APPENDIX TO INTRODUCTION.
While warring in the Holy Land, Richard was seized with an ague.
The best leeches of the camp were unable to effect the cure of theKing's disease; but the prayers of the army were more successful. Hebecame convalescent, and the first symptom of his recovery was a violentlonging for pork. But pork was not likely to be plentiful in a countrywhose inhabitants had an abhorrence for swine's flesh; and
"Though his men should be hanged, They ne might, in that countrey, For gold, ne silver, ne no money, No pork find, take, ne get, That King Richard might aught of eat. An old knight with Richard biding, When he heard of that tiding, That the king's wants were swyche, To the steward he spake privyliche-- "Our lord the king sore is sick, I wis, After porck he alonged is; Ye may none find to selle; No man be hardy him so to telle! If he did he might die. Now behoves to done as I shall say, Tho' he wete nought of that. Take a Saracen, young and fat; In haste let the thief be slain, Opened, and his skin off flayn; And sodden full hastily, With powder and with spicery, And with saffron of good colour. When the king feels thereof savour, Out of ague if he be went, He shall have thereto good talent. When he has a good taste, And eaten well a good repast, And supped of the BREWIS [Broth] a sup, Slept after and swet a drop, Through Goddis help and my counsail, Soon he shall be fresh and hail.' The sooth to say, at wordes few, Slain and sodden was the heathen shrew. Before the king it was forth brought: Quod his men, 'Lord, we have pork sought; Eates and sups of the brewis SOOTE,[Sweet] Thorough grace of God it shall be your boot.' Before King Richard carff a knight, He ate faster than he carve might. The king ate the flesh and GNEW [Gnawed] the bones, And drank well after for the nonce. And when he had eaten enough, His folk hem turned away, and LOUGH.[Laughed] He lay still and drew in his arm; His chamberlain him wrapped warm. He lay and slept, and swet a stound, And became whole and sound. King Richard clad him and arose, And walked abouten in the close."
An attack of the Saracens was repelled by Richard in person, theconsequence of which is told in the following lines:--
"When King Richard had rested a whyle, A knight his arms 'gan unlace, Him to comfort and solace. Him was brought a sop in wine. 'The head of that ilke swine, That I of ate!' (the cook he bade,) 'For feeble I am, and faint and mad. Of mine evil now I am fear; Serve me therewith at my soupere!' Quod the cook, 'That head I ne have.' Then said the king, 'So God me save, But I see the head of that swine, For sooth, thou shalt lesen thine!' The cook saw none other might be; He fet the head and let him see. He fell on knees, and made a cry-- 'Lo, here the head! my Lord, mercy!'"
The cook had certainly some reason to fear that his master would bestruck with horror at the recollection of the dreadful banquet to whichhe owed his recovery; but his fears were soon dissipated.
"The swarte vis [Black face] when the king seeth, His black beard and white teeth, How his lippes grinned wide, 'What devil is this?' the king cried, And 'gan to laugh as he were wode. 'What! is Saracen's flesh thus good? That never erst I nought wist! By God's death and his uprist, Shall we never die for default, While we may in any assault, Slee Saracens, the flesh may take, And seethen and roasten and do hem bake, [And] Gnawen her flesh to the bones! Now I have it proved once, For hunger ere I be wo, I and my folk shall eat mo!"'
The besieged now offered to surrender, upon conditions of safety to theinhabitants; while all the public treasure, military machines, and armswere delivered to the victors, together with the further ransom ofone hundred thousand bezants. After this capitulation, the followingextraordinary scene took place. We shall give it in the words of thehumorous and amiable George Ellis, the collector and the editor of theseRomances:--
"Though the garrison had faithfully performed the other articles oftheir contract, they were unable to restore the cross, which was notin their possession, and were therefore treated by the Christianswith great cruelty. Daily reports of their sufferings were carried toSaladin; and as many of them were persons of the highest distinction,that monarch, at the solicitation of their friends, dispatched anembassy to King Richard with magnificent presents, which he offeredfor the ransom of the captives. The ambassadors were persons the mostrespectable from their age, their rank, and their eloquence. Theydelivered their message in terms of the utmost humility; and withoutarraigning the justice of the conqueror in his severe treatment of theircountrymen, only solicited a period to that severity, laying at his feetthe treasures with which they were entrusted, and pledging themselvesand their master for the payment of any further sums which he mightdemand as the price of mercy.
"King Richard spake with wordes mild. 'The gold to take, God me shield! Among you partes [Divide] every charge. I brought in shippes and in barge, More gold and silver with me, Than has your lord, and swilke three. To his treasure have I no need! But for my love I you bid, To meat with me that ye dwell; And afterward I shall you tell. Thorough counsel I shall you answer, What BODE [Message] ye shall to your lord bear.
"The invitation was gratefully accepted. Richard, in the meantime, gavesecret orders to his marshal that he should repair to the prison,select a certain number of the most distinguished captives, and, aftercarefully noting their names on a roll of parchment, cause their headsto be instantly struck off; that these heads should be delivered to thecook, with instructions to clear away the hair, and, after boilingthem in a cauldron, to distribute them on several platters, one toeach guest, observing to fasten on the forehead of each the piece ofparchment expressing the name and family of the victim.
