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attached round the neck. In the second the same person appears, drawn on a larger scale, and standing by the stream. In the third he occurs nearly in the same position, with his hands raised, and on the opposite side a lady dressed in white, in the costume of Richard the Second's and Henry the Fourth's time, buttoned tight up to the neck, with long hanging sleeves. Her hair is plaited on each side, and on her head is a crown. In the fourth we see the author kneeling by the water, and beyond the stream is depicted a castle, or palace, on the imbattled wall of which appears the same lady, with her arm extended towards him.

The poem commences on fol. 39, and consists of one hundred twelve-line stanzas, every five of which conclude with the same line, and are connected by the iteration of a leading expression. It commences thus:~~

Perle plesaunte to prynces paye,
To clanly clos in golde so clere,
Oute of oryente I hardely saye
Ne proued I neuer her precios pere;
So rounde, so reken in vche araye,
So smal, so smothe her syde; were,
Quere so euer I iugged gemme; gaye
I sette hyr sengeley in synglure.
Allas! I lefte hyr in on erbere,
purz gresse to grounde hit fro me got;
I dewyne for dowed of luf daungere,
Of þat pryuy perle w'outen spot.

The writer represents himself as going in the month of August to seek his pearl or mistress, and falling asleep in a flowery arbour. He is carried in his vision to a stream near a forest, which flows over pebbles of emeralds and sapphires. On the other side he perceives a chrystal cliff, and "a mayden of menske" sitting beneath.

At the fote ther of ther sete a faunt,
A mayden of menske ful debonere ;
Blysnande whyt wat; hyr bleaunt,
I knew hyr wel, I had sene hyr ere.
As glysnande golde þat men con schere,
So schon pat schene an vnder schore;
On lenghe I loked to hyr pere,

Pe lenger I knew hyr more & more.

The lady rises and approaches him, and in answer to his inquiries blames him for

supposing her lost. He wishes to pass the stream, but is told he may not till after death. The lady thence takes occasion to instruct him in religious doctrines, which are of a mystical tendency. The celestial Jerusalem is then pointed out to him, and he beholds a procession of virgins going to salute the Lamb. The lady leaves him to take her place among them; and on his attempting to jump into the stream to follow her, he awakes. The poem concludes on fol. 55.

2. Then follow two more illuminations; in the first of which Noah and his family are represented in the ark; in the second the prophet Daniel expounding the writing on the wall to the affrighted Belshazzar and his queen. These serve as illustrations to the second poem, which begins at fol. 57, and is written in long alliterative lines.

Clannesse who so kyndly cowpe commende,

& rekken vp alle pe resown; p' ho by rist askez,
Fayre formez my3t he fynde in forering his speche,
& in pe contrare kark & combraunce huge.

The first part of this poem is occupied with the parable of the marriage-feast, as applicable to cleanness of life. In the second is related the fall of the angels, the creation, and principal events of scripture history to the destruction of Sodom, after which follows a long passage on the birth of Christ, and reflexions of a moral character. The third part embraces the history of Daniel; and concludes on fol. 82.

3. Two illuminations precede, as before; one of which represents the sailors throwing the prophet Jonas into the sea, the other depicts the prophet in the attitude of preaching to the people of Nineveh. The poem is in the same metre as the last, and commences thus, fol. 83 :—

Pacience is a poynt, þaz hit displese ofte;

When heuy herttes ben hurt wyth heþyng, other elles,
Suffraunce may aswagen hem, & pe swelme lethe,

For ho quelles vche a qued, & quenches malyce.

It is occupied wholly with the story of Jonas, as applicable to the praise of meekness and patience; and ends on fol. 90.

4. The Romance intitled by me Syr Gawayn and the Grene Knyzt follows, fol. 91. Prefixed is an illumination, of which an outline engraving is given at p. 18 of the present volume, and needs no further description, except that here and elsewhere the only colors used are green, red, blue, and yellow. A facsimile of the first page of the poem itself is also annexed. It ends on fol. 124b, and at the conclusion, in a later hand is written "Hony foit a mal penc," ã

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1

which may, perhaps, allude to the illumination on the opposite page, fol. 125, representing the stolen interview between the wife of the Grene Kny3t and Syr Gawayne. (See p. 45.) Above the lady's head is written:

Mi mind is mukul on on, þt wil me no3t amende,

Sum time was trewe as fton, & fro schame coupe hir defende.

It does not appear very clearly how these lines apply to the painting. Two additional illuminations follow; in the first of which Gawayne is seen approaching the Grene Chapel, whilst his enemy appears above, wielding his huge axe (see p. 82.); and in the second Sir Gawayne, fully equipped in armour, is represented in the presence of king Arthur and queen Guenever, after his return to the court. (See p. 91.) The form of the helmet worn by the knight is here worthy of notice. The third and concluding portion of the Cotton volume extends from fol. 127 to fol. 140, inclusive, and consists of theological excerpts, in Latin, written in a hand of the end of the thirteenth century. At the conclusion is added Epitaphium de Ranulfo, abbate Ramesiensi, who was abbat from the year 1231 to 1253, and who is erroneously called Ralph in the Monasticon, vol. ii. p. 548, new ed.

II. THE THORNTON MS. preserved in the Library of Lincoln Cathedral, and marked A. 1.17. It is a folio volume written on paper, in a small and occasionally negligent hand, consisting at present of 314 folios, but imperfect both at the beginning and end, and otherwise much injured by neglect'. It was apparently compiled by one Robert de Thornton, between the years 1430-1440. The Contents

are,

1. Life of Alexander; in prose. fol. 1.

Beg.

......

downe to be dyke, and thare he felle, and was alle to-frusched. At the conclusion we read, "Here endez pe lyf of gret Alexander, conquerour of

1 This MS. was liberally lent to me in 1832, for a considerable period, by the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln. It was then in thick oaken boards, covered with white leather, and fastened by a clasp, but in so decayed a state, and the leaves in such loose disorder, as to make it absolutely necessary, for the sake of preserving it from destruction, to have it rebound. This I caused to be done, at my own expense, in a "good solid attire of Russia leather," and I prefixed to it a list of the contents, drawn up with considerable labor, to which I affixed my initials. It was therefore with some surprise I found, on looking into Dr. Dibdin's "Bibliographical Tour in the Northern Counties," Svo, 1838, that in vol. i. pp. 110-116, the whole of this list was copied in my own words, (with some very trifling alterations, and some very glaring blunders,) without any proper acknowledgement to myself as the author, but on the contrary, at p. 117, the description is assigned to " Mr. Willson's enlarged notice." Justice to myself requires me to state this. Either Dr. Dibdin or Mr. Willson has not treated me fairly in this matter.

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