The Lay of Havelok the Dane Part 23

He sp.r.o.ng for an stede, swa sparc ded of fure,

_La?amon_ v. ii. p. 565.

He sprange als any sparke one glede.

_Sir Isumbras_, st. 39 (Camd. Soc. 1844)

He sp.r.o.nge as sparkle doth of glede,

_K. of Tars_, l. 194.

And lepte out of the arsoun, As sperk thogh out of glede.

_Ly Beaus Desconus_, l. 623.

Cf. Chaucer, Cant. Tales, l. 13833, and Tyrwhitt's note.

110. _Of his bodi_, &c. Compare the French text, l. 208.

Mes entre eus n'eurent enfant Mes qe vne fille bele; Argentille out non la pucele.

Rois Ekenbright fut enfermez, Et de grant mal forment greuez; Bien siet n'en poet garrir.

[Here _Argentille_ is _Goldborough_, and _Ekenbright_ answers to _Athelwold_. This quotation, and others below, shewing the pa.s.sages of the French text which most nearly resemble the English poem, are from a MS. in the Herald's College, marked E. D. N. No. 14. See the Preface.]

[118. _Wat shal me to rede_, lit. what shall be for a counsel to me. See _Rede_ in the Glossary to _William of Palerne_.

130. _And don hem of ar hire were queme_, lit. and do them off where it should be agreeable to her; i.e. and keep men at a distance as she pleased. Such seems to me the meaning of this. .h.i.therto unexplained line.

132. For _me_ we ought probably to read _hit_.]

136. _He sende_ writes _sone onon._ We must here, and in l. 2275, simply understand _letters_, without any reference to the official summonses of parliament, which subsequently were so termed, ?at' e?????. The word _briefs_ is used in the same sense by the old French writers, and in La?amon we meet with some lines nearly corresponding with the present; see ll. 6669-6678.

[175. _a_. Frequently written for _at_. See _William of Palerne_.]

189-203. _Ther-on he garte_, &c. Compare the French Romance, ll.

215-228.

Sa fille li ad comandee, Et sa terre tote liueree.

Primerement li fet iurer, Veiant sa gent & affier, Qe leaument la nurrireit, Et sa terre lui gardereit, Tant q'ele fust de tiel age Qe suffrir porroit mariage.

Quant la pucele seit granz, Par le consail de ses tenanz, Au plus fort home la dorroit Qe el reaume troueroit; Qu'il li baillast ses citez, Ses chasteus & ses fermetez.

263.

_Justises dede he maken newe, Al Engelond to faren thorw._

The earliest instance produced by Dugdale of the Justices Itinerant, is in 23 Hen. II. 1176, when by the advice of the Council held at Northampton, the realm was divided into six parts, and into each were sent three Justices. _Orig. Judic._ p. 51. This is stated on the authority of Hoveden. Dugdale admits however the custom to have been older, and in Gervasius Dorobernensis, we find, in 1170, certain persons, called _inquisitores_, appointed to perambulate England.

Gervase of Tilbury, or whoever was the author of the _Dialogus de Scaccario_, calls them _deambulantes, vel perl.u.s.trantes judices_. See Spelman, _in voc_. The office continued to the time of Edward III., when it was superseded by that of the Justices of a.s.size.

280. _The kinges douther_, &c. Comp. the Fr. l. 283.

Argentille, La meschine qu'ert sa fille, Que ia estoit creue & grant, Et bien poeit auoir enfant.

[338. _Sawe_, put for "Say we." Cf. _biddi_ for "bidde i," l. 484; _hauedet_ for "hauede it," 714; &c.

365. _His quiste_, &c. "His bequest made, and (things) distributed for him."]

433.

_Crist warie him with his mouth!

Waried wrthe he of north and suth!_

So, in the Romance of Merlin, Bishop Brice curses the enemies of Arthur,

Ac, for he is king, and king's son, Y curse alle, and y dom His enemies with Christes mouth, By East, by West, by North, and South!

Ellis, _Metr. Rom._ V. I. p. 260.

[506. For _nouth_ we must read _mouth_ or _wolde_. The sense is-- "He thought that he would he were dead, except that he might not (_or_ would not) slay him with his (own) hand."

550. The sense is-- "When he had done that deed (i.e. gagged the child), _then_ the deceiver had commanded him," &c.

560. _with_ may mean _knowest_, but this hardly gives sense. Perhaps we should read _wilt_, i.e. "As thou wilt have (preserve) my life."

567. Mr Morris suggests that the riming words are _adoun_ and _croune_.

We might then read--

"And caste e knaue so harde adoun, at he crakede er hise croune."]

591. _Of hise mouth_, &c. Comp. the Fr. l. 71. sq.

Totes les houres q'il dormoit, Vne flambe de lui issoit.

Par la bouche li venoit fors, Si grant chalur auoit el cors.

La flambe rendoit tiel odour, Onc ne sent.i.t nul home meillour.

676. _And with thi chartre make (me) fre._ Instances of the manumission of villains or slaves by charter may be found in Hickes, _Diss.

Epistol._ p. 12, Lye's Dict. _ad calc._, and Madox's _Formulare Anglicanum_, p. 750. The practice was common in the Saxon times, and existed so late as the reign of Henry VIII.

[694. _Wite he him onliue_, if he knows him (to be) alive.

701. It is evident that the words _and gate_ = and goats, must be supplied. For the spelling _gate_, cf. _p.r.i.c.ke of Conscience_, ed.

Morris, l. 6134, where _gayte_ is used collectively as a plural.]

706. _Hise s.h.i.+p_, &c. Comp. the Fr. l. 89.

Grim fet niefs apparailler, Et de viande bien charger.

715-720. _Hauelok the yunge_, &c. Comp. the Fr. ll. 97-105.