quhen it was neir noun, the lift* appering loune, but! ony din or tempest, the Erle send for this propheit and reprevit hym that he prognosticat sic wynd to be, and na apperance thairof. This Thomas maid litil answer, bot said, Noun is not yet gane. And incontinent ane man came to the yet § schawing that the king was slane. Than said the propheit, Yone is the wynd that all blaw to the gret calamity and truble of all Scotland. This Thomas wes ane man of gret admiration to the peple; and schaw sundry thingis as thay fell, howbeit thay wer ay hid under obscure wordis."-BELLENDEN'S Boece, fol. ccin.

Translated from the monkish eloquence of Fordun, the story would run simply,-That Thomas presaged to the Earl of March that the next day would be windy; the weather proved calm; but news arrived of the death of Alexander III., which gave an allegorical turn to the prediction, and saved the credit of the prophet. It is worthy of notice, that some of the rhymes, vulgarly ascribed to Thomas of Erceldoune, are founded apparently on meteorological observation. And doubtless, before the invention of barometers, a weather-wise prophet might be an important personage.-Such were the predictions of a greater bard:

"Quid faciat lætas segetes, quo sidere terram

Barbour, in his Book of the Bruce, composed about 1375, refers to a prophecy of our bard, concerning the exploits and succession of Robert the First. After Bruce had slain the Red Cumin at Dumfries, in 1306, the Bishop of Saint Andrews is introduced, saying,

Wintoun, who died, according to Mr. Pinkerton, about 1420, also refers to the prophetic fame of our Thomas of Erceldoune. His words are these:-

"But Jhesu Christ that dyd on tre,

Save Inglysche men where so they fare."

celdoune, seem to have been very current in the reigns of James Some metrical prophecies, vulgarly ascribed to Thomas of Er V., Queen Mary, and James VI. One copy in Latin, and another in English, were published, with other things of the same kind, by Andro Hart, at Edinburgh, 1615. Bishop Spottiswoode firmly be

The servant is despatched to the cottage to procure farther in-lieved in the authenticity of the prophecies, yet extant in Scottelligence, and, after taking a solemn oath of secrecy, the nurse shows him the Knight of Ellerslee :

tish rhyme, whereupon Thomas Learmount was commonly called
Thomas the Rymer;" and gravely adds, "whence or how he had
this knowledge can hardly be affirmed; but sure it is that he did
divine and answer truly of many things to come." Dempster
terms the same verses De futuro Scotia statu liber unus; Mac-
kenzie is at the pains to reprint both the Latin and English; and
Nisbet gravely laments, that the change of crests and bearings,
by which the persons are pointed out in these vaticinations, has
rendered them almost unintelligible. If any of these authors had
looked at the verses in question with moderate attention, they
must have seen, that the author does not assert that they were
composed by Thomas the Rhymer. He only says, that, walking
They were explained to him by a person with whom he met.
upon a land beside a ley," he saw certain emblematical visions.
alone with the interpreter:
When these wonders had all disappeared, the author was left

"I frained fast what was his name?
Where that he came, from what countrie?
At Erslingtoun I dwell at hame,
Thomas Rymour men calls me."

Thus, it is not even pretended that these verses were the composition of Thomas of Erceldoune, though the author professes to have drawn from that venerable bard the information contained in them. Nevertheless, they were not only received as the genuine productions of the Rhymer, but continued to animate the adherents of the house of Stuart down to the last unfortunate attempt, in 1745.

the English monarchs after the conquest, to some curious and
almost anomalous consequences.
Those who have investigated the history of the French poetry,
observe, with surprise, that the earliest romances written in that
language refer to the history of King Arthur and his Round Table,
a theme, one would have thought, uncongenial to the feelings of
the audience, and unconnected with the country of the minstrel.
Mons. de Tressant first gave a hint of the real cause of this extra-
ordinary preference, by supposing that the Norman trouveurs, or
minstrels, by whom these tales of King Arthur were composed,
wrote for the amusement, not of the French, their countrymen,
but of the Anglo-Norman monarchs of England. This dynasty,
with their martial nobility, down to the reign of Edward III., con-
tinued to use, almost exclusively, the Romance or ancient French
language; while the Saxon, although spoken chiefly by the vul-
gar, was gradually adopting, from the rival tongue, those improve-
ments and changes, which fitted it for the use of Chaucer and
Gower. But the veil has been more completely removed by the
Abbe de la Rue, in his curious essays upon what he aptly terms
the Anglo-Norman poetry, those compositions, namely, which
were written in French, but for the amusement of the kings and
nobles of England.

One consequence of the popularity of the British tales among the Anglo-Norman poets, was, that all those parts of modern France, in which the Romance language prevailed, obtained an early and extensive acquaintance with the supposed history of Arthur, and the other heroes of Wales. The southern provinces, in which the dialect of Languedoc prevailed, were the seat of Provençal poetry; and it seenis probable, that at an early period, the Troubadours were more welcome at the court of France, than the Norman minstrels, who resided on the territories of the sove reigns of England, and tuned their harps to the fame of the ancient heroes of Britain. In process of time, when Normandy was acquired by the kings of France, the minstrels prudently changed their theme, from the praises of Arthur and his Round Table, to the more acceptable subject of Charlemagne and his Paladins. This, at least, seems a fair conjecture; since the romances of this latter class, founded upon the annals of the Pseudo-Turpin, are allowed, by the French literati, to be inferior in antiquity to those relating to British story.

