Within that place there was a pallaice,
Closed with walles of heathenessed:
The walles thereof were of cristall,
And the sommers of corall *.
Raynborne had grete dout to passe,
The watir so depe and brode was:
And at the laste his steede leepe
Into the brode watir deepe.
Thyrty fadom he sanke adowne,
Then clepede he to God Raynborne.
God hym help, his steede was goode,
And bure hym ovir that hydious floode.
To the pallaice he yode' anone,
And lyghted downe of his steede full soone.
Through many a chamber yede Raynborne,
A knyghte he found in dongeon.
Raynborne grete hym as a knyght courtoise,
6 Who oweth,” he said, “this fayre pallaice?”
That knyght answered him, “ Yt is noght,
He oweth it that me hither broght.”
“ Thou art,” quod Raynburne, “in feeble plight,
Tell me thy name,” he sayd, “syr knight.”

& “Walls built by the Pagans or Sa The walles thereof were of cristall, racens. Walls built by magic.' Chau And the sommers of corall. cer, in a verse taken from Syr Bevys, [Sign. a. ii.] says that his knight had. But Chaucer mentions corall in his temtravelled

ple of Diana. KNIGHTES TALE, v. 1912. As well in Christendom as in HETHNESS.

And northward, in a touret on the

wall, Prol. p. 2. v. 49. And in Syr Eglamour

Of alabastre white, and red corall, of Artoys, Sign. E. ii.

An oratorie riche for to see.
Eglamour sayd to hym yeys,
I am come out of HETHENES.

Carpentier cites a passage from the ro

mance De Troyes, in which a chamber of Syr Bevys of Hamptoun. Sign. b. iii.

alabaster is mentioned. SUPPL. LAT. They found shippes more and lesse Gloss. Du Cange, tom. i. p. 136. Of panimes and of hethencsse.

En celle chambre n'oit noienz, Also, Sign. C. i.

De chaux, d'areine, de cimenz, The first dede withouten lesse Enduit, ni moillerons, ni emplaistre, That Bevys dyd in hethenesse.

Tot entiere fut alambastre.

ADDITIONS.] (I do not perfectly understand the materials of this fairy palace.

e called.

I went.

In

That knyghte sayd to hym agayne,
“ My name is Amys of the Mountayne.
The lord is an Elvish man
That me into thys pryson wan.”
“ Arte thou Amys,” than sayde Raynborne,
“Of the Mountaynes the bold barrone?

grete perill I have gone,
To seke thee in this rocke of stone.
But blissed be God now have I thee
Thou shalt go home with me."
“ Let be,” sayd Amys of the Mountayne,
« Great wonder I have of thee certayne;
How that thou hythur wan:
For syth this world fyrst began
No man hyther come ne myghte,
Without leave of the Elvish knyghte.

Me with thee thou mayest not lede," &c. 8 Afterwards, the knight of the mountain directs Raynburne to find a wonderful sword which hung in the hall of the palace. With this weapon Raynburne attacks and conquers the Elvish knight; who buys his life, on condition of conducting his conqueror over the perilous ford, or lake, above described, and of delivering all the captives confined in his secret and impregnable dungeon.

Guyon's expedition into the Souldan's camp, an idea furnished by the crusades, is drawn with great strength and simplicity.

Guy asked his armes anone,
Hosen of yron Guy did upon :
In hys hawberke Guy hym clad,
He drad no stroke whyle he it had.
Upon hys head hys helme he cast,
And hasted hym to ryde full fast.
A syrcle" of gold thereon stoode,
The emperarour had none so goode;

Aboute the syrcle for the nones
Were sett many precyous stones.
Above he had a coate armour wyde;
Hys sword he toke by hys syde:
And lept upon his stede anone,
Styrrope with foot touched he none.
Guy rode forth without boste,
Alone to the Soudan's hoste:
Guy saw all that countrie
Full of tentes and pavylyons bee:
On the pavylyon of the Soudone
Stoode a carbuncle-stone:
Guy wist therebie it was the Soudones,
And drew hym thyther for the nones.
At the meetei he founde the Soudone,
And hys barrons everychone,
And tenne kynges aboute hym,
All they were stout and grymme :
Guy rode forth, and spake no worde,

Tyll he cam to the Soudan's bordek; i at dinner.

the feast of Christmas at Greenwich, * table. Chaucer, Squ. T. 105. in the year 1488, we have, “ The duc And up he rideth to the hie borde.

of Bedeford beganne the table on the right

side of the hall, and next untoo hym was Chaucer says that his knight had often the lorde Dawbeneye,” &c. That is, “ begon the bord abovin all nations." He sate at the head of the table. _Leland, Prol. 52. The term of chivalry, to be- Coll. iii. 237. edit. 1770, To begin gin the board, is to be placed in the up- the bourd is to begin the tournament. permost seat of the hall. Anstis, Ord. Lydgate, Chron. Troy, b. ii. ch. 14. Gart. i. App. p. XV. « The earl of Surry began the borde in presence: the

The grete justes, bordes, or tournay. earl of Arundel washed with him, and I will here take occasion to correct satt both at the first messe. . . Began Hearne's explanation of the word Bourthe borde at the chamber's end." i. e. sat der in Brunne's Chron. p. 204. at the head of that table which was at

A knygt a BOURDOUR king Richard hade the end of the chamber. This was at

A douty man in stoure his name was Windsor, A.D. 1519. In Syr Eglamour

Markade. of Artoys, we have to begin the dese, which is the same thing.

