St. Brandan,' and other saints. His language is strongly AngloSaxon-ninety-six per cent., according to Mr. Marsh-but he speaks. of the prevalence of the French tongue.

England and the Normans about 1300.

Thuse come, lo! Engelond into Normannes honde;

And the Normans ne couthe speke tho bote her owe speche,

And speke French as dude atom, and here chyldren dude al so teche;

So that heymen of thys lond, that of her blod come,

Holdeth alle thulke speche that hii of hem nome;

Vor bote a man couthe French me tolth of hym wel lute;

Ac lowe men hoideth to Englyss and to her kunde speché yute.

Ich wene ther ne be man in world contreyes none

That ne holdeth to her kunde speche bot Engelond one.

Ac wel me wot vor to conne both wel yt ys;

Vor the more that a man con, the more worth he ys.

Thus came, lo! England into Normans' hand;

And the Normans could speak then but their own speech,

And spake French as [they] did at home, and their children did also teach;

So that high men of this land, that of their plood come,

Hold all the same speech that they of them took;

For but [except] a man know French men tell of him well little;

But low men hold to English and to their natural speech yet.

I wene there not be man in world countries none

That not holdeth to their natural speech but England alone.

But well I wot for to know both well it is;

For the more that a man knows, the more worth he is.

Mr. Ellis, in his 'Specimens of the Early English Poets,' praises Robert of Gloucester's description of the first crusade, but the narrative is generally flat and prosaic. The following is a portion partly modernised:

The Muster for the First Crusade.

A good pope was thilk time at Rome, that hecht (1) Urban,
That preached of the creyserie, and creysed mony man.
Therefore he send preachers thorough all Christendom,
And himself a-this-side the mounts (2) and to France come;
And preached so fast and with so great wisdom,

That about in each lond the cross fast me nome. (3)

In the year of grace a thousand and sixteen,

This great creyserie began, that long was i-seen.

Of so much folk nyine (1) the cross, ne to the holy lond go,

Me ne see no time before, ne suth mathemo. (5)

For self women ne beleved, (6) that they ne wend thither fast,
Ne young folk [that] feeble were, the while the voyage y-last.
So that Robert Curthose thitherward his heart cast,

And, among other good knights, ne thought not be the last.
He wends here to Englond for the creyserie,

And laid William his brother to wed (7) Normandy,

And borrowed of him thereon an hundred thousand mark,

To wend with to the holy lond, and that was some-deal stark.

The Earl Robert of Flanders mid (S) him wend also,

And Eustace Earl of Boulogne, and mony good knight thereto.
There wend the Duke Geoffrey, and the Earl Baldwin there,
And the other Baldwin also, that noble men were,

1 Was called.

3 Was quickly taken up

6 Even women did not remain,

2 Passed the mountains-namely, the Alps.
4 Take.
5 Since nover more.

7 To wed, in pledge, in pawn. 8 With,

And kings syth all three of the holy lond.

The Earl Stephen de Blois wend eke, that great power had on hond,
And Robert's sister Curthose espoused had to wive.

There wend yet other knights, the best that were alive;

As the Earl of St. Giles, the good Raymond,

And Niel the king's brother of France, and the Earl Beumond,
And Tancred his nephew, and the bishop also
Of Podys, and Sir Hugh the great earl thereto;
And folk also without tale, (1) of all this west end
Of Englond and of France, thitherward gan wend,
Of Normandy, of Denmark, of Norway, of Britain,
Of Wales and of Ireland, of Gascony and of Spain,
Of Provence and of Saxony, and of Alemain,

Of Scotlond and of Greece, of Rome and Aquitain.

The good knight Robert Curthose was the bastard son of the Conqueror, and the monk thus describes him:

Thick man he was enow, but he nas well long,

Quarry (2) he was and well i-made for to be strong.
Therefore his father in a time i-see his sturdy deed, (3)

The while he was young, and byhuld, (4) and these words said:
By the uprising of God, Robelin, me shall i-see,
Curthose my young son stalward knight shall be.'
For he was some deal short, he cleped him Curthose,
And he ne might never eft afterward thilk name lose.
Other lack had he nought, but he was not well long;

He was quaint of counsel and of speech, and of body strong.
Never yet man ne might, in Christendom, ne in Paynim,
In battle him bring adown of his horse none time.