There are current among the country people, many rhymes cribed to Thomas of Erceldoune. The reader will find several of them in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Thus concludes the history, real and fabulous, of the Rhymer, and his supposed productions, exclusive of the romance, now published for the first time. II. THE TALE OF TRISTREM was not invented by Thomas of Erc Idoune. It lays claim to a much higher antiquity; and, if we may trust the Welsh authorities, is founded upon authentic history. The following is the account of Tristrem, handed down by the bards. Trystan. (i. e. the Tumultuous,) the son of Tallwz, was a celebrated chieftain, who flourished in the sixth century. In the historical Trads, he is ranked with Greidiol and Gw gon, as the three beralds of Britain, superior in the knowledge of the laws of war. Trystan, with Gwair and Cai, were called the three diadem'd Princes of Britain; with Coll and Pryder, he composed the ad of the three mighty swincherds; with Gwair and Eddilig, that of the three stubborn chiefs, whom none could turn from their purpose; with Caswallon, (Cassivellaunus,) the son of Bei, and Cytion, the son of Clydno, that of the three faithful lovers, The last epithet he acquired from his passion for Essylt, the wife of Mark Meirzion, his uncle. He was contemporary with Arthur. Upon some disgust, he withdrew himself from the court of that monarch, and Gwalzmai with the Golden Tongue (the Gawain of romance) was sent to request his return. A dialogue passed betwixt them, for a copy of which, as well as for the above notio. I am indebted to the learned Mr. Owen, author of a classi cal Welsh Dictionary; it is inserted in the Appendix, No. IL Those who may be inclined to doubt the high antiquity claimed for the Triads, by Welsh antiquaries, must admit, that in this instance, probability seems to warrant their authority. Tristrem is uniformly represented as a native of Cornwall, in which, and in the countries of Wales, Ireland, and Brittany, all inhabited by the Celtic race, the scene of his history is laid. Almost all the names of the persons in the romance are of genuine British origin; as Morgan, Roland Riss, Urgan, (Urien.) Brengwain, Ganhardin. Beliacog, Mark, Tristrem, and Isounde, Ysoude, or Yssylt. The few names which are of Norman extraction, belong to persons of inferior importance, whose proper Batish appellations may have been unknown to Thomas, and on whom, therefore, he bestows names peculiar to the Norman English dialect, in which he composed. Such are Gouvernail, Blancheflour, Triamour, and Floreat. The little kingdom of Cornwall was one of the last points of refuge to the aboriginal Britons, beyond the limits of the modern Wales. It yielded to the Saxon invaders betwixt 927 and 941, when the British were driven, by Athelstan, beyond the Tamar, and a colony establ shed at Exeter by the conqueror. Pre vious to this event, and probably for a considerable time afterwards, the Cornish retained the manners and habits of the indi-haps to him that we may ascribe the association of Tristrem into genous natives of Britain. In these manners, an enthusiastic at tachment to poetry and music was a predominating feature. The Bards, the surviving branch of the ancient Druids, claimed and received a sacred homage from the bearers; and to their song, celebrating the struggles of the Britons against the Saxons, may be referred one principal source of the tide of romantic fiction which overflowed Europe during the middle ages; I mean the tales, which, in exaggerating, have disguised, and almost obliter ated, the true exploits of King Arthur and his followers. In the inth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth compiled, partly from British originals, communicated to him by the learned Walter, Archdeacod of Oxford, and partly from the stores of his own imagination, a splendid history of King Arthur. This enticing tale soon drew into its vortex whatever remained of British history or tradition; and all the beroes, whose memory had been preserved by song, were represented as the associates and champions of the renowned Arthur. Among this splendid group we have seen that Sir Tristrem holds a distinguished place. Whether he really was a contemporary of Arthur, or whether that honour was ascribed to him on account of his high renown, and interesting adventures, it is now difficult to determine. The Welsh authorities affirm the first; but his history, by Thomas of Erceldoune, and the ancient poems on the subject, in the Romance language, give no counteLance to this supposition. That Tristrem actually flourished during the stormy independence of Cornwall, and experienced some of those adventures, which have been so long the subject of the hard and the minstrel, may, I think, be admitted, without incurring the charge of credulity.

Among the tales imported into France from Britain, and which obtained an early and extensive popularity, the history of Tristrem is early distinguished § Chrestien de Troyes, who wrote many romances, is said to have composed one upon this subject, which he inscribed to Philip, Count of Flanders, who died in 1191. As this poet also composed the history of Le Chevalier d'Epee. (probably the story of The Knight and the Sicord, versified in Way's Fabliaux) Le Chevalier de la Charrette, (the history of Sir Lancelot,) and Le Chevalier a Lion, Ywain and Gawain) it is perthe chivalry of the Round Table; if so, he was not followed, in this respect, by later authors. It is difficult to ascertain whence Chrestien de Troyes procured his subjects. The tales may have passed to him from Armorica; but, as the union between Britain and Normandy was, in his days, most intimate, it seems fully as probable that he himself collected in England, or from English authority, the ancient British traditions which he framed into Ro history of Tristrem ; but at any rate, in one of his songs, he alludes mances. There is some uncertainty as to his actually writing the to the story, as generally known:

"Ainques dou buvraige ne bai
Dont Tristan fut impoisoner;

+ Ertraits des Romana, tom. i. p. 1. Tressan is treating of this very romance of Sir Tristrem, but seems to be ignorant of the existence of a metrical copy in the Romance language.

Merlin, written during the minority of Edward III, it appears that the English From the following introduction to the metrical romance of Arthur and language was then gaining ground. The author says, he has even seen many gentlemen who could speak no French, (though generally used by persons of their rank,) while persons of every quality understood English. He extols the advantages of children who are sent to school:-

"Avauntages thai haven thare,
Freynsh and Latin ever aye where;
Of Freynsh no Latin nil Y tel more,
Ac on Inglishe Ichil tel therefore;

Right is that Inglishe, Inglishe understond,
That was born in Inglund;
Freynshe use this gentilman,
Ae iverich Inglish can:
Mani noble I have y-sighe,
That no Freynshe couth seye;
Bigin lehil for her love,
By Jesus love, that witt above,
On Inglische tel my tale.

