vi. Foreword 



memoirs, would indeed be a labour of Hercules. 

 It would expand the book to several volumes and 

 would obliterate all vestiges of Cecil's original 

 work. The Editor has thought it best, there- 

 fore, to reproduce Cecil's first edition, confining 

 his editorial activities to correcting the quotations 

 from Beckford and Somerville, to comparing the 

 extracts from The Master of Game with Mr. 

 Baillie-Grohman's edition of that work and amend- 

 ing them accordingly, and to expunging some of 

 the commas with which the first printer had so 

 liberally besprinkled the book. He has also broken 

 up most of the longer paragraphs. 



With regard to the extracts from The Master of 

 Game (which Cecil wrongly assigns to Edmund of 

 Langley), the transcript which our Author used was 

 faulty at times ; e.g. Cecil has " Duke of Teyne " 

 for Duke of Guienne ; " hem," the ancient form of 

 " them," he renders " him"; mote he spells " note," 

 lymers " lymes," lodges " logs," rally " relay," etc. 

 All these things the Editor has corrected from 

 Mr. Baillie-Grohman's book and has added in foot- 

 notes the meanings of obsolete words. 



It was the Editor's intention at first to add a 

 number of notes ; but on second thoughts he 

 decided that to annotate the work would, again, be 

 to destroy its character. At present it is eminently 

 readable, and it is to be hoped that in its present 

 shape it will give pleasure to many who have not 

 yet made Cecil's acquaintance or have read him so 

 long ago that this book is to all intents a new one. 



Four illustrations from old prints have been 

 added. 



