It with, England, are works written in Latin by learned SPECIMENS OF ANGLO-SAXON AND ENGLISH We have already seen short specimens of the Anglo-Saxon prose and verse of the period prior to the Conquest. Perhaps the best means of making clear the transition of the language into its present form, is to present a continuation of these specimens, extending between the time of the Conquest and the reign of Edward I. It is not to be expected that these specimens will be of much use to the reader, on account of the ideas which they convey; but, considered merely as objects, or as pictures, they will not be without their effect in illustrating the history of our literature. And ne [Extract from the Saxon Chronicle, 1154.] On this yær wærd the King Stephen ded, and bebyried there his wif and his sune wæron bebyried æt Tauresfeld. That ministre hi makiden. Tha the durste nan man don other bute god for the micel eie king was ded, tha was the eorl beionde sæ. of him. Tha he to Engleland come, tha was he underfangen mid micel wortscipe; and to king bletcæd in Lundine, on the Sunnen dæi beforen mid-winter-dæi. Literally translated thus :-" A. D. 1154. In this year was the King Stephen dead, and buried where his wife and his son were buried, at Touresfield. That minister they made. When the king was dead, then other but good for the great awe of him. When he was the earl beyond sea. And not durst no man do to England came, then was he received with great worship; and to king consecrated in London, on the Sunday before mid-winter-day (Christmas day).” [Extract from the account of the Proceedings at Arthur's Tha the king+ igeten hafde And heore here-thringes♣ And alle tha beornes, Alle the sweines, Alle tha quenel The icumen weoren there, He gef seolver, he gæf gold, [Extract from a Charter of Henry III., 4. D. 1258, in the common language of the time.] Henry, thurg Godes fultome, King on Engleneloande, Lhoaverd on Yrloand, Duk on Norman, on Acquitain, Earl on Anjou, send I greting, to alle hise holde, ilærde and ilewede on Huntindonnschiere. Thæt witen ge wel alle, that we willen and unnen, that ure rædesmen alle other the moare del of heom, that beoth ichosen thurg us and thurg that loandes-folk on ure kineriche, habbith idon, and schullen don in the worthnes of God, and ure treowthe, for the freme of the loande, thurg the besigte of than toforen iseide rædesmen, &c. Literal translation :-"Henry, through God's support, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy, of Acquitain, Earl of Anjou, sends greeting to all his subjects, learned and unlearned, of Huntingdonshire. This know ye well all, that we will and grant, what our counsellors all, or the more part of them, that be chosen through us and through the land-folk of our kingdom, have done, and shall do, to the honour of God, and our allegiance, for the good of the land, through the determination of the beforesaid counsellors," &c. THE RHYMING CHRONICLERS. which he occasionally diversifies the thread of his story, are, in general, appropriate and dramatic, and not only prove his good sense, but exhibit no unfavourable specimens of his eloquence. In his description of the first crusade, he seems to change his usual character, and becomes not only entertaining, but even animated."* Of the language of Robert's Chronicle, the following is a specimen, in its original spelling : Engelond ys a wel god lond, ich wene of eche lond Y-set in the ende of the world, as al in the west. Of fole of the selve lond, as me hath y-seye wyle. [The Muster for the First Crusade.] A good pope was thilk time at Rome, that hecht1 That preached of the creyserie, and creysed mony man. come; And preached so fast, and with so great wisdom, Ne young folk [that] feeble were, the while the voy- So that Robert Curthose thitherward his heart cast, He wends here to Englond for the creyserie, To wend with to the holy lond, and that was some- The Earl Robert of Flanders mid him wend also, thereto. There wend the Duke Geoffrey, and the Earl Baldwin And the other Baldwin also, that noble men were, Layamon may be regarded as the first of a series of writers who, about the end of the thirteenth century, began to be conspicuous in our literary history, which usually recognises them under the general appellation of the RHYMING CHRONICLERS. The first, at a considerable interval after Layamon, was a monk of Gloucester Abbey, usually called from that circumstance ROBERT OF GLOUCESTER, and who lived during the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. He wrote, in long rhymed lines (Alexandrines), a history of England from the imaginary Brutus to his own time, using chiefly as his authority the Latin history by Geoffrey of Monmouth, of which Wace and Layamon had already given Nor-The man French and Saxon versions.