Bute he come to amendement. Ys power atte laste
He garkede, and wende forth to Cornewail faste.
Gorloys ys casteles a store al a boute.

ys doute.

In a strong castel he dude ys wyf, for of hire was al
In another hym self he was, for he nolde nogt,
Gef cas come, that heo were bothe to dethe y brogt.
The castel, that the erl inne was, the kyng by segede faste,
For he mygte ys gynnes for schame to the oter caste.
Tho he was ther sene nygt, and he spedde nogt,
Igerne the contesse so muche was in ys thogt,

That he nuste nen other wyt, ne he ne mygte for schame
Telle yt bute a pryve knygt, Ulfyn was ys name,

That he truste mest to. And tho the knygt herde this,
"Syre," he seide, "y ne can wyte, wat red here of ys,
For the castel ys so strong, that the lady ys inne,

For ich wene al the lond ne schulde yt myd strengthe wynne. For the se geth al aboute, but entre on ther nys,

And that ys up on harde rockes, and so narw wei it ys, That ther may go bote on and on, that thre men with inne

Mygte sle al the londe, er heo com ther inne.

And nogt for than, gef Merlyn at thi conseil were,
Gef any mygte, he couthe the best red the lere."

Merlyn was sone of send, pleid yt was hym sone,

That he schulde the beste red segge, wat were to done.

Merlyn was sory ynow for the kynge's folye,

And natheles," Sire kyng," he seide, "there mot to maistrie,
The erl hath twey men hym nert, Brygthoel and Jordan.

Ich wol make thi self gef thou wolt, thoru art that y can,
Habbe al tho fourme of the erl, as thou were rygt he,
And Olfyn as Jordan, and as Brithoel me."
This art was al clene y do, that al changet he were,
Heo thre in the otheres forme, the selve at yt were.
Ageyn even he wende forth, nuste nomon that cas,
To the castel heo come rygt as yt evene was.
The porter y se ys lord come, and ys moste privey twei,
With god herte he lette ys lord yn, and ys men beye.

The contas was glad y now, tho hire lord to hire com
And eyther other in here armes myd gret joye nom.
Tho heo to bedde com, that so longe a two were,
With hem was so gret delyt, that bitwene hem there
Bi gete was the beste body, that ever was in this londe,
Kyng Arthure the noble mon, that ever worthe understonde.
Tho the kynge's men nuste amorwe, wer he was bi come,
Heo ferde as wodemen, and wende he were ynome.
Heo a saileden the castel, as yt schulde a doun anon,
Heo that with inne were, garkede hem echon,
And smyte out in a fole wille, and fogte myd here fon:
So that the erl was y slave, and of ys men mony on,
And the castel was y nome, and the folk to sprad there,
Get, tho thei hadde al ydo, heo ne fonde not the kyng there.
The tything to the contas sone was y come,

y nome.

That hire lord was y slawe, and the castel
Ac tho the messinger hym sey the erl, as hym thogte,
That he hadde so foule plow, ful sore hym of thogte,
The contasse made som del deol, for no sothnesse heo nuste.
The kyng, for to glade here, bi clupte hire and cust.
"Dame," he seide, "no sixt thou wel, that les yt ys al this:
Ne wost thou wel ich am olyue. Ich wole the segge
how it ys.
Out of the castel stilleliche ych wende al in privete,
That none of myne men yt nuste, for to speke with the.
And tho heo miste me to day, and nuste wer ich was,
Heo ferden rigt as gydie men, myd wam no red nas,

And fogte with the folk with oute, and habbeth in this manere
Y lore the castel and hem selue, ac wel thou wost y am here,
Ac for my castel, that is ylore, sory ich am y now,

And for myn men, that the kyng and ys power slog,
Ac
my power is now to lute, ther fore y drede sore,
Leste the kyng us nyme here, and sorwe that we were more.
Ther fore ich wole, how so yt be, wende agen the kynge,
And make my pays with hym, ar he us to schame brynge."
Forth he wende, and het ys men that gef the kyng come,
That hei schulde hym the castel gelde, ar he with strengthe
it nome.

So he come toward ys men, ys own forme he nom,
And levede the erle's fourme, and the kyng Uter by com.
Sore hym of thogte the erle's deth, ac in other half he fonde
Joye in hys herte, for the contasse of spoushed was unbonde,
Tho he hadde that he wolde, and paysed with ys son,
To the contasse he wende agen, me let hym in a non.
Wat halt it to talle longe: bute heo were seth at on,
In gret loue longe y now, wan yt nolde other gon;
And hadde to gedere this noble sone, that in the world ys pere nas,
The kyng Arture, and a dogter, Anne hire name was'.

In the latter end of the reign of Edward the First, many of ficers of the French king, having extorted large sums of money from the citizens of Bruges in Flanders, were murthered: and, an engagement succeeding, the French army, commanded by the count du Saint Pol, was defeated; upon which the king of France, who was Philip the Fair, sent a strong body of troops, under the conduct of the count de Artois, against the Flemings: he was killed, and the French were almost all cut to pieces. On this occasion the following ballad was made in the year 1301". Lustneth, lordinges, bothe zonge ant olde,

Of the Freynsh men that were so proude ant bolde,
How the Flemmyshe men bohten hem ant solde,
Upon a Wednesday,

Betere hem were at home in huere londe,

Then forte seche Flemishe by the see stronde

Whare rourh moni Frensh wyf wryngeth hire honde,

Ant syngeth weylaway.

