re bet;
Thomas to the spit him set;
Fouk Doyley tempered the wood:
Dear abought they that good!
When they had drunken well, a fin,
A minstralle com theirin,
And said, "Gentlemen, wittily,
Will ye have any minstrelsy?"
Richard bade that she should go;
That turned him to mickle woe!
The minstralle _took in mind_,[1]
And said, "Ye are men unkind;
And, if I may, ye shall _for-think_[2]
Ye gave me neither meat ne drink.
For gentlemen should bede
To minstrels that abouten yede,
Of their meat, wine, and ale;
For _los_[3] rises of minstrale."
She was English, and well true,
By speech, and sight, and hide, and hue.

_Ellis's Specimens of early English Metrical Romances_.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Was offended.

[2] Repent.

[3] Reputation, glory.

NOTE IV.

_On which the slightest touch alone would kill_.--p. 24. l. 6.

An unfortunate mistake in printing the word _trill_ instead of _kill_,
has made this appear ridiculous: it alludes to the old proverb--

You should neither tell friend nor foe
Where life-blood go.

Any wound in a place while this pulsation passed through being esteemed
fatal.

NOTE V.

_Abrupt his native accents broke_.--p. 50. l. 7.

The Anglo-Norman dynasty, with their martial nobility, down to the reign
of Edward III. continued to use, almost exclusively, the Romance or
ancient French language; while the Saxon, although spoken chiefly by the
vulgar, was gradually adopting, from the rival tongue, those
improvements and changes, which fitted it for the use of Chaucer and
Gower. In the introduction to the Metrical Romance of _Arthur and
Merlin_, written during the minority of Edward V. it appears that the
English language was then gaining ground. The author says, he has even
seen many gentlemen who could speak no French (though generally used by
persons of that rank), while persons of every quality understood
English.--_Sir Tristrem_.

NOTE VI.

_The broider'd scarf might wave in vain_.--p. 57. l. 1.

To such as were victorious, prizes were awarded by the judges, and
presented by the hands of the ladies; who also honoured the combatants
with the wreath or chaplet, silken drapery, and other appropriate
ornaments; and by presenting them with ribbands, or scarfs, of chosen
colours, called liveries, spoken of in romance, appear to have been the
origin of the ribbands which still distinguish knigh