Book XXI
.
CAXTON.
‘Than syr Launcelot rose vp or day/& tolde the heremyte/It were wel done sayd the heremyte that ye made you redy/& that ye dyshobeye not the auysyon/Than syr Launcelot toke his vii felowes with hym/& on fote they yede from glastynburye to almysburye the whyche is lytel more than xxx myle/& thyder they came within two dayes for they were wayke and feble to goo/& whan syr Launcelot was come to almysburye within the Nunerye quene gweneuer deyed but halfe an oure afore/and the ladyes tolde syr Launcelot that quene Gueneuer tolde hem al or she passyd/that syr Launcelot had been preest nere a twelue monthe/& hyder he cometh as faste as he may to fetch my cors/& besyde my lord kyng Arthur he shal berye me/’
WYNKYN DE WORDE, 1498.
‘Thenne syre Launcelot rose vp or day. And tolde the heremyte. It were well doon sayd the heremyte/that ye made ye redy/and that ye dysobeye not the aduysyon. Thenē syr Launcelot toke his .vij. felowes w^t hym/& on fote they yede from Glastynbury to Almesbury. the whyche is lytyl more than .xxx. myle. And thyder they came wythin two dayes for they were weyke & feble to go. And whan syr Launcelot was come to Almesbury wythin the Nunnery/quene Gweneuer deyed but halfe an houre afore/And the ladyes tolde syr Launcelot/that quene Gweneuer tolde them all or she passyd/that syr Launcelot had be preest nere a twelue month and hither he cometh as fast as he may/to fetche my corps. And besyde my lorde kyng Arthur/he shal bury me.’
UPCOTT.
‘Than syr Launcelot rose vp or it was day, and tolde the heremyte therof. It were well done sayd the heremyte that ye made you redy, and that ye dysobeye not thys aduysyon. The[=n]e syr Launcelot toke his .vii felawes with hym, & on foote they yede from Glastynbury to Almesbury, the whyche is lytyl more than xxx myle. And thyder they came wythin two dayes for they were weyke and feble to go. And whan syr Launcelot was come to Almesbury wythin the Nonnery, quene Gweneuer deyed but halfe an houre afore. And the ladyes tolde syre Launcelot that quene Gueneuer tolde them all or she passyd, that syr Launcelot had been preest nere a twelue moneth, and hither he cometh as faste as he may for to fetche my corps. And besyde my lorde kynge Arthur he shal burye me.’
The last lines of the same Chapter are as follows:—
CAXTON.
‘For whan I remembre of hir beaulte and of hir noblesse that was bothe with hyr king & with hyr/So whan I sawe his corps and hir corps so lye togyders/truly myn herte wold not serue to susteyne my careful body/Also whan I remēbre me how by my defaut & myn orgule and my pryde/that they were bothe layed ful lowe that were pereles that euer was lyuyng of cristen people, wyt you wel sayd syr Launcelot/this remembred of there kyndnes and myn vnkyndnes sanke so to myn herte that I miȝt not susteyne myself so the frensshe
## book maketh mencyon.’
UPCOTT.
(Who follows Wynkyn de Worde exactly, except in the spelling, and in the insertion of ‘me’ after ‘wold not serue.’)
‘For whan I remembre _& calle to mynde_ her beaute, _bountee &_ noblesse, that was _as wel_ wyth her kyng _my lord Arthur_ as wyth her. _And also_ whanne I saw _the corses of that noble kinge & noble quene_ so lye to gyder _in that colde graue made of erthe, that somtyme were so hyghly sette in moost honourable places_, truly myn herte wolde not serue _me_ to susteyne my _wretchyd &_ carefull body. Also whan I remembre me how by my defawte myn orgulyte and my pride, that they were both layed full lowe whyche were pereles that euer were lyuenge of crysten peple, wyte yow wel sayd syr Launcelot, this remembred, of ther kyndnesse & _of_ myn vnkyndnesse, sanke _and enprest_ soo _in_ to my herte that _all my natural strengthe fayled me, so that_ I myghte not susteyne my selfe. Soo the frensshe boke makyth mencyon.’
