"And when he had done his deed,
"Toward his lodge again he yeid;1
"And, with light of the little fire,
"That in the lodge was burning shyr,2
"Intill his lodge a fox he saw,

"That fast on a salmon gan gnaw.
"Then, till the door he went in hy,
"And drew his sword deliverly:

"And said, "Reiffar! 3 you mon here out!
"The fox, that was in full great doubt,
"Looked about, some hole to see:
"But none issue perceive couth he,
"But where the man stood sturdily.
"A lauchtane 4 mantle then him by,
"Lying upon the bed he saw;

"And with his teeth he gan

it draw

"Outo'er the fire: and when the man

"Saw his mantle lye burning then,

"To rid it ran he hastily.

"The fox got out then in great hy:

"And held his way his warrand 5 till
"The man let him beguiled ill,

Went; hied.

. Clear. Anglo Sax. scyre.

• Be-reaver, reaver, robber.

Mr. Pinkerton is unable to explain this word. Query, if it be Louthian, the place where it was manufactured, or where such mantles were usually worn?

Place of security. Garant. Fr. Warrant, warren. Eng.

"That he his good salmon had tint ;
"And also had his mantle brint: 2
"And the fox scaithless3 got away.
"This ensample, well I may say,
"By yon host; and us that are here.
"We are the fox; and they the fishér,
"That stecks 4 forouch us the way.

They ween we may na get away,
"But right where they lie. But, pardie,

"All as they think it shall not be,

6

"For I have gert see us a gate
"(Suppose that it be some deal wet)
"A page of ours we shall not tine.?
"Our foes, for this small truantine,8
"Means well we shall pride us swa 9
"That we plainly on hand shall ta 1o

• Lost.

• Burnt: in Old English, brent. The place of the vowel in such words was, during a long period, undetermined.

3 Without harm,

s Before.

? Lose.

4 Bars, shuts,

6 Way.

8 Wandering. Fr. It seems to mean, "Our foes hope "that, to avoid this little circuit, we shall be so proud as to

give them battle."

"To give them openly. bataille:

"But at this time their thought shall fail.
"For we, tomorn here, all the day,
"Shall make us merry as we may :
"And make us boon against the night;
"And then ger make our fires light;
"And blow our hornys, and make fare
"As all the world our own were,
"While that the night well fallen be;
"And then, with all our harness, we
"Shall take our way homeward in hy.
"And we shall gyit be graithly,"

I

"While we be out of their dangér
"That lies now enclosed here.

"Then shall we all be at our will.
"And they shall let them trumpet ill,
"Fra they wyt well we be away."
To this wholly assented they, &c.

The story here told by Douglas, has every appearance of being a French fabliau: and Barber has unquestionably borrowed, from the same language, the romance of FIER ABRAS, which the king relates to his followers during their tedious passage of Loch Lomond. (See book iii. v. 435. edit. 1790.) It is not transcribed here, because · • Cautiously?

1 Guised.

2

it is unnecessary to multiply extracts from a work which is so easily attainable: it might, indeed, be proper to apologize for the length of the foregoing specimen, but that the capricious and obsolete orthography of the ancient MS. to which Mr. Pinkerton has, with great propriety, scrupulously adhered, may possibly have deterred many readers, from attempting to peruse this very curious and entertaining historical poem.

CHAPTER X.

Reign of Henry IV.—Andrew of WyntownExtracts from his " original Chronicle of Scotland."-Thomas Occleve.-Anonymous English Poetry.

ANDREW of Wyntown claims a place in our catalogue of English poets, in consequence of his having written, in tolerable eight-syllable verse, and in very pure language, his " Orygynale Cronykil" of Scotland, from the creation of the world to the year 1408. This is a very curious work, of which a most sumptuous and apparently correct edition, from a comparison of the best MSS. has lately (in 1795) been given to the public by Mr. Macpherson, together with a list of various readings, many valuable historical notes, a copious index, and a most useful glossary.

All the information that the learned editor has been able to collect respecting his author, amounts to this; that Andrew of Wyntown was a canon regular of the priory of St. Andrews, and that, in or about the year 1395, he was, by the favour of his fellow-canons, elected prior of the monastery