_Thopas._ In the Supplement to Ducange we find--'_Thopasius_, pro Topasius, Acta S. Wencesl. tom. 7. Sept. p. 806, col. 1.' The Lat. _topazius_ is our _topaz_. The whole poem is a burlesque (see vol. iii. p. 423), and _Sir Topaz_ is an excellent title for such a gem of a knight. The name _Topyas_ occurs in Richard Coer de Lion, ed. Weber, ii. 11, as that of a sister of King Richard I; but no such name is known to history.
The metre is that commonly used before and in Chaucer's time by long-winded ballad-makers. Examples of it occur in the Romances of Sir Percevall, Sir Isumbras, Sir Eglamour, and Sir Degrevant (in the Thornton Romances, ed. Halliwell), and in several romances in the Percy Folio MS. (ed. Hales and Furnivall), such as Libius Disconius, Sir Triamour, Sir Eglamour, Guy and Colbrande, The Grene Knight, &c.; see also Amis and Amiloun, and Sir Amadas in Weber's Metrical Romances; and Lybeaus Disconus, The King of Tars, Le Bone Florence, Emare, The Erle of Tolous, and Horn Childe in Ritson's collection. To point out Chaucer's sly imitations of phrases, &c. would be a long task; the reader would gain the best idea of his manner by reading any one of these old ballads. To give a few illustrations is all that can be attempted here; I refer the reader to Prof. Kölbing's elaborate article in the Englische Studien, xi. 495, for further information; also to the dissertation by C. J. Bennewitz mentioned in vol. iii. [184] p. 424. It is remarkable that we find in Weber a ballad called 'The Hunting of the Hare,' which is a pure burlesque, like Chaucer's, but a little broader in tone and more obviously comic.
1902. _Listeth, lordes_, hearken, sirs. This is the usual style of beginning. For example, Sir Bevis begins--
'_Lordynges, lystenyth_, grete and smale';
'_Lystenyth, lordynges_, gente and fre, Y wylle yow telle of syr Degaré.'
Warton well remarks--'This address to the lordings, requesting their silence and attention, is a manifest indication that these ancient pieces were originally sung to the harp, or recited before grand assemblies, upon solemn occasions'; Obs. on F. Queene, p. 248.
1904. _solas_, mirth. See Prol. l. 798. 'This word is often used in describing the festivities of elder days. "She and her ladyes called for their minstrells, and _solaced_ themselves with the disports of dauncing"; Leland, Collectanea, v. 352. So in the Romance of Ywaine and Gawin:--