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THE  CAMBRIDGE  HISTORY 

OF 

ENGLISH  LITER  A  TURE 


VOLUME    II 

THE  END  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


3 


"^y,^^ 


The    Cambridge    History 


of 


English  Literature 


Edited  by 

A.  W.  Ward,  Litt.D.,  F.B.A. 

Master  of  Peterhouse 

and 

A.  R.  Waller,  M.A. 

Peterhouse 


Volume  II 

The   End    of  the    Middle   Ages 
2-  32.5^ 


New  York :   G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 
Cambridge,  England  :  University  Press 


Copyright,  1908 

BY 

G.    P.    PUTNAM'S   SONS 


Ube  "Rnicftetboclier  preaa,  Hew  ifforft 


p^%>  V  .*. 


PREFACE 

THE  editors  of  The  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature 
are  glad  to  find  by  the  welcome  extended  to  their  first 
volume  that  the  work  apparently  goes  some  way  towards 
meeting  the  needs  of  those  for  whose  use  it  was  undertaken. 
They  are  very  sensible  of  the  kindness  of  those  critics  who  have 
pointed  out  where  it  was  thought  that  improvements  could 
be  made;  and,  in  several  cases,  they  have  been  able  to  avail 
themselves  of  these  suggestions.  The  editors  are  especially 
pleased  to  find  that  the  purpose  of  the  short  editorial  sections 
included  in  the  text  has  been  generally  understood,  and  that 
the  notes  attached  to  the  bibliographies  have  been  found  to 
be  useful. 

Pressure  of  material,  and  the  desire  to  consult  the  con- 
venience of  students,  have  prevented  the  editors  from  dealing  in 
the  present  volume  with  the  beginnings  of  the  English  drama. 
The  chapters  concerned  with  the  early  religious  plays  have  been 
transferred  to  the  earlier  of  the  two  volumes  which  will  deal 
consecutively  with  the  general  history  of  the  English  drama 
from  its  beginnings  to  the  closing  of  the  theatres  under  the 
Puritan  regime.  It  is  not  necessary  to  remind  the  student  that, 
in  any  collective  estimate  of  the  English  literature  of  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  with  which  the  present 
volume  is  chiefly  concerned,  the  miracle  plays  must  be  re- 
garded as  of  the  greatest  importance. 

The  third  volume,  Renascence  and  Reformation,  is  in  the 
press.  It  deals  with  Erasmus  and  More,  Barclay  and  Skelton, 
Lindsay  and  Knox;  with  the  poetry  (other  than  dramatic)  as 
well  as  the  prose  of  the  earlier  Tudor  age ;  and  it  contains  chap- 
ters, in  sequence  to  those  in  Volume  I,  concerning  changes  in 
language  and  prosody  to  the  days  of  Elizabeth.  The  editors 
hope  that  it  may  be  in  their  power  to  publish  this  third  vol- 
ume before  the  close  of  the  present  year;  should  they  find  it 

iii 


iv  Preface 

impossible  to  accomplish  this  task,  they  desire  that  the  blame 
may  be  imputed  not  to  the  contributing  authors,  whose  aid 
throughout  has  been  generous  and  ungrudging,  but  to  edi- 
torial difficulties,  into  the  details  of  which  it  would  be  weari- 
some to  enter  here. 

A.  W.  W. 
A.  R.  W 

Cambridge, 
20  March,  190S 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PIERS    THE    PLOWMAN    AND    ITS    SEQUENCE 

By  John  Matthews  Manly,  A.M.,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  English 
Literature  in  the  University  of  Chicago. 

PAGE 

The  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman.  Form  of 
the  Poems.  Theories  concerning  Authorship.  The  Three  Texts. 
The  Crowd  in  the  Valley.  The  Tower  of  Truth.  Holy  Church. 
The  Court  at  Westminster.  Meed.  Reason.  The  First  Vision. 
The  Second  Vision.  The  Way  to  Truth.  Piers  and  his  Pilgrims  at 
Work.  Piers'  Pardon.  The  Scene  in  the  Ale-house.  The  Third 
Vision.  The  Search  for  Do-well,  Do-better  and  Do-best.  John  But. 
B-text.  B's  Continuation  of  the  Poems.  The  Merits  of  B's  Work. 
The  Author  of  the  C-text.  Conclusion  assumed  that  the  Poems 
are  Not  the  Work  of  a  Single  Author.  Differences  in  the  Three 
Texts.  Parallel  Passages.  William  Langland.  John  But.  Mum, 
Sothsegger.  Wynnere  and  Wastoure.  The  Parlement  of  the  Thre 
Ages.  Letters  of  the  Insurgents  of  1381.  Peres  the  Ploughmans 
Crede.  The  Ploughman' s  Tale.  Jacke  Upland.  The  Crowned 
King.  Death  and  Liffe.  The  Scotish  Feilde.  The  Fourteenth 
Century         ..........  i 

CHAPTER  n 

RELIGIOUS  MOVEMENTS  IN  THE  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY 

Richard  Rolle.     Wyclif.     The  Lollards 

By  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Whitney,  B.D.,  King's  College. 

Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole.  RoUe's  Mysticism.  William  Nassyngton. 
Rolle  and  Religion.  The  Pricke  of  Conscience.  W^clif's  Early 
Life.  Wyclif  and  Scholasticism.  Wyclif'sEarher  Writings.  Attack 
on  Wyclif.  The  Papal  Schism.  The  Poor  Priests.  The  Bible  in 
English.  Nicholas  Hereford  and  John  Purvey.  Wyclif  and  Popu- 
lar Movements.  Wyclif's  Views  on  the  Eucharist.  Wyclif's 
Later  Works.  Wyclif's  Later  Life.  The  Lollards.  Wyclif's 
Personality  .......•••         49 

CHAPTER  HI 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  ENGLISH  PROSE 

Trevisa.     The  Mandeville  Translators 

By  Alice  D.  Greenwood. 

Early  English  Prose.  Early  Translations.  John  Trevisa.  Polychroni- 
con.  Bartholomamts.  The  Travels  of  Sir  John  Mandeville.  Jean 
d'Outremeuse.  Mandeville  Manuscripts.  MandeviUe's  Style. 
Mandeville's  Detail ^° 


vi  Contents 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE  SCOTTISH  LANGUAGE 

Early  and  Middle  Scots 

By  G.  Gregory  Smith,  M.A.,  Balliol  College,  Oxford, 
Professor  of  English  Literature   in  Queen's  College,  Belfast. 

PAGE 

"Scots"  and  "Ynglis."  Early  Scots.  Middle  Scots.  Southern  In- 
fluence on  Middle  Scots.  Latin  and  French  Elements  in  Middle 
Scots.     Alleged  Celtic  Contributions  .  .  .  .  .101 

CHAPTER  V 

THE  EARLIEST  SCOTTISH  LITERATURE 

Barbour,    Blind   Harry,    Huchoun,    Wyntoun,    Holland 

By  Peter  Giles,  M.A.,  Hon.  LL.D.,  Aberdeen,  Fellow  of 
Emmanuel  College  and  Reader  in  Comparative  Philology. 

Early  Fragments.  John  Barbour.  The  Bruce.  Blind  Harry's  Wallace. 
Holland's  Howlat.  Huchoun  of  the  Awle  Ryale.  -  Alorte  Arthure. 
The  Epistill  of  Suete  Susane.  The  Awntyrs  of  Arthtire.  Golagros 
and  Gawane.  Rauf  Coihear.  Colkelbie's  Sow.  Lives  of  the 
Saints.  Gray's  Scalacronica.  Fordun  and  Bower's  Scotichron- 
icon.     Andrew  of   Wyntoun's  Orygynale  Cronykil      .  .  .115 

CHAPTER  VI 

JOHN  GOWER 

By  G.  C.  Macaulay,  M.A.,  Trinity  College, 
Lecturer  in  English. 

His  Life.  His  Political  Opinions.  His  Literary  Work.  The  French 
Speculum  Meditantis  {Mirour  de  I'Omme).  The  Latin  Vox  Cla- 
mantis.     The  English  Confessio  Amantis.     His  Latest  Works         .      1 53 

CHAPTER  VII 

CHAUCER 

By  George  Saintsbury,  M.A.,  Merton  College,  Oxford,  Pro- 
fessor of  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature  in  the  University 
of  Edinburgh. 

Chaucer's  Life.  Canon  of  Works.  Early  Editions.  Tyrwhitt's  Recension. 
Later  Rearrangements.  Tlte  Romaunt  of  the  Rose.  Early  Poems. 
Troilus  and  Criseyde.  The  House  of  Fame.  The  Legend  of 
Good  Women.  The  Canterbury  Tales.  Prose.  ^  The  Astrolabe. 
Boethius.  Minor  Verse.  Chaucer's  Learning.  His  Humour.  His 
Poetical  Quality.     The  Tale  of  Gamelyn  .  .  .  .  -179 


Vll 


PAGE 


225 


Contents 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  ENGLISH  CHAUCERIANS 

By  George  Saintspury,  M.A. 

Lydgate.  Occleve.  Burgh  George  Ashby.  Henry  Bradshaw 
George  Ripley.  Thomas  Norton.  Osbern  Bokenam  The  Chau 
cenan  Apocrypha  The  Tale  of  Beryn  or  The  Second  MerchanVs 
Tale.  La  Belle  Dame  sans  Merci.  The  Cuckoo  and  the  Nieht- 
tngale.  The  Assembly  of  Ladies.  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf  Tlie 
Court  of  Love  ••.... 

CHAPTER  IX 

STEPHEN  HA  WES 

By  William  Murison,  M.A.,  Aberdeen. 

The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure.  Tlie  Conversion  of  Swearers.  A  Joyful 
Meditation  to  all  England  of  the  Coronation  of  Henry  the  Eighth 
The  Example  of  Virtue.  Hawes's  Learning  and  Models  His 
Medievalism.     His  Relation  to  Spenser.     His  Metre    .  .  .254 

CHAPTER  X 

THE  SCOTTISH  CHAUCERIANS 

By  G.  Gregory  Smith,  M.A. 

James  I.  The  Kingis  Quair.  The  Influence  of  Chaucer.  Robert  Hen- 
ryson.  The  Morall  Fahillis  of  Esope.  The  Testament  of  Cres- 
seid.  Henryson's  Shorter  Poems.  William  Dunbar.  His  Allegories. 
The  Grotesque  in  Dunbar.  His  Prosodic  Range.  Gavin  Douglas.' 
The  Police  of  Honour.  King  Hart.  The  Aeneid.  Douglas's 
MedievaUsm.     Walter  Kennedy         .  .  .  .  .  .272 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE    MIDDLE    SCOTS    ANTHOLOGIES:    ANONYMOUS    VERSE 
AND  EARLY  PROSE 

By  G.  Gregory  Smith,  M.A. 

Early  Anthologists.  The  Native  Elements.  Peblis  to  the  Play.  Christis 
Kirk  on  the  Greene.  Sym  and  his  Brudir.  The  Wyf  of  Auchiir- 
muckty.  The  Wowing  of  Jok  and  Jynny.  Gyre  Carting.  King 
Berdok.  Burlesque  Poems.  Convivial  Verse.  Fabliaux.  Histori- 
cal and  Patriotic  Verse.  Love  Poetry.  Tayis  Bank.  The  Murn- 
ing  Maiden.  Didactic  and  Religious  Verse.  Early  Scottish 
Prose.     Sir  Gilbert  Hay.     Nisbet's  Version  of  Purvey  .  .304 

CHAPTER  XII 

ENGLISH  PROSE  IN  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 
I 

"ecock.     Fortescue.     The  Paston  Letters 

By  Alice  D.  Greenwood. 

The  Master  of  Game.  John  Capgrave.  Reginald  Pecock.  Tlie  Re- 
press /r  of  Overmuch  Blaming  of  Clergy.  The  Repressor  and  the 
Loll.i,rds.  Pecock's  Minor  Works.  His  Style  and  Vocabulary. 
Sir  John  Fortescue^  Walter  Hylton.  Juliana  of  Norwich.  Gesta 
Romanorum.  Secreta  Secretorum.  William  Gregory's  Note-book. 
The  Paston  Letters.     Copyists  and  Booksellers  .  .  .  .326 


viii  Contents 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  PRINTING  INTO  ENGLAND  AND  THE  EARLY 
WORK  OF  THE  PRESS 

By  E.  Gordon  Duff,  M.A.,  Oxon.,  sometime  Sandars  Reader 
in  Bibliography  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

PAGE 

The  First  Products  of  the  New  Art.  William  Caxton.  The  First  Book 
printed  in  English — The  Rccuyell  of  the  Histories  of  Troy.  The 
First  Dated  Book  issued  in  England — The  Dictes  and  Sayings  of 
the  Philosophers.  TJie  Golden  Legend.  Malory's  Alorte  d' Arthur. 
Caxton's  Views  on  the  English  Language.  Provincial  Presses.  The 
Book  of  St.  Albans.  William  de  Machlinia.  English  Books 
printed  Abroad.  Arnold's  Chronicle.  Richard  Pynson.  Berners's 
Froissart.  Wynkyn  de  Worde.  Minor  Printers.  Antoine  Verard 
and  John  of  Doesborch.    The  Book  Trade  ....      353 

CHAPTER  XIV 

ENGLISH  PROSE  IN  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 
II 

Caxton.     Malory.     Berners 

By  Alice  D.  Greenwood. 

Caxton  as  Editor.  The  Golden  Legend.  Malory's  Morte  d" Arthur. 
Style  of  the  Morte  d' Arthur.  Sir  John  Bourchier,  Lord  Berners. 
The  Chronicles  of  Froissart.  Huon  of  Bordeaux.  The  Golden 
Book  of  Alarcus  Aurelius  .  .  .  .  .  .  .377 

CHAPTER  XV 

ENGLISH  AND  SCOTTISH  EDUCATION.     UNIVERSITIES  AND  PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS  TO  THE  TIME  OF  COLET 

By  the  Rev.  T.  A.  Walker,  M.A.,  LL.D.,  Fellow  of  Peterhouse. 

Paris  and  Oxford.  Beginnings  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Town  and 
Gown.  University  and  Bishop.  The  Coming  of  the  Friars.  The 
Schoolmen.  The  Fall  of  the  Friars.  Poor  Students.  Walter  de 
Merton.  Hugo  de  Balsham.  The  Black  Death.  The  Beginnings 
of  the  Colleges.  William  of  Wykeham,  Winchester  and  New 
College.  Henry  VI,  Eton  and  King's  College.  Queen  Margaret. 
Medieval  Studies.  The  Grammar  School.  University  Studies. 
The  Higher  Faculties.  Peterhouse  Library  and  Catalogue.  The 
Library  of  the  Medieval  Student.  The  Education  of  a  Young  Scholar 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  Hour  before  the  Renascence.  St.  Andrews 
University.     Glasgow  and  Aberdeen.     Scottish  University  Studies     387 

CHAPTER  XVI 

TRANSITION  ENGLISH  SONG  COLLECTIONS 

By  Frederick  Morgan  Padelford,  Ph.D.,  Proft.ssor  of  the 

English  Language  and  Literature  in  the  University 

of  Washington. 

Characteristics  of  Folk-poetry.  Minstrels'  Songs.  Carols,  Sacred  and 
Secular.  Spiritual  Lullabies.  Didactic  Song0  Satires  agaii'st 
Women.  Drinking  Songs.  Love  Songs.  Pre-Christian  Festivals 
and  May  Poems.     Miscellaneous  Songs     .  .  .  .  ^     422 


Contents  ix 

CHAPTER  XVII 

BALLADS 

By  Francis  B.  Gummere,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  English  in 
Haverford  College.   ' 

PAGE 

Definition  of  the  Subject.  The  Canute  Song.  Outlaw  Ballads  and 
Political  Songs.  The  Ballad  Question.  Tradition.  Robin  Hood. 
Babylon.  The  Maid  Freed  from  the  Gallows.  The  Making  of 
Ballads.  General  Outlines  of  Ballad  Progress.  Sources  of  Ballads. 
Riddle  Ballads.  The  Epic  Tendency.  Balladry  in  Rags.  Ballads 
of  Domestic  Tragedy.  Child  Waters.  Funeral  ballads.  The 
Historical  Ballad.  The  Greenwood.  Sources  and  Aesthetic 
Values  of  Ballads  as  a  Whole    .......     449 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

POLITICAL     AND     RELIGIOUS     VERSE     TO     THE     CLOSE     OF    THE 
FIFTEENTH  CENTURY— FINAL  WORDS 

By  A.  R.  Waller,  M.A.,  Peterhouse. 

Anglo-Nomian  Writings.  L'Histoire  de  Guillaume  le  Marechal. 
The  Vows  of  tJte  Heron.  The  Lollards.  The  Libel  of  English  Policy. 
Jack  Napes'  Soul.  Lyrics  and  Carols.  The  Religious  Plays. 
Didactic  Literature.     Robin  Hood.     The  Fifteenth  Century  475 


Appendix  to  Chapter  II            ........  489 

Bibliographies        .           .           .           .           .           .           .          .          .           •  49^ 

Table  of  Principal  Dates 57 1 

Index             ...........  575 


The    Cambridge    History    of 
English    Literature 


8^o.  3-^1 
CHAPTER  I  y^^ 

*' Piers  the  Plowman"  and   its   Sequence 

FEW  poems  of  the  Middle  Ages  have  had  a  stranger  fate 
than  those  grouped  under  the  general  title  of  The  Vision 
of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman.  Obviously 
very  popular  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
time  of  their  composition,  they  remained  popular  throughout 
the  fifteenth  century,  were  regarded  in  the  sixteenth  by  the 
leaders  of  the  reformation  as  an  inspiration  and  a  prophecy, 
and,  in  modem  times,  have  been  quoted  by  every  historian 
of  the  fourteenth  century  as  the  most  vivid  and  trustworthy 
source  for  the  social  and  economic  history  of  the  time.  Yet 
their  early  popularity  has  resulted  in  the  confusion  of  what 
is  really  the  work  of  five  different  men,  and  in  the  creation 
of  a  mythical  author  of  all  these  poems  and  one  other;  and 
the  nature  of  the  interest  of  the  sixteenth  century^  reformers 
has  caused  a  misunderstanding  of  the  objects  and  aims  of  the 
satire  contained  in  the  poems  separately  and  collectively. 
Worst  of  all,  perhaps,  the  failure  of  modem  scholars  to  dis- 
tinguish the  presence  of  several  hands  in  the  poems  has  re- 
sulted in  a  general  charge  of  vagueness  and  obscurity,  which 
has  not  even  spared  a  portion  of  the  TX'ork  remarkable  for  its 
clearness  and  definiteness  and  structural  excellence. 

Before  taking  up  any  of  the  problems  just  suggested,  we 
may  recall  briefly  certain  undisputed  facts  as  to  the  form  'of 
the  poems.  They  are  written  throughout  in  alliterative  verse 
of  the  same  general  type  as  that  of  Beowulf  and  other  Old 
English  poems,  and,  at  first  sight,  seem  to  form  one  long  poem, 
extant  in  versions  differing  somewhat  from  one  another.  As 
Skeat  has  conclusively  shown  in  his  monumental  editions  of 


2       ** Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

the  texts,  there  are  three  principal  versions  or  texts,  which  he 
designates  the  A-text,  the  B-text  and  the  C-text,  or  the 
Vernon,  the  Crowley  and  the  Whitaker  versions  respectively. 
The  A-text,  or  Vernon  version,  consists  of  three  visions  sup- 
posed to  come  to  the  author  while  sleeping  beside  a  stream 
among  the  Malvern  hills.     The  first  of  these,  occupying  the 

-^prologue  and  passus  i-iv,  is  the  vision  of  the  field  full  of 
folk — a  symbol  of  the  world — and  Holy  Church  and  Lady  Meed ; 
the  second,  occupying  passus  v-viii,  is  the  vision  of  Piers  the 
Plowman  and  the  crowd  of  penitents  whom  he  leads  in  search 

./Of  Saint  Truth;  the  third,  occupying  passus  ix-xii,  is  a  vision 
in  which  the  dreamer  goes  in  search  of  Do- well,  Do-better  and 
Do-best,  but  is  attacked  by  hunger  and  fever  and  dies  ere  his 
quest  is  accomplished.  The  B-text  and  the  C-text  are  suc- 
cessive modifications  and  expansions  of  the  A-text. 

Let  us  turn  now  from  fact  to  theory.  The  two  principal 
authorities,  Skeat  and  Jusserand,  though  differing  in  details, 
agree,  in  the  main,  in  the  account  they  give  of  the  poems  and 
the  author;  and  their  account  is  very  generally  accepted.  It 
is  as  follows :  The  author  was  William  Langland  (or  Langley) , 
bom  about  133 1-2  at  Cleobury  Mortimer,  32  miles  S.S.E.  from 
Shrewsbury  and  137  N.W.  from  London,  and  educated  in  the 
school  of  the  Benedictine  monastery  at  Malvern,  among  the 
hills  S.W.  of  Worcester.  Whether  he  was  the  son  of  freemen 
(Skeat's  view)  or  of  serfs  (Jusserand's  view),  he  was,  at  any 

,  rate,  educated  for  the  church  and  probably  took  minor  orders ; 
but,  because  of  his  temperament,  his  opinions,  his  marriage, 
or  his  lack  of  influential  friends,  he  never  rose  in  the  church. 
At  some  unknown  date,  possibly  before  1362,  he  removed  to 
London  and  made  a  scmty  living  by  singing  masses,  copying 
legal  documents  and  other  similar  casual  occupations.  In 
1362,  he  began  his  famous  poems,  writing  first  the  vision  of 
Lady  Meed  and  the  vision  of  Piers  the  PlowTnan.  Perhaps 
immediately,  perhaps  after  an  interval  of  some  time,  he  added 
to  these  the  vision  of  Do-well,  Do-better,  and  Do-best.  This 
first  version  of  these  poems  constitutes  what  is  now  called 
the  A-text  of  Piers  the  Plowman.  But,  according  to  the  cur- 
rent view,  the  author  did  not  leave  matters  thus.  Encouraged 
by  the  success  of  his  work  and  impelled  by  his  increasing 
indignation  at  the  corruptions  of  the  age,  he  took  up  his  poem 


The  Three  Texts  3 

again  in  1377  and  expanded  it  to  more  than  twice  its  original 
length.  The  lines  of  the  earlier  version  he  left  essentially 
unchanged;  but  he  inserted,  here  and  there,  additions  of 
greater  or  less  length,  suggested  now  by  some  word  or  phrase 
of  the  original  text,  now  by  events  in  the  world  about  him 
and  his  meditations  on  them;  and  he  rejected  the  whole  of 
the  final  passus,  containing  an  imaginary  account  of  his  death, 
to  replace  it  by  a  continuation  of  the  vision  of  Do-well,  Do- 
better  and  Do-best  longer  than  the  whole  of  the  original  ver- 
sion of  the  poem.  The  A-text  had  contained  a  prologue  and 
four  passus  (or  cantos)  of  the  vision  of  Lady  Meed,  four  passus 
of  the  vision  of  Piers  the  Plowman  and  four  passus  of  the  vision 
of  Do-well,  Do-better  and  Do-best,  or  twelve  passus  in  all,  with 
a  total  of  2567  lines.  The  B-text  runs  parallel  to  this  to  the 
end  of  passus  xi  (but  with  3206  lines  instead  of  2567),  and 
then  continues  for  nine  more  passus,  making  a  total  of  7242 
lines.  The  author's  active  interest  in  his  poem  did  not  cease 
here,  however,  for  he  subjected  it  to  another  revision,  about 
1393  (according  to  Skeat)  or  1398  (according  to  Jusserand). 
This  revision  is  known  as  the  C-text.  Its  relation  to  the 
B-text  may  be  roughly  stated  as  consisting  in  the  insertion  of 
a  few  passages,  the  rearrangement  of  a  considerable  number 
and  the  rewriting  of  a  number  of  others  with  more  or  less 
change  of  content  or  of  emphasis,  but,  on  the  whole,  as  in- 
volving no  such  striking  differences  from  the  B-text  as  exist 
between  that  and  the  A-text.  This  latest  version  numbers 
7357  lines  as  against  the  7242  of  the  second  version. 

Skeat  and  Jusserand  ascribe  to  the  same  author  another 
poem  in  alliterative  verse,  commonly  known  as  Richard  the 
Redeless,  concerning  the  last  years  of  the  reign  of  Richard  II. 
This  poem,  which,  as  we  have  it,  is  a  fragment,  was,  Skeat 
thinks,  written  between  the  capture  and  the  formal  deposition 
of  Richard  in  1399,  and  was,  perhaps,  left  unfinished  by  the 
author  in  consequence  of  the  fate  of  the  king. 

The  evidence  relied  upon  to  prove  that  all  these  poems 
were  the  work  of  a  single  author  is  entirely  the  internal  evidence  • 
of  the  poems  themselves,  supposed  similarity  in  ideas,  style, 
diction,  etc.,  together  with  the  difficulty  of  supposing  the 
existence,  at,  approximately,  the  same  time,  of  several  un- 
known writers  of  such  ability  as  is  displayed  in  these  poems. 


4      "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

Undoubtedly,  the  first  impulse  of  any  student  of  a  group  of 
poems  related  as  these  are  is  to  assume  that  they  are  the  work 
of  a  single  author,  and  that  any  statements  made  in  the  poems 
concerning  the  personality  and  experiences  of  the  dreamer  are 
autobiographical  revelations.  Moreover,  in  this  particular 
case,  it  will  be  remembered,  each  of  the  two  later  versions 
incorporates  with  its  additions  the  preceding  version;  and,  as 
the  C-text,  on  account  of  the  larger  mass  of  material  in  it,  has 
received  the  almost  exclusive  attention  of  scholars,  the  im- 
pression of  the  style  and  other  literary  qualities  gained  by 
the  modern  student  has,  necessarily,  been  a  composite  of  the 
qualities  of  the  three  texts  and  not  a  distinct  sense  of  the 
qualHies  of  each  and  the  differences  between  them. 

Such  differences  do  exist,  and  in  the  greatest  number  and 
^variety.  There  are  differences  in  diction,  in  metre,  in  sentence 
structure,  in  methods  of  organising  material,  in  number  and 
kind  of  rhetorical  devices,  in  power  of  visualising  objects  and 
scenes  presented,  in  topics  of  interest  to  the  author  and  in 
views  on  social,  theological  and  various  miscellaneous  ques- 
tions. Some  of  these  have,  indeed,  been  observed  and  discussed 
by  previous  writers,  but  they  have  always  been  explained  as 
due  to  such  changes  as  might  occur  in  any  man's  mental 
qualities  and  views  of  life  in  the  course  of  thirty  or  thirty-five 
years,  the  interval  between  the  earliest  and  the  latest  version. 
To  the  present  writer  the  differences  seem  of  such  a  nature 
as  not  to  admit  of  such  an  explanation;  and  this  opinion  is 
confirmed  by  the  existence  of  certain  passages  in  which  the 
authors  of  the  later  versions  have  failed  to  understand  their 
predecessors. 

This  is,  of  course,  not  the  place  for  polemics  or  for  a  de- 
tailed examination  of  all  the  problems  suggested  by  the  poems. 
Our  principal  concern  is  with  the  poems  themselves  as  literary 
monuments  and,  if  it  may  be,  with  their  author  or  authors. 
[But,  for  this  very  reason,  it  seems  necessary  to  present  the 
poems  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  the  student  to  decide  for 
himself  between  the  two  theories  of  authorship,  inasmuch  as 
this  decision  carries  with  it  important  conclusions  concerning 
Ahe  literary  values  of  the  poems,  the  mental  qualities  of  the 
.authors  and    the  intellectual  activity  of    the   age   to  which 
^hey  belong.     Fortunately,  such  a  presentation  is  precisely 


The  Crowd  in  the  Valley  5 

that  which  will  best  set  forth  the  contents  of  the  poems  and 
their  qualities. 

Let  us  examine  first  the  prologue  and  passus  i-viii  of 
the  A-text.  This  is  not  an  arbitrary  dismemberment  of  a 
poem.  The  two  visions  included  in  these  passus  are  intimately 
connected  with  each  other  and  definitely  separated  from  what 
follows.  At  the  beginning  of  the  prologue  the  dreamer  goes- 
to  sleep  among  the  Malvern  hills  and  sees  a  vision  of  the- 
world  in  the  guise  of  a  field  full  of  folk  thronging  a  valley- 
bounded  on  one  side  by  a  cliff,  on  which  stands  the  tower  of 
Truth,  and,  on  the  other,  by  a  deep  dale,  in  which,  surrounded 
by  a  dark  moat,  lies  the  dungeon  of  Wrong.  Within  this 
valley  begin  the  incidents  of  his  first  vision,  and,  though  they 
range  far,  there  is  never  any  suggestion  of  discontinuity;  at 
the  end  of  the  vision  the  dreamer  wakes  for  only  a  moment, 
and,  immediately  falling  asleep,  sees  again  the  same  field  of 
folk  and  another  series  of  events  unfolding  themselves  in 
rapid  succession  beneath  the  cliff  with  its  high-built  tower, 
until,  finally,  he  wakes  "meatless  and  moneyless  in  Malvern 
hills."  The  third  vision,  on  the  other  hand,  has  no  connection 
with  Malvern  hills;  the  dreamer  sees  nothing  of  his  valley, 
with  the  folk  and  the  tower  and  the  dungeon;  indeed,  this  is 
not  a  vision  at  all  in  the  sense  of  the  first  two,  but,  rather,  a 
series  of  dream-visits  and  dream-discussions,  the  like  of  which 
cannot  be  found  in  the  first  two  visions.  Skeat  himself  has 
recognised  the  close  connection  between  the  first  two  visions, 
and  has  suggested  that  the  third  may  have  been  written  after 
a  considerable  interval. 

Each  of  the  first  two  visions  in  the  A-text  is,  contrary  to 
the  usual  opinion,  distinguished  by  remarkable  unity  of  struc- 
ture, directness  of  movement  and  freedom  from  digression  of 
any  sort.  The  author  marshals  his  dream-figures  with  mar- 
vellous swiftness,  but  with  unerring  hand;  he  never  himself 
forgets  for  a  moment  the  relation  of  any  incident  to  his  whole 
plan,  nor  allows  his  reader  to  forget  it,  or  to  feel  at  a  loss 
as  to  its  meaning  or  its  place. 

We  first  see,  with  the  vividness  of  the  dreamer's  own 
vision,  the  thronging  crowd  in  the  valley  beneath  the  tower 
of  Truth  and  hovering  on  the  brink  of  the  dark  dale.  People 
of  all  sorts  are  there — the  poor  and  the  rich,  saints  and  sinners 


6      *' Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

of  every  variety,  living  as  they  live  in  the  world.  Singly  and 
in  groups  they  pass  before  us,  each  noted  by  the  poet  with  a 
word  or  a  phrase  that  gives  us  their  very  form  and  pressure. 
Satire  there  is,  but  it  is  satire  which  does  not  impede  the 
movement  of  the  thronged  dream,  satire  which  flashes  and 
plays  about  the  object,  revealing  its  inner  nature  by  a  word, 
an  epithet,  a  brief  phrase.  We  see  the  false  beggars  shamming 
for  food  and  fighting  at  the  ale-house,  "great  lubbers  and  long 
that  loth  were  to  labour";  the  friars,  "preaching  the  people 
for  profit  of  their  bellies";  the  pardoner,  surrounded  by  the 
crowd  of  ignorant  believers,  whom  he  deceives  with  his 
papal  bull  and  his  fair  speech;  and  the  corrupt  priest,  taking 
his  share  of  the  ill-gotten  gains,  while  the  bishop,  who  is  not 
"worth  his  two  ears,"  refuses  to  interfere.  Then  come  a  hun- 
dred lawyers  in  hoods  of  silk,  ready  to  undertake  any  cause 
for  money,  but  refusing  "to  unloose  their  lips  once  for  love 
of  our  Lord";  "you  could  more  easily,"  says  the  poet,  "meas- 
ure the  mist  on  Malvern  hills  than  get  a  mum  of  their  mouths 
unless  money  were  showed."  After  them  appears  a  confused 
throng  of  churchmen  of  all  degrees,  all  "leaping  to  London" 
to  seek  worldly  offices  and  wealth.  Wasters  there  are,  and 
idle  labourers  "that  do  their  deeds  ill  and  drive  forth  the 
long  day  with  singing  Dieu  save  Dame  Emmef"  Along  with 
the  satire  there  is  commendation,  now  for  the  ploughmen  who 
work  hard  and  play  seldom;  now,  of  a  higher  sort,  for  pious 
nuns  and  hermits;  now,  for  honest  merchants;  now,  even  for 
harmless  minstrels  who  "get  gold  with  their  glee."  But, 
neither  satire  nor  commendation  delays  even  for  a  moment 
our  rapid  survey  of  this  marvellous  motley  crowd,  or  detracts 
from  our  feeling  that,  in  this  valley  of  vision,  the  world  in 
miniature  is  visibly  moving,  living,  working,  cheating,  pray- 
ing, singing,  crying  for  sale  its  "hot  pies,"  its  "good  geese  and 
pigs,"  its  "white  wine  and  red." 

The  author,  having  thus,  in  his  prologue,  set  before  us  the 
vision  first  presented  to  the  eyes  of  his  mind,  proceeds  to 
interpret  it.  This  he  does  characteristically  by  a  further 
development  of  the  dream  itself. 

A  lovely  lady  comes  down  from  the  cliff  and  says  to  the 
dreamer : 

Son,  seest  thou   this  people,  how  engrossed  they  are  in  this 


Holy  Church  7 

confusion?  The  most  part  of  the  people  that  pass  now  on  earth, 
if  they  have  success  in  this  world,  care  for  nothing  else;  of  other 
heaven  than  here  they  take  no  account. 

The  impression  already  made  upon  us  by  this  strange 
majestic  figure  is  deepened  by  the  author's  vivid  comment, 
"I  was  afeard  of  her  face,  fair  though  she  was,  and  said, 
'Mercy,  my  lady;  what  is  the  meaning  of  this? ' "  The  tower, 
she  explains,  is  the  dwelling  of  Truth,  the  Father  of  our  faith, 
who  formed  us  all  and  commanded  the  earth  to  serve  man- 
kind with  all  things  needful.  He  has  given  food  and  drink 
and  clothing  to  suffice  for  all,  but  to  be  used  with  moderation, 
for  excess  is  sinful  and  dangerous  to  the  soul.  The  dreamer 
enquires  curiously  about  money:  "the  money  on  this  earth 
that  men  so  fast  hold,  tell  me  to  whom  that  treasure  belongs." 
"Go  to  the  Gospel,"  she  replies,  "and  consider  what  Christ 
himself  said  when  the  people  apposed  him  with  a  penny.'" 
He  then  asks  the  meaning  of  the  dungeon  in  the  deep  dale. 

That  is  the  castle  of  Care ;  whoso  comes  therein  may  ban  that  he 
was  born  to  body  or  to  soul ;  in  it  dwells  a  wight  named  Wrong,  the 
father  of  False,  who  seduced  Adam  and  Cain  and  Judas.  He  is  a 
hinderer  of  love,  and  deceives  all  who  trust  in  their  vain  treasures. 

Wondering  who  she  is  that  utters  such  wisdom,  the  dreamer 
is  informed  that  she  is  Holy  Church.  "Thou  oughtest  to 
know  me;  I  received  thee  first  and  taught  thee  faith,  and 
thou  didst  promise  to  love  me  loyally  while  thy  life  should 
endure."  He  f^lls  upon  his  knees,  beseeching  her  favour  and 
begging  her  to  teach  him  so  to  believe  on  Christ  as  to  do  His 
will:  "Teach  me  to  no  treasure,  but  tell  me  this,  how  I  may 
save  my  soul ! ' ' 

"W^hen  all  treasure  is  tried,"  she  declares,  "Truth  is  the  best; 
it  is  as  precious  as  God  himself.  Whoso  is  true  of  his  tongue  and 
of  his  deeds,  and  does  ill  to  no  man,  is  accounted  to  the  Gospel  and 
likened  to  our  Lord.  Truth  is  claimed  by  Christian  and  non-Chris- 
tian; it  should  be  kept  by  all.  Kings  and  knights  are  bound  by  it, 
cherubim  and  seraphim  and  all  the  orders  of  angels  were  knighted 
by  Christ  and  taught  to  know  Truth.  Lucifer  and  his  fellows  failed 
in  obedience,  and  sinned  by  pride,  and  fell;  but  all  who  keep  Truth 
may  be  sure  that  their  souls  shall  go  to  heaven  to  be  crowned  by 
Truth;  for,  when  all  treasure  is  tried,  Truth  is  the  best."  "But 
what  is  it?     By  what  quality  or  power  of  my  nature  does  it  begin, 


8      ** Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

and  where?"  "Thou  fool,  it  is  a  teaching  of  nature  to  love  thy 
Lord  dearer  than  thyself,  and  do  no  deadly  sin  though  thou  shouldst 
die.  This  is  Truth,  and  none  can  teach  thee  better;  it  is  the  most 
precious  thing  demanded  by  our  Lord.  Love  began  by  the  Father 
and  was  perfected  in  the  death  of  his  Son.  Be  merciful  as  He  was 
merciful,  for,  unless  you  live  truly,  and  love  and  help  the  poor,  you 
have  no  merit  in  Mass  or  in  Hours.  Faith  without  works  is  dead ; 
chastity  without  charity  is  as  foul  as  an  unlighted  lamp.  Date  et 
dabiiur  vobis,  this  is  the  lock  of  love  that  lets  out  my  grace  to 
comfort  all  sinful;  it  is  the  readiest  way  that  leads  to  heaven." 

With  this  Holy  Church  declares  that  she  can  stay  no 
longer,  and  passus  i  closes. 

But  the  dreamer  kneels  and  beseeches  her,  crying : 

"Mercy,  my  lady,  for  the  love  of  her  that  bore  the  blissful  Babe 
that  redeemed  us  on  the  cross;  teach  me  to  know  False!"  "Look 
on  thy  left  hand  and  see  where  he  stands — both  False  and  Favel 
(Duplicity)  and  all  his  whole  house."  I  looked  on  the  left  hand 
as  the  lady  taught  me;  and  I  saw  a  woman  wonderfully  clothed, 
arrayed  in  furs  the  richest  on  earth,  crowned  with  a  crown  no 
less  costly  than  the  king's,  all  her  five  fingers  loaded  with 
the  most  precious  stones  that  prince  ever  wore.  "Who  is  this 
woman,"  said  I,  "thus  richly  attired?"  "That  is  the' maiden  Meed, 
who  has  often  injured  me.  To-morrow  will  the  marriage  be  made 
of  her  and  False.  Favel  brought  them  together.  Guile  prepared  her 
for  it  and  Liar  has  directed  the  whole  affair.  I  warn  thee  that  thou 
mayst  know  them  all,  and  keep  thyself  from  them,  if  thou  desirest 
to  dwell  with  Truth  in  his  bliss.  I  can  stay  no  longer;  I  commit 
thee  to  our  Lord." 

All  the  rich  retinue  that  held  with  False  was  bidden  to  the 
bridal.  Simony  was  sent  for  to  seal  the  charters  and  feoff 
Meed  with  all  the  possessions  of  False  and  Favel.  But  there 
was  no  house  that  could  hold  the  throng  that  came.  In  a 
moment,  as  if  by  some  magical  process,  we  see  a  pavilion 
pitched  on  a  hill,  with  ten  thousand  tents  set  about  it,  for  all 
men  of  all  orders  to  witness  the  feoffment  of  Meed.  Then 
Favel  brought  her  forth,  and  Simony  and  Civil  (Civil  Law) 
stood  forth  and  unfolded  the  charter,  which  was  drawn  up  in 
due  legal  form  and  endowed  the  contracting  parties  with  all 
the  provinces  of  the  seven  deadly  sins,  "to  have  and  to  hold, 
and  all  their  heirs  after,  with  the  appurtenance  of  Purgatory, 


Meed  9 

even  to  the  torment  of  Hell;  yielding,  for  this  thing,  at  the 
year's  end,  their  souls  to  Satan."  This  was  duly  witnessed 
and  deHvered.  But  Theology  objected  to  the  wedding,  be- 
cause Meed  was  no  bastard  and  should  be  wedded  according 
to  the  choice  of  Truth. 

The  workman  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  False  is  no  mate  for  her; 
she  is  of  good  birth  and  might  kiss  the  king  for  cousin.  Take  her 
to  London  and  see  if  the  law  will  permit  this  wedding;  and  beware, 
for  Truth  is  wise,  and  Conscience,  who  knows  you  all,  is  of  his 
counsel. 

Civtt  agreed,  but  Simony  demanded  money  for  his  services. 
Then  Favel  brought  forth  gold,  and  began  to  bribe  ■  officers 
and  witnesses;  and  all  promised  to  go  to  London  and  support 
his  claims  before  the  court  at  Westminster. 

The  incident  which  follows  is  one  of  the  best  examples  of 

J     the  author's  power  of   visualisation   and  of  rapid  narration 

i    unbroken  by  explanation  or  moralisation ;  for  the  moralising 

lines,  unfortunately  admitted  into  Skeat's  text,  which  interrupt 

the  narrative  and  tend  to  delay  and  obscure  it,  do  not  belong 

to  the  original,  but  are  found  in  one  MS.  only.     To  the  rapidity 

and  assurance  with  which  the  picture  is  developed  is,  perhaps, 

due  in  no  small  part  the  readiness  with  which  we  accept  it 

^•and  the  vitality  and  soHdity  which  these  personified  abstrac- 

y^/  tions  maintain  throughout  the  dream. 

A'Av^  "Then  they  lacked  horses  to  carry  them  thither,  but 
A  Favel  brought  forth  foals  of  the  best.  He  set  Meed  on  a 
'\  sheriff's  back,  shod  all  new,  and  False  on  a  juror  that  trotted 
softly."  In  like  manner  for  each  of  the  abstractions  was 
provided  some  appropriate,  concrete  evil-doer;  and,  thus 
equipped,  the  fantastic  crew  immediately  set  out.  But  Sooth- 
ness  saw  them  well,  and  said  little,  but  rode  hard  and  came 
first  to  court.  There  he  told  Conscience,  and  Conscience  re- 
ported to  the  king,  all  that  had  happened.  ' ' Now,  by  Christ," 
said  the  king,  "if  I  might  catch  False  or  any  of  his  fellows, 
I  would  hang  them  by  the  neck."  Dread,  standing  at  the 
door,  heard  his  doom,  and  went  wightly  to  warn  False.  At 
the  news,  the  wedding  party  fled  in  all  directions.  False  fled 
to  the  friars.  Liar  leaped  away  lightly,  lurked  through  lanes, 
buffeted  by  many  and  ordered  to  leave,  until  pardoners  had 


lo     "Piers  the  Plowman*'  and  its  Sequence 

pity  on  him  and  received  him  as  one  of  themselves.  Then  he 
was  in  demand:  physicians  and  merchants  and  minstrels  and 
messengers  wanted  him;  but  the  friars  induced  him  to  come 
with  them.  Of  the  whole  wedding  party,  only  Meed  durst 
stay,  and  she  trembled  and  wept  and  wrung  her  hands  when 
she  was  arrested. 

In  passus  iii  the  king  orders  that  Meed  shall  be  treated 
courteously,  and  declares  that  he  himself  will  ask  her  whom 
she  wishes  to  wed,  and,  if  she  acts  reasonably,  he  will  forgive 
her.  So  a  clerk  brought  her  to  the  chamber.  At  once  people 
began  to  profess  friendship  for  her  and  promise  aid.  The 
justices  came,  and  said,  ' '  Mourn  not.  Meed ;  we  will  clear  thee." 
She  thanked  them  and  gave  them  cups  of  clean  gold  and 
rings  with  rubies.  Clerks  came,  and  said,  "We  are  thine  own, 
to  work  thy  will  w^hile  life  lasts."  She  promised  to  reward 
them  all:  "no  ignorance  shall  hinder  the  advancement  of  him 
whom  I  love."  A  confessor  offered  to  shrive  her  for  a  seam 
of  w^heat  and  to  serve  her  in  any  evil.  She  told  him  a  tale  and 
gave  him  money  to  be  her  bedesman  and  her  bawd.  He 
assoiled  her,  and  then  suggested  that,  if  she  would  help  them 
with  a  stained  glass  window  they  were  putting  in,  her  name 
would  be  recorded  on  it  and  her  soul  would  be  sure  of  heaven. 
"Knew  I  that,"  said  the  woman,  "there  is  neither  window 
nor  altar  that  I  would  not  make  or  mend,  and  inscribe  my 
name  thereon."  Here  the  author  declares  the  sin  of  such 
actions,  and  exhorts  men  to  cease  such  inscriptions,  and  give 
alms.  He  also  urges  mayors  to  punish  brewers,  bakers, 
butchers  and  cooks,  who,  of  all  men  on  earth,  do  most  harm 
by  defrauding  the  poor.  "Meed,"  he  remarks,  "urged  them 
to  take  bribes  and  permit  such  cheating ;  but  Solomon  .says 
that  fire  shall  consume  the  houses  of  those  who  take  bribes." 

Then  the  king  entered  and  had  Meed  brought  before  him. 
He  addressed  her  courteously,  but  said,  "Never  hast  thou 
done  worse  than  now,  but  do  so  no  more.  I  have  a  knight 
called  Conscience;  wilt  thou  marry  him?"  "Yea,  lord,"  said 
the  lady,  ' '  God  forbid  else ! "  Conscience  was  called  and  asked 
if  he  would  wed  her. 

Nay,  Christ  forbid!  She  is  frail  of  her  flesh,  fickle,  a  causer  of 
wantonness.  She  killed  father  Adam  and  has  poisoned  popes.  She 
is  as  common  as  the  cart-way;  she  releases  the  guilty  and  hangs  the 


Meed 


II 


innocent.  She  is  privy  with  the  pope,  and  she  and  Simony  seal 
his  bulls.  She  maintains  priests  in  concubinage.  She  leads  the 
law  as  she  pleases,  and  suppresses  the  complaints  of  the  poor. 

Meed  tried  to  defend  herself  by  charging  that  Conscience 
had  caused  greater  evils.  He  had  killed  a  king.  He  had 
caused  a  king  to  give  up  his  campaign  in  Normandy. 

Had  I  been  the  king's  marshal,  he  should  have  been  lord  of  all 
that  land.  A  king  ought  to  give  rewards  to  all  that  serve  him; 
popes  both  receive  and  give  rewards;  servants  receive  wages;  beg- 
gars, alms;  the  king  pays  his  officers;  priests  expect  mass-pence; 
craftsmen  and  merchants,  all  take  meed. 

The  king  was  impressed  by  this  plea,  and  cried,  "By 
Christ,  Meed  is  worthy  to  have  such  mastery."  But  Con- 
science kneeled,  and  explained  that  there  are  two  kinds  of 
meed;  the  one,  such  as  God  gives  to  men  who  love  him;  the 
other,  such  as  maintains  evil-doers.  "Such  as  take  bribes 
shall  answer  for  it;  priests  that  take  money  for  masses  have 
their  reward  on  earth  only.  Wages  is  not  meed,  nor  is  there 
meed  in  the  bargains  of  merchants."  He  then  illustrates  the 
dangers  of  meed  by  the  story  of  Saul  and  the  Amalekites,  and 
ends  by  declaring  that  Reason  shall  reign  and  govern  realms; 
Meed  shall  no  more  be  master,  but  Love  and  Humility  and 
Loyalty  shall  rule,  and  Kind-Wit  and  Conscience  together 
shall  make  Law  a  labourer,  such  love  shall  arise. 

The  king  interrupted  him  and  tried  to  effect  a  reconcilia- 
tion between  him  and  Meed,  but  Conscience  refused,  unless 
advised  thereto  by  Reason.  "Ride  forth  and  fetch  Reason; 
he  shall  rule  my  realm,"  replied  the  king.  Conscience  rode 
away  gladly  and  returned  with  Reason,  followed  by  Wit  and 
Wisdom.  The  king  welcomed  Reason,  and  set  him  on  the 
throne,  between  himself  and  his  son;  and,  while  they  were 
talking  together.  Peace  came,  and  put  up  a  bill  how  Wrong 
had  taken  his  wife,  had  stolen  his  geese,  his  pigs,  his  horse 
and  his  wheat,  had  murdered  his  men  and  beaten  him.  Wrong 
was  afraid  and  tried  to  bribe  Wisdom  to  plead  for  him.  Wis- 
dom and  Wit  told  him  that,  without  the  help  of  Meed,  he 
was  ruined,  and  they  took  him  to  her.  Peace  showed  the 
king  his  bloody  head;  and  the  king  and  Conscience  knew  he 
had  been  wronged;   but  Wisdom  offered  bail  for  Wrong  and 


12     "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

payment  of  the  damages,  and  Meed  offered  Peace  a  present 
of  gold;  whereupon  Peace  begged  the  king  to  have  mercy 
upon  Wrong.  The  king  swore  he  would  not.  Some  urged 
Reason  to  have  pity,   but   he   declared   that   he  would  not 

till  all  lords  and  ladies  love  truth,  and  men  cease  to  spoil  children, 
and  clerks  and  knights  are  courteous,  and  priests  practise  what 
they  preach,  till  the  custom  of  pilgrimages  and  of  carrying  money 
out  of  the  land  ceases,  till  Meed  has  no  might  to  moot  in  this  hall. 
Were  I  king,  no  wrong  should  go  unpunished  or  get  grace  by  bribes. 
Were  this  rule  kept.  Law  would  have  to  become  a  labourer,  and 
Love  should  rule  all. 

When  they  heard  this,  all  held  Reason  a  master  and  Meed  a 
wretch.  Love  laughed  Meed  to  scorn.  The  king  agreed  that 
Reason  spoke  truth,  but  said  it  would  be  hard  to  establish 
such  government.  Reason  asserted  that  it  would  be  easy. 
Whereupon  the  king  begged  Reason  to  stay  with  him  and 
rule  the  land  as  long  as  he  lived.  "I  am  ready,"  said  Reason, 
"to  rest  with  thee  ever;  provided  Conscience  be  our  coun- 
sellor, I  care  for  nothing  better."  "Gladly,"  said  the  king; 
"God  forbid  that  he  fail;  and,  as  long  as  I  live,  let  us  keep 
together!  " 

Thus  ends  passus  iv,  and,  with  it,  the  first  vision.  The 
style  and  the  method  9^  composition  are,  in  the  highest 
degree,  worthy  of  note,  ^e  author,  it  will  be  observed,  sets 
forth  his  views,  not,  after  the  ordinary  fashion  of  allegorists, 
by  bringing  together  his  personifications  and  using  them  as 
mere  mouthpieces,  but  by  involving  them  in  a  rapidly  moving 
series  of  interesting  situations,  skilfully  devised  to  cause  each 
to  act  and  speak  in  a  thoroughly  characteristic  manner.  They 
do  not  seem  to  be  puppets,  moving  and  speaking  as  the  show- 
man pulls  the  strings,  but  persons,  endowed  each  with  his 
own  life  and  moved  by  the  impulses  of  his  own  will.  Only 
once  or  twice  does  the  author  interrupt  his  narration  to  ex- 
press his  own  views  or  feelings,  and  never  does  he  allow  them 
to  interfere  with  the  skill  or  sincerity  of  expression  of  the 
dramatis  personae.  His  presentation  has,  indeed,  the  clear, 
undisturbed  objectivity  of  excellent  drama,  or  of  life  itself. 

In  the  prologue,  the  satire,  as  has  been  observed,  is  all 
incidental,  casual ;  the  same  is  true  of  passus  i ;  for  these  two 
sections  of  the  poem  are  not  essentially  satiricalTT  The  first  is 


The  First  Vision  13 

a  purely  objective  vision  of  the  world  with  its  mingled  good 
and  evil;  the  second  is  the  explanation  of  this  vision  with 
some  comment  and  exhortation  by  Holy  Church,  the  inter- 
preter. The  satire  proper  begins  with  passus  ii,  and,  from 
there  to  the  end  of  this  vision,  is  devoted  to  a  single  subject 
— Meed  and  the  confusion  and  distress  which,  because  of  her, 
afflict  the  world.  Friars,  merchants,  the  clergy,  justices,  law- 
yers, all  classes  of  men,  indeed,  are  shown  to  be  corrupted  by 
love  of  Meedjbut,  contrary  to  current  opinion,  there  is  no- 
where even  the  least  hint  of  any  personal  animosity  against 
any  class  of  men  as  a  class,  or  against  any  of  the  established 
institutions  of  church  or  state.  The  friars  have  often  been 
supposed  to  be  the  special  object  of  attack,  but,  so  far  as  this 
vision  is  concerned,  they  fare  better,  on  the  whole,  than  do 
the  lawyers.  The  only  notable  order  of  fourteenth  century 
society  that  escapes  censure  altogether  is  that  of  the  monks. 
Of  them  there  is  no  direct  criticism,  though  some  of  the  MSS. 
include  monks  among  those  to  whom  Meed  is  common  (iii, 
127-8).  The  possible  bearing  of  this  fact  upon  the  social 
status  of  the  author  will  be  discussed  later. 

As  to  the  style,  no  summary  or  paraphrase  can  reproduce 
its  picturesqueness  and  verve.  It  is  always  simple,  direct, 
evocative  of  a  constant  series  of  clear  and  sharply-defined 
images  of  individuals  and  groups.T  Little  or  no  attempt  is 
made  at  elaborate,  or  even  ordinarily  full,  description,  and 
colour- words  are  singularly  few;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find  a  piece  of  writing  from  which  the  reader  derives  a  clearer 
vision  of  individuals  or  groups  of  moving  figures  in  their 
habit  as  they  lived.  That  the  author  was  endowed  in  the 
highest  degree  with  the  faculty  of  visualisation  is  proved,  not 
merely  by  his  ability  to  stimulate  the  reader  to  form  mental 
images,  but  even  more  by  the  fact  that  all  the  movements 
of  individuals  and  groups  can  be  followed  with  ease  and 
certainty.  Composition,  in  the  larger  sense  of  structural 
excellence,  that  quahty  common  in  French  literature,  but  all 
too  rare  in  English,  and  supposed  to  be  notably  lacking  in 
Piers  the  Plowman,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  this 
first  vision.  ^1 

What  has  just  been  said  of  the  qualities  of  the  first  vision 


14     'Tiers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

is  true  in  equal  degree  of  the  second,  The  Vision  of  Piers  the 
Plowman,  properly  so  called,  which  occupies  passus  v-viii. 
In  outline  it  is  as  follows  :"> 

At  the  close  of  the'~ preceding  vision,  the  king  and  his 
company  went  to  the  church  to  hear  the  services.  The 
dreamer  saw  them  enter,  and  awaked  from  his  dream  disap- 
pointed and  sorrowful  that  he  had  not  slept  more  soundly 
and  seen  more.  But,  ere  he  had  gone  a  furlong,  a  faintness 
seized  him,  and  he  sat  softly  down  and  said  his  creed;  then 
he  fell  asleep  and  saw  more  than  he  had  seen  before.  He 
saw  again  the  field  full  of  folk  and  Conscience  with  a  cross 
preaching  among  them,  urging  them  to  have  pity  on  them- 
selves and  declaring  that  the  pestilences  were  caused  by  their 
sins,  and  that  the  great  storm  of  wind  on  Saturday  at  even 
(i  5  January  1362)  was  a  punishment  for  pride.  Wasters  were 
warned  to  go  to  work;  chapmen  to  cease  spoiling  their  chil- 
dren ;  Pemel,  to  give  up  her  purfie ;  Thomas  and  Wat,  to  look 
after  their  frail  and  extravagant  wives;  priests,  to  practise 
;what  they  preached;  members  of  the  religious  orders,  to  keep 
their  vows,  lest  the  king  and  his  council  should  take  possession 
of  their  property;  pilgrims,  to  cease  journeying  to  St.  James, 
and  seek  St.  Truth.  Then  ran  Repentance  and  moved  the 
hearts  of  all;  William  wept;  Pemel  Proudheart  prostrated 
herself;  Lecher,  Envy,  Covetousness,  Glutton,  Sloth,  Robert 
the  Robber,  all  repented.  The  confessions  of  the  seven  deadly 
sins  (an  accident  has  deprived  us  of  the  confession  of  Wrath 
and  of  a  portion  of  Envy's)  follow  one  another  with  breath- 
less rapidity,  and  the  climax  is  reached  when,  in  the  words 
of  the  author,  "a  thousand  of  men  then  thronged  together, 
crying  upward  to  Christ  and  to  His  pure  Mother  to  have 
grace  to  seek  St.  Truth — God  grant  they  so  may!" 

With  this  passus  v  closes ;  but  the  movement  of  the  narra- 
tive is  uninterrupted.  Some  spurious  lines  printed  by  Skeat 
do,  indeed,  cause  a  semblance  of  at  least  a  momentary  delay; 
but  the  authentic  text  is  better  constructed. 

There  were  few  so  wise,  however,  that  they  knew  the  way 
thither  {i.e.  to  St.  Truth),  but  blustered  forth  as  beasts  over 
valleys  and  hills,  till  it  was  late  and  long  that  they  met  a 
person  apparelled  like  a  pilgrim,  with  relics  of  the  many 
shrines  he  had  visited.     He  had  been  at  Sinai,   Bethlehem, 


The  Way  to  Truth  15 

Babylon,  Armenia,  Alexandria  and  in  many  other  places,  but 
had  never  heard  of  St.  Truth,  nor  met  a  palmer  seeking  such 
a  saint. 

"By  St.  Peter!"  cried  a  ploughman,  and  put  forth  his  head,  "  I 
know  him  as  well  as  a  clerk  his  book ;  Conscience  and  Kind- Wit 
directed  me  to  him  and  taught  meto  serve  him  ever.  I  have  been 
his  man  these  fifteen  years,  sowed  his  seed,  kept  his  beasts,  diked 
and  delved  and  done  his  bidding  in  all  things." 

The  pilgrims  offered  him  money  to  show  them  the  way; 
but  Piers,  the  ploughman,  cried: 

Nay,  by  the  peril  of  my  soul !  I  would  not  take  a  penny  for  the 
whole  wealth  of  St.  Thomas's  shrine;  Truth  would  love  me  the  less. 
But  this  is  the  way.  You  must  go  through  Meekness  till  you  come  to 
Conscience  -  that-Christ-knows-that-you-love-him-dearer-than  -  the- 
life-in-your-hearts-and-your-neighbour-next.  Then  cross  the  brook 
Be-buxom-of-speech  by  the  ford  Honour-thy-father ;  pass  by  Swear- 
not-in-vain  and  the  croft  Covet-not,  with  the  two  stocks  Slay-not 
and  Steal-not;  stop  not  at  Bear-no-false-witness,  and  then  will  be 
seen  Say-sooth.  Thus  shalt  thou  come  to  a  court,  clear  as  the  sun ; 
the  moat  is  of  Mercy,  the  walls  of  Wit,  to  keep  Will  out,  the  Cornells 
of  Christendom,  the  brattice  of  Faith,  the  roof  of  Brotherly  Love. 
The  tower  in  which  Truth  is  is  set  above  the  sun;  he  may  do  with 
the  day-star  what  him  dear  liketh;  Death  dare  do  naught  that  he 
forbids.  The  gate-keeper  is  Grace,  his  man  is  Amend-thou,  whose 
favour  thou  must  procure.  At  the  gate  also  are  seven  sisters, 
Abstinence,  Humility,  Charity,  Chastity,  Patience,  Peace  and  Gen- 
erosity. Any  of  their  kin  are  welcomed  gladly,  and,  unless  one  is 
kin  to  some  of  these  seven,  he  gets  no  entrance  except  by  grace. 

"By  Christ,"  cried  a  cut-purse,  "I  have  no  kin  there!" 
And  so  said  some  others;  but  Piers  replied,  "Yes;  there  is 
there  a  maiden,  Mercy,  who  has  power  over  them  all.  She 
is  sib  to  all  sinful,  and,  through  help  of  her  and  her  Son,  you 
may  get  grace  there,  if  you  go  early." 

Passus  VII  opens  with  the  remark  that  this  would  be  a 
difficult  way  without  a  guide  at  every  step.  "By  Peter!" 
replied  Piers,  "were  my  half-acre  ploughed,  I  would  go  with 
you  myself."  "That  would  be  a  long  delay,"  said  a  lady; 
"what  shall  we  women  do  meanwhile?"  "Sew  and  spin  and 
clothe  the  needy."  "By  Christ!"  exclaimed  a  knight,  "I 
never  learned  to  plough;  but  teach  me,  and  I  will  help  you." 


i6     "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

But  Piers  rejected  his  offer  and  bade  him  do  only  those  ser- 
vices that  belong  to  knighthood,  and  practise  the  virtues  of 
a  kindly  lord.  The  knight  promised  to  do  so,  and  Piers 
prepared  for  his  ploughing.  Those  who  helped  were  to  be 
fed.  Before  setting  out  on  his  journey,  however,  he  wished 
to  make  his  will,  bequeathing  his  soul  to  God,  his  body  to 
the  church,  his  property  to  his  wife  to  divide  among  his  friends 
and  his  dear  children. 

Piers  and  the  pilgrims  set  to  work;  some  helped  him  to 
plough,  others  diked  up  the  balks,  others  plucked  weeds.  At 
high  prime  (9  a.m.)  Piers  looked  about  and  saw  that  some 
had  merely  been  singing  at  the  ale  and  helping  him  with 
"hey,  troly-loly!"  He  threatened  them  with  famine,  and  the 
shirkers  feigned  to  be  lame  or  blind,  and  begged  alms.  "I 
shall  soon  see  if  what  you  say  is  true,"  said  Piers;  "those 
who  will  not  work  shall  eat  only  barley  bread  and  drink  of 
the  brook.  The  maimed  and  blind  I  will  feed,  and  anchorites 
once  a  day,  for  once  is  enough."  Then  the  wasters  arose  and 
would  have  fought.  Piers  called  on  the  knight  for  protection, 
but  the  knight's  efforts  were  vain.  He  then  called  upon 
Hunger,  who  seized  Waster  by  the  maw  and  wrung  him  so 
that  his  eyes  watered,  and  beat  the  rascals  till  he  nearly  burst 
their  ribs.  Piers  in  pity  came  between  them  with  a  pease- 
loaf.  Immediately  all  the  sham  ailments  disappeared;  and 
blind,  bed-ridden,  lame  asked  for  work.  Piers  gave  it  to 
them,  but,  fearing  another  outbreak,  asked  Hunger  what 
should  be  done  in  that  event.  The  reply,  which  contains  the 
author's  view  of  the  labour-problem,  was  that  able-bodied 
beggars  were  to  be  given  nothing  to  eat  but  horse-bread  and 
dog-bread  and  bones  and  thus  driven  to  work,  but  the  unfor- 
tunate and  the  naked  and  needy  were  to  be  comforted  with 
alms.  In  reply  to  a  further  question  whether  it  is  right  to 
make  men  work,  Hunger  cited  Genesis,  Proverbs,  Mattliew  and 
the  Psalms.  "But  some  of  my  men  are  always  ill,"  said 
Piers.  "It  comes  of  over-eating;  they  must  not  eat  until 
they  are  hungry,  and  then  only  in  moderation."  Piers 
thanked  him,  and  gave  him  leave  to  go  whenever  he  would; 
but  Hunger  replied  that  he  would  not  go  till  he  had  dined. 
Piers  had  only  cheese,  curds,  an  oat-cake,  a  loaf  of  beans 
and  bran  and  a  few  vegetables,  which  must  last  till  harvest; 


Piers'  Pardon  17 

so  the  poor  people  brought  peascods,  beans  and  cherries  to 
feed  Hunger.  He  wanted  more,  and  they  brought  pease  and 
leeks.  And  in  harvest  they  fed  him  plentifully  and  put  him 
to  sleep.  Then  beggars  and  labourers  became  dainty  and 
demanded  fine  bread  and  fresh  meats,  and  there  was  grum- 
bling about  wages  and  cursing  of  the  king  and  his  council  for 
the  labour-laws.  The  author ■  warns  workmen  of  their  folly, 
and  prophesies  the  return  of  famine. 

In  passus  viii  we  are  told  that  Truth  heard  of  these  things 
and  sent  to  Piers  a  message  to  work  and  a  pardon  a  poena  et  a 
culpa  for  him  and  his  heirs.  Part  in  this  pardon  was  granted 
to  kings,  knights  and  bishops  who  fulfil  their  duties.  Mer- 
chants, because  of  their  failure  to  observe  holidays,  were 
denied  full  participation;  but  they  received  a  letter  from 
Truth  under  his  privy  seal  authorising  them  to  trade  boldly, 
provided  they  devoted  their  profits  to  good  works,  the  build- 
ing of  hospitals,  the  repairing  of  bridges,  the  aiding  of  poor 
maidens  and  widows  and  scholars.  The  merchants  were  glad, 
and  gave  Will  woollen  clothes  for  his  pains  in  copying  their 
letter.  Men  of  law  had  least  pardon,  because  of  their  unwill- 
ingness to  plead  without  money;  for  water  and  air  and  wit 
are  common  gifts,  and  must  not  be  bought  and  sold.  La- 
bourers, if  true  and  loving  and  meek,  had  the  same  pardon 
that  was  sent  to  Piers.  False  beggars  had  none  for  their 
wicked  deeds;  but  the  old  and  helpless,  women  with  child, 
the  maimed  and  the  blind,  since  they  have  their  purgatory 
here  upon  earth,  were  to  have,  if  meek,  as  full  pardon  as  the 
Plowman  himself. 

Suddenly  a  priest  asked  to  see  Piers'  pardon.  It  con- 
tained but  two  lines:  Et  qui  bona  egerunt,  ihunt  in  vitam  eier- 
nam;  qui  vero  mala,  in  ignem  eternum.  "By  St.  Peter!"  said 
the  priest,  "I  find  here  no  pardon,  but  'do  well,  and  have 
w^ell,  and  God  shall  have  thy  soul;  and  do  evil,  and  have  evil, 
and  to  hell  shalt  thou  go.' "  Piers,  in  distress,  tore  it  asunder, 
and  declared  that  he  would  cease  to  labour  so  hard  and  be- 
take himself  to  prayers  and  penance,  for  David  ate  his  bread 
with  weeping,  and  Luke  tells  us  that  God  bade  us  to  take  no 
thought  for  ourselves,  but  to  consider  how  He  feeds  the  birds. 
The  priest  then  jested  at  the  learning  of  Piers,  and  asked  who 
taught  him.     "Abstinence  and  Conscience,"  said  Piers.    While 


i8     ** Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

they  were  disputing,  the  dreamer  awoke  and  looked  about, 
and  found  that  it  was  noontime,  and  he  himself  meatless  and 
moneyless  on  Malvern  hills. 

Here  the  vision  ends,  but  passus  viii  contains  53  lines 
more,  in  which  the  writer  discusses  the  trustworthiness  of 
dreams  and  the  comparative  value  of  Do-well  and  letters  of 
indulgence. 
\y^  "yn  this  second  vision,  the  satire  of  passus  v  is  very  general, 
consisting,  as  it  does,  of  a  series  of  confessions  by  the  seven 
deadly  sins,  in  which  each  is  sketched  with  inimitable  vivid- 
ness and  brevity.  It  is  significant  of  the  author's  religious 
views,  and  in  harmony  with  such  hints  of  them  as  he  has 
given  us  elsewhere,  that  these  confessions  are  not  formal 
interviews  with  an  authorised  confessor,  but,  for  the  most 
part,  sudden  outcries  of  hearts  which  Conscience  has  wrought 
to  contrition  and  repentance.  The  notable  exceptions  are  the 
cases  of  Glutton  and  Sloth.  Of  these,  the  former  has  often 
been  cited  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  pieces  of  genre 
painting  in  our  early  literature.  It  presents  the  veritable 
interior  of  an  English  ale-house  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
with  all  its  basenesses  and  its  gross  hilarity /j' 

Glutton  is  moved  to  repent,  and  starts  for  the  church  to 
confess,  but,  on  his  way  thither,  the  ale-wife  cries  out  to  him. 
He  says  he  is  going  to  church  to  hear  mass  and  confess.  "I 
have  good  ale,  gossip;  wilt  thou  try  it?"  He  does  not  wish 
to  drink,  but  asks  if  she  has  any  spices  to  settle  a  queasy 
stomach.  "Yes,  full  good:  pepper,  peony,  a  pound  of  garlic 
and  a  little  fennel-seed,  to  help  topers  on  fasting  days."  So 
Glutton  goes  in,  and  finds  a  crowd  of  his  boon  companions, 
Cis  the  shoemaker's  wife,  Wat  the  warrener  and  his  wife, 
Tomkin  the  tinker  and  two  of  his  men,  Hick  and  Hodge  and 
Clarice  and  Pemel  and  a  dozen  others;  and  all  welcome  him 
and  offer  him  ale.  Then  they  begin  the  sport  called  the  New 
Fair,  a  game  for  promoting  drinking.  The  whole  day  passes 
in  laughter  and  ribaldry  and  carousing,  and,  at  evensong. 
Glutton  is  so  drunk  that  he  walks  like  a  gleeman's  dog,  some- 
times aside  and  sometimes  aback.  As  he  attempts  to  go  out, 
he  falls;  and  his  wife  and  servant  come,  and  carry  him 
home  and  put  him  to  bed.  When  he  wakes,  two  days 
(..later,    his    first  word    is,    "Where   is    the  cup?"      But    his 


The  Second  Vision  19 

wife  lectures  him  on  his  wickedness,  and  he  begins  to  repent 
and  profess  abstinence. 

As  for  Sloth,  his  confession,  though  informal,  is  not  sudden, 
for  the  sufficient  reason  that  he  is  too  slothful  to  do  anything 
suddenly. 

^he  satire  of  passus  vi  and  vii  is  directed  principally,  if      V^ 
not  solely,  against  the  labouring  classes.     In  sentiment  and 
opinion  the  author  is  entirely  in  harmony  with  parliament, 
seeing  in  the  efforts  of  the  labourers  to  get  higher  wages  for 
their  work  only  the  unjustifiable  demands  of  wicked,  lazy, 
lawless  vagabonds.     In  regard  to  the  remedy,  however,  he   - 
differs   entirely   from   parliament.     He   sees   no   help   in   the 
Statutes  of  Labourers  or  in  any  power  that  the  social  organisa- 
tion can  apply;  the  vain  efforts  of  the  knight  when  called 
upon  by  Piers  for  protection  from  the  wasters  (vii,   140  ff.) 
clearly  indicate  this.     The  only  hope  of  the  re-establishment 
of  good  conditions  lies  in  the  possibility  that  the  wicked  may  "7 
be  terrified  by  the  prospect  of  famine,  God's  punishment  for    ' 
their  wickedness,    and   may   labour   and   live   as   does   Piers 
Plowman,   the  ideal  free  labourer  of  the  established  order. 
The  author  is  in  no  sense  an  innovator;  he  is  a  reformer  only 
in  the  sense  of  wishing  all  men  to  see  and  feel  the  duties  of 
the  station  in  life  to  which  they  belong,  and  to  do  them  as 
God  has  commanded. 

Passus  VIII  is  an  explicit  presentation  of  this  idea,  a  re- 
assertion  of  the  doctrine  announced  by  Holy  Church  at  the 
beginning  of  passus  i  and  illustrated  by  all  the  visionary 
events  that  follow — the  doctrine,  namely,  that,  "When  all 
treasure  is  tried,  Truth  is  the  best."  The  pardon  sent  to 
Piers  is  only  another  phrasing  of  this  doctrine;  and,  though 
Piers  himself  is  bewildered  by  the  jibes  of  the  priest  and  tears 
the  pardon  "in  pure  teen,"  though  the  dreamer  wakes  before 
the  advent  of  any  reassuring  voice,  and  wakes  to  find  himself 
hungry  and  poor  and  alone,  we  know  authentically  that  there 
lies  in  the  heart  of  the  author  not  even  the  slightest  question 
of  the  validity  of  his  heaven-sent  dreams. 

The  third  vision,  passus  ix-xii  of  the  A-text,  differs  from    . 
the  first  two,  as  has  been  said  above,  in  very  material  re- 
spects.    The  theme  is  not  presented  by  means.-  -.oljdtalised  ., 


20     *'  Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

gLileggry;  there  are  allegorical  figures,  to  be  sure,  but  theii 
allegorical  significance  is  only  superficial,  not  essential;  they 
engage  in  no  significant  action,  but  merely  indulge  in  debate 
and  disquisition ;  and  what  they  say  might  be  said  by  anyone 
else   quite   as   appropriately  and   effectively.     Moreover,   the 
clearness  of  phrasing,  the  orderliness  and  consecutiveness  of 
thought,  which  so  notably  characterise  the  early  visions,  are 
entirely  lacking,  as  are  also  the  wonderful  visualisation  and 
vivid   picturesqueness   of   diction.     These   differences   are   so 
striking  that  they  cannot  be  overlooked  by  anyone  whose 
attention  has  once  been  directed  to  them.     To  the  present 
writer  they  seem  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  in  the  third 
vision  we  have,  not  a  poem  written  by  the  author  of  the  first 
two,  either  immediately  after  them  or  even  a  few  years  later, 
but  the  work  of  a  continuator,  who  tried  to  imitate  the  pre- 
vious writer,  but  succeeded  only  superficially,  because  he  had 
not  the  requisite  ability  as  a  writer,  and  because  he  failed 
to  understand  what  were  the  distinctive  features  in  the  method 
of  his  model ;  but  students  of  the  poems  have  heretofore  felt — 
without,   I   think,   setting  definitely  before  their  minds  the 
number  and  the  character  of  these  differences — that  they  were 
not  incompatible  with  the  theory  of  a  single  author  fot  aliK" 
the  poems. 

It  is  not  intended  to  argue  the  question  here,  and,  con- 
sequently, the  differences  will  not  be  discussed  further;  but 
it  may  be  of  interest,  to  those  who  believe  in  a  single  author 
no  less  than  to  those  who  do  not,  to  note,  in  addition,  certain 
minor  differences.  The  first  writer  seems  not  in  the  least  ' 
interested  in  casuistry  or  theological  doctrine,  whereas  notable 
features  of  the  later  passus  are  scholastic  methods  and  in- 
terests, and  a  definite  attitude  towards  predestination,  which 
had  been  made  by  Bradwardine  the  foremost  theological  doc- 
trine of  the  time,  as  we  may  infer  from  Chaucer  and  the 
author  of  Pearl.  Indeed,  the  questions  that  interest  the  author 
of  passus  ix-xi  are  not  only  entirely  different,  but  of  a  different 
order  from  those  which  interest  the  author  of  the  first  two 
visions.  Further,  the  use  of  figurative  language  is  entirely 
different;  of  the  twelve  similes  in  passus  ix-xi  four  are  rather 
elaborate,  whereas  all  the  twenty  found  in  the  earlier  passus 
are  simple,  and,  for  the  most  part,  stock  phrases,  like  "clear 


The  Third  Vision  21 

as  the  sun,"  only  four  having  so  much  as  a  modifying  clause. 
The  versification  also  presents  differences  in  regard  to  the 
number  of  stresses  in  the  half-line  and  in  regard  to  run-on 
lines  and  masculine  endings.  Some  of  these  differences  begin 
to  manifest  themselves  in  the  last  fifty-three  lines  of  passus 
VIII ;  and  it  is  possible  that  the  continuator  began,  not  at 
IX,  I,  but  at  VIII,  131.  Of  course,  no  one  of  the  differences 
pointed  out  is,  in  itself,  incompatible  with  the  theory  of  a 
single  author  for  all  the  passus  of  the  A-text;  but,  taken  to- 
gether, they  imply  important  differences  in  social  and  ihM-"^" 
lectual  interests  and  in  mental  qualities  and  habits.  They 
deserve,  therefore,  to  be  noted;  for,  if  the  same  person  is  the 
author  of  all  three  visions,  he  has  at  least  undergone  pro- 
found and  far-reaching  changes  of  the  most  various  kinds,  and 
no  mere  general  supposition  of  development  or  decay  of 
his  powers  will  explain  the  phenomena. 

We  proceed,  then,  without  further  discussion,  to  examine  ^ 
the  contents  of  the  later  passus.  Their  professed  subject  is 
the  search  for  Do-well,  Do-better  and  Do-best,  or,  rather,  for 
satisfactory  definitions  of  them.  What  were  the  author's  own 
views,  it  is  very  hard  to  determine;  partly,  perhaps,  because 
he  left  the  poem  unfinished,  but  partly,  also,  because  the 
objections  which,  as  a  disputant,  he  offers  to  the  statements 
of  others  seem,  sometimes,  only  cavils  intended  to  give  empha- 
sis and  definiteness  to  the  views  under  discussion.  It  will  be 
observed,  however,  that,  on  the  whole,  his  model  man  is  not 
the  plain,  honest,  charitable  labourer,  like  Piers,  but  the 
dutiful  ecclesiastic.  Other  topics  that  are  clearly  of  chief  I 
interest  to  the  author  are:  the  personal  responsibility  of  sane 
adults,  and  the  vicarious  responsibility  of  guardians  for 
children  and  idiots;  the  duty  of  contentment  and  cheerful 
subjection  to  the  will  of  God;  the  importance  of  pure  and 
honourable  wedlock;  and  the  corruptions  that  have  arisen, 
since  the  pestilence,  in  marriage  and  in  the  attitude  of  laymen 
towards  the  mysteries  of  faith,  though  Study,  voicing,  no 
doubt,  the  views  of  the  author,  admits  that,  but  for  the  love 
in  it,  theology  is  a  hard  and  profitless  subject.  There  are  also 
incidental  discussions  of  the  dangers  of  such  branches  of 
learning  as  astronomy,  geometry,  geomancy,  etc. ;  of  the 
chances  of  the  rich  to  enter  heaven ;  of  predestination ;  and  of 


22     ** Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

the  advantages  as  to  salvation  of  the  ignorant  over  the  learned. 
A  brief  synopsis  of  these  passus  will  make  the  method  of 
treatment  clearer. 

Passus  IX  opens  with  the  author  roaming  vainly  about  in 
his  grey  robes  in  search  of  Do-well,  not  in  a  dream,  but  while 
he  is  awake.  At  last,  on  a  Friday,  he  meets  two  Franciscan 
friars,  who  tell  him  that  Do- well  dwells  always  w4th  them. 
He  denies  this,  in  due  scholastic  form,  on  the  ground  that 
-even  the  righteous  sin  seven  times  a  day.  The  friars  meet 
this  argument  by  a  rather  confused  illustration  of  a  boat  in 
which  a  man  attempts  to  stand  in  a  rough  sea,  and,  though 
he  stumbles  and  falls,  does  not  fall  out  of  the  boat.  The 
author  declares  he  cannot  follow  the  illustration,  and  says 
farewell.  Wandering  widely  again,  he  reaches  a  wood, 
and,  stopping  to  listen  to  the  songs  of  the  birds,  falls 
asleep. 

There  came  a  large  man,  much  like  myself,  who  called  me  by 
name  and  said  he  was  Thought.  "Do-well,"  said  Thought,  "is  the 
meek,  honest  labourer ;  Do-better  is  he  who  to  honesty  adds  charity 
and  the  preaching  of  sufferance;  Do-best  is  above  and  holds  a 
bishop's  crosier  to  punish  the  wicked.  Do-well  and  Do-better  have 
crowned  a  king  to  protect  them  all  and  prevent  them  from  disobey- 
ing Do-best." 

The  author  is  dissatisfied;  and  Thought  refers  him  to  Wit, 
whom  they  soon  meet,  and  whom  Thought  questions  on  behalf 
of  the  dreamer  (here  called  "our  Will"). 

In  passus  x.  Wit  says  that  Duke  Do- well  dwells  in  a  castle 
with  Lady  Anima,  attended  by  Do-better,  his  daughter,  and 
Do-best.  The  constable  of  the  castle  is  Sir  Inwit,  whose  five 
sons.  See-well,  Say-well,  Hear-well,  Work-well  and  Go-well, 
aid  him.  Kind,  the  maker  of  the  castle,  is  God ;  the  castle  is 
Caro  (Flesh).  Anima  is  Life;  and  Inwit  is  Discretion  (not 
Conscience),  as  appears  from  a  long  and  wandering  discussion 
of  his  functions.  Do-well  destroys  vices  and  saves  the  soul. 
Do- well  is  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  Do-better  is  the  fear  of 
punishment.  If  Conscience  tells  you  that  you  do  well,  do 
not  desire  to  do  better.  Follow  Conscience  and  fear  not. 
If  you  strive  to  better  yourself,  you  are  in  danger;  a  rolling 
stone  gathers  no  moss  and  a  jack  of  all  trades  is  good  at  none. 


Passu  s  X  and  XI  23 

Whether  you  are  married  man,  monk,  canon,  or  even  beggar, 
be  content  and  murmur  not  against  God.  Do-well  is  dread, 
and  Do-better  is  sufferance ;  and  of  dread  and  its  deeds  springs 
Do-best.  As  the  sweet  red  rose  springs  from  the  briar,  and 
wheat  from  a  weed,  so  Do-best  is  the  fruit  of  Do- well  and 
Do-better,  especially  among  the  meek  and  lowly,  to  whom 
God  gives  his  grace.  Keepers  of  wedlock  please  God  espe- 
cially;  of  them  come  virgins,  martyrs,  monks,  kings,  etc.  False 
folk  are  conceived  in  an  ill  hour,  as  was  Cain.  His  descendants 
were  accursed;  and  so  were  those  of  Seth,  who  intermarried 
with  them,  though  warned  against  it.  Because  of  these 
marriages,  God  ordered  Noah  to  build  the  ark,  and  sent  the 
flood  to  destroy  Cain's  seed.  Even  the  beasts  perished  for 
the  sin  of  these  marriages.  Nowadays,  since  the  pestilence, 
many  unequal  marriages  are  made  for  money.  These 
couples  will  never  get  the  Dunmow  flitch.  All  Christians 
should  marry  well  and  live  purely,  observing  the  tempora 
clausa.  Otherwise,  rascals  are  born,  who  oppose  Do- 
well.  Therefore,  Do-well  is  dread;  and  Do-better  is 
sufferance;  and  so  comes  Do-best  and  conquers  wicked 
will. 

In  passus  xi.  Wit's  wife.  Study,  is  introduced.  She  re- 
bukes him  for  casting  pearls  before  swine,  that  is,  teaching 
wisdom  to  those  who  prefer  wealth.  Wisdom  is  despised, 
unless  carded  with  covetousness  as  clothiers  card  wool;  lovers 
of  Holy  Writ  are  disregarded;  minstrelsy  and  mirth  have 
become  lechery  and  bawdy  tales.  At  meals,  men  mock  Christ 
and  the  Trinity,  and  scorn  beggars,  who  would  perish  but  for 
the  poor.  Clerks  have  God  much  in  the  mouth  but  little  in 
the  heart.  Every  "boy"  cavils  against  God  and  the  Scrip- 
tures. Austin  the  Old  rebukes  such.  Believe  and  pray,  and 
cavil  not.  Here  now  is  a  foolish  fellow  that  wants  to  know 
Do-well  from  Do-better.  Unless  he  lives  in  the  former,  he 
shall  not  learn  the  latter. 

At  these  words.  Wit  is  confounded,  and  signals  the  author 
to  seek  the  favour  of  Study.  He,  therefore,  humbles  himself, 
and  Study  is  appeased,  and  promises  to  direct  him  to  Clergy 
(Learning)  and  his  wife.  Scripture.     The  way  lies  by  Suffer- 

j   ance,  past  Riches  and  Lechery,  through  Moderation  of  speech 

'   and  of  drink,  to  Clergy. 


24     "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

Tell  him  you  were  sent  by  me,  who  taught  him  and  his  wife. 
I  also  taught  Plato  and  Aristotle  and  all  craftsmen.  But  theology 
has  troubled  me  much;  and,  save  for  the  love  in  it,  it  is  naught. 
Love  is  Do-well;  and  Do-better  and  Do-best  are  of  Love's  school. 
Secular  science  teaches  deceit,  but  theology  teaches  love.  Astron- 
omy, geometry,  geomancy,  alchemy,  necromancy  and  pyromancy 
are  all  evil ;  if  you  seek  Do-well,  avoid  them.  I  founded  them  to 
deceive  the  people. 

The  author  goes  at  once  to  Clergy  and  his  wife  ana  is  well 
received  by  them.  Clergy  says  that  Do-well  is  the  active  life. 
Do-better  is  charity  and  Do-best  is  the  clergy  with  benefices 
and  power  to  help  and  possessions  to  relieve  the  poor.  Run- 
ners-about  are  evil ;  there  are  many  such  now,  and  the  religious 
orders  have  become  rich.  "I  had  thought  kings  and  knights 
were  best,  but  now  I  see  that  they  are  not."  Scripture  inter- 
rupts with  the  declaration  that  kinghood  and  knighthood  and 
riches  help  not  to  heaven,  and  only  the  poor  can  enter.  '^ Con- 
tra!" says  the  author;  "Whoever  believes  and  is  baptised 
shall  be  saved."  Scripture  replies  that  baptism  saves  only  in 
extremis  and  only  repentant  heathen,  whereas  Christians  must 
love  and  be  charitable.  Help,  therefore,  and  do  not  harm, 
for  Go^  says,  "Slay  not!  for  I  shall  punish  every  man  for  his 
misdeeds,  unless  Mercy  intervenes."  The  author  objects  that 
he  is  no  nearer  his  quest,  for  whatever  he  may  do  will  not 
alter  his  predestined  end ;  Solomon  did  well  and  wisely  and  so 
did  Aristotle,  and  both  are  in  hell. 

If  I  follow  their  words  and  works  and  am  damned,  I  were  un- 
wise; the  thief  was  saved  before  the  patriarchs;  and  Magdalen, 
David,  and  Paul  did  ill,  and  yet  a.re  saved;  Christ  did  not  commend 
Clergy,  but  said,  "I  will  teach  you  what  to  say";  and  Austin  the 
Old  said  that  the  ignorant  seize  heaven  sooner  than  the  learned. 

Passus  XII  opens  with  the  reply  of  Clergy:  "I  have  tried 
to  teach  you  Do-well,  but  you  wish  to  cavil.  If  you  would  do 
as  I  say,  I  would  help  you."  Scripture  scornfully  replies, 
"Tell  him  no  more!  Theology  and  David  and  Paul  forbid  it; 
and  Christ  refused  to  answer  Pilate;  tell  him  no  more!" 
Clergy  creeps  into  a  cabin  and  draws  the  door,  telling  the 
author  to  go  and  do  as  he  pleases,  well  or  ill.  But  the  author 
earnestly  beseeches  Scripture  to  direct  him  to  Kind-Wit  (Nat- 


Passus  XII  25 

ural  Intelligence),  her  cousin  and  confessor.  She  says  he  is 
with  Life,  and  calls,  as  a  guide,  a  young  clerk,  Omnia-probate. 
"Go  with  Will,"  she  orders,  "to  the  borough  Quod-bonum-est- 
tenete  and  show  him  my  cousin's  house."  They  set  out 
together. 

And  here,  it  seems  to  me,  this  author  ceased.  The  re- 
maining lines  I  believe  to  have  been  written  by  one  John  But.  y 
They  relate  that,  ere  the  author  reached  the  court  Quod- 
bonum-est-tenete,  he  met  with  many  wonders.  First,  as  he 
passes  through  Youth,  he  meets  Hunger,  who  says  that  he 
dwells  with  Death,  and  seeks  Life  in  order  to  kill  him.  The 
author  wishes  to  accompany  him,  but,  being  too  faint  to 
walk,  receives  broken  meats  from  Hunger,  and  eats  too  much. 
He  next  meets  Fever,  who  dwells  with  Death  and  is  going  to 
attack  Life.  He  proposes  to  accompany  Fever;  but  Fever 
rejects  his  offer  and  advises  him  to  do  well  and  pray  constantly. 

Will  knew  that  this  speech  was  speedy;  so  he  hastened  and 
wrote  what  is  written  here  and  other  works  also  of  Piers  the  Plow- 
man and  many  people  besides.  And,  when  this  work  was  done,  ere 
Will  could  espy.  Death  dealt  him  a  dint  and  drove  him  to  the 
earth ;  and  he  is  now  closed  under  clay,  Christ  have  his  soul !  And 
so  bade  John  But  busily  very  often,  when  he  saw  these  sayings 
alleged  about  James  and  Jerome  and  Job  and  others;  and  because 
he  meddles  with  verse-making,  he  made  this  end.  Now  God  save 
all  Christians  and  especially  King  Richard  and  all  lords  that  love 
him!  and  thou,  Mary,  Mother  and  Maiden,  beseech  thy  Son  to 
bring  us  to  bHss  ! 

Skeat  originally  ascribed  to  John  But  only  the  last  twelve 
Hnes,  beginning,  "And  so  bade  John  But."  It  seems  un- 
likely, however,  that  the  "end"  which  John  But  says  he 
made  refers  to  these  lines  only;  certainly,  it  is  not  customary 
for  scribes  to  use  such  a  term  for  the  supplications  they  add 
to  a  poem.  And  it  is  hard  to  conceive  the  motive  of  the 
author  for  finishing  in  this  hasty  fashion  a  poem  which  inter- 
ested him,  and  which  obviously  had  such  immediate  success. 
For  these  or  similar  reasons  Skeat,  later,  admitted  the  possi- 
bility that  the  work  of  John  But  began  seven  hnes  earlier,  with 
"Will  knew  that  this  speech  was  speedy."  But  the  same 
reasoning  apphes  to  all  the  lines  after  1.  56,  and  an  attentive 


2  6    "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

reading  of  them  will  disclose  several  particulars  at  variance 
with  the  style  or  conceptions  of  the  rest  of  the  poem. 

In  closing  our  survey  of  the  poems  included  in  the  A-text, 
we  may  note  that,  in  their  own  day,  they  were  not  regarded 
as  directed  against  the  friars,  for  MS.  Rawl.  Poet.  137  contains 
this  inscription,  "in  an  old  hand":  Hoc  volumen  conceditur  ad 
usum  fratrum  minorum  de  observaniia  cantuariae. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  the  B-text.  There  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  current  view  that  it  was  written,  in  part  at  least, 

[between  June  1376  and  June  1377.     Tyrwhitt  showed  that  the  ; 

!  famous  rat-parliament  inserted  in  the  prologue  referred  to  the 
time  between  the  death  of  the  Black  Prince  and  that  of 
Edward  III,  and  must  have  been  written  while  men  were 
anxious  about  the  situation  which  then  existed.  The  increased 
emphasis  given  to  the  pestilences  in  B,  also  points,  as  Skeat 
suggests,  to  a  time  not  long  after  the  pestilence  of  1376.  To 
these  may  be  added  the  allusion  to  the  drought  and  famine  of 
April  1370  (xiii,  269-271)  as  "not  long  passed."  No  one,  per- 
haps, believes  that  the  whole  of  the  B-text  was  written  within 
the  year  indicated ;  but  it  has  been  generally  assumed  that  the 
additions  in  the  prologue  antedate  the  rest  of  the  B-text. 
For  this  assumption  there  is  no  reason  except  that  the  pro- 
logue is  at  the  beginning  of  the  poem.  Two  considerations 
suggest,  though  they  by  no  means  prove,  that  B,  in  his  addi- 
tions and  insertions,  did  not  always  follow  the  order  of  the 
original  poem.  In  the  first  place,  in  x,  1 1 5  is  a  promise  of  a 
discussion  which  occurs  in  xii.  Any  one  who  studies  carefully 
B's  methods  of  composition  will  find  it  easier  to  believe  that 
B  had  already  written  xii  when  he  thus  referred  to  it,  than 
that  he  purposely  postponed  a  discussion.  In  the  second 
place,  it  is  hard  to  beheve  that  such  a  writer  as  B,  after  be- 
coming so  thoroughly  excited  over  political  affairs  as  he  shows 
himself  to  be  in  his  insertion  in  the  prologue,  would  have 
written  the  4036  Hnes  of  his  continuation  of  Do-well,  Do-better 
and  Do-best  without  again  discussing  them. 
->y;'  The  author  of  the  B-text,  as  we  have  seen,  had  before  him, 
when  he  began  his  work,  the  three  visions  of  the  A-text. 
Whether  he  regarded  them  as  the  work  of  a  single  author  is 
not  our  present  concern.     In  his  reworking  of  the  poems  he 


B-text  27 

practically  disregarded  passus  xii  and  changed  the  preceding 
eleven  passus  by  insertions  and  expansions.  Minor  verbal 
alterations  he  also  made,  but  far  fewer  than  is  usually  sup- 
posed. Many  of  those  credited  to  him  are  to  be  found  among 
the  variant  readings  of  the  A-text,  and  were  merely  taken 
over  unchanged  from  the  MS.  of  A  used  as  the  basis. 

Of  the  nine, principal  insertions  made  in  the  first  two 
visions,  six  may  be  regarded  as  mere  elaborations  of  the  A-text, 
namely,  the  changed  version  of  the  feoffment,  the  confessions 
of  Wrath,  Avarice,  Glutton  and  Sloth  and  the  plea  of  Repent- 
ance. The  other  three,  including  the  rat-parliament  and  the 
jubilee  passages,  are  among  the  most  important  expressions 
of  the  political  views  of  B,  and  will  be  discussed  below.  The 
insertions  in  the  third  vision,  though  elaborations  of  the  A-text, 
are  more  difficult  to  characterise  as  to  theme,  on  account  of  a 
tendency  to  rambling  and  vagueness  sometimes  almost  de- 
generating into  incoherency.  The  worst  of  them  is  the  third 
(ix,  59--121),  which  ranges  over  indiscretion,  gluttony,  the 
duty  of  holy  church  to  fools  and  orphans ;  the  duty  of  charity, 
enforced  by  the  example  of  the  Jews;  definitions  of  Do-well, 
Do-better  and  Do-best;  waste  of  time  and  of  speech;  God's 
love  of  workers  and  of  those  faithful  in  wedlock.  A  few  lines 
translated  from  this  passage  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  au- 
thor's mental  processes,  particularly  his  incapacity  for  organ- 
ised or  consecutive  thinking,  and  his  helpless  subjection  to 
the  suggestions  of  the  words  he  happens  to  use.  They  will 
also  explain  why  students  of  these  poems  have  found  it  im- 
possible to  give  a  really  representative  synopsis  of  his  work. 
Let  us  begin  with  1.  88,  immediately  after  the  citation  of  the 
brotherly  love  of  the  Jews : 

The  commons  for  their  unkindness,  I  fear  me,  shall  pay.  Bish- 
ops shall  be  blamed  because  of  beggars.  He  is  worse  than  Judas 
that  gives  a  jester  silver,  and  bids  the  beggar  go,  because  of  his 
broken  clothes.  Proditor  est  prelatus  cum  luda,  qui  patrimonium 
Christi  mimis  distrihuit.  He  does  not  well  that  does  thus,  and 
dreads  not  God  Almighty,  nor  loves  the  saws  of  Solomon,  who 
taught  wisdom;  Initium  sapientiae,  iimor  Domini  :  who  dreads  God 
does  well ;  who  dreads  him  for  love  and  not  for  dread  of  vengeance 
does,  therefore,  the  better;  he  does  best  that  restrains  himself  by 
day  and  by  night  from  wasting  any  speech  or  any  space  of  time; 


2  8     "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

Qui  offetidit  in  uno  in  omnibus  est  reus.  Loss  of  time — Truth  knows 
the  sooth ! — is  most  hated  on  earth  of  those  that  are  in  heaven ;  and, 
next,  to  waste  speech,  which  is  a  sprig  of  grace  and  God's  gleeman 
and  a  game  of  heaven;  would  never  the  faithful  Father  that  His 
fiddle  were  untempered  or  His  gleeman  a  rascal,  a  goer  to  taverns. 
To  all  true  tidy  men  that  desire  to  work  Our  Lord  loves  them  and 
grants,  loud  or  still,  grace  to  go  with  them  and  procure  their  sus- 
tenance. Inquirentes  autem  Dominum  non  minuentur  omni  bono. 
True-wedded-living  folk  in  this  world  is  Do-well,  etc. 

As  will  be  seen  from  this  fairly  representative  passage,  the 
author  does  not  control  or  direct  his  own  thought,  but  is  at 
the  mercy  of  any  chance  association  of  words  and  ideas;  as 
Jusserand  well  says,  il  est  la  victime  et  non  le  mattre  de  sa 
pensee. 

In  the  series  of  visions  forming  B's  continuation  of  the 
poems,  the  same  qualities  are  manifest,  and  the  same  difficulty 
awaits  the  student  who  attempts  a  synopsis  or  outline  of 
them.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  to  state  briefly  the  general 
situation  and  movement  of  each  vision,  to  say,  e.g.  that  this 
presents  the  tree  of  Charity,  and  this  the  Samaritan;  but  the 
point  of  view  is  frequently  and  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
shifted;  topics  alien  to  the  main  theme  intrude  because  of 
the  use  of  a  suggestive  word ;  speakers  begin  to  expound  views 
in  harmony  with  their  characters  and  end  as  mere  mouth- 
pieces of  the  author;  dramatis  personae  that  belong  to  one 
vision  suddenly  begin  to  speak  and  act  in  a  later  one  as  if 
they  had  been  present  all  the  time;  others  disappear  even 
more  mysteriously  than  they  come. 

Even  the  first  of  the  added  visions  shows  nearly  all  these 
peculiarities.  At  the  beginning  of  passus  xi,  continuing  the 
conversation  of  passus  x.  Scripture  scorns  the  author  and  he 
begins  to  weep.  -  Forgetting  that  he  is  already  asleep  and 
dreaming,  the  author  represents  himself  as  falling  asleep  and 
dreaming  a  new  dream.  Fortune  ravished  him  alone  into  the 
land  of  Longing  and  showed  him  many  marvels  in  a  mirror 
called  Mydlerd  (i.e.  the  World).  Following  Fortune  were  two 
fair  damsels,  Concupiscencia-camis  and  Covetyse-of-eyes,  who 
comforted  him,  and  promised  him  love  and  lordship.  Age 
warned  him,  but  Recklessness  and  Fauntelte  (Childishness) 
made  sport  of  the  warning.     Concupiscence  ruled  him,  to  the 


B's  Continuation  of  the  Poems  29 

grief  of  Age  and  Holiness,  and  Covetyse  comforted  him  forty- 
five  years,  telling  him  that,  while  Fortune  was  his  friend, 
friars  would  love  and  absolve  him.  He  followed  her  guidance 
till  he  forgot  youth  and  ran  into  age,  and  Fortune  was  his  foe. 
The  friars  forsook  him.  The  reader  expects  to  learn  that  this 
is  because  of  his  poverty,  but,  apparently,  another  idea  has 
displaced  this  in  the  author's  mind;  for  the  reason  given  by 
him  is  that  he  said  he  would  be  buried  at  his  parish  church. 
For  this,  the  friars  held  him  a  fool  and  loved  him  the  less.  He 
replied  that  they  would  not  care  where  his  body  was  buried 
provided  they  had  his  silver — a  strange  reply  in  view  of  the 
poverty  into  which  he  had  fallen — and  asked  why  they  cared 
more  to  confess  and  to  bury  than  to  baptise,  since  baptism  is 
needful  for  salvation.  Lewte  (Loyalty)  looked  upon  him,  and" 
he  loured.  "Why  dost  thou  lour?"  said  Lewte.  "If  I  durst 
avow  this  dream  among  men?"  "Yea,"  said  he.  "They 
will  cite  'Judge  not! ' "  said  the  author. 

Of  what  service  were  Law  if  no  one  used  it?  It  is  lawful  for 
laymen  to  tell  the  truth,  except  parsons  and  priests  and  prelates 
of  holy  church;  it  is  not  fitting  for  them  to  tell  tales,  though  the 
tale  were  true,  if  it  touched  sin.  What  is  known  to  everybody, 
why  shouldst  thou  spare  to  declare;  but  be  not  the  first  to  blame 
a  fault.  Though  thou  see  evil,  tell  it  not  first;  be  sorry  it  were  not 
amended.  Thing  that  is  secret,  publish  it  never;  neither  laud  it 
for  love  nor  blame  it  for  envy. 

"He  speaks  truth,"  said  Scripture  (who  belongs  not  to 
this  vision  but  to  the  preceding),  and  skipped  on  high  and 
preached.  "But  the  subject  she  discussed,  if  laymen  knew  it, 
they  would  love  it  the  less,  I  beheve.  This  was  her  theme 
and  her  text:  'Many  were  summoned  to  a  feast,  and,  when 
they  were  come,  the  porter  plucked  in  a  few  and  let  the  rest 
go  away.'  "  Thereupon  the  author  begins  a  long  discussion 
with  himself  on  predestination. 

It  is  obvious  that  such  writing  as  this  defies  analytical 
presentation;  and  this  is  no  isolated  or  rare  instance.  In 
certain  passages  where  the  author  is  following  a  narrative 
already  organised  for  him,  as  in  the  rat-parliament  of  the 
prologue,  or  the  account  of  the  life  of  Christ  in  passus  xvi, 
the  rambling  is  less  marked;  but,  if  the  narrative  is  long  or 


3°     *' Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

elaborate,  the  author  soon  loses  sight  of  the  plan,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  curious  treatment,  in  passus  xix  and  xx,  of  the 
themes  derived  from  The  Castle  of  Love.  In  the  instance  last 
cited,  the  hopeless  wandering  occurs  on  so  large  a  scale  that 
it  appears  even  in  the  synopses  prepared  by  Skeat  and  others. 
Of  the  instances  which  disappear  in  synopsis,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  is  that  of  Activa-Vita,  in  passus  xiii  and  xiv. 
Skeat's  synopsis  is  as  follows:  "Soon  they  meet  with  one 
Activa-Vita,  who  is  a  minstrel  and  seller  of  wafers.  Patience 
instructs  Activa-Vita,  and  declares  that  beggars  shall  have 
joy  hereafter."  But  the  significant  features  are  here  omitted. 
Activa-Vita  is  the  honest  labourer,  who  provides  bread  for 
everybody,  but,  because  he  cannot  please  lords  with  lies  and 
lewd  jests,  receives  little  reward.  He  is  the  friend  and  fol- 
lower of  Piers  the  Plowman.  Yet,  since  he  is  Activa-Vita,  in 
contact  with  the  world,  he  is  not  spotless.  The  author  there- 
fore begins  to  tell  us  of  the  spots  on  Activa- Vita's  coat,  and, 
naturally,  distributes  them  in  the  categories  of  the  seven 
deadly  sins.  As  soon  as  he  enters  upon  this  task  he  is  per- 
fectly helpless;  he  cannot  control  himself  or  his  conceptions; 
and,  consequently,  he  represents  poor  Activa-Vita  as  guilty 
of  every  one  of  the  sins  in  its  most  wicked  and  vilest  forms. 
The  author  of  the  C-text  removed  these  passages  to  the  con- 
fessions that  followed  the  preaching  of  Conscience  in  the  second 
vision,  possibly,  as  Skeat  thinks,  in  order  to  bring  together 
passages  of  similar  content  and  treatment,  but,  possibly, 
because  such  a  contradiction  in  the  character  of  Activa-Vita 
was_too  gross  and  glaring. 

(^  Recognising,  then,  the  limitations  with  which  every  synop- 
^sis  of  the  continuation  by  B  must  be  received,  we  may  say, 
;briefly,  that  B  adds  seven  visions,  two  and  a  fraction  devoted 
to  Do-well,  two  and  a  fraction  to  Do-better  and  two  to  Do- 
best.  In  the  first  (passus  xi)  there  is  no  allegorical  action; 
the  dreamer  meets  various  allegorical  characters,  such  as 
Fortune,  Recklessness,  Nature  and  Reason,  and  hears  them 
talk  or  talks  himself  either  to  them  or  to  his  readers.  The 
subjects  discussed  are,  as  we  have  seen,  very  various;  but 
chief  among  them  are  predestination,  the  value  of  poverty, 
incompetent  priests  and  man's  failure  to  follow  reason  as 
animals  do.     Following  this,  but  not  a  vision,  though  it  is 


B's  Continuation  of  the  Poems  31 

distinguished  from  one  only  by  the  fact  that  the  author  is 
awake,  is  a  long  disquisition  by  Imaginative,  containing  views 
concerning  the  dangers  and  the  value  of  learning  and  wealth 
very  different  from  those  expressed  in  A  xi.  The  second 
vision  begins  with  a  dinner,  given  by  Reason,  at  which  are 
present  the  dreamer.  Conscience,  Clergy,  Patience  and  a 
doctor  of  the  church.  Again  there  is  no  allegorical  action; 
the  dinner  is  only  a  device  to  bring  together  the  disputants, 
who  discuss  theological  subtleties.  Following  the  dinner 
comes  the  interview  with  Activa-Vita  described  above.  Con- 
science and  Patience  then  instruct  Activa-Vita  to  make  amends 
by  contrition  and  confession,  and  discuss  at  great  length  the 
benefits  of  poverty.  The  next  vision  is  notable,  though  not 
unique,  in  containing  a  vision  within  a  vision.  In  the  first 
part  (passus  xv)  Anima  (also  called  Will,  Reason,  Love, 
Conscience,  etc.,  an  entirely  different  character  from  the 
Anima  of  A  ix)  discourses  for  600  lines,  mainly  on  knowledge, 
charity  and  the  corruptions  of  the  age  due  to  the  negligence 
of  prelates;  in  the  second  part,  when  Anima,  after  describing 
the  tree  of  Charity,  says  that  it  is  under  the  care  of  Piers  the 
Plowman,  the  dreamer  swoons,  for  joy,  into  a  dream,  in  which 
he  sees  Piers  and  the  tree,  and  hears  a  long  account  of  the 
fruits  of  the  tree  which  gradually  becomes  a  narrative  of  the 
birth  and  betrayal  of  Christ.  At  the  close  of  this  he  wakes, 
and  wanders  about,  seeking  Piers,  and  meets  with  Abraham 
(or  Faith),  who  expounds  the  Trinity;  they  are  joined  by  Spes 
(Hope) ;  and  a  Samaritan  (identified  with  Jesus)  cares  for  a 
wounded  man  whom  neither  Faith  nor  Hope  will  help.  After 
this,  the  Samaritan  expounds  the  Trinity,  passing  uninten- 
tionally to  an  exposition  of  mercy;  and  the  dreamer  wakes. 
In  the  next  vision  (passus  xix)  he  sees  Jesus  in  the  armour  of 
Piers  ready  ,to  joust  with  Death;  but,  instead  of  the  jousting, 
we  have  an  account  of  the  crucifixion,  the  debate  of  the  Four 
Daughters  of  God  and  the  harrowing  of  hell.  He  wakes  and 
writes  his  dream,  and,  immediately,  sleeps  again  and  dreams 
that  Piers,  painted  all  bloody  and  like  to  Christ,  appears.  Is 
it  Jesus  or  Piers?  Conscience  tells  him  that  these  are  the 
colours  and  coat-armour  of  Piers,  but  he  that  comes  so  bloody 
is  Christ.  A  discussion  ensues  on  the  comparative  merits  of 
the  names  Christ  and  Jesus,  followed  by  an  account  of  the 


32     *' Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

life  of  Christ.  Piers  is  Peter  (or  the  church),  to  whom  are 
given  four  oxen  (the  evangehsts)  and  'four  horses  (the  four 
fathers  of  the  church)  and  four  seeds  to  sow.  A  house,  Unity, 
is  built  to  store  the  grain,  and  is  attacked  by  Pride  and  his 
host;  but  this  is  forgotten  in  the  episodes  of  the  brewer's 
refusal  to  partake  of  the  Sacrament,  the  vicar's  attack  on  the 
cardinals  and  the  justification  by  the  king  and  lords  of  their 
own  exactions.  The  dreamer  wakes  and  encounters  Need, 
who  gives  him  instruction  very  similar  to  that  of  Conscience 
in  the  preceding  dream.  Falling  asleep  again,  he  has  a  vision 
of  the  attack  of  Antichrist  and  Pride  and  their  hosts  upon 
Unity,  which  insensibly  becomes  an  attack  by  Death  upon  all 
mankind,  varied  by  certain  actions  of  Life,  Fortune,  Sloth, 
Despair,  Avarice  and  the  friar  Flattery.  Conscience,  hard 
beset  by  Pride  and  Sloth,  calls  vainly  for  help  to  Contrition, 
an^  seizing  his  staff,  starts  out  on  a  search  for  Piers  the 
Plowman.     Whereupon  the  dreamer  wakes. 

Some  scholars  have  regarded  the  poem  as  unfinished; 
others,  as  showing  by  the  nature  of  its  ending  the  pessimxism 
of  the  author.  It  is  true  that  it  ends  unsatisfactorily,  and 
that  one  or  more  visions  might  w^ell  have  been  added;  but  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  the  author  ever  could  have  written 
an  ending  that  would  have  been  artistically  satisfactory.  He 
had,  as  we  have  seen,  no  skill  in  composition,  no  control  of 
his  materials  or  his  thought.  The  latter  part  of  the  poem  is 
supposed  to  be  devoted  in  regular  order  to  Do-well,  Do-better 
and  Do-best;  but  it  may  be  said,  without  injustice,  that  these 
subjects  determine  neither  the  nature  of  the  main  incidents 
nor  the  manner  in  which  they  are  developed,  and  that  what 
the  author  himself  would  doubtless  have  cited  as  the  supreme 
expression  of  his  view  of  Do-well,  Do-better  and  Do-best 
occurs  early  in  the  vision  of  Do-well — I  mean,  of  course,  the 
famous  Disce,  Doce,  Dilige,  taught  to  Patience  by  his  leman, 
Love.  He  could  never  have  been  sure  of  reserving  to  the  end 
of  his  poem  the  subjects  with  which  he  intended  to  end,  or 
of  ceasing  to  write  at  the  point  at  which  he  wished  to  cease. 
It  remains  curious,  nevertheless,  and,  perhaps,  significant,  in 
view  of  the  continual  recurrence  in  the  work  of  B  of  invectives 
against  the  corruptions  of  the  age,  that  the  poem  does  end 
with  the  triumph  of  Antichrist,  and  that  there  is  no  hint,  as 


The  Merits  of  B's  Work  33 

in  Kirchmayer's  Pammachius,  of  preparations  for  his  defeat 
and  the  coming  of  an  age  of  endless  peace  and  good. 

The  reader  who  has  been  impressed  with  what  has  been 
said  about  the  vagueness  and  lack  of  definite  organisation  and 
movement  in  B's  work  may  be  inclined  to  ask,  What  merits 
are  his  and  what  claim  has  he  upon  our  interests?  The  reply 
is  that  his  merits  are  very  great  indeed,  being  no  less  than 
those  rated  highest  by  previous  students  of  the  poems — 
Skeat,  Jusserand,  ten  Brink,  Henry  ]\Iorley  and  a  host  of 
others.  The  very  lack  of  control,  which  is  his  most  serious 
defect  as  an  artist,  serves  to  emphasise  most  convincingly 
his  sincerity  and  emotional  power,  by  the  inevitableness  with 
which,  at  every  opportunity,  he  drifts  back  to  the  subjects 
that  lie  nearest  his  heart.  Writing,  as  he  did,  without  a 
definite  plan  and  without  power  of  self-direction,  he  touched, 
we  may  feel  sure,  not  merely  all  subjects  that  were  germane 
to  his  purpose,  as  a  better  artist  would  have  done,  but  all 
that  interested  him  deeply;  and  he  touched  most  frequently 
those  that  interested  him  most.  These  subjects  are,  as  is 
well  known,  the  corruptions  in  the  church,  chiefly,  perhaps, 
among  the  friars,  but  also,  in  no  small  measure,  among  the 
beneficed  clergy;  the  dangers  of  riches  and  the  excellence  of 
poverty;  the  brotherhood  of  man;  and  the  sovereign  quality 
of  love.  To  these  should  be  added  the  idealisation  of  Piers 
the  Plowman,  elusive  as  are  the  forms  which  this  idealisation 
often  assumes.  On  the  other  hand,  great  as  is  the  interest 
in  political  theory  displayed  by  the  author  in  the  passages 
inserted  in  the  prologue,  this  is  not  one  of  the  subjects  to 
which  he  constantly  reverts;  indeed,  the  only  passage  (xix, 
462-476)  on  this  subject  in  the  later  passus  touches  it  so 
lightly  as  to  suggest  that  the  author's  interest  in  it  at  this 
time  was  very  sHght.  The  frequency  with  which  subjects 
recur  is,  of  course,  not  the  only  indication  of  the  sincerity 
and  depth  of  the  author's  interest;  the  vividness  and  power 
of  expression  are  equally  significant. 

"Let  some  sudden  emotion  fill  his  soul,"  says  Jusserand, 
" .  .  .  ,  and  we  shall  wonder  at  the  grandeur  of  his  eloquence.  Some 
of  his  simplest  expressions  are  real  trouvailles ;  he  penetrates  into 
the  innermost  recesses  of  our  hearts,  and  then  goes  on  his  way, 
and  leaves  us  pondering  and  thoughtful,  filled  with  awe." 

VOL.  II — 3 


34     *' Piers  the  Plowman''  and  its  Sequence 

Such  are: 

And  mysbede   (mistreat)   noujte   thi  bonde-men,  the  better  may 

thow  spede. 
Thowgh  he  be  thyn  underlynge  here,  wel  may  happe  in  hevene, 
That  he  worth  (shall  be)  worthier  sette,  and  with  more  blisse. 
Than  thow,  bot  thou  do  bette,  and  live  as  thow  sulde; 
For  in  charnel  atte  chirche  cherles  ben  yvel  to  knowe, 
Or  a  knine  from  a  knave, — knowe  this  in  thin  herte.     vi,  46  ff. 

For  alle  are  we  Crystes  creatures,  and  of  his  coffres  riche, 

And  brethren  as  of  o  (one)  blode,  as  wel  beggares  as  erles.  xi,  192  ff. 

Pore  peple,  thi  prisoneres.  Lord,  in  the  put  (pit)  of  myschief, 

Comforte  tho  creatures  that  moche  care  suffren, 

Thorw  derth,  thorw  drouth,  alle  her  dayes  here, 

Wo  in  wynter  tymes  for  wanting  of  clothes, 

And  in  somer  tyme  selde  (seldom)  soupen  to  the  fulle ; 

Comforte  thi  careful,  Cryst,  in  thi  ryche  (kingdom) !     xiv,  174  ff. 

The  date  usually  assigned  to  the  C-text  is  1393-8.  The 
only  evidence  of  any  value  is  the  passage  iv,  203-210,  in 
which  the  author  warns  the  king  of  the  results  of  his  aliena- 
tion of  the  confidence  and  affection  of  his  people.  This,  Skeat 
takes  to  be  an  allusion  to  the  situation  after  the  quarrel  be- 
tween the  king  and  the  Londoners  in  1392;  and,  consequently, 
he  selects  1393  as  the  approximate  date  of  the  poem,  though 
he  admits  that  it  may  be  later.  Jusserand  argues  that  this 
local  quarrel,  which  was  soon  composed,  does  not  suit  the 
lines  of  the  poem  as  well  as  does  the  general  dissatisfaction  of 
1397-9;  and  he,  therefore,  suggests  1398-9  as  the  date.  Jus- 
serand's  view  seems  the  more  probable;  but,  even  so  early  as 
1386,  parliament  sent  to  inform  the  king  that 

si  rex  .  .  .  nee  voluerit  per  jura  regni  et  statuta  ac  laudibiles 
ordinationes  cum  salubri  consilio  dominorum  et  procerum  regni 
guhernari  et  regulari,  sed  capitose  in  suis  insanis  consiliis  propriam 
voluntatem  suam  singular  em  proterve  exercere,  extunc  licitum  est 
eis  ....  regem  de  regali  solio  abrogare. 

(Knighton,  11,  219.) 

Of  the  changes  and  additions  made  by  C  we  can  here  say 
very  little,  mainly  for  the  reason  that  they  are  numerous, 
and  small,   and  not  in  pursuance  of  any  well-defined  plan. 


The  Author  of  the  C-text  35 

There  are  multitudinous  alterations  of  single  words  or  phrases, 
sometimes  to  secure  better  alliteration,  sometimes  to  get  rid 
of  an  archaic  word,  sometimes  to  modify  an  opinion,  but 
often  for  no  discoverable  reason,  and,  occasionally,  resulting 
in  positive  injury  to  the  style  or  the  thought.  Certain  pas- 
sages of  greater  or  less  length  are  entirely  or  largely  rewritten, 
rarely  for  any  important  modification  of  view;  never,  perhaps, 
with  any  betterment  of  style.  At  times,  one  is  tempted  to 
think  they  were  rewritten  for  the  mere  sake  of  rewriting,  but 
many  whole  pages  are  left  practically  untouched.  Transpo- 
sitions occur,  sometimes  resulting  in  improvement,  sometimes 
in  confusion.  Excisions  or  omissions  may  be  noted  which 
seem  to  have  been  made  because  C  did  not  approve  of  the 
sentiments  of  the  omitted  passages;  but  there  are  other  omis- 
sions which  cannot  be  accounted  for  on  this  ground  or  on  that 
of  any  artistic  intention.  The  additions  are  all  of  the  nature 
of  elaborations  or  expansions  and  insertions.  Some  of  these 
have  attracted  much  attention  as  giving  information  concern- 
ing the  life  and  character  of  the  dreamer  or  author;  these  will 
be  dealt  with  below.  Others  give  us  more  or  less  valuable 
hints  of  the  views  and  interests  of  the  writer;  such  are:  the 
passage  accusing  priests  of  image  worship  and  of  forging 
miracles;  an  account  of  the  fall  of  Lucifer,  with  speculations  as 
to  why  he  made  his  seat  in  the  north ;  an  attack  on  regraters ;: 
the  long  confused  passage^  comparing  the  two  kinds  of  meed 
to  grammatical  relations.  Still  others  modify,  in  certain 
respects,  the  opinions  expressed  in  the  B-text.  For  example,. 
XV,  30-32  indicates  a  belief  in  astrology  out  of  harmony  with 
the  earlier  condemnation  of  it;  the  attitude  on  free-will  in 
XI,  51-55  and  XVII,  158-182  suggests  that,  unlike  B,  and  the 
continuator  of  A,  C  rejected  the  views  of  Bradwardine  on 
grace  and  predestination;  several  passages  on  riches  and  the 
rich  2  show  a  certain  eagerness  to  repudiate  any  such  con- 
demnation of  the  rich  as  is  found  in  B;  and,  finally,  not  only 
is  the  striking  passage  in  B^,  cited  above,  in  regard  to  the 
poor,  omitted,  but,  instead  of  the  indiscriminate  almsgiving 
insisted  upon  by  B,  C  distinctly  condemns  if*  and  declares  ^ 

'  IV,  335.  2  XIII,  154-247 ;  XIV,  26-100;  XVIII,  2  1 ;  xx,  232-246. 

3  XIV,  174-180.  -ix,  71-281.  5  XVIII,  58-71. 


3^    "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

that   charity   begins  at  home — "Help   thi   kynne,   Crist  bit 
(bids),  for  ther  begynneth  charite." 

On  the  whole,  it  may  be  said  that  the  author  of  the  C-text 
seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  much  learning,  of  true  piety  and 
of  genuine  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  but  unimagina- 
tive, cautious  and  a  very  pronounced  pedant. 

The  reader  may  desire  a  justification,  as  brief  as  possible, 
of  the  conclusion  assumed  throughout  this  chapter  that  the 
poems  known  under  the  title,  Piers  the  Plowman,  are  not  the 
work  of  a  single  author.  So  much  of  the  necessary  proof  has 
already  been  furnished  in  the  exposition  of  the  different 
interests  and  methods  and  mental  qualities  displayed  in  the 
several  parts  of  the  work  that  little  more  will  be  necessary. 
The  problem  seems  very  simple :  the  differences  pointed  out — 
and  others  which  cannot  be  discussed  here — do  exist;  in  the 
absence  of  any  real  reason  to  assume  that  all  parts  of  this 
cluster  of  poems  are  the  work  of  a  single  author,  is  it  not  more 
probable  that  several  writers  had  a  hand  in  it  than  that  a 
single  writer  passed  through  the  series  of  great  and  numerous 
changes  necessary  to  account  for  the  phenomena?  To  this 
question  an  affirmative  answer  will,  I  think,  be  given  by  any 
one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  examine  separately  the  work 
of  A  {i.e.  A,  prol. — passus  viii),  the  continuator  of  A  (A,  ix-xii, 
55),  B  and  C— that  is,  to  read  carefully  any  passages  of  fifty 
or  a  hundred  lines  showing  the  work  of  each  of  these  authors 
unmixed  with  lines  from  any  of  the  others.  In  such  an  exam- 
ination, besides  the  larger  matters  discussed  throughout  this 
chapter,  the  metre  and  the  sentence  structure  will  repay 
special  attention.  The  system  of  scansion  used  will  make  no 
difference  in  the  result;  but  that  expounded  by  Luick  will 
bring  out  the  differences  most  clearly.  It  will  be  found  that 
the  writers  differ  in  their  conceptions  of  the  requirements  of 
alliterative  verse,  A  being  nearest  to  the  types  established  by 
Luick,  both  in  regard  to  stresses  and  secondary  stresses  and 
in  regard  to  alliteration.  This  can  be  most  easily  tested  by 
Luick's  plan  of  considering  separately  the  second-half-lines. 
Another  interesting  test  is  that  of  the  use  of  the  visual  imagina- 
tion. A  presents  to  his  own  mind's  eye  and  to  that  of  his 
reader  distinct  visual  images  of  figures,  of  groups  of  figures 


The  Problem  of  Authorship  37 

and  of  great  masses  of  men;  it  is  he  who,  as  Jusserand  says, 
"  excels  in  the  difficult  art  of  conveying  the  impression  of  a 
multitude."  A  also,  through  his  remarkable  faculty  of  visual 
imagination,  always  preserves  his  point  of  view,  and,  when  he 
moves  his  action  beyond  the  limits  of  his  original  scene,  causes 
his  reader  to  follow  the  movement;  best  of  all  for  the  modern 
reader,  he  is  able,  by  this  faculty,  to  make  his  allegory  vital 
and  interesting;  for,  though  the  world  long  ago  lost  interest 
in  personified  abstractions,  it  has  never  ceased  to  care  for 
significant  symbolical  action  and  utterance.  On  the  other 
hand,  B,  though  capable  of  phrases  which  show,  perhaps, 
equal  power  of  visualising  detail,  is  incapable  of  visualising 
a  group  or  of  keeping  his  view  steady  enough  to  imagine  and 
depict  a  developing  action.  The  continuator  of  A  and  the 
reviser  C  show  clearly  that  their  knowledge  of  the  world, 
their  impressions  of  things,  are  derived  in  very  slight  measure 
if  at  all,  from  visual  sensations.  These  conclusions  are  not 
invalidated,  but  rather  strengthened,  by  the  fondness  of  B  and 
C  and  the  continuator  of  A  for  similes  and  illustrations,  such 
as  never  appear  in  A. 

Moreover,  the  number  of  instances  should  be  noted  in 
which  B  has  misunderstood  A  or  spoiled  his  picture,  or  in 
which  C  has  done  the  same  for  B.  Only  a  few  examples  can 
be  given  here.  In  the  first  place,  B  has  such  errors  as  these: 
in  II,  21  ff.  Lewte  is  introduced  as  the  leman  of  the  lady  Holy 
Church  and  spoken  of  as  feminine;  in  ii,  25,  False,  instead  of 
Wrong,  is  father  of  Meed,  but  is  made  to  marry  her  later; 
in  II,  74  ff.  B  does  not  understand  that  the  feoffment  covers 
precisely  the  provinces  of  the  seven  deadly  sins,  and,  by 
elaborating  the  passage,  spoils  the  unity  of  the  intention;  in 
II,  176,  B  has  forgotten  that  the  bishops  are  to  accompany 
Meed  to  Westminster,  and  represents  them  as  borne  "abrode 
in  visytynge,"  etc.  Worst  of  all,  perhaps,  B  did  not  no- 
tice that,  by  the  loss  or  displacement  of  a  leaf  between  A,  v, 
235,  236,  the  confessions  of  Sloth  and  Robert  the  Robber  had 
been  absurdly  run  together;  or  that  in  A,  vii,  71-74  the  names 
of  the  wife  and  children  of  Piers,  originally  written  in  the 
margin  opposite  11.  89-90  by  some  scribe,  had  been  absurdly 
introduced  into  the  text,  to  the  interruption  and  confusion  of 
the  remarks  of  Piers  in  regard   to  his  preparations  for  his 


3 8     "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

journey.  Of  C's  failures  to  understand  B  two  instances  will 
suffice.  In  the  prologue,  11-16,  B  has  taken  over  from  A  a 
vivid  picture  of  the  valley  of  the  first  vision : 

Thanne  gan  I  to  meten  a  merveilouse  swevene, 
That  I  was  in  a  wildernesse,  wist  I  never  where; 
As  I  behelde  in-to  the  est  an  hiegh  to  the  sonne, 
I  seigh  a  toure  on  a  toft,  trielich  ymaked ; 
A  depe  dale  benethe,  a  dongeon  there-inne, 
With  depe  dyches  and  derke  and  dredful  of  sight. 

