Now will we pass of this matter, and speak we of the harpers that Sir
Launcelot and Sir Dinadan had sent into Cornwall. And at the great
feast that King Mark made for joy that the Sessoins were put out of his
country, then came Eliot the harper with the lay that Dinadan had made
and secretly brought it unto Sir Tristram, and told him the lay that
Dinadan had made by King Mark. And when Sir Tristram heard it, he said:
O Lord Jesu, that Dinadan can make wonderly well and ill, thereas it
shall be. Sir, said Eliot, dare I sing this song afore King Mark? Yea,
on my peril, said Sir Tristram, for I shall be thy warrant. Then at the
meat came in Eliot the harper, and because he was a curious harper men
heard him sing the same lay that Dinadan had made, the which spake the
most villainy by King Mark of his treason that ever man heard.
When the harper had sung his song to the end King Mark was wonderly
wroth, and said: Thou harper, how durst thou be so bold on thy head to
sing this song afore me. Sir, said Eliot, wit you well I am a minstrel,
and I must do as I am commanded of these lords that I bear the arms of.
And sir, wit ye well that Sir Dinadan, a knight of the Table Round,
made this song, and made me to sing it afore you. Thou sayest well,
said King Mark, and because thou art a minstrel thou shalt go quit, but
I charge thee hie thee fast out of my sight. So the harper departed and
went to Sir Tristram, and told him how he had sped. Then Sir Tristram
let make letters as goodly as he could to Launcelot and to Sir Dinadan.
And so he let conduct the harper out of the country. But to say that
King Mark was wonderly wroth, he was, for he deemed that the lay that
was sung afore him was made by Sir Tristram’s counsel, wherefore he
thought to slay him and all his well-willers in that country.
CHAPTER XXXII. How King Mark slew by treason his brother Boudwin, for
good service that he had done to him.
Now turn we to another matter that fell between King Mark and his
brother, that was called the good Prince Boudwin, that all the people
of the country loved passing well. So it befell on a time that the
miscreant Saracens landed in the country of Cornwall soon after these
Sessoins were gone. And then the good Prince Boudwin, at the landing,
he raised the country privily and hastily. And or it were day he let
put wildfire in three of his own ships, and suddenly he pulled up the
sail, and with the wind he made those ships to be driven among the navy
of the Saracens. And to make short tale, those three ships set on fire
all the ships, that none were saved. And at point of the day the good
Prince Boudwin with all his fellowship set on the miscreants with
shouts and cries, and slew to the number of forty thousand, and left
none alive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account