Chapter XVI: Appendix (4)

It is one of those curious words of which the origin and primary signification are very doubtful. It was certainly applied to a particular class of people, and a class which seems to have been dependant on the household of the great. Giraldus Cambrensis, when telling his various troubles and persecutions (Wharton, Anglia Sacra, vol. iii. p. 575), speaks thus of the witnesses brought against him by his enemies:--“Archidiaconus (_i. e._ Giraldus himself) autem statim, productis testibus illis coram auditoribus ad jurandum, proposuit in singulorum personas se dicturum; in canonicos Menevenses tanquam perjuros et excommunicatos, in monachos tanquam trutannos et domorum suarum desertores, in _ribaldos_ tanquam vilissimos et, sicut cæteri cuncti, mercede conductos.” And again, on the next page, “Et testium multitudinem de garcionibus et _ribaldis_ partis adversæ, qui omnes jurare parati fuerant et testificare ... trutannus ille vilissimus id totum faciebat; qui et _ribaldos suos_ cunctos ad hoc probandum simul cum ipso mittebat.... Videns igitur archidiaconus _ribaldos illos_ ad nutum _dominorum suorum_ quidlibet probare paratos.... Sciens itaque si _probatio ribaldica_ procederet ... _ribaldica multitudo_, etc.” They seem to have been the lowest class of retainers, perhaps men without any certain appointment, who had no other mode of living than following the courts of the Barons, and who were employed on all kinds of disgraceful and wicked actions. One authority quoted by Ducange couples “parasitos atque _ribaldos_.” A story quoted from a MS. at Berne, by Sinner (Catalogus, tom. i. p. 272), shows us that a _goliard_ belonged to the class of _ribalds_: now a _goliard_ seems to have been only another name for a _jongleur_ (joculator), or one who attended the tables of the rich to amuse the guests by jokes, buffoonery, and mountebank tricks. An ecclesiastical statute quoted in Ducange (v. Goliardus) says, “item præcipimus quod clerici non sint _joculatores_, _goliardi_, seu _bufones_;” and another commands, “quod clerici _ribaldi_, maxime vero qui dicuntur _de familia goliæ_, per episcopos ... tondere præcipiantur.” Matthew Paris, sub an. 1229, says, “quidam famuli, vel mancipia, vel illi quos solemus _goliardenses_ appellare, versus ridiculos componebant.” In this last passage we find them classed with the famuli, or household retainers. This class appears, at least in France, to have enjoyed certain popular rights or privileges. In a very curious charter of the year 1380, printed in Ducange, we find one Antony de Sagiac “se _gerens pro ribaldo_, et se dicens de ordine seu de statu goliardorum, seu buffonum,” claiming a fine of five pence upon incontinent women, and accused of trying to extract money from a woman, whom he accused wrongfully, on this account, “de talique et alio vili questu, quem sub umbra _ribaldiæ_, _goliardiæ_, seu _buffoniæ_ ejusmodi ... vivebat.” In the household of the King of France there was a _rex ribaldorum_, whose office was to judge disputes, &c. which might occur among the retainers of his class, and who had also a jurisdiction over the public stews. As the lives of this class of men were set at a small value by their masters, they were commonly exposed to the first brunt of battle in the wars, and the name is sometimes given to the body which is now called the _forlorn hope_ in the attack of a town. The _ribaldi_ who accompanied the army were also employed in plundering and destroying the country. As they were people of vile life and condition, the term _ribald_ came gradually into use as a common appellation for a low and infamous person, and was used, as in the present instance, as an epithet of contempt and degradation.

_P._ 128, _l._ 1, _pepulere_.--The MS. has _pepulare_.

_P._ 130, _l._ 8, _Plebs devicta fremit_.--Alluding to the rising at Chesterfield, the occupation of the Isles of Axholme and Ely, and other insurrections.

---- _l._ 11, _Urbs Londoniensis_.--The Earl of Gloucester, dissatisfied with the King’s proceedings after the battle of Evesham, had taken up arms and established himself at London, the citizens of which joined his party readily, as they were themselves enraged against the King for having deprived them of their charter.

_P._ 131, _l._ 2, _Francorum regis germanus rex Siculorum_.--Prince Edward left England in July, 1270, to join the King of France, Saint Louis, in his expedition to the Holy Land. Louis was persuaded by his brother, Charles, then King of Sicily, to turn aside, in order to make war on the Bey of Tunis, from whom he claimed a tribute. Louis died at Carthage of a disease produced by the climate; and when Prince Edward and his English army arrived, they found their ally dead, and the King of Sicily, who had made advantageous terms with the Bey, ready to return home. Charles, who hastened to take possession of the throne of France, refused to proceed in the crusade, and Edward, who was obliged to go alone, went over to Sicily, and wintered at Trapani. Here, on the night of December 23, the day after their arrival, occurred the terrible storm alluded to in the Poem. Early in the spring, Edward, with his small army, proceeded on their voyage, and landed at Acre.

_P._ 132, _l._ 5, _Accon respirat_.--Acre was besieged by Bondocar, Sultan of Babylon, who was preparing to take the place by assault, at the moment when Edward arrived to raise the siege.

---- _l._ 9, _Assessinus Veteris de Monte_.--On the Old Man of the Mountain, and the Assassins, or Assessins, much information will be found in a popular form, in the Marquis of Villeneuve-Trans, Histoire de St. Louis.

---- _l._ 16.--This seems to be a new testimony against the truth of the story which makes Edward’s Queen suck the poison from his wound. A song made on the occasion would hardly have failed to mention such a circumstance, if it had been known.

---- _l._ 17, _Thomam de Wyta_.--This writer’s name is not found in Tanner.

_P._ 135, _l._ 13, _comencent_.--Probably an error of the scribe for _comencement_.

_P._ 136, _l._ 4, _vironum_.--The MS. has _virronum_. _Viro_ is given by Ducange as synonymous with _baro_, and is supposed to be derived from _vir_.

_P._ 137, _ll._ 15, 16, _sonme ... prodhonme_.--In old manuscripts it is quite impossible to say whether the scribe meant _n_ or _u_, unless we know otherwise which it ought to be, and the _n_ in words of the form of those just quoted may perhaps be intended for _u_. But I am rather inclined to think such was not the case.

_P._ 138, _l._ 34, _Sympringham_.--The order of Sempringham, commonly called Gilbertine canons, was founded by Sir Gilbert de Sempringham, in the first half of the twelfth century. One of its peculiarities was the establishment of monks and nuns in the same house, though their different habitations were carefully separated, and all intercourse between them strictly forbidden.

Nigellus Wireker speaks of this as a newly established order, and satirizes the near collocation of nuns and monks in a spirit similar to that of our song:--

Canonici missas tantum, reliquumque sorores
Explent; officii debita jura sui.
Corpora, non voces, murus disjungit, in unum
Psallant directe psalmitis absque metro.

And again, in describing his own order, he says, archly,--

Quid de Semplingama? quantum? vel qualia sumam?
Nescio, nam nova res me dubitare facit.
Hoc tamen ad præsens nulla ratione remittam,
Namque necem nimis fratribus esse reor;
Quod nunquam nisi clam, nullaque sciente sororum,
Cum quocunque suo fratre manere licet.

