tin's epistle,  at  the  instance  of  Charle- 
magne. Carl.  Magn.  R.  Diplomat,  p.  52 
a.  Charlemagne  was  most  fond  of  astro- 
nomy. 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  Constanti- 
nople :  another,  a  round  one,  a  map  of 
Rome :  a  third,  which  was  of  the  most  ex- 
quisite workmanship,  and  greatest  weight, 
consisting  of  three  orbs,  contained  a  map 
of  the  world.  Eginhart,  ubi  supr.  pp.  29. 
31.  41. 


INTRODUCTION  OP  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.  Clll 

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  cata- 
logue 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 x. 

In  the  mean  time  we  must  not  form  too  magnificent  ideas  of  these 
celebrated  masters  of  science  who  were  thus  invited  into  foreign  coun- 
tries to  conduct  the  education  of  mighty  monarchs,  and  to  plan  the  ru- 
diments 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  excursions  from  their  cir- 
cumscribed 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  dissertation  concerning  the  clerical  tonsure,  and  the 

w  MSS.  Cod.  Coll.  S.  S.   Trin.  Cant.  memoratum  interpretem  pure  pervenisse," 

Class,  a  dextr.  Ser.  Med.  5  membran.  4to.  &c.     He  mentions  on  this  occasion  the 

[This  description  of  the  MS.  of  Trin.  Coll.  Greek  Se-  toagint  translation  of  the  Bible, 

is  very  incorrect.     It  is  a  Latin  psalter,  but  not  as  if  he  had  ever  seen  or  consulted 

and  not  a  Hebrew  psalter.  The  Latin,  it.  Bed.  Chron.  p.  .34.  edit.  Cant.  Op.  Bed. 
after  two  versions,  one  of  which  is  Jerome's  *  Dedicat.  Hist.  Eccl.  Bed.  To  King 

after  the  Hebrew,  is  given  in  separate  co-  Ceolwulphus,  pp.  37,  38.  edit.  Op.  Cant, 

lumns ;  and  over  the  lines  in  one  column  is  [The  statement  in  the  text  is  not  correct, 

a  regular  translation  in  Anglo-Norman,  but  carelessly  copied  from  Bale  and  Cave, 

over  the  other  in  Anglo-Saxon,  of  that  According  to  the  best-informed  writers, 

period,  which  is  probably  about  the  date  Alchuine  was  born  about  the  year  735,  and 

(or  even  earlier)  which  Warton  gives  it  was  a  mere  infant  at  the  period  of  Bede's 

in  a  preceding  note. — W.]     Bede  says,  death.     The  Albinus  referred  to  by  the 

that  he  compiled  part  of  his  Chronicon,  ex  historian  was,  as  appears  from  lib.  v.  c.  21, 

Hebraica  veritate,  that  is  from  St.  Jerom's  a  disciple  of  Adrian,  abbot  of  St.  Augus- 

Latin   translation   of  the   Bible;    for  he  tine's  monastery,  Canterbury,  and  his  suc- 

adds,  "  nos  qui  per  beati  interpretis  Hie-  cessor  in  that  office.    See  the  Commentary 

ronymi  industriam  puro  HEBRAIC^E  VE-  on  Alchuine's  life  by  Froben,  prefixed  to 

RITATIS  fonte  potamur,"&c.     And  again,  his  edition  of  the  former's    works:    fol. 

"  Ex  Hebraica  veritate,  quae  ad  nos  per  Ratisbon,  1777. — M.] 


civ  DISSERTATION    II. 

rites  of  celebrating  Easter  ?.  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  coun- 
try a  church  of  stone,»after  the  fashion  of  the  Romans".  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  Biscopc.  Bale  affirms,  that  Bede  learned  physics 
and  mathematics  from  the  purest  sources,  the  original  Greek  and  Ro- 
man 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  subjects6.  It  is  diverting  to  see  the  French  critics  censuring 
Bede  for  credulity:  they  might  as  well  have  accused  him  of  supersti- 
tion f.  There  is  much  perspicuity  and  facility  in  his  Latin  style ;  but 

y  Bed.  Hist.  Eccl.  v.  22.     And  Concil.  young  man  in  shining  apparel  came  and 
Gen.  vi.  p.  1423.  led  him,  without  speaking,  to  a  valley  of 
*  Bed.  Hist.  Eccl.  ib.  c.  21.  iv.  18.  infinite  depth,  length,  and  breadth  :  one 
b  Bed.  Hist.  Abb.  p.  300.  side  was  formed  by  a  prodigious  sheet  of 
c  Bed.  Hist.  Eccl.  v.  24.  fire,  and  the  opposite  side  filled  with  hail 
d  ii.  94.  and  ice.     Both  sides  were  swarming  with 
e  "  Libros  septuaginta  octo  edidit,  quos  souls  of  departed  men,  who  were  for  ever 
ad   finem   HISTORIC  suae  ANGLICANS  in  search  of  rest,  alternately  shifting  their 
edidit.  [See  Op.  edit.  Cant.  pp.  222,  223.  situation  to  these  extremes  of  heat  and 
lib.  v.  c.  24.]     Hie  succumbit  ingenium,  cold.     The  monk  supposing  this  place  to 
deficit    eloquium,    sufficienter    admirari  be  hell,  was  told  by  his  guide  that  he  was 
hominem  a  scholastico  exercitio  tarn  pro-  mistaken.  The  guide  then  led  him,  greatly 
cul  amotum,  tarn  sobrio   sermone  tanta  terrified  with  this  spectacle,  to  a  more  di- 
eluborasse  volumina."  &c.     Chron.  Praef.  stant  place,  where  he  says,  "  I  saw  on  a 
Bever.  MSS.  Coll.  Trin.  Oxon.  ut  supr.  sudden  a  darkness  come  on,  and  every 
f.  65.     [Bever  was  a  monk  of  Westmin-  thing  was  obscured.    When  I  entered  this 
ster  circ.  A.D.  1400.]     For  a  full  and  ex-  place  I  could  discern  no  object,  on  account 
act    list   of    Bede's    works,    the    curious  of  the   increasing    darkness,    except  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Mabillon,  Saec.  iii.  countenance  and  glittering   garments  of 
p.  i.  p.  539.     Or  Cave,  Hist.  Lit.  ii.  p.  my   conductor.     As   we  went  forward  I 
242.  beheld  vast  torrents  of  flame  spouting  up- 
f  It  is  true,  that  Bede  has  introduced  wards  from  the  ground,  as  from  a  large 
many   miracles  and  visions  into  his  hi-  well,  and  falling  down  into  it  again.     As 
story.     Yet  some  of  these  are  pleasing  to  we  came  near  it  my  guide  suddenly  va- 
the  imagination:  they  are  tinctured  with  nished,  and  left  me  alone  in  the  midst  of 
the  gloom  of  the  cloister,  operating  on  the  darkness  and  this  horrible  vision.     De- 
extravagances  of  oriental  invention.      I  formed  and   uncouth    spirits   arose  from 
will  give  an  instance  or  two.     A  monk  of  this  blazing  chasm,  and  attempted  to  draw 
Northumberland  died,  and  was  brought  me  in  with  fiery  forks."     But  his  guide 
again  to  life.     In  this  interval  of  death,  a  here  returned,  and  they  all  retired  at  his 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.  CV 

it  is  void  of  elegance,  and  often  of  purity ;  it  shows  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  im- 
portation 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  historians1".  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  Cambridge3,  are  at  least  well  turned 
and  harmonious. 

Inter  florigeras  fcecundi  cespitis  herbas, 
Flamine  ventorum  resonantibus  undique  ramis*. 

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

Hie  celebranda  rudisu  florescit  gloria  templi, 
Limpida  quse  sacri  celebrat  vexilla  triumphi : 
Hie  Petrus  et  Paulus,  tenebrosi  lumina  mundi, 
Praecipui  patres  populi  qui  frena  gubernant, 

appearance.     Heave.,    is   then  described  viour,  is  very  particular  in  the  account  of 

with  great  strength  of  fancy.    I  have  seen  their  names,  age,  and  respective  offerings, 

an  old  ballad,  called  the  Dead  Man's  Song,  He  says,  that  Melchior  was  old,  and  had 

on   this  story  ;    and    Milton's    hell    may  grey  hair,  with  a  long  beard  ;  and  that  it 

perhaps  be  taken  from  this  idea.     Bed.  was  he  who  offered  gold  to  Christ,  in  ac- 

Hist.  Eccl.  v.  13.     Our  historian  in  the  knowledgement  of  his  sovereignty;  that 

next  chapter  relates,  that  two  most  beau-  Gaspar,  the  second  of  the  magi,  was  young, 

tiful  youths  came  to  a  person  lying  sick  and  had  no  beard;  and  that  it  was  he  who 

on  his  death-bed,  and  offered  him  a  book  offered  frankincense  in  recognition  of  our 

to  read,  richly  ornamented,  in  which  his  Lord's  divinity ;  and  that  Balthasar,  the 

good  actions  were  recorded.     Immediate-  third,  was  of  a  dark  complexion,  had  a 

ly  after  this,  the  house  was  surrounded  large   beard,   and   offered  myrrh  to   our 

and  filled  with  an  army  of  spirits  of  most  Saviour's  humanity."   He  is  likewise  very 

horrible   aspect.     One  of  them,  who  by  circumstantial  in  the  description  of  their 

the  gloom  of  his  darksome  countenance  dresses.     Melanges  de  1'Hist.  et  de  Lit. 

appeared  to  be  their  leader,  produced  a  Paris,   1725.   12mo.  torn.  iii.  p.  283.  &c. 

book,  codicem  horrendae  visionis,  et  mag-  What  was  more  natural  than  this  in  such 

nitudinis  enormis  et  ponderis  pane  impor-  a  writer  and  on  such  a  subject?     In  the 

tabilis,  and  ordered  some  of  his  attendant  mean  time  it  may  be  remarked,   that  this 

demons  to  bring  it  to  the  sick  man.     In  description  of  Bede,  taken  perhaps  from 

this  were  contained  all  his  sins,  &c.  ib.  constant  tradition,  is  now  to  be  seen  in 

cap.  14.  the  old  pictures  and  popular  representa- 

*  An  ingenious  author  who  writes  un-  tions  of  the  Wise  Men's  Offering. 
der  the  name  of  M.  de  Vigneul  Marvillc,  *  Cod.  MSS.  Ixxix.  P.  161. 

observes,  that  Bede,  "  when  he  speaks  of  l  Malmesb.  apud  Whart.  ut  supr.  p.  8. 

the  Magi  who  went  to  worship  our  Sa-  u  recent;  newly  built. 


CV1  DISSERTATION  II. 

Carminibus  crebris  alma  celebrantur  in  aula. 
Claviger  o  caeli,  portam  qui  pandis  in  asthra, 
,  Candida  qui  meritis  recludis  limina  cseli, 
Exaudi  clemens  populorum  vota  tuorum, 
Marcida  qui  riguis  humectant  fletibus  oraw. 

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  consider- 
able monuments  have  descended  to  modern  times,  to  prove  their  fami- 
liarity with  that  language.  I  will,  however,  mention  such  as  have  oc- 
curred to  me.  Archbishop  Parker,  or  rather  his  learned  scribe  Jocelin, 
affirms,  that  the  copy  of  Homer,  and  some  of  the  other  books  import- 
ed into  England  by  archbishop  Theodore,  as  I  have  above  related,  re- 
mained in  his  time  ^.  There  is  however  no  allusion  to  Homer,  nor  any 
mention  made  of  his  name,  in  the  writings  of  the  Saxons  now  existing2. 
In  the  Bodleian  library  are  some  extracts  from  the  books  of  the  Pro- 
phets 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  ancient  copy  of  Ald- 
helm  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  Greek0.  There  are  many  in- 
stances of  this  pedantry  in  the  early  charters  of  Dugdale's  Monasti- 
con.  But  it  is  no  where  more  visible  than  in  the  LIFE  of  Saint  WIL- 
FRID, archbishop  of  Canterbury,  written  by  Fridegode  a  monk  of  Can- 
terbury, in  Latin  heroics,  about  the  year  960 d.  Malmesbury  observes 
of  this  author's  style,  "  Latinitatem  perosus,  Grcecitatem  amat,  Grcecula 

w  W.  Malmesb.  ut  supr.     Apud  Whart.  ginal.     [Who  has  seen  the  original  ? — 

P-  8.  DOUCE.] 

*  Cave,  ubi  supr.  p.  473.  Saec.  Eico-  a  NE.  D.  19.  MSS.membr.  8vo.fol.  24. 

nocl.  19. 

y  Antiquitat.  Brit.  p.  80.  b  Cod.  MSS.  K  12. 

z  See  Sect.iii.  page  128.  of  this  volume,  °  Ubi  supr.  p.  7. 

where  it  is  observed,  that  Homer  is  cited  d  Printed  by  Mabillon,  Saec.  Benedic- 

by   Geoffrey  of  Monmouth.     But  he  is  tin.  iii.  P.  i.  p.  169. 
not  mentioned  in  Geoffrey's  Armoric  ori- 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.  CV11 

verba  frequentat6."  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  Prankish ;  but 
slightly  passes  over  his  accomplishment  in  Greek  by  artfully  saying, 
that  he  understood  it  better  than  he  could  pronounce  itf.  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  Ro- 
man empire  till  the  year  485.  It  was  the  language  of  their  religious 
offices,  their  laws,  and  public  transactions.  The  Franks,  who  conquer- 
ed 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  bring- 
ing proofs  which  tend  to  extenuate  the  notion  that  Greek  was  now 
much  known  or  cultivated,  it  must  not  be  dissembled,  that  John  Eri» 
gena,  a  native  of  Aire  in  Scotland,  and  one  of  King  Alfred's  first  lec- 
turers at  Oxford  *,  translated  into  Latin  from  the  Greek  original  four 
large  treatises  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  about  the  year  860h.  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*.  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  languages11. 

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 

•  Gest.  Pontific.  i.  f.  114.  Epistles.     Hoveden   and  Matthew  Paris 

f  Vit.  Car.  Magn.  p.  30.  have  literally  transcribed  the   words  of 

8  Wood,  Hist.  Antiquit.  Univ.  Oxon.  i.  Malmesbury  just  cited,  and  much  more. 

15.  Hov.  fol.  234;  and  M.  Paris,  p.  253.    It 

h  This  translation,  with  dedications  in  is  doubtful  whether  the  Versio  Moralium 

verse  and  prose  to  Charles  the  Bald,  oc-  Aristotelis  is  from  the  Greek  ;  it  might 

curs  twice  in  the  Bodleian  library,  viz.  be  from  the  Arabic :  or  whether  ovir  au- 

MSS.  Mus.  148.  and  Hyper.  Bodl.  148.  thor's.     See  Prsefat.  Op.  nonnull.  Oxon. 

p.  4.  seq.     See  also  Laud.  I.  59.     And  in  edit,  per  Gale,  cum  Not.  1681.  fol. 
Saint  John's  college  Oxford,  A.  xi.  2.  3.  l  Printed  at  Oxford  as  above.    Erigena 

William  of  Malmesbury  says,  that  he  wrote  died  at  Malmesbury,  where  he  had  opened 

a  book  entitled,  Periphismerisnms,  (that  a  school  in  the  year  883.    Cave,  Hist.  Lit. 

is,  Ilepi  Qvaews  juepio-juou,)  and  adds,  that  Saec.  Phot.  pp.   548,    549.       William   of 

in  this  piece  "  a  Latinorum  tramite  de-  Malmesbury  says,  that  Erigena  was  one 

viavit,  dum  in  Grsecos  acriter  oculos  in-  of  the  wits  of  Charles  the  Bald's   table, 

tendit."     Vit.  Aldhelm.  p.  28.     Wharton,  and  his  constant  companion.     Ubi  supr. 

Angl.  Sacr.  ii.     It  was  printed  at  Oxford  p.  27. 

by  Gale.     Erigena,  in  one  of  the  dedica-  k  Spelm.   Vit.  yElfred.     Bale  xiv.   32. 

tions  above  mentioned,  says,  that  he  had  Pits.  p.  168. 
translated  into  Latin  ten  of  Dionysius's 


DISSERTATION  II. 

purer  and  more  ancient  Roman  models,  and  had  been  therefore  more 
recently  and  frequently  transcribed.  I  have  mentioned  Alfred's  trans- 
lations 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  antiquity1.  Prudentius  is  likewise  in  Bennet  college  library  at 
Cambridge,  transcribed  in  the  time  of  Charles  the  Bald,  with  several 
Saxon  words  written  into  the  text1".  Sedulius's  hymns  are  in  the  same 
repository  in  Saxon  characters,  in  a  volume  containing  other  Saxon 
manuscripts11.  Bede  says,  that  Aldhelm  wrote  his  book  DE  VIRGINI- 
TATE,  which  is  both  prose  and  verse,  in  imitation  of  the  mariner  of 
Sedulius0.  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  Alfwoldking  of  the  East 
Angles,  and  written  both  in  Latin  and  Saxon**.  But  these  classics 
were  most  of  them  read  as  books  of  religion  and  morality.  Yet  Ald- 
helm, in  his  tract  DE  METRORUM  GENERIBUS,  quotes  two  verses  from 
the  third  book  of  Virgil's  Georgicsr:  and  in  the  Bodleian  library  we 
find  a  manuscript  of  the  first  book  of  Ovid's  Art  of  Love,  in  very  an- 
cient Saxon  characters,  accompanied  with  a  British  gloss8.  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  V  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  ob- 
jects, and  elegance  found  no  place  amidst  their  severer  pursuits  in  phi- 
losophy and  theology". 

1  MSS.  Cott.  Cleopatr.  C.  8.  membr.  system  of  medicine  in  Saxon,  often  cited 

3vo.  by  Somner  in  his  Lexicon,  under  the  title 

Miscellan.  MSS.  M.  membran.  of  Liber  Medicinalis.     It  appears  by  this 

MSS.  S.  1 1.  Cod.  membran.  tract,  that  they  were  well  acquainted  with 

Eccl.  Hist.  19.  the  Latin  physicians  and  naturalists,  Mar- 

Gregor.  Turonens.  1.  vi.  c.  46.  cellus,  Scribonius  Largus,  Pliny,  Cseiius 

MSS.  Cotton.  Vesp.  D.  xxi.  8vo.  Aurelianus,  Theodore,  Priscus,  &c.   MSS. 

W.  Malmesb.  Vit.  Aldhelm.  Wharton,  Bibl.  Reg.  Brit.  Mus.  Cod.  membr.. ..It  is 

Angl.  Sacr.  ii.  4.  probable  that  this  manuscript  is  of  the  age 

*  NE.  D.  19.  membr.  8vo.  fol.  37.  of  King  Alfred.    Among  Hatton's  books  in 

Bed.  Eccl.  Hist.  iv.  20.  the  Bodleian  library  is  a  Saxon  manu- 

Medicine  was  one  of  their  favorite  script  which  has  been  entitled  by  Junius 

sciences,  being  a  part  of  the  Arabian  learn-  Medicina  ex  Quadrupedibus.     It  is  pre- 

iug.    We  have  now  remaining  Saxon  ma-  tended  to  be  taken  from  Idpart,  a  fabu- 

nuscript  translations  of  Apuleius  De  Viri-  lous  king  of  Egypt.     It  is  followed  by  two 

busllerbarum.    They  have  also  left  a  large  epistles  in  Latin  of  Evax  king  of  the  Ara- 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.  C1X 

It  is  certain  that  literature  was  at  its  height  among  our  Saxon  ances- 
tors about  the  eighth  century.  These  happy  beginnings  were  almost 
entirely  owing  to  the  attention  of  King  Alfred,  who  encouraged  learn- 
ing by  his  own  example,  by  founding  seminaries  of  instruction,  and  by 
rewarding  the  labours  of  scholars.  But  the  efforts  of  this  pious  mon- 
arch were  soon  blasted  by  the  supineness  of  his  successors,  the  incur- 
sions 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  nar- 
rative 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  institu- 
tion 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  armsx. 

But  a  long  night  of  confusion  and  gross  ignorance  succeeded.  The 
principal  productions  of  the  most  eminent  monasteries  for  three  centu- 
ries were  incredible  legends  which  discovered  no  marks  of  invention, 
un  edify  ing  homilies,  and  trite  expositions  of  the  Scriptures.  Many 
bishops  and  abbots  began  to  consider  learning  as  pernicious  to  true 
piety,  and  confounded  illiberal  ignorance  with  Christian  simplicity. 
Leland  frequently  laments  the  loss  of  libraries  destroyed  in  the  Danish 

bians  to  Tiberius  Cesar,  concerning  the  Oedip.  Egypt,  torn.  iii.  p.  68.  Lambeccius 
names  and  virtues  of  oriental  precious  describes  a  very  curious  and  ancient  ma- 
stones  used  in  medicine.  Cod.  Hatton.  100.  nuscript  of  Dioscorides  :  among  the  beau- 
membr.  fol.  It  is  believed  to  be  a  manu-  tiful  illuminations  with  which  it  was  en- 
script  before  the  Conquest.  These  ideas  riched,  was  a  square  picture  with  a  gold 
of  a  king  of  Egypt,  another  of  Arabia,  and  ground,  on  which  were  represented  the 
of  the  use  of  oriental  precious  stones  in  the  seven  ancient  physicians,  Machaon,  CHI- 
medical  art,  evidently  betray  their  origin.  RON,  Niger,  Herculides,  Mantias,  Xeno- 
Apuleius's  Herbarium  occurs  in  the  Bri-  crates,  and  Pamphilus.  P.  Lambecc.  de 
tish  Museum  in  Latin  and  Saxon,  "  quod  Bibl.  Vindob.  lib.  ii.  p.  525  seq.  I  have 
accepit  ab  Esculapio  et  a  Chirone  Centauro  mentioned  above,  Medicina  ex  Quadrupe- 
Magistro  A  chillis  ; "  together  with  the  dibus.  A  Greek  poem  or  fragment  called 
Medicina  ex  Quadrupedibus  above  men-  Medicina  ex  Piscibus  has  been  attributed 
tioned.  MSS.Cot.Vitel.C.iii.  Cod.membr.  to  Chiron.  It  was  written  by  Marcellus 
fol.  iii.  p.  19.  iv.  p.  75.  It  is  remarkable  Sidetas  of  Pamphylia,  a  physician  under 
that  the  Arabians  attribute  the  invention  Marcus  Antoninus,  and  is  printed  by 
of  Simia,  one  of  their  magical  sciences,  to  Fabricius,  Bibl.  Gr.  i.  p.  16  seq.;  and  see 
Kirun  or  Carun,  that  is,  Chiron  the  cen-  xiii.  p.  317.  The  Medicina  ex  Quadru- 
taur,  the  master  of  Achilles.  SeeHerbelot.  pedibus  seems  to  be  the  treatise  entitled, 
Diet.  Orient.  Artie.  SIMIA,  p.  1005.  Medicina  ex  Animalibus,  under  the  name 
The  Greeks  reputed  Chiron  the  inventor  of  Sextus  Platonicus,  and  printed  in  Ste- 
of  medicine.  His  medical  books  are  men-  phens's  Medica  Artis  Principes,  p.  684. 
tioned  by  many  ancient  writers,  particu-  This  was  a  favorite  medical  system  of  the 
larly  by  Apuleius  Celsus,  De  Herbis :  and  dark  ages.  See  Fabric,  ibid.  xiii.  395. 
Kircher  observes,  that  Chiron's  treatise  of  xii.  613. 
Mulomedicina  was  familiar  to  the  Arabians.  *  Bede,  Eccl.  Hist.  v.  23. 


CX  DISSERTATION  If. 

invasions?.  Some  slight  attempts  were  made  for  restoring  literary  pur- 
suits, but  with  little  success.  In  the  tenth  century,  Oswald  archbishop 
of  York,  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  evils2.  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  in- 
troduced, and  the  national  character  had  contracted  an  air  of  rudeness 
and  ferocity. 

England  at  length,  in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  received 
from  the  Normans  the  rudiments  of  that  cultivation  which  it  has  pre- 
served to  the  present  times.  The  Normans  were  a  people  who  had 
acquired  ideas  of  splendour  and  refinement  from  their  residence  in 
France ;  and  the  gallantries  of  their  feudal  system  introduced  new 
magnificence  and  elegance  among  our  rough  unpolished  ancestors. 
The  Conqueror's  army  was  composed  of  the  flower  of  the  Norman  no- 
bility ;  who  sharing  allotments  of  land  in  different  parts  of  the  new 
territory,  diffused  a  general  knowledge  of  various  improvements  en- 
tirely unknown  in  the  most  flourishing  eras  of  the  Saxon  government, 
and  gave  a  more  liberal  turn  to  the  manners  even  of  the  provincial  in- 
habitants. 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  plana.  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  revo- 
lution. 

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  which  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  the  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 

y  SeeMalmesb.  apudLel.  Coll.i.  p.  140.  rical,  on  Castles,  Churches,  Monasteries, 

edit.  nup.  and  other  Monuments  of  Antiquity  in  va- 

*  Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  ii.  201.     Many  rious  Parts  of  England.     To  which  will 

evidences  of  the  ignorance  which  prevailed  be  prefixed,  The  History  of  Architecture 

in  other  countries  during  the  tenth  cen-  in  England. 

tury  have  been  collected  by  Muratori,  An-  [This  production,  which  Mr.  Price  of 

tiquit.  Ital.  Med.  JEv.  iii.  831.  ii.  141 ;  and  the  Bodleian  library  affirms  to  have  been 

Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  i.  288.  written  out  fairly  for  the  press,  has  not 

a  This  point  will  be  further  illustrated  been  discovered  among  the  papers  of  Mr. 

in  a  work  now  preparing  for  the  press,  Warton,  though  the  prima  stamina  were 

entitled,  Observations  Critical  and  Histo-  found  in  a  crude  state.— PARK.] 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.  CXI 

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  instruc- 
tion 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,  ab- 
bot of  the  monastery  of  Saint  Stephen  at  Caen,  in  the  see  of  Canter- 
bury ;  an  eminent  master  of  logic,  the  subtleties  of  which  he  employed 
with  great  dexterity  in  a  famous  controversy  concerning  the  real  pre- 
sence. Anselm,  an  acute  metaphysician  and  theologist,  his  immediate 
successor  in  the  same  see,  was  called  from  the  government  of  the  ab- 
bey of  Bee  in  Normandy.  Herman,  a  Norman  bishop  of  Salisbury, 
founded  a  noble  library  in  the  ancient  cathedral  of  that  seec.  Many 
of  the  Norman  prelates  preferred  in  England  by  the  Conqueror  were 
polite  scholars.  Godfrey,  prior  of  Saint  Swithin's  at  Winchester,  a  na- 
tive of  Cambray,  was  an  elegant  Latin  epigrammatist,  and  wrote  with 
the  smartness  and  ease  of  Martial d;  a  circumstance  which,  by  the  way, 

b  This  fashion  continued  for  a  long  time.  printed,  is  an  eulogy  on  Walkelin  bishop 

Among  many  who  might  here  be  men-  of  Winchester,  and  a  Norman,  who  built 

tioned  was  Daniel  Merlac,  an  Englishman,  great  part  of  his  stately  cathedral,  as  it 

who  in  the  year  1185  went  to  Toledo  to  now  stands,  and  was  bishop  there  during 

learn  mathematics,  and  brought  back  with  Godfrey's  priorate,  viz. 

him  into  England  several  books  of  the  Consili        virtutis  am      facundia  comi 
Arabian  philosophy.    Wood  Antiq.  Univ.  WALCHELINE  pater,  fixa  fuere  tibi. 

^"Nobilem'bibliothecam,  comparatis       ^^J™™™' ' "^    d°CUmenta 
in  hoc  optimis  juxta  ac  antiquissimis  il-  £  J| l}    ^  u 

lustrium  autonim  monumentis    Seven*       peg  ^  ^^  ^  .    .^  f 

r^inoo     ?  ^    ftf !/       J??  Portans  invalidos,  qui  cecidere  levans. 

died  1099,    He  was  so  fond  of  let  ten,  that       Divit..g  domi         ^  ,a    hor  fi 

he  did  not  disdain  to  bind  and  illuminate  D  fid         ,        d  fi  f  .         Jbi  & 

bpoks.  Mon.  Angl.  in.  p.  375.     Vid.  supr. 

The  old  church  of  Salisbury  stood  within  Among  the  Epigrams,  the  following  is  not 

the  area  of  that  noble  ancient  military  cited  by  Camden : 

work  called  Old-castle.    Leland  says,  that  pauca  Titug        ioga  dab      ^  viHa    , 

he  finished  the  church  which  his  prede-  Ut       u  /  h  b  d        £  T 

cessor  Herman  had  begun,  and  filled  its  tug 

chapter  with  eminent  scholars. 

d  Camden  has  cited  several  of  his  epi-  These  pieces  are  in  the  Bodleian  library, 

grams.     Remains,  p.  421.  edit.  1674.     I  MSS.   Digb.  112.     The  whole  collection 

ha*ve  read  all  his  pieces  now  remaining.  is  certainly  worthy  of  publication ;  I  do 

The  chief  of  them  are,  "Proverbia,  et  Epi-  not  mean  merely  as  a  curiosity.     Leland 

grammata  Satyrica." — "  Carmina  Histo-  mentions  his   epistles  "  familiari   illo   et 

rica,  de  Rege  Canuto,  Regina  Emma"  &c.  DULCI  stylo  editae."     Script.  Brit.  p.  159. 

Among  these  last,  none  of  which  were  ever  Godfrey  died  1107.    He  was  made  prior  of 


DISSERTATION  II. 

shows  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  univer- 
s^ty  of  Paris  to  superintend  the  direction  of  the  school  of  the  priory  of 
Dunstable,  where  he  composed  a  play  called  the  Play  of  SAINT  CATHA- 
RINE6, 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.  Matthew  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  mona- 
stery^ 

The  king  himself  gave  no  small  countenance  to  the  clergy,  in  send- 
ing his  son  Henry  Beauclerc  to  the  abbey  of  Abingdon,  where  he  was 
initiated  in  the  sciences  under  the  care  of  the  abbot  Grimbald,  and 
Faritius  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  s.  Nor  was  William 
wanting  in  giving  ample  revenues  to  learning :  he  founded  the  magni- 
ficent abbeys  of  Battel  and  Selby,  with  other  smaller  convents.  His 
nobles  and  their  successors  co-operated  with  this  liberal  spirit  in  erect- 
ing many  monasteries.  Herbert  de  Losinga,  a  monk  of  Normandy, 
bishop  of  Thetford  in  Norfolk,  instituted  and  endowed  with  large  pos- 
sessions a  Benedictine  abbey  at  Norwich,  consisting  of  sixty  monks. 
To  mention  no  more  instances,  such  great  institutions  of  persons  dedi- 
cated to  religious  and  literary  leisure,  while  they  diffused  an  air  of 
civility,  and  softened  the  manners  of  the  people  in  their  respective  cir- 
cles, 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  inquiries  concerning  the  utility  of  monasteries,  I  certainly  do 
not  mean  to  defend  the  monastic  system.  We  are  apt  to  pass  a  gene- 
ral and  undistinguishing  censure  on  the  monks,  and  to  suppose  their 
foundations  to  have  been  the  retreats  of  illiterate  indolence  at  every 

Winchester.  A.D.  1082.   Wharton,  Angl.  rine;  for  the  decoration  of  which  he  bor- 

Sacr.  i.  324.     He  was  interred  in  the  old  rowed  copes  from  St.  Alban's  :  but  that  on 

chapter-house,   whose   area   now   makes  the  following  night  his  house  together  with 

part  of  the  dean's  garden.  the  copes  and  all  his  books  was  burned. 

•  See  infr.  vol.  ii.  Sect.  vi.  p.  18.  Nothing  is  mentioned  about  the  priory  of 

[Mr.  Warton  has  here  most  strangely  Dunstaple,  which  was  not  founded  before 

misquoted  Matthew  Paris.     This  writer  1131,  long  after  Abbot  Richard's  death; 

says,  that  Geoffrey  was  sent  for  by  Ri-  immediately   upon    which    Geoffrey   was 

chard  abbot  of  St.  Alban's,  to  superintend  elected  abbot  of  St.  Alban's.— DOUCE.} 

the  school  there  ;  but  arriving  too  late,  the  '  Vit.  Abbat.  ad  calc.  Hist.  p.  56.  edit, 

school  was  given  to  another  person;  that  1639.     See  also  Bui.  Hist.  Acad. 'Paris. 

Geoffrey  still  expecting  the  office,  esta-  ii.  225. 

blished  himself  at  Dunstaple,  where  he  «  Hist.  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon.  i.  46. 
composed  the  miracle  play  of  St.  Catha- 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO   ENGLAND.  CXlll 

period  of  time.  But  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  af- 
terwards, as  our  universities  began  to  flourish,  in  consequence  of  the 
distinctions  and  honours  which  they  conferred  on  scholars,  the  esta- 
blishment of  colleges,  the  introduction  of  new  systems  of  science,  the 
universal  ardour  which  prevailed  of  breeding  almost  all  persons  to  let- 
ters, and  the  abolition  of  that  exclusive  right  of  teaching  which  the  ec- 
clesiastics had  so  long  claimed  ;  the  monasteries  of  course  grew  inat- 
tentive to  studies,  which  were  more  strongly  encouraged,  more  commo- 
diously  pursued,  and  more  successfully  cultivated,  in  other  places  ;  they 
gradually  became  contemptible  and  unfashionable  as  nurseries  of  learn- 
ing, 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  edu- 
cated 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  library11.  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  Lan- 
franc  furnished  the  copies'.  Estates  were  often  granted  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Scriptorium.  That  at  Saint  Edmondsbury  was  endowed 
with  two  mills k.  The  tythes  of  a  rectory  were  appropriated  to  the  ca- 
thedral convent  of  Saint  Swithin  at  Winchester,  ad  libros  transcribendos, 
in  the  year  1171  *•  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™.  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 

h  This  was  also  a  practice  in  the  monas-  *  Mat.  Paris,    p.    1003.       See   Leland, 

teries  abroad,  in  which  the  boys  and  no-  Script.  Brit.  p.  166. 

vices   were   chiefly   employed.      But  the  k  Registr.    Nigr.    S.    Edmund.    Abbat. 

missals    and   bibles   were  ordered  to   be  fol.  228. 

written  by  monks  of  mature  age  and  dis-  J  Registr.  Joh.  Pontissar.  episcop.  Wint. 
cretion.  Du  Fresne,  Gloss.  Lat.  Med.  V.  f.  164.  MS.  See  Mon.  Angl.  i.  131.  He- 
SCRIPTORIUM;  and  Praefat.  f.  vi.  edit.  ming.  Chartul.  per  Hearne,  p.  265.  Corn- 
prim.  See  also  Monast.  Anglic,  ii.  726.  pare  also  Godwin,  de  Praesul.  p.  121.  edit, 
and  references  in  the  windows  of  the  li-  1616. 

brary  of  Saint  Alban's  abbey.  Ibid.  183.  m  Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  i.  p.  619.  See 
At  the  foundation  of  Winchester  college,  also,  p.  634,  and  278.  Hearne  has  pub- 
one  or  more  transcribers  were  hired  and  lished  a  grant  from  R.  De  Paston  to  Brom- 
employed  by  the  founder  to  make  books  holm  abbey  in  Norfolk,  of  I2d.  per  annum, 
for  the  library.  They  transcribed  and  a  rent-charge  on  his  lands,  to  keep  their 
took  their  commons  within  the  college,  as  books  in  repair,  ad  emendacionem  libro- 
appears  by  computations  of  expenses  on  rum.  Ad.  Domerham,  Num.  iii. 
their  account  now  remaining. 

VOL.  I.  h 


CX1V 


DISSERTATION  II, 


hundred  volumes  were  consumed11.  Fifty-eight  volumes  were  trans- 
cribed at  Glastonbury,  during  the  government  of  one  abbot,  about  the 
year  1300°.  And  in  the  library  of  this  monastery,  the  richest  in  Eng- 
land, there  were  upwards  of  four  hundred  volumes  in  the  year  1248p. 
More  than  eighty  books  were  thus  transcribed  for  Saint  Alban's  abbey, 
by  abbot  Wethamstede,  who  died  about  14401.  Some  of  these  in- 
stances are  rather  below  our  period ;  but  they  illustrate  the  subject,  and 
are  properly  connected  with  those  of  more  ancient  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,  Boethiusr,  Suetonius8,  and  Claudian.  Of  these  he 
formed  one  book,  illuminating  the  initials,  and  forming  the  brazen  bosses 
of  the  covers  with  his  own  hands*.  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  con- 
ventu.  Benedict,  abbot  of  Peterborough,  author  of  the  Latin  chroni- 
cle of  king  Henry  the  Second,  amongst  a  great  variety  of  scholastic 
and  theological  treatises,  transcribed  Seneca's  epistles  and  tragedies w, 
Terence,  Martialx,  and  Claudian,  to  which  I  will  add  GESTA  ALEXAN- 


Hist.  Croyland.  Dec.  Script,  p.  98. 

Tanner,  Not.  Mon.  edit.  8vo.  Pref. 

See  Joann.  Glaston.  ut  infr.  And 
Le  and,  Script.  Brit.  p.  131. 

Weaver,  Fun.  Mon.  p.  566. 

It  is  observable,  that  Boethius  in  his 
metres  constantly  follows  Seneca's  trage- 
dies. I  believe  there  is  not  one  form  of 
verse  in  Boethius  but  what  is  taken  from 
Seneca. 

9  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.  torn.  i.  p.  46.  Lupus,  abbot  of 
Ferrieres,  about  the  year  838,  a  learned 
philosophical  writer,  educated  under  Ra- 
banus Maurus,  desires  abbot  Marquard  to 
send  him  Suetonius,  On  the  Cctsars,  "  in 
duos  nee  magnos  codices  divisum."  Epi- 
stol.  Lup.  Ferrariens.  xcix.  apud  Andr.  Du 
Chesne,  Script.  Rer.  Franc,  torn.  ii.  p.  726. 
Isidorus  Hispalensis,  a  bishop  of  the  se- 
venth 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. 

1  "  Suis  manibus  apices  literarum  arti- 
ficiose  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  Canterbury :  "  Abbates 
monachos  suos  claustrales,  loco  operis  ma- 
nualis,  secundum  suam  habilitatem  caete- 
ris  occupationibus  deputent :  in  studendo, 
libros  scribendo,  corrigendo,  illuminando, 
ligando."  Capit.  Gen.  Ord.  Benedictin. 
Provinc.  Cant.  1277.  apud  MSS.  Br. 
Twyne,  8vo.  p.  272.  archiv.  Oxon. 

u  Ibid. 

w  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  Nicho- 
las Trivet,  an  English  Dominican,  author 
of  the  Annals  published  by  Anthony  Hall. 

*  John  of  Salisbury  calls  Martial  Cocns, 
Policrat.  vi.  3.  as  do  several  writers  of 
the  middle  ages.  Martial  is  cited  by  Je- 
rom  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  manu- 
scripts of  Terence  in  the  Vatican,  is  said 
to  have  been  written  in  the  time,  perhaps 
under  the  encouragement,  of  Charle- 
magne ;  and  to  have  been  compared  with 
the  more  antient  copies  by  Calliopius 
Scholasticus.  Fontanin.  Vindic.  Antiquit. 
Diplomat,  p.  37.  Scholasticus  means  a 
master  in  the  ecclesiastical  schools.  En- 
gelbert,  abbot  of  Trevoux,  a  writer  of  the 
tenth  century,  mentions  Terentius  Poeta, 
but  in  such  a  manner  as  shews  he  had  but 
little  or  no  knowledge  of  him.  He  con- 


INTRODUCTION  OF   LEARNING   INTO  ENGLAND. 


CXV 


,  about  the  year  1180Z.  In  a  catalogue  of  the  books8  of  the  li- 
brary of  Glastonbury  we  find  Livyb,  Sallustc,  Seneca,  Tully  DE  SENEC- 
TUTE  and  AMiciTiAd,  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 
Rochester6;  and  another  of  Virgil's  Eneid,  written  in  the  thirteenth, 
which  came  from  the  library  of  Saint  Austin's  at  Canterbury f.  Wal- 
lingford,  abbot  of  Saint  Alban's,  gave  or  sold  from  the  library  of  that 
monastery  to  Richard  of  Bury,  bishop  of  Durham,  author  of  the  PHI- 
LOB  FBLION,  and  a  great  collector  of  books,  Terence,  Virgil,  Quintilian, 
and  Jerom  against  Rufinus,  together  with  thirty-two  other  volumes 
valued  at  fifty-two  pounds  of  silver £.  The  scarcity  of  parchment  un- 


founds  this  poet  with  Terentius  the  Ro- 
man senator,  whom  Scipio  delivered  from 
prison  at  Carthage,  and  brought  to  Rome. 
Bibl.  Patr.  torn.  xxv.  edit.  Lugd.  p.  370. 

y  See  Sect.  iii.  p.  132.  of  this  volume. 

z  Swaffham,  Hist.  Caenob.  Burg.  ii.  p. 
97.  per  Jos.  Sparke.  "  Epistolae  Senecse 
cum  aliis  Senecis  in  uno  volumine,  Mar- 
tialis  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  ma- 
nuscript. Gunton's  Peterb.  p.  173. 

a  See  Chron.  Joh.  Glaston.edit.  Hearne, 
Oxon.  1726,  viz.  Numerus Librorum  Glas- 
toniensis  ecclesite  quifuerunt  de  LIBRARIA 
anno  grades  M.CC.XL.VH.  p.  423.  Leland, 
who  visited  all  the  monasteries  just  before 
their  dissolution,  seems  to  have  been 
struck  with  the  venerable  air  and  ampli- 
tude 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  insinuates  his  disbelief 
of  those  superstitions.  He  studies  to  re- 
late the  most  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  the  people,  not  of 
the  historian.  Antonio  Beccatelli  is  said 
to  have  purchased  of  Poggius  a  beautiful 
manuscript  of  Livy,  for  which  he  gave  the 
latter  a  large  field,  in  the  year  1455.  Gal- 
laes.  De  Bibliothecis,  p.  186.  See  Liron, 
Singularites  Hist,  et  Litt.  torn.  i.  p.  166. 

0  Fabricius  mentions  two  manuscripts 
of  Sallust,  one  written  in  the  year  1178, 
and  the  other  in  the  year  900.  Bibl.  Lat. 


1.  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  descrip- 
tion of  London.  Hist.  Engl.  ii.  440.  4to. 
edit. 

d  Paulus  Jovius  says,  that  Poggius, 
about  the  year  1420,  first  brought  Tully's 
books  De  Finibus  and  De  Legibus  into 
Italy,  transcribed  by  himself  from  other 
manuscripts.  Voss.  Hist.  Lat.  p.  550. 
About  the  same  time,  Brutus,  de  Claris 
Oratoribus,  and  some  of  the  rhetorical 
pieces,  with  a  complete  copy  of  De  Ora- 
tore,  were  discovered  and  circulated  by 
Flavius  Blondus,  and  his  friends.  Flav. 
Blond.  Ital.  Illustrat.  p.  346.  Leland  says, 
that  William  Selling,  a  monk  of  Canter- 
bury, about  1480,  bi  ought  with  him  from 
Italy  Cicero's  book  De  Republica,  but  that 
it  was  burnt  with  other  manuscripts. 
Script.  Brit.  CELLINQUS. 

*  [A  fine  MS.  of  Persius,  with  a  copious 
Latin  gloss,  was  given  to  the  cathedral 
church  of  Exeter,  by  Bishop  Leofric,  in 
1050.  It  is  now  preserved  in  the  Bodleian 
library. — M.] 

c  15  C.  x.  1.  *  15  B.  vi. 

•  Vit.   Abbat.    S.  Albani.   Brit.   Mus. 
MSS.  Cotton.  Claud,  E.  iv.     In  the  royal 
manuscripts  in  John  of  Salisbury's  Enten- 
ticus,  there  is  written,  "  Hunc  librum  fe- 
cit dominus  Symon  abbas  S.  Albani :  quem 
postea  venditum  domino  Ricardo  de  Bury, 
episcopo  Dunelmensi,  emit  Michael  abbas 
S.  Albani  ab  executoribus  praedicti  epi- 
scopi,  A.D.  1345."      MSS.  13  D.  iv.  3. 
Richard  de  Bury,  otherwise  called  Richard 
Aungervylle,  is  said  to  have  alone  pos- 
sessed more  books  than  all  the  Bishops  of 
England  together.     Besides  the  fixed  li- 
braries which  he  had  formed  in  his  seve- 
ral palaces,  the  floor  of  his  common  apart- 
ment was  so  covered  with  books,  that 


h  2 


CXVl 


DISSERTATION  II. 


doubtedly  prevented  the  transcription  of  many  other  books  in  these 
societies.  About  the  year  1120,  one  master  Hugh,  being  appointed 
by  the  convent  of  Saint  Edmondsbury  in  Suffolk  to  write  and  illuminate 
a  grand  copy  of  the  Bible  for  their  library,  could  procure  no  parch- 
ment 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  elegances  of  style,  and  the  arts  of  clas- 
sical composition,  appeared  soon  after  the  Norman  conquest.  A  view 

those  who  entered  could  not  with  due  re- 
verence approach  his  presence.  Gul. 
Chambre,  Contin.  Hist.  Dunelm.  apud 
Whart.  Angl.  Sacr.  i.  765.  He  kept  bind- 
ers, illuminators,  and  writers  in  his  pa- 
laces. "  Antiquariorum,  scriptorum,  cor- 
rectorum,  colligatorum,  illuminatorum," 
&c.  Philobibl.  cap.  viii.  p.  34.  edit.  1599. 
Petrarch  says  that  he  had  once  a  conver- 
sation with  Aungervylle,  concerning  the 
island  called  by  the  antients  Thule,  whom 
he  calls  Virum.  ardentis  ingenii,  Petrarch, 
Epist.  i.  3.  His  book  entitled  PHILOBIB- 
LioN,orDeAmoreLibrorumetInstitutione 
BibliothecfE,  supposed  to  be  really  written 
by  Robert  Holcott,  a  Dominican  friar,  was 
finished  in  his  manor  of  Auckland,  A.D. 
1343.  He  founded  a  library  at  Oxford: 
and  it  is  remarkable,  that  in  the  book 
above  mentioned,  he  apologises  for  admit- 
ting the  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,  where  he  says,  that  the  laity 
are  unworthy  to  be  admitted  to  any  com- 
merce with  books.  "  Laid  omnium  libra- 
rum  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  Panfletos  exiguos  into 
his  library.  Cap.  viii.  30.  He  employed 
Stationarios  and  Libraries,  not  only  in 
England,  but  in  France,  Italy,  and  Ger- 
many. Cap.  x.  p.  34.  He  regrets  the  to- 
tal 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  Eng- 
land, 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.  [An 
English  translation  of  the  Philobiblion  by 
Mr.  Inglis  was  published  in  8vo.  1832. — 
M.] 

[To  this  note  it  may  be  added  from  Bp. 
Godwin,  (Cat.  of  Eng.  Bishops,  1601.  p. 
524-5)  as  has  been  suggested  by  Mr.  Dib- 
din,  (Bibliom.  1 81 1.  p.  248.)  that  De  Bury 
was  the  son  of  Sir  Richard  Angaruill, 
knt. ;  that  he  said  of  himself  "  exstatico 
quodam  librorum  amove  potenter  se  abrcp- 
tum  " — that  he  was  mightily  carried  away, 
and  even  beside  himself,  with  immoderate 
love  of  books  and  desire  of  reading.  He 
had  always  in  his  house  many  chaplains, 
all  great  scholars.  His  manner  was  at 
dinner  and  supper-time  to  have  some  good 
book  read  to  him,  whereof  he  would  dis- 
course with  his  chaplains  a  great  part  of 
the  day  following,  if  business  interrupted 
not  his  course.  He  was  very  bountiful 
unto  the  poor:  weekly  he  bestowed  for 
their  relief  8  quarters  of  wheat  made  into 
bread,  beside  the  offal  and  fragments  of 
his  tables.  Riding  between  Newcastle 
and  Durham,  he  would  give  81.  in  alms ; 
and  from  Durham  to  Stockton  51.,  &c. 
He  bequeathed  a  valuable  library  of  MSS. 
to  Durham,  now  Trinity  college,  Oxford ; 
and  upon  the  completion  of  the  room  to 
receive  them,  they  were  put  into  pews  or 
studies,  and  chained  to  them.  See  Gutch's 
edit,  of  Wood's  Hist,  of  the  Univ.  of  Oxf. 
ii.  911.— PARK.] 

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  spe- 
cified, no  precise  conclusion  can  be  drawn. 
Comp  MS.  membran.  in  archiv.  Wulves. 
Winton.  Compare  Anderson,  Comm.  i. 
153,  sub  ann,  1313, 


INTRODUCTION  OP  LEARNING  INTO   ENGLAND.  CXVH 

of  the  writers  of  this  class  who  flourished  in  England  for  the  two  sub- 
sequent centuries,  till  the  restless  spirit  of  novelty  brought  on  an  at- 
tention to  other  studies,  necessarily  follows  from  what  has  been  ad- 
vanced, 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  pro- 
fessors, became  the  fashionable  university  of  our  countrymen,  was  em- 
ployed in  educating  the  sons  of  the  Norman  and  English  nobility *.  He 
wrote  an  explanation  of  Ovid's  Metamorphoses k,  and  a  treatise  on  the 
art  of  metre  or  versification1.  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  writer10.  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".  He  died  in  1154°.  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^.  The  first  book  is 
opened  thus : 

Albani  celebrem  ccelo  terrisque  triumphum 
Ruminat  inculto  carmine  Clio  rudis. 

We  are  not  to  expect  Leonine  rhymes  in  these  writers,  which  became 
fashionable  some  years  afterwards1".     Their  verses  are  of  a  higher  cast, 

1  See  Bale,  iv.  40.  the  university  of  Paris :  "  Parisiana  jubar 

k  Integumenta  super  Ovidii  Metamor-  diffundit   gloria   clerus."       He    likewise 

phoses.     MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  sup.  A  1.  Art.  wrote  Compendium  Grammatices. 

86.  where  it  is  given  to  Johannes  Gual-  m  MSS.   Bibl.   Coll.  Nov.  Oxon.  236, 

lensis,  a  Franciscan  friar  of  Oxford,  and  237.     But  these  are  said  to  belong  to  Jo- 

afterwards  a  student  at  Paris.     It  is  also  annes  Philoponus.     See  Phot.  Bibl.  Cod. 

MSS.  Digb.  104.  fol.  323.  The  same  piece  Ixxv.     Cave,  p.  441.  edit.  1. 

is  extant  under  the  name  of  this  latter  n  See  what  is   said  of  John   Hanvill 

John,  entitled,  Expositiones  sive  Morali-  below. 

tates  in  Lib.  1.  Melamorphoseos  sive  Fa-  °  Lei.  Script.  Brit.  p.  204,  205. 

b2ilarum,  fyc.    Printed  at  Paris  1599.    But  p  It  is  a  long  poem,  containing  thirteen 

this  Johannes  Guallensis  seems  to  have  hundred  and  sixty  lines, 

been  chiefly  a  philosopher  and  theologist.  q  In  the  British  Museum,  MSS.  Cott. 

He  flourished  about  A.D.   1250.      Alex-  Jul.  D.  iii.  2.  Claud.  E.  4.     There  are 

under  Necham  wrote  in  Metamorphosin  more  of  his  Latin  poems  on  sacred  sub- 

Ovidii.  Tann.  Bibl.  p.  540.  jects  in  the  British  Museum.     But  most 

1  Another  title  of  this  piece  is,  Poetria  of  them  are  of  an  inferior  composition, 

magna  Johannis  Anglici,  &c.     Cantabr.  and,  as  I  suppose,  of  another  hand. 

MSS.  More,  121.     It  is  both  in  prose  and  r  Leonine  verses  are  said  to  have  been 

verse.     He  begins  with  this  panegyric  on  invented  and  first  used  by  a  French  monk 


CXV111 


DISSERTATION    II. 


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  verses8,  and  poems  on 


of  Saint  Victor  at  Marseilles,  named  Leo- 
ninus,  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 
1 100.  See  Massieu,  Hist.  Fr.  Poes.  p.  77. 
Fauchet,  Rec.  p.  52.  76.  seq.  And  I  have 
seen  a  Latin  poem  of  four  hundred  lines, 
"  Moysis  Mutii  Bergomatis  de  rebus  Ber- 
gomensibus,  Justiniani  hujus  nominis  se- 
cundi  Byzantii  Imperatoris  jussu  con- 
scriptum,  anno  a  salute  nostra  707."  The 
author  was  the  emperor's  scribe  or  secret- 
ary. It  begins  thus : 
Alme  Deus,  rector  qui  mundi  regna  gu- 

bernas, 
Nee  sinis  absque  modo  sedes  fluitare  su- 

pernas. 

It  is  at  the  end  of  "Achillis  Mutii  thea- 
trum.     Bergomi,  typis  Gemini  Venturac, 
1596."     Pelloutier  has  given  a  very  early 
specimen  of  Latin    Rhymes,   Mem.   sur 
la  Lang.  Celt,  part  i.  vol.  i.  ch.  xii.  p.  20. 
He  quotes  the  writer  of  the   Life  of  St. 
Faron,  who  relates,   that   Clotarius   the 
Second,  having  conquered  the  Saxons  in 
the   beginning   of  the   seventh  century, 
commanded  a  Latin  panegyrical  song  to 
be  composed  on  that  occasion,  which  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  canere  rege  Francorum 
Qui  Ivit  pugnare  cum  gente  Saxonum, 
Quam  graviter  provenisset  missis  Saxo- 
num 
Si  non  fuisset  inclitus  Faro  de  gente  Bur- 

gundionum. 

Latin  rhymes  seem  to  have  been  first  used 
in  the  church-hymns.  But  Leonine  verses 
are  properly  the  Roman  hexameters  or 
pentameters  rhymed  ;  and  it  is  not  im- 


probable that  they  took  their  name  from 
the  monk  above  mentioned,  who  was  the 
most  popular  and  almost  only  Latin  poet 
of  his  time  in  France.  He  wrote  many 
Latin  pieces  not  in  rhyme,  and  in  a  good 
style  of  Latin  versification  ;  particularly 
a  Latin  heroic  poem  in  twelve  books, 
containing  the  history  of  the  Bible  from 
the  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  eighth  century,  in  his  book  De 
Arte  Metrica,  does  not  seem  to  have 
known  that  rhyme  was  a  common  orna- 
ment of  the  church-hymns  of  his  time, 
many  of  which  he  quotes.  See  Opp. 
torn.  i.  34.  cap.  penult.  But  this  chapter, 
I  think,  is  all  taken  from  Marius  Victo- 
rinus,  a  much  older  writer.  The  hymns 
which  Bede  quotes  are  extremely  bar- 
barous, consisting  of  a  modulated  struc- 
ture, or  a  certain  number  of  feet  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  Leo- 
nime.  Thus  Gualtier  Arbalestrier  de 
Belle-perche,  in  the  beginning  of  his  ro- 
mance of  Judas  Maccabeus,  written  before 
the  year  1280, 

Je  ne  di  pas  k'  aucun  biau  dit 
Ni  mette  par  faire  la  ryme 
Ou  consonante  ou  leonime. 

But  enough  has  been  said  on  a  subject  of 
so  little  importance. 

*  See  Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  ii.  29. 


TNTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.          CX1X 

philosophical  subjects*.  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  Ste- 
phen, 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  1147X.  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  was 
bishop  of  Saint  Asaph  in  the  year  1152?.  He  was  indefatigable  in  his 
inquiries  after  British  antiquity  ;  and  was  patronised  and  assisted  in 
this  pursuit  by  Walter,  archdeacon  of  Oxford,  a  diligent  antiquarian, 
and  Alexander,  bishop  of  Lincoln  z.  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  a.  His  latinity  rises  far  above 
mediocrity,  and  his  Latin  poem  on  Merlin  is  much  applauded  by  Le- 


We must  not  judge  of  the  general  state  of  society  by  the  more  in- 
genious and  dignified  churchmen  of  this  period;  who  seem  to  have  sur- 
passed 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  corre- 
spondence0. 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  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 

1  Lei.  Script.  Brit.  p.  197.  the  expense  of  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Neville 

u  Ut  supr.  Grenville,  under  the  care  of  W.  H.  Black, 

w  MSS.  Digb.  65.  fol.  27.  His  writings  who  wrote  a  Preface  which  was  subse- 

are  numerous,  and  of  various  kinds.     In  quently   cancelled,   and   the   analysis  of 

Trinity  college  library  at  Oxford  there  is  a  George  Ellis,  (in  his  Spec,  of  Metrical  Ro- 

fine  copy  of  his  book  De  Imagine  Mundi.  mances,  i.  76.  ed.  1811.)  substituted  in  its 

MSS.  Cod.  64.  pergamen,     This  is  a  very  place.     A  new  edition  of  this  poem,  col- 

common  manuscript.  lated  with  other  MSS.  is  now  in  the  press 

x  Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  ii.  872.  at  Paris,  to  be  edited  by  Mr.  T.  Wright 

y  Wharton,  Eccles.  Assav.  p.  306.  and  M.  Francisque  Michel.  —  M.] 

T  Leland,  Script.  Brit.  p.  190.  c  See    Quadrilog.    Vit.     T.     Becket, 

*  See  Sect.  iii.  page  128  of  this  volume.  Bruxell.   1682.  4to.     And  Concil.   Mag. 

b  In  the  British  Museum,  MSS.  Cott  Brit,  et  Hib.  torn.  i.  p.  441.     Many  of 

Tit.  A.  xix.  Vespas.  E.  iv.     [It  was  print-  these  epistles  are  still  in  manuscript. 

ed  for  the  Roxburghe  Club,  in  1830,  at 


DISSERTATION    II. 

ornament  of  this  age  was  John  of  Salisbury b.  His  style  has  a  remark- 
able elegance  and  energy.  His  POLICUATICON  is  an  extremely  plea- 
sant 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  pu- 
rest 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  POLICRATICONC.  He 
was  an  illustrious  rival  of  Peter  of  Blois,  and  the  friend  of  many  learn- 
ed 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  sta- 
tions in  the  church  by  Henry  the  Second,  whose  court  was  crowded 
with  scholars,  and  almost  equalled  that  of  his  cotemporary  William 
king  of  Sicily,  in  the  splendour  which  it  derived  from  encouraging  eru- 
dition, and  assembling  the  learned  of  various  countries  &.  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  seeh. 
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'. 
His  merits  as  an  historian  have  been  justly  displayed  and  recommend- 

b  "  Studuit  in  Italia  omnium  bonarum  is  a  William  of  Blois,  cotemporary  with 

artium  facile  post  Graeciam  parente."   Le-  Peter  and  his  brother,  whom  I  mention 

land,  Script.  Brit.  p.  207.     But  he  like-  here,  as  he  appears  to  have  written  what 

wise  spent  some  time  at  Oxford.  Policrat.  were  called  Comoedice  et  Tragoedice,  and 

v»i-  22.  to  have  been  preferred  to  an  abbacy  in 

c  Bibl.  MSS.     There  is  an  allusion  to  Sicily.     [See  Sect.  vi.  inf.  vol.  ii.  p.  17.] 

the  Policraticon  in  the  Roman  de  la  Rose,  Peter  mentions  this  William  in   his  Epi- 
stles, "  Illud  nobile  ingenium  fratris  mei 

EtverrasenPoMCRATiQUE.-v.7058.  magistri    Gulielmi,    quandoque    in    scri- 

J  Lei.  ibid.  bendis   Comrediis  et    Tragoediis   quadam 

e   Except  the   Fable  of  the  belly  and  occupationeservilidegenerans,"&c.  Epist. 

members  in  long  and  short.    Fabric.  Med.  Ixxvi.     And  again  to  the  said  William, 

JfLv.  iv.  p.  877.  "  Nomen    vestrum    diuturniore   memoria 

r  Lei.  ut  supr.  p.  207.  quam  quatuor  abbatise  commendabile  red- 

g  See    Leland,    Script.    Brit.    p.    210.  dent  Tragredia  vestra  de  Flaura  et  Marco, 

Henry  the  Second  sent  Gualterus,  styled  versus    de   Pulice   et  Musca.     Comcedia 

Anglicus,  his  chaplain,  into  Sicily,  to  in-  vestra  de  4lda,"  &c.  Epist.  xciii. 
struct  William  king  of  Sicily  in  literature.  h   Leland,  Script.  Brit.  p.  178.     There 

William  was  so  pleased  with  his  master,  is   a  poem    De  Laudibus   Anselmi,   and 

that  he  made  him  archbishop  of  Palermo.  an  epicedion  on  that  prelate,  commonly 

Bale,  xiii.  73.     He  died  in  1177.     Peter  ascribed  to  Eadmer.  See  Fabr.  Bibl.  Med.' 

of  Blois  was  Gualter's  coadjutor;  and  he  Lat.  ii.  p.  210.  seq.     Leland  doubts  whe- 

tells  us,  that  he  taught  William  the  ru-  ther  these  pieces  belong  to  him  or  William 

diments   "  versijicatoria   artis   et   litera-  of  Chester,  a  learned  monk,  patronised  by 

tori*,'   Epist.    Petr.    Blesens.   ad    Gualt.  Anselm.     Script.  Brit.  p.  185. 
Pitts   mentions  a  piece  of  Gualterus   De  >    Lei.  p.  195.   But  see  Wharton,  Angl. 

Latince  rudimentis,  p.  141.    There  Sacr.  ii.  Praef.  p.  xii. 


INTRODUCTION   OF   LEARNING   INTO  ENGLAND.  CXX1 

ed  by  lord  Lytteltonk.  But  his  abilities  were  not  confined  to  prose. 
He  wrote  many  pieces  of  Latin  poetry ;  and  it  is  remarkable,  that  al- 
most 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  arid  promote  literary  merit1. 
Till  Malmesbury's  works  appeared,  Bede  had  been  the  chief  and  prin- 
cipal 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  ancient  historians,  and  to  the  improved  know- 
ledge 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  re- 
gular 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  semi- 
nary111. His  ARCHITRENIUS  is  a  learned,  ingenious,  and  very  enter- 
taining 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  mix- 
ture of  satire  and  panegyric  on  public  vice  and  virtue,  with  some  histo- 
rical digressions.  In  the  exordium  is  the  following  nervous  and  spirit- 
ed address : 

Tu  CyrrhaB  latices  nostrae,  deus,  implue  menti ; 
Eloquii  rorem  siccis  infunde  labellis : 
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". 


Tamen  Architrenius  instat, 


Et  genus  et  gentem  quaerit  studiosius  :  illi 
Tros  genus,  et  gentem  tribuit  Lodonesia,  nutrix 
Praebuit  irriguam  morum  Cornubia  mammam, 

k  In  his  History  of  Henry  the  Second.  tish  Museum  the  name  is  given  in  En- 

1   See  Cave,  Hist.  Lit.  p.  661.  glish,  John  of  Higham.— W.] 

m  Lei.  p.  259.     [The  name  should  be  n  See  Hist.  Galfrid.  Mon.  i.   xi.   xvi. 

spelt  Ha?jvill,  and  not  Hawvill :  in  Latin  xvii.  &c. 

it  is  de  Alta  villa.     In  a  MS.  in  the  Bri- 


CXXH  DISSERTATION    II. 

Post  odium  fati,  Phrygiis  inventa :  Smaraudus 

Hanc  domitor  raundi  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 

Iraplicuit  letho,  Tyrrheni  littoris  hospes, 

Indoinita  virtute  gygas ;  non  corpore  mole 

Ad  medium  pressa,  nee  membris  densior  sequo, 

Sarcina  terrifica  tumuit  Titania  mente. 

Ad  Ligeris  ripas  Aquitanos  fudit,  et  amnes 

Francorum  patuit  lacrymis,  et  caede  vadoque 

Sanguinis  ense  ruens,  satiavit  rura,  togaque 

Punicea  vestivit  agros  populique  verendi 

Grandiloquos  fregit  animosa  cuspide  fastus. 

Integra,  nee  dubio  bellorum  naufraga  fluctu, 

Nee  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  Titan ibus  ilia, 

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  Corinsei  robur  Averno 

Praecipites  misit ;  cubitis  ter  quatuor  altum 

Gogmagog  Herculea  suspendit  in  aere  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  lulus 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.        CXX111 

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  solo  Corinaei  postera  mundum 
Praeradiat  pubes,  quartique  puerpera  Phcebi 
Pullulat  Arthurum,  facie  dura  falsus  adulter 
Tintagel  irrumpit,  nee  amoris  Pendragon  aestu 
Vincit,  et  omnificas  Merlini  consulit  artes, 
Mentiturque  ducis  habitus,  et  rege  latente 
Induit  absentis  praesentia  Gorlois  ora°. 

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,  nee  corruptura  palatum 
Mollitie  mensae.     Bacchus  convivia  nullo 
Murmure  conturbat,  nee  sacra  cubilia  mentis 
Inquinat  adventu.     Stomacho  languente  ministrat 
Solennes  epulas  ventris  gravis  hospita  Thetis, 
Et  paleis  armata  Ceres.     Si  tertia  menses 
Copia  succedat,  truncantur  oluscula,  quorum 

0  Milton  appears  to  have  been  much  See  also  Milton's  Mansus,  v.  80. 

struck  with  this  part  of  the  ancient  Bri-  p  Juvenal  is  also  cited  by  John  of  Sa- 

tish  History,  and  to  have  designed  it  for  lisbury,  Peter  of  Blois,  Vincentius  Bel- 

the  subject  of  an  epic  poem.     Epitaph.  lovacensis,  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,   and 

Damonis,  v.  162.  other  writers  of  the  middle  ages.     They 

often  call  him  Ethicus.     See  particularly 

Ipse  ego  Dardanias  Rutupina  per  sequora  Petr.  Bles.  Epistola  Ixxvii.     Some   lines 

puppes  from  Juvenal  are  cited  by  Honorius  Au- 

Dicam,    et    Pandrasidos    regnum    vetus  gustodunus,  a  priest  of  Burgundy,  who 

Inogenise,  wrote  about  1300,  in  his  De  Philosophia 

Brennumque  Arviragumque  duces,  pris-  Mundi,  Praefat.  ad  lib.  iv.     The  tenth  sa- 

cumque  Belinum,  tire  of  Juvenal  is  quoted  by  Chaucer  in 

Et  tandem  Armoricos  Britonum  sub  lege  Troilus  and  Cresseide,  b.  iv.  v.  197.  pag. 

colonos :  307.  edit.  Urr.     There  is  an  old  Italian 

Turn    gravidam    Arturo,    fatali     fraude,  metaphrase  of  Juvenal  done  in  1475,  and 

logernen,  published   soon   afterwards,   by  Georgio 

Mendaces    vultus,    assumptaque    Gorlois  Summaripa,  of  Verona.   Giornale  de  Let- 

arma,  terati  d'ltalia,  torn.  viii.  p.  41.     Juvenal 

Merlini  dolus. was  printed  at  Rome  as  early  as  1474. 


CXXiv  DISSERTATION    II. 

Offendit  macies  oculos,  pacemque  meretur, 
Deterretque  famem  pallenti  sobria  cultu.^ 

Among  Digby's  manuscripts  in  the  Bodleian  library,  are  Hanvill's  La- 
tin epigrams,  epistles,  and  smaller  poems,  many  of  which  have  consider- 
able merit1".  They  are  followed  by  a  metrical  tract,  entitled  DE  EPI- 
STOLARUM  COMPOSITIONE.  But  this  piece  is  written  in  rhyme,  and 
seems  to  be  posterior  to  the  age,  at  least  inferior  to  the  genius,  of  Han- 
vill.  He  was  buried  in  the  abbey  church  of  Saint  Alban's,  soon  after 
the  year  1200s.  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  antiquarian,  a  topographer,  a  divine,  a 
philosopher,  and  a  poet.  His  love  of  science  was  so  great,  that  he  re- 
fused 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  studies1.  He  recited  his  book  on  the 
topography  of  Ireland  in  public  at  Oxford,  for  three  days  successively- 
On  the  first  day  of  his  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  garrison11.  It  is  probable  that  this  was  a 
ceremony  practised  on  the  like  occasion  in  the  university  of  Paris w ; 

q  There  are  two  manuscripts  of  this  Oseney  abbey,  near  the  suburbs  of  Oxford, 

poem,  from  which  I  transcribe,  in  the  At  which  time  many  Italians  studying  at 

Bodleian  library.  MSS.  Digb.  64.  and  Oxford  were  admitted  in  that  faculty. 

157.  One  of  these  has  a  gloss,  but  not  Wood,  ubi  supr.  p.  25.  col.  1.  It  appears 

that  of  Hugo  Legatus,  mentioned  by  that  the  mayor  and  citizens  of  Oxford 

Baillet,  Jugem.  Sav.  iv.  p.  257.  edit.  4to.  were  constantly  invited  to  these  solemni- 

This  poem  is  said  to  have  been  printed  ties.  In  the  year  1400,  two  monks  of  the 

at  Paris  1517.  4to.  Bibl.  Thuan.  torn.  ii.  priory  of  Christ  Church  in  Canterbury 

p.  286.  This  edition  I  have  never  seen,  were  severally  admitted  to  the  degree  of 

and  believe  it  to  be  an  extremely  scarce  doctor  in  divinity  and  civil  law  at  Oxford, 

book.  The  expences  were  paid  by  their  mona- 

r  Cod.  Digb.  64.  ut  supr.  stery,  and  amounted  to  1 1 8/.  3s.  8d.  Registr. 

*  Bale,  iii.  49.  Priorat.  pergamen.   MSS.  Tanner,  Oxon. 

*  Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  ii.  374.  Num.  165.  fol.  212  a.      Among  other  ar- 
u  Wood,  Hist.  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon.  i.  56.  tides  there  is,  "  In  solutione  facta  HISTRI 
w  But  Wood  insinuates,  that  this  sump-  ONIBUS."  fol.  213  a.     [See  Sect.  ii.  pages 

tuous  entertainment  was  partly  given  by  82  et  seq.  in  this  volume.]  At  length  these 
Gyraldus,  as  an  inceptor  in  the  arts.  Ubi  scholastic  banquets  grew  to  such  excess, 
supr.  p.  25.  col.  1.  Which  practice  I  have  that  it  was  ordered  in  the  year  1434,thatno 
mentioned,  vol.  ii.  Sect.  ix.  p.  89.  note  g.  inceptor  in  arts  should  expend  more  than 
infr.  And  I  will  here  add  other  instances,  "  3000  grosses  Turonenses."  Vet.  Stat.  See 
especially  as  they  are  proofs  of  the  esti-  Leland,  Coll.  P.  ii.  torn.  i.  p.  296,  297.  edit, 
mation  in  which  letters,  at  least  literary  1770.  But  the  limitation  was  a  consider- 
honours,  were  held.  In  the  year  1268,  able  sum.  Each  is  somewhat  less  than  an 
the  inceptors  in  civil  law  at  Oxford  were  English  groat.  Notwithstanding,  Neville, 
so  numerous,  and  attended  by  such  a  afterwards  archbishop  of  York,  on  his  ad- 
number  of  guests,  that  the  academical  mission  to  the  degree  of  master  of  arts  in 
houses  or  hostels  were  not  sufficient  for  1452,  feasted  the  academics  and  many 
their  accommodation ;  and  the  company  strangers  for  two  successive  days,  at  two 
filled  not  only  these,  but  even  the  refec-  entertainments,  consisting  of  nine  hundred 
tory,  cloisters,  and  many  apartments  of  costly  dishes.  Wood,  ibid.  219.  col.  1.  2. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING   INTO  ENGLAND.  CXXV 

where  Giraldus  had  studied  for  twenty  years,  and  where  he  had  been 
elected  professor  of  canon  law  in  the  year  1189X.  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  archi episcopal  visitation.  I  cannot  resist  the  pleasure  of  tran- 
scribing 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  show  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  situ- 
ation ;  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  win- 
ters almost  continually  dark.  Yet  the  air  of  the  valley  is  so  happily 
tempered,  as  scarcely  to  be  the  cause  of  any  diseases.  The  monks  sit- 
ting 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  himself  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 

Nor  was  this  reverence  to  learning,  and  four  Latin  verses,  which  were  answered 

attention  to  its  institutions,  confined  to  by  his  majesty.      The  eight  towers  were 

the  circle  of  our  universities.     Such  was  those    of  Merton,  Magdalene,   and   New 

the  pedantry  of  the  times,  that  in  the  year  College,  and  of  the  monasteries  of  Oseney, 

1503,  archbishop  Wareham,  chancellor  of  Rewley,  the  Dominican,  Augustine,  and 

Oxford,  at  his  feast  of  inlhronisation,  or-  Franciscan  friars,  which  five  last  are  now 

dered  to  be  introduced  in  the  first  course  utterly  destroyed.     Wood,  ubi  supr.  lib.  i. 

a  curious  dish,  in  which  were  exhibited  p.  239.  col.  i.  Compare  Robertson's  Charles 

the   eight  towers   of  the   university.     In  V.  i.  323.  seq. 

every  tower  stood  a  bedell;  and  under  the  x  "Wharton,  ibid. 

towers  were  figures  of  the  king,  to  whom  y  Girald.  Cambrens.  I  tin.  Cambr.  Lib. 

the  chancellor  Wareham,  encircled  with  i.  c.  3.  p.  89.  seq.  Lond.  1585.  12mo. 
many  doctors  properly  habited,  presented 


CXXV1  DISSERTATION   II. 

the  first  part  of  his  education  in  the  abbey  of  Saint  Alban's,  which  he 
afterwards  completed  at  Paris2.  His  compositions  are  various,  and 
crowd  the  department  of  manuscripts  in  our  public  libraries.  He  has 
left  numerous  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  ancient  poets,  Esopian  fables,  and  a  system  of 
grammar  and  rhetoric.  I  have  seen  his  elegiac  poem  on  the  monastic 
lifea,  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  he  commemorates  the  innocent  and  unre- 
turning  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. 
Hie  locus  aetatis  nostrae  primordia  riovit, 

Annos  felices,  laetitiaeque  dies. 
Hie  locus  ingenuis  pueriles  imbuit  annos 

Artibus,  et  riostrse  laudis  origo  fuit. 
Hie  locus  insignes  magnosque  creavit  alumnos, 

Felix  eximio  martyre,  gente,  situ. 
Militat  hie  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  fre- 
quently travelled  into  Italy d.  Walter  Mapes,  archdeacon  of  Oxford, 
has  been  very  happily  styled  the  Ariacreon  of  the  eleventh  [twelfth] 
century6.  He  studied  at  Paris f.  His  vein  was  chiefly  festive  and 
satirical &:  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  ode1  of  this  genial 
archdeacon  has  the  regular  returns  of  the  monkish  rhyme :  but  they 
are  here  applied  with  a  characteristical  propriety,  are  so  happily  in- 

*  Lei.  Script.  Brit.  p.  240.  seq.  >   See  Camden's   Remains,   page  436. 

a  Bibl.  Bodl.   MSS.    Digb.  65.  f.   18.  RYTHMI. 

[There  is  a  good  manuscript  of  this  poem  [After  all  that  has  been  said  about  this 

in  the  Brit.  Mus.  MS.  Reg.  8  A.,xxi. — W.j  celebrated  song,  it  turns  out  upon  exami- 

b  Apud  Lei.  Script.  Brit.  p.  240.  nation  to  be  no  song  at  all,  but  part  of  a 

c  Willis,  Mitr.  Abb.  i.  61,  62.  somewhat   longer    poem,    in    which    the 

d  Lei.  ibid.  stanzas  which  have  been  thus  arranged  to 

e  Lord  Lyttelton's  Hist.  Hen.  II.  Not.  make  a  drinking  song,  do  not  even  stand 

B.  ii.  p.  133.  4to.  together.     The  poem  is  found  in  the  MS. 

f  See  Sect.  ii.  pp.  59,  60.  note  °,  in  this  Harl.  2851,  under  the  title  of  Guliardus 

volume.  de  vite  sue  mutacione.     It  is  a  MS.  of  the 

8  Tanner,  Bibl.  p.  507.  13th  century.     It  must,  however,   have 

h  Cave,    Hist.  Lit.   p.   706.     Compare  been  formed  into  a  song  at  an  early  pe- 

Tanner,  Bibl.  351.507.     In  return,  many  riod,  for  among  the  English  songs  in  the 

pieces  went  under  the  name  of  our  author  ;  Sloane  MS.  No.  2593,  written  apparently 

as,  for  instance,  De  Thetide  et  de  Lyceo,  very  early  in  the  15th  century,  is  found  a 

which  is  a  ridiculous  piece  of  scurrility.  Latin  parody  upon  it. — W  "1 

MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  Digb.  166.  f.  104. 


INTRODUCTION   OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.       CXXVH 


vented,  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  injunc- 
tion 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,  quoniarn  peccavi, 
Dicat  quisque  Presbyter,  cum  sua  Suavi.1 

But  a  miracle  of  this  age  in  classical  composition  was  Joseph  of  Ex- 
eter, 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"1.  The  second  is  en- 


k  In  Bibl.  Bodl.  a  piece  De  Nugis  Cu- 
rialium  is  given  to  Mapes.  MSS.  Arch. 
B.  52.  It  was  written  A.D.  1182.  as  ap- 
pears from  Distinct,  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  poetry,  by  some 
attributed  to  Mapes,  Bibl.  Bodl.  NE.  F. 
iii.  Some  of  these  are  in  good  taste.  Cam- 
den  has  printed  his  Disputatio  inter  Cor 
et  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. 

[It  appears  from  several  of  the  MS. 
copies  of  Lancelot  du  Lac,  Le  Saint  Graal, 
and  other  romances,  that  Walter  de  Mapes 
translated  them  into  French  prose,  at  the 
instance  of  Henry  II.  He  also  composed 
the  Mort  Artur  at  the  particular  desire  of 
that  monarch.  Many  of  his  poems  remain 
in  MS.  (See  Index  to  Harl.  MSS.)  Some 
of  them  have  been  printed  in  Leyser,  Hist. 
Poetarum  medii  sevi,  in  Flacius  de  cor- 
rupto  ecclesiae  statu ;  Basil  1557.  and  in 
Wolfii  Lectiones  memorabiles.  There  is 
reason  to  suppose  that  a  piece  entitled  va- 
riously as  follows,  was  written  by  him : 
"  Visio  lamentabilis  cujusdam  heremitae 
super  disceptatione  animse  contra  corpus. 
— Disputatio  inter  corpus  et  animamalicu- 
jus  reprobati  et  damnati :  Conflictio  inter 
corpus  et  animam."  See  Harl.  MSS.  978. 
2851.  Cotton  MSS.  Titus,  A.  xx. — 
DOUCE.]  [There  is  however  reason  to 
believe  that  Mapes  only  gave  a  Latin  ver- 
sion of  a  very  popular  theme.  See  the  same 


idea  exemplified  in  a  Saxon  poem  from 
the  Exon  MS.  given  by  Mr.  Conybeare 
in  the  Archaeologia,  vol.  17. — PRICE.] 

1  Camd.  Rem.  ut  supr. 

m  See  lib.  i.  32.  It  was  first  printed  at 
Basil,  but  very  corruptly,  in  the  year  1541. 
8vo.  under  the  name  of  Cornelius  Nepos. 
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 
Magdalen  college  library  at  Oxford.  He 
never  had  even  heard  of  it  before.  He  af- 
terwards found  two  more  copies  at  Paris  : 
but  these  were  all  imperfect,  and  without 
the  name  of  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  neg- 
lect of  this  poem  among  our  ancestors,  I 
mean  in  the  ages  which  followed  Iscanus, 
appears  from  the  few  manuscripts  of  it 
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  Phry- 
gius,  in  usum  Sereniss.  Delph.  cum  Inter- 
pret. A.  Daceriae,  &c.  Amstsel.  1702."  4to. 
But  all  the  printed  copies  have  omitted 
passages  which  I  find  in  the  Digby  manu- 
script. Particularly  they  omit,  in  the  ad- 
dress 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 


CXXV1U  DISSERTATION   II. 

titled  ANTIOCHEIS,  the  War  of  Antioch,  or  the  Crusade;  in  which  his 
patron  the  archbishop  was  an  actor".  The  poem  of  the  Trojan  war  is 
founded  on  Dares  Phrygius,  a  favorite  fabulous  historian  of  that  time0. 
The  diction  of  this  poem  is  generally  pure,  the  periods  round,  and  the 
numbers  harmonious ;  and  on  the  whole,  the  structure  of  the  versifica- 
tion 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  illus- 
trate this  criticism.  He  thus,  in  a  strain  of  much  spirit  and  dignity, 
addresses  king  Henry  the  Second,  who  was  going  to  the  holy  warq, 
the  intended  subject  of  his  ANTIOCHEIS. 

-Tuque,  oro,  tuo  da,  maxime,  vati 


Ire  iter  inceptum,  Trojamque  aperire  jacentem : 
Te  sacrae  assument  acies,  divinaque  bella, 
Tune  dignum  majore  tuba ;  tune  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, 

Henry  the  Second,  said  by  Leland  to  be  535.     On  account  of  the  variety  of  his 

at  the  end  of  the  fourth  book,  Script.  Brit.  matter,   and  the   facility  of  his  manner, 

p.  238.  The  truth  is,  these  passages  would  none  of  the  ancient  poets  are  more  fre- 

have  betrayed  their  first  editor's  pretence  quently  cited  in  the  writers  of  the  dark 

of  this  poem  being  written  by  Cornelius  ages  than  Ovid.     His  Fasti  seems  to  have 

Nepos.     As  it  is,  he  was  obliged  in  the  been  their  favorite;  a  work  thus  admirably 

address    to    Baldwin,   to  change  Cantia,  characterised    by    an    ingenious    French 

Kent,  into  Tantia;  for  which  he  substi-  writer: — "  Les  Pastes d'Ovide  renferment 

tutes  Pontia  in  the  maigin,  as  an  inge-  plus  d'erudition  qu'aucun  autre  ouvrage 

nious  conjecture.  de  1'antiquite.  C'est  le  chef  d'ceuvre  de  ce 

n  Leland,  p.  224,  225.  poete,  et  une  espece  de  devotion  paienne." 

0  The  manuscript  at  Magdalen  college,  Vigneul  Marville,  Misc.  Hist,  et  Lit.  torn, 

mentioned  by  Leland,  is  entitled  Dares  ii.   p.   306.     A   writer  of  the   thirteenth 

Phrygius  de  bello   Trojano.    Lei.  p.  236.  century,  De  Miralilibus  Roma,  published 

as  also  MSS.  Digb.  supr.  citat.  But  see  by  Montfaucon,  calls  this  work  Marti/ro- 

Sect.  iii.  p.  139.  of  this  volume.  logium    Ovidii   de   Fastis.    Montf.    Diar. 

p  Statius  is  cited  in  the  epistles  of  Ste-  Italic,  c.  xx.  p.  293. 

phen  of  Tournay,  a  writer  of  the  twelfth  q  Voltaire  has  expressed  his  admiration 

century.     "  Divinam  ejus  responsionem,  of  the  happy  choice  of  subject  which  Tasso 

ut  Thebais  ^Eneida,  longe  sequor,  et  ves-  made.  We  here  see  a  poet  of  an  age  much 

tigia  semper  adoro."     He  died  in   1200.  earlier  than  Tasso  celebrating  the  same 

Epistolcf,  Paris.  1611.  4to.    Epist.  v.  p.  sort  of  expedition.  r  Lib.  i.  47. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING   INTO  ENGLAND.        CXX1X 

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.' 

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.* 

Afterwards  a  Grecian  leader,  whose  character  is  invective,  insults  Pen- 
thesilea, and  her  troop  of  heroines,  with  these  reproaches : 

Tune  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  puellas 

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  loquacem 

Tarda  sequi  sexum,  velox  ad  praalia,  solo 

Respondet  jaculo  ",  &c. 

I  will  add  one  of  his  comparisons.  The  poet  is  speaking  of  the  reluc- 
tant 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.v 

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

'  Lib.  iv.  451.  *  Lib.  vi.  p.  589.  w  Camd.  Rem.  p.  410.    Poems.      See 

u  Lib.  vi.  609.  T  Lib.  vi.  19.  also  Camd.  Brit.     Leland  having  learned 

VOL,  I.  i 


CXXX  DISSERTATION  II. 

Inclyta  fulsit 

Posteritas  ducibus  tantis,  tot  dives  alumnis, 
Tot  fbecunda  viris,  premerent  qui  viribus  orbem 
Et  fama  veteres.     Hinc  Constantinus  adeptus 
Imperium,  Romam  tenuit,  Byzantion  auxit. 
Hinc,  Senonum  ductor,  captiva  Brenniusu  urbe 
Romuleas  domuit  flammis  victricibus  arces. 
Hinc  et  Scaeva  satus,  pars  non  obscura  tumultua 
Civilis,  Magnum  solus  qui  mole  soluta 
Obsedit,  meliorque  stetit  pro  Caesare  murus. 
Hinc,  celebri  fato,  felici  floruit  ortu, 
Flos  regum  Arthurusw,  cujus  tamen  acta  stupori 
Non  micuere  minus :  totus  quod  in  aure  voluptas, 
Et  populo  plaudente  favor x.     Qusecunque?  priorum 
Inspice :  Pelleeum  commendat  fama  tyrannum, 
Pagina  Caesareos  loquitur  Romana  triumphos ; 
Alciden  domitis  attollit  gloria  monstris ; 
Sed  nee  pinetum  coryli,  nee  sydera  solem 
Equant.     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  landz,  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°. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  rival  spirit  of  writing  Latin  heroic  poems 
about  this  period.  In  France,  Guillaume  le  Breton,  or  William  of  Bre- 
tagne,  about  the  year  1230,  wrote  aL,atin  heroic  poem  on  Philip  Au- 
gustus king  of  France,  in  twelve  books,  entitled  PmLippisd.  Barthius 

from  the  Bellum  Trojan  urn  that  Josephus  *  Rem.  ut  supr.  p.  407. 

had  likewise  written  a  poem  on  the  Cru-  a  Leland,  ut  supr.  p.  239.      Our  bio- 

sade,  searched  for  it  in  many  places,  but  graphers  mention  Panegyricum  in  Henri- 

without  success.     At  length  he  found  a  cum.     But  the  notion  of  this  poem  seems 

piece  of  it  in  the  library  of  Abingdon  ab-  to  have  taken  rise  from  the  verses  on 

bey  in  Berkshire.    "  Cum  excuterem  pul-  Henry  the  Second,  quoted  by  Leland  from 

verem   et   tineas  Abbandunensis  biblio-  the  Bellum   Trojanum.      He  is  likewise 

thecae."    Ut  supr.  p.  238.     Here  he  dis-  said  to  have  written  in  Latin  verse  De 

covered  that  Josephus  was   a    native   of  Institutione  Cyri. 

Exeter,  which  city  was  highly  celebrated  b  Italy  had  at  that  time  produced  no 

in  that  fragment.  writer  comparable  to  Iscanus. 

"  f.  "  Captiva  Brennus  in."  c  Bale,  iii.  60.     Compare  Dresenius  ad 

w  From  this  circumstance,  Pits  absurd-  Lectorem,  prefixed  to  the  De  Bello  Tro- 

ly  recites  the  title  of  this  poem  thus,  An-  jano.  Francof.   1620.  4to.    Mr.  Wise,  the 

tiocheis  in  Regent  Arthurum.  Jos.  Isc.  late  Radcliffe  librarian,  told  me  that  a 

*•  The  text  seems  to  be  corrupt  in  this  manuscript  of  the  Antiocheis  was  in  the 

sentence  ;  or  perhaps  somewhat  is  want-  library  of  the  duke  of  Chandos  at  Canons. 

ing.     I  have  changed  favus,  which  is  in  d  He  wrote  it  at  fifty-five  years  of  age. 

Camden,  into  favor.          y  f.  quemcunquc.  Philipp.  lib.  iii.  v.  381.    It  was  first  printed 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING   INTO   ENGLAND.          CXXXl 

gives  a  prodigious  character  of  this  poem  ;  and  affirms  that  the  author, 
a  few  gallicisms  excepted,  has  expressed  the  facility  of  Ovid  with  sin- 
gular happiness6.  The  versification  much  resembles  that  of  Joseph  Is- 
canus.  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  Cha- 
tillon,  who  flourished  likewise  in  France,  and  was  provost  of  the  canons 
of  Tournay,  about  the  year  1200f.  This  poem  celebrates  the  actions 
of  Alexander  the  Great,  is  founded  on  Quintus  Curtius&,  consists  of 
ten  books,  and  is  dedicated  to  Guillerm  archbishop  of  Rheims.  To 
give  the  reader  an  opportunity  of  comparing  Gualtier's  style  and  man- 
ner with  those  of  our  countryman  Josephus,  I  will  transcribe  a  few 
specimens  from  a  beautiful  and  ancient  manuscript  of  the  ALEXAN- 
DREID in  the  Bodleian  library11.  This  is  the  exordium: 

Gesta  ducis  Macedum  totum  digesta  per  orbem, 
Quam  large  dispersit  opes,  quo  milite  Porum 
Vicit  aut  Darium ;  quo  principe  Graecia  victrix 
Risit,  et  a  Persis  rediere  tributa  Corinthum, 
Musa,  refer.1 

A  beautiful  rural  scene  is  thus  described : 


Patulis  ubi  frondea  ramis 


Laurus  odoriferas  celabat  crinibus  herbas : 
Saepe  sub  hac  memorant  carmen  sylvestre  canentes 
Nympharum  vidisse  choros,  Satyrosque  procaces. 
Fons  cadit  a  laeva,  quern  cespite  gramen  obumbrat 
Purpureo,  verisque  latens  sub  veste  jocatur. 
Rivulus  at  lento  rigat  inferiora  meatu 
Garrulus,  et  strepitu  facit  obsurdescere  montes. 
Hie  mater  Cybele  Zephyrum  tibi,  Flora,  maritans, 
Pullulat,  et  vallem  foecundat  gratia  fontis. 
Qualiter  Alpinis  spumoso  vortice  saxis 
Descendit  Rhodanus,  ubi  Maximianus  Eooa 
Extinxit  cuneos,  cum  sanguinis  unda  meatum 
Fluminis  adjuvitk. 

in  Pithou's"  Eleven  Historians  of  France,"  7.   He  prefers  it  to  the  Alexandreis  men- 

Francof.   1536.  fol.     Next  in  Du  Chesue,  tioned  below,  in  Not.  p.  528.     See  Mem. 

Script.  Franc,  torn.  v.  p.  93.  Paris.  1694.  Lit.  viii.  536.  edit.  4to. 

fol.     But  the  best  edition  is  with  Bar-  f  It  was  first  printed,  Argent.  1513.  8vo. 

thius's  notes,  Cygn.  1657.  4to.    Brito  says  and  two  or  three  times  since, 

in  the  Philippis,  that  he  wrote  a  poem  g  See  Sect.  iii.  p.  141.  of  this  volume, 

called  Karlottis,  in  praise  of  Petri  Carlotti  and  Barth.  Advers.  Iii.  16. 

stii,  then  not  fifteen  years  old.     Philipp.  h  MSS.  Digb.  52.  4to. 

lib.  i.  v.  10.    This  poem  was  never  printed,  '  fol.  1.  a. 

and  is  hardly  known.  k  fol.  xiii.  a. 
*  In  Not.  p.  7.    See  also  Adversar.  xliii. 

i  2 


CXXXii  DISSERTATION   II. 

He  excels  in  similes.     Alexander,  when  a  stripling,  is  thus  compared 
to  a  young  lion  : 

Qualiter  Hyrcanis  cum  forte  leunculus  arvis 

Cornibus  elatos  videt  ire  ad  pabula  cervos, 

Cui  nondum  totos  descendit  robur  in  artus, 

Nee  bene  firmus  adhuc,  nee  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  Lucan1  and 
Virgil™.  The  learned  Charpentier  cites  a  passage  from  the  manuscript 
statutes  of  the  university  of  Tholouse,  dated  1328,  in  which  the  pro- 
fessors of  grammar  are  directed  to  read  to  their  pupils  "  De  Historiis 
Alexandrin  ;"  among  which  I  include  Gualtier's  poem0.  It  is  quoted 
as  a  familiar  classic  "by  Thomas  Rodburn,  a  monkish  chronicler,  who 
wrote  about  the  year  1420p.  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,  Gual- 
tier 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, 

k  fol.  xxi.  a.  lished  at  Paris  in  French  in  1300.  Labb. 

'   Here,  among  many  other  proofs  which  Bibl.  p.  339. 

might  be   given,  and   which    will  occur  m  See  Hen.  Gandav.  Monasticon,  c.  20. 

hereafter,  is  a  proof  ef  the  estimation  in  and  Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr.  ii.  218.     Alanus  de 

which  Lucan  was  held  during  the  middle  Insulis,  who  died  in  1202,  in  his  poem 

ages.     He  is  quoted  by  Geoffrey  of  Mon-  called  Anti-claudianus,  a  Latin  poem  of 

mouth  and  John  of  Salisbury,  writers  of  nine  books,  much  in  the  manner  of  Clau- 

the  eleventh  century.     Hist.  Brit.  iv.  9.  dian,  and  written  in  defence  of  divine  pro- 

and  Policrat.  p.  215.  edit.  1515.  &c.  &c.  vidence  against  a  passage  in  that  poet's 

There  is  an  anonymous  Italian  translation  Bufinus,  thus  attacks  the  rising  reputation 

of  Lucan,  as  early  as  the  year  1310.    The  of  the  Alexandreid: 


But  the  translator  has  so  much  departed  ...     mim 

from  the  original,  as  to  form  a  sort  of  ro- 

mance  of  his  own.     He   was  translated  n  Suppl.  Du  Gang.  Lat.  Gloss,  torn.  H. 

into  Spanish  prose,  Lucano  poeta  y  histo-  p.  1255.  V.  METRIFICATURA.   By  which 

riador  antiquo,  by  MartinLasse  de  Orespe,  barbarous  word  they  signified  the  Art  of 

at  Antwerp,  1585.     Lucan  was  first  print-  poetry,  or  rather  the  Art  of  writing  Latin 

ed  in  the  year  1469.  and  before  the  year  verses. 

1500,  there  were  six  other  editions  of  this  °  See  Sect.  Hi.  p.  132.  in  this  volume. 

classic,  whose  declamatory  manner  ren-  p  Hist.  Maj.  Winton.  apud  Wharton, 

d«red  him  very  popular.     He  was  pub-  Angl.  Sacr.  5.  242. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.      CXXXlll 


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/* 

I  do  not  cite  this  writer  as  a  proof  of  the  elegant  versification  which 
had  now  become  fashionable,  but  to  show  the  popularity  of  the  ALEX- 
ANDREID,  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  Guillaume  le  Breton,  or  the  ALEX- 
ANDREID  of  Gualtier ;  but  not  so  polished  and  classical  as  the  TRO- 
JAN 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  Liguriar.  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  SOLYMARIUMS.  The  subject  is  much  like  that  of  the 
ANTIOCHEIS  ;  but  which  of  the  two  pieces  was  written  first  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  ascertain. 


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  patron  us  tuns  inter 
Pontifices:    hie    est    primas,    tu    primus 

eorum,  &c. 
Hie  per  Aidanum  sua  munificentia  mu- 

nus 

Illi  promeruit,  &c. 
Tuque  benigne  Prior,  primas,   et  prime 

Priorum, 
Qui   cleri,  Hoc  ERE,  rosam  geris,  annue 

vati,  &c. 
Tuque  Sacrista,  sacris  instans,  qui  jure 

vocaris 
SYMON,  id  est  humilis,  quo  nemo  benig- 

nior  alter 

Abbatis  praecepta  sui  velocius  audit, 
Tardius  obloquitur  :  qui  tot  mea  carmina 

servas 
Scripta  voluminibus,  nee  plura  requirere 

cessas, 

Praeteritos  laudas,  praesentes  dilige  ver- 
sus, &c. 

The  manuscript  is  Bibl.  Bodl.  A.  1.  2.  B. 
(Langb.  5.  p.  6.)  This  piece  begins  at 
f.  57.  Other  pieces  precede,  in  Latin 


poetry:  as   Vita  Sanctorum.   T.  Becket. 

f.  3. 

Qui  moritur?  Praesul.  Cur?  pro  grege,  &c. 

Prol  pr.  f.  23. 

Detineant   alios   Parnassi   culmina,   Cyr- 
rhae 

Plausus,  Pieridum  vox,  Heliconis  opes. 

De  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.  Perhapsheis  Michael  Blaun- 
payne.  Alexander  Esseby  wrote  lives  of 
saints  in  Latin  verse.  See  MSS.  Hail. 
1819.  531. 

*  First  printed  August.  Vindel.  1507. 
fol.  and  frequently  since. 

*  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  Cani- 
sius,  Antiq.  Lect.  torn.  iv.  P.  ii.  p.  358. 
Ingolstad.   1604.  4to.     Again,  in  a  new 
edition  of  that  compilation,  Amst.  1725. 
fol.  torn.  iv.  See  also  Pagi,  ad  A.D.  1519, 
n.  xiv.. 


CXXX1V  DISSERTATION  II. 

AVhilc  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  POETRIAS.  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  cata- 
logue of  the  library  of  a  monastery  at  Dover1. 

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  Charle- 
magne. 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  illus- 
trious 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  1230W.  Retranslated  Dionysius  the  Areopagite  and  Damascenus 
into  Latin x.  He  greatly  facilitated  the  knowledge  of  Greek  by  a  trans- 
lation of  Suidas's  Lexicon,  a  book  in  high  repute  among  the  lower 
Greeks,  and  at  that  time  almost  a  recent  compilation  >'.  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  England2.  He  entertain- 

It  has  been  often  printed.     I  think  *  Leland,  Script.  Brit.  p.  283. 

it  is  called  in  some  manuscripts,  De  Arte  y  Boston  of  Bury  says,  that  he  trans- 

dictandi,  versificandi,  et  transferendi.  See  lated  the  book  called  Suda.    Catal.  Script. 

Selden,  Prsefat.  Dec.  Scriptor.  p.  xxxix.  Eccles.  Robert.  Lincoln.     Boston  lived  in 

and  Selden,  Op.  ii.  168.     He  is  himself  the  year  1410.     Such  was  their  ignorance 

no  contemptible  Latin  poet,  and  is  cele-  at  this  time  even  of  the  name  of  this  lexU 

brated    by    Chaucer.       See    Urry's    edit.  cographer. 

p.  468.  560.  He  seems  to  have  lived  about  z  Lei.  Script.  Brit.  p.  266.     Matthew 

1 200.  Paris  asserts,  that  he  introduced  into  Eng- 

'  Ex  Matricula  Monach.  Monast.  Dover.  land  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek  numeral 

apud  MSS.  Br.  Twyne,  notat.  8.  p.  758.  letters.     That  historian  adds,  "Dequibus 

archiv.  Oxon.     Yet  all  Horace's  writings  figuris  HOC  MAXIME  ADMIRANDUM,  quod 

were  often  transcribed,  and  not  unfamiliar,  unica  figura  quilibet  numerus  repraesen- 

in  the  dark  ages.    His  odes  are  quoted  by  tatur;  quod  non  est  in  Latino  vel  in  Al- 

Fitz-Stephens  in  his  Description  of  Lon-  gorismo."  Hist.  edit.  Lond.  1684.  p.  721. 

Hon.     llabanus  Maurus  above  mentioned  He  translated  from  Greek  into  Latin  a 

quotes  two  verses  from  the  Art  of  Poetry.  grammar  which  he  called  Donatus  Grce- 

Op.  torn.  ii.  p.  46.  edit.  Colon.  1627.  fol.  corum.     See   Pegge's   Life   of  Roger  de 

Kennet,  Paroch.  Antiq.  p.  217.  Weseham,  p.  46,  47.  51.  andinfr,  p.  281. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.        CXXXV 

ed,  as  a  domestic  in  his  palace,  Nicholas  chaplain  of  the  abbot  of  Saint 
Alban's,  surnamed  GR^ECUS,  from  his  uncommon  proficiency  in  Greek  ; 
and  by  his  assistance  he  translated  from  Greek  into  Latin  the  testa- 
ments of  the  twelve  patriarchs*.  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  Ita- 
lians1*. But  this  practice,  although  notoriously  founded  on  the  mono- 
polising 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  litera- 
ture. 

Bishop  Grosthead  is  also  said  to  have  been  profoundly  skilled  in  the 
Hebrew  language0.  William  the  Conqueror  permitted  great  numbers 
of  Jews  to  come  over  from  Rouen,  and  to  settle  in  England  about  the 
year  1087d.  Their  multitude  soon  increased,  and  they  spread  them- 
selves 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  1189e.  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  ecclesi- 


He  seems  to  have  flourished  about  the 
year  1230.  Bacon  also  wrote  a  Greek 
grammar,  in  which  is  the  following  curi- 
ous passage:  "Episcopus  consecrans  ec- 
clesiam,  scribal  Alphabetum  Grsecum  in 
pulvere  cum  cuspide  baculi  pastoralis : 
sed  omnes  episcopi  QUI  GRJECUM  IGNO- 
RANT, scribant  tres  notas  numerorum 
quae  non  sunt  literae,"  &c.  Gr,  Gram.  cap. 
ult.  p.  iii.  MSS.  Apud  MSS.  Br.  Twyne, 
8vo.  p.  649.  archiv.  Oxon.  See  what  is 
said  of  the  new  translations  of  Aristotle, 
from  the  original  Greek  into  Latin,  about 
the  twelfth  century,  infr.  vol.  ii.  Sect.  ix. 
p.  90.  I  believe  the  translators  un- 
derstood very  little  Greek.  Our  country- 
man Michael  Scotus  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  Ara- 
bians, made  under  the  inspection  of  the 
learned  Spanish  Saracens.  To  the  want 
of  a  true  knowledge  of  the  original  lan- 
guage of  the  ancient  Greek  philosophers, 
Roger  Bacon  attributes  the  slow  and  im- 
perfect advances  of  real  science  at  this  pe- 
riod. On  this  account  their  improvements 
were  very  inconsiderable,  notwithstanding 
the  appearance  of  erudition,  and  the  fer- 
vour with  which  almost  every  branch  of 
philosophy  had  been  now  studied  in  va- 


rious 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  the  original  Greek  were  brought 
out  of  the  east  into  Europe  about  the  year 
1 200.  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  import- 
ing 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  Barbar.  Aristot.  Versionib. 
apud  Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr.  xii.  p.  248.  See 
also  Murator.  Antiq.  Ital.  Med.  J£v.  iii. 
936. 

a  See  MSS.  Reg.  Brit.  Mus,  4  D.  vii.  4. 
Wood,  Hist.  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon.  i.  82. 
and  M.  Paris,  sub  anno  1242. 

b  Godwin,  Episc.  p.  348.  edit.  16 1C, 

c  He  is  mentioned  again,  Sect.  ii.  pp. 
56.  72.  of  this  volume. 

d  Hollinsh.  Chron.  sub  ann.  p.  15  a. 

•  Anders.  Comm.  i.  93. 


CXXXH  DISSERTATION    II. 

astics  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  1054f.  Within  two  hundred 
years  after  their  admission  or  establishment  by  the  Conqueror,  they 
were  banished  the  kingdom*.  This  circumstance  was  highly  favour- 
able 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  Hunting- 
don and  Stamford  there  was  a  prodigious  sale  of  their  effects,  containing 
immense  stores  of  Hebrew  manuscripts,  which  were  immediately  pur- 
chased by  Gregory  of  Huntingdon,  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  1250h.  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  Lexicon1.  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  inquiry,  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  inquiry  which  the  Arabians 
had  communicated  to  philosophy,  and  which  now  became  almost  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  defending  the  doctrines  of  Rome,  were  Peter  Lom- 
bard archbishop  of  Paris,  and  the  celebrated  Abelard ;  men  whose  con- 
summate abilities  were  rather  qualified  to  reform  the  church,  and  to 
restore  useful  science,  than  to  corrupt  both,  by  confounding  the  com- 
mon sense  of  mankind  with  frivolous  speculation1.  These  visionary 

f   Angl.  Judaic,  p.  8.  h  Leland,    Script.    Brit.   p.    321.    and 

1  Hollinshead,    ibid,    sub    aim.     1289.  MSS.  Bibl.  Lambeth.  Wharton,  L.  p.  C61. 

p.  285.  a.  Matthew  of  Westminster  says  "Libri     Prioris    Gregorii    de    Ramesey. 

that  165 11   were   banished.     Flor.   Hist.  Prima  pars  Bibliotheca  Hebraica,"  &c. 

ad  an.  1290.     Great  numbers  of  Hebrew  5  Bale,  iv.  41.  ix.  9.  Lei.  ubi  supr.p.452. 

rolls  and  charts,  relating  to  their  estates  k  Wood,  Hist.  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon.  i.  77. 

in  England,  and  escheated  to  the  king,  132.    See  also  vol.  ii.  Sect.  ix.  p.  89. 

are  now  remaining  in  the  Tower  among  '  They  both  flourished  about  the  year 

the  royal  records.  1150. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  LEARNING  INTO  ENGLAND.       CXXXVli 

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  distinc- 
tions 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  Lan- 
franc  and  Anselm,  archbishops  of  Canterbury01.  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  impe- 
diment to  the  propagation  of  those  letters  which  humanize  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  pro- 
fessors, in  most  of  the  universities  of  Europe.  To  be  skilled  in  the  the- 
ology 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  in- 
dispensable requisite,  at  least  an  essential  recommendation,  for  obtain- 
ing 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  semi- 
naries 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  du- 
ration. It  was  moreover  premature,  and  on  that  account  not  likely  to 
be  lasting.  The  habits  of  superstition  and  ignorance- were  as  yet  too 

m  "  Baccalaureus  qui  legit  textum  (sc.  A.  Wood,  Hist.  Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon.  i.  p. 
S.  Scripturse)  succumbit  lectori  SENTEN-  53.  Lombard  was  the  author  of  the  Sen- 
TiAituMParisii5,"&e.  Reg.  Bacon,  apud  tences. 


CXXXV111  DISSERTATION  II. 

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  clas- 
sical taste  and  judgement  been  now  established,  imagination  would  have 
suffered,  and  too  early  a  check  would  have  been  given  to  the  beautiful 
extravagances  of  romantic  fabling.  In  a  word,  truth  and  reason  would 
have  chased  before  their  time  those  spectres  of  illusive  fancy,  so  plea- 
sing to  the  imagination,  which  delight  to  hover  in  the  gloom  of  igno- 
rance and  superstition,  and  which  form  so  considerable  a  part  of  the 
poetry  of  the  succeeding  centuries. 


ON  THE 


GESTA    ROMANORUM. 


DISSERTATION    III. 

JL  ALES  are  the  learning  of  a  rude  age.  In  the  progress  of  letters, 
speculation  and  inquiry  commence  with  refinement  of  manners.  Lite- 
rature becomes  sentimental  and  discursive,  in  proportion  as  a  people  is 
polished  ;  and  men  must  be  instructed  by  facts,  either  real  or  imaginary, 
before  they  can  apprehend  the  subtleties  of  argument,  and  the  force  of 
reflection. 

Vincent  of  Beauvais,  a  learned  Dominican  of  France,  who  flourished 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  observes  in  his  MIRROR  of  HISTORY,  that  it 
was  a  practice  of  the  preachers  of  his  age,  to  rouse  the  indifference  and 
relieve  the  languor  of  their  hearers,  by  quoting  the  fables  of  Esop : 
yet,  at  the  same  time,  he  recommends  a  sparing  and  prudent  application 
of  these  profane  fancies  in  the  discussion  of  sacred  subjects*.  Among 
the  Harleian  manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum  we  find  a  very  ancient 
collection  of  two  hundred  and  fifteen  stories,  romantic,  allegorical,  re- 
ligious, and  legendary,  which  were  evidently  compiled  by  a  professed 
preacher,  for  the  use  of  monastic  societies.  Some  of  these  appear  to 
have  been  committed  to  writing  from  the  recitals  of  bards  and  minstrels ; 
others  to  have  been  invented  and  written  by  troubadours  and  monks b. 
In  the  year  1 389,  a  grand  system  of  divinity  appeared  at  Paris,  after- 
wards translated  by  Caxton  under  the  title  of  the  COURT  OF  SAPYENCE, 
which  abounds  with  a  multitude  of  historical  examples,  parables,  and 
apologues;  and  which  the  writer  wisely  supposes  to  be  much  more 
likely  to  interest  the  attention  and  excite  the  devotion  of  the  people, 
than  the  authority  of  science,  and  the  parade  of  theology.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  expediency  of  this  mode  of  instruction,  the  Legends  of 
the  Saints  were  received  into  the  ritual,  and  rehearsed  in  the  course  of 
public  worship.  For  religious  romances  were  nearly  allied  to  songs  of 
chivalry ;  and  the  same  gross  ignorance  of  the  people,  which  in  the 
early  centuries  of  Christianity  created  a  necessity  of  introducing  the 

a  Specul.  Hist.  lib.  iv.  c.  viii.  fol.  31  b.  b  MSS.  Had.  463.  rnembran.  fol. 

edit.  Yen.  1591. 


Cxi  DISSERTATION  III. 

visible  pomp  of  theatrical  ceremonies  into  the  churches,  was  taught  the 
duties  of  devotion,  by  being  amused  with  the  achievements  of  spiritual 
knight-errantry,  and  impressed  with  the  examples  of  pious  heroism.  In 
more  cultivated  periods,  the  DECAMERON  of  Boccace,  and  other  books 
of  that  kind,  ought  to  be  considered  as  the  remnant  of  a  species  of 
writing  which  was  founded  on  the  simplicity  of  mankind,  and  was 
adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  the  infancy  of  society. 

Many  obsolete  collections  of  this  sort  still  remain,  both  printed  and 
manuscript,  containing  narratives  either  fictitious  or  historical, 

Of  king  and  heroes  old 

Such  as  the  wise  Demodocus  once  told 
In  solemn  songs  at  king  Alcinous'  feast.c 

But  among  the  ancient  story-books  of  this  character,  a  Latin  compi- 
lation entitled  GESTA  ROMANORUM  seems  to  have  been  the  favourite. 

This  piece  has  been  before  incidentally  noticed :  but  as  it  operated 
powerfully  on  the  general  body  of  our  old  poetry,  affording  a  variety 
of  inventions  not  only  to  Chuacer,  Gower,  and  Lydgate,  but  to  their 
distant  successors,  I  have  judged  it  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  exa- 
mined at  large  in  a  separate  dissertation  ;  which  has  been  designedly  re- 
served for  this  place*,  for  the  purpose  both  of  recapitulation  and  illus- 
tration, and  of  giving  the  reader  a  more  commodious  opportunity  of 
surveying  at  leisure,  from  this  intermediate  point  of  view,  and  under 
one  comprehensive  detail,  a  connected  display  of  the  materials  and  ori- 
ginal subjects  of  many  of  our  past  and  future  poets. 

Indeed,  in  the  times  with  which  we  are  now  about  to  be  concerned, 
it  seems  to  have  been  growing  more  into  esteem.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  typography,  Wynkyn  de  Worde  published  this  book  in  En- 
glish. This  translation  was  reprinted,  by  one  Robinson,  in  1577,  and 
afterwards,  of  the  same  translation  there  were  six  impressions  before 
the  year  1601 d.  There  is  an  edition  in  black  letter  so  late  as  the  year 
1689.  About  the  year  1596,  an  English  version  appeared  of  "Epi- 
tomes des  cent  HISTOIRES  TRAGIQUES,  partie  extraictes  des  ACTES  DES 
ROM  A  INS  et  autres,"  &c.  From  the  popularity,  or  rather  familiarity, 
of  this  work  in  the  reign  of  queen  Elisabeth,  the  title  of  GESTA  GRAY- 
ORUM  was  affixed  to  the  history  of  the  acts  of  the  Christmas  Prince  at 
Gray's-inn,  in  1594e.  In  Sir  GILES  GOOSECAP,  an  anonymous  comedy, 
presented  by  the  Children  of  the  Chapel  in  the  year  1606,  we  have, 
"  Then  for  your  lordship's  quips  and  quick  jests,  why  GESTA  ROMA- 
NORUM were  nothing  to  themf."  And  in  George  Chapman's  May-DAY, 
a  comedy,  printed  at  London  in  1611,  a  man  of  the  highest  literary 

«  Milton,    At    a    Vacation    Exercise,  has  now  been  thought  best  to  let  it  follow 

&c-  the  other  Dissertations. — PRICE.] 

*  [This  Dissertation  on  the  Gesta  Ro-  d  See  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xix.  p.  238. 

manorum  was  placed  by  the  author  at  the  e  Printed,  or  reprinted,  in  1688.  4to. 

beginning  of  his  Third  Volume,  which  was  '  Lond.   Printed  for  John  Windet,  1606. 

published  seven  years  after  the  First:  it  'Ito. 


OX  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  Cxl 

taste  for  the  pieces  in  vogue  is  characterised,  "  One  that  has  read  Mar- 
cus Aurelius,  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  the  Mirrour  of  Magistrates,  &c 

to  be  led  by  the  nose  like  a  blind  beare  that  has  read  nothing^!"  The 
critics  and  collectors  in  black-letter,  I  believe,  could  produce  many 
other  proofs. 

The  GESTA  ROMANORUM  were  first  printed  without  date,  but  as  it 
is  supposed  before  or  about  the  year  1473,  in  folio,  with  this  title,  In- 
cipiunt  HISTORIE  NOTABILES  collecte  ex  GESTIS  ROMANORUM  et  qui- 
busdam  aliis  libris  cum  applicationibus  eorundem^.  This  edition  has 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  chapters,  or  GESTS,  and  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  leaves1.  It  is  in  the  Gothic  letter,  and  in  two  columns. 
The  first  chapter  is  of  king  Pompey,  and  the  last  of  prince,  or  king, 
Cleonicus.  The  initials  are  written  in  red  and  blue  ink.  This  edition, 
slightly  mutilated,  is  among  bishop  Tanner's  printed  books  in  the  Bod- 
leian library.  The  reverend  and  learned  doctor  Farmer,  master  of 
Emanuel  college  in  Cambridge,  has  the  second  (?)  edition,  as  it  seems, 
printed  at  Louvain,  in  quarto,  the  same  or  the  subsequent  year,  by 
John  de  Westfalia,  under  the  title,  Ex  GESTIS  ROMANORUM  HISTORIE 
NOTABILES  de  viciis  virtutibusque  tractantes  cum  applicationibus  mo- 
ralisatis  et  mysticis.  And  with  this  colophon,  GESTA  ROMANORUM 
cum  quibusdam  aliis  HISTORIIS  eisdem  annexis  ad  MORALITATES  dilu- 
cide  redacta  hicfinem  habent.  Quce,  diligenter  correctis  aliorum  viciis, 
impressit  Joannes  de  Westfalia  in  alma  Vniversitate  Louvaniensi.  It  has 
one  hundred  and  eighty-one  chapters k.  That  is,  twenty-nine  more  than 
are  contained  in  the  former  edition :  the  first  of  the  additional  chap- 
ters being  the  story  of  Antiochus,  or  the  substance  of  the  romance  of 
APOLLONIUS  of  TYRE.  The  initials  are  inserted  in  red  ink1.  Another 
followed  soon  afterwards,  in  quarto,  Ex  GESTIS  ROMANORUM  Historic 
notabiles  moralizatce,  per  Girardum  Lieu,  GOUD^E,  1480.  The  next 
edition,  with  the  use  of  which  I  have  been  politely  favoured  by  George 
Mason,  esquire,  of  Aldenham-lodge,  in  Hertfordshire,  was  printed  in 
folio,  and  in  the  year  1488*,  with  this  title,  GESTA  RHOMANORUM 
cum  Applicationibus  moralisatis  et  misticis.  The  colophon  is,  Ex 
GESTIS  ROMANORUM  cum  pluribus  applicatis  Historiis  de  virtutibus  et 
viciis  mystice  ad  intellectum  transsumptis  Recollectoriijmis.  Anno  nre 
salutis  MCCCCLXXX  viij  kalendas  vero  februarii  xviij.  A  general  and 
alphabetical  table  are  subjoined.  The  book,  which  is  printed  in  two 
columns,  and  in  the  Gothic  character,  abounding  with  abbreviations, 

B  Act  Hi.  pag.  39.  k  The  first  is  of  king  Pompey,  as  be- 

11  Much  the  same  title  occurs  to  a  ma-  fore.     The  last  is  entitled  De  Adulterio. 

nuscript  of  this  work  in  the  Vatican,  "Hi-  '  It  has  signatures  to  K  k. 

storise  Notabiles  collects;  ex  Gestis  Roma-  *  [Mr.  Douce  enumerates  two  editions 

norum  et  quibusdam  aliis  libris  cum  ex-  between   this   and   Lieu's  ;    namely,   one 

plicationibus  eorundem."  Montfauc.  Bibl.  printed  at  Hasselt  in  1481,  and  another 

Manuscr.  torn.  i.  pag.  17.  Num.  172.  in  1482  without  the  name  of  the  place. 

1  Without  initials,  paging,  signatures,  —PRICE.] 
er  catch-words. 


CXlii  DTSSKRTATION  III. 

contains  ninety-three  leaves.  The  initials  are  written  or  flourished  in 
red  and  blue,  and  all  the  capitals  in  the  body  of  the  text  are  miniated 
with  a  pen.  There  were  many  other  later  editions01.  I  must  add,  that 
the  GESTA  ROMANORUM  were  translated  into  Dutch,  so  early  as  the 
year  1484-.  There  is  an  old  French  version  in  the  British  Museum. 

This  work  is  compiled  from  the  obsolete  Latin  chronicles  of  the  later 
Roman  or  rather  German  story,  heightened  by  romantic  inventions, 
from  Legends  of  the  Saints,  oriental  apologues,  and  many  of  the  shorter 
fictitious  narratives  which  came  into  Europe  with  the  Arabian  litera- 
ture, and  were  familiar  in  the  ages  of  ignorance  and  imagination.  The 
classics  are  sometimes  cited  for  authorities ;  but  these  are  of  the  lower 
order,  such  as  Valerius  Maximus,  Macrobius,  Aulus  Gellius,  Seneca, 
Pliny,  and  Boethius.  To  every  tale  a  MORALISATION  is  subjoined,  re- 
ducing it  into  a  Christian  or  moral  lesson. 

Most  of  the  oriental  apologues  are  taken  from  the  CLERICALIS 
DISCIPLINA,  or  a  Latin  dialogue  between  an  Arabian  philosopher  and 
Edric  n  his  son,  never  printed0,  written  by  Peter  Alphonsus,  a  baptised 
Jew,  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  collected  from  Ara- 
bian fables,  apophthegms,  and  examples  P.  Some  are  also  borrowed  from 
an  old  Latin  translation  of  the  CALILAH  u  DAMNAH,  a  celebrated  set 
of  eastern  fables,  to  which  Alphonsus  was  indebted. 

On  the  whole,  this  is  the  collection  in  which  a  curious  inquirer  might 
expect  to  find  the  original  of  Chaucer's  Cambuscan : 

Or, — if  aught  else  great  bards  beside 

In  sage  and  solemn  tunes  have  sung, 

Of  turneys  and  of  trophies  hung, 

Of  forests  and  inchantments  drear, 

Where  more  is  meant  than  meets  the  ear^. 
Our  author  frequently  cites  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  the  title  of  his 

m  [For  which  see  vol.  ii.  Sect  xix.  p.  was  printed  at  the  expense  of  the  Societe 

235.  et  seq.  and  Mr.  Douce's  Illustrations  des  Bibliophiles  Franqais,  at  Paris,  2  pts. 

of  Shakspeare,  vol.  ii.  p.  358.     "  A  trans-  12mo.  1824.,  accompanied  by  a  French 

lation  by  Mr.  Swann,  h.is  been  published  prose  version  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 

in  2  volumes,  1824."]  one  of  the  old  French  metrical  transla- 

n  Edric  was  the  name  of  Enoch  among  tions,  with  a  Preface  by  M.  J.  Labouderie. 

the  Arabians,  to  whom  they  attribute  many  Another  of  the  metrical  versions  had  been 

fabulous  compositions.      Herbelot,  in  V.  imperfectly  printed  by  Barbazan,  in  1760, 

Lydgate'sChorle  and  the  Bird,  mentioned  and  a  third,  more  completely,  by  Meon, 

above,  is  taken  from  the  Clerical!*  Disci-  in  the  edition  of  1808. — M.] 

plina  of  Alphonsus.  [An  admirable  edition  of  the  Disci- 

0  MSS.  Harl.  3861;  and  in  many  other  plina  Clericalis  was  afterwards  given  at 

libraries.     It  occurs  in  old  French  verse,  Berlin  by  F.  W.  V.  Schmidt,  in  1827,  with 

MSS.  Digb.  86.  membran.  "  Le  Romaunz  a  long  introduction,  and  a  large  body  of 

de  Peres  Aunfour  content  il  aprist  et  cha-  extensive  and  valuable  notes.     Schmidt 

stia  sonfils  belement."     [See  vol.  ii.  Sect.  has,  however,  erroneously  stated  that  it 

xxiv.  p.  326.]  had  never  been  printed  previously  to  his 

[See  an  analysis  of  this  work  by  Mr.  edition— z urn  ersten  Mai  herausgegeben. 

Douce,  inserted  in  Ellis's  Spec.  Metr.  Rom.  — W.] 

i.  133.  edit.  1811.    There  are  two  French  "  See  Tyrwhitt's  Chaucer,  vol.  iv.  p. 

metrical  versions,  but  both  imperfect,  in  325  seq. 

MSS.  Harl.  527.  4338.      The  Latin  text  «  Milton's  II  Penseroso. 


ON  THK  GESTA   ROMANORUM.  Cxliil 

own  work  ;  by  which  I  understand  no  particular  book  of  that  name, 
but  the  Roman  history  in  general.  Thus  in  the  title  of  the  SAINT 
ALBANS  CHRONICLE,  printed  by  Caxton,  Titus  Livyus  de  GESTIS  RO- 
MANORUM is  recited.  In  the  year  1544,  Lucius  Florus  was  printed  at 
Paris  under  the  same  title1".  In  the  British  Museum  we  find  "LES 
FA  is  DE  ROM  A  INS  jusques  a  la  fin  de  1'empire  Domician,  selon  Orose, 
Justin,  Lucan,  &c."  A  plain  historical  deduction8.  The  ROMULEON, 
an  old  manuscript  history  of  Rome  from  the  foundation  of  the  city  to 
Constantine  the  Great,  is  also  called  DE  GESTIS  ROMANORUM.  This 
manuscript  occurs  both  in  Latin  and  French  :  and  a  French  copy, 
among  the  royal  manuscripts,  has  the  title,  "  ROMULEON,  ou  DES  FA  is 
DE  ROMAINSV  Among  the  manuscript  books  written  by  Lapus  de 
Castellione,  a  Florentine  civilian,  who  flourished  about  the  year  1350, 
there  is  one,  De  Origine  URBIS  ROMJE  et  de  GESTIS  ROMANORUM  u. 
Gower,  in  the  CONFESSIO  AMANTIS,  often  introduces  Roman  stories 
with  the  Latin  preamble,  Hie  secundum  GESTA  ;  where  he  certainly 
means  the  Roman  History,  which  by  degrees  had  acquired  simply  the 
appellation  of  GESTA.  Herman  Korner,  in  his  CIIRONICA  NOVELLA, 
written  about  the  year  1438,  refers  for  his  vouchers  to  Bede,  Orosius, 
Valerius  Maximus,  Josephus,  Eusebius,  and  the  Chronicon  et  GESTA 
ROMANORUM.  Most  probably,  to  say  no  more,  by  the  CHRONICON  he 
means  the  later  writers  of  the  Roman  affairs,  such  as  Isidore  and  the 
monkish  compilers ;  and  by  GESTA  the  ancient  Roman  history,  as  re- 
lated by  Livy  and  the  more  established  Latin  historians. 

Neither  is  it  possible  that  this  work  could  have  been  brought  as  a 
proof  or  authority,  by  any  serious  annalist,  for  the  Roman  story. 

For  though  it  bears  the  title  of  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  yet  this  title 
by  no  means  properly  corresponds  with  the  contents  of  the  collection  ; 
which,  as  has  been  already  hinted,  comprehends  a  multitude  of  narra- 
tives, either  not  historical ;  or,  in  another  respect,  such  as  are  either  totally 
unconnected  with  the  Roman  people,  or  perhaps  the  most  preposterous 
misrepresentations  of  their  history.  To  cover  this  deviation  from  the 
promised  plan,  which,  by  introducing  a  more  ample  variety  of  matter, 
has  contributed  to  increase  the  reader's  entertainment,  our  collector 
has  taken  care  to  preface  almost  every  story  with  the  name  or  reign  of 
a  Roman  emperor ;  who,  at  the  same  time,  is  often  a  monarch  that 
never  existed,  and  who  seldom,  whether  real  or  supposititious,  has  any 
concern  with  the  circumstances  of  the  narrative. 

But  I  hasten  to  exhibit  a  compendious  analysis  of  the  chapters  which 
form  this  very  singular  compilation  ;  intermixing  occasional  illustrations 
arising  from  the  subject,  and  shortening  or  lengthening  my  abridgement 
of  the  stories,  in  proportion  as  I  judge  they  are  likely  to  interest  the 
reader.  Where,  for  that  reason,  I  have  been  very  concise,  I  have  yet 

r  Apud  Vascosan.  4to.  *  MS.  19  E.  v. 

'  MSS.  Reg.  20.  C.  i.  u  See  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xix.  p.  238. 


DISSERTATION   III. 

said  enough  to  direct  the  critical  antiquarian  to  this  collection,  in  ease 
he  should  find  a  similar  tale  occurring  in  any  of  our  old  poets.  I  have 
omitted  the  mention  of  a  very  few  chapters,  which  were  beneath  notice. 
Sometimes,  where  common  authors  are  quoted,  I  have  only  mentioned 
the  author's  name,  without  specifying  the  substance  of  the  quotation ; 
for  it  was  necessary  that  the  reader  should  be  made  acquainted  with 
our  collector's  track  of  reading,  and  the  books  which  he  used.  In  the 
mean  time,  this  review  will  serve  as  a  full  notification  of  the  edition  of 
14-88,  which  is  more  comprehensive  and  complete  than  some  others  of 
later  publication,  and  to  which  all  the  rest,  as  to  a  general  criterion, 
may  be  now  comparatively  referred. 

CHAP.  i.  Of  a  daughter  of  king  Pompey,  whose  chamber  was  guarded 
by  five  armed  knights  and  a  dog.  Being  permitted  to  be  present  at  a 
public  show,  she  is  seduced  by  a  duke,  who  is  afterwards  killed  by  the 
champion  of  her  father's  court.  She  is  reconciled  to  her  father,  and 
betrothed  to  a  nobleman ;  on  which  occasion,  she  receives  from  her 
father  an  embroidered  robe  and  a  crown  of  gold,  from  the  champion  a 
gold  ring,  another  from  the  wise  man  who  pacified  the  king's  anger, 
another  from  the  king's  son,  another  from  her  cousin,  and  from  her 
spouse  a  seal  of  gold.  All  these  presents  are  inscribed  with  proverbial 
sentences,  suitable  to  the  circumstances  of  the  princess. 

The  latter  part  of  this  story  is  evidently  oriental.  The  feudal  man- 
ners, in  a  book  which  professes  to  record  the  achievements  of  the  Ro- 
man people,  are  remarkable  in  the  introductory  circumstances.  But 
of  this  mixture  we  shaJl  see  many  striking  instances. 

CHAP.  ii.  Of  a  youth  taken  captive  by  pirates.  The  king's  daughter 
falls  in  love  with  him ;  and  having  procured  his  escape,  accompanies  him 
to  his  own  country,  where  they  are  married. 

CHAP.  vi.  An  emperor  is  married  to  a  beautiful  young  princess.  In 
case  of  death,  they  mutually  agree  not  to  survive  one  another.  To  try 
the  truth  of  his  wife,  the  emperor  going  into  a  distant  country,  orders 
a  report  of  his  death  to  be  circulated.  In  remembrance  of  her  vow, 
and  in  imitation  of  the  wives,  of  India,  she  prepares  to  thro\v  herself 
headlong  from  a  high  precipice.  She  is  prevented  by  her  father ;  who 
interposes  his  paternal  authority,  as  predominating  over  a  rash  and  un- 
lawful promise. 

CHAP.  vii.  Under  the  reign  of  Dioclesian,  a  noble  knight  had  two 
sons,  the  youngest  of  which  marries  a  harlot. 

This  story,  but  with  a  difference  of  circumstances,  ends  like  the 
beautiful  apologue  of  the  Prodigal  Son. 

CHAP.  viii.  The  emperor  Leo  commands  three  female  statues  to  be 
made.  One  has  a  gold  ring  on  a  finger  pointing  forward,  another  a 
beard  of  gold,  and  the  third  a  golden  cloak  and  purple  tunic.  Who- 
ever steals  any  of  these  ornaments,  is  to  be  punished  with  an  ignomi- 
nious death. 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM. 

This  story  is  copied  by  Gower,  in  the  CONFESSIO  AMANTIS  ;  but  he 
has  altered  some  of  the  circumstances.  He  supposes  a  statue  of  Apollo. 

Of  plate  of  golde  a  berde  he  hadde, 
The  wiche  his  brest  all  ovir  spradde 
Of  golde  also,  without  fayle, 
His  mantell  was,  of  large  entayle, 
Besette  with  perrey  all  aboute : 
Forth  ryght  he  straught  his  fynger  oute, 
Upon  the  whiche  he  had  a  rynge, 
To  seen  it  was  a  ryche  thynge, 
A  fyne  carbuncle  for  the  nones 
Moste  precious  of  all  stones w. 

In  the  sequel,  Gower  follows  the  substance  of  our  author, 

CHAP.  x.  Vespasian  marries  a  wife  in  a  distant  country,  who  re- 
fuses to  return  home  with  him,  and  yet  declares  she  will  kill  herself  if 
he  goes.  The  emperor  ordered  two  rings  to  be  made,  of  a  wondrous 
efficacy ;  one  of  which,  in  the  stone,  has  the  image  of  Oblivion,  the 
other  the  image  of  Memory :  the  ring  of  Oblivion  he  gave  to  the  em- 
press, and  returned  home  with  the  ring  of  Memory. 

CHAP.  xi.  The  queen  of  the  south  sends  her  daughter  to  king  Alex- 
ander, to  be  his  concubine.  She  was  exceedingly  beautiful,  but  had 
been  nourished  with  poison  from  her  birth.  Alexander's  master,  Ari- 
stotle, whose  sagacity  nothing  could  escape,  knowing  this,  entreated, 
that  before  she  was  admitted  to  the  king's  bed,  a  malefactor  condemned 
to  death  might  be  sent  for,  who  should  give  her  a  kiss,  in  the  presence 
of  the  king.  The  malefactor,  on  kissing  her,  instantly  dropped  down 
dead.  Aristotle,  having  explained  his  reasons  for  what  he  had  done, 
was  loaded  with  honours  by  the  king,  and  the  princess  was  dismissed 
to  her  mother. 

This  story  is  founded  on  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Aristotle's  SE- 
CRETUM  SECRETORUM  ;  in  which,  a  queen  of  India  is  said  to  have 
treacherously  sent  to  Alexander,  among  otlier  costly  presents,  the  pre- 
tended testimonies  of  her  friendship,  a  girl  of  exquisite  beauty,  who 
having  been  fed  with  serpents  from  her  infancy,  partook  of  their  na- 
ture y.  If  I  recollect  right,  in  Pliny  there  are  accounts  of  nations  whose 
natural  food  was  poison.  Mithridates,  king  of  Pontus,  the  land  of  ve- 
nomous herbs,  and  the  country  of  the  sorceress  Medea,  was  supposed 

w  Lib.  v.  fol.  122  b.  Latini,  and  that  therefore,  and  because 
y  [See  Sect.  iii.  p.  135.  note  x  of  this  the  Arabic  copies  were  scarce,  he  trans- 
volume.]     This  I  now  cite  from  a  Latin  lated  it  into  Latin. 

translation,  without  date,  but   evidently  This  printed  copy  does  not  exactly  cor- 

printed  before  1500.     It  is  dedicated  to  respond  with  MS.  Bodl.  495.  membr.  4to. 

Guido  Vere  de  Valencia,  bishop  of  Tri-  In  the  last,  Alexander's  miraculous  horn 

poly,  by  his  most  humble  Clerk,  Philip-  is  mentioned  at  fol.  45  b.     In  the  former, 

pus ;  who  says,  that  he  found  this  trea-  in  ch.  Ixxii.     The  dedication  is  the  same 

Use  in  Arabic  at  Antioch,   quo  carebant  in  both. 
VOL.  I.                                                           k 


Cxlvi  DISSERTATION  III* 

to  eat  poison.  Sir  John  Maundeville's  Travels,  I  believe,  will  afford 
other  instances. 

CHAP.  xii.  A  profligate  priest,  in  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Otto,  or 
Otho,  walking  in  the  fields,  and  neglecting  to  say  mass,  is  reformed  by 
a  vision  of  a  comely  old  man. 

CHAP.  xiii.  An  empress  having  lost  her  husband,  becomes  so  dotingly 
fond  of  her  only  son,  then  three  years  of  age,  as  not  to  bear  his  absence 
for  a  moment.  They  sleep  together  every  night,  and  when  he  was 
eighteen  years  of  age,  she  proves  with  child  by  him.  She  murthers 
the  infant,  and  her  left  hand  is  immediately  marked  with  four  circles 
of  blood.  Her  repentance  is  related,  in  consequence  of  a  vision  of  the 
holy  virgin. 

