No. 1. The Legend of Pope Gregory-Six leaves. Imperfect | both at beginning and end. This article is on the top of the page leaf.marked as No. 6; from which we find that five preceding poems have been lost. St. Gregory's story is more horrible than that of Edipus. He is the offspring of an incestuous connexion betwixt a brother and a sister; and is afterwards unwittingly married to his own mother. The fragment begins,

No. 21. A Satirical Poem,-apparently referring to the reign of
nate French and English, and begins thus :-
Edward II. Perfect in one page. The introduction is in alter-

"Len puet fere et defere, com fait il trop souent;
It nis nouther wel ne faire, therefore Engelond is shent:
Nostre prince de Engletere, per le consail de sa gent,
At Westminster after the feire, made a gret parlement," &c

At this parliament Seven Wise Men deliver their opinions on the causes of the national distress, in the following jingling mea

sure:

And fht is fibt.

For miht is riht, the lond is faweles;
For niht is libt, the load is lore-les;

For fiht is fiht, the lond is name-les"

No. 22. A List of Names of Norman Barons,-occupying four pages, beginning with Aumarle, Bertram, Brehuse, Bardolf, &c. Some are familiar in history, as Percy, Audely, Warayne, and the like; others seem romantic epithets, as Oylle-de-buff, Front-debuffe, Longespee, &c. There is no hint of the purpose of this list, which is perfect.

No. 23. Gy of Warwike,-thirty-nine folios; wants the beginning, and a leaf or two in the middle. It concludes with his slaying a dragon in Northumberland, previous to his marriage, with Felice.

"To Warwike he is y-went,

With that heued he made the kinge present.
The king was blithe and of glad chere,
For that he eye Gy hole and fere,

At Warwik thai henge the heued anon:
Mani men wonxired ther apon."

No. 24. Continuation of Gy's History,-in a different stanza, containing his marriage, his adventures in the Holy Land, his duel with Colbrond the Danish champion, and his death. Complete, twenty folios.-

"God graunt hem heuen blis to mede,

That herken to mi romaunce rode,

Al of a gentil knight.

The best bodi he was at nede,

That ever might bistriden stede,
And freest founde in fight."

No. 5. Rembrun's Gy's Sone of Warvike.-This may also be considered as a continuation of the foregoing popular romance. It occupies nine folios, and wants the end.

"Jesu, that ert of mighte most,
Father, and Sone, and Holy Gost,
Ieb bidde the abone.

Ase thou ert Lord of our ginning,

And madest beuen and alle thing,
Se, and sonne, and mone."

No. 26. Sir Beves of Hamtoun.-Twenty-five folios, complete, beginning

"Lordinges hearkneth to mi tale,

Is merrier than the nightingale,

That I schel singe';

Of a knight I will yow roune,
Beves a-highte of Hamtoun,"

Withouten lesing."

No. 36. David the King-A poetical paraphrase of texts from the Psalms, complete in a page and a half.

"Miserere mei Deus, &c.
Lord God, to the we calle,

That thou have merci on ous alle," &c.

No. 37. The Romance of Tristrem, published in this volume,

Having used this stanza for about three leaves, the author occupies nineteen leaves, and wants the conclusion. exchanges it for rhyming couplets.

"Saber, Bevis to his hous hadde,
Meche of that ladye him dradde," &c.

No. 27. Of Arthour and of Merlin.-This long and curious romance may be, perhaps, the Gret Gest of Arthour, ascribed, by Wintoun, to Hutcheon of the Awle Royale. It contains all the earlier history of King Arthur, and the chivalry of the Round Table, but is left unconcluded by the author, or transcriber. The MS. is complete in fifty-six folios, beginning,

"Jesu Christ, heven king,

Al ons grant gode ending,

And Seinte Marie, that swete thing,
To be at our bigining."

After Arthour and Merlin, occurs the beginning of a romance, in half a column, but totally defaced.

No. 2. How a Merchant did his Wife betray.-This tale is published by Mr. Ritson in his Ancient Pieces of Popular Poetry. In our MS. it wants the beginning, occupies two folios, and concludes

"Ynough thai hadde of warldes wele,
Tegider thai lived yeres fele,
Thai ferd miri, and so mot we,

Amen, Amen, par charite."

It is the same story with the Groat's Worth of Wit, and with the
Fabiau, entitled, La Bourse pleine du sens.