God ous send soule hale !"

Trevisa tells us, that in 1385, "in all the grammar scoles of England, children leveth French, and construeth and learneth in English."

S[Warton's Editor quotes some lines of Ramband d'Orange, a Troubadour of Provence, whose death is placed about A. D. 1173, in which that part of the story of Tristrem and Isolt, which is given in the stanza,

"Greteth well my leved,
That ac trewe hath been;
Smockes had she and Y," &c.

There occurs here an interesting point of discussion. Thomas of Erceldone, himself probably of Saxon origin, wrote in the Inglis, or English language; yet the subject he chose to celebrate was the history of a British chieftain. Thus, in a general point of view, is not surprising. The invaders have, in every country, adopted, sooner or later, the traditions, sometimes even the geneabgies, of the original inhabitants; while they have forgotten, after a few generations, those of the country of their forefathers. One reason seems to be, that tradition depends upon locality, The scene of a celebrated battle, the ruins of an ancient tower, the bistoric stone" over the grave of a hero, the hill and the valley inhabited of old by a particular tribe, remind posterity of events which are sometimes recorded in their very names. Even a race of strangers, when the lapse of years has induced them no longer to account themselves such, welcome any fiction by which they can associate their ancestors with the scenes in which they themselves live, as transplanted trees push forth every fibre that is distinctly alluded to.may connect them with the soil to which they are transferred. Thus, every tradition failed, among the Saxons, which related to their former habitations on the Elbe; the Normans forgot, not merely their ancient dwellings in Scandinavia, but even their Nestrian possessions; and both adopted, with greedy ardour, the fabulous history of Arthur and his chivalry, in preference to the better authenticated and more splendid achievements of Hengist, or of Rolf Gangr, the conqueror of Normandy. But this natural disposition of the conquerors to naturalize themselves, by adopt ing the traditions of the natives, led, in the particular situation of [Warton's Editor of course considers these French names as copied from a French Tristrem, older than that of the Rhymer.]

"Sobre totz aurai grand valor,
S'aital camis a m'es data,
Cum Yseus det a l'amador,

Que mais non era portata," &c. p. 194.]

La Combe observes, "Le roman de Tristan Leonis, l'un de plus beaux et des mieux faits qui aient jamais ete publies, parut en 1190. C'est le plus ancien de nos romans en prose. L'auteur etoit encore de la cour du Duc de Norman

die, Roi d'Angleterre." Preface, p. xxvi. In this passage the learned gentleman makes a mistake, in which he is followed by Mons. l'Eveque de la Ravilliere. If Chrestien de Troyes actually wrote a history of Tristrem, it certainly was in verse, like all his other compositions; and it is morally impossible to point out a prose romance, upon that or any other subject, previous to 1190.

"Douce dame, s'il vos plaisoit, un soir,
M'auriez plus de joie donee

C'onques Tristanz, qui en fit son pooir," &c.

"De mon penser, aim mieux la compaignie,
Qu'oucques Tristan ne fut Yseul s'amie."†

The ingenious Mons. de la Rue informs us, that the 11th Lay of the celebrated Mademoiselle Marie, called Chevrefeuille, is founded on an incident taken from the amours of Tristrem with the wife of King Marc. Marie flourished about the middle of the 12th cen: tury. Archaeologia, vol. xiii. p. 43. This lay, of which the reader will find an abstract in the Appendix, No. III., begins thus:

"Asez me pleat, e bien le voil,

Du lai ke hum nume chevrefoil;
Q'la verite vons encunt,
Pur quoi il fu fet e dunt:
Plasur me le unt cunte e dit,

E je l'ai trove en escrit,

De Tristrem e de la reine,
De lur amor, qui tant fo fine,
Dunt ilz eurent meinte dolor,
Puis mururent en un jour."

This celebrated lady avowedly drew her materials from Armoria, the scene of several of Tristrem's exploits, and finally of his death. Thus, the story of Tristrem appears to have been popular in France, at least thirty years before the probable date of Thomas of Erceldoune's work. A singular subject of inquiry is thus introduced. Did Thomas translate his poem from some of those which were current in the Romance language? Or did he refer to the original British authorities, from which his story had been versified by the French minstrels? The state of Scotland, at the period when he flourished, may probably throw some light on this curious point.

cern.

Although the Saxons, immediately on their landing on the eastern coast of England, obtained settlements, from which they were never finally dislodged, yet the want of union among the inva ders, the comparative smallness of their numbers, and a variety of other circumstances, rendered the progress of their conquest long and uncertain. For ages after the arrival of Hengist and Horsa, the whole western coast of Britain was possessed by the abori ginal inhabitants, engaged in constant ware with the Saxons; the slow, but still increasing tide of whose victories still pressed onward from the east. These western Britons were, unfortunately for themselves, split into innumerable petty sovereignties; but we can distinguish four grand and general divisions. 1st. The county of Cornwall, with part of Devonshire, retained independence, on the west extremity of the island. 2dly, Modern Wales was often united under one king. 3dly, Lancashire and Cumber; land formed the kingdom of the Cumraig Britons, which extended northward to Solway Frith 4thly, Beyond the Scottish Border lay the kingdom of Strathclwyd, including, probably, all the western part of Scotland, betwixt the Solway Frith and Frith of Clyde. With the inhabitants of the Highlands we have, at present, no conThis western division of the island being peopled by tribes of a kindred origin and language, it is natural to conceive, even were the fact dubious, that the same traditions and histories were current among these tribes. Accordingly, the modern Welsh are as well versed in the poetry of the Cumraig and the Strathclwyd Britons, as in that of their native bards; and it is chiefly from them that we learn the obscure contentions which these northwestern Britons maintained against the Saxon invaders. The disputed frontier, instead of extending across the island, as the more modern division of England and Scotland, appears to have run longitudinally, from north to south, in an irregular line, beginning at the mountains of Cumberland, including the high grounds of Liddesdale and Teviotdale, together with Ettrick forest and Tweeddale; thus connecting a long tract of mountainous country with the head of Clydesdale, the district which gave name to the petty kingdom. I In this strong and defensible country the natives were long able to maintain their ground. About 850, the union of the Scots and Picts enabled Kenneth and his successors to attack, and, by degrees, totally to subdue, the hitherto independent kingdoms of Strathelwyd and Cumbria. But, although they were thus made to constitute an integral part of what has since been called Scotland, it is reasonable to conclude, that their manners and customs continued, for a long time, to announce their British descent. In these districts had flourished some of the most distinguished British bards; and they had witnessed many of the memorable events which decided the fate of the island. It must be

