-"No out no cometh it nought,

With outen yiftes fre."

LXV.

Mark seyd-"Lat me se,
Harpi hou thou can,
And what thou askest me,
Yiue Y schal the than.".
"Blethely,"-seyd he;
A miri lay he bigan,
-"Sir King, of yiftes fre,
Herwith Ysonde Yuan,
Bidene,

Y proue the for fals man, Or Y schal haue thi Quen.' LXVI.

Mark to conseyl yede,

And asked rede of tho to, -"Lesen Y mot mi manhed, Or yeld Ysonde me fro."Mark was ful of drede, Ysonde lete he go: Tristrem in that nede, At wode was dere to slo, That day:

Tristrem com right tho, As Ysonde was oway.

LXVII.

Tho was Tristrem in ten,

And chidde with the King,
-"Yifstow glewemen thi Quen,
Hastow no nother thing?" —
His rote with outen wen,
He raught bi the ring,t
Tho folwed Tristrem the ken,
To schip ther thai hir bring,
So blithe;

Tristrem bigan to sing,
And Ysonde bigan to lithe.

* Good faith was the very corner stone of chivalry. Whenever aknight's word was pledged, it mattered not how rashly, it was to be redeemed at any price. Hence the sacred obligation of the d octroyed, or boon granted, by a knight to his suppliant. Instances without number occur in romance, in which a knight, by nably granting an indefinite boon, was obliged to do, or suffer, omething extremely to his prejudice. King Lisvart, in Amadis Gaul was placed in such a predicament by a false old man, to whom he had promised a gift, and who demanded that the monarch's daughter, the lovely Oriana, should be delivered up to

"He nought amazed, or veiling well his grief,
Resign' the maid, and stern forbade relief;
Deaf to the voice of his indignant peers,
Regardless of the maid's or inother's tears;
Then to his bearer retired, to vent apart
The secret grief that tore his manly heart. 17

Rose's Amadis, Book fil. In the same romance, a wily damsel claimed of Galaor, as a bors, that he should slay Amadis; and one or both brothers must have fallen in the contest, had not a courteous knight annulled the obligation, by cutting off the damsel's head. In the comtement of the prose Tristran, there is a long history of a certain Chelinde, who, always sorrowing and always submissive, pass through the altemate possession of a score of husbands and lovers. She is begged from Pellias, her husband de facto, in virtue of a boon which he had granted to Sadoc, her husband de Jure, and Pellias delivers her up. "Puis entre en sa chambre, et fet tel deuil que semble qu'il se doyve mourir de la doleur qu'il 4" Fucillet is. Not to multiply examples of the sacred right of aboon granted, the hardest sacrifice which could be demanded of kaght-errant was exacted from Sir Gawain, who was enjoined to bebas e like a coward and recreant during the whole of a celebrated tournament. See the Sangreal.

But it is not in romance alone that we find such singular instares of adherence to an indefinite promise. In 1342, when Charles of Blois, then claiming the dukedom of Bretagne, was lybefore Hennebonne, a boon was requested of him by Don Los of Spain. When granted and explained, it proved to be the heads of two English barons, then captives of Sir Charles, which the Spaniard demanded, in revenge of a defeat he had sustained ighting against their countrymen. Sir Charles, however unwilling to comply with a request derogatory to his honour, and Contrary to humanity, was obliged to keep his faith, at the risk of his shield being dishonoured by a point campion, the abatement due to him who slew his prisoner. The captives were on the fatal scaffold when they were rescued by a sally from the garrison, beaded by the renowned Sir Walter Mauny. FROISSART, vol. i. chap. lxxxvii. The Earl of Foix is the only person I have found recorded, who, on such an occasion, limited his generosity within the bounds of prudence. Being asked a boon by no less a personage than the wife of the black prince, "Madame," he replied, "I am but a meane man, therefore I can give no great gifts. But I will grant you, with glad cheer, a gift not exceeding threescore thousand franks." The princess essayed again to procure from m an unlimited boon; but the Earl was sage and prudent, for, fuspecting she would ask him to forgive the immense debt which

LXVIII.