This  story  is  in  the  SPECULUM  HISTORIALE  of  Vincent  of  Beauvais, 
who  wrote  about  the  year  1250Z. 

CHAP.  xiv.  Under  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Dorotheus,  a  remark- 
able example  of  the  filial  piety  of  a  young  man,  who  redeems  his  father, 
a  knight,  from  captivity. 

CHAP.  xv.  Eufemian,  a  nobleman  in  the  court  of  the  emperor  of 
Rome,  is  attended  by  three  thousand  servants  girt  with  golden  belts, 
and  clothed  in  silken  vestments.  His  house  was  crowded  with  pil- 
grims, orphans,  and  widows,  for  whom  three  tables  were  kept  every 
day.  He  has  a  son,  Allexius,  who  quits  his  father's  palace,  and  lives 
unknown  seventeen  years  in  a  monastery  in  Syria.  He  then  returns, 
and  lives  seventeen  years  undiscovered  as  a  pilgrim  in  his  father's  fa- 
mily, where  he  suffers  many  indignities  from  the  servants. 

Allexius,  or  Alexis,  was  canonised.  The  story  is  taken  from  his  Le- 
gend8. In  the  metrical  Lives  of  the  Saints,  his  life  is  told  in  a  sort  of 
measure  different  from  that  of  the  rest,  and  not  very  common  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  our  poetry.  It  begins  thus : 

Lesteneth  alle  and  herkeneth  me, 
Zonge  and  olde,  bonde  and  fre, 

And  ich  zow  telle  sone, 
How  a  zobght  man,  gent  and  fre, 
Bygan  this  worldis  wele  to  fie, 

Y-born  he  was  in  Rome. 

In  Rome  was  a  dozty  man 
That  was  y-cleped  Eufemian, 

Man  of  moche  myzte ; 
Gold  and  seluer  he  hadde  ynouz, 
Hall  and  boures,  oxse  and  plouz, 

And  swith  wel  it  dyzte.     ' 

When  Allexius  returns  home  in  disguise,  and  asks  his  father  about  his 
son,  the  father's  feelings  are  thus  described : 

1  Lib.  vii.  cap.  93  seq.  f.  86  b.  edit.  Yen.         *  See  Caxton,  Gold.  Leg.  f.  ccclxiii.  b. 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  Cxlvii 

So  sone  so  he  spake  of  his  sone, 
The  guode  man,  as  was  his  wone, 

Gan  to  sikeb  sore  ; 
His  herte  felc  so  colde  so  ston, 
The  teres  felle  to  his  tond, 

On  her  herd  hore. 

At  his  burial,  many  miracles  are  wrought  on  the  sick : 

With  mochel  sizte,  and  mochel  song, 
That  holy  cors,  hem  alle  among, 
Bischoppis  to  cherche  bere. 

Amyddes  rizt  the  heze  stretef, 
So  moche  folke  hym  gone  mete 

That  they  resten  a  stonde, 
All  the  sikeg  that  to  him  come, 
I-heled  wer  swithe  sone 

Of  feth  and  eke  of  honde  : 

The  blinde  come  to  hare1  sizt, 
The  croked  gonne  sone  riztk, 

The  lame  for  to  go : 
That  dombe  wer  fonge1  speeche, 
Thez  heredem  God  the  sothe  leche", 

And  that  halwe0  also. 

The  day  zede  and  drouz  to  nyzt, 
No  lenger  dwelle?  they  ne  myzt, 

To  cherche  they  moste  wende ; 
The  bellen  they  gonne  to  rynge, 
The  clerkes  heze^  to  synge, 

Everich  in  his  ender. 

Tho  the  corse  to  cherche  com 
Glad  they  wer  ev'erichon   • 

That  there  ycure  wer, 
The  pope  and  the  emperour 
Byfore  an  auter  of  seynt  Savour 

Ther  sette  they  the  bere. 

Aboute  the  bere  was  moche  lizt 
With  proude  palle  was  bedizt, 
I-beten  al  with  golde8. 

b  sigh.  c  felt.  m  herfed,  blessed. 

d  feet.  e  sighs.  n  the  true  physician.  °  hallovr. 

f  high-street.  p  tarry.  q  high. 

g  they  sighed.  [All  the  sick. — RITSON.]  r  at  his  seat  in  the  choir. 

11  feet.  1  their.  *  MSS.  Coll.  Trin.  Oxon.  Cod.  ST.supr. 

k  straight.         l  found  [took,  received}.  citat. 


Cxlviii  "*       DISSERTATION   III. 

The  history  of  saint  Allexius  is  told  entirely  in  the  same  words  in  the 
GESTA  ROMANORUM,  and  in  the  LEGENDA  AUREA  of  Jacobus  de  Vo- 
ragineS  translated,  through  a  French  medium,  by  Caxton.  This  work 
of  Jacobus  does  not  consist  solely  of  the  legends  of  the  saints,  but  is 
interspersed  with  multis  aliis  pulcherrimis  et  peregrinis  historiis,  with 
many  other  most  beautiful  and  strange  histories v. 

CHAP.  xvi.  A  Roman  emperor  in  digging  for  the  foundation  of 
a  new  palace,  finds  a  golden  sarcophagus,  or  coffin,  inscribed  with 
mysterious  words  and  sentences.  Which  being  explained,  prove  to 
be  so  many  moral  lessons  of  instruction  for  the  emperor's  future  con- 
duct. 

CHAP.  xvii.  A  poor  man  named  Guido  engages  to  serve  an  emperor 
of  Rome  in  six  several  capacities  or  employments.  One  of  these  ser- 
vices is,  to  show  the  best  way  to  the  holy  land.  Acquitting  himself  in 
all  with  singular  address  and  fidelity,  he  is  made  a  knight,  and  loaded 
with  riches. 

CHAP,  xviii.  A  knight  named  Julian  is  hunting  a  stag,  who  turns 
and  says,  "  You  will  kill  your  father  and  mother."  On  this  he  went 
into  a  distant  country,  where  he  married  a  rich  lady  of  a  castle.  Ju- 
lian's father  and  mother  travelled  into  various  lands  to  find  their  son, 
and  at  length  accidentally  came  to  this  castle,  in  his  absence ;  where 
telling  their  story  to  the  lady,  who  had  heard  it  from  her  husband,  she 
discovered  who  they  were,  and  gave  them  her  own  bed  to  sleep  in. 
Early  in  the  morning,  while  she  was  at  mass  in  the  chapel,  her  husband 
Julian  unexpectedly  returned;  and  entering  his  wife's  chamber,  per- 
ceived two  persons  in  the  bed,  whom  he  immediately  slew  with  his 
sword,  hastily  supposing  them  to  be  his  wife  and  her  adulterer.  At 
leaving  the  chamber,  he  met  his  wife  coming  from  the  chapel ;  and 
with  great  astonishment  asked  her,  who  the  persons  were  sleeping  in 
her  bed  ?  She  answered,  "  They  are  your  parents,  who  have  been  seek- 
ing you  so  long,  and  whom  I  have  honoured  with  a  place  in  our  own 
bed."  Afterwards  they  founded  a  sumptuous  hospital  for  the  accom- 
modation of  travellers,  on  the  banks -of  a  dangerous  river. 

This  story  is  told  in  Caxton's  GOLDEN  LEGENDEU,  and  in  the  metri- 
cal Lives  of  the  Saints w.  Hence  Julian,  or  Saint  Julian,  was  called 
hospitator,  or  the  gode  herberjour  •  and  the  Pater  Noster  became  fa- 
mous, which  he  used  to  say  for  the  souls  of  his  father  and  mother  whom 
he  had  thus  unfortunately  killed x.  The  peculiar  excellences  of  this 
prayer  are  displayed  by  Boccacey.  Chaucer,  speaking  of  the  hospitable 
disposition  of  his  FRANKELEIN,  says, 

Saint  Julian  he  was  in  his  own  countre2. 

*  Hystor.lxxxix.  f.  clviii.  edit.  1479.  fol.  u  Fol.  90.  edit.  1493. 

And  in  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  who  quotes  w  MSS.  Bodl.  1596.  f.  4. 

Gesta  AUexii,  SpecuL  Hist.  lib.  xviii.  cap.  *  Ibid.  y  Decam.  D.  ii.  N.  2. 

43  seq.  f.  241  b.  *  Prol.  v.  342.     See  infr.  vol.  ii.  Sect. 

v  In  the  Colophon.  xvii.  p.  202. 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  CXiix 

This  history  is,  like  the  last,  related  by  our  compiler,  in  the  words  of 
Julian's  Legend,  as  it  stands  in  Jacobus  de  Voraginea.  Bollandus  has 
inserted  Antoninus's  account  of  this  saint,  which  appears  also  to  be 
literally  the  sameb.  It  is  told,  yet  not  exactly  in  the  same  words,  by 
Vincent  of  Beauvaisc. 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  observing,  that  the  Legends  of  the  Saints, 
so  frequently  referred  to  in  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  often  contain 
high  strokes  of  fancy,  both  in  the  structure  and  decorations  of  the 
story.  That  they  should  abound  in  extravagant  conceptions,  may  be 
partly  accounted  for,  from  the  superstitious  and  visionary  cast  of  the 
writer:  but  the  truth  is,  they  derive  this  complexion  from  the  east. 
Some  were  originally  forged  by  monks  of  the  Greek  church,  to  whom 
the  oriental  fictions  and  mode  of  fabling  were  familiar.  The  more 
early  of  the  Latin  lives  were  carried  over  to  Constantinople,  where 
they  were  translated  into  Greek  with  new  embellishments  of  eastern 
imagination.  These  being  returned  into  Europe,  were  translated  into 
Latin,  where  they  naturally  superseded  the  old  Latin  archetypes.  Others 
of  the  Latin  lives  contracted  this  tincture,  from  being  written  after  the 
Arabian  literature  became  common  in  Europe.  The  following  ideas 
in  the  Life  of  Saint  Pelagian  evidently  betray  their  original: — "As  the 
bysshop  sange  masse  in  the  cyte  of  Usanance,  he  saw  thre  dropes  ryghte 
clere  all  of  one  gratenesse  whiche  were  upon  the  aulter,  and  al  thre 
ranne  to  gyder  in  to  a  precyous  gemme :  and  whan  they  had  set  thys 
gemme  in  a  crosse  of  golde,  al  the  other  precyous  stones  that  were 
there,  fyllen  outd,  and  thys  gemme  was  clere  to  them  that  were  clene 
out  of  synne,  and  it  was  obscure  and  dark  to  synners6,"  &c.  The  pe- 
culiar cast  of  romantic  invention  was  admirably  suited  to  serve  the 
purposes  of  superstition. 

Possevin,  a  learned  Jesuit,  who  wrote  about  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  complains,  that  for  the  last  five  hundred  years  the  courts  of 
all  the  princes  in  Europe  had  been  infatuated  by  reading  romance* ; 
and  that,  in  his  time,  it  was  a  mark  of  inelegance,  not  to  be  familiarly 
acquainted  with  Lancelot  du  Lake,  Perceforest,  Tristan,  Giron  the 
Courteous,  Amadis  de  Gaul,  Primaleon,  Boccace's  Decameron,  and 
Ariosto.  He  even  goes  so  far  as  to  say,  that  the  devil  instigated  Lu- 
ther to  procure  a  translation  of  Amadis  from  Spanish  into  French,  for 
the  purpose  of  facilitating  his  grand  scheme  of  overthrowing  the  catho- 
lic religion.  The  popularity  of  this  book,  he  adds,  warped  the  minds 
of  the  French  nation  from  their  ancient  notions  and  studies;  intro- 
duced a  neglect  of  the  Scriptures,  and  propagated  a  love  for  astrology, 
and  other  fantastic  artsf.  But  with  the  leave  of  this  zealous  catholic  I 
would  observe,  that  this  sort  of  reading  was  likely  to  produce,  if  any, 

a  Hystor.  xxxii.  f.  Ixii.  a.  d  fell  out. 

b  Act.  Sanctor.  torn.  ii.    Januar.  p.  974.  *  Caxton's  Gold.  Leg.  f.  ccclxxxxviii. 

Antv.  1643.  '  Biblioth.  Select,  lib.i.  cap.  25.  p.  113. 

c  Specul.  Hist.  lib.  ix.  c.  115.  f.  115.  edit.  1593. 
Vc-net.  1591. 


d  DISSERTATION  III. 

an  effect  quite  contrary.  The  genius  of  romance  and  of  popery  was 
the  same ;  and  both  were  strengthened  by  the  reciprocation  of  a  simi- 
lar spirit  of  credulity.  The  dragons  and  the  castles  of  the  one  were 
of  a  piece  with  the  visions  and  pretended  miracles  of  the  other.  The 
ridiculous  theories  of  false  and  unsolid  science,  which,  by  the  way, 
had  been  familiarised  to  the  French  by  other  romances,  long  before 
the  translation  of  Amadis,  were  surely  more  likely  to  be  advanced 
under  the  influence  of  a  religion  founded  on  deception,  than  in  conse- 
quence of  Luther's  reformed  system,  which  aimed  at  purity  and  truth, 
and  which  was  to  gain  its  end  by  the  suppression  of  ancient  prejudices. 

Many  of  the  absurdities  of  the  catholic  worship  were  perhaps,  as  I 
have  hinted,  in  some  degree  necessary  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church, 
on  account  of  the  ignorance  of  the  people;  at  least,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances they  were  natural,  and  therefore  excusable.  But  when  the 
world  became  wiser,  those  mummeries  should  have  been  abolished,  for 
the  same  reason  that  the  preachers  left  off  quoting  Esop's  fables  in  their 
sermons,  and  the  stage  ceased  to  instruct  the  people  in  the  scripture- 
history  by  the  representation  of  the  MYSTERIES.  The  advocates  of  the 
papal  communion  do  not  consider,  that  in  a  cultivated  age,  abounding 
with  every  species  of  knowledge,  they  continue  to  retain  those  fooleries 
which  were  calculated  only  for  Christians  in  a  condition  of  barbarism, 
and  of  which  the  use  now  no  longer  subsists. 

CHAP.  xix.  When  Julius  Cesar  was  preparing  to  pass  the  Rubicon,  a 
gigantic  spectre  appeared  from  the  middle  of  the  river,  threatening  to 
interrupt  his  passage,  if  he  came  not  to  establish  the  peace  of  Rome  *. 
Our  author  cites  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM  for  this  story. 

It  was  impossible  that  the  Roman  history  could  pass  through  the 
dark  ages  without  being  infected  with  many  romantic  corruptions.  In- 
deed, the  Roman  was  almost  the  only  ancient  history  which  the  read- 
ers of  those  ages  knew :  and  what  related  even  to  pagan  Rome,  the 
parent  of  the  more  modern  papal  metropolis  of  Christianity,  was  re- 
garded with  a  superstitious  veneration,  and  often  magnified  with  mira- 
culous additions. 

CHAP.  xx.  The  birth  of  the  emperor  Henry,  son  of  earl  Leopold,  and 
his  wonderful  preservation  from  the  stratagems  of  the  emperor  Con- 
rade,  till  his  accession  to  the  imperial  throne. 

This  story  is  told  by  Caxton  in  the  GOLDEN  LEGENDE,  under  the 
life  of  Pe.lagian  the  pope,  entitled,  Herefoloweth  the  lyf  of  Saynt  Pela- 
gyen  the  pope,  with  many  other  hystoryes  and  gestys  of  the  Lombardes, 

*  It  is  singular  that  Warton  did  not  re-  Et  gemitu  permixta  loqui : — Quo  tenditis 
collect  the  well-known  passage  in  Lucan:  ultra  ? 

"  Ut  ventum  est  parvi  Rubiconisadundas,  QUO  fertis  mea  signa,  viri  ?  Si  jure  ve- 
Ingens  visa  duct  patrice  trepidantis  imago,  nitis, 

Clara    per    obscurain    vultu    mcestissima  si    cives,    hue    usque    licet." — Pharsalia, 

noctem,  lib.  i.  185—192. 

Turrigero  canos  effundens  vertice  crines,  This   is   evidently  the  prototype  of  the 

Caesarie  lacera,  nudisque  adstare  lacertis,  story  in  the  Gesta.— R.G. 


ON  THE  GKSTA  ROMANOIIUM. 


cli 


and  of  Machomete,  with  other  cronycles*.  The  GESTA  LONGOBARDO- 
RUM  are  fertile  in  legendary  matter,  and  furnished  Jacobus  de  Vora- 
gine,  Caxton's  original,  with  many  marvellous  histories11.  Caxton,  from 
the  gestes  of  the  Lombardis,  gives  a  wonderful  account  of  a  pestilence 
in  Italy,  under  the  reign  of  king  Gilbert1. 

There  is  a  LEGENDA  SANCTORUM,  sive  HISTORIA  LOMBARDICA, 
printed  in  1483.  This  very  uncommon  book  is  not  mentioned  by 
Maittaire.  It  has  this  colophon  :  "  Expliciunt  quorundam  Sanctorum 
Legende  adjuncte  post  Lombardicam  historiam.  Impressa  Argentine, 
M.cccc.Lxxxin.k"  That  is,  the  latter  part  of  the  book  contains  a  few 
saints  not  in  the  history  of  the  Lombards,  which  forms  the  first  part. 
I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  examine  whether  this  is  Jaco- 
bus's LEGENDA  ;  but  I  believe  it  to  be  the  same.  I  think  I  have  seen 
an  older  edition  of  the  work,  at  Cologne  14701. 

I  have  observed  that  Caxton's  GOLDEN  LEGENDE  is  taken  from  Ja- 
cobus de  Voragine.  This  perhaps  is  not  precisely  true.  Caxton  in- 
forms us  in  his  first  preface  to  the  first  edition  of  1483 m,  that  he  had 
in  his  possession  a  Legend  in  French,  another  in  Latin,  and  a  third  in 
English,  which  varied  from  the  other  two  in  many  places ;  and  that 
MANY  HISTORIES  were  contained  in  the  English  collection,  which  did 
not  occur  in  the  French  and  Latin.  Therefore,  says  he,  "  I  have  wry- 
ton  ONE  OUTE  of  the  sayd  three  bookes :  which  I  have  orderyd  other- 
wyse  than  in  the  sayd  Englysshe  Legende,  which  was  so  to  fore  made." 
Caxton's  English  original  might  have  been  the  old  METRICAL  LIVES 
OF  THE  SAINTS. 

CHAP.  xxi.  A  story  from  Justin,  concerning  a  conspiracy  of  the 
Spartans  against  their  king. 

CHAP.  xxii.  How  the  Egyptians  deified  Isis  and  Osiris.  From  saint 
Austin,  as  is  the  following  chapter. 

CHAP.  xxiv.  Of  a  magician  and  his  delicious  garden,  which  he  shows 
only  to  fools  arid  to  his  enemies. 

•  CHAP.  xxv.  Of  a  lady  who  keeps  the  staff  and  scrip  of  a  stranger, 
who  rescued  her  from  the  oppressions  of  a  tyrant :  but  being  after- 
wards courted  by  three  kings,  she  destroys  those  memorials  of  her 
greatest  benefactor. 

CHAP.  xxvi.  An  emperor,  visiting  the  holy  land,  commits  his  daugh- 
ter and  his  favorite  dog,  who  is  very  fierce,  to  the  custody  of  five 
knights,  under  the  superintendence  of  his  seneschal.  The  seneschal 
neglects  his  charge  :  the  knights  are  obliged  to  quit  their  post  for  want 
of  necessaries ;  and  the  dog,  being  fed  with  the  provisions  assigned  to 
the  knights,  grows  fiercer,  breaks  his  three  chains,  and  kills  the  lady 
who  was  permitted  to  wander  at  large  in  her  father's  hall.  When  the 
emperor  returns,  the  seneschal  is  thrown  into  a  burning  furnace. 

6  Fol.  ccclxxxxvii.  b.  quae  et   LOMBARDICA  dicitur."      Lugd. 

h  See  his  Legend.  Aur.  fol.  cccxv.  1509.  fol. 

5   Ubi  supr.  f.  Ixxvi.                    k  Fol.  m  Fol.  at  Westminster.     This  is  one  of 

1  Fol.     See  also  "Legenda  Sanctorum  the  finest  of  Caxton's  publications. 


Clii  DISSERTATION  III. 

CHAP,  xxviii.    The  old  woman  and  her  little  dog. 

CHAP.  xxx.  The  three  honours  and  three  dishonours,  decreed  by  a 
certain  king  to  every  conqueror  returning  from  war. 

CHAP.  xxxi.  The  speeches  of  the  philosophers  on  seeing  king  Alex- 
ander's golden  sepulchre. 

CHAP,  xxxiii.  A  man  had  three  trees  in  his  garden,  on  which  his 
three  wives  successively  hanged  themselves.  Another  begs  an  offset 
from  each  of  the  trees,  to  be  planted  in  the  gardens  of  his  married 
neighbours.  From  Valerius  Maximus,  who  is  cited. 

CHAP,  xxxiv.  Aristotle's  seven  rules  to  his  pupil  Alexander. 

This,  I  think,  is  from  the  SECRETA  SECRETORUM.  Aristotle,  for  two 
reasons,  was  a  popular  character  in  the  dark  ages.  He  was  the  father 
of  their  philosophy ;  and  had  been  the  preceptor  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  one  of  the  principal  heroes  of  romance.  Nor  was  Aristotle  him- 
self without  his  romantic  history ;  in  which  he  falls  in  love  with  a  queen 
of  Greece,  who  quickly  confutes  his  subtlest  syllogisms. 

CHAP.  xxxv.  The  GESTA  ROMANORUM  cited,  for  the  custom  among 
the  ancient  Romans  of  killing  a  lamb  for  pacifying  quarrels. 

CHAP,  xxxvi.  Of  a  king  who  desires  to  know  the  nature  of  man. 
Solinus,  DE  MIRABILIBUS  MUNDI,  is  here  quoted. 

CHAP,  xxxvii.  Pliny's  account  of  the  stone  which  the  eagle  places 
in  her  nest,  to  avoid  the  poisor  of  a  serpent. 

CHAP,  xxxix.  Julius  Cesar's  mediation  between  two  brothers.  From 
the  GESTA  ROMANORUM. 

We  must  not  forget,  that  there  was  the  Romance  of  JULIUS  CESAR. 
And  I  believe  Antony  and  Cleopatra  were  more  known  characters  in 
the  dark  ages  than  is  commonly  supposed.  Shakspeare  is  thought  to 
have  formed  his  play  on  this  story  from  North's  translation  of  Amyot's 
unauthentic  French  Plutarch,  published  at  London  in  1579.  Mont- 
faucon,  among  the  manuscripts  of  Monsieur  Lancelot,  recites  an  old 
piece  written  about  the  year  1500,  "LA  VIE  ET  FAIS  DE  MARC  AN- 
TOINE  le  triumvir  et  de  sa  mie  CLEOPATRA,  translate  de  1'historien 
Plutarque  pour  tres  illustre  haute  et  puissante  dame  Madame  Fran- 
coise  de  Fouez  Dame  de  Chateaubriand11."  I  know  not  whether  this 
piece  was  ever  printed.  At  least  it  shows,  that  the  story  was  familiar 
at  a  more  early  period  than  is  imagined ;  and  leads  us  to  suspect,  that 
there  might  have  been  other  materials  used  by  Shakspeare  on  this  sub- 
ject, than  those  hitherto  pointed  out  by  his  commentators. 

That  Amyot's  French  version  of  Plutarch  should  contain  corruptions 
and  innovations,  will  easily  be  conceived,  when  it  is  remembered  that 
he  probably  translated  from  an  old  Italian  version0.  A  new  exhibition 

0  Bibl.  Manuscr.   torn.  ii.    pag.  1669.  rewarded  with  an  abbacy  for  translating 

col.  2.  the  Theagenes  and  Chariclea  of  Heliodo- 

0  See  Bibl.  Fr.  de  la  Croix,  &c.  torn.  i.  rus,   for  writing  which,  the   author  was 

p.  388.     Amyot  was  a  great  translator  of  deprived  of  a  bishoprick.     He  died  about 

Greek  books;  but  I  fear,  not  always  from  1580. 
the  Greek.    It  is  remarkable,  that  he  was 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  cliil 

in  English  of  the  French  caricature  of  this  most  valuable  biographer 
by  North,  must  have  still  more  widely  extended  the  deviation  from  the 
original. 

CHAP.  xl.  The  infidelity  of  a  wife  proved  by  feeling  her  pulse  in  con- 
versation. From  Macrobius. 

CHAP.  xlii.  Valerius  Maximus  is  cited,  concerning  a  column  at  Rome 
inscribed  with  four  letters  four  times  written. 

CHAP.  xliv.  Tiberius  orders  a  maker  of  ductile  glass,  which  could 
not  be  broken,  to  be  beheaded,  lest  it  should  become  more  valuable 
than  silver  and  gold. 

This  piece  of  history,  which  appears  also  in  Cornelius  Agrippa  DE 
VANITATE  SCIENTIARUMP,  is  taken  from  Pliny,  or  rather  from  his 
transcriber  Isidore  ^.  Pliny,  in  relating  this  story,  says,  that  the  tem- 
perature of  glass,  so  as  to  render  it  flexible,  was  discovered  under  the 
reign  of  Tiberius. 

In  the  same  chapter  Pliny  observes,  that  glass  is  susceptible  of  all 
colours :  "  Fit  et  album,  et  murrhinum,  aut  hyacinthos  sapphirosque 
imitatum,  et  omnibus  aliis  coloribus.  Nee  est  alia  nunc  materia  se- 
quacior,  aut  etiam  PICTURES  ACCOMMODATIOR.  Maximus  tamen  ho- 
nor in  candidor."  But  the  Romans,  as  the  last  sentence  partly  proves, 
probably  never  used  any  coloured  glass  for  windows.  The  first  notice 
of  windows  of  a  church  made  of  coloured  glass  occurs  in  chronicles 
quoted  by  Muratori.  In  the  year  802,  a  pope  built  a  church  at  Rome, 
and,  "  fenestras  ex  vitro  diversis  coloribus  conclusit  atque  decoravit8." 
And  in  856,  he  produces  "  fenestras  vero  vitreis  coloribus*,"  &c.  This 
however  was  a  sort  of  mosaic  in  glass.  To  express  figures  in  glass,  or 
what  we  now  call  the  art  of  painting  in  glass,  was  a  very  different  work; 
and,  I  believe,  I  can  show  it  was  brought  from  Constantinople  to  Rome 
before  the  tenth  century,  with  other  ornamental  arts.  Guicciardini, 
who  wrote  about  1560,  in  his  Descrittione  de  tutti  PaesiBassi,  ascribes 
the  invention  of  baking  colours  in  glass  for  church-windows  to  the 
Netherlandersu;  but  he  does  not  mentis  the  period,  and  I  think  he 
must  be  mistaken.  It  is  certain  that  this  art  owed  much  to  the  labor- 
ious and  mechanical  genius  of  the  Germans ;  and,  in  particular,  their 
deep  researches  and  experiments  in  chemistry,  which  they  cultivated 
in  the  dark  ages  with  the  most  indefatigable  assiduity,  must  have  greatly 
assisted  its  operations.  I  could  give  very  early  anecdotes  of  this  art  in 

p  Orig.  lib.  xvi.  cap.  xv.  p.  1224.    Apud  rubric  of  the  last  section,  by  Le  Comte  de 

Auct.  Ling.  Lat.  1602.  Tanlcarville. 

Isidore's  was  a  favorite  REPERTORY  of  q  Sandford's  English  Translat.  cap.  90. 

the  middle  age.     He  is  cited  for  an  ac-  p.  159  a.  edit.  Lond.  1569.  4to. 

count  of  the  nature  and  qualities  of  the  r  Nat.  Hist.  lib.  xxxvi.  cap.  xvi.  p.  725. 

Falcon,  in  the  Prologue  to  the  second  or  edit.  Lugd.  1615. 

metrical  part  of  the  old  Phebus  de  deduiz  *  Dissert.  Antichit.  Ital.  torn.  i.  c.  xxiv. 

de  la  chasse  des  Bestes  sauvages  et  des  oy~  p.  287. 

seaux  de  Proye,  printed  early  at  Paris  with-  *  Ibid.  p.  281. 

out  date,  and  written,  as  appears  by  the  u  Antw.  Plantin.  1580.  fol. 


DISSERTATION  III. 

England.  But,  with  the  careless  haste  of  a  lover,  I  am  anticipating 
what  I  have  to  say  of  it  in  my  HISTORY  OF  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 
IN  ENGLAND. 

CHAP.  xlv.  A  king  leaves  four  sons  by  his  wife,  only  one  of  which 
is  lawfully  begotten.  They  have  a  contest  for  the  throne.  The  dispute 
is  referred  to  the  deceased  king's  secretary,  who  orders  the  body  to  be 
taken  from  the  tomb  ;  and  decrees,  that  the  son  who  can  shoot  an  arrow 
deepest  into  it  shall  be  king.  The  first  wounds  the  king's  right  hand ; 
the  second  his  mouth  ;  the  third  his  heart.  The  last  wound  is  supposed 
to  be  the  successful  one.  At  length  the  fourth,  approaching  the  body, 
cried  out  with  a  lamentable  voice,  "  Far  be  it  from  me  to  wound  my 
father's  body!"  In  consequence  of  this  speech,  he  is  pronounced  by 
the  nobles  and  people  present  to  be  the  true  heir,  and  placed  on  the 
throne. 

CHAP,  xlviii.  Dionysius  is  quoted  for  the  story  of  Perillus's  brazen 
bull. 

Gower  in  the  CONFESSIO  AMANTIS  has  this  story ;  which  he  pre- 
faces by  saying  that  he  found  it  in  a  Cronike*.  In  Caxton's  Golden 
Legende,  Macrobius  is  called  a  chronicle.  "  Macrobius  sayth  in  a 
cronikex."  Chronicles  are  naturally  the  first  efforts  of  the  literature  of 
a  barbarous  age.  The  writers,  if  any,  of  those  periods  are  seldom  equal 
to  anything  more  than  a  bare  narration  of  facts  ;  and  such  sort  of  mat- 
ter is  suitable  to  the  taste  and  capacity  of  their  cotemporary  readers. 
A  further  proof  of  the  principles  advanced  in  the  beginning  of  this 
Dissertation. 

CHAP.  xlix.  The  duchess  Rosmilla  falls  in  love  with  Conan,  king  of 
Hungary,  whom  she  sees  from  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Foro-Juli,  which 
he  is  besieging.  She  has  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  She  betrays 
the  city  to  Conan,  on  condition  that  he  will  marry  her  the  next  day. 
Conan,  a  barbarian,  executed  the  contract ;  but  on  the  third  day  ex- 
posed her  to  his  whole  army,  saying,  "  Such  a  wife  deserves  such  a 
husband." 

Paulus,  that  is,  Paulus  Diaconus,  the  historian  of  the  Longobards,  is 
quoted.  He  was  chancellor  of  Desiderius,  the  last  king  of  the  Lom- 
bards ;  with  whom  he  was  taken  captive  by  Charlemagne.  The  history 
here  referred  to  is  entitled  GESTA  LONGC-BARDC-RUM?. 

CHAP.  1.  From  Valerius  Maximus. 

CHAP.  li.  From  Josephus. 

CHAP.  Hi.  From  Valerius  Maximus. 

CHAP.  liii.  From  the  same. 

CHAP.  liv.  The  emperor  Frederick's  marble  portico  near  Capua. 

T  ^ib'  Vi-  f"  161  b<  col-  **  king  is  Cacan>  or  Cacanus,  a  king  of  the 

x  Fol.  Ixii.  b.  Huns.  There  are  some  fine  circumstances 

y  See  lib.  iv.  cap.  xxviii.  Apud  Mura-  of  distress  in  Paulus's  description  of  this 

torii  Scriptor.  ftal.  i.  p.465.  edit.  Mediolan.  siege. 

1723.  where  she  is  called  Romilda.    The 


ON    THE    GESTA    ROMANORUM.  civ 

I  wonder  there  are  not  more  romances  extant  on  the  lives  of  the 
Roman  emperors  of  Germany  ;  many  of  whom,  to  say  no  more,  were 
famous  in  the  crusades.  There  is  a  romance  in  old  German  rhyme, 
called  TEUERDANK,  on  Maximilian  the  First,  written  by  Melchior 
Pfinzing  his  chaplain.  Printed  at  Nuremberg  in  1517Z. 

CHAP.  Iv.  Of  a  king  who  has  one  son  exceedingly  beautiful,  and  four 
daughters,  named  Justice,  Truth,  Mercy,  and  Peace. 

CHAP.  Ivi.  A  nobleman  invited  a  merchant  to  his  castle,  whom  he 
met  accordingly  upon  the  road.  At  entering  the  castle,  the  merchant 
was  astonished  at  the  magnificence  of  the  chambers,  which  were  over- 
laid with  gold.  At  supper,  the  nobleman  placed  the  merchant  next  to 
his  wife,  who  immediately  shewed  evident  tokens  of  being  much  struck 
with  her  beauty.  The  table  was  covered  with  the  richest  dainties ;  but 
while  all  were  served  in  golden  dishes,  a  pittance  of  meat  was  placed 
before  the  lady  in  a  dish  made  out  of  a  human  skull.  The  merchant 
was  surprised  and  terrified  at  this  strange  spectacle.  At  length  he  was 
conducted  to  bed  in  a  fair  chamber;  where,  when  left  alone,  he  ob- 
served a  glimmering  lamp  in  a  nook  or  corner  of  the  room,  by  which 
he  discovered  two  dead  bodies  hung  up  by  the  arms.  He  was  now 
filled  with  the  most  horrible  apprehensions,  and  could  not  sleep  all  the 
night.  When  he  rose  in  the  morning,  he  was  asked  by  the  nobleman 
how  he  liked  his  entertainment  ?  He  answered,  "  There  is  plenty  of 
every  thing ;  but  the  skull  prevented  me  from  eating  at  supper,  and 
the  two  dead  bodies  which  I  saw  in  my  chamber  from  sleeping.  With 
your  leave  therefore  I  will  depart."  The  nobleman  answered,  "  My 
friend,  you  observed  the  beauty  of  my  wife.  The  skull  which  you  saw 
placed  before  her  at  supper,  was  the  head  of  a  duke,  whom  I  detected 
in  her  embraces,  and  which  I  cut  off  with  my  own  sword.  As  a  me- 
morial of  her  crime,  and  to  teach  her  modest  behaviour,  her  adulterer's 
skull  is  made  to  serve  for  her  dish.  The  bodies  of  the  two  young  men 
hanging  in  the  chamber  are  my  two  kinsmen,  who  were  murthered 
by  the  son  of  the  duke.  To  keep  up  my  sense  of  revenge  for  their 
blood,  I  visit  their  dead  bodies  every  day.  Go  in  peace,  and  remember 
to  judge  nothing  without  knowing  the  truth." 

Caxton  has  the  history  of  Albione,  a  king  of  the  Lombards,  who 
having  conquered  another  king,  "  lade  awaye  wyth  hym  Rosamounde 
his  wyf  in  captyvyte,  but  after  he  took  hyr  to  hys  wyf,  and  he  dyde  do 
make  a  cuppe  of  the  skulle  of  that  kynge  and  closed  in  fyne  golde  and 
sylver,  and  dranke  out  of  ita."  This,  by  the  way,  is  the  story  of  the 

z  Fol.  on  vellum.   It  is  not  printed  with  adopted,  as  a  romantic  tale,  into  the  Hi- 

moveable  types  ;  but  every  page  is  graved  stoires    Tragiques   of  Belleforest,  p.  297. 

in  wood  or  brass,  with  wooden  cuts.     It  edit.  1580.    The  English  reader  may  find 

is  a  most  beautiful  book.  it  in  Heylin's  Cosmographie,  B.  i.   col.  i. 

a  Golden  Leg.    f.  ccclxxxxvii.    a.   edit.  p.  57.  and  in  Machiavel's  History  of  Flo- 

1493.     The  compilers  of  the  SANCTILOGE  rence,  in  English,  Lond.  1680.  B.  i.  p.  5. 

probably    took    this    story    from  Paul  us  seq.      See    also  Lydgate's  Bochas,  B.  ix. 

Diaconus,  Gest.  Longoburd.  ut  supr.   lib.  ch.  xxvii. 
ii.  cap.  xxviii.  p.  435.  seq.     It  has  been 


DISSERTATION  III. 

old  Italian  tragedy  of  Messer  Giovanni  Rucellai  planned  on  the  model 
of  the  ancients,  and  acted  in  the  Rucellai  gardens  at  Florence,  before 
Leo  the  Tenth  and  his  court,  in  the  year  1516b.  Davenant  has  also  a 
tragedy  on  the  same  subject,  called  ALBOVINE  King  of  the  Lombards 
his  Tragedy. 

A  most  sanguinary  scene  in  Shakspeare's  TITUS  ANDRONICUS,  an 
incident  in  Dryden's,  or  Boccace's  TANCRED  AND  SIGISMONDA,  and  the 
catastrophe  of  the  beautiful  metrical  romance  of  the  LADY  OF  FAGUEL, 
are  founded  on  the  same  horrid  ideas  of  inhuman  retaliation  and  savage 
revenge:  but  in  the  two  last  pieces,  the  circumstances  are  so  inge- 
niously imagined,  as  to  lose  a  considerable  degree  of  their  atrocity,  and 
to  be  productive  of  the  most  pathetic  and  interesting  situations. 

CHAP.  Ivii.  The  enchanter  Virgil  places  a  magical  image  in  the 
middle  of  Romec,  which  communicates  to  the  emperor  Titus  all  the 
secret  offences  committed  every  day  in  the  cityd. 

This  story  is  in  the  old  black-lettered  history  of  the  necromancer 
Virgil,  in  Mr.  Garrick's  collection. 

Vincent  of  Beauvais  relates  many  wonderful  things,  mirabiliter 
actitata,  done  by  the  poet  Virgil,  whom  he  represents  as  a  magician. 
Among  others,  he  says,  that  Virgil  fabricated  those  brazen  statues  at 
Rome,  called  Salvacio  Romce,  which  were  the  gods  of  the  provinces 
conquered  by  the  Romans.  Every  one  of  these  statues  held  in  its 
hand  a  bell  framed  by  magic ;  and  when  any  province  was  meditating 
a  revolt,  the  statue,  or  idol,  of  that  country  struck  his  belle.  This  fic- 
tion is  mentioned  by  the  old  anonymous  author  of  the  MIRABILIA 
ROMJE,  written  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  printed  by  Montfaucon f. 
It  occurs  in  Lydgate's  BOCHAS.  He  is  speaking  of  the  Pantheon, 

Whyche  was  a  temple  of  old  foundacion, 
Ful  of  ydols,  up  set  on  hye  stages  ; 
There  throughe  the  worlde  of  every  nacion 
Were  of  theyr  goddes  set  up  great  ymages, 
To  every  kingdom  direct  were  their  visages, 
As  poetes  and  Fulgens^  by  hys  live 
In  bokes  olde  plainly  doth  dyscrive. 

Every  ymage  had  in  his  hande  a  bell, 
As  apperteyneth  to  every  nacion, 
Which,  by  craft  some  token  should  tell 
Whan  any  kingdom  fil  in  rebellion,  &c.h 

J  See  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xxxv.  p.  547.  in  an  old   metrical  romance  called  The 

For  the  necromancer  Virgil,  see  vol.  Stacyons  of  Rome,  in  which  Romulus  is 

11.  Sectxxviii.  p  411.  said  to  be  born  of  the  duches  of  T 

In  the  Cento  Novelle  Antiche.  Nov.  vii.  MSS.  Cotton.  Calig.  A.  2.  fol  81 

Specul.  Histor.  lib.  iv.  cap.  61.  f.  66  a.  *  Fulgentius 

'  Diar.Itel.  cap.  xx.  p.  288.  edit.  1702.  *  Tragedies  of  Bochas,  B.  ix.  ch.i.  St.  4. 

any  wonders  are  also  related  of  Rome,  Compare  vol.ii.  Sect.  xxii.  p.  284. 


ON    THE    GESTA    ROMANORUM.  civil 

This  fiction  is  not  in  Boccace,  Lydgate's  original :  it  is  in  the  above- 
cited  Gothic  history  of  Virgil.  Gower's  Virgil,  I  think,  belongs  to  the 
same  romance. 

And  eke  Virgil  of  acqueintance 
I  sigh,  where  he  the  maiden  prayd, 
Which  was  the  doughter,  as  men  sayd, 
Of  the  emperour  whilom  of  Rome.1 

CHAP.lviii.  King  Asmodeus  pardons  every  malefactor  condemned  to 
death,  who  can  tell  three  indisputable  truths  or  maxims. 

CHAP.  lix.  The  emperor  Jovinian's  history. 

On  this  there  is  an  ancient  French  MORALITE,  entitled  L'Orgueil 
et  presomption  de  I'Empereur  JoviNiANk.  This  is  also  the  story  of 
ROBERT  king  of  Sicily,  an  old  English  poem  or  romance,  from  which 
I  have  given  copious  extracts1. 

CHAP.IX.  A  king  has  a  daughter  named  Rosimund,  aged  ten  years; 
exceedingly  beautiful,  and  so  swift  of  foot,  that  her  father  promises  her 
in  marriage  to  any  man  who  can  overcome  her  in  running ;  but  those 
who  fail  in  the  attempt  are  to  lose  their  heads.  After  many  trials,  in 
which  she  was  always  victorious,  she  loses  the  race  with  a  poor  man, 
who  throws  in  her  way  a  silken  girdle,  a  garland  of  roses,  and  a  silken 
purse  inclosing  a  golden  ball,  inscribed,  "  Whoso  plays  with  me  will 
never  be  satiated  with  play."  She  marries  the  poor  man,  who  inherits 
her  father's  kingdom. 

This  is  evidently  a  Gothic  innovation  of  the  classical  tale  of  Ata- 
lanta.  But  it  is  not  impossible  that  an  oriental  apologue  might  have 
given  rise  to  the  Grecian  fable. 

CHAP.  Ixi.  The  emperor  Claudius  marries  his  daughter  to  the  phi- 
losopher Socrates. 

CHAP.  Ixii.  Florentina's  picture. 

CHAP.  Ixiii.  Vespasian's  daughter's  garden.  All  her  lovers  are 
obliged  to  enter  this  garden  before  they  can  obtain  her  love,  but  none 
return  alive.  The  garden  is  haunted  by  a  lion ;  and  has  only  one  en- 
trance, which  divides  into  so  many  windings,  that  it  never  can  be  found 
again.  At  length,  she  furnishes  a  knight  with  a  ball  or  clue  of  thread, 
and  teaches  him  how  to  foil  the  lion.  Having  achieved  this  adventure, 
he  marries  the  lady. 

Here  seems  to  be  an  allusion  to  Medea's  history. 

CHAP.  Ixiv.  A  virgin  is  married  to  a  king,  because  she  makes  him  a 
shirt  of  a  piece  of  cloth  three  fingers  long  and  broad. 

CHAP.  Ixv.  A  cross  with  four  inscriptions. 

CnAP.lxvi.  A  knight  offers  to  recover  a  lady's  inheritance,  which 
had  been  seized  by  a  tyrant,  on  condition,  that  if  he  is  slain,  she  shall 

1  Confess.  Amant.  L.  viii.  f.  clxxxix.  a.  *  See  Sect.  v.  p.  183  et   seqq.  of  this 

col.  2.  volume. 

k  See  Sect.  v.  p.  H3  of  this  vchn.e. 


Clviii  DISSERTATION  III. 

always  keep  his  bloody  armour  hanging  in  her  chamber.  He  regains 
her  property,  although  he  dies  in  the  attempt ;  and  as  often  as  she  was 
afterwards  sued  for  in  marriage,  before  she  gave  an  answer,  she  returned 
to  her  chamber,  and  contemplating  with  tears  her  deliverer's  bloody 
armour.,  resolutely  rejected  every  solicitation. 

CHAP.  Ixvii.  The  wise  and  foolish  knight. 

CHAP.  Ixviii.  A  woman  understands  the  language  of  birds.  The  three 
cocks. 

CHAP.  Ixix.  A  mother  gives  to  a  man  who  marries  her  daughter  a 
shirt,  which  can  never  be  torn,  nor  will  ever  need  washing,  while  they 
continue  faithful  to  each  other. 

CHAP.  Ixx.  The  king's  daughter,  who  requires  three  impossible 
things  of  her  lovers. 

CHAP.  Ixxii.  The  king  who  resigns  his  crown  to  his  son. 

CnAP.lxxiv.  The  golden  apple. 

CHAP.  Ixxv.  A  king's  three  daughters  marry  three  dukes,  who  all  die 
the  same  year. 

CHAP.  Ixxvi.  The  two  physicians. 

CHAP.  Ixxix.  The  fable  of  the  familiar  ass. 

CHAP.  Ixxx.  A  devout  hermit  lived  in  a  cave,  near  which  a  shepherd 
folded  his  flock.  Many  of  the  sheep  being  stolen,  the  shepherd  was 
unjustly  killed  by  his  master  as  being  concerned  in  the  theft.  The 
hermit  seeing  an  innocent  man  put  to  death,  began  to  suspect  the  ex- 
istence of  a  Divine  Providence ;  and  resolved  no  longer  to  perplex 
himself  with  the  useless  severities  of  religion,  but  to  mix  in  the  world. 
In  travelling  from  his  retirement,  he  was  met  by  an  angel  in  the  figure 
of  a  man  ;  who  said,  "  I  am  an  angel,  and  am  sent  by  God  to  be  your 
companion  on  the  road."  They  entered  a  city  ;  and  begged  for  lodging 
at  the  house  of  a  knight,  who  entertained  them  at  a  splendid  supper. 
In  the  night,  the  angel  rose  from  his  bed,  and  strangled  the  knight's 
only  child  who  was  asleep  in  the  cradle.  The  hermit  was  astonished 
at  this  barbarous  return  for  so  much  hospitality,  but  was  afraid  to  make 
any  remonstrance  to  his  companion.  Next  morning  they  went  to- 
another  city.  Here  they  were  liberally  received  in  the  house  of  an 
opulent  citizen  ;  but  in  the  night  the  angel  rose,  and  stole  a  golden  cup 
of  inestimable  value.  The  hermit  now  concluded  that  his  companion 
was  a  Bad  Angel.  In  travelling  forward  the  next  morning,  they  passed 
over  a  bridge  ;  about  the  middle  of  which  they  met  a  poor  man,  of 
whom  the  angel  asked  the  way  to  the  next  city.  Having  received  the 
desired  information,  the  angel  pushed  the  poor  man  into  the  water, 
where  he  was  immediately  drowned.  In  the  evening  they  arrived  at 
the  house  of  a  rich  man  ;  and  begging  for  a  lodging,  were  ordered  to 
sleep  in  a  shed  with  the  cattle.  In  the  morning  the  angel  gave  the 
rich  man  the  cup  which  he  had  stolen.  The  hermit,  amazed  that  the 
cup  which  was  stolen  from  their  friend  and  benefactor  should  be  given 
to  one  who  refused  them  a  lodging,  began  to  be  now  convinced  that 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  clix 

his  companion  was  the  Devil ;  and  begged  to  go  on  alone.  But  the  angel 
said,  "  Hear  me,  and  depart.  When  you  lived  in  your  hermitage  a 
shepherd  was  killed  by  his  master.  He  was  innocent  of  the  supposed 
offence ;  but  had  he  not  been  then  killed,  he  would  have  committed 
crimes  in  which  he  would  have  died  impenitent.  His  master  endea- 
vours to  atone  for  the  murther,  by  dedicating  the  remainder  of  his 
days  to  alms  and  deeds  of  charity.  I  strangled  the  child  of  the  knight. 
But  know,  that  the  father  was  so  intent  on  heaping  up  riches  for  this 
child,  as  to  neglect  those  acts  of  public  munificence  for  which  he  was 
before  so  distinguished,  and  to  which  he  has  now  returned.  I  stoje 
the  golden  cup  of  the  hospitable  citizen.  But  know,  that  from  a  life 
of  the  strictest  temperance,  he  became,  in  consequence  of  possessing 
this  cup,  a  perpetual  drunkard ;  and  is  now  the  most  abstemious  of 
men.  I  threw  the  poor  man  into  the  water.  He  was  then  honest  apd 
religious.  But  know,  had  he  walked  one  half  of  a  mile  further,  he 
would  have  murthered  a  man  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin.  I  gave  the  golden 
cup  to  the  rich  man  who  refused  to  take  us  within  his  roof.  He  has 
therefore  received  his  reward  in  this  world ;  and  in  the  next,  will  suffer 
the  pains  of  hell  for  his  inhospitality."  The  hermit  fell  prostrate  at  the 
angel's  feet;  and  requesting  forgiveness,  returned  to  his  hermitage,  fully 
convinced  of  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  God's  government. 

This  is  the  fable  of  Parnell's  HERMIT,  which  that  elegant  yet  ori- 
ginal writer  has  heightened  with  many  masterly  touches  of  poetical  co- 
louring, and  a  happier  arrangement  of  circumstances.  Among  other 
proofs  which  might  be  mentioned  of  Parnell's  genius  and  address  in 
treating  this  subject,  by  reserving  the  discovery  of  the  angel  to  a  critical 
period  at  the  close  of  the  fable,  he  has  found  means  to  introduce  a 
beautiful  description,  and  an  interesting  surprise*.  In  this  poem,  the 
last  instance  of  the  angel's  seeming  injustice,  is  that  of  pushing  the 
guide  from  the  bridge  into  the  river.  At  this,  the  hermit  is  unable  to 
suppress  his  indignation. 

Wild  sparkling  rage  inflames  the  Father's  eyes, 
He  bursts  the  bonds  of  fear,  and  madly  cries, 
"Detested  wretch!" — But  scarce  his  speech  began, 
When  the  strange  partner  seem'd  no  longer  man  : 
His  youthful  face  grew  more  serenely  sweet; 
His  robe  turn'd  white,  and  flow'd  upon  his  feet ; 
Fair  rounds  of  radiant  points  invest  his  hair ; 
Celestial  odours  fill  the  purple  air ; 
And  wings,  whose  colours  glitter'd  on  the  day, 
Wide  at  his  back  their  gradual  plumes  display  : 
The  form  ethereal  bursts  upon  his  sight, 
And  moves  in  all  the  majesty  of  light. 

*  [This  idea  is  not  original. — M.] 


Clx  DISSERTATION  III. 

The  same  apologue  occurs,  with  some  slight  additions  and  variations 
for  the  worse,  in  Howell's  LETTERS  ;  who  professes  to  have  taken  it 
from  the  speculative  sir  Philip  Herbert's  CONCEPTIONS  to  his  Son,  a 
book  which  I  have  never  seenm.  These  Letters  were  published  about 
the  year  1650.  It  is  also  found  in  the  DIVINE  DIALOGUES  of  doctor 
Henry  More",  who  has  illustrated  its  important  moral  with  the  follow- 
ing fine  reflections  :  "  The  affairs  of  this  world  are  like  a  curious,  but 
intricately  contrived  Comedy ;  and  we  cannot  judge  of  the  tendency  of 
what  is  past,  or  acting  at  present,  before  the  entrance  of  the  last  Act, 
which  shall  bring  in  Righteousness  in  triumph ;  who,  though  she  hath 
abided  many  a  brunt,  and  has  been  very  cruelly  and  despightfully  used 
hitherto  in  the  world,  yet  at  last,  according  to  our  desires,  we  shall  see 
the  knight  overcome  the  giant.  For  what  is  the  reason  we  are  so  much 
pleased  with  the  reading  romances  and  the  fictions  of  the  poets,  but 
that  here,  as  Aristotle  says,  things  are  set  down  as  they  should  be;  but 
in  the  true  history  hitherto  of  the  world,  things  are  recorded  indeed  as 
they  are,  but  it  is  but  a  testimony,  that  they  have  not  been  as  they 
should  be  ?  Wherefore,  in  the  upshot  of  all,  when  we  shall  see  that 
come  to  pass,  that  so  mightily  pleases  us  in  the  reading  the  most  in- 
genious plays  and  heroic  poems,  that  long-afflicted  vertue  at  last  comes 
to  the  crown,  the  mouth  of  all  unbelievers  must  be  for  ever  stopped. 
And  for  my  own  part,  I  doubt  not  but  that  it  will  so  come  to  pass  in 
the  close  of  the  world.  But  impatiently  to  call  for  vengeance  upon 
every  enormity  before  that  time,  is  rudely  to  overturn  the  stage  before 
the  entrance  into  the  fifth  act,  out  of  ignorance  of  the  plot  of  the  co- 
medy;  and  to  prevent  the  solemnity  of  the  general  judgement  by  more 
paltry  and  particular  executions0." 

Parnell  seems  to  have  chiefly  followed  the  story  as  it  is  told  by  this 
Platonic  theologist,  who  had  not  less  imagination  than  learning.  Pope 
used  to  say,  that  it  was  originally  written  in  Spanish.  This  I  do  not 
believe ;  but  from  the  early  connection  between  the  Spaniards  and  Ara- 
bians, this  assertion  tends  to  confirm  the  suspicion,  that  it  was  an  ori- 
ental tale. 

CHAP.  Ixxxi.  A  king  violates  his  sister.  The  child  is  exposed  in  a 
chest  in  the  sea ;  is  christened  Gregory  by  an  abbot  who  takes  him  up, 
and  after  .various  adventures  he  is  promoted  to  the  popedom.  In  their 
old  age  his  father  and  mother  go  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  in  order  to 
confess  to  this  pope,  not  knowing  he  was  their  son,  and  he  being  equally 
ignorant  that  they  are  his  parents;  when  in  the  course  of  the  confession, 
a  discovery  is  made  on  both  sides. 

CHAP.  Ixxxix.  The  three  rings. 

m  Vol.  iv.    Let.   iv.  p.   7.  edit.   1655.       collection    of    Latin    Apologues,   quoted 

above,  MSS.   Harl.  463.  fol.  8  a.      The 

Part  i.  p.  321.  Dial.  ii.  edit.  Lond.       rubric  is,  De  Angela  qui  duxit  Heremitam 
1668.   12mo.     I  must  not  forget  that  it       ad  diversa  Hospitia. 
occurs,  as  told  in  our  GESTA,  among  a  °  Ibid.  p.  335. 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  clxi 

.>• 

This  story  is  in  the  DECAMERON  P,  and  in  the  CENTO  NOVELLE  AN- 
TICHE<I:  and  perhaps  in  Swift's  TALE  OF  A  TUB. 

CHAP.  xcv.  The  tyrant  Maxentius.  From  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM, 
which  are  cited. 

I  think  there  is  the  romance  of  MAXENCE,  Constantine's  antagonist. 
CHAP.  xcvi.  King  Alexander  places  a  burning  candle  in  his  hall ; 
and  makes  proclamation,  that  he  will  absolve  all  those  who  owe  him 
forfeitures  of  life  and  land,  if  they  will  appear  before  the  candle  is  con- 
sumed. 

CHAP,  xcvii.  Prodigies  before  the  death  of  Julius  Cesar,  who  is  placed 
in  the  twenty-second  year  of  the  city.  From  the  CHRONICA,  as  they 
are  called. 

CHAP.  xcix.  A  knight  saves  a  serpent  who  is  fighting  in  a  forest 
with  a  toadr,  but  is  afterwards  bit  by  the  toad.  The  knight  languishes 
many  days ;  and  when  he  is  at  the  point  of  death,  the  same  serpent, 
which  he  remembers,  enters  his  chamber,  and  sucks  the  poison  from 
the  wound. 

CHAP.  ci.  Of  Ganterus,  who  for  his  prowess  in  war  being  elected  a 
king  of  a  certain  country,  is  on  the  night  of  his  coronation  conducted 
to  a  chamber,  where  at  the  head  of  the  bed  is  a  fierce  lion,  at  the  feet 
a  dragon,  and  on  either  side  a  bear,  toads,  and  serpents.  He  imme- 
diately quitted  his  new  kingdom ;  and  was  quickly  elected  king  of  an- 
other country.  Going  to  rest  the  first  night,  he  was  led  into  a  cham- 
ber furnished  with  a  bed  richly  embroidered,  but  stuck  all  over  with 
sharp  razors.  This  kingdom  he  also  relinquishes.  At  length  he  meets 
a  hermit,  who  gives  him  a  staff,  with  which  he  is  directed  to  knock  at 
the  gate  of  a  magnificent  palace  seated  on  a  lofty  mountain.  Here  he 
gains  admittance,  and  finds  every  sort  of  happiness  unembittered  with 
the  least  degree  of  pain. 

The  king  means  every  man  advanced  to  riches  and  honour,  and  who 
thinks  to  enjoy  these  advantages  without  interruption  and  alloy.  The 
hermit  is  religion,  the  staff  penitence,  and  the  palace  heaven. 

In  a  more  confined  sense,  the  first  part  of  this  apologue  may  be 
separately  interpreted  to  signify,  that  a  king,  when  he  enters  on  his  im- 
portant charge,  ought  not  to  suppose  himself  to  succeed  to  the  privilege 
of  an  exemption  from  care,  and  to  be  put  into  immediate  possession  of 
the  highest  pleasures,  conveniences,  and  felicities  of  life ;  but  to  be 
sensible,  that  from  that  moment  he  begins  to  encounter  the  greatest 
dangers  and  difficulties. 

CHAP.  cii.  Of  the  lady  of  a  knight  who  went  to  the  holy  land.  She 
commits  adultery  with  a  clerk  skilled  in  necromancy.  Another  magU 

p  i.  3.  attack  begins,  and  of  the  serpent  fighting  - 

q  Nov.  Ixxi.  with   and    being    killed   by   the    spider, 

r  The  stories,  perhaps  fabulous,  of  the  originate  from.  Pliny,  Nat.   Hist.   x.    84. 

serpent  fighting  with  his  inveterate  ene-  xx.  13. 

my  the  weasel,  who  eats  rue  before  the 

VOL.  I.  I 


Clxii  DISSERTATION   III. 

cian  discovers  her  intrigues  to  the  absent  knight  by  means  of  a  polished 
mirror,  and  his  image  in  wax. 

In  Adam  Davie's*  GEST  or  romance  of  ALEXANDER,  Nectabanus,  a 
king  and  magician,  discovers  the  machinations  of  his  enemies  by  em- 
battelling  them  in  figures  of  wax.  This  is  the  most  extensive  necro- 
mantic operation  of  the  kind  that  I  remember,  and  must  have  formed 
a  puppet-show  equal  to  the  most  splendid  pantomime. 

Barounes  weore  whilom  wys  and  gode, 

That  this  arss  wel  undurstode: 

Ac  on  ther  was  Neptanamous 

Wis4  in  this  ars  and  malicious : 

Whan  kyng  other  eorlu  cam  on  him  to  weorre" 

Quyk  he  loked  in  the  steorrex; 

Of  wax  made  him  popetts  y, 

And  made  heom  fyzhte  with  battes  : 

And  so  he  learned,^  vous  dy, 

Ay  to  aquelle2  hys  enemye, 

With  charms  and  with  conjurisons : 

Thus  he  assaied  the  regiouns, 

That  him  cam  for  to  asaile, 

In  puyra  manyr  of  bataileb; 

By  cler  candel  in  the  nyzt, 

He  mad  uchonc  with  othir  to  fyzt, 

Of  alle  manere  nacyouns, 

That  comen  by  schip  or  dromouns. 

At  the  laste,  of  mony  londe 

Kynges  therof  haden  gret  onde d, 

Well  thritty  y-gadred  beothe, 

And  by-spekith  al  his  dethf. 

Kyng  Philipp  &  of  grete  thede 

Maister  was  of  that  fedeh: 

He  was  a  mon  of  myzty  hond, 

With  hem  brouzte,  of  divers  lond, 

Nyne  and  twenty  ryche  kynges, 

To  make  on  hym  bataylynges : 

Neptanamous  hyt  understod ; 

Ychaunged  was  al  his  mod ; 


*  [Warton  always  refers  to  this  Ro-  b  See  Mr.  Tyrwhitt'a  Chaucer's  Cant, 
niance  as  the  composition  of  AdamDavie,  T.  ver.  1281. 

but  he  is  certainly  mistaken,  as  proved  by  each  one. 

Ellis,  Metr.  Rom.     See  infra,  vol.  ii.  Sect.  had  great  jealousy  or  anger. 

vi.  p.  6. — M.]  near  thirty  were  gathered,  or  confe- 

*  art,  necromancy.  *  wise.  derated. 

u  or  earl.  w  war.  x  stars.  all  resolved  to  destroy  him. 

y  puppets.  *  conquer.  Philip  of  Macedon. 

*  very,  real.  felde,  field,  army. 


ON  THE   OBSTA  ROMANORUM. 

He  was  aferde  sore  of  harme : 

Anon  he  deede1  caste  his  charme ; 

His  ymage  he  madde  anon, 

And  of  his  barounes  everychon, 

And  afterward  of  his  fonek; 

He  dude  hem  to  gedere  to  gon1 

In  a  basyn  al  by  charme : 

He  sazh  on  him  fel  theo  harme  m; 

He  seyz  flyen  of  his  barounes 

Of  al  his  lond  distinctiouns, 

He  lokid,  and  kneow  in  the  sterre, 

Of  al  this  kynges  theo  grete  werre0,  &C.P 

Afterwards  he  frames  an  image  of  the  queen  Olympias,  or  Olympia, 
while  sleeping,  whom  he  violates  in  the  shape  of  a  dragon. 

Theo  lady  lyzt<i  on  hire  bedde, 

Yheoledr  wel  with  silken  webbe, 

In  a  chaysel8  smok  scheo  lay, 

And  yn  a  mantell  of  doway : 

Of  theo  bryztnes  of  hire  face 

Al  about  schone  the  place*. — 

Herbes  he  tok  in  an  herber, 

And  stamped  them  in  a  morter, 

And  wrong x  hit  in  a  box: 

After  he  tok  virgyn  wox 

And  made  a  popet  after  the  quene, 

His  ars-table?  he  can  unwrene; 

The  quenes  name  in  the  wax  he  wrot, 

Whil  hit  was  sumdel  hot : 

In  a  bed  he  did  dyzt 

Al  aboute  with  candel  lyzt, 

1   he  did  (caused).  That  semyle  was  of  sy^te; 

k  enemies.  Ther  inne  lay  that  lady  gent, 

I  he  made  them  fight.  That  aftere  syr  Launfal  hedde  y-sent, 
m  he  saw  the  harm  fall  on,  or  against  That  lefsom  bemede  bryjt : 

himself.  Fore  hete  here  clothes  down  sche  dede, 

n  saw  fly.  Almest  to  here  gerdylstede  ; 

0  the  great  war  of  all  these  kings.  Than  lay  sche  uncovert: 

p  MSS.  (Bodl.  Bibl.)  Laud.  I.  74.  f.  54.  Sche  was  as  whyt  as  lylye  yn  Maye, 

II  laid.  Or  snow  that  sneweth  yn  wynterys  day; 

*  covered.  He  seyghe  nevere  non  so  pert, 

*  In  the  romance  of  Atis  et  Porphilion.       The  rede  rose  whan  sche  ys  newe 
Cod.  Reg.  Par.  7191.  A3ens  here  rode  nes  nau^t  of  hewe, 

Un  chemis  de  chaisil  I  dare  welle  say  yn  sert 

De  fil,  et  d'oevre  moult  soutll.  He;e  here  Sch°n  aS  g°Id  Wyre'  &C' 

*  Perhaps  in  Syr  Launfal,  the  same  situ-  y  ™nfg  degcribed  ab         f>  55. 
ation  is  more  elegantly  touched.     MSS. 

Cotton.  Calig.  A:  2.  fol.  35  a.  Of  gold  he  made  a  table 

Al  ful  of  steorron  [stars]. — 
In  the  pavyloun  he  lond  a  bed  or  prys, 

I-heled  with  purpur  bys  An  astrolabe  is  intended. 

12 


DISSERTATION  III. 

And  spreynd*  theron  of  the  herbus: 

Thus  charmed  Neptanabus. 

The  lady  in  hir  bed  lay 

Abouzt  mydnyzt,  ar  the  daya, 

Whiles  he  made  conjuryng, 

Scheob  sawe  flec,  in  her  metyngd, 

Hire  thought,  a  dragoun  lyzt, 

To  hire  chaumbre  he  made  his  flyzt, 

In  he  cam  to  her  bour 

And  crept  undur  hir  covertour, 

Mony  sithes6  he  hire  kustf 

And  fast  in  his  armes  prust, 

And  went  away,  so  dragon  wyld, 

.And  grete  he  left  hire  with  child.s 

Theocritus,  Virgil,  and  Horace,  have  left  instances  of  incantations 
conducted  by  figures  in  wax.  In  the  beginning  of  the  last  century, 
many  witches  were  executed  for  attempting  the  lives  of  persons,  by 
fabricating  representations  of  them  in  wax  and  clay.  King  James  the 
First,  in  his  DAEMONOLOGIE,  speaks  of  this  practice  as  very  common  ; 
the  efficacy  of  which  he  peremptorily  ascribes  to  the  power  of  the 
devil h.  His  majesty's  arguments,  intended  to  prove  how  the  ma- 
gician's image  operated  on  the  person  represented,  are  drawn  from  the 
depths  of  moral,  theological,  physical,  and  metaphysical  knowledge. 
The'  Arabian  magic  abounded  with  these  infatuations,  which  were 
partly  founded  on  the  doctrine  of  sympathy. 

But  to  return  to  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  In  this  story  one  of  the 
magicians  is  styled  Magister  peritus,  and  sometimes  simply  Magister ; 
that  is,  a  cunning-man.  The  title  Magister  in  our  universities  has  its 
origin  from  the  use  of  this  word  in  the  middle  ages.  With  what  pro- 
priety it  is  now  continued  I  will  not  say.  Mystery,  anciently  used  for 
a  particular  art1,  or  skill  in  general,  is  a  specious  and  easy  corruption 

*  sprinkled.  a  before  day.  For  he  did  all  hys  thynges  faire, 
b  she.                        c  fly.                                     And  was  curteis  and  debonaire. 

*  kfesed'her  Ibid-  co1' 2<    l  cou!d  not  resist  the  temPt- 

*  Fol.  57.    The  text  is  here  given  from  ation  of  transcribing  this  gallantry  of  a 
MSS.  BoDL.utsupr.  Compared  with  MSS.  draS°n'  Gowers  whole  description  of  this 
Hospit.  Lincoln.  150.     See  Gower's  Con-  interview   as  will  appear  on  comparison, 
fess.Amant.  lib.  vi.  fol.  cxxxviii.  a.  col.  1  st?ms  to  be  takefn  ^om  Beauvais,  "  Nee- 
'  tabanus  se  transformat  in  ilium  dracoms 

seductiorem  tractum,  tricliniumque  pene- 

And  through  the  crafte  of  artemage,  trat  reptabundus,  specie  spectabilis,  turn 

Of  waxe  he  forged  an  ymage,  &c.  majestate  totius  corporis,  turn  etiam  sibi- 

Gower's  dragon,  in  approaching  the  queen,       lonun  acuminf  adeo  te'ribil»«  ut  Pa"e!es 

is  courteis  and  debonaire.  etlam  ac/unda^enta  dom;USf  HV  , 

rentur,    &c.     Hist.  Specul.  fol.  41  b.  ut 

With  al  the  chere  that  he  maie,  supr.     See  Aul.  Gell.  Noct.Att.  vii.  1. 
Towarde  the  bedde  ther  as  she  laie,  h  Edit.  1603.  4to.  B.  ii.  ch.  iv.  p.  44  seq. 

Till  he  came  to  hir  the  beddes  side  '  For  instance,  "  the  Art  and  Mystery  of 

And  she  hue  still,  and  nothyng  cride ;  Printing." 


ON  THE  GESTA    ROMANORUM. 

of  Maistery  or  Mastery,  the  English  of  the  Latin  MAGISTERIUM,  or 
Artificium  ;  in  French  MaistrisCj  Mestier,  Mestrie,  and  in  Italian  Ma- 
gisterio,  with  the  same  sensek.  In  the  French  romance  of  CLEOMEDES, 
a  physician  is  called  simply  Maitre  l. 

Lie  sont  de  chou  qu'il  n'y  a 

Peril  et  que  bien  garira  : 

Car  il  li  MAISTRE  ainsi  dit  leur  ont. 

And  the  medical  art  is  styled  Mestrie.  "Quant  il  (the  surgeon)  aper£ut 
que  c'estoit  maladie  non  mie  curable  par  nature  et  par  MESTRIE,  et  par 
medicine1","  &c.  Maistrise  is  used  for  art  or  workmanship,  in  the 
CHRONICON  of  Saint  Denis,  "  Entre  les  autres  presens,  li  envoia  une 
horologe  de  laton,  ouvrez  par  marveilleuse  MAISTRISE  n."  That  the 
Latin  MAGISTERIUM  has  precisely  the  same  sense  appears  from  an  ac- 
count of  the  contract  for  building  the  conventual  church  of  Casino  in 
Italy,  in  the  year  1349.  The  architects  agree  to  build  the  church  in  the 
form  of  the  Lateran  at  Rome.  "  Et  in  casu  si  aliquis  [defectus]  in  eorum 
MAGISTERIO  appareret,  promiserunt  resarcire0."  Chaucer,  in  the  Ro- 
MAUNT  OF  THE  ROSE,  uses  MAISTRISE  for  artifice  and  workmanship. 

Was  made  a  toure  of  grete  maistrise, 
A  fairer  saugh  no  man  with  sight, 
Large,  and  wide,  and  of  grete  might  P,  &c. 

And,  in  the  same  poem,  in  describing  the  shoes  of  MIRTH, 
And  shode  he  was,  with  grete  maistrie, 
With  shone  decopid  and  with  lace.1* 

MAYSTRYE  occurs  in  the  description  of  a  lady's  saddle,  in  SYR  LAUN- 
FAL'S  romance, 

Here  sadelle  was  semyly  sett, 

The  sambusr  were  grene  felvet, 
I-paynted  with  ymagerye  ; 

k  In  a  statute  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  in-  ex  aurichalco  arte  mechanicamiri&ce  corn- 

stead  of  the  words  in  the  last  note,  we  have  positum." 

"  The  Science  and  Craft  of  Printing."  Ann.  °  Hist.  Casin.  torn.  ii.  p.  545.  coL  iu 

Reg.  25.  A.D.  1533.     For  many  reasons,  Chart,  ann.  1349. 
Mystery,  answering  to  the  Latin  Myste-  p  R.  R.  v.  4172.         q  Ibid.  v.  842. 

rium,  never  could  have  been  originally  ap-  *  I  know  not  what  ornament  or  imple- 

plied  in  these  cases.     [Menage,  however,  ment  of  the  ancient  horse-furniture  is  here 

gives  Ministerium  as  the  origin  of  Mestiero,  intended,  unless  it  is  a  saddle-cloth  ;  nor 

and  Metier-,  so  that  our  word  Mystery,  in  can  I  find  this  word  in  any  glossary.    But 

some  of  the  senses  in  which  it  is  used,  is  Sambue  occurs,  evidently  under  the  very 

a  confusion  of  Ministerium,  Magisterium,  same  signification,  in  the  beautiful  manu- 

and  Mysterium.     Such  is  the  tendency  of  script  French  romance  of  Garin,  written 

similar  words  to  coalesce.     See  Additional  in  the  twelfth  century. 
Notes  to  Tooke's  Diversions  of  Purley,  Li  palefrois  gur  CQ}  ,ft  dame  gist 

'  Estoit  lus  blanc  ue  nule  flor  de  KSJ 


i*«*  •   TSQO 

i  MSS.  Cod  Reg.  Paris,  7539.  Le  ^         yaut      lg  solg       .g. 

»  Mirac.  S.  Ludov.  edit,  reg  p.  438.  E    ,    g                   ,    j      /h           . 

n  Tom.  v.    Collect.  Histor.  Franc,  pag. 

254.     Thus  expressed  in  the  Latin  An-  "  The  palfrey  on  which  the  lady  sate,  was 

nalcs  Francice,  'ibid.  p.  56.  "  Horologium  whiter  than  any  flower  de  lis  :  the  bridle 


clxvi 


DISSERTATION   111. 


The  bordure  was  of  belles 8 

Of  ryche  golde  and  nothyng  ellea 

That  any  man  my$te  aspye : 
In  the  arsouns*  before  and  behynde 
Were  twey  stones  of  Ynde 

Gay  for  the  maystrye. 
The  paytrelleu  of  here  palfraye 
Was  worth  an  erldome,  &c. 

"  In  the  saddle-bow  were  two  jewels  of  India,  very  beautiful  to  be  seen, 
in  consequence  of  the  great  art  with  which  they  were  wrought*."  Chau- 
cer calls  his  Monke, 

fayre  for  the  Maistrie, 

An  outrider,  that  lovid  veneryJ 

Fayre  for  the  Maistrie  means,  skilled  in  the  Maistrie  of  the  game.  La 
Maistrise  du  Venerie,  or  the  science  of  hunting,  then  so  much  a  fa- 
vorite, as  simply  and  familiarly  to  be  called  the  maistrie.  From  many 
other  instances  which  I  could  produce,  I  will  only  add,  that  the  search 
of  the  Philosopher's  Stone  is  called  in  the  Latin  Geber,  INVESTIGATIO 
MAGISTERII. 


was  worth  a  thousand  Parisian  sols,  and 
a  richer  Sanbue  never  was  seen."  The 
French  word,  however,  is  properly  writ- 
ten Sambue,  and  is  not  uncommon  in  old 
French  wardrobe-rolls,  where  it  appears 
to  be  a  female  saddle-cloth,  or  housing. 
So  in  Le  Roman  de  la  Rose, 
Comme  royne  fust  vestue, 
Et  chevauchast  a  grand  SAMBUE. 
The  Latin  word,  and  in  the  same  restrain- 
ed sense,  is  sometimes  Sambua,  but  most 
commonly  Sambuca.  Ordericus  Vitalis, 
lib.  viii.  p.  694.  edit.  Par.  1619.  "Mannos 
et  inulas  cum  SAMBUCIS  muliebribus  pro- 
spexit."  Vincent  of  Beauvais  says,  that  the 
Tartarian  women,  when  they  ride,  have 
CAMBUCAS  of  painted  leather,  embroider- 
ed with  gold,  hanging  down  on  either  side 
of  the  horse.  Specul.Hist.x.85.  But  Vin- 
cent's CAMBUCAS  was  originally  written 
qambucas,  or  Sambucas.  To  such  an  enor- 
mity this  article  of  the  trappings  of  female 
horsemanship  had  arisen  in  the  middle 
ages,  that  Frederick  king  of  Sicily  restrain- 
ed it  by  a  sumptuary  law;  which  enjoined, 
that  no  woman,  even  of  the  highest  rank, 
should  presume  to  use  a  Sambuca,  or  sad- 
dle-cloth, in  which  were  gold,  silver,  or 
pearls,  &c.  Constitut.  cap.  92.  Queen 
Olympias,  in  Davie's  GEST  of  Alexander, 
has  a  Sambue  of  silk,  fol.  54.  [infra,  vol.  ii. 
Sect.  vi.  p.  7.] 

A  mule  also  whyte  so  mylke, 
With  sadel  of  golde,  sambue  of sylke,  &c. 
Of  this  fashion  I  have  already  given 


many  instances.  The  latest  I  remember 
is  in  the  year  1503,  at  the  marriage  of 
the  princess  Margaret.  "  In  specyall  the 
Erie  of  Northumberlannd  ware  on  a  good- 
ly gowne  of  tynsill,  fourred  with  hermynes. 
He  was  mounted  upon  a  fayre  courser,  hys 
harnays  ofgoldsmyth  worke,  and  thorough 
that  sam  was  sawen  small  belles,  that  maid 
a  mellodyous  noyse."  Leland.Coll.  ad  calc. 
torn.  iii.  p.  276. 

In  the  Nonnes  Preestes  Prologue,  Chau- 
cer, from  the  circumstance  of  the  Monke's 
bridle  being  decorated  with  bells,  takes 
occasion  to  put  an  admirable  stroke  of 
humour  and  satire  into  the  mouth  of  the 
Hoste,  which  at  once  ridicules  that  incon- 
sistent piece  of  affectation,  and  censures 
the  monk  for  the  dullness  of  his  tale.  Ver. 
14796. 

Swiche  talking  is  not  worth  a  boterflie, 
For  therin  is  ther  no  disport  ne  game  : 
Therefore  sire  monke,  dan  Piers  by  your 

name, 

I  pray  you  hertely  tell  us  somwhat  elles, 
Forsikerly,  n'ere  clinking  of  your  belles 
That  on  your  bridel  hange  on  every  side, 
By  heven  king  that  for  us  alle  dide, 
I  shoulde  or  this  have  fallen  down  for 

slepe, 
Although  the  slough  had  been  never  so 

depe. 

1  saddle-bow.  See  Sect.  iv.  p.  167  of  this 
volume. 

"  breast-plate. 


MS.  fol.  40  a. 


y  Prol.  v.  165. 


ON  THE  GKSTA  ROMANORUM. 

CHAP.  ciii.  The  merchant  who  sells  three  wise  maxims  to  the  wife 
of  Domitian. 

CHAP.  civ.  A  knight  in  hunting  meets  a  lion,  from  whose  foot  he 
extracts  a  thorn.  Afterwards  he  becomes  an  outlaw ;  and  being  seized 
by  the  king,  is  condemned  to  be  thrown  into  a  deep  pit  to  be  devoured 
by  a  hungry  lion.  The  lion  fawns  on  the  knight,  whom  he  perceives 
to  be  the  same  that  drew  the  thorn  from  his  paw.  Then  said  the  king, 
"  I  will  learn  forbearance  from  the  beasts.  As  the  lion  has  spared  your 
life,  when  it  was  in  his  power  to  take  it,  I  therefore  grant  you  a  free 
pardon.  Depart,  and  be  admonished  hence  to  live  virtuously." 

The  learned  reader  must  immediately  recollect  a  similar  story  of  one 
Androclus,  who  being  exposed  to  fight  with  wild  beasts  in  the  Roman 
amphitheatre,  is  recognised  and  unattacked  by  a  most  savage  lion, 
whom  he  had  formerly  healed  exactly  in  the  same  manner.  But  I  be- 
lieve the  whole  is  nothing  more  than  an  oriental  apologue  on  gratitude, 
written  much  earlier ;  and  that  it  here  exists  in  its  original  state.  An- 
droclus's  story  is  related  by  Aulus  Gellius,  on  the  authority  of  a  Greek 
writer,  one  Appion,  called  Plistonices,  who  flourished  under  Tiberius. 
The  character  of  Appion,  with  which  Gellius  prefaces  this  tale,  in  some 
measure  invalidates  his  credit;  notwithstanding  he  pretends  to  have 
been  an  eye-witness  of  this  extraordinary  fact.  "  Ejus  libri,"  says  Gel- 
lius, "  non  incelebres  feruntur ;  quibus,  omnium  ferme  quae  mirifica  in 
JEgypto  visuntur  audiunturque,  historia  comprehenditur.  Sed  in  his 
quae  audivisse  et  legisse  sese  dicit,  fortasse  a  vitio  studioque  ostentationis 
fit  loquacior2-,"  &c.  Had  our  compiler  of  the  GESTA  taken  this  story 
from  Gellius,  it  is  probable  he  would  have  told  it  with  some  of  the 
same  circumstances;  especially  as  Gellius  is  a  writer  whom  he  fre- 
quently follows,  and  even  quotes,  and  to  whom,  on  this  occasion,  he 
might  have  been  obliged  for  a  few  more  strokes  of  the  marvellous. 
But  the  two  writers  agree  only  in  the  general  subject.  Our  compiler's 
narrative  has  much  more  simplicity  than  that  of  Gellius ;  and  contains 
marks  of  eastern  manners  and  life.  Let  me  add,  that  the  oriental  fa- 
bulists are  fond  of  illustrating  and  enforcing  the  duty  of  gratitude,  by 
feigning  instances  of  the  gratitude  of  beasts  towards  men.  And  of  this 
the  present  compilation,  which  is  strongly  tinctured  with  orientalism, 
affords  several  other  proofs. 

CHAP.  cv.  Theodosius  the  blind  emperor  ordained,  that  the  cause 
of  every  injured  person  should  be  heard  on  ringing  a  bell  placed  in  a 
public  part  of  his  palace.  A  serpent  had  a  nest  near  the  spot  where 
the  bell- rope  fell.  In  the  absence  of  the  serpent,  a  toad  took  possession 
of  her  nest.  The  serpent  twisting  herself  round  the  rope,  rang  the 
bell  for  justice ;  and  by  the  emperor's  special  command  the  toad  was 
killed.  A  few  days  afterwards,  as  the  king  was  reposing  on  his  couch, 
the  serpent  entered  the  chamber,  bearing  a  precious  stone  in  her  mouth. 

x  Noct.  Attic,  lib.  v.  cap.  xiv.  See  an-  an  eye-witness,  ibid.  1.  vii.  cap.  viii.  It  is 
other  fabulous  story,  of  which  Appion  was  of  a  boy  beloved  by  a  dolphin. 


DISSERTATION  III. 

The  serpent  creeping  up  to  the  emperor's  face,  laid  the  precious  stone 
on  his  eyes,  and  glided  out  of  the  apartment.  Immediately  the  empe- 
ror was  restored  to  his  sight. 

This  circumstance  of  the  Bell  of  Justice  occurs  in  the  real  history 
of  some  eastern  monarch,  whose  name  I  have  forgot. 

In  the  Arabian  philosophy,  serpents,  either  from  the  brightness  of 
their  eyes,  or  because  they  inhabit  the  cavities  of  the  earth,  were  con- 
sidered as  having  a  natural  or  occult  connexion  with  precious  stones. 
In  Alphonsus's  CLERICALIS  DISCIPLINA,  a  snake  is  mentioned,  whose 
eyes  were  real  jacinths.  In  Alexander's  romantic  history,  he  is  said  to 
have  found  serpents  in  the  vale  of  Jordian,  with  collars  of  huge  eme- 
ralds growing  on  their  necks a.  The  toad,  under  a  vulgar  indiscrimi- 
nating  idea,  is  ranked  with  the  reptile  race :  and  Shakspeare  has  a 
beautiful  comparison  on  the  traditionary  notion,  that  the  toad  has  a 
rich  gem  inclosed  within  its  head.  Milton  gives  his  serpent  eyes  of 
carbuncle  b. 

CHAP.  cvi.  The  three  fellow-travellers,  who  have  only  one  loaf  of 
bread. 

This  apologue  is  in  Alphonsus. 

CHAP.  cvii.  There  was  an  image  in  the  city  of  Rome,  which  stretched 
forth  its  right  hand,  on  the  middle  finger  of  which  was  written  STRIKE 
HERE.  For  a  long  time  none  could  understand  the  meaning  of  this 
mysterious  inscription.  At  length  a  certain  subtle  Clerk,  who  came  to 
see  this  famous  image,  observed,  as  the  sun  shone  against  it,  the  shadow 
of  the  inscribed  finger  on  the  ground  at  some  distance.  He  immediately 
took  a  spade,  and  began  to  dig  exactly  on  that  spot.  He  came  at  length 
to  a  flight  of  steps  which  descended  far  under  ground,  and  led  him  to  a 
stately  palace.  Here  he  entered  a  hall,  where  he  saw  a  king  and  queen 
sitting  at  table,  with  their  nobles  and  a  multitude  of  people,  all  clothed 
in  rich  garments.  But  no  person  spake  a  word.  He  looked  towards 
one  corner,  where  he  saw  a  polished  carbuncle,  which  illuminated  the 
whole  roomc.  In  the  opposite  corner  he  perceived  the  figure  of  a  man 
standing,  having  a  bended  bow  with  an  arrow  in  his  hand,  as  prepared 

»  Vincent  Beauvais,  Specul.  Hist.  lib.  Iflorysched  with  ryche  amalle3; 

iv.  c.  58.  fol.  42.  a.  Hys  eyn  were  carbonkeles  bry$t, 

b  Parad.  Lost,  ix.  500.  As  the  mone4  they  schon  any3t, 

c  See  infra,  vol.  ii.  Sect,  xxviii.  p.  412.  That  spreteth  out  ovyre  alle  : 

So  in  the  romance,  or  Lay,  of  Syr  Laimfal,  Alysaundre  the  conqueroure, 

MSS.  Cotton.  Calig.  A.  2.  fol.  35.  a.  Ne  kyng  Artoure  yn  hys  most  honour 

And  when  they  come  in  the  forest  an  hya,  ^e  l1^?6  no°n  scwy<*e  juelle. 

A  ravyloun  yteld  he  sy3 :—  He  toncl  yn  the  pavyloun, 

The  pavyloun  was  wrouth  forsothe,  ywys,  The  kvnSes  dou3tere  of  Olyroun, 

Alle  of  werk  of  Sarsynys1,  Dame  Tryamoure  that  hyjte, 

The  pomelles 2  of  crystalle. Here  faclyr  was  kynS  of  Fayrye. 

On  the  top  was  a  beast  [an  eagle.-M.]          fA, n*  in   th,e  /"iterative  romance,  called 

the  Sege  of  Jerusalem,  MSS.  Cott.  Calig. 
Of  bournede  golde,  ryche  and  good,  A.  2.  fol.  122.  b. 

J  Saracen-work.  3  balls,  pinnacles.  3  enamel.  4  moon< 


ON  THK  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  clxix 

to  shoot.  On  his  forehead  was  written,  "  I  am,  who  am.  Nothing  can 
escape  my  stroke,  not  even  yonder  carbuncle  which  shines  so  bright." 
The  Clerk  beheld  all  with  amazement ;  and  entering  a  chamber,  saw  the 
most  beautiful  ladies  working  at  the  loom  in  purple d.  But  all  was  si- 
lence. He  then  entered  a  stable  full  of  the  most  excellent  horses  and 
asses :  he  touched  some  of  them,  and  they  were  instantly  turned  into 
stone.  He  next  surveyed  all  the  apartments  of  the  palace,  which 
abounded  with  all  that  his  wishes  could  desire.  He  again  visited  the 
hall,  and  now  began  to  reflect  how  he  should  return ;  "  but,"  says  he, 
"  my  report  of  all  these  wonders  will  not  be  believed,  unless  I  carry 
something  back  with  me."  He  therefore  took  from  the  principal  table 
a  golden  cup  and  a  golden  knife,  and  placed  them  in  his  bosom ;  when 
the  man  who  stood  in  the  corner  with  the  bow,  immediately  shot  at  the 
carbuncle,  which  he  shattered  into  a  thousand  pieces.  At  that  moment 
the  hall  became  dark  as  night.  In  this  darkness  not  being  able  to  find 
his  way,  he  remained  in  the  subterraneous  palace,  and  soon  died  a  mi- 
serable death. 

In  the  MORALISATION  of  this  story,  the  steps  by  which  the  Clerk 
descends  into  the  earth  are  supposed  to  be  the  Passions.  The  palace, 
so  richly  stored,  is  the  world  with  all  its  vanities  and  temptations.  The 
figure  with  the  bow  bent  is  Death,  and  the  carbuncle  is  Human  Life. 
He  suffers  for  his  avarice  in  coveting  and  seizing  what  was  not  his  own ; 
and  no  sooner  has  he  taken  the  golden  knife  and  cup,  that  is,  enriched 
himself  with  the  goods  of  this  world,  than  he  is  delivered  up  to  the 
gloom  and  horrors  of  the  grave. 

Tytus  tarriedde  no3te5  for  that,  but  to  the  The  lady  was  clad  yn  purpere  palle. 

tempulle  sode. 

That  was  rayled  in  the  roofe  with  rubyes  Anciently  Pallium,  as  did  Purpura,  sig- 

ryche  nified  in  general  any  rich  cloth.     Thus 

Withe  perles  and  with  perytotes6  alle  the  there  were  saddles,  de  pallw  et  ebore ;  a 

place  sette,  bed,  de  pauioi  a  cope,  de  palho,  &c.  &c. 

That  glystered  as  coles  in  the  fyre,  on  the  See  Dufresne,  Lat.  Gloss.  V.  PALLIUM. 

goideryche-  And   PELLUM,   its    corruption.      In    old 

The   dores  withe   dyamoundes   dryvene  French,  to  cover  a  hall  with  tapestry  was 

were  thykke,     '  called  pallet:     So  in  Syr  Launfal,  ut  supr. 

And  made  also  merveylously  withe  mar-  fol.  39.  b. 

gery  7  perles,  T,         ha]le   agrayde    and  hele  [cover] 
That  evur  lemede  the  Iy3te,  and  as  a  lampe  J  fche  wa}les 

shewed:  With  clodes   [clothes],  and  with  ryche 

The  clerkes  hadde  none  othtir  Iy3te. palles, 

d  The  original  is,  "  mulieres  pulcher-  A^ens  [against]  my  Lady  Tryamoure. 

rimas  in  purpura  et  pallo  operantes  in-  ^.^  ^  iUugtrate<|  the  former  mean. 

ventt"  fol.  L.  a.  col    1      This  "»y  mean  .          ,     A    Davie>s  Gest  of  Alexander 
either  the  sense  in  the  text,  or  that  the  * 

ladies  were  cloathed  in  purpura  et  pallo,  a 

phrase  which  I  never  saw  before  in  barba-  Her  bed  was  made  forsothe 

rous  latinity  ;  but  which  tallies  with  the  With  pallis  and  with  riche  clothe, 

old  English  expression  purple  and  pall.  The  chambre  was  hangid  with  clothe  of 
This  is  sometimes  written  purple  pall.   As  gold.  fol.  57. 

in  Syr  Launfal,  ut  supr.  fol.  40.  a. 

*  Nought.  6  On  the  finger  of  Bccket,  when  he  was  killed,  was  a  jewel  called 

Peretot.  Monast.  Angl.  i.  6.  7  margavitcs. 


DISSERTATION  III. 

Spenser  in  the  FAERIE  QUEENE,  seems  to  have  distantly  remembered 
this  fable,  where  a  fiend  expecting  sir  Guyon  will  be  tempted  to  snatch 
some  of  the  treasures  of  the  subterraneous  HOUSE  OF  RICHESSE,  which 
are  displayed  in  his  view,  is  prepared  to  fasten  upon  him. 

Thereat  the  fiend  his  gnashing  teeth  did  grate, 
And  griev'd,  so  long  to  lack  his  greedie  pray ; 
For  well  he  weened  that  so  glorious  bayte 
Would  tempt  his  guest  to  take  thereof  assay : 
Had  he  so  doen,  he  had  him  snatcht  away 
More  light  than  culver  in  the  faucon's  fist.6 

This  story  was  originally  invented  of  pope  Gerbert,  or  Sylvester  the 
Second,  who  died  in  the  year  1003.  He  was  eminently  learned  in  the 
mathematical  sciences,  and  on  that  account  was  styled  a  magician. 
William  of  Malmesbury  is,  I  believe,  the  first  writer  now  extant  by 
whom  it  is  recorded ;  and  he  produces  it  partly  to  show,  that  Gerbert 
was  not  always  successful  in  those  attempts  which  he  so  frequently 
practised  to  discover  treasures  hid  in  the  earth,  by  the  application 
of  the  necromantic  arts.  I  will  translate  Malmesbury 's  narration  of 
this  fable,  as  it  varies  in  some  of  the  circumstances,  and  has  some 
heightenings  of  the  fiction.  "  At  Rome  there  was  a  brazen  statue, 
extending  the  forefinger  of  the  right  hand;  and  on  its  forehead  was 
written  Strike  here.  Being  suspected  to  conceal  a  treasure,  it  had  re- 
ceived many  bruises  from  the  credulous  and  ignorant,  in  their  endea- 
vours to  open  it.  At  length  Gerbert  unriddled  the  mystery.  At  noon- 
day observing  the  reflection  of  the  forefinger  on  the  ground,  he  marked 
the  spot.  At  night  he  came  to  the  place,  with  a  page  carrying  a  lamp. 
There  by  a  magical  operation  he  opened  a  wide  passage  in  the  earth, 
through  which  they  both  descended,  and  came  to  a  vast  palace.  The 
walls,  the  beams,  and  the  whole  structure,  were  of  gold :  they  saw 
golden  images  of  knights  playing  at  chess,  with  a  king  and  queen  of 
gold  at  a  banquet,  with  numerous  attendants  in  gold,  and  cups  of  im- 
mense size  and  value.  In  a  recess  was  a  carbuncle,  whose  lustre  illu- 
minated the  whole  palace ;  opposite  to  which  stood  a  figure  with  a  bended 
bow.  As  they  attempted  to  touch  some  of  the  rich  furniture,  all  the 
golden  images  seemed  to  rush  upon  them.  Gerbert  was  too  wise  to 
attempt  this  a  second  time ;  but  the  page  was  bold  enough  to  snatch 
from  the  table  a  golden  knife  of  exquisite  workmanship.  At  that  mo- 
ment, all  the  golden  images  rose  up  with  a  dreadful  noise  ;  the  figure 
with  the  bow  shot  at  the  carbuncle,  and  a  total  darkness  ensued.  The 
page  then  replaced  the  knife,  otherwise,  they  both  would  have  suffered 
a  cruel  death."  Malmesbury  afterwards  mentions  a  brazen  bridge, 
framed  by  the  enchantments  of  Gerbert,  beyond  which  were  golden 
horses  of  a  gigantic  size,  with  riders  of  gold  richly  illumiiialed  by  the 

«  B.  ii.  C.  vii.  st.  34. 


ON  THE  GESTA   ROMANORUM.  clxxi 

most  serene  meridian  sun.  A  large  company  attempt  to  pass  the  bridge, 
with  a  design  of  stealing  some  pieces  of  the  gold.  Immediately  the 
bridge  rose  from  its  foundations,  and  stood  perpendicular  on  one  end  : 
a  brazen  man  appeared  from  beneath  it,  who  struck  the  water  with  a 
mace  of  brass,  and  the  sky  was  overspread  with  the  most  horrible  gloom. 
Gerbert,  like  some  other  learned  necromancers  of  the  Gothic  ages,  was 
supposed  to  have  fabricated  a  brazen  head  under  the  influence  of  cer- 
tain planets,  which  answered  questions.  But  I  forbear  to  suggest  any 
more  hints  for  a  future  collection  of  Arabian  tales.  I  shall  only  add 
Malmesbury's  account  of  the  education  of  Gerbert,  which  is  a  curious 
illustration  of  what  has  been  often  inculcated  in  these  volumes,  con- 
cerning the  introduction  of  romantic  fiction  into  Europe  f.  "Gerbert, 
a  native  of  France,  went  into  Spain  for  the  purpose  of  learning  astro- 
logy, and  other  sciences  of  that  cast,  of  the  Saracens  ;  who,  to  this  day, 
occupy  the  upper  regions  of  Spain.  They  are  seated  in  the  metropolis 
of  Seville  ;  where,  according  to  the  customary  practice  of  their  country, 
they  study  the  arts  of  divination  and  enchantment.  -  Here  Gerbert 
soon  exceeded  Ptolemy  in  the  astrolabe,  Alchind  in  astronomy,  and 
Julius  Firmicus  in  fatality.  Here  he  learned  the  meaning  of  the  flight 
and  language  of  birds,  and  was  taught  how  to  raise  spectres  from  hell. 
Here  he  acquired  whatever  human  curiosity  has  discovered  for  the  de- 
struction or  convenience  of  mankind.  I  say  nothing  of  his  knowledge 
in  arithmetic,  music,  and  geometry  ;  which  he  so  fully  understood  as  to 
think  them  beneath  his  genius,  and  which  he  yet  with  great  industry 
introduced  into  France,  where  they  had  been  long  forgotten.  He  cer- 
tainly was  the  first  who  brought  the  algorithm  from  the  Saracens,  and 
who  illustrated  it  with  such  rules  as  the  most  studious  in  that  science 
cannot  explain.  He  lodged  with  a  philosopher  of  that  sects,"  &c. 

I  conclude  this  chapter  with  a  quotation  from  the  old  metrical  ro- 
mance of  SYR  LYBEAUS  DESCONUS,  where  the  knight,  in  his  attempt 
to  disenchant  the  Lady  of  Sinadone,  after  entering  the  hall  of  the  castle 
of  the  necromancers,  is  almost  in  similar  circumstances  with  our  sub- 
terraneous adventurers.  The  passage  is  rich  in  Gothic  imageries  ;  and 
the  most  striking  part  of  the  poem,  which  is  mentioned  by  Chaucer  as 
a  popular  romance. 

Syre  Lybeauus,  kny^t  corteysh, 

Rod  ynto  the  palys, 
And  at  the  halle 


1  See  Diss.  Land  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xv.  p.  173.  vats  has  transcribed  all  that  William  of 

«  De  Gest.  Reg.  Angl.  lib.  ii.  cap.  10.  Malmesbury  has  here  said  about  Gerbert, 

p.  36.  a.  b.  37.  a.  b.  edit.  Savil.  Lond.  Specul  Histor.  Lib.  xxiv.  c.  98.  seq.  f.  344. 

1596.  fol.     Afterwards  Malmesbury  men-  a.     Compare  Platina,  Fit.  Ponttf.  fol.  122. 

tions  his  horologe,  which  was  not  of  the  edit.  1485.    See  also  L'Histoire  Literaire 

nature  of  the  modern  clock  ;  but  which  de  France,  by  the  Benedictines,  torn.  vj. 

yet  is  recorded  as  a  wonderful  invention  ad  calc. 

by  his  cotemporary  Ditmar,  Chron.  Lib.  h  courteous. 

vi.  fol.  83,  edit.  1580.     Vincent  of  Beau-  '  alighted. 


DISSERTATION  III. 

Trompes,  shalmusesk, 

He  sey$,  befor  the  hejgh  deys1, 

Stonde  in  hys  sy^te. 
Amydde  the  halle  flore, 
A  fere,  stark  and  store1", 

Was  ly^t,  and  brende  bry$tn. 
Nere  the  dore  he  $ede°, 
And  laddeP  yn  hys  stede 

That  wont  was  helpe  hym  yn  fy$t. 
Lybeauus  innere1*  gan  pace 
To  se  eche  a  place1", 

The  hales8  yn  the  halle, 
Of  mayne  more  ne  lasse 
Ne  sawe  he  body  ne  face4, 

But  menstrales  yclodeth  yn  palle,  &c.u 
So  much  melody e 
Was  never  withinne  walle. 

Before  eche  menstrale  stod 
A  torche  fayre  and  goodw, 
Brennynge  fayre  and  bry^t. 

Innere  more  he  $ede, 
To  wyte,  with  egre  mode 
Ho  scholde x  with  hym  fy$t : 

He  }ede  ynto  the  corneres, 
And  lokede  on  the  pylers, 
That  selcouth  were  of  sy$t, 

Of  jaspere  and  of  fyn  crystalle,  &C-. 
The  dores  were  of  bras  ; 
The  wyndowes  were  of  glas 

Florysseth  with  imagery ey : 
The  halle  ypaynted  was2, 
No  rychere  never  ther  nas 

That  he  hadde  seye  with  eye*. 
He  sette  hym  an  that  deysb, 
The  menstrales  were  yn  pesc, 

That  were  so  good  and  tryed. 

k  instruments  of  music.  w  a  torch  fair  and  good. 

i  he  saw  at  the  high  table.  *  to  know,  in  angry  mood  what  knight 

m  a  fire,  large  and  strong.  would,  &c. 

n  lighted,  and  burned  bright.  y  painted  glass. 

0  yede,  went  into  the  door  of  the  hall,           z  the  walls  were  painted  with  histories, 
with  his  horse.  a  had  seen. 

p  led.  b  he  sate  down  in  the  principal  seat. 

q  farther  in.  c  were  suddenly  silent. 

T  to  see,  to  view,  every  place  or  thing.  d  tried,    excellent.   Chaucer,   Rim.  Sir 

*  perhaps,  holes,  i.  e.  corners.  Thop.  p.  146.  Urr.  v.  3361. 

1  he  saw  no  man. 

-  clothed  in  rich  attire.  Wlth  finSer  that  1S  trte' 


ON    THE    GESTA    ROMANORUM.  clxxitt 

The  torches  that  brende  bry^t6 

Quenchede  anon  ry$tf ; 

The  menstrales  were  aweye  * : 

Dores,  and  wyndowes  alle, 

Beten  yn  the  halle 

As  hyt  were  voys  of  thundere,  &c. — 

As  he  sat  ther  dysmayde, 

And  held  hymself  betrayde, 

Stedes  herde  he  naye,  &c.h 

This  castle  is  called,  "  A  palys  queynte  of  gynne,"  and,  "  be  nygre- 
mauncye  ymaketh  of  fayryeV 

CHAP  cviii.  The  mutual  fidelity  of  two  thieves. 
CHAP.  cix.  The  chest  and  the  three  pasties. 

A  like  story  is  in  Boccace's  DECAMERON^  in  the  CENTO  No VELLE 
ANTicHE1,  and  in  Gower's  CONFESSIO  AMANTism. 

The  story,  however,  as  it  stands  in  Gower,  seems  to  be  copied  from 
one  which  is  told  by  the  hermit  Barlaam  to  king  Avenamore,  in  the 
spiritual  romance,  written  originally  in  Greek  about  the  year  800,  by 
Joannes  Damascenus  a  Greek  monkn,  and  translated  into  Latin  before 
the  thirteenth  century,  entitled  BARLAAM  and  JOSAPHAT°.  But 
Gower's  immediate  author,  if  not  Boccace,  was  perhaps  Vincent  of 
Beauvais,  who  wrote  about  the  year  1290,  and  who  has  incorporated 
Damascenus's  history  of  Barlaam  and  JosaphatP,  who  were  canonised, 
into  his  SPECULUM  HISTORIALE^.  As  Barlaam's  fable  is  probably  the 
remote  but  original  source  of  Shakspeare's  CASKETS  in  the  MER- 
CHANT OF  VENICE,  I  will  give  the  reader  a  translation  of  the  passage 
in  which  it  occurs,  from  the  Greek  original,  never  yet  printed.  "  The 
king  commanded  four  chests  to  be  made ;  two  of  which  were  covered 
with  gold,  and  secured  by  golden  locks,  but  filled  with  the  rotten  bones 
of  human  carcasses.  The  other  two  were  overlaid  with  pitch,  and 
bound  with  rough  cords ;  but  replenished  with  pretious  stones  and  the 
most  exquisite  gems,  and  with  ointments  of  the  richest  odour.  He 
called  his  nobles  together ;  and  placing  these  chests  before  them,  asked 
which  they  thought  the  most  valuable.  They  pronounced  those  with 
the  golden  coverings  to  be  the  most  pretious,  supposing  they  were 
made  to  contain  the  crowns  and  girdles  of  the  king1".  The  two  chests 
covered  with  pitch  they  viewed  with  contempt.  Then  said  the  king,  I 

*  burned  so  bright.  p  It  is  extant  in  Surius,  and  other  col 

f  were  instantly   quenched,  or    extin-  lections, 
giiished.  q  De  Rege  Auemur,   &c.     Lib.  xiv.  f. 

g  vanished  away.  196.  Ven.  1591.     It  contains  sixty-four 

h  MSS.  Cotton.  Calig.  A.  2.  fol.  52  b.  seq.  chapters. 

»  Ibid.  f.  52  b.  k  x.  1.  r  In  Dr.  Johnson's  abridgement  of  a  tale 

1  Nov.  Ixv.  m  Lib.  v.  fol.  96  a.  like  this  from  Boccace,  which  he  supposes 

n  See  Joan.  Damasceni  Opera  nonnul.  to  have  been  Shakspeare's  original,  the 

Histor.  ad  calc.  pag.  12.    Basil.  1548.  fol.  king  says,  that  in  one  of  the  caskets  was 

The  chests  are  here  called  Arcella.  "contained  his  crown,  sceptre,  and  jew- 

0  See  infra,  vol.  ii.  Sect.  xix.  p.  237  ;  els,"  &c.    See  Steevens's  Shakspeare,  vol. 

Sect,  xxxiii.  p.  493.  iii.  p.  255.  edit.  1779. 


DISSERTATION  III. 

presumed  what  would  be  your  determination  ;  for  ye  look  with  the 
eyes  of  sense.  But  to  discern  baseness  or  value,  which  are  hid  within, 
we  must  look  with  the  eyes  of  the  mind.  He  then  ordered  the  golden 
chests  to  be  opened,  which  exhaled  an  intolerable  stench,  and  filled  the 
beholders  with  horror8."  In  the  METRICAL  LIVES  OF  THE  SAINTS, 
written  about  the  year  1300,  these  chests  are  called  four  fates,  that  is 
four  vats  or  vessels*. 

I  make  no  apology  for  giving  the  reader  a  translation  from  the  same 

Greek  original,  which  is  now  before  me,  of  the  story  of  the  Boy  told  in 

the  DECAMERON.     "  A  king  had   an  only  son.     As  soon  as  he  was 

born,  the  physicians  declared,  that  if  he  was  allowed  to  see  the  sun,  or 

any  fire,  before  he  arrived  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  he  would  be 

blind.    The  king  commanded  an  apartment  to  be  hewed  within  a  rock, 

into  which  no  light  could  enter ;  and  here  he  shut  up  the  boy,  totally 

in  the  dark,  yet  with  proper  attendants,  for  twelve  years ;  at  the  end 

of  which  time,  he  brought  him  abroad  from  his  gloomy  chamber,  and 

placed  in  his  view,  men,  women,  gold,  pretious  stones,  rich  garments, 

chariots  of  exquisite  workmanship  drawn  by  horses  with  golden  bridles, 

heaps  of  purple  tapestry,  armed  knights  on  horseback,  oxen  and  sheep. 

These  were  all  distinctly  pointed  out  to  the  youth :  but  being  most 

pleased  with  the  women,  he  desired  to  know  by  what  name  they  were 

called.     An  esquire  of  the  king  jocosely  told  him,  that  they  were  devils 

who  catch  men.     Being  brought  to  the  king,  he  was  asked  which  he 

liked  best  of  all  the  fine  things  he  had  seen.     He  replied,  the  devils 

who  catch  men"  &c.     I  need  not  enlarge  on  Boccace's  improvements". 

This  romantic  legend  of  Barlaam  and  Josaphat,  which  is  a  history  of 

considerable  length,  is  undoubtedly  the  composition  of  one  who  had  an 

intercourse  with  the  East ;  and  from  the  strong  traces  which  it  contains 

of  the  oriental  mode  of  moralising,  appears  plainly  to  have  been  written, 

if  not  by  the  monk  whose  name  it  bears,  at  least  by  some  devout  and 

learned  ascetic  of  the  Greek  church,  and  probably  before  the  tenth 

century. 

Leland  mentions  DAMASCENUS  DE  GESTIS  BARLAAM  ET  JOSA- 
PHAT, as  one  of  the  manuscripts  which  he  saw  in  Nettley- abbey  near 
Southampton  w. 

CHAP.  ex.  The  life  of  the  knight  Placidus,  or  Placidasx,  afterwards 
called  Eustacius. 

It  occurs  in  Caxton's  GOLDEN  LEGENDE?.     Among  the  Cotton  ma- 
nuscripts there  is  a  metrical  legend  or  romance  on  this  story1. 
f 

1  MSS.  Laud.  C.  72.  Bibl.  Bodl.    Com-  w  Collectan.  torn.  iii.  p.  149.  edit.  1770. 

pare    Caxton's    Golden     Legende,    fol.  x  Sir  Placidas  is  the  name  of  a  knight 

ccclxxxxiii.  b.    And  Surius,  Vit.  Sanctor.       in  the  Faerie  Queene. 
Novembr.  27.  Ann.  383.  pag.  560.  Colon.  y  Fol.  cccxxiii.  b.     See  infra,  vol.  ii. 

Agrippin.  1618.  Sect,  xxvii.  p.  381.  note  m ;  and  Metric. 

1  MSS.  Bodl.  779.  f.  292  b.  Lives  S.  MSS.  Bodl.  779.  f.  164  a. 

u  This  fable  occurs  in  an  old  Collection  z  Calig.  A.  2.  fol.  135  b.  This  is  a  trans- 

of  Apologues  above  cited,  MSS.  Harl.  463.       lation  from  the  French.  MSS.  Reg.  Paris, 
fol.  2  a.  Cod.  30.31. 


ON    THE    GESTA    ROMANORUM. 

CHAP.  cxi.  The  classical  story  of  Argus  and  Mercury,  with  some 
romantic  additions.  Mercury  comes  to  Argus  in  the  character  of  a 
minstrel,  and  lulls  him  to  sleep  by  telling  him  tales  and  singing,  incepit 
more  histrionico  fabulas  dicere,  et  plerumque  cantare. 

CHAP.CXU.  The  son  of  king  Gorgonius  is  beloved  by  his  step-mother. 
He  is  therefore  sent  to  seek  his  fortune  in  a  foreign  country,  where  he 
studies  physic ;  and  returning,  heals  his  father  of  a  dangerous  disease, 
who  recovers  at  the  sight  of  him.  The  step-mother,  hearing  of  his 
return,  falls  sick,  and  dies  at  seeing  him. 

CHAP,  cxiii.  The  tournaments  of  the  rich  king  Adonias.  A  party 
of  knights  arrive  the  first  day,  who  lay  their  shields  aside,  in  one  place. 
The  same  number  arrives  the  second  day,  each  of  whom  chuses  his 
antagonist  by  touching  with  his  spear  the  shield  of  one  of  the  first  day's 
party,  not  knowing  the  owner. 

The  most  curious  anecdote  of  chivalry,  now  on  record,  occurs  in  the 
ecclesiastical  history  of  Spain.  Alphonsus  the  Ninth,  about  the  year 
1214,  having  expelled  the  Moors  from  Toledo,  endeavoured  to  establish 
the  Roman  missal  in  the  place  of  saint  Isidore's.  This  alarming  inno- 
vation was  obstinately  opposed  by  the  people  of  Toledo  ;  and  the  king 
found  that  his  project  would  be  attended  with  almost  insuperable  diffi- 
culties. The  contest  at  length  between  the  two  missals  grew  so  serious, 
that  it  was  mutually  resolved  to  decide  the  controversy,  not  by  a  theo- 
logical disputation,  but  by  single  combat ;  in  which  the  champion  of 
the  Toletan  missal  proved  victorious*. 

Many  entertaining  passages  relating  to  trials  by  single  combat  may 
be  seen  in  the  old  Imperial  and  Lombard  laws.  In  Caxton's  BOKE  OF 
THE  FAYTTES  OF  ARMES  AND  OF  CHIVALRYE,  printed  at  Westminster 
in  the  year  1489,  and  translated  from  the  French  of  Christine  of  Pisa, 
many  of  the  chapters  towards  the  end  are  compiled  from  that  singular 
monument  of  Gothic  legislation. 

CHAP.  cxv.  An  intractable  elephant  is  lulled  asleep  in  a  forest  by 
the  songs  and  blandishments  of  two  naked  virgins.  One  of  them  cuts 
off  his  head,  the  other  carries  a  bowl  of  his  blood  to  the  king.  Rex 
vero  gavisus  est  valde,  et  statim  fecit  fieri  PURPURAM,  et  multa  alia,  de 
eodem  sanguine. 

In  this  wild  tale,  there  are  circumstances  enough  of  general  analogy, 
if  not  of  peculiar  parallelism,  to  recall  to  my  memory  the  following 
beautiful  description,  in  the  manuscript  romance  of  SYR  LAUNFAL, 
of  two  damsels,  whom  the  knight  unexpectedly  meets  in  a  desolate 
forest. 

As  he  sat  yn  sorow  and  sore, 
He  sawe  come  out  of  holtes  hore 
Gentylle  maydenes  two ; 

a  See  the  Mozarabes,  or  Missal  of  Saint  mand  of  Cardinal  Ximenes,  A.  D.  1500. 
Isidore,  printed  at  Toledo,  by  the  com-  fol. 


DISSERTATION  III. 

Hare  kerteles  were  of  Inde  sandelb 
I-lasedc  smalle,  jolyf  and  welle  ; 

Ther  my}td  noon  gay  ere  go. 
Hare  manteles  were  of  grene  felwet6 
Ybordured  with  gold  ry^t  welle  ysette, 

I-peluredf  with  grys  and  gro17; 
Hare  heddysh  were  dy^t  welle  withalle, 
Everych  hadde  oon  a  jolyf  coronalle, 

With  syxty  gemmys  and  mo1. 
Hare  faces  were  whyt  as  snow  on  downe, 
Hare  rodek  was  red,  here  eyn  were  browne, 

I  sawe  never  non  swyche1. 
That  oon  bare  of  gold  a  basyn, 
That  other  a  towayle  whyt  and  fyn, 

Of  selk  that  was  good  and  ryche. 
Hare  kercheves  were  welle  schyrem 
Arayd  with  ryche  gold  wyre,  &c.n 

CHAP.  cxvi.  The  queen  of  Pepin  king  of  France  died  in  childbed, 
leaving  a  son.  He  married  a  second  wife,  who  bore  a  son  within  a 
year.  These  children  were  sent  abroad  to  be  nursed.  The  surviving 
queen,  anxious  to  see  her  child,  desired  that  both  the  boys  might  be 
brought  home.  They  were  so  exceedingly  alike,  that  the  one  could 
not  be  distinguished  from  the  other,  except  by  the  king.  The  mother 
begged  the  king  to  point  out  her  own  son.  This  he  refused  to  do,  till 
they  were  both  grown  up,  lest  she  should  spoil  him  by  too  fond  a  par- 
tiality. Thus  they  were  both  properly  treated  with  uniform  affection, 
and  without  excess  of  indulgence. 

A  favorite  old  romance  is  founded  on  the  indistinctible  likeness  of 
two  of  Charlemagne's  knights,  Amys  and  Amelion ;  originally  cele- 
brated by  Turpin,  and  placed  by  Vincent  of  Beauvais  under  the  reign 
of  Pepin0. 

CHAP,  cxvii.  The  law  of  the  emperor  Frederick,  that  whoever  rescued 
a  virgin  from  a  rape  might  claim  her  for  his  wife. 

CHAP,  cxviii.  A  knight  being  in  Egypt,  recovers  a  thousand  talents 
which  he  had  entrusted  to  a  faithless  friend,  by  the  artifice  of  an  old 
woman. 

This  tale  is  in  Alphonsus;  and  in  the  CENTO  NOVELLE  AN- 
TICHEP. 

CHAP.  cxix.   A   king   had   an   oppressive  Seneschal,  who   passing 

b  Indian  silk.     CendaL    Fr.  See  Du-  h  their  heads, 

fresne,  Lat.  Gl.  V.  CENDALUM.  *  more. 

0  laced.  k  ruddiness. 

d  there  might.  '  such. 

e  velvet.  m  cut. 

f  furred,  pelura,  pellis.  »  MSS.  Cotton.  Calig.  A.  2.  fol.  35  a. 

g  gris  is  fur,  gris  and  gray  is  common  °  Specul.  Hist,  xxiii.  c.  162.  f.  329  b. 

in  the  metrical  romances.  p  Nov.  Ixxiv. 


ON    THE    GKSTA    ROMANORUM.  clxxvii 

through  a  forest,  fell  into  a  deep  pit,  in  which  were  a  lion,  an  ape,  and 
a  serpent.  A  poor  man  who  gathered  sticks  in  the  forest  hearing  his 
cries,  drew  him  up,  together  with  the  lion,  the  ape,  and  the  serpent. 
The  Seneschal  returned  home,  promising  to  reward  the  poor  man  with 
great  riches.  Soon  afterwards  the  poor  man  went  to  the  palace  to 
claim  the  promised  reward  ;  but  was  ordered  to  be  cruelly  beaten  by 
the  Seneschal.  In  the  mean  time,  the  lion  drove  ten  asses  laden  with 
gold  to  the  poor  man's  cottage ;  the  serpent  brought  him  a  precious 
stone  of  three  colours ;  and  the  ape,  when  he  came  to  the  forest  on  his 
daily  business,  laid  him  heaps  of  wood.  The  poor  man,  in  consequence 
of  the  virtues  of  the  serpent's  precious  stone,  which  he  sold,  arrived  to 
the  dignity  of  knighthood,  and  acquired  ample  possessions.  But  after- 
wards he  found  the  precious  stone  in  his  chest,  which  he  presented  to 
the  king.  The  king  having  heard  the  whole  story,  ordered  the  Sene- 
schal to  be  put  to  death  for  his  ingratitude,  and  preferred  the  poor 
man  to  his  office. 

This  story  occurs  in  Symeon  Setlfs  translation  of  the  celebrated 
Arabian  fable-book  called  CALILAH  u  DUMNAH^.  It  is  recited  by 
Matthew  Paris,  under  the  year  1195,  as  a  parable  which  king  Richard 
the  First,  after  his  return  from  the  East,  was  often  accustomed  to  repeat, 
by  way  of  reproving  those  ungrateful  princes  who  refused  to  engage  in 
the  crusade1".  It  is  versified  by  .Gower,  who  omits  the  lion,  as  Matthew 
Paris  does  the  ape,  in  the  fifth  book  of  the  CONFESSIO  AMANTISS.  He 
thus  describes  the  services  of  the  ape  and  serpent  to  the  poor  man,  who 
gained  his  livelihood  by  gathering  sticks  in  a  forest. 

He  gan  his  apejuione  behold, 
Which  had  gadred  al  aboute, 
Of  stickes  here  and  there  a  route, 
And  leyde  hem  redy  to  his  honde, 
Whereof  he  made  his  trusse  and  bond 

From  daie  to  daie 

Upon  a  time  and  as  he  drough 
Towarde  the  woodde,  he  sigh  beside 
The  great  gastly  serpent  glide, 
Till  that  she  came  in  his  presence, 
And  in  hir  kynde  a  reverence 
She  hath  hym  do,  and  forthwith  all 
A  stone  more  bright  than  a  christall 
Out  of  hir  mouth  to  fore  his  waye 
She  lett  down  fall. . 


q  P.  444.     This    work    was    translated  with   wooden  cuts,  4to.      But  Doni   was 

into  English   under  the  title  of"  Denies  the  Italian  translator. 

MORALL  PHiLOSOPHiE,  translated  from  r  Hist.  Maj.  p.  179.  Edit.  Wats, 

the  Indian   tongue,  1570."     Black  letter  *  fol.  110  b. 

VOL.  i.  m 


DISSERTATION   III. 

In  Gower  also,  as  often  as  the  poor  man  sells  the  precious  stone,  on 
returning  home,  he  finds  it  again  among  the  money  in  his  purse. 

The  acquisition  of  riches,  and  the  multiplication  of  treasure,  by  in- 
visible agency,  is  a  frequent  and  favorite  fiction  of  the  Arabian  romance. 
Thus,  among  the  presents  given  to  Sir  Launfal  by  the  lady  Triamore, 
daughter  of  the  king  of  Faerie, 

I  wylle  the  ^eve1  an  alneru, 
I-mad  of  sylk  and  of  gold  cler, 

With  fayre  ymages  thre  : 
As  oft  thou  puttest  the  hond  therinne, 
A  mark  of  gold  thou  schalt  wynnew, 

In  wat  place  that  thou  be.x 

CHAP.  cxx.  King  Darius's  legacy  to  his  three  sons.  To  the  eldest 
he  bequeathes  all  his  paternal  inheritance  ;  to  the  second,  all  that  he 
had  acquired  by  conquest ;  and  to  the  third,  a  ring  and  necklace,  both 
of  gold,  and  a  rich  cloth.  All  the  three  last  gifts  were  endued  with 
magical  virtues.  Whoever  wore  the  ring  on  his  finger,  gained  the  love 
or  favour  of  all  whom  he  desired  to  please.  Whoever  hung  the  neck- 
lace over  his  breast,  obtained  all  his  heart  could  desire.  Whoever  sate 
down  on  the  cloth,  could  be  instantly  transported  to  any  part  of  the 
world  which  he  chose. 

From  this  beautiful  tale,  of  which  the  opening  only  is  here  given, 
Occleve,  commonly  called  Chaucer's  disciple,  framed  a  poem  in  the 
octave  stanza,  which  was  printed  in  the  year  1614,  by  William  Browne, 
in  his  set  of  Eclogues  called  the  SHEPHEARDS  PIPE.  Occleve  has 
literally  followed  the  book  before  us,  and  has  even  translated  into  En- 
glish prose  the  MORALISATION  annexed?.  He  has  given  no  sort  of 
embellishment  to  his  original,  and  by  no  means  deserves  the  praises 
which  Browne  in  the  following  elegant  pastoral  lyrics  has  bestowed  on 
his  performance,  and  which  more  justly  belong  to  the  genuine  Gothic, 
or  rather  Arabian,  inventor. 

Wei  I  wot,  the  man  that  first 

Sung  this  lay,  did  quenche  his  thirst 

Deeply  as  did  ever  one 

In  the  Muses  Helicon. 

Many  times  he  hath  been  scene 

With  the  faeries  on  the  greene, 

'givethee.  MSS.  Laud.  K.  78.      [See  infra,  vol.ii. 

u  Perhaps  aimer,  or  ahnere,  a  cabinet  p.  258etseqq.] 
or  chest,  [purse.]                   w  get,  find.  [Mr.  Warton  has   not  been   [strictly] 

*  Syr  Launtal.  MSS.  Cott.  Calig.  A.  2.  accurate    in    this    statement.       Occleve's 

fol.  35  b.  immediate  model  was  our  English  Gesta; 

y  Viz.  MSS.  Seld.  Sup.  53.     Where  is  nor  is  it  improbable  that  he  might  even 

a  prologue  of  many  stanzas  not  printed  be  the  translator  of  it.     The  moralization 

by  Browne.      See  also  MSS.  Digb.  185.  also  is  entirely  different.— DOUCE.] 


ON    THE    GESTA    ROMANORUM, 

And  to  them  his  pipe  did  sound 

As  they  danced  in  a  round  ; 

Mickle  solace  would  they  make  him, 

And  at  midnight  often  wake  him, 

And  convey  him  from  his  roome 

To  a  fielde  of  yellow  broome, 

Or  into  the  medowes  where 

Mints  perfume  the  gentle  aire, 

And  where  Flora  spreads  her  treasure 

There  they  would  beginn  their  measure. 

If  it  chanced  night's  sable  shrowds 

Muffled  Cynthia  up  in  clowds, 

Safely  home  they  then  would  see  him, 

And  from  brakes  and  quagmires  free  him. 

There  are  few  such  swaines  as  he 

Now  a  dayes  for  harmonic.2 

The  history  of  Darius,  who  gave  this  legacy  to  his  three  sons,  is  in- 
corporated with  that  of  Alexander,  which  has  been  decorated  with 
innumerable  fictions  by  the  Arabian  writers.  There  is  also  a  separate 
romance  on  Darius,  and  on  Philip  of  Macedon a. 

CHAP,  cxxiv.  Of  the  knights  who  intercede  for  their  friend  with  a 
king,  by  coming  to  his  court,  each  half  on  horseback  and  half  on  foot 
This  is  the  last  novel  in  the  CENTO  NOVELLE  ANTICHE. 
CHAP,  cxxvi.  Macrobius  is  cited  for  the  address  and  humour  of  an 
ingenuous  boy  named  Papirius. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  lively  stories  in  Macrobius b. 
CHAP,  cxxviii.  The  forged   testament  of  the  wicked  knight,  under 
the  reign  of  Maximian. 

CHAP,  cxxix.  A  young  prince  is  sent  on  his  travels.  His  three 
friends. 

CHAP,  cxxxii.  The  four  physicians. 
CHAP,  cxxxiii.  The  king  and  his  two  greyhounds. 
CHAP,  cxxxiv.  A  story  from  Seneca. 

CHAP,  cxxxv.  The  story  of  Lucretia,  from  saint  Austin's  CITY  ov 
GOD. 

A  more  classical  authority  for  this  story,  had  it  been  at  hand,  would 
have  been  slighted  for  saint  Austin's  CITY  OF  GOD,  which  was  the 
favorite  spiritual  romance ;  and  which,  as  the  transition  from  religion 
to  gallantry  was  anciently  very  easy,  gave  rise  to  the  famous  old  French 
romance  called  the  CITY  OF  LADIES. 

CHAP,  cxxxvii.  The  Roman  emperor  who  is  banished  for  his  impar- 
tial distribution  of  justice.     From  the  CRONICA  of  Eusebius. 
CHAP,  cxxxviii.  King  Medro. 

*  Egl.  i.  b  Saturnal.  lib.  i.  c.  6.  pag.  147.  Londin. 

a  Bibl.  Reg.  Paris.  MSS.  Cod.  3031.  1C94. 


C1XXX  DISSERTATION   III. 

CHAP,  cxxxix.  King  Alexander,  by  means  of  a  mirrour,  kills  a  cock- 
atrice, whose  look  had  destroyed  the  greatest  part  of  his  army. 

^Elian,  in  his  VARIOUS  HISTORY,  mentions  a  serpent,  which  appear- 
ing from  the  mouth  of  a  cavern,  stopped  the  march  of  Alexander's 
army  through  a  spacious  desert.  The  wild  beasts,  serpents,  and  birds 
which  Alexander  encountered  in  marching  through  India,  were  most 
extravagantly  imagined  by  the  oriental  fabulists,  and  form  the  chief 
wonders  of  that  monarch's  romanceb. 

CHAP.  cxl.  The  emperor  Eraclius  reconciles  two  knights. 

This  story  is  told  by  Seneca  of  Cneius  Pisoc.  It  occurs  in  Chaucer's 
SOMPNOUR'S  TALE,  as  taken  from  /Senec,  or  Seneca d. 

CHAP.  cxli.  A  knight  who  had  dissipated  all  his  substance  in  fre- 
quenting tournaments,  under  the  reign  of  Fulgentius,  is  reduced  to 
extreme  poverty.  A  serpent  haunted  a  chamber  of  his  house ;  who 
being  constantly  fed  with  milk  by  the  knight,  in  return  made  his  bene- 
factor rich.  The  knight's  ingratitude  and  imprudence  in  killing  the 
serpent,  who  .was  supposed  to  guard  a  treasure  concealed  in  his 
chamber. 

Medea's  dragon  guarding  the  golden  fleece  is  founded  on  the  oriental 
idea  of  treasure  being  guarded  by  serpents.  We  are  told  in  Vincent 
of  Beauvais,  that  there  are  mountains  of  solid  gold  in  India  guarded 
by  dragons  and  griffins6. 

CHAP,  cxliii.  A  certain  king  ordained  a  law,  that  if  any  man  was 
suddenly  to  be  put  to  death,  at  sun-rising  a  trumpet  should  be  sounded 
before  his  gate.  The  king  made  a  great  feast  for  all  his  nobles,  at 
which  the  most  skilful  musicians  were  present f.  But  amidst  the  gene- 
ral festivity,  the  king  was  sad  and  silent.  All  the  guests  were  sur- 
prised and  perplexed  at  the  king's  melancholy;  but  at  length  his  brother 
ventured  to  ask  him  the  cause.  The  king  replied,  "  Go  home,  and  you 
shall  hear  my  answer  to-morrow."  The  king  ordered  his  trumpeters 
to  sound  early  the  next  morning  before  his  brother's  gate,  and  to  bring 
-him  with  them  to  judgement.  The  brother,  on  hearing  this  unex- 
pected dreadful  summons,  was  seized  with  horror,  and  came  before  the 
king  in  a  black  robe.  The  king  commanded  a  deep  pit  to  be  made, 

b  In  Vincent  of  Beauvais,  there   is    a  Syre  Kadore  lette  make  a  feste, 

long  fabulous  History  of  Alexander,  tran-  That  was  fayr  and  honeste, 
scribed  partly  from  Simeon  Seth.     Spec.  Wyth  hys  lorde  the  kynge  ; 

Hist.    lib.  iv.  c.  i.  f.  41  a.  seq.  edit.  Von.  Ther  was  myche  menstra^e, 

1591.  fol.  Trompus,  tabors,  and  sawtre, 
c  De  Ira,  lib.  i.  c.  8.  Bothe  harpe,  and  fydyllyng  : 

d  Ver.  7COO.  Tyrwh.  The  lady  was  gentyll  and  small, 

'  Specul.  Hist.  lib.  i.  c.  64.  fol.  9  b.  In  kurtull  alone  served  yn  hall 

'  In  the  days  of  chivalry,  a  concert  of  T.By?rf  that  n?bu11  ^ yng : 

a  variety   of  "instruments  of  music  con-  The  cloth  upon  her  schone  so  bryghth, 

stantly  made  a  part  of  the  solemnity  of  a  When  she  was  ther>'n  ydyghth» 

splendid   feast.     Of  this  many  instances  She  semed  non  erdly  thynSe>  &c' 

have  been  given.    I  will  here  add  another,  And  in  Chaucer,  Jan.  and  May,  v.  1234. 

from  the  unprinted  metrical  romance  of  Att  everie   cours  came  the  loud  min- 

Ernare.  MSS.  Cott.  Calig.  A.  2.  fol.  71  a.  stralsie. 


OX    THK    GESTA    ROMANORUM.  clxXXl 

and  a  chair  composed  of  the  most  frail  materials,  and  supported  by 
four  slight  legs,  to  be  placed  inclining  over  the  edge  of  the  pit.  In 
this  the  brother,  being  stripped  naked,  was  seated.  Over  his  head  a 
sharp  sword  was  hung  by  a  small  thread  of  silk.  Around  him  four 
men  were  stationed  with  swords  exceedingly  sharp,  who  were  to  wait 
for  the  king's  word,  and  then  to  kill  him.  In  the  mean  time,  a  table 
covered  with  the  most  costly  dishes  was  spread  before  him,  accompanied 
with  all  sorts  of  music.  Then  said  the  king,  "  My  brother,  why  are 
you  so  sad  ?  Can  you  be  dejected  in  the  midst  of  this  delicious  music, 
and  with  all  these  choice  dainties  ?"  He  answered,  "  How  can  I  be 
glad,  when  I  have  this  morning  heard  the  trumpet  of  death  at  my 
doors,  and  while  I  am  seated  in  this  tottering  chair?  If  I  make  the 
smallest  motion,  it  will  break,  and  I  shall  fall  into  the  pit,  from  which  I 
shall  never  arise  again.  If  I  lift  my  head,  the  suspended  sword  \\ill 
penetrate  my  brain ;  while  these  four  tormentors  only  wait  your  com- 
mand to  put  me  to  death."  The  king  replied,  "  Now  I  will  answer 
your  question,  why  I  was  sad  yesterday.  I  am  exactly  in  your  situa- 
tion. I  am  seated,  like  you,  in  a  frail  and  perishable  chair,  ready  to 
tumble  to  pieces  every  moment,  and  to  throw  me  into  the  infernal  pit. 
Divine  judgement,  like  this  sharp  sword,  hangs  over  my  head,  and  I 
am  surrounded,  like  you,  with  four  executioners.  That  before  me  is 
Death,  whose  coming  I  cannot  tell ;  that  behind  me,  my  Sins,  which 
are  prepared  to  accuse  me  before  the  tribunal  of  God ;  that  on  the 
right,  the  Devil,  who  is  ever  watching  for  his  prey ;  and  that  on  the 
left,  the  Worm,  who  is  now  hungering  after  my  flesh.  Go  in  peace, 
my  dearest  brother :  and  never  ask  me  again  why  I  am  sad  at  a 
feast." 

Gower,  in  the  CONFESSIO  AMANTIS,  may  perhaps  have  copied  the 
circumstance  of  the  morning  trumpet  from  this  apologue.  His  king  is 
a  king  of  Hungary. 

It  so  befell,  that  on  a  dawe 
There  was  ordeined  by  the  lawe 
A  trompe  with  a  sterne  breathe, 
Which  was  cleped  the  trompe  of  deathe  : 
And  in  the  court  where  the  kyng  was, 
A  certaine  man,  this  trompe  of  brasse 
Hath  in  kepyng,  and  therof  serveth, 
That  when  a  lorde  his  deathe  deserveth,. 
He  shall  this  dredfull  trompe  blowe 
To  fore  his  gate,  to  make  it  knowe; 
How  that  the  jugement  is  yeve 
Of  deathe,  which  shall  not  be  foryeve. 
The  kyng  whan  it  was  night  anone, 
This  man  assent,  and  bad  him  gone, 
To  trompen  at  his  brothers  gate ; 
And  he,  whiche  mote  done  algate, 


DISSERTATION  III. 

Goth  foorth,  and  doth  the  kyng's  heste. 
This  lorde  whiche  herde  of  this  tempest 
That  he  tofore  his  gate  blewe, 
Tho  wist  he  by  the  lawe,  and  knewe 
That  he  was  schurly  deade&,  &c. 

But  Gower  has  connected  with  this  circumstance  a  different  story, 
and  of  an  inferior  cast,  both  in  point  of  moral  and  imagination.  The 
truth  is,  Gower  seems  to  have  altogether  followed  this  story  as  it  ap- 
peared in  the  SPECULUM  HISTORIALE  of  \7mcent  of  Beauvaish,  who 
took  it  from  Damascenus's  romance  of  BARLAAM  AND  JOSAPHAT*. 
Part  of  it  is  thus  told  in  Caxton's  translation  of  that  legend k.  '*  And 
the  kynge  hadde  suche  a  custome,  that  whan  one  sholde  be  delyvered 
to  deth,  the  kynge  sholde  sende  hys  cryar  wyth  hys  trompe  that  was 
ordeyned  therto.  And  on  the  euen  he  sente  the  cryar  wyth  the  trompe 
tofore  hys  brother's  gate,  and  made  to  soune  the  trompe.  And  whan 
the  kynges  brother  herde  this,  he  was  in  despayr  of  sauynge  of  his  lyf, 
and  coude  not  slepe  of  alle  the  nyght,  and  made  his  testament.  And 
on  the  morne  erly,  he  cladde  hym  in  blacke :  and  came  with  wepyng 
with  hys  wyf  and  chyldren  to  the  kynges  paleys.  And  the  kynge  made 
hym  to  com  tofore  hym,  and  sayd  to  hym,  A  fooll  that  thou  art,  that 
thou  hast  herde  the  messager  of  thy  brother,  to  whom  thou  knowest 
well  thou  hast  not  trespaced  and  doubtest  so  mooche,  howe  oughte  not 
I  then  ne  doubte  the  messageres  of  our  lorde,  agaynste  whom  I  haue 
soo  ofte  synned,  which  signefyed  unto  me  more  clerely  the  deth  then 
the  trompe?" 

