and the mad caprices of a parent. The subject of this romance appears to have been taken from the ecclesiastical history of Normandy: there is still remaining near Rouen the priory of the Two Lovers, which tradition reports to have been founded by the father on the very same spot where the lovers perished, and over the tomb which contained them. This piece consists of 242 verses.
The seventh is the Lay of Yuenec, a Bas-Breton Knight, the son of Muldumarec, lord of Carvent, and has 552 verses.
The eighth is that of Laustic. This is likewise the romantic his- tory of a Bas-Breton Knight, in which a nightingale forms a con- siderable character. It contains 158 verses, and has been trans- lated into English metre under the title of the Nythingale[1].
The ninth is the Lay of Milon, a British Knight, in 536 verses.
The tenth is that of Chaitivel This is the story of a Lady of Nantes, beloved by four knights, three of whom are slain in a tournament, and the fourth dangerously wounded. It is the latter who is called Chaitivel, or the Unhappy. It consists of 224 verses.
The eleventh is the Lay of Chevrefeuille. It is an incident taken from the Amours of Tristan de Leonnois with the wife of king Marc his uncle, and contains 118 verses.
Lastly, the twelfth is the Lay of Elidus, a Bas-Breton Knight, and is the longest of all Mary's Lays, consisting of 1184 verses.
It is to be regretted that the limits of this dissertation will not admit of my giving some of these poems entire. The smaller ones are in general of much importance as to the knowledge of ancient chivalry. Their author has described manners with a pencil at once faithful and pleasing; she arrests the attention of her readers by the subjects of her stories, by the interest which she skilfully blends in them, and by the simple and natural language in which she relates them. In spite of
- ↑ Bibl. Cotton. Calig. A. II.