* The work is described by Mr Warton as destitute of art and imagination, and giving to the fabulous history, in many parts, a less poetical air than it bears in Geoffrey's prose. The language is full of Saxon peculiarities, which might partly be the result of his living in so remote a province as Gloucestershire. Another critic acknowledges that, though cold and prosaic, Robert is not deficient in the valuable talent of arresting the attention. "The orations with 1 "All the queens who were come to the festival, and all the ladies, leaned over the walls to behold the nobles there, and that folk play." 2 This lasted three days, such games and such plays. 3 Then, on the fourth day, the king went to council? 4 And gave his good knights all their rights or rewards. 5 He satisfied. Robert's Chronicle, from its alluding to the canonisation, is supposed to have been written, at least in part, after 1297. Earl Stephen de Blois wend eke, that great power had on hond, And Robert's sister Curthose espoused had to wive. And Tancred his nephew, and the bishop also * Ellis. 1 Was called. 2 Passed the mountains-namely, the Alps. 6 Even women did not remain. 7 To wed, in pledge, in pawn. [The Siege of Antioch.] Tho wend forth this company, with mony a noble man, And won Tars with strength, and syth Toxan. And the Christian wend again, mid the prey that they nome. In the month of Feverer the Saracens eftsoon And went toward Antioch, to help their kind blood, Of the thrid the good Raymond, the ferth the good man. For to help their fellows, whan they were were.6 And as stalwart men to-gather fast set, Ac the Christians cried all on God, and good earnest nome, And, thorough the grace of Jesus Christ, the Paynims they overcome, And slew to ground here and there, and the other flew * anon, * So that at a narrow brig there adrent mony one. ** * Tho the Saracens it i-see, they were some deal in fear, come, And this town up this luther2 men as for nought nome, [Description of Robert Curthose.] He was William's son bastard, as I have i-said ere And well i-wox4 ere his father to Englond come. soonBy the uprising of God, Robelin, me shall i-see, And slew to ground here and there, ac the heathen side shouldren he to-clave. The Duke Godfrey all so good on the shouldren smote one, And forclave him all that body to the saddle anon. And they, for the wonder case, in dread fell anon. In beginning of Lent this battle was y-do, In the list of Rhyming Chroniclers, Robert of Gloucester is succeeded by ROBERT MANNING, a Gilbertine canon in the monastery of Brunne or Bourne, in Lincolnshire (therefore usually called Robert de Brunne), who flourished in the latter part of the reign of Edward I., and throughout that of Edward II. He translated, under the name of a Handling of Sins, a French book, entitled Manuel des Pêches, the composition of William de Wadington, in which the seven deadly sins are illustrated by legendary stories. He afterwards translated a French chronicle of England, which had been written by Peter de Langtoft, a contemporary of his own, and an Augustine canon of Bridlington in Yorkshire. Manning has been characterised 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 following is one of the most spirited passages, in reduced spelling: [The interview of Vortigern with Rowen, the beautiful Daughter of Hengist.] Hengist that day did his might, The king said, as the knight gan ken,? And gave the king, syne him kissed. Of that wassail men told great tale, For of that maiden he wax all mad. And Hors his brother consented soon. Upon that maidin his heart was cast; He loved peace at his might; And ends unto Catheness. And goes to Wales to Saint Davy. [Praise of Good Women.] ENGLISH METRICAL ROMANCES. THE rise of Romantic Fiction in Europe has been traced to the most opposite quarters; namely, to the Arabians and to the Scandinavians. It has also been disputed, whether a politer kind of poetical literature was first cultivated in Normandy or in Provence. Without entering into these perplexing questions, it may be enough to state, that romantic fiction appears to have been cultivated from the eleventh century downwards, both by the troubadours of Provence and by the Norman poets, of whom some account has already been given. As also already hinted, a class of persons had arisen, named Joculators, Jongleurs, or Minstrels, whose business it was to wander about from one mansion to another, [Fabulous Account of the first Highways in England.] reciting either their own compositions, or those of other persons, with the accompaniment of the harp. The histories and chronicles, already spoken of, partook largely of the character of these romantic tales, and were hawked about in the same manner. Brutus, the supposed son of Æneas of Troy, and who is described in those histories as the founder of the English state, was as much a hero of romance 2 Breadthways. 