Bannatyne Club > Philotus

PREFACE. ix
latter impression are distinguished by being enclosed in brackets.
Rich's second tale, of Apolonius and Silla, appears to have fur-
nished the plot of Shakspeare's Twelfth Night. '
In what he entitles the Conclusion, he has introduced a tale
of a certain devil named Balthaser, who married a young lady of
singular beauty, rejoicing in the name of Mildred. The husband
was so pestered with the wife's love of the new fashions in dress,
that he finally determined to relinquish the connexion ; and, in pur-
suance of this resolution, he directed his course to Edinburgh, where
he possessed the king of Scots. " While Mistres Mildred was pro-
ceeding in these speeches or suche other like, the deuill her lious-
bande was stroke in suche a dumpe, that not able any longer to
indure her talke, he not onely auoided hymself from her presence,
but also deuised with speede to flie the countrie, and cummyng
to Doner, thinkyng to crosse the seas, finding no shippyng readie,
he altered his course, and gat liym into Scotlande, neuer staiyng
till he came to Edenbrough, where the kyng kept his court ; and
now forgettyng all humanitie whiche he had learned before in Eng-
lande, he began againe a freshe to plaie the deuil, and so possessed
the king of Scots himself with such strange and vnaquainted pas-
sions, that by the coniecture of phisitions, and other learned men
that were then assembled together, to iudge the kynges diseases,
' See Boswell"s Shakspeare, vol. xi. p. 321. Collier's Annals of the Stage, vol. i.
p. 328, and likenise his Poetical Decameron, vol. ii. p. 134.