PERCY'S RELIQUES.

RELIQUES OF
ANCIENT ENGLISH
POETRY
CONSISTING OF OLD HEROIC BALLADS, SONGS AND OTHER PIECES OF OUR EARLIER POETS TOGETHER WITH SOME FEW OF LATER DATE

BY
THOMAS PERCY, D.D.
BISHOP OF DROMORE

EDITED, WITH A GENERAL INTRODUCTION, ADDITIONAL PREFACES, NOTES, GLOSSARY, ETC.
BY
HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.

IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. III

LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD.
RUSKIN HOUSE 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C.1

Printed by the Riverside Press Limited, Edinburgh
Great Britain

[CONTENTS OF VOLUME THE THIRD]

RELIQUES OF ANCIENT POETRY, ETC.

SERIES THE THIRD.

[BOOK I.]

"An ordinary song or ballad, that is the delight of the common people, cannot fail to please all such readers, as are not unqualified for the entertainment by their affectation or their ignorance; and the reason is plain, because the same paintings of nature which recommend it to the most ordinary reader, will appear beautiful to the most refined."—Addison, in Spectator, No. 70.

[POEMS ON KING ARTHUR, etc.]

The third volume being chiefly devoted to romantic subjects, may not be improperly introduced with a few slight strictures on the old metrical romances: a subject the more worthy attention, as it seems not to have been known to such as have written on the nature and origin of books of chivalry, that the first compositions of this kind were in verse, and usually sung to the harp.[1]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] [See Appendix.]

I.
THE BOY AND THE MANTLE

Is printed verbatim from the old MS. described in the Preface.[2] The Editor believes it more ancient than it will appear to be at first sight; the transcriber of that manuscript having reduced the orthography and style in many instances to the standard of his own times.

The incidents of the Mantle and the Knife have not, that I can recollect, been borrowed from any other writer. The former of these evidently suggested to Spenser his conceit of Florimel's Girdle, b. iv. c. 5, st. 3.

"That girdle gave the virtue of chaste love
And wivehood true to all that did it beare;
But whosoever contrarie doth prove,
Might not the same about her middle weare,
But it would loose or else asunder teare."

So it happened to the false Florimel, st. 16, when

"Being brought, about her middle small
They thought to gird, as best it her became,
But by no means they could it thereto frame,
For ever as they fastned it, it loos'd
And fell away, as feeling secret blame, &c.
That all men wondred at the uncouth sight
And each one thought as to their fancies came.
But she herself did think it done for spight,
And touched was with secret wrath and shame
Therewith, as thing deviz'd her to defame:
Then many other ladies likewise tride
About their tender loynes to knit the same,
But it would not on none of them abide,
But when they thought it fast, eftsoones it was untide.
Thereat all knights gan laugh and ladies lowre,
Till that at last the gentle Amoret
Likewise assayed to prove that girdle's powre.
And having it about her middle set
Did find it fit withouten breach or let,
Whereat the rest gan greatly to envie.
But Florimel exceedingly did fret
And snatching from her hand," &c.

As for the trial of the Horne, it is not peculiar to our poet: it occurs in the old romance, intitled Morte Arthur, which was translated out of French in the time of K. Edw. IV., and first printed anno 1484. From that romance Ariosto is thought to have borrowed his tale of the Enchanted Cup, c. 42, &c. See Mr. Warton's Observations on the Faerie Queen, &c.

The story of the Horn in Morte Arthur varies a good deal from this of our poet, as the reader will judge from the following extract:—"By the way they met with a knight that was sent from Morgan la Faye to king Arthur, and this knight had a fair horne all garnished with gold, and the horne had such a virtue, that there might no ladye or gentlewoman drinke of that horne, but if she were true to her husband: and if shee were false she should spill all the drinke, and if shee were true unto her lorde, shee might drink peaceably: and because of queene Guenever and in despite of Sir Launcelot du Lake, this horne was sent unto king Arthur." This horn is intercepted and brought unto another king named Marke, who is not a whit more fortunate than the British hero, for he makes "his qeene drinke thereof and an hundred ladies moe, and there were but foure ladies of all those that drank cleane," of which number the said queen proves not to be one (book ii. chap. 22, ed. 1632).

In other respects the two stories are so different, that we have just reason to suppose this ballad was written before that romance was translated into English.

As for queen Guenever, she is here represented no otherwise than in the old histories and romances. Holinshed observes, that "she was evil reported of, as noted of incontinence and breach of faith to hir husband" (vol. i. p. 93).

Such readers, as have no relish for pure antiquity, will find a more modern copy of this ballad at the end of the volume.