Swiche song he gan sing,

That hir was swithe wo, Her com swiche loue longing, Hir hert brast neighe a-to: Th' Erl to hir gan spring With knightes mani mo, And seyd-"Mi swete thing, Whi farestow so,

Y pray?" Ysonde to lond most go, Er sche went oway.

LXIX. -"Within a stounde of the day, Y schal ben hole and sounde; Ych here a menstrel to say;

Of Tristrem he hath a soun."Th' Erl seyd,-" Dathet him ay, Of Tristrem yif this stounde, That minstrel for his lay, Schal haue an hundred pounde, Of me.

Yif he wil with ous founde, Lef, for thou louest his gle."LXX.

His gle al for to here,

The leucdi was sett on land:
To play bi the riuere,

Th' Erl ladde hir bi hand
Tristrem trewe fere,
Miri notes he fand

;

Opon his rote of yuere,
As thai were on the strand,
That stounde;

Thurch that semly sand,
Ysonde was hole and sounde.
LXXI.

Hole sche was and sounde,
Thurch vertu of his gle;

was due to him from the Earl of Armagnac, he answered, "Madame, from a poor knight, as I am, the gift I have offered should suffice." And when the princess explained her request, he could not be prevailed on to remit more than 60,000 out of 250,000 franks, to which the debt amounted.-FROISSART, vol. ii. cap. xxii. The abatement of heraldry assigned to the unworthy knight who revoked a boon, was, I believe, a plain base.

The romantic sanctity of the "boon pledged" seems to have been acknowledged by the Celtic tribes. In the Death of Cuchol lin, when the hero advances for the last time against the toe, he is met by Cuculeasg, the chief bard of the enemy, attended by his twenty-seven pupils. The hero alighted from his chariot, and bade them welcome. "I require a gift," said the chief bard. "It is thine," said Cuchollin. It is thy spear I ask," said the insidious Cuculeasg. "And what is to become of me," said the warrior, "thus disarmed, and the champions of the four provinces ready to attack me? But it is thine; wilt thou have it given thee by the handle or the point?"-"Neither," said the chief bard: "deliver it to me athwart." Upon this, the warrior cast the spear at him in the manner he required, with such force, that it laid Cuculeasg and all his pupils dead upon the earth. Alas!" cried Cuchollin, "the completion of my misfortunes is near at hand, for I have slain a chief bard, and that by the very gift he required of me; hasten, therefore, the chariot towards the enemy, that I may at least have vengeance in my death."-" Not." said Laogh, till I have taken up the spear."-" That thou shalt not," said Cuchollin," for I never took back what I had bestowed." Similar instances occur in this curious poem, for the perusal of which I am indebted to a lady of distinguished rank and accomplishments.

The rote was an ancient musical instrument, managed by a wheel, from which it derived its name. Tyrwhitt seems to think that it resembled the ancient psaltery, but altered in its shape, and with an additional number of strings. Ritson says, it is the modern mandolin, or hurdy gurdy, of the strolling Savoyards. A particular species of song was probably adapted to it; for, when Khedin, (the Ganbardin of Thomas) became poetical in his passion, "Il fait noter, chansons, rotuanches, chantz, et deschantz, tout pour la Royne Yscult."-Tristan, fueil. 113. These are called rotewanges by William of Waddington, who wrote about the middle of the thirteenth century. See the Abbé de la Rue's Dissertation on Anglo-Norman Poets. They are also mentioned by Wace, in his translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth :

"Mult poissez oir chancons, Rotuenges, et voialx sons, Villeora, lais et notez,

Laiz de vieles, laiz de rotez,

Laiz de harpez, luiz de fietealx."

Ellis's Specimens, vol. i. p. 43.

1 Perhaps this is the very passage parodied in the rhyme of Sir Thopas:

"Sir Thopas fell in love longing, All when he heard the throstel sing."

I have found no passage in the English romance coming so near to the burlesque of the ancient bard of Woodstock.

For thi th' Erl that stounde,
Glad a man was he:
Of penis to hundred pounde,
He yaf Tristrem the fre;
To schip than gun thai founde,
In Yrlond wald thai be,
Ful fain;

Th' Erl and knightes thre,
With Ysonde and Bringwain.
LXII.