The several colophons are as follows:—
CAXTON.
‘Thus endeth thys noble and Ioyous book entytled le morte Darthur/Notwithstondyng it treateth of the byrth/lyf/and actes of the sayd kynge Arthur/of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table/theyr meruayllous enquestes and aduentures/thachyeuyng of the sangreal/& in thende the dolourous deth & departyng out of thys world of them al/Whiche book was reduced in to englysshe by syr Thomas Malory knyght as afore is sayd/and by me deuyded in to xxi bookes chapytred and enprynted/and fynysshed in thabbey westmestre the last day of Iuyl the yere of our lord M/CCCC/lxxx/V/ Caxton me fieri fecit.’/
WYNKYN DE WORDE, 1498.
‘Thus endyth this noble and Ioyous boke entytled Le morte dathur. Notwythstondyng it treateth of the byrth lyf & actes of the sayd kynge Arthur of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table. theyr merueyllous enquestes & aduentures. thachyeuynge of the Sancgreall. And in the ende the dolorous deth. & depaytynge out of this worlde of them al. Whyche boke was reduced in to Englysshe by the well dysposyd knyghte afore namyd. And deuyde[d] into .xxi. bokes chapitred. & enprynt[ed] fyrst by Wylliam Caxton/on who[se] soule god haue mercy. And newel[ye] prynted. and chapitres of the sam[e ru-]brisshed at Westmestre, by Wynk[yn de] Worde y^e yere of our lord. M.C[CCC].lxxxxviij. and ended the .xxv [daye of] Marche. the same yere.’
AMES.
‘Thus endeth this noble and joyous boke, entytled La morte d’Arthur. Notwithstondyng it treateth of the byrth, lyf, and actes of the sayd Kynge Arthur, of his noble knyghts of the rounde table, theyr merueylous enquestes and aduentures, thacheuynge of the Sancgreal and in the ende the dolourous deth and depaytynge out of this worlde of them al; whyche boke was reduced into Englysshe by syr Thomas Malory, Knight, as afore is sayd, and by me devyded into xxi. bookes, chapitred and enprynted, and fynisshed in thabbey, Westmestre, the last day of Juyl, the yere of our Lord MCCCCLXXXV. Caxton me fieri fecit.’
HARLEIAN CATALOGUE.
‘The Byrth, Lyf, and Actes of Kyng Arthur; of his noble Knyghtes of the Rounde Table, theyr marvayllous Enquestes and Adventures; the Achyeviyng of the Sang real; and in the end le Morte d’Arthur, with the dolourous Deth and Departyng out of thys world of them Al. Whiche Book was reduced to the Englysshe, by Syr Thomas Malory Knyght, and by me (_W. Caxton_) devyded into 21 bookes, chaptyred and emprynted, and fynyshed in th’ Abbey Westmestre, the last day of July, the yere of our Lord 1485.’
UPCOTT.
‘Thus endeth this noble & joyous booke entytled _La_ Mort _dathur_. Notwythstanding it treateth of the byrth, lyf & actes of the sayd Kynge Arthur, _&_ of his noble knyghtes of the Rounde Table, theyr marueyllous Enquestes & aduentures, thacheyuyng of the _Sang real_, and in the ende _le Morte darthur with_ the dolourous deth and departyng out of thys worlde of them al. Whiche booke was reduced in to Englysshe by Syr Thomas Malory knyght _as afore is sayd_, and by me deuyded in to xxi bookes chaptyred and emprynted and fynysshed in thabbey Westmestre the last day of July the yere of our lord MCCCCLXXXV. _Caxton me fieri fecit._’
On a comparison of these colophons we see that the article _La_ is only in Ames: the spelling of _dathur_ is peculiar to Wynkyn de Worde, who has it also in another passage; the words _le Morte darthur with_ are in the Harleian Catalogue only: _as afore is said_ is in neither of these, but it is in Ames: the peculiar mode of writing _Sang real_[47], and the spelling of _chaptyred_, _emprynted_, _July_, are those of the Harleian Catalogue: the _&_ introduced after _Arthur_ in the second line is only in Upcott. _Caxton me fieri fecit_ is in Ames, but not in the Harleian Catalogue.