[For Percy's further notes on this ballad see the modernized version (book iii. No. 18). Professor Child prints the ballad in his English and Scottish Ballads (vol. i. p. 1) with a full notice of the various forms of the story by way of introduction. He writes:—"No incident is more common in romantic fiction than the employment of some magical contrivance as a test of conjugal fidelity, or of constancy in love. In some romances of the Round Table, and tales founded upon them, this experiment is performed by means either of an enchanted horn, of such properties that no dishonoured husband or unfaithful wife can drink from it without spilling, or of a mantle which will fit none but chaste women. The earliest known instances of the use of these ordeals are afforded by the Lai du Corn, by Robert Bikez, a French minstrel of the twelfth or thirteenth century, and the Fabliau du Mantel Mautaillé, which, in the opinion of a competent critic, dates from the second half of the thirteenth century, and is only the older lay worked up into a new shape (Wolf, Ueber die Lais, 327, sq., 342, sq.). We are not to suppose, however, that either of these pieces presents us with the primitive form of this humorous invention. Robert Bikez tells us that he learned his story from an abbot, and that 'noble ecclesiast' stood but one further back in a line of tradition which curiosity will never follow to its source."

Here follows a list of "the most remarkable cases of the use of these and similar talismans in imaginative literature." To these may be added the garland described in the curious old story of the Wright's Wife, which has been printed since the publication of Mr. Child's work.

"Haue here thys garlond of roses ryche,
In alle thys lond ys none yt lyche;
For ytt wylle euer be newe.
Wete þou wele withowtyn fable,
Alle the whyle thy wyfe ys stable
The chaplett wolle hold hewe;
And yf thy wyfe vse putry,
Or tolle eny man to lye her by,
Than wolle yt change hewe;
And by the garlond þou may see,
Fekylle or fals yf þat sche be,
Or ellys yf sche be trewe."

The Wright's Chaste Wife (E. E. Text Soc. 1865, 1. 55-66).]

In the third day of may,
To Carleile did come
A kind curteous child,
That cold[3] much of wisdome.

A kirtle and a mantle 5
This child had uppon,
With 'brouches' and ringes[4]
Full richelye bedone.[5]

He had a sute of silke
About his middle drawne; 10
Without he cold of curtesye
He thought itt much shame.

God speed thee, king Arthur,
Sitting at thy meate:
And the goodly queene Guenéver, 15
I cannott her forgett.

I tell you, lords, in this hall;
I hett[6] you all to 'heede';[7]
Except you be the more surer
Is you for to dread. 20

He plucked out of his 'poterner,'[8][9]
And longer wold not dwell,
He pulled forth a pretty mantle,
Betweene two nut-shells.

Have thou here, king Arthur; 25
Have thou heere of mee:
Give itt to thy comely queene
Shapen as itt is alreadye.

Itt shall never become that wiffe,
That hath once done amisse. 30
Then every knight in the kings court
Began to care for 'his.'[10]

Forth came dame Guénever;
To the mantle shee her 'hied';[11]
The ladye shee was newfangle, 35
But yett shee was affrayd.

When shee had taken the mantle;
She stoode as shee had beene madd:
It was from the top to the toe
As sheeres had itt shread. 40

One while was itt 'gule';[12][13]
Another while was itt greene;
Another while was itt wadded:[14]
Ill itt did her beseeme.

Another while was it blacke 45
And bore the worst hue:
By my troth, quoth king Arthur,
I thinke thou be not true.

Shee threw downe the mantle,
That bright was of blee;[15] 50
Fast with a rudd[16] redd,
To her chamber can[17] shee flee.

She curst the weaver, and the walker,[18]
That clothe that had wrought;
And bade a vengeance on his crowne, 55
That hither hath itt brought.

I had rather be in a wood,
Under a greene tree;
Then in king Arthurs court
Shamed for to bee. 60

Kay called forth his ladye,
And bade her come neere;
Saies, Madam, and thou be guiltye,
I pray thee hold thee there.

Forth came his ladye 65
Shortlye and anon;
Boldlye to the mantle
Then is shee gone.

When she had tane the mantle,
And cast it her about; 70
Then was shee bare
'Before all the rout.'[19]

Then every knight,
That was in the kings court,
Talked, laughed, and showted[20] 75
Full oft att that sport.

Shee threw downe the mantle,
That bright was of blee;
Fast, with a red rudd,
To her chamber can[1] shee flee. 80

Forth came an old knight
Pattering ore a creede,
And he proferred to this litle boy
Twenty markes to his meede;

And all the time of the Christmasse 85
Willinglye to ffeede;
For why this mantle might
Doe his wiffe some need.

When she had tane the mantle,
Of cloth that was made, 90
Shee had no more left on her,
But a tassell and a threed:
Then every knight in the kings court
Bade evill might shee speed.

Shee threw downe the mantle, 95
That bright was of blee;
And fast, with a redd rudd,
To her chamber can[21] shee flee.

Craddocke called forth his ladye,
And bade her come in; 100
Saith, Winne this mantle, ladye,
With a litle dinne.

Winne this mantle, ladye,
And it shal be thine,
If thou never did amisse 105
Since thou wast mine.

Forth came Craddockes ladye
Shortlye and anon;
But boldlye to the mantle
Then is shee gone. 110

When shee had tane the mantle,
And cast itt her about,
Upp att her great toe
It began to crinkle and crowt:[22]
Shee said, bowe downe, mantle, 115
And shame me not for nought.

Once I did amisse,
I tell you certainlye,
When I kist Craddockes mouth
Under a greene tree; 120
When I kist Craddockes mouth
Before he marryed mee.

When shee had her shreeven,
And her sines shee had tolde;
The mantle stoode about her 125
Right as shee wold:

Seemelye of coulour
Glittering like gold:
Then every knight in Arthurs court
Did her behold. 130

Then spake dame Guénever
To Arthur our king;
She hath tane yonder mantle
Not with right, but with wronge.[23]

See you not yonder woman, 135
That maketh her self soe 'cleane'?[24]
I have seene tane out of her bedd
Of men fiveteene;

Priests, clarkes, and wedded men
From her bedeene:[25][26] 140
Yett shee taketh the mantle,
And maketh her self cleane.

Then spake the litle boy,
That kept the mantle in hold;
Sayes, king, chasten thy wiffe, 145
Of her words shee is to bold:

Shee is a bitch and a witch,
And a whore bold:
King, in thine owne hall
Thou art a cuckold. 150

The litle boy stoode[27]
Looking out a dore;[28]
[And there as he was lookinge
He was ware of a wyld bore.]

He was ware of a wyld bore,[29] 155
Wold have werryed a man:[29]
He pulld forth a wood kniffe,
Fast thither that he ran:
He brought in the bores head,
And quitted him like a man. 160

He brought in the bores head,
And was wonderous bold:
He said there was never a cuckolds kniffe
Carve itt that cold.

Some rubbed their knives 165
Uppon a whetstone:
Some threw them under the table,
And said they had none.

King Arthur, and the child
Stood looking upon them;
All their knives edges
Turned backe againe.[30] 170

Craddocke had a litle knive
Of iron and of steele;
He britled[31] the bores head[32] 175
Wonderous weele;
That every knight in the kings court
Had a morssell.

The litle boy had a horne,
Of red gold that ronge: 180
He said, there was noe cuckolde
Shall drinke of my horne;
But he shold it sheede[33]
Either behind or beforne.

Some shedd on their shoulder, 185
And some on their knee;
He that cold not hitt his mouthe,
Put it in his eye:
And he that was a cuckold
Every man might him see. 190

Craddocke wan the horne,
And the bores head:
His ladie wan the mantle
Unto her meede.
Everye such a lovely ladye 195
God send her well to speede.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] [Percy folio MS. ed. Hales and Furnivall, vol. ii. pp. 301-311.]

[3] [knew.]

[4] Ver. 7. branches, MS.

[5] [ornamented.]

[6] [bid.]

[7] V. 18. heate, MS.

[8] [probably a pouch or bag, but there is no authority for the word.]

[9] Ver. 21. potewer, MS.

[10] V. 32. his wiffe, MS.

[11] V. 34. biled, MS.

[12] [red.]

[13] V. 41. gaule, MS.

[14] [light blue or woad coloured.]

[15] [colour.]

[16] [ruddy.]

[17] [began.]

[18] [fuller.]

[19] [Ver. 72. all above the buttockes, MS.]

[20] V. 75. lauged, MS.

[21] [began.]

[22] [draw close together, another form of crowd.]

[23] Ver. 134. wright, MS.

[24] V. 136. cleare, MS.

[25] [forthwith.]

[26] Ver. 140. by deene, MS.

[27] [V. 151. a little boy, MS.]

[28] [V. 152. looking over.]

[29] [V. 155-6. these two lines belong to the former stanza.]

[30] Ver. 170. them upon, MS.

[31] [carved.]

[32] V. 175. or birtled, MS.

[33] [shed.]

