INTRODUCTORY NOTE

The scene of Ruy Bias is laid in the reign of Carlos II. of Spain, an age made memorable in history by the shameful exorcisms of the Escurial. Carlos II., the son of Philip IV., was the last ruler of the Austrian line in Spain. During the minority of Carlos, Mariana of Austria, the queen-mother, was regent. In 1670 Carlos II. married Marie Louise d 'Orleans. It was on the occasion of the celebration of their marriage that the famous auto de fé took place. On the death of Marie Louise, Carlos II. married Mariana de Neubourg, a Bavarian princess. It is between this date and 1700, that of Carlos' death, that the scenes depicted in this drama are supposed to take place.

The Spanish names, except at the end of lines for the sake of the rhyme, are pronounced and accented as in Spanish. Bear in mind the general rule for accent in Spanish, viz.: A word ending in a consonant is accented on the last syllable, and a word ending in a vowel is accented on the penultimate syllable, unless otherwise marked, z^ and c before e, /, y, have the sound of th. The pronunciation of the names of the personnages is as follows: Roo-ee Blass, Don Sah-loos' -tee-o dd Bah' -than {d approaches the sound of th in weather), Thdy-sar, Gooree-tan\ Cahm-pô-râ-al', San'-tah-Crooth' , Bah-sto, Al-bah {b approaches v), Pree-â'-go, Ah-ree-as', Môn-tath'-go, Anto'-niOy Oo-beeV-ya, Dôn-yah Mah-reé-ah, Al-boo-kair'-kay^ Kah'Sil-da, Fr. duègne, Sp. duefia, doo-ain'-yah (compare Eng. duenna), Goo-dee-ai^, Fr. Alcade, Sp. Alcalde, AlkaU'day, Al'gwah-thil\ Ko-vah-don'-gah,

The palace in which the scene is laid was destroyed by fire in 1734. The present royal palace was begun in 1736, during the reign of Philip V. of the House of Bourbon. La toison d*or, spoken of in the introductory lines, was the Order of the Golden Fleece, which was instituted by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1429, and introduced into Spain by Charles V. in 15 19,

K^ The heavy figures refer to the number of the page; the ordinary figures to the line.

2. 2. encor, poetical form iov encore — What other words are subject to this poetical license? The e final is elided, because if retained it would add another syllable. 7. amourette — The diminutive here expresses contempt, 'a love-affair.' 8. fen convien — Note the use of the genitive pronoun in this expression : ' I agree to it,' or as we say. 'Granted.' 9. fille de rten^*2i girl of ignoble birth,' the opposite of the Spanish hidalgo^ lit., htja de algo, child of somebody. 10. donzelle — is from the Lat. dominicella, *a maid.' 17. alcades de cour — From the Arab. al'kadi, ' magistrates,' and therefore * officers of the court.'