With al his knyghtes ever ilkane, The king and his men ilkane Wend tharwith to have bene slane, So blew it store [strong] with slete and rayne: Dight him graythly [readily] in his gere, When he was dight in seker wede, Than he umstrade [bestrode] a nobil stede: Him thoght that he was als lyght Als a fowl es to the flyght. And sone when thai myght him se, Syr Kay, for he wald noght fayle, Smertly askes the batayle. And alsone than said the kyng, Sir Kay, I grante thine askyng. That ALE is festival, appears from its sense in composition; as, amongst others, in the words Leet-ale, Lamb-ale, Whitson-ale, Clerk-ale, and Church-ale. LEET-ALE, in some parts of England, signifies the Dinner at a court-leet of a manor for the jury and customary tenants. LAMB-ALE is still used at the village of Kirtlington in Oxfordshire, for an annual feast or celebrity at lamb-shearing. WHITSON-ALE, is the common name in the mid-land counties, for the rural sports and feasting at Whitsontide. CLERK-ALE Occurs in Aubrey's MSS. History of WILTSHIRE. 'In the Easter holidays was the CLARKES-ALE, for his private benefit and the 'solace of the neighbourhood. MSS. Mus. ASAM. Oxon. CHURCH-ALE, was a feast established for the repair of the church, or in honour of the church-saint, &c. In Dodsworth's MSS. there is an old indenture, made before the Reformation, which not only shews the design of the Church-ale, but explains this particular use and application of the word Ale. The parishioners of Elveston and Okebrook, in Derbyshire, agree jointly, to brew four ALES, and every ALE of one quarter of malt, betwixt this and the feast of saint John Baptist next coming. And that every inhabitant of the said town of Okebrook shall be at the several ALES. And every husband and his wife shall pay two pence, every cottager one penny, and 'all the inhabitants of Elveston shall have and receive all the profits and advantages coming ' of the said ALES, to the use and behoof of the said church of Elveston. And the inhabitants "of Elveston shall brew eight ALEL betwixt this and the feast of St. John Baptist, at the 'which ALES the inhabitants of Okebrook shall come and pay as before rehersed. And if he "be away at one ALE, to pay at the toder ALE for both, &c.' MSS. Bibl. Bodl. vol. 148. f. 97. See also our CHURCH-CANONS, given in 1603. CAN. 88. The application of what is here collected to the word BRIDALE, is obvious. But Mr. Astle has a curious record, about 1575, which proves the BRIDE-ALE synonimous with the WEDDYN-ALE. During the course of queen Elizabeth's entertainments at Kenilworth-castle, in 1575, a BRYDE-ALE was celebrated with a great variety of shews and sports. Laneham's LETTER, dated the same year. fol. xxvi. seq. What was the nature of the merriment of the CHURCH-ALE, we learn from the WITCHES-SONG in Jonson's MASQUE OF QUEENS at Whitehall in 1609, where one of the Witches boasts to have killed and stole the fat of an infant, begotten by a piper at a CHURch-ale. S. 6.. Among bishop Tanner's MSS. additions to Cowell's Law-Glossary in the Bodleian library, is the following Note, from his own collections. [Lit. V. ] 'A.D. 1468. Prior Cant. et Com'missarii visitationem fecerunt (diocesi Cant, vacante per mortem archiepiscopi) et ibi publica'tum erat, quod Potationes factæ in ecclesiis, vulgariter dicta YEVEALYS, vel BREDEALYS, non essent ulterius in usu sub pæna excommunicationis majoris.' Had the learned author of the Dissertation on BARLEY WINE been as well acquainted with the British as the Grecian literature, this long note would perhaps have been un necessary, 1 Wicked is here, accursed. In which sense it is used by Shakespeare's Caliban, TEMP. Act. i. Sc. ii. As WICKED dew as e'er my mother brush'd To defend the fountain, the office of the lord of this castle. 710 THE CASTLE AND CITEE RING.-THE LADYE MADE FUL CHERE. Sir Ywaine is victorious, who discovers himself to king Arthur after the battle. And sone sir Ywayne gan him tell The kyng granted him ful right To dwel with him a fouretenyght. The knyghtes war al glad and blyth, With sir Ywayne for to wend And sone a squier has he send It es no lifand man with mowth That half hir cumforth tel kowth. Thai said he was worthy to dowt, The Castel and the Cetee rang With mynstralsi and nobil sang. The Lady made ful Abowt hir was ful mekyl thrang, The puple cried and sayd omang, Of al this werld thou beres the floure! Lord kyng of all kynges, And blissed be he that the brynges! 