their frequent appearance in the Pageants and religious En、 terludes of the barbarous ages; in which they were exhibited with geftures fo furious and frantic, as to become proverbial. Thus Skelton fpeaks of Wolfey, 66 "Like MAHOUND in a play, Ed. 1736. p. 158. 66 And Bale, defcribing the threats used by fome Papift magiftrates to his wife, jpeaks of them as grennyng upon her lyke TERMAGAUNTES in a playe." [Actes of Engl. Votaryes, pt. 2. fo. 83. Ed. 1550. 12mo.]-Hence we may conceive the force of Hamlet's expreffion in Shakespeare, where condemning a ranting player he fays, "I could have fuch a fellow whipt for ore-doing TERMAGANT: it "out-Herods Herod." A. 3. fc. 3.—By degrees the word came to be applied to an outrageous turbulent perfon, and efpecially to a violent brawling woman; to whom alone it is now confined: and this the rather as, I suppose, the character of TERMAGANT was anciently reprefented on the ftage after the eastern mode, with long robes or petticoats.. 66 Another frequent character in the old pageants or enterludes of our ancestors, was the SOWDAN or SOLDAN reprefenting a grim eaftern tyrant: This appears from a curious pallage in Stow's Annals [p. 458.]—In a ftage-play "the people know right well that he that plaieth the sow"DAIN, is percafe a fowter [fhoe-maker], yet if one should "cal him by his owne name, while he ftandeth in his majeftie, one of his tormentors might hap to break his "head." The fowdain or foldan, was a name given to any Sarazen king, (being only a more rude pronunciation of the word fultan) as the joldan of Egypt, the foudan of Perfia, the forudan of Babylon, &c. who were generally reprefented as accompanied with grim Sarazens, whofe bufinefs it was to punish and torment Chriftians. I cannot conclude this fhort Memoir, without obferving that the French romancers who had borrowed the word Termagant from us, and applied it as we in their old romances, corrupted it into TERVAGAUNTE: And from them La Fontaine took it up, and has used it more than once in his tales.- -This may be added to the other proofs adduced in thefe volumes of the great intercourse that formerly fubfifted between the old minstrels and legendary writers of both nations, and that they mutually borrowed each others romances. VII. SIR PATRICK SPENCE, A SCOTTISH BALLAD, is given from two MS copies tranfmitted from Scot land. In what age the hero of this ballad lived, or when this fatal expedition happened that proved so destructive to the Scots nobles, I have not been able to discover; yet am of opinion that their catastrophe is not altogether without foundation in hiftory, though it has escaped my own refearches. In the infancy of navigation, fuch as ufed the northern feas, were very liable to fhipwreck in the wintry months: bence a law was enacted in the reign of James the III, (a law which was frequently repeated afterwards) "That there be na fchip frauched out of the realm with any ftaple gudes, fra the feaft of Simons day and Jude, unto the feaft of the purification our Lady called Candel"mess." Jam. III. Parlt. 2. Ch. 15. 66 In fome modern copies, inftead of Patrick Spence hath been fubftituted the name of Sir Andrew Wood, a famous Scottife admiral who flourished in the time of our Edw. IV. but whofe ftory bath nothing in common with this of the ballad. As Wood was the most noted warrior of Scotland, it is probable that, like the Theban Hercules, he hath engrossed the renown of other berces. THE T H E king fits in Dumferling toune, O quhar will I get guid failòr, To fail this fchip of mine? Sir Patrick Spence is the best failòr, The king has written a braid letter, The first line that Sir Patrick red, A loud lauch lauched he: The next line that Sir Patrick red, O quha is this has don this deid, This ill deid don to me ; To send me out this time o'the zeir, To fail upon the fe? Mak haft, mak hafte, my mirry men all, Our guid fchip fails the morne. O fay na fae, my master deir, For I feir a deadlie ftorme. 5 ΤΟ 15 20 Late Late late yeftreen I faw the new moone That we will com to harme. O our Scots nobles wer richt laith O lang, lang, may thair ladies fit O lang, lang, may the ladies ftand For they'll fe thame na mair. Have owre, have owre to Aberdour †, It's fiftie fadom deip: And thair lies guid Sir Patrick Spence, Wi' the Scots lords at his feit. 25 30 35 40 VIII. A village lying upon the river Forth, the entrance to which is fometimes denominated De mortuo mari. VIII. ROBIN HOOD AND GUY OF GISBORNE. We have here a ballad of Robin Hood (from the Editor's folio MS) which was never before printed, and carries marks of much greater antiquity than any of the common popular fongs on this fubject. The feverity of thofe tyrannical foreft-laws, that were introduced by our Norman kings, and the great temptation of breaking them by fuch as lived near the royal forefts, at a time when the yeomanry of this kingdom were every where trained up to the long-bow, and excelled all other nations in the art of fhooting, must conftantly have occafioned great numbers of outlaws, and especially of fuch as were the best mark/men. Thefe naturally fled to the woods for fhelter, and forming into troops, endeavoured by their numbers to protect themselves from the dreadful penalties of their delinquency. The ancient punishment for killing the king's deer, was lofs of eyes and caftration: a punishment far worse than death. This will eafily account for the troops of banditti, which formerly lurked in the royal forefts, and from their fuperior skill in archery and knowledge of all the recefles of thofe unfrequented folitudes, found it no difficult matter to refift or elude the civil power. Among all thefe, none was ever more famous than the hero of this ballad: the heads of whofe ftory, as collected by Stow, are briefly these. "In this time [about the year 1190, in the reign of Ri"chard I.] were many robbers, and outlawes, among the "which Robin Hood, and Little John, renowned theeves, "continued in woods, defpoyling and robbing the goods of " the |