Than seide sir Ote to Gamelyn, 'God schielde the fro

schame;

Com whan thou seest tyme, and bring us out of blame.'

Litheth, and lestneth, and holdeth you stille, And ye schul here how Gamelyn had al his wille. Gamelyn wente agein under woode

rys,

And fond there pleying yonge men of prys.
Tho was yonge Gamelyn glad and blithe ynough,
Whan he fond his mery men under woode bough.
Gamelyn and his men talked in feere,

And they hadde good game here maister to heere;
They tolden him of aventures that they hadde founde,
And Gamelyn hem tolde agein how he was fast
i-bounde.

Whil Gamelyn was outlawed, had he no cors;
There was no man that for him ferde the wors,
But abbotes and priours, monk and chanoun;1
On hem left he nothing whan he might hem nom.
Whil Gamelyn and his men made merthes ryve,
The fals knight his brother, yvel mot he thryve!
For he was fast about bothe day and other,
For to hyre the quest, to hangen his brother.
Gamelyn stood on a day, and as he biheeld
The woodes and the schawes in the wilde feeld,
He thought on his brother how he him beheet
That he wolde be redy whan the justice seet;
He thoughte wel that he wolde, withoute delay,
Come afore the justice to kepen his day,
And seide to his yonge men, 'Dighteth you yare,
For whan the justice sit, we moote be thare,
For I am under borwe til that I come,
And my brother for me to prisoun schal be nome.'
'By seint Jame!' seyde his yonge men,

rede therto,

Ordeyne how it schal be, and it schal be do.'

and thon

1 See ants, p. 255, note 1.

2 To suborn the jury.

Whil Gamelyn was comyng ther the justice sat,
The fals knight his brother, forgat he nat that,
To huyre the men on his quest to hangen his brother;
Though he hadde nought that oon he wolde have
Tho cam Gamelyn fro under woode rys, [that other.
And broughte with him his yonge men of prys.

'I se wel,' seyde Gamelyn, 'the justice is sette;
Go aforn, Adam, and loke how it spette.'
Adam went into the halle, and loked al aboute,
He seyh there stonde lordes gret and stoute,
And sir Ote his brother fetered wel fast:
Tho went Adam out of halle, as he were aghast
Adam said to Gamelyn and to his felaws alle,
'Sir Ote stant i-fetered in the moot halle.'
'Yonge men,' seide Gamelyn, 'this ye heeren alle;
Sire Ote stant i-fetered in the moot halle.
If God gif us grace wel for to doo,

He schal it abegge that broughte him thertoo.'
Thanne sayde Adam, that lokkes hadde hore,
'Cristes curs most he have that him bond so sore!
And thou wilt, Gamelyn, do after my red,

Ther is noon in the halle schal bere awey his heed.'
'Adam,' seyde Gamelyn, 'we wiln nought don so,
We wil slee the giltyf, and lat the other go.
I wil into the halle, and with the justice speke;
On hem that ben gultyf I wil ben awreke.
Lat non skape at the dore; take, yonge men, yeme:
For I wil be justice this day domes to deme.
God spede me this day at my newe werk!

Adam, com on with me, for thou schalt be my clerk.' His men answereden him and bade him doon his best, 'And if thou to us have neede, thou schalt fynde us

prest;

We wiln stande with the, wil that we may dure,
And but we werke manly, pay us non hure.'
'Yonge men,' seyde Gamelyn, 'so mot I wel thei
As trusty a maister ye schal fynde of me.'

Right there the justice sat in the halle,
In wente Gamelyn amonges hem alle.

Gamelyn leet unfetere his brother out of beende. Thanne seyde sir Ote, his brother that was heende, • Thou haddest almost, Gamelyn, dwelled to longe, For the quest is oute' on me, that I schulde honge.' Brother,' seyde Gamelyn, so God gif me good

rest!

This day they schuln ben hanged that ben on thy quest;

And the justice bothe that is jugges man,

And the scherreve bothe, thurgh him it bigan.'
Than seyde Gamelyn to the justise,

'Now is thy power y-don, thou most nedes arise;
Thow hast geven domes that ben yvel dight,
I wil sitten in thy sete, and dressen hem aright.'
The justice sat stille, and roos nought anoon;
And Gamelyn clevede his cheeke boon;

Gamelyn took him in his arm, and no more spak,
But threw him over the barre, and his arm to-brak.
Durste non to Gamelyn seye but good,

For-fered of the company that withoute stood.