CHAP.  cxlv.  The  philosopher  Socrates  shows  the  cause  of  the  in- 
salubrity of  a  passage  between  two  mountains  in  Armenia,  by  means 
of  a  polished  mirrour  of  steel.  Albertus  is  cited  ;  an  abbot  of  Stade, 
and  the  author  of  a  Chronicle  from  Adam  to  1256. 

CHAP,  cxlvi.  Saint  Austin's  CITY  OF  GOD  is  quoted  for  an  answer 
of  Diomedes  the  pirate  to  king  Alexander. 

CHAP,  cxlviii.  Aulus  Gellius  is  cited. 

Aulus  Gellius  is  here  quoted,  for  the  story  of  Arion1,  throwing  him- 
self into  the  sea,  and  carried  on  the  back  of  a  dolphin  to  king  Periander 
at  Corinth™.  Gellius  relates  this  story  from  Herodotus,  in  whom  it  is 
now  extant". 

CHAP,  cliii.  The  history  of  Apollonius  of  Tyre. 

This  story,  the  longest  in  the  book  before  us,  and  the  groundwor-k 
of  a  favorite  old  romance,  is  known  to  have  existed  before  the  year 
1190.* 

8  Lib.  i.  fol.  xix.  b.  col.  i.  m  Noct.  Attic,  lib.  xvi.  cap.  xix. 

b  Ubi  supr.  p.  clxxiii.  n  Lib.  viii. 

1  Opp.  ut  supr.  pag.  12.  *  [A  fragment  of  a  Saxon  translation  of 

k  See  Caxton's  Golden  Legende,  fol.  this  romance  is  in  Corpus  Christi  college 
ecclxxxxiii.  b.  See  also  Metrical  Lives  of  library,  Cambridge,  and  has  been  edited, 

the  Saints,  MSS.  Bodl.  779.  f.  292  a.  with  a  literal  translation  and  glossary,  by 

1  It  is  printed  Amon.  Mr.  Thorpe.  8vo.  1834. —M.] 


ON  THE   GESTA  ROMANORUM. 

In  the  Prologue  to  the  English  romance  on  this  subject,  called 
KYNGE  APOLYXE  OF  THYRE,  and  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in 
1510,  we  are  told  :  "  My  worshypfull  mayster  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
havynge  a  lytell  boke  of  an  auncyent  hystory  of  a  kynge  somtyme 
reygnyne  in  the  countree  of  Thyre  called  Appolyn,  concernynge  his 
malfortunes  and  peryllous  adventures  right  espouventables,  bryefly 
compyled  and  pyteous  for  to  here;  the  which  boke,  I  Robert  Coplande0 
have  me  applyed  for  to  translate  out  of  the  Frensshe  language  into  our 
maternal  Englysshe  tongue,  at  the  exhortacyon  of  my  forsayd  mayster, 
accordynge  dyrectly  to  myn  auctor:  gladly  followynge  the  trace  of  my 
mayster  Caxton,  begynnynge  with  small  storyes  and  pamfletes  and  so 
to  other."  The  English  romance,  or  the  French,  which  is  the  same 
thing,  exactly  corresponds  in  many  passages  with  the  text  of  the  GESTA. 
I  will  instance  in  the  following  one  only,  in  which  the  complication  of 
the  fable  commences.  King  Appolyn  dines  in  disguise  in  the  hall  of 
king  Antiochus. — "  Came  in  the  kynges  daughter,  accompanyed  with 
many  ladyes  and  damoyselles,  whose  splendente  beaute  were  too  long  to 
endyte,  for  her  rosacyate  coloure  was  medled  with  grete  favour.  She 
dranke  unto  hir  fader,  and  to  all  the  lordes,  and  to  all  them  that  had 
ben  at  the  play  of  the  SheldeP.  And  as  she  behelde  here  and  there, 
she  espyed  kynge  Appolyn,  and  then  she  sayd  unto  her  fader,  Syr, 
what  is  he  that  sytteth  so  hye  as  by  you  ?  it  semeth  by  hym  that  he  is 
angry  or  sorrowfull.  The  kynge  sayd,  I  never  sawe  so  nimble  and 
pleasaunt  a  player  at  the  shelde,  and  therefore  have  I  made  hym  to 
come  and  soupe  with  my  knyghtes.  And  yf  ye  wyll  knowe  what  he  is, 
demaunde  hym ;  for  peradventure  he  wyll  tell  you  sooner  than  me.  Me- 
thynke  that  he  is  departed  from  some  good  place,  and  I  thinke  in  my 
mynde  that  somethynge  is  befallen  hym  for  which  he  is  sorry.  This 
sayd,  the  noble  dameysell  wente  unto  Appolyn  and  said,  Fayre  Syr, 
graunt  me  a  boone.  And  he  graunted  her  with  goode  herte.  And  she 
sayd  unto  hym,  Albeyt  that  your  vysage  be  tryst  and  hevy,  your  be- 
havour  sheweth  noblesse  and  facundyte,  and  therefore  I  pray  you  to 
tell  me  of  your  affayre  and  estate.  Appolyn  answered,  Yf  ye  demaunde 
of  my  rychesses,  I  have  lost  them  in  the  sea.  The  damoysell  sayd,  I 
pray  you  that  you  tell  me  of  your  adventures  V  But  in  the  GESTA, 
the  princess  at  entering  the  royal  hall  kisses  all  the  knights  and  lords 
present,  except  the  stranger1".  Vossius  says,  that  about  the  year  1520, 
one  Alamanus  Rinucinus,  a  Florentine,  translated  into  Latin  this  fabu- 
lous history ;  and  that  the  translation  was  corrected  by  Beroaldus. 

0  The  printer  of  that  name.     He  also  Hym  tho3te  he  brente  bry3te 

translated  from  the  French,  at  the  desire  But  he  myjte  with  Launi'al  pleye 

of  Edward  duke  of  Buckingham,  the  ro-  In  the  felde  betwene  ham  tweye 

mance  of  the  Knyght  of  the  Swanne.  See  To  justy  other  to  fy3te. 

his  Prologue.  And  in  many  other  places. 

p  The  tournament.  To  tourney  is  often  q  p 

called  simply   to  pftn/.     As  thus  in  Svr  r  P7f'i     "••   , 

Launfal,  MSS.  Colt  Calig.  A.  2.  fol.  37.  FoL  lxXH'  h'  C°L  2< 


DISSERTATION  III. 

Vossius  certainly  cannot  mean,  that  he  translated  it  from  the  Greek 
original9. 

CHAP.  cliv.  A  story  from  Gervase  of  Tilbury,  an  Englishman,  who 
wrote  about  the  year  1200,  concerning  a  miraculous  statue  of  Christ  in 
the  city  of  Edessa. 

CHAP.  civ.  The  adventures  of  an  English  knight  named  Albert  in  a 
subterraneous  passage,  within  the  bishoprick  of  Ely. 

This  story  is  said  to  have  been  told  in  the  winter  after  supper,  in  a 
castle,  cum  familia  divitis  ad  focum,  tit  Potentibus  moris  est,  RECEN- 
SENDIS  ANTIQUIS  GfiSTis  operam  daret,  when  the  family  of  a  rich  man, 
as  is  the  custom  with  the  Great,  was  sitting  round  the  fire,  and  telling 
ANTIENT  GESTS.  Here  is  a  trait  of  the  private  life  of  our  ancestors, 
who  wanted  the  diversions  and  engagements  of  modern  times  to  relieve 
a  tedious  evening.  Hence  we  learn,  that  when  a  company  was  assem- 
bled, if  a  juggler  or  a  minstrel  were  not  present,  it  was  their  custom  to 
entertain  themselves  by  relating  or  hearing  a  series  of  adventures. 
Thus  the  general  plan  of  the  CANTERBURY  TALES,  which  at  first  sight 
seems  to  be  merely  an  ingenious  invention  of  the  poet  to  serve  a  par- 
ticular occasion,  is  in  great  measure  founded  on  a  fashion  of  ancient 
life  ;  and  Chaucer,  in  supposing  each  of  the  pilgrims  to  tell  a  tale  as 
they  are  travelling  to  Becket's  shrine,  only  makes  them  adopt  a  mode 
of  amusement  which  was  common  to  the  conversations  of  his  age.  I 
do  not  deny,  that  Chaucer  has  shown  his  address  in  the  use  and  appli- 
cation of  this  practice. 

So  habitual  was  this  amusement  in  the  dark  ages,  that  the  graver 
sort  thought  it  unsafe  for  ecclesiastics,  if  the  subjects  admitted  any  de- 
gree of  levity.  The  following  curious  injunction  was  deemed  necessary, 
in  a  code  of  statutes  assigned  to  a  college  at  Oxford  in  the  year  1292. 
I  give  it  in  English.  "  CH.  xx. — The  fellows  shall  all  live  honestly,  as 
becomes  Clerks. — They  shall  not  rehearse,  sing,  nor  willingly  hear, 
BALLADS  or  TALES  of  LOVERS,  which  tend  to  lasciviousness  and  idle- 
ness4." Yet  the  libraries  of  our  monasteries,  as  I  have  before  observed, 
were  filled  with  romances.  In  that  of  Croyland-abbey  we  find  even 
archbishop  Turpin's  romance,  placed  on  the  same  shelf  with  Robert 
Tumbeley  on  the  Canticles,  Roger  Dymock  against  Wickliffe,  and 
Thomas  Waleys  on  the  Psalter.  But  their  apology  must  be,  that  they 
thought  this  a  true  history ;  at  least  that  an  archbishop  could  write  no- 
thing but  truth.  Not  to  mention  that  the  general  subject  of  those  books 
were  the  triumphs  of  Christianity  over  paganism11. 

CHAP.  clvi.  Ovid,  in  his  TROJAN  WAR,  is  cited  for  the  story  of 
Achilles  disguised  in  female  apparel. 

Gower  has  this  history  more  at  large  in  the  CONFESSIO  AMANTIS  : 


1  Hist.  Lat.  lib.  iii.  c.  8.  pag.  552.  edit.       &c.  MS.  Registr.  Univ.  Oxon.  D.  b.  f.  76. 
1627.  4to.  See  p.  84  of  this  volume. 

1  Cantilenas   vel  fabulas   de   Amasiis,  u  Lcland.  Coll.  iii.  p.  30. 


ON  THE  GESTA   UOMANORUM.  clxXXV 

but  he  refers  to  a  Cronike,  which  seems  to  be  the  BOKE  OF  TROIE,  men- 
tioned at  the  end  of  the  chapter  w. 

CHAP,  clvii.  The  porter  of  a  gate  at  Rome,  who  taxes  all  deformed 
persons  entering  the  city.  This  tale  is  in  Alphonsus.  And  in  the  CENTO 
NOVELLE  ANTICHE*. 

CHAP,  clviii.  The  discovery  of  the  gigantic  body  of  Pallas,  son  of 
Evancler,  at  Rome,  which  exceeded  in  height  the  walls  of  the  city,  was 
uncorrupted,  and  accompanied  with  a  burning  lamp,  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  forty  years  after  the  destruction  of  Troy.  His  wound 
was  fresh,  which  was  four  fe«t  arid  a  half  in  length. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  the  romantic  exaggerations  of  the  classical 
story. 

CHAP.  clix.  Josephus,  in  his  book  de  Causis  rerum  naturalium,  is 
quoted,  for  Noah's  discovery  of  wine. 

I  know  not  any  book  of  Josephus  on  this  subject.  The  first  editor 
of  the  Latin  Josephus  was  Ludovicus  Cendrata  of  Verona,  who  was 
ignorant  that  he  was  publishing  a  modern  translation.  In  the  Dedica- 
tion he  complains,  that  the  manuscript  was  brought  to  him  from  Bo- 
nonia  so  ill-written,  that  it  was  often  impossible  even  to  guess  at  Jo- 
sephus s  words.  And  in  another  place  he  says,  Josephus  first  wrote  the 
ANTIQUITATES  in  Hebrew,  and  that  he  afterwards  translated  them 
from  Hebrew  into  Greek,  and  from  Greek  into  Latin  y. 

The  substance  of  this  chapter  is  founded  on  a  Rabbinical  tradition, 
related  by  Fabricius2.  When  Noah  planted  the  vine,  Satan  attended, 
and  sacrificed  a  sheep,  a  lion,  an  ape,  and  a  sow.  These  animals  were 
to  symbolise  the  gradations  of  ebriety.  When  a  man  begins  to  drink, 
he  is  meek  and  ignorant  as  the  lamb,  then  becomes  bold  as  the  lion, 
his  courage  is  soon  transformed  into  the  foolishness  of  the  ape,  and  at 
last  he  wallows  in  the  mire  like  the  sow.  Chaucer  hence  says  in  the 
MANCIPLES  PROLOGUE,  as  the  passage  is  justly  corrected  by  Mr.  Tyr- 
whitt, 

I  trowe  that  ye  have  dronken  wine  of  ape, 
And  that  is  when  men  plaien  at  a  strawea. 

In  the  old  KALENBRIER  DES  BERGERS,  as  Mr.  Tyrwhitt  has  remarked, 
Vin  de  singe,  vin  de  moulon,  vin  de  lyon,  and  vin  de  porceau,  are  men- 
tioned, in  their  respective  operations  on  the  four  temperaments  of  the 
human  body. 

CHAP.  clxi.  Of  a  hill  in  a  forest  of  England,  where  if  a  hunter  sate 
after  the  chace,  he  was  refreshed  by  a  miraculous  person  of  a  mild 
aspect,  bearing  a  capacious  horn,  adorned  with  gems  and  goldb,  and 

w  Lib.v.  fol.  99  b.  col.  2.  See  fol.  101  a.  *  Cod.Pseudepigr.  Vet.  Testam.  vol.  i. 

col.  1,2.  p.  275. 

*  Nov.  50.  a  Ver.  16993.  Tyrwh. 

y  At  Verona.  1480.    By  Peter  Mauffer  b  The  text  says,  "  Such  a  one  as  is  uied 

a  Frenchman.     It  is  a  most  beautiful  and  at  this  day.'' 
costly  book,  printed  on  vellum  in  folio. 


DISSERTATION   III. 

filled  with  the  most  delicious  liquor.  This  person  instantly  disappeared 
after  administering  the  draught ;  which  was  of  so  wonderful  a  nature, 
as  to  dispel  the  most  oppressive  lassitude,  and  to  make  the  body  more 
vigorous  than  before.  At  length,  a  hunter  having  drunk  of  this  horn, 
ungratefully  refused  to  return  it  to  the  friendly  apparition  ;  and  his 
master,  the  lord  of  the  forest,  lest  he  should  appear  to  countenance  so 
atrocious  a  theft,  gave  it  to  king  Henry  the  elder0. 

This  story,  which  seems  imperfect,  I  suppose,  is  from  Gervase  of 
Tilbury. 

CHAP,  clxii.  The  same  author  is  cited  for  an  account  of  a  hill  in 
Castile,  on  which  was  a  palace  of  demons. 

Whenever  our  compiler  quotes  Gervase  of  Tilbury,  the  reference  is 
to  his  OTIA!MPERIALIA:  which  is  addressed  to  the  emperor  Otho  the 
Fourth,  and  contains  his  Commentarius  de  regnis  Imperatorwn  Roma- 
norum^liis  Mundi  Descriptio,  and  his  Tractatus  de  Mirabilibus  Mundi. 
All  these  four  have  been  improperly  supposed  to  be  separate  works. 

CHAP,  clxiii.  King  Alexander's  son  Celestinus. 

CHAP,  clxvii.  The  archer  and  the  nightingale. 

This  fable  is  told  in  the  Greek  legend  of  BARLAAM  AND  JOSAPHAT, 
written  by  Johannes  Damascenusd.  And  in  Caxton's  GOLDEN 
LEGENDE®.  It  is  also  found  in  the  CLERICALIS  DISCIPLINA  of 
Alphonsus. 

CHAP,  clxviii.  Barlaam  is  cited  for  the  story  of  a  man,  who,  flying 
from  a  unicorn,  and  falling  into  a  deep  and  noisome  pit,  hung  on  the 
boughs  of  a  lofty  tree  which  grew  from  the  bottom.  On  looking  down- 
ward, he  saw  a  huge  dragon  twisted  round  the  trunk,  and  gaping  to 
devour  him.  He  also  observed  two  mice  gnawing  at  the  roots  of  the 
tree,  which  began  to  totter.  Four  white  vipers  impregnated  the  air  of 
the  pit  with  their  poisonous  breath.  Looking  about  him,  he  discovered 
a  stream  of  honey  distilling  from  one  of  the  branches  of  the  tree,  which 
he  began  eagerly  to  devour,  without  regarding  his  dangerous  situation. 
The  tree  soon  fell :  he  found  himself  struggling  in  a  loathsome  quag- 
mire, and  was  instantly  swallowed  by  the  dragon. 

This  is  another  of  Barlaam's  apologues  in  Damascenus's  romance  of 
BARLAAM  AND  JOSAPHAT  :  and  which  has  been  adopted  into  the 
Lives  of  the  Saints  by  Surius  and  othersf.  A  MORALISATION  is  sub- 
joined, exactly  agreeing  with  that  in  the  GESTA&. 

CHAP,  clxix.  Trogus  Pompeius  is  cited,  for  the  wise  legislation  of 
Ligurius,  a  noble  knight. 

Our  compiler  here  means  Justin's  abridgement  of  Trogus  ;  which, 
to  the  irreparable  injury  of  literature,  soon  destroyed  its  original.  An 

c  That  is,  Henry  the  First,  king  of  f  See  Caxton's  Golden  Legend,  fol. 

England.  cccclxxxxiii.  a. 

d  Opp.  ut  supr.  p.  22.  See  also  Surius,  s  See  Damascenus,  ut  supr.  pag.  31. 

ut  supr.  Novembr.  27.  pag.  565.  And  Metrical  Lives  of  Saints,  MSS.  Bodl, 

•  Fol.  ccclxxxxii.  b.  779.  f.  293  b. 


ON  THE  GESTA   ROMANORUM. 

early  epitome  of  Livy  would  have  been  attended  with  the  same  un- 
happy consequences. 

CHAP.  clxx.  The  dice  player  and  saint  Bernard. 

This  is  from  saint  Bernard's  legend h. 

CHAP,  clxxi.  The  two  knights  of  Egypt  and  Baldach. 

This  is  the  story  of  Boccace's  popular  novel  of  TITO  AND  GISIPPO, 
and  of  Lydgate's  Tale  of  two  Marchants  of  Egypt  and  of  Baldad,  a 
manuscript  poem  in  the  British  Museum,  and  lately  in  the  library  of 
doctor  Askew1.  Peter  Alphonsus  is  quoted  for  this  story  ;  and  it 
makes  the  second  Fable  of  his  CLERICALIS  DISCIPLINA. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  introducing  a  small  digression  here,  which  refers 
to  two  pieces  of  the  poet  last  mentioned,  never  enumerated  among  his 
works.  In  the  year  14-83,  Caxton  printed  at  Westminster,  "  The  PYL- 
GREMAGE  OF  THE  SowLE  translated  oute  of  Frensshe  into  Englisshe. 
Full  of  devout  maters  touching  the  sowle,  and  many  questions  assoyled 
to  cause  a  man  to  lyve  the  better,  &c.  Emprinted  at  Westminster  by 
William  Caxton  the  first  yere  of  kynge  Edward  V.  1483."  The  French 
book,  which  is  a  vision,  and  has  some  degree  of  imagination,  is  probably 
the  PELERIN  DE  L'AME,  of  Guillaume  prior  of  ChaulisJ.  This  trans- 
lation was  made  from  the  French,  with  additions,  in  the  year  1413. 
For  in  the  colophon  are  these  words  :  "  Here  endeth  the  dreme  of 
the  PYLGREMAGE  OF  THE  SOWLE  translated  out  of  Frensche  into  En- 
glisshe. with  somwhat  of  Addicions,  the  yere  of  our  lorde  M.CCCC.  and 
thyrteen,  and  endethe  in  the  vigyle  of  Seint  Bartholomew."  The  trans- 
lator of  this  book,  at  least  the  author  of  the  Addicions,  which  altogether 
consist  of  poetry  in  seven-lined  stanzas,  I  believe  to  be  Lydgate.  Not 
to  insist  on  the  correspondence  of  time  and  style,  I  observe,  that  the 
thirty-fourth  chapter  of  Lydgate's  metrical  LIFE  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MARY 
is  literally  repeated  in  the  thirty-fourth  chapter  of  this  Translation. 
This  chapter  is  a  digression  of  five  or  six  stanzas  in  praise  of  Chaucer, 
in  which  the  writer  feelingly  laments  the  recent  death  of  his  maister 
Chaucer,  poete  of  Britaine,  who  used  to  amende  and  correcte  the  wronge 
traces  of  my  rude  penne.  No  writer  besides,  in  Lydgate's  own  life-time, 
can  be  supposed,  with  any  sort  of  grace  or  propriety,  to  have  men- 
tioned those  personal  assistances  of  Chaucer,  in  Lydgate's  own  words. 
And  if  we  suppose  that  the  Translation,  or  its  Addicions,  were  written 
by  Lydgate  before  he  wrote  his  LIFE  OF  THE  VIRGIN,  the  proof  will 
be  the  samek. 

Another  piece  probably  written  by  Lydgate,  yet  never  supposed  or 
acknowledged  to  be  of  his  composition,  is  a  poem  in  the  octave  stanza, 

h  See  Caxton's  Gold.  Leg.  f.  cxxix.  b.  GRIMACE  OF  THE  WORLD  by  the  com- 

1  R.  Edwards  has  a  play  on  this  story,  maundement  of  the  earle  of  Salisburie, 

1582.  1426."  But  this  must  be  a  different  work. 

J  See  vol.  ii.  p.  320.  Ad  calc.  Opp.  Chauc.  fol.  376.  col.  1. 
k  Stowe   mentions    Lydgate's    "  PIL- 


DISSERTATION    III. 

containing  thirty-seven  leaves  in  folio,  and  entitled  LABEROUS  AND 
MARVEY.LOUS  WOKKE  OF  SAPIENCE.  After  a  long  debate  between 
MERCY  and  TRUTH,  and  JUSTICE  and  PEACE,  all  the  products  of  nature 
and  of  human  knowledge  are  described,  as  they  stand  arranged  in  the 
palace  and  dominions  of  WISDOM.  It  is  generally  allowed  to  have  been 
printed  by  Caxton :  it  has  not  the  name  of  the  printer,  nor  any  date. 
Had  it  been  written  by  Caxton,  as  I  once  hastily  suspected,  or  by  any 
of  his  coternporaries,  the  name  of  Lydgate  would  have  appeared  in 
conjunction  with  those  of  Gower  and  Chaucer,  who  are  highly  cele- 
brated in  the  Prologue  as  erthely  gods  expert  in  poesie  :  for  these  three 
writers  were  constantly  joined  in  panegyric,  at  least  for.  a  century,  by 
their  successors,  as  the  distinguished  triumvirate  of  English  poetry. 
In  the  same  Prologue,  the  author  says  he  was  commanded  to  write  this 
poem  by  the  king.  No  poet  cotemporary  with  Caxton  was  of  conse- 
quence enough  to  receive  such  a  command :  and  we  know  that  Lydgate 
compiled  many  of  his  works  by  the  direction,  or  under  the  patronage, 
of  King  Henry  the  Fifth.  Lydgate  was  born  in  Suffolk  :  and  our 
author,  from  the  circumstance  of  having  lived  in  a  part  of  England  not 
of  a  very  polished  dialect,  apologises  for  the  rudeness  of  his  language, 
so  that  he  cannot  delycately  endyte.  It  is  much  in  the  style  and  manner 
of  Lydgate ;  and  I  believe  it  to  have  been  one  of  his  early  per- 
formances1. 

CHAP,  clxxii.  A  king  of  England  has  two  knights,  named  Guido 
and  Tirius.  Guido  having  achieved  many  splendid  exploits  for  the 
love  of  a  beautiful  lady,  at  length  married  her.  Three  days  after  his 
marriage  he  saw  a  vision,  which  summoned  him  to  engage  in  the  holy 
war.  At  parting  she  gave  him  a  ring  ;  saying,  "  as  often  as  you  look 
on  this  ring,  remember  me."  Soon  after  his  departure  she  had  a  son. 
After  various  adventures,  in  which  his  friend  Tirius  has  a  share,  at  the 
end  of  seven  years  he  returned  to  England  in  the  habit  of  a  pilgrim. 
Coming  to  his  castle,  he  saw  at  the  gate  his  lady  sitting,  and  distribu- 
ting alms  to  a  crowd  of  poor  people  ;  ordering  them  all  to  pray  for  the 
return  of  her  lord  Guido  from  the  holy  land.  She  was  on  that  day 
accompanied  by  her  son  a  little  boy,  very  beautiful  and  richly  appa- 
relled ;  and  who,  hearing  his  mother,  as  she  was  distributing  her  alms, 
perpetually  recommending  Guido  to  their  prayers,  asked,  if  that  was 
his  father  ?  Among  others,  she  gave  alms  to  her  husband  Guido,  not 
knowing  him  in  the  pilgrim's  disguise.  Guido,  seeing  the  little  boy, 
took  him  in  his  arms,  and  kissed  him  ;  saying,  "  O  my  sweet  son,  may 
God  give  you  grace  to  please  him  I"  For  this  boldness  he  was  re- 
proved by  the  attendants.  But  the  lady,  finding  him  destitute  and  a 
stranger,  assigned  him  a  cottage  in  a  neighbouring  forest.  Soon  after- 

1  See  vol.  ii.  p.  385.  Note  w.     I  know       heaven  for  redemption  of  mankind."  Ubi 
not  if  this  is  the  poem  recited  by  Stowe,       supr.  col.  i. 
and  called  "  The  Courte  of  Sapience  in 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM. 

wards  falling  sick,  he  said  to  his  servant,  "  Carry  this  ring  to  your  lady, 
and  tell  her,  if  she  desires  ever  to  see  me  again,  to  come  hither  without 
delay."  The  servant  conveyed  the  ring  ;  but  before  she  arrived,  he 
was  dead.  She  threw  herself  on  his  body,  and  exclaimed  with  tears, 
"Where  are  now  my  alms  which  I  daily  gave  for  my  lord  ?  I  saw  you 
receive  those  alms,  but  I  knew  you  not. — You  beheld,  embraced,  and 
kissed  your  own  son,  but  did  not  discover  yourself  to  him  nor  to  me. 
What  have  I  done,  that  I  shall  see  you  no  more  ?"  She  then  interred 
him  magnificently. 

The  reader  perceives  this  is  the  story  of  Guido,  or  Guy,  earl  of 
Warwick ;  ana!  probably  this  is  the  early  outline  of  the  life  and  death 
of  that  renowned  champion. 

Many  romances  were  at  first  little  more  than  legends  of  devotion, 
containing  the  pilgrimage  of  an  old  warrior.  At  length,  as  chivalry 
came  more  into  vogue,  and  the  stores  of  invention  were  increased,  the 
youthful  and  active  part  of  the  pilgrim's  life  was  also  written,  and  a 
long  series  of  imaginary  martial  adventures  was  added,  in  which  his 
religious  was  eclipsed  by  his  heroic  character,  and  the  penitent  was  lost 
in  the  knight-errant.  That  which  was  the  principal  subject  of  the 
short  and  simple  legend,  became  only  the  remote  catastrophe  of  the 
voluminous  romance.  And  hence  by  degrees  it  was  almost  an  esta- 
blished rule  of  every  romance,  for  the  knight  to  end  his  days  in  a  her- 
mitage. Cervantes  has  ridiculed  this  circumstance  with  great  pleasantry, 
where  Don  Quixote  holds  a  grave  debate  with  Sancho,  whether  he  shall 
turn  saint  or  archbishop. 

So  reciprocal,  or  rather  so  convertible,  was  the  pious  and  the  military 
character,  that  even  some  of  the  apostles  had  their  romance.  In  the 
ninth  century,  the  chivalrous  and  fabling  spirit  of  the  Spaniards  trans- 
formed saint  James  into  a  knight.  They  pretended  that  he  appeared 
and  fought  with  irresistible  fury,  completely  armed,  and  mounted  on  a 
stately  white  horse,  in  most  of  their  engagements  with  the  Moors  ;  and 
because  by  his  superior  prowess  in  these  bloody  conflicts,  he  was  sup- 
posed to  have  freed  the  Spaniards  from  paying  the  annual  tribute  of  a 
hundred  Christian  virgins  to  their  infidel  enemies,  they  represented  him 
as  a  professed  and  powerful  champion  of  distressed  damsels.  This 
apotheosis  of  chivalry  in  the  person  of  their  own  apostle,  must  have 
ever  afterwards  contributed  to  exaggerate  the  characteristical  romantic 
heroism  of  the  Spaniards,  by  which  it  was  occasioned ;  and  to  propa- 
gate through  succeeding  ages,  a  stronger  veneration  for  that  species  of 
military  enthusiasm,  to  which  they  were  naturally  devoted.  It  is  certain, 
that  in  consequence  of  these  illustrious  achievements  in  the  Moorish 
wars,  Saint  James  was  constituted  patron  of  Spain ;  and  became  the 
founder  of  one  of  the  most  magnificent  shrines,  and  of  the  most  opulent 
order  of  knighthood,  now  existing  in  Christendom.  The  Legend  of 
this  invincible  apostle  is  inserted  in  the  Mosarabic  liturgy. 

CHAP,  clxxiii.  A  king  goes  to  a  fair,  carrying  in  his  train,  a  master 


CXC  DISSERTATION    III. 

with  one  of  his  scholars,  who  expose  six  bundles,  containing  a  system 
of  ethics,  to  sale8. 

Among  the  revenues  accruing  to  the  crown  of  England  from  the  Fair 
of  saint  Botolph  at  Boston  in  Lincolnshire,  within  the  HONOUR  of 
RICHMOND,  mention  is  made  of  the  royal  pavilion,  or  booth,  which 
stood  in  the  fair,  about  the  year  1280.  This  fair  was  regularly  fre- 
quented by  merchants  from  the  most  capital  trading  towns  of  Nor- 
mandy, Germany,  Flanders,  and  other  countries.  "  Ibidem  [in  feriaj 
sunt  qusedam  domus  quag  dicuntur  BOTH^E  REGIME,  quse  valent  per 
annum  xxviii,  1.  xiii,  s.  iiii,  d.  Ibidem  sunt  qusedam  domus  quas  MER- 
CATORES  DE  YPRE  tenent,  quae  valent  per  annum,  xx,  1.  Et  qusedam 
domus  quas  MERCATORES  DE  CADOMO'  ET  OSTOGANIO"  tenent,  xi,  I. 
Et  qusedam  domus  quas  MERCATORES  DE  ANACOV  tenent  xiii,  1.  vi,  s. 
viii,  d.  Et  quaedam  domus  quas  MERCATORES  DE  COLONIA  tenent, 
xxv,  1.  x,  s."vv  The  high  rent  of  these  lodges  is  a  proof  that  they  were 
considerable  edifices  in  point  of  size  and  accommodation. 

CHAP,  clxxiv.  The  fable  of  a  serpent  cherished  in  a  man's  bosom*. 

About  the  year  1470,  a  collection  of  Latin  fables,  in  six  books,  di- 
stinguished by  the  name  of  Esop,  was  published  in  Germany.  The 
first  three  books  consist  of  the  sixty  anonymous  elegiac  fables,  printed 
in  Nevelet's  collection,  under  the  title  of  Anonymi  Fabulce  JEsopic&y 
and  translated,  in  1503,  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  with  a  few  variations: 
under  each  is  a  fable  in  prose  on  the  same  subject  from  ROMULUS,  or 
the  old  prose  LATIN  ESOP,  which  was  probably  fabricated  in  the 
twelfth  century.  The  fourth  book  has  the  remaining  fables  of  Romu- 
lus in  prose  only.  The  fifth,  containing  one  or  two  fables  only,  which 
were  never  called  Esop's,  is  taken  from  Alphonsus,  the  GESTA  ROMA- 
NORUM,  the  CALILA  u  DAMNAH,  and  other  obscure  sources.  The 
sixth  and  last  book  has  seventeen  fables  ex  translatione  Rinucii,  that 
is  Rinucius,  who  translated  Planudes's  life  of  Esop,  and  sixty-nine  of 
his  fables,  from  Greek  into  Latin,  in  the  fifteenth  century.  This  col- 
lection soon  afterwards  was  circulated  in  a  French  version,  which  Cax- 
ton  translated  into  English. 

In  an  ancient  general  Chronicle,  printed  at  Lubec  in  1475,  and  en- 
titled RUDIMENTUM  NoviTiORUMy,  a  short  life  of  Esop  is  introduced, 
together  with  twenty-nine  of  his  ikbles.  The  writer  says,  "  Esopus 
adelphus  claruit  tempore  Cyri  regis  Persarum. — Vir  ingeniosus  et  pru- 
dens,  qui  confinxit  fabulas  elegantes.  Quas  Romulus  postmodum  de 
greco  transtulit  in  latinum,  et  filio  suo  Tibertino  direxit2,"  &c.  The 

*  Compare  Malth.  Paris,    edit.  Watts.  x  This  fable  is  in  Alphonsus's  Clerica- 

p.  927.  40. — And  p.  751.  10.  Us  Disciplinu. 

1  Caen  in  Normandy.  y  In  this  work  the  following  question  is 

u  Perhaps  Ostend.  discussed,  originally,  I  believe,  started  by 

v  Perhaps  Le  Pais  d'Aunis,  between  saint  Austin,  and  perhaps  determined  by 

the   provinces   of  Poictou   and  Santone,  Thomas  Aquinas,  An  Angeli  possint  coire 

where  is  Rochelle,  a  famous  port  and  mart.  cum  Mulieribus,  et  generare  Gigantes  ? 
w  Registr.  Honoris  de  Richmond.  Lond.  *  Fol.  237  a. 

1722.  fol.  Num.  viii.  Append,  p.  39. 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  CXC1 

whole  of  this  passage  about  Esop  is  transcribed  from  Vincent  of  Beau- 
vais  a. 

CHAP,  clxxvii.  The  feast  of  king  Ahasuerus  and  Esther. 

I  have  mentioned  a  metrical  romance  on  this  subject b.  And  I  have 
before  observed,  that  Thomas  of  Elmham,  a  chronicler,  calls  the  coro- 
nation-feast of  king  Henry  the  fifth,  a  second  feast  of  Ahasuerus0. 
Hence  also  Chaucer's  allusion  at  the  marriage  of  January  and  May, 
while  they  are  at  the  solemnity  of  the  wedding-dinner,  which  is  very 
splendid. 

Quene  Esther  loked  ner  with  soch  an  eye 
On  Assuere,  so  meke  a  loke  hath  shed. 

Froissart,  an  historian,  who  shares  the  merit  with  Philip  de  Comines 
of  describing  every  thing,  gives  this  idea  of  the  solemnity  of  a  dinner 
on  Christmas-day,  at  which  he  was  present,  in  the  hall  of  the  castle  of 
Gaston  earl  of  Foiz  at  Ortez  in  Bevern,  under  the  year  1388.  At  the 
upper  or  first  table,  he  says,  sate  four  bishops,  then  the  earl,  three 
viscounts,  and  an  English  knight  belonging  to  the  duke  of  Lancaster. 
At  another  table,  five  abbots,  and  two  knights  of  Arragon.  At  another, 
many  barons  and  knights  of  Gascony  and  Bigorre.  At  another,  a  great 
number  of  knights  of  Bevern.  Four  knights  were  the  chief  stewards 
of  the  hall,  and  the  two  bastard  brothers  of  the  earl  served  at  the  high 
table.  "  The  erles  two  sonnes,  sir  Yvan  of  Leschell  was  sewer,  and  sir 
Gracyen  bare  his  cuppe6.  And  there  were  many  mynstrelles,  as  well 

*  Specul.  Hist.  1.  iii.  c.  ii.  And  when  tbou  hast  so  done, 
b  Vol.  ii.  p.  372.  Take  the  kuppe  of  golde  sone, 
c  y0j  -        256  An(*  serve  hym  of  the  wyne. 

And  what  that  he  speketh  to  the 

-  March.  Tale,  v.  1260.  Urr.  Cum  anone  and  teUPe  me> 

e  In  the  old  romance,  or  Lay,  of  Emare,  Qn  goddus  blessyng  and  myne. 

abeautiful  use  is  madeofthe  LadyEmare's  The  chylde4  wente  ynto  the  halle 

son  serving  as  cup-bearer  to  the  king  of  Ga-  Among  the  lordes  grete  and  smalle 
licia ;  by  which  means,  the  king  discovers  That  lufsumme  were  unthur  lyne«: 

the  boy  to  be  his  son,  and  in  consequence  Then  the  lordes,  that  were  grete, 

finds  out  his  queen  Emare,  whom  he  had  Wyshe6,  and  wente  to  here  mete; 
long  lost.    The  passage  also  points  out  the  Menstrelles  browst  yn  the  kowrs?, 

duties  of  this  office.    MSS.  Cott.  Calig.  A.  The  chylde  hem  served  so  curteysly, 

2.  f.  74.    Emare  says  to  the  young  prince,  Alle  hym  loved  that  hym  sy8, 
her  son,  And  spake  hym  gret  honowres. 

To-morowe  thou  shalle  serve  yn  halle  Then  sayde  alle  that  loked  hym  upone, 

In  a  kurtylle  of  ryche  palle1,  So  curteys  a  chyld  sawe  they  never  none, 

Byfore  thys  nobulle  kyng ;  In  halle,  ny  yn  bowres : 

Loke,  sone2,  so  curtays  thou  be,  The  kynge  sayde  to  hym  yn  game, 

That  no  mon  fynde  chalange  to  the  Swete  sone,  what  ys  thy  name  1 

In  no  manere  thynge3.  Lord,  he  sayd,  y  hy3th9  Segramowres. 

When  the  kynge  is  served  of  spycerye,  Then  that  nobulle  kyng 

Knele  thou  downe  hastylye,  Toke  up  a  grete  sykynge10, 

And  take  hys  hond  yn  thyn  ;  For  hys  sone11  hyght  so: 

1  a  tunic  of  rich  cloth.  2  son.  3  may  accuse  thee  of  want  of  courtesy. 

4  the  boy.  5  richly  apparelled.  6  washed.  7  course. 

8  saw.  9  I  am  called.  10  sighing.  u  his  son. 


CXCH  DISSERTATION  III. 

of  his  owne  as  of  straungers,  and  eche  of  them  dyde  their  devoyre  in 
their  faculties.  The  same  day  the  erle  of  Foiz  gave  to  harauldes  and 
mynstrelles,  the  somme  of  fyve  hundred  frankes  :  and  gave  to  the  duke 
of  Touraynes  mynstrelles,  gownes  of  clothe  of  golde  furred  with  ermyns, 
valued  at  two  hundred  frankes.  This  dinner  endured  four  houresV 
Froissart,  who  was  entertained  in  this  castle  for  twelve  weeks,  thus  de- 
scribes the  earl's  ordinary  mode  of  supping.  "  In  this  estate  the  erle  of 
Foiz  lyved.  And  at  mydnyght  whan  he  came  out  of  his  chambre  into 
the  halle  to  supper,  he  had  ever  before  hym  twelve  torches  brennyng0, 
borne  by  twelve  varieties  [valets]  standyng  before  his  table  all  sup- 
per :  they  gave  a  grete  light,  and  the  hall  ever  full  of  knightes  and 
squyers ;  and  many  other  tables  dressed  to  suppe  who  wolde.  Ther 
was  none  shulde  speke  to  hym  at  his  table,  but  if  he  were  called.  His 
meate  was  lightlye  wylde  foule. — He  had  great  plesure  in  armony  of 
instrumentes,  he  could  do  it  right  well  hymselfe  :  he  wolde  have  songes 
songe  before  hym.  He  wolde  gladlye  se  conseytes  [conceits]  and  fan- 
tasies at  his  table.  And  when  he  had  sene  it,  then  he  wolde  send  it  to 
the  other  tables. — There  was  sene  in  his  hall,  chambre,  and  court, 
knyghtes  and  squyers  of  honour  goyng  up  and  downe,  and  talkyng  of 
armes  and  of  amours  P,"  &c.  After  supper,  Froissart  was  admitted  to 
an  audience  with  this  magnificent  earl ;  and  used  to  read  to  him  a  book 
of  sonnets,  rondeaus,  and  virelays,  written  by  &gentyll  duke  of  Luxem- 
burghi. 

In  this  age  of  curiosity,  distinguished  for  its  love  of  historical  anec- 
dotes and  the  investigation  of  ancient  manners,  it  is  extraordinary  that 
a  new  translation  should  not  be  made  of  Froissart  from  a  collated  and 
corrected  original  of  the  French*.  Froissart  is  commonly  ranked  with 

Certys,  withowten  lesynge,  °  It  appears  that  candles  were  borne  by 

The  teres  out  ot'hys  yen1  gan  wryng,  domestics,  anil  not  placed  on  the  table,  at 

In  herte  he  was  fulle  woo  :  a  very  early  period  in  France.     Gregory 

Neverethelese,  he  lette  be,  of  Tours  mentions  a  piece  of  savage  mer- 

And  loked  on  the  chylde  so  fre2,  riment  practised  by  a  feudal  lord  at  sup- 

And  mykelle3  he  levede  hym  thoo4. —  per,  on  one  of  his  valets  de  chandelle,  in 

Then  the  lordes  that  were  grete  consequence  of  this  custom.    Greg.  Turon. 

Whesshcn  a^eyn5,  aftyr  mete,  Hist.  lib.  v.  c.  iii.  fol.  o4  b.  edit.  1522.     It 

And  then  com  spycerye6.  is  probable  that  our  proverbial  scoff,  You 

The  chyld,  that  was  of  chere  swete,  are  not  fit  to  hold  a  candle  to  him,  took  its 

On  hys  kne  downe  he  sete?,  rise  from  this  fashion.     See  Ray's  Prov. 

And  served  hym  curteyslye.  C.  p.  4.  edit.  1670;  and  Shaksp.  Romeo 

The  kynge  called  the  burgeys  hym  tyile,  and  Juliet,  i.  4. 
And  savde,  Syr,  yf  hyt  be  thy  wylle, 

Jyf  me  this  lytylle  body »j  H1  be  a  Candle-holder,  and  look  on. 

Ishallehymrnakelordeoftownandtowre,  p  Ibid.  fol.  xxx.  a.  col.  2. 

Of  hye  halles,  and  of  bowre,  q  Ibid.  col.  1. 

I  love  hym  specyally,  &c.  *  [This  has  since  been  done  by  Col. 

n  Chron.  vol.  ii.  fol.  xxxvi.  a.  Transl.  TFh°nf s  Johnes»  aud  was  Polished  at  the 
Bern.  1523.  Hafod  press,  4  vols.  ito.  1803-5.— M.j 


2  the  boy  so  beautiful.  3  greatly.  4  then.  5  washed 

again.  6  spicery,  spiced  wine.  1  bowed  his  knee.  8  give  me  this  boy. 


ON  THE  UKS'I'A   ROMANORUM.  CXClll 

romances:  but  it  ought  to  be  remembered,  that  he  is  the  historian  of  a 
romantic  age,  when  those  manners  which  form  the  fantastic  books  of 
chivalry  were  actually  practised.  As  he  received  his  multifarious  in- 
telligence from  such  a  variety  of  vouchers,  and  of  different  nations,  and 
almost  always  collected  his  knowledge  of  events  from  report,  rather 
than  from  written  or  recorded  evidence,  his  notices  of  persons  and 
places  are  frequently  confused  and  unexact.  Many  of  these  petty  in- 
correctnesses are  not,  however,  to  be  imputed  to  Froissart :  and  it  may 
seem  surprising,  that  there  are  not  more  inaccuracies  of  this  kind  in  a 
voluminous  chronicle,  treating  of  the  affairs  of  England,  and  abound- 
ing in  English  appellations,  composed  by  a  Frenchman,  and  printed  in 
France.  Whoever  will  take  the  pains  to  compare  this  author  with  the 
coeval  records  in  Rymer,  will  find  numerous  instances  of  his  truth  and 
integrity,  in  relating  the  more  public  and  important  transactions  of  his 
own  times.  Why  he  should  not  have  been  honoured  with  a  modern 
edition  at  the  Louvre,  it  is  easy  to  conceive :  the  French  have  a  national 
prejudice  against  a  writer,  who  has  been  so  much  more  complaisant  to 
England  than  to  their  own  country*.  Upon  the  whole,  if  Froissart 
should  be  neglected  by  the  historical  reader  for  his  want  of  precision 
and  authenticity,  he  will  at  least  be  valued  by  the  philosopher  for  his 
striking  pictures  of  life,  drawn  without  reserve  or  affectation  from  real 
nature  with  a  faithful  and  free  pencil,  and  by  one  who  had  the  best 
opportunities  of  observation,  who  was  welcome  alike  to  the  feudal 
castle  or  the  royal  palace,  and  who  mingled  in  the  bustle  and  business 
of  the  world,  at  that  very  curious  period  of  society,  when  manners  are 
very  far  refined,  and  yet  retain  a  considerable  tincture  of  barbarism. 
But  I  cannot  better  express  my  sentiments  on  this  subject,  than  in  the 
words  of  Montaigne.  "  J'ayme  les  Historiens  ou  fort  simples  ou  excel- 
lens.  Les  simples  qui  n'ont  point  de  quoy  y  mesler  queique  chose  du 
leur,  et  qui  n'y  apportent  que  le  soin  et  la  diligence  de  ramasser  tout 
ce  qui  vient  a  leur  notice,  et  d'enregistrer  a  la  bonne  foy  toutes  choses 
sans  chois  et  sans  triage,  nous  laissent  le  jugement  entier  pour  la  co- 
noissance  de  la  verite.  Tel  est  entre  autres  pour  example  le  bon  Frois- 
sard,  qui  a  marche  en  son  enterprise  d'une  si  franche  naifuete,  qu'ayant 
fait  une  faute  il  ne  craint  aucunement  de  la  reconnoistre  et  corriger  en 
1'endroit,  ou  il  en  a  este  adverty :  et  qui  nous  represente  la  diversite 
mesme  des  bruits  qui  couroient,  et  les  differens  rapports  qu'on  luy  fai- 
sot.  C'est  la  matiere  de  1'Histoire  nu'i  et  informe  ;  chacun  en  peut  faire 
son  proifit  autant  qu'il  a  d'entendementV 

CHAP,  clxxviii.  A  king  is  desirous  to  know  how  to  rule  himself  and 

.  *  [An  edition  of  Froissart  is  included  demised,  which  detracts  greatly  from  the 

in  the  "Collection  des  Chioniques  natio-  value  of  the  edition. — M.] 
nales  Franyaises,"  with  notes  and  illus-  *  Essais,  lib.  ii.  ch.  x.  p.  409.  sdit.  1598. 

trations  by  J.  A.  Buchon,  8 vo,  Paris,  1824;  8 vo. 
but  unfortunately  the  orthography  is  mo- 

VOL.  i.  n 


DISSERTATION  III. 

his  kingdom.  One  of  his  wise  men  presents  an  allegorical  picture  on 
the  wall ;  from  which,  after  much  study,  he  acquires  the  desired  in- 
struction. 

In  the  original  eastern  apologue,  perhaps  this  was  a  piece  of  tapestry. 
From  the  cultivation  of  the  textorial  arts  among  the  orientals,  came 
Darius's  wonderful  cloth  above-mentioned6;  and  the  idea  of  the  robe 
richly  embroidered  and  embossed  with  stories  of  romance  and  other 
imageries,  in  the  unprinted  romance  of  EMARE,  which  forms  one  of 
the  finest  descriptions  of  the  kind  that  I  have  seen  in  Gothic  poetry, 
and  which  I  shall  therefore  not  scruple  to  give  at  large. 

Sone  aftur  yn  a  whyle, 
The  ryche  kynge  of  Cesylef 

To  the  Emperour  gane  wende^; 
A  ryche  present  wyth  hym  he  browght, 
A  clothe  that  was  wordylyeh  wroght, 

He  wellecomed  hym  as  the  hende1. 
Syr  Tergaunte,  that  nobylle  kny^t  hy^te, 
He  presented  the  emperour  ryght, 

And  sette  hym  on  hys  knek, 
Wyth  that  cloth  rychyly  dyght ; 
Fulle  of  stones  ther  hyt  was  pyght, 

As  thykke  as  hyt  rnyght  be : 
Off  topaze  and  rubyes, 
And  othur  stones  of  myche  prys, 

That  semely  wer  to  se ; 
Of  crapowtes  and  nakette, 
As  thykke  ar  they  sette, 

For  sothe  as  y  say  the1. 
The  cloth  was  dysplayed  sone : 
The  emperour  lokede  therupone 

And  myght  hyt  not  sem ; 
For  glysteryng  of  the  ryche  ston, 
Redy  syght  had  he  none, 

And  sayde,  how  may  thys  be  ? 
The  emperour  sayde  on  hyghe, 
Sertes11,  thys  ys  a  fayry0, 

Or  ellys  a  vanyte. 
The  kyng  of  Cysyle  answered  than, 
So  ryche  ajwelleP  ys  ther  non 

In  alle  Crystyante. 

e  Chap.  xx.  *  Sicily.  l  I  tell  thee.  m  could  not  see  it 

g  went  to.  h  worthily.  n  certainly. 

1  courteously,  but,  I  believe  there  is  °  an  illusion,  a  piece  of  enchantment. 

a  slight  corruption.  p  Jewel   was  anciently   any   precious 

k  he  presented  it  kneeling.  thing. 


ON  THE  GE5TA   ROM AXORUM.  CXCV 

The  amerayle  dowser  of  hethennes  * 
Made  this  cloth,  withoutene  leesr, 

And  wrow^te  hyt  alle  with  pride ; 
And  purtreyed  hyt  wyth  gret  honour, 
Wyth  ryche  golde  and  asowr9, 

And  stones  on  ylke l  a  syde. 
And  as  the  story  telies  in  honde, 
The  stones  that  yn  this  cloth  stonde 

Sow$te "  they  wer  fu-Ue  wyde : 
Seven  wynter  hyt  was  yn  makynge, 
Or  hyt  was  browght  to  endynge, 

In  hert  ys  not  to  hyde. 
In  that  on  korner  made  was 
YDOYNE  and  AMADASW, 

Wyth  love  that  was  so  trewe ; 
For  they  loveden  herax  wyth  honour, 
Portrayed  they  wer  wyth  trewe-love  flour 

Of  stones  bryght  of  hewe, 
Wyth  carbunkulle,  and  safere*, 
Kassydonys,  and  onyx  so  clere, 

Sette  in  golde  newe; 
Deamondes  and  rubyes, 
And  othur  stones  of  mychylle  pryse, 

And  menstrellys  wyth  her  glez. 
In  that  othur  corner  was  dyght 
TRYSTRAM  and  ISOWDE  so  bry$ta, 

That  semely  wer  to  se  ; 
And  for  they  loved  hem  ryght, 
As  fulle  of  stones  ar  they  dyght, 

As  thykke  as  they  may  be. — 

q  The  daughter  of  the  Amerayle  of  the  the  word  in  that  literature  occurs  in  the 

Saracens.      Amiral  in   the   eastern  Ian-  romances   which    describe    invasions   of 

guages  was  the  governor,  or  prince,  of  a  Saracens  by  sea.     These  descents  were 

province,  from  the  Arabic  Emir,  Lord.  In  made  by  the  Arabs  of  Spain,  where  there 

this  sense,  Amrayl  is  used  by  Robert  of  was  an  Emir  specially  charged  with  the 

Gloucester.      Hence,   by  corruption   the  direction  of  the  fleet,  and  he  was  called 

word  Admiral,  and  in  a  restricted  sense,  Emir-alma,  or  emir  of  the  water.     Emir- 

for  the  commander  of  a  fleet ;  which  Mil-  alma  becomes  easily  emiral  and  amiral. 

ton,  who  knew  the  original,  in  that  sense  See  Reinaud,  Invasions  des  Sarrazins  en 

writes AmmiraLParad.  L.i.294.  Dufresne  France,  1836,  p.  69. — W.] 
thinks,  that  our  naval  Amiral,  i.  e.  Admi-  r  lying.  *  azure, 

ral,  came  from  the  crusades,  where  the  *  every.  u  sought. 

Christians  heard  it  used  by  the  Saracens  w  On   one   corner,  or  side,   was  em- 

(in  consequence  of  its  general  significa-  broidered    the    history    of    Idonia    and 

tion)  for  the  title  of  the  leader  of  their  Amadas.     For  their  Romance,  see  vol.  ii. 

fleets;  and  that  from  the  Mediterranean  p.  242. 
states  it  was  propagated  over  Europe.  x  loved  each  other.  y  sapphire. 

[It  seems  more  probable  that  the  word  z  figures  of  minstrels,  with  their  music, 

Amiral  was  obtained  in  the  wars  with  the  or  musical  instruments. 
Saracens   of  Spain,   which  had  a  much  *  Sir  Tristram  and  Bel  Isolde,  famoui 

greater  influence  on  middle-age  literature  in  king  Arthur's  Romance, 
than  the  crusades.     The  earliest  use  of 


CXCV1  DISSERTATION   III. 

In  the  thrydde5  korner  wyth  gret  honour 
Was  FLORYS  and  dam  BLAWNCHEFLOURC 

As  love  was  hem  betwene, 
For  they  loved  wyth  honour, 
Purtrayed  they  were  with  trewe-love-flour, 

Wyth  stones  bryght  and  shene. — 
In  the  fowrthe  korner  was  oon 
Of  Babylone  the  sowdan  sonne, 

The  amerayles  dow^tyr  hym  by : 
For  hys  sake  the  cloth  was  wrowght, 
She  loved  hym  in  hert  and  thowght, 

As  testymoyeth  thys  storye. 
The  fayr  may  den  here  byforn, 
Was  portrayed  an  unykorn, 

Wyth  hys  horn  so  hye ; 
Flowres  and  bryddes  on  ylke  a  syde, 
Wyth  stones  that  wer  sowght  wyde, 

Stuffed  wyth  ymagerye. 
When  the  cloth  to  ende  was  wrowght, 
To  the  Sowdan  soned  hyt  was  brow^t, 

That  semely  was  of  sy^te ; 
My  fadyr  was  a  nobylle  man, 
Of  the  Sowdan  he  hyt  wan 

Wyth  maystrye  and  wyth  myjthe*. 

Chaucer  says  in  the  ROMAUNT  OF  THE  ROSE,  that  RICHESSE  wore 
a  robe  of  purple,  which 

Ful  wele 

With  orfraies  laid  was  everie  dele, 
And  purtraied  in  the  ribaninges 
Of  DUKIS  STORIES  and  of  KINGES/ 

And,  in  the  original, 

Portraictes  y  furent  d'orfroys 
Hystoryes  d'empereurs  et  roys.s 

"*  third.  the  beginning,  and,  what  is  very  curious, 

c  See  what  I  have  said  of  their  ro-  the  imperfection  ending  in  each  at  nearly 

mance,  vol.  ii.  p.  135.  A  manuscript  copy  the  same  line.     The  earliest  copy  is  in  a 

of  it  in  French  metre  was  destroyed  in  manuscript  of  the  Public  Library  of  the 

the  fire  which  happened  in   the  Cotton  University    of  Cambridge,   G  g.   4,    27. 

Library.     Boccace  has  the  adventures  of  Another  is  preserved  in  the  Auchinleck 

Florio  and  Biancoflore,  in  his  Philocopo.  MS.  at  Edinburgh,  and  has  been  most  in- 

Floris  and  Blancaflor  are  mentioned  as  correctly  printed  by  Hartshorne.     A  third 

illustrious  lovers  by  Matfres  Eymegau  de  is  in  a  MS.  in  the  library  of  Lord  Leveson 

Eezers,  a  bard  of  Languedoc,  in  his  Bre-  Gower. — W.] 

viarid'dmor,  dated  in  the  year  1288.  MSS.  d  Soldan's  son.     [It  was  soon  brought 

Reg.  19  C.  i.  fol.  199.     See  Tyrwhitt's  to  the  Soldan.— RITSON.] 
Chaucer,  vol.  iv.  p.  169.  e  MSS.  Cott  (ut  supr.)  Calig.  A.  2. 

[There  are  preserved  three  copies  of  fol.  69.  ver.  80.  seq. 
the  English  version  of  the  romance  of          f  Ver.  1076* 
Floris  and  Blauncheflour,  all  imperfect  at  •  Ver,  1068. 


ON  THK  GESTA   ROMANORUM.  CXCV11 

CHAP,  clxxix.  Cesarius,  saint  Basil,  the  Gospel,  Boethius,  and  Ovid 
are  quoted  to  show  the  detestable  guilt  of  gluttony  and  ebriety. 

Cesarius,  I  suppose,  is  a  Cistercian  monk  of  the  thirteenth  century ; 
who,  beside  voluminous  Lives,  Chronicles,  and  Homilies,  wrote  twelve 
Books  on  the  Miracles,  Visions,  and  Examples,  of  his  own  age.  But 
there  is  another  and  an  older  monkish  writer  of  the  same  name.  In  the 
British  Museum,  there  is  a  narrative  taken  from  Cesarius,  in  old  north- 
ern English,  of  a  lady  deceived  by  the  fiends,  or  the  devil,  through  the 
pride  of  rich  clothing11. 

CHAP,  clxxx.  Paul,  the  historian  of  the  Longobards,  is  cited,  for  the 
fidelity  of  the  knight  Onulphus. 

CHAP,  clxxxi.  The  sagacity  of  a  lion. 

This  is  the  last  chapter  in  the  edition  of  1488. 

Manuscript  copies  of  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM  are  very  numerous1; 
a  proof  of  the  popularity  of  the  work.  There  are  two  in  the  British 
Museum;  which,  I  think,  contain,  each  one  hundred  and  two  chaptersk. 
But  although  the  printed  copies  have  one  hundred  and  eighty-one 
stories  or  chapters,  there  are  many  in  the  manuscripts  which  do  not 
appear  in  the  editions.  The  story  of  the  CASKETTS,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal incidents  in  Shakspeare's  MERCHANT  OF  VENICE,  is  in  one  of  the 
manuscripts  of  the  Museum1.  This  story,  however,  is  in  an  old  En- 
glish translation  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  without  date ;  from 
which,  or  more  probably  from  another  edition  printed  in  1577?  and 
entitled  A  RECORD  OF  ANCIENT  HYSTORYES  in  Latin  GESTA  ROMA- 
NORUM, corrected  and  bettered,  Shakspeare  borrowed  it.  The  story  of 
the  BOND  in  the  same  play,  which  Shakspeare  perhaps  took  from  a 
translation  of  the  PECORONE  of  Ser  Florentine  Giovanni1",  makes  the 
forty-eighth  chapter  of  the  last-mentioned  manuscript".  Giovanni 
flourished  about  the  year  1378°.  The  tale  of  Gower's  FLORENTP, 
which  resembles  Chaucer's  WIFE  OF  BATH,  occurs  in  some  of  the  ma- 
nuscripts of  this  work.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a  tale  by  Occleve, 

h  MSS.  Harl.  1022.  4.  the  former  uses  a  deception  which  occa- 

1  See  vol.  ii.  p.  238.  sions  the  conversion  of  the  latter.  Hist. 

k  MSS.  Harl.  2270.     And  5259.  Specul.  fol.  181  a.  edit,  ut  supr.     Jews, 

1  Viz.  Chap.  xcix.  fol.  78  b.  MSS.  Harl.  yet  under  heavy  restrictions,  were  origin- 

2270.    In  the  Clericalis  Disciplina  of  Al-  ally  tolerated  in  the  Christian  kingdoms 

phonsus,  there  is  a  narrative  of  a  king  of  the  dark  ages,  for  the  purpose  of  bor- 

who  kept  a  TABULATOR,  or  story-teller,  rowing  money,  with  which  they  supplied 

to  lull  him  to  sleep  every  night.       The  the  exigencies  of  the  state,  and  of  mer- 

king  on  some  occasion  being  seized  with  chants,  or  others,   on  the  most  lucrative 

an  unusual  disquietude  of  mind,  ordered  usurious  contracts. 

his  TABULATOR  to  tell  him  longer  stories,  n  Fol.  43  a.     In  this  story  MAGISTER 

for  that  otherwise  he  could  not  fall  asleep.  VIRGILIUS,   or   Virgil  the  cunning  man, 

The   TABULATOR  begins  a  longer  story,  is  consulted. 

but  in  the  midst  falls  asleep  himself,  &c.  °  See  Johnson's  and  Steevens's  Shak- 

1  think  I  have  seen  this  tale  in  some  ma-  speare,  iii.  p.  247.  edit.  ult.     And  Tyr- 

nuscript  of  the  Gesta  Romanoruin.  whitt's  Chaucer,  iv.  p.  332.  334. 

n)  Gio'rn.  iv.   Nov.  5.     In  Vincent   of  v   Confess,  Amant.  lib.  i.  f.  xv.  b.     See 

Bcauvais,  there  is  a  story  of  a  bond  be-  vol.  ii.  p.  247. 
tween  a  Christian  and  a  Jew  ;  in  which 


CXCV111  DISSERTATION  III. 

never  printed ;  concerning  the  chaste  consort  of  the  emperor  Gerelaus, 
who  is  abused  by  his  steward,  in  his  absence.  This  is  the  first  stanza. 
A  larger  specimen  shall  appear  in  its  place. 

In  Roman  Actis  writen  is  thus, 
Somtime  an  emperour  in  the  citee 
Of  Rome  regned,  clept  Gerelaus, 
Wich  his  noble  astate  and  his  d ignite 
Governed  wisely,  and  weddid  had  he 
The  douztir  of  the  kyng  of  Vngrye, 
A  faire  lady  to  every  mannes  ye. 

At  the  end  is  the  MORALISATION  in  prose/1 

I  could  point  out  other  stories,  beside  those  I  have  mentioned,  for 
which  Gower,  Lydgate,  Occleve,  and  the  author  of  the  DECAMERON, 
and  of  the  CENTO  NOVELLE  ANTICHE,  have  been  indebted  to  this 
admired  repository r.  Chaucer,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  has  taken 
one  of  his  Canterbury  Tales  from  this  collection  ;  and  it  has  been  sup- 
posed that  he  alludes  to  it  in  the  following  couplet, 

And  ROMAIN  GESTIS  makin  remembrance 
Of  many  a  veray  trewe  wife  also8. 

The  plot  also  of  the  knight  against  Constance,  who  having  killed 
Hermegild,  puts  the  bloody  knife  into  the  hand  of  Constance  while 
asleep,  and  her  adventure  with  the  steward,  in  the  MAN  OF  LA  WES 
TALE,  are  also  taken  from  that  manuscript  chapter  of  this  work,  which 
I  have  just  mentioned  to  have  been  versified  by  Occleve.  The  former 
of  these  incidents  is  thus  treated  by  Occleve : — 

She  with  this  zonge  childe  in  the  chambre  lay 
Every  nizt  where  lay  the  earle  and  the  countesse*, 
Bitween  whose  beddis  brente  a  lampe  alway. 

q  MSS.  Seld.  Sup.  53.  Bibl.  Bodl.    De  however,  that  many  of  the  tales  are  of 

quadam  bona  et  nobili  Imperalrice.     It  is  Boccace's    own   invention,     He   tells    us 

introduced  with  "  A  Tale  the  which  I  in  himself,  in  the  Genealogia  Deorum,  that 

the  Roman  dedis,"  &c.  Viz.  MSS.  Laud.  when  he  was  a  little  boy,  he  was  fond  of 

ibid.  K.  78.     See  also  MSS.  Digb.  185.  making  FICTIUNCUL^E.  Lib.  xv.  cap.  x. 

where,  inthe  first  lineof  the  poem,  wehave,  p.  579.  edit.  Basil.  1532.  fol. 
"  In  the  Roman  jestys  written  is  this."  *  Marchant's   Tale,   ver.    10158.  edit. 

It  is  in  other  manuscripts  of  Occleve.  This  Tyrw.     This   may  still  be   doubted,   as 

story  is  in  the  Gesta  Romanorum,  MSS.  from  what  has  been  said  above,  the  Ro- 

Harl.  2270.  chap.  101.  fol.  80  a.  where  man   Gests  were   the  Roman  history  in 

Gerelaus  is  Menelaus.  general. 

r  Bonifacio  Vannozzi,  in  Delle  Lettere  *  Here  we  see  the  ancient  practice, even 

Miscellanee  alle  Academia  Feneta,  says,  in  great  families,  of  one  and  the   same 

that  Boccace  borrowed  [Nov.  i.   D.   iii.]  bedchamber   serving   for   many  persons, 

the  Novel   of  Maseto  da   Lamporecchio,  Much  of  the  humour  in  Chaucer's  Trom- 

with  many  other  parts  of  the  Decameron,  pington  Miller  arises  from  this   circum- 

from  an  older  Collection  of  Novels.     "In  stance.     See  the  Romance  of  Syr  Try- 

uno  libro  de  Novelle,  et  di  Parlare  Gen-  amore.     And    Gower,    Conf.    Am.   ii.   f. 

tile,  Anteriore  al  Boccacio,"  &c.     In  Ve-  39  a. 
netia,  1606.  4to.  p.  580.  seq.     I  believe, 


THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  CXC1X 


And  he  espied,  by  the  lampes  lizt, 

The  bedde  where  that  lay  this  emprice 

With  erlis  douztur*,  and  as  blyve  rizt, 

This  feendly  man  his  purpose  and  malice 

Thouzte u  for  to  fulfille  and  accomplice ; 

And  so  he  dide,  a  longe  knife  out  he  drouzew, 

And  ther  with  alle  the  maiden  childe  he  slouzex. 

Hir  throte  with  the  knyfe  on  two  he  kutte 

And  as  this  emprice  lay  sleeping ; 

Into  her  honde  this  bloody  knyfe  he  putte, 

For  men  shoulde  have  noon  othir  deemyng? 

But  she  had  gilty  ben  of  this  murdring : 

And  whanne  that  he  had  wrouzte  this  cursidnesse, 

Anoone  oute  of  the  chambre  he  gan  hem  dressez. 

The  countess  after  hir  slepe  awakid 
And  to  the  emperesse  bedde  gan  caste  hir  look 
And  sya  the  bloody  knyfe  in  hir  hande  nakid, 
And,  for  the  feare  she  tremblid  and  quook. — 

******** 

She  awakens  the  earl,  who  awakens  the  empress. 

And  hir  awook,  and  thus  to  hir  he  cried, 

"  Woman,  what  is  that,  that  in  thin  hand  I  see  ? 

What  hast  thou  doon,  woman,  for  him  that  diede, 

What  wickid  spirit  hath  travaylid  the  ?  " 

And  as  sone  as  that.adawed  was  she, 

The  knyfe  fel  oute  of  hir  hand  in  the  bedde, 

And  she  bihilde  the  cloothis  al  forbledde, 

And  the  childe  dead,  "  Alias,  she  cried,  alias, 

How  may  this  be,  god  woot  alle  I  note  howe, 

I  am  not  privy  to  hir  hevy  caas, 

The  gilte  is  not  myne,  I  the  childe  not  sloweV 

To  which  spake  the  countesse,  "  What  saist  thou  ? 

Excuse  the  not,  thou  maist  not  saie  nay, 

The  knyfe  all  bloody  in  thin  hand  I  sayc."d 

This  story,  but  with  some  variation  of  circumstances,  is  told  in  the 
HISTORICAL  MIRROUR  of  Vincent  of  Beauvaise. 

But  I  hasten  to  point  out  the  writer  of  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM, 
who  has  hitherto  remained  unknown  to  the  most  diligent  inquirers  in 

*  earl's  daughter.  u  thought.  d  Ut  supr.  viz.  MS.  Seld.  sup.  45.  Qu. 

w  drew.          x  slew.  y  opinion.  iiii. 

1  he  hastened,  &c.                   a  saw.  c  Specul.  Histor.  lib.  vii.  c.  90.  fol.  86  a. 
b  slew.                                      e  saw. 


CC  DISSERTATION,  III. 

Gothic  literature.  He  is  Petrus  Berchorius,  or  Pierre  Bercheur,  a 
native  of  Poitou,  and  who  died  Prior  of  the  Benedictine  convent  of 
Saint  Eloi  at  Paris,  in  the  year  1362. 

For  the  knowledge  of  this  very  curious  circumstance,  I  am  obliged 
to  Salomon  Glassius,  a  celebrated  theologist  of  Saxe-Gotha,  in  his 
PHILOLOGIA  SACRA f,  written  about  the  year  1623 e.  In  his  chapter 
DE  ALLEGORIIS  FABULARUM,  he  censures  those  writers  who  affect  to 
interpret  allegorically,  not  only  texts  of  scripture,  but  also  poetical 
fables  and  profane  histories,  which  they  arbitrarily  apply  to  the  expli- 
cation or  confirmation  of  the  mysteries  of  Christianity.  He  adds,  "  Hoc 
in  studio  excelluit  quidam  Petrus  Berchorius,  Pictaviensis,  ordinis 
divi  Benedict! ;  qui,  peculiari  libro,  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  necnon  Le- 
gendas  Patrum,  aliasque  aniles  fabulas,  allegorice  ac  mystice  exposuitV 
That  is,  "In  this  art  excelled  one  Peter  Berchorius,  a  Benedictine ; 
who,  in  a  certain  peculiar  book  has  expounded,  mystically  and  allego- 
rically, the  Roman  GESTS,  legends  of  saints,  and  other  idle  tales'." 
He  then  quotes  for  an  example,  the  whole  one  hundred  and  seventieth 
chapter  of  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  containing  the  story  of  Saint 
Bernard  and  the  Dice-player,  together  with  its  moralisation. 

Berchorius  was  one  of  the  most  learned  divines  of  his  country,  and 
a  voluminous  writer.  His  three  grand  printed  works  are,  I.  REDUCTO- 
RIUM  MORALE  super  totam  Bibliam,  in  twenty-four  books.  II.  REPER- 
TORIUM  [or  Reductorium]  MORALE,  in  fourteen  booksk.  III.  Dic- 
TIONARIUM  MORALE.  Whoever  shall  have  the  patience  or  the  cu- 
riosity to  turn  over  a  few  pages  of  this  immense  treasure  of  multi- 
farious erudition,  will  soon  see  this  assertion  of  Glassius  abundantly 
verified ;  and  will  be  convinced  beyond  a  doubt,  from  a  general  co- 
incidence of  plan,  manner,  method,  and  execution,  that  the  author  of 
these  volumes,  and  of  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM,  must  be  one  and  the 
same.  The  REDUCTORIUM  SUPER  BiBLiAM1  contains  all  the  stories 

*  Philologia  SacrdK,    qua  totius    sacro-  '  Salmeron,  a  profound  school-divine, 

sanctae  veteris  et  novi  testamenti  scripturae  who  flourished  about  1560,  censures  the 

turn    stylus  et   literatura,   turn  sensus  et  unwarrantable  liberty   of  the   Gesta  Ro- 

genuinaeiuterpretationis  ratio  expenditur.  manorum,  in  accommodating  histories  and 

Libri  quinque,  &c.  edit.  tert.    Francof.  et  fables  to  Christ  and  the  church.     Comm. 

Hamb.  1653.  in  Evangel.  Hist.  i.   p.  356.      Prol.  xix. 

[This  opinion   has  been  controverted  Can.  xxi. — Colon.  Agrippin.  1602  fol. 

by  Mr.  Douce  in  his  Illustrations  of  Shak-  k  I  use  a  folio  edition  of  all  these  three 

speare,  vol.  ii.     The  most  forcible  argu-  works,  in  three  volumes,  printed  at  Venice 

ment   there  adduced  is  founded    upon  a  in  1583.     These  pieces  were  all  printed 

very  just  inference,  that  the  original  author  very  early. 

was    a   German.       See   below,     p.    cciii.  l  This  was    first    printed,   Argentorat. 

Note  k. — PRICE.]  1473.  fol.    There  was  a  very  curious  book 

B  From  the  date  of  the  Dedication.  For  in  lord  Oxford's  library,  I  am  not  sure 
his  other  works,  which  are  very  nume-  whether  the  same,  entitled  Moralizationes 
rous,  see  the  Diarium  Biographicum  of  Biblia,  Ulnise  1474.  fol.  with  this  co- 
ll. Witte,  sub  ann.  1665.  Gedani,  1688,  lophon  in  the  last  page: — Infinita  dei  cle- 
4to.  mentia.  Finitus  est  liber  M oraiizationurn 

h  Lib.  ii.    Part.  5.    Tractat.  ii.    Sect.  iii.  Bibliarum  in  ejnsdem   laudcm  et.  giorium 

Artie,  viii.  pag.  312.  compilatus*     Ac  per   Indus trium  Joannem 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  CC1 

and  incidents  in  the  Bible,  reduced  into  allegories"1.  The  REPERTO- 
RIUM MORALE  is  a  dictionary  of  things,  persons,  and  places  ;  all  which 
are  supposed  to  be  mystical,  and  which  are  therefore  explained  in  their 
moral  or  practical  sense.  The  DICTIONARIUM  MORALE  is  in  two 
parts,  and  seems  principally  designed  to  be  a  moral  repertory  for  stu- 
dents in  theology. 

The  moralisation,  or  moral  explanation,  which  is  added  to  every 
article,  is  commonly  prefaced,  as  in  the  GESTA,  with  the  introductory 
address  of  CARISSIMI.  In  the  colophon,  the  GESTA  is  called  Ex  gestis 
Pomanorum  RECOLLECTORIUM  :  a  word  much  of  a  piece  with  his 
other  titles  of  REPERTORIUM  and  REDUCTORIUM.  Four  of  the  stories 
occurring  in  the  GESTA,  The  Discovery  of  the  gigantic  body  of  Pallets™, 
The  subterraneous  golden  palace0.  The  adventures  of  the  English  knight 
in  the  bishoprick  of  Ely  v,  and  The  miraculous  horn%  are  related  in  the 
fourteenth  book  of  the  REPERTORIUM  MORALE.  For  the  two  last  of 
these  he  quotes  Gervase  of  Tilbury,  as  in  his  GESTAF.  As  a  further 
proof  of  his  allegorising  genius  I  must  add,  that  he  moralised  all  the 
stories  in  Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  in  a  work  entitled,  Commentarius 
MORALIS,  sive  ALLEGORIZE  in  Libros  quindecim  Ovidii  Metamor- 
phoseon*,  and  now  remaining  in  manuscript  in  the  library  of  the 
monastery  of  Saint  Germains*.  He  seems  to  have  been  strongly  im- 
pressed with  whatever  related  to  the  Roman  affairs,  and  to  have 
thought  their  history  more  interesting  than  that  of  any  other  people. 
This  appears  from  the  following  passage,  which  I  translate  from  the 
article  ROMA,  in  his  DICTIONARIUM  MORALE,  and  which  will  also 
contribute  to  throw  some  other  lights  on  this  subject.  "  How  many 
remarkable  facts  might  be  here  collected  concerning  the  virtues  and 
vices  of  the  Romans,  did  my  design  permit  me  to  drop  Moralities,  and 
to  enter  upon  an  historical  detail !  For  that  most  excellent  histo- 
rian Livy,  unequalled  for  the  dignity,  brevity,  and  difficulty  of  his 
style,  (whose  eloquence  is  so  highly  extolled  by  Saint  Jerome,  and 

Zeiner  de  Reutlingen  Artis  impressoriae  p  Fol.  610.  col.  2.  [Gest.  Rom.  c.  civ.] 

magistnim  non  penna  sed  scagneis  charac-  Here   also  his  author  is  Gervase  of  Til- 

teribus   in    oppido   Ulmensi    artijiclaUter  bury  ;    from  whom,  I  think  in  the  same 

effigiatus.      Anno    Incarnatioms    Domini  chapter,  he  quotes  part  of  king  Arthur's 

inilltsimo  qnadringentessimo  septuagessimo  Romance.      See    Otia   Imperial.   Dec.  ii. 

quarto  Aprilis  nono.     This    book    is  not  c.  12. 

mentioned  by  Maittaire.  q  Fol.  610.  ut  supr.  [Gest.  Rom.  c.l'xi.] 

m  To  this  work  Alanus   de  Lynne,  a  r  A  MORALISATION  is  joined  to  these 

Carmelite  of  Lynne  in  Norfolk,  wrote  an  stones,   with  the  introduction  of  Caris- 

htdex  or  Tabula,  about  the  year  1240.    It  simi. 

is  in  MSS.  Reg.  3  D.  3.  1.  in  Brit.  Mus.  s  See  what  he  says  of  the  Fabula  Poe- 

n  Cap.  xlix.   f.  643.      He    quotes  Chro-  tarum,    Repertor.  Moral,    lib.  xiv.  cap.  i. 

nica,  and  says,  that  this  happened  in  the  f.  601.  col.  2.  ad  calc. 

reign  of  the  emperor  Henry  the  Second.  l  Oudin.  Comment.  Scriptor.  Eccles.  iii. 

[See  Gest.  Rom.  c.  clviii.]  p.  1064.  Lips.  1723.  fol.  I  doubt  whether 

0  Cap.  Ixxii.  f.  689.  col.  1.2.    He  quotes  this  work  was  not  translated  into  French 

for  this  story   \_Gest.  Rom.  c.  cvii.]   Wil-  by  Guillaume  Nangis,  at  the  beginning  of 

linm  of  Malmesbury,  but   tells   it  in   the  the  fourteenth    century.      See  Mem.  Lit* 

words  of  Beauvais,  ut  .supr.  xx.  75  I.  4to. 


CC11  DISSERTATION  III. 

whom  I,  however  unworthy,  have  translated  from  Latin  into  French 
with  great  labourv,  at  the  request  of  John  the  most  famous  king  of 
France,)  records  so  many  wonderful  things  of  the  prudence,  forti- 
tude, fidelity,  and  friendship,  of  the  Roman  people ;  as  also  of  their 
quarrels,  envy,  pride,  avarice,  and  other  vices,  which  are  indeed  allied 
to  virtues,  and  are  such,  to  say  the  truth,  as  I  never  remember  to  have 
heard  of  in  any  nation  besides.  But  because  I  do  not  mean  to  treat  of 
historical  affairs  in  the  present  work,  the  matter  of  which  is  entirely 
moral,  I  refer  the  historical  reader  to  Livy  himself,  to  Trogus  Pom- 
peius,  Justin,  Florus,  and  Orosius,  who  have  all  written  histories  of 
Rome ;  as  also  to  Innocent,  who  in  his  book  on  the  Miseries  of  human 
nature*,  speaks  largely  of  the  vices  of  the  Romans w."  In  the  mean 
time  we  must  remember,  that  at  this  particular  period  the  Roman 
history  had  become  the  grand  object  of  the  public  taste  in  France. 
The  king  himself,  as  we  have  just  seen,  recommended  a  translation  of 
Livy.  French  translations  also  of  Sallust,  Cesar,  and  Lucan,  were 
now  circulated.  A  Latin  historical  compilation  called  ROMULEON  was 
now  just  published  by  a  gentleman  of  France,  which  was  soon  after- 
wards translated  into  French.  A  collection  of  the  GESTA  ROMANORUM 
was  therefore  a  popular  subject,  at  least  it  produced  a  popular  title,  and 
was  dictated  by  the  fashion  of  the  times. 

I  have  here  mentioned  all  Berchorius's  works,  except  his  Comment 
on  a  Prosody  called  Doctrinale  metricum,  which  was  used  as  a  school- 
book  in  France,  till  Despauterius's  manual  on  that  subject  appeared1. 
Some  biographers  mention  his  TROPOLOGIA,  his  COSMOGRAPHIA,  and 
his  BREVIARIUM.  But  the  TROPOLOGTA?  is  nothing  more  than  his 
REDUCTORIUM  on  the  Bible ;  and  probably  the  BREVIARIUM  is  the 
samez.  The  COSMOGRAPHIA  seems  to  be  the  fourteenth  book  of  his 
REPERTORIUM  MORALE  ;  which  treats  of  the  wonders  of  various 
countries ;  and  is  chiefly  taken  from  Solinus  and  Gervase  of  Tilbury8. 
He  is  said  by  the  biographers  to  have  written  other  smaller  pieces, 
which  they  have  not  named  or  described.  Among  these  perhaps  is 
comprehended  the  GESTA  ;  which  we  may  conceive  to  have  been  thus 
undistinguished,  either  as  having  been  neglected  or  proscribed  by 
graver  writers,  or  rather  as  having  been  probably  disclaimed  by  its 
author,  who  saw  it  at  length  in  the  light  of  a  juvenile  performance, 

T  I  have  mentioned  this  work  below,  *  Oudin,  ubi  supr. 

vol.  ii.  p.  315.     It  is  remarkable,  that  a  y  I  have  seen  a  very  old  black-letter 

copy  of  this  manuscript  in    the  British  edition  with   the  title,  "  Tropologiarum 

Museum  is  entitled,  "  Titus  Livius  Des  mysticarumque  enarrationum,"  &c.  with- 

Fais  des   Romains   translate   par  Pierre  out  date. 

Bertheure."  MSS.  Reg.  15  D.  vi.  z  But  see  Bibl.  Sangerm.  Cod.  MS.  687. 

u  Pope  Innocent  the  Third,  about  the  and  G.  Serpilii  Fit.  Scriptor.  Biblic.  torn, 

year  1200,  wrote  three  Books  De  Con-  vii.  par.  2.  pag.  44.    Also  Possevin.  Ap- 

temptu  Mundi,  sive  De  Miseria  Humana  parat.  Sacr.  ii.  p.241.  Colon.  1608. 

Conditionis,  printed  Colon.  1496.  a  This  is  in  some  measure  hinted  by 

Diction.  Moral.  P.  iii.  vol.  ii.  f.  274.  Oudin,  ubi  supr.      "  Egressus  autem  a 

col.  2.  edit.  1583. — See  infra,  vol.  ii.  p.  Profanis  et  grammaticis  Berchorius,  ani- 

315.  mum  Solidioribiis  applicuit,"  &c. 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANQRUM.  CC111 

abounding  in  fantastic  and  unedifying  narrations,  which  he  judged  un- 
suitable to  his  character,  studies,  and  station5.  Basilius  Johannes 
Heroldus,  however,  mentions  Berchorius  as  the  author  of  a  CHRONICON, 
a  word  which  may  imply,  though  not  with  exact  propriety,  his  GESTA 
ROMANORUM.  It  is  in  the  Epistle  dedicatory  of  his  edition  of  the 
Chronicles  of  Marianus  Scotus,  and  Martinus  Polonus,  addressed  to 
our  queen  Elizabeth ;  in  which  he  promises  to  publish  many  Latin 
CHRONICA,  that  is,  those  of  Godfrey  of  Viterbo,  Hugo  Floriacensis, 
Conrade  Engelhus,  Hermannus  Edituus,  Lanfranc,  Ivo,  Robert  of 
Saint  Victor,  PETER  BERCHORIUS,  and  of  many  others,  qui  de  TEM- 
PO RI BUS  scripserunt,  who  have  written  of  times c.  Paulus  Langius, 
who  wrote  about  the  year  1400,  in  his  enumeration  of  Berchorius's 
writings,  says  nothing  of  this  compilation  d. 

Had  other  authentic  evidences  been  wanting,  we  are  sure  of  the  age 
in  which  Berchorius  flourished,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  being 
employed  to  translate  Livy  by  John  king  of  France,  who  acceded  to  the 
throne  in  the  year  1350,  and  died  in  the  year  1364.  That  Berchorius 
died,  and  probably  an  old  man,  in  the  year  1362,  we  learn  from  his 
epitaph  in  the  monastery  of  saint  Eloy  at  Paris,  which  is  recited  by 
Sweertius,  and  on  other  accounts  deserves  a  place  here. 

HlC  JACET  VENERABILIS  MAGNJE  PRO- 

FUND2EQUE  SCIENTIJE, 
ADMIRABILIS  ET  SUBTILIS  ELOQUENTLY, 

F.  PETRUS  BERCOTHC, 

PRIOR  HUJUS  PRIORATUS. 

QUI  FUIT  ORIUNDUS  DE  VILLA  S.  PfiTRI 

DE  lTINEREf 

IN  EPISCOPATU  MAILLIZANCENSI?  IN 

PICTAVIA. 
QUI  TEMPORE  SUO  FECIT  OPERA  SUA 

SOLEMNIA,  SCILICET 

DICTIONARIUM,  REDUCTORIUM, 

BREVIATORIUM,  DESCRIPTIONEM 

MuNDih,  TRANSLATIONEM  CUJUSDAM 

LlBRI  VETUSTISSIMI1  DE  LATINO  IN 

GALLICUM,  AD  PR^ECEPTUM  EXCEL- 

LENTISS. 

JOANNIS  REGIS  FRANCORUM. 
QUI  OBIIT  ANNO  M.CCC.LXII.k 

b  Gesner  adds,  reciting  his  works,  that  fol.     Compare   the  Chron.   of  Philippus 

he  wrote  "  alia  multa."    Epitom.  Bibl.  f.  Bergom.  ad  arm.  1355. 
147  b.  Tig.  1555.  fol.     And  Trithemius,  e  Read  Bercheur. 

"  parvos  sed  multos  tractatus."  De  Illuslr.  f  That  is,  of  the  village  of  saint  Pierre 

Bened.  lib.  ii.  c.  131.  da  Chemin,  three  leagues  from  Poictiers. 

c  Dat.  1559.  Edit.  Basil.  Oporin.      No  g  Of  Maillezais. 

riatp,  fol.  h  The  Cosmographia  above-rnentioned. 

d  Chron.    Citix.  f.  841.     Apud  Tistorii  !  Of  Livy. 

Illustr.  Vit,  Scriptor.  &c.     Francof.  1583.  k  Sweerlii  Eptlaphia  Joco-seria.    edit. 


CC1Y  DISSERTATION    III. 

Berchorius  was  constituted  grammatical  preceptor  to  the  novices  of 
the  Benedictine  Congregation,  or  monastery,  at  Clugni,  in  the  year 
13401;  at  which  time  he  drew  up  his  Notes  on  the  Prosody,  and  his 
Commentary  on  Ovid,  for  the  use  of  his  scholars.  About  the  same 
time,  and  with  a  view  of  rendering  their  exercises  in  Latinity  more 
agreeable  and  easy  by  an  entertaining  Latin  story-book,  yet  resoluble 
into  lessons  of  religion,  he  probably  compiled  the  GESTA  ;  perpetually 
addressing  the  application  of  every  tale  to  his  young  audience,  by  the 
paternal  and  affectionate  appellation  of  CARissiMim.  There  was 
therefore  time  enough  for  the  GESTA  to  become  a  fashionable  book  of 
tales,  before  Boccace  published  his  DECAMERON.  The  action  of  the 
DECAMERON  being  supposed  in  1348,  the  year  of  the  great  pestilence, 
we  may  safely  conjecture,  that  Boccace  did  not  begin  his  work  till 
after  that  period.  An  exact  and  ingenious  critic  has  proved,  that  it 
was  not  finished  till  the  year  1358". 

I  have  just  observed  that  Berchorius  probably  compiled  this  work 
for  the  use  of  his  grammatical  pupils.  Were  there  not  many  good 
reasons  for  that  supposition,  I  should  be  induced  to  think,  that  it  might 
have  been  intended  as  a  book  of  stories  for  the  purpose  of  preachers. 
I  have  already  given  instances,  that  it  was  anciently  fashionable  for 
preachers  to  enforce  the  several  moral  duties  by  applying  fables,  or 
exemplary  narratives  :  and,  in  the  present  case,  the  perpetual  recurrence 
of  the  address  of  CARISSIMI  might  be  brought  in  favour  of  this  hypo- 
thesis. But  I  will  here  suggest  an  additional  reason.  Soon  after  the 
age  of  Berchorius,  a  similar  collection  of  stories,  of  the  same  cast,  was 
compiled,  though  not  exactly  in  the  same  form,  professedly  designed 
for  sermon-writers,  and  by  one  who  was  himself  an  eminent  preacher ; 
for,  rather  before  the  year  1480,  a  Latin  volume  was  printed  in  Ger- 
many, written  by  John  Herolt  a  Dominican  friar  of  Basil,  better  known 
by  the  adopted  and  humble  appellation  of  DISCIPULUS,  and  who  flou- 
rished about  the  year  1418.  It  consists  of  three  parts.  The  first  is 
intitled  "  Incipiunt  Sermones  pernotabiles  DISCIPULI  de  Sanctis  per 
anni  circulum."  That  is,  A  set  of  sermons  on  the  saints  of  the  whole 
year.  The  second  part,  and  with  which  I  am  now  chiefly  concerned,' 
is  aPROMPTUARY,  or  ample  repository,  of  examples  for  composing  ser_ 

Colon.  1645.  p.  158.     It  must  not  be  dis-  these  are  not  be  found  in  any  of  the  edi- 

sembled,  that  in  the  MORALISATION  of  tions ;  and  there  is  no  answering  for  the 

the    hundred   and  forty-fifth   chapter,  a  licentious    innovations    of    transcribers. 

proverb    is  explained,  vulgariter,  in  the  Cant.  T.  vol.  iv.  331. 

German  language.     Fol.  69  a.  col.  2.  and  [Mr.  Tyrwhitt  referred  to  a  copy  of  the 

in  the  hundred  and  forty-third  chapter,  a  English  Gesta,  a  distinct  work  from  that 

hunter  has  eight  dogs  who  have  German  which  has  been  the  subjectof  this  Disserta- 

names.     Fol.  67  a.  col.  1.  seq.     I  suspect,  tion.     Of  this  production  Mr.  Douce  has 

nor  is  it  improbable,  that  those  German  given  an  elaborate  account  in   his  Illus- 

words    were    introduced   Jby    a    German  trations  of  Shakspeare,  vol.  ii.  p.  335. — 

editor   or   printer.     Mr.  Tyrwhitt    sup-  PRICE.] 

poses  that  we  may  reasonably  conjecture  l  Oudin,  ubi  supr.  p.  1063. 

one  of  our  countrymen  to  have  been  the  m  This,  by  habit,  and  otherwise  with 

compiler,  because  three  couplets  of  En-  no  impropriety,  he  seems  to  have  retain- 

glish   verses  and    some    English    names  ed  in  his  later  and  larger  works. 

appear  in  many  of  the  manuscripts.     But  "  See  Tynvhitt's  Chaucer,  iv.  115.  seq. 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  CCV 

mons ;  and  in  the  Prologue  to  this  part  the  author  says,  that  saint 
Dominic  always  abundabal  exemplis  in  his  discourses,  and  that  he  con- 
stantly practised  this  popular  mode  of  edification.  This  part  contains 
a  variety  of  little  histories.  Among  others,  are  the  following.  Chau- 
cer's Friar's  tale.  Aristotle  falling  in  love  with  a  queen,  who  compels 
him  to  permit  her  to  ride  upon  his  back0.  The  boy  who  was  kept  in 
a  dark  cave  till  he  was  twelve  years  of  age ;  and  who  being  carried 
abroad,  and  presented  with  many  striking  objects,  preferred  a  woman 
to  all  he  had  seen?.  A  boy  educated  in  a  desert  is  brought  into  a 
city,  where  he  sees  a  woman,  whom  he  is  taught  to  call  a  fine  bird, 
under  the  name  of  a  goose  ;  and  on  his  return  into  the  desert,  desires 
his  spiritual  father  to  kill  him  a  goose  for  his  dinner  ^.  These  two  last 
stories  Boccace  has  worked  into  one.  The  old  woman  and  her  little 
dogr.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  is  in  the  GESTA  ROMANORUMS.  The 
son  who  will  not  shoot  at  his  father's  dead  body  *.  I  give  these  as  spe- 
cimens of  the  collection.  The  third  part  contains  stories  for  sermon- 
writers,  consisting  only  of  select  miracles  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The 
first  of  these  is  the  tale  of  the  chaste  Roman  empress,  occurring  in  the 
Harleian  manuscripts  of  the  GESTA,  and  versified  by  Occleve ;  yet  with 
some  variation  v.  This  third  part  is  closed  with  these  words,  which  also 
end  the  volume :  "  Explicit  tabula  Exemplorum  in  tractatulo  de  Ex- 
emplis gloriose  Virginis  Marie  contentorum."  I  quote  from  the  first 
edition,  which  is  a  clumsy  folio  in  a  rude  Gothic  letter,  in  two  volumes ; 
and  without  pagings,  signatures,  or  initials.  The  place  and  year  are 
also  wanting;  but  it  was  certainly  printed  before  1480U,  and  probably 
at  Nuremburg.  The  same  author  also  wrote  a  set  of  sermons  called 
Sermones  de  temporew.  In  these  I  findx  Alphonsus's  story,  which  in 
the  GESTA  ROMANORUM  is  the  tale  of  the  two  knights  of  Egypt  and 
Baldachy;  and,  in  Boccace's  DECAMERON,  the  history  of  TITO  and 
GESIPPO  :  Parnell's  HERMIT  z :  and  the  apologue  of  the  king's  brother 
who  had  heard  the  trumpet  of  Death a  :  both  which  last  are  also  in  the 
GESTAb.  Such  are  the  revolutions  of  taste,  and  so  capricious  the 
modes  of  composition,  that  a  Latin  homily-book  of  a  German  monk  in 

0  Exempl.  Ixvii.  sub  litera  M.  "  De  re-       Argentin.    1499.   fol.     But    there   is   an 
gina  quae  equitavit  Aristotelem."  He  cites       earlier  edition.     At  the  close  of  the  last 
Jacobus  de  Vitriaco.  [See  supr.  p.  clii.]  Sermon,  he  tells  us  why  he  chose  to  be 

p  Exempl.  xxiv.  sub  Litera  L.  styled  Discipulus ; — because,  "  non  sub- 

q  Ibid.    Exempl.  xxiii.     [See  supr.  p.  tilia  per  modum  Magistri,  sed  simplicia 

clxxiv.  per  modum  Discipuli,   conscripsi  et  col- 

*  Exempl.  xii.  sub  lit.  V.  legi."     I  have   seen  also  early  impres- 

8  Ch.  xxviii.  sions   of  his  Sermones  Quadragesimales, 

1  This  is  also  in  the  Gesta,  ch.  xlv. —  and  of  other  pieces  of  the  same  sort.    All 
Exempl.  viii.  Lit.  B.  his  works  were  published  together  in  three 

v  See  supr.  p.  cxcviii.  volumes,  Mogunt.  1612.  4to.     The  Ex- 

u  For  the  second  edition  is  at  Nurem-  amples    appeared    separately,    Daventr. 

burg,  1482.  fol.    Others  followed,  before  1481.   Colon.  1485.      Argentorat.   1489. 

1500.  1490.     Hagen.  1512.  1519.  fol. 
w  The  only  edition  I  have  seen,  with  x  Serm.  cxxi.  col.  ii.  Signat.  C.  5. 

the  addition  of  the  Sermones  de  Sanctis,  y  Ch.  clxxi.  z  Serm.  liii. 

and  the  Promptuarium  Exemplorum  above-  *  Serm.  cix.  b  Ch.  Ixxx.  cxliii. 

mentioned,  was  printed  by  M,  Flaccius, 


CCV1  DISSERTATION  III. 

the  fifteenth  century,  should  exhibit  outlines  of  the  tales  of  Boccace, 
Chaucer,  and  Parnell ! 

It  may  not  be  thought  impertinent  to  close  this  discourse  with  a  re- 
mark on  the  MORALISATIONS  subjoined  to  the  stories  of  the  GESTA 
ROMANORUM.  This  was  an  age  of  vision  and  mystery :  and  every 
work  was  believed  to  contain  a  double,  or  secondary  meaning.  Nothing 
escaped  this  eccentric  spirit  of  refinement  and  abstraction :  and,  to- 
gether with  the  Bible,  as  we  have  seen,  not  only  the  general  history  of 
ancient  times  was  explained  allegorically,  but  even  the  poetical  fictions 
of  the  classics  were  made  to  signify  the  great  truths  of  religion,  with 
a  degree  of  boldness,  and  a  want  of  discrimination,  which  in  another 
age  would  have  acquired  the  character  of  the  most  profane  levity,  if 
not  of  absolute  impiety,  and  can  only  be  defended  from  the  simplicity 
of  the  state  of  knowledge  which  then  prevailed. 

Thus,  God  creating  man  of  clay,  animated  with  the  vital  principle 
of  respiration,  was  the  story  of  Prometheus,  who  formed  a  man  of 
similar  materials,  to  which  he  communicated  life  by  fire  stolen  from 
heaven.  Christ  twice  born,  of  his  father  God  and  of  his  mother  Mary, 
was  prefigured  by  Bacchus,  who  was  first  born  of  Semele,  and  after- 
wards of  Jupiter ;  and  as  Minerva  sprung  from  the  brain  of  Jupiter, 
so  Christ  proceeded  from  God  without  a  mother.  Christ  born  of  the 
Virgin  Mary  was  expressed  in  the  fable  of  Danae  shut  within  a  tower, 
through  the  covering  of  which  Jupiter  descended  in  a  shower  of  gold, 
and  begot  Perseus.  Acteon,  killed  by  his  own  hounds,  was  a  type  of 
the  persecution  and  death  of  our  Saviour.  The  poet  Lycophron  relates, 
that  Hercules  in  returning  from  the  adventure  of  the  Golden  Fleece 
was  shipwrecked ;  and  that  being  devoured  by  a  monstrous  fish,  he 
was  disgorged  alive  on  the  shore  after  three  days.  Here  was  an  ob- 
vious symbol  of  Christ's  resurrection.  John  Waleys,  an  English  Fran- 
ciscan of  the  thirteenth  century,  in  his  moral  exposition  of  Ovid's  Me- 
tamorphoses0, affords  many  other  instances  equally  ridiculous ;  and 
who  forgot  that  he  was  describing  a  more  heterogeneous  chaos  than 
that  which  makes  so  conspicuous  a  figure  in  his  author's  exordium,  and 
which  combines,  amid  the  monstrous  and  indigested  aggregate  of  its 
unnatural  associations, 

sine  pondere  habentia  pondus  d. 

At  length,  compositions  professedly  allegorical,  with  which  that  age 
abounded,  were  resolved  into  allegories  for  which  they  were  never 
intended.  In  the  famous  ROMAUNT  OF  THE  ROSE,  written  about  the 
year  1310,  the  poet  couches  the  difficulties  of  an  ardent  lover  in  attain- 
ing the  object  of  his  passion,  under  the  allegory  of  a  Rose,  which  is 
gathered  in  a  delicious  but  almost  inaccessible  garden.  The  theologists 
proved  this  rose  to  be  the  white  rose  of  Jericho,  the  new  Jerusalem,  a 

•  I  have  before  mentioned  Berchorius'a  *  Metam.  1.  i.  20. 

Ovid  Moralised. 


ON  THE  GESTA  ROMANORUM.  CCV11 

state  of  grace,  divine  wisdom,  the  holy  Virgin,  or  eternal  beatitude,  at 
none  of  which  obstinate  heretics  can  ever  arrive.  The  chemists  pre- 
tended, that  it  was  the  philosopher's  stone ;  the  civilians,  that  it  was 
the  most  consummate  point  of  equitable  decision  ;  and  the  physicians, 
that  it  was  an  infallible  panacea.  In  a  word,  other  professions,  in  the 
most  elaborate  commentaries,  explained  away  the  lover's  rose  into  the 
mysteries  of  their  own  respective  science.  In  conformity  to  this 
practice,  Tasso  allegorized  his  own  poem ;  and  a  flimsy  structure  of 
morality  was  raised  on  the  chimerical  conceptions  of  Ariosto's  OR- 
LANDO. In  the  year  1577,  a  translation  of  a  part  of  Amadis  de  Gaule 
appeared  in  France ;  with  a  learned  preface,  developing  the  valuable 
stores  of  profound  instruction,  concealed  under  the  naked  letter  of  the 
old  romances,  which  were  discernible  only  to  the  intelligent,  and  totally 
unperceived  by  common  readers ;  who,  instead  of  plucking  the  fruit, 
were  obliged  to  rest  contented  with  le  simple  FLEUR  de  la  Lecture  lit- 
terale.  Even  Spenser,  at  a  later  period,  could  not  indulge  his  native 
impulse  to  descriptions  of  chivalry,  without  framing  such  a  story,  as 
conveyed,  under  the  dark  conceit  of  ideal  champions,  a  set  of  historic 
transactions,  and  an  exemplification  of  the  nature  of  the  twelve  moral 
virtues.  He  presents  his  fantastic  queen  with  a  rich  romantic  mirrour, 
which  showed  the  wondrous  achievements  of  her  magnificent  ancestry. 

And  thou,  O  fairest  princess  under  sky, 
In  this  fayre  mirrour  niaist  behold  thy  face, 
And  thine  own  realmes  in  Lond  of  Faery, 
And  in  this  antique  image  thy  great  ancestry6. 

It  was  not,  however,  solely  from  an  unmeaning  and  a  wanton  spirit 
of  refinement,  that  the  fashion  of  resolving  every  thing  into  allegory 
so  universally  prevailed.  The  same  apology  may  be  offered  for  the 
cabalistical  interpreters,  both  of  the  classics  and  of  the  old  romances. 
The  former,  not  willing  that  those  books  should  be  quite  exploded 
which  contained  the  ancient  mythology,  laboured  to  reconcile  the  ap- 
parent absurdities  of  the  pagan  system  to  the  Christian  mysteries,  by 
demonstrating  a  figurative  resemblance.  The  latter,  as  true  learning 
began  to  dawn,  with  a  view  of  supporting  for  a  while  the  expiring 
credit  of  giants  and  magicians,  were  compelled  to  palliate  those  mon- 
strous incredibilities,  by  a  bold  attempt  to  unravel  the  mystic  web 
which  had  been  wove  by  fairy  hands,  and  by  showing  that  truth  was 
hid  under  the  gorgeous  veil  of  Gothic  invention. 

e  B.  ii.  Introd.  St.  vi. 


THE     HISTORY 

OP 

ENGLISH     POETRY. 


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-songs.  Alexandrine  Verses,  Sa- 
tirical Pieces.  First  English  Metrical  Romance. 

IHE  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  hun- 
dred 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  second  is  the  Danish  Saxon,  which  pre- 


a  The  Saxons  came  into  England  A.D. 
450. 

b  Lib.  iv.  cap.  24.  [See  on  the  subject 
of  this  Hymn  of  Caedmon,  Conybeare's 
"Illustrations  of  Anglo-Saxon  Poetry," 
pp.  3 — 8,  and  Thorpe's  Preface  to  his 
edition  of  Caedmon,  8vo,  1832. — M.] 

Some  have  improperly  referred  to  this 
dialect  the  HARMONY  OF.  THE  FOUR  GO- 
SPELS, in  the  Cotton  library;  the  style  of 
which  approaches  in  purity  and  antiquity 
to  that  of  the  CODEX  ARGENTEUS.  It  is 
Prankish.  See  Brit.  Mus.  MSS.  Cotton. 
CALIG.  A  7.  membran.  8vo.  This  book 
is  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  king  Ca- 
nute. Eight  richly  illuminated  historical 
pictures  are  bound  up  with  it,  evidently 
taken  from  another  manuscript,  but  pro- 
bably of  the  age  of  king  Stephen. 

[The  recent  discovery  of  another  copy  of 
this  "  Harmony,"  at  Bamberg,  has  gained 
for  it  the  attention  of  several  German  an- 
tiquaries ;  and  of  these,  Mr.  Reinwald,  an 
able  and  intelligent  philologer,  has  very 
VOL.  I. 


clearly  shown,  that  its  language  is  not 
Francic,  but  a  Low  German  dialect.  Mr. 
Reinwald  conceives  the  author  to  have 
been  a  native  of  the  district  afterwards 
called  Westphalia  (Minister,  Paderborn, 
Berg),  and  that  he  lived  in  the  early  part 
of  the  ninth  century. 

[The  Bamberg  Codex  is  now  preserved 
in  the  Royal  Library  at  Munich,  and  a 
transcript  from  it,  collated  with  the  Cotton 
MS.,  has  for  several  years  occupied  the 
leisure  of  Mr.  Scherer,  with  a  view  to  pub- 
lication. Independently  of  the  value  of  this 
production  as  a  rich  repository  of  philo- 
logical lore,  from  the  extreme  antiquity 
and  purity  of  its  language,  it  possesses  a 
strong  and  peculiar  interest  for  the  student 
in  English  archaeology,  from  the  light  it 
throws  upon  the  laws  and  structure  of  An- 
glo-Saxon metre. — The  arbitrary  classifi- 
cation of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language  ante- 
rior to  the  Conquest,  given  in  the  text,  has 
been  adopted  from  Hickes,  an  examina- 
tion of  whose  opinions  on  the  subject  will 


STATE  OF  LANGUAGE. 


[SECT.  I. 


vailed  from  the  Danish  to  the  Norman  invasion0;  and  of  which  many 
considerable  specimens,  both  in  verse d  and  prose,  are  still  preserved ; 
particularly  two  literal  versions  of  the  Four  Gospels6,  and  the  spurious 
Csedmon'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  con- 
tinued beyond  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second  *. 

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, 


be  found  in  the  Preface  to  this  edition. — 
PRICE.] 

[The  "  Harmony "  has  since  appeared 
under  the  editorship  of  J.  Andr.  Schmeller, 
keeper  of  the  Royal  Library  at  Munich, 
and  is  entitled  :  "HELIAND,  poema  Sax- 
onicum  seculi  noni,  accurate  expressum 
ad  exemplar  Monacense,  insertis  e  Cotto- 
niano  Londinensi  supplementis,  necnon 
adjecta  lectionum  varietate."  4to.  Monach. 
1 830.  This  volume  contains  only  the  text, 
but  it  is  understood  that  a  second  part  will 
follow  and  contain  the  editor's  notes  and 
philological  illustrations. — M.] 

c  A.D.  1066. 

d  See  Hickes.  Thes.  Ling.  Vett.  Sept. 
P.  i.  cap.  xxi.  p.  177.  and  Prsefat.  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,  utsupr.  VITELL.  A  15.  Cod.  mem- 
bran,  ix.  fol.  130.  Compare,  written  in 
the  style  of  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. 

[The  poem  of  Beowulf  has  since  been 
published  by  the  chevalier  Thorkelin, 
under  the  title  of  "De  Danorum  rebus 
gestis  secul.  iii.  et  iv.  Poema  Danicum  dia- 
lecto  Anglo-Saxonica:  edidit  versione  Lat. 
et  indicibus  auxit  Grim  Johnson  Thorkelin 
Eques  Ord.  Danebrogici  auratus  &c.  Hav- 
nise,  1815."  An  analysis  of  its  contents 
will  be  found  in  the  last  volume  of  Mr. 
Turner's  "History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons," 
with  occasional  extracts  from  the  work  it- 
self; and  an  English  translation  of  the  spe- 
cimens.— PRICE.] 

[A  more  accurate  edition  of  the  text  of 
Beowulf,  an  analysis  of  which  had  been 
given  in  Mr.  Conybeare's  Illustrations,  ap- 
peared in  1833,  12mo,  under  the  care  of 


John  M.  Kemble,  Esq.,  which  has  since 
been  followed  by  an  English  translation, 
with  a  copious  glossary,  by  the  same  able 
scholar.  A  Danish  paraphrase  also  of  the 
poem  was  previously  published  at  Copen- 
hagen under  the  title  of  "Bjowulfs  Drape; 
et  Gothisk  Helte-Digtfra  forrige  Aar-Tu- 
sinde  af  Angel-Saxisk  paa  Danske  riim  ved 
N.  F.  S.  Grundtvig."  8vo,  1820.— M.] 

[The  fragment  of  Brithnoth  has  been 
published  by  Hearne,  but  without  a  trans- 
lation.— PRICE.] 

[A  translation  of  the  poem  on  the  death 
of  Byrhtnoth  has  been  subsequently  sup- 
plied by  the  Rev.  W.  Conybeare,  in  the 
"Illustrations  of  Anglo-Saxon  Poetry," 
p.  xc,  and  the  text  has  also  been  critically 
reprinted,  under  the  title  of  The  Battle  of 
Maldon,  with  careful  attention  to  metrical 
arrangement,  in  Thorpe's  "Analecta  An- 
glo-Saxonica," 8vo,  1834.  p.  121. — M.] 

e  MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  Oxon.  Cod.  mem- 
bran. in  pyxid.  4to  grand,  quadrat.,  and 
MSS.  Cotton.  NERO.  D  4.  Both  these  ma- 
nuscripts 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  writ- 
ten about  A.D.  1000. — Cod.  Jun.  xi.  mem- 
bran. fol. 

[A  new  edition  of  Caedmon  has  wjthin 
these  few  years  been  given,  accompanied 
by  a  translation  and  verbal  index,  edited 
by  Benj.  Thorpe,  Esq.  the  translator  of 
Raske's  Anglo-Saxon  Grammar.  In  his 
Preface,  Mr.  Thorpe  combats  the  notion  of 
Hickes  and  others,  that  this  poem  is  the 
composition  of  a  pseudo-Caedmon ;  and 
contends  truly,  that  there  is  not  a  ves- 
tige of  the  pretended  Dano- Saxon  dialect 
throughout,  but  that  it  represents  the  ge- 
nuine work  of  the  Monk  of  Whitby,  due 
allowance  being  made  for  the  corruptions 
of  the  original,  occasioned  by  ignorant 
transcribers.— M.] 

e  He  died  1189. 


SECT.  I.]         PREVALENCE  OF  THE   FRENCH   LANGUAGE.  3 

adulterated  with  French.  The  Saxon  indeed,  a  language  subsisting  on 
uniform  principles,  and  polished  by  poets  and  theologists,  however  cor- 
rupted by  the  Danes,  had  much  perspicuity,  strength,  and  harmony : 
but  the  French  imported  by  the  Conqueror  and  his  people  was  a  con- 
fused jargon  of  Teutonic,  Gaulish,  and  vitiated  Latin.  In  this  fluctua- 
ting 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  circum- 
stance which  at  once  facilitated  and  foretold  the  Norman  accession.  In 
the  year  652,  it  was  the  common  practice  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  to  send 
their  youth  to  the  monasteries  of  France  for  education11:  and  not  only 
the  language  but  the  manners  of  the  French  were  esteemed  the  most 
polite  accomplishments1.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  the 
resort  of  Normans  to  the  English  court  was  so  frequent,  that  the  affec- 
tation of  imitating  the  Frankish  customs  became  almost  universal ;  and 
the  nobility  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  com- 
manded the  laws  to  be  administered  in  French14.  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  tongue1.  Even  children  at  school 
were  forbidden  to  read  in  their  native  language,  and  instructed  in  a 
knowledge  of  the  Norman  only1".  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  : 
arid  several  generations  elapsed  before  one  family  of  Saxon  pedigree 

*  [This  has  been  controverted  by  Mr.  ment  in  the  text  is  controverted  by  Mr. 

Luders  in  his  Tracts,  Bath,  1810,  where  Luders. — R.  T.] 

the  subject  is  ably  discussed.  The  descrip-  *  The  Normans,  who  practised  every 
tion  of  the  French  language  given  above  specious  expedient  to  plunder  the  monks, 
in  the  text  conveys  but  an  imperfect  idea  demanded  a  sight  of  the  written  evidences 
of  its  composition ;  the  Teutonic  and  Gaul-  of  their  lands.  The  monks  well  knew  that 
ish  bearing  a  very  small  proportion  to  the  it  would  have  been  useless  or  impolitic  to 
body  of  the  language,  which  is  decidedly  have  produced  these  evidences,  or  charters, 
of  Romance  or  Latin  origin.  The  Francic,  in  the  original  Saxon  ;  as  the  Normans  not 
or  Frankish  as  Warton  calls  it,  and  which  only  did  not  understand,  but  would  have 
he  ought  not  to  have  confounded  with  the  received  with  contempt,  instruments  writ- 
French,  existed  in  France  as  a  perfectly  ten  in  that  language.  Therefore  the  monks 
distinct  language  among  the  descendants  were  compelled  to  the  pious  fraud  of  forg- 
of  the  Franks  from  their  first  settlement  ing  them  in  Latin:  and  great  numbers 
in  Gaul  till  the  eleventh  century,  and  was  of  these  forged  Latin  charters,  till  lately 
wholly  Teutonic :  see  Gley,  "  Langue  et  Li-  supposed  original,  are  still  extant.  See 
terature  des  anciens  Francs,"  Paris,  1814,  Spelman,  in  Not.  ad  Concil.  Anglic,  p.  1 25. 
and  the  Preface  to  this  edition. — PRICE.]  Stillingfl.  Orig.  Eccles.  Britann.  p.  14. 
h  Dugd.  Mon.  i.  89.  Marsham,  Praefat.  ad  Dugd.  Monast.  and 
!  Ingulph.  Hist.  p.  62.  sub  ann.  1043.  Wharton,  Angl.  Sacr.  vol.  ii.  Praefat.  pp.ii. 
k  But  there  is  a  precept  in  Saxon  from  iii.  iv.  See  also  Ingulph.  p.  512.  Launoy 
William  the  First,  to  the  sheriff  of  So-  and  Mabillon  have  treated  this  subject  with 
mersetshire.  Hickes.  Thes.  i.  Par.  i.  p.  106.  great  learning  and  penetration. 
See  also  Prsefat.  ibid.  p.  xv.  [The  state-  m  Ingulph.  p.  71.  sub  ann.  1066. 

B2 


4  PREVALENCE  OF  THE  FRENCH  LANGUAGE  [SECT.  I. 

was  raised  to  any  distinguished  honours,  or  could  so  much  as  attain  the 
rank  of  baronage  n.  Among  other  instances  of  that  absolute  and  volun- 
tary submission  with  which  our  Saxon  ancestors  received  a  foreign  yoke, 
it  appears  that  they  suffered  their  hand-writing  to  fall  into  discredit  and 
disuse0;  which  by  degrees  became  so  difficult  and  obsolete,  that  few  be- 
side the  oldest  men  could  understand  the  characters1*.  In  the  year  1095, 
Wolstan  bishop  of  Worcester  was  deposed  by  the  arbitrary  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  monaste- 
ries, particularly  at  Croyland  and  Tavistocke,  founded  by  Saxon  princes, 
there  were  regular  preceptors  in  the  Saxon  language :  but  this  institu- 
tion was  suffered  to  remain  after  the  Conquest  as  a  matter  only  of  in- 
terest and  necessity.  The  religious  could  not  otherwise  have  under- 
stood 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  letters1".  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 
phrases.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  liberty,  which  sometimes  per- 
plexes and  misleads  the  critics  in  Anglo-Saxon  literature,  appears  in  a 
voluminous  collection  of  Saxon  homilies,  preserved  in  the  Bodleian  li- 
brary, and  written  about  the  time  of  Henry  the  Second3.  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'. 
The  Saxon  was  probably  f  spoken  in  the  country,  yet  not  without  various 

n  SeeBrompt.Chron.p.  1026.  Abb.Rie-  reign  of  Edward  the  Third:  but  of  a  few 

val.  p.  3, SO.  types  only. 

0  Ingulph.  p.  85.  [When  Warton  speaks  of  the  Saxon  cha- 
p  Ibid.  p.  98.  sub  ann.  1091.  racier  he  means  the  letters  ]>  and  3,  which 
q  Matth.  Paris,  sub  ann.  continued  in  common  use  till  the  end  of 
r  H.  Wharton,  Auctar.  Histor.  Dogmat.  the  fifteenth  century,  a  fact  he  ought  not 
p.  388.     The  learned  Mabillonis  mistaken  to  have  been  ignorant  of. — M.] 
in  asserting  that  the  Saxon  way  of  wri-  [Herbert  observes  that  the  Saxon  )>  [th] 
ting  was  entirely  abolished  in  England  at  is  used  to  this  day  in  the  letter  y :  as,  yl 
the  time  of  the  Norman  conquest.     See  that,  ye  the.    Manuscript  note  in  Mr.  Dal- 
Mabillon,  De  Re  Diplomat,  p.  52.     The  laway's  copy. — PARK.] 
French  antiquaries  are  fond  of  this  notion.  *  [Not  so;  there  are  many  other  in- 
There  are  Saxon  characters   in    Herbert  stances  from  the  time  of  the  Conqueror  to 
Losinga's  charter  for  founding  the  church  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Third. — M.] 
of  Norwich,    temp.  Will.  Ruf.  A.D.  1110.  s  MSS.  Bodl.  NE.  F  4.  12.  Cod.  mem- 
See    Lambarde's    Diction,   v.   NORWICH.  bran.  fol. 

See  also  Hickes.  Thesaur.  i.  Par.i.  p.  149.  l  Yet  some  Norman  charters  have  the 

See  also  Praefat.  p.  xvi.     An  intermixture  cross. 

of  the  Saxon  character  is  common  in  En-  f[What  other  language  c<m/d  have  been 

glish   and  Latin  manuscripts  before  the  spoken  by  the  mass  of  the  people  ?  The 


SECT.  I.]       BEFORE  AND  AFTER  THE  NORMAN  CONQUEST.  5 

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,  lest  they  should  contract  habits  of  barbarism  in  their  speech, 
which  could  not  have  been  avoided  in  an  English  education".  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*. 
There  is  a  curious  passage  relating  to  this  subject  in  Tre visa's  transla- 
tion of  Hygden's  Polychronicon*.  "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  uplondisschey  men  will  likne  himself  to  gentylmen, 
and  fondeth2  with  greet  besynesse  for  to  speke  Frensche  to  be  told  of. 
This  maner  was  moche  used  to  for  [the]  first  detha,  and  is  sith  some 
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  andjive,  and  of  the  seconde  Kyng  Richard 
after  the  conquest  nyne,  and  [in]  alle  the  grammere  scoles  of  Enge- 
lond children  lereth  Frensche  and  construeth,  and  lerneth  an  Englische, 
&c."  About  the  same  time,  or  rather  before,  the  students  of  our  uni- 
versities were  ordered  to  converse  in  French  or  Latin b.  The  latter  was 

French  tongue  never  became  so  prevalent  a  time.     [The  Harleian  MS.  1900.  (as 

as  to  banish  the  English,  except  in  the  cited  by  Mr.  Tyrwhitt,)  reads,  "to  fore  the 

immediate  vicinity  perhaps  of  the  court;  first  moreyn,"  before  the  first  plague;  and 

and  we  have  a  series  of  compositions  in  upon  this  authority  the  article  added  in 

English  from  the  time  of  the  Saxons  down-  the  text  has  been  inserted.     The  passage 

wards,  as  appears  even  from  Warton's  own  as  it  thus  stands  is  free  from  obscurity. — 

statements.      The  assertions  of  Ingulph  PRICE.] 

quoted  in  the  text  must  be  received  with  b  In  the  statutes  of  Oriel  College   in 

considerable  caution. — M.]  Oxford  it  is  ordered,  that  the  scholars,  or 

u  Gervas.    Tilbur.    de    Otiis    Imperial.  fellows,  "  siqua  inter  se  proferant,  colloquio 

MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  lib.  iii.    See  Du  Chesne,  Latino,  vel  saltern  Gailico,  perfruantur." 

iii.  p.  363.  See  Hearne's  Trokelowe,  pag.  298.    These 

w  Lect.  in  Libr.  Sapient.  Lect.  ii.  Paris,  statutes   were  given  23  Maii,   A.D.  1328. 

1518.  4to.  I  find  much  the  same  injunction  in  the 

x  Lib.  i.  cap.  59.  MSS.  Coll.  S.  Johan.  statutes  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford,  given 

Cantabr.    But  I  think  it  is  printed  by  Cax-  about  1330;  where  they  are  ordered  to 

ton  and  Wynkyn  de  Worde.    [Printed  by  use  "Romano  aut  Gailico  saltern  sermone." 

Caxton  in  1482,  and  by  W.  de  Worde  in  Hearne's  MSS.  Collect,  num.  132.  pag.  73. 

1485.    See  Dibdin's  edition  of  Ames,  vol.  i.  Bibl.  Bodl.     But  in  Merton  College  sta- 

p.  138.  vol.ii.  p.  49.— M.]   Robert  of  Glou-  tutes,  mention  is  made  of  the  Latin  only, 

cester,  who  wrote  about  1280  [1300 — M.],  In  cap.  x.    They  were  given  1271.     This 

says  much  the  same,  edit.  Hearne,  p.  364.  was  also  common  in  the  greater  monaste- 

y  country.                z  delights,  tries.  ries.    In  the  register  of  Wykeham  bishop 


6  PREVALENCE  OF  THE  FRENCH  LANGUAGE         [SECT.  I. 

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,  was  of  their  construction,  and  in  that  language.  [Among  the 
Records  of  the  Tower,  a  great  revenue-roll,  on  many  sheets  of  vellum, 
or  MAGNUS  ROTULUS,  of  the  Duchy  of  Normandy,  for  the  year  1083, 
is  still  preserved ;  indorsed,  in  a  cooeval  hand,  ANNO  AB  INCARNATIONS 
DNI  M°  LXXX°  111°  APUD  CADOMUM  [Caen]  WILLIELMO  FILIO  RA- 
DULFI  SENESCALLO  NORMANNIE.  This  most  exactly  and  minutely  re- 
sembles the  pipe-rolls  of  our  exchequer  belonging  to  the  same  age,  in 
form,  method,  and  character*.] — 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  so  far  succeeded  with  Edward  the  Third, 
that  an  act  of  parliament  was  passed,  appointing  all  pleas  and  proceed- 
ings of  law  to  be  carried  on  in  English0:  although  the  same  statute  de- 
crees, 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  in- 
novations in  the  language  then  used,  which  yet  remained  in  a  com- 
pound 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  explain6. 

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  Norrnan  terms,  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  of  rather  higher 

of  Winchester,  the  domicellus  of  the  prior  in  that  language.    See  Fortescut.  de  Laud, 

of  S.  Swythin's  at  Winchester  is  ordered  Leg.  Angl.  c.  xlviii. 

to  address  the  bishop,  on  a  certain  occasion,  d  Pulton's  Statut.  36  Edw.  III.  This  was 

in  French.  A.D.   1398.  Registr.  Par.  iii.  A.D.  1363.    The  first  English  instrument 

fol.  177.  in  Rymer  is  dated  1368.  Feed.  vii.  p.  526. 

*  [AylofFe's    Calendar  of  Ant.  Chart.  e  This  subject  will  be  further  illustrated 

Pref.  p.  xxiv.  edit.  Lond.  1774.  4to.  in  the  next  Section. 

ADDITIONS.]  t  Ling. Vett.Thes.  Parti,  p. 222.  There 

[This  roll  has  been  printed  and  private-  is  another  copy,  not  mentioned  by  Hickes, 

ly  circulated  among  his  friends  by  Hen.  in  Jesus  College  library  at  Oxford,  MSS. 

Petrie,  Esq.  Keeper  of  the  Records  in  the  85.  infr.  citat.     This  is  entitled  Tractatus 

Tower,  4to.  1830.     Since  that  period  two  qutdam  inAnglico.  The  Digby  manuscript 

more  early  Norman  Exchequer  rolls  have  has  no  title. 

been  discovered,  and   are  preparing  for  [It  may  be  proper  to  observe  here,  that 

publication  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Stapleton,  the  dates  assigned  to  the  several  composi- 

F.S.A. — M.]  tions  quoted  in  this  Section  are  extremely 

c  But  the  French  formularies  and  terms  arbitrary  and   uncertain.     Judging  from 

of  law,  and  particularly  the  French  feudal  internal  evidence — a  far  more  satisfactory 

phraseology,  had  taken  too  deep  root  to  be  criterion  than  Warton's  computed  age  of 

thus  hastily  abolished.     Hence,  long  after  his  MSS. — there  is  not  one  which  may  not 

the  reign  of  Edward  the  Third,  many  of  safely  be  referred  to  the  thirteenth  cen- 

ourlawyerscomposedtheirtractsinFrerich.  tury,  and  by  far  the  greater  number  to  the 

And  reports  and  some  statutes  were  made  close  of  that  period. — PRICE.] 


SECT.  I.]       BEFORE  AND  AFTER  THE  NORMAN  CONQUEST. 


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  Prankish  poems,  par- 
ticularly of  Otfrid,  a  monk  of  Weissenburg,  who  turned  the  evangelical 
history  into  Prankish  verse  about  the  ninth  century,  and  has  left  several 
hymns  in  that  language  &;  of  Strieker,  who  celebrated  the  achievements 
of  Charlemagne11;  and  of  the  anonymous  author  of  the  metrical  life  of 
Anno  archbishop  of  Cologn.  The  following  stanza  is  a  specimen1: 
k  Sende  sum  god  biuoren  him 

Men  ty  wile  to  heuene, 
For  betere  is  on  elmesse  biuore 

Thanne  ben  efter  seuene1. 


*  [A  proof  how  little  Warton  knew  cri- 
tically of  our  early  literature  !  The  poem  in 
question  in  all  probability  belongs  to  the 
reign  of  Henry  the  Third,  with  which  the 
MSS.  containing  it  are  coaeval.  Besides 
the  Digby  MS.  and  the  Jesus  College  MS. 
(formerly  marked  85.  but  now  29.)  the 
poem  is  also  found  in  a  MS.  in  Trin.  Coll. 
Cambridge,  B.  14.  52. ;  in  the  Lambeth  MS. 
487.  f.  39  b. ;  and  twice  in  a  MS.  recently 
purchased  for  the  British  Museum. — M.] 

g  See  Petr.  Lambec.  Commentar.  de 
Bibl.  Caesar.  Vindebon.  p.  418.  457. 

[Warton  here  uses  the  term  Prankish  to 
designate  the  language  of  the  Franks ;  a 
Teutonic  dialect,  totally  distinct  from  the 
French,  with  which  he  has  confounded  it 
in  page  3. — R.  T.] 

h  See  Petr.  Lambec.  ubi  supr.  lib.  ii. 
cap.  5.  There  is  a  circumstance  belong- 
ing to  the  antient  Prankish  versification, 
which,  as  it  greatly  illustrates  the  subject 
of  alliteration,  deserves  notice  here.  Ot- 
frid'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  stanza  begin  and  end  with 
the  same  letter,  and  the  letters  ot  the  title 
and  the  dedication  respectively,  and  the 
word  of  the  last  line  of  every  tetrastich. 
M.  Flacius  lllyricus  published  this  work  of 
Otfrid  at  Basil,  1571.  But  I  think  it  has 
been  since  more  correctly  printed  by  Jo- 
hannes Schilterus.  It  was  written  about 
the  year  880.  Otfrid  was  the  disciple  of 
Rhabanus  Maurus. 

[Schilter's  book  was  published  under 
this  title:  "SCHILTERI  Thesaurus  anti- 
quitatum  Teutonicarum,  exhibens  monu- 
menta  veterum  Francorum,  Alamannorum 


vernacula  et  Latina,  cum  additamentis  et 
notis  Joan.  Georg.  Schertzii.  Ulmse  1727-8. 
3  vol.  in  fol."  The  Thesaurus  of  Schilter 
is  a  real  mine  of  Francic  literature.  The 
text  is  founded  on  a  careful  collation  of  all 
the  MSS.  to  which  he  could  obtain  access; 
and  these,  with  one  exception  perhaps — 
the  life  of  Saint  Anno, — are  highly  valu- 
able for  their  antiquity  and  correctness. 
In  the  subsequent  editions  of  this  happiest 
effort  of  the  Francic  Muse,  by  Hegewisch, 
Goldman,  and  Besseldt,  Schilter's  over- 
sight has  been  abundantly  remedied. 
Strieker's  poem,  or  rather  "  the  Strieker's" 
(a  name  which  some  have  interpreted  the 
writer),  is  written  in  the  Swabian  dialect; 
and  was  composed  towards  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  It  is  a  feeble  ampli- 
fication of  an  earlier  romance,  which 
Warton  probably  intended  to  cite,  when 
he  used  the  Strieker's  name.  Both  poems 
will  be  found  in  Schilter;  but  the  latter, 
though  usually  styled  a  Francic  production, 
exhibits  a  language  rapidly  merging  into 
the  Swabian,  if  it  be  not  in  fact  an  early 
specimen  of  that  dialect  in  a  rude  uncul- 
tivated state. — PRICE.] 

5  St.  xiv. 

k  Senbe  job  bipojien  him  man, 
pe  hpile  he  mai  to  heuene  ; 
Foji  betejie  ij-  on  elmej-re  bipojien 
Danne  ben  apteji  j-euene. 
This  is  perhaps  the  true  reading,  from  the 
Trinity  manuscript  at  Cambridge,  written 
about  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  or  Richard  I. 
Cod.  membran.  8vo.  Tractat.  I.   See  Abr. 
Wheloc.  Eccl.  Hist.  Bed.  p.  25.  114. 

[The  MS.  of  Trinity  College  is,  I  think, 
of  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
I  believe  its  class  mark  is  B.  14.  52.— W.] 

1  MSS.  Digb.  A  4.  membran. 


8  SPECIMENS  OF  NORMAN-SAXON  POEMS.         [SECT.  !• 

That  is,  "Let  a  man  send  his  good  works  before  him  to  heaven  while  he 
can :  for  one  almsgiving  before  death  is  of  more  value  than  seven  after- 
wards." The  verses  perhaps  might  have  been  thus  written,  as  two  Alex- 
andrines : 

Sende  god  biforen  him  man,  the  while  he  mai,  to  heuene, 
For  betere  is  on  elmesse  biforen,  thanne  ben  after  seuenem. 
Yet  alternate  rhyming,  applied  without  regularity,  and  as  rhymes  acci- 
dentally 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  ex- 
emplifies the  Saxon  adulterated  by  the  Norman,  and  was  evidently  written 
soon  after  the  Conquest,  at  least  before  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second*. 
The  poet  begins  with  describing  the  land  of  indolence  or  luxury. 

Fur  in  see,  bi  west  Spayngne, 

Is  a  lond  ihote  Cokaygne  : 

Ther  nis  lond  under  heuen-riche  a 

Of  wel  of  godnis  hit  iliche. 

Tho$  paradis  be  mirib  &  brijt 

Cokaygn  is  of  fairir  si}t. 

What  is  ther  in  paradis 

Bot  grasse,  and  flure,  and  grene  ris? 

Tho}  ther  be  ioi,  and  gret  dutec, 

Ther  nis  met,  bote  frute. 

Ther  nis  halle,  bured,  no  benche ; 

Bot  watir  man  is  thurse  to  quenche,  &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  bowris  and  halles : 

Al  of  pasteiis  beth  the  walles, 

Of  fleis,  of  fisse,  and  rich  met, 

The  likfullist  that  man  mai  et. 

Fluren  cakes  beth  the  schinglesf  alle, 

Of  cherche,  cloister,  boure,  and  halle. 

m  As  I  recollect,  the  whole  poem  is  thus  history  satisfactorily.  It  was  written  early 

exhibited  in  the  Trinity  MS.     [So  also  in  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  this  poem 

all  the  copies,  except  the  Digby  MS. — M.]  is  a  composition  of  at  the  most  five  or  six 

*  [A  very  few  years  previous  to  1300  years  earlier. — W.] 
will  be  the  earliest  date  it  can  be  assigned  a  heaven.  Sax. 

to,  as  is  evident,  not  only  from  the  Ian-  b  merry,  cheerful.   "Although  Paradise 

guage,  but  from  the  period  of  the  compo-  is  chearful  and  bright,  Cokayne  is  a  much 

sition  of  the  French  fabliau  in  Barbazan,  more  beautiful  place." 
which  no  doubt  is  the  original. — M.]  c  pleasure. 

[The  identical  MS.  from  which  Hickes  d  buttery,  [a  chamber.]         e   [thirst.] 

transcribed  this  poem,  is  in  the  Harleian  f  Shingles.     "  The  tiles,  or  covering  of 

Collection,  No.  913.     I  have  traced  its  the  house,  are  of  rich  cakes." 


SECT.  I.]         SPECIMENS  OF  NORMAN-SAXON  POEMS.  9 

The  pinnes?  beth  fat  podinges 
Rich  met  to  princez  and  kinges. — 
Ther  is  a  cloister  fair  and  li^t, 
Brod  and  lang  of  sembli  si^t. 
The  pilers  of  that  cloister  alle 
Beth  iturned  of  cristale, 
With  harlas  and  capitate 
Of  grenejaspe  and  rede  corale. 
In  the  praer  is  a  tre 
Swithe  likful  for  to  se, 
The  rote  is  gingeuir  and  galingale, 
The  siouns  beth  al  sedwale. 
Trie  maces  beth  the  flure, 
The  rind  canel  of  swet  odur : 
The  frute  gilofre  of  gode  smakke, 
Of  cucubes  ther  nis  no  lakke. — 
There  beth  iiii  willish  in  the  abbei 
Of  triacle  and  halwei, 
Of  baum  and  ek  piement1, 
Euer  ernendk  to  ri}t  rent1; 
Of  thai  stremis  al  the  iriolde, 
Stonis  preciusem  and  golde, 
Ther  is  saphir,  and  vniune, 
Carbuncle  and  astiune, 
Smaragde,  lugre,  and  prassiune, 
Beril,  onix,  topasiune, 
Ametiste  and  crisolite, 
Calcedun  and  epetite". 
Ther  beth  briddes  mani  and  fale 
Throstil,  thmisse,  and  ni^tingale, 
Chalandre,  and  wodwale, 
And  othir  briddes  without  tale, 
That  stinteth  neuer  bi  har  mi^t 
Miri  to  sing  dai  and  ni}t.* 
3ite  I  do  $ow  mo  to  witte, 
The  gees  irostid  on  the  spitte 
Flee}  to  that  abbai,  God  hit  wot, 
&  gredith0,  gees  al  hote  al  hot.  &c. 

