[56] 1st edit. 1550, fo. xxvi. b. (Randolf is misprinted Rand of.) Subsequent editions, even of the same year, reading only “Randall of Chester.” Mr. Warton (History of English Poetry, ii. 179) makes this genius, whom he calls a frier, say “that he is well acquainted with the rimes of Randall of Chester;” and these rimes he, whimsically enough, conjectures to be the old Chester Whitsun plays; which, upon very idle and nonsensical evidence, he supposes to have been written by Randal Higden, the compiler of the Polychronicon. Of course, if this absurd idea were at all well founded, the rimes of Robin Hood must likewise allude to certain Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire plays, written by himself. The “Randolf erl of Chester” here meant is Randal Blundevile, the last earl of that name, who had been in the Holy Land, was a great warrior and patriot, and died in 1231. The reading of the original edition is confirmed by a very old manuscript in the Cotton Library (Vespasian, B. XVI.) differing considerably from the printed copies, which gives the passage thus: “I can nouzt perfiitli my pater-noster as a prest it syngeth: I can rymes of Robyn Hood, of Rondolf erl of Chestre, Ac of oure lorde ne of oure ladi the leste that ever was maked.” (See also Caligula, A. XI.) The speaker himself could have told Mr. Warton he was no frier: “I have ben prieste & person passynge thyrty winter, Yet can I nether solfe, ne singe, ne sayntes lyves read; But I can find in a fielde or in a furlong an hare, Better than in Beatus vir or in Beati omnes Construe one clause well, & kenne it to my parishens.” [57] “De quibus stolidum wigus hianter in comœdiis & tragædiis prurienter festum faciunt, & super ceteras ‘romancias mimos & bardanos cantitare delectantur” (Scotichronicon, à Hearne, p. 774). Comedies and tragedies are—not dramatic compositions, but—poems of a comic or serious cast. Romance in Spanish, and romance in French, signify—not a tale of chivalry, but—a vulgar ballad, at this day. [58] “Rebus hujus Roberti gestis tota Britannia in cantibus utitur” (Majoris Britanniæ Historia, Edin. 1740, p. 128). [59] Hystory of Scotland, Edin. 1541, fo. The word “waithman” was probably suggested by Andrew of Wyntown (see before, Note 3). It seems equivalent to the English vagabond, or perhaps outlaw. Waith is waif; and it is to be remembered that, in the technical language of the English courts, a woman is said to be waived, and not outlawed. “In our auld Scottish langage,” says Skene, “ane _Vothman_ is ane out-law, or ane fugitive fra the lawes” (_De verborum significatione_, Edin. 1597). It is from þæðan, _venari_, _fugare_. See Lye’s Dictionary. The passage above quoted does not occur in Boise’s original work.