La Ravilliere, Revolutions de la Langue Francoise, Poesies du Roi de Navarre, tom. i. p. 168.

t Poemes du Roi de Navarre, pp. 7. 145.

The vestiges of a huge ditch may be traced from the junction of the Gala and the Tweed, and running thence southwestward through the upper part of Roxburghshire, and into Liddesdale. It is called the Cat-Rael, or Cat-rail, and has certainly been a landmark betwixt the Gothic invaders, who possessed the lower country, and the indigenous Celts, who were driven to the mountains. Tradition says, that it was dug to divide the Peghts and Bretts, i. e. Picts and Britona

Of the former was Merdwinn Wyllt, or Merlin the Savage, who inhabited the woods of Tweeddale, and was buried at Drunimelziar, (Tumulus Merlini,) near Peebles; also Anewrin, who celebrates the bloody combat betwixt the north-western Britons, and the Saxons of Deiria. The men of Edinburgh, in particular, were all cut off; and it is more than probable, that the strong fortresses of that city first yielded to the Saxous, from whom it was afterwards taken by the Scots and Picts, when united into one people. Lothian seems finally to bare submitted to them about 970.

supposed that the favourite traditions of Arthur and his knights retained their ground for a length of time among a people thus descended. Accordingly, the scene of many of their exploits is laid in this frontier country: Bamborough Castle being pointed out as the Castle Orgeillous of romance, and Berwick as the Joyeuse Garde, the stronghold of the renowned Sir Lancelot. In the days of Froissart, the mountains of Cumberland were still called Wales; and he mentions Carlisle (so famous in romantic song) as a city beloved of King Arthur." Even at this day, the Celtic traditions of the Border are not entirely obliterated, and we may therefore reasonably conclude, that in the middle of the 13th century they flourished in full vigour.

If the reader casts his eye upon the map, he will see that Ercel doune is situated on the borders of the ancient British kingdom of Strathclwyd; and I think we may be authorized to conclude, that in that country Thomas the Rhymer collected the materials for already penetrated into France, must have been preserved in a his impressive tale of Sir Tristrem. The story, although it had more pure and authentic state by a people, who perhaps had hardly siderations which strongly tend to confirm this supposition. ceased to speak the language of the hero. There are some con

In the first place, we have, by a very fortunate coincidence, sa-
tisfactory proof that the romance of Sir Tristrem, as composed
by Thomas of Erceldoune, was known upon the continent, and
referred to by the French minstrels, as the most authentic mods
of telling the story. This is fortunately established by two Met-
rical Fragments of a French romance, preserved in the valuable
library of Francis Douce, Esq. F.A.S., of which the reader will
find a copious abstract, following the Poem. The story told in
those Fragments, will be found to correspond most accurately with
the tale of Sir Tristrem, as narrated by Thomas of Erceldoune,
while both differ essentially from the French prose romance, after-
wards published. There seems room to believe that these frag-
ments were part of a poem, composed (as is believed) by Raoul
de Beauvais, who flourished in 1257, about the same time of
Thomas of Erceldoune; and shortly after we suppose the latter to
have composed his grand work. As many Normans had settled
in Scotland about this period, it is probable that Thomas's tale
was early translated, or rather imitated, in the Romance language.
The ground for believing that this task was performed by Raoul
de Beauvais, is his being the supposed author of a romance on the
subject of Sir Perceval, preserved in the library of Foucault.
The writer announces himself as the author of several other poems,
particularly upon the subject of King Mark and Uselt la Blonde:
"Cil qui fit d'Ence et d'Enide,
Et les commandemens d'Ovide,
Et l'art d'aimer en Roman mist,
Del Roy Marc, et d'Uselt la Blonde,
Et de la Hupe, et de l'Eronde,
Et del Rossignol la muance,
Un autre conte commence
D'un vallet qui en Gresse fu
Del linage le Roy Artu."

The author professes to have found the original of the history,
"Et un des livres de l'aumaire
Monsigner S. Pierre a Biauvais."

of Perceval to Raoul de Beauvais. But it is probable that the
This seems to be the principal reason for ascribing the romance
author of that romance, whoever he was also wrote Mr. Douce's
Fragments. After narrating the adventures of Sir Tristrem,
down to his second retreat to Brittany, there occurs the following
most curious passage, concerning the different modes of telling

the story:

Seignurs, cest cunte est mnlt divers;
E, pur co, sum par mes nerf,
E dis en tant cum est mestier,
E le surplus voil relesser.
Ne voil pas trop emmi dire.
Ici diverse la matyere,

Entre ceus qui solent cunter,
E de le cunte Tristran parler.
Il en cuntent diversement.
Oi en ai de plusur gent;
Aser sai que chescun en dit,
Et co qu'il unt mis en escrit.
Me, selur ce que ja'i oif,
Nel dient pas sulun Breri,

Ki solt les gestes et les cuntes,
De tus lea reis, de tus les cuntes,
Ki orent este en Bretagne,
E sur que tut de cest ouraingne.
Plusurs de nos granter ne volent
Ce que del naim dire se solent
Ki femme Kaherdin dut aimer.

