midnight
An incident in the tale , which had the good fortune to find favour in the eyes of many readers , is more directly borrowed from the stores of old romance . I mean the meeting of the King with Friar Tuck at the cell of that buxom hermit . The general tone of the story belongs to all ranks and all countries , which emulate each other in describing the rambles of a disguised sovereign , who , going in search of information or amusement , into the lower ranks of life , meets with adventures diverting to the reader or hearer , from the contrast betwixt the monarch 's outward appearance , and his real character . The Eastern tale-teller has for his theme the disguised expeditions of Haroun Alraschid with his faithful attendants , Mesrour and Giafar , through the midnight streets of Bagdad ; and Scottish tradition dwells upon the similar exploits of James V. , distinguished during such excursions by the travelling name of the Goodman of Ballengeigh , as the Commander of the Faithful , when he desired to be incognito , was known by that of Il Bondocani . The French minstrels are not silent on so popular a theme . There must have been a Norman original of the Scottish metrical romance of Rauf Colziar , in which Charlemagne is introduced as the unknown guest of a charcoal-man . It seems to have been the original of other poems of the kind .