C  spoils  the  picture  thus : 

And  merv'eylously  me  mette,  as  ich  may  50W  telle; 

Al  the  welthe  of  this  worlde  and  the  woo  bothe, 

Wynkyng,  as  it  were,  wyterly  ich  saw  hyt, 

Of  tryuthe  and  of  tricherye,  of  tresoun  and  of  gyle, 

Al  ich  saw  slepynge,  as  ich  shal  ?ow  telle. 

Esteward  ich  byhulde,  after  the  sonne, 

And  sawe  a  toure,  as  ich  trowede,  truthe  was  ther-ynne; 

Westwarde  ich  waitede,  in  a  whyle  after, 

And  sawe  a  deep  dale;  deth,  as  ich  lyuede, 

Wonede  in  tho  wones,  and  wyckede  spiritus. 

The  man  who  wrote  the  former  might,  conceivably,  in  the 
decay  of  his  faculties  write  a  passage  like  the  latter;  but  he 
could  not,  conceivably,  have  spoiled  the  former,  if  he  had 
ever  been  able  to  write  it.  Again,  in  the  famous  rat-parlia- 
ment, the  rat  "renable  of  tonge"  says: 

I  have  ysein  segges  in  the  cite  of  London 

Beren  bi^es  ful  bri?te  abouten  here  nekkes, 

And  some  colers  of  crafty  werk;  uncoupled  thei  wenden 

Bothe  in  wareine  and  in  waste,  where  hem  leve  lyketh; 

And  otherwhile  thei  aren  elles-where  as  I  here  telle. 

Were  there  a  belle  on  here  beij,  bi  Ihesu,  as  me  thynketh, 

Men  my5te  wite  where  thei  went,  and  awei  renne ! 

B,  Prol  160-6. 

Clearly  the  "segges"  he  has  seen  wearing  collars  about 
their  necks  in  warren  and  in  waste  are  dogs.  C,  curiously 
enough,  supposed  them  to  be  men: 

Ich  have  yseie  grete  syres  in  cytees  and  in  tounes 

Bere  byjes  of  bryjt  gold  al  aboute  hure  neckes. 

And  colers  of  crafty  werke,  bothe  kny3tes  and  squiers. 


William  Langland  39 

Were  ther  a  belle  on  hure  byje,  by  lesus,  as  me  thynketh, 
Men  my?te  wite  wher  thei  wenten,  and  hure  wey  roume ! 

Other  misunderstandings  of  equal  significance  exist  in  con- 
siderable number;  these  must  suffice  for  the  present.  I  may 
add  that  a  careful  study  of  the  MSS.  will  show  that  between 
A,  B  and  C  there  exist  dialectical  differences  incompatible 
with  the  supposition  of  a  single  author.  This  can  be  easily 
tested  in  the  case  of  the  pronouns  and  the  verb  are. 

With  the  recognition  that  the  poems  are  the  work  of  several 
authors,  the  questions  concerning  the  character  and  name  of 
the  author  assume  a  new  aspect.  It  is  readily  seen  that  the 
supposed  autobiographical  details,  given  mainly  by  B  and  C, 
are,  as  Jack  conclusively  proved  several  years  ago,  not  genu- 
ine, but  mere  parts  of  the  fiction.  Were  any  confirmation  of 
his  results  needed,  it  might  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  author 
gives  the  names  of  his  wife  and  daughter  as  Kitte  and  Kalote. 
Kitte,  if  alone,  might  not  arouse  suspicion,  but,  when  it  is 
joined  with  Kalote  (usually  spelled  "callet"),  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  both  are  used  as  typical  names  of  lewd  women,  and 
are,  therefore,  not  to  be  taken  literally  as  the  names  of  the 
author's  wife  and  daughter.  The  picture  of  the  dreamer,  be- 
gun by  A  in  prologue,  2,  continued  by  the  continuator  in 
IX,  I  and  elaborated  by  B  and  C,  is  only  a  poetical  device, 
interesting  in  itself  but  not  significant  of  the  character  or 
social  position  of  any  of  these  authors.  Long  Will,  the 
dreamer,  is,  obviously,  as  much  a  creation  of  the  muse  as  is 
Piers  the  Plowman. 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  name,  William  Langland,  so  long 
connected  with  the  poems?  One  MS.  of  the  C-text  has  a  note 
in  a  fifteenth  century  hand  (but  not  early) : 

Memorandum,  quod  Stacy  de  Rokayle,  pater  Willielmi  de  Lang- 
lond,  qui  Stacius  fuit  generosus  et  morabatur  in  Schiptone  under 
Whicwode,  tenens  domini  le  Spenser  in  comitatu  Oxon.,  qui  praedictus 
Willielmus  fecit  librum  qui  vocatur  Perys  Ploughman. 

Another  fifteenth  century  note  in  a  MS.  of  the  B-text  says: 
"Robert  or  William  langland  made  pers  ploughman."  And 
three  MSS.  of  the  C-text  (one,  not  later  than  1427)  give  the 
author's  name  as  "  Willelmus  W."     Skeat  is  doubtless  right  in 


40     ''  Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

his  suggestion  that  the  name  Robert  arose  from  a  misreading 
of  C,  XI,  I ;  but  he  and  Jusserand  find  in  B,  xv,  148: 

I  have  lyved  in  londe,  quod  I,  my  name  is  long  wille, 

confirmation  of  the  first  note  quoted  above.  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  this  is  really  the  source  of  the  name.  Curiously 
enough,  this  line  is  omitted  by  C,  either  because  he  wished  to 
suppress  it  or  because  he  did  not  regard  it  as  significant. 
Furthermore,  Pearson  showed  pretty  conclusively  that,  if  the 
author  was  the  son  of  Stacy  de  Rokayle  (or  Rokesle)  of  Shipton- 
under-Wychwood,  his  name,  if  resembling  Langland  at  all, 
would  have  been  Langley.  If  this  were  the  case,  Willelmus 
W.  might,  obviously,  mean  William  of  Wychwood,  as  Morley 
suggested,  and  be  merely  an  alternative  designation  of  WilHam 
Langley — a  case  similar  to  that  of  the  Robertus  Langelye, 
aHas  Robertus  Parterick,  capellanus,  who  died  in  19  Richard 
II,  possessed  of  a  messuage  and  four  shops  in  the  Flesh- 
shambles,  a  tenement  in  the  Old  Fish-market  and  an  interest 
in  a  tenement  in  Staining-lane,  and  who  may,  conceivably, 
have  had  some  sort  of  connection  with  the  poems.  It  is  pos- 
sible, of  course,  that  these  early  notices  contain  a  genuine, 
even  if  confused,  record  of  one  or  more  of  the  men  concerned 
in  the  composition  of  these  poems.  One  thing,  alone,  is  clear, 
that  Will  is  the  name  given  to  the  figure  of  the  dreamer  by 
four,  and,  possibly,  all  five,  of  the  writers;  but  it  is  not  entirely 
certain  that  A  really  meant  to  gi\-e  him  a  name.  Henry 
Bradley  has,  in  a  private  letter,  called  my  attention  to  certain 
facts  which  suggest  that  Will  may  have  been  a  conventional 
name  in  alliterative  poetry. 

If  we  cannot  be  entirely  certain  of  the  name  of  any  of 
these  writers  except  John  But,  can  we  determine  the  social 
position  of  any  of  them?  John  But  was,  doubtless,  a  scribe, 
or  a  minstrel  Hke  the  author  of  Wynnere  and  Wastoure.  B, 
C  and  the  continuator  of  A  seem,  from  their  knowledge  and 
theological  interests,  to  have  been  clerics,  and,  from  their 
criticisms  of  monks  and  friars,  to  have  been  of  the  secular 
clergy.  C  seems  inclined  to  tone  down  criticisms  of  bishops 
and  the  higher  clergy,  and  is  a  better  scholar  than  either  the 
continuator  of  A  (who  translated  non  mecaberis  by  "slay  not" 
and   tabescebam  by  "  I   said  nothing")   or  B    (who  accepted 


"Richard  the  Redeless"  41 

without  comment  the  former  of  these  errors) .  A,  as  has  been 
shown  already,  exempts  from  his  satire  no  order  of  society 
except  monks,  and  may  himself  have  been  one;  but,  as  he 
exhibits  no  special  theological  knowledge  or  interests,  he  may 
have  been  a  layman. 

In  one  of  the  MSS.  of  the  B-text  occurs  a  fragment  of  a 
poem  which  is  usually  associated  with  Piers  the  Plowman.  It 
has  no  title  in  the  MS.  and  was  called  by  its  first  editor,  Thomas 
Wright,  A  Poem  on  the  Deposition  of  Richard  II;  but  Skeat, 
when  he  re-edited  it  in  1873  and  1886,  objected  to  this  title 
as  being  inaccurate,  and  re-named  it  Richard  the  Redeless, 
from  the  first  words  of  passus  i.  Henry  Bradley  has  recently 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  was  known  to  Nicholas 
Brigham  in  the  first  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  as  Mum, 
Sothsegger  {i.e.  Hush,  Truthteller) .  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  this  was,  as  Bradley  suggests,  the  ancient  title;  for  it  is 
not  such  a  title  as  would  have  been  chosen  either  by  Brigham 
or  by  Bale,  who  records  it.  The  copy  seen  by  Brigham,  as  it 
had  a  title,  cannot  have  been  the  fragmentary  copy  that  is 
now  the  only  one  known  to  us.  Wright  regarded  the  poem 
as  an  imitation  of  Piers  the  Plowman;  Skeat  undertook  to 
prove,  on  the  basis  of  diction,  dialect,  metre,  statements  in 
the  text  itself,  etc.,  that  it  was  the  work  of  the  same  author. 
But  claims  of  authorship  made  in  these  poems  are  not  con- 
clusive, as  will  be  seen  in  the  discussion  of  the  Ploughman's 
Tale;  and  the  resemblances  in  external  form,  in  dialect,  in 
versification,  etc.,  on  which  Skeat  relies,  are  not  greater  than 
might  be  expected  of  an  imitator,  while  there  are  such  numer- 
ous and  striking  differences  in  diction,  versification,  sentence 
structure  and  processes  of  thought  from  every  part  of  Piers 
the  Plowman,  that  identity  of  authorship  seems  out  of  the 
question.  The  poem,  as  had  been  said,  is  a  fragment;  and 
Skeat  thinks  that  it  may  have  been  left  unfinished  by  the 
author  in  consequence  of  the  deposition  of  Richard.  But  the 
MS.  in  which  it  is  found  is  not  the  original,  but  a  copy;  and 
the  prologue  seems  to  imply  that  the  poem  had  been  com- 
pleted when  the  prologue  was  written.  The  author  professes 
to  be  a  loyal  subject  and  friendly  adviser  of  Richard,  but 
the  tone  of  the  poem  itself  is  strongly  partisan  to  Henry  of 


42     "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

Lancaster,  and,  curiously  enough,  nearly  all  the  remarks  in 
regard  to  Richard  imply  that  his  rule  was  entirely  at  an  end. 
This  latter  fact  is,  of  course,  not  incompatible  with  Skeat's 
view  that  the  poem  was  written  between  the  capture  and  the 
formal  deposition  of  Richard,  i.e.  between  i8  August  and 
20  September  1399.  As  to  the  form  and  contents  of  the  poem 
it  is  not  a  vision,  but  consists  of  a  prologue,  reciting  the  cir- 
cumstances of  its  composition,  and  three  passus  and  part  of  a 
fourth,  setting  forth  the  errors  and  wrongs  of  Richard's  rule. 
Passus  I  is  devoted  to  the  misdeeds  of  his  favourites.  Passus 
II  censures  the  crimes  of  his  retainers  (the  White  Harts) 
against  the  people,  and  his  own  folly  in  failing  to  cherish  such 
men  as  Westmoreland  (the  Greyhound),  while  Henry  of  Lan- 
caster (the  Eagle)  was  strengthening  his  party.  Passus  iii 
relates  the  unnaturalness  of  the  White  Harts  in  attacking  the 
Colt,  the  Horse,  the  Swan  and  the  Bear,  with  the  return  of 
the  Eagle  for  vengeance,  and  then  digresses  into  an  attack 
upon  the  luxury  and  unwisdom  of  Richard's  youthful  coun- 
sellors. Passus  IV  continues  the  attack  upon  the  extravagance 
of  the  court,  and  bitterly  condemns  the  corrupt  Parliament  of 
1397  for  its  venality  and  cowardice. 

The  influence  of  Piers  the  Plowman  was  wide-spread  and 
long-continued.  There  had  been  many  satires  on  the  abuses 
of  the  time  (see  Wright's  Political  Poems  and  Political  Songs 
and  Poems),  some  of  them  far  bitterer  than  any  part  of  these 
poems,  but  none  equal  in  learning,  in  literary  skill  and,  above 
all,  none  that  presented  a  figure  so  captivating  to  the  imagina- 
tion as  the  figure  of  the  Ploughman.  From  the  evidence 
accessible  to  us  it  would  seem  that  this  popularity  was  due, 
in  large  rneasure,  to  the  B-text,  or,  at  least,  dated  from  the 
time  of  its  appearance,  though,  according  to  my  view, 
the  B-text  itself  and  the  continuation  of  A  were  due  to 
the  impressiveness  of  the  first  two  visions  of  A-text. 

Before  discussing  the  phenomena  certainly  due  to  the 
influence  of  these  poems,  we  must  devote  a  few  lines  to  two 
interesting  but  doubtful  cases.  In  1897,  Gollancz  edited  for 
the  Roxburghe  Club  two  important  alliterative  poems.  The 
Parlement  of  the  Thre  Ages  and  Wynncre  and  Wastonre,  both 
of  which  begin  in  a  manner  suggestive  of  the  beginning  of 


**  Wynnere  and  Wastoure"  43 

Piers  the  Plowman,  and  both  of  which  contain  several  lines 
closely  resembling  lines  in  the  B-text  of  that  poem.  The  Hnes 
in  question  seem,  from  their  better  relation  to  the  context,  to 
belong  originally  to  Piers  the  Plowman  and  to  have  been  copied 
from  it  by  the  other  poems;  if  there  were  no  other  evidence, 
these  poems  would,  doubtless,  be  placed  among  those  sug- 
gested by  it;  but  there  is  other  evidence.  Wynnere  and 
Wastoure  contains  two  allusions  that  seem  to  fix  its  date  at 
c.  1350,  and  The  Parlement  seems  to  be  by  the  same  author. 
The  two  allusions  are  to  the  twenty- fifth  year  of  Edward  III 
(1.  206),  and  to  William  de  Shareshull  as  chief  baron  of  the 
exchequer  (1.  317).  The  conclusion  is,  apparently,  inevitable 
that  the  imitation  is  on  the  part  of  Piers  the  Plowman.  In 
The  Parlement  the  author  goes  into  the  woods  to  hunt,  kills 
a  deer  and  hides  it.  Then,  falling  asleep,  he  sees  in  a  vision 
three  men,  Youth,  Middle- Age  and  Age,  clad,  respectively,  in 
green,  grey  and  black,  who  dispute  concerning  the  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of  the  ages  they  represent.  Age  relates  the 
histories  of  the  Nine  Worthies,  and  declares  that  all  is  vanity. 
He  hears  the  bugle  of  Death  summoning  him,  and  the  author 
wakes.  In  Wynnere  and  Wastoure  the  author,  a  wandering 
minstrel,  after  a  prologue  bewailing  the  degeneracy  of  the 
times  and  the  small  respect  paid  to  the  author  of  a  romance, 
tells  how 

Als  I  went  in  the  waste  wandrynge  myn  one, 
Bi  a  bonke  of  a  bourne  bryghte  was  the  sonne. 

I  layde  myn  hede  one  an  hill  ane  hawthorne  besyde. 

And  I  was  swythe  in  a  sweven  sweped  belyve ; 
Methoghte  I  was  in  a  werlde,  I  ne  wiste  in  whate  ende. 

He  saw  two  armies  ready  to  fight ;  and 

At  the  creste  of  a  cliffe  a  caban  was  rered, 

ornamented  with  the  colours  and  motto  of  the  order  of  the 
Garter,  in  which  was  the  king,  whose  permission  to  fight  was 
awaited.  The  king  forbade  them  to  fight  and  summoned  the 
leaders  before  him.  There  is  a  brilliant  description  of  the 
embattled  hosts.     The  two  leaders  are  Wynnere  and  Wastoure, 


44     "Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

who  accuse  each  other  before  the  king  of  having  caused  the 
distress  of  the  kingdom.  The  end  of  the  poem  is  missing. 
Both  poems  are  of  considerable  power  and  interest  in  them- 
selves, and  are  even  more  significant  as  suggesting,  what  is 
often  forgotten,  that  the  fourteenth  century  was  a  period  of 
great  and  wide-spread  intellectual  activity,  and  that  poetical 
ability  was  not  rare. 

Not  in  the  metre  of  Piers  the  Plowman,  but  none  the  less 
significant  of  the  powerful  hold  which  the  figure  of  the  Plow- 
man obtained  upon  the  English  people,  are  the  doggerel  letters 
of  the  insurgents  of  1381,  given  by  Walsingham  and  Knighton, 
and  reprinted  by  Maurice  and  Trevelyan.  Trevelyan  makes 
a  suggestion  which  has  doubtless  occurred  independently  to 
many  others,  that  ''Piers  Plowman  may  perhaps  be  only  one 
characteristic  fragment  of  a  medieval  folk-lore  of  allegor}'', 
which  expressed  for  generations  the  faith  and  aspirations  of  the 
English  peasant,  but  of  which  Langland's  great  poem  alone 
has  survived."  One  would  like  to  believe  this;  but  the  men- 
tion of  "do  well  and  better"  in  the  same  letter  with  Piers 
Plowman  makes  it  practically  certain  that  the  writer  had  in 
mind  the  poems  known  to  us  and  not  merely  a  traditional 
allegory;  though  it  may  well  be  that  Piers  the  Plowman 
belonged  to  ancient  popular  tradition. 

Next  in  order  of  time  was,  doubtless,  the  remarkable  poem 
called  Peres  the  Ploughmans  Crede,  which  Skeat  assigns  to 
"not  long  after  the  latter  part  of  1393."  The  versification  is 
imitated  from  Piers  the  Plowman,  and  the  theme,  as  well  as 
the  title,  was  clearly  suggested  by  it.  It  is,  however,  not  a 
vision,  but  an  account  of  the  author's  search  for  some  one 
to  teach  him  his  creed.  He  visits  each  of  the  orders  of  friars. 
Each  abuses  the  rest  and  praises  his  own  order,  urging  the 
inquirer  to  contribute  to  it  and  trouble  himself  no  more  about 
his  creed.  But  he  sees  too  much  of  their  worldliness  and 
wickedness,  and  refuses.  At  last,  he  meets  a  plain,  honest 
ploughman,  w^ho  delivers  a  long  and  bitter  attack  upon  friars 
of  all  orders,  and,  finally,  teaches  the  inquirer  the  much 
desired  creed.  The  poem  is  notable,  not  only  for  the  vigour 
of  its  satire,  but  also  for  the  author's  remarkable  power  of 
description. 

With  the  Crede  is  often  associated  the  long  poem  known 


The  "  Crede"  and  the  *'Tale  "  45 

as  The  Ploughman's  Tale.  This  was  first  printed,  in  1532  or 
1535,  in  Chaucer's  works  and  assigned  to  the  Ploughman. 
That  it  was  not  written  by  Chaucer  has  long  been  known,  but, 
until  recently,  it  has  been  supposed  to  be  by  the  author  of 
the  Crede.  The  poem,  though  containing  much  alliteration,  is 
not  in  alliterative  verse,  but  in  rimed  stanzas,  and  is  entirely 
different  in  style  from  the  Crede.  The  differences  are  such 
as  indicate  that  it  could  not  have  been  written  by  the  author 
of  that  poem.  It  has  recently  been  proved  by  Henry  Bradley, 
that  very  considerable  parts  of  the  poem,  including  prac- 
tically all  the  imitations  of  the  Crede,  were  written  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  These  passages  were  also  independently 
recognised  as  interpolations  by  York  Powell  and  this  was 
communicated  privately  to  Skeat,  who  now  accepts  Bradley's 
conclusions.  Bradley  thinks  that  the  poem  may  contain  some 
genuine  stanzas  of  a  Lollard  poem  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
but  that  it  underwent  two  successive  expansions  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  both  with  the  object  of  adapting  it  to  con- 
temporary controversy.  The  relation  of  even  the  fourteenth 
century  portion  to  Piers  the  Plowman  is  very  remote. 

Three  pieces  belonging  to  the  WycHfite  controversy,  which 
also  bear  a  more  or  less  remote  relation  to  Piers  the  Plowman, 
are  ascribed  by  their  editor,  Thomas  Wright,  to  1401,  and  by 
Skeat,  who  re-edited  the  first  of  them,  to  1402.  The  first  of 
them,  called  Jacke  Upland,  is  a  violent  attack  upon  the  friars 
by  one  of  the  Wyclifite  party.  By  John  Bale,  who  rejected 
as  wrong  the  attribution  of  it  to  Chaucer,  it  is,  with  equal 
absurdity,  attributed  to  Wyclif  himself.  There  is  some  allitera- 
tion in  the  piece,  which  made  Wright  suppose  it  to  have  been 
originally  written  in  alliterative  verse.  Skeat  denies  that  it 
was  ever  intended  as  verse,  and  he  seems  to  be  right  in  this, 
though  his  repudiation  of  Wright's  suggestion  that  our  copy 
of  the  piece  is  corrupt  is  hardly  borne  out  by  the  evidence. 
The  second  piece.  The  Reply  of  Friar  Daw  Thopias,  is  a  vigor- 
ous and  rather  skilful  answer  to  Jacke  Upland.  The  author, 
himself  a  friar,  is  not  content  to  remain  on  the  defensive,  but 
tries  to  shift  the  issue  by  attacking  the  Lollards.  According 
to  the  explicit  of  the  MS.  the  author  was  John  Walsingham, 
who  is  stated  by  Bale  to  have  been  a  Carmelite.  This  piece 
is  in  very  rude  alliterative  verse.     The  Rejoinder  of  Jacke 


46     *' Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

Upland,  which  is  preserved  in  the  same  MS.  with  the  Reply, 
is  of  the  same  general  character  as  Jacke  Upland,  though, 
perhaps  through  the  influence  of  the  Reply,  it  contains  a  good 
deal  more  alliteration.  None  of  these  pieces  has  any  poetical 
merit,  but  all  are  vigorous  and  interesting  examples  of  the 
popular  religious  controversy  of  the  day. 

Very  evidently  due  to  the  influence  of  Piers  the  Plowman  is  a 
short  alHterative  poem  of  144  Hnes,  addressed,  apparently,  to 
Henry  V  in  141 5,  and  called  by  Skeat,  its  editor,  The  Crowned 
King.  In  a  vision  the  author  looks  down  into  a  deep  dale, 
where  he  sees  a  multitude  of  people  and  hears  a  crowned  king 
ask  his  commons  for  a  subsidy  for  his  wars;  to  the  king  a 
clerk  kneels,  and,  having  obtained  leave  to  speak,  urges  him 
to  cherish  his  people  and  beware  of  evil  counsellors  and  of 
avarice.  The  piece  is  sensible  and  well  written,  but  is  entirely 
lacking  in  special  poetical  quality. 

Of  entirely  uncertain  date  is  an  interesting  allegorical 
poem  called  Death  and  Liffe,  preserved  in  the  Percy  Folio  MS. 
Its  relation  to  Piers  the  Plowman  is  obvious  and  unmistakable. 
In  a  vision,  closely  modelled  on  the  vision  of  the  prologue, 
the  poet  witnesses  a  strife  between  the  lovely  lady  Dame  Life 
and  the  foul  freke  Dame  Death,  which  was  clearly  suggested 
by  the  "Vita  de  Do-best"  of  Piers  the  Plowman.  In  spite  of 
its  large  indebtedness  to  the  earlier  poem,  it  is  a  work  of  no 
little  originality  and  power. 

In  the  same  priceless  MS.  is  preserved  another  alliterative 
poem,  which  Skeat  regards  as  the  work  of  the  author  of  Death 
and  Liffe.  It  is  called  The  Scotish  Feilde  and  is,  in  the  main, 
an  account  of  the  battle  of  Flodden.  The  author,  who  de- 
scribes himself  as  "a  gentleman,  by  Jesu"  who  had  his  "bid- 
ding place"  "at  Bagily"  {i.e.  at  Baggily  Hall,  Cheshire),  was 
an  ardent  adherent  of  the  Stanleys  and  wrote  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  celebrating  their  glorious  exploits  at  Bosworth 
Field  and  at  Flodden.  The  poem  seems  to  have  been  written 
shortly  after  Flodden,  and,  perhaps,  rewritten  or  revised  later. 
That  the  author  of  this  poem,  spirited  chronicle  though  it  be, 
was  capable  of  the  excellences  of  Death  and  Liffe,  is  hard  to 
believe;  the  resemblances  between  the  poems  seem  entirely 
superficial  and  due  to  the  fact  that  they  had  a  common  model. 

The  influence  of  Piers  the  Plowman  lasted,  as  we  have  seen, 


The  Fourteenth  Century  47 

well  into  the  sixteenth  century;  indeed,  interest  in  both  the 
poem  and  its  central  figure  was  greatly  quickened  by  the 
supposed  relations  between  it  and  Wyclifism.  The  name  or 
the  figure  of  the  Ploughman  appears  in  innumerable  poems 
and  prose  writings,  and  allusions  of  all  sorts  are  very  common. 
Skeat  has  given  a  hst  of  the  most  important  of  these  in  the 
fourth  volume  of  his  edition  of  Piers  Plowman  for  the  Early 
English  Text  Society. 

We  are  accustomed  to  regard  the  fourteenth  century  as, 
on  the  whole,  a  dark  epoch  in  the  history  of  England — an 
epoch  when  the  corruptions  and  injustices  and  ignorance  of 
the  Middle  Ages  were  pihng  themselves  ever  higher  and  higher; 
when  the  Black  Death,  having  devoured  half  the  population 
of  city  and  hamlet,  was  still  hovering  visibly  like  a  gaunt 
and  terrible  vulture  over  the  affrighted  country;  when  noble- 
men and  gentry  heard  in  indignant  bewilderment  the  sullen 
murmur  of  peasants  awakening  into  consciousness  through 
pain,  with  now  and  then  a  shriller  cry  for  vengeance  and  a  sort 
of  Wind  justice;  an  epoch  when  intellectual  Hfe  was  dead  or 
dying,  not  only  in  the  universities,  but  throughout  the  land. 
Against  this  dark  background  we  seemed  to  see  only  two 
bright  figures,  that  of  Chaucer,  strangely  kindled  to  radiance 
by  momentary  contact  with  the  renascence,  and  that  of 
Wyclif,  no  less  strange  and  solitary,  striving  to  light. the  torch 
of  reformation,  which,  hastily  muffled  by  those  in  authority, 
smouldered  and  sparkled  fitfully  a  hundred  years  before  it 
burst  into  blaze.  With  them,  but  farther  in  the  background, 
scarcely  distinguishable,  indeed,  from  the  dark  figures  among 
which  he  moved,  was  dimly  discerned  a  gaunt  dreamer, 
clothed  in  the  dull  grey  russet  of  a  poor  shepherd,  now  watch- 
ing with  lustreless  but  seeing  eye  the  follies  and  corruptions 
and  oppressions  of  the  great  city,  now  driven  into  the  wilder- 
ness by  the  passionate  protests  of  his  aching  heart,  but  ever 
shaping  into  crude,  formless  but  powerful  visions  images  of 
the  wrongs  and  oppressions  which  he  hated  and  of  the  growing 
ho2e_which,  from  time  to  time,  was  revealed  to  his  eager  eyes. 

That  the  Black  Death  was  a  horrible  reality  the  statistics 
of  its  ravages  prove  only  too  well ;  that  there  was  injustice  and 
misery,  ignorance  and  intellectual  and  spiritual  darkness,  is 


48     ** Piers  the  Plowman"  and  its  Sequence 

only  too  true;  but  the  more  intimately  we  learn  to  know  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  the  more  clearly  do  we 
see,  not  only  Grosseteste  and  Ockham  and  Richard  of  Armagh, 
but  a  host  of  forgotten  or  nameless  men  who  battled  for 
justice,  and  kindliness,  and  intellectual  and  spiritual  light; 
and  our  study  of  the  Piers  the  Plowman  cluster  of  poems  has 
shown  us  that  that  confused  voice  and  that  mighty  vision 
were  the  voice  and  vision,  not  of  one  lonely,  depised  wanderer, 
but  of  many  men,  who,  though  of  diverse  tempers  and  gifts, 
cherished  the  same  enthusiasm  for  righteousness  and  hate 
for  evil. 


CHAPTER  II 

Religious  Movements  in  the  Fourteenth 

Century 

Richard  Rolle.     Wyclif.     The  Lollards 

IT  is  often  difficult  to  deal  adequately  with  individual  writers 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  Both  the  general  ideas  and  the  literary 
habits  of  the  time  tended  to  hide  the  traces  of  individual 
work.  Schools  of  thought  were  more  important  than  their 
individual  members;  at  tinies,  therefore,  single  thinkers  or 
writers  received  less  than  their  due  recognition  because  their 
achievements  became  the  common  property  of  a  school. 
Hence,  we  find  it  not  always  easy  to  assign  to  any  single 
writer  his  proper  place  in  literary  history,  and  the  difiQculty 
is  increased  by  medieval  methods  of  composition.  Manu- 
scripts were  so  widely  copied,  often  with  alterations  and 
additions,  that  individual  ownership  was  almost  lost.  Then, 
when  in  later  days  men  sought  to  trace  the  work  and  influence 
of  individuals,  they  ran  two  opposite  risks:  sometimes,  they 
were  likely  to  under-estimate  the  individual's  influence ;  some- 
times, they  were  Hkely  to  ascribe  to  one  man  tendencies  and 
works  which  belonged  rather  to  his  school.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising, then,  that  a  great  deal  still  remains  to  be  done  in  the 
publication  and  arrangement  of  manuscripts  before  a  definite 
verdict  can  be  given  upon  some  problems  of  early  literary 
history.  As  might  be  expected,  moreover,  this  difficulty  is 
most  to  be  felt  in  some  of  the  matters  nearest  to  daily  life: 
where  the  feet  of  generations  passed  the  oftenest,  traces  of 
their  forerunners  were  easiest  lost.  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole 
and  John  Wyclif  were  men  very  different  in  their  lives  and  in 
their  ecclesiastical  standpoints,    but  the  lives  of  both  illus- 

VOL.  II — 4  49 


50       Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

trate  these  statements,  and  the  same  kind  of  difficulty  arises 
in  respect  of  each  of  them.  Much  has  been  assigned  to  them 
that  was  not  really  theirs:  after  this  first  mistake  has  been 
repaired,  it  becomes  possible  to  judge  them  more  fairly.  But, 
even  then,  it  cannot  be  done  fully  and  finally  until  the 
materials  have  been  sifted  and  arranged. 

By  the  fourteenth  century,  the  north  of  England  had  long 
lost  its  former  literary  leadership,  but  its  impulses  had  not 
quite  died  away,  and  the  growing  connection  with  Oxford, 
strengthened  by  the  foundation  of  Balliol  College  {c.  1263), 
brought  even  outlying  villages  under  the  influence  of  great 
intellectual  and  religious  movements.  When  Richard  Rolle 
went  up  to  Oxford,  the  friars,  with  their  ideal  of  poverty, 
were  still  a  powerful  party  there,  although,  before  long,  Fitz- 
Ralph  was  to  attack  their  view  of  life;  and  contests  between 
realists  and  nominalists  were  the  chief  intellectual  interests. 
The  young  student's  connection  with  Oxford  did  not  last  long; 
but  it  coloured  the  whole  of  his  life,  and  his  first  writings  were 
modelled  upon  academic  forms.  He  must,  also,  have  gone 
through  much  intellectual  and  spiritual  trouble,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  crisis  that  changed  his  life.  But  he  took  away 
with  him  from  Oxford  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  Latin,  an 
acquaintance  with,  and  some  distaste  for,  the  ordinary  philo- 
sophical writers,  and  above  all,  a  love  of  the  Scriptures.  By 
a  regulation  of  Grosseteste,  the  first  morning  lecture  had  to 
be  upon  the  Bible,  which  furnished  the  material  for  much  of 
the  teaching. 

Richard  Rolle  was  born,  probably  about  1300,  although 
the  exact  date  is  unknown,  at  Thornton-le-Dale,  near  the  old 
town  of  Pickering,  if  a  note  in  one  of  the  manuscripts  concern- 
ing him  is  to  be  believed;  at  Thomton-le-Street,  if  a  modem 
conjecture,  which  places  his  birth  nearer  the  scenes  of  his 
earliest  activity,  is  to  be  accepted.  When  he  was  nineteen 
he  came  home  from  Oxford,  eager,  because  he  feared  disaster 
to  his  soul,  to  follow  the  life  of  a  hermit;  he  asked  his  sister 
to  meet  him  near  his  home  and  bring  with  her  two  "of  her 
frocks,  a  grey  and  a  white,  and,  out  of  these,  along  with  his 
father's  hood,  he  made  himself  a  rough  and  ready  hermit's 
dress.  Thus  clad,  he  visited  a  church  where  worshipped  the 
family  of  Dalton — two  youths  of  which  had  known  him  at 


Rolle's  Mysticism  51 

Oxford.  On  a  second  visit,  he  put  on  a  surplice  and,  with  the 
leave  of  the  priest,  preached  an  affecting  sermon  at  Mass. 
The  former  undergraduates  recognised  him  and  asked  him  to 
their  table  at  home.  His  father,  a  man  of  some  substance, 
was  known  to  the  Daltons,  and,  struck  by  Richard's  sermon 
and  his  earnestness,  they  settled  him  as  a  hermit  upon  their 
estate.  Hermits  were  a  common  feature  of  medieval  hfe: 
they  were  under  episcopal  control  and  received  episcopal 
licence;  hence,  they  were  often  spoken  of  by  bishops  as  "our 
hermits";  indulgences  were  often  granted  to  those  who  sup- 
ported them,  and  they  themselves  often  did  useful  service  in 
the  repair  of  roads  and  keeping  up  of  bridges.  After  a  time — 
four  years  at  least — he  left  his  first  cell  for  another  at  Ainderby, 
near  Northallerton,  where  a  friend  of  his,  Margaret  Kirby, 
lived  in  much  the  same  way  that  he  did.  Another  change 
brought  him  to  Hampole,  near  Doncaster;  and  here,  kindly 
cherished  by  Cistercian  nuns,  he  Hved  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 
The  end  came  29  September  1349^ — the  year  of  the  Black 
Death.  So  great  had  been  his  popularity  that  the  nuns  of 
Hampole  sought  his  canonisation:  an  ofBce  for  his  festival — 
20  January — was  composed  (probably  about  138 1-2),  and, 
later,  a  collection  of  miracles  ascribed  to  his  influence  was 
made.  Although  not  formally  canonised,  he  was  regarded  as 
a  saint ;  and  his  reputation  gave  wider  currency  to  his  writings. 
Rolle  was  not  a  priest,  although,  perhaps,  in  minor  orders. 
If  his  spiritual  advice  was  sought  by  many — especially  by 
Margaret  Kirby,  the  recluse  of  Ainderby,  by  another  recluse 
at  Yedingham  and  by  nuns  at  Hampole — it  was  because 
of  his  spiritual  insight  rather  than  his  position.  He  stood 
equally  aloof  from  academic  thought  and  general  life — ecclesi- 
astical and  civil;  he  wished  to  retire  from  the  world  and,  by 
contemplation,  reach  a  knowledge  of  God  and  an  elevation 
of  soul.  Through  the  mystic  stages  of  purgation  and  illumina- 
tion, he  reached,  after  two  and  a  half  years,  the  third  stage, 
the  contemplation  of  God  through  love.  Here,  he  had  an 
insighf  into  the  joys  of  heaven,  and,  in  this  stage,  he  passed 
through  the  calor,  the  warmth  of  divine  love,  which  fired  his 

"  This  is  the  date  usually  accepted,  on  fair  evidence,  but  a  manuscript 
correction  by  Henry  Bradshaw,  in  a  copy  of  Forshall  and  Madden,  gives  the 
date  as  1348. 


52       Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

being  with  effects  almost  physical;  then  there  came  into  his 
life  the  canor,  the  spiritual  music  of  the  unseen  world,  the 
whispering  sound  as  of  heaven  itself;  and,  together  with  these, 
he  experienced  the  dulcor,  the  sweetness  as  of  the  heavenly 
atmosphere  itself.  If  he  mixed,  at  times,  with  the  outside 
world,  even  with  the  rich  of  the  world,  if  he  jested,  at  times, 
as  he  went  his  way  among  them,  this  was  not  his  true  life, 
which  was,  henceforth,  "hid  with  Christ  in  God."  Even  the 
company  of  his  fellows  was,  at  times,  distasteful,  for  their 
objects  were  other  than  his;  yet  he  sought  to  win  them  over 
to  love  "the  Author."  Contemplative  hfe  had  drawn  him 
and  set  him  apart;  but  it  had  also  given  him  his  mission. 
He  was  to  be  to  others  a  prophet  of  the  mystic  and  unseen. 

His  first  impulse  had  been  to  win  the  world  to  his  system 
through  preaching.  There  are  traces  of  systematic  attempts 
to  gain  influence  over  others,  although  not  by  forming  an 
order  or  community;  but  these  ways  of  influencing  others 
hardly  sufficed  him,  for  he  found  few  Hke-minded  with  him- 
self. It  seems  not  improbable  that  he  even  came  into  collision 
with  ecclesiastical  authorities,  for  he  preached  as  a  free  lance 
and  from  a  particular  point  of  view.  Unrest,  and  the  friction 
of  awkward  personal  relations  (for  he  was  dependent  upon  the 
help  of  others)  worked  along  with  the  difficulty  of  his  general 
position  to  drive  him  from  place  to  place.  At  last,  his  energy 
found  a  new  outlet  and  he  began  to  write.  Short  ejaculatory 
poems,  then  longer  and  more  didactic  works,  were  the  natural 
expressions  of  his  soul — and  thus  he  found  his  true  work  in 
life.  He  describes  the  impulses  which  moved  him  "if  I  might 
be  able  in  some  good  way  to  compose  or  write  something  by 
which  the  Church  of  God  might  grow  in  divine  delight." 

Rolle  thus  deserves  a  high  place  among  the  many  poets 
of  the  religious  Hfe;  and  the  forms  he  used,  or,  at  times,  elab- 
orated, have  a  beauty  answering  to  their  thought.  Intense 
personal  feeling,  sympathy  and  simplicity  are  their  chief 
features,  and  thus,  apart  from  their  language,  they  appeal  to 
all  ages  alike.  Beginning  with  alliteration  only,  the  ^thor 
worked  into  rime.  But  followers,  such  as  William  Nassyngton, 
imitated  him  in  poems  hard  to  distinguish  from  Rolle's  own; 
some  versified  editions  of  his  prose  works — such  as  that  of  the 
Form  of  Living  (or  Mending  of  Life)— were  probably  also  due 


Rolle  and  Religion  53 

to  Nassyngton.  We  thus  come  to  a  cycle  of  sacred  poems, 
at  once  mystic  and  practical,  all  grouped  around  Rolle.  At 
first  purely  local,  they  spread  beyond  south  Yorkshire ;  copies 
were  made  in  southern  EngHsh,  "translated"  (says  one  MS.) 
"  out  of  northern  tunge  into  southern,  that  it  schulde  pe  better 
be  understondyn  of  men  of  j^e  selve  countreye."  The  Psalms 
had  been  to  Rolle  himself  a  source  of  inspiration  and  comfort; 
he  had  come  to  that  constant  intercourse  with  God,  to  that 
sense  of  personal  touch  with  Him,  in  which  even  their  most 
exalted  language  did  not  seem  unreal  or  too  remote.  He 
could  write:  "grete  haboundance  of  gastly  comfort  and  joy 
in  God  comes  in  the  hertes  of  thaim  at  says  or  synges  devotly 
the  psalmes  in  lovynge  of  Jesus  Crist."  His  labour  at  the 
Psalter  had  a  wide-reaching  influence,  and  appears  in  many 
forms ;  a  Latin  commentary  upon  it  is  one  of  his  most  original 
works;  and,  in  another  of  them,  the  Latin  version  is  followed 
by  an  English  translation,  and  a  commentary;  the  last  has 
been  widely  used  and  highly  praised  by  pious  writers  of  very 
different  schools,  but  it  is  really  a  translation  of  Peter  Lom- 
bard's commentary,  and  is,  therefore,  devoid  of  originaHty 
and  personal  touches.  This  commentary  may  not  have  been 
his  only  attempt  at  translation,  as  the  English  version  of 
The  Mirror  of  St.  Edmund  may  also  be  his  work.  His  own 
prose  is  marked  by  flexibility  and  tender  feeling  fittingly 
expressed.  A  metrical  Psalter — apparently  earlier  in  date — 
also  exists,  and  this,  again,  was  largely  copied,  but  it  cannot 
be  ascribed  with  absolute  certainty  to  Rolle  himself. 

From  the  date  of  the  miracles  at  Hampole — 1381  and  there- 
abouts— a  revival  of  Rolle's  fame  seems  to  have  taken  place, 
just  before  the  great  Peasants'  Revolt,  and  just  when  Lollard  ^ 

>  On  the  continent,  the  word  Lollard  was  applied  to  Beghard  communities 
and  men  of  heretical  views  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries.  The 
name  was  soon  given  to  Wyclif's  followers  (see  Fasc.  Ziz.  pp.  300  and  312  for 
its  use  opprobriously  in  1382):  it  is  then  applied  to  the  poor  priests.  In 
Wright's  Political  Songs,  11,  243-4  we  have  an  allusion  to  Oldcastle. 

^  The  game  is  nojt  to  lolle  so  hie 

^  Ther  fete  failen  fondement. 


Hit  is  unkyndly  for  a  knijt, 

That  shuld  a  kinges  castel  kepe 
To  babble  the  Bibel  day  and  nijt. 
Taken  along  with  the  gloss  to  Walsingham  (Hist.  Angl.  i,  325)  hi  voca- 


54      Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

influence  was  spreading.  To  this  coincidence  is  due  the  reissue 
of  the  commentary  upon  the  Psalter  with  Lollard  interpola- 
tions and  additions.  From  various  doctrinal  inferences  the 
date  of  this  reissue  has  been  tentatively  fixed  as  early  as 
1378,  and  its  authorship  has  been  sometimes  ascribed — 
although  without  reason — to  Wyclif  himself.  Against  these 
Lollard  interpolations  the  writer  of  some  verses  prefixed  to 
one  MS.  complains : 

Copied  has  this  Sauter  ben  of  yvel  men  of  Lollardy, 
And  afterward  hit  has  been  sene  ymped  in  with  eresy ; 
They  seyden  then  to  lewde  foles  that  it  shuld  be  all  enter 
A  blessyd  boke  of  hur  scoles,  of  Richard  Hampole  the  Sauter. 

The  writer  of  this  particular  MS.  claims  that  his  copy,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  the  same  as  that  kept  chained  at  Hampole 
itself.  The  quarrel  raised  over  Hampole 's  Psalter,  and  the 
use  made  of  it,  illustrates  its  value.  But  originality  cannot 
be  claimed  for  it. 

Rolle's  activity  was  due  to  the  wish  to  benefit  his  fellows, 
and  hence  come  a  number  of  plain,  practical  treatises  with 
religious  ends  in  view.  His  commentary  upon  the  Psalms  was 
written  for  the  edification  of  the  same  Margaret  of  Ainderby 
for  whom  he  wrote,  in  prose.  The  Form  of  Living;  his  beautiful 
Ego  dormio  et  cor  meum  vigilat,  a  prose  work  w^hich  shows  the 
influence  of  those  pseudo-Dionysian  writings  that  markedly 
affected  both  Grosseteste  and  Colet,  was  written  for  a  nun  of 
Yedingham;  explanations  of  the  Canticles,  the  Lord's  Prayer 
and  Commandments  and  some  prayers  in  The  Layfolk's  Mass- 
book,  had  the  same  object.  His  mysticism  still  left  something 
practical  in  his  character — so  much  so  that,  at  times,  he  gave 
advice  which,  in  spite  of  his  assured  orthodoxy,  must  have 
seemed,  to  some,  unusual.  Thus,  he  speaks  of  the  error  of 
taking  too  little  food,  in  avoiding  too  much — and  he  never 
tries  to  impress  upon  all  others  the  contemplative  life  he 
sought  for  himself.     He  saw  that,  for  most  of  them,  Hfe  must 

banttir  a  vulgo  LoUardi  incedcntes  nudis  pedibus,  vestiti  pannis  vilibus^cilicet 
de  russeio,  the  word  seems  specially  applied  to  street-preachers,  or  idlers  in 
streets  (lollen,  to  loll).  But  the  punning  association  with  lollium,  tares, 
appears  in  a  song  of  about  the  year  1382  (Pol.  Songs,  i,  232),  tn  humo  hujus 
hortuli  I  .  .  .  fecit  zizania,  \  quae  suffocant  virentia,  \  velut  frumentum  loUia,  \  and 
LoUardi  sunt  zizania,  |  spinae,  vepres  ac  lollia.  This  fanciful  derivation  be- 
came popular. 


Wyclif  s  Early  Life  55 

be  active;  he  merely  sought  to  teach  them  the  spirit  in  which 
to  live. 

Of  his  attitude  towards  the  church  little  need  be  said;  he 
is  a  faithful  and  loyal  son,  although  he  keeps  some  freedom 
of  speech.  In  one  of  his  latest  works,  the  lengthy  poem 
Pricke  of  Conscience — a  popular  summary,  in  9624  lines,  of 
current  medieval  theology  borrowed  from  Grosseteste  and 
others,  strong  in  its  sense  of  awe  and  terror  of  sin,  and  firm 
in  its  appHcation  of  ecclesiastical  rules  to  the  restraint  and 
the  pardon  of  sins — the  abuses  he  condemns  most  strongly  are 
those  of  individual  licence  and  social  life.  If  he  had  any 
quarrel  with  the  church,  it  was  rather  with  some  of  its  theolo- 
gians who  did  not  share  his  philosophy  than  with  its  system 
or  its  existing  development.  When  he  spoke  of  God's  "  loving- 
kindness  in  the  gates  of  the  daughter  of  Zion"  he  interpreted 
the  gates  as  being  the  church,  under  whose  shadow  he  dwelt. 

His  doctrine  of  "love"  was  thus  not  purely  mystical  or 
remote  from  life:  it  overflowed  into  teachings  of  social  right- 
eousness, and  the  dignity  of  labour  as  a  service  before  God; 
it  made  injustice  and  offences  against  love  (charity)  peculiarly 
hateful  in  his  eyes.  Yet  he  had  no  hatred  of  the  rich  or  of 
riches,  and,  indeed,  he  had,  at  times,  been  even  blamed  for 
his  friendship  with  the  rich;  it  was  merely  against  the  abuse 
and  misuse  of  riches  he  protested.  Three  things  he  held 
needful  in  daily  life:  that  work  should  be  honest  without 
waste  of  time,  that  it  should  be  done  in  freedom  of  spirit  and 
that  a  man's  whole  behaviour  should  be  honest  and  fair. 
There  was  thus  in  his  teaching  much  that  strengthened  the 
democracy  of  the  times,  much  that  condemned  the  social  and 
ecclesiastical  conditions  of  the  day.  If,  on  the  one  hand,  his 
judgment  was  magna  igitur  est  vita  solitaria  si  magnifice  agatur, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  realised  for  himself  and  taught  to  others 
the  living  power  of  Christian  fellowship.  He  is  as  significant 
in  the  history  of  popular  medieval  religion  as  in  that  of 
medieval  letters. 

Although  John  Wyclif,  like  Rolle,  was  of  northern  origin, 
his  life  belongs  altogether  to  Oxford  and  to  national  affairs. 
His  northern  background  not  only  gave  something  to  his 
character  but  also,  probably,  determined  his  career :  his  family 
had   some   connection  with   Balliol   College,  and   it  was   the 


5^      Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

natural  college  for  a  Yorkshireman.  At  Oxford  he  came  under 
the  great  influences  which  shaped  himself  and  his  work.  But, 
between  him  and  Rolle  there  were  resemblances  apart  from 
the  north  and  Oxford ;  each  of  them  has  a  special  place  in  the 
♦^history  of  the  English  Bible  as  well  as  of  the  English  tongue, 
and  Biblical  commentaries — probably  due  to  Rolle — have 
been,  at  one  time  or  another,  ascribed  to  Wyclif.  In  both  cases, 
assumptions  have  been  made  too  readily  before  the  existing 
works  had  been  studied  and  classified:  works  such  as  The 
Last  Age  of  the  Church  and  An  Apology  for  the  Lollards — which 
could  not  possibly  have  been  Wyclif's — have  been  put  down 
as  his.  Until  the  Wyclif  Society  began  its  labours,  his  Latin 
works  were  mainly  in  manuscript,  and,  before  they  could  be 
studied  and  compared  with  each  other,  the  data  for  his  life 
and  character  remained  uncertain.  Even  now,  there  remain 
some  points  which  it  is  wiser  to  leave  open,  but  we  know 
enough  to  say  that  certain  traditional  views  and  dates,  at  any 
rate,  must  be  cast  aside. 

John  Wyclif  was  born,  according  to  Leland,  at  Ipreswel  or 
Hipswell,  near  Richmond,  in  Yorkshire.  His  family  took  its 
origin  from  Wycliffe-on-Tees,  and  he  himself  is  described  in 
a  papal  document  as  of  the  diocese  of  York,  The  date  of  his 
birth  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
about  1320,  and  certainly  not  much  later.  The  tradition 
which  says  that  he  went  to  Balliol  College  is  probable, 
for  we  find  him  there  as  its  Master  in  1360.  The  university, 
which  gained  through  papal  provision  some  support  for  its 
learned  sons,  petitioned  Urban  V  to  grant  Wyclif  a  canonry 
with  prebend  (or  parish  annexed)  in  York  Minster.  As  an 
answer,  he  was  appointed,  by  papal  provision,  to  the  prebend 
of  Aust  in  the  collegiate  church  of  Westbury-on-Trym,  in  the 
diocese  of  Worcester  (24  November  1362).  And,  on  26 
December  1373,  Gregory  XI  granted  Wyclif  leave  to  hold  this 
prebend  of  Aust  even  after  he  had  received  a  canonry  with 
prebend  in  Lincoln,  which  he  had  been  previously  promised 
when  a  vacancy  occurred.  In  his  work  De  Civili  Dominio, 
Wyclif  apparently  alludes  to  this  latter  appointment,  and 
speaks,  although  without  bitterness,  of  his  being  afterwards 
passed  over  for  a  young  foreigner.  Incidentally,  it  should  be 
noticed  that  Wyclif  was  thus,  as  late  as  1373,  in  good  repute 


Wyclif  as  Lecturer  57 

« 

at  the  Curia;  and,  further,  when  he  mentions  the  matter  some 
years  later  (probably  about  1377)   he  is  not  hostile  to  the  pope. 

The  passage  from  the  ranks  of  the  learners  to  those  of 
the  teachers  was  better  defined  in  medieval  days  than  it  is 
now,  and  it  is  important  to  know,  therefore,  that  the  date  of 
Wyclif's  doctorate  (S.T.P.,  D.D.  or  S.T.M.)  can  now  safely 
be  placed  about  1372.  He  could,  after  that,  lecture  upon 
theology,  and,  not  long  after  his  own  day,  this  promotion  was 
noted  as  a  turning  point  in  his  teaching:  it  was  then  he  was 
held  to  have  taught  at  least  the  beginnings  of  heresy.  Up  to 
this  time,  his  life  had  been  mainly  passed  at  Oxford,  as  boy 
(for  undergraduates  went  up  at  an  early  age,  and  much  ele- 
m^entary  teaching,  even  in  grammar,  was  given  in  the  univer- 
sity), as  pupil  and  as  teacher,  in  arts  before  he  taught  theology. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  he  had  taken  much  part  in  parish 
work,  although  he  had  held  preferments,  and  the  incidental 
dates  that  have  come  down  to  us,  no  less  than  the  Latin 
writings  lately  edited,  imply  great  activity  in  teaching.  He 
would  probably  "determine,"  and  take  his  Bachelor's  degree 
some  four  years  after  matriculation;  in  three  more  years  he 
would  take  his  Master's  degree  and  "incept"  in  arts,  and, 
after  some  thirteen  years  more,  in  two  stages,  he  could  take 
his  Doctor's  degree  and  "incept"  in  divinity.  But,  these 
periods  might,  of  course,  be  prolonged  in  special  cases;  all  the 
Fellows  of  Balliol,  for  instance,  except  six  theological  Fellows, 
were,  until  1364,  prohibited  from  graduating  in  theology;  and, 
from  some  cause  of  this  kind,  Wyclif  was,  apparently,  delayed 
in  reaching  his  Doctor's  degree.  But  his  reputation  as  a 
'lecturer  had  been  made  some  years  before;  Masters  of  arts 
lectured  to  students  specially  under  their  care,  while,  just 
before  his  doctorate,  a  Bachelor  of  divinity  could  lecture  upon 
"  the  sentences." 

It  is  difScult  for  us  to  understand,  not,  indeed,  the  intel- 
lectual eagerness  of  the  university,  but  its  hold  upon  the 
country  at  large.  From  all  parts  of  England,  and  from  foreign 
countries  too,  youths  were  flocking  to  Oxford,  where  a  new 
intellectual  world  opened  itself  to  them.  The  fact  that  medie- 
val thought  and  enquiry  followed  paths  differing  greatly  from 
those  we  tread  to-day  sometimes  hides  from  us  the  value  of 
their  intellectual   training.     Their   material   was,   of   course. 


L' 


58    Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

limited,  although  not  so  limited  as  is  sometimes  thought: 
thus,  although  Wyclif,  for  instance,  knew  nothing  of  Greek 
beyond  a  few  names  and  words,  he  had  studied  widely  in 
natural  science,  of  which  Roger  Bacon  had  left  a  tradition  at 
Oxford.  4^  Their  method  had  been  originally  formed  to  train 
the  mind,  in  which  it  had  once  succeeded.  By  Wyclif's  day, 
however,  it  had  become  too  technical,  and,  far  from  helping 
thought,  the  scholastic  method  had  become  a  cumbrous  routine 
under  which  thought  was  cramped,  j.  The  weight  of  the  author- 
ities whom  he  was  expected  to  know,  the  knowledge  which  he 
had  to  accumulate,  and  the  order  in  which  his  thoughts  had 
to  be  arranged,  checked  a  scholar's  originality.  i^Thus,  the 
first  reading  of  Wyclif's  Latin  works  does  not  give  one  any 
idea  of  his  mental  vigour,  for  the  thought  has  to  be  sifted 
out  from  under  appeals  to  authorities  and  cumbrous  apparatus. 
^Vhen  that  has  been  done,  it  is  found,  as  a  rule,  that  the 
thought  is  strong,  tenaciously  held  and  fearlessly  applied. 
But,  even  then,  we  of  to-day  can  hardly  feel  the  power  of 
Wyclif's  personality.  It  was  different  in  his  own  time,  for 
these  things  were  the  medium  through  which  minds  influenced 
each  other. 

It  is  easy  for  us  to  understand  the  influence  of  Wyclif's 
English  writings,  and  we  are  even  likely  to  exaggerate  it,  but 
not  so  with  his  Latin  works.  In  their  case,  we  have  to  make 
the  allowances  spoken  of  above,  and  to  remember,  moreover, 
that,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  men  were  almost  ceasing  to 
think  in  Latin;  with  Wyclif  himself,  the  turn  of  expression, 
even  in  his  Latin  works,  is  English.  It  was  not  surprising, 
then,  that  even  a  scholar  trained,  as  he  had  been,  to  regard 
Latin  as  the  proper  vehicle  of  deeper  thought,  should,  in  the 
end,  turn  from  it  to  English;  the  old  literary  commonwealth 
of  the  ]\Iiddle  Ages  was  breaking  up,  to  be  replaced  by  a  num- 
ber of  nations  with  separate  ways  of  thought  and  a  Hterature 
of  their  own.  Wyclif's  free  use  of  English  is,  therefore,  sig- 
nificant. ^  In  his  double  aspect,  as  standing  at  the  close  of  a 
long  series  of  Latin  writers,  and  as  an  English  writer  early  in 
the  file,  he  belongs  partly  to  the  age  that  was  going  out, 
partly  to  the  age  that  was  coming  in.  But  it  would  be  a 
mistake  to  think  that  his  democratic,  popular  impulses,  shown 
by  his  choice  of  English  and  his  appeal  to  a  larger  public, 


Wyclif  and  Scholasticism  59 

came  to  him  solely  from  the  national  side.  The  modern  con- 
ception of  a  scholar  standing  apart  from  the  world,  of  a  uni- 
versity professor  working  within  a  small  circle  and  influencing 
a  few  select  pupils,  must  be  cast  aside.  For  no  place  was 
more  democratic  than  a  medieval  university :  thither  all  classes 
came,  and  the  ideas  which  were  born  in  a  lecture-room  soon 
passed,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  case  of  Rolle,  to  the  distant 
villages  of  the  north.  When  Wyclif  threw  himself  upon  a 
wider  public  than  that  of  the  university,  he  was,  after  all, 
only  carrying  a  little  further  that  desire  to  popularise  knowledge 
and  thought  which  was  common  to  all  medieval  teachers.  The 
habit  of  thinking  in  Latin,  the  necessity  of  writing  in  Latin, 
had  been  almost  the  only  barriers  to  hinder  any  previous 
thinker  from  doing  what  W^yclif  afterwards  did.  For  him, 
those  barriers  hardly  existed,  and,  hence,  the  passage  from 
his  lecture-room  to  the  field  of  the  nation  was  not  so  strange 
as  it  seems  to  us.  The  same  impulses  worked  in  both  phases 
of  his  life;  the  great  formative  influences  of  his  life  were 
scholastic  and  academic,  but  this  does  not  imply  any  isolation 
or  intellectual  aristocracy. 

There  were  many  great  schoolmen  whose  works  were 
known  to  him  and  to  whom  he  owed  his  really  great  learning, 
but  a  few  had  specially  influenced  him.  ^He  belonged,  like 
other  great  EngHshmen,  to  the  realists,  who  attributed  to 
general  ideas  a  real  existence,  and  who  were  in  the  closest 
intellectual  sympathy  with  the  great  fathers  of  the  church, 
St.  Augustine  above  all  others.  The  strife  between  them  and 
the  nominalists  was  bitter  and  prolonged,  but,  towards  the 
close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  latter  were  victorious,  and  be- 
came, together  with  those  who,  as  conceptualists,  held  their 
opinions  in  a  sHghtly  modified  form,  the  prevalent  school. 
ReaHsm  went  out  of  fashion,  and  realists,  WycHf  among  them, 
were  forgotten.  To  this  cause,  nearly  as  much  as  to  the  taint 
of  heresy,  he  owed  the  neglect  into  w^hich  he  fell.  But,  at 
Oxford,  in  his  day,  the  reaHsts  championed  by  WycHf  more 
than  held  their  own.  But  for  one  nominalist,  William  of 
Ockham — the  great  Franciscan  writer  and  advocate  of  the 
rights  of  the  state— Wyclif  had  a  great  regard,  and  he  refused 
to  count  him  a  heretic.  Ockham  had  been  a  warm  defender 
of  the  Franciscan  doctrine  of  poverty— a  doctrine  which  had 


6o    Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

a  special  charm  for  Wyclif — and,  from  it  as  a  basis,  had  gone 
on  to  attack  the  existing  constitution  and  power  of  the  church. 
Wyclif,  who,  in  his  later  years,  followed  the  same  course  and 
took  up  the  same  position,  owed  him  a  certain  intellectual  debt. 

But  he  owed  even  more  to  Grosse teste — "archi-doctor," 
"Lincolniensis,"  as  he  called  him,  and  to  Richard  FitzRalph, 
"  Armaghanus,"  archbishop  of  Armagh  (1347-60).  With  the 
former,  who  had  greatly  influenced  Oxford,  Wyclif  was  in 
general  philosophical  agreement,  and  from  him,  possibly, 
learnt  his  great  love  of  the  Scriptures.  From  FitzRalph,  who 
was  chancellor  of  Oxford  (1333),  Wyclif  drew  the  doctrine  of 
dominion  or  lordship,  to  which,  although  carrying  it  somewhat 
further,  he  really  added  nothing.  FitzRalph  had  reached  his 
views  through  the  controversy  with  the  mendicants;  he  had 
come  across  them  at  Oxford;  he  knew  the  charges  brought 
against  them  of  enticing  youngsters  to  join  them;  later,  on 
his  return  from  Ireland  (1356),  he  found  the  controversy 
between  them  and  the  seculars  peculiarly  keen ;  he  preached 
against  them  in  London,  and,  afterwards,  at  Avignon  (1357), 
he  delivered  his  famous  Defensio  Curatorum  on  behalf  of 
parish  priests  who  suffered  much  from  their  encroachments. 
His  De  Pauperie  Salvatoris  not  only  dealt  with  the  poverty 
of  Christ  (which,  as  he  pointed  out,  was  not  mendicancy)  but 
discussed  "lordship"  and  "use."  In  the  end  he  made  all 
"lordship"  depend  on  that  of  God,  to  whom  all  lordship 
belonged;  man  had  once  received  as  a  loan  from  God  an 
original  lordship  for  himself;  but  this  he  had  lost  through  sin, 
and  a  new  relation  had  begun.  There  is,  thus,  a  distinction 
between  the  lordship  of  the  ideal  state  of  innocency,  and  the 
conditional  lordship  found  in  the  actual  world.  |X)nly  in  so 
far  as  man  serves  God  does  he  approach  true  lordship;  so 
far  as  he  is  sinful,  he  forfeits  his  lordship.  To  use  Wyclif's 
expression  "dominion  is  founded  in  grace,"  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, a  man  in  mortal  sin  cannot  exercise  lordship.  But 
Wyclif  did  not  follow  FitzRalph  blindly;  for,  while  FitzRalph 
had  gone  on  to  condemn  the  poverty  of  the  mendicant  friars, 
Wyclif,  until  his  last  years,  sympathised  with  the  Franciscans, 
whose  model  his  own  "poor  priests"  in  some  ways  reproduced. 

But  this  doctrine  of  dominion,  excellently  as  it  enforced 
responsibility    towards    God,    was    capable    of    much    abuse. 


Attack  upon  Wyclif  6i 

FitzRalph  had  carefully  guarded  it  as  an  ideal,  and  his  dis- 
cussion of  the  civil  state  and  property  had  moved  in  a  different 
plane  from  that  of  his  ideal  conditions.  But,  as  so  often 
happens  between  a  master  and  a  scholar,  Wyclif  the  scholar 
reproduces  his  master's  outline  in  deeper  colours  and  without 
the  shades;  hence,  it  was  not  always  easy  to  see  that  his 
arguments  appHed  merely  to  an  ideal  society.  If  his  teach- 
ing was  charged  with  favouring  the  Peasants'  Revolt  and  if, 
later,  Lollards  appeared  to  society  as  socialists,  it  was,  largely, 
owing  to  Wyclif's  unguarded  expression  of  this  doctrine  of 
FitzRalph. 

Wyclif's  earliest  writings  are  of  a  purely  philosophical 
nature,  and,  of  course,  academic  in  origin  and  style.  De 
Logica,  De  Ente  Predicamentali,  De  Materia  et  Forma,  De 
Benedicta  Incarnacione  and  De  Composicione  Hominis  are 
ordinary  university  lectures:  in  the  case  of  the  last  it  is  prob- 
able that  we  have  only  the  lecture-notes  as  they  were  deliv- 
ered. They  may  be  dated — not,  of  course,  with  certainty — 
from  1360  to  1370  or  thereabouts.  They  give  us  WycHf's 
philosophical  basis,  and  show  him  as  a  follower  of  St.  Augus- 
tine, named  after  his  master,  "Joannes  Augustini."  Hence, 
also,  came  his  views  on  predestination,  upon  which  he  had 
a  friendly  controversy  with  the  logician  Ralph  Strode:  his 
doctrine  of  the  presciti  (foreknown)  remained  unchanged 
throughout  his  life.  Already,  too,  he  denied  the  possibility 
of  the  annihilation  of  anything,  a  view  which  led  him  to  his 
later  denial  of  transubstantiation.  His  Latin  works  show  how 
large  a  part  these  discussions,  which  both  influenced  others 
and  gained  him  a  great  reputation  in  controversy,  ^  played  in 
his  life,  and  his  chief  opponents,  with  the  exception  of  Wad- 
ford  or  Wodeford  (probably  a  Franciscan),  were  monks.  The 
abbot  of  Chertsey,  for  instance,  came  up  to  Oxford  to  draw 
him  into  a  discussion,  and  many  other  opponents  attacked 
him.  Through  these  controversies,  Wyclif's  views,  as  to  the 
wrongfulness  of  endowments  (to  which  he  ascribed  all  the 
evils  of  the  church),  as  to  the  duty  of  the  state  and  of  lay 

>  Here  his  somewhat  rough  humour  showed  itself,  as  in  the  expression 
CAIM's  castle — for  his  Carmelite,  Augustinian,  Jacobite  (Dominican)  and 
Minorite  opponents;  and  as  in  his  retort,  when  called  a  fox,  that  some  of  his 
adversaries  were  black  dogs,  some  white,  according  to  the  colours  of  their 
habits. 


62      Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

authorities  to  enforce  reformation  by  seizing  church  property, 
must  have  become  widely  known.  But,  probably,  he  had  not 
yet  made  his  entry  into  political  life,  and,  certainly,  he  had 
not  as  yet  any  controversy  with  the  mendicants.  It  is  prob- 
able that  Wyclif's  Determinatio,  printed  by  Lewis,  containing 
a  supposed  account  of  a  padiamentary  debate  upon  papal 
taxation,  belongs  (as  Loserth  has  pointed  out)  not  to  1366-7 
but  to  a  date  some  ten  years  later.  At  the  former  date,  it 
stands  isolated  in  Wyclif's  life;  at  the  later  date,  it  finds  a 
fitting  place  in  the  controversy  recounted  in  De  Civili  Dominio 
and  De  Ecclesia;  the  papal  demand  made  upon  England  in 
1366  was  repeated  in  1374,  so  that  we  are  not  restricted  to 
the  earlier  date  alone.  Before  1374,  also,  great  debates  had 
taken  place  upon  the  taxation  of  the  church  for  national  needs, 
while  the  employment  of  churchmen  in  high  secular  offices 
had  been  opposed  by  a  strong  court  party  since  137 1.  The 
latter  question  caused  the  main  struggle  about  the  time, 
1376-7,  of  the  Good  parliament.  Wyclif's  visit  to  Bruges 
(July  1374),  as  member  of  an  embassy  to  discuss  papal 
provisions,  might  deepen  his  interest  in  these  questions. 

A  new  parliament  met  27  January  1377  and  convocation 
assembled  a  little  later  (3  February).  Wyclif,  who  had  been 
asked  up  to  London  (22  September  1376)  to  help  John  of 
Gaunt  and  his  party  by  his  sermons,  was  now  called  before 
convocation  to  answer  for  his  views,  but  what  the  charges 
against  him  were  we  can  only  infer  from  his  writings:  they 
probably  arose  out  of  his  views  as  to  ecclesiastical  endow- 
ments. He  appeared  in  his  defence  accompanied  by  John  of 
Gaunt  and  Lord  Percy,  together  with  four  mendicant  friars. 
A  quarrel  between  Courtenay,  bishop  of  London,  and  John 
of  Gaunt  broke  out,  which  led  to  a  popular  riot  against  the 
duke;  and  the  proceedings  against  Wyclif  were  thus  inter- 
rupted. But  bulls — five  in  number — were  now  got  from  Rome 
against  him:  three  were  addressed  to  the  archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, one  to  the  king  and  one  to  the  university  of  Oxford. 
Much  discussion  has  arisen  as  to  the  originators  of  this  attack. 
It  was,  largely,  the  result  of  the  Oxford  controversies,  and 
was  led  by  the  monks ;  but  some  among  the  bishops — espec- 
ially Brunton,  bishop  of  Rochester — may  have  worked  along 
with  them ;  political  disHkes  embittered  the  controversv ;  and 


Attack  upon  Wyclif  63 

one  reason  why  his  enemies  raised  these  controversies  against 
him  was,  says  Wyclif,  their  wish  to  get  him  deprived  of  his 
benefices.  Eighteen  errors  were  charged  against  him  which 
centred  in  his  views  on  endowments,  but  his  assertions  that  the 
church  in  its  censures  and  excommunications  should  conform 
to  the  law  of  Christ,  and  that  churchmen  should  be  subject 
to  civil  jurisdiction,  were  also  brought  against  him.  The 
complaints  were  thus  concerned  with  the  organisation  and 
outside  relations  of  the  church  rather  than  with  its  doctrines. 

Both  the  young  king  Richard  II  and  the  parliament 
seemed  to  support  him;  and  he  now  speaks  of  himself  as 
peculiaris  clericus  of  the  king;  he  was  consulted  as  to  the 
action  of  parliament  (which  met  13  October  1377)  with  re- 
gard to  the  drain  of  money  to  Rome,  and  he  also  defended 
himself  in  a  document  addressed  to  parliament.  Bishop 
Brunton  had  spoken  in  parliament,  as  early  as  February  or 
March,  of  the  expected  bulls:  they  were  dated  22  May  1377, 
but  it  was  not  until  i8  December  1377  that  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury  and  the  bishop  of  London — as  commissioners 
appointed  by  the  pope — began  to  move  by  requesting  the 
university  to  enquire  into  the  charges.  The  university  re- 
sented the  tone  of  the  pope's  bull  to  them,  which  had  reproved 
their  laxity  in  admitting  heresy,  and  it  was  not  thought  law- 
ful for  the  pope  to  order  the  imprisonment  of  anyone  in 
England.  But  the  archbishop's  request  to  examine  the  truth 
of  the  charges  was  another  matter.  They  made  the  investi- 
gation, during  which  they  confined  Wyclif  to  his  rooms,  and 
their  verdict  was  that  the  doctrines,  although  capable  of  a 
bad  construction,  were  not  heterodox. 

But  Wyclif  was  further  summoned  before  the  two  prelates 
at  Lambeth — probably  in  February  or  March  1378.  He  had 
drawn  up  a  defence  of  himself  for  transmission  to  the  pope, 
which  was  sent  through  the  hands  of  the  bishops,  and  was 
also  widely  circulated  in  England,  doubtless  through  the 
"  poor  priests. ' '  Once  again,  the  proceedings  were  interrupted : 
a  message  from  the  princess  of  Wales  stayed  the  trial,  and 
the  fickle  and  turbulent  Londoners  broke  into  the  hall,  this 
time  on  the  side  of  Wyclif,  and  not  on  that  of  their  bishop 
as  before.  He  was,  however,  directed  not  to  preach  or  teach 
the  doctrines  charged  against  him,  which,  although  not  judged 


64    Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

erroneous,  were  likely  to  cause  trouble.  It  is  possible  that 
the  changed  attitude  of  the  Londoners  was  due  to  WycHf's 
preaching  among  them,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  did  not 
obey  the  command  of  silence.  In  more  ways  than  one,  this  year 
(1378)  was  a  turning  point  in  his  life,  and  one  of  his  larger 
Latin  works,  De  Veritate  Sacrae  Scripturae,  written  at  this  very 
time,  gives  us  unusual  insight  into  his  mind  and  feelings. 

The  election  of  Urban  VI  (7  April  1378)  was  followed 
(September  1378)  by  that  of  an  anti-pope,  Clement  VII,  and 
thus  the  barely  ended  sojourn  at  Avignon  gave  place  to  an 
even  more  disastrous  schism.  England  supported  Urban,  and 
WycHf ,  for  a  time,  was  loyal  to  him.  But  the  many  admitted 
ecclesiastical  abuses,  which  others,  besides  Wyclif,  freely 
pointed  out,  naturally  grew  greater  during  the  schism,  and  the 
rivalry  of  tw^o  popes  led  to  a  wider  discussion  of  ecclesiastical 
questions.  The  bishop  of  Norwich  (Henry  le  Spenser)  actually 
undertook  (1382)  the  leadership  of  a  crusade  in  Flanders 
proclaimed  by  Urban  against  Clement ;  indulgences  were  issued 
to  all  who  shared  in  it;  friars  were  specially  active  in  further- 
ing it,  and  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  (Courtenay  had  now 
succeeded  the  murdered  Sudbury)  ordered  prayers  and  a 
general  collection  for  the  expedition  (April  1383).  It  is 
clear,  both  from  Wyclif's  Latin  works  (such  as  Cruciata) 
and  from  his  English  tracts,  that  the  crusade,  with  its  min- 
gling of  unchristian  warfare,  a  keen  struggle  for  power,  the 
pursuit  of  wealth  and  the  abuses  of  indulgences,  turned  him 
more  strongly  against  the  papacy.  Henceforth,  there  was  no 
reserve  in  his  language,  no  moderation  in  his  views:  he  re- 
garded the  pope  as  anti-Christ.  But,  by  anti-Christ,  Wyclif 
hardly  meant  the  same  that  the  prophetic  school  of  later 
theologians  mean.  Anything  opposed  to  the  law  of  Christ 
was  anti-christian,  and,  so  far  as  he  broke  the  law  of  Christ, 
a  man  might  be  anti-Christ;  to  be  anti-Christ  was  thus,  with 
Wyclif,  a  phase  of  character,  and  not  a  personal  existence. 
Before  1378,  he  had  used  the  expression  of  isolated  acts  and 
special  deeds,  but,  after  that  year,  he  came  to  hold  the  pope 
consistently  and  always  anti-Christ.  He  no  longer  confined 
himself  to  the  criticism  of  abuses;  he  questioned,  at  one  time 
or  another,  the  utility  of  every  part  of  the  church's  system: 
sacraments,  holy  orders,  everything  was  unessential.     Far  as 


The  Poor  Priests.     The  Bible  65 

this  criticism  went,  it  is  probable  that  in  it,  and  in  the  grow- 
ing stress  laid  on  preaching  as  the  one  essential  of  religion, 
lie  WycHf's  chief  affinities  with  later  reformers.  So  strongly 
did  he  feel  about  the  Schism  and  this  crusade  that  the  occur- 
rence or  omission  of  any  reference  to  either  is  an  accepted 
test  of  date  for  his  works. 

Wyclif's  liking  for  the  friars  and  their  fundamental  doc- 
trine of  poverty  has  already  been  mentioned.  But  he  had 
also  sympathy  with  their  popular  work,  even  if  he  thought 
it  sometimes  neglected  or  badly  done.  This  feeling  led  him 
to  institute  his  "poor  priests,"  who  must  have  begun  their 
work  while  he  was  still  at  Oxford,  probably  about  1377,  as 
they  are  certainly  mentioned  in  works  of  1378.  Originally, 
they  were  priests  Hving  in  poverty  and  journeying  about  the 
country,  clad  in  simple  russet,  preaching  as  the  Dominicans 
had  done;  later,  some,  if  not  most,  of  them  were  laymen; 
gradually,  too,  as  his  quarrel  with  the  church  authorities  grew 
and  he  became  estranged  from  his  university,  he  demanded 
less  learning  from  his  poor  priests;  simple  piety,  a  love  of  the 
Scriptures  and  a  readiness  to  preach  were  all  he  asked  from 
them.  One  unlearned  man  (iinus  ydiota)  might,  by  God's 
grace,  do  more  than  many  graduates  in  schools  or  colleges. 
There  was  nothing  strange  in  the  original  idea  of  such  a  body, 
and  it  was  only  by  an  accident  that  WycHf  did  not  become 
the  founder  of  a  new  order  of  friars.  Before  the  end  of  his 
life  they  had  spread  his  doctrines  widely,  and  had  met  with 
great  success,  especially  in  the  vast  diocese  of  Lincoln,  and 
in  those  of  Norwich  and  Worcester.  The  districts  which  were 
centres  of  his  teaching  long  remained  centres  of  Lollard3% 
although  the  views  of  the  later  Lollards  can  hardly  be  held 
the  same  as  his.  For  they  changed  his  views  upon  property 
into  a  socialism  discontented  with  existing  government  and 
the  distribution  of  wealth;  his  denunciation  of  evils,  which 
grew  gradually  more  sweeping  and  subversive  of  ecclesiastical 
order,  became,  with  them,  a  hatred  of  the  whole  church;  his 
love  of  the  Bible,  and  his  appeal  to  it  as  the  test  of  everything, 
too  often  became,  with  them,  a  disregard  of  everything  but 
the  Bible;  his  denial  of  transubstantiation,  based  upon  philo- 
sophical reasoning,  became,  with  them,  a  contempt  for  the 
Sacrament  itself. 

VOL.    II — S 


66    Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

So    far,   we   ha\-e    seen  Wyclif   mainly  critical   and    even 
destructive.     But  there  was  also  a  strongly  positi\-e  side  to 
his  teaching:  his  regard  for  the  Scriptures  and  his  frequent 
use  of  them  in  his  writings  (common  with  medieval  writers, 
but  very  common  with  him)  is  best  seen  in  his  work  De  Veritate 
Sacrae  Scripturae,  which  he  was  writing  about  1378.     He  re- 
garded Scripture  as  the  test  of  everything,  in  comparison  with 
which  tradition  had  no  force.     It  is  impossible  to  trace  fully 
the  development  of  his  views,  but  the  medieval  love  of  specu- 
lation and    freedom   of   thought  (w^hich  was  not,  as  a  rule, 
interfered  with,  unless  it  led  to  revolutionary  action)  carried 
him  far:  there  is  hardly  anything  in  the  constitution  or  wor- 
ship or  doctrine  of  the  church  which,  in  some  of  his  latest 
works,  was  not  questioned.    Nevertheless,  after  lea\ang  Oxford, 
he    remained    quietly   working   in   his   parish,    following    the 
ordinary  round  of  a  parish  priest.     It  is  to  be  noted,  too,  that 
in    his    English    sermons   he    faithfully   follows    the   church's 
choice  of  Epistles  and  Gospels,   not  casting  it  aside  as  did 
some  later  reformers.     But  the  inconsistency  between  his  life 
and    his   words    is    more   apparent   than   real;    the  habit   of 
hypothesis,  of   questioning,   of    making  assumptions,  was  so 
ingrained  in  him  that  too  much  weight  must  not  be  assigned 
to  all  his  statements,  as  if  they  expressed  a  deliberate  and 
well-formed  conviction.     The  world  at  large  was,   however, 
different  from  an  academic  audience,   and  many  whom  his 
works   reached   must  have   drawn   practical   inferences   from 
them  which  Wyclif  himself  never  drew.     Still,  as  regards  the 
church — poisoned   as  he  held  it  to   be   by  the  endowments 
poured  into  its  system  first  by  Constantine  and,  since  then, 
by  others — his  mental  attitude  was  distinctly  sceptical.     His 
positive  appeal  to  Scripture,  however,  was  another  thing;  it 
was  directed  against  the  abuses  of  the  time.     But,  among  his 
opponents,  men  like  bishop  Brunton  of  Rochester  also  had  a 
deep  love  for  the  Scriptures;  the  language  often  used  as  to 
ignorance  or  dislike  of  the  Bible  at  the  time  is  much  exag- 
gerated and  mistaken,  as  the  works  of  Rolle  indicate.     Never- 
theless, there  were  some  opponents  of  Wyclif  whom  he  charged 
rightly  with  belittling  the  Scriptures.     These  criticisms  were 
directed    against   the   growing   school   of   nominalists   against 
whom  Wyclif,  as  one  of  the  latest  medieval  realists,  fought 


/ 


The  Bible  in  English  67 

vigorously,   and   whose   influence  had,   in   the   end,   the  evil 
effects  of  which  Wyclif  complained. 

It  was  this  appeal  to  the  Scriptures  that  gained  Wyclif 
his  name  of  Doctor  Evangelicus.  In  the  Bible  he  found  a 
source  of  spiritual  strength,  an  inspiration  of  moral  energy  as 
well  as  a  guide  to  conduct.  For  these  reasons  he  wished  to 
spread  its  use.  He  pointed  to  other  nations  with  translations 
of  it  in  their  own  tongue  and  asked  why  England  should  not 
have  the  same:  the  faith  should  be  known  to  all  in  the  lan- 
guage most  familiar  to  them.  The  same  impulses  that  led 
him  to  found  his  poor  priests  made  him  wish  to  spread  a 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  in  England. 

But  in  De  Veritate  Sacrae  Scripturae,  while  there  are 
already  complaints  that  preaching  is  interfered  with,  there  are 
no  complaints  that  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular  is  prohibited : 
indeed,  the  history  of  the  English  translations  before  Wyclif 
show  that  such  was  not  the  case.  We  have  already  seen  in 
the  case  of  Rolle  how  translations  were  made  for  dwellers 
in  religious  houses;  one  of  the  independent  versions — edited  by 
Miss  Panes — has  an  interesting  prologue  in  which  a  "brother" 
and  "sister"  "lewed  and  unkunnynge"  ask  a  more  learned 
"brother"  to  teach  them:  "  I  preye  you  pur  charite  to  techen 
us  lewed  men  trewlyche  ]>e  soj^e  aftur  oure  axynge."  The 
reply  is  "  Broj^er,  y  knowe  wel  J^at  y  am  holde  by  Cristis  lawe 
to  parforme  J^yn  axynge:  bote  na|?eles  we  be]>  now  so  fer 
y-fallen  awey  from  Cristis  lawe,  J^at  ?if  I  wolde  answere  to 
]?yn  axynge  I  moste  in  cas  underfonge  ]>e  de)?."  The  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  into  English  was  not  prohibited,  but  the  use 
now  made  of  it  was  leading  to  a  claim  for  stricter  control. 
Much  controversy,  however,  has  arisen  lately  as  to  the  share 
of  Wyclif  in  the  versions  which  go  by  his  name.  We  have 
express  statements  by  the  chronicler  Knighton — nearly  con- 
temporary and  also  anti-Wyclifite — and  Hus — a  little  later 
(141 1) — that  Wyclif  had  translated  the  whole  Bible  into 
English.  Archbishop  Arundel,  in  a  letter  to  the  pope  asking 
for  Wyclif 's  condemnation,  speaks  (141 2)  of  Wyclif  having 
filled  up  the  measure  of  his  malice  by  the  design  to  render  the 
Scriptures  into  English;  and  a  general  tradition,  the  value  of 
which  may  be  much  or  little,  confirms  this  statement.  There 
are  two  "Wyclifite"  versions:  one,  a  little  earlier  than  the 


68  Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century- 
other,  stiffer  and  inferior  in  style,  closely  following  the  Vul- 
gate, from  which  both  translations  were  made  without  the 
use  of  Greek.  The  prologues,  some  for  the  whole  work,  and 
some  for  commentaries  upon  individual  books,  are  certainly 
Wyclifite  in  tone,  although  none  of  them  can  be  assigned  to 
Wyclif  himself;  specially  important  is  the  general  prologue  to 
the  second  version,  giving  an  account  of  the  writer's  method 
of  work ;  and  the  writer  of  this  was  certainly  a  Wyclifite.  ^ 
On  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  curious  fact  that  Wyclif 
himself  never  uses  the  translation  that  goes  by  his  name,  but 
gives  an  independent  translation  from  the  Vulgate.  Too 
much,  however,  should  not  be  made  of  this,  for,  no  doubt, 
Wyclif  knew  the  Latin  better  than  the  English,  and  he  would, 
therefore,  translate  incidentally  and  afresh  instead  of  referring 
to  a  manuscript:  in  acting  thus  he  would  be  only  following 
the  usual  course.  More  importance,  however,  belongs  to  a 
statement,  made  independently  by  Foxe  and  Sir  Thomas  More 
(in  his  Dialogue),  that  there  were  translations  dating  before 
Wyclif;  to  which  the  latter  adds  that  the  whole  Bible  had 
been  then  translated  by  "virtuous  and  well-learned  men." 
The  whole  question  has  been  complicated  by  over-inference 
from  actual  statements  on  either  side,  by  the  ascription  of 
everything  Wyclifite  to  Wyclif  himself,  and  by  confusing  two 
matters  quite  distinct — the  existence  of  English  translations 
and  their  permission  or  condemnation  by  the  church. 

We  cannot  cast  aside  the  express  association  of  a  transla- 
tion with  the  name  of  Wyclif;  his  own  works  and  feelings 
make  such  a  translation  probable,  although  they  give  us  no 
express  evidence.  As  to  the  part  he  himself  took  in  it,  nothing 
is  known,  although  very  definite  statements  are  sometimes 
made.  There  were  already  in  circulation  many  copies  of 
isolated  books  of  the  Bible,  and  the  whole  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment could  be  read  in  English  translations  which  had  been 
made  mainly  for  the  inmates  of  monastic  houses,  especially 
for  nuns;  the  impulses  which  had  produced  these  copies  had 
been  felt  more  in  the  north  and  the  midlands  than  in  the 
south,  where  French  w^as  understood  and  used  down  to  a  later 
date.  Some  of  these  earlier  works,  which  prepared  the  way, 
may  have  been  used  by  the  Wyclifite  translators ;  among  them 

»  Cf.  post,  p.  84,  in  the  Chapter  on  Trevisa. 


John  Purvey's  Revision  69 

are  translations,  such  as  one  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  an  English 
version  (with  preface)  of  the  Latin  Harmony  of  the  Gospels 
by  Clement  of  Llanthony,  wrongly  ascribed  to  Wyclif  himself. 
But  the  Wyclifite  versions  were  due  to  a  more  general  impulse 
and  were  meant  for  a  wider  public.  Their  literary  history 
needs  much  further  study,  and  when  criticism,  textual  and 
linguistic,  has  been  further  applied,  some  more  certain  con- 
clusions may  be  drawn.  But  it  does  not  appear  likely  that 
the  statements  made  here  will  be  largely  affected. 

As  to  Wyclif's  fellow- workers,  not  very  much  is  known. 
The  names  of  two  have  come  down  to  us — Nicholas  Hereford 
and  John  Purvey.  The  former  had  worked  with  Wyclif  at 
Oxford  and  is  spoken  of  by  the  mendicants  at  Oxford  in  an 
appeal  to  John  of  Gaunt  (i8  February  1382)  as  their  chief 
enemy;  he  was  then  a  Doctor,  paginae  sacrae  professor,  et 
utinam  non  perversor,  words  which  may  refer  to  his  share  in 
the  translation.  One  of  the  manuscripts  directly  attributes 
the  translation  to  Hereford,  and  the  fact  that  it  breaks  off 
suddenly  at  Baruch  iii,  20  implies  a  sudden  interruption. 
Owing  to  tumults  in  the  university,  which  had  arisen  out  of 
his  sermons  (138 1-2),  he  was  summoned  to  appear  in  London, 
and  was  there  excommunicated  (i  July  1382).  He  appealed 
to  Rome  and  went  thither  only  to  be  imprisoned.  Wyclif,  in 
his  Opus  Evangelicum,  which  he  was  writing  at  his  death, 
speaks  indignantly  of  this  imprisonment.  In  1385,  he  escaped, 
and,  in  1387,  was  back  again  in  England:  we  find  him,  with 
Purvey  and  others,  prohibited  by  the  bishop  of  Worcester 
from  preaching  in  his  diocese.  In  1391,  he  was  promised 
protection  by  the  king,  and,  in  1394,  he  became  chancellor 
of  Hereford,  but,  in  141 7,  he  retired  to  be  a  Carthusian  monk 
at  Coventry. 

So  far  as  language  is  concerned,  the  revision  ascribed  to 
Purvey  deserves  higher  praise  than  the  first  translation.  John 
Purvey  was  born  at  Lathbury,  near  Newport  PagneU.  In 
1387,  with  Hereford,  Aston,  Parker  and  Swynderby,  he  was 
inhibited  from  preaching  by  the  bishop  of  Worcester;  they 
were  said  to  be  leagued  together  in  a  certain  college  unlicensed 
and  disallowed  by  law.  He  submitted  and  recanted  his 
errors  on  6  March  1401,  and,  in  August  of  that  year,  became 
vicar  of  West  Hythe,  Kent;  he  held  this  post  for  two  years, 


70    Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

but,  in  1 42 1,  we  again  find  him  in  prison.  He  was  the  author 
of  Regimen  Ecclesiae,  a  work  from  which  Richard  Lavenham 
(1396)  collected  his  errors.  In  his  prologue  to  the  Bible,  he 
describes  the  method  which  he,  "a  poor  catiff  lettid  fro  prech- 
yng,"  took  for  finding  out  the  exact  meaning  and  faithfully 
rendering  it  with  "  myche  travile,  with  diverse  felawis  and 
helperis."  But  his  work  was  far  more  than  that  of  a  mere 
scholar:  he  understands  (and  expresses  in  words  that  remind 
us  of  Colet)  how  a  labourer  at  Scripture  hath  "nede  to  live 
a  clene  lif,  and  be  ful  devout  in  preiers,  and  have  not  his  wit 
occupied  about  worldH  thingis  ";  only  "with  good  livyng  and 
greet  traveil"  could  men  come  to  "  trewe  understonding  of 
holi  writ."  The  comparisons  so  often  drawn  between  these 
two  revisions  make  clear  the  superiority,  in  idiom  and  all  that 
makes  a  language,  of  Purvey 's  revision.  The  eariier,  ascribed 
partly  to  Wyclif,  is  the  roughest  of  renderings,  and  its  English 
is  unUke  that  of  WycHf's  sermons,  which  may,  however,  have 
undergone  revision.  But  it  must  be  repeated  that  the  history 
of  these  early  translations  has  yet  to  be  deciphered  and  writ- 
ten; the  hterary  tendencies  of  the  Middle  Ages,  spoken  of 
before,  have  thoroughly  hidden  from  us  the  workers  and  much 
of  their  work.  We  can  say  that  WycHf,  as  the  centre  of  the 
movement,  was,  probably,  the  source  of  its  energy;  more,  we 
cannot  assert  as  yet.  It  is  Hkely  that,  when  this  history  is 
made  out,  the  importance  of  pre-Wyclifite  translations,  frag- 
mentary and  incomplete,  will  appear  greater.  It  is  also  Hkely 
that  we  shall  be  led  to  assign  less  to  individual  labourers  and 
more  to  successive  labours  of  schools  of  writers.  But  the 
name  of  Wychf  will  probably  still  be  left  in  its  old  connection 
even  if  his  individual  share  be  uncertain  or  lessened. 

This  translation  can  claim  to  be  the  first  complete  rendering 
of  the  Bible  into  EngHsh ;  but  it  is  quite  possible  that  its  effect 
upon  the  language  has  been  sometimes  over-estimated.  The 
reason  for  this  hes  in  its  history  and  in  the  history  of  Wyclif- 
ism.  For  some  years  after  1381  or  so,  there  is  no  hint  of  any 
hostility  to  the  Scriptures  on  the  part  of  ecclesiastical  rulers; 
it  is  only  Lollard  preaching  that  is  checked.  The  translation 
of  Purvey  is  so  far  free  from  having  any  bias,  that  it  has  lately 
been  even  claimed  for  an  authorised  translation;  MSS.  of  it 
were  certainly  owned  by  obedient  churchmen  and  by  bishops 


Wyclif  and  Popular  Movements  71 

themselves.  Purvey  does  add  a  few  simple  glosses,  but  they 
are  free  from  any  party  colour  and  are  taken  from  Nicholas 
de  Lyra  (1340)-  His  version  seems  to  have  superseded  others, 
even  the  Vulgate  itself;  Henry  Bradshaw  stated  that  he  had 
not  come  across  a  single  Latin  MS.  copied  after  its  appear- 
ance. The  question  of  prologues  was  a  different  matter;  a 
Lollard  prologue  was  often  added  to  anything,  as,  for  instance, 
to  works  of  Rolle.  But  the  church  was  not  hostile  to  the 
translations  themselves,  nor  did  it  forbid  their  being  made. 
Lyndw^ood  and  Sir  Thomas  More  both  spoke  to  the  fact  that 
translations  made  before  Wyclif  were  not  prohibited  nor  for- 
bidden to  be  read.  Cranmer  also  said  that  "if  the  matter 
should  be  tried  by  custom,  we  might  also  allege  custom  for 
the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  .  .  .  For 
it  is  not  much  above  one  hundred  years  ago,  since  Scripture 
hath  not  been  accustomed  to  be  read  in  the  vulgar  tongue 
within  the  realm."  Archbishop  Arundel  himself  praised  queen 
Anne  of  Bohemia  because  of  her  love  towards  the  Bible  and 
her  study  of  it,  exceeding  that  of  some  prelates.  The  Wyclifite 
version  did  not  become  the  property  of  a  mere  section  of  the 
people,  such  as  the  Lollards  were.  Possession  of  a  copy  of 
it,  however,  by  a  person  not  under  religious  vows,  needed  an 
ecclesiastical  licence,  which  was  freely  granted.  But  the 
changed  attitude  of  the  church — the  way  in  which  it  laid 
stress  upon  its  right  of  controlling  the  reading  of  vernacular 
translations  and  was  led  to  regard  popular  literature,  when 
likely  to  ^supersede  its  own  teaching,  with  suspicion — was  due 
to  the  history  of  Lollardy. 

The  church,  which  had  been  so  long  the  guardian  of  unity, 
found  itself  confronted  by  forces  forming  nations  and  tending 
to  disruptions.  To  control  and  guide  these  forces  would  have 
been  a  noble  work,  but  it  was  a  work  of  supreme  difficulty, 
not  to  be  wrought  by  short-sighted  or  selfish  men.  To  begin 
with,  the  church  w^hich  recognised  its  duty  of  teaching  the 
nation  should  have  brought  out  an  authorised  version  of  its 
own.  There  is  no  proof  that  it  ever  tried  to  do  this  on  a 
complete  scale;  it  was,  indeed,  content  to  use  the  Wyclifite 
versions,  as  it  well  might  be,  until  the  growth  of  Lollard 
prologues  and  commentaries  made  it  suspicious.  Thus,  some 
of  the  Wvchfite  MSS.  have  the  tables  of  lessons  added,  and 


72    Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

some  smaller  MSS.  contain  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  alone. 
The  claim  made  by  the  Lollards  that  "  eche  lewed  man  that 
schul  be  saved  is  a  real  priest  maad  of  God ' '  tended  to  weaken 
the  power  of  the  church,  its  power  for  good  as  well  as  for  evil, 
and,  naturally,  made  "  worldly  clerkis  crien  that  holy  writ  in 
Englische  wole  make  cristen  men  at  debate,  and  suggetis  to 
rebelle  against  her  sovereyns  and  therefor"  ought  not  to  be 
"suffred  among  lewed  men."  Medieval  notions  of  freedom 
differed  from  our  own,  and,  as  a  rule,  freedom  to  do  any 
special  work  was  held  to  belong  only  to  a  corporation  licensed 
for  the  purpose. 

The  danger  of  popular  excitement  was  made  pressing  by 
the  Peasants'  Revolt.  The  appeal  to  a  democratic  public, 
the  recognition  of  the  simple  layman's  place  in  the  church,  the 
crusade  against  endowments  and  the  growing  criticism  of 
ecclesiastical  institutions,  worked  along  with  other  causes  of 
the  rebellion,  while  Wyclif's  exaltation  of  the  power  of  king 
and  state  was  lost  sight  of.  His  own  sympathies,  indeed, 
went  strongly  with  the  rebels.  His  "poor  priests"  were 
charged  with  having  incited  to  revolt,  and  Nicholas  Hereford 
hurled  back  the  charge  at  the  friars.  Friars  and  "poor 
priests"  were  both  parts  of  the  large  floating  population 
which  was  all  in  a  ferment,  and  there  was  probably  some 
truth  in  the  charges  on  both  sides.  If  John  Ball's  confession 
that  he  had  learnt  his  views  from  Wyclif  be  somewhat  sus- 
picious, it  should  still  be  remembered  that  Wyclif's  revolu- 
tionary views  on  endowments  had  been  before  the  world  for 
some  years.  Both  in  Ball's  confession  and  in  a  popular  poem 
of  the  day,  Wyclif's  attack  upon  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  was  connected  with  the  general  excitement.  That 
attack  stirred  up  many  animosities  new  and  old;  it  was  the 
result  of  a  gradual  development  of  Wyclif's  views,  and  it  had 
important  historical  results. 

There  are  three  stages  in  Wyclif's  views  upon  the  Eucharist. 
First,  a  stage  in  which  he  accepts  the  current  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation,  but  holds  it  to  be  an  exception  to  his 
other  doctrine  of  the  permanence  and  indestructibility  of 
matter.  This  stage  lasted  until  about  1370.  But  in  De 
Benedicta  Incarnacione  (written  before  his  doctorate  in  1372) 
he  is  wavering  as  to  what  the  changed  substance  is,  and  is 


Wyclif  s  Doctrines  73 

inclined  to  leave  the  question  aside  as  unnecessary  to  a  simple 
"pilgrim."  This  being  his  position,  he  is  not  inclined  to  dis- 
cuss the  question  overmuch.  But  when,  about  1380  or  so, 
he  had  reached  a  positive  opinion,  and  maintained  that  the 
substance  of  bread  remained,  he  felt  bound  to  teach  this,  as 
he  held,  vital  doctrine.  Hence,  this  final  stage  is  marked  by 
great  energy  of  utterance,  and  continual  reference  to  the 
question.  But  the  result  of  his  latest  view  of  the  Eucharist, 
taught  with  much  insistence  and  gradually  made  the  centre 
of  his  system,  was  a  controversy,  in  which  he  was  opposed 
not  only  by  his  former  enemies  the  monks,  but  by  secular 
priests,  and,  lastly,  by  friars.  With  these  last  he  had,  indeed, 
been  gradually  breaking  friendship;  it  had  seemed  to  him 
that  some  of  them,  bound  as  they  were  to  poverty,  must 
sympathise  with  him  and  must,  therefore,  join  him.  In  his 
disappointment  he  began  to  regard  their  law  of  life  as  hostile, 
like  the  law  of  monasticism,  to  the  law  of  Christ ;  in  his  latest 
works,  therefore,  the  friars  are  attacked  with  much  bitterness. 
They,  concerned,  on  their  part,  for  their  whole  position,  and, 
also,  passionately  believing  in  the  central  doctrine  he  now 
attacked,  replied  with  equal  vigour.  His  followers,  too,  who 
possibly,  may  have  hastened  the  quarrel,  took  their  part  in 
the  strife.  Hence,  his  teaching  on  this  point  seemed  to  over- 
shadow all  his  other  views.  Thus,  his  system,  as  it  was 
handed  down  to  later  years,  attacked  the  papacy,  the  organi- 
sation of  the  church,  monks  and  friars  and  overthrew  the 
popular  conception  of  the  Mass.  His  positive  teaching  was 
forgotten;  his  followers  kept  merely  to  his  love  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  found  practically  no  place  for  church  organisation, 
for  sacraments  or  rites;  prayer,  preaching  and  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  summed  up,  for  them,  the  conception  of  the 
Christian  faith. 

An  assembly  of  bishops  and  ecclesiastics  was  held  at  Black- 
friars  on  17  May  1382.  The  council,  which  was  afterwards 
called  "the  earthquake  council"  from  its  being  interrupted  in 
its  session  with  "earthdyn,"  condemned  some  doctrines  of 
Wyclif.  He  himself  was  not  named  in  the  decrees  issued,  but 
the  bishops  were  to  excommunicate  any  one  preaching  the 
condemned  doctrines,  the  university  was  to  prohibit  their 
setting  forth  and  the  company  of  those  offending  was  to  be 


74    Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

avoided  under  pain  of  excommunication.  After  much  dis- 
cussion at  Oxford,  Wyclif  was  attacked,  and,  like  his  sup- 
porters, was  suspended  from  all  scholastic  duties,  by  an  order 
which  was  afterwards  repeated  by  the  king.  But,  of  his  later 
life,  and  of  the  result  of  the  proceedings  against  him,  we  know 
little  or  nothing.  A  passage  in  his  Trialogus  seems  to  imply 
that  he  was  bound  by  some  promise  not  to  use  certain  terms 
— i.e.  substance  of  bread  and  wine — outside  the  schools.  It 
was  supposed,  at  one  time,  that  he,  like  his  leading  Oxford 
followers,  had  recanted,  but  of  this  there  seems  no  evidence. 
Just  before  the  earthquake  council,  he  had  presented  a  very 
bold  defence  of  his  views  to  parliament,  demanding  not  only 
freedom  for  his  opinions  but  their  enforcement  in  practice. 
His  boldness  did  not  leave  him,  but  his  influence  in  Ox- 
ford was  at  an  end,  and  he  lived  for  the  rest  of  his  days  at 
Lutterworth. 

The  sum  of  his  work,  Latin  and  English,  in  these  last  two 
years  (1382-4)  is  enormous,  but  there  are  traces  of  his  utilising 
former  lectures  ready  to  hand.  To  this  time  most  of  his 
undoubted  English  writings  belong,  as  does  the  Trialogus'^  in 
Latin,  perhaps  the  best  known  and  most  connected,  although 
not  most  interesting,  statement  of  his  views.  His  struggle 
with  the  mendicants  who  opposed  him  now  was  at  its  height, 
and  his  language  was  unmeasured;  we  must  suppose  that 
much  of  what  he  said  was  put  forth  without  due  consideration 
of  possible  dangers  from  its  being  misunderstood.  But,  in 
some  of  his  later  Latin  works — especially  his  Opus  Evangelicum 
— notes  of  a  growing  calmness  of  mind  may  also  be  heard 
beneath  the  controversies.  He  had  always  been  inspjred  by 
the  warmest  national  feeling,  and  it  was  not  at  all  strange 
that  he  should,  therefore,  address  the  nation  as  he  did;  it  is 

»  Wyclif  used  the  form  of  dialogue  also  in  the  Dialogus  (1379)  between 
Veritas,  standing  for  Christ,  and  Mendacium,  standing  for  Satan.  But  soon 
all  characterisation  is  lost,  and  Wyclif  himself  speaks  throughout,  the  replies 
of  Mendacium  being  short  and  unworthy  of  his  reputation.  In  Trialogus 
(about  1382)  the  form  is  handled  better;  the  characters  are :  Alithia,  a  solidiis 
philosophus — Philosophy;  Pneustis,  a  captiosus  infidelus — Unbelief;  and 
Phronesis,  a  subtilis  theologus — Theology:  the  first  lays  down  a  proposition, 
to  which  the  second  objects,  and,  at  length,  the  third  sums  up.  But  Pneustis 
holds  long  silences,  during  which  Alithia  and  Phronesis  speak  as  enquiring 
disciple  and  master.  It  may  be  noted  that  dialogue'  is  also  used  in  the 
prologue  and  text  of  .4  Fourteenth  Century  Biblical  Version  (Miss  Paues). 


Wyclif  s  Later  Life  75 

this  consciousness  of  the  wide  audience  to  whom  he  was 
speaking  that  made  his  English  writings  distinctly  different 
from  any  that  had  gone  before.  The  nation  that  had  proved 
its  unity  in  the  battle-field  and  in  parliament  was  now,  we 
may  say  for  the  first  time,  addressed  as  one  body  in  popular 
literature.  Neither  in  style  nor  in  power,  however,  have  his 
English  works  any  special  note  of  distinction.  The  style  of 
his  sermons  ranks  higher  than  the  early  version  of  the  New 
Testament,  commonly  ascribed  to  him,  and  it  would  not  be 
surprising  to  find  that,  like  many  other  medieval  works,  they 
had  undergone  some  revision  by  a  faithful  disciple.  In  these 
English  works  there  is  a  strange  mingling  of  simple  directness 
and  ruggedness;  their  true  significance  lies  in  their  instinctive 
feeling  for  their  large  audience.  Wyclif  had  proved  his  power 
over  an  academic  world,  democratic  in  itself,  and  so  he  easily 
passed  to  a  more  democratic  public  still;  his  conception  of 
the  state,  and  his  experience  of  parliament,  gave  a  peculiar 
vividness  to  the  manner  of  his  address,  but  an  even  higher 
quality  gave  it  spiritual  force. 

For  Wyclif  had  an  intense  reverence  for  the  Incarnate 
Christ,  communis  homo,  unicus  homo.  His  realist  mind  made 
him  unite  Christ,  as  the  type,  with  all  Christian  men.  A  like 
belief,  worked  out  in  practice,  had  been  the  strength  of  the 
early  Franciscans,  and  hence  had  come  Wyclif's  original  sym- 
pathy with  them.  In  his  later  years,  after  he  had  parted 
from  them,  the  same  belief  was  the  real  basis  of  his  popular 
appeal,  and  it  was  also  connected  with  another  characteristic 
of  his  last  phase.  After  he  had  left  Oxford,  and  the  university 
had  drifted,  although  reluctantly,  away  from  his  teaching,  he 
came  to  undervalue  learning;  the  simple,  "lewd"  man,  if  a 
follower  of  Christ,  could  do  all  the  educated  man  might  do. 
This  side  of  his  teaching,  which  would  naturally  be  exaggerated 
by  the  later  Lollards,  had  a  real  theological  basis  in  his  in- 
tense desire  to  see  the  Christ  in  every  man;  an  idea  which, 
taught  (1370-2)  in  De  Benedicta  Incarnacione,  links  together 
his  earlier  and  later  writings. 

If  we  accept,  as  we  probably  should,  the  story  told  (1441) 
by  John  Horn,  WycHf's  helper  at  Lutterworth,  to  Gascoigne, 
it  is  easier  to  understand  his  life  after  1382.  According  to 
Horn,  he  was  paralysed  for  his  last  two  years,  and  this  ex- 


76     Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

plains  much.  Silence  had  been  enjoined  upon  him,  and 
silence  he  had  to  keep;  he  was  cited  to  Rome  (this  can  be 
no  longer  doubted)  and  he  could  but  refuse  to  go;  he  was 
debilis  and  claudus,  the  Rex  regum  had  forbidden  him  to 
travel.  He  could  still  work  at  his  writings  without  openly- 
disobeying  the  order  to  be  silent;  and  his  "poor  priests"  gave 
him  a  ready  means  of  scattering  them.  When  we  read  in 
notes  to  some  of  the  MSS.  of  his  works  how  they  were  copied 
in  English  villages  by  Bohemian  scholars,  as  they  moved  from 
Oxford,  to  Braybrook,  near  Leicester,  and  then  to  Kemerton, 
near  Evesham,  places  where  Lollard  influence  was  strong,  it 
is  easy  to  see  how  the  crusade  was  carried  on.  But,  with  the 
growing  severity  of  the  persecution  under  the  Lancaster  kings, 
the  whole  Lollard  movement  was,  as  Erasmus  says,  "  sup- 
pressed but  not  extinguished."  "It  was,"  as  Gairdner  has 
told  us  "by  no  means  an  innocent  attempt  to  secure  freedom 
for  the  individual  judgments;  it  was  a  spirit  that  prompted 
the  violation  of  order  and  disrespect  to  all  authority."  It 
left  behind  it  much  discontent,  an  appeal  to  the  Scriptures 
and  to  them  alone  and  an  exaltation  of  preaching  above  aught 
else;  these  traditions  lingered  on,  especially  in  a  few  local 
centres,  until  Tudor  days.  But  Wyclif  himself  was  almost 
hidden  by  the  loosely  organised  sect  that  claimed  descent 
from  him. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  why,  under  the  circumstances, 
nothing  more  came  of  Wyclif's  citation  to  Rome.  Thus, 
the  scholar,  unexcommunicated,  although,  perhaps,  bound  by 
some  promise,  his  feeble  body  consumed  by  this  restless  fire 
within,  lived  on  in  his  quiet  parish.  Upon  Holy  Innocents' 
Day,  1384,  the  final  stroke  fell  on  him  as  he  was  hearing  Mass, 
and,  on  St.  Sylvester's  Day  (31  December),  he  died.  It  is 
well  known  how  his  ashes  were  treated ;  but  the  scanty  remem- 
brance of  him  left  in  England,  contrasted  with  the  activity 
of  the  Lollards,  was,  perhaps,  more  of  a  slight  to  his  memory. 
At  Oxford,  few  traces  of  his  work  were  left.  The  university, 
although  not  without  dif^culty,  was  brought  by  archbishop 
Arundel  under  strict  control,  and,  with  the  loss  of  its  freedom, 
and  the  decay  of  the  realist  philosophy  for  which  it  had  stood, 
Oxford  lost  much  of  its  hold  upon  the  nation:  controversies 
such  as  Wyclif  and  his  followers  had  raised  destroy  the  atmos- 


Activity  of  the  Lollards  77 

phere  needed  for  study  and  intellectual  life.  It  has  been 
suggested  that,  owing  to  the  decay  of  Oxford,  Cambridge 
took  its  place;  such  was  certainly  the  result,  although  positive, 
as  well  as  negative,  reasons  might  be  given  for  the  growing 
reputation  of  the  younger  university. 

Meanwhile,  the  suppressed  activity  of  the  Lollards  lived 
on.     The  archbishop  had  used  the  ordinary  episcopal  powers 
of  inquisition  for  heresy,  which,  in  England,  were  never  super- 
seded by  the  inquisition,  so  that  the  earlier  punishments  of 
heresy  by  death  took  place  under  canon  law.     But,  with  the 
act  De  Haeretico  Comburendo  (1401),  a  new  basis  was  given 
to  the  persecution,  and  the  state,  as  usual,  showed  itself  more 
severe  than  the  church.     The  Lollard  party  in  parliament  was, 
at  one  time,  strong,  and,  more  than  once,  brought  forward 
suggestions    of    sweeping    changes    and    confiscation.      But, 
with  the  condemnation  for  heresy  of  Sir  John  Oldcastle  (Lord 
Cobham,  by  marriage)  in  141 3,  it  ceased  to  be  coherent  and 
effective.     Oldcastle  himself  escaped,  after  a  severe  examina- 
tion, and,  until  his  execution  for  treason  (141 7),  was  a  centre 
for  disaffection  and  rumours  of  rebellion.     Much  popular  ridi- 
cule, such  as  may  be  read  in  the  political  poems  of  the  day, 
was  thrown  upon  him,  and  some  of  it,  by  a  curious  change, 
was  transferred  to  the  Norfolk  soldier  Sir  John  Fastolf.     The 
chief  result  of  Oldcastle's  life  was,  thus,  a  strangely  confused 
impression  upon  literature,  but  his  Lollardism  had  been  driven 
back   by   Arundel's   strong   action   and   the   wider   sweep   of 
domestic  politics  into  the  lowlier  paths  of  the  national  life. 
The    old    centres    of    LoUardy,    nevertheless,    remained;    the 
activity   of   Lollard   writers,    in   adding   prologues   to   works 
already  known  and  in  copying  or  abridging  them,  went  on. 
The  work  of  Lollard  schools,  and  the  circulation  of  Lollard 
tracts — for  the  most  part  of  little  merit — had   yet  both  a 
rehgious  and  a  literary  significance.     They  come  mostly  be- 
fore us  in  trials,  and  isolated  examples  (such  as  the  appeal 
to  parliament  in  1395,  which,  in  its  English  dress,  presented, 
in  many  sHghtly  varying  forms,  originals  possibly  first  com- 
posed in  Latin) ;  but  a  Hterature  of  this  kind  has  often  more 
effect  than  more  ambitious  and  larger  works.     There  always 
had  been,  before  the  days  of  WycHf,  this  literature  of  lowly 
discontent.     If,  after  his  days,  it  was  raised  to  rather  a  higher 


7^    Religious  Movements  in  XlVth  Century 

level,  for  a  time  a  little  invigorated,  and  nourished  by  vague 
memories,  it  had,  nevertheless,  no  very  precise  connection  with 
his  teaching.  The  religious  literature  of  discontent  lived  on 
side  by  side  with  the  more  recognised  literature  of  devotion. 
Tracts  and  sermons,  handed  about  and  read  as  treasured 
teachings  to  little  gatherings,  loosely  copied  and  at  times 
condensed,  are  difificult  to  classify,  or  to  appreciate.  But  the 
exact  relation  of  the  later  Lollard  sect  to  W^^clif's  doctrines, 
and  its  influence  upon  the  reformation,  are  difficult  and  dis- 
tinct historical  problems.  It  is  certain  that,  while  like  him 
in  denying  transubstantiation,  the  later  Lollards  were  not 
like  him  in  their  positive  view  of  the  Eucharist;  his  views 
upon  endowment  might  reappear  again  and  again  in  parlia- 
ment, but  had  no  permanent  effect.  If  there  was  much 
floating  discontent  with  the  church,  and  still  more  with  the 
abuses  of  the  day,  it  is  difficult  to  trace  this  to  Wyclif's  influ- 
ence, and  the  same,  probably,  would  have  been  found  without 
him.  In  weight  of  learning,  and  powder  of  argument,  those 
who  wrote  against  his  views  outmatched  his  English  followers. 

But,  in  Bohemia,  the  influence,  which  was  denied  Wyclif 
in  England,  was  permanent  and  strong.  It  is  sufficient  to 
refer  to  Loserth,  who  has  treated  the  whole  question  fully 
and  with  an  adequate  knowledge  of  both  Wyclif  and  Hus. 
Bohemian  students  had  been  at  cosmopolitan  Oxford  in  the 
days  of  Wyclif  himself,  and  the  connection  thus  begun  con- 
tinued long.  The  whole  Hussite  movement  in  its  beginning 
was  Wyclifite,  and  was  called  so  by  its  friends  and  enemies 
alike;  Wyclif's  influence  was  firmly  established  there  even 
before  1403.  His  views  became  part  of  a  national  and  uni- 
versity movement  which,  on  its  philosophical  side,  was  also 
realist.  Hus  was  simply  a  disciple  of  Wyclif,  and  his  works 
were  mainly  copies  of  Wyclif's;  this  revival  of  Wyclifite  teach- 
ing led  to  the  condemnation  of  forty-five  selected  errors  at 
the  council  of  Constance  (4  May  141 5).  But,  when,  in  the 
early  years  of  the  reformation,  the  works  of  Hus  were  printed, 
and  came  into  the  hands  of  Luther  and  Zwingli  among  others, 
it  was  really  Wyclif  who  was  speaking  to  them.  Everything 
seemed  to  work  together  in  disguising  the  real  influence 
Wyclif  had  exercised. 

A  survey,  then,  of  Wyclif's  life  and  works,  as  they  can  be 


Wyclif  s  Personality  79 

estimated  now,  shows  that  much  at  one  time  assigned  to  him 
was  not  really  his.  He  was  the  last  of  a  school  of  philoso- 
phers, but,  as  such,  his  intellectual  influence  was  not  enduring; 
he  was  the  first  of  a  school  of  writers,  but  his  literary  influence 
was  not  great.  His  connection  with  our  English  Bible,  difficult 
as  it  may  be  to  state  precisely,  is,  perhaps,  his  greatest  achieve- 
ment. His  personality  does  not  become  plainer  to  us  as  his 
works  are  better  known.  Even  his  appearance  is  hardly 
known  to  us,  for  the  portraits  of  him  are  of  much  later  date 
and  of  uncertain  genealog}^  But  Thorpe — an  early  Lollard 
and,  probably,  a  disciple  at  Oxford — describes  him  as  "held 
by  many  the  holiest  of  all  in  his  day,  lean  of  body,  spare  and 
almost  deprived  of  strength,  most  pure  in  his  life."  That  he 
was  simple  and  ascetic,  quick  of  temper  and  too  ready  to 
speak,  we  hear  from  himself  and  can  gather  from  his  works. 
The  secret  of  his  influence,  well  suited  to  his  day,  w^hether 
working  through  the  decaying  Latin  or  the  ripening  English, 
lies  in  the  sensitive,  impulsive  and  fiery  spirit  of  the  Latin 
scholastic  and  English  preacher,  sympathetic  towards  move- 
ments and  ideas,  although  not  towards  individual  minds. 
But  the  medium  through  which  that  spirit  worked  belongs 
to  an  age  that  has  passed  away,  and  we  cannot  discover  the 
secret  of  it  for  ourselves. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Beginnings  of  English   Prose 

Trevisa.    The  Mandeville  Translators 

EARLY  English  prose  had,  of  necessity,  a  practical  character. 
To  those  who  understood  neither  Latin  nor  French  all 
proclamations  and  instructions,  laws  and  sermons,  had 
to  be  issued  in  English,  while,  for  a  long  time,  the  official 
Latin  of  the  accountant  and  the  law  clerk  had  been  very 
English  in  kind,  even  to  the  insertion  of  native  words  with  a 
case-ending  appended.  With  the  increasing  importance  of  the 
commons  in  the  fourteenth  century,  the  proceedings  of  parlia- 
ment itself  began  to  descend  to  the  vulgar  tongue,  which 
obtained  a  signal  recognition  when  three  successive  parlia- 
ments (1362-4)  were  opened  by  EngHsh  speeches  from  the 
chancellor.  Furthermore,  a  statute,  in  1362,  ordered  the 
pleadings  in  the  law  courts  to  be  conducted  in  English,  though 
the  cases  were  to  be  recorded  in  Latin,  on  the  ground  that 
French  was  no  longer  sufficiently  understood.  Political  senti- 
ment may  have  inspired  this  declaration,  which  was  as  much 
overstated  as  the  plea  of  two  of  Henry  IV's  envoys  that 
French  was,  to  their  ignorant  understandings,  as  bad  as 
Hebrew;  for  the  yearbooks  continued  to  be  recorded  in  French, 
and  in  French  not  only  diplomatic  letters  but  reports  to 
Henry  IV  himself  were  written.  The  use  of  that  tongue,  so 
long  the  medium  of  polite  intercourse,  did  not  vanish  suddenly, 
but  a  definite  movement  which  ensured  its  doom  took  place 
in  the  grammar  schools,  after  the  Black  Death,  when  English 
instead  of  French  was  adopted  as  the  medium  of  instruction. 
John  Trevisa,  writing  in  1385,  tells  us  that  this  reform  was 
the  work  of  John  Cornwall  and  his  disciple  Richard  Pencrich, 
and  that,   "in    alle  J^e  gramere  scoles  of  Engelond  children 

So 


Early  Translations  8i 

level?  Frensche  and  construetj  and  lerne]?  an  Englische,"  with 
the  result  that  they  learned  their  grammar  more  quickly  than 
children  were  wont  to  do,  but  with  the  disadvantage  that 
they  "conne}'  na  more  Frensche  than  can  hir  lift  heele" — 
and  "  l^at  is  harme  for  hem  and  I'ey  schulle  passe  ]>e  see  and 
travaille  in  straunge  landes."  Even  noblemen  had  left  off 
teaching  their  children  French. 

Before  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century,  therefore,  it 
could  no  longer  be  assumed  that  all  who  wished  to  read  would 
read  French  or  Latin.  There  was  a  dearth  of  educated  clergy 
after  the  Black  Death;  disaster  abroad  and  at  home  left 
little  inclination  for  refinement,  and,  when  life  was  reduced 
to  its  essentials,  the  use  of  the  popular  speech  naturally  be- 
came universal.  Thus,  in  the  great  scene  of  Richard  IFs 
deposition,  English  was  used  at  the  crucial  moments,  while, 
at  the  other  end  of  the  scale,  king  Richard's  master  cook  was 
setting  down  his  Forme  of  Cury  for  practical  people.  In  the 
same  way,  on  the  continent,  "Sir  John  Mandeville"  was 
writing  in  French  before  1371  for  the  sake  of  nobles  and 
gentlemen  who  knew  not  Latin,  and  there,  as  at  home,  Latin 
books  and  encyclopaedias  were  so  far  ceasing  to  be  read  that 
he  could  venture  to  plagiarise  from  the  most  recent.  In 
England,  the  needs  of  students,  teachers  and  preachers  were 
now  supplied  in  the  vernacular  by  the  great  undertakings  of 
John  Trevisa,  who  translated  what  may  be  called  the  standard 
works  of  the  time  on  scientific  and  humane  knowledge — De 
Proprietatihiis  Rerum  by  Bartholomaeus  Anglicus  and  Higden's 
Polychronicon.  These  great  treatises  are  typically  medieval, 
and  the  former  a  recognised  classic  in  the  universities.  The 
minorite  friar  Bartholomaeus,  who  must  have  been  born  an 
Englishman,  was  a  theological  professor  of  the  university  of 
Paris,  and  his  De  Proprietatibus  Rerum,  an  encyclopaedia  of 
all  knowledge  concerned  with  nature,  was  compiled  in  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  possibly  during  his  residence 
in  Saxony,  whither  he  was  sent,  in  1231,  to  organise  the 
Franciscans  of  the  duchy.  Ranulf  Higden  was  a  monk  of 
St.  Werburgh's,  Chester,  and  wrote  his  Polychronicon  about 
1350.  It  is  compiled  from  many  authorities,  and  embraces 
the  history  of  the  entire  world,  from  the  Creation  to  Higden's 
own  times ;  the  different  countries  are  described  geographically, 


82  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

and  all  the  favourite  medieval  legends  in  the  histories  of 
Persia,  Babylon  and  Rome  are  introduced.  There  are  many- 
points  in  which  Higden,  Bartholomaeus  and  the  later  "  Sir 
John  Mandeville"  accord,  revealing  some  common  predecessor 
among  the  earlier  accepted  authorities;  for  the  object  of  the 
medieval  student  was  knowledge  and  no  merit  resided  in 
originality:  he  who  would  introduce  novelty  did  wisely  to 
insert  it  in  some  older  work  which  commanded  confidence. 
Naturally,  therefore,  translations  of  books  already  known  were 
the  first  prose  works  to  be  set  before  the  English  public, 
namely  the  two  great  works  of  Trevisa,  and  The  Travels  of 
Sir  John  Mandeville,  a  book  w^hich,  under  a  thin  disguise  of 
pious  utility,  was  really  a  volume  of  entertainment. 

The  translators  of  these  works  aimed  at  being  understood 
by  a  wider  class  of  readers  than  the  audience  of  Chaucer  or 
even  of  Piers  the  Plowman.  The  style,  therefore,  though 
simple,  is  by  no  means  terse.  Where  any  doubt  of  the  mean- 
ing might  arise,  pairs  of  words  are  often  used,  after  a  fashion 
not  unknown  to  the  poets.  This  usage  prevailed  during  the 
following  century — and  with  some  reason,  for  the  several 
dialects  of  England  still  differed  so  much  that  a  southern  man 
could  scarcely  apprehend  what  Trevisa  calls  the  "  scharpe 
slitting,  frotynge  and  unschape"  speech  of  York.  The  trans- 
lators desired  only  to  convey  the  meaning  of  their  originals 
and  their  renderings  are  extremely  free;  they  omit  or  expand 
as  they  choose,  and  this  saves  early  English  prose  from  the 
pitfall  of  Latinism,  giving  it  a  certain  originahty,  though  at 
the  cost  of  tautology.  Trevisa,  in  the  introduction  to  Poly- 
chronicon,  explains  to  his  patron  that  though  he  must  some- 
times give  word  for  word,  active  for  active,  passive  for  passive, 
yet  he  must  sometimes  change  the  order  and  set  active  for 
passive,  or  "  a  resoun"  (a  phrase)  for  a  word,  but  he  promises 
that,  in  any  case,  he  will  render  the  meaning  exactly.  These 
translations  became  recognised  authorities  among  the  reading 
public  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  may  reasonably  be  con- 
sidered the  corner-stones  of  English  prose.  All  three  were 
accepted  as  absolutely  veracious;  the  adventures  of  Mande- 
ville, the  legends  of  Polychronicon,  the  fairy-tale  science  of 
Bartholomaeus,  were  taken  as  literally  as  their  scriptural 
quotations  or  hints  on  health.     The  information,  all  the  same, 


John  Trevisa  83 

seems  to  be  conveyed  with  an  eye  to  entertainment;  little 
effort  of  thought  is  required  in  the  reader;  paragraphs  are 
short,  statements  definite  and  the  proportion  of  amusing 
anecdote  is  only  equalled  by  the  trite  moralising,  couched  in 
common-place  phrases,  which  had  become  a  required  conven- 
tion in  a  materialist  age.  Books  were  distributed  to  the 
pubHc  by  means  of  professional  scribes;  but,  since  there  lay 
no  sanctity  in  exact  phraseology,  the  translators  themselves 
were  at  the  mercy  of  copyists.  Cheaper  co'pies  were  some- 
times produced  by  curtailing  the  text,  or  newer  information 
might  be  added.  Trevisa's  Bartholomaeus  was  probably 
brought  up  to  date  by  many  a  scribe,  and  the  different  MSS. 
of  his  Polychronicon,  though  unaltered  as  to  the  narrative, 
present  a  variety  of  terms.  Mandeville,  too,  appears  in 
(probably)  three  distinct  translations,  the  most  popular  of 
which  was  multiplied  in  shortened  forms.  It  is,  therefore, 
dangerous  to  base  theories  upon  the  forms  found  in  any  one 
MS. ;  for  we  can  rarely  be  sure  of  having  the  actual  words  of 
the  author.  Often,  though  not  always,  the  MS.  may  be  incon- 
sistent with  itself,  and,  in  any  case,  few  MSS.  of  philological 
interest  exist  in  many  copies;  in  other  words,  they  w^ere  not 
popular  versions,  and,  as  most  of  the  MSS.  are  inconsistent 
with  each  other  in  spelling  and  in  verb-forms,  it  seems  that 
the  general  reader  must  have  been  accustomed  to  different 
renderings  of  sound.  Caxton  need  hardly  have  been  so  much 
concerned  about  the  famous  "egges  or  eyren." 