Li naím redut Tristran nairer,
E entusche pas grant engin

Lordings, this tale is very differently told;
And therefore I am *** (unintelligible)
And tell as much as is necessary,
And will leave the remainder.

I will not say too much about it.
So diverse is the matter,

Among those who are in habit of telling
And relating the story of Tristran;
They tell it very differently;

I have heard it from many.

I know well enough how each tells it,
And what they have put in writing.
But, according to what I have heard,
They do not tell it as Breri does,
Who knew the gestes and the tales
Of all the kings and all the earls,
Who had been in Brittany,

And about the whole of this story (ou
rage)

Many of us (minstrels) will not allow
What others tell of (Tristran the) dwarf,
Who is said to have been in love with the
wife of Kaherdin.

That dwarf caused Tristran to be
wounded

And poisoned, by great artifice,

Complaynt of Scotland, Introduction, p. 196. The editor met with a curious inSee Essay prefixed to Poems from Maitland MS, by Mr. Pinkerton, p. lviii.; stance of what is stated in the text. Being told of a tradition of a hunter who rais ed a mighty boar, and pursued him, from his lair on the Yarrow, up to St. Mary's Lake, where he was slain, at a place called Muichra, he had the cariosity to examine the derivation of this fast name. It signifies, in Gaelic, The place of the Boar, and seems to attest the truth of the tradition. Indeed, most of the names of places in the south-west of Scotland are of British derivation, and are sometimes found to refer to popular traditions yet current, while the narrators are totally ignorant of the evidence thus afforded to the truth of their story.

The late ingenious Mr. Ritson was led to ascribe the romance above quoted, and, consequently, the poem, Del Roy Marc et d'Yseult la Blonde, to Chres tien de Troyes, who lived long before Thomas of Erceldonne. Ancient Metri cal Romances Introductory Dissertation, p. xliii. But that industrious antiquary was led into the error, by Chrestien being the author of a yet more an cient romance upon the same subject of Perceval, but different from that mentioned in the text. This work is mentioned by Fauchet, who seems never to have seen it, and is quoted in Galland's Essay, as totally distinct from that which is ascribed to Raoul de Beauvais, and considerably more ancient. Mes de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, tom. il. f. 675, 690.

Pur cast plaie, e pur cat mal,
Eveind Tristran Governal,
Ea Engleterre pur Yeolt
Thoman, 100, granter ne volt:
Ei vult, par raisun, mustier
Quico ne put pas esteer.
Cist first par tat la part concas,
E par fat le regne sins,
Qui de l'amar ert parjaners,
Et envers Ysolt messagers.

Lá mais Fen baiet mault forment;
Guaiter le feseit a ea gent.
Benment put il dune venir
Ban service a la curt offrir,
Ale re, af baruns, al jerjans,

Com fast estrange marchant 7
Que home issi conclus
N'h fud moal tost apercens,
Ne micament il se gardast,
Ne coment Yeolt amenast.
Imut del cante formeise,
E de la verum estiunge.
Ese es ne volent granter,
Ne vall vers eus estriver.
Gengent le lur, e jo le men;

Lamison di provera ben.

When he had occasioned Kaherdin to
grow mad.

I think that the reader will be disposed to admit the Thomas, The reason of the thing will prove itself. mentioned in this passage, to be our bard of Erceldoune. It is true, that the language of the Fragments appears to be very ancient, and might, were other evidence wanting, incline us to refer it rather to the 12th than the 13th century. But the French language, as spoken in England. seems to have adopted few improvements from the continent. In fact, it remained stationary, or was retrograde; for words were adopted from the English, and, consequently, even at its latest period, the Anglo-Norman had an antigated and barbarous cast. Thus it has become difficult for the best judges to point out any very marked difference betwixt the style of Marie and some parts of Wace's translation, though a restary occurs betwixt the date of their poems; consequently, the author of our Fragments may have only written a rude and unimproved, instead of an obsolete dialect. Chaucer seems to allude to the difference of the proper French and the Anglo-Norman, when be tells us of his prioresse (a lady of rank)

247

translation.* An account of these German romances, which the the analysis of the French fragments. The references which they Editor owes to the friendship of Mr. Henry Weber, is subjoined to contain to the authority of Thomas of Britannia, serve to ascer tain his original property in the poem of Sir Tristrem.

from the French, but composed an original poem, founded upon In the second place, if Thomas of Erceldoune did not translate Celtic tradition, it will follow, that the first classical English romance was written in part of what is now called Scotland; and the attentive reader will find some reason to believe that our language received the first rudiments of improvement in the very corner where it now exists in its most debased state.t

