disarm the wrath of the fierce king with a smile; and he was the
friend and patron of Robert Grosstete, afterwards the great Bishop
of Lincoln. He lived much in company with Ranulph de Glanville, the
first English jurist, and he has "Boswellised" some of his
conversations with him. He was intimate with Archbishop Baldwin,
the saintly prelate who laid down his life in the Third Crusade on
the burning plains of Palestine, heart-broken at the unbridled
wickedness of the soldiers of the Cross. He was the near kinsman
and confidant of the Cambro-Normans, who, landing in Leinster in
1165, effected what may be described as the first conquest of
Ireland. There was scarcely a man of note in his day whom he had
not seen and conversed with, or of whom he does not relate some
piquant story. He had travelled much, and had observed closely.
Probably the most valuable of all his works, from the strictly
historical point of view, are the "Itinerary" and "Description of
Wales," which are reprinted in the present volume. {10} Here he is
impartial in his evidence, and judicial in his decisions. If he
errs at all, it is not through racial prejudice. "I am sprung," he
once told the Pope in a letter, "from the princes of Wales and from
the barons of the Marches, and when I see injustice in either race,
I hate it."

The text is that of Sir Richard Colt Hoare, who published an English
translation, chiefly from the texts of Camden and Wharton, in 1806.
The valuable historical notes have been curtailed, as being too
elaborate for such a volume as this, and a few notes have been added
by the present editor. These will be found within brackets.
Hoare's translation, and also translations (edited by Mr. Foster) of
the Irish books have been published in Bohn's Antiquarian Library.