This influence was continued in Middle English lyric poetry. These lyrics are often lacking in polish; the tendency to use alliteration as an ornament has nothing to do with such occasional troubadour examples of the trick as may be found in Peire d'Auvergne. Sometimes a refrain of distinctly popular origin is added to a stanza of courtly and artificial character. Generally, however, there is a freshness and vigour in these poems which may be vainly sought in the products of continental decadence. But Provençal influence, whether exerted directly or indirectly through the Northern French lyric school, is plainly visible in many cases. Of the lyrics found in the important MS. Harleian 2253,[37] "Alysoun" has the same rime scheme as a poem by Gaucelm Faidit: it opens with the conventional appeal to spring; the poet's feelings deprive him of sleep. The Fair Maid of Ribbesdale has a rime-scheme almost identical with that shown by one of Raimbaut d'Aurenga's poems; the description of the lady's beauty recalls many troubadour formulae: the concluding lines-- He myhte sayen pat crist hym seze, [138] pat myhte nyhtes neh hyre leze, heuene he hevede here. are a troubadour commonplace. Many other cases might be quoted. Hymns and songs to the Virgin exhibit the same characteristics of form. The few Provençal words which became English are interesting;[38] colander or cullender (now a vegetable strainer; Prov. colador), funnel, puncheon, rack, spigot, league, noose are directly derived from Provençal and not through Northern French and are words connected with shipping and the wine trade, the port for which was Bordeaux.