tury belonged to the earls of March. See Chalmers's Caledonia, iii. 521. The same writer says it is difficult to decide when the Celtic districts of Carrick, Cuningham, and Kyle were formed into the present county of Ayrshire, and that in the time of Henry the Third Carrick was described as being in Galloway, a name applied loosely to the whole peninsula between the Solway and the Clyde, including Annandale and Ayrshire. By the ancient division of this county Carrick occupied the southern side of the Doon; Kyle, the space between the rivers Doon and Irvine ; and Cuningham the whole territory on the north of the last-mentioned river. Ibid. iii. 249, 446. Lomonde is in Dumbartonshire, and for Lenay, or, as MS. Douce reads, Losex, we should probably read Lenaux, Lennox, an ancient district now partitioned between the counties of Stirling and Dumbarton. P. 117, st. xxxvii. 1. 7. By that, one Plutone land a palais was pizt. Perhaps Plumpton Park or Land is alluded to, situate in the parish of Lazenby, Leath ward, Cumberland, about six miles from Penrith. P. 118, st. xxxviii. 1. 1. Krudely, the erles sone of Kent. I can find no such person among the knights of Arthur's court. P. 119, st. xl. 1. 2. Griffones of golde. See Note on the previous poem, l. 686. P. 122, st. xlvi. l. 5. Stones of iral they strenkel and strewe. The absence of this and of numerous other terms which occur in the present and following poems from Jamieson's Dictionary, induces me unwillingly to believe, that his work was executed but carelessly. The Doctor, had he pleased, might have found the word repeated in another piece he professes to have consulted. Hir peytrelle was of irale fyne, Hir cropoure was of orpharé, And als clere golde hir brydille it schone ; One aythir syde hange bellys three. Thomas off Ersyldoune, MS. Linc., A. 1. 17, f. 149b. The meaning of the term, I confess, I am ignorant of. This practice of wearing precious stones on the armour became very general during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the allusions to it in this and the succeeding poem are extremely frequent. So in a curious passage in the inedited Morte Arthure: Thane ryse; the riche kynge, and rawghte one his wedys; A reedde actone of Rosse, the richeste of floures, A pesane, and a paunsone, and a pris girdelle, And one he henttes a hode of scharlette fulle riche; A Pauys pillione hatt, that pighte was fulle faire W perry of the oryent, and precyous stones; His gloues gayliche gilte, and grauene by the hemmys, W graynes of rubyes, fulle gracious to schewe. MS. Linc. A. 1, 17, f. 89b. P. 125, st. li. l. 4. Syr Owayne fytz Uryene, and Arrake, fulle rathe, The reading of the Douce MS. Arrak fiz Lake, is the more preferable. See with regard to this hero and Sir Owayne, the notes on the previous poem, ll. 113, 551. The third on the list is called Syre Mewreke in the romance of Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carelyle, 1. 34, and appears to be the same as "Sir Marrok, the good knyghte, that was bitrayed with his wyf, for she made him seuen yere a werwolf," in Malory's Morte d'Arthur, ii. 385, and on a similar story is founded the Lai de Bisclaveret of Marie, ed. Roquefort, tome i. p. 179. For Menegalle (Moylard, MS. Douce,) we should perhaps read Menadeuke, a knight of Arthur's table frequently joined to the former, as in the following passage: Sir Ewayne and Sir Errake, and othire gret lordes; Both of these heroes were slain in the battle against Mordred. Ibid. f. 97o. P. 126, st. lii. l. 4. Gryffons castelle, etc. I must leave the illustration of this and the two following lines to those who may be more able to give it than myself. The readings of the Douce MS. make the localities still more perplexing than in the text. P. 126, st. liii. 1. 2. Alle the landes and the lythes, fra Lowryke to Layre, The Lebynge, the Lowpynge, the Levenstre Ile. To elucidate the names of places probably disfigured by the English scribes of the MSS. requires more local knowledge than I possess, and no assistance has been derived from Macpherson's Geographical Illustrations, 4to, 1796, who ought to have had the passage before him. I heartily recommend the task to some Scotish antiquary. P. 128, end. In Yggillwode foreste, at the Termathelayne. Inglewood forest in Cumberland was of great extent, being sixteen miles long and ten broad, lying between the rivers Shawk and Eden, and reaching from Carlisle to Penrith. It formerly abounded with deer, wild swine, and other beasts of the chace. In the Chronicle of Lanercost, under the year 1280, it is said that king Edward the First hunted there, and killed two hundred harts and hinds. The writer of the poem therefore in making this the scene of Arthur's adventure, renders his romance authority of greater credit, by its being supported by historical probability. Golagros and Gawane. HE present poem is so intimately connected with the preceding one in subject the of has generan ascribed to one and the same writer, and consequently to the same period. Unfortunately no manuscript of the work is now known to exist, either in Scotland or England, and the only copy that can be traced is the one formerly contained in the Asloan MS. in the Auchinleck library, written about 1515, but sub sequently, together with many other pieces of interest, severed from the volume. In the index of contents still remaining it is entered as "Sir Golagrus and Sir Gawane." For its preservation from total oblivion we are indebted to the earliest efforts of the Scotish press, established at Edinburgh, in 1508, by Chepman