John  Trevisa,  a  Cornishman,  had  made  himself  somewhat 
notorious  at  Oxford.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  standing  at  Exeter 
College  in  1362,  and  Fellow  of  Queen's,  in  1372-6,  when 
Wyclif  and  Nicholas  Hereford  were  also  residents,  at  a  time 
w^hen  Queen's  was  in  favour  with  John  of  Gaunt,  and,  per- 
haps, a  rather  fashionable  house.  The  university  was  then, 
like  other  parts  of  England,  a  prey  to  disorder.  Factions  of 
regulars  and  seculars,  quarrels  between  university  authorities 
and  friars,  rivalry  amongst  booksellers  and  a  revolt  of  the 
Bachelors  of  arts,  produced  petitions  to  parliament  and  ro3^al 
commissions  in  quick  succession.  Amongst  these  dissensions 
had  occurred  a  quarrel  in  "  Quenehalle,"  so  violent  that  the 
archbishop  of  York,  visitor  of  the  college,  had  intervened 
and,  in  1376,  in  spite  of  resistance  and  insult,  had  expelled 


84  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

the  Provost  and  three  Fellows,  of  whom  one  was  Trevisa, 
"for  their  unworthiness."  It  is  possible  that  Wyclifite  lean- 
ings caused  this  disgrace;  for  the  university  was  already  in 
difficulties  on  the  reformer's  account,  and  both  Exeter  and 
Queen's  are  believed  to  have  been  to  some  extent  Wyclifite, 
while  Trevisa's  subsequent  writings  betray  agreement  with 
Wyclif's  earher  opinions.  ^  The  ejected  party  carried  off  the 
keys,  charters,  plate,  books  and  money  of  their  college,  for 
which  the  new  Provost  was  clamouring  in  vain  three  years 
later.  Royal  commissions  were  disregarded  till  1380,  when 
Trevisa  and  his  companions  at  length  gave  up  their  plunder. 
No  ill-will  seems  to  have  been  felt  towards  the  ejected  Fellows, 
for  Trevisa  rented  a  chamber  at  Queen's  between  1395  and 
1399,  probably  while  executing  his  translation  of  Bartholo- 
maeus.  Most  of  his  subsequent  life,  however,  was  spent  as 
vicar  of  Berkeley  in  Gloucestershire  and  chaplain  to  Thomas, 
Lord  Berkeley,  reputed  to  have  been  a  disciple  of  Wyclif. 
He  also,  Hke  Wyclif,  held  a  non-resident  canonry  of  the 
collegiate  church  of  Westbury-on-Trym.  At  some  earlier 
date,  Trevisa  had  travelled,  for  he  incidentally  mentions  his 
experiences  at  Breisach  on  the  Rhine,  Aachen  and  Aix-les- 
Bains,  but  he  had  not  seen  Rome. 

His  two  great  translations  were  made  at  the  desire  of 
Lord  Berkeley.  Polychronicon  was  concluded  in  1387,  De 
Proprietatibus  in  1398.  He  executed  several  smaller  transla- 
tions, including  the  famous  sermon  of  archbishop  FitzRalph, 
himself  an  Oxford  scholar,  against  the  mendicant  orders,  and, 
probably,  a  translation  of  the  Bible  now  lost. 

Trevisa  was  a  man  of  wide  reading  rather  than  exact 
scholarship ;  his  explanation  of  the  quadrivium  is  incorrect,  and 
his  Latinity  was  far  inferior  to  Higden's.  But  his  robust 
good  sense,  his  regard  for  strict  accuracy  and  his  determina- 

'  The  old  suggestion  of  Henry  Wharton,  rejected  by  Forshall  and  Madden, 
that  Trevisa  might  be  the  author  of  the  general  prologue  to  the  second 
Wyclifite  Bible,  has  been  lately  repeated,  on  the  ground  of  the  likeness  of 
their  expressed  opinions  on  the  art  of  translation.  But,  apart  from  other 
arguments,  the  style  is  not  Trevisa's,  nor  its  self-assertion,  nor  its  vigorous 
protestantism.  Trevisa's  anti-papal  remarks  are  timid  and  he  never  finds 
fault  with  the  secular  clergy.  The  same  principles  of  translation  were  in 
the  literary  atmosphere,  and  it  is  open  to  doubt  whether  Trevisa's  scholar- 
ship would  have  been  equal  to  the  full  and  precise  explanations  of  the 
prologue. 


Trevisa's  "  Polychronicon  "  85 

tion  to  be  understood,  make  him  an  interesting  writer.  He 
was  fond  of  nature,  he  knew  his  De  Proprietatihus  well  before 
he  wrote  it  in  English  and  he  could  even  bring  witness  of 
additional  wonders,  told  to  him  at  first  hand  by  trustworthy 
parishioners  of  Berkeley.  Without  historical  acumen,  he  does 
not  hesitate  to  level  scathing  criticisms  at  old  writers,  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  sometimes  clears  away  a  difhculty  by 
common  sense.  Why  was  Higden  puzzled  by  the  inconsistent 
descriptions  of  Alcluyd  ?  was  there  not  more  than  one  Carthage, 
and  is  there  not  a  Newport  in  Wales  and  another  in  the  parish 
of  Berkeley? 

The  explanations  so  frequently  inserted  in  the  text  sug- 
gest that,  though  Polychronicon  was  translated  in  the  first 
instance  for  Lord  Berkeley,  a  wider  public  was  in  the  maker's 
mind.     His  notes  are  usually  brief: 

Ethiopia,  blew  men  lond;  laborintus,  Daedalus  his  hous;  Ecco 
is  }>e  reboundynge  of  noyse;  Gode  genius  is  to  menynge  a  spirit 
f>at  folowej?  a  man  al  his  lyftime;  Kent  and  Essex,  Westsex  and 
Mercia— f-at  is  as  hit  were  a  greet  deel  of  myddel  Englond ;  theatres, 
places  hije  and  real  to  stonde  and  sytte  ynne  and  byholde  aboute: 
Tempe  Florida,  likynge  place  wi}>  fioures. 

It  is  but  seldom  that  he  is  absurd,  as  when  he  renders  matrones 
by  old  mothers,  or  gives  a  derivation  for  satirical:  "  som  poete 
is  i-clepede  satiricus,  and  ha}?  I'at  name  of  satis,  I'at  is  inow, 
for  l^e  matire  I'at  he  spekej'  of  he  touched  at  J^e  fuUe."  These 
lengthier  notes,  inserted  "for  to  brynge  here  hertes  out  of 
I'ouBt"  he  always  signs  "Trevisa."  We  observe  that  he  feels 
it  advisable  to  explain  in  full  a  very  simple  use  of  hyperbole. 
As  a  translator,  many  more  slips  in  scholarship  might  be 
forgiven  him  for  the  raciness  of  the  style.  Neither  in  terms 
nor  structure  does  it  suggest  the  Latin,  but  the  interpolated 
criticisms  are  less  wordy  than  the  translation.  Trevisa  ex- 
pands his  original,  not  because  he  is  a  poor  Latinist  but  partly 
because  he  wishes  to  be  understood,  and  partly  from  that 
pleasure  in  doublets  which  would  seem  to  be  a  natural  English 
inheritance.  Sometimes  the  synonymous  words  are  accepted 
catch-phrases,  sometimes  they  evince  pure  pleasure  in  lan- 
guage. We  always  get  "domesmen  and  juges,"  "tempest 
and  tene,"  "  fis  worlde  wyde."  ^     Not  that  Trevisa  is  enslaved 

»  " Limites  =\>e  meeres  and  j^e  marke,  afflixit—dede  hym  moche  woo  and 


86  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

by  alliteration;  he  uses  it  less  as  the  work  proceeds,  save  in 
the  regular  phrases;  but  he  loves  balanced  expression,  and 
ruins  Higden's  favourite  antitheses.^  His  picturesqueness  is, 
perhaps,  elementary,  less  that  of  an  artist  than  of  a  child. 2 

It  is  Trevisa's  principle  to  translate  every  word:  the 
Mediterranean  is  "]>e  see  of  myddel  erj^e."  Even  when  he 
cannot  understand  a  set  of  verses  he  doggedly  turns  them 
into  a  jumble  of  pure  nonsense  which  he  asserts  to  be  rime, 
adding,  candidly,  "God  woot  what  J'is  is  to  mene."  The 
outspoken  criticisms  and  occasional  touches  of  sarcasm  seem 
to  betray  a  man  impatient  of  conventions  which  he  felt  to 
be  practical  abuses,  but  scrupulously  orthodox  in  every  detail 
which  could  be  held  to  affect  creed.  To  the  wonderful  fable 
of  the  marble  horses  at  Rome  he  appends  the  moral  that  it 
shows  "  l^at  who  forsake]?  all  l>yng  forsake^  all  his  clones,  ana% 
so  it  folowe]?  I'at  I'cy  ]>at  bee]?  wel  i-cloj'ed  and  goo]>  aboute 
and  begge]?  and  gadere]?  money  and  corn  and  catel  of  oj'er 
men  forsake]?  not  al  ]'ing."  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  shocked 
that  Gregory  Nazianzen  tells  "a  ungodly  tale  of  so  worthy 
a  prince  of  philosophes  as  Aristotle  was."  A  saying  of  the 
mythical  Nectabanus:  "No  man  may  flee  his  owne  destanye" 
is  thus  stigmatised:  "Nectabanus  seide  I'is  sawe  and  was  a 
wiiche,  and  ]?erfore  it  is  nevere  l?e  bettere  to  trowynge  ...  for 
from  every  mishap  I'at  man  is  i-schape  in  ]?is  worlde  to  falle 
inne  God  may  hym  save  jif  it  is  his  wille."  To  the  charitable 
miracle  recorded  of  Dunstan  and  St.  Gregory  who,  respectively, 
prayed  the  souls  of  Edwy  and  Trajan  out  of  hell,  he  refuses 
credit — "  so  it  m5te  seeme  to  a  man  Ijat  were  worse  Jjan  wood 
and  out  of  ri?t  bileve."  At  least  once,  he  deliberately  modi- 
fies his  author:  Higden  observes,  giving  his  reasons,  that  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  must,  in  a  certain  passage,  be  defective; 
Trevisa  writes  that  here  St.  Matthew  "is  ful  skars  for  mene 
men  my?te  understonde."  Yet,  though  punctiliously  ortho- 
dox, Trevisa  has  scant  reverence  for  popes  or  for  fathers  of 

tene,  /or^^5=stal\vor)'e  men  and  wight."  So  too  "a  pigmey  boskej'  hym  to 
bataile  and  array  hym  to  fijt." 

^  "  Figment  a  gentilium,  dicta  ethicorum,  miranda  locorum,"  becomes 
"feynynge  and  sawes  of  mysbileved  and  lawles  men  and  wondres  and 
merveilHs  of  dy  verse  contrees  and  londes." 

2  "Ocean  by  cHppe)'  al  J^e  er)>e  aboute  as  a  garlond";  antiquitas=:^"\onge 
passynge  of  tyme  and  elde  of  dedes." 


Trevisa's '' Bartholomaeus"  87 

the  church,  and  none  for  monks  and  friars.  Edgar,  he  says, 
was  lewdly  moved  to  substitute  monks  for  (secular)  clerks: 
and,  in  at  least  two  of  the  early  MSS.,  though  not  in  all,  a 
passage  distinctly  WycHfite  is  inserted  in  the  midst  of  the 
translation : 

and  nowe  for  ]>e  moste  partie  monkes  heep  worste  of  all,  for  ]>ey 
bee)'  to  riche  and  J^at  make]>  hem  to  take  more  hede  about  seculer 
besynesse  j^an  gostely  devocioun  .  .  .  ]?erfore  seculer  lordes  schulde 
take  awey  the  superfiuyte  of  here  possessiouns  and  ?eve  it  to  hem 
fat  neede}?  or  elles,  whan  ]>ey  knowen  f-at,  J^ey  hee]>  cause  and 
mayntenours  of  here  evel  dedes  .  .  .  for  it  were  almesse  to  take 
awey  ]>e  superfluite  of  here  possessiouns  now  J^an  it  was  at  j^e  firste 
fundacioun  to  3eve  hem  what  hem  nedede. 

Though  this  passage  is  not  signed  "Trevisa,"  its  occurrence 
in  the  cop}^  which  belonged  to  Berkeley's  son-in-law  Richard 
Beauchamp  suggests  its  authenticity.  Trevisa  was  a  positi\'e 
man:  he  falls  foul  of  Alfred  of  Beverley  for  reckoning  up  the 
shires  of  England  "without  Cornwall"  and  he  cannot  forgive 
Giraldus  Cambrensis  for  qualifying  a  tale  with  si  fas  sit  credere. 

The  translation  of  Bartholomaeus,  also  made  for  Lord 
Berkeley,  though  doubtless  as  popular  as  the  chronicle,  has, 
perhaps,  not  survived  in  so  authentic  a  form;  moreover, 
embodying  the  accepted  learning  of  the  Middle  Ages,  it  gave 
less  scope  for  Trevisa's  originality.  History  anyone  might 
criticise  but  novelty  in  science  was  only  less  dangerous  than 
in  theology.  The  style  of  the  original,  too,  is  inferior  to 
Higden's;  there  are  already  duplicate  terms  in  plenty,  and, 
though  Trevisa  contrived  to  increase  them,  he  got  less 
opportunity  for  phrasing. 

This  encyclopaedia,  in  nineteen  books,  is  a  work  of  reference 
for  divine  and  natural  science,  intermixed  with  moral  and 
metaphor.  Beginning  with  the  Trinity,  the  prophets  and 
angels,  it  proceeds  to  properties  of  soul  and  body,  and  so  to 
the  visible  universe.  A  book  on  the  divisions  of  time  includes 
a  summary  of  the  poetical,  astrological  and  agricultural  aspects 
of  each  month;  the  book  on  birds  in  general  includes  bees, 
and  here  occurs  the  edifying  imaginary  picture  of  these  pat- 
tern creatures  which  was  the  origin  of  so  much  later  fable, 
including  Canterbury's  speech  in  King  Henry  V.  There  are 
a  few  indications  of  weariness  or  haste  as  Trevisa's  heavy  task 


88  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

proceeds,  but  it  is  especially  interesting  for  his  rendering  of 
scriptural  quotations.  Like  the  writers  of  Piers  the  Plowman 
and  like  Mandeville,  Trevisa  expects  certain  Latin  phrases  to 
be  familiar  to  his  readers,  catchwords  to  definite  quotations; 
but  he  translates  the  texts  in  full  in  a  version  certainly  not 
Wyclif 's  and  possibly  his  own.  Always  simple  and  picturesque, 
these  passages  cause  regret  for  the  loss  of  that  translation  of 
the  Bible,  which,  according  to  Caxton,  Trevisa  made.  Cax- 
ton's  words  in  the  prohemye  to  Polychronicon  imply  that  he 
had  seen  the  translation;  but  no  more  is  heard  of  it  until  the 
first  earl  of  Berkeley  gave  to  James  II  an  ancient  MS.  •"  of 
some  part  of  the  Bible,"  which  had  been  preserved  (he  said) 
in  Berkeley  Castle  for  "  neare  400  years."  It  probably  passed 
to  the  cardinal  of  York,  and  may  have  been  that  copy  of 
Trevisa's  English  Bible  said  once  to  have  been  seen  in  the 
Vatican  catalogue,  but  now  unknown. 

The  dialogue  between  a  lord  and  a  clerk — Lord  Berkeley 
and  John  Trevisa — prefixed  to  Polychronicon  is  really  Trevisa's 
excuse  for  his  temerity.  It  gives  a  somewhat  humorous  pic- 
ture of  the  doubts  of  the  man  of  letters.  Ought  famous  books 
and  scriptural  texts  to  be  put  into  the  vulgar  tongue?  Will 
not  critics  pick  holes?  Lord  Berkeley  brushes  his  objections 
aside.  Foreign  speech  is  useless  to  the  plain  man:  "it  is 
wonder  that  thou  makest  so  febell  argumentis  and  hast  goon 
soo  longe  to  scole."  The  clerk  gives  in,  breathing  a  charac- 
teristically alliterative  prayer  for  "  Wit  and  wisdom  wisely  to 
work,  might  and  mind  of  right  meaning  to  make  translation 
trusty  and  true."  He  has  only  one  question  to  put:  "  whether 
is  50U  lever  have  a  translacion  of  I'ese  cronykes  in  ryme  or  in 
prose?"  We  ought  to  be  grateful  for  Lord  Berkeley's  reply : — 
"  In  prose,  for  comynlich  prose  is  more  clere  than  ryme,  more 
esy  &  more  pleyn  to  knowe  &  understonde." 

To  be  certain  in  any  given  instance  exactly  what  words 
Trevisa  used  is  not  always  possible,  for  the  four  MSS.  which 
have  been  collated  for  the  RoUs  edition  of  Polychronicon  show 
a  surprising  variety.  Even  in  the  same  MS.,  old  and  new 
forms  come  close  together,  as  "feng"  and  "fong,"  and  other 
variations  of  past  tenses  and  participles,  though  the  sentence 
is  always  the  same.  ^ 

•The  MS.,  which  almost  always  gives  "myncheon,"  "comlynge,"  "ful- 


Trevisa's  Vocabulary  89 

Most  of  Trevisa's  vocabulary  is  still  in  common  use,  though 
a  few  words  became  obsolete  soon  after  he  wrote,  for  instance : 
"orped,"  "magel,"  "malshave,"  "heled,"  "hatte,"  which 
stand  for  "brave,"  "absurd,"  "caterpillar,"  "covered," 
"called."  He  uses  "triacle"  sarcastically  for  "poison" — 
"  Nero  quyte  his  moder  that  triacle."  He  usually  distinguishes 
between  "J-ewes"  (manners)  and  "manere"  (method)  and 
between  "feelynge"  (perception)  and  "gropynge"  (touching). 
"Outtake"  is  invariably  used  for  "except,"  which  did  not 
come  into  use  until  long  after.  Perhaps  in  "Appollin,"  as 
the  equivalent  of  Apollo  Delphicus,  we  may  recognise  the 
coming  appearance  of  a  later  personage.  Trevisa's  translation 
needs  only  to  be  compared  with  the  bungling  performance  of 
the  later  anonymous  translator,  ^  in  order  to  be  recognised  as 
a  remarkable  achievement  of  fluency.  Where  Higden  tried  to 
be  dignified,  Trevisa  was  frankly  colloquial;  this  characteristic 
marks  all  his  translations  and  gives  them  the  charm  of  easy 
familiarity.  His  use  of  the  speech  of  the  masses  is  often 
vigorous — a  "dykere,"  for  a  "dead  stock,"  the  "likpot,"  for 
the  "first  finger,"  "he  up  with  a  staff  I'at  he  had  in  hond." 
He  had,  too,  a  fine  onomatopoeic  taste:  Higden's  boatus  et 
garritus  ("talk  of  peasants")  becomes  a  "wlafferynge,  chiter- 
ynge,  harrynge  and  garryge  grisbayting" ;  and  to  this  sense 
of  sound  is,  no  doubt,  owing  the  alliteration  to  which,  though 
southern  by  birth  and  education,  he  was  certainly  addicted — 
a  curious  trait  in  a  prose  writer.  His  work  would  seem  to 
have  been  appreciated,  the  number  of  MSS.  still  extant  of 
Polychronicon  and  its  production  by  the  early  printers  proving 
its   popularity;   and  his  Description  of  England  formed   the 

lynge,"  "mawmette,"  "wood,"  "bytook,"  "dele,"  gives,  also,  at  least  once, 
"nonne,"  "alien,"  "bapteme"  and  "i-cristened,"  "idole,"  "madde,"  "took," 
"partye."  Prefixes  are  already  disappearing:  we  have  " to-sparpled "  and 
"to-schad"  (dispersus),  "i-hilde"  and  "i-schad"  (infusum),  but  few  others. 
In  the  genitive,  the  separate  "his"  is  usual — "Austin  his  bookes,"  though 
we  get  "the  chirches  roves";  the  combination  "oon  of  Cristes  nayles,  our 
lady  smok  and  Seynt  Symon  his  arme  "  gives  all  forms.  The  feminine,  as 
a  rule,  has  no  mark,  though  "his"  occurs  twice,  possibly  by  an  error  of  the 
scribe  ("Faustina  his  body,"  "Latona  his  son").  Another  translation  of 
Polychronicon,  made  by  an  anonymous  hand,  1432-50,  uses,  by  preference, 
the  preposition  "of,"  but  "his"  had  even  intruded  into  proper  names. 
Trevisa  expressly  states  that,  in  his  day,  Hernishowe  "is  nowe  Ern  his  hulle  " 
and  Billingsgate  "Belyn  his  gate." 

>  Printed  with  Trevisa's  in  the  Rolls  edition. 


go  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

model  for  later  accounts.  The  chroniclers  of  the  sixteenth 
century  who  quoted  from  Polychronicon  as  from  an  unques- 
tionable authority  were,  perhaps,  not  altogether  uninfluenced 
by  the  copiously  vigorous  style  of  this  first  delineation  of 
England  and  her  story  in  native  English. 

The  Travels  of  Sir  John  Mandeville  had  been  a  household 
word  in  eleven  languages  and  for  five  centuries  before  it  was 
ascertained  that  Sir  John  never  lived,  that  his  travels  never 
took  place,  and  that  his  personal  experiences,  long  the  test 
of  others'  veracity,  were  compiled  out  of  every  possible 
authority,  going  back  to  Pliny,  if  not  further. 

The  Voiage  and  Travaile  of  Sir  John  Maundevile,  knight, 
purported  to  be  a  guide  for  pilgrims  to  Jerusalem,  giving  the 
actual  experiences  of  the  author.  It  begins  with  a  suitably 
serious  prologue,  exhorting  men  to  reverence  the  Holy  Land, 
since,  as  he  that  will  publish  anything  makes  it  to  be  cried 
in  the  middle  of  a  town,  so  did  He  that  formed  the  world 
suffer  for  us  at  Jerusalem,  which  is  the  middle  of  the  earth. 
All  the  possible  routes  to  Jerusalem  are  briefly  dealt  with 
in  order  to  introduce  strange  incidents;  and  mention  of  saints 
and  relics,  interspersed  with  texts  not  always  a  propos,  presses 
upon  more  secular  fables.  We  pass  from  the  tomb  of  St.  John 
to  the  story  of  Ypocras's  daughter  turned  into  a  dragon;  a 
circumstantial  notice  of  port  Jaffa  concludes  by  describing  the 
iron  chains  in  which  Andromeda,  a  great  giant,  was  bound 
and  imprisoned  before  Noah's  flood.  ^  But  Mandeville's  geo- 
graphical knowledge  could  not  all  be  compressed  into  the 
journeys  to  Jerusalem,  even  taking  one  via  Turkestan;  so, 
when  they  are  finished,  with  their  complement  of  legends 
from  Sinai  and  Egypt,  he  presents,  in  a  second  portion  of  the 
book,  an  account  of  the  eastern  world  beyond  the  borders  of 
Palestine.  Herein  are  lively  pictures  of  the  courts  of  the 
Great  Cham  and  Prester  John,  of  India  and  the  isles  beyond, 
for  China  and  all  these  eastern  countries  are  called  islands. 
There  is  the  same  combination  of  the  genuine  with  the  fabu- 
lous, but  the  fables  are  bolder:  we  read  of  the  growth  of 
diamonds  and  of  ants  which  keep  hills  of  gold  dust,  of  the 
fountain   of   youth   and   the   earthly   paradise,    of   valleys   of 

'Andromeda  had  become  merged  in  Prometheus. 


Mandeville's  "Travels"  91 

devils  and  loadstone  mountains.  You  must  enter  the  sea  at 
Venice  or  Genoa,  ^  the  only  ports  of  departure  Sir  John  seems 
acquainted  with,  and  go  to  Trebizond,  where  the  wonders 
begin  with  a  tale  of  Athanasius  imprisoned  by  the  pope  of 
Rome.  In  the  same  w^ay,  all  we  learn  of  Armenia  is  the 
admirable  story  of  the  watching  of  the  sparrow-hawk,  not, 
says  Sir  John  cautiously,  that  "  chastelle  Despuere"  (Fr.  del 
esperuier)  lies  beside  the  traveller's  road,  but  "  he  ]>at  will  see 
swilk  mervailes  him  behoves  sum  tym  Jjus  wende  out  of  ]>e 
way." 

Both  parts  of  the  book  have  been  proved  to  have  been 
compiled  from  the  authentic  travels  of  others,  Vv^ith  additions 
gathered  from  almost  every  possible  work  of  reference.  The 
journeys  to  Jerusalem  are  principally  based  upon  an  ancient 
account  of  the  first  crusade  by  Albert  of  Aix,  written  two-and- 
a-half  centuries  before  Mandeville,  and  the  recent  itinerary  of 
William  of  Boldensele  (1336),  to  which  are  added  passages 
from  a  number  of  pilgrimage  books  of  the  twelfth  and  thir- 
teenth centuries.^  The  second  half  of  Mandeville's  work  is 
"a  garbled  plagiarism"  from  the  travels  of  a  Franciscan 
missionary,  friar  Odoric  of  Pordenone  (1330),  into  which,  as 
into  Boldensele's  narrative,  are  foisted  all  manner  of  details, 
wonders  and  bits  of  natural  history  from  such  sources  as  The 
Golden  Legend,  the  encyclopaedias  of  Isidore  or  Bartholomaeus, 
the  Tresor  of  Brunetto  Latini,  Dante's  tutor,  or  the  Speculum 
of  Vincent  de  Beauvais  {c.  1250).  Mandeville  uses  impartially 
the  sober  Historia  Mongolorum  of  Piano  Carpini  ^  or  the 
medieval  forgeries  called  The  Letter  of  Alexander  to  Aristotle, 
and  The  Letter  of  Pr ester  John;  no  compilation  of  fiction  or 
erudition  comes  amiss  to  him.  He  takes  no  account  of  time; 
though  he  is  quite  up  to  date  in  his  delimitation  of  that  shift- 
ing kingdom,  Hungary,  many  of  his  observations  on  Palestine 
are  wrong  by  three  centuries;  a  note  he  gives  on  Ceylon  was 
made  by  Caesar  on  the  Britons;  some  of  his  science  comes, 
through  a  later  medium,  from  Pliny;  his  pigmies,  who  fight 
with  great  birds,  his  big  sheep  of  the  giants  on  the  island 
mountain,  boast  a  yet  more  ancient  and  illustrious  ancestry. 

'  Geen,  Januenes. 

2  Including  Pelerinaiges  por  aler  en  Iherusalent,  c.  1231,  The  continuation 
of  Wm.  of  Tyre  (1261),  Jacques  de  Vitry  (d.  1240)  and  others. 

3  Papal  emissary  to  Tartary  in  1245. 


92  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

The  memory  which  could  marshal  such  various  knowledge  is 
as  amazing  as  the  art  which  harmonised  it  all  on  the  plane 
of  the  fourteenth  century  traveller,  and  gave  to  the  collection 
the  impress  of  an  individual  experience. 

The  genius  which  evolved  this  wonderful  literary  forgery 
sent  it  forth  to  fame  from  the  great  commercial  city  of  Liege 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.     The  unques- 
tioned myth  of  its  origin  was  that  John  de  Mandeville,  knight, 
of  St.  Albans,  had  left  England  in  1322  to  make  the  pilgrimage 
to  Jerusalem;  he  afterwards  travelled  all  over  the  world  and, 
returning  homewards  in  1343,  was  laid  up  at  Liege  by  arthritic 
gout  and  attended  by  a  doctor,  John  ad  barbam,  whom  he 
had  previously  met  in  Cairo.     At  the  physician's  suggestion 
he  wrote,   to  solace  his  enforced   dulness,   a  relation  of  his 
long  experiences,  which  he  finished  in  1356  or  1357.     Such  is 
the  statement  given  in  the  principal  Latin  edition;  but  neither 
the  gout  nor  the  physician  is  mentioned  in  the  earliest  MS. 
now  known,  which  is  in  French,  dated  1371,  and  was  originally 
bound  with   a   medical   treatise   on   the   plague   by  Maistre 
Jehan  de  Bonrgoigne  autrement  dit  d,  la  Barbe,  citizen  of  Liege, 
physician  of  forty  years'  experience,  author  (before  1365)   of 
various  works  of  science,  of  whose  plague  treatise  several  other 
copies   still   exist.     Now,    there   was   at   this  time  resident  in 
Liege   a  voluminous   man  of  letters,   Jean  d'Outremeuse,   a 
writer  of  histories  and  fables  in  both  verse  and  prose.     He 
told,  in  his  Myreur  des  Histors,  1  how  a  modest  old  man,  con- 
tent to  be  known  as  Jehan  de  Bourgogne  or  Jean  h  la  Barbe, 
confided  on  his  death-bed  to  Outremeuse,   in   1372,  that  his 
real  name  was  John  de  Mandeville,  comte  de  Montfort  en  Angle- 
terre  et  seigneur  de  Visle  de  Campdi  et  du  chateau  Perousc,  and 
that  he  had  been  obliged  to  fly  from  home  in  1322  because  he 
had  slain  a  man  of  rank.     Unluckily,  Outremeuse's  story  only 
confounds  Mandeville's  own,  as  set  forth  in  the  Latin  travels, 
and  adds  impossible  ritles  to  this  knight  turned  doctor.     Outre- 
meuse also  added  that  he  himself  inherited  the  old  man's 
collection   of    foreign   jewels   and — damaging   admission — his 
library.      He   quotes  Mandeville  sometimes  in  his  own  his- 
torical works;  but  he  does  not  confess  the  use  he  makes  of 

>  In  Bk.  4,  now  lost,  but  copied,  as  to  this  entry,  by  Louis  Abry,  before 
1720.     See  Nicholson,  The  Academy,  xxx  (1884),  p.  261. 


Jean  d'Outremeuse  93 

the  genuine  travels  of  friar  Odoric — and  neither  did  "  Mande- 
ville."  According  to  Outremeuse,  Sir  John  was  buried  in  the 
church  of  the  Guillemins,  and  there,  by  the  end  of  the  four- 
tenth  century  stood  his  tomb,  seen  by  several  trustworthy 
witnesses  in  the  succeeding  centuries,  adorned  by  a  shield 
bearing  a  coat,  which  proves  to  be  that  of  the  Tyrrell  family 
(fourteenth  century),  and  an  inscription  differently  reported 
by  each  traveller.  Tomb  and  church  were  destroyed  during 
the  Revolution.  At  his  birthplace,  St.  Albans,  the  abbey 
boasted  a  ring  of  his  gift,  and,  of  course  in  time,  even  showed 
the  place  of  his  grave. 

Whether  John  the  Bearded  really  told  Outremeuse  that  he 
was  John  de  Mandeville  of  the  impossible  titles,  or  whether 
Outremeuse  only  pretended  that  he  did,  we  cannot  hope  to 
ascertain.  The  puzzling  point  is  the  selection  of  so  plausible 
a  name:  for  there  was  a  John  de  Bourgogne  concerned,  though 
not  as  a  principal,  in  the  troubles  of  Edward  II,  who  had  a 
pardon  in  1321,  revoked  after  Boroughbridge,  1322,  when  he 
fled  the  country.  And  there  was  a  John  de  Mandeville,  of  no 
great  importance,  also  of  the  rebellious  party,  who  received  a 
pardon  in  1313,  but  of  whom  no  more  is  known.  The  facts 
ascertained  so  far  about  the  real  author  or  authors  of  the 
Travels  are:  that  he  was  not  an  Englishman;  that  he  never 
visited  the  places  he  describes,  or  visited  them  without  making 
any  intelligent  observation;  that  he  wrote  at  Liege  before  1371, 
and  in  French;  that  he  was  a  good  linguist  and  had  access  to 
an  excellent  library;  that  his  intimate  acquaintance  with 
nearly  all  the  works  of  travel  and  of  reference  then  known 
implies  long  and  diligent  study  hardly  compatible  with  travel- 
ling; that  he  gauged  exactly  the  taste  of  the  reading  public 
and  its  easy  credence;  and,  finally,  that  he  (or  they)  carried 
out  the  most  successful  literary  fraud  ever  known  in  one  of  the 
most  delightful  volumes  ever  written.  It  would  be  curious  if 
Liege  contained  at  once  two  men  so  well  read  as  Outremeuse 
and  "Mandeville,"  both  compiling  wonder-books,  secretly 
using  the  same  basis,  and  not  in  collusion,  and  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  Latin  version  with  its  tale  of  the  physician  contains 
some  adventures,  not  in  the  French  and  English  versions,  of 
Ogir  the  Dane,  a  hero  on  whom  Outremeuse  wrote  an  epic. 

To  the  statements  made  by  the  author  himself  no  credit 


94  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

need  be  attached.  This  greater  than  Defoe  used  before  Defoe 
the  art  of  introducing  such  Httle  details  as  give  to  fiction  the 
appearance  of  personal  recollection.  He  is  great  on  numbers 
and  measurements  not  in  his  originals,  on  strange  alphabets, 
some  real,  some  garbled  or  "not  to  be  identified  ";  and,  as  his 
statements  about  himself  cannot  be  verified,  there  is  no  more 
ground  for  believing  that  he  visited  Cairo  and  met  Jean  a  la 
Barbe  there,  or  was  laid  up  at  Liege  with  arthritic  gout,  than 
that  he  drank  of  the  fountain  of  youth  and  knew  the  road  to 
the  earthly  paradise.  Similarly,  the  statement  of  the  French 
MS.  that  the  author  ought  to  have  written  in  Latin,  to  be 
more  concise,  but  preferred  Romance  as  more  readily  under- 
stood by  travelled  gentlemen  who  could  testify  to  his  truth- 
fulness, is  to  be  accepted  on  the  ground  of  internal  evidence 
and  because  the  Latin  versions  all  betray  a  later  date  and  a 
French  original.  That  the  writer  was  no  Englishman,  m.ay  be 
deduced  from  the  absence  of  any  local  colouring,  and  from  his 
ignorance  of  English  distances,  more  surely  than  from  the 
erroneous  titles  and  coat  of  arms. 

The  Travels  of  Sir  John  Mandeville  were  translated  into 
almost  every  European  language,  and  some  300  MSS.  are  said 
to  be  still  in  existence.  The  three  standard  versions  are  the 
Latin,  French  and  English,  all  of  which,  as  early  as  1403, 
Mandeville  was  credited  with  having  himself  composed.  Of 
the  five  known  Latin  versions,  one  ^  was  far  better  known  than 
the  others;  12  copies  of  it  survive,  and  it  was  the  basis  of 
other  translations.  It  contains  the  allusion  to  the  physician. 
Not  a  very  early  version,  it  was  made  from  the  French,  short- 
ened in  some  respects,  but  with  some  interpolations.  The 
French  manuscripts  are  said  to  be  all  of  one  type  and  many 
copies  remain;  some  of  them  were  written  in  England  for 
English  readers,  proving  that,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
educated  might  still  read  French  for  pleasure.  The  best  MS. 
is  the  oldest,  the  French  MS.  of  1371,  once  in  the  library  of 
Charles  V.  Of  English  versions  there  seem  to  be  three,  repre- 
sented by  (i)  the  Cotton  MS., 2  (2)  the  Egerton  MS.^  and  (3) 
defective  MSS.*  The  Cotton  translation  was  the  work  of  a 
midland  writer  who  kept  very  closely  to  a  good  French  original, 

'Warner's  "vulgate."  2  pij-st  printed  1725. 

^  Printed  1899  for  the  Roxburcfhe  Club.  ■>  Often  printed  1499-1725. 


Mandeville  Manuscripts  95 

The  Egerton  was  made  by  a  northerner  who  worked  with  both 
a  Latin  and  a  French  exemplar,  but  whose  French  model  must 
have  differed  from  any  now  known,  unless  the  translator, 
whose  touch  is  highly  individual,  deliberately  composed  a  free 
paraphrase.  But  the  version  popular  in  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries  was  much  shorter  than  either  of  these, 
being  taken  from  some  French  MS.  which  lacked  pages  cover- 
ing nearly  two  chapters,  while  the  translator,  too  dull  to 
discover  the  omission,  actually  ran  two  incongruous  accounts 
together  and  made  nonsense  of  the  words  juxtaposed.  The 
first  printed  edition  corrected  the  error  only  very  briefly. 
Though  it  is  possible  that  this  defective  version,  represented 
by  several  MSS.,  might  come  from  the  same  original  as  the 
complete  and  superior  Cotton  MS.,  seeing  that  copyists  not 
unfrequently  shortened  their  tasks,  the  differences  are  so 
numerous  that  it  seems,  on  the  whole,  easier  to  assume  an 
independent  hand.  There  is  a  curious  variation  in  the  dates 
assigned:  the  best  French  and  Latin  texts  and  the  Cotton 
give  1322  for  the  pilgrimage  and  1355  or  1357  for  the  compo- 
sition of  the  book:  the  defective  MSS.  and  the  Egerton  put 
the  dates  ten  years  later,  1332  and  1366. 

Of  these  three  versions,  the  defective  one  is  the  least 
spirited,  the  Cotton  is  the  most  vraisemblable,  owing  to  the 
fulness  of  detail  and  the  plausibility  with  which  everything 
appears  to  be  accounted  for,  as  it  is  in  the  French,  while  the 
Egerton  is  the  most  original  in  style  and,  though  it  omits  some 
passages  found  in  the  Cotton,  sometimes  expands  the  incidents 
given  into  a  more  harmonious  picture.  The  change  of  the 
impersonal  "men"  to  "I,"  the  occasional  emphatic  use  of  "he 
I'is,"  "he  I'at"  instead  of  the  mere  pronoun,  the  vivid  com- 
parisons— the  incubator  "like  a  hous  full  of  holes" — and 
countless  similar  touches,  give  a  special  charm  to  the  tale  in 
this  version.  So  vigorous  and  native  is  the  composition  that 
it  scarcely  gives  the  impression  of  a  translation,  and  galli- 
cisms, such  as  "  ]>at  ilke  foot  is  so  mykill  l^at  it  will  cover  and 
oumbre  all  the  body,"  are  rare  exceptions.  We  find  plenty 
of  old  and  northern  words.  ^     Slight  hints  of  antipathy  to 

1  "Growe,"  "graven"  (buried) ," warne "  (unless),  "buse"  (must),  "bese" 
(is),  "nedder"  (dragon  or  serpent),  "oker"  (usury),  "umqwhile"  (formerly), 
"spire  after"  (ask  for),  "mesells"  (leprosy),  "salde  wonder  dere,"  "ga  na 


96  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

Rome  may  be  detected,  and  there  are  some  additions  to  the 
recital  not  found  in  other  English  copies,  in  particular  a  legend 
of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  oddly  placed  in  Thule.  The 
writer  of  this  version  so  far  identifies  himself  with  Sir  John 
as  to  add  to  the  account  of  the  sea  of  gravel  and  the  fish 
caught  therein  an  assertion  that  he  had  eaten  of  them  himself. 
It  matters  little  that  there  are  sundry  inaccuracies  of  transla- 
tion, such  as  the  rendering  of  latymers  (Ft.  lathonieres  =  inter- 
preters)  by  "  men  I'at  can  speke  Latyne" ;  but  the  proper  names 
are  terribly  confused;  we  not  only  get  "Ysai"  and  "Crete" 
for  "Hosea"  and  "Greece,"  or  " Architriclyne "  as  the  name 
of  the  bridegroom  at  Cana,  but  also  other  quite  unintelligible 
forms.  Indeed,  the  transformations  of  place-names  might  be 
worth  while  tracing:  thus,  the  town  Hesternit  appears  in 
Latin  as  Sternes  ad  fines  Epapie,  in  a  French  version  as  A''^^  e 
puis  a  fine  Pape,  in  Cotton  as  "  Ny  and  to  the  cytie  of  fine 
Pape,"  in  Egerton  as  "Sternes  and  to  >e  citee  of  Affynpane." 
The  names  of  the  Cotton  version  are  far  more  accurate  than 
those  of  the  Egerton,  as  its  vocabulary  and  spelling  are  also 
less  archaic,  but  the  translator  sometimes  errs  by  transferring 
the  sound  of  his  French  original;  so,  poy  d'arhres  becomes 
"lytill  Arborye,"  izles  of  Italy  become  "hills,"  and,  with  like 
carelessness,  parte  dii  fer  is  turned  to  "gates  of  hell,"  signes 
du  del  to  "swannes  of  hevene,"  cure  d' avoir  to  "charge  of 
aveer"  (Egerton,  "  hafyng  of  erthely  gudes  ").  The  Cottonian 
redactor  is  strong  in  scientific  explanations  and  moral  reflec- 
tions, and,  like  his  Egertonian  brother,  must  add  his  mite  to 
the  triumphs  of  the  traveller;  to  the  account  of  the  vegetable 
lamb  he  adds:  "  Of  that  frute  I  have  eten,  alle  thoughe  it  were 
wondirfulle  but  that  I  knowe  wel  that  God  is  marveyllous  in 
his  werkes." 

This  identification  of  themselves  with  Mandeville  is  partly 
the  cause  of  the  high  place  which  these  three  (or  two)  transla- 
tors occupy  in  the  history  of  English  letters.  In  all  literary 
essentials  their  work  is  original;  tautology  has  disappeared; 
they  find  in  their  model  no  temptation  to  repetition  or  to 
jingling  constructions  and  they  add  none;  the  narrative  goes 
smoothly  and  steadily  forward,  with  an  admirable  choice  of 

ferrere,"    "to    see    on    ferrum "    (from    afar),    "mirkness    umbelapped    fe 
emperoure." 


Mandeville's  Style  97 

words  but  without  any  phrasing,  as  different  from  the  lavish 
colloquiaHsm  of  Trevisa  as  from  the  unshapen  awkwardness 
of  the  WycHfite  sermons.  This  natural  style  of  simple  dignity 
undoubtedly  aids  the  genius  of  the  original  author  in  investing 
his  fairy  tales  with  that  atmosphere  of  truthfulness  which  is 
the  greatest  triumph  of  his  art.  In  the  first  place,  Mandeville 
had  the  boldness  not  to  be  utilitarian,  but  to  write  with  no 
other  aim  than  entertainment.  It  is  true  that  he  professes  to 
begin  a  manual  of  pilgrimage,  but  the  thin  disguise  is  soon 
cast  aside,  and  the  book  could  scarcely  be  mistaken  for  either 
a  religious  or  a  solidly  instructive  work.  It  was  a  new  venture 
in  literature — amusement  had  been  hitherto  the  sphere  of 
poets.  And  what  vivifies  the  book,  what  marks  it  off  from 
medieval  tales  like  those  of  Gesta  Romanorum,  was  also  a  new 
thing  in  prose:  the  sense  of  a  human  interest  which  is  really 
the  inspiring  principle  of  the  whole  and  forms  out  of  scattered 
anecdotes  a  consistent  story.  The  descriptions  are  of  people 
and  their  behaviour,  and  in  the  midst  is  the  quiet  but  dis- 
cernible figure  of  Sir  John  himself.  It  was  to  the  interest  in 
human  life  that  Mandeville  appealed  and  this,  in  turn,  he 
educated.  He  had,  moreover,  skilful  devices  for  creating  the 
feeling  of  reality:  the  wonders  are  sometimes  accounted  for 
b}FVhat  appears  a  rational  cause;  touches  of  criticism  or  per- 
sonal reflection  contradict  the  supposition  of  simplicity;  with 
equally  circumstantial  gravity  he  describes  the  trees  which 
bear  "boumbe,"  or  cotton,  and  those  which  bear  the  very 
short  gourds  "  which,  when  ripe,  men  open  and  find  a  little 
beast  with  flesh  and  blood  and  bone,  like  a  little  lamb  without 
wool."  Certainly,  he  was  abreast  of  the  most  recent  know- 
ledge of  his  time  in  his  account  of  the  cotton- tree  and  in  his 
assurance  of  the  roundness  of  the  earth.  His  readers,  he  says, 
witten  well  that  the  dwellers  on  the  other  side  of  the  earth 
are  straight  against  us,  feet  against  feet,  and  he  feels  certain 
that  by  always  going  onwards  one  may  get  round  the  world, 
especially  since  Jerusalem  is  in  the  middle  of  the  earth,  as  men 
may  prove  by  a  spear  pight  into  the  ground  which  casts  no 
shadow  at  midday  in  the  equinox.  Then,  as  many  journeys 
as  it  tajces  to  reach  Jerusalem,  so  many  more  will  bring  one 
to  the  edge  of  the  world,  after  which  one  must  proceed  to 
India  and  other  places  on  the  underneath  side;  "I  hafe  oft 


98  The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

tymes  thoght  on  a  tale  J^at  I  herd  when  I  was  mng"  of  a  man 
who  travelled  till  he  reached  an  island  where  he  heard  one 
calling  to  plow  oxen  in  words  of  his  own  tongue;  "but  I  sup- 
pose he  had  so  long  went  on  land  and  on  see  envirounand  ]>e 
werld  }>at  he  was  commen  in  to  his  awen  marchez"  (Egerton). 
The  author  dovetails  his  bits  of  genuine  information  into  his 
fictions  with  deft  ingenuity.  One  of  the  means  of  proving  a 
diamond  is  to  "  take  ]>e  adamaund  that  drawez  ]>e  nedill  til 
him  by  ]>e  whilk  schippe  men  er  governed  in  ]>e  sea"  (Egerton), 
and,  if  the  diamond  is  good,  the  adamant,  "that  is  the  schip- 
mannes  ston"  (Cotton)  will  not  act  upon  the  needle  while  the 
gem  rests  upon  it.  But  Mandeville  cannot  refrain  from 
heightening  the  marvellous  stories  culled  elsewhere.  To  the 
account  of  the  diamond,  sufficiently  strange  in  "Ysidre"  or 
"Bertilmew,"  to  whose  corroboration  he  appeals,  he  must 
needs  add  that  "  ]'ai  growe  sammen,  male  and  female,  and  ]>ai 
er  nurischt  with  dew  of  heven  .  .  .  and  bringes  furth  smale 
childer  and  so  j'ai  multiply  and  growez  all  w^ay"  (Egerton). 
He  has  often  seen  that  they  increase  in  size  yearly,  if  taken 
up  by  the  roots  with  a  bit  of  the  rock  they  grow  on  and  often 
wetted  with  May  dew.  Tlj^  source  of  this  detail,  as  of  the 
stories  of  Athanasius,  of  the  man  who  environed  the  earth 
and  of  the  hole  in  the  Ark  "whare  the  fend  5ode  out"  when 
Noe  said  Benedicite,  has  not  yet  been  discovered.  Probably 
Mandeville  invented  them,  as  he  did  the  details  of  the  Great 
Cham's  court:  hangings  of  red  leather,  said  Odoric — hangings 
made  of  panther  skins  as  red  as  blood,  says  Mandeville;  now, 
a  panther,  in  those  times,  was  reckoned  a  beast  of  unheard-of 
beauty  and  magical  properties.  Odoric  expressly  owned  that 
he  did  not  find  such  wonders  in  Prester  John's  land  as  he  had 
expected  from  rumour;  Mandeville  declares  that  the  half  had 
not  been  reported,  but  that  he  will  be  chary  of  what  he  re- 
lates, for  nobody  would  believe  him.  Such  indications  of  a 
becoming  reticence  help  to  create  the  air  of  moderation  which, 
somehow,  pervades  the  book.  The  author's  tone  is  never 
loud,  his  illustrations  are  pitched  on  a  homelier  key  than  the 
marvel  he  is  describing — so  of  the  crocodiles,  "  whan  thei  gon 
bi  places  that  ben  gravelly  it  semethe  as  thoughe  men  hadde 
drawen  a  gret  tree  thorghe  the  gravelly  places"  (Cotton).  It 
is  a  blemish  on  the  grandeur  of  the  Cham's  court  that  "  the 


Mandeville's  Detail  99 

comouns  there  eten  withouten  clothe  upon  here  knees." 
Mandeville  faces  the  probability  that  his  readers  may  withhold 
belief:  "he  fat  will  trowe  it,  trowe  it;  and  he  I'at  will  no5t, 
lefe.  For  I  will  never  J^e  latter  tell  sum  what  I'at  I  save  .  .  . 
w^heder  ]>a.{  will  trowe  it  or  I'ai  nil"  (Egerton).  He  discounts  a 
possible  comparison  with  Odoric  by  mentioning  that  two  of 
his  company  in  the  valley  of  devils  were  "  frere  menoures  of 
Lombardye,"  and  artfully  calls  to  witness  the  very  book  that 
he  stole  from,  "the  Lapidary  that  many  men  knowen  noght." 
Not  that  he  ever  avowedly  quotes,  save,  rather  inaccurately, 
from  the  Scriptures.  The  necessary  conventional  dress  of 
orthodoxy  he  supplies  to  his  travels  by  the  device  of  crediting 
the  mysterious  eastern  courts  with  holding  certain  Christian 
tenets.  The  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  is  visited  "  als  comounly 
and  with  als  gret  devocioun  as  Cristene  men  gon  to  Seynt 
James  "  (Odoric  said,  St.  Peter's) ;  Prester  John's  people  know 
the  Paternoster  and  consecrate  the  host. 

Mandeville  hopes  that  everyone  will  be  converted;  his 
tolerance  of  strange  creeds  and  manners  is  that  of  a  gentle, 
not  of  a  careless,  mind.  The  Soudan  of  Egypt — who,  indeed, 
rebuked  the  vices  of  Christianity  after  the  fashion  of  Scott's 
Saladin — ^would  have  wedded  him  to  a  princess,  had  he  but 
changed  his  faith.  "  But  I  thanke  God  I  had  no  wille  to  don 
it  for  no  thing  that  he  behighten  me"  (Cotton).  It  is  with 
such  light  touches  that  Sir  John  pictures  himself.  He  is  no 
egoist,  nor  braggart;  w^e  know  nothing  of  his  appearance;  he 
does  no  deeds  of  prowess  himself  "  for  myn  unable  sufiQsance" ; 
his  religion  is  that  of  ordinary  men.  He  ventured,  duly 
shriven  and  crossed,  down  the  perilous  vale,  full  of  treasure 
and  haunted  by  devils, 

I  touched  none  (he  says)  because  that  the  Develes  ben  so  subtyle 
to  make  a  thing  to  seme  otherwise  than  it  is,  for  to  disceyve  man- 
kynde,  .  .  .  and  also  because  that  I  wolde  not  ben  put  out  of  my 
devocioun;  for  I  was  more  devout  thaune  than  evere  I  was  before 
or  after,  and  alle  for  the  drede  of  Fendes  that  I  saughe  in  dyverse 
Figures  (Cotton). 

Sir  John,  in  short,  reveals  himself  as  a  gentleman,  filled 
with  a  simple  curiosity  and  with  that  love  of  strange  travel 
which,  he  savs,  is  native  to  Englishmen,  born  under  the  moon, 


loo        The  Beginnings  of  English  Prose 

the  planet  which  moves  round  the  world  so  much  more  quickly 
than  the  others.  He  is  honest  and  broad-minded,  free  from 
any  taint  of  greed — there  is  not  a  sordid  observation  in  the 
whole  book — and  that  he  ever  comes  to  an  end  is  due  to  his  con- 
sideration for  others,  for  were  he  to  tell  all  he  had  seen  nothing 
would  be  left  for  other  travellers  to  say:  "Wherfore  I  wole 
holde  me  stille." 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Scottish  Language 

Early  and  Middle  Scots 

THE  history  of  the  Scots  vernacular  is,  in  its  earlier  stages, 
a  recapitulation  of  the  tale  of  Northumbrian  Old  English 
and  northern  Middle  English.  It  is  perhaps,  too  dog- 
matic to  say,  especially  when  the  documentary  evidence  is  so 
slight,  that,  in  the  earliest  period,  the  language  north  of  the 
Tweed  was  identical  with  that  between  the  Tweed  and  the 
Humber;  but  we  m.ay  reasonably  conclude  that  the  differences 
were  of  the  narrowest.  The  runic  verses  of  The  Dream  of  the 
Rood  on  the  cross  at  Ruthwell,  Dumfriesshire,  might  have  been 
cut  on  the  shores  of  the  Forth,  or  in  Yorkshire.  Later,  though 
local  differences  may  have  been  accentuated,  chiefly  by  the 
intrusion  at  one  point  or  another  of  Scandinavian  or  other 
words,  the  structural  identity  of  the  language  in  the  two  areas 
was  maintained.  The  justice  of  this  assumption  appears  when, 
in  a  still  later  period,  we  have  an  opportunity  of  comparison  by 
written  texts.  It  is  unnecessary  to  point  out  the  close  kin- 
ship, in  the  fourteenth  century,  of  the  language  of  Barbour's 
Bruce,  written  in  Aberdeen,  with  that  of  the  writings  of  Richard 
RoUe,  the  hermit  of  Hampole,  near  Doncaster.  The  likeness 
is  the  more  remarkable,  if  we  accept  the  opinion  that  Bar- 
bour's text,  in  its  extant  form,  was  written  out  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  It  is,  therefore,  not  only  scientifically  accurate  to 
treat  the  language  of  the  Bruce  as  northern  English,  but  it  is 
historically  justifiable  to  call  that  language  "  English."  To 
Barbour  and  his  successors — till  a  change  in  political  circum- 
stance made  a  change  in  nomenclature  necessary — their  tongue 
is  not  "Scots,"  but  invariably  "  Ynglis,"  or  English. 

The  name  "Scots"  or  "Scottish"  has  been  applied  to  the 


I02  The  Scottish  Language 

language  of  the  whole  or  part  of  the  area  of  modern  Scotland 
in  such  a  variety  of  senses  that  some  statement  of  the  history 
of  the  term  is  a  necessary  preliminary  to  even  the  briefest 
outline.  ^Modern  associations  and  modern  fervour  have  too 
often  obscured  the  purely  linguistic  issues.  In  its  original 
application,  "Scots"  is  the  speech  of  the  Scottish  settlers  in 
Alban:  that  is,  Celtic  of  the  Goidelic  group,  the  ancestor  of 
the  present  Scottish  Gaelic.  In  due  course,  the  name  was 
applied  to  the  vernacular  of  the  entire  area  north  of  the  divid- 
ing-line between  the  estuaries  of  the  Forth  and  Clyde.  As 
this  extension  covered  the  eastern  Pictish  territory,  then  under 
the  rule  of  the  kings  of  the  Scots,  it  is  possible  that  some 
change  was  ultimately  effected  by  the  political  association  of 
these  several  northern  non-Teutonic  communities.  Whatever 
be  the  outcome  of  speculation  on  this  point,  the  only  con- 
sideration pertinent  to  our  present  purpose  is  that  the  speech 
of  this  wider  area  was  known  as  "  Scots"  to  all  peoples  south  of 
the  dividing-line,  whether  Anglian  settlers  in  the  Lothians  or 
Bretts  (or  "  Welsh")  in  Strathclyde. 

When  the  limits  of  the  "Scottish"  kingdom  were  enlarged 
southward  and  had,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  become  identical 
with  those  of  modern  Scotland,  the  name  "Scots"  was  no 
longer  applied  to  the  language  of  the  rulers.  The  process  of 
amalgamation  was,  in  every  sense,  an  anglicisation,  which 
became  more  effective  as  the  Scottish  kings  carried  out  their 
policy  of  intruding  Teutonic  culture  into  the  eastern  fringe  of 
their  ancestral  "Scotland."  Thus,  when  the  wider  political 
idea  of  a  "Scotland"  takes  shape,  we  find  "  Ynglis"  the  name 
of  the  speech  of  the  "Scottish"  court  and  of  the  surrounding 
Anglian  population  in  the  Lothians  and  Fife,  and  "Scots" 
that  of  the  speech  of  the  northern  and  western  provinces. 
This  alienation  of  the  anglicised  Scot  from  the  Gaelic  Scot — 
illustrated  in  the  story  of  Duncan  and  Macbeth — was  com,- 
pleted  in  the  wars  of  independence,  in  which  the  Teutonic  or 
"English"  elements  representing  "Scottish"  nationality  were 
hampered  in  their  resistance  to  the  Anglo-French  civilisation  of 
England  by  the  vigorous  opposition  of  non-Teutonic  Scots. 
When  the  struggle  was  ended  and  Teutonic  Scotland  started 
on  a  fresh  career  of  national  endeavour,  the  separation  from 
the  Celtic  Scots  was  absolute.     On  the  other  hand,  certain 


"  Scots,"  "  Ynglis,"  and  "  Ersch  "  103 

elements  of  Anglo-French  culture  were  readily  assimilated. 
The  guiding  factor  was  race.  For  some  time  after i this,  even 
at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  "Scots"  is  the  name  for 
the  Gaelic  speech  of  the  north  and  west.  By  writers  of 
Lothian  birth,  this  tongue  is  spoken  of  disrespectfully  as  the 
tongue  of  "  brokin  men"  and  "  savages"  and  "  bribour  bairdis." 
These  Lothian  men  are  Scots,  willing  subjects  of  the  king  of 
"Scots,"  proud  of  their  "Scotland";  but  they  are  careful  to 
say  that  the  language  which  they  speak  is  "  Ynglis." 

Later,  however,  with  the  political  and  social  advance  of 
the  kingdom  and  the  development  of  a  strong  national  senti- 
ment during  the  quarrels  with  England,  it  came  about,  in- 
evitably, that  the  term  "Ynglis"  no  longer  commended  itself 
to  northern  patriotism.  It  was  the  language  of  the  "  auld 
enemy,"  an  enemy  the  nearest  and  the  most  troublesome. 
If  these  northerners  were  proud  of  Scotland  and  of  being 
Scots,  why  might  not  their  tongue  be  "Scots  "  ?  In  some  such 
way  the  historian  guesses  at  the  purpose  of  sixteenth  century 
literature  in  taking  to  itself  the  name  of  the  despised  speech 
of  the  "bards,"  and  in  giving  to  that  speech  the  name  of 
"Ersch"  or  "Yrisch"  (Irish).  The  old  reproach  clung  to  the 
new  title  "Ersch":  and  it  was  to  be  long  before  the  racial 
animosity,  thus  expressed  in  the  outward  symbol  of  language, 
was  to  be  forgotten  in  a  more  homogeneous  Scotland.  No 
better  proof  of  this  internal  fissure  can  be  found  than  in 
Dunbar's  Flyting  with  Kennedie,  ^  which  is,  in  first  intention, 
an  expression  of  the  feud  between  the  Enghsh  east  and  the 
Gaelic  west.  If  the  poem  be,  as  we  are  asked  to  believe,  a 
mere  bout  of  rough  fun,  it  is  none  the  less  interesting  as  evi- 
dence of  the  material  which  gave  the  best  opportunities  for 
mock  warfare. 

This  break  w4th  the  family  name  and  historic  association 
indicates,  in  a  blunt  way,  a  more  fundamental  change  in  the 
language  itself.  The  causes  which  produced  the  one  could 
not  fail  to  influence  the  other.  For  "Scots,"  erst  "Ynglis," 
had,  for  some  time,  lived  apart:  during  more  than  two  cen- 
turies there  had  been  little  intercourse  with  England  by  any 
of  the  peaceful  methods  which  affect  language  most  strongly ; 
closer  association  had  been  enforced  wdth  the  unreconciled 

>  See  Chapter  x. 


I04  The  Scottish  Language 

Gaels  within  its  area  or  with  new  friends  beyond;  generally, 
a  marked  differentiation  had  been  established  between  the 
civilisations  north  and  south  of  the  Tweed.  These  considera- 
tions, among  others,  prepare  us  for  the  changes  which  soon 
become  evident,  though  they  may  not  be  very  helpful  in 
explaining  the  details  of  these  changes.  It  may  be  that  some 
of  them  were  longer  in  the  making  than  our  study  of  the  few 
extant  documents  of  the  earlier  period  has  led  us  to  believe. 
We  lack  evidence  of  the  extent  of  Scandinavian  interference 
in  the  northern  Anglic  dialect,  structural  and  verbal,  and  we 
know  too  little  of  the  Anglo-French  influences  resulting  from 
the  Norman  culture  which  had  grown  up  in  the  Lothians. 
Yet,  while  allowing  for  possibilities,  or  probabilities,  of  this 
kind,  we  may  conclude  that,  on  the  whole,  the  literary  lan- 
guage of  Scotland  down  to  the  early  fifteenth  century  was  in 
close  conformity  with  the  usage  of  northern  England.  The 
texts  of  Barbour  and  Hampole  force  us  to  accept  this.  Any 
qualification  which  may  be  made  must  be  due,  not  to  the 
testimony  of  facts  (for  they  are  wanting),  but  to  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  general  principle  that  languages  and  dialects 
change  slowly  and  that  the  differences  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  fifteenth  century  (to  which  we  are  about  to  refer)  are  too 
fundamental  to  have  taken  shape  of  a  sudden. 

A  change  in  the  habit  of  the  literary  language  is  discernible 
from  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  definite  and 
of  general  occurrence;  and  it  continues  with  but  few  variations, 
which  are  due  to  the  idiosyncrasies  of  writers  or  the  circum- 
stances of  publication,  down  to  the  opening  decades  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  To  this  period  (i 450-1 620)  the  name  of 
"Middle  Scots"  has  been  given.  The  title  is  not  altogether 
satisfactory,  but  it  is  the  best  that  has  been  found;  and  it  is 
useful  in  suggesting  the  special  linguistic  phase  which  inter- 
vened between  earlier  and  later  (or  modern)  Scots.  It  is 
applied  only  to  the  literary  speech.  The  spoken  language 
pursued  its  own  course  and  showed  fewer  points  of  difference 
from  both  the  literary  and  spoken  dialects  of  northern  England. 
When  the  middle  period  closes,  spoken  Scots  is  again  restored 
to  something  of  the  dignity  of  a  literary  medium.  This  is 
said  advisedly,  for  diversity  of  dialect  and  the  lack  of  a  fixed 
orthography   in   Modern   Scots   are   the   denial   of   the   main 


Early  and  Middle  Scots  105 

characteristics  of  a  standard  instrument.  In  Middle  Scots,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  Unguistic  peculiarities  are,  with  the  allow- 
ances already  noted,  uniform  within  the  period,  and  deliber- 
ately followed. 

The  name  "Early  Scots,"  for  the  period  ending  c.  1450, 
is  even  less  satisfactory  than  "Middle  Scots"  for  the  next 
(from  1450  to  1620) ;  but  it  will  do  no  harm  if  it  be  understood 
to  be  the  literary  language  of  Teutonic  Scotland  during  the 
century  and  a  half  before  1450,  when  such  differentiation  from 
early  northern  English  as  may  be  assumed,  but  cannot  readily 
be  proved,  was  established.  The  names  "  Northumbrian"  and 
"Early  Northern  English"  may  be  applied  to  the  still  earlier 
stages.  Of  "  Early  Scots"  the  typical  examples  are  Barbour's 
Bruce  and  Wyntoun's  Chronicle:  of  Middle  Scots  the  writings 
of  Henryson,  Dunbar,  Douglas  and  Lyndsay.  In  a  more 
exhaustive  scheme  it  is  convenient  to  have  an  intervening 
"Early  Transition  Period" — say  from  1420  to  1460 — repre- 
sented by  such  important  works  as  The  Kingis  Quair,  Lancelot 
of  the  Laik,  and  The  Quare  of  lelusy.  The  linguistic  basis  of 
these  poems  is  Early  Scots;  but  they  show  an  artificial  mix- 
ture with  southern  and  pseudo-southern  forms  derived  from 
Chaucer.  Their  language  represents  no  type,  literary  or 
spoken;  it  is  a  bookish  fabrication;  but,  though  exceptional 
and  individual,  it  has  the  historical  interest  of  being  the  first 
expression  of  a  habit  which,  in  Middle  Scots,  was  neither 
exceptional  nor  individual.  In  this  transition  period  the 
foreign  elements  are  exclusively  Chaucerian:  in  Middle  Scots, 
Chaucerian  influence,  though  great  and  all  pervading,  is  not 
the  sole  cause  of  the  differences.  ^ 

The  statement  that  Middle  Scots  is  uniform  throughout 
its  many  texts  must  not  be  misunderstood.  Full  allowance 
must  be  made,  in  each  case,  for  the  circumstances  of  compo- 
sition and  production.  Translations  from  Latin  or  French 
will  show  a  larger  percentage  of  Romance  forms;  a  dream- 
poem  will  attract  more  Chaucerian  words  and  phrases  and 
tricks  of  grammar;  a  recension  of  a  southern  text  or  the 
writing  of  a  Scot  in  exile  in  England  will  "  carry  over"  certain 
southern  mannerisms;  French  printers  in  Paris,  or  Chepman 

>  It  may  be  well  to  add  that  these  "transition"  texts  are  more  strongly- 
southern  than  are  the  later  texts  which  continued  the  habit  of  borrowing. 


io<^  The  Scottish  Language 

and  Myllar's  English  craftsmen  in  Edinburgh,  will  bungle  and 
alter;  and  poets  like  Gavin  Douglas  will  deal  in  archaisms 
which  even  an  educated  contemporary  might  not  readily 
understand.  Yet  these  exceptions,  and  others  which  might 
be  named,  but  prove  the  validity  of  the  general  rule. 

Middle  Scots  stands  in  marked  contrast  with  Early  Scots 
in  phonology  and  orthography,  in  accidence,  in  syntax  and  in 
vocabulary  and  word-forms.  It  is  not  desirable  to  attempt 
even  an  outline  of  each  of  these  in  this  short  chapter.  The 
reader  who  wishes  further  acquaintance  is  referred  to  the 
bibhography.  The  remaining  pages  will  be  devoted  to  brief 
consideration  of  the  main  causes  of  change  and  of  their  rela- 
tive importance  in  the  transformation  of  the  dialect,  especially 
in  the  matter  of  vocabulary.  The  persistence  of  certain 
popular  misconceptions,  or  overstatements,  of  the  indebted- 
ness of  Scots  justifies  some  discussion  of  the  question  in  this 
place. 

An  artificial  dialect  such  as  is  used  by  the  greater  Middle 
Scots  poets  is,  in  some  respects,  unaffected  by  the  processes 
which  mould  a  living  speech.  ^  It  draws  from  sources  which 
are  outside  the  natural  means  of  supply;  it  adopts  consciously 
and  in  accordance  with  a  deliberately  accepted  theory  of 
style.  If  it  borrow  the  forms  w^hich  come  to  all  languages 
with  the  new  things  of  the  market-place,  it  does  so  advisedly, 
just  as  it  recovers  the  older  forms  which  have  been  lost  to 
ordinary  speech.  Books  are  its  inspiration,  and  the  making 
of  books  is  its  end.  In  this  way  the  literary  consciousness 
of  an  age  as  it  appears  in  writers  like  Henryson  and  Dunbar 
is  an  index  to  its  linguistic  habit.  When  poets  show  a  new 
pride  in  the  vernacular  and  are  concerned  with  the  problems 
of  poetic  diction  and  form,  their  admiration  of  the  models  of 
style  takes  a  very  practical  turn.  Scottish  hterature,  in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  a  new  fervour,  showed  the  effect  of  its 
enthusiasm  in  the  fashion  of  its  language.  In  it,  as  in  the 
Italian   and   Burgundian,   the  chief   effort  was  to  transform 

»  If  the  entire  literature  of  the  period  (prose  as  well  as  verse)  be  con- 
sidered, this  impression  of  artificiality  will,  of  course,  be  modified.  This 
must  always  be  so,  even  when  eccentricity  is  more  marked  than  it  is  in  the 
present  case.  Yet  we  must  not  underestimate  the  importance  of  a  habit 
which  was,  after  all,  followed  by  all  Middle  Scots  writers  who  make  any  claim 
to  literary  style. 


Southern  Influence  on  Middle  Scots      107 

the  simpler  word  and  phrase  into  "aureate"  mannerism,  to 
"illumine"  the  vernacular,  to  add  "  f resch  anamalit  termis 
celicall."  This  Cretinism  was  the  serious  concern  of  the 
Scottish  poets  for  at  least  a  century,  and  even  of  prose-writers 
such  as  the  author  of  The  Complaynt  of  Scotlande,  or  Abacuck 
Bysset,  so  late  as  1622.  In  the  later  stages  of  Middle  Scots, 
and  especially  in  the  prose,  other  influences  were  at  work, 
but  the  tradition  established  during  the  so-called  "golden 
age"  still  lingered. 

The  chief  modifying  forces  at  work  during  the  middle 
period  are  Enghsh,  Latin  and  French.  Others — say  Celtic 
and  Scandinavian — may  be  neglected,  but  the  case  for  the 
former  will  be  glanced  at  later. 

The  southern,  or  English,  influence,  which  is  the  strongest, 
is  exerted  in  three  ways.  It  comes  through  the  study  of 
Chaucer  and  the  English  "  Chaucerians" ;  through  religious  and 
controversial  literature;  and,  lastly,  through  the  new  political 
and  social  relations  with  England,  prior  to  and  following  the 
accession  of  James  VI  to  the  English  throne.  The  first  of 
these  is  the  most  important.  In  a  later  chapter,  attention 
is  drawn  to  the  debt  of  the  Scottish  "  makars"  to  the  southern 
poet  and  his  followers  for  the  sentiment  and  fabric  of  their 
verse.  The  measure  of  that  debt  is  not  complete  without 
acknowledgment  to  Chaucer's  language.  The  general  effect  on 
Middle  Scots  of  this  literary  admiration  was  an  increase  in  the 
Romance  elements.  It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the 
majority  of  words  of  Anglo-French  origin  which  were  incor- 
porated at  this  time  were  Chaucerian ;  but  it  is  not  always  easy 
to  distinguish  these  words  from  the  Anglo-French  which  had 
been  naturalised  in  the  early  period.  It  must  not  be  for- 
gotten, especially  in  estimating  the  French  contribution  to 
Middle  Scots  (see  post)  that  the  most  active  borrowing  from 
that  quarter  had  been  accomplished  before  this  time.  In  The 
Kingis  Quair  and  Lancelot,  which  illustrate  the  first  Chaucerian 
phase  in  Scots,  the  infusion  is  not  confined  to  the  vocabulary. 
Fantastic  grammatical  forms  are  common:  such  as  infinitives 
in  -en  (even  -ine),  weren  for  war,  past  participles  with  y-, 
frequent  use  of  final  -e — all  unknown  and  impossible  to  the 
northern  dialect.  In  these  cases  there  is  no  mxistaking  the 
writer's  artifice  and  its  source.     Such  freaks  in  accidence  are 


io8  The  Scottish  Language 

hardly  to  be  found  in  the  poetry  of  James  IV's  reign;  though 
Gavin  Douglas's  eclectic  taste  allows  the  southern  ybound  and 
the  nondescript  ysowpit.  In  the  verse  of  the  "golden  age" 
it  is  the  word,  or  tag,  which  is  the  badge  of  Chaucerian  affecta- 
tion. The  prose  shows  little  or  nothing  of  this  literary  remi- 
niscence. John  of  Ireland,  whose  writing  is  the  earliest  extant 
example  of  original  Scots  prose  of  a  literary  cast,  speaks  of 
"Galfryde  Chauceir"  (by  whom  he  really  means  Occleve),  but 
exhibits  no  trace  of  his  influence.  When  the  Middle  Scots 
prose- writer  is  not  merely  annalistic,  or  didactic,  or  argu- 
mentative, he  draws  his  aureat  termis  from  the  familiar  Latin. 
So,  when  The  Complaynt  of  Scotlande  varies  from  the  norm, 
it  is,  in  Rabelais's  phrase,  to  "despumate  the  Latial  verbo- 
cination,"  or  to  revel  in  onomatopoeia. 

In  the  prose,  the  second  and  third  English  influences  are 
more  easily  noted,  and  they  are  found  towards  the  end  of 
the  period,  when  a  general  decadence  has  set  in.  Indeed,  they 
are  the  chief  causes  of  the  undoing  of  Middle  Scots,  of  break- 
ing down  the  very  differences  w^hich  Chaucer,  Latinity  and 
(in  a  minor  degree)  French  intercourse  had  accomplished.  It  is 
to  be  observed  that  the  language  of  nearly  all  religious  litera- 
ture from  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  either  purely 
southern  or  strongly  anglicised:  it  is  worthy  of  special  note 
that,  until  the  publication  of  the  Bassandyne  Bible  in  1576-9, 
all  copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  imported  direct  from  England, 
and  that  the  Bassandyne,  as  authorised  by  the  reformed 
kirk,  is  a  close  transcript  of  the  Genevan  version.  This  must 
have  had  a  powerful  influence  on  the  language,  spoken  and 
written.  Even  in  Lyndsay,  whose  dialect  is  unmistakable, 
translated  passages  from  the  Vulgate  are  taken  direct  from 
the  English  text.  The  literary  influence  was  strengthened  by 
protestant  controversialists,  notably  by  Knox,  perhaps  the 
most "  English"  of  all  Scottish  prose- writers.  This  "  knapping" 
of  "sudroun"  was  one  of  the  charges  preferred  against  them 
by  catholic  pamphleteers — among  others  by  John  Hamilton, 
author  of  Ane  Catholik  and  Facile  Traictise  (1581),  who  even 
saw  treason  in  the  printing  of  Scottish  books  at  London  "in 
contempt  of  our  native  language.''  The  third  English  influ- 
ence, latest  in  activity,  emphasised  these  tendencies.  It  is 
easy  to  trace  in  state  documents  and  in  the  correspondence  of 


The  French  Element  in  Middle  Scots     109 

the  court  the  intrusion  of  southern  forms.  Sal  and  shall,  till 
and  to,  quhilk  and  which,  participles  in  -and  and  -ing,  -it  and 
-ed,  jostle  each  other  continually.  The  going  of  the  court  to 
England,  and  the  consequent  affectation  of  English  ways, 
undid  the  artificial  Middle  Scots  which  had  been  fashioned 
at,  and  for,  that  court.  Poetry  was  transferred,  almost  en  bloc, 
as  if  by  act  of  the  British  Solomon,  to  the  care  of  the  southern 
muse:  all  the  singers,  Alexander,  Aytoun,  Drummond  and  the 
rest  became  "  Elizabethan"  in  language  and  sentiment,  differ- 
ing in  nothing,  except  an  occasional  Scotticism,  from  their 
southern  hosts.  When  Scottish  literature  revives  in  the  mid- 
seventeenth  century,  and  in  the  next  is  again  vigorous,  its 
language  is  the  spoken  dialect,  the  agrest  terniis  of  the  Lothians 
and  west  country.  ^ 

That  the  Romance  contribution  to  Middle  Scots  is  large  is 
obvious;  that  it  is  found  in  writings  which  are  not  mere  tours 
de  force  of  "  aureate"  ingenuity  is  also  obvious.  But  the  sort- 
ing out  of  the  borrowings  according  to  their  origin  has  not 
been  so  clear  to  amateurs  of  Scots  etymology.  There  has 
been  no  lack  of  speculation,  which,  in  its  generally  accepted 
form,  must  be  seriously  traversed. 

The  non-Teutonic  elements  (excluding  Celtic)  are  Latin 
and  French.  An  exaggerated  estimate  of  the  political  and 
social  intercourse  with  France,  and  a  corresponding  neglect  or 
depreciation  of  the  position  of  Latin  in  Scottish  culture,  have 
given  vogue  to  a  theory  of  French  influence  on  the  language 
which  cannot  be  accepted  without  serious  modification.  The 
main  responsibility  for  the  popular  opinion  that  Scots  is 
indebted,  inordinately,  to  French  must  rest  with  the  late 
Francisque  Michel's  Critical  Inquiry  into  the  Scottish  Language, 
with  the  view  of  illustrating  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  Civilisation 
in  Scotland  (1882).  It  may  be  true  that,  "to  thoroughly 
understand  Scottish  civilisation,  we  must  seek  for  most 
of  its  more  important  germs  in  French  sources";  but  certain 
important  qualifications  are  necessary. 

The  French  element  in  Middle  Scots  represents  three  stages 
of  borrowing:  first,  the  material  incorporated  in  the  early 
period  during  the  process  of  Anglo-French  settlement  in  the 

1  Some  qualification  is,  of  course,  necessary  in  Ramsay's  case.  His  anti- 
quarian taste  must  be  reckoned  with  by  the  philologer. 


no  The  Scottish  Language 

Lothians;  next,  the  material,  also  Anglo-French  in  origin 
drawn  from  Chaucer  and  the  "Chaucerian"  texts;  and,  finally, 
the  material  adopted  from  central  French  during  the  close 
diplomatic  intercourse  of  the  Scottish  and  French  courts,  and 
as  a  result  of  the  resort  of  Scottish  students  to  the  university 
of  Paris,  and,  later,  of  the  national  interest  in  Calvinistic 
protestantism.  The  last  of  these  groups  commends  itself 
readily  to  the  popular  imagination :  its  plausibility  is  enforced 
by  recalling  the  stories  of  the  Scot  abroad,  of  careers  like 
Buchanan's,  of  the  Quentin  Durwards,  and  by  pointing  to  the 
copies  of  French  institutions  in  the  College  of  Justice  and 
the  older  universities.  Yet,  when  all  these  are  allowed  for,  the 
borrowings  from  this  third  source  are  the  smallest  in  extent, 
and  by  no  means  important.  From  the  second  source,  which 
is,  in  a  sense,  English  (for  the  borrowings  were  already  natural- 
ised English  words),  the  influx  is  much  greater;  but  from  the 
first,  certainly  the  greatest. 

So  far  as  the  vocabulary  is  concerned,  nearly  all  the  Ro- 
mance elements  in  Middle  Scots  which  cannot  be  traced  to 
the  first  or  second,  the  Anglo-French  or  Chaucerian  source, 
are  of  Latin  origin.  Even  many  of  the  borrowings  which  are 
French  in  form  and  derived  through  French  were  taken  direct 
from  the  rhetoriqueurs  because  they  yielded  a  ready-made 
supply  of  aureate  terms  and  helped  the  purposes  of  writers 
who,  like  Gavin  Douglas,  had  set  themselves  to  cut  and  carve 
Latin  for  the  betterment  of  the  vernacular.  It  was  of  the 
nature  of  an  accident  that  the  media  were  French  books. 
The  forms  appealed  to  the  Latin-speaking,  Latin- thinking  Scot. 
Moreover,  not  a  few  of  the  words  which  are  certainly  French, 
such  as  the  hackneyed  ashet  and  gigot,  belong  to  the  period 
of  Modern  Scots;  others,  as  attour,  boiile,  which  appear  to 
yield  evidence  of  French  origin,  are  "  English"  dialectal  forms. 
When  Francisque  Michel  refers  the  child-word  bae  to  the  bleat 
in  Pathelin  we  begin  to  understand  what  a  Frenchified  thing 
Middle  Scots  must  have  been!  Nor  is  it  easy,  even  with  the 
authority  of  another  investigator,  ^  to  allow  a  French  origin 
to  certain  well-known  eccentricities  of  grammar  and  syntax  in 
^-liddle  Scots — badges  of  that  period  and  of  no  other — the 

'  See  J.  A.  H.  Murray's  Dialect  of  the  Southern  Counties  of  Scotland  (His- 
torical Introduction). 


The  Latin  Element  m 

indefinite  article  and  numeral  ane,  in  all  positions;  the  ad- 
jectival plural,  e.g.  saidis,  quhilkis;  and  the  frequent  placing 
of  the  adjective  after  the  noun,  e.g.  faciis  nierciall,  concepcioun 
virginale,  inimy  mortall.  The  assumption  that  such  a  usage 
as  ane  man  is  an  imitation  of  the  French  un  homme  is,  in  the 
first  place,  entirely  unsupported  by  historical  evidence;  sec- 
ondly, it  shows  a  grammatical  interference  in  a  place  where 
intrusion  is  least  likely,  or  hardly  possible.  In  the  case  of 
the  other  alleged  Gallicisms,  criticism  may  be  more  construc- 
tive, for  they  m^ay  be  explained  (when  they  are  not  the  out- 
come of  verse  necessity)  as  relics  or  reminiscences  of  Latin 
syntactical  habit.  The  tradition  of  theological  and  legal 
Latin  must  be  reckoned  with;  and  the  fact  that  the  adjectival 
plural  is  admitted  to  be  first  found  "in  legal  verbiage"  is  an 
important  link  in  the  evidence. 

So  far,  we  have  assumed  that  the  Romance  influence  which 
is  not  Anglo-French  or  Chaucerian  comes  through  Latin  rather 
than  French.  We  may  strengthen  this  position  by  pointing 
to  the  ascertained  importance  of  Latin  in  the  moulding  of 
Middle  Scots.  There  is,  in  the  first  place,  the  direct  testimony 
of  contemporary  writers  to  the  vitality  of  Latin,  which  stands 
in  remarkable  contrast  with  their  silence  on  the  subject  of 
French  borrowing.  The  circumstances  of  the  writer  and  the 
nature  of  his  work  must,  of  course,  be  considered.  It  is  to  be 
expected  that,  in  a  translation  from  Latin,  or  in  treatises  on 
theology,  political  science,  or  law,  the  infusion  will  be  stronger 
than  in  an  original  work  of  an  imaginative  or  descriptive  cast. 
This  consideration  may  affect  our  conclusion  as  to  the  average 
strength  of  the  infusion,  but  it  does  not  minimise  the  im- 
portance of  the  fact  that  Middle  Scots  was  liable  to  influence 
from  this  quarter.  The  testimony  of  such  different  writers  as 
John  of  Ireland,  Gavin  Douglas  and  the  author  of  The  Com- 
playnt  of  Scotlande  is  instructive.  John  excuses  his  Scots 
style  because  he  w^as  "  thretty  jeris  nurist  in  fraunce,  and  in 
the  noble  study  of  Paris  in  latin  toung,  and  knew  nocht  the 
gret  eloquens  of  chauceir  na  colouris  l-at  men  usis  in  Y\s  Inglis 
metir."  Nor  was  he  (we  may  be  certain)  the  only  Scot  who, 
when  it  was  a  question  of  writing  "in  the  commoun  langage 
of  I'is  cuntre,"  sought  help  from  Latin,  "the  tounge  that  [he] 
knew  better."     Gavin  Douglas  allows  the  general  necessity  of 


112  The  Scottish  Language 

"bastard  latyne,  french,  or  inglis"  to  a  progressive  Scots,  but 
he  discusses  the  advantages  of  only  the  first,  and  shows  that 
in  his  task  of  translating  Vergil  he  must  draw  freely  from 
Latin,  if  his  work  is  not  to  be  "mank  and  mutilait"  as  Cax- 
ton's  was.  The  author  of  The  Complayiit  says  plainly  that  "it 
is  necessair  at  sum  tyme  til  myxt  oure  langage  vitht  part  of 
termis  dreuyn  fra  lateen,  be  reson  that  oure  scottis  tong  is 
nocht  sa  copeus  as  is  the  lateen  tong." 

These  confessions  are  amply  supported  by  the  texts. 
There  we  find  not  only  words  of  unmistakable  Latin  lineage 
such  as  translatory,  praetermittit,  caliginus,  but  others  used  in 
their  Latin  sense,  such  as  prefferris  (excels) ,  pretendis  (aims  at) , 
and  the  like.  Further,  there  is  ample  evidence  of  the  process, 
at  which  Douglas  clearly  hints,  that  Latin  was  drawn  upon 
without  hesitation  and  without  any  attempt  to  disguise  the 
borrowing.  The  word  mank  in  the  quotation  already  given 
is  an  illustration.  It  may  be  Old  French  (through  Anglo- 
French),  but  its  natural  parent  is  manc-us.  Examples  of 
direct  association  with.  Latin  are  plentiful:  here,  two  must 
suffice.  "  Withoutin  more  or  delay"  is  plain  sine  mora  ant 
dilatione:  no  imaginary  French  "more"  intervenes.  Even  at 
the  close  of  the  period  a  man  may  be  described  in  kirk  minutes 
as  "apt  and  idoneus  to  enter  the  ministry."  In  accidence 
even,  as  in  the  uninflected  past  participle,  e.g.  did  fatigat,  being 
deliberat,  salbe  repute — a  form  which  still  lingers  in  Scottish 
legal  style — the  derivation  from  Latin  is  direct. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  the  Romance  material  in  Middle 
Scots,  in  so  far  as  it  is  not  Anglo-French,  directly  or  mediately, 
is  largely  Latin.  Central  French  is  certainly  represented  in 
such  words  as  preaux  and  charpentier,  but  they  are  in  many 
cases  ana^  Xsyofxsva  or  the  liking  of  certain  authors.  To 
counterbalance  this,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  in  The  Com- 
playnt  of  Scotlande,  that  strange  mosaic  of  verbatim  translation 
from  French  with  encyclopaedic  digressions  in  Scots  which  are 
assumed  to  be  original,  the  author  is  a  more  deliberate  Latinist 
in  the  latter  than  he  is  when  rendering  the  passages  from  the 
rhitoriqueurs.  Here,  again,  it  is  the  "rhetorical"  quality 
which  attracts  him  to  the  French  authors.  He  pays  little  heed 
to  the  French  timbre  of  their  work,  and  hastens,  when  he  must 
be  original,  to  find  the  closest  imitation  in  diction  of  this  sort. 


Alleged  Celtic  Contributions 


11^ 


Nou  for  conclusione  of  this  prolog,  i  exort  the,  gude  redar,  to 
correct  me  familiarly,  ande  be  cherite,  Ande  til  interpreit  my 
intention  fauorablye,  for  doutles  the  motione  of  the  compilatione 
of  this  tracteit  procedis  mair  of  the  compassione  that  i  hef  of  the 
public  necessite  nor  it  dois  of  presumptione  or  vane  gloir.  thy 
cheretabil  correctione  maye  be  ane  prouocatione  to  gar  me  studye 
mair  attentiulye  in  the  nyxt  verkis  that  i  intend  to  set  furtht,  the 
quhilk  i  beleif  in  gode  sal  be  verray  necessair  tyl  al  them  that 
desiris  to  lyue  verteouslye  indurand  the  schort  tyme  of  this  oure 
fragil  peregrinatione,  &  sa  fayr  veil. 

And  this  writer  dares  to  call  these  words  "agrest  termis,"  and 
to  add  that  he  "  thocht  it  nocht  necessair  til  hef  fardit  ande 
lardit  this  tracteit  vitht  exquisite  termis,  quhilkis  ar  nocht 
daly  vsit"  and  that  he  has  employed  "domestic  Scottis 
langage,  maist  intelligibil  for  the  vulgare  pepil." 

It  has  been  argued  that  an  additional  cause  of  the  differ- 
ences between  Early  and  Middle  Scots  is  to  be  found  in  Celtic. 
Interaction  has  been  assumed  because  the  Lowlander  and 
Highlander  were  brought  into  a  closer,  though  forced,  associa- 
tion in  a  unified  Scotland,  or  because  the  anti-English  policy 
of  the  former,  threw  him  back,  no  matter  with  what  feelings, 
upon  his  northern  and  western  neighbours.  There  are,  how- 
ever, serious  objections  to  the  general  assumption  and  to  the 
identification  of  many  of  the  alleged  borrowings  from  Celtic. 
In  regard  to  the  first,  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  (a)  that  the  only 
possible  interaction,  literary  or  otherwise,  was  with  the  Gaels 
of  the  west  and  south-west ;  {b)  that  the  inhabitants  of  Strath- 
clyde  and  Galloway  were,  to  a  certain  extent,  Romanised 
Celts;  and  (c)  that  race-antipathies,  as  shown  in  The  Flyting 
of  Dunbar  and  Kennedie,  were  a  strong  barrier  to  linguistic 
give-and-take,  especially  in  grammatical  structure  and  ortho- 
graphy. On  the  marches  there  would  be  borrowing  of  words, 
perhaps  even  breaking  down  of  inflections  and  phonetic  change. 
There  is  evidence  of  such  effects  in  the  initial  /  for  quh  (hw) 
of  the  pronoun,  at  the  Aberdeenshire  end  of  the  "  Highland 
line";  but  changes  of  this  kind  do  not  affect  the  literary 
standard,  or  every  dialect  of  the  spoken  language. 

The  alleged  contributions  from  Celtic  are  (a)  verbal  and 
(6)  orthographic,  perhaps  phonological.  The  first  are  ad- 
mittedly of  the  slightest,  and  are  being  gradually  reduced. 

VOL.  II. 8 


ii4  The  Scottish  Language 

In  the  second  a  contingency  is  assumed  which,  as  in  the  case 
of  central  French  interference,  was  the  least  likely  to  happen. 
The  closest  intimacy  is  necessary  before  one  language,  espe- 
cially that  which  is  dominant,  permits  modifications  of  its 
grammatical  and  orthographic  habit.  Our  chief  authority  on 
Lowland  dialects  ^  has  described  some  of  the  salient  variations 
of  Middle  Scots,  "  in  the  form  of  words,  and  consequently  in 
their  written  form,"  as  "due  mostly  to  Celtic  influence." 
While  it  may  be  admitted  that  Middle  Scots  was  not  "  founded 
upon  precisely  the  same  dialectic  type  as  the  written  language 
of  the  early  period,"  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that  bnik,  moir, 
glaid,  etc.  for  older  northern  forms,  the  loss  of  t  as  in  direck, 
or  its  addition  as  in  witht,  the  inserted  mute  I  in  chalmer  (or 
chaumer,  as  pronounced),  rolkis  (rocks)  and  waltir  (water), 
the  t  in  the  past  part,  as  defamet,  or  in  the  adverb,  as  in  fra- 
li'art — that  any  of  these  things  are  the  result  of  the  Low- 
lander's  unconscious  affectation  of  "  Ersch"  speech.  The  onus 
probandi  lies  with  the  supporters  of  this  view.  At  present  no 
evidence  has  been  produced:  it  will  be  surprising  if  it  can  be 
produced. 

^Dialect  of  the  Southern  Counties  of  Scotland. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Earliest  Scottish    Literature 

Barbour,  Blind  Harry,  Huchoun,  Wyntoun,  Holland 

AS  has  been  indicated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  it  is  probable 
that,  from  a  very  early  period  in  the  English  colonisation 
of  Britain,  an  English  dialect  was  spoken  from  Forth 
to  Tweed,  which  was,  in  most  respects,  practically  indistin- 
guishable from  that  spoken  between  the  Tweed  and  the 
Humber.  Even  along  the  north-eastern  coast,  English  was 
soon  the  language  of  the  little  towns  that  traded  by  sea.  Be- 
fore 1 1 24,  the  communities  of  Aberdeen,  Banff,  Elgin,  Forres, 
Nairn  and  Inverness  had  formed  themselves  into  a  miniature 
Hanseatic  league,  on  which  David  I  conferred  sundry  privi- 
leges. The  inland  country  behind  these  communities  remained 
for  long  in  the  hands  of  a  Gaelic-speaking  people.  In  the 
north  of  Aberdeenshire  there  is  evidence  that  the  harrying  of 
Buchan,  carried  out  by  Robert  the  Bruce,  in  1308,  as  part  of 
his  vengeance  on  his  enemies  the  Comyns,  introduced  the 
English  language  to  the  inland  districts,  for  in  local  docu- 
ments the  names  of  persons  change  speedily  after  that  date 
from  Gaelic  to  English. 

Of  a  Scottish  literature  before  the  wars  of  independence 
there  is  no  trace.  In  the  period  preceding  the  death  of  Alex- 
ander III,  in  1286,  Scotland  was  so  prosperous  that  it  is 
difficult  to  believe  no  such  literature  existed.  But,  as  the 
dialect  of  Scotland  was  not  yet  differentiated  from  that  south 
of  the  Tweed,  such  a  literature,  unless  it  took  the  form  of 
chronicles  or  was  of  a  strictly  local  character,  could  not  easily 
be  identified.  It  is  noticeable  that  there  is  no  lack  of  litera- 
ture of  which  the  scene  is  connected  with  Scotland.  The 
romance  of  Sir  Tristram,  which  is  associated  with  the  name 


ii6  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

of  True  Thomas,  the  mysterious  seer  of  Erceldoune,  is  pre- 
served only  in  a  dialect  which  is  not  Scots.  Though  the 
Gawain  cycle  appears  in  different  forms  in  different  dialects, 
all  of  them  seem  to  be  English.  Yet  Gawain,  according  to 
the  legend,  was  prince  of  Galloway;  and,  as  we  shall  see,  there 
is  some  reason  to  connect  some  of  these  poems  with  a  Scottish 
author.  The  contradiction,  however,  is  more  in  appearance 
than  in  reality.  If  these  poems  were  composed  by  a  Scottish 
author,  they  were,  undoubtedly,  intended  rather  for  recitation 
than  for  reading;  and,  even  if  they  were  meant  to  be  read,  a 
southern  scribe  would  be  certain  to  adapt  the  forms  to  his 
own  dialect.  This  adaptation  might  be  either  intentional  or 
unintentional.  If  intentional,  the  purpose  would  be  to  make 
the  poem  more  easily  intelligible  to  southern  readers;  if  unin- 
tentional, it  would  typify  the  result  which  alw^ays  ensues  in 
all  languages  from  the  mechanical  copying  of  an  alien  dialect. 
In  the  Scots  dialect  itself,  the  political  separation  brought 
about  by  the  wars  of  Wallace  and  Bruce  produced  considerable 
changes.  The  oldest  fragments  of  the  dialect  are  to  be  found 
in  the  phrases  introduced  for  greater  precision  into  the  Latin 
laws  of  David  I  and  his  successors.  In  these  we  hear  of 
hlodewit,  styngisdynt,  herieth  and  so  forth,  for  which,  in  the 
later  Scots  version,  are  substituted  hludewyt,  stokisdynt,  here- 
yelde.  Till  Scotland  has  become  again  an  independent  king- 
dom, such  words  as  these,  and  the  vernacular  glosses  on  the 
hard  words  in  a  Latin  lease,  are  all  that  survive  to  us  of  the 
old  Scottish  tongue.  Of  early  continuous  prose  there  are  no 
remains.  The  earliest  poetry  extant  appears  in  the  few  musi- 
cal and  pathetic  verses  on  the  death  of  Alexander  III,  which 
have  been  quoted  a  thousand  times : 

Quhen  Alysandyr  oure  kyng  was  dede 

That  Scotland  led  in  luve  and  le, 
Away  wes  sons^  off  ale  and  brede, 

Oflf  wyne  and  wax,  ofif  gamyn  and  gle; 
Oure  gold  wes  changyd  into  lede, 

Cryst  born  into  Vyrgynyt^ 
Succoure  Scotland  and  remede 

That  stad  is  in  perplexytd. 

Though  preserved  only  by  Wyntoun  {c.  1420),  they,  no 

'  abundance. 


John  Barbour  117 

doubt,  are  not  far  removed  from  the  original  form  of  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier.  In  Fabyan's  Chronicle  are 
preserved  some  of  the  flouts  and  gibes  at  the  English,  baffled 
in  the  siege  of  Berwick  and  defeated  at  Bannockburn.  But 
it  is  with  Barbour,  whose  poem  The  Bruce  is  the  triumphant 
chronicle  of  the  making  of  the  new  kingdom  of  Scotland  by 
Robert  and  Edward  Bruce  and  the  great  "James  of  Douglas," 
that  Scottish  literature  begins.  As  the  national  epic,  coloured, 
evidently,  to  a  large  extent  by  tradition,  but  written  while  men 
still  lived  who  remembered  Bannockburn  and  the  good  king 
Robert,  it  is  entitled  to  the  first  place,  even  though  conceivably 
some  of  the  literature  of  pure  romance  be  not  less  old. 

In  John  Barbour,  the  author  of  The  Bruce,  we  have  a 
typical  example  of  the  prosperous  churchman  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  As  we  may  surmise  from  his  name,  he  had  sprung 
from  the  common  folk.  Of  his  early  history  we  know  nothing. 
We  first  hear  of  him  in  1357,  when  he  applies  to  Edward  III 
for  a  safe-conduct  to  take  him  and  a  small  following  of  three 
scholars  to  Oxford  for  purposes  of  study.  By  that  date,  he 
was  already  archdeacon  of  Aberdeen,  and,  as  an  archdeacon, 
must  have  been  at  least  twenty-five  years  old.  He  probably 
was  some  years  older.  He  died,  an  old  man,  in  1396,  and  we 
may  reasonably  conjecture  that  he  was  bom  soon  after  1320, 
In  those  days  there  was  no  university  in  Scotland,  and  it  may 
be  assumed  that  the  archdeacon  of  Aberdeen  was,  in  all  proba- 
bility, proceeding  in  1357  to  Oxford  with  some  young  scholars 
whom  he  was  to  place  in  that  university;  for  the  Latin  of  the 
safe-conduct  need  not  mean,  as  has  often  been  assumed,  that 
Barbour  himself  was  to  "  keep  acts  in  the  schools."  The  safe- 
conduct  was  granted  him  at  the  request  of  "  David  de  Bruys," 
king  of  Scotland,  at  that  time  a  captive  in  King  Edward's 
hands;  and  Barbour's  next  duty,  in  the  same  year,  was  to 
serve  on  a  commission  for  the  ransom  of  king  David.  Other 
safe-conducts  were  granted  to  Barbour  in  1364,  1365  and  1368; 
that  of  1365  allowing  him  to  pass  to  St.  Denis  in  France, 
while,  in  1368,  he  was  allowed  to  cross  into  France  for  pur- 
poses of  study.  In  1372  and  1373,  he  was  clerk  of  the  audit 
of  the  king's  household;  and,  in  1373,  also  one  of  the  auditors 
of  the  exchequer.  By  the  early  part  of  1376,  The  Bruce  was 
finished;  and,  soon  after,  we  find  him  receiving  by  command 


ii8  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

of  the  king  (now  Robert  II)  ten  pounds  from  the  revenues  of 
the  city  of  Aberdeen.  In  1378,  a  pension  of  twenty  shillings 
sterling  from  the  same  source  was  conferred  upon  him  for  ever 
— a  benefaction  which,  in  1380,  he  transferred  to  the  cathedral 
of  Aberdeen,  that  the  dean  and  canons  might,  once  a  year,  say 
mass  for  the  souls  of  his  parents,  himself  and  all  the  faithful 
dead.  With  northern  caution,  he  lays  down  careful  regula- 
tions as  to  how  the  dean  is  to  divide  the  twenty  shillings 
among  the  staff  of  the  cathedral,  not  forgetting  even  the 
sacrist  (the  name  still  survives  in  Aberdeen)  who  tolled  the 
bell.  Other  sums  were  paid  to  Barbour  by  the  king's  order 
from  the  revenues  of  Aberdeen,  and,  in  1388,  his  pension  was 
raised  by  the  king,  "for  his  faithful  service,"  to  ten  pounds, 
to  be  paid  half-yearly  at  the  Scottish  terms  of  Whitsunday 
and  Martinmas,  He  died  on  13  March  1396.  Like  Chaucer, 
he  received  from  the  king  (in  13  80-1)  the  wardship  of  a  minor 
who  lived  in  his  parish  of  Rayne  in  Aberdeenshire.  On  at 
least  one  of  the  many  occasions  when  he  was  auditor  of  the 
exchequer.  Sir  Hew  of  Eglintoun,  who,  as  we  shall  see,  is  also 
reputed  a  poet,  served  along  with  him. 

Such  are  the  simple  annals  of  John  Barbour's  life,  as  known 
to  us.  For  thirty-eight  years  at  least  he  was  archdeacon  of 
Aberdeen,  then,  probably,  one  of  the  most  prosperous  towns  in 
the  realm.  Fortunately  for  itself,  it  was  far  removed  from  the 
border,  and  had  not  suffered  so  severely  as  most  towns  in  the 
wars  of  liberation,  though  it  had  been  visited  by  all  the  lead- 
ing combatants,  by  Wallace,  by  Edward  I  and  by  Bruce.  The 
records  of  the  city,  unfortunately,  do  not  begin  till  a  few  years 
after  Barbour's  death.  There  is,  however,  some  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  Barbour  was  not  alone  in  his  literary  activity.  To 
the  same  district  and  to  the  same  period  belong  the  Lives  of 
the  Saints,  a  manuscript  discovered  in  the  Cambridge  Univer- 
sity Library  by  Henry  Bradshaw,  who  assigned  the  authorship 
to  Barbour  himself.  From  Wyntoun  we  learn  that  Barbour 
was  the  author  of  other  works  which  are  now  lost.  In  many 
passages  he  refers  to  themes  treated  of  in  a  quasi-historical 
poem.  The  Brut,  which  clearly,  in  matter,  bore  a  close  resem- 
blance to  Layamon's  poem  with  the  same  title.  To  Barbour, 
Wyntoun  attributes,  also,  another  lost  poem.  The  Stewartis 
OryginaUe,  which  carried  back  the  genealogy  of  the  Stewart 


John  Barbour  119 

kings  from  Robert  II  of  Scotland  to  Ninus  who  built  Nineveh — 
a  tour  de  force  excelled  only  by  another  Aberdonian,  Sir  Thomas 
Urquhart,  the  translator  of  Rabelais,  who  carried  the  genealogy 
of  his  family  back  to  Adam  himself.  It  was  perfectly  well 
known  that  the  Stewarts  were  a  branch  of  the  ancient  English 
house  of  FitzAlan;  but,  in  the  bitter  feeling  against  England 
which  by  this  time  had  come  to  prevail  in  Scotland,  it  was,  no 
doubt,  desirable  to  find  another  and  more  remote  origin  for  the 
Scottish  royal  family.  The  feeling  which  led  to  the  production 
of  this  fabulous  genealogy  is  vouched  for  by  the  author  of  the 
Lives  of  the  Saints  already  mentioned,  who  tells  us,  in  the  life 
of  St.  Ninian,  that  a  paralytic  EngHsh  lord  desired  his  squire, 
who  had  brought  home  a  Scot  as  prisoner,  to  put  a  knife  in 
his  mouth  with  the  blade  outward,  that  he  might  "reave  the 
Scot  of  his  life."  This  lord,  having  been  dissuaded  from  his 
deed  of  murder,  and  having  listened  to  the  advice  of  the 
prisoner  that  he  should  try  a  visit  to  St.  Ninian 's  shrine  as  a 
cure  for  his  paralysis,  finds  the  cure  long  in  coming,  and  says 
that  he  might  have  known,  if  he  had  been  wise,  that  a  Scots- 
man of  Galloway,  as  Ninian  was,  would  never  help  an  English- 
man, and  would  prefer  to  make  him  ill  rather  than  assist  him 
to  recover.  The  genealogy  survives  for  us  in  the  History  of 
Hector  Boece,  where  we  are  told  that  Fleance,  the  son  of 
Banquo,  had  a  son  Walter,  who  became  steward  of  Scotland 
— a  genealogy  which  passed  from  Boece  through  Holinshed  to 
Shakespeare. 

To  Barbour  also  has  been  attributed  a  poem  on  the  Siege 
of  Troy,  translated  from  the  popular  medieval  Latin  Troy  Book 
of  Guido  delle  Colonne,  of  which  two  considerable  fragments  are 
preserved  with  Barbour's  name  in  a  manuscript  in  the  Cam- 
bridge University  Librar}^  The  second  fragment  is  found  also 
in  a  Douce  MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  these  fragments,  which  have  been  utilised  to  complete  an 
imperfect  copy  of  Lydgate's  translation  to  Guido,  are  in  the 
same  metre  as  The  Bruce,  which  is  shorter  than  that  of  Lydgate. 
They  are  also,  no  doubt,  in  Scots,  but,  in  all  probability,  they 
are  in  the  Scots  of  the  fifteenth,  not  of  the  fourteenth,  century, 
and,  in  detail,  do  not  resemble  Barbour's  undoubted  compo- 
sition. More  recently,  and  with  much  more  plausibility, 
George  Neilson  has  contended  that  The  Buik  of  Alexander,  a 


120         The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

Scottish  translation  from  two  French  poems,  is  by  the  author 
of  The  Bruce.  The  similarities  of  phraseology  between  The 
Bulk  of  Alexander  (which  exists  only  in  a  printed  copy  of 
about  1580,  reprinted  for  the  Bannatyne  Club  in  1831)  and 
The  Bruce  are  so  numerous  and  so  striking  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  believe  they  are  of  independent  origin. 

To  return  to  The  Bruce.  This,  the  work  by  which  the 
reputation  of  John  Barbour  stands  or  falls,  dates  from  his 
later  middle  life.  He  must  have  been  a  man  of  between  fifty 
and  sixty  before  it  was  finished.  It  is  in  no  real  sense  a 
history,  for  Barbour  begins  with  the  astounding  confusion  of 
Robert  the  Bruce  with  his  grandfather  the  rival  of  John 
Balliol  in  claiming  the  crown.  As  Barbour's  own  life  over- 
lapped that  of  king  Robert,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that 
this  is  an  accidental  oversight.  The  story  is  a  romance,  and 
the  author  treated  it  as  such;  though,  strange  to  say,  it  has 
been  regarded  from  his  own  time  to  this  as,  in  all  details,  a 
trustworthy  source  for  the  history  of  the  period.  So  confident 
of  this  was  Wyntoun,  writing  about  a  quarter  of  a  century 
after  Barbour's  death,  that  he  says  he  will  lightly  pass  over 
the  details  of  Bruce's  career  because 

The  Archedene  off  Abbyrdene 
In  Brwyss  his  Buk  has  gert  be  sene, 
Mare  wysly  tretyde  in-to  wryt 
Than  I  can  thynk  with  all  my  wyt. 

Like  any  other  hero  of  romance,  Robert  has  no  peer  and 
no  superior,  though  inferior  to  him  and  to  him  only  are  two 
other  knights,  James  of  Douglas  and  Edward  Bruce.  It  is 
only  natural,  therefore,  that,  when  he  fights  against  the  Eng- 
lish, the  English  have  much  the  worst  of  it,  even  when  the 
odds  are  very  much  in  their  favour.  But,  though  Barbour  is 
an  ardent  patriot,  he  does  his  best  to  be  fair,  and,  no  doubt, 
the  main  historical  events  are  related  with  good  faith  and 
as  accurately  as  tradition  allowed.  The  English  are  not  all 
villains,  the  Scots  are  not  all  angels  from  heaven.  For  Maknab 
the  traitor,  who  betrayed  Christopher  Setoun  to  the  English, 
he  reserves  his  bitterest  indignation: 

In  hell  condampnyt  mot  he  be.     iv,  26. 


Barbour's  "  Bruce"  121 

All  Barbour's  resources  are  lavished  upon  the  characters 
of  king  Robert  and  the  good  James  of  Douglas.  Edward 
Bruce  is  a  fine  warrior,  but  attains  not  unto  these  first  two 
for  lack  of  self  control  (ix,  661  ff.,  xvi,  391  ff.).  Had  he  had 
"mesur  in  his  deid"  he  might  have  equalled  any  warrior  of 
his  time,  always  excepted 

his  brother  anyrly^ 
To  quhom,  in-to  chevelry, 
I  dar  peir2  nane,  wes  in  his  day.     ix,  664  ff. 

Douglas,  too,  is  noble,  but  he  is  a  darker  spirit  than  king 
Robert  and  more  cruel  in  his  treatment  of  the  English,  for  he 
has  greater  wrongs  to  revenge.  Nothing  becomes  him  better 
than  his  reply  to  king  Robert's  advice  not  to  venture  into 
Douglasdale : 

Schir,  neidwais  I  will  wend 
And  tak  auentur  that  God  will  giff 
Quhether  sa  it  be  till  de  or  liff.     v,  242  flf. 

Barbour  does  not  often  draw  full  length  portraits  of  his 
heroes ;  but,  almost  at  the  end  of  his  poem,  tells  us  how  Douglas 
looked  and  what  were  his  chief  characteristics  (xx,  511  ff.). 
The  only  other  with  whom  he  deals  as  fully  is  Sir  Thomas 
Randolph,  earl  of  Murray  (x,  280  ff.).  In  both  cases  he 
praises,  above  all  else,  their  hatred  of  treason  (from  which  the 
Scots,  both  in  the  wars  of  Wallace  and  of  Bruce,  had  suffered 
so  much)  and  their  love  of  loyalty.  Douglas,  he  thinks,  can 
be  compared  only  with  Fabricius,  who  scorned  the  offer  of 
Pyrrhus's  physician  to  poison  him. 

The  kindliness  and  humour  of  king  Robert  he  illustrates 
by  numerous  instances — his  delaying  the  army,  in  order  that 
a  poor  laundress,  too  ill  to  be  moved,  may  not  be  left  behind 
to  the  mercy  of  Irish  savages  (xvi,  270  ff.) ;  his  modesty  in 
declaring  that  he  slew  but  one  foe  while  God  and  his  hound 
had  slain  two  (vii,  484) ;  his  popularity  among  the  country 
folk,  when,  disguised,  he  seeks  a  lodging  and  is  told  by  the 
goodwife 

all  that  traualand  ere 
For  saik  of  ane  ar  velcom  here, 

>  alone.  '  compare. 


122  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

and  that  one 

Gud  kyng  Robert  the  Bruce  is  he 

That  is  rycht  lord  of  this  cuntre.     vii,  243  ff. 

On  occasion  Barbour  displays  a  dry,  caustic  humour  char- 
acteristic of  his  country.  Once  on  a  time  there  were  such 
prophets  as  David,  Samuel,  Joel  and  Isaiah, 

Bot  thai  prophetis  so  thyn  are  sawin 

That  thair  in  erd  now  nane  is  knawin.     iv,  685  f. 

Of  king  Edward  he  remarks  that 

Of  othir  mennis  landis  large  wes  he.     xi,  148. 

When  O'Dymsy  let  out  a  loch  in  Ireland  upon  Edward 
Bruce's  men,  Barbour's  comment  is  that  though  they  lacked 
meat,  they  were  well  wet  (xiv,  366). 

Barbour  does  not  often  moralise;  but,  here  and  there,  he 
turns  aside  from  his  narrative  to  express  a  general  sentiment. 
The  most  famous  passage  of  this  kind  is  that  on  Liberty  which, 
to  Barbour,  born  when  his  country  was  just  emerging  from  a 
life  and  death  struggle  for  its  independence,  must  have  had 
a  vividness  beyond  what  the  modern  reader  can  realise.  Truth 
to  tell,  the  passage  reads  better  as  an  extract  than  in  its 
original  setting,  where  it  ends  in  a  curious  piece  of  medieval 
monkish  casuistry. 

A!  fredome  is  a  noble  thing! 
Fredome  mayss  man  to  haiff  liking; 
Fredome  all  solace  to  man  giffis: 
He  levys  at  ess  that  frely  levys! 
A  noble  hart  may  haiff  nane  ess 
Na  ellys  nocht  that  may  him  pless, 
Gyff  fredome  faibhe  ^ ;  for  fre  liking 
Is  5harnyt2  our  all  othir  thing. 
Na  he,  that  ay  hass  levyt  fre 
May  nocht  knaw  weill  the  propyrte. 
The  angyr,  na  the  wrechyt  dome, 
That  is  cowplyt  to  foule  thyrldome; 
Bot  gyff  he  had  assay  it  it 
Than  all  perquer  ^  he  suld  it  wyt, 

1  fail.  ^desired.  ^  thoroughly. 


Barbour's  "  Bruce"  123 

And  suld  think  fredome  mar  to  pryss 

Than  all  the  gold  in  warld  that  is.     i,  225  ff. 

Less  well  known  is  his  praise  of  love  as  that  which 

mony  tyme  maiss  tender  wychtis 
Off  swilk  strenthtis,  and  swilk  mychtis 
That  thai  may  mekill  paynys  endur.     11,  522  ff. 

The  tears  of  joy  with  which  Lennox  and  his  men  welcome 
Bruce  and  his  followers,  whom  they  meet  half-famished  among 
the  hills  after  they  believed  them  dead,  lead  the  poet  on  to 
a  curious  disquisition  on  what  makes  men  and  women  weep 
(ill,  596  ff.)-  But,  generally  speaking,  these  yvc^/uai  are 
confined  to  a  single  verse  such  as 

Bot  quhar  god  helpys,  quhat  may  understand  ?     i,  456. 

The  changes  and  chances  of  the  long-continued  war  brought 
home  to  him  very  vividly  the  fickleness  of  fortune 

That  quhile  upon  a  man  will  smyle 

And  prik  him  syne  ane  othir  quhile.     xiii,  633  f. 

Bot  oft  fabies  the  fulys  thoucht 

And  wiss  men's  etling  ^  cumis  nocht 

Til  sic  end  as  thai  weyn  alwayis. 

A  little  stane  oft,  as  men  sayis, 

May  ger  weltir  ane  mekill  wane. 

Na  manis  mycht  may  stand  agane 

The  grace  of  God,  that  all  thing  steiris.     xi,  21  ff. 

Barbour  was  not  of  the  order  whose  "  eye  in  a  fine  frenzy 
rolling.  Doth  glance  from  heaven  to  earth,  from  earth  to 
heaven."  He  was  a  God-fearing  churchman  and  statesman, 
who  thought  it  well  to  put  on  record  his  country's  deliverance, 
before,  in  the  inglorious  days  of  Bruce's  successors,  its  memory 
should  have  perished.  And  what  he  aimed  at  he  achieved. 
Like  Scott,  whose  poetry  he  inspired,  he  finds  his  metre  so 
facile  that,  at  times,  he  falls  into  the  merest  commonplace. 
The  battle  of  Bannockburn  occupies  an  altogether  dispro- 
portionate space  in  the  poem.  Nevertheless,  the  description 
of  the  battle  is  Barbour's  masterpiece.     He  must  often  have 

» endeavour. 


124  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

talked  with  men  who  had  fought  at  Bannockburn ;  he  obviously 
had  a  very  clear  conception  of  the  manner  in  which  the  day 
was  lost  and  won.  In  his  narrative  he  combines  the  qualities 
which  Matthew  Arnold  assigns  to  the  highest  epic  style;  he  is 
rapid  in  movement,  plain  in  words  and  in  style,  simple  in 
ideas  and  noble  in  manner.  The  only  one  of  these  character- 
istics which  can  be  disputed  is  the  last.  But  the  description 
which  follows  speaks  for  itself.  How  it  appealed  to  the  most 
Homeric  of  Barbour's  admirers  all  readers  of  Scott's  Lord  of 
the  Isles  are  aware: 

And  quhen  schir  Gelis  de  Argente 

Saw  the  king  thus  and  his  men?e^ 

Schape  theme  to  fie  so  spedely, 

He  com  richt  to  the  kyng  in  hy,2 

And  said,  "  schir,  sen  that  it  is  swa 

That  56  thusgat  jour  gat  will  ga, 

Hafhs  gud  day !  for  agane  will  I ; 

jheit  fled  I  neuir  sekirly. 

And  I  cheiss  heir  to  byde  and  de 

Than  till  lif  heir  and  schamfully  fie." 

His  brydill  than  but  mair  abaid  ^ 

He  turnyt,  and  agane  he  raid, 

And  on  schir  Eduard  the  Brysis  rout 

That  was  so  sturdy  and  so  stout. 

As  dreid  of  nakyn  thing  had  he, 

He  pry  kit,  cryand  "Argente!" 

And  thai  with  speris  swa  him  met, 

And  swa  feill  speris  on  hym  set. 

That  he  and  horss  war  chargit  swa 

That  bath  doune  to  the  erd  can  ga; 

And  in  that  place  than  slayne  wes  he.     xiii,  299  flp, 

Barbour's  achievement  in  his  age  and  circumstances  is 
very  remarkable.  This  is  more  vividly  realised,  if  his  work 
be  compared  with  the  other  national  epic,  Blind  Harry's 
Wallace,  which,  in  its  own  country,  secured  a  more  permanent 
and  more  general  popularity  than  The  Bruce.  Till  into  the 
nineteenth  century,  one  of  the  few  books  in  every  cottage 
was  the  Wallace.^    The  causes  of   this  popularity  are  to  be 

>  following.  2  in  haste.  ^  without  more  delay. 

« In  the  eighteenth  century  modernised  by  Hamilton  of  Gilbertfield. 


Blind  Harry's  "Wallace"  125 

sought  in  the  fact  that  Wallace,  being  more  genuinely  a  Scot 
than  Bruce,  as  time  went  on,  came  more  and  more  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  national  hero,  and  his  exploits  were  magnified 
so  as  to  include  much  with  which  Wallace  had  nothing  to  do. 
The  very  defects  of  Harry's  poem  commended  it  to  the  vulgar. 
It  professes  to  be  the  work  of  a  burel  man,  one  without  special 
equipment  as  a  scholar,  though  it  is  clear  that  Harry  could 
at  least  read  Latin.  While  Barbour's  narrative  contains  a 
certain  amount  of  anecdotal  matter  derived  from  tradition, 
and,  on  some  occasions,  deviates  from  the  truth  of  history, 
it  is,  on  the  whole,  moderate,  truthful  and  historical.  Harry's 
work,  on  the  other  hand,  obviously  is  little  but  a  tradition  of 
facts  seen  through  the  mists  of  a  century  and  a  half.  His- 
torians are  unable  to  assign  to  the  activity  of  Wallace  in  his 
country's  cause  a  space  of  more  than  two  years  before  the 
battle  of  Falkirk  in  1298.  Harry,  though  nowhere  consistent, 
represents  his  hero  as  fighting  with  the  EngHsh  from  his 
eighteenth  year  to  his  forty-fifth,  which  is,  practically,  the 
period  from  the  death  of  Alexander  III  to  the  battle  of  Ban- 
nockburn.  But  Wallace  was  executed  in  1305.  The  contents 
of  the  work  are  as  unhistorical  as  the  chronology.  If  Barbour 
took  care,  on  the  whole,  that  Bruce  should  have  the  best  of 
it,  though  recognising  that  he  suffered  many  reverses,  Wallace's 
path  is  marked  by  uniform  success.  Where  Bruce  slays  his 
thousands,  Wallace  slays  his  ten  thousands.  The  carnage  is 
indiscriminate  and  disgusting.  But,  by  the  time  that  Wallace 
was  composed,  a  long  series  of  injuries  subsequent  to  the  wars 
of  independence  had  engrained  an  unreasoning  hate  of  every- 
thing English,  which  it  has  taken  centuries  of  union  between 
the  countries  to  erase  from  the  Scottish  mind.  Hence,  the 
very  violence  of  Wallace  commended  it  to  its  readers.  To  the 
little  nation,  which  suffered  so  severely  from  its  powerful 
neighbour,  there  was  comfort  amid  the  disasters  of  Flodden 
or  of  Pinkie  in  the  record  of  the  doughty  Wallace. 

Of  the  author  of  this  poem  we  know  next  to  nothing. 
According  to  John  Major  (Mair)  the  historian,  Wallace  was 
written  in  his  boyhood  by  one  Henry,  who  was  blind  from  his 
birth,  and  who,  by  the  recitation  of  his  poem  in  the  halls  of 
the  great  (coram  principihus) ,  obtained  the  food  and  clothing 
he  had  earned.     The  date  of  the  composition  of  the  poem 


126  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

may  be  fixed,  approximately,  with  the  clue  supplied  by  Major, 
as  1460.  In  the  treasurer's  accounts  various  payments  of  a 
few  shillings  are  entered  as  having  been  made  to  "  Blin  Hary." 
The  last  of  these  payments  is  in  1492.  Harry  probably  died 
soon  after.  Sixteen  years  later,  Dunbar,  in  his  Lament  for  the 
Makaris,  enters  him  in  the  middle  of  his  roughly  chronological 
list  of  deceased  poets.  From  Major's  account  it  is  clear  that 
Harry  belonged  to  the  class  of  the  wandering  minstrels  who 
recited,  like  Homer  of  old,  the  deeds  of  heroes  to  their  de- 
scendants. In  Scotland,  when  the  descendants  of  the  heroes 
were  no  longer  interested  in  such  compositions,  the  bards 
appeared  before  humbler  audiences;  and  many  persons  still 
alive  can  remember  the  last  of  them  as,  in  the  centre  of  a 
crowd  of  applauding  yokels,  he  recited  his  latest  composition 
on  some  popular  subject  of  the  day. 

The  sole  manuscript  of  the  poem,  now  in  the  Advocates' 
Library  at  Edinburgh,  was  written  in  1488  by  the  same  John 
Ramsay  who,  about  the  same  time,  wrote  the  two  existing 
manuscripts  of  The  Bruce.  That  he  was  a  more  faithful 
transcriber  than  he  generally  gets  credit  for  having  been,  is 
shown  by  the  well-marked  differences  between  the  language  of 
the  two  poems.  While,  in  Barbour,  hardly  a  trace  is  to  be 
found  of  the  characteristic  Scottish  dropping  of  the  final  //  in 
all,  small,  pull,  full,  etc.,  we  find  this  completely  developed  in 
Wallace,  where  call  has  to  rime  with  law,  fall  with  saw,  etc. 
Here  also  pulled  appears  as  powed,  while  pollis  is  mistakenly 
put  for  paws  and  malwaris  for  mawaris  (mowers).  As  Harry 
was  alive  at  the  time  when  Ramsay  wrote  the  manuscript,  it 
may  have  been  written  from  the  author's  dictation.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  there  is  nothing  in  Harry,  any  more  than  in  Homer, 
to  show  that  the  author  was  born  blind.  On  the  contrary, 
some  of  his  descriptions  seem  to  show  considerable  powers  of 
observation,  though  the  descriptions  of  natural  scenes  with 
which  he  prefaces  several  of  the  books  are  an  extension  of 
what  is  found,  though  rarely,  in  Barbour  {e.g.  v,  1-13,  xvi, 
63  ff.)  and  had  been  a  commonplace  since  Chaucer.  The 
matter  of  his  poem  he  professes  to  have  derived  from  a  narra- 
tive in  Latin  by  John  Blair,  who  had  been  chaplain  to  Wallace 
and  w^ho,  if  many  of  Wallace's  achievements  are  well  nigh  as 
mythical  as  those  of  Robin  Hood,  w^as  himself  comparable  in 


Blind  Harry's  *' Wallace"  127 

prowess  to  Little  John.  He  was,  however,  a  modest  champion 
withal,  for  Harry  tells  us  that  Blair's  achievements  were 
inserted  in  the  book  by  Thomas  Gray,  parson  of  Liberton. 
The  book  is  not  known  to  exist ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  it  had  once  existed.  According  to  Harry  (xi,  141 7),  its 
accuracy  was  vouched  for  by  Bishop  Sinclair  of  Dunkeld,  who 
had  been  an  eye-witness  of  many  of  Wallace's  achievements. 
But,  either  the  book  from  which  Harry  drew  was  a  later 
forgery,  or  Harry  must  have  considerably  embroidered  his 
original ;  it  is  inconceivable  that  a  companion  of  Wallace  could 
have  produced  a  story  widely  differing  in  chronology,  to  say 
nothing  of  facts,  from  real  history. 

But,  when  the  poem  has  been  accepted  as  a  late  traditional 
romance,  founded  upon  the  doings  of  a  national  hero  of  whom 
little  was  known,  Wallace  is  by  no  means  without  merit. 
Harry  manages  his  long  line  with  considerable  success,  and 
so  firmly  established  it  in  Scotland  that  the  last  romantic  poem 
written  in  Scots — Alexander  Ross's  Helenore,  or  the  Fortunate 
Shepherdess — carries  on,  after  three  centuries,  the  rhythm  of 
Harry  with  the  greatest  exactitude.  There  is  no  lack  of  verve 
in  his  battle  scenes;  but  they  are  all  so  much  alike  that  they 
pall  by  repetition.  The  following  is  typical  (11,  398  ff.). 
Longcastell  (Lancaster),  we  are  told, 

Hynt  out  his  suerd,  that  was  of  nobill  hew, 
Wallace  with  that,  at  hys  lychtyn,  him  drew; 
Apon  the  crag  with  his  suerd  has  him  tayne; 
Throw  brayne  and  seyne  in  sondyr  straik  the  bayne. 

The  ferocity  of  Wallace  is  such  that  he  says : 

I  lik  bettir  to  se  the  Sothren  de 

Than  gold  or  land  that  thai  can  giff  to  me.     v,  397  f. 

Harry  feels  that  the  fame  of  his  hero  is  a  little  dimmed  by 
the  fact  that  he  belonged  only  to  the  ranks  of  the  smaller 
gentry,  but  at  once  proclaims,  like  a  greater  successor,  that  the 
"rank  is  but  the  guinea  stamp,"  and  strengthens  his  case  by 
the  example  of  the  knights  of  St.  John  at  Rhodes : 

Wallace  a  lord  he  may  be  clepyt  weyll, 
Thocht  ruryk  folk  tharoff  haiff  litill  feill; 


128  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

Na  deyme  na  lord,  bot  landis  be  thair  part. 

Had  he  the  warld,  and  be  wrachit  ofif  hart, 

He  is  no  lord  as  to  the  worthiness; 

It  can  nocht  be,  but  fredome,  lordlyknes. 

At  the  Roddis  thai  mak  full  mony  ane 

Quhilk  worthy  ar,  thocht  landis  haiff  thai  nane.     vii,  397  ff. 