No. 29. How our Leuedi Saute (psalter) was ferst founde.--
A miracle of the Virgin, complete in about one leaf and a half-

"Leuedi swete and mikle,

For love of thine childe,

Jesu ful of might,

Me, that am so wilde,

Frem schame thou me schylde,

Bi day and bi night."

No. 30. Lai le Fraine.-This lay professes to be of Armorican origin. The introductory verses are nearly the same with those of the romance of Sir Orpheo, printed by Mr. Ritson in his Collection of Metrical Romances.

"We redeth oft, and findeth y-write,

And this clerkes wele it wite,
Layes that ben in harping,

Ben y-founde of ferli thing."

Two leaves; wants the conclusion.

The author dwells upon the remote and fabulous parts of the English history, but glides swiftly over the later reigns. He ap pears to have concluded his history during the minority of Edward No. 31. Roland and Ferragus.-This account of the duel be-III., and probably about the time when the Auchinleck MS. was twixt these two celebrated champions, the Orlando and Ferrau written. The concluding paragraph begins-of Boiardo and Ariosto, is versified from a chapter in the PseudoTurpin; on five leaves, complete. From the concluding stanza, it would seem that the following romance of Otuel was by the same author.

"And al the folk of the lond

For onour of Roulond,

Thanked God old and young;
And yede a procesioun,
With croice and goinfaynoun,
And salve miri song,
Both widlowe and wiif in place

"Now Jesu Crist and seyn Richard,
Save the yong King Edward,
And yif him grace his lend to yeme,
That it be Jesu Crist to queme," &c.
Explicit Liber Regnum Anglice

No. 41. Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild.-Six leaves and a half; wants the conclusion. This poem, as well as a more ancient edition, is published by Mr. Ritson in his Metrical Ro

mances.

"Mi leue frende dere,
Herken and ye may here,

No. 44. A satire, entitled The Simonie, in seven folios, wanting the conclusion. It is a larger, and, apparently, somewhat an older hand than the Auchinleck MS.; the head of the Saxon character, expressing th, being prolonged above the line, whereas, in the rest of the volume, it is on a level with it. From circumstances of internal evidence, the poem may be ascribed to the reign of Edward II. It alludes to the degraded state of the national character, to the famine, and murrain among the cattle, all of which afflicted the reign of that miserable prince. The satire begins

"Whii werre and wrake in londe, and manslauht is icome,
Whii hungger and derthe on eorthe, the pore heth undernome,
Whii bestes ben thus storve, whii corn hath ben so dere,
Ye that wolen abide, listneth and ye muwen here,

I nelle lighen for no man, herkne whoso wile."

by which preferment was obtained. He then mentions the de-
generacy of the knights, who had become "lions in hall, and
hares in the field." Of the squire, he observes-

"And nu nis no squier of pris in this middel erd,
But if that he bear a babel and a long berd,
And swere Godes soule, and vuwe to God an hote
But should he for eurie fals ath lese kirtel or kote,
Neue

He shilde stonde start naked twyse o day or euc.

Godes soule is al day sworn, the knif stant astrout,
And thouh the botes be torn, yit wole he maken hit stout.
The hod hangeth on his brest, as he wolde spewe ther inne.
Ac schorteliche al his contrefaiture is colour of sinne

To wraththe the God and paien the fend hit serveth aller-most." The beard and the hood will remind my readers of the rhyme made by the Scottish during the reign of Edward II.

the dreadful famine which occurred in 1315; to the disease among The author also alludes to the hardness of the seasons, and to the horned cattle, which followed in 1316; to the mortality which took place about the same time; and, finally, to the bloody civil wars betwixt Edward II. and his barons, in which was spilt the noblest blood of England.

Such are the contents of the Auchinleck MS. I once meditated to have given interest to the Catalogue, by a more detailed ac count of some of the romances which it contains; but the attempt is rendered unnecessary by the lately-published Collection of Specimens selected from the English Metrical Romances, by Mr.

The author laments the corruption of the church, and the arts Ellis, the elegant historian of our early poetry.

SIR TRISTREM;

A METRICAL ROMANCE OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.

FYTTE FIRST.