_P._ 139, _l._ 61, _De Beverleye_.--The monks of Beverley were Franciscans.

_P._ 140, _l._ 71, _De Hospitlers_.--The order of Knights Hospitalers, founded during the first crusades, was introduced into England about the year 1100. They were laymen, and, from an humble beginning, they became exceedingly rich and proud. In the Patent Rolls (45 Edw. III.) we find that the King “constituit Ricardum de Everton visitatorem Hospitalis S. Joannis Jerusalem in Anglia ad reprimendam religiosorum insolentiam, et ad observandam religiosorum honestatem.” See Ellis’s Dugdale, vol. vi. p. 786.

---- _l._ 79, _De Chanoynes_.--The regular canons were a less strict order than the other monks in general, and followed the rule of St. Augustine. One of the rules of their order was expressed simply thus--“Carnem vestram domate jejuniis et abstinentia escæ quantum valetudo permittit.” They appear to have been particularly enjoined frequent abstinence from flesh. However, at the time when this song was written, they seem not to have observed their rule in this respect very strictly. Rutebeuf says of them (Jubinal’s Rutebeuf, vol. i. p. 239)--

En l’ordre des canoines qu’on dist Saint-Augustin,
Ils vivent à plenté, sans noise et sans hustin.
Je lo que leur soviègne au soir et au matin
Que la chars bien nourie porte à l’âme venin.

_P._ 141, _l._ 95, _de Moyne Neirs_.--The Black Monks were the Benedictines.

_P._ 142, _l._ 115, _Des Chanoygnes Seculers_.--The luxury of the secular canons is often alluded to by the early satirists. Nigellus Wireker says of them--

Illud præcipue tamen instituere, tenendum
Omnibus in tota posteritate sua,
Lex vetus ut suasit, ne quilibet absque sua sit,
Et quod quisque suas possit habere duas.
Hi sunt qui mundum cum flore cadente tenentes,
Ne sic marcescat, sæpe rigare student.
Hi sunt qui faciunt quidquid petulantia carnis
Imperat, ut vitiis sit via prona suis.

Rutebeuf (ed. Jubinal, vol. i. p. 239) says that there were many of them--

----qui ont grant signorie,
Qui poi font por amis et assés por amie.

_P._ 143, _l._ 133, _Gris Moignes_.--Perhaps the Cistercians. In a poem on the Grey Monks, _De Grisis Monachis_ (MS. Cotton. Vespas. A. XIX. fol. 56, r^o), which will be found among the works of Walter Mapes, they are ridiculed for the same arrangement of clothing,--

Carent femoralibus partes turpiores,
Veneris ut usibus sint paratiores,
Castitatis legibus absolutiores;
In cunctis hominibus nulli sunt pejores.

The _Albi Monachi_ are similarly satirized by Nigellus Wireker for going without breeches. The Friars de Sacco wore no breeches under their robes.

_P._ 144, _l._ 154, _l’Ordre de Cilence_.--Perhaps the Carthusian monks, a branch of the Benedictines, whose order, which was peculiarly strict, was introduced into England by Henry II. They were enjoined to live in separate cells, and to keep very strict silence, and have little communication with each other.

---- _l._ 169, _Les Frere Menours_.--The Friars Minors were better known as Franciscans, and in France as the Cordeliers. Their order enjoined, above all things, poverty and humility. They were not to ride when travelling, unless some manifest necessity or infirmity obliged them. See Dugdale, vi. 1505.

_P._ 145, _l._ 188.--The MS. has _en autre_, which seems to be a mere error for _ne autre_.

_P._ 146, _l._ 194, _des Prechours_.--The preaching friars were the Dominicans, called, in France, Jacobins. This order was introduced into England in 1221. Rutebeuf says that instead of adhering to their primitive humility and poverty, the Jacobins became the richest and most overbearing of all the orders. Jubinal, vol. i. pp. 152, 175-179.

_P._ 148, _l._ 240, _devyns_ seems to be a mere variation of _devys_, thus spelt in order to accommodate the rhyme.

_P._ 149. SONG OF THE HUSBANDMAN.--This Song is in many parts extremely difficult to translate, from the numerous words in it which do not occur elsewhere, as well as from the abruptness of the phraseology. The same may be said of one or two other songs printed from the same manuscript.

_P._ 154, _l._ 14, _halymotes_.--This word means literally _holy meetings_. It is translated _sabbath_, in the supposition that there is some allusion to the popular notion of the festive meetings of the devils and the witches.

_P._ 160. SONG ON THE SCOTTISH WARS.--The copy of this Song preserved among the manuscripts of Clare Hall was first pointed out by Mr. Hunter, in the Appendix to the last Report of the Record Commission. I have obtained a copy of part of it by the kindness of Mr. Halliwell, who was unable from different circumstances to continue his transcript beyond the 72nd line. The Oxford MS. I only know through Mr. Halliwell’s description of it: to judge by the articles contained in this MS., I should be inclined to think they were mostly copied from the Cottonian MS. Titus A. XX. In the Cottonian MS., Claudius D. VI. this poem bears the title “Commendatio Gentis Anglorum et processus guerræ inter Anglos et Scotos.” In the Clare Hall MS. the Song is attributed to the “Prior de Blithe.” The Prior of Blythe, in Nottinghamshire, at this time, was William Burdon. See Ellis’s Dugdale, iv. 621. The MS. in the Sloane Library seems to be a transcript from a monastic register, perhaps of Alnwick, in Northumberland, for the reference in the margin is, “Regist. Prem. fol. 59, a.” It is there attributed to the Prior of Alnwick. The original title seems to have been “Rithmus bonus de bello Scotiæ ad Dunbarre;” which the transcriber had first copied, and then, after erasing it, substituted the following, “Prioris Alnwicensis de Bello Scotico apud Dunbarr, tempore regis Edwardi I., dictamen sive rithmus Latinus; quo de Willielmo Wallace, Scotico illo Robin Whood, plura, sed invidiose, canit.” Ritson, in his preface to Robin Hood, was misled by this latter title, and cites it as a proof that this hero was popular in the thirteenth century. In MS. Cotton. Titus A. XX. a hand of the sixteenth century ascribes this poem to Robert Baston.

