Speke of that rightwes kyng
That made both see and londe, &c."
And in the old Song or Geste ofGuy and Colbronde(Notes on Metrical
RomancesNo. iv.) the Minstrel thus speaks of himself in the first person:
"When meate and drinke is great plentye
Then lords and ladyes still wil be
And sitt and solace lythe
Then itt is time for MEE to speake
Of keene knights and kempes great
Such carping for to kythe."
We have seen already that the WelshBards, who were undoubtedly composers
of the songs they chanted to the Harp, could not be distinguished by our legislators
from our ownRimers, Minstrels. Vid. (BB3).
And that the ProvençalTroubadourof our King Richard, who is called by M.
FavineJongleur, and by M. FauchetMenestrel, is by the old English translator termed
a Rimer or Minstrel when he is mentioning the fact of his composing some verses.
And lastly, that Holinshed, translating the prohibition of King Henry V.,
forbidding any songs to be composed on his victory, or to be sung by Harpers or
others, roundly gives it, he would not permit "any ditties to be made and sung by
Minstrels on his glorious victory," &c. Vid. Note (BB4).
Now that this order of men, at first called Gleemen, then Juglers, and
afterwards more generally Minstrels, existed here from the Conquest, who entertained
their hearers with chanting to the harp or other instrument songs and tales of chivalry,
or as they were calledgests[31] and romances in verse in the English language, is
proved by the existence of the very compositions they so chanted, which are still
preserved in great abundance; and exhibit a regular series from the time our language
was almost Saxon, till after its improvements in the age of Chaucer, who enumerates
many of them. And as the Norman French was in the time of this bard still the courtly
language, it shows that the English was not thereby excluded from affording
entertainment to our nobility, who are so often addressed therein by the title of
Lordings: and sometimes more positively "Lords and ladies."
And though many of these were translated from the French, others are
evidently of English origin,[32] which appear in their turns to have afforded versions
into that language; a sufficient proof of that inter-community between the French and
English Minstrels, which hath been mentioned in a preceding page. Even the
abundance of such translations into English, being all adapted for popular recitation,
sufficiently establishes the fact, that the English Minstrels had a great demand for
such compositions, which they were glad to supply whether from their own native
stores, or from other languages.
We have seen above that theJoculator, Mimus, Histrio, whether these
characters were the same, or had any real difference, were all called Minstrels; as was
also the Harper,[33] when the term implied a singer, if not a composer, of songs, &c.
By degrees the name of Minstrel was extended to vocal and instrumental musicians of
every kind: and as in the establishment of royal and noble houses, the latter would
necessarily be most numerous, so we are not to wonder that the band of music
(entered under the general name of Minstrels) should consist of instrumental
performers chiefly, if not altogether: for, as the composer or singer of heroic tales to