8  the  pinnacles.  when   they  can   get  into  a  catalogue  of 

h  fountains.  things  or  names.     See  Observat.  on  the 

1  This  word  will  be  explained  at  large  Fairy  Queen,  i.  p.  140. 

hereafter.  *  [Warton  after  this  line  wrote  "  non- 

k  running.  Sax.  nulla  desunt,"  on  the  authority  of  a  note, 

1  course.  Sax.  in  a  modern  hand,  inserted  in  the  MS.   But 

n  The    Arabian   philosophy    imported  there  is  no  reason  whatever  to  suspect  any 

into  Europe  was  full  of  the   doctrine   of  hiatus. — M.] 

precious  stones.  °  crieth.  Gallo-Franc.  [Anglo-Sax.] 

n  Our  old  poets  are  never  so  happy  as 


10 


SPECIMENS  OF  NORMAN-SAXON  POEMS.          [SECT.  I. 


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  abbei  is  ther  bi, 
For  soth  a  gret  fair  imnnerie  ; 
Vp  a  riuer  of  swet  milke, 
Whar  is  gret  plente  of  silk. 


*  Hickes.  Thes.  i.  Par.  i.  p.  231  seq. 

[Hickes  says  that  the  MS.  containing  this 
poem  was  lent  to  him  by  Tanner.  (Hickes's 
work  was  published  in  1705.)  Now  it  is 
very  certain,  from  an  original  memorandum 
book  of  Tanner,  MS.  Add.  6262.  f.  30  b. 
Brit.  Mus.,  that  in  1698  this  MS.  belonged 
to  Bishop  More,  and  in  the  Catalog.  MSS. 
Angl.  printed  in  1697,  it  is  entered  among 
that  prelate's  MSS.  No.  784.  But  from  the 
same  memoranda  of  Tanner  it  is  equally 
certain,  that  this  identical  volume  is  now  in 
the  Harleian  collection,  No.  913.  How  it 
came  there  I  leave  others  to  guess. — M.] 

[A  French  fabliau,  bearing  a  near  resem- 
blance to  this  poem,  and  possibly  the  pro- 
duction upon  which  the  English  minstrel 
founded  his  song,  has  been  published  in  the 
new  edit,  of  Barbazan's  Fabliaux  et  Contes, 
Paris  1808,  vol.  iv.  p.  175. — PRICE.] 

[The  French  poem  bears  by  no  means 
a  close  resemblance  to  the  English  one. 
But  there  is  preserved  a  fragment  of  an 
old  Dutch  poem  on  the  same  subject  which, 
as  far  as  it  goes,  bears  a  strikingly  close 
resemblance  to  the  latter,  even  to  the 
circumstance  of  the  giving  "  Spain  "  and 
"Cocaign"  as  rimes: 
"  sah  ie  man  beter  lant, 

dan  dat  lant  van  Cockaenghen  ? 

die  helft  is  beter  dan  a.\Spaenghen,"  &c. 

The  following  lines   will  be  enough    to 
show  the  similarity  of  description  in  the 
two  pieces : 
"  die  balken  die  daer  in  den  huse  legghen, 

sijn  ghemaect  van  botterwegghen ; 

haspelen,  spinrocken  ende  alsulke  din- 
ghen 

sijn  ghebacken  van  crakelinghen ; 

daer  sijn  die  banken  ende  stoelen 

ghebacken  al  van  roffioelen  ; 

daer  sijn  die  solre,  planken  ooc 

ghebacken  van  claren  peperrooc. 

die  latten  sijn  palinghen  ghebraden." 


A  part  of  this  fragment  was  printed  by 
Hoffman  in  the  first  part  of  his  flora:  Bel- 
gicte,  p.  95 ;  he  has  since  printed  the  whole, 
with  some  other  poems  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, in  the  Altdeutsche  Blatter,  a  perio- 
dical now  printing  at  Leipsic. — W.] 

[The  secular  indulgences,  particularly 
the  luxury,  of  a  female  convent,  are  in- 
tended «to  be  represented  in  the  following 
passage  of  an  antient  poem,  called  A  Dis- 
putation bytwene  a  Crystene  Mon  and  a 
Jew,  written  before  the  year  1300.  [in 
the  fourteenth  century. — M.]  MS.Vernon, 
fol.  302. 

Til  a  nonnerie  thei  came, 

But  I  knowe  not  the  name ; 

Ther  was  mony  a  derworthe1  dame, 

In  dyapre  dere2: 
Squi3eres3  in  vch  a  syde, 
In  the  wones4  so  wyde: 
Heer  schul  we  lenge5  and  abyde, 

Auntres6  to  heere. 
Thenne  swithe7  speketh  he, 
Til  a  ladi  so  fre, 
And  biddeth  that  he  welcome  be, 

"Sire  Water  my  feere8." 
Ther  was  bordes9  iclothed  clene 
With  schire 10  clothes  and  schene, 
Seththe11  a  wasschen12,  I  wene, 

And  wente  to  the  sete  : 
Riche  metes  was  forth  brouht, 
To  alle  men  that  good  thouht : 
The  cristen  mon  wold  nouht 

Drynke  nor  ete. 
Ther  was  wyn  ful  clere 
In  mony  a  feir  maseere13, 
And  other  drynkes  that  weore  dere, 

In  coupes 14  ful  gret : 
Siththe  was  schewed  him  bi 
Murththe  and  munstralsy 15, 
And  preyed  him  do  gladly, 

With  ryal  rehet16. 
Bi  the  bordes  vp  thei  stode,  &c. 

ADDIT.] 


1  dear-worthy.  2  diaper  fine.  3  squires,  attendants.  4  rooms,  apartments. 

5  shall  we  long  [tarry. — M.].  6  adventures.  7  swiftly,  immediately. 

8  my  companion.    He  is  called  afterwards  "  Sire  [Sir]  Walter  of  Berwick."  9  tables. 

10  sheer,  clean.  n  Or  sitfie,  i.  e.  often,  [afterwards  :  but  perhaps  we  should 

read  seththe  thei,  "afterwards  they." — PRICE.]  12  washed.  13  mazer, 

great  cup.  14  cups.  15  afterwards  there  was  sport  and  minstrelsy. 

16  i.  e.  recept,  reception.     But  see  Chaucer's  ROM.  R.  v.  6509:  "Him,  woulde  I  com- 
fort und  rechctc"  [cheer,  from  the  Fr,  rehaiticr. — M.].     And  Tu.  CHESS,  iii,  350. 


SECT.  I.]          SPECIMENS  OF  NORMAN-SAXON  POEMS.  11 

When  the  someris  dai  is  hole, 
The  3\mg  nunnes  takith  a  bote, 
And  doth  ham  forth  in  that  riuer, 
Bothe  with  oris  and  with  stere. 
Whan  hi  beth  fur  fram  the  abbei, 
Hi  makith  ham  nakid  for  to  plei, 
And  lepith  dune  in  to  the  brimme, 
And  doth  ham  sleilich  for  to  swimme. 
The  }ung  monke]?  (sic)  that  hi  seeth, 
Hi  doth  ham  vp  and  forth  hi  fleeth, 
And  commith  to  the  nunnes  anon, 
And  euch  monke  him  taketh  on, 
And  snellichep  berrith  forth  har  prei 
To  the  mochil  grei  abbei q, 
And  techith  the  nunnes  an  oreisuri, 
With  iambleue1"  vp  and  dun. 

This  poem  was  designed  to  be  sung  at  public  festivals*:  a  practice, 
of  which  many  instances  occur  in  this  work ;  and  concerning  which  it 
may  be  sufficient  to  remark  at  present,  that  a  Joe  UL  A  TOR,  or  Bard,  was 
an  officer  belonging  to  the  court  of  William  the  Conqueror". 

Another  Norman  Saxon  poem,  cited  by  the  same  industrious  anti- 
quary, 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  Dray- 
ton's  POLYOLBION,  which  was  a  species  very  common  about  the  reign 
of  queen  Elisabeth*.  The  rhymes  are  also  continued  to  every  fourth 
line.  It  appears  to  have  been  written  about  the  time  of  the  Crusades*. 

p  quick,  quickly.  Gallo- Franc.  [Anglo-  of  some  length,  said  by  that  author  to  have 

Saxon.]  been  composed  in  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth 

q  "to  the  great  abbey  of  Grey  Monks."  century.      This   poem   is   professedly   in 

r  lascivious  motions,  gambols.  Fr.  gam-  rhyme,  and  the  measure  like  that  of  the 

biller.  heroic  Alexandrine  of  the  French  poetry. 

1  as  appears  from  this  line  :  See  Mallet's  Introd.  Dannem.  &c.  ch.  xiii. 

Lordinges  gode  and  hende,  &c.  *  [Here  Warton  is  in  error,  since  the 

It  is  in  MSS.  More,  Cantabrig.  784.  f.  1.  earliest  period  we  can  allow  to  this  legend 

[This  reference  is  erroneous,  and  has  is  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Third.  In  the 

arisen  from  the  supposition  that  all  bishop  Bodleian  MS.  No.  34.  f.  37.  and  MS.  Reg. 

More's  books,  as  catalogued  in  the  old  folio  17.  A.  xxvii.  f.  37.  is  a  Life  in  prose  of  St. 

CatalogueMSS.  Ang.  etHibern.  had  passed  Margaret,  probably  composed  as  early  as 

to  the  public  library  of  the  University  of  the  reign  of  John,  or  at  all  events,  in  the 

Cambridge.  This  for  one  never  reached  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  which 

Cambridge ;  it  was  the  same  MS.  which  is  begins  thus  (I  quote  from  the  Royal  MS.): 

now  in  the  Harleian  Library. — W.]  "Efter  ure  lauerdes  pine  .  ant  his  passiun  . 

u  His  lands  are  cited  in  Doomsday  Book.  &  his  deft  on  rode  .  ant  his  ariste  of  deatJ . 

"  GLOUCESTERSCIK.E.  Berdic,  Joculator  ant  efter  his  up  a-stihunge  as  he  steh  to 

Regis,  habetiii.  villas  etibi  v.  car.  nil  redd."  heouene,  peren  monie  martirs  peopmen  ba 

See  Anstis,  Ord.  Gart.  ii.  304.  ant  pummen  to  deafres  misliche  idon  for  )?e 

w  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  we  find  nome  of  drihtin."  etc.  This  Life  was  writ- 

in  the  collection  of  ancient  Northern  mo-  ten  apparently  by  the  same  author  as  the 

numents,  published  by  M.  Bibrner,  a  poem  Life  of  St.  Juliane,  which  follows  in  either 


12  SPECIMENS  OF  NORMAN-SAXON  POEMS.          [SECT.  I. 

It  begins  thus  : 

Olde  ant*  yonge  I  preity  ou,  oure  folies  for  to  lete, 

Thenchet  on  god  that  yef  ou  wit,  oure  sunnes  to  bete. 

Here  I  mai  tellen  ou,  wid  wordes  feire  ant  swete, 

The  viez  of  one  meidan  was  hotena  Maregrete. 

Hire  fader  was  a  patriac,  as  ic  ou  tellen  may, 

In  Auntioge  wif  echesb  i  the  false  lay, 

Deue  godesc  ant  doumbe,  he  serued  nitt  ant  day, 

So  deden  raony  othere  that  singet  weilaway. 

Theodosius  was  is  nome,  on  Crist  ne  leuede  he  noutt, 

He  leuede  on  the  false  godes,  that  weren  wid  honden  wroutt. 

Tho  that  child  sculde  cristine  ben  it  com  well  in  thoutt, 

E  bedd  wen  it  were  ibore,  to  dethe  it  were  ibroutt,  &c. 

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

Meidan  Maregret  one  nitt  in  prisun  lai 
Ho  com  biforn  Olibrius  on  that  other  dai. 
Meidan  Maregrete,  lef  up  on  my  lay, 
Ant  Ihesu  that  tou  leuest  on,  thou  do  him  al  awey. 
Lef  on  me  ant  be  my  wife,  ful  wel  the  mai  spede. 
Auntioge  ant  Asie  scaltou  han  to  mede  : 
Ciclatoune  ant  purpel  pal  scaltou  haue  to  wede  : 
Wid  alle  the  metes  of  my  lond  ful  wel  I  seal  the  fede/ 

copy  ;  and  both  exhibit  the  language  in  a  the  Third  or  king  John  :  the  composition 
very  different  state  from  the  metrical  le-  much  earlier.  It  was  translated  from  the 
gend  quoted  in  Warton's  text.  —  M.]  Latin.  These  are  the  five  last  lines  : 

*  Idirect'Fr.  "I  advise  you,  your,  &c."       Hwe°  drihtin  °  domes  dei  windwe>  his 
[The  writer  of  this  Life  in  the  Bodleian       And  JjJ*  ^  chef  to  ^^  h 

bL  a  corn  i  godes  guldene 


preye  you'':  words  bearing  no  doubt  the       Th  '  {     f  L  ^     En  lische  ledene 

as     at  pre"  Ant  he  her  ieast  °nwrat  swa  as  he 


- 

'life.  Fr.  '                a  called.  Saxon.  cu>e'     AMEN* 

chose  a  wife.  Sax.    "  He  was  married  That  is,  "When  the  judge  at  doomsday 

Antioch."  winnows  his  wheat,  and  drives  the  dusty 

"deaf  gods,  &c."  chaff  into  the  heat  of  hell  ;  may  there  be 

in  bed.  [he  prayed.  —  M.]  a  corner  in  God's  golden  Eden  for  him 

Checklaton.  See  Obs.  Fair.  Q.i.  194.  [Rather:  "may  he  be  a  corn   in  God's 

Hickes.  i.  225.      [The  original  MS.  golden  Eden."  —  PRICE.]  who  turned  this 

(Trin.  Coll.  B.  14.  39.)  is  of  the  thirteenth  book  into  [from]  Latin,"  &c. 

century,  and  I  think  of  the  earlier  half  of  [In  an  inedited  Life  of  St.  Hugh,  bishop  of 

that  century.     Hickes  has  printed  the  le-  Lincoln,  [1186-1200.]  written  by  his  pri- 

gend  of  St.  Margaret  very  incorrectly,  and  vate  chaplain,  and  preserved  in  theBodleian 

he  has  invariably  substituted   tt   for   st.  MS.  Digby  165.  it  is  said  of  him,  f.  114.: 

—  W.]     The  legend  of  Seinte  Julians  in  "  Ceterum,  ille  summits  paterfamilias,  qui 

the  Bodleian  library  is  rather  older,  but  manum  solverat  ut  eum  succideret,  falcem 

of    much   the    same   versification.    MSS.  non  retraxit  a  culmi  successione,  quern  ad 

Bibl.  Bodl.  NE.  A.  3.  xi.   membran.  8vo.  messem  album  jam  viderat,  donee  granum 

fol.  36  b.  [nowBodl.  34.  —  M.]   This  manu-  celestis  apothece  sinibus  reconde.ndum,  ab 

script  I  believe  to  be  of  the  age  of  Henry  ejus  paleis  fundittis  excusstwi,  ad  horreum 


SECT.  I.]         SPECIMENS  OF  NORMAN-SAXON  POEMS. 


13 


This  piece  was  printed  by  Hickes  from  a  manuscript  in  Trinity  Col- 
lege library  at  Cambridge.  It  seems  to  belong  to  the  manuscript  metri- 
cal LIVES  OF  THE  SAINTS  ?,  which  form  a  very  considerable  Volume, 
and  were  probably  translated  or  paraphrased  from  Latin  or  French 
prose  into  English  rhyme  before  the  year  1200h.  We  are  sure  that 
they  were  written  after  the  year  1169,  as  they  contain  the  LIFE  of 
Saint  Thomas  Becket'.  In  the  Bodleian  library  are  three  manuscript 
copies  of  these  LIVES  OF  THE  SAINTS  k,  in  which  the  LIFE  of  Saint 


ab  area  transfer tur,"  which  is  manifestly 
the  original  of  the  lines  here  quoted,  and 
confirms  Price's  correction  of  Warton's 
translation.  It  must  further  be  observed, 
that  Warton  with  his  usual  carelessness 
has  confounded  the  legend  of  Sainte  Ju- 
liane  with  the  few  rhythmical  lines  added 
by  the  compiler  at  the  end.  The  legend 
itself  is  in  prose,  and  these  lines' do  not 
appear  in  the  MS.  Reg.  17.  A.  xxvii. — M.] 

g  The  same  that  are  mentioned  by 
Hearne,  from  a  manuscript  of  Ralph  Shel- 
don. See  Hearne's  Petr.  Langt.  p.  542. 
607.  608.  609.611.628.670.  Saint  Wini- 
fred's Life  is  printed  from  the  same  collec- 
tion by  bishop  Fleetwood,  in  his  Life  and 
Miracles  of  S.  Winifred,  p.  125.  ed.  1713. 

h  [Shortly  before  or  about  the  year 
1300,  as  indeed  Warton  himself  has  writ- 
ten in  the  account  of  Barlaam  and  Josa- 
phat,  in  Dissertation  III.  See  the  proof 
of  this  infr.  p.  1 8.  note  x.— M.] 

It  is  in  fact  a  metrical  history  of  the  fes- 
tivals of  the  whole  year.  The  life  of  the 
respective  saint  is  described  under  every 
saint's  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  Le- 
gend Doree,  translated  his  Golden  Legend. 
The  Festival  or  Festiall,  printed  by  Wyn- 
kin  deWorde,  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  Vita  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  Augus- 
tine canon  in  the  abbey  of  Stoke-clare  in 
Suffolk,  transcribed  by  Thomas  Burgh  at 
Cambridge  1477.  [The  Lives  were  not 
transcribed  by  Burgh  himself,  but  caused 
by  him  to  be  copied  at  an  expense  of  305. 
for  the  purpose  of  presenting  the  volume 
to  the  nunnery  at  Cambridge,  as  we  learn 
from  a  note  at  the  end.  The  work  was 


begun  in  1443.  The  MS.  is  now  in  the 
Brit.  Mus.  MS.  Arund.  327.  and  was  print- 
ed for  the  members  of  the  Roxburghe  Club 
by  their  president  Lord  Clive,  4to,  1835. 
— M.]  The  Life  of  S.  Katharine  [Marye 
Maudelyne — M.]  appears  to  have  been 
composed  in  1445.  MSS.  Coll.  Gresh.  315. 
The  French  translation  of  the  Legenda 
Aurea  was  made  by  Jehan  de  Vignay,  a 
monk,  soon  after  1300. 

[Caxton  had  printed  the  Liber  Festiva- 
lis  in  English  before  W.  de  Worde.— 
HERBERT.] 

1  Ashmole  cites  this  Life,  Instit.  Ord. 
Gart.  p.  21.  And  he  cites  S.  Brandan's 
Life,  p.  507.  Ashmole's  MS.  was  in  the 
hands  of  Silas  Taylor.  It  is  now  in  his  Mu- 
seum at  Oxford.  MSS.  Ashm.  50.  [700 1.] 

k  MSS.  Bodl.  779. ;  Laud.  L  70.  And 
they  make  a  considerable  part  of  a  prodi- 
gious folio  volume,  beautifully  written  on 
vellum,  and  elegantly  illuminated;  where 
they  have  the  following  title,  which  also 
comprehends  other  antient  English  re- 
ligious poems  :  "  Here  begynnen  the  tytles 
of  the  book  that  is  cald  in  Latyn  tonge  SA- 
LUS  ANIME,  and  in  Englysh  tonge  SOWLE- 
HELE."  It  was  given  to  the  Bodleian  li- 
brary by  Edward  Vernon,  esq.  soon  after 
the  civil  war.  I  shall  cite  it  under  the 
title  of  MS.  Vernon.  Although  pieces  not 
absolutely  religious  are  sometimes  intro- 
duced, the  scheme  of  the  compiler  or  tran- 
scriber seems  to  have  been,  to  form  a  com- 
plete 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 
Bennet  College  library.  [The  same  col- 
lection of  legends  is  found  also  in  the  Lau- 
dian  MS.  No.  108.  (olim  K.  60.);  in  an- 
other of  Ashmole's  MSS.  N°  43.  [6924.]; 
in  the  Cotton  MS.  JUL.  D  ix. ;  and  in  MS. 
Add.  10.  301.  purchased  for  the  Museum 
at  the  sale  of  Heber's  library.  Of  these 
MSS.  the  best  and  earliest  copies  are  the 
Laudian,  Ashmolean,  Harleian,Trin.  Coll. 


14  SPECIMENS  OF  NORMAN-SAXON  POEMS.         [J5ECT.  I. 

Margaret  constantly  occurs ;  but  it  is  not  always  exactly  the  same  with 
this  printed  by  Hickes.     And  on  the  whole,  the  Bodleian  Lives  seem 

Oxf.  and  Corp.  Coll.  Gamb.  The  Cotton  MS.  lection  of  Lives  of  the  Saints,  occur,  MSS. 
is  late  of  the  14th  century,  and  the  Bodl.  2250.  23.  f.  72  b,  seq.  chart,  fol.  See  also 
779.  late  of  the  15th.  The  order  of  these  ib.  19.  f.  48.  These  Lives  are  in  French 
Lives  varies  considerably,  but  the  text  rhymes,  ib.  2253.  f.  1.  [The  French 
agrees  in  general  pretty  well,  except  in  the  "rhymes"  here  referred  to  are  a  totally 
Life  of  St.  Margaret,  which,  as  Warton  no-  different  thing,  being  a  metrical  transla- 
tices,  is  different  in  Bodl.  779.  from  the  tion  of  the  Vitas  Patrum. — M.] 
other  copies,  and  is  a  rifacimento  of  the  [The  LIVES  OF  THE  SAINTS  in  verse,  in 
Life  printed  by  Hickes.  These  Lives  are  far  Bennet  library,  contain  the  martyrdom  and 
more  worthy  to  be  printed  than  those  com-  translation  of  Beck et,  Num.  cxlv.  This 
posed  by  Bokenham,  and  it  were  greatly  to  manuscript  is  supposed  to  be  of  the  four- 
be  wished  some  Society  in  England, stimu-  teehth  century.  Archbishop  Parker,  in  a 
lated  by  the  same  zeal  as  the  Bannatyne  remark  prefixed,  has  assigned  the  compo- 
Club  in  Scotland,  would  undertake  the  sition  to  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second, 
publication. — M.]  The  Lives  seem  to  be  But  in  that  case,  Becket's  translation, 
placed  according  to  their  respective  festi-  which  did  not  happen  till  the  reign  of  king 
vals  in  the  course  of  the  year.  The  Bod-  John,  must  have  been  added.  See  a  spe- 
leian  copy  (marked  779.)  is  a  thick  folio,  cimen  in  Mr. Nasmith's  accurate  and  learn- 
containing  306  leaves.  The  variations  in  ed  CATALOGUE  of  the'Bennet  manuscripts, 
these  manuscripts  seem  chiefly  owing  to  pag.  217.  Cantab.  1777.  4to.  There  is  a 
the  transcribers.  The  Life  of  Saint  Mar-  manuscript  of  these  LIVES  in  Trinity  Col- 
garet  in  MSS.  Bodl.  779.  begins  much  like  lege  library  at  Oxford,  but  it  has  not  the 
that  of  Trinity  library  at  Cambridge,  Life  of  Becket.  MSS.  Num.  Ivii.  perga- 
Old  ant  yonge  I  preye  you  your  folyis  men-  foL  The  writing  is  about  the  four- 
for  to  lete  &c  teenth  century.  I  will  transcribe  a  few 

I  must  add  here,  that  in  the  Harleian  lines  fr°™  the  LlFE  OF  SAINT  CuTR- 
library,  a  few  Lives,  from  the  same  col- 

Seint  Cuthberd  was  ybore  here  in  Engelonde, 

God  dude  for  him  meraccle,  as  36  scholleth  vnderstonde. 

And  wel  3ong  child  he  was1,  in  his  ei3tethe  3ere, 

Wit  children  he  pleyde  atte  balle,  that  his  felawes  were : 

Ther  com  go  a  lite  childe,  it  tho3t  thre  3er  old, 

A  swete  creature  and  a  fayr,  yt  was  myld  and  bold : 

To  the  jong  Cuthberd  he  3ede,  leue  brother  he  sede, 

Ne  )>ench  not  such  ydell  game  for  it  ne  O3te  no3t  be  thy  dede 

Seint  Cuthberd  ne  tok  no  3eme  to  the  childis  rede 

And  pleyde  forth  with  his  felawes,  al  so  they  him  bede. 

Tho  this  3onge  child  yse3  that  he  his  red  forsok, 

Adoun  he  fel  to  grounde,  and  gret  del  to  him  to  tok, 

It  bygan  to  wepe  sore,  and  his  honden  wrynge, 

This  children  hadde  alle  del  of  him,  and  byleued  hare  pleyinge. 

As  that  they  couthe  hy  gladede  him,  sore  he  gan  to  siche, 

Ac  euer  this  3onge  child  made  del  yliche. 

A  welaway,  quod  seint  Cuthbert,  why  wepes  thou  so  sore  ? 

^if  we  the  haueth  031  mysdo,  we  ne  scholleth  na  more. 

Thanne  spake  this  3onge  child,  sore  hy  wepe  beye, 

Cuthberd,  it  falleth  11031  to  the  with  3onge  children  to  pleye, 

For  no  suche  idell  games  it  ne  cometh  the  to  worche, 

Whanne  god  hath  y  proveyd  the  an  heved  of  holy  cherche. 

With  this  word,  me  nyste  whidder,  this  3ong  child  wente, 

An  angel  it  was  of  heuen  that  our  lord  thuder  sent. 

Saxon  letters  are  used  in  this  manu-  will  exhibit  the  next  twelve  lines  as  they 
script  [as  they  are  in  every  other  English  appear  in  that  mode  of  writing  :  together 
manuscript  of  the  same  period. — M.].  I  with  the  punctuation. 

po  by  gan  seint  Cuthberd.  for  to  wepe  sore 

[And  by-leuede  al  J>is  ydel  game,  nolde  he  pleye  no  more ;]  2 

1  [The  wile  he  was  a  jong  childe.  MS.  Add.  10,301.— M.]  2  [MS.  Add.  «.*.— M.] 


SECT.  I.]  LEGENDS  IN  VERSE.  15 

inferior  in  point  of  antiquity.     I  will  here  give  some  extracts  never  yet 
printed : 

From  the  LIFE  of  Saint  Swithin. 

'Seint  Swythan  the  confessour  was  her  of  Engelonde, 

Bisyde  Wynchestre  he  was  ibore,  as  ich  undirstonde: 

Bi  the  kynges  dai  Egbert  this  goode  man  was  ibore, 

That  tho  was  kyng  of  Engelonde,  and  somedele1  eke  bifore; 

The  eihtethe  he  was  that  com  aftur  Kinewolfe2  the  kynge, 

That  seynt  Berin  dude  to  Cristendome  in  Engelonde  furst  brynge : 

Seynt  Austen  hedde  bifore  to  Cristendom  ibrouht 

Athelbriht  the  goode  kynge,  ac  al  the  londe  nouht. 

Ac  setthe"1  hyt  was  that  seint  Berin  her  bi  west  wende, 

And  tornede  the  kynge  Kinewolfe2  as  vr  lord  grace  sende3: 

So  that  Egbert  was  kyng  tho  that  seint  Swyththan  was  bore4 

The  eighth  was  Kinewolfe 2  that  so  long  was  bifore,  &c. 

Seynt  Swythan  his  bushopricke  to  al  goodnesse  drough 

The  towne  also  of  Wynchestre  he  amended  inough, 

For  he  lette  the  stronge  bruge  withoute  the  toune 5  arere 

And  fond  therto  lym  and  ston  and  the  workmen  that  ther  were." 

He  made  his  fader  and  frendis.  sette  him  to  lore 

So  ]?at  he  seruede  bo]?e  ny^t  and  day.  to  plese  god  J»e  more 

And  in  his  jonghede  ny3t  and  day.  ofseruede  godis  ore. 

po  he  in  grettere  elde  was.  as  ]?e  bok  us  ha]?  ysed 

It  byfel  ]>at  seint  Aydan.  ]je  bisschop  was  ded 

Cuthberd  was  a  felde  with  schep.  angeles  of  heuen  he  sej 

pe  bisschopis  soule  seint  Aydan.  to  heuen  bere  on  he^ 

Alias !  sede  seint  Cuthberd.  fole  ech  am  to  longe, 

I  nell  Jjis  schep  no  longer  kepe.  afonge  hem  who  so  afonge  *. 

He  wente  to  ]>e  abbeye  of  Geruaus.  a  grey  monk  he  Iper  bycom 

Gret  joye  made  alle  Ipe  couent.  ]?o  he  that  abbyt  nom,  &c. 

The  reader  will  observe  the  constant  re-  as  we  chant  the  psalms  in  our  choral  ser- 

turn  of  the  hemistichal  point,  which  I  have  vice.     In  the  psalms  of  our  liturgy,  this 

been  careful  to  preserve,  and  to  represent  pause  is  expressed  by  a  colon :  and  often, 

with  exactness ;  as  I  suspect  that  it  shows  in  those  of  the  Roman  missal,  by  an  aste- 

how  these  poems  were  sung  to  the  harp  by  rise.     The  same  mark  occurs  in  every  line 

the  minstrels.      Every  line  was  perhaps  of  this  manuscript;  which  is  a  folio  vo- 

uniformly  recited  to  the  same  monotonous  lume  of  considerable  size,  with  upwards  of 

modulation,  with  a  pause  in  the  midst:  just  fifty  verses  in  every  page. — ADDITIONS.] 

*  ["  take  them  who  will."— PRICE.] 

1  Thus  in  MS.  Harl.  2277.  fol.  78.  contained  in  common  with  the  Vernon  MS. 

Seint  Swiththin  the  confessour  was  her  of  have  been  collated  with  Warton's  text, 

Engelonde  and  the  few  material  variations  will  be 

Biside  Wynchestre  he  was  ibore  as  ic  vn-  found  printed  within  brackets  in  the  notes 

derstonde.  below. — PRICE.] 

[The  Harleian  MS.  is  imperfect  at  the  ™  since> 

beginning ;  but  such  of  the  Lives  as  it  MS«  Vernon'  f'  93' 

1  [somewhat.  MS.  Harl.]  2  [Keriewold.]  8  [as  our  lorde  him  grace  sende.] 

4  [Seint  Egbert  that  was  kyng  tho  Seint  Swithin  was  ibore, 

The  ei3eteothe  he  was  after  Kenewold  that  so  longe  was  bifore.] 
5  [the  est  3ate.] 


Ifi  LEGENDS  IN  VERSE.  [SECT.  I. 

From  the  LIFE  of  Saint  Wolstan. 

Seint  Wolston  bysschop  of  Wircestre  was  her  of  Ingelonde, 

Swithe  holiman  all  his  lyf  as  ich  understonde: 

The  while  he  was  a  yonge  childe  good  lyf  he  ladde  ynow, 

Whan  othur  childre  ronne »  to  pleye  touward  chirche  he  drouh. 

Seint  Edward  was  tho  vr  kyng,  that  now  in  heuene  is, 

And  the  bisschop  of  Wircestre  Brihtege  hette  iwis,  &c. 

Bisscop  hym  made  the  holi  man  seynt  Edward  vre  kynge 

And  undirfonge2  his  dignite,  and  tok  hym  cros  and  ringe. 

His  bushopreke  he  wust3  wel,  and  eke  his  priorie, 

And  forcede4  him  to  serue  wel  God  and  Seinte  Marie. 

Four  $er  he  hedde  bisscop  ibeo  and  not  folliche  fyue 

Tho  seynt  Edward  the  holi  kyng  went  out  of  this  lyue. 

To  gret  reuthe  to  al  Engelonde,  so  welaway  the  stounde, 

For  strong  men  that  come  sithen  and  broughte  Engelonde  to  grounde. 

Harald  was  sithen  kynge  with  tresun,  alias ! 

The  crowne  he  bare  of  England  which  while  hit  was. 

Ac 5  William  Bastard  that  was  tho  duyk  of  Normaundye 

Thouhte  to  winne  Engelonde  thoruh  strength  and  felonye  : 

He  lette  hym  greith6  folke  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  herde  herof  tell,  kynge  of  Engelonde 

He  let  $arke6  fast  his  oste  agen  hym  for  to  stonde : 

The  barenye  of  Engelonde  redi  was  wel  sone 

The  kyng  to  helpe  and  eke  himself  as  riht7  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  day  of  batayle  nom 

There  as  the  abbeye  is  of  the  batayle  a  day  togedre  com, 

To  grounde  thei  smiit  and  slowe  also,  as  God  $af  the  cas, 

William  Bastard  was  aboue  and  Harald  bineothe  was0. 

From  the  LIFE  of  Saint  Christopher. 

p  Seynt  Cristofre  was  a  Sarazin  in  the  londe  of  Canaan, 
In  no  stude  bi  his  daye  me  fond  non  so  strong  a  man : 
Four  and  twenti  feete  he  was  longe,  and  thikk  and  brod  inouh, 
Such  a  mon  but  he  weore  stronge  methinketh  hit  weore  wouh : 

0  MS.  Vernon.  fol.  76  b.  In  no  stede  bi  his  daye  ne  fond  me  so 
p  MSS.  Harl.  ut  supr.  fol.  101  b.  strong  a  man 

Seint  Cristofre  was  Sarazin  in  the  lond  of  Four  and  tuenti  fet  he  was  long  and  thicke 
Canaan  and  brod  y-nouj,  &c. 

1  [>de,  MS.  Add.  10.  301.]  2  [aueng  him  in.]  3  [Rep. 

4  [aforced.]  5  [And.]  6  [ordeyny.]  7  [W0ne. 


SECT.  I.)  LEGENDS  IN  VERSE.  17 

Al  a  cuntre  where  he  were  for  him  wolde  fleo, 
Therfore  hym  ythoughte  that  no  man  a^eynst  him  sculde  bco. 
He  seide  he  nolde  with  no  man  beo  but  with  on  that  were 
Hext  lord  of  all  men  and  undir  hym  non  othir  nere. 

Afterwards  he  is  taken  into  the  service  of  a  king. 

Cristofre  hym  serued  longe; 

The  kynge  loved  melodye  much  of  fithele '  q  and  of  songe ; 
So  that  his  jogeler  on  a  dai  biforen  him  gon  to  pleye  faste2, 
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. ' 

From  the  LIFE  of  Saint  Patrick. 

Seyn  Pateryk  com  thoru  Godes  grace  to  preche  in  Irelonde 

To  teche  men  her  ry^te  beleue  Jftu  Cryste  to  understonde : 

So  ful  of  wormes  that  londe  he  fonde  that  no  man  ne  myghte  gon. 

In  som  stede  for  wormes  that  he  nas  iwenemyd3  anon ; 

Seynt  Pateryk  bade  our  lorde  Cryst  that  the  londe  delyuered  were, 

Of  thilke  foul  wormis  that  none  ne  com  there s. 

From  the  LIFE  of  Saint  Thomas  Becket. 

There  was  Tomas  fadir  that  trewe  man  was  and  gode 

He  loved  God  and  holi  cherche  setthe  he  witte  ondirstode 

The  croyse  to  the  holi  londe  in  his  puthe  "he  nom, 

He  myd4  on  Ry chard  that  was  his  mon  to  Jerusalem  com, 

Ther  hy  dede  here  pylgrimage  in  holi  stedes  faste 

So  that  among  Sarazyns  hy  wer  nom  atte  laste,  &c." 

This  legend  of  Saint  Thomas  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 

41  fiddle.  *  MS.  Vernon.  fol.  1 19.  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  and,  from  his  anxiety 

s  Bodl.  MSS.  779.  fol.  41  b.  to  procure  the  most  authentic  information 

1  MS.  Harl.  fol.  195  b.  on  the  subject,  came  over  to  Canterbury 

Gilbert  was  Thomas  fader  name  that  true  in  n72,  and  finally  perfected  his  work  iii 

was  and  god  1177.  It  is  written  in  stanzasof  fiveAlexan- 

And  louede  God  and  holi  churche  siththe  drines,  all  ending  with  the  same  rhymes ;  a 

he  wit  vnderstod.  mode  of  composition  supposed  to  have  been 

This  Harleian  manuscript  is  imperfect  ad°Pted  f°r  the  purpose  of  being  easily 

in  many  parts.  chanted.  A  copy  is  preserved  in  MS.  Harl. 

"  MSS.  Bodl.  779.  f.  41  b.  ^®'  and  another  in  MS.  Cotton.  DOMIT. 

*  [Guernes,  an  ecclesiastic  of  Pont  St.  A  xK  See  Archaeologia,  vol.  xiii.  and  El- 

Maxence  in  Picardy,  wrote  a  metrical  life  Jls's  Hlst'  Sketch»  &c«  P-  57.— PARK.] 

1  [of  harpe.] 

2  [.  .  .  on  a  dai  to  fore  him  pleide  faste 

And  auemnede  in  his  rym  the  deuel  atte  laste 
Tho  the  kyng  ihurde  that  he  blescede  him  anon.] 

3  [ywemmed.  MS.  Add.]  4  [And  mid.] 
VOL.  I.                                                             C 


18 


LEGENDS  IN  VERSE. 


[SECT.  i. 


THE  SAINTS  to  have  been  written  about  the  reign  of  Richard  the 
First". 

These  metrical  narratives  of  Christian  faith  and  perseverance  seem 
to  have  been  chiefly  composed  for  the  pious  amusement,  and  per- 
haps edification,  of  the  monks  in  their  cloisters.  The  sumptuous 
volume  of  religious  poems  which  I  have  mentioned  above*,  was  un- 
doubtedly chained  in  the  cloister,  or  church,  of  some  capital  mona- 
stery. It  is  not  improbable  that  the  novices  were  exercised  in  re- 
citing portions  from  these  pieces.  In  the  British  Museum  there  is  a 


*  Who  died  1199.  [Warton's  know- 
ledge of  the  progress  of  the  English  lan- 
guage was  so  slight,  as  to  render  his  opi- 
nion relative  to  the  age  of  a  poem  of  little 
or  no  value;  and  it  is  of  some  importance 
at  the  present  day,  when  the  subject  begins 
to  be  better  understood,  to  prevent  his  au- 
thority from  being  used  (as  it  often  has 
been)  to  countenance  error.  The  style  and 
language  of  these  Lives  of  Saints  would 
lead  us  at  once,  from  their  similarity  to 
the  Chronicle  ascribed  to  Robert  of  Glou- 
cester, to  attribute  them  to  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  perhaps  to  the 
same  writer.  (See  Black's  Catalogue  of 
theArundel  MSS.  in  the  College  of  Arms, 
8vo.  1829.  p.  14.)  Had  Warton  looked 
into  these  Lives  a  little  more  attentively, 
he  would  have  found  the  Legend"  of  St. 
Dominic,  who  died  in  1221,  and  that  of 
St.  Edmund  of  Pounteney,whowas  canon- 
ized in  1248.  But  in  the  latter  legend 
we  have  decisive  proof  that  these  Lives 
were  written  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
First;  for  it  is  there  said  of  St.  Edmund, 

"  &   truliche   huld   vp   holi   churche,   & 

schulde  hire  from  wouj, 
Therfore  hadde  the  deuel  of  helle  enuie 

grete  ynouj ; 

He  bigan  to  rere  contek  bituene  him  anon 
&  kyng  Henri  that  was  thoy  the  kynges 

sone  Johan  ; 
The  kyng  &  mochedel  of  the  lond  a3en 

holi  churche  was 
As  the  kyng  er,  his  grandsire,  was  aje 

seint  Thomas." 

MS.  Harl.  2277.  /.  161  b.  and 
MS.  Laud.  108.  f.  184. 

In  all  probability  the  plan  of  these  le- 
gends was  borrowed  from  the  work  of  Ja- 
cobus de  Voragine,  who  had,  as  appears 
from  Warton  himself,  compiled  a  similar 
and  popular  collection  about  the  year  1 2 9 0. 
— M.]  In  the  Cotton  library  I  find  the 
Lives  of  Saint  Josaphas  and  the  Seven 
Sleepers :  where  the  Norman  seems  to 
predominate,  although  Saxon  letters  are 
used.  [These  poems  are  composed  in  the 
common  French  langur.geof  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  written  in  the  usual  hand  of 


the  period.  There  is  not  a  single  Saxon 
letter  used. — M.]  Brit.  Mus.  MSS.  Cott. 
CALIG.  Aix.  Cod.  membr.  4to. 

Id  comence  la  vie  de  seint  losaphaz. 
Ki  vout  a  mil  bien  sentendre 
Par  essample  poet  mult  aprendre. — fol.  192. 

Id  comence  la  vie  de  Set  Dormanz. 
La  vertu  deu  ke  tut  iurz  dure 
E  tut  iurz  est  certeine  e  pure. — fol.  213  b. 

[The  Lives  of  St.  Josaphat  and  of  the 
Seven  Sleepers  are  attributed  by  the  Abbe 
de  la  Rue  to  Chardry,  an  Anglo-Norman 
poet,  who  also  wrote  Le  petit  Plet,  a  dis- 
pute between  an  old  and  a  young  man  on 
human  life.  [See  De  la  Rue's  "  Essais 
stir  les  Bardes,"  &c.  torn.  iii.  127.  who  as- 
signs the  thirteenth  century  as  the  period 
of  Chardry's  compositions.  All  the  three 
pieces  are  in  the  Cotton  MS.  De  la  Rue 
quotes  several  passages  from  them  after 
Warton's  manner,  i.  e.  very  incorrectly. 
There  are  also  copies  in  MS.  29.  of  Jesus 
Coll.,  Oxford,  which  is  almost  a  duplicate 
of  the  latter  part  of  the  Cotton  MS. — M.] 
Stephen  Langton,  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, in  1207  wrote  a  canticle  on  the  pas- 
sion of  Jesus  Christ  in  123  stanzas,  with 
a  theological  drama,  in  the  duke  of  Nor- 
folk's library  [now  MS.  Arund.  292.  Brit. 
Mus. — M.]  ;  and  Denis  Pyramus,  who 
lived  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  wrote  in 
verse  the  life  and  martyrdom  of  King  St. 
Edmund,  in  3286  lines,  with  the  miracles 
of  the  same  saint  in  600  lines :  a  manu- 
script in  the  Cott.  Library,  DOM.  A  xi.  See 
Archaeologia,  vol.  xiii. — PARK.  See  a  note 
on  Langton's  drama,  vol.  ii.  near  the  end  of 
Sect.  VI.  (Robin  and  Marian.)— PRICE.] 
See  also  De  la  Rue's  remarks  in  his  "Es- 
sais sur  les  Bardes,"  &c.  torn.  iii.  p.5. — M.] 

Many  legends  and  religious  pieces  in 
Norman  rhyme  were  written  about  this 
time.  See  MSS.  Harl.  2253.  f.  1.  membr. 
fol.  p.  1 5.  [Warton  is  speaking  of  the  reign 
of  Richard  I. ;  but  the  French  poems  he 
refers  to  in  the  Harl.  MS.  were  not  com- 
posed till  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First. 
-M.] 

y  viz.  MS.  Vernon. 


SECT.  I.] 


LEGENDS  IN  VERSE. 


19 


set  of  legendary  tales  in  rhyme1,  which  appear  to  Iiave  been  solemnly 
pronounced  by  the  priest  to  the  people  on  Sundays  and  holidays. 
This  sort  of  poetry a  was  also  sung  to  the  harp  by  the  minstrels  on 
Sundays  instead  of  the  romantic  subjects  usual  at  public  entertain- 
ments11. 

In  that  part  of  Vernon's  manuscript  entitled  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 


z  MSS.  Harl.  2391.  70.  The  dialect  is 
perfectly  Northern. 

*  That  legends  of  saints  were  sung  to 
the  harp  at  feasts,  appears  from  The  Life 
of  Saint  Marine,  MSS.  Harl.  2253.  fol. 
membr.  f.  64  b. 

Herketh  hideward  and  beoth  stille, 
Y  preie  ou  $ef  hit  be  or  wille, 
And  $e  shule  here  of  one  virgine 
That  wes  ycleped  Seinte  Maryne. 
And  from  various  other  instances.     [It  is 
perhaps  too  much  to  assume  with  Warton 
from  the  instances  referred  to,  that  these 
legends  were  sung  to  the  harp ;  for  from  the 
frequency  of  such  passages  I  should  be  in- 
clined to  consider  them  as  meant  simply  to 
arouse  the  attention  of  the  audience,  when 
the  poems  were  recited.— M.] 

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.  55 b.: 
Alle  herkeneth  to  me  nou, 
A  strif  wolle  y  tellen  ou : 
Of  Jhesu  ant  of  Sathan, 
Tho  Jhesu  wes  to  helle  y-gan,  &c. 
[This  poem,  which  probably  presents  to 
us  the  earliest  form  of  the  Miracle-play 
extant,  was  printed  at  the  private  expense 
of  J.  Payne  Collier,  Esq.,  in  1835,  and  a 
duplicate  copy  of  later  date,  supplying  some 
defects  of  the  former,  was  subsequently 
printed  from  the  Auchinleck  MS.  by  Da- 
vid Laing,  Esq. — M.] 

Other  proofs  will  occur  occasionally. 
b  As  I  collect  from  the  following  poem, 
MS.Vernon,  fol.  230.: 

The  Visions   of  Seynt  Poul  wan  he  was 

rapt  into  Paradys. 
Lusteneth  lordynges  leof  and  dere, 
^e  that  wolen  of  the  Sonday  here  ; 
The  Sonday  a  day  hit  is 
That  angels  and  archangels  joyen  iwis, 
More  in  that  ilke  day 
Then  any  odur,  &c. 

[It  was  enjoined  by  the  ritual  of  the 
Gallican  church,  that  the  Lives  of  the 
Saints  should  be  read  during  mass,  on  the 


days  consecrated  to  their  memory.  On 
the  introduction  of  the  Roman  liturgy, 
which  forbade  the  admixture  of  any  ex- 
traneous matter  with  the  service  of  the 
mass,  this  practice  appears  to  have  been 
suspended,  and  the  Lives  of  the  Saints 
were  read  only  at  evening  prayer.  But 
even  in  this,  the  inveteracy  of  custom 
seems  speedily  to  have  re-established  its 
rights  ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that 
the  Lives  of  such  as  are  mentioned  in  the 
New  Testament,  were  regularly  delivered 
from  the  chancel.  Of  this,  a  curious  ex- 
ample, the  "  Planch  de  Sant  Esteve,"  has 
been  published  by  M.  Raynouard  in  his 
"Choix  des  Poesies  des  Troubadours," 
vol.  ii.  p.  146  and  cxlvi.,  Paris  1817,  where 
the  passages  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
referring  to  Saint  Stephen,  are  introduced 
between  the  metrical  translations  of  them. 
From  France,  it  is  probable,  this  rite  found 
its  way  into  England  ;  and  the  following 
extract  from  the  piece  alluded  to  above 
will  show  the  uniformity  of  style  adopted 
in  the  exordiums  to  such  productions  on 
both  sides  of  the  Channel : 

Sezets,  senhors,  e  aiats  pas ; 

So  que  direm  ben  escoutas  ; 

Car  la  lisson  es  de  vertat, 

Non  hy  a  mot  de  falsetat. 
"  Be  seated,  lordings,  and  hold  your  peace 
(et  ayez  paix) ;  listen  attentively  to  what 
we  shall  say ;  for  it  is  a  lesson  of  truth 
without  a  word  of  falsehood." — It  has 
been  recently  maintained,  that  the  term 
"  lording,"  of  such  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  preludes  to  our  old  romances  and  le- 
gends, is  a  manifest  proof  of  their  being 
"  composed  for  the  gratification  of  knights 
and  nobles."  There  are  many  valid  ob- 
jections to  such  a  conclusion ;  but  one 
perhaps  more  cogent  than  the  rest.  The 
term  is  a  diminutive,  and  could  never  have 
been  applied  to  the  nobility  as  an  order, 
however  general  its  use  as  an  expression 
of  courtesy.  By  way  of  illustration,  let  it 
also  be  remembered,  that  the  "  Disours" 
of  the  present  day,  who  ply  upon  the  Mole 
at  Naples,  address  every  ragged  auditor 
by  the  title  of  "  Eccellenza." — PRICE.] 
*  [1300.— M.] 


C2 


20  LEGENDS  IN  VERSE.  [SECT.  I. 

% 

the  fondness  of  our  ancestors  for  the  Alexandrine :  at  least,  I  find  the 
lines  arranged  in  that  measure. 

Oure  ladi  and  hire  sustur  stoden  under  the  roode, 

And  seint  John  and  Marie  Magdaleyn  with  wel  sori  moode : 

Vr  ladi  biheold  hire  swete  son  ibrouht  in  gret  pyne, 

For  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. 

"  Alias,  my  sone,"  for  serwe  wel  ofte  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  deone,  how  hast  I  thou^t  liuen  xvithouten  the, 

Nusti  neuere  of  serwe  nou^t  sone,  what  seyst  $ou  me  ?" 

Thenne  spak  Jhesu  wordus  gode  tho  to  his  modur  dere, 

Ther  he  heng  uppon  the  roode  "  Here  I  the  take  a  fere, 

That  trewliche  schal  serue  ^e,  thin  own  cosin  Jon, 

The  while  that  $ou  alyue  beo  among  all  thi  fon : 

Ich  the  hote,  Jon,"  he  seide,  "  $ou  wite  hire  both  day  and  niht 

That  the  Gywes  hire  fon  ne  don  hire  non  unriht." 

Seint  John  in  the  stude  vr  ladi  in  to  the  temple  nom 

God  to  seruen  he  hire  dude  sone  so  he  thider  come, 

Hole  and  seeke  heo  duden  good  that  heo  founden  thore, 

Heo  hire  serueden  to  hond  and  foot,  the  lasse  and  eke  the  more. 

The  pore  folke  feire  heo  fedde  there,  heo  se^e  that  hit  was  neode, 

And  the  seke  heo  broujte  to  bedde  and  met  and  drinke  gon  heom  beode. 

Wyth  al  heore  mihte  yonge  and  olde  hire  loueden,  bothe  syke  and  fere, 

As  hit  was  riht  for  alle  and  summe  to  hire  seruise  hedden  mester. 

Jon  hire  was  a  trew  feer,  and  nolde  nou^t  from  hire  go, 

He  lokid  hire  as  his  ladi  deore  and  what  hep  wolde  hit  was  ido. 

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  mou^te  theron  bring, 

Good  him  was  the  gardener,0  #c. 

In  the  archiepiscopal  library  at  Lambeth,  among  otner  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  cer- 
tainty before  the  year  1185.* 

c  MS.Vernon,  fol.  8.  beth  MSS.  fol.  1812.  it  occurs  in  No.  487. 

*  [More  probably  in  the  reign  of  Henry       f.  21  b.,  and  the  compiler  notes,  "Ex  hac 

theThird.  In  Todd's  Catalogue  of  the  Lam-       Expositione  specimen  depromit,  non  autem 


SECT.  I.]  SACRED  POEMS.  21 

Vre  feder  that  in  heuene  is 

That  is  al  sothfull  iwis. 

Weo  moten  to  theos  weordes  iseon 

That  to  Hue  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  forlore. 

Thole  us  to  biwepen  vre  sunne 

That  we  ne  steruen  noht  therinne ; 

And  gif  us,  lauerd,  that  ilke  gifte 

Thet  we  hes[?]  ibeten  thurh  halie  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  elegance, 
strength,  or  harmony.  It  begins  thus : 

Man  og  to  luuen  that  rimes  ren. 

The  wissed  wel  the  logede  men. 

Hu  man  may  hem  wel  loken 

Thog  he  ne  be  lered  on  no  boken. 

Luuen  God  and  seruen  him  ay, 

For  he  it  hem  wel  gelden  may. 

And  to  al  Cristenei  men 

Boren  pais  and  luue  bytwen. 

Than  sal  hem  almighti  luuen 

Here  bynethen  and  thund  abuuen, 

And  giuen  hem  blisse  and  soules  reste. 

That  hem  sal  eauermor  lesten. 

Ut  of  Latin  this  song  is  dragen 

On  Engleis  speche  on  sothe  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, 

satis accurate,V?artomisin  Hist.  Engl.  Po-  d  Quart,  minor.  185.  Cod.  membran.  vi. 

etry,  vol.  i.     Warton  copies  his  quotation       f.  21  b. 

from  Wanley,  p.  267.  ap.  Hickes.— M.]  *  [Henry  the  Third.— M.] 


22  VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALTER.  [SECT.  I. 

Quliu  Lucifer  that  deuel  dwale 
And  held  hem  swered  in  helles  male, 
Til  God  hem  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  hie  folgen  idelhed. 
Fader  gode  of  al  thinge, 
Almightin  louerd,  hegest  kinge, 
Thu  give  me  seli  timinge 
To  than  men  this  werdes  bigininge. 
The  lauerd  God  to  wurthinge 
Qu ether  so  hie  rede  or  singe6. 

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  Hues  wene 

Ac  ofte  him  lieth  the  wrench. 

Feir  wether  turneth  ofte  into  reine 

An  wunderliche  hit  maketh  his  blench, 

Tharuore  mon  thu  the  bithench 

Al  schal  falewi  thi  grene. 

Weilawei ! .  nis  kin  ne  quene 

That  ne  schal  drinche  of  deathes  drench, 

Mon  er  thu  falle  of  thi  bench 

Thine  sunne  thu  aquench f. 

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 : 

Mirthhes  to  lauerd  al  erthe  that  es 
Serues  to  lauerd  in  fainenes. 
Ingas  of  him  in  the  sight, 
In  gladeschip  bi  dai  and  night. 
Wite  ye  that  lauerd  he  God  is  thus 
And  he  vs  made  and  oure  self  noght  vs, 
His  folk  and  schepe  of  his  fode : 
Ingas  his  yhates  that  ere  gode: 

*  MSS.  R 1 1.  Cod.  membr.  8vo.  [No.444.  [There  is  another  copy  of  this  poem  in  MS. 

in  Nasmith's  Catalogue. — M.]  It  seems  Jes.  Coll.  Ox.  29.  f.  252  b.,  and  it  may 

to  be  in  the  Northern  dialect.  [Printed  safely  be  ascribed  4o  the  reign  of  Henry 

by  Wanley,  p.151.  ap.  Hickes. — M.]  the  Third,  or  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Ed- 

1  Bibl.  Cotton.  MSS.  CALIG.  Aix.  f.  243.  ward  the  First.    Sse  infra,  p.  25.  n.—M.J 


SECT.  I.]  VERSIONS  OF  PSALMS.  23 

In  schrift  his  porches  that  be, 

In  ympnes  to  him  schriue  ^lie. 

Heryes  of  him  name  swa  f re, 

For  that  lauerd  soft  es  he ; 

In  euermore  his  merci  esse, 

And  in  strende  and  strende  his  sothnesse.* 

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  hand-writing  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 : 

Heuens  telles  Goddis  blisse, 

The  walken  schewes  handeswerkes  hisse, 

Dai  to  dai  worde  riftes  right, 

And  wisedome  schewes  night  to  night, 

Noght  ere  speches  ne  saghes  euen 

Of  whilk  noght  es  herd  thair  steuen. 

In  al  land  outyhode  thair  rorde 

And  in  endes  of  werld  of  tham  the  worde. 

In  sun  he  set  his  telde  to  stand 

And  he  als  bridegrome  of  his  boure  comand. 

He  gladed  als  yhoten  to  renne  his  wai 

Fra  heghest  heuen  his  outcome  ai, 

And  his  ogaine  raas  til  hegh  sete, 

Nes  whilk  that  hides  him  fra  his  hete. 

Lagh  of  lauerd  vnwemmed  esse, 

Tornand  saules  in  to  blisse  : 

Witnes  of  lauerd  es  ai  trewe 

Wisedome  lenand  to  littel  newe  : 

Rightwisenesses  of  lauerd  right  hertes  fainand, 

Gode  of  lauerd  light  eghen  lightand, 

Drede  of  lauerd  hali  es  it 

In  werld  of  werld  and  ful  of  wit 

8  O.  6.    [No.  278.]   Cod.  membr.  4to.  fifteenth  century,  and  contains  a  copy  of 

[The  text  has  been  taken  from  the  Cotton  the  same  version  of  the  Psalms  which  is 

MS.  VESP.  D  vii.  f.  70.— M.]  in  the  Cambridge  and  Cotton  MSS.     A 

*  [The  earliest  known  version  of  the  fourth  copy,  written  in  the  reign  of  Ed- 
Psalms  in  Anglo-Saxon  is  that  edited  by  ward  the  Second,  has  been  recently  pur- 
Mr.  Thorpe  from  a  manuscript  in  the  royal  chased  for  the  British  Museum.  This  ver- 
library  at  Paris,  and  published  at  the  ex-  sion  may  be  ascribed  to  the  period  of  his 
pense  of  the  university  of  Oxford :  "  Libri  predecessor. — M.] 

Psalmorum  versio    antiqua  Latina,   cum  h  Hickes  has  printed  a  metrical  version 

Paraphrasi  Anglo- Saxonica,  partim  soluta  of  the  Creed  of  St.  Athanasius  :  to  whom, 

oratione,  partim,  metrice  composita  ;  nunc  to  avoid  prolix  and  obsolete  specimens  al- 

priinum    descripsit   et  edidit  B.  Thorpe.  ready  printed,  I  refer  the  reader.  Thesaur. 

Oxon.  1835."— R.  T.]  Par.  i.  p.  233.     I  believe  it  to  be  of  the 

f  [The  Bodleian  MS.  921.  (olim  Arch.  age  of  Henry  the  Second. 
B.  38.)  is  a  folio  on  vellum,  written  in  the 


24  VERSIONS  OF  PSALMS.  [SECT.  I. 

Domes  oi  lauerd  soth  er  ai 

And  rightwished  in  thar  self  er  thai, 

Yornandlike  oner  the  golde 

And  stane  derworthi  mikel  holde  : 

And  wele  swetter  to  mannes  wambe 

Ouer  honi  and  the  kambe*. 

This  is  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  psalm  : 
I  sal  loue  the  lauerd  in  stalworthhede, 
Lauerd  mi  festnesse  ai  in  nede 
And  mi  toflight  that  es  swa 
And  mi  leser  out  of  wa. 

I  will  add  another  religious  fragment  on  the  crucifixion,  in  the  shorter 
measure,  evidently  coaeval,  and  intended  to  be  sung  to  the  harp. 
Vyen  i  o  the  rode  se 
Fast  nailed  to  the  tre, 
Jesu  mi  lefman, 
Ibunden,  bloc  ant  blodi, 
An  hys  moder  stant  him  bi, 
Wepande,  ant  Johan  : 
Hys  bac  wid  scuurge  iswungeii, 
Hys  side  depe  istungen, 
For  sinne  an  lowe*  of  man, 
Weil  aut  if  sinne  lete 
An  neb  J  wit  teres  wete 
Thif  i  of  loue  can  k. 

In  the  library  of  Jesus  College  at  Oxford  I  have  seen  a  Norman  Saxon 

*  [The  Cotton  MS.  of  this  version  of       "  Wit  was  his   naked  brest,  and  red  of 
tlie  Psalms  was  found  to  contain  a  better  blod  his  side, 

text  than  Warton's,  and  consequently  has  Blod  was  his  faire  neb,  his  wnden  depe 

been  adopted.      See  VESP.  D  vii.  ff.  70.  an  uide  ; 

and  9.  —  PRICE.]  Starke  waren  his  armes,  hi-spred  op  the 

*  [love.—  M.]  rode, 

f  [ought  I.  —  M.]  In  fif  steden  an  his  bodi,  stremes  hurne 

J  [face.—  M.]  ofblode." 


,T  nrw  f  "  Sic  debemus  c°8itai'e  de  Christo  Passo> 

(Langb.  v    209.)     [Warton  quotes  from  et  di  Q  bone  Jhesu  ,  wifc  &c. 

Langbames    transcript,   which    is    very  sicut  dicit  Al,gustinus  : 

faulty.     Ihe  text  is  now  printed  from  the  ~ 

original  MS.  (at  present  marked  Bodl.  57.  £andet  nudatum  Pectus> 

f.  102  b.)   of  the    thirteenth   century,    to  Rubet  cruentum  latus, 

the  middle  of  which  the  poem  may  be  £ensa  a,rent  Visce1ra'  . 

ascribed.    As  to  its  being  intended  to  be  £ecora  la"g»ent  lumina> 

sung  to  the  harp,  this  is  merely  a  flight  of  JJe8la  Pa!ient  °tra'  .  , 

Warton's   fancy.     In   the   Bodleian   MS.  £rocera  rlf  nt  brachia' 

No.  42.  4to.  sec.  13.,  containing  various  £nira  Pendent  marmorea 

theological  tracts,  is  inserted,  f.  250.,  an  ^  terebrat.os  Pedef, 

English  metrical  version  of  a  passage  in  Bcatl  sanSuinis  unda' 

the  Meditations  of  St.  Augustine,  c.  6.,  In    a    MS.  in    the  cathedral    library    of 

which   is   annexed  here,   from   its  being  Durham,  A  iii.  12.  8.  the  same  lines  with 

contemporaneous  with,  and  very  similar  some  slight  variation,  occur,  and  the  dale 

to,  the  fragment  quoted  by  Warton  :  of  the  composition  is  pretty  nearly  to  be 


SECT.  I.] 


LEGENDS  IN  VERSE. 


25 


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".  It  is  not  later  than  Richard  the  First.  The  rhymes  are 
multiplied,  and  remarkably  interchanged. 

Ich  wes  in  one  sumere  dale 

In  one  swithe  dyele  hale, 


ascertained  by  the  fact,  that  the  whole  of 
the  volume  was  written  in  the  time  of  Prior 
Middleton  [1244-1258.],  who  presented 
it  to  the  library.  See  Rudd's  Codd.  MSS. 
Eccl  Catti.  Dun.  Cat.fol.Dun.  1825.  p.  34. 
The  Bodleian  MS.  has  a  second  poem  of 
the  same  description  annexed,  as  follows  : 
"  Respice  in  faciem  Christi,  et  videbis 
dorso  flagellato,  latere  sauciato,  capite 
puncto,  vepribus  manibus  perforatis,  pedi- 
bus  confossis ;  volve  et  revolve  Dominicum 
corpus,  a  latere  usque  ad  latus,  a  summo 
usque  deorsum,  et  circumquaque  invenies 
dolorem  et  cruorem  ;  et  hoc  potest  An- 
glice  sic  exponi : 
Loke  man  to  Jesu  crist .  hi-neiled  on  po 

rode. 
And  hi-picz  his  nakede  bodi  red  hi-maked 

mid  blode. 

His  reg  mid  scurge  i-suunge. 
His  heued  pornes  prikede  .  po  nailes  in 

him  stikede. 
Jmend  and  trend  pi  lordes  bodi  .  purch 

warn  pu  art  i-boruhe. 
per  pu  mit  hi-uinde  blode  an  sorue." — M.] 
m  It  is  also  in  Bibl.  Cotton.  MS.  CALIQ. 
A  ix.  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  im- 
mediately precedes  in  the  manuscript,  as 
appears  by  the  following  entry  at  the  end  of 
it,  in  the  hand-writing  of  the  very  learned 
Edward  Lhuyd.  "On  part  of  a  broaken 
leafe  of  this  MS.  I  find  these  verses  written, 
whearby  the  author  may  be  guest  at. 
Mayster  Johan  eu  greteth  of  Guldeuorde 

tho, 
And  sendeth  eu  to  seggen  that  synge  nul 

he  no, 

On  thisse  wise  he  wille  endy  his  song, 
saod  louerd  of  heuene,  beo  vs  alle  among." 
The  piece  is  entitled  and  begins  thus : 

Id  cumence  la  Passyun  Ihesu  Christ  en 

engleys. 
Ihereth  nu  one  lutele  tale  that  ich   eu 

wille  telle 
As  we  vyndeth    hit  iwrite  in   the    god- 

spelle, 
Nis  hit  nouht  of  Karlemeyne  ne  of  the 

Duzepere 
Ac  of  Cristes  thruwynge,  &c. 


It  seems  to  be  of  equal  antiquity  with  that 
mentioned  in  the  text.  The  whole  manu- 
script, consisting  of  many  detached  pieces 
both  in  verse  and  prose,  was  perhaps  writ- 
ten in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Sixth. 

[In  the  Cotton  MS.  "  one  Nichole  of 
Guldeforde  is  twice  named ;  not  indeed  as 
the  poet,  but  as  a  sage  person,  an  accom- 
plished singer,  and  a  fit  judge  of  their  con- 
troversy. He  is  mentioned  to  reside  at 
Porteshom  in  Dorsetshire.  Probably  Ni- 
cholas was  brother  of  John  de  Guldevord." 
Ritson,  Bibl.  Poet.~\ 

[There  are  some  errors  here  which  re- 
quire correction.  The  Jesus  College  MS. 
now  marked  Arch.  1.29.  (formerly  85.  and 
76.)  consists  of  two  distinct  portions,  which 
have  been  by  chance  bound  up  together. 
The  first  portion  is  written  on  parchment 
and  paper,  and  contains  a  chronicle  of  En- 
glish history,  from  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Elder,  A.D.  900,  to  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
Sixth,  A.D.  1445.  Hence  arose  the  care- 
less assertion  of  Warton,  that  the  entire  vo- 
lume was  written  in  the  latter  reign,  which 
Ritson  very  justly  calls  in  doubt.  The 
second  portion  of  the  MS.  is  on  vellum,  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  consists  almost 
wholly  of  English  and  French  poetry,  com- 
posed in  the  reigns  of  Henry  the  Third 
and  Edward  the  First  The  first  poem  on 
the  passion  of  Christ  thus  concludes : 

"  And  he  that  haueth  this  rym  iwryten, 

beo  hwat  he  beo, 

God  in  thisse  lyue  hyne  let  wel  itheo ; 
And  alle  his  ivei'en,  bothe  yonge  and  olde, 
God  heom  lete  heore  ordre  trewliche  hii- 

holde." 

From  which  we  may  conclude  he  was  a 
member  of  the  monastic  profession.  The 
note  relative  to  Johan  de  Guldevorde  which 
occurs  at  the  end  is  not  in  the  hand-wri- 
ting of  Lhuyd,but  of  Tho.  Wilkins,LL.B. 
rector  of  St.  Mary  "super  Montem,"  in 
Glamorganshire,  who  gave  this  MS.  to  the 
College  ;  and  by  the  "  broaken  leafe,"  he 
undoubtedly  refers  to  a  fly-leaf  which  was 
injudiciously  taken  away  when  the  volume 
was  bound.  It  is  therefore  mere  conjec- 
ture what  portion  of  the  volume  was  writ- 
ten by  him,  and  the  first  poem  has  no 
greater  claim  than  those  which  follow. 
Ritson  very  inadvertently  (and  for  which 


26  EARLIEST  LOVE-SONGS.  [SECT.  I. 

I-herde  ich  holde  grete  tale, 
An  vie0  and  one  nyhtegale. 
That  playd  wes  stif  &  stare  &  strong,- 
Sum  hwile  softe  &  lud  among, 
And  eyther  ayeyn  other  swal, 
And  let  that  vuele  mod  vt  al. 
And  eyther  seyde  of  othres  custe, 
That  alre  wrste  that  hi  ywuste, 
&  hure  &  hure  of  othres  songe 
Hi  holde  play  ding  swithe  strongep. 

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

Blow  northern  e  wynd, 
Sent  thou  me  my  suetyng ; 
Blow  northerne  wynd, 
Blou,  blou,  blou. 
Ichot  a  burde  in  boure  bryht 
That  fully  semly  is  on  syht, 
Menskful  maiden  of  myht, 

Feir  ant  fre  to  fonde. 
In  al  this  wurhliche  won, 
A  burde  of  blod  &  of  bon, 
Neuer  $ete  y  nusteq  non 

Lussomore  in  londe.    JBlow,  fyc. 

he   deserves   more   severe   censure   than  spoken  of  as  then  reigning.    The  Thomas 

Warton)  declares  that  in  the  Cotton  MS.  de   Hales  here  mentioned  must  not  be 

one  "Nichole  de  Guldeforde"  is  named  confounded  with  one  of  the  same  name  in 

as  a  sage  person,  and  "an  accomplished  Tanner,  of  the   14th  century,  unless  in- 

singer."     Now  the  fact  is,  that  in  both  deed  (which  is  not  improbable,)  his  pe- 

MSS.  one  "  Nichole"  is  referred  to,  but  riod  is  fixed  too  late.     Before  I  conclude 

without  the  addition   of  any  surname  ;  this  note,  I  must  be  permitted  to  quote  a 

nor  is  he  said  to  be  "  a  singer,"  nor  is  stanza  from  a  curious  poem  in  the  same 

there  the  least  reason  to  believe  him  to  MS.  containing  reflections  on  the  muta- 

have  been  the  brother  of  John  de  Guide-  bility  of  human  affairs,  which  recalls  the 

vorde.     In  all  probability  he  was  the  vi-  memory  of  several  heroes  of  romance,  and 

car  of  Porteshom  (near  Abbotsbury),  and  will  remind  the  Saxon  scholar  of  a  some- 

the  chartulary  of  Abbotsbury,  in  the  pos-  what  similar  passage   inserted   by  King 

session  of  the   earl   of  Ilchester,  might  Alfred  in  his  translation  of  Orosius  : 

perhaps    determine   the   point,   and    fix  «  Hwer  is  Paris  &  Heleyne,  y  weren  so 

the  age  of  the  poem,  which  I  believe  to  j    ht  &  f         on  bleo  ?     ' 

belong  to  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Amadi  &   Di"de  n      Tristram,  Yseude, 

Edward  the  First,  since  the  writer  prays  and  alle  ^ 

in  it  for  the  soul  of  •  Kyng  Henri."     In  Ector  wkh  his  sd                         &  Cegar 

another  poem    f.  254  b      «  Hwou  holy  riche  of  wordes  f£  ? 

chireche  is  vnder  uote,'  St.  Edmund  of  Heo  beoth  j  ,  dcn  vt  of  the              SQ  the 

Pounteney  is  mentioned,  who  was  canon-  schef  /foj  A    d     ,,,_M  j 

ized  in  1248;   and  in  a  third  poem,  of  0 

which  the  rubric  runs  thus,  "  Incipit  qul-  ^    „ 

dam  cantus  quern  composuit  frater  Thomas  I  ^f^1^  °XOn'  *6' 

de  Hales,  de  ordinc  Fratrum  Mhiorum." 

f.  260.     «  Henri  kyng  of  Engelonde"  is 


SECT.  I.]  EARLIEST  LOVE-SONGS.  2? 

With  lokkes  leflicher  &  longe, 
With  frount  &  face  feir  to  f bnde ; 
With  murthes  monie  mote  heo  monge 

That  brid  so  breme  in  boure ; 
With  lossum  eye  grete  ant  gode, 
With  browen  blysfol  vnder  hode, 
He  that  reste  him  on  the  rode 

That  leflich  lyf  honoure.     Blou,  $c. 
Hire  lure  lumes  liht, 
Ase  a  launterne  a  nyht, 
Hire  bleo9  blykyeth  so  bryht. 

So  feyr  heo  is  ant  fyn, 
A  suetly  suyre  heo  hath  to  holde, 
With  armes,  shuldre  ase  mon  wolde, 
Ant  fyngres  feyre  forte  folde : 

God  wolde  hue  were  myn. 
Middel  heo  hath  menskful  smal, 
Hire  loueliche  chere  as  cristal ; 
Theses,  legges,  fet,  ant  al, 

Ywraht  wes  of  the  beste ; 
A  lussum  ledy  lasteles, 
That  sweting  is  &  euer  wes ; 
A  betere  burde  neuer  nes 

Yheryed  with  the  heste, 
Heo  is  dereworthe  in  day, 
Graciouse,  stout,  ant  gaye, 
Gen  til,  jolyf,  so  the  jay, 

Worhliche  when  heo  waketh, 
Maiden  murgest*  of  mouth 
Bi  est,  bi  west,  by  north,  &  south, 
Ther  nis  sicle  ne  crouth, 

That  such  murthes  maketh. 
Heo  is  coral  of  godnesse, 
Heo  is  rubie  of  ryhtfulnesse, 
Heo  is  cristal  of  clannesse, 

Ant  baner  of  bealte, 
Heo  is  lilie  of  largesse, 
Heo  is  paruenke  of  prouesse, 
Heo  is  solsecle  of  suetnesse, 

Ant  ledy  of  lealte, 
To  loue  that  leflich  is  in  londe 
Y  tolde  him  as  ych  vnderstonde,  &c.x 

From  the  same  collection  I  have  extracted  a  part  of  another  ama- 

'  lively  [lovely].  x  MS.  Harl.  2253.  fol.  membr.  f.  72  b. 

blee,  complexion.  [The  whole  is  printed  in  Ritson's  "An- 

*  merriest.  cient  Songs,"  p.  26. — M.] 


28  ^EARLIEST  LOVE-SONGS.  [SECT.  I. 

torial  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  fryht  as  y  con  fare  framede 

Y  founde  a  wel  feyr  fenge  to  fere, 

Heo  glystnede  ase  gold  when  hit  glemede, 

Nes  ner  gome  so  gladly  on  gere, 

Y  wolde  wyte  in  world  who  hire  kenede, 

This  burde  bryht,  $ef  hire  wil  were, 

Heo  me  bed  go  my  gates,  lest  hire  gremede, 

Ne  kepte  heo  non  henyng  herey. 

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

Bytuene  Mershe  &  Aueril 
When  spray  biginneth  to  springe, 
The  lutel  foul  hath  hire  wyl 
On  hyre  lud  to  synge, 
Ich  libbe  in  louelonginge 
For  semlokest  of  alle  thynge. 
He  may  me  blysse  bringe 
Icham  in  hire  baundoun, 
An  hendy  hap  ichabbe  yhent 
Ichot  from  heuene  it  is  me  sent. 
From  all  wymmen  mi  loue  is  lent 
&  lyht  on  Alysoun, 
On  heu  hire  her  is  fayre  ynoh, 
Hire  browe  broune,  hire  e^e  blake, 
With  lossum  chere  he  on  me  loh, 
With  middel  smal  &  wel  ymake, 
Bote  he  me  wolle  to  hire  take,  &c.z 

y  MS.  ibid.  f.  66.     The  pieces  which  I  sequently  printed  the  same  Miracle-Play 

have  cited  from  this  manuscript  appear  to  from  the  Auchinleck  MS.,  infers  thence 

be  of  the  hand-writing  of  the  reign  of  Ed-  that  the  latter  MS.  is  the  "  more  ancient" 

ward  the  First.  of  the  two.     Now  it  is  very  certain,  from 

[As  this  manuscript  contains  an  elegy  internal  evidence,  that  the  Auchinleck  MS. 

upon  the  death  of  Edward  the  First,  Mr.  could  not  have  been  written  before  1330, 

Ritson  very  properly  infers,  that  it  could  and,  in  all  probability,  not  till  ten  years 

not  have  been  written  in  the  "  life-time"  afterwards  ;   whereas  the  Harleian  MS.  is 

of  that  monarch.     He  assigns  it  to  "  the  distinguished  by  a  character  which  is  pe- 

reign  of  his  son  and  successor." — PRICE.]  culiar  to  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of 

[With  regard  to  the  age  of  this  MS.  it  is  Edward  the  Second,  and  the  latest  date  of 

requisite  to  say  a  few  words,  in  order  that  any  of  the  poems  in  it  is   1307,  shortly 

the  authority  of  two  names  well  known  after  which  period  it  was  unquestionably 

in  old  English  literature,  may  not  lead  the  written.      Consequently   there   results   a 

uninformed  astray.     Mr.  J.  P.  Collier  in  priority  of  date  of  at  least  thirty  years,  to 

the  Remarks  prefixed  to  "  The  Harrowing  the  Harleian   MS.  over   the  Auchinleck 

of  Hell,"   (a  few  copies  of  which  were  MS. — M.] 

printed  at  his  expense,  and  most  liberally  *  MS.  Harl.  f.  63  b.     [The  entire  poem 

distributed  to  his  friends,)  has  called  it  is  printed  by  Ritson,  "  Ancient  Songs," 

"  certainly  as  old  as  the  reign  of  Edward  p.  24. — M.] 
III.,  if  not  older."     Mr.  Laing,  who  sub- 


SECT.  I.I  EARLIEST  LOVE-SONGS.  29 

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

the  whole*. 

Lenten  ys  come  with  loue  to  toune, 
With  blosmen  &  with  briddes  roune, 

That  al  this  blisse  bryngeth ; 
Dayes  e$es  in  this  dales, 
Notes  suete  of  nyhtegales, 

Vch  foul  song  singeth. 

The  threstelcoca  him  threteth  oo, 
Away  is  huere  wynter  wo, 

When  woderoue  springeth ; 
This  foules  singeth  ferly  fele, 
Ant  wlyteth  on  huere  wynter  wele, 

That  al  the  wode  ryngeth. 

The  rose  rayleth  hire  rode, 
The  leues  on  the  lyhte  wode 

Waxen  al  with  wille : 
The  mone  mandeth  hire  bleo 
The  lilie  is  lossum  to  seo ; 

The  fenyl  &  the  fille. 

Wowes  this  wilde  drakes, 
Miles  murgeth  huere  makes. 

Ase  streme  that  striketh  stille 
Mody  meneth  so  doh  mo, 
Ichot  ycham  on  of  tho 

For  loue  that  likes  ille. 

The  mone  mandeth  hire  lyht, 
So  doth  the  semly  sonne  bryht, 

When  briddes  singeth  breme, 
Deawes  donketh  the  dounes 
Deores  with  huere  derne  rounes, 

Domes  forte  deme. 

*  [The   following  stanza    formed   the  The  proper  stanza,  given  above,  was  also 
opening  of  this  song  as  printed  by  Warton.  cited  and  introduced  by  the  following  pas- 
It  appears  to  have  been  inadvertently  co-  sage  :  "  The  following  hexastic  on  a  si- 
pied  from  a  poem  in  the  parallel  column  milar  subject  is  the  product  of  the  same 
of  the  manuscript :  rude  period,  although  the  context  is  rather 
In  May  hit  murgeth  when  hit  dawes  »,  '    more  intelligible :  but  it  otherwise  deserves 
In  dounes  with  this  dueres  plawes  2,  a  recital,  as  it  presents  an  early  sketch  of 
And  lef  is  lyht  on  lynde;  a  favourite  and  fashionable  stanza."  vol.  i. 
Blosmes  bredeth  on  the  bowes,  P-  30.— PRICE.] 
Al  this  wylde  wyhtes  wowes,  *  throstle,  thrush. 
So  wel  ych  under-fynde. 

1  "  it  is  mery  at  dawn."  2  plays. 


EARLIEST  LOVE-SONGS. 


[SECT,  i. 


Wormes  woweth  vnder  cloude, 
Wymmen  waxeth  wounder  proude, 

So  wel  hit  wol  hem  seme : 
3ef  me  shal  wonte  wille  of  on 
This  wunne  weole  y  wole  forgon 

Ant  wyht  in  wode  be  flemed. 

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  &  lylie  flour, 
That  whilen  ber  that  suete  savour 

In  somer,  that  suete  tyde  ; 
Ne  is  no  quene  so  stark  ne  stour, 
Ne  no  leuedy  so  bryht  in  bour 
That  ded  ne  shal  by  glyde : 


d  MS.  ibid,  ut  supr.  f.  7 1  b.  [Also  print- 
ed in  Ritson,  ubi  supr.  p.  31. — M.]  [In 
the  same  style,  as  it  is  manifestly  of  the 
same  antiquity,  the  following  little  descrip- 
tive song,  on  the  approach  of  summer,  de- 
serves notice.  MSS.  Harl.  978.  f.  5. 

Sumer  is  i-cumen  in, 
Lhude  sing  cuccu : 
Groweth  sed,  and  blowelh  med, 
And  springth  the  wde  nu. 
Sing  cuccu,  cuccu. 

Awe  bleteth  after  lomb, 
Lhouth  after  calue  cu; 
Buttuc  sterteth,  bucke  verteth  : 
Murie  sing  cuccu, 

Cuccu,  cuccu : 
Wel  singes  thu  cuccu; 
Ne  stvik  thu  nauer  nu. 
Sing  cuccu  nu, 
Sing  cuccu. 

That  is,  "Summer  is  coming:  loud  sing, 
Cuckow !  Groweth  seed,  and  bloweth 
mead,  and  springeth  the  wood  now.  Ewe 
bleateth  after  lamb,  loweth  cow  after  calf; 
bullock  starteth,  buck  verteth^',  merry 
sing,  Cuckow !  Well  singest  thou,  Cuckow, 
nor  cease  to  sing  now."  This  is  the  most 
antient  English  song  that  appears  in  our 
manuscripts  with  the  musical  notes  an- 
nexed. The  music  is  of  that  species  of 
composition  which  is  called  Canon  in  the 
Unison,  and  is  supposed  to  be  of  the  fif- 
teenth century. — ADDITIONS.] 

[This  poem  has  since  been  printed  in 
Sir  John  Hawkins's  Hist,  of  Music,  vol.  ii. 
p.  93,  with  the  musical  notes  reduced  to 


the  scale  of  modern  notation,  and  by  Rit- 
son, in  his  "Ancient  Songs,"  8vo,  1790, 
p.  3,  who  justly  exclaims  against  the  igno- 
rance of  those  who  refer  the  song  to  the 
fifteenth  century,  when  the  MS.  itself  is 
certainly  of  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth. 
— M.]  [Mr.  Edgar  Taylor  in  his  Lays 
of  the  Minnesingers,  p.  137,  speaking  of 
this  song,  remarks  that  it  so  resembles,  in 
many  of  its  features,  the  kindred  songs  of 
the  German  minnesingers,  that  we  could 
almost  fancy  one  of  those  minstrels  sing- 
ing in  nearly  the  same  words  and  mea- 
sure." The  following  song  is  one  of  those 
which  have  suggested  the  comparison : 

"Walt  mit  griiner  varwe  stat; 
Nachtegal 
Sussen  schal 

Singet,  der  vil  sanfte  tut : 
Meien  bliit, 
Hohen  miit 

Git  den  vogellin  liberal. 
Heide  breit 
Wol  bekleit 

Mit  vil  schonen  bliimen  lit ; 
Summer  zit, 
Vroide  git, 

Davon  suln  wir  sin  gemeit .  . . 
Uf  der  heide  und  in  dem  walde 
Singent  kleinu  vogelein  .  .  . 
Nu  singen, 
Nu  singen  ! 

Dannoch  harte  erspringen 
Den  reigen, 
Den  reigen 
Pfaffen  und  leigen,  &c. 

Minnesingers,  p.  134. — R.  T.] 


1  goes  to  harbour  among  the  fern. 


SECT.  I.]  EARLIEST  LOVE-SONGS.  31 

Whoso  wol  fleyshe-lust  for-gon  &  heuene-blis  abyde 
On  Jhesu  be  is  thoht  anon,  that  therled  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. 

Ase  y  me  rod  this  ender  day, 
By  grene  wode,  to  seche  play ; 
Mid  herte  y  thohte  al  on  a  may, 

Suetest  of  alle  thinge : 
Lythe,  &  ich  ou  tell  may 
Al  of  that  suete  thinge s. 

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  LoundeV 

When  the  nyhtegale  singes  the  wodes  waxen  grene, 
Lef,  &  gras,  &  blosme,  springes  in  Aueryl  y  wene. 
Ant  love  is  to  myn  herte  gon  with  one  spere  so  kene 
Nyht  &  day  my  blod  hit  drynkes  myn  herte  deth  me  tene. 

Ich  haue  loued  al  this  $er  that  y  may  lone  na  more, 
Ich  haue  siked  mom  syk,  lemmon,  for  thin  ore, 
Me  nis  loue  neuer  the  ner,  &  that  me  reweth  sore ; 
Suete  lemmon,  thench  on  me,  ich  haue  loued  the  $ore, 

Suete  lemmon,  y  preye  the,  of  loue  one  speche, 
Whil  y  lyue  in  world  so  wyde  other  nulle  y  seche. 
With  thy  loue,  my  suete  leof,  mi  blis  thou  mihtes  eche 
A  suete  cos  of  thy  mouth  mihte  be  my  leche1. 

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

My  deth  y  loue,  my  lyf  ich  hate  for  a  leuedy  shene, 
Heo  is  brith  so  daies  liht,  that  is  on  me  wel  sene. 
Al  y  falewe  so  doth  the  lef  in  somer  when  hit  is  grene, 
3ef  mi  thoht  helpeth  me  noht,  to  wham  shal  y  me  menek? 

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  har- 
monious : 

Ichot  a  burde  in  a  bour,  ase  beryl  so  bryht, 

Ase  saphyr  in  seluer  semly  on  syht, 

Ase  jaspe1  the  gentil  that  lemethm  with  lyht, 

Ase  gernet"  in  golde  &  ruby  wel  ryht, 

*  MS.  ibid.  f.  80.  disposition  of  this  song.    The  present  copy 
B  Ibid.  f.  81  b.  follows  the  manuscript.— PRICE.]     [The 

*  [Edward  the  First.— M.]  whole  is  printed  in  Ritson,  ubi  supr.  p.  30. 
h  London.  — M.] 

1  MS.  ibid.  f.  80  b.     [The  same  confu-  k  MS.  ibid.  f.  80  b.  '  jasper, 

sion  adverted  to  above,  prevailed  in  the  m  streams,  shines.  n  garnet. 


32  EARLIEST  LOVE-SONGS.  [SECT.  I. 

Ase  onycle0  he  ys  on,  yholden  on  hylit; 

Ase  diamaund  the  dere,  in  day  when  he  is  dyht : 

He  is  coral  ycud  *  with  cayser  ant  knyht, 

Ase  emeraude  a  morewen  this  may  haueth  myht. 

The  myht  of  the  margarite  haueth  this  mai  mere, 

For  charbocle  ich  hire  ches  bi  chyne  &  by  chere, 

Hire  rode  is  ase  rose  that  red  is  on  rys  p, 

With  lilye  white  leues  lossum  he  is, 

The  primerose  he  passeth,  the  peruenke  of  pris, 

With  alisaundre  thareto,  ache,  &  anys ; 

Coynteq  ase  columbine,  such  hire  cunder  ys, 

Glad  vnder  gore  in  gro  &  in  grys, 

He  is  blosme  opon  bleo  brihtest  vnder  bis, 

With  celydoyne  ant  sauge  as  thou  thi  self  sys,  &c. 

From  Weye  he  is  wisist  in  to  Wyrhale, 

Hire  nome  is  in  a  note  of  the  nyhtegale ; 

In  an  note  is  hire  nome,  nempneth  hit  non, 

Whose  ryht  redeth  ronne  to  Johon8. 

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  versifica- 
tion 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  telle  con, 

Of  elde  al  hou  yt  ges. 
Of  a  mody  mon, 
Hihte  Maximion, 

Soth'  withoute  les. 
Clerc  he  was  ful  god, 
So  moni  mon  vnderstod. 

Nou  herkne  hou  it  wes1. 

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  biholde  vpon  the  tre 

Ant  se  Jhesu  the  suete 

Is  herte-blod  for-lete, 
For  the  loue  of  me ; 

°  onyx.          *  [known,  famous.— M.]         r  white  complexion,    [kind,  nature  — M  ] 
!  branch.  «  Ms>  ibid>  f<  C3 

<iuaint-  «  MS.  ibid.  f.  82. 


SECT.  I.]  EARLIEST  LOVE  SONGS.  3.3 

Ys  woundes  waxen  wete, 
Thei  wepen,  stille  &  mete, 

Marie  reweth  the." 

Nor  an  alliterative  ode  on  heaven,  death,  judgement,  &c. 
Middelerd  for  mon  was  mad, 
Vn-mihti  aren  is  meste  mede, 
This  hedy  hath  on  honde  yhad, 
That  heuene  hem  is  hest  to  hede.    .    , 
Icherde  a  blisse  budel  vs  bade, 
The  dreri  domes-dai  to  drede, 
Of  sunful  sauhting  sone  be  sad, 
That  derne  doth  this  derne  dede, 
This  wrakeful  werkes  vnder  wede, 

In  soule  soteleth  sone.w 

Many  of  these  measures  were  adopted  from  the  French  chansonsx. 
I  will  add  one  or  two  more  specimens. 
On  our  Saviour's  passion  and  death. 

Jesu  for  thi  muchele  miht 
Thou  jef  vs  of  thi  grace, 
That  we  mowe  dai  &  nyht 

Theriken  o  thi  face. 
In  myn  herte  hit  doth  me  god, 
When  y  thenke  on  Jesu  blod, 
That  ran  doun  bi  ys  syde ; 
From  is  herte  doune  to  is  fot, 
For  ous  he  spradde  is  herte  blod 

His  wondes  were  so  wyde,y 
On  the  same  subject. 

Lutel  wot  hit  any  mon 

Hou  loue  hym  haueth  ybounde, 
That  for  vs  o  the  rode  ron, 

Ant  bohte  vs  with  is  wounde ; 
The  loue  of  him  vs  haueth  ymaked  sounde, 
Ant  yeast  the  grimly  gost  to  grounde : 
Euer  &  oo,  nyht  &  day,  he  haueth  vs  in  is  thohte, 
He  mil  nout  leose  that  he  so  deore  bohte.* 

The  following  are  on  love  and  gallantry.    The  poet,  named  Richard, 
professes  himself  to  have  been  a  great  writer  of  love-songs. 
Weping  haueth  myn  wonges*  wet, 

For  wikked  werk  ant  wone  of  wyt, 
Vnblithe  y  be  til  y  ha  bet, 
Bruches  broken  ase  bok  byt : 

*  Ibid.  f.  80.  w  Ibid.  f.  62  b.  z  Ibid.  f.  128.     These  lines  afterwards 

See  MS.  Harl.  ut  snpr.  f.  49.  76.  occur,    burlesqued    and    parodied,    by    a 

y  Ibid.  f.  79b.     Probably  this  song  has        writer  of  the  same  age. 
been  somewhat  modernized  by  transcribers.  *  [cheeks,  A.S.  p:ui£,  Ital.  guancia.] 

VOL.  I.  D 


34  ALEXANDRINE  VERSES. 

Of  leuedis  loue  that  y  ha  let, 

That  lemcth  al  with  luefly  lyt, 
Ofte  in  song  y  haue  hem  set, 

That  is  vnsemly  ther  hit  syt. 
Hit  syt  &  semeth  noht, 

Ther  hit  ys  seid  in  song 
That  y  haue  of  hem  wroht, 

Ywis  hit  is  al  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  whyt  ase  whalles  bon  |  a  grein  in  golde  that  godly  shon  |  a 
tortle  that  min  herte  is  on  |  in  tounes  trewe  |  Hire  gladshipe  nes  neuer 
gon  |  whil  y  may  glewe".b 

Sometimes  they  wrote  three  or  four  verses  together  as  one  line. 
With  longyng  y  am  lad  |  on  molde  y  waxe  mad  |  a  maide  marreth  me, 
Y  grede  y  grone  vn-glad  |  for  selden  y  am  sad  |  that  semly  forte  se. 
Levedi  thou  rewe  me  |  to  routhe  thou  hauest  me  rad  |  be  bote  of  that 
y  bad  |  my  lyf  is  long  on  the.c 

Again, 
Most  i  ryden  by  Rybbesdale  |  wilde  wymmen  forte  wale  |  ant  welde 

wuch  ich  wolde : 

Founde  were  the  fey  rest  on  |  that  euer  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 
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,  con- 
sisting of  one  hundred  and  ninety-one  stanzas,  is  written  in  stanzas  in 
the  Bodleian,  and  in  Alexandrines  in  the  Trinity  manuscript  at  Cam- 
bridge. How  it  came  originally  from  the  poet  I  will  not  pretend  to  de- 
termine. 

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 

*  MS.  ibid.  f.  66.  several   A.  Saxon   and    Teutonic   poems 

*  [See  Hoffmann's  Fundgruben,  Bres-  were  at  first  edited  as  prose, and  have  but 
lau,  1830,  vol.  i.  p.  331,  &c. ;  Danske  Ki-  recently  been  discovered  to  be  metrical, 
sempe  Viser,  Copenhagen,  passim,  1787;  — R.  T.] 

and  Raynouard,  Poesies  des  Troubadours,  b  MS.  Ibid.  f.  67.  c  Ibid.  63  b. 

vol.  ii.  Poeme  sur  Boece,  p.  6.      Hence  d  Ibid,  f.  66  b. 


SECT.  I.]  SATIRICAL  PIECES.  35 

other  examples  which  I  could  mention,  we  have  a  satirical  ballad  on 
the  lawyers6,  and  another  on  the  clergy,  or  rather  some  particular  bishop. 
The  latter  begins  thus : 

Hyrdmen  hatieth  ant  vch  mones  hyne, 
For  eueruch  a  parosshe  heo  polketh  in  pyne 
Ant  clastreth  wyth  heore  colle : 
Nou  wol  vch  fol  clerc  that  is  fayly 
Wende  to  -the  bysshop  ant  bugge  bayly, 
Nys  no  wyt  in  is  nolle/ 

The  elder  French  poetry  abounds  in  allegorical  satire :  arid  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  trouba- 
dour of  the  eleventh  century,  who  will  again  be  mentioned,  wrote  a 
sort  of  satirical  drama  called  the  HERESY  OF  THE  FATHERS,  HEREGTA 
DEL  PREYRES,  a  ridicule  on  the  council  which  condemned  the  Albi- 
genses.  The  papal  legates  often  fell  under  the  lash  of  these  poets ; 
whose  favour  they  were  obliged  to  court,  but  in  vain,  by  the  promise 
of  ample  gratuities  *>'.  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  antient  French  poem,  yet  re- 
specting England,  which  is  a  humorous  panegyric  on  a  new  religions 
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  e  bel. 

The  poet  ingeniously  feigns,  that  his  new  monastic  order  consists  of  the 
most  eminent  nobility  and  gentry  of  both  sexes,  who  inhabit  the  mona- 
steries 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  satirist  refers  them  for  a  pattern  or  rule  of  practice  in  these 
important  articles,  to  the  monasteries  of  Sempringham  in  Lincolnshire, 

e  MS.  ut  supr.  f.  70  b.  B  Fontenelle,    Hist.   Theatr.  Fr.  p.  18. 

*  Ibid.  f.  71.  edit.  1742. 

[This  stanza  forms  a  part  of  the  satire  h  See  Fauchet,  Rec.  p.  151. 

on  the  lawyers.    Warton  was  led  into  the  [The   piece  here  alluded  to   was  not 

mistake  by  the  transcriber  having  deviated  written  by  De  Bercy.    It  will  be  found  in 

in   the  present   instance  from   his   usual  the  second  volume  of  Barbazan's  Fabliaux, 

order  of  transcription. — PRICE.]  p.  307,  and  is  calif  d  "  Bible  Guiot  de  Pro- 

*  [Gaucelm    Faidit.     See   Raynouard,  vins."  "  LaBibleau  Seignor  deBerze"  is  a 
"  Choix  des   Poesies    des   Troubadours,"  more  courtly  composition,  and  forms  a  part 
torn.  v.  p.  158,  who,  however,  does    not  of  the  same  collection,  p.  194.    The  earlier 
mention  the  piece  referred  to  by  Warton.  French  antiquaries  have  frequently  con- 
— M.]  founded  these  two  productions. — PRICE.] 

D2 


3G  FIRST  ENGLISH   METRICAL  ROMANCE.  [SECT.  L 

Beverley  in  Yorkshire,  the  Knights  Hospitalers,  and  many  other  reli- 
gious orders  then  flourishing  in  England1. 

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  familiarized  from  those  eastern  enterprises,  we  natu- 
rally suppose,  what  will  hereafter  be  more  particularly  proved,  that 
their  retinues  abounded  with  minstrels  and  harpers,  and  that  their  chief 
entertainment  was  to  listen  to  the  recital  of  romantic  and  martial  ad- 
ventures. 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  modernized  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  re- 
mains 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  manu- 
scripts of  the  British  Museum1,  so  that  probably  it  is  a  translation:  a 
circumstance  which  will  throw  light  on  an  argument  pursued  here- 
after, 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  Horn,  a  beautiful  youth  aged  fifteen  years, 
and  puts  him  into  a  galley,  with  two  of  his  playfellows,  Athulph  and 
Fykenyld  :  the  vessel  being  driven  on  the  coast  of  the  kingdom  of 

1  MS.  ibid.  f.  121.  copy  of  the  English  romance,  and  is  so  pre- 
k  Rim.  Thop.  3402.  Urr.  served  in  the  Cambridge  and  Oxford  ma- 
1  MS.  Had.  527  b.  f.  59.  Cod.  membr.  nuscripts :   Allof  is  his  name  in  the  French, 
*  [Wartori  has  been  led  into   the  mis-  and    the    writer   of    the    MS.    Harl.  has 
take  of  calling  the  Saracen  king  by  the  changed  Mury  for  Allof  throughout  the 
name  of  Mury  by  a  curious  error  of  the  poem,    with    the  exception  of  one  place, 
scribe  who  wrote  the  manuscript  in   the  which  he  has    overlooked,  and   Warto'i, 
Harleian  Collection,  and  who  seems  to  have  meeting  in  this  passage  with  the  name  of 
been  equally  well  read  in  the  French  and  Mury,  supposed  it  to  be  that  of  the  in- 
English  poetry  of  the  day.    Mury  was  the  v,;der  of  Horn's  patrimony.— W.] 
name  of  the  father  of  Horn  in  the  older 


SECT.  I.]  THE  GESTE  OF  KING   HORN.  37 

Westnesse,  the  young  prince  is  found  by  Aylmer,  king  of  that  country, 
brought  to  court,  and  delivered  to  Athelbrus  his  steward,  to  be  edu- 
cated in  hawking,  harping,  tilting,  and  other  courtly  accomplishments. 
Here  the  princess  Rymenild  falls  in  love  with  him,  declares  her  passion, 
and  is  betrothed.  Home,  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,  re- 
covered his  father's  kingdom,  and  atchieved  many  signal  exploits,  re- 
covers the  princess  Rymenild  from  the  hands  of  his  treacherous  knight 
and  companion  Fykenyld ;  carries  her  in  triumph  to  his  own  country, 
arid  there  reigns  with  her  in  great  splendor  and  prosperity.  The  poem 
itself  begins  and  proceeds  thus : 

Alle  heo  ben  blythe, 
That  to  my  songe  ylythem: 
A  song  ychulle  ou  singe 
'  Of  Allof  the  gode  kynge, 
Kyng  he  wes  by  weste 
The  whiles  hit  yleste ; 
Ant  Godylt  his  gode  queue, 
No  feyrore  myhte  bene, 
Ant  huere  sone  hihte  Horn, 
Feyrore  childe  ne  myhte  be  born : 
For  reyn  ne  myhte  byryne 
Ne  sonne  myhte  shyne 
Feyrore  child  then  he  was, 
Bryht  so  euer  eny  glas, 
So  whit  so  eny  lylye  flour, 
So  rose  red  wes  his  colour; 
He  wes  feyr  &  eke  bold, 
Ant  of  fyftene  wynter  old, 
Nis  non  his  yliche 
In  none  kinges  ryche. 
Tueye*  feren"  he  hadde, 
That  he  with  him  ladde, 
Alle  richemenne  sones, 
And  alle  suythe  feyre  gomes, 
Wyth  him  forte  pleye 
Mest  he  louede  tueye, 
That  on  wes  hoten  Athulf  chyld, 
And  that  other  Fykenyld, 
Athulf  wes  the  beste, 
And  Fykenyld  the  werste. 

m  listen.  *  [tuelfe  MS.  Laud.  108.  rightly.— M.]  "  companions. 


38  FIRST  ENGLISH  METRICAL  ROMANCE.  [SECT.  I. 

Hyt  was  vpon  a  someres  day 

Also  ich  ou  telle  may, 

Allof  the  gode  kyng 

11  ode  vpon  his  ple^yng, 

Bi  the  see  side, 

Ther  he  was  woned  to  ride  ; 

With  him  ne  ryde  bote  tuo, 

Al  to  fewe  hue  were  tho  : 

He  fond  by  the  stronde, 

Aryued  on  'is  londe, 

Shipes  systene 

Of  Sarazynes  kene  : 

He  askede  whet  hue  sohteii 

Other  on  is  lond  brohten. 

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

The  kyng  com  in  to  halle, 
Among  his  knyhtes  alle, 
Forth  he  clepeth  Athelbrus, 
His  stiward,  £  him  seide  thus  : 
"  Stiward  tac  thou  here 
My  fundling  forto  lere, 
Of  thine  mestere 
Of  wode  and  of  ryuerep, 
Ant  toggen  o  the  harpe 
With  is  nayles  sharpeq, 
Ant  tech  him  alle  the  listes 
That  thou  euer  wystest, 
Byfore  me  to  keruen, 
And  of  my  coupe  to  seruenr, 

*  So  Robert  de  Brunne  of  king  Marian.       In  the  chamber  of  a  bishop  of  Winchester 
Hearne's  Rob.  Gloc.  p.  622.  at  Merdon  Castle,  now  ruined,  we  find 

».     .      e  .      .      ,  mention  made  of  benches  only.     Comp. 

—  Marian  faire  in  chere  ,,r.  J 


ad  magnum  descum.     Et  de  i 

[The  expression  is  borrowed  from  the  ex  una  parte,  et  ii.  mensis  ex  altera  parte 

French   writers.       Thus    in    Benoit   Ste  cum  tressellis  in  aula.     Et  de  i.  men'sa 

More's  Roman  du  Rou,  MS.  Harl.  1717.  cum  tressellis  in  camera  dom.   episcopi. 

f.  79.  Et  v.formis  in  eadem  camera."     Descus, 

"  Tant  seit  apris  qu'il  Use  un  bref,  in  old  English  dees,  is  properly  a  canopy 

Kar  ceo  ne  li  ert  pas  trop  gref,  over  the  high  table-    See  a  curious  account 

D'eschas,  de  rivere,  et  de  chace  of  the  goods  in  the  palace  of  the  bishop 

Voil  que  del  tot  aprenge  e  sace."—  M.l  of  Nivernois  in  France,  in  the  year  1287, 

in  Montf.  Cat.  MSS.  ii.  p.  984.  col.  2. 

q  In  another  part  of  the  poem  he  is  in-  r  According  to  the  rules  of  chivalry, 

troduced  playing  on  his  harp.  every  knight  before  his  creation  passed 

Horn  sette  him  abenche,  through  two  offices.    He  was  first  a  page  : 

Is  harpe  he  gan  clenche,  and  at  fourteen  years  of  age  he  was  for- 

He  made  Rymenild  a  lay  mally  admitted  an  esquire.     The  esquires 

Ant  hue  seide  weylaway,  &c.  were   divided  into   several  departments; 


SECT.  I.]  FIRST  ENGLISH  METRICAL  ROMANCE. 

Ant  his  feren  deuyse 

With  ous  other  seruise ; 

Horn  child,  thou  vnderstond, 

Tech  him  of  harpe  &  of  song." 

Athelbrus  gon  leren 

Horn  &  hyse  feren  ; 

Horn  mid  herte  lahte 

Al  that  mon  him  tahte, 

With  inne  court  &  withoute, 

&  overal  aboute, 

Louede  men  Horn  child, 

&  most  him  louede  Rymenyld 

The  kinges  oune  dohter, 

For  he  wes  in  hire  thohte, 

Hue  louede  him  in  hire  mod, 

For  he  wes  feir  &  eke  god, 

&  thah  hue  ne  dorste  at  horde 

Mid  him  speke  ner  a  word, 

Ne  in  the  halle, 

Among  the  knyhtes  alle, 

Hyre  sorewe  ant  hire  pyne 

Nolde  neuer  fyne, 

Bi  daye  ne  bi  nyhte, 

For  hue  speke  ne  myhte 

With  Horn  that  wes  so  feir  &  fre 

Tho  hue  ne  myhte  with  him  be ; 

In  herte  hue  had  care  &  wo, 

&  thus  hue  bithohte  hire  tho : 

Hue  sende  hyre  sonde 

Athelbrus  to  honde, 

That  he  come  hire  to, 

&  also  shulde  Horn  do, 

In  to  hire  boure, 

For  hue  bigon  to  loure  ; 

And  the  sonde8  sayde, 

That  seek  wes  the  mayde, 

&  bed  hym  come  suythe 

For  hue  nis  nout  blythe. 

The  stiward  wes  in  huerte  wo, 

For  he  nuste  whet  he  shulde  do, 

What  Rymenyld  bysohte 

Gret  wonder  him  thohte ; 

that  of  the  body,  of  the  chamber,  of  the  bution  of  them  among  the  guests.     The 

stable,  and  the  carving  esquire.  The  latter  inferior  offices  had  also  their  respective 

stood   in   the    hall  at  dinner,  where  he  esquires.  Mem.  Anc.Cheval.  i.  16.  seq. 

carved  the  different   dishes  with  proper  *  messenger, 
skill  and  address,  and  directed  the  distri- 


40 


FIRST  ENGLISH   METRICAL  ROMANCE.  [SECT.   I, 


About  Horn  the  }inge 

To  boure  forte  bringe, 

He  thohte  on  is  mode 

Hit  nes  for  none  gode ; 

He  tok  with  him  an  other, 

Athulf  Homes  brother', 

"  Athulf,"  quoth  he,  "  ryht  anon 

Thou  shalt  with  me  to  boure  gon, 

To  speke  with  Rymenild  stille, 

To  wyte  hyre  wille, 

Thou  art  Homes  yliche, 

Thou  shalt  hire  by-suyke, 

Sore  me  adrede 

That  hue  wole  Horn  niys-rede." 

Athelbrus  &  Athulf  bo 

To  hire  boure  beth  ygo> 

Vpon  Athulf  childe 

Rymenild  con  waxe  wilde, 

Hue  wende  Horn  it  were, 

That  hue  hade  there ; 
Hue  seten  adoun  stille, 
Ant  seyden  hure  wille, 
In  hire  armes  tueye 
Athulf  he  con  leye. 
"  Horn,"  quoth  heo,  "  wellonge 
Y  haue  loued  thee  stronge, 
Thou  shalt  thy  treuth  plyhte 
In  myn  hond  with  ryhte, 
Me  to  spouse  welde 
&  ich  the  louerd  to  helde." 
So  stille  so  hit  were, 
Athulf  seyde  in  hire  eere, 
"  Ne  tel  thou  no  more  speche 
May,  y  the  byseche ; 
Thi  tale  gyn  thou  lynne, 
For  Horn  nis  nout  her  ynne,"  &c. 

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

Of  is  fay  re  syhte 

Al  that  boure  gan  lyhte". 

*  companion,  friend.  Ritson's  Romances,  vol.  3.]  The  title  Horn- 
11  MS.  ibid.  f.  83.     Where  the  title  is  childe  and  Maiden  Rimnild.  The  beginning, 
written,    «  >e    3e»te    of   kynge    Home."  Mi  leye  ffende  d 
1  here  is  a  copy  much  altered  and  modern-  Herken  aml       ghall  here 
ized,   m  the    Advocates   library  at  Edin- 
burgh, W.  4.  i.  Numb,  xxxiv.  [printed  in  [Since  Warton's  time,  two  other  MSS. 


SliCT.  I.]          FIRST  ENGLISH  METRICAL  ROMANCE, 


41 


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 


of  the  early  English  romance  of  Horn, 
identical  with  that  of  the  MS.  Harl.,  have 
been  found.  The  best  and  oldest,  being, 
1  have  no  doubt,  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
thirteenth  century  at  latest,  was  found  by 
Mr.  Kemble,  in  some  stray  leaves  of  an 
early  MS.  bound  up  in  the  middle  of  a 
fine  MS.  of  Chaucer,  Bibl.  Pub.  Cant.  Gg. 
4.  27.  The  other,  in  a  MS.  written  about 
the  year  1300,  was  found  by  Sir  Frederick 
Madden  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Ox- 
ford, MS.  Laud.  108.  The  Harleian  MS. 
is  of  the  reign  of  Edw.  II.— W.] 

[The  text  of  this  romance  has  been 
taken  from  Mr.  Ritson's  edition ;  whose 
accuracy,  by  the  way,  though  unimpeach- 
able in  the  specimens  quoted  above,  is  not 
equally  conspicuous  throughout  the  poem. 
In  fact,  he  seems  neither  to  have  been 
master  of  the  language  nor  the  subject. 
His  glossary  will  afford  sufficient  evidence 
of  the  former  assertion — to  which  much 
might  be  added  from  his  omissions  and 
misprints — and  his  notes  will  amply  bear 
out  the  latter.  The  bishop  of  Dromore 
considered  this  production  "  of  genuine 
English  growth;"  and  though  his  lordship 
may  have  been  mistaken  in  ascribing  it,  in 
its  present  form,  to  so  early  an  sera  as 
"  within  a  century  after  the  Conquest," 
yet  the  editor  has  no  hesitation  in  express- 
ing his  belief,  that  it  owes  its  origin  to  a 
period  long  anterior  to  that  event.  The 
reasons  for  such  an  opinion  cannot  be  en- 
tered upon  here.  They  are  too  detailed 
to  fall  within  the  compass  of  a  note  ;  and 
though  some  of  them  will  be  introduced 
elsewhere,  yet  many  perhaps  are  the  re- 
sult of  convictions  more  easily  felt  than 
expressed,  and  whose  shades  of  evidence 
are  too  slight  to  be  generally  received, 
except  in  the  rear  of  more  obvious  autho- 
rity. However,  to  those  who  with  Mr. 
Ritson  [and  Mr.  Warton,  see  p.  36.— M.] 
persist  in  believing  the  French  fragment 
of  this  romance  to  be  an  earlier  compo- 
sition than  "  The  Geste  of  Kyng  Horn," 
the  following  passage  is  submitted,  for  the 
purpose  of  contrasting  its  highly  wrought 
imagery  with  the  simple  narrative  and 
natural  allusion  observed  throughout  the 
English  poem : 
Lors  print  la  harpe  a  sei,  si  commence  a 

temprer, 
Deu  ki  dune   lesgardast,   cum  il  la  sot 

manier ! 
Cum   les   cordes   tuchot,   cum   les  feseit 

trembler, 
A  quantes  faire  les  chanz,  a  cuantes  or- 

gancr, 


Del  armonie  del  del  lie  pureit  remembrer 
Sur  tuz  ceus  ke  i  suntfaitcistamerveiller 
Kuant  celes  notes  ot  fait  prent  sen  a- 

munter 

E  par  tut  autre  tuns  fait  les  cordes  soner : 
It  remains  to  observe,  that  "  The  noble 
Hystory  of  Kynge  Ponthus  of  Galyce" 
printed  by  De  VVorde,  and  quoted  by  Mr. 
Ritson,  is  but  a  more  enlarged  version  of 
the  same  story,  with  some  slight  change 
of  circumstance,  and  an  almost  total  change 
of  names,  countries,  &c. — PRICE.] 

[There  are  now  known  three  MSS.  of 
the  '  French  Home,'  all  unfortunately  in- 
complete ;  the  Harleian  MS.  mentioned 
by  Warton ;  a  MS.  in  the  library  of  the 
late  Mr.  Douce,  now  at  Oxford ;  and  a 
beautiful  MS.  which  I  found  in  the  Public 
Library  at  Cambridge,  Ff.  6.  17,  which  is 
by  far  the  best  and  oldest,  and  also  the 
least  defective.  M  Francisque  Michel  is 
printing  the  French  poem  from  the  three 
MSS.,  and  I  have  prepared  the  English 
romance  to  follow  it.  I  have  no  doubt 
myself  that  the  English,  though  not  per- 
haps in  its  present  form,  was  the  original 
of  the  Romance  of  Horn,  and  I  will  only 
mention  one  circumstance  which  I  think 
convincing.  The  following  is  a  sample  of 
the  names  which  occur  in  the  French 
poem,  andnot  in  the  English  :  we  have  Her- 
selot,  Godfrei,  Berlin,  Blanchard,  Moroan, 
Marmorin,  Turlin,  Gibelin,  and  Mal- 
bruart.  These  are  all  names  of  constant 
occurrence  in  the  French  romances,  in 
which  the  Saracens  are  those  of  Spain  and 
Africa.  No  such  names  occur  in  the 
English  Horn,  where  the  Saracens  are 
Danes,  and  where  all  the  names  are  good 
Saxon  and  Danish.  If  the  French  were  a 
translation  from  the  English,  with  the 
embellishments  and  additions  of  the 
French  writer,  we  at  once  see  how  he  in- 
troduced those  kinds  of  embellishments 
and  those  kinds  of  names  to  which  he  was 
accustomed ;  and  it  must  be  owned  that 
the  embellishments  as  well  as  the  names 
are  not  such  as  are  found  in  Saxon  or 
pure  English  poetry.  If  on  the  contrary 
the  English  were  the  translation,  it  would 
be  very  difficult  to  conceive  how  the 
translator  came  to  use  so  much  discrimi- 
nation, for  he  would  have  been  just  as 
likely  to  keep  in  some  of  the  above  names 
as  any  of  the  others.  The  French  poem 
constantly  quotes  the  parchement  as  its 
authority — "com  ditleparchemin." — W.] 

[To  these  remarks,  in  the  truth  of  which 
I  concur,  may  be  added,  that  the  author  of 


42  SATIRICAL  SONG  OF  TIIK  13T1I  CENTURY.      [SECT.  II. 

writing  unknown.  Yet  this  simplicity  sometimes  pleases  more  than  the 
most  artificial  touches.  In  the  mean  time,  the  pictures  of  antient  man- 
ners presented  by  these  early  writers,  strongly  interest  the  imagination  : 
especially  as  having  the  same  uncommon  merit  with  the  pictures  of  man- 
ners 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  just- 
ness and  faithfulness  of  the  representation. 


SECTION    II. 

Satirical  Ballad  in  the  Thirteenth  Century.  The  Kings  Poet.  Robert 
of  Gloucester.  Antient  Political  Ballads.  Robert  of  Brunne.  The 
Brut  of  England.  Le  Roman  de  Rou.  Gests  and  Jestours.  Ercel- 
doune  and  Kendale.  Bishop  Grosthead.  Monks  write  for  the  Min- 
strels. 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. 

HITHERTO  we  have  been  engaged  in  examining  the  state  of  our  po- 
etry 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. 


Sitteth  alle  stille,  &  herkneth  to  me : 
The  kyn  of  Alemaignea,  bi  mi  leauteb, 
Thritti  thousent  pound  asked e  he 

the  French  romance  of  king  Atla  (former-  had  been  translated  into  French  from  the 

ly  in  Mr.  Heber's  library,  and  now  in  the  English. — M.] 

possession  of  Sir  Thomas  Phillipps,  Bart.)  *  [1300. — M.] 

expressly  states  in  his  Prologue,  that  the  a  The  king  of  the  Romans. 

stories  of  Aehf(A.\lof),  Tristan,  and  others  b  loyalty. 


SECT.  II.]      SATIRICAL  SONG  OF  THE   13TH  CENTURY.  43 

Forte  make  the  peesc  in  the  countred, 

Ant  so  he  dude  more. 
Richard,  thah  e  thou  be  euer  trichard f, 
Tricthen  shal  thou  neuermore. 

it. 

Richard  of  Alemaigne,  whil  that  he  wes  kyng, 
He  spentle  al  is  tresour  opon  swyuyng, 
Haueth  he  nout  of  Walingford  of'erlyngs, 
Let  him  habbe,  ase  he  brew,  bale  to  dryngh, 

Maugre  Wyndesore1. 
Richard,  thah  thou,  &c. 

in. 

The  kyng  of  Alemaigne  wende  do  ful  welk, 
He  saisede  the  mulne  for  a  castel1, 
With  hare"1  sharpe  swerdes  he  grounde  the  stel, 
He  wende  that  the  sayles  were  mangonel" 

To  helpe  Wyndesore. 
Richard,  &c. 

IV. 

The  kyng  of  Alemaigne  gederede0  ys  host, 
Makede  him  a  castel  of  a  mulne-post  P, 
Wende  with  is  prude q,  ant  is  muchele  bost, 
Brohte  from  Almayne  mony  sori  gostr 

To  store  Wyndesore. 
Richard,  &c. 

v. 

By  God  that  is  abouen  ous  he  dude  muche  synne, 
That  lette  passen  ouer  see  the  erl  of  Warynne9 : 

c  peace.  lingford.     See  Hearne's  Langtoft,  Gloss. 

d  The  barons  made  this  offer  of  thirty  p.  616;  and  Rob.  Glouc.  p.  548.     Robert 

thousand  pounds  to  Richard.  de  Brtinne,  a  poet  of  whom  I  shall  speak 

"  though.  {  treacherous.  at  large  in  his  proper  place,  translates  the 

E  Overling,  i.  e.  superior.      But    per-  onset  of  this  battle  with  some  spirit,  edit, 

haps  the  word  is  osterlyng,  for  esterlyng,  Hearne,  p.  217: 

a  French  piece  of  money.  Wallingford  was  Symon  com  to  the  felde,  and  put  up  his 
one  of  the  honours  conferred  on  Richard,  banere, 

at  his  marriage  with  Sanchia  daughter  of  The  king  schewed  forth  his  schelde,  his 
the  count  of  Provence.  dragon  ful  austere  : 

[Perhaps  oferlyng,  "one  furlong."]  The  kyng  saide  on  hie,   Simon  ieo  vous 

h  "  Let  him  have,  as  he  brews,  poison  defie,  &c. 

[misery]  to  drink."  m  their. 

'  Windsor-castle  was  one  of  the  king's  n  battering-rams.     [Vid.  infra,  p.  63. 

chief  fortresses.  note  ".] 

k  "  Thought  to  do  full  well."  °  gathered.       p  mill-post.       q  pride. 

1  Some  old  chronicles  relate,  that  at  the  r  He  brought  with  him  many  foreign- 
battle  of  Lewes  Richard  was  taken  in  a  ers,  when  he  returned  to  England,  from 
windmill.  Hearne  MSS.  Coll.  vol.  106.  taking  possession  of  his  dignity  of  king  of 
p.  82.  Robert  of  Gloucester  mentions  the  the  Romans.  This  gave  great  offence  to 
same  circumstance,  edit.  Hearne,  p.  547.  the  barons.  It  is  here  insinuated,  that  he 

„,,      ,  .          /•  *i        •  •  •    j         intended  to  garrison  Windsor-castle  with 

The  king  of  Alemaigne  was  in  a  wind-       these  foreign*rs>    The  barons  obliged  him 

to  dismiss  most  of  them  soon  after  he  land- 
Richard  and  prince  Edward  took  shelter  in       ed  in  England. 

the  Grey-friars  at  Lewes,  but  were  after-  *  The  earl  of  Warren  and  Surrey,  and 

wards  imprisoned  in,  the  castle  of  Wai-       Hugh  le  Bigot  the  king's  justiciary,  men- 


44  SATIRICAL  SONG  OF  THE   13'FH  CENTURY.      [SECT.  II. 

He  hath  robbed  Engelond,  the  mores,  ant  th[e]  fenne, 
The  gold,  ant  the  seluer,  and  yboren  henne, 

For  loue  of  Wyndesore. 
Richard,  &c. 

VI. 

Sire  Simond  de  Mountfort  hath  suore  bi  ys  chyn, 
Heuede*  he  nou  here  the  erle  of  Waryn, 
Shulde  he  neuer  more  come  to  is  ynu, 
Ne  with  sheld,  ne  with  spere,  ne  with  other  gynw, 

To  help  of  Wyndesore  : 
Richard,  £c. 

VII. 

Syre  Simond  de  Montfort  hath  suore  bi  ys  top, 
Heue^e  he  nou  here  Sire  Hue  de  Bigot, 
Al  he  shulde  quite  here  tuelfmoneth  scots 
Shulde  he  neuer  more  with  his  fot  pot, 

To  helpe  Wyndesore. 
Richard,  &c. 

VIII. 

[Be  the  luef,  be  the  loht  Sire  Edward, 
Thou  shalt  ride  sporeles  o  thy  lyard, 
Al  the  ryhte  way  to  Douere-ward, 
Shalt  thou  rieuermore  breke  foreward, 

Ant  that  reweth  sore  ; 
Edward,  thou  dudest  ase  a  shreward, 

Forsoke  thyn  ernes*  lore. 
Richard,  &c.] 

These  popular  rhymes  had  probably  no  small  influence  in  encoura- 
ging Leicester's  partisans,  and  diffusing  his  faction.  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 f  was  killed,  and  his  rebellious;}:  barons  de- 

tioned  in  the  seventh  stanza,  had  fled  into  monke  of  Chester,  in  his  boke  of  Policro- 

France.  nicon,  and  calleth  him  Simon  the  right- 

1  had.  wyse,  sayinge  that  God  wrought  for  him 

u  habitation,  home.     w  engine,  weapon.  miracles    after   his  deth."      Fabyan,  an. 

*  year's  tax.  I  had  transcribed  this  1264.  "Earl  Simon,  that  great  man, 

ballad  from  the  British  Museum,  and  writ-  who  spent,  not  only  his,  but  himself,  in 

ten  these  few  cursory  explanations,  before  behalf  of  the  oppressed,  in  asserting  a  just 

I  knew  that  it  was  printed  in  the  second  cause,  and  maintaining  the  rights  of  the 

edition  of  Doctor  Percy's  Ballads,  ii.  1.  realm."  S.  Johnson's  Vind.  of  Magna 

See  MS.  Harl.  ut  supr.  f.  58  b.  Charta,  p.  366.] 

[Unfortunately,  as  Ritson  remarks,  it  is  J  [in  support  of  Magna  Charta,  agree- 

also.  *.".  t^le  first  edition,  vol.  ii.  p.  3,  and  ably  to  its  provision  "  la  commune  de  tote 

exhibiting  the  same  mistakes. — M.]  Engleterre  nos  destreindront  &  greveront 

[uncle's.]  en  totes  Ii  manieres  que  il  porront...jus- 

t  ["  Of  this    erle   spekyth    Ranulph,  quilseit  amende,.. sauve nostre personne."] 


SECT.  II.]  THE   KIXG'S   POET.  45 

featedy.  Our  poet  looks  upon  his  hero  as  a  martyr;  and  particularly 
laments  the  loss  of  Henry  his  son,  and  Hugh  le  Despenser  justiciary 
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  pro- 
bably occasioned  a  statute  against  libels  in  the  year  1275,  under  the 
title,  "  Against  slanderous  reports,  or  tales  to  cause  discord  betwixt 
king  and  people2."  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  entertained  in  his 
court  a  poet  with  a  certain  salary,  whose  name  was  Henry  de 
Avranchesa.  And  although  this  poet  was  a  Frenchman,  and  most  pro- 
bably 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^0  :  which  ap- 
pellation 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 

y  f.  59.     It  begins,  ment  of  a  hymn  addressed  to  him  when 


Chaunter  mestoit  |  mon  cuer  le  voit  |  en       «"ion«ed  ,  n      - 

un  dure  langage,  ton"  V™p'  A0'  VJ;  *>!.  1  89."     Anno  Domini 

*  m  x     v*     octavo  Symoms  Montls 


Tut  en  ploraunt     fust  fet  le  chaunt  |  de 

notre  duz  Baronage,  &c.  Fort.ls  sociorumque  ejus  pridie  nonas  Au- 

[This  poem  was  privately  printed  (to-  r 

gether  with  three  others  from  the  same  Salve  Sym°n  Montis  Fords, 

MS.)  by  Sir  Francis  Palgrave  (then  Fr.  tocms  flos  mihcie' 

Cohen,  Esq.),  4to.   1818.—  M.]  Duras  Penas  P88*™  mort>A 

[A  version  of.  this  song  was  made  by  protector  (?)  gentis  Anghe. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  at  the  request  of  Ritson,  Sunt  de  sanctis  maudita, 

and  has  been  printed  in  the  late  republi-  Cunctls  Passis  m  hac  Vlta 

cation  of  his  English  Songs,  vol.  ii.     Mr.  M          quemquam  passum  talia:  (*fc.) 

Geo.  Ellis  made  another  metrical  trans-  Manus'  Pedes  amputan  ; 

lation,  which  perished  with  many  of  Kit-  CaPut'  corPus  vulneran  ; 
son's  manuscript  treasures.—  PARK  ] 

[This  Norman  ballad  has   since   been  ?is  pro  notes  intercessor 

printed  in  the  new  edition  of  Ritson's  An-  APud  ^eum,  qui  defensor 

cient  Songs.    Political  songs  seem  to  have  in  terns  externtas.  (sic.) 

been  common  about  this  period  :  both  En-  Ora  pro  nobis,  beate  Symon,  ut  digni  effi- 

glish,  Norman,  and  Latin,  the  three  Ian-  ciamur  promissionibus  Christi."      There 

guages  then  used  in  England,  seem  to  have  are  found  many  political  songs  in  Latin, 

been  enlisted  into  the  cause  of  Simon  de  which  shows  that  the  monks  took  much 

Montfort.    I  have  somewhere  seen  a  Latin-  interest  in  politics.  —  W.] 

poem  in  his  praise  ;  and,  in  the  following  *  [Harrington's]  Observations  upon  tl;e 

passage  from  a  MS.  containing  his  mira-  Statutes,   chiefly   the    more    ancient,  &c. 

cles,   (for  Simon,  like  Harold,  and  Wai-  edit.  1766.  p.  71. 

theof,  and  most  of  the  popular  heroes  of  a  See  Carew's  Surv.  Cornw.  p.  58.  edit. 

those  days,  was  looked  upon  as  a  saint,)  and  1602. 

written  apparently  no  very  long  time  after  b  Henry  of  Huntingdon  says,  that  Walo 

his  death,  we  have  apparently  the  frag-  Fersificutor  wrote  a  panegyiic  on  Henry 


THE  KING  S  POET. 


[SECT.  ii. 


stipend,  in  the  year  1251C.  And  again  the  same  precept  occurs  under 
the  year  1249d.  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  Blaun- 
payne,  a  native  of  Cornwall,  and  recited  by  the  author  in  the  presence 
of  Hugh  abbot  of  Westminster,  Hugh  de  Mortimer  official  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  the  bishop  elect  of  Winchester,  and  the  bishop 
of  Rochester6.  While  we  are  speaking  of  the  Versifier  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  wifef.  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 ;  and  that  the  same  Walo  Versiji- 
cator  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  Hen- 
ry mentioned  in  the  text.  One  Gualo,  a 
Latin  poet,  who  flourished  about  this  time, 
is  mentioned  by  Bale,  ii;.  5.  and  Pitts,  p. 
233.  He  is  commended  in  the  POLICRA- 
TICON.  A  copy  of  his  Latin  hexametrical 
satire  on  the  monks  is  printed  by  Mathias 
Flacius,  among  miscellaneous  Latin  poems 
De  corrupto  Ecclesice  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  Salu- 
tationes  quinquaginta  Marite,  "  Mag.  Hen- 
ricus,  VERSIFICATOR  MAGNUS,  de  B.  Vir- 
gine,"  &c. 

*  MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  Arch.  Bodl.  29."  in 
pergam.  4to.  viz.  "Versus  magistri  Micha- 
elis  Cornubiensis  contra  Mag.  Henricum 
Abricensem  coram  dom.  Hugone  abbate 
Westmon.etaliis."fol.  81  b.  Princ.  "AR- 
CHIPOETA  vide  quod  non  sit  cura  tibi  de." 
See  also  fol.  83  b.  Again,  fol.  85. 
Pendo  poeta  prius  te  diximus  ARCHI- 

POETAM, 

Quam  pro  postico  mine  dicimus  esse  poe- 

tam, 
Imo  poeticulum,  &c. 

Archlpoeta  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  la- 

tus  apri ; 

Os  leporis,  catuli  nasus,  dens  et  gena  muli : 
Frons  vetulae,  tauri  caput,  et  color  undi- 

que  mauri. 
In  a  blank  page  of  the  Bodleian  manu- 


script, from  which  these  extracts  are  made, 
is  written,  "  Iste  liber  constat  Fratri  Jo- 
hanni  de  Wallis  monacho  Rameseye."  The 
name  is  elegantly  enriched  with  a  device. 
This  manuscript  contains,  among  other 
things,  Planctus  de  Excidio  Trojse,  by  Hugo 
Prior  de  Montacuto,  in  rhyming  hexame- 
ters and  pentameters,  viz.  fol.  89.  Cam- 
den  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. 

[Compare  Tanner  in  JOANNES  COR- 
NUBIENSIS, who  recites  his  other  pieces. 
BIBL.  p.  432.  Notes  f  g.— ADDITIONS.] 

[There  are  more  than  one  copy  of  this 
poem  in  the  British  Museum.  In  MS. 
Reg.  14  C.  xiii.  fol.  269,  it  is  said  to  have 
been  recited  at  Cambridge,  in  presence 
of  the  University  and  Masters.  "Versus 
magistri  Machielis  [for  Michaelis]  Cor- 
nubiensis contra  magistrum  Henricum 
Abrincensem  coram  domino  abbate  West- 
monasterii  et  domino  decano  Sancti  Pauli 
Londoniarum  primis  judicibus,  et  postea 
coram  Elyensi  episcopo  et  cancellarioCan- 
tebrugie  una  cum  universitate  magistro- 
rum."  The  Latin  poems  of  Michael  Cor- 
nubiensis on  various  subjects  occur  in  MS. 
Cotton.  VESP.  D.  V.  fol.  149.— W.] 

'  Rot.  Pip.  an.  36  Henr.  III.  "Etin 
uno  dolio  vini  empto  et  dato  magistro  Ri- 
cardo  Citharistae  regis,  xl.  sol.  per  Br.  Reg. 
Et  in  uno  dolio  empto  et  dato  Beatrici 
uxori  ejusdem  Ricardi." 

*  [Beatrice  may  possibly  have  been  a 
jugleress,  whose  pantomimic  exhibitions 
were  accompanied  by  her  husband's  harp, 
or  who  filled  up  the  intervals  between  his 
performances.  This  union  of  professional 
talents  in  husband  and  wife  was  not  un- 
common. In  a  copy  of  the  ordonnances  for 
regulating  the  minstrels,  &c.  residing  at 


SECT.  II.]          ROBRRT  OP  GLOUCESTER.  47 

The  first  poet  whose  name  occurs  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First, 
and  indeed  in  these  annals,  is  Robert  of  Gloucester,  a  monk  of  the  abbey 
of  Gloucester.  He  has  left  a  poem  of  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  men- 
tions 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  remarkably  dismal  weather  which  distinguished  the  day 
on  which  the  battle  of  Evesham  above  mentioned  was  fought,  in  the 
year  1265?.  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  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  per- 
haps owing  to  the  western  dialect,  in  which  our  monk  of  Gloucester  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  singu- 
larities, which  occasion  in  each  a  peculiar  phraseology. 

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

Paris,  a  document  drawn  up  by  themselves  a  fact  of  some  moment,  since  hitherto  the 
intheyear!321,andsignedbythirty-seven  author  has  been  referred  to  as  the  foun- 
persons  on  behalf  of  all  the  menestreux  tain-head  of  our  early  poetry.     See  my 
jongleurs  et  jougleresses  of  that  city,  we  Introduction  to  the  Ancient  Romance  of 
find  among  others  the  names  of  lehanot  Havelok  the  Dane,  4to.   1828.  p.  Hi.     It 
Langlois   et   Adeline,   fame   de    Langlois  must,  in  addition,  be  remarked,  that  the 
Jaucons,  fils  le  moine  et  Marguerite,  la  greater  part  of  this  Chronicle  was  unfor- 
fame  au  moine.   See  Roquefort  de  la  Poe-  tunately  printed  from  the   Harleian  MS. 
sie  Fran$oise  dans  les  xii.  et  xiii.  Siecles,  201,  an  inferior  copy  of  the  15th  century 
p.  288. — PRICE.]  (erroneously  assigned  by  Hearne  to  Ed- 
f  Pag.  224.  edit.  Hearne.  Oxon.  1724.  ward  the  Third's  reign),  and  only  the  re- 
g  Pag.  560.  maining  portion,  viz.  pp.  465 — 571,  from 
*  [It  is  surprising  that  Hearne,  War-  theCotton  MS.  CALIG.  A.  xi.,whichis  con- 
ton,  Ritson,  Boucher,  and  a  host  of  igno-  temporary,  or  nearly  so,  with  the  author, 
rant  copiers,  should  have  overlooked  the  In  the  event  of  another  and  critical  edition 
mention  of  the  canonization  of  St.  Louis,  (which  is  very  desirable),  the  Cotton  MS. 
which  did  not  take  place  till  1297.  should  serve  as  the  text,  and  various  read- 
ings might  be  annexed  from  the  Harleian, 

Thulke  gode  Lowis  is  nou  Seint,  &  ileid  Heralds  College,  Sloane,  Oxford  and  Cam- 
in  ssrine.— p.  531,  ed.  Hearne.  bridge  MSS.     In  the  Bodleian  library  is  a 

printed  copy  of  the  work,  filled  with  colla- 

The  Chronicle,   consequently,   could   not  tions  in  the  handwriting  of  the  Rev.  Daniel 

have  been  completed  till  after  this  period,  Waterland,  D.D. — M.] 


48  ROBERT  OF   GLOUCESTER.  [SECT.   II. 

The  kyng  was  to  ys  paleys,  tho  the  servyse  was  ydoS, 

Ylad  wyth  hys  menye,  and  the  quene  to  hyre  also. 