It will already have been observed by the reader, that, in verse of this kind, the fourth line of each tetrastich is an hexameter (sometimes a pentameter), taken from some poet then popular, and often from a classic writer. In the MS. from which the Sloane transcript was made, the authorities for the hexameters, in the present Song, were indicated in the margin. They are as follows:--_ll._ 4, _Morus_.--8, _Cato_.--†8, _Cato_.--†12, _Poetria_.--†16, _Oracius_.--12, _Cato_.--16, _Doctrinale_.--20, _Doctrinale_.--24, _De proprio_.--28, _Doctrinale_.--32, _Cartul._--36, _Urbanus_.--40, _Doctrinale_.--44, _Morus_.--48, _Theodorus_.--52, _De proprio_.--56, _Vulgat._--60, _Pu_....--64, _Vulgat._--68, _Buliardus_.--72, _Oracius_.--76, _Oracius_.--80, _Oracius_.--84, _Cato_.--88, _Ovidius_.--92, _Doctrinale_.--96, _Cato_.--100, _Cato_.--104, _Ovidius_.--108, _Cato_.--112, _Cato_.--116, _Cato_. (?)--120, _Cato_.--124, _Cato_.--128, _Cato_.--132, _Doctrinale_.--136, _Cato_.--140, _Cato_.--144, _Poeta_.--148, _Poeta_.--152, _Orasius_.--156, _Virgilius_.--160, _Statius_.--†164, _Oratius_.--†168, _Teodorus_.--164, _Omerus_.--168, _Ovid. Omer._--172, _Cartul._--176, _Veritas evangelica_.--180, _De proprio_.--184, _Ovidius_.--188, _Vulgat._--192, _Doctrinale_.--196, _Vulgat._--200, _Doctrinale_.--204, _Idem_.--208, _Oracius_.--212, _De Vulg._--216, _Doctrinale_.--220, _Amianus_.

In the above list of names, _Poetria_ refers to the celebrated work of Galfridus de Vinesauf. _Poeta_ seems to be a mere error of the scribe for _Poetria_. _Doctrinale_ is here only another name for the _Parabolæ_ of Alanus de Insulis. _Cato_ refers to the well-known _Disticha_. _De proprio_ means that the verse is of the author’s own making.

_P._ 164, _l._ 44, _Joannis_, John Baliol.--In the Cottonian MS. Claudius D. VI. the following lines are here inserted, which evidently do not belong to the poem:

“_Exprobratio Scotorum._
Caude causantur, regnarunt, apocapantur;
Privantur caude, fas fandi, Scotia, plaude.
_Responsio Anglorum._
Scotia scotabit strebæ, Scotus vix latitabit;
Anglia, jam pange, fas fandi, Scotia, plange.”

_P._ 168, _l._ 102, _Johannem Warenniæ_.--This was the same John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, who, staunch to the party of Henry III., had escaped from the battle of Lewes. He commanded the English army at the battle of Dunbar, was afterwards made Governor or Guardian of Scotland, and was again at the head of the English forces when they were defeated at Stirling.

_P._ 169, _l._ 1, _Quod Trentam non transient_.--The King had carried with him to London the Scottish knights whom he most suspected, and, before he went to Flanders, he exacted from them solemn oaths that during his absence they would not repass the Trent without his permission.

_P._ 170, _l._ 138, _ad Strivelyne_.--The battle of Stirling was fought on Thursday the 11th of September, 1297.

_P._ 171, _l._ 141, _comes dux Anglorum_.--The Earl of Surrey (Warenne).

---- _l._ 147, _Levenax et Ricardus Lundi_.--For an account of this reverse, and the part which the Earl of Levenax (Lennox) and Richard Lundi acted, see Knighton, in Twisden, coll. 2516, et seq.

_P._ 172, _l._ 163.--This line is evidently corrupt; but, as it is only found in one MS., I have no means of correcting it.

_P._ 173, _l._ 163, _Cremare Northumbriam_.--The invasion of Northumberland and the burning of Hexham and Corbridge are told by Matthew of Westminster, p. 427. See also Peter Langtoft, in the present volume, p. 287; and Knighton, coll. 2520, et seq. None of them mention the damages done at Alnwick.

---- _l._ 167, _Vesey, Morley, Somervile, Bertram_.--The poet seems to refer to members of those families who had distinguished themselves in opposing the inroads of the Scots at different periods, but who were dead at the time of this invasion.

_P._ 174, _l._ 186, _Willelmo datum est militare pignus_.--On his return from the expedition into England, Wallace was solemnly installed Guardian of Scotland.

_P._ 176, _l._ 205, _die Magdalenæ_.--The battle of Falkirk, so fatal to the Scots, was fought on St. Mary Magdalen’s day, the 22nd of July, 1298.

---- _l._ 211, _trutannus_.--This word is the origin of the modern word _truant_. Its primary meaning has not been accurately ascertained, but it seems to have been most generally used for a person who wandered about, and gained his living by false pretences, or passed himself under a different character to that which really belonged to him. It is applied sometimes to abbots or priors who lived abroad and neglected their monasteries, or to monks who had quitted their houses, as in the passage of Giraldus, quoted at p. 369.

_P._ 178, _l._ 234, _Margaretam reginam_.--Edward married, in second nuptials, Margaret, sister of the King of France.

---- _l._ 243, _Comyn, Karryk, Umfraville_.--Three of the most active leaders of the Scots in their opposition to Edward. The Earl of Karrik was Robert Bruce. Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus, had been one of Edward’s Commissioners for manning and fortifying the castles in Scotland.

_P._ 183, _l._ 11, _collectio lanarum_.--The oppressive duty upon wool, which was the staple of English commerce at that period, was severely felt and complained of. In 1296, the King seized all the wool in the merchants’ warehouses, and sold it for his own profit, paying for it, as usual, with tallies, and promises to repay them to the full. “Ministri regis omnes saccos lanæ, quinarium numerum excedentes, datis talliis, acceperunt ad opus regis, et ab unoquoque sacco, numerum quinarium non excedente, ab ipsis eorum dominis, nomine _malæ totæ_, xl. solidos extorserunt.” Hemingford, p. 110.

_P._ 186, _l._ 11, _de fust manger_ (de fusto manducare).--In low Latin, _fustum_ was a generic name for everything made of wood. It need hardly be said that it means here the plates and other utensils of the table, which among the lower classes were generally of this material. It would be more reasonable, says the writer of the song, if the court would eat out of wooden vessels, and pay for their provisions with silver, than to live sumptuously with plate, and only pay their victuals with wooden tallies.

---- _l._ 13, _Est vitii signum pro victu solvere lignum_.--The King’s purveyors were a great grievance to the peasantry. In the curious poem of “King Edward and the Shepherd” (printed by Hartshorne from a MS. in the University Library, Cambridge), the latter personage is made to say:--

“In Wynsour was I borne;
Hit is a myle but here beforne,
The town then maist thou see.
I am so pyled with the Kyng,
That I most fle fro my wonyng,
And therefore woo is me.
I hade catell, now have I non;
Thay take my bestis, and don thaim slon,
And payen but _a stick of tre_.”

And when the King, in disguise, promises to obtain redress, the Shepherd proceeds--

“Sir,” he seid, “be seynt Edmonde,
Ther is owand .iiii. pounde
And odd twa schillyng.
_A stikke_ I have to my witnesse,
_Off hasill_ I mene that hit is,
I ne have non other thyng.
* * * *
Thei do but gode, the kynges men,
Thei ar worse then sich ten
That bene with hym no dell.
Thei goo aboute be .viij. or nyne,
And done the husbondes mycull pyne,
That carfull is their mele.
Thei take geese, capons, and henne,
And alle that ever thei may with renne,
And reves us our catell.
Sum of them was bonde sore,
And afturwarde honget therfore,
For soth as I you say.
Ȝet ar ther of them nyne moo;
For at my hows thei were also,
Certis, ȝisturday.
Thei toke my hennes and my geese,
And my schepe with all the fleese,
And ladde them forth away.
Be my doȝtur thei lay al nyȝt.
To come agayne thei have me hyȝt;
Of helpe I wolde yow pray.
With me thei lefte alle their thyng,
That I am sicur of theire comyng,
And that me rewes sore.
I have fayre chamburs thre;
But non of them may be with me
While that thei be thore.
Into my cart-hows thei me dryfe;
Out at the dur thei put my wyfe,
For she is olde gray-hare.”