ARGUMENT.

he does not discover his nephew in the young huntsman. 50.-Tristrem partakes of the royal feast, the liberal abundance of which is described con amore. 51. 52.-The introduction of a minstrel, after the feast, gives Tristrem an opportunity of displaying his skill on the harp, in which the Cornish musician yields him the Stanza 1-The narrator announces, that he is about to relate palm. He becomes a favourite of Mark, and is maintained at the birth and adventures of SIR TRISTREM, as they had been his court in splendour. 53, 54.-The tale returns to Rohand, who, communicated to him by THOMAS of Erceldonne. 2.--He be desperate at the loss of his foster-son, searches for him over va wails the degeneracy of his age, which he likens to the change nous countries, without even renewing his tattered garments, which the approaching winter must produce upon the appearance until he meets with one of the palmers who conducted Tristrem of the fields and groves. 2. 3. 4. 5.-There is introduced, some- to the court of Cornwall. 55. 56.--The palmer tells Rohand the what abruptly, an account of a war betwixt two feudal chiefs, the favour which Tristrem had attained in the court of Cornwall, and, Dake Morgan, and Rouland Rise, Lord of Ermonie, in which the at Rohand's request, becomes his guide thither. 57. 58. 59latter is victorious. 6.-A truce having taken place for seven When Rohand arrives at the court, he is refused entrance, first years, Rouland repairs to the court of Mark, King of Cornwall. by the porter, and afterwards by the usher, on account of his 1-A tournament is held at the court of Cornwall, in which mean dress. These obstacles he overcomes by liberal bribes, Roland gains the victory, and, at the same time, wins the heart and is at length introduced to Tristrem, who is unable to recog of the Princess Elaunche Flour, sister to King Mark. 8.-The nise him. 60. 61. 62-An explanation takes place, and Tristrem, Princess discovers her passion to her preceptors. 9-The praise greatly shocked at his mistake, introduces Rohand to King Mark, of Rouland Rise, with an obscure account of his being wounded as his father, telling hun, at the same time, the cause of their in battle, and of the consequent distress of Blanche Flour, separation. 63, 64, 65.--Rohand, being refreshed with the bath, 19.-The Princess repairs in private to the chamber of the wound- and richly attired, by order of King Mark, the whole court is sur ed knight, and SIR TRISTREM owes his birth to this stolen in-prised at his majestic appearance. He is placed by the King's terrW. 11. 12-Rouland is informed by a trusty vassal, called side, to partake of the royal banquet. Rohand, that Duke Morgan has invaded his dominions in breach of truce. 12 14. 15.-The Princess elopes with her lover, who returns to the defence of his country; they arrive safely at a castle belonging to Rohand, where, it would seem, they are inarried. 16-Duke Morgan comes against Rouland with a great army. Stanzes 17. 18. 19.-A dreadful battle, in which Rouland has at first the advantage; but the Duke, being re-enforced, defeats and slays him by treachery, after he has achieved prodigies of valour. 20. 21. 22-Blaunche Flour, then in the pains of child-birth, learns the death of her husband. Under these distressing circumstances Tristrem is born; and his mother, after recommending him to the care of Rohand, and bequeathing him a ring, as a token of his propinquity to King Mark, expires amid the lamenta tions of her attendants. 23-Roband, to secure the safety of his ward passes hira for his own child, under the inverted appellation of Tramtris. 24. 25.-Morgan attains the absolute dominion of Ensure, and Rohand pays him constrained and dissembled bouge. 26. 27-The education of Tristrem, during the first fifteen years of his life. His skill in minstrelsy, in the mysteries of the chase, and in all knightly games. 28.-A Norwegian vesel arrives, freighted with hawks and with treasure. Tristrem kares that the captain had challenged any one to play at chess, fut a stake of twenty shillings. 29. 30. 31.-Roland and his sons, with Tristram, go on board the Norwegian vessel. Tristrem plays with the master at chess, and wins from him six hawks, and one hundred pounds. Rohand goes on shore, leaving Tristem still engaged at chess, under the charge of his preceptor. 22 33-The master, to avoid paying what he had lost, puts to sea with Tristrem, and gives the preceptor a boat to go on shore aluse. Stanzas 34. 35. 36-The vessel is sorely tempest-tost, which the mariners impute to the injustice of which they have been gaty under this impression, they pay Tristrem his winnings, and put him ashore in an unknown country. Tristrem prays to heaven for protection. 37. The narrator again bespeaks the attention of his hearers, on account of the authenticity of the facts, as ascertained by the accurate research of his author, Tomas 38. 39. 40. Tristrem's dress is described-a robe of Mitand brown. Having refreshed himself with some food, which was left him by the Norwegians, he traverses a forest, in which he meets two palmers; who, in reply to his inquiries, inform him that he is in England. He offers the palmers a reward of ten sires, if they will guide him to the court of the King of the Country, which they willingly undertake to do. 41 42 43.-They mert a party of hunters. Tristrem is scandalized at the awk ward manner in which they break up the stags which they have slain, and expostulates with them. A sergeant replies, that they used the mode always practised in their country, but that they were willing to look on and be instructed, if he would be pleased to carve a buck for their information. 41. 45. 46. 47.-A minute account of the scientific mode in which Tristrem broke up the staz, and how he blew the mort, or tokening. The new science communicated to Mark, (for all this happens in Comwall.) who is baldy delighted with so important a discovery. 45. More of the science of hunting, with a moral reflection on the duty of instricting the ignorant.

