I will them foone acquite, and both of blame. affoile."

VII.

The Prince affented; and then he, ftreightway Difmounting light, his fhield about him threw,

With which approaching thus he gan to fay; "Abide, ye caytive treachetours untrew, That have with treason thralled unto you These two, unworthy of your wretched bands; And now your crime with cruelty purfew: Abide, and from them lay your loathly hands; Or elfe abide the Death that hard before ftands."

VIII.

The Villaine ftayd not aunswer to invent;

you

VI. 9. I will &c.] That is, I will foon release them from the reproach they now fuffer. CHURCH.

VII. 4. treachetours] Traitors. Chaucer ufes treachour in this fenfe; which word is alfo employed by Spenfer. Treuchetour fomewhat resembles the word tregetour, a name formerly applied to magicians, i. e. to that kind of them who were skilled in fleight of hand, &c. See Mr. Tyrwhitt's note on tregetoures, Chaucer's Cant. T. 11453, where he fays "The Gloffary derives tregetour from the Barb. Lat. tricator; but the derivatives of that family are tricheur, tricherie, trick, &c. Nor can I find the word tregetour in any language but our own. It seems clearly to be formed from treget, which is frequently used by Chaucer for deceit, impofture." TODD. VII. 9. the Death that hard before you stands.] So all the editions. But I could wish to have found, "the Death that hard behind you ftands

as in F. Q. ii. viii. 37.

"Lo! where the dreadfull Death behynd thy backe doth ftond!" CHURCH.

But, with his

yron

club preparing way,

His mindes fad meffage backe unto him fent; The which defcended with fuch dreadfull fway, That feemed nought the course thereof could ftay,

No more then lightening from the lofty sky: Ne lift the Knight the powre thereof affay, Whose doome was death; but, lightly flipping by,

Unwares defrauded his intended destiny:

IX.

And, to requite him with the like againe,
With his sharpe fword he fiercely at him flew,
And ftrooke fo ftrongly, that the Carle with
paine

Saved himfelfe but that he there him flew ;
Yet fav'd not fo, but that the blood it drew,
And gave his Foe good hope of victory :
Who, therewith flesht, upon him fet anew,
And with the fecond ftroke thought cer-
tainely

To have fupplyde the firft, and paide the ufury.

X.

But Fortune aunswerd not unto his call;
For, as his hand was heaved up on hight,
The Villaine met him in the middle fall,
And with his club bet backe his brond-yron.
bright

So forcibly, that with his owne hands might

Rebeaten backe upon himselfe againe

He driven was to ground in felfe defpight; From whence ere he recovery could gaine, He in his necke had fet his foote with fell difdaine.

XI.

With that the Foole, which did that end awayte, Came running in; and, whileft on ground

he lay,

Laide heavy hands on him and held fo ftrayte,

That downe he kept him with his scornefull fway,

So as he could not weld him any way:

The whiles that other Villaine went about

Him to have bound and thrald without

delay;

The whiles the Foole did him revile and

flout,

Threatning to yoke them two and tame their corage ftout.

XII.

As when a sturdy ploughman with his hynde

XI. 5. So as he could not weld him] Wield, direct or manage himself any way: him for himfelf is frequent in Spenfer. UPTON.

XI. 9.

XII. 1.

them two] Sir Enias and Timias.

CHURCH.

As when a sturdy ploughman] This fimile feems

taken from Propertius, L. ii. Eleg. 25. ver. 47.

"Sed non ante gravis taurus fuccumbit aratro,
"Cornua quàm validis hæferit in laqueis,"

By strength have overthrowne a stubborne fteare,

They downe him hold, and fast with cords do bynde,

Till they him force the buxome yoke to beare:

So did these two this Knight oft tug and

teare,

Which when the Prince beheld, there ftanding by,

He left his lofty steede to aide him neare ; And, buckling foone himselfe, gan fiercely fly Upon that Carle, to fave his friend from ieopardy.

Or from Orl, Fur. C. xi. 42,

"Come toro falvatico, ch' al corno
"Gittar fi fenta un' improvifo laccio,
"Salta di quà e di là, s' aggira intorno,

"Si colca e leva, e non può ufcir d' impaccio."

UPTON.

XII. 1. hynde] See the note on hylding, F. Q. vi. v, 25. Spenfer, in his View of Ireland, fays "hinds are what the Irish call churls or peasants." Anglo-Sax. hine, famulus, fervus. See Ruddiman's Gloff. G. Douglas's Virgil, in V. "Hynis, hinds, fervants, &c." TODD.

XII. 4. the buxome yoke] The word buxome is here used in the sense of yielding or obedient. See alfo F. Q. iii. ii. 23. Them, that to him buxome are and prone." So Chaucer, The Shipm. Tule, 13107. "And buxome to his wif." See also Spenfer's “buxome air,” F. Q. i. xi. 37, and "buxome waters," F. Q. iii. iv. 32. We have alfo, in our language, the fubftantive buxomeness, which no lexicographer has noticed. Thus, in The Prouerbes of Lydgate, bl. 1. Impr. by Wynkyn de Worde:

"That she is fente, receyve it in buxumneffe." TODD.

XIII.

The Villaine, leaving him unto his Mate
To be captiv'd and handled as he lift,
Himfelfe addreft unto this new debate,
And with his club him all about fo blift,
That he which way to turne him scarcely
wift:

Sometimes aloft he layd, fometimes alow,
Now here, now there, and oft him neare he

mift;

So doubtfully, that hardly one could know Whether more wary were to give or ward the

blow.

XIV.

But yet the Prince fo well enured was With fuch huge strokes, approved oft in fight, That way to them he gave forth right to pas; Ne would endure the daunger of their might, But wayt advantage when they downe did light.

At laft the Caytive after long difcourse,

XIII. 3.

debate,] Contest; as the French ufe debat, and the Italians dibatto. So Chaucer frequently, and G. Douglas. See alfo F. Q. ii. viii. 54, vi. iii. 22. And the verb debate in the sense of fight or contend, F. Q. ii. viii. 11, iii. ix. 14, &c. UPTON.

XIII. 4. And with his club him all about fo blift,] Wounded, from the Fr. blesser. The word is fpelt blift for the fake of the rhyme. See Cotgrave's expofition of bleffer, viz. " to wound or hurt, whether by a bloudwipe, dry blow, or bruife, &c."

TODD.

XIV. 6. after long difcourfe,] After fhifting ground and traverfing to and fro. Lat. difcurfus.

JORTIN.