In  Harry  we  find  the  same  dry  humour  as  in  Barbour ;  but 
here  it  is  of  a  grimmer  cast  when  the  English  are  in  question. 
When  Wallace,  to  escape  his  enemies,  had  to  disguise  himself 
as  a  maid  spinning,  Harry  says  quaintly 

he  sat  still,  and  span  full  connandly 
As  of  his  tym,  for  he  nocht  leryt  lang.     i,  248  f. 

When  their  enemies  were  upon  them, 

His  falow  Stewyn  than  thocht  no  tyme  to  bide,     v,  154. 
When  Wallace  set  the  Englishmen's  lodging  on  fire. 

Till  slepand  men  that  walkand^  was  nocht  soft,    vii,  440, 

and  on  another  occasion 

Quhar  Sotheroun  duelt,  thai  maid  thair  byggyngis  hayt.2 

IX,  1692. 

Even  to  Julius  Caesar  he  applies  a  quip : 

Gret  Julius,  that  tribute  gat  off  aw, 

His  wynnyng  was  in  Scotland  bot  full  smaw.     viii,  1339  f. 

In  his  Chaucerian  passages  at  the  beginning  of  several 
books,  and  in  the  apostrophe  to  Scotland  in  the  last  book 
(xi,  1 109  ff.),  Harry  employs  those  "aureate"  terms  which, 
through  the  following  century,  were  to  be  a  snare  to  Scottish 
literature.  But  the  use  of  them  proves  that  Harry  was  not, 
after  all,  a  buret  man.  Here  and  there  he  makes  pretensions 
to  classical  learning,  and,  like  Barbour,  occasionally  refers  to 
the  heroes  of  old  romance,  to  Charlemagne  at  Roncesvalles, 
to  King  Arthur  slaying  the  giant  at  Mont  St.  Michel,  to  the 
Alexander  story  of  Gawdyfer  at  Gaddris,  also  referred  to  by 
Barbour.  He  assumes  that  all  men  know  Barbour's  book; 
though,  curiously  enough,  the  name  of  Wallace  is  not  once  to 
be  found  in  Barbour's  poem.     A  still  more  recent  writer  is 

>  waking.  2  made  their  buildings  hot. 


Holland's  "Howlat"  129 

probably  referred  to  in  the  apologue  of  the  owl  in  borrowed 
plumes,  which  Stewart  applies  to  Wallace,  when  angry  be- 
cause Wallace  refused  to  let  him  lead  the  vanguard.  For, 
onl}^  a  few  years  before  1460,  this  story  had  been  the  subject 
of  Holland's  Howlat. 

With  the  Biike  of  the  Howlat,  which  is  the  proper  title  of 
this  work,  we  pass  from  historical  romance  to  the  last  type  of 
the  romance  proper,  with  its  metre  founded  on  the  old  allitera- 
tive long  line,  but  fashioned  into  an  elaborate  lyrical  stanza 
of  nine  long  verses  of  four  beats  and  four  short  verses  of  two 
beats.  The  scheme  is  ababababcdddc,  and  no  better  example 
of  its  treatment  in  the  Howlat  can  be  found  than  the  second 
stanza : 

This  riche  Revir  dovn  ran,  but  resting  or  ruf ,  ^ 
Throwe  ane  forest  on  fold,  that  farly  was  fair; 
All  the  brayis  of  the  brym  bair  branchis  abuf. 
And  birdis  blythest  of  ble  on  blossomes  bair; 
The  land  lowne  was  and  le,^  with  lyking  and  luf. 
And  for  to  lende  by  that  laike  thocht  me  levar, 
Becauss  that  thir  hartes  in  heirdis  couth  huf,^ 
Pransand  and  prun5eand,  be  pair  and  be  pair. 
Thus  sat  I  in  solace,  sekerly  and  sure, 
Content  of  the  fair  firth, 
Mekle  mair  of  the  mirth, 
Als  blyth  of  the  birth 
That  the  ground  bure. 

This  is  the  commonest  form  of  the  metre,  found  also  in 
Golagros  and  Gawane  and  in  the  Awntyrs  of  Arthur e  at  the  Terne 
Wathelyne,  and,  with  a  slight  modification,  in  Rauf  Coihear; 
while  in  the  Pistill  of  Susan  the  ninth  line  is  replaced  by  a  "  bob  " 
of  one  beat  and  two  syllables  like  "In  Feere,"  "So  sone,"  etc. 

The  Howlat  is  preserved  in  two  manuscripts,  the  Asloan, 
dating  from  about  15 15,  and  the  Bannatyne,  written  in  1568. 
The  poem  is  between  sixty  and  seventy  years  older  than  the 
earlier  manuscript.  It  was  composed,  as  the  author  tells  us  in 
the  last  stanza,  in  the  "  mirthfull  month  of  May"  at  Darnaway 
in  the  midst  of  Moray: 

Thus  for  ane  Dow  of  Dunbar  drew  I  this  dyte, 
Dowit  with  ane  Dowglass. 
>  pause.  2  secluded  and  sheltered.  3  abide. 

VOL.  2 9 


130  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

In  other  words,  it  was  written  for  Elizabeth  Dunbar,  Countess 
of  Moray  in  her  own  right,  whose  first  husband  was  one  of 
the  Douglas  family  that  perished  in  the  struggle  w4th  James  II 
of  Scotland,  his  eldest  brother  being  that  earl  whom  the  king 
stabbed  with  his  own  hand.  Pinkerton  saw  in  the  poem  a 
satire  on  James  II,  a  view  which  was  entirely  founded  on  a 
misreading  of  crovne  for  rovme  in  verse  984,  and,  with  the 
restoration  of  the  true  reading,  the  theory  falls  to  the  ground. 
The  poem,  which  introduces  an  elaborate  account  of  the 
Douglas  arms,  must  have  been  written  before  the  final  dis- 
aster to  the  Douglases  at  Arkinholm  in  1455;  for  the  unfor- 
tunate countess,  no  doubt  with  the  intention  of  saving  her 
lands,  married,  three  weeks  after  the  loss  of  her  first  husband, 
the  son  of  the  earl  of  Huntly,  who  was  on  the  side  of  the 
king.  As  the  arms  of  pope  Nicholas  V  are  described,  the  poem 
must  be  later  than  1447,  and,  probably,  before  the  murder  of 
Earl  William  by  the  king  in  1452,  as  is  shown  by  Amours  in 
his  edition  for  the  Scottish  Text  Society.  There  seems  to  be 
no  recondite  meaning  in  the  piece.  The  subject  is  the  thrice- 
told  tale  of  the  bird  in  borrowed  plumes,  which  gives  itself 
airs  and  speedily  falls  to  its  former  low  estate.  The  owd,  be- 
holding himself  in  a  river  that  flows  through  a  fair  forest,  is 
disgusted  with  his  own  appearance  and  appeals  to  the  pope 
of  the  birds,  the  peacock,  against  dame  Nature.  A  summons 
is  issued  to  the  members  of  the  council  to  convene.  The 
author  shows  considerable  ingenuity  in  finding  names  of  birds 
and  other  words  to  suit  his  alliterative  verse,  and  some  humour 
in  the  parts  which  he  assigns  to  the  different  birds.  If  it  were 
necessary  to  search  for  hidden  meanings  one  might  suspect 
that  there  was  a  spice  of  malice  in  representing  the  deans  of 
colleges  by  ganders,  and  the  archdeacon,  "  that  ourman,  ay 
prechand  in  plane,  Correker  of  kirkmen"  by  the  claik,  which 
is  the  barnacle  goose,  but  also  a  Scots  w^ord  for  a  gossip.  It 
is  a  pretty  fancy  to  make  the  dove  "  rownand  ay  with  his 
feir,"  always  whispering  with  his  mate,  a  curate  to  hear  whole 
confessions.  The  author,  who  was  of  the  secular  clergy,  may 
have  been  well  satisfied  that 

Cryand  Crawis  and  Cais,  that  cravis  the  come, 
War  pure  freris  forth  ward, 
That,  with  the  leif  of  the  lard, 


Holland's  "Howlat^*  131 

Will  cum  to  the  corne  5ard 
At  ewyn  and  at  morn.     191  fif. 

When  all  are  met,  the  unhappy  owl  is  commanded  by  the 
pope  to  state  his  case;  and,  when  this  has  been  done,  the  pope 
calls  upon  his  councillors  to  express  their  opinions.  They  pro- 
ceed to  do  so  in  a  manner  w4th  which  Holland  was  no  doubt 
familiar : 

And  thai  weraly  awysit,  full  of  wirtewe, 

The  maner,  the  mater,  and  how  it  remanyt; 

The  circumstance  and  the  stait  all  couth  thai  argewe. 

Mony  allegiance  leile,  in  leid  nocht  to  layne  it,^ 

Off  Arestotill  and  aid  men,  scharplie  thai  schewe; 

The  Prelatis  thar  apperans  2  proponit  generale ; 

Sum  said  to,  and  sum  fra, 

Sum  nay,  and  sum  5a; 

Baith  pro  and  contra 

Thus  argewe  thai  all. 

Ultimately  it  is  decided  to  consult  the  emperor — the  eagle — 
and  the  swallow  is  despatched  as  herald  with  letters  written 
by  the  turtle,  who  is  the  pope's  secretary.  The  herald  finds 
him  "in  Babilonis  tower,"  surrounded  with  kings,  dukes  and 
other  nobles,  who,  as  is  explained  afterwards,  are  the  nobler 
birds  of  prey.  The  specht  or  wood-pecker  is  the  emperor's 
pursuivant  and,  as  is  the  manner  of  pursuivants,  wears  a  coat 
embroidered  with  arms.  Then  comes  a  long  description  of 
heraldic  arms,  including  not  only  the  emperor's  but  also  those 
of  Nicholas  V,  of  the  king  of  Scotland  and,  in  greatest  detail, 
of  the  Douglas  family.  More  than  a  quarter  of  the  poem  is 
taken  up  with  this  dreary  stuff,  which  was  very  interesting, 
no  doubt,  to  Holland's  patroness,  but  which  ruins  the  poem 
as  a  w^ork  of  art.  The  only  interest  it  can  have  for  the  general 
reader  is  that  in  it  is  contained  a  version  of  the  journe}'  under- 
taken by  the  good  Sir  James  with  the  heart  of  Bruce,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  the  official  Douglas  version,  and  which 
differs  from  that  contained  in  the  last  book  of  Barbour's 
Bruce.  Here,  Douglas  is  represented  as  having  journeyed  to 
Jerusalem  and  as  being  on  his  way  back  when  he  perished 
fighting  against  the  Moors  in  Spain;  but  there  is  no  reason  to 

'  in  language  not  to  conceal  it.  ^  opinion. 


132  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

doubt  the  correctness  of  Barbour's  story  that  Douglas  never 
travelled  further  than  Spain.  ^  The  last  third  of  the  poem  is 
occupied  with  a  feast  to  which  the  pope  invited  the  emperor 
and  his  courtiers.  The  bittern  was  cook,  and  the  choir  of 
minstrels  consisted  of  the  mavis  and  the  merle,  ousels,  starlings, 
larks  and  nightingales.  We  have  presented  to  us  in  full  the 
hymn  they  sang  in  honour  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  a  whole 
stanza  is  occupied  with  the  names  of  the  different  musical 
instruments,  which  far  outstrip  shawms,  sackbut  and  psaltery 
in  obscurity.  The  visitors  are  entertained  by  the  jay,  who 
is  a  wonderful  juggler.  He  makes  the  audience  see  many 
wonderful  things  which  do  not  really  exist,  among  others  the 
emperor's  horses  led  off  to  the  pound  by  the  corncrake,  be- 
cause they  had  been  eating  "of  the  corne  in  the  kirkland." 
The  rook  appears  as  a  "bard  owt  of  Irland,"  reciting  much 
unintelligible  Gaelic  gibberish — such  Gaelic  bards  no  doubt 
were  familiar  enough  at  Darnaway  in  the  fifteenth  century — 
but  is  ignominiously  routed  by  the  jesters,  the  lapwing  and 
the  cuckoo,  who  then  engage  in  a  tussle  for  the  amusement  of 
the  company.  After  grace  has  been  said  by  the  pope,  it  is 
agreed,  at  dame  Nature's  suggestion,  that  her  supposed  ill- 
treatment  of  the  owl  shall  be  remedied  by  grafting  on  the  owl 
a  feather  from  each  of  the  birds.  The  owl,  however,  becomes 
so  insolent  in  consequence,  that  Nature  takes  all  the  feathers 
from  him  again,  much  to  his  sorrow. 

David  Laing  and  Amours  have  diligently  collected  the 
little  that  is  known  as  to  the  author  of  this  jeti  d'esprit.  He 
is  mentioned  in  various  documents  connected  with  the  church 
and  family  of  his  patron.  From  these  we  learn  that,  in  1450, 
Richard  de  Holand  was  rector  of  Halkirk,  in  Caithness,  in 
1 45 1,  rector  of  Abbreochy  in  the  diocese  of  Moray,  and,  like 
his  contemporary  Henryson,  a  public  notary.  In  1453,  he 
was  presented  by  the  pope  to  the  vacant  post  of  chanter  in 
the  church  of  Moray.  In  1457,  after  the  fall  of  the  Douglases, 
we  find  him  in  Orkney  where,  in  1467,  he  demits  the  vicarage 
of  Ronaldshay.  He  seems  to  have  joined  the  exiled  Douglases 
in  England,  from  which  he  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  Scotland 
in  1480,  and,  in  1482,  along  with  "Jamis  of  Douglace"  (the 

>  It  is,  however,  noteworthy  that  Boece  adopts  this  version  and  not 
Barbour's. 


Huchoun  of  the  Awle  Ryale  133 

exiled  earl)  and  certain  other  priests  "and  vther  sic  like 
tratouris  that  are  sworne  Inglismen,  and  remanys  in  Ingland," 
he  is  excepted  from  a  general  amnesty. 

Like  this  poem  in  form,  but  certainly  of  an  earlier  date, 
is  a  series  of  romances  which  cluster  about  the  name  of  "  Hu- 
choun of  the  Awle  Ryale,"  one  of  the  most  mysterious  figures 
in  our  early  literature.  The  earliest  mention  of  him  is  to  be 
found  in  Wyntoun's  Orygynale  Cronykil,  written  about  1420. 
Wyntoun,  in  describing  king  Arthur's  conquests,  remarks  that 
"Hucheon  of  the  Awle  Realle  In  til  his  Gest  Historyalle"  has 
treated  this  matter.  Wyntoun  feels  it  necessary  to  apologise 
for  differing  from  Huchoun  in  saying  that  Leo  and  not  Lucius 
Iberius  was  the  Roman  Emperor  who  demanded  tribute  from 
Arthur.  He  argues  that  he  has  good  authority  on  his  side, 
nor  is  Huchoun  to  be  blamed : 

And  men  of  gud  discretioun 
Suld  excuss  and  loif  Huchoun, 
That  cunnand  wes  in  litterature. 
He  rnaid  the  Gret  Gest  of  Arthure 
And  the  Anteris  of  Gawane, 
The  Epistill  als  of  Suete  Susane. 
He  wes  curyouss  in  his  stile, 
Faire  and  facund  and  subtile. 
And  ay  to  plesance  and  delite 
Maid  in  meit  metyre  his  dite, 
Litill  or  ellis  nocht  be  gess 
Wauerand  fra  the  suthfastnes.^ 

The  verses  which  follow  are  vital  for  deciding  what  the 
nature  of  the  Gest  Historyalle  or  Gret  Gest  of  Arthure  was: 

Had  he  callit  Lucyus  procuratour, 
Quhare  he  callit  him  emperour, 
It  had  mare  grevit  the  cadens 
Than  had  relevit  the  sentens. 

Clearly  cadens  is  to  be  distinguished  from  rime,  for,  as 
Wyntoun's  example  shows,  procuratour  and  emperour  might 
rime  together.     The  Gest  Historyalle  must,  therefore,  have  been 

1  Thus  in  the  Wemyss  MS.  (S.T.S.  1906),  v,  4329  ff.  The  Cottonian  MS., 
also  printed  in  the  S.T.S.  edition,  besides  other  variants  gives  the  poet's 
name  as  Hucheon  and  reads  a  for  the  in  4332,  Awntyr  for  Anteris  in  4333. 
and  in  4334  The  Pistil  als  of  Suet  Stisane. 


134  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

an  alliterative  poem,  and  all  authorities  are  now  agreed  that 
the  conditions  are  satisfied  by  the  poem  called  Morte  Arthur e 
which  is  preserved  in  the  Thornton  MS.  of  Lincoln  Cathedral. 
In  the  Morte  Arthure,  not  only  is  "Sir  Lucius  Iberius"  called 
"the  Emperour  of  Rome,"  but  the  knights  of  the  Round 
Table  are  called  Duszepere?  (or  some  variant  thereof),  which 
is  evidently  the  origin  of  Wyntoun's  Dowchsperys.  As  for  the 
Epistill  of  Suete  Susane,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the 
poem  preserved  in  five  MSS.  under  that  title  (with  variations 
of  spelling).  What  was  the  poem  called  the  Adventure  or 
Adventures  of  Gawain,  the  other  work  of  Huchoun  mentioned 
by  Wyntoun?  For  this  place  there  are  several  pretenders,  the 
most  plausible  claim  being,  it  seems,  advanced  for  a  poem 
surviving  in  three  curiously  different  versions.  The  Awntyrs  off 
[of]  Arthure  at  the  Terne  Wathelyne,  that  is  at  Tarn  Wadling, 
a  small  lake  near  Hesket  in  Cumberland,  on  the  road  between 
Carlisle  and  Penrith.  As  the  story  is  mostly  concerned  with 
Gawain,  his  name  might  have  appeared  in  the  title  no  less 
justifiably  than  Arthur's. 

Of  none  of  these  poems  in  their  extant  forms  can  it  be  said 
that  the  language  is  Scottish.  Who,  then,  was  Huchoun? 
Pinkerton,  in  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  the  first 
to  suggest  that  Huchoun  was  to  be  identified  with  the  "  gude 
Sir  Hew  of  Eglintoun,"  enumerated  amongst  other  poets  in 
Dunbar's  Lament  for  the  Makaris.  To  this  it  has  been  objected 
that  Huchoun  is  a  familiar  diminutive,  and  that,  if  the  poet 
was  the  well  known  Sir  Hew  of  Eglintoun,  a  statesman  in  the 
reigns  of  David  H  and  Robert  H,  who  was  made  a  knight  in 
1342,  and,  later  in  life,  was  married  to  Egidia,  gtep-sister  of 
Robert  H,  Wyntoun  was  not  at  all  likely  to  talk  of  him  as 
"little  Hugh."  But  George  Neilson  has  shown  that  the  name 
Huchoun  was  employed  in  solemn  documents  even  of  barons, 
and,  therefore,  might  without  disrespect  be  applied  to  a 
knight  who  was  a  king's  brother-in-law.  The  name  Hucheon 
has  commonly  survived  in  some  districts  as  a  surname,  and 
must  have  been  much  commoner  earlier,  as  is  shown  by  the 
names  Hutchinson  and  M'Cutcheon,  which  are  merely  the 
Lowland  and  the  Highland  forms  of  the  same  name.  So  far 
there  is  no  difficulty.  The  explanation  of  the  phrase  "of  the 
Awle  Realle"  is  more  difficult,  but  Neilson's  argument  for  the 


Huchoun  of  the  Awle  Ryale  135 

old  view  that  it  is  simply  the  Atila  Regis,  an  appropriate  enough 
description  for  a  knight  who  served  for  a  period  as  justiciar, 
seems  much  preferable  to  any  other  that  has  been  advanced. 
The  more  southern  colouring  of  the  dialect  in  his  works  is  not 
sufficient  proof  of  his  English  origin,  for,  where  there  are 
several  manuscripts,  the  dialectal  forms  vary  very  consider- 
ably. Moreover,  it  would  be  strange  that  so  fertile  a  writer 
should  have  no  honour  in  the  country  of  his  birth,  and  should 
be  talked  of  with  respect  and  reverence  in  a  country  which 
was  bitterly  hostile.  It  is  impossible  here  to  enter  fully  into 
the  elaborate  and  ingenious  argument  by  which  Neilson,  in 
his  Huchown  of  the  Awle  Ryale,  not  only  supports  the  claim 
made  by  Wyntoun,  but  attempts  to  annex  a  whole  cycle  of 
other  poems,  which  are  ordinarily  regarded  as  of  English 
though  anonymous  origin,  and  which  are  discussed  elsewhere.  ^ 
For  the  present  purpose,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  there  seems 
good  evidence  for  the  existence  of  a  Scottish  poet  called 
Huchoun  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  that, 
in  all  probability,  he  is  to  be  identified  with  the  statesman  Sir 
Hew  of  Eglintoun,  who  was  a  contemporary,  perhaps  a  some- 
what older  contemporary,  of  Barbour,  who  must  have  been  at 
least  twenty-one  in  1342  when  he  w^as  knighted,  and  who 
died  about  the  end  of  1376  or  the  beginning  of  1377.  It  is 
noticeable  that,  on  a  great  many  occasions.  Sir  Hew  of  Eglin- 
toun receives  permission  to  travel  to  London  under  safe-con- 
duct— a  fact  on  which  Neilson  founds  a  plausible  argument 
that  he  was  a  persona  grata  at  the  court  of  Edward  III.  This 
argument,  if  correct,  would  account  for  a  more  favourable 
attitude  towards  England  in  his  works  than  appears  in  Bar- 
bour's. In  an  alliterative  poem  scribes  might  change  dialectal 
forms  at  their  will,  so  long  as  they  did  not  affect  the  allitera- 
tion or  the  number  of  syllables.  In  the  rimed  poems  here 
attributed  to  Huchoun  it  is  certain  that  the  rimes  are  north- 
ern, though,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  there  was  no  distinc- 
tion well  enough  marked  to  form  a  criterion  of  origin  from 
north  or  south  of  the  Border. 

Panton  and  Donaldson,  the  editors  for  the  Early  English 
Text  Society  of  the  interminable  Gest  Hystoriale  of  the  Destruc- 
tion of  Troy  (it  contains  over  14,000  lines),  were  the  first  to 

'  See  Volume  i,  pp.  371  ff. 


136  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

point  out  that  this  unrimed  alliterative  translation  of  Guido 
delle  Colonne's  Hystoria  Troiana  must,  from  identity  in  style 
and  phraseology,  be  attributed  to  the  same  author  as  Morte 
Arthure,  though  it  had  been  copied  from  a  Scottish  original 
by  a  west  midland  scribe.  Their  opinion  has  been  developed 
and  confirmed  by  Neilson's  work  on  Huchoun.  As  Morte 
Arthure  is  admittedly  superior  in  execution  to  the  Gest  Hys- 
toriale  and  as,  unless  it  had  some  source  still  undiscovered  or 
now  lost,  it  is  a  very  independent  rendering  of  the  story  of 
-Arthur  as  related  in  Books  ix  and  x  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth's 
-■^istora  Regum  Britanniae,  it  may  be  used  to  illustrate  the 
style  of  Huchoun.  Morte  Arthure  begins  with  a  rude  demand 
from  Lucius  Iberius,  emperor  of  Rome,  for  tribute  from  king 
Arthur.  Arthur,  after  considering  the  matter  with  his  council, 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  he  has  more  right  to  the  empire 
than  Lucius  has  to  tribute  from  him;  he  will,  therefore,  antici- 
pate Lucius's  threats  of  invasion  by  taking  the  field  against  1 
him.  Accordingly,  he  appoints  Mordred  to  rule  in  his  absence  ^ 
and  charges  him  especially  with  the  care  of  Waynour  (Guine- 
vere) .  Arthur  himself  crosses  the  Channel  with  his  host,  and, 
after  an  unpleasant  dream,  fights  a  great  battle  with  a  giant 
from  Genoa  "engendered  of  fiends,"  who  lives  on  human 
flesh,  has  ravaged  the  Cotentin  and,  last  of  all,  has  carried 
off  and  slain  the  Duchess  of  Brittany.  The  author,  who  is 
excessively  fond  of  alliteration,  excels  himself,  in  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  giant,  by  carrying  an  alliteration  on  the  same 
letter  through  four  consecutive  verses ;  so  that  the  first  twelve 
lines  (1074-85)  make  three  stanzas  of  this  sort,  of  which  the 
last,  as  the  least  repulsive,  may  be  taken  as  a  specimen : 

Huke-nebbyde  as  a  hawke,  and  a  hore  berde^ 

And  herede  to  the  hole  eyghn^  with  hyngande  browes; 

Harske  as  a  hunde-fisch,-'  hardly  who  so  luke?. 

So  was  the  hyde  of  that  hulke  hally  ^  al  ouer. 

Hardly  has  Arthur  had  time  to  thank  Heaven  for  his 
success  in  the  combat,  ere  urgent  messengers  arrive  from  the 
marshal  of  France  to  say  that  he  must  have  help  at  once 
against  the  emperor,  who  has  entered  the  country  and  is  carry- 
ing destruction  far  and  wide.     Sir  Boice,  Sir  Gawain,  Sir  Bedi- 

>  hoary  beard.  2  hairy  to  the  hollow  eyes.  s  rough  as  a  dog-fish. 

*  wholly. 


**Morte  Arthure"  137 

vere  and  some  others  are  hastily  despatched  to  delay  the 
emperor,  who  has  brought  with  him  all  the  powers  of  eastern 
heathenesse;  and  these  knights,  with  the  help  of  an  ambuscade, 
win  a  victory.  In  the  great  battle  which  follows  many  noble 
deeds  are  done ;  these  are  described  with  great  vigour.  Arthur 
himself  with  Collbrande  (Excalibur)  has  a  short  way  with  his 
f oemen : 

He  clekys  owtte^  Collbrande,  full  clenlyche  burneschte, 
Graythes  hym  2  to  Golapas,  that  greuyde  moste, 
Kuttes  hym  euen  by  the  knees  clenly  in  sondyre. 
"Come  down"  quod  the  kynge,  "and  karpe  to  thy  ferys!^ 
Thowe  arte  to  hye  by  the  halfe,  I  hete  the  in  trouthe! 
Thou  sail  be  handsomere  in  hye,"*  with  the  helpe  of  my  Lorde!" 

2123  ff. 

The  emperor  himself  perishes  at  the  hands  of  Arthur,  and 
his  knights,  having  slaughtered  the  paynim  till  they  are 
tired,  fall  upon  the  spoil,  and  help  themselves,  not  only  to 
"hakkenays  and  horses  of  armes,"  but  to  all  kinds  of  won- 
derful animals,  "  kamells  and  sekadrisses  [whatever  they  may 
be],  dromondaries," 

Moyllej  5  mylke  whitte,  and  meruayllous  bestej 
Elfaydes,  and  arrabys,  and  olyfauntej  noble.     2287  f* 

And  thus 

The  roy  ryall  renownde,  with  his  rownde  table, 
One  the  coste  of  Costantyne  by  the  clere  strandej 
Has  the  Romaynes  ryche  rebuykede  for  euer.     2372  ff. 

As  a  historical  novel,  which,  in  truth,  it  is,  Morte  Arthure 
passes  rapidly  from  one  scene  to  another  of  a  different  kind. 
On  the  battle  follows  the  siege  of  Metz;  on  the  siege,  a  single 
combat  between  Gawain  and  Sir  Priamus,  whose  genealogy  is 
remarkable — his  father 

es  of  Alexandire  blode,  ouerlynge  of  kynges,  ■ 
Thevncle  of  his  ayele,^  sir  Ector  of  Troye. 

No  sooner  is  Metz  w^on  with  gallant  chivalry  than  we  are 
carried  over  the  Alps  with  Arthur,  who  advances  into  Tuscany 

» lugs  out.  2  advances  in  fighting  trim.  ^  talk  to  thy  mates. 

*  presently.  ^  mules.  « grandfather. 


-3 8         The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

and  halts  "in  the  Vertennon  vale,  the  vines  imangez."  There 
the  "cunningest  cardinal"  invites  him  to  Rome  to  help  the 
pope  and  to  be  crowned.  But  already  fortune's  wheel,  which 
Arthur  sees  in  a  dreadful  dream,  is  on  the  turn.  The  king 
has  passed  the  topmost  point  of  his  glory,  for  Sir  Cradok 
comes  to  tell  that  Mordred  has  rebelled  and  has  "weddede 
Waynore."  Forthwith  the  camp  is  broken  up,  and  they  hurry 
homewards.  Mordred's  allies,  the  Danes,  meet  them  at  sea 
and  a  great  naval  battle  is  admirably  described.  The  Danes 
are  defeated,  and,  after  landing,  Gawain  meets  Mordred  in 
single  combat  and  is  slain.  It  is  the  wicked  Mordred  himself 
who  in  admiration  declares. 

This  was  sir  Gawayne  the  gude,  the  gladdeste  of  othire, 
And  the  graciouseste  gome^  that  vndire  God  lyfifede, 
Mane  hardyeste  of  hande,  happyeste  in  armes, 
And  the  hendeste  ^  in  hawle  vndire  heuen  riche.     3876  flf. 

Arthur  vows  that  he  will  never  rest  till  Gawain's  slayer  be 
slain.  So  the  last  battle  is  joined.  Mordred  keeps  well  be- 
hind his  men  and  changes  his  arms,  but  Arthur  spies  him  and, 
after  a  great  fight,  in  which  Arthur  himself  receives  his  death- 
wound,  Mordred  perishes  by  Excalibur,  a  better  death,  says 
Arthur,  than  he  deserved.  Arthur  makes  himself  be  carried 
in  haste  to  the  Isle  of  Avalon,  and,  seeing  there  is  no  way  but 
death,  bequeaths  the  crown  to  Constantine  his  cousin,  orders 
Mordred's  children  to  be  slain  and  makes  a  good  end. 

I  foregyffe  all  greffe,  for  Cristej  luf  of  heuen, 

jife  Waynor  hafe  wele  wroghte,  wele  hir  betydde.     4324  f. 

Like  other  poets,  the  author  has  drawn  his  battle  scenes 
from  his  own  time.  Neilson  has  shown  that  the  battle  in 
France  is  arranged  like  Crecy,  and  argues  ingeniously  that  the 
sea-fight  is  a  poetical  version  of  that  fought  off  Winchelsea 
in  1350,  while  other  indications,  more  or  less  uncertain,  lead 
him  to  fix  the  date  of  the  poem  as  1365. 

—   The  Pistill  of  Susan  is  only  a  versified  form  of  The  Story 
of  Susanna  in  the  Apocrypha,  a  story  which  both  literature 

1  man.  '  most  courteous. 


"The  Epistill  of  Suete  Susane"  139 

and  art  show  to  have  been  very  popular  at  the  end  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  author  is  able  to  tell  the  tale  in  twenty- 
eight  stanzas  of  thirteen  lines.  Like  the  later  Holland,  he 
discourages  the  reader  by  the  extraordinary  amount  of  detail 
with  which  he  feels  it  necessary  to  describe  the  garden.  The 
advantage  of  mentioning  every  tree  and  every  vegetable  of 
which  he  had  ever  heard  is  that  he  is  thus  able  to  exercise 
more  ingenuity  in  alliteration.  The  modem  reader,  however, 
hardly  finds  the  same  charm  in 

The  persile,  the  pasnepe,  porettis^  to  preve  .  .  . 
With  re  we  and  rewbarbe,  ray  lid  on  right.     107  f. 

Stanza  xx,  which  describes  the  meeting  of  Susanna  and  her 
husband  after  she  has  been  condemned,  illustrates  the  versi- 
fication and,  if  its  form  in  the  earliest  (the  Vernon)  MS.,  of 
about  1380,  be  compared  with  that  in  the  latest  (the  Ingilby), 
first  published  in  Amours's  edition  for  the  Scottish  Text  Society 
and  dating  from  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it 
will  at  once  be  clear  how  much  change  in  a  literary  work  may 
take  place  in  a  comparatively  short  time  after  the  date  of  its 
composition.  The  Ingilby  manuscript,  though  later  than  the 
Vernon  and  more  corrupt,  has,  if  Huchoun  was  a  Scot,  pre- 
served the  dialect  better. 

Vernon. 

Heo  fel  doun  flat  in  the  flore,  hir  feere  when  heo  fond, 
Carped  to  him  kyndeli,  as  heo  ful  wel  couthe: 
"I  wis  wraththed  the  neuere,  at  my  witand, 
Neither  in  word  ne  in  werk,  in  elde  ne  in  jouthe." 
Heo  keuered  up  on  hir  kneos,  and  cussed  his  hand: 
"  For  I  am  dampned,  I  ne  dar  disparage  thi  mouth." 
Was  neuer  more  serroful  segge  bi  se  nor  bi  sande, 
Ne  neuer  a  soriore  siht  bi  north  ne  bi  south; 
Tho  thare 

Thei  toke  the  feteres  of  hire  feete, 

And  euere  he  cussed  that  swete : 

"In  other  world  schul  we  mete." 

Seid  he  no  mare. 

Ingilby. 

Sche  fell  flat  to  the  flore  whan  sche  hire  [fere]  fande, 
And  carped  to  him  kyndely,  as  sche  wele  cowde: 

» leeks. 


I40  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

"Sire,  I  wrethed  ?ou  neuer,  at  my  witand, 
Neythir  in  worde  no  in  werke,  in  elde  no  in  5owde." 
Sche  couerde  on  hire  knes,  and  kissid  his  hande: 
"  For  I  am  dampned  I  ne  dare  disparage  jour  mowthe." 
Was  neuer  a  sorowfuler  syht  be  see  no  be  sande, 
Nor  a  dolefuler  partyng  be  north  ne  be  sowthe 
Als  thore. 

He  toke  the  fetteres  fro  hir  fete, 

And  ofte  kyssyd  he  that  swete: 

"In  other  werld  sal  we  mete." 

Sayde  he  no  more. 

Lastly,  we  come  to  the  question  of  what  Wyntoun  meant  by 
the  Anteris  of  Gawane.  Among  the  numerous  Gawain  poems 
the  choice  seems  to  be  Hmited  to  either  The  Awntyrs  of  Arthure 
or  Golagros  and  Gawane.  There  is,  at  this  point,  a  further 
difficulty,  for  Dunbar  tells  us  that,  among  the  "makaris," 
death  has  carried  away  another  writer  on  this  subject: 

Clerk  of  Tranent  eik  he  has  tane 
That  maid  the  anteris  of  Gawane. 

Of  Clerk  (or,  it  may  be,  the  clerk)  of  Tranent  we  know  nothing 
but  what  Dunbar  tells  us,  so  that  we  are  not  aware  whether 
it  was  one  of  the  existing  poems  or  a  lost  poem  of  which  he 
was  the  author.  It  is  equally  possible  to  contend  that  the 
poem  referred  to  by  Wyntoun  is  lost.  There  is  no  certain 
criterion ;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  probability  is  greater  that  the 
Awntyrs  of  Arthure  is  the  older  of  the  two  works  and  may, 
therefore,  be  more  reasonably  assigned  to  the  poet  who  was, 
presumably,  the  elder. 

Arthur  and  his  court  go  from  Carlisle  to  Tarn  Wadling  to 
hunt.  Queen  Gaynour  (Guinevere)  is  entrusted  to  Gawain; 
and,  while  they  are  in  shelter  from  a  storm,  a  ghost  appears 
to  them.  Gawain  goes  forth  with  drawn  sword  to  meet  the 
phantom,  which  desires  to  speak  with  the  queen,  and,  being 
permitted,  tells  her  to  take  warning,  for  this  is  the  lost  soul 
of  her  own  mother,  who  in  life  had  broken  a  vow  known  only 
to  herself  and  Guinevere.  If  masses  are  said  for  her  soul  she 
may  yet  be  saved.  In  reply  to  Gawain,  the  spirit  forecasts 
that,  after  a  victory  over  the  Romans,  his  doom  will  fall  upon 
Arthur — the  story  of  Morte  Arthure.     The  figure  disappears, 


*  *  Awnty  rs  of  Arthu  re  "  141 

the  storm  is  over  and  all  return  and  are  told  of  the  portent. 
They  go  to  Randolf  s  Hall  to  supper,  and  there,  during 
supper,  a  lady  richly  arrayed  brings  in  a  knight  riding  on 
horseback.  It  is  Galeron  of  Galloway,  who  claims  to  fight  for 
his  lands,  which  have  been  given  to  Gawain.  Arthur  says 
they  have  no  weapons  now;  but,  on  the  morrow,  Galeron  shall 
have  his  claim  to  fight  allowed.  There  is  a  long  combat,  in 
which  both  are  wounded ;  but,  ultimately,  Galeron  is  defeated. 
The  king  interferes,  Galeron  receives  back  his  lands  and  Ga- 
wain receives  lands  in  Wales  instead.  When  they  have  gone 
back  to  Carlisle  and  the  combatants  have  been  cured  of  their 
wounds,  Galeron  is  made  a  knight  of  the  Round  Table  and 
marries  the  lady  who  brought  him  into  the  Hall.  Obviously, 
the  adventures  much  more  properly  belong  to  Gawain  than  to 
Arthur.  The  story  is  in  two  scenes,  which  are  connected  in 
order  of  time,  but  not  otherwise.  It  is  told  in  fifty-five  stanzas 
of  thirteen  lines  each,  constructed  on  a  complicated  system  of 
rime,  as  the  following  example  will  show,  and  retaining  the 
old  alliterative  form. 

There  are  three  manuscripts  which  differ  very  widely  in 
their  forms.  The  best  is  the  Thornton  MS.  at  Lincoln.  The 
Ireland  MS.,  preserved  at  Hale  in  Lancashire,  is  in  a  very 
uncouth  dialect,  probably  that  of  northern  Lancashire.  The 
Douce  MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library  is,  clearly,  the  work  of  an 
Englishman  of  the  Midlands  copying  northern  forms.  Neilson, 
the  champion  of  Huchoun,  has  not  been  slow  to  observe  that 
the  lands  of  Galeron  (418  ff.)  are  situated  where  Sir  Hew  of 
Eglintoun  had  his  estates.  The  story  of  the  Morte  Arthur e 
is  summed  up  in  the  following  stanza  (xxiii) : 

A  knyghte  salle  kenly  closene  the  crowne. 

And  at  Carelyone  be  crownede  for  kynge ; 

That  sege  salle  be  sesede^  at  a  sesone, 

That  mekille  bak  and  barete  2  tille  Ynglande  sail  brynge. 

Ther  salle  in  Tuskayne  be  tallde  of  that  tresone, 

Ane  3  torne  home  a-jayne  for  that  tydynge ; 

And  ther  salle  the  Rownde  Tabille  losse  the  renowne, 

Be-syde  Ramessaye  fulle  ryghte  at  a  rydynge ; 

And  at  Dorsett  salle  dy  the  doghetyeste  of  alle. 

Gette  the,  sir  Gawayne, 

>  seat  shall  be  seized.  2  strife.  ^And. 


142  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

The  baldeste  of  Bretayne; 

For  in  a  slake  ^  thou  salle  be  slayne, 

Swylke  ferly  2  salle  falle.^ 

The  history  of  Golagros  and  Gawane  is  more  obscure,  for  it 
is  known  only  from  a  pamphlet  printed  in  1508  by  Chepman 
and  Alyllar,  the  pioneers  of  printing  in  Scotland.  Like  the 
Awntyrs  of  Arthitre,  there  are  two  parts  or  scenes  in  the  story. 
Arthur,  once  upon  a  time,  went  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy 
Land  accompanied  by  all  the  knights  of  the  Round  Table. 
After  a  long  march  through  desolate  hills  and  marshes,  where 
their  food  gives  out,  they  spy  a  city  in  the  distance.  Kay  is 
sent  to  ask  permission  to  enter  and  buy  provisions;  but,  find- 
ing the  gate  open,  enters  a  mansion  and  seizes  some  birds 
which  a  dwarf  is  roasting  on  a  spit.  At  the  outcry  of  the 
dwarf  a  knight  enters,  who,  finding  reproaches  met  with 
temper,  knocks  Kay  down.  Kay,  returning  to  the  king,  ad- 
vises him  to  go  elsewhere.  Gawain,  however,  suggests  that  a 
better-tempered  messenger  might  be  more  successful,  and  is 
himself  sent  and  kindly  received.  After  feasting  there  four 
days,  they  go  on  their  way,  and — though  the  poet  forgets  to 
mention  the  fact — apparently  their  late  host  was  Sir  Spinagros, 
who  now  acts  as  guide.  By  and  by,  they  see  a  castle  built 
by  the  side  of  the  Rhone;  and  king  Arthur  is  surprised  to 
hear  from  Spinagros  that  the  knight  of  the  castle  pays  homage 
to  no  man.  Arthur  vows  to  change  all  that  or  his  return 
from  Palestine.  When  he  returns,  he  proceeds  to  besiege  the 
castle.  On  four  successive  days  champions  are  chosen,  w^ho 
fight  with  little  success  to  either  side.  On  the  fifth  day, 
Golagros,  the  knight  of  the  castle,  takes  the  field  himself,  but 
is  defeated  by  Arthur's  champion  Gawain.  As  Golagros  de- 
clines to  own  defeat,  preferring  death  to  shame,  Gawain  is 
about  to  kill  him,  when  Golagros  asks  Gawain  to  come  into 
the  castle  as  if  he  had  been  defeated;  he  will  take  care  that 
Gawain 's  honour  is  not  scathed  by  his  action.  Golagros  asks 
his  knights  whether  they  would  prefer  that  their  chief,  if  van- 
quished, should  still  rule  over  them,  or  whether  they  would 
allow  him  to  perish.  As  they  say  that  they  wish  him  to  be 
chief  in  either  case,  he  tells  them  w^hat  Gawain  has  done,  and 

«  hollow  place.  2  Such  marvel. 

3  Text  according  to  Thornton  MS.,  S.T.S.  ed. 


'*Golagros  and  Gawane"  143 

they  set  out  to  Arthur's  camp,  where  Spinagros  explains  the 
situation.  Golagros  becomes  liege  man  to  Arthur;  but,  after 
nine  days'  feasting,  Arthur  releases  him  from  homage  before 
he  departs. 

The  origin  of  the  story  is  known.  It  is  a  free  paraphrase 
of  the  French  prose  romance  Perceval  le  Gallois  by  Chretien  de 
Troyes,  or  rather,  of  a  continuation  of  it. 

The  writer  is  best  in  his  fighting  scenes,  of  which  the 
combat  of  Gaudifer  and  Galiot,  the  first  champions  of  Arthur 
and  Golagros,  is  a  fair  specimen  (stanza  xliv). 

Gaudifeir  and  Galiot,  in  glemand  steil  wedis, 
As  glauis  glowand  on  gleid.^  grymly  thai  ride; 
Wondir  sternly  thai  steir  on  thair  stent  stedis 
Athir  berne  fra  his  blonk  2  borne  wes  that  tide. 
Thai  ruschit  up  rudly,  quha  sa  right  redis; 
Out  with  suerdis  thai  swang  fra  thair  schalk  ^  side; 
Thair-with  wraithly  *  thai  wirk,  thai  wourthy  in  vedis, 
Hewit  on  the  hard  steill,  and  hurt  thame  in  the  hide. 
Sa  wondir  freschly  thai  frekis  fruschit  ^  in  feir, 
Throw  all  the  harnes  thai  hade, 
Baith  birny  ^  and  breist-plade, 
Thairin  wappynis  couth  wade, 
Wit  ye  but  weir.^ 

The  poem  is  nearly  twice  as  long  as  the  Awntyrs  of  Arthur e, 
containing  a  hundred  and  five  stanzas.  Of  its  date,  nothing 
can  be  said  definitely;  for,  without  several  manuscripts,  we  can 
know  nothing  of  the  tradition  of  the  text.  Its  forms  are  more 
archaic  than  those  of  Wallace;  but  there  is  so  large  a  pro- 
portion of  traditional  tags  (necessitated  by  the  alhteration)  in 
the  romances  that  this  argument  is  not  very  conclusive;  nor 
is  there  satisfactory  proof  that  the  Awntyrs  of  Arthure  and 
Golagros  and  Gawane,  though  their  vocabulary  is  often  similar, 
are  by  the  same  hand. 

One  Scottish  romance  on  the  rival  story  survives.  The 
Charlemagne  cycle  is  represented  by  the  quaint  and  amusing 
tale  of  Raiif  Coihear.  The  plot  turns  upon  Charles  finding  a 
night's  lodging  incognito  in  the  house  of  Ralph,  the  charcoal- 

'  swords  glowing  on  coals.  2  horse.  ^  schalk  is  probably  corrupt. 

*  angrily.  s  men  crashed  together.  *  coat  of  mail. 

'  without  doubt. 


144  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

burner.  The  king  has  lost  his  way  and  his  suite  in  a  storm. 
The  scene  is  laid  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Paris ;  but  the  whole 
story  savour?  far  more  of  Scotland  than  of  France.  The 
"wickit  wedderis  amang  thay  myrk  Montanis"  ill  agree  with 
the  surroundings  of  Paris.  Rauf  is  a  plain-spoken  man  and 
has  his  own  views  on  many  things,  including  good  manners. 
He  finds  the  king  in  the  snow  and  gives  him  a  hearty  invita- 
tion to  spend  the  night,  but  tells  him  that  thanks  are  as  yet 
unnecessary  (stanza  vii) : 

"Na,  thank  me  not  ouir  airlie,  for  dreid  that  we  threip,^ 

For  I  haue  seruit  the  5it  of  lytill  thing  to  ruse  2  ; 

For  nouther  has  thow  had  of  me  fyre,  drink,  nor  meit. 

Nor  nane  vther  eismentis  for  trauellouris  behuse  ^ ; 

Bot,  micht  we  bring  this  harberie  this  nicht  weill  to  heip 

That  we  micht  with  ressoun  baith  thus  excuse ; 

To-morne  on  the  morning,  quhen  thow  sail  on  leip, 

Pryse  at  the  parting,  how  that  thow  dois ; 

For  first  to  lofe  and  syne  to  lak,  Peter!  it  is  schame." 

The  king  said:  "In  gude  fay, 

Schir,  it  is  suith  that  ?e  say." 

Into  sic  talk  fell  thay 

Quhill  thay  war  neir  hame. 

When  they  arrive  at  the  hut,  Rauf  would  have  his  guest  enter 
before  him.  The  guest  wishes  to  give  Rauf  precedence,  but 
Rauf 

said:  "Thow  art  vncourtes,  that  sail  I  warrand." 
He  tyt  the  King  be  the  nek,  twa  part  in  tene*; 
"Gif  thow  at  bidding  suld  be  boun  or  obeysand, 
And  gif  thow  of  Courtasie  couth,  thow  hes  forjet  it  clene."     122  ff. 

Rauf  asks  the  king  to  take  his  wife  Gyliane  in  to  supper,  and 
the  king  would  again  yield  him  precedence,  but  Rauf  regards 
his  ill  manners  as  requiring  stronger  measures  and  hits  him 
a  blow  under  the  ear  that  brings  him  to  the  ground.  With 
true  politeness,  Rauf  waits  till  his  guest  has  finished  his  meal 
before  he  asks  who  he  is.  "  One  of  the  queen's  attendants, 
Wymond  of  the  wardrobe,"  says  Charles,  and  offers  to  help 
to  dispose  of  Rauf's  charcoal  at  court.     Rauf  does  not  know 

•  quarrel.  '  praise.  ^  Plural  of  ' '  behoof  "  for  sake  of  rime. 

*  anger. 


"Rauf  Coihear"  145 

where  the  court  lies  and  does  not  Hke  going  where  he  is  un- 
known, but  is  told  that  the  king  and  queen  are  keeping  Yule 
at  Paris  and  Rauf  need  only  ask  for  Wymond.  The  king 
spends  a  comfortable  night,  and,  next  day,  offers  to  pay  for 
his  good  cheer,  but  is  told  that  even  were  he  of  "Charlis  cum- 
pany,  Chief  king  of  Cheualry"  payment  would  be  refused. 
The  following  day,  Rauf,  taking  Wymond  at  his  word,  carries 
his  charcoal  in  panniers  to  the  court.  The  king  had  remem- 
bered his  promise  and  had  sent  Roland  out  to  fetch  to  the 
king  whoever  came  that  way.  Roland  orders  Rauf  to  "cast 
the  creillis  fra  the  Capill,  and  gang  to  the  king";  but  Rauf 
is  not  to  break  his  promise  to  bring  charcoal  and  offers  to 
fight  the  knight  in  all  his  panoply,  though  he  has  but  "ane 
auld  buklair  and  ane  roustie  brand,"  and,  as  they  are  both 
busy  to-day,  challenges  him  to  combat  on  the  morrow.  The 
king  asks  Roland  whether  he  has  done  his  command,  and, 
finding  that  he  has  not  brought  Rauf,  is  annoyed.  Rauf 
leaves  his  horse  with  the  porter  and  passes  into  the  court  to 
look  for  Wymond,  and,  when  he  sees  the  king,  recognises  him 
as  Wymond,  though  his  clothes  are  different.  Rauf  is  much 
disconcerted  to  think  how  he  had  treated  the  king ;  but  Charles 
dubs  him  a  knight,  and  appoints  him  marshal  of  France. 

The  sole  authority  for  the  tale  is  a  unique  copy,  printed  by 
Lekpreuik  at  St.  Andrews  in  1572  and  now  in  the  Advocates' 
Library,  Edinburgh.  But,  as  Gavin  Douglas  and  Dunbar  both 
refer  to  the  story,  it  must  have  been  well  known  by  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  Amours  points  out  that  its  vocabu- 
lary is  closely  similar  to  that  of  Golagros  and  Gawane.  It  is 
almost  a  parody  on  the  old  romances;  but  the  tale  has  plenty 
of  movement  and,  what  is  lacking  in  the  other  romances, 
plenty  of  humour. 

Along  with  it,  Gavin  Douglas  mentions  two  other  popular 
tales : 

I  saw  Raf  Coilzear  with  his  thrawin  brow, 
Craibit  Johne  the  Reif  and  auld  Cowkeywis  sow. 

Palice  of  Honour,  p.  65  (Small). 

John  the  Reeve,  who  is  also  mentioned  by  Dunbar,  is  printed 
in  Laing's  Select  Remains  of  the  Ancient  Popular  Poetry  of 
Scotland,  but  is  clearly  an  English  work.     The  tale  of  Colkel- 

VOL.  II 10 


146  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

bie's  sow,  also  printed  in  the  same  work,  is  as  clearly  Scottish. 
The  authority  for  it  is  the  Bannatyne  manuscript  which  was 
written  in  1568.  Colkelbie  is  in  Stewarton  in  Ayrshire. 
Colkelbie  (in  Scotland  the  farmer  or  laird  is,  usually,  called  by 
the  name  of  his  estate)  sells  a  sow  for  three  pence.  The  first 
penny  fell  into  a  lake  but  was  found  by  a  woman  who  bought 
a  pig  wherewith  to  make  a  feast.  But  the  pig  escaped,  and 
became  a  mighty  boar.  Near  Paris,  Colkelbie  meets  an  old 
blind  man  who  is  being  led  by  a  beautiful  damsel  called  Adria, 
finds  a  substitute,  and  carries  off  the  damsel  after  giving  the 
blind  man  the  second  penny.  Adria  grows  up  under  the  care 
of  Colkelbie 's  wife  and  is  ultimately  married  to  his  son  Flan- 
nislie.  This  son  is  made  a  squire  of  the  body-guard  by  the 
king  of  France  and  receives  a  grant  of  land  which  is  called 
Flandria  (Flanders),  from  the  names  of  Flannislie  and  Adria. 
With  the  third  penny,  Colkelbie,  in  Scotland  apparently,  buys 
twenty-four  eggs  to  give  at  the  baptism  of  the  son  of  his 
neighbour  Blerblowan.  The  mother  of  the  child  rejects  the 
eggs,  and  Colkelbie  gives  them  to  one  of  his  domestics,  who 
raises  from  them  such  a  stock  of  poultry  that  in  fifteen  years 
he  is  able  to  give  a  thousand  pounds  to  his  godson,  who, 
ultimately,  becomes  immensely  rich. 

The  story  is  divided  into  three  parts,  the  metre  of  the 
first  differing  from  that  of  the  two  others.  From  the  numer- 
ous references  to  it,  the  story  was  obviously  very  popular,  but 
it  makes  a  sorry  end  to  the  old  romances. 

Of  the  other  literature  of  this  period,  the  Lives  of  the 
Saints  and  the  Chronicles,  there  is  not  much  to  be  said.  The 
Lives  of  the  Saints,  which  are  contained  in  a  single  MS.  in  the 
Cambridge  University  Library,  extend  to  over  33,500  lines  of 
the  short  couplet  used  by  Barbour,  to  whom  they  have,  no 
doubt  incorrectly,  been  attributed.  The  MS.  is  not  the  orig- 
inal and  it  would  be  difificult  to  locate  their  origin  definitely 
by  the  language  alone.  But  it  is,  I  think,  clear  that  they 
were  intended  for  an  Aberdeen  audience.  The  lives,  as  a 
whole,  are  derived  from  the  Golden  Legend  or  the  Lives  of  the 
Fathers,  though,  occasionally,  other  sources  were  employed; 
but  two  local  saints,  Machar  (Mauricius)  and  Ninian,  are  in- 
cluded. Ninian,  whose  shrine  was  at  Whithorn  in  Galloway, 
was  a  well  known  saint,   but  St.   Machar's  reputation  was 


*'  Lives  of  the  Saints  "  and  the  *'  Chronicles  "    147 

purely  local.  His  life  was  obviously  compiled  from  local 
tradition  and  was  inserted  where  it  stands  in  the  MS.  for 
local  reasons.  St.  Nicholas,  a  saint  whose  cult  is  very  widely 
spread,  is  the  patron  saint  of  the  great  church  of  New  Aber- 
deen, the  city  on  the  Dee;  and  it  would  only  have  occurred 
to  a  person  with  local  knowledge  to  insert  after  the  life  of 
Nicholas  the  life  of  Machar,  the  patron  saint  of  Old  Aberdeen 
on  the  Don. 

Bot  befor  vthyr  I  wald  fayne 
&  I  had  cunnyng  set  my  mayne 
sume  thing  to  say  of  Sanct  Moryse, 
that  in  his  tym  was  ware  and  wis 
&  in  the  erd  of  sic  renown 
&  als  in  hewine  sa  bye  patron, 
of  Aberden  in  the  cite 
thru  haly  life  was  wont  to  be.     7  flf. 

It  is  not  clear  whether  all  the  lives  are  by  the  same  author, 
though  most  authorities  regard  them  as  being  so.  The  writer 
professes  to  be  an  old  man,  no  longer  equal  to  the  duties  of 
the  church.  The  date  for  the  life  of  Ninian,  at  any  rate,  is 
clearly  fixed  by  a  tale  of  how  St.  Ninian  saved  a  knight  who 
had  been  betrayed  to  the  English,  "a  ferly  that  in  my  tyme 
befel"  (816) ;  while,  later,  he  says  (941) : 

This  was  done  but  lessinge 
Quhene  Sir  Davi  Bruys  ves  kinge. 

Besides  the  Aberdeen  saints,  knowledge  of  the  north  is  postu- 
lated by  the  story  of  John  Balormy,  born  "  in  Elgyn  of  Mur- 
refe,"  who,  having  the  "  worm  in  his  shank"  and  knee,  travelled 
on  horseback  all  the  way  to  Whithorn,  "  twa  hundre  mylis  of 
Milavay,"  and  was  cured  by  St.  Ninian. 

But  the  Scots  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  did 
not  spend  all  their  leisure  in  hearing  and  reading  romances 
or  the  lives  of  saints.  They  had  an  equal,  or,  if  we  may  judge 
from  the  number  of  extant  manuscripts,  a  greater,  interest  in 
the  chroniclers  of  the  past.  With  the  earliest  of  these  and, 
in  some  respects,  the  most  important  of  them  we  have  but 
little  to  do,  for  they  do  not  write  in  the  Scottish  tongue. 
Scalacronica  was  compiled  in  Norman-French  by  Sir  Thomas 


148  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

Gray,  of  Heton  in  Northumberland,  while  a  prisoner  in  the 
hands  of  the  Scots  at  Edinburgh,  in  1355.  The  valiant  knight, 
ancestor  of  families  still  distinguished  on  the  border,  finding  time 
hang  heavy  on  his  hands,  put  together  from  the  best  sources 
at  his  disposal  a  chronicle  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
to  his  own  time.  For  the  period  of  the  wars  of  independence 
it  is  a  first-hand  authority  and,  as  the  work  of  a  man  of  affairs, 
whose  "hands  had  often  kept  his  head,"  it  has  a  value  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  the  monkish  chronicles.  The  next  in  order 
of  these  records  is  Scotichronicon,  the  joint  w^ork  of  John  of 
Fordun  and  his  continuator  Walter  Bower  or  Bowmaker,  abbot 
of  Inchcolm  in  the  Firth  of  Forth.  Except  for  occasional 
quotations,  the  work  (in  fourteen  books)  is  entirely  in  Latin. 
The  first  five  books  and  some  part  of  the  sixth  were  com- 
pleted by  John  of  Fordun,  between  1384  and  1387,  for  he 
mentions  that  he  had  lately  received  a  genealogy  from  bishop 
Wardlaw,  cardinal  and  legate,  and  we  know  that  bishop  Ward- 
law  held  those  titles  only  during  those  years.  Fordun  is 
generally  said  to  have  died  in  1385,  the  year  in  which  his 
continuator  tells  us  he  himself  was  born.  Of  Fordun,  we 
know  nothing  save  what  is  told  us  in  various  manuscripts  of 
his  w^orks.  He  probably  was  bom  at  Fordoun,  in  Kincar- 
dineshire, whence  he  derives  his  name;  and  the  statement  in 
the  Black  Book  of  Paisley,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  that 
he  was  capellanus  ecclesiae  Aherdonensis,  which  is  generally 
interpreted  "a  chantr}^  priest  in  the  cathedral  of  Aberdeen," 
is  probable  enough.  If  so,  he  was  not  only  a  contemporary 
but  also  a  fellow  citizen  of  Barbour.  Fordun,  undoubtedly, 
took  great  pains  in  collecting  his  materials  by  visiting  mon- 
asteries in  England  and  even  in  Ireland  where  chronicles  were 
to  be  found.  Unfortunately,  he  w^as  able  to  complete  his 
work  only  as  far  as  the  death  of  David  I  in  1153.  The  ma- 
terial with  which  his  continuator  worked  was  largely  collected 
by  Fordun.  But  Bower  was  a  much  less  competent  person 
than  his  predecessor.  He  was  engaged  upon  the  chronicle 
between  1441  and  1449,  and  brought  down  the  history  to  the 
death  of  James  I  in  1437.  He  is  garrulous,  irrelevant  and 
inaccurate.  He  interpolates  passages  into  the  part  completed 
by  Fordun,  and  he  makes  every  important  occurrence  an 
excuse  for  a  long-winded  moral  discourse.     When  he  has  occa- 


Andrew  of  Wyntoun  149 

sion  to  relate  the  unfortunate  matrimonial  experiences  of 
David  II,  he  feels  it  necessary  to  discuss  the  proper  method 
of  choosing  a  wife  and  to  illustrate  the  problem  with  at  least 
six  passages  from  the  Bible,  and  several  more  from  Aristotle 
and  the  Christian  fathers.  He  is  able  to  fill  the  next  chapter 
with  rules  for  the  proper  management  of  a  wife,  illustrated 
by  quotations  from  Solomon,  St.  Paul,  Varro  and  Valerius 
Maximus.  Nearly  two  folio  pages  are  required  to  state  the 
unpleasant  things  to  which  a  wicked  woman  is  compared. 
Among  these  is  the  serpent,  and  this  leads  to  an  excursus  on 
the  serpent  and  two  more  chapters  on  the  wicked  woman: 

Till  horsis  fote  thou  never  traist. 

Till  hondis  tooth,  no  womans  faith,     xiv,  32  f. 

A  single  shorter  chapter  exhausts  the  good  qualities  of  the 
female  sex,  and  Bower  is  then  able  to  return  to  Margaret 
Logic  and  the  death  of  king  David  II.  Even  that  patient 
age  found  the  taediosa  prolixitas  of  the  abbot  of  Inchcolm 
more  than  it  could  endure,  and  he  and  others  spent  their 
time  in  making  shorter  manuals  out  of  this  vast  and  undi- 
gested mass. 

Andrew  of  Wyntoun,  who  wrote  his  chronicle  in  Barbour's 
couplet  and  in  the  Scottish  tongue,  was  an  older  contemporary 
of  Walter  Bower.  He  died  an  old  man  soon  after  1420.  Of 
him,  as  of  the  other  contemporary  chroniclers,  we  know  little 
except  that  he  was  head  of  St.  Serf's  priory  in  Lochleven,  and 
a  canon  regular  of  St.  Andrews,  which,  in  1413,  became  the 
site  of  the  first  university  founded  in  Scotland.  The  name  of 
his  work,  The  Orygynale  Cronykil,  only  means  that  .he  went 
back  to  the  beginning  of  things,  as  do  the  others. ^Wyntoun// 
surpasses  them  only  in  beginning  with  a  book  on  the  history 
of  angels.  Naturally,  the  early  part  is  derived  mostly  from 
the  Bible,  and  The  Cronykil  has  no  historical  value  except 
for  Scotland,  and  for  Scotland  only  from  Malcolm  Canmore 
onwards,  its  value  increasing  as  the  author  approaches  his  own 
time.  For  Robert  the  Bruce,  he  not  only  refers  to  Barbour 
but  quotes  nearly  three  hundred  lines  of  The  Bruce  verbatim 
— thus  being  the  earliest,  and  a  very  valuable,  authority  for 
Barbour's  text.  In  the  last  two  books,  he  also  incorporates 
a  long  chronicle,  the  author  of  which  he  says  he  did  not  know. 


ISO  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

From  the  historical  point  of  view,  these  chroniclers  altogether 
perverted  the  early  chronology  of  Scottish  affairs.  The  iron 
of  Edward  I  had  sunk  deep  into  the  Scottish  soul,  and  it  was 
necessary,  at  all  costs,  to  show  that  Scotland  had  a  list  of 
kings  extending  backwards  far  beyond  anything  that  England 
could  boast.  This  it  was  easy  to  achieve  by  making  the 
Scottish  and  Pictish  dynasties  successive  instead  of  contem- 
porary, and  patching  awkward  flaws  by  creating  a  few  more 
kings  when  necessary.  That  the  Scots  might  not  be  charged 
with  being  usurpers,  it  was  necessary  to  allege  that  they  were 
in  Scotland  before  the  Picts.  History  was  thus  turned  upside 
down.  Apart  from  the  national  interests  which  were  involved, 
the  controversy  was  exactly  like  that  which  raged  between 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  in  the  sixteenth  century  as  to  the  date 
of  their  foundations,  and  it  led  to  the  same  tampering  with 
evidence.  Wyntoun  has  no  claims  to  the  name  of  poet.  He 
is  a  chronicler,  and  would  himself  have  been  surprised  to  be 
found  in  the  company  of  the  "makaris." 

It  was  at  the  instance  of  "  Schir  lohne  of  Wemys"  that  he 
compiled  his  chronicle.  The  original  scheme  was  for  seven 
books,  but  the  work  was,  later,  extended  to  nine. 

Wyntoun  would  not  have  been  the  child  of  his  age  and 
training  did  not  the  early  part  of  his  history  contain  many 
marvels.  We  hear  how  Gedell-Glaiss,  the  son  of  Sir  Newill, 
came  out  of  Scythia  and  married  Scota,  Pharaoh's  daughter. 
Being,  naturally,  unpopular  with  the  Egyptian  nobility,  he 
then  emigrated  to  Spain  and  founded  the  race  which,  in  later 
days,  appeared  in  Ireland  and  Scotland.  It  is  interesting  to 
learn  that  Wyntoun  identified  Gaelic  and  Basque,  part  of  the 
Scottish  stock  remaining  behind  in  Spain, 

And  Scottis  thai  spek  hallely, 
And  ar  callyt  Nawarry.     ii,  853  f. 

And  Simon  Brek  it  was  that  first  brought  the  Coronation  Stone 
from  Spain  to  Ireland.  The  exact  date  before  the  Christian 
era  is  given  for  all  these  important  events. 

When  Wyntoun  arrives  at  the  Christian  dispensation  and 
the  era  of  the  saints,  it  is  only  natural  that  he  should  dwell 
with  satisfaction  on  the  achievements  of  St.  Serf,  to  whom  his 
own  priory  was  dedicated.     St.  Serf  was  the  "kyngis  sone  off 


Andrew  of  Wyntoun  151 

Kanaan,"  who,  leaving  the  kingdom  to  his  younger  brother, 
passed  through  Alexandria,  Constantinople  and  Rome.  Hence, 
after  he  had  been  seven  years  pope,  his  guiding  angel  con- 
ducted him  through  France.  He  then  took  ship,  arrived  in 
the  Firth  of  Forth  and  was  advised  by  St.  Adamnan  to  pass 
into  Fife.  Ultimately,  after  difficulties  with  the  Pictish  king, 
he  founded  a  church  at  Culross,  and  then  passed  to  the  "  Inche 
of  Lowchlewyn."  That  he  should  raise  the  dead  and  cast  out 
devils  was  to  be  expected.  A  thief  stole  his  pet  lamb  and 
ate  it.  Taxed  with  the  crime  by  the  saint  he  denied  it,  but 
was  speedily  convicted,  for  "  the  schype  thar  bletyt  in  hys 
wayme."^  Wyntoun  tells,  not  without  sympathy,  the  story 
of  that  "  Duk  of  Frissis,"  who,  with  one  foot  already  in  the 
baptismal  font,  halted  to  enquire  whether  more  of  his  kindred 
were  in  hell  or  heaven.  The  bishop  of  those  days  could  have 
but  one  answer,  whereupon  the  duke  said 

Withe  thai  he  cheyssit  2  hym  to  duel. 
And  said  he  dowt}i;  for  to  be 
Reprewit  wnkynde  gif  that  he 
Sulde  withedraw  hym  in  to  deide  ^ 
'  Fra  his  kyn  til  ane  wncouthe  leide,* 
Til  strangeris  fra  his  aw^m  k3'tht, 
Qwhar  he  was  nwrist  and  bred  \vp  withe, 
Qwhar  neuir  nane  was  of  his  kyn, 
Aulde  na  jonge,  mare  na  myn, 
That  neuir  was  blenkyt  withe  that  blayme. 
"[Abrenuncio]  for  thi  that  schayme," 
He  said,  and  of  the  fant  he  tuk 
His  fute,  and  hail  he  thar  forsuyk 
Cristyndome  euir  for  to  ta,^ 
For  til  his  freyndis  he  walde  ga 
Withe  thaim  stedfastly  to  duell 
Euirmare  in  the  pyne  of  hel.^ 

Good  churchman  as  Wyntoun  is,  he  is  not  slow  to  tell  of 
wickedness  in  high  places  and  duly  relates  the  story  of  pope 
Joan,  with  the  curious  addition 

Scho  was  Inglis  of  nacion 
Richt  willy  of  condicion 

»v,  5230,  Cotton  MS.,  S.T.S.,  schose.  J  in  death. 

«a  strange  people.  stake.  *v,  5780  ff.,  Cotton  MS.,  S.T.S. 


152  The  Earliest  Scottish  Literature 

A  burges  douchtyr  and  his  ayre 
Pre  we,  pleyssande  and  richt  fayr; 
Thai  callit  hir  fadyr  Hob  of  Lyne.^ 

In  this  book  (chap.  18)  he  also  tells  the  most  famous  of  all 
his  stories — Macbeth  and  the  weird  sisters,  and  the  interview 
between  Malcolm  and  Alacduff.  But  Wyntoun  renders  Mac- 
beth more  justice  than  other  writers, 

jit  in  his  tyme  thar  wes  plente 
Off  gold  and  siluer,  catall  and  fee.  2 
He  wes  in  iustice  rycht  lauchfull, 
And  till  his  liegis  rycht  awfull.  ^ 

Bimam  wood  comes  to  Dunsinane,  and  Macbeth,  fleeing 
across  the  Mounth,  is  slain  "in  to  the  wod  of  Lumfanane."* 

With  all  his  credulity,  Wyntoun,  in  the  later  part  of  his 
chronicle,  is  a  most  valuable  source  for  the  history  of  his 
country.  To  him  and  to  Fordun  we  are  indebted  for  most 
of  our  knowledge  of  early  Scotland,  since  little  documentary 
evidence  of  that  period  survived  the  wreck  that  was  wrought 
by  Edward  I. 

»  VI,  465,  Cotton  MS.,  S.T.S.  2  sheep. 

3  Wemyss  MS.,  1929  ff.,  S.T.S.  *  Ibid.  2310. 


CHAPTER  VI 

John  Gower 

IN  spite  of  the  progress  which  had  been  made  in  Enghsh 
literature  by  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  it 
still  remained  uncertain  how  far  the  cultured  classes  were 
prepared  to  accept  English  as  an  instrument  of  expression  for 
the  higher  kinds  of  literature.  With  this  uncertainty  was 
bound  up  the  question  whether,  out  of  all  the  provincial 
varieties  which  had  existed  during  the  Middle  English  period, 
a  generally  accepted  literary  form  of  English  could  arise — 
something  which  would  stand  towards  the  English  dialects 
generally  in  the  same  relation  that  Dante's  volgare  illustre, 
cardinale  e  cortigiano  held  towards  the  dialects  of  Italy.  Writ- 
ers such  as  Robert  of  Gloucester  and  Robert  of  Brunne  had 
addressed  themselves  distinctly  to  those  who  were  unable  to 
read  French  easily,  and  to  whom  even  the  new  English  of  the 
day  was  difficult,  because  so  much  interlarded  with  French. 
They  made  occasional  protests  against  the  abnormal  condition 
of  things  under  which  English,  instead  of  being  the  speech 
of  the  whole  nation,  was  degraded  to  the  position  of  a  lan- 
guage for  the  unlearned,  but  they  hardly  seem  to  have  con- 
ceived that  their  labours  should  aim  at  removing  this  anomaly. 
It  is  true  that  a  considerable  amount  of  English  verse  had 
been  produced  which  aimed  at  representing  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  the  contents  of  the  continental  romances,  and,  conse- 
quently, may  be  supposed  to  have  made  an  appeal  to  a  more 
or  less  aristocratic  audience.  But  we  find  little  that  sug- 
gests court  influence  in  those  English  translations  of  French 
romances  which  abound  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies. Their  tendency  is  towards  a  popular  rather  than  a 
genuinely  artistic  verse  form;  and,  when  finally  a  school  arose 
which  worked  to  some  extent  on  artistic  principles,  it  was 

153 


154  John  Gower 

characterised  more  or  less  by  a  reversion  to  the  old  rule  of 
alliteration.  This  carried  with  it  a  good  deal  of  archaism  of 
language;  so  that,  notwithstanding  the  high  poetical  merit  of 
such  works  as  Pearl  and  Sir  Gawayne  and  the  Grene  Knight,  it 
was  not  possible  that  they  should  form  the  basis  of  a  poetical 
development  which  should  reconcile  English  and  French  tastes 
in  literature.  To  accomplish  this  reconciliation  was  pre-emi- 
nently the  task  of  Chaucer,  who,  however,  in  genius  and  in 
culture  was  so  far  in  advance  of  his  generation  that  he  can 
hardly  be  regarded  as,  in  any  sense,  typical?^  The  mere  fact 
that  he  alone  of  the  poets  of  his  time  was  capable  of  being 
vitally  influenced  by  Italian  literature,  by  Dante  and  Boc- 
caccio, is  enough  to  remove  him  from  the  common  level.  If 
we  desire  to  set  before  ourselves  a  picture  of  what  we  may, 
perhaps,  call  the  normal  development  of  English  literature  in 
its  progress  towards  general  acceptance,  we  ought  rather, 
perhaps,  to  direct  our  attention  to  the  work  of  one  who,  in 
a  certain  sense,  stands  by  the  side  of  Chaucer,  though  he  is 
a  man  of  talent  only,  not  of  genius — the  author  of  Confessio 
Amantis.  ^"^ 

John  Gower  was  a  man  of  considerable  literary  accom- 
plishments, and,  though  not  very  deeply  read,  he  w^as  possessed 
of  most  of  the  information  which  passed  current  as  learning. 
He  w^as  master  of  three  languages  for  the  purpose  of  literar}^ 
expression,  and  he  continued  to  use  French  and  Latin  side  by 
side  with  English  even  in  the  last  years  of  the  century.  As 
a  man  of  culture,  his  attitude  towards  English  was  at  first  one 
of  suspicion,  and,  indeed,  of  rejection.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  he  wrote  his  French  ballades  in  the  earlier  period  of  his 
career;  but,  unquestionably,  his  first  work  of  considerable 
extent  was  in  French,  the  recently  recovered  Speculum  Medi- 
tantis  or  Mirour  de  VOmme.  His  next  venture  was  in  Latin 
elegiacs;  and  it  was  not  till  nearly  the  last  decade  of  the 
century  that,  encouraged,  perhaps,  by  the  example  of  Chaucer, 
he  adopted  English  as  his  vehicle  of  literary  expression.  To 
the  end,  he  was  probably  doubtful  whether  a  poet  ought  to 
trust  to  his  English  works  for  a  permanent  reputation. 

Gower  was  undoubtedly  of  a  Kentish  family:  the  arms  on 
his  tomb  are  the  same  as  those  of  Sir  Robert  Gower  of  Bra- 
bourne.     Some  documents  which  have  been  cited  to  prove  that 


Life  15s 

John  Gower  was  a  landowner  in  Kent  probably  refer  to 
another  person;  but  one  instrument,  which  undoubtedly  has 
reference  to  the  poet,  describes  him  as  "  Esquier  de  Kent," 
and  it  may  be  affirmed  with  certainty  that  he  was  a  layman. 
There  is  no  evidence  to  prove  that  he  led  the  life  of  a  country 
gentleman,  but  he  was  certainly  a  man  of  some  wealth,  and 
he  was  the  owner  of  at  least  two  manors,  one  in  Norfolk  and 
the  other  in  Suffolk,  which,  however,  he  leased  to  others.  It 
seems  probable  that,  for  the  most  part,  he  resided  in  London, 
and  he  was  personally  known  both  to  Richard  II  and  to  the 
family  of  John  of  Gaunt.  For  some  years  in  the  latter  part 
of  his  life  he  resided  in  lodgings  assigned  to  him  within  the 
Priory  of  St.  Mary  Overes,  Southwark,  of  which  house  he  was 
a  Hberal  benefactor.  He  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  the  year 
1408,  having  lost  his  eyesight  some  years  before  this,  and  was 
buried  in  a  magnificent  tomb  with  a  recumbent  effigy,  in  the 
church  of  the  Priory,  now  St.  Saviour's,  Southwark,  where  the 
tomb  is  still  to  be  seen,  though  not  in  its  original  state  nor 
quite  in  its  original  position.  He  had  been  married  in  1398, 
while  living  in  the  Priory,  to  one  Agnes  Groundolf,  who  sur- 
vived him,  but  there  are  some  indications  in  his  early  French 
work  that  the  author  had  had  a  wife  before  this.  That  he 
was  acquainted  with  Chaucer  we  know  on  good  evidence.  In 
May  1378,  Chaucer,  on  leaving  England  for  Italy,  appointed 
Gower  and  another  to  act  for  him  under  a  general  power  of 
attorney  during  his  absence.  A  few  years  later,  Chaucer 
ad^essed  his  Troilus  and  Criseyde  to  Gower  and  Strode,  to  be 
criticised  and  corrected  where  need  was, 

0  moral  Gower,  this  book  I  directe 
To  thee,  and  to  thee,  philosophical  Strode, 
To  vouchen  sauf ,  ther  nede  is,  to  correcte, 
Of  your  benignetes  and  zeles  gode. 

Finally,  Gower,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  pays  a  tribute  to  Chaucer 
as  a  poet  of  love  in  the  lines  which  he  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  Venus, 

And  gret  wel  Chaucer,  whan  ye  mete, 
As  mi  disciple  and  mi  poete: 
For  in  the  floures  of  his  youthe 
In  sondri  wise,  as  he  wel  couthe, 


^5^  John  Gower 

Of  ditees  and  of  songes  glade, 

The  whiche  he  for  mi  sake  made, 

The  lond  fulfild  is  overal : 

Whereof  to  him  in  special 

Above  alle  othre  I  am  most  holde,  etc. 

Conf.  Am.,  viii,  2941*  ff. 

These  lines  were  omitted  in  the  later  forms  of  the  text,  and 
upon  this  fact,  combined  with  a  supposed  reference  to  Gower 
in  the  Canterbury  Tales,  as  the  author  of  immoral  stories,  has 
been  founded  the  notion  of  a  bitter  quarrel  between  the  two 
poets.  But  of  this  there  is  no  sufficient  evidence..''  The  omis- 
sion of  the  greeting  to  Chaucer  may  be  plausibly  explained  on 
grounds  connected  with  the  mechanical  circumstances  of  the 
revision  of  Confessio  Amantis;  and  Chaucer's  reference  is, 
apparently,  of  a  humorous  character,  the  author  of  the  not 
very  decent  tales  of  the  miller,  the  reeve  and  the  merchant 
taking  advantage  of  his  opportunity  to  reprove  the  "moral 
Gower"  for  selecting  improper  subjects. 

The  development  of  Gower's  political  opinions  may  be 
traced  in  his  writings,  and  especially  in  the  successive  altera- 
tions which  he  made  in  the  text  of  Vox  Clamantis  and  Confessio 
Amantis,  as  years  went  on  and  the  situation  changed.  When 
Vox  Clamantis  was  first  written,  no  blame  whatever  was  at- 
tached to  the  youthful  king,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  Peasants' 
rising,  was  only  in  his  fifteenth  year.  In  the  earlier  version 
of  the  poem,  as  now  recovered  from  the  Dublin  and  Hatfield 
MSS.,  we  have,  "The  boy  himself  is  blameless,  but  his  coun- 
cillors are  not  without  fault.  .  '.  .  If  the  king  were  of  mature 
age,  he  would  redress  the  balance  of  justice"  (vi,  555*  flf.),  and 
again,  "  I  pray  God  to  preserve  my  young  king,  and  let  him 
live  long  and  see  good  days.  ...  O  king,  mayest  thou  ever 
hold  thy  sceptre  with  honour  and  triumph,  as  Augustus  did 
at  Rome.  ...  O  flower  of  boyhood,  according  to  thy  worthi- 
ness I  wish  thee  prosperity"  (vi,  ii67*ff.).  In  the  later 
version  of  the  first  passage  we  have,  written  over  erasure  in 
the  author's  own  copies,  "iThe  king,  an  undisciplined  youth, 
neglects  the  moral  acts,  by  which  he  might  grow  from  a  boy 
to  a  man.  .  .  .  What  he  desires  is  desired  also  by  his  youth- 
ful companions;  he  enters  upon  the  road,  and  they  follow 
him.  .   .  .     Older  men  too  give  way  to  him  for  gain,  and  per- 


Political  Opinions  157 

vert  the  justice  of  the  king's  court"  (vi,  555  ff.).  And  the 
second  passage  runs  as  follows  (in  effect):  "The  king  is  hon- 
oured above  all,  so  long  as  his  acts  are  good,  but  if  the  king 
is  avaricious  and  proud,  the  people  is  grieved.  Not  all  that 
a  king  desires  is  expedient  for  him :  he  has  a  charge  laid  upon 
him,  and  must  maintain  law  and  do  justice.  O  king,  do  away 
with  the  evils  of  thy  reign,  restore  the  laws  and  banish  crime: 
let  thy  people  be  subject  to  thee  for  love  and  not  for  fear" 
(vi,  1 1 59  ff.).  These  alterations  were  evidently  made  while 
the  king  was  still  young,  but  at  a  time  when  he  was  regarded 
as  fully  responsible  for  the  government.  In  1390,  when 
Confessio  Amantis  was  first  completed,  and  when  the  author's 
summary  of  his  three  principal  works,  which  was  appended  to 
it,  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  first  written,  the  innocence 
of  the  king  as  regards  the  events  of  the  year  1381  is  still  care- 
fully asserted,  and,  from  the  manner  in  which  the  king  is 
spoken  of  in  the  first  edition  of  Confessio  Amantis  itself,  both 
at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end  of  the  poem,  we  know  that 
the  author  had  not  yet  abandoned  his  hope  that  the  king, 
who  even  then  was  hardly  more  than  three  and  twenty,  might 
prove  to  be  endowed  with  those  qualities  of  justice  and  mercy 
which  were  necessary  for  a  successful  reign  (viii,  2970*  ff.). 
Very  soon,  however,  he  saw  reason  to  abandon  these  hopes; 
within  a  year,  he  composed  an  alternative  version  of  his  epi- 
logue, in  which  his  prayers  for  the  king  were  changed  into 
prayers  for  the  good  government  of  the  land;  and,  finally,  in 
1392  or  1393,  instead  of  the  lines  in  the  prologue  in  which 
reference  was  made  to  the  king's  suggestion  of  the  work,  he 
inserted  others  in  which  the  book  was  said  to  have  been 
written  for  England's  sake,  and  was  presented  not  to  the  king, 
but  to  his  cousin  Henry  of  Lancaster,  to  whose  person  the 
author  had  already  transferred  some  of  the  hopes  and  aspira- 
tions which  had  previously  centred  in  the  king.  It  is  probable 
that  these  changes  were  made  in  a  few  copies  only,  which 
either  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  author,  like  the  Fairfax 
MS.,  in  which  we  can  trace  the  actual  process  of  the  change, 
made  by  erasure  and  substitution  of  leaves,  or  were  written 
for  presentation  to  Henry  himself,  as  is  probably  the  case 
with  the  Stafford  MS.  By  far  the  larger  number  of  existing 
copies  are  of  the  earlier  form.     Gradually,  Gower's  spirit  be- 


158  John  Gower 

came  more  and  more  embittered,  as  the  king's  self-indulgence 
and  arbitrary  rule  more  and  more  belied  his  hopes  of  reforma- 
tion; and  in  the  final  edition  of  his  note  upon  his  works,  written 
after  the  fall  of  Richard,  he  omits  all  mention  of  the  early- 
events  of  the  reign  and  of  the  king's  youth  and  innocence, 
and  represents  Vox  Clamantis  as  dealing  generally  with  the 
evils  of  the  time,  for  which  the  king  is  held  primarily  respon- 
sible by  reason  of  his  injustice  and  cruelty.  Finally,  in 
Croitica  Tripertita  the  misfortunes  which  have  overtaken 
Richard  II  are  shown  to  be  the  natural  consequences  of  a 
course  of  evil  government  and  treachery,  and  in  the  English 
stanzas  addressed  to  Henry  IV  the  author's  ideal  of  a  king, 
as  one  who  above  all  things  should  promote  peace  at  home 
and  abroad,  is  set  forth  with  the  enthusiasm  of  one  who,  after 
long  waiting,  at  length  sees  his  hopes  for  his  country  fulfilled. 
The  literary  work  of  Gower  is  represented  chiefly  by 
those  three  books  upon  which  the  head  of  his  effigy  rests 
in  St.  Saviour's  Church,  the  French  Speculum  Meditantis  (or 
Specuhim  Hominis,  as  it  was  originally  called),  the  Latin 
Vox  Clamantis,  and  the  English  Confessio  Amantis.  Let  us 
first  observe  what  he  tells  us  himself  of  these  works,  in  the 
Latin  note  already  referred  to,  which  is  found,  with  variations, 
in  most  of  the  manuscripts : 

Since  every  man  is  bound  to  impart  to  others  in  proportion  as 
he  has  himself  received  from  God,  John  Gower,  desiring  in  some 
measure  to  lighten  the  account  of  his  stewardship,  while  yet  there 
was  time,  with  regard  to  those  mental  gifts  which  God  had  given 
him,  amid  his  labours  and  in  his  leisure  composed  three  books  for 
the  information  and  instruction  of  others,  in  the  form  which  follows. 

The  first  book,  written  in  the  French  language,  is  divided  into 
ten  parts,  and,  treating  of  vices  and  of  virtues,  as  also  of  the  various 
conditions  of  men  in  the  world,  endeavours  rightly  to  teach  the 
way  by  which  the  sinner  who  has  trespassed  ought  to  return  to  the 
knowledge  of  his  Creator.  And  the  title  of  this  book  is  Speculum 
Meditantis.  ^ 

The  second  book,  metrically  composed  in  the  Latin  language, 
treats  of  the  various  misfortunes  which  happened  in  England  in  the 
time  of  king  Richard  II,  whence  not  only  the  nobles  and  commons 
of  the  realm  suffered  great  evils,  but  the  cruel  king  himself,  falHng 

iln  the  first  edition  of  this  statement,  the  title  is  Speculum  Hominis, 
corresponding  to  the  French  form  Mirour  de  VOmme. 


Literary  Productions  iS9 

from  on  high  by  his  own  evil  doings,  was  at  length  hurled  into  the 
pit  which  he  dug  himself.  ^  And  the  name  of  this  volume  is  Vox 
Clamantis. 

The  third  book,  which  was  written  in  the  English  language  in 
honour  of  his  most  valorous  lord  Henry  of  Lancaster,  then  earl  of 
Derby,  ^  marks  out  the  times  from  the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
until  now,  in  accordance  with  the  prophecy  of  Daniel  on  the 
changes  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world.  It  treats,  also,  in  accord- 
ance with  Aristotle,  of  the  matters  in  which  king  Alexander  was 
instructed  by  his  discipline,  both  for  the  governance  of  himself  and 
for  other  ends.  But  the  chief  matter  of  the  book  is  founded  upon  i 
love,  and  the  infatuated  passions  of  lovers.  And  the  name  appro-  '' 
priated  to  this  work  is  Confessio  Amantis. 


The  author  conceives,  then,  of  his  literary  work  as  essen- 
tially didactic  in  character,  and  of  himself  as  fulfilling  a  mission 
in  making  use,  for  the  benefit  of  his  own  generation,  of  the 
gifts  which  he  has  received^.  This,  of  course,  was  a  quite 
usual  standpoint.  It  was  a  didactic  age,  and  Gower  was 
fully  in  sympathy  with  the  prevailing  tendency  to  edification; 
but  his  books,  on  the  whole,  have  a  somewhat  higher  literary 
quality  than  might  be  supposed  from  his  description  of  them. 

The  French  work  is  placed  first  of  these  three  books  by 
the  author,  and,  no  doubt,  it  came  first  in  the  order  of  time. 
It  contains  evidence,  however,  that  this  was  not  his  first 
literary  essay,  for  he  speaks  in  it  of  earlier  poems  of  a  light 
and  amorous  kind,  the  composition  of  which  he  now  regrets. ^ 
It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  these  jols  ditz  d' amours 
are  identical  with  the  Cinkante  Balades  which,  near  the  close 
of  his  life,  he  dedicated  to  Henry  IV.  The  passage  referred 
to  seems  to  speak  of  something  lighter  and  in  a  more  lyrical 
vein. 

Speculum  Meditantis  has  come  down  to  us  in  a  single  copy, 


1  In  the  earlier  form  of  the  statement  (1390),  the  author  speaks  of  the 
insurrection  made  by  the  serfs  against  the  nobles  and  gentry  of  the  kingdom, 
and  takes  occasion  to  free  the  king  from  all  blame  by  reason  of  his  tender 
age.  The  form  which  is  given  above  is,  in  fact,  a  reference  to  the  later 
politics  of  the  reign,  rather  than  to  the  period  dealt  with  in  Vox  Clamantis. 

2 In  the  earlier  form  "at  the  instance  of  his  lord  .  .  .  King  Richard  the 
second." 

^  Mir  our  de  VOmme,  27,337  ff. 


i6o  John  Gower 

under  the  French  title  Mirour  de  VOmme.  For  several  cen- 
turies it  disappeared  from  view  and  was  supposed  to  have 
perished.  "Of  the  Speculum  Meditantis  ...  no  trace  re- 
mains," wrote  Courthope  in  the  year  1895.^  But  in  that  very 
year  a  copy,  slightly  imperfect,  was  discovered  in  the  Cam- 
bridge University  Library,  to  which  it  had  lately  come  by  the 
sale  of  a  private  library ;  and,  though  it  bears  no  author's  name^ 
it  has  been  identified  with  certainty  by  its  correspondence  with 
the  author's  description  of  his  work,  and  by  comparison  of 
the  style  and  substance  with  those  of  Gower's  other  works. 2 

In  this,  the  first  of  the  three  principal  works,  we  have  in 
its  most  systematic,  and,  consequently,  its  least  attractive, 
form,  the  material  which  forms  the  groundwork  also  of  the 
others.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  combination  in  one  scheme  of  all  the 
principal  kinds  of  moral  composition  which  were  current  in 
that  age,  the  Somme  des  Vices  et  des  Vertus,  the  Etats  des 
hommes,  and  the  metrical  summary  of  Scripture  history  and 
legend.  The  scheme  is  of  a  very  ambitious  character.  It  is 
intended  to  cover  the  whole  field  of  man's  religious  and  moral 
nature,  to  set  forth  the  purposes  of  Providence  in  dealing  with 
him,  to  describe  the  various  degrees  of  society  and  the  faults 
specially  chargeable  to  each  class  of  men,  and  finally,  to  ex- 
plain the  method  w^hich  should  be  followed  by  man  in  order 
to  reconcile  himself  to  the  God  whom  he  has  offended  by  his 
sin.  The  author  shows  a  certain  amount  of  ingenuity  in 
combining  all  this  in  a  single  scheme:  he  does  not  merely 
reproduce  the  current  form  of  treatment,  but  aspires  to  a 
certain  degree  of  literary  unity,  which  distinguishes  his  work 
from  that  of  writers  like  the  author  of  the  Manuel  des  Pechiez. 
Such  works  as  this  last  were  intended  for  practical  purposes: 
Gower's  poem  aspires  to  be  a  work  of  literary  art,  however 
little  we  may  be  disposed  to  allow  it  that  title.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  account  which  William  of  Wadington  gives  of  his 
design  at  the  beginning  of  the  Manuel  des  Pechiez  (the  original 
of  Robert  of  Brunne's  Handlyng  Synne),  which,  it  must  be 
remembered,  has  the  form  of  a  poem. 

>  Hist,  of  English  Poetry,  i,  p.  308. 

2  See  Macaulay's  edition  of  Gower,  vol.  i,  pp.  xxxiv-xli,  and  Ixviii-lxxi. 
Previous  enquirers  had  been  misled  by  the  expectation  that  the  book,  if 
found,  would  bear  the  title  Speculum  Meditantis,  not  sufficiently  observing 
that  this  title  was  adopted  long  after  its  first  production. 


"Mirour  de  rOmme"  i6i 

May  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  aid  us  to  set  forth  the  matters 
with  regard  to  which  a  man  should  make  his  confession,  and  also 
in  what  manner  it  should  be  made.  .  .  .  First  we  will  tell  of  the 
true  faith,  which  is  the  foundation  of  our  law.  .  .  .  Then  we  will 
set  down  the  commandments  which  all  ought  to  keep;  then  the 
seven  mortal  sins,  whence  so  many  evils  arise.  .  .  .  Then  you  will 
find,  if  you  please,  the  seven  sacraments  of  holy  Church.  .  .  .  Then 
you  will  find  a  sermon  on  fear  and  how  you  ought  to  feel  fear  and 
love.  You  will  then  find  a  book  on  Confession  which  will  be  proper 
for  everyone. 

All  this  is  strictly  practical,  and  there  is  no  attempt  at 
artistic  structure.  Govv^er's  work  more  nearly  resembles  such 
compositions  as  those  of  the  Reclus  de  Moiliens,  written  at 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  in  the  same  twelve-line  stanza 
as  he  uses;  but  the  Mir  our  de  VOmme  is  far  more  compre- 
hensive, as  well  as  more  systematic,  than  the  Charite  or  the 
Miserere  of  the  Reclus.  In  his  review  of  the  estates  of  men, 
however,  and  especially  in  his  manner  of  addressing  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  various  classes,  when  accusing  them  of  their 
faults,  Gower's  work  often  strikingly  resembles  these  well- 
known  French  compositions,  with  which,  as  well  as  with  the 
Vers  de  la  Mort  of  Helinand  de  Froidmont,  written  in  the 
same  metre,  he  must,  of  course,  have  been  acquainted.  We 
may  reasonably  assume  that  the  Miserere  of  the  Reclus  de 
Moiliens  was  one  of  Gower's  principal  models  both  of  style 
and  versification. 

The  general  scheme  of  the  Mirour  de  VOmme  is  as  follows. 

Sin,  the  cause  of  all  evils,  is  a  daughter  of  the  Devil,  who, 
upon  her,  has  engendered  Death.  Death  and  Sin,  then  inter- 
marrying, have  produced  the  seven  deadly  Vices;  and  the 
Devil  sends  Sin  and  her  seven  daughters  into  the  world  to 
defeat  the  designs  of  Providence  for  the  salvation  of  Man. 
Temptation  is  sent  as  a  messenger  to  Man,  who  is  invited  to 
meet  the  Devil  and  his  council.  He  comes;  and  the  Devil, 
Sin  and  the  World  successively  address  him  with  promises. 
The  Flesh  of  Man  consents  to  be  ruled  by  them,  but  the  Soul 
expostulates  with  the  Flesh,  who  is  thus  resolved  upon  a 
course  which  will  ruin  them  both.  The  Flesh  wavers,  but  is 
unable  to  give  up  the  promised  delights,  until  the  Soul  in- 
forms her  of  Death,  who  has  been  concealed  from  her  view, 


VOL.    II. II. 


i62  John  Gower 

and  calls  in  Reason  and  Fear  to  convince  her.  The  Flesh  is 
terrified  and  brought  back  to  Reason  by  Conscience,  and  thus 
the  design  of  the  Devil  and  Sin  is,  for  the  time,  frustrated 
(1-750).  Sin,  thereupon,  makes  marriages  between  all  her 
daughters  and  the  World,  so  that  offspring  may  be  produced 
by  means  of  which  Man  may  be  overcome.  They  all  go  in 
procession  to  the  wedding.  Each  in  turn  is  taken  in  marriage 
by  the  "World,  and  by  each  he  has  five  daughters,  all  of  whom 
are  described  at  length.  The  daughters  of  Pride,  for  example, 
are  Hypocrisy,  Vain  Glory,  Arrogance,  Avantance,  Disobedi- 
ence, and  so  with  the  rest  (751-9720).  They  all  make  a  vio- 
lent attack  upon  Man,  and  he  surrenders  himself  to  them 
(9721-10,032).  Reason  and  Conscience  pray  to  God  for 
assistance,  and  seven  Virtues,  the  contraries  of  the  Vices,  are 
given  in  marriage  to  Reason,  each  of  whom  has  five  daughters, 
described,  of  course,  in  detail,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Vices  and 
their  progeny  (10,033-18,372). 

A  strife  ensues  for  the  conquest  of  Man.  ♦  To  decide  who 
has  gained  the  victory  up  to  the  present  time,  the  author 
undertakes  to  examine  the  whole  of  human  society  from  the 
court  of  Rome  downwards;  but  he  declares  his  opinion  in 
advance  that  Sin  has  almost  wholly  prevailed  (18,373-18,420). 

Every  estate  of  Man  is  passed  in  review  and  condemned ;  all 
have  been  corrupted  and  all  throw  the  blame  on  the  world 
(or  the  age)  (18,421-26,604).  The  poet  addresses  the  world, 
and  asks  whence  comes  this  evil.  Is  it  from  earth,  water,  air 
or  fire?  From  none  of  these,  for  all  these  in  themselves  are 
good.  It  is  from  Man  that  all  the  evils  of  the  age  arise.  Man 
is  a  microcosm,  an  abridgment  of  the  world,  and,  when  he 
transgresses,  all  the  elements  are  disturbed.  On  the  other 
hand  the  good  and  just  man  can  command  the  powers  of  the 
material  world,  as  the  saints  have  always  done  by  miracles. 
Every  man,  therefore,  ought  to  desire  to  repent  of  his  sin  and 
turn  to  God,  so  that  the  world  may  be  amended.  The  author 
confesses  himself  as  great  a  sinner  as  any  man,  but  he  trusts 
in  the  mercy  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  how  can  he  escape  from 
his  sins,  how  can  he  dare  to  come  before  God?  Only  by  the 
help  of  Mary,  Maid  and  Mother,  who  will  intercede  for  him 
if  he  can  obtain  her  favour  (26,605-27,468).  Therefore,  before 
finishing  his  task,  he  will  tell  of  her  birth,  her  life  and  her 


(( 


Mlrour  de  rOmme"  163 


death;  and,  upon  this,  he  relates  the  whole  story  of  the  Virgin, 
including  the  Gospel  narrative  generally,  and  ending  with  her 
assumption,  and  concludes,  as  we  have  the  book,  with  praises 
a*ddressed  to  her  under  the  various  names  by  which  she  is 
called  (27,469-29,945). 

This,  it  will  be  seen,  is  a  literary  work  with  a  due  connec- 
tion of  parts,  and  not  a  mere  string  of  sermons.  At  the  same 
time  it  must  be  said  that  the  descriptions  of  vices  and  virtues 
are  of  such  inordinate  length  that  the  effect  of  unity  is  almost 
completely  lost,  and  the  book  becomes  tiresome  to  read.  We 
are  wearied  also  by  the  accumulation  of  texts  and  authorities 
and  by  the  unqualified  character  of  the  moral  judgments.  The 
author  of  the  book  shows  little  sense  of  proportion  and  little 
or  no  dramatic  power. 

In  the  invention  of  his  allegory  and  in  the  method  by  which 
the  various  parts  of  his  work  are  combined,  Gower  displays 
some  originality.  The  style  is  uniformly  respectable,  though 
very  monotonous.  There  are  a  few  stories,  but  they  are  not 
told  in  much  detail  and  are  much  inferior  in  interest  to  those 
of  Confessio  Amantis.  Yet  the  work  is  not  without  some, 
poetical  merit.  Every  now  and  then  we  have  a  touch  of 
description  or  a  graceful  image,  which  proves  that  the  writer 
is  not  merely  a  moralist,  but  also,  to  some  extent,  a  poet. 
The  priest  who  neglects  his  early  morning  service  is  reminded 
of  the  example  of  the  lark,  who,  rising  early,  mounts  circHng 
upward  and  pours  forth  from  his  little  throat  a  service  of 
praise  to  God.  Again,  Praise  is  like  the  bee  that  flies  over 
the  meadows  in  the  sunshine,  gathering  that  which  is  sweet 
and  fragrant,  but  avoiding  all  evil  odours.  The  robe  of  Con- 
science is  like  a  cloud  with  ever-changing  hues.  Devotion  is 
like  the  sea-shell,  which  opens  to  the  dew  of  heaven,  and 
thus  conceives  the  fair,  white  pearl — an  idea  neither  true  to 
nature  nor  original,  but  gracefully  expressed.  Other  descrip- 
tions also  have  merit,  as,  for  example,  that  of  the  procession 
of  the  Vices  to  their  wedding. 

"The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  style,  however,  is  the 
mastery  which  the  writer  displays  over  the  language  and  the 
verse.  The  rhythm  is  not  exactly  that  which  properly  be- 
longs to  French  verse :  it  betrays  its  English  origin  by  the  fact 
that,  though  strictly  syllabic,  and,  in  that  respect,  far  more 


^^4  John  Gower 

correct  than  most  of  the  French  verse  written  in  England,  it 
is,  nevertheless,  also  to  some  extent  an  accent  verse,  wanting 
in  that  comparative  evenness  of  stress  on  accented  and  unac- 
cented syllables  alike  which  characterises  French  verse.  * 
The  author  of  the  Mirour  usually  proceeds  on  the  English 
principle  of  alternate  strong  and  weak  stress  corresponding 
mainly  to  the  accentual  value  of  the  syllables.  Thus,  when 
Gower  quotes  from  H61inand's  Vers  de  la  Mort,  the  original 
French  lines, 

Tex  me  couve  dessous  ses  dras, 
Qui  guide  estre  tous  fors  et  sains, 

beccfme,  in  Gower's  Anglo-French, 

Car  tiel  me  couve  soubz  ses  dras, 
Q'assetz  quide  estre  fortz  et  seins; 

and  the  difference  here  is  characteristic  generally  of  the  dif- 
ference between  French  and  English  verse  rhythm. 

This  is  a  matter  of  some  importance  in  connection  with 
the  development  of  the  highly  artificial  English  metre  em- 
ployed by  Chaucer,  and  also  by  Gower  and  Occleve,  which 
depended  precisely  upon  this  kind  of  combination  of  the 
French  syllabic  principle  with  the  English  accent  principle — 
a  combination  which,  though  occasionally  effected  earlier,  was 
so  alien  to  English  traditions  that  it  could  not  survive  the 
changes  caused  in  the  literary  language  by  the  loss  of  weak 
inflectional  syllables;  and,  therefore,  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
English  metre,  for  a  time,  practically  collapsed.  In  Chaucer's 
metre  we  see  only  the  final  results  of  the  French  influence;  in 
the  case  of  Gower  the  process  by  which  the  transition  took 
place  from  the  couplets  of  Handlyng  Synne  to  those  of  Con- 
jessio  Amantis  is  clearly  exhibited. 

As  regards  matter,  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  Mirour 
de  VOmme  is  that  which  contains  the  review  of  the  various 
classes  of  society,  whence  interesting  information  may  often  be 
drawn  to  illustrate  the  social  condition  of  the  people.  This 
is  especially  the  case  as  regards  city  life  in  London,  with  which 
the  author  is  evidently  familiar;  and  he  describes  for  us  meet- 
ings of  city  dames  at  the  wine-shops,  the  various  devices  of 
shopkeepers  to  attract  custom  and  to  cheat  their  customers, 


"  Vox  Clamantis  "  165 

and  the  scandalous  adulteration  of  food  and  drink.  The 
extravagance  of  merchants,  the  discontent  and  luxury  of 
labourers,  and  the  corruption  of  the  law-courts  are  all  vigor- 
ously denounced ;  and  the  church,  in  the  opinion  of  our  author, 
is  in  need  of  reform  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.  Gower's 
picture  is  not  relieved  by  any  such  pleasing  exception  as  the 
parish  priest  of  the  Canterbury  Tales. 

The  material  which  we  find  in  the  Mirour  de  VOmme  is, 
to  a  great  extent,  utihsed  again,  and,  in  particular,  the  account 
given  of  the  various  classes  of  society  is  substantially  repeated, 
in  Gower's  next  work,  the  Latin  Vox  Clamantis.  Here,  how- 
ever, a  great  social  and  political  event  is  made  the  text  for 
his  criticism  of  society.  The  Peasants'  rising  of  138 1  was,  to 
some  extent,  a  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  contained  in  the 
Mirour,  and  it  naturally  made  a  strong  impression  upon 
Gower,  whose  native  county  was  deeply  afifected,  and  who 
must  have  been  a  witness  of  some  of  its  scenes.  The  poem 
is  in  Latin  elegiac  couplets,  and  extends  to  about  ten  thou- 
sand lines.  The  first  book,  about  one-fifth  of  the  whole, 
contains  a  graphic  account  of  the  insurrection,  under  a  more 
or  less  allegorical  form,  which  conveys  a  strong  impression  of 
the  horror  and  alarm  of  the  well-to-do  classes.  There  is  an 
artistic  contrast  between  the  beautiful  and  peaceful  scene 
which  is  described  at  the  opening  of  the  work,  and  the  vague 
horrors  by  which  the  landscape  is  afterw^ards  darkened.  The 
description  of  these  events,  especially  so  far  as  it  deals  with 
what  took  place  in  London,  is  the  most  interesting  portion  of 
the  work;  but  it  is  quite  possible,  nevertheless,  that  this  may 
have  been  an  afterthought.  The  remainder  is  independent  of 
it,  and  the  second  book  begins  in  a  style  which  suggests  that, 
originally,  it  stood  nearer  to  the  beginning  of  the  work.  More- 
over, in  one  manuscript  ^  the  whole  of  the  first  book  is  actually 
omitted,  and  no  mention  at  all  of  the  Peasants'  rising  occurs. 
In  any  case,  the  main  substance  of  Vox  Clamantis  is  an  indict- 
ment of  human  society,  the  corruptions  of  which  are  said  to 
be  the  cause  of  all  the  evils  of  the  world.  The  picture  which 
appears  in  several  manuscripts  of  the  author  aiming  his  arrows 
at  the  world  fairly  represents  its  scope.     The  doctrine  of  the 

« Laud  719. 


i66  John  Gower 

Mirour  that  Man  is  a  microcosm,  the  evil  and  disorder  of 
which  affects  the  whole  constitution  of  the  elements,  while  the 
goodness  of  Man  enables  him  to  subdue  the  material  world, 
is  found  again  here;  and  the  orders  of  men  are  examined  and 
condemned  much  in  the  same  way,  except  that  the  political 
portion  is  more  fully  and  earnestly  dwelt  upon.  Of  the 
gradual  development  of  Gower's  political  feelings  we  have 
already  said  something. 

There  is  no  need  to  dwell  much  upon  the  poetical  style 
of  Gower's  Latin  poems.  Judged  by  the  medieval  standard, 
Vox  Clamantis  is  fairly  good  in  language  and  in  metre,  but 
the  fact  has  recently  been  pointed  out^  that  a  very  large 
number  both  of  couplets  and  longer  passages  are  borrowed  by 
the  author  without  acknowledgment  from  other  writers,  and 
that  lines  for  which  Gower  has  obtained  credit  are,  in  many 
cases,  taken  either  from  Ovid  or  from  some  medieval  writer 
of  Latin  verse,  as  Alexander  Neckam,  Peter  de  Riga,  Godfrey 
of  Viterbo,  or  the  author  of  Speculum  Stultorum,  passages  of 
six  or  eight  lines  being  often  appropriated  in  this  manner  with 
little  or  no  change.  It  is  certain  that  Gower  could  write  very 
fair  Latin  verse,  due  allowance  being  made  for  medieval 
licences,  but  we  must  be  cautious  in  giving  him  credit  for  any 
particular  passage.  In  the  mean  time  we  may  observe  that 
his  contemporary  account  of  the  Peasants'  rising  has  some 
historical  importance;  that  the  development  of  his  political 
opinions,  as  seen  in  the  successive  revisions  of  Vox  Cla- 
mantis, is  of  interest  in  connection  with  the  general  circum- 
stances of  the  reign  of  Richard  II ;  and  that  the  description 
of  social  customs,  and,  particularly,  of  matters  connected 
with  the  city  of  London,  confirms  the  account  given  in  the 
Mirour. 

^^y^.^s'  regards  the  motives  which  determined  Gower  to  the 
composition  of  a  book  in  English,  we  have  his  own  statement 
in  the  first  edition  of  the  book  itself,  that,  on  a  certain  occa- 
sion, when  he  w^as  in  a  boat  upon  the  Thames  near  London, 
he  met  the  royal  barge,  and  was  invited  by  the  king  to  enter 
it;  that,  in  the  conversation  which  ensued,  it  was  suggested 
to  him  that  he  should  write  some  new  book,  to  be  presented 
to  the  king;  and  that  he  thereupon  adopted  the  resolution  of 

>  See  Macaulay's  Gower,  vol.  iv,  p.  xxxii.,  and  the  notes  passim. 


**  Confessio  Amantis  "  167 

composing  a  poem  in  English,  which  should  combine  pleasure 
and  instruction,  upon  the  subject  of  love. 

It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  assume  that  this  incident, 
which  was  put  forward  by  the  author  as  a  reason  for  the 
presentation  of  his  book  to  Richard,  was  actually  the  deter- 
mining factor  of  his  decision  to  write  in  English.  The  years 
which  followed  the  composition  of  Vox  Clamantis,  assuming  it 
to  have  been  produced  about  1382,  were  a  period  of  hitherto 
unexampled  productiveness  in  English  poetry.  Chaucer,  at 
this  time,  had  attained  almost  to  the  full  measure  of  his 
powers,  and  the  successive  production  of  Troilus  and  Criseyde, 
partly  addressed  to  Gower  himself,  about  1383,  and  of  The 
Legend  of  Good  Women,  about  1386,  must  have  supplied  a 
stimulus  of  the  very  strongest  kind,  not  only  by  way  of  recom- 
mending the  use  of  the  English  language,  but  also  in  suggest- 
ing some  modification  of  the  strictly  didactic  tone  which 
Gower  had  hitherto  taken  in  his  larger  works;  The  statement 
that  to  Gower's  Confessio  Amantis  Chaucer  owed  the  idea  of 
a  connected  series  of  tales  is  quite  without  foundation.  The 
Legend  of  Good  Women  certainly  preceded  Confessio  Amantis, 
which  bears  distinct  marks  of  its  influence,  and  in  The  Legend 
of  Good  Women  we  have  already  a  series  of  tales  set  in  a  cer- 
tain framework,  though  the  framework  is  slight,  and  no  con- 
versation connects  the  tales.  Even  if  we  suppose  Chaucer  to 
have  been  unacquainted  with  Boccaccio's  prose,  a  supposition 
for  which  there  is  certainly  some  ground,  he  was  fully  capable 
of  evolving  the  scheme  of  The  Canterbury  Tales  without  the 
assistance  of  Gower.  On  the  other  hand  the  influence  of 
Chaucer  must  certainly  have  been  very  strong  in  regard  to 
Gower's  English  work,  which  was  probably  composed  in  the 
years  between  1386  and  1390,  the  latter  year  being  the  date 
of  the  completion  of  the  first  edition  of  the  poem. 

The  most  noteworthy  point  of  Confessio  Amantis,  as 
compared  with  Gower's  former  works,  is  the  partial  re- 
nunciation by  the  author  of  his  didactic  purpose.  He 
does,  indeed,  indulge  himself  in  a  prologue,  in  which 
he  reviews  the  condition  of  the  human  race;  but,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  first  book,  he  announces  the  discovery 
that  his  powers  are  not  equal  to  the  task  of  setting  the 
world  to  rights : 


i68  John  Gower 

It  stant  noght  in  my  sufficance 
So  grete  thinges  to  compasse, 
Bot  I  mot  lete  it  overpasse 
And  treten  upon  other  thinges. 

He  avows,  therefore,  that,  from  this  day  forth,  he  intends  to 
change  the  style  of  his  writings,  and  to  deal  with  a  subject 
which  is  of  universal  interest,  namely  love.  At  the  same 
time,  he  will  not  wholly  renounce  his  function  of  teaching, 
for  love  is  a  matter  in  which  men  need  very  much  guidance, 
but,  at  least,  he  will  treat  of  the  subject  in  such  a  way  as  to 
entertain  as  well  as  instruct :  the  book  is  to  be 

betwen  the  tweie, 
Somwhat  of  lust,  somwhat  of  lore. 

Hence,  though  the  form  may  suggest  instruction,  yet  the 
mode  of  treatment  is  to  be  popular,  that  is  to  say,  the  work 
is  to  consist  largely  of  stories.  Accordingly,  we  have  in  Con- 
fessio  Amantis  more  than  a  hundred  stories  of  varying  length 
and  of  every  kind  of  origin,  told  in  a  simple  and  pleasing  style 
by  one  who  clearly  had  a  gift  for  stor>^-telling,  though  without 
the  dramatic  humour  which  makes  Chaucer's  stories  unique 
in  the  literature  of  his  time.  The  framework,  too,  in  which 
these  stories  are  set,  is  pleasing. 

The  Lover,  that  is  to  say  the  author  himself,  is  one  who 
has  been  long  in  the  service  of  love,  but  without  reward,  and 
is  now  of  years  which  almost  unfit  him  for  such  service.  Wan- 
dering forth  into  a  wood  in  the  month  of  May  he  feels  despair 
and  wishes  for  death.  The  god  and  the  goddess  of  love 
appear  to  him;  but  the  god  passes  him  by  with  an  angry 
look,  casting,  at  the  same  time,  a  fiery  lance  which  pierces 
his  heart.  The  goddess  remains,  and  to  her  he  makes  his 
complaint  that  he  has  served  long  and  received  no  wages. 
She  frowns  upon  him,  and  desires  to  know  what  service  it 
is  that  he  has  done,  and  what  malady  oppresses  him.  He 
professes  readiness  to  reply,  but  she  enjoins  upon  him  first  a 
confession  to  be  made  to  her  priest  Genius,  who,  if  he  is  satis- 
fied, will  give  him  absolution,  and  she  will  then  consider  his 
case.  Accordingly,  Genius  is  summoned  and  Venus  disappears. 
The  Lover,  after  some  preliminary  conversation,  is  examined 


"Confessio  Amantis'*  169 

with  regard  to  his  sins  against  love,  the  examination  being 
arranged  under  the  usual  heading  of  the  seven  deadly  sins 
and  their  subordinate  vices.  The  subdivision  which  we  find  in 
the  earlier  books  of  Conjessio  Amantis  is  the  same  as  that 
which  we  have  already  encountered  in  Gower's  Mir  our :  each 
sin  is  regarded  as  having  five  principal  offshoots;  but,  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  work,  this  regularity  of  subdivision  is,  to  a 
great  extent,  abandoned.  In  the  case  of  each  of  the  sub- 
ordinate vices  the  confessor  sets  forth  the  nature  of  the  fault, 
and,  at  the  request  of  the  Lover,  illustrates  his  meaning  by  a 
story  or  by  a  series  of  stories.  In  each  case,  after  explanation 
of  the  nature  of  the  vice,  a  special  application  is  made  to  the 
case  of  love,  and  the  stories  illustrate  either  the  general  defini- 
tion or  this  special  application,  or  both,  no  very  clear  line 
being  drawn  in  many  cases  between  the  two.  The  Lover, 
meanwhile,  when  he  has  at  last  been  made  to  understand  the 
nature  of  the  fault  generally  and  also  its  particular  application 
to  love,  makes  his  confession  or  denial  as  regards  his  love, 
and  is  further  instructed  or  rebuked  by  the  confessor.  By 
the  general  plan,  one  book  should  have  been  devoted  to  each 
of  the  seven  principal  sins.  Pride,  Envy,  Anger,  Sloth,  Avarice, 
Gluttony  and  Lechery;  but  an  additional  book  is  interpolated 
between  the  last  two,  dealing  with  quite  irrelevant  matters, 
and,  in  general,  there  is  much  irregularity  of  plan  in  the  last 
four  books,  by  which  the  unity  of  construction  is  seriously 
marred.  The  ordinary  conduct  of  the  work  may  be  illustrated 
by  a  short  summary  of  the  second  book,  the  subject  of  which 
is  Envy. 

The  first  of  the  brood  of  Envy  is  Sorrow  for  another's  joy. 
The  Lover  confesses  that  he  is  often  guilty  of  this  in  regard 
to  his  rivals,  and  he  is  reproved  by  the  tale  of  Acis  and  Galatea. 
He  accepts  the  rebuke  and  promises  to  offend  no  more.  The 
second  vice  under  this  head  is  Joy  for  another's  grief.  To 
this,  too,  the  Lover  pleads  guilty,  and  the  odious  character 
of  the  vice  is  illustrated  by  the  story  of  the  traveller  and  the 
angel,  in  which  one  man  preferred  to  lose  an  eye  in  order  that 
his  fellow  might  lose  both.  The  third  is  Detraction,  and  here, 
too,  the  Lover  admits  that  he  has  been  in  some  measure 
guilty.  When  he  sees  lovers  come  about  his  mistress  with 
false  tales,  he  is  sometimes  moved  to  tell  her  the  worst  that 


lyo  John  Gower 

he  knows  of  them.  The  confessor  reproves  him.  By  the 
Lover's  own  account,  his  lady  is  wise  and  wary,  and  there  is 
no  need  to  tell  her  these  tales:  moreover,  she  will  like  him 
the  less  for  being  envious.  The  vice  of  Detraction  is  then 
illustrated  by  the  tale  of  Constance,  who  long  suffered  from 
envious  backbiting,  but  whose  love  at  length  prevailed.  Then, 
again,  there  is  the  story  of  Demetrius  and  Perseus,  in  which 
Perseus  brought  his  brother  to  death  by  false  accusations,  but 
suffered  punishment  himself  at  last.  The  confessor  passes 
then  to  the  fourth  vice,  named  False  Semblant.  When  Envy 
desires  to  deceive,  she  employs  False  Semblant  as  her  messen- 
ger. The  Lover  admits  here,  too,  that  he  is  guilty,  but  only 
in  matters  which  concern  his  mistress.  He  thinks  himself 
justified  in  gaining  the  confidence  of  her  other  lovers  by  an 
appearance  of  friendship,  and  using  the  knowledge  which  he 
thus  obtains  to  hinder  their  designs.  The  confessor  reproves 
him,  and  cites  the  case  of  the  Lombards  in  the  city,  who  feign 
that  which  is  not,  and  take  from  Englishmen  the  profit  of 
their  own  land.  He  then  relates  the  tale  of  Hercules  and 
Deianira,  and  how  Nessus  deceived  her  and  destroyed  him  at 
last  by  False  Semblant.  Yet  there  is  a  fifth  vice  born  of 
Envy,  and  that  is  Supplantation.  The  Lover  declares  that 
here  he  is  guiltless  in  act,  though  guilty  in  his  thought  and 
desire.  If  he  had  the  power,  he  would  supplant  others  in  the 
love  of  his  lady.  The  confessor  warns  him  that  thought  as 
well  as  act  is  sin,  and  convinces  him  of  the  heinousness  of  this 
particular  crime  by  a  series  of  short  examples,  Agamemnon 
and  Achilles,  Diomede  and  Troilus,  Amphitryon  and  Geta,  and 
also  by  the  longer  tale  of  the  False  Bachelor.  This  evil  is 
worst  when  Pride  and  Envy  are  joined  together,  as  when  pope 
Celestine  was  supplanted  by  Boniface;  and  this  tale  also  is 
told  at  length.  The  Lover,  convinced  of  the  evil  of  Envy,^ 
desires  a  remedy,  and  the  confessor  reminds  him  that  vices 
are  destroyed  by  their  contraries,  and  the  contrary  to  Envy 
is  Charity.  To  illustrate  this  virtue  the  tale  is  told  of  Con- 
stantine,  w^ho,  by  showing  mercy,  obtained  mercy.  The  Lover 
vows  to  eschew  Envy,  and  asks  that  penance  may  be  inflicted 
for  that  which  he  has  done  amiss. 

In  the  other  books,  the  scheme  is  somewhat  similar,  and, 
at  length,  in  the  eighth  the  confession  is  brought  to  a  close, 


"Confessio  Amantis'^  171 

and  the  Lover  demands  his  absolution.  The  confessor  ad- 
vises him  to  abandon  love  and  to  set  himself  under  the  rule 
of  reason.  He,  strongly  protesting,  presents  a  petition  to 
Venus,  who,  in  answer,  consents  to  relieve  him,  though  per- 
haps not  in  the  way  that  he  desires.  She  speaks  of  his  age 
and  counsels  him  to  make  a  beau  retret,  and  he  grows  cold  for 
sorrow  of  heart  and  lies  swooning  on  the  ground.  Then  he 
sees  the  god  of  love,  and,  with  him,  a  great  company  of  former 
lovers  arrayed  in  sundry  bands  under  the  guidance  of  Youth 
and  Eld.  Youth  takes  no  heed  of  him;  but  those  who  fol- 
low Eld  entreat  for  him  with  Venus,  and  all  the  lovers  press 
round  to  see.  At  length  Cupid  comes  towards  him  and  draws 
forth  the  fiery  lance  with  which  he  had  formerly  pierced  the 
Lover's  heart;  and  Venus  anoints  the  wound  with  a  cooling 
ointment  and  gives  him  a  mirror  in  which  his  features  are 
reflected.  Reason  returns  to  him,  and  he  becomes  sober  and 
sound.  Venus,  laughing,  asks  him  what  love  is,  and  he  replies 
with  confusion  that  he  knows  not,  and  prays  to  be  excused 
from  attendance  upon  her.  He  obtains  his  absolution,  and 
Venus  bids  him  stay  no  more  in  her  court,  but  go  "  wher  moral 
vertu  dwelleth,"  where  the  books  are  which  men  say  that  he 
has  written;  and  so  she  bids  him  adieu  and  departs.  He 
stands  for  a  while  amazed,  and  then  takes  his  way  softly 
homewards. 

The  plan  of  the  work  is  not  ill  conceived;  but,  unfor- 
tunately, it  is  carried  out  without  a  due  regard  to  proportion 
in  its  parts,  and  its  unity  is  very  seriously  impaired  by  di- 
gressions which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  subject  of  the 
book.  After  the  prologue,  the  first  four  books  are  conducted 
in  a  comparatively  orderly  manner,  though  the  discussion  on 
the  lawfulness  of  war  in  the  third  can  hardly  be  regarded  as 
necessary,  and  the  account  of  the  discovery  of  useful  arts  in 
the  fourth  is  too  slightly  connected  with  the  subject.  In  the 
fifth  book,  however,  a  casual  reference  to  Greek  mythology 
is  made  the  peg  on  which  to  hang  a  dissertation  of  twelve 
hundred  lines  on  the  religions  of  the  world,  while,  in  the  sixth 
book,  the  discussion  of  Sorcery,  with  the  stories  first  of  Ulysses 
and  Telegonus  and  then  of  Nectanabus,  can  hardly  be  re- 
garded as  a  justifiable  extension  of  the  subject  of  Gluttony, 
Worse  than  this,  the  tale  of  Nectanabus  is  used  as  a  pretext 


172  John  Gower 

for  bringing  in  as  a  diversion  a  summary  of  all  earthly  learn- 
ing, the  supposed  instructions  of  Aristotle  to  Alexander, 
which  fills  up  the  whole  of  the  seventh  book.  ^  The  most 
important  part  of  this  is  the  treatise  on  Politics,  under  five 
heads,  illustrated  by  many  interesting  stories,  which  occupies 
nearly  four  thousand  lines.  To  this  part  of  his  work,  which 
is  absolutely  irrelevant  to  the  main  subject,  the  author  evi- 
dently attached  great  importance;  and  it  is,  in  fact,  another 
lecture  aimed  at  the  king,  at  whose  suggestion  the  book  was 
written,  the  author  being  unable  to  keep  himself  from  im- 
proving the  occasion.  This  proceeding,  together  w4th  the 
great  extension  which  has  been  given  to  Avarice  in  the  fifth 
book,  has  the  effect  of  almost  entirely  anticipating  the  proper 
contents  of  the  eighth  book.  Nothing  remains  to  be  spoken  of 
there  except  Incest,  with  reference  to  which  the  tale  of  Apol- 
lonius  of  Tyre  is  told,  and  this,  after  all,  has  no  sufficient 
bearing  upon  the  subject  to  justify  its  inordinate  length.  It 
may  justly  be  remarked,  also,  that  the  representation  of  the 
priest  of  Venus  is  full  of  absurd  incongruities,  which  reach 
their  cHmax,  perhaps,  when  he  is  made  to  denounce  Venus 
herself  as  a  false  goddess.  In  general,  the  characters  of  the 
moralist  and  of  the  high-priest  of  love  are  very  awkwardly 
combined  in  his  person,  and  of  this  fact  the  author  shows 
himself  conscious  in  several  passages,  as  i,  237  ff.  and  vi, 
1 42 1  ff.  The  quasi-religious  treatment  of  the  subject  was,  no 
doubt,  in  accordance  with  the  taste  of  the  age,  and  there  is  a 
certain  charm  of  quaintness  both  in  this  and  in  the  gravity 
with  which  morality  is  applied  to  the  case  of  love,  though  this 
apphcation  is  often  very  forced.  It  must  be  admitted,  also, 
that  the  general  plan  of  the  poem  shows  distinct  originality, 
and,  apart  from  the  digressions  and  irrelevancies  which  have 
been  noted,  it  is  carried  through  with  some  success.  The  idea 
of  combining  a  variety  of  stories  in  a  single  framework,  with 
the  object  of  illustrating  moral  truths,  had  become  familiar 
in  the  hterature  of  western  Europe  chiefly  through  a  series  of 
books  which  were  all  more  or  less  of  Oriental  origin.     Of  these, 

'The  statement,  often  repeated,  that  Gower  is  largely  indebted  to  the 
Secretum  Secretorum  in  this  seventh  book  is  quite  inaccurate;  very  little  is, 
in  fact,  drawn  from  this  source.  The  Tresor  of  Brunette  Latini  is  a  much 
more  important  authority. 


**Confessio  Amantis"  173 

the  most  important  were  the  legend  of  Barlaam  and  Josaphat, 
the  romance  of  the  Seven  Sages  in  its  various  forms  and 
Disciplina  Clericalis.  With  these,  Gower,  as  we  know,  was 
acquainted,  and  also,  doubtless,  with  various  examples  of  the 
attempt  to  utilise  such  stories  for  definitely  religious  purposes 
in  such  edifying  compositions  as  those  of  William  of  Wadington 
and  Robert  of  Brunne.  Moreover,  Chaucer,  in  his  Legend  of 
Good  Women,  had  already  produced  a  series  of  stories  in  an 
allegorical  framework,  though  the  setting  was  rather  slight  and 
the  work  was  left  unfinished.  The  influence  of  Chaucer's 
work  is  apparent  in  the  opening  and  concluding  scenes  of 
Confessio  Amantis,  and  some  suggestions  were  also  derived 
from  the  Roman  de  la  Rose,  in  which  Genius  is  the  priest  of 
Nature,  who  makes  her  confession  to  him.  But  no  previous 
writer,  either  in  English  or  in  any  other  modern  language,  had 
versified  so  large  and  various  a  collection  of  stories,  or  had 
devised  so  ingenious  and  elaborate  a  scheme  of  combinations. 

