THE LTFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



s tale appears also in the Cento Novelle Antiche, 1 

 Scot rg i n ^at collection the place of Michael Scot 

 , . his companion is taken by 'three masters of 

 tromancy.' 



:eln the Pseudo Boccaccio 2 we find another tale, 



lyrring to the later and less happy period of the 



TT tl-erial fortunes. The scene is laid in Vittoria, 



^,ii armed camp which Frederick pitched so long 



t >re the walls of rebellious Parma. The Par- 



Q y*o | 



iriani had made a successful sally, forced the 

 com" 



, i I mces of Vittoria, and were plundering the place. 



-e ooor shoemaker of Parma, who made one of this 



r 3 edition, was lucky enough to come upon the 



i arerial tent itself. Entering, he found a small 



, -jtirel, which he caught up and carried back to his 



i IV.ie. On trial it proved to contain excellent wine, 



, )l:ch the shoemaker and his wife drank from day 



.,i dday, till at last it occurred to them to wonder 



i-w the supply never came to an end. They 



i:ined the barrel to see, and found within it a 



i a Jl silver figure of an angel with his foot planted 



( a grape, also of silver, from which flowed 

 nam< 



1 ystantly the delicious wine they had so long 



ET )yed. ' Now, this was made by magic art/ 



r 1 3]tinues the commentator, ' and by necromancy, 



IT . it was Thales, otherwise called Michael Scot, 



i , e) contrived it by his skill and power.' Needless 



Didd that, by this indiscreet curiosity, the charm 



SO110* 



^ 5 broken, and the generous wine flowed no longer 

 , t gladden the hearts of the shoemaker and his 

 ., r e. 



^We have thus traced the development of the 



Seemiy ^ 0< xx - 



in 12K Ghiose sopra, Dante, published by Lord Vernon ; Florence, 1846, 

 ' 62 163. 