·

ROBERT DE BRUNNE, or more properly ROBERT MANNING, a native of Brunne or Bourn, in Lincolnshire, in the year 1303, translated, under the name of ' Haudlyng Synne,' a French work by William de Waddington entitled 'Le Manuel des Pechiez.' He afterwards (between 1327 and 1338) translated a French chronicle of England, which had been written by Piers or Peter de Langtoft, a contemporary of his own, and an Augustine canon of Birdlington, in Yorkshire. This chronicle comes down to the death of Edward I. in 1307. The earlier part is translated from Wace's Brut.' Manning has been characterized as an industrious, and, for the time, an elegant writer, possessing, in particular, a great command of rhymes. The verse adopted in his chronicle is shorter than that of the Gloucester monk, making an approach to the octosyllabic stanza of modern times. The language is also nearer modern English:

Lordynges, that be now here,

If ye wille listene & lere

All the story of Inglande,

Als Robert Mannyng wryten it fand,

& on Inglysch has it schewed,

Not for the lerid bot for the lewed, (5)
For tho that in this land wonn,
That the Latyn no Frankys conn, (6)
For to haf solace & gamen

In felawschip when thai sitt samen. (7)

Manning, or De Brunne, speaks of disours (Fr. deseurs, reciters) and seggers, or sayers, in his day, who recited metrical compositions, and

1 Beyond reckoning, 2 Square. 3 Seeing his sturdy deeds,
5 Not for the learned, but for the laymen and unlearned.
7 When they sit the same-sit together.

4 Beheld.
6 Know

took unwarrantable liberties with the text of the poets. He did not write for them; he

Made nought for no disours,
Ne for no seggers, no harpours,
But for the love of simple men
That strange English cannot ken.

The following is slightly modernised:

Interview of Vortigern with Rowen,
Hengist that day did his might,
That all were glad, king and knight.
And as they were best in glading,
And well cup-shotten, (1) knight and
king,

Of chamber Rowenen so gent,
Before the king in hall she went.
A cup with wine she had in hand,
And her attire was well farand. (2)
Before the king on knee set,
And in her language she him gret. (3)
'Laverd (4) king, wassail !' said she.
The king asked, What should be.
On that language the king ne couth. (5)
A knight her language lerid in youth,
Bregh hight that knight, born Breton,
That lerid the language of Saxon.
This Bregh was the latimer, (6)
What she said told Vortiger.
'Sir,' Bregh said, 'Rowen you greets,
And king calls and lord you leets. (7)
This is their custom and their gest,
When they are at the ale or feast,
Ilk man that loves where him think,
Shall say, Wassail!' and to him drink.
He that bids shall say, Wassail!
The tother shall say again,' Drinkhail!'
That says Wassail drinks of the cup,
Kissing his fellow he gives it up.
Drinkhail he says, and drinks thereof,
Kissing him in bourd and skof.'
The king said, as the knight gan ken,

the beautiful daughter of Hengist.
'Drinkhail,' smiling on Rowenen.
Rowen drank as her list,

And gave the king, syne him kissed.
There was the first wassail in dede,
And that first of fame gaed.

Of that wassail men told great tale,
And wassail when they were at ale,
And drinkhail to them that drank,
Thus was wassail ta'en to thank.
Fell sithes (8) that maiden ying.
Wassailed and kissed the king.
Of body she was right avenant. (9)
Of fair colour with sweet semblant.
Her attire full well it seemed.
Mervelik the king she queemed. (10)
Of our measure was he glad,
For of that maiden he wax all mad.
Drunkenness the fiend wrought,
Of that Paen (11) was all his thought.
A mischance that time him led,
He asked that Paen for to wed.
Hengist would not draw o lite,
Bot granted him also tite. (12)
And Hors his brother consented soon.
Her friends said, it were to done.
They asked the king to give her Kent,
In dowery to take of rent.

Upon that maiden his heart was cast;
That they asked the king made fast.
I ween the king took her that day,
And wedded her on Paen's lay. (13)

Praise of Good Women.-From the Handling of Sins.'

Nothing is to man so dear

As woman's love in good manner.
A good woman is man's bliss,
Where her love right and steadfast is.
There is no solace under heaven,

1 Well advanced in convivialities,

Of all that a man may neven, (14)
That should a man so much glow, (15)
As a good woman that loveth true;
Ne dearer is none in God's hurd, (16)
Than a chaste woman with lovely wurd.

2 Of good appearance. This phrase is still used in Scotland. 3 Greeted, 4 Lord.

5 Had no Knowledge,

9 Graceful, beautiful.

6 Interpreter. 7 Esteems. 8 Many times.

10 Pleased.

11 Pagan.

12 Would not draw off a little, but granted all quickly. 'Tite, soon, is connected with the time.'- Morris,

13 According to pagan law. 14 Name. 15 Delight (Ang. -Sax. gleo, gliu, glee, music. ) 16 Hard, herde, erde, earth.

The death of Edward I.-' the greatest of the Plantagenets'-July 7, 1307, called forth an elegy, preserved among the Harleian MSS. The following are two of the stanzas (spelling simplified):

All that beeth of heart true

A stound (1) hearkeneth to my song,
Of duel that Death has dight us new,

That maketh me sick and sorrow among,
Of a knight that was so strong,

Of whom God hath done his will,

Methinketh that Death has done us wrong
That he [the king] so soon shall liggé (2) still.