When I say in Ames or the Harleian Catalogue only, it will be understood that I include with the colophon of the former its modernised copy in Dibdin; and with that of the latter its copies in Herbert and the Biographia Britannica; the references to all which I have given in the passage of the Introduction to which this is a Note. The first words of the colophon are omitted in the Harleian Catalogue, which gives it as the title of the book, as do the Biographia Britannica and Herbert. The framer of the Catalogue probably quotes directly, though inaccurately, from the Harleian (now the Osterley) Morte Darthur: and Ames must have made his extract independently from the same volume. Dibdin attributes both the Harleian Catalogue and the article in the Biographia Britannica to Oldys.
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Footnote 1:
‘A braver soldier never couched lance, A gentler heart did never sway in court.’
First part of _Henry VI._ iii. 2.
Footnote 2:
_Le Morte Darthur_, edited from the Harleian MS. 2252, in the British Museum, by F. T. Furnivall, 1864.
Footnote 3:
The council of devils seems to have suggested that in _Paradise Lost_.
Footnote 4:
Geoffrey of Monmouth afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph wrote, or as he tells us, translated from a work in the British tongue his _Historiae Brithonum_ early in the 12th century.
Footnote 5:
Itinerary, ii. pp. 38, 39; Hearne, 1711.
Footnote 6:
Somersetshire Illustrated, by John Strachey, MS. 1736.
Footnote 7:
Polyolbion, 3rd Song.
Footnote 8:
Camelot: a Lecture delivered in 1889 by the Rev. J. H. Bennett. See also Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archæological Society, 1890.
Footnote 9:
_Gervasii Tilburiensis Otia Imperialia_, Decisio ii. cap. xii, de Insulis Mediterranei, in vol. I of ‘Scriptores Rerum Brunsvicensium Illustrationi inservientes: Cura G. G. Leibnitzii, Hanov. MDCCVII.’ Gervase of Tilbury wrote about the beginning of the thirteenth century. He was at the Peace of Venice in 1177 A. D.; was Chancellor and Marshall of the kingdom of Arles about the year 1200; and died in 1235.
Footnote 10:
‘Renaissance in Italy,’ by J. A. Symonds, iv. 17.
Footnote 11:
The passage, which also recounts the names of Ewaine, Gawaine, and Launcelot du Lac, is found in a charming episode in ‘The Complaynt of Scotland’ (written in 1548, and edited in 1801 by G. J. Leyden), in which the author tells how he went into the country to refresh his weary mind and body, and there fell in with a party of shepherds and shepherds’ wives and servants, who amused themselves with telling a number of stories, classical and romantic, of which he gives the names. It is a prose idyll, which reminds us of the Canterbury Tales, and the Vision of Piers Plowman, in the love of nature and the love of story-telling which it displays. Here, and in the passage from Gervase, I quote from the originals; but my attention was first directed to these by Sir George Webb Dasent’s quotations in his ‘Popular Tales from the Norse,’ p. xxix.
Footnote 12:
Roquefort, Glossaire de Langue Romane, art. ‘Graal:’ where are also given the original passages from the first three romances named in the text.
Footnote 13:
_Caffari Annales Genuenses_ in Muratori’s _Italicarum Rerum Scriptores_, Tom. VI: Bent’s _Genoa_; and Dunlop’s _History of Fiction_, edited by H. Wilson, Vol. I, Supplementary Note on the Sangreal.
Footnote 14:
‘Pall Mall Gazette’ of June 23, 1868.
Footnote 15:
‘The Schoolmaster,’ by Roger Ascham;