Torrent of Portyngale Part 4

Ther ys a jeaunt here besyde, 478 That sorowe doyth ferre and wyde.

On us and odur moo.

There ys a gyante here besyde, In ale thys covntre fare and wyde, No man on lyve levythe hee. 960

And alle prayed for that knyght. 573

For hym all they pray. 108

Alle that in the cyte ware. 598

All that in~ the sytte were. 1047

Alle that c.u.n.trey was fulle fayne, 640 That he homeward was comyn ageyne.

Gentilmen were blith and ffayn~, 1098 That he in helth was comyn~ agayn~.

Aftur sopur, as y yow telle, He wendyd to chaumber with Crystyabelle. 670, 671

After mete, as I you tell, To speke with mayden Desonell To her chamber he went. 1358-60

That lady was not for to hyde, 673-75 She sett hym on hur beddys syde, And welcomyd home that knyght.

The damysell so moche of pride, Set hym on~ her bed-syde, And said 'welcom~ verament.' 1363

So gracyously he come hur tylle, 679 Of poyntes of armys he schewyd hur hys fylle, 680 That there they dwellyd alle ny?t.

Such gestenyng he a-right, That there he dwellid all ny?t With that lady gent. 1364-66

A golde rynge y schalle geve the, 715 Kepe yt wele my lady free, Yf Cryste sende the a chylde! 717

Thes gold rynges I shall yeve the, Kepe them well, my lady ffre, Yf G.o.d a child vs send! 1396-1398

Doghtur, into the see schalt thou, 803 Yn a schypp alone, And that b.a.s.t.a.r.d that to the ys dere!

There fore thou shalt in to the see And that b.a.s.t.a.r.d with-in the! 1793

Sche prayed hur gentylwomen so free, Grete wele my lord, whon ye hym see! 826, 827

She said 'knyghtis and ladyes gent, Grete well my lord sir Torrent, Yeff ye hym~ euer sene! 1837-39

Hur yonge sone away he bare. 842

A way he bare her yong son~. 1871

Thys chylde ys comyn of gentylle blode, Where that ever that he was tane. 863

This chylde is come of gentill teme, Where euer this beest hym~ ffond. 1923

Kepe we thys lady whyte as flowre, And speke we of syr Egyllamowre. 950

Leve we now that lady gent, And speke we of sir Torrent. 2080-81

The knyght swownyd in that tyde. 975

Swith on sownyng there he fell. 2093

Be the XV yerys were comyn and gone, The chylde that the grype hath tane, Waxe bothe bold and stronge. 1018-20

And be the VII yere were gone, The child that the liberd had tane, Found hym his fill off ffyght. 2233-35

Yn yustyng ne in turnament 1021 Ther myght no man withsytt hys dynte, But to the erthe them thronge. 1023

With heve tymbyr and ovyrryde 40 Ther myght no man~ hys dent abyde, But to the erthe he them strake. 42

Be thre wekys were comyn to ?ende, Yn the londe of Egypt can they lende. 1057

But ore thre wekes were comyn~ to end, To Portynggall gan he wend. 373

Gentilmen that herde of thys crye, Thedur come they redylye. 1195-96

Gret lordys that herith this crye, Theder come richely. 2431-32

Syr Egyllamour knelyd on his kne, 'A Lorde G.o.d ?ylde hyt the! 1288-89

Torent knelid vppon~ his knee 2575 And said 'G.o.d yeld you, lordys ffree!

In swounynge than felle that lady free, 'Welcome, syr Eglamour, to me!

She said 'welcom~, my lord sir Torent!

And so be ye, my lady gent!

In sownyng than fell she. 2505

_Eglamour_, Linc. MS. Note on 1267:

Grete lordis thane told scho sone.

Gret lordys told she sone. 2539

Perhaps some more light will be thrown on this question when we get the much-wanted critical edition of _Sir Eglamour_; but I fear that the 'secret history attached to the source of these romances' will even then remain to be unravelled. What I have proposed has no t.i.tle to a better name than a conjecture.

-- 5. THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE EDITION.

As to the only MS. in which this romance has come down to us, I have mentioned before that it is exceedingly corrupt; many conjectures, more or less sure, were necessary in order to restore metre, rhyme, and meaning; the greater part of them seemed worthy to be entered in the text, the rest being offered in the notes. No attempt has been made to introduce a uniform character of dialect, considering the quite unsettled state of orthography in early times. The only exceptions are where the sounds are fully determined by the rhyme. In general the orthography of the MS. has been reproduced as accurately as possible.

The contractions used by the scribe are expanded and printed in italics.

At the beginning of a new period, or a proper name within the line, capitals have been introduced. From l. 1200, where the numeration of my text no longer coincides with that of Halliwell's edition, the line-numbers of the latter are added in brackets.

The fragments which I have added as an appendix to the text have been consulted in all cases of difficulty, and proved of no little service in correcting the blunders of the ma.n.u.script; they contain indeed a somewhat better text than the MS., though they are by no means free from clerical errors. A detailed comparison gives the following result: