Passing to a special inquiry into the origin of the story of Torrent, I cannot persuade myself that it is of the poet’s own invention, as that would be the only instance of a Middle-English romance not being taken from foreign originals (except, of course, Chaucer’s _Sir Thopas_, which was written to ridicule this whole branch of poetry), whilst slight alterations or additions were frequently introduced by the translators. A French original of the romance is supposed by Halliwell to have existed (Preface, vi). He says, ‘It is probably, like the second copy of the romance of Horn, a modernized version of an older English romance, which was itself translated from the French. I have not been able to discover any traces of the French original, but there are some singular allusions to its origin in the poem itself. I allude to the frequent references to the _Book of Rome_.[3] This term was applied to the French language, in which most of the old romances were originally written.’ As for me, I don’t think that we can much rely upon references of this kind, because they are common to all of these Middle-English romances. Of a somewhat greater weight is perhaps the fact that one or two of the proper names are French; and even the oath, ‘par l’amour de dieu,’ is worth mentioning. After all, there is no evident proof as to the French origin. But there is no doubt that the story of Torrent in its principal features--the adversities of a family separated by misfortunes, the mother robbed of her children by wild beasts, at last united again--proceeded from the old Eustache legend.[4-5] Therewith another motive is combined, that of the woman innocently condemned, on which motive a large stock of legends is founded; for instance, those of Crescentia, Sibilla, Oliva, Genovefa, Griseldis and Octavian legends. Upon this motive and its old origin from India, see Streve, ‘The Octavian legend,’ _Erlangen Dissert._, 84. [Footnote 3: On this term see _Octavian_, ed. Sarrazin, p. xxxviii.] [Footnote 4: See Warton’s opinion upon the legendary origin of many romances, _History of Engl. Poetry_, London, 1824, I. p. ccxliv: ‘Many romances were at first little more than legends of devotion, containing the pilgrimage of an old warrior. At length, as chivalry came into vogue, the youthful and active part of the pilgrim’s life was also written. The penitent changed into the knight-errant.’ Sometimes, of course, the opposite change may have taken place, as for instance is probably the case with the story of the two faithful friends, Amis and Amiloun (cf. Koelbing, _Amis_, p. lxxxi), and with the story of Robert the Devil (cf. _Sir Gowther_, ed. Breul, p. 74).] [Footnote 5: See the edition of _The worthie Hystorie of Plasidas_, 1566, by H. H. Gibbs, for the Roxburghe Club, 1873.]