Vor  hii  hulde  the  olde  vsages,  that  men  wyth  men  were 

By  hem  sulue,  and  wymmen  by  hem  sulue  also  there h. 

Tho  hii  were  echone  yset,  as  yt  to  her  stat  bycom, 

Kay,  king  of  Aungeo,  a  thousand  kyn^tes  nome 

Of  noble  men,  yclothed  in  ermyne  echone 

Of  on  sywete,  and  seruede  at  thys  noble  fest  anon. 

Bedwer  the  botyler,  kyng  of  Normandye, 

Nom  also  in  ys  half  a  uayr  companye 

Of  one  sywyte1  vorto  servy  of  the  botelerye. 

Byuore  the  quene  yt  was  also  of  al  suche  cortesye, 

Vorto  telle  al  the  noblye  that  ther  was  ydo, 

They  my  tonge  were  of  stel,  me  ssolde  no^t  dure  therto. 

Wymmen  ne  kepte  of  no  kyn^t  as  in  drueryk, 

Bote  he  were  in  armys  wel  yprowed,  &  atte  leste  thrye1. 

That  made,  lo,  the  wymmen  the  chastore  lyf  lede, 

And  the  kyn^tes  the  stalwordorem,  and  the  betere  in  her  dede. 

Sone  after  thys  noble  mete",  as  ry$t  was  of  such  tyde, 

The  kyn^ts  atyled  hem  aboute  in  eche  syde, 

In  feldes  and  in  medys  to  preue  her  bachelerye0. 

Somme  wyth  lance,  some  wyth  suerd,  wyth  oute  vylenye, 

Wyth  pleyynge  at  tables,  other  atte  chekere  p, 

Wyth  castynge,  other  wyth  ssetyngeq,  other  in  some  ojyrt  manere. 

And  wuch  so  of  eny  game  adde  the  maystrye, 

The  kyng  hem  of  ys  gyfteth  dyde  large  corteysye. 

Vpe  the  alurs  of  the  castles  the  laydes  thanne  stoder, 

And  byhulde  thys  noble  game,  and  wyche  kyn^ts  were  god. 

All  the  thre  hexte  dawes8  ylaste  thys  nobleye 

In  halles  and  in  veldes,  of  mete  and  eke  of  pleye. 

g  "  when  the  service  in  the  church  was  had  made  a  pilgrimage  into  the  Holy  Land, 

finished."  But  from  the  principles  advanced  in  the 

h  "  They  kept  the  antient  custom  at  first  INTRODUCTORY  DISSERTATION,  this 

festivals,  of  placing  the  men  and  women  game  might  have  been  known  in  the  North 

separate.     Kay,  king  of  Anjou,  brought  a  before.     In  the  mean  time,  it  is  probable 

thousand  noble  knights  cloathed  in  ermine  that  the  Saracens  introduced  it  into  Spain 

of  one  suit,  or  secta."  before  the  Crusades.    It  is  mentioned  by  G. 

1  "  brought  also,  on  his  part,  a  fair  com-  of  Momnouth,  and  in  the  Alexiad  of  Anna 

pany  cloathed  uniformly."  Comnena.     See  Mem.  Acad.  Lit.  v.  232. 

k  modesty,  decorum  [gallantry].  [See  the  Dissertation  on  the  Introduc- 

1  thrice.                           m  more  brave.  tion  of  Chess  into  Europe,  inserted  in  the 

n  "  Soon  after  this  noble  feast,  which  Archceologia,  vol.  xxiv. — M.] 

was  proper  at  such  an  occasion,  the  knights  q  Different  ways  of  playing  at  chess, 

accoutred  themselves."  [It  is  certain  that  neither  of  these  terms 

0  chivalry,  courage,  or  youth.  relates  to  chess. — DOUCE.] 

p  chess.     It  is  remarkable,  that  among  [Castynge  refers  to  the  game  of  throw- 

the   nine   exercises,  or  accomplishments,  ing  or  putting  the  stone ;  and  ssetynge  is 

mentioned  by  Kolson,  an  ancient  northern  shooting  with  the  bow  or  spear. — M.] 

chief,  one  is  playing  at  chess.     Bartholin.  r  "  The  ladies  stood  on  the  walks  made 

ii.  c.  8.  p.  420.    This  game  was  familiarized  within  the  battlements  of  the  castle." 

to  the  Europeans  after  the  Crusades.    The  *  "All  the  three  high  or  chief  days.    In 

romances  which  followed  those  expeditions  halls  and  fields,  of  feasting,  and  turney- 

are  full  of  it.     Kolson,  above  mentioned,  ing,"  &c. 


SECT.  II.]  ROBERT  OF  GLOUCESTER.  49 

Thys  men  come  the  verthe  *  day  byuore  the  kynge  there, 
And  he  $ef  hem  large  }yftys,  euere  as  hii  werthe  were. 
Bissopryches  and  cherches  clerkes  he  }ef  somme, 
And  castles  and  tounes  kynjtes  that  were  ycome." 

Many  of  these  lines  are  literally  translated  from  Geoffry  of  Mon- 
mouth.  In  king  Arthur's  battle  with  the  giant  at  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  $al  the  ssrewe  tho,  that  grislych  was  ys  bere, 
He  vel  doun$  as  a  gret  ok,  that  bynethe  ycorue  were, 
That  yt  tho^te  that  al  hul  myd  the  vallynge  ssok.v 
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  magi- 
cian, 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  Merlyn  tho,  "  suche  thynges  ywys 

Ne  beth  for  to  schewe  no^t,  but  wen  gret  nede  ys, 

For  ?ef  ich  seid  in  bismare,  other  bute  yt  ned  were, 

Sone  from  me  he  wolde  wende  the  gost,  that  doth  me  lere  w :" 

The  kyng,  tho  non  other  nas,  bod  hym  som  quoyntyse 

Bithenke  about  thilke  cors  that  so  noble  were  and  wyse  x. 

"  Sire  kyng,"  quoth  Merlyn  tho,  "  ^ef  thou  wolt  here  caste 

In  the  honour  of  hem,  a  werk  that  euer  schal  ylaste y, 

To  the  hul  of  Kylar z  send  in  to  Yrlond, 

Aftur  the  noble  stones  that  ther  habbet a  lenge  ystonde  ; 

fourth.  u  Pag.  191.  192.  v  Pag.  208.  leave  me.  "Nam  si  ea  in  derisionem,  sine 
*  [Warton  makes  the  description  of  the  vanitatem,  proferrem,  taceret  Spiritus  qvi 
giant's  fall  more  extravagant  than  it  actu-  me  docet,  et,  cum  opus  superveniret,  re- 
ally is,  by  his  inaccurate  version.  Rob.  cederet."  Galfrid.  Mon.  viii.  10. 
Glouc.  merely  says  "it  seemed  [yttho3te]  x  "bade  him  use  his  cunning,  for  the 
that  the  whole  hill  shook  with  the  fall."  sake  of  the  bodies  of  those  noble  and  wise 
— R.  G.]  Britons." 

w  If  I  should  say  anything  out  of  wan-  y  "  if  you  would  build,  to  their  honour, 

tonness  or  vanity,  the  spirit,  or  demon,  a  lasting  monument." 

which   teaches   me,    would   immediately  z  "  To  the  hill  of  Kildarc."        a  have. 
VOL.  I.                                                           E 


50  ROBERT  OF  GLOUCESTER.  [SECT.  II. 

That  was  the  treche  of  geandes  b,  for  a  quoynte  werk  ther  ys 

Of  stones  al  wyth  art  ymad,  in  the  world  such  non  ys. 

Ne  ther  nys  nothing  that  me  scholde  myd  strengthe  adoun  caste. 

Stode  heo  here,  as  heo  doth  there  euer  a  wolde  last c." 

The  kyng  somdel  to-ly}hed,  tho  he  herde  this  tale, 

"  How  my^te,"  he  seyde,  "  suche  stones  so  grete  &  so  fale  e 

Be  ybro3t  of  so  fer  lond  ?     And  $et  mest  of  were, 

Me  wolde  wene,  that  in  this  lond  no  ston  to  worche  nere." 

"  Syre  kyng,"  quoth  Merlyn,  "ne'make  no^ht  an  ydel  such  ly^hyng. 

For  yt  nys  an  ydel  no^ht  that  ich  telle  this  tything f. 

For  in  the  farreste  stude  of  Affric  geandes  while  fette  8 

Thike  stones  for  medycine  &  in  Yrlond  hem  sette, 

While  heo  woneden  in  Yrlond  to  make  here  bathes  there, 

Ther  vnder  forto  bathi  wen  thei  syk  were. 

For  heo  wolde  the  stones  wasch  &  ther  enne  bathe  ywis. 

For  ys  no  ston  ther  among  that  of  gret  vertu  nysh." 

The  kyng  and  ys  conseil  radde1  tho  stones  forto  fette, 

And  with  gret  power  of  batail  $cf  any  mon  hem  lette ; 

Uter  the  kynges  brother,  that  Ambrose  hette  also, 

In  another  maner  name  ychose  was  therto, 

And  fiftene  thousant  men,  this  dede  for  to  do, 

And  Merlyn,  for  his  quoyntise,  thider  wente  also.k 

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

b  "  the  dance  of  giants."    The  name  of  apparent  fiction,  and  the  bards  only  say, 
this  wonderful  assembly  of  immense  stoneb.  that  an  immense  pile  of  stones  was  raised 
c  "Grandes  sunt  lapides,  nee  est  aliquis  on  the  plain  of  Ambresbury  in  memory  of 
cujus  virtuti  cedant.     Quod  si  eo  modo,  that  event.     They  lived  too  near  the  time 
quo  ibi  positi  sunt,  circa  plateam  loca-  to  forge  this  origin  of  Stonehenge.     The 
buntur,  stabunt  in  seternum."     Galfrid.  whole  story  was  recent,  and,  from  the  im- 
Mon.  viii.  x.  11.  mensity  of  the  work  itself,  must  have  been 
d  somewhat  laughed.  still  more  notorious.     Therefore  their  for- 
e  so  great  and  so  many.  gery  would  have  been  too  glaring.   It  may 
f  tyding.  be  objected,  that  they  were  fond  of  refer- 
8  "  Giants  once  brought  them  from  the  ring  everything  stupendous  to  their  fa- 
farthest  part  of  Africa,"  &c.  vourite  hero  Arthur.     This  I  grant :  but 
h  "  Lavabant  namque  lapides  et  infra  not  when  known  authenticated  facts  stood 
balnea   diffundebant,   unde  segroti  cura-  in  their  way,  and  while  the  real  cause  was 
bantur.     Miscebant  etiam  cum  herbarum  remembered.    Even  to  this  day,  the  mas- 
confectionibus,  unde  vulnerati  sanaban-  sacre  of  Hengist,  as  I  have  partly  hinted, 
tur.     Non  est  ibi  lapis  qui  medicamento  is  an  undisputed  piece  of  history.     Why 
careat."     Galfrid.  Mon.  ibid.  should  not  the  other  part  of  the  story  be 
1  rode  [advised  or  counselled].  equally  true?    Besides  the  silence  of  Nen- 
k  Pag.  145. 146. 147.   That  Stonehenge  nius,  I  am  aware  that  this  hypothesis  is  still 
is  a  British  monument,  erected  in  memory  attended  with  many  difficulties  and  im- 
of  Hengist's  massacre,  rests,  I  believe,  on  probabilities.     And  so  are  all  the  systems 
the  sole  evidence  of  Geoffry  of  Monmouth,  and  conjectures  ever  yet  framed  about  this 
who  had  it  from  the  British  bards.     But  amazing  monument.    It  appears  to  me  to 
why  should  not  the  testimony  of  the  Bri-  be  the  work  of  a  rude  people  who  had  some 
tish  bards  be  allowed  on  this  occasion  ?  ideas  of  art :  such  as  we  may  suppose  the 
For  they  did  not  invent  facts,  so  much  as  Romans  left  behind  them  among  the  Bri- 
sables.   In  the  present  case,  Hengist's  mas-  tons.     In  the  mean  time  I  do  not  remem- 
facre  is  an  allowed  event.    Remove  all  the  ber,  that  in  the  very  controverted  etymo- 


SECT.  II.]         ROBERT  OF  GLOUCESTER.  51 

I  will  here  add  Uther'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  leuedys  al  so  god,  to  ys  noble  fest  wyde, 

For  he  schulde  crowne  bere,  for  the  hye  tyde. 

Alle  the  noble  men  of  this  lond  to  the  noble  fest  come, 

And  heore  wyues  &  hcore  dojtren  with  hem  mony  nome. 

This  fest  was  noble  ynow,  and  nobliehe  ydo  ; 

For  mony  was  the  faire  ledy  that  ycome  was  therto. 

Ygerne,  Gorloys  wyf,  was  fairest  of  echon, 

That  was  contasse  of  Cornewail,  for  so  fair  nas  ther  non. 

The  kyng  byhuld  hire  faste  ynow,  &  ys  herte  on  hire  caste, 

And  thojte,  thay  heo  were  wyf,  to  do  folye  atte  last. 

He  made  hire  semblant  fair  ynow,  to  non  other  so  gret. 

The  erl  nas  not  ther  with  ypayed,  tho  he  yt  vnder3et. 

Aftur  mete  he  nom  ys  wyfe  myd  stordy  mod  ynow, 

And,  with  oute  leue  of  the  kyng,  to  ys  contrei  drow. 

The  kyng  sende  to  hym  tho,  to  byleue  al  ny}t, 

For  he  moste  of  gret  consel  habbe  som  insy^t. 

That  was  for  no^t ;  wolde  he  no^t ;  the  kyng  sende  $et  ys  sonde, 

That  he  byleuede  at  ys  parlemente,  for  nede  of  the  londe. 

The  kyng  was,  tho  he  nolde  no^t,  anguyssous  &  wroth. 

For  despyte  he  wolde  awreke  be,  he  swor  ys  oth, 

Bute  he  come  to  amendement ;  ys  power  atte  laste 

He  ;arkede,  and  wende  forth  to  Cornewail  faste. 

Gorloys  ys  castelos  astore  al  aboute. 

In  a  strong  castel  he  dude  ys  wyf,  for  of  hire  was  al  ys  doute. 

In  another  hym  self  he  was,  for  he  nolde  no^t, 

3ef  cas  come,  that  heo  were  bothe  to  dethe  ybro}t. 

The  castel,  that  the  erl  inne  was,  the  kyng  bysegede  faste, 

For  he  my^te  ys  gynnes  for  schame  to  the  other  caste. 

Tho  he  was  ther  sene  nyjt,  and  he  spedde  no^t, 

Igerne  the  contesse  so  muche  was  in  ys  tho^t, 

That  he  nuste  non  other  wyt,  ne  he  ne  my^te  for  schame 

Telle  yt,  bute  a  pryue  kny;t,  Ulfyn  was  ys  name, 

That  he  truste  mest  to.     And  tho  the  kny$t  herde  this, 

"  Syre,"  he  seide,  "  y  ne  can  wyte,  wat  red  here  of  ys, 

For  the  castel  ys  to  strong,  that  the  lady  ys  inne, 

For  ich  wcne  al  the  lond  ne  schulde  yt  myd  strengths  wynne. 

For  the  se  geth  al  aboute,  bute  entre  on  ther  nys, 

And  that  ys  vp  on  harde  roches,  &  so  narw  wei  it  ys, 

logy  of  the  word  Stonehenge  the  name  of  ing  stone :  Observations,  &c.     In  addition 

HENGIST  has  been  properly  or  sufficiently  to  this  it  is  supported  by  an  authority  of 

considered.  high  antiquity: 

[The  etymology  referred  to  by  Mr.  Rit-  Stanheng  out  non  en  Anglois, 

son  is  evidently  the  most  plausible  that  Pierres  pendues  en  Francois, 

has  been  suggested ;  Sran-henje — hang-  Wace's  Brut. — PRICE.] 


52  ROBERT  OF  GLOUCESTER.  [SECT.  II, 

That  ther  may  go  bote  on  &  on,  that  thre  men  with  inne 

My$te  sle  al  the  lond,  er  heo  com  ther  inne. 

And  no$t  for  than,  $ef  Merlyn  at  thi  conseil  were,    • 

3ef  any  my^te,  he  couthe  the  best  red  the  lere." 

Merlyn  was  sone  of-seiid,  yseid  yt  was  hym  sone, 

That  he  schulde  the  beste  red  segge,  wat  were  to  done. 

Merlyn  was  sory  ynow  for  the  kynges  folye, 

And  natheles,  "  Sire  kyng,"  he  seide,  "  here  mot  to  maistrie, 

The  erl  hath  twey  men  hym  next,  Bryjthoel  &  Jordan. 

Ich  wol  make  thi  self,  $ef  thou  wolt,  thoru  art  that  y  can, 

Habbe  al  tho  fourme  of  the  erl,  as  thou  were  ry^t  he, 

And  Olfyn  as  Jordan,  and  as  Brithoel  me." 

This  art  was  al  clene  ydo,  that  al  changet  he  were, 

Heo  thre  in  the  otheres  forme,  the  selue  as  yt  were. 

Ajeyn  euen  he  wende  forth,  nuste  nomon  that  cas, 

To  the  castel  heo  come  ry^t  as  yt  euene  was. 

The  porter  yse  ys  lord  come,  &  ys  meste  priuey  twei, 

With  god  herte  he  lette  ys  lord  yn,  &  ys  men  beye. 

The  contas  was  glad  ynow,  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 

Bigete  was  the  beste  body  that  euer  was  in  this  londe, 

Kyng  Arthure  the  noble  mon,  that  euer  worthe  vnderstonde. 

Tho  the  kynges  men  nuste  amorwe  wer  he  was  bicome, 

Heo  ferde  as  wodemen,  and  wende  he  were  ynome. 

Heo  asaileden  the  castel,  as  yt  schulde  adoun  anon, 

Heo  that  with  inne  were,  ^arkede  hem  echon, 

And  smyte  out  in  a  fole  wille,  &  fo^te  myd  here  fon  : 

So  that  the  erl  was  yslawe,  &  of  ys  men  mony  on, 

And  the  castel  was  ynome,  &  the  folk  to-sprad  there, 

3et,  tho  thei  hadde  al  ydo,  heo  ne  fonde  not  the  kyng  there. 

The  tything  to  the  contas  sone  was  ycome, 

That  hire  lord  was  yslawe,  and  the  castel  ynome. 

Ac  tho  the  messinger  hym  sey  the  erl,  as  hym  tho3te, 

That  he  hadde  so  foule  ylow,  ful  sore  hym  of-tho^te, 

The  contasse  made  somedel  deol,  for  no  sothnesse  heo  nuste. 

The  kyng,  for  to  glade  here,  biclupte  hire  and  cust. 

"  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  stilleliche  ych  wende  al  in  priuete, 

That  none  of  myne  men  yt  nuste,  for  to  speke  with  the. 

And  tho  heo  myste  me  to  day,  and  nuste  Mrer  ich  was, 

Heo  ferden  ri$t  as  gydie  men,  myd  warn  no  red  nas, 

And  fo3te  with  the  folk  with  oute,  &  habbeth  in  this  manere 

Ylore  the  castel  and  hem  selue,  ac  wel  thou  wost  y  am  here. 


SECT.  II.]  ANCIENT  POLITICAL  BALLADS.  53 

Ac  for  my  castel,  that  is  ylore,  sory  ich  am  ynow, 

And  for  myn  men,  that  the  kyng  and  ys  power  slo$. 

Ac  my  power  is  now  to  lute,  ther  fore  y  drede  sore 

Leste  the  kyng  vs  nyme  here,  &  sorwe  that  we  were  more. 

Ther  fore  ich  wole,  how  so  yt  be,  wende  a^en  the  kynge, 

And  make  my  pays  with  hym,  ar  he  vs  to  schame  brynge." 

Forth  he  wende,  &  het  ys  men  that  jef  the  kyng  come, 

That  thei  schulde  hym  the  castel  ^elde,  ar  he  with  strengthe  it  nome. 

Tho  he  come  toward  ys  men,  ys  own  forme  he  nom, 

And  leuede  the  erles  fourme,  and  the  kyng  Uter  bycom. 

Sore  hym  of-tho^te  the  erles  deth,  ac  in  other  half  he  fonde 

Joye  in  hys  herte,  for  the  contasse  of  spoushed  was  vnbonde, 

Tho  he  hadde  that  he  wolde,  and  paysed  with  ys  fon, 

To  the  contasse  he  wende  a^en,  me  let  hym  in  anon. 

Wat  halt  it  to  talle  longe  ?  bute  heo  were  seththe  at  on, 

In  gret  loue  longe  ynow,  wan  yt  nolde  other  gon ; 

And  hadde  togedere  this  noble  sone,  that  in  tho  world  ys  pere  nas, 

The  kyng  Arture,  and  a  dorter,  Anne  hire  name  was. ! 

In  the  latter  end  of  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First,  many  officers  of 
the  French  king,  having  extorted  large  sums  of  money  from  the  citi- 
zens of  Bruges  in  Flanders,  were  murthered :  and,  an  engagement  suc- 
ceeding, 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  of  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: 

Lustneth,  lordinges,  bothe  $onge  ant  olde, 

Of  the  Freynsshe  men  that  were  so  proude  ant  bolde, 

Hou  the  Flernmyshe  men  bohten  hem  ant  solde, 

Vpon  a  Wednesday. 

Betere  hem  were  at  home  in  huere  londe, 
Then  forte  seche  Flemysshe  by  the  see  stronde 
Whare  rourh  *  moni  Frenshe  wyf  wryngeth  hire  honde, 

Ant  singeth  weylaway. 
The  kyng  of  Fraunce  made  statuz  newe, 
In  the  lond  of  Flaundres  among  false  ant  trewe, 
That  the  commun  of  Bruges  ful  sore  can  arewe, 

And  seiden  amonges  hem, 
Gedere  we  vs  togedere  hardily che  at  ene, 
Take  we  the  bailifs  by  tuenty  ant  by  tene, 
Clappe  we  of  the  heuedes  an  ouen  o  the  grene, 

Ant  cast  we  y  the  fen. 

1  Chron.  p.  156.  *  [where-through. — M.] 

m  The  last  battle  was  fought  that  year,  July  7. 


54  ANCIENT  POLITICAL  BALLADS.  [SECT.  II* 

The  webbes  ant  the  fullaris  assembleden  hem  alle, 
Ant  makeden  huere  consail  in  huere  commune  halle, 
Token  Peter  Conyng  huere  kynge  to  calle 

Ant  beo  huere  cheucnteyne,  &c.n 

These  verses  show  the  familiarity  \vith  which  the  affairs  of  France 
were  known  in  England,  and  display  the  disposition  of  the  English  to- 
wards the  French,  at  this  period.  It  appears  from  this  and  previous 
instances,  that  political  balladry  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  exorbitant 
fees  extorted,  and  the  numerous  taxe.>  levied,  by  the  king' .-;  officers  °. 
There  is  a  libel  remaining,  written  indeed  in  French  Alexandrines,  on 
the  commission  of  trayl-baston  P,  or  the  justices  ??o  denominated  by 
Edward  the  First,  during  his  absence  in  the  French  and  Scotch  wars, 
about  the  year  1306.  The  author  name.;  som?  of  the  justices  or  com- 
missioners, 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,  traitor.;  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  wa;  perpetually 
breaking  out  in  thesn  popular  pasquin,^,  although  this  spec  ies  of  petu- 
lance usually  belongs  to  more  polished  time?. 

Nor  were  they  less  dexterous  than  daring  in  publishing  their  satires 
to  advantage,  although  they  did  not  enjoy  the  many  »  onveniences 
which  modern  improvements  have  afforded  for  the  circulation  of  public 
abuse.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Sixth,  to  pursue  the  topic  j  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  AshmotAan  Museum, 
with  the  following  Latin  title  prefixed  :  "  Copia  scedulce  valvis  do- 
mini  regis  exisfentls  in  parliament*)  suo  tento  apud  Westmonastermm 
mense  marcii  anno  regni  Henrici  sexti  vicesimo  octavo  *."  But  the 
antient  ballad  was  often  applied  to  better  purpose :  and  it  appears 
from  a  valuable  collection  of  these  little  pieces,  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 

n  MS.  Harl.  2253.  f.  73  b.  the  French  will  be  found  in  Ritson's  An- 

0  Ibid.  f.  64.    There  is  a  song  half  La-       clent  Songs,  pp.  5,  18. — PRICE.] 

tin  and  half  French,  much  on  the  same  *  [This  piece  is  not  a  ballad.  See 

subject,  Ibid.  f.  137.  b.  Hearne's  Hemingi  Chavtularium.  RIT- 

p  See  Spelman  and  Dufresne  in  v.  and  SON.]  [We  not  unfrequently  meet  with 

Rob.  Brunne's  Chron,  ed.  Heurne,  p.  328.  comparatively  early  provincial  libels  in 

[This  ballad  is  printed  in  the  new  edition  verse.  See  one  on  the  corporation  of 

of  Ritson's  Ancient  Songs.— W.]  Cambridge,  printed  (incorrectly  enough) 

q  MS.  Harl.  ibid.  f.  113  b.  [Printed  in  in  Hartshorne's  Ancient  Metrical  Tales, 

Sir  F.  Palgrave's  volume  before  referred  which  was  posted  up  against  the  mayor's 

to,  4to,  1818.— M.]  door.  See  also  T.  Sharpe's  "  Pageant  of 

1  Ibid.  f.  59.  [This  and  the  ballad  against  the  Company  of  Showmen."— W.] 


SECT.  II.] 


ROBERT  DE  BRUNNE. 


55 


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  canon  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 
DBS  PECHE s,  that  is,  the  MANUAL  OF  SINS.  This  translation  was 
never  printed  s.  It  is  a  long  work,  and  treats  of  the  decalogue,  and 

died  in  1332.  The  next  on  the  list  is 
John  de  Glyndone,  confirmed  9  cal.  Aug. 
1332,  who  died  or  resigned  in  1341. 
From  the  similarity  of  the  sound,  one 
would  suspect  him  to  be  Mannyng's  "Dane 
Jone  of  Clyntone,"  but  this  would  throw 
some  difficulties  in  the  way  of  dates,  not 
entirely  to  be  cleared  up,  until  perfect 
lists  of  the  priors  of  Sempringham,  Sixhill, 
and  Malton,  should  be  procured. — M.] 

*  MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  N.  415.  membr.  fol. 
Pr.  "  Fadyr  and  sone  and  holy  goste." 
And  MS.  Harl.  1701. 

[The  Harleian  manuscript  has  been 
collated  for  the  present  text.  Like  the 
Bodleian,  if  Warton  followed  the  Bodleian 
manuscript,  it  professes  to  be  a  translation 
from  the  French  of  Grosteste.  But  this 
may  be  a  mere  dictum  of  the  transcriber. 
All  we  gather  from  the  work  itself  is  an 
acknowledgement  of  a  French  original 
called  "  Manuel  Peche,"  whose  author  was 
clearly  unknown  to  De  Brunne.  Had  it 
been  written  by  a  man  of  Grosteste's  emi-  . 
nence,  it  would  hardly  have  been  pub- 
lished anonymously  ;  nor  can  we  suppose 
this  circumstance,  if  really  true,  would 
have  been  passed  over  in  silence  by  his 
translator.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  French 
production  upon  which  De  Brunne  un- 
questionably founded  his  poem,  is  claimed 
by  a  writer  calling  himself  William  of 
Wadigton,  and  that  in  language  too  pecu- 
liar and  self-condemning  to  leave  a  doubt 
as  to  the  justice  of  his  title. 

De  le  fran9eis  vile  ne  del  rimer, 
Ne  me  deit  nuls  hom  blamer, 
Kar  en  Engletere  fu  ne, 
E  norri,  e  ordine,  e  aleve. 
De  une  vile  sui  nome, 
Ou  ne  est  burg  ne  cite,  &c. 
De  Deu  seit  beneit  chescun  hom, 
Ke  prie  por  Wilhelm  de  Wadigton. 
Manuel des  Peches,Har\.  MS.  4657. 


*  [De  Brunne's  account  rather  varies 
from  this  statement. 

In  the  third  Edwardes  time  was  I, 
Whenne  I  wrote  all  this  story  ; 
In  the  house  of  Sixille  I  was  a  throwe  ; 
Dan  Robert  of  Malton  that  ye  know, 
Did  it  wryte  for  felawes  sake. 

[Pro/.  Lo  Chronicle.'] 

"  By  this  passage  he  seems  to  mean  that 
he  was  born  at  a  place  called  Malton  ; 
that  he  had  resided  some  time  in  a  house 
in  the  neighbourhood  called  Sixhill ;  and 
that  there  he,  Robert  de  Brunne,  had 
composed  at  least  a  part  of  his  poem  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Edward  III." — ELLIS.] 
[The  mistakes  made  by  the  biographers 
of  Mannyng  were  first  pointed  out  by  me, 
in  my  Preface  to  the  Ancient  English  Ro- 
mance of  Havelok  the  Dane,  4to.  1828. 
p.  xiii.  It  appears  from  a  comparison  of 
the  Prologues  to  the  Manuel  des  Peches 
and  the  Chronicle,  that  Robert  Mannyng 
was  born  at  Brunne,  but  was  never  pro- 
fessed in  any  religious  house  of  that  place. 
He  was  a  canon  of  the  Gilbertine  order, 
and  resided  in  the  priory  of  Sempringham 
ten  years  in  the  time  of  prior  John  of 
Camelton,  and  five  years  with  John  of 
Clyntone.  He  began  his  Manuel  in  the 
year  1303,  when  Philip  was  prior  there. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  the  priory  of 
Sixhille,  in  the  same  county,  the  prior  of 
which,  Dan  Robert  of  Malton,  or  Dan 
Robert,  prior  of  Malton  (for  the  lines  may 
be  interpreted  either  way),  caused  the 
Chronicle  to  be  written,  which  was  finally 
completed  on  the  ides  of  May,  1338.  In 
the  list  of  priors  of  Sempringham,  given 
by  Willis,  Mitred  Abbeys,  ii.  121.  and 
Monasticon,  vol.  vi.  p.  948.,  we  find  that 
John  de  Hamerton  (evidently  the  same  as 
Camelton]  held  that  office  from  May  1276 
to  about  March  1282,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Roger  de  Bolingbrok,  who  died  in 
1298.  His  successor  was  Philip  de  Burton 
or  Barton  (Mannyng's  "  Dane  Felyp"), 
who  was  admitted  2  cal.  Aug.  1298,  and 


De  Brunne,  however,  is  not  a  mere  trans- 
lator. He  generally  amplifies  the  moral 
precepts  of  his  original ;  introduces  occa- 


56 


ROBERT  DE   BRUNNE. 


[SECT.  ii. 


the  seven  deadly  sms,  which  are  illustrated  with  many  legendary 
stories.  This  is  the  title  of  the  translator :  "  Here  bygyrmeth  the  boke 
that  men  clepyn  in  Frenshe  MANUEL  PECIIE,  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  '. 

For  lewde  u  men  y  vndyrtoke 

On  Englysshe  tunge  to  make  thys  boke  : 

For  many  ben  of  swyche  manere 

That  talys  and  rymys  wyl  blethly  w  here, 

Yn  gamys  &  festys,  &  at  the  ale  x 

Loue  men  to  lestene  troteuale  y :  &c. 

To  alle  Cry  sty  n  men  vndir  sunne-i 

And  to  gode  men  of  Brunne ; 

And  speciali  alle  be  name 

The  felaushepe  of  Symprynghame  *, 

Roberde  of  Brunne  greteth  pw, 

In  al  godenesse  that  may  to  prow  a. 

Of  Brymwake  yn  Kesteuene  b 

Syxe  myle  besyde  Sympryngham  euene, 


sional  illustrations  of  his  own,  (as  in  the 
case  of  Groseteste  cited  in  the  text ;)  and 
sometimes  avails  himself  of  Wadigton's 
Latin  authorities,  where  these  are  more 
copious  or  circumstantial  than  their  French 
copyist.  Wadigton's  work,  according  to 
M.  de  la  R,ue,  (Archaeologia,  vol.  xiv.)  is 
a  free  translation  of  a  Latin  poem  called 
Floretus ;  by  some  ascribed  to  St.  Ber- 
nard, and  by  others  to  Pope  Clement. 
This  I  have  not  been  able  to  meet  with  ; 
but  the  following  lines  which  De  Brunne 
extracted  from  the  "Latin  Boke,"  may 
either  confirm  this  opinion  or  lead  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  true  source. 

Equitabat  Bevo  per  silvam  frondosam, 
Ducebat  secum  Merswyndam  formosam, 

Quid  stamus  ?  cur  non  imus  ? 
By  the  leved  wode  rode  Bevolyne, 
Wyth  hym  he  ledde  feyre  Merswyne, 

Why  stond  we  ?  why  go  we  noght  ? 

[The  Latin  lines  quoted  by  Brunne,  to- 
gether with  the  entire  story,  were  bor- 
rowed by  him  from  the  Latin  Legend  of 
St.  Edith,  composed  by  Goscelin,  an  unique 
copy  of  which  occurs  among  Rawlinson's 
MSS.  in  the  Bodleian  library,  No.  1027. 
The  story  only  forms  one  of  the  numerous 
episodes  in  Mannyng's  work,  which  are 
not  found  in  the  original  French  text. — M.] 

[TheHarleianMS.  No.  273  of  the  "Ma- 
nuel de  Peches,"  calls  the  author  William 
de  Windingdon ;  but  this  part  of  the  manu- 


script is  written  by  a  comparatively  recent 
and  careless  hand. — No.  4657.  reads  Wa- 
digton,  but  perhaps  we  should  read  Wa- 
dington. — PRICE.]  t 

[We  should  certainly  read  Wadington, 
as  confirmed  by  the  reading  of  many 
excellent  MSS.  I  have  seen.  See  the 
Abbe  de  la  Rue's  enlarged  article  on  this 
Anglo-Norman  poet,  in  the  third  volume 
of  his  work  "  Sur  les  Bardes,  Jougleurs, 
et  Trouveres,"  pp.  225-233.— M.] 

t  fol.  la.          u  laymen,  illiterate. 

w  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  Ale,  &c. 
Again,  fol.  1  b. 

...Foughten  at  the  Ale 

In  glotony,  godwote,  &c. 
Chaucer  mentions  an  AlestaJce,  Prol.  v. 
669.     Perhaps,  a  May-pole.     And  in  the 
Plowman's  Tale,  p.  185.  Urr.  edit.  v.  21 10. 

And  the  chief  chantours  at  the  nale. 

y  truth  and  all.  [Nonsense,  trifles,  ti- 
tivillitia. — M.] 

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 


SECT.  II.]  ROBERT  DE  BRUNNE.  5j 

Y  dwelled  yn  the  pryorye 

Fyftene  3  ere  yn  cumpanye, 

In  the  tyme  of  gode  Dane  Jone 

Of  Camelton  that  now  ys  gone  ; 

In  hys  tyme  was  y  there  ten  ^eres 

And  knewe  and  herde  of  hys  maneres  ; 

Sythyn  with  Dane  Jone  of  Clyntone, 

Fyue  wyntyr  wyth  hym  gan  y  wone  ; 

Dane  Felyp  was  maystyr  that  tyme 

That  y  began  thys  Englysshe  ryme ; 

The  ^eres  of  grace  fyl c  than  to  be 

A  thousynd  &  thre  hundred  &  thre. 

In  that  tyme  turnede  y  thys 

On  Englysshe  tunge  out  of  Frankys.  * 

From  the  work  itself  I  am  chiefly  induced  to  give  the  following  spe- 
cimen, as  it  contains  an  anecdote  relating  to  bishop  Grosthead  his 
author,  who  will  again  be  mentioned,  and  on  that  account 

Y  shal  sow  telle  as  y  haue  herde 

Of  the  bysshope  seynt  Roberde, 

Hys  tonamed  ys  Grostest 

Of  Lynkolne,  so  seyth  the  gest. 

He  louede  moche  to  here  the  harpe, 

For  mannys  wytte  hyt  makyth  sharpe. 

Next  hys  chaumber,  besyde  hys  stody, 

Hys  harpers  chaumbre  was  fast  therby. 

Many  tymes,  be  ny^tys  and  dayys, 

He  hade  solace  of  notes  and  layys. 

One  askede  hym  onys  resun  why 

He  hadde  delyte  in  mynstralsy  ? 

He  answered  hym  on  thys  manere 

Why  he  helde  the  harper  so  dere. 

"  The  vertu  of  the  harpe,  thurghe  skylle  &  ry$t, 

Wyl  destroye  the  fendes6  my^t ; 

And  to  the  croys  by  gode  skylle 

Ys  the  harpe  lykened  weyle. — - 

Tharefor,  gode  men,  }e  shul  lere, 

Whan  36  any  glemenf  here, 

To  wurschep  Gode  at  ^oure  powere, 

As  Dauyde  seyth  yn  the  sautere?. 

a  story  of  three  monks  of  Lyndesay,  ibid.  d  surname.  See  Rob.  Br.  Chron.  p.  168. 

p.  80.  "  Thei  cald  hi  this  toname,"  &c.  Fr.  "Est 

[The  county  of  Lincoln  is  divided  into  surnomez,"  &c. 

the  hundreds  of  Lindsey  and  Kesteven.—  e  fiend's ;  the  Devil's. 

PARK.]  f  harpers ;  minstrels. 

c  fell.             *  MS.  Harl.  fol.  1.  B  psalter. 


58 


ROBERT  DE  BRUNNE. 


[SECT.  ii. 


Yn  harpe,  yn  thabour,  and  symphan  gleh 
Wurschepe  Gode  in  troumpes  and  sautre ; 
Yn  cordys,  an  organes,  and  bellys  ryngyng, 
Yn  al  these  wurschepe  $e  heuene  kyng,"  &C.1 

But  Robert  de  Brunne's  largest  work  is  a  metrical  chronicle  of  En- 
glandk.  The  former  part,  from  ^Eneas  to  the  deatli  of  Cadwallader,  is 
translated  from  an  old  French  poet  called  MAISTER  WAGE  or  GASSE, 
who  manifestly  copied  Geoffry  of  Mon mouth1,  in  a  poem  commonly 


*  Chaucer  R.  Sir  Thop.  v.  3321.  Urr. 
edit.  p.  135. 

Here  wonnith  the  queene  of  Fairie, 
With  harpe,  and  pipe,  and  Simpkonie. 

*  fol.  30  b.    [MS.  Harl.  fol.  32.]    There 
is  an  old  Latin  song  in  "  Burton's  Melan- 
choly," which  I  find  in  this  manuscript 
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  Pro- 
logue, 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  year  1338.  Rob.  Gloucest.  Pref.  p. 
59.  It  appears  that  our  author  was  edu- 
cated and  graduated  at  Cambridge,  from 
Chron.  p.  337. 

[Only  one  perfect  MS.  of  this  Chronicle 
is  known  to  exist,  which  is  preserved  in 
the  Inner  Temple  library  ;  but  there  is  a 
modernized  and  abridged  copy  of  the  fif- 
teenth century  among  the  Lambeth  MSS. 
No.  131.— M.] 

1  [This  erroneous  account  of  Wace  and 
his  writings,  has  been  copied  from  the 
statements  of  Fauchet  and  others,  who 
have  multiplied  his  person,  and  con- 
founded his  writings  with  the  most  unpa- 
ralleled absurdity.  Whether  written  Eu- 
stace, Eustache,  Wistace,  Huistace,  Vace, 
Gasse,  or  Gace,the  name  through  all  its  dis- 
guises is  intended  for  one  and  the  same 
person,  Wace  of  Jersey.  Mr.  Tyrwhitt  was 
the  first  to  rescue  this  ingenious  writer  from 
the  errors  which  had  gathered  round  his 
name ;  and  M.  de  la  Rue  has  fully  establish- 
ed his  rights,  by  supplying  us  with  an  au- 
thentic catalogue  of  his  works,  and  exhibit- 
ing their  importance  both  to  the  historian 
and  antiquary.  De  Brunne  was  induced  to 
follow  the  Brut  d'Angleterre  in  the  first 
part  of  his  Chronicle,  from  the  copious- 
ness of  its  details  upon  British  history. 
But  the  continuation  noticed  in  the  text 
was  the  production  of  Geoffri  Gaimar,  a 
poet  rather  anterior  to  Wace;  and  is 
supposed  to  have  formed  a  part  of  a  larger 


work  on  English  and  Norman  history. 
Le  Roman  de  Ron,  or  the  history  of  Rollo 
first  duke  of  Normandy,  is  another  of 
Wace's  works :  and  Les  Vies  des  Dues  de 
Normandie,  which  is  brought  down  to  the 
sixth  year  of  Henry  I.,  a  third.  But  the 
reader  who  is  desirous  of  further  informa- 
tion on  this  subject,  is  referred  to  the  12th, 
13th,  and  14th  volumes  of  the  "Archaeo- 
logia,"  where  he  will  find  a  brief  but  able 
outline  of  the  history  of  Anglo-Norman 
poetry,  by  M.  de  la  Rue.  By  omitting 
the  passages  inclosed  within  brackets,  and 
substituting  the  name  of  Geoffri  Gaimar 
for  Robert  Wace,  and  the  year  1146  for 
1160,  Warton's  text  will  be  made  to  can- 
cel its  errors. — PRICE.] 

[See  "  Notice  sur  les  Ecrits  et  la  Vie 
de  Robert  Wace,  par  F.  Pluquet,  1824." 
Part  of  Geoffri  Gaimar,  of  the  continuation 
of  the  Brut  d'Angleterre,  of  the  chronicle 
of  Benoit  de  Sainte  More,  and  of  other 
chronicles,  have  been  lately  (1836)  pub- 
lished at  Rouen,  in  the  first  volume  of 
"  Chroniques  Anglo-Normands."  La3a- 
mon's  translation  of  Wace  is  in  pro- 
gress of  publication  by  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries of  London.  The  whole  of  Benoit 
de  Sainte  More  and  of  the  Brut  d'Angle- 
terre  are  in  similar  progress  at  Paris  and 
Rouen.  Wace's  Roman  de  Rou  was  pub- 
lished with  notes  at  Rouen  in  1827  ;  and  a 
translation  of  that  part  of  it  which  relates 
to  William  the  Conqueror  and  the  con- 
quest of  England,  with  copious  notes,  has 
been  published  in  London  by  Mr.  Edgar 
Taylor,  under  the  title  of  "  Master  Wace, 
his  Chronicle  of  the  Norman  Conquest," 
1837."— R.  T.] 

In  the  British  Museum  there  is  a  frag- 
ment of  a  poem  in  very  old  French  verse, 
a  romantic  history  of  England,  drawn 
from  Geoffry  of  Monmouth,  perhaps  be- 
fore the  year  1200.  MSS.  Harl.  1605.  1. 
f.  1.  Cod.  membran.  4to.  In  the  manu- 
script library  of  Doctor  N.  Johnston  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. 
[Probably  the  same  as  that  printed  by  Hit- 
son  in  his  Metrical  Romances,  vol.  ii.  p.  270, 


SECT.  II.] 


WAGE'S  ROMAN  DE  ROU. 


entitled  ROMAN  DBS  Rois  D'ANGLETERRE.  It  is  esteemed  one  of  the 
oldest  of  the  French  romances ;  and  [begun  to  be]  written  [by  Eu- 
stace, 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™.  This  romance  was  soon  afterwards  continued  to  William 
Rufus,  by  Geoffri  Gaimar,  [Robert  Waco  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  DE  Rou  ET  LES  VIES 
DBS  Dues  DE  NORMANDIE,  yet  sometimes  preserving  its  original  one,] 
in  the  year  1 146  [ 1 160 "] .  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  Brittaigne0"  That  is,  from  the  Latin 


of  which  there  are  several  other  copies  in 
existence. — M.]  And  in  that  of  Basil 
lord  Denbigh,  a  metrical  history  in  En- 
glish,  from  the  same  period  to  Henry  the 
Third.  Wanlcy  supposed  it  to  have  been 
of  the  handwriting  of  the  time  of  Edward 
the  Fourth. 

m  The  BRUT  OF  ENGLAND,  a  prose 
Chronicle  of  England,  sometimes  conti- 
nued as  low  as  Henry  the  Sixth,  is  a  com- 
mon manuscript.  It  was  at  first  trans- 
lated 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 
Fruclus  Temporum.  (The  Chronicles  of 
England.)  [The  first  edition  by  Caxton, 
1480,  is  entitled  The  Crony des  of  En- 
gland, reprinted  by  Machlinia,  .<?.  a.  and  G. 
de  Leew,  1493.  In  1483  appeared  the 
Fructus  Temporum,  printed  at  St.  Alban's, 
which  consists  of  a  reprint  (or  very  nearly 
so)  of  Caxton's  text,  with  the  addition  of 
a  general  history  prefixed,  and  additional 
chapters  of  popes  and  emperors.  This  lat- 
ter was  reprinted  by  W.  de  Worde,  Jul.  No- 
tary, and  Pynson,  with  slight  alterations. 
— M.]  [Herbert  says  he  had  found  the 
Fructus  Temporum  printed  at  St.  Alban's, 
also  by  Julian  Notary  and  W.  de  Worde, 
but  not  by  Caxton. — MS.  note.]  The 
French  have  a  famous  antient  prose  ro- 
mance called  BRUT,  which  includes  the 
history  of  the  Sangreal.  I  know  not  v\  he- 
ther  it  is  exactly  the  same.  In  an  old  me- 
trical romance,  ThestoryofRoLLO,  there  is 
this  passage.  MS.  Vernon,Bibl.Bodl.f.  124. 
Lordus  3if  36  wol  lusten  to  me, 
Of  Croteye  the  nobile  citee — 
As  writen  i  fynde  in  his  storye 
Of  BRUIT  the  cronicle,  &c. 
In  the  British  Museum  we  have  Le  petit 
Bruit,  compiled  by  Meistre  Raufe  de 
Bonn,  and  ending  with  the  death  of  Ed- 


ward the  First.  MSS.  Harl.  902.  f.  1. 
Cod.  chart,  fol.  It  is  an  abridgement  of 
the  grand  BRUT.  [This  Chronicle  was 
compiled  by  Boun  for  the  Earl  of  Lincoln 
in  1310,  and  is  a  collection  of  historical 
notices  chiefly  derived  from  apocryphal 
sources,  having  but  little  or  no  connexion 
with  the  Brut.  See  Preface  to  Havelok, 
p.  xx. — M.]  In  the  same  library  I  find 
Liber  de  BRUTO  et  de  gestis  Anglornm 
melrificat us ,  (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  Peck- 
ward  is  said  to  be  the  versifier.  MSS.  ib. 
2386.  23.  f.  35.  [This  is  not  correct.  At 
the  end  of  the  MS.  is  "q'd  Pecward," 
which  only  means  that  he  was  the  trans- 
criber.— M.]  In  another  manuscript  the 
grand  BRUT  is  said  to  be  translated  from 
the  French  by  "  John  Maundeuile  par- 
son of  Brunham  Thorpe."  MSS.  ibid. 
2279.  3.  [By  the  grand  Brut  Warton 
means  the  old  English  prose  chronicle, 
which,  from  being  printed  and  continued 
by  Caxton,  is  oflen  falsely  called  by  his 
name.  See  its  history  more  at  large  in  my 
Preface  to  Havelok,  pp.  xxv — xxviii. — M.J 

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.  Ca- 
tal.  Manuscr.  ii.  p.  1669.  See  also  M, 
Galland,  Mem.  Lit.  Hi.  p.  426.  8vo. 

0  3  A  xxi.  3.  [Only  a  portion  of  this 
is  Wace's  Brut. — M.]  It  occurs  again,  4. 
C  xi.  "  Histoire  d'Angleterre  en  vers, 
par  Maistre  Wace."  I  cannot  help  cor- 
recting a  mistake  into  which  both  Wanley 
and  bishop  Nicholson  have  fallen,  with 
regard  to  this  Wace.  In  the  Cotton  li- 
brary, a  Saxo-Norman  manuscript  occurs 


60 


ROBERT  DE  BRUNNE. 


[SECT.  II. 


prose  histoiy  of  Geoffiy  of  Monmouth.  And  that  master  Wace  aimed 
only  at  the  merit  of  a  translator,  appears  from  his  exordial  verses. 

Maistre  Gasse  l'a  translate 

Que  en  conte  le  verite. 

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

[Although  this  romance,  in  its  antient  and  early  manuscripts,  has 
constantly  passed  under  the  name  of  its  finisher,  Wace  ;  yet  the  accu- 
rate Fauchet  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,  pre- 
served in  the  treasury  of  the  cathedral  of  Bayeuxq,  and  lately  engraved 
and  explained  in  the  learned  Doctor  Ducarel's  Anglo-Norman  ANTI- 


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  L^amon,  a  priest, 
born  at  Ernly  on  Severn.  He  says,  that 
he  had  his  original  from  the  book  of  a 
French  clergyman,  named  Wate  ;  which 
book  Wate  the  author  had  presented  to 
Eleanor,  queen  of  Henry  the  Second.  So 
La^amon  in  the  preface.  "  Boc  he  nom 
the  thridde,  leide  ther  atnidden :  tha 
makede  a  frenchis  clerc:  Wate  (Wate) 
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  [Cale- 
nius. — M.]  archdeacon  of  Oxford;  both 
Wanley  and  Nicholson  suppose  that  the 
Wate  mentioned  by  La3amon  is  Walter 
Mapes.  Whereas  La3amon  undoubtedly 
means  Wace,  perhaps  written  or  called 
Wate,  author  of  LE  ROMAN  DE  Rou 
above  mentioned.  Nor  is  the  Saxon  t  (t) 
perfectly  distinguishable  from  c.  See 
Wanley's  Catali  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.  [The  MS.  reads 
Wace  very  distinctly,  and  not  Wate. — M.] 
[It  is  not  said  by  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth 
that  he  received  his  original  from  Walter 
Mapes  (who  probably  was  not  born  at  the 
time),  but  from  Walter  archdeacon  of 
Oxford,  i.  e.  Walter  Calenius,  who  has 
more  than  once  been  confounded  with 
Mapes,  who  was  also  archdeacon  of  Ox- 
ford. Mr.  Warton  has  fallen  into  another 
mistake,  which  he  confers  on  Nicolson, 


who  only  supposes  Wate  to  be  Walter,  and 
not  Walter  Mapes. — DOUCE.] 

p  Rec.  p.  82.  edit. 1581. 

q  Mons.Lancelot,Mem.  Litviii.  602. 4to. 
And  see  Hist.  Acad.  Inscript.  xiii.41.  4to. 

[M.  de  la  Rue  has  advanced  some  very 
satisfactory  reasons  for  supposing  this  ta- 
pestry to  have  been  made  by,  or  wrought 
under  the  direction  of,  the  empress  Ma- 
tilda, who  died  in  the  year  1167.  (See 
Archaeologia,  vol.  xviii.)  It  was  evidently 
sent  to  Bayeux  at  a  period  subsequent  to 
the  death  of  its  projector ;  at  whose  demise 
it  was  left  in  an  unfinished  state.  Wace 
probably  never  saw  it.  At  all  events  could 
it  be  proved  that  he  did,  he  disdained  to 
use  it  in  his  "  History  of  the  Irruption  of 
the  Normans  into  England,"  his  only  work 
where  it  could  have  assisted  him  ;  since  his 
narrative  is  at  variance  with  the  represen- 
tations this  monument  contains. — PRICE.] 

[The  tapestry,  which  is  now  in  the 
hotel  de  ville  of  Bayeux,  has  since  been 
correctly  copied  by  Mr.  Stothard,  (aided  by 
the  munificent  liberality  of  Mr.  Hudson 
Gurney,)  and  engraved  and  published  by 
the  Society  of  Antiquaries ;  and  the  greater 
part  of  it  is  used  for  the  illustrations  of  Mr. 
Edgar  Taylor's  "Chronicle  of  the  Norman 
Conquest."  See  further  as  to  the  history 
and  age  of  the  tapestry  and  the  fallacies 
of  M.  de  la  Rue,  several  subsequent  Papers 
in  the  Archaeologia,  Mr.  Sharon  Turner's 
History,Mr.  Dawson  Turner's  Letters  from 
Normandy,  Dr.  Dibdin's  Tour,  the  French 
Translation  of  Ducarel,  and  The  Chronicle 
of  the  Norman  Conquest.  The  discre- 
pancies between  Wace  and  the  tapestry 


SECT.  II.] 


THE  BRUT  OF  ENGLAND. 


QUITIES.  Lord  Lyttelton  has  quoted  this  romance,  and  shewn  that 
important  facts  and  curious  illustrations  of  history  may  be  drawn  from 
such  obsolete  but  authentic  resources1". 

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  36  wille  listene  and  lere, 

All  the  story  of  Inglande, 

Als  Robert  Mannyng  wryten  it  fand, 

And  on  Inglysch  has  it  schewed, 

Not  for  the  lerid  bot  for  the  lewed ; 

For  tho  that  in  this  land  wonn 

That  the  Latyn  no  Frankys  conn, 

For  to  haf  solace  and  gamen 

In  felawschip  when  thai  sitt  samen ; 

And  it  is  wisdom  forto  wytten 

The  state  of  the  land,  an  haf  it  wryten, 

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  mast  quantyse  ; 

And  whylk  did  wrong,  and  whilk  ryght, 

And  whilk  mayntend  pes  and  fyght. 

Of  thare  dedes  salle  be  my  sawe, 

In  what  tyme,  and  of  what  law, 

I  sail  }ow  schewe  fro  gre  to  gre, 

Sen  the  tyme  of  Sir  Noe : 

Fro  Noe  unto  Eneas, 

And  what  betwixt  tham  was, 


are  not  so  obvious  as  Mr.  Price  seems  to 
have  assumed  in  the  preceding  note ;  nor 
does  there  seem  to  be  any  proof  of  the 
disdain  which  he  supposes.  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  in  his  History  of  England, 
vol.  i.  p.  174,  appears  not  duly  to  value 
Wace  as  an  historian.  Though  his  work  is 
styled  a  romance,  it  is  evident,  that  with  re- 
gard to  his  own  times  and  the  period  im- 
mediately preceding,  he  professed  to  aim 
at  a  scrupulously  exact  narration  of  events. 

N'en  voil  por  verite  la  menchonge  afermer. 

Roman  de  Rou,  vol.  i.  p.  107. 
A  jugleors  oi  en  m'effance  chanter 
KeWillamejadis  fist  Osmont  essorber,  &c. 

Ne  sai  noient  de  50,  n'en  poir  noient  trover; 
Quant  jo  n'en  ai  garant,  n'en  voil  noient 
conter.  p.  107. 


E  jo  en  escript  ai  trove, 
Ne  sai  dire  s'est  verite 
Ke  il  i  ont  treis  mille  nes. 

Rom.  de  Rou,  vol.  ii.  p.  145. 
Maiz  jo  o'i  dire  a  mon  pere, 
Bienm'en  sovint,  maiz  varlet  ere.     145. 

It  appears  from  such  passages  that  he 
not  only  mentions  his  sources  of  informa- 
tion, but  states  when  he  considers  them 
doubtful. — R.T.]  [See  also  an  Essay  lately 
printed  for  private  circulation  by  Bolton 
Corney,  Esq.,  intitled  "Researches  and 
Conjectures  on  the  Bayeux  Tapestry,"  in 
which  it  is  argued  that  the  tapestry  was 
not  given  by  the  empress  Matilda,  but 
executed  for  the  Chapter  of  Bayeux  at 
their  own  expense. — M.] 

r  Hist.  Hen.  II.  vol.iii.  p.  180. 


62  ROBERT  DE  BRUNNE.  [SECT.  II. 

And  fro  Eneas  tille  Brutus  tyme, 

That  kynde  he  telles  in  this  ryme. 

Fro  Brutus  to  Cadwaladres, 

The  last  Bryton  that  this  lande  lees. 

Alle  that  kynde  and  alle  the  frute 

That  come  of  Brutus  that  is  the  Brute  ; 

And  the  ryght  Brute  is  told  nomore 

Than  the  Brytons  tyme  wore. 

After  the  Bretons  the  Inglis  camen, 

The  lordschip  of  this  lande  thai  namen ; 

South,  and  north,  west,  and  est, 

That  calle  men  now  the  Inglis  gest. 

When  thai  first  amang  the  Bretons, 

That  now  ere  Inglis  than  were  Saxons, 

Saxons  Iiiglis  hight  alle  oliche. 

Thai  aryued  up  at  Sandwyche, 

In  the  kynges  tyme  Vortogerne 

That  the  lande  walde  tham  not  werne,  &c. 

One  mayster  WAGE  the  Frankes  telles 

The  Brute  alle  that  the  Latyn  spelles, 

Fro  Eneas  tille  Cadwaladre,  &c. 

And  ryght  as  rnayster  Wace  says, 

I  telle  myne  Inglis  the  same  ways,  &c.8 

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  trans- 
lator. This  is  mentioned  in  the  Prologue  preceding  the  second  part : 

Frankis  spech  is  cald  romance*, 

So  sais  clerkes  and  men  of  France. 

Pers  of  Langtoft,  a  chanon 

Of  the  hous  of  Bridlyngtoii 

On  Frankis  stile  this  storie  wrote 

Of  Inglis  kynges,  &c.u 
As  Langtoft  had  written  his  French  poem  in  Alexandrines w,  the 

8  Hearne's  edit.  Pref.  p.  98.  This  that  I  have  said  it  is  Pers  sawe 

1  The  Latin  tongue  ceased  to  be  spoken  Als  he  in  Romance  laid  thereafter  gan  I 

in  France  about  the  ninth  century ;  and  drawe. 

was  succeeded  by  what  was  called  the  See  Chauc.  Rom.  R.  v.  2170.  Also  Ba- 

ROMANCE  tongue,  a  mixture  of  Frankiah  lades,  p.  554.  v.  508.  Urr.  And  Crescimb. 

and  bad  Latin.    Hence  the  first  poems  in  Istor.  della  Volg.Poes.  vol.  i.  L.  v.  p.  316. 

that  language  are  called  ROMANS  or  Ro-  seq.     [On  Warton's  error  in  regard  to  the 

MANTS.    Essay  on  POPE,  p.  281.    In  the  Romance  tongue,  see  Mr.  Price's  note  in 

following    passages    of    this    Chronicle,  p.  3. — R.  T.] 

where  Robert  de  Brunne  mentions  Ro-  n  Hearne's  edit.  Pref.  p.  106. 

MANCE,  he  sometimes  means  Langtoft's  w  Some  are  printed  by  Hollinsh.  Hist. 

French  book,  from  which  he  translated ;  iii.  469.  Others  by  Hearne,  Chron.  Langt. 

viz.  Chron.  p.  205.  Pref.  p.  58.  and  in  the  margin  of  the 


SECT.  II.]  THE  BRUT  OF  ENGLAND.  63 

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  us  this  dialogue  between  Merlin's  mother  and  king  Vortigern, 
from  Master  Wace: 

"  Dame,  said  the  kyng,  welcom  be  thou : 

Nedeli  at  the  I  mot  witte  how  * 

Who  than  gate?  thi  sone  Merlyn 

And  on  what  maner  was  he  thin  ?" 

His  moder  stode  a  throwe2  and  thouht 

Are  schoa  to  the  kyng  ansuerd  ouht: 

When  scho  had  standen  a  litelle  wight b, 

Scho  said,  "  bi  Jhesu  in  Mari  light, 

That  I  ne  sauh  hym  neuer  ne  knewe 

That  this  knauec  on  me  sewed. 

Ne  I  wist,  ne  I  ne  herd, 

What  maner  schap  with  me  so  ferde. 

But  this  thing  am  I  wele  ograuntf, 

That  I  was  of  elde  auenaunt& ; 

One  come  to  my  bed  I  wist, 

With  force  he  me  halsedh  and  kist: 

Als'  a  man  I  him  felte, 

&  als  a  man  he  me  weltek ; 

Als  a  man  he  spak  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  ?e  defend  wele  that  pas 
With  archers m  and  with  magnels", 
&  kepe  wele  the  kirnels ; 

pages  of  the  Chronicle.    [A  large  frag-  repairs  of  Taunton  castle,   1266.   Comp. 

ment,  including  the  history  from  William  J.  Gerneys,  Episc.  Wint.      "  TANTONIA. 

the  Conqueror  to  Henry  the   First,   has  Expense  domorum.     In  mercede  Cemen- 

been  printed  by  M.  Francisque  Michel,  in  tarii  pro  muro  erigendo  juxta  turrim  ex 

the  first  volume  of  his  Chroniques  Anglo-  parte  orientali  cum  Kernellis  et  Arche- 

Normandes,  Rouen,  1836. — W.]  riis  faciendis,   xvi.s.  vi.  d."       In  Archiv. 

x  "  I  must  by  all  means  know  of  you."  Wolves,  apud  Wint.    Kernells  mentioned 

y  begot.  z  awhile.  here  and  in  the  next  verse  were  much 

a  ere  she.  b  whit,  while.  the  same  thing :  or  perhaps  Battlements. 

c  child.  d  begot.  In  repairs  of  the  great  hall  at  Wolvesey- 

e  lay  [fared.  Ritson].         f  assured.  palace,  I  find,  "In  kyrnillis  emptis   ad 

B  "  I  was  then  young  and  beautiful."  idem,  xii.  d."     Ibid.     There  is  a  patent 

[of  a  fit  age.  Ritson.]  granted  to  the   monks   of  Abingdon,  in 

h  embraced,     'as.      k  wielded,  moved.  Berkshire,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 

1  ApudHearne'sGl.  Rob.  Glouc.  p.  721.  Third,  "Pro   kernellatione  monasterii." 

m  Not  Bowmen,  but  apertures  in  the  Pat.  an.  4.  par.  1. 

wall  for  shooting  arrows.    Viz.  In    the          n  Cotgrave  has  interpreted  this  word, 


64 


ROBERT  DE  BRUNNE. 


[SECT.  II. 


Ther  may  $e  bothe  schotc  and  cast ; 

Waxes  bold,  and  fend  you  fast. 

Thinkes  $our  faders  wan  franchise, 

Be  $e  no  more  in  other  seruise : 

Bot  frely  lyf  to  ^our  lyues  end  : 

We  wille  fro  ?ow  for  euer  wende.0 

Vortigern,  king  of  the  Britons,  is  thus  described  meeting  the  beau- 
tiful princess  Rouwen,  daughter  of  Hengist,  the  Rosamond  of  the 
Saxon  ages,  at  a  feast  of  wassaile.  It  is  a  curious  picture  of  the  gal- 
lantry of  the  times : 

Hengest  that  day  did  his  might, 

That  alle  were  glad,  king  &  knight, 


an  old-fashioned  sling.  V.  MANGONEAU. 
Viz.  Rot.  Pip.  An.  4  Hen.  III.  [A.D.  1219.] 
*'  NORDHANT.  Et  in  expensis  regis  in  ob- 
sidione  castri  de  Rockingham,  lOO/.per  Br. 
Reg.  Et  custodibus  ingeniorum  [engines] 
regis  ad  ea  carianda  usque  Bisham,  ad  ca- 
strum  illud  obsidendum,  13s.  Wd.  per  id. 
Br.  Reg.  E t  pro  duobus  coriis,  emptis  apud 
Northampton  ad  fundas  petrariarum  et 
mangonellorum  regis  faciendas,  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  man- 
gonellos  in  eodem  castro,  7s.  lid." — Rot. 
Pip.  5  Hen.  III.  (A.D.  1220.)  "  DEVONS. 
Etin  custopositoinl.petrariaet  ll.man- 
gonellis  cariatis  a  Nottingham  usque  Bis- 
ham, et  in  eisdem  reductis  a  Bisham  us- 
que Notingham,  71.  4s." 

[See  infr.  p.  67.  MANGONEL  also  sig- 
nified what  was  thrown  from  the  machine 
so  called.  Thus  Froissart:  "Etavoient 
les  Brabancons  de  tres  grans  engins  de- 
vant  la  ville,  qui  gettoient  pierres  de  faix 
et  mangoneaux  jusques  en  la  ville."  Liv. 
iii.  c.  118.  And  in  the  old  French  OVIDE 
cited  by  Borel,  TRESOR.  in  v. 

Onques  pour  une  tor  abatre, 
Ne  oit  on  Mangoniaux  descendre 
Plus  briement  ne  du  ciel  destendre 
Foudre  pour  abatre  un  clocher. 

ADDITIONS.] 

Chaucer  mentions  both  Mangonels  and 
Kyrnils,  in  a  castle  in  the  Romaunt  of  the 
Rose,  v.  4195.  6279.  Also  archers,  \.  e.  ar- 
cherta,  v.  4 1 9 1 .  So  in  the  French  Roman 
de  la  Rose,  v.  3945. 

Vous  puissiez  bien  les  Mangonneaulx, 

Veoir  la  par-dessus  les  Creneaulx. 

Et  aux  archieres  de  la  Tour 

Sont  arbalestres  tout  entour. 
Archieres  occur  often  in  this  poem.  Chau- 
cer, in  translating  the  above  passage,  has 
introduced  guns,  which  were  not  known 
when  the  original  was  written,  v.  4191. 
[Vide  supra,  p.  43.] 


[The  use  of  artillery,  however,  is  proved 
by  a  curious  passage  in  Petrarch  to  be 
older  than  the  period  to  which  it  has  been 
commonly  referred.  The  passage  is  in  Pe- 
trarch's book  De  REMEDIIS  UTRIUSQUE 
FORTUNE,  undoubtedly  written  before 
the  year  1334.  "  G.  Habeo  machinas  et 
balistas.  R.  Mirum,  nisi  et  glandes  aeneas, 
quae  flammis  injectis  horrisono  sonitu  ja- 
ciuntur. — Erat  haec  pestis  nuper  rara,  ut 
cum  ingenti  miraculo  cerneretur:  nunc, 
ut  rerum  pessimarum  dociles  sunt  ani- 
mi,  ita  communis  est,  ut  quodlibet  genus 
armorum."  Lib.  i.  DIAL.  99.  See  Mu- 
ratori,  ANTIQUITAT.  Med.  ^Ev.  torn.  ii. 
col.  514.  Cannons  are  supposed  to  have 
been  first  used  by  the  English  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Cressy,  in  the  year  1346.  It  is  ex- 
traordinary that  Froissart,  who  minutely 
describes  that  battle,  and  is  fond  of  deco- 
rating his  narrative  with  wonders,  should 
have  wholly  omitted  this  circumstance. 
Musquets  are  recited  as  a  weapon  of  the 
infantry  so  early  as  the  year  1475.  "  Qui- 
libet  peditum  habeat  balistam  vel  bom- 
bardam."  LIT.  Casimiri  III.  an.  1475. 
LEG.  POLON.  torn.  i.  p.  228.  These  are 
generally  assigned  to  the  year  1520. — 
ADDITIONS.] 

I  am  of  opinion,  that  some  of  the  great 
military  battering  engines,  so  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  histories  and  other 
writings  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.  torn.  ii.  p.  117. 
These  expeditions  into  the  East  un- 
doubtedly 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  won- 
derful machines  which  he  had  read  in  the 
Crusade  historians,  particularly  Wilhel- 
mus  Tyrensis.  [See  Weber's  note  on  1. 
3268.  of  the  Romance  ofKyng  Alisaunder, 
vol.  iii.  p.  306. — M.] 

0  Gloss.  Rob.  Glouc.  p.  664. 


SECT.  II.]  THE  BRUT  OF  ENGLAND.  65 

And  as  thei  were  best  in  glading, 
And  wele  cop-schotinP  knight  &  king, 
Of  chambir  Rouewen  so  gent 
Before  the  king  in  halle  scho  went. 
A  coupe  with  wyne  sche  had  in  hand, 
And  hir  hatir*1  was  wele  farandr. 
Before  the  king  on  kne  sett, 
And  on  hir  langage  scho  him  grett. 

"  Lauerid8  king,  Wassaille,"  seid  sche. 
The  king  askid,  what  suid  be. 
On  that  langage  the  king  ne  couthe*. 
A  knight  theru  langage  lerid"  in  ^outhe. 
Bre$  hiht*  that  knight,  born  Bretoun, 
That  lerid  the  langage  of  Sessoun*. 
This  Bre$  was  the  latimer*, 
What  scho  said  told  Vortager. 
"  Sir,  Bre$  seid,  Rowen  $ow  gretis, 
&  king  callis  &  lord  $ow  letisa. 
This  es  ther  custom  &  ther  gest, 
Whan  thei  are  at  the  ale  or  fest. 
Ilk  man  that  louis  qware  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, 
Kissandh  his  felaw  he  giues  it  vp. 

p  "  Sending  about  the  cups  apace.    Ca-  We  find  it  in   Froissart,  torn.  iv.  c.  87. 

rousing  briskly."  q  attire.  And   in   other    antient   French    writers. 

r  very  rich  [very  becoming. — ELLIS].  In  the  old  Norman  poem  on  the  subject 

s  lord.        e  was  not  skilled.       u  their.  of   king   Dermod's   expulsion    from   his 

w  learned.      *  was  called.      y  Saxons.  kingdom    of    Ireland,   in   the    Lambeth 

*  For  Latiner,  or  Latinier,  an  Inter-  library,  it  seems  more  properly  to  signify, 

prefer.     Thus,  in  the  Romance  of  KING  in   a   limited  sense,  the  king's  domestic 

RICHARD,  hereafter  cited  at  large,  Sala-  SECRETARY. 

din's    Latimer  at   the   siege  of  Babylon  „ 

proclaims  a  truce  to  the  Christian  army  Par  son  <^«»«  LATINIER 

from  the  walls  of  the  city.    Signat.  M.  i.  Que  mO1  COnta  de  lu?  1  hlst°lre>  &C' 

The  LATEMERE  tho  tourned  his  eye  See  lord  Lyttelton's  Hist.  Hen.  II.  vol.  iv. 

To  that  other  syde  of  the  toune,     '  APP-  P-  27°-     We  might  here  render  »' 

And  cryed  trues  with  gret  soune.  literally  his  Latinist,  an  officer  retained 

by  the  king  to  draw  up  the  public  instru- 

In  which  sense  the  French  word  occurs  ments  in  Latin.    As  in  DOMESDAI-BOOK. 

m  the  Roman  de  GARIN.    MSS.     Bibl.  «  Godwinus  accipitrarius,  Hugo  LATINA- 

Reg.  Paris,  num.  7542.  RIUS>  Milo  portarius."   MS.  Excerpt,  pe- 

LATIMER  fu,  si  sot  parler  Roman,  nes  me.  But  in  both  the  last  instances  the 

Englois,  Gallois,  et  Breton,  et  Norman.  word  may  bear  its  more  general  and  exten- 

And  again,  sive  signification.  Camden  explains  LATI- 

Un  LATINIER  vieil,  ferant  et  henu  MER  by  interpreter.  Rem.  p.  158.  See  also 

Molt  sot  de  plet,  et  molt  entresnie  fu.  P-  15.  L  edlt-  16<4- 

[Latimer  must  be  a  corrupt  mode   of 

And  in  the  manuscript  Roman  de  Rou,  spelling)  and  wouidseem  to  owe  its  origin 

which  will  again  be  mentioned  :  to  erroneous  copies  where  the  scribe  had 

L'archevesque  Tranches  a  Jumeges  ala,  taken  ni  for  m. — W.] 

A  Rou,  eta  sa  gent  par  LATINIER  parla.  *  esteems.                     b  kissing. 

VOL.  I.  F 


66  ROBERT  DE  BRUNNE.  [SECT.  II 

Drinheille,  he  sais,  and  drinks  ther  of, 
Kissand  him  in  bourd  &  skof c." 
The  king  said,  as  the  knight  gan  kend, 
Drinkheille,  smiland  on  Rouevven. 
Rouwen  drank  as  hire  list, 
£  gaue  the  king,  sine6  him  kist. 
There  was  the  first  wassaille  in  dede, 
&  that  first  of  fame  $edef. 
Of  that  wassaille  men  told  grete  tale, 
&  wassaille  whan  thei  were  at  ale. 
&  drinkheille  to  tham  that  drank, 
Thus  was  wassaille  tanes  to  thank. 
•  Fele  sithesh  that  maidin  ^ing*, 

Wassailed  &  kist  the  king. 
Of  bodi  sche  was  right  auenantk, 
Of  fair  colour,  with  swete  semblaunt1. 
Hir  hatire"1  fulle  wele  it  semid, 
Meruelik"  the  king  sche  quemid0. 
Oute  of  messure  was  he  glad, 
For  of  that  maidin  he  wex  alle  mad. 
Drunkenes  the  feend  wroght, 
Of  that  paen  P  was  al  his  thoght. 
A  meschaunche  that  time  him  led. 
He  asked  that  paen  for  to  wed. 
Hengist  wild  not  draw  a  lite**, 
Bot  graunted  him  alle  so  tite. 
&  Hors  his  brother  consentid  sone. 
Hir  frendis  said,  it  were  to  done. 
Thei  asked  the  king  to  gife  hir  Kent, 
In  douary  to  take  of  rent. 
Opon  that  maidin  his  hert  so  cast, 
That  thei  askid  the  king  made  fast. 
I  wene  the  king  toke  hir  that  day, 
&  wedded  hire  on  paiens  layr. 
Of  prest  was  ther  no  benison8, 
No  mes  songen,  no  orison. 
In  seisine  he  had  her  that  night. 
Of  Kent  he  gaue  Hengist  the  right. 
The  erelle  that  time,  that  Kent  alle  held, 
Sir  Goragon,  that  had  the  scheld, 


sport,  joke.         d  to  signify  [shew]. 

since,  afterwards. 

went.  K  taken. 

'  many  times.  '  young. 

handsome,  gracefully  shaped,  Sic. 

countenance  [appearance — ELLIS].  thenish  custom." 

m  attire.  s  benediction,  blessing. 


marvellously. 

pleased. 

pagan,  heathen. 

"would  not  fly  off  a  bit." 

"in  pagan  law;  according  to  the  hea- 


SECT.  II.]  THE  BRUT  OF  ENGLAND.  67 

Of  that  gift  no  thing  ne  wist1 

Tou  he  was  cast  oute  withv  Hengist.w 

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

The  dikes  were  fulle  wide  that  closed  the  castelle  about, 

And  depe  on  ilk  a  side,  with  bankis  hie  without. 

Was  ther  non  entre  that  to  the  castelle  gan  ligge", 

Bot  a  streiht  kauce?;  at  the  end  a  drauht-brigge, 

With  grete  duble  cheynes  drauhen  ouer  the  gate, 

And  fifti  armed  sueynes*  porters  at  that  $ate. 

With  slenges  &  magnelesa  thei  kastb  to  kyng  Ry chard, 

Our  cristen  by  parcelles  kasted  ageynward. 

Ten  sergeaunz  of  the  best  his  targe  gan  him  berec, 

That  egre  wer  &  prest  to  couere  hym  &  to  wered. 

Himself  as  a  geaunt  the  cheynes  in  tuo  hew, 

The  targe  was  his  warante,  that  non  tille  him  threw. 

Right  vnto  the  ^ate  with  the  targe  thei  $ede, 

Fightand  on  a  gate,  vndir  him  the  slouh  his  stede: 

Therfor  ne  wild  he  sesse f;   alone  into  the  castele 

Thorgh  tham  all  wild  presse  ;  on  fote  fauht  he  fulle  wele, 

&  whan  he  was  withinne,  &  fauht  as  a  wilde  leon, 

He  fondred  the  Sarazins  otuynne  &,  &  fauht  as  a  dragon. 

Without  the  Cristen  gan  crie,  Alias  !  Richard  is  taken, 

Tho  Normans  were  sorie,  of  contenance  gan  blaken. 

To  slo  doun  &  to  stroye  neuer  wild  thei  stint, 

Thei  left  for  dede  no  noyeh,  ne  for  no  wound  no  dynt, 

That  in  went  alle  ther  pres,  maugre  the  Sarazins  alle, 

&  fond  Richard  on  des  fightand,  &  wonne  the  halle.1 

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  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  apologize  for  these  deficiencies  in  the  prologue ;  as  he  had  partly 
done  before  in  his  prologue  to  the  MANUAL  OF  SINS. 

knew  not.              u  till.              v  by.  d  ward,  defend. 

Hearne's  GI.  Rob.  Glo.  p.  695.  e  guard,  defence, 

lying.                      y  causey.  *  "he  would  not  cease." 

swains,  young  men,  soldiers.  g"he   formed   the  Saracens   into   two 

mangonels.  Vid.  supr.  p.  63.      b  cast.  parties."  ['Pondered'  (explained  forced  in 

In  Langtoft' s  French,  Hearne's  Glossary)  is  perhaps  a  mistake 

Dis  seriauntz  des  plus  feres  e  de  melz  of  the  transcriber  for  sondered,  i.  e.  sun- 

variez,  dered,  separated.— ELLIS.] 

Devaunt  le  cors  le  reis  sa  targe   ount  h  annoyance. 

portez."  *  Chron.  p.  182.  183. 

F-2 


ROBERT  DE  BRUNNE. 


[SECT.IF. 


I  mad  noght  for  no  disours  k, 
Ne  for  no  seggers,  no  harpoura, 
Bot  for  the  luf  of  symple  men, 
That  strange  Ing! is  can  not  ken ' : 
For  many  it  ere  m  that  strange  Inglis 
In  ryme  wate  n  neuer  what  it  is. 
— I  made  it  not  for  to  be  praysed, 
Bot  at  the  lewed  men  were  aysed  °. 

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

If  it  were  made  in  ryme  couwee, 
Or  in  strangers  or  enterlac^  &c.  * 

He  adds,  that  the  old  stories  of  chivalry  had  been  so  disguised  by 
foreign  terms,  by  additions  and  alterations,  that  they  were  now  become 


k  tale-tellers,  Narratores,  Lat.  Conte- 
ours,  Fr.  Seggers  in  the  next  line  per- 
haps means  the  same  thing,  i.  e.  Sayers, — 
the  writers  either  of  metrical  or  of  prose 
romances.  See  Antholog.  Fran.  p.  17. 
1765.  Svo.  Or  Disours  may  signify  Dis- 
course, i.  e.  adventures  in  prose.  We 
have  the  "  Devil's  disours,"  in  P.  Plow- 
man, fol.  xxxi.  b.  edit.  1550.  Dis&ur pre- 
cisely 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  em- 
peror. 

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. 

1  know.  m  it  ere,  there  are. 

n  knew.  °  eased. 

*  [The  rhymes  here  called,  by  Robert 
de  Brunne,  Couwee,  and  Enterlacee,  were 
undoubtedly  derived  from  the  Latin  rhy~ 
mers  of  that  age,  who  used  versus  caudati 
et  interlaqueati.  Brunne  here  professes 
to  avoid  these  elegancies  of  composition, 
yet  he  has  intermixed  many  passages  in 
Rime  Couwee.  See  his  CHRONICLE,  p. 
266.  273,  &c.  &c.  And  almost  all  the 
latter  part  of  his  work  from  ihe  Conquest 
is  written  in  Rime  Enterlacee,  each  cou- 
plet rhyming  in  the  middle  as  well  as  the 
end.  As  thus,  MSS.  HARL.  1002. 
Plausus  Graecorum  |  lux  csecis  et  via 

claudis  | 

Incola  caelorum  |  virgo  dignissima  laudis. 
The  rhyme  Baston  had  its  appellation 
from  Robert  Baston,  a  celebrated  Latin 
rhymer  about  the  year  1315.  The  rhyme 


Sir  anger  e  means  uncommon.  See  CAN- 
TERBURY. TALES,  vol.  iv.  p.  72  seq.  ut 
infir.  The  reader  curious  on  this  subject 
may  receive  further  information  from  a 
manuscript  in  the  Bodleian  library,  in 
which  are  specimens  of  METRA  Leoninat 
cristata,  cornuta,  reciproca,  &c.  MSS. 
LAUD.  K  3.  4to.  In  the  same  library 
there  is  a  very  antient  manuscript  copy 
of  Aldhelm's  Latin  poem  De  Virginitate 
et  Laude  Sanctorum,  written  about  the 
year  700,  and  given  by  Thomas  Allen, 
with  Saxon  glosses,  and  the  text  almost 
in  semi-saxon  characters.  These  are  the 
two  first  verses : 
Metrica  tyrones  nunc  promant  carmina 

casti, 
Et  laudem  capiat  quadrate  carmine  Virgo. 

Langbaine,  in  reciting  this  manuscript, 
thus  explains  the  quadratum  carmen.  "SciL 
prima  cujusque  versus  litera,  per  Acrosti- 
chidem,  conficit  versum  ilium  Metrica 
tyrones.  Ultima  cujusque  versus  litera, 
ab  ultimo  carmine  ordine  retrograde  nu- 
merando,  hunc  versum  facit : 
"  Metrica  tyrones  nunc  promant  carmina 

casti." 

(Langb.  MSS.  v.  p.  126.)  MSS.  DIGS. 
146.  There  is  a  very  antient  tract,  by 
one  Mico,  I  believe  'called  aho  LEVITA, 
on  Prosody,  De  Quantitate  Syllabarum, 
with  examples  from  the  Latin  Poets,  per- 
haps the  first  work  of  the  kind.  Bibl. 
Bodl.  MSS.  Bodl.  A  7.  9.  See  J.  L. 
Hocker's  CATAL.  MSS.  Bibl.  Heidelb. 
p.  24.  who  recites  a  part  of  Mice's  Pre- 
face, in  which  he  appears  to  have  been  a 
grammatical  teacher  of  youth.  See  also 
Dacheri  SPICILEG.  torn.  ii.  p.  300  b.  edit, 
ult. — ADDITIONS.] 

[The   "  ryme  couwee"  (versus  caudati) 


SECT.  II.] 


GESTS  AND  JESTOURS. 


69 


unintelligible  to  a  common  audience :  and  particularly,  that  the  tale  of 
SIR  TRISTREM  *,  the  noblest  of  all,  was  much  changed  from  the  ori- 
ginal composition  of  its  first  author  THOMAS. 

I  see  in  song  in  sedgeying  tale  * 

Of  Erceldoune,  &  of  Kendale, 

Non  tham  says  as  thai  tliam  wroght  1, 

&  in  ther  sayng  r  it  semes  noght ; 

That  may  thou  here  in  Sir  Tristrem  s, 

Ouer  gestes  *  it  has  the  steem  a, 

Ouer  alle  that  is  or  was, 

If  men  yt  sayd  as  made  Thomas. — 

Thai  sayd  in  so  quante  Inglis, 

That  manyone  w  wate  not  what  it  is. — 

And  forsoth  I  couth  noght 

So  strange  Inglis  as  thai  wroght. 

was  mere  common  final  rhyme.  In  an 
early  tract  on  metres  (12th  cent.)  printed 
in  the  Altdeutsche  Blatter  by  Drs.  Haupt 
and  Hoffmann,  we  have  separate1  examples 
of  this  rhyme  Iboth  in  heroic  and  elegiac 
verse  : — •"  Caudati  dicuntur  si  duorum 
pariter  vel  trium  aut  omnium  finis  recta 
consonancia  concordat,  hoc  modo  : — 


Cum  rubei  pandis  concepti  luminis  iram 
Traiciam    [i.«.  Threiciam]    digitis  fac 
resonare  liram. 

instrumenta  solent  alios  mulcere  canora: 
Mensirafcanimis  frangiturabsque  mora." 

And  again  : — "  Caudati  sunt  quorum  ter- 
minationes  binis  vel  trinis  vel  certe  om- 
nibus concorditer  statuuntur,hoc  modo: — 

Grata   camena  veni,  cordis  mei  concipe 

verba : 

Nam  parili  voto  viridi  residemus  in  herba. 
Laudibus  eximiis  Didmari  facta  notemus, 
Et  studio  celebri  bona  nos  ad  metra  pa- 

remus." — W.] 

*  [See  Note  at  the  end  of  this  Section, 
p.  95]. 

p  "  among  the  romances  that  are  sung, 
&c." 

q  "  none  recite  them  as  they  were  first 
written." 

T  "  as  they  tell  them." 

*  "  this  you  may  see,  &c." 

*  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  Home,  a  very  old  me- 
trical Romance.    MSS.  Harl.  2253.  p.  70. 
Also  in  the  Prologue  of  Rychard  Cuer  de 
Lyon. 

King  Richard  is  the  best 
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  Famcj 
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.  [passus  10] 
Job  the  gentyl  in  his  jestes,  greatly  wyt- 

nesseth, 

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.  Chansons  de 
geste  were  common  in  France  in  the 
thirteenth  century  among  the  trouba- 
dours. See  Mem.  concernant  les  princi- 
paux  monumens  de  1'Histoire  de  France, 
Mem.  Lit.  xv.  p.  582 ;  by  the  very 
learned  and  ingenious  M.  de  la  Curne 
de  Sainte  Palaye.  [Not  among  the  trou- 
badours, but  among  the  trouveres.  The 
Chansons  de  geste  were  the  poems  upon 
the  feats  of  the  earlier  Prankish  monarchs, 
and  therefore  their  title  makes  nothing 
for  Warton's  argument. — W.]  I  add  the 
two  first  lines  of  a  manuscript  entitled, 
Art  de  Kalender  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  Passionis  et  Resur- 
rectionis  Christi,  in  many  manuscript  li- 
braries. 

u  esteem.  w  many  a  one. 


ERCELDOUNB  AND  KENDAL. 


[SECT.  11 


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  un- 
derstood. 

And  men  besoght  me  many  a  time 

To  turne  it  bot  in  light  ryme. 

Thai  sayd  if  I  in  strange  it  turne, 

To  here  it  manyon  suld  skurne  *, 

For  it  ere  names  fulle  selcouthe y, 

That  ere  not  vsed  now  in  mouth. — 

In  the  hous  of  Sixille  I  was  a  throwe  z  ; 

Danz  Robert  of  Maltone  a,  that  ^e  know, 

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  [writers  of]  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  Prophe- 
cies, like  those  of  Merlin.  Leland,  from  the  Scala  Chronicon  °,  says 
that  "William  Banastred,  and  Thomas  Erceldoune,  spoke  words  yn 

have  been  the  work  of  John  Gray,  an 
eminent  churchman,  about  the  year  1212. 
ft  begins,  in  the  usual  form,  with  the 
creation  of  the  world,  passes  on  to  Brutus, 
and  closes  with  Edward  the  Third. 

[This  chronicle  has  been  printed  by  the 
Bannatyne  Club,  from  the  period  of  the 
Conquest  to  the  termination  in  1362,  un- 
der the  editorial  care  of  Joseph  Stevenson, 
Esq.,  4to.  Edinb.  1836.  In  the  Preface 
may  be  found  collected  together  every- 
thing known  respecting  the  author,  who 
was  Sir  Thomas  Gray  of  Heton,  Knight. 
-1L] 

A  One  Gilbert  Banestre  was  a  poet  and 
musician.  The  Prophesies  of  Banister 
of  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  brievr-d 
in  his  book  and  Banester  also."  p.  18. 
He  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  Brid- 
lington, who  wrote  three  books  of  Car- 
miiia  Vaticinalia,  in  which  he  pretends  to 
foretell  many  accidents  that  should  happen 
to  England.  MSS.  Digb.  Bibl.  Bodl.  89, 
and  186.  There  are  also  Verms  Vatici- 
nates under  his  name,  MSS.  Bodl.  NE. 
E.  ii.  17.  f.  21.  He  died,  aged  sixty,  in 
1379.  He  was  canonized.  There  arc 
many  other  Prophetiee,  which  seem  to 
have  been  fashionable  at  this  time,  bound 
up  with  Bridlington  in  MSS.  Digb.  18<5. 


*  scorn. 

y  strange.  *  a  while. 

a  "  Sir  Robert  of  Malton."  It  appears 
from  hence  that  he  was  born  at  Malton  in 
Lincolnshire.  [No ;  it  means  that  Ro- 
bert of  Malton  caused  the  work  to  be 
written.  S«e  note,  p.  66.  and  Pref.  to 
Havelok.— M.] 

b  Pref.  Rob.  Glouc.  p.  57.  58. 

*  [I  am  enabled  to  throw  a  faint  ray 
of  light  on  Kendale,  and  to  supply  his 
Christian  aame,  from  a  passage   in   the 
inedited  portion  of  Robert  of  Brun tie's 
Chronicle,    which  escaped   the   eyes    of 
Hearne : 

Long  after  tha  [this]  writen  I  fond, 
How  a  Breton  chalanged  th*  lond  ;, 
Engle  the  story  sais  he  hight, 
He  brouht  a  champion  to  fight. 
Skardyng  hight  th*  champion,  &c. 
Th*  Skardyng  was  ferly  strong, 
Als  a  giant  grete  &  long,  £c. 
Whan  Engle  had  the  lond  thorgh, 
He  gaf  Skardyng  Skarburgh  ; 
Toward  the  north,  bi  the  se  side, 
A  hauen  it  is,  schippes  in  to  ride. 
Flayn  was  his  brother,  50  sais  a  tale, 
Tin  Thomas  mad  of  Kendale. 

fol.  85.  c.  2.— M.] 

c  An  antient  French  history  or  Chro- 
nicle 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  pro- 
bably written  or  reduced  by  Thomas 
Gray  into  prose.  Londinens.  Antiquitat. 
Cant.  lib.  i.  p.  38.  Others  affirm  it  to 


SECT.  II.]  ERCELDOUNE  AND  KENDAL.  fl 

figure  as  were  the  prophecies  of  Merlin e."  In  the  library  of  Lincoln 
cathedral,  there  is  a  metrical  romance  entitled,  TOMAS  OF  ERSSEL- 
DOUNE  *,  which  begins  with  the  usual  address, 

Lystyns,  lordynges  bothe  grete  and  smale. 

In  the  Bodleian  library,  among  the  theological  works  of  John  Lawern, 
monk  of  Worcester,  and  studentf  in  theology  at  Oxford  about  the  year 
1 448,  written  with  his  own  hand,  a  fragment  of  an  English  poem  oc- 
curs, which  begins  thus : 

Joly  chepert  [shepherd]  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&."  This  was  pro- 
bably our  prophesier  Thomas  of  Erceldoun.  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  Leir- 
mouth,  or  Rymer,  was  also  a  prophetic  bard,  and  lived  at  Erslingtoun, 
sometimes  perhaps  pronounced  Erseldoun.  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  Scot- 
land with  England,  about  the  year  12791.  Fordun  mentions  several 
of  his  prophecies  concerning  the  future  state  of  Scotland  k. 

Our  author,  Robert  de  Brunne,  also  translated  into  English  rhymes 

*  Ubi  supr.  p.  510.  Joly  chepte  of  Aschell  downe 

*  [Another  copy  is  preserved  at  Cam-  Can  more  on  love  than  al  the  town." 
bridge,  a  transcript  from  which  has  been  PRICE.] 
published  by  Mr.  Jamieson  in  his  Popular  [Ritson  could  make  out  no  more  for 
Ballads  and  Songs.    The  various  readings  the  best  possible  reason,   because   there 
of  the   Lincoln  MS.   are   there  given. —  are  no  more  to  make  out,  the  leaf  having 
PRICE.]  [The  Cambridge  MS.(Bibl.  Publ.  been  here  torn  off.    See  a  communication 
Ff.  5.  48.)  is  apparently  of  the  reign  of  by  me  to  the  Gent's  Mag.  in  June,  1825. 
Edward  II.,  and  contains  by  far  the  best,  It  remains  to  be  added,  that  this  ballad 
as  well  as  the  most  antient  text  of  this  has  not  the  most  remote  reference  to  the 
poem;   but  it  has  been   transcribed  and  Rhymer  of  Erceldoune. — M.] 

printed  by  Jamieson  in  a  wretchedly  in-  B  MSS.  Harl.  2253.  f.  127.     It  begins 

correct  manner,  so  as  actually  in  one  in-  thus  : 

stance  to  introduce  the  word  fairy  where  when  man             d       fc             f               d 

the  original  has  a  word  totally  different 

-W.]    [A  portion  of  this  poem  had  been  When            .g  leuere  Qther  m(mes 

previously  printed  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  m  then  .g  owen> 

his  Border  Minstrelsy,  vol.  n.  p.  275.  ed. 

1803.     from   a   fragment  in    the  Cotton  [Printed  in  Pinkerton's  Ancient  Scottish 

Collection,  VITELL.  E.  x.  and  since  the  Poems,  p.  Ixxviii.  8vo.  Lond.   1786.  and, 

publication  of  Jamieson's  work,  Mr.  Laing  more    accurately,   in    Laing,    Anc.    Pup. 

has    printed  it  entire  from   the   Lincoln  Poetr.  Append. — M.] 

MS.  in  his  "Ancient  Popular  Poetry  of  h  Ancient  Scots  Poems,  Edinb.   1770. 

Scotland"  4to.  1822. — M.]  12mo.  p.  194.     See  the  ingenious  editor's 

f  [Doctor. — M.]  notes,  p.  312. 

f  MSS.  Bodl.  692.  fol.  l  See  Scotch  Prophesies,  ut  supr.  p.  19. 

[Mr.    Ritson    has    said    of    this    poem  11.    13.    18.    36.    viz.    The   Prophesy    of 

that    "  it   was   found   impracticable    [by  Thomas  Rymer,  Pr.  "  Stille  on  my  wayes 

him]  to  make  out  more  than  the  first  two  as  I  went." 

lines: —  k  Lib.  x.  cap.  43.  41.  I  think  he  is  also 


?2  BISHOP  GROSTHEAD.  [SECT.  II. 

the  treatise  of  cardinal  Bonaventura,his  cotemporary !,  De  Ccena  etPas- 
sione  Domini  et  Pcenis  S.  Marice  Virginis,  with  the  following  title : 
"  Medytacyuns  of  the  Soper  of  our  Lorde  Jhesu,  and  also  of  hys 
Passytm,  and  eke  of  the  Peynes  of  hys  swete  Modyr  mayden  Marye, 
the  whyche  made  yn  Latyn  Bonaventure  Cardynalle m."  But  I  for- 
bear 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  na- 
turally 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. 

Robert  Grosthead  bishop  of  Lincoln11,  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  f.  Nor  is  it  quite  im- 
probable, if  the  translation  was  made  at  this  period,  that  the  trans- 
lator was  Robert  de  Brunne ;  especially  as  he  translated  another  of 
Grosthead's  pieces.  It  is  called  by  Leland  Chateau  a" Amour0.  But 
in  one  of  the  Bodleian  manuscripts  of  this  book  we  have  the  follow- 
ing title,  Romance  par  Mestre  Robert  Grosseteste  P.  In  another  it  is 

mentioned  by  Spotswood.  SeeDempst.  xi.  scripts.    To  an  old  English  religious  poem 

810.  on  the  Holy  Virgin,  we  find  the  following 

[See  the  Preface  to  Scott's  Sir  Trist>-em  title  :  Incipit  quidam  cantus  quern  compo- 

for  fuller  information  concerning  Thomas  suit  frater  Thomas  de    Hales  de   ordine 

the  Rhymer. — M.]  fratrum   minorum,    &c.     MSS.   Coll.   Jes. 

1  He  died   1272.     Many  of  Bonaven-  Oxon.    85.    [now   29. — M.]   supr.    citat. 

ture's  tracts  were  at  this  time  translated  But  this  is  the  title  of  our  friar's  original, 

into    English.     In  the    Harleian   manu-  a  Latin  hymn  de   B.  MARIA  VIRGINE, 

scripts   we    have,   "  The   Treatis  that   is  improperly    adopted  in  the    translation, 

kallid  Prickynge  of  Love,  made  bi  a  Frere  Thomas  de  Hales  was  a  Franciscan  friar, 

menour  Bonaventure,  that  was  Cardinall  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  flourished 

of  the    courte  of  Rome."    2254.  1.  f.  1.  about  the   year  1340.     [See  my  note,  p. 

This  book  belonged  to  Dame  Alys  Brain-  27.— M.]   We  shall  see  other  proofs  of  this, 

twat   "  the  worchypfull   prioras  of  Dart-  f  [Second  or  Third. — M.] 

forde."     This  is  not  an  uncommon  ma-  °  Script.  Brit.  p.  285. 

nuscript.  P  MSS.  Bodl.  NE.  D.  69. 

m  MSS.   Harl.  1701.  f.  84.     The   first  [It  has  been  shown  in  a  former  note, 

line  is,  that  Grosseteste's  claim  to  the  authorship 

Alle  myjty  god  yn  trynyte.  °f  tne   French   "  Manuel  de   Peches"- 

It  was  never  printed.  at  lfiast  to  tne  work  at  present  known  by 

*  [Warton    does    not    treat    Mannyng  that  name — is  extremely  doubtful.     The 

with  sufficient  justice.     As  a  smooth  and  following    extract    from    the    "Chateau 

easy    versifier,    with    an     extraordinary  d'Amour,"   ascribed   to   him    by    Leland 

power  of  imitating  the  metre  of  his  origi-  and    others,  will  render  his  title  to  the 

nals,  there  is  no  poet  previous  to  Chaucer  composition  of  any  poem  in  French  still 

his  equal ;  and  when  compared  with  Ham-  more  problematical : 

pole  and  Massyngton,  his  followers,  he  Ici  comence  un  escrit, 

rises  immeasurably  superior. — M.]  Ke  Seint  Robert  de  Nichole  fist. 

n  See  Diss.  ii.  —  The  author  and  trans-  Romanzc  de.  romanzc  est  apele, 

lator  are  often  thus  confounded  in  manu-  Tel  num  a  dreit  li  est  assigne  ; 


SECT.  II.]  BISHOP  GROSTHEAD.  73 

called,  Ce  est  la  vie  de  D.  Jh'u  de  sa  humanite,  fet  e  ordine  de  Saint 
Robert  Grosseteste,  kefut  eveque  de  Nichole  * :  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]  co- 
ram  CLERICIS  SAPOREM  SUAVITATIS  non  habeat,  tamen  pro  laicis, 
qui  minus  intelligunt  opusculum,  illud  aptum  est s."  This  piece  pro- 
fesses 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  reli- 
gious allegory,  and  under  the  ideas  of  chivalry  the  fundamental  ar- 
ticles of  Christian  belief  are  represented.  It  has  the  air  of  a  system  of 
divinity  written  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  ro- 
mance. The  poem  begins  with  these  lines  : 

Ki  pense  ben,  ben  peut  dire : 
Sanz  penser  ne  poet  suffire 
De  nul  bon  ovre  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  con- 
nected with  our  present  subject,  and  has  this  title :  "  Her  byginnet  a 
tretys  that  ys  yclept  CASTEL  OF  LOUE  that  biscop  Grostey^t  made 

Kar  de  ceo  livre  la  materie,  and  the  English  translator,  has  been  taken 

Est  estret  de  haut  cleregie,  from  the  following  passage  of  the  French 

E  pur  ceo  ke  il  passe  (surpasse)  altre  work  : 

romanz  En  un  chastel  bel  e  grant, 
Apele  est  romanz  de  romanz.  Bien  fourme  et  avenant, 
Les  chapitres  ben  conuz  serunt  Ceo  est  le  chastel  d'amour, 
Par  les  titres  ke  siverunt  E  de  solaz  e  de  socour. 
Les  titles  ne  voil  pas  rimer  Harl.  MS.  no.  1121. 
Kar  leur  matiere  ne  volt  suffVer.  wkh           d  to  Warton>s  conjecture,  that 
Primis  sera  le  prologe  mis  Robert  de  Brunne  was  the  author  of  the 
E  puz  les  titles  tuz ;  assis.  E     lish  versionj  it  can  Qnl     be  gaid  that 
MSS.  Reg.  20  B.  xiv.  the  internal  evidence  is  most  decidedly 
The  probability  is,  that  both  the  present  against  such  an  opinion. — PRICE.]     [See 
poem,  and  the  "  Manuel  de  Peches"  are  De  la  Rue,  Essais  sur  les  Bardes,  &c.  iii. 
founded  on   similar  works  of  Grosseteste  108. — M.j    [Price  rightly  observes  that  in- 
written  in  the  Latin  language;  and  that  ternal  evidence  is  against  Brunne's  author- 
the  transcribers,   either  from  ignorance,  shipof  this  translation.  Itis,infact,  in  adia- 
or  a  desire  of  giving  a  fictitious  value  to  lect  approximating  to  the  western.  R.G.] 
their   own   labours,    have    inscribed    his  qfl6.   Laud.  fol.  membran.    The  word 
name  upon  the  copies.      His  "  Templum  Nicole  is  perfectly   French,  for  Lincoln. 
Domini,"  a  copious  system  of  mystical  di-  See  likewise  MSS.  Bodl.  E  4.  14. 
vinity,  abounding  in  pious  raptures  and  r  In  the  hand-writing  of  the  poem  itself, 
scholastic  subtleties,   may   have   afforded  which  is  very  antient. 
the  materials  for  the  former  poem  ;  and  s  f.  1.     So  also  in  MSS.  C.  C.  C.  Oxon. 
his  treatise  "  De  sept,  vitiis  et  remediis"  232.    In  MSS.  Harl.  1121.  5.     "  [Ici  de- 
— if  we  except  the  Contes  devots  which  moustre]  Roberd  Grosseteste  evesque  de 
Wadington  may  have  gleaned  from  another  Nichole  un  tretis  en  Franceis,  del  corn- 
source — possibly   supplied    the    doctrines  mencement  du  monde,  £c."  f.  156.  Cod. 
of  the  latter.  The  title  adopted  by  Leland  membran. 


74  BISHOP  GROSTHEAD.  [SECT.  U. 

ywis  for  lewede  mennes  byhoue  V     Then  follows  the  prologue  or  in- 
troduction : 

That  good  thinketh  good  may  do, 

And  God  wol  helpe  him  ther  to  : 

For  nas  never  good  work  wrou}t 

With  oute  biginninge  of  good  thou^t. 

Ne  never  was  wrou^t  non  vuel u  thyng 

That  vuel  thou;t  nas  the  biginnyng. 

God  fader  and  sone  and  holigoste 

That  alle  thing  on  eorthe  sixt w  and  wost, 

That  one  God  art  and  thrillihod  * 

And  threo  persones  in  one  hod  *, 

Withouten  end  and  biginninge, 

To  whom  we  ou^ten  over  alle  thinge 

Worschepe  him  with  trewe  love, 

That  kineworthe  king  art  us  above, 

In  whom,  of  whom,  thorw  whom  beoth 

Alle  the  goodschipes  that  we  hire  iseoth, 

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  iboren  in  one  londe, 

Ne  one  speche  undirstonde, 

Ne  mowe  we  al  Latin  wite ", 

Ne  Ebreu  ne  Gru  a  that  beth  iwrite, 

Ne  French,  ne  this  other  spechen, 

That  me  mihte  in  worlde  sechen 

To  herie  God  our  derworthi  drihto  b, 

As  vch  mon  ou^te  with  all  his  mihte  ; 

Loft  song  syngen  to  God  jerne c, 

With  such  speche  as  he  con  lerne  : 

Ne  monnes  mouth  ne  be  idut 

Ne  his  ledene  d  ihud, 

To  serven  his  God  that  him  wrou^te, 

And  maade  al  the  worlde  of  nou^te. 

On  Englisch  I  chul  mi  resun  schowen 
For  him  that  con  not  iknowen 

1  Bibl.  Dodl.  MS.  Vernon,  f.  292.    This  chronicon,   MSS.    Harl.    1900   b.   f.  42. 

translation  was  never  printed :  and  is,  I  "  Aristotile's  bokes,  &c.  were  translated 

believe,  a  rare  manuscript.  out  of  grue  into  Latin.     Also  with  pray- 

u  well,  good,  [evidently  uvel,  i.  e.  evil.  ing  of  kyng  Charles  [the  Bald],  Johan 

— II.  G.]  Scott  translated  Denys  bookes  out  of  gru 

w  F.  hext.  highest  [seest].  into  Latyn." 

x  trinity.                      y  unity.  b  "  to  bless  [praise]  God  our  beloved 

*  understand.  lord." 

a  Greek.    In  John  Trevisas's  dialogue  c  earnestly, 

concerning  the  translation  of  the  Poly-  J  language. 


SECT.  II.]  CASTLE  OF  LOVE.  75 

Mouther  French  no  Latyn, 
On  Englisch  I  chulle  tellen  him 
Wherefor  the  world  was  iwroht, 
Ther  after  how  he  was  bi  tauht, 
Adam  vre  fader  to  ben  his, 
With  al  the  merthe  of  paradys, 
To  wonen  and  welden  to  such  ende, 
Til  that  he  scholde  to  hevene  wende ; 
And  hou  sone  he  hit  for-les, 
And  seththen  hou  for-bouht  wes, 
Thurw  the  he^e  kynges  sone, 
That  here  in  eorthe  wolde  come, 
For  his  sustren  that  were  to-boren, 
And  for  a  prison  that  was  for-loren, 
And  hou  he  made,  as  36  schal  heren, 
That  heo  icust  and  sauht  weren 
And  to  wuche  a  castel  he  alihte,  &c. 

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

God  nolde  alihte  in  none  manere 
But  in  feir  stude6  and  in  clere, 
In  feir  and  clene  siker  hit  wes 
Ther  God  almihti  his  in  chesf. 
In  a  CASTEL  well  comeliche, 
MucheS  and  feire,  and  loveliche, 
That  is  the  castell  of  alle  floure, 
Of  solas  and  of  socour ; 
In  the  mere  he  stont  bitwene  two, 
Ne  hath  he  forlak  for  no  fo : 
For  the  tourh  is  so  wel  with  oruten, 
So  depe  idiched  al  abouten, 
That  non  kunnes  asayling 
Ne  may  him  derven  for  no  thing. 
He  stont  on  hei$  rocke  and  sound, 
And  is  yplaned  to  the  ground, 
That  ther  may  won  non  vuel1  thing, 
Ne  derve  no  gynnes  castyng ; 
And  thauj  he  be  so  loveliche, 
He  is  so  dredful  and  hateliche, 
To  all  thulke  that  ben  his  fon, 
That  heo  flen  him  everichon  ; 
For  smal  toures  that  beth  abouten, 
To  witen  the  heije  toure  withouten. 

e  place.  h  La  tur  est  si  bien  enclos.  F r.  Orig* 

1  "  chose  his  habitation."        6  great.  *  vile,  [evil,  M.] 


76  BISHOP  GROSTHEAD.  [SECT.  II. 

Sethek  beoth  thre  bayles  withalle1, 
So  feir  idiht  with  strunge  walle, 
As  heo  beth  here  after  iwrite, 
Ne  may  no  man  the  feirschipe1"  iwite, 
Ne  [may]  no  tongue  ne  may  hit  telle, 
Ne  thou^t  thincke,  ne  mouthe  spelle : 
On  trusti  rocke  heo  stondeth  fast, 
And  with  depe  diches  bethe  bicast, 
And  the  camels"  so  stondeth  upright, 
Wei  iplaned,  and  feir  idight : 
Seven  barbicanes  ther  beth  iwrouht 
With  gret  ginne  al  bithouht0, 
And  everichon  hath  }at  and  toure, 
Ther  never  fayleth  no  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, 
That  to  the  rock  fast  lith. 
Wel  is  that  ther  murthe  isith, 
For  the  greneschip  lasteth  evere, 
And  his  heuh  ne  leoseth  nevere. 
Sethen  abouten  that  other  heu$ 
So  is  ynde  so  ys  blur, 
That  the  mid  el  heu}  we  clepeth  ariht, 
And  schyneth  so  faire  and  so  briht. 
The  thridde  heu}  an  ovemast 
Over  wri^eth  al,  and  so  ys  icast 
That  withinnen  and  withouten, 
The  castel  lihteth  al  abouten, 
And  is  raddore  than  eny  rose  schal 
That  shunneth  as  hit  barnd3  were*. 
Withinne  the  castel  is  whit  schinynge 
So"  the  snowe  that  is  snewynge, 
And  casteth  that  liht  so  wyde, 
Afterlong  the  tour  and  be  syde, 
That  never  cometh  ther  wo  ne  wou$, 
As  swetnesse  ther  is  ever  inouj. 

Tres  bailes  en  tour.  Fr.  Orig.  De  hors  depeint  a  envirun 

"  moreover  there  are  three,"  &c.  De  treis  culurs  diversement. 

1  beauty.  Fr.  Orig. 

kernels, — Kerneaus   bien   poll.     Fr.  T  Si  est  ynde  si  est  blu.   Fr.  Orig. 

Or  g.  s  burned,  on  fire. 

Pur  bon  engin  fait.  Fr.  Orig.  l    Plus  est  vermail  ke  nest  rose 
counsel  [grace].  E  piert  un  ardant  chose.  Fr.  Orig. 

La  chastel  est  a  bcl  bon  u  as. 


SECT.  II.]  CASTLE  OF  LOVE.  77 

Amydde"  the  heije  toure  is  springynge 
A  well  that  ever  is  eorninge* 
With  four  stremes  that  striketh  wel, 
.     And  erneth  upon  the  gravel, 

And  fulleth  the  diches  about  the  wal, 

Much  blisse  ther  is  over  al ; 

Ne  dar  he  seeke  non  other  leche 

That  mai  riht  of  this  water  eleche. 

In*  thulke  derworthi  faire  toure 

Ther  stont  a  trone  with  much  honour, 

Of  whit  y  vori  and  feirore  of  liht 

Than  the  someres  day  when  he  is  briht, 

With  cumpas  ithrowen  and  with  gin  al  ido 

Seven  steppes  ther  beoth  therto,  &c. 

The  foure  smale  toures  abouten, 

That  with  the  hei^e  tour  withouten, 

Four  had  thewes  that  about  hire  iseoth, 

Foure  vertus  cardinals  beoth,  &c. 

And*  which  beoth  threo  bayles  gret, 

That  with  the  camels  ben  so  wel  iset, 

And  icast  with  cumpas  and  walled  abouten 

That  waleth  the  heihe  tour  with  outen  : 

Bote  the  inmost  bayle  i  wote 

Bitokeneth  hire  holi  maydenhode,  &c. 

The  middle  bayle,  that  wite  }e, 

Bitokeneth  hire  holi  chastite, 

And  sethen  the  overmast  bayle 

Bitokeneth  hire  holi  sposaile,  &c. 

The  seven  kernels  abouten, 

That  with  greot  gin  beon  ywrou^t  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  sunne,  &c.b 

It  was  undoubtedly  a  great  impediment  to  the  cultivation  and  pro- 
gressive improvement  of  the  English  language  at  these  early  periods, 
that  the  best  authors  chose  to  write  in  French.  Many  of  Robert 

w  In  mi  la  tur  plus  hauteine  z    Les  treis  bailies  du  chastel 

Est  surdant  une  funtayne  Ki  sunt  overt  au  kernel 

Dunt  issent  quater  ruisselL  Qui  a  compas  sunt  envirun 

Kibruinet  par le gravel, &c.  Ft.  Orig.  E  defendent  le  dungun.  Fr.  Orig. 

3  Les  barbicanes  sect 

runnlnS-  Kis  hors  de  bailies  sunt  fait, 

y   En  cele  bel  tur  e  bone  Ki  bien  gardent  le  chastel, 

A  de  yvoire  un  trone  E  de  seete  e  de  quarrel.  Fr.  Orig. 

Ke  plusa  eissi  blanchor  h  Afterwards  the  fountain  is  explained 

Ci  en  mi  este  la  beau  jur  to  be  God's  grace  :   Charity  ia  constable 

Par  enginest  compassez,  &c.  Fr.Orig.  of  the  castle,  &c.  &c. 


BISHOP  GROSTHEAD. 


[SECT,  ii, 


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  CHA- 
TEAU 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  of  Bosham's  Latin  Life 
of  Thomas  Becket  into  French  rhymes0.  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 
JVativitate,  Passione,  et  Ascensione,Jhesu  Christid.  Various  other  proofs 
have  before  occurred.  Lord  Lyttelton  quotes  from  the  Lambeth  li- 
brary a  manuscript  poem  in  French  or  Norman  verse  on  the  subject  of 
king  Dermod's  expulsion  from  Ireland,  and  the  recovery  of  his  king- 
dom6. I  could  mention  many  others.  Anonymous  French  pieces  both 
in  prose  and  verse,  and  written  about  this  time,  are  innumerable  in  our 
manuscript  repositories f.  Yet  this  fashion  proceeded  rather  from  ne- 


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." 

[In  this  manuscript  the  whole  title  is 
this  :  "  Le  ROSSIGNOL,  ou  la  pensee  Je- 
han  de  Hovedene  clerc  la  roine  d'Engle- 
terre  mere  le  roi  Edward,  de  la  naissance 
et  de  la  mort  et  du  relievement  et  de  la- 
scension  Jesu  Crist,  et  de  lassumpcion 
notre  dame."  This  manuscript  was  writ- 
ten in  the  fourteenth  century. — ADDI- 
TIONS.] [See  supra,  Note  on  the  Lais  of 
Marie  de  France. — M.] 

Our  author,  John  Hoveden,  was  also 
skilled  in  sacred  music,  and  a  great  writer 
of  Latin  hymns.  -He  died,  and  was  bu- 
ried, at  Hoveden,  1275.  Pits.  p.  356. 
Bale,  v.  79. 

There  is  an  old  French  Metrical  Hfe  of 
Tobias,  which  the  author,  most  probably 
an  Englishman,  says  he  undertook  at  the 
request  of  William,  Prior  of  Kenllworth 
in  Warwickshire.  MSS.  Jes.  Coll.  Oxon. 
85.  supr.  citat.  f.  268  b. 

Li  prior  Gwilleyme  me  prie 
De  la  eglyse  seynte  Marie 
De  Kenylleworth  an  Arderne, 
Ki  porte  la  plus  haute  peyne 
De  charite,  ke  mil  eglyse 
Del  reaume  a  devyse, 
Ke  jeo  liz  en  romaunz  le  vie 
De  celuy  ki  out  nun  Tobie,  &c. 

*  Hist.  Hen.  II.  vol.  iv.  p.  270.  Notes. 


It  was  translated  into  prose  by  Sir  George 
Carew  in  Q.  Elizabeth's  time  :  this  trans- 
lation was  printed  by  Harris  in  his  Hi- 
BERNIA.  It  was  probably  written  about 
1190.  See  Ware,  p.  56.  And  compare 
Walpole's  Anecd.  Paint,  i.  28.  Notes. 
The  Lambeth  manuscript  seems  to  be  but 
a  fragment,  viz.  MSS.  Bibl.  Lamb.  Hib. 
A.  See  supr.  p.  65.  Note*.  [This  poem 
has  been  lately  edited  in  London  by  M. 
Francisque  Michel. — W.] 

*  [Among  the  learned  Englishmen  who 
now  wrote  in  French,  the  Editor  of  the 
CANTERBURY  TALES  mentions  Helis  de 
Guincestre,  or  WINCHESTER,  a  transla- 
tor of  CATO  into  French.  (See  vol.  ii. 
sect,  xxvii.)  And  Hue  de  Roteland,  au- 
thor of  the  Romance,  in  French  verse, 
called  Ipomedon,  MSS.  Cott.  VESP.  A  vii. 
The  latter  is  also  supposed  to  have  writ- 
ten a  French  Dialogue  in  metre,  MSS. 
Bodl.  3904.  [MS.  Fairfax,  24.]  Ceo  est 
la  pleinte  par  entre  mis  Sire  Henry  de 
Lacy  Counte  de  Nychole  [Lincoln]  et  Sire 
Wauter  de  Bybeleswort}/,  pur  la  croiseric. 
en  la  terre  seinte.  [There  is  more  reason 
to  believe  this  poem  to  have  been  written 
by  Walter  de  Biblesworth  than  by  Hue 
de  Roteland.  See  also  De  la  Rue,  vol.  ii. 
p.  285. — M.]  And  a  French  romantic 
poem  on  a  knight  called  CAPANKK, 
perhaps  Statius's  Capaneus.  MSS.  Cott. 
VESP.  A  vii.  ut  supr.  It  begins, 

Qui  bons  countes  viel  entendre. 

[See  "The  CANTERBURY  TALES  of 
CHAUCER.  To  which  are  added  An 
ESSAY  upon  his  LANGUAGE  and  VERSIFI- 


SECT.  II.]    FRENCH  ADOPTED  BY  AUTHORS  OF  THIS  PERIOD. 


cessity  and  a  principle  of  convenience,  than  from  affectation.  The  ver- 
nacular 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  pro- 
priety. 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  circumstance,  concurred  to  countenance  this  fashion- 
able 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  En- 
gland*. It  was  however  fortunate  that  these  French  pieces  were  writ- 
ten, as  some  of  them  met  with  their  translators :  who  perhaps  unable 
to  aspire  to  the  praise  of  original  writers,  at  least  by  this  means  contri- 
buted 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 


CATION,  an  INTRODUCTORY  DISCOURSE, 
and  NOTES.  Lond.  1775.  4  vol.  8vo." 
This  masterly  performance,  in  which  the 
author  has  displayed  great  taste,  judge- 
ment, sagacity,  and  the  most  familiar 
knowledge  of  those  books  which  pecu- 
liarly belong  to  the  province  of  a  com- 
mentator on  Chaucer,  did  not  appear  till 
more  than  half  of  my  second  volume  was 
printed. — ADDITIONS.] 

I  have  before  hinted  that  it  was  some, 
times  customary  to  intermix  Latin  with 
French.  As  thus.  MSS.  Harl.  2253. 
f.  137  b. 

Dieu  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  velud  lacinia, 

Le  dieu  d'amour  moi  tient  en  tie!  an- 
gustia,  &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,  oiez  eel  oreysoun, 
From  shome  thou  me  shilde,  e  de  ly  mal 
feloun  : 


For  loue  of  thine  childe   me  menez  de 

tresoun, 
Ich  wes  wod  &  wilde,  ore  su  en  prisoun, 

&c. 

In  the  same  manuscript  I  find  a  French 
poem  probably  written  by  an  Englishman, 
in  the  year  1300,  containing  the  ad- 
ventures of  Gilote  and  Johanne,  two  la- 
dies of  gallantry,  in  various  parts  of  En- 
gland and  Ireland,  particularly  at  Win- 
chester and  Pontefract.  f.  66  b.  The 
curious  reader  is  also  referred  to  a  French 
poem,  in  which  the  poet  supposes  that  a 
minstrel,/wg/<?o«r,  travelling  from  London, 
clothed  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  imper- 
tinent answers ;  and  at  last  presumes  to 
give  his  majesty  advice.  Ibid.  f.  107  b. 
[This  last  poem  was  privately  printed  by 
Sir  F.  Palgrave,  4to.  1818.  and  since  by 
the  Abbe  de  la  Rue,  in  his  Essais  stir  les 
Bardes,  &c.— M.] 

*  [It  is  very  certain  that  many  French 
poems  were  written  during  this  period  by 
Englishmen  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  se- 
veral were  also  composed  by  Normans. — 
DOUCE.]  [See  on  this  subject  the  Pre- 
face to  Havelok,  p.  xlvi. — M.J 


80 


MONKS  WRITE  FOR  THE  MINSTRELS.  [SECT.  II. 


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 8.  The  libraries  of  the  monasteries 
were  full  of  romances.  Bevis  of  Southampton,  in  French,  was  in  the 
library  of  the  abbey  of  Leicester11.  In  that  of  the  abbey  of  Glaston- 
bury,  we  find  Liber  de  Excidio  Trojce,  Gesta  Ricardi  Regis,  and 
Gesta  Alexandri  Regis,  in  the  year  124-71.  These  were  some  of  the 
most  favourite  subjects  of  romance,  as  I  shall  show  hereafter.  In  a 
catalogue  of  the  library  of  the  abbey  of  Peterborough  are  recited, 
Amys  and  Amelion*,  Sir  Tristram,  Guy  de  Burgoyne,  and  Gesta 
Otuelis1,  all  in  French  :  together  with  Merlin's  Prophecies,  Turpins 


8  Carew's  Surv.  Cornw.  p.  59.  edit,  ut 
supr.  I  suppose  Carew  means  the  me- 
trical Romance  of  GUY.  But  Bale  says 
that  Walter  wrote  Vitam  Guidonis,  which 
seems  to  imply  a  prose  history,  x.  78. 
Giraldus  Cambrensis  [Girardus  Cornubi- 
ensis.— M.]  also  wrote  Guy's  history. 
Hearne  has  printed  an  Historia  Guidonis 
de  Warwih,  Append,  ad  Annal.  de  Dun- 
staple,  num.  xi.  It  was  extracted  from 
Girald.  Cambrens.  Hist.  Reg.  West- Sax. 
capit.  xi.  by  Girardus  Cornubiensis.  [War- 
ton  makes  a  strange  blunder  here,  arising 
from  Tanner  having  written  by  inadver- 
tency Giraldi  for  Girardi.  The  Latin 
prose  fragment  printed  by  Hearne  is  ex- 
tracted "  ex  scriptis  Girardi  Cornubiensis 
in  libro  de  gestis  regum  Westsaxonum, 
cap.  xi."  and  the  name  of  Giraldus  Cam- 
brensis should  have  been  omitted.  See 
a  communication  of  mine  on  the  subject 
of  the  Romance  of  Guy,  in  the  Gent.'s 
Mag.  for  Dec.  1828. — M.]  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.  Here  gynneth  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  dili- 
gence, 
Of  them  that  were  in  Westsex  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  in  monasterio 
S.  Maries  de  Pratis  props  Lei/cestriam.  fol. 
132  b.  In  MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  Laud  I  75. 
This  catalogue  was  written  by  Will.  Cha- 
rite,  one  of  the  monks,  A.D.  1517.  fol.  139. 

[It  was  written  the  8th  year  of  king 
Henry  VII.,  and  the  whole  is  printed  in 
Nichols's  Hist,  of  Leicestershire,  vol.  i. 
pt.  2.  Append,  pp.  101— 108.— M.] 

1  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  Antiochise,  Gallice. 
legibilis."  ibid. 

k  The  same  Romance  is  in  MSS.  Harl. 
Brit.  Mus.  2386.  42. 

[The  Harl.  MS.  is  a  bad  copy  of  about 
one  half  of  the  poem.  This  Romance  was 
translated  into  German  verse  by  Conrad 
of  Wiirzburg,  who  flourished  about  the 
year  1300.  He  chose  to  name  the  heroes 
Engelhard  and  Engeldrud. — WEBER.] 

See  Du  Cang.  Gloss.  Lat.  i.  Ind.  Auc- 
tor.  p.  193.  There  is  an  old  manuscript 
French  MORALITY  on  this  subject,  Com- 
ment, Amille  tue  ses  deux  enfans  pour  guerir 
Amis  son  compagnon,  &c.  Beauchamps, 
Rech.  Theatr.  Fr.  p.  109.  There  is  a 
French  metrical  romance  Histoire  d'Amys 
et  Amilion,  Brit.  Mus.  MSS.  Reg.  12. 
C  xii.  9. 

[And  at  Bennet  college,  Num.  L.  i.  It 
begins, 

Ki  veut  oir  chaunf  oun  d'amur. 

ADDITIONS.] 

1  There  is  a  Romance  called  OTUEL, 
MSS,  Bibl.  Adv.  Edinb.  W  4. 1.  xxviii.  I 


SECT.  II.]     MONASTIC  LIBRARIES  FULL  OF  ROMANCES.  81 

Charlemagne,  and  the  Destruction  ofTroy™.  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  Trojce n.  In  the 
library  of  Windsor  college,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  were  dis- 
covered in  the  midst  of  missals,  psalters,  and  homilies,  Duo  libri  Gal- 
lici  de  Romances,  de  quibus  unus  liber  de  ROSE,  et  alius  difficilis 
matericB0.  This  is  the  language  of  the  king's  commissioners,  who 
searched  the  archives  of  the  college  :  the  first  of  these  two  French  ro- 
mances is  perhaps  John  de  Meun'sltoman  de  laRose.  A  friar  [parson] , 
in  Pierce  Plowman's  Visions,  is  said  to  be  much  better  acquainted  with 
the  "rimes  of  Robinhode  and  of Randal  [erle]  of  Chester"  than  with  his 
Pater-nosterP.  The  monks,  who  very  naturally  sought  all  opportunities 
of  amusement  in  their  retired  and  confined  situations,  were  fond  of  ad- 
mitting the  minstrels  to  their  festivals ;  and  were  hence  familiarized  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  ^.  It  was  not  deemed  an  occurrence  un- 
worthy to  be  recorded,  that  when  Adam  de  Orleton,  bishop  of  Win- 
chester, visited  his  cathedral  priory  of  Saint  Swithin  in  that  city,  a 
minstrel  named  Herbert  was  introduced,  who  sung  the  Song  of  Col- 
brand  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*"  In  an  annual  accompt-roll  of 

think  he  is  mentioned  in  Charlemagne's  earl  of  Warwick,  to  the  abbey  of  Bordes- 

story.    He  is  converted  to  Christianity  and  ley,  see  the  original  deed  printed  from  a 

marries  Charlemagne's  daughter.     [Ana-  manuscript  in  the  library  of  Lambeth  by 

lysed  by  Mr.  Ellis :  vol.  ii.  p.  324.]  Todd,  Illustrations  of  Gower  and  Chaucer, 

[The  "Roman de  Otinel,"  in  Montfaucon  p.  160,  and  given  more  correctly  and  com- 

Bibl.  Bibliothec.  p.  32,  is  probably  the  pletely  by   M.    Michel,   Tristan,  torn.  i. 

same. — DOUCE.]  p.  cxx.  Lond.  1835. — W.] 

m  Gunton's  Peterb.  p.  108.  seq. — I  will  p  Fol.  xxvi.  b.  edit.  1550. 

give  some  of  the  titles  as  they  stand  in  q  Dec.  Script,  p.  2011. 

the  catalogue.     Dares  Phrygius  de  Ex-  r  Registr.  Priorat.  S.  Swithini  Winton. 

cidio  Trojtf,  bis,  p.  180.  Prophetife  Merlini  MSS.  pergamen.    in    Archiv.   de  Wolve- 

versifice.  p.  182.     Gesta  Caroli  secundum  sey  Wint.  These  were  local  stories.    Guy 

Turpinum.  p.  187.     Gesta  Mne.ee  post  de-  fought  and    conquered  Colbrond   a    Da- 

structionem  Trojce.  p.  198.     Bellum  contra  nish  champion,  just  without  the  northern 

Runcivallum.  p.  202.     There  are  also  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Winchester,  in  a  mea- 

two  following  articles,  viz.  "Certamen  in-  dow  to  this  day  called  Danemarch  :  and 

ter  regem  Johannem  et  Barones,  versi-  Colbrond's   battle-axe   was   kept   in   the 

fice ;  per  H.  de  Davench."  p.  188.     This  I  treasury  of  St.  Swithin's  priory  till  the  Dis- 

have  never  seen,  nor  know  anything  of  solution.        Th.    Rudb.    apud    Wharton, 

the  author.  "Versus  de  ludo  scaccorum."  Angl.  Sacr.  i.  211.     This  history  remained 

p.  195.  in  rude  painting  against  the  walls  of  the 

n  Ex  archivis  Coll.  Wint.  north  transept  of  the  cathedral  till  within 

0  Dugd.  Moriast.  iii.  Eccles.  Collegiat.  my  memory.     Queen  Emma  was  a  pa- 

p.  80.     [For  a  very  curious  list  of  Ro-  troness  of  this  church,  in  which  she  un- 

mances,  &c.,  given  by  Guy  deBeauchamp,  derwent   the  trial   of  walking   blindfold 
VOL.  I.                                                            G 


82     MINSTRELS  ADMITTED  INTO  THE  MONASTERIES.   [SECT.  II. 

the  Augustine  priory  of  Bicester  in  Oxfordshire,  for  the  year  1431,  the 
following  entries  relating  to  this  subject  occur,  which  I  choose  to  ex- 
hibit in  the  words  of  the  original.  "  DONA  PRIORIS.  Et  in  datis 
cuidam  citharizatori  in  die  sancti  Jeronimi,  viii  d. — Et  in  datis  alteri 
citharizatori  in  festo  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 
Glocestrie  in  festo  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  di- 
stinguishing between  Mimi,  Joculatores,  Jocatores,  Lusores,  and  Citha- 
ristce  ;  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  jocatori- 
bus,  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  Co- 
ventry, 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  do- 
mini 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  Cokshille,  viiid."1  Here  we  may  observe,  that  the  min- 
strels of  the  nobility,  in  whose  families  they  were  constantly  retained, 
travelled  about  the  country  to  the  neighbouring  monasteries ;  and  that 
they  generally  received  better  gratuities  for  these  occasional  perform- 
ances than  the  others.  Solihull,  Rugby,  Coleshill,  Eton,  or  Nun-Eton, 
and  Coventry,  are  all  towns  situated  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
priory".  Nor  must  I  omit  that  two  minstrels  from  Coventry  made 

over   nine   red   hot  ploughshares.     Col-  tavo  usque  in  idem  crastinum  anno  R. 

brond  is  mentioned  in  the  old  romance  of  Henrici  praedicti  nono."     In   Thesaurar. 

the  Squyr  of  Lowe  Degree.  Signal,  a.  iii.  Coll.  SS.  Trin.  Oxon.  Bishop  Kennet  has 

Or  els  so  doughty  of  my  honde  printed  a  Computus  of  the  same  mona- 

As  was  the  gyaunte  syr  Colbronde.  sterv   under  the   same   reiSn'  in   which 

three  or  four   entries   of  the  same  sort 

See  what  is  said  above  of  Guy  earl  of  occur.  Paroch.  Antiq.  p.  578. 

Warwick,  who  will  again  be  mentioned.  *  Ex  orig.  penes  me. 

*  Ex  orig.  in   Rotul.   pergamen.   Tit.  u  In  the  antient  annual  rolls  of  accompt 

"  Compotus  dni  Ricardi  Parentyn  prioris,  of  Winchester  college,  there   are   many 

et  fratris  Ric.  Albon  canonici,   bursarii  articles  of  this  sort.     The  few  following, 

ibidem,  de  omnibus  bonis  per  eosdem  re-  extracted  from  a  great  number,  may  serve 

ceptis   et  liberatis   a   crastino   Michaelis  as  a  specimen.     They  are  chiefly  in  the 

anno  Henrici  Sexti  post  Conquestum  oc-  reign  of  Edward  IV.  viz.  In  the  year  1481. 


SECT.  II.]   MINSTRELS  ADMITTED  INTO  THE  MONASTERIES.     83 


part  of  the  festivity  at  the  consecration  of  John,  prior  of  this  convent, 
in  the  year  14-32,  viz.  "  Dot.  duobus  mimis  de  Coventry  in  diefconse- 
crationis  prioris,  xii  d."  w  Nor  is  it  improbable,  that  some  of  our  greater 
monasteries  kept  minstrels  of  their  own  in  regular  pay.  So  early  as 
the  year  1 1 80,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second,  Jeffrey  the  harper 
received  a  corrody,  or  annuity,  from  the  Benedictine  abbey  of  Hide 
near  Winchester*;  undoubtedly  on  condition  that  he  should  serve  the 
monks  in  the  profession  of  a  harper  on  public  occasions.  The  abbeys 
of  Con  way  and  Stratflur  in  Wales  respectively  maintained  a  bard* :  and 
the  Welsh  monasteries  in  general  were  the  grand  repositories  of  the 
poetry  of  the  British  bards2. 


"  Et  in  sol.  ministrallis  dom.  Regis  veni- 
entibus  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.  mini- 
strallis dom.  Arundell  ven.  ad  coll.  cum 
viiirf.  dat.  ministrallis  dom.  de  Lawarr, 
iis.  iiiid." In  the  year  1483.  "  Sol. mi- 
nistrallis dom.  Regis  ven.  ad  coll.  iii  s. 

iiiid." In  the  year  1472.    "  Et  in  dat. 

ministrallis  dom.  Regis  cum  viiid.  dat. 
duobus  Berewardis  ducis  Clarentie,  xxrf. 
— Et  in  dat.  Johanni  Stulto  quondam 
dom.  de  Warewyco,  cum  iiii  d.  dat.  Thome 
Nevyle  taborario. — Et  in  datis  duobus"mi- 
nistrallis  ducis  Glocestrie,  cum  iiii  d.  dat. 
uni  ministrallo  ducis  de  Northumberlond, 
viiid. — Et  in  datis  duobus  citharatoribus 
ad  vices  venientibus  ad  collegium  viiid." 

In  the  year  1479.     "  Et  in  datis  sa- 

trapis  Wynton  venientibus  ad  coll.  festo 
Epiphanie,  cum  xiid.  dat.  ministrallis 
dom.  episcopi  venient.  ad  coll.  infra  octavas 
Epiphanie,  iii «."——/«  the  year  1477. 
"  Et  in  dat.  ministrallis  dom.  Principis 
venient.  ad  coll.  festo  Ascensionis  Domini, 
cum xx d.  dat.  ministrallis  dom. Regis,  vs." 
In  the  year  1464.  "  Et  in  dat.  mini- 
strallis comitis  Kancie  venient.  ad  coll.  in 

mense  julii,  iiii  s.  iiiid." In  the  i/ ear 

1467.  "Etin  datis  quatuor  mimis  dom. 
de  Arundell  venient.  ad  coll.  xiii.  die 
ffebr.  ex  curialitate  dom.  Custodis,  iis." 

In  the  year  1466.  "Et  in  dat.  satra- 

pis,  [ut  supr.~]  cum  iis.  dat.  iiii.  interlu- 
dentibus  et  J.  Meke  citharistse  eodem 

ffesto,  iiiis." In  the  year  1484.    "Et 

in  dat.  uni  ministrallo  dom.  principis,  et 
in  aliis  ministrallis  ducis  Glocestrie  v. 
die  julii,  xxd." — The  minstrels  of  the 
bishop,  of  lord  Arundel,  and  the  duke  of 
Gloucester,  occur  very  frequently.  In 
domo  muniment,  coll.  prsedict.  in  cista  ex 
oriental!  later e. 