II.
THE MARRIAGE OF SIR GAWAINE

Is chiefly taken from the fragment of an old ballad in the Editor's MS., which he has reason to believe more ancient than the time of Chaucer, and what furnished that bard with his Wife of Bath's Tale. The original was so extremely mutilated, half of every leaf being torn away, that without large supplements, &c. it was deemed improper for this collection: these it has therefore received, such as they are. They are not here particularly pointed out, because the Fragment itself will now be found printed at the end of this volume.

[Sir Frederic Madden supposed this ballad to be founded upon the Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell, which he printed from the Rawlinson MS. c. 86, fol. 128 b, in his Syr Gawaine.

Mr. Hales writes as follows respecting the various forms in which the story appears in literature. "The wonderful 'metamorphosis' on which this story turns is narrated in Gower's Confessio Amantis, as the story of Florent and the King of Sicily's Daughter, taken by him, as Tyrwhitt conjectures, from the Gesta Romanorum, or some such collection. It appears again, as the reader will remember, in Chaucer's Wyf of Bathes Tale. 'Worked over,' says Prof. Child, 'by some ballad-monger of the sixteenth century, and of course reduced to ditch-water, this tale has found its way into the Crown Garland of Golden Roses, part i. p. 68 (Percy Society, vol. vi.), 'Of a Knight and a Faire Virgin.' On a similar transformation depends the story of 'King Henrie' in Scott's Minstrelsy, edited from Mrs. Brown's MS., with corrections from a recited fragment, and modernized as 'Courteous King Jamie' in Lewis's Tales of Wonder. 'The prime original,' says Scott, 'is to be found in an Icelandic Saga.'"[34]

Mr. Child prints (English and Scottish Ballads, vol. viii. p. 139) two versions of a Scotch ballad entitled Kempy Kaye, which he supposes to be an extravagant parody of The Marriage of Sir Gawaine.]

Part the First.

King Arthur lives in merry Carleile,
And seemely is to see;
And there with him queene Guenever,
That bride soe bright of blee.[35]

And there with him queene Guenever, 5
That bride so bright in bowre:
And all his barons about him stoode,
That were both stiffe and stowre.[36]

The king a royale Christmasse kept,
With mirth and princelye cheare; 10
To him repaired many a knighte,
That came both farre and neare.

And when they were to dinner sette,
And cups went freely round;
Before them came a faire damsèlle, 15
And knelt upon the ground.

A boone, a boone, O kinge Arthùre,
I beg a boone of thee;
Avenge me of a carlish knighte,
Who hath shent[37] my love and mee. 20

At Tearne-Wadling[38] his castle stands,
Near to that lake so fair,
And proudlye rise the battlements,
And streamers deck the air.

Noe gentle knighte, nor ladye gay, 25
May pass that castle-walle:
But from that foule discurteous knighte,
Mishappe will them befalle.

Hee's twyce the size of common men,
Wi' thewes, and sinewes stronge, 30
And on his backe he bears a clubbe,
That is both thicke and longe.

This grimme baròne 'twas our harde happe,
But yester morne to see;
When to his bowre he bare my love, 35
And sore misused mee.

And when I told him, king Arthùre
As lyttle shold him spare;
Goe tell, sayd hee, that cuckold kinge,
To meete mee if he dare. 40

Upp then sterted king Arthùre,
And sware by hille and dale,
He ne'er wolde quitt that grimme baròne,
Till he had made him quail.

Goe fetch my sword Excalibar: 45
Goe saddle mee my steede;
Nowe, by my faye, that grimme baròne
Shall rue this ruthfulle deede.

And when he came to Tearne Wadlinge
Benethe the castle walle: 50
"Come forth; come forth; thou proude baròne,
Or yielde thyself my thralle."

On magicke grounde that castle stoode,
And fenc'd with many a spelle:
Noe valiant knighte could tread thereon, 55
But straite his courage felle.

Forth then rush'd that carlish[39] knight,
King Arthur felte the charme:
His sturdy sinewes lost their strengthe,
Downe sunke his feeble arme. 60

Nowe yield thee, yield thee, kinge Arthùre,
Now yield thee, unto mee:
Or fighte with mee, or lose thy lande,
Noe better termes maye bee,

Unlesse thou sweare upon the rood, 65
And promise on thy faye,
Here to returne to Tearne-Wadling,
Upon the new-yeare's daye;

And bringe me worde what thing it is
All women moste desyre; 70
This is thy ransome, Arthur, he sayes,
He have noe other hyre.

King Arthur then helde up his hande,
And sware upon his faye,[40]
Then tooke his leave of the grimme barone 75
And faste hee rode awaye.

And he rode east, and he rode west,
And did of all inquyre,
What thing it is all women crave,
And what they most desyre. 80

Some told him riches, pompe, or state;
Some rayment fine and brighte;
Some told him mirthe; some flatterye;
And some a jollye knighte.

