[1] Walley obtained his licence or the _C. Mery Talys_ in 1557-8, during
the reign of Mary, perhaps in anticipation of a change in the
government, and in order to forestall other stationers. If Walley
printed the Tales, it is most likely that he waited, till Elizabeth came
to the throne.
[2] Collier's Extracts from the Reg. Stat. Co. ii. 25.
[3] An abridgment of this ballad was published in Ritson's _Ancient
Songs and Ballads_, 1829, ii. 31. But see the _Townley Catalogue_, No.
358.
[4] The elder Disraeli has a chapter on this subject in his _Amenities
of Literature_.
[5] For some of these notices I am indebted to Mr. Singer; others I have
added myself from the various sources.
[6] In Act v. Sc. iii of Fletcher's _Nice Valour_ (Dyce's B. & F. x.
361) there is mention of the _Hundred Novels_, alluding, not to the _C.
Mery Talys_, but to the _Decameron_ of Boccaccio, of which an English
translation appeared in 1620-5.