With waefo wae I hear zour plaint;

Sair, fair I rew the deid,

That eir this curfed hand of mine

Had gard his body bleid.

Dry up zour tears, my winfom dame,

Ze neir can heal the wound; Ze fee his head upon the speir,

His heart's blude on the ground.

195

200

205

H

I'll

As gin he were my ain; VOL. III.

I'll neir forget the dreiry day

On which the zouth was flain.*

*The foregoing ballad is said to have furnished the plot to the tragedy of DOUGLAS.

It may be proper to mention that other copies read

ver. 110. thus

"Shot frae the golden fun.”

And ver. 116. as follows

"His een like azure fbeene.”

THE END OF THE FIRST BOOK.

BEDED U B

SONGS AND BALLADS,

&c.

SERIES THE THIRD.
BOOK II,

I.

THE LEGEND OF SIR GUY

contains a short fummary of the exploits of this famous champion, as recorded in the old story books; and is commonly intitled, "A pleafant fong of the valiant deeds. "of chivalry atchieved by that noble knight fir Guy of “Warwick, who, for the love of fair Phelis, became a

H 2

"hermits

"hermit, and dyed in a cave of craggy rocke, a mile diftant from Warwick."

66

The hiftory of fir Guy, tho' now very properly refigned to children, was once admired by all readers of wit and tafte: for taste and wit had once their childhood. Tho' of English growth, it was early a favourite with other nations: it appeared in French in 1525: and is alluded to the old Spanish romance Tirante el blanco, which it is believed was written not long after the year 1430. See advertisement to the French tranflation, 2 vols. 12mo,

The original whence all thefe ftories are extracted is a very ancient romance in old English verfe, which is quoted by Chaucer as a celebrated piece even in his time, (viz.

"Men fpeken of romances of price,

66

Of Horne childe and Ippotis,
"Of Bevis, and fir Guy, &c.

R. of Thop.) and was ufually fung to the harp at Chriftmas dinners and brideales, as we learn from Puttenham's art of poetry, 4to. 1589.

This ancient romance is not wholly loft. An imperfec copy in black letter, "Imprynted at London ---- for Wylliam "Copland." in 34 fheets 4to. without date, is still preserved among Mr. Garrick's collection of old plays. As a fpecimen of the poetry of this antique rhymer, take his defcription of the dragon mentioned in ver. 105 of the following ballad, "A meffenger came to the king.

"Syr king, be fayd, lyften me now,
"For bad tydinges I bring you,
"In Northumberlande there is no man,
"But that they be flayne everychone:
"For there dare no man route,

By twenty myle rounde aboute,
"For doubt of a fowle dragon,

"That fleath men and beaftes downe.
"He is blacke as any cole,

66

Rugged as a rough fole;·

སྙ

"His bodye from the navill upwarde
"No man may it pierce it is so harde;

"His neck is great as any fummereTM;
"He renneth as fwifte as any diftrere;
"Pares he hath as a lyon:

"All that he toucheth he fleath dead downe.
"Great winges he hath to flight,

"That is no man that bare him might.

"There may no man fight him

agayne,

"But that he fleath him certayne:
"For a fowler beast then is he,
"rwis of none never heard ye."

The accurate Dugdale is of opinion that the ftory of Guy is not wholly apocryphal, tho' he acknowledges the monks have founded out his praises too hyperbolically. In particular, he gives the duel fought with the Danish champion as a real biftorical truth, and fixes the date of it in the year 929, Etat. Guy, 70. See his Warwickshire.

The following is written upon the fame plan, as ballad . Book I. but which is the original and vibich the copy, cannot be decided. This fong is ancient, as may be inferred from the idiom preferved in the margin, ver. 94. 102; and was once popular, as appears from Fletcher's Knight of the burning pestle, act. 2. c. ult.

Printed from an ancient MS copy in the Editor's old folio volume, collated with two printed ones, one of which is in black letter in the Pepys collection.