Fabyan (in his Chronicle, 1533, f. 32.) translating the passage from Geoffrey of Monmouth, quoted below in p. [397] note [K] renders Deus Joculatorum, by God of Gleemen. (Warton's Hist. Eng. Poet., Diss. i.) Fabyan died in 1592.
Dunbar, who lived in the same century, describing in one of his poems, intitled, The Daunce what passed in the infernal regions "amangis the Feyndis," says:
"Na menstralls playit to thame, but dowt,
For gle-men thaire wer haldin out,
Be day and eke by nycht."
See Poems from Bannatyne's MS. Edinb. 1770, 12mo. p. 30. Maitland's MS. at Cambridge reads here glewe-men.
[1114] To gleek is used in Shakespeare for "to make sport, to jest," &c.
[1115] The preceding list of Anglo-Saxon words, so full and copious beyond any thing that ever yet appeared in print on this subject, was extracted from Mr. Lye's curious Anglo-Saxon Lexicon, in MS. but the arrangement here is the Editor's own. It had however received the sanction of Mr. Lye's approbation, and would doubtless have been received into his printed copy, had he lived to publish it himself.
It should also be observed, for the sake of future researches, that without the assistance of the old English interpretations given by Somner, in his Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, the Editor of the book never could have discovered that glee signified minstrelsy, or gligman a minstrel.
[1116] Neven, i.e. name.
[1117] Geoffrey of Monmouth is probably here describing the appearance of the joculatores or minstrels, as it was in his own time. For they apparently derived this part of their dress, &c. from the mimi of the ancient Romans, who had their heads and beards shaven (see above p. [383] note [1105]), as they likewise did the mimickry, and other arts of diverting, which they superadded to the composing and singing to the harp heroic songs, &c. which they inherited from their own progenitors the bards and scalds of the ancient Celtic and Gothic nations. The Longobardi had, like other northern people, brought these with them into Italy. For "in the year 774, when Charlemagne entered Italy and found his passage impeded, he was met by a minstrel of Lombardy, whose song promised him success and victory. Contigit joculatorem ex Longobardorum gente ad Carolum venire, et cantiunculam a se compositam, rotando in conspectu suorum, cantare." Tom. ii. p. 2. Chron. Monast. Noval. lib. iii. cap. x. p. 717. (T. Warton's Hist. vol. ii. Emend. of vol. i. p. 113.)
[1118] Natus, 1030; scripsit, 1091; obit, 1109. Tanner.