1.

THE BOY AND THE MANTLE,

Is printed verbatim from the old MS defcribed in the Preface. The Editor believes it more ancient, than it will appear to be at firft fight; the tranfcriber of that manufcript having reduced the orthography and ftyle in many inftances to the ftandard of his own times.

The incidents of the MANTLE and the KNIFE have not, that I can recollect, been borrowed from any other writer. The former of thefe evidently fuggefiled to Spenfer his conceit of FLORIMEL'S GIRDLE. B. iv. C. 5. St. 3.

That girdle gave the virtue of chafte love

And wivehood true to all that did it beare;
But whofoever contrarie doth prove,

Might not the fame about her middle weare,
But it would loofe or else afunder teare.

So it happened to the falfe Florimel, ft. 16, when
-Being brought, about her middle fmall
They thought to gird, as beft it her became,
But by no means they could it thereto frame,
For ever as they faftned it, it loos'd
And fell away, as feeling fecret blame, &c.
That all men wondred at the uncouth fight

And each one thought as to their fancies came.
But he herfelf did think it done for fpight,
And touched was with fecret wrath and shame
Therewith, as thing deviz'd her to defame:
Then many other ladies likewise tride
About their tender loynes to knit the fame,
But it would not on none of them abide,

But when they thought it faft, eftfoanes it was untide.
Thereat all knights gan laugh and ladies lowre,
Till that at last the gentle Amoret

VOL. III.

Like

Likewife affayed to prove that girdle's powre.
And having it about her middle fet
Did find it fit withouten breach or let,
Whereat the reft gan greatly to envie.
But Florimel exceedingly did fret

And fnatching from her hand, &c.

As for the trial of the HORNE, it is not peculiar to our Poet: It occurs in the old romance, intitled "Morte Arthur," which was tranflated out of French in the time of K. Eda. IV. and firft printed anno 1484. From that romance Ariofto is thought to have borrowed his tale of the Enchanted Cup, C. 42. &c. See Mr. Warton's Obfervations on the Faerie Queen, &c.

66

The ftory of the HORN in Morte Arthur varies a good deal from this of our Poet, as the reader will judge from the following extract.- By the way they met with a knight that was fent from Morgan le Faye to king Ara "thur, and this knight had a fair horne all garnished with gold, and the horne had fuch a virtue, that there might "no ladye or gentlewoman drinke of that horne, but if she were true to her husband: and if fhee were false she Should Spill all the drinke, and if hee were true unto her "lorde, fhee might drink peaceably and because of queene "Guenever and in defpite of Sir Launcelot du Lake, this "horne was fent unto king Arthur.”- This horn is in

tercepted and brought unto another king named Marke, who is not a whit more fortunate than the British hero, for be makes 66 his queene drinke thereof and an hundred ladies

moe, and there were but foure ladies of all thofe that "drank cleane" of which number the faid queen, proves not to be one [Book II. chap. 22. Ed. 1632.]

In other refpects the two ftories are so different, that we have just reason to fuppofe this Ballad was written before that romance was tranflated into English.

As for queen GUENEVER, he is here reprefented no otherwife, than in the old Hiftories and Romances. Holinfhed obferves, that" She was evil reported of, as noted of incontinence and breach of faith to hir husband." Vol. 1. p. 93.

SUCH READERS, AS HAVE NO RELISH FOR PURE ANTIQUITY, WILL FIND A MORE MODERN COPY OF THIS BALLAD AT THE END OF THE VOLUME.

IN

Fer. 7. Branches, MS. Ver. 11. heate, MS. Ver. 21. or potewer.

Have thou here, king Arthur;

Have thou heere of mee:

Give itt to thy comely queene

Shapen as itt is alreadye.

It shall never become that wiffe,

That hath once done amiffe.

Then every knight in the king's court

Began to care for his."

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