"'An hot head bring me beforn, As I were well apayed withall, Eat thereof fast I shall; As it were a tender chick, To see how the others will like.'
"This horrible order was punctually executed. At noon the guests weresummoned to wash by the music of the waits. The king took his seatattended by the principal officers of his court, at the high table, andthe rest of the company were marshalled at a long table below him.On the cloth were placed portions of salt at the usual distances, butneither bread, wine, nor water. The ambassadors, rather surprised atthis omission, but still free from apprehension, awaited in silencethe arrival of the dinner, which was announced by the sound of pipes,trumpets, and tabours; and beheld, with horror and dismay, the unnaturalbanquet introduced by the steward and his officers. Yet their sentimentsof disgust and abhorrence, and even their fears, were for a timesuspended by their curiosity. Their eyes were fixed on the king, who,without the slightest change of countenance, swallowed the morsels asfast as they could be supplied by the knight who carved them.
"Every man then poked other; They said, 'This is the devil's brother, That slays our men, and thus hem eats!'
"Their attention was then involuntarily fixed on the smoking headsbefore them. They traced in the swollen and distorted features theresemblance of a friend or near relation, and received from thefatal scroll which accompanied each dish the sad assurance that thisresemblance was not imaginary. They sat in torpid silence, anticipatingtheir own fate in that of their countrymen; while their ferociousentertainer, with fury in his eyes, but with courtesy on his lips,insulted them by frequent invitations to merriment. At length this firstcourse was removed, and its place supplied by venison, cranes, and otherdainties, accompanied by the richest wines. The king then apologized tothem for what had passed, which he attributed to his ignorance of theirtaste; and assured them of his religious respect for their characters asambassadors, and of his readiness to grant them a safe-conduct for theirreturn. This boon was all that they now wished to claim; and
"King Richard spake to an old man, 'Wendes home to your Soudan! His melancholy that ye abate; And sayes th
at ye came too late. Too slowly was your time y-guessed; Ere ye came, the flesh was dressed, That men shoulden serve with me, Thus at noon, and my meynie. Say him, it shall him nought avail, Though he for-bar us our vitail, Bread, wine, fish, flesh, salmon, and conger; Of us none shall die with hunger, While we may wenden to fight, And slay the Saracens downright, Wash the flesh, and roast the head. With 0 [One] Saracen I may well feed Well a nine or a ten Of my good Christian men. King Richard shall warrant, There is no flesh so nourissant Unto an English man, Partridge, plover, heron, ne swan, Cow ne ox, sheep ne swine, As the head of a Sarazyn. There he is fat, and thereto tender, And my men be lean and slender. While any Saracen quick be, Livand now in this Syrie, For meat will we nothing care. Abouten fast we shall rare, And every day we shall eat All as many as we may get. To England will we nought gon, Till they be eaten every one.'"
ELLIS'S SPECIMENS OF EARLY ENGLISH METRICEL ROMANCES.
The reader may be curious to know owing to what circumstances soextraordinary an invention as that which imputed cannibalism to the Kingof England should have found its way into his history. Mr. James, towhom we owe so much that is curious, seems to have traced the origin ofthis extraordinary rumour.
"With the army of the cross also was a multitude of men," the sameauthor declares, "who made it a profession to be without money. Theywalked barefoot, carried no arms, and even preceded the beasts of burdenin their march, living upon roots and herbs, and presenting a spectacleboth disgusting and pitiable.
"A Norman, who, according to all accounts, was of noble birth, but who,having lost his horse, continued to follow as a foot soldier, tookthe strange resolution of putting himself at the head of this raceof vagabonds, who willingly received him as their king. Amongst theSaracens these men became well known under the name of THAFURS (whichGuibert translates TRUDENTES), and were beheld with great horrorfrom the general persuasion that they fed on the dead bodies of theirenemies; a report which was occasionally justified, and which the kingof the Thafurs took care to encourage. This respectable monarch wasfrequently in the habit of stopping his followers, one by one, in anarrow defile, and of causing them to be searched carefully, lest thepossession of the least sum of money should render them unworthy of thename of his subjects. If even two sous were found upon any one, hewas instantly expelled the society of his tribe, the king bidding himcontemptuously buy arms and fight.
"This troop, so far from being cumbersome to the army, was infinitelyserviceable, carrying burdens, bringing in forage, provisions, andtribute; working the machines in the sieges; and, above all, spreadingconsternation among the Turks, who feared death from the lances of theknights less than that further consummation they heard of under theteeth of the Thafurs." [James's "History of Chivalry."]
It is easy to conceive that an ignorant minstrel, finding the taste andferocity of the Thafurs commemorated in the historical accounts of theHoly Wars, has ascribed their practices and propensities to the Monarchof England, whose ferocity was considered as an object of exaggerationas legitimate as his valour.
ABBOTSFORD, 1st July, 1832.
TALES OF THE CRUSADERS. TALE II.--THE TALISMAN.