In letters all king Arthur wrote, 85
And seal'd them with his ringe:
But still his minde was helde in doubte,
Each tolde a different thinge.

As ruthfulle he rode over a more,
He saw a ladye sette 90
Betweene an oke, and a greene holléye,
All clad in red[41] scarlette.

Her nose was crookt and turnd outwàrde,
Her chin stoode all awrye;
And where as sholde have been her mouthe, 95
Lo! there was set her eye:

Her haires, like serpents, clung aboute
Her cheekes of deadlye hewe:
A worse-form'd ladye than she was,
No man mote ever viewe. 100

To hail the king in seemelye sorte
This ladye was fulle faine;
But king Arthùre all sore amaz'd,
No aunswere made againe.

What wight art thou, the ladye sayd, 105
That wilt not speake to mee;
Sir, I may chance to ease thy paine,
Though I be foule to see.

If thou wilt ease my paine, he sayd,
And helpe me in my neede; 110
Ask what thou wilt, thou grimme ladyè,
And it shall bee thy meede.

O sweare mee this upon the roode,
And promise on thy faye;
And here the secrette I will telle, 115
That shall thy ransome paye.

King Arthur promis'd on his faye,
And sware upon the roode;
The secrette then the ladye told,
As lightlye well shee cou'de. 120

Now this shall be my paye, sir king,
And this my guerdon bee,
That some yong fair and courtlye knight,
Thou bringe to marrye mee.

Fast then pricked king Arthùre 125
Ore hille, and dale, and downe:
And soone he founde the barone's bowre:
And soone the grimme baroùne.

He bare his clubbe upon his backe,
Hee stoode bothe stiffe and stronge; 130
And, when he had the letters reade,
Awaye the lettres flunge.

Nowe yielde thee, Arthur, and thy lands,
All forfeit unto mee;
For this is not thy paye, sir king, 135
Nor may thy ransome bee.

Yet hold thy hand, thou proud baròne,
I praye thee hold thy hand;
And give mee leave to speake once more
In reskewe of my land. 140

This morne, as I came over a more,
I saw a ladye sette
Betwene an oke, and a greene hollèye,
All clad in red scarlètte.

Shee sayes, all women will have their wille, 145
This is their chief desyre;
Now yield, as thou art a barone true,
That I have payd mine hyre.

An earlye vengeaunce light on her!
The carlish baron swore: 150
Shee was my sister tolde thee this,
And shee's a mishapen whore.

But here I will make mine avowe,
To do her as ill a turne:
For an ever I may that foule theefe gette, 155
In a fyre I will her burne.

Part the Seconde.

Homewarde pricked king Arthùre,
And a wearye man was hee;
And soone he mette queene Guenever,
That bride so bright of blee.

What newes! what newes! thou noble king, 5
Howe, Arthur, hast thou sped?
Where hast thou hung the carlish knighte?
And where bestow'd his head?

The carlish knight is safe for mee,
And free fro mortal harme: 10
On magicke grounde his castle stands,
And fenc'd with many a charme.

To bowe to him I was fulle faine,
And yielde mee to his hand:
And but for a lothly ladye, there 15
I sholde have lost my land.

And nowe this fills my hearte with woe,
And sorrowe of my life;
I swore a yonge and courtlye knight,
Sholde marry her to his wife. 20

Then bespake him sir Gawàine,
That was ever a gentle knighte:
That lothly ladye I will wed;
Therefore be merrye and lighte.

Nowe naye, nowe naye, good sir Gawàine; 25
My sister's sonne yee bee;
This lothlye ladye's all too grimme,
And all too foule for yee.

Her nose is crookt and turn'd outwàrde;
Her chin stands all awrye; 30
A worse form'd ladye than shee is
Was never seen with eye.

What though her chin stand all awrye.
And shee be foule to see:
I'll marry her, unkle, for thy sake, 35
And I'll thy ransome bee.

Nowe thankes, nowe thankes, good sir Gawàine;
And a blessing thee betyde!
To-morrow wee'll have knights and squires,
And wee'll goe fetch thy bride. 40

And wee'll have hawkes and wee'll have houndes,
To cover our intent;
And wee'll away to the greene forèst,
As wee a hunting went.

Sir Lancelot, sir Stephen[42] bolde, 45
They rode with them that daye;
And foremoste of the companye
There rode the stewarde Kaye:

Soe did sir Banier[43] and sir Bore,[44]
And eke sir Garratte[45] keene; 50
Sir Tristram too, that gentle knight,
To the forest freshe and greene.

