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the purpose of reuniting the hand to the stump; and not finding it, fiercely purfued Triftrem to a bridge, on which they renewed the encounter. Triftrem was now hardly preffed, his fhield being broken by a blow of the club; but, evading the next ftroke, he pierced his enemy to the heart, and Urgan, in the agonies of death, fprang from the bridge into the river. Triamour, thus delivered from the giant, beftowed on his protector the fovereignty of Wales, together with a little dog called Peticrewe, who was fpotted with red, blue and green; and 'Friftrem, immediately reftoring the crown to Blanche-flour the king's daughter, fent the little particoloured dog as a prefent to the fair Yfonde.

The increase of fame attending this fignal victory obtained for Friftrem a reconciliation with his uncle. He was appointed high fteward; and the drink of might' ftill continuing to operate, recommenced his amours with Yfonde, and was again difcovered by Mark, who banished him from court together with his paramour. The lovers, retiring into the foreft, found a cavern conftructed in old times by the giants; contentedly fixed their abode in it; and fubfifting on the venifon taken by their dogs Hodain and Peticrewe, enjoyed almost a year of repofe and happiness. One day, the attendants of Mark, who was hunting in the foreft, difcovered them afleep in their cavern, and made their report to the king; but it accidentally happened that Triftrem had placed the drawn fword with which he had probably been cutting up a deer, between himself and his miftrefs; and Mark, who on vifiting the cavern, found his wife and nephew ftill afleep, was fully convinced, by this circumftance, of their perfect innocence. He ftopped, with his glove, a crevice in the rock through which a ray of the fun darted on the face of the beautiful Yfonde, and retired; and the lovers who, on waking, recognized with surprise the royal glove, were ftill more furprised by the arrival of a numerous retinue, who conducted them in triumph to court. But the officious dwarf was indefatigable. Through his means the lovers were detected by the king at a ftolen interview, and Triftrem was again obliged to fly. After traverfing Spain, where he flew three giants, and vifiting the fons of Rohand in Ermonie, he paffed into Brittany, entered into the fervice of Duke Florentin, and having conquered all his enemies, firmly established his authority. Florentin had an only daughter named Yfonde with the White Hand, who hearing Triftrem fing a lay in praise of his mistress, of which the supposed herself the object, mentioned the circumstance to her father, in confequence of which, the duke readily offered to Triftrem the hand of his daughter. The knight, having reflected that a life of inceft and adultery was certainly

finful,

finful, and that a life of exile was not pleasant, accepted the offer, and the marriage ceremony was performed. But on paffing to the bridal chamber, his ring, the prefent of his mistress, dropt from his finger. On this accident his former paffion returned with redoubled violence; his heart reproached him with his infidelity, which he determined not to carry any farther; and in fpite of his wife's uncommon beauty, which was only furpaffed by that of his mistress, he adhered through life to this determi

nation.

Triftrem had received, as a nuptial prefent, a tract of country immediately adjoining to the territories of a ferocious giant named Beliagog; but with the ftrict injunction from Florentin that he fhould abftain from hunting on the lands of that monfter, who was brother to Morgan, Urgan, and Moraunt. Triftrem, of courfe, could not refift the temptation of trying his ftrength against the laft of this tall family; he hunted over his lands, infulted him, fought him, and ultimately cut off his leg after which, Beliagog, who did not poffefs the fecret of Urgan's falve, fued for mercy, and became his vaffal. Triftrem ordered him to build a hall in honour of Yfonde and Brengwain; and Beliagog, who feems to have poffeffed much more ingenuity than usually belongs to a giant, faithfully completed it within his caftle, to which he taught Triftrem a fecure and fecret approach, and adorned it with fculptures exactly reprefenting the whole hiftory of his former life, with exact likeneffes of Yfonde, Brengwain, Mark, Meriadok, Hodain, and Peticrewe.

