porridge shall be thine,
If thou wilt let my lady fair
Within the mantle shine.'
A saint his lady seemed,
With step demure and slow,
And gravely to the mantle
With mincing face doth go.
When she the same had taken
That was so fine and thin,
It shrivelled all about her,
And showed her dainty skin.
Ah! little did her mincing,
Or his long prayers bestead;
She had no more hung on her
Than a tassel and a thread.
Down she threw the mantle,
With terror and dismay,
And with a face of scarlet
To her chamber hied away.
Sir Cradock called his lady,
And bade her to come near;
'Come win this mantle, lady,
And do me credit here:
'Come win this mantle, lady,
For now it shall be thine,
If thou hast never done amiss,
Since first I made thee mine.'
The lady, gently blushing,
With modest grace came on;
And now to try the wondrous charm
Courageously is gone.
When she had taken the mantle,
And put it on her back,
About the hem it seemed
To wrinkle and to crack.
'Lie still,' she cried, 'O mantle!
And shame me not for naught;
I'll freely own whate'er amiss
Or blameful I have wrought.
'Once I kissed Sir Cradock
Beneath the greenwood tree;
Once I kissed Sir Cradock's mouth,
Before he married me.'
When she had thus her shriven,
And her worst fault had told,
The mantle soon became her,
Right comely as it should.
Most rich and fair of color,
Like gold it glittering shone,
And much the knights in Arthur's court
Admired her every one.
New-fangled,- fond of novelty.
The ballad goes on to tell of two more trials of a similar kind, made by means of a boar's head and a drinking- horn, in both of which the result was equally favorable with the first to Sir Cradock and his lady. It then concludes as follows:-
Thus boar's head, horn, and mantle
Were this fair couple's meed;
And all such constant lovers,
God send them well to speed.
Percy's Reliques.
CHAPTER V. SIR GAWAIN.
SIR GAWAIN was nephew to King Arthur, by his sister Morgana, married to Lot, king of Orkney, who was by Arthur made king of Norway. Sir Gawain was one of the most famous knights of the Round Table, and is characterized by the romancers as the sage and courteous Gawain. To this Chaucer alludes in his 'Squiere's Tale,' which the strange knight 'saluteth' all the court-
'With so high reverence and observance,
As well in speeche as in countenance,
That Gawain, with his olde curtesie,
Though he were come agen out of faerie,
Ne coude him not amenden with a word.'
Gawain's brothers were Agravain, Gaharet, and Gareth.
SIR GAWAIN'S MARRIAGE.
Once upon a time King Arthur held his court in merry Carlisle, when a damsel came before him and craved a boon. It was for vengeance upon a caitiff knight, who had made her lover captive and despoiled her of her lands. King Arthur commanded to bring him his sword, Excalibar, and to saddle his steed, and rode forth without delay to right the lady's wrong. Ere long he reached the castle of the grim baron, and challenged him to the conflict. But the castle stood on magic ground, and the spell was such that no knight could tread thereon but straight his courage fell and his strength decayed. King Arthur felt the charm, and before a blow was struck his sturdy limbs lost their strength, and his head grew faint. He was fain to yield himself prisoner to the churlish knight, who refused to release him except upon condition that he should return at the end of a year, and bring a true answer to the question, 'What thing is it which women most desire?' or in default thereof surrender himself and his lands. King Arthur accepted the terms, and gave his oath to return at the time appointed. During the year the king rode east, and he rode west, and inquired of all whom he met what thing it is which all women most desire. Some told him riches; some pomp and state; some mirth; some flattery; and some a gallant knight. But in the diversity of answers he could find no sure dependence. The year was well nigh spent when, one day, as he rode thoughtfully through a forest, he saw sitting beneath a tree a lady of such hideous aspect that he turned away his eyes, and when she greeted him in seemly sort made no answer. 'What wight art thou,' the lady said, 'that will not speak to me? It may chance that I may resolve thy doubts, though I be not fair of aspect.' 'If thou wilt do so,' said King Arthur, 'choose what reward thou wilt, thou grim lady, and it shall be given thee.' 'Swear me this upon thy faith,' she said, and Arthur swore it. Then the lady told him the secret, and demanded her reward, which was that the king should find some fair and courtly knight to be her husband.
King Arthur hastened to the grim baron's castle and told him one by one all the answers which he had received from his various advisers, except the last, and not one was admitted as the true one. 'Now yield thee, Arthur,' the giant said, 'for thou hast not paid thy ransom, and thou and thy lands are forfeited to me.' Then King Arthur said:-