Stanca 49-Tristrem is brought before Mark, to whom he gives an account of his education; but, as the name of Rohand, our beto's supposed father, was unknown to the King of Cornwall,

|

Stanzas 66. 67.-Rohand relates to the King the secret of Tristrem's birth, and produces the token of the ring, bequeathed by his mother on her death bed. Mark receives Tristrem as his nephew, 68.-Tristrem having received the congratulations of the courtiers, becomes urgent to learn the particulars of his father's death. 69.-Rohand relates the tragical fate of both his parents, through the treachery of Duke Morgan. 70.-Tristrem announces to the King his intention to go to Ermonie, to avenge his father's death. 71. 72. 73.-Mark dissuades his nephew from so dangerous an attempt, but at length gives his consent: he bestows upon Tristrem the honour of knighthood, and a chosen band of a thousand men, with whom the hero sets sail, and garrisons the castle of Rohand. 74. 75.-Sir Tristrem, tired of remaining inactive in the fortress, resolves to go in disguise to the court of Duke Morgan, where he arrives while they are at table, at the head of fifteen knights, each of whom carries a boar's head as a present. 76.-Rohand, anxious for the safety of his foster-son, follows him at the head of the Cornish forces, and his own vassals. 77. 78. 79.-An ambiguous salutation from Sir Tristrem leads Morgan to demand his name and business. Sir Tristrem declares himself, and, at the conclusion of an angry parley, the Duke strikes him with his fist. 50.-Tristrem draws his sword, and, at that instant, Rohand arrives with his army. 81. 82. 83.An engagement ensues, in which Morgan is slain, and his followers routed. Sir Tristrem recovers his paternal dominions, which he confers upon Rohand, to be held of himself as liege lord. 84.-Our hero takes leave of Sir Rohand, and returns to Cornwall. Stanza 85.-On Tristrem's arrival in Cornwall, he finds the land in dismay, on account of a tribute demanded from Mark by the King of England. 86.-The nature of the tribute is explained, being the yearly payment of three hundred pounds of gold, as many of coined silver, and as many of tin, and every fourth year, of three hundred children. 87, 88. 59-Moraunt, the Irish ambassador, a celebrated knight and champion, is engaged in demanding the tribute, when Tristrem arrives from Ermonie. Mark explains to his nephew the cause of his distress, and protests that the demand of tribute is utterly unjust. Tristrem resolves to oppose the claim. 90. 91.-The matter is discussed in the council of the nation, where Tristrem undertakes, upon his knighthood, to defend the freedom of Cornwall, which proposal is reluctantly assented to by the council. 92.-Tristrem delivers in person to Moraunt, a declaration that no tribute was due. Moraunt retorts, by giving Tristrem the lie; and they exchange gages of battle. 93.-They sail to a small island, to decide the combat. Tristrem turns his boat adrift, saying, that one would be sufficient to bring back the victor.

Stanzas 94. 95. 96.-The encounter of the champions is described. Mornunt's horse is slain. 97. 98.-Tristrem alights, and the battle is renewed on foot.-Tristrem is desperately wounded in the thigh. 99.-Tristrem cleaves Morannt's skull, and, his sword breaking, a piece of the blade remains in the wound. 100.Tristrem exults in having slain the mirror of Ireland. The attendants of Moraunt remove his body, and Tristrem returns to Cornwall, 101.-Tristrem presents his sword at the altar. He is appointed heir of Cornwall, and successor of his uncle. Tristrem's wound, having been inflicted by an envenomed weapon, becomes worse and worse. All attempts to cure it are unavailing, and the stench of the gangrene drives every one from his person, except his faithful servant, Gouvernayl.

102