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  house- 

G 


hold,  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  masque- 
rade. Rot.  ann.  1467.  "Dat.  lusoribus  de 
civitate  Winton,  venientibus  ad  collegium 
in  apparatu  suo  mens.  julii,  vs.  vlild." 
This  is  a  large  reward.  I  will  add  from 
the  same  rolls,  ann.  1479.  "  In  dat.  Joh. 
Pontisbery  et  socio  ludentibus  in  aula  in 
die  circumcisionis,  ii  s." 

w  Ibid.  It  appears  that  the  Coventry- 
men  were  in  high  repute  for  their  per- 
formances of  this  sort.  In  the  entertain- 
'ment  presented  to  queen  Elizabeth  at 
Killingworth  castle,  in  the  year  1575,  the 
Coventry-men  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  Mo- 
nasticon,  i.  p.  138.  and  Hearne's  Fordun, 
p.  1450.  sub  an.  1492. 

x  Madox,  Hist.  Excheqtier,  p.  251. 
where  he  is  styled,  "Galfridus  citha- 
roedus." 

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,  to- 
wards 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 
ludicrlsque  artibus,  and  finding  them  to  be 
nothing  more  than  two  indigent  ecclesi- 
astics who  could  only  administer  spiritual 
consolation,  and  being  consequently  dis- 
appointed of  their  mirth,  beat  them  and 
turned  them  out  of  the  monastery.  Hist. 
Antiq.  Univ.  Oxon.  i.  67.  Under  the 
year  1224. 


84      REGNORUM  CHBONIOA  AND  MIRABILIA  MUNDI.    [SECT.  II. 

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  enter- 
tain 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  cha- 
racter. I  will  transcribe  his  words.  "  Quando  ob  dei  reverentiam  aut 
sue  matris,  vel  alterius  sancti  cujuscunque,  tempore  yemali,  ignis  in  aula 
sociis  ministratur ;  tune  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  que  statum  clericalem  condeco- 
rant,  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  Cantilena  which  the  scholars  should  sing  on  these  occasions,  were 
a  sort  of  Poemata,  or  poetical  Chronicles,  containing  general  histories 
of  kingdoms1*.  It  is  natural  to  conclude,  that  they  preferred  pieces  of 
English  history :  and  among  Hearne's  manuscripts  I  have  discovered 
some  Fragments  on  vellum0,  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  Chronica  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  inclosed  in  crystal, 
three  of  the  thorns  from  the  crown  T>n  our  Saviour's  head,  and  a  crown 
formed  entirely  of  precious  stones,  which  were  endued  with  a  mystical 
power  of  reconciling  enemies. 

a  Rubric,  xviii.     The  same  thing  is  en-  d  ubi  supr. 

joined  in  the  statutes  of  Winchester  col-  *  [The  truth  is,  that  these  Fragments 

lege,  Ruhr.  xv.     I  do  not  remember  any  are  merely  a  portion  of  a  copy,  somewhat 

such  passage  in  the  statutes  of  preceding  amplified,  of  the   metrical  Chronicle   of 

colleges  in  either  university.     But  this  England,  printed  by  Ritson,  Metr.  Rom. 

injunction  is  afterwards  adopted  in  the  vol.  ii.  and  already  referred  to  by  Warton, 

statutes  of  Magdalene  college;  and  from  p.  59.     They  are  of  course  to  be  ascribed 

thence,  if  I  recollect   right,  was   copied  to  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Second.     A 

into  those  of  Corpus  Christi,  Oxford.  portion,   containing    the    description    of 

b  Hearne  thus  understood  the  passage.  Bladud's  baths,  was  printed  by  Selden,  in 

"  The  wise  founder  of  New  college  per-  his  notes  to  Drayton's  Polyolbion,  and  it 

mitted  them  [metrical  chronicles]  to  be  is  rather  singular  that  the  same  fragment 

sung  by  the  fellows  and  scholars  upon  ex-  should  be  inserted  in  the  Cottonian  copy 

traordinary  days."     Heming.  Cartul.   ii.  of  Robert  of  Gloucester,  CAL.  A  xi.  f.  11. 

APPEND.  Numb.  ix.  §  vi.  p.  662.  These  fragments  are  also  described  by  Dr. 

*  Given  to  him  by  Mr.  Murray.     See  Bliss,  in  the  British  Bibliographer,  vol.  iv. 

Heming.  Chartul.  ii.  p.  654.     And  Rob.  p.  76-79.— *M.] 
Glouc.  ii.  p.  731.  Nunc  MSS.  Bibl.  Bodl. 
Oxon.  RAWLINS.  Cod.  4to.  (E.  Pr.  87.) 


SECT.  II.]    REGNORUM  CHRONICA  AND  MIRABILIA  MUNDI.      85 

Ther  in  was  closyd  a  nayle  grete 

That  went  thorw  oure  lordis  fete. 

$yte  he  presentyd  hym  the  spere 

That  Charles  was  wont  to  bere 

Ajens  the  Sarasyns  in  batayle ; 

Many  swore  and  sayde  saunfaylef 

That  with  that  spere  smerteg 

Our  lorde  was  stungen  to  the  herte. 

And  a  party h  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  yscholde, 

Ymade  within  and  withowt 

With  pretius  stonys  alle  abowte, 

Of  eche  manir  vertu  thry l 

The  stonys  hadde  the  maystry, 

To  make  frendes  that  euere  were  fone, 

Such  a  crowne  was  neuer  none, 

To  none  erthelyche  mon  ywro^th 

Syth  God  made  the  world  of  no$th. 

Kyng  Athelstune  was  glad  and  blythe, 

And  thankud  the  kynge  of  Fraunce  swythe, 

Of  gyftes  nobul  and  ryche 

In  Crystiante  was  non  hem  lyche. 

In  his  tyme,  I  understonde, 

Was  Guy  of  Warwyk  yn  Inglonde, 

And  for  Englond  dede  batayle 

With  a  my^ti  gyande,  without  fayle ; 

His  name  was  hote  Colbrond, 

Gwy  hym  slough  with  his  bond. 

Seuen  yere  kyng  Athelston 

Held  this  his  kyngdome ; 

In  Inglond  that  ys  so  mury 

He  dyedde,  and  lythe  at  Malmesburyk. 

After  hym  regned  his  brother  Edmond, 

And  was  kyng  of  Ingelond, 

*  yet,  moreover.     f  without  doubt.  Fr.  King  Athelston  lovede  much  Malmes- 

8  sharp,  strong.     So  in  the  Lives  of  the  bury  y  wis, 

Saints,  MSS.  supr.  citat.     In  the  Life  of  He  jef  of  the  holy  cross  som,  that  there 

St.  Edmund.  3ut  ys. 

For  Saint  Edmund  had  a  smerte  3erde,  It  is  extraordinary  that  Peter  Langtoft 

&c«  should  not  know  where  Athelstan  was  bu- 

i.e.  "  He  had  a  strong  rod  in  his  hand,"  &c.  ried;  and  as  strange  that  his  translator 

h  part,  piece.                        '  three.  Rob.  de  Brunne  should  supply  this  defect 

k  To   which   monastery   he  gave    the  by  mentioning  a  report  that  his  body  was 

fragment  of  the  holy  cross  given  him  by  lately  found  at  Hexham  in  Northumber- 

the  king  of  France.  Rob.  Glouc.-p.  276.  land.   Chron.  p.  32. 


86      REGNORUM  CHRONICA  AND  MIRABILIA  MUNDI.    [SECT.  II. 

And  he  ne  regned  here 
But  unneth  nine  yere ; 
Sith  hyt  befalle  at  a  feste 
At  Caunterbury1,  a  cas  unwrestm, 
As  the  kyng  at  the  mete  sat, 
He  behelde,  and  under^at 
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  toppen, 
And  cast  hym  doune  on  a  ston : 
The  theefe  brayde  out  a  knyfe  anon, 
And  the  kyng  to  the  hert  threste, 
Or  any  of  his  knightes  weste0. 
The  baronys  sterte  up  anone, 
And  slough  the  theefe  swythe  sone, 
But  arstp  he  wounded  many  one, 
Thrugh  the  flesh  and  thrugh  the  bone. 
To  Glastenbury  they  bare  the  kynge, 
And  ther  made  his  buryingei. 
.     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  ; 
For  he  herde  that  swete  steuene 
Of  the  angels  of  heuene  : 
In  the  songer  thei  songe  bi  ryme, 
"  Yblessed  be  that  ylke  tyme 
That  Edgare  ybore  ywas, 
For  in  hys  tyme  schal  be  pas, 
Euer  more  in  hys  kyngdome 

1  Rob.  of  Gloucester  says  that  this  hap-  lege,  Oxon,  (to  whose  kindness  I  am  in- 

penedat  Pucklechurch  near  Bristol,  p.  27 7.  debted  for  the  collation  of  this  extract 

But   Rob.    de    Brunne    at    Canterbury,  with  the  Bodley  MS.)  observes,  that  a 

whither  the  king  went  to  hold  the  feast  leaf  appears  to  be  wanting  at  this  place, 

of  St.  Austin,  p.  33.  which  contained  probably  the  life  of  Ed- 

m  a  wicked  mischance.  wyn ;  six  lines  of  which  only  remain,  and 

n  head.        °  perceived.        p  erst,  first.  are  here  appended : 

«  At  Gloucester,  says  Rob.  de  Brunne,  Hig  wife>  for  hfire  faire  hedd 

p.  33,     But  Rob.  of  Gloucester  says  his  Qf  God  he  hadde  J      u  drede 

body    was   brought    from    Pucklechurch,  Th     M  (?)  he  wa/here  owne 

and  interred   at  Glastonbury ;   and   that  Ther  fore  he  gewed  (?)  the  more 

hence  the  town  of  Pucklechurch  became  jje  reyned  xjj  yere  . 

part  of  the  possessions  of  Glastonbury  ab-  T    Wvnchester  men  hym  bere.— M.] 
bey.  p.  278. 

*  [Mr.  Philip  Bliss,  of  St.  John's  col-  r  This  songisinRob,  Gl.  Chron.  p.  281. 


SECT.  II.]    BEGNORUM  CHRONICA  AND  MIRABILIA  MUNDI.      87 

The  while  he  liueth  and  seynt  Duuston." 
Ther  was  so  meche  grete  foyson8, 
Of  all  good  in  every  tonne, 
All  wyle  that  last  his  lyue, 
Ne  loued  he  neuer  fyght  ne  stryue. 
*  *  * 

The  knyghtes  of  Wales,  all  and  some, 
Him  to  swery  and  othes  holde, 
And  trewe  to  be  as  y  told, 
To  bring  to  hym  trewage*  there, 
CCC.  wolves  eche  $ere  ; 
And  so  they  dyde  trewliche 
Three  yere  pleynerelyche, 
The  ferthe  yere  myght  they  fynde  non, 
So  clene  thay  wer  all  agon, 
#-.!»•••» 

And  the  kyng  hyt  hem  forgeue 
For  he  nolde  hem  greue. 
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  above  mentioned. 

At  the  feste  of  oure  lady  the  Assumpcion, 
Went  the  king  fro  London  to  Abindon. 
Thider  out  of  France,  fro  Charles  kyng  of  fame, 
Com  the  [erle]  of  Boloyn,  Adulphus  was  his  name, 
And  the  duke  of  Burgoyn,  Edmonde  sonne,  Reynere, 
The  brouht  kynge  Althelston  present  withouten  pere : 
Fro  Charles  kyng  sanz  faile  thei  brouht  a  gonfaynounu, 
That  saynt  Morice  [bar]  in  batayle  before  the  legioun ; 
&  [the]  scharp  lance  that  thrilled  Jhesu  side ; 
&  a  suerd  of  golde,  in  the  hilte  did  men  hide 
Tuo  of  tho  nayles  that  war  thorh  Jhesu  fete, 
Tachedw  on  the  croys,  the  blode  thei  out  lete ; 
&  som  of  the  thornes  that  don  were  on  his  heued, 
&  a  fair  pece  that  of  the  croys  leued*, 
That  saynt  Heleyn  sonne  at  the  bataile  wan 
Of  the  soudan  of  Askalone,  his  name  was  Madan. 

*  provision.  *  ready.  u  banner.  w  tacked,  fastened. 

*  remained. 


88       BEGNOBUM  CHBONICA  AND  MIBABILIA  MUNDI.    [SECT.  II. 

Than  blewe  the  trumpes  fulle  loud  &  fulle  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,  &  sais,  he  wille  hym  bynde 

To  the  thorn*  Ilde  thi  sistere,  &  tille  alle  thi  kynde." 

Befor  the  messengers  was  the  maiden  brouht, 

Of  body  so  gentille  was  non  in  erth  wrouht ; 

No  non  so  faire  of  face,  of  spech  so  lufly, 

Scho  granted  befor  tham  all  to  Charles  hir  body : 

And  so  did  the  kyng,  &  alle  the  baronage, 

Mykelle  was  the  richesse  thei  purueied  hir  passage.* 

Another  of  these  Fragments,  evidently  of  the  same  composition,  seems 
to  have  been  an  introduction  to  the  whole.  It  begins  with  the  martyr- 
dom 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  yfonde 

As  whan  he  was  yleyde  on  grounde. 

And  $yf  $e  wille  not  trowa  me, 

Goth  to  Westmynstere,  and  $e  mow  se. 

In  that  tyme  Seynt  Albon     . 

For  Goddys  loue  tholedb  martirdome, 

And  xl.  ^ere  with  schame  and  schondec 

Was  drowend  oute  of  Englond. 

In  that  tyme,  weteth  e  welle, 

Cam  ferst  Wassayle  &  Drynkehayl 

In  to  this  lond,  with  owte  wenef, 

Thurghe  a  mayde  brygh  «  and  schene h ; 

Sche  was  cleput1  mayde  Ynge; 

For  hur  many  dothe  rede  and  synge, 

Lordyngys  gentk  and  free. 

This  lond  hath  yhadde  namys  thre : 

Ferst  hit  was  cleput  Albyon, 

And  syth '  for  Brut  Bretayne  anon, 

And  now  Ynglonde  cleput  hit  ys 

Aftir  mayde  Ynge  ywysse. 

Thilke  Ynge  fro  Saxone  was  come, 

And  with  here  many  a  moder  sonne. 

y  "  thee  through."  Gloss.  Lat.  Du  Cange,  torn.  ii.  p.  994.  edit. 

a  Chron.  p.  29.  30.    Afterwards  fallows  1766. 

the  combat  of  Guy  with  "  a  hogge  (huge)  a  believe.  b  suffered, 

geant,  hight  Colibrant."    As  in  our  Frag-  c  confusion.  d  driven,  drawn, 

ment.   p.  31.      See  Will.    Malms.    Gest.  e  know  ye.  f  doubt. 

Angl.  ii.  6.     The  lance  of  Charlemagne  e  bright.  h  fair, 

is  to  this  day  shewn  among  the  relics  of  '  called.  k  gentle. 

St.  Dennis's  in  France.  Carpentier,  Suppl.  '  from,  because  of.  [afterwards.] 


SECT.  II.]  REGNORUM  CHRONICA.  89 

For  gret  hungure  y  understonde 
Ynge  went  oute  of  hure  londe. 
And  thorow  leue  of  cure  kyng 
In  this  land  sche  hadde  restyng. 
As  meche  lande  of  the  kyng  sche  badem 
As  with  a  bole  hyde  me  my^th"  sprede. 
The  kyng  graunt  he  [re]  bonne0: 
A  strong  castel  sche  made  sone, 
And  whan  the  castel  was  al  made, 
The  kyng  to  the  mete  sche  badep. 
The  kyng  graunted  here  anone. 
He  wyst  not  what  thay  wold  done. 

#  *  # 

And  sayde  to  ham*1  in  this  manere, 
"  The  kyng  to  morow  schal  etc  here, 
He  and  alle  hys  men  ; 
Euerr  one  of  us  and  one  of  them 
To  geder  schal  sitte  at  the  mete. 
And  when  thay  haue  almost  yete, 
I  wole  say  Wassayle  to  the  kyng, 
And  sle  hym  with  oute  any  lesyng8. 
And  loke  that  $e  in  this  manere 
Eche  of  }ow  sle  his  fere*." 
And  so  sche  dede  thenne, 
Slowe  the  kyng  and  alle  hys  men. 
And  thus,  thorowgh  here  queyntyseu, 
This  londe  was  wonne  in  this  wyse. 
Sythw  anon  sone  an  swythe* 
Was  Englond  deled y  on  fyue, 
To  fyue  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  men  where1  theye. 
The  archebysshop  of  Caunturbery, 
And  of  Rochestere  that  ys  mery. 
The  kyng  of  Essex  of  renona 
He  hadde  to  his  porcion 
Westschire,  Barkschire, 
Soussex,  Southamptshire. 

m  requested,  desired.  *  lie. 

n  men  might.  *  companion. 

0  granted  her  request.  u  stratagem.  w  after. 

p  bid.  x  very,  [quickly]. 

q  them.  y  divided.  *  were. 

*  every,  [uniformly  one  and  one.]  a  renown. 


90  MIRABILIA    MUNDI.  [SECT.  II. 

And  ther  to  Dorsetshyre, 
All  Cornewalle  and  Deuenshire ; 
All  thys  were  of  hys  anpyreb. 
The  king  hadde  on  his  hond 
Fyue  bysshopes  starke  and  strong, 
Of  Salusbury  was  that  on....* 

As  to  the  Mirabilia  Mundi,  mentioned  in  the  statutes  of  New  College 
at  Oxford,  in  conjunction  with  these  Poemata  and  Regnorum  Chronica, 
the  immigrations  of  the  Arabians  into  Europe  and  the  Crusades  pro- 
duced numberless  accounts,  partly  true  and  partly  fabulous,  of  the  won- 
ders 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  believed0. 
At  the  court  of  the  grand  Khan,  persons  of  all  nations  and  religions,  if 
they  discovered  any  distinguished  degree  of  abilities,  were  kindly  en- 
tertained and  often  preferred. 

In  the  Bodleian  library  we  have  a  superb  vellum  manuscript,  deco- 
rated with  antient  descriptive  paintings  and  illuminations,  entitled,  Hi- 
stoire  de  Graunt  Kaan  et  des  MERVEILLES  DU  MONDE d.  The  same 
work  is  among  the  royal  manuscripts6.  A  Latin  epistle,  said  to  be 
translated  from  the  Greek  by  Cornelius  Nepos,  is  an  extremely  com- 
mon manuscript,  entitled,  De  Situ  et  Mirabilibus  Indict.  It  is  from 

b  empire.  China.     This  was  about  the  year  1260. 

*  [It  is  this  last  portion  which  is  printed  His  book  is  entitled  De  Regionibus  Orien- 

in  Hearne's  Rob.  Glouc.  Gloss,  p.  731. —  tis.     He  mentions  the  immense  and  opu- 

M.]  lent  city  of  Cambalu,  undoubtedly  Pekin. 

'  The  first  European  traveller  who  went  Hakluyt  cites  a  friar,  named  Oderick,  who 

far  Eastward,  is  Benjamin  a  Jew  of  Tudela  travelled  to  Cambalu  in  Cathay,  and  whose 

in  Navarre.    He  penetrated  from  Constan-  description  of  that  city  corresponds  exact- 

tinople  through  Alexandria  in  JSgypt  and  ly  with  Pekin.     Friar  Bacon  about  1280, 

Persia  to  the  frontiers  of  Tzin,  now  China.  from  these  travels  formed  his  geography  of 

His  travels  end  in  1173.    He  mentions  the  this  part  of  the  globe,  as  may  be  collected 

immense  wealth  of  Constantinople ;   and  from  what  he  relates  of  the  Tartars.     See 

says  that  its  port  swarmed  with  ships  from  Purchas  Pilgr.  iii.  52.    And  Bac.  Op.  Maj. 

all  countries.    He  exaggerates  in  speaking  228.  235. 

of  the  prodigious  number  of  Jews  in  that  d  MSS.  Bodl.F.  10.  [264.]fol.praegrand. 
city.  He  is  full  of  marvellous  and  romantic  The  hand- writing  is  about  the  reign  of  Ed- 
stories.  William  de  Rubruquis,  a  monk,  ward  the  Third.  I  am  not  sure  whether 
was  sent  into  Persic  Tartary,  and  by  the  it  is  not  Mandeville's  book, 
command  of  St.  Louis  king  of  France,  about  e  Brit.  Mus.  MSS.  Bibl.  Reg.  19  D.  i.  3. 
the year!245.  as  was  also Carpini,by  Pope  [The  royal  manuscript  is  a  magnificent 
Innocent  the  Fourth.  Their  books  abound  copy  of  the  French  translation  of  Marco 
with  improbabilities.  [Warton  here  passes  Polo's  travels,  which  it  affirms  to  have  been 
an  undeserved  and  inconsiderate  censure.  made  in  the  year  1298. — PRICE.] 
Rubruquis  is  a  very  candid  writer,  and  tells  f  It  was  first  printed  a  Jacobo  Catala- 
no  improbabilities.  I  am  not  aware  of  a"ny  nensi  without  date  or  place.  Afterwards 

freat  sins  of  this  kind  committed  by  Jo-  at  Venice  1499.    The  epistle  is  inscribed: 

annes  de  Piano  Carpini. — W.]     Marco  Alexander  Magnus  Aristoteli  prceceptori 

Polo  a  Venetian  nobleman  travelled  east-  suo  salutem  dicit.     It  was  never  extant  in 

ward  into  Syria  and  Persia  to  the  country  Greek.     [There  is  a  Saxon  translation  of 

constantly  called  in  the  dark  ages  Cathay,  this  fabulous  epistle  in  MS.  Cott.  ViTELL. 

which  proves  to  be  the  northern  part  of  A.  xv. — M.] 


SECT.  II.]         EARLY  TRAVELLERS  INTO  THE  EAST. 


91 


Alexander  the  Great  to  his  preceptor  Aristotle:  and  the  Greek  original 
was  most  probably  drawn  from  some  of  the  fabulous  authors  of  Alex- 
ander's story. 

There  is  a  manuscript,  containing  La  Chartre  que  Prestre  Jehan 
maunda  a  Fredewik  VEmpereur  DE  MERVAILLES  DE  SA  TERRES.  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  em- 
peror of  India.  I  find  another  tract,  DE  MIRABILIBUS  Terras.  Sanct&\ 
A  book  of  Sir  John  Mandeville,  a  famous  traveller  into  the  East  about 
the  year  1340,  is  under  the  title  of  Mirabilia  Mundi1.  His  Itinerary 
might  indeed  have  the  same  title k.  An  English  title  in  the  Cotton  li- 
brary is,  "  The  Voiage  and  Travailes  of  Sir  John  Maundevile  knight, 
which  treateth  of  the  way  to  Hiefusaleme  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.1  After- 
wards the  wonders  of  other  countries  were  added :  and  when  this  sort 
of  reading  began  to  grow  fashionable,  Gyraldus  Cambrensis  composed 
his  book  De  MIRABILIBUS  Hibernice™.  There  is  also  another  De  MI- 
RABILIBUS Anglian*.  At  length  the  superstitious  curiosity  of  the  times 
was  gratified  with  compilations  under  the  comprehensive  title  of  MIRA- 
BILIA Hibernice,  Anglice,  et  Orientalis0.  But  enough  has  been  said  of 


g  Ibid.  MSS.  Reg.  20  A.  xii.  3.  And  in 
Bibl.  Bodl.  MSS.  Bodl.  E.  4.  3.  "Liter* 
Joannis  Presbiteri  ad  Fredericum  Impera- 
torem,"  &c. 

h  MSS.  Reg.  14  C.  xiii.  3. 

*  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  Mirabili- 
bus Mundi  et  flirts  illustribus  Tractatus,  14 
C.  vi.  3. 

k  His  book  is  supposed  to  have  been 
interpolated  by  the  monks.  Leland  ob- 
serves, 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  Becket's  shrine  in  Canter- 
bury cathedral  a  glass  globe  inclosing  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  St.  Al- 
ban's  abbey  church  a  sort  of  Patera  brought 
from  JEgypt,  now  in  the  hands  of  an  inge- 
nious antiquary  in  London.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  the  town  of  St.  Alban's,  and  a  phy- 
sician. He  says  that  he  left  many  MER- 
VAYLES  unwritten ;  and  refers  the  curious 
reader  to  his  MAPPA  MUNDI,  chap,  cviii. 
cix.  A  history  of  the  Tartars  became  popu- 


lar 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  Cy- 
prus, and  published  his  travels ;  which,  on 
account  of  the  rank  of  the  author,  and  his 
amazing  adventures,  gained  great  esteem. 

[The  "Mappa Mundi"  was  not  by  Man- 
devile,  as  here  suggested,  nor  was  Aiton 
or  Haiton  king  of  Armenia,  but  only  re- 
lated to  that  sovereign.  He  was  lord  of 
Curchi.  See  his  travels  in  "  Bergeron, 
Voyages  faits  principalement  en  Asie," 
&c.  Mr.  Warton  was  probably  misled  by 
Chardin  the  famous  traveller. — DOUCE.] 

1  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  MIRABI- 
LIBUS Feteris  et  Novi  TestamentL  MSS. 
Coll.  jEn.  Nas.  Oxon.  Cod.  12.  f.  190  a. 

n  Bibl.  Bodl.  MSS.  C  6. 

[The  Latin  tract,  with  some  variations, 
is  extremely  common  in  manuscripts,  and 
frequently  accompanies  some  of  the  chro- 
nicles. A  copy  was  printed  by  Hearne 
in  the  Appendix  to  his  edition  of  Robert 
of  Gloucester. — W.] 

0  As  in  MSS.  Reg.  13  D.  i.  11.  I  must 
not  forget  that  the  Polyhistor  of  Julius  So- 
linus  appears  in  many  manuscripts  under 
the  title  of  Solinus  de  Mirabilibus  Mundi. 


92  ELEGY  ON  EDWARD  THE  FIRST.  [SECT.  II. 

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  inquiry  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  huerte  trewep 

A  stounde^  herkneth  to  my  song, 
Of  duel  that  Deth  hath  diht  vs  newe. 

That  maketh  me  syke  ant  sorewe  among : 
Of  a  knyht  that  wes  so  strong 

Of  wham  God  hath  don  ys  wille ; 
Me  thuncheth*  that  Deth  has  don  vs  wrong, 
That  he9  so  sone  shal  ligge  stille. 

ii. 

Al  Englond  ahte  forte*  knowe, 

Of  wham  that  song  is  that  y  synge, 
Of  Edward  kyng  that  lith  so  lowe, 

3entu  al  this  world  is  nome  con  springe: 
Trewest  mon  of  alle  thinge, 

Ant  in  werre  war  ant  wys ; 
For  him  we  ahte  oure  hondenw  wrynge, 

Of  Cristendome  he  ber  the  pris. 

in. 
Byfore  that  oure  kyng  wes  ded 

He  speke  ase  mon  that  wes  in  care  : 
"  Clerkes,  knyhtes,  barouns,"  he  sayde, 

"  Y  charge  oux  by  oure  swarey 
That  $e  to  Engelonde  be  trewe, 

Y  deje21,  y  ne  may  lyuen  na  more ; 
Helpeth  mi  sone,  &  crouneth  him  newe, 

For  he  is  nest  to  buen  ycorea. 

IV. 

Ich  biquethe  myn  herte  aryht, 

That  hit  be  write  at  mi  deuys, 
Ouer  the  see  that  hueb  be  diht, 

With  fourscore  knyhtes  al  of  pris, 

This  was  so  favourite  a  book,  as  to  be  *  the  king.  *  ought  for  to. 

translated  into  hexameters  by  some  monk  u  through.    Sax.  jenb  [over. — M.] 

in  the  twelfth  century,  according  to  Voss.  w  hands.  *  you. 

Hist.  Latin,  iii.  p.  721.  y  your  oath.  *  die. 

p  "  be  of  true  heart."  a  "  next,  to  be  chosen." 

q  a  while.  *  methinks.  b  one  of  his  officers,  [it]. 


SECT.  II.]  ELEGY  ON  EDWARD  THE  FIRST.  '    93 

In  werre  that  buen  war  &  wys, 

A^ein  the  hethene  forte  fyhte, 
To  wynne  the  croiz  that  lowe  lys, 

Myself  y  cholde  jef  that  y  myhte." 


Kyng  of  Fraunce  !  thou  heuedest  sunnec, 

That  thou  the  counsail  woldest  fonde, 
To  latted  the  wille  of  kyng  Edward, 

To  wende  to  the  holy  londe : 
That  oure  kyng  hede  take  on  honde, 

Al  Engelond  to  $emee  &  wyssef, 
To  wenden  in  to  the  holy  londe 

To  wynnen  vs  heuerichee  blisse. 

VI. 

The  messagerto  the  pope  com 

&  seyde  that  oure  kyng  wes  dedh, 
Ys*  oune  hond  the  lettre  he  nomk, 

Ywis  is  herte  wes  ful  gret : 
The  pope  himself  the  lettre  redde, 

Ant  spec  a  word  of  gret  honour. 
"Alas!"  he  seide,  "is  Edward  ded? 

Of  Cristendome  he  ber  the  flour  I " 

VII. 

The  pope  to  is  chaumbre  wende, 

For  del  ne  mihte  he  speke  na  more ; 
Ant  after  cardinals  he  sende 

That  muche  couthen  of  Cristes  lore. 
Bothe  the  lasse1  ant  eke  the  more, 

Bed  hem  both  rede  &  synge : 
Gret  deol  mem  myhte  se  thore™, 

Many  mon  is  honde  wrynge. 

VIII. 

The  pope  of  Peyters  stod  at  is  masse 
With  ful  gret  solempnete, 

*  sin.  The  Pape  the  tother  day  wist  it  in  the 

d  let,  hinder,  courte  of  Rome. 

e  protect.  The  Pape  on  the  morn  bifor  the  clergie  cam 

f  govern  [instruct,  teach].  And  teld  tham  biforn,  the  floure  of  Cris- 

8  every  [heaven's. — M.].  tendam 

h  He  died  in  Scotland,  July  7,  1307.  Was  dede  &  lay  on  bere,  Edward  of  In- 

The  chroniclers  pretend,  that  the  Pope  glond. 

knew  of  his  death  the  next  day  by  a  vi-  He  said  with  heuy  chere,  in  spirit  he  it 

sion  or  some  miraculous  information.     So  fond. 

Robert  of  Brunne,  who  recommends  this  He  adds,  that  the  Pope  granted  five  years 

tragical  event  to  those  who  "  Singe  and  say  Of  pardon  to  those  who  would  pray  for  his 

in  romance  and  ryme."     Chron.  p.  340.  soui.  i  jn  his.  k  took. 

edit,  ut  supr.  i  /m.  «>  men.  n  there] 


94  ELEGY  ON  EDWARD  THE  FIRST.  [SECT.  II. 

Ther  me  con0  the  soule  blesse : 

"  Kyng  Edward,  honoured  thou  be : 
God  leue  thi  sone  come  after  the, 

Bringe  to  ende  that  thou  hast  bygonne, 
The  holy  crois  ymad  of  tre 

So  fain  thou  woldest  hit  han  ywonne. 

IX. 

"  Jerusalem,  thou  hast  ilore 

The  flour  of  al  chiualerie, 
Nou  kyng  Edward  liueth  na  more, 

Alas,  that  he  $et  shulde  deye  ! 
He  wolde  ha  rered  vp  ful  hey^e 

Our  baners  that  bueth  broht  to  grounde : 
Wei  longe  we  mowe  clepe  P  &  crie, 
-  Er  we  a  such  kyng  han  yfounde !", 

x. 
Nou  is  Edward  of  Carnaruani 

King  of  Engelond  al  aplyht r ; 
God  lete  him  ner  be  worse  man 

Then  is  fader,  ne  lasse  of  myht, 
To  holden  is  pore  men  to  ryht 

Ant  vnderstonde  good  consail, 
Al  Engelond  forte  wisse  ant  dint, 

Of  gode  knyhtes  darh s  him  nout  fail. 

XI. 

Thah  mi  tonge  were  mad  of  stel 

Ant  min  herte  y^ote  of  bras 
The  godnesse  myht  y  neuer  telle 

That  with  kyng  Edward  was. 
Kyng  as  thou  art  cleped  conquerour 

In  vch  bataille  thou  hadest  pris, 
God  bringe  thi  soule  to  the  honour 

That  euer  wes  &  euer  ys, 
That  lesteth  ay  withouten  ende ; 
Bidde  we  God  ant  oure  ledy 

To  thilke  blisse  Jesus  vs  sende.     Amen.* 

0  began.  p  call.  the  author  unknown."  p.  4.    Lond.  Pr.  for 
q  Edward  the  Second,  born  in  Carnar-       T.  Davies,  1738.  octavo.     But  this  piece, 

von  castle.  which  has  great  merit,  could  not  have  been 

r  completely.        8  there,  [need. — M.]  written   till    some    centuries   afterwards. 

1  MSS.  Harl.  2253.  f.  73.     In  a  Mis-  From  the  classical  allusions  and  general 
cellany  called  the  Muses  Library,  com-  colour  of  the  phraseology,  to  say  nothing 
piled,  as  I  have  been  informed,  by  an  in-  more,  it  with  greater  probability  belongs  to 
genious  lady  of  the  name  of  Cooper,  there  Henry  the  Eighth.     It  escaped  me  till  just 
is  an  elegy  on  the  death  of  Henry  the  before  this  work  went  to  press,  that  Dr. 
First,  "  wrote  immediately  after  his  death,  Percy  had  printed  this  elegy,  Ball.  ii.  9. 


SECT.  II.]  ELEGY  ON  EDWARD  THE  FIRST.  95 

That  the  pope  should  here  pronounce  the  funeral  panegyric  of  Ed- 
ward the  First,  is  by  no  means  surprising,  if  we  consider  the  pre- 
dominant ideas  of  the  age.  And  in  the  true  spirit  of  these  ideas,  the 
poet  makes  this  illustrious  monarch's  achievements  in  the  Holy  Land 
his  principal  and  leading  topic.  But  there  is  a  particular  circumstance 
alluded  to  in  these  stanzas,  relating  to  the  crusading  character  of  Ed- 
ward *,  together  with  its  consequences,  which  needs  explanation.  Ed- 
ward, in  the  decline  of  life,  had  vowed  a  second  expedition  to  Jerusa- 
lem ;  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  withholding  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  Ed- 
ward the  Second  and  his  profligate  minion  Piers  Gaveston  dissipated 
the  money  in  their  luxurious  and  expensive  pleasures. 


NOTE  ON  THE  ROMANCE  OF  SIR  TRISTREM, 
BY  MR.  PRICE. 

THE  romance  of  Sir  Tristrem,  De  Brunne's  eulogium  on  which  Warton 
has  here  cited  (p.  69.),  is  usually  supposed  to  be  still  extant.  A  poem  pur- 
porting to  be  such  was  published  some  years  ago  by  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
from  a  manuscript  contained  in  the  Advocates'  Library  at  Edinburgh ; 
and  accompanied  by  a  large  body  of  notes  in  illustration  of  the  singularly 
beautiful  story,  with  a  prefatory  dissertation  on  the  age  and  character 
of  the  presumed  author.  In  the  latter,  the  distinguished  editor  has  ex- 
ercised the  united  powers  of  his  ingenuity  and  erudition,  to  prove  that 
the  poem  which  he  has  thus  ushered  into  the  world  is  the  same  which 
is  alluded  to  by  De  Brunne ;  and  that  it  was  composed  by  the  Scottish 
poet  noticed  by  Warton,  Thomas  of  Erceldoune,  called  the  Rymer. 

The  premises  upon  which  these  opinions  are  founded  have  ever  ap- 
peared to  the  writer  of  this  Note  to  be  both  fanciful  and  unsatisfactory ; 
and  in  entering  into  an  examination  of  their  validity,  he  is  fortunate  in 

[It  has  been  remarked  by  Ritson,  that  mais,  the  harper,  cithareda  suus,  hearing 

the  elegy  printed  by  Mrs.  Cooper  was  the  the  struggle,  rushed  into  the  royal  apart- 

composition   of    Fabyan   the   chronicler,  ment,  and  killed  the  assassin.     CHRON. 

who  died  in  1511 :  but  then  it  is  a  trans-  WaltHemingford,  cap.xxxv.  p.  591.  Apud 

lation  from  the  original  Latin,  preserved  V.  HISTOR.  ANGLIC.  SCRIPTOR.  vol.  ii. 

by  Knighton,  of  the  twelfth  century. —  Oxon.  1687.  fol. — ADDITIONS.] 
PARK.]  [After  the  king  himself  had  slain  the 

*  [It  appears  that  king  Edward  the  assassin,   [his  harper]   had  the  singular 

First,  about  the  year  1271,  took  his  HARP-  courage  to  brain  a  dead  man  with  a  tri- 

ER  with  him  to    the  Holy  Land.     This  vet  or  tripod,  for  which  act  of  heroism  he 

officer  was  a  close  and  constant  attendant  was  justly   reprimanded   by    Edward. — 

of  his  master  :    for   when  Edward  was  RITSON.] 
wounded  with  a  poisoned  knife  at  Ptole-  u  The  poet  says  eighty. 


96  NOTE  ON  THE  ROMANCE  [SECT.  II. 

having  the  example  and  arguments  of  Mr.  Campbell  to  favour  his  at- 
tempt. The  chain  of  evidence  by  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  has  endea- 
voured to  substantiate  his  theory,  may  be  thus  briefly  stated.  The  sera 
of  Thomas  the  Rymer  (as  originally  fixed)  lies  between  the  years  1219- 
1296.  At  a  subsequent  period  the  earlier  date  was  withdrawn,  and  his 
birth  was  referred  to  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century.  With  this  Tho- 
mas the  Rymer  it  is  urged  we  ought  to  identify  the  Thomas  mentioned 
by  De  Brunne ;  and  to  accept  the  poem  preserved  in  the  Auchinleck 
MS.  either  as  the  original  romance  of  that  writer,  or  as  one  whose 
"  general  texture  and  form  closely  resemble  it."  In  defence  of  the  Ry- 
mer's  claim  to  an  "  original  property  "  in  this  story,  a  fragment  of  a 
French  romance  is  cited,  containing  a  reference  to  one  "  Thomas"  as 
the  most  authentic  writer  on  the  subject ;  and  a  passage  from  Godfrey  of 
Strasburg,  the  author  of  a  German  version,  is  also  adduced  to  show  that 
he  likewise  followed  the  narrative  of  one  Thomas  of  Brittanie.  The 
date  of  the  former  document  is  fixed  by  conjecture  at  1257;  the  age  of 
Godfrey,  with  more  probability,  in  the  early  half  of  the  13th  century. 
With  regard  to  the  Rymer's  death,  it  is  a  fact  of  such  uncertain  date, 
that  all  we  positively  know  is, — it  may  have  occurred  between  the  years 
1286-1299.  The  testimony  of  Blind  Harry,  upon  which  the  date  of 
1296  reposes,  is  more  than  suspicious.  The  same  political  spirit  which 
produced  the  numerous  vaticinal  rymes  in  favour  of  the  successful  Ed- 
ward's invasion  of  Scotland,  would  naturally  be  combated  by  similar 
weapons  in  the  sister  kingdom.  With  these  the  Rymer  may  or  may 
not  have  been  connected ;  but  when  we  recollect  the  general  practice 
of  introducing  the  seer's  agency  into  every  national  epos,  such  a  cir- 
cumstance, however  contrary  to  fact,  will  rather  appear  essential  than 
surprising,  in  the  composition  of  a  genuine  descendant  of  the  ancient 
minstrel,  bard,  or  rhapsodist.  Unsupported  by  other  authority,  it  would 
be  useless  to  assume  such  a  declaration  as  the  basis  of  an  historical  ar- 
gument ;  and  as  the  rejection  of  it  rather  assists  than  impugns  the  theory 
here  opposed,  it  may  be  dismissed  without  further  comment.  The  date 
of  the  Rymer's  birth  is  purely  hypothetical ;  it  may  be  limited  by  pro- 
bability ;  but  in  the  present  state  of  the  evidence,  anything  like  cer- 
tainty is  perfectly  hopeless. 

The  testimony  of  De  Brunne  to  the  existence  of  poetry  by  "  Ercel- 
doune  and  Kendale,"  and  the  singular  style  in  which  it  was  written,  is 
unequivocal.  But  it  may  be  questioned,  whether  any  one,  unassisted 
by  the  Auchinleck  MS.,  "  the  faint  vestiges  of  whose  text,  as  well  as 
probability,  dictated  Erceldoune"  in  the  following  passage,  would  have 
known  to  which  of  these  writers  "Sir  Tristrem"  ought  to  be  assigned. 

I  was  at  [Erceldoune], 
With  Tomas  spake  I  there.* 

*  [There  can  be  no  doubt,  from  the  Scott's  Sir  Tristrem,  that  the  first  line  was 
fac-simile  given  with  the  new  edition  of  "  I  was  at  Ertheldoune." — W.] 


SECT.  II.]  OF  SIR  TRISTREM.  9/ 

The  language  of  De  Brunne  is  so  loose  and  confused,  that  it  might 
be  attributed  to  either. 

I  see  in  song  in  sedgeyng  tale, 
Of  Erceldoun  and  of  Kendale ; 
Non  tham  says  as  thai  tham  wroght, 
And  in  ther  saying  it  semes  noght. 
That  may  thou  here  in  Sir  Tristrem, 
Over  gestes  it  has  the  steem, 
Over  alle  that  is  or  was, 
If  men  it  sayd  as  made  Thomas ; 
Bot  I  here  it  no  man  so  say, 
That  of  som  copple  som  is  away  ; 
So  thare  fayre  saying  here  beforne, 
Is  thare  travayle  nere  forlorne : 
Thai  sayd  it  for  pride  and  nobleye, 
That  non  were  suylk  as  thei !. 

But,  waving  these  considerations,  the  most  important  point  for  exa- 
mination arises  from  the  internal  evidence  to  be  found  in  the  alleged 
romance  of  Sir  Tristrem ;  and  upon  which  De  Brunne  has  been  so  ex- 
plicitly circumstantial. 

Thai  sayd  in  so  quante  Inglis, 
That  manyone  wate  not  what  it  is. 
Therfore  heuyed  wele  the  more 
In  strange  ryme  to  travayle  sore. 
And  my  witte  was  oure  thynne 
So  strange  speche  to  travayle  in ; 
And  forsoth  I  couth  noght 
So  strange  Inglis  as  thai  wroght ; 
And  men  besoght  me  many  a  tyme 
To  turne  it  bot  in  light  ryme. 

It  is  true,  the  ingenious  editor  of  "Sir  Tristrem"  considers  all  these 
peculiarities  to  exist  in  the  Auchinleck  poem.  He  conceives  the  "  quaint 
Inglis"  to  consist  in  a  peculiar  structure  of  style,  which  he  designates 
"the  Gibbonism  of  romance;"  the  "strange  ryme"  to  be  manifested  by 
the  intricate  arrangement  of  the  stanza,  with  its  repetition  of  the  same 
assonances ;  and  that  even  the  inaccuracies  of  the  "seggers,"  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  extract,  are  still  to  be  traced  in  the  omission  of  several 
couplets  in  various  parts  of  the  poem.  But  if  there  be  meaning  in  lan- 
guage, or  connexion  in  the  narrative  of  De  Brunne,  his  "quaint  Inglis," 
his  "  strange  Inglis,"  and  his  "  strange  speche,"  all  resolve  themselves 

1  In  the  Preface  to  Sir  Tristrem  this       "  they  wrote   for  pride   (fame),  and  for 
line  is  thus  given  :   "  That  were  not  suylk       nobles,    not   such   as    these    my    ignorant 
as  thei."     This  error  has  engendered  a       hearers.'" 
wrong    interpretation    of   the    passage : 
VOL.  I.  II 


98  NOTE  ON  THE  ROMANCE  [SECT.  II. 

into  the  employment  of  an  unusual  phraseology  dependent  upon  his 
"  strange  ryme,"  and  not  into  any  peculiarity  of  style ; — into  the  use  of 
terms  above  the  comprehension  of  the  vulgar,  which  time  had  rendered 
obsolete,  or  fashion  had  adopted  from  exotic  sources.  For  he  proceeds 
to  observe : 

Thai  sayd  if  I  in  strange  it  turne, 

To  here  it  inanyon  suld  skurne ; 

For  [in~]  it  ere  names  fulle  selcouthe, 

That  ere  not  used  now  in  mouthe. 

And  therfore  for  the  comonalte", 

That  blythely  wild  listen  to  me, 

On  light  lange  I  it  began, 

For  luf  of  the  lewed  man. 

Of  these  "selcouthe  names"  what  traces  do  we  find  in  the  romance  of 
Sir  Tristrem,  which  are  not  to  be  met  with  in  equal  abundance  in  the 
poems  of  De  Brunne  ?  If  the  former  be  a  specimen  of  that  "  quaint 
Inglis,"  which  could  justify  De  Brunne  in  saying  it  contained  "  names 
not  used  now  in  mouthe,"  upon  what  principle  can  we  allow  this  cloi- 
stered versifier  to  have  avoided  the  same  peculiarity  in  his  own  compo- 
sition ?  His  own  poems  are  equally  quaint  and  equally  prolific  of  that 
same  obsolete  phraseology,  which  limited  the  popularity  of  his  admired 
predecessors ;  for  whoever  will  be  at  the  trouble  of  analysing  the  lan- 
guage of  both  writers,  will  find  their  archaisms  nearly  corresponding  in 
amount,  though  frequently  differing  in  verbal  import.  '  With  this  know- 
ledge, we  are  either  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  concluding,  that  there 
is  a  strange  contradiction  between  the  intention  and  practice  of  De 
Brunne,  or  that  the  romance  of  Sir  Tristrem  still  extant  is  not  the  pro- 
duction to  which  he  has  alluded.  There  is,  however,  a  passage  in  this 
early  chronicler,  which  will  relieve  him  of  this  apparent  charge  of  in- 
consistency, if  we  accept  the  only  interpretation  of  which  his  language 
seems  capable.  He  has  stated  of  the  seggours,  who  recited  this  ro- 
mance : 

Bot  I  here  it  no  man  so  say 

That  of  some  copple  som  is  away. 

The  editor  of  Sir  Tristrem  renders  this :  "  he  never  heard  it  repeated, 
but  what  of  some  copple  (i.  e.  stanza)  part  was  omitted."  It  does  not 
appear  upon  what  authority  this  explanation  of  "copple"  is  founded; 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  point  out  any  period  in  our  language,  when 
that  expression  implied  more  than  the  simple  connexion  of  two  distinct 
bodies.  It  is  clearly  equivalent  to  our  modern  "couplet;"  and  the  ex- 
amples brought  from  Sir  Tristrem  (which  is  written  in  stanzas)  to  illus- 
trate the  censure  of  De  Brunne,  exhibit  the  suppression  of  whole  cop  • 
pies,  and  not  the  omission  of  a  part.  In  Anglo-Saxon  verse,  and  its 
genuine  descendant,  the  alliterative  metre  of  early  English  poetry,  the 
"  copple  "  was  as  indispensable  in  the  structure  of  a  poem,  as  we  now 


SECT.  II.] 


OF  SIR  TR1STREM, 


99 


consider  it  to  be  in  regular  Iambic  rymes ;  and  it  is  among  the  com- 
monest faults  of  every  early  transcriber,  to  commit  the  error  noticed  by 
De  Brunne,  and  to  give  us  a  text,  of  which  it  may  be  truly  said,  "  that 
of  some  copple  som  is  away."  This  negligence  is  frequent  in  Beowulf 
and  other  Anglo-Saxon  poems,  to  the  great  confusion  of  the  narrative ; 
and  would  indeed  be  a  source  of  infinite  perplexity,  if  the  defective 
alliteration  it  occasions  did  not  as  clearly  mark  the  hiatus  as  would  be 
the  case  with  an  unconsorted  rymc.  Of  this  practice  the  following  ex- 
ample out  of  many  may  suffice. 


Thaem/eower  beam, 
forth  gerimed, 
in  woTold  wocun, 
weoroda  raeswa, 
./Teorogar  and  /Trothgar, 
and  /Taiga  til. 
Hyrde  ic  thaet  JSl&n  cwen,2 


To  him  four  bairns, 

numbered  (rimed)  forth, 

in  world  awoke, 

(leader  of  armies), 

Heorogar  and  Hrothgar, 

and  Halga  good. 

I  heard  that  Elan  queen  (or  woman) 


Aeatho  Scylfinga, 
^eals-gebedda. 


illustrious  Scylfing, 
bedded  consort. 


Here  the  seventh  line  stands  without  the  second  member  of  the  copple, 
an  omission  involving  the  history  of  Elan  in  some  obscurity.  Whether 
this  inadvertency  be  equally  chargeable  against  the  transcribers  of  early 
English  poetry  in  the  same  national  metre,  must  be  left  to  the  decision 
of  some  more  experienced  antiquary.  But  that  all  who  sought  distinc- 
tion in  the  composition  of  vernacular  poetry,  or  were  stimulated  in  their 
effusions  by  "pride  and  nobleye,"  adopted  this  species  of  metre,  is  abun- 
dantly proved  by  the  testimony  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis.  After  speak- 

2  Ed.  Thorkelin,  p.  7.  From  some  sub- 
sequent details  it  appears  that  Elan  was 
married  to  Ongenthiow,  chief  of  the  Scyl- 
fings ;  and  we  might  perhaps  restore  the 
text  by  reading : 

Hyrde  ic  thset  Elan  cwen 

[Ongenthiowes  wses] 

Aeatho  Scylfinga 

teals-gebedda 

Heard  I  that  Elan  queen  (woman) 

was  Ongenthiow's 

(illustrious  Scylfing) 

bedded  consort  (heals,  collum ;  gebedda, 

consors  lecti). 

[Mr.  Kemble  supplies  the  passage  thus — 
Hy'rde  ic  ]>xt  Elan  cwen 
[ofer  sae'  sohte] 
Heafto-Scilfingas,  &c. 
The  argument  of  Mr.  Price  which  fol- 
lows, seems  to  me  extremely  confused  and 
inconsequent.    He  first  quotes  an  instance 
of  the  omission  of  the  second  line  of  an 
alliterative  couplet  in  a  pure  Saxon  MS. 
of  the  10th  century,  and  argues  from  it 


the  possibility  of  such  errors  in  early  En- 
glish. He  then  asserts  that  all  the  poets 
in  early  English  who  sought  distinction, 
wrote  in  this  alliterative  metre,  and  in 
proof  of  his  assertion  quotes  the  authority 
of  Giraldus,  who  wrote  in  the  twelfth 
century,  which  must  be  included  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  and  not  early  English  pe- 
riod. The  whole  argument  is  easily 
thrown  to  the  ground.  The  manuscripts 
of  Saxon  poetry  are  written  as  prose,  and 
very  incorrectly,  and  therefore  such  in- 
stances as  the  one  quoted  above  easily 
occur.  We  have  every  reason  to  suppose, 
from  a  comparison  of  all  the  early  poetry 
which  remains,  that  at  the  period  of  the 
composition  of  the  poem  to  which  Brunne 
alludes,  it  would  not  be  written  in  allite- 
rative metre.  Alliteration  seems  to  have 
become  a  vulgarism  until  its  revival  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  when  the  couplet  was 
in  the  MSS.  always  written  in  one  line, 
and  the  omission  of  a  part  not  only  never 
occurs,  but  must  have  been  impossible. 


H2 


100  NOTE  ON  THE  ROMANCE  [SECT.  II. 

ing  of  Welsh  poetry  in  general,  the  topographer  of  the  principality  pro- 
ceeds to  observe :  "  Prae  cunctis  autem  rhetoricis  exornationibus  anno- 
minatione  magis  utuntur,  eaque  precipue  specie  quae  primas  dictionum 
literas  vel  syllabas  convenientia  jungit.  Adeo  igitur  hoc  verborum  or- 
natu,  duae  nationes  Angli  scil.  et  Cambri  in  oinui  sermone  exquisite 
[faire  saying]  utuntur,  ut  nihil  ab  his  eleganter  dictum,  nullum  nisi 
rude  etagreste  [lewed]  censeatur  eloquium,  si  non  schematis  hujus  lima 
plene  fuerit  expolitum,  sicut  Brittanice,  in  hunc  modum : 

Digawn  duw  da  y  unic 
Wrth  bob  crybwylh  parawd 
Anglice  vero : 

God  is  together 
Garnmen  and  wisdome.3" 

In  this  it  may  be  assumed  that  we  have  the  key  to  the  "  strange  ryme" 
of  De  Brunne :  and  if  the  reader  should  feel  disposed  to  accept  the 
preceding  illustration  of  the  dismembered  copple,  he  will  probably  not 
refuse  his  assent  to  the  belief,  that  the  following  extract  from  an  old 
romance  more  nearly  resembles  the  other  peculiarities  noticed  by  our 
ancient  writer,  than  the  stanza  of  Sir  Tristrem. 

Ande  quen  this  J?retayn  wat}  fogged, 

bi  this  burn  rych, 

bolde  ^redden  therinne, 

baret*  that  lofden ; 

in  mony  turned  £yme, 

fene  that  wro^ten. 

Moyerlyesf  on  this/blde 

hanykllen  here  oft, 

then  in  any  other  that  I  wot 

syn  that  elk  tyme. 

Z?ot  of  alle  that  here  6ult, 

of  J5retaygne  kynges, 

ay  wat$  Arthur  the  Aendest  J, 

as  I  haf  herde  telle. 

Forthi  an  emnter  in  erde, 

I  attle  to  schawe, 

that  a  selly  in  «ijt 

summe  men  hit  holden, 

&  an  outtrage  awenture 

of  ^rthure^  wondere^. 

If  36  wyl  lysten  this  /aye 

bot  on  littel  quile, 

I  schal  felle  hit  as  tit 

»  Girald.  Cambria  Descript.  pp.  889 —  *  strife. 

90.  ap.  Camd.   Anglica,  Hibernica,   &c.  f  marvels. 

Franef.  1601.  j[  most  courteous. 


SECT.  II.]  OF  SIR  TRISTREM.  101 

as  I  in  foun  herde, 

w*  fonge ; 

as  hit  is  st&d  &  stoken, 
in  stori  stif  &  stronge, 
w*  /el  /etteres  /oken, 
in  fonde  so  hat}  ben  /onge.4 

On  analysing  the  language  of  this  production,  it  will  be  found  to 
form  a  striking  contrast  to  the  simple  narrative  of  De  Brunne,  or  the 
abrupt  and  costive  style  of  Sir  Tristrem.  It  abounds  in  those  "selcouth 
names"  which  in  the  fourteenth  century  were  rapidly  growing  into  dis- 
use, and  which  were  only  retained  by  the  writers  in  alliterative  metre. 
Every  relic  of  this  species  of  versification  displays  the  same  exuberance 
of  obsolete  terms,  the  same  attention  to  set  phraseology  and  antique 
idioms  manifested  in  the  specimen  given  above ;  and  the  practice  can- 
not be  better  illustrated,  than  by  referring  to  the  "  quaint  Hellenisms  " 
which  distinguish  the  Alexandrine  school  of  heroic  poetry.  By  De 
Brunne,  who  only  felt  such  learned  foppery  to  be  a  drawback  upon  the 
writer's  popularity,  it  is  merely  condemned  as  an  error  in  policy ;  by 
Chaucer,  who  saw  the  necessary  sacrifice  it  involved  of  matter  to  man- 
ner, of  sense  to  sound,  it  is  ridiculed  for  its  childish  absurdity : 

But  trusteth  wel  I  am  a  sotherne  man, 
I  cannot  geste,  rem,  ram,  ruf  by  my  letter, 
And  God  wote,  rime  hold  I  but  Jitel  better. 

Of  the  Rymer's  claim  to  an  "  original  property"  in  this  story,  as  in- 
ferred from  the  language  of  the  French  fragments,  Mr.  Campbell  has 
already  remarked :  "  The  whole  force  of  this  argument  evidently  de- 
pends upon  the  supposition  of  Mr.  Douce's  fragments  being  the  work 
of  one  and  the  same  author, — whereas  they  are  not  to  all  appearance 
by  the  same  author.  A  single  perusal  will  enable  us  to  observe  how 
remarkably  they  differ  in  style.  They  have  no  appearance  of  being 
parts  of  the  same  story,  one  of  them  placing  the  court  of  king  Mark  at 
Tintagail,  the  other  at  London  *.  Only  one  of  the  fragments  refers  to 
the  authority  of  a  Thomas,  and  the  style  of  that  one  bears  very  strong 
marks  of  being  French  of  the  twelfth  century,  a  date  which  places  it 

4  This  stanza  has  been  arranged  accord-  which  rather  militates  against  Mr.  Price's 

ing  to  the  practice  of  Anglo- Saxon  poetry.  argument,  drawn  from  the  style  in  which 

The  reasons  for  this  departure  from  the  it  is  written. — M.] 

usual  disposition   of  the   lines  it  is  the  *  [There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  accu- 

Editor's  intention  to  give  in  a  future  pub-  racy  of  this  observation.    Both  these  frag- 

lication,  which  will  also  contain  the  whole  ments  have  since  been  published  at  Lon- 

romance  from  whence  the  specimen  given  don,  by  M.  Francisque  Michel,  to  whom 

above  has  been  taken.    [Mr.  Price  did  not  early  French  and  Anglo-Norman  romance 

execute  the  promise  here  held  out,  but  owes  so  much ;  with  fragments   of  two 

the  Romance  is  now  in  the  press,  and  will  other  French  romances  of  Tristrem,  the 

be  edited  for  the  Bannatyne  Club  by  Sir  Lai  of  Mary,  and  the  Modern  Greek  Frag- 

F.  Madden.     The  MS.  from  which  it  is  ment  published  by  Von  der  Hagen ;  they 

taken  is  MS.  Cott.  NERO,  A.  x.  and  is  of  are  accompanied  by  an  introduction  full 

the  fourteenth  century  ;  to  the  latter  half  of  valuable  information  on  the  history  of 

of  which  the  poem  itself  may  be  assigned,  the  romance. — W.J 


102  NOTE  ON  THE  ROMANCE  [SECT.  II. 

beyond  the  possibility  of  its  referring  to  Thomas  of  Erceldoune."  In 
addition  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  language  of  this  fragment,  so  far 
from  vesting  Thomas  with  the  character  of  an  original  writer,  affirms 
directly  the  reverse : 

3  Seignurs  cest  cunte  est  mult  divers — 
O'i  en  ai  de  plusur  gent ; 
Asez  sai  que  chescun  en  dit, 
Et  co  que  il  unt  mis  en  ecrit. 
Me  selun  ce  que  j'ai  oy, 
Nel  dient  pas  sulum  Breri, 
Ki  solt  le  gestes  et  le  cuntes 
De  tuz  le  reis,  de  tuz  le  cuntes, 
Ki  orent  este  en  Bretagne, 
En  sur  que  tut  de  cest  ouraigne  t 
Plusurs  de  noz  granter  ne  volent 
Ce  que  del  naim  dire  ei  solent, 
Ke  femme  Kaherdin  dut  amer,  &&. 
Par  cest  plaie  e  par  cest  mal, 
Enveiad  Tristran  Guvernal 
En  Engleterre  pur  Ysolt. 
Thomas  ico  granter  ne  volt ; 
Et  si  volt  par  raisun  mustrer^ 
Que  ico  ne  put  pas  esteer. 
Cist  fust  par  tut  la  part  coneuz, 
E  par  tut  le  regne  siuz,  &c. 
Que  hume  issi  coneuz, 
N'i  fud  mult  tost  aperceuz, 
Ne  sai  coment  il  se  gardast,  &e. 

It  is  clear  from  this  document,  that  in  the  writer's  opinion  the  earliest 
and  most  authentic  narrative  of  Tristrem's  story  was  to  be  found  in  the 
work  of  Breri.  From  his  relation  later  minstrels  had  chosen  to  deviate; 
but  Thomas,  who  had  also  composed  a  romance  upon  the  subject,  not 
only  accorded  with  Breri  in  the  order  of  his  events,  but  entered  into  a 
justification  of  himself  and  his  predecessor,  by  proving  the  inconsistency 
and  absurdity  of  these  new-fangled  variations.  If  therefore  the  ro- 
mance of  Thomas  be  in  existence,  it  must  contain  this  vindication ;  the 

5  "  Lordings,  this  tale  is  very  differently  &c.     On  account  of  the  wound  and  this 

told;   I  have  heard  it  from  many  :   I  know  disease,    Tristrem    sent    Gouvernail    into 

well  enough  how  each  tells  it,  and  what  England  for  Ysolt.    Thomas  however  will 

they  have  put  in  writing.     But  according  not  admit  this  ;  and  undertakes  to  prove, 

to  what  I  have  heard,  they  do  not  tell  it  by  argument,  that  this  could  not  be.    He 

as  Breri  does,  who  knew  the  gestes  and  (Gouvernail)  was  known  all  over  those 

the  tales  of  all  the  kings,  and  all  the  earls,  parts,  and  throughout  the  kingdom,  &c» 

who  had  been  in  Brittany,  and  about  the  That  a  man  so  known  there,  should   not 

whole   of  this  story.     Many  of  us  (min-  have   been   immediately   perceived,   I  do 

strels)  will  not  allow  what  others  tell  of  not  know  how  he  could  have  prevented." 

(Tristrem)  the  dwarf,  who  is  said  to  have  — SCOTT. 
been  in  love  with  the  wife  of  Kaherdin, 


SECT.  II.]  OF  SIR  TRISTREM.  103 

poem  in  the  Auchinleck  MS.  is  entirely  silent  on  the  subject.  It  is  not 
a  little  remarkable,  that  another  fragment  of  French  poetry  should  also 
mention  a  Thomas,  the  author  "of  a  translated  romance  on  the  subject 
of  king  Horn. 

Seignurs  o'i  avez  le  vers  del  parchemin, 
Cum  le  Bers  Aaluf  est  venuz  a  la  fin ; 
Mestre  Thomas6  ne  volt  qu'il  seit  mis  a  declin, 
K'il  ne  die  de  Horn  le  vaillant  orphelin7. 

And,  as  if  the  writer  had  not  sufficiently  declared  himself  in  this  passage, 
we  find  the  following  repetition  of  his  name  at  the  conclusion : 

Tomas  n'en  dirrat  plus :  tu  autem  chanterat, 
Tu  autem,  domine,  miserere  nostri. 

That  this  Thomas  was  only  a  translator  or  copyist  of  some  earlier 
authority,  is  clear  from  his  language  in  the  first  of  these  extracts ;  and 
is  confirmed  by  two  passages  of  similar  import  in  a  subsequent  part  of 
the  poem. 

E  Horn  si  a  torne  cum  dit  le  parchemin. 
De  Sutdene  sui  nez,  si  ma  geste  ne  ment. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  is  disposed  to  interpret  this  mention  of  a  Thomas, 
— "  though  the  opinion  be  only  stated  hypothetically," — as  another 
reference  to  the  authority  of  Thomas  of  Erceldoune ;  and  anticipates 
any  objection  that  might  arise  from  the  apparent  antiquity  of  the  lan- 
guage, by  instancing  the  disparity  between  that  of  Douglas  and  Chau- 
cer ;  the  former  of  which  he  asserts  "  we  should  certainly  esteem" 
[the  elder],  when  in  fact  it  is  nearly  two  centuries  later.  We  may 
safely  leave  the  discussion  of  this  point,  till  it  be  proved  that  the  case 
at  issue  is  any  way  analogous  to  the  example  brought  to  refute  it ;  till 
it  be  shown  that  the  French  romance  of  king  Horn  was  written  in  some 
remote  province  of  France,  where  the  vernacular  dialect  had  either 
been  entirely  neglected,  or  contained  elements  essentially  differing  from 

6  From  this  prudish  mode  of  announcing  the  same  as  that  of  MS.  Douce.     These 

an  author's  name,  it  is  impossible  not  to  fragments,  which  are  in  private  possession, 

suspect,  that  the  Tomas  of  Mr.  Douce's  contain  fortunately  the  conclusion  of  the 

fragment  is  in   fact   the  author  of  that  poem,   wherein    Thomas   comes   forward 

poem.      Alexandre   de   Bernay  declares  and  dedicates  it  to  all  lovers — 
himself  in  a  similar  manner  : 

Alexandre  nous  dit  qui  de  Bernay  fu  nez.  "  Tumas  fine  ci  sun  escrit, 

Pliny  (lib.  i.  p.  5)  records  a  parallel  A  tu3  amanj  salu3  i  dit,"  &c> — 
piece  of  affectation  observed  by  the  Gre- 
cian artists,  who  used  the  imperfect  tense  And  goes  on  to  say  that  he  compiled  the 
in  their  inscriptions  instead  of  the  first  history  in  order  to  give  them  comfort  and 
aorist.  consolation. — W.] 

[All  doubt  as  to  the  Thomas  here  al-  7  "  Lordings,  you  have  heard  the  poem 

luded  to  being  the  author  of  the  Anglo-  as  it  stands  in  the  parchment,  how  Baron 

Norman  poem  in  which  the  name  occurs,  Aaluf  came  to  his  end.     (But)   Master 

is  taken  away  by  the  discovery  of  other  Thomas  is  unwilling  the  story  should  be 

fragments,  proved  to  be  of  the  same  poem  closed,  till  he   has   spoken   of  the  bold 

by  the  circumstance  of  a  good  part  being  orphan  Horn." 


104  NOTE  ON  THE  ROMANCE  [SECT.  II. 

the  language  of  the  capital.  In  fact,  the  whole  argument  with  regard 
to  antiquity  of  language  may  be  said  to  be  perfectly  beyond  the  grasp 
of  contending  parties  on  this  side  of  the  channel ;  such  a  subject  can 
only  be  decided  with  any  chance  of  accuracy  by  native  authority.  But 
the  ingenious  advocate  of  the  Rymer's  fame  has  wholly  forgotten  to 
observe,  that  Mr.  Ritson  prudently  abstained  from  touching  on  this 
point,  and  only  spoke  to  the  antiquity  of  the  document  in  which  the 
romance  was  found.  This  he  affirmed  "  is  to  all  appearance  of  the 
twelfth  century ;"  and  here  the  opinion  of  an  English  antiquary  may 
be  admitted  as  efficient  testimony  *.  On  a  review  of  these  facts  we 
may  therefore  assert,  that  if  any  conclusion  is  to  be  drawn  from  this 
collateral  mention  of  a  Thomas,  it  must  be,  that  both  fragments  in  all 
probability  refer  to  the  same  personage.  This  man  indisputably  wrote 
in  French ;  and  so  far  from  having  an  original  property  in  the  fictions 
which  he  versified,  we  find  him  in  both  instances  the  follower  of  earlier 
authorities.  The  testimony  of  Godfrey  of  Strasburg  will  be  found  in 
close  accordance  with  this  opinion.  Like  the  writer  of  the  fragment 
i  Mr.  Donee's  possession,  Godfrey  records  the  difficulty  he  had  found 
in  procuring  an  authentic  narrative  of  Tristrem's  story,  on  account  of 
the  various  modes  in  which  it  was  related.  At  length  having  disco- 
vered, from  his  perusal  of  several  foreign  and  Latin  works,  that  Thomas 
of  Brittany8,  who  was  well  read  in  British  books,  had  "  told  the  tale 
aright,"  he  resolved  upon  adhering  to  so  competent  a  guide. 

Als  der  von  Tristande  seit 

Di  rihte  und  di  warheit, 

Begonde  ich  sere  suohen 

In  beider  hande  buchen, 

Welschin  und  Latinen, 

Und  begonde  mich  des  pinen, 

Das  ich  in  siner  rihte, 

Rihte  disc  tihte. 

Sus  treib  ich  manige  suche, 

Unz  ich  an  einem  buche 

Alle  sine  iehe  gelas, 

Wie  dirre  aventure  was9. 
Of  the  language  in  which  this  "  foreign  book"  was  written,  and 

*  [This  opinion  was  given  without  suf-  fragment  also  makes  a  distinction  between 

ficient  knowledge  of  the  subject.   The  MS.  Bretagne  and  Engleterre — Brittany  and 

is  most  certainly  of  the  thirteenth  cen-  England, 

tury.— M.]  »  "  What  he  (Thomas  of  Brittany)  has. 

8  Before  this  name  was  interpreted  related  of  Tristram  being  the  right  and 
"  Thomas  of  Brittain,"  (i.  e.  Great  Bri-  the  truth,  I  diligently  began  to  seek  both 
tain)  it  ought  to  have  been  shown  that  in  French  [foreign]  and  Latin  books  j 
the  German  romancers  ever  understood  and  began  to  take  great  pains  to  order 
this  country  by  the  term  "  Brittanie."  this  poem  according  to  his  [its]  true  re- 
Godfrey's  contemporary,  Hartman  von  lation.  In  this  manner  I  sought  for  a 
Auwe,  who  collected  materials  for  his  ro-  long  time,  until  I  read  in  a  book  all  his 
mance  of  Iwain  in  England,  calls  it  "  En-  relation,  how  these  adventures  happened." 
gellandt."  The  writer  of  Mr.  Douce's  — WEBER. 


SECT.  II.]  OF  SIR  TRISTREM.  105 

which  Godfrey  believed  to  be  the  original  text  of  Thomas,  Mr.  Weber 
has  supplied  us  with  the  following  conclusive  evidence  :  "  At  v.  220 
(of  Godfrey's  version)  we  are  told  that  Rivalin  has  been  said  to  have 
been  king  of  Lochnoys  ;  '  but  Thomas,  who  read  it  in  adventure 
(romance),  says  that  he  was  of  Parmenie,  and  that  he  had  a  separate 
land  from  a  Briton,  to  whom  the  Schotte  (i.  e.  Scots)  were  subject,  and 
who  was  named  li  due  Morgan.'  A  great  number  of  words,  sometimes 
whole  lines,  occur  throughout  the  poem  in  French,  which  are  carefully 
translated  into  German.  This  renders  it  indisputable  that  the  poet  had 
a  French  original  before  him"  It  is  impossible  for  testimony  to  be 
more  explicit  than  the  declaration  of  this  early  German  poet.  With 
the  romance  of  Thomas  lying  before  him,  he  cites  the  very  expressions 
of  his  original,  and  these  are  found  to  be  Norman-French  I — The  age 
of  Godfrey  can  only  be  gleaned  from  the  history  of  his  contemporaries. 
Mr.  Weber  has  remarked,  "  This  poet  appears  from  various  circum- 
stances to  have  lived  in  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century.  In  a 
digression  respecting  the  troubadours  of  his  age,  he  deplores  the  death 
of  Henry  von  Veldec  (who  composed  a  very  romantic  poem  on  the 
basis  of  Virgil's  ^Eneid,  in  the  year  1 1 80,  according  to  his  own  account)  ; 
and  among  his  contemporaries  he  mentions  Hartman  von  Auwe,  author 
of  Ywaine  and  other  poems,  which  he  composed  towards  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century ;  and  Walther  von  der  Vogelweide  *,  who  wrote  a  great 
number  of  amorous  lays  between  the  years  1190  and  1230."  A  copy 
of  Godfrey's  Tristrem,  including  as  much  of  the  story  as  he  lived  to 
write,  occurs  in  the  royal  library  at  Munich.  Mr.  Douce  refers  his 
MS.  to  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  we  are  told  that 
Ulrich  von  Turheim,  who  wrote  one  conclusion  to  Godfrey's  unfinished 
poem,  flourished  not  later  than  from  1240  to  1250.  There  is  reason 
to  believe  this  latter  writer  has  been  placed  too  low  in  the  thirteenth 
century ;  for  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  who  wrote  a  second  part  to 
Ulrich's  William  of  Orange,  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  glory  in  the  year 
1207.  Wolfram  would  hardly  have  taken  up  the  narrative  during  the 
life  of  Ulrich. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  has  cited  two  early  references  to  the  story,  one  of 
which  was  written  previous  to  the  birth  of  the  bard  of  Erceldoune,  and 
the  other  about  the  year  1226.  To  show  the  early  popularity  of  the 
subject,  and  the  general  currency  it  had  obtained  in  various  parts  of 
Europe,  a  few  authorities  are  here  collected,  all  of  which  were  published 
before  the  period  fixed  upon  for  the  composition  of  the  Rymer's  poem. 
The  first  is  taken  from  Rambaud  d'Orange,  a  troubadour  whose  death 
is  placed  about  the  year  1173. 

Car  jeu  begui  de  1'  amor, 
Que  ja  us  deia  amar  celada, 

[*  See  a  Memoir  of  this  poet,  with  spe-  tion,  also,  as  to  Godfrey,  Wolfram,  Veldec, 
cimens  of  his  poetry,  'in  Mr.  E.  Taylor's  and  others,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
Lays  of  the  Minnesingers.  For  informa-  same  work. — R.  T.] 


106  NOTE  ON  THE  ROMANCE  [SECT.  II. 

Ab  Tristan,  quan  la  il  det  Yseus  gen — 
Sobre  totz  aurai  gran  valor, 
S'  aital  camisa  m'  es  dada 
Cum  Yseus  det  a  1'  amador 
Que  mais  non  era  portata  ; 
Tristan  mout  presetz  gent  presen — 
Qu'  Yseutz  estet  en  gran  paor, 
Puois  fon  breumens  conseillada, 
Qu'  ilh  fetz  a  son  marit  crezen 
C'anc  horn  que  nasques  de  maire 
Non  toques  en  lieis  mantenen. 10 

This  passage  will  be  best  understood  by  referring  to  the  language  of 
Brengwain  in  the  English  romance : 

Greteth  wele  mi  levedy 

That  ai  trewe  hath  bene ; 
Smockes  had  sche  and  Y, 

And  hir  was  solwy  to  sene, 
By  Marke  tho  hye  schuld  lye 

Y  lent  hir  min  al  clene, 
As  thare : 

Oyain  hir,  wele  Y  wene, 

No  dede  Y  never  mare. 

Deudes  de  Prades,  another  troubadour,  who  is  conjectured  to  have 
written  about  the  year  1213,  thus  alludes  to  the  "  drink  of  force,"  the 
fatal  cause  of  Tristrem's  criminal  passion  : 

Beure  m  fai  ab  1'  enaps  Tristan 
Amors,  et  eisses  los  pimens11. 

The  same  circumstance  is  also  referred  to  by  Henry  von  Veldeck,  a 
German  Minne-singer,  who  died  before  the  close  of  the  12th  century  : 

Tristan  muste  ohne  semen  Dank 
Treue  sein  der  Koniginne, 
Weil  ihn  dazu  ein  Getrank  zwang, 
Mehr  noch  als  die  Kraft  der  Minne 12. 

In  the  Provencal  romance  of  Jaufre,  probably  written  before  the 
year  1196,  and  certainly  not  later  than  1213,  we  find  a  singular  allu- 
sion to  the  feigned  madness  of  Tristrem,  of  which  a  detailed  account 
is  given  in  the  second  of  Mr.  Douce's  fragments : 

10  Raynouard,  ii.  312.  him  to  it."     The  German  given  above  is 

11  "  Love  makes  me   drink   from  the  not  from  Veldeck's  original  text,  but  that 
goblet  and  very  spiceries  of  Tristran."  modernized   by    Tieck.     [See   this  song 

12  "  Tristran  was  faithful  to  the  queen  translated  in  Mr.  Edgar  Taylor's  Lays  of 
by  no  merit  of  his  own;  for  a   philter  the  Minnesingers.] 

rather  than  the  force  of  love  compelled 


SECT.  II.]  OF  SIR  TRISTREM.  10? 

Que  far  m'  o  fai  forsa  d'  amor — 
E  que  fes  fol  semblar  Tristan 
Per  Yseult  cui  amava  tan, 
E  de  son  oncle  lo  parti, 
E  ella  per  s'  amor  mori 13. 

In  the  year  1226  the  whole  story  was  translated  into  Norse  (Norwe- 
gian or  Islandic),  under  the  title  of  "  Saga  af  Tristrand  og  Isaldis." 
The  Arnse-Magnaean  MS.  preserved  at  Copenhagen  contains  the  fol- 
lowing notice  at  the  commencement :  "  Var  tha  lided  fra  Hingadburde 
Christi  1226  Aar,  er  thesse  Saga  var  a  Norrsenu  skrifad,  eptir  Befal- 
ningu  Virdulegs  Herra  Hakonar  kongs14." 

If  the  writer  of  this  Note  "  has  been  successful  in  his  statement, 
three  points  have  been  established:"  1st,  That  the  peculiarities  of 
style  and  language  in  the  romance  of  Sir  Tristrem  are  of  such  a  cha- 
racter as  to  render  it  extremely  doubtful  that  they  are  the  same  which 
are  spoken  of  by  De  Brunne.  2ndly,  That  the  Thomas  of  the  French 
fragment,  and  the  Thomas  of  Brittany  mentioned  by  Godfrey  of  Stras- 
burg,  wrote  his  poem  in  Norman  French.  Srdly,  That  Tristrem's 
story  was  universally  known  in  Europe  previous  to  the  Rymer's  age ; 
and  consequently  that,  so  far  from  being  an  authority  to  others,  he 
followed  in  all  probability  some  foreign  predecessor.  There  are  seve- 
ral minor  arguments  advanced  in  the  preface  to  Sir  Tristrem,  bearing 
relatively  or  incidentally  upon  the  general  theory,  which  have  been 
passed  over  in  silence.  Several  of  these  are  purely  hypothetical ;  such 
as  the  assumption  that  Mr.  Douce's  fragments  were  written  by  Raoul 
de  Beauvais;  that  Thomas's  authority  was  acknowledged  by  the  Nor- 
man rimeurs  from  his  supposed  acquaintance  with  British  traditions ; 
that  the  names  of  Gouvernail,  Blauncheflour,  Triamour,  and  Floren- 
tine, were  bestowed  upon  the  inferior  personages,  because  the  originals 
being  unknown  to  Thomas  he  used  those  peculiar  to  the  Norman- 
English  dialect  in  which  he  composed — a  circumstance,  by  the  way, 
savouring  strongly  of  a  French  original.  These,  with  several  others 
of  a  similar  nature,  can  only  need  examination  when  the  previous 
arguments  shall  have  been  established.  Above  all,  the  strange  appro- 
priation of  the  Auchinleck  poem  as  a  Scottish  production,  when  no 
single  trace  of  the  Scottish  dialect  is  to  be  found  throughout  the  whole 
romance  which  may  not  with  equal  truth  be  claimed  as  current  in  the 
North  of  England,  while  every  marked  peculiarity  of  the  former  is  en- 
tirely wanting,  can  hardly  require  serious  investigation.  From  this 
opinion  the  ingenious  editor  himself  must  long  ago  have  been 
reclaimed.  The  singular  doctrines  relative  to  the  rise  and  progress  of 

13  "Since  the  force  of  love  makes  me  l4  "  1226  years  were  passed  from  the 

— that   (passion)  which   caused   Tristan  birth  of  Christ,  when  this  Saga  was  writ- 

to  feign  madness  on   account   of  Ysolt,  ten  in  Norse,  by  the  command  of  (our) 

whom  he  loved  so  much,  which  caused  him  honoured  lord,  king  Hacon." 
to  be  at  variance  with  his  uncle  and  made 
her  (Ysolt)  die  for  his  (Tristan's)  love." 


10S  NOTE  ON  THE  ROMANCE  [SECT.  II. 

the  English  language  in  North  and  South  Britain  may  also  be  dis- 
missed as  not  immediately  relevant.  But  when  it  is  seriously  affirmed, 
that  the  English  language  was  once  spoken  with  greater  purity  in  the 
Lowlands  of  Scotland  than  in  this  country,  we  "  Sothrons "  receive 
the  communication  with  the  same  smile  of  incredulity,  that  we  bestow 
upon  the  poetic  dogma  of  the  honest  Frieslander : 

Buwter,  breat  en  greene  tzies 
Is  guth  Inglisch  en  guth  Fries15. 


This  Note  had  been  printed,  when  the  writer  received  the  first 
volume  of  Professor  Miiller's  Saga-Bibliothek ;  (Kiobenhavn  1817,) 
and  Lohengrin,  an  old  German  romance  edited  by  Mr.  Gb'rres  (Hei- 
delberg 1813).  He  is  happy  in  being  able  to  add  from  these  interest- 
ing works  a  further  confirmation  of  some  of  the  positions  assumed  in 
the  preceding  pages. — The  former  contains  the  following  passage: 
"  The  artifice  here  resorted  to  by  the  mistress  of  Dromund  (one  of  the 
heroes  in  Grettur's-Saga),  and  which  enables  her  to  swear  thus  equivo- 
cally, is  indisputably  taken  from  the  romance  of  Tristrem  so  generally 
known  in  the  middle  ages.  In  the  romance  of  Tristrem  by  Thomas  of 
Erceldoune,  queen  Ysoude  avails  herself  of  a  similar  manoeuvre.  See 
Fytte  the  Second,  Stanzas  104,  105.  This  circumstance  is  also 
recorded  in  the  old  French  version,  and  forms  the  58th  chapter  of  the 
Islandic  translation  executed  in  the  year  1226,  at  the  command  of 
king  Hacon.  The  Icelandic  Saga  closely  follows  the  order  of  the  En- 
glish poem"  (page  261.)  We  are  not  informed  whether  the  Northern 
version  was  made  from  the  French  or  German,  or,  what  is  more  pro- 
bable, from  a  German  translation  of  some  French  romance*.  But  as 
it  exhibits  the  story  in  the  same  form  as  the  English  poem,  the  Rymer's 
claim  to  "  an  original  property  in  the  fable"  inevitably  falls  to  the 
ground.  The  preface  to  Lohengrin  contains  a  general  account  of 
Wolfram  von  Eschenbach's  Titurel  and  Parcifal.  In  the  former,  Wol- 
fram cites  the  authorities  he  had  consulted  in  the  compilation  of  his 
work ;  and  after  mentioning  the  British  history  (which  Mr.  Gorres 
with  evident  probability  interprets  the  Brut  of  G.  of  Monmouth)  de- 
clares himself  to  have  been  further  assisted  in  his  researches  by 
"  Thomas  of  Brittany's  Chronicle  of  Cornwall."  This  is  clearly  the 
same  Thomas  so  repeatedly  referred  to  in  the  preceding  page,  and 
whose  celebrity  may  now  be  accounted  for  on  better  grounds  than  the 
belief  that  he  was  the  author  of  a  romance  on  Tristrem's  story.  The 
Chronicler  of  Cornwall  was  a  much  more  important  personage  than  a 
mere  minstrel  composer  of  chivalric  poems  ;  and  though  the  critics  of 
the  present  day  might  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  distinction  between 

15  Butter,  bread,  and  green  cheese,  dde  the  question  as  to  the  priority  of  the 

Is  good  English  and  good  Friese.  French  and  English  Romances.    See  Mi- 

chel's Tristan,  vol.  i.  Introd.  p.  xcii.,  and 

1  [It  was  translated  from  the  French,       an  article  in  the  Gcnt.'s  Mag.,  Oct.  1833, 
and  being  entire,  would,  if  published,  do-       p.  307.— M.] 


SECT.  II.]          ON  THE  ROMANCE  OF  SIR  TRISTREM.  309 

Thomas  and  his  ryming  cotemporaries,  the  characteristics  of  romantic 
and  authentic  history  were  not  so  rigidly  defined  at  the  period  we  are 
concerned  with*. 

ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  SIR  TRISTREM. 

[Ix  WILL  not  be  necessary,  after  Mr.  Price's  able  investigation  of  the 
subject,  to  dwell  much  on  Sir  Walter  Scott's  singular  hypothesis  re- 
specting the  origin  of  this  romance.  He  has  expended  a  profusion  of 
labour  and  ingenuity  in  maintaining  an  opinion,  paradoxical  in  itself 
and  totally  unsupported  by  external  evidence ;  overlooking  a  solu- 
tion of  the  question,  more  natural  and  probable  in  every  respect. 
When  we  recollect  the  origin  of  the  Bretons,  nothing  seems  more  likely 
than  that  they  should  have  among  them  romantic  traditions  relating  to 
Arthur  and  his  contemporaries.  When  we  learn,  moreover,  that  the 
dukes  of  Normandy  gave  great  encouragement  to  Breton  settlers  in 
their  territories,  the  familiarity  of  the  Norman  minstrels  and  trouveurs 
with  those  Celtic  traditions  is  at  once  accounted  for.  The  occurrence 
of  names  like  Blanche  Flour,  /Gouvernail,  Triamour,  &c.,  makes  it 
almost  certain  that  the  English  Sir  Tristrem  was,  like  the  great  ma- 
jority of  our  metrical  romances,  derived  from  a  Norman  original ;  and 
the  corrupt  Celtic  names — e.  gr.,  Canados  for  Caradoc,  are  not  very 
favourable  to  the  assumption  that  the  author  had  access  to  native 
British  sources  of  information. 

The  supposition  that  the  English  Sir  Tristrem  is,  in  substance,  the 
work  of  Thomas  of  Erceldoune,  cannot  be  proved,  nor  perhaps  abso- 
lutely disproved,  with  such  imperfect  data  as  we  now  possess.  The 

*  [The  editor  of  the  new  edition  of  was  written  by  the  king  of  the  fairies. 
Sir  Walter  Scott's  poetical  works  has,  in  At  the  time  of  the  Anglo- Scottish  wars  it 
a  preface  to  Sir  Tristrem,  made  some  ob-  seems  to  have  been  found  more  conve- 
servations  upon  the  foregoing  note  of  Mr.  nient  or  more  natural  to  publish  the  pro- 
Price,  which  seem  to  me  to  partake  too  phecies,  which  were  then  spread  about, 
much  of  the  nature  of  quibbles  to  need  in  his  name  than  in  that  of  Merlin,  and  it 
any  answer.  It  required  the  full  extent  had  thus  become  so  popular,  that  the  per- 
of  Scottish  nationality  to  fight  for  the  son  who  made  the  English  poem  from  the 
rights  of  any  Thomas  of  Erceldoune  to  French,  and  who,  I  should  think,  might 
the  poem  of  Sir  Tristrem,  either  in  En-  even  have  been  a  Londoner  for  anything 
glish  or  French.  There  can,  however,  be  the  language  says  to  the  contrary,  not 
no  doubt  that  Price  has  fallen  into  one  or  knowing  who  the  Thomas  of  his  original 
two  inaccuracies.  Two  things  are  ascer-  was,  may  perhaps  have  taken  him  for  the 
tained:  1,  That  an  Anglo-Norrnan  ro-  Thomas  whose  name  was  then  most  fa- 
mance  of  Tristan  was  written  by  a  person  mous,  namely,  Thomas  of  Erceldoune, 
named  Thomas,  and,  2,  that  the  name  of  and  have  thus  put  his  name  to  his  English 
Thomas  of  Erceldoune  was  in  the  English  edition.  Sir  Walter  Scott's  editor  speaks 
romance,  from  which  it  seems  to  me  no  of  the  importance  of  what  he  calls  the 
less  certain,  that  the  latter  was  the  poem  Greek  romance  of  Tristrem ;  but  he  seems 
alluded  to  by  Robert  de  Brunne,  and,  not  to  be  aware  that  the  modern  Greek 
after  all  that  Price  has  said,  I  think  that  poem,  of  which  a  fragment  was  published 
no  one  who  has  compared  it  with  the  other  by  Von  der  Hagen,  was  not  a  romance  of 
poetry  of  the  time,  can  deny  that  it  an-  Tristrem,  but  a  romance  in  which  that 
swers  to  his  description.  The  Thomas  of  hero  happens  to  be  introduced,  and  in 
Erceldoune  of  poetry  is  a  legendary  cha-  which,  moreover,  there  is  not  the  slightest 
racter,  and  I  will  as  soon  believe  the  poem  allusion  to  his  romance,  or  any  of  its 
to  be  written  by  him,  as  I  would  that  it  incidents. — W.] 


110  ADDITIONAL  NOTE  [SECT.  II. 

language  of  De  Brunne,  strictly  interpreted,  would  imply  that  the  work 
alluded  to  by  him  was  a  joint  production  of  Erceldoune  and  Kendale  ; 
at  least,  though  he  mentions  two  authors,  he  only  seems  to  speak  of 
one  poem.  His  description  of  the  poem,  as  far  as  we  can  understand 
it,  does  not  correspond  very  closely  to  the  one  now  extant.  Nor  is  it 
necessary  to  suppose  that  the  romance  composed  wholly  or  partly  by 
Erceldoune,  was  the  only  one  on  the  subject.  The  popularity  of  the 
story  is  shown  by  the  numerous  early  French  and  German  versions  of 
it ;  and  it  is  extremely  probable  that  it  existed  in  several  different 
forms  in  this  country  before  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

The  decision  of  the  question,  from  internal  evidence,  is  rendered 
more  difficult  by  the  hybrid  form  of  the  only  copy  which  we  now  pos- 
sess. It  is  easy  to  perceive,  that  the  Auchinleck  transcript  was  made 
in  a  southern  English  county,  and  that  the  transcriber,  or  some  still 
earlier  one,  has,  in  innumerable  instances,  accommodated  the  language 
of  the  poem  to  his  own  dialect.  Every  page  exhibits  words,  which, 
in  their  present  form,  could  not  possibly  proceed  from  the  pen  of  a 
Northumbrian  or  Scottish  poet  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Many  of 
them  are  the  ordinary  English  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  but  the  greater 
part  approximate  to  the  dialect  of  Peirs  Plouhman.  This  corre- 
spondence appears  not  only  in  individual  words,  such  as  blinne  (to 
cease),  swiche,  tJio  (those),  her  (their),  chirche,  &c.,  &c.,  but  also  in  gram- 
matical forms,  e.  gr.,  the  infinitives  and  plurals  of  verbs  in  en,  foren,  to 
go ;  wexen,  they  grow ;  both  well-known  peculiarities  of  the  Midland 
or  Mercian  dialect.  Frequently  these  Mercian  forms  vitiate  the  rhyme ; 
for  instance,  we  may  be  assured  that  in  Fytte  3,  s.  30, 1.  3,  the  original 
author  did  not  write  "  sothe  to  sain,"  but  "  sothe  to  say,"  to  agree  with 
away,  ay,  day,  in  the  corresponding  lines  of  the  stanza. 

Another  class  of  words  in  the  poem  belongs  more  properly  to  the 
Western  dialect.  Among  these  may  be  specified,  icham,  ichave,  ichil, 
(I  will)  ;  sigge,  (to  say) ;  and  more  particularly,  the  infinitives  in  i — 
aski,  mendi,  chad,  desiri,  harpi,  still  used  in  Somersetshire.  We  have 
no  means  of  knowing  whether  this  mixture  of  forms  is  to  be  attributed 
to  several  successive  transcribers,  or  to  a  single  one.  It  is  possible  that 
some  such  dialect  might  be  current  near  the  boundary  of  the  Mercian 
and  Western  districts ;  for  example,  in  the  tract  between  the  Avon 
and  the  Isis. 

Notwithstanding  the  changes  which  the  poem  has  undergone,  there 
is  still  sufficient  proof  that  it  was  originally  written  in  the  Northum- 
brian dialect.  The  words  tine  (lose)  ;  linn,  (stop) ;  bayn,  graythed ; 
the  forms  stan,  are,  sare  (for  stone,  oar,  sore) ;  and  particularly  the  in- 
finitive construction  at  ete,  (to  eat);  at  weld,  (to  possess  or  enjoy), 
were  either  unknown  in  the  southern  part  of  the  island,  or  discontinued 
at  a  very  early  period.  In  most  cases  these  northern  forms  have  been 
preserved  for  the  sake  of  the  rhyme  and  metre  ;  and  when  the  present 


SECT.  II.]  ON  THE  ROMANCE  OF  SIR  TRISTREM.  Ill 

rhymes  are  defective,  they  may  be  easily  rectified  by  restoring  the  ori- 
ginal dialect, — for  example,  the  substitution  of  the  Northumbrian  form 
alswa,  for  the  present  reading  also,  in  Fytte  1,  st.  31,  1.  7,  imme- 
diately restores  the  consonance  with  ga,  ta,  ma.  There  are  probably 
a  hundred  similar  instances  in  the  course  of  the  poem. 

But  though  the  language  of  the  romance  was  originally  northern, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  it  was  ever  Scottish.  Many  of  the  terms  em- 
ployed in  it  are  undoubtedly  current  in  Scotland,  but  not  one  is  exclu- 
sively so, — a  pretty  strong  negative  argument  against  its  supposed  Ber- 
wickshire origin.  All  the  purely  northern  words  are  or  have  been 
familiar  in  the  district  between  the  Tweed  and  the  Humber ;  in  fact 
most  of  them  may  be  found  in  *  Britayn's  Skill-kay  of  Knawing,'  a  ma- 
nuscript known  to  be  written  at  Fountain's  Abbey  about  the  fifteenth 
century.  Words  also  occur  in  the  poem  not  now  used  in  Scotland,  or 
found  in  compositions  indisputably  Scottish.* 

The  age  of  the  existing  copy  must  be  determined  by  inspecting  the 
Auchinleck  MS.,  which  has  been  assigned  from  internal  evidence  to  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  or  rather  earlier ;  but  it  would  be 
easy  to  point  out  many  MSS.  written  about  A.  D.  1350,  in  which  the 
general  cast  of  the  orthography  is  more  ancient.  However,  enough 
has  escaped  from  this  modernizing  process  to  show  that  the  original 
poem  must  have  been  considerably  older.  Many  of  the  still  surviving 
archaisms  are  of  a  strongly  marked  cast,  and  might,  with  some  proba- 
bility, be  referred  to  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  or  a  period 
not  much  later.  Such  are  the  diversified  constructions  with  genitive 
personal  pronouns,  some  of  which  are  of  rare  occurrence  after  the 
semi- Saxon  period  of  the  language,  our  on,  (one  of  us)  ;  whether  our, 
(whether  of  us)  ;  her  aither,  (either  of  them)  ;  her  bother,  (of  them 
both)  ;  her  non,  (none  of  them) ;  and  several  others  of  parallel  form 
and  import.  To  these  may  be  added  other,  (or)  ;  the  accusative  article 
then  ('then  ende') ;  les,  (Ang.  Sax.  leas,  false  or  falsehood) ;  for  thi,  (for 
or  because)  ;  and  the  pure  Saxon  idiom,  fiftende  som,  (about  fifteen). 
In  Fytte  3,  st.  7,  1.  6,  an,  (gives  or  grants),  might  be  supposed  to  be  a 
license  for  the  sake  of  the  rhyme.  It  is,  however,  pure  Anglo-Saxon 
and  Norse,  and  was  doubtless,  perfectly  grammatical  at  the  time  when 
the  poem  was  written. 

Upon  the  whole,  then,  it  appears  : — 1 .  That  the  present  Sir  Tristrem 
is  a  modernized  copy  of  an  old  Northumbrian  romance,  which  was 
probably  written  between  A.D.  1260 — 1300  :  2.  That  it  is  not,  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  word,  an  original  composition,  but  derived  more  or 
less  directly  from  a  Norman  or  Anglo-Norman  source  :  3.  That  there 
is  no  direct  testimony  in  favour  of  Thomas  of  Erceldoune's  claim  to 
the  authorship  of  it,  while  the  internal  evidence  is,  as  far  as  it  goes, 

*  For  example,  greves,  (groves)  ;  ore,  (to  thrive) ;  unride,  (huge)  ;  cum  multis 
(grace  or  favour) ;  thurf,  (to  need) ;  the,  allis. 


112  RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  ROMANCE.  [SECT.  III. 

greatly  adverse  to  that  supposition.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means  im- 
probable that  the  author  availed  himself  of  the  previous  labours  of  Er- 
celdoune  on  the  same  theme.  The  minstrels  of  those  days  were  great 
plagiarists,  and  seldom  gave  themselves  the  trouble  of  inventing  subjects 
and  incidents  when  they  found  them  ready  prepared  to  their  hands. 
On  this  point,  however,  and  several  others  relating  to  the  literary 
history  of  the  poem,  we  have  nothing  but  conjectures  to  offer,  until 
the  production  of  further  evidence  help  to  remove  our  uncertainty. 

R.  G.] 


SECTION    III. 

Effects  of  the  Increase  of  Tales  of  Chivalry.  Rise  of  Chivalry.  Cru- 
sades. Rise  and  Improvements  of  Romance.  View  of  the  Rise  of 
Metrical  Romances.  Their  Currency  about  the  End  of  the  Thirteenth 
Century.  French  Minstrels  in  England.  Provencial  Poets.  Po- 
pular Romances.  Dares  Phrygius.  Guido  de  Colonna.  Fabulous 
Histories  of  Alexander.  Pilpays  Fables.  Roman  d'Alexandre. 
Alexandrines.  Communications  between  the  French  and  English 
Minstrels.  Use  of  the  Provencial  Writers.  Two  sorts  of  Troubadours. 

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  min- 
strels in  the  place  of  historical  and  traditionary  facts,  or  reality  dis- 
guised by  the  misrepresentations  of  invention  ;  and  that  a  taste  for  or- 
namental 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  seeking  dangerous  adventures,  and  the 
spirit  of  avenging  and  protecting  the  fair  sex,  seem  to  have  been  pe- 
culiar to  the  Northern  nations  in  the  most  uncultivated  state  of  Eu- 
rope. 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  splen- 
dor and  parade,  caught  from  the  riches  and  magnificence  of  eastern 
cities  a.  These  oriental  expeditions  established  a  taste  for  hyperbolical 

*  I  cannot  help  transcribing  here  a  France  about  the  year  1150.  "  Le  quel 
curious  passage  from  old  Fauchet.  He  fut  le  premier  roy  de  sa  maison,  qui  mon- 
is  speaking  of  Louis  the  young,  king  of  stra  dehors  ses  richesses  allant  en  Jerusa- 


SECT.  III.] 


CRUSADES. 


113 


description,  and  propagated  an  infinity  of  marvellous  tales,  which  men 
returning  from  distant  countries  easily  imposed  on  credulous  and  ig- 
norant 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  ex- 
cel each  other  on  this  interesting  occasion,  not  only  in  prowess  and 
heroism,  but  in  sumptuous  equipages,  gorgeous  banners,  armorial  co- 
gnisances, 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  enthu- 
siasm 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  prin- 
cipal and  leading  subjects  of  the  old  fablers  were  the  achievements  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  intro- 
duced. Trebizonde  took  place  of  Rouncevalles,  and  Godfrey  of  Bul- 
loigne,  Solyman,  Nouraddin,  the  caliphs,  the  souldans,  and  the  cities  of 
^Egypt  and  Syria,  became  the  favourite  topics  *.  The  troubadours  of 


lem.  Aussi  la  France  commenja  de  son 
temps  a  s'embellir  de  bastimens  plus  ma- 
gnifiques  :  prendre  plaisir  a  pierrieres,  et 
autres  delicatesses  goustus  en  Levant  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  de- 
daignant  la  simplicite  de  ces  predecesseurs, 
luy  fit  eleverune  sepulture  d'argent,aulieu 
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  kill- 
ing a  dragon,  1345. 

*  [Though  this  passage  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  severe  animadversion,  and  charac- 
terized as  containing  nothing  but  "random 
assertion,  falsehood  and  imposition,"  there 
are  few  of  its  positions  which  a  more  tempe- 
rate spirit  of  criticism  might  not  reconcile 
with  the  truth.  The  popularity  of  Arthur's 
story  anterior  to  the  first  Crusade,  is  abun- 
dantly manifested  by  the  language  of  Wil- 
liam of  Malmesbury  and  Alanus  de  Insulis ; 
who  refer  to  it  as  a  fable  of  common  noto- 
riety and  general  belief  among  the  people. 
Had  it  arisen  within  their  own  days,  we 
may  be  certain  that  Malmesbury,  who  re- 
VOL.  I. 


jected  it  as  beneath  the  dignity  of  history, 
would  not  have  suffered  an  objection  so 
well  founded,  as  the  novelty  of  its  appear- 
ance, to  have  escaped  his  censure ;  nor  can 
the  narrative  of  Alanus  be  reconciled  with 
the  general  progress  of  traditionary  faith 
— a  plant  of  tardy  growth — if  we  limit  its 
first  publicity  to  the  period  thus  prescribed 
(1096-1142).  With  regard  to  Charle- 
magne and  his  peers,  as  their  deeds  were 
chaunted  by  Taillefer  at  the  battle  of  Hast- 
ings (1066),  it  would  be  needless  to  offer 
further  demonstrations  of  their  early  po- 
pularity ;  nor  in  fact  does  the  accuracy  of 
this  part  of  Warton's  statement  appear  to 
be  called  in  question  by  the  writer  alluded 
to.  It  would  be  more  difficult  to  define  the 
degree  in  which  these  romances  were  su- 
perseded by  similar  poems  on  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  Crusaders;  or,  to  use  the  more 
cautious  language  of  the  text,  to  state  how 
far  "  Trebizonde  took  place  of  Ronceval- 
les."  But  it  will  be  recollected  that  in 
consequence  of  the  Crusades,  the  action 
of  several  romances  was  transferred  to  the 
Holy  Land,  such  as  Sir  Bevis,  Sir  Guy, 
Sir  Isumbras,  the  King  of  Tars,  &c. :  and 
that  most  of  these  were  "favourite  topics" 
in  high  esteem,  is  clear  from  the  declara- 
tion of  Chaucer,  who  catalogued  them 
among  the  "romances  of  Pris."  In  short, 
if  we  omit  the  names  of  the  caliphs,  and 


114  RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  ROMANCE.  [SECT.  III. 

Prorence,  an  idle  and  unsettled  race  of  men,  took  up  arms,  and  followed 
their  barons  in  prodigious  multitudes  to  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem. 
They  made  a  considerable  part  of  the  household  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  arid  inconveniences  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  ro- 
mance 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  establishment  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  Don  Quixote's  history  an 
Arabian.  Yet  exclusive  of  their  domestic  and  more  immediate  con- 
confine  ourselves  to  the  Soldans — a  generic  earls,  and  princes,  enrolled  in  their  corn- 
name  used  by  our  early  writers  for  every  munity.  [Herbert's  History  of  the  12  Li- 
successive  ruler  of  the  East — and  the  cities  very  Companies,  vol.  ii.  p.  384.]  This  is 
of  ./Egypt  and  Syria,  this  rhapsody,  as  it  has  indeed  an  honour  to  that  otherwise  respect- 
been  termed,  will  contain  nothing  which  able  society.  But  poets  can  derive  no  lustre 
is  not  strictly  demonstrable  by  historical  from  counts,  and  dukes,  or  even  princes, 
evidence,  or  the  language  of  the  old  ro-  who  have  been  enrolled  in  their  lists,  only 
mancers. — The  Life  of  Godfrey  of  Bou-  in  proportion  as  they  have  adorned  the  art 
logne  was  written  in  French  verse  by  Gre-  by  the  excellence  of  their  compositions, 
gory  Bechada,  about  the  year  1130.  It  is  e  The  old  French  historian  Mezeray 

usually  supposed  to  have  perished ;  unless,       goes  so  far  as  to  derive  the  origin  of  the 
indeed,  it  exist  in  a  poem  upon  the  same       French   poetry  and   romances   from  the 
subject  by  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  who       Crusades.     Hist.  p.  416,  417. 
generally  founded  his  romances  upon  a  [Geoffrey  of  Vinesauf  says,  that  when 

French  or  Provenjal  original. — PRICE.]         king  Richard  the  First  arrived  at  the  Chri- 
e  Velley,  Hist.  Fr.  sub  an.  1178.  stian  camp  before  Ptolemais,  he  was  re- 

*  Massieu,  Hist.  Poes.  Fr.  p.  105.  Many  ceived  with  populares  Cantiones,  which 
of  the  troubadours,  whose  works  now  ex-  recited  Antiqtiorum.  Prceclara  Gesta.  It. 
ist,  and  whose  names  are  recorded,  accom-  Hierosol.  cap.  ii.  p.  332.  ibid. — ADDI- 
panied  their  lords  to  the  holy  war.  Some  TIONS.]  [For  an  example  of  the  mate- 
of  the  French  nobility  of  the  first  rank  rials  which  were  gathered  in  the  East  by 
were  troubadours  about  the  eleventh  cen-  the  western  adventurers,  see  an  extraordi- 
tury :  and  the  French  critics  with  much  nary  and  most  romantic  story  concerning 
triumph  observe,  that  it  is  the  GLORY  of  the  head  which  by  its  position  caused  the 
the  French  poetry  to  number  counts  and  storms  in  the  Gulf  of  Sataliah,  told  by  John 
dukes,  that  is  sovereigns,  among  its  pro-  Bromton,  in  Twisden,  fol.  1216;  where 
fessors,  from  its  commencement.  What  is  also  another  story,  wherein  a  water- 
a  glory  !  The  worshipful  company  of  spout  is  turned  into  a  dragon,  who  came 
Merchant-taylors  in  London,  if  I  recol-  every  month  to  drink  the  waters  of  the 
lect  right,  boast  the  names  of  many  dukes,  aforesaid  gulf. — W.] 


SECT.  III.]  RI8E  OF  METRICAL  ROMANCE. 


115 


nexion  with  this  eastern  people,  the  Spaniards  from  temper  and  consti- 
tution 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  Europe'. 

It  has  been  imagined  that  the  first  romances  were  composed  in  metre, 
and  sung  to  the  harp  by  the  poets  of  Provence  at  festival  solemnities : 
but  an  ingenious  Frenchman,  who  has  made  deep  researches  into  this 
sort  of  literature,  attempts  to  prove,  that  this  mode  of  reciting  roman- 
tic 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, 
and  that  it  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  Fauchet,  at  the  same  time  that 
he  allows  the  Normans  to  have  been  fond  of  chanting  the  praises  of  their 
heroes  in  verse,  expressly  pronounces  that  they  borrowed  this  practice 
from  the  Franks  or  French h. 


f  Huet  in  some  measure  adopts  this 
opinion.  But  that  learned  man  was  a  very 
incompetent  judge  of  these  matters.  Under 
tiie  common  term  Romance,  he  confounds 
romances  of  chivalry,  romances  of  gal- 
lantry, and  all  the  fables  of  the  Provencial 
poets.  What  can  we  think  of  a  writer, 
who  having  touched  upon  the  gothic  ro- 
mances, at  whose  fictions  and  barbarisms 
he  is  much  shocked,  talks  of  the  consum- 
mate degree  of  art  and  elegance  to  which 
the  French  are  at  present  arrived  in  ro- 
mances ?  He  adds,  that  the  superior  refine- 
ment and  politesse  of  the  French  gallantry 
has  happily  given  them  an  advantage  of 
shining  in  this  species  of  composition.  Hist. 
Rom.  p.  138.  But  the  sophistry  and  igno- 
rance of  Huet's  Treatise  has  been  already 
detected  and  exposed  by  a  critic  of  another 
cast  in  the  Supplement  to  Jarvis's  Pre- 
face, prefixed  to  the  Translation  of  Don 
Quixote. 

*  Mons.  L'Eveque  de  la  Ravaliere,  in 
his  Revolutions  de  Langue  Franqoise,  a  la 
suite  des  Poesies  du  Roi  de  Navarre. 
[2  torn.  12°  Par.  1743.] 

h  "Ce  que  les  Normans  avoyent  pris 
des  Fran?ois."  Rec.  liv.  i.  p.  70.  edit.  1581. 

[There  is  nothing,  perhaps,  more  ridi- 
culous than  the  seeking  of  the  origin  of 
Romance  amongst  any  one  people,  or  of 
supposing  that  any  one  people  took  its  ro- 
mance from  another.  It  is  certain  that  at 
a  certain  period  amongst  the  literature  of 


every  people,  we  may  find  romances  which 
are  taken  from  those  of  other  peoples,  al- 
though there  are  few  nations  which  do  not 
possess  a  body  of  popular  romance  belong- 
ing to  themselves.  I  have  very  little  doubt 
that  a  large  mass  of  the  stories  which  in  the 
thirteenth  century  made  their  appearance 
in  fabliaux,  had  existed  at  a  much  earlier 
period  among  the  Teutonic  tribes.  In  a 
curious  MS.  at  Cambridge  (Bibl.  Publ.  Gg. 
5,  35.),  written  by  an  Anglo-Saxon  in  Ger- 
many near  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, among  many  political  Latin  songs, 
we  have  three  which  may  be  correctly  de- 
scribed as  Fabliaux :  the  scene  of  one  is 
laid  at  Mayence,  during  the  time  of  He- 
riger,  who  was  archbishop  there  in  913, 
and  the  other  has  its  scene  in  Hamburg — 

Est  unus  locus 
Homburh  dictus. 

A  similar  collection  of  apparently  metrical 
Latin  fabliaux  is  found  in  a  MS.  at  Wol- 
fenbuttel,  written  in  Germany  in  the  tenth 
century,  in  which,  curiously  enough,  the 
heroes  of  the  stories  are  commonly  Suevi. 
Many  of  these  stories  appeared  again  in 
Latin  in  the  twelfth  century.  Thus,  among 
the  modi,  as  they  are  called,  of  the  Wolfen- 
biittel  MS.,  we  find  the  story  of  the  mer- 
chant, whose  wife  was  unfaithful  during 
his  absence  and  brought  forth  a  child, 
which  she  said  was  ingendered  miracu- 
lously by  a  flake  of  snow  which  she  had 


116 


FRENCH  MINSTRELS  IN  ENGLAND.  [SECT.  III. 


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  poet1,  invited  to  his 

And  the  same  author  says  of  king  Richard : 

Coblas  a  teira  faire  adroitement 
Pou  vos  oillez  entcn  dompna  gentilzr. 

Stanzas  he  trimly  could  invent 
Upon  the  eyes  of  ladies  gent." 

— W.  J.  T.] 

There  is  a  curious  story  recorded  by  the 
French  chroniclers,  concerning  Richard's 
skill  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,  Ri- 
chard's favourite  minstrel,  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  Ri- 
chard's barons  with  the  place  of  his  im- 
prisonment, from  which  he  was  soon  after- 
wards released.  See  also  Fauchet,  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.  RI- 
CHARD. 

[There  is  too  much  reason  to  believe 
this  story  of  Blondell  and  his  illustrious 
patron  to  be  purely  apocryphal.  The  poem 
published  by  Walpole  is  written  in  the 
Provenyal  language,  and  a  Norman  ver- 
sion of  it  is  given  by  M.  Sismondi,  in 
his  Literature  du  Midi,  vol.  i.  p.  149.  In 


swallowed  :  the  merchant,  in  revenge,  car- 
ried away  the  child,  sold  him,  and  on  his 
return  told  his  wife  that  he  had  been  dis- 
solved by  the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  mer- 
chant is  "  Constantiae  civis  Suevulus."  The 
following  is  selected  from  amongst  several 
Anglo-Latin  epigrams  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, wherein  this  same  story  is  given : — 

Rebus  in  augendis  longe  remorajite  ma- 

rito, 
Uxor  mcecha  parit  puerum ;  post  multa 

reverse, 
De  nive  conceptual  fingit :  fraus  mutua, 

caute 
Sustulit,  asportat,  vendit,  matrique  re- 

portans 
Ridiculum  simile,  liquefactum  sole  re- 

fingit. 

The  story  is  revived  in  a  French  fabliau 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  printed  in  Bar- 
bazan.  I  have  sometimes  found  in  Anglo- 
Latin  MSS.  of  the  twelfth  and  beginning 
of  the  thirteenth  centuries,  stories  very 
similar  to  the  aforesaid  modi,  particularly 
in  MS.  Bibl.  Trin.  Coll.  Cant.  O.  2.  45. 
-W.} 

1  See  Observations  on  Spenser,  i.  §  i.  p. 
28.  29.  And  Mr.  Walpole's  Royal  and  No- 
ble 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. 

[Upon  reference  to  Rymer,  it  w  ill  be  seen 
that  Warton  has  here  fallen  into  a  trifling 
error,  and  that  it  is  not  Savarie  de  Mauleon 
who  records  Richard's  skill  in  poetry,  but 
another  troubadour,  Guilhern  Briton,  who 
mentions  the  poetical  talents  of  both  Sa- 
varie and  Richard.  The  following  is  the 
passage : — 

"  Savary  de  Mauleon  mentioned  in  our 
English  histories  is  reckoned  another  of 
those  Provenpal  poets  ;  of  him  an  old  bard 
amongst  them  (Guilhem  Briton  MSS.  with 
Signor  Redi)  gives  this  testimony  : 

Doussament  fait  mots  et  sos 
Ab  amor  que'  me'  a  vencut, 

Sweetly  could  he  say  and  sing 
Of  Love  that  me  hath  vanquished. 


SECT.  111.]  FRENCH  MINSTRELS  IN  ENGLAND. 


117 


court  many  minstrels  or  troubadours  from  France,  whom  he  loaded  with 
honours  and  rewardsj.    These  poets  imported  into  England  a  great  mul- 


which  of  these  languages  it  was  originally 
composed  remains  a  matter  of  dispute 
among  the  French  antiquaries. — PRICE.] 

[Two  metrical  reliques  by  Richard  I. 
were  first  printed  in  La  Tour  Tenebreuse, 
&c.  1705.  The  first  of  these,  in  mixed 
Romance  and  Provencal,  professes  to  be 
the  veritable  chanson  of  Blondel ;  the  other 
is  a  love-song  in  Norman  French.  The 
sonnet  cited  by  Mr.  Walpole  was  exhibited 
with  an  English  version  in  Dr.  Burney's 
History  of  Music,  but  has  since  received  a 
more  graceful  illustration  from  the  pen  of 
Mr.  George  Ellis,  in  the  last  edition  of 
Royal  and  Noble  Authors.  It  can  hardly 
be  called  "  a  fragment,"  though  the  last 
stanza  looks  imperfect. — PARK.]  [Mr. 
Park  has  probably  mistaken  the  Envoy, 
consisting  of  three  lines,  for  a  part  of  the 
poem: 

Suer  Contessa  vostre  pretz  sobeirain, 

Sal  dieus  e  gard  la  bella  qu'ieu  am  tan, 

Ni  per  cui  soi  ja  pres. 
The  whole  has  been  published  by  M.  Ray- 
nouard,  in  the  fourth  volume  of  his  "  Choix 
des  Poesies  originales  des  Troubadours," 
a  volume  which  had  not  reached  me  when 
the  note,  to  which  this  is  a  supplement, 
was  sent  to  the  press.  Another  poem  by 
Richard  I.  will  be  found  in  the  "  Parnasse 
Occitanien,"  Toulouse  1819,  a  publication 
from  which  the  following  remark  has  been 
thought  worth  extracting:  "Crescimbeni 
avait  dit  qu'il  existait  des  poesies  du  roi 
Richard  dans  le  manuscrit  3204;  et  la- 
dessus  Horace  Walpole  le  taxe  d'inexacti- 
tude.  Cependant  le  sirvente  se  trouve  au 
fol.  170,  Ro.  et  171  Ro.  C'est  done  1'Ah- 
glois  qui  se  trompe  en  disant :  there  is  no 
work  of  King  Richard." — PRICE.] 

[In  the  preface  to  La  Tour  Tenebreuse, 
it  is  said,  and  there  really  seems  to  have 
been  some  foundation  for  the  assertion, 
that  the  groundwork  of  the  work  was  a 
MS.  communicated  to  the  authoress  by  the 
then  possessor,  and  which  MS.  was  en- 
titled Chronique  et  Fabliaux  de  la  compo- 
sition de  Richard  Roy  d'Angleterre  re- 
cueillis  tot  a  nouvel  et  conjoints  ensemble- 
me.nt  par  le  labour  de  Jehan  de  Sorels  Van 
1308. 

The  tales  which  it  contains  are  two  in 
number,  and  are  represented  as  having 
been  composed  by  Richard  during  his  im- 
prisonment in  la  Tour  Tenebreuse,  and  af- 
terwards recited  by  him  to  Blondel. 

The  following  is  said  to  have  been  the 
song  sung  by  Richard  and  Blondel : — 

Domna  vostra  beutas 
Elas  bellas  faissos 


Els  bels  oils  amoros 

Els  gens  cor  ben  taillatz 

Don  sien  empresenats 

De  vostra  amor  que  mi  lia 

Si  bel  trop  affansia 

Ja  de  vos  non  portrai 

Que  major  honorai 

Sol  en  votre  deman 

Que  fautra  des  beisan 

Tot  can  de  vos  volzia. — W.  J.  T.] 
J  "  De  regno  Francorum  cantores  et  jo- 
culatores  muneribus  allexerat."  Rog.  Ho- 
ved.  Ric.  I.  p.  340.  These  gratuities  were 
chiefly  arms,  clothes,  horses,  and  some- 
times money. 

[On  a  review  of  this  passage  in  Hoveden, 
it  appears  to  have  been  William  bishop  of 
Ely,  chancellor  to  king  Richard  the  First, 
who  thus  invited  minstrels  from  France, 
whom  he  loaded  with  favours  and  presents 
to  sing  his  praises  in  the  streets.  But  it 
does  not  much  alter  the  doctrine  of  the 
text,  whether  he  or  the  king  was  instru- 
mental in  importing  the  French  minstrels 
into  England.  This  passage  is  in  a  letter 
of  Hugh  bishop  of  Coventry,  which  see 
also  in  Hearne's  Benedictus  Abbas,  vol.  ii. 
p.  704.  sub  ann.  1191.  It  appears  from 
this  letter,  that  he  was  totally  ignorant  of 
the  English  language,  ibid.  p.  708.  By 
his  cotemporary  Gyraldus  Cambrensis,  he 
is  represented  as  a  monster  of  injustice,  im- 
piety, intemperance,  and  lust.  Gyraldus 
has  left  these  anecdotes  of  his  character, 
which  show  the  scandalous  grossness  of  the 
times: — "  Sed  taceo  quod  ruminare  solet, 
nunc  clamitat  Anglia  tota,  qualiter  puella, 
matris  industria  tam  coma  quam  cultu  pu- 
erum  professa,  simulansque  virum  verbis 
et  vultu,  ad  cubiculum  belluae  istius  est 
perducta.  Sed  statim  ut  exosi  illius  sexus 
est  inventa,  quanquam  in  se  pulcherrima, 
thalamique  thorique  deliciis  valde  idonea, 
repudiata  tamen  est  et  abjecta.  Unde  et  in 
crastino,  matri  filia,  tam  flagitiosi  facinoris 
conscia,  cum  petitionis  effectu,  terrisque 
non  modicis  eandem  jure  haereditario  con- 
tingentibus,  virgo,  ut  venerat,  est  restituta. 
Tantae  nimirum  intemperantiae,  et  petulan- 
tiae  fuerat  tam  immoderate,  quod  quotidie 
in  prandio  circa  finem,  pretiosis  tam  potio- 
nibus  quam  cibariis  ventre  distento,  virga 
aliquantulum  longa  in  capite  aculeum  prse- 
ferente  pueros  nobiles  ad  mensam  mini-* 
strantes,  eique  propter  multimodam  qua 
fungebatur  potestatem  in  omnibus  ad  nu- 
turn  obsequentes,  pungere  vicissim  consue- 
verit;  ut  eo  indicio,  quasi  signo  quodam 
secretiore,  quern  fortius,  inter  alios,  atque 
frequentius  sic  quasi  ludicro  pungebat, 
&c.  &c."  De  Vit.  Giilfrid.  Archiepiscop. 


118       EARLIEST  BOOKS  OF  CHIVALRY  IN  ENGLAND.    [SECT.  III. 


titude  of  their  tales  and  songs ;  which  before  or  about  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward the  Second  became  familiar  and  popular  among  our  ancestors,  who 
were  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  French  language.  The  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  evi- 
dent proof  of  the  reputation  and  Qsteem  in  which  this  sort  of  compo- 
sition was  held  at  that  period.  In  the  revenue  roll  of  the  twenty-first 
year  of  that  king,  there  is  an  entry  of  the  expense  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  hap- 
sis  et  clavis  argenteis  ad  magnum  librum  ROMANCIS  regisV  That  this 


Ebor.  apud  Whart.  Angl.  Sacr.  vol.  ii. 
p.  406.  But  Wharton  endeavours  to  prove, 
that  the  character  of  this  great  prelate  and 
statesman  in  many  particulars  had  been 
misrepresented  through  prejudice  and  en- 
vy. Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  632. 

It  seems  the  French  minstrels,  with 
whom  the  Song  of  ROLAND  originated, 
were  famous  about  this  period.  Muratori 
cites  an  old  history  of  Bologna,  under  the 
year  1288,  by  which  it  appears  that  they 
swarmed  in  the  streets  of  Italy.  "  Ut 
CANTATORBS  FRANCIGENARUM  in  pla- 
teis  comunis  ad  cantandum  morari  non 
possent."  On  which  words  he  observes, 
"  Colle  quali  parole  sembra  verosimile, 
che  sieno  disegnati  i  cantatore  del  favole 
romanze,  che  spezialmente  della  Franzia 
erano  portale  in  Italia."  Dissert.  An- 
tichit.  Ital.  torn.  ii.  c.  xxix.  p.  16.  In 
Napoli,  1752.  He  adds,  that  the  min- 
strels were  so  numerous  in  France,  as  to 
become  a  pest  to  the  community;  and 
that  an  edict  was  issued  about  the  year 
1200,  to  suppress  them  in  that  kingdom. 
Muratori,  in  further  proof  of  this  point, 
quotes  the  above  passage  from  Hoveden  ; 
which,  as  I  had  done,  he  misapplies  to  our 
king  Richard  the  First.  But,  in  either 
sense,  it  equally  suits  his  argument.  In 
the  year  1334,  at  a  feast  on  Easter  Sun- 
day, celebrated  at  Rimini,  on  occasion  of 
some  noble  Italians  receiving  the  honour 
of  knighthood,  more  than  one  thousand 
five  hundred  HISTRIONES  are  said  to 
have  attended.  "  Triumphus  quidem 
maximus  fuit  ibidem,  &c. — Fuit  etiam 
multitude  HISTRIONUM  circa  mille  quin- 
gentos  et  ultra."  Annal.  Csesenat.  torn.  xiv. 
Rer.  Italic.  Scriptor.  col.  1141.  But  their 
countries  are  not  specified.  In  the  year 
1227,  at  a  feast  in  the  palace  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Genoa,  a  sumptuous  banquet 
and  vestments  without  number  were  given 
to  the  minstrels,  or  Jocnlatores,  then  pre- 
sent, who  came  from  Lombardy,  Pro- 
vence, Tuscany,  and  other  countries.  Caf- 
fari  Annal.  Genuens.  lib.  vi.  p.  449  D. 
apud  torn.  vi.  ut  supr.  In  the  year  774, 


when  Charlemagne  entered  Italy  and 
found  his  passage  impeded,  he  was  met 
by  a  minstrel  of  Lombardy,  whose  song 
promised  him  success  and  victory.  "  Con- 
tigit  JOCULATOREM  ex  Longobardorum 
gente  ad  Carolum  venire,  et  CANTIUN- 
CULAM  A  SB  COMPOSITAM,  rotando  in 
conspectu  suorum,  cantare."  Tom.  ii.  P.  2. 
ut  supr.  Chron.  Monast.  Noval.  lib.  Hi. 
cap.  x.  p.  717  D. 

To  recur  to  the  origin  of  this  Note. 
Ryroer,  in  his  Short  View  of  Tragedy, 
on  the  notion  that  Hoveden  is  here 
speaking  of  king  Richard,  has  founded  a 
theory,  which  is  consequently  false,  and 
is  otherwise  but  imaginary.  See  p.  66. 
67.  69.  74.  He  supposes,  that  Richard, 
in  consequence  of  his  connexion  with 
Raimond  count  of  Tholouse,  encouraged 
the  heresy  of  the  Albigenses  ;  and  that 
therefore  the  historian  Hoveden,  as  an 
ecclesiastic,  was  interested  in  abusing  Ri- 
chard, and  in  insinuating,  that  his  repu- 
tation for  poetry  rested  only  on  the  venal 
praises  of  the  French  minstrels.  The 
words  quoted  are,  indeed,  written  by  a 
churchman,  although  not  by  Hoveden. 
But  whatever  invidious  turn  they  bear, 
they  belong,  as  we  have  seen,  to  quite 
another  person  ;  to  a  bishop  who  justly 
deserved  such  an  indirect  stroke  of  satire, 
for  his  criminal  enormities,  not  for  any 
vain  pretensions  to  the  character  of  a  Pro- 
vencial  songster. — ADDITIONS.] 

k  Rot.  Pip.  an.  21  Hen.  III. 

[Although  Warton  has  himself  stated 
frequently  enough  that  the  word  Romance 
in  early  writers  need  mean  nothing  but 
French,  yet  he  is  continually  arguing  on 
the  supposition  that  it  must  mean  romance 
in  our  present  acceptation  of  the  term. 
The  above-mentioned  book  was  not  ne- 
cessarily a  book  of  romances.  However, 
the  following  entry  in  the  Close  Roll  of 
the  34th  of  the  same  reign  (March  17) 
may  refer  to  the  same  book,  in  which 
case  it  would  seem  to  countenance  War- 
ton's  supposition : — "  De  quodam  Hbro  li- 
berato  ad  opus  regine.  Mandatum  est 


SECT.  III.]    EARLIEST  BOOKS  OF  CHIVALRY  IN  ENGLAND.       119 


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  achievements  of  that  monarch  were  so  famous  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  Third,  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  ancient  record,  under  the  year  1246. 
"  Et  in  camera  regis  subtus  capellam  regis  apud  Clarendon  lambrus- 
canda,  et  muro  ex  transverse  illius  camerae  amovendo  et  hystoria  An- 
tiochias  in  eadem  depingenda  cum  DUELLO  REGIS  RICARDII."  To  these 
anecdotes  we  may  add,  that  in  the  Royal  library  at  Paris  there  is,  "Lan- 
celot du  Lac  mis  en  Francois  par  Robert  de  J3orron,  du  commandement 
d*  Henri  roi  de  Angleterre  avec  figures™"  And  the  same  manuscript  oc- 
curs twice  again  in  that  library  in  three  volumes,  and  in  four  volumes  of 
the  largest  folio  n.  Which  of  our  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  Borronf  is  placed  soon  after  the  year  1200° \. 


fratri  R.  de  Sanforde,  magistro  milicie 
Templi  in  Anglia,  quod  facial  habere  Hen- 
rico  de  Warderoba,  latori  presencium,  ad 
opus  Regine,  quendam  librum  magnum,  qui 
est  in  domo  sua  Londoniis,  Galileo  ydio- 
mate  scriptum,  in  quo  continentur  Gesta 
Antiochie  et  regum  et  etiam  aliorum."  Teste 
ut  supra.  See  the  following  note. — W.] 

*  [Not  at  all  probable.  The  MS.  more 
likely  contained  some  of  the  prose  romances 
of  the  Round  Table,  or  the  Brut.  An  earlier 
instance  may  be  pointed  out  in  the  Glaus. 
Rolls  of  king  John,  in  1205,  where  Re- 
ginald de  Cornhille  is  ordered  to  send  to 
the  king  "  Romancium  de  Historia  An- 
glice."  Rot.  Claus.  6  Joh.  m.  2.— M.] 

[It  by  no  means  follows  that  the  con- 
tents of  this  book  were  romances  of  chi- 
valry. Any  collection  cf  French  pieces, 
especially  in  verse,  would  at  this  time  be 
called  Romances  ;  and  this  from  the  lan- 
guage, not  the  subject. — DOUCE.] 

1  Rot.  Pip.  an.  36  Hen.  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  borrowed  for  the  queen,  writ- 
ten in  French,  containing  GESTA  ANTI- 
OCHI&  et  regum  aliorum,  fyc.  This  was 
in  the  year  1249.  He  adds,  that  there 
was  a  chamber  in  the  old  palace  of  West- 
minster painted  with  this  history,  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  the  Third,  and  therefore 
called  the  ANTIOCH  CHAMBER:  and  an- 
other in  the  Tower. 

[In  all  probability  the  great  book  here 
noticed  was  a  translation  of  the  Latin 


poem  of  Joseph  of  Exeter.  See  p.  clxii. 
and  Rot.  Claus.  34  Hen.  III.,  17th  May, 
and  35  Hen.  III.  5th  June.— M.] 

m  Cod.  6783.  fol.  max.  See  Montfauc. 
Cat.  MSS.  p.  785  a. 

"  See  Montf.  ibid.  [Mr.Warton  has  been 
apparently  misled  by  Montfaucon.  Lan- 
celot du  Lac  is  ascribed  in  the  work  itself 
to  Walter  de  Mapes.  Robert  de  Borron 
appears  to  have  composed  the  romance  of 
the  Saint  Graal,  which  being  in  part  in- 
troduced into  that  of  Lancelot,  may  have 
occasioned  the  above  mistake. — DOUCE.] 
[But  see  pp.  136,  137  note  e. — PRICE.] 

t  [See  Note  A.  at  the  end  of  the  sec- 
tion.— PRICE.] 

0  Among  the  infinite  number  of  old 
manuscript  French  romances  on  this  sub- 
ject in  the  same  noble  repository,  the 
learned  Montfaucon  recites,  "  Le  Roman 
de  Tristan  et  Iseult  traduit  de  Latin  en 
Franjois  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  Fran- 
9ois  par  Lucas  chevalier  sieur  de  chateau 
du  Gat."  Cod.  6956.  seq.  fol.  max.  In 
another  article,  this  translator,  the  cheva- 
lier Lucas,  of  whom  I  can  give  no  account, 
is  called  Hue  or  Hue.  [Luc?]  Cod.  6976. 
seq.  Nor  do  I  know  of  any  castle,  or 
place,  of  this  name  near  Salisbury.  See 
also  Cod.  7174. 

[According  to  the  Abbe  de  la  Rue,  this 
Chastel  de  Gast  was  a  seigneurie  in  the 
canton  of  St.  Severe,  in  the  department 
of  Calvados.  See  Essalt  sur  ks  Bardes, 
&c.  torn.  ii.  p.  231. — M.] 

|  [With  regard  to  the  period  when  the 


120  GALLANTRIES  OF  CHIVALRY  REVIVED.        [SECT.  TJI, 

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,  com- 
plained Estrange  and  quaint  English,  of  the  changes  made  in  the  story 
of  SIR  TRISTREM,  and  of  the  liberties  assumed  by  his  cotemporary  min- 
strels in  altering  facts  and  coining  new  phrases.  Yet  these  circum- 
stances 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  grow- 
ing 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  Car- 
digan, then  called  Aberteivi,  which  he  ordered  to  be  proclaimed  through- 
out all  Britain ;  and  to  "  which  came  many  strangers,  who  were  honour- 
ably received  and  worthily  entertained,  so  that  no  man  departed  discon- 
tented. And  among  deeds  of  arms  and  other  shewes,  Rhees  caused  all 
the  poets  of  Wales  P  to  come  thither :  and  provided  chairs  for  them  to 

prose  Romances  of  the  Round  Table  were  flourished  with  new  honours  and  rewards, 
compiled,  and  whether  by  order  of  king  At  the  magnificent  marriage  of  the  coun- 
Henry  the  Second  or  Third,  has  long  been  tess  of  Holland,  daughter  of  Edward  the 
a  subject  of  discussion ;  but  the  writers  on  First,  every  king  minstrel  received  xl. 
it  have  generally  been  too  little  ac-  shillings.  See  Anstis  Ord.  Gart.  ii.  p.  303. 
quainted  with  the  subject  to  attempt  to  And  Dugd.  Mon.  i.  355.  In  the  same 
draw  any  certain  or  reasonable  conclu-  reign  a  multitude  of  minstrels  attended 
sions*  A  recent  writer,  however,  M.  Pau-  the  ceremony  of  knighting  prince  Edward 
lin  Paris,  in  his  account  of  the  French  on  the  feast  of  Pentecost.  They  entered 
MSS.  preserved  in  the  Bibliotheque  du  the  hall,  while  the  king  was  sitting  at 
Roi,  8vo,  Par.  1836,  more  critically  con-  dinner  surrounded  with  the  new  knights, 
sidered  the  history  of  these  remarkable  Nic.  Trivet.  Annal.  p.  342.  edit.  Oxon. 
compositions,  and  has  produced  a  passage  The  whole  number  knighted  was  two 
from  the  Chronicle  of  Helirsand,  (who  hundred  and  sixty-seven.  Dugd.  Bar.  i. 
brings  down  his  work  to  the  year  1204,  80  b.  Robert  de  Brunne  says,  this  was 
and  died  in  1227,)  which  proves  satisfac-  the  greatest  royal  feast  since  king  Arthur's 
torily  that  the  prose  romance  of  the  Saint  at  Carleon  :  concerning  which  he  adds, 
Graal  was  composed  in  the  twelfth  cen-  "therof  yit  men  rime."  p.  332.  In  the 
tury,  a  fact  confirmed  by  the  lines  quoted  wardrobe-roll  of  the  same  prince,  under 
by  Warton  from  Fauchet,  p.  138.  Now  the  year  1306,  we  have  this  entry: — "Will, 
as  Robert  de  Borron,  who  composed  the  Fox  et  Cradoco  socio  suo  CANTATORIBUS 
Saint  Graal,  wrote  also  the  romance  of  cantantibus  coram  Principe  et  aliis  mag- 
Merlin,  and  the  first  part  of  Lancelot,  we  natibus  in  comitiva  sua  existente  apud 
must  necessarily  refer  the  period  of  their  London,  &c.  xxs."  Again,  "  Willo  Fox 
composition  to  the  reign  of  Henry  the  et  Cradoco  socio  suo  cantantibus  in  prae- 
Second.  See  additional  note  to  A.  at  the  sentia  principis  et  al.  Magnatum  apud 
end  of  the  section. — M.]  London  de  dono  ejusdem  dni  per  manus 
p  In  illustration  of  the  ai'gument  pur-  Johis  de  Ringwode,  &c.  8.  die  Jan.  xx.s." 
sued  in  the  text  we  may  observe,  that  Afterwards,  in  the  same  roll,  four  shillings 
about  this  time  the  English  minstrels  are  given,  "  Ministrallo  comitissos  Ma- 


SECT.  III.] 


