2 NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[294 S, No 1., Jan. 6.756. 
in the fifteenth century. This introductory chapter 
is remarkable as being in verse, although written 
in prose; and it contains the fabulous narrative of 
the thirty daughters of a king of Greece, the 
eldest of whom, Albine, first gave her name to 
this island of Albion, and from her descended the 
giants who inhabited the land until the arrival 
of Brutus. Only one copy (Harl. 200.) has a 
general title prefixed: Ict comencent les Cronikes 
de tout Engleterre, but all three copies agree in 
beginning the Chronicle in nearly these words: 
“En la noble cite de grant Zrvie il y avoit un 
fort chivalier,” &c., which first chapter gives us 
the story of the flight of Eneas from Troy to 
Italy, and subsequent events to the death of Sil- 
vius by the hand of his son Brutus. The copy in 
the Add. MS. ends imperfectly in the reign of 
Edward IL. and the text of the Harleian copy is 
considerably abridged in the reigns of Edward II. 
and III. Not long after the date of the comple- 
tion of this work, a revision of it was made, with 
various alterations and additions; the reigns of 
Edward II. and Edward ILI. were much enlarged 
(although still ending with the battle of Halidon 
Hill, in 1332), and verbal variations were made 
throughout. This revised text is preserved in the 
Old Royal MS. 20. A. iii., written probably not 
jater than 1345; and a fair, but more recent 
copy of the same text (of the fifteenth century) 
is in the Add. MS. 18,462. art. 1. 
caused the following title to be prefixed: ‘Chro- 
nica Sancti Albani sive Fructus Temporum, a 
primis incolis usque ad regnum Edw. 3. Gallice ;” 
but this is entirely erroneous, from his confound- 
ing it with quite a different work, as will here- 
after be shown. The real title is given at the 
head of the table of chapters, thus: La Table 
des Cronicles d' Engleterre. As this revised text 
was the one from which the English prose Brute 
(as it appears in the majority of copies) was trans- 
lated, and forms the basis of Caxton’s edition, it may 
be desirable to point out the chief variations from 
the original text. In the first place, an entirely new 
prefatory chapter was composed, relative to the 
legend of Albine, in which the name of her father 
is given as Dioclicias (English copies Dioclician), 
and the locality of his kingdom transferred from 
Greece to Syria. The rubric in 20 D. iii, is Ci 
poet hom oir coment Engleterre fust primes nomé 
Albion, et par qi la terre receust eel noun, and the 
copies commence, “En la noble eitee de Sirie 
regna un noble roi,” &e. The names of the giants 
Gogmagog and Langherigan arealsosupplied. Both 
copies insert the prophecies of Merlin to Arthur 
(capp. 76—81. of Royal MS.), as also the prophe- 
cies of the same personage relating to the reigns 
of Henry III., Edw. I., and Edw. IL. (capp. 179. 
194, 219.), none of which additions are in the ori- 
ginal text, Both copies, moreover, omit the 
Sir Symonds | 
D’Ewes, to whom the latter copy belonged, has | 
chapter respecting Malgo, and pass at once from 
Conan to Certik; andin the MS, 18,462, art. 1., an 
omission occurs of two chapters (47. and 48.) 
relative to Constance, Constantin, Maxence, and 
Octavian ; bat this may probably be a peculiarity 
(or fault) of this copy, as is also its arbitrary 
division into two books, the chapters of which are 
separately numbered. In this revised text it is, 
that we first find the story relative to the death 
of King John by poison (cap. 164.), which is cited 
by Stowe, in his Annales (edit. 1615, p.175.), as 
“reported by a namelesse authour, a continuer of 
Geoffrey Monmouth, in the reygne of Edward the 
Third, and since increased, printed by William 
Caxton, and therefore called Caxton's Chronicle;” 
but it would hence seem that Stowe made use of 
an English, rather than a French copy of the 
work. Who was the author of the original French 
compilation, is unknown, nor is his name likely to 
be discovered. On a fly-leaf of one copy of the 
English prose translation (MS. Harl. 4690.) is 
written, in a hand of the sixteenth century, “ The 
Memoralle Cronicke, written by John Douglas, 
Munke of Glastonburuye Abbaye;” and on this 
insufficient evidence, Mr. Douce, in his Zdlustra- 
tions of Shakspeare (vol. i. p. 423.), assumed the 
author to be Douglas, in which he is blindly fol- 
lowed by Dr. Dibdin (Typ. Antig., vol i. p. 90.), 
and others; but the note may only refer to the 
scribe, or be a mere scribble, for the name of 
Douglas is wholly ignored by Leland, Bale, Pits, 
and Tanner. On the other hand, it is evident, 
that the author’s name was not known in the 
fifteenth century; for in several copies of the 
English version (as MS. Harl. 24., and MS. 
Digby, 185.), we are told, in a prefatory heading 
to the work, “The wiche gestis and romayns 
mani dyvers goode men and grete clerkes, and 
namely men of relygion, have compilede and 
wretone .... and lette calle hem Cronicles.” 
And again, at the conclusion of other copies (Harl. 
1337. and 6251., Hatton, 50.), we read, “ Here 
endith a booke eallyd the Croniclis of Englonde, 
made and compiled by notabil clerkis.” From 
these expressions, we may reasonably infer, that 
the name of the original composer was never 
avowed, but the whole considered as a compila- 
tion made from the earlier historians. 
From a collation of a considerable number of 
copies of the English prose Brute, it would appear 
that this version, when first made, concluded, like 
the French original, with the battle of Halidon 
Hill, in 1332; and in several copies (Harl. 2182., 
2279., 2448.), the words Deo gracias are here 
added, which would imply the termination of the 
work. In the sale of Mr. Rennie’s library, in 
July, 1829 (Lot 753.), was also a copy of the 
work, ending in this same year, 1332. The 
Chronicle was subsequently continued to the end 
of the reign of Edward III, in 1377; as attested 
