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strife of free principles and the noblest efforts of national genius. Early in this important century, we are inclined to place those pleasant snatches of song, which Warton has incorrectly assigned to an earlier date, and that earliest version of the psalms, too, of which he gives specimens. The following, from the nineteenth psalm, exhibits a great improvement upon the rude version of Lazamon:

Hevens telleth Godis blisse,
The welkin shewes handworke's his,
Dai to dai, wordes rifté's righte,

And wisdome sheweth night to night.' The following spring-tide carol, in its hearty welcome to the (sweet season,' like that, still older, but better known, ' Sumer is ycomen in, lhude sing cuccu,' shows that keen sense of the beauties of natural scenery which has always been the heritage of the true English poet :

• Lenten is come with love to towne,
With blossom and with birde's roune,

That al this blisse bringethe;
Dayes eyeth* in the dales,
Notes swete of nightingale,
And eche fowle song singeth.
The threstlecock him threteth so,
Away is huer wyntere's woe,

When the woderow springeth.' And the writer goes on to celebrate nearly every bird whose glad melody welcomes the spring.

That very fair English was spoken fully as early as the middle of the thirteenth century, we have proof, not merely in the fragments of songs, which were sung during the Barons' war, especially that curious one on the defeat of the king's party at Lewes, but in a very pleasant story which we found in the valuable chronicle of Lannercost, printed a few years ago by the Bannantyne Club. Under the year 1244, the worthy chronicler starts aside from his narrative of the doings of the lord king, and the proceedings of his convent, to tell us how there lived in Norfolk a poor boy, who being the youngest of his family, his father gave him a pig, as his portion, with which he set forth to France. In what way the poor boy disposed of this pig, the chronicler does not inform us; but, from his after history, it would seem that it proved, like the famed cat of Sir Richard Whittington, the foundation of a large fortune ; for we are told that he rose high in the world, married a rich wife, and was even noticed by the king. He now caused a chamber to be built, and painted, and to this he often retired; but would give the key to no one, not even to his wife. This excited much wonder, and one day when he was there his friends knocked so vehemently at the door, and so earnestly prayed admission, that he at length let them in. In this room, among other ornaments, they beheld the picture of the pig, and a little boy leading him by a string, and above their heads this was written in English :

* Lengtheneth.

Willé Gris, Willé Gris,

Thincke qwhat you was, and qwhat you is.' This distich, which we have given just as it stands in the chronicle, is good colloquial English, even to its bad grammar; we may therefore place those ruder metrical romances, Hornchild, Haveloke, and Tristrem, at full as early a period. The great peculiarity of these three is, that although versions of each are to be found in Norman French, the English are the originals. In the first of these, every name is Saxon or Danish; the scene is laid respectively in Sweden, the north of England, and Ireland, and the story, which is full of incident, evidently belongs to a period when society was emerging from a state of barbarism. “Fierce wars and faithful love' form the groundwork, and upon this an amusing superstructure of hairbreadth escapes, cunning disguises, and deeds of marvellous prowess is built. Unlike the heroes of chivalric romance, Hornchild does not set forth of his own free will to seek adventures, but is driven forth, while his career is merely one long series of good fighting. The supernatural, as is the case with all the earliest romances, is very sparingly introduced. Maiden Riminild's ring, of which

The ston haveth suche grace
Ne shalt thou in none place.

Deth underfonge,
Ne buen yslaye with wronge,
Yef thou lookest ther on
And thenckest of thi lemmen,'

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is, however, true to Scandinavian superstition. A later date than we have assigned to Hornchild has been sometimes given in consequence of the mention of Sarazins ;' but Ritson has shown that the word, soon after the era of the crusades, was used to signify any heathen people, and consequently was applied by our forefathers to the Danish pirates who ravaged our coasts. The story of Haveloke is a fragment of · Anglo-Danish his

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tory, he being a king's son, who was brought up by Grymm, the fisherman, to whom tradition has assigned the foundation of that important Danish seaport, Grimsby. We owe to Sir Frederic Madden the publication of this curious relic, which was long believed to be wholly lost; and he has added the short version of the story, as it appears in Gaimar's fragment of British history, and also the Norman-French romance, evidently founded on the English one. These form a very curious volume, not only as showing how a short narrative was amplified by the rude versifier, but how the tale was subsequently told by the educated trouvére, when called upon to amuse his noble, perhaps royal, auditors. The variations, indeed, in the French and English versions, of both Hornchild and Haveloke, are extremely characteristic of the higher and lower classes. In the older English version of Hornchild, when seated in the disguise of a poor man at the lower end of the hall, he requests Riminild to give him drink; she brings him a “brown bowle,' that holds a gallon of beer-a tolerable burthen for a king's daughter to carry ;-—but in the French version we find her going daintily to the butlerie,' and taking from thence a horn, adorned with * African' gold and gemmed round the brim, filled with wine, When Horn, on another occasion, enters the king's hall, in the disguise of a minstrel, the English version merely tells us that he

Sat him abenche
His harpe he gan clenche;
He made Riminild a lay,

And him seide weylaway.' The Anglo-Norman trouvére, however, bestows several lines of description, and tells us that he touched the chords with such skill that it caused all to think of the music of heaven. The English versifier of Haveloke, too, begins with begging a cup of ‘ful gode ale, while the Norman trouvére commences with a courteous salutation.

