thood.

NOTE VII.

_Laden with presents and with praise_.--p. 57. l. 9.

In the ancient metrical romance of Sir Tristrem, an Irish earl arrives
at the court of Cornwall, in the disguise of a minstrel, and bearing a
harp of curious workmanship. He excites the curiosity of King Mark, by
refusing to play upon it till he shall grant him a boon. The king having
pledged his knighthood to satisfy his request, he sings to the harp a
lay, in which he demands the queen as his promised gift--

"Y prove the for fals man,
Or Y shall have thi quen."

He accordingly carries her off; but her lover Tristrem, who had been
absent at the time,

"chidde with the king,
Gifstow glewemen thy quen,
Hastow no other thing?"

The usual gifts to minstrels when they sung were often profuse; rich
clothes, &c. They were, by rank, classed with knights and heralds, and
permitted to wear silk robes, a dress limited to persons who could spend
a hundred pounds of land rent.--_Sir Tristrem, edited by Walter Scott,
Esq_.

Generosity to minstrels is perpetually recommended in the lays, of
fabliaux and romances.

NOTE VIII.

_The peacock crown with all its eyes_.--p. 57. l.17.

According to Menestria and St. Palaye, the troubadours, or poets of
Provence, were adorned by the ladies with crowns, interwoven with
peacock's feathers; (the eyes of which expressed the universal attention
they attracted)--a plumage in great request, and equivalent to the
laurel of the academic bards. Differing, perhaps, little in intrinsic
value, but superior in beauty and permanence, and more consonant with
the decorations of chivalry. They were not restricted to the
troubadours; for such a diadem, ornamented with gold, was sent by Pope
Urban III. to Henry II. wherewith one of his sons was crowned King of
Ireland; as mentioned by Selden, under the title Lord, and by Lord
Lyttleton, under the year MCLXXXVI. _A Summary Review of Heraldry, by
Thomas Brydson, F.A.S. Edinburgh_.

APPENDIX I

_Extracts from a Dissertation on the Life and Writings of Marie, an
Anglo-Norman Poetess of the thirteenth century. By Monsieur La Rue.
Archaelogia, vol. 13._

Mary must be regarded as the Sappho of her age; she made so considerable
a figure amongst the Anglo Norman _Trouveurs_, that she may very fairly
lay claim to the minutest investigation of whatever concerns her memory.
She informs us that she was born in France, but has neither mentioned