The kyng of Fraunce made statuz newe,

In the lond of Flaundres among false ant trewe,
That the commun of Bruges ful sore can arewe,
And seiden amonges hem,

Gedere we us togedere hardilyche at ene,
Take we the bailifs by twenty ant by tene,
Clappe we of the hevedes an oven o the grene,

1 Chron. p. 156.

Ant cast we y the fen.

The last battle was fought that year, July 7.

The webbes ant the fullaris assembleden hem alle,
And makeden huere consail in huere commune halle,
Token Peter Conyng huere kynge to calle

Ant beo huere cheveteyne, &c.

These verses shew the familiarity with which the affairs of France were known in England, and display the disposition of the English towards the French, at this period. It appears from this and previous instances, that political ballads, I mean such as were the vehicles of political satire, prevailed much among our early ancestors. About the present era, we meet with a ballad complaining of the exorbitant fees extorted, and the numerous taxes levied, by the king's officers. There is a libel remaining, written indeed in French Alexandrines, on the commission of trayl-baston P, or the justices so denominated by Edward the First, during his absence in the French and Scotch wars, about the year 1306. The author names some of the justices or commissioners, now not easily discoverable: and says, that he served the king both in peace and war in Flanders, Gascony, and Scotland. There is likewise a ballad against the Scots, traitors to Edward the First, and taken prisoners at the battles of Dunbar and Kykenclef, in 1305 and 1306. The licentiousness of their rude manners was perpetually breaking out in these popular pasquins, although this species of petulance usually belongs to more polished times.

Nor were they less dexterous than daring in publishing their satires to advantage, although they did not enjoy the many conveniencies which modern improvements have afforded for the circulation of public abuse. In the reign of Henry the Sixth, to pursue the topic a little lower, we find a ballad of this species stuck on the gates of the royal palace, severely reflecting

" MSS. Harl. 2253. f. 73. b. lbid. f. 64. There is a song half Latin and half French, much on the same subject. Ibid. f. 137. b.

See Spelman and Dufresne in v. and Rob. Brunne's Chron. ed. Hearne, p. 328.

MSS. Harl. ibid. f. 113. b.
Ibid. f. 59

[This and the ballad against the French will be found in Ritson's Ancient Songs.-Edit.]

on the king and his counsellors then sitting in parliament. This piece is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum, with the following Latin title prefixed. "Copia scedula valvis domini regis existentis in parliamento suo tento apud Westmonasterium mense marcii anno regni Henrici sexti vicesimo octavo*." But the antient ballad was often applied to better purposes: and it appears from a valuable collection of these little pieces, lately published by my ingenious friend and fellow-labourer Doctor Percy, in how much more ingenuous a strain they have transmitted to posterity the praises of knightly heroism, the marvels of romantic fiction, and the complaints of love.

At the close of the reign of Edward the First, and in the year 1303, a poet occurs named Robert Mannyng, but more commonly called Robert de Brunne. He was a Gilbertine canon in the monastery of Brunne, or Bourne, near Depyng in Lincolnshire: but he had been before professed in the priory of Sixhille, a house of the same order, and in the same county +. He was merely a translator. He translated into English metre, or rather paraphrased, a French book, written by Grosthead bishop of Lincoln, entitled MANUEL PECHE, or MANUEL DE PECHE, that is, the MANUAL OF SINS. This translation was never printed. It is a long work, and treats of the decalogue, and the seven deadly sins, which are illustrated with many legendary stories. This is the title of the translator: "Here

[This piece is not a ballad. See Hearne's Hemingi Chartularium. RITSON.]

+[De Brunne's account rather varies from this statement.

In the third Edward's time was I,
When I wrote all this story;
In the house of Sixille, I was a throwe,
Dan Robert of Malton that ye know,
Did it write for felaws sake.

"By this passage he seems to mean that
he was born at a place called Malton;
that he bad resided some time in a house
in the neighbourhood called Sixhill;
and that there he, Robert de Brunne,
had composed at least a part of his poem
during the reign of Edward III." ELLIS.]

SMSS. Bibl. Bodl. N. 415. membr. fol. Cont. 80. pag. Pr. "Fadyr and sone and holy goste." And MSS. Harl. 1701.

[The Harleian manuscript has been collated for the present text. Like the Bodleian, if Warton followed the Bodleian manuscript, it professes to be a But this may be a mere dictum of the translation from the French of Grosteste. transcriber. All we gather from the work itself is an acknowledgement of a French original called "Manuel Peche," whose author was clearly unknown to De Brunne. Had it been written by a man of Grosteste's eminence, it would hardly have been published anonymously; nor can we suppose this circumstance, if really true, would have been passed over