But, ere long, the English poet began to write, not for lewed men' only, but for the higher classes; and he also began to display somewhat of poetical feeling in his descriptions. In the amusing romance of ‘Merlin,' we may trace an attempt to render the narrative more attractive by slight poetic touches, although, from the general style of the work, we think it was intended for the common people.

Learned men, however, there were, who scorned not to use the rising language of England, and they consulted both French

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and Latin books, and books of 'philosophy, too.

Such was unquestionably the author of the metrical history of King Alexander, a most spirited poem, abounding in poetic passages, and which, as we turned it over some time since, we found right pleasant reading. The tale of Troy, although so early told among us, does not appear to have excited much interest; but when, about the year 1200, the great romance of Alexander,'--. a translation into Latin of the earlier Greek work of Simeon Seth,-itself a translation from the Persian-appeared; so much interest was awakened, that the Alexandreis' bade fair to rival the popularity of Geffry’s ‘British History.' Whether the noble faictes and gestes' of this renowned hero, had already been made known to English ears, we know not; nor can we discover the name of the writer of this admirable romance. That it was composed about the middle of the thirteenth century is, we think, certain, from the descriptions of the dresses and armour; and that it speedily became highly prized, we have abundant evidence in the station it occupies in the enumeration of later writers of romances of price.'

The beginning resembles Benoit St. Maur's elaborate proem to his chronicle of the Dukes of Normandy; for we are told that the earth is divided into three parts, and the zodiac into twelve signs, which are described, and then their influence upon mundane affairs is pointed out. The poet does not, however, linger so wearily over this part as the more prosing trouvére ; but he introduces us to a King of Egypt, one Nectabanus, who is also a magician, after the true oriental style-not conjuring with running water, or runic rhyme—but with quaint instruments, and perfumes, and waxen images. He finds out that King Philip will subdue him; he therefore flies to Thebes, determined to circumvent his purpose, and witnesses a grand festival, and Queen Olympias riding on her milk-white mule, her yellow hair hanging down to "her gentil middel small,' and surrounded by a large company of knights and ladies, while the streets, hung with rich tapestry, and wide, and long, appear

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· Al so noble of riche mounde,
So is Chepe in this londe:'

an early testimony to the splendour of the chief thoroughfare of old London. The story of Alexander's birth and education is told according to the usual version, and so is that of his breaking in Bucephalus. His mother having been unjustly imprisoned by King Philip, he vindicates her character, releases her,

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and Philip dying, he succeeds to the throne. He now assembles a large army, quite however in the feudal manner, and sets forth to fight with King Darius. The descriptions of many of the battles are very spirited, and were, doubtless, listened to with great interest; our space, however, forbids extracts. King Darius is killed, Alexander adds the kingdom of Persia to his hereditary dominions, and thus the first part ends. But it was the second part of King Alisaundre,' that was listened to with unceasing delight; for it tells, not merely of his expedition into India, but his visits to kingdoms and nations known only to fable, and among which the oriental imagination of the original compiler absolutely revels. On the banks of the Ganges these marvels commence :-fishes, only three hundred feet long, and, we suppose upon the Irishman's principle of compensation,men no bigger than little children. Then there is a kingdom of Amazons, called Pandea, where twenty thousand maidens form the standing army, riding upon destreres, and each able to poise a lance so skilfully as to bear strong knights out of their saddles. But this seems scarcely so wondrous to our romancer as the fish-eating people, 'who have ne fire, ne panne,' to cook them with. Then follow that goodly array of dog-headed people, one-eyed people, and those with the one foot, which also served the purpose of an umbrella; which, although familiar to the readers of Pliny, were unheard-of marvels to our forefathers in the thirteenth century, and doubtless greatly increased their horror of the paynim of the east. But amidst all these monsters there is a civilized nation, fair of visage, who wear scarlet and ermine, and gold and silver, and who inhabit cities and castles. Had the relater of King Alisaundre' heard from some far travelled pilgrim of the wealth and comparative civilization of the rising Mogul empire? This nation is, however, quite an exception to the general rule—for we next meet with a people whose legs are eighteen feet long, and therefore very appropriately engaged in hunting. King Alexander now enters a forest, which proves to be a regular menagerie of wild beasts. Among these are ‘Ypotamos,' who came flying out of the rocks right into the water, for they can live there as well as on land. The narrator therefore proceeds to give a particular description of them

* The gode clerk men clepe Solin,
Hath ywriten in his Latin,
That ypotame a wonder beast is,
More than an olifaunte, I wis;
Toppe, and rugge; and croupe, and cors,
Is semblabel to an hors,

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