Given a moment's thought, one recognizes that what is being said has a familiar ring, and perhaps recalls the source in English. The unusual but careful imitation of the rhyme scheme, and the ear for the rhythm of the original are strong clues. However when Chaucer wrote that ‘in forme of speche is chaunge / Withinne a thousand yeer’, and towards the end of his most ambitious work foresaw how the text of the Troilus might deteriorate, or become liable to misunderstanding over the years, he could scarcely have envisaged that before very long an able and well-meaning scholar-courtier would seek to provide the world with a parallel translation of the poem into Latin (together with a copious and erudite commentary) largely with the intention of protecting it from the ravages wrought by time through linguistic change.

Chaucer–s critical heritage and the editorial history of his writings have been amply treated in recent years, but it is rare to find the name of Sir Francis Kinaston (1587–?1642) given more than a cursory mention in such contexts.