_P._ 187. SONG ON THE FLEMISH INSURRECTION.--This Song was printed by Ritson, in his _Ancient Songs_.

_P._ 188, _l._ 16, _Peter Conyng_.--Peter Coning (in English, Peter King,) was a weaver of Bruges. A brief account of this insurrection is given in Matthew of Westminster, p. 444. See, for a more complete narrative, Michelet’s Histoire de France, vol. iii. p. 76.

_P._ 189, _l._ 8, _avowerie_.--This is the low Latin _advocaria_. See Ducange, in voce.

---- _l._ 11, _hou_.--The MS. has _hout_.

_P._ 189, _l._ 17, _to clynken huere basyns of bras_.--This circumstance occurred on the 21st March, 1302, at the beginning of the insurrection. In the towns of Flanders, as in the boroughs in England, the people were called up in an insurrection by the sound of the church bell. There was a famous distich on the bell of Roland, at Bruges--

Roelandt, Roelandt, als ick kleppe dan ist brandt,
Als ick luye, dan ist storm in Vlaenderlandt.

On the present occasion, the people dared not go to their bell, on account of their French governors, so they beat their brass basins:--cumque ad campanam civitatis non auderent accedere, pelves suas pulsantes ... omnem multitudinem concitarent. Meyer, Annal. in a. 1301, p. 90.

_P._ 191, _l._ 9, _Conyng_.--This word, in English, meant a _rabbit_, and is here made the subject of a pun. In Flemish, it signified _king_.

_P._ 193, _ll._ 17, 18, _Awey thou ȝunge pope!... Thou hast lore thin cardinals_.--_P._ 194, _l._ 2, _Do the forth to Rome_.--An allusion to the dissensions between the Pope and the family of the Colonnas.--“Illis etiam diebus, dominus papa, fidei et orationum quæ erant beati Petri oblitus, assumens quæ non erant ejus, tam aurum videlicet a viduis et orphanis quam argentum, non viduis et orphanis, sed militibus bellicosis illud erogare curavit, contra schema quorundam cardinalium, eos denique degradando, et contra regem Siciliæ guerram movendo. Sed dicti regis exercitus de galeatis turmis domini papæ multa millia viriliter necaverunt.” Matthew of Westminster, p. 432. This was the famous Pope Boniface VIII., who suffered so much from the persecutions of the King of France.

---- _l._ 7, _fot lome_, probably means _foot-lame_, lame of foot. It occurs again in p. 335 of the present volume.

_P._ 195. A SONG ON THE TIMES.--The MS. from which this song is taken, MS. Harl. No. 913, was written in Ireland, about the year 1308, by an English monk. For a detailed description of it, see Mr. Crofton Croker’s _Popular Songs of Ireland_.

_P._ 196, _l._ 19, _hoblurs_.--The name _hoblurs_ (hobellarii) was given properly to a kind of light-armed soldiers.

_P._ 198, _l._ 14, _geet_.--This word should probably be translated _goats_, rather than _kids_.

_P._ 199, _l._ 7, _anone_.--In the MS. this word is explained by the original scribe in the margin as “at one time.”

_P._ 206. SONG AGAINST THE SCHOLASTIC STUDIES.--In the Cottonian MS. from which this song is taken, a hand of the 16th century has written in the margin that it was the work of Robert Baston.

The Oxford MS. was pointed out to me by Mr. Halliwell, but I have not been able to obtain a collation.

_P._ 207, _l._ 2, _propere_.--The MS. has ̃p̃pe, the meaning of which is not clear.

---- _l._ 10, _Sicut servus Stichus_.--This name was given to a servant in the Roman comic writers. It is introduced here for the sake of rhyme.

_P._ 208, _l._ 2, _nullus_.--The MS. has _unus_.

---- _l._ 10, _Thebanas ... vel Trojanas cædes_.--Referring to the Thebaid of Statius, and the poem _De bello Trojano_ of Joseph of Exeter, both of them at that period popular reading books.

---- _l._ 16, _Telluris_.--The MS. has _Celurus_.

_P._ 209, _l._ 4, _agro ... positis_.--The MS. has _ager_ and _positus_.

_P._ 212. SONG ON THE EXECUTION OF SIR SIMON FRASER.--This song was printed by Ritson, in his _Ancient Songs_.

_P._ 213, _l._ 6, _The Waleis_.--Wallace was taken prisoner at the second battle of Dunbar, in 1305, and was executed at London on the Eve of St. Bartholomew, (Aug. 24) 1306. The places to which his quarters were sent were Newcastle, Berwick, Perth, and Aberdeen.

---- _l._ 10, _Simond Frysel_.--This was the original form of the name of Fraser, and is the way in which it is spelt in all the English documents.

_P._ 215, _l._ 14, _kyng of somere_.--Matthew of Westminster gives a popular story, that Bruce’s queen had told him in derision, he was but a _summer king_, and that his kingdom would scarcely last in the winter. See Holinshed, p. 314.

_P._ 215, _l._ 9, _Sire Edward of Carnarvon_.--The Prince of Wales.

_P._ 216, _l._ 10, _Sir Emer de Valence_.--Aylmer de Valence, second Earl of Pembroke, a Baron who was frequently occupied in the Scottish wars, and who was appointed by Edward to be one of the guardians of his son, Edward II.

---- _l._ 19, _the batayle of Kyrkenclyff_.--Fought, according to Holinshed, on the next Sunday after Midsummer day, 1306.

---- _l._ 15, _Sire Thomas of Multone_.--Thomas de Multon, of Egremond, in Cumberland. He was active in the Scottish wars of this reign.

_P._ 218, _l._ 17, _Sire Herbert of Morham_.--Apparently a mere error of the scribe for Norham. Matthew of Westminster relates the same anecdote.

_P._ 219, _l._ 13, _oure Levedy even_.--The seventh of September, 1306.

---- _l._ 16, _Sire Rauf of Sondwyche_.--Ralph de Sandwich was constable of the Tower of London (_constabularius turris London_).

_P._ 221, _l._ 7, _a curtel of burel_.--_Burellus_, in low Latin, _bureau_ or _burel_ in old French, was a kind of coarse and common cloth.

_P._ 222, _l._ 9, _tu-brugge_.--Perhaps this word means a drawbridge. It occurs again in Robert of Gloucester, p. 543:--

“And the castel brugge out of the med he barnde fram then ende
To the tu-brugge along, vor me ne ssolde out wende.”

Which means probably that he burnt all that part of the bridge on the meadow side up to the place where its communication with the rest was cut off by the raising of the drawbridge.