and Myllar, and it is, perhaps, owing to the popularity of their edition, that we find Gauen and Gollagras mentioned among the tales enumerated in the Complaynte of Scotland, 1549. In Lyndsay's Historie of Squyer Meldrum, composed about the same period, we also read, Rolland with Brandwell, his bricht brand, Faucht never better, hand for hand, Nor Gawin aganis Gologras, Nor Olyver with Pharambras. Vol. ii. p. 296, ed. 1806. From the unique copy of the black-letter 4to edition of 1508, preserved in the Advocates' Library, it was negligently reprinted by Pinkerton in his Scotish Poems, vol. iii. pp. 67–123, who divided it into four parts, and added an argument to each; and it appeared again, together with other pieces of Chepman and Myllar, in a limited fac-simile impression at Edinburgh in 1827. From this volume (which is now become extremely scarce, owing to a fire having destroyed most of the copies,) it is here reproduced in ordinary type, with no other changes than a substitution of the Saxon p for its inadequate representative y, the rejection of obvious errors of the press (which are, however, retained at the foot of the page), and the use of regular punctuation, which is wholly omitted in the original. I have already had occasion to advert to the error of Scott and others, in assigning these poems to the thirteenth century; an opinion chiefly founded "on the comparative absence of French words and phraseology, so fashionable in Scotland after the time of Robert Bruce." [1306-1329.] Now we learn from a curious passage in the inedited Latin chronicle attributed to Walter of Coventry, that as early as the reign of William the Lion the Scotish court had adopted the manners, dress, and even language of France', and this taste continued to prevail more or less to a comparatively recent period, and must have had considerable influence on Scotish literature in general. That such was the case at the close of the fourteenth century we have abundant proof in the various poems presumed to have been com.. 1 "Moderniores enim Scottorum reges magis se Francos fatentur, sicut genere, ita moribus, lingua, cultu, Scotisque ad extremam servitutem redactis, solos Francos in familiaritatem et obsequium adhibent."-Memor. Histor. ad ann. 1212, MS. C.C.C.C. posed by Huchowne, which exhibit not only a familiar acquaintance with French compositions, but abound with words and phrases borrowed from that language. Yet, as it is nearly certain on other grounds that the present poem was composed in the first half of the fifteenth century, the argument of Scott necessarily falls to pieces. But the author of the prefatory remarks to the fac-simile reprint, in 4to, 1827, writes thus, "Had this romance, like so many of the English metrical romances, been a translation, it is unlikely that the author would have encumbered himself with such an intricate mode of versification; and therefore, it may be entitled to claim the praise of an original composition."-p. 8. To this it may be replied, that there is no reason why a Scotish writer, even when translating or imitating a foreign original, should not use whatever form of verse was popular in his own country (as in the case of Rauf Coilzear), and that this peculiar alliterative stanza was the most cultivated is evident from the numerous poems still remaining in it, even so late as the sixteenth century. But without further "fending and proving," the plain fact is this; that the author of Gologras and Gawane has borrowed the entire outline of his romance from the French Roman de Perceval. An abridgement of the original, as it appears in the prose version, printed in 1530, will best serve to shew the close imitation of the Scotish writer, and the fallacy of believing in "floating Celtic traditions." King Arthur sets out with fifteen knights, amongst whom was Sir Gawayne, to undertake the delivery of Girflet, son of Do, from the Chateau Orgueilleux, where he had lain prisoner for three years. They issue from a forest into a plain of great extent, where the king is so fatigued with his journey and fasting, that he requires both meat and repose. They stop under a tree, by the side of a fountain, and Gawayne points out to Kay (Keux), the Seneschal, a mansion in a valley, to which the latter at once proceeds, in the hope of procuring some provisions. He finds only an old woman in the house, and no eatables of any sort; but the old woman tells him, that at no great distance was a castle, built by the Seigneur de Meliolant, where he generally amused himself with his hawks. She points it out to him, and Kay perceives that it is well environed with fish-ponds, woods, meadows, windmills, and orchards, in the midst of which stood a fair tower. Kay spurs his horse, rides up, and passes the drawbridge, but encountering nobody, he enters a spacious hall, and perceives a chimney with a large fire burning in it, at which a dwarf is diligently roasting a fat peacock on a spit made of apple-tree wood. The Seneschal inquires if any other person is within, but the dwarf does not deign to answer him, at which Kay is so angry, that he is near killing the dwarf on the spot. He restrains himself however, and merely says, he will take the peacock for his dinner, and for the king's repast. The dwarf swears he shall not have it, and tells him he will fare ill, if he does not depart quickly. After some more mutual ill language Kay strikes the dwarf such a blow, that he falls against the pillar of the chimney. He cries out lustily, and at the noise a door opens, and a tall fair knight enters the hall, not |