532 
cures, and having received a sore wound 
in his head, which had been unskilfully 
treated, he sets out to be healed by this 
nun. At the time of his arrival, Mylys, 
Sir Machary, Clarebalde the thief, and the 
captain, who have all’been struck with 
rievous diseases, are met together in 
Bevetfiyre to be in like manner made 
whole. 
«« At bur préyers there as sche ware, 
When sche sawe hur own lorde thare, 
Sche knewe hym wele ynogh : 
So dud he hur he wolde not so saye, 
Abewte the cloystur goon are thay, 
Spekyng of hys woghe. 
Then was sche warre of the four thare, 
That had kyndylde all hur care, 
Nere to them sche droghe. 
They knew hur not be no kyns thynge, 
Therof thankyd sche hevyn kynge, 
And lyghtly at them loghe. 
« Mylys that hur aweye ledd, 
He was the fowlest mesell bredd, 
Of pokkys and bleynes bloo ; 
And Machary, that wolde hur have slayne, ’ 
He stode schakyng, the sothe to sayne, 
Crokyd and crachyd thertoo. 
The maryner, that wolde have Jayne hur by, 
Hys yen stode owte a strote for thy, 
Hys lymmes were roton hym froo. 
They put Clarebalde in a whelebarowe, 
That strong thefe, be stretys narowe, 
Had no fote on to goo.” 
Florens declares, that before either can 
be healed he must make an open confes- 
sion of his sins, and in this manner the 
four villains avow their wickedness and 
clear her fame. She then heals them, 
and last her husband, but he burns the 
four wretches alive, and then takes his 
wife joyfully to Rome. 
The Erle of Tolous. Dyaclysyon, em- 
peror in Almayn, is at war with the Erle 
of Tolous, whom he has unjustly depriv- 
ed of certain lands. The earl wins a 
reat victory ; from one of his prisoners 
fre hears much of the beauty of the Em- 
press Beulyboon, whose name, though 
less heathenish, is quite as outlandish as 
her husband’s. This excites in him a de- 
sire of seeing her, and he promises this 
‘Sir Trylabas to reward him well if he 
will conduct him to see her in disguise. 
Trylabas plays the traitor, and informs 
Beulyboon, proposing that they should 
kill the earl; but she being a noble lady, 
and knowing: also that in their qnarrel 
her husband had been the aggressor, for- 
bids this, and tells him to bring the earl 
where he may see her atmass. She takes 
care that he shall have good opportunity 
to view her, and, as h¢ is in hermit’s habit, 
POETRY. 
gives him a good present, and with the 
money a ring. Upon this the earl re- 
turns to his own country. 
Two knights, whom the emperor had 
left to guard his ‘wife, fall in love with 
her, and, like the elders with Susanna, 
in revenge for her virtue, secrete a man 
in her chamber, give the alarm, and kill 
him before he can be heard in his defence. 
She is therefore sentenced to be burnt 
unless some champion will maintain her 
cause in, combat. The earl hears these 
tidings, and loses no time in repairing to 
her defence. He lodges with an abbot, 
who is near of kin to Beulyboon, and had 
confessed. Not knowing 'his guest, he tells 
him that the empress is so innocent, that 
the only sinful thing that she had ever 
committed was in once giving aring to 
the Earl of Tolous. The earl then makes 
himself known, but expresses a wish to 
be assured of her innocence from her own 
mouth, that he may be confident and cer- 
tain that he maintains a right quarrel. 
He is disguised as a priest, and hears her 
confession, then defies her accusers, and 
makes them confess their falsehood. 
This good service occasions a reconcilia- 
tion between him and the emperor, who 
dies shortly after; the earl is then elect- 
ed to be his successor; he marries Beu- 
lyboon, and lives with her happily three 
and twenty years, having fifteen children. 
No French original is known of this 
Romance. It is in the usual stanza of 
twelve lines. . 
The next is a genuine English Ro- 
mance, once popular, and still well known 
by name—The Squyr of Lowe Degre. 
“It was a squyr of lowe degré 
That loved ihe kings doughter of Hungre. 
The squir was curteous and hend, 
Ech man him loved and was his frend ; 
He serve:! the kyng, her father dere, 
Fully the tyme of seven yere; 
For he was marshall of his hall, 
And set the lords both great and smal. 
An bardy man he was, and wight, 
Both in butayle and in fyght : 
But ever he was styll mornyng, 
And no man wyste for what thyng ; 
And all was for that lady, 
The kynges doughter of Hungry. 
There wyste no wyghte in Christent® 
Howe welle he loved that lady fre. 
He loved her more then seven yere, 
Yet was he of her love never the neres 
He was not ryche of golde and fe, 
A gentyll man forsoth was he. 
'To no man dursthe make his mone, 
But syghed sore hym selfe alone.” 
ff Undera bente he layde hym lowe, - 
Ryghi even under hee'chambre wyndowe ; 
