524 
A good deal of ill-arranged informa- 
tion is heaped together in this section. 
Extracts from old poems that enumerate 
the popular romances of, the times are 
quoted; it had been better to have given 
a catalogue of all whose titles could be 
recovered, specifying such as still exist, 
and where they are preserved. Here 
Mr. Ritson renews his attack upon the 
reliques of ancient. poetry. He com- 
pares the original ballad of the Marriage 
of Sir Gawaine with Percy’s improved 
copy, and subjoins the following re- 
marks. 
«* This mode of publishing ancient poetry 
displays, it must be eentess’d, considerable 
talent and genius, but savours strongly, at 
the same time, of unfairness and dishonesty. 
Here are numerous stanzas inserted which 
are not in the original, and others omitted 
which are there. The purchaseérs aad pe- 
ruseérs of such a collection are deceived and 
impose’d upon ; the pleasure they receive is 
derive’d from the idea of antiquity, which, 
in fact, is perfect illusion. If the ingenious 
editour had publish’d all his imperfect poems 
by correcting the biunders of puerility or in- 
attention, and supplying the defects of bar- 
barian ignorance, with proper distinction of 
type (as, in one instance, he actually has 
one), it would not onely have gratify'd the 
austereést antiquary, but allso provideéd re- 
fine'd entertainment ‘‘ for every reader of 
taste and genius.” He would have acted 
fairly and honourablely, and giveén every sort 
of reader complete satisfaction. Authen- 
ticity would have been uniteéd with improve- 
ment, and all would have goue wel; where- 
as, in the present editions, it is firmly be- 
lieved, not one article has been ingenuously 
or faithfully printed from the begining to 
the end: nor did the Jate eminent Thomas 
Tyrwhitt, so ardent a researcher into an- 
cient poetry, and an intimate friend of the 
professour, ever see this curious, though tat- 
ter d, fragment; nor would the late excellent 
George Steevens, on the bishops personal 
application, consent to sanction the authen- 
ticity of the printed copy with his signa- 
ture.” : 
This is.fair and temperate criticism, 
but in the note annexed, Mr. Ritson has 
given vent to all the bitterness of his 
bilious temper. y 
’ Minstrels and minstrelsy are the sub- 
ject of the fourth and last part of the 
dissertation. 
«« That the different professors of min- 
strelsy were, in antient times, distinguish’d 
by names appropriateéd to) theiz, respective 
pursuits, cannot reasonablely be cisputeéd, 
though it may be difficult to prove. The 
trouveur, trouverre, or Tymour, Was he who 
eompose’d romans, cones, Saliaux, chan= 
. - 
ROETRY. 
sons, and /Jais; and those who confine'd 
themselves to the composition of contes and 
Satliaux, obtain’d the appellation of conteurs, 
contesurs, or falliers. The menetrier, me- 
nestrel, or minstrel, was he who accompa= 
ny'd his song bya musical instrument, both’ 
the words and the melody being occasionally 
furnished by himself, and occasionally by 
others. The jogelour, jougicor, jugleor, jo- 
gelere, orjugler, amused the spectators with 
slight of hagd tricks, cups and balls, &c. 
Again, in The freres tale, v. 7049: 
«* A lousy jogelour can deceiven thee.” 
This appears clear from the conduct of John ° 
de Raumpayne, who, when he sets out to 
deceive Morris of Whitington, takes with 
him a male, which contains his juglerys, and 
out of which, most likely, he had already 
so blacken’d, inflateéd, and deform’d his 
visage, that his most intimate acquaintance 
did not know him. ‘The chanteour, or 
chanterre, was one who sang; the vielere or 
harpere, he who accompany'd the chanferre, 
when he did not perform himself, and would 
be call'd indifzrently by either name, or the 
general one of minstrel, &c. A histrio, or 
mimius, should, properly, have been the buf- 
foon of a play, as fis was among the Ro- 
mans: bui these names, in fact, appear to 
have been givein by affeeted pedants, who 
mistook their meaning. There were, like~ 
wise, jflutours, timlesteres, and sailours, 
dancers, all three mention’d by Chaucer in 
his translation of the Jtumant of the Rose, 
v. 762, &e. 
«* There mightist thou se these flutours 
Minstrallis and eke jogeolurs 
That well to singin did their paine— 
There was many a fimbestere, 
And sailours, that 1 dare well swere 
Ycothe thercraft fall parfitly 
The timbris up full subtilly 
Thei castin, and hent them full oft 
Upon a finger faire and soft.” 
The furceurs, or buffoons, were possiblely, 
the proper. hisfricnes or minri, who acted 
ridiculous and burlesque dramas of a single 
part, whence the term farce is stil use’d for 
a short and laughable entertainment; Lala- 
dins, or danecirs; telourers, ox tabareres, 
who perform’d on. the tabour,or sfppapen 3 
and, peradventure, several other dis inctions. 
All these, howeyer, in process of time, ap- 
pear to have been confounded ‘under the 
common namie of minstrels’ or juglers, and 
by Latin writers, ministri, minisirelli, jo- 
culatores, histriones, mimi, leccatores, scurm 
re, vaniloqui, citharista, or cithare@de, can- 
tores, ox cantatores, parasite, famelict, ne- 
bulones, epulones, and the like. Their pe- 
culiar appellations, however, may, 4 chic 
less, have been preserveed among themselves, 
‘without being much attended to by tho 
who only’consider'd them as a body of men 
whose profession was to please; or, at least, 
by their own coxruption. in lateér times, 