As  regards  the  stories  themselves,  there  is,  of  course,  no 
pretence  of  originality  in  substance.  They  are  taken  from 
very  various  places,  from  Ovid  (much  the  most  frequent 
source),  from  the  Bible,  from  Valerius  Maximus,  Statius, 
Benoit  de  Sainte  More,  Guido  delle  Colonne,  Godfrey  of 
Viterbo,  Brunetto  Latini,  Nicholas  Trivet,  the  Roman  des  Sept 
Sages,  Vita  Barlaam  et  Josaphat,  Historia  Alexandri  and  so 
on.i  Gower's  style  of  narration  is  simple  and  clear;  in  telling 
a  story  he  is  neither  tedious  nor  apt  to  digress.  To  find  fault 
with  him  because  he  is  lacking  in  humorous  appreciation  of 
character  is  to  judge  him  by  altogether  too  high  a  stancfard. 
He  is  not  on  a  level  with  Chaucer,  but  he  is  distinctly  above 
the  level  of  most  of  the  other  story-tellers  of  his  time,  and  it 
may  even  be  said  that  he  is  somel^imes  superior  to  Chaucer 
himself  in  the  arrangement  of  his  incidents  and  in  the  steadi- 
ness with  which  he  pursues  the  plot  of  his  story.  Gower  is 
by  no  means  a  slavish  follower  of  his  authorities,  the  pro- 
portions and  arran<gement''of-his  stories  are  usually  his  own, 
and  they  often  show  good  judgment.  Moreover,  he  not 
seldom  gives  a  fresh  turn  to  a  well-known  story,  as  in  the 

>  Gower  does  not  seem  in  any  instance  to  have  been  indebted  to  Gesta 
Romanorum. 


174  John  Gower 

Bible  instances  of  Jephthah  and  Saul,  or  makes  a  pretty 
addition  to  it,  as  in  the  case  of  the  tales  from  Ovid  of  Nar- 
cissus or  of  Acis  and  Galatea,  His  gift  of  clear  and  interesting 
narrative  was,  undoubtedly,  the  merit  which  most  appealed  to 
the  popular  taste  of  the  day,  and  the  plainness  of  the  style 
was  rather  an  advantage  than  a  drawback. 

The  stories,  however,  have  also  poetical  qualities.  Force 
and  picturesqueness  cannot  be  denied  to  the  story  of  Medea, 
with  its  description  of  the  summer  sun  blazing  down  upon  the 
glistening  sea  and  upon  the  returning  hero,  and  flashing  from 
the  golden  fleece  at  his  side  a  signal  of  success  to  Medea  in 
her  watch-tower,  as  she  prays  for  her  chosen  knight.  Still 
less  can  we  refuse  to  recognise  the  poetical  power  of  the  later 
phases  of  the  same  story — first,  the  midnight  rovings  of  Medea 
in  search  of  enchantments  (v,  3962  ff.),  and  again  later,  when 
the  charms  are  set  in  action  (4059  ff.),  a  passage  of  extraor- 
dinary picturesqueness.  The  tales  of  Mundus  and  Paulina  and 
of  Alboin  and  Rosemund,  in  the  first  book,  are  excellently 
told;  and,  in  the  second,  the  story  of  the  False  Bachelor  and 
the  legend  of  Constantine,  in  the  latter  of  which  the  author 
has  greatly  improved  upon  his  materials;  while,  in  the  third 
book,  the  tale  of  Canace  is  most  pathetically  rendered,  far 
better  than  by  Ovid.  The  fourth,  which  is  altogether  of 
special  excellence,  gives  us  Rosiphelee,  Phyllis  and  the  very 
poetically  told  tale  of  Ceix  and  Alceone;  the  fifth  has  Jason 
and  Medea,  a  most  admirable  example  of  sustained  narrative, 
the  oriental  story  of  Adrian  and  Bardus  and  the  well-told 
romance  of  Tereus  and  Philomela.  In  the  seventh,  we  find 
the  BibHcal  story  of  Gideon  well  rendered,  the  rape  of  Lucrece 
and  the  tale  of  Virginia.  The  long  story  of  Apollonius,  in  the 
eighth  book,  is  not  one  of  Gower's  happiest  efforts,  though  it 
is  often  taken  as  a  sample  of  his  style  owing  to  the  connection 
with  Shakespeare's  Pericles.  His  natural  taste  for  simplicity 
sometimes  stands  him  in  good  stead,  as  in  the  description  of 
the  tears  of  Lucrece  for  her  husband,  and  the  reviving  beauty 
of  her  face  when  he  appears  (vii,  4830  ff.),  a  passage  in  which 
he  may  safely  challenge  comparison  w^th  Chaucer.  The  ease 
of  his  more  colloquial  utterances,  and  the  finished  style  of 
some  of  the  more  formal  passages,  are  equally  remarkable. 
As  examples  of  the  second  quality  we  may  cite  the  reflections 


"Confessio  Amantis"  175 

of  the  emperor  Constantine  (11,  3243  ff.),  the  letters  of  Canace 
(ill,  279  ff.)  and  of  Penelope  (iv,  157  ff.),  the  prayer  of  Cephalus 
(iv,  3197  ff.)  and  the  epitaphs  of  Iphis  (iv,  3674)  and  of  Thaise 
(viii,  1533  ff.)- 

In  addition  to  the  merits  of  the  stories  we  must  acknow- 
ledge a  certain  attractiveness  in  the  setting  of  them.  The 
conversation  which  connects  the  stories  is  distinguished  by 
colloquial  ease,  and  is  frequently  of  an  interesting  kind.  The 
Lover  often  engages  the  sympathy  of  the  reader,  and  there 
is  another  character  always  in  the  background  in  whom  we 
may  reasonably  be  interested,  that  of  the  lady  whom  he 
serves.  Gower,  who  was  quite  capable  of  appreciating  the 
delicacy  and  refinement  which  ideal  love  requires,  has  here 
set  before  us  a  figure  which  is  both  attractive  and  human, 
a  charming  embodiment  of  womanly  grace  and  refinement. 

Passing  from  the  substance  of  the  poem  to  the  language 
and  versification,  we  remark,  first,  that  the  language  used  is, 
practically,  the  same  as  that  of  Chaucer,  and  that  there  is 
every  reason  to  attribute  this  identity  to  the  development, 
apart  from  the  individual  influence  of  either  poet,  of  a  cul- 
tured form  of  English  speech  which,  in  the  higher  ranks  of 
society,  took  the  place  of  the  French  that  had  so  long  been 
used  as  the  language  of  literature  and  of  polite  society.  This 
is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  development  of  modern  English 
literary  speech;  what  we  have  to  say  in  relation  to  Gower  is 
that,  by  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  his  style,  he  earned  the 
right  to  stand  beside  Chaucer  as  a  standard  authority  for  this 
language.  Sui  temporis  lucerna  habebatur  ad  docte  scribendum 
in  lingua  vulgari,  as  Bale  remarks;  and  it  is  worth  noting  that, 
in  the  syntax  of  Ben  Jonson's  English  Grammar,  Gower  is 
cited  as  an  authority  more  often  than  any  other  writer.  It 
may  be  observed  that,  by  Morsbach's  test  of  a  comparison  with 
contemporary  London  documents,  both  Chaucer  and  Gower 
are  shown  to  be  more  conservative  of  the  full  forms  of  inflec- 
tion than  the  popular  speech,  and  Gower  is,  in  this  respect, 
apparently  less  modern  than  Chaucer.  He  adopted  a  system 
of  spelHng  which  is  more  careful  and  consistent  than  that  of 
most  other  Middle  English  authors,  and,  in  general,  he  seems 
to  have  been  something  of  a  purist  in  matters  of  language. 

With  regard  to  versification,  the  most  marked  feature  of 


17^  John  Gower 

Gower's  verse  is  its  great  regularity  and  the  extent  to  which 
inflectional  endings  are  utilised  for  metrical  purposes.  We 
have  here  what  we  might  have  expected  from  the  author's 
French  verse,  very  great  syllabic  accuracy  and  a  very  regular 
beat,  an  almost  complete  combination  of  the  accentual  with 
the  syllabic  principle.  As  an  indication  of  the  extent  of  this 
regularity,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  the  whole  of  Confessio 
Amantis,  which  contains  more  than  thirty-three  thousand 
four-accent  lines,  there  are  no  examples  of  the  omission,  so 
frequent  in  Chaucer,  of  the  first  unaccented  syllable.  Displace- 
ment of  the  natural  accent  of  words  and  the  slurring  over  of 
light  syllables  are  far  less  frequent  with  Gower  than  with 
Chaucer,  and  in  purity  of  rime,  also,  he  is  somewhat  more 
strict.  The  result  of  Gower's  syllabic  accuracy  is,  no  doubt,  a 
certain  monotony  of  rhythm  in  his  verse;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  author  is  careful  so  to  distribute  his  pauses  as  not 
to  emphasise  the  rime  unduly.  He  runs  on  freely  from  one 
couplet  to  another,  breaking  the  couplet  more  often  than  not 
in  places  where  a  distinct  pause  occurs,  and  especially  at  the 
end  of  a  paragraph,  so  that  the  couplet  arrangement  is  sub- 
ordinated distinctly,  as  it  is  also  by  Chaucer,  to  the  continuity 
of  the  narrative.  The  five-accent  line  is  written  by  Gower  in 
stanzas  only,  as  in  the  Supplication  of  the  eighth  book  and 
in  the  English  poem  addressed  to  Henry  IV.  In  these  it  is 
a  marked  success,  showing  the  same  technical  skill  that  we 
note  elsewhere,  with  more  variety  of  rhythm  and  a  certain 
stately  dignity  which  can  hardly  appear  in  the  short  couplet. 

After  Confessio  Amantis,  which  seems  to  have  assumed  its 
final  form  in  1393,  "the  sextenthe  yer  of  King  Richard," 
Gower  produced  some  minor  Latin  poems  treating  of  the 
political  evils  of  the  times;  and  then,  on  the  eve  of  his  own 
marriage,  he  added,  as  a  kind  of  appendix  to  Confessio  Amantis, 
a  series  of  eighteen  French  ballades  on  the  virtue  of  the  mar- 
ried state.  After  the  fall  of  Richard  II  he  produced  three 
more  poetical  works,  again  in  three  different  languages.  In 
English,  he  wrote  the  poem  already  referred  to.  In  Praise  of 
Peace  {Carmen  de  pads  commendacione)  in  fifty-five  seven-line 
stanzas.  In  French,  we  have  the  series  of  ballades  commonly 
known  as  Cinkante  Balades,  dealing  with  love  according  to  the 
conventions  of  the  age,  but  often  in  a  graceful  and  poetical 


Latest  Works  177 

fashion.  These  may  have  been  written  earlier,  but  they  were 
put  together  in  their  present  form,  as  the  author  says,  to 
furnish  entertainment  to  the  court  of  king  Henry  IV,  and 
were  dedicated  to  the  king  in  two  introductory  ballades.  It 
is  clear  that  the  feelings  expressed  are,  for  the  most  part, 
impersonal;  sometimes  the  lover  speaks  and  sometimes  the 
lady,  and  the  poems  are  evidently  adapted  to  a  diversity  of 
circumstances.  As  poetry,  they  are  much  superior  to  those 
on  marriage,  and  if  they  had  been  written  in  English,  they 
would  doubtless  have  been  recognised  as  an  interesting  and 
valuable  addition  to  the  literature  of  the  time.  In  Latin,  the 
author  sets  forth  his  final  view  of  contemporary  history  and 
politics  in  the  Cronica  Tripertita,  sl  poem  in  leonine  hexam- 
eters, in  which  the  events  of  the  last  twelve  years  of  the 
reign  of  Richard  II  are  narrated,  and  the  causes  of  his  depo- 
sition set  forth,  as  seen  from  the  point  of  view  of  an  earnest 
supporter  of  the  Lancastrian  party.  As  the  title  implies,  it  is 
in  three  parts,  the  first  dealing  with  the  events  of  the  year 
1387,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  appellants,  the  second  with 
the  year  1397,  when  Richard  at  length  took  vengeance  on 
his  opponents,  and  the  third  with  the  deposition  of  Richard  II 
and  the  accession  of  Henry  IV.  This  work  has  no  poetical 
merits,  but  a  certain  amount  of  historical  interest  attaches  to 
it.  Some  minor  Latin  poems,  including  an  epistle  addressed 
to  the  king,  also  belong  to  this  final  period  of  Gower's  literary 
life.  Either  in  the  first  or  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  IV  he  became  blind  and  ceased  to  write,  as  he  himself 
tells  us;  and  in  the  epistle  to  archbishop  Arundel,  which  is 
prefixed  to  Vox  Clamantis  in  the  All  Souls  MS.  {Hanc  epistolam 
siihscriptam  corde  deuoto  misit  senex  et  cectts  lohannes  Gower), 
he  touchingly  dwells  upon  the  blessing  of  light. 

That  Gower,  through  the  purity  of  his  English  style  and 
the  easy  fluency  of  his  expression,  exercised  a  distinct  influence 
upon  the  development  of  the  language,  is  undoubted,  and,  in 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  he  was,  on  this  account, 
uncritically  classed  with  Chaucer.  He  is  placed  with  Chaucer 
as  an  equal  by  the  author  of  The  Kingis  Qiiair,  by  Occleve, 
by  Dunbar,  by  Skelton  and  even  by  Sidney  in  The  Defence  of 
Poesie.  But,  in  fact,  though  he  may  fairly  be  joined  with 
Chaucer  as  one  of  the  authorities  for  standard  English,  his 


178  John  Gower 

mind  was  essentially  formed  in  a  medieval  mould,  and,  as 
regards  subject  and  treatment,  he  looks  backwards  rather  than 
forwards.  The  modern  note  which  was  struck  by  Chaucer  is 
almost  entirely  absent  here.  This  medievalism,  however,  in 
itself  has  a  certain  charm,  and  there  are  qualities  of  this  kind 
in  Confessio  Amantis  which  are  capable  still  of  giving  genuine 
pleasure  to  the  reader,  while,  at  the  same  time,  we  are  bound 
to  acknowledge  the  technical  finish  of  the  style,  both  in  the 
French  and  in  the  English  poems.  The  author  had  a  strong 
feeling  for  correctness  of  language  and  of  metre,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  his  utterance  is  genuinely  natural  and  unaffected. 
In  his  way  he  solved  the  problem  of  combining  rhetorical 
artifice  with  simplicity  of  expression,  and,  if  his  genius  moves 
within  somewhat  narrow  limits,  yet,  within  those  limits,  it 
moves  securely. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Chaucer 

F  the  date  of  the  birth  of  Geoffrey  Chaucer  we  have  no 
direct  knowledge.  But  indirect  evidence  of  various 
kinds  fixes  it  between  1328,  when  his  father,  John 
Chaucer,  was  still  unmarried,  and  1346,  before  which  date  his 
own  statement,  at  the  Scroope-Grosvenor  suit  in  1386,  of  his 
age  as  "forty  years  or  more"  would  place  it.  Within  this 
rather  wide  range,  selection  has,  further,  to  be  guided  by 
certain  facts  to  be  mentioned  presently;  and,  for  some  time 
past,  opinion  has  generally  adopted,  in  face  of  some  difficulties, 
the  date  "about  1340."  John  Chaucer  himself  was  a  citizen 
and  vintner  of  London,  the  son  of  Robert  le  Chaucer,  who, 
in  13 10,  was  collector  of  the  customs  on  wine,  and  who  had 
property  at  Ipswich  and  elsewhere  in  Suffolk.  In  1349,  John 
was  certainly  married  to  an  Agnes  whose  maiden  surname  is 
unknown,  who  survived  him  and,  in  1367,  married  again: 
therefore,  unless  she  was  the  vintner's  second  wife,  she  must 
have  been  Chaucer's  mother.  The  father  seems  to  have  had 
some  link  of  service  with  the  royal  household,  and  the  poet 
was  connected  with  it  more  or  less  all  his  days.  Probably  he 
w^as  born  in  Thames  Street,  London,  where  his  father  had  a 
house  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1366. 

We  first  hear  of  Chaucer  himself  (or,  at  least,  of  a  Geoffre}^ 
Chaucer  who  is  not  likely  to  be  anyone  else)  in  1357,  when 
he  received  a  suit  of  livery  as  member  of  the  household  of 
Edward  Ill's  son  Lionel  (afterwards  duke  of  Clarence),  or  of 
his  wife  Elizabeth  de  Burgh.  Two  years  later,  he  served  in 
France,  was  taken  prisoner  at  a  place  called  "Retters"  (alter- 
nately identified  with  Retiers  near  Rennes,  and  with  Rethel 
near  Reims),  but  was  liberated  on  ransom  by  March  1360 — 
the  king  subscribing  ;^i6  (  =  over  £200  now)  towards  the  sum 

179 


i8o  Chaucer 

paid.  Seven  years  later,  on  2  June  1367,  Edward  gave  him 
an  annuity  of  20  marks  for  life,  as  to  dilectus  valeitus  noster, 
and  he  rose  to  be  esquire  at  the  end  of  next  year.  Meanwhile, 
at  a  time  earlier  than  that  of  his  own  pension,  on  12  September 
1366,  another  of  half  the  amount  had  been  granted  to  Philippa 
Chaucer,  one  of  the  damsels  of  the  queen's  chamber:  and  this 
Philippa,  beyond  reasonable  doubt,  must  have  been  the  poet's 
wife.  If  she  was  born  PhiHppa  Roet  or  Rouet,  daughter  of 
Sir  Payn  Roet,  a  Hainault  knight,  and  sister  of  Katharine 
Rouet  or  Swynford,  third  wife  of  John  of  Gaunt,  Chaucer's 
undisputed  patronage  by  "time-honoured  Lancaster"  would 
have  been  a  matter  of  course.  But  we  do  not  know  Philippa's 
parentage  for  certain.  There  is  also  much  doubt  about  the 
family  that  Geoffrey  and  Philippa  may  have  had.  The  poet 
directly  dedicates,  in  1391,  his  Astrolabe  to  "httle  Lewis  my 
son,"  who  was  then  ten  years  old;  but  of  this  son  we  hear 
nothing  more.  On  the  other  hand,  chancellor  Gascoigne,  in 
the  generation  after  Chaucer's  death,  speaks  of  Thomas 
Chaucer,  a  known  man  of  position  and  wealth  in  the  early 
fifteenth  century,  as  Chaucer's  son :  and  this  Thomas  took  the 
arms  of  Rouet  late  in  Hfe,  while,  in  1381,  John  of  Gaunt  him- 
self established  an  Elizabeth  Chaucer  as  a  nun  at  Barking. 
Beyond  these  facts  and  names  nothing  is  known. 

Of  Chaucer  himself— or,  at  least,  of  a  Geoffrey  Chaucer 
who,  as  it  is  very  important  to  remember,  and  as  has  not 
always  been  remembered,  may  not  be  the  same  in  all  cases 
— a  good  many  facts  are  preserved,  though  these  facts  are 
in  very  few  cases,  if  any,  directly  connected  with  his  literary 
position.  By  far  the  larger  part  of  the  information  concerns 
grants  of  money,  sometimes  connected  with  the  public  service 
in  war,  diplomacy  and  civil  duties.  He  joined  the  army  in 
France  again  in  1369;  and,  next  year,  was  abroad  on  public 
duty  of  some  kind.  In  1372,  he  was  sent  to  Genoa  to  ar- 
range for  the  selection  of  some  EngHsh  port  as  a  headquarters 
for  Genoese  trade,  and  must  have  been  absent  for  a  great 
part  of  the  twelvemonth  between  the  November  of  that  year 
and  of  the  next.  On  St.  George's  day  1374,  he  began  to 
receive  from  the  king  a  daily  pitcher  of  wine,  commuted  later 
for  money.  In  the  following  month,  he  leased  the  gatehouse 
of  Aldgate  from  the  corporation,  and,  a  month  later  again, 


Life 


i»i 


was  made  controller  of  customs  for  wool,  etc.,  in  the  port  of 
London,  receiving,  in  this  same  June,  an  additional  pension  of 
£io  a  year  from  John  of  Gaunt  to  himself  and  his  wife.  Ward- 
ships, forfeitures  and  other  casualties  fell  to  him,  and,  in  1377, 
he  went  on  diplomatic  duties  to  Flanders  and  to  France.  In 
1378,  after  the  death  of  Edward  III  and  the  accession  of 
Richard  II,  it  is  thought  that  he  was  again  in  France  and, 
later  in  that  year,  he  certainly  went  once  more  to  Italy,  in 
the  mission  to  Bemabo  Visconti  of  Milan.  These  duties  did 
not  interfere  with  the  controllership ;  to  which  another,  that  of 
the  petty  customs,  was  added  in  1382,  and  we  have  record  of 
various  payments  and  gifts  to  him  up  to  the  autumn  of  1386, 
when  he  sat  in  parliament  as  knight  of  the  shire  for  Kent, 
and  gave  evidence  in  the  Scroope-Grosvenor  case. 

Then  the  tide  turned  against  him.  In  the  triumph  of  the 
duke  of  Gloucester  and  the  eclipse  of  Gaunt  during  his  ab- 
sence in  Spain,  Chaucer  lost  his  controllership;  and  it  would 
appear  that,  in  1387,  his  wife  died.  In  May  1388,  he  assigned 
his  pensions  and  allowances  to  another  person,  which  looks 
like  (though  it  cannot  be  said  certainly  to  be)  a  sign  of  finan- 
cial straits  in  the  case  of  a  man  whose  party  was  out  of  favour. 
But  the  fall  of  Gloucester  and  the  return  of  John  of  Gaunt 
brought  him  out  of  the  shadow  again.  In  July  1389,  he  was 
made  clerk  of  the  works  to  the  king  at  various  places;  and» 
in  the  next  year  (when,  as  part  of  his  new  duty,  he  had  to  do 
with  St.  George's  chapel,  Windsor),  commissioner  of  roads 
between  Greenwich  and  Woolwich.  This  latter  post  he  seems 
to  have  retained;  the  clerkship  he  only  held  for  two  years. 
On  6  September  1390,  he  fell  twice  in  one  day  among  the  same 
thieves,  and  was  robbed  of  some  public  money,  which,  how- 
ever, he  was  excused  from  making  good.  During  parts  of  this 
year  and  the  next,  he  held  an  additional  post,  that  of  the 
forestership  of  North  Petherton  Park  in  Somerset.  In  1394  he 
received  from  Richard  a  fresh  pension  of  /^2o  (say  ;^3oo)  a 
year.  But,  judging  by  the  evidence  of  records  of  advances 
and  protections  from  suits  for  debt,  he  seems  to  have  been 
needy.  In  1398,  however,  he  obtained  an  additional  tun  of 
wine  a  year  from  Richard;  while  that  luckless  prince's  ouster 
and  successor,  John  of  Gaunt's  son,  added,  in  October  1399, 
forty  marks  to  the  twenty  pounds,  making  the  poet's  yearly 


1 82  Chaucer 

income,  besides  the  tun  of  wine,  equal,  at  least,  to  between 
;^6oo  and  ^700  of  our  money.  On  the  strength  of  this,  pos- 
sibly, Chaucer  (who  had  given  up  the  Aldgate  house  thirteen 
years  before,  and  whose  residence  in  the  interval  is  unknown) 
took  a  lease  of  a  house  in  the  garden  of  St.  Mary's,  West- 
minster. But  he  did  not  enjoy  it  for  a  full  year,  and  dying 
(according  to  his  tomb,  which  is,  however,  of  the  sixteenth 
century)  on  25  October  1400,  was  buried,  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Benedict,  thus  founding  Poet's 
Corner.  That  he  was  actually  dead  by  the  end  of  that  year 
is  proved  by  the  cessation  of  entries  as  to  his  pensions.  Almost 
every  known  incident  in  his  life  has  been  mentioned  in  this 
summary,  for  the  traditions  of  his  residence  at  Woodstock  and 
of  his  beating  a  Franciscan  friar  in  Fleet  street  have  been 
given  up — the  latter  perhaps  hastily.  One  enigmatical  in- 
cident remains — to  wit,  that  in  May  1380,  one  Cecilia  de 
Chaumpaigne  gave  Chaucer  a  release  de  rsL^tu  nieo.  There  is, 
however,  no  probability  that  there  was  anything  in  this  case 
more  romantic  or  more  shocking  than  one  of  the  attempts  to 
kidnap  a  ward  of  property  and  marry  him  or  her  to  somebody  in 
whom  the  kidnapper  was  interested — attempts  of  which,  curi- 
ously enough,  Chaucer's  own  father  is  known  to  have  been 
nearly  the  victim.  Otherwise,  "there  is  namore  to  seyn,"  so 
far  as  true  history  goes.  And  it  does  not  seem  necessary  to 
waste  space  in  elaborate  confutation  of  unhistorical  traditions 
and  assertions,  which,  though  in  some  cases  of  very  early 
origin,  never  had  any  basis  of  evidence,  and,  in  most  cases,  can 
be  positively  disproved.  They  have,  for  some  decades,  passed 
out  of  all  books  of  the  slightest  authority,  except  as  matter 
for  refutation ;  and  it  is  questionable  whether  this  last  process 
itself  does  not  lend  them  an  injudicious  survival.  It  will  be 
observed,  however,  that,  in  the  authentic  account,  as  above 
given,  while  it  is  possible  that  some  of  its  details  may  apply 
to  a  Geoffrey  Chaucer  other  than  the  poet  whom  we  honour, 
there  is  not  one  single  one  of  them  which  concerns  him  as  a 
poet  at  all.  There  are,  however,  one  or  two  references  in  his 
lifetime,  and  a  chain,  unbroken  for  a  long  time,  of  almost 
extravagantly  laudatory  comments  upon  his  work,  starting 
with  actual  contemporaries.  Though  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  pair  met  more  than  once,  Froissart's  mention  of  him 


Life  183 

is  only  in  reference  to  diplomatic  and  not  literary  business. 
But  Eustache  Deschamps,  perhaps,  on  the  whole,  the  foremost 
poet  of  France  in  Chaucer's  time,  has  left  a  ballade  of  the 
most  complimentary  character,  though,  already  anticipating 
the  French  habit  of  looking  always  at  French  literature  first, 
it  addresses  him  as  grant  translateur,  which,  beyond  doubt,  he 
was.  In  a  certainly  contemporary  work  of  English  prose.  The 
Testament  of  Love,  which,  for  sheer  want  of  careful  examina- 
tion, was  long  attributed  to  Chaucer  and  which  is  now  de- 
cided to  be  the  work  of  one  Usk,  who  was  executed  in  1386 
by  the  Gloucester  faction,  Chaucer  is  spoken  of  with  equal 
admiration,  and  his  work  is  largely  drawn  upon.  Scogan, 
another  contemporary  and  a  correspondent  of  his,  celebrates 
him;  and  a  far  more  important  person  than  these,  the  poet 
Gower,  his  personal  friend,  has  left  a  well-known  tribute.  The 
two  principal  poets  of  the  next  generation,  in  England,  Occleve 
and  Lydgate,  were,  the  former  certainly,  the  latter  probably, 
personal  friends  likewise:  and,  while  both  are  copious  in  lauda- 
tion, Occleve  has  left  us  a  portrait  of  Chaucer  illuminated  on  the 
margin  of  one  of  his  own  MSS.  Throughout  the  fifteenth  and 
early  sixteenth  century,  the  chorus  of  praise  from  poets,  Scot- 
tish as  well  as  English,  continues  unabated  and  uninterrupted. 
Caxton,  though  never  executing  a  complete  edition,  repeatedly 
prints  part  of  the  works  ahd  is  followed  by  others;  and,  to- 
wards the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  in  a  passage  which 
writers  on  Chaucer  have  generally  missed,  Lilius  Giraldus,  one 
of  the  foremost  humanists  of  Italy,  in  a  survey  of  European 
letters,  recognises  the  eminence  of  Chaucer  in  English. 

We  must,  however,  now  make  a  further  advance,  and  turn 
from  the  "  Chaucer"  who  figures  in  records,  and  the  "  Chaucer  " 
who  is  eulogised  as  a  poet,  to  that  other  sense  of  "Chaucer" 
which  indicates  the  work,  not  the  man — the  work  which 
gained  for  the  man  the  reputation  and  the  eulogy.  Un- 
critically accepted,  and  recklessly  amplified  during  more  than 
three  centuries,  it  has,  since  the  masterly  investigations  of 
Tyrwhitt  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  been 
subjected  to  a  process  of  severe  thinning,  on  principles  which 
will  be  referred  to  again.  Of  external,  or  rather  positive,  evi- 
dence of  early  date,  we  have  some,  but  not  a  very  great  deal 
— and  that  not  of  the  most  unexceptionable  kind.     The  help 


i84  Chaucer 

of  the  MSS.  is  only  partial ;  for  no  one  of  them  is  accepted  by- 
anyone  as  an  autograph,  and  no  one  of  them  contains  all  the 
pieces  which  the  severest  methods  of  separation  have  left  to 
Chaucer.     But,  in  two  of  these  pieces,  which  themselves  as 
wholes  are  undoubted,  there  are  lists,  ostensibly  by  the  poet, 
of  his  own  works,  and  cross-references  in  other  places.     The 
fullest  of  these — the  list  contained  in  the  palinode  or  retrac- 
tion at  the  end  of   The  Parson's  Tale  and   The  Canterbury 
Tales  generally — has,  indeed,  been  suspected  by  some,  appar- 
ently  without   any   reason,   except   that   they   would   rather 
Chaucer  had  not  repented  of  things  of  which,  as  it  seems  to 
them,  he  had  no  reason  to  repent.     But,  even  in  case  of  forgery, 
the  forger  would,  probably,  have  taken  care  to  be  correct  in 
his  attribution.     This  list  contains  Troilus;  The  book  [House'] 
of  Fame;  The  book  of  the  XXV  Ladies  [Legend  of  Good  Women]; 
The  book  of  the  Duchess;  The  book  of  St.  Valentine's  day  of  the 
Parliament  of  Birds  [Fowls] ;  The  Canterbury  Tales  themselves, 
where  the  repentance  extends  only  to  those  that  "  sounen  into 
sinne" ;  The  book  of  the  Lion;  and  many  others  which  he  cannot 
remember,  while  Boece  is  specified  as  requiring  no  repentance. 
All  these  exist  except  The  book  of  the  Lion.     Further,  in  the 
body  of  the  Tales,  in  the  introduction  to  The  Man  of  Law's 
Prologue,  Chaucer  is  mentioned  by  name  with  an  unmistakably 
autobiographical  humility,  whether  serious  or  humorous;  and 
the  Legend  is  again  acknowledged  under  the  general  title  of 
"  the  Seintes  Legende  of  Cupyde,"     Now,  in  the  Legend  itself, 
there  is  another  list  of  works  claimed  by  the  author  in  which 
Troilus,  The  House  of  Fame,  The  book  of  the  Duchess  [Death 
of  Blanche],  The  Parliament  of  Fowls  and  Boece  reappear,  and 
The  Rose,  Palamon  and  Arcite  and  divers  smaller  works  named 
and  unnamed  are  added.     This,  however,  does  not  exhaust 
the  list  of  contemporary  testimony,  though  it  may  exhaust 
that  of  Chaucer's  own  definite  claim  to  the  works  specified. 
Lydgate,  besides  referring  to  a  mysterious  "  Dant  in  English," 
which  some  have  identified  with  The  House  of  Fame,  specifies 
the  ABC,  Anelida  and  Arcite,  The  Complaint  of  Mars  and 
the  Treatise  on  the  Astrolabe.     But  there  is  another  witness, 
a  certain  John  Shirley,  who  seems  to  have  passed  his  first 
youth  when  Chaucer  died,  and  not  to  have  died  himself  till 
the  fifteenth  century  was  more  than  half  over.     He  has  left 


Canon  of  Works  185 

us  copies,  ascribed  by  himself  to  Chaucer,  of  the  three  poems 
last  mentioned  as  ascribed  also  by  Lydgate,  and  of  the  minor 
pieces  entitled  The  Complaint  unto  Pity,  The  Complaint  of 
Venus,  Fortune,  Truth,  Gentilesse,  Lack  of  Steadfastness  and  the 
Empty  Purse.  The  epistles  (or  "envoys")  to  Scogan  and 
Bukton,  the  Rosemounde  ballade.  The  Former  Age  and  one 
or  two  scraps  are  also  definitely  attributed  to  the  poet  in 
early  MSS. 

This  concludes  the  list  of  what  we  may,  without  too  much 
presumption,  call  authenticated  works,  or  at  least  titles,  which 
is  rather  different.  Not  all  even  of  these  were  printed  by 
Caxton  or  by  his  immediate  successors;  but  Caxton  gave  two 
editions  of  The  Canterbury  Tales,  and  added  others  of  Troilus 
and  Criseyde,  of  The  Parliament  of  Fowls,  of  The  House  of 
Fame,  etc.,  confining  himself  to,  though  not  reaching,  the 
limit  of  the  authenticated  pieces.  Pynson,  in  1526,  outstripped 
this  by  including  La  Belle  Dame  sans  Merci.  It  was  not  till 
1532  that  the  first  collected  edition  appeared,  under  the  care 
of  William  Thynne,  clerk  of  the  kitchen  to  Henry  VIII,  who 
was  assisted  by  Sir  Brian  Tuke,  and  who,  apparently,  took 
great  trouble  to  consult  all  the  MSS.  that  he  could  lay  hold  of. 
This  volume  occupies  an  important  position  and  has  recently 
been  reprinted  in  facsimile.  It  contains  thirty-five  several 
poems  enumerated  in  its  table  of  contents,  with  a  few  short 
pieces  which  seem  to  have  been  afterthoughts,  and  are  of  no 
mark  or  likelihood.  One  of  these  is  actually  assigned  to 
Gower  and  one  to  Scogan,  though  it  contains  work  of  Chaucer. 
But  the  rest  seem  to  have  been  considered  Chaucer's  by 
Thynne,  though  he  excuses  himself  by  a  saving  phrase.  They 
are  The  Canterbury  Tales,  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  Troilus 
and  Criseyde,  The  TestanieX!ijm(L-Qom^laint,j}f-J^xesseid,  The 
Legend  of  Good  Women,  A  Goodly  Ballade  of  Chaucer,  Boethius, 
The  Dream  of  Chaucer  [The  booked  the  Duchess],  The  Envoy 
to  Bukton,  The  Assembly  [Parlian^t]  of  Fowls,  The  Flower  of 
Courtesy,  The  Death  of  Pity,  La  Belle^Ummjans  Mezci,  Anelida 
and  Arcite,  The  Assembly  of  Ladies,  the  Astrolabe,  The  Com- 
plaint of  the  Black  Kinght,  A^Tfaise  of  Women,  The  House  of 
Fame,  The  Testament  of^  Love,  The  Lameimtimi_qlJ£a.ry^ag- 
4alep,  The  Remedy  of  Love,  The  Complaints  of  Mars  and  Venus, 
The  Letter  ol^Cupid,  A  Ballade  in  Commendation  of  our  Lady, 


1 86  Chaucer 

The  Cuckoo  and  the  Nightingale,  Steadfastness,  Good  Counsel 
of  Chaucer,  Fortune,  The  Envoy  to  Scogan,  Sapience,  the  Empty 
Purse  and  a  poem  on  Circumstance. 

In  1542,  a  new  edition  of  Thynne's  collection  appeared 
with  one  piece  added,  The  Plowman's  Tale  (a  piece  of  Lollard y 
not  in  the  least  like  Chaucer),  and  a  third  followed,  with 
alterations  of  order,  in  1550.  It  was  not  long  after  this  that 
[Sir]  Thomas  Wilson  in  his  Rhetoric  (1553)  declared  that  "the 
fine  courtier  will  speak  nothing  but  Chaucer."  In  1561,  a 
fresh  admission  of  new  matter  was  made  under  the  guidance 
of  John  Stow,  the  antiquary.  The  new  pieces  were  chiefly 
short  ballades,  and  the  like,  but  one  very  important  poem  of 
length,  The  Court  of  Love,  appeared  for  the  first  time;  and, 
nearly  forty  years  later,  in  1597-8,  Thomas  Speght,  in  a  fresh 
edition,  thought  also  to  represent  Stow,  published  another 
notable  piece,  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf,  together  with  a  new 
Chaucer's  Dream,  indicating  also  two  other  things,  Jacke  Up- 
land and  Chaucer's  ABC.  There  were  editions  in  1602  and 
1687;  but  nothing  further  of  importance  was  added  till  the 
edition  begun  by  Urry  and  published  after  his  death  in  1721. 
Here  appeared  The  Tale  of  Gamclyn,  The  Pardoner  and  Tapster, 
an  account  of  what  happened  after  the  pilgrims  had  reached 
Canterbury,  and  The  Second  Merchant's  Tale  or  Talc  of  Beryn. 
"The  whole  dissembly"  of  Chaucer's  works,  genuine,  and 
spurious,  had  now  appeared  except  a  very  few  short  pieces, 
probably  genuine,  which  have  recently  been  unearthed.  The 
process  of  wholesale  agglomeration  was  ended ;  but  it  was  some 
time  before  the  inevitable  reaction  of  meticulous  scrutiny  and 
separation  was  to  begin.  In  fact,  though  Dryden,  at  the  very 
juncture  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  had,  on 
all  but  metrical  points,  done  the  fullest  justice  to  Chaucer, 
his  own  imitations  had  rather  obscured  the  original;  and  even 
Spenser  fared  better  th^^his  predecessor.  Except  Dryden 
himself,  the  last  intelligs^  enthusiasts  for  Chaucer,  who,  up 
to  Spenser's  own  death,  had  united  the  suffrages  of  all  the 
competent,  were  Sir  Francis  Kynaston  (an  eccentric  and  minor 
but  true  poet,  whose  worship  took  the  odd  form  of  translating 
Troilus  into  Latin,  keeping  the  rime  royal)  and  the  earl  of 
Leicester,  Algernon  Sidney's  elder  brother  (the  "lord  Lisle" 
of  the  Commonwealth,  but  no  regicide),  who,  as  Dryden  him.- 


Early  Editions  187 

self  tells  us,  dissuaded  him  from  modernising  out  of  reverence 
for  the  original.  By  most  writers,  for  the  greater  part  of  a  cen- 
tury— Addison  himself  being  their  spokesman — Chaucer  was 
regarded  as  an  antiquated  buffoon,  sometimes  coarsely  amus- 
ing, and  a  convenient  pattern  for  coarseness  worse  than  his 
own.  The  true  restorer  of  Chaucer,  and  the  founder  of  all 
intelligent  study  of  his  work,  was  Thomas  Tyrwhitt  (1730-86), 
fellow  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  who,  in  1775,  published  an 
edition  of  The  Canterbury  Tales  with  prefatory  matter,  and 
a  glossary  dealing  with  the  whole  subject.  Tyrwhitt  had  no 
theory  to  serve  and  no  arbitrary  standard  to  apply;  but  he 
had  a  combined  knowledge  of  classical  and  medieval  literature 
then  probably  unequalled  in  Europe,  a  correct  ear,  a  sense 
of  poetry  and  a  singularly  sane  judgment  strengthened  and 
directed  by  legal  training.  He  did  not  proceed  by  electing 
certain  of  the  works  to  a  position  of  canon  and  determining 
the  reprobation  of  others  by  reference  to  this — a  proceeding 
itself  reprobated  by  the  best  principles  of  law,  logic  and 
literature.  He  knew,  doubtless,  that  although  The  Canterbury 
Tales  themselves  are  Chaucer's  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt, 
no  testimony  that  we  have,  from  Lydgate's  onward,  authen- 
ticates any  particular  form  of  them  like  an  autograph  MS.,  or 
a  modern  printed  book  issued  by  the  author.  He  knew,  also, 
doubtless,  that  it  cannot  be  safe  to  assume  that  an  author, 
especially  in  such  days  as  Chaucer's,  must  have  rigidly  ob- 
served the  same  standard  of  grammar,  diction  and  prosody 
at  all  times  of  his  life — that,  for  instance,  if  we  did  so,  we 
should,  on  the  evidence  of  one  edition  of  The  Essay  of  Dra- 
matic Poesy,  assume  that  Dry  den  preferred  to  put  the  propo- 
sition at  the  end  of  the  clause,  and  on  that  of  another  decide 
that  he  avoided  this.  He,  therefore,  proceeded  on  the  only 
sound  plan — that  of  sifting  out,  first,  things  certainly,  and 
then,  things  probably,  false — of  gathering  first  the  tares 
according  to  the  advice  of  the  parable — and  so,  by  successive 
degrees,  winnowing  a  surer  and  purer  wheat  for  garnering 
after  it  had  been  itself  threshed  and  cleansed  from  offal  and 
impurity. 

The  beginning  of  the  process  was  easy  enough:  for  some 
things  had  been  expressly  included  by  Thynne  in  the  original 
collection  as  not  Chaucer's,  and  these  or  others  were,  in  some 


1 88  Chaucer 

cases,  known,  practically  beyond  doubt,  to  be  the  work  of 
actual  and  identified  persons.  Such  was  the  case  with  Gower's 
and  Scogan's  verses  above  referred  to,  with  Lydgate's  Tale  of 
Thebes,  etc.,  and  with  the  very  remarkable  and  beautiful 
Testament  of  Cresseid,  which,  on  the  clearest  internal  showing, 
could  not  be  Chaucer's  and  which  had  been  printed  earlier 
as  the  work  of  the  Scottish  poet  Henry  son.  The  Letter  of 
Cupid  is  not  only  acknowledged  by  Occleve,  but  actually  dated 
after  Chaucer's  death;  and  La  Belle  Dame  sans  Merci  is  not 
only  attributed  in  MS.  to  Sir  Richard  Ros,  but  is  adapted 
from  Alain  Chartier,  who  belonged  to  the  next  century.  Other 
pieces  Tyrwhitt  rejected  for  different  reasons,  all  valid — 
Gamelyn,  The  Plowman's  Tale,  that  of  Beryn,  The  Pardoner 
and  the  Tapster,  The  Lamentation  of  Mary  Magdalen,  The 
Assembly  of  Ladies,  etc. — while  he  brushed  away  contemptu- 
ously at  a  sweep  "the  heap  of  rubbish"  added  by  Stow.  He 
left  the  following  verse,  besides  The  Canterbury  Tales,  the  two 
undoubtedly  genuine  prose  works  and  The  Testament  of  Love 
(which  he  had  evidently  not  had  time  to  examine  carefully) : — 
The  Romatmt  of  the  Rose,  Troilus  and  Criseyde,  The  Court  of 
Love,  The  Complaint  unto  Pity,  Anelida,and  Arcite,  The  Assem- 
bly [Parliament]  of  Fowls,  The  Complaint  of  the  Black  Knight 
(which  had  not  then  been  identified  as  Lydgate's) ,  the  ABC, 
Chaucer's  Dream,  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf,  The  Legend  of 
Good  Women,  The  Complaints  of  Mars  and  Venus  and  The 
Cuckoo  and  the  Nightingale,  with  nine  shorter  poems.  It  is, 
however,  very  important  to  observe  that,  though  Tyrwhitt 
had  read  all  these  pieces  for  his  glossary,  he  did  not  edit  their 
text;  and,  therefore,  cannot  be  taken  as  vouching  fully  for 
their  authenticity.  It  is,  for  instance,  pretty  certain  that  if 
he  had  so  edited  The  Testament  of  Love  he  would  have  dis- 
covered that  it  was  not  Chaucer's,  whether  he  did  or  did  not 
discover  whose  it  actually  was. 

But  great  as  was  tjie  service  which  Tyrwhitt  did  in  sweep- 
ing out  of  the  Chaucerian  treasury  much,  if  not  all,  of  what 
had  no  business  to  be  there,  it  was  still  greater  in  respect  of 
the  principal  genuine  treasure,  which  alone  he  subjected  to 
thorough  critical  editing.  It  is  quite  astonishing,  a  century 
and  a  quarter  after  his  work,  to  find  how  far  he  was  in  advance 
not  merely  of  all  his  predecessors  in  the  study  of  Chaucer  but 


Tyrwhitt's  Recension  189 

— in  one  of  the  most  important  points — of  many  who  have 
followed.  Whether  it  was  in  consequence  of  Chaucer's  uniquely 
clear  understanding  of  English  versification  as  shown  in  his 
predecessors,  or  of  his  setting  a  standard  too  high  for  his  con- 
temporaries, or  merely  of  a  tyrannous  change  in  the  language, 
it  is  certain  that  even  his  immediate  successors  (in  some  cases 
actually  contemporary  with  him)  failed  to  reproduce  the  har- 
mony of  his  verse  in  the  very  act  of  imitating  it,  and  that 
following  generations  misunderstood  it  altogether.  Some  have 
thought  that  this  misunderstanding  extended  even  to  Spenser ; 
but,  while  disagreeing  with  them  as  to  this,  one  may  doubt 
whether  Spenser's  understanding  of  it  was  not  more  instinctive 
than  analytic.  Dryden  frankly  scouted  the  notion  of  Chaucer's 
metre  being  regular  :  though  it  is  nearly  as  much  so,  even  on 
Dryden 's  own  principles,  as  his  own.  Tyrwhitt  at  once  laid 
his  finger  on  the  cause  of  the  strange  delusion  of  nearly  three 
centuries  by  pointing  out  what  he  calls  "  the  pronunciation  of 
the  feminine  -^";  and,  though  in  following  up  the  hint  which 
he  thus  gave  he  may  have  failed  to  notice  some  of  the  abnor- 
malities of  the  metre  (such  as  the  presence  of  lines  of  nine 
syllables  only)  and  so  have  patched  unnecessarily  here  and 
there,  these  cases  are  very  exceptional.  He  may  not  have 
elaborated  for  Chaucer  a  system  of  grammar  so  complete  and 
so  complex  as  that  which  has  been  elaborated  for  him  by 
subsequent  ingenuity,  to  amend  the  errors  of  contemporary 
script.  But  his  text  was  based  upon  a  considerable  collation 
of  MSS.  in  the  first  place;  in  the  second,  on  an  actual  reading 
— astonishing  for  the  time  when  we  remember  that  this  also 
had  to  be  mostly  in  MS. — of  Chaucer's  English,  as  well  as 
foreign,  predecessors  and  contemporaries;  and,  in  the  third, 
on  careful  examination  of  the  poems  themselves  with,  for 
guide,  an  ear  originally  sensitive  and  subsequently  well- trained. 
Of  the  result,  it  is  enough  to  borrow  the — in  the  original — 
rather  absurd  hyperbole  applied  earlier  to  Kynaston's  Troilus 
in  the  words  "None  sees  Chaucer  but  in  Kynaston."  It  was 
hardly  possible  for  the  ordinary  reader  to  "see  Chaucer"  till 
he  saw  him  in  Tyrwhitt;  and  in  Tyrwhitt  he  saw  him,  as  far 
as  The  Canterbury  Tales  were  concerned,  in  something  very 
like  a  sufficient  presentment. 

But,  just  as  Chaucer  himself  had  gone  so  far  beyond  his 


190  Chaucer 

contemporaries  in  the  practice  of  poesy,  that  they  were  unable 
fully  to  avail  themselves  of  what  he  did,  so  Tyrwhitt  was  too 
far  in  advance  of  the  English  scholarship  of  his  age  for  very 
much  use  to  be  immediately  made  of  his  labours.  For  some 
half-century,  or  even  longer,  after  his  first  edition,  little  was 
done  in  regard  to  the  text  or  study  of  Chaucer,  though  the 
researches  of  Sir  Harris  Nicolas  threw  much  light  on  the  facts 
of  his  life.  But  the  increasing  study  of  Middle  English  lan- 
guage and  literature  could  not  fail  to  concentrate  itself  on  the 
greatest  of  Middle  English  writers ;  and  a  succession  of  scholars 
of  whom  Wright  and  Morris  were  the  most  remarkable  among 
the  earlier  generation,  and  Skeat  and  Furnivall  among  the 
later,  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  subject,  while,  of  the 
societies  founded  by  the  last  named,  the  Early  English  Text 
Society  is  accumulating,  for  the  first  time  in  an  accessible 
form,  the  literature  which  has  to  be  compared  with  Chaucer, 
and  the  Chaucer  Society  has  performed  the  even  greater 
service  of  giving  a  large  proportion  of  the  MSB.  themselves, 
with  apparatus  criticus  for  their  understanding  and  appre- 
ciation. Complete  agreement,  indeed,  has  not  been — and, 
perhaps,  can  never  be  expected  to  be — reached  on  the  question 
how  far  grammatical  and  other  variables  are  to  be  left  open 
or  subjected  to  a  norm,  arrived  at  according  to  the  adjuster's 
construing  of  the  documents  of  the  period;  but  the  differences 
resulting  are  rarely,  if  ever,  of  strictly  literary  importance. 

Meanwhile,  the  process  of  winnowing  which  Tyrwhitt  began 
has  been  carried  out  still  farther:  partly  by  the  discovery  of 
authors  to  whom  pieces  must  or  may  be  assigned  rather  than 
to  Chaucer,  partly  by  the  application  of  grammatical  or  other 
tests  of  the  internal  kind.  Thus,  The  Complaint  of  the  Black 
Knight  was  found  to  be  ascribed  to  Lydgate  by  Shirley,  a 
great  admirer  and  student,  as  has  been  said,  of  Chaucer  him- 
self, and,  apparently,  contemporary  with  Lydgate  during  all 
their  lives.  The  Cuckoo  and  the  Nightingale — a  very  agreeable 
early  poem — was  discovered  by  Skeat  to  be  assigned  in  MS. 
to  "Clanvowe,"  who  has  been  sufficiently  identified  with  a 
Sir  Thomas  Clan vo we  of  the  time.  The  Testament  of  Love,  one 
of  the  most  evidently  Mn-Chaucerian  of  these  things  when 
examined  with  care,  has,  in  the  same  way,  turned  out  to  be 
certainly   (or  with  strong  probability)   the  work  of  Thomas 


Later  Rearrangements  191 

Usk,  as  has  been  mentioned.  Two  other  very  important  and 
beautiful,  though  very  late,  attributions  allowed  by  Tyrwhitt, 
though  in  the  conditions  specified,  have  also  been  black- 
marked,  not  for  any  such  reason,  but  for  alleged  "  un-Chaucer- 
ism"  in  grammar,  rime,  etc.,  and  also  for  such  reasons  as  that 
The  Flower  and  the  Leaf  is  apparently  put  in  the  mouth  of 
a  woman  and  The  Court  of  Love  in  that  of  a  person  who  calls 
himself  "  Philogenet,  of  Cambridge,  clerk,"  to  which  we  have 
not  any  parallel  elsewhere  in  Chaucer.  These  last  arguments 
are  weak;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf 
(of  which  no  MS.  is  now  accessible)  to  some  extent,  and  The 
Court  of  Love  (of  which  we  have  a  single  late  MS.)  still  more, 
are,  in  linguistic  character,  younger  than  Chaucer's  time,  and 
could  only  be  his  if  they  had  been  very  much  rewritten. 
These,  and  the  other  poems  excluded,  will  be  dealt  with  in  a 
later  chapter. 

In  these  exclusions,  and,  still  more,  in  another  to  which 
we  are  coming,  very  great  weight  has  been  attached  to  some 
peculiarities  of  rime  pointed  out  first  by  Henry  Bradshaw,  the 
most  important  of  which  is  that  Chaucer  never  (except  in 
Sir  Thopas,  where  it  is  alleged  that  he  is  now  parodying  the 
Romances)  rimes  a  wor^  in  -y  to  a  word  in  -ye  throughout 
the  pieces  taken  for  granted  as  his.  The  value  of  this  argu- 
ment must,  of  course,  be  left  to  the  decision  of  everyone  of 
full  age  and  average  wits;  for  it  requires  no  linguistic  or  even 
literary  knowledge  to  guide  the  decision.  To  some  it  seems 
conclusive;  to  others  not  so. 

It  has,  however,  been  used  largely  in  the  discussion  of  the 
last  important  poem  assigned  to  Chaucer,  The  Romaunt  of  the 
Rose,  and  is,  perhaps,  here  of  most  importance.  It  is  not 
denied  by  anybody  that  Chaucer  did  translate  this,  the  most 
famous  and  popular  poem  in  all  European  literature  for  nearly 
three  centuries.  The  question  is  whether  the  translation  that 
we  have — or  part  of  it,  if  not  the  whole — is  his.  No  general 
agreement  has  yet  been  reached  on  this  point  even  among 
those  who  admit  the  validity  of  the  rime  test  and  other  tests 
referred  to;  but  most  of  them  allow  that  the  piece  stands  on 
a  different  footing  from  others,  and  most  modern  editions 
admit  it  to  a  sort  of  "court  of  the  gentiles."  The  two  prose 
works,  The  Tales,  The  Legend,  Troilus,  Ihe  House  of  Fame, 


192  Chaucer 

the  ABC,  The  Duchess,  the  three  Complaints  {unto  Pity,  of 
Mars  and  to  his  Lady),  Anelida  and  Arcite,  The  Parliament  of 
Fowls,  and  some  dozen  or  sixteen  (the  number  varies  shghtly) 
of  minor  poems  ranging  from  a  few  lines  to  a  page  or  so,  are 
admitted  by  all.  Of  these,  some  critical  account  must  now 
be  given.  But  something  must  first  be  said  on  a  preliminary 
point  of  importance  which  has  occupied  scholars  not  a  little, 
and  on  which  fairly  satisfactory  agreement  has  been  reached : 
and  that  is  the  probable  order  of  the  works  in  composition. 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  facts  of  Chaucer's  life,  as 
known,  furnish  us  with  no  direct  information  concerning  his 
literary  work,  of  any  kind  whatsoever.  But,  indirectly,  they, 
as  collected,  furnish  us  with  some  not  unimportant  informa- 
tion— to  wit,  that  in  his  youth  and  early  manhood  he  was 
much  in  France,  that  in  early  middle  life  he  was  not  a  little 
in  Italy  and  that  he  apparently  spent  the  whole  of  his  later 
days  in  England.  Now,  if  we  take  the  more  or  less  authen- 
ticated works,  we  shall  find  that  they  sort  themselves  up  into 
three  bundles  more  or  less  definitely  constituted.  The  first 
consists  of  work  either  directly  or  pretty  closely  translated 
or  imitated  from  the  French,  and  couched  in  forms  more  or 
less  French  in  origin — The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  The  Com- 
plaints, The  book  of  the  Duchess,  the  minor  ballades,  etc. 
The  second  consists  of  two  important  pieces  directly  traceable 
to  the  Italian  originals  of  Boccaccio,  Troilus  and  Criseyde  and 
TPie  Knight's  Tale,  with  another  scarcely  less  suggested  by 
the  same  Italian  author,  The  Legend  of  Good  Women,  and, 
perhaps,  others  still,  including  some  of  The  Canterbury  Tales 
besides  The  Knighfs.  The  third  includes  the  major  and  most 
characteristic  part  of  The  Tales  themselves  from  The  Prologue 
onward,  which  are  purely  and  intensely  English.  Further, 
when  these  bundles  (not  too  tightly  tied  up  nor  too  sharply- 
separated  from  each  other)  are  surveyed,  we  find  hardly  dis- 
putable internal  evidence  that  they  succeeded  each  other  in 
the  order  of  the  events  of  his  life.  The  French  division  is 
not  only  very  largely  second-hand,  but  is  full  of  obvious 
tentative  experiments;  the  author  is  trying  his  hand,  which,  as 
yet,  is  an  uncertain  one,  on  metre,  on  language,  on  subject;  and, 
though  he  often  does  well,  he  seldom  shows  the  supremacy 
and  self-confidence  of  mature  genius.     In  the  Italian  bundle 


u 


Romaunt  of  the  Rose"  193 


he  has  gained  very  much  in  these  respects:  we  hear  a  voice 
we  have  not  heard  before  and  shall  not  hear  again — the  voice 
of  an  individual,  if  not  yet  a  consummate,  poet.  But  his 
themes  are  borrowed;  he  embroiders  rather  than  weaves.  In 
the  third  or  English  period  all  this  is  over.  "  Here  is  God's 
plenty,"  as  Dryden  admirably  said;  and  the  poet  is  the  steward 
of  the  god  of  poets,  and  not  the  mere  interpreter  of  some  other 
poet.  He  has  his  own  choice  of  subject,  his  own  grasp  of 
character  and  his  own  diction  and  plot.  He  is  at  home.  And 
it  is  a  significant  fact  that  we  have  references  to  other  works 
in  The  Tales,  but  none  to  The  Tales  in  other  works.  We  may 
therefore  conclude,  without  pushing  the  classification  to  a 
perilous  particularity,  that  it  is  generally  sound. 

We  now  come,  without  further  difficulty  or  doubt,  to 
those  parts  of  the  works  about  which  there  is  little  or  no 
contention;  only  prefixing  a  notice  of  the  English  Romaunt 
of  the  Rose  with  full  reference  to  the  cautions  given  previously. 
For  this  we  have  but  one  MS.  (in  the  Hunterian  collection  at 
Glasgow)  and  the  early  printed  version  of  Thynne.  The  trans- 
lation is  very  far  from  complete,  representing  only  a  small 
part  of  the  great  original  work  of  Guillaume  de  Lorris  and 
Jean  de  Meun,  and  it  is  not  continuous  even  as  it  is.  The 
usual  practice  of  modern  commentators  has  been  to  break  it 
up  into  three  parts — A,  B  and  C;  but,  by  applying  to  this 
division  the  rime  and  other  tests  before  referred  to,  very 
different  results  have  been  reached.  The  solution  most  in 
favour  is  that  Chaucer  may  not  improbably  have  written  A, 
may  more  or  less  possibly  have  written  C,  but  can  hardly 
have  written  B,  which  abounds  in  northern  forms.  It  is, 
however,  certain  that  he  actually  translated  this  very  part, 
inasmuch  as  he  refers  to  it  in  The  Legend.  Whatever  may  be 
the  facts  in  these  respects,  there  is  a  general  agreement  of 
the  competent  that,  from  the  literary  point  of  view,  the  whole 
is  worthy  of  Chaucer  and  of  the  original.  Of  this  original,  the 
earlier  or  Lorris  part  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  works  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  while  the  second  or  longer  part  by  Jean  de 
Meun  is  one  of  the  shrewdest  and  most  characteristic.  The 
two  authors  were  singularly  different,  but  their  English  trans- 
lator, whoever  he  was,  has  shown  himself  equal  to  either 
requirement,  after  a  fashion  which  only  a  consummate  man 


^94  Chaucer 

of  letters  could  display — such  a  man  for  instance  as  he  to 
whom  we  owe  both  the  Prioress  and  the  Wife  of  Bath.  The 
soft  love  allegory  of  the  earlier  part,  with  its  lavish  description 
and  ornament,  is  not  rendered  more  adequately  than  the 
sharp  satire  and  somewhat  pedantic  learning  of  the  second. 
The  metre  is  that  of  the  original — the  octosyllabic  couplet — 
which  was,  on  the  whole,  the  most  popular  literary  measure 
of  the  Middle  Ages  in  English,  French  and  German  alike,  and 
which  has  been  practised  in  England  for  nearly  200  years. 
To  escape  monotony  and  insignificance  in  this  is  difficult, 
especially  if  the  couplets  are  kept  more  or  less  distinct,  and 
if  the  full  eight  syllables  and  no  more  are  invariably  retained. 
The  English  poet  has  not  discovered  all  his  possibilities  of 
variation,  but  he  has  gone  far  in  this  direction.  He  has  also 
been  curiously  successful  in  sticking  very  closely  to  the  matter 
of  his  original  without  awkwardness,  and,  where  he  amplifies, 
amplifying  with  taste.  English  literature  up  to,  and  even 
after,  the  time  is  full  of  translation;  is,  indeed,  very  largely 
made  up  of  it.  But  there  is  no  verse  translation  which  ap- 
proaches this  in  the  combined  merits  of  fidelity,  poetry  and 
wit.  The  date  is  very  uncertain,  but  it  must  be  early;  some, 
who  think  the  poem  may  all  be  Chaucer's,  connect  it  with  an 
early  possible  sojourn  of  his  in  the  north  with  the  household 
of  Lionel  or  his  wife. 

/  There  are  few  data  for  settling  the  respective  periods  of 
''  composition  of  the  early  minor  poems.  If  The  hook  of  the 
Duchess  (Blanche  of  Lancaster,  who  died  in  1369)  be  really 
of  the  earliest — and  The  Complaint  unto  Pity  is  not  usually 
assigned  to  an  earlier  date — Chaucer  was  a  singularly  late- 
writing  poet.  But  we  may,  of  course,  suppose  that  his  earlier 
work  is  lost,  or  that  he  devoted  the  whole  of  his  leisure  (it 
must  be  remembered  that  he  was  "in  the  service"  in  various 
ways)  to  the  Rose.  On  the  other  hand,  the  putting  of  The 
Complaint  of  Mars  as  late  as  1379  depends  solely  upon  a  note 
by  Shirley,  connecting  it  with  a  court  scandal  between  Isabel 
of  Castille,  duchess  of  York,  and  John  Holland,  duke  of  Exeter 
— for  which  there  is  no  intrinsic  evidence  whatsoever.  From 
a  literary  point  of  view  one  would  put  it  much  earlier.  With 
the  exception  of  The  Parliament  of  Fowls,  which  has  been  not 
unreasonably  connected  with  the  marriage  of  Richard  II  to 


Early  Poems  195 

Anne  of  Bohemia  in  1382,  internal  evidence  of  style,  metrical 
experiment,  absence  of  strongly  original  passages  and  the  like, 
would  place  all  these  poems  before  Troilus,  and  some  of  them 
at  a  very  early  period  of  the  poet's  career,  whensoever  it  may 
have  begun.  Of  the  three  which  usually  dispute  the  position 
of  actual  primacy  of  date,  The  book  of  the  Duchess  or  The 
Death  of  Blanche  is  a  poem  of  more  than  1300  lines  in  octo- 
syllables, not  quite  so  smooth  as  those  of  The  Romaunt,  but 
rather  more  adventurously  split  up.  The  matter  is  much 
patched  together  out  of  medieval  commonplaces,  but  has 
touches  both  of  pathos  and  picturesqueness.  The  much 
shorter  Complaint  unto  Pity  has,  for  its  special  interest,  the 
first  appearance  in  English,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  of 
the  great  stanza  called  rime  roA'al — that  is  to  say,  the  seven- 
lined  decasyllabic  stanza  rimed  ababbcc,  which  held  the  premier 
position  for  serious  verse  in  English  poetry  till  the  Spenserian 
dethroned  it.  The  third  piece,  Chaucer's  A  B  C,  is  in  the 
chief  rival  of  rime  royal,  the  octave  ababbcbc.  The  other  he 
probably  took  from  the  French:  it  is  noticeable  that  the 
A  B  C  {si  series  of  stanzas  to  our  Lady,  each  beginning  with 
a  different  letter  of  the  alphabet  in  regular  order),  though 
actually  adapted  from  the  French  of  Deguileville,  is  in  a 
quite  different  metre,  which  may  have  been  taken  from  Italian 
or  French.  And  one  would  feel  inclined  to  put  very  close 
to  these  The  Complaint  of  Mars  and  A  Complaint  to  his  Lady^ 
in  which  metrical  exploration  is  pushed  even  further — to  nine- 
line  stanzas  aabaabbcc  in  the  first,  and  ten-line  as  well  as  terza, 
rima  in  the  second.  These  evidences  of  tentative  work  are 
most  interesting  and  nearly  decisive  in  point  of  earliness;  but 
it  is  impossible  to  say  that  the  poetical  value  of  any  of  these 
pieces  is  great. 

In  Anelida  and  Arcite  and  The  Parliament  of  Fowls  this 
value  rises  very  considerably.  Both  are  written  in  the  rime 
royal — a  slight  anachronism  of  phrase  as  regards  Chaucer, 
since  it  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  use  of  the  measure  by 
James  I  of  Scotland  in  The  Kingis  Quair,  but  the  only  dis- 
tinguishing name  for  it  and  much  the  best.  To  this  metre, 
as  is  shown  from  these  two  poems  and,  still  more,  by  Troilus, 
Chaucer  had  taken  a  strong  fancy;  and  he  had  not  merely 
improved,  if  not  yet  quite  perfected,  his  mastery  of  it  purely 


196  Chaucer 

as  metre,  but  had  gone  far  to  provide  himself  with  a  poetic 
diction,  and  a  power  of  writing  phrase,  suitable  to  its  purely 
metrical  powers.  The  first  named  piece  is  still  a  "complaint" 
— queen  Anelida  bewailing  the  falseness  of  her  lover  Arcite. 
But  it  escapes  the  cut-and-dried  character  of  some  of  the 
earlier  work  ;  and,  in  such  a  stanza  as  the  following: 

Whan  she  shal  ete,  on  him  is  so  hir  thoght, 
That  wel  unnethe  of  mete  took  she  keep ; 
And  whan  that  she  was  to  hir  reste  broght, 
On  him  she  thoghte  alwey  till  that  she  sleep ; 
Whan  he  was  absent,  prevely  she  weep ; 
Thus  liveth  fair  Anelida  the  quene 
For  fals  Arcite,  that  did  hir  al  this  tene — 

the  poem  acquires  that  full-blooded  pulse  of  verse,  the  ab- 
sence of  which  is  the  fault  of  so  much  medieval  poetry.  That 
it  is  not,  however,  very  late  is  clear  from  the  curious  included, 
or  concluding,  Complaint  in  very  elaborate  and  varied  choric 
form.  The  poem  is  connected  with  The  Knighfs  Tale  in  more 
than  the  name  of  Arcite. 

It  is,  thus,  the  inferior  of  The  Parliament  of  Fowls.  This 
opens  with  the  finest  piece  of  pure  poetry  which,  if  the  order 
adopted  be  correct,  Chaucer  had  yet  written, 

The  lyf  so  short,  the  craft  so  long  to  lerne, 
Th'  assay  so  hard,  so  sharp  the  conquering, 
The  dredful  joye,  that  alwey  slit  so  yeme, 
Al  this  mene  I  by  love,  that  my  feling 
Astonyeth  with  his  wonderful  worching 
So  sore  y-wis,  that  whan  I  on  him  thinke, 
Nat  wot  I  wel  wher  that  I  wake  or  winke ; 

and  it  includes  not  a  few  others,  concluding,  like  Anelida, 
with  a  lyric,  shorter  and  more  of  the  song  kind,  "  Now  welcom 
somer,"  in  roundel  form.  vThis  piece  is  also  the  first  in  which 
we  meet  most  of  the  Chaucerian  qualities — the  equally  felici- 
tous and  felicitously  blended  humour  and  pathos,  the  adop- 
tion and  yet  transcendence  of  medieval  commonplaces  (the 
dream,  the  catalogues  of  trees  and  birds,  the  classical  digres- 
sions and  stuffings),  and,  above  all,  the  faculty  of  composition 
and  handling,  so  as  to  make  the  poem,  whatever  its  subject, 
a  poem,  and  not  a  mere  copy  of  verses. 


"  Troilus  and  Criseyde  "  197 

As  yet,  however,  Chaucer  had  attempted  nothing  that 
much  exceeded,  if  it  exceeded  at  all,  the  limits  of  occasional 
poetry;  while  the  experimental  character,  in  metre  especially, 
had  distinguished  his  work  very  strongly,  and  some  of  it 
(probably  most)  had  been  mere  translation.  In  the  work 
which,  in  all  probability,  came  next,  part  of  which  may  have 
anticipated  The  Parliament  of  Fowls,  he  was  still  to  take  a 
ready-prepared  canvas  of  subject,  but  to  cover  it  with  his  own 
embroidery  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  the  work  practically 
original,  and  he  was  to  confine  it  to  the  metre  that  he  had  by 
this  time  thoroughly  proved — the  rime  royal  itself. 

In  Troilus  and  Criseyde,  to  which  we  now  come,  Chaucer 
had  entirely  passed  his  apprentice  stage;  indeed,  it  may  be 
said  that,  in  certain  lines,  he  never  went  further,  though  he 
found  new  lines  and  carried  on  others  which  here  are  omy  seen 
in  their  beginning.  The  story  of  the  Trojan  prince  Troilus 
and  his  love  for  a  damsel  (who,  from  a  confused  remembrance 
of  the  Homeric  heroines,  was  successively  called  Briseida  and 
Griseida  or  Criseida)  is  one  of  those  developments  of  the  tale 
of  Troy  which,  unknown  to  classical  tradition,  grew  up  and 
were  eagerly  fostered  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Probably  first 
sketched  in  the  curious  and  still  uncertainly  dated  works  of 
Dictys  Cretensis  and  Dares  Phrygius,  it  had  been  worked  up 
into  a  long  legend  in  the  Roman  de  Troie  of  Benoit  de  Sainte 
More,  a  French  trouvere  of  the  late  twelfth  century;  these, 
according  to  medieval  habit,  though  with  an  absence  of  ac- 
knowledgment by  no  means  universal  or  even  usual,  had  been 
adapted  bodily  a  hundred  years  later  in  the  prose  Latin 
Hystoria  Troiana  of  Guido  delle  Colonne.  On  this,  in  turn, 
Boccaccio,  somewhat  before  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  based  his  poem  of  //  Filostrato  in  ottava  rima;  and, 
from  the  Filostrato,  Chaucer  took  the  story.  Not  more,  how- 
ever, than  one-third  of  the  actual  Troilus  and  Criseyde  is,  in 
any  sense,  translated  from  Boccaccio,  who  is  never  named  by 
the  English  poet,  though  he  has  references  to  a  mysterious 
"  Lollius."  But  such  points  as  this  last  cannot  be  dealt  with 
here. 

What  really  concerns  us  is  that,  in  this  poem,  Chaucer, 
though  still  playing  the  part  of  hermit-crab — in  a  manner 
strange  to  modern  notions,  but  constantly  practised  in  me- 


19^^  Chaucer 

dieval  times  and  by  no  means  unusual  in  Shakespeare — has 
quite  transformed  the  house  which  he  borrowed  and  peopled 
it  with  quite  different  inhabitants.  This  is  most  remarkable 
in  the  case  of  Pandai-us:  but  it  is  hardly  less  so  in  those  of 
Troilus  and  Criseyde  themselves.  Indeed,  in  this  poem  Chau- 
cer has  not  only  given  us  a  full  and  finished  romance,  but  has 
endowed  it  with  what,  as  a  rule,  medieval  romance  conspicu- 
ously lacked — interest  of  character  as  well  as  of  incident,  and 
interest  of  drama  as  well  as  of  narrative.  Discussions  (which 
need  not  be  idle  and  should  not  be  other  than  amicable)  have 
been,  and  may  be,  held  on  the  question  whether  Chaucer 
himself  is  not  a  sixteenth-seventeenth  century  dramatist,  and 
a  nineteenth  century  novelist,  who  happened  to  be  born  in  the 
fourteenth  century:  and  Troilus  is  one  of  the  first  texts  which 
lend  themselves  to  this  discussion.  The  piece  is  somewhat  too 
long;  it  has  (which  amounts  to  much  the  same  thing)  too 
many  digressions,  and  (again  much  the  same  thing)  the  action 
is  too  seldom  concentrated  and  "spirited  up" — there  is  too 
much  talk  and  too  little  happens.  But  these  were  faults  so 
ingrained  in  medieval  literature  that  even  Chaucer  could  not 
entirely  get  rid  of  them:  and  hardly  anyone  before  him  had 
got  rid  of  them  to  the  same  extent. 

And  if  the  comparative  excellence  of  the  story  be  great, 
the  positive  excellence  of  the  poetry  is  greater.  Of  the  rime 
royal  stanza  the  poet  is  now  a  perfect  master;  and,  if  his 
diction  has  not  acquired  its  full  suppleness  and  variety  of 
application,  its  dignity  and  its  facility  for  the  purposes  to 
which  it  is  actually  applied  leave  nothing  whatever  to  be 
desired.  A  list  of  show  passages  would  be  out  of  place  here; 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  nowhere,  from  the  fine  opening  to 
the  far  finer  close,  is  the  medium  of  verse  and  phrase  other 
than  fully  adequate  to  the  subject  and  the  poet's  intention. 
It  is,  on  the  whole,  the  weakest  point  of  medieval  poetry, 
that,  with  subjects  of  the  most  charming  kind,  and  frequent 
felicities  of  sentiment  and  imagery,  the  verse  lacks  finish,  and 
the  phrase  has  no  concentrated  fire  or  sweetness.  In  Troilus 
this  ceases  to  be  the  case. 

Very  strong  arguments,  in  the  absence  of  positive  evidence, 
would  be  required  to  make  us  regard  a  work  of  such  maturity 
as  early;  and  the  tendency  has  been  to  date  it  about  1383. 


"  Troilus  and  Criseyde  "  199 

Of  late,  however,  attempts  have  been  made  to  put  it  six  or 
seven  years  earher,  on  the  strength,  chiefly,  of  a  passage  in 
the  Mir  our  de  VOmme,  attributed  to  Gower  and  supposed  to 
be  itself  of  about  1376.  Here  it  may  be  enough  to  say  that, 
e^'en  if  the  passage  be  certainly  Gower's  and  certainly  as  early 
as  this,  it  need  not  refer  to  Chaucer's  Troilus  at  all,  or,  at  any 
rate,  to  any  tale  of  Troilus  that  Gower  knew  Chaucer  to  have 
finished.  That  the  poet,  at  this  time  still  a  busy  man  and 
having  many  irons,  literary  and  other,  in  the  fire,  may  have 
been  a  considerable  time  over  so  long  a  book,  even  to  the 
length  of  having  revised  it,  as  some  think,  is  quite  possible. 
That,  as  a  whole,  and  as  we  have  it,  it  can  be  other  than 
much  later  than  the  recognised  "early"  poems,  is,  on  sound 
principles  of  literary  criticism,  nearly  impossible;  the  later  date 
suits  much  better  than  the  earlier  both  with  what  followed 
as  well  as  with  what  went  before.^ 

In  any  case,  Chaucer's  position  and  prospects  as  a  poet 
on  the  morrow,  whenever  this  was,  of  his  finishing  Troilus, 
are  interesting  to  consider.  He  had  mastered,  and,  to  some 
extent,  transformed,  the  romance.  Was  he  to  continue  this? 
Is  it  fortunate  that  he  did  not?  Is  not  a  Lancelot  and  Guine- 
vere or  a  Tristram  and  Iseult  handled  a  la  Troilus  rather  to 
be  deplored  as  a  vanished  possibility?  It  would  appear  that 
he  asked  himself  something  like  this  question;  and,  if  the 
usually  accepted  order  of  his  works  be  correct,  he  was  some- 
what irresolute  in  answering  it — at  any  rate  for  a  time,  if  not 
always.  It  is  probable  that,  at  any  rate,  The  Knight's  Tale, 
the  longest  and  most  finished  constituent  of  the  Canterbury 
collection,  'was  begun  at  this  time.  It  is  somewhat  out  of 
proportion  and  keeping  with  its  fellows,  is  like  Troilus  taken 
from  a  poem  of  Boccaccio's  and,  like  Troilus,  is  a  romance 
proper,  but  even  further  carried  out  of  its  kind  by  story  and 
character  interest,  mixture  of  serious  and  lighter  treatment 
and  brilliancy  of  contributory  parts.  It  seems  not  improbable 
that  the  unfinished  and,  indeed,  hardly  begun  Squire's  Tale, 
which  would  have  made  such  a  brilliant  pendant,  is  also  of 
this  time  as  well  as  St.  Cecily  and,  perhaps,  other  things. 
But  the  most  considerable  products  of  this  period  of  hesita- 
tion are,  undoubtedly,  The  House  of  Fame  and  The  Legend  of 

'  See  Bibliography  under  Tatlock. 


^ 


200  Chaucer 

Good  Women.  Neither  of  these  is  complete;  in  fact,  Chaucer 
is  a  poet  of  torsi;  but  each  is  an  effort  in  a  different  and  defi- 
nite direction,  and  both  are  distinguished  remarkably  from 
each  other,  from  their  predecessor  Troilus,  and  from  The 
Canterbury  Tales,  which,  as  an  entire  scheme,  no  doubt  suc- 
ceeded them. 

The  House  of  Fame  is  one  of  the  most  puzzling  of  Chaucer's 
productions.  There  are  divers  resemblances  to  passages  in 
Dante  ("  the  great  poet  of  Itaile,"  as  Chaucer  calls  him  in 
another  place),  and  some  have  even  thought  that  this  poem 
may  be  the  "  Dant  in  English,"  otherwise  unidentified,  which 
was  attributed  to  him  by  Lydgate;  but  perhaps  this  is  going 
too  far.  In  some  respects,  the  piece  is  a  reversion — in  metre, 
to  the  octosyllable;  in  general  plan,  to  the  dream-form;  and, 
in  episode,  to  the  promiscuous  classical  digression:  the  whole 
story  of  the  Aeneid  being  most  eccentrically  included  in  the 
first  book,  while  it  is  not  till  the  second  that  the  main  subject 
begins  by  a  mysterious  and  gorgeous  eagle  carrying  the  poet 
off,  like  Ganymede,  but  not  to  heaven,  only  to  the  House  of 
Fame  itself.  The  allegorical  description  of  the  house  and  of  its 
inhabitants  is  brilliantly  carried  on  through  the  third  book,  but 
quite  abruptly  cut  short;  and  there  is  no  hint  of  what  the 
termination  was  to  be.  The  main  differentia  of  the  poem, 
however,  is,  besides  a  much  firmer  and  more  varied  treatment 
of  the  octosyllable,  an  infusion  of  the  ironic  and  humorous 
element  of  infinitely  greater  strength  than  in  any  previous 
work,  irresistibly  suggesting  the  further  development  of  the 
vein  first  broached  in  the  character  of  Pandarus.  Nothing 
before,  in  this  respect,  in  English  had  come  near  the  dialogue 
with  the  eagle  and  parts  of  the  subsequent  narrative.  It 
failed  to  satisfy  the  writer,  however;  and,  either  because  he 
did  not  find  the  plan  congenial,  or  because  he  found  the  metre 
— once  for  all  and  for  the  last  time  even  as  he  had  improved 
it — too  cramping  for  his  genius,  he  tried  another  experiment 
in  The  Legend  of  Good  Women,  an  experiment  in  one  way,  it 
would  seem,  as  unsatisfactory  as  that  of  The  House  of  Fame, 
in  another,  a  reaching  of  land,  firmly  and  finally.  The  exist- 
ence of  a  double  prologue  to  this  piece,  comparatively  lately 
found  out,  has,  of  necessity,  stimulated  the  mania  for  arrang- 
ing and  rearranging  Chaucer's  work;  but  it  need  not  do  so  in 


**The  Legend  of  Good  Women"         201 

the  very  least.  The  whole  state  of  this  work,  if  it  teaches 
us  anything,  teaches  us  that  Chaucer  was  a  man  who  was 
as  far  as  possible  removed  from  the  condition  which  labours 
and  "licks"  at  a  piece  of  work,  till  it  is  thoroughly  smooth 
and  round,  and  then  turns  it  out  to  fend  for  itself.  If  two 
of  Chaucer's  friends  had  prevailed  on  him  to  give  them  each 
an  autograph  copy  of  a  poem  of  his,  it  is  much  more  probable 
than  not  that  the  copies  would  have  varied — that  that  "  God's 
plenty"  of  his  would  have  manifested  itself  in  some  changes. 
The  work  itself  is  quite  unaffected  by  the  accident  of  its 
double  proem.  Whether  it  was  really  intended  as  a  palinode 
for  abuse  of  women  in  earlier  books  may  be  seriously  doubted ; 
the  pretence  that  it  was  is  quite  like  "Chaucer's  fun,"  and 
quite  like  the  usual  fashion  of  ushering  in  literary  work  with 
some  excuse,  once  almost  universal  and  still  not  quite  un- 
known. For  the  actual  substance — stories  of  famous  and 
unhappy  dames  and  damsels  of  old,  who  were,  like  Guinevere, 
"good  lovers" — he  had  precedents  in  two  of  his  favourite 
authors,  Ovid  and  Boccaccio;  and  this  would  have  been  more 
than  enough  for  him.  But,  in  handling  them,  he  took  a 
metre — which  we  cannot  say  he  had  never  used  before,  be- 
cause we  do  not  know  the  exact  dates  of  the  original  forms 
of  The  Knighfs  Tale  and  other  things,  but — which  had  been 
sporadically  and  half-accidentally  practised  in  Middle  English 
to  no  very  small  extent;  which  had  recently  been  used  in 
France,  where  the  single  decasyllabic  line  had  been  familiar 
ever  since  the  dawn  of  French  literature  proper;  and  of  which, 
as  it  was,  he  had  wTitten  many  hundreds  at  the  end  of 
his  rime  royal  in  Troilus  and  elsewhere.  This  is  the  great 
decasyllabic  or  heroic  couplet;  the  "riding  rime"  (not  yet 
"riding,"  as  Troilus  was  not  yet  "royal");  the  ouster  of  the 
octosyllabic  as  staple  of  English  verse;  the  rival  of  the  stanza 
for  two  centuries,  and  something  like  the  tyrant  of  English 
prosody  for  two  more;  and  still  one  of  the  very  greatest  of 
English  metres  for  every  purpose  but  the  pure  lyric. 

The  work  resulting  is  of  the  greatest  interest,  and  has 
been,  as  a  rule,  rather  undervalued.  Tennyson  judged  better 
when  he  made  it  the  inspiration  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  his 
own  early  poems.  The  prologue,  in  whichever  form  we  take 
it,  is  the  most  personal,  the  most  varied  and,  perhaps,  the 


202    ^  Chaucer 

most  complete  utterance  that  we  have  from  Chaucer  as  far 
as  substance  goes,  though  it  is  not  his  most  accompHshed 
performance  as  art.  He  is  evidently  at  a  sort  of  watershed, 
looking  before  and  after — but  especially  after — at  his  own 
work.  The  transitions  of  mood,  and  of  attention  to  subject, 
are  remarkable.  In  particular,  that  instantaneous  shifting 
from  grave  to  gay,  and  from  the  serious  to  the  humorous, 
which  puzzles  readers  not  to  the  English  manner  born,  and 
of  which  he,  Shakespeare  and  Thackeray  are  the  capital 
representatives,  pervades  the  whole  piece  like  the  iridescence 
in  shot  silk  or  in  certain  enamels.  The  allegory  of  the  leaf 
and  the  flower];  the  presence  of  the  god  of  love  and  his  wrath 
with  those  who  treat  him  lightly ;  the  intercession  of  the 
gracious  lady  Alcestis ;  the  poet's  apology  and  his  determina- 
tion to  turn  into  English  divers  classical  stories  as  a  penance, 
are  all  mixed  up  with  descriptions  of  nature,  with  innocent 
pedantry  (which,  in  fact,  determines  the  fashion  of  the  penance 
or  for  which  the  penance  is  an  excuse)  and  with  touches  of 
temporal  colour  and  respect  of  distinguished  persons.  All 
combine  to  make  the  thing  unique.  And  both  here  and  in 
the  actual  legends  of  the  martyrs  of  love,  from  Cleopatra  to 
Hypermnestra,  the  immense  capacities  of  the  metre  are  well 
manifested,  though  not,  of  course,  either  with  the  range  or 
with  the  perfection  of  The  Canterbury  Tales  themselves.  It  is 
very  interesting  to  find  that  in  this  first  essay  in  it  he  has  had 
a  presentiment  of  its  great  danger — monotony — and,  though 
he  has  naturally  not  discovered  all  the  preservatives,  he  is 
almost  naively  observant  of  one — the  splitting  of  the  couplet 
at  a  paragraph's  end. 

Still,  that  he  was  dissatisfied  is  evident,  not  merely  from 
the  incompleteness  of  the  actual  scheme,  but  from  off-signs 
of  impatience  and  discomfort  in  its  course.  The  uniformity 
of  subject,  and  the  mainly  literary  character  of  the  treat- 
ment required,  obviously  weighed  on  him.  He  "wanted  life 
and  colour,"  which  here  he  could  not  give,  or,  rather,  which 
he  could  have  given,  but  which  he  was  anxious  to  apply  to 
a  larger  and  fresher  scheme,  a  more  varied  repertory,  and 
one  which,  above  all,  would  enable  him  not  only  to  take  his 
models  from  the  actual,  but  often,  if  not  always,  to  give 
manners  and  character  and  by-play,  as  well  as  fresco  painting 


**The  Canterbury  Tales"  203 

from  the  antique,  with  a  mainly  sentimental  connection  of 
background  and  subject. 

That  he  found  what  he  wanted  in  the  scheme  of  The  Can- 
terbury Tales,  and  that,  though  these  also  are  unfinished  (in 
fact  not  half  finished  according  to  their  apparent  design), 
they  are  one  of  the  greatest  works  of  literature — everybody 
knows.  Of  the  genesis  of  the  scheme  itself  nobody  knows 
anything.  As  Dickens  says,  "I  thought  of  Mr.  Pickwick": 
so,  no  doubt,  did  Chaucer  "  think  of"  his  pilgrims.  It  has  been 
suggested — and  denied — that  Boccaccio,  so  often  Chaucer's 
immediate  inspirer,  was  his  inspirer  in  this  case  also,  by  the 
scheme  and  framework  of  The  Decameron.  It  is,  indeed,  by 
no  means  unlikely  that  there  was  some  connection;  but  the 
plan  of  collecting  individually  distinct  tales,  and  uniting  them 
by  means  of  a  framework  of  central  story,  was  immemorial  in 
the  east ;  and  at  least  one  example  of  it  had  been  naturalised 
in  Europe,  under  many  different  forms,  for  a  couple  of  cen- 
turies, in  the  shape  of  the  collection  known  as  The  Seven 
Sages.  It  is  not  necessary  to  look  beyond  this  for  general 
suggestion;  and  the  still  universal  popularity  of  pilgrimages 
provided  a  more  special  hint,  the  possibilities  of  which  it 
certainly  did  not  require  Chaucer's  genius  to  recognise.  These 
fortuitous  associations — masses  of  drift-wood  kept  together  for 
a  time  and  then  separated — offer  almost  everything  that  the 
artist,  desirous  of  painting  character  and  manners  on  the  less 
elaborate  and  more  varied  scale,  can  require.  Though  we 
have  little  of  the  kind  from  antiquity,  Petronius  shows  us  the 
germs  of  the  method;  and,  since  medieval  literature  began 
to  become  adult  in  Italy,  it  has  been  the  commonest  of  the 
common.  • 

To  what  extent  Chaucer  regarded  it,  not  merely  as  a  con- 
venient vehicle  for  anything  that  he  might  take  a  fancy  to 
write,  but  as  a  useful  one  to  receive  anything  of  the  less  inde- 
pendent kind  that  he  had  already  written,  is  a  very  speculative 
question.  But  the  general  tendency  has  been  to  regard  The 
Knighfs  Tale,  that  of  the  Second  Nun  and,  perhaps,  others,  as 
examples  of  this  latter  process,  while  an  interesting  hypothesis 
has  been  started  that  the  capital  Tale  of  Gamelyn — which  we 
find  mixed  up  with  Chaucer's  works,  but  which  he  cannot  pos- 
sibly have  written — may  have  been  selected  by  him  and  laid  by 


204  Chaucer 

as  the  subject  of  rehandling  into  a  Canterbury  item.  But  all 
this  is  guesswork;  and,  perhaps,  the  elaborate  attempts  to 
arrange  the  tales  in  a  consistent  order  are  a  little  superfluous. 
The  unquestionable  incompleteness  of  the  whole  and  of  some 
of  the  parts,  the  irregular  and  unsystematic  character  of  the 
minor  prologues  and  framework-pieces,  alike  preclude  the  idea 
of  a  very  orderly  plan,  worked  out  so  far  as  it  went  in  an 
orderly  fashion.  In  fact,  as  has  been  hinted  above,  such  a 
thing  is  repugnant  to  Chaucer's  genius  as  manifested  not 
merely  here  but  ever^'^vhere. 

Fortunately,  however,  he  was  able  to  secure  a  sufficient 
number  of  happy  moments  to  draw  the  main  part  of  the 
framework — The  Prologue,  in  which  the  plan  of  the  whole  is 
sketched,  the  important  characters  delineated  and  the  action 
launched — without  gap  or  lapse.  For  it  would  be  short- 
sighted to  regard  the  grouping  of  certain  figures  in  an  un- 
described  batch  as  an  incompleteness.  Some  writers  of  more 
methodical  disposition  would,  probably,  have  proceeded  from 
this  to  work  out  all  the  framework  part,  including,  perhaps, 
even  a  termination,  however  much  liberty  they  might  reserve 
to  themselves  for  the  inset  tales.  But  this  was  not  Chaucer's 
way.  There  have  been  controversies  even  as  to  the  exact 
number  of  tales  that  he  originally  promises  or  suggests:  and 
the  incident  of  the  canon's  yeoman  shows  that  he  might  very 
well  have  reinforced  his  compan^^  in  numbers,  and  have  treated 
them  to  adventures  of  divers  kinds.  In  fact,  the  unknown 
deviser  of  The  Pardoner  and  tJie  Tapster,  though  what  he  has 
produced  is  quite  unlike  Chaucer  in  form,  has  been  much  less 
out  of  the  spirit  and  general  verisimilitude  of  the  whole  work 
than  more  modem  continuators.  .But  it  is  most  probable  that 
the  actual  frame-stuff — so  much  of  it  as  is  genuine  (for  there 
are  fragments  of  link  in  some  ]\ISS.  which  are  very  unlikely 
to  be  so) — was  composed  by  its  author  in  a  very  haphazard 
manner,  sometimes  with  the  tale  he  had  in  his  mind,  some- 
times to  cobble  on  one  which  he  had  written  more  or  less 
independently.  The  only  clear  string  of  connection  from  first 
to  last  is  the  pervading  personality  of  the  host,  who  gives  a 
unity  of  character,  almost  as  great  as  the  unity  of  frame- 
story,  to  the  whole  work,  inviting,  criticising,  admiring,  de- 
nouncing, but  always  keeping  himself  in  evidence.     As  to  the 


*'The  Canterbuo'  Tales"  205 

connection  of  origin  between  individual  tales  and  the  whole, 
more  hazardous  conjectures  in  things  Chaucerian  have  been 
made  than  that  the  couplet-verse  pieces  were  all  or  mostly 
written  or  rewritten  directly  for  the  work,  and  that  those  in 
other  metres  and  in  prose  were  the  adopted  part  of  the  family. 
But  this  can  never  be  known  as  a  fact.  What  is  certain  is 
that  the  couplets  of  The  Prologue,  which  must  be  of  the  es- 
sence of  the  scheme,  and  those  of  most  parts  of  it  where  the 
couplets  appear,  are  the  most  accomplished,  various,  thor- 
oughly mastered  verse  that  we  find  in  Chaucer  himself  or 
in  any  English  writer  up  to  his  time,  while  they  are  not  ex- 
ceeded by  any  foreign  model  unless  it  be  the  terza  rima  of 
Dante.  A  medium  which  can  render,  as  they  are  rendered 
here,  the  manners-painting  of  Tlie  Prologue,  the  comic  mono- 
drama  of  The  Wife  of  Bath  and  the  magnificent  description 
of  the  temple  of  Mars,  has  "handed  in  its  proofs"  once  for 
all. 

Whether,  however,  it  was  mere  impatience  of  steady  labour 
on  one  designed  plan,  or  a  higher  artistic  sense  which  tran- 
scended a  mere  mechanical  conception  of  imit>^,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  of  the  feHcity  of  the  result.  Without  the  various 
subject  and  quaHty,  perhaps  even  without  the  varied  metre, 
of  the  tales,  the  pecuHar  effect  of  "God's  plenty"  (a  phrase 
itself  so  feHcitous  that  it  may  be  quoted  more  than  once) 
would  not  be  produced;  and  the  essential  congruits'  of  the 
tales  as  a  whole  with  the  mixed  multitude  supposed  to  tell 
them,  would  be  wholly  impossible.  Nothing  is  more  remark- 
able than  the  intimate  connection  between  the  tales  and  The 
Prologue.  They  comment  and  complete  each  other  with  im- 
failing  punctuaHty.  Not  only  is  it  of  great  importance  to 
read  the  corresponding  portion  of  The  Prologue  with  each  tale ; 
not  only  does  each  tale  supply,  as  those  of  the  Monk  and  the 
Prioress  especially,  important  correction  as  well  as  supple- 
ment ;  but  it  is  hardly  fantastic  to  say  that  the  whole  Prologue 
ought  to  be  read,  or  vividly  remembered,  before  reading  each 
tale,  in  order  to  get  its  full  dramatic,  narrative  and  pictorial 
effect.  The  sharp  and  obvious  contrasts,  such  as  that  of  The 
Knight's  Tale  with  the  two  that  follow,  though  they  illustrate 
the  clearness  with  which  the  greatest  English  men  of  letters 
appreciated  the  value  of  the  mixture  of  tragedy  or  romance 


2o6  Ch 


aucer 


with  farce  or  comedy,  are  less  instructive,  and,  when  properly 
appreciated,  less  delightful,  than  other  contrasts  of  a  more 
delicate  kind.  Such  is  the  way  in  which  the  satire  of  Sir 
Thopas  is  left  to  the  host  to  bring  out;  and  yet  others,  where 
the  art  of  the  poet  is  probably  more  instinctive  than  delib- 
erate, such  as  the  facts  that  nobody  is  shocked  by  The  Wife 
of  Bath's  Prologue  (the  interruption  by  the  friar  and  sum- 
moner  is  of  a  different  character),  and  (still  more  incompre- 
hensible to  the  mere  modern)  that  nobody  is  bored  by  The 
Tale  of  Melibeus.  Of  the  humour  which  is  so  constantly 
present,  it  will  be  more  convenient  to  speak  presently  in  a 
separate  passage.  It  cannot  be  missed,  though  it  may  some- 
times be  mistaken.  The  exquisite  and  unlaboured  pathos 
which  accompanies  it,  more  rarely,  but  not  less  consum- 
mately, shown,  has  been  acknowledged  even  by  those  who, 
like  Matthew  Arnold,  have  failed  to  appreciate  Chaucer  as  a 
whole.  But,  on  the  nature  and  constitution  of  that  variety 
which  has  also  been  insisted  on,  it  may  be  desirable  to  say 
something  here  and  at  once. 

It  is  no  exaggeration  or  flourish,  but  a  sound  and  inform- 
ing critical  and  historical  observation,  to  say  that  The  Canter- 
bury Tales  supply  a  miniature  or  even  microcosm,  not  only 
of  English  poetry  up  to  their  date,  but  of  medieval  literature, 
barring  the  strictly  lyrical  element,  and  admitting  a  part  only 
of  the  didactic,  but  enlarged  and  enriched  by  additional  doses, 
both  of  the  personal  element  and  of  that  general  criticism  of 
life  which,  except  in  Dante,  had  rarely  been  present.  The 
first  or  Knight's  Tale  is  romance  on  the  full,  if  not  on  the 
longest,  scale,  based  on  Boccaccio's  Teseide,  but  worked  out 
with  Chaucer's  now  invariable  idiosyncrasy  of  handling  and 
detail;  true  to  the  main  elements  of  "fierce  wars  and  faithful 
loves";  possessing  much  more  regular  plot  than  most  of  its 
fellows;  concentrating  and  giving  body  to  their  rather  loose 
and  stock  description;  imbued  with  much  more  individuality 
of  character ;  and  with  the  presence  of  the  author  not  obtruded 
but  constantly  throwing  a  shadow.  That  it  is  representative 
of  romance  in  general  may  escape  those  who  are  not,  as, 
perhaps,  but  a  few  are,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  romance 
at  large — and  especially  those  who  do  not  know  that  the  man 
of  the  twelfth,  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  regarded 


"The  Canterbury  Tales"  207 

the  heroes  of  the  Charlemagne  and  Arthur  stories,  and  those 
of  antiquity,  as  absolutely  on  a  par. 

With  the  high  seriousness  and  variegated  decoration  of 
this  romance  of  adventure  and  quality  contrast  the  two  tales 
that  follow,  one  derived  from  a  known  fabliau,  the  other, 
possibly,  original,  but  both  of  the  strict  fabliau  kind— that  is 
to  say,  the  stor>^  of  ordinary  life  with  a  preferably  farcical 
tendency.  If  the  morals  are  not  above  those  of  the  time,  the 
nature  and  the  manners  of  that  time — the  nature  and  manners 
no  longer  of  a  poetic  Utopia,  localised,  for  the  moment,  in 
France  or  Britain  or  Greece  or  Rome  or  Jerusalem  or  Ind, 
but  of  the  towns  and  villages  of  England — are  drawn  with  a 
vividness  which  makes  their  French  patterns  tame.  What 
Threatens  a  third  story  of  this  same  kind.  The  Cook's  Tale,  is 
broken  off  short  without  any  explanation  after  about  fifty 
lines — one  MS.  asserting  that  Chaucer  "maked  namore"  of  it. 
The  Man  of  Law's  Tale,  the  pathetic  story  of  the  guiltless  and 
injured  Constance,  returns  to  a  favourite  romance-motive  and 
treats  it  in  rimerqval — the  most  pathetic  of  metres — while 

—  I     "■    — — *"^  **    ■■■—■■   I        ill ■■■    ■■■        ■^—— .^ 

The  Shipman  falls  back  on  the  fabliau  and  the  couplet.  But 
Chaucer  was  not  the  man  to  be  monotonous  in  his  variety. 
The  next  pair.  The  Prioress's  Tale  and  Chaucer's  own  Sir 
Thopas,  indeed,  keep  up  the  alternation  of  grave  and  gay, 
but  keep  it  up  in  quite  a  different  manner.  Appropriately  in 
every  w^ay,  the  beautiful  and  pathetic  story  of  the  innocent 
victim  of  Jewish  ferocity  is  an  excursion  into  that  hagiology 
which  was  closely  connected  with  romance,  and  which  may 
even,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  one  of  its  probable  sources. 
But  the  burlesque  of  chivalrous  adoration  is  not  of  the  fabliau 
kind  at  all:  it  is  parody  of  romance  itself,  or,  at  least,  of  its 
more  foolish  and  more  degenerate  offshoots.  For,  be  it  ob- 
served, there  is  in  Chaucer  no  sign  whatever  of  hostility  to, 
or  undervaluation  of,  the  nobler  romance  in  any  way,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  great  and  consummate  practice  thereof  on 
his  own  part.  Now,  parody,  as  such,  is  absolutely  natural  to 
man,  and  it  had  been  frequent  in  the  Middle  Ages,  though, 
usually,  in  a  somewhat  rough  and  horseplayful  form.  Chau- 
cer's is  of  the  politest  kind  possible.  The  verse,  though  sing- 
song enough,  is  of  the  smoothest  variety  of  "romance  six" 
or  rime  couee  (664664  aabccb) ;  the  hero  is  "  a  very  parfit  carpet 


2o8  Ch 


aucer 


knight";  it  cannot  be  proved  that,  after  his  long  preparation, 
he  did  not  actually  encounter  something  more  terrible  than 
buck  and  hare;  and  it  is  impossible  not  to  admire  his  deter- 
mination to  be  satisfied  with  nobody  less  than  the  Fairy  Queen 
to  love  par  amours.  But  all  the  weak  points  of  the  weaker 
romances,  such  as  Torrent  and  Sir  Eglamour,  are  brought  out 
as  pitilessly  as  politely.  It  is  one  of  the  minor  Chaucerian 
problems  (perhaps  of  as  much  importance  as  some  that  have 
received  more  attention),  whether  the  host's  outburst  of 
wrath  is  directed  at  the  thing  as  a  romance  or  as  a  parody 
of  romance.  It  is  certain  that  uneducated  and  uncultivated 
people  do  not,  as  a  rule,  enjoy  the  finer  irony;  that  it  makes 
them  uncomfortable  and  suspicious  of  being  laughed  at  them- 
selves. And  it  is  pretty  certain  that  Chaucer  was  aware  of 
this  point  also  in  human  nature. 

Of  The  Tale  of  Melibeus  something  has  been  said  by  a  hint 
already.  There  is  little  doubt  that,  in  a  double  way,  it  is 
msQjitjSiS  a  contrast  not  merely  of  grave  after  gay,  but  of 
good,  sound,  serious  stuff  after  perilously  doubtful  matter. 
And  it  is  appreciated  accordingly  as,  in  the  language  of  Tenny- 
son's farmer,  "whot  a  owt  to  'a  said."  But  the  monk's  ex- 
perience is  less  happy,  and  his  catalogue  of  unfortunate  princes, 
again  strongly  indebted  to  Boccaccio,  is  interrupted  and  com- 
plained of,  not  merely  by  the  irrepressible  and  irreverent  host 
but  by  the  knight  himself — the  pattern  of  courtesy  and  sweet 
reasonableness.  The  criticism  is  curious,  and  the  incident 
altogether  not  less  so.  The  objection  to  the  histories,  as  too 
dismal  for  a  mixed  and  merry  company,  is  not  bad  in  itself, 
but  a  little  inconsistent  considering  the  patience  with  which 
they  had  listened  to  the  w^oes  of  Constance  and  the  prioress's 
little  martyr,  and  were  to  listen  (in  this  case  without  even  the 
sweetmeat  of  a  happy  ending)  to  the  physician's  story  of 
Virginia.  Perhaps  the  explanation  is  meant  to  be  that  the 
monk's  accumulation  of  "dreriment" — disaster  heaped  on  dis- 
aster, without  sufficient  detail  to  make  each  interesting — was 
found  oppressive :  but  a  subtler  reading  may  not  be  too  subtle. 
Although  Chaucer's  flings  at  ecclesiastics  have  been  exag- 
gerated since  it  pleased  the  reformers  to  make  arrows  out  of 
them,  they  do  exist.  He  had  thought  it  well  to  atone  for 
the  little  gibes  in  The  Prologue  at  the  prioress's  coquettishness 


"The  Canterbury  Tales"  209 

of  way  and  dress  by  the  pure  and  unfeigned  pathos  and  piety 
of  her  tale.  But  he  may  have  meant  to  create  a  sense  of 
incongruity,  if  not  even  of  hypocrisy,  between  the  frank 
worldhness  of  the  monk — his  keenness  for  sport,  his  objection 
to  pore  over  books,  his  poHte  contempt  of  "Austin,"  his 
portly  person — and  his  display  of  studious  and  goody  pes- 
simism. At  any  rate,  another  member  of  the  cloth,  the  nun's 
priest,  restores  its  popularity  with  the  famous  and  incom- 
parable tale  of  the  Cock  and  the  Fox,  known  as  far  back  as 
Marie  de  France,  and,  no  doubt,  infinitely  older,  but  told 
here  with  the  quintessence  of  Chaucer's  humour  and  of  his 
dramatic  and  narrative  craftsmanship.  There  is  uncertainty 
as  to  the  actual  order  here;  but  the  Virginia  story,  above 
referred  to,  comes  in  fairly  well,  and  it  is  noticeable  that 
the  doctor,  evidently  a  good  judge  of  symptoms  and  of  his 
patients'  powers  of  toleration,  cuts  it  short.  After  this,  the 
ancient  and  grisly  but  powerful  legend  of  Death  and  the 
robbers  strikes  a  new  vein — in  this  case  of  eastern  origin, 
probably,  but  often  worked  in  the  Middle  Ages.  It  comes 
with  a  sort  of  ironic  yet  avowed  impropriety  from  the  par- 
doner: but  we  could  have  done  with  more  of  its  kind.  And 
then  we  have  one  of  the  most  curious  of  all  the  divisions, 
the  long  and  brilliant  Wife  of  Bath's  Prologue,  with  her  short, 
and  by  no  means  insignificant  but,  relatively,  merely  post- 
script-like, tale.  This  disproportion,  and  that  of  the  prologue 
itself  to  the  others,  seems  to  have  struck  Chaucer,  for  he  makes 
the  friar  comment  on  it;  but  it  would  be  quite  a  mistake  to 
found  on  this  a  theory  that  the  length  was  either  designed 
or  undesigned.  Vogue  la  galere  seems  to  have  been  Chaucer's 
one  motto :  and  he  let  things  grow  under  his  hand,  or  finished 
them  off  briefly  and  to  scale,  or  abandoned  them  unfinished, 
exactly  as  the  fancy  took  him.  Broadly,  we  may  say  that 
the  tales  display  the  literary  and  deliberately  artistic  side  of 
his  genius;  the  prologues,  the  observing  and  dramatic  side; 
but  it  will  not  do  to  push  this  too  hard.  The  Wife  of  Bath's 
Prologue,  it  may  be  observed,  gives  opportunity  for  the  dis- 
play of  reading  which  he  loves,  as  well  as  for  that  of  his  more 
welcome  knowledge  of  humanity:  the  tale  is  like  that  of 
Florent  in  Gower,  but  the  original  of  neither  i§  known. 

The  interruption  by  the  friar  of  The  Wife  of  Bath's  Pro- 


VOL.   II — 14 


2IO  Chaucer 

logue,  and  a  consequent  wrangle  between  him  and  the  sum- 
moner,  lead  to  a  pair  of  satiric  tales,  each  gibing  at  the  other's 
profession,  which  correspond  to  the  earlier  duel  between  the 
miller  and  reeve.  The  friar's  is  a  tale  of  diablerie  as  well  as 
a  lampoon,  and  of  very  considerable  merit;  the  summoner's 
is  of  the  coarsest  fabliau  type  with  a  farcically  solemn  ad- 
mixture. There  is  no  comment  upon  it;  and,  if  The  Clerk's 
Tale  was  really  intended  to  follow,  the  contrast  of  its  gravity, 
purity  and  pathos  with  the  summoner's  ribaldry  is,  no  doubt, 
intentional.  For  the  tale,  introduced  by  some  pleasant  rally- 
ing from  the  host  on  the  clerk's  shyness  and  silence,  and  by 
a  most  interesting  reference  of  the  clerk's  own  to  "  Francis 
Petrarch  the  laureate  poet,"  is  nothing  less  than  the  famous 
story  of  Griselda,  following  Petrarch's  own  Latin  rendering 
of  Boccaccio's  Italian.  Some  rather  unwise  comment  has 
been  made  (in  a  purely  modern  spirit,  though  anticipated,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  by  Chaucer  himself)  on  the  supposed  exces- 
sive patience  of  the  heroine.  But  it  is  improbable  that 
Griseldas  ever  were,  or  ever  will  be,  unduly  common ;  and  the 
beauty  of  the  piece  on  its  own  scheme  and  sentiment  is  ex- 
quisite. The  indebtedness  to  Boccaccio  is  still  more  direct, 
and  the  fabliau  element  reappears,  in  The  Merchant's  Tale  of 
January  and  May — with  its  curious  fairy  episode  of  Pluto 
and  Proserpine.  And  then  romance  comes  back  in  the  "half- 
told"  tale  of  the  squire,  the  "story  of  Cambuscan  bold"; 
which  Spenser  did  not  so  much  continue  as  branch  off  from, 
as  the  minor  romances  of  adventure  branch  off  from  the 
Arthurian  centre;  of  which  Milton  regretted  the  incomplete- 
ness in  the  famous  passage  just  cited;  and  the  direct  origin 
of  w^hich  is  quite  unknown,  though  Marco  Polo,  the  French 
romance  of  Cleomadbs  and  other  things  may  have  supplied 
parts  or  hints.  The  romantic  tone  is  kept  up  in  The  Frank- 
lin's Tale  of  Arviragus  and  Dorigen,  and  the  squire  Aurelius 
and  the  philosopher-magician,  with  their  strange  but  fascinat- 
ing contest  of  honour  and  generosity.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
poetical  of  all  the  tales,  and  specially  interesting  in  its  por- 
trayal— side  by  side  with  an  undoubted  belief  in  actual  magic 
— of  the  extent  of  medieval  conjuring.  The  Second  Nun's 
Tale  or  Life  of  St.  Cecily  is  introduced  with  no  real  link,  and 
has,   usually,   been  taken  as  one  of  the  poet's  insertions  of 


"The  Canterbury  Tales"  211 

earlier  work.  It  has  no  dramatic  or  personal  interest  of  con- 
nection with  the  general  scheme;  but  this  is  largely  made 
up  by  what  follows — the  tale  of  the  follies  and  rogueries  of 
alchemy  told  by  the  yeoman  of  a  certain  canon,  who  falls  in 
with  the  pilgrims  at  Boughton-under-Blee,  and  whose  art  and 
mystery  is  so  frankly  revealed  by  his  man  that  he,  the  canon, 
"flees  away  for  very  sorrow  and  shame."  The  exposure 
which  follows  is  one  of  the  most  vivid  parts  of  the  whole 
collection,  and  shows  pretty  clearly  either  that  Chaucer  had 
himself  been  fleeced,  or  that  he  had  profited  by  the  misfor- 
tunes of  his  friends  in  that  kind.  Then  the  host,  failing  to 
get  anything  out  of  the  cook,  who  is  in  the  drowsy  stage  of 
drunkenness,  extracts  from  the  manciple  The  Tale  of  the  Crow 
and  the  reason  that  he  became  black — the  whole  ending  with 
the  parson's  prose  tale,  or,  rather,  elaborate  treatise,  of  peni- 
tence and  the  seven  deadly  sins.  This,  taken  from  both 
Latin  and  French  originals,  is  introduced  by  a  verse-prologue 
in  which  occur  the  lines,  famous  in  literary  history  for  their 
obvious  allusion  to  alliterative  rhythm. 

But  trusteth  wel,  I  am  a  southren  man, 
I  can  nat  geste  rum,  ram,  ruf  by  lettre, 

and  ending  with  the  "retraction"  of  his  earlier  and  lighter 
works,  explicitly  attributed  to  Chaucer  himself,  which  has 
been  already  referred  to. 

Of  the  attempts  already  mentioned  to  distribute  the  tales 
according  to  the  indications  of  place  and  time  which  they 
themselves  contain,  nothing  more  need  be  said  here,  nor  of 
the  moot  point  whether,  according  to  the  host's  words  in  The 
Prologue,  the  pilgrims  were  to  tell  four  stories  each — two  on 
the  way  to  Canterbury  and  two  on  the  return  journey — or 
two  in  all — one  going  and  one  returning.  The  only  vestige 
we  have  of  a  double  tale  is  in  the  fragment  of  the  cook's  above 
referred  to,  and  the  host's  attempt  to  get  another  out  of  him 
when,  as  just  recorded,  the  manciple  comes  to  the  rescue. 
All  these  matters,  together  with  the  distribution  into  days 
and  groups,  are  very  problematical,  and  unnecessary,  if  the 
hypothesis  favoured  above  be  adopted,  that  Chaucer  never 
got  his  plan  into  any  final  order,  but  worked  at  parts  of  it 
as  the  fancy  took  him.     But,  before  speaking  shortly  of  the 


212  Chaucer 

general  characteristics  of  his  work,  it  will  be  well  to  notice 
briefly  the  parts  of  it  not  yet  particularised.  The  Parson's 
Tale,  as  last  mentioned,  will  connect  itself  well  with  the  re- 
mainder of  Chaucer's  prose  work,  of  which  it  and  The  Tale 
of  Meliheiis  are  specimens.  It  may  be  observed  that,  at  the 
beginning  of  Meliheus,  and  in  the  retraction  at  the  end  of 
The  Parson's  Tale,  there  are  some  curious  fragments  of  blank 
verse. 

The  prose  complements  are  two: — a  translation  of  Boe- 
thius's  de  Consolatione,  executed  at  an  uncertain  time  but 
usually  associated  in  general  estimate  of  chronology  with 
Troilus,  and  a  short  unfinished  Treatise  on  the  Astrolabe  (a  sort 
of  hand-quadrant  or  sextant  for  observing  the  positions  of 
the  stars),  compiled  from  Messahala  and  Johannes  de  Sacro- 
bosco,  intended  for  the  use  of  the  author's  "little  son  Lewis," 
then  (1391)  in  his  tenth  year,  and  calculated  for  the  latitude 
of  Oxford.  Both  are  interesting  as  showing  the  endeavour  of 
Middle  English  prose,  in  the  hands  of  the  greatest  of  Middle 
English  writers,  to  deal  with  different  subjects.  The  interest 
of  the  Astrolabe  treatise  is  increased  by  the  constant  evidence 
presented  by  the  poems  of  the  attraction  exercised  upon 
Chaucer  by  the  science  of  astronomy  or  astrology.  This,  so 
long  as  the  astrological  extension  was  admitted,  kept  its  hold 
on  English  poets  and  men  of  letters  as  late  as  Dryden,  while 
remnants  of  it  are  seen  as  late  as  Coleridge  and  Scott.  It  is 
an  excellent  piece  of  exposition — clear,  practical  and  to  the 
purpose;  and,  in  spite  of  its  technical  subject,  it  is,  perhaps, 
the  best  prose  work  Chaucer  has  left  us.  But,  after  all,  it  is 
a  scientific  treatise  and  not  a  work  of  literature. 

The  translation  of  Boethius  is  literature  within  and  without 
— interesting  for  its  position  in  a  long  sequence  of  English 
versions  of  this  author,  fascinating  for  a  thousand  years 
throughout  Europe  and  Englished  by  king  Alfred  earlier  and 
by  queen  Elizabeth  later;  interesting  from  the  literary  char- 
acter of  the  matter;  and  interesting,  above  all,  from  the  fact 
that  Chaucer  has  translated  into  prose  not  merely  the  prose 
portions  of  the  original,  but  the  "metres"  or  verse  portions. 
These  necessarily  require,  inasmuch  as  Boethius  has  fully 
indulged  himself  in  poetic  diction,  a  much  more  ornate  style 
of  phrase  and   arrangement  than   the  rest — with   the  result 


Minor  Verse  213 

that  we  have  here,  for  the  first  time  in  Middle  English,  dis- 
tinctly ornate  prose,  aureate  in  vocabulary,  rhythmical  in 
cadence  and  setting  an  example  which,  considering  the  popu- 
larity both  of  author  and  translator,  could  not  fail  to  be  of 
the  greatest  importance  in  the  history  of  our  literature.  Faults 
have  been  found  with  Chaucer's  translation,  and  he  has  been 
thought  to  have  relied  almost  as  much  on  a  French  version 
as  on  the  original.  But  one  of  the  last  things  that  some 
modern  scholars  seem  able  to  realise  is  that  their  medieval 
forerunners,  idolaters  of  Aristotle  as  they  were,  appreciated 
no  Aristotelian  saying  so  much  as  that  famous  one  "  accuracy 
must  not  be  expected." 

The  remaining  minor  verse,  accepted  with  more  or  less 
agreement  as  distinguished  from  "  Chauceriana,"  which  will 
be  dealt  with  separately,  requires  but  brief  mention.  Of  the 
ballade  To  Rosemounde,  The  Former  Age,  the  Fortune  group, 
Truth,  Gentilesse  and  Lack  of  Steadfastness — though  none  is 
quite  without  interest,  and  though  we  find  lines  such  as 

The  lambish  peple,  voyd  of  alle  vyce.^ 

which  are  pleasant  enough — only  Truth,  otherwise  known  as 
The  Ballad  of  Good  Counsel,  is  unquestionably  worthy  of 
Chaucer.' /The  note  of  vanity  is  common  enough  in  the 
Middle  Ages;  but  it  has  seldom  been  sounded  more  sincerely 
or  more  poetically  than  here,  from  the  opening  line 

Flee  fro  the  prees,  and  dwelle  with  sothfastnesse 
to  the  refrain 

And  trouthe  shal  delivere  it  is  no  drede; 
with  such  fine  lines  between  as 

)i 

Hold  the  hye  wey,  and  lat  thy  gost  thee  lede.     y 

The  Envoys,  or  personal  epistles  to  Scogan  and  Bukton, 
have  some  biographical  attraction,  and  what  is  now  called 
The  Complaint  of  Venus,  a  translation  from  Otho  de  Granson, 
and  the  wofuUy-comical  Empty  Purse,  are  not  devoid  of  it; 
the  elaborate  triple  roundel  (doubted  by  some)  of  Merciles 
Beaute  is  pretty,  and  one  or  two  others  passable.     But  it  is 

»  Whe  Former  Age. 


214  Chaucer 

quite  evident  that  Chaucer  required  licence  of  expatiation  in 
order  to  show  his  genius.  If  the  reference  to  "  many  a  song 
and  many  a  licorous  lay"  in  the  retraction  is  genuine  and 
well-founded,  it  is  doubtful  whether  we  have  lost  very  much 
by  their  loss. 

The  foregoing  observations  have  been  made  with  a  definite 
intent  to  bring  the  account  of  this  genius  as  much  as  possible 
under  the  account  of  each  separate  exercise  of  it,  and  to  spare 
the  necessity  of  diffuse  generalisation  in  the  conclusion;  but 
something  of  this  latter  kind  can  hardly  be  avoided.  It  will 
be  arranged  under  as  few  heads  and  with  as  little  dilation 
upon  them  as  may  be;  and  the  bibliography  of  MSS.,  editions 
and  commentaries,  which  will  be  found  in  another  part  of 
this  volume,  must  be  taken  as  deliberately  arranged  to  extend 
and  supplement  it.  Such  questions  as  whether  the  Canter- 
bury pilgrimage  took  place  in  the  actual  April  of  1385,  or  in 
any  month  of  the  poetical  year,  or  whether  it  is  safe  to  date 
The  House  of  Fame  from  the  fact  that,  in  1383^ the  loth  of 
December  fell  on  a  Thursday,  the  day  and  month  being  given 
by  the  text  and  the  day  of  the  week  being  that  of  Jove,  whose 
bird  carries  the  poet  off — cannot  be  discussed  here.  Even 
were  the  limits  of  space  wider,  the  discussion  might  be  haunted 
by  memories  of  certain  passages  in  The  Nun's  Priesfs  Tale 
and  elsewhere.     But  some  general  points  may  be  handled. 

One  such  point  of  some  importance  is  the  probable  extent 
and  nature  of  Chaucer's  literary  instruction  and  equipment. 
He  makes,  not  exactly  a  parade  in  the  bad  sense,  but  a  very 
pardonable  display  of  knowledge  of  that  Latin  literature  which 
was  the  staple  of  the  medieval  library;  and,  of  course,  he 
illustrates  the  promiscuous  estimate  of  authorities  and  values 
which  is  characteristic  of  his  time.  But  the  range  of  his 
knowledge,  from  the  actual  classics  (especially  Ovid)  down- 
wards, was  fairly  wide,  and  his  use  of  it  is  generally  apposite. 
In  French,  at  least  the  French  of  his  own  day,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  he  was  proficient,  not  only  as  being  grant  trans- 
lateur,  but  as  taking  subjects  and  forms  freely  from  what  was 
still  the  leading  literary  vernacular  of  Europe  generally,  though 
it  had  now  been  surpassed  by  Italy,  so  far  as  individual  accom- 
plishment went.  Nor,  though  the  evidence  is  less  positive,  can 
there  be  any  reasonable  doubt  that  he  was  acquainted  with 


His  Learning  215 

Italian  itself.  A  man  of  Chaucer's  genius  could,  no  doubt, 
pick  up  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  of  Italian  literature  even 
without,  and  much  more  with,  the  assistance  of  his  Italian 
visits.  His  mere  reference  to  the  "laureat  clerk  Petrarch,"  or 
to  Dante,  "the  great  poet  of  Italy,"  would  not  prove  very 
much  as  to  the  exact  extent  and  nature  of  his  acquaintance 
with  them.  But  the  substance  of  Troilus,  and  of  The  Knighfs 
and  Clerk's  Tales,  and  of  The  House  of  Fame,  proves  every- 
thing that  can  be  reasonably  required.  It  may  be  rash, 
especially  considering  how  very  uncertain  we  are  of  the  actual 
chronology  of  his  works,  to  delimit  periods  of  French  and 
periods  of  Italian  influence  too  rigidly.  But  that  these 
influences  themselves  exist  in  Chaucer,  and  were  constantlv 
exerted  on  him,  there  is  no  doubt  at  all.  Much  less  attention 
has  been  paid  to  his  acquaintance  with  existing  English  litera- 
ture; and  doubt  has  even  been  cast  as  to  his  possession  of 
any.  This  is  ultra-sceptical,  if  it  be  the  result  of  any  real 
examination  of  the  evidence;  but  it  is,  probably,  in  most 
cases,  based  on  a  neglect  or  a  refusal  to  consider  that  evi- 
dence itself.  That  Chaucer  had  no  scholastic  instruction  in 
English  (such  as,  no  doubt,  he  had  in  French  and,  possibly, 
in  Italian)  we  know,  indeed,  for  certain,  or  almost  for  certain, 
inasmuch  as  his  contemporary,  Trevisa,  informs  us  that  Eng- 
lish was  not  used  in  schools,  even  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
struing, till  later.  And  it  is,  of  course,  certain  that  he  makes 
little  direct  mention  of  English  writers,  if  any.  He  knew  the 
romances,  and  he  makes  them  the  subject  of  satiric  parody 
in  Sir  Thopas;  he  knew  (a  point  of  some  importance)  the  two 
modes  of  alliteration  and  rime,  and  refers  to  them  by  the 
mouth  of  one  of  his  characters,  the  parson,  in  a  fashion  capital 
for  literary  history.  But  there  is  little  else  of  direct  reference. 
A  moment's  thought,  however,  will  show  that  it  would  have 
been  very  odd  if  there  had  been.  Although  Chaucer's  is  very 
far  from  being  mere  court-poetry  it  was,  undoubtedly,  com- 
posed with  a  view  to  court-readers;  and  these,  as  the  passage 
in  Trevisa  shows,  were  only  just  becoming  accustomed  to  the 
treatment  of  English  as  a  literary  language.  There  were  no 
well-known  named  authors  for  him  to  quote;  and,  if  there 
had  been,  he  could'  have  gained  none  of  the  little  nimbus  of 
reputation  for  learning  which  was  so  innocently  dear  to  a 


2i6  Chaucer 

medieval  writer,  by  quoting  them.  That,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  was  thoroughly  acquainted,  if  only  by  word  of  mouth,  not 
reading,  with  a  great  bulk  of  precedent  verse  and,  probably, 
some  prose,  can  be  shown  by  evidence  much  stronger  than 
chap ter-and- verse  of  the  categorical  kind.  For  those  who  take 
him — as  he  has  been  too  seldom  taken — in  the  natural  evolu- 
tion of  English  poetry  and  English  literature,  there  is  not  the 
slightest  need  to  regard  him  as  a  lustis  naturae  who  developed 
the  practice  of  English  by  the  study  of  French,  who  naturalised 
by  touch  of  wand  foreign  metres  and  foreign  diction  into  his 
native  tongue,  and  who  evolved  "gold  dewdrops"  of  English 
"speech"  and  more  golden  bell-music  of  English  rhythm  from 
Latin  and  Italian  and  French  sources.  On  the  contrary, 
unprejudiced  study  will  show  that,  with  what  amount  of 
actual  book-knowledge  it  is  impossible  to  say,  Chaucer  had 
caught  up  the  sum  of  a  process  which  had  been  going  on  for 
some  two  centuries  at  least  and,  adding  to  it  from  his  own 
stores,  as  all  great  poets  do,  and  taking,  as  many  of  them 
have  done,  what  help  he  could  get  from  foreigners,  was  turn- 
ing out  the  finished  product  not  as  a  new  thing  but  as  a  per- 
fected old  one.  Even  the  author  of  Sir  Thopas  could  not  have 
written  that  excellent  parody  if  he  had  not  been  to  the  manner 
bom  and  bred  of  those  who  produced  such  things  (and  better 
things)  seriously.  And  it  is  an  idle  multiplication  of  miracles 
to  suppose  that  the  verse — the  individual  verses,  not  the 
batched  arrangements  of  them — which  directly  represents,  and 
is  directly  connected  with,  the  slowly  developing  prosody  of 
everything  from  Orm  and  Layamon  to  Hampole  and  Cursor 
Mundi,  is  a  sudden  apparition — that  this  verse,  both  English 
and  accomplished,  is  fatherless,  except  for  French,  motherless 
except  for  Middle  and  Lower  Latin,  and  arrived  at  without 
conscious  or  even  unconscious  knowledge  of  these  its  natural 
precursors  and  progenitors. 