The wonderful excellence of thefe fculptures produced an extraordinary accident. Ganhardin, brother to Triftrem's wife, having discovered, from an expreffion artlessly dropt from his fifter, the fingular continence of her husband, and having expreffed his refentment to the Cornish hero, received in answer fuch a defcription of the Irifh Yfonde's beauty, that he felt a strong curiofity to fee her, and became, from this time, the confident of his brother. Being conducted by Triftrem to the Marvellous Castle, which he could fcarcely approach without trembling, and having viewed the portraits of Yfonde and Brengwain, he was fo aftonished with their beauty that he ftaggered, fell backwards in a sort of swoon, and, on his recovery, found himself with a great contufion on his head, and a violent paffion for the charms of Brengwain, whom he determined to fee in perfon without loss of time. Triftrem was not lefs impatient to revifit his mistress; and the two friends departed together. In the mean time Mark had .appointed a new conftable, named Canados, who in his turn became in love with Yfonde, tortured her by his importtinate addresses, and, in hopes of advancing his fuit, tauntingly informed

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her

1

her of Triftrem's marriage in Brittany. Yfonde, much disturbed, retired with Brengwain and her attendants into the foreft to indulge her grief, at the moment when Triftrem and his compa nion arrived there: The meeting between the lovers foon produced a fatisfactory explanation; their ufual intercourfe was renewed; and Ganhardin was betrothed to the faithful Brengwain. But Canados being informed of what had paffed, collected the whole force of the country, and marched to furprise his rival, who, though apprifed of his danger by a letter from his friend Gouvernail, had no time to prepare for refiftance; but, after concealing himself in the foreft, affumed the difguife of a beggar with cup and clapper,' and remained near the court, while Ganhardin efcaped to Brittany. Fortunately Brengwain found means to excite the jealoufy of Mark against Canados, and that troublesome favourite was difgraced and banished. She then, at the request of Triftrem, procured a tournament to be proclaimed, at which he and Ganhardin, after defperately wounding Meriadok and Canados, took a fignal vengeance on all the courtly tale-bearers; and, without difcovering their names, returned to Brittany. Here, a young knight, alfo named Triftrem, accofting the hero of Cornwall, requetted his affiftance for the recovery of his mistress, whom a ravither, aided by fifteen knights, was then bearing off to a neighbouring caftle. Triftrem readily aflented, attacked the fpoilers, and, though his young companion was flain in the conflict, fuccceded in defeating the fifteen knights. But he was hurt by an arrow in his old wound-and thus ends the ancient MS. The ftory is concluded by the editor, in the fame antiquated language and metre, from the materials fupplied by an old French metrical fragment.

Triftrem's wound growing daily worfe, is at length declared incurable, except by the medical fill of Yfonde, who had probably inherited from her mother the receipts which cured his firft gangrene in Ireland. Triftrem fends Ganhardin with his ring to implore her affiftance, directing him to affume the difguife of a merchant, to haften her embarkation, and, in his return, to notify his fuccefs by hoifting a white fail, or his failure by hoifling a black one. Ganhardin executes his commiffion with great addrefs, and brings over the Queen of Cornwall: But Yonde of Brittany, who had overheard the directions, fired with indignation and jealoufy at the approach of her rival, makes a falfe report to her husband; and Triftrem, hearing that the black fail is hoifted, yields to defpair and dies. The Queen of Cornwall receiving the fad news on her arrival, rufhes to the caftle where his corpfe was laid out, throws herfelf on the bier, and expires with grief.

Such

Such is the outline of the story now edited by Mr Scott from the Auchinleck MS.; and the reader will probably admit, that it contains more variety of incident, and more natural delineations of character, than could be reafonably expected from a compofition of the early period to which it is afcribed. That Thomas of Erceldoune compofed a romance on this fubject, and that it was preferred by his contemporaries to every minstrel tale of the time, is a well known historical fact. The question is, whether this be that identical work; and the difcuffion of this fubject, which, as Mr Scott has managed it, is connected with much curious and interefting matter, fhall how be fhortly examined.

His Introduction contains, 1. Some account of Thomas of Ercildoune; 2. A hiftory of the romance of Sir Triftrem; and, Obfervations on the copy now published.

