pertinent to premise, that Margaret was a singular patroness of the Scotch poetry, now beginning to flourish. Her bounty is thus celebrated by Stewart of Lorne, in a Scotch poem, called LERGES OF THIS NEW YEIR DAY, written in the year 1527.

Grit God reliefb MARGARET our quene!
For and scho war as scho hes bene

Scho wald be lerger of lufrayd
Than all the laif that I of mene,

For lerges of this new-yeir day.

Dunbar's THISTLE AND ROSE is opened with the following stanzas, which are remarkable for their descriptive and picturesque beauties.

Quhen Merche wes with variand windis past,
And Appryll had with hir silver shouris
Tane leifi at Nature, with ane orient blast,
And lusty May, that muddir is of flouris,
Had maid the birdis to begyn thair houris',

direction of one John Inglish, who is
sometimes called Johannes. "Amonge
the saide lordes and the qweene was in
order, Johannes and his companye, the
minstrells of musicke," &c. p. 267. See
also, p. 299. 300. 280. 289. În the midst.
of a most splendid procession, the prin-
cess rode on horse-back behind the king
into the city of Edinburgh, p. 287.
Afterwards the ceremonies of this stately
marriage are described; which yet is not
equal, in magnificence and expence, to
that of Richard the Second with Isabell
of France, at Calais, in the year 1397.
This last-mentioned marriage is recorded
with the most minute circumstances,
the dresses of the king and the new
queen, the names of the French and En-
glish nobility who attended, the presents,
one of which is a collar of gold studded
with jewels, and worth three thousand
pounds, given on both sides, the ban-
quets, entertainments, and a variety of
other curious particulars, in five large
vellum in an antient Register of
pages,
Merton priory in Surry, in old French.
MSS. LAUD, E. 54. fol. 105. b. Bibl.

Bodl. Oxon. Froissart, who is most commonly prolix in describing pompous ceremonies, might have greatly enriched his account of the same royal wedding, from this valuable and authentic record, See his CRON. tom. iv. p. 226. ch. 78. B. penult. Paris, 1574, fol. Or lord Berners's Translation, vol. ii. f. 275. cap. ccxvi. edit. Pinson, 1523. fol.

The presents at this marriage ascer. tain a doubtful reading in Chaucer, viz, "Un NOUCHE pr. ccc. livr.-It. un riche NOUCHE.-Un NOUCHE priz de cynk centz marcz."-In the CLERKE'S TALE, Grisilde has a crown "full of ouchis grete and smale." The late editor acquaints us, that the best manuscripts read nouchis. ADDITIONS.]

b

great God help, &c.

If she continues to do as she has bounty. Fr. l'Offre.

done.

d.

any other I could speak of.

e

f

largess, bounty.

& St. X. h when. Qu has the force of w. i'taken leave.

k mother.

1 Mattin orisons. From Hora in the missal. So again in the GOLDEN Terge,

Amang the tendir odouris reid and quhyt,
Quhois harmony to heir it wes delyt:

In bed at morrow sleiping as I lay,
Methocht Aurora, with her cristall ene
In at the window lukitm by the day,
And halsit" me with visage pale and grene;
On quhois hand a lark sang, fro the splene",
"Awak, luvaris", out of your slemering",
Se how the lusty morrow dois upspring!"
Methocht fresche May befoir my bed upstude,
In weid' depaynt of mony diverse hew,
Sober, benyng, and full of mansuetude,
In bright atteir of flouris forgit news,
Hevinly of color, quhyt, reid, brown, and blew,
Balmit in dew, and gilt with Phebus' bemys;
Quhil al the house illumynit of her lemys.

MAY then rebukes the poet, for not rising early, according to his annual custom, to celebrate the approach of the spring; especially as the lark has now announced the dawn of day, and his heart in former years had always

glaid and blissful bene

Sangis" to mak undir the levis grene. *

St. ii. Where he also calls the birds the chapel-clarkes of Venus, St. iii. In the COURTE OF LOVE, Chaucer introduces the birds singing a mass in honour of May. Edit. Urr, p. 570. v. 1353. seq. On May-day, when the larke began to

ryse,

TO MATTINS went the lustie nightingale. He begins the service with Domine labia. The eagle sings the Venite. The popinjay Cali enarrant. The peacock Dominus regnavit. The owl Benedicite. The Te Deum is converted into Te Deum AMORIS, and sung by the thrush, &c. &c. Skelton, in the BOKE OF PHILIP SPARRow, ridicules the missal, in supposing various parts of it to be sung by birds. p. 226. edit. Lond. 1739, 12mo. Much the same sort of fiction occurs in Sir David Lyndesay's COMPLAYNT OF THE PAPYNGO, edit. ut infr. SIGNAT. B. iii.

Suppose the geis and hennis suld cry alarum,

And we sall serve secundum usum Sarum, &c.

n hailed.

m looked, ° with good will. ¶ slumbering. From Chaucer, v. 147. p. 25. Urr. Full brightir was the shining of hir hewe Than in the Towre the noble forged

t

newe.

songs. * St. iv. See Chaucer's KNIGHT'S TALE, v. 1042. p. 9. Urr. She was arisin, and all redie dight, For May will have no sluggardy annight: The season prikkith every gentill herte; And makith it out of his slepe to sterte, And sayth, Aryse, and do May obser vaunce, &c.

