n of
distinctly popular origin is added to a stanza of courtly and artificial
character. Generally, however, there is a freshness and vigour in these
poems which may be vainly sought in the products of continental
decadence. But Provencal influence, whether exerted directly or
indirectly through the Northern French lyric school, is plainly visible
in many cases. Of the lyrics found in the important MS. Harleian
2253,[37] "Alysoun" has the same rime scheme as a poem by Gaucelm
Faidit: it opens with the conventional appeal to spring; the poet's
feelings deprive him of sleep. The Fair Maid of Ribbesdale has a
rime-scheme almost identical with that shown by one of Raimbaut
d'Aurenga's poems; the description of the lady's beauty recalls many
troubadour formulae: the concluding lines--

He myhte sayen pat crist hym seze, [138]
pat myhte nyhtes neh hyre leze,
heuene he hevede here.

are a troubadour commonplace. Many other cases might be quoted. Hymns
and songs to the Virgin exhibit the same characteristics of form. The
few Provencal words which became English are interesting;[38] colander
or cullender (now a vegetable strainer; Prov. colador), funnel,
puncheon, rack, spigot, league, noose are directly derived from
Provencal and not through Northern French and are words connected with
shipping and the wine trade, the port for which was Bordeaux.

In the year 1323 a society was formed in Toulouse of seven troubadours,
the "sobregaya companhia," for the purpose of preserving and encouraging
lyric poetry (lo gay saber). The middle class of Toulouse seems at all
times to have felt an interest in poetry and had already produced such
well-known troubadours as Aimeric de Pegulhan, Peire Vidal and Guillem
Figueira. The society offered an annual prize of a golden violet for the
best _chanso_; other prizes were added at a later date for the best
dance song and the best _sirventes_. Competitors found that songs to the
Virgin were given the preference and she eventually became the one
subject of these prize competitions. The society produced a grammatical [139]
work, the Leys d'Amors, under the name of its president, Guillem
Molinier, in 1356,[39] no doubt for the reference and instruction of
intending competitors. The competition produced a few admirable poems,
but anxiety to preserve the old troubadour style resulted generally in
dry and stilted compositions. The _Academie des jeux flora