ry accessible in the
excellent and cheap (second) edition by Joseph Hall (Oxford University
Press). There is also a German edition by Dr Wilhelm Scholle. The poet
seems to have been connected with Yorkshire, and the dialect is not
purely Northern, as it shows a slight admixture of Midland forms.

XVI. _The Bruce_; by John Barbour; partly written in 1375. It has
been frequently printed, viz. in 1616, 1620, 1670, 1672, 1715, 1737,
and 1758; and was edited by Pinkerton in 1790, by Jamieson in 1820,
and by Cosmo Innes in 1866; also by myself (for the Early English Text
Society) in 1870-89; and again (for the Scottish Text Society) in
1893-5. Unfortunately, the two extant MSS. were both written out about
a century after the date of composition. Nevertheless, we have the
text of more than 260 lines as it existed in 1440, as this portion
was quoted by Andro of Wyntown, in his _Cronykil of Scotland_,
written at that date. I quote some lines from this portion, taken
from _The Bruce_, Book i, 37-56, 91-110; with a few explanations in
the footnotes.

Qwhen Alysandyre oure kyng wes dede,
That Scotland had to stere{1} and lede,
The land sex yhere and mayr perfay{2}
Wes desolate efftyr his day.
The barnage{3} off Scotland, at the last,
Assemblyd thame, and fandyt{4} fast
To chess{5} a kyng, thare land to stere,
That off awncestry cummyn were
Off kyngis that aucht{6} that reawt{'e}{7},
And mast{8} had rycht thare kyng to be.

But inwy{9}, that is sa fellowne{10},
Amang thame mad dissensiown:
For sum wald have the Ballyolle kyng,
For he wes cumyn off that ofspryng
That off the eldest systere was;
And other sum nyt{11} all that cas,
And sayd, that he thare kyng suld be,
That wes in als nere{12} degre,
And cummyn wes off the nerrast male
In thai{13} brawnchys collateralle...

{Footnotes:
1: _govern_
2: _more, by my faith_
3: _nobility_
4: _endeavoured_
5: _choose_
6: _possessed_
7: _royalty_
8: _most_
9: _envy_
10: _wicked_
11: _others denied_
12: _as near_
13: _those_ }

A! blynd folk, fulle off all foly,
Had yhe wmbethowcht{14} yowe inkkyrly{15}
Quhat peryle to yowe mycht appere,
Yhe had noucht wroucht on this man{`e}r.
Had yhe tane kepe{16}, how that that kyng
Off Walys, forowtyn sudiowrnyng{17},
Trawaylyd{18} to wyn the senyhowry{19},
And throw his mycht till occupy
Landys, that ware till hym marc