Tristrem tok his stede,

And lepe ther on to ride; The Quen bad him here lede, To schip him biside; Tristrem dede as hye bede; In wode he gan hir hide;

To th' Erl he seyd in that nede, -"Thou hast y-tent thi pride,

Thou dote:

The story of the harper, together with this very expression, occurs in Mr. Douce's MS. See p. 334. But in the prose folio a different turn is given to the adventure: Ysonde, repentant of her cruelty to Brengwain, is in despair for her loss, when that faithful attendant is presented to her by Palamedes. This knight had rescued her when exposed in the forest, (see note on stanza 60,) and he demands a boon from Ysonde, and King Mark, in return for this good service. The boon being granted, he requests that the Queen may be delivered up to him. Of the whole court of Cornwall, only one knight attempts her rescue, and he is mortally wounded. The rest, respecting the King's word, and perhaps the well-known valour of Palamedes, suffer him to carry off his prize in triumph. Tristrem returns from hunting, and learning what had happened, goes in pursuit of the ravisher. Having overtaken him, a desperate combat ensues, which lasts with uncertain success, till Ysonde, anxious for her lover, throws herself betwixt their swords, and demands a boon of Palamedes. The infatuated knight having granted her request, "Go," said she, "to the court of King Arthur, and tell Queen Guenever, from me, that there exist on earth but two knights and two ladies, she and I, her friend and mine; and, moreover, do thou hence forward never appear before me in Britain." Palamedes, caught in his own snare, retires in mortal sorrow,* while Tristrem and Ysonde

Palamedes, after this mortifying repulse, attached himself to the quest, or porsuit, of a certain animal, callel, in the romance, La Bete Glatyssante. What particular reason he had for following this beast is uncertain; but the monster was in itself a strange monster. It had the feet and legs of a stag, the tail of a lion, and the head of a serpent, and made a noise as if a pack of twenty hounds hat opened at once. It seems to have suggested to Spenser the idea of hie Blatant BearL

LXXIX.

Al that Mark hir told,
A-morwe hye told Bringwain;
Of lond wil this bold,
Now we may be ful fain;
Tristrem the court schal hold,
Till he com oghain;"-
Brengwain answere yolde,

Your dedes han ben sain,
With sight;

Mark thi self schai frain,
Al other loker to night.-

LXXX.
"Wite thou wele his wille;

To wende with him thou say;
And yif he loueth the stille,

Thou do Tristrem oway;
Biseche him he se ther tille,
Thi fo is Tristrem ay;
Thou dredest he wil the spille,
Yif he the maistrie may,
Aboue:

spend a few happy days in the Lodge of the Forest, before returning to the court of Cornwall.

The spy, by whom the loves of Tristrem and Ysonde are so often discovered and betrayed, is in the folio termed Andivet, a nephew of King Mark, and as felonious and cowardly as his uncle.

The state of the domestic arts, intimated by this passage, refers to a remote period of society. The bedchamber of the Queen was constructed of wooden boards or shingles, of which one could easily be removed. It was called a bower, probably from its resemblance to an arbour. The hall, in which the courtiers lay promiscuously, formed a separate building; for the art of partitions was probably unknown. If we suppose that these and other huts, necessary for the royal accommodation, were surrounded with a palisade and ditch, we shall have the picture of a British fortress, as described by Casar. The Saxons did not greatly improve on this model. On the contrary, the houses erected by the Romans were suffered to go to ruin, while the thanes delighted to spend their large revenues in rude hospitality, under shelter of the wooden halls, which were common to all the northern nations. In the Sagan of Gunlangi, there is a description and plan of such an apartment.

In the French folio, this deceit is practised, not upon Ysonde, but Tristrem. Mark, having been ordered by the Pope to go to vided he will go in his stead. He even falsifies the superscripthe Holy Land, offers to liberate Tristrem, then imprisoned, protion of the bulls, that Tristrem may suppose thern addressed to himself. But it is all in vain. Whatever sins Tristrem had to repent of, he refused to expiate them by a crusade.-Tristan, sec. partie fueil. lvii.

Thou louedest him neuer a day, Bot for thin emes loue."LXXXI.