PIIOVENCIAL  TOETS. 


121 


be  set  in  his  hall,  where  they  should  dispute  together  to  tiy  their  cun- 
ning and  gift  in  their  several  faculties,  where  great  rewards  and  rich 
giftes  were  appointed  for  the  overcomersi."  Tilts  and  tournaments, 
after  a  long  disuse,  were  revived  with  superior  lustre  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  the  First.  Roger  earl  of  Mortimer,  a  magnificent  baron  of 
that  reign,  erected  in  his  stately  castle  of  Kenelworth  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  Christen- 
dom1". 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  re- 
corded.    I  have  already  mentioned  Blondel  de  Nesle*.     Fouquet  of 


reschal.  facienti  menestralciam  suamcoram 
principe,  &c.  in  comitiva  sua  existent,  apud 
Penreth."  Comp.  Garderob.  Edw.  Prin- 
cip.  Wall.  ann.  35.  Edw.  I.  This  I  chiefly 
cite  to  show  the  greatness  of  the  gratuity. 
Minstrels  were  part  of  the  establishment 
of  the  household  of  our  nobility  before 
the  year  1307.  Thomas  earl  of  Lancaster 
allows  at  Christmas,  cloth,  or  vest-is  libe- 
ruta,  to  his  household  minstrels  at  a  great 
expense,  in  the  year  1314.  Stowe's  Surv. 
Lond.  p.  134.  edit.  1618.  See  supr.  p.  82. 
Soon  afterwards  the  minstrels  claimed 
such  privileges  that  it  was  thought  neces- 
sary to  reform  them  by  an  edict,  in  1315. 
See  Hearne's  Append.  Leland.  Collectan. 
vi.  36.  Yet,  as  I  have  formerly  remark- 
ed in  Observations  on  Spenser's  Faierie 
Queene,  we  find  a  person  in  the  cha- 
racter of  a  minstrel  entering  Westminster- 
hall  on  horseback  while  Edward  the  Se- 
cond was  solemnizing  the  feast  of  Pen- 
tecost 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  "North- 
wales  won  the  prize,  and  amonge  the  mu- 
sicians Rees's  owne  household  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  that  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  Ire- 
land. Powell,  ut  supr.  p.  238.  The  sub- 
ject of  their  songs  was  the  history  of  king 
Arthur.  See  Selden  on  Polyolb.  s.  iii. 
p.  53. 

T  Drayton's  Heroic.  Epist.  Mort.  Isa- 
bel, v.  53.  And  Notes  ibid,  from  Wal- 
singham. 

*  [The  Abbe  de  la  Rue,  in  his  "Essais 
sur  les  Bardes  Jongleurs,"  &c.  torn.  ii. 
p.  325-9,  denies  that  Blondel  de  Nesle 
was  the  minstrel  follower  of  Cceur  de 
Lion.  Nor  is  it  probable  that  he  who 
was  a  member  of  an  ancient  and  illustrious 
house  would  spend  a  twelvemonth  in 
wandering  over  Germany,  that  he  might 
effect  the  deliverance  of  a  monarch  to 
whom  he  was  neither  subject  nor  vassal. 
The  Abbe  asserts,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
Richard's  Jongleur  was  an  Anglo-Norman, 
Guillaume  Blondel ;  that Richardgave  him 
lands  at  Northampton  and  Bustalrig  (?)  ; 
that  these  lands  were  alienated  during  the 
disturbed  reign  of  King  John,  and  that  in 
1218,  Hen.  III.  caused  them  to  be  re- 
stored to  Blondel's  heir.  All  which  he  states 
is  proved  by  the  letters  addressed  by  that 
prince  to  "Foulques  de  Breaute  vicomte 
de  Cambridge  &  de  Huntingdon,"  in 
which  he  commands  him  to  restore  to 
Robert,  brother  of  Guillaume  Blondel, 
those  lands  which  the  latter  possessed  by 
a  grant  from  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion,  let 
whosoever  might  be  in  possession  of  them. 
The  Abbe  quotes  as  his  authority  "  Rot. 
Claus.  Litt.  an.  1.  Henrici  iii.  membr.  12. 
in  Turri  Londin." :  but  there  must  be  some 


122 


PROVENCIAL  TOETS. 


[SECT.  in. 


Marseilles*,  and  Anselme  Fayditt,  many  of  whose  compositions  still 
remain,  were  also  among  the  poets  patronised  and  entertained  in  En- 
gland by  Richard.  They  are  both  celebrated  and  sometimes  imitated 
by  Dante  and  Petrarch.  Fayditt,  a  native  of  Avignon,  united  the  pro- 
fessions of  music  and  verse ;  and  the  Provencials  used  to  call  his  poetry 
de  ban  mots  e  de  bon  son.  Petrarch  is  supposed  to  have  copied,  in  his 
TRIONFO  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  spear9.  He  is  likewise  in  Dante's  Paradise.  Fayditt  was  extremely 
profuse  and  voluptuous.  On  the  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.  Fouquet  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,  ilfit  les  delices  de  cour.  He 
fell  in  love  with  Adelaisa  the  wife  of  Beral,  whom  he  celebrated  in  hk> 
songs.  One  of  his  poems  is  entitled,  Las  complanchas  de  Beral.  On 


mistake  in  his  reference,  as  upon  exami- 
nation no  mention  of  Blondel  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Roll  in  question. — W.  J.  T.] 
*  [A  very  interesting  sketch  of  the  life 
and  writings  of  Foulquet  de  Marseille  is 
given  by  Diez  in  his  Leben  und  Werke 
der  Troubadours,  s.  234 — 251.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  followed  the  calling  of  his 
father,  who  was  a  merchant,  until  the  op- 
portunity of  mixing  with  the  great  and 
noble  of  his  day  which  his  political  talents 
afforded  him,  induced  him  to  renounce  it. 
His  love  songs,  of  which  twenty- five  have 
been  handed  down  to  us,  (see  tomes  iii. 
and  iv.  of  Raynouard's  invaluable  work,) 
are  chiefly  devoted  to  the  praise  of  Ada- 
lazia,  the  wife  of  Barral  count  of  Mar- 
seilles, whom  he  selected,  agreeably  to  the 
practice  of  the  times,  as  the  lady  of  his 
love,  and  celebrated  under  the  allego- 
rical name  of  "  Magnet"  but  with  so 
much  delicacy  and  judgement,  that  the 
lady's  character  remained,  as  it  deserved, 
unimpeached.  After  many  strange  changes 
of  fortune,  and  witnessing  the  death  of 
Barral,  whom  he  celebrates  in  a  lament 
of  great  beauty  and  pathos, — of  his  be- 
loved Adalazia, — and  shortly  afterwards 
of  his  constant  patrons  Raymond  V.  count 
of  Toulouse  and  Alphonso  the  Second, 
and  finally  of  Richard  of  England,  he  de- 
voted himself  to  a  religious  life,  and  com- 
pelled his  wife  and  his  two  sons  to  follow 
his  example.  He  was,  in  the  course  of  a 


few  years,  named  abbot  of  Touronetinthe 
diocese  of  Toulon,  and  in  1205  conse- 
crated bishop  of  Toulouse.  From  this 
time  his  name  became  one  of  political  im- 
portance, for  Foulquet  bishop  of  Tou- 
louse, the  fearful  persecutor  of  the  Albi- 
genses,  is  no  other  than  Foulquet  of 
Marseilles,  the  votary  of  Love  and  Song. 
He  died  in  1231,  and  was  buried  in  the 
Cistercian  Abbey  of  Grandselve  in  his 
diocese,  and  reverenced  as  a  zealous  de- 
fender of  holy  church. — W.  J.  T.] 

6  Trionf.  Am.  c.  iv. 

[Diez,  in  the  work  already  alluded  to, 
(s.  364 — 368)  presents  us  with  an  out- 
line of  the  history  of  Faidit,  whose  name 
was  Gaucelme,  and  not  Anselme,  as  War- 
ton  has  it.  His  wife  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  a  nun,  married  by  him  after 
the  death  of  Richard,  but  a  woman  of 
great  beauty  and  accomplishments,  though 
of  bad  character,  whom  he  had  married  in 
early  life.  Maria  de  Ventadour,  the 
daughter  of  Boso  II.  and  the  wife  of 
Ebles  IV.,  viscomte  de  Ventadour,  a  lady 
of  refined  taate  in  poetry,  and  celebrated 
by  the  troubadours  and  their  historians  as 
the  noblest  of  her  sex,  was  the  fair  ob- 
ject to  whom  his  songs  are  chiefly  ad- 
dressed, many  of  which  exhibit  great  ten- 
derness and  beauty.  Upwards  of  sixty  of 
his  compositions  of  various  kinds  have 
been  preserved.  See  Ravnouard,  tomes  ii. 
iii.  and  iv.— W.  J.  T.] 


SECT.  III.] 


RICHARD  CUER  DU  LYON. 


123 


the  death  of  all  his  lords,  he  received  absolution  for  his  sin  of  poetry, 
turned  monk,  and  at  length  was  made  archbishop  of  Tholouse*.  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".  And  this  sub- 
ject, by  means  of  the  constant  communication  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  ro- 
mance now  remaining  in  English  rhyme,  which  celebrates  the  achieve- 
ments 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. 


1  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  ena- 
moured from  imagination,  embarked  for 
Tripoly,  fell  sick  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  over- 
powered 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  fu- 
neral, and  erected  to  his  memory  a  tomb 
of  porphyry,  inscribed  with  an  epitaph  in 
Arabian  verse.  She  commanded  his  son- 
nets to  be  richly  copied  and  illuminated 
with  letters  of  gold ;  was  seized  with  a 
profound  melancholy,  and  turned  nun.  I 
will  endeavour  to  translate  one  of  the 
sonnets  which  he  made  on  his  voyage. 
Yrat  et  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  diffi- 
culties I  have  to  encounter,  my  native 
land  being  so  far  aivay.  Thou  who  hast 
made  all  things,  and  who  formed  thia 
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  feel  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. 

[The  original  poem,  of  which  the  above 
is  only  a  fragment,  will  be  found  in  the 
third  volume  of  M.  Raynouard's  "Choix 
des  Poesies  Originales  des  Troubadours." 
The  seeming  inaccuracies  of  Warton's 
translation  may  have  arisen  from  the  va- 
ried readings  of  his  original  text.  The 
fragment  published  by  M.  Sismondi,  dif- 
fers essentially  from  the  larger  poem  given 
by  M.  Raynouard. — PRICE.] 

u  Fayditt  is  said  to  have  written  a  Chant 
funebre  on  his  death.  Beauchamps,  ib. 
p.  10. 

[For  specimens  of  the  poetry  of  Folquet 
de  Marseille  and  Gaucelm  Faidit,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  third  volume  of 
M.  Raynouard's  excellent  work  already 
noticed.  The  second  volume  contains  a 
prose  translation  of  Faidit's  Planh  on  the 
death  of  Richard  I. — PRICE.] 

*  [Two  pages  afterwards,  Warton  re- 
fers the  translation  to  the  reign  of  Edw.  I. 
or  Hen.  III.,  or  earlier.  Had  he  said 
Edw.  I.  alone,  he  would  have  been  nearer 
the  truth. — M.] 


124 


RICHARD  CUER  DU  LYON. 


[SECT.  in. 


King  Richard  is  the  bestev 

That  is  found  in  any  gestew. 

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  iwritex. 
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  *.     It  is  likewise  frequently 

was  written  by  Lidgate,  I  shall  not  in- 
quire at  present.  I  shall  only  say  here, 
that  it  is  totally  different  from  either  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. 

[The  only  authority  for  attributing  this 
romance  to  Lydgate  is  a  note  written  by 
a  recent  hand  at  the  beginning  of  the 
MS.  and  not  worthy  of  credit. — M.] 

[By  the  way,  it  appears  from  this  quo- 
tation, that  there  was  an  old  romance 
called  WADE.  Wade's  Bote  is  mentioned 
in  Chaucer's  Marchaunts  Tale,  v.  940. 
p.  68.  Urr. 


v  This  agrees  with  what  Hoveden  says, 
ubi  supr.  "  Dicebatur  ubique  quod  non 
erat  talis  in  orbe."  [p.  117,  note  J.] 

[Warton's  own  correction  of  his  former 
note,  here  referred  to,  destroys  this.  It 
is  difficult  to  say  how  the  passage  should 
have  been  so  entirely  misunderstood,  that 
what  is  said  of  the  bishop  of  Ely  should 
ever  have  been  applied  to  the  king. — W.] 
w  Impr.  for  W.  C.  4to.  It  contains 
Sign.  A  1. — Q,  iii.  There  is  another  edi- 
tion impr.  W.  de  Worde,  4to.  1528.  There 
is  a  manuscript  copy  of  it  in  Caius  College 
at  Cambridge,  A  9. 

[Among  Crynes's  books  in  the  Bod- 
leian library  is  a  copy  of  king  Richard's 
romance,  printed  by  W.  de  Worde  in  1509. 
CR.  734.  8vo.  This  edition  was  in  the 
Harleian  library. — ADDITIONS.] 

x  Chron.  p.  487. 
y  Many  speken  of  men  that  romaunces 

rede,  &c. 

Off  Bevis,  Gy,  and  oLGawayn, 
Off  KYNG  Richard,  and  of  Owayn, 
Off  Tristram,  and  of  Percyvale, 
Off  Rouland  Ris,  and  Aglavale, 
Off  Archeroun,  and  of  Octavian, 
Off  Charles,  and  of  Cassibaldan, 
Off  Havelok,  Home,  and  of  Wade, 
In  romaunces  that  of  hem  ben  made 
That  gestoures  often  dos  of  hem  gestes 
At  mangeres  and  at  grete  festes, 
Here  dedis  ben  in  remembraunce, 

In  many  fair  romaunce. 

But  of  the  worthiest  wyght  in  wede, 

That  ever  bystrod  any  stede 

Spekes  no  man,  ne  in  romaunce  redes, 

Off  his  battayle  ne  of  his  dedes; 

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. 

For  ther  were  in  thet  on  side, 

Sixti  kynges  and  dukes  of  pride. — 

And  there  was  the  best  bodi  in  dede 

That  ever  }it  wered  wede, 

Sithen  the  world  was  made  so  ferre, 

That  was  ECTOR  in  eche  werre,  &c. 

Laud.  K76.  [595.]  f.  1.  fol.  MSS.  Bibl. 
Bodl.  Cod.  membr.     Whether  this  poem 


And  eke  these  olde  wivis,  god  it  wote, 
They  connin  so  much  crafte  in  Wadisbote. 
Again,  Troil.  Cress,  iii.  615. 

He  songe,  she  plaide,  he  tolde  a  tale  of 

Wade. 

Where,  says  the  glossarist,  "  A  romantick 
story,  famous  at  that  time,  of  one  WADE, 
who  performed  many  strange  exploits, 
and  met  with  many  wonderful  adventures 
in  his  Boat  Guigelot."  Speght  says,  that 
Wade's  history  was  long  and  fabulous. — 
ADDITIONS.] 

[The  story  of  Wade  is  also  alluded  to 
in  the  following  passage  taken  from  the 
Romance  of  Sir  Bevis  : 

Swiche  bataile  ded  neuer  non 

Cristene  man  of  flesch  and  bon — 

Of  a  dragoun  thar  beside, 

That  Beues  slough  ther  in  that  tide, 

Saue  Sire  Launcelot  de  Lake, 

He  faught  with  a  fur-drake, 

And  Wade  dede  also, 

And  neuer  knightes  boute  thai  to. 
The   connexion    between   Wade    and    a 
hero  bearing  a  similar  name  in  the  Wil- 
kina  Saga  will  be  noticed  elsewhere. — 
PRICE.] 

[Wade  is  also  mentioned  in  the  ineditcd 
alliterative  romance  of  Morte  Arthur,  pre- 
served in  the  Lincoln  MS.  A.  i.  17. — M.] 

[See  a  very  curious  essay  on  Wade  by 
M.  Francisque  Michel,  who  has  most  di- 
ligently collected  everything  relating  to 
this  hero  of  early  northern  romance. — W.] 


SECT.  III.]  RICHARD  CUER  DU  LYON.  125 

quoted  by  Robert  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  skam,  who  so  that  pasz  wille  rede. 

The  ROMANCER  it  sais  Richard  did  inak  a  pelea. — 

The  ROMANCE  of  Richard  sais  he  wan  the  tounb. — 

He  tellis  in  the  ROMANCE  sen  Acres  wonnen  was 

How  God  gaf  him  fair  chance  at  the  bataile  of  Cayfas e. — 

Sithen  at  Japhet  was  slayn  fanuelle  *  his  stede, 

The  ROMANS  tellis  gret  pas  ther  of  his  douhty  dede  d. — 

Soudan  so  curteys  neuer  drank  no  wyne, 

The  same  the  ROMANS  sais  that  is  of  Richardyn  e. 

In  prisoun  was  he  bonden,  as  the  ROMANCE  sais, 

In  cheynes  &  lede  wonden  that  heuy  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  manifestly  refers  to  our  romance  of 

RICHARD,  between  which  and  Langtoft's  chronicle  he  expressly  makes 

a  distinction.     And  in  the  conclusion  of  the  reign, 

I  knowe  no  more  to  ryme  of  dedes  of  kyng  Richard : 

Who  so  wille  his  dedes  all  the  soth  se, 

The  romance  that  men  redes  ther  is  the  propirte. 

This  that  I  haf  said  it  is  Pers  sawes. 

Als  he  in  romance  h  laid,  ther  after  gan  I  drawe l. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  both  these  rhyming  chroniclers  cite  from 
the  English  translation  f  :  if  so,  we  may  fairly  suppose  that  this  ro- 
mance was  translated  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  First,  or  his  predeces- 
sor 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 

z  PASSUS.     Compare  Percy's  Ball.  ii.  Martin   of  Palgrave  in   Suffolk.      [This 

1.  66.  398.  edit.  1767.  romance  in  the  library  at  Paris  is  a  copy 

a  Rob.  Br.  Chron.  p.  157.  of  a  metrical  Chronicle  of  the  deposition 

b  Ibid.  c  Ibid.  p.  175.  of  king  Richard  the  Second.     SeeArchac- 

*  [Read  fauuelle.       The   blunder,    in  ologia,  vol.  xx.  p.  3. — M.] 
this  instance,  is  Hearne's,   and  has  pro-  -f  [Warton's  conjecture  is  perfectly  cor- 

duced  a  long  note  from  Warton,  p.  164.  rect  in  most  of  these  instances.     They 

— M.]  contain  allusions  to  circumstances  which 

d  Rob.  Br.  Chron.  p.  175.  are  unnoticed  by  Langtoft. — PRICE.] 
e  Ibid.  p.  188.             f  Ibid.  p.  198.  k  Num.  7532. 

g  "  The    words  of  my  original   Peter  [An  account  of  this  romance  will  be 

Langtoft."  found  in   Mr.  Strutt's  Regal  Antiquities. 

h  In  French.  It   relates  entirely  to   the  Irish  wars  of 

'  p.  205.      Du   Cange   recites   an   old  Richard  II.  and  the  latter  part  of  the  reign 

French    manuscript  prose  romance,   en-  of  that  unfortunate  monarch.    Mr.  Ritson 

.  titled  Histoire  de  la  Mort  de  Richard  Roy  has   confounded   Maquemore    with   Der- 

d?  Angleterre.     Gloss.  Lat.  IND.  AUCT.  i.  mond  Mac  Morough,  king  of  Leinster,  in 

p.  cxci.     There  was  one,  perhaps  the  same,  the  reign  of  Henry   II.,  though  he  adds 

among  the  manuscripts  of  the  late  Mr.  with  great  candour,  "  but  why  king  Ri- 


126  RICHARD  CUER  DU  LYON.  [SECT.  III. 

last  of  our  monarchs  whose  achievements  were  adorned  with  fiction 
and  fable.  If  not  a  superstitious  belief  of  the  times,  it  was  an  hyper- 
bolical invention  started  by  the  minstrels,  which  soon  grew  into  a  tra- 
dition, 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  11911.  Robert  of  Brunne  calls 
this  sword  a,  jewel™. 

And  Richard  at  that  time  gaf  him  a  faire  juelle, 

The  gude  swerd  CALIBURNE  which  Arthur  luffed  so  well". 

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  °. 

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

Fele  romaunses  men  make  newe 

Of  good  knyghtes  strong  and  trewe  : 

Off  hey  dedys  men  rede  romance, 

Bothe  in  Engleland  and  in  Fraunce ; 

Off  Rowelond  and  of  Olyver, 

And  of  everie  Doseperp, 

Of  Alysander  and  Charlemain, 

Off  kyng  Arthor  and  off  Gawayn  ; 

How  they  wer  knyghtes  good  and  curteys, 

Off  Turpyn  and  of  Oder  Daneys. 

Off  Troye  men  rede  in  ryme, 

What  werre  ther  was  in  olde  tyme  ; 

Off  Ector  and  of  Acliylles, 

What  folk  they  slewe  in  that  pres,  &c.  * 

chard  [cceur  de  lion]   is  introduced  does  of  the  word.     Robert  de  Brunne,  in  an- 

not  appear." — PRICE.]  other  place,  calls  a  rich  pavilion  ajotvellc. 

[This  romance,  or  rather  historical  p.  152.  n  Chron.  p.  153. 
poem,  for  there  is  nothing  romantic  about  [On  the  subject  of  Caliburne,  see  Mi- 
it,  has  been  printed  in  the  Archseologia.  chel's  edition  of  Tristan,  Notes  to  Introd. 
— W.]  p.  Ixxxv.— M.] 

'In  return  for  several  vessels  of  gold  °  See  Hist,  of  Hen.  II.  vol.  iv.  p.  361.  App. 

and  silver,  horses,  bales  of  silk,  four  great  p  Charlemagne's  Twelve  peers  :  Douze 

ships,  and  fifteen  gallies,  given  by  Tan-  Pairs,  Fr. 

cred.  Benedict.  Abb.  p.  642.  edit.  Hearne.  q  [The  text  has  been  corrected  by  Mr. 

01  Jocale.    In  the  general  and  true  sense  Weber's  edition  of  this  romance,  in  his 


SECT.  III.] 


POPULAR  ROMANCES. 


127 


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

Now  herkenes  to  my  tale  sothe 
Though  I  swere  yow  an  othe 
I  wole  reden  romaunces  non 
Off  Paris  r,  ne  off  Ypomydone, 
Off  Alisaundre,  ne  Charlemagne, 
Off  Arthour,  ne  off  Sere  Gawain, 
Nor  off  Sere  Launcelot  the  Lake, 
Off  Beffs,  ne  Guy  ne  Sere  Sydrake, 
Ne  off  Ury,  ne  off  Octavian, 
Ne  off  Hector  the  strong  man, 
Ne  off  Jason,  neither  off  Hercules, 
Ne  off  Eneas,  neither  Achilles*. 


"Metrical  Romances  of  the  13th,  14th, 
and  J.5th  Centuries."  3  vols.  8vo.  Edin. 
1810.-— PRICE.] 

r  [The  old  printed  copy  reads  Perto- 
nape,]  perhaps  Parthenope,  or  Parthe- 
nopeus. 

*  Line  6657.  To  some  ofthese  romances 
the  author  of  the  manuscript  Lives  of 
the  Saints,  written  about  the  year  1200, 
[1300. — M.]  and  cited  above  at  large,  al- 
ludes in  a  sort  of  prologue.  See  SECT.  i. 
p.  13.  supr. 
Wei  auht  we  loue  Christendom  that  is  so 

dere  ybou3t, 
With   oure   lordes  herte  blode   that  the 

spere  hath  ysou3t. 
Men  wilnethe  more  yhere  of  batayle  of 

kyngis, 
And   of  kny3tis   hardy,   that   mochel   is 

lesyngis. 
Of  Roulond  and  of  Olyvere,  and  Gy  of 

Warwyk, 
Of  Wawayen  and  Tristram,  that  ne  found- 

de  here  ylike. 
Who   so   loueth   to  here  tales  of  suche 

thinge, 
Here  he   may  yhere  thyng  that  nys  no 

lesynge, 
Of    postoles    and    marteres    that    hardi 

kny^ttes  were, 
And  stedfast  were  in  bataile  and  fledde 

no3t  for  no  fere,  &c. 
The  anonymous  author  of  an  antient 
manuscript  poem,  called  "  The  boJce   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  agree- 
able to  the  generality  of  readers.     MSS. 
Laud,  K  53.  [416.]  f.  117.  Bibl.  Bodl. 
Men  lykyn  Jestis  for  to  here, 
And  romans  rede  in  diuers  manere 


Of  Alexandre  the  conqueroure, 

Of  Julius  Cesar  the  emperoure, 

Of  Greece  and  Troy  the  strong  stryf, 

There  many  a  man  lost  his  lyf : 

Of  Brute  that  baron  bold  of  hond 

The  first  conqueroure  of  Englond, 

Of  kyng  Artoure  that  was  so  riche, 

Was  none  in  his  tyme  so  lyche : 

Of  wonders  that  among  his  knyghtes  felle, 

And  auntirs  dedyne  as  men  here  telle, 

As  Gaweyne  Kay  and  othir  full  abylle 

Which  that  kept  the  round  tabylle. 

How  kyng  Charlis  and  Rowland  fawght 

With  Sarzyns,  nold  they  be  cawght ; 

Of  Trystrem  and  of  Ysoude  the  swete, 

How  they  with  loue  first  gan  mete. 

Of  kyng  Johne  and  of  Isombras 

Of  Ydoyne  and  of  Amadas. 

Stories  of  diverce  thyngges 

Of  pryncis,  prelates,  and  of  kyngges, 

Many  songges  of  diver  ryme 

As  Englishe,  French,  and  Latyne,  &c. 

This  ylk  boke  is  translate 

Into  Englishe  tong  to  rede 

For  the  loue  of  Englishe  lede, 

For  comyn  folk  of  Englond,  &c. 

Syldyn  it  is  for  eny  chaunce 

Englishe  tong  prechid  in  Fraunce,  &c. 

[This  work  is  not  a  collection  of  religious 
legends,  but  a  history  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament.  There  are  other  copies  of 
the  poem  in  MS.  Fairfax,  14.  Bodl.  Libr. 
MS.  Cott.  Vesp.  A.  iii.  MS.  Coll.  Arun.  57. 
in  the  Advocates'  library  at  Edinburgh, 
and  in  the  University  library  at  Gottin- 
gen.— M.] 

SeeMontf.  Par.  MSS.  7540.  and  p.  124. 
supr. 

[The  Cursor  Mundi  is  by  no  means  an 
uncommon  MS.  The  best  copy  I  know 
is  preserved  in  the  library  of  Trin.  Coll. 
Cambridge.  It  is  found  also  in  the  Bri- 
tish Museum. — W.J 


128  DARES  PHRYGIUS.  [SECT.  III. 

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  au- 
thors of  high  esteem  in  the  dark  ages,  Geoffry  of  Monmouth,  Turpin, 
Guido  of  Colonna,  and  Callisthenes,  whose  books  were  the  grand  re- 
positories of  these  subjects,  and  contained  most  of  the  traditionary  fic- 
tions, 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  observed  u 
concerning  the  writings  of  Geoffry  of  Monmouth  and  Turpin.  It  will 
be  sufficient  to  say  at  present,  that  these  two  fabulous  historians  re- 
corded the  achievements  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  Cru- 
sades 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.  Geof- 
fry of  Monmouth  indeed,  who  wrote  about  the  year  1 160  *,  a  man  of 
learning  for  that  age,  produces  Homer  in  attestation  of  a  fact  asserted 
in  his  history ;  but  in  such  a  manner  as  shows  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  *.  But  the  Trojan  story  was  still  kept 
alive  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 

u  See  Diss.  I.  cree  of  the  Athenian  judges,  but  to  Plato's 

*  [He  finished  his  Chronicle  about  the  opinion    in    his    Republic.     Dares,   with 

year  1128.    See  p.  x.  Diss.  I. — M.]  Dictys  Cretensis  next  mentioned  in  the 

x  L.  i.  ch.  14.  text,  was  first  printed  at  Milan  in  1477. 

y  In  the  Epistle  prefixed,  the  pretended  Mabillon  says,  that  a  manuscript  of  the 

translator  Nepos  says,  that  he  found  this  Fseudo- Dares  occurs    in  the   Laurentian 

work  at  Athens,  in  the  hand- writing  of  library  at  Florence,  upwards  of  eight  hun- 

Dares.     He  adds,  speaking  of  the  contro-  dred  years  old.   Mus.  Ital.  i.  p.  169.   This 

verted  authenticity  of  Homer,  De  ea  re  work  was  abridged  by  Vincentius  Bello- 

Athenis  JUDICIUM  fuit,  cum  pro  insano  vacensis,  a  friar  of  Burgundy,  about  the 

Homerus  haberetur  quod  deos  cum  homi-  year   1244.     See  his  Specul.  Histor.  lib. 

nibus    belligerasse   descripsit.     In   which  iii.  C3. 
words  he  does  not  refer  to  any  public  de- 


SECT.  III.]  GUIDO  DE  COLONNA.  129 

subject,  said  to  be  discovered  under  a  sepulchre  by  means  of  an  earth- 
quake 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  ancient  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  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  inven- 
tions, 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  Bella  Trojano^.  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  cele- 
brated in  common  with  Lancelot,  Rowland,  Gawain,  Oliver,  and  other 
Christian  champions,  whom  they  so  nearly  resembled  in  the  extrava- 
gance of  their  adventures c.  This  work  abounds  with  Oriental  imagery, 

z  See  Perizon.  Dissertat.  de  Diet.  Cre-  b  It  was  first  printed  Argentorat.  1486. 

tens.  sect.  xxix.    Constantinus  Lascaris,  a  and  ibid.  1489.  fol.  The  work  was  finished, 

learned   monk  of  Constantinople,  one  of  as  appears  by  a  note  at  the  end,  in  1287. 

the  restorers  of  Grecian  literature  in  Eu-  It  was  translated  into  Italian  by  Philip  or 

rope  near  four  hundred  years  ago,  says  Christopher  Ceffio,  a  P'lorentine,  and  this 

that  Dictys  Cretensis  in  Greek  was  lost.  translation  was  first  printed  at  Venice  in 

This  writer  is  not  once  mentioned  by  Eu-  1481,  4to.      It  has    also  been    translated 

stathius,  who  lived  about  the  year  1170,  into  German.     See  Lambec.  ii.  948.    The 

in  his  elaborate  and  extensive  commen-  purity  of  our  author's  Italian  style  has 

tary  on  Homer.  been  much  commended.     For  his  Italian 

a  The  Argonautics  of  Valerius  Flaccus  poetry,  see  Mongitor,  ubi  supr.  p.   167. 

are  cited  in  Chaucer's  Hypsipile  and  Me-  Compare  also,   Diar.  Eruditor.   Ital.  xiii. 

dea.    "  Let  him  reade  the  boke  Argonau-  258.     Montfaucon  mentions,  in  the  royal 

ticon."  v.  90.     But  Guido  is  afterwards  library  at  Paris,  Le  ROMAN  de  Tiebes  qni 

cited  as  a  writer  on  that  subject,  ibid.  97.  fut  ratine  de  Troye  lagrande.  Catal.  MSS. 

Valerius  Flaccus  is  a  common  manuscript.  ii.  p.  923 — 198. 

See  pag.  140.  infr.    [Warton  is  quite  mis-  This   Roman   de   Thebes  is  in  reality 

taken  in  calling  Valerius  Flaccus  a  com-  one  of  those  works   on  the  story  of  the 

mon  MS.  and  must  have  been  thinking  of  siege  of  Troy,  engrafted  either  on  that  of 

Valerius  Maximus.     The  only  two  MSS.  Columna,  or  on  his  materials. — DOUCE. 

of  the  former  I  am  acquainted  with,  are  °  Bale   says,    that   Edward    the    First, 

in  Queen's  College  library,  Oxford,  and  at  having  met  with  our  author  in  Sicily,  in 

Holkham. — M.]  returning   from   Asia,   invited   him   into 

VOL.   I.  K 


130 


GUIDO  DE  COLONNA. 


[SECT.  in. 


of  which  the  subject  was  extremely  susceptible.  It  has  also  some  traits 
of  Arabian  literature.  The  Trojan  horse  is  a  horse  of  brass :  and  Her- 
cules is  taught  astronomy,  and  the  seven  liberal  sciences.  But  I  for- 
bear to  enter  at  present  into  a  more  particular  examination  of  this  hi- 
story, 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 


England,  xiii.  36.  This  prince  was  in- 
terested 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  Phri- 
gius.  Besides  these,  he  writ  at  large  the 
Battayle  of  Troye."  Heming.  Cartul.  ii. 
649.  Among  his  works  is  recited  Histo- 
ria  de  Regibus  Rebusque  Anglia.  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. 

[Mr.  Eichhorn  has  stated  these  "  Scho- 
lies" of  Guido  to  have  been  published  in 
the  year  1216;  a  manifest  mistake, — 
since  it  leaves  7 1  years  between  this  date, 
and  the  period  at  which  he  assigns  the 
first  appearance  of  the  Historia  Trojana. 
But  whatever  may  have  been  Guide's 
merit  in  thus  affording  a  common  text- 
book for  subsequent  writers,  his  work 
could  have  contained  little  of  novelty, 
either  in  matter  or  manner,  for  his  con- 
temporaries ;  and  it  may  be  reasonably 
doubted,  whether  his  labours  extended 
beyond  the  humble  task  of  reducing  into 
prose  the  metrical  compilations  of  his 
predecessors.  It  is  true,  this  circum- 
stance will  not  admit  of  absolute  proof, 
till  the  several  poems  upon  the  Trojan 
story  extant  in  our  own  and  various  con- 
tinental libraries  shall  be  given  to  the 
world ;  but  the  following  notices  of  some 
of  these  productions,  though  scanty  and 
imperfect,  will  perhaps  justify  the  opi- 
nion which  has  been  expressed.  The 
history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  by 
Geoffri  Gaimar,  a  poet  antecedent  to 
Wace  (1155),  is  but  a  fragment  of  a 
larger  work,  which  the  author  assures  us 
commenced  with  an  account  of  Jason  and 
the  Argonautic  expedition.  This  was 
doubtlessly  continued  through  the  whole 
cycle  of  Grecian  fabulous  history,  till  the 


siege  of  Troy  connected  Brutus,  the 
founder  of  the  British  dynasty,  with  the 
heroes  of  the  antient  world.  The  volu- 
minous work  of  Benoit  de  Saint  More 
(noticed  by  Warton  below),  is  confessedly 
taken  from  Dares  Phrygius  and  Dictya 
Cretensis  ;  and  is  adorned  with  all  those 
fictions  of  romance  and  chivalric  costume, 
which  these  writers  are  supposed  to  have 
received  from  the  interpolations  of  Guido. 
Among  the  romances  enumerated  by  Mel- 
lis  Sloke,  as  the  productions  of  earlier 
writers  in  Holland,  and  still  (1300)  held 
in  general  esteem,  we  find  "  The  Conflict 
of  Troy"  (De  Stryd  van  Troyeri)  ;  and 
we  know  upon  the  authority  of  Jakob  van 
Maerlant  (1270),  the  translator  of  Vin- 
cent de  Beauvais'  Speculum  Historiale, 
that  this  was  a  version  of  Benoit's  poem. 
It  is  not  so  certain  whence  Conrad  of 
Wurzburg,  a  contemporary  of  Guido,  de- 
rived his  German  Ilias ;  but  he  professes 
to  have  taken  it  from  a  French  original, 
and  his  poem,  like  Gaimar's,  commences 
with  Jason  and  the  Argonautic  expedition. 
Upon  the  same  principle  that  Conrad 
conceived  it  necessary  to  preface  his  Ilias 
with  the  story  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  his 
countryman  Henry  von  Veldeck  em- 
braced the  whole  of  the  Trojan  war,  its 
origin  and  consequences,  in  his  version  of 
the  jEneis.  This,  however,  is  usually  be- 
lieved to  be  a  translation  from  the  "Enide" 
of  Chretien  de  Troyes  ;  and,  if  the  date 
(ante  1186)  assumed  for  its  appearance 
by  Mr.  von  der  Hagen  be  correct,  would 
place  the  French  original  in  an  earlier 
period  than  is  given  it  by  the  French  an- 
tiquaries. ID  the  year  1210,  Albrecht 
von  Halberstadt  published  a  metrical  ver- 
sion of  Ovid's  Metamorphoses.  See  von 
der  Hagen's  Grundriss  zur  Geschidite  der 
Deutschen  Poesie,  Berlin  1812  ;  and  Hen- 
rik  van  Wyn's  Historische  Avondstonden, 
Amsterdam  1800. — PRICE.] 

[See  also  Hoffmann's  Hora  Belgicce, 
p.  30,  8vo.  Vratisl.  1830.— M.] 

[In  the  Arundel  Collection  (Brit.  Mus.) 
MS.  No.  375,  which  is  said  to  be  of  the 
llth  century,  is  a  history  of  the  siege  of 
Troy  in  Latin  prose.  This  MS.  was 
written  in  France. — W.] 


SECT.  III.] 


GUIDO  DE  COLONNA. 


131 


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  Itaoul  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  duchess 
of  Burgundy ;  and  that  from  Caxton's  book  afterwards  modernized, 
Shakspeare  borrowed  his  drama  of  Troilus  and  Cressida*. 


d  Who  mentions  it  in  a  French  as  well 
as  Latin  romance  :  edit.  1555.  Signal. 
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  pro- 
bably written  not  long  after  the  year  1300. 

[In  Lincoln's-inn  library  there  is  a  poem 
entitled  BELLUM  TROJANUM,  Num.  159. 
Pr. 

Si  then  god  hade  this  worlde  wroght. 
ADDITIONS.] 

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  fortress, 
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  Bar- 
tholin.  L.  ii.cap.  8.  p.  402,  403.  seq.  This 
hall,  says  the  Edda,  is  in  the  city  of  As- 
gard, which  is  called  the  Field  of  Ida. 
Bartholin.  ibid.  In  the  very  sublime  ode 
on  the  Dissolution  of  the  World,  cited  by 
Bartholine,  it  is  said,  that  after  the  twi- 
light of  the  gods  should  be  ended,  and  the 
new  world  appear,  the  As&  shall  meet  in 
the  field  of  Ida,  and  tell  of  the  destroyed 
habitations.  Barthol.  L.  ii.  cap.  14.  p.  597. 
Compare  Arngrim.  Jon.  Crymog.  1.  i. 
c.  4.  p.  45,  46.  See  also  Edda,  fab.  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  Tro- 
jans." See  Hickes.  Thesaur.  i.  Disser- 
tat.  Epist.  'p.  39.  See  also  Mallett's  Hist. 
Dannem.  ii.  p.  34.  Bartholinus  thinks  that 
the  compiler  of  the  Eddie  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  Scandi- 
navian Goths,  and  adapted  it  to  them- 
selves ;  unless  we  suppose  that  these  na- 
tions, 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  popu- 
larity 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  Bri- 
tons from  Troy,  from  the  Welsh  or  Ar- 
moric  bards,  and  they  perhaps  had  it  in 
common  with  the  Scandinavian  scalders. 
There  is  not  a  syllable  of  it  in  the  authen- 
tic historians  of  England,  who  wrote  be- 
fore him  ;  particularly  those  antient  ones, 
Bede,  Gildas,  and  the  uninterpolated  Nen- 
.  nius.  Henry  of  Huntingdon  began  his 
history  from  Ccesar ;  and  it  was  only  on 
further  information  that  he  added  Brute. 
But  this  information  was  from  a  manu- 
script found  by  him  in  his  way  to  Rome, 
in  the  abbey  of  Bee  in  Normandy,  pro- 
bably Geoffry's  original.  [No;  only  a 
copy  of  Geoffrey's  Latin  Chronicle. — M.] 
//.  Hunt.  Epistol.  ad  Warm.  MSS.  Can- 
tabr.  Bibl.  publ.  cod.  251.  I  have  men- 
tioned 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  ve- 
neration 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  alleged 
as  an  authentic  and  undeniable  proof  in 
a  controversy  of  great  national  import- 
ance, by  Edward  the  First  and  his  no- 
bility, 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  Boniface,  signed  and 
sealed  by  the  king  and  his  lords.  Ypo- 
2 


132 


FABULOUS  HISTORIES  OF  ALEXANDER.        [SECT.  III. 


Proofs  have  been  given,  in  the  two  prologues  just  cited,  of  the  general 
popularity  of  Alexander's  story,  another  branch  of  Grecian  history  fa- 
mous 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  or  al  of  his  fortune f. 

And  in  the  House  of  Fame,  Alexander  is  placed  with  Hercules  ?.  I 
have  already  remarked  that  he  was  celebrated  in  a  Latin  poem  by 
Gualtier  de  Chatillon,  in  the  year  1212h.  Other  proofs  will  occur  in 
their  proper  places !.  The  truth  is,  Alexander  was  the  most  eminent 
knight  errant  of  Grecian  antiquity.  He  could  not  therefore  be  long 
without  his  romance.  Callisthenes,  an  Olynthian,  educated  under  Ari- 
stotle with  Alexander,  wrote  an  authentic  life  of  Alexander14.  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  libraries1.  It  is  entitled,  Bios  AfafavSpov  TOV  MaxeSovos  Kat 
Hpafets.  That  is,  The  Life  and  Actions  of  Alexander  the  Macedo- 
nian m.  This  piece  was  written  in  Greek,  being  a  translation  from  the 
Persic,  by  Simeon  Seth,  styled  Magister,  and  protovestiary  or  ward- 
robe keeper  of  the  palace  of  Antiochus  at  Constantinople",  about  the 


digm.  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.         E  V.  323. 

b  See  Second  Dissertation. 

1  In  the  reign  of  Henry  the  First,  the 
sheriff  of  Nottinghamshire  is  ordered  to 
procure  the  queen's  chamber  at  Notting- 
ham to  be  painted  with  the  HISTORY  of 
ALEXANDER.  Madox,  Hist.  Exch.  p.  249 
— 259.  "  Depingi  fecias  HISTORIAM 
ALEXANDRI  undiquaque."  In  the  Ro- 
mance of  Richard,  the  minstrel  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.  1'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. 

[Julian  Africanus,  who  lived  in  the 
third  century,  records  the  fable  of  Necta- 
nabus,  king  of  Egypt,  the  presumptive 
father  of  Alexander,  who  figures  so  con- 
spicuously in  the  later  romances.  It  is 
also  presumed,  that  similar  fictions  were 
introduced  into  the  poems  of  Arrian,  Ha- 
drian, and  Soterichus.  See  GorresVolks- 
biicher,  p.  58.  a  translation  of  whose  ob- 
servations upon  this  subject  will  be  found 
in  the  Retrospective  Review,  No.  vi.  For 
an  account  of  Arabic,  Turkish,  and  Per- 
sian versions  of  this  story,  see  Herbelot,  i. 
144.  and  Weber's  Metrical  Romances,  vol. 
i.  xx. — PRICE.] 

I  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  ma- 
nuscript, in  Steph.  Byzant.  Abr.  Berckel. 
V.    Bov/ee0a\eia.      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. 

II  npwrojSeoriapios,     Protovestiarius. 
See  Du  Cange,  Constantinop.  Christ,  lib. 
ii.  §  16.  n.  5.     Et  ad  Zonar.  p.  46. 


SECT.  III.]       FABULOUS  HISTORIES  OF  ALEXANDER. 


133 


year  1070,  under  the  emperor  Michael  Ducas0.     It  was  most  probably 
very  soon  afterwards  translated  from  the  Greek  into  Latin,  and  at 


0  Allat.   de   Simeonibus.  p.  181.   and 
Labb.  Bibl.  nov.  MSS.  p.  115.     Simeon 
Seth  translated  many  Persic  and  Arabic 
books  into  Greek.     Allat.  ubi  supr.  p.  1 82. 
seq.      Among  them  he  translated  from 
Arabic  into  Greek,  about  the  year  1100, 
for  the  use  or  at  the  request  of  the  em- 
peror Alexius  Comnenus,  the  celebrated 
Indian  Fables  now  commonly  called  the 
Fables  of  Pilpay.    This  work  he  entitled, 
Sre^avirT/s  KO.I  I%vr)\a.Tr]s,  and  divided 
it  into  fifteen  books.     It  was  printed  at 
Berlin,  by  Seb.   Godfr.   Starchius,  A.D. 
1697,  8vo.  under  the  title,  2u/<ewv  Ma- 
yurrpov  Kai  (piXoffoQov  TOV  S»j0  Ki»\i\e 
KO.I  Aipve.     These  are  the  names  of  two 
African  or  Asiatic  animals,  called  in  Latin 
Thoes,  a  sort  of  fox,  [jackall,]  the  princi- 
pal interlocutors  in  the  fables.     Sect.  i.  ii, 
This  curious  monument  of  a  species  of  in- 
struction peculiar  to  the  Orientals,  Is  up- 
wards of  two  thousand  years  old.     It  has 
passed  under  a  great  variety  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  trans- 
lated out  of  the  Indian  language  into  the 
antient  Persic.     Herbelot.  Diet.  Oriental, 
p.  456.     It  was  soon  afterwards  turned 
into  Syriac,  under  the  title  Calaileg  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  Rou- 
deki.     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  Nas- 
rallah,  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  in- 
telligible style,  under  the  name  of  Anuar 
Soheli.     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  Sohaili,   SPLENDOR 
Canopi,  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  Files  humance, 
by  Johannes  of  Capua,  [fol.  sine  ann.j 
From  thence  it  got  into  Spanish,  or  Casti- 
lian ;  and  from  the  Spanish  was  made  an 
Italian  version,  printed  at  Ferrara,  A.D. 
1583.  oct.  viz.  Lelo  Damno  [for  Calilali  u 
Damnali\  del  G&verno  de  regni,  tfotto  mo- 
rall,  &c.     A  second  edition  appeared  at 
Ferrara  in  1610.  oct.  viz.  Philosophia  mo- 
rale 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.  Gaul- 
min  from  the  Persic  of  Nasrallah  above 
mentioned  appeared  at  Paris,  1698.     But 
this  is  rather  a  paraphrase,  and  was  re- 
printed in  Holland.     See  Starchius,  ubi 
supr.  praef.   §   19.  20.  22.      Fabric,  ubi 
supr.  p.  463.  seq.  Another  translation  was 
printed  at  Paris,  viz.  "  Contes  et  Fables  In- 
diennes  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  NameJt,  that 
is,  The  royal  or  imperial  boQk,  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  PIL- 
PAY'S  FABLES. — As  to  the  name:  of  the 
author  of  this  book,  Herbelot  says  that 
Bidpai  was  an  Indian  philosopher,  and 


134 


FABULOUS  HISTORIES  OF  ALEXANDER.          [SECT.  III. 


length  from  thence  into  French,  Italian,  and  German  P.  The  Latin 
translation  was  printed  Colon.  Argentorat.  A.D.  1489q.  Perhaps  be- 
fore :  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  14-68.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  made  by  one  ^Esopus,  or  by  Julius  Valerius1':  supposititious 


that  his  name  signifies  the  merciful  phy- 
sician. See  Herbelot,  p.  206.  456.  and 
Bibl.  Lugdun.  Catal.  p.  301.  [Sir  Wm. 
Jones,  who  derivgs  this  name  from  a  San- 
scrit word,  interprets  it,  the  beloved  or 
favourite  physician. — PRICE.]  Others  re- 
late, that  it  was  composed  by  the  Bramins 
of  India,  under  the  title  Kurtufc  Dumnik. 
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.  "Li- 
ber CULILA  et  DIMNA,  Indus  Shatangri, 
et  novem  figurae  numerariae."  Saphad. 
Comment,  ad  Carm.  Tograi.  apud  Hyde, 
prolegom.  ad  lib.  tie  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  for- 
sake this  subject  without  remarking,  that 
the  Persians  have  another  book,  which 
they  esteem  older  than  any  writings  of 
Zoroaster,  entitled  Javidan  Chrad,  that 
is,  JEterna  Sapientia.  Hyde  Prasfat.  Re- 
lig.  Vet.  Persarum.  This  has  been  also 
one  of  the  titles  of  Pilpay's  Fables. 

[SeeWolfii  Bibl.  Hebr.  i.  468.  ii.  931. 
iii.  350.  iv.  934. — ADDITIONS.] 

[The  Indian  origin  of  these  fables  is 
now  placed  beyond  the  possibility  of  dis- 
pute. Mr.  Colebrooke  has  published  a 
Sanscrit  version  of  them,  under  the  title 
of  Hitopades,  and  they  have  been  trans- 
lated, from  the  same  language,  by  Sir  Wm. 
Jones  and  Dr.  Wilkins. — PRICE.] 

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  Hebrew,  [en- 
titled DVVtaDDbN  rvnbin  ISD,  and  edited 
by  Breithaupt. — M.]  by  one  who  adopted 
the  name  of  Jos.Gorionides,  called  Pseudo- 
Gorionides.  This  Latin  history  was  trans- 
lated into  German  by  John  Hartlieb  Mol- 
ler,  a  German  physician,  at  the  command 
of  Albert  duke  of  Bavaria,  and  published 
August.  Vindel.  A.D.  1478.  fol.  [This 
edition  was  preceded  by  two  others  from 
the  press  of  Bainler,  dated  1 172  and  1473. 
These  and  the  Strasburg  edition  of  1488 


call  the  translator  Dr.  John  Hartlieb  of  Mu- 
nich.— PRICE.]  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.  Lon- 
dinensis  quotes  "pervetustum  quendam 
librum  manuscriptum  de  actibus  Alexan- 
dri."  Hearne's  T.  Caius  ut  infr.  p.  82. 
See  also  p.  86.  258. 

q  Lenglet  mentions  "Historia  fabulosa 
incerti  authoris  de  Alexandri  Magni  prae- 
liis."  fol.  [Argent.]  1494.  He  adds,  that 
it  is  printed  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  sub- 
joined to  an  edition  of  Quintus  Curtius  in 
1584,  by  Joannes  Monachus.  ["  Q.  Curtii 
de  Rebus  gestis  Alexandri  Magni,  Regis 
Macedonum,  libri  x.  Ad  haec,  Alex.  M. 
Vitam  ab  Joanne  Monacho  praeposuimus. 
[Latine  vers.  ab  Aug.  Cospo.]  8vo.  Antv. 
in  aedib.  P.  Billed,  1586."— M.] 

*  [Either  from  the  ardour  of  compo- 
sition, or  through  the  multiplicity  of  books 
referred  to  by  Mr.  Warton,  some  mistake 
has  arisen  at  this  place.  The  late  Mr. 
Librarian  Price  pointed  out  to  me  the  4to 
volume  which  once  belonged  to  Hearne, 
and  is  now  marked  B.  N.  Rawl.  99.  It  con- 
sists of  seven  articles,  the  third  of  which 
is  "  Gesta  Alexandri  Magni  metrics  com- 
posita."  This  being  very  neatly  written, 
in  a  hand  much  resembling  the  type  of 
our  early  printed  classics,  seems  to  have 
been  confounded  (as  Ritson  shrewdly  sur- 
mised) with  "Expositio  Sancti  Jeronimi," 
MCCCCLXVIII.  a  rare  specimen  of  typo- 
graphy by  F.  Corsellis,  in  the  library  of 
C.  C.  C.  Oxon. — PARK.] 

r  Du  Cange  Glossar.  Gr.  v.  E/3e\Xivos. 
Jurat,  ad  Symmach.  iv.  33.  Earth.  Ad- 
versar.  ii.  10.  v.  14. 

[The  work  of  Julius  Valerius,  who  is 
said  to  have  translated  it  from  the  Greek 
of  ./Esopus,  about  the  time  of  Claudian  of 
Alexandria,  differs  wholly  from  the  com- 
mon Latin  prose  Life  of  Alexander  printed 


SECT.  III.]         FABULOUS  HISTORIES  OF  ALEXANDER. 


135 


names,  which  seem  to  have  been  forged  by  the  artifice,  or  introduced 
through  the  ignorance,  of  scribes  and  librarians.  This  Latin  transla- 
tion, however,  is  of  high  antiquity  in  the  middle  age  of  learning ;  for 
it  is  quoted  by  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  who  flourished  about  the  year 
1190s.  About  the  year  1236,  the  substance  of  it  was  thrown  into  a 
long  Latin  poem,  written  in  elegiac  verse1,  by  Aretinus  Quilichinusu. 
This  fabulous  narrative  of  Alexander's  life  and  achievements  is  full  of 
prodigies  and  extra vaganciesw.  But  we  should  remember  its  origin. 
The  Arabian  books  abound  with  the  most  incredible  fictions  and  tra- 
ditions concerning  Alexander  the  Great,  which  they  probably  borrowed 
and  improved  from  the  Persians.  They  call  him  Escander.  If  I  recol- 
lect 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  wonder- 
ful 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  oncex. 
This  is  the  horn  which  Orlando  .won  from  the  giant  Jatmund,  and 
which,  as  Turpin  and  the  Islandic  bards  report,  was  endued  with  ma- 
gical power,  and  might  be  heard  at  the  distance  of  twenty  miles.  Cer- 
vantes says,  that  it  was  bigger  than  a  massy  beam?.  Boyardo,  Berni, 
and  Ariosto  have  all  such  a  horn :  and  the  fiction  is  here  traced  to  its 


at  Strasburg  in  1 489.  It  has  been  printed 
by  the  Abbate  Mai,  together  with  another 
piece  entitled  Itinerarium  Alexandri,  from 
a  MS.  in  the  Ambrosian  library  of  the  ix. 
[xii.?]  century.  8vo.  Franc,  s.  M.  1818. 
The  Abbate  has  added  learned  prefaces, 
with  notices  of  the  presumed  authors. — 
M.] 

8  Hearne,  T.  Caii  Vindic.  Antiquitat. 
Acad.  Oxon.  torn.  ii.  NOT.  p.  802.  who 
thinks  it  a  work  of  the  monks.  "  Nee 
dubium  quin  monachus  quispiam  Latine, 
ut  potuit,  scripserit.  Eo  modo,  quo  et 
alios  id  genus  foetus  parturiebant  scripto- 
res  aliquot  monastici,  e  fabulis  quas  vulgo 
admodum  placere  sciebant."  ibid. 

4  A  Greek  poem  on  this  subject  will  be 
mentioned  below,  written  in  politic  verses, 
entitled  AXeZavdpevs  o  Maiceduv. 

u  Labb.  Bibl.  Nov.  MSS.  p.  68.  OJ. 
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  different  philosophers  are 
recited  concerning  the  sepulchre  of  Alex- 
ander. Nectabanos,  a  magician  and  astro- 
loger, king  of  j£gypt,  is  a  very  significant 
character  in  this  romance.  He  transforms 
himself  into  a  dragon,  &c.  Compare  Her- 
belot.  Bibl.  Oriental,  p.  319.  b.  seq.  In 
some  of  the  manuscripts  of  this  piece  which 


I  have  seen,  there  is  an  account  of  Alex- 
ander'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  omis- 
sions. Pseudo-Gorionides  above  men- 
tioned seems  to  hint  at  the  groundwork 
of  this  history  of  Alexander  in  the  follow- 
ing passage.  "  Caeteras  autem  res  ab  Alex- 
andro  gestas,  et  egregia  ejus  facinora  ac 
quaecunque  demum  perpetravit,  ea  in  li- 
bris  Medorum  et  Persarum,  atque  apud 
Nicolaum,  Titum,  et  Strabonem  ;  et  in  li- 
bris  nativitatis  Alexandri,  rerumque  ab 
ipso  gestarum,  quos  Magi  ac  ^Egyptii  eo 
anno  quo  Alexander  decessit,  composue- 
runt, 'scripta  reperies."  Lib.  ii.  c.  12. — 
22.  [Lat.  Vers.]  p.  152.  edit.  Jo.  Frid. 
Breithaupt. 

x  It  is  also  in  a  manuscript  entitled  Se- 
cretum  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.  [See  Diss.  iii.  p.  clxxxvi. 
where  this  work  is  stated  more  correctly 
to  be  dedicated  to  Guido  Vere  de  Valencia, 
Bishop  of  Tripoli. — M.] 

y  See  Observat.  Fair.  Qu.  i.  §  v.  p.  202. 


13G  POPULAR  METRICAL  ROMANCES.  [SECT.  III. 

original  source.  But  in  speaking  of  the  books  which  furnished  the 
story  of  Alexander,  I  must  not  forget  that  Quintus  Curtius  was  an  ad- 
mired historian  of  the  romantic  ages.  He  is  quoted  in  the  POLICRA- 
TICON  of  John  of  Salisbury,  who  died  in  the  year  1181Z.  Eneas  Syl- 
vius relates,  that  Alphonsus  the  Ninth,  king  of  Spain,  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  a  great  astronomer,  endeavoured  to  relieve  himself  from  a  te- 
dious 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  Historiale0.  He  was  also  early  trans- 
lated into  French.  Among  the  royal  manuscripts  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, 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.  E script  par  la  main  de  Jehan  du  Chesne,  a  LilleA.  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 
1 200.  Some  of  these  seem  to  have  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  pre- 
viously existed  in  prose. 

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

z  viii.  18.  8  Op.  p.  476.  nice,  transcribes  whole  pages  from  this  hi- 

b  Epist.  101.     Frequenter  inspicere  hi-  storian.      1  could  give  other  proofs. 
storias  Q.  Curtii,  &c.  d  17  F.  1.  Brit.  Mus.     And  again,  20 

0  iv.61,&c.    Montfaucon, I  think, men-  C.  iii.  and  15  D.  iv. 

tions  a  manuscript  of  Q.  Curtius  in  the  [See  "Les  Manuscrits  Francois  de  la 

Colbertine  library  at  Paris  eight  hundred  Bibl.  du  Hoi.     Par  P.  Paris,  Nos.  6727 — 

ycarsold.    SeeBarth.  adClaudian.p.l  165.  6729.   8vo.   1836."— M.] 
Alexander  Benedictus,  in  his  history  of  Ve-  e  Apud  Fauchet,  Rcc.  p.  99.  who  adds, 


SECT.  III.]  POPULAR  METRICAL  ROMANCES. 


137 


Chrestien  also  wrote  the  romance  of  Sir  Perceval,  which  belongs  to 
the  same  history  f«  Godfrey  de  Leigni,  a  cotemporary,  finished  a  ro- 
mance begun  by  Chrestien*,  entitled  La  Charette,  containing  the 
adventures  of  Lancelot.  Fauchet  affirms,  that  Chrestien  abounds  with 
beautiful  inventions  *.  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  liesh.  His  title  is  extremely  curious. 


"  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  refrai- 
chis  de  language."  Rec.  liv.  ii.  x. 

[The  "Roman  du  Saint  Graal"  is 
ascribed  to  an  anonymous  "Trouvere" 
by  M.  Roquefort,  who  denies  that  it  was 
written  by  Chretien  de  Troyes.  On  the 
authority  of  the  Cat.  de  la  Valliere,  he  also 
attributes  the  first  part  of  the  prose  version 
of  this  romance  to  Luces  du  Gast,  and  the 
continuation  only  to  Robert  Borron.  Of 
Borron's  work  entitled  "  Ensierrement  de 
Merlin  ou  Roman  de  St.  Graal,"  there  is 
a  metrical  version  MS.  no.  1987  fonds  de 
1'abbaye  St.  Germain.  See  Poesie  Fran- 
faise  dans  les  xii.  et  xiii.  siecles. — PRICE. 
See  infra,  Note  A.  p.  149.] 

The  oldest  manuscripts  of  romances  on 
these  subjects  which  I  have  seen  are  the 
following.  They  are  in  the  royal  manu- 
scripts of  the  British  Museum.  Le  Ro- 
manz  de  Tristran,  20  D.  ii.  This  was 
probably  transcribed  not  long  after  the 
year  1200. — Histoire  du  Lancelot  ou  S. 
Graal,  ibid.  iii.  Perhaps  older  than  the 
year  1200. — Again,  Histoire  du  S.  Graal, 
ou  Lancelot,  20  C.  vi.  I.  Transcribed  soon 
after  1200.  This  is  imperfect  at  the  be- 
ginning. The  subject  of  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea  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  Ari- 
mathy  came  into  this  lande."  B.iii.  c.  5. 

f  Fauchet,  p.  103.  This  story  was  also 
written  in  very  old  thyme  by  one  Ma- 
nessier,  not  mentioned  in  Fauchet,  from 
whence  it  was  reduced  into  prose  1530. 
fol.  Paris.  PERCEVAL  LEGALLOYS,^  qvel 
acheva  les  advantures  du  Sainct  Graal, 
avec  aulcuns  faicts  du,  chevalier  Gauvain, 
translaiee  de  ryme  en  prose  tie  V  ancicn 
auteur  [Chrestien  de  Troyes,  ou\  MANES- 

SIER,   &C. 


[This  is  not  a  distinct  work  from  the 
romance  upon  the  same  subject  by  Chre- 
tien de  Troyes.  This  writer  at  his  death 
left  the  story  unfinished.  It  was  resumed 
by  Gautier  de  Denet,  and  concluded  by 
Manessier.  See  Roquefort  ut  sup.  p.  194. 
— PRICE.] 

In  the  royal  library  at  Paris  is  LE  RO- 
MAN DE  PERSEVAL  le  Galois,  par  CRE- 
STIEN  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  Raoul  de  Biavais,  men- 
tioned by  Fauchet,  p.  142.  Compare  Len- 
glet,  Bibl.  Rom.  p.  250.  The  author  of 
this  last-mentioned  Perceval,  in  the  ex- 
ordium, 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. 

[There  is  a  copy  of  the  French  metri- 
cal romance  of  Perceval  in  the  College  of 
Arms,  No.  14.  An  English  translation  in 
verse  of  the  15th  century  is  also  pre- 
served in  a  MS.  in  the  library  of  Lincoln 
Cathedral.  On  the  subject  of  this  and 
the  other  romances  written  by  Chrestien 
de  Troyes,  see  the  Hist.  Litt.de  la  France, 
torn.  xv.  pp.  193-264. — M.] 

*  [La  Charette,  or  Du  Chevalier  a  la 
Charette :  perhaps  the  same,  says  Kitson, 
with  Les  romans  de  Chevalier  a  I'epee,  ou 
L' Histoire  de  Lancelot  du  Lac.  To  the 
same  romance-writer  are  attributed,  Du 
Chevalier  a  Lion,  du  prince  Alexandre, 
d'Erec,  with  others,  that  are  now  lost. — 
PARK.  M.  Roquefort's  catalogue  of  Chre- 
tien's works  still  extant,  contains  :  Perce- 
val, le  Chevalier  au  Lion,  Lancelot  du  Lac, 
Cliget,  Guillaume  d'Angleterre,  and  Erec 
et  Enide.  The  latter  probably  gave  rise 
to  the  opinion,  that  Chretien  translated 
the  ^Eneid,  and  which  has  been  adopted 
from  Mr.  von  der  Hagen,  at  pp.  129,  130. 
note  c. — PRICE.] 

g  P.  105.  ibid. 

h  There  is  a  curious  passage   to  this 


138 


POPULAR  METRICAL  ROMANCES.  [SECT.  III. 


"  Ci  comence  1'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." * 

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 
Fauchet,  author  of  the  two  metrical  romances  of  Berlin  [Berthe]  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*.  The 
French  have  likewise  illustrated  this  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  15481. 

On  the  Trojan  story,  the  French  have  an  antient  poem,  at  least  not 


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  Charle- 
magne :  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  con- 
teour  ne  cil  jugleor.  Nuz  CONTES  RY- 

MEZ   N'EN    EST   VRAIS:    TOT   MENSONGE 

CE  QU'ILS  DIENT."  Liv.  quatr. 

[This  romance  is  the  same  prose  trans- 
lation of  Turpin  mentioned  in  Warton's 
text.  See  the  description  of  No.  6795. 
Bibl.  du  Roi,  by  M.  Paris,  pp.  211-220. 
Joland,  eldest  sister  of  Baldwin,  count  of 
Hainault,  was  married  to  her  second  hus- 
band, Hugh,  count  of  St.  Pol,  about  the 
year  1178.  Her  brother  died  in  1195, 
and  the  count  of  St.  Pol  in  1205 ;  so  that 
the  period  of  this  translation  must  be 
limited  between  these  dates.  It  was  the 
same  lady  who  caused  the  metrical  ro- 
mance otGuillaume  de  Palerme  to  be  trans- 
lated from  the  Latin,  an  English  version 
of  which  of  the  14th  century,  intitled  Wil- 
liam and  the  Werwolf,  was  edited  by  Sir 
F.  Madden  for  the  Roxburghe  Club,  4to. 
1832.  See  the  Editor's  Introduction,  p.  ix. 
-M.] 

1  MSS.  Harl.  273.  23.  Cod.  membr. 
f.  86.  There  is  a  very  old  metrical  ro- 
mance on  this  subject,  ibid.  MSS.  Harl. 
527.  1.  f.  1.  Cod.  membr.  4to. 

[Among  the  royal  manuscripts  in  the 
British  Museum,  ICE.  viii.  7.,  is  a  much 


earlier  metrical  romance  (probably  of  the 
beginning  of  the  12th  century),  relating 
the  expedition  of  Charlemagne  to  Jerusa- 
lem. It  has  recently  been  published,  with 
a  Glossary,  by  the  indefatigable  M.  Michel, 
12mo.  Lond.  1836.  In  his  Preface  he  gives 
an  analysis  of  a  second  metrical  romance, 
MS.  Reg.  15  E.  vi.,  describing  the  adven- 
tures of  Charlemagne  in  the  East,  pp. 
Ixii.— cviii.,  and  also  notices  from  Sinner's 
Catalogue,  a  third,  preserved  in  the  library 
at  Berne.  See  in  the  same  writer,  a  col- 
lection of  the  various  notices  concerning 
this  fabulous  expedition  of  Charlemagne 
to  the  Holy  Land. — M.] 

[Ogier  le  Dannois  due  de  Dannemarche 
was  printed  at  Troyes  in  1610;  and  at  the 
same  place,  in  1608,  were  printed,  Histoire 
de  Morgant  le  geant,  and  Histoire  des  no- 
bles Provesses  et  Vaillances  de  Galeon  re- 
staure. — PARK.] 

k  15  E.  vi.  4. 

[The  title  of  Adenez'  poem  is  Les  En- 
fances  d' Ogier-le-Danois,  a  copy  of  which 
is  preserved  among  the  Harl.  MSS.  No. 
4404.  His  other  poem  noticed  in  the  text, 
is  called  Le  Roman  de  Pepin  et  de  Berthe. 
See  Cat.  La  Valliere,  No.  2734.  The  life 
of  Ogier  contained  in  the  royal  manuscript, 
embraces  the  whole  career  of  this  illustri- 
ous hero  ;  and  is  evidently  a  distinct  work 
from  that  of  Adenez.  Whether  it  be  the 
same  version  alluded  to  in  the  French  ro- 
mance of  Alexander,  where  the  author  is 
distinguished  from  the  "conteurs  batards" 
of  his  day,  is  left  to  more  competent  judges. 
—PRICE.] 

1  8vo.  There  is  also  IS  Histoire  du  preux 
Meurvin  fils  D'OGIEK  le  DANOIS.  Paris. 
1359.  4to.  and  1540.  8 vo. 


SECT.  III.]  POPULAR  METRICAL  ROMANCES.  139 

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

Cette  estoire  n'est  pas  usee, 
N'en  gaires  livres  n'est  trouvee : 
La  retraite  ne  fut  encore 
Mais  Beneoit  de  Sainte  More, 
L'a  translate,  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  cest  Roman  fit.m 

Du  Cange  enumerates  a  metrical  manuscript  romance  on  this  sub- 
ject by  Jaques  Millet,  entitled  De  la  Destruction  de  Troien.  Mont- 
faucon,  whose  extensive  inquiries  nothing  could  escape,  mentions  Dares 
Phrygius  translated  into  French  verse,  at  Milan,  about  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury0. We  find  also,  among  the  royal  manuscripts  at  Paris,  Dictys 
Cretensis  translated  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  Mousqes,  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  compre- 
hends 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  con- 
cerns 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  tra- 
dition. 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 

m  See  M.  Galland,  ut  supr.  p.  425.  [For  n  Gloss.  Lat.  IND.  AUT.  p.  cxciii. 

an  account  of  Benoit  de  Saint  Move's  poem,  °  Monum.  Fr.  i.  374. 

the  reader  is  referred  to  the  12th  volume  of  p  See  Montf.  Catal.  MSS.  ii.  p.  16GO. 
the  Archaeologia. — PRICE.] 


140  POPULAR  METRICAL  ROMANCES.  [SECT.  III. 

written,  without  discernment  or  examination.  No  man  before  the  six- 
teenth century  presumed  to  doubt  that  the  Francs  derived  their  origin 
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  pre- 
ceptor 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  Caesar.  He  was  himself  an  historian,  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*. 

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  writers1".  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  ex- 
pedition 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  magnifi- 
cent institution,  in  a  prolix  and  elaborate  history,  afterwards  translated 
by  Caxton8.  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 fc.  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. 

q  He  flourished  about  1260.  [This  romance  of  Hercules  commences 

r  The  TROJOMANNA  SAGA,  a  Scandic  with  an  account  of  Uranus  or  Cselus,  and 
manuscript  at  Stockholm,  seems  to  be  po-  terminates  with  the  death  of  Ulysses  by 
sterior  to  Guido's  publication.  It  begins  his  son  Telegonus.  The  mythological 
with  Jason  and  Hercules,  and  their  voy-  fables  with  which  the  first  part  abounds, 
age  to  Colchos ;  proceeds  to  the  rape  of  are  taken  from  Boccace's  Genealogia  De- 
Helen,  and  ends  with  the  siege  and  de-  orum ;  and  the  third  part,  embracing  the 
struction  of  Troy.  It  celebrates  all  the  destruction  of  Troy  by  the  Greeks  under 
Grecian  and  Asiatic  heroes  concerned  in  Agamemnon,  professes  to  be  a  transla- 
that  war.  Wanl.  Antiquit.  Septentr.  p.  tion  from  "  Dictys  of  Greece  and  Dares 
315.  col.  1.  of  Troy."  The  Pertonape  of  the  text  is 

8  See  Observat.  on  Spenser's  Fairy  evidently  Partonepex  de  Blois,  (see  Le 
Queen,  i.  §  v.  p.  176.  seq.  Montfaucon  Grand  Fabliaux,  torn.  iv.  p.  261.  and  No- 
mentions  Medea  et  Jasonis  Historia  a  Gui-  tices  des  Manuscrits,  torn,  ix.)  and  Ypo- 
done  de  Colnmna.  Catal.  MSS.  Bibl.  Cois-  medon  the  hero  whom  Warton  dignifies 
lin.  ii.  p.  1109. — 318.  with  the  epithet  of  Childe  Ippomedone. 

«  17  E.  ii.  —PRICE.] 


SECT.  III.]       FABULOUS  HISTORIES  OF  ALEXANDER.  141 

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  Macedoinu. 

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  Fauchet  expresses  himself,  were  associez  en  leur  JON- 
GLERIE*.  Lambert  li  Cors,  a  learned  civilian,  began  the  poem  ;  and  it 
was  continued  and  completed  by  Alexander  de  Paris,  John  le  Nivelois 
[Venelais],  and  Peter  [Perot]  de  Saint  Clost  [Cloot]  y.  The  poem  is 
closed  with  Alexander's  will.  This  is  no  imagination  of  any  of  our 
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*.  I  know  not  whether  this  work  was  ever 

u  Fauch.  p.  77.  this  extract  clearly  confirms  M.  le  Grand's 

[This  specimen  is  clearly  against  Fau-  arrangement.     The  date  assigned  by  M. 

chet's  opinion.    The  Pictavian  or  Limosin  Roquefort  for  its  publication  is  1  184.    Je- 

was  a  dialect  of  Provencal,  and  the  couplet  han  li  Venelais  wrote  LeTestament  d'Alex- 

in  the  text  is  old  French  or  Romance.  —  andre;  and  Perot  de  Saint  Cloot,  LaVen- 

PRICE.]  geaunce  d'Alexandre.  Mr.Doucehasenu- 

w  Istor.  Volg.  Poes.  i.  iv.  p.  332.    In  the  merated  eleven  French  poets,  who  have 

royal  manuscripts  there  is  a  French  poem  written  on  the  subject  of  Alexander  or  his 

entitled  La  Vengeaunce  du  graunt  Alex-  family;  and  Mr.  Weber  observes,  that  seve- 

andre  1  9  D.  i.  2.  Brit.  Mus.    I  am  not  sure  ral  others  might  be  added  to  the  list.    See 

whether  or  no  it  is  not  a  portion  of  the  Weber's  Metrical  Romances  (who  notices 

French  Alexander,  mentioned  below,  writ-  various  European  versions),  Notices  des 

ten  by  Jehan  li  Nivelois  [Venelais].  Manuscrits  du  Roi,  t.  v.  Catalogue  de  la 

x  Fauchet,  Rec.  p.  83."  Valliere,  t.  ii.  —  PRICE.]      [See  also  the 

[The    order    in    which    Fauchet    has  Abbe  de  la  Rue's  Essais,  &c.  torn.  ii.  pp. 

classed  Lambert  li  Cors  and  Alexander  of  341-356.     The  name  of  Thomas  of  Kent, 

Paris,  and  which  has  also  been  adopted  an  Anglo-Norman,  should  not  have  been 

by  M.  le  Grand,  is  founded  on  the  follow-  omitted  in  Mr.  Price's  note  as  one  of  the 

ing  passage  of  the  original  poem  :  chief  con  tinuators  of  the  romance  of  Alex- 


La  verite  d  Hstoire  si  com  li  roys  la  fist  "          ibid.    Mons>  Galland  men. 

Un  clers  de  Chastiaudun  Lambers  h  Cors  ^  &  ^^  romance  in  verse,  unknown 

,    ~  .  to  Fauchet,  and  entitled  Roman  d1  A  thus 

Qui  du  Latin  la  trait  et  en  roman  la  fist  .....  Prophylias,  written  by  one  Alexan- 

Alexandre  nous  dit  qui  de  Bernay  fu  nez  ^  g     ^                 £         A1         _ 

Et  de  Pans  refii  se  surnoms  appe  lies  '      p^     JJ£          ... 

Qui  or  a  les  siens  vers  o  les  Lambert  melles.  Amgt     [This  conjecture  is  confirmed  by 

MM.  de  laRavalliere  and  Roquefort  have  M.  Roquefort,  ubi  supr.  p.  118.  —  PRICE.] 

considered  Alexander  as  the  elder  writer  ;  It  is  often  cited  by  Carpentier,  Suppl.Cang. 

apparently  referring  (Alexandre  nous  dit)  *  See  Fabric.  Bibl.  Gr.  c.  iii.  1.  viii.  p. 

to  Lambert  li  Cors.     But  the  last  line  in  205. 


142  FABULOUS  HISTORIES  OF  ALEXANDER.       [SECT.  III. 

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  instruments5,  and  other  particulars  appropriated  to  the  times. 
At  the  end  we  read  this  hexameter,  which  points  out  the  name  of  the 
scribe  f. 

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  per- 
fais  de  le  enluminure  au  xviii0.  jour  davryl  par  Jehan  de  grise,  1'an  de 
grace  m.ccc.xliiii."c  Hence  it  may  be  concluded,  that  the  illuminations 
and  paintings  of  this  superb  manuscript,  which  were  most  probably  be- 
gun 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  nu- 
merous, 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  their  rise  from  this  poem ;  Alexander  being  the  hero,  and  Alexan- 
der the  chief  of  the  four  poets  concerned  in  the  work.  That  the  name, 
some  centuries  afterwards,  might  take  place  in  honour  of  this  cele- 
brated 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  Alexan- 
der's expedition  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  in  a  vessel  of  glass,  for  the 

*  [It  is  still  inedited. — M.]  be  found  among  Ashmole's  MSS.  No.  44. 

a  MSS.  Bodl:  264.  fol.  — M.] 

b  The  most  frequent  of  these  are  or-  c  The  bishop  of  Gloucester  has  a  most 

gans,  bagpipes,  lutes,  and  trumpets.  beautiful  French  manuscript  on  vellum  of 

f  [Not  the  scribe  of  the  whole  volume,  Mori  d' Arthur,  ornamented  in  the  same 

but  only  the  scribe  of  a  portion  of  a  Scot-  manner.     It  was  a  present  from  Vertue 

tish  romance  of  Alexander  in  verse,  which  the  engraver. 

has  been  added  in  the  15th  century.    An-  d  See  Pref.  Le  Roman  de  la  Rose,  par 

other  portion  of  the  same  romance  may  Mons.  L'Abbe  Lenglet,  i.  p.  xxxvi. 


SECT.  III.]  POPULAR  METRICAL  ROMANCES.  143 

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  ro- 
mance of  considerable  antiquity,  although  the  hero  is  not  older  than 
the  Norman  conquest.  It  is  alluded  to  in  our  English  romance  on  this 
story,  which  will  again  be  cited,  and  at  large. 

Forth  thei  yode  so  saith  the  bokee. 
And  again  more  expressly, 

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

The  Romans  is  the  French  original.  It  is  called  the  Romance  ofJBeuves 
de  Hanton,  by  Pere  Labbes.  The  very  ingenious  Monsieur  de  la  Curne 
de  Sainte  Palaye  mentions  an  antient  French  romance  in  prose,  entitled 
Beufres  de  Hanfonh.  Chaucer  mentions  BEVIS,  with  other  famous  ro- 
mances, but  whether  in  French  or  English  is  uncertain1.  Beuves  of 
Hantonne*  was  printed  at  Paris  in  1502k.  Ascapart  was  one  of  his 
giants,  a  character1  in  very  old  French  romances.  Be  vis  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  Nor- 
man invaders.  He  lived  at  Downton  in  Wiltshire.  Near  Southampton 
is  an  artificial  hill  called  Bevis  Mount,  on  which  was  probably  a  for- 
tress™. It  is  pretended  that  he  was  earl  of  Southampton.  His  sword 
is  shown  in  Arundel  castle  f.  This  piece  was  evidently  written  after 

c  Signat.  P.  ii.               f  Signat.  E.  iv.  spectable  authority,  that  this  romance  is 

6  Nov.  Bibl.  p.  334.  edit.  1652.  to  be  found  in  Provencal  poetry,  among 

h  Mem.  Lit.  xv.  582.  4to.  the  MSS.  of  Christina  queen  of  Sweden, 

1  Rim.  Thop.  now  in  the  Vatican  library,  and  that  it  ap- 

[A  good  MS.  of  the  English  romance  pears  to  have  been  written  in  1380.     See 

of  Bevis  is  preserved  in  Caius  College  lib.  likewise  Bibl.  de  Du  Verdier,  torn.  iii.  p. 

Cambridge.— W.]  266.— DOUCE.] 

*  [The  earliest  printed  copy  of  this  ro-  k  4to.  Percy's  Ball.  iii.  217. 

mance  that  I  have  met  with,  is  in  Italian,  *  Selden's  Drayton,  Polyolb.  s.iii.  p.  37. 

and  printed  at  Venice,  1489.  4to.     Other  m  It  is  now  inclosed  in  the  beautiful 

editions  in  the  same  language  are,  Venice  gardens  of  General  Sir  John  Mordaunt, 

1562.  1580.  12mo.  Milan  1584.  4to.  Pia-  and  gives  name  to  his  seat, 

cenza  1599. 12mo.    French  editions,  Paris  f   [There  is  a  tradition,  that  Sir  Bevis, 

folio,  no  date,  by  Verard.     Ibid.  4to.  no  whilst  standing  one  day  on  the  walls  of 

date,  by  Bonfors.     English  editions  are  Arundel  castle,  with  this  sword  in  his 

by  Copland,  4to.  no  date,  by  Pinson,  by  hand,  took  it  into  his  head  to  try  how  far 

East,  by  G.  W.  for  W.  Lee,  all  witliout  he  could  throw  it ;  and  the  weapon  (which 

dates.     I  have  been  informed  from  re-  is  about  six  feet  in  length)  flew  through 


144  POPULAR  METRICAL  ROMANCES.  [SECT.  III. 

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  LabbeX 
In  the  British  Museum  a  metrical  history  in  very  old  French  appears, 
in  which  Felicia,  or  Felice,  is  called  the  daughter  of  an  earl  of  War- 
wick, and  Guido,  or  Guy  of  Warwick,  is  the  son  of  Seguart  the  earl's 
steward.  The  manuscript  is  at  present  imperfect0.  Montfaucon  men- 
tions among  the  royal  manuscripts  at  Paris,  Roman  de  Guy  et  JBueves 
de  Hanton.  The  latter  is  the  romance  last  mentioned.  Again,  Le  Livre 
de  Guy  de  Warwick  et  de  Harold  d'Ardenne?.  This  Harold  d' Arden 
is  a  distinguished  warrior  of  Guy's  history,  and  therefore  his  achieve- 
ments sometimes  form  a  separate  romance  ;  as  in  the  royal  manuscripts 
of  the  British  Museum,  where  we  find  Le  Romant  de  Herolt Dardenneq. 
In  the  ^nglish  romance  of  Guy,  mentioned  at  large  in  its  proper  place, 
this  champion  is  called  Syr  Heraude  of  Arderne*.  At  length  this  fa- 
vourite subject  formed  a  large  prose  romance,  entitled  Guy  de  War- 
wick Chevalier  d'Angleterre  et  de  la  belle  fille  Felix  sarnie,  and  printed 
at  Paris  in  1525s.  Chaucer  mentions  Guy's  story  among  the  jRo- 
maunces  of  Pris*\  and  it  is  alluded  to  in  the  Spanish  romance  of  Ti- 
rante  il  Blanco,  or  Tirante  the  White,  supposed  to  have  been  written 
not  long  after  the  year  1430U.  This  romance  was  composed,  or  per- 
haps enlarged,  after  the  Crusades;  as  we  find  that  Guy's  redoubted 
encounters  with  Colbrond  the  Danish  giant,  with  the  monster  of  Duns- 
more-heath,  and  the  dragon  of  Northumberland,  are  by  no  means 
equal  to  some  of  his  achievements  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  the  trophies 

the  air,  and  alighted  about  a  mile  from  Cambr.,  No.  50.  and  in  the  Coll.  of  Arms, 

the  castle,  at  the  bottom  of  a  valley  called  — M.] 

Pugh  Dean,  at  present  inclosed  within  p  Catal.  MSS.  p.  792. 

the  park.     Here  Sir  Bevis  determined  to  [Among  the  Bennet  manuscripts  there 

be  buried,  and  a  tumulus  about  seven  feet  is  ROMANZ  DE  GUI  DE  WARWYK.  Num.  L. 

wide  by  thirty  in  length  heaped  up  on  It  begins, 

-the  spot  is  traditionally  called  «  Bevis's  pui       j  temg 
Grave.       In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1833, 

this  tumulus  was  opened  in  the  presence  This  book  belonged  to  Saint  Augustin's 

of  a  few  antiquarians,  of  whom  the  writer  abbey  at  Canterbury.    With  regard  to  the 

of  the  present  note  was  one,  but  nothing  preceding  romance  of  BEVIS,  the  Italians 

was  discovered ;  which  renders  it  probable  had  Buovo  d'Antona,  undoubtedly  from 

that  it  had  been  disturbed  at  some  an-  the  French,  before  1348.      And   Luhyd 

terior  period. — M.]  recites  in  Welsh,  Ystori  Bonn  o  Hamtun. 

*  ["Bevis" seems  long  to  have  retained  Archaeol.  p.  264. — -AooiT.] 

its  popularity,  since  Wither  thus  complain-  q   15  E.  vi.  8.  fol. 

ed  of  the  sale  it  had  about  the  year  1G27.  [This  romance   might  be  called  with 

"  The   stationers  have  so   pestered  their  more  propriety  an  episode  in  the  life  of 

printing  houses  and  shopps  with  fruitlesse  Raynbrun,  Guy's   son.     It  recounts   the 

volumes,  that  the  auncient  and  renowned  manner  in  which  he  released  Herolt  d'Ar- 

authors  are  almost  buried  among  them  as  denne  from  prison  ;  and  the  return  of  both 

forgotten  ;  and  at  last  you  shall  see  nothing  to  their  native  country.     It  has  the  merit 

to  be  sould  amongst  us,  but  Currantos,  of  being  exceedingly  short;    and  states, 

Beavis  of  Hampton,  or  such  trumpery."  among  other  matter,  that  Herolt  was  born 

Scholler's  Purgatory,  no  date. — PARK.]  atWalmforth  in  England. — PRICE.] 

n  Ubi  supr.  r  Sign.  L.  ii.  vers. 

0  MSS.  Harl.  3775.  2.  s  Fol.    And  again,  ib.  1526.  4to. 

[There  are  also  copies  in  Corp.  Coll.  -  Rim.  Thop.        u  Percy's  Ball.  iii.  100. 


SECT.  III.]  POPULAR  METRICAL  ROMANCES.  145 

which  he  won  from  the  Soldan  under  the  command  of  the  emperor 
Frederick. 

The  romance  of  SIDRAC,  often  entitled  Le  Livere  Sydrac  le  philo- 
sophe  le  q\iel  horn  appele  le  livere  de  lefuntane  de  totes  Sciences •,  appears 
to  have  been  very  popular,  from  the  present  frequency  of  its  manu- 
scripts. But  it  is  rather  a  romance  of  Arabian  philosophy  than  of  chi- 
valry. It  is  a  system  of  natural  knowledge,  and  particularly  treats  of 
the  virtues  of  plants.  Sidrac,  the  philosopher  of  this  system,  was  astro- 
nomer to  an  eastern  king.  He  lived  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven 
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  pro- 
perty of  king  Madian,  Naaman  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  mi- 
norite  friar,  in  the  thirteenth  century.  A  king  of  Spain  then  com- 
manded 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  trans- 
lated 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  Marchaunfs  Second  Tale,  ascribed  to  Chaucerw. 

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  En- 
glish. That  the  latter  was  the  case  as  to  some  of  them,  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  remark- 
able 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  spe- 
cies of  characters,  incidents,  and  adventures,  and  often  the  identical 
stories,  being  found  in  the  metrical  romances  of  both  nationsx.  From 
close  connexion  and  constant  intercourse,  the  traditions  and  the  cham- 

w  Urr.  p.  616.  v.  1932.     There  is  an  x  Percy's  Ess.  on   Anc.  Eng.   Minstr. 

old    translation    of   SIDRAC   into   Dutch,        p.  12. 
MSS.  Marshall,  Bibl.  Bodl.  31.  fol. 

VOL.  I.  L 


146 


COMMUNICATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  [SECT.III. 


pions  of  one  kingdom  were  equally  known  in  the  other ;  and  although 
Bevis  and  Guy  were  English  heroes,,  yet  on  these  principles  this  cir- 
cumstance by  no  means  destroys  the  supposition,  that  their  achieve- 
ments, although  perhaps  already  celebrated  in  rude  English  songs,  might 
be  first  wrought  into  romance  by  the  French  ?.  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  Blan- 
damoure*,  Sir  Triamoure,  Sir  Eglamoure  of  Artoys1,  La  Mort  d' Ar- 
thur, 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  Vyennea,  the  Death  of  King  Arthur,  and  other  prose  pieces 


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."  Ba- 
ron, i.  p.  243.  col.  1.  This  story  is  deli- 
vered 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  con- 
sider, 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  ac- 
quired an  establishment  there  under  Bald- 
win earl  of  Flanders  ;  that  the  French 
language  must  have  been  known  in  Sicily, 
Jerusalem,  Cyprus,  and  Antioch,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  conquests  of  Robert  Guis- 
card,  Hugo  le  Grand,  and  Godfrey  of  Bul- 
loigne  ;  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. 

[Busbec,  in  the  third  letter  of  his  Em- 
bassy into  Turkey,  mentions  that  the 
Georgians  in  their  songs  make  frequent 
mention  of  Roland,  whose  name  he  sup- 
poses to  have  passed  over  with  Godfrey  of 
Bulloigne. — DOUCE.] 


*  [There  is  no  such  Romance  extant. 
See  Price's  addition  to  note  d  near  the  end 
of  Sect.  v. — M.] 

z  In  our  English  Syr  Eglamour  of  Ar- 
toys,  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,  fot.  ult. 

In  ROMAUNCE  this  cronycle  ys. 

The  authors  of  these  pieces  often  refer  to 
their  original ;  just  as  Ariosto  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.  cxciii.  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  Spenser's  Fairy  Queen, 
vol.  ii.  §  viii.  p.  43.  Among  the  royal  ma- 
nuscripts in  the  British  Museum,  there  is 
in  verse  Histoire  de  Gyrart  de  Vianne  et 
de  ses  freres.  20  D.  xi.  2.  This  manuscript 
was  perhaps  written  before  the  year  1300. 

[Mr.  Dibdin  imparts,  that  the  original 
of  the  Romance  of  Paris  and  the  Fair 
Vienne  is  of  Provencal  growth,  and  was 
translated  into  French  by  Pierre  de  la  Sip- 
parde,  whose  name,  however,  is  not  found 
in  the  Bibliotheque  Francoise  of  La  Croix 
du  Maine  and  Verdier.  Caxton,  in  his 
version  1485,  is  silent  as  to  the  name  of 
the  French  translator.  See  Dibdin 's  edit, 
of  Herbert,  vol.  i.  p.  261. — PARK.  [But 
this  can  only  be  the  name  of  the  translator 
into  French  prose.  Its  early  and  extensive 
popularity  is  manifested  by  the  prologue 
to  the  Swedish  version,  made  by  order  of 
Queen  Euphemia,  in  the  second  month  of 
the  year  1308.  This  refers  to  a  German 


SECT.  III.]          FRENCH  AND  ENGLISH  MINSTRELS.  147 

of  chivalry:  by  which,  as  the  profession  of  minstrelsy  decayed  and  gra- 
dually 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  compo- 
sitions. Their  barons  lived  in  greater  magnificence.  Their  feudal 
system  flourished  on  a  more  sumptuous,  extensive,  and  lasting  esta- 
blishment. 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. 

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  compo- 
sitions. 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,  in- 
vited 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  Pro- 
vencial 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  Provence0. 
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  com- 
position than  those  of  antiquity d.  They  introduced  a  love  of  reading, 
and  diffused  a  general  and  popular  taste  for  poetry,  by  writing  in  a  laii- 

original,  executed  at  the  command  of  the  Ytalien  je  diroie  que  ch'est  pour  chou  que 
Emperor  Otho  (1197-1208);  but  this  nous  sommes  en  France;  1'autre  pour 
again  was  taken  from  a  foreign  (Walsche)  chou  que  la  parleure  en  est  plus  delitable 
source. — PRICE.]  et  plus  commune  a  toutes  gens."  Notices 
b  Giovan.  Villani,  Istor.  1.  vi.  c.  92.  des  Manuscrits,  t.  v.  p.  270. — PRICE.] 
c  Villani  acquaints  us,  that  Brunette  d  Dante  designed  at  first  that  his  In- 
Latini,  Dante's  master,  was  the  first  who  ferno  should  appear  in  Latin  ;  but  find- 
attempted  to  polish  the  Florentines  by  ing  that  he  could  not  so  effectually  in 
improving  their  taste  and  style ;  which  he  that  language  impress  his  satirical  strokes 
did  by  writing  his  grand  work,  the  Tesoro,  and  political  maxims  on  the  laity,  or  il- 
5n  Provencial.  He  died  in  1294.  SeeVil-  literate,  he  altered  his  mind,  and  pub- 
Ian,  ibid.  1.  ix.  c.  135.  lished  that  piece  in  Italian.  Had  Petrarch 
[That  Brunette  did  not  write  his  Tesoro  written  his  Africa,  his  Eclogues,  and  his 
in  Provencal  we  have  his  own  authority,  prose  compositions  in  Italian,  the  litera- 
and  the  evidence  of  the  work  itself: —  ture  of  his  country  would  much  sooner 
"  Et  se  aucuns  demandoit  pourquoi  chis  have  arrived  at  perfection.  [See  Rossetti 
livre  est  escrit  en  roumans  selon  la  raison  on  the  writings  of  Dante,  Petrarch,  &c.  in 
de  France,  pour  chou  que  nous  sommes  his  Spirito  Antipapale,  1832. — R.T.] 

L2 


148  TWO  SORTS  OF  TROUBADOURS.  [SECT.  III. 

guage  intelligible  to  the  ladies  and  the  people.  Their  verses  being  con- 
veyed in  a  familar  tongue,  became  the  chief  amusement  of  princes  and 
feudal  lords,  whose  courts  had  now  begun  to  assume  an  air  of  greater 
brilliancy  :  a  circumstance  which  necessarily  gave  great  encouragement 
to  their  profession,  and  by  rendering  these  arts  of  ingenious  entertain- 
ment universally  fashionable,  imperceptibly  laid  the  foundation  of  po- 
lite literature.  From  these  beginnings  it  were  easy  to  trace  the. pro- 
gress 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  opi- 
nion 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  de- 
cided. 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  Clelia6.  Fontenelle  does  not  scruple  to  acknowledge,  that  gal- 
lantry was  the  parent  of  French  poetry f.  But  to  sing  romantic  and 
chivalrous  adventures  was  a  very  different  task,  and  required  very  dif- 
ferent talents.  The  troubadours  therefore  who  composed  metrical  ro- 
mances form  a  different  species,  and  ought  always  to  be  considered 
separately.  And  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  %.  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  connexion 
they  were  immediately  and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  fictions  of 
the  Arabians,  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 

*  This  part  of  their  character  will  be  f  Theatr.  Fr.  p.  1 3. 

insisted  upon  more  at  large  when  we  come  g  Apud  Huet,  Orig.  Rom.  p.  108. 

to  speak  of  Chaucer. 


SECT.  III.]  THE  SANGBEAL.  149 

times  a  constant  commerce.  Even  the  French  critics  themselves  uni- 
versally 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  [Por- 
tugal], by  Vasco  Lobeyra,  before  the  year  1300h,  to  the  most  cele- 
brated pieces  of  the  Provencial  poets1.  But  this  is  a  subject  which  will 
perhaps  receive  illustration  from  a  writer  of  great  taste,  talents,  and  in- 
dustry, Monsieur  de  la  Curne  de  Saint  Palaye,  who  will  soon  oblige 
the  world  with  an  ample  history  of  Provencial  poetry ;  and  whose  re- 
searches into  a  kindred  subject,  already  published,  have  opened  a  new 
and  extensive  field  of  information  concerning  the  manners,  institutions 
and  literature  of  the  feudal  agesk. 


NOTE  A.  (from  the  Emendations  and  Additions.*) 

IN  Bennet  college  library  at  Cambridge,  there  is  an  English  poem 
on  the  SANGREAL,  and  its  appendages,  containing  forty  thousand 
verses.  MSS.  LXXX.  chart.  The  manuscript  is  imperfect  both  at  the 
beginning  and  at  the  end.  The  title  at  the  head  of  the  first  page  is 
ACTA  ARTHURI  REGIS,  written  probably  by  Joceline,  chaplain  and 
secretary  to  archbishop  Parker.  The  narrative/ which  appears  to  be  on 
one  continued  subject,  is  divided  into  books,  or  sections,  of  unequal 
length.  It  is  a  translation  made  from  Robert  Borron's  French  romance 
called  LANCELOT  f,  above  mentioned,  which  includes  the  adventure  of 
the  SANGREAL,  by  Henry  Lonelich,  Skynner,  a  name  which  I  never 
remember  to  have  seen  among  those  of  the  English  poets.  The  diction 
is  of  the  age  of  king  Henry  the  Sixth.  Borel,  in  his  TRESOR  de  Re- 

h  Nic.    Antonius,    Bibl.    Hispan.   Vet.  a  work  which   has  done  more   towards 

torn.  ii.  1.  viii.  c.  7.  num.  291.  forming  a  just  understanding  of  the  merits 

[In  an  ancient  Provenpal  poem,  of  which  of  Provenfal  poetry,  and  the  extent  and 

M.  de  St.  Palaye  has  given  some  account  value  of  Provenpal  literature,  than  any 

in  his  Memoires  sur  1'ancienue  Chevalerie,  publication  which  has  hitherto  appeared, 

torn.  ii.  p.  160,  a  master  gives  the  follow-  The  mass  of  evidence  there  adduced  in 

ing  instructions  to  his  pupil :   "Ouvrez  a  favour  of  the  early  efforts  of  the  Provencal 

votre  cheval  par  des  coupes  redoubles,  la  muse,  must  effectually  silence  every  theory 

route  qu'il  doit  tenir,  et  que  son  portrail  attempting  to  confine  song  and  romantic 

soit  garni  de  beaux  grelots  ou  sonnettes  fiction  to  any  particular  age  or  country. — 

bien  rangees;  car  ces  sonnettes  reveillent  PKICE.] 

merveilleusement  le  courage  de  celui  qui  [See  also  The  Lays  of  the  Minnesing- 

le  monte,  et  repandent  devant  lui  la  ter-  ers,  the  Parnasse  Occitanien,  (another  col- 

reur." — DOUCE.]  lection  of  Troubadours'  poetry,)  and  the 

1  Disc,  del  Poem.  Eroic.  1.  ii.  p.  45,  46.  Abbe  De  la  Rue's  History  of  Northern 

k  See  Memoires  sur  1'ancienne  Cheva-  French  Poetry  just  published  at  Caen  in 

lerie,  &c.  Paris,  1759.  torn.  ii.  12mo.  3  vols.— R.  T.] 

[It  was  found  impracticable  to  condense  *  This  note  is  referred  to  in  p.  1 1 9,  and 
within  the  limits  of  a  note,  the  matter  ne-  is  placed  at  the  end  of  this  Section  on  ac- 
cessary for  the  refutation  of  the  singular  count  of  its  length. 

doctrines  hazarded  in  the  text.     Few  of          f  [No;  it  is  a  translation  of  the  Romances 

them  are  Warton's  own  ;  but  the  reader  of  the  Saint  Graal  and  Merlin,  which  are 

who  is  desirous  of  forming  more   correct  quite  distinct  from  the  Lancelot.     But  it 

opinions  upon  the  subject,  is  referred  to  is   not  improbable  that  the   Romance  of 

M.  Raynouard's  Poesies  dej  Troubadours,  Lancelot  may  •follow  at  the  end. — M.]    ' 


150  THE  SANGBEAL.  [SECT.  III. 

cherches  et  Antiquitez  Qauloises  et  Francoises,  says,  "  II  y'a  un  Roman 
ancien  intitule  LE  CONQUESTS  DE  SANGREALL,  &c."  Edit.  1655.  4to. 
V.  GRAAL.  It  is  difficult  to  determine  with  any  precision  which  is 
Robert  Borron's  French  Romance  now  under  consideration,  as  so  many 
have  been  written  on  the  subject.  [See  p.  136.]  The  diligence 
and  accuracy  of  Mr.  Nasmith  have  furnished  me  with  the  following 
transcript  from  Lonelich  Skynner's  translation  in  Bennet  college 
library. 

Thanne  passeth  forth  this  storye  with  al, 

That  is  cleped  of  som  men  SEYNT  GRAAL, 

Also  the  SANK  RYAL  iclepid  it  is, 

Of  mochel  peple  with  owten  mys. 
****** 

Now  of  al  this  storie  have  I  mad  an  ende, 

That  is  schwede  of  Celidoygne,  and  now  forthere  to  wende, 

And  of  anothir  brawnche  most  we  begynne, 

Of  the  storye  that  we  clepen  prophet  Merlynne, 

Wiche  that  Maister  ROBERT  OF  BORROWN 

Owt  of  Latyn  it  transletted,  hoi  and  soun, 

Onlich  into  the  langage  of  Frawnce 

This  storie  he  drowgh,  be  adventure  and  chaunce, 

And  doth  Merlynne  iusten  with  SANK  RYAL, 

For  the  ton  storie  the  tothir  medlyth  withal, 

After  the  satting  of  the  forseid  ROBERT, 

That  somtym  it  transletted  in  middilerd. 

And  I  as  an  unkonneng  man  trewely, 

Into  Englisch  have  drawen  this  storye, 

And  thowgh  that  to  $ow  not  plesyng  it  be, 

3it  that  ful  excused  je  wolde  haven  me, 

Of  my  neclegence  and  unkonnenge, 

On  me  to  taken  swich  a  thinge, 

Into  owre  modris  tonge  for  to  endite, 

The  swettere  to  sowne  to  more  and  lyte, 

And  more  cler  to  ^oure  undirstondyng, 

Thanne  owthir  Frensh  other  Latyn,  to  my  supposing. 

And  therfore  atte  the  ende  of  this  storye, 

A  pater  noster  $e  wolden  for  me  preye, 

For  me  that  HERRY  LONELICH  hyhte, 

And  greteth  owre  lady  ful  of  myhte, 

Hartelich  with  an  ave  that  $e  hir  bede 

This  processe  the  bettere  I  myhte  precede, 

And  bringen  this  book  to  a  good  ende, 

Now  thereto  Jesu  Crist  grace  me  sende, 

And  than  an  ende  there  offen  myhte  be 

Now  good  Lord  graunt  me  for  charite. 


SECT.  III.]  THE  SANGREAL.  151 

Thanne  Merlyn  to  Blasye  cam  anon, 

And  there  to  hym  he  seide  thus  son, 

Blasye,  thou  schalt  suffren  gret  peyne, 

This  storye  to  an  ende  to  bringen  certeyne. 

And  }it  schall  I  suffren  mochel  more, 

How  so  Merlyn,  quod  Blasye  there. 

I  schall  be  sowht,  quod  Merlyne  tho, 

Owt  from  the  west  with  messengeris  mo, 

And  they  that  scholen  comen  to  seken  me, 

They  han  maad  sewrawnce,  I  telle  the, 

Me  forto  slen  for  any  thing, 

This  sewrawnce  han  they  mad  to  her  kyng 

But  whanne  they  me  sen  and  with  me  speke, 

No  power  they  schol  han  on  me  to  ben  awreke, 

For  with  hem  hens  moste  I  gon, 

And  thou  into  othir  partyes  schalt  wel  son, 

To  hem  that  han  the  holy  vessel 

Which  that  is  icleped  the  SEYNT  GRAAL. 

And  wete  thow  wel  and  ek  forsothe, 

That  thow  and  ek  this  storye  bothe, 

Ful  wel  beherd  now  schall  it  be, 

And  also  beloved  in  many  centre. 

And  who  that  will  knowen  in  sertaygne, 

What  kynges  that  weren  in  grete  Bretaygne, 

Sithan  that  Cristendom  thedyr  was  browht, 

They  scholen  hem  fynde,  who  so  that  it  sawht, 

In  the  storye  of  BRWTTES  book, 

There  scholen  $e  it  fynde,  and  $e  wolen  look, 

Which  that  MARTYN  DE  BEWRE  translated  here 

From  Latyn  into  Romaunce  in  his  manere ; 

But  leve  me  now  of  BRWTES  book, 

And  aftyr  this  storye  now  lete  us  look. 

After  this  latter  extract,  which  is  to  be  found  nearly  iii  the  middle 
of  the  manuscript,  the  scene  and  personages  of  the  poem  are  changed  ; 
and  king  Evalach,  king  Mordrens,  Sir  Nesciens,  Joseph  of  Arimathea, 
and  the  other  heroes  of  the  former  part,  give  place  to  king  Arthur, 
king  Brangors,  king  Loth,  and  the  monarchs  and  champions  of  the 
British  line.  In  a  paragraph,  very  similar  to  the  second  of  these  ex- 
tracts, the  following  note  is  written  in  the  hand  of  the  text,  Henry 
Lonelich  Skynner,  that  translated  this  boke  out  of  Frenshe  into  En- 
glyshe,  at  the  instaunce  of  Harry  Barton. 

The  QUEST  OF  THE  SANGREAL,  as  it  is  called,  in  which  devotion 
and  necromancy  are  equally  concerned,  makes  a  considerable  part  of 
king  Arthur's  romantic  history,  and  was  one  grand  object  of  the 
knights  of  the  Round  Table.  He  who  achieved  this  hazardous  adven- 


152  THE  SANGREAL.  [SECT.  III. 

ture  was  to  be  placed  there  in  the  siege  perillous,  or  seat  of  danger. 
"  When  Merlyn  had  ordayned  the  rounde  table,  he  said,  by  them  that 
be  fellowes  of  the  rounde  table  the  truthe  of  the  SANGREALL  shall  be 
well  knowne,  &c. — They  which  heard  Merlyn  say  soe,  said  thus  to 
Merlyn,  Sithence  there  shall  be  such  a  knight,  thou  shouldest  ordayne 
by  thy  craft  a  siege  that  no  man  should  sitte  therein,  but  he  onlie  which 
shall  passe  all  other  knights.— Then  Merlyn  made  the  siege  perillous," 
£c.     Caxton's  MORT  D'ARTHUR,  B.  xiv.  cap.  ii.     Sir  Lancelot,  who  is 
come  but  oft/te  eighth  degree  from  our  lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  represented 
as  the  chief  adventurer  in  this  honourable  expedition.   Ibid.  B.  iii.  c.  35. 
At  a  celebration  of  the  feast  of  Pentecost  at  Camelot  by  king  Arthur, 
the  Sangreal  suddenly  enters  the  hall,  "  but  there  was  no  man  might 
see  it  nor  who  bare  it,"  and  the  knights,  as  by  some  invisible  power,  are 
instantly  supplied  with  a  feast  of  the  choicest  dishes.    Ibid.  c.  35. 
Originally  LE  BRUT,  LANCELOT,  TRISTAN,  and  the  SAINT  GREAL 
were  separate  histories  ;  but  they  were  so  connected  and  confounded 
before  the  year  1200,  that  the  same  title  became  applicable  to  all*. 
The  book  of  the  SANGREAL,  a  separate  work,  is  referred  to  in  MORTE 
ARTHUR.      "  Now   after  that   the   quest  of  the   SANCGREALL  was 
fulfylled,  and  that  all  the  knyghtes  that  were  lefte  alive  were  come 
agayne  to  the  Rounde  Table,  as  the  BOOKE  OF  THE  SANCGREALL  ma- 
kethe  mencion,  than  was  there  grete  joye  in  the  courte.    And  especiallie 
king  Arthur  and  quene  Guenever  made  grete  joye  of  the  remnaunt 
that  were  come  home.     And  passynge  glad  was  the  kinge  and  quene 
of  syr  Launcelot  and  syr  Bors,  for  they  had  been  passynge  longe  awaye 
in  the  quest  of  the  SANCGREALL.     Then,  as  the  Frenshe  booke  sayeth, 
syr  Lancelot,"  &c.  B.  xviii.  cap.  1 .     And  again,  in  the  same  romance : 
"  Whan  syr  Bors  had  tolde  him  [Arthur]  of  the  adventures  of  the 
SANCGREALL,  such  as  as  had  befallen  hym  and  his  felawes, — all  this 
was  made  in  grete  bookes,  and  put  in  almeryes  at  Salisbury."  B.  xvii. 
cap.  xxiii. s     The  former  part  of  this  passage  is  almost  literally  trans- 
lated from  one  in  the  French  romance  of  TRISTAN,  Bibl.  Reg.  MSS. 
20  D.  ii.  fol.  antep.     "  Quant  Boort  ot  conte  1'aventure  del  Saint  Graal 
teles  com  eles  estoient  avenues,  eles  furent  mises  en  escrit,  gardees  en 
1'amere  del  Salibieres,  dont  Mestre  GALTIER  MAP  Vestrest  a  faist  son 
livre  du  Saint  Graal  por  lamordu  roy  Herri  son  sengor,  quijist  lestoire 
tralater  del  Latin  en  romanz1"     Whether  Salisbury,  or  Salibieres  is, 
in  the  two  passages,"  the  right  reading,  I  cannot  ascertain.     [But  see 
supra,  Note  °.  p.  119.]     But  in  the  royal  library  at  Paris  there  is  "Le 
Roman  de  TRISTAN  ET  ISEULT,  traduit  de  Latin  en  Francois,  par  Lu- 
cas chevalier  du  Gast  pres  de  Sarisberi,  Anglois,  avec  figures."   Mont- 
fauc.  CATAL.  MSS.  Cod.  Reg.  Paris.  Cod.  6776.  fol.  max.   And  again 

*  [This  is  a  mere  assertion  without  "  made  grete  clerkes  com  before  him  that 
proof,  although  it  must  be  admitted  that  they  should  cronicle  the  adventures  of  these 
the  transcribers  of  MSS.  occasioned  some  goode  knygtes."     [See  infra  Section  xi.J 
confusion  by  falsely  mixing  the  titles. — M.]  *   See  infra  Sect,  xxviii.   note  on   the 

*  The  romance  says,  that  king  Arthur       Pastime  of  Pleasure. 


SECT.  III.]  THE  SANGBEAL.  153 

Cod.  6956.  fol.  max.  "  Liveres  de  TRISTAN  mis  en  Francois  par  Lu- 
cas chevalier  sieur  de  chateau  du  Gatu."  [See  supr.  p.  119.  Notes.] 
Almeryes  in  the  English,  and  VArnere,  properly  aumoire  in  the  French, 
mean,  I  believe,  Presses,  Chests,  or  Archives.  Ambry,  in  this  sense,  is 
not  an  uncommon  old  English  word.  From  the  second  part  of  the 
first  French  quotation  which  I  have  distinguished  by  Italics,  it  appears, 
that  Walter  Mapes*,  a  learned  archdeacon  in  England,  under  the  reign 
of  king  Henry  the  Second,  wrote  a  French  SANGREAL,  which  he  trans- 
lated from  Latin,  by  the  command  of  that  monarch.  Under  the  idea, 
that  Walter  Mayes  was  a  writer  on  this  subject,  and  in  the  fabulous 
way,  some  critics  may  be  induced  to  think,  that  the  WALTER,  arch- 
deacon of  Oxford,  from  whom  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  professes  to  have 
received  the  materials  of  his  history,  was  this  Walter  Mapes,  and  not 
Walter  Calenius,  who  was  also  an  eminent  scholar,  and  an  archdeacon 
of  Oxford.  [See  supr.  pp.59,  60.]  Geoffrey  says  in  his  Dedication  to 
Robert  earl  of  Gloucester,  "Finding  nothing  said  in  Bede  or  Gildas  of 
king  Arthur  and  his  successours,  although  their  actions  highly  de- 
served to  be  recorded  in  writing,  and  are  orally  celebrated  by  the 
British  bards,  I  was  much  surprised  at  so  strange  an  omission.  At 
length  Walter,  archdeacon  of  Oxford,  a  man  of  great  eloquence,  and 
learned  in  foreign  histories,  offered  me  an  ancient  book  in  the  British 
or  Armorican  tongue ;  which,  in  one  unbroken  story,  and  an  elegant 
diction,  related  the  deeds  of  the  British  kings  from  Brutus  to  Cadwal- 
lader.  At  his  request,  although  unused  to  rhetorical  flourishes,  and 
contented  with  the  simplicity  of  my  own  plain  language,  I  undertook 
the  translation  of  that  book  into  Latin."  B.  i.  ch.  i.  See  also  B.  xii. 
ch.  xx.  Some  writers  suppose,  that  Geoffrey  pretended  to  have 
received  his  materials  from  archdeacon  Walter,  by  way  of  authentica- 
ting his  romantic  history.  These  notices  seem  to  disprove  that  sus- 
picion. In  the  year  1488,  a  French  romance  was  published,  in  two 
magnificent  folio  volumes,  entitled,  HISTOIRE  de  ROY  ARTUS  et  des 
CHEVALIERS  de  la  TABLE  RONDE.  The  first  volume  was  printed  at 
Rouen,  the  second  at  Paris.  It  contains  in  four  detached  parts,  the 
Birth  and  Achievements  of  King  Arthur,  the  Life  of  Sir  Lancelot,  the 
Adventure  of  the  Sangreal,  and  the  Death  of  Arthur,  and  his  Knights. 
In  the  body  of  the  work,  this  romance  more  than  once  is  said  to  be 
written  by  Walter  Map  or  Mapes,  and  by  the  command  of  his  master 
king  Henry.  For  instance,  torn.  ii.  at  the  end  of  PARTIE  DU  SAINT 
GRAAL,  Signat.  d  d  i.  "  Cy  fine  Maistre  GUALTIER  MAP  son  traittie 
du  Saint  Graal."  Again,  torn.  ii.  LA  DERNIERE  PARTIE,  ch.  i.  Signat. 

u  There  is  printed,  "  Le  Roman  du  is  of  opinion  that  there  were  two  persons 

noble  et  vaillant  Chevalier  Tristan  fils  du  of  this  name.  In  that  he  is  styled  "  mes- 

noble  roy  Meliadus  de  Leonnys,  par  Luce,  sire  Gautier  Map  quifut  chevalier  le  roi" 

chevalier,  seigneur  du  chasteau  de  Gast.  But  so  much  confusion  prevails  upon  this 

Rouen,  1489.  fol."  subject,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  name 

*  [From  a  passage  in  the  French  ro-  the  author  of  any  prose  romance. — 

mance  of  Lancelot  du  Lac,  M.  Roquefort  PKICK.] 


154  THE  9ANGREAL.  [SECT.  III. 

d  d  ii.     "  Apres  ce  que  Maistre  GUALTIER  MAP  eut  tractie  des  avan- 
tures  du  Saint  Graal,  assez  soufisamment,  sicomme  il  luy  sembloit,  il  fut 
adviz  au  ROY  HENRY  SON  SEIGNEUR,  que  ce  quil  avoit  fait  ne  debuit 
soufrire  sil  ne  racontoys  la  fin  de  ceulx  dont  il  fait  mention. — Et  com- 
mence Maistre  Gualtier  en  telle  manier  ceste  derniere  partie."     This 
derniere  partie  treats  of  the  death  of  king  Arthur  and  his  knights.     At 
the  end  of  the  second  tome  there  is  this  colophon  :  "  Cy  fine  le  der- 
nier volume  de  La  Table  Ronde,  faisant  mencion  des  fais  et  proesses 
de   monseigneur  Launcelot   du  Lac   et  dautres  plusieurs  nobles   et 
vaillans  hommes  ses  compagnons.     Compile  et  extraict  precisernent  et 
au  juste  des  vrayes  histoires  faisantes  de  ce  mencion  par  tresnotable  et 
tresexpert  historien  Maistre  GUALTIER  MAP,  et  imprime  a  Paris  par 
Jehan  du  Pre.     Et  Ian  du  grace,  mil.  cccc.  iiiixx.  et  viii.  le  xvi  jour  du 
Septembre."     The  passage  quoted  above  from  the  royal  manuscript  in 
the  British  Museum,  where  king  Arthur  orders  the  adventures  of  the 
Sangreal  to  be  chronicled,  is  thus  represented  in  this  romance :  "  Et 
quant  Boort  eut  compte  depuis  le  commencement  jusques  a  la  fin  les 
avantures  du  Saint  Graal  telles  comme  ils  les  avoit  veues,  &c.     Si  fist 
le  roy  Artus  rediger  et  mettre  par  escript  aus  dictz  clers  tout  ci  que 
Boort  avoit  compte,"  &c.     Ibid.  torn.  ii.  La  Partie  du  SAINT  GRAAL, 
ch.  ult.w     At  the  end  of  the  royal  manuscript  at  Paris,  [Cod.  6783.] 
entitled  LANCELOT  DU  LAC  mis  en  Francois  par  Robert  de  Borron  par 
le  commandement  de  Henri  roi  d"  Angleterre,  it  is  said,  that  Messire 
Robert  de  Borron  translated  into  French,  not  only  LANCELOT,  but 
also  the  story  of  the  SAINT  GRAAL  Ii  tout  du  Latin  du  GAUTIER 
MAPPE.     But  the  French  antiquaries  in  this  sort  of  literature  are  of 
opinion,  that  the  word  Latin  here  signifies  Italian ;  and  that  by  this 
LATIN  of  Gualtier  Mapes,  we  are  to  understand  English  versions  of 
those  romances  made  from  the  Italian  language.     The  French  Hi- 
story of  the  SANGREAL,  printed  at  Paris  in  folio  by  Gallyot  du  Pre  in 
1516,  is  said,  in  the  title,  to  be  translated  from  Latin  into  French 
rhymes,  and  from  thence  into  French  prose  by  Robert  Borron.     This 
romance  was  reprinted  in  1523. 

Caxton's  MORTE  ARTHUR,  finished  in  the  year  1469,  professes  to 
treat  of  various  separate  histories.  But  the  matter  of  the  whole  is  so 
much  of  the.  same  sort,  and  the  heroes  and  adventures  of  one  story  are 
so  mutually  and  perpetually  blended  with  those  of  another,  that  no  real 
unity  or  distinction  is  preserved.  It  consists  of  twenty-one  books. 
The  first  seven  books  treat  of  king  Arthur.  The  eighth,  ninth,  and 
tenth,  of  sir  Trystram.  The  eleventh  and  twelfth,  of  sir  Lancelot x. 
The  thirteenth  of  the  SAINGRAL,  which  is  also  called  sir  Lancelot's  Book. 
The  fourteenth  of  sir  Percival.  The  fifteenth,  again,  of  sir  Lancelot. 

w  Just  before  it  is  said,  "  Le  roy  Artus  x  But  at  the  end,  this  twelfth  book  is 

fist  venir  les  CLERCS  qui  les   aventures  called  the  second  bookeof  SYR  TRYSTRAM. 

aux  chevalliers  mettoient  en  escript."   As  And  it  is  added,  "  But  here  is  no  rehersall 

in  Mort  d'Arthur.  of  the  thyrd  booke  [o/SiR  TRISTRAM."] 


SECT.  IV.]     METRICAL  ROMANCE  OF  RICHARD  THE  FIRST.       155 

The  sixteenth  of  sir  Gawaine.  The  seventeenth,  of  sir  Galahad.  [But 
all  the  four  last-mentioned  books  are  also  called  the  history >e  of  the  holy 
Sancgreall.~]  The  eighteenth  and  nineteenth,  of  miscellaneous  adven- 
tures. The  two  last,  of  king  Arthur  and  all  the  knights.  Lwhyd  men- 
tions a  Welsh  SANGREALL,  which,  he  says,  contains  various  fables  of 
king  Arthur  and  his  knights,  &c.  ARCH^EOLOG.  BRIT.  Tit.  vii.  p.  265. 
col.  2.  MORTE  ARTHUR  is  often  literally  translated  *  from  various  and 
very  antient  detached  histories  of  the  heroes  of  the  round  table,  which 
I  have  examined ;  and  on  the  whole,  it  nearly  resembles  Walter  Map's 
romance  above  mentioned,  printed  at  Rouen  and  Paris,  both  in  matter 
and  disposition. 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  observing,  that  a  very  valuable  vellum 
fragment  of  LE  BRUT,  of  which  the  writing  is  uncommonly  beautiful 
and  of  high  antiquity,  containing  part  of  the  story  of  Merlin  and  king 
Vortigern,  covers  a  manuscript  of  Chaucer's  ASTROLABE,  lately  pre- 
sented, together  with  several  Oriental  manuscripts,  to  the  Bodleian 
library,  by  Thomas  Hedges,  esquire,  of  Alderton  in  Wiltshire ;  a  gen- 
tleman possessed  of  many  curious  manuscripts,  and  Greek  and  Roman 
coins,  and  most  liberal  in  his  communications. 


SECTION    IV. 

Examination  and  Specimens  of  the  Metrical  Romance  of  Richard  the 
First.  Greek  Fire.  Military  Machines  used  in  the  Crusades.  Mu- 
sical Instruments  of  the  Saracen  Armies.  Ignorance  of  Geography 
in  the  dark  ages. 

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  increase  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  pro- 

*  [For  an  account  of  various  Flemish       mann's  Horae  Belgicae,  Vratislavise,  1830, 
versions   of    these   romances,    see    Hoff-       part  i.  p.  47.  sqq.— R.  T.] 


156  METRICAL  ROMANCE  OP  [SECT.  IV. 

perly  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  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  hym  sedde ! 

That  he  graunted  a  wyff  to  wedde. 

Hastely  he  sente  hys  sondes 

Into  many  dyuerse  londes, 

The  feyreste  wyman  that  wore  on  liff 

Men  wolde2  bringe  hym  to  wyff.* 

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

Swylk  on  ne  seygh  they  never  non ; 
All  it  was  whyt  of  huel-bon, 
And  every  nayl  with  gold  begrave  : 
Off  pure  gold  was  the  stave 3  ; 

*  [The  present  text  has  been  taken  tive,  more  in  unison  with  Richard's  real 
from  the  edition  of  this  romance  by  Mr.  history.  Of  the  story  in  its  uncorrupted 
Weber,  who  followed  a  manuscript  of  no  state,  he  considers  a  fragment  occurring 
very  early  date  in  Caius  College  library,  in  the  Auchinlech  MS.  to  be  an  English 
Cambridge.  The  variations  between  this  translation  ;  and  as  this  document  was 
and  the  early  printed  editions,  consist  "  transcribed  in  the  minority  of  Edward 
principally  in  the  use  of  amore  antiquated  III."  the  following  declaration  of  Mr.  We- 
phraseology,  with  some  trifling  changes  her  may  not  exceed  the  truth: — "There  is  . 
of  the  sense.  The  most  important  of  these  no  doubt  that  our  romance  existed  before 
are  given  in  the  notes  below.  Mr.  EHis,  the  year  1300,  as  it  is  referred  to  in  the 
who  has  analysed  this  romance  (vol.  ii.  Chronicles  of  Richard  [Robert]  of  Glou- 
p.  186),  conceives  the  fable  in  its  present  cester  and  Robert  de  Brunne;  and  as  these 
form  to  have  originated  with  the  reign  of  rhymesters  wrote  for  mere  English  read- 
Edward  I. ;  and  that  the  extravagant  fie-  ers,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they 
tions  it  contains  were  grafted  by  some  would  refer  them  to  a  French  original." 
Norman  minstrel  upon  an  earlier  narra-  — PRICE.] 

1  [redde,  advised.]  2  [sholde.J  3  [sklavc,  ru-drlvr ;  davits.] 


SECT.  IV.]  RICHARD  THE  FIRST. 

Her  mast  was  [of]  y vory ; 
Off  samyte  the  sayl  wytterly. 
Her  ropes  wer  off  tuely  sylk, 
Al  so  whyt  as  ony  mylk. 
That  noble  schyp  was  al  withoute, 
•  With  clothys  of  golde  sprede  aboute ; 
And  her  loof 4  and  her  wyndas 5, 
Off  asure  forsothe  it  was. 

In  that  schyp  ther  wes  i-dyght, 
Knyghts  and  ladyys  of  mekyll  myght ; 
And  a  lady  therinne  was, 
Bryght  as  the  sunne  thorugh  the  glas. 
Her  men  aborde  gunne  to  stonde, 
And  sesyd  that  other  with  her  honde, 
And  prayde  hem  for  to  dwelle 
And  her  counsayl  for  to  telle : 
And  they  graunted  with  all  skylle 
For  to  telle  al  at  her  wylle  : 
"  Swo  wyde  landes  we  have  went6 
For  kyng  Henry  us  has  sent, 
For  to  seke  hym  a  qwene 
The  fayreste  that  myghte  fonde  bene." 
Upros  a  kyng  off  a  chayer 
With  that  word  they  spoke  ther. 
„  The  chayer  was  [of]  charboncle  ston, 
Swylk  on  ne  sawgh  they  never  non  : 
And  tuo  dukes  hym  besyde, 
Noble  men  and  mekyl  off  pryde, 
And  welcomed  the  messangers  ylkone. 
Into  that  schyp  they  gunne  gone.... 
They  sette  tresteles  and  layde  a  borde ; 
Cloth  of  sylk  theron  was  sprad, 
And  the  kyng  hymselve  bad, 
That  his  doughter  were  forth  fette, 
And  in  a  chayer  before  hym  sette. 
Trumpes  begonne  for  to  blowe ; 
Sche  was  sette  forth  in  a  throweb 
With  twenty  knyghtes  her  aboute 
And  moo  off  ladyes  that  wer  stoute.... 
Whenne  they  had  nygh  i-eete, 
Adventures  to  speke  they  nought  forgeete. 

b  immediately. 

4  [loft.]     [See  on  this  word  Michel's  Glossary  to  Tristan,  voc.  Lof,  and  notes  to 
Madden's  edition  of  La3amon,  1.  7859. — M.] 

s  [wyndlace.]  6  ["  To  dyverse  londes  do  we  wende."  ] 


158  METRICAL  ROMANCE  OF  [SECT.  IV. 

The  kyng  ham  tolde,  in  hys  resoun 
It  com  hym  thorugh  a  vysyoun, 
In  his  land  that  he  cam  froo, 
Into  Yngelond  for  to  goo  ; 
And  his  doughty r  that  was  so  dere 
For  to  wende  bothe  in  ferec, 
"  In  this  manere  we  have  us  dyght 
Into  that  lande  to  wende  ryght." 
Thenne  aunsweryd  a  messanger, 
Hys  name  was  callyd  Bernager, 
"  Forther  wole  we  seke  nought 
To  my  lord  she  schal  be  brought." 

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

The  messangers  the  kyng  have  tolde 

Of  that  ladye  fayr  and  bold, 

Ther  he  lay  in  the  Tour 

Off  that  lady  whyt  so  flour. 

Kyng  Henry  gan  hym  son  dyght, 

With  erls,  barons,  and  manye  a  knyght, 

Agayn  the  lady  for  to  wende  : 

For  he  was  curteys  and  hende. 

The  damysele  on  lond  was  led, 

And  clothes  of  gold  before  her  spred,  m 

And  her  fadyr  her  beforn 

With  a  coron  off  gold  icorn  ; 

The  messangers  be  ylk  a  syde 

And  menstralles  with  mekyl  pryde 

Kyng  Henry  lyght  in  hyyng 

And  grette  fayr  that  uncouth  kyng.... 

To  Westemenstre  they  wente  in  fere 

Lordyngs  and  ladys  that  ther  were. 

Trumpes  begonne  for  to  blowe, 

To  meted  they  wente  in  a  throwe,  &c.e 

The  first  of  our  hero's  achievements  in  chivalry  is  at  a  splendid  tour- 
nament held  at  Salisbury.  Clarendon  near  Salisbury  was  one  of  the 
king's  palaces f. 

c  company.  Reg.     Et  pro  ducendis  2500  libris  a  Sa- 

*  to  dinner.  e  line  135.  resburia  usque  Glocestriam,  26*.  Wd.  per 

f  In  the  pipe-rolls  of  this  king's  reign,  Br.  Reg.    Et  pro  tonellis  et  clavis  ad  eos- 

I  find  the  following  articles  relating  to  this  dem  denarios.      Et  in  cariagio  de  4000 

ancient  palace,  which  has  been  already  marcis  a  Sarum  usque  Suthanton,  et  pro 

mentioned  incidentally.  Rot.  Pip.  1  Ric.  I.  tonellis  et  aliis  necessariis,  8s.  et  1  d.  per  Br. 

"WiLTES.  Et  in  cariagio  vini  Regis  a Cla-  Reg."     And  again  in  the  reign  of  Henry 

tendon  usque Woodestoke,  34s.  4d.  per  Br.  the  Third.  Rot.  Pip.  30  Hen. III.  "WiLTE- 

Reg.    Et  pro  ducendis  200  m.  [marcis]  a  SCIRE.     Et  in  una  marcelsia  ad  opus  re- 

Saresburia  usque  Bristow,  7s.  4</.  per  Br.  gis  et  reginae  apud  Clarendon  cum  duobus 


SECT.  IV.]  RICHARD  THE  FIRST.  159 

Kyng  Rychard  gan  hym  dysguyse, 

In  a  ful  strange  queyntyse^. 

He  cam  out  of  a  valaye 

For  to  se  of  theyr  playe, 

As  a  knyght  aventurous. 

Hys  atyre  was  orgolous h  : 

Al  togyder  cole  black 

Was  hys  horse  withoute  lacke ; 

Upon  hys  crest  a  raven  stode, 

That  yaned1  as  he  wer  wode. — 

He  bare  a  schafte  that  was  grete  and  strong, 

It  was  fourtene  foot  long ; 

And  it  was  grete  and  stout, 

One  and  twenty  ynches  about.* 

The  fyrst  knyght  that  he  there  mette, 

Ful  egyrly  he  hym  grette, 

With  a  dente  amyd  the  schelde ; 

His  hors  he  bar  doun  in  the  felde,  &c.k 

A  battle-axe  which  Richard  carried  with  him  from  England  into  the 
Holy  Land  is  thus  described. 

King  Richard,  I  understond, 
Or  he  went  out  of  Englond, 
Let  him  make  an  axe1  for  the  nones, 
To  breke  therwith  the  Sarasynsm  bones. 
The  head  was  wrought  right  wele ; 
Therin  was  twenty  pounde  of  stele ; 
And  when  he  came  into  Cyprus  lond, 
The  ax  he  tok  in  his  hond. 

interclusoriis,  et  duabus  cameris  privatis,  Stukeley  is  mistaken  in  saying  this  pa- 

hostio  veteris  anise  amovendo  in  porticu,  lace  was  built  by  king  John. 

et  de  eadem  aula  camera  facienda  cum  6  See  Du  Cange,  Gl.  Lat.  COINTISE. 

camino  et  fenestris,  et  camera  privata,  et  h  proud,  pompous.  l  yawned. 

quadam  magna  coquina  quadrata,  et  aliis  *  [It  is  "One  and  twenti  inches  aboute." 

operationibus,  contentis  in  Brevi,  inceptis  So  doctor  Farmer's  manuscript,  purchased 

per  eundem  Nicolaum  et  non  perfectis,  from  Mr.  Martin's  library.     See  supr.  p. 

5261.  16s.  5d.  ob.  per  Br.  Reg."     Again,  125.  Note  *.     This  is  in  English. — AD- 

Rot.Pip.  39  Hen.  III.  "SUDHAMT.  Comp.  DITIONS.] 

Nova;  forests.    Et  in  triginta  miliaribus  k  line  267. 

scindularum  [shingles]  faciend.  in  eadem  *  Richard's  battle-ax  is  also  mentioned 

foresta  et  cariand.  easdem  usque  Claren-  by  Brunne,  and  on  this  occasion,  Chron. 

don  ad  domum  regis  ibidem  cooperian.  p.  159. 

dam,  61.  et  1  marc,  per  Br.  Reg.     Et  in  m  The  Crusades  imported  the  phrase 

30  mill,  scindularum  faciend.  in  eadem,  Jeu  Sarrazionois,  for  any  sharp  engage- 

et  cariand.  usque  Clarendon,   III.   10s."  ment,  into  the  old  French  romances. — 

And  again,  in  the  same  reign  the  canons  Thus  in  the  Roman  of  Alexander,  MSS. 

of  Ivy-church  receive  pensions  for  cele-  Bibl.  Bodl.  ut  supr.  P.  i. 

brating  in  the  royal  chapel  there.     Rot.  Tholomer  le  regrette  et  le  plainten  Grijois, 

Pip.  7  Hen.  III.     "  WILTES.    Et  canoni-  Et  dist  que  s'il  cussent  o  culz  telz  vingt 

cis  de  monasterio  ederoso  ministrantibus  et  trois, 

in  Capella   de  Clarendon,   351.  Id,  ob."  II  nous  eussent  fetun  JEU  SARRAZIONOIS. 


160  METRICAL  ROMANCE  OF  RICHARD  I.          [SECT.  IV. 

All  that  he  hit  he  all  to-frapped  ; 
The  griffons  n  away  fast  rapped  ; 
Natheles  many  he  cleaved, 
And  their  unthanks  ther  byleved  ; 
And  the  prisoun  when  he  cam  to, 
With  his  ax  he  smot  right  tho, 
Dores,  barres,  and  iron  chains,  &c.° 

This  formidable  axe  is  again  mentioned  at  the  siege  of  Aeon  or  Acre, 
the  antient  Ptolemais. 

Kyng  Rychard  aftyr,  anon  ryght, 

Toward  Acres  gan  hym  dyght  ; 

And  as  he  saylyd  toward  Surryep, 

He  was  warnyd,  off  a  spye, 

How  the  folk  off  the  hethene  lawe, 

A  gret  cheyne  hadden  i-drawe, 

Over  the  havene  of  Acres  fers, 

And  was  festnyd  to  two  pelers, 

That  noo  schyp  ne  scholde  in  wynne^, 

Ne  they  nought  out  that  wer  withynne. 

Therfore  sevene  yer  and  more, 

Alle  Crystene  kynges  leyen  thore, 

And  with  gret  hongyr  suffryd  payne, 

For  lettyng  off  that  ilke  chayne. 

Kyng  Richard  herd  that  tydyng  ; 

For  joy  e  hys  herte  beganne  to  sprynge, 

And  swor  and  sayde,  in  his  thought, 

That  ylke  chayne  scholde  helpe  hem  nought. 

A  swythe  strong  galeye  he  took, 

And  rTrenchemer7,  so  says  the  book, 

Steryd  the  galey  ryght  ful  evene, 

Ryght  in  the  myddes  off  the  havene. 

Wer  the  maryners  saughte  or  wrothe, 

He  made  hem  sayle  and  rowe  bothe  ; 

n  The  Byzantine  Greeks  are  often  called  °  line  2196.                          p  Syria. 

Griffortes  by  the  historians  of  the  middle  q  SoFabyan  of  Rosamond's  bower,  "  that 

ages.     See  Du  Cange  Gloss.  Ville-Hard.  no  creature,  man  or  woman,  myght  wynne 

p.  363.    See  also  Rob.  Brun.  Chron.  p.  151.  to  her."  i.e.  go  in,  by  contraction,  win. 