_P._ 223, _l._ 6, _Erl of Asseles_.--John de Strathbogie, Earl of Athol. He also was captured and executed.

---- _l._ 18, _Tprot, Scot, for thi strif!_--The word _tprot_ appears to be a mere exclamation of contempt. In a poem on “The Propertees of the Shyres of Engelond,” printed by Hearne in the Introduction to the fifth volume of Leland’s Itinerary, we find it used, as here, against the Scots:--

“Northumbrelond hasty and hoot;
Westmerlond _tprut Scotte_!”

It will be found similarly used in a passage quoted in a note further on (p. 391). In Sir Thomas de la More’s Chronicle, it is applied to King Edward II.:--“_Tprut!_ Sire King!” It seems to be taken from the French: in Jean Bodel’s Jeu de S. Nicolas (Théatre Français au Moyen-Age, edited by MM. Monmerqué and Michel) it is put in the mouths of the common gamblers in a public-house:--

“_Tproupt! tproupt!_ bevons hardiement;
Ne faisons si le coc emplat.”--(p. 183.)

And again, immediately after (p. 184):--

“_Tproupt! tproupt!_ où que soit passé, Diex!”

_P._ 223, _l._ 21, _with the longe shonkes_.--King Edward, still known popularly as Edward Long-shanks.

_P._ 224. SONG ON THE VENALITY OF THE JUDGES.--After this song was printed, I found another copy of it in MS. Reg. 12, c. XII. fol. 1, v^o. of reign of Edw. II., written likewise as prose, which presents the following variations:--_P._ 224, _ll._ 1, 2, _esuriunt | Et faciunt justitiam | et od._--7, _exhennia_.--9, this line is omitted, and the following begins _Sed quæ_.--11, _et aure non_.--13, _Sed modo miro more_.--15, _ad peric._--17, _ambiant_.--_P._ 225, _l._ 1, _hæc_.--7, _nam_ is omitted.--8, _Qui sensum_.--9, _ei pure_.--14, _Quid ergo Jhesu bone_.--_P._ 226, _l._ 1, _accedit_.--2, _secretius_.--7, _potest_.--_ll._ 12-18 are placed after _l._ 10 in the next page.--14, _dona_.--15, _et hoc pro l._--17, _quamvis prius_.--19, _Si quædam pulcra nobilis | decora vel am._--_P._ 227, _l._ 2, _hoc_.--12, _ut exprimant_.--13, _vocantur_.--14, _priores_.--18, _Sed quid_.--_P._ 228, _l._ 1, _quid laboras_.--2, _quid facis_.--8, _ibis Omere, foras_.--9, _De vinctibus_.--11, _enumerare_.--19, _Est salsum totum_. This MS. ends with this verse.

---- _l._ 7, _encennia_.--This word answers as nearly as may be to the modern word _jewels_. The other MS., of which the variations are given above, reads _exennia_, i. e. _treasures_.

_P._ 225, _l._ 17, _cedunt_.--In the MS. the scribe has written over this word “i. re,” that is, “i. e. recedunt.”

_P._ 226, _l._ 21, _cum capite cornuto_.--The head dress of the ladies of rank and fashion at this period was arranged in the form of two horns.

_P._ 227, _l._ 13, _relatores_, “qui querelam ad judices referunt.” Ducange.

_P._ 229, _l._ 13, _transmittantur_.--The MS. has _transmutantur_.

_P._ 229, _l._ 18, _averia_.--The term _averium_ is commonly used to signify all kinds of moveable property; but more particularly to signify cattle and horses.

_P._ 230, _l._ 1, _clericos_.--The scribe has written above this word, in the MS. “i. pauperes.”

_P._ 231. THE OUTLAW’S SONG OF TRAILEBASTON.--This song also was printed by Sir Francis Palgrave in the collection mentioned in a former note. The notion that the judges were called Trailebastons on account of the hastiness of their proceedings, is quite incorrect. The term was applied not to the judges, but to the persons judged, who received this name because they carried with them long staffs. An account of the origin of the Trailebastons will be found in the extract of Peter Langtoft, at p. 318 of the present volume. The proceedings against them led to many abuses, and were often made the means of gratifying personal revenge. The statute against the Trailebastons was continued in force through the reigns of Edward II. and Edward III.

_P._ 232, _l._ 1, _souz_.--In old French and Anglo-Norman, the word _sous_ was not used in its present sense, but represented the Latin _solidos_.

---- _l._ 7, _le bois de Belregard_.--Perhaps a fictitious name, invented by the poet.

_P._ 233, _l._ 3, _ly Martyn ... ly Knoville_.--_l._ 5, _Spigurnel ... Belflour_.--By the following commission, given in Rymer, we find that these Barons were the commissioners appointed to judge the Trailebastons in the western counties of England. There can be little doubt that _Belflour_ in the song is meant for the name which in the commission is _Bellafagus_. This document is curious, both for the light it throws on the subject, and for the circumstance that it fixes the period at which the song was written; it bears date at Westminster, April 6, 1305.

“_De transgressionibus nominatis Trailbaston audiendis et terminandis per totum regnum._--Rex delectis et fidelibus suis, Wilielmo Martyn, Henrico Spigurnell, Wilielmo de Knovill, Rogero de Bellafago, et Thomæ de la Hyde, salutem.--Quia quamplures malefactores, et pacis nostræ perturbatores, homicidia, deprædationes, incendia, et alia dampna quamplurima nocte dieque perpetrantes, vagantur et discurrunt in boscis, in parcis, et aliis locis diversis, tam infra libertates quam extra, in comitatibus Cornubiæ, Devoniæ, Sumersetiæ, Dorsetiæ, Herefordiæ, Wygorniæ, Salopiæ, Staffordiæ, Wiltes’, et Suthamptoniæ, et ibidem receptantur, in maximum periculum tam hominum per partes illas transeuntium, quam ibidem morantium, et nostri contemptum, ac pacis nostræ læsionem manifestam, ut accepimus: Per quorum incursus poterunt pejora prioribus de facili evenire, nisi remedium super hoc citius apponatur: Nos, eorum malitiæ in hac parte obviare, et hujusmodi dampnis et periculis præcavere volentes, assignavimus vos justiciarios nostros: Ad inquirendum, per sacramentum tam militum quam aliorum proborum et legalium hominum de comitatibus prædictis, tam infra libertates quam extra, per quos rei veritas melius sciri poterit, qui sunt illi malefactores, et eorum scienter receptatores, et eis consentientes, vim et auxilium præbentes, seu dictas transgressiones fieri procurantes et præcipientes: Et etiam ad inquirendum de illis, qui pro muneribus suis pactum fecerunt et faciunt cum malefactoribus, et pacis nostræ perturbatoribus, et eos conduxerunt et conducunt ad verberandum, vulnerandum, male tractantandum et interficiendum plures de regno nostro, in feriis, mercatis, et aliis locis, in dictis comitatibus, pro inimicitia, invidia, malitia, et etiam pro eo quod in assisis, juratis, recognitionibus, et inquisitionibus factis de feloniis, positi fuerunt, et veritatem dixerunt: unde per conductionem hujusmodi malefactorum, juratores assisarum, juratorum recognitionum, et inquisitionum illarum, præ timore dictorum malefactorum et horum minarum, sæpius veritatem dicere seu dictos malefactores indictare minime aussi fuerunt, et sunt: Et etiam ad inquirendum de illis qui hujusmodi munera dederunt et dant: et quantum et quibus: et qui hujusmodi munera receperunt et recipiunt: et a quibus, et qualiter, et quo modo: et qui hujusmodi malefactores in sua malitia fovent, nutriunt, et manutenent in comitatibus prædictis: Et etiam de illis, qui, ratione potestatis et dominii sui, aliquos in eorum protectionem et advocationem pro suo dando susceperunt, et adhuc suscipiunt: Et de illis qui pecuniam ab aliquo, per graves minas ei factas, malitiose extorserunt: Et ad felonias et transgressiones illas audiendas et terminandas secundum legem et consuetudinem regni nostri, et juxta formam ordinationis per nos et consilium nostrum super hoc factæ, et vobis in parliamento nostro liberatæ: Et etiam ad omnes felonias et transgressiones, de quibus inquisitiones coram dilectis et fidelibus nostris, Henrico de Cobeham, Thoma Paynel, Hugone de Sancto Philiberto, et Johanne Randolf, in prædictis comitatibus Wiltes’ et Suthamtoniæ factæ sunt, et per vos, si necesse fuerit, faciendæ, audiendas et terminandas in forma prædicta:” etc.

