And there is room lefte yet in a kantle, For thine to ftande, to make the twelfth out: When this mortal meffage from his mouthe paft, Great was the noyse bothe in hall and in bower: The king fum'd; the queene fcreecht; ladies were aghaft; Princes puffd; barons bluftred; lords began lower; Knights formed; fquires ftartled, like fteeds in a ftower; Pages and yeomen yell'd out in the hall, Then in came fir Kay, the 'king's' seneschal. Silence, my foveraignes, quoth this courteous knight, Then the dwarfe's dinner full deerely was dight; And, when he had eaten and drunken his fill, But say to fir Ryence, thou dwarf, quoth the king, With fwords, and not razors, quickly fhall trye, Whether he, or king Arthur will prove the best barbor; And therewith he shook his good sword Excalàbor. +++ Strada, in his Prolufions, has ridiculed the story of the Giant's Mantle, made of the Beards of Kings. 7 IV. KING 66 IV. KING ARTHUR'S A FRAGMENT. DEATH. The fubject of this ballad is evidently taken from the old romance Morte Arthur, but with fome variations, especially in the concluding ftanzas; in which the author feems rather to follow the traditions of the old Welsh Bards, who "believed that King Arthur was not dead, but conveied awaie by the Fairies into fome pleasant place, where he fhould remaine for a time, and then returne againe and reign in as great authority as ever." Holingfed. B. 5. c. 14. or as it is expreffed in an old Chronicle printed at Antwerp 1493, by Ger. de Leew, "The Bretons fuppofen, "that he [K. Arthur] -fall come yet and "Bretaigne, for certes this is the prophicye of Merlyn: He "fayd that his deth fhall be doubteous; and fayd foth, for men thereof yet have doubte, and fullen for ever more, -for men wyt not whether that he lyveth or is dede." See more ancient teftimonies in Selden's Notes on Polyolbion, Song III. 66 conquere all This fragment being very incorrect and imperfect in the original MS. hath received fome conjectural emendations, and even a fupplement of 3 or 4 ftanzas compofed from the ro mance of MORTE ARTHUR. * N Trinitye Mondaye in the morne, ΟΝ This fore battayle was doom'd to bee; Ere Ere the first crowinge of the cocke, Nowe, as you are mine unkle deare, And as you prize your life, this daye O meet not with your foe in fighte; Putt off the battayle, if yee maye. For fir Launcelot is nowe in Fraunce, The kinge then call'd his nobles all, And tolde them howe fir Gawaine came, His nobles all this counfayle gave, That earlye in the morning, hee Shold fend awaye an herauld at armes, Then twelve good knightes king Arthure chofe, 25 The best of all that with him were: To parley with the foe in field, And make with him agreement faire. Sir Gawaine had been killed at Arthur`s landing on bis return from abroad. See the next Ballad, ver. 73• The The king he charged all his hofte, In readineffe there for to bee: But noe man holde noe weapon iturre, Unleffe a fword drawne they shold fee. And Mordred on the other parte, 30 Twelve of his knights did likewise bringe; 35 The beste of all his companye, To hold the parley with the kinge. Sir Mordred alfoe charged his hofte, But noe man fholde noe weapon fturre, 40 For he durfte not his unkle trußte, Nor he his nephewe, fothe to tell: Alacke! it was a woefulle cafe, As ere in Christentye befelle. But when they were together mette, And both to faire accordance broughte; And a month's league betweene them fette, An addere crept forth of a bushe, 45 Stunge one o' th' king's knightes on the knee: 50 Alacke! it was a woefulle chance, As ever was in Chriftentie. When When the knighte found him wounded fore, For when the two hoftes fawe the sworde, Till of foe manye noble knigntes, 55 On one fide there were left but three. бо For all were flain that durst abide, Ay mee! it was a bloodye fielde, As ere was foughte on fummer's daye. Upon king Arthur's own partyè, And when the king beheld his knightes, 65 All dead and fcattered on the molde; The teares faft trickled downe his face; That manlye face in fight fo bolde. 70 Nowe refte yee all, brave knights, he said, *75 Moft |