reign. "I do verily believe," says he, "that this Turnament was acted before this proclamation of King Edward. For how durst any to attempt to do that, although in sport, which was so straightly forbidden, both by the civil and ecclesiasticall power? For although they fought not with lances, yet, as our author sayth, 'It was no childrens game.' And what would have become of him, thinke you, which should have slayne another in this manner of geasting? Would he not, trow you, have been hang'd for it in earnest? yea, and have bene buried like a dogge?" It is, however, well known that Turnaments were in use down to the reign of Elizabeth. In the first editions of this work, Bedwell's copy was reprinted here, with some few conjectural emendations; but as Bedwell seemed to have reduced the orthography at least, if not the phraseology, to the standard of his own time, it was with great pleasure that the Editor was informed of an ancient MS. copy preserved in the Museum [Harl. MSS. 5396], which appeared to have been transcribed in the reign of King Hen. VI. about 1456. This obliging information the Editor owed to the friendship of Thomas Tyrwhit, Esq., and he has chiefly followed that more authentic transcript, improved however by some readings from Bedwell's Book. Of all thes kene conquerours to carpe it were kynde; Of fele feyztyng folk ferly we fynde, The Turnament of Totenham have we in mynde; It were harme sych hardynes were holden Whoso berys hym best in the turnament, byhynde, Tyb on a gray mare was set up on loft 75 Wele sayd, quoth Hawkyn. And I wow, quoth Dawkyn, May I mete wyth Tomkyn, Hys flayle I schal hym reve. 95 I make a vow, quoth Hud, Tyb, son schal thou se, 100 Whych of all thys bachelery 'granted' is the gre: I schal scomfet thaym all, for the love of the; In what place so I come they schal have dout of me, Myn armes ar so clere: I bere a reddyl, and a rake, 105 On a sek ful of fedyrs, for scho schuld syt I vow to God, quoth Hawkyn, yf 'I' have the soft, Ver. 57, gayed, P. C. V. 66 is wanting in MS., and supplied from, P. C. V. 72, He borrowed him, P. C. V. 76, The MS. had once sedys, i. e. seeds, which appears to have been altered to fedyrs, or feathers. Bedwell's copy has Senvy, i. e. Mustard-seed. V. 77, And led hur to cap, MS. V. 83, Bedwell's P. C. has "Ruel-Bones." V. 84, safer stones, MS. V. 85. wrotyn, i. e. wrought, P. C. reads written. V. 86, No catel [perhaps chatel] they had spared, MS. gowt, For when thay fyzt fastest and most ar in drede, I schall take Tyb by the hand, and hur away lede: V. 89, Then... faucon, MS. V. 101, grant, MS. V. 109, yf he have, MS. V. 110, the MS. literally has thr. sand here. 'Thus' thay tugged, and rugged, tyl yt was | To that ylk fest com many for the nones; Some come hyphalte, and some trippand 'thither' on the stonys: Sum a staf in hys hand, and sum two at onys; Of sum where the hedes broken, of some the With sorrow come thay thedyr. 220 225 V. For the Victory at Agincourt. To Harflue toune with ryal aray; THAT Our plain and martial ancestors could | He sette a sege, the sothe for to say, wield their swords much better than their pens, will appear from the following homely rhymes, which were drawn up by some poet laureat of those days to celebrate the immortal victory gained at Agincourt, Oct. 25, 1415. This song or hymn is given merely as a curiosity, and is printed from a MS. copy in the Pepys collection, vol. I. folio. Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria ! Deo gratias Anglia redde Deo gratias: &c. 10 Then went owre kynge, with alle his oste, Deo gratias, &c. Ver. 218, trippand on, MS. 15 * In the former impressions, this concluding stanza was only given from Bedwell's printed edition; but it is here copied from the old MS. wherein it has been since found 5 separated from the rest of the poem, by several pages of a money-account, and other heterogeneous matter. Ver. 199, Thys, MS. V. 204, hom for to fetch, MS. V. 208, about everych side, MS. V. 209, the gre, is wanting in MS. V. 210, mothe, MS. V. 212, And they ifere assent, MS. V. 214, had wed, MS. V. 215, The cheesemen, P. C. + Six-men's song, i. e. a song for six voices. So Shakspeare uses Three-man song-men, in his Winter's Tale, A. III. sc. 3, to denote men that could sing catches composed for three voices. Of this sort are Weelkes's Madrigals mentioned below, Book II. Song 9. So again Shakspeare has Threemen Beetle ; i. e. a Beetle or Rammer worked by three men. 2 Hen. IV. A. I. sc. 3. was first revived in "The Muses Mercury for June, 1707," 4to., being prefaced with a little "Essay on the old English Poets and Poetry:" in which this poem is concluded to be "near 300 years old," upon reasons which, though they appear inconclusive to us now, were sufficient to determine Prior; who there first met with it. However, this opinion had the approbation of the learned Wanley, an excellent judge of ancient books. For that whatever related to the reprinting of this old piece was referred to Wanley, appears from two letters of Prior's preserved in the British Museum. [Harl. MSS. No. 3777.] The Editor of the Prolusions thinks it cannot be older than the year 1500, because, in Sir Thomas More's Tale of "The Serjeant," &c., which was written about that time, there appears THE sentimental beauties of this ancient ballad have always recommended it to readers of taste, notwithstanding the rust of antiquity which obscures the style and expression. Indeed, if it had no other merit than the having afforded the ground-work to Prior's "Henry and Emma," this ought to preserve it from oblivion. That we are able to give it in so correct a manner, is owing to the great care and exactness of the accurate Editor of the "Prolusions," 8vo., 1760; who has formed the text from two copies found in two different editions of Arnolde's Chronicle, a book supposed to be first printed about 1521. From the copy in the Prolusions the following is printed, with a few additional improvements gathered from another edition of Arnolde's book preserved in the Public Library at Cambridge. All the various read-a sameness of rhythmus and orthography, and ings of this copy will be found here, either received into the text, or noted in the margin. The references to the Prolusions will show where they occur. In our ancient folio MS. described in the preface, is a very corrupt and defective copy of this ballad, which yet afforded a great improvement in one passage. See v. 310. It has been a much easier task to settle the text of this poem, than to ascertain its date. The ballad of the "Nutbrowne Mayd" *This (which my friend Mr. Farmer supposes to be the first edition) is in folio: the folios are numbered at the bottom of the leaf; the Song begins at folio 75. The poem has since been collated with a very fine copy that was in the collection of the late James West, Esq.; the readings extracted thence are denoted thus, 'Mr. W.' a very near affinity of words and phrases, |