Stand abacke, ftand abacke, fayd Robin;
Why draw you mee so neere?

Itt was never the ufe in our countryè,

Ones fhrift another shold heere,

But Robin pulled forth an Irysh knife,
And lofed John hand and foote,

And gave him fir Guyes bowe into his hand,

And bade it be his boote.

220

Then John he tooke Guyes bowe in his hand, 225
His boltes and arrowes eche one :

When the sheriffe faw Little John bend his bow,

Towards his houfe in Nottingham towne,

He fled full fast away ;

And foe did all the companye;

Not one behind wold stay.

But he cold neither runne foe faft,

Nor away foe fast cold ryde,

But Little John with an arrowe foe broad,'
He fhott him into the backe'-fyde.

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235

** The Title of SIR was not formerly peculiar to Knights, it was given to Priefts, and fometimes to very inferior perfonages.

1

IX.

THE TOWER OF DOCTRINE.

The Reader has here a fpecimen of the defcriptive powers of STEPHEN HAWES, a celebrated poet in the reign of Hen. VII. tho' now little known. It is extracted from an allegorical poem of his (written in 1505.) intitled, "The Hift. of Graunde Amoure & La Belle Pucel, called the "Palace of Pleafure, &c." 4to. 1555. See more of Hawes in Ath. Ox. v. 1. p. 6. and Warton's Obferv. v. 2. p. 105.

The following Stanzas are taken from Chap. III." How "Fame departed from Graunde Amour and left him with "Governaunce and Grace, and how he went to the Tower

of Doctrine.”—As we are able to give no small lyric piece of Hawes's, the Reader will excufe the infertion of this extract.

I

Loked about and fawe a craggy roche,

Farre in the weft neare to the element,

And as I dyd then unto it approche,

Upon the toppe I fawe refulgent

The royall tower of MORALL DOCUMENT, Made of fine copper with turrets faire and hye, Which against Phebus fhone so marveylously,

That for the very perfect brighteness

What of the tower, and of the cleare funne,
I could nothyng behold the goodliness

Of that palaice, whereas Doctrine did wonne a
Till at the laft, with myftie wyndes donne,
The radiant brightness of golden Phebus
Aufter gan cover with clowde tenebrous.
VOL. III.

G 4

10

Then

15

Then to the tower I drew nere and nere,
And often mufed of the great hyghnes
Of the craggy roche, which quadrant did appere:
But the fayre tower, (fo much of ryches
Was all about,) fexangled doubtelefs;
Gargeyld with grayhounds, and with many lyons, 20
Made of fyne golde, with divers fundry dragons.

The little turrett with ymages of golde

About was fet, which with the wynde aye moved With proper vices, that I did well beholde About the towre: in fundry wyfe they hoved 25 With goodly pypes, in their mouthes ituned, That with the winde they pyped a daunce Iclipped Amour de la bault plefaunce.

The toure was great of marveylous wydnes,
To which ther was no way to paffe but one,

૩૦

Into the toure for to have an intres :

A grece ther was ychyfeled all of stone
Out of the rocke, on whyche men did gone

Up to the toure, and in lykewyfe did I

Wyth both the Grayhoundes in my company † : 35

Till that I came unto a ryall gate,

Wher I fawe ftondynge the goodly Portres,
Whych exed me from whence I came alate;

To whom I gan in every thinge expreffe
All myne adventure, chaunce, and bufineffe,
And cke my name; I tolde her every dell:
When the hard this she lyked me full well.

This alludes to a former part of the Poem.

40

Her

Her name, fhe fayd, was called COUNTENAUNCE;
Into the bafe courte fhe dyd me then lede,
Where was a fountayne depured of pleafaunce,
A noble fprynge, a riall conduyte hede,`
Made of fyne golde enameled with reed;
And on the toppe four dragons blewe and floute
The dulcet water in four parts dyd spoute.

Of whyche ther flowed foure ryvers ryght clere,
Sweter than Nylust or Ganges was ther odoure;
Tygres or Eufrates unto them no pere:

I did than tafte th' aromatyke licoure
Fragrant of fume, and fwete as any floure,
And in my mouthe it had a marveylous fcent
Of divers fpyces, I knewe not what it ment.
And after thys further forth me brought
Dame Countenaunce into a goodlye Hall,
Of jafper ftones it was wonderly wrought:
The wyndowes clere depured all of cryftall,
And in the roufe on hie over all
Of gold was made a ryght crafty vyne,
Inftede of grapes the rubies there did shyne.

The flore was paved with berall clarified,
With pillars made of ftones pretious,
Like a place of pleasure fo gayely glorified,
It might be called a palace glorious,
So much delectable and folacious:
The hall was hanged hye and circuler
With clothe of arras in the richest manner.

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50

55

ба

65

70

That

That treated well of a ful noble ftory,

Of the doutye waye to the Tower Perillous; † Howe a noble knyghte fhould winne the victory Of many a ferpent foule and odious.

The Story of the Poem.

X.

THE CHILD OF ELLE,

is given from a fragment in the Editor's folio MS: which tho extremely defective and mutilated, appeared to have Jo much merit, that it excited a firong defire to attempt a completion of the fiory. The Reader will easily discover the Supplemental ftanzas by their inferiority, and at the fame time be inclined to pardon it, when he confiders how difficult it must be to imitate the affecting fimplicity and artless beauties of the original.

CHILD was a title jometimes given to a knight. See Gloss.

N yonder hill a castle ftandes,

With walles and towres bedight,
And yonder lives the Child of Elle,

A young and comely knighte.