Ysonde the nexst night,

Crid,-" Mark thin ore:
Mi fo thou hast me hight;

On me thou sinnes sore;
Gode yif thou hadde me hight,
Of lond with the to fare;
And sle Tristrem the knight,
Yif loue of the no ware,
This day;

For mani man seyt ay whare,
That Tristrem bi me lay."-
LXXXII.

Mark is blithe and glad,

For al that trowed he; He that him other tald,

He ne couthe him bot maugre: Meriadok him answere yald, -"In toun thou do him be; Her loue-laike thou bihald, For the loue of me,

Nought wene:

Bi resoun thou schalt se, That loue is hem bitvene."

LXXXIII.

Mark departed hem to,

And dede Tristrem oway; Nas neuer Ysonde so wo,

No Tristrem, sothe to say;
Ysonde her self wald slo;
For sorwe Tristrem lay;
Ysonde morned so,

And Tristrem night and day,
For dede;

Ich man it se may,
What liif for loue thai lede.

LXXXIV.

Tristrem was in toun;

In boure Ysonde was don;
Bi water he sent adoun,
Light linden spon;

He wrot hem al with roun,
Ysonde hem knewe wel sone,
Bi that Tristrem was boun,
Ysonde wist his bone,
To abide;

Er a-morwe none,
Her aither was other biside.
LXXXV.

Quath Meriadok,-" Y rede,
Thine hunters thou bid ride,
Fourten night, at this nede,
To se thine forestes wide;
Tristrem thou hem bede,

Thi self thou here abide:
And right at her dede,

Thou schalt hem take that tide,
In the tre;
Here thou schalt abide,
Her semblaunt thou schalt se.'
LXXXVI.

In orchard mett thai inne,
Tristrem and Y sonde fre;
Ay when thai might awinne;
Ther playd Y sonde and he;
The duerwe y-seighe her ginne,
Ther he sat in the tre;
Mark of riche kinne,

He hight to don him se,
With sight;

And seyd," Sir, siker ye be,
Thi self schal se that right."—*

LXXXVII.

His falsnesse for to fille,

Forth tho went he;

To Tristrem he com with ille,

Fram Ysonde the fre;

It would appear, as has been hinted in the Argument, that

this Stanza should precede the 85th.

"Mi leuedy me sent the tille,
For icham priue,

And praieth the, with wille,
That thou wost hir se,
With sight;

Mark is in other cuntre,
Priue it schal be dight."-
LXXXVIII.
Tristrem him bi thought,

Maister, thank haue ye:
For thou me this bode brought,
Mi robe yiue Y the;
That thou no lete it nought,
Say that leuedy fre;
Hir wordes dere Y bought,
To Marke hye bileighe me,
That may;

To morwe Y schal hir se,
At chirche for sothe to say.'
LXXXIX.

The duerwe toke the gate,

And Mark he told bidene;

"Bi this robe, Y wate,

That michel he loueth the Quen
Y-saine we nought no sat;
He douteth me bitvene,

It semeth bi his lat,
As he hir neuer had sene,
With sight;

Y wot with outen wene,
He cometh to hir to-night."-
XC.

Sir Mark sat in the tre;

Ther metten thai to:
The schadowe Tristrem gan se,
And loude spac he tho,
That Ysonde schuld Mark se,

And calle Tristrem hir fo:

-"Thou no aughtest nought heren to be Thou no hast nought here to go, No thing;

With right men schuld the slo,
Durst Y for the King.".

XCI.
-"Ysonde, thou art mi fo,
Thou sinnest, leuedi, on me;
Thou gabbest on me so,

Min em nil me nought se;
He threteneth me to slo,
More menske were it to the,
Better for to do,

Bi God in trinite,
This tide;

Or Y this lond schal fle,
In to Wales wide."-

XCII.
-"Tristrem, for sothe to say,
Y wold the litel gode;
Ac Y the wraied neuer day,
Y swere bi Godes rode;
Men said thou bi me lay,
Thine em so vnder stode:
Wende forth in thi way,
It seems astow were wode
To wede;

Y loued neuer man with mode,

Bot him that hadde mi maiden hede."

By an error in transcribing, the word make is twice repeated in the MS.