Of  the  matter,  as  well  as  of  the  languages,  forms  and 
sources  of  his  knowledge,  a  little  more  should,  perhaps,  be 
said.  It  has  been  by  turns  exalted  and  decried,  and  the  man- 
ner of  its  exhibition  has  not  always  been  wisely  considered. 
It  has  been  observed  above,  and  the  point  is  important  enough 
for  emphasis,  that  we  must  not  look  in  Chaucer  for  anything 
but  the  indiscriminateness  and,  from  a  strictly  scholarly  point 


His  Humour  217 

of  view,  the  inaccuracy,  which  were  bred  in  the  very  bone  of 
medieval  study;  and  that  it  would  be  hardly  less  of  a  mis- 
take to  expect  him  not  to  show  what  seems  to  us  a  singular 
promiscuousness  and  irrelevancy  in  his  display  of  it.  But,  in 
this  display,  and  possibly,  also,  in  some  of  the  inaccuracies, 
there  is  a  very  subtle  and  personal  agency  which  has  some- 
times been  ignored  altogether,  while  it  has  seldom  been  fully 
allowed  for.  This  is  the  intense,  all-pervading  and  all  but 
incalculable  presence  of  Chaucer's  humour — a  quality  which 
some,  even  of  those  who  enjoy  it  heartily  and  extol  it  gener- 
ously, do  not  quite  invariably  seem  to  comprehend. -^Indeed, 
it  may  be  said  that  even  among  those  who  are  not  destitute 
of  the  sense  itself,  such  an  ubiquitous,  subterranean  accom- 
paniment of  it  would  seem  to  be  regarded  as  an  impossible 
or  an  uncanny  thing.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  "works 
i'  the  earth  so  fast"  that  you  never  can  tell  at  what  moment 
it  will  find  utterance.  Many  of  the  instances  of  this  are 
familiar,  and  some,  at  least,  could  hardly  fail  to  be  recognised 
except  by  portentous  dulness.  But  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  it  is  ever  far  off;  and  whether,  as  is  so  often  the  case 
in  that  true  English  variety  of  the  quality  of  which  it  is  the 
first  and  one  of  the  most  consummate  representatives,  it  is 
not  mixed  and  streaked  with  seriousness  and  tenderness  in 
an  almost  inextricable  manner.  "II  se  moque,"  says  Taine  of 
another  person,  "de  ses  emotions  au  moment  meme  oil  il  s'y 
livre."  In  the  same  way,  Chaucer  is  perpetually  seeing  the 
humorous  side,  not  merely  of  his  emotions  but  of  his  interests, 
his  knowledge,  his  beliefs,  his  everything.  It  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  in  his  displays  of  learning  he  is  not  mocking  or 
parodying  others  as  well  as  relieving  himself.  It  is  by  no 
means  certain  that,  seriously  as  we  know  him  to  have  been 
interested  in  astronomy,  his  frequent  astronomical  or  astro- 
logical lucubrations  are  not  partly  ironical.  Once  and  once 
only,  by  a  triumph  of  artistic  self-restraint,  he  has  kept  the 
ludicrous  out  altogether — in  the  exquisite  Prioress's  Tale,  and 
even  there  we  have  a  sort  of  suggestion  of  the  forbidden  but 
irrepressible  thing  in 

As  monkes  been,  or  elles  oghten  be. 
Of  this  humour,  indeed,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  (borrow- 


2i8  Chaucer 

ing  Coleridge's  dictum  about  Fuller  and  the  analogous  but 
very  different  quality  of  wit)  that  it  is  the  "stuff  and  sub- 
stance," not  merely  of  Chaucer's  intellect,  but  of  his  entire 
mental  constitution.  He  can,  as  has  been  said,  repress  it 
when  art  absolutely  requires  that  he  should  do  so;  but,  even 
then,  he  gives  himself  compensations.  He  has  kept  it  out  of 
The  Prioress's  Tale  ;  but  he  has  indemnified  himself  by  a  more 
than  double  allowance  of  it  in  his  description  of  the  prioress's 
person  in  TJte  Prologue.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  have 
been  quite  out  of  place  in  the  description  of  the  knight,  for 
whom  nothing  but  respectful  admiration  is  solicited;  and 
there  is  no  need  to  suspect  irony  even  in 

And  though  that  he  were  worthy,  he  was  wys. 

But  in  The  Knight's  Tale — which  is  so  long  that  the  per- 
sonage of  the  supposed  teller,  never  obtruded,  may  be  reason- 
ably supposed  forgotten,  and  where  the  poet  almost  speaks 
in  his  own  person — the  same  WTit  does  not  run;  and,  towards 
the  end  especially,  we  get  the  famous  touches  of  ironic  com- 
ment on  life  and  thought,  w^hich,  though  they  have  been 
unduly  dwelt  upon  as  indicating  a  Voltairian  tone  in  Chaucer, 
certainly  are  ironical  in  their  treatment  of  the  riddles  of  the 
painful  earth. 

Further,  it  is  desirable  to  notice  that  this  humour  is  em- 
ployed with  a  remarkable  difference.  In  most  great  English 
humorists,  humour  sets  the  picture  with  a  sort  of  vignetting 
or  arabesquing  fringe  and  atmosphere  of  exaggeration  and 
fantasy.  By  Chaucer  it  is  almost  invariably  used  to  bring  a 
higher  but  a  quite  clear  and  achromatic  lig^^  ^'^  ^^^  picture 
itself  or  parts  of  it.  The  stuff  is  turned  rapidly  the  other 
way  to  show  its  real  texture;  the  jest  is  perhaps  a  burning, 
but  also  a  magnifying  and  illuminating,  glass,  to  bring  out  a 
special  trait  more  definitely.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  a  great 
deal  of  the  combination  of  vivacity  and  veracity  in  Chaucer's 
portraits  and  sketches  of  all  kinds  is  due  to  this  all-pervading 
humour;  indeed,  it  is  not  very  likely  that  any  one  would  deny 
this.  What  seems,  for  some  commentators,  harder  to  keep 
in  mind  is  that  it  may  be,  and  probably  is,  equally  present 
in  other  places  where  the  effect  is  less  immediately  rejoicing 
to  the  modern  reader;  and  that  medieval  pedantry,  medieval 


His  Humour  219 

catalogue-making,  medieval  digression  and  irrelevance  are 
at  once  exemplified  and  satirised  by  the  operation  of  this 
extraordinary  faculty. 

That  the  possession  of  such  a  faculty  almost  necessarily 
implies  command  of  pathos  is,  by  this  time,  almost  a  truism, 
though  it  was  not  always  recognised.  That  Chaucer  is  an 
instance  of  it,  as  well  as  of  a  third  quality,  good  humour,  which 
does  not  invariably  accompany  the  other  two,  hardly  will  be 
disputed.  He  is  not  a  sentimentalist;  he  does  not  go  out  of 
his  way  for  pathetic  effect;  but,  in  the  leading  instances  above 
noted  of  The  Clerk's  and  Prioress's  Tales,  supplemented  by 
many  slighter  touches  of  the  same  kind,  he  shows  an  imme- 
diate, unforced,  unfaltering  sympathy  which  can  hardly  be 
paralleled.  His  good  humour  is  even  more  pervading.  It 
gives  a  memorable  distinction  of  kindliness  between  The  Wife 
of  Bath's  Prologue  and  the  brilliant  following  of  it  by  Dunbar 
in  The  Tua  Mariit  Wemen  and  the  Wedo;  and  it  even  separates 
Chaucer  from  such  later  humorists  as  Addison  and  Jane  Austen, 
who,  though  never  savage,  can  be  politely  cruel.  Cruelty  and 
Chaucer  are  absolute  strangers;  indeed,  the  absence  of  it  has 
brought  upon  him  from  rather  short-sighted  persons  the 
charge  of  pococurantism,  which  has  sometimes  been  trans- 
lated (still  more  purblindly)  into  one  of  mere  courtliness — 
of  a  Froissart-like  indifference  to  anything  but  "the  quality," 
"the  worth,"  as  he  might  have  put  it  himself.  Because 
there  is  indignation  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  it  is  thought  that 
Chaucer  does  not  well  not  to  be  angry:  which  is  uncritical. 

This  curious,  tolerant,  not  in  the  least  cynical,  observation 
and  relish  of  humanity  gave  him  a  power  of  representing  it, 
which  has  been  rarely  surpassed  in  any  respect  save  depth. 
It  has  been  disputed  whether  this  power  is  rather  that  of  the 
dramatist  or  that  of  the  novelist — a  dispute  perhaps  arguing 
a  lack  of  the  historic  sense.  In  the  late  sixteenth  or  early 
seventeenth  century,  Chaucer  would  certainly  have  been  the 
one,  and  in  the  mid-nineteenth  the  other.  It  would  be  most 
satisfactory  could  we  have  his  work  in  both  avatars.  But 
what  we  have  contains  the  special  qualities  of  both  craftsmen 
in  a  certain  stage  of  development,  after  a  fashion  which  cer- 
tainly leaves  no  room  for  grumbling.  The  author  has,  in  fact, 
set  himself  a  high  task  by  adopting  the  double  system  above 


220  Chaucer 

specified,  and  by  giving  elaborate  descriptions  of  his  per- 
sonages before  he  sets  them  to  act  and  speak  up  to  these 
descriptions.  It  is  a  plan  which,  in  the  actual  drama  and  the 
actual  novel,  has  been  found  rather  a  dangerous  one.  But 
Chaucer  discharges  himself  victoriously  of  his  liabilities.  And 
the  picture  of  life  which  he  has  left  us  has  captivated  all 
good  judges  who  have  given  themselves  the  ver>^  slight 
trouble  necessary  to  attain  the  right  point  of  view,  from  his 
own  day  to  this. 

Something  has  been  said  of  the  poetic  means  which  he  used 
to  work  this  picture  otit.  They  were,  practically,  those  which 
English  poetry  had  been  elaborating  for  itself  during  the 
preceding  two  or  three  centuries,  since  the  indrafts  of  Latin 
or  Romance  vocabulary',  and  the  gradual  disuse  of  inflection, 
had  revolutionised  the  language.  But  he  perfected  them,  to, 
probably,  their  utmost  possible  point  at  the  time,  by  study 
of  French  and  Italian  models  as  regards  arrangement  of  lines 
in  groups,  and  by  selecting  a  diction  which,  even  in  his  own 
time,  was  recognised  as  something  quite  extraordinary.  The 
old  delusion  that  he  "Frenchified"  the  language  has  been 
nearly  dispelled  as  regards  actual  vocabulary;  and,  in  points 
which  touch  grammar,  the  minute  investigations  undertaken 
in  the  case  of  the  doubtful  works  have  shown  that  he  was 
somewhat  more  scrupulous  than  were  his  contemporaries 
in  observing  formal  correctness,  as  it  is  inferred  to  have  been. 
The  principal  instance  of  this  scrupulousness — the  manage- 
ment of  the  valued  final  -e,  which  represented  a  crowd  of 
vanished  or  vanishing  peculiarities  of  accidence — was,  by 
a  curious  consequence,  the  main  cause  of  the  mistakes  about 
his  verse  which  prevailed  for  some  three  centuries;  while  the 
almost  necessarily  greater  abundance  of  unusual  words  in 
The  Prologue,  with  its  varied  subjects,  probably  had  something 
to  do  with  the  concurrent  notion  that  his  language  was  ob- 
solete to  the  point  of  difficulty,  if  not  to  that  of  unintelli- 
gibility.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  verse  (with  the  exception  of 
one  or  two  doubtful  experiments,  such  as  the  nine-syllabled 
line  where  ten  should  be)  is  among  the  smoothest  in  English; 
and  there  are  entire  pages  w^here,  putting  trifling  differences 
of  spelling  aside,  hardly  a  single  word  will  offer  difficulties  to 
any  person  of  tolerable  reading  in  the  modern  tongue. 


His  Poetical  Quality  221 

It  is  sometimes  complained  by  those  who  admit  some, 
if  not  all,  of  these  merits  in  him  that  he  rarely — a  few  w^ould 
say  never — rises  to  the  level  of  the  highest  poetry.  Before 
admitting,  before  even  seriously  contesting,  this  we  must 
have  a  definition  of  the  highest  poetry  which  will  unite  the 
suffrages  of  the  competent,  and  this,  in  the  last  two  thousand 
years  and  more,  has  not  been  attained.  It  will,  perhaps,  be 
enough  to  say  that  any  such  definition  which  excludes  the 
finest  things  in  Troilus  and  Criseyde,  in  The  Knight's  and 
Prioress's  Tales  and  in  some  other  places,  will  run  the  risk 
of  suggesting  itself  as  a  mere  shibboleth.  That  Chaucer  is  not 
always  at  these  heights  may  be  granted :  who  is  ?  That  he  is 
less  often  at  them  than  some  other  poets  need  not  be  denied ; 
that  he  has  access  to  them  must  be  maintained.  While  as  to 
his  power  to  communicate  poetic  grace  and  charm  to  innumer- 
able other  things  less  high,  perhaps,  but  certainly  not  always 
low;  as  to  the  abounding  interest  of  his  matter;  as  to  the  as- 
tonishing vividness  in  line  and  idiom  of  his  character-drawing 
and  manners-painting;  and,  above  all,  as  to  the  wonderful 
service  which  he  did  to  the  forms  and  stuff  of  English 
verse  and  of  English  prose,  there  should  be  no  controversy; 
at  least  the  issue  of  any  such  controversy  should  not  be 
doubtful. 

One  afterthought  of  special  interest  may  perhaps  be  ap- 
pended. Supposing  Skeat's  very  interesting  and  quite  prob- 
able conjecture  to  be  true,  and  granting  that  The  Tale  of 
Gamelyn  lay  among  Chaucer's  papers  for  the  more  or  less  dis- 
tinct purpose  of  being  worked  up  into  a  Canterbury  "number," 
it  is  not  idle  to  speculate  on  the  probable  result,  especially  in 
the  prosodic  direction.  In  all  his  other  models  or  stores  of 
material,  the  form  of  the  original  had  been  French,  or  Latin,  or 
Italian  prose  or  verse,  or  else  English  verse  or  (perhaps  in  rare 
cases)  prose,  itself  modelled  more  or  less  on  Latin  or  on  French. 
In  all  his  workings  on  and  after  these  models  and  materials,  his 
own  form  had  been  a  greatly  improved  following  of  the  same 
kind,  governed  not  slavishly,  but  distinctly,  by  an  inclination 
towards  the  Latin-French  models  themselves  in  so  far  as  they 
could  be  adapted,  without  loss,  to  English.  Pure  unmetrical 
alHteration  he  had  definitely  rejected,   or  was  definitely  to 


222  Chaucer 

reject,  in  the  famous  words  of  the  Parson.  But  in  Gmnelyn 
he  had  or  would  have  had,  an  original  standing  between  the 
two — and  representing  the  earliest,  or  almost  the  earliest, 
concordat  or  compromise  between  them.  As  w^as  observed  in 
the  account  given  of  Gamelyn  itself  in  the  chapter  on  Metrical 
Romances,^  it  is,  generally  speaking,  of  the  "Robert-of- 
Gloucester"  type — the  type  in  which  the  centrally  divided, 
alliterative,  non-metrical  line  has  retained  its  central  division 
but  has  discarded  alliterative-accentual  necessity,  has  taken 
on  rime  and  has  adopted  a  roughly  but  distinctly  metrical 
cadence.  If,  however,  we  compare  Gamelyn  (which  is  put  by 
philologists  at  about  1340)  with  Robert  himself  (who  probably 
finished  writing  some  forty  years  earlier)  some  interesting 
differences  will  be  seen,  which  become  more  interesting  still  in 
connection  with  the  certainly  contemporary  rise  of  the  ballad 
metre  of  four  short  lines,  taking  the  place  of  the  two  centre- 
broken  long  ones.  Comparing  the  Gamelyn  execution  with 
that  of  Robert,  that,  say,  of  the  Judas  ballad  and  that  of  the 
earliest  Robin  Hood  pieces  and  others,  one  may  note  in  it 
interesting  variations  of  what  may  be  called  an  elliptic- 
eccentric  kind.  The  centre  pin  of  the  verse-division  is  steady ; 
but  it  works  not  in  a  round  socket  proportionate  to  itself 
so  much  as  in  a  kind  of  curved  slot,  and,  as  it  slips  up 
and  down  this,  the  resulting  verse  takes  curiously  different, 
though  always  homogeneous,  forms.  The  exact  "fourteener," 
or  eight  and  six  without  either  lengthening  or  shortening,  is  not 
extremely  common,  but  it  occurs  often  enough.  More  com- 
monly the  halves  (especially  the  second)  are  slightly  shortened ; 
and,  not  unfrequently,  they  are  lengthened  by  the  admission 
of  trisyllabic  feet.  There  is  an  especial  tendency  to  make  the 
second  half  up  of  very  short  feet  as  in 

Sik  I  ther  |  he  lay  | 
where  an  attempt  to  scan 

Sik  ther  |  he  lay 
will  disturb  the  whole  rhythm;  and  a  tendency  (which  fore- 

1  Volume  I.,  p.  332 


Chaucer  and  ''Gamelyn''  223 

warns  us  of  Milton)  to  cut  the  first  syllable  and  begin  with  a 
trochee  as  in  the  refrain  beginning 

Litheth  and  listeneth 
in 

Al  thi  londe  that  he  hadde 

and  so  on.  While,  sometimes,  we  get  the  full  anapaestic 
extension 

The  frankeleyn  seyde  to  the  champioun :  of  him  stood  him  noon  eye. 

And,  in  the  same  way,  the  individual  lines  indicate,  in  various 
directions,  the  settlement  of  the  old  long  line  towards  the  deca- 
syllable,  towards  the  alexandrine,  towards  the  "  f ourteener  "  and 
towards  the  various  forms  of  doggerel,  themselves  giving  birth 
to  the  pure  four-anapaest  line  which  we  find  in  the  early 
sixteenth  century.  Now  the  question  is:  "Would  the  necessary 
attention  to  these  metrical  peculiarities,  implied  in  the  process 
of  (in  Dryden's  sense)  'translation,'  have  produced  any 
visible  effect  on  Chaucer's  own  prosody?"  Nor  is  this  by  any 
means  an  idle  question.  That  Chaucer  was  a  great  mimic 
in  metre,  we  know  from  Sir  Thopas,  where  he  has  exactly  hit 
off  the  namby-pamby  amble  of  the  "  romance  six  "  in  its  feeblest 
examples.  Now  this  romance  six  is  very  near  to  the  ballad 
four — some  have  even  guessed  that  the  latter  is  a  "crushed" 
form  of  it,  though  this  is,  perhj^ps,  reversing  the  natural 
order  of  thought.  Would  Chaucer  have  tried  the  ballad 
four  itself — regularising  and  characterising  it  as  he  did  other 
metres?  Or  would  his  study  of  the  extremely  composite  and 
germinal  kind  of  verse  in  which,  as  has  been  shown,  Gamely n  is 
written,  have  resulted  in  the  earlier  development  of  some  of 
these  germs? 

The  question,  let  it  be  repeated,  is  by  no  means  idle. 
That  the  developments  actually  took  place  in  the  next  century 
and  a  half,  at  the  hands  of  lesser  men,  shows,  conclusively, 
that  they  might  have  taken  place,  and  probably  would,  at  the 
hands  of  a  greater  one  earlier.  But:  "Ought  we  to  be  sorry 
that  they  did  not?" — though  again  not  idle — is  a  very  differ- 
ent question  and  one  to  which  the  answer  should  probably 
be  "No"  and  not  "Yes." 

For    the    impending    linguistic    changes,     which    ruined 


224  ^  Chaucer 

Chaucer's  actual  decasyllabic  in  the  hands  of  his  actual  suc- 
cessors, would,  probably,  have  played  even  greater  havoc  with 
freer  and  looser  measures,  if  he  had  attempted  them.  And 
if  he  had  made  a  strict  eight  and  six,  as  he  did  a  strict  eight 
eight  six  in  Sir  Thopas,  the  danger  of  rigid  syllabic  uniformity 
being  regarded  as  the  law  of  English  prosody — a  danger  actual 
for  centuries — would  have  been  very  much  increased.  As  it 
was,  these  half-wildings  of  verse  continued  to  grow  in  their 
natural  way,  without  being  converted  into  "hybrid  perpetuals" 
by  the  skill  of  any  capital  horticulturist.  They  remained  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  formal  couplets  and  stanzas:  reliefs 
from  them,  outlets,  escapes.  It  did  not  matter  if  they  were 
badly  done,  for  th5y  carried  no  weight  as  models  or  masters :  it 
mattered  supremely  if  they  were  well  done,  for  they  helped  to 
tune  the  national  ear.  They  were  in  no  vituperative  sense 
the  corpora  vilia  in  which  experiment  could  be  freely  and 
inexpensively  made:  though  the  experiments  themselves  were 
sometimes  far  from  vile.  Therefore,  one  need  not  weep  that 
Chaucer  let  Gamelyn  alone.  He  w^ould  have  given  us  a  delight- 
ful story,  but  the  story  is  full  of  delight  for  competent  readers 
as  it  is.  If  he  had  made  it  into  "riding  rime"  it  would  not 
have  been  better,  as  such,  than  its  companions.  If  he  had 
made  it  into  anything  else  it  might  have  been  a  doubtful 
gain.  And,  lastly,  the  copy  might,  as  in  so  many  other  cases, 
have  killed  the  original.  Now,  even  for  more  Chaucer,  of 
which  we  fortunately  have  so  much  already,  we  could  not 
afiford  to  have  no  Gamelyn,  which  is  practically  unique. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  English  Chaucerians 

THE  influence  of  Chaucer  upon  English  poetry  of  all  dialects, 
during  the  entire  century  which  followed  his  death,  and 
part,  at  least,  of  the  next,  is  something  to  which  there 
is  hardly  a  parallel  in  literature.  We  have  to  trace  it  in  the 
present  chapter  as  regards  the  southern  forms  of  the  language : 
its  manifestation  in  the  northern  being  reserved  for  separate 
treatment.  But,  while  there  is  absolutely  no  doubt  about 
its  extent  and  duration,  the  curiously  uncritical  habit  of  the 
time  manifests  itself  in  the  fact  that,  after  the  very  earliei^t 
period,  not  merely  Gower,  who  has  been  dealt  with  already, 
but  a  third  writer,  himself  the  first  and  strongest  instance  of 
this  very  influence,  is,  as  it  were,  "co-opted"  into  the  gover- 
nance which  he  has  himself  experienced;  and  Chaucer,  Gower 
and  Lydgate  are  invoked  as  of  conjoint  and  nearly  equal 
authority.     So  with  Lydgate  we  must  begin. 

It  was  no  part  of  the  generous  and  spontaneous,  if  not 
always  wisely  allotted,  adoration  which  the  Middle  Ages  paid 
to  their  literary  masters  to  indulge  in  copious  biographical 
notices  of  them;  the  rather  numerous  details  that  we  possess 
about  Chaucer  are  almost  wholly  concerned  with  him  as  a 
member,  in  one  way  or  another,  of  the  public  service,  not  as  a 
poet.  Now  Lydgate  (though  his  membership  of  a  monastic 
order  would  not,  necessarily,  have  excluded  him  from  such 
occupations)  seems,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  to  have  had  nothing 
to  do  with  them;  and  we  know  in  consequence,  very  little 
about  him.  That  his  name  w^as  John,  that  he  took,  as  was 
very  common,  his  surname  from  his  birthplace,  a  Suffolk 
village,  but  just  on  the  border  of  Cambridgeshire,  and  that 
he  was  a  monk  of  the  great  Suffolk  abbey  of  St.  Edmund's 

VOL.  II 15  225 


226  The  English  Chaucerians 

Bury,  are  data;  he  was,  in  fact,  and  even  still  is,  from  habit 
or  affectation,  spoken  of  as  "the  monk  of  Bury,"  as  often  as 
by  his  own  name.  But  further  documentar}^  evidence  is  very 
slight  and  almost  wholly  concerned  with  his  professional  work ; 
even  his  references  to  himself,  which  are  by  no  means  unfre- 
quent,  amount  to  little  more  than  that  he  had  not  so  much 
money  as  he  would  have  liked  to  have,  that  he  had  more  work 
than  he  would  have  liked  to  have  and  that  he  wore  spectacles — 
three  things  not  rare  among  men  of  letters — besides  those 
concerning  the  place  of  his  birth  and  his  entry  into  religion 
at  fifteen  years  of  age.  Tradition  and  inference — sometimes 
the  one,  sometimes  the  other,  sometimes  both — date  his  birth 
at  about  1370  and  assign  Oxford  as  the  place  of  his  education, 
with  subsequent  studies  in  France  and  Italy.  He  seems,  at 
any  rate,  from  his  own  assertion  in  an  apparently  genuine 
poem,  to  have  been  at  Paris  perhaps  more  than  once.  His 
expressions  as  regards  "his  mayster  Chaucer"  may,  possibly, 
imply  personal  acquaintance.  Formal  documents  exist  for 
his  admission  to  minor,  subdiaconal,  diaconal  and  priest's 
orders  at  different  dates  between  1388-9  and  1397.  He 
(or  some  other  John  Lydgate)  is  mentioned  in  certain  docu- 
ments concerning  Bury  in  141 5  and  1423,  in  which  latter 
year  he  was  also  elected  prior  of  Hatfield  Broadoak.  Eleven 
years  later,  he  received  licence  to  return  to  the  parent  monas- 
tery. He  had  divers  patrons — duke  Humphrey  of  Gloucester 
being  one.  References  to  a  small  pension,  paid  to  him  jointly 
w4th  one  John  Baret,  exist  for  the  years  1441  and  1446;  and 
it  has  been  thought  that  a  reference  to  him  in  Bokenam's 
Saints'  Lives  as  "  now  existing"  is  of  the  same  year  as  this  last. 
Beyond  1446,  we  hear  nothing  positive  of  him.  It  is  thus 
reasonable  to  fix  his  career  as  lasting  from  c.  1370  to  c.  1450. 
If  this  be  so,  his  life  was  not  short:  and  it  is  quite  certain 
that  such  exercises  of  his  art  as  we  possess  are  very  long. 
The  enormous  catalogue  of  his  work  which  occurs  in  Ritson's 
Bihliographia  Poetica,  extending  to  many  pages  and  251 
separate  items,  has  been  violently  attacked:  it  certainly  will 
not  stand  examination  either  as  free  from  duplicates  or  as 
confined  to  certain  or  probable  attributions.  But  it  was  a 
great  achievement  for  its  time ;  and  it  has  not  been  superseded 
by  anything  which  would  be  equally  useful  to  whoever  shall 


Lydgate  227 

desire  to  play  Tyrwhitt  to  Lydgate's  Chaucer.  Until  quite 
recently,  indeed,  the  study  of  Lydgate  was  only  to  be  pur- 
sued under  almost  prohibitive  difficulties;  for,  though,  in 
consequence  of  his  great  popularity,  many  of  his  works  were 
issued  by  our  early  printers,  from  Caxton  to  Tottel,  these 
issues  are  now  accessible  only  here  and  there  in  the  largest 
libraries.  Moreover  they — and  it  would  seem  also  the  MSS. 
which  are  slowly  being  brought  in  to  supplement  them — 
present,  as  a  rule,  texts  of  an  extreme  badness,  which  may  or 
may  not  be  due  to  copyists  and  printers.  Till  nearly  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century  nothing  outside  these  MSS. 
and  early  prints  was  accessible  at  all,  except  the  Minor  Poems 
printed  by  Halliwell  for  the  Percy  Society,  and  the  Story  of 
Thebes  and  other  pieces  included  among  Chaucer's  works 
in  the  older  editions  down  to  Chalmers's  Poets.  During  the 
last  fifteen  years,  the  Early  English  Text  Society  has  given  us 
The  Temple  of  Glass,  The  Secrets  of  the  Philosophers  (finished 
by  Burgh),  The  Assembly  of  Gods,  The  Pilgrimage  of  the  Life 
of  Man,  two  Nightingale  Poems,  Reason  and  Sensuality  and 
part  of  the  Troy  Book;  while  the  Cambridge  University  Press 
has  issued  facsimiles  of  Caxton 's  The  Churl  and  the  Bird  and 
The  Horse,  the  Sheep  and  the  Goose,  reprinted  earlier  for  the 
Roxburghe  Club.  These,  however,  to  which  may  be  added 
a  few  pieces  printed  elsewhere,  form  a  very  small  part  of  what 
Lydgate  wrote,  the  total  of  which,  even  as  it  exists,  has  been 
put  at  about  140,000  lines.  Half  of  this,  or  very  nearly  half, 
is  contained  in  two  huge  works,  the  Troy  Book  of  30,000  lines, 
and  The  Falls  of  Princes,  adapted  from  Boccaccio,  his  most 
famous  and,  perhaps,  most  popular  book,  which  is  more  than 
6000  lines  longer.  The  Pilgrimage  of  Man  itself  extends  to 
over  20,000  lines  and  the  other  pieces  mentioned  above  to 
about  17,000  more.  The  remainder  is  made  up  of  divers 
saints'  lives — Our  Lady,  Albon  and  Amphabel,  Edmund  and 
Fremund,  St.  Margaret,  St.  Austin,  St.  Giles  and  the  Miracles 
of  St.  Edmund — varying  from  five  or  six  thousand  lines  to  three 
or  four  hundred ;  another  allegorical  piece.  The  Court  of  Sapi- 
ence, of  over  2000;  poems  less  but  still  fairly  long  bearing  the 
titles  Aesop,  De  Duohus  Mercatoribus ,  Testament,  Danse  Macabre, 
a  version  of  Guy  of  Warwick,  December  and  July  and  The  Flower 
of  Courtesy;  with  a  large  number  of  ballades  and  minor  pieces. 


228  The  English  Chaucerians 

The  authenticity  of  many  of  these  is  not  very  easy  to 
estabhsh,  and  it  is  but  rarely  that  their  dates  can  be  ascer- 
tained with  anything  like  certainty.  A  few  things,  such  as  the 
verses  for  queen  Margaret's  entry  into  London,  date  themselves 
directly;  and  some  of  the  saints'  lives  appear  to  be  assignable 
with  fair  certainty,  but  most  are  extremely  uncertain.  And 
it  does  not  seem  quite  safe  to  assume  that  all  the  shorter  and 
better  poems  belong  to  the  earlier  years,  all  the  longer  and 
less  good  ones  to  the  later. 

The  truth  is  that  there  is  hardly  any  whole  poem,  and  ex- 
ceedingly few,  if  any,  parts  of  poems,  in  Lydgate  so  good  that 
we  should  be  surprised  at  his  being  the  author  of  even  the 
worst  thing  attributed  to  him.  He  had  some  humour:  it 
appears  fairly  enough  in  his  best  known  and,  perhaps,  best 
thing,  the  very  lively  little  poem  called  London  Lickpenny 
(not  "Lackpenny  "  as  it  used  to  be  read),  which  tells  the  woes 
of  a  country  suitor  in  the  capital.  And  it  appears  again, 
sometimes  in  the  immense  and  curious  Pilgrimage,  a  translation 
from  Beguile ville,  which  undoubtedly  stands  in  some  relation 
— though  at  how  many  stages  nothing  but  the  wildest  guess- 
ing would  undertake  to  determine — to  The  Pilgrim's  Progress 
itself.  But  this  humour  was  never  concentrated  to  anything 
like  Chaucerian  strength;  while  of  Chaucerian  vigour,  Chau- 
cerian pathos,  Chaucerian  vividness  of  description,  Lydgate 
had  no  trace  or  tincture. 

To  these  defects  he  added  two  faults,  one  of  which  Chaucer 
had  never  exhibited  in  any  great  measure,  and  from  the  other 
of  which  he  freed  himself  completely.  The  one  is  prosodic  in- 
competence; the  other  is  longwinded  prolixity.  The  very 
same  reasons  which  made  him  an  example  of  the  first  made 
his  contemporaries  insensible  of  it;  and,  in  Elizabethan  times, 
he  was  praised  for  "good  verse"  simply  because  the  Eliza- 
bethans did  not  understand  what  was  good  or  what  was 
bad  in  Middle  English  versification.  Fresh  attempts  have 
recently  been  made  to  claim  for  him  at  least  systematic  if 
mistaken  ideas  in  this  respect;  but  they  reduce  themselves 
either  to  an  allegation  of  anarchy  in  all  English  verse,  which 
can  be  positively  disproved,  or  to  a  mere  classification  of 
prosodic  vices,  as  if  this  made  them  virtues.  The  worst  of 
Lydgate's  apparently  systematic  roughness  is  a  peculiar  line, 


Lydgate  229 

broken  at  the  caesura,  with  a  gap  left  in  the  breaking  as 
in  the  following, 

For  specheles  nothing  mayst  thou  spede, 
or, 

Might  make  a  thing  so  celestial. 

This  extraordinary  discord,  of  which  some  have  striven  to 
find  one  or  two  examples  in  Chaucer,  is  abundant  in  Lydgate 
and  has  been  charitably  connected  with  the  disuse  of  the 
final  -e — in  the  use  of  which,  however,  the  same  apologists 
sometimes  represent  Lydgate  as  rather  orthodox.  Unfortu- 
nately, it  is  not,  by  a  long  way,  the  only  violation  of  harmony 
to  be  found  in  him.  That  some  of  his  poems — for  instance. 
The  Falls  of  Princes — are  better  than  his  average  in  this 
respect,  and  that  some,  such  as  The  Story  of  Thebes,  are  worse, 
has  been  taken  as  suggesting  that  the  long-suffering  copyist 
or  printer  is  to  blame;  but  this  will  hardly  suffice.  Indeed, 
Lydgate  himself,  perhaps,  in  imitation  of  Chaucer,  but  with 
reason  such  as  Chaucer  never  had,  declares  that  at  one  time 
("as  tho")  he  had  no  skill  of  metre.  It  is  enough  to  say  that, 
even  in  rime  royal,  his  lines  wander  from  seven  to  fourteen 
syllables,  without  the  possibility  of  allowing  monosyllabic  or 
trisyllabic  feet  in  any  fashion  that  shall  restore  the  rhythm; 
and  that  his  couplets,  as  in  The  Story  of  Thebes  itself,  seem 
often  to  be  unaware  whether  they  are  themselves  octosyllabic 
or  decasyllabic — four-footed  or  five-footed.  He  is,  on  the 
whole,  happiest  in  his  ostensible  octosyllabics — a  metre  not, 
indeed,  easy  to  achieve  consummately,  but  admitting  of  fair 
performance  without  much  trouble,  and  not  offering  any  great 
temptation  to  excessive  irregularity. 

Unluckily,  this  very  metre  tempted  Lydgate  to  fall  into 
what  is  to  most  people,  perhaps,  his  unforgivable  fault — 
prolixity  and  verbiage.  It  has,  now  and  then,  enticed  even 
the  greatest  into  these  errors  or  close  to  them:  and  Lydgate 
was  not  of  the  greatest.  But  it  shows  him,  perhaps,  as  well 
as  any  other,  except  in  very  short  pieces  like  the  Lickpenny. 

He  is,  accordingly,  out  of  these  short  pieces  and  a  few 
detached  stanzas  of  his  more  careful  rime  royal,  hardly  any- 
where seen  to  more  advantage  than  in  the  huge  and  curious 
translation  from  Guillaumc  de  Deguileville    which  has  been 


23°  The  English  Chaucerians 

referred  to  above.  Its  want  of  originality  places  it  at  no 
disadvantage;  for  it  is  ver>^  doubtful  whether  Lydgate  ever 
attempted  any  work  of  size  that  was  not  either  a  direct  trans- 
lation or  more  than  based  upon  some  previous  work  of 
another  author.  This  quaint  allegory,  with  absolutely  nothing 
of  Bunyan's  compactness  of  action,  or  of  his  living  grasp  of 
character,  or  of  his  perfect,  if  plain,  phrase,  has  a  far  more 
extensive  and  varied  conglomeration  of  adventure,  and  not 
merely  carries  its  pilgrim  through  preliminary  theological 
difificulties,  through  a  Romance-of-the-Rose  insurrection  of 
Nature  and  Aristotle  against  Grace,  through  an  immense  pro- 
cess of  arming  which  amplifies  St.  Paul's  famous  text  into 
thousands  of  lines,  through  conflicts  with  the  Seven  Deadly 
Sins  and  the  more  dangerous  companionship  of  the  damsel 
Youth — but  conducts  him  to  the  end  through  strange  countries 
of  sorcery  and  varied  experiences,  mundane  and  religious. 
Thus,  the  very  multitude  and  the  constant  phantasmagoric 
changes  of  scene  and  story  save  the  poet  from  dulness,  some 
leave  of  skipping  being  taken  at  the  doctrinal  and  argumenta- 
tive passages.  In  the  "Youth"  part  and  in  not  a  few  others 
he  is  lively,  and  not  too  diffuse. 

Scarcely  as  much  can  be  said  of  the  still  longer  version  of 
Guido  delle  Colonne's  Hystoria  Troiana,  which  we  possess  in 
some  30,000  lines  of  heroic  couplet,  with  a  prologue  of  the 
same  and  an  epilogue  in  rime  royal.  To  say  that  it  is  the 
dullest  of  the  many  versions  we  have  would  be  rash,  but 
the  present  writer  does  not  know  where  to  put  his  hand  upon 
a  duller,  and  it  is  certainly  inferior  to  the  Scots  alliterative 
form,  which  may  be  of  about  the  same  date.  Part  of  its 
weakness  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  Lydgate  was  less  suc- 
cessful with  the  heroic  couplet  than,  perhaps,  with  any  other 
measure,  and  oftener  used  his  broken-backed  line  in  it.  But 
the  poem  was  tw4ce  printed,  huge  as  it  is,  and  was  condensed 
and  modernised  by  Hey  wood  as  late  as  161 4. 

The  theme  of  the  Tale  of  Troy,  indeed,  can  never  wholly 
lack  interest,  nor  is  interest  wanting  in  Lydgate's  poem. 
In  this  respect  he  was  more  successful  with  the  yet  again  huger 
Falls  of  Princes  or  Tragedies  of  John  Bochas.  But  this,  also, 
was  popular  and  produced  a  family  more  deplorable,  almost, 
than  itself  (with  one  or  two  well  known  exceptions)   in  The 


Lydgate  231 

Mirror  for  Magistrates  of  the  next  century.  Its  only  redeeming 
point  is  the  comparative  merit,  already  noticed,  of  its  rime 
royal.  To  this  we  may  return :  a  few  words  must  now  be  said 
of  some  other  productions  of  Lydgate.  For  what  reason 
some  have  assigned  special  excellence  to  Reason  and  Sensuality, 
and  have,  accordingly,  determined  that  it  must  be  the  work  of 
his  poetic  prime,  is  not  very  easy  to  discover.  It  is  in  octo- 
syllables, and,  as  has  been  said,  he  is  usually  happier  there 
than  in  heroics  or  in  rime  royal ;  it  is  certainly  livelier  in  sub- 
ject than  most  of  his  works;  and  it  is  evidently  composed 
under  a  fresher  inspiration  from  the  Rose  itself  than  is  generally 
the  case  with  those  cankered  rose  leaves,  the  allegoric  poems 
of  the  fifteenth  century;  while  its  direct  original,  the  unprinted 
Echecs  amoureux,  is  said  to  have  merit.  But,  otherwise, 
there  is  not  much  to  be  said  for  it.  Its  subject  is  a  sort  of 
cento  of  the  favourite  motifs  of  the  time — Chess;  Fortune 
(not  with  her  wheel  but  with  tuns  of  sweet  and  bitter  drink) ; 
the  waking,  the  spring  morning  and  garden;  Nature;  the 
judgment  of  Paris;  the  strife  between  Venus  and  Diana  for  the 
author's  allegiance;  the  Garden  of  Delight  and  its  dangers; 
and  the  Forest  of  Reason,  with  a  most  elaborate  game  of 
chess  again  to  finish — or,  rather,  not  to  finish,  for  the  piece 
breaks  off  at  about  its  seven-thousandth  line.  It  is  possible 
that  the  argument  of  earliness  is  correct,  for  some  of  the 
descriptions  are  fresh  and  not  twice  battered  as  Lydgate's 
often  are;  and  there  seems  to  be  a  certain  zest  in  the  writing 
instead  of  the  groaning  weariness  which  so  frankly  meets  the 
reader  halfway  elsewhere. 

The  Temple  of  Glass,  partly  in  heroics,  partly  in  rime  royal, 
is  one  of  the  heaviest  of  fifteenth  century  allegorical  love- 
poems,  in  which  two  lovers  complain  to  Venus  and,  having 
been  answered  by  her,  are  finally  united.  It  is  extremely 
prosaic;  but,  by  sheer  editing,  has  been  brought  into  a  con- 
dition of  at  least  more  systematic  prosody  than  most  of 
Lydgate's  works.  The  Assembly  of  Gods  is  a  still  heavier  alle- 
gory of  vices  and  virtues  presented  under  the  names  of  divini- 
ties, major  and  minor,  of  the  ancient  pantheon,  but  brought 
round  to  an  orthodox  Christian  conclusion.  The  piece  is  in 
rime  royal  of  the  loosest  construction,  so  much  so  that  its 
editor  proposes  a  merely  rhythmical  scansion. 


232  The  English  Chaucerians 

By  far  the  best  and  most  poetical  passages  in  Lydgate's 
vast  work  are  to  be  found  in  The  Life  of  Our  Lady,  from  which 
Warton  long  ago  managed  to  extract  more  than  one  batch  of 
verses  to  which  he  assigned  the  epithets  of  "elegant  and 
harmonious  "  as  well  as  the  more  doubtful  praise  of  "  so  modern 
a  cast."  It  is  possible  that  these  citations  and  encomia  are 
responsible  for  the  good  opinion  which  some  have  formed  of 
the  poet;  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  they  will  wander  far  and 
wearily  among  Lydgate's  myriads  of  lines  without  coming 
upon  the  equals  of 

Like  as  the  dewe  discendeth  on  the  rose 
In  silver  drops, 


or, 


O  thoughtful  herte,  plonged  In  dj^stresse, 

With  slomber  of  slouthe  this  longe  winter's  night, 

Out  of  the  slepe  of  mortal  hevinesse 
Awake  anon!  and  loke  upon  the  light 

Of  thilke  Starr; 


or, 


And  he  that  made  the  high  and  crystal  heven, 

The  firmament,  and  also  every  sphere; 
The  Golden  ax-tree  and  the  starres  seven, 

Citherea  so  lust}^  for  to  appere 

And  redde  Marse  with  his  steme  here. 

The  subject  which  never  failed  to  inspire  every  medieval  poet 
who  was  capable  of  inspiration  has  not  failed  here. 

The  best  of  Lydgate's  Saints'  Lives  proper  appears  to  be 
the  Saint  Margaret;  it  is  very  short,  and  the  innumerable 
previous  handlings  of  the  story,  which  has  intrinsic  capabilities, 
may  have  stood  him  in  good  stead.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
long  Edmund  and  Fremiind,  in  celebration  of  the  saint  whom 
the  poet  was  more  especially  bound  to  honour,  though  spoken 
of  by  some  with  commendation,  is  a  feeble  thing,  showing  no 
skill  of  narration.  It  is  not  in  quite  such  bad  rime  royal  as 
Lydgate  can  sometimes  write;  but,  even  here,  the  plangency 
of  which  the  metre  is  capable,  and  which  would  have  come  in 
well,  is  quite  absent;  while  the  poem  is  characterised  through- 
out by  the  flattest  and  dullest  diction.     The  two  Nightingale 


Lydgate  233 

poems  are  religious-allegorical.     They  are  both  in  rime  royal 
and  average  not  more  than  400  lines  each. 

The  beast-fable  had  something  in  it  peculiarly  suitable  to 
Lydgate's  kind  of  genius  (as,  indeed,  to  medieval  genius 
generally),  and  this  fact  is  in  favour  of  his  Aesop  and  of  the 
two  poems  (among  his  best)  which  are  called  The  Churl  and 
the  Bird  and  The  Horse,  the  Sheep  and  the  Goose.  Of  these 
two  pieces,  both  very  favourite  examples  of  the  moral  tale  of 
eastern  origin  which  was  disseminated  through  Europe  widely 
by  various  collections  as  well  as  in  individual  specimens. 
The  Churl  is  couched  in  rime  royal  and  The  Horse  in  the  same 
metre,  with  an  envoy  or  moralitas  in  octaves.  Both  are 
contained,  though  not  completely,  in  Halliwell's  edition 
of  the  minor  poems.  The  actual  Aesop — a  small  collection 
of  Aesopic  fables  which  is  sometimes  assigned  to  Lydgate's 
earliest  period,  perhaps  to  his  residence  at  Oxford — is  point- 
less enough,  and  contrasts  very  unfavourably  with  Henderson's. 
But  the  remainder  of  these  minor  poems,  whatever  the  certainty 
of  their  attribution,  includes  Lydgate's  most  acceptable  work: 
London  Lickpenny  itself;  the  Ballade  of  the  Midsummer  Rose, 
where  "the  eternal  note  of  sadness"  and  change  becomes 
musical  even  in  him ;  the  sly  advice  to  an  old  man  who  wished 
for  a  young  wife;  the  satire  on  horned  head-dresses;  The 
Prioress  and  her  Three  Suitors;  the  poet's  Testament;  the 
sincere  "Thank  God  of  all"  and  others. 

The  Complaint  of  the  Black  Knight,  for  long  assigned  to 
Chaucer,  though  not  quite  worthy  of  him,  is  better  than  most 
of  Lydgate's  poems,  though  it  has  his  curious  flatness;  and 
it  might,  perhaps,  be  prescribed  as  the  best  beginning  for  those 
who  wish  to  pass  from  the  study  of  the  older  and  greater  poet 
to  that  of  his  pupil. 

Lydgate  has  not  lacked  defenders,  who  would  be  formidable 
if  their  locus  standi  were  more  certain.  The  fifteenth  century 
adored  him  because  he  combined  all  its  own  worst  faults,  and 
the  sixteenth  seems  to  have  accepted  him  because  it  had  no 
apparatus  for  criticism.  When,  after  a  long  eclipse,  he  was 
in  two  senses  taken  up  by  Gray,  that  poet  seems  chiefly  to 
have  known  The  Falls  of  Princes,  in  which,  perhaps  by  dint 
of  long  practice,  Lydgate's  metrical  shortcomings  are  less 
noticeable  than  in  some  other  places,  and  where  the  dignity 


234  The  English  Chaucerlans 

and  gravity  of  Boccaccio's  Latin  has,  to  some  extent,  invigor- 
ated his  style.  Warton  is  curiously  guarded  in  his  opinions ; 
and  a  favourable  judgment  of  Coleridge  may,  possibly,  be 
regarded  as  very  insufficiently  based.  The  apologies  of  ed- 
itors (especially  those  who  are  content  with  systematised 
metre,  however  inharmonious)  do  not  go  veiy  far.  On  the 
whole,  though  Ritson's  condemnation  may  have  been  ex- 
pressed with  characteristic  extravagance  and  discourtesy  to- 
wards the  "voluminous,  prosaic  and  drivelling  monk,"  nobody 
can  dispute  the  voluminousness  in  the  worst  sense,  and  it  is 
notable  that  even  Lydgate's  defenders,  in  proportion  as  they 
know  more  of  him,  are  apt  to  "confess  and  avoid"  the  "prosaic" 
and  to  slip  occasionally  into  admissions  rather  near  the  *  *  drivel- 
ling." It  is  to  be  feared  that  some  such  result  is  inevitable. 
A  little  Lydgate,  especially  if  the  little  be  judiciously  chosen, 
or  happily  allotted  by  chance,  is  a  tolerable  thing:  though  even 
this  can  hardly  be  very  delectable  to  any  well  qualified  judge 
of  poetry.  But,  the  longer  and  wider  that  acquaintance  with 
him  is  extended,  the  more  certain  is  dislike  to  make  its  appear- 
ance. The  prosodic  incompetence  cannot  be  entirely  due  to 
copyists  and  printers;  the  enormous  verbosity,  the  ignorance 
how  to  tell  a  story,  the  want  of  freshness,  vigour,  life,  cannot 
be  due  to  them  at  all.  But  what  is  most  fatal  of  all  is  the 
flatness  of  diction  noticed  above — the  dull,  hackneyed,  slov- 
enly phraseology,  only  thrown  up  by  his  occasional  aureate 
pedantry — which  makes  the  common  commoner  and  the 
uncommon  uninteresting.  Lydgate  himself,  or  some  imitator 
of  him,  has  been  credited  with  the  phrase  "gold  dew-drops 
of  speech"  about  Chaucer.  He  w^ould  hardly  have  thought 
of  anything  so  good;  but  the  phrase  at  least  suggests  an  ap- 
propriate variant,  "leaden  splashes,"  for  his  own. 

The  inseparable  companion  in  literature  of  Lydgate  is 
Thomas  Occleve  or  Hoccleve;  whether  this  companionship 
extended  to  life  we  do  not  know,  though  they  may,  perhaps, 
have  had  a  common  friend  in  Chaucer,  whose  portrait  adorns 
one  of  Occleve's  MSS.,  and  of  whom  he  speaks  with  personal 
warmth.  This  portrait  is  one  chief  reason  which  we  have  for 
gratitude  to  Occleve;  but  it  is  not  the  only  one.  In  the  first 
place,  we  have  from  him  what  seems  to  be  at  least  possibly 
autograph  writing,    a    contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  the 


Occleve  235 

actual  language  and  metre  of  the  work  which  (though  one 
cannot  but  wish  it  came  from  Chaucer  himself)  would,  if 
certain,  be  of  the  greatest  value.  In  the  second  place,  he  has 
added,  by  some  autobiographical  confidences  which  make  him 
(in  a  very  weak  and  washed  out  way,  it  is  true)  a  sort  of 
English  and  crimeless  Villon,  to  the  actual  picture  of  his  times 
that  we  have  in  Lydgate's  Lickpenny.  His  surname  is  sup- 
posed, as  that  of  his  fellow  Lydgate  is  known,  to  be  a  place- 
name,  and  the  nearest  form  is  that  of  Hockliffe  or  Hocclirve 
in  Bedfordshire.  But  both  Ock-  and  Hock-  are  common 
prefixes  all  over  the  south  and  the  midlands,  while  -cleve 
and  -cliff  are  equally  common  suffixes.  In  a  Dialogue,  he 
appears  to  assign  his  fifty-third  year  to  the  twelve-month  just 
before  Henry  V's  death  in  1422:  so  that  he  must  have  been 
born  about  1368.  In  another  poem,  some  ten  years  earlier, 
the  De  Regimine  Principunt,  he  says  that  he  had  been  ' '  twenty 
years  and  four"  in  the  office  of  the  Privy  Seal,  which  gives  us 
another  date — say  1387 — for  his  entrance  there  at  the  very 
probable  age  of  nineteen  or  so.  He  is  also  mentioned  as 
actually  a  clerk  in  a  document  apparently  of  that  year.  He 
thought  of  taking  orders,  but  did  not:  though,  in  1399, 
he  received  a  pension  of  ;^io  till  he  should  receive  a  benefice 
(without  cure  of  souls)  of  double  the  value.  Various  entries 
of  payments  of  this  pension  exist,  and  also  of  office  expenses. 
In  1406,  he  wrote  the  curious  poem  above  referred  to.  La  Male 
Regie,  in  which  he  begs  for  payment  and  confesses  a  long  course 
of  mild  dissipation.  His  salary  was  very  small:  under  £4, 
apparently.  He  seems  at  one  time  to  have  lived  at  Chester's 
inn  in  the  Strand,  and  to  have  married  about  141 1,  being  then 
over  forty.  About  five  years  later,  he  was  out  of  his  mind 
for  a  time.  In  1409,  his  pension  had  been  increased  to  £1^. 
6s.  Sd.  Not  till  1424  did  he  get  a  benefice — at  least,  a  "corrody  " 
or  charge  on  a  monastery — but  we  do  not  know  the  amount. 
And  how  long  he  enjoyed  this  we  also  do  not  know.  Tradition, 
rather  than  any  positive  authority,  extends  his  life  as  long 
as  Lydgate's  or  (if  he  was  born  earlier)  a  little  longer,  and  puts 
his  death  also  at  about  1450.  But  it  is  difficult  to  say  how 
much  of  this  is  due  to  the  curious  and  intangible  fellowship 
which  has  established  itself  between  the  two  poets.  This 
fellowship,  however,  did  not,  at  the  time,  carry  Occleve  into 


236  The  English  Chaucerians 

the  position  assigned  to  Lydgate  by  subsequent  versifiers; 
nor  did  it  assure  him  equal  attention  from  the  early  printers. 
We  are,  indeed,  even  yet,  in  considerable  uncertainty  as  to  the 
extent  of  his  work  that  is  in  existence :  some  of  what  he  probably 
wrote  having  not  yet  been  printed,  while  some  of  the  things 
printed  as  his  are  doubtful.  This  uncertainty,  however,  does 
not  extend  to  a  fairly  large  body  of  work.  The  most  important 
piece  of  this  is  De  Regimine  Principum  or  Regiment  of  Princes, 
addressed  to  Henry  prince  of  Wales,  and  extending  in  all  to 
some  5500  verses.  Not  more  than  3500  of  these  contain  the 
actual  advice,  which  is  on  a  par  with  the  contents  of  several 
other  poems  mentioned  in  this  chapter — partly  political, 
partly  ethical,  partly  religious,  and  based  on  a  blending  of 
Aristotle  with  Solomon.  The  introduction  of  2000  verses, 
however  (the  greater  part  of  which  consists  of  a  dialogue 
between  the  poet  and  a  beggar),  is  less  commonplace  and 
much  more  interesting,  containing  more  biographical  matter, 
the  address  to  Chaucer,  a  quaint  wail  over  the  troubles  of  the 
scribe  and  other  curious  things.  Next  to  this  in  importance 
come  two  verse-stories  from  Gesta  Romanorum,  The  Emperor 
Jereslaus's  Wife  and  Jonathas;  the  rather  piquant  Male  Rbgle 
with  the  confessions  above  referred  to;  a  Complaint  and 
Dialogue,  also  largely  autobiographical;  and  a  really  fine  Ars 
Sciendi  Mori,  the  most  dignified,  and  the  most  poetical, 
thing  that  Occleve  has  left  us.  We  have  also  a  number  of 
shorter  poems,  from  ballades  upwards,  some  of  which  are 
datable,  and  the  dating  of  one  of  which  at  about  1446  by 
Tyrwhitt,  as  relating  to  prince  Edward  of  Lancaster,  is  the 
nearest  approach  to  warrant  for  the  extension  of  the  poet's 
life  to  the  middle  of  the  century. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Occleve — like  Pepys  and  some  other, 
but  not  all,  talkers  about  themselves — has  found  himself  none 
the  worse  off  for  having  committed  to  paper  numerous  things 
which  any  one  but  a  garrulous,  egotistic  and  not  very  strong- 
minded  person  would  have  omitted.  Nor  can  it  exactly  be 
counted  to  him  as  a  literary  merit  that  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  at  all  an  unamiable  person.  Nor,  lastly,  is  his  wisdom 
in  abstaining  from  extremely  long  poems  more  than  a  negative 
virtue.  Yet  all  these  things  do  undoubtedly,  in  this  way  and 
that,  make  the  reading  of  Occleve  less  toilsome  than  that  of 


Occleve  237 

Lydgate;  though  the  latter  can,  on  rare  occasions,  write  better 
than  Occleve  ever  does,  though  he  is  inmeasurably  Occleve's 
superior  in  learning  and  industry  and  though  (again  at  his 
best)  he  is  slightly  his  superior  in  versification.  Though  lesser 
in  every  other  sense,  one  merit  Occleve  may  claim — that  he  has 
some  idea  how  to  tell  a  story.  Neither  Jereslaus  nor  Jonathas 
is  lacking  in  this  respect ;  and  though,  of  course,  they  are  not 
original,  neither  is  anything  of  Lydgate's  in  this  kind  that  we 
know  of.  In  aureateness  or  heavily  pompous  diction,  there 
is  not  much  to  choose,  though  Lydgate  knows  a  little  better 
how  to  make  use  of  his  ornaments.  Prosodically,  the  chief 
difference  seems  to  be  that  Occleve  has  the  actual  number  of 
syllables  that  should  be  in  a  verse  rather  more  clearly  before 
him,  though  he  is,  perhaps,  Lydgate's  inferior  in  communicat- 
ing to  them  anything  like  poetic  rhythm.  He  generally  uses 
rime  royal,  but,  like  almost  all  these  poets,  varies  it,  occasion- 
ally, with  octaves.  Neither  couplet  seems  to  have  had  strong 
attraction  for  him. 

Of  the  poems  not  yet  noticed,  that  to  Sir  John  Oldcastle, 
written  about  141 5  and  some  five  hundred  lines  long,  has 
certain  historical  interest  and  something  of  the  actuality 
which  Occleve  often  manages  to  communicate.  Every  now 
and  then,  too,  it  stumbles  on  a  vigorous  line,  as  in 

The  fiend  is  your  chief:  and  our  Head  is  God. 

Indeed,  Occleve,  seldom  good  at  a  sustained  passage  or  even 
stanza,  does,  sometimes,  hit  off  good  single  lines.  This  piece 
is  in  octaves ;  The  Letter  of  Cupid  to  Lovers  is  of  about  the  same 
length  and  also  of  some  merit.  It  is  imitated,  of  course — in 
this  case  from  Christine  de  Pisan.  The  Mother  of  God,  once 
assigned  to  Chaucer,  is  rather  better  than  The  Complaint  of 
the  Virgin  :  but  the  latter  is  certainly  translated  and  the  former 
probably  so.  A  curious  contrast,  but  one  quite  in  Occleve's 
usual  manner,  to  the  serious  and  woful  ballades  to  which  we 
are  accustomed,  is  to  be  found  in  that  to  Sir  Henry  Sommer, 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  in  reference  to  a  club  dinner  to  be 
held  by  a  certain  society  called  the  "Court  of  Good  Company," 
and,  apparently,  to  be  mainly  provided  by  the  said  Sir  Henry. 
To  the  same  person  are  addressed  a  poetical  petition  for  the 
payment  of  arrears  of  salary,  and  a  punning  roundel,  "  Somer, 


238  The  English  Chaucerians 

that  rypest  mannes  sustenance."  These  are,  in  fact,  the  things 
which  make  Occleve,  no  matter  what  his  technical  shortcom- 
ings, refreshing,  for  it  is  certainly,  in  verse  even  more  than  in 
prose,  better  to  read  about  good  fellowship  or  even  about  per- 
sonal troubles  than  to  be  compelled  to  peruse  commonplaces 
on  serious  subjects,  put  without  any  freshness  in  expression 
and  manner.  Even  Wordsworth  might,  in  such  a  case,  have 
preferred  "personal  talk." 

The  task  of  continuing  one  of  Lydgate's  last  and  most 
prosaic  works  was  taken  up  by  a  younger  writer,  Benet  or 
Benedict  Burgh,  from  whom  we  have  some  other  things. 
Burgh  is  said  to  have  had  his  education  at  Oxford,  and, 
probably,  had  his  extraction  from  Essex,  where  he  was,  in 
1440,  made  rector  of  Sandon.  He  was  also  tutor  in  the 
Bourchier  family,  and  successively  rector  of  Sible  Hedingham, 
archdeacon  of  Colchester,  prebendary  (1477)  o^  St.  Paul's, 
canon  of  St.  Stephen's  at  Westminster,  which  latter  benefice 
he  held  at  his  death  in  1483.  Besides  his  completion  of 
The  Secrets  of  the  Philosophers,  which  seems  to  have  been  done 
to  order,  we  have  a  poem  of  Burgh's  in  praise  of,  and  addressed 
to,  Lydgate  himself,  A  Christmas  Game,  Aristotle's  ABC  and 
a  version  of  the  famous  distichs  attributed  to  Cato,  which  was 
printed  by  Caxton  separately,  before  he  attempted  his  own 
translation.  The  last  piece  has  been  spoken  of  as  showing 
versification  superior  to  that  of  Burgh's  other  work,  but  this 
is  only  partially  true.  His  favourite  metre  is  rime  royal,  which 
he  manages  with  all  the  staggering  irregularity  common  to 
English  poets  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  not  full}'-  explicable 
by  the  semi-animate  condition  of  the  final  -e  and  some  other 
things  of  the  kind.  Burgh's  earlier  equivalents  for  the  so-called 
decasyllabic  vary  numerically  from  seven  syllables  to  fourteen : 
no  principle  of  metrical  equivalence  and  substitution  being 
for  the  most  part  able  to  effect  even  a  tolerable  corre- 
spondence between  their  rhythm,  which  is  constantly  of  the 
following  kind: 

When  from  the  high  hille,  I  mean  the  mount  Canice. 

Poem  to  Lydgate,  i,  45. 

Secunde  of  the  persone  the  magnificence  royale. 

Secrets,  i,  1558. 


Burgh  239 

The  opening  verses  (which  probably  gave  rise  to  the 
opinion  above  recorded)  of  Cato  are  more  regular,  the 
author  having  had  by  this  time  about  thirty  years'  practice 
and  having  attained  a  certain  Occlevian  power  of  counting 
on  his  fingers.  But  he  relapses  later  and  we  have  lines  like 
these : 

Mannes  soule  resembleth  a  newe  plain  table 
In  whiche  yet  apperith  to  sight  no  picture 
The  philosophre  saith  withouten  fable 
Right  so  is  mannes  soule  but  a  dedly  figure 
Unto  the  tyme  she  be  reclaimed  with  the  lure 
Of  doctrine  and  so  gete  hir  a  good  habit 
To  be  expert  in  cunnyng  science  and  prouffit. 

Bk.  I,  St.  2. 

Even  here  may  be  noticed  that  strong  tendency  towards 
the  alexandrine  which  is  notable  in  all  the  disorderly  verse 
of  this  time,  and  which  attempted  to  establish  and  regularise 
itself  in  the  poetry  of  the  earlier  Elizabethans,  making  its  last 
and  greatest  effort  in  Polyolhion. 

There  is  no  poetry  in  Burgh;  there  could  not  well  be  any; 
and  there  is,  and  there  could  be,  as  little  in  George  Ashby,  clerk 
of  the  signet  to  queen  Margaret  of  Anjou,  who,  being  impris- 
oned in  the  Fleet,  c.  146 1-3,  for  debt  and  other  causes  which 
he  makes  more  obscure,  wrote  there  fifty  rime  royal  stanzas 
of  reflection  and  self-condolence  on  his  state.  At  a  more 
uncertain  time,  but  in  his  own  eightieth  year,  he  composed, 
in  the  same  metre,  a  longer  poem  on  the  Active  Policy  of  a 
Prince,  intended  to  instruct  the  ill-fated  son  of  Margaret  and 
Henry  before  they  "stabbed  [him]  in  the  field  by  Tewkesbury'." 
A  yet  larger  collection,  in  the  same  stanza  but  detached,  of 
more  "sayings  of  the  philosophers"  is  also  attributed  to  Ashby: 
didactic  verse  being  particularly  dear  to  that  troubled  and 
gloomy  century.  The  sense  is  sound  and  often  shrewd  enough, 
showing  the  rather  Philistine  and  hard  but  canny  temper  of  the 
later  Middle  Ages ;  and  the  verse  is  not  so  irregular  as  in  some 
of  Ashby's  contemporaries.  But  it  is  not  illumined  by  one 
spark  of  the  divine  fire.  As  none  of  these  versifiers  is  ever^"- 
where  accessible,  a  single  stanza,  fairly  average  in  character, 
may  be  given  : 


240  The  English  Chaucerians 

Yf  ye  cannot  bringe  a  man  by  mekenesse, 
By  swete  glosyng  wordes  and  fare  langage, 
To  the  entente  of  your  noble  highnesse, 
Correcte  him  sharpely  with  rigorous  rage, 
To  his  chastysment  and  ferful  damage. 
For  who  that  wol  nat  be  feire  entreted 
Must  be  foule  and  rigorously  threted. 

To  the  same  rime  royal  division — as  a  later  member  of  it, 
but  still  partly  before  1500 — belongs  Henry  Bradshaw,  a 
monk  of  St.  Werburgh's  abbey  at  Chester  (his  native  place), 
who  has  left  a  large  life  of  his  patroness,  extending  to  those 
of  Etheldreda  and  Sexburga,  and  a  good  deal  of  profane  his- 
tory of  Chester  and  Mercia  at  large.  It  thus  has  a  variety  and 
quality  of  subject  contrasting  favourably  with  the  didactic 
monotony  of  the  works  just  mentioned ;  and  it  is  not  specially 
unreadable  so  far  as  treatment  is  concerned,  while  students 
of  literary  history  will  be  interested  to  find  that  the  author, 
paying  the  invariable  compliment  to  Chaucer  and  Lydgate, 
omits  Gower,  but  substitutes  his  own  contemporaries. 

To  pregnant  Barclay  now  being  religious. 
To  inventive  Skelton  and  poet-laureate. 

Bradshaw  died  in  15 13:  and  his  poem  was  printed  by 
Pynson  eight  years  later.  In  prosody  it  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  documents  as  to  the  complete  loss  of  grip  which 
had  come  upon  English  verse.  It  has  been  charitably  suggested 
that,  in  place  of  Chaucerian  decasyllabic,  Bradshaw  retains 
the  "old  popular  long  line,"  whatever  that  may  be.  To  which 
it  can  only  be  replied  that  if  he  did  not  mean  decasyllabics  he 
constantly  stumbles  into  them;  and  that,  elsewhere,  his  lines 
are  neither  like  those  of  Robert  of  Gloucester,  nor  like  those 
of  Gamelyn,  but  frank  pieces  of  prose  rimed  at  the  end  and  cut 
anyhow  to  a  length  w^hich  is,  perhaps,  on  the  average,  nearer 
to  that  of  an  alexandrine  than  to  any  other  standard,  but 
almost  rhythmless.  If  he  is  not  quite  so  shambling  as  some 
of  his  predecessors  and  contemporaries,  he  is,  throughout, 
steadily  pedestrian.  His  verse,  perhaps  as  well  as  anything 
else,  makes  us  understand  the  wrath  of  the  next  generation 
with  "beggarly  halducktoom  riming." 

A  still  more  noteworthy  set  of  instances  of  the  all-powerful 


The  Alchemists  241 

attraction  of  rime  royal,  and  a  curious  and  not  uninteresting 
section  of  the  followers  of  Chaucer,  is  provided  by  the  fifteenth 
century  writers  in  verse  on  alchemy.  This  following  is  of 
substance,  as  well  as  in  forms,  as  the  mention  of  The  Canon's 
Yeoman's  Tale  is  sui^cient  to  show.  And  there  is  the  further 
noteworthy  point  that  each  of  the  two  chief  of  these  writers 
follows  one  of  Chaucer's  main  narrative  measures,  the  couplet 
and  rime  royal. 

These  are  George  Ripley  (called  "Sir"  George  merely  as  a 
priest)  and  Thomas  Norton,  both  of  whom,  by  their  own 
testimony,  wrote  in  the  eighth  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  who,  by  tradition  though  not  certainly,  were  connected 
as  master  and  pupil.  Of  neither  is  much  known;  and  of 
Ripley  scarcely  anything  except  that  he  was  an  Augustinian 
and  canon  of  Bridlington — the  connection  with  Chaucer's 
canon  being  again  interesting.  His  principal  English  work, 
The  Compound  of  Alchemy  or  the  Twelve  Gates,  was,  as  the 
author  tells  us,  written  in  the  year  1471,  and  was  printed  120 
years  later  by  Ralph  Rabbards.  Ashmole,  who  reprinted 
it  (after,  as  he  says,  comparison  with  several  MSS.)  in  his 
Theatrum  Chemicum  of  1652,  included  therein  several  minor 
verse-pamphlets  on  the  same  subject,  attributed  to  the  same 
author — the  most  interesting  being  an  English  preface,  in 
octosyllabic  rime  royal  of  tolerable  regularity,  to  his  Medulla 
Alchemiae,  written  five  years  later  than  The  Compound,  and 
dedicated  to  archbishop  Nevill.  The  Compound  itself  is 
spoken  of  by  Warton  (delusively  enough,  though  he  explains 
what  he  means  or,  at  least,  indicates  his  own  laxness  of  speech) 
as  "in  the  octave  stanza."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  consists 
of  a  Titulus  Operis  and  a  dedication  to  Edward  IV,  both 
written  in  octaves,  and  of  a  body  of  text,  prologue,  preface 
and  the  twelve  gates  ("Calcination,"  "Solution,"  etc.,  up  to 
"  Projection")  in  rime  royal. 

The  first  stanza  of  this  preface  is  no  ill  example  of  the 
aureate  language  and  of  the  hopelessly  insubordinate  metre 
common  at  this  time: 

O  hygh  ynccomprehensyble  and  glor3^ous  Mageste, 
Whose  luminos  hemes  obtundyth  our  speculation, 
One-hode  in  Substance,  O  Tryne-hode  in  Deite, 
Of  Hierarchical!  Jubylestes  the  gratulant  gloryf ycation ; 


242  The  English  Chaucerians 

O  pytewouse  puryf yer  of  Soules  and  puer  perpetuation ; 
0  deviant  fro  danger,  O  drawer  most  deboner, 
Fro  thys  envios  valey  of  vanyte,  O  our  Exalter! 

It  was  common,  however,  to  overflow  in  this  manner  at  the 
beginning  of  a  poem;  and  the  bulk  of  Ripley's  text  is  more 
moderately  phrased,  though  there  is  not  much  more  to  be  said 
for  the  metre.  Even  the  final  distichs,  which,  in  rime  royal, 
undoubtedly  did  a  great  deal  to  help  on  the  formal  couplet,  are 
exceedingly  lax  and,  sometimes,  as  in 

I  am  a  master  of  that  Art 

I  warrant  us  we  shall  have  part, 

(Ashmole,  p.  157), 

purely  octosyllabic.  The  matter,  allowing  for  the  nature  of 
the  subject,  is  not  ill  set  forth;  and  Ripley  evidently  had  the 
true  experimental  spirit,  for  he  records  his  failures  carefully. 
Of  less  interest  are  the  shorter  pieces  attributed  to  him  besides 
the  Medulla  Preface — his  Vision  in  about  a  score  of  fairly 
regular  fourteeners,  his  Scroll,  or  the  verses  in  it  in  irregular 
octosyllables,  sometimes  approaching  "Skeltonics,"  and  one  or 
two  others  in  the  same  metre,  extending  instead  of  contracting 
itself. 

Of  Thomas  Norton,  who  dates  his  own  Ordinall  of  Alchemy 
at  1477,  ^  little  more  is  known  or  supposed  to  be  known. 
Ashmole' s  statement  that  "from  the  first  word  of  hi^.Proeme 
and  the  Initial  Letters  of  the  six  following  chapters  {dis~ 
covered  by  acrornonosyllahles  and  syllabic  acrostics)  we  may 
collect  the  author's  name  and  place  of  residence,"  which  has 
sometimes  been  quoted  without  the  parenthesis,  is  thus  mis- 
leading, for  you  must  take  the  first  syllables,  not  the  first 
letters,  to  make 

Tomas  Norton  of  Bristo. 

And  the  identification  of  the  master  whom  he  tells  us  he  sought 
at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  and  from  whom  he  learnt  alchemy, 
is  conjectural,  though  it  was,  most  probably,  Ripley. 

He  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been  the  son  of  a 
Norton  who  was  a  ver>'"  prominent  citizen  of  Bristol,  being 
bailiff  in  1392,  sheriff  in  1410,  mayor  in  1413  and  ]\I.P.  pretty 
continuously  from  1399  to  142 1;  while  the  alchemist  himself 


The  Alchemists  243 

is  thought  to  have  sat  for  the  city  in  1436.  Whether  all 
these  dates  are  not  rather  far  from  1477  is  a  point  merely 
to  be  suggested. 

The  Ordinall  is  written  in  exceedingly  irregular  heroic 
couplets,  often  shortening  themselves  to  octosyllables, 

He  was,  and  what  he  knew  of  schoole 
And  therein  he  was  but  a  fool, 

and  sometimes  extending  themselves  or  their  constituent  lines 
after  the  fashion  of 

Physicians  and  Appoticaries  faut  [make  mw/a^^^iw]  appetite  and  will. 

Indeed,  if  Ascham  was  really  thinking  of  The  Ordinall  when, 
in  The  Scholemaster,^  he  ranks  "Th.  Norton,  of  Bristow" 
with  Chaucer,  Surrey,  Wyatt  and  Phaer  as  having  made  the 
best  that  could  be  made  of  the  bad  business  of  riming  verse, 
it  merely  shows  how  entirely  insensible  he  was  to  true  English 
prosody.  Still,  Norton  is  not  quite  uninteresting,  because 
he  shows,  even  more  than  Lydgate,  how  many  hares  at  one 
time  the  versifiers  of  this  period  were  hunting  when  they 
seemed  to  be  copying  Chaucer's  couplet.  Indeed,  in  some 
respects  he  is  the  earliest  writer  to  exhibit  the  blend  of  which 
Spenser  nearly  made  a  very  great  success  in  the  February  of 
The  Shepheards  Calender,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  in  May  and 
September — this  blend,  however,  being,  in  Norton's  case,  no 
doubt,  not  at  all  consciously  aimed  at,  but  a  mere  succes- 
sion of  hits  and  misses  at  the  couplet  itself.  He  sometimes 
achieves  very  passable  Tusserian  anapaestics, 

Her  name  is  Magnesia,  few  people  her  knowe. 
She  is  found  in  high  places  as  well  as  in  low, 

extending  himself  in  the  very  next  line  almost  to  a  complete 
fourteener, 

Plato  knew  her  property  and  called  her  by  her  name, 

and  in  a  line  or  two  contracting  to 

That  is  to  say  what  this  may  be. 

The  matter  is  less  clearly  put  than  in  Ripley ;  and,  though 
neither  can  be  called  a  poet,  the  master  is  rather  less  far  from 

'  P,  2S9   f-6..  W.  Aldis  Wright,  Cambridge  English  Classics. 


244  The  English  Chaucerians 

being  one  than  the  scholar.  But  Norton's  greater  discursive- 
ness may  make  his  work  more  attractive  to  some  readers,  and 
the  story  of  Dalton  and  Delves  in  his  second  chapter  reads 
like  a  true  anecdote. 

Great  as  was  the  attraction  of  rime  royal,  it  was  not  likely 
quite  to  oust  the  older  favourite,  the  octosyllabic  couplet, 
which,  it  has  to  be  remembered,  could  also  boast  the  repeated, 
if  not  the  final,  patronage  of  Chaucer,  and  that  (which  was 
almost  as  influential)  of  Lydgate,  while  the  third  great  influence, 
Gower,  was  wholly  for  it.  No  practitioner  of  this  time,  how- 
ever, attained  the  ease  and  fluency  of  Confessio  Amantis  as  a 
whole  or  came  anywhere  near  the  occasional  vigour  of  its 
best  parts,  while  the  slip-shod  insignificance  of  the  measure 
at  its  worst  found  constant  victims.  The  so-called  romance 
(really  a  didactic  poem)  of  Boctus  and  Sidrac  by  Hugh  de 
Campden,  who  is  supposed  to  represent  the  first  half  of 
the  century,  may  stand  as  a  representative  of  this,  while  the 
Legends  of  the  Saints  by  Osbem  Bokenam,  copied  by,  or  for,  a 
certain  Thomas  (not  Benet)  Burgh,  in  1447,  are  written 
entirely  in  Chaucerian  decasyllabic  verse,  differently  arranged 
as  regards  line  group,  but  fairly  regular  in  the  line  itself — much 
more  so,  indeed,  than  the  average  verse  of  the  time.  This 
regularity,  however,  is  compensated  by  an  extraordinary 
failure  to  attain  even  the  slightest  tincture  of  poetic  style  and 
sentiment.  Bokenam,  a  Suffolk  man,  and  using  some  dialectal 
forms,  was  an  Augustinian  friar.  But  there  is  little  doubt 
that  he  must  have  been  a  pretty  constant  student  of  Chaucer 
himself,  as  we  know  he  was  of  his  contemporary  and  country- 
man Lydgate. 

Though  there  may  seem  to  be  "  nothing  but  low  and  little" 
in  this  account  of  the  known  or,  at  least,  named  writers  in 
southern  English  verse  during  the  fifteenth  century,  yet  some 
satisfaction  is,  no  doubt,  to  be  extracted  by  a  true,  and  not 
impatient  or  ignorant,  lover  of  English  poetry,  in  every  part 
and  period  of  its  long  and  important  development.  But  there 
is  probably  no  period  in  the  last  seven  hundred  years  which 
yields  to  such  a  lover  so  little  satisfaction  as  this.  In  com- 
parison with  it,  the  period  preceding  Chaucer  is  a  very  "  Para- 
dise of  Dainty  Devices."  It  ought  not  to  be  neglected,  because 
it  is  necessary''  to  the  understanding  of  the  whole  story,  and  is, 


The  Chaucerian  Apocrypha  245 

perhaps,  the  most  remarkable  illustration  in  that  story  of  the 
French  proverb  about  falling  back  to  make  a  better  spring. 
But  its  attractions  are  almost  wholly  the  attractions  of  in- 
struction ;  and  the  instruction  is  seldom  that  which  the  writers 
desired  to  give,  pedagogic  as  they  often  were. 

To  the  most  attractive,  if  also  the  most  puzzling,  part 
of  it,  we  may  now  come.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  putting 
ballads,  carols  and  the  like  aside,  no  verse  in  southern  English, 
from  1400  to  1500  or  a  Httle  later,  has  anything  like  the  Hter- 
ary  and  poetical  merit  or  interest  which  attaches  to  the  best 
of  the  doubtful  "  Chauceriana  "  themselves.  These  pieces  have, 
during  the  last  generation,  been  rather  unfortunate:  for  some 
Chaucer-students,  in  their  fear  of  seeing  them  readmitted 
to  the  canon,  have,  as  it  were,  cast  them  out  altogether  and 
refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  them,  while  even  those 
who  have  admitted  them  to  a  sort  of  court  of  the  gentiles 
h^ve  seemed  afraid  of  paying  them  too  much  attention.  This 
seems  irrational,  and  it  is  certainly  unlucky;  for  more  than  one 
or  two  of  these  pieces  possess  poetical  merit  so  considerable 
that  their  authors,  when  discovered,  will  have  to  be  put  above 
any  waiter  previously  mentioned  in  this  chapter.  The  Plow- 
man's Tale,  which  falls  quite  out  of  Chaucerian  possibility 
from  its  substance  and  temper,  has  already  been  handled  with 
its  begetter  the  Vision,  and  many  of  the  smaller  pieces  are 
sufficiently  disposed  of  with  Tyrwhitt's  label  of  "rubbish." 
But  The  Tale  of  Beryn  or  Second  Merchant's  Tale,  with  the 
preliminary  adventures  of  the  Pardoner;  La  Belle  Dame  sans 
Merci,  ascribed  to  Sir  Richard  Ros ;  The  Cuckoo  and  the  Night- 
ingale, ascribed  to  Sir  Thomas  Clanvowe;  The  Flower  and  the 
Leaf,  The  Assembly  of  Ladies  and  The  Court  of  Love  are  well 
entitled  to  notice  here,  and  at  least  three  of  them  deserve 
the  commendations  suggested  above,  whosoever  wrote  them 
and  at  whatsoever  time  between  the  possible  limits  of 
c.  1390-C.  1550  they  may  have  been  written. 

The  professed  sequels  to  The  Canterbury  Tales  themselves 
are  shut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  last  group  by  a  formal  peculiar- 
ity, the  neglect  of  which,  by  those  who  composed  them  and 
those  who  admitted  them,  is  a  curious  indication  of  the 
uncritical  attitude  of  the  time.  All  The  Canterbury  Tales 
proper   are    written    in  very  strict  metre,  regularly  handled. 


246  The  English  Chaucerians 

The  Merchant's  Prologue  and  Tale  are  in  a  peculiar  doggerel 
half-way  between  the  fourteeners  or  nin-on  ballad  measure 
of  Gamelyn,  and  the  much  more  doggerellised  medium  of  the 
early  interludes.  Not  unfrequently  the  lines  can  be  forced 
into  decasyllabics ;  but  the  only  satisfactory  general  arrange- 
ment is  that  of  "  the  queen  was  in  her  parlour"  with  a  more 
or  less  strong  stop  in  the  middle.  This  metre  or  quasi- 
metre  Chaucer  never  uses  or  approaches  in  any  of  the  works 
certainly,  or  even  in  those  probably,  his;  and  it  is,  of  course, 
unlikely  that  he  should  have  arranged  in  it  "prologue"  matter 
which,  in  every  one  of  the  other  numerous  cases  of  its  occur- 
rence, is  in  irreproachable  "riding  rime"  or  decasyllabic  couplet. 
The  single  MS. — the  duke  of  Northumberland's — relied  on  for 
the  tale  is  put  at  before  1450,  but  we  have  no  other  indication 
of  origin,  personal  or  temporal.  The  most  curious  thing, 
however,  is  that  the  unknown  author,  while  making  this 
singular  blunder  as  to  his  form — a  blunder  which  he  could  only 
have  exceeded  by  going  directly  in  the  teeth  of  the  disclaimer 
of  alliterative  rhythm  in  The  Parson's  Prologue — is  not  by 
any  means  so  un-Chaucerian  in  matter  and  temper.  The 
prologue,  which  is  a  fairly  lively  account  of  how  the  pilgrims 
occupied  themselves  when  they  reached  Canterbury,  busies 
itself  especially  with  the  adventures  of  the  pardoner  and  his 
beguilement  by  an  insinuating  but  treacherous  "tappestere" 
or  barmaid.  The  substance  of  this  is  not  looser  than  that 
of  The  Miller's  and  Reeve's  Tales,  and  the  narrative  power  is 
by  no  means  inconsiderable.  As  for  The  Second  Merchant's 
Tale,  w^hich  starts  the  homeward  series,  it  is  a  story  (drawn  from 
a  French  original)  of  commercial  adventure  and  beguilement 
in  foreign  parts  which,  though  rather  long  and  complicated,  by 
no  means  lacks  interest  or,  again,  narrative  power,  and  fully 
deserves  the  pains  spent  upon  it  by  Fumivall,  Clouston  and 
others  in  the  Chaucer  Society's  edition ;  indeed,  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  it  is  not  included  in  Skeat's  edition  of  Chaucer 
and  Chauceriana.  But  Chaucer's  own  it  cannot  possibly  be — 
any  more  than  Gamelyn  itself,  which  was,  possibly,  its  model. 
The  other  pieces,  though  of  various  literary  merit,  all 
obey,  in  measure  and  degree,  the  rules  of  regular  metre.  The 
least  good  of  them  is  La  Belle  Dame  sans  Merci,  translated  from 
Alain  Chartier  (who,  beyond  all  doubt,  wrote  the  original  after 


"The  Cuckoo  and  the  Nightingale,"  etc.     247 

Chaucer's  death),  and  now  attributed,  on  MS.  authority,  to 
Sir  Richard  Ros,  who  may  have  written  it  about  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century  or  a  httle  later.  It  is  partly  in  rime  royal, 
partly  in  octaves,  and  is  a  heavy  thing,  showing  the  charac- 
teristic, if  not  the  worst,  faults  of  that  rhetoriqueur  school,  of 
which  Chartier  was  the  precursor,  if  not  the  actual  leader. 

Very  much  better  is  The  Cuckoo  and  the  Nightingale,  some- 
times also  called  The  Book  of  Cupid  God  of  Love,  which,  as  a 
MS.  has  the  quasi-signature  of  "  explicit  Clanvowe,"  is  assigned 
to  a  certain  Sir  Thomas  Clanvowe,  a  Herefordshire  gentleman, 
of  whom  we  find  mention  in  the  ver>^  year  after  Chaucer's  death 
(1401),  as  well  as  seven  years  earlier  and  three  later.  It  is, 
therefore,  practically  Chaucerian  in  date  if  not  in  authorship, 
being  the  only  one  of  these  pieces  which  can  be  brought  so 
close  to  him.  And  it  is,  accordingly,  very  noteworthy  as 
showing  that  all  writers  of  the  time  did  not  adopt  the  severe 
rime  system  attributed  to  Chaucer  himself  in  the  matter  of  the 
final  -e,  while  Clanvowe's  use  of  that  suffix  within  the  Hne 
is  also  dift'erent.  The  poem  is  one  of  great  attractiveness — 
quite  independently  of  the  fact  that  Milton  evidently  refers 
to  it  in  an  early  sonnet.  It  is  written  in  an  unusual  metre — 
a  quintet  of  decasyllabics  of  rimed  aahba — which  has  no  small 
harmony;  and,  numerous  as  are  the  pieces  which  deal  with 
May  mornings  and  bird-songs,  it  may  keep  its  place  with  the 
best  of  them,  w^hile  it  has  an  additional  hold  on  literary  history 
as  suggesting  one  of  the  earliest  of  possibly  original  Middle 
English  poems — The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale.  There  is  some 
idea  that  it  may  have  been  written  in  connection  with  the 
marriage  of  Henry  IV  to  Joan  of  Navarre. 

Of  the  three  pieces  which  remain,  one.  The  Assembly  of 
Ladies,  was  rejected  by  Tyrwhitt  and  is  of  considerably  less 
literary  merit  and  interest  than  the  other  two,  though,  by  some 
of  those  who  are  most  certain  of  these  not  being  Chaucer's, 
it  is  considered  to  be  by  the  same  author  as  The  Flower  and 
the  Leaf.  All  three,  it  may  be  observed,  are  in  rime  royal. 
The  Assembly,  for  which  we  have  two  MSS.  as  well  as  Thynne's 
edition  of  1532,  purports,  as  does  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf, 
to  be  written  by  a  woman.  It  is  of  the  allegorical  type, 
and  contains  elaborate  descriptions  of  the  house  and  gardens 
of  Loyalty,  with  a  porter  Countenance,  a  guide  Diligence  and 


248  The  English  Chaucerlans 

so  forth.  There  are  references  to  the  (Chaucerian)  stories  of 
Phyllis  and  Demophoon,  of  Anehda  and  Arcite,  etc.  The 
descriptions  of  dress  are  very  ftill;  but  the  poem  comes  to  no 
particular  end.  It  has  all  the  character  of  having  been  written 
by  an  ardent  and  fairly  careful  student  of  Chaucer  who  pos- 
sessed no  poetical  gift.  The  rimes,  the  grammar  and  the  use 
of  the  final  -e  digress  considerably  from  the  standard  adopted 
as  Chaucerian,  But  the  fact  is  that,  as  Tyns-hitt  saw,  there 
is  no  reason  for  attributing  this  poem  to  him.  It  is  quite 
evidently — to  any  one  fairly  skilled  in  literary  criticism  proper 
— a  school  copy,  and  not  by  any  means  a  ver\"  good  one. 

The  case  is  different  with  the  t«-o  others,  The  Flower  and 
the  Lea]  and  T]ie  Court  of  Love.  To  begin  with,  the  positive 
external  evidence  in  their  favour  is  of  the  weakest  kind — is, 
indeed,  next  to  non-existent.  Of  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf 
we  have  no  MS.  whatsoever,  though  one  is  said  to  have  been 
heard  of;  and  it  was  not  even  admitted  to  the  printed  works 
till  1597-8  by  Speght.  The  Court  of  Loce  had  been  printed 
by  Stow  in  1561,  and  we  have,  apparently,  the  MS.  which  he 
used ;  but  there  is  no  other,  and  this  would  not  appear  to  be 
much  older  than  the  date  of  the  print.  Yet,  further,  it  is 
evident  that,  if  either  poem  was  written  an\^-here  near 
Chaucer's  time,  it  must  have  been  considerably  tampered 
with  by  scribes.  In  The  Court  of  Love,  particularly,  there  is 
a  remarkable  jumble  of  archaic  and  modernised  forms,  which 
has  led  some  to  think  that  it  was  forged  by  a  writer  who 
actually  had  Thynne's  Cliaucer,  as  weU  as  works  by  Lydgate 
and  other  Chaucerians  before  him. 

It  will  be  obser\'ed  that  this  is  rather  a  dangerous  argument, 
because  it  admits  the  strongly  Chaucerian  character  of  the 
poem:  and,  indeed,  this  may  be  asserted  of  both  pieces.  They 
are,  in  fact,  so  good  and  so  Chaucerian  that  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that,  bet^'een  Chaucer  himself  and  Wyatt  (whose 
manner  they  do  not  in  the  least  resemble),  we  know  of  no 
southern  English  poet  who  could  have  written  either,  and 
must  place  two  aiwnymi  at  the  head  of  the  actual  list.  But, 
in  face  of  the  philological  difficulties  above  stated,  and  of  the 
fact  that  there  is  absolutely  no  internal  claim  to  Chaucerian 
authorship — the  "daughter,"  who  is  spoken  to  in  The  Flower, 
is    unnamed,    and    the    author   of   The  Court    st\'les  himself 


"The  Flower  and  the  Leaf"  249 

"Philogenet,  of  Cambridge,  clerk" — it  is  impossible  to  pro- 
nounce them  Chaucer's.  Yet  it  must  be  pointed  out  that  the 
arguments  against  his  authorship  from  the  feminine  attribu- 
tion in  Tlie  Flower  are  absolute^  valueless.  Pushed  to  their 
legitimate  and  logical  conclusion,  they  would  lead  us  to  strike 
out  The  Wife  of  Bath's  Prologue,  had  it  sur\-ived  alone  of 
TJie  Canterhiiry  Tales.  We  do  not  know  in  whose  mouth  the 
author  intended  to  put  the  piece  any  more  than  we  know 
vrho  that  author  was.  Nor  is  the  stress  laid  on  description  of 
dress  much  better.  Was  Sir  Piercie  Shafton  a  lady,  or  John 
Chalkhill  of  TJiealma  a-nd  Clear chus  fame?  It  may  be  added 
that  The  Flower  ajtd  the  Leaf  is  conjecturally  put  at  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century-  and  TJie  Court  of  Love  at 
some  half-century"  or  even  three-quarters  of  a  century-  later. 
But  these  dates  are,  admittedly,  guess-work. 

What  is  not  guess-work  is  the  remarkable  excellence  of 
the  poems  themselves,  which  have  been  too  seldom  considered 
of  late  on  their  own  merits,  apart  from  polemical  and  really 
irrelevant  considerations.  When  we  take  Tlie  Flower  arid  tJie 
Leaf  in  the  onh^  text  which  we  possess — not  as  vamped  up 
to  a  possible  or  impossible  Chaucerian  norm — ^we  find  in  it 
more  than  a  trace  of  that  ciuious  prosodic  vertigo  which 
seems  to  have  beset  the  whole  fifteenth  century.  There  is  not 
only  imcertainty  about  the  use  of  the  final  -easa,  syllable,  and  a 
vacillating  sense  of  its  value ;  but,  though  the  decasyllabic  is  not 
extended  in  the  wild  fashion  which  we  find  from  Lydgate  down- 
wards, it  is  often  cut  short,  sometimes  to  the  Chaucerian,  and 
even  the  Lydgatian,  "nine" — sometimes  to  a  frank  dimeter. 
But  these  shortcomings,  most  of  which  are,  at  least  possibly, 
scribal,  do  not  interfere  with  the  general  smoothness  of  the 
metre ;  nor  do  a  few  infelicities  of  diction  (such  as  the  compari- 
son of  grass  to  "  green  wool")  interfere  with  its  attractiveness, 
in  that  respect  also  unusual  for  its  time,  imdue  aureation 
and  imdue  beggarliness  being  equally  avoided.  StiU,  the 
great  charm  of  the  piece  is  a  certain  nameless  grace  of  choice, 
arrangement  and  handling  of  subject.  The  main  theme,  which 
has  some  connection  with  the  story  of  Rosiphele  in  Confessio 
AmarUis,  and  which,  in  another  way,  is  anticipated  by  Chaucer 
himself  in  The  Legend  of  Good  Women,  is  an  allegor>' — not, 
perhaps,  exactly  of  chastity  and  unchastit}^  but  of  something 


250  The  English  Chaucerians 

like  the  Uranian  and  Pandemic  Venus,  adjusted  to  medieval 
ideas  and  personified  by  Diana  and  Flora  respectively.  Each 
of  these  has  her  train  of  knights  and  ladies  devoted  to  the  Leaf 
(regarded  as  something  permanent),  and  the  Flower  (gay,  but 
passing)  and  wearing  liveries  of  green  and  white.  The  lady 
who  tells  the  tale  beholds  the  processions  and  sports  of  the 
two  parties  and  the  small  disaster,  which,  in  the  shape  of  a 
sudden  squall  of  wind  and  rain,  tarnishes  the  finery  of  the 
Flower  party,  and  drives  them  and  their  queen  to  take  shelter 
with  the  lady  of  the  Leaf  under  the  greenery.  The  piece 
is  not  long — less  than  600  lines — and  its  scheme  is  quite 
common  form:  sleeplessness,  early  rising,  walk  abroad  and 
the  like;  but  there  is  a  singular  brightness  and  freshness  over 
it  all,  together  with  a  power  of  pre-Raphaelite  decoration  and 
of  vivid  portraiture — even  of  such  action  as  there  is — which 
is  very  rare.  Indeed,  out  of  Chaucer  himself  and  the  original 
beginning  of  Guillaume  de  Lorris  in  the  Roman  de  la  Rose, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  find  anything  of  the  kind  better  done. 

For  literary  history,  the  interest  of  the  poem  is,  of  course, 
increased  by  the  fact  that  Dr^^den,  having  no  doubts  about  its 
being  Chaucer's,  took  it  for  the  canvas  of  one  of  his  "  fable" 
translations,  and  reproduced  it  with  remarkable  success  on  the 
different  system  which  he  brought  into  play.  But  this  neither 
adds  to,  nor  lessens,  its  intrinsic  merit.  It  may,  however, 
be  added  that,  though  simpler  and  less  pedantic,  it  has  strong 
points  of  likeness  to  The  Kingis  Qiiair,  and  that,  after  a  long 
and  careful  reading,  it  gives  the  impression  of  having,  though 
complete  in  itself,  been  probably  intended  by  its  author,  if  not 
exactly  as  a  continuation  of  other  pieces  in  a  larger  whole,  at 
any  rate  as  a  production  to  be  taken  in  connection  with  them. 
This  impression,  however,  may  be  individual  and  arbitrary. 
The  question  of  its  merit  is  a  different  one. 

In  The  Court  of  Love,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are,  at  any  rate 
as  to  prosody,  out  of  what  has  been  called  the  "period  of 
staggers" ;  and,  perhaps,  this  is  a  stronger  argument  for  a  late 
origin  than  some  that  have  been  advanced  on  that  side — 
though  it  opens  fresh  difficulties.  The  rime  royal  here  is  of  an 
accomplishment,  an  assured  competence,  which  we  do  not  find 
elsewhere  in  southern  English  in  any  writer  between  Chaucer 
and  Sackville.     The   stanzas   are   frequently  run   on — not  a 


"The  Court  of  Love"  251 

common  thing  with  this  metre,  and,  on  the  whole,  not  an 
improvement,  because  it  destroys  the  rest-effect  of  the  final 
couplet.  But,  in  themselves,  and  in  the  individual  lines,  there 
is  plenty  of  spring  and  cadence.  The  language  is  of  a  some- 
what composite  kind,  showing  aureation ;  and  faults  are  found 
with  the  grammar,  while  a  great  deal  of  indebtedness  to  Lyd- 
gate  has  been  urged.  But,  in  fact,  all  these  poets,  and  Chaucer 
their  master,  had  a  community  of  goods  in  the  matter  of 
phraseolog>\  What  is  undeniable  is  that  "  Philogenet,"  if 
really  "of  Cambridge,  clerk,"  adds  one  to  its  nest  of  singing 
birds  that  even  the  university  of  Spenser,  Milton  and  Dryden 
cannot  afford  to  oust.  He  may  be  an  interloper  or  a  coiner, 
but  his  goods  are  sound  and  his  standard  pretty  high.  The 
title  of  the  piece — if  the  obvious  pitfall  of  mistaking  the  refer- 
ence as  being  to  the  half-fabulous,  half-historical  cottrs  d' amour 
be  avoided — speaks  it  plainly  enough.  The  poet  strays  to  the 
palace  of  Citherea  (near,  of  course,  the  mount,  instead  of  the 
isle,  of  "  Citheree"),  finds  Alcestis  and  Admetus  vice-king  and 
queen  there;  and  makes  interest  w4th  a  lady  of  the  court,  one 
Philobone,  who  had  been  a  friend  of  his.  She  shows  him 
over  the  palace,  where  he  beholds  and  rehearses  at  great  length 
the  statutes  of  love,  some  of  which  are  hard  enough  and, 
in  fact,  mere  counsels  of  perfection.  He  makes  solemn  pro- 
fession, and  is  assigned  as  "servant"  to  a  beautiful  damsel, 
named  Rosiall,  whose  heart  is  yet  untouched  and  by  whom 
he  is  received  with  the  proper  mixture  of  cruelty  and  kindness. 
After  this  he  is  once  more  consigned  to  Philobone  to  see  the 
rarities  of  the  place.  Various  allegorical  personages  and 
scenes  pass  before  him:  the  most  famous  and  beautiful  of 
which  is  the  picture  of  those  who  have  wilfully  denied  them- 
selves love.  After  a  gap  (of  which  there  are  more  tha.n  one  in 
the  poem)  Pity,  who  has  been  lying  tranced  in  a  shrine,  rises 
and  bids  Rosiall  be  gracious  to  him ;  and  the  piece,  which  comes 
a  little  short  of  1500  lines,  ends  with  a  charming,  if  not  entirely 
original,  bird  chorus  to  the  initial  w^ords  of  favourite  psalms 
and  passages  of  Scripture,  the  nightingale  choosing  Domine 
labia,  the  eagle  Venite  and  the  throstle  cock  Te  deum  amoris, 
while  the  peacock  appropriately  delivers  Dominits  regnavit. 

The  mere  descriptions  here  are  a  little  less  artistic,  and  the 
atmosphere   and  colouring  of  a  less  dewy  freshness  than  in 


252  The  English  Chaucerians 

The  Flower  and  the  Leaf;  but  a  much  larger  range  of  qualities 
is  brought  into  play.  The  actual  narrative  power,  which  is  apt 
to  be  wofully  wanting  in  these  allegorical  poems,  is  not  small; 
and  there  is  some  character  both  about  Philogenet  and  about 
"little  Philobone,"  though  Rosiall,  naturally,  has  not  much 
to  do  save  smile  or  frown  in  look  and  speech.  Further, 
there  is  not  a  little  humour,  and  the  whole  is  distinctly  free 
from  the  invertebrate  character  of  the  usual  fifteenth  century 
poem;  while,  if  we  look  to  the  parts,  very  few  stanzas  out  of 
the  more  than  two  hundred  lack  the  salt  or  the  sweetness 
which  are  both  constantly  wanting  at  this  time.  But  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  episode  of  the  repentant  ascetics  and  the 
conclusion  are  the  choicest  parts  of  the  poem ;  and  that  neither 
of  them  ought  to  be  absent  from  any  full  and  representative 
collection  of  specimens  of  English  poetry.  The  special  quality 
of  the  stanza,  its  power  of  expressing  passion  and  complaint, 
is  thoroughly  well  brought  out  in  the  Regrets,  and  it  is  very 
noteworthy  that  the  running-on,  which  was  commented  on 
above  as  a  mistake,  is  not  attempted  in  these  places.  It  is, 
however,  quite  certain,  even  from  this  passage,  that  the  sole 
MS.  is  not  the  original. 

The  conclusion,  besides  its  intrinsic  beauty,  has  (if  it 
actually  be  late)  the  interest  of  being  one  of  the  latest  examples 
of  a  habit  which  began  quite  early  in  Middle  English,  of  mixing 
Latin  phrases,  chiefly  of  the  Scriptural  kind.  This  became 
specially  popular  in  the  late  fifteenth  century  just  before  it 
died  out;  and  we  have  remarkable  examples  of  it  both  from 
Skelton  and  Dunbar.  But  in  them  it  usually  shows  itself  by 
taking  whole  lines  of  Latin,  not,  as  here,  by  interweaving 
scraps.  The  effect  of  the  mixture  is  curiously  pleasing,  if  a 
little  fantastic,  and  gives  a  kind  of  key  to  the  rhetorical 
attraction,  in  prose  and  poetic  style,  of  the  intermixture  of 
words  of  Romance  and  other  origin. 

Taking  it  altogether,  if  The  Court  of  Love  is  to  be  placed 
within  the  sixteenth  century,  we  must  regard  it  as  the  latest 
piece  of  purely  English  poetry  which  exhibits  strictly  medieval 
characteristics  in  a  condition  either  genuine  or  quite  astonish- 
ingly imitated — the  very  last  echo  with  us,  putting  aside 
examples  in  Scots,  of  the  actual  music,  the  very  last  breath 


"The  Court  of  Love"  253 

of  the  atmosphere,  of  The  Romance  of  the  Rose.  That  it  should 
have  been  written  by  Chaucer,  in  its  present  state,  is  philologi- 
cally  impossible;  that,  in  any  form,  it  was  his,  there  is  no 
evidence  whatever  to  show.  But  that  it  is  good  enough  as 
literature  to  have  been  his,  and  strangely  like  him  in  temper 
and  complexion,  may  be  laid  down  as  a  critical  certainty. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Stephen  Hawes 

IN  the  closing  years  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  opening 
years  of  the  sixteenth,  the  EngHsh  language  was  still 
in  that  stage  of  transition  in  which  it  had  been  for  about  a 
century.  The  final  -e,  influential  for  much  that  is  good  in 
Chaucer  and  for  much  that  is  bad  in  his  successors,  had  now 
fallen  into  disuse  in  the  spoken  language  and  accentuation, 
especially  of  words  borrowed  from  foreign  tongues,  was  un- 
stable. These,  and  other  linguistic  developments,  begin- 
ning at  different  times  in  different  localities  and  proceeding 
with  varying  rapidity,  made  it  a  matter  of  considerable  diffi- 
culty for  the  men  of  Henry  VH's  reign  to  understand  the 
speech  of  another  shire  than  their  own,  or  the  English  of  an 
older  age. 

In  literature,  too,  the  age  was,  in  England,  an  age  of 
transition;  for  with  the  end  of  other  currents  of  medieval 
activity  came  the  end  of  what  had  been  the  main  stream  of 
medieval  literature.  Popular  poetry  and  morality  plays 
flourished,  history  written  in  English  made  tentative  efforts, 
but  the  court  poetry  of  the  Chaucerian  tradition  came  to  a  stop 
in  Stephen  Hawes,  who,  amid  the  men  of  the  new  age,  stands 
out  as  a  survivor  of  the  past,  one  born  an  age  too  late.  He 
felt  his  solitariness,  and  in  his  most  important  work,  The 
Passetyme  of  Pleasure,  chap,  xiv,  he  lamented  that  he  remained 
the  only  faithful  votary  of  true  poetry.  And,  if  we  bear  in 
mind  his  idea  of  poetry  as  essentially  allegorical  and  didactic, 
we  must  allow  that  he  had  good  cause  for  his  lament.  When 
we  omit  Skelton  as  standing  apart  in  a  niche  of  his  own,  we 
see  that,  though  many  songs  and  ballads  of  unknown  author- 
ship and — if  one  view  be  correct — those  Chaucerian  poems, 

254 


"The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure"  255 

The  Flower  and  the  Leaf,  The  Assembly  of  Ladies,  The  Court 
of  Love,  belong  to  this  period,  Hawes  occupies  a  position  of 
peculiar  isolation.  In  this  dearth  of  poets,  it  need  not  surprise 
us  that  a  Frenchman,  the  blind  Bernard  Andre  of  Toulouse, 
author  of  Les  Douze  Triomphes  de  Henry  VII,  a  poem  in  which 
the  labours  of  Hercules  form  a  framework  for  the  king's  ex- 
ploits, was  created  poet  laureate  by  Henry  VII,  who  preferred 
French  literature  to  any  other. 

Hawes  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  in  the  county  of 
Suffolk,  where  the  name  was  common.  The  date  of  his  birth 
is  uncertain.  In  The  Passetyme,  he  more  than  once  identifies 
himself  with  the  hero,  who,  in  one  passage,  is  said  to  be  thirty- 
one  years  old.  The  poem  was  written,  according  to  Wynkyn 
de  Worde,  in  1505-6;  and,  if  Hawes  himself  was  then  thirty- 
one  years  of  age,  we  get  1474-5  as  the  date  of  his  birth — an 
inference  quite  consistent  with  our  other  information.  He 
w^as  educated  at  Oxford  and  afterwards  visited  several  foreign 
universities.  His  acquirements,  linguistic  and  literary,  recom- 
mended him  to  Henry  VII,  whose  household  he  entered  as 
groom  of  the  chamber.  Anthony  a  Wood  states  that  the 
king's  favour  was  gained  by  Hawes's  facetious  discourse  and 
prodigious  memory:  he  could  repeat  most  of  the  English  poets » 
especially  Lydgate.  Entries  in  the  public  records  show  that, 
in  1506,  Hawes  was  paid  ten  shillings  for  "a  ballet  that  he 
gave  to  the  king's  grace."  From  Henry  VIII's  accounts  we 
learn  that  in  January,  152 1  "M'"  Hawse"  was  paid  ;i^6.  13s.  4(i. 
for  a  play.  The  play  is  unknow^n,  but  the  writer  may  be 
Stephen  Hawes.  He  died  before  1530,  for  he  is  mentioned  as 
dead  in  a  poem  belonging  to  that  year,  written  by  Thomas 
Feylde,  The  Controversy  between  a  Lover  and  a  Jay  : 

Yonge  Steven  Hawse,  whose  soul  God  pardon, 
Treated  of  love  so  clerkely  and  well, 
To  rede  his  workes  is  myne  affeccyon, 
Whiche  he  compyled  of  La  bell  Pusell, 
Remembrynge  storyes  fruytfuU  and  delectable. 

Besides  The  Passetyme,  Hawes  wrote  The  Example  of  Virtue, 
in  1503-4,1  as  we  learn  from    Wynkyn    de  Worde's  edition; 

»  Some  have  assumed  that  The  Example  of  Virtue  was  composed  after  The 
Passetyme  of  Pleasure,  the  date  of  which  is  given  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  as 
1505-06.     But   we   have   the   same   authority   for   dating   The  Example  as 


256  Stephen  Hawes 

The  Conversion  of  Swearers,  before  1509;  A  Joyful  Medi- 
tation to  all  England  of  the  Coronation  of  Henry  the  Eighth, 
1509;  and  The  Comfort  of  Lovers,  date  unknown.  No  manu- 
script of  any  of  these  seems  to  have  been  preserved.  Of  other 
works  attributed  to  Hawes,  only  one  merits  notice.  Bale 
mentions  a  Templum  Chrystallinum,  and  Warton  regards  Lyd- 
gate's  Temple  of  Glass  as  by  Hawes,  though  admitting  him- 
self puzzled  because  Hawes  includes  it  in  his  list  of  Lydgate's 
poems,  given  in  The  Passetyme,  chap.  xiv.  Hawes's  writ- 
ings bear  out  Bale's  remark  that  his  whole  life  quasi  virtutis 
exempliim  fiiit. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Gobelive  episode,  which  is  in 
decasyllabic  couplets,  The  Passetyme  is  in  rime  royal  and 
contains  about  5800  lines,  divided  into  forty-five  chapters. 
The  hero,  Graund  Amour,  is  the  narrator.  Having  entered 
on  the  way  of  the  active  life,  he  met  Lady  Fame.  She  de- 
scribed the  excellences  of  La  Bel  Pucell,  with  whom  he  fell 
in  love.  He  set  off  to  the  tower  of  Doctrine,  where  he  saw 
an  arras  portraying  his  future  life,  and  began  his  instruction 
under  Lady  Grammar.  Here  Hawes  inserts  a  denunciation  of 
the  sloth  and  gluttony  of  his  contemporaries.  Then  Graund 
Amour  visited  Logic,  and,  next.  Rhetoric.  Rhetoric,  or  the 
art  of  poetry,  is  elaborately  discussed  under  the  divisions  of 
invention,  disposition,  elocution,  pronunciation  and  memory. 
Hawes  praises  the  old  poets,  defends  allegory,  attacks  ignorance 
and  sloth  and  finally  eulogises  Chaucer,  Gower  and  Lydgate. 

After  listening  to  Arithmetic,  Graund  Amour  went  to 
Music,  with  whom  was  La  Bel  Pucell.  He  had  the  ineffable 
happiness  of  dancing  with  her,  but  lacked  courage  to  tell  his 
love.  Advised  by  Counsel,  he  visited  the  lady  in  her  garden. 
A  "disputation"  followed,  in  which  the  commonplaces  of 
medieval  love-making  are  presented  with  freshness  and  vivacity. 
Graund  Amour  won  his  lady,  but  her  friends  carried  her  oft" 
to  a  distant  land.  Before  setting  out  for  it,  the  hero  was 
instructed  by  Geometry  and  Astronomy.     At  the  tower  of 

1503-04.     See  the  following  extract  from  the  copy  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde's 
edition  of  151 2,  in  the  Pepysian  library,  Cambridge. 

"This  boke  called  the  example  of  vertue  was  made  and  compyled  by 
Stephen  hawys  one  of  the  gromes  of  the  moost  honorable  chaumber  of  oure 
soverayne  lorde  kynge  Henry  the  .vii.  the  .xix.  yere  of  his  moost  noble  reyne 
and  by  hym  presented  to  our  sayd  soverayne  lorde."     (Fol.  iii.) 


"The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure"  257 

Chivalry,  he  was  trained  in  arms  by  Minerva  and  knighted  by 
Melizius.  Then  he  met  a  foolish  dwarf,  whose  first  words: 
"when  Icham  in  Kent  Icham  at  home"  showed  his  origin. 
He  was  Godfrey  Gobelive,  a  despiser  of  women.  Graund 
Amour  and  he  came  to  a  "parliament"  held  by  Venus,  who 
despatched  a  letter  urging  La  Bel  Pucell  to  be  kind. 

Graund  Amour  now  encountered  a  giant  twelve  feet  high, 
with  three  heads,  which  he,  at  last,  cut  off.  Three  ladies 
hailed  him  victor,  and  Perseverance  brought  a  gracious  message 
from  La  Bel  Pucell.  Then  he  had  to  fight  a  seven-headed 
giant,  fifteen  feet  high,  wielding  an  axe  seven  yards  long, 
whom,  after  a  fierce  conflict,  he  overthrew.  Passing  through 
a  dismal  wilderness,  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  La  Bel  Pucell's 
palace  on  an  island  infested  by  the  fire-breathing  monster, 
Privy  Malice.  Blinded  by  its  fire  and  smoke,  torn  by  its  claws, 
Graund  Amour  was  preserved  by  an  unguent  given  him  by 
Pallas.  The  monster  burst  asunder,  and  La  Bel  Pucell's 
palace  became  visible.  The  lovers  were  married  by  Lex 
Ecclesiae,  and  lived  many  years  in  happiness.  But  Age 
glided  in,  and  with  him  Policy  and  Avarice.  Death  at  last 
summoned  Graund  Amour  away.  Then  follows  a  pageant 
of  allegorical  personages — Fame,  Time  and  Eternity.  In  con- 
clusion Hawes  apologises  for  his  ignorance;  prays  that  bad 
printing  may  not  spoil  his  scansion;  and  expresses  his  hope 
of  imitating  the  moral  writings  of  Lydgate. 

Much  of  the  contents  of  the  other  poems  is  found  in  The 
Passetyme  in  only  slightly  varied  form. 

The  Conversion  of  Swearers  contains  an  exhortation  from 
Christ  to  princes  and  lords  to  cease  swearing  by  His  blood, 
wounds,  head  and  heart.  It  is,  in  short,  a  versified  sermon. 
The  metre  is  the  seven-line  Chaucerian  stanza,  except  a  fan- 
tastic passage  in  form  as  follows: 

Se 
Ye 
Be 

Kind, 
Again    ♦ 
My  payne 
Reteyne 

In  Mynde; 


258  Stephen  Hawes 

and  so  on  the  metre  goes,  increasing  to  lines  of  six  syllables 
and  decreasing  again  to  words  of  one  syllable.  It  is  an  early 
example  of  shaped  verses,  which,  in  later  days,  take  the  form 
of  Pan's  pipes,  wings,  crosses,  altars,  pyramids,  gridirons  and 
frying-pans,  and  are  to  be  found  even  in  the  days  of  George 
Herbert's  Temple. 

A  Joyful  Meditation  to  all  England  of  the  Coronation  of 
Henry  the  Eighth,  in  the  seven-line  Chaucerian  stanza,  has 
little  to  distinguish  it  from  any  other  coronation  poem.  We 
may  note,  however,  that  Hawes  finds  an  apology  for  Henry 
VH's  avarice  in  the  plea  that  he  was  amassing  wealth  to 
be  ready  for  war — a  view  which  has  been  taken  by  modern 
historians.  He  urges  the  people  to  be  loyal  and  patriotic. 
He  appeals  also  to  Luna,  as  mistress  of  the  waves,  and  to 
the  Wind-god  to  inspire  EngHshmen  to  chase  their  enemies 
and — with  w^ords  that  anticipate  Ye  Mariners  of  England — 
to  sweep  the  sea  in  many  a  stormy  "  stour." 

The  Example  of  Virtue  is  written  in  the  seven-line  Chau- 
cerian stanza,  except  the  description  of  the  arming  of  the  hero, 
where  decasyllabic  couplets  are  used,  and  it  is  divided  into 
fourteen  chapters.  It  tells  how  Youth,  conducted  by  Dis- 
cretion, sailed  over  the  sea  of  Vainglory  and  reached  a  fair 
island  ruled  by  four  ladies.  Nature,  Fortune,  Courage  and 
Wisdom.  Youth  and  Discretion,  admitted  by  the  warder 
Humility  into  the  ladies'  castle,  visited  them  in  turn.  Fortune 
was  great  and  glorious,  but  unstable.  Courage  was  powerful 
and  famous,  but  Death  was  stronger.  Wisdom  had  the  great- 
est attraction  for  Youth,  who  entered  her  service  and  received 
much  instruction.  Nature  possessed  great  loveliness,  but 
behind  her  was  the  grim  visage  of  Death.  Youth  and  Dis- 
cretion were  present  at  a  disputation  in  which  each  of  the  four 
ladies  urged  her  claims  to  be  considered  the  highest  in  worth. 
The  umpire  Justice  bade  them  cease  disputing  and  combine  to 
secure  man's  happiness. 

Wisdom  advised  Youth  to  marry  Cleanness.  To  be  worthy 
of  her,  he  must  be  led  by  Discretion,  and  must  not  give  way 
to  frailty  or  vainglory.  Youth  then  passed  into  a  wilderness, 
moonless  and  sunless.  There,  he 'triumphed  over  the  tempta- 
tions of  Sensuality,  a  fair  lady  mounted  on  a  goat,  and  of 
Pride,  a  pleasant  old  lady  on  an  elephant.     After  emerging 


"The  Example  of  Virtue"  259 

from  the  maze  of  worldly  fashion,  he  met  Wisdom,  who,  with 
Discretion,  brought  him  to  a  stream  crossed  by  a  bridge  as 
narrow  as  the  ridge  of  a  house.  Passing  over,  he  arrived  in 
the  land  of  Great  Grace,  where  lived  the  king  of  Love  and 
his  daughter  Cleanness.  Before  Youth  could  win  his  bride, 
he  must  overcome  a  marsh-infesting  dragon  with  three  heads, 
the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil.  For  this  conflict  he  was 
armed  with  "  the  whole  armour  of  God,"  described  by  St.  Paul. 

After  a  hard-won  victory,  Youth,  now  sixty  years  of  age, 
was  renamed  Virtue,  and  w^as  married  to  Cleanness  by  St. 
Jerome,  while,  all  around,  were  troops  of  allegorical  ladies — 
Prayer,  Penitence,  Charity,  Mercy;  fathers  of  the  church  and 
saints  such  as  Bede  and  Ambrose;  and  the  heavenly  hosts 
with  Michael  and  Gabriel.  St.  Edmund  the  martyr-king  and 
Edward  the  Confessor  led  the  bride  to  the  marriage  feast. 
Finally,  after  Virtue  had  been  shown  the  sufferings  of  the 
lost  in  hell,  all  the  company  ascended  to  heaven.  The  poem 
ends  with  a  prayer  that  the  union  of  the  Red  Rose  and  the 
White  may  grow  in  all  purity  and  virtue;  and  with  Hawes's 
usual  address  to  Chaucer,  Gower  and  Lydgate. 

In  choice  of  theme,  in  method  of  exposition  and  in  mode  of 
expression,  Hawes  has  a  limited  range.  He  repeatedly  insists 
that  every  poet  should  be  a  teacher;  and  he  always  presses 
his  own  lessons  home,  especially  the  lesson  to  eschew  sloth. 
In  his  two  long  poems,  he  has  the  same  didactic  aim — to 
portray  a  man's  struggle  to  attain  his  ideal:  moral  purity  in 
The  Example  of  Virtue,  worldly  glory  in  The  Passetyme  of 
Pleasure,  the  former  being  fuller  of  moralising  than  the  latter.. 
The  Passetyme,  which  was  composed  after  The  Example,  exhibits 
greater  skill  in  treatment  and  possesses  more  human  interest- 
Both  poems  belong  to  the  same  type  of  allegory,  and  are 
worked  out  on  similar  lines.  They  have  a  number  of  incidents 
in  common,  as  crossing  seas  to  reach  the  loved  one,  and  killing 
a  foe  with  three  heads.  Several  of  the  personified  abstractions 
are  the  same  in  both,  as  Fortune,  Justice,  Sapience  or  Wisdom, 
Grace,  Perseverance,  Peace,  Mercy,  Charity,  Contrition.  In 
all  these  poems,  Hawes  has  certain  pet  ideas,  which  he  puts 
forward  again  and  again  with  little  variation  in  phraseology: 
as  eulogies  of  Chaucer,  Gower  and  Lydgate;  apologies  for 
rude  diction  and  want  of  poetic  power;  declarations  that  poets 


26o  Stephen  Hawes 

keep  alive  the  memory  of  the  great,  and  conceal  moral  in- 
struction under  "  cloudy  figures," 

This  sameness  renders  it  unnecessary  to  examine  all 
Hawes's  poems  in  detail.  We  shall  be  able  to  appreciate  the 
quality  of  his  work  even  though  we  restrict  ourselves,  for 
the  most  part,  to  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure.  It  is  an  allegory 
of  human  life,  couched  in  the  form  of  a  chivalrous  romance, 
with  the  addition  of  a  strong  dash  of  scholastic  learning  and 
theology,  and  is  in  the  line  of  such  works  as  the  Roman  de  la 
Rose,  the  allegories  of  Chaucer,  Gower  and  Lydgate,  Dunbar's 
Goldyn  Targe  and  Dance  of  the  Sevin  Deidlie  Synnis,  Douglas's 
King  Hart,  Sackville's  Induction,  Googe's  Cupido  Conquered 
and  Spenser's  Faerie  Queene.  What  Hawes  did  was  to  make 
a  new  departure,  and,  in  working  out  his  didactic  allegory, 
emphasise  the  element  of  chivalrous  romance.  This  suited 
his  age,  for,  after  the  collapse  of  the  feudal  baronage  in  the  wars 
of  the  Roses,  came  a  revival  of  chivalry,  though  rather  of  the 
outward  show  than  of  the  inward  reality,  of  courtiers  and 
carpet  knights  rather  than  of  chivalrous  warriors.  Later,  it 
blazed  out  in  the  Field  of  Cloth  of  Gold.  The  attempted  revival 
in  Henry  VH's  day  explains  the  passage  in  The  Passetyme, 
chap.  XXVI,  where  Graund  Amour  is  admonished  to  renew  the 
flower  oi  chivalry  now  long  decayed,  and  in  the  dissertation 
of  king  Melizius,  chap,  xxviii,  on  the  true  meaning  of  the 
chivalrous  idea.  Caxton,  too,  in  The  Order  of  Chivalry,  recom- 
mends the  reading  of  Froissart,  and  of  tales  about  king  Arthur's 
knights,  as  likely  to  resuscitate  chivalry.  Hawes,  however, 
with  all  his  advocacy  of  knighthood,  insists  more  on  the  trivium 
and  quadrivium,  less  on  the  training  that  produced  the  men 
pictured  in  Chaucer's  knight  and  squire. 

The  long  and  complicated  allegory  of  The  Passetyme  is 
managed  with  much  success.  The  personified  abstractions  are 
selected  and  fitted  in  with  no  little  dexterity.  But  it  need 
cause  no  surprise  that  we  feel  the  details  tiresome  and  obscure : 
it  may  be  that  often  details  which  seem  obscure  are  pictorial 
and  not  didactic.  In  the  construction  of  the  poem  there  are 
curious  slips;  in  fact,  the  design  seems  to  have  been  altered 
while  it  was  being  worked  out.  Graund  Amour,  chap,  iv,  is 
shown  an  arras  picturing  his  journey  and  adventures  till 
he  wins  his  lady.     What  he  sees  does  not  exactly  coincide 


<( 


The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure"  261 


with  what  aftenvards  happens.  The  arras  does  not  show 
the  meeting  of  the  lovers  in  the  tower  of  Music,  chap.  xvii. 
More  than  once,  after  the  hero  saw  the  arras,  he  is  represented 
as  doubtful  of  his  ultimate  success,  e.g.  chap.  xvii.  Perhaps 
Hawes  discovered — his  readers  certainly  discover — that  the 
foreknowledge  of  the  final  result  removes  the  feeling  of  sus- 
pense and  spoils  the  interest  of  the  story.  Again,  Graund 
Amour  and  La  Bel  Pucell  come  to  a  perfect  understanding 
in  the  garden  and  plight  their  troth,  chap.  xix.  Yet,  later, 
chaps.  XXIX  ff.,  the  garden  scene  is  entirely  ignored;  and  the 
conventional  plan  that  makes  Venus  the  intermediary  to 
persuade  the  lady  to  take  pity  on  her  lover  is  employed.  Nor 
is  the  allegory  always  consistent;  but  that  is  a  trifle,  for 
even  in  The  Pilgrim'' s  Progress  lynx-eyed  critics  have  detected 
inconsistencies.  In  The  Passetyme,  inconsistency  often  arises 
from  the  exigency  of  the  narrative.  We  recognise  the  aptness 
of  the  allegory  when  the  perfect  knight  has  as  his  companions 
the  knights  Truth,  Courtesy,  Fidelity,  Justice,  Fortitude, 
Nurture  and  such  like:  that  is,  possesses  the  qualities  sym- 
bolised by  those  knights.  Soon,  however,  they  bid  him  fare- 
well, not  because  he  has  lost  those  traits  of  character,  but 
because  the  narrative  requires  that  he  shall  fight  his  battles 
alone.  The  greyhounds  Grace  and  Governance  are,  in  spite 
of  their  names,  conventional  figures:  when  stirring  events  are 
in  progress  they  drop  into  the  background.  Sometimes  an  ab- 
straction w^hich  has  been  already  employed  in  one  connection, 
is  reintroduced  in  another,  and  even  an  incongruous  connection. 
Envy,  for  example,  is  one  of  the  giant's  seven  heads  and  is 
cut  off  by  Graund  Amour;  but  it  reappears  as  one  of  the 
contrivers  of  the  metal  monster.  Like  other  allegories.  The 
Passetyme  is  marred  by  the  fact  that  the  characters  talk  and 
debate  too  much,  and  act  too  Httle.  And  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  personification  of  the  seven  sciences  makes  dreary 
reading  nowadays.  Hawes  himself  found  it  difficult  to  turn 
his  expositions  of  learning  into  musical  form.  His  stanzas 
on  the  noun  substantive,  chap,  v,  must  surely  be  among  the 
most  unpoetical  passages  of  all  metrical  writing.  Four  lines 
will  be  sufficient  to  quote : 

The  Latyn  worde  whyche  that  is  referred 

Unto  a  thynge  whych  is  substancyall, 


262  Stephen  Hawes 

For  a  nowne  substant\^^e  is  wel  averred, 
And  wyth  a  gender  is  declynall. 

