very hour, I never heard; and which, by as remarkable a coincidence as ever happened in literature, was announced to me, as I was writing the above paragraph, in a letter from a friend on the banks of the Tweed. This letter is dated Sept. 1st, 1803.

"Mr. Scott, of Edinburgh," says my friend, "is preparing to republish an old metrical romance, entitled Sir Tristram. The edition in question will be made from an unique copy in the Advocates' library in Edinburgh, not for the intrinsic merit of the romance, as a poetical production, which would never have caused its being rescued from confinement, but as a genuine record, too valuable to remain hanging by a single thread. This sole relic of Thomas the Rhymer's muse, is the oldest specimen we possess of compositions of this kind, and one of the few that can be proved decidedly of British origin. It is referred to by Robert de Brune in his metrical annals of England (published by Hearne), and was translated into French very early in the thirteenth century, after which, probably, it was dilated into a prose romance, in French, of considerable length, in which Sir Tristram figures as a knight of the round table; whereas no mention is made of King Arthur, either by Thomas of Erceldowne, or his French translator. The principal dramatis personæ are Mark, King of Cornwall, Ysonde his Queen, and his nephew Sir Tristram. Of course the story abounds in wondrous exploits, but from the frequent references that have been made to it, and the veneration which still attaches to the memory of the author, the fiction, perhaps, is more

closely interwoven with truth than usually happens. The topography may, for the most part, be ascertained at the present day; and the few exceptions, fairly referable to the stroke of time, may consequently be looked upon as no inaccurate guide towards ascertaining the former existence of places now withdrawn from view. Mention is more than once made of a Cornish port of the name of Carlioun. If the circumstance of the existence of this romance interest you, it will much gratify me, and I am happy in having Mr. Scott's permission to say, that the respect which he entertains for you, as a historian and poet, makes him anxious to assist you, should it lie in his power, in your historic pursuits. Has his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border' fallen into your hands? If not, I shall not incur the risk of having to apologize to you for calling your attention to a very interesting and elegant specimen of the fruits of Local Attachment.'

"Mr. Scott is likewise desirous that Mr. Whitaker, our worthy historian of Manchester, should be informed of the high esteem in which he is held on his side the Tweed; nor does any one esteem him more highly than Mr. Scott himself.

"As my sheet will admit of it, I may as well send you the first stanza of the Romance.

'I was at Erceldowne,

With Tomas spak y thare;
Ther herd y rede in roune,
Who Tristrem gat and bare,

Who was king with crown;

And who him fosterd yare;
And who was bold baroun,

As thair elders ware,

Bi yere ;

Tomas tells in town,

This aventours as thai ware.'

"C. C."

Mr. Polwhele proceeds to say-"My curiosity rests not here. I have this day (January 16th, 1804,) written to Mr. Scott, and will report his answer." Afterwards, he adds "I am favoured with Mr. Scott's answer, dated Castle-street, Edinburgh, 27th January, 1804. It is as follows:

66

SIR,

"I AM honoured with your letter of the 16th Jan., and lose no time in communicating such information about Sir Tristram as I think may interest you. Tristram (of whose real existence I cannot persuade myself to doubt) was nephew to Mark, King of Cornwall. He is said to have slain, in single combat, Morough of Ireland, and, by his success in that duel, to have delivered Cornwall from a tribute which that kingdom paid to Angus, King of Leinster. Tristram was desperately wounded by the Irish warrior's poisoned sword, and was obliged to go to Dublin to be cured, in the country where the venom had been confected. Ysonde, or Ysondi, daughter of Angus, accomplished this cure, but had nearly put him to death upon discovering that he was the person who had slain her uncle. Tristram returned to Cornwall, and spoke so highly in praise of the beautiful Ysonde, that Mark sent him to

demand her in marriage. This was a perilous adventure for Sir Tristram, but by conquering a dragon, or, as other authorities bear, by assisting King Angus in battle, his embassy became successful, and Ysonde was delivered into his hands to be conveyed to Cornwall. But the Queen of Ireland had given an attendant damsel a philtre or a phrodisiac to be presented to Mark and Ysonde on their bridal night. Unfortunately the young couple, while at sea, drank this beverage without being aware of its effects. The consequence was the intrigue between Tristram and Ysonde, which was very famous in the middle ages. The romance is occupied in describing the artifices of the lovers to escape the observation of Mark, the counterplots of the courtiers' jealousy of Tristram's favour, and the anxious credulity of the King of Cornwall, who is always imposed upon, and always fluctuating betwixt doubt and confidence. At length he banishes Tristram from his court, who retires to Brittanye (Bretagne), where he marries another Ysonde, daughter of the Duke of that British settlement. From vivid recollection of his first attachment, he neglects his bride, and, returning to Cornwall in various disguises, renews his intrigue with the wife of his uncle. At length, while in Brittanye, he is engaged in a perilous adventure, in which he receives an arrow in his old wound. No one can cure the gangrene but the Queen of Cornwall, and Tristram dispatches a messenger, entreating her to come to his relief. The confidant of his passion is directed, if his embassy be successful, to hoist a white sail upon his return, and if otherwise, a black one. Ysonde, of Brittanye,

the wife of Tristram, overhears these instructions, and on the return of the vessel, with her rival on board, fired with jealousy, she tells her husband falsely, that the sails are black. Tristram concluding himself abandoned by Ysonde, of Cornwall, throws himself back and dies. Meantime the Queen lands and hastens to the succour of her lover-finding him dead, she throws herself on the body, and dies also.

"This is the outline of the story of Tristram, so much celebrated in ancient times. As early as the eleventh century his famous sword is said to have been found in the grave of a King of the Lombards. The loves of Tristram and Ysonde are alluded to in the songs of ye King of Navarre, who flourished about 1226, and also in Chretien de Troyes, who died about 1200. During the thirteenth century, Tomas of Erceldown, Earlstown in Berwickshire, called the Rhymer, composed a metrical history of their amours. He certainly died previous to 1299. His work is quoted by Robert de Brunne, with very high encomium. For some account of this extraordinary personage, I venture to refer you to a compilation of ballads, entitled the minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 2d Edit. v. ii. p. 262, where I have endeavoured to trace his history. It is his metrical romance which I am publishing, not from a Scottish manuscript of coeval date, but from an English manuscript apparently written during the minority of Edward III. The transcriber quotes Tomas as his authority, and professes to tell the tale of Sir Tristram, as it was told to him by the author. The stanza is very peculiar, and the