And when they came to the greene forrèst,
Beneathe a faire holley tree
There sate that ladye in red scarlètte 55
That unseemelye was to see.

Sir Kay beheld that lady's face,
And looked upon her sweere;[46]
Whoever kisses that ladye, he sayes,
Of his kisse he stands in feare. 60

Sir Kay beheld that ladye againe,
And looked upon her snout;
Whoever kisses that ladye, he sayes,
Of his kisse he stands in doubt.

Peace, brother Kay, sayde sir Gawàine, 65
And amend thee of thy life:
For there is a knight amongst us all,
Must marry her to his wife.

What marry this foule queane, quoth Kay,
I' the devil's name anone; 70
Gett mee a wife wherever I maye,
In sooth shee shall be none.

Then some tooke up their hawkes in haste,
And some took up their houndes;
And sayd they wolde not marry her, 75
For cities, nor for townes.

Then bespake him king Arthùre,
And sware there by this daye;
For a little foule sighte and mislikìnge,
Yee shall not say her naye. 80

Peace, lordings, peace; sir Gawaine sayd;
Nor make debate and strife;
This lothlye ladye I will take,
And marry her to my wife.

Nowe thankes, nowe thankes, good sir Gawaine, 85
And a blessinge be thy meede!
For as I am thine owne ladyè,
Thou never shalt rue this deede.

Then up they took that lothly dame,
And home anone they bringe: 90
And there sir Gawaine he her wed,
And married her with a ringe.

And when they were in wed-bed laid,
And all were done awaye:
"Come turne to mee, mine owne wed-lord 95
Come turne to mee I praye."

Sir Gawaine scant could lift his head,
For sorrowe and for care;
When, lo! instead of that lothelye dame,
Hee sawe a young ladye faire. 100

Sweet blushes stayn'd her rud-red cheeke,
Her eyen were blacke as sloe:
The ripening cherrye swellde her lippe,
And all her necke was snowe.

Sir Gawaine kiss'd that lady faire, 105
Lying upon the sheete:
And swore, as he was a true knighte,
The spice was never soe sweete.

Sir Gawaine kiss'd that lady brighte,
Lying there by his side: 110
"The fairest flower is not soe faire:
Thou never can'st bee my bride."

I am thy bride, mine owne deare lorde,
The same whiche thou didst knowe,
That was soe lothlye, and was wont 115
Upon the wild more to goe.

Nowe, gentle Gawaine, chuse, quoth shee,
And make thy choice with care;
Whether by night, or else by daye,
Shall I be foule or faire? 120

"To have thee foule still in the night,
When I with thee should playe!
I had rather farre, my lady deare,
To have thee foule by daye."

What when gaye ladyes goe with their lordes 125
To drinke the ale and wine;
Alas! then I must hide myself,
I must not goe with mine?

"My faire ladyè, sir Gawaine sayd,
I yield me to thy skille; 130
Because thou art mine owne ladyè
Thou shalt have all thy wille."

Nowe blessed be thou, sweete Gawàine,
And the daye that I thee see;
For as thou seest mee at this time, 135
Soe shall I ever bee.

My father was an aged knighte,
And yet it chanced soe,
He tooke to wife a false ladyè,
Whiche broughte me to this woe. 140

Shee witch'd mee, being a faire yonge maide,
In the greene forèst to dwelle;
And there to abide in lothlye shape,
Most like a fiend of helle.

Midst mores and mosses; woods, and wilds; 145
To lead a lonesome life:
Till some yong faire and courtlye knighte
Wolde marrye me to his wife:

Nor fully to gaine mine owne trewe shape,
Such was her devilish skille; 150
Until he wolde yielde to be rul'd by mee,
And let mee have all my wille.

She witchd my brother to a carlish boore,
And made him stiffe and stronge;
And built him a bowre on magicke grounde, 155
To live by rapine and wronge.

But now the spelle is broken throughe,
And wronge is turnde to righte;
Henceforth I shall bee a faire ladyè,
And hee be a gentle knighte. 160

⁂

FOOTNOTES:

[34] [Percy folio MS. ed. Hales and Furnivall, vol. i. p. 104.]

[35] [complexion.]

[36] [strong.]

[37] [abused.]

[38] Tearne-Wadling is the name of a small lake [in Inglewood Forest] near Hesketh in Cumberland, on the road from Penrith to Carlisle. There is a tradition, that an old castle once stood near the lake, the remains of which were not long since visible. Tarn, in the dialect of that country, signifies a small lake, and is still in use. ["Tarn-Wadling ... has been for the last ten years a wide meadow grazed by hundreds of sheep."—J. S. Glennie, in Macmillan's Mag. Dec. 1867, p. 167, col. 2.]