157.159.160.165.171.173.  Wanley  sup-  Chron.  vol.  i.  p.  320.  col.  i.  edit.  1533. 

poses  that  the  Griffin  in  heraldry  was  in-  [pinnan  A.S.  to  labour,  strive  at,  and  hence 

tended   to   signify  a  Greek,  or  Saracen,  attain  to  by  labour.—  PRICE.] 

whom  they  thus  represented  under  the  r  Rob.  Brun.  Chron.  p.  170. 

figure  of  an  imaginary  eastern  monster,  „,,     ,           ,                                  .  ,  .    _, 

The  *?*&  s  owne  galele  he  cald  lt  Trenc' 


which  never  existed  but  as  an  armorial 

badge.  themere' 


7  ["  Trenchemere,  so  saith  the  boke.  — 
The  galey  yede  as  swift 
As  ony  fowle  by  the  lyfte."] 


SECT.  IV.]  GREEK  FIRE.  161 

And  kynge  Rychard,  that  was  so  good, 
With  hys  axe  in  foreschyp  stood. 
And  whenne  he  com  the  cheyne  too, 
With  hys  ax  he  smot  it  in  two8, 
That  all  the  barouns,  verrayment, 
Sayde  it  was  a  noble  dent ; 
And  for  joy e  off  this  dede, 
The  cuppes  fast  abouten  yede 4, 
With  good  wyn,  pyement  and  clarre  ; 
And  saylyd  toward  Acres  cyte. 
Kyng  Richard,  oute  of  hys  galye, 
Caste  wylde-fyr  into  the  skeye, 
And  fyr  Gregeys  into  the  see, 
And  al  on  fyr  wer  the. 
Trumpes  yede  in  hys  galeye, 
Men  myghte  it  here  into  the  skye, 
Taboures  and  homes  Sarezyneys8, 
The  see  brent  all  off  fyr  Gregeysu. 

This  fyr  Gregeys^  or  Grecian  fire,  seems  to  be  a  composition  be- 
longing 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  inex- 
tinguishable 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  Com- 
nena  has  given  an  account  of  its  ingredients w,  which  were  bitumen, 
sulphur,  and  naphtha.  It  is  called  feu  gregois  in  the  French  chronicles 
and  romances.  Our  minstrel,  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  Aeon,  relate  that  it  was  em- 
ployed on  that  occasion,  and  many  others,  by  the  Saracens  against  the 
Christians x.  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 y. 

8  Thus  R.de  Brunne  says,  "he  fondred  w  See  Du  Cange,  Not.  ad  Joinvil.  p.  71. 

the  Sarazyns  otuynne."  p.  574.    He  forced  And  Gl.  Lat.  V.  IGNIS  GR^CUS. 
the  Saracens  into  two  parties. — [Vid.  su-  x  See  more  particularly  Chron.  Rob. 

pra,  p.  67.  Note  g.]  Brun.  p.  170.    And  Benedict.  Abb.  p.  652. 

1  went.  And  Joinv.  Hist.  L.  p.  39.  46.  52.  53.  62. 

u  line  2593.  70.  *  iv.  11. 

8  [shalmys,  sl)awms.~\ 
VOL.  I.  M 


162  MILITARY  MACHINES  USED  [SECT.  IV. 

The  quantity  of  huge  battering  rams  and  other  military  engines 
now  unknown,  which-  Richar^  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*.  It  is  an  historical  fact,  that  Richard  was  killed 
by  the  French  from  the  shot  of  an  arcubalist,  a  machine  which  he  often 
worked  skilfully  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  shown  the  French  in  the  Crusadesa. 

Sunnes8  he  hadde,  on  wondyr  wyse; 
Mangnelesb  offgret  queintysec; 
Arwblast  bowe,  and9  with  gynne 
The  Holy  Lond  for  to  wynne. 
Ovyr  al  othyr  wyttyrly, 
A  melled  he  hadde  off  gret  maystry  ; 
In  myddys  a  schyp  for  to  stand ; 
Swylke  on  sawgh  nevyr  man  in  land 
Four  sayles  wer  theretoo, 
Yelew,  and  grene,  red  and  bloo. 

*  Twenty  grete  gynnes  for  the  nones  Pele  is  a  house  [a  castle,  fortification], 
Kynge  Richard  sent  for  to  cast  stones,  Archbishop    Turpin     mentions    Charle- 
&c.  magne's  wooden  castles  at  the  siege  of  a 
Among  these  were  the  Mategriffon  and  the  city  in  France,  cap.  ix. 
Robynet.  Sign.  N.  Hi.    The  former  of  these  a  See  Carpentier's  Suppl.  Du  Cange, 
is  thus  described.  Sign.  E.  iiii.  Lat.  Gl.  torn.  i.  p.  434.     And  Du  Cange 
I  have  a  castell  I  understonde  ad  Ann-  Alex.  p.  357. 
Is  made  of  tembre  of  Englonde  b  See  supr.  p.  63.  Note  n.    It  is  obser- 
With  syxe  stages  full  of  tourelles  yable,  that  MANGANUM,  Mangonell,  was 
Well  fiouryshed  with  cornelles,  &c.  not  known  among  the  Roman  military 
See  Du  Cange,  Not.  Joinv.  p.  68.    MATE-  machines,  but  existed  first  in  Byzantine 
ORYFFON  is  the  terror  or  plague  of  the  Greek  Majryaww,  a  circumstance  which 
Greeks.     Du  Cange,  in  his  Gallo-Byzan-  seems  to  Pomt  out  lts  ™ventors,  at  least 
tine  history,  mentions  a  castle  of  this  name  to  sh°w  that  *  belonged  to  the  Oriental 
in  Peloponnesus.    Benedict  says,  that  Ri-  art  of  war.    It  occurs  often  in  the  Byzan- 
chard  erected  a  strong  castle,  which  he  tme  tact'cs>  although  at  the  same  time  it 
calledtfofe-rotfb* on the  browofasteep  ™  perhaps  derived  from  the  Latin  Ma- 
mountain  without  the  walls  of  the  city  of  f ma:  yet  the  Romans  do  not  appear  to 
Messina  in  Sicily.  Benedict.  Abb.  p.  621.  have  ,used  "» thelr  wars  so  formidable  and 
ed.  Hearn.  sub  ann.  1190.      Robert  de  complicated  an  engine,  as  this  is  described 
Brunne  mentions  this  engine  from  our  to  have  been  in  the  writers  of  the  dark 
romance.     Chron.  p.  157.  a8es'     Jt  was  the  capital  machine  of  the 
„,,                               .    .,.  ,      ,     ...       .  wars  of  those  ages.     Du  Cange  in  his 
The  romancer  it  sais  Richarde  did  make  Constantinopolis  Christiana   mentions   a 
a  pele,  vast  arga  afc  constantin0ple  in  which  the 
On  kastelle  wise  allwau  wrought  of  tre  machines  of  war  were  £    t<      155> 

T       1"  7  ;7  it'ili  °  See  suPr-  P- 159«  Note  B- 

In  schip  he  ded  it  lede,  &c. d      -11 

His  pele  from  that  dai  forward  he  cald  it 
Mate-griffon. 

8  [gynnes,  engines.]     [I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  sunnes  in  Weber's  text  is  an 
error  of  transcription.     Indeed,  the  copy  is  faulty  throughout. — M.] 

9  [made.] 


SECT.  TV.]  IN  THE  CRUSADES.  163 

With  canevas  layd  wel  al  about, 

Ful  schyr  withinne  and  eke  without ; 

Al  withinne  ful  off  feer, 

Of  torches  maad  with  wex  ful  cleer ; 

Ovyrtwart  and  endelang, 

With  strenges  of  wyr  the  stones  hang 10 ; 

Stones  that  deden  never  note, 

Grounde  they  never  whete,  no  grote, 

But  rubbyd  as  they  wer  wood. 

Out  of  the  eye  ran  red  blood6. 

Beffore  the  trowgh  there  stood  on ; 

Al  in  blood  he  was  begon ; 

And  homes  grete  upon  his  hede, 

Sarezynes  theroff  hadde  gret  dredef. 

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  ter- 
rible, 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  waved  like  the  enridged  sea. 
It  was  some  fiend  * 

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

*  This  device  is  thus  related  by  Robert  It  affraied  the  Sarazins,  as  leven  the  fyre 
of  Brunne,  Chron.  p.  175.  176.  out  schete. 

Richard  als  suithe  did  raise  his  engyns  The  no/se  was  unride'  &c' 

The  Inglis  wer  than  blythe,  Normans  and  Rynes  is  the  river  Rhine,  whose  shores  or 

Petevyns :  bottom  supplied  the  stones  shot  from  their 

In  bargeis  and  galeis  he  set  mylnes  to  go,  military  engines.     The  Normans,  a  bar- 

The  sailes,  as  men  sais,  som  were  blak  barous  people,  appear  to  have  used  ma- 

and  bio,  chines  of  immense  and  very  artificial  con- 

Som  were  rede  and  grene,  the  wynde  struction  at  the  siege  of  Paris  in  885.    Seo 

about  them  blewe. —  the  last  note.  And  Vit.  Saladin.  per  Schul- 

The  stones  were   of  Rynes,  the   noyse  tens,  p.  135.  141. 167,  &c. 

dreadfull  and  grete  f  line  2631.  g  King  Lear,  fv.  6. 

10  [With  spryngelles  of  fyre  they  dyde  honde.] — 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  U  illuminated 
the  Christian  camp,  as  if  it  had  been  broad  day.  When  Louis's  army  was  encamped 
on  the  banks  of  the  Thanis  in  .(Egypt,  says  the  same  curious  historian,  about  the  year 
1249,  they  erected  two  chats  chateils,  or  covered  galleries,  to  shelter  their  workmen, 
and  at  the  end  of  them  two  befrois,  or  vast  moveable  wooden  towers,  full  of  crossbow 
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. 

M2 


164  METRICAL  ROMANCE  OF  [SECT.  IV. 

The  moving  castles  described  by  our  minstrel,  which  seem  to  be  so 
many  fabrics  of  romance,  but  are  founded  in  real  history,  afford  suit- 
able materials  for  poets  who  deal  in  the  marvellous.  Accordingly  they 
could  not  escape  the  fabling  genius  of  Tasso,  who  has  made  them  in- 
struments of  enchantment,  and  accommodated  them,  with  great  pro- 
priety, to  the  operations  of  infernal  spirits. 

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

"  Thou  sayest  thy  God  is  ful  of  myght  : 

Wylt  thou  graunt,  with  spere  and  scheeld, 

Deraye  the  ryght  in  the  feeld, 

With  helm,  hawberk  and  brondes  bryght 

On  strong  stedes,  good  and  lyght, 

Whether  is  off  more  power 

Jesu  or  Jubyter  ? 

And  he  sente  the  to  say  this, 

Yiff  thou  wilt  have  an  hors  [of]  hys  ? 

In  alle  the  landes  ther  thou  hast  gon, 

Swylk  on  say  thou  nevyr  non  I 

Favel  off  Cypre,  ne  Lyard  off  Prysh,  0 

Are  nought  at  nede  as  that  he  is  ; 

And,  yiff  thou  wylt,  this  selve  day, 

It  shall  be  brought  the  to  asay." 

Quoth  kyng  Richard  :  "  Thou  sayest  wel  ; 

Swylke  an  hors,  by  Seynt  Mychel, 

I  wolde  have  to  ryde  upon.  - 

h  horses  belonging  to  Richard,  "  Favel  He  sent  to  king  Richard  a  stede  for  cur- 

of  Cyprus  and  Lyard  of  Paris."     Robert  teisie 

de  Brunne  mentions  one  of  these  horses,  On  of  the  best  reward  that  was  in  paemie. 

which    he    calls   PHANUEL    [FAUVEL].  [In  the  wardrobe-roll  of  prince  Edward, 

Chron.  p.  175.  afterwards  king  Edward  the  Second,  un- 

der the  year  1272,  the  masters  of  the  horse 
Sithen  at  Japhet  was  slayn  PHANUEL       rgnder  ^  accountg  for  horseg        haged 

[FAUVEL]  his  stede,  specifying  the  colours  and  prices  with  the 

The  Romans  telles  gret  pas  ther  of  his      ^^  accuracy.    One  of  them  is  called, 

douhty  dede.  „  Unus  euug  FAVELLUS  cum  stella  in 


o«        r\   •••  fronte."  &c.    Hearne's  Joann.  de  Troke- 

Thus  m  our  romance,  viz.  Sign.  Q.  m.  praef  p  xxyL    Uerefavellus  ig  in_ 


To  hym  gadered  every  chone  terpreted  I  by  Hearne  to  be  honeycomb.     I 

And  slewe  FAVELL  under  hym,  fPP086  £*  understands  a  dappled  or  roan 

Tho  was  Richard  wroth  and  grym.  horse-     But  FAVELLUS,  evidently  an  ad- 

jective, is  barbarous  Latin  for  FALVUS,  or 

This  was  at  the  siege  of  Jaffe,  as  it  is  here  folvus,  a  dun  or  light  yellow,  a  word  often 

called.     Favell  of  Cyprus  is  again  men-  used  to  exPress  the  colour  of  horses  and 

*•       A   <X<™  hawks.    See  Carpentier,  Suppl.  Du  Fresne 

tioned,  Sign.  O.  n.  ^  ^  y   g^^  ^  H  p  m 

FAVELL  of  Cyprus  is  forth  fet  It  is  hence  that  king  Richard's  horse  is 

And  in  the  sadell  he  hym  sett.  called  *AVEL-   _F.ro™  "h"*  word  PHA- 

NUEL [FAUVEL],  m  Robert  de  Brunne,  is 

Robert  of  Brunne  says  that  Saladin's  bro-  a  corruption.  —  ADDITIONS.]   [See  p.  125. 

ther  sent  king  Richard  a  horse.     Chron.  Note*.    The  blunder  of  Fanuel  for  Fauvel 

p.  194.  is  Hearne's,  but  Warton  increases  it.  —  M.} 


SECT.  IV.]  .  RICHARD  THE  FIRST.  165 

Bydde  hym  sende  that  hors  to  me ; 

I  schal  asaye,  what  that  he  be. 

Yiff  he  be  trusty,  withoute  fayle, 

I  kepe  non  othir  in  batayle." 

The  messanger  thenne  home  wente, 

And  tolde  the  Sawdon  in  presente, 

Hou  kyng  Richard  wolde  hym  mete. 

The  rych  Sawdon,  al  so  skete, 

A  noble  clerk  he  sente  for  thenne 

A  may tyr  negromacien {, 

That  conjuryd  as  [I]  you  telle, 

Thorwgh  the  feendes  craft  off  helle, 

Twoo  stronge  feendes  off  the  eyr, 

In  lyknesse  off  twoo  stedes  feyr, 

Lyke,  bothe  of  hewe  and  here ; 

As  they  sayde  that  wer  there, 

Never  was  ther  seen  non  slyke. 

That  on  was  a  mere  lyke, 

That  other  a  colt,  a  noble  stede, 

Wher  he  wer,  in  ony  nede, 

Was  nevyr  kyng  ne  knyghtk  so  bolde, 

That,  whenne  the  dame  neyghe1  wolde, 

Scholde  hym  holde  agayn  hys  wylle, 

That  he  ne  wolde  renne  her  tyllem, 

And  knele  adoun,  and  souke"  hys  dame : 

That  whyle,  the  Sawdon  with  schame, 

Scholde  kyng  Richard  soone  aquelle. 

All  thus  an  aungyl  gan  hym  telle, 

That  cam  to  hym  aftyr  mydnyght ; 

And  sayd  "Awake,  thou  Goddes  knyght! 

My  lord0  dos  the  to  undyrstande, 

The  schal  com  an  hors  to  hande ; 

Fayr  he  is  off  body  pyght ; 

Betraye  the  yiff  the  Sawdon  myght. 

On  hym  to  ryde  have  thou  no  drede, 

He  schal  the  help  at  thy  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  P, 

necromancer.  The  grounde  myght  unnethe  be  sene 

his  rider.  For  bryght  armure  and  speres  kene. 

Tothe, 

suck.  Lyke  as  snowe  lyeth  on  the  mountaynes 

God.  So  were  fulfylled  hylles  and  playnes 

In  which  the  Saracen  line  extended  With  hauberkes  bryght  and  harneys  clere 

twelve  miles  in  length,  and  Of  trompettes,  and  tabourere. 


1G6  METRICAL  ROMANCE  OF  [sECT.  IV. 

To  lepe  to  hors  thenne  was  he  dyght ; 
Into  the  sadyl  or  he  leep, 
Off  many  thynge  he  took  keep. — 
Hys  men  him  brought  al  that  he  badde. 
A  quarry  tree  off  fourty  foote 
Before  hys  sadyl  anon  dyd  hote 
Paste  that  men  scholde  it  brace,  &c. 
Hymself  was  rychely  begoo, 
From  the  crest  unto  the  tool. 
He  was  armyd  wondyr  weel, 
And  al  with  plates  off  good  steel ; 
And  ther  aboven,  an  hawberk ; 
A  schafft  wrought  off  trusty  werk ; 
On  his  schuldre  a  scheeld  off  steel, 
With  three  lupardesr  wrought  ful  weel. 
An  helme  he  hadde  off  ryche  entayle  ; 
Trusty  and  trewe  hys  ventayle ; 
On  hys  crest  a  douve  whyte 
Sygnyfycacioun  off  the  Holy  Spryte : 
Upon  a  croys  the  douve  stood 
Off  golde  wrought  ryche  and  good. 
God8  hymself,  Mary  and  Jhon, 
As  he  was  nay lyd  the  roode  upon*, 
In  sygne  off  hym  for  whom  he  faught> 
The  spere-hed  forgatt  he  naught : 
Upon  hys  spere  he  wolde  it  have, 
Goddes  hygh  name  theron  was  grave. 
Now  herkenes  what  oth  they  swore, 
Ar  they  to  the  batayle  wore : 
Yiff  it  were  soo,  that  Richard  myght 
Sloo  the  Sawdon,  in  feeld  with  fyght, 
Hee,  and  alle  hys  scholde  gon, 
At  her  wylle  everilkon, 
Into  the  cyte  off  Babylone ; 
And  the  kyngdom  of  Massidoyne 
He  scholde  have  undyr  his  hand : 
And  yiff  the  Sawdon  off  that  land, 
Myghte  sloo  Richard  in  that  feeld, 
With  swerd  or  spere  undyr  scheeld, 
That  Cristene  men  scholde  goo, 
Out  off  that  land,  for  ever  moo, 

q  from  head  to  foot.  an  old  fragment  cited  by  Hearne,  Gloss. 

T  leopards.  Rob.  Br.  p.  634. 

*  Our  Saviour.  Pyned  under  Ponce  Pilat, 

"As  he  died  upon  the  cross."  So  in  Don  on  the  rod  after  that. 


SECT.  IV.]  RICHARD  THE  FIRST.  16? 

And  Sarezynes  have  her  wylle  in  wolde. 
Quod  kyng  Richard :  "  Thertoo  I  holde, 
Thertoo  my  glove,  as  I  am  knyght ! " 
They  ben  armyd  and  wel  i-dyght. 
Kyng  Richard  into  the  sadyl  leep ; 
Who  that  wolde  theroff  took  keep, 
To  see,  that  syght  was  ful  fayr. 
The  stede  ran  ryght,  with  gret  ayr u, 
Ai  so  harde  as  they  myght  dure, 
Aftyr  her  feet  sprong  the  fure. 
Tabours  beten,  and  trumpes  blowe ; 
Ther  myghte  men  see,  in  a  throwe, 
How  kyng  Richard,  the  noble  man, 
Encounteryd  with  the  Sawdan, 
That  cheef  was  told  off  Damas.w 
Hys  trust  upon  hys  mere  was. 
Therfoore,  as  the  booke*  telles 
Hys  crouper  heeng  al  ful  off  belles y, 
And  his  peytrelz,  and  his  arsouna ; 
Three  myle  myghte  men  here  the  soun. 
The  mere  gan  nygh,  her  belles  to  ryng, 
For  grete  pryde,  withoute  lesyng, 
A  brodb  fawchoun  to  hym  he  bar, 
For  he  thought  that  he  wolde  thar 
Have  slayn  kyng  Richard  with  tresoun, 
Whenne  hys  hors  had  knelyd  doun, 

tt  ire.  hence  Chaucer  may  be  illustrated,  who 

w  I  do  not  understand  this.    He  seems  thus  describes   the  state  of  a  monk  on 

to  mean  the  Sultan  of  Damas,  or  Damas-  horseback.     Prol.  Cant.  v.  170. 

cus.     See  Du  Cange,  Joinv.  p.  87. 

[There  is  no  difficulty  in  the  passage.  And  when  he  rode»  men  mlSht  hls  brldell 

Richard  encountered  the  Sultan,  who  was  here 

accounted  or  esteemed  chief  of  Damascus.  SINGLING  in  a  whistling  wind  as  clere, 

M  i  And  eke  as  lowde,  as  doth  the  chapell  bell. 

«  The  French  romance.  That .    because  hig  horse,s  bridle  Qr 
»  Antiently  no  person  seems  to  have  .        were  g           wkh  bellg> 
been  gallantly  equipped  on  horseback,  un- 
less the  horse's  bridle  or  some  other  part  of  z  The  breast- plate,  or  breast-band  of  a 
the  furniture  was  stuck  full  of  small  bells.  horse.    Poitral,  Fr.  Pectorale,  Lat.    Thus 
Vincent  of  Beauvais,  who  wrote  about  Chaucer  of  the  Chanones  YEMAN'S  horse. 
1264,  censures  this  piece  of  pride  in  the  Chan.  Yem.  Prol.  v.  575.  Urr. 
knights-templars.     They  have,  he  says  About  thg  PAYTRELL  stoode  the  fome  ful 
bridles  embroidered,  or  gilded,  or  adorned  bje 
with  silver,  "  Atque  in  pectoralibus  CAM- 
PANULAS  INFIXAS  MAGNUM  emittentes  a  The  saddle-bow.     "Arcenarium  ex- 
SONITUM,  ad  gloriam  eorum  et  decorem."  tencellatum  cum  argento,"  occurs  in  the 
Hist.   lib.   xxx.    cap.  85.      Wickliffe,  in  wardrobe  rolls,  ab  an.  21  ad  an.  23  Edw. 
his  Trialoge,  inveighs  against  the  priests  III.  Membr.  xi.     This  word  is  not  in  Du 
for  their   "fair  hors,  and  jolly  and  gay  Cange  or  his  Supplement, 
sadeles,  and  bridles  ringing  by  the  way,"  b  F.  bird,  [broad.] 
&c.      Lewis's   Wickliffe,    p.   121.      And 


168      METRICAL  ROMANCE  OF  RICHARD  THE  FIRST.    [sKCT.  IV. 

As  a  colt  that  scholde  souke  ; 

And  [ac  ?]  he  was  war  off  that  pouke11. 

Hys  eeresc  with  wax  wer  stoppyd  fast, 

Therfore  was  he  nought  agast. 

He  strook  the  feend  that  undyr  hym  yede, 

And  gaff  the  Sawdon  a  dynt  off  dede. 

In  his  blasoun,  verrayment, 

Was  i-paynted  a  serpent. 

With  the  spere,  that  Richard  heeld, 

He  beor  him  thorwgh  and  undyr  the  scheeld, 

None  off  hys  armes  myghte  laste  ; 

Brydyl  and  peytrel  al  to-brast ; 

Hys  gerth,  and  hys  steropes  alsoo ; 

The  mere  to  the  grounde  gan  goo. 

Mawgry  him,  he  garte  hym  staupe12 

Bakward  ovyr  hys  meres  croupe  ; 

The  feet  toward  the  fyrmament. 

Behynd  the  Sawdon  the  spere  out  went. 

He  leet  hym  lye  upon  the  grene13 ; 

He  prekyd  the  feend  with  spores d  kene ; 

In  the  name  off  the  Holy  Gost, 

He  dryves  into  the  hethene  hoost, 

And  al  so  soone  as  he  was  come, 

He  brak  asunder  the  scheltromee; 

For  al  that  ever  before  hym  stode 

Hors  and  man  to  erthe  yode, 

Twenty  foot  on  every  syde,  &c. 

Whenne  they  of  Fraunce  wyste, 

That  the  maystry  hadde  the  Chryste, 

They  wer  bolde,  her  herte  they  tooke  ; 

Stedes  prekyd,  schaufftes  schookef. 

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  com- 
bat 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 

0  ears.  d  spurs.  Shad    is    separated.      [Scheltron,    turma 

'  Schiltron.  I  believe,  soldiers  drawn  up  clipeata,    a   troop    armed   with    shields. 

inacircle.  Rob. de  Brunneusesitindescri-  See  Jamieson's  Etymol.  Scott.  Diet,  and 

bing  the  battle  of  Fowkirke,Chron.  p.  305.  Whitaker's  Peirs  Plouhman's  Visions. — 

Ther  SCHELTRON  s6ne  was  shad  with  In-  PRICE.] 

glis  that  wer  gode.  f  Line  5G42. 

11  [And  he  was  ware  of  that  shame.] 

12  [Maugre  her  heed,  he  made  her  seche 
The  grounde,  withoute  more  speche.] 

13  [Ther  he  fell  dede  on  the  grene.] 


SECT. IV.]  GEOGRAPHY   IN  THE  DARK  AGES.  169 

KING  RICHARD,  painted  on  the  walls  of  a  chamber  in  the  royal  palace 
of  Clarendon  %.  The  soldan  *  is  represented  as  meeting  Richard  with 
a  hawk  on  his  fist,  to  show  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  Nor- 
mandy11. Tabour,  a  drum,  a  common  accompany ment  of  war,  is  men- 
tioned 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, 
labours,  and  Saracen  horns1.  Jean  d'Orronville,  an  old  French  chro- 
nicler 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,  tabour s^,  and 
whistles1.  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,  cities  of  recent  foun- 
dation, were  perpetually  confounded  with  Babylon,  which  had  been  de- 
stroyed many  centuries  before,  and  was  situated  at  a  considerable  di- 
stance from  either.  Not  the  least  inquiry  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  a  war ;  and  to  this 

8  See  supr.  p.  119.  was  the  property  of  the  bishop.     Registr. 

*  [This  is  founded  on  an  erroneous  in-  Adami  Orleton,  Episc.  Winton.  fol.  56  b. 
terpretation  of  the  text,  where  Warton  has  In  Archiv.  Winton.  In  Domesdei-Book, 
mistaken*' A  faucon  brode,"  (black  letter  a  Hawk's  Airy,  Aira  Accipitris,  is  some- 
edition)  or  a  broad  falchion,  for  a.  falcon.—  times  returned  among  the  most  valuable 
PRICE.]  [See  Ritson's  remarks  on  this  articles  of  property, 
passage. — M.]  *  Histoire  de  S.  Loyis,  p.  30.  The  ori- 

h  The  hawk  on  the  fist  was  a  mark  of  ginal  has  "Cors  Sarazinois."     See  also  p. 

great  nobility.    We  frequently  find  it,  up-  52.  56.     And  Du  Cange's  Notes,  p.  61. 

on  antique  seals  and  miniatures,  attributed  k  I  cannot  find  Glais,  the  word  that  fol- 

to  persons  of  both  sexes.   So  sacred  was  this  lows,  in  the  French  dictionaries.   But  per- 

bird  esteemed,  that  it  was  forbidden  in  a  haps  it  answers  to  our  old  English  Glee. 

code  of  Charlemagne's  laws,  for  any  one  See  Du  Cange,  Gl.  Lat.  V.  CLASSICUM. 

to  give  his  hawk  or  his  sword  as  part  of  [Roquefort,  who  cites  the  same  passage, 

his  ransom.     "In  compositionem  Wirigildi  calls  Glais,  a  musical  instrument,  without 

volumus  ul  ea  dentur  qua  in  lege  continen-  defining  its  peculiar  nature. — PRICE.] 

tur  excepto  accipitre  et  spatha."     Linde-  1  Cap.  76.  Nacaires  is  here  the  word  for 

brog.  Cod.  Leg.  Antiq.  p.  895.    In  the  year  kettle-drums.    See  Du  Cange,  ubi  supr.  p. 

1337,  the  bishop  of  Ely  excommunicated  59.    Who  also  from  an  old  roll  de  la  cham- 

certain  persons  for  stealing  a  hawk  sitting  bre  dcs  COMPTES  de  Paris  recites,  among 

on  her  perch  in  the  cloisters  of  the  abbey  the  household  musicians  of  a  French  no- 

of  Bermondsey  in  Southwark.    This  piece  bleman,  "  Menestrel  du  Cor  Sarazinois," 

of  sacrilege,  indeed,  was  committed  during  ib.  p.  60.    This  instrument  is  not  uncom- 

service-time  in  the  choir ;  and  the  hawk  mon  in  the  French  romances. 


1  ?0      METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.       [SECT.  V. 

neglect  were  owing,  in  a  great  measure,  the  signal  defeats  and  calami- 
tous 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  na- 
tions, 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  Sa- 
racens 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  unusual  object,  "  ils  disoient  a  leurs  che- 
vaulx  en  les  picquant  de  1'esperon,  et  cuides  tu  que  ce  soit  le  ROY  RI- 
CH ART™-?"  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  re- 
doubted hero,  by  relating  many  particulars  more  likely  to  be  fabulous, 
and  certainly  less  expressive  of  his  prowess. 


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  Arthur e.  Subjects  of  antient  tapestry. 

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,  concerning  the  redemption  of  a  knight  from  a 
long  captivity,  whose  prison  was  inaccessible,  unknown,  and  enchanted8. 
His  name  is  Amis  of  the  Mountain. 

m  Hist,  de  S.  Loyis,  p.  16.  104.  Who  ment  of  this  Romance  belonged  to  Dr. 

had  it  from  a  French  manuscript  chronicle  Farmer,  and  afterwards  to  Mr.  Douce, 

of  the  holy  war.  See  Du  Cange's  Notes,  which  Ritson  in  his  MS.  Cat.  of  Engl.  Ro- 

p.  45.  mances,  states  to  have  been  printed  by  W. 

a  The  Romance  of  Sir  Guy  is  a  consi-  de  Worde,  about  1495.  In  the  possession 

derable  volume  in  quarto.  My  edition  is  of  Mr.  Staunton  of  Longbridge  House, 

without  date,  "  Imprynted  at  London  in  co.  Warw.  is  a  larger  fragment  of  thirty- 

Lothbury  by  Wylliam  Copland,"  with  six  leaves,  printed  in  a  thinner  letter 

rude  wooden  cuts.  It  runs  to  Sign.  LI.  iii.  than  W.  de  Worde's,  with  wood-cuts, 

[An  imperfect  copy  is  in  Gai-rick's  Collec-  which  I  should  feel  inclined  to  ascribe  to 

tion,  vol.  K.  9.  and  a  perfect  one  was  in  Pynson.  Ritson  mentions  also  an  edition 

Heber's  library,  Cat.  pt.  iv.  961.  A  frag-  by  John  Cawood. — M.]  It  seems  to  be 


SECT.  V.] 


SIR  GUY. 

"  Here  besyde  an  Elfish  knyhteb 

Has  taken  my  lorde  in  fyghte, 

And  hath  him  ledde  with  him  away 

In  the  Fayryc,  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  the  way  take, 

And  nevermore  come  agayne, 

Tyll  I  bring  Amys  of  the  Mountayne." 

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, 


171 


older  than  the  Squyr  of  lowe  degree,  In 
which  it  is  quoted.    Sign.  a.  iii. 
Or  els  so  bolde  in  chivalrie 
As  was  syr  Gawayne  or  syr  GIE. 
The  two  best  manuscripts  of  this  romance 
are  at  Cambridge,  MSS.  Bibl.  Publ.  Mor. 
690.  33.  and  MSS.  Coll.  Caii,  A.  8. 

[An  analysis  of  this  romance  will  be 
found  in  the  "  Specimens  "  of  Mr.  Ellis, 
who  is  of  opinion  that  "the  tale  in  its 
present  state  has  been  composed  from  the 
materials  of  at  least  two  or  three  if  not 
more  romances.     The  first  is  a  most  tire- 
some love  story,  which,  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed, originally  ended  with  the   mar- 
riage of  the  fond  couple.    To  this  it  should 
seem  was  afterwards  tacked  on  a  series  of 
fresh  adventures,  invented  or  compiled  by 
some  pilgrim  from  the  Holy  Land ;  and 
the  hero  of  this  legend  was  then  brought 
home  for  the  defence  of  Athelstan,  and  the 
destruction  of  Colbrand."     Mr.  Ritson  in 
opposition  to  Dugdale,  who  regarded  Guy 
as  an  undeniably  historical  personage,  has 
laboured  to  prove  that  "  no  hero  of  this 
name  is  to  be  found  in  real  history,"  and 
that  he  was  "  no  more  an  English  hero 
than   Amadis   de  Gaul  or   Perceforest." 
Mr.  Ellis,  on  the  other  hand,  conceives  the 
tale  "  may  possibly  be  founded  on  some 
Saxon  tradition,"    and  that  though   the 
name  in  its  present  form  be  undoubtedly 
French,  yet  as  it  bears  some  resemblance 
to  Egil,  the  name  of  an  Icelandic  warrior, 
who  "contributed  very  materially  to  the 
important  victory   gained   by   Athelstan 


over  the  Danes  and  their  allies  at  Bru- 
nanburgh  ;  "  he  thinks  "  it  is  not  impos- 
sible that  this  warlike  foreigner  may  have 
been  transformed  by  some  Norman  monk 
into  the  pious  and  amorous  Guy  of  War- 
wick." This  at  best  is  but  conjecture, 
nor  can  it  be  considered  a  very  happy  one. 
Egil  himself  (or  his  nameless  biographer) 
makes  no  mention  of  a  single  combat  on 
the  occasion  in  which  he  had  been  enga- 
ged ;  and  the  fact,  had  it  occurred,  would 
have  been  far  too  interesting,  and  too  much 
in  unison  with  the  spirit  of  the  times,  to 
have  been  passed  over  in  silence.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  the  substitution  of  Guy  for 
Egil  is  against  all  analogy,  on  the  trans- 
formation of  a  Northern  into  a  French  ap- 
pellation. The  initial  letters  in  Guy, 
Guyon,  and  Guido,  are  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Teutonic  W,  and  clearly  point 
to  some  cognomen  beginning  with  the 
Saxon  Wig,  bellum.— PRICE.] 

b  In  Chaucer's  Tale  of  the  Chanon  Ye- 
man,  chemistry  is  termed  an  ELFISH  art, 
that  is,  taught  or  conducted  by  Spirits. 
This  is  an  Arabian  idea.  Chan.  Yem.  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  nicd  lore. 

c  "Into  the  land  of  Fairy,  into  the 
region  of  Spirits." 


172      METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.      [SECT.  V. 

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  scene. 

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  cleped6  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. 

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  him,  "  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? 

d  "  Walls  built  by  the  Pagans  or  Sara-  The  walles  thereof  were  of  cristall, 

cens.    Walls  built  by  magic."      Chaucer,  And  the  sommers  of  corall. 

in  a  verse  taken  from  Syi :  Bevys,  [Sign.  a.  But  Chaucer  mentions  corall  in  his  tem  le 

11.]  says  that  his  knight  had  travelled  of  Diana>     Knightes  Tale>  v<  1912. 

As  well  in  Christendom  as  in  hetlmess.  And  northward>  in  a  touret  on  the  wall> 

Prol.  p.  2.  v.  49.    And  m  Syr  Eglamour  of  Of  alabastre  white,  and  red  corall, 

Artoys,  Sign.  E.  ii.  An  Oratorie  riche  for  to  see. 

Eglamour  sayd  to  hym  yeys,  Carpentier  cites  a  passage  from  the  ro- 

I  am  come  out  of  hethenes.  marfce  De  Troyes>  ^n  which  a  chamber 

Syr  Bevys  of  Hamptoun,  Sign.  b.  iii.  Of  alabaster  is  mentioned.     Suppl.  Lat. 

They  found  shippes  more  and  lesse  Gloss.  Du  Cange,  torn.  i.  p.  136. 

Of  panimes  and  of  hethenesse.  En  celle  chambre  n'oit  noienz, 

Also,  Sign.  C.  i.  De  chaux,  d'areine,  de  cimenz, 

The  first  dede  withouten  lesse  Enduit,  ni  moillerons,  ni  emplaistre, 

That  Bevys  dyd  in  hethenesse.  Tot  entiere  fut  alambastre. 
*  [I  do  not  perfectly  understand  the 

materials  of  this  fairy  palace : —  e  called.                     '  went. 


SECT.  V.]  SIR  GUY.  173 

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.& 

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

Guyon's  expedition  into  the  Souldari'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  foot  touched  he  none. 
Guy  rode  forth  without  boste, 
Alone  to  the  Soudans  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. 
At  the  meete1  he  founde  the  Soudone, 
And  hys  barrens  everychone, 

g  Sign.  K  k.  iii.  seq.  h  circle.  *  at  dinner. 


1  74      METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.       [SECT.  V. 

And  tenne  kynges  aboute  hym, 

All  they  were  stout  and  grymme  : 

Guy  rode  forth,  and  spake  no  worde, 

Tyll  he  cam  to  the  Soudans  bordek; 

Pie  ne  rought1  with  whom  he  mette, 

But  on  thys  wyse  the  Soudan  he  grette : 

"  God's  curse  have  thou  and  thyne, 

And  tho  that  levera  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  Guy  on, 

That  art  here  in  my  pavylyon  ? 

Thou  sluest  my  cosyn  Coldran 

Of  all  Sarasyns  the  boldest  man,"  &c.n 

I  will  add  Guy's  combat  with  the  Danish  giant  Colbrond,  as  it  is 


k  table.     Chaucer,  Squ.  T.  105. 
And  up  he  rideth  to  the  hie  borde. 

Chaucer  says  that  his  knight  had  often 
"  begon  the  bord  aboven  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  horde 
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  dese,  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  due  of  JBedeford  bc- 
ganne  the  table  on  the  right  side  of  the 
hall,  and  next  untoo  hym  was  the  lorde 
Dawbeneye,"  &c.     That  is,   He  sate  at 
the  head  of  the  table.     Leland,  Coll.  iii. 
237.  edit.  1770.     To  begin  the  bourd  is  to 
begin  the  tournament.     Lydgate,  Chron. 
Troy,  b.  ii.  eh.  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,  pen- 
sioner. But  the  true  meaning  is  a  wag, 
an  arch  fellow,  for  he  is  here  introduced 
putting  a  joke  on  the  king  of  France. 
BOURDE  is  jest,  trick,  from  the  French. 
See  R.  de  Brunne  ap.  Hearne's  Gloss. 
Rob.  Glo.  p.  695 ;  and  above  Sect.  II. ; 
also  Chauc.  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.  166.  Who  adds, 
"De  1^  vient  le  mot  de  Bourdeurs,  qui 
estoient  ces  farceurs  ou  plaisantins  qui  di- 
vertissoient  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  tour- 
nois."  See  also  Diss.  Joinv.  p.  174. 

1  cared,  valued,  [recked.]  Chaucer,  Rom. 
R.  1873. 

I  ne  rought  of  deth  ne  of  life. 

m  those  who  believe. 
n  Sign.  Q.  iii. 


SECT.  V.]  THE  8QUIER  OF  LOW  DEGREE.  175 

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  lie  was  in  armure  clight 
Power  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  rennende0: 
Colbronde  smote  Guy  in  the  fielde 
In  the  iniddest  of  Syr  Guyes  shelde  ; 
Through  Guyes  hawberk  that  stroke  went, 
And  for  no  maner  thyng  it  withstentP. 
In  two  yt  share^  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  Guyonr. 
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  heline  bryght 
That  out  sprang  the  fyre  lyght. 
Guy  smote  Colbronde  agayne 
Through  shielde  and  armure  certayne. 
He  made  his  swerde  for  to  glyde 
Into  his  bodie  a  wound  ryht  wyde. 
So  smart  came  Guyes  bronde 
That  it  braste  in  hys  bond. 

The  romance  of  the  SQUIRE  OF  Low  DEGREE,  who  loved  the  king's 
daughter  of  Hungary8,  is  alluded  to  by  Chaucer  in  the  Rime  of  Sir 

0  running.  — M.]     I  have  never  seen  it  in  manu- 

p  "nothing  could  stop  it."  script. 

q  divided.  [This  romance  will  be  found  in  Mr.  Rit- 

*  "  Guy  cut  through  all  the  giant's  ar-  son's  Collection,  vol.  Hi.  p.  145,  who  cha- 
mour."  racterizes  it  as  a  "strange  and  whimsical 

*  It  contains  thirty-eight  pages  in  quarto.  but  genuine  English   performance."     On 
"  Imprented  at  London  by  me  Wyllyam  Warton's  opinion,  "  that  it  is  alluded  to 
Copland."     [In  Garrick's  Collection,  vol.  by  Chaucer  in  the  Rime  of  Sir  Topas"  he 
K.  9.  John  Kynge  had  a  license  to  print  remarks:  "as  Lybeaus  Disconus,  one  of 
this  Romance  in  1 558,  as  we  are  informed  the  romancees  enumeratecd  by  Chaucer,  is 
by  Ritson,  MS.  Cat.  of  Engl.  Romances.  alluded  to  in  the  Squyr  of  lowe  degre,  it  is 


METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.       [SECT.  V. 

Topas*-.     The  princess  is  thus  represented,  in  her  closet  adorned  with 
painted  glass,  listening  to  the  squire's  complaint u. 

That  ladi  herde  hys  mourriyng  alle,  - 

Ryght  undir  the  chambre  walle : 

In  her  oryall w  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  y  vere, 

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. 

I  am  persuaded  to  transcribe  the  following  passage,  because  it  deli- 
neates 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  me- 
lancholy from  the  supposed  loss  of  her  paramour. 

"  To  morow  ye  shall  yn  huntyng  fare  ; 

And  yede,  my  doughter,  yn  a  chare,  - 


not  probablely,  allso,  of  his  age."  But  the  *  See  observations  on  the  Fairy  Queen, 

Lybeaus  Disconus  referred  to  in  this  ro-  i.  §  iv.  p.  139. 
mance,  is  evidently  a  different  version  of  u  Sign.  a.  iii. 

the  story  from  that  printed  by  Mr.  Ritson,  w  An  Oriel  seems  to  have  been  a  recess 
and  the  quotation,  if  it  prove  any  thing,  in  a  chamber,  or  hall,  formed  by  the  pro- 
would  rather  speak  for  the  existence  of  a  jection  of  a  spacious  bow-window  from  top 
more  ancient  translation  now  unknown.  to  bottom.  Rot.  Pip.  an.  18.  Hen.  III.  [A. 
Besides,  Mr.  Ritson  himself  has  supplied  D.  1234.]  "  Et  in  quadam  capella  pulchra 
us  with  an  argument  strongly  favouring  et  decenti  facienda  ad  caput  Orioli  camera 
Warton's  conjecture  :  for  if,  as  he  ob-  regis  in  castro  Herefordie,  de  longitudine 
serves,  the  Squyr  of  lowe  degre  be  the  xx.  pedum."  This  Oriel  was  at  the  end 
only  instance  of  a  romance  containing  any  of  the  king's  chamber,  from  which  the  new 
such  impertinent  digressions  or  affected  chapel  was  to  begin.  Again,  in  the  castle 
enumerations  of  trees,  birds,  &c.  as  are  of  Kenilworth.  Rot.  Pip.  an.  19.  Hen.  III. 
manifestly  the  object  of  Chaucer's  satire,  [A.  D.  1235.]  "Et  in  uno  magno  Oriollo 
the  natural  inference  would  be — in  the  pulchro  et  competenti,  ante  ostium  magne 
absence  of  any  evidence  for  its  more  re-  camere  regis  in  castro  de  Kenilworth  fa- 
cent  composition — that  this  identical  ro-  ciendo,  v'\L  xvi*.  \vd.  per  Brev.  regis." 
mance  was  intended  to  be  exposed  and  ri-  [The  etymologists  have  been  puzzled 
diculed  by  the  poet.  At  all  events,  Cop-  to  find  the  derivation  of  an  oriel-window, 
land's  editions  with  their  modern  phra-  A  learned  correspondent  suggests,  that 
seology  are  no  standard  for  determining  ORIEL  is  Hebrew  for  Lux  mea,  orDominus 
the  age  of  any  composition;  and  until  illuminatio mea. — ADDITIONS.]  [See  Mr. 
some  better  arguments  can  be  adduced  Hamper's  Dissertation  on  this  word  in  the 
than  those  already  noticed,  the  ingenious  Archczologia,  vol.  xxxiii.  p.  105. — M.] 
supposition  of  Dr.  Percy — for  by  him  it  x  closed,  shut.  In  P.  Plowman,  of  a 
was  communicated  to  Warton — may  be  blind  man,  "  unsparryd  his  eine,"  i.  e. 
permitted  to  remain  in  full  force. — PRICE.]  opened  his  eyes. 


SECT.  V.] 


THE  SQUIER  OF  LOW  DEGREE. 


177 


Yt  shal  be  coverd  wyth  velvette  reede 
And  clothes  of  fyne  golde  al  about  your  heede, 
With  damaske  whyte  and  asure  blewe 
Well  dyaperdv  with  lyllyes  newe : 
Your  pomelles  shalbe  ended  with  golde, 
Your  chaynes  enameled  many  a  folde. 
Your  mantell  of  ryche  degre 
Purple  palle  and  armyne  fre. 


y  embroidered,  diversified.     Chaucer  a 
bow,  Rom.  R.  v.  934. 

And  it  was  painted  wel  and  thwitten 
And  ore  all  diapred,  and  written,  &c. 

Thwitten  is  twisted,  wreathed.  The  fol- 
lowing instance  from  Chaucer  is  more  to 
our  purpose.  Knight's  Tale,  v.  2160. 

Upon  a  stede  bay,  trappid  in  stele, 
Coverid  with  cloth  of  gold  diaprid  wele. 

This  term,  which  is  partly  heraldic,  occurs 
in  the  Pirovisor's  rolls  of  the  Great  Ward- 
robe, 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  diasprez  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  tissue, 
cloth  of  gold,  &c.  This  is  confirmed  by 
Peacham.  "  DIAPERING  is  a  term  in  draw- 
ing.— It  chiefly  serveth  to  counterfeit  cloth 
of  gold,  silver,  damask,  brancht  velvet, 
camblet,  &c."  Compl.  Gent.  p.  345.  An- 
derson, in  his  History  of  Commerce,  con- 
jectures, that  Diaper,  a  species  of  printed 
linen,  took  its  name  from  the  city  of  Ypres 
in  Flanders,  where  it  was  first  made,  be- 
ing originally  called  d'ipre.  But  that  city 
and  others  in  Flanders  were  no  less  fa- 
mous for  rich  manufactures  of  stuff;  and 
the  word  in  question  has  better  pretensions 
to  such  a  derivation.  Thus  rich  cloth  em- 
broidered 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  Bru- 
ges, another  city  of  Flanders,  often  occurs 
in  inventories  of  monastic  vestments,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  the  eighth :  and  the 
cities  of  Arras  and  Tours  are  celebrated 
for  their  tapestry  in  Spenser.  All  these 
cities  and  others  in  their  neighbourhood, 
became  famous  for  this  sort  of  workman- 
ship before  1200.  The  Armator  of  Ed- 
ward the  third,  who  finishes  all  the  costly 
apparatus  for  the  shows  above  mentioned, 
consisting,  among  other  things,  of  a  va- 

VOL.  I. 


riety  of  the  most  sumptuous  and  orna- 
mented embroideries  on  velvet,  satin,  tis- 
sue, &c.  is  John  of  Cologne.  Unless  it  be 
Colonia  in  Italy.  Rotul.  prsedict.  memb. 
viii.  memb.  xiii.  "  Quse  omnia  ordinata 
fuerunt  per  garderobarium  competentem, 
de  precepto  ipsius  Regis  :  et  facta  et  pa- 
rata  per  manus  Johls  de  Colonia,  Arma- 
toris  ipsius  domini  ndstri  Regis."  Johan- 
nes deStrawesburgh[Strasburgh]  is  men- 
tioned as  broudator  regis,  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  oflpre  and  of  Gaunt. 

"  Cloth  of  Gaunt,"  i.e.  Ghent,  is  mention- 
ed in  the  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  v.  574. 
Bruges  was  the  chief  mart  for  Italian  com- 
modities, about  the  thirteenth  century.  In 
the  year  1318,  five  Venetian  galeasses, 
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  introdu- 
ced from  the  East  into  Italy,  before  LJ(30. 
Gianon.  Hist.  Napl.  xi.  7.  The  crusades 
much  improved  the  commerce  of  the  Ita- 
lian 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  Rose 
where  it  seems  to  signify  Damask,  v.  21867. 

Samites,  dyapres,  camelots. 
I  find  it  likewise  in  the  Roman  d'Alex- 
andre,  written  about  1200.    MSS.  Bodl. 
[264.]  fol.  i.  b.  col.  2. 

Dyapres  d'Antioch,  samis  de  Romanic. 
Here  is  also  a  proof  that  the  Asiatic  stuffs 
were  at  that  time  famous  :  and  probably 
Romanic  is  Romania.  The  word  often  oc- 
curs in  old  accounts  of  rich  ecclesiastical 
vestments.  Du  Cange  derives  this  word 
from  the  Italian  diaspro,  a  jasper,  a  pre- 
cious 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."  torn.  iij. 
314.  and  321. 


1?8      METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.       [SECT.  V. 

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, 

Pyment2  also,  and  garnarde; 

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  ybakea, 

The  best  wylde  fowle  that  may  be  take : 

A  lese  of  harehoundb  with  you  to  streke, 


56  Sometimes  written  pimeate.  [Is  not 
this  a  mere  misprint  ? — M.]  In  the  ro- 
mance of  Syr  Bevys,  a  knight  just  going  to 
repose  takes  the  usual  draught  of  pimeate ; 
which  mixed  with  spices  is  what  the 
French  romances  call  vin  du  coucher,  and 
for  which  an  officer,  called  ESPICIER,  was 
appointed  in  the  old  royal  household  of 
France.  Signat.  m.  iii. 

The  knight  and  she  to  chamber  went :— • 
With  pimeate,  and  with  spisery, 
When  they  had  dronken  the  wyne. 
See   Carpentier,   Suppl.   Gloss.  Lat.  Du 
Cange,  torn.  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.  Litt.  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  pi- 
ment.  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  Clarey.  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  1'anc.  Chevalier,  i.  p.  19. 48. 
I  must  add,  that  Triyjuevrapios  or  Trifitv- 
rapios,  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  St.  Mary's  abbey,  the  abbess  shall 
present  him  with  a  peacock,  and  a  cup  of 
piment.  Carpentier,  ubi  supr.  vol.  iii.  p. 
277. 

[See  Weber's  note  on  1.  4178.  of  the 
Romance  of  Alisaunder,  and  Roquefort's 
Histoire  de  la  Vie  Privee  des  Franyois, 
torn.  iii.  pp.  65-68.  8°.  Paris,  1815. — M.] 

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  re- 


SECT.  V.]  THE  SQUIER  OF  LOW  DEGREE. 

And  hart,  and  hynde,  and  other  lyke, 

Ye  shalbe  set  at  such  a  tryst 

That  hart  and  hynde  shall  come  to  you  fyst. 

Your  desease  to  dryve  ye  fro, 

To  here  the  bugles  there  yblowe. 

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  plaie. 

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. 

Then  shal  you,  doughter,  aske  the  wyne 

Wyth  spises  that  be  gode  and  fyne  : 

Gentyll  pottes,  with  genger  grene, 

Wyth  dates  and  deynties  you  betweene, 

Fortie  torches  brenynge  bright 

At  your  brydges  to  bring  you  lyght. 

presentation  of  the  grand  entrance  of  queen  who  has  a  flag,  powdered  with  fleurs  de  lys, 
Isabel  of  England  into  Paris,  in  the  year  bound  to  his  neck.  Montf.  Monum.  Fr.  ii. 
1324.  She  is  attended  by  a  greyhound  p.  234. 

N2 


180      METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.       [SECT.  V. 

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  pyghtd, 
Wyth  dyamondes  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  wake6. 

SYR  DEGORE  is  a  romance  perhaps  belonging  to  the  same  period'. 
After  his  education  under  a  hermit,  Sir  Degore's  first  adventure  is 


c  cloath,  or  linen,  of  Rennes,  a  city  in 
Britany.  Chaucer,  Dr.  v.  255. 

And  many  a  pilowe,  and  every  bere 
Of  clothe  ofraynes  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. 

[Cloath  of  Rennes  seems  to  have  been 
the  finest  sort  of  linen.  In  the  old  ma- 
nuscript Mystery,  or  religious  comedy, 
of  Mary  Magdalene,  written  in  1512,  a 
Galant,  one  of  the  retainers  to  the  group 
of  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins,  is  introduced 
with  the  following  speech. 

Hof,  Hof,  Hof,  a  frysch  new  galaunt! 

Ware  of  thryft,  ley  that  a-doune : 

What   mene   ye,  syrrys,  that  I   were   a 

marchaunt, 

Because  that  I  am  new  com  to  toun  ? 
With  praty ....  wold  I  fayne  round, 
I  have  a  shert  of  reyns  with  sieves  pe- 

neaunt, 

A  lase  of  sylke  for  my  lady  Constant — 
I  woll,  or  even,  be   shaven  for  to  seme 

yong,  &c. 

So  also  in  Skelton's  Magnificence,  a  Mo- 
rality written  much  about  the  same  time, 
f.  xx.  b. 

Your  skynne,  that  was  wrapped  in  shertes 
of  raynes, 

Nowe  must  be  storm  ybeten. 

ADDITIONS.] 

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. 

*  It  contains  thirty-two  pages  in  quarto. 
Coloph.  "  Thus  endeth  the  Tretyse  of  Syr 
Degore,  imprynted  by  Wyllyam  Copland." 
There  is  another  copy  dated  1 560.  There 
is  a  manuscript  of  it  among  bishop  More's 
at  Cambridge,  Bibl.  Publ.  690.  36.  SYR 
DEGARE. 

[This  romance  has  been  published  in  a 
work  entitled  "  Select  Pieces  of  Early  Po- 
pular Poetry,  reprinted  from  the  Black 
Letter,"  [by  E.  V.  Utterson,  2  vols.  8°. 
1817.— M.]  and  is  analysed  by  Mr. 
Ellis  in  his  Specimens.  From  a  frag- 
ment of  it  preserved  in  the  Auchinleck 
MSS.  it  is  clear  that  the  poem  in  its  pre- 
sent form  is  an  unskilful  rifacimento  of  an 
earlier  version,  since  the  writer  was  even 
ignorant  of  the  true  mode  of  pronouncing 
the  hero's  name.  Throughout  Copland's 
edition — with  one  exception — it  is  a  word 
of  two  syllables,  rhyming  with  '  before ' ; 
but  in  p.  135  of  the  reprint  we  obtain  its 
true  accentuation  as  exhibited  in  the  Au- 
chinleck MSS. 

As  was  the  yonge  knyght  Syr  DegorS, 
But  none  wyst  what  man  was  he. 

The  name  is  intended  to  express,  as  the 
author  tells  us  (line  230),  "a  thing  (or 
person)  almost  lost,"  Degare  or  L'egare. 
— PRICE.] 

[In  Heber's  Catalogue,  pt.  iv.  No.  556. 
was  an  unique  copy  of  an  edition  of  this 


SECT.  V.]  SIR    DEGORE.  181 

against  a  dragon.     This  horrible  monster  is  marked  with  the  hand  of  a 
master^." 

Degore  went  furth  his  waye, 

Through  a  forest  half  a  daye  : 

He  herd  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. 

When  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  minstrel  profession  became  a  science,  and  the  audience  grew 
more  civilised,  refinements  began  to  be  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 

romance  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  4°.  bl.  1.  edition  is  in  Garrick's  Collection,  vol.  K.  9. 

wood  cuts,  which  is  described  in  Dibdin's  and  in  the  Bodleian  library  is  that  of  1560, 

Ames,  vol.  ii.  p.  376.     From  this  edition,  "imprinted  at  London,  by  John  King." 

probably,  a  transcript  in  Mr.  Donee's  li-  — M.] 
brary,  dated  1564,  was  taken.    Copland's  g  Sign.  B.  ii. 


182       METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.     [SECT.  V. 

a  pleasing  and  unexpected  surprise.  As  a  specimen  of  the  rest,  and  as 
it  lies  in  a  narrow  compass.  I  will  develop  the  plan  of  the  fable  now 
before  us,  which  preserves  at  least  a  coincidence  of  events,  and  an  uni- 
formity of  design. 

A  king's  daughter  of  England,  extremely  beautiful,  is  solicited  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  solicitations  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?.     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  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  her- 
mit 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  De  - 
gore,  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 

8  Gloves  were  antiently  a  costly  article  tiosis  ponderant.  xliiis.  et  Hid.  ob.     Et  de 

of  dress,  and  richly  decorated.   They  were  ii.  paribus  chirothecarum   cum    LAPIDI- 

sometiraes  adorned  with  precious  stones.  Bus."     This  golden  comb,  set  with  jewels, 

Hot.  Pip.  an.  53.  Henr.  III.  [A.D.  1267.]  realises  (the  wonders  of  romance. 
"Et  de  i.  pectine  aim  cum  lapidibus  pre- 


SECT.  V.]  KYNG  ROBERT  OF  SICILY.  183 

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  per- 
son but  the  son  that  should  be  born  of  their  stolen  embraces.  Sir  De- 
gore  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  per- 
mission. A  Combat  ensues.  In  the  midst  of  the  contest,  the  combat- 
ants 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  mar- 
ried to  the  princess  his  mother. 

The  romance  of  KYNG  ROBERT  OF  SICILY  begins  and  proceeds 
thus1. 

[Here  is  of  kyng  Robert  of  Cicyle, 

Hou  pride  dude  him  beguile '.] 

Princis  proude  that  bene  in  preesse, 

A  thinge  I  wulle  yow  telle  that  is  no  lees. 

In  Cesille  was  a  nobille  kynge, 

Fay  re  and  stronge  and  sumdel  yongek; 

h  All  the  romances  have  such  an  ob-  copied  from  the  Harl.  MS.  525,  with  the 

stacle  as  this.  They  have  all  an  enchant-  exception  of  the  passages  in  brackets, 

ress,  who  detains  the  knight  from  his  which  have  been  taken  from  Warton's 

quest  by  objects  of  pleasure  ;  and  who  is  transcript  of  the  Vernon  MS.  Mr.  Ellis, 

nothing  more  than  the  Calypso  of  Homer,  who  has  analysed  it,  concurs  with  Warton 

the  Dido  of  Virgil,  and  the  Armida  of  in  opinion  "  that  the  history  of  the  Em- 

Tasso.  peror  Jovinian  in  the  59th  chapter  of  the 

1  MS.  Vernon,  ut  supr.  Bibl.  Bodl.  f.  299.  Gesta  Romanorum  is  nearly  identical  with 

It  is  also  in  Caius  College  Camb.  MSS.  this  romance."  He  further  adds :  "  The 

Class.  E  174.  4.  and  Bibl.  Publ.  Cambr.  incidents,  however,  are  not  exactly  simi- 

MSS.  More,  690.  35.  and  Brit.  Mus.  MSS.  lar ;  and  in  some  of  these  the  Latin  prose 

Harl.  525.  2.  f.  35.  Cod.  membran.  [and  has  a  manifest  advantage  over  the  minstrel 

MS.  Harl.  1701. — M.]  Never  printed.  poem." — PRICE.] 

[The  extracts  in  this  edition  have  been  k  $yng,  MS.  Vernon. 


184       METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.      [SECT.  V. 

He  had  a  broder  in  grete  Rome 

Pope  of  alle  Cristyndome ; 

Anoder  broder  in  Almayne, 

Emperour  that  Sarysinys  wrought  ageyne. 

The  kynge  was  called  kynge  Robert, 

Neuer  mane  wyst  him  aferd : 

He  was  kynge  of  mikelle  honour, 

He  was  cleped  a  conquerour  : 

In  noo  land  was  his  pere, 

Kynge  ne  duke,  fer  ne  nere : 

For  he  was  of  chyuallry  flour, 

His  broder  was  made  emperour  : 

His  oder  broder  Goddis  vyker, 

Pope  of  Rome,  as  I  seyde  ere ; 

He  was  cleped  pope  Urbane, 

He  loved  bothe  God  [and]  mane : 

The  emperour  was  cleped  sir  Valamond, 

A  stronger  werrour  was  none  found, 

Affter  his  broder  of  Cecyle, 

Of  whom  I  wulle  speke  awhyle. 

That  kynge  thought  he  had  no  pere 

In  alle  the  world,  ferre  ne  nere, 

And  in  his  thought  he  had  pryde, 

For  he  hadde  no  pere  in  neuer  a  syde. 

And  on  a  nyght  of  seynt  Johne 

The  baptist,  the  kynge  to  cherche  wolde  gone, 

For  to  herene  his  evenesonge ; 

Hym  thought  he  dwelled  there  to  longe, 

His  thought  was  more  in  worldly  honoure 

Thanne  in  Jhesu  our  Saviour : 

In  Magnificat1  he  herd  a  vers, 

He  made  a  clerke  it  to  rehers, 

In  langage  of  his  owne  tunge, 

In  Lateyn  he  ne  west™  that  they  songe ; 

The  verse  was  this  I  telle  the, 

Deposuit  potentes  de  sede 

Et  exaltavit  humiles, 

That  was  the  verse  wethought  lees : 

The  clerke  seyde  anon  ryght, 

"  Sir,  soche  is  Goddis  myght, 

That  he  may  make  hie  lowe 

And  low  hie  in  a  lytylle  throwe  ; 

God  may  do,  with  out  lye, 

His  wille  in  twenkelynge  of  a  nye  n." 

1  the  hymn  so  called.  m  ne  wist,  knew  not.  n  eye. 


SECT.V.]  KYNG  ROBERT  OF  SICILY.  185 

The  kynge  seyde  with  thought  vnstabille 

"  Ye  rede  and  synge  false  in  fable : 

What  mane  hath  that  power 

To  brynge  me  in  soche  daunger? 

My  name  is  flour  of  cheualrye, 

Myne  enemyes  I  may  distroye  : 

Nomane  leueth  now  in  londe 

That  me  may  now  with  stonde. 

Thenne  is  this  a  songe  of  nought." 

This  is  errour  thenne  he  thought, 

And  in  his  slepe  a  thought  him  toke*, 

In  his  pulpitte0  as  seyth  the  booke. 

Whanne  evensonge  was  alle  idone,  . 

A  kynge  lyke  him  home  ganne  gone 

Alle  men  gonne  with  him  wende, 

Thenne  was  the  toder  kynge  out  of  myndeP. 

The  newe  kynge,  as  I  the  telle, 

Was  Goddis  aungelle  his  pryde  to  felle. 

"Pie  aungelle  in  halle  joy  made, 

And  alle  his  men  of  him  were  glade. 

The  kynge  waked  that  was  in  cherche, 

His  men  he  thougth  woo  to  werche  ; 

For  he  was  left  there  alone, 

And  derke  nyght  felle  him  vppone. 

He  ganne  cry  for  his  mene, 

Ther  was  none  that  spake  ayene. 

But  the  sexteyne  of  the  cherche  att  last 

Swythly  to  hym  he  ganne  goo  fast, 

And  seyd  "What  doostthou  here, 

Fals  thefe,  and  theves  fere? 

Thou  art  here  felonye  to  werche 

To  robbe  God  and  holy  churche,"  &c. 

The  kynge  ranne  ought  thanne  faste ; 

As  a  man  that  were  wode, 

Att  his  paleys  there  he  stode, 

And  kalled  the  porter :  "  False  gadlynge*1, 

Opene  the  yates  in  hyenger." 

Anone  the  yates  to  on  doo, 

The  porter  [seide]  "Who  clepeth8  soo?" 

He  answerd  ryght  an  one, 

"  Thou  shalt  wete  ar  we  gone ; 

Thy  lord  I  am  thou  shalt  wele  knowe : 

In  prysone  thou  shallt  lye  fulle  lowe, 

[*"  And  in  his  thought  a  sleep  him  tok,"  while  the  real  king  Robert  was  forgotten 

MS.  Vernon.]  °  stall,  or  seat.  and  left  behind." 

p  "A  king  like  him  went  out  of  the  q  renegade,  traitor, 

chapel,  and  all  the  company  with  him  ;  r  at  the  call  [in  haste].  *  calls. 


186     METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.    [SECT.  v. 

[And  ben  an-hariged  and  to-drawe 

As  a  traytour  bi  the  lawe,] 

Thou  shalt  wete  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  to  lie  with  the  dogs ;  in 
which  situation  he  envies  the  condition  of  those  dogs,  which  in  great 
multitudes  were  permitted  to  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  welcomed  the  mesangeris, 

And  yaf  hem  clothynge  ryche  of  pryse, 

Forred  it  was  alle  with  ermyne, 

In  Cristyndome  was  none  soo  fyne ; 

And  alle  was  congetted  with  perles  ryche, 

Neuer  mane  sawe  none4iem  leche : 

Soche  clothynge  and  it  were  to  dyght, 

Alle  Cristendome  hem  make  ne  myght, 

Where  soche  clothynge  were  to  selle, 

Ne  who  them  made  kanne  nomane  telle. 

And  alle  they  were  of  o  clothynge, 

Soche  before  mad  neuer  kynge. 

The  messangeres  wentt  with  the  kynge  *, 

To  grete  Rome  without  lettynge ; 

The  fole  Robert  with  him  went, 

Clothed  in  a  folis  garnement, 

With  foxis  taylys  hongynge  al  abowght, 

Men  myght  [him]  knowe  in  ye  rought,  &c. 

The  aungelle  was  clothed  alle  in  white, 

There  was  neuer  fonde  soche  a  wyghte : 

Alle  was  cowched  in  perles  ryche, 

Saw  neuer  mane  anoder  him  liche. 

Alle  was  whyte  bothe  tyre  and  stede, 
.  The  place  was  fayr  ther  they  yedeu; 

So  fayre  a  stede  as,  he  on  rode 

Was  neuer  mane  that  euer  bystrode. 

And  so  was  alle  his  aparelle 

Alle  mene  there  of  hadde  mervayle. 

Hys  mene  were  alle  rychely  dyght 

Herew  reches  can  telle  no  wyght, 

Of  clothis,  gyrdelis,  and  oder  thyngis, 

Euery  swquyer  men  thought  knyghtisx; 
*  that  is,  the  artgel.  u  went.  w  their.  *  [a  kyng.  MS.  Vernon.} 


SECT.  V.] 


KYNG  ROBERT  OF  SICILY. 


187 


Alle  they  redyne  in  ryche  araye, 
But  kynge  Robert  as  I  yow  saye, 
[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  oder  lordis  many  mo, 
Welcomed  the  aungele  as  for  kynge 
And  maden  joye  of  his  comynge,  &c. 

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  century0,  and 


n  There  is  an  old  French  Romance, 
Robert  le  Diable,  often  quoted  by  Car- 
pentier  in  his  Supplement  to  Du  Cange. 
And  a  French  Morality,  without  date  or 
name  of  the  author,  in  manuscript,  Com- 
ment il  fut  enjoint  a  ROBERT  le  diable, 
fils  du  due  de  Normandie,  pour  ses  mes- 
faites,  de  faire  lefol  sang  parler,  et  depuis 
N.  S.  ut  merci  du  lui.  Beauchamps,  Rech. 
Theat.  Fr.  p.  109.  This  is  probably  the 
same  Robert. 

[The  French  prose  romance  of  Robert 
le  Diable,  printed  in  1496,  is  extant  in 
the  little  collection,  of  two  volumes, 
called  Bibliotheque  Bleue.  It  has  been 
translated  into  other  languages:  among 
the  rest  into  English.  The  English  ver- 
sion was  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde. 
The  title  of  one  of  the  chapters  is,  How 
God  sent  an  aungell  to  the  hermyte  to 
sliewe  him  the  penaunce  that  he  sholde 
gyve  to  Robert  for  his  synnes. — "  Yf  that 
Robert  wyll  be  shryven  of  his  synnes,  he 
must  kepe  and  counterfeite  the  wayes  of 
a  fole  and  be  as  he  were  dombe,  &c."  It 
ends  thus : 

Thus  endeth  the  lyfe  of  Robert  the  devyll 
That  was  the  servant  of  our  lorde. 
And  of  his  condycyons  that  was  full  evyll 
Enprynted  in  London  by  Wynkyn  the 
Worde. 

The  volume  has  this  colophon.  "  Here 
endeth  the  lyfe  of  the  moost  ferefullest 
and  unmercifullest  and  myschevous  Ro- 
berte  the  devyll  which  was  afterwarde 
called  the  servaunte  of  our  Lorde  Jhesu 
Cryst.  Enprynted  in  Fletestrete  in  [at] 
the  sygne  of  the  sonne  by  Wynkyn  de 
Worde."  There  is  an  old  English  Mo- 
rality on  this  tale,  under  the  very  cor- 
rupt title  of  ROBERT  CICYLL,  which  was 
represented  at  the  High-Cross  in  Chester, 


in  1529.  There  is  a  manuscript  copy  of 
the  poem,  on  vellum,  in  Trinity  College 
library  at  Oxford,  MSS.  Num.  LVll.  fol. 
— ADDITIONS.] 

[Robert  of  Cicyle  and  Robert  the  De- 
vil, though  not  identical,  are  clearly  mem- 
bers of  the  same  family,  and  this  poetic 
embodiment  of  their  lives  is  evidently  the 
offspring  of  that  tortuous  opinion  so  pre- 
valent in  the  middle  ages,  and  which  time 
has  mellowed  into  a  vulgar  adage,  that 
"  the  greater  the  sinner  the  greater  the 
saint."  The  subject  of  the  latter  poem 
was  doubtlessly  Robert  the  first  duke  of 
Normandy,  who  became  an  early  object 
of  legendary  scandal ;  and  the  transition 
to  the  same  line  of  potentates  in  Sicily 
was  an  easy  effort  when  thus  supported. 
The  romantic  legend  of  Sir  Gowther  re- 
cently published  in  the  Select  Pieces  of 
Early  Popular  Poetry,  is  only  a  different 
version  of  Robert  the  Devil  with  a  change 
of  scene,  names,  &c.  The  Bibliotheque 
Bleue  is  a  voluminous  collection,  of  which 
Warton  appears  to  have  seen  only  two 
volumes. — PRICE.] 

[Although  it  has  been  assumed  that 
Robert  the  Devil  was  identical  with  the 
first  duke  of  Normandy;  this  question  has 
been  recently  the  subject  of  a  discussion 
occasioned  by  the  publication  of  the  Mi- 
racle or  Morality  at  Rouen  in  1836.  See 
the  Note  at  the  end  of  this  Section. — 
R.  T.] 

[A  curious  metrical  Lyfe  of  Roberte 
the  Deuyll  was  published  by  J.  Herbert, 
8vo,  Lond.  1798,  from  a  transcript  made  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth  from  a  4to  edition 
in  black  letter,  printed  by  W.  de  Worde 
or  Pynson,  and  ornamented  with  wood- 
cuts. In  Mr.  Donee's  curious  library  was 
a  MS.  containing,  transcripts  by  the  same 
hand  of  the  romances  of  Syr  Isenbras,  Syr 


188       METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE   13TH  CENTURY.     [SECT.  V. 

this  tale  might  have  been  originally  got  or  written  during  their  pos- 
session of  that  island,  which  continued  through  many  monarchies0. 
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  ex- 
pressive pencil. 

"  Her  bigenneth  of  the  KYNG  OF  TARS,  and  of  the  Soudan  of  Dam- 
miasP,  how  the  Soudan  of  Dammias  was  cristened  thoru  Godis  grasV 
Herkeneth  now,  bothe  olde  and  yyng, 
For  Maries  love,  that  swete  thyng : 

How  a  werre  bigan 
Bitwene  a  god  Cristene  kyng, 
And  an  hethene  heyhe  lordyng, 

Of  Damas  the  Soudan. 
The  kyng  of  Taars  hedde  a  wyf, 
The  feireste  that  mighte  bere  lyf, 

That  eny  mon  telle  can : 
A  doughter  thei  hadde  hem  bitween, 
That  heorer  rihte  heir  sch  olde  ben ; 

White  so8  fether  of  swan : 
Chaast  heo*  was,  and  feir  of  chere, 
With  rodeu  red  so  blosme  on  brere, 

Eyyenw  stepe  and  gray, 
With  lowe  schuldres,  and  whyte  swerex; 
Hire  to  sco?  was  gret  prey  ere 

Of  princes  pert  in  play. 

Degore,    Syr   Gawayne,  and   Syr  Egla-  p  Damascus. 

moure  of  A r toys,  all  of  which  were  copied  q  MS.  Vernon.  Bibl.  Bodl.  f.  304.  It  is 

in  1564,  from  printed  editions  earlier  than  also  in  Bibl.  Adv.  Edinb.  W  4. 1.  Num.  iv. 

Copland's. — M.]  In  five  leaves  and  a  half.  Never  printed. 

0  A  passage  in  Fauchet,  speaking  of  [This  romance  will  be  found  in   Mr. 

rhyme,   may   perhaps  deserve   attention  Ritson's  Collection,  vol.  ii.  from  whose 

here.     "  Pour  le  regard  de  Siciliens,  je  transcript  the  present  text  has  been  cor- 

roe  tiens  presque  asseure,  que  Guillaume  rected.     On  the  authority  of  Douglas's 

Ferrabrach  frere   de    Robert   Guischard  version  of  the   ^Eneid  and  Ruddiman's 

et  autres  seigneurs  de  Calabre  et  Pouille  Glossary,  he  interprets  "  Tars  "  to  mean 

enfans   de    Tancred   Franjois-Normand,  Thrace ;  but  as  the  story  is  one  of  pure 

1'ont  portee  aux  pais  de  leur  conqueste,  invention,  and  at  best  but  a  romantic  le- 

estant  une  coustume   des   gens  de  defa  gend,  why  not  refer  the  Damas  and  Tars 

chanter,  avant  que  combattre,  les  beaux  of  the  text  to  the  Damascus  and  Tarsus  of 

faits  de  leurs  ancestres, composez  en  vers."  Scripture  ? — PRICE.] 
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.  Chrpnol. 
Hist.  Fr.  pag.  102.  edit.  1752.  [Also 


their. 

she. 

ruddy  [complexion]. 

eyes. 

neck. 


Gibbon,  ch.  hi  ]  y  see. 


SECT.  V.]  THE  KING  OF  TARS.  189 

The  word  of  hire z  sprong  ful  wyde 
Feor  and  ner,  bi  vche  a  syde : 

The  Soudan  herde  say; 
Him  thoughte  his  herte  wolde  breke  on  five 
Bot  he  mihte  have  hire  to  wyve, 

That  was  so  feir  a  may ; 
The  Soudan  ther  he  sat  in  halle ; 
He  sente  his  messagers  faste  withalle, 

To  hire  fader  the  kyng. 
And  seide,  hou  so  hit  ever  bifalle, 
That  mayde  he  wolde  clothe  in  palle 

And  spousen  hire  with  his  ryng. 
"And  ellesa  I  swere  withouten  fayle 
I  schullb  hire  winnen  in  pleyn  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  sat  at  his  des, 
Iserved  of  his  furste  mes  ; 

Thei  comen  into  the  halle 
Tofore  the  prince  proud  in  pres, 
Heore  tale  thei  tolden  withouten  lees 

And  on  heore  knees  gunne  falle  : 
And  seide,  "  Sire,  the  kyng  of  Tars 
Of  wikked  wordes  nis  not  scars, 

Hethene  hound*  he  doth  thef  calle; 
And  er  his  doughtur  he  give  the  tille s 
Thyn  herte  blode  he  wol  spille 

And  thi  barouns  alle." 

Whon  the  Soudan  this  iherde,  • 

As  a  wod  man  he  ferde, 

His  robe  he  rente  adoun ; 
He  tar  the  her  h  of  hed  and  berd, 
And  seide  he  wold  her  wine  *  with  swerd, 

Beo  his  lord  seynt  Mahoun. 
The  table  adoun  riht  he  smot, 
In  to  the  floore  foot  hot1, 

He  lokede  as  a  wylde  lyoun ; 

z  The  report  of  her.  "  wive,"  from  whence  the  reading  in  the 

a  also  [else].  b  shall.  text  was  too  obvious  not  to  be  adopted. — 

e  A  phrase  often  applied  to  the  Sara-  PRICE.]  [I  doubt  very  much  whether  wine 

cens.     So  in  Syr  Bevys,  Signat.  C.  ii.  b.  for  winne  is  admissible,  and  should  feel 

To  speke  with  an  hethene  hounde.  inclined  to  follow  the  reading  of  the  MS. 

f   ^  wiue,  for  marry,  as  in  Ritson. — M.] 

«  -Before  his  daughter  is  given  to  thee."  '  S^ck;  S?mped'    ^An  idio™tic  ex' 

fc  "t   •    th    h  '    "  pression  to  denote  anger  or  haste,  still 

*  [Walton  readi  «'  wene,"  and  Ritson       used  **  the  Irish  pewantry.-M.] 


190      METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.    [SECT.  V, 

Al  that  he  hitte  he  sinot  doun  riht 
Bothe  sergaunt  and  kniht, 

Erl  and  eke  baroun. 
So  he  ferde  forsothe  a  pliht, 
Al  a  day,  and  al  a  niht, 

That  no  man  mihte  him  chaste k: 
A  morwen  whon  hit  was  day  liht, 
He  sent  his  messagers  ful  riht, 

After  his  barouns  in  haste : 
[That  thai  com  to  his  parlement, 
For  to  heren  his  jugement 

Bothe  lest  and  mast. 
When  the  parlement  was  pleyner, 
Tho  bispac  the  Soudan  fer, 

And  seyd  to  hem  in  hast.]f 
"  Lordynges,"  he  seith,  "  what  to  rede !, 
Me  is  don  a  grete  mysdede, 

Of  Taars  the  Cristen  kyng ; 
I  bed  him  bothe  lond  and  lede 
To  have  his  douhter  in  worthli  wede, 

And  spouse  hire  with  my  ryng. 
And  he  seide,  withouten  fayle 
Arst  he  wolde  me  sle  in  batayle, 

And  mony  a  gret  lordynge. 
Ac  sertesm  he  schal  be  forswore, 
Or  to  wrothe  [r]  helen  that  he  was  bore, 

Bote  he  hit  therto0  bryng. 
Therefore  lordynges,  I  have  after  ow  sent 
For  to  come  to  my  parliment, 

To  wite  of  yow  counsayle." 
And  alle  onswerde  with  gode  entent 
Thei  wolde  be  at  his  comaundement 

Withouten  eny  fayle. 
And  whon  thei  were  alle  at  his  heste, 
The  Soudan  made  a  wel  gret  feste, 

For  love  of  his  batayle  ; 
The  Soudan  gederet  an  oste  unryde?, 
With  Sarazins  of  muchel  pryde, 

The  kyng  of  Tars  to  assayle. 

k  check.  Morgan  did  after  conseile, 

f  [The  lines  within  brackets  were  in-  And  wrought  him  selfe  to  tvrotherheile. 
serted  by  Mr.  Ritson  from  the  Auchinleck 

MS.— PRICE.]  ASaln' 

1  "  what  counsel  shall  we  take  ?  "  To  }ow  al  was  a  wikke  conseile, 
m  But  certainly.  That  36  selle  se  fuH  wrotherheile. 
n  Loss  of  health  or  safety.     Maledic- 
tion.   So  Robert  of  Brunne,  Chron.  apud  °  To  that  issue. 
Hearne's  Rob.  Glouc.  p.  737.  738.  f  unright,  wicked  [numerous]. 


SECT.  V.]  THE  KINO  OF  TARS.  191 

Whon  the  kyng  hit  herde  that  tyde 
He  sent  about  on  vche  asyde, 

Alle  that  he  mihte  of  seende  ; 
Gret  werre  tho  bigan  to  wrake 
For  the  mariage  ne  most  be  take 

Of  that  mayden  heende  *. 
Batayle  thei  sette  uppon  a  day, 
Withinne  the  thridde  day  of  May, 
Ne  longer  nolde  thei  leender. 
The  Soudan  com  with  gret  power, 
With  helm  briht,  and  feir  baneer, 

Uppon  that  kyng  to  wende. 
The  Soudan  ladde  an  huge  ost, 
And  com  with  muche  pruyde  and  cost, 

With  the  kyng  of  Tars  to  fihte. 
With  him  mony  a  Sarazyn  feer3, 
Alle  the  feldes  feor  and  neer, 
Of  helmes  leomede*  lihte. 
The  kyng  of  Tars  com  also 
The  Soudan  batayle  for  to  do 

With  mony  a  Cristene  knihte  ; 
Either  ost  gon  othur  assayle 
Ther  bigon  a  strong  batayle 

That  grislych  was  of  siht. 
Threo  hethene  ayein  twey  Cristene  men, 
And  falde  hem  doun  in  the  fen, 

With  wepnes  stif  and  goode : 
The  steorne  Sarazyns  in  that  fiht, 
Slowe  vr  Cristen  men  doun  riht, 

Thei  fouhte  as  heo  weore  woode. 
The  Soudan  ost  in  that  stounde 
Feolde  the  Cristene  to  the  grounde, 

Mony  a  freoly  foode  ; 
The  Sarazins,  withouten  fayle, 
The  Cristene  culde"  in  that  battayle, 

Nas  non  that  hem  withstoode. 
Whon  the  king  of  Tars  sauh  that  siht 
Wodde  he  was  for  wraththe  apliht ; 

In  honde  he  hent  a  spere, 
And  to  the  Soudan  he  rode  ful  riht, 
With  a  duntx  of  much  miht, 
Adoun  he  gon  him  bere : 

q  hend,  handsome,  [courteous.     A  ge-  r  tarry.  *  companion, 

neral   term   expressive  of  personal   and  *  shone.  u  killed, 

mental  accomplishments. — PRICE.]  *  dint,  wound,  stroke. 


192       METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE   13TH  CENTURY.     [SKCT.  V. 

The  Soudan  neigh  he  hedde  islawe, 
But  thritti  thousent  of  hethene  lawe 

Coomen  him  for  to  were ; 
And  broughten  him  ayeyn  upon  his  stede, 
And  holpe  him  wel  in  that  nede, 

That  no  mon  miht  him  dere^. 
Whon  he  was  brouht  uppon  his  stede, 
He  sprong  as  sparkle  doth  of  glede z, 

For  wrathe  and  for  envye  ; 
Alle  that  he  hutte  he  made  hem  blede, 
He  ferde  as  he  wolde  a  wedea, 

"  Mahoun  help,"  he  gan  crye. 
Mony  an  helm  ther  was  unweved, 
And  mony  a  bacinetb  tocleved, 

And  sadeles  mony  emptye  ; 
Men  mihte  se  uppon  the  feld 
Moni  a  kniht  ded  under  scheld, 

Of  the  Cristene  cumpagnye. 
Whon  the  kyng  of  Taars  saugh  hem  so  ryde, 
No  lengor  there  he  nolde  abyde, 

Bote  fleyhc  to  his  oune  cite : 
The  Sarazins,  that  ilke  tyde, 
Slough  adoun  bi  vche  a  syds 

Vr  Cristene  folk  so  fre. 
The  Sarazins  that  tyme,  saunz  fayle, 
Slowe  vr  Cristene  in  batayle, 

That  reuthe  hit  was  to  se ; 
And  on  the  morwe  for  heored  sake 
Truwes  thei  gunne  togidere  take6, 

A  moneth  and  dayes  thre. 
As  the  kyng  of  Tars  sat  in  his  halle, 
He  made  ful  gret  deol f  withalle, 

For  the  folk  that  he  hedde  ilore* 
His  douhter  com  in  riche  palle, 
On  kneos  heo  h  gon  biforen  him  falle, 

And  seide  with  syking  sore : 
"Fader/'  heo  seide,  "let  me  beo  his  wyf, 
That  ther  be  no  more  strif, "  &c. 

To  prevent  future  bloodshed,  the  princess  voluntarily  declares  she  is 
willing  to  be  married  to  the  Soldan,  although  a  Pagan :  and  notwith- 
standing  the  king  her  father  peremptorily  refuses  his  consent,  and  re- 

y  hurt.  z  coal,  fire-brand.  e  They  began  to  make  a  truce  together. 

*  as  if  he  was  mad.        b  helmet.  f  dole,  grief. 

c  flew.  <»  their.  E  lost.  h  she. 


SECT.  V.]  THK  KING  OF  TARS.  193 

solves  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  reconci- 
liation by  marrying  him. 

To  the  Soudan  heo*  is  ifare ; 
He  com  with  mony  an  heigh  lordyng, 
For  to  welcom  that  swete  thyng, 

Ther  heo  com  in  hire  chare k : 
He  custe l  hire  wel  mony  a  sithe 
His  joye  couthe  no  man  kithem, 

Awei  was  al  hire  care. 
Into  chambre  heo  was  led, 
With  riche  clothes  heo  was  cled, 

Hethene  as  thaug  heo  were". 
The  Soudan  ther  he  sat  in  halle, 
He  comaundede  his  knihtes  alle 

That  mayden  for  to  fette, 
In  cloth  of  riche  purpil  palle, 
And  on  hire  hed  a  comeli  calle, 

Bi  the  Soudan  heo  was  sette. 
Unsemli  was  hit  for  to  se 
Heo  that  was  so  bright  of  ble 

To  habbe0  so  foule  a  mettep,  &c. 

They  are  then  married,  and  the  wedding  is  solemnized  with  a  grand 
tournament,  which  they  both  view  from  a  high  tower.  She  is  after- 
wards 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  baptized,  after  which  ceremony  he  suddenly  becomes  a  child 
of  most  extraordinary  beauty.  The  Soldan  next  proceeds  to  destroy  his 
Saracen  idols. 

He  hente  a  staf  with  herte  grete, 

And  al  his  goddes  he  gan  to  bete, 
And  drouh  hem  alle  adoun; 

And  leyde  on  til  that  he  con  swete, 

With  sterne  strokes  and  with  grete, 
On  Jovyn*  and  Plotoun, 

On  Astrot  and  sire  Jovin 

On  Tirmagaunt  and  Apollin, 

1  she.  k  chariot.  Chaucer  as  an  example  of  pride,  luxury, 

1  kist.  mknow.  and  lust.  Somp.T.v.  7511.  Verdier  (in  v.) 

n  as  if  she  had  been  a  heathen,  one  of  recites  a  Moralite  on  Jovinian,  with  nine- 

that  country.  teen  characters,  printed  at  Lyons,  from  an 

0  have.  antient  copy  in  1581,  8vo,  with  the  title 

p  mate.  L'Orgueil  et  presomption  de   V Empereur 

*  [I  know  not  if  by  sire  Jovyn  he  means  JOVINIAN.     But  Jovyn  being  mentioned 

Jupiter,  or  the  Roman  emperour  called  here  with  Plotoun  and  Apollin,  seems  to 

Jovinian,  against  whom  St.  Jerom  wrote,  mean  Jove  or  Jupiter;  and  the  appellation 

and  whose  history  is  in  the   Gesta  Ro-  SIRE  perhaps  implies  father,  or  chief,  of 

manorum,  c.  59.     He   is   mentioned   by  the  heathen  gods. — ADDITIONS.] 

VOL.  I.  O 


194      METRICAL  ROMANCES  OF  THE  13TH  CENTURY.       [SECT.  V. 

He  brak  hem  Bcolle  and  croun  ; 
On  Tirmagaunt,  that  was  heore  brother, 
He  lafte  no  lym  hole  with  other, 

Ne  on  his  lord  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 
solicits  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  Mem- 
brok.  There  is  a  warmth  of  description  in  some  passages  of  this  poem, 
not  unlike  the  manner  of  Chaucer.  The  reader  must  have  already  ob- 
served that  the  stanza  resembles  that  of  Chaucer's  RIME  OF  SIR  TOPAS''. 

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  Ipomydon  is  son 
of  Ermones  king  of  Apulia,  and  his  mistress  is  the  fair  heiress  of  Cala- 
bria. About  the  year  1230,  William  Ferrabras8,  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  *. 

Ipomydon,  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". 

Every  yere  the  kyng  wold 

At  Whytsontyde  a  fest  hold 

Off  dukis,  erlis,  and  barons, 

Many  there  come  frome  dyuers  townes, 

Ladyes,  maydens,  gentille  and  fre, 

Come  thedyr  frome  ferre  contre : 

q  The  romance  of  SIR  LIBEAUX  or  LY-  lection  of  Metrical  Romances.    It  has  also 

BIUS  DISCONIUS,  quoted  by  Chaucer,  is  been  analysed  by  Mr.  Ellis. — PRICE.] 

in  this  stanza.  MSS.  Cott.   Calig.  A.  ii.  *  Bras  defer.     Iron  arms. 

f.  40.  [William  Ferrabras  and  his   brethren 

*  MS.  Harl.  2252.  44.  f.  54.     And  in  may  be  found  in  the  real  not  the  romantic 

the  library  of  Lincoln  cathedral  (K.  k.  3.  history  of  the  Paladins.  Mr.  Warton  seems 

10.)  is  an  antient  imperfect  printed  copy,  to  have  confounded  him  with  the  giant 

[enprynted  at  London   by  Wynkyn  de  Fierabras  mentioned  in  Don  Quixote. — 

Worde,  wanting  the  first   sheet.      This  RITSON.] 

translation  is  said  to  differ  from  that  in  *  MS.  f.  55. 

MS.— M.]     [Printed  in  Mr.  Weber's  col-  u  See  p.  38,  note'  of  this  volume. 


SECT,  V.]  IPOMYDON.  195 

And  grete  lordis  of  ferre  lond, 
Thedyr  were  prayd  by  fore  the  bond  w. 
When  alle  were  come  togedyr  than 
There  was  joy  of  many  a  man  ; 
Fulle  riche  I  wote  were  hyr  seruice, 
For  better  myght  no  man  devyse. 
Ipomydon  that  day  servyd  in  halle, 
Alle  spake  of  hym  bothe  grete  and  smalle, 
Ladies  and  maydens  byheld  hym  one, 
So  godely  a  man  they  had  sene  none : 
His  feyre  chere  in  halle  theym  sniert 
That  many  a  lady  smote  throw  the  hert. 
And  in  there  hertis  they  made  mone 
That  there  lordis  ne  were  suche  one. 
Aftyr  mete  they  went  to  pley, 
Alle  the  peple,  as  I  you  sey ; 
Somme  to  chambre,  and  som  to  boure, 
And  somme  to  the  hye  towre* ; 
And  somme  in  the  halle  stode 
And  spake  what  hem  thought  gode : 
Men  that  were  of  that  cite y 
Enquered  of  men  of  other  centre,  &c. 

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

Now  they  go  forthe  on  hir  way, 

Ipomydon  to  hys  men  gan  sey, 

That  ther  be  none  of  hem  alle, 

So  hardy  by  hys  name  hym  calle, 

Whereso  thei  wend  ferre  or  nere, 

Or  ouer  the  strange  ryuere ; 

"  Ne  man  telle  what  I  ame, 

What  I  shalle  be,  ne  whens  I  came." 

Alle  they  granted  his  comandement, 

And  forthe  they  went  with  one  assent. 

Ipomydon  and  Tholomew 

Robys  had  on  and  mantillis  new, 

Of  the  richest  that  myght  bee, 

Ther  was  [nasj  suche  in  that  cuntree : 

w  before-hand.  ties  were  formed,  and  different  schemes  of 

x  In  the  feudal  castles,   where  many       amusement  invented.     One  of  these  was 
persons  of  both  sexes  were  assembled,  and       to  mount  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  highest 
who  did  not  know  how  to  spend  the  time,       towers  in  the  castle, 
it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  different  par-  y  The  Apulians. 

o2 


196  IPOMYDON.  [SECT,  v 

For  many  was  the  ryche  stone 

That  the  mantillis  were  vppon. 

So  longe  there  weys  they  haue  nonie* 

That  to  Calabre  they  ar  come : 

They  come  to  the  castelle  yate 

The  porter  was  redy  there  at, 

The  porter  to  theyme  they  gan  calle, 

And  prayd  hym  go  in  to  the  halle, 

And  say  thy  ladya  gent  and  fre, 

That  comen  ar  men  of  ferre  contre, 

And  if  it  plese  hyr,  we  wolle  hyr  prey, 

That  we  myght  ete  with  hyr  to  day. 

The  porter  sayd  fulle  cortessly 

"  Your  erand  to  do  I  am  redy." 

The  lady  to  hyr  mete  was  sette, 

The  porter  come  and  feyre  hyr  grette, 

"  Madame,"  he  sayd,  "  God  you  saue," 

Atte  your  gate  gestis  ye  haue, 

Strange  men  as  for  to  see 

They  aske  mete  for  charyte." 

The  lady  comaundith  sone  anone 

That  the  gates  were  vndone, 

"  And  bryng  theym  alle  byfore  me 

For  wele  at  ese  shalle  they  bee." 

They  toke  hyr  pagis,  hors  &  alle, 

These  two  men  went  in  to  the  halle, 

Ipomydon  on  knees  hym  sette, 

And  the  lady  feyre  he  grette : 

"  I  am  a  man  of  strange  contre 

And  pray  you  yff  your  wille  to  [so]  be 

That  I  myght  dwelle  with  you  to-yere 

Of  your  norture  for  to  lereb, 

I  am  come  frome  ferre  lond ; 

For  speche  I  here  by  fore  the  hand, 

z  took  [taken].  bury  executed  the  sheriff's  office  for  the 

a  She  was  lady,  by  inheritance,  of  the  county  of  Wilts,  in  different  parts  of  the 

signory.     The  female  feudataries  exer-  reign  of  Henry  III.  (See  Baronage,  vol.  i. 

cised  all  the  duties  and  honours  of  their  177.)     From  Fuller's  Worthies  we  find 

feudal  jurisdiction  in  person.     In  Spen-  that  Elizabeth  widow  of  Thomas   Lord 

ser,  where  we  read  of  the  Lady  of  the  Clifford   was  sheriffess  of  Westmoreland 

Castle,  we  are  to  understand  such  a  cha-  for   many    years  :     and   from    Pennant's 

racter.     See  a  story  of  a  Comtesse,  who  Scottish  Tour  we  learn  that  for  the  same 

entertains  a  knight  in   her  castle   with  county,  Anne,  the  celebrated  countess  of 

much  gallantry.    Mem.  sur  1'Anc.  Chev.  Dorset,  Pembroke  and  Montgomery,  often 

ii.  69.     It  is  well  known  that  anciently  sat  in  person  as  sheriffess.     Yet  Ritson 

in  England  ladies  were  sheriffs  of  counties.  doubted  of  facts  to  substantiate  Mr.  War- 

[Margaret  countess  of  Richmond  was  a  ton's  assertion.     See  his  Obs.  p.  10.  and 

justice  of  peace.     Sir  W.  Dugdale  tells  us  reply  in  the  Gent.  Mag.  1782.  p.  573. — 

that  Ela  widow  of  William  earl  of  Salis-  PARK.]                                   h  learn. 


SECT.  V.]  1POMYDON.  197 

That  your  norture  and  your  servise, 
Ys  holden  of  so  grete  empryse, 
I  pray  you  that  I  may  dwelle  here 
Somme  of  your  seruyse  for  to  lere." 
The  lady  byheld  Ipomydone, 
Hym  semyd  wele  a  gentilmane, 
She  knew  none  suche  in  hyr  londe, 
So  goodly  a  mane  &  wele  farand c ; 
She  saw  also  by  his  norture 
He  was  a  man  of  grete -valure: 
She  cast  fulle  sone  in  hyr  thoght 
That  for  no  seruyce  come  he  noght; 
But  it  was  worship  hyr  vnto 
In  feyre  seruyce  hym  to  do. 
She  sayd,  "  Syr,  welcome  ye  be, 
And  alle  that  comyn  be  with  the ; 
Sithe  ye  haue  had  so  grete  travayle, 
Of  a  service  ye  shatle  not  fayle : 
In  thys  contre  ye  may  dwelle  here, 
And  at  youre  wille  for  to  lere ; 
Of  the  cuppe  ye  shalle  serue  me 
And  alle  your  men  with  you  shal  be ; 
Ye  may  dwelle  here  at  youre  wille, 
Butd  your  beryng  be  fulle  ylle." 
"  Madame,"  he  sayd,  "  grantmercy," 
He  thankid  the  lady  cortesly. 
She  comandyth  hym  to  the  mete, 
But  or  he  satte  in  any  sete, 
He  saluted  theym  grete  &  smalle, 
As  a  gentille  man  shuld  in  halle ; 
Alle  they  sayd  sone  anone, 
They  saw  ne*uyr  so  goodly  a  mane, 
Ne  so  light,  ne  so  glad, 
Ne  non  that  so  ryche  atyre  had ; 
There  was  none  that  sat  nor  yedee, 
But  they  had  mervelle  of  hys  dedef, 
And  sayd,  he  was  no  lytell  syre 
That  myght  shew  suche  atyre. 
Whan  they  had  ete,  and  grace  sayd, 
And  the  tabylle  away  was  leyd ; 
Vpp  than  aroos  Ipomydon, 
And  to  the  botery  he  went  anone, 
And  [dyde]  his  mantille  hym  aboute ; 
On  hym  lokyd  alle  the  route, 

c  handsome.  A  unless.  e  walked.  {  behaviour. 


198  JPOMYDON.  [SECT.  v« 

And  euery  man  sayd  to  other  there, 
"  Wille  ye  se  the  proude  squeer 
Shalle  serueff  my  lady  of  the  wyne, 
In  hys  mantelle  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  fulle  clere, 
Adowne  than  felle  hys  mantylle  by, 
He  prayd  hym  for  hys  curtessy, 
That  lytelle  yifteh  that  he  wolde  nome 
Tille  efte  sone  a  better  come. 
Vp  it  toke  the  botelere, 
Byfore  the  lady  he  gan  it  bere, 
And  prayd  the  lady  hertely 
To  thanke  hym  of  his  cortessye. 
Alle  that  was  tho  in  the  halle 
Grete  honowre  they  spake  hym  alle; 
And  sayd  he  was  no  lytelle  man 
That  suche  yiftys  yiffe  kan. 
There  he  dwellyd  many  a  day, 
And  servid  the  lady  wele  to  pay, 
He  bare  hym  on  so  feyre  manere 
To  knyghtis,  ladyes,  and  squyere? 
Alle  louyd  hym  that  were  hym  by, 
For  he  bare  hym  so  eojtesly. 
The  lady  had  a  cosyne  that  hight  Jason, 
Fulle  wele  he  louyd  Ipomydon ; 
Where  that  he  yede  in  or  oute, 
Jason  went  with  hym  aboute. 
The  lady  lay,  buKshe  slept  noght, 
For  of  the  squyere  she  had  grete  thoght ; 
How  he  was  feyre,  and  shape  wele, 
Body  and  armes,  and  euery  dele; 
There  was  non  in  alle  hir  land 
So  wel  besemyd  doughty  of  hand. 
But  she  kowde  wete  for  no  case, 
Whens  he  come,  ne  what  he  was, 
Ne  of  no  man  cowde  enquere 
Other  than  the  strange  squyere. 
She  hyr  bythought  on  a  queyntyse, 
If  she  myght  know  in  ony  wyse, 
To  wete  whereof  he  were  come ; 
Thys  was  hyr  thoght  alle  &  somme 

8  "who  is  to  serve."  h  i.  e.  his  mantle. 


SECT.  V.j  IPOMYDON.  199 

She  thought  to  wode  hyr  men  to  tame1, 

That  she  myght  knowe  hym  by  his  game. 

On  the  morow  whan  it  was  day 

To  hyr  men  than  gan  she  say, 

"  To  morow  whan  it  is  day  lyght, 

Loke  ye  be  alle  redy  dight, 

With  youre  handis  [houndis]  more  and  lesse, 

In  the  forest  to  take  my  grese ; 

And  there  I  wille  my  self  be, 

Youre  game  to  byhold  and  see." 

Ipomydon  had  houndis  thre, 

That  he  broght  frome  his  contre ; 

When  they  were  to  the  wodde  gone, 

This  lady  and  hyr  men  ichone, 

And  with  hem  hyr  howndis  ladde, 

Alle  that  euyr  any  howndis  had. 

Sir  Tholomew  foryate  he  noght, 

His  mastres  howndis  thedyr  he  broght, 

That  many  a  day  ne  had  ronne  ere, 

Fulie  wele  he  thoght  to  note  hem  there. 

Whan  they  come  to  the  laund  on  hight, 

The  quenys  pavylon  there  was  pight, 

That  she  myght  se  of  the  best, 

Alle  the  game  of  the  forest. 

The  wandle'ssours  went  throw  the  forest, 

And  to  the  lady  brought  many  a  bestk, 

Herte  and  hynde,  buk  and  doo, 

And  othir  bestis  many  moo. 

The  howndis  that  were  of  gret  prise, 

Pluckid  downe  dere  alle  at  a  tryse, 

Ipomydon  with  his  houndis  thoo 

Drew  downe  bothe  buk  and  doo, 

More  he  toke  with  houndis  thre 

Than  alle  that  othyr  compaigne. 

There  squyres  vndyd  hyr  dere, 

Iche  man  on  his  owne  manere; 

Ipomydon  a  dere  yede  vnto, 

Fulle  konnyngly  gan  he  it  vndo ; 

So  feyre  that  veneson  he  gan  to  dight, 

That  bothe  hym  byheld  squyere  and  knyght. 

The  lady  lokyd  oute  of  hyr  pavyloune, 

And  saw  hym  dight  the  venysone. 

There  she  had  grete  deynte 

And  so  had  alle  that  dyd  hym  see ;     . 

•  {.  tempt.  [Probably  tone,  take,  rytkmi  gratia. — WEBER.]  k  beast. 


200  METRICAL  ROMANCES.  [SECT.  V. 

She  saw  alle  that  he  downe  droughe, 
Of  huntyng  she  wist  he  cowde  inoughe, 
And  thoght  in  hyr  herte  than 
That  he  was  come  of  gentille  men. 
She  bad  Jason  hyr  men  to  calle ; 
Home  they  passyd  grete  &  smalle. 
Home  they  come  sone  anone, 
This  lady  to  hyr  mete  gan  gone. 
And  of  venery1  had  hyr  fille, 
For  they  had  take  game  at  wille. 

He  is  aftewards  knighted  with  great  solemnity. 

The  heraudes  gaff  the  child1"  the  gree, 
A  M*  pownde  he  had  to  fee, 
Mynstrellys  had  yiftes  of  golde 
And  fourty  dayes  thys  fest  was  holde." 

The  metrical  romance  entitled  LA  MORT  ARTHURE,  preserved  in 
the  same  repository,  is  supposed  by  the  learned  and  accurate  Wan- 
ley,  to  be  a  translation  from  the  French :  who  adds,  that  it  is  not  per- 
haps older  than  the  times  of  Henry  the  Seventh.0  But  as  it  abounds 
with  many  Saxon  words,  and  seems  to  be  quoted  in  SYR  BEVYSP,  I 
have  given  it  a  place  here.  Notwithstanding  the  title,  and  the  exor- 
dium 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  <*. 

Tho  to  the  castelle  gonne  they  fare, 

To  the  ladye  fayre  and  bright : 
Blithe  was  the  lady  thare, 

That  they  wold  dwelle  with  hyr  that  night. 
Hastely  was  there  soper  yarer 

Off  mete  and  drinke  rychely  dight ; 

1  venison,  [hunting,  game.]  mere  compilation,  whilst  it  follows  with 

m  Ipomydon.                 n  MS.  f.  61.  b.  tolerable  exactness  the  French  romance 

0   MS.    Harl.    2252.    49.    f.    86.    Pr.  of  Lancelot;  and  its  phraseolog-y,  which 

"  Lordinges  that   are  leffe   and  deare."  perfectly  resembles  that  of  Chester  and 

Never  printed.  other  authors  of  the  fifteenth  century,  be- 

[The  late  Mr.  Ritson  was  of  opinion  trays  no  marks  of  affectation. — ELLIS.  A 

that  [this  romance]   was   versified   from  new  edition    of  Caxton's  Morte  Arthur 

the  prose  work  of  the  same  name  written  has  since  been  published  by  Mr.  Southey, 

by  Malory  and  printed  by  Caxton ;  in  2  vols.  4to.  1817. — PRICE.] 

proof  of  which  he  contended  that  the  style  p  Signat.  K.  ii.  b.            q  MS.  f.  89.  b. 

is  marked  by  an  evident  affectation  of  and-  'ready.     See  Glossary  to  the  Oxford 

quity.     But  in  truth  it  differs  most  essen-  edition   of  Shakspeare,   1771.      In   toe. 

tially  from  Malory's  work,  which  was  a  [Also  Nares  and  Jamieson.] 


SECT.  V.]  LA  MORT  ABTHURE.  201 

On  the  morow  gonne  they  dyne  &  fare, 

Both  Launcelott  and  that  othere  knight. 
Whan  they  come  in  to  the  feld, 

Myche  there  was  of  game  &  play, 
A  while  they  hovid3,  &  by  held 

How  Arthurs  knightis  rode  that  day, 
Galehodis*  party  bygan  to  held", 

On  fote  his  knightis  ar  led  away ; 
Launcelott  stiff  was  vndyr  scheld, 

Thinkis  to  helpe  yif  that  he  may. 
Besyde  hym  come  than  sire  Ewayne, 

Bremew  as  any  wilde  bore ; 
Launcelott  springis  hym  ageyne*, 

In  rede  armys  that/ he  bore  ; 
A  dynte  he  yaff  with  mekille  mayne, 

Sire  Ewayne  was  vnhorsid  thare, 
That  alle  men  wente*  he  had  bene  slayne, 

So  was  he  woundyd  wondyr  sarez. 
Sir  Boerte  thoughte  no  thinge  good, 

When  sire  Ewayne  vnhorsid  was ; 
Forthe  he  springis,  as  he  were  wode, 

To  Launcelot  withouten  lees. 
Launcelot  hytte  hym  on  the  hode, 

The  nexte  way  to  ground  he  chese; 
Was  none  so  stiff  agayne  hym  stode 

Fulle  thynne  he  made  the  thikkest  prees3. 
Sir  Lyonelle  beganne  to  teneb, 

And  hastely  he  made  hym  bownec, 
To  Launcelott,  with  herte  kene, 

He  rode  with  helme  and  sword  browne; 
Launcelott  hitte  hym  as  I  wene, 

Throughe  the  helme  in  to  the  crowne : 
That  euyr  aftere  it  was  sene  ;  * 

Bothe  hors  and  man  there  yede  adowne. 
The  knightis  gadrid  togedire  thare, 

And  gan  with  crafte,  &c. 

I  could  give  many  more  ample  specimens  of  the  romantic  poems  of 
these  nameless  minstrels,  who  probably  flourished  before  or  about  the 
reign  of  Edward  the  Second d.  But  it  is  neither  my  inclination  nor  in- 

s  hovered,  [tarried. — M.]  tioned  in  the  Prologue  to  Cure  de  Lyon, 

1  Sir  Galaad's.  above  cited.  See  also  p.  124.  of  this  volume. 

u  Perhaps  yeld,  i.  e.  yield,  [heel,  i.  e.  In  the  Cotton  manuscripts  there  is  the  me- 

give  way. — M.]  trical  romance  of  Octavian  imperator,  but 

w  fierce.         *  against.         y  weened.  it  has  nothing  of  the  history  of  the  Ro- 

*  sore.  *  crowd.  man  emperors.  Pr.  "  Jhesu  )>at  was  with 

b  be  troubled.  c  ready.  spere  ystonge."     Calig.  A  ii.  f.  20.     It  is 

d  Octavian  is  one  of  the  romances  men-  a  very  singular  stanza.     In  Bishop  More's 


202 


OLD  ENGLISH  ROMANCES. 


[SECT.  v. 


tention  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 


manuscripts  at  Cambridge,  there  is  a  poem 
with  the  same  title,  but  a  very  different 
beginning,  viz.  "  Lytyll  and  mykyll  olde 
and  younge."  Bibl.  Publ.  GOO.  30. — 
[This  romance  will  be  found  in  Mr.  We- 
ber's collection,  vol.  iii.  p.  157. — PRICE.] 
— The  emperor  Octavyen,  perhaps  the 
same,  is  mentioned  in  Chaucer's  Dreme, 
v.  368.  Among  Hatton's  manuscripts  in 
Bibl.  Bodl.  [No.  100.]  we  have  a  French 
poem,  Romanz  de  Otheviene  Empereor  de 
Rome.  Hyper.  Bodl.  4046.  21. 

[A  metrical  romance  of  Octavyan  was 
printed  by  W.  de  Worde,  bl.  L  with  wood- 
cuts. See  MS.  Harl.  5905.  f.  17.  (Bay- 
ford).—  M.] 

In  the  same  line  of  the  aforesaid  Pro- 
logue, 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, 
Q,ui  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. 
Edinb.  W4.  1.  Num.  xxii. 

[It  is  in  this  romance  of  Syr  Bevys, 
that  the  knight  passes  over  a  bridge,  the 
arches  of  which  are  hung  round  with  small 
bells.  Signal.  E  iv.  This  is  an  oriental 
idea.  In  the  ALCORAN  it  is  said,  that  one 
of  the  felicities  in  Mahomet's  paradise, 
will  be  to  listen  to  the  ravishing  music  of 
an  infinite  number  of  bells,  hanging  on 
the  trees,  which  will  be  put  in  motion  by 
the  wind  proceeding  from  the  throne  of 
God.  Sale's  Koran,  Prelim.  Disc.  p.  100. 
In  the  enchanted  horn,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter,  in  le  Lai  du  Corn,  the  rim  of 
the  horn  is  hung  round  with  a  hundred 
bells  of  a  most  musical  sound. — ADDI- 
TIONS.] 

Sidracfce  was  translated  into  English 
verse  by  one  Hugh  Campden ;  and  printed, 
probably  not  long  after  it  was  translated, 
at  London,  by  Thomas  Godfrey,  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  Blanda- 
moure,  Sir  Libeaux,  and  Sir  Ippotis.  Of 
the  former  I  find  nothing  more  than  the 
name  occurring  in  Sir  Libeaux. 

[This  has  been  copied  from  Percy's 
Essay  referred  to  below,  the  last  edition 
of  which  reads  Blaundemere,  while  the 
best  MSS.  of  Chaucer  read  Pleindamoure. 
— PRICE.] 

To  avoid  prolix  repetitions  from  other 
works  in  the  hands  of  all,  I  refer  the  reader 
to  Percy's  Essay  on  antient  metrical  Ro- 
mances, 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.  Cot- 
ton, Calig.  A  ii.  f.  77.  and  MS.  Vernon, 
f.  296.  [Other  copies  may  be  found  in 
MSS.  Ashmole,  61.  f.  83.  and  750.  f.  147. 
and  MS.  Arund.  140.  Br.  Mus.— M.]  But 
as  Chaucer  is  speaking  of  romances  of 
chivalry,  which  he  means  to  ridicule,  and 
this  is  a  religious  legend,  it  may  be  doubt- 
ed 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  U  ginneth  a  tretys 

That  me  clepeth  YPOTYS. 
Alle  that  wolleth  of  wisdom  lere, 
Lustneth  now,  and  je  may  here ; 
Of  a  tale  ofholi  writ 
Seynt  John  the  evangelist  witnesseth  it. 
How  hit  bifelle  in  grete  Rome, 
The  cheef  citee  of  Criste'ndome, 
A  childe  was  sent  of  mihtes  most, 
Thorow  vertue  of  the  holi  gost : 
The  emperour  of  Rome  than 
His  name  was  hoten  sire  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  notforget  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 
Gawain,  Numb.  455.  Bibl.  Bodl.  It  be- 
gins, "  Be  ye  blythe  and  listeneth  to  the 
lyf  of  a  lorde  riche."  [This  reference  is 
erroneous,  and  the  poem  has  been  sought 
for  anxiously  without  success. — M.]  Dr. 


SECT.  V.]  OLD  ENGLISH  ROMANCES.  203 

poetry.  I  cannot  however  help  observing,  that  English  literature,  and 
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  em- 
ployed their  industry  in  reviving  obscure  fragments  of  unfnstructive 
morality  or  uninteresting  history.  But  in  the  present  age  we  are  be- 
ginning to  make  ample  amends :  in  which  the  curiosity  of  the  antiqua- 
rian is  connected  with  taste  and  genius,  and  his  researches  tend  to  dis>- 
play  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  reve- 
rence 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  ob- 
jects of  their  eyes.  The  very  walls  of  their  apartments  were  clothed 
with  romantic  history.  Tapestry  was  antiently  the  fashionable  furni- 
ture 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  preserved6;  which  I  will  here  give  without  reserve., 

Percy  has  printed  the  Marriage  of  Sir  the  old  royal  palace  of  Greenwich,  in  the 
Gawayne,  which 'he  believes  to  have  fur-  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth;  as  it  throws 
nished  Chaucer  with  his  Wife  of  Bath.  light  on  our  general  subject,  by  giving  a 
Ball.  i.  11.  It  begins,  "  King  Arthur  lives  lively  picture  of  the  fashions,  arts,  amuse- 
in  merry  Carlisle."  I  think  I  have  some-  ments,  and  modes  of  life,  which  then  pre- 
where  seen  a  romance  in  verse  entitled,  vailed.  From  the  same  manuscript  in  the 
The  Turke  and  Gawaine. — [This  romance  British  Museum.  "  A  clocke.  A  glasse 
occurs  in  Bishop  Percy's  catalogue  given  of  steele.  Four  battell  axes  of  wood.  Two 
from  his  folio  MS. — PRICE.]  quivers  with  arrowes.  A  painted  table 

[From  a  French  MS.  of  the  Romanz  [i.  e.  a  picture],  A  payre  of  ballance 
de  Othevien  Emperor  de  Rome,  be-  [balances],  with waights.  Acaseoftynne 
queathed  by  Hatton  to  the  Bodleian  with  a  plot.  In  the  window  [a  lai-ge  bow- 
Library,  an  elegant  translated  abridge-  window],  a  rounde  mapp.  A  standinge 
ment  has  been  made,  and  printed  for  glasse  of  steele  in  ship. — A  branche  of 
private  distribution,  (Oxford,  1809.)  by  flowres  wrought  upon  wyre.  Twa  payre 
the  Rev.  J.  J.  Conybeare,  late  professor  of  playing  tables  of  bone.  A  payre  of 
of  Anglo- Saxon  at  the  University  of  Oxford.  chesmen  in  a  case  of  black  lether.  Two 
—PARK.]  birds  of  Araby.  A  gonne  [gun]  upon  a 

e  '*  The  seconde  part  of  the  Inventorye  stocke  wheeled.  Five  paxes  [crucifixes] 

of  our  late  sovereigne  lord  kyng  Henry  of  glasse  and  woode.  A  tablet  of  our  ladie 

the  Eighth,  conteynynge  his  guard-robes,  and  saint  Anne.  A  standinge  glasse  with 

houshold-stuff,  &c. &c."  MS.Harl.  1419.  imagery  made  of  bone.  Three  payre  of 

fol.  The  original.  Compare  p.l  19.  of  this  hawkes  gloves,  with  two  lined  with  velvett. 

volume,  and  Walpole's  A  need.  Paint,  i.  Three  combe-cases  of  bone  furnished.  A 

p.  10.  nigh t-cappe  of  blacke  velvett  embrawder- 

[I  make  no  apology  for  adding  here  an  ed.  Sampson  made  in  alablaster.  A  peece 

account  of  the  furniture  of  a  CLOSET  at  of  unicorne's  home.  Littel  boxes  in  a  case 


204 


OLD  ENGLISH  ROMANCES, 


[SECT.  v. 


including  other  subjects,  as  they  happen  to  occur,  equally  descriptive  of 
the  times.  In  the  tapestry  of  the  Tower  of  London,  the  original  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 &,  our  Lady  and  Son, 
king  Solomon,  the  Woman  of  Canony,  Meleager,  and  the  Dance  of 


ofwoode.  Four  littel  coffres  for  jewels.  A 
home  of  ivorie.  A  standinge  diall  in  a 
case  of  copper.  A  horne-glasse.  Eight 
cases  of  trenchers.  Forty-four  dogs  col- 
lars, of  sondrye  makynge.  Seven  lyans  of 
silke.  A  purse  of  crymson  satten  for  a 

embrawdered  with  golde.    A  round 

painted  table  with  th'  ymage  of  a  kinge. 
A  foldinge  table  of  images.  One  pay  re 
of  bedes  [beads]  of  jasper  gavnyshed  with 
lether.  One  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
hawkes  hoodes.  A  globe  of  paper.  A 
mappe  made  lyke  a  scryne.  Two  green 
boxes  with  wrought  corall  in  them.  Two 
boxes  covered  with  blacke  velvett.  A 
reede  tipt  at  both  ends  with  golde,  and 
bolts  for  a  turony1  bowe.  A  chaire  of 
joyned  worke.  An  elle  of  synnamounde 
[cinnamon]  sticke  tipt  with  sylver.  Three 
ridinge  roddes  for  ladies,  and  a  yard  [rod] 
of  blake  tipt  with  home.  Six  walkyng 
staves,  one  covered  with  silke  and  golde. 
A  blake  satten-bag  with  chesmen.  A 
table  with  a  cloth  [a  picture]  of  saint 
George  embrawdered.  A  case  of  fyne 
carved  work.  A  box  with  a  bird  of  Araby. 
Two  long  cases  of  blacke  lether  with  pe- 
degrees.  A  case  of  Irish  arrows.  A  table, 
with  wordes,  of  Jhesus.  A  target.  Twenty- 
nine  bowes."  MSS.  Harl.  1412.  fol.  58. 
In  the  GALLERY  at  Greenwich,  mention 
is  made  of  a  "Mappe  of  England."  Ibid, 
fol.  58.  And  in  Westminster-palace  "a 
Mappe  of  Hantshire."  fol.  133.  A  proof 
that  the  topography  of  England  was  now 
studied.  Among  various  HEADS  of  Furni- 
ture, or  stores,  at  the  castle  of  Windsor,  such 
as  HORNS,  GYRDELLES,  HAWKESHOODS, 
WEAPONS,  BUCKLERS,  DOGS  COLLARS, 
and  AIGLETTES,  WALKING-STAVES  are 
specified.  Under  this  last  HE  AD  we  have, 
"  A  Cane  garnished  with  sylver  and  gilte, 
with  astronomie  upon  it.  A  Cane  gar- 
nished with  golde  havinge  a  perfume  in 
the  toppe,  undre  that  a  diall,  with  a  paire 
of  twitchers,  and  a  paire  of  compasses  of 


golde  and  a  foote  reule  of  golde,  a  knife 
and  the  file,  th'  afte  [the  handle  of  the 
knife]  or  golde  with  a  whetstone  tipped 
with  golde,  &c."  fol.  407. — ADDITIONS.] 

*  So  in  the  record.  But  he  was  the 
third  bishop  of  St.  Paul's,  London,  son  of 
king  Offa,  and  a  great  benefactor  to  St. 
Paul's  church,  in  which  he  had  a  most  su- 
perb shrine.  He  was  canonised.  Dugdale, 
among  many  other  curious  particulars  re- 
lating to  his  shrine,  says,  that  in  the  year 
1339  it  was  decorated  anew,  when  three 
goldsmiths,  two  at  the  wages  of  five  shil- 
lings by  the  week,  and  one  at  eight,  worked 
upon  it  for  a  whole  year.  Hist.  St.  Paul's, 
p.  21.  See  also  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  1 097,  Hugo  de  Flori, 
abbot  of  S.  Aust.  Canterb.  bought  for  the 
choir  of  his  church  a  great  branch-candle- 
stick. "  Candelabrum  magnum  in  choro 
eeneum  quoAjesse  vocatur  in  partibus  emit 
transmarinis."  Thorn,  Dec.  Script,  col. 
1796.  About  the  year  1330,  Adam  de 
Sodbury,  abbot  of  Glastonbury,  gave  to 
his  convent  "Unum  dorsale  laneum  le 
JESSE."  Hearn.  Joan.  Glaston,  p.  265. 
That  is,  a  piece  of  tapestry  embroidered 
with  the  stem  of  Jesse,  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  sub- 
ject of  this  note,  that  he  gave  his  mona- 
stery, among  other  costly  presents,  a  great 
clock,  processionibus  et  spectaculis  insig- 
nitum,  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  ad- 
orned the  new  roof  with  beautiful  paint- 
ings. Ibid. 


1  Perhaps  Tyrone  in  Ireland. 


SECT.  V.]  SUBJECT  OP  ANCIENT  TAPESTRY, 


205 


Maccabreh.  At  Durham-place  we  find  the  Citie  of  Ladies1,  the  ta- 
pestrie  of  Thebes  and  of  Troy,  the  City  of  Peace,  the  Prodigal  Son  k, 
Esther,  and  other  pieces  of  Scripture.  At  Windsor  castle  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem,  Ahasuerus,  Charlemagne,  the  siege  of  Troy,  and  hawking 
and  hunting1.  At  Nottingham  castle,  Amys  and  Amelionm.  At  Wood- 
stock manor,  the  tapestrie  of  Charlemagne11.  At  the  More,  a  palace  in 
Hertfordshire,  king  Arthur,  Hercules,  Astyages,  and  Cyrus.  At  Rich- 
mond, the  arras  of  Sir  Bevis,  and  Virtue  and  Vice  fighting0.  Many  of 
these  subjects  are  repeated  at  Westminster,  Greenwich,  Oatelands,  Be- 
dington  in  Surry,  and  other  royal  seats,  some  of  which  are  now  unknown 
as  such  P.  Among  the  rest  we  have  also  Hannibal,  Holofernes,  Ro- 
mulus and  Remus,  ^Eneas,  and  Susannah''.  I  have  mentioned  romances 
written  on  many  of  these  subjects,  and  shall  mention  others.  In  the  ro- 
mance of  SYR  GUY,  that  hero's  combat  with  the  dragon  in  Northum- 
berland is  said  to  be  represented  in  tapestry  in  Warwick  castle. 

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

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  fur- 
niture, that  a  special  grant  was  made  of  it  by  king  Richard  the  Second 


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  ecclesiastics,  who  all  danced  together, 
and  disappeared  one  after  another.  It  was 
called  DANCE  MACCABRE,  and  seems  to 
have  been  often  performed  in  St.  Inno- 
cent's at  Paris,  where  was  a  famous  paint- 
ing on  this  subject,  which  gave  rise  to  Lyd- 
gate'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.  [See  Mr.  Douce's  ela- 
borate work  on  this  subject  published  in 
1833.] 

1  A  famous  French  allegorical  romance. 

k  A  picture  on  this  favourite  subject  is 
mentioned  in  Shakspeare.  And  in  Ran- 
dolph's Muses  Looking-glass.  "  In  painted 
cloth  the  story  of  the  PRODIGAL."  Dodsl. 
Old  Plays,  vi.  260. 

1  f.  298.  m  f.  364. 

*f.  318.  °  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  remain- 
ing in  its  original  state,  called  the  Exche- 
quer. 

[In  an  inventory  of  the  effects  of  King 
Henry  V.  several  pieces  of  tapestry  are 
mentioned,  with  the  subjects  of  the  fol- 
lowing romances,  viz.  Bevis  of  Hampton, 


Octavian,  Gyngebras,  Hawkyn  namtelet, 
L'arbre  de  jeonesse,  Farman  (i.  e.  Phara- 
mond),  Charlemayn,  Duke  Glorian,  EI- 
kanus  le  noble,  Renaut,  Trois  roys  de  Co- 
leyn,  &c.  See  Rolls  of  Parl.  sub  anno 
1423.-—  DOUCE.] 

q  Montfaucon,  among  the  tapestry  of 
Charles  the  Fifth,  king  of  France,  in 
the  year  1370,  mentions,  Le  tappis  de  la 
vie  du  saint  Theseus.  Here  the  officer 
who  made  the  entry  calls  Theseus  a  saint. 
The  seven  Deadly  Sins,  Le  saint  Graal, 
Le  graunt  tappis  de  Neuf  Preux,  Reyne 
d' Ireland,  and  Godfrey  of  Bulloign.  Mo- 
num.  Fr.  Hi.  64.  The  neufpreux  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  New- 
hall  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  horse- 
backe  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  minstrels.  A  practice 
not  uncommon. 


20G  SUBJECT  OF  ANCIENT  TAPESTRY.  [SECT.  V. 

in  that  year,  conveying  "-that  suit  of  arras  hangings  in  Warwick  castle, 
which  contained  the  story  of  the  famous  Guy  earl  of  Warwick/'  to- 
gether with  the  castle  of  Warwick,  and  other  possessions,  to  Thomas 
Holand,  earl  of  Kent8.  And  in  the  restoration  of  forfeited  property  to 
this,  lord  after  his  imprisonment,  these  hangings  are  particularly  speci- 
fied in  the  patent  of  king  Henry  the  Fourth,  dated  1399.  When  Mar- 
garet, daughter  of  king  Henry  the  Seventh,  was  married  to  James  king 
of  Scotland,  in  the  year  1503,  Holyrood  House  at  Edinburgh  was  splen- 
didly decorated  on  that  occasion  ;  and  we  are  told  in  an  antient  record, 
that  the  "  hanginge  of  the  queenes  grett  chammer  represented  the  ys- 
tory  of  Troye  toune."  Again,  "the  king's  grett  chammer  had  one  table, 
wer  was  satt,  hys  chammerlayn,  the  grett  sqyer,  and  many  others,  well 
served ;  the  which  chammer  was  haunged  about  with  the  story  of  Her- 
cules, together  with  other  ystorysV  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  1468W. 
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  Francex.  I  have 
seen  an  antient  suite  of  arras,  containing  Ariosto's  Orlando  and  Ange- 
lica, where,  at  every  group,  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. 
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  dis- 
played 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's  de- 
scent on  England,  preserved  in  the  church  of  Bayeux  in  Normandy,  and 
intended  as  an  ornament  of  the  choir  on  high  festivals.  Bartholinus 

'  Dugd.  Bar.  i.  p.  237.  French  romances.     See  Fauch.  Rec.   p. 

4  Leland.   Coll.  vol.  iii.  p.    295,  296.  124.  128.     [The  Knight  of  Curtesy  and 

Opuscul.  6dit.  1770.  the  fair  Lady  of  Faguel  has  been  reprinted 

u  Ibid.  by  Mr.  Ritson,  vol.  iii.  p  193.     The  hero 

w  See  Obs.  Fair.  Qu.  i.  p.  177.  of  this  Romance  was  Raoulde  Coucy,  and 

*  Howel's  Letters,  xx.  §  vi.     B.  i.  This  not  Regnard  as  stated  by  Warton  on  the 

is  a  true  story,  about  the  year  1180.    Fau-  authority  of  Fauchet.    See  Memoires  His- 

chet  relates  it  at  large  from  an  old  au-  toriques  sur  Raoul  de  Coucy.    Paris,  1781. 

thentLc  French  chronicle  ;  and  then  adds,  — PRICE.]     [The   French  Metrical   Ro- 

"  Ainsi  fineront  les  amours  du  Chastelain  mance  of  the  Chatelain  de  Coucy  et  de  la 

du  Couci  et  de  la  dame  de  Faiel."     Our  Dame  de   Fayel,  has  been   sumptuously 

Castellan,   whose   name   is   Regnard  de  printed  from  a  MS.  in  the  Bibliotheque  du 

Couci,  was  famous  for  his  chansons  and  Roi,  by  G.  A.  Crapelet,  roy.  8vo.    Paris, 

chivalry,  but  more  so  for  his  unfortunate  1829. — M.] 

love,  which  became  proverbial  in  the  old 


SECT.  V.]  NOTE  ON   ROBERT  THE  DEVIL.  207 

relates,  that  it  was  an  art  much  cultivated  among  the  antient  Islanders, 
to  weave  the  histories  of  their  giants  and  champions  in  tapestry  ?.  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*.  It  is  well  known,  that  to  frame  pictures  of  heroic  adventures 
in  needle-work,  was  a  favourite  practice  of  classical  antiquity. 


NOTE  ON  ROBERT  THE  DEVIL:  see  page  187.  note". 

THAT  the  subject  of  the  legend  of  Robert  the  Devil  was  Robert  the 
first  duke  of  Normandy  is  treated  by  some  writers  as  a  matter  of  much 
uncertainty,  although  Mr.  Price,  in  the  note  referred  to,  appears  to  have 
entertained  no  doubt  of  it.  The  ancient  drama  founded  upon  the  legend 
has  been  lately  printed  at  Rouen  under  the  following  title :  "Miracle  de 
Nostre  Dame  de  Robert  le  Dyable,  filz  du  due  de  Normendie  ;  public 
d'apres  un  MS.  du  xiv  siecle  de  la  Bibl.  du  Roi,  par  plusieurs  mem- 
bres  de  la  Soc.  des  Antiquaires  de  Normandie,  1836:"  and  its  publica- 
tion has  occasioned  an  examination  of  the  hypotheses  of  various  writers 
relative  to  this  personage,  in  an  ingenious  essay  by  the  erudite  M.  Pot- 
tier,  published  in  the  Revue  de  Rouen,  for  March  1836.  "Setting 
out,"  says  he,  "  with  the  scarcely  plausible  opinion,  that  all  the  per- 
sonages of  semi-historic  romance  must  have  their  type  and  representa- 
tive in  history,  they  have  set  themselves  to  investigate  what  real  pattern 
the  fabulous  Robert  the  Devil  could  have  been  modelled  after.  As 
the  chronicle  [of  Normandy],  the  drama,  and  the  romance  agree. in 
making  him  the  son  of  a  duke  of  Normandy,  it  has  been  thence  con- 
cluded that  he  must  himself  have  been  duke  of  Normandy  ;  and  com- 
parisons have  been  instituted  of  his  legend  with  the  history  of  the  two 
or  three  Roberts  that  the  whole  ducal  lineage  furnishes.  Yet  neither 
chroniclers  nor  poets  had  ever  dreamt  of  creating,  of  their  own  mere 
authority,  Robert  the  Devil  duke  of  Normandy :  the  chronicle  makes 
him  die  at  Jerusalem ;  the  romance,  in  a  hermitage  near  Rome  ;  and 
the  miracle  makes  him  marry  the  emperor's  daughter,  and  then  of 
course  succeed  his  father-in-law,  agreeably  to  the  eternal  law  of  all 
seekers  of  adventures,  from  the  paladins  of  the  round  table  down  to  the 
renowned  Knight  of  the  Sorrowful  Countenance."  According  to  the 
later  version  of  the  Bibliotheque  Bleue,  Robert  brings  his  wife  into 
Normandy,  ascends  the  ducal  throne,  and  having  lived  a  good  prince, 

y  Antiquit.  Dan.  Lib.  i.  9.  p.  51.  dience-hall  is  of  the  finest  silk,  wrought 

z  In  the  royal  palace  of  Jeddo,  which  by  the  most  skilful  artificers  of  that  coun- 

overflows  with  a  profusion  of  the  most  ex-  try,  and  adorned  with  pearls,  gold,  and 

quisite    and   superb    eastern    embellish-  silver.  Mod.  Univ.  Hist.  B.  xiii.  c.  ii.  vol.  ix. 

ments,  the  tapestry  of  the  emperor's  au-  p.  83.  (Not.  G.)  edit.  1759. 


208  NOTE  ON  ROD7SRT  THE  DEVIL.  [SECT.  V. 

dies  laden  with  honours  and  with  years,  leaving  the  duchy  to  his  son, 
Richard- sans-Peur,  whose  marvellous  history  has  also  been  recounted 
by  the  writers  of  romance. 

Having  given  his  reasons  for  neglecting  this  later  interpolated  ver- 
sion as  unfit  to  give  evidence  in  the  case,  and  stated  that  between  the 
personages  in  question  and  the  hero  of  the  romance  the  historical  dif- 
ferences were  radical  and  evident,  whilst  at  the  same  time  some  gene- 
ral traits  of  character  might  suit  any  of  them,  M.  Pettier  enumerates, 
as  those  whose  claims  have  found  supporters,  Rollo,  baptized  under 
the  name  of  Robert,  Robert-le-Magnifique,  father  of  the  Conqueror; 
and  lastly  Robert-Courte-Heuse,  son  of  the  latter  ;  adding  that,  whilst 
thus  recruiting  for  Roberts,  the  pretensions  of  Robert-le-Fort,  one  of 
the  dukes  of  Neustria  anterior  to  Rollo,  might  perhaps  be  supported 
with  some  plausibility. 

After  an  examination  of  the  claims  of  these  candidates,  and  of  the 
points  of  analogy  and  dissimilarity  in  the  legend  with  the  history  of 
each,  he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  Robert  the  Devil  is  a  purely 
fabulous  personage,  and  not  to  be  identified  with  any  one  of  them ; 
and  remarks  that  none  of  the  historians,  nearly  contemporary  or  of 
succeeding  ages  until  the  17th  century,  ever  connected  this  appella- 
tion with  either. 

M.  Pettier  gives  us  to  expect  a  fuller  investigation  of  this  and  simi- 
lar questions  in  a  work  upon  which  he  is  engaged,  entitled  "  Histoire 
romanesque  de  Normandie  ;  ou  Examen  critique  des  Fables  et  Le- 
gendes  melees  a  Thistoire  de  cette  province." — R.  T. 


END  OF  THE  FIRST  VOLUME. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED   BY  RICHARD  AND  JOHN  E.  TAYLOR, 
RED  LION  COURT,  FLEET  STREET. 


War ton,   Thomas 

501  The  history  of  English 

W3  poetry 

1840 
v.l 
cop. 2 


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