On the firft of these points, the editor has collected all the information which could be derived from hiftorians or poets, from tradition, or from ancient charters; yet the reader will perhaps be furprised to find, that this information amounts to no more, than that Thomas, to whom an obfcure tradition has given the furname of Learmont, and who acquired, from his poetical talent, the appellation of the Rhymer, poffeffed certain lands at Ercildoune, now called Earlfton, a village fituated on the Leader, about two miles above its junction with the Tweed, which lands were granted, after his death, to the Trinity-houfe at Sottra, by Thomas, who calls himself fon and heir of Thomas the Rhymer of Ercildoune.' In fact, many of the documents refpecting this fingular man relate only to his prophetic character, which is no longer interesting; but Mr Scott has been able to ascertain, within very narrow limits, one very important point, viz. the time at which the Rhymer may be fuppofed to have produced his romance of Sir Triftrem. The following are the data for this approximation, The deed of conveyance figned by his fon and heir, which is printed in the Appendix, is dated in 1299: the father, therefore, was then dead. But, if we may truft to the authority of Henry the Minstrel, he muft have furvived 1296; in which cafe we cannot err very much in placing his death in 1297. Concerning his birth we have no direct teftimony; but its date may be thus inferred. The Rhymer was witnefs to a deed granted by Petrus de Haga de Bemerfyde: they therefore were contemporaries. But Petrus de Haga was hinfelf a witnefs to another charter, by which Richard de Moreville, Conftable of Scotland, granted cer tain ferfs to Henry St Clair. Moreville was Constable from 1162 to 1189 this laft year, therefore, is the very latest which can be affigned as a date to the grant. But no man, probably, could he chofen as a competent witnefs before twenty years of age, fe Ee3 that

that the birth of Petrus de Haga cannot be brought lower than 1169; and if we affign feventy years to his life, which is certainly a large allowance, we fhall place his death in 1239. Therefore Thomas, who, having been a witness to a charter granted by him, was confequently twenty years old at that time, muft have been born as early as 1219; and is very likely to have compofed his poem about the year 1250. This deduction leads us to think that Mr Scott, from the fear of exaggerating the antiquity of his author, has fallen into the oppofite extreme in placing his birth between 1226 and 1229; a date which we alfo think at variance with that which he has affigned to the compofition of the poem.

We will now, for the fake of connexion, examine the third divifion of Mr Scott's effay, referving the fecond, which is by far the most important of the whole, for a feparate confideration. The poem now printed begins by the following lines:

I was at Erceldoune,

With Thomas fpak I thare;

Ther herd Yrede in roune

Who Triftrem gat and bare,' &c.

It therefore does not profefs to have been written by Thomas, nor dictated by him, but to have been taken from the recitation of a minftrel who had heard and retained in his memory the words of the Rhymer; and it remains to be feen, how far thefe pretenfions are founded on external or internal evidence. The large volume from which Mr Scott's tranfcript was taken, called the Auchinleck MS., was compiled, as the editor fuppofes, in fome Anglo-Norman convent: it contains, in its prefent ftate, 333 leaves and 42 different pieces of poetry (of which a defcription is given in the Appendix), many of great length, and all originally ornamented with illuminations, which have been torn out. From fome paffages contained in it, we learn that the compilation cannot have been completed till 1330, that is to fay, till thirty-three years after the death of Thomas; but even this interval is not fufficiently long to invalidate the preceding affertion of the reciter; and befides, it is evident that fuch volumes as this were not the work of a fingle year. The paintings alone were fometimes the occupation of almost a whole life. Neither were minstrels the conftant inhabitants of convents. Their recitations were apparently taken down during their occafional vifits, and afterwards fairly tranfcribed and illuminated in the conventual volume, or perhaps, being tirft written on feparate fkins of parchment, were afterwards bound up together. There is therefore no reafon for doubting, that the poem before us may have been written from the dictation of a minstrel who had actually feen and converfed with the Rhymer. ut allowing this, it is still poffible that the exifting poem may

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