[39] churlish.

[40] faith.

[41] This was a common phrase in our old writers; so Chaucer, in his prologue to the Cant. Tales, says of the wife of Bath:—

"Her hosen were of fyne scarlet red."

[42] Sir F. Madden remarks that Sir Stephen does not appear in the Round Table Romances.

[43] [Perhaps intended for Bedver, the King's Constable, Tennyson's Bedivere, but more probably Ban of Benoyk, the brother of Bors.]

[44] [Bors de Gauves, or Gaunes.]

[45] [Gareth, or Gaheret, Sir Gawain's younger brother.]

[46] [neck.]

III.
KING RYENCE'S CHALLENGE.

This song is more modern than many of those which follow it, but is placed here for the sake of the subject. It was sung before queene Elizabeth at the grand entertainment at Kenelworth-castle in 1575, and was probably composed for that occasion. In a letter describing those festivities, it is thus mentioned: "A Minstral came forth with a sollem song, warranted for story out of K. Arthur's acts, whereof I gat a copy, and is this:

"So it fell out on a Pentecost, &c."

After the song the narrative proceeds: "At this the Minstrell made a pause and a curtezy for Primus Passus. More of the song is thear, but I gatt it not."

The story in Morte Arthur, whence it is taken, runs as follows: "Came a messenger hastely from king Ryence of North-Wales,—saying, that king Ryence had discomfited and overcomen eleaven kings, and everiche of them did him homage, and that was this: they gave him their beards cleane flayne off.—wherefore the messenger came for king Arthur's beard, for king Ryence had purfeled a mantell with kings beards, and there lacked for one a place of the mantell, wherefore he sent for his beard, or else he would enter into his lands, and brenn and slay, and never leave till he have thy head and thy beard. Well, said king Arthur, thou hast said thy message, which is the most villainous and lewdest message that ever man heard sent to a king. Also thou mayest see my beard is full young yet for to make a purfell of, but tell thou the king that—or it be long he shall do to me homage on both his knees, or else he shall leese his head." [B. i. c. 24. See also the same Romance, b. i. c. 92.]

The thought seems to be originally taken from Jeff. Monmouth's Hist. b. x. c. 3. which is alluded to by Drayton in his Poly-Olb. Song. 4 and by Spenser in Faer. Qu. 6. 1. 13. 15. See the Observations on Spenser, vol. ii. p. 223.

The following text is composed of the best readings selected from three different copies. The first in Enderbie's Cambria Triumphans, p. 197. The second in the Letter abovementioned. And the third inserted in MS. in a copy of Morte Arthur, 1632, in the Bodleian Library.

Stow tells us, that king Arthur kept his round table at "diverse places, but especially at Carlion, Winchester, and Camalet in Somersetshire." This Camalet, sometimes a famous towne or castle, is situate on a very high tor or hill, &c. (See an exact description in Stowe's Annals, ed. 1631, p. 55.)

As it fell out on a Pentecost day,
King Arthur at Camelot kept his court royall,
With his faire queene dame Guenever the gay;
And many bold barons sitting in hall;
With ladies attired in purple and pall; 5
And heraults in hewkes,[47] hooting on high,
Cryed, Largesse, Largesse, Chevaliers tres-hardie.[48]

A doughty dwarfe to the uppermost deas[49]
Right pertlye gan pricke, kneeling on knee;
With steven[50] fulle stoute amids all the preas,[51] 10
Sayd, Nowe sir king Arthur, God save thee, and see!
Sir Ryence of North-gales[52] greeteth well thee,
And bids thee thy beard anon to him send,
Or else from thy jaws he will it off rend.

For his robe of state is a rich scarlet mantle, 15
With eleven kings beards bordered[53] about,
And there is room lefte yet in a kantle,[54]
For thine to stande, to make the twelfth out:
This must be done, be thou never so stout;
This must be done, I tell thee no fable, 20
Maugre[55] the teethe of all thy round table.

When this mortal message from his mouthe past,
Great was the noyse bothe in hall and in bower:
The king fum'd; the queene screecht; ladies were aghast;
Princes puffd; barons blustred; lords began lower;
Knights stormed; squires startled, like steeds in a stower; 26
Pages and yeomen yell'd out in the hall,
Then in came sir Kay, the 'king's' seneschal.