conquest, while the Saxon language was abandoned to the lowest In England, it is now generally admitted, that, after the Norman of the people, and while the conquerors only deigned to employ existed as a kind of lingua franca, to conduct the necessary intheir native French, the mixed language, now called English, only tercourse between the victors and the vanquished. It was not till the reign of Henry III. that this dialect had assumed a shape fit that English poetry, if any such existed, was abandoned to the for the purposes of the poet ; and even then, it is most probable peasants and menials, while all, who aspired above the vulgar, listened to the lats of Marie, the romances of Chretien de Troyes, or the interesting fabliaux of the Anglo-Norman trouveurs. The country in literary compositions, were certain monkish annalists, only persons who ventured to use the native language of the who usually think it necessary to inform us, that they condescendand love to the "lewd men" who could not understand the Latin ed to so degrading a task out of pure charity, lowliness of spirit, of the cloister, or the Anglo-Norman of the court. Even when poses of the minstrels, the indolence or taste of that race of poets the language was gradually polished, and became fit for the puroriginal composition. It is the united opinion of Warton, Tyrlating the Anglo-Norman and French romances, which had stood induced them, and those who wrote for their use, to prefer transwhytt, and Ritson, that there exists no English romance, prior to the test of years, to the more precarious and laborious task of the days of Chaucer, which is not a translation of some earlier of the English language in England itself, there is great reason to French one. believe, that in the Lowlands of Scotland its advances were more rapid. The Saxon kingdom of Bernicia was not limited by the While these circumstances operated to retard the improvement Tweed, but extended, at least occasionally, as far northward as the Frith of Forth. The fertile plains of Berwickshire, and the Lothians, were inhabited by a race of Anglo-Saxons, whose laned, and this blended speech contained, as it were, the original materials of the English tongue. Beyond the Friths of Forth and of Tay, was the principal seat of the Picts, a Gothic tribe, if we guage resembled that of the Belgic tribes whom they had conquercan trust the best authorities, who spoke a dialect of the Teutonic, different from the Anglo-Saxon, and apparently more allied to the Belgic. This people falling under the dominion of the For French of Parish was to hire unknowe." Kings of Scots, the united forces of those nations wrenched from The reference to style being thus uncertain, that evidence on the Berwickshire, and even part of Northumberland itself. But, as other side must be allowed to countervailit. For, that Thomas of the victors spoke a language similar to that of the vanquished, it the Saxons, first, the province of the Lothians; finally, that of Erceldoune wrote the romance of Sir Tristrem, a work of most is probable that no great alteration took place in that particular, extended reputation, is ascertained by Robert de Brunne: That the natives of the south-eastern border continuing to use the he flourished in the 13th century, is proved by written evidence: Anglo-Saxon, qualified by the Pictish dialect, and to bear the name the edition now published, while they both differ widely from every inhabitants of Lothian and the Merse. See Macpherson's excelThat the tale, as told in the Fragments, corresponds exactly with of Angles. Hence, many of our Scottish monarchs' charters are other work upon the same subject, is indisputable. As the one, lent Notes on Wintoun, vol. ii. p. 474, Diplomata, pp. 6. 8, Indeaddressed Fidelibus suis Scottis et Anglis, the latter being the therefore, is affirmed to be the work of Thomas, and the other refers to a Thomas who composed such a work, the connexion be- pendence, Appnedix 2d. The Scots, properly and restrictively, teist them is completely proved, and the ascertained period of meant the Northern Caledonians, who spoke Gaelic; but generThomas's existence may be safely held as a landmark for fixing ally used, as in these charters, that name includes the Picts, with the date of the fragments, notwithstanding the obsolete language north of the Friths of Clyde and Forth. In Strath Clwyd, and in which they are written. whom they were now united, and all inhabitants of Scotland Assuming, therefore, that Thomas of Erceldoune is the person in the ancient Reged, the Britons were gradually blended with referred to by the contemporary French author, it will be difficult the Scoto-Angles of Lothian and Berwickshire, and adopted to give any other reason for the high authority which the minstrel their language. Here, therefore, was a tract of country inassigns to him, than his having had immediate access to the Celtic cluding all the south of Scotland, into which the French or Rotraditions concerning Sir Tristrem, with which the Anglo-Normance language was never so forcibly introduced. The oppresman romancers were unacquainted. The author of the Frag- sion of the Norman monarchs, and the frequency of civil wars, ments quotes the authority of Breri, apparently an Armorican, to drove, it is true, many of their nobility into exile in Scotland: whom were known all the tales of the Kings and Earls of Brit- and, upon other occasions, the auxiliary valour of these warlike tany; and with equal propriety he might refer to Thomas of Ercel- strangers was invoked by our Scottish kings, to aid their restoradanse, as living in the vicinity of what had been a British king- tion, or secure their precarious dominions. Twice within three dam, where, perhaps, was still spoken the language in which the years, namely, in 1094 and 1097, the forces of the Anglo-Normans feats of Sir Tristrem were first sung. But it is plain, that, had aided Duncan and Edgar, the sons of Malcolm, to expel from the Thomas translated from the French, the Anglo-Norman minstrel Scottish throne the usurper Donald Bain. In the War of the would have had no occasion to refer to a translator, when the Standard, most of David's men at arms are expressly stated to original was in his own language, and within his immediate reach. have been Normans; and the royal charters, as well as the names What attached authenticity to Thomas's work seems, therefore, of our peerage and baronage, attest the Norman descent of most to have been the purity of his British materials, by which he of our principal families. But these foreigners, though they brought back to its original simplicity, a story, which had been altered and perverted into a thousand forms, by the diseurs of ed them to the favour and protection of the Scottish monarchs. Normandy. brought with them talents, civil and military, which recommendand though they obtained large possessions and extensive privilo [The words are,

But what may be allowed to put our doubts at rest, is the evidence ef Gotfried von Strasburgh, a German minstrel of the 13th century, who compiled a prodigiously long metrical romance on the subject of Sir Tristrem. This author, like the French diseur, affirms, that many of his profession told the celebrated tale of Sir Tristrem imperfectly and incorrectly; but that he himself derived his authority from Thomas of Britannia, master of the art of romance, who had read the history in British books, and knew the lives of all the lords of the land, and made them known to us." Gotfried adda, that he sought Thomas's narrative diligently, both in French and Latin books, and at length fortunately discovered it. In another place he appeals to the authority of Thomas concerning the dominions of Raveline, (the Roland of Thomas.) which he says consisted of Parmenie, (Armenie,) and of a separate territory held of Dake Morgan, to whom the Scots were then subject., Heinrich von Vribere, the continuator of Gotfried's narrative, also quotes the authority of Thomas of Britannia, whose work seems to have been known to him through the medium of a Lombard or Italian

And Warton's Editor renders Welachin by foreign-books in any vernacular
tongue not German, p. 192. In the modern usage of Germany, Walsh means
Italian, i. e. the language of Cisalpine Gaul, wherever it does not mean the
Celtic of our Wales.