1 Waited on. See Tyrwh. GL. Ch. 3 Tapestry spread on the walls. 2 So large a train of knights. Athens is called the Drywery of the world. Gallantries. Jewels. Davie says, that in one of Alexander's battles, many a lady lost er drewery. GESTE ALEXANDER, MSS. p. 86. bid. When the Lady the Kyng saw, Et es no man with tong may tell Of maidens was thar so gude wane3, The king stays here eight days, entertained with various sports. 1 Together. Of huntyng, and als of revere: [river] 2 Assembly. 3 There are three old poems on the exploits of Gawain, one of the heroes of this romance. There is a fourth in the Scotch dialect, by Clerke of Tranent, an old Scottish poet. See LAMENT FOR The death of the MAKKARIS, st. xvii. Cler of the Tranent eke has [death] tane ANC. SCOTT. P. 1576. The two heroes of this romance, YwAIN and GAWAIN, are mentioned jointly in a very old French version of the British or Armorican LAY OF LAUNVAL, of which there is a beautiful vellum MSS. MSS. Cott. VESPAS. B. xiv. I. Ensemble od eus GAWAYNS, E sis cosins li beus YWAYNS. This LAY or SONG, like the romance in the text, is opened with a feast celebrated at Whitsun tide by king Arthur at Kardoyl, a French corruption from Carliol, by which is meant Cair leon in Wales, sometimes in romances confounded with Cardiff. See Geoffr. Momm. 'Ici cammence le Lay de LAUNVAL! X. 12. Laventure de un Lay, Fait fu dun gentil vassal, A Kardoyl sujornoit li reys Pur les Escot, e pur les Pis, En la terre de Logres' le trououent, Cum de avint uns cunteray, En Bretaigne lapelent LAUNVAL: A uns de la Table Runde, &c. That is, "HERK BEGINS THE LAY OF LAUNVAL.-The Adventure of a certain LAY, which 'has been related of old, made of a gentle vassal, whom in Bretaigne they called LAUNVAL On which word 1 Logres, or Loegria, from Locrine, was the middle part of Britain, Counts. So in ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER, we have CONTASS for countess. his editor Hearne observes, that king James I. used to call a Countess a cuntys, And he quotes one of Jame's letters, Come and bring the three Cuntys [for countesses] with you,” GLOSS. p. 635. 712 THE NUT-BROWNE MAYDE.-WANLEY.-PRIOR. SECTION LXIV. I FEAR I shall be pronounced a heretic to modern criticism, in retra cing what I have said in a preceding page, and in placing the NuBROWNE MAYDE under some part of this reign. Prior, who, about the year 1718, paraphrased this poem, without improving its nati e beauties, supposes it to have been three hundred years old. It appea s from two letters preserved in the British Museum, written by Prior to Wanley, lord Oxford's librarian, that Prior consulted Wanley about this ancient ballad. [MSS. HARL. 3777.] It is, however, certain, that Wanley, an antiquarian of unquestionable skill and judgment in these niceties, whatever directions and information he might have imparted to Prior on this subject, could never have communicated such a decision. He certainly in these letters gives no such opinion1. This is therefore the hasty conjecture of Prior; who thought that the curiosity which he was presenting to the world, would derive proportionable value from its antiquity, who was better employed than in the petty labour of ascertaining dates, and who knew much more of modern than ancient poetry. The NUT-BROWNE MAYDE first appeared in Arnolde's CHRONICLE, 'The brave and courteous king Arthur sojourned at Kardoyl, for making war against the 'Scots and Picts, who destroyed the country. He found them in the land of Logres, where they committed frequent outrages. The king was there at the feast of Pentecost, where he gave rich gifts to the counts and barons, and the knights of the round table, &c.' The writing of this MSS. of LAUNVAL seems about 1300. The composition is undoubtedly much earlier. There is another, MSS. HARL. 978. §. 