Page:English Historical Review Volume 37.djvu/422

 414 TWELVE MEDIEVAL GHOST-STORIES July not find them disappointing : I hope others will agree that they deserved to be published. The source is the Royal MS. 15. A. xx in the British Museum. It is a fine volume of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries containing some tracts of Cicero and the Elucidarium. It belonged to Byland Abbey (Yorkshire) and later to John Theyer. On blank pages in the body of the book (ff. 140-3) and at the end (fo. 163 6) a monk of Byland has written down a series of ghost-stories of which the scenes are laid in his own neighbour- hood. They are strong in local colour, and though occasionally confused, incoherent, and unduly compressed, evidently represent the words of the narrators with some approach to fidelity. To me they are redolent of Denmark. Any one who is lucky enough to possess E. T. Kristensen's delightful collections of Sagn fra Jylland will be reminded again and again of traits which occur there. Little as I can claim the quality of * folklorist ' I am fairly confident that the Scandinavian element is really prominent in these tales. The date of the writing cannot be long after 1400 (c. 1400 is the estimate in the catalogue). Richard II 's reign is referred to as past. A study of local records, impossible to me, might not improbably throw light upon the persons mentioned in the stories. The hand is not a very easy one, and the last page of all is really difficult : some words have baffled me. The Latin is very refreshing. M. R. JAMBS. British Museum MS. Royal 15 A. xx. fo. 140 b

I. De quodam spiritu cuiusdam mercenarii de Ryeuall' qui adiuuit hominem ad portandum fabas.

Quidam homo equitauit super equum suum portantem super se vnum modium fabarum. Qui equus cepsitauit [sc. cesp-] in via et fregit tibiam. Quo percepto vir tulit fabas super dorsum suum proprium: et dum iret per viam vidit quasi equum stantem super pedes posteriores, pedibus anterioribus sursum erectis. Qui perterritus prohibuit equum in nomine ihesu christi ne noceret ei. Quo facto ibat cum eo quasi equus, et post paululum apparuit in figura acerui de feno rotantis, et lumen erat in medio. Cui dixit viuus Absit quod inferas mihi malum. Quo dicto apparuit in figura hominis, et ille coniurauit eum. Tunc spiritus dixit ei nomen suum et causam et remedium, et addidit Permitte me portare fabas et adiuuare te. Et fecit sic usque ad torrentem sed noluit transire vlterius, et viuus nesciuit qualiter saccus fabarum iterum ponebatur super dorsum suum. Et postea fecit spiritum absolui et missas cantari pro eo et adiutus est.