recovered, and its learned editor, Mr. Madden, appears to have proved it to be
as old as the reign of Edward I., and written by a monk of Lincoln. 1833,-
t[The curious old English Romance of Havelok the Dane has been recently
Ed.]
See Ellis's Specimens, vol. i. chap. iii.

nation has been very ably combated in the Caledonia of Mr. Chalmers. So
called upon to discuss a question of such obscurity against so able an opponent.
Since the first publication of this romance, the Gothic descent of the Pictish
little of the Editor's argument rests upon this point, that he is fortunately not

regni sui, Francis, et Anglicis, et Scottis, et Galwinnibale, attests the variety
of tribes who inhabited his dominions.
The famous charter of David I., addressed Omnibus fidelibus suis totius

ges, were neither so numerous nor so powerful as to produce a change in the language of the country, even among persons of their own eminent rank. Accordingly, although French was doubtless understood at the court of Scotland, it seems never to have been adopted there; the Inglis remaining the ordinary language. But the succeeding influx of Norman barons, although they could not change the language of Scotland, introduced into it a variety of alien vocables, and gave it probably the same tinge of French which it acquired in England at a later period. Thus the language, now called English, was formed under very different circumstances in England and Scotland; and, in the latter country, the Teutonic, its principal component part, was never banished from court, or confined to the use of the vulgar, as was unquestionably the case in the former.

It may be thought that the British, spoken, as we have seen, by
the tribes of Cumbria and Strath Clwyd, as well as by the proper
Scots, ought to have entered into the composition of the new lan-
guage. But, although possessing beauties of its own, the Celtic
has every where been found incapable of being amalgamated with
the Gothic dialects, from which it is radically and totally distinct.
The Scottish kings appear soon to have disused it, although, while
the recollection of their original descent and language continued,
a Celtic bard, or sennachie, was sometimes heard to deliver a
rhapsody in honour of the royal descent, like the Duan composed
by the court-bard of Malcolm III. But as their language became
unintelligible, the respect paid to them was diminished, and at
length, though still admitted upon great festivals, their Earse gene-
alogies became the object rather of derision than admiration. Such
a bard is well described in the Houlat, a poem written during the
reign of James II., and containing some curious traits of manners.*
At length, by statute 1457, ch. 79, the wandering Celtic bards are
ranked with sornares, (persons taking victuals by force,) master.
ful beggars, and feigned fools, all to be imprisoned, or banished
the country. Meanwhile, the minstrels, who used the English
language, and had, in fact, founded many of their tales upon the
traditions of the neglected and oppressed bards, were ranked with
knights and heralds, and permitted to wear silk robes, a dress
limited to persons who could spend a hundred pounds of land rent,
From this short statement it follows, that, while the kings and
nobles of England were amused by tales of chivalry, composed in
the French or Romance language, those which were chanted in
the court of Scotland must have been written originally in higlis.
The English did not begin to translate these French poems till
about 1300, nor to compose original romances in their own lan-
guage until near a century later. But Thomas of Erceldoune,
Kendal, (whose name seems to infer a Cumbrian descent,) Hut
cheson of the Awle Royal, and probably many other poets, whose
names and works have now perished, had already flourished in
the court of Scotland. Besides Sir Tristrem, there still exist at
least two Scottish romances, which, in all probability, were com-
posed long before the conclusion of the 13th century. These are
entitled Gawen and Gologras, and Galoran of Galoway. This
opinion is not founded merely upon their extreme rudeness and
unintelligibility; for that may be in some degree owing to the
superabundant use of alliteration, which required many words to
be used in a remote and oblique sense, if indeed they were not in-
vented for the nonce." But the comparative absence of French
words and French phraseology, so fashionable in Scotland after the
time of Robert Bruce, when the intercourse of the countries became
more intimate, and, above all, evident allusions to the possession of
part of Scotland by the British tribes, seem to indicate sufficiently
their remote antiquity. Even the alliteration is a proof of the coun-
try in which they were composed. Chaucer tells us, that the com-
position of gestes, or romances, and the use of alliteration, were, in
his time, peculiar attributes of the northern poets. His Personne
says,
But trusteth wel, I am a sotherne man,

I cannot geste, rem, ram, ruf, by my letter,
And, God wote, rime bok! I but litel better."

In these romances there does not appear the least trace of a French original; and it seems probable, that, like Sir Tristrem, they were compiled by Scottish authors from the Celtic traditions, which still floated among their countrymen. To this list, we might perhaps be authorized in adding the History of Sir Edgar and Sir Grime; for, although only a modernized copy is now known to exist, the language is unquestionably Scottish, and the scene is laid in Carrick, in Ayrshire.

The very early and well-known romance of Hornchild seems also to be of Border origin: nay, there is some room to conjecture, that it may have been the composition of Thomas of Erceldoune himself. The French MS. of the romance, in the Museum, begins thus:

"Seignurs of avez le vera del parchemin,

Cum le Bern Aaluf est vennz a la fin;
Mestre Thomas ne volt qu'il seit is a declin,
K'il ne die de Horn le vaillant orphalin "

And it ends with the following odd couplet :-
"Thomas n'en dirrat plus; tu autem, chanterat,
Tu autem, domine, miserere, nostri."↑

A poet named Thomas, being thus referred to as the author of a tale, the scene of which is laid in Northumberland, and in which * "The Ruke, callet the Bard.

Sa come the Ruke, with a rerde and a rane-roch,
A bard out of Ireland, with Banochadee,
Said, Gluntow guk dynydrach hala myschty doch,
Reke hir a rug of the rost, or scho xall ryve thee;
Misch makmory ach mach momitir, moch loch,

Set hir doun, gif hir drink; quhat deill ayles ye?
O'Dermyn, O'Donnal, O Dochardy Drock,
Thir or the Ireland kingis of the Erechrye,
O'Knewlyn, O'Conochar, Gregre, Mac Grane,
The Chenachy, the Clarschach,

The Benechene, the Baliach,

The Krekrye, the Corach,
Scho kennis them ilk ane." "

The Bard, for troubling the company with this dissonant jargon, is at length rolled in the mire by two buffoons.-Pinkerton's Scottish Poeme, vol. iii.