Gamelyn sette him doun in the justices sete,

And sire Ote his brother by him, and Adam at his feet.

Whan Gamelyn was i-set in the justices stede,

Herkneth of a bourde that Gamelyn dede.

He leet fetre the justice and his fals brother,

And dede hem come to the barre, that oon with that other.

Tho Gamelyn hadde thus y-doon, had he no rest,
Til he had enquered who was on the quest
For to deme his brother, sir Ote, for to honge;
Er he wiste which they were it thoughte ful longe

1 The verdict is delivered.

But as sone as Gamelyn wiste wher they were,
He dede hem everichoue fetere in feere,

And bringen hem to the barre, and sette hem in

rewe;

[schrewe.' 'By my faith!' seyde the justice, 'the scherreve is a Than seyde Gamelyn to the justise,

'Thou hast y-geve domes of the wors assise,

And the twelve sisours that weren of the queste,
They schul ben hanged this day, so have I reste.'
Thanne seide the scherreve to yonge Gamelyn,
'Lord I cry the mercy, brother art thou myn.'
"Therfore,' seyde Gamelyn, 'have thou Cristes curs,
For and thou were maister, yit I schulde have wors.'
But for to make short tale, and nought to tarie longe,
He ordeyned him a queste' of his men so stronge;
The justice and the scherreve bothe honged hye,
To weyven with ropes and with the wynd drye;
And the twelve sisours, sorwe have that rekke!
Alle they were hanged faste by the nekke.
Thus ended the fals knight with his treccherie,
That ever had i-lad his lyf in falsnes and folye;
He was hanged by the nek, and nought by the purs,
That was the meede that he had for his fadres curs.
Sir Ote was eldest, and Gamelyn was ying,
They wenten with here freendes even to the kyng;
They made pees with the kyng of the best assise.
The kyng loved wel sir Ote, and made him a justise.
And after the kyng made Gamelyn, both in est and
Chef justice of al his fre forest;"
[west,
Alle his wighte yonge men the kyng forgaf here gilt,
And sitthen in good office the kyng hem hath i-pilt.

1 He chose a jury.

This is the usual dénouement of all the tales of this class, and it may possibly be founded upon fact. For it might be sound policy on the king's part to enlist the services of a bold and popular outlaw, like Gamelyn, in the cause of order, at a time when personal valour and daring were often able to set the law at defiance. An honest but inexperienced and unwarlike magistrate would have been of very little use in a forest in Nottinghamshire in the thirteenth century.

Thus wan Gamelyn his lond and his leede,

And wrak him of his enemys, and quyt hem here

meede,

And sire Ote his brother made him his heir,

And siththen wedded Gamelyn a wyf bothe good and feyr;

They lyveden togidere whil that Crist wolde,
And sithen was Gamelyn graven under molde.
And so schal we alle, may ther no man fle:
God bryng us to the joye that ever schal be!

میرم

Ο

THE MAN OF LAWES PROLOGE.

WRE Hoste sawh that the brighte sonne
The arke of his artificial day hath i-ronne
The fourthe part, of half an hour and more;
And though he were nat depe expert in lore,
He wist it was the eightetene day1
Of April, that is messanger to May;
And sawe wel that the schade of every tree
Was in the lengthe the same quantite
That was the body erecte, that caused it;

And therfore by the schadwe he took his wit,

That Phebus, which that schoon so fair and bright,
Degrees was five and fourty clombe on hight;
And for that day, as in that latitude,

It was ten of the clokke, he gan conclude;
And sodeynly he plight his hors aboute.

'Lordynges,' quod he, 'I warne you al the route,
The fourthe party of this day is goon;
Now, for the love of God and of seint Jon,
Leseth no tyme, as ferforth as ye may,
Lordynges, the tyme passeth night and day,

1 Eightetene. This is the reading in which the MSS. seem mostly to agree. The MS. Harl. reads threttenthe. Tyrwhitt has eighte and twenty.-W.

2 The Harl. MS. reads, forthe. Ferforth in the text is taken from Tyrwhitt, and is probably correct, as agreeing better both with the sense and metre..