Alen. Froissart, a countryman of ours, records,

30

England all Olivers and Rowlands bred
During the time Edward the Third did reign.
More truly now may this be verified;

For none but Samsons and Goliases

It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to ten!
Lean raw-boned rascals! who would e'er suppose
They had such courage and audacity?

Char. Let's leave this town; for they are harebrain'd slaves,

And hunger will enforce them to be more eager: Of old I know them; rather with their teeth The walls they 'll tear down than forsake the siege. Reig. I think, by some odd gimmors or device

40

Their arms are set like clocks, still to strike on; Else ne'er could they hold out so as they do. By my consent, we 'll even let them alone. Alen. Be it so.

Enter the Bastard of Orleans

Bast. Where's the Prince Dauphin? I have news for him.

30. These were two of the most famous in the list of Charlemagne's twelve peers; and their exploits are the theme of the old romances. From the equally doughty and unheard-of exploits of these champions, arose the saying of "Giving a Rowland for an Oliver,” for giving a person as good as he brings.-H. N. H. "bred"; Ff., breed."-I. G.

41. "Gimmors" means any kind of device or machine for producing motion. Thus Digby, Of Man's Soul: "Whence 'tis manifest that his answers do not proceed upon set gimals or strings, whereof one being struck moves the rest in a set order." And in Bishop Hall's Epistles: "The famous Kentish idol moved her eyes and hands by those secret gimmers which now every puppet play can imitate.”— H. N. H.

Char. Bastard of Orleans, thrice welcome to us. Bast. Methinks your looks are sad, your cheer appall'd:

50

Hath the late overthrow wrought this offense?
Be not dismay'd, for succor is at hand:
A holy maid hither with me I bring,

Which by a vision sent to her from heaven
Ordained is to raise this tedious siege,

And drive the English forth the bounds of
France.

The spirit of deep prophecy she hath,

Exceeding the nine sibyls of old Rome:
What's past and what's to come she can descry.
Speak, shall I call her in? Believe my words,
For they are certain and unfallible.

[Exit Bastard.] But first,

60

Char. Go, call her in.
to try her skill,
Reignier, stand thou as Dauphin in my place:
Question her proudly; let thy looks be stern:

By this means shall we sound what skill she hath.

47. "Bastard" was not in former times a title of reproach. Hurd, in his Letters on Chivalry and Romance, makes it one of the circumstances of agreement between Heroic and Gothic manners, “that bastardy was in credit with both."-H. N. H.

48. "Cheer" in this instance means heart or courage, as in the expression, "be of good cheer."-H. N. H.

56. "nine sibyls of old Rome." The number of the Sibyls is variously given as three, four, seven, ten; possibly the "nine” is here due to confusion with the nine Sibylline books.-I. G.

Warburton says, "there were no nine sibyls of Rome: it is a mistake for the nine Sibylline Oracles brought to one of the Tarquins.” But the Poet followed the popular books of his day, which say that the Ten Sibyls were women that had the spirit of prophecy and they prophesied of Christ.-H. N. H.

Re-enter the Bastard of Orleans, with

Joan La Pucelle.

Reig. Fair maid, is 't thou wilt do these wondrous feats?

Puc. Reignier is 't thou that thinkest to beguile me? Where is the Dauphin? Come, come from be

hind;

I know thee well, though never seen before.
Be not amazed, there's nothing hid from me:
In private will I talk with thee apart.

Stand back, you lords, and give us leave

awhile.

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Reig. She takes upon her bravely at first dash.
Puc. Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's daugh-

ter,

My wit untrain❜d in any kind of art.

Heaven and our Lady gracious hath it pleased
To shine on my contemptible estate:

Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs,
And to sun's parching heat display'd my cheeks,
God's mother deigned to appear to me,
And in a vision full of majesty

Will'd me to leave my base vocation,
And free my country from calamity:
Her aid she promised and assured success:
In complete glory she reveal'd herself;

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And, whereas I was black and swart before,
With those clear rays which she infused on me
That beauty am I bless'd with which you see.

86. "which you see," reading of Ff. 2, 3, 4; F. 1, “which you may see."-I. G.