3 Broke, destroyed. 5 Delight. 6 Family. 1 Went. 4 Know. as of history. Even where a really historical person was adopted as a subject, such as Rollo of Normandy, or Charlemagne, his life was so amplified with romantic adventure, that it became properly a work of fiction. This, it must be remembered, was an age remarkable for a fantastic military spirit: it was the age of chivalry and of the crusades, when men saw such deeds of heroism and self-devotion daily performed before their eyes, that nothing which could be imagined of the past was too extravagant to appear destitute of the feasibility demanded in fiction. As might be expected from the ignorance of the age, no attempt was made to surround the heroes with the circumstances proper to their time or country. Alexander the Great, Arthur, and Roland, were all alike depicted as knights of the time of the poet himself. The basis of many of these metrical tales is supposed to have been certain collections of stories and histories compiled by the monks of the middle ages. "Materials for the superstructure were readily found in an age when anecdotes and apologues were thought very necessary even to discourses from the pulpit, and when all the fables that could be gleaned from ancient writings, or from the relations of travellers, were collected into story books, and preserved by the learned for that purpose." It was not till the English language had risen into some consideration, that it became a vehicle for romantic metrical tales. One composition of the kind, entitled Sir Tristrem, published by Sir Walter Scott in 1804, was believed by him, upon what he thought tolerable evidence, to be the composition of Thomas of Ercildoun, identical with a person noted in Scottish tradition under the appellation of Thomas the Rhymer, who lived at Earlston in Berwickshire, and died shortly before 1299. If this had been the case, Sir Tristrem must have been considered a production of the middle or latter part of the thirteenth century. But the soundness of Sir Walter's theory is now generally denied. Another English romance, the Life of Alexander the Great, was attributed by Mr Warton to Adam Davie, marshall of Stratfordle-Bow, who lived about 1312; but this, also, has been controverted. One only, King Horn, can be assigned with certainty to the latter part of the thirteenth century. Mr Warton has placed some others under that period, but by conjecture alone; and in fact dates and the names of authors are alike wanting at the beginning of the history of this class of compositions. As far as probability goes, the reign of Edward II. (1307-27) may be set down as the era of the earlier English metrical romances, or rather of the earlier English versions of such works from the French, for they were, almost without exception, of that nature. Sir Guy, the Squire of Low Degree, Sir Degore, King Robert of Sicily, the King of Tars, Impomedon, and La Mort Artur, are the names of some from which Mr Warton gives copious extracts. Others, probably of later date, or which at least were long after popular, are entitled Sir Thopas, Sir Isenbras, Gawan and Gologras, and Sir Bevis. In an Essay on the Ancient Metrical Romances, in the second volume of Dr Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, the names of many more, with an account of some of them, and a prose abstract of one entitled Sir Libius, are given. Mr Ellis has also, in his Metrical Romances, given prose abstracts of many, with some of the more agreeable passages. The metrical romances flourished till the close of the fifteenth century, and their spirit affected English literature till a still later period. Many of the ballads handed down amongst the common people are supposed to have been derived from them. * Ellis. [Extract from the King of Tars.] describes his conduct on the return of the messengers with this The [The Soudan of Damascus, having asked the daughter of the The Soudan sat at his dess,1 They comen into the hall And said, 'Sire, the king of Tars Heathen hound he doth thee call; And thy barons all !' His robe he rent adown; He tare the hair of head and beard, The table adown right he smote, He looked as a wild lion. Earl and eke baron. That no man might him chast :5 That they comen to his parliament, Both least and maist.6 And said to 'em in haste: Of Tars the Christian king; And he said, withouten fail, To wit of you counsail.' And when they were all at his hest,12 |