TYCHO                  164 
 
 
   Tycho, a vassal of the bishop of Treves, 
 in the reign of Kaiser Henry IV. He 
 promised to avenge his lord and master, 
 who had been plundered by Count Adal- 
 bert, a leader of bandits. So, going to 
 the count's castle, he craved a draught of 
 water. The porter brought him a cup of 
 wine, and Tycho said, "Thank thy lord 
 for his charity, and tell him he shall meet 
 with his reward." Then, returning home, 
 he procured thirty large wine-barrels, in 
 each of which he concealed an armed re- 
 tainer and weapons for two others. Each 
 cask was then carried by two men to the 
 count's castle, and when the door was 
 opened Tycho said to the porter, "I am 
 come to recompense thy lord and master," 
 and the sixty men carried in the thirty 
 barrels. When Count Adalbert 'went to 
 look at the present, at a signal given by 
 Tycho the tops of the casks flew off, and 
 the ninety armed men slew the 6ount and 
 his brigands, and then burnt the castle to 
 the ground. 
 The reader may perceive a certain re- 
 semblance between this tale and that of 
 "Ali Baba, or the Forty Thieves" (Arab- 
 ian Nights' Entertainments). 
 
 Tyler (Wat), a frugal, honest, industri- 
 ous, skillful blacksmith of Essex; with 
 one daughter, Alice, pretty, joyous, inno- 
 cent, and modest. With all his frugality 
 and industry, Wat found it very hard to 
 earn enough for daily bread, and the tax- 
 collectors came for the poll-tax, three 
 groats a head, for a war to maintain our 
 conquests in France. Wat had saved up 
the money, and proffered six groats for 
himself and wife. The collectors demand- 
ed three groats for Alice also, but Tyler 
said she was under 15 years of age, where- 
upon, one of the collectors having "insulted 
her virgin modesty," Tyler felled him to 
the ground with his sledge-hammer. The 
 
 
people gathered round the smith, and a 
general uprising ensued. Richard II., 
sent a herald to Tyler, to request a parley, 
and pledging his royal word for his safe 
conduct. The sturdy smith appointed 
Smithfield for the rendezvous, and there 
Tyler told the king the people's griev- 
ances; but while he was speaking, Wil- 
liam Walworth, the lord mayor, stabbed 
him from behind and killed him. The 
king, to pacify the people, promised the 
poll-tax should be taken off and their 
grievances redressed, but no sooner had 
the mob dispersed than the rebels were cut 
down wholesale, and many being subjected 
to a mockery of a trial, were infamously 
executed.-Southey, Wat Tyler (1794, pub- 
lished, 1817). 
 
  Tyll Owlyglass or TYLL OWLEGLASS, 
by Thomas Murner, a Franciscan monk, 
of Strasbourg (1475-1536); the English 
name of the German "Tyll Eulenspiegel." 
Tyll is a mechanic of Brunswick, who runs 
from pillar to post as charlatan, physician, 
lansquenet, fool, valet, and Jack-of-all- 
trades.  He undertakes anything     and 
everything, but invariably "spoils the 
Egyptians" who trust in him. He pro- 
duces popular proverbs, is brimfull of 
merry mischief, droll as Sam Slick, indif- 
ferent honest as Gil Blas, light-hearted as 
Andrew Bode, as full of tricks as Scapin, 
and as popular as Robin Hood. The book 
is crammed with observations, anecdotes, 
fables, bon mots, facetiv, and shows forth 
the omnipotence of common sense. There 
are two good English versions of this 
popular picaresco romance--olie printed 
by William Copland, and entitled The 
Merrye Jeste of a Man called Howli'glass 
and the many Marvellous Thinges and Jestes 
which he did in his Lyfe in Eastland; and 
the other published in 1860, translated by 
K. R. H. Mackenzie, and illustrated by 
 
 
TYLL OWLYGLASS