n o b 



ROB 



Bellar, cantar', e fonar fact .in fare, 

 Quattro cento fonator fi dicia 

 Con bufioni alia corte fi trovor. 

 Roba e danar donar lor fi facia. 

 Ciafcun molto conter.to fi chiamoe, 



" Eight days thefe fports were held, where valiant knights 

 In tilts and tournaments their prowefs ihow, 

 And minftrels, full four hundred, crown the rites, 

 While dance ai d fong teach ev'ry heart to glow. 

 To thefe and each buffoon who here was found, 

 Or gold ' - or robes of coflly fort ; 



And all, fu well their fpritely arts were crown'd, 

 Depart contented from the fplendid court." 



With what magnificence the princes of the houfe of Vif- 

 conti fupported their court at Milan, during the fame cen- 

 tury, is frequently defcribed by Cono the hiltorian ; but he 

 particularly excites our wonder by his account of the lolemn 

 pomp with which the nuptials of Lionel, duke of Clarence, 

 fon of Edward III. king of England, was celebrated in 

 1368, with Viohntc, the daughter of Galeaxzo Vifconti, 

 duke of Milan. This event i>" circumltantially related by 

 feveral other ancient hiflorians of Italy ; and Aliprando of 

 Mantua tells us, that Lionel gave five hundred luperb drefles 

 to the minllrels, muficians, and buffoons, who were then 

 aflembled at Milan ; that Galeazzo prefented them with 

 many more ; and Bernabo, his brother, rewarded them 

 munificently with money on the oecafion. 



The fplendid robes and gorgeous attire of bards and 

 minllrels at all times are upon record. The flowing vefl of 

 Orpheus, in the triple capacity of prieft, legiflator, and 

 mufician, is fpecilied by Virgil; Arion is related by Hero- 

 dotus to have leaped into the fea, in the rich vellments he 

 ufually wore in public ; Suidas fpeaks of the laffron robe 

 and Milefian flippers worn by Antigenides ; and the per- 

 formers in the tragic chorus, which ufed to be furnifhed at 

 the expence of fome wealthy citizen of Athens, wore alfo a 

 fplendid and coitly uniform. 



In France the Jongleurs, and in Provence the Trouba- 

 dours, or minllrels, during the middle ages, had frequent 

 prefents of coitly robes from their patrons. In the " Fab- 

 liau Conte," or Tale of the red Rofe, a female complains 

 to a •ua-vajfor, or yeoman, of his having taken from her a 

 robe, to give to the minftrels. 



" Bien doit eftre vavaflor vis, 

 Qu'il vuet devenir meneftrier ; 

 Miez voudroi que fufliez rez, (rafe) 

 Sans aigue (eau) la telle & le coul, 

 Que ia n'y remanfill clievoul, 

 S'apartient a ces jongleours, 

 Et a ces autres chanteours, 

 Qu'ils ayent dc ces chevaliers, 

 Les robes, car c'ell lor melliers." 



Fabliau de la Rofe vermeille. 



" I would not own the wretch for kin, 

 Who wou'd the minllrel trade purfue, 

 He'd better dry (have head and chin, 

 And, with the hair, cut off the fkin, 

 Than herd with fuch a worthlefs crew. 

 Let fplendid knights with ufual pride, 

 On fullers lavifh Inch rewards, 

 But 'tis to meaner fools denied 

 To ft rip themfelves for vagrant bards." 



The cuftom of prefenting muficians with fuperb and ex. 

 penfivc drefles during the 14th century, in the manner al- 



ready related, feems to have travelled into England, and to 

 • continued here till after the eflablifhment of the king's 

 band of four-and-twenty performers ; part of their prefent 

 lalary being Hill paid at the wardrobe office, as an equi- 

 valent for the annual drefs with which they ufed to be fur- 

 nifhed at his majetly's expence. To this we may add, that 

 the waits, or muficians who attend on the mayor and alder- 

 men, in moll of our incorporate cities and towns, are fur- 

 nifhed with fplendid cloaks. 



Robk, in Geography, a river of Ireland, which, rifing in 

 the eaftern part of the county of Mayo, flows weilward by 

 the town of Ballinrobe ; a few miles weil of which it dif- 

 charges it fell into Lough Mafic. 



ROBEC, a river of France, which runs into the Seine, 

 a little below Rouen. 



ROBEK, a river of France, which runs into the Meufe, 

 near Stevenfwaert. — Alfo, a river of France, formed by the 

 union of the Clarence and the Nevee, which, after a fhort 

 courfe, runs into the Lys, 2 miles E. of St. Venant. 



Robek, or Robcque, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Straits of Calais ; 3 miles S. of St. Venant. 



RO BEL, a town of the duchy of Mecklenburg ; 9 miles 

 S. of Wehrau. N. lat. 53° 10'. E. long. 12° 45'. 



ROBER, a river of France, which runs into the Mo- 

 felle, at Treves. 



ROBERUSMEN. See Robbery. 

 ROBERGIA, in Botany, received that appellation from 

 Profeffor Schreber, in memory of Laurence Roberg, pro- 

 feflbr of phyfic in the univerfity of Upfal, who was born in 

 1664, and died in 1742. His mofl curious, though very 

 compendious and fuperricial publication, entitled Grundvahl 

 til Plantekjann'mgen, is an anonymous introduction to botany, 

 on Tournefort's plan, of 20 duodecimo pages, with as many 

 rude wooden cuts of flowers, to illuilrate the principal 

 clafi'es. Of the fifteen various inaugural differtations, pub- 

 lilhed under the prefidency of Roberg, only two are bo- 

 tanical ; one being that of John Olaus Rudbeck, on the 

 Sceptrum Carolinum (fee Ridbeck); and the other by 

 Lofsberg on the Generation of Plants. — Schreb. Gen. 

 309. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 1. 752. Mart. Mill. Diet. v. 4. 

 (Rourea; Aubl. Guian. v. 1. 467. Jufl. 369.)— Clafs and 

 order, Decandria Pentagynia. Nat. Ord. Tercbintacet, 

 JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, in five 

 deep, roundifh, concave fegments, permanent. Cor. 01 

 five roundifh petals, the length of the calyx. Stam. Fila- 

 ments ten, inferted into the receptacle, the length of the 

 corolla ; anthers roundifh. Pi/I. Germen fuperior, roundilh, 

 villous ; flyles five, capillary ; ftigmas rather thick, fur- 

 rowed. Perk. Drupa ovate, moft. convex on one (idi . 

 llightly hollowed out at the other. Seed. Nut the (ha] 

 the drupa, of one cell, with a bivalve (hell. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx in five deep fegments. Petals 

 Drupa fuperior, of one cell. Nut with a bivalve Hull, and 

 (ingle kernel. 



i. R. frutefcens. Willd. n. 1 . (Rourea frutefci 

 Aubl. Guian. v. 1. 467. t. 187.) — Native of woods in 

 Guiana, belonging to the parifh of Aroura, flowering in 

 Augufl. The/fan 1 Ihrubby, fupporting itfelJ b 

 ing over the neighbourin] Leaves alt mate, 



of three or four pair, with an odd one, <jl (talked, elliptical, 

 pointed, entire leaflets, from an inch and a half to I 

 inches long; fmooth above; downy and whitiih be: 

 Floivers in axillary, branched white, with a fcenl 



fweeter than that of lilac. Fruh black, with 

 kernel. 



ROBERT, in Biography, emperor of Germany, fur 

 7. .' . 