BOURDOUR, says Hearne, is boarder, pen

sioner. But the true meaning is, a Wag, Lordes in halle wer sette

an arch fellow, for he is here introduced And waytes blewe to the mete.

putting a joke on the king of France. The two knyghtes the dese began.

BOURDE is jest, trick, from the French. Sign. D. iii. See Chaucer, Squ. T. 99. See R. de Brunne ap. Hearne's Gloss. and Kn. T. 2002. In a celebration of Rob. Glo. p. 695; and above Sect. II. ;

He ne rought' with whom he mette,
But on thys wyse the Soudan he grette:
“God's curse have thou and thyne,
And tho that levem on Apoline.”
Than sayd the Soudan, “ What art thou
That thus prowdlie speakest now?
Yet found I never man certayne
That suche wordes durst me sayne."
Guy sayd, “So God me save from hell,
My ryght nam I shall the tell;
Guy of Warwicke my name is.”
Than sayd the Sowdan ywis,
“ Arte thou the bolde knyght Guyon,
That art here in my pavylyon?
Thou sluest my cosyn Coldran

Of all Sarasyns the boldest man,” &c. n I will add Guy's combat with the Danish giant Colbrond, as it is touched with great spirit, and may serve to illustrate some preceding hints concerning this part of our hero's history.

Then came Colbronde forthe anone,
On foote, for horse could bare hym none.
For when he was in armure dight
Fower horse ne bare hym might.
A man had ynough to done
To bere hym hys wepon.
Then Guy rode to Colbronde,
On hys stede ful wele rennendeo:
Colbronde smote Guy in the fielde

In the middest of Syr Guyes shelde; also Chauc. Gam. 1974. and Non. Urr. Aucuns estiinent que ce mot vient 2294. Knyghton mentions a favourite des behourds, qui estoit une espece des in the court of England who could pro- Tournois.” See also Diss. Joinv. p. 174. cure any grant from the king burdando. cared, valued. Chaucer, Rom. R. Du Cange Not. Joinv. p. 166. Who adds, “ De là vient le mot de Bourdeurs,

I ne rought of deth ne of life. qui estoient ces farceurs ou plaisantins qui divertissoient les princes par le recit

m those who helieve. des fables et des histoires des Romans. Sign. Q. iji.

° running

1873.

Through Guyes hawberk that stroke went,
And for no maner thyng it withstentP.
In two yt share ' Guyes stedes body
And fell to ground hastily.
Guy upstert as an eger lyoune,
And drue hys gode sworde browne:
To Colbronde he let it flye,
But he might not reche so hye.
On hys shoulder the stroke fell downe,
Through all hys armure share Guyon'.
Into the bodie a wounde untyde
That the red blude gan oute glyde.
Colbronde was wroth of that rap,
He thought to give Guy a knap.
He smote Guy on the helme bryght
That out sprang the fyre lyght.
Guy smote Colbronde agayne
Through shielde and armure certayne.
He made his swerde for to glyde
Into his bodie a wound ryht wyde.
So smart came Guyes bronde

That it braste in hys hond.
The romance of the SQUIRE OF Low DEGREE, who loved the
king's daughter of Hungary', is alluded to by Chaucer in the
P"nothing could stop it."

of lowe degre, it is not probablely, allso, divided.

of his age.'

But the Lybeaus Disco'"Guy cut through all the giant's nus referred to in this romance, is evi

dently a different version of the story • It contains thirty-eight pages in from that printed by Mr. Ritson, and the quarto. “Imprinted at London by me quotation, if it prove any thing, would Wyllyam Copland." I have never seen rather speak for the existence of a more it in manuscript.

ancient translation now unknown. Be. [This romance will be found in Mr. sides, Mr. Ritson himself has supplied Ritson's Collection, vol. iii. p. 145, who us with an argument strongly favouring characterizes it as a “strange and whim- Warton's conjecture. For if, as he obsical but genuine English performance." serves, the Squyr of lowe degre be the On Warton's opinion, “that it is allu- only instance of a romance containing ded to by Chaucer in the Rime of Sir To- any such impertinent digressions or afpas," he remarks: “as Lybeaus Disco- fected enumerations of trees, birds, &c. nus, one of the romancëes enumeratëed as are manifestly the object of Chaucer's by Chaucer, is alluded to in the Squyr Satire, the natural inference would be

armour.