St. Brandan,' and other saints. His language is strongly AngloSaxon-ninety-six per cent., according to Mr. Marsh-but he speaks. of the prevalence of the French tongue. England and the Normans about 1300. Thuse come, lo! Engelond into Normannes honde; And the Normans ne couthe speke tho bote her owe speche, And speke French as dude atom, and here chyldren dude al so teche; So that heymen of thys lond, that of her blod come, Holdeth alle thulke speche that hii of hem nome; Vor bote a man couthe French me tolth of hym wel lute; Ac lowe men hoideth to Englyss and to her kunde speché yute. Ich wene ther ne be man in world contreyes none That ne holdeth to her kunde speche bot Engelond one. Ac wel me wot vor to conne both wel yt ys; Vor the more that a man con, the more worth he ys. Thus came, lo! England into Normans' hand; And the Normans could speak then but their own speech, And spake French as [they] did at home, and their children did also teach; So that high men of this land, that of their plood come, Hold all the same speech that they of them took; For but [except] a man know French men tell of him well little; But low men hold to English and to their natural speech yet. I wene there not be man in world countries none That not holdeth to their natural speech but England alone. But well I wot for to know both well it is; For the more that a man knows, the more worth he is. Mr. Ellis, in his 'Specimens of the Early English Poets,' praises Robert of Gloucester's description of the first crusade, but the narrative is generally flat and prosaic. The following is a portion partly modernised: The Muster for the First Crusade. A good pope was thilk time at Rome, that hecht (1) Urban, That about in each lond the cross fast me nome. (3) In the year of grace a thousand and sixteen, This great creyserie began, that long was i-seen. Of so much folk nyine (1) the cross, ne to the holy lond go, Me ne see no time before, ne suth mathemo. (5) For self women ne beleved, (6) that they ne wend thither fast, And, among other good knights, ne thought not be the last. And laid William his brother to wed (7) Normandy, And borrowed of him thereon an hundred thousand mark, To wend with to the holy lond, and that was some-deal stark. The Earl Robert of Flanders mid (S) him wend also, And Eustace Earl of Boulogne, and mony good knight thereto. 1 Was called. 3 Was quickly taken up 6 Even women did not remain, 2 Passed the mountains-namely, the Alps. 7 To wed, in pledge, in pawn. 8 With, And kings syth all three of the holy lond. The Earl Stephen de Blois wend eke, that great power had on hond, There wend yet other knights, the best that were alive; As the Earl of St. Giles, the good Raymond, And Niel the king's brother of France, and the Earl Beumond, Of Scotlond and of Greece, of Rome and Aquitain. The good knight Robert Curthose was the bastard son of the Conqueror, and the monk thus describes him: Thick man he was enow, but he nas well long, Quarry (2) he was and well i-made for to be strong. The while he was young, and byhuld, (4) and these words said: He was quaint of counsel and of speech, and of body strong. · ROBERT DE BRUNNE, or more properly ROBERT MANNING, a native of Brunne or Bourn, in Lincolnshire, in the year 1303, translated, under the name of ' Haudlyng Synne,' a French work by William de Waddington entitled 'Le Manuel des Pechiez.' He afterwards (between 1327 and 1338) translated a French chronicle of England, which had been written by Piers or Peter de Langtoft, a contemporary of his own, and an Augustine canon of Birdlington, in Yorkshire. This chronicle comes down to the death of Edward I. in 1307. The earlier part is translated from Wace's Brut.' Manning has been characterized 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 language is also nearer modern English: Lordynges, that be now here, If ye wille listene & lere All the story of Inglande, Als Robert Mannyng wryten it fand, & on Inglysch has it schewed, Not for the lerid bot for the lewed, (5) In felawschip when thai sitt samen. (7) Manning, or De Brunne, speaks of disours (Fr. deseurs, reciters) and seggers, or sayers, in his day, who recited metrical compositions, and 1 Beyond reckoning, 2 Square. 3 Seeing his sturdy deeds, 4 Beheld. took unwarrantable liberties with the text of the poets. He did not write for them; he Made nought for no disours, The following is slightly modernised: Interview of Vortigern with Rowen, Of chamber Rowenen so gent, the beautiful daughter of Hengist. And gave the king, syne him kissed. Of that wassail men told great tale, Upon that maiden his heart was cast; Praise of Good Women.