The poet replies, that the spring of the present year was unpromising and ungenial; unattended with the usual song of birds, and serenity of sky: and that storms and showers, and the loud blasts of the horn of lord Eolus, had usurped her mild dominion, and hitherto prevented him from wandering at leisure under the vernal branches. MAY rejects his excuse, and with a smile of majesty commands him to arise, and to perform his annual homage to the flowers, the birds, and the sun. They both enter a delicious garden, filled with the richest colours and odours. The sun suddenly appears in all his glory, and is thus described in the luminous language of Lydgate.

The purpour sone, with tendir bemys reid,
In orient bricht as angell did appeir,
Throw goldin skyis putting up his heid,
Quhois gilt tressis schone so wondir cleir,

That all the world tuke comfort fer and neir.

Immediately the birds, like the morning-stars, singing together, hail the unusual appearance of the sun-shine.

And, as the blissful sone of cherarchy",
The foulis sung throu comfort of the lycht;
The burdis did with oppin voices cry,
To luvaris so, "Away thow duly nicht,
And welcum day that comfortis every wicht.
Hail May, hail Flora, hail Aurora schene,

Hail princes Nature, hail Venus, luvis quene.a

NATURE is then introduced, issuing her interdict, that the progress of the spring should be no longer interrupted, and that Neptune and Eolus should cease from disturbing the waters and air.

Dame Nature gaif an inhibitioun thair,
To fers Neptune, and Eolus the bauld,
Nocht to perturb the wattir nor the air;

y St. viii.

v. 7. The morning-stars singing toge
a St. ix.
b bold.

The hierarchy. See JOB, ch. xxxviii. ther.

And that no schouris and no blastis cawld
Effray suld flouris, nor fowlis on the fauld;
Scho bad eik Juno goddes of the sky

That scho the hevin suld keip amene and dry.

This preparation and suspence are judicious and ingenious; as they give dignity to the subject of the poem, awaken our curiosity, and introduce many poetical circumstances. NATURE immediately commands every bird, beast, and flower, to appear in her presence; and, as they had been used to do every Maymorning, to acknowledge her universal sovereignty. She sends the roe to bring the beasts, the swallow to collect the birds, and the yarrow to summon the flowers. They are assembled before her in an instant. The lion advances first, whose figure is drawn with great force and expression.

This awfull beist full terrible of cheir,
Persing of luke, and stout of countenance,
Ryght strong of corpes, of fassoun fair, but feirs,
Lusty of shaip, lycht of deliverance,

Reid of his cullour as the ruby glance,
In field of gold he stude full mychtely
With floure de lucis sirculit1 lustely.i

This is an elegant and ingenious mode of blazoning the Scottish arms, which are a lion with a border, or tressure, adorned with flower de lucės. We should remember, that heraldry was now a science of high importance and esteem. NATURE lifting up his cluvis cleir, or shining claws, and suffering him to rest on her knee, crowns him with a radiant diadem of precious stones, and creates him the king of beasts: at the same time she injoins him to exercise justice with mercy,

read Scho-u-ris.

4 should hurt, [affright.]

e St. X.

f The yarrow is Achillea, or Millefolium, commonly called Sneeswort. There is no reason for selecting this plant to go on a message to the flowers; but that its name has been supposed to be

derived from Arrow, being held a remedy
for healing wounds inflicted by that wea-
pon. The poet, to apologise for his
boldness in personifying a plant, has
added, "full craftely conjurit scho."
St. xii.
h encircled.

g fierce.
i St. xiv.

and not to suffer his subjects of the smallest size or degree, to be oppressed by those of superior strength and dignity. This part of NATURE's charge to the lion, is closed with the following beautiful stroke, which indicates the moral tenderness of the poet's heart.

And lat no bowgle with his busteous hornis
The meik pluch-ox' oppress for all hys pryd,
Bot in the yok go peciable him besyd.

m

She next crowns the eagle king of fowls: and sharpening his talons like darts of steel, orders him to govern great and small, the wren or the peacock, with an uniform and equal impartiality. I need not point out to my reader the political lessons couched under these commands. NATURE now calls the flowers; and observing the thistle to be surrounded with a bush of spears, and therefore qualified for war, gives him a crown of rubies, and says, "In field go forth and fend the laif"." The poet continues elegantly to picture other parts of the royal arms; in ordering the thistle, who is now king of vegetables, to prefer all herbs, or flowers, of rare virtue, and rich odour: nor ever to permit the nettle to associate with the flour de lys, nor any ignoble weed to be ranked in competition with the lily. In the next stanza, where NATURE directs the thistle to honour the rose above all other flowers, exclusive of the heraldic meaning, our author with much address insinuates to king James the Fourth an exhortation to conjugal fidelity, drawn from the high birth, beauty, and amiable accomplishments, of the royal bride the princess Margaret.

k boisterous, strong.

1 plough-ox.

m St. xvi.

n defend the rest.

Among the pageants exhibited at Edinburgh in honour of the nuptials, she was complimented with the following curious mixture of classical and scriptural history. "Ny to that cross was a scarfawst [scaffold] made, where was represented Paris and the three Deesses, with Mercure that gaff hym the apyll of

gold for to gyffe to the most fayre of the Thre, which he gave to Venus. In the scarfawst was also represented the Salutacion of Gabriell to the Virgyne in saying Ave gratia, and sens after [next,] the sollempnizacion of the very maryage betwix the said Vierge [Virgin] and Joseph." Leland, CoLL. iii. APPEND. p. 289. ut supr. Not to mention the great impropriety, which they did not perceive, of applying such a part of scripture.