Silence, my soveraignes, quoth this courteous knight,
And in that stound the stowre[56] began still: 30
'Then' the dwarfe's dinner full deerely was dight;[57]
Of wine and wassel he had his wille:
And, when he had eaten and drunken his fill,
An hundred pieces of fine coyned gold
Were given this dwarf for his message bold. 35

But say to sir Ryence, thou dwarf, quoth the king,
That for his bold message I do him defye;
And shortlye with basins and pans will him ring
Out of North-gales; where he and I
With swords, and not razors, quickly shall trye, 40
Whether he, or king Arthur will prove the best barbor:
And therewith he shook his good sword Excalàbor.
* * * * *

†‡† Strada, in his Prolusions, has ridiculed the story of the Giant's Mantle, made of the Beards of Kings.

FOOTNOTES:

[47] [party-coloured coats.]

[48] Largesse, Largesse. The heralds resounded these words as oft as they received of the bounty of the knights. See Memoires de la Chevalerie, tom. i. p. 99.—The expression is still used in the form of installing knights of the garter.

[49] [dais or upper table.]

[50] [voice.]

[51] [press.]

[52] [North Wales.]

[53] i.e. set round the border, as furs are now round the gowns of Magistrates.

[54] [corner.]

[55] [in spite of.]

[56] [that moment the tumult.]

[57] [decked.]

IV.
KING ARTHUR'S DEATH.

A Fragment.

The subject of this ballad is evidently taken from the old romance Morte Arthur, but with some variations, especially in the concluding stanzas; in which the author seems rather to follow the traditions of the old Welsh Bards, who believed that King Arthur was not dead, "but conveied awaie by the Fairies into some pleasant place, where he should remaine for a time, and then returne againe and reign in as great authority as ever." Holinshed, b. 5, c. 14, or as it is expressed in an old Chronicle printed at Antwerp 1493, by Ger. de Leew, "The Bretons supposen, that he [K. Arthur]—shall come yet and conquere all Bretaigne, for certes this is the prophicye of Merlyn: He sayd, that his deth shall be doubteous; and sayd soth, for men thereof yet have doubte, and shullen for ever more,—for men wyt not whether that he lyveth or is dede." See more ancient testimonies in Selden's Notes on Polyolbion, Song III.

This fragment being very incorrect and imperfect in the original MS. hath received some conjectural emendations, and even a supplement of three or four stanzas composed from the romance of Morte Arthur.

[The two ballads here entitled King Arthur's Death and The Legend of King Arthur are united in the Folio MS. (ed. Hales and Furnivall, vol. i. p. 497), but they are evidently two distinct songs. The first ballad forms part ii. of the MS. copy, which has fourteen verses at the end not printed here. The last four verses are printed at the end of the next ballad. Percy has taken great liberties with his original, and has not left a single line unaltered, as will be seen by comparing it with the original printed at the end. Additional lines are also interpolated which are now enclosed within brackets, and it will be seen that these unnecessary amplifications do not improve the effect of the poem. It will also be seen that in vv. 41-44 the father and son of the original are changed into uncle and nephew.

This last scene in the life of King Arthur is the most beautiful and touching portion of his history, and the romancers and minstrels were never tired of telling it in every form.

According to one tradition Arthur still sleeps under St. Michael's Mount ("the guarded Mount" of Milton's Lycidas), and according to another beneath Richmond Castle, Yorkshire.

Mr. Willmott, in his edition of the Reliques, writes, "according to popular superstition in Sicily, Arthur is preserved alive by his sister la Fata Morgana, whose fairy palace is occasionally seen from Reggio in the opposite sea of Messina.">[

* * * * *
On Trinitye Mondaye in the morne,
This sore battayle was doom'd to bee;
Where manye a knighte cry'd, Well-awaye!
Alacke, it was the more pittìe.

Ere the first crowinge of the cocke, 5
When as the kinge in his bed laye,
He thoughte sir Gawaine to him came,[58]
And there to him these wordes did saye.

Nowe, as you are mine unkle deare,
And as you prize your life, this daye 10
O meet not with your foe in fighte;
Putt off the battayle, if yee maye.

For sir Launcelot is now in Fraunce,
And with him many an hardye knighte:
Who will within this moneth be backe, 15
And will assiste yee in the fighte.

The kinge then call'd his nobles all,
Before the breakinge of the daye;
And tolde them howe sir Gawaine came,
And there to him these wordes did saye. 20

His nobles all this counsayle gave,
That earlye in the morning, hee
Shold send awaye an herauld at armes,
To aske a parley faire and free.

Then twelve good knightes king Arthure chose, 25
The best of all that with him were:
To parley with the foe in field,
And make with him agreement faire.

The king he charged all his hoste,
In readinesse there for to bee: 30
But noe man sholde noe weapon sturre,
Unlesse a sword drawne they shold see