We  have  seen  that  Hawes  was  reputed  a  man  of  wide 
learning,   and  his  writings  bear  this  out.     He  was  famihar 
with  the   Bible  and  with  theological  books.     The  influence 
of    the    wisdom-literature    of    the    Old    Testament    and    the 
Apocrypha   is   manifest   in   the   prominent   part    assigned  to 
Wisdom  and  Discretion  in  The  Example  of  Virtue.     The  con- 
clusion of  the  same  poem  is  crowded  with  saints  and  martyrs, 
while  Augustine  and  Bernard  are  quoted  in  The  Conversion 
of  Swearers.     The  exposition  of  the  sciences  in  The  Passetyme, 
though  not  free  from  slips,  of  which  he  was  himself  aware, 
shows  that  he  had  studied  the  text-books  of  the  trivium  and 
quadrivium.     It  was  not,  however,  the  intellectual  value  of 
those  studies  that  appealed  to  him  so  much  as  their  moral 
influence.     Rhetoric  and  music,   he  says,   produce  not  only 
order  in  words  and  harmony  in  sounds,   but  also  order  in 
man's  life  and  harmony  in  his  soul.     Hawes  was  thoroughly 
versed  in  the  romantic  and  allegorical  writings  of  the  pre- 
ceding generations.     He  appeals  to  Caxton's  Recuyell  of  the 
Histories  of  Troy,  and,  speaking  of  Arthur,  he  evidently  refers 
to  Malory's  Morte  d' Arthur  as  a  familiar  book.     Whether  or 
not  Hawes  possessed  the  powerful  memory  attributed  to  him, 
his  methods,  illustrations,  turns  of  phrase,  continually  remind 
us  of  the  Roman  de  la  Rose,  of  Chaucer — Troilus  and  Criseyde 
for   example — of   Gower's   Confessio  Amantis,   of   Lydgate — 
especially  The  Temple  of  Glass.      His  indebtedness  to  these 
three  poets  he  frequently  acknowledges;  and  it  may  be  sum- 
marily illustrated.      The  prayer  at  the  end  of  The  Passetyme, 
that  the  scansion  may  not  be  marred  by  bad  printing  and 
that  the  poet's  intention  may  be    manifest,  is,  in  idea  and 
phrasing,  closely  modelled  on  a  passage  near  the  conclusion 
of   Chaucer's    Troihis.     Troilus,  which   Hawes  often  cites,  is 
also  his  original  for  the  lovers'  meeting  in  the  temple  of  Music 
and  for  their  ■  sorrowful  parting,  chaps,   xvii,  xix.     Gower's 
Confessio  supplies  the  fabliaux  about  Aristotle  and  Vergil,  and 
the  tradition  that  Evander's  daughter  devised  the  principles 
of  Latinity,  chaps,  xxix,  v.     The  Passetyme  resembles   The 
Temple  of  Glass  in  being  partly  in  rime  royal,  partly  in  deca- 
syllabic couplets.     Again,  the  dazzling  brightness  of  the  tower 


His  Learning  and  Models  263 

of  Doctrine  and  the  impossibility  of  gazing  at  it  till  clouds 
covered  the  sun,  chap,  iii,  Hawes  borrowed,  diction  and  all, 
from  Lydgate's  description  of  the  crystal  fane.  The  gold  vine 
with  grapes  of  rubies  in  the  roof  of  the  same  tower  comes  from 
]Mandeville.  Hawes  evidently  had  The  Court  of  Sapience 
also  in  his  mind.  The  prison  in  the  tower  of  Chastity, 
chap.  XXXII,  is  a  distant  and  pale  reflection  of  Dante's  Inferno. 
Finally,  Hawes  appears  to  have  drawn,  directly  or  indirectly, 
from  Martianus  Capella's  de  Nuptiis  Philologiae  et  Mercurii, 
the  well  known  text-book  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Living  though  Hawes  did  at  the  opening  of  a  new  age, 
and  having  studied  abroad  at  the  time  when  the  study  of  the 
classics  was  reviving  in  western  Europe,  he  still  shows  the 
characteristic  marks  of  medievalism.  His  writings  abound  in 
long  digressions,  irrelevances,  debates,  appeals  to  authority, 
needless  repetitions,  prolix  descriptions.  One  glaring  instance 
of  prolixity  occurs  in  The  Passetyme,  chap,  xlii,  where  the 
sum  and  substance  of  a  seven-line  stanza  on  Pride  can  be 
adequately  expressed  in  the  six  words,  "  Why  are  dust  and 
ashes  proud  ? "  Hawes  also  exhibits  want  of  proportion.  More 
than  one-eighth  of  The  Passetyme  is  devoted  to  the  exposi- 
tion of  Rhetoric,  with  two  digressions.  Again,  he  jumbles 
together  ideas  and  associations  of  various  ages,  and  fails  to 
appreciate  the  difference  between  his  own  age  and  classical 
times.  Anything  characteristic  of  an  earlier  age  and  not  of 
his  own,  he  transmutes,  like  other  medieval  writers,  into  some- 
thing of  his  own  days  that  seemed  analogous.  Thus,  Plato 
is  "  the  cunning  and  famous  clerk"  ;  Joshua  is  a  "  duke"  ;  the 
centaur-king  MeHzius  is  the  founder  of  feudal  chivalry  and 
is  conversant  with  St.  Paul's  epistles;  Minerva ^  and  Pallas  are 
spoken  of  as  distinct — the  former  being  instructor  in  arms  at 
the  court  of  Melizius,  the  latter  being  the  goddess.  Vergil, 
too,  is  the  magician.  Hawes  employs  the  familiar  medieval 
machinery — the  May  morning.  Fortune  and  her  wheel,  the 
seven  deadly  sins,  astronomical  lore,  and  he  firmly  believes 
that  all  poetry  is  allegory.  In  his  defence  of  poets.  The 
Passetyme,  chap,  ix,  he  maintains  that  it  is  because  the 
revilers  of  poetry  cannot  discover  the  moral  under  the  alle- 
gory that  they  fail  to  appreciate  poetry.      Equally  medieval 

'  So  Dunbar,  Goldyn  Targe,  1.  78,  makes  Minerva  and  Pallas  two  goddesses. 


264  Stephen  Hawes 

is  he  in  holding  that  poets  should  always  have  a  lesson  to 
teach.  So  strongly  does  he  hold  this,  that  to  those  who  write 
without  a  moral  he  would  almost  deny  the  name  of  poet.  He 
bewails  the  dearth  of  moral  poets  in  his  own  day:  most 
versifiers,  he  says,  waste  their  time  in  "vaynful  vanyte," 
composing  ballades  of  fervent  love,  "gests"  and  trifles  without 
fruitfulness.  ^ 

Hawes  never  outgrew  those  views  of  poetry  and  never 
thoroughly  rid  himself  of  the  traditional  conventions.  Some- 
times he  forgets  them,  and  then  he  is  at  his  best.  His  style 
becomes  animated  or  graceful;  his  diction  shakes  itself  free 
from  the  load  of  aureate  terms.  At  times  his  fine  rhetoric — 
"  aromatyke  fume"  he  calls  it — is  very  cumbrous  and  disfigur- 
ing: as  in  The  Passetyme,  chap,  xxxviii, 

Her  redolente  wordes  of  swete  influence 
Degouted  vapoure  moost  aromatyke, 
And  made  conversyon  of  complacence; 
Her  depured  and  her  lusty  rethoryke 
My  courage  reformed,  that  was  so  lunatyke. 

He  uses  also  the  words  "pulcritude,"  "  facundious,"  "tene- 
brous," "sugratife,"  "exornate,"  " perdurable "  and  "celestine." 
He  frequently  runs  riot  in  the  rhetorical  figure  of  epanaphora, 
as  in  The  Passetyme,  chap,  xxi,  where  each  line  of  one  stanza 
begins  "Where  lacketh  mesure,"  while  in  another,  "Without 
mesure  wo  worth"  occurs  seven  times.  In  spite  of  pedantry, 
however,  Hawes  manages  to  write  passages  of  poetic  beauty 
and  sweet  tenderness.  Such  passages  are  found  in  the  garden 
scene,  where  Graund  Amour  woos  La  Bel  Pucell,  The  Passetyme, 
chap,  xviii.  There,  allegory  disappears;  and,  though  we 
meet  with  verbiage  and  stiffness,  we  cannot  miss  the  beating  of 
human  hearts,  the  eager  passion  of  the  man,  the  coyness  of  the 
maid,  coyness  that  ends  in  complete  surrender.  Allegory  is 
again  dropped  in  the  episode  of  Godfrey  Gobelive,  The 
Passetyme,  chaps,  xxix,  xxxii.  There,  Hawes  is  a  keen 
observer  of  contemporary  life,  which  he  describes  at  first  hand. 
If  the  rest  of  the  poem  with  its  personified  abstractions 
may  be  reckoned  akin  to  the  morality  plays,  this  episode  is 
in  tone  a  comic  interlude.     It  exhibits  also  a  change  then 

>  The  Passetyme,  chap.  xiv. 


Relation  to  Spenser  265 

beginning  among  the  abstractions  of  the  moraHties,  a  change 
destined  to  develop  in  comedy.  Godfrey  GobeHve  and  his 
ancestors,  Davy  Dronken-nole,  Sym  Sadie-gander,  Peter 
Pratefast,  are  not  allegorical  shadows  but  living  personalities. 
Such  alliterative  nicknames  are  parallel  to  the  Tom  Tosspot 
and  Cuthbert  Cutpurse  of  the  moralities,  to  Tibet  Talkapace 
and  Davy  Diceplayer  of  the  comedies.  So,  too,  Godfrey's 
Kentish  tongue,  his  Kentish  home,  his  grandfather's  voyage 
up  the  Thames  in  search  of  a  wife,  which  give  a  touch  of  reality 
to  the  narrative,  find  parallels  in  the  moralities:  e.g.  in  The 
World  and  the  Child,  where  Folly  describes  his  adventures  in 
Holbom  and  Southwark.  Godfrey  has  humour  of  thS  rough 
type  seen  in  Gammer  Gurton's  Needle:  his  great-grandmother, 
for  example,  is  praised  for  cleanliness,  because,  when  she  had 
no  dishclout,  she  wiped  the  dishes  with  her  dog's  tail. 

The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure  and  The  Example  of  Virtue  belong 
to  the  group  of  allegorical  poems  culminating  in  The  Faerie 
Queene;  and  it  is  generally  agreed  that  Hawes  influenced 
Spenser.  Opinions,  however,  differ  as  to  the  extent  of  this 
influence.  On  the  one  hand  E.  B.  Browning  calls  The  Passe- 
tyme one  of  ' '  the  four  columnar  marbles,  the  four  allegorical 
poems,  on  whose  foundation  is  exalted  into  light  the  great 
allegorical  poem  of  the  world,  Spenser's  Faery  Queen.''  On  the 
other  hand,  Saintsbury  admits  only  a  faint  adumbration  of 
The  Faerie  Queene  in  The  Passetyme  and  The  Example:  "its 
outline  without  its  glorious  filling-in,  its  theme  without  its  art, 
its  intellectual  reason  for  existence  without  any  of  its  aesthetic 
justification  thereof.  It  is  not  improbable  that  Spenser  did 
know  Hawes;  but,  if  so,  he  owed  him  a  very  small  royalty." 
The  extent  of  this  influence,  or  indebtedness,  is  easy  to 
overstate  and  very  difficult,  or,  rather,  impossible,  to  prove. 
Mere  coincidences  may  readily  be  mistaken  for  borrowing. 
It  does  not  follow  that,  when  two  waiters  speak  in  very  sim- 
ilar terms  of  the  seven  deadly  sins,  one  has  borrowed  from  the 
other.  For,  from  the  time  of  Piers  the  Plowman,  the  seven 
deadly  sins  had  appeared  again  and  again  in  allegor>^  in 
morality  play  and  in  pageant :  they  are  found,  too,  along  with 
other  miscellaneous  information,  in  that  perpetual  almanac, 
The  Kalendar  of  Shepherds.  It  seems  better,  then,  simply  to 
enumerate  points  of  resemblance — grouped  together  they  make 


266  Stephen  Hawes 

a  striking  list — than  to  attempt  to  define  where  the 
limit  of  Spenser's  indebtedness  to  Hawes  should  be  fixed. 

Hawes's  main  idea  is  to  describe  the  discipline  a  man  must 
undergo  and  the  obstacles  he  must  surmount  to  attain  moral 
purity,  in  The  Example,  or  win  worldly  glory,  in  The  Passetyme. 
Spenser  states  that  his  general  aim  is  "to  fashion  a  gentleman 
or  noble  person  in  virtuous  and  gentle  discipline." 

Spenser  follows  the  lead  of  Hawes  in  adopting  the  para- 
phernalia of  chivalry  as  allegorical  symbolism.  The  knights 
of  The  Faerie  Queene  put  into  practice  what  Melizius  enunciates 
in  The  Passetyme  as  the  underlying  idea  of  chivalry — not 
fighting  in  every  quarrel,  but  fighting  for  the  truth  or  for  the 
commonweal,  and  helping  widows  and  maidens  in  distress. 
Some  of  Melizius's  knights,  as,  for  instance.  Courtesy  and 
Justice,  appear  among  Spenser's  paladins. 

It  is  after  hearing  a  description  of  La  Bel  Pucell's  surpass- 
ing beauty  and  worth  that  Graund  Amour  falls  in  love  and 
determines  to  win  his  ideal.  Spenser  represents  Arthur  as 
having  "  seen  in  a  dream  or  vision  the  Faerie  Queene,  with 
whose  beauty  ravished,  he,  awaking,  resolved  to  seek  her  out." 

Graund  Amour  in  The  Passetyme,  Youth  in  The  Example, 
and  Spenser's  Red  Cross  Knight  wear  the  same  armour,  the 
Christian  soldier's  panoply  described  by  St.  Paul,  whose  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians  is  expressly  referred  to  in  each  of  the  three 
instances. 

In  The  Example  there  is  a  dragon  with  three  heads — the 
world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil — which  must  be  defeated  before 
Lady  Cleanness  is  won ;  and  the  Red  Cross  Knight  must  over- 
come the  same  three  foes  before  he  wins  Lady  Una. 

Lechery,  in  The  Example,  is  a  fair  lady  riding  on  a  goat,  and 
in  The  Faerie  Queene,  a  man  upon  a  bearded  goat.  In  the 
former  poem.  Pride  is  an  old  lady  in  a  castle  on  an  elephant's 
back,  in  the  latter,  a  lady  in  a  coach  drawn  by  peacocks. 
Hawes  writes  of  the  park  of  Pride,  Spenser  of  the  garden  of 
Pride. 

When  fighting  with  the  seven-headed  giant,  Graund 
Amour  leaps  aside  to  evade  the  stroke  of  the  ponderous  axe, 
which  then  crashes  into  the  ground  three  feet  and  more.  In 
a  similar  way,  Orgoglio's  club  misses  its  mark  and  ploughs 
three  yards  into  the  ground. 


Relation  to  Spenser  267 

Humility  is  warden  of  the  castle  in  The  Example,  and  porter 
of  Spenser's  house  of  Holiness. 

The  claim  asserted  by  Mutability  in  Spenser's  fragmentary 
seventh  book  resembles  Fortune's  claim  to  universal  rule,  as 
set  forth  by  Hawes  in  both  his  poems. 

Envy,  Disdain  and  Strangeness  contrive  Hawes's  monster 
Privy  Malice;  Spenser's  blatant  beast.  Slander,  is  urged  on  by 
Detraction  and  Envy. 

The  list  of  resemblances  might  be  extended,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose; and  of  the  many  verbal  coincidences  one  must  suffice. 
Spenser  (Book  v,  canto  xi,  stanzas  55,  56)  makes  Artegall  say 
to  Burbon: 

Die  rather  than  do  aught  that  mote  dishonour  yield. 

Fie  on  such  forgery! 

Under  one  hood  to  shadow  faces  twain: 

Knights  ought  be  true,  and  truth  is  one  in  all. 

With  this,  compare  three  passages  from  The  Passetyme. 
Minerva   exhorts  Graund  Amour: 

And  rather  deye  in  ony  maner  of  wyse. 

To  attayne  honour  and  the  lyfe  dyspyse, 

Than  for  to  lyve  and  remayne  in  shame.     Chap,  xxviii. 

Fortune  is  described  as  a  lady  of  pride  and  of  perfect 
excellence. 

But  that  she  had  two  faces  in  one  hode.     Chap,  xxvii. 

Sir  Truth  says  that  he  guards  the  door  of  the  chamber  of 
chivalry. 

That  no  man  enter  into  it  wrongfully. 

Without  me,  Trouthe,  for  to  be  chivalrous.    Chap,  xxviii. 

Hawes  employs  the  Chaucerian  seven-line  stanza  almost 
exclusively.  Exceptions  have  already  been  noted — the  fan- 
tastic tour  de  force,  and  several  passages  in  decasyllabic  couplets. 
It  must  be  set  down  to  his  defective  sense  of  metrical  fitness 
that  he  used  rime  royal  so  extensively.  However  suitable 
that  measure  is  for  serious  and  pathetic  subjects,  it  is  less 
suitable  for  much  of  Hawes's  work,  a  great  part  of  The  Passe- 
tyme, for  instance,  where  a  metre  of  superior  narrative  capacity 


268  Stephen  Hawes 

is  required.  For  continuous  narrative,  Hawes  found  the 
compartment  nature  of  rime  royal  inconvenient,  and,  con- 
sequently, sentences  overflow  the  stanza.  In  one  instance, 
a  whole  stanza  is  occupied  by  the  modifiying  parts  of  the 
sentence,  while  the  main  predicate  is  pushed  into  the  next 
stanza,  which,  because  the  printer,  or  somebody  else,  blun- 
dered, happens  to  begin  another  chapter.^  In  using  deca- 
syllabic couplets  for  the  humorous  Godfrey  GobeHve  scenes, 
Hawes  proves  himself  not  wholly  insensible  to  metrical  fitness. 
It  is  possible  that  he  employed  the  two  metres  in  the  same 
poem  in  imitation  of  Lydgate's  Temple  of  Glass.  If  so,  he 
missed  Lydgate's  tolerably  constant  distinction  of  couplet  for 
narrative,  stanza  for  lyrical  parts. 

When  we  read  a  passage  from  Hawes,  we  feel  that  his  verse 
is  possessed  of  a  strange  hobbling  gait;  and  when  we  seek  to 
scan  the  lines,  we  are  likely  to  become  bewildered.  Some  of 
the  lines,  it  is  true,  scan  quite  correctly;  at  times,  they  have 
a  flow  and  cadence  which  competent  critics  have  likened 
to  the  music  of  Spenser,  as 

I  sawe  come  ryding  in  a  valey  farre 

A  goodly  ladye,  envyroned  about 

With  tongues  of  fyre  as  bright  as  any  starre, 

That  fyry  flambes  ensensed  alway  out. 

The  Passetyme,  Chap,  i; 


or 


Was  never  payne,  but  it  had  joye  at  last.  Chap.  xvii. 


But  we  are  not  to  expect  to  find  in  Hawes  the  artistic 
splendour  of  Spenser.  Indeed,  most  of  his  lines  are  inartistic 
and  unmusical.  We  must  remember,  however,  that  the  non- 
existence of  a  critical  edition  of  Hawes  renders  it  uncertain 
how  far  we  may  justly  lay  the  blame  on  the  writer.  The  text 
is  undoubtedly  corrupt,  and  Hawes  was  justified  in  praying 
that  bad  printing  might  not  spoil  his  scansion. 2  The  follow- 
ing corrupt  line  does  not  show  metre  spoiled,  but  is  given 
because  it  can  be  corrected  from  The  Passetyme  itself.  We 
read  in  a  stanza  dealing  with  Gluttony, 

>  The  Passetyme,  Chaps,  xxxiii,  xxxiv. 
2  The  Passetyme,  ad  fin. 


His  Metre  269 

The  pomped  clerkes  with  foles  deHcious,      Chap,  xlii, 

which,  in  the  context,  is  absolutely  without  meaning.  A  cor- 
rection is  easily  got  from  the  line  in  chap,  v, 

The  pomped  carkes  wyth  foode  dilicious. 

In  chap.  XXXIII  three  riming  lines  end  thus:  "craggy  roche," 
"hye  flackes,"  "tre  toppes,"  where  the  natural  emendation^  is 
"rockes,"  "flockes."  But,  even  then,  "flockes,"  "toppes,"  is 
assonance  and  not  rime. 2  Taking  the  text,  however,  as  we 
have  it,  we  must  conclude  that  Hawes  possessed  a  very  defec- 
tive ear.  This  must  be  said,  even  after  allowance  has  been 
made  for  the  difficulty  which  Chaucer's  successors  had  in 
imitating  his  versification  with  words  of  changed  and  chang- 
ing, not  to  say  chaotic,  pronunciation.  The  4ifficulty  was  a 
very  real  one  for  those  who  in  diction  and  metre  were  slavish 
imitators  of  Chaucer.  When  Chaucer  used  an  expression  Hke 
"theyonge  sonne"  or  "smale  fowles"  with  final -^  sounded,  he 
was  following  grammatical  usage  and  current  pronunciation. 
But  after  these  endings  ceased  to  be  sounded,  such  expressions 
had  a  different  metrical  value.  Not  knowing  their  rationale, 
Chaucer's  imitators  adopted  the  final  -e  as  a  metrical  li- 
cence, and  only  at  haphazard  did  their  use  of  it  coincide  with 
its  etymological  origin.  Hawes  neglects  the  final  -e,  when, 
for  example,  he  rimes  "mette"  with  "great,"  The  Passetyme, 
chap,  xix;  he  observes  it  in  such  lines  as 

You  can  not  helpe  in  the  case  I  trow,    Ihid.; 
and  he  adds  it  without  historical  justification, 

A !  toure !  toure !  all  my  joye  is  gone.     Chap.  xx. 

The  shifting  accent  is  made  use  of,  especially  in  words  of 
French  origin;  and  we  find  both  accentuations  in  the  same 
stanza,  sometimes  even  in  the  same  line,  as 

»  Made  by  Skeat,  Specimens  of  Eng.  Lit.,  p.  119  (6th  ed.). 

«  Another  example  of  assonance  is  "loked"  "toted,"  chap.  xix.  Other 
curious,  weak,  or  faulty  rimes  are  "slomber"  "wonder";  "muche  why" 
"  truly  " ;  "  moved  "  "  hoved  "  "  i-tuned  " ;  "  fooes  "  "  schooles  " ;  "  carbuncles  " 
"solacious";  "appese"  '-suppose";  "lylly"  "prety"  "body";  "engraved" 
"amased";  "tassel"  "fayle";  "joye"  "waye";  "approcheth"  "requireth." 
When  necessary,  Hawes  writes  " rigorious "  instead  of  "rigorous,"  and  he 
delights  to  match  a  word  like  "thing"  with  any  termination  " -ing,"  or 
"stable  "  and  "  fable  "  with  "  -able." 


270  Stephen  Hawes 

Mesure  mesureth  mesure  in  effecte.     Chap.  xxi. 

This  Une  also  exemplifies  the  alliterative  repetition  of  allied 
words  or  of  forms  of  the  same  word.  Those  licences  are  com- 
paratively harmless.  Others  disfigure  the  Chaucerian  decasyl- 
labic, whether  in  stanza  or  couplet,  and  tend  to  ruin  all  its 
harmony.  Lines  of  four  feet  are  common.  Some  are  regular 
octosyllabics,  as 

Alas!  what  payne  and  mortall  wo.     Chap.  xxxi. 
Others  have  an  additional  final  syllable,  as 

And  on  my  way  as  I  was  riding,     Chap,  xxxi; 
or  a  trisyllabic  foot,  as 

Whose  hart  ever  inwardly  is  fret.  Chap,  xxxv; 
or  two  trisyllabic  feet  and  consequently  ten  syllables,  as 

His  good  is  his  God,  with  his  great  ryches.     Chap.  xlii. 

Again,  lines  of  five  feet  occur  with  an  unaccented  syllable 
omitted  at  the  caesura,  a  device  which  produces  an  awkward 
break,  as 

The  minde  of  men  chaungeth  as  the  mone.     Chap,  xviii. 

Hawes  may  have  learned  this  from  Lydgate,  in  whose  works 
Schick  says  it  is  more  used  than  anywhere  else.  The  numer- 
ous trisyllabic  feet  which  Hawes,  influenced,  perhaps,  by  the 
freedom  of  versification  in  the  popular  poetry  of  his  day, 
introduced  into  the  seven-line  stanza,  spoil  its  rhythm,  as 

In  the  toure  of  Chyvalry  I  shall  make  me  stronge.     Chap.  xix. 

Alexandrines  are  frequently  found:  some  regular,  others  with 
one  or  two  trisyllabic  feet,  which  lengthen  out  to  thirteen 
or  fourteen  syllables,  as 

The  hye  astronomier,  that  is  God  omnipotent.      Chap.  xxii. 

Consequently,  the  same  stanza  may  contain  lines  of  different 
lengths  riming  together.  This  gives  the  impression  of  jolting, 
and  suggests  doggerel  with  its  grotesque  effect  in  serious  poetry, 
as 

In  my  maternall  tonge  opprest  with  ignoraunce.      Chap,  xxv, 

riming  with 

He  shall  fynde  all  fruytfull  pleasaunce. 


His  Well-known  Couplet 


271 


Instead  of  seven  lines,  one  stanza  has  six,  chap,  xvii ;  another 
only  five,  chap,  xviii.  Instead  of  the  regular  rime  sequence, 
ababbcc,  we  find,  chap,  xviii,  ababccc;  chap,  xxviii,  ababbcb; 
chap.  XXXIV,  ababbbb. 

Hawes  is  not  a  creator  of  familiar  quotations.  We  find 
in  him  much  sound  sense,  much  homely  wisdom,  on  such 
themes  as  the  fickleness  of  fortune,  the  certainty  of  suffering, 
the  seven  deadly  sins,  the  transitoriness  of  the  world, 

worldly  joye  and  frayle  prosperitie 
What  is  it  lyke,  but  a  blast  of  wynde?     Chap.  xlv. 

We  meet  with  gnomic  lines,  as 

Who  spareth  to  speke  he  spareth  to  spede.     Chap.  xvii. 

But  he  did  not  produce  passages  memorable  for  choice  diction 
and  for  harmony  of  sweet  sounds,  passages  familiar  as  house- 
hold words;  for  the  well-known  couplet  which  is  the  earliest 
form,  perhaps  the  original  form,  of  a  favourite  sixteenth  cen- 
tury saying,  is  solitary  in  its  splendour.  It  occurs  in  Graund 
Amour's  epitaph.  The  Passetyme,  chap.  xlii.  Death,  says 
Hawes,  is  the  end  of  all  earthly  happiness;  the  day  is 
followed  by  the  dark  night. 

For  though  the  day  be  never  so  longe, 
At  last  the  belles  ringeth  to  evensonge. 

And  with  that  we  may  take  leave  of  Hawes,  who,  as  a  rule  and, 
often,  to  an  exaggerated  extent,  continues  the  defects  of  the 
fifteenth  century  poets — confused  metre,  slipshod  construc- 
tion, bizarre  diction — defects  which  did  not  disappear  from 
English  poetry  till  it  was  influenced  by  the  literary  master- 
pieces of  Italy,   and  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome. 


CHAPTER  X  , 

The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

IT  is  a  critical  tradition  to  speak  of  the  fifteenth  century 
in  Scotland  as  the  time  of  greatest  literary  account,  or,  in 
familiar  phrase,  "the  golden  age  of  Scottish  poetry."  It 
has  become  a  commonplace  to  say  of  the  poets  of  that  time 
that  they,  best  of  all  Chaucer's  followers,  fulfilled  with  under- 
standing and  felicity  the  lessons  of  the  master-craftsman ;  and 
it  has  long  been  customary  to  enforce  this  by  contrasting 
the  skill  of  Lydgate,  Occleve  and  their  contemporaries  in  the 
south,  with  that  of  James  I,  Henryson,  Dunbar  and  Gavin 
Douglas.  The  contrast  does  not  help  us  to  more  than  a  super- 
ficial estimate;  it  may  lead  us  to  exaggerate  the  individual 
merits  of  the  writers  and  to  neglect  the  consideration  of  such 
important  matters  as  the  homogeneity  of  their  work,  and  their 
attitude  to  the  older  popular  habit  of  Scottish  verse.  ^ 

We  must  keep  in  mind  that  the  work  of  the  greater 
Scottish  poets  of  the  fifteenth  century  represents  a  break  with 
the  literary  practice  of  the  fourteenth.  The  alliterative  tradition 
dragged  on,  perhaps  later  than  it  did  in  the  south,  and  the 
chronicle-poem  of  the  type  of  Barbour's  Bmce  or  the  Legends 
of  the  Saints  survived  in  Henry  the  Minstrel's  patriotic  tale  of 
Wallace  and  in  Wyntoun's  history.  With  James  I  the  outlook 
changes,  and  in  the  poems  of  Henryson,  Dunbar,  Douglas  and 
some  of  the  minor  "  makars  "  the  manner  of  the  earlier  northern 
poetry  survives  only  in  stray  places.  It  is  not  that  we  find  a 
revulsion  from  medieval  sentiment.  The  main  thesis  of  this 
chapter  will  be  that  these  poets  are  much  less  modem  than 
medieval.  But  there  is,  in  the  main,  a  change  in  literary 
method — an  interest,  we  might  say,  in  other  aspects  of  the 

See  Chapter  xi. 

272 


**The  Kingis  Quair"  273 

old  allegorical  tradition.  In  other  words,  the  poetry  of  this 
century  is  a  recovery,  consciously  made,  of  much  of  the  out- 
worn artifice  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  had  not  yet  reached, 
or  hardly  reached,  the  northern  portion  of  the  island.  The 
movement  is  artificial  and  experimental,  in  no  respects  more 
remarkably  so  than  in  the  deliberate  moulding  of  the  language 
to  its  special  purpose. ^  Though  the  consciousness  of  the 
effort,  chiefly  in  its  linguistic  and  rhetorical  bearings,  may 
appear,  at  first  glance,  to  reveal  the  spirit  of  the  renascence, 
it  is  nevertheless  clear  that  the  materials  of  this  experiment 
and  much  of  the  inspiration  of  the  change  come  from  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  origin  is  by  no  means  obscured,  though 
we  recognise  in  this  belated  allegorical  verse  the  growth  of  a 
didactic,  descriptive  and,  occasionally,  personal,  habit  which 
is  readily  associated  with  the  renascence.  We  are  easily 
misled  in  this  matter — too  easily,  if  we  have  made  up  our  minds 
to  discover  signs  of  the  new  spirit  at  this  time,  when  it  had 
been  acknowledged,  more  or  less  fully,  in  all  the  other  ver- 
nacular literatures  of  Europe.  Gavin  Douglas,  for  example, 
has  forced  some  false  conclusions  on  recent  criticism,  by  his 
seeming  modem  spirit,  expressed  most  strikingly  in  the  pro- 
logue to  the  fifth  book  of  his  translaion  of  the  Aeneid: 

Bot  my  propyne  coym  fra  the  pres  fuit  hait,, 
Unforlatit,2  not  jawyn^  fra  tun  to  tun, 
In  fresche  sapour  new  fro  the  berrie  run. 

The  renascence  could  not  have  had  a  better  motto.  Yet  there 
should  be  little  difficulty  in  showing  that  Douglas,  our  first 
translator  of  Vergil,  was,  perhaps,  of  all  these  fifteenth  century 
Scots,  the  gentlest  of  rebels  against  the  old-world  fancies  of  the 
Courts  of  Love  and  the  ritual  of  the  Rose. 

The  herald  of  the  change  in  Scottish  literary  habit  is 
the  love-allegory  of  The  Kingis  Quair,  or  King's  Book.  The 
atmosphere  of  this  poem  is  that  of  The  Romance  of  the  Rose : 
in  general  treatment,  as  well  as  in  details,  it  at  once  appears  to 
be  modelled  upon  that  work,  or  upon  one  of  the  many 
poems  directly  derived  therefrom.  Closer  examination  shows 
an  intimacy  with  Chaucer's  translation  of  the  Romance.  Con- 
sideration of  the  language  and  of  the  evidence  as  to  authorship 

'  See  Chapter  iv.  2  fresh-drawn.  ^  dashed. 

VOL.  11—18. 


2  74  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

(to  which  we  refer  elsewhere  i)  brings  conviction  that  the 
poem  was  the  direct  outcome  of  study,  by  some  northerner, 
of  Chaucer's  Romaunt  and  other  works.  It  was  fortunate  for 
Scots  literature  that  it  was  introduced  to  this  new  genre  in  a 
poem  of  such  literary  competence.  Not  only  is  the  poem  by  its 
craftsmanship  superior  to  any  by  Chaucer's  English  disciples, 
but  it  is  in  some  respects,  in  happy  phrasing  and  in  the 
retuning  of  old  lines,  hardly  inferior  to  its  models.  Indeed, 
it  may  be  claimed  for  the  Scots  author,  as  for  his  successor, 
in  the  Testament  of  Cresseid,  that  he  has,  at  times,  improved 
upon  his  master. 

The  Kingis  Quair  (which  runs  to  1379  lines,  divided  into 
197  "Troilus"  stanzas,  riming  ababbcc)  may  be  described  as  a 
dream-allegory  dealing  with  two  main  topics — the  '  *  unseker- 
ncsse"  of  Fortune  and  the  poet's  happiness  in  love.  The 
contradiction  of  these  moods  has  led  some  to  consider  the  poem 
as  a  composite  work,  written  at  different  times:  the  earlier 
portion  representing  the  period  of  the  author's  dejection,  real 
or  imaginary,  the  latter  that  of  the  subsequent  joy  which  the 
sight  of  the  fair  lady  in  the  garden  by  his  prison  had  brought 
into  his  life.  One  writer  2  has  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
poem  w^as  begun  at  a  time  when  the  poet  "  had  little  to  speak 
of  beyond  his  past  misadventures";  and,  while  allowing  that 
it  may  have  been  "afterwards  partially  rewritten,"  he  finds 
evidence  of  its  fragmentary^  origin  in  the  presence  of  sections 
which  "have  absolutely  nothing  to  do  w4th  the  subject."  For 
these  reasons,  he  disallows  Tytler's  division  (1783)  of  the 
poem  into  six  cantos,  which  had  held  in  all  editions  for  a  full 
century  (down  to  1884),  because  it  assumes  a  unity  which  does 
not  exist.  This  objection  to  the  parcelling  out  of  the  text  may 
be  readily  accepted — not  because  it  gives,  as  has  been  assumed, 
a  false  articulation  to  a  disconnected  work,  but  because  it 
interferes  unnecessarily  with  that  very'-  continuity  which  is 
not  the  least  merit  of  the  poem.  The  author,  early  in  the 
work  (st.  19),  calls  upon  the  muses  to  guide  him  "to  write  his 
torment  and  his  joy."  This  is  strong  evidence  by  the  book  in 
its  own  behalf,  and  it  is  not  easily  discredited  by  the  suggestion 
that  the  line  "may  have  been  altered  afterwards."     If  there  be 

1  See  note  in  Bibliography;  also  Chapter  iv. 

2  Skeat:  Kingis  Quair  (see  Bibliography). 


*'The  Kingis  Quair"  275 

any  inconsistency  observable  in  the  poem,  it  is  of  the  kind  in- 
evitable in  compositions  where  the  personal  element  is  strong. 
In  the  earlier  allegory,  and  in  much  of  the  later  (if  we  think  of 
the  Spenserian  type)  the  individuality  of  the  writer  is  merged 
in  the  narrative:  in  The  Kingis  Quair,  on  the  other  hand,  a 
striking  example  of  the  later  dream-poem  which  has  a  direct 
lyrical  or  personal  quality,  greater  inconsequence  of  fact  and 
mood  is  to  be  expected.  Whether  that  inconsequence  be 
admitted  or  not  by  the  modern  reader,  we  have  no  warrant 
for  the  conclusion  that  the  work  is  a  mosaic. 

The  poet,  lying  in  bed  "alone  waking,"  turns  to  the  pages 
of  Boethins,  but  soon  tires  of  reading.  He  thinks  of  Fortune 
and  recalls 

In  tender  jouth  how  sche  was  first  my  fo 
And  eft  my  frende. 

He  is  roused  by  the  matins-bell,  which  seems  to  say  "tell  on, 
man,  quhat  the  befell."  Straightway  he  resolves  "sumnewe 
thing  to  write,"  though  he  has  in  his  time  spent  ink  and  paper 
to  small  purpose.  He  begins  his  tale  of  early  misfortune 
with  an  elaborate  metaphor  of  a  ship  at  the  mercy  of  the 
elements;  then  narrates  how  the  actual  ship  in  which  he  was 
sailing  from  his  own  countn'  was  captured  by  the  enemy,  and 
how  he  was  sent  into  confinement.  From  his  window,  he  looks 
upon  a  fair  garden  and  hears  the  love-song  of  the  birds.  This 
song,  which  is  given  as  a  cantus,  prepares  the  reader  for  the 
critical  passage  of  the  poem  in  which  the  poet  sees  the  lady 
who  from  that  moment  brings  sunshine  into  his  life: 

And  there-with  kest  I  doun  myn  eye  ageyne, 
Quhare  as  I  sawe,  walking  under  the  toure, 

Full  secretly  new  cummyn  hir  to  pleyne, 
The  fairest  or  the  freschest  yong[e]  floure 
That  euer  I  sawe,  me  thoght,  before  that  houre, 

For  quhich  sodayn  abate,  anon  astert 

The  blude  of  all  my  body  to  my  hert.     xl. 

When  the  lady,  unconscious  of  her  lover's  prayer,  departs,  she 
leaves  him  the  "wofullest  wicht,"  plunged  again  in  the  misery 
from  which  her  coming  had  raised  him.  At  night,  tired  out.  he 
dreams  that  he  is  carried  high  into  the  heavens  to  the  house 
of  Venus.     The  goddess  receives  him  graciously,   but  sends 


276  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

him  with  Good  Hope  to  Minerva  for  further  advice.  This,  thje 
learned  goddess  gives,  with  quotations  from  Ecdesiastes  and 
observations  on  predestination ;  and  she  sends  him,  as  he  is 
"  wayke  and  feble,  "  to  consult  Fortune.  He  returns  to  earth, 
and,  passing  by  a  plain,  stocked,  in  the  conventional  way,  with 
all  kinds  of  animals,  he  meets  again  his  guide  Good  Hope, 
who  takes  him  to  Fortune's  citadel.  He  finds  the  dame,  and 
sees  the  great  wheel.  This  is  described  to  him,  and  he  is 
ordered  to  take  his  place  upon  it. 

"Fare  wele,"  quod  sche,  and  by  the  ere  me  toke 
So  ernestly,  that  therewithal!  I  woke. 

Distracted  by  the  thought  that  all  may  be  but  a  vain  dream, 
he  returns  to  the  window  from  which  he  had  seen  the  lady. 
To  him  comes  a  turtle-dove  with  a  sprig  of  gillyflower,  bearing 
the  tidings,  inscribed  in  gold  on  the  edges,  that,  in  heaven,  the 
cure  of  all  his  sorrow  is  decreed.  The  poem  concludes  with  the 
lover's  hymn  of  thanks  to  each  and  every  thing  which  has  con- 
tributed to  his  joy,  even  to  the  castle-wall  and  the  "Sanctis 
marciall"  who  had  guided  him  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy; 
and,  lastly,  he  commends  his  book  to  the  poems  ("impnis") 
of  his  masters  Gower  and  Chaucer,  and  their  souls  to  heaven. 
A  careful  examination  of  this  well-constructed  poem  will 
show  that,  to  the  interest  of  the  personal  elements,  well  blended 
with  the  conventional  matter  of  the  dream-poem,  is  added  that 
of  its  close  acquaintance  with  the  text  of  Chaucer.  It  is  not 
merely  that  we  find  that  the  author  knew  the  English  poet's 
works  and  made  free  use  of  them,  but  that  his  concern  with 
them  was,  in  the  best  sense,  literary.  He  has  not  only  adopted 
phrases  and  settings,  but  he  has  selected  and  returned  lines, 
and  given  them,  though  reminiscent  of  their  origin,  a  merit  of 
their  own.  Sometimes  the  comparison  is  in  favour  of  the 
later  poem,  in  no  case  more  clearly  than  in  the  fortieth  stanza, 
quoted  above,  which  echoes  the  description,  in  The  Knight's 
Tale,  of  Palamon's  beholding  of   Emilie.     The  lines 

And  ther-with-al  he  bleynte,  and  cryde  "a!" 
As  though  he  stongen  were  unto  the  herte, 

are  inferior  to  the  Scot's  concluding  couplet.  The  literary 
relationship,  of  which  many  proofs  will  appear  to  the  careful 
reader,  is  shown  in  a  remarkable  way  in  the  reference  at  the 


"The  Kingis  Quair"  277 

close  to  the  poems  of  Gower  and  Chaucer.  This  means  more 
than  the  customary  homage  of  the  fifteenth  century  to  Chaucer 
and  Gower,  though  the  indebtedness  to  the  latter  is  not 
textually  evident.  The  author  of  The  Kingis  Quair  and  his 
Scottish  successors  have  been  called  the  "true  disciples"  of 
Chaucer,  but  often,  it  must  be  suspected,  without  clear  recog- 
nition of  this  deep  literary  appreciation  on  which  their 
historical  position  is  chiefly  based. 

The  only  MS.  text  of  The  Kingis  Quair  is  preserved  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  in  the  composite  MS.  marked  "Arch.  Selden. 
B.  24,"  which  has  been  supposed  to  belong  to  the  last  quarter 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  there  described  in  a  prefatory 
sentence  (fol.  191)  as  "Maid  be  King  lames  of  Scotland  the 
first  calHt  the  kingis  quair  and  Maid  quhen  his  Maiestie  Wes 
In  Ingland."  This  is  confirmed  in  the  Latin  explicit  on  fol.  211. 
The  ascription  to  James  I,  king  of  Scots,  remains  uncontro- 
verted.  A  recent  attempt^  to  place  the  text  later  than  The 
Court  of  Love,  has  led  to  a  careful  sifting  of  all  the  evidence, 
actual  and  circumstantial,  with  the  result  that  the  traditional 
view  has  been  established  more  firmly,  and  something  beyond 
a  suspicion  raised  that,  if  there  be  any  borrowing,  The  Court 
of  Love  is  the  debtor.  The  story  of  the  poem  is  James's 
capture  in  March  1405,  his  imprisonment  by  the  English  and 
his  wooing  of  Joan  Beaufort.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  the  story  was  written  by  James  himself,  and  the  date  of 
composition  may  be  fixed  about  the  year  1423.  During  his 
exile  the  king  had  found  ample  opportunity  to  study  the  work 
of  the  great  English  poet  whose  name  was  unknown  in  the 
north,  and  whose  influence  there  might  have  been  delayed 
indefinitely.  This  literary  intimacy  enhances  the  autobio- 
graphic interest  of   The  Kingis  Quair. 

The  influence  of  Chaucer  is  hardly  recognisable  in  any  of  the 
other  works  which  have  been  ascribed  to  James,  unless  we 
accept  a  recent  suggestion  that  fragment  B  (11.  1 706-5810) 
of  the  Romaunt  was  written  by  him. 2  The  short  piece  of  three 
stanzas,  beginning  "Sen  trew  Vertew  encressis  dignytee"  is 
unimportant;  and  the  "popular"  poems  Pehlis  to  the  Play  and 
Christis  Kirk  on  the  Grene,  ^  if  really  his,  belong  to  a  genre  in 
which  we  shall  look  in  vain  for  traces  of  southern  literary 

1  See  Bibliography.  '  See  Bibliography.  '  See  Chapter  xi. 


278  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

influence.  The  contrast  of  these  pieces  with  The  Kingis  Quair 
is,  indeed,  so  marked  as  to  have  led  many  to  assume  that  James 
cannot  be  the  author  of  both.  This  is,  of  course,  no  argument ; 
nor  does  the  suggestion  that  their  tone  sorts  better  with  the 
genius  of  his  royal  successor,  "the  Gudeman  of  Ballengeich," 
count  for  much.  On  the  other  hand,  the  identification  of 
Peblis  to  tlie  Play  with  the  poem  At  Beltayne,  which  Major 
ascribes  to  James,  and  the  acceptance  of  the  statement  in  the 
Bannatyne  MS.  that  he  is  the  author  of  Christis  Kirk,  must 
be  counterbalanced  by  the  evidence  of  language  and  prosody, 
which  appear  to  point  to  a  later  origin  than  the  first  decades 
of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  Kingis  Quair  represents  the  first  phase  of  Scottish 
Chaucerianism,  in  which  the  imitation,  though  individualised 
by  the  genius  of  its  author,  is  deliberate  and  direct.  Even 
the  personal  and  lyrical  portions  do  not  destroy  the  impression 
that  the  poem  is  a  true  birth  of  the  old  allegory.  In  other 
words,  allegory  is  of  the  essence  of  the  conception:  it  is  not 
introduced  for  the  sake  of  its  interpretation,  or  as  a  decorative 
aid.  In  the  second  stage,  as  disclosed  in  the  poems  of  Henry- 
son,  Dunbar  and  Douglas,  we  recognise  an  important  change. 
Some  of  the  pieces  appear  to  have  the  old  outlook  and  the 
old  artistic  purpose;  yet,  even  in  these,  the  tone  is  academic. 
They  are  breaking  away  from  the  stricter  and  more  self-con- 
tained interest  of  the  literature  of  the  Rose;  they  adapt  both 
sentiment  and  style  to  more  individual,  or  national,  purpose, 
and  make  them  subservient  to  an  ethical  thesis.  Yet  Chaucer 
remains  the  inspiring  force,  not  merely  in  turns  of  phrase 
and  in  fashion  of  verse,  but  in  unexpected  places  of  the  poetic 
fabric.  Even  as  late  as  the  mid-sixteenth  century,  in  such 
a  sketch  as  Lyndsay's  Squyer  Meldrum,  we  are,  at  times, 
reminded  of  the  vitaHty  of  Chaucerian  tradition. 

Of  Robert  Henryson,  in  some  respects  the  most  original 
of  the  Scottish  Chaucerians,  we  know  very  little.  .  He  is 
described,  on  the  title-page  of  the  earliest  extant  edition  of  his 
Fables  (1570),  as  " scholemaister  of  Dunfermeling."  His  birth 
has  been  dated  about  1425.  A  "Master  Robert  Henryson  "  was 
incorporated  in  1462  in  the  university  of  Glasgow,  which  had 
been  founded  in   1451.     The  entry  states  that  the  candidate 


Henryson's  "Fables"  279 

was  already  a  licentiate  in  arts  and  bachelor  in  degrees.  It  is 
probable,  therefore,  that  his  earlier  university  education  was 
received  abroad,  perhaps  at  Paris  or  Lou  vain.  His  mastership 
at  the  Benedictine  abbey  grammar-school  in  Dunfermline  and 
his  notarial  office  (if  he  be  the  Robert  Henryson  who  witnesses 
certain  deeds  in  1478)  would  lead  us  to  infer  that  he  was  in  lower 
orders.  His  death,  which  may  have  taken  place  about  1500, 
is  alluded  to  in  Dunbar's  Lament  for  the  Makaris.  ^  There  are 
no  dates  to  guide  us  in  tracing  the  sequence  of  his  poems,  and 
the  internal  evidence  is  inconclusive.  Yet  we  cannot  be  far 
out  in  naming  1450  as  the  earlier  limit  of  the  period  during 
which  they  were  composed. 

Henryson's  longest  and,  in  some  ways,  his  best  work  is  his 
Alorall  Fabillis  of  Esope.  The  material  of  the  book  is  drawn 
from  the  popular  jumble  of  tales  which  the  Middle  Ages  had 
fathered  upon  the  Greek  fabulist;  much  of  it  can  be  traced 
directly  to  the  edition  of  Anonymus,  to  Lydgate's  version  and 
to  English  Reynardian  literature  as  it  appeared  in  Caxton's 
dressing.  In  one  sense,  therefore,  the  book  is  the  least  original 
of  Henryson's  works;  but,  in  another,  and  the  truer,  it  may 
take  precedence  of  even  The  Testament  of  Cresseid  and  Robene 
and  Makyne  for  the  freshness  of  its  treatment,  notably  in  its 
adaptation  of  hackneyed  fabliaux  to  contemporary  require- 
ments. Nor  does  it  detract  from  the  originality  of  presenta- 
tion, the  good  spirits,  and  the  felicity  of  expression,  to  say 
that  here,  even  more  than  in  his  closer  imitations  of 
Chaucer,  he  has  learnt  the  lesson  of  Chaucer's  outlook  on  life. 
Above  all,  he  shows  that  fineness  of  literary  taste  which 
marks  off  the  southern  poet  from  his  contemporaries,  and 
exercised  but  little  influence  in  the  north  even  before 
that  later  period  when  the  rougher  popular  habit  became 
extravagant. 

The  Fables,  as  we  know  them  in  the  texts  of  the  Charteris 
print  of  1 57 1  and  the  Harleian  MS.  of  the  same  year,  are  thirteen 
in  number,  with  a  general  prologue  prefixed  to  the  tale  of  the 
Cock  and  the  Jewel,  and  another  introducing  that  of  the  Lion 
and  the  Mouse.  They  are  written  in  the  familiar  seven-lined 
stanza,  riming  ababbcc.  From  the  general  prologue,  in  which 
he  tells  us  that  the  book  is  "ane  maner  of  translatioun  "  from 

'  post. 


28o  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

Latin,  done  by  request  of  a  nobleman,  he  justifies  the  function 
Oi  the  fable 

to  repreue  the  haill  misleuing 
Of  man,  be  figure  of  ane  uther  thing. 

And  again  he  says. 

The  nuttis  schell,  thocht  it  be  hard  and  teuch, 

Haldis  the  kirnell,  and  is  delectabill. 

Sa  lyis  thair  ane  doctrine  wyse  aneuch, 

And  full  frute,  \mder  ane  feinjeit  fabill. 

And  clerkis  sayis,  it  is  richt  profitabill 

Amangis  eirnist  to  ming  ane  mery  sport, 

To  licht  the  spreit,  and  gar  the  tyme  be  schort. 
As  the  didactic  element  is  necessarily  strong  in  the  fable,  little 
may  be  said  of  its  presence  in  Henryson's  work,  except,  per- 
haps, that  his  invariable  habit  of  reserving  all  reflections  for 
a  separate  moralitas  may  be  taken  as  evidence  of  the  im- 
portance attached  to  the  lesson.  Earlier  English  fabulists,  such 
as  Lydgate,  mixed  the  story  and  the  homily,  to  the  hurt  of  the 
former.  Henryson's  separation  of  the  two  gives  the  narrative 
greater  directness  and  a  higher  artistic  value.  Indeed,  the 
merit  of  his  Fables  is  that  they  can  be  enjoyed  independently 
and  found  self-satisfying,  because  of  the  contemporary  fresh- 
ness, the  unfailing  humour,  and  the  style  which  he  weaves  into 
famihar  tales.  The  old  story  of  the  sheep  in  the  dog's  skin 
has  never  been  told  in  such  good  spirits ;  nor  is  there  so  much 
"character"  in  any  earlier  or  later  version  of  the  Town  and 
Country  Mouse  as  there  is  in  The  Uponlandis  Mous  and  the 
Burges  Mous. 

In  his  treatment  of  nature  he  retains  much  of  the  traditional 
manner,  as  in  the  "processional"  picture  of  the  seasons  in  the 
tale  of  the  Swallow  and  the  other  Birds,  but,  in  the  minor 
touches  in  the  description  of  his  "characters,"  he  shows  an 
accuracy  which  can  come  only  from  direct  and  careful  ob- 
servation.    His  mice,  his  frog  with 

hir  fronsit  ^  face, 
Hir  runkillit  cheikis,  and  hir  lippis  syde,^ 
Hir  hingand  browis,  and  hir  voce  sa  hace,  ^ 
Hir  logerand*   leggis,  and  hir  harskys  hyde, 

>  "frounced,"  wrinkled.       'wide.  'hoarse.  ♦  loosely  hanging. 

5  rugged. 


**The  Testament  of  Cresseid"  281 

his  chanticleer,  his  little  birds  nestling  in  the  barn  against  the 
storm,  even  his  fox,  are  true  to  the  life.  It  is,  perhaps,  this 
realism  which  helps  his  allegory  and  makes  it  so  much  more 
tolerable  to  the  modern  reader.  There  is,  too,  in  his  sketches 
more  than  mere  felicity:  he  discloses,  again  and  again,  that 
intimacy  and  sympathy  with  nature's  creatures  which  we  find 
fully  expressed  in  Burns,  and,  like  his  great  successor,  gently 
draws  his  readers  to  share  the  sentiment. 

Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  based  on  Boethius,  may  be  linked 
with  the  Fables  in  type,  and  in  respect  of  its  literary  qualities. 
The  moralitas  at  the  close,  which  is  irksome  because  of  its 
undue  length,  shows  that  the  conception  is  similar:  the  title 
moralitas  fabulae  sequitur  indicates  that  the  poet  was  unwilling 
to  let  the  story  speak  for  itself.  This,  however,  it  does,  for  it 
is  well  told,  and  it  contains  some  lyrical  pieces  of  consider- 
able merit,  notably  the  lament  of  Orpheus  in  ten-lined 
stanzas  with  the  musical  burden  ' '  Quhar  art  thow  gane,  my 
luf  Erudices?"  or  "My  lady  Quene  and  luf,  Erudices."  Even 
in  the  processional  and  catalogue  passages,  in  which  many 
poets  have  lost  themselves  or  gone  aground,  he  steers  a  free 
course.  When  he  approaches  the  verge  of  pedantic  dulness  in 
his  account  of  the  musical  technicalities  which  Orpheus  learnt 
as  he  journeyed  amid  the  rolling  spheres,  he  recovers  himself, 
as  Chaucer  would  have  done. 

Off  sik  musik  to  wryte  I  do  bot  dote, 
Tharfor  at  this  mater  a  stra  I  lay, 
For  in  my  lyf  I  coud  nevir  syng  a  note. 

In  The  Testament  of  Cresseid,  he  essays  the  bold  part  of  a 
continuator.  Having  turned,  for  fireside  companionship  on  a 
cold  night,  to  the  "quair" 

Writtin  be  worthie  Chaucer  glorious 
Of  fair  Cresseid  and  lustie  Troylus, 

he  meditates  on  Cresseid's  fate,  and  takes  up  another  "quair" 
to  "  break  his  sleep," 

God  wait,  gif  all  that  Chauceir  wrait  was  trew. 

Nor  I  wait  nocht  gif  this  narratioun 
Be  authoreist,  or  fenjeit  of  the  new. 


2  82  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

Be  sum  Poeit,  throw  his  inventioun 
Maid  to  report  the  Lamentatioun 
And  wofull  end  of  this  lustie  Cresseid; 
And  quhat  distres  scho  thoillit,  and  quhat  deid  ! 
After  this  introduction,  he  proceeds,  obviously  on  a  hint  from 
Chaucer's  text,  to  give  the  sequel  to  the  Diomede  episode. 
Chaucer  had  prayed  each  "  lady  bright  of  hewe," 

That  al  be  that  Criseyde  was  untrewe, 
That  for  that  gilt  she  be  not  wrooth  with  me. 
Ye  may  hir  gilt  in  othere  bokes  see; 
And  gladlier  I  wol  wryten,  if  yow  leste, 
Penelopees  trouthe  and  good  Alceste. 

Troihis,  v,  11.  1774-8; 

and  he  had  chivalrously  passed  on  to  the  closing  scene  in 
the  tragedy  of  Troilus.  Henryson  supplements  this  with 
the  tragedy  of  Cresseid.  Cast  off  by  Diomede,  the  distressed 
woman  retires  to  an  oratory  and  prays  to  Venus  and  Cupid, 
till  she  falls  into  an  ecstasy.  She  dreams  of  her  judgment 
by  Saturn,  that  she  shall  be  stricken  with  disease,  and  shall 
drag  out  her  days  in  misery.  She  awakes,  to  find  that  she  is 
a  leper.  A  child  comes  to  tell  her  that  her  father  bids  her 
to  supper.  She  cannot  go;  and  her  father  appears  by  her 
side,  and  learns  how  Cupid  has  taken  his  vengeance  upon  her. 
Sad  at  heart,  he  grants  her  wash  to  pass  straightway  with 
"cop  and  clapper"  to  the  spital.  There,  in  a  dark  corner,  she 
"chides  her  dreary  destiny."  On  a  day  there  passes  Troilus 
and  his  company  in  triumph ;  and  the  lepers  beg  for  alms. 

Than  upon  him  scho  kest  up  baith  her  ene, 
And  with  ane  blenk  it  come  in  to  his  thocht 

That  he  sum  tyme  hir  face  befoir  had  sene, 
Bot  scho  was  in  sic  plye  he  knew  hir  nocht; 
Yit  than  hir  luik  into  his  mynd  it  brocht 

The  sweit  visage  and  amorous  blenking 

Of  fair  Cresseid,  sumtyme  his  awin  darling. 

He  trembles,  and  changes  colour,  but  no  one  sees  his  suffering. 
To  Cresseid  he  throws  rich  alms,  and  passes  on.  The  lepers 
marvel  at  his  affection  for  "yone  lazarous" ;  and  Cresseid  dis- 
covers that  her  friend  is  Troilus.  Not  the  least  effective  part 
of  the  poem  is  that  w^hich  contrasts  the  sensitiveness  of  the 
lovers;    or  the   concluding    passage    in    which    the    penitent 


Henryson's  Shorter  Poems  283 

Cresseid  makes  her  testament,  and  a  leper  takes  her  ring 
from  her  corpse  and  carries  it  to  Troilus. 

He  swelt  for  wo,  and  fell  doun  in  ane  swoun; 

For  greit  sorrow  his  hairt  to  birst  was  boun: 
Siching  full  sadlie,  said,  "1  can  no  moir, 
Scho  was  untrew,  and  wo  is  me  thairfoir!  " 

The  felicity  of  the  simple  style  of  the  next  stanza  is  unmis- 
takable— 

Sum  said  he  maid  ane  tomb  of  merbell  gray, 
And  wrait  hir  name  and  superscriptioun, 

And  laid  it  on  hir  grave,  quhair  that  scho  lay, 
In  goldin  letteris,  conteining  this  ressoun: 
"Lo,  fair  ladyis,  Cresseid  of  Troyis  toun, 

Sumtyme  countit  the  flour  of  womanheid, 

Under  this  stane,  late  lipper,  lyis  deid." 

The  thirteen  shorter  poems  which  have  been  ascribed  to 
Henryson  are  varied  in  kind  and  verse-form.  The  majority 
are  of  a  reflective  cast,  dealing  with  such  topics  as  Want  of 
Wise  Men,  Age,  Youth,  Death,  Hasty  Credence  and  the  Hke — 
topics  which  are  the  delight  of  the  fifteenth  century  minor 
muse.  There  are  allegorical  poems,  such  as  The  Bludy  Serk, 
with  the  inevitable  moralitas,  a  religious  piece  on  the  annun- 
ciation, and  A  Prayer  for  the  Pest.  Two  of  the  poems,  the 
pastoral  dialogue  of  Robene  and  Makyne  and  the  burlesque  Sum 
Practysis  of  Medecyne,  deserve  special  mention  for  historical 
reasons;  the  former,  too,  for  its  individual  excellence.  The 
estrif  between  Robene  (Robin)  and  Makyne  (Malkin)  develops 
a  sentiment,  thus  expressed  in  the  girl's  own  words — 

The  man  that  will  nocht  quhen  he  may 
Sail  half  nocht  quhen  he  wald — 

which  is  probably  an  echo  of  the  pastourelles.  .  In  literary 
craftsmanship,  the  poem  excels  its  later  and  more  elaborate 
analogue  The  Nut  Brown  Maid.  The  older  and  simpler  language, 
and  the  ballad  timbre  (which  runs  throughout  many  of  Henry- 
son's  minor  poems)  place  Robene  and  Makyne  almost  entirely 
outside  Chaucerian  influence.  This  is  even  more  obvious  in 
Stim  Practysis  of  Medecyne;  and,  for  this  reason,  some  have 
doubted  Henryson's  authorship.     The  divergence  is,  however, 


284  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

of  no  evidence  against  the  ascription.  Taken  with  the  pieces 
the  same  type  which  are  known  to  be  by  his  contemporaries, 
it  gives  us  an  earlier  link  in  the  chain  of  popular  alliterative 
(or  neo-alliterative)  verse  which  resisted  the  Chaucerian  in- 
fusion and  was  destined  to  exert  a  strong  influence  upon  later 
Scottish  poetry.  These  burlesque  pieces  in  Henryson,  Dunbar 
and  Douglas  and,  later,  in  Lyndsay  (in  each  case  a  single  and 
disconnected  effort)  appear  to  have  been  of  the  nature  of 
experiments  or  exercises  in  whimsicaHty,  perhaps  as  a  relief 
from  the  seriousness  or  more  orderly  humour  of  the  muse.  The 
roughness  in  tone  resembles  that  of  the  "fly tings,"  in  w^hich  it 
is  intentional,  and,  in  many  cases,  without  parallel  in  English 
literature.  The  persistence  of  this  form  throughout  the  cen- 
tury, and  in  places  least  expected,  may  supply  an  argument 
for  James  I's  authorship  of  Peblis  to  the  Play  and  Christis 
Kirk  on  the  Grene.  At  least,  the  dissimilarity  between 
these  and  the  Kingis  Quair  would  not,  did  other  reasons  not 
interfere,  disprove  that  they  came  from  the  same  pen.  ^ 

William  Dunbar  has  held  the  place  of  honour  among  the 
Scottish  "makars."  It  may  be  that  his  reputation  has  been 
exaggerated  at  the  expense  of  his  contemporaries,  who  (for 
reasons  now  less  valid)  have  not  received  like  critical  attention. 
Scott's  statement  that  he  is  "unrivalled  by  any  which  Scotland 
ever  produced"  strikes  the  highest  note  of  praise,  and  is,  per- 
haps, responsible  for  much  of  the  unvaried  appreciation  which 
has  followed.  Russell  Lowell's  criticism  has  arrested  atten- 
tion because  it  is  exceptional,  and  because  it  is  a  singular 
example  of  extravagant  depreciation.  It  has,  however,  the 
indirect  value  that  it  prompts  us  to  test  our  judgments  again, 
and  weigh  the  value  of  such  popular  epithets  as  "the  Scottish 
Chaucer"  and  "the  Scottish  Skelton."  There  is  generally  a 
modicum  of  truth  in  easy  titles  of  this  kind,  though  the  essence 
of  the  epithet  is  too  often  forgotten  or  misunderstood. 

Of  the  personal  history  of  William  Dunbar,  we  have  only 
a  few  facts ;  and  of  the  dates  of  his  writings  or  of  their  sequence 
we  know  too  little  to  convince  us  that  any  account  of  his 
literary  life  is  more  than  ingenious  speculation.  As  Dunbar 
appears  to  have  graduated  bachelor  of  arts  at  St.  Andrews  in 

<  See  Chapter  xi. 


William  Dunbar  285 

1477,  his  birth  may  be  dated  about  1460.  Internal  evidence, 
for  the  most  part  indirect,  points  to  his  having  survived  the 
national  disaster  at  Flodden,  perhaps  till  1 520.  Like  Kennedy, 
his  poetic  rival  in  the  Flyting,  Gavin  Douglas  and  Lyndsay, 
and,  indeed,  like  all  the  greater  poets  from  James  I,  with  the 
exception  of  the  schoolmaster  of  Dunfermline,  he  was  con- 
nected with  the  court  and,  like  most  of  them,  was  of  noble  kin. 
These  facts  must  be  kept  in  mind  in  a  general  estimate  of  the 
courtly  school  of  Scottish  verse,  in  explaining  its  artificialities 
and  in  understanding  the  separation  in  sentiment  and  technique 
from  the  more  popular  literature  which  it  superseded  for  a  time. 
This  consideration  supplies,  among  other  things,  part  of  the 
answer  to  the  problem  why  the  national  or  patriotic  note,  which 
is  strongly  characteristic  of  later  writers,  is  wanting  at  a  period 
when  it  might  be  expected  to  be  prominent.  In  preceding 
work,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Wallace,  the  appeal  to 
history  is  in  very  general  terms;  during  "the  golden  age,"  when 
political  forces  were  active  and  Border  memories  might  have 
stirred  the  imagination,  the  poets  are  wholly  absorbed  in  the 
literary  traditions  of  romance,  or  in  the  fun  and  the  disap- 
pointments of  life  at  court ;  only  in  the  mid-sixteenth  century, 
and,  first,  most  unmistakably  in  the  French-made  Complaynt 
of  Scotlande,  do  we  find  that  perfervid  Scotticism  which  glows 
in  later  literature.  ^ 

Dunbar's  kinship  with  the  house  of  Dunbar  did  not  bring 
him  wealth  or  place.  After  his  college  course  he  became  a 
novice,  subject  to  the  strict  rule  of  the  Observantines  of  the 
Franciscan  order.  He  appears,  however,  to  have  fretted 
under  the  restraint  of  his  ascetic  calling.  In  a  poem  entitled 
How  Dumbar  wes  desyrd  to  he  ane  freir  he  makes  frank  confes- 
sion of  his  difficulties,  and  more  suo  describes  the  exhortation 
to  him  to  "refuse  the  world"  as  the  work  of  the  devil. 

This  freir  that  did  Sanct  Francis  thair  appeir, 
Ane  feind  he  wes  in  liknes  of  ane  freir; 
He  vaneist  away  with  stynk  and  fyrie  smowk; 
With  him  me  thocht  all  the  houshend  he  towk, 
And  I  awoik  as  wy  2  that  wes  in  weir.  ^ 

He  found  some  relief  in  the  roving  life  of  a  friar,  and  he  ap- 
pears to  have  spent  a  few  years  in  Picardy  and  other  parts  of 

'  See  also  Chapter  xi.  "-  man.  3  fear  (doubt). 


286  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

France,  where  he  certainly  was  in  1491  with  Bothwell's  mission 
to  the  French  court  for  a  bride  for  the  young  James  IV.  There 
among  the  many  Scots  then  haunting  Paris,  he  may  have  met 
Gavin  Douglas,  Elphinstone,  bishop  of  Aberdeen,  Hector 
Boece  and  John  Major;  but  the  Sorbonne,  where  they  were 
to  be  found,  had,  probably,  few  attractions  for  him.  It  is 
tempting  to  speculate  that  the  wild  life  of  the  faubourgs  and 
the  talent  of  Bohemians  like  Francois  Villon  (whose  poems  had 
just  been  printed  posthumously,  in  1489)  had  the  strongest 
claim  upon  the  restless  friar.  It  has  been  assumed,  not  with- 
out some  plausibility,  that  there  are  traces  in  the  Scot's  poems 
of  direct  French  influence,  in  other  and  deeper  ways  than  in 
the  choice  of  subjects  which  Villon  had  made  his  own.  By 
1500,  he  was  back  in  Scotland,  no  longer  an  Observantine,  but 
a  priest  at  court,  pensioned  by  the  king,  and  moving  about  as 
a  minor  official  in  royal  business.  The  title  "rhymer  of 
Scotland,"  in  the  English  privy  council  accounts  during  the 
sojourn  in  London  of  the  Scottish  embassy  for  the  hand  of 
Margaret  Tudor,  has  been  taken  by  some  to  mean  that, 
beyond  his  being  the  poetical  member  of  the  company  who 
praised  London  in  verse, ^  he  was  recognised  to  some  extent  as 
laureate.  Of  his  literary  life,  which  appears  to  have  begun  with 
his  association  with  the  court  in  1500,  we  know  nothing  be- 
yond what  the  poems  tell  us  indirectly ;  but  of  the  sentiment  of 
his  age,  as  seen  by  a  courtier,  we  have  the  fullest  particulars. 

Dunbar's  poems  fall  into  two  main  divisions — the  allegori- 
cal and  occasional.  Both  show  the  strength  of  Chaucerian 
tradition,  the  former  in  a  more  immediate  way,  the  latter  (with 
full  allowance  for  northern  and  personal  characteristics)  in  the 
continuance  of  the  satirical,  moral  and  religious  themes  of 
the  shorter  poems  of  Chaucer's  English  followers.  There  is, 
however,  a  difference  of  atmosphere.  Dunbar's  work  is  condi- 
tioned by  the  circumstance  that  it  was  written  by  a  courtier  for 
the  court.  Poetry  had  fallen,  as  has  been  hinted,  into  close 
association  with  a  small  royal  and  aristocratic  coterie.  But 
life  at  court,  though  it  showed  a  political  and  intellectual 
vigour  which  contrasts  favourably  with  that  of  earlier  reigns, 

>  Beginning  "  London,  thou  art  of  townes  A  per  se,"  and  with  "London, 
thou  art  the  flour  of  Cities  all,"  as  the  burden  of  each  stanza.  The  poem  is, 
with  all  its  conventionality  of  phrase,  of  considerable  historical  interest. 


Dunbar's  Allegories  287 

and  had  grown  more  picturesque  in  serving  the  exuberant 
taste  of  the  "redoubted  roye,"  was  circumscribed  in  its  hterary 
interests,  and,  with  all  its  alertness,  added  little  or  nothing 
to  the  sum  of  poetic  endeavour.  The  age  may  have  been 
"golden";  it  was  not  "spacious."  Literary  consciousness, 
when  it  existed,  turned  to  the  romantic  past  or  to  the  old  ritual 
of  allegory,  or  to  the  re-editing,  for  contemporary  purposes, 
of  plaints  of  empty  purses,  of  the  fickleness  of  woman,  of  the 
vanity  of  the  world  and  of  the  lack  of  piety ;  or  it  was  absorbed 
in  the  merely  technical  task  of  illuminating  or  aureating  the 
"rude"  vernacular.  ^  If,  however,  the  area  was  not  enlarged, 
it  was  worked  more  fully.  From  this  experience,  at  the  hands 
of  writers  of  great  talent,  much  was  gained  for  Scottish  verse 
w^hich  has  the  appearance  of  newness  to  the  literary  historian. 
What  is,  therefore,  outstanding  in  Dunbar,  is  not,  as  in 
Henryson,  the  creation  of  new  genres  or  fresh  motives.  Com- 
pared with  Henryson,  Dunbar  shows  no  advance  in  broad  pur- 
pose and  sheer  originality.  He  is,  apart  from  all  question  of 
vocabulary,  more  artificial  in  the  stricter  historical  sense ;  and 
he  might  have  deserved  no  better  from  posterity  than  Lydgate 
and  Occleve  have  deserved  had  he  not  supplied  the  rhythms 
and  added  life  and  humour  to  the  old  matter. 

Dunbar's  debt  to  Chaucer  is  less  intimate  and  spiritual 
than  Henryson's  or  king  James's.  He  could  not  have  given 
us  the  after  tale  of  Cresseid,  or  caught  so  clearly  the  sentiment 
of  the  master  in  a  new  Quair.  Chaucer  is,  to  him,  the  "rose  of 
rethoris  all"  (as  every  poet  of  the  century  admitted),  but  he 
follows  him  at  a  distance  and,  perhaps,  with  divided  affection 
for  the  newer  French  writers.  Still,  the  Chaucerian  influence 
is  there,  though  the  evidence  of  direct  drawing  from  the  well 
of  English  is  less  clear. 

The  Goldyn  Targe  has  the  simple  motif  of  the  poet's  ap- 
pearance (in  a  dream,  on  a  conventional  May  morning)  before 
the  court  of  Venus,  where  he  endeavours  to  resist  the  arrows 

1  Cf.  the  address  to  Chaucer,  Gower  and  Lydgate  in  the  well-known 
stanzas  of  the  Goldyn  Targe  (11.  253-270).  There,  the  praise  is  of  Chaucer's 
"anamalit  termis  celicall,"  and  of  the  light  which  he  brought  to  "oure 
Inglisch  "  {i.e.  Lowland  Scots).  And  the  praise  of  Gower  and  Lydgate  is 
that  by  their  "  sugarit  lippis  and  tongis  aureate"  and  "angel  mouthis  most 
mellifluate  "  they  have  illumined  the  language  and  "our-gilt  oure  speche, 
that  imperfyte  stude.  " 


288  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

of  Dame  Beauty  and  her  friends  with  the  aid  of  Reason's 
"schcld  of  gold  so  schene."  He  is  wounded  near  to  death  and 
taken  prisoner.  Then  he  knows  that  the  lady  is  ' '  lustiar  of 
chere":  when  she  departs,  he  is  delivered  over  to  Heaviness. 
As  she  sails  off,  the  noise  of  the  ship's  guns  wakes  him  to  the 
enjoyment,  once  more,  of  the  May  morning  and  the  singing 
birds.  The  allegory  is  of  the  simplest;  the  contemporary 
didacticism  has  hardly  invaded  it,  and  the  abstractions  which 
the  poet  introduces  are  in  closer  kinship  with  the  persons  of 
courtly  allegory  than  with  the  personages  in  the  moralities 
of  the  period.  A  similar  theme  appears  in  his  well-known 
short  poem,  Sen  that  I  am  a  presoneir  (sometimes  known  as 
Beauty  and  the  Prisoner) ;  but  there  didactic  and  personal 
elements  have  been  added.  It  is  probable  that  criticism  has 
been  over  busy  in  seeing  references  to  the  king,  to  his  liaison 
with  Margaret  Drummond  and  to  her  suspicious  death.  In 
The  Thrissil  and  the  Rois,  the  intrusion  of  the  moralitas  is 
at  once  obvious.  The  setting  is  heraldic:  the  theme  is  the 
marriage  of  James  IV  and  Margaret  Tudor.  The  familiar 
machinery  of  the  dream-poem  is  here ;  but  the  general  effect  is 
that  of  an  elaborate  prothalamium.  It  is  an  easy  stage  from 
this  poetic  type  to  the  pageant  and  masque;  but  in  the  single 
example  of  Dunbar's  "dramatic"  endeavour — in  the  fragment 
of  The  Interlude  of  the  Droichis  Part  of  the  Play — the  allegory  is 
used  merely  to  enhance  the  whimsicality  of  the  design. 

In  Chaucer's  simpler  narrative  manner,  we  have  the  tale 
of  The  Freiris  of  Berwik,  dealing  with  the  old  theme  of  an 
untrue  wife  caught  in  her  own  wiles.  The  ascription  of  this 
piece  to  Dunbar  has  been  doubted,  but  there  is  nothing  in  it 
unworthy  of  his  metrical  art  or  his  satiric  talent.  The  Tretis 
of  the  Tua  Mariit  Wemen  and  the  Wedo,  which  is  certainly  his, 
echoes  the  gossip  of  the  Wife  of  Bath,  but  it  speaks  with  a 
freedom  from  which  Chaucer  would  have  shrunk.  Its  antique 
line  and  alliteration  connect  it  formally  with  the  popular 
poetry  which  Chaucer  parodied  and  undid ;  yet  the  association 
is  remote.  For  it  is  essentially  a  literary  exercise,  perhaps  a 
burlesque  pastiche  to  satisfy  the  romantic  fashion  of  the  court. 
The  art  of  this  remarkable  poem  is  always  conscious.  In 
the  fierce  thrusts  of  sarcasm.  In  the  warping  of  words, 
uncouth   and  strong,  we  seem   to   see  the   personal  satisfac- 


Dunbar's  Satire  289 

tion    of    the  craftsman   in  his  triumph   of   phrase  and  line. 

I  haue  ane  wallidrag,  ane  worme,  ane  auld  wobat  carle, 

A  waistit  walroun,  na  worth  hot  wourdis  to  clatter; 

Ane  bumbart,  ane  dron  bee,  ane  bag  full  of  flewme, 

Ane  skabbit  skarth,  ane  scorpioun — 
So  hurtle  the  words  in  this  dialogue  on  matrimonial  risks. 
In  some  respects,  it  is  difficult  to  differentiate  this  tour 
de  force  from  a  "fiyting";  but  the  husbands  are  not  pres- 
ent, and  may  not  (if  they  could)  meet  the  torrents  of  abuse. 
In  considering  the  satirical  and  occasional  poems  of 
Dunbar,  which  constitute  at  once  the  greater  and  more  impor- 
tant portion  of  his  work,  it  is  well,  in  the  first  place,  to  see 
how  far  the  Chaucerian  influence  holds.  Here,  at  least,  it  is 
difficult  to  allow  the  aptness  of  the  title  "the  Scottish  Chaucer," 
unless  it  mean  nothing  more  than  that  Dunbar,  by  analogical 
compliment,  has  the  first  place  in  Early  and  Middle  Scots,  as 
Chaucer  has  in  Middle  English.  It  cannot  mean  that  he 
shows  Chaucer's  spirit  and  outlook,  as  Henryson  has  shown; 
nor  that  Dunbar  is,  in  these  satirical  and  occasional  pieces,  on 
which  his  wider  reputation  rests,  a  whole-hearted  pupil  in  the 
craft  of  verse.  The  title  would  have  appeared  more  fitting  in 
his  own  day, when  his  appeal  to  contemporaries  (apart  from  any 
acknowledged  debt  to  his  forerunner)  was  of  the  same  techni- 
cal kind  which  Chaucer  had  made  to  his;  but  a  comparison, 
nowadays,  has  to  take  account  of  other  matters.  Both  poets  are 
richly  endowed  with  humour:  it  is  the  outstanding  quality  of 
each ;  but  in  no  respect  do  their  differences  appear  more  clearly. 
Here,  Dunbar  is  unlike  Henryson  in  lacking  the  gentler  and 
more  intimate  fun  of  their  master.  He  is  a  satirist  in  the 
stronger  sense;  more  boisterous  in  his  fun,  and  showing,  in  his 
wildest  frolics,  an  imaginative  range  which  has  no  counterpart 
in  the  southern  poet.  His  satirical  powers  are  best  seen  in  his 
Tidings  from  the  Session,  an  attack  on  the  law  courts,  and  in 
his  Satire  on  Edinburgh,  in  which  he  denounces  the  filthy 
condition  of  the  capital;  in  his  verses  on  his  old  friends  the 
Franciscans,  and  on  the  flying  friar  of  Tungland  who  came 
to  grief  because  he  had  used  hens'  feathers;  in  his  fiercer 
invectives  of  the  General  Satire  and  The  Epitaph  on  Donald 
Owre;  and  in  the  vision  of  The  Dance  of  the  Sevin  Deidlie 
Synnis.     The  last  is  one  of  the  best  examples  of  Dunbar's 


290  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

realism  and  literary  cunning  in  suiting  the  word  and  line  to 
the  sense,  as  in  the  description  of  Sloth — 

Syne  Sueirnes,  at  the  secound  bidding, 
Come  lyk  a  sow  out  of  a  midding, 
Full  slepy  wes  his  grunjie ' : 
Mony  sweir  bumbard  ^  belly-huddroun,  ^ 
Mony  slute  daW*  and  slepy  duddroun,s 
Him  ser^vit  ay  with  sounjie.  ^ 

In  all,  but  especially  in  the  Dance,  there  is  not  a  little  of  the 
fantastic  ingenuity  which  appears  in  his  more  purely  comic 
sketches.  And  these  again,  though  mainly  "fooleries,"  are  not 
without  satirical  intention,  as  in  his  Joustis  of  the  Taiheour 
and  the  Sowtar  and  his  Black  Lady,  where  the  fun  is  a  covert 
attack  on  the  courtly  craze  for  tourneys.  Of  all  the  pieces  in 
this  category,  his  Ballad  of  Kynd  Kitiok  best  illustrates  that 
elfin  quality  which  relieves  his  "busteous"  strain  of  ridicule. 
The  waggish  description  of  the  thirsty  alewife,  her  journey 
on  a  snail,  her  arrival  in  heaven  and  her  sojourn  there  till, 
desiring  a  "fresh  drink,"  she  wanders  forth  and  is  not  allowed 
to  return,  her  going  back  to  her  alehouse  and  the  poet's 
concluding  request — 

Frendis,  I  pray  jou  hertfully, 
Gif  je  be  thirsty  or  dry, 
Drink  with  my  Guddame,  as  ?e  ga  by, 
Anys  for  my  saik 

strike  a  note,  of  which  the  echoes  are  to  be  often  heard  in 
later  northern  verse. ^  There  is  more  than  an  accidental 
likeness  between  this  roguish  request  to  the  reader  and  the 
close  of  Burns's  Address  to  the  Deil  and  The  Dying  Words  of 
Poor  Mailie.  The  reach  of  Dunbar's  fancy  is  at  its  greatest 
in  The  Interlude.    There,  in  his  description  of  Fyn,  he  writes- - 

He  gat  my  grauntschir  Gog  Magog ; 
Ay  quhen  he  dansit,  the  warld  wald  schog^; 
Five  thousand  ellis  5eid  in  his  frog  ^ 
Of  Hieland  pladdis,  and  mair. 
jit  he  was  bot  of  tendir  ?outh ; 
Bot  eftir  he  grewe  mekle  at  fouth,  ^° 

>  face  (snout).  2  lazy.  3  glutton.  <  dirty  slut.  *  sloven. 

«  care,  attention       '  See  Chapter  xi.  s  shake.  »  "frock,"  tunic. 

>oto.  "in  fullness  (fulth)." 


The  Grotesque  in  Dunbar  291 

Ellevyne  myle  wyde  met  ^  was  his  mouth, 

His  teith  was  ten  ell  sqwair. 
He  wald  apon  his  tais  stand, 
And  tak  the  sternis  doune  with  his  hand 
And  set  them  in  a  gold  garland 

Above  his  wyfis  hair. 

This  is  a  triumph  of  the  grotesque  on  the  grand  scale  which 
the  creator  of  Gargantua  would  have  admired,  and  could  not 
have  excelled.  Something  of  the  same  quality  is  seen  in  his 
wild  picture  of  the  birth  of  Antichrist  in  mid-air,  in  his  Vision, 
which  opens  with  the  customary  dream-setting  and  gives  no 
hint  of  this  turn  in  the  poet's  fancy. 

Of  lyrical,  as  of  strictly  dramatic,  excellence,  there  is  little 
in  Dunbar.  His  love  poems  are  few  and,  taken  as  a  whole, 
undistinguished.  His  religious  and  moral  verses,  the  one  of 
the  hymn  type,  the  other  on  the  hackneyed  themes  of  Good 
Counsel,  Vanitas  vanitatum  and  (when  he  is  cheery  in  mood) 
Blitheness,  deserve  commendation  for  little  beyond  their 
metrical  facility.  They  are  too  short  to  be  tedious  to  the 
modern  reader.  He  uses  the  old  device  of  the  "testament" 
to  good  purpose  in  the  comic  poem  on  the  physician  Andrew 
Kennedy;  and,  here  again,  his  imagination  transforms  the 
old  convention.  In  all  Goliardic  literature  there  is  nothing 
to  excel  this  stanza: 

A  barell  bung  ay  at  my  bosum, 

Of  varldis  gud  I  bad  na  mair; 
Et  corpus  meum  ebriosum 

I  leif  onto  the  toune  of  Air ; 
In  a  draf  mydding  for  euer  and  ay 

Vt  ibi  sepeliri  queam, 
Quhar  drink  and  draff  may  ilka  day 

Be  cassyne  super  faciem  meant. 

In  The  Dance,  already  referred  to,  Dunbar  works  up  the 
familiar  material  of  the  Danse  Macabre.  In  his  Flyting  of 
Dunbar  and  Kennedie  (his  poetic  rival  Walter  Kennedy  2)  we 
have  a  Scottish  example  of  the  widely-spread  European  genre 
in  its  extremest  form.  It  remains  a  masterpiece  of  scurrility. 
The  purpose  of  the  combatants  in  this  literary  exercise  was  to 
outdo  each  other  in  abuse,  and  yet  not  to  quarrel.     It  is  hard 

>  measure.  '  post. 


292  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

for  the  most  catholic  modem  to  believe  that  they  kept  the 
peace,  though  Dunbar  speaks  kindly  of  his  "friend"  in  his 
Lament.  The  indirect  value  of  The  Flyting  is  great — linguisti- 
cally, in  its  vocabulary  of  invective ;  biographically,  for  it  tells 
us  more  of  the  poet  than  we  derive  from  any  other  source; 
historically,  in  respect  of  its  place  in  the  development  of  this 
favourite  genre  in  Scots,  and  its  testimony  to  the  antipathies 
of  Celtic  and  Lowland  civilisations  in  the  early  sixteenth 
century.  ^  A  like  indirect  interest  attaches  to  The  Lament 
for  the  Makaris,  w^hich  Dunbar  wrote  "quhen  he  was  seik." 
It  is  a  poem  on  the  passing  of  human  endeavour,  a  motif 
which  had  served  the  purpose  of  scores  of  fifteenth  century 
laments.  If  it  was  written  under  the  influence  of  Villon's 
master  ballades,  praise  must  be  allowed  to  Dunbar  that  he 
endenised  the  Frenchman's  art  with  some  success.  The 
solemn  effect  of  the  burden,  Timor  mortis  conturbat  me,  occa- 
sional happy  turns,  as 

He  takis  the  campioun  in  the  stour, 
The  capitane  closit  in  the  tour. 
The  lady  in  bour  full  of  bewte; 
Timor  Mortis  conturbat  W£ 

and  a  sense  of  literary  restraint  give  the  piece  distinction  above 
the  average  poem  of  this  type.  Much  of  its  reputation 
nowadays  is  as  a  historical  document,  which  tells  us  nearly 
all  that  we  know  of  some  of  Dunbar's  contemporaries.  He 
names  his  greater  predecessors,  and,  properly,  puts  Chaucer 
first  on  the  roll. 

Dunbar,  we  have  said,  has  been  called  the  "Scottish 
Skelton."  There  is  some  justice  in  the  likening,  but  the  reasons 
are  not  consistent  with  those  which  give  him  the  title  of  the 
"Scottish  Chaucer."  His  allegiance  to  Chaucer  is  shown  in 
literary  reminiscence,  whether  of  motif,  or  phrase,  or  stanza — 
a  bookish  reminiscence,  which  often  helps  us  to  distinguish 
the  fundamental  differences  in  outlook.  There  is  a  spiritual 
antithesis;  but  there  are  textual  bonds.  With  Skelton,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  must  have  been  the  borrower,  had  any  con- 
tact been  possible,  he  stands  in  close  analogy,  in  two  important 
respects.     In  the  first  place,  both  poets,  in  their  unexpected 

'  See  Chapter  iv. 


Dunbar's  Prosodic  Range  293 

turns  of  satire  and  in  their  jugglery  of  words,  anticipate  the 
Rabelaisian  humour  in  its  intellectual  audacity  and  inex- 
haustible resource.  Whether  in  wider  excursions  of  fancy,  or 
in  verbal  orgies,  such  as  in  the  Complaint  to  the  King — 

Bot  fowll,  jow-jowrdane-hedit  jevellis, 
Cowkin-kenseis,  and  culroun  kewellis; 
Stuffettis,  strekouris,  and  stafische  strummellis ; 
Wyld  haschbaldis,  haggarbaldis,  and  hummellis; 
Druncartis,  dysouris,  dyvouris,  drewellis, 
Misgydit  memberis  of  the  dewellis ;  etc. 

we  are  constantly  reminded  of  the  rector  of  Diss,  and  often  of 
the  historian  of  Gargantua  and  his  son  Pantagruel.  In  the 
second  place,  their  metrical  purposes  have  much  in  common. 
The  prosodic  variety  of  both  is  always  our  first  impression — 
of  Dunbar,  without  parallel  in  range  and  competence  in  any 
English  writer  before  his  time.  The  interest  of  the  matter  in 
him,  as  in  Skelton,  is  that  the  variety  is  not  the  effect  of  mere 
literary  restlessness,  but  the  outcome  of  experiment  to  extend 
the  capabilities  of  English  verse  in  counterpart  to  what 
was  being  done  by  ' '  aureation ' '  and  other  processes  for  poetic 
diction  and  style.  If  Dunbar's  prosodic  cunning  were  less 
remarkable,  and  if  Skelton 's  so-called  "doggerel "  were  even  less 
palatable  than  it  is  to  those  who  take  a  narrow  view  of 
this  problem  of  English,  the  endeavour  of  both  poets,  and  of 
the  Scot  in  particular,  would  lose  none  of  its  historical  value. 
Dunbar  borrows  from  all  quarters,  chiefly  from  Chaucer,  but 
also  from  older  popular  forms,  and  from  French  models 
found  in  that  other  Bohemian  genius,  Frangois  Villon.  Yet 
he  is  not  a  mere  copyist:  his  changes  in  the  grouping  of  the 
lines  in  the  stanza,  his  varying  the  length  of  the  verses  and 
his  grafting  of  one  form  upon  another,  are  evidence  of  the 
literary  artist  at  work.  It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  illustrate 
this  by  selection  from  the  hundred  and  one  poems  which  are 
ascribed  to  him,  for  a  selection  cannot  disclose  his  kaleidoscopic 
ingenuity.  The  remarkable  range  and  resource  of  his  technique 
and  the  vitality  of  his  imagination  must  redeem  his  work 
in  the  eyes  of  the  most  alien  modem  of  the  charges  which  have 
been  brought  against  the  art  of  Lydgate  and  Occleve.  His 
was  not  the  heavy-headed  fancy  of  a  moribund  medievalism. 


294  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

The  explanation  of  the  difference  may  be,  after  all,  largely 
personal.  Only  so  far  is  he  of  the  renascence.  The  chief 
interest  to  us  lies  in  the  old  things  which  he  has  chosen  and 
recast,  as  genius  may  do  at  any  time,  whether  the  age  be 
"dark"  or  "new." 

If  no  serious  effort  has  been  made  to  claim  Dunbar  as  a 
child  of  the  renascence,  except  in  respect  of  his  restlessness, 
in  which  he  shows  something  of  the  human  and  individual 
qualities  associated  with  that  movement,  his  contemporary 
Gavin  Douglas  has  been  frequently  described  as  the  embodi- 
ment the  fullest  and  also  the  first  among  Scottish  poets,  of 
the  principles  of  neoclassicism.  A  critic  of  high  consideration 
has  recently  said  that  "no  poet,  not  even  Dante  himself,  ever 
drank  more  deeply  of  the  spirit  of  Virgil  than  Gavin  Douglas." 
Others  who  consent  to  this  have  laid  stress  on  the  fact  that 
Douglas  was  the  first  translator  of  a  great  verse  classic  into 
the  vernacular.  If  this  conclusion  were  as  just  as  it  is,  at 
first  sight,  plausible,  Douglas  could  have  no  place,  or  only 
a  very  minor  place  in  this  chapter,  which  assumes  a  funda- 
mental homogeneity  in  medieval  method,  in  most  respects 
incongruent   with  the  literary  intention  of  the  new  learning. 

Like  Dunbar,  Douglas  was  of  good  family,  and  a  cleric; 
but  he  had  influence  and  fortune  which  brought  him  a  large 
measure  of  worldly  success.  He  had  become  a  dignitary  of 
the  church  when  the  erst-friar  was  riming  about  the  court 
and  writing  complaints  of  his  empty  purse.  Unlike  Dunbar, 
he  had  no  call  to  authorship.  His  literary  career,  if  we  may 
so  speak  of  the  3^ears  when  all  his  work  was  written,  is  but  a 
part  of  a  busy  life,  the  early  experience  of  a  man  destined  to 
lose  his  leisure  in  the  strife  of  politics.  He  was  the  third  son 
of  Archibald,  fifth  earl  of  Angus,  the  * '  great  earl,"  better  known 
as  "  Bell-the-Cat."  He  was  born  c.  1475,  and  completed  his 
early  training  in  1494,  when  he  graduated  at  St.  Andrews.  In 
150 1,  after  spending  some  time  in  cures  in  Aberdeenshire  and 
the  Lothians,  he  became  provost  of  the  collegiate  church  of 
St.  Giles  in  Edinburgh,  his  tenure  of  which  partly  synchronised 
with  his  father's  civil  provostship  of  the  capital.  Between 
this  date  and  1513  (that  defining  year  in  all  Scottish  biography 
of  this  period)  he  did  all  his  literary  work,  The  Palice  of  Honour, 


Gavin  Douglas  295 

King  Hart,  Conscience  and  the  translation  of  the  Aeneid,  begun 
early  in  15 12  and  printed  in  15 13.  Other  writings  have  been 
ascribed  to  him — -a.  translation  of  Ovid  (though,  in  one  place, 
he  speaks  of  this  work  as  a  task  for  another),  plays  on  sacred 
subjects  and  sundry  Aureae  orationes;  but  none  are  extant, 
and  we  have  his  testimony  (in  the  "Conclusion"  of  the 
Aeneid),  which  may  be  accepted  as  valid,  that  he  made  Vergil 
his  last  literary  task. 

Thus  vp  my  pen  and  instrumentis  full  5oyr 
On  Virgillis  post  I  fix  for  evirmore, 
Nevir,  from  thens,  syk  materis  to  discr}'ve; 
My  muse  sal  now  be  cleyn  contemplatyve, 
And  solitar,  as  doith  the  byrd  an  cage; 
Sen  fer  byworn  is  all  my  childis  age. 
And  of  my  dayis  neir  passyt  the  half  dait 
That  natur  suld  me  grantyn,  weil  I  wait. 

His  later  history  is  exclusively  political,  a  record  of  promo- 
tions and  oustings.  He  was  bishop  of  Dunkeld  from  15 16 
to  1520,  when  he  was  deprived  of  his  see  because  he  had  gone 
to  the  English  court  for  aid  in  the  Douglas-Albany  quarrels. 
Two  years  later,  he  died  of  plague  in  London,  in  the  house  of 
his  friend  lord  Dacre.  Just  before  his  death,  he  had  sent 
to  another  friend,  Polydore  Vergil,  material  for  the  latter' s 
History,  by  way  of  correction  of  Major's  account,  which 
Vergil  had  proposed  to  use. 

The  Palice  of  Honour,  Douglas's  earliest  work,  is  an  example, 
in  every  essential  sense,  of  the  later  type  of  dream-poem,  al- 
ready illustrated  in  the  Goldyn  Targe.  It  is,  however,  a  more 
ambitious  work  (extending  to  2166  lines);  and  it  shows  more 
clearly  the  decadence  of  the  old  method,  partly  by  its  over- 
elaboration,  partly  by  the  inferior  art  of  the  verse,  partly  by 
the  incongruous  welding  of  the  pictorial  and  m.oral  purposes. 
The  poem  is  dedicated  to  James  IV,  who  was  probably  ex- 
pected to  read  between  the  lines  and  profit  from  the  long  lesson 
on  the  triumph  of  virtue.  The  poem  opens  in  a  "gardyne  of 
plesance,"  and  in  May- time,  as  of  yore.  The  poet  falls  asleep, 
and  dreams  of  a  desert  place  "amyd  a  forest  by  a  hydde- 
ous  fiude,  with  a  grysly  fische."  Queen  Sapience  appears 
with  her  learned  company.  This  is  described  by  the  caitiffs 
Sinon  and  Achitophel,  who  wander  in  its  wake.     Solomon, 


296  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

Aristotle,  Diogenes,  Melchisedech  and  all  the  others  are  there 
and  are  duly  catalogued.  The  company  p'asses  on  to  the 
palace.  Then  follow  Venus  and  her  court  with  Cupid,  "the 
god  maist  dissauabill."  The  musical  powers  of  this  company 
give  the  poet  an  opportunity  for  learned  discourse.  We 
recall  several  earlier  passages  of  the  kind,  and  especially 
Henryson's   account   in   the   Orpheus.      Douglas's   remark, 

Na  mair  I  vnderstude  thir  numbers  fine. 
Be  God,  than  dois  a  gukgo  ^  or  a  swine, 

almost  turns  the  likeness  into  a  plagiarism  from  his  prede- 
cessor. The  procession  of  lovers  moves  the  poet  to  sing  a 
"  ballet  of  inconstant  love,"  which  stops  the  court  and  brings 
about  his  arrest.  His  pleas  that  "  ladyis  may  be  judges  in  na 
place"  and  that  he  is  a  "spiritual  man"  avail  nothing;  he  is 
found  guilty.  Reflecting  sorrowfully  on  what  his  punish- 
ment may  be,  he  sees  another  procession  approach,  that  of  the 
muses  with  their  court  of  poets.  Calliope  pleads  for  him,  and 
he  is  released  on  condition  that  he  will  sing  in  honour  of 
Venus.  Thereafter,  the  poet  proceeds  to  the  palace,  in  com- 
panionship with  a  nymph,  bestowed  by  Calliope.  They  pass 
through  all  countries  and  by  all  historic  places,  and  stop  for 
festivity  at  the  well  of  the  muses.  Here  Ovid,  Vergil  and 
others,  including  Poggio  and  Valla,  recite  by  command  before 
the  company.  The  palace  lies  beyond  on  a  rock  of  "slid  hard 
marbell  stone,"  most  difficult  of  ascent.  On  the  way  up,  the 
poet  comes  upon  the  purgatory  of  idle  folk.  The  nymph 
clutches  him  by  the  hair  and  carries  him  across  this  pit  to 
the  top,  "as  Abacuk  was  brocht  in  Babylone."  Then  he  looks 
down  on  the  wretched  world  and  sees  the  carvel  of  the  State 
of  Grace  struggling  in  the  waters.  After  a  homily  from  the 
nymph  on  the  need  of  grace,  he  turns  to  the  palace,  which  is 
described  with  full  architectural  detail.  In  it,  he  sees  Venus 
on  her  throne ;  and  he  looks  in  her  mirror  and  beholds  a  large 
number  of  noble  men  and  women  (fitly  described  in  a  late 
rubric  as  a  "  lang  cathalogue").  Venus  observes  her  former 
prisoner,  and,  bidding  him  welcome,  gives  him  a  book  to 
translate. 

Tuichand  this  buik  perauenture  5e  sail  heir 
Sum  tyme  eftir,  quhen  I  haue  mair  laseir, 
>  cuckoo. 


Douglas's  Allegory  297 

So  it  would  appear  that  Douglas  had  his  Aeneid  then  in  mind. 
Sinon  and  Achitophel  endeavour  to  gain  an  entrance.  Cati- 
line, pressing  in  at  a  window,  is  struck  down  by  a  book  thrown 
by  Tully.  Other  vicious  people  fail  in  their  attempts.  Then 
follows  a  description  of  the  court  of  the  prince  of  Honour 
and  of  secretary  Conscience,  comptroller  Discretion,  ushers 
Humanity  and  True  Relation  and  many  other  retainers.  The 
glories  of  the  hall  overcome  the  poet,  who  falls  down  into 
a  ' '  deidlie  swoun . ' '  The  nymph  ministers  to  him,  and  gives  him 
a  thirteen-stanza  sermon  on  virtue.  Later,  she  suggests  that 
they  should  take  the  air  in  the  palace  garden.  When  follow- 
ing her  over  the  tree-bridge  which  leads  to  this  spot,  the  poet 
falls  "out  ouir  the  held  into  the  stank  adoun,"  and  (as  the 
rime  anticipates)  "  is  neir  to  droun."  Then  he  discovers  that 
all  has  been  a  dream.  A  ballad  in  commendation  of  honour 
and  virtue  concludes  the  poem. 

The  inspiration  of  the  poem  is  unmistakable ;  and  it  would 
be  easy  to  prove  that  not  only  does  it  carry  on  the  Chaucerian 
allegory,  but  that  it  is  directly  indebted  to 

Geffray  Chauceir,  as  A  per  se  sans  peir 
In  his  vulgare, 

who  appears  with  Gower,  Lydgate,  Kennedy,  Dunbar  and 
others  in  the  court  of  poets.  There  is  nothing  new  in  the 
machinery  to  those  who  know  the  Rose  sequence.  The  House 
of  Fame  and  The  Court  of  Love.  The  whole  interest  of  the  poem 
is  retrospective.  Even  minor  touches  which  appear  to  give 
some  allowance  of  individuality  can  be  traced  to  predecessors. 
There  is  absolutely  nothing  in  motif  or  in  style  to  cause  us  to 
suspect  the  humanist.  Douglas's  interest  in  Vergil — if  Venus's 
gift  be  rightly  interpreted — is  an  undiscriminating  interest 
which  groups  the  Mantuan,  Boccaccio  and  Gower  together, 
and  awards  like  praise  to  each.  He  introduces  Ovid  and 
Vergil  at  the  feast  by  the  well  of  the  muses,  much  as  they  had 
been  introduced  by  the  English  poets,  though,  perhaps,  with 
some  extension  of  their  "moral"  usefulness,  as  was  inevitable 
in  the  later  type  of  allegory.  The  Palice  of  Honour  is  a  medie- 
val document,  differing  from  the  older  as  a  pastiche  must,  not 
because  the  new  spirit  disturbs  its  tenor. 

Of  King  Hart,  the  same  may  be  said,  though  it  must  be 


298  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

allowed  to  be  a  better  poem,  better  girded  as  an  allegory,  and 
surer  in  its  harmony  of  words.  Its  superiority  comes  from 
a  fuller  appreciation  of  Chaucerian  values:  it  cannot  be 
explained,  though  some  have  so  considered  it,  as  an  effect  of 
Vergilian  study.  There  is  not  the  faintest  trace  of  renascence 
habit  in  the  story  of  king  Heart  in  his  "comlie  castle  Strang" 
and  of  his  five  servitors  (the  senses) ,  queen  Pleasance,  Foresight 
and  other  abstractions.  The  setting  and  sentiment  recall  the 
court  of  the  prince  of  Honour  in  the  Palice  of  Honour;  and 
that,  again,  repeats  the  picture  of  the  court  of  the  palace  in 
all  the  early  continental  versions  of  the  coiirs  d'amour. 

Conscience  is  a  four-stanza  conceit  telling  how  the  moral 
sense  has  grown  dull  in  men.  "Conscience"  they  had;  then 
they  slipped  away  the  "con,"  and  had  "science"  and  "na 
mair."     Then,  casting  off  "sci,"  they  were  left  with  "ens," 

Quhilk  in  our  language  signifies  that  schrew 
Riches  and  geir,  that  gart  all  grace  go  hens. 

Douglas's  translation  of  the  twelve  books  of  the  Aeneid  and 
of  the  thirteenth  by  Mapheus  Vegius  in  his  most  interesting 
work,  apart  from  the  question  how  far  his  tone  is  Vergilian 
in  the  stricter  humanistic  sense.  In  respect  of  the  thirteen  pro- 
logues and  supplementary  verses  of  a  more  personal  charac- 
ter, it  may  be  said  to  be  more  original  than  the  so-called  ' '  origi- 
nal "  allegories.  Not  all  of  these  are  introductory  to  the 
"  books  "  to  which  they  are  attached;  and  those  which  are  most 
pertinent  are  concerned  with  the  allegory  of  Vergil's  poem. 
Some  may  be  called  academic  exercises,  which  may  have  been 
written  at  odd  times,  and,  perhaps,  for  other  purposes.  A 
picture  of  a  Scottish  winter,  which  has  been  often  quoted, 
introduces  book  vi ;  another,  of  May,  book  xii ;  and  another, 
of  June,  book  xiii.  The  subjects  may  have  been  suggested  by 
the  time  of  the  year  when  the  poet  reached  these  stages  in 
translation;  if  they  were  deliberately  introduced  for  pictorial 
relief,  they  are  the  nearest  approach  to  renascence  habit  in 
the  whole  work  and  in  all  Douglas's  writings.  A  tour  de  force 
in  the  popular  alliterative  stanza,  not  without  suspicion  of 
burlesque  intention,  is  offered  as  the  appropriate  preface  to 
the  eighth  book! 

Sum  latit  lattoun,  but  lay,  lepis  in  laud  lyte; 

Sum  penis  furth  a  pan  boddum  to  prent  fals  plakkis; 


Douglas's  "Aeneid"  299 

Sum  goukis  quhill  the  glas  pyg  grow  full  of  gold  5it, 
Throw  cury  of  the  quentassens,  thocht  clay  mugis  crakis; 
Sum  warnour  for  this  warldis  wrak  wendis  by  his  wyt ; 
Sum  trachour  crynis  the  cun^e,  and  kepis  corn  stakis; 
Sum  prig  penny,  sum  pyk  thank  wyth  privy  promyt ; 
Sum  garris  wyth  a  ged  staf  to  jag  throw  blak  jakkis. 
Quhat  fyn^eit  fayr,  quhat  flattry,  and  quhat  fals  talis  ! 

Quhat  misery  is  now  in  land  ! 

How  mony  crakyt  cunnand  ! 

For  nowthir  aiths,  nor  band, 
Nor  selis  avails.  ^ 

This  audacious  break  in  the  web  of  the  Aeneid  may  have 
served  some  purpose  of  rest  or  refreshment,  such  as  was  given 
by  the  incongruous  farce  within  the  tedious  moralities  of  the 
age;  but  it  is  not  the  devising  of  a  humanist.  The  dialogue 
between  the  translator  and  Mapheus  Vegius,  in  the  thirteenth 
prologue,  follows  the  medieval  fashion,  which  was  familiar 
before  Henr^^son  conversed  with  Aesop  about  his  Fables.  The 
first,  or  general,  prologue  is  the  most  important,  and  is  fre- 
quently referred  to  for  evidence  of  Douglas's  new  outlook. 
The  opening  homage  to  Vergil  is  instructive. 

Laude,  honor,  prasingis,  thankis  infynite 
To  the,  and  thi  dulce  ornate  fresch  endite. 
Mast  reuerend  Virgill,  of  Latyne  poetis  prince, 
Gemme  of  ingine  and  fluide  of  eloquence, 
Thow  peirles  perle,  patroun  of  poetrie, 
Rois,  register,  palme,  laurer,  and  glory, 
Chosin  cherbukle,  cheif  flour  and  cedir  tree, 
Lanterne,  leidsterne,  mirrour,  and  A  per  se, 
Master  of  masteris,  sweit  sours  and  springand  well. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  underline  the  epithets  which  have  done 
good  service  in  the  Chaucerian  ritual.  Indeed,  were  we  to  read 
"  Chaucer"  for  "Virgill"  and  "  English"  for  "Latyne"  in  the 
third  line,  we  should  have  a  straightforward  "Chaucerian" 
passage,  true  in  word  and  sentiment.  But  Chaucer  is  really 
not  far  aw^ay.      Douglas  names  him  ere  long,  and   loads  him 

»  Glossarial  notes  to  this  passage  would  be  too  numerous  and  too  specula- 
tive for  this  place.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  this  genre  know  that  strict 
verbal  interpretation  is  hardly  possible,  and  that  any  serious  attempt  towards 
it  may  disclose  little  but  a  pedantic  misunderstanding  of  the  poet's  intention. 


300  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

with  the  old  honours,  though  he  places  him  second  to  Vergil. 
The  reason  for  this  is  interesting.  Chaucer,  in  telling  the 
story  of  Dido  in  The  Legend  of  Good  Women,  had  said, 

I  coud  folwe,  word  for  word,  Virgyle, 
But  it  wolde  lasten  al  to  long  a  whyle. 

This,  Douglas  politely  disputes,  especially  as  Chaucer  had 
said,  rather  "  boldly,"  that  he  followed  Vergil  in  stating  that 
"  Eneas  to  Dido  was  forsworne."  Douglas  is  careful  to  disprove 
this,  because  it  distorts  Vergil's  purpose  to  teach  all  kind  of 
virtue  by  the  consistent  goodness  of  his  hero,  and  to  point 
out  (as  Henryson  seems  to  have  thought  in  his  Cresseid)  that 
Chaucer  "  was  ever,  God  wait,  wemenis  frend."  We  are  a  long 
way  from  Vergil  here ;  as  we  are  when  the  poet  complains 
that  Caxton's  translation  does  not  do  justice  to  what  is 
hidden"  under  the  cluddes  of  dirk  poetr>^"  Douglas  makes  a 
more  plausible  claim  to  be  a  modern  in  a  further  objection  that 
Caxton's  translation  (taken  from  a  French  version)  is  bad,  that 
it  is  out  in  its  words  and  its  geography,  and  marred  by  omis- 
sions; in  quoting  Horace  on  the  true  method  of  rendering  a 
foreign  author;  and  in  urging  the  advantages  to  vernacular 
style  from  the  reading  of  the  Latin  poet.  Yet,  after  all,  his 
aim  was  to  make  Vergil's  book  a  literary  bible,  as  Boccaccio's 
and  Chaucer's  were.  He  desires  to  be  thanked  by  school- 
masters and  by  "onletterit"  folk,  to  whom  he  has  given  a  new 
lesson  1;  he  joins  St.  Gregory's  opinion  with  Horace's;  he  sees 
a  Christian  purpose  in  his  work,  and  he  prays  for  guidance 
to  Mary  and  her  Son,  "  that  heavenlie  Orpheus."  His  Vergil 
is,  for  the  most  part,  the  Vergil  of  the  dark  ages,  part  prophet, 
part  wizard,  master  of  "illusionis  by  devilHch  werkis  and 
coniurationis."  These,  he  confesses,  are  now  more  rare  for 
"the  faith  is  now  mair  ferme";  but  the  circumstances  should 
have  been  allowed  for  by  the  dullard  Caxton.  When  he  returns 
in  the  prologue  to  the  sixth  book  to  chide  those  who  consider 
that  book  but  full  of  "  gaistis  and  elriche  fantaseis"  and 
"  browneis  and  bogillis,"  he  says  of  Vergil — 

As  tuiching  hym,  writis  Ascencius: 
Feill  of  his  wordis  bene  lyk  the  appostillis  sawis; 
He  is  ane  hie  theolog  sentencius, 
And  maist  profound  philosophour  he  hym  schawls. 
>  DirecHoun  and  Exclamatioun . 


Douglas's  Medievalism  301 

Thocht  sum  his  writis  frawart  our  faith  part  drawis, 
Na  wondir;  he  was  na  cristin  man,  per  de; 
He  was  a  gentile,  and  leifit  on  payane  lawis, 
And  5it  he  puttis  ane  God,  Fadir  maist  hie. 

So  it  would  appear,  only  too  clearly,  from  these  interesting 
prologues,  that  Douglas's  literary  attitude  was  not  modern, 
and  that  he  is  not  even  so  much  a  Janus-poet  as  his 
position  and  opportunities  would  warrant.  When  we  separate 
him  from  his  literary  neighbours,  it  must  be  as  a  dilettante. 

Probably,  the  main  interest  of  the  translation,  and  of  most 
of  Douglas's  work,  is  philological.  No  Scot  has  built  up 
such  a  diction,  drawn  from  all  sources,  full  of  forgotten  tags  of 
alliterative  romance,  Chaucerian  English,  dialectal  borrowings 
from  Scandinavian,  French,  Latin.  No  one  is  harder  to  inter- 
pret. Literary  merit  is  not  wanting;  yet,  in  those  passages, 
and  especially  in  his  Aeneid,  which  strike  the  reader  most,  by 
the  vigorous,  often  onomatopoeic  force  of  the  vocabulary,  the 
pleasure  is  not  what  he  who  knows  his  Vergil  expects,  and 
must  demand.  The  excellence  of  such  a  description  as  that 
of  Acheron — 

With  holl  bisme,  ^  and  hiduus  swelth  wnrude, 
Drumlie  of  mud,  and  scaldand  as  it  wer  wod,^ 
Popland^  and  bullerand**  furth  on  athir  hand 
Onto  Cochitus  all  his  slik^  and  sand, 

is  not  the  excellence  of  the  original.  We  are  sometimes  re- 
minded of  Stanyhurst's  later  effort,  in  which,  however  much 
we  may  admire  the  verbal  briskness  in  the  marshalling  of  his 
thunder  and  storm  passages,  we  feel  that  all  "  wanteth  the  trew 
decorum"  of  Vergilian  sentiment.  The  archaic  artifices,  the 
metrical  looseness  and  the  pedestrian  tread,  where  Vergil  is 
alert,  destroy  the  illusion.  Still,  if  we  may  not  give  Douglas 
more  than  his  due,  we  must  not  give  him  less.  His  Aeneid 
is  a  remarkable  effort,  and  is  gratefully  remembered  as  the 
first  translation  of  a  great  classical  poet  into  English,  northern 
or  southern. 

Douglas's  work,  considered  as  a  whole,  expresses,  in  the 
amplest  way,  the  content  of  the  allegorical  literature.     He  has 

«  abysm.         2  mad,  wild.         3  "bubbling."         <  roaring,  "boiling." 
5  slime,  wet  mud. 


302  The  Scottish  Chaucerians 

lost  the  secret  of  the  older  devices,  and  does  not  under- 
stand the  new  which  were  about  to  usurp  their  place.  He 
has  not  the  artistic  sense  of  Henryson,  or  the  resource  of 
Dunbar.  His  pictorial  quality,  on  which  so  much  stress 
has  been  laid  by  some  who  would  have  him  to  be  a  modern, 
is  not  the  pagan  delight,  nor  is  its  use  as  an  interpretation  of 
his  mood  after  the  fashion  of  the  renascence.  Some  passages 
which  have  been  cited  to  prove  the  contrary  are  but  copies 
from  Henryson  and  earlier  work.  In  him,  as  in  Hawes  (to 
quote  a  favourite  metaphor  of  both)  "the  bell  is  rung  to  even- 
song." If  Lyndsay  and  others  in  the  next  period  still  show 
Chaucerian  influence,  with  them  it  is  a  reminiscence,  amid 
the  turmoil  of  the  new  day. 

The    minor    contemporaries    of    Henryson,    Dunbar    and 
Douglas  add  nothing  to  our  sketch  of  Middle  Scots  poetry. 
What  information  we  have  of  these  forgotten  writers  is  derived 
from  Dunbar's  Lament  for  the  Makaris,  Douglas's  Palice  of 
Honour  and  Lyndsay's  Testament  of  the  Papyngo.     Historians 
have  probably  exaggerated  the  extent  and  importance  of  this 
subordinate  literature. ^     It  is  true  we  know  little  of  the  authors 
or  of  their  works,  but  what  we  do  know  shows  that  to  speak 
of  "nests  of  singing  birds,"  or  to  treat  Dunbar  as  a  kind  of 
Shakespearean  eminence  overtopping  a  great  range  of  song, 
is  amiable  hyperbole.     What  is  extant  of  this  "Chaucerian" 
material  lies  in  the  lower  levels  of  Lydgate's  and  Occleve's  work. 
The  subjects  are  of  the  familiar  fifteenth  century  types,  and, 
when    not    concerned    with    the   rougher    popular    matter, 
repeat  the  old  plaints  on  the  ways  of  courts  and  women  and  on 
the  vanity  of  life.     Walter  Kennedy,  Dunbar's  rival  in  The 
Flyting,  and  the  most  eminent  of  these  minors,  has  left  five 
poems,   Tlie  Passioun  of  Christ,  Ane  Ballat  in  praise  of  Our 
Lady,  Pious  Counsale,  The  Prais  of  Aige  and  Ane  agit  Manis 
invective  against  Mouth-thankless.     His  reputation  must  rest 
on  the  Flyting  rather  than  on  the  other  pieces,  which  are 
conventional  and  dull ;  and  there  only  because  of  the  antiqua- 
rian interest  of  his  "billingsgate"  and  his  Celtic  sympathies. 2 
With  Kennedy  may  be  named  Quintyne  Schaw,  who  wrote 
an  Advyce  to  a  Courtier. 

In  a  general  retrospect  of  this  Chaucerian  school  it  is  not 

«  For  the  non-Chaucerian  elements  see  next  chapter.     2  See  Chapter  iv. 


General  Retrospect  3^3 

difficult  to  note  that  the  discipleship,  though  sincere,  was 
by  no  means  blind.  If  the  Scottish  poets  imitated  well,  and 
often  caught  the  sentiment  with  remarkable  felicity,  it  was 
because  they  were  not  painful  devotees.  In  what  they  did 
they  showed  an  appreciation  beyond  the  faculty  of  Chaucer's 
southern  admirers;  and,  though  the  artistic  sense  implied 
in  this  appreciation  was  dulled  by  the  century's  craving  for 
a  "moral"  to  every  fancy,  their  individuality  saved  them 
from  the  fate  which  befel  their  neighbours.  Good  as  the 
Testament  of  Cresseid  is,  its  chief  interest  to  the  historical 
student  is  that  it  was  written,  that  Henryson  dared  to  find  a 
sequel  to  the  master's  well-rounded  story.  Douglas's  protest 
in  the  general  prologue  to  his  Aeneid,  though  it  fail  to  prove 
to  us  that  Vergil  was  much  more  to  him  than  Chaucer  was, 
shows  an  audacity  which  only  an  intelligent  intimacy  with 
the  English  poet  could  allow.  The  vitality  of  such  appreci- 
ation, far  from  undoing  the  Chaucerian  tradition,  gave  it  a 
fresh  lease  of  life  before  it  yielded,  inevitably,  to  the  newer 
fashion. 


CHAPTER  XI 

The  Middle  Scots  Anthologies:  Anony- 
mous Verse  and  Early  Prose 

STRONG  as  was  the  Chaucerian  influence  on  the  Scottish 
poets  during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries, 
it  by  no  means  suppressed  or  transformed  what  may 
be  called  the  native  habit  of  Scottish  verse.  That  influence 
came,  as  has  been  shown,  from  the  courtly  side;  it  was  a 
fashion  first  set  by  the  author  of  The  Kingis  Quair — in  its 
treatment  of  the  language  and  in  its  literary  mannerisms,  a 
deliberate  co-operation  with  the  general  European  effort  to 
dignify  the  vernaculars.  It  did  much,  but  it  came  late;  and, 
being  perhaps  too  artificial,  it  yielded,  in  due  course,  to  another 
southern  influence,  more  powerful  and  permanent.  Were  the 
Chaucerian  makars  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
and  their  successors  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  be  taken 
as  the  sole  representatives  of  northern  literature,  it  would 
be  hard  to  account  for  the  remarkable  outburst  of  national 
verse  amid  the  conventionalities  of  the  eighteenth.  Chaucer 
and  the  Elizabethans  do  not  explain  Ramsay^  and  Fergusson 
and  Bums:  and  these  writers  are  not  a  sudden  dialectal  sport 
in  the  literary  development.  It  is  the  object  of  this  chapter 
to  show  that  the  native  sentiment  which  has  its  fullest  ex- 
pression in  these  "modem"  poets  was  always  active,  and  that 
the  evidence  of  its  existence  and  of  its  methods  is  clear,  even 
during  that  period  when  the  higher  literary  genius  of  the 
country  was  most  strongly  affected  by  foreign  models.  The 
vitality  of  this  popular  habit  has  been  shown  in  the  most 
courtly  and  "aureate"  verse  of  the  so-called  "golden  age." 
Even  in  those  passages  in  which  the  poets  may  be  suspected 

«  See  Chapter  iv,  p.  109,  note. 

304 


Sixteenth  Century  Anthologies  3^5 

of  burlesquing  this  habit — whether  by  direct  satire  or  in  half- 
conscious  repetition  of  Chaucer's  dislike  of  "rum  ram  ruf " — 
the  acknowledgment  is  significant.  The  thesis  of  this  chapter 
is,  therefore,  to  supplement  what  has  been  said  parenthetically 
of  this  non-Chaucerian  "matter."  It  deals  with  those  pieces 
which  lie  outside  the  work  of  the  "Chaucerians,"  for  the  most 
part  with  those  anonymous  poems  which  have  been  preserved 
in  the  greater  anthologies  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  inter- 
est of  this  body  of  literature  is  complex — in  sentiment,  in 
choice  of  subject,  and,  not  least,  in  verse  technique. 

No  literature  has  been  better  served  than  Scottish  has 
been  by  the  industry  of  early  anthologists.  The  all-important 
Cancioneros  have  not  done  more  for  Spanish ;  and  they  lack 
the  exclusive  and  exhaustive  value  of  the  Scottish  collections. 
For  the  latter  preserve  not  only  all  that  is  known  of  the  work 
of  some  of  the  greatest  poets,  but,  also,  a  large  body  of  minor 
verse,  without  which  we  should  have  formed  but  a  poor  esti- 
mate of  contemporary  taste,  and  without  which  we  should  have 
lost  the  perspective  of  later  literature.  These  anthologies  are 
representative  in  the  truest  sense.  They  were  written  out  by 
men  who  were,  first  and  foremost,  collectors  and  antiquaries, 
who  show  no  critical  obsession,  no  desire  to  select  and  honour 
what  may  have  appealed  most  to  their  individual  taste. 
Their  books  are  historical  documents,  which  must  be  inter- 
preted by  historical  methods.^ 

The  importance  of  this  fugitive  "popular"  literature  is 
made  clear  in  the  references  by  the  more  "  academic  "  writers. 
Dimbar's  Lament  for  the  Makaris  derives  part  of  its  bibliograph- 
ical value  from  its  record  of  poets  who  owed  little  or  nothing 
to  "noble  Chaucer,  of  makaris  flour."  Though  Gavin  Douglas, 
in  his  Palice  of  Honour,  names  but  Kennedie,  Dunbar,  and 
Quintine  [Schaw]  as  the  Scottish  companions  of  the  world's 
poets,  yet  in  the  "  lang  cathalogue  of  nobyll  men  and 
wemen,"  he   tells  us — 

I  saw  Raf  Coiljear  with  the  thrawin  brow, 
Craibit  Johne  the  Reif ,  and  auld  Cowkewyis  sow ; 
And  how  the  wran  came  out  of  Ailssay; 
And  Peirs  Plowman  that  maid  his  workmen  fow; 

1  For  an  account  of  these  collections,  see  Bibliography. 

VOL.    II — 2  0 


3o6     Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

Greit  Gowmakmorne  and  Fyn  Makcoul,  and  how 
Thay  suld  be  goddis  in  Ireland  as  they  say; 
Thair  saw  I  Maitland  vpon  auld  Beird  Gray, 
Robene  Hude,  and  Gilbert  with  the  quhite  hand, 
How  Hay  of  Nauchtoun  flew  in  Madin  land. 

The  list  of  tales,  "sum  in  prose  and  sum  in  verse,"  and  popular 
songs  in  the  oft-quoted  passage  in  the  Complaynt  of  Scotlande, 
is — though  a  mere  list,  and,  as  it  were,  the  table  of  contents 
to  a  more  elaborate  Asloan  or  Bannatyne  MS. — evidence  of 
the  highest  value.  Nor  is  the  ascription  of  this  wide  taste 
in  literature  to  a  band  of  merrymaking  shepherds — however 
"academic"  these  pastoralists  may  be — without  significance. 
Further  interest  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  the  timbre, 
colour,  idiosyncrasy  (whatever  we  may  call  it),  which  consti- 
tutes the  internal  interest  of  this  material,  is  represented  in 
the  works  of  the  "Chaucerian"  poets.  The  evidence  of  this 
to  which  we  have  already  referred,  ^  is  not  less  instructive 
whether  the  poetic  intention  be  to  burlesque  courtly  fashions 
or  to  escape  for  a  time  from  the  ceremonies  of  the  aureate 
muse. 

To  the  reader  of  this  miscellaneous  verse  there  are  but 
few  rewards  of  "literary"  pleasure.  It  is  easy  to  agree  with 
Pinkerton's  caustic  note  on  the  last  lines  of  Rowllis  Cursing — 

This  tragedy  is  callit,  but  dreid, 
Rowlis  cursing,  quha  will  it  reid — 

'  he  might  have  put  a  point  of  interrogation  at  the  close."  2  We 
are  here  less  concerned  with  aesthetic  and  individual  merits 
than  with  the  historical  importance  of  the  whole  body.  At 
the  same  time,  it  may  be  maintained  that,  but  for  the  accident 
of  anonymity,  some  of  the  pieces  might  well  take  their  place  in 
the  works  of  Dunbar  or  Scott  and  do  them  no  dishonour.  We 
excuse  Henryson's  Practysis  of  Medecyne  less  as  a  lapse  of 
genius  than  as  an  illustration  of  the  dues  which  the  best 
of  Chaucerians  had  to  pay  at  times  to  rough  popular  taste. 
It  is  difficult  to  classify  this  miscellaneous  verse  and  prose— 
the  foundlings  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries — ac- 
cording to  the  traditional  scheme  of  types,  and  in  dull  analogy 

1  See  Chapter  x. 

2  The  Hunterian  Club  text  has  taken  the  suggestion  seriously. 


"Peblis  to  the  Play"  3^7 

with  the  groups  into  which  contemporary  southern  Hterature 
maybe  conveniently  divided.  Not  only  are  the  "kinds" — 
lyrical,  satirical,  allegorical  and  the  like — merged  into  each 
other  in  a  perplexing  way,  but  their  differentiation  may  tempt 
us  to  overlook  that  Scottish  idiosyncrasy  in  which  the  entire 
critical  interest  of  the  matter  may  be  said  to  rest.  ^  Further, 
when  we  apply  the  term  "popular"  to  this  body  of  literature, 
we  must  guard  against  using  it  in  the  sense  familiar  in  the 
controversy  on  the  origins  of  the  ballads.  It  is  to  be  under- 
stood, in  the  main,  as  "native,"  in  opposition  to  the  more 
affected  style  of  the  makars;  but,  at  the  same  time,  with  "arti- 
fice" and  "literary  tradition"  of  its  own.  Its  appeal  to  us  is 
the  appeal  of  Allan  Ramsay  and  his  greater  successors — the 
protest  of  vernacular  habit  against  alien  literary  fashion. 

As  in  these  later  writers,  the  prevailing  sentiment  is  that 
of  the  farm  and  burgh  "wynd" — a  sentiment  always  robust 
and  unreserved,  finding  expression  in  the  revel  of  country 
fairs  and  city  taverns,  and  carrying  from  both,  to  our  modern 
sense,  the  mingled  odours  of  the  field  and  kennel.  The  two 
best  known  examples  of  this  "rustic"  muse  are  Pehlis  to  the 
Play  and  Christis  Kirk  on  the  Grene.  These  are,  in  theme 
and  form,  companion-pieces,  and  might  well  be,  according  to 
a  persistent  tradition,  by  the  same  author.  Reference  has 
been  made  to  the  claims  set  up  in  behalf  of  James  1. 2  Some 
would  ascribe  the  poems  to  James  V  because  their  popular 
character  suits  better  the  character  of  the  "Gudeman  of 
Ballengeich"  than  of  the  author  of  The  Kingis  Quair.  It  has 
been  shown  that  the  assumption  of  inappropriateness  in  style 
is  invalid  as  an  argument  against  authorship  by  James  I, 
and  that  there  are  certain  difficulties  of  date  which  stand  in 
the  way  of  the  claim  for  his  successor.  That  James  I  may 
have  been  the  author  is  an  allowance  of  some  importance  in 
studying  the  entwined  relationship  of  the  Chaucerian  and  the 
"popular"  verse  during  the  period. 

The  theme  of  these  poems  is  the  rough  fun  of  a  village 
festival  or  "wappinshaw,"  such  as  has  been  made  familiar 
by  Geikie's  pencil.     The  main  impression  is  that  of  wild  spirits : 

»  There  are,  of  course  "non-Chaucerian  "  contributions  to  the  miscellanies 
which  are  not  Scottish.  The  Bannatyne  MS.,  for  example,  contains  verses 
hy  John  Heywood. 