Jerusalem, thou hast i-lore (3)

The flower of all chivalry,

Now King Edward liveth na more

Alas! that he yet should die!

He would ha' reared up full high

Our banners that baeth (4) brought to ground;
Well long we may clepe (5) and cry,

Ere we such a king ban y-found!

LAWRENCE MINOT-RICHARD ROLLE-WILLIAM LANGLAND.

LAWRENCE MINOT, about 1350, composed a series of ten poems on the victories of Edward III.-beginning with the battle of Halidon Hill, (1333), and ending with the siege of Guines Castle (1352). His works were in a great measure unknown until the beginning of the present century, when they were published by Ritson, who praised them for the ease, variety, and harmony of the versification. Professor Craik considered Minot to be the earliest writer of English subsequent to the contest, who deserved the name of a poet. dialect is Northumbrian :

God that schope (6) both sc and sand
Save Edward, King of Ingland,
Both body, saul, and life,

And grante him joy withowten strife!

For mani men to him er wroth,
In Fraunce and in Flandres both;
For he defendes fast his right,
And tharto Jhesu grante him might!

His

A few more stanzas from the same poem (spelling simplified) will shew the animated style of Minot's narrative:

How Edward the King came in Brabant:

Edward, oure comely king,
In Braband has his woning (7)

With many comely knight;
And in that land, truely to tell,
Ordains he still for to dwell

To time () he think to fight.

Now God, that is of mightés mast, (9)
Grant him Grace of the Holy Ghast
His heritage to win;

And Mary Moder, of mercy free,
Save our king and his menzé (10)
Fro sorrow, shame, and sin.

1 A little while, a moment.

2 Lie.

Thus in Braband has he been,
Where he before was seldom seen

For to prove their japes;(11)
Now no langer will he spare,
Bot unto France fast will he fare
To comfort him with grapes.
Furth he fared into France;
God save him fro mischance,
And all his company!
The noble Duke of Braband
With him went into that land,
Ready to live or die.

3 Lost, 6 Disposed, ordered (Ang. -Sax, scapan, to shape to form). 8 Till the time. 9 Most of might, 10 Company, host.

Then the rich flower de lice (1)
Wan there full little prize;

Fast he fled for feared:
The right heir of that countree

Is comen, (2) with all his knightes free,
To shake him by the beard.

Sir Philip the Valays (3)
With his men in tho days

To battle had he thought: (4)
He bade his men them purvey
Withouten langer delay;

But he ne held it nought.

·

He brought folk full great won, (5)
Aye seven agains one,

That full well weaponed were,
Bot soon when he heard asery (6)
That King Edward was near thereby,
Then durst he nought come near.

In that morning fell a mist,
And when our Englishmen it wist,
It changed all their cheer;

Our king unto God made his boon, (7)
And God sent him good comfort soon:
The weather wex full clear.

RICHARD ROLLE, a hermit of the order of St. Augustine, and doctor of divinity, lived a solitary life near the priory of Hampole, four miles from Doncaster. He died in 1349. Rolle wrote metrical paraphrases of certain parts of Scripture, and an original poem of a moral and religious nature, entitled The Pricke of Conscience,' an elaborate work in seven books and nearly ten thousand lines. It was published for the Philological Society, edited by Mr. Morris, in 1863. This poem is also in the Northumbriam dialect, many words of which are still in use in Scotland-as thole, to bear; greeting, weeping; tin?, lose; auld, old; fae, foe; frae, from; &c.

What is in Heaven- From the Pricke of Conscience.'

Ther is lyf withonte ony deth,

And ther is youthe without ony elde;

And ther is alle manner welthe to welde;

And ther is rest without any travaille;

And ther is pees without ouy strife,
And ther is all manner lykinge of lyf:

And ther is bright somer ever to se,

And ther is nevere wynter in that countrie:

And ther is more worshipe and honour,

Then evere hade kynge other emperour.

And ther is grote melodie of aungeles songe,

And ther is preysing hem amonge.

And ther is alle manner frendshipe that may be,
And ther is evere perfect love and charite;

And ther is wisdom without foyle,

And ther is honeste without vileneye.

Al these a man may joyes of hevene call;
Ac yutte the most soveryn joye of all
Is the sighte of Goddes bright face,
In wham resteth all mannere grace.

WILLIAM LANGLAND, author of 'The Vision concerning Piers the Plowman,' was the most vigorous, truly English, and popular of all the poets preceding Chaucer. He was born about 1332, supposed to be a native of Cleobury Mortimer, in Shropshire, and the son of a franklin or freeman. He wore the clerical tonsure, probably as having taken minor orders, and earned a precarious living by singing the

1 Fleur de lis.

4 Resolved,

2 To come.
5 Number.

3 Philip VI. de Valois, king of France.

6 Alarm, outcry (Swedish anskr.).

7 Petition, request (Ang. -Sax, ben, prayer).