_P._ 235, _l._ 6, _escolage_, answers probably to a low Latin word _excollectionem_.

_P._ 237. A SONG AGAINST THE RETINUES OF THE GREAT PEOPLE.--Half of this song is written in the original in short lines, and the other half in long lines, to suit the convenience of the MS. It contains numerous popular words and phrases, the meaning of which it is now very difficult to ascertain.

_P._ 242, _l._ 9, _Le rei de Fraunce_.--Edward seems to have long cherished the design of embarking in a new crusade, which had been strongly advocated by the Pope, but he had been hindered by his continued wars and embarrassments, which the writer of the song attributes to the intrigues of the King of France.

_P._ 243, _l._ 13, _A Peiters à l’Apostoile_.--Pope Clement the Fifth, who was constantly in hostilities with his Italian subjects, and little more than a dependent on France, resided a great part of his pontificate at Poitiers.

_P._ 245, _ll._ 5, 6, _Si Aristotle ... e Virgile_.--Aristotle and Virgil were names in great repute in the popular literature of the middle ages, and were the subject of much legend and romance.

_P._ 246. ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF EDWARD I.--This song had been already printed in Percy’s Reliques of Ancient English Poetry.

_P._ 253. ON THE KING’S BREAKING HIS CONFIRMATION OF MAGNA CHARTA.--This curious poem is reprinted from an interesting little volume of early poetry, edited and printed privately by David Laing, Esq. and W. B. D. D. Turnbull, Esq. under the title of “Owain Miles, and other Inedited Fragments of Ancient English Poetry.” 8vo. Edinburgh, 1837.

---- _l._ 7, _the feire_.--Probably the fair of St. Bartholomew.

_P._ 254, _l._ 5, _Of .iiij. wise-men_.--This was a very popular story, and found its way into the celebrated Gesta Romanorum. It also occurs frequently in a separate and different form in manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The sentences of the wise men were popular sayings independent of the tale, and are sometimes found separately. They varied at different periods, both as they are found separately, and as they are given in the different recensions of the story. It would be a curious and interesting work to collect together such popular political proverbs in chronological order. I have met with this story in a MS. in the British Museum contemporary with the present song, in which, if I remember right, both the sayings and the explanations of them are given in full both in English and Latin, but I have unfortunately mislaid my reference to it. The following is taken from MS. Reg. 5 A. VI. fol. 83 r^o, of the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th cent. A more modern copy, with rather larger commentary, will be found in MS. Harl. No. 206, fol. 38, v^o.

“Legitur quendam Regem quondam fuisse qui habuit 4^{or} Philosophos in regno suo. In quo regno multæ plagæ, multa infortunia, et multi defectus fiebant in populis. Rex autem videns se ipsum nullo peccato mortali vulneratum, mirabatur valde, et diligenter inquirebat a prædictis 4^{or} Philosophis qua de causa hæc infortunia magis agebantur in populis in tempore suo quam in tempore prædecessorum suorum.

“Primus Philosophus dixit, _Miȝt is riȝt_; Unde illud Ysaiæ, 69, Conversum est retrorsum judicium, et justitia longe stetit; corruit in platea veritas, et æquitas non potuit ingredi. _Liȝt is nyȝt_; unde Ewang., Væ homini illi per quem scandalum venit! Per eum scandalum venit qui alios malo exemplo corrumpit. Dominus in Levetico dixit: Time, inquit, Dominum Deum tuum, ut vivere possit frater tuus apud te; hoc est, ut sic vivas quod frater tuus per tuum exemplum vitam possit habere non mortem. _Fiȝt is fliȝt_; unde Augustinus: Bene agere et illicita non prohibere consensus erroris est. Gregorius: Facientis proculdubio culpam habet qui quod potest corrigere negligit emendare.

“Secundus Philosophus dixit, _One is too_; unde Ewang.: Omne regnum in se divisum desolabitur. Ambrosius: Sicut sine via nullus pervenit quo tendit, sic sine caritate, quæ dicta est via, non ambulare possunt homines, sed errare. _Frend is foo_; hoc potest intelligi quando homines et præcipue potentes veram pacem vel justitiam aut Dei ecclesiam strangulant, quibus principaliter propter Deum militare deberent. _Weele is woo_; Gregorius: Qui bona mundi diligit, velit nolit timori et dolori bene succumbit. Seneca: Avarus nisi dum moritur nichil bene facit.

“Tertius Philosophus dixit, _Lust has leve_; unde Paulus: Si secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini. Jeronimus: Qui post carnem ambulant, in ventrem et libidinem proni, quasi irrationalia jumenta reputantur. _Thef is refe_; unde Jeremias: Væ qui ædificant domum suam non in justitia! Robertus Lincolniensis: Væ illis qui dicunt, faciamus mala, ut veniant bona, quorum damnatio justa est! _Pride has slef_; unde in Ps.: Irritaverunt eum in adinventionibus suis, et multiplicata est in eis ruina. David autem dixit: Non habitabit in medio domus meæ qui facit superbiam.

“Quartus Philosophus dixit, _Wille is red_; unde per Psalmistam dicitur: Noluit intelligere ut bene aget. Prover. 12: Via stulti recta in oculis ejus; qui autem sapiens est audit consilium. _Wytte is qued_; unde P.: Erit enim tempus cum sanam doctrinam non sustinebunt. Augus.: Juventuti malorum hominum venenum est quidquid virtus præcipit, esca vero quidquid diabolus suggerit. _Good is ded_; unde in psalmo: Universa vanitas omnis homo vivens, i. vivens secundum hominem, non secundum Deum. Augus.: Sicut mors corporalis separat animum a corpore, ita peccatum mortale animam a vera vita, quæ est Deus.”