↑ In the conclusion, mention is roade of a certain Gilimot, a son of the nar rator, on whom he devolves the task to tell, in rhyme, the adventures of Hod

every name, whether of place or person, attests an origin purely Saxon, there seems no reason why he may not be identified with Thomas of Erceldoune, a celebrated Border poet to whom every tradition respecting Deiria and Bernicia must have been intimately familiar. If the apparent antiquity of the language of the French King Horn be alleged against this opinion, we may oppose the difficulty and apparent impossibility of ascertaining the chronology of French poetry, considering how widely it was extended, and into how many dialects it must necessarily have been divided. Even in our own literature, did we not know the age of Gawain Douglas, we should certainly esteem his language older than that of Chaucer, when, in fact, it is nearly two centuries later. It is impossible, when other evidence fails, to distinguish, from the circumstance of style alone, that which is provincial, from that which is really ancient. But whatever may be thought of Thomas of Erceldoune's claim to be held the author of this romance, it does not appear less certain, that it has originally been written in or near the country, which is described with so much accuracy, It is not sufficient to answer, with a late ingenious antiquary, that the names and references are all northern, because the story is predicted of the Saxons and Danes in England and Ireland. We know how totally indifferent the minstrels and their hearers were to every thing allied to costume, which their ignorance would have disabled them from preserving, had their carelessness permitted them to strive after such an excellence. When, therefore, we find a romance. like that of Horn, without the least allusion to Norman names and manners, we may, I think, safely conclude, that, although it exists in both languages, it must have been originally composed in that of the country where the scene is laid, and from which the actors are brought. See Reliques of Ancient Poetry, vol. i. p. lxxviii. § 2. It may finally be remarked, that although the more modem romance of Hornchild in the Auchinleck MSS, has some phrases, as "in boke we read," in rime, as we are told," generally supposed to imply a translation from the French yet nothing of the kind occurs in the older tale, published by Mr. Ritson, which bears every mark of originality.

The romance of Wade, twice alluded to by Chaucer, but now lost, was probably a Border composition. The castle of this hero stood near the Roman Wall, which he is supposed to have surmounted; and it was long inhabited by his real or fancied descend ants. It is absurd to suppose, that Norman minstrels came into these remote corners of the kingdom to collect or celebrate the obscure traditions of their inhabitants; although, finding them al ready versified, they might readily translate them into their own language.

These general observations on the progress of romantic fiction
in the Border counties, lead us to consider the evidence given by
Robert de Brunne, concerning the poetry of Thomas of Erceldoune
which is thus expressed in the Introduction to his Annals:
"Als thai haf wryten and sayd
Haf I alle in myn Inglis layd,
In symple speche as I conthe,
That is lightest in manue's mouthe.
I made noght for no discurs,
Ne for no suggours, no harpours,
Bot for the luf of symple men,
That strange Inglis cannot ken;
For many it ere that strange Inglis,
In ryme wate never what it is;
And bo: thai wist what it mente,
Ellis methought it were all schente.
I made it not for to be prayard,
Bot at the lewed men were avsed.
If it were made in ryme couwee,
Or in strangere, or enterlace,
That rede Inglis it ere inowe
That couthe not have coppled a kowe.
That outher in cowee or in baston,
Sum suld haf ben fordon;

So that fele men that it herde
Suld not witte how that it ferde.

I see in song, in sedgryng tale,

Of Ereddoune and of Kendale,
Non thaim sayie as thai thaim wroght,
And in ther seying it semea noght,

cremod, son to Horn and Regmenil, who conquered Alfriche, and avenged all
his relations upon the Pagans:

"Cum el purat mustrer qui la storie saurat,
Icest lais a mun fiz Gilimot, k'il durrat,
Ki la rimne, apres mei, hien controverat,
Controveurs est ben et demeit."

It is uncertain whether this Gilmot be the son of the author Thomas, or of
the French rimeur, who, according to the hypothesis of the text, as only be
translator of the story. I incline to the latter opinion, because these unnecessary
continuations were seldom composed by the author of the original work.
Vers del Parchemin, and the history of the Baron Aaluf be ever discovered,
it may throw some light upon the subject.

If the

ren scris,

The Editor's opinion is only stated hypothetically; nor will he be surprised at any one inclining to believe that the Thomas of the French Horn-Child is in fact, the rimeur himself, and not the Bard of Erceldoone: but he cannot allow that such Anglo-Norman Thomas, supposing him to exist, (which, after all, is mager of supposition,) shall be identified with the Tomas in the Fragments of Sir Tristen. In that point, the ground taken in these remarks neers much stronger; for we know certainly the existence of Thomas of Erveldame, who did write a romance of Sir Tristrem, highly esteemed by his contempore ries; we have also seen reasons why his authority should be referred to by a French rimeur, who, at the same time, and probably for the same quotes that of an Armorican minstrel. But, granting the French rimeur, The mas, to have existed, we can see no natural connexion betwix: lum and the tale of Sir Triatrem, aud no reason why, supposing him to have written sich a tale, (which, again, is a matter of gratuitous supposition,) bis authority scand have been referred to as irrefragable by posterior narrators of the same history. In one view of the case, we have indisputable fact; in the other, mere hypothe sia. Above all, the reference seems conclusive to the correspondence betwixt the poems. Dissertation on Romance, prefixed to Ritson's Metrical Romances, p. Even this circumstance by no means decidedly infers reference to a French original. Barbour calls his own poem a romance, though it never existev in French. His Latin and French authorities