_Tho_ (then) _myghtist thou karoles sene,_ _And folk daunce and mery bene,_ _And made many a faire tournyng_ _Upon the grene gras springyng_. There myghtist thou se these flowtours, _Mynstrales and eke jogelours,_ _That wel to synge dide her peyne,_ _Somme songe songes of Loreyne;_ _For in Loreyn her notes bee_ _Fulle swetter than in this contré._ _There was many a tymbester,_ _And saillouris_ (jumpers, _or_ tumblers), _that I dar wel swere_ _Couthe_ (knew) _her craft ful parfitly,_ _The tymbris up ful sotilly_ _They caste and hente fulle ofte_ _Upon a fynger faire and softe,_ _That they ne failide never mo._ _Ful fetys damyseles two,_ _Ryght yonge, and fulle of semelyhede,_ _In kirtles and noon other wede,_ _And faire tressed every tresse,_ _Hadde Myrthe doon for his noblesse_ _Amydde the karole for to daunce._ _But herof lieth no remembraunce_ _How that they daunced queyntly,_ _That oon wolde come alle pryvyly_ _Agayn that other, and whan they were_ _Togidre almost, they threwe yfere_ (in company) _Her mouthis so, that thorough her play_ _It semed as they kiste alway._ _To dauncen welle koude they the gise,_ _What shulde I more to you devyse?_ These lines show us that our forefathers in the middle ages had their dancing girls, just as they had and still have them in the East; it was one trait of the mixture of Oriental manners with those of Europe which had taken place since the crusades. In these extracts, indeed, we have allusions to the practices of dancing and singing, of playing at chess and tables, of drinking, and even of dining, in the gardens. Our engraving No. 194, taken from the romance of “Alexander,” in the Bodleian Library, represents a garden scene, in which two royal personages are playing at chess. Dancing in the open air was a very common recreation, and is not unfrequently alluded to. In the Roman de Geste, known by the title of “La Mort de Garin,” a large dinner party is given in a garden-- _Les napes metent pardeanz un jardin._ --Mort de Garin, p. 28. And, in the “Roman de Berte” (p. 4), Charles Martel is represented as dining similarly in the garden, at the midsummer season, when the rose was in blossom-- _Entour le saint Jehan, que la rose est fleurie._ [Illustration: _No. 194. A. Mediæval Garden Scene._]