In the following, which is taken from the common printed Gesta Romanorum, cap. 144, the English is translated.

“Fertur de quodam Rege cujus regnum in tam subitam devenit mutationem, quod bonum in malum, verum in falsum, forte in debile, justum in injustum est mutatum. Quam mutationem Rex admirans, a quattuor Philosophis sapientissimis causam hujus quæsivit; qui, inquam, Philosophi post sanam deliberationem ad quattuor portas civitates pergentes quilibet eorum tres causas ibi scripsit. Primus scripsit, Potentia est justitia, ideo terra sine lege; dies est nox, ideo terra sine via; fuga est in pugna, ideo regnum sine honore. Secundus scripsit, Unum est duo, ideo regnum sine veritate; amicus est inimicus, ideo regnum sine fidelitate; malum est bonum, ideo terra sine pietate. Tertius scripsit, Ratio habet licentiam, ideo regnum sine nomine; fur est præpositus, ideo regnum sine pecunia; corabola vult esse aquila, ideo nulla discretio in patria. Quartus scripsit, Voluntas est consiliarius, ideo terra male disponitur; denarius dat sententiam, ideo terra male regitur; Deus est mortuus, ideo totum regnum peccatoribus est repletum.”

In the moralisation, these sentences are applied to the time in which it was written. In the English _Gesta Romanorum_ (edited by Sir Frederick Madden for the Roxburghe Club in 1838, and which it is to be regretted is not published in a popular form), p. 397, we have the following version of the story.

“This is redde in the Cronycles of Rome, that in the tyme of Antynyane the Emperour, in the citie of Rome befille a grete pestilence of men and bestes, and grete hungre in alle the empire. The comons risene agayne her lordes, and agayne her Emperour. The Emperour desirede to wete the cause of the tribulacions and diseases, and disposede hym for to putte a remedie agayne the foresaide disease. He callede to hym .iiij. wise Philisophers, for to shew hym the cause of the grete vengeaunce; of the whiche Philisophers the first saide thus, ‘Gifte is domesman, and Gile is chapman; the grete holde no lawe, and servauntes have none awe.’ The seconde saide, ‘Witte is turnede to trechery, and love into lechery; the holy day into glotonye, and gentrie into vilanie.’ The thirde saide, ‘Wise men are but scornede, and wedowes be sore yernede; grete men are but glosede, and smale men borne downe and myslovede.’ The fourthe saide, ‘Lordes wexen blynde, and kynnesmen ben unkynde; dethe out of mynde, and trewthe may no man fynde.’”

The sentences in this last version are also found frequently in MSS. in a separate form. An imperfect copy of them will be found in the _Reliquiæ Antiquæ_, (Pickering, 1839,) p. 58. I have met recently with a much more complete copy, agreeing closely with the sentences in the above tale from the English _Gesta_, but I have also unfortunately lost the reference to it, and cannot recall it to mind at the present moment. In MS. Cotton. Vespas. E. XII. fol. 100, r^o., of the end of the fourteenth century, is given another Latin version of this story, where the scene is laid at Carthage, the King is Hannibal, and instead of the four wise men we have Virgil, and the sayings are again different from the others. This version is important both for the history of the story, and for its connexion with the fable of the legendary Virgilius.

_P._ 256, _l._ 9, _god is ded_.--It will have been observed in the foregoing note that one of the versions of the story interprets _god_ by _Deus_;--God is dead,--which is most probably right, and the former editors have very properly given the word with a capital.

_P._ 258. SONGS ON THE DEATH OF PETER DE GAVESTON.--Both these songs are parodies upon hymns in the Romish ritual.

_P._ 260, _l._ 1, _Vult hic comes, et non Petrus, dici_.--The favourite was, indeed, extremely angry because people persisted in calling him Peter, and obtained a Royal decree that no one should be permitted to call him otherwise than Earl of Cornwall in future.

_P._ 262. THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN.--The text of this poem is extremely corrupt. It appears, from Mr. Halliwell’s description of the MS., that there is another copy of it at Oxford, MS. Rawl. B. 214. This poem is attributed to Robert Baston, a carmelite, who, according to a popular story, was present at the battle, and was taken prisoner by the Scots. We are told that he was liberated on condition of composing a poem to celebrate the valour of the Scots: the song here printed is of quite a different character.

_P._ 262, _l._ 6, _dabantur_.--_Debantur_ in the MS.

---- _l._ 10, _præparare_.--The MS. has _portare_, with “p’p’are” written above.

_P._ 263, _l._ 9, _conflictus_.--The MS. had _consultus_, which is changed into _conflictus_.

---- _l._ 10, _Comes heu! Gloverniæ_.--Gilbert de Clare, son of that Earl of Gloucester who was so active in the Barons’ wars of the reign of Henry III. On his death, at Bannockburn, the title became extinct.

---- _l._ 17, _proditorius vir Bartholomeus_.--Perhaps Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who was Steward of the King’s household, and attended the King in these wars.

_P._ 264, _l._ 2, _sex seminum_.--This word evidently represents the French _semaines_.

_P._ 265, _l._ 2, _nimis_.--The MS. has _nims_.

---- _l._ 4, _veneficos_.--The MS. has _venifices_.

---- _l._ 9, _multiplica_.--In middle-age Latin, the form _multiplicus_ is frequently used for _multiplex_.

---- _l._ 14, _corruerunt_.--The scribe has written _sub_ over the first syllable of this word in the MS., as though he would correct it to _subruerunt_.

_P._ 266, _l._ 16, _horridus_.--The MS. has _oridus_, and just afterwards it seems to have _quievit_ for _crevit_.

_P._ 267, _l._ 4, _stirps radice_.--The MS. has _radix_, with _ortus_ written over it; from which it may be conjectured that the original from which the scribe copied had the reading which I have given, and that the word _ortus_ was written over it, or in the margin, to supply the construction--_stirps ortus radice Jessæ_.

---- _l._ 12, _far_....--The MS. has _far?_.

_P._ 268. THE OFFICE OF ST. THOMAS OF LANCASTER.--Popular heroes and patriots were frequently canonised by the people after their death. Such was the case with Simon de Montfort. See p. 124 of the present volume. A very curious story of this kind will be found in William of Newbury, l. 5, cc. 20, 21. The King, in the present instance, was obliged to issue a proclamation forbidding the worship of Earl Thomas of Lancaster.

_P._ 268, _l._ 2, _Thomam Cantuariæ._--All the popular heroes were compared to St. Thomas of Canterbury. We have seen the comparison used in the case of Simon de Montfort, see p. 125 of the present volume.

_P._ 270, _l._ 11, _pater proles erat regia._--Thomas Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, was son of Edmund, younger brother of Edward I.

---- _l._ 12, _matrem ... reginam Navarria._--Blanche, daughter of Robert, Earl of Artois, and widow of Henry, King of Navarre, who was espoused in second marriage to Edmund Plantagenet.

---- _l._ 16, _Benedicti capitur vigilia...., l. 17, die tertia._--After the battle of Boroughbridge (March 15, 1322), the Earl of Lancaster took refuge in a chapel, where he was taken on the 20th, brought to Pontefract on the 21st, tried on the 22nd, and beheaded the same day. The 20th of March was the eve of St. Benet.

