King Arthur: A Trilogy of Lyrical Dramas Founded on the Morte D'Arthur of Sir Thomas Malory
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Coutts, F[rancis] B[urdett] Money. King Arthur: A Trilogy of Lyrical Dramas Founded on the Morte D'Arthur of Sir Thomas Malory. [London]: Two Hundred Copies Privately Printed for F. B. Money Coutts and His Friends, by John Lane at the Bodley Head, 1897.
Coutts, Francis. The Romance of King Arthur. London: John Lance, 1907.
Francis Coutts (Francis Burdett Money-Coutts, 1852-1923) wrote three plays—Merlin, Launcelot, and Guenevere—based on Malory in his book King Arthur. The volume is dedicated to Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz, who planned to compose an opera based on each of the plays, though he only completed Merlin. Coutts revised his earlier work as The Romance of King Arthur (1907). The later volume includes an introductory poem on 'Uther Pendragon' and a concluding poem on 'The Death of Launcelot.' The two poems flank two plays, Merlin and Launcelot du Lake. Coutts's sequence diverges from Malory's account in a number of ways. For example, Uther and Igraine are married after her first husband's death and 'Without enchantment.' Morgan, the mother of Mordred, plots against Arthur so her son, Arthur's nephew, can rule. It is Morgan who gives to Nivian the spell that seals Merlin in a cave; she also encourages Mordred to trap Launcelot and Guenevere. But as in Malory, Coutts's main source, the lovers lead holy lives after the fall of Arthur's kingdom.