-From the Handling of Sins.' Nothing is to man so dear As woman's love in good manner. 1 Well advanced in convivialities, Of all that a man may neven, (14) 2 Of good appearance. This phrase is still used in Scotland. 3 Greeted, 4 Lord. 5 Had no Knowledge, 9 Graceful, beautiful. 6 Interpreter. 7 Esteems. 8 Many times. 10 Pleased. 11 Pagan. 12 Would not draw off a little, but granted all quickly. 'Tite, soon, is connected with the time.'- Morris, 13 According to pagan law. 14 Name. 15 Delight (Ang. -Sax. gleo, gliu, glee, music. ) 16 Hard, herde, erde, earth. The death of Edward I.-' the greatest of the Plantagenets'-July 7, 1307, called forth an elegy, preserved among the Harleian MSS. The following are two of the stanzas (spelling simplified): All that beeth of heart true A stound (1) hearkeneth to my song, That maketh me sick and sorrow among, Of whom God hath done his will, Methinketh that Death has done us wrong Jerusalem, thou hast i-lore (3) The flower of all chivalry, Now King Edward liveth na more Alas! that he yet should die! He would ha' reared up full high Our banners that baeth (4) brought to ground; Ere we such a king ban y-found! LAWRENCE MINOT-RICHARD ROLLE-WILLIAM LANGLAND. LAWRENCE MINOT, about 1350, composed a series of ten poems on the victories of Edward III.-beginning with the battle of Halidon Hill, (1333), and ending with the siege of Guines Castle (1352). His works were in a great measure unknown until the beginning of the present century, when they were published by Ritson, who praised them for the ease, variety, and harmony of the versification. Professor Craik considered Minot to be the earliest writer of English subsequent to the contest, who deserved the name of a poet. dialect is Northumbrian : God that schope (6) both sc and sand And grante him joy withowten strife! For mani men to him er wroth, His A few more stanzas from the same poem (spelling simplified) will shew the animated style of Minot's narrative: How Edward the King came in Brabant: Edward, oure comely king, With many comely knight; To time () he think to fight. Now God, that is of mightés mast, (9) And Mary Moder, of mercy free, 1 A little while, a moment. 2 Lie. Thus in Braband has he been, For to prove their japes;(11) 3 Lost, 6 Disposed, ordered (Ang. -Sax, scapan, to shape to form). 8 Till the time. 9 Most of might, 10 Company, host. Then the rich flower de lice (1) Fast he fled for feared: Is comen, (2) with all his knightes free, Sir Philip the Valays (3) To battle had he thought: (4) But he ne held it nought. · He brought folk full great won, (5) That full well weaponed were, In that morning fell a mist, Our king unto God made his boon, (7) RICHARD ROLLE, a hermit of the order of St. Augustine, and doctor of divinity, lived a solitary life near the priory of Hampole, four miles from Doncaster. He died in 1349. Rolle wrote metrical paraphrases of certain parts of Scripture, and an original poem of a moral and religious nature, entitled The Pricke of Conscience,' an elaborate work in seven books and nearly ten thousand lines. It was published for the Philological Society, edited by Mr. Morris, in 1863. This poem is also in the Northumbriam dialect, many words of which are still in use in Scotland-as thole, to bear; greeting, weeping; tin?, lose; auld, old; fae, foe; frae, from; &c. What is in Heaven- From the Pricke of Conscience.' Ther is lyf withonte ony deth, And ther is youthe without ony elde; And ther is alle manner welthe to welde; And ther is rest without any travaille; And ther is pees without ouy strife, And ther is bright somer ever to se, And ther is nevere wynter in that countrie: And ther is more worshipe and honour, Then evere hade kynge other emperour. And ther is grote melodie of aungeles songe, And ther is preysing hem amonge. And ther is alle manner frendshipe that may be, And ther is wisdom without foyle, And ther is honeste without vileneye. Al these a man may joyes of hevene call; WILLIAM LANGLAND, author of 'The Vision concerning Piers the Plowman,' was the most vigorous, truly English, and popular of all the poets preceding Chaucer. He was born about 1332, supposed to be a native of Cleobury Mortimer, in Shropshire, and the son of a franklin or freeman. He wore the clerical tonsure, probably as having taken minor orders, and earned a precarious living by singing the 1 Fleur de lis. 4 Resolved, 2 To come. 3 Philip VI. de Valois, king of France. 6 Alarm, outcry (Swedish anskr.). 7 Petition, request (Ang. -Sax, ben, prayer). |