2  See  Chapter  x. 


3o8    Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

there  is  plenty  of  movement,  but  no  story,  or  coherence  in  the 
effects.  Incidentally,  there  are  passages  which,  for  descriptive 
directness,  rank  with  the  best  in  the  "Dutch"  manner,  but 
their  success  comes  from  the  sheer  verve  of  composition  rather 
than  from  cunning  in  the  treatment  of  detail. 

To  dans  thir  damysellis  thame  dicht,  * 

Thir  lassis  licht  of  laitis  ^ ; 
Thair  gluvis  wer  of  the  raffell  ^  rycht, 

Thair  schone  was  of  the  straitis  * ; 
Thair  kirtillis  wer  of  lynkomes  licht, 

Weill  prest  with  mony  plaitis. 
Thay  wer  so  nys"^  quhen  men  thame  nicht,' 

Thay  squeilit  lyk  ony  gaittis, 
So  lowd. 
At  Chrystis  kirk  of  the  grene  that  day. 

In  exact  parallel  with  this  are  the  opening  stanzas  of 
Peblis  to  the  Play,  describing  the  morning  fuss  among  the 
country  wenches ;  but  with  this  additional  touch. — 

"Evir,  allace!"  than  said  scho, 

"Am  I  nocht  cleirlie  tynt^.? 
I  dar  nocht  cum  3on  mercat  to, 

I  am  so  evvil  sone  brint. 
Amang  5on  merchandis  Maj-drest  so'! 

Marie!  I  sail  anis  mynt  ^^ — 
Stand  of  far,  and  keik  J^aim  to.^^ 

As  I  at  hame  wes  wont," 
Quod  scho. 
Of  peblis  to  the  play. 

The  likeness  is  preserved  throughout,  in  the  rough  love- 
making,  the  coarse  farce  of  the  upset  cadger,  the  wild  dancing 
and  quarrelling  (told  at  great  length  in  Christis  Kirk),  and  in 
the  introduction  of  certain  popular  types,  such  as  the  miller 
and  the  piper.  Everybody  is  at  fever-heat:  the  louder  the 
women's  voices  and  the  harder  the  blows,  the  better  the  fun. 

The  wyvis  kest  vp  ane  hiddouss  yell, 
Quhen  all  thir  yunkeris  yokkit  ^  ^ ; 

>  made  ready.  2  manner,  behaviour.  3  roe-skin. 

*  Pcoarse  cloth  (woollen).  s  Lincoln.  «  "nice."         »  came  near. 

»  lost,  undone.  »  (Sibbald's  emendation.)  »<>  try,  venture. 

>«  peep  at  them.  12  engaged  (in  conflict). 


*'Christis  Kirk  on  the  Grene"  309 

Als  ferss  as  ony  fyrflaucht  fell, 

Freikis^  to  the  feild  thay  flokkit; 
The  cairlis^  with  clubbis  cowd  vder  quell, ^ 

Quhill  blud  at  breistis  out  bokkit^: 
So  rudly  rang  the  commoun  bell, 

Quhill  all  the  stepill  rokkit, 
For  reird,* 
At  Chrystis  kirk  of  the  grene. 

When  the  "rush"  of  the  verse  slackens,  it  sometimes  gains  in 
literary  felicity,  as  in  this  excellent  stanza — 

Than  thai  come  to  the  townis  end 

Withouttin  moir  delay, 
He  befoir,  and  scho  befoir. 

To  see  quha  wes  maist  gay. 
All  }>at  luikit  J^ame  upon 

Leuche  fast  at  I'air  array: 
Sum  said  J^at  fai  wer  merkat  folk, 

Sum  said  the  queue  of  may 
Wes  cumit 
Of  peblis  to  the  play. 

Here,  too,  there  is  movement,  but  the  pace  is  comfortable. 
This  is  partly  effected  by  the  happy  redoubling  of  phrase. 
Even  in  the  noisier  Christis  Kirk  the  gentler  song-note  comes 
in,  as  in  these  lines — 

Off  all  thir  madynis  myld  as  meid 

Wes  nane  so  gympt  ^  as  Gillie ; 
As  ony  ross  hir  rude^  wes  reid, 

Hir  lyre  ^  wes  lyk  the  lillie — 

a  striking  anticipation  of  the  opening  verse  of  Henry  Carey's 
immortal  ballad.^  Occasional  literary  merit  of  this  kind,  or 
wealth  of  illustration  to  the  antiquary  of  social  manners,  are 
less  important  than  the   evidence  which   these   poems  yield 

»  men.  '  attacked  each  other.  ^  burst,  spurted.         '-  clamour. 

'  "  jimp,"  graceful,  neat. 

«  ruddy  parts  of  the  complexion,  cheeks  and  lips;  contrasted  with  "  lyre," 
the  white  skin. 

'  Of  all  the  girls  that  are  so  smart, 
There  's  none  like  pretty  Sally: 
She  is  the  darling  of  my  heart. 
And  she  lives  in  our  alley. 

Sally  in  our  Alley. 


3IO    Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

of  the  abiding  rusticity  of  the  northern  muse,  and  of  its  met- 
rical habit.  It  is,  as  has  been  said,  not  hard  to  find  hints  of 
this  homely  quality  in  the  greater  makars,  even  in  their  most 
artificial  moments :  here  we  have  in  all  their  fulness,  the  setting, 
the  actualitv,  the  humour,  the  coarseness  so  familiar  in  later 
northern  literature.  Not  less  important — and  for  retrospec- 
tive reasons  too — is  the  complicated  verse-form.  The  exact 
manipulation  of  the  intricate  stanza,  with  its  lines  of  varying 
length,  its  richness  in  rime  and  alliteration,  may  well  impress  the 
reader  who  comes  fresh  to  the  subject  as  the  work  of  some 
master-craftsman;  but  the  frequency  with  which  it  occurs 
at  this  time,  as  well  as  earlier  and  later,  shows  that  it  was 
no  totir  de  force.  It  supplies  one  of  the  most  important  links 
in  the  "  formal "  transition  from  the  older  northern  romance 
to  the  later  northern  ballad.  We  appear  to  trace  the  earlier 
stages  of  the  process  in  the  riming  alliterative  romances,  from 
the  long  irregular  stanza  of  such  a  poem  as  Sir  Gawayne  and 
the  Grene  Knight,  through  the  thirteen-lined  stanza  of  The 
Buke  of  the  Howlat  or  The  Pistill  of  Susan,  and  the  eleven-lined 
stanza  as  shown  in  Sir  Tristrem.  There  is  no  chronological 
intention  in  this  statement  of  descent:  we  may  find  here, 
as  we  find  in  the  history  of  the  early  dramatic  forms  of 
English  literature,  as  much  parallelism  and  analogy  as  deriva- 
tion. But  the  point  is  that  the  habit  of  these  "popular" 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  century  poems — the  alliteration, 
rime  and,  above  all,  the  breaking  away  in  the  "bob" — is  an 
"effect  of  antiquity."  This  stanzaic  form  represents  the  per- 
manent native  element  which  is  lost,  or  almost  lost,  for  a  time 
during  the  "Chaucerian"  ascendency.  Recognition  of  this 
fact  gives  a  new  meaning  to  the  stray  examples  in  the  verse  of 
the  makars,  and  almost  compels  the  critic  to  look  upon  the 
accredited  manner  of  the  "golden  age"  as  an  exception  and 
"accident."  History  confirms  this;  for  when  aureation  and 
other  fashions  had  passed,  the  reviving  vernacular  broke  forth 
anew  in  the  old  forms.  Further,  in  this  stanza  we  are  not 
merely  in  close  association  with  the  older  romance  forms;  in 
it  we  have  both  the  timbre  and  measure  of  the  ballad.  This 
is  not  the  place  for  the  discussion  of  the  vexed  question  of  the 
relationship  of  romance  and  ballad.  Whatever  conclusions  be 
reached,  or  whatever  general  principles  be  assumed,  the  data 


"Sym  and  his  Brudir"  and  other  Poems     311 

here  supplied  towards  the  prosodic  history  of  the  "popular" 
ballad  are  significant.  The  actual  form  of  the  Christis  Kirk 
stanza,  however  it  may  stand  to  that  of  the  ballad  and  other 
forms,  lived  on,  and  again  and  again,  in  the  vernacular  revival, 
was  the  medium  for  the  retelling  of  rustic  frolic.^ 

Another  example  of  this  type  is  Sym  and  his  Brudir.  It 
is,  in  intention,  a  good-humoured  satire  on  church  abuse,  in  a 
tale  of  two  palmers  in  St.  Andrews;  but  the  adventures  of 
these  arrant  beggars  are  on  the  same  lines  as  those  of  the 
yokels  in  the  pieces  already  discussed,  and  the  appeal  to  the 
reader  is  identical.  Here  too,  when  the  people  come  to  the 
"brother's"  wedding — for 

quhair  that  Symy  levit  in  synnyng 
His  bruder  wald  haif  ane  bryd 

there  is  the  like  rough  "justing,"  wild  chasing  on  horseback, 
dashing  down  in  the  dirt,  and  general  noise.  Even  the  literary 
setting  at  the  end  of  the  poem  is  deliberately  restless,  for  the 
poet,  after  describing  how  the  brother's  "mowth  was  schent" 
in  the  scrimmage,  adds — 

He  endis  the  story  with  harme  forlorne; 
The  nolt  begowth  ^  till  skatter. 
The  ky  ran  startling  to  the  corne. 

The  rustic  habit  is  shown  more  happily  in  The  Wyf  of 
Auchtirmuchty  and  The  Wowing  of  J  ok  and  Jynny,  both  in 
stanzas  of  eight  lines  with  four  accents,  riming  respectively 
ababcdcd  and  ababbcbc.  In  the  former,  a  husbandman  tired 
after  a  wet  day's  work  at  the  plough,  and  out  of  humour  at 
finding  his  wife 

baith  dry  and  clene. 
And  sittand  at  ane  fyre,  beikand  bawld,^ 
With  ane  fat  sowp,  as  I  hard  say, 

arranges  that  he  shall  change  places  with  her.  Disaster  upon 
disaster  falls  upon  the  amateur  "housewife,"  until  he  declares 

'  Occasionally  with  minor  modifications,  which  do  not  afEect  the  type, 
or  disguise  its  ancestry. 

2  began. 

3  Lit.  "warming  herself  boldly,  or  bravely." 


312     Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

Quhen  I  forsuk  my  phvche,^ 
I  trow  I  bot  forsuk  my  seill  ^ ; 
And  I  will  to  my  plwch  agane, 
For  I  and  this  howss  will  nevir  do  weill. 

The  theme  is  obviously  old,  but  the  treatment  by  the  unknown 
makar  (for  the  ascription  in  a  later  hand  in  the  Bannat^me 
^IS.  to  Moffat  has  no  warranty)  is  fresh  and  lively.  The  kernel 
of  the  tale  is  the  enumeration  of  the  misguided  man's  mis- 
fortunes, which  fulfils  the  same  purpose  of  cumulative  farce 
as  the  rushing  and  sprawling  in  Peblis  to  the  Play  and  Christis 
Kirk  on  the  Grene.  In  the  matter  of  prosodic  relationship 
to  the  rimed  alliterative  poems  on  the  one  hand  and  to  the 
ballads  on  the  other,  the  text  supplies  interesting  evidence 
of  the  "echo"  or  "iteration"  between,  and  within,  the  stan- 
zas. We  take,  for  example,  the  concluding  lines  of  the  sev- 
enth stanza  and  the  opening  lines  of  the  eighth — 

Bot  than  or  he  come  in  agane, 

The  calfis  brak  lowss  and  sowkit  the  ky. 

The  calvis  and  ky  being  met  in  the  lone,  etc. 

Or,  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth — 

The  first  that  he  gat  in  his  armis 
Wes  all  bedirtin  to  the  ene. 

The  first  that  he  gat  in  his  armis 
It  was  all  dirt  vp  to  the  eine. 

Or,  very  fully,  throughout  the  ninth  stanza — 

Than  to  the  kyrn  that  he  did  stoure, 
And  jwmlit^  at  it  quhill  *  he  swatt: 
Quhen  he  had  jwmlit  ^  a  full  lang  houre, 
The  sorow  crap  s  of  butter  he  gatt. 
Albeit  na  butter  he  cowld  gett 
3it  he  wes  cummerit  with  the  kyrne, 
And  syne  he  het  the  milk  our  hett. 
And  sorrow  spark  s  of  it  wald  jyrne.^ 

In  these  passages  we  have  the  true  ballad  timbre  and  the 
familiar  devices. 

1  plough.  2  happiness,  "good."  3  stirred,  churned, 

'till.  5  "sorry  a  bit."  'thicken. 


"Wowing  of  Jok  and  Jynny"  3^3 

The  Wowing  ^  of  Jok  and  Jynny  ^  is  an  early  treatment  of 
the  theme  which  Bums  has  refashioned  in  Duncan  Gray. 
There  is  a  strong  family  likeness  between  the  opening  of  the 
"second  setting"  by  Burns  and  that  of  the  Wowing — 

Robeyns  Jok  come  to  wow  our  Jynny, 
On  our  feist  evin  quhen  we  were  fou. 

Much  of  the  intended  humour  of  the  piece  lies  in  the  list  of 
Jynny's  "tocher-gud"  or  dowry  and  in  the  complementary 
inventory  which  John  gives  to  prove  that  he  is  a  worthy 
suitor — a  "fouth  o'  auld  nick-nackets,"  after  the  heart  of 
Captain  Grose.  Here  again,  the  fun  comes  from  the  "rush" 
of  detail  and  the  strange  medley  of  worthless  treasures. 

I  haif  ane  belter  and  eik  ane  hek, 

Ane  cord,  ane  creill,  and  als  ane  cradill, 

'Pywe  fidder^  of  raggis  to  stuff  ane  jak, 

Ane  auld  pannell  of  ane  laid  sadill, 

Ane  pepper-polk  maid  of  a  padill, 

Ane  spounge,  ane  spindill  wantand  ane  nok, 

Twa  lusty  lippis  to  lik  ane  laiddill; 

To  gang  to  gidder  Jynny  and  Jok. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  use  of  alliteration  is  frequent. 

In  all  these  pieces,  dealing  in  some  way  with  rustic  wooing 
and  matrimony,  there  is  a  burlesque  element,  but  this  must  be 
distinguished  from  the  subtler,  more  imaginative,  and  more 
literar>^  type  of  burlesque  which  constitutes  the  second  per- 
manent characteristic  of  Middle  and  Modem  Scots  poetry. 
Examples  have  been  noted  in  the  preceding  chapter  on  the  work 
of  the  greater  makars,  and  especially  in  the  Ballad  of  Kynd 
Kittok  and  the  Interlude  of  the  Droichis  Part  of  the  Play.  What 
Gavin  Douglas  wrote  of  Vergil's  sixth  book, 

All  is  bot  gaistis  and  elriche  fantasies, 
Of  browneis  and  of  bogillis  full  this  buke, 

might  well  be  said  of  this  strange  set  of  Middle  Scots  poems. 
We  must  not  seek,  with  the  sententious  bishop,  for  any  alle- 
gory or  moral  purpose  in  these  whimsicalities.    Some  of  these 

'  wooing. 

2  Bann.  MS.  No.  cl.    An  unwarranted  ascription  to  John  Clerk  has  been 
marked  out  in  the  MS. 
5  fother. 


3^4    Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

are,  perhaps,  mere  burlesques  of  romance-tradition,  most  are 
but  "dremis  and  dotage  in  the  monis  cruik." 

The  short  tale  of  Gyre  Carling  (in  three  stanzas  of  the 
riming-alliterative  type,  with  the  bob)  relates  how  this  mother- 
witch,  who  dwelt  in  "Betokis  bour"  and  fed  on  Christian  men's 
flesh,  was  loved  by  Blasour,  her  neighbour  "on  the  west  syd." 

For  luve  of  hir  lawchane^  Hppis,  he  walit  and  he  weipit; 
and  he  gathered  a  crowd  of  moles  to  warp  down  her  tower. 
But  the  unresponsive  lady  cudgelled  him  well  (as  St.  Peter 
served  Kynd  Kittok)  until  he  bled  "a  quart  off  milk  pottage 
inwart."  She  laughed,  and,  after  the  manner  of  Gog  Magog's 
spouse  in  the  Interlude  of  the  Droichis  Part,  ejaculated  North 
Berwick  Law  in  her  mirth.  Then  the  king  of  Faery,  with  his 
elves  and  all  the  dogs  from  Dunbar  to  Dunblane  and  all  the 
tykes  of  Tervey  (which  might  well  be  Topsy  Turvy  land!), 
laid  siege  to  the  fair;  but  she  transformed  herself  into  a  sow 
and  went  "gruntling  our  the  Greik  Sie."  There,  in  spite,  she 
married  Mahomet  or  Mahoun,  and  became  queen  of  the  Jews. 
She  was  sadly  missed  in  Scotland;  the  cocks  of  Cramond 
ceased  to  crow,  and  the  hens  of  Haddington  would  not  lay. 

All  this  langour  for  lufe  befoirtymes  fell, 
Lang  or  Betok  was  born, 
Scho  bred  of  ane  acorne ; 
The  laif  ^  of  the  story  to  morne 

To  50W  I  sail  tell. 

This  piece  might  well  be  by  Dunbar. 

Another  love-tale  of  fair>'land  is  told  in  King  Berdok. 
This  "grit  king  of  Babylon" 

dwelt  in  symmer  in  till  ane  bowkaill  ^  stok ; 
And  in  to  winter,  quhen  the  frostis  ar  fell, 
He  dwelt  for  cauld  in  till  a  cokkill  schell. 

A  "  stalwart  man  of  hairt  and  hand,"  he  wooed  for  seven  years 
Mayiola,  or  Mayok,  the  "golk*  of  Maryland";  and  yet  "scho 
wes  bot  jeiris  thre."  This  "bony  bird"  had  but  one  eye,  and 
her  "foirfute  wes  langar  than  hir  heill."  Berdok  set  out  to 
ravish  the  "golk,"  and,  finding  her  milking  her  mother's  kine, 

'  laughing.  '  rest.  ^  cabbage.  <  cuckoo. 


Burlesque  Poems  3^5 

cast  her  in  a  creel  on  his  back.  On  his  return,  his  load  proved 
to  be  but  a  "howlat  nest,  full  of  skait  birdis.^  " 

And  than  this  Berdok  grett 
And  ran  agane  Meyok  for  to  gett. 

But  the  king  of  Faery  was  now  in  pursuit,  and  the  lover  took 
refuge  in  a  "killogy."^  With  the  assistance  of  the  kings  of 
the  Picts  and  Portugal,  Naples  and  Navern  (Strathnaver) ,  the 
lord  of  Faery  laid  siege.  The  attackers  mounted  guns  and 
fired  at  Berdok  with  bullets  of  raw  dough.  Jupiter  prayed 
Saturn  to  save  the  lover  by  turning  him  into  a  toad;  but 
Mercury  transformed  him  into  a  bracken  bush. 

And  quhen  thay  saw  the  buss  waig  to  and  fra, 
Thay  trowd  it  wes  ane  gaist,  and  thay  to  ga; 
Thir  fell  kingis  thus  Berdok  wald  haif  slane; 
All  this  for  lufe,  luveris  sufferis  pane; 
Boece  said,  of  poyettis  that  wes  flour, 
Thocht  lufe  be  sweit,  oft  syiss  it  is  full  sour. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  hold  with  Laing  that  this  piece  was 
intended  as  a  burlesque  of  some  popular  "gest"  or  romance: 
the  comic  elfin  intention  may  be  accepted  on  its  own  merits. 
There  is  more  of  direct  parody  in  the  interlude  of  the 
Laying  of  Lord  Fergus's  Gaist,  beginning 

Listis  lordis,  I  sail  5ow  tell 
Off  ane  verry  grit  merv^ell, 
Off  Lord  Ferguss  gaist, 
How  mekle  Schir  Andro  it  chest^ 
Vnto  Beittokis  bour. 

It  indulges,  amid  its  satire  of  the  ritual  of  exorcism,  in  the 
quaintest  fancy. 

Suppois  the  gaist  wes  littill 

3it  it  stall  Godis  quhittill  * ; 

It  stall  fra  peteouss  Abrahame 

Ane  quhorles  and  ane  quhum  quhame^; 

It  stall  fra  the  carle  of  the  mone 

Ane  pair  of  auld  yrn  schone; 

>  "Dungbirds,"  a  name  applied  to  the  Arctic  gull. 

2  The  entrance  or  recess  of  a  kiln,  to  help  the  draught. 

3  chased.  ■>  knife.  '  whorl.  «  "nick-nack." 


3i6    Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

It  ran  to  Pencaitlane 

And  wirreit  ane  auld  chaplane. 

Its  allusions  to  "  Colkelbeis  Feist"  and  "St.  Bettokis  Bour" 
would  establish  its  kinship,  even  if  its  manner  did  not  make 
this  evident. 

Lichtoimis  Dreme  helps  us  a  little  to  the  secret  of  this 
"skimble-skamble"  verse.  The  rimer  asks  "  Quha  douttis 
dremis  ar  bot  phantasye?"  and  proceeds: 

My  spreit  was  reft,  and  had  in  extasye. 
My  heid  lay  laich  into  this  dreme  but  dout; 
At  my  foirtop  my  fyve  wittis  flew  out, 
I  murnit,  and  I  maid  a  felloun  mane^ : 
Me  thocht  the  King  of  Farye  had  me  tane. 
And  band  me  in  ane  presoun,  fute  and  hand, 
Withoutin  reuth,  in  ane  lang  raip  of  sand: 
To  pers  the  presoun  wall  it  was  nocht  eith,^ 
For  it  wes  mingit  and  maid  with  mussill  teith, 
And  in  the  middis  of  it  ane  myir  of  flynt; 
I  sank  thairin,  quhill  I  wes  neir  hand  tynt; 
And  quhen  I  saw  thair  wes  none  uthir  remeid, 
I  flychterit^  vp  with  ane  feddrem  of  leid. 

He  rambles  on,  telling  of  his  escape  to  "  mony  divers  place," 
and  at  last  to  Peebles  and  Portjafe.  Then  he  sailed  in  a  barge 
of  draff  to  Paradise. 

Be  we  approchit  into  that  port  in  hye. 
We  ware  weill  ware  of  Enoch  and  Elye, 
Sittand,  on  Yule  evin,  in  ane  fresch  grene  schaw, 
Rostand  straberreis  at  ane  fyre  of  snaw. 

Like  Gog  Magog's  kin  in  Dunbar's  interlude,  he  makes  free 
with  the  interlunar  spaces.  Later  in  the  poem,  when  telling 
how  he  desired  to  leave  the  moon,  he  says: 

Bot  than  I  tuke  the  sone  heme  in  my  neif  ^ 
And  wald  haif  clumin,^  bot  it  was  in  ane  clipss*^; 
Schortlie  I  slaid,  and  fell  upoun  my  hips, 
Doun  in  ane  midow,  besyde  ane  busk  of  mynt; 
I  socht  my  self,  and  I  was  sevin  yeir  tynt, ' 
Yit  in  ane  mist  I  fand  me  on  the  morne. 

>  moan.  *  easy.  '  fluttered  *  fist,  hand, 

s  climbed.  '  eclipse.  '  lost. 


Convivial  Verse  317 

We  need  not  follow  his  adventure  with  the  Pundler  and  the 
three  white  whales  which  appeared  at  the  blast  of  the  "  elriche 
home."  The  conclusion  is  suggestive.  When  Lichtoun 
monicus^  awakes,  he  asks: 

Quhair,  trow  ye,  that  I  was? 
Doun  in  ane  henslaik,^  and  gat  ane  felloun  fall, 
And  lay  betuix  ane  picher  and  the  wall. 

And  he  adds: 

As  wyffis  commandis,  this  dreme  I  will  conclude; 
God  and  the  rude  mot  turn  it  all  to  gud ! 
Gar  fill  the  cop,  for  thir  auld  carlingis  ^  clames 
That  gentill  aill  is  oft  the  causs  of  dremes. 

Another  wife,  in  later  verse,  warned  her  Tarn  how  by 
"bousing  at  the  nappy"  he  would  be  "catch'd  wi'  warlocks 
in  the  mirk." 

In  the  bacchanalian  quality  shown  in  different  ways  in 
these  rustic  sketches  and  eliin  dream-poems  we  have  a  third 
tradition  of  Scottish  verse.  It  would,  of  course,  be  vain  to 
seek  a  complete  explanation  of  the  eighteenth  century  con- 
vivial muse  in  the  historical  evidences  of  a  literary  habit — 
as  vain  as  to  estimate  the  general  effect  of  Burns's  work  as  an 
editorial  modification  of  old  material;  but  the  testimony  of 
historical  continuity,  in  theme,  in  attitude  and  in  technique, 
is  too  strong  to  be  overlooked  in  a  survey  of  Scottish  literature. 
The  more  thorough  and  connected  the  survey  is,  the  clearer 
will  it  appear  that  the  rusticity,  the  wild  humour  and  the 
conviviality  are  not  more  the  idiosyncrasies  of  Burns  and  his 
fellow-poets  than  the  persistent,  irrepressible  habits  of  the 
literature  itself.  Criticism  has  been  too  willing  to  treat  pieces 
like  Burns's  Scotch  Drink  as  mere  personal  enthusiasm. 

The  best  of  all  the  Middle  Scots  convivial  verse  is  Dunbar's 
Testament  of  Mr.  Andro  Kennedy,^  but  some  of  the  anonymous 
pieces  in  the  collections  deserve  mention.  Quhy  sowld  nocht 
Allane  honorit  be  ?  is  a  sprightly  "ballat"  on  "  Allan-a-Maut," 
alias  John  Barleycorn.     By  a  misreading  of  the  subscription 


'  So  signed  in  the  MS. 

2  In  a  poultry  yard:  say,  "in  the  mire. 

3  women. 

*  See  Chapter  x. 


3i8     Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

in  the  MS. — "Quod  Allane  Matsonis  suddartis"  ^ — the  poem 
has  been  given  to  one  Watson.  It  tells  the  history  of  "  Allan  " 
from  his  youth,  when  he  was  "cled  in  grene,"  to  his  powerful 
manhood. 

The  grittest  cowart  in  this  land, 
Fra  he  with  Allane  entir  in  band, 2 
Thocht  he  may  nowdir  gang  nor  stand, 
jit  fowrty  sail  nocht  gar  him  flie: 
Quhy  sowld  nocht  Allane  honorit  be? 

"Allane"  too 

is  bening,  courtass,  and  gude, 
And  servis  ws  of  our  daly  fvde, 
And  that  with  liberalitie; 
Quhy  sowld  nocht  Allane  honorit  be? 

The  theme  is  familiar  in  Burns's  John  Barleycorn,  itself  based 
on  an  older  popular  text.  Another  in  the  Bannatyne  MS., 
in  eleven-lined  stanzas,  and  signed  "Allanis  subdert,"  anathe- 
matises the  bad  brewer  and  praises  the  good. 

Quha  hes  gud  malt,  and  makis  ill  drynk, 
Wa  mot  be  hir  werd  ! 
I  pray  to  God  scho  rott  and  stynk 
Sevin  jeir  abone  the  eird. 

And  another  piece  "  I  mak  it  kend,  he  that  will  spend,"  in  the 
same  collection,  is,  appropriately,  given  to  "John  Blyth,"  a 
fellow-reveller  with  Allan's  jolly-boys. 

Now  lat  ws  sing  with  Chrystis  blissing, 

Be  glaid  and  mak  gude  sound: 

With  an  O,  and  ane  I,  now  or  we  f order  found, ^ 

Drink  thow  to  me,  and  I  to  the, 

And  lat  the  cop  go  round. 

In  the  foregoing  groups  we  find  the  representative  and 
historical  qualities  of  the  national  verse,  the  timbre  of  Scot- 
ticism: in  the  large  residue  of  anonymous  pieces  in  the  col- 
lections we  encounter  the  familiar  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
century  southern  types. 

Fabliaux,   in   the  manner  of  the  Freiris  of  Berwik,^  are 

•  "subjects."  J  join  company.  3  "before  we  farther  go. 

«  See  Chapter  x. 


Fabliaux  3^9 

not  numerous.  The  Thrie  Priestis  of  Pehlis  is  a  long  didactic 
tale,  or  set  of  tales,  with  a  politico-social  purpose,  kin  in  spirit 
with  Lyndsay's  verse,  or  the  prose  Complaynt  of  Scotlande, 
or  the  fragmentary  recension  of  the  Talis  of  the  Fyve  Bestis 
in  the  Asloan  MS.  The  truer  note  of  the  fabliau  is  struck  in  the 
tale  of  The  Dumb  Wyf,  in  which  a  dumb  woman  is,  by  her 
husband's  desire — and  to  his  own  undoing — made  to  speak. 

The  leist  deuill  that  is  in  hell 
Can  gif  ane  wyff  hir  toung ; 
The  grittest,  I  jow  tell, 
Cannot  do  mak  hir  dum. 

There  is,  throughout  the  collections,  no  lack  of  cynical  fun 
at  the  expense  of  woman,  according  to  the  lively  tradition  of 
The  Romance  of  the  Rose,  and  not  a  little  of  that  severer  satire 
and  audacious  double  meaning  which  we  find  in  Dunbar  ^ ; 
occasionally,  as  in  Sic  Perrell  in  Paramouris  lyis,  and  invari- 
ably with  sober  warning  rather  than  satirical  purpose,  the 
verse-makers  discuss  "  menis  subtell  slicht."  There  is  church 
satire,  too,  in  Sir  John  Rowllis  Cursing,  a  tedious  invocation 
of  "  Godis  braid  malisoun  "  upon  those  who  stole  Sir  John's 
five  fat  geese  and  other  fowls.  The  anathema  is  so  paralysing 
•in  its  fulness  that  it  is  well  the  writer  becomes  merciful  at 
the  close  and  prays 

Latt  nevir  this  sentence  fall  thame  vpone, 
Bot  grant  thame  grace  ay  till  forbeir 
Resset  or  stowth  2  of  vthir  menis  geir ; 
And  als  agane  the  geir  restoir 
Till  Rowle,  as  I  hafe  said  befoir. 

There  is  not  much  to  choose  between  a  "cursing"  and  a 
"flyting." 

Of  historical  and  patriotic  verse  there  is  little.  The  frag- 
ment of  the  Ring^  of  the  Roy  Robert"^  (ascribed  to  Dean  David 
Steill  in  the  Maitland  folio)  recalls  Bruce  in  metre  and  Wallace 
in  sentiment.     In  the  Talis  of  the  Fyve  Bestis,  the  second  or 

1  Cf.  Sempill's  Ballat  on  Margret  Fleming,  callit  the  Fleming  Bark  in 
Edinburcht,  his  Defence  of  Crissell  Sandelandis ,  and  another  on  three  women 
"being  sHcht  wemen  of  lyfe  and  conversatioun."  This  type  of  poem  is  by 
no  means  rare  in  Scots. 

2  theft.  3  reign.  ■»  Robert  III. 


320     Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

"  Hartis  Tale"  is  devoted  to  praise  of  Wallace  for  his  defence 
of  Scotland  "  f ra  subiectioun  of  Saxonis  blud";  and,  in  the 
Scots  recension  of  the  Nine  Nobles ^  the  last  in  the  list  of 
great  men  is  Robert  the  Bruce,  who  "  venkust  the  mychty 
Kyng  I  Off  England,  Edward,  twyse  in  fycht."  There  is,  too, 
in  the  Maitland  folio,  a  short  defence  of  the  Scots,  which  is 
an  extract  from  Wyntoun's  Chronicle.  The  plea  for  the 
peasant,  familiar  in  the  fabliaux  of  Ranf  Coihear  and  John 
ike  Reeve,  in  Lyndsay's  John  the  Commonweill,  and  in  the 
prose  Complaynt  of  Scoilande,  is  represented  here  and  there, 
as  in  John  Uponlandis  Complaint  and  Few  may  fend  for 
falsett.^ 

In  all  these  pieces  the  literary  interest  yields  to  the  histor- 
ical and  antiquarian :  but  in  the  love  poems  and  lyrics  it  is  of 
more  account.  Some  of  these  are  hardly  inferior  to  the  known 
work  of  Alexander  Scott  and  others  represented  in  these  collec- 
tions; and  they  may,  indeed,  prove  to  be  theirs.  The  love  lay 
Tayis  Bank,  in  the  common  ballad  measure,  arranged  in  eight- 
lined  stanzas,  is  curiously  deliberate  in  its  mixture  of  the 
alliterative  and  aureate  styles.  The  "  mansuet  Mergrit,  this 
perle  polist  most  quhyt,"  who  is  the  object  of  the  poet's  admira- 
tion, has  been  identified  with  Margaret  Drummond,  the  mis- 
tress of  James  IV  before  his  marriage  with  Margaret  Tudor. 
The  nature-setting,  though  happy,  is  conventional;  and  the 
poet's  praise  of  the  lady  is  always  ceremonious  and  distant. 

This  myld,  meik,  mansuet  Mergrit, 

This  perle  polist  most  quhyt. 

Dame  Natouris  deir  dochter  discreit, 

The  dyamant  of  delji;, 

Neuir  formit  wes  to  found  on  feit 

Ane  figour  moir  perfyte. 

Nor  non  on  mold  that  did  hir  meit 

Mycht  mend  hir  wirth  a  myte. 

When  she  departs,  the  poet  is  not  sorrowful  as  the  author  of 
the  Kingis  Quair  was.  He  appears  to  take  comfort  from  the 
artistic  propriety  of  her  going  into  a  wane  "most  hevinly  to 
behold."  He  tells  us  that  he  admired  the  beauty  of  that  place 
"as  parradyce  but  peir,"  and  adds 

'  In  the  Edinburgh  University  copy  of  Fordun. 
2  In  the  Bannatyne  MS. 


Love  Poetry  321 

And  I  to  heir  thir  birdis  gay- 
Did  in  a  bonk  abyd. 

Here,  certainly,  is  the  reserve  of  the  professional  makar.  The 
Murning  Maiden  is  on  a  higher  level,  in  respect  of  directness 
and  technical  accomplishment;  and,  though  it  is  not  without 
traces  of  alliterative  and  allegorical  convention,  it  is  never 
artificial.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that,  in  all  our  Middle 
English  literature,  there  is  no  poem  more  plainly  human  and 
simple.  A  forlorn  maiden,  wandering  in  a  wood  in  "waithman 
weir,"  *  encounters  a  man  (the  writer  of  the  lyric)  who,  after 
listening  to  her  soliloquy  of  sorrow,  asks  her  why  she  tres- 
passes with  bow  and  arrows.     She  answers: 

Thocht  I  walk  in  this  forest  fre, 
Withe  bow,  and  eik  with  f edderit  flane,  ^ 
It  is  Weill  mair  than  dayis  thre 
And  meit  or  drink  jit  saw  I  nane. 

Thocht  I  had  neuer  sic  neid 

My  selffe  to  wyn  my  breid, 
5our  deir  may  walk,  schir,  thair  alane: 
3it  wes  never  na  beistis  bane ; 

I  may  not  se  thame  bleid. 
Sen  that  I  neuer  did  50W  ill. 
It  wer  no  skill  je  did  me  skaith. 
5our  deir  may  walk  quhair  euir  thai  will: 
I  wyn  my  meit  be  na  sic  waithe.  ^ 

I  do  bot  litill  wrang. 

Bot  gif  I  flowris  fang. 
Giff  that  3e  trow  not  in  my  aythe,  * 
Tak  heir  my  bow  and  arrowis  bayth, 

And  lat  my  awin  selfife  gang. 

She  refuses  the  frank  terms  which  he  offers,  and  insists  on 
remaining  in  the  forest,  a  "woful  weycht,"^  with  her  bed 

full  cauld, 
With  beistis  bryme^  and  bauld. 

The  forester,  touched  by  her  sorrow,  vows  he  will  not  consent 
to  her  wild  plan. 

In  to  my  armes  swythe 
Embrasit  I  that  blythe,  ^ 

'  huntsman's  dress.  2  arrow.  s  hunting. 

*oath.  s  wight.  *  fierce.  '  "fair  one,"  maid. 


VOL.  II— 21 


32  2     Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

Sayand,  "sweit  hairt,  of  harmes  hol^ 
Found  2  sail  I  neuer  this  forrest  fro, 
Quhill  je  me  confort  kyth." 

Than  knelit  I  befoir  that  cleir,  ^ 
And  meiklie  could  hir  mercye  craiflE, 
That  semlie  than,  with  sobir  cheir, 
Me  of  hir  gudlynes  forgaif. 

It  wes  no  neid,  I  wys, 

To  bid  us  vther  kys ; 
Thair  mycht  no  hairtis  mair  joy  resaif, 
Nor  ather  could  of  uther  haif ; 

This^  brocht  wer  we  to  blis. 

Of  other  pieces  of  this  genre  mention  may  be  made  of 
The  Luvaris  Lament  (ascribed  by  Bannatyne  to  Fethe  or 
Fethy),  with  the  burden — 

Cauld  cauld  culis  the  lufe 
That  kendillis  our  het, 

and  In  May  in  a  Morning,  reminiscent,  in  its  form,  of  the 
riming  alliterative  poems.  Though  Welcttm  to  May  ^  continues 
the  traditional  "courtly"  manner  and  the  aureate  diction  of 
the  makars  {e.g.  "saufir  firmament,"  "annammellit  orient," 
"beriall  droppis,"  and  the  like),  it  shows  a  change  in  the  point 
of  view.  It  may  be  extravagant  to  discover  more  than  a 
renascence  appreciation  of  nature  in  the  poem,  yet  these  Hnes 
are  not  merely  conventional: 

Go  walk  vpoun  sum  rever  fair. 
Go  tak  the  fresch  and  holsum  air. 
Go  luk  vpoun  the  flurist  fell, 
Go  feill  the  herbis  plesand  smell. 

Another  lyric,  beginning  Quhen  Flora  had  onrfret  the  firth, 
works  up  the  commonplaces  about  the  merle  and  mavis,  and 
does  not  shrink  from  aureation. 

Scho  is  sa  brycht  of  hyd  and  hew, 
I  lufe  bot  hir  allone  I  wene ; 
Is  non  hir  lufe  that  may  eschew 
That  blenkis  of  that  dulce  amene. 

'  pause.  2  go.  3  fair  one,  maid  *  thus. 

*  Beginning,  "Be  glad  al  je  that  luvaris  bene." 


Early  Scottish  Prose  z^z 

So,  too,  0  Lusty  May,  with  Flora  quene  proclaims  its  kinship 
in  such  a  phrase  as  "preluciand  bemis."  The  Song  of  Absence, 
which  Pinkerton  wrongly  attributed  to  James  I,^  is  more 
lively  in  its  verse.  Its  irregular  lines  recall  the  movement 
of  the  "rustic"  stanza;  but  these  are  steadied  by  the  ballast 
of  such  phrases  as  the  "halt  canicular  day"  or  the  "sweet 
mow  redolent"  of  the  beloved.  Evidence  of  this  "  aureate" 
habit  is  so  persistent  in  the  minor  love  poems  in  the  collections 
that  they  must  be  grouped  with  the  courtly  poetry  of  the 
period. 

Finally,  there  is  the  didactic  and  religious  verse  of  the 
collections.  Little  of  this  is,  however,  anonymous;  and 
rarely,  if  ever,  may  it  be  described  as  "popular."  Engrained 
as  the  ethical  habit  appears  to  be  in  Scottish  literature — so 
deeply,  indeed,  as  often  to  convey  the  impression  of  unrelieved 
seriousness — it  is  not  in  an}^  strict  sense  an  idiosyncrasy  of 
pre-reformation  verse.  In  her  reflections  on  life's  pains  and 
aspirations,  Scotland  but  conformed  to  the  taste  of  her  neigh- 
bours. If  she  appears,  after  the  sixteenth  century,  to  ponder 
more  upon  these  things — or,  let  us  say,  less  upon  others — 
she  does  so  under  stress  of  a  combination  of  special  circum- 
stances, rather  than  in  indulgence  of  an  old  habit  or  incurable 
liking. 

An  additional  interest,  philological  rather  than  literar>% 
attaches  to  the  Asloan  collection  from  the  fact  that  it  contains 
a  number  of  prose  passages,  w^hich  are  among  the  earliest 
remains  of  Scots  prose,  other  than  legal  and  official  documents. 
That  there  should  be  any  vernacular  prose,  whether  official 
or  quasi-literary,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  centur>^  is 
almost  surprising,  when  we  consider  the  place  held  by  Latin 
in  the  intellectual  life,  even  in  the  commercial  relationship 
of  renascence  Scotland. 2  The  plea  for  a  native  medium  is 
hardly  urged  before  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and 
then  it  is  only  occasional,  and,  as  in  Lyndsay's  Exclamatioun 
to  the  Redar,  apologetic,  because  of  the  stress  of  reformation 
conflict.  It  was  probably  but  rarely  that  a  Scot  excused  his 
"Ynglis"  on  the  grounds  stated  by  the  earl  of  March  in  his 

>  Ancient  Scotish  Poems  (1786),  11,  425.     See  Chapter  x  of  this  volume 
2  See  Chapter  iv. 


3^4     Anonymous  and  Popular  Scottish  Verse 

letter  to  Henry  IV  of  England.^  We  know  that  Scots  was 
used  in  public  documents  in  the  late  fourteenth  century.  In 
the  Bute  MS.  of  Laws  six  of  the  twenty-five  pieces  are  in  the 
vernacular;  so  too  are  the  parliamentary  records  from  the 
reign  of  the  first  James.  But  neither  in  these  nor  in  the  texts 
represented  in  the  Asloan  MS.  can  we  discover  any  half-con- 
scious effort  of  style,  such  as  marks  the  beginnings  of 
fifteenth  century  prose  in  England. 

The  earliest  examples  2  of  vernacular  prose  are  the  trans- 
lations of  Sir  Gilbert  Hay,  or  "of  the  Haye,"  dated  1456,  and 
preserved  in  a  single  volume  now  in  the  collection  at  Abbots- 
ford.  They  are  (i)  The  Buke  of  the  Law  of  Armys,  or  Buke 
of  Bataillis,  based  on  the  French  of  Honore  Bonet,  (2)  The 
Buke  of  the  Order  of  Knichthood,  following  L'Ordre  de  Cheva- 
lerie  and  (3)  a  version  of  the  pseudo- Aristotelian  Government 
of  Princes.  To  which  of  these  the  entry  in  the  Asloan  MS. 
("  The  Document  of  Schir  Gilbert  Hay")  refers  is  not  known, 
for  the  portion  of  the  MS.  which  contained  the  text  has  been 
lost.  Of  more  originality,  but  with  small  claim  as  literature, 
is  the  long  treatise  on  political  wisdom  and  rule  of  life  for  a 
prince,  by  John  of  Ireland,  rector  of  Yarrow  and  quondam 
confessor  to  James  III  and  Louis  XI  of  France.  The  text, 
labelled  Johannis  de  Irlandia  Opera  Theologica,  is  preserved 
in  the  Advocates'  Library.  A  long  extract  from  John's  writings 
stands  first  in  the  Asloan  MS.  ("  On  the  Passioun,"  etc.) ;  and 
we  have  clues  to  his  authorship  of  other  vernacular  treatises 
of  a  semi-theological  character  which  are  not  extant.  The 
place  of  his  prose  in  the  history  of  the  language  has  been 
discussed  in  another  chapter.^  The  contents  of  the  Portuus 
of  Noblines  in  the  Asloan  MS.,  and  (in  part)  in  the  Chepman 
and  Myllar  prints,  are  explained  by  the  fuller  title,  "The 
wertuis  of  nobilnes  and  portratours  thairof  &c.  callit  the 
Portuus  and  matynnis  of  the  samin."  This  piece  is  a  dull 
discussion,  in  a  series  of  homilies,  on  Faith,  Loyalty,  Honour 

'  It  "ys  mare  cleir  to  myne  understandyng  than  latyne  or  Fraunche" 
(1400).     Cf.  Chapter  iv. 

2  Perhaps  we  should  say  the  earhest  important  examples;  for  the  short 
fifteenth  century  tracts,  Craft  of  Deyng,  The  Wisdom  of  Solomon  and  The 
Vertewis  of  the  Mess,  preserved  in  the  Cambridge  University  MS.,  Kk.  i.  5,  may 
be  earlier.  Their  interest  is,  however,  entirely  philological.  See  the  edition 
by  J.  Rawson  Lumby,  E.E.T.S.  1870. 

'  See  Chapter  iv. 


Early  Scottish  Prose  325 

and  the  other  virtues.  It  purports  to  be  a  translation  by 
Andrew  Cadiou  from  the  French.  The  Spectakle  of  Luf  or 
Delectatioun  of  Wemen,  translated  from  the  Latin,  is  an  exhor- 
tation, in  the  conventional  dialogue-form,  "to  abstene  fra 
sic  fieschly  delectatiounis  quhilk  thow  callis  luf."  The  reader 
is  informed  in  the  conclusion  that  the  translation  was  finished 
at  St.  Andrews  on  lo  July,  1492,  by  G.  My  11,  "ane  clerk,  quhilk 
had  bene  in  to  Venus  court  mair  than  the  space  of  xx  ?eiris, 
quhill  (he  adds)  I  mycht  nocht  mak  the  seruice  that  I  had 
bene  accustomyd  to  do;  quharfor  I  was  put  out  of  hir  bill 
of  hushald."  The  S chart  Memoriale  of  the  Scottis  corniklis 
for  addicioun,  an  account  of  the  reign  of  James  II,  is  of  no 
literary  pretence. 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  Murdoch  Nisbet  wrote  out 
his  version  of  Purvey's  recension  of  Wyclif's  translation  of  the 
New  Testament.  It  anticipates  the  Bassandyne  Bible  by 
half-a-century ;  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  circulated. 
It  remained  in  manuscript  till  1901.  Its  mixture  of  northern 
and  southern  forms  gives  it  considerable  philological  interest. 
After  it,  we  may  name  Gau's  Richt  Vay  (a  translation  from 
Christiern  Pedersen),  Bellenden's  Ltvy  and  Scottish  History, 
the  patchwork  translation  called  The  Complaynt  of  Scotlande, 
Winzet's  Tractates,  bishop  Leslie's  History  of  Scotland,  Knox's 
History  and  Buchanan's  Chamaeleon,  Lindesay  of  Pitscottie's 
History,  the  controversial  writings  of  Nicol  Bume  and  other 
exiled  Catholics  and  king  James  VI's  early  effort  on  versifi- 
cation {Ane  S chart  Treatise) ;  but  the  consideration  of  these 
belongs  to  a  later  chapter.  The  professional  Raiment  of 
Courtis,  by  Abacuck  Bysset,  though  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury (1622),  represents  the  aureate  style  of  Middle  Scots  and 
is  the  last  outpost  of  that  affectation  in  northern  prose. 


CHAPTER  XII 

English  Prose  in  the  Fifteenth  Century 

I 

Pecock.     Fortescue.     The  Paston  Letters 

THE  work  of  popularising  prose  was  a  slow  and  humble 
process.  In  the  "century  of  the  commons"  literature 
was  consistently  homely.  Works  of  utility — books 
of  manners  and  of  cookery,  service  books  and  didactic  essays, 
as  well  as  old  romances  copied  and  modernised  and  chronicles 
growing  ever  briefer  and  duller — familiarised  the  middle 
classes  with  books.  Dictionaries  prove  the  spread  of  study; 
and,  though  verse  was  more  popular  reading  than  prose,  count- 
less letters  and  business  papers  remain  to  show  that  soldiers, 
merchants,  servants  and  women  were  learning  to  read  and 
write  with  fluency.  The  House  of  Commons  and  the  king's 
council  now  conducted  business  in  English ;  and,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  century,  politicians  began  to  appeal  to  the  sense  of 
the  nation  in  short  tracts.  In  the  meantime,  the  art  of  prose 
writing  advanced  no  further.  The  Mandeville  translations 
mark  its  high  tide,  for  even  The  Master  of  Game,  the  duke  of 
York's  elaborate  treatise  on  hunting,  was,  save  for  the  slightest 
of  reflections — "  imagynacioun  (is)  maistresse  of  alle  werkes" 
— purely  technical.  A  fashionable  treatise,  as  the  number  of 
manuscripts  proves,  it  was,  in  the  main,  a  translation  of  a  well 
known  French  work;  it  is  chiefly  interesting  for  its  technical 
terms,  mostly  French,  and  as  witness  to  the  excessive  elabo- 
rateness of  the  hunting  pleasures  of  the  great. 

Save  for  the  solitary  and  unappreciated  phenomenon  of 
Pecock,  Latin,  for  the  greater  part  of  the  century,  maintained 
its  position  as  the  language  of  serious  books.  The  Dther  two 
learned  men  of  the  time  wrote  first  in  Latin,  and  seem  to  have 

326 


John  Capgrave  327 

been  driven  to  use  English  by  the  poHtical  ascendency  of  a 
middle-class  and  unlettered  faction.  The  praises  of  Henry  V 
are  recorded  in  Latin ;  nearly  two  dozen  Latin  chronicles  were 
compiled  to  some  seven  in  English;  the  books  given  by  the 
duke  of  Gloucester  and  the  earl  of  Worcester  to  the  universities 
were  in  Latin,  and  so  were  the  volumes  purchased  by  the 
colleges  themselves. 

John  Capgrave,  the  learned  and  travelled  friar  of  Lynn  in 
Norfolk,  was  the  best  known  man  of  letters  of  his  time.  His 
reputation  was  based  upon  comprehensive  theological  works, 
which  comprised  commentaries  upon  all  the  books  of  the 
Bible,  condensed  from  older  sources,  besides  a  collection  of  lives 
of  saints,  Hves  of  the  Famous  Henries  and  a  hfe  of  his  patron 
Humphrey,  duke  of  Gloucester.  All  these  were  in  Latin.  But 
he  composed  in  English,  for  the  simple,  a  Hfe  of  St.  Katharine 
in  verse  and  one  of  St.  Gilbert  of  Sempringham  in  prose,  as  well 
as  a  guide  for  pilgrims  to  Rome  and  a  volume  of  Annals, 
presented  to  Edward  IV. 

Capgrave's  chronicle,  so  far  as  originaHty  goes,  makes 
some  advance  on  Trevisa,  being  a  compilation  from  a  number 
of  sources  with  an  occasional  observation  of  the  writer's  own. 
He  seems  to  have  regarded  it  in  the  nature  of  notes:  "a  schort 
remembrauns  of  elde  stories,  that  whanne  I  loke  upon  hem 
and  have  a  schort  touch  of  the  writing  I  can  sone  dilate  the 
circumstaunces."  Valuable  historically,  as  an  authority  on 
Henry  IV,  it  also  attracts  attention  by  the  terseness  of  its 
style.  It  "myte,"  says  the  author,  "be  cleped  rather  Abbre- 
viacion  of  Cronicles  than  a  book  " ;  but  graphic  detail  appears 
in  the  later  portion,  dealing  with  Capgrave's  own  times.  It  is 
he  who  tells  us  that  Henry  V  "after  his  coronacion  was  evene 
turned  onto  anothir  man  and  all  his  mociones  inclined  to 
vertu,"  though  this  is  probably  in  testimony  to  the  peculiar 
sacredness  of  the  anointing  oil.  Capgrave  was  a  doctor  in 
divinity  and  provincial  of  his  order,  the  Austin  Friars  Hermit ; 
he  was  extremely  orthodox,  violently  abusive  of  Wyclif  and 
Oldcastle,  an  apologist  of  archbishops,  yet,  like  other  chron- 
iclers, restive  under  the  extreme  demands  of  the  papacy. 

Even  apart  from  his  signal  achievement  in  literature,  the 
lively  character  and  ironical  fate  of  Reginald  Pecock  must 
attract  interest.    A  learned  man /and  original  thinker,  he  was 


o 


28     English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 


yet  astoundingly  vain.  Though  Humphrey  of  Gloucester  was 
his  first  patron,  he  was  raised  to  the  episcopate  by  the  party 
which  ruined  the  duke,  and  shared  that  party's  unpopularity. 
An  ardent  apologist  of  the  newest  papal  claims  and  of  the 
contemporary  English  hierarchy,  he  was,  nevertheless,  per- 
secuted by  the  bishops  and  deserted  by  the  pope.  Finally, 
his  condemnation  on  the  score  of  heretical  opinions  was 
brought  about  by  the  malice  of  a  revengeful  political  party. 

Reginald  Pecock  was  a  Welshman,  a  student  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  where  he  became  a  fellow  of  Oriel  and  took 
holy  orders.  He  was  early  celebrated  for  his  finished  learning 
and,  before  1431,  Humphrey,  duke  of  Gloucester,  it  seems, 
drew  the  rising  man  to  London  where,  in  that  year,  he  was 
made  Master  of  Whittington  College  near  the  Tower,  the 
recent  foundation  of  the  famous  mayor. 

London  was  still  thick  with  Lollards,  and  it  became  Pecock's 
lifelong  aim  to  overcome  their  heresy  by  persuasion.  Before 
ten  years  were  passed  he  had  issued  a  number  of  books  or 
pamphlets  to  cope  with  those  which  the  heretics  were  pouring 
forth.  In  1444,  he  was  made  bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  and  he  was 
so  active  in  his  diocese,  in  preaching  and  in  other  ways,  as  to 
rouse  opposition.  He  had  not,  however,  withdraw^n  from  the 
public  life  of  London;  and,  in  1447,  he  preached  a  sermon  at 
Paul's  Cross  which  provoked  much  antagonism.  He  defended 
episcopal  non-residence  and  neglect  of  preaching  on  the  ground 
that  the  conduct  of  the  ecclesiastical  organisation  was  a  prior 
duty;  but  he  also  justified  papal  "provisions"  to  benefices 
and  the  payment  of  annates  to  Rome  upon  grounds  most 
displeasing  to  the  English  hierarchy.  He  put  the  substance 
of  his  discourse  in  writing  ^  and  gave  it  to  his  friends.  Yet 
not  only  the  populace  but  many  scholars,  clergy  and  friars 
called  him  a  heretic.  His  apology  was  controverted  from 
Paul's  Cross  by  the  celebrated  Millington,  Provost  of  King's, 
Cambridge,  and  archbishop  Stafford,  though  personally 
friendly,  was  obliged  to  investigate  Pecock's  opinions.  Pecock 
was  not  censured;  but  his  translation  to  Chichester  on  the 
murder  of  Moleyns  perhaps  marked  him  as  a  member  of  the 
court  party  who  might  conveniently  be  thrust  into  a  thank- 
less post  of  danger.    The  mob  hated  him  as  one  of  Suffolk's 

^  Abbreviaiio  R.  Pecock. 


Pecock's  "Repressor"  329 

friends,  and  he  had  the  distinction  of  mention  in  the  lively 
ballad  on  the  duke's  death,  The  Dirge  of  Jack  Napes.  As  a 
privy  councillor  and  trier  of  petitions,  Pecock  took  his  share 
in  the  unpopular  work  of  government,  but  he  continued  to 
put  forth  short  popular  books  against  the  Lollards  and,  at 
length,  a  complete  and  reasoned  work.  The  Repressor  of  over- 
much blaming  of  the  clergy.  This  elaborate  book,  which  its 
author  thought  would  destroy  Lollardy  and  prevent  further 
criticism  of  the  hierarchy,  brought  about  his  ruin. 

A  hollow  truce  was  then  (1457)  subsisting  between  the  two 
political  parties;  one  of  Pecock's  latest  pamphlets,  addressed 
to  Canynge,  mayor  of  London,  contained  allusions  to  dis- 
turbances which  the  Yorkist  mayor  chose  to  consider  sedi- 
tious. He  accordingly  laid  the  tract  before  the  council.  An 
outcry  was  raised  at  once  by  the  politicians,  and  Pecock's 
theological  adversaries  seized  the  moment  to  accuse  him  of 
heresy.  Archbishop  Bourchier,  allied  with  the  Yorkist  faction, 
conducted  the  examination  promptly.  Nine  of  Pecock's  works 
were,  in  one  day,  inspected  and  reported  upon  by  twenty-four 
divines,  who  can  hardly  have  been  placated  by  the  claim  of 
the  accused  "to  be  judged  by  his  peers"  in  erudition.  After 
several  interviews,  Pecock  was  formally  condemned,  and  the 
archbishop,  in  a  conventionally  fraternal  speech,  bade  him 
choose  at  once  between  recantation  and  death  by  fire.  Appar- 
ently confounded  by  the  charge  of  heresy,  Pecock  at  length 
replied :  "  it  is  better  to  incur  the  taunts  of  the  people  than  to 
forsake  the  law  of  faith  and  to  depart  after  death  into  hell- 
fire  and  the  place  of  torment."  According  to  his  own  prin- 
ciples, indeed,  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  church  was 
all  that  was  open  to  him.  A  public  recantation  was  exacted, 
and  at  Paul's  Cross,  before  a  great  crowd  whose  ferocity, 
excited  by  the  spectacle  of  the  solitary  bishop  beside  the 
bonfire,  rose  so  high  that  they  would  fain  have  flung  him  into 
it,  Pecock  handed  fourteen  of  his  works  ("that  cost  moch 
goodes")  to  the  executioner  to  be  burned,  and  recited  a  full 
recantation  in  English  in  his  peculiar  repetitive  style.  After  a 
vain  attempt  to  obtain  protection  from  the  papacy,  Pecock 
was  committed  to  a  dreary  imprisonment  for  life  in  Thomey 
abbey;  and  there,  a  year  or  two  later,  he  died. 

It  is  not  hard  to  see  why  the  bishops  repudiated  their  self- 


00' 


English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 


appointed  champion.  Immeasurably  their  superior  in  learning 
as  in  argument,  his  conceit  galled  them,  his  assertion  of  the 
feudal  authority  of  the  pope  cut  at  the  roots  of  hierarchical 
independence;  he  had  treated  the  friars  with  contempt,  and 
his  mode  of  defending  the  condition  of  the  church  was  felt 
to  be  dangerous.  One  of  the  charges  against  him  was  that 
he  wrote  on  great  matters  in  English;  another,  that  he  set  the 
law  of  nature  above  the  Scriptures  and  the  sacraments:  in 
truth,  Pecock's  attempt  to  defend  the  ecclesiastical  system 
by  an  appeal  to  reason  was  a  negation  of  the  principle  of  au- 
thority upon  which  it  rested,  and  a  superficial  reading  of 
The  Repressor  might  give  the  impression  that  the  author 
minimised  the  importance  of  the  Bible. 

The  Repressor  was  the  climax  of  Pecock's  endeavours  to 
conquer  the  Lollards  on  their  own  ground.  Corporal  punish- 
ment he  allowed  to  be  lawful  in  the  last  resort;  but  he  held 
it  the  duty  of  the  clergy  to  reclaim  heretics  by  reasonable 
argument.  To  attempt  this  thoroughly,  Pecock,  in  The 
Repressor,  first  stated  clearly  what  w^ere  the  erroneous  "  trow- 
ings"  of  the  Lollards,  and  then  proceeded  to  reason  against 
them  instead  of  crushing  them  by  merely  quoting  a  mass  of 
authority.  Unhappily,  this  fair  statement  of  his  adversaries' 
case  proved  a  two-edged  weapon,  for  his  own  replies  w^ere 
sometimes  of  a  kind  so  casuistical  as  to  provoke  imtation. 
Again,  Pecock's  excellent  arguments  from  history  and  theo- 
logical literature  made  little  impression  upon  contemporaries 
almost  as  ignorant  as  they  were  biassed,  while  his  philoso- 
phical reasoning  not  only  was  beyond  their  grasp,  but  was 
suspected  of  being  a  greater  danger  than  the  Lollardy  it 
controverted.  To  reason  of  religion  at  all,  and  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  was  a  crime;  to  reason  with  heretics  appeared  to 
admit  that  they  had  some  kind  of  case;  worst  of  all,  in  those 
intolerant  times,  was  Pecock's  tolerance. 

The  book  is  clearly  arranged  in  five  parts,  each  divided 
into  chapters,  and  a  short  prologue  sets  forth  the  purport  and 
plan,  namely,  to  defend  eleven  points  of  "governances  of  the 
clergy  "  condemned  by  "  some  of  the  common  people."  Part  I 
deals  with  the  Lollard  position  in  general,  while  the  succeed- 
ing parts  defend  the  arraigned  practices  by  special  arguments. 
Part  I   is   the  most   important   and   shows   by  how"  great  a 


"The  Repressor"  and  the  Lollards       33^ 

distance  Pecock  was  in  advance  of  his  age.  Could  his  methods 
have  been  adopted  by  the  Enghsh  hierarchy,  the  ecclesias- 
tical revolution  of  the  next  dynasty  would,  perhaps,  never 
have  occurred,  and  Hooker  would  have  been  forestalled  by  a 
century. 

Pecock  finds  the  heresies  of  the  Lollards  to  arise  from 
three  fundamental  errors  in  their  method  of  thinking;  when 
these  are  relinquished,  the  way  will  be  clear  for  constructive 
explanation.  The  Lollards  assume  the  New  Testament  to  be 
the  origin  of  religion  and  morality,  holding  no  ordinance  to 
be  binding  unless  grounded,  that  is  originating,  in  Scripture; 
secondly,  they  maintain  that  every  pious  Christian  can  in- 
stinctively discover  the  full  meaning  of  Scripture;  and,  last, 
they  assert  that  this  pious  Christian  is  then  justified  in  scorn- 
ing any  reasoning  or  expounding  by  scholars  and  churchmen. 

These  theses  of  "  the  lay  party"  are  to  be  disproved  not  by 
counter-quoting  of  texts,  but  by  reasoning;  and  Pecock, 
therefore,  enters  first  upon  a  brief  explanation  of  the  method 
of  logical  argument:  "Wolde  God  it  (logic)  were  leerned  of 
al  the  comon  people  in  her  moderis  langage  for  thanne  thei 
schulden  therbi  be  putt  fro  myche  ruydnes  and  boistousness 
which  thei  han  now  in  resonyng." 

Pecock  declares  that  Scripture  w^as  not  intended  to  reveal 
to  man  any  of  the  moral  laws  which  he  had  already  discov- 
ered by  "law  of  kind,"  i.e.  light  of  nature.  Scripture,  in  fact, 
assumes  that  men  recognise  the  moral  law,  and  if  it  were 
possible  that  any  apparent  discord  should  subsist  between 
the  words  written  in  "  the  outward  book  of  parchemyn  or  of 
velym"  and  "the  doom  of  resoun  write  in  mannis  soule  and 
herte,"  then  must  the  written  words  be  interpreted  to  accord 
with  reason,  not  reason  glosed  to  accord  with  the  writing. 
It  is  actually  worse  to  undervalue  this  "inward  Scripture" 
than  to  undervalue  the  Bible  itself.  Because  Scripture  enforces 
many  points  of  morality,  we  are  not  to  regard  the  book  as  the 
foundation  of  the  moral  law — any  more  than  men  of  London 
say,  when  men  of  the  country  upland  bring  branches  of  trees 
from  Bishop's  wood  and  flowers  of  the  field  for  the  citizens 
to  array  their  houses  with  at  midsummer,  that  these  branches 
grew  out  of  the  carts  or  the  hands  of  the  bringers.  It  follows 
that  neither  the  truths  of  moral  philosophy  nor  corollaries 


332      English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

deduced  from  either  philosophy  or  the  law  of  nature  are 
" grounded"  in  Scripture.  To  ask  of  any  ordinance  or  custom 
so  deduced  by  philosophy  or  common  sense:  "where  fyndist 
thou  it  groundid  in  Holi  Scripture?"  is  as  far  beside  the  mark 
as  to  ask  of  a  conclusion  of  grammar:  "where  findist  thou  it 
groundid  in  tailour  craft  ?  or  of  a  point  of  sadler  craft  where 
findist  thou  it  groundid  in  bocheri  ?"  Much  that  is  needful 
for  us  to  know  is  left  for  us  to  discover  by  reason  and  experi- 
ence: "I  preie  thee,  Sir,  seie  to  me  where  in  Holi  Scripture 
is  50uen  the  hundrid  parti  of  the  teching  upon  matrimonie 
which  y  teche  in  a  book  mad  upon  Matrimonie  and  in  the 
firste  partie  of  Cristen  religiounf  Nor  does  Scripture  give 
a  hundredth  part  of  Pecock's  teaching  upon  usury  in  The 
filling  of  the  four  tables,  and  yet  these  books  he  considers  full 
scanty  to  teach  all  that  is  needful  to  know  upon  matrimony 
and  usury.  He  concludes  that  pilgrimages,  the  use  of  images 
in  churches,  or  the  endowments  of  the  clergy,  are  not  to 
be  condemned  because  they  are  not  expressly  ordained  in 
Scripture, 

That  the  members  of  the  lay  party  overvalue  the  authority 
of  Scripture  Pecock  generously  grants  to  be  due  to  the  excel- 
lent effect  on  their  minds  of  studying  it.  Precious,  indeed,  is 
the  effect;  but  to  hold  the  Bible,  therefore,  for  the  sole  rule 
of  truth,  is  as  if  one  should  endeavour  to  live  entirely  upon 
that  necessary  of  life,  honey.  The  lay  party  will,  however, 
allege  that  reason  is  fallible;  to  which  Pecock  answers,  that 
so  may  eyesight  or  hearing  sometimes  prove  deceptive,  and 
yet  we  cannot  see  or  hear  save  with  eye  and  ear;  w^hile  the 
dangers  of  fallacious  reasoning  are  minimised  by  a  learned 
clergy,  whose  gathered  knowledge  enables  them  to  expound 
the  whole  meaning  of  Scripture.  Another  safeguard,  he  avers, 
we  have  in  the  infallibility  of  syllogism;  let  reason  proceed 
on  this  method  and  she  cannot  err;  "  for  if  y  be  siker  and  suer 
in  my  reason  that  no  man  is  in  the  chirche  of  Seint  Poul  at 
Londoun,  and  that  the  bischop  of  London  is  a  man,  y  may 
be  sekir  and  sure  that  the  bischop  of  London  is  out  of  the 
chirche  of  Seint  Poul  at  London,  thou?  alle  aungels  in  heven 
wolde  seie  the  contrarie." 

As  for  the  second  "trowing"  of  the  Lollards — that  every 
humble  Christian  can  sufficiently  interpret  Scripture — they  can 


**The  Repressor"  and  the  Lollards       333 

easily  recognise  its  falseness  by  their  own  divisions.  Do  not 
the  Bible-men  already  distinguish  parties,  some  as  doctor- 
mongers,  some  opinion-holders,  some  neutrals?  Hath  not 
Bohemia  experienced  the  doom  of  "ech  kingdom  devidid  in 
hem  silf  "?  To  interpret  Scripture  aright  is  evidently  difficult, 
therefore  should  learned  men  be  consulted;  not  that  every 
preacher  or  wearer  of  a  doctor's  cap  is  competent  to  expound, 
and  grievous  it  is  to  find  so  little  attention  paid  to  the  serious 
scholar  who  "  flotereth  not  so  ofte  aboute  the  eeris  of  the  lay 
peple  as  dooth  the  feet  of  preaching." 

The  third  "trowing"  of  the  lay  party — that,  having  (as 
they  assume)  attained  to  the  knowledge  of  Scripture,  they 
should  pay  no  further  attention  to  the  arguments  of  clerks — 
is  as  bad  as  the  Mohammedan  law  which  punishes  the  man 
who  reasons  about  his  faith,  whereas  truth  is  ready  to  come 
to  the  light  and  be  confirmed:  it  is  but  "countirfeet  goold" 
which  abides  not  the  fire. 

This  mistaken  endeavour  to  make  Scripture  the  sole  rule 
of  life  springs  of  ignorance  and  want  of  thought.  Where  does 
Scripture  say  that  the  New  or  Old  Testament  "schulde  be 
writt  in  Englisch  tunge  to  lay  men  or  in  Latyn  tunge  to 
clerkis  ";  where, 

that  men  schulden  make  ale  or  beer  of  whiche  so  myche  horrible 
synne  cometh  myche  more  than  of  setting  up  of  ymagis  or  of 
pilgrymagis?  .  .  .  without  ale  and  beer  and  without  sidir  and 
wijn  and  meeth,  men  and  women  myte  lyve  ful  long  and  lenger  than 
thei  doon  now,  and  in  lesse  jolite  and  cheerte  of  herte  forto  bringe 
hem  into  horrible  grete  synnes — 

and  yet  the  laity  think  these  drinks  quite  permissible,  i.e.  lawful, 
i.e.  right.  Would  that  those  women  who  make  themselves  so 
wise  in  the  Bible  and  "so  coppid  of  speche  a  nentis  clerkis" 
might  wear  none  of  their  fine  "coverchefis  of  lynnen  or  of 
silk  of  whiche  so  miche  synne  cometh"  till  they  could  find 
scriptural  warrant  for  them! 

Illustration  is  among  Pecock's  strong  points — homely, 
striking  and  tersely  worded,  but  too  often  adding  a  provo- 
cation. He  had  the  unlucky  art  of  selecting  an  irritating 
topic:  "  If  the  king  of  England  dwelt  in  Bordeaux  and  should 
send  a  noble  letter  to  the  judges  exhorting  them  to  impartial 
justice,"     was  one  of  his  illustrations,  when  the  nation  was 


334        English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

frantic  over  the  loss  of  Gascony  and  not  a  law-court  was  freely 
held. 

The  second  part  of  The  Repressor  takes  point  by  point  the 
lay  party's  objections  to  the  Church  and  proves,  to  the  author's 
satisfaction,  that  the  arraigned  customs  are  not  only  unfor- 
bidden by  Scripture,  but  that  each  rests  upon  good  grounds. 
Even  if  a  good  custom,  such  as  the  use  of  images,  be  abused, 
the  abuse  is  not  serious,  for  nobody  makes  literal  idols  of 
images,  taking  them  to  be  gods.  Besides,  scriptural  warrant 
exists  for  them  in  the  practice  of  Laban  and  of  Micah  and  the 
Lcvite. 

The  necessity  of  vindicating  every  ecclesiastical  practice 
compels  Pecock  to  have  recourse,  sometimes,  to  casuistry; 
and  his  justification  of  the  practice  of  the  mendicants  who  only 
touched  money  with  a  stick,  or  of  those  who  deserted  neces- 
sitous parents  to  save  their  own  souls  in  a  convent,  is  not 
pleasant.  But  he  was  unconscious  of  any  weakness  in  his  case ; 
to  him,  logic  was  everything;  "prove"  is  his  favourite  word; 
he  believed  men  were  convinced  by  logic.  Nor  was  it  to  the 
details  of  his  case  that  his  enemies  objected.  His  appeal  to 
reason  was  the  real  crime,  and  his  criticism  was  hardly  less 
weakening  to  the  rule  of  authority.  To  nullify  the  current 
moral  of  a  fable  connected  with  the  donation  of  Constantine,  he 
proved  the  fabulousness  of  the  famous  donation  itself,  impru- 
dently adding  that  the  evils  ascribed  to  the  wealth  of  the 
church  arise  from  the  appointment,  nowadays,  of  unfit  persons 
to  bishoprics.  He  had  the  audacity  to  declare  that  a  state- 
ment of  St.  Jerome's  was  probably  not  true.  He  pointed  out 
a  discrepancy  between  Eusebius  and  pseudo-Damasus,  and 
decided,  on  historical  grounds,  for  Eusebius.  It  could  only 
be  expected  that  he  would  have  to  face  the  charge  of  denying 
the  authority  of  Scripture  and  of  the  Fathers  of  the  church. 
The  prelates  were  little  likely  to  think  well  of  a  man  who 
dragged  their  practices  to  the  bar  of  criticism. 

Pecock 's  smaller  works  seem  to  have  pursued  the  same 
plan  of  facing  the  heretic  on  his  own  ground.  In  The  Book 
of  Faith  he  discards  the  axiom  that  the  Church  cannot  err, 
because  the  Lollards  would  not  admit  it,  and  proceeds  on 
the  supposition  that  she  might.  But,  if  the  Church  should 
err,  this  would  not  excuse  the  laity  from  obedience,  for  she 


Pecock's  Minor  Works  335 

would  fail  only  after  having  done  all  that  was  humanly 
possible  to  find  the  truth — much  more  than  an  individual 
could  do.  God  would  not  blame  her  members  for  such  una- 
voidable error.  Nor  hath  any  man  proved,  neither  ever  can, 
his  own  trowing  to  be  true  contrary  to  the  Church.  He  must 
submit,  then,  to  her  wisdom,  which,  if  not  absolutely  infal- 
lible, is  relatively  enormously  greater  than  that  of  any  indi- 
vidual. But  the  prelates  accused  Pecock  of  declaring  that 
the  Catholic  Church  was  liable  to  error. 

It  is  certain  that  Pecock  was  sincere  in  his  bold  arguments, 
and  that  he  believed  himself  to  be  refounding  the  ecclesiastical 
structure.  Whether  his  works  were  as  widely  read  as  he 
believed  we  cannot  tell.  He  intended  them  for  the  lay  party, 
i.e.  the  Lollards,  and  made  his  books  as  brief  as  possible, 
because  they  were  necessary  for  every  man  to  study.  In 
The  Donet  he  seems  (like  some  later  apologists)  to  have  tried 
to  find  the  necessary  minimum  of  belief  and  to  frame  a  creed 
which  all  would  accept,  paving  his  way  by  the  assertion  that 
the  apostles'  creed  was  only  named  after  the  apostles,  not 
compiled  by  them.  The  Poor  Men's  Mirror  was  a  selection  or 
skeleton  made  from  The  Donet  in  the  hope  that  even  the  poor 
would  purchase  so  cheap  and  necessary  a  book.  Many  other 
productions  Pecock  names  in  a  self-satisfied  manner  in  The 
Repressor;  yet,  when  his  orthodoxy  was  suddenly  challenged, 
he  replied  that  he  would  not  be  responsible  for  works  more 
than  three  years  old,  for  many  had  been  copied  and  circulated 
without  his  consent  and  might  be  incorrect.  As  this  limit 
would  exclude  nearly  all  his  works  save  The  Repressor,  Pecock 
either  knew  the  accuracy  of  coypists  to  be  notoriously  poor 
or  was  entering  a  disingenuous  plea.  His  enemy,  Gascoigne, 
declares  that  he  was  always  changing  his  mind  and  disavow- 
ing his  former  statements. 

At  all  events,  Pecock  had  some  following  of  young  men, 
probably  at  Oxford,  where,  though  the  university  had  promptly 
renounced  him  and  expressed  penitence  for  permitting  heresy 
to  flourish,  his  books  were  still  being  burned  as  late  as  1475, 
having  been  overlooked,  said  the  apologetic  authorities,  in 
very  obscure  corners.  That  they  should  be  even  then  hidden 
and  remembered  implies  a  more  than  superficial  effect;  yet 
there  are  very  few  copies  now  existing.     Most  of  his  works  have 


33^       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

perished  altogether,  and,  after  the  Tudor  reformation,  Reginald 
Pecock  was  considered  a  martyred  protestant  and  received 
the  mistaken  eulogy  of  Foxe. 

The  Repressor  is  so  clearly  written  that  the  achievement  of 
its  author  is  hardly  realised  at  first  in  its  magnitude.  Pecock  had 
to  find  or  make  terms  for  conveying  abstract  ideas  and  philo- 
sophical distinctions;  yet  it  is  but  seldom  that  he  betrays 
the  difficulty  and  states  that  he  uses  a  word  in  two  senses  {e.g. 
leeful  for  "  permissible"  and  "  enjoined").  His  wide  command 
of  terms  is  not  that  of  a  man  conversant  only  with  theological 
literature ;  many  of  his  more  unusual  words  are  to  be  found  in 
Chaucer  or  in  Piers  the  Plowman,^  while  others  seem  to  be 
of  recent  importation  and  a  few,  even,  of  his  own  invention. 2 

Perhaps  it  is  significant  of  the  materialism  of  the  age  that 

>  Cared,  apposid,  approprid,  aliened,  etc. 

'  Corrept,  correpcion7i  =  rebuke,  distinguished  from  correction  =  punish- 
ment, coursli  =  in  course  of  nature. 

Probably  the  difficulty  lay  less  in  finding  abstract  terms  than  in  making 
precise  distinctions :  deliciosite,  cheerte,  carpentrie,  bocheri  give  no  pause ; 
nor  the  active  use  of  verbs:  to  feble,  to  cleree  (make  clear);  nor  the  host  of 
adverbs  and  adjectives  composed  by  -li,  -ose,  -able:  manZi  =human,  cloistrose, 
contrariose,  plentuose,  makeable,  doable,  kutteable,  preachable,  i.e.  of  a  text, 
etc.  Not  that  his  words  have  all  survived:  yet  coursli,  overte  and  netherte, 
aboute-writing,  mynde  placis  =  shrines,  a  pseudo,  a  r^cZam^=  protest,  are  good 
terms. 

On  the  other  hand  Pecock  could  not  be  sure  that  a  word  would  be  re- 
stricted to  a  particular  use,  that  readers  would  seize  the  opposition  of 
graciosli  to  naturali,  the  distinction  between  correcte  and  correpte,  orologis 
and  clocks  (dials  and  mechanical  clocks),  lete  and  lette  (permit  and  hire  out, 
hinder),  jollite,  with  a  bad  signification,  and  cheerte,  a  neutral  term.  A  few 
words  which  already  bore  a  twofold  meaning  Pecock  accepted  for  both 
senses:  religiose  (conventual  or  pious),  persoun  (person  or  parson),  quyk 
(alive  or  speedy,  but  quykli  has  the  modern  meaning) ,  rather  (more  or  earlier) 
etc.  Like  earlier  writers  he  often  couples  the  elder  and  newer  words :  undir- 
nome  and  blamyd,  rememoratiif  and  minding  signs,  wiite  and  dcfaute,  skile 
and  argument,  but,  as  the  work  progresses,  he  uses  oftener  skile,  minding 
sign  and  undirnome.  He  has  no  preference  for  the  new-fangled,  his  aim 
is  to  be  understood;  if  a  few  of  Trevisa's  or  Capgrave's  obsolescent  words 
disappear  and  feng  or  fong  or  bynam,  fullynge,  out-take,  are  replaced  in  The 
Repressor  by  take  or  took,  baptym,  no  but,  yet  Pecock  prefers  riall,  beheest, 
drenched,  hiled,  to  the  unfamiliar  regalle,  promissioune ,  drownede,  couered, 
though  these  last  are  to  be  found  already  in  the  anonymous  translation  of 
Polychronicon  (see  ante,  p.  78).  We  find  that  some  of  the  old  prefixes  so 
common  in  Trevisa,  by-  and  to-,  appear  no  longer,  while  the  hitherto  rare 
preposition  is  frequent  in  underling,  undertake  and  undirnym  (Trevisa 
seldom  ventured  upon  undirnefe).  The  opposition  of  a  yeer  of  dearth  to 
one  of  greet  cheep,  and  the  use  of  doctour-monger ,  guest-monger,  suggest  the 
modem  signification. 


Sir  John  Fortescue  337 

Pecock  so  seldom  indulges  in  metaphor;  "to  lussche  forth 
texts,"  "a  coppid  (crested)  woman"  are  simple,  but  he  felt 
obliged  more  than  once  to  explain  elaborately,  as  did  Trevisa, 
the  nature  of  figurative  language  where  one  would  have 
thought  the  meaning  self-evident.^ 

The  only  drawback  to  Pecock's  style,  for  a  modern  reader, 
is  his  tendency  to  pleonasm.  The  reason  already  suggested 
does  not  cover  nearly  all  the  instances  of  double,  or  even  triple, 
expressions.  Pecock  is  not  wholly  free  from  the  old  love  of 
balanced  phrases,  nor,  perhaps,  from  the  turn  for  quasi-legal 
forms  affected  in  his  age.  He  repeats  the  seid,  the  now  rehercid 
tiresomely,  and  rejoices  in  triplicates:  so  mich  fonned,  masid 
and  dotid:  ech  gouernaunce  or  conuersacioun  or  policie  which 
Holi  Scripture  werneth  not  and  forbedeth  not.  This  tendency, 
however,  is  most  noticeable  in  the  early  and  more  dialectical 
portions  of  The  Repressor,  while  the  very  contrast  between 
the  full  precision  of  the  arguments  and  the  colloquial  turn 
of  the  examples  gives  a  pleasing  sense  of  variety.  The  spelling 
is,  as  a  rule,  consistent,  and  is  noteworthy  for  a  system  of 
doubling  the  vow^els  to  give  a  long  sound :  lijk,  meenis,  waaste- 
ful,  etc.  It  is  probable  that  the  extant  copy  of  The  Repressor 
was  executed  under  Pecock's  immediate  supervision,  to  be 
handed  to  the  archbishop. 

Sir  John  Fortescue,  the  intrepid  chief  justice  of  Henry 
VI  and  the  earliest  English  constitutional  lawyer,  occupies, 
in  the  sphere  of  political  iterature,  a  position  not  unlike  that 
of  Pecock  in  religious  controversy.  But  the  larger  part  of  his 
works,  which  aim  at  justifying  the  title  of  the  house  of  Lan- 
caster, are  in  Latin.  The  arguments  of  the  smaller  tracts  are 
historical;  but  his  large  work,  De  Natura  Legis  Naturae,  is, 
mainly,  philosoph  cal.  In  this  book  the  actual  claim  of 
Henry  VI  is  made  to  rest  upon  the  large  foundation  of  that 
law  of  nature  which  resolves  the  succession  to  all  kingdoms. 
He  discovers  three  "natural"  kinds  of  government:  absolute 
monarchy  {dominium  regale),  republicanism  {dominium  poli- 
ticum)  and  constitutional  monarchy  {dominium  pohticuin  et 
regale).  The  right  of  the  Lancastrian  house,  therefore,  is 
bound    up   with   the    English   constitution.     Even   when   he 

»  E.g.  Vol.  I,  pp.  i68,  i8o. 

VOL.    II 22 


338       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

reaches  the  second  part  of  the  book  and  deals  with  the  struggle 
then  being  waged,  Fortescue  keeps  to  an  abstract  form  of 
argument.  "Justice"  is  to  settle  the  claim  to  a  kingdom 
in  Assyria  preferred  by  three  personages,  the  brother,  daughter 
and  daughter's  son  of  the  deceased  monarch.  The  reader 
reflects  on  Edward  III,  but  Fortescue  throws  over  the  claim 
to  France  and  the  settlement  of  Scotland;  there  is  no  inheri- 
tance through  a  female,  and  "Justice"  assigns  the  kingdom  to 
the  brother. 

Such  an  attempt  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  time  by  re- 
ferring it  to  a  general  law  is  something  in  the  manner  of 
Pecock.  The  consideration  of  the  "natural"  forms  of  govern- 
ment and  the  decision  that  the  constitution  of  England  is  a 
dominium  politicmn  et  regale  became,  with  Fortescue,  a  firm 
conviction.  Though  the  cause  he  had  at  heart,  and  for  which 
he  risked  fortune  and  life  and  went  into  exile,  was  not  advanced 
by  his  reasoning  but  hopelessly  crushed  by  the  cogent  argu- 
ments of  archery  and  cannon,  he  was  able  to  exercise  a  perhaps 
unsatisfying  activity  in  the  composition  of  two  works  which 
might  teach  Englishmen  better  to  understand  and  value 
that  noble  constitution  to  which  the  Yorkist  conqueror  certainly 
paid  little  enough  attention.  His  book  De  Laudibus  Legiim 
Angliae  was  written  1468-70,  and,  like  its  predecessor,  was 
meant  for  the  use  of  the  young  prince  Edward,  whose  edu- 
cation Fortescue  seems  to  have  had  in  charge,  and  w^ho  sustains 
a  part  in  the  dialogue.  His  travels  with  the  fugitive  royal 
family  had  shown  the  observant  chief  justice  something  of 
Scottish,  and  more  of  French,  modes  of  government.  As 
he  compares  the  French  absolute  system  with  the  noble 
constitution  of  England,  his  philosophy  becomes  practical, 
and  he  endeavours  to  apply  theory  to  the  actual  conduct  of 
government,  giving  us  by  the  way  pictures  of  the  life  and  the 
law  courts  of  England  as  he  had  known  it. 

But  Tewkesbury  field  left  the  Lancastrians  without  a 
cause,  and  Fortescue  could  do  no  more  than  bow  to  the  inevi- 
table and  lay  before  the  new  sovereign  de  facto  his  last  treatise 
upon  his  favourite  subject.  It  is  in  English.  The  house  of 
York,  possibly  from  lack  of  learning  as  well  as  from  a  perception 
of  the  importance  now  pertaining  to  the  common  people's 
opinions,  always  dealt  with  politics  in  the  vulgar  tongue.     The 


Sir  John  Fortescue  339 

treatise,  sometimes  entitled  Monarchia,  and  sometimes  The 
Difference  between  an  Absolute  and  a  Limited  Monarchy,  com- 
bines a  eulogy  of  the  English  theoretical  system  of  government 
with  advice  for  its  practical  reformation.  It  was  probably 
finished  in  1471  or  a  little  later,  though  there  are  reasons  for 
thinking  that  it  was  originally  intended  for  Henry  VI.  For- 
tescue again  distinguishes  between  the  two  kinds  of  monarchy, 
absolute  and  constitutional,  and  praises  the  advantages  of  the 
latter.  Not  that  an  absolute  monarch  is  necessarily  a  tyrant : 
Ahab  offered  Naboth  the  full  price  for  the  vineyard. 

The  all  important  question  for  a  constitutional  king  is 
revenue,  and  with  this  his  subjects  are  bound  to  provide  him: 
"  As  every  servant  owith  to  have  is  sustenance  off  hym  that  he 
serveth  so  ought  the  pope  to  be  susteyned  by  the  chirche  and 
the  kyng  by  his  reaume."  The  expenses  of  the  English  king 
are  of  three  kinds;  (i)  "kepynge  of  the  see,"  provided  for 
specially  by  the  nation  in  the  poundage  and  tonnage  duties, 
"  that  the  kynge  kepe  alway  some  grete  and  myghty  vessels, 
ffor  the  brekynge  off  an  armye  w^hen  any  shall  be  made  ayen 
hym  apon  the  see.  Ffor  thanne  it  shall  be  to  late  to  do  make 
such  vessailes";  (2)  ordinary  royal  charges,  household,  officials, 
etc. ;  (3)  extraordinary,  including  ambassadors,  rewards  and 
troops  on  a  sudden  necessity:  there  is  no  thought  of  a  perma- 
nent army.  The  dangers  of  royal  poverty  and  overgreat 
subjects  are  pointed  out,  with  examples  discreetly  taken 
from  French  and  old  English  history.  How  shall  the  revenue  be 
increased?  Not  by  direct  taxes  on  food,  as  abroad,  "his 
hyghness  shall  have  heroff  but  as  hadd  the  man  that  sherid 
is  hogge,  much  crye  and  litel  woll."  Let  the  king's  "livelode" 
come  of  his  lands:  as  did  Joseph  in  Egypt,  on  the  plan  which 
yet  keeps  the  "  Saudan  off  Babilon"  (Cairo)  so  wealthy.  (Is 
this  a  reminiscence  of  Mandeville?)  It  is  a  method  within 
the  king's  competence,  for  an  English  king  can  never  alienate 
his  lands  permanently;  which,  says  the  philosophic  judge,  only 
proves  his  supreme  power:  "ffor  it  is  no  poiar  to  mowe  aliene 
and  put  away,  but  it  is  poiar  to  mowe  have  and  kepe  to  hym 
self.  As  it  is  no  poiar  to  mowe  synne  and  to  do  ylle  or  to 
mowe  be  seke,  wex  old  or  that  a  man  may  hurte  hym  self. 
Ffor  all  thes  poiars  comen  of  impotencie." 

The   danger  of   impoverished   subjects   is   discussed   next. 


340       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

Poor  commons  are  rebellious,  as  in  Bohemia.  A  poor  nation 
could  not  afford  to  train  itself  in  marksmanship  as  the  English 
all  do  at  their  own  costs.  WTiy,  then,  do  not  the  poverty- 
stricken  French  rebel?  Simply  from  "  cowardisse  and  lakke  off 
hartes  and  corage,  wich  no  Ffrenchman  hath  like  unto  a  Eng- 
lysh  man."  The  French  are  too  cowardly  to  rob:  "  there  is  no 
man  hanged  in  Scotland  in  vij  yere  to  gedur  ffor  robbery.  .  .  . 
But  the  English  man  is  off  another  corage,"  for  he  will  always 
dare  to  take  what  he  needs  from  one  who  has  it.  Fortescue 
glories  in  the  prowess  of  our  sturdy  thieves.  An  interesting 
plan  for  forming  the  council  of  salaried  experts,  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  great  nobles,  brings  the  little  book  to  a  close,  with  a 
prophetical  "anteme"  of  rejoicing,  which  a  grateful  people 
will  sing  when  Edward  IV  shall  on  these  lines  have  reformed 
the  government  and  revenue.  A  quaint  postscript  seems 
to  deprecate  the  possible  distaste  of  king  Edward  for  the 
parliamentary  nature  of  the  rule  described. 

Fortescue  had  to  make  his  peace  with  the  new  king  by 
retracting  his  former  arguments  against  the  house  of  York. 
This  he  did  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  with  a  learned  man  in  a 
Declaration  upon  "certayn  wrytyngs  .  .  .  ayenst  the  Kinges 
Title  to  the  Roialme  of  Englond,"  wherein,  not  without  dig- 
nity, he  admitted  fresh  evidence  from  the  learned  man  and  de- 
clared himself  to  have  been  mistaken.  This,  and  a  few  other 
and  earlier  Latin  pamphlets,  are  of  purely  historical  interest. 
His  last  work  was,  probably,  the  dialogue  between  Under- 
standing and  Faith,  a  kind  of  meditation  upon  the  hard  fate 
of  the  righteous  and  the  duty  of  resignation. 

The  works  of  Pecock  and  Fortescue  were  destined  to  appeal 
rather  to  later  generations  than  to  their  own  contempora- 
ries, whose  tastes  were  better  served  by  books  more  directly 
didactic  and  less  controversial,  whether  these  were  of  the 
purely  devotional  type  or  pseudo-devotional  compilations  of 
tales  with  arbitrary  applications.  Of  this  latter  sort  the  most 
famous  example  is  Gesta  Romanorum.  Devotional  literature, 
as  distinct  from  the  Wyclifite  and  controversial  literature,  for 
nearly  a  century  and  a  half  derived  from  the  school  of  mystics, 
the  spiritual  descendants  of  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole.  Their 
great  master  is  Walter  Hylton,  an  Augustinian  canon  of  Thur- 
garton  in  Nottinghamshire,  whose  beautiful  Ladder  of  Perfec- 


Walter  Hylton  34r 

Hon  supplied  both  system  and  corrective  to  Rolle's  exuber- 
ance of  feeling. 

That  English  mysticism  was  practical  and  missionary  was 
doubtless  due  to  Rolle;  and  the  example  he  set  of  copious 
writing  in  the  vernacular  was  followed  by  his  disciples,  whose 
tracts,  sermons  and  meditations,  whether  original  or  trans- 
lated from  the  Fathers,  helped  to  render  the  language  of  devo- 
tion more  fluent  than  that  of  common  life.     When  the  life  of 
the  recluse  had  become  once  more  an  honoured  profession, 
the  phraseology  of  mysticism  was  readily  understood  by  the 
special  circle  to  which  it  appealed.     Hylton's  works  are  far 
more  modern  than  Rolle's,  both  in  matter  and  expression. 
They  were   favourites  with  the  early  printers  and  are  still 
read  in  modernised  form.     The  lofty  thought  and  clear  insight, 
the  sanity,  the  just  judgment  of  The  Ladder  of  Perfection  or 
The  Devout  book  to  a  temporal  man  are  not  more  striking  than 
the  clarity  of  the  style.     Hylton's  language  has  not,  perhaps, 
a  very  wide  range,  but  he  renders  abstract  and  subtle  thoughts 
with  ease.     Careful  explanations  are  made  of  any  fresh  term; 
pairs  of  words  and  phrases,  though  very  frequent,  are  scarcely 
ever  tautologous,  nor  is  alhteration  noticeable.     Biblical  lan- 
guage occurs  less  often  than  might  be  expected,  but  illustration 
is  common  and  ranges  from  single  comparison  ("as  full  of  sin 
as  a  hide  or  skin  is  full  of  flesh")  to  complete  metaphor,  whose 
significance  he  evidently  expects  his  readers  to  grasp  readily. 
Thus,  when  he  likens  the  progress  of  the  soul  to  a  pilgrimage 
to  Jerusalem,  he  adds,   "Jerusalem  is  as  moche  as  to  saye 
as  a  syght  of  peace,  and  betokeneth  contemplacyon  in  parfyte 
love  of  God.  "1     Or  he  speaks  of  meekness  and  love,  the  prime 
virtues  of  the  recluse's  life,  as  two  strings,  which,  "  well  fastened 
with  the  mynde  of  Jesu  maketh  good  accorde  in  the  harpe 
of  the  soule  whan  they  be  craftely  touched  with  the  fynger  of 
reason;   for  the  lower  thou  smytest  upon  that  one  the  hyer 
sowneth  that  other."  ^     In  almost  every  respect  Hylton  pre- 
sents a  contrast  to  his  contemporary  Trevisa. 

An  incidental  remark  in  The  Ladder,  "this  readest  thou 
in  every  book  that  teacheth  of  good  living,"  bears  witness  to 
a  considerable  body  of  literature  of  which  only  fragments  have 
come  down  to  us.     Chief  among  them  is  the  well-known  Reve- 

>  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  edition. 


342        English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

laiions  of  Divine  Love  by  the  anchoress  Juliana  of  Norwich,  a 
work  of  fervent  piety,  pre-eminent  in  the  graces  of  humihty 
and  love.  Juliana's  meditations  upon  her  vision  evince  her 
acquaintance  with  Hylton,  and,  probably,  with  other  religious 
writers.  Such  study  was,  indeed,  a  duty  strictly  enjoined 
upon  recluses  by  the  Ancren  Riwle.  More  than  once  she  uses 
Hylton's  actual  words  when  developing  the  same  ideas:  "the 
soul  is  a  life,"  they  both  reiterate,  and  Juliana  terms  its 
inalterably  pure  essence,  or  spirit,  as  distinguished  from  the 
sense-perceptions,  its  substance,  in  a  manner  reminiscent  of 
older  scholars.^  Apparently,  she  was  not  acquainted  with 
the  translation  of  a  Kempis,  made  in  the  middle  of  the  century, 
and  again  translated  for  the  Lady  Margaret. 

\\Tiolly  different  in  kind  are  the  moralised  skeleton  tales, 
by  no  means  always  moral  in  themselves,  of  the  famous  Gesta 
Romanorum,  the  great  vogue  of  which  is  witnessed  by  the 
fact  that  the  Anglo-Latin  recension  assigned  to  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century  was  being  continually  copied  in  the  fifteenth, 
and  that  an  English  translation  then  appeared,  popularising 
this  source-book  of  future  literature,  beside  the  English 
Legenda  Aurea,  which,  half-original,  half-translation,  belongs 
to  the  same  period. 

Much  akin  to  Gesta  was  another  old  classic  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  Secreta  Secretorum,  three  translations  of  which  were 
executed  in  the  fifteenth  century,  one,  by  James  Yonge  in 
1422,  hailing  from  the  English  Pale  in  Ireland.  It  is  a  work 
which  ranks  high  among  medieval  forgeries,  professing  to  be 
no  less  than  an  epistle  on  statesmanship  addressed  by  Aristotle 
to  his  pupil  Alexander  the  Great.     No  doubt  the  public  found 

'Juliana's  date  is  hardly  certain.  Only  two  late  MSS.  are  now  known, 
B.  M.  Sloane  2499,  said  to  belong  to  the  seventeenth  century,  and  Paris, 
Bibl.  Nationale  30,  said  to  be  a  sixteenth  century  copy  (cf.  Miss  Warrack's 
preface  to  her  edition  of  Juliana).  According  to  these  she  was  born  in  1342, 
saw  the  vision  in  1373,  wrote  her  account  of  it  about  1393,  and  was  still 
living  in  1442.  (Cf.  Tlte  Examination  of  William  Thorpe,  which  demands 
the  belief  that  he,  too,  lived  to  be  nearly  a  hundred,  as  used  to  be  assumed 
also  of  Hylton  and  of  Juliana  Berners.)  It  is  generally  stated  that  Juliana 
describes  herself  as  unable  to  read,  but  this  is  an  error.  The  Paris  copyist 
calls  her  "a  symple  creature  unlettyrde";  but  "a  simple  creature"  is  a  term 
of  humility:  the  author  of  the  prologue  to  the  Wyclifite  Bible  so  describes 
himself:  "unlettered"  may  only  mean  no  great  scholar.  The  Sloane  manu- 
script alters  this  word  to  "that  cowde  no  letter."  But  the  Revelations  do 
not  require  the  ascription  of  such  a  miracle  to  enhance  their  value. 


"Secreta  Secretorum"  343 

its  medley  of  astrological  and  medical  rules  and  elementary 
precepts  on  cleanliness  and  decency  the  more  impressive  for  its 
profound  advice  to  "avoid  tyranny,"  or  to  husband  resources 
"as  the  ampte  getys  liflode  for  winter,"  or  not  to  trust  in  one 
leach  alone,  for  fear  of  poison,  but  to  have  at  least  ten.  The 
clumsy  attempt  to  express  more  or  less  abstract  ideas  in 
English  is  interesting  as  a  sort  of  foil  to  Pecock's  achievement. 
The  Anglo-Irish  version  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  political 
appeal.  The  terror  inspired  in  the  Pale  by  O' Dennis  or  Mac- 
Morough  is  plainly  set  forth,  as  illustration  to  the  original, 
and  the  earl  of  Ormonde  is  besought  to  remember  Troy  when 
he  captures  rebels,  "  trew  men  quelleris,"  and  to  destroy  them 
"  by  the  thow  sharpe  eggis  of  your  swerde  .  .  .  rygoure  of  lawe 
and  dyntes  delynge."  Save  for  the  uncouth  spelling,  the  com- 
position is  not  very  different  from  translations  penned  in 
England. 

Yonge's  use  of  modern  illustration  is  but  one  among  many 
indications  of  the  interest  which  the  middle  classes  were 
beginning  to  feel  in  the  political  events  of  their  own  days, 
and,  to  satisfy  it,  a  group  of  contemporary  chronicles  appeared, 
more  interesting  to  the  historian  than  to  the  student  of  letters. 

With  the  increase  of  popular  agitation,  the  dull  monastic 
Latin  chronicles  withered  away  and  were  succeeded  by  a  few 
in  the  vernacular.  Though  these,  in  their  earlier  portions,  are 
meagre  translations  from  the  popular  compend  um  called 
the  Brute  (French  or  Latin  or  English^)  or  from  the  Eulogium 
(Latin),  the  writers  often  become  individual  when  dealing 
with  their  own  times.  The  restrained  indignation  of  the 
monk  of  Malmesbury  or  Canterbury  who  made  the  English 
Chronicle  (1347-1461)  at  the  incompetence  which  produced 
the  civil  war  invests  his  concise  record  with  real  dignity, 
homely  as  is  his  vocabulary.  But  his  political  judgment  does 
not  temper  his  readiness  to  accept  the  circumstantial  legends 
of  the  day,  and  two  pages  of  his  little  work  are  given  to  a 
graphic  story  of  a  ghost,  futile  and  homely  as  only  a  fifteenth 
century  ghost  could  be. 

In  contrast  with  this,  or  with  the  more  staid  Cronycullys  of 
Englonde  may  be  set  the  more  scholarly  composition  of  the 

'  English  translation  by  J.  Maundeville,  Rector  of  Burnham  Thorpe,  in 


344       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

Lancastrian  Warkworth,  Master  of  Peterhouse,  Cambridge, 
who  took  pains  to  preserve  his  chronicle  for  future  readers. 
His  picture  of  the  final  loss  of  the  royal  cause  ^  has  the  dig- 
nity of  tragedy.  He  sees  retribution  in  the  falls  of  princes  and 
points  the  moral  pithily:  "suche  goodes  as  were  gadirde  with 
synne  were  loste  with  sorwe" — "perjury  schall  nevere  have 
bettere  ende  withoute  grete  grace  of  God."  He  is  clear  in 
style  and  a  little  addicted  to  the  usual  pleonasms  ("wetynge 
and  supposynge,"  "  excitynge  and  sturing,"  "  a  proverb  and 
a  seyenge,"  etc.). 

Some  short  contemporary  accounts  bear  the  character  of 
official  reports,  or  news  letters,  e.g.  The  History  of  the  Arrivall 
(1471),  Rebellion  in  Lincolnshire  (1470),  Bellum  apud  Seynt 
Albons  (1455).  They  are  couched  in  the  wearisome  formalities 
of  semi-  ega  documents,  like  the  proclamations  of  the  time. 
Poor  as  the  expression  was,  men  at  least  felt  it  needful  to 
be  articulate.  The  productions  of  Richard  duke  of  York  are 
probably  the  worst. 

A  specimen  of  something  very  different  from  these  stilted 
pamphlets  survives  in  the  note-book  of  William  Gregory,  a 
skinner  of  London,  who  became  mayor  in  1461.  In  it  he 
entered  ballads  and  rules  of  medicine,  notes  on  the  chase,  the 
weather,  etc.,  besides  a  city  chronicle.  There  are  several  of 
these,  of  which  Fabyan's  is  the  best;  all  are  extremely  meagre, 
but  Gregory's  account  of  his  own  days  reflects  the  cheerfulness 
of  a  man  who  has  weathered  hard  times  successfully,  and  it 
has  the  freedom  of  a  private  diary.  Not  only  are  there  hints 
of  a  humane  pity,  then  rare,  for  the  misfortunes  of  "meek 
innocents"  or  of  a  brave  old  soldier,  but  touches  of  humour 
quite  as  unusual.  Though  a  fifteenth  century  writer,  he  jokes : 
the  description  of  Cade's  "sympylle  and  rude  mayny"  is 
really  comical,  weening  they  had  wit  and  wisdom  to  guide 
all  England  just  because  they  had  gotten  London  by  "  a  mysse 
happe  of  cuttynge  of  ii  sory  cordys  that  nowe  be  alteryde." 
They  entrenched,  like  soldiers,  but  they  kept  not  discipline, 
"  for  als  goode  was  Jacke  Robyn  as  John  at  the  Noke,  for  alle 
were  as  hyghe  as  pyggsfete."  He  may  tag  the  proper  moral 
over  "  thys  wrecchyde  and  fals  trobely  worlde";  but  he  tells 
how  the   earl   of  Wiltshire,   held   the  handsomest  knight  in 

>  He  chronicled  the  events  of   1461-71. 


Private  Letters  345 

England,  set  the  king's  banner  against  a  house  end  and  fought 
manly  with  the  heels,  for  he  was  afeared  of  losing  of  beauty; 
how  a  preacher  at  Paul's  Cross  once  preached  the  truth  before 
the  king,  but  all  the  great  reward  he  had  was  riding  of  eight- 
score  mile  in  and  out,  and  all  his  friends  full  sorry  for  him; 
how  Sir  Andrew  Trollope  cut  a  joke;  how  the  mayor  strove  to 
collect  supplies  for  queen  Margaret,  but  the  mob,  learning  its 
destination,  pillaged  the  convoy;  it  was  Sir  John  Wenlock's 
cook  who  attacked  the  victuals,  "  but  as  for  the  mony  I 
wot  not  howe  hit  was  departyd,  I  trowe  the  pursse  stale  the 
mony."  If  he  makes  but  the  briefest  mention  of  the  famous 
tournament  of  lord  Scales,  he  does  "aftyr  heryng" — "ax  of 
em  that  felde  the  strokys,  they  can  telle  you  best." 

Still  less  to  be  considered  as  literature,  yet  even  more  in- 
teresting in  themselves,  are  the  private  letters  which  prove 
that  ordinary  people  were  conversant  with  pen  and  ink  without 
intervention  of  scribes:  "Mastresse  Annes,  I  am  prowd  that  ye 
can  reed  Inglyshe  wherfor  I  prey  yow  aqweynt  yow  with  thys 
my  lewd  hand."^  Even  the  correspondence  addressed  to 
Henry  IV  and  Henry  V,  the  latter  very  considerable  in 
quantity,  was  certainly  not  all  done  through  secretaries;  and 
it  is  of  interest  to  notice  that  Henry  IV  appears  to  have  pre- 
ferred to  be  addressed  in  French.  Chance  has  preserved  a 
private  letter  from  one  of  Henry  V's  soldiers  ^  to  his  "felous 
and  frendys,"  describing  how  "alle  the  ambassadors  that  we 
dele  wyth  ben  yncongrue,  that  is,  in  olde  maner  of  speche  in 
Englond,  'they  ben  double  and  fals,'  "  and  they  had  made  the 
king  a  beau  nient,  or  cypher.  He  is  fain  of  peace  and  begs 
his  friends  to  pray  that  he  may  soon  come  "oute  of  thys 
unlusty  soundyour's  lyf  yn  to  the  lyf  of  Englond." 

Though  the  epistles  of  the  learned  are  usually  couched  in 
Latin,  provost  Millington  and  bishops  like  Gray  and  Bekynton 
could  be  extremely  forcible  in  English,  and  even  the  university 
of  Oxford  addressed  English  to  the  House  of  Commons,^  to 
great  ladies  and  even,  sometimes,  to  noblemen.  A  kind  of 
testimonial  to  the  famous  Sir  John  Talbot,  then  lord  lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland,  was  addressed  to  Henry  V  by  all  the  prin- 
cipal inhabitants  of  the  Pale  in  very  careful  English,  urging  his 

'  Paston  Letters,  No.  588.  2  1420.  >  i439- 


346       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

claims  upon  the  king  in  respect  of  his  energ>^  against  "your 
Irishe  Enimies  and  EngHsh  Rebels."  The  corporate  towns, 
too,  were  accustomed  to  send  missives  to  one  another  or  to 
the  great  nobles;  but  the  compositions  of  the  town  clerks,  e.g. 
of  Caerleon  or  Youghal,  are  on  a  different  plane  from  those  of 
the  universities. 

The  famous  collection  of  letters  and  business  papers  pre- 
ser\Td  by  the  Pastons  furnishes  a  detailed  picture  of  three 
generations  of  a  well-to-do  Norfolk  family,  their  friends  and 
enemies,  their  dependents  and  noble  patrons.     At  first  John 
Paston  and  his  devoted  wife  Margaret,  afterwards  their  sons, 
are  the  leading  correspondents,  and  the  cares  of  property  form 
the  topic.     John  Paston  inherited  from  his  father,  a  worthy 
judge,  considerable  estates  and  was  ambitious  of  acquiring 
more ;  but  the  cupidity  of  the  nobles  of  the  district  kept  him  in 
continual  difficulties.     The  old  judge  used  to  say  that  "whoso- 
ever should  dwell  at  Paston  should  have  need  to  know  how  to 
defend  himself,"  and  had  placed  his  sons  to  study  at  the  inns 
of  court,  since  the  only  help  against  violence  lay  in  the  intri- 
cacies of  the  law,  with  which  every  age,  class  and  sex  was 
acquainted.     The  letters,  accordingly,  trace  the  endeavours  of 
John  Paston,  and,  after  him,  of  his  sons,  to  form  such  a  com- 
bination of  royal  favour,  local  intrigue  and  bribery  as  to  procure 
effective  legal  protection  against  those  who  seized  their  manors 
by  armed  force.     This  main  thread  of  interest  is  interwoven 
with  ever\^  sort  of  business.     We  should  scarcely  gather  that 
the  crown  of  England  lay  in  the  scales  of  civil  war.     What  the 
correspondence  reveals  is  a  state  of  anarchy  in  which  jurymen 
are  terrorised,  gentlemen  of  repute  waylaid  by  ruffians  after 
church  or  market,  or  even  dragged  from  the  Christmas  dinner 
at  home  to  be  murdered  by  the  w^ayside;  when  a  sheriff'  pro- 
fessedly friendly  dare  not  accept  a  bribe,  because  he  cannot 
safely  take   more   than  ;£ioo  (i.e.  over  ;£iooo  present  value) 
and  lord  Moleynes  (Paston's  foe)  is  a  great  lord  who  can  do 
him  more  harm  than  that ;  when  the  duke  of  Suffolk's  retainers 
attack  dame  ^largaret  in  her  husband's  house  with  bows  and 
handguns,  pans  of  fire  and  scaling  ladders,  break  in  the  gates, 
undermine  the  house-front,  cut  asunder  the  great  timbers  and 
carry  the  courageous  woman  forth  to  watch  them  destroy  it. 
In  the  midst  of  such  turmoil,  business  is  conducted  regu- 


The  Paston  Letters 


04/ 


larly.  We  see  the  squires  and  their  stewards  incessantly  riding 
to  and  fro,  letting  farms  and  holding  manor  courts,  attending 
markets  or  elections  at  Nonvich,  trying  to  curr>^  favour  at  the 
court  of  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  complimenting  the  duchess  or 
giving  her  waiting-woman  a  jewel,  above  all  visiting  London, 
where  lawyers  may  be  found  and,  possibly,  the  appointment 
of  sheriff  or  under-sheriff  manipulated.  Letters  come  by 
messengers,  with  plate  and  money  concealed  in  parcels ;  some- 
times tokens  are  mentioned,  for  a  seal  might  be  stolen — "  by 
the  token  that  my  mother  hath  the  key  but  it  is  broken." 
Countless  commissions  are  given  for  grocery  or  dress.  Treacle 
"of  Genoa"  is  sought  whenever  sickness  is  rife,  cinnamon  and 
sugar,  dates  and  raisins,  "of  Coruns"  must  be  priced  to  see  if 
they  be  "better  cheap"  than  in  Norwich.  If  Paston  once 
orders  a  doublet  "all  of  worsted  for  the  honour  of  Norfolk" 
— "which  is  almost  like  silk" — his  wife  prays  that  he  will  do 
his  cost  on  her  to  get  something  for  her  neck,  for  she  had  to 
borrow  her  cousin's  device  to  visit  the  queen  among  such  fresh 
gentlewomen,  "I  durst  not  for  shame  go  with  my  beds." 

The  family  acts  together,  like  a  firm,  against  the  rest  of 
the  world ;  husband  and  wife  are  working  partners,  mother  and 
brothers  can  be  counted  on  to  take  trouble;  the  confidential 
servants  are  staunch,  and  not  one  seems  to  have  betrayed  his 
master,  though  gratitude  is  not  a  marked  trait  of  the  next 
generation.  Nor  does  it  seem  surprising  that  the  daughter, 
]\Iargery,  neglected  as  her  upbringing  had  been — Paston  had 
grudged  outlay  on  his  elder  children — should  have  fallen  in 
love  with  the  steward,  Richard  Calle,  and,  after  two  years  of 
home  persecution,  insisted  that  she  had  betrothed  herself  to 
him  and  would  marrs^  him — "to  sell  kandyll  and  mustard 
in  Framlyngham,"  as  her  angry  brother  cried.  Her  mother 
immediately  turned  her  out  of  the  house  and  left  her  to  the 
reluctant  charity  of  a  stranger.  Every  relationship  of  life, 
indeed,  was  of  the  commercial  nature :  marriages  were  bargains, 
often  driven  by  the  parents  without  intervention  of  the  persons 
concerned,  as  had  been  the  case  with  John  and  Margaret. 
The  wardship  of  children  was  purchased,  as  a  speculation. 
"There  is  a  widow  fallen,"  writes  one  brother  to  another,  or, 
"I  heard  where  was  a  goodly  young  woman  to  marry  .  .  . 
which  shall  have  ;^2oo,"  or,   "whether  her  mother  will  deal 


348       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

with  me."  Paston's  hard  old  mother,  dame  Agnes,  sends  to 
ask  at  the  inns  of  court  if  her  son  Clement  ' '  hath  do  his  dever 
in  lernyng,"  and,  if  not,  to  pray  his  tutor  to  "trewly  belassch 
hym  tyl  he  will  amend,  and  so  did  the  last  maystr  and  the  best 
that  cvir  he  had,  att  Caumbrege."^  The  tutor's  fee  was  to 
be  ten  marks.  Several  of  the  lads  went  to  Cambridge,  one  to 
Oxford  and  one  to  Eton,  where  he  stayed  till  he  was  nineteen; 
the  inns  of  court  came  later,  for  some  at  least;  then,  one  was 
placed  in  the  household  of  the  duke  of  Norfolk  for  a  time,  and 
another  remained  long  in  the  service  of  the  earl  of  Oxford,  the 
one  courteous  nobleman  of  this  correspondence. 

Daughters  were  merely  encumbrances,  difficult  to  marry 
with  little  dowry,  expensive  to  bring  up  in  the  correct  way 
by  boarding  with  a  gentle  family.  Keeping  them  at  home 
was  a  disagreeable  economy.  Dame  Agnes  so  maltreated  her 
daughter  Elizabeth,  beating  her  several  times  a  w^eek,  and  even 
twice  in  a  day,  forbidding  her  to  speak  to  anyone,  and  taunting 
her,  that  her  sister-in-law  besought  Paston  to  find  her  a  hus- 
band. "My  moder  .  .  .  wold  never  so  fayn  to  have  be  de- 
lyvered  of  her  as  she  woll  now."  Parental  authority  was  so 
unquestioned  that,  years  after  Paston's  death,  his  sons,  grown 
men,  and  one,  at  least,  married,  were  boarding  w4th  their 
mother  and  treated  like  children.  Dame  Margaret  leaned  on 
her  chaplain,  one  James  Gloys,  and  quarrels  were  picked  to 
get  John  and  Edmund  out  of  the  house.  "  We  go  not  to  bed 
unchidden  lightly."  ' ' Sir  James  and  I  be  tweyn.  We  fyll  owt 
be  for  my  modyr  with  'thow  proud  prest'  and  'thow  proud 
sqw^er.'"  The  priest  was  always  "chopping"  at  him  pro- 
vokingly,  but  "when  he  hathe  most  unfyttynge  wordys  to 
me  I  smylle  a  lytyll  and  tell  hym  it  is  good  her>'ng  of  thes  old 
talys."  Thus  (1472)  writes  John,  a  husband  and  father,  to 
his  elder  brother,  also  named  John,  a  young  knight  about 
court  in  London. 2 

With  this  younger  generation  a  rather  lighter  tone  becomes 
apparent  in  the  letters.  Sir  John  was  of  a  somewhat  shallow 
and  unpractical  character,  his  brother  a  man  of  high  spirits 
and  good  temper;  and  it  would  seem  as  if  after  Towton  field, 

'  Forty  years  earlier  it  needed  a  royal  writ  to  compel  the  Cambridge 
students  to  attend  lectures. 
'  Letters,  Nos.  697,  702. 


The  Paston  Letters  349 

the  dead  weight  of  terrorism  had  begun  to  lighten.  The  decade 
after  1461  was  less  anarchical  than  that  which  preceded  it,  and 
the  young  men  sometimes  have  leisure  for  slighter  concerns 
than  sales  and  debts,  lawsuits  and  marriage  bargains.  Sir 
John  took  an  interest  in  books,  his  brother  in  hawking,  and 
he  merrily  threatens  his  elder  "to  call  upon  yow  owyrly, 
nyghtly,  dayly,  dyner,  soper,  for  thys  hawk,"  which  he  suggests 
might  be  purchased  of  a  certain  grocer  "dwelling  right  over 
against  the  well  with  2  buckets"  near  St.  Helen's.  When  Sir 
John  at  length  sends  a  poor  bird,  it  is  with  admirable  temper 
that  the  disappointed  brother  thanks  him  for  his  "dylygence 
and  cost  .  .  .  well  I  wot  your  labore  and  trowbyll  was  as  myche 
as  thow  she  had  ben  the  best  of  the  world,  but  .  .  .  she  shall 
never  serve  but  to  lay  eggys."  Sir  John  had  a  better  taste  in 
the  points,  laces  and  hats  about  which  his  brothers  and  he 
were  so  particular.  Their  friendliness  is  the  most  amiable 
thing  in  the  letters.  The  one  sign  of  parental  affection  in  them 
comes  from  the  younger  John,  who  was  sent  in  the  princess 
Margaret's  train  (1468)  to  the  court  of  Charles  the  Bold. 
("  I  hert  never  of  non  lyek  to  it  save  Kyng  Artourys  cort.") 
He  is  anxious  about  his  "  lytell  Jak"  and  writes  home  "modyr 
I  beseche  yow  that  ye  wolbe  good  mastras  to  my  lytell  man 
and  to  se  that  he  go  to  scole."  Humour  was,  apparently, 
invented  in  London,  for  the  brothers  and  their  town  friends 
have  many  a  jest,  crude  as  these  often  are.  Sometimes  we 
have  a  touch  of  slang — "He  wolde  bear  the  cup  evyn,  as  What- 
calle-ye-hym  seyde  to  Aslake"  {i.e.  be  fair).  "Put  in  hope 
of  the  moon  schone  in  the  water."  If  the  tailor  will  not 
furnish  a  certain  gown,  "  be  cryst,  calkestowe  over  hys  hed 
(?  a  double  caul)  that  is  schoryle  (churl)  in  Englysche,  yt  is 
a  terme  newe  browthe  up  with  my  marschandis  of  Norwych, " 
says  John  the  younger,  who  addresses  his  knightly  brother 
as  "lansmann"  and  "mynher, "  and  jests  on  having  nearly 
"drownke  to  myn  oysters,"  i.e.  been  murdered.  Many  a 
good  colloquial  expression  never  found  its  way  into  literature; 
"to  bear  him  on  hand"  is  common  for  "to  accuse";  "cup- 
shotten,"   "  shuttle-witted "   are  good  terms.  ^ 

The  scanty  notices,  during  the  fifteenth  century,  of  the 

>  A  curious  instance  of  the  fluid  state  of  the  vocabulary  is  the  use  by 
nearly  all  the  colloquial  writers  of  me,  short  for  men,  or  they — ' '  causeth  me 


350       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

making  and  selling  of  books  no  more  indicate  a  general  lack  of 
them  than  the  names  of  Fortescue  and  Pecock  represent  the 
literature  in  demand.  The  monasteries  had  long  ceased  to 
supply  the  market,  and  professional  scribes  were  employed. 
The  stationers'  guild,  in  existence  much  earlier,  was  incor- 
porated in  1403,  and  had  a  hall  in  Milk  street.  "Paternoster 
Rewe"  was  well  known.  In  Oxford,  scribes,  parchmenters, 
illuminators  and  bookbinders  were  distinct  from  station- 
ers before  1373,  and,  apparently,  in  Cambridge  also.  Other 
book  centres  were  Bury  and  Lincoln,  where  king  John  of 
France  had  made  purchases  of  many  expensive  books  in  the 
preceding  century,  and,  probably,  several  other  cathedral  or 
scholastic  cities  had  store  of  books.  Prices  were  stable,  and 
materials  cheap:  in  the  fourteenth  century  a  dozen  skins  of 
parchment  cost  35.,  through  most  of  the  fifteenth  century  a 
quaternion  of  parchment  was  3c/.  and  the  WTiting  of  it  i6d.,  i.e. 
2d.  a  page,  but  small-paged  books  could  be  copied  at  id.  the 
page.  Sometimes  a  limner  charged  by  the  number  of  letters, 
at  id.  or  4d.  the  hundred,  according  to  quality,  no  doubt. 
Legal  documents  were  paid  for  at  special  rates.  The  trade 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  very  remunerative,  for  the  scrivener 
who  did  a  good  deal  of  copying  for  Sir  John  Paston  writes 
from  sanctuary  to  beg  for  payment  and  would  be  grateful  for 
the  gift  of  an  old  gown.  At  the  universities,  however,  regu- 
lations may  have  succeeded  in  "protecting"  the  scribes.  As 
early  as  1373,  Oxford  reduced  "the  excessive  number  of  book- 
sellers "  by  forbidding  outsiders  who  were  bringing  volumes 
of  great  value  from  other  places,  to  expose  any  books  for  sale 
at  more  than  half-a-mark — cheap  text-books  they  might  sell, 
but  the  university  stationers  were  not  to  have  their  accus- 
tomed profits  taken  from  them  by  competition.  Not  that 
students  usually  possessed  their  own  books,  though  William 
Paston  sent  to  London  for  his  brother's  "nominal"  and  "  book 
of  sophistry";  the  tutors  or  the  stationers  loaned  or  hired  out 
books  at  regular  charges.  Certainly,  the  large  Latin  volumes 
made  for  the  colleges  were  much  more  expensive  than  Paston's 
purchases.  These  handsome  folios  and  quartos,  as  a  rule, 
cost  from  405.  to  505-.,  always  calculated  in  marks  (135.  4d.), 

to  set  the  lesse  be  us" — while  scholarly  writers  are  beginning  to  use  it  for  /, 
meseemeth,  etc. 


Sir  John  Paston  35i 

and  were,  usually,  standard  theological  works,  although  Peter- 
house,^  which  ventured  upon  books  of  natural  science  and  a 
Vergil,  seems  to  have  smuggled  FitzRalph's  revolutionary 
sermon  into  the  works  of  Augustine,  and  Ockham's  Defensor 
into  a  commentary.  Prices,  of  course,  varied  according  to  the 
beauty  of  the  volume:  a  primer  for  a  princess  might  cost  635. 
6d.,  one  Bible  cost  "not  over  5  mark,  so  I  trowe  he  wyl  geve 
it,"  while  another  cost  but  26s.  Sd.  Several  of  the  Pastons  had 
books  and  were  chary  of  lending  them;  Anne  possessed  The 
Siege  of  Thebes,  Walter,  The  Book  of  Seven  Sages,  John  men- 
tions The  Meeting  of  the  Duke  and  the  Emperor,  and  Sir  John 
had  a  library  of  English  books. 

These  books  are  of  different  kinds,  and  often,  as  then  was 
usual,  included  various  works  by  several  hands — the  volume 
which  contained  two  of  Chaucer's  poems  contained  also  Lyd- 
gate's  The  Temple  of  Glass  and  The  Grene  Knight.  Another 
included  The  Dethe  of  Arthur  hegynyng  at  Cassabelaun,  Guy  of 
Warwick,  Richard  ''Cur  de  Lyon"  and  a  Chronicle  to  Edwarde 
the  Hi.  One  was  didactic,  comprising  a  book  about  the  mass. 
Meditations  of  Chylde  Ypotis^  and  the  Abbey  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
a  recent  devotional  work.  Several  are  old  fashioned  ballads 
— Guy  &  Colbronde  (an  Anglo-Norman  tale),  A  Balade  of  the 
Goos  (probably  Lydgate's).  Troylus  appears  alone,  and  De 
Amicitia  was  lent  to  William  of  Worcester,  Fastolf's  ill- 
requited  scholar-servant,  who  afterwards  translated  it.  One 
book  is  mentioned  as  "in  preente,"  The  Pleye  off  the  Chess. ^ 

Sir  John,  indeed,  was  in  the  fashion  in  patronising  litera- 
ture and  the  drama,  for  he  complained  that  one  of  his  servants 
whom  he  had  kept  "thys  three  yer  to  pleye  Seynt  Jorge  and 
Robin  Hod  and  the  Shryff  off  Notyngham"  had  suddenly 
deserted  him:  "  he  is  'goon  into  Bernysdale,'"  like  the  sturdy 
outlaw  in  the  ballad  to  which  this  is  an  early  allusion.  But 
his  taste  is  still  medieval :  romances  of  the  old  kind  were  shortly 
to  go  out  of  fashion.  Up  to  the  close  of  the  century,  however, 
such  books,  along  with  useful  manuals  of  all  kinds,  were,  evi- 
dently, plentiful  enough,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  number 
of  scriveners  and  their  poor  pay ;  Sir  John  Paston  had  bought 

1  The  catalogue  names  eighteen  different  scriveners. 

2  A  medieval  form  of  Epictetus. 

3  Cf.  Catalogue  in  No.  869,  Paston  Letters. 


352       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

his  volume  of  chronicle  and  romances  from  "myn  ostesse  at 
The  George,"  and  one  or  two  had  been  given  by  his  friends; 
even  the  niggardly  Fastolf  had  translations  executed  for  him, 
like  the  Lady  Margaret  or  the  duchess  of  Burgundy;  literature 
had  become  an  amusement. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Introduction  of  Printing  into  England 
and  the  Early  Work  of  the  Press 

WITH  the  advent  of  printing,  books,  from  being  expen- 
sive and  the  property  of  the  few,  became  cheap 
and  were  scattered  far  and  w^ide.  The  change  was 
gradual,  for  an  increased  demand  for  books  could  not  grow  up 
at  once;  but,  by  the  time  printing  was  introduced  into  Eng- 
land, the  art  was  widespread  and  books  were  freely  circulated. 
From  a  study  of  the  productions  of  the  various  presses  of 
different  countries  can  be  determined,  more  or  less  accurately, 
the  general  requirements  of  the  reading  public.  This  is  es- 
pecially the  case  in  England,  where  no  books  were  printed  for 
exportation.  It  is  proposed,  therefore,  in  the  present  chapter 
to  examine  the  work  produced  by  the  earlier  English  printers 
