709. _Britons_, Bretons, inhabitants of Brittany. Observe Chaucer's mention
of _Armorik_ or Armorica in l. 729.
As to the existence of early Breton Lays, a fact which Ritson rashly denied
in his anxiety to blame Warton (see Ritson, Met. Rom. iii. 332), the reader
may consult Price's remarks in the latest edition of Warton, 1871, vol. i.
169-177. It cannot be doubted that the Lais of Marie de France were, in a
large measure, founded upon Breton tales which she had heard or found
recorded. Sir F. Madden refers us, for further information, to De la Rue's
Essais sur les Bardes, &c., iii. 47-100; Robert, Fables Inédites, &c., i.
clii-clix.; the Preface to Roman du Rénart; and Costello's Specimens of the
Early Poetry of France, 43-49. The Lais of Marie de France were edited by
Roquefort, Paris, 1820; and by Warnke, Halle, 1885. See further in vol.
iii. p. 480.
721. _Pernaso_, Parnassus. The form is _Parnaso_ in Anelida, 16, and Ho. of
Fame, 521; see also Troilus, iii. 1810, and my note to Anelida, 16. A
side-note, in the margin of E., shews that Chaucer is here quoting a part
of the first three lines of the Prologus to the Satires of Persius.
'Nec fonte labra prolui caballino,
Neque in bicipiti somniasse _Parnasso_
Memini, ut repente sic poeta prodirem.'
722. _Cithero_, Cicero; spelt _Scithero_ in E. Hn., but _Cithero_ in Cp.
Pt. Ln. The three latter MSS. stupidly insert _ne_ before _Cithero_, thus
destroying both sense and metre, and tempting Mr. Wright to make the purely
gratuitous suggestion, that Chaucer did it on purpose (!), in order to make
the Frankeleyn appear really ignorant.