'Nowe turne, nowe turne thee, Aldingar,

And eyther fighte or flee:

I trust that I shall avenge the wronge,
Though I am so small to see.'

The boye pulld forthe a well good sworde
So gilt it dazzled the ee: -

The first stroke stricken at Aldingar

Smote off his leggs by the knee.

Stand up! stand up! thou false traitòr,
And fighte upon thy feete,

For and thou thrive, as thou beginst,
Of height wee shall be meete!'

A priest! a priest!' sayes Aldingar,
'While I am a man alive,-
A priest, a priest,' sayes Aldingar,
'Me for to houzle and shrive!

I wolde have layne by our comely queene,
Bot shee wolde never consent;

Then I thought to betraye her unto our king,
In a fyer to have her brent.

There came a lazar to the Kings gates,
A lazar both blinde and lame;
I tooke the lazar upon my backe,
And on her bedd had him layne.

Then ranne I to our comelye king,
These tidings sore to tell.
Bot ever alacke!' sayes Aldingar,
"Falsing never doth well: -

Forgive! forgive mee, Queene, madame,
The short time I must live!'

'Nowe Christ forgive thee, Aldingar,
As freely I forgive!'

IR LANCELOT DU LAKE. We print this ballad from a black letter copy in the folio collection at the British Museum, where it is entitled, "The Noble Acts Newly Found of Arthur of the Table Round. To the tune of Flying Fame. Printed by and for Alex. Melbourne, in Green Arches Court, in the Little Old Bailey." Dr. Percy published it "from a printed copy, corrected in part by a fragment in his folio MS." The copy in the British Museum the learned editor could not have seen, for it is much purer than the one that occurs in the "Reliques." It is, however, mainly indebted for its celebrity to the

fact that it is quoted by Shakespeare, in the second part of "Henry IV." The authorship is attributed by Ritson to Thomas Deloney. Of its remote antiquity there can be no doubt. The subject is taken from the ancient romance of "King Arthur" (commonly called "Morte d'Arthur "), "being a poetical translation of chapters cviii, cix., cx., in Part I., as they stand in Edition 1634, quarto."

Sir Lancelot was high in fame among the knights of King Arthur's Round Table. To this "Round Table" were attached twenty-four knights, - the chosen few of King Arthur's forces. It appears to have originated with Uther Pendragon, the father of the great monarch of romance, " for whom it had been made by the sorcerer Merlin, in token of the roundness of the world." Every knight had his appointed seat, upon which his name was inscribed in letters of gold. One of these was "the seige perillous," reserved for the most famous champion of the invincible band. High birth, great strength, activity and skill, fearless valour, and firm fidelity to their suzerain, were indispensably requisite for admission into this order. We quote from Mr. Ellis ("Specimens of early English Metrical Romances "): -"They were bound by oath to assist each other, at the hazard of their own lives; to attempt singly the most perilous adventures; to lead, when necessary, a life of monastic solitude; to fly to arms at the first summons; and never to retire from battle till they had defeated the enemy, unless when night intervened, and separated the combatants." The mirror of them all was, of course, King Arthur himself; but his knights were equally renowned for courtesy and indomitable courage: each of them was "a hero," the perfection of chivalry, the love of ladies, and the terror of evil doers - especially giants. Of one giant it is particularly recorded that he wore a cloak of fur- the fur being composed of the beards of slaughtered kings; but as there was still a little space left unoccupied, he desired to fill it by a contribution from the chin of King Arthur, and transmitted a fitting messenger with an order that it should be forwarded forthwith, "or els he wolde enter his landes and brenn and slay."-"Well," said King Arthur, "thou hast said thy message, which is the most villanous and lewdest message that ever man heard sent to a King!"

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The history of Sir Lancelot is the very perfection of romance. He was the son of King Ban," who, having been attacked by his inveterate enemy, King Claudas, escaped with his queen and child, to solicit the aid of King Arthur, but died of grief on the way. His unhappy lady abandoned, for a moment, the care of her infant, to attend her dying husband, and, on seeking to resume her charge, found him in the arms of a nymph, who, on the mother's approach, suddenly sprang with the little

Lancelot into an adjoining lake, and instantly disappeared. This nymph was the beautiful Vivian, the mistress of the enchanter Merlin. In her home beneath the waters, the future hero was educated—hence he was afterwards distinguished by the name of Lancelot du Lac. When he had attained the age of eighteen, she conveyed her pupil to the court of King Arthur, demanding his admission to the honour of knighthood, which he, of course, obtained. Through all his after life, this Lady of the Lake continued to be his guardian. And this life was full of adventure; "cleaving down numberless giants; " giving freedom to hosts of prisoners; restoring, by force of arms, the reputations of bevies of fair ladies;-in short, rendering himself worthy the eloquent eulogy of his brave companion in arms, Sir Bohort, as recorded in one of the many romances to which his career has given birth; -"And now I dare say that, Sir Lancelot, ther thou lyist, -thou were never matched of none earthly knighte's hands. And thou were the curtiest knighte that ever bare shielde. And thou were the truest freende to thy lover that ever bestrode horse. And thou were the truest lover, of a synful man, that ever loved woman. And thou were the kindest man that ever stroke with sworde. And thou were the goodliest person that ever came among presse of knightes. And thou were the meekest man, and the gentillest, that ever eate in hal, among ladies. And thou were the sternest knighte to thy mortall foe that ever put spere in the rest!"

In the chapel of Winchester Castle is preserved what is affirmed to be "King Arthur's Round Table." It consists of a stout oak board, perforated by many

bullets, supposed to have been fired at it by Cromwell's soldiers, who used it for a target. Upon it is painted a royal figure seated beneath a canopy, intended to represent King Arthur. In the centre is painted a large rose, and around it are the words, "Thys is the rounde table of King Arthur, and of his valyant knyghtes." From the centre, radiate twenty-four spaces, each one appropriated to a knight, who seated himself in front of the one that had his name painted on it. This table was, at one time, believed to have been made and placed here by Arthur himself; it is, however, now considered to be no older than, though quite as old as, the time of Stephen, in whose reign, and during the twelfth century, knights usually assembled at a table of this kind, to avoid disputes about precedency. From this usage the tournaments themselves obtained the name of the "Round Table," and are so called in the records of old times.

The earliest mention of this table is to be found in "the Prologue" to Caxton's "Booke of the Noble Hystoryes of Kynge Arthur, and of Certeyn of his Knyghtes" (1485), in which he declares, that "in the castle of Dover ye may see Sir Gawaine's skull, and Cradoke's mantle; at Winchester, the Round Table; in other places, Sir Launcelot's sword, and many other things." When the Emperor Charles V. was in England, it was exhibited to him as the veritable table of King Arthur, by Henry VIII. Paulus Jovius, who relates this visit, declares that many marks of its antiquity had been destroyed; that the names of the knights were then just written afresh; and the table with its ornaments newly repaired.