THE

KING'S QUAIR.

CANTO V.

HIS JOURNEY IN QUEST OF FORTUNE.

d

I.

QUHARE in a lusty plane tuke I my way,

e

Endlang a ryuer, plesand to behold,
Embroudin all wt fresche flouris gay,

Quhare throu the grauel, bryt as ony gold,
The cristal water ran so clere and cold,
That in myn ere, maid contynualy,

A maner soun mellit with

armony.

The scenery, or landskip, as in the three first Canto, is painted in the richest colours of poetry. is extremely harmonious.

d` A lusty plane.] A pleasant delightful plain.

* Endlang d ryver.] Along the side of a river.

f Maner soun.

stanzas of this The verse, too,

n.] A pleasant sound, mixed with harmony.

II.

That full of lytill fischis by the brym,

Now here now there, wt bakkis blewe as lede, Lap and playit, and in a rout can swym So prattily, and dressit thame to sprede Thaire curall fynis, as the ruby rede, That in the sonne on thaire scalis bryt, As gesserant ay glitterit in my sight.

III.

And by this ilke ryuer syde alawe
Ane hyeway fand I like to bene,
On quhich, on euery syde, a long rawe
Off trees saw I full of levis grene,
That full of fruyte delitable were to sene;
And also, as it come vnto my mynd,
Of bestis sawe I mony diuerse kynd.

8 As gesserant glitterit.] Like some precious stone, sparkled in

my eye.

The epithets, expressive of some distinguishing quality of the several beasts mentioned by the poet, seem to be according to the natural history of these animals in that age, though now, as to some of them, known to be erroneous and exploded. Some of these epithets, I own, I am at a loss to explain.

IV.

The lyon king and his " fere lyonesse,
The pantere like vnto the smaragdyne,

k

i

The lytill squerell full of besynesse,

The slawe asse, the druggare beste of pyne, The nyce ape, the "werely porpapyne,

m

The percyng lynx, the lufare vnicorn,

That voidis venym with his euoure horne.

Fere lyonesse.] Fierce or wild.

i The pantere like unto the smaragdyne.] Smaragdus is gcnerally understood to be the emerald, or a stone of green colour. How the spotted panther is likened to the emerald is not obvious; perhaps it meant only, that the panther's skin shone as bright as a precious stone.

* Full of besynesse.] The squirrell always in motion.

1 Slawe asse, druggare beste of pyne.] The meaning of the last two epithets can only be conjectured as applicable to the slow sluggish nature of the ass.

m Nyce ape.] Cunning ape.

" Werely, or warlike porcupine, armed with quills.

Lufare unicorn.] This epithet of the unicorn, if such an animal is known to exist, and its quality of ejecting poison from its ivory horn, are now unknown.

V.

There sawe I " dresse him, new out of hant,
The fere tigere full of felony,

The dromydare, the stander oliphant,
The wyly fox, the wedouis inemye,

t

The herknere bore, the holsum grey for hortis,

The "haire also, yt oft gooth to the hortis.

P Dresse him new out of hant.] The fierce tyger, issuing from his haunt or den, new prepared for sallying out upon his prey.

a The stander oliphant.] The elephant, that always stands. According to the vulgar, the elephant was erroneously said to have no knees.

The wyly fox, the wedouis inemye.] That robs the poor widow of her poultry.

s The elk.] A species of deer.-Buffon classes it with the reindeer. What the meaning of the quality expressed by alblastrye is, I cannot find out. The colour of this animal is dark grey.

tu The epithets of the herknere bore, and wholsum grey,or greyhound, for hortis,* or the gardens, the reader's own ingenuity must supply. The last, perhaps, means the hound that protects the garden from the hare that frequents it.

* Hortis probably is an error of the transcriber, in place of sportis, which is *more applicable to the greyhound, for sport.

VI.

The bugill draware by his hornis grete,

The martrik sable, the foynzee, and mony mo, " The chalk quhite ermyn, tippit as the jete, The riall hert, the conyng, and the ro, The wolf, yt of the murthir not say ho, The 'lesty beuer, and the ravin bare,

For chamelot, the camel full of hare.

VII.

With many ane othir beste diverse and strange,
That cummyth not as now vnto my mynd;
Bot now to purpose straught furth the range,
I held away oure hailing in my mynd,
From quhens I come, and quhare yt I suld fynd
Fortune, the goddesse unto quhom in hye
Gude hope, my gyde, has led me sodeynly.

* The bugill draware by his hornis grete.] The stag. Perhaps the buffalo, which is an animal that draws in the yoke.

y Martrick sable.] The sable martin.

z The foynzee.] The fawn. G. D. p. 220. 42.—In vulgar French fouine is the pole-cat.

a The chalk-white ermyne, tipt with spots black as jet.] The body of the ermyn is pure white. The tail only is tipt with black. b Lesty bever.] If lesty means here lusty, or lustfull, this animal is not so. Perhaps it means, according to the Scottish, lusty, plump, or fat, which is applicable to the beaver; or perhaps the word should be leste, an old French word for nimble, or active, which is an epithet very suitable to the nature of the beaver.

Ravin, or ravenous bear.