The Taill Of Rauf Coilyear A Scottish Metrical Romance Of The Fifteenth Century Editied With Introd Notes And Glossarial Index

Author : Ralph Hanna
Publisher : A Scottish Text Society publication, published by the Boydell Press
ISBN 13 : 9781897976371
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (763 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Taill of Rauf Coilyear written by Ralph Hanna and published by A Scottish Text Society publication, published by the Boydell Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First edition of a lively medieval romance. The author of the fifteenth-century Older Scots romance of Rauf Coilyear may be unknown, but the popularity of this comic king-in-disguise tale is undisputed; it is cited by William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas at the turn of the century, and again in the mid-sixteenth century Complaynt of Scotland. The disguised king in this case is Charlemagne, and the hero a bluff collier called Ralph, who unwittingly plays host to him for one stormy night and teaches his bemused guest some rough lessons in his own version of courtesy. When Ralph is lured to court, the mistaken identities continue as he encounters the great Sir Roland and battles Saracens. Throughout, the scrappy hero maintains his dignity, as indeed does his king: both parties finish the tale immensely pleased with each other and with the bond they have forged. The text survives only in a 1572 print by Robert Lekpreuik (whose own career seems tohave been only marginally less exciting than Rauf's: he printed it in St Andrews while attempting to evade imprisonment in Edinburgh, ultimately without success). It is edited here with an introduction and notes. RALPHHANNA is Emeritus Professor of Palaeography, University of Oxford.