112. From this French LAUNVAL is translated, but with great additions, the English LAUNFALL I presume this romance of YWAYN and GAWAYNE is translated from a French one of the same title, and in the reign of Henry VI. ; but not by Thomas Chestre, who translated, or rather paraphrased, LAUNVAL, or Sir LAUNFALL, and who seems to have been master of a more copious and poetic style. It is not however unlikely, that Chestre translated from a more modern French copy of LAUNVAL, heightened and improved from the old simple Armorican tale, of which I have here produced a short extract. The same perhaps may be said of the English metrical roonance EMARE, who marries the king of Galys, or Wales, originally an Armorican tale, before quoted. MSS. Cott. CALIG. A. z. fol. 68. The last stanza confirms what has been advanced concerning the connection between Cornwall and Bretagne, or Armorica. fol. ult. A grette feste thar was holde Of erles and barons bolde, I believe the last line means, Made for an entertainment.'-'Which men call playing the 'GARYE.' The reader may perhaps recollect, that the old Cornish Miracle interlude was called the Guary Mirakit, that is, the Miracle Piay. In Cornish, Plan an guare is the level place, the plain of sport and pastime, the theatre of games, &c. Guare is a Cornish verb, to sport, to play. In affinity with which, is probably Garish, gay, splendid, Milton, IL PENS. V. 141. Day's garish eye, Shakespeare, ROM. JUL. iii. 4. The garish sun. KING RICHARD THE THIRD. A garish flag. Campare Lye, Sax. Dict. V. dress fine. Το Who was the translator of EMARE, it is not known. I presume it was translated in the reign of Henry VI. and very probably by Thomas Chestre, the translator of LAUNVAL These letters are printed in the ADDITIONS TO POPE'S WORCS, in 2 vols. published about two years ago. or CUSTOMS OF LONDON which was first printed about the year 1521. This is perhaps the most heterogeneous and multifarious miscellany that ever existed. The collector sets out with a catalogue of the mayors and sheriffs, the customs and charters, of the city of London. Soon afterwards we have receipts to pickle sturgeon, to make vinegar, ink, and gunpowder; how to raise parsley in an hour; the arts of brewery and soap-making; an estimate of the livings in London; an account of the last visitation of St. Magnus's church; the weight of Essex cheese, and a letter to cardinal Wolsey. The NUT-BROWN MAYDE is introduced, between an estimate of some subsidies paid into the exchequer, and directions for buying goods in Flanders. In a word, it seems to have been this compiler's plan, by way of making up a volume, to print together all the notices and papers, whether ancient or modern, which he could amass, of every sort and subject. It is supposed, that he intended an antiquarian repertory; but as many recent materials were admitted, that idea was not at least uniformly observed; nor can any argument be drawn from that supposition, that this poem existed long before, and was inserted in that work as a piece of antiquity. The editor of the PROLUSIONS infers1, from an identity of rhythmus and orthography, and an affinity of words and phrases, that this poem appeared after sir Thomas More's JEST OF THE SERJEANT AND FREER, which, as I have observed, was written about the year 1500. This reasoning, were not other arguments obvious, would be inconclusive, and might be turned to the opposite side of the question. But it is evident from the language of the NUT-BROWNE MAYDE, that it was not written earlier than the beginning, at least, of the sixteenth century. There is hardly an obsolete word, or that requires a glossary, in the whole piece and many parts of Surrey and Wyat are much more difficult to be understood. Reduce any two stanzas to modern orthography, and they shall hardly wear the appearance of ancient poetry. The reader shall try the experiment on the two following, which occur accidentally2. HE.-Yet take good hede, for ever I drede The thornie wayes, the depe valeis, The snowe, the frost, the rayne, The colde, the hete: for, dry or wete, And us abofe [above] none other rofe Which sone sholde greve you, I believe ; 1 PROLUSIONS, or select pieces of ancient Poetry, Lond. 1760. 4to. Pref. p. vii. 2 V. 168. |