4$ Dtffertatwn on the Life and Writings of

mance, but not always ; and when, upon the other hand, me makes a conftant practice of tranflating them into Englim, me proves to what fort of readers Ihe was principally addreffing herfelf, and that the monarch to whom me infcribed her dedication was Henry III. Mary's Lays are twelve in number. The firft is the Lay of Guiguemar, Son of Oridial, Lord of Leon in Lower Brittany. Of tins monfieur le Grand gives an ana- lyfis in his Tales of the I2th and I3th Centuries [A], It confifts of 860 verfes. The fecond is that of Quitan, Lord of Nauns,or Nantois, and con- tains 314 verfes. The third is the Lay ofFre/he. This is the hiftory of the Son of aBas-Breton Knight, who, although legitimate, is left expofed un- der an afh-tree as a baftard. It confifts of 550 verfes. The fourth is that of Bifclaveret, and relates the hiftory of a Bas- Breton Knight who is changed into a War wolf. It has 384 verfes. The fifth is the Lay ofLanval, one of the Knights of king Arthur's Round Table. The queen of this monarch having falfely accufed Lanval of infulting her beauty, Arthur caufes the knight to be tried for the offence at Cardiff. At the inftant that he was about to be unjuftly condemned, a benevolent fairy comes to his afliftance, de- livers, and conveys him to the Ifle of Avalon. This poem contains 646 verfes. It occurs feparately in the Cotton library, Vefp. B. XIV. Monfieur le Grand has tranflated it into profe amongft his Fabliaux [;] ; and there is an ancient Englifli metrical verfion of it by Thomas Cheftre []. The fixth is the Lay of the Two Lovers. It is the ftory of two perfons who perim at the fame inftant, victims to their own love [/&] Fabliaux, Vol. IV. p. no. [/'] Ibid. Vol. I. p. 92. [*] Bibl. Cotton. Calig. A, II. 4 and