_P._ 271, _l._ 2,_ Hoylandiæ._--Robert de Hoyland (the father of Thomas de Holand, Earl of Kent, the first husband of Joan, Princess of Wales,) had been sent to collect forces in Lancashire, to assist the Earl of Lancaster, but when he had gotten them together, he deserted the Earl, and went over with them to the King’s party.

---- _sudam_ appears to be an error for some other word.

_P._ 273. PETER LANGTOFT’S CHRONICLE.--The Cambridge MS. contains only the history of Edward I., which is given as a complete work, with the title, “Ici commence le Brut coment li bon rei Edward gaigna Escotz e Galis.” The Fairfax MS. seems also to have given the same portion of Langtoft’s Chronicle. Since my text was printed, Sir Frederick Madden has kindly given me his transcripts of the English fragments as they stand in the Fairfax MS. No. 24, in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, and in the Arundel MS. No. 14, in the College of Arms. The numerous variations in these lines, and the frequent recurrence of lines in one MS. which are omitted in another, seem clearly to prove they were fragments of popular songs interwoven into the Chronicle by its writer. I ought to say that, at the time the extracts in the present volume were printed off, it was not in my power to have the sheets collated with the original. It may also be observed, that it has not been thought proper to correct the text by the various readings, but the translation is frequently made from the latter, when the text is evidently wrong.

_P._ 274, _l._ 15, _Celestine la pape._--Pope Celestin the Fifth, who was elected in July, 1294, and abdicated in the December following.

_P._ 275, _l._ 50, _suz Dover._--An account of this attack upon Dover will be found in Matthew of Westminster, p. 424, and in Knighton, col. 2502.

_P._ 278, _l._ 75, _Thomas de Turbevile._--See, on this affair, Matthew of Westminster, p. 425, Knighton, col. 2502, Hemingford, p. 58.

---- _l._ 83, _Cent lievre de tere._--Robert de Brunne’s version has a hundred pounds of land, i. e. lands of that yearly value.

_P._ 280, _l._ 106, _Le tierz jour._--Robert de Brunne says--

Opon the thrid day, at a toun hamelet,
Thomas was his pray, as he to mete was set.

---- _l._ 112, _cum traitur est jugé._--Robert of Brunne has given more details of Turbeville’s trial than are found in the original.

_P._ 282, _l._ 135, _Le counte de Nincole._--Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln and Salisbury.

---- _l._ 136, _Sir Willeam de Vescy._--William de Vescy, Lord of Alnwick, and governor of Scarborough Castle.

---- _l._ 153, _la male rage._--“_Male rage_: Faim extraordinaire, enragée; _mala rabies_.” Roquefort.

---- _l._ 156, _rivelins._--Apparently a kind of rough boots worn by the Scots, so called perhaps on account of their ragged and torn appearance.

---- _la nue nage._--_Nage_ is the Latin _nates_. The Fairfax and Arundel MS. have here a line or two of the French which is not found in the other copies, with the following fragments of English--

(F.) Tprut! Skot riveling,
In unseli timing
crope thu out of cage.

(A.) Tprut! Scot riveling,
With mikel mistiming
crop thu ut of kage.

---- _l._ 157, _Robert de Ros de Werke._--Robert de Ros was an English Baron, but, falling in love with a Scottish lady, he deserted to the Scots, for which his possessions were confiscated. See Hemingford, p. 85.

_P._ 284, _l._ 168, _quatre mile._--The English version makes it _forty thousand_--

In the non tyme felle this cas, that slayn was ilk a man,
That were in Berwik, fourti thousand and mo.

---- _l._ 170, _Richard de Cornewalle._--Holinshed, p. 298, says Sir Richard Cornwall was brother to the Earl of Cornwall. See also Hemingford, p. 91.

---- _l._ 171, _la sale rouge._--The Red Hall was the factory of the Flemish merchants, who carried on an extensive trade with Berwick.

_P._ 285, _l._ 175, _Willeam de Douglasse._--William Douglas was captain of the garrison of Berwick. See Hemingford, _ib._

---- _l._ 176, _Ricard Fresel._--The English has _Symoun Freselle_.

---- _l._ 178, _li quens de la Merche, Patrik._--Patrick, Earl of Dunbar and March, served in the English army; but his Countess, who was left in the castle of Dunbar, and who hated the English, delivered the castle to the Scots.

---- _l._ 180, _Gilbert de Umfravile._--Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus, was one of the Scottish Barons who remained faithful to the English.

_P._ 286, _l._ 194, _Piket him, etc._--The Fairfax MS. has only four lines of this song:--

Piket him and diket him,
in skorn seiden he;
Nu piketh he it and diketh it,
his owen for to be.

In the Arundel MS. it stands thus:--

Pikit him and dikit him,
in hoker seiden he;
Nu pikes he it and dikes it,
his owen for to be.
Skiterende Scottes
Hodere in their hottes,
nevere thei ne the;
Rigth if I rede,
Thei tumbled in Twede,
that woned bi the se.

Robert of Brunne gives the fragment as follows, with six additional lines:--

Now dos Edward dike Berwik brode and long,
Als they bad him pike, and scorned him in ther song.
Pikit him and dikit him
on scorne said he,
He pikes and dikes
in length as him likes
how best it may be.
And thou has for thi pikyng
Mykille ille likyng,
the sothe is to se.
Without any lesyng
Alle is thi hething
fallen opon the,
For scatred er thi Scottis,
And hodred in ther hottes,
never thei ne the.
Right als I rede,
Thei tombled in Tuede,
that woned bi the se.

_P._ 288, _l._ 227, _Otes de Graunt-souns._--Otho had been sent into the East to the aid of the Christians by Edward I., who intended to follow him in person. An account of the loss of Acre, and the escape of the Christians to Cyprus, will be found in Hemingford, pp. 21-28.

_P._ 289, _l._ 245, _le counte de Warwik e Huge le Despencer._--Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and Hugh Despencer, who was afterwards so famous as the favourite of Edward II.

_P._ 293, _l._ 299, _On grene, &c._--In Robert of Brunne, these lines stand thus:--

Ther on that grene,
That kynrede kene
gadred als the gayte.
Right als I wene,
On som was it sene
ther the bit bayte.

_P._ 294, _l._ 324, _sire Corynée._--The fabulous hero who was said to have killed the giant Gogmagog.

_P._ 295, _l._ 338, _The fote folke, etc._--Robert of Brunne gives these lines as follows, with an introduction of his own, in which he says distinctly that they were rhymes which the English made on the Scots:--

¶ The Scottis had no grace,
To spede in ther space,
for to mend ther misse,
Thei filed ther face,
That died in that place;
the Inglis rymed this.
Oure fote folk
Put tham in the polk,
and nakned ther nages,
Bi no way
Herd I never say
of prester pages,
Purses to pike,
Robis to rike,
and in dike tham schonne,
Thou wiffin
Scotte of Abrethin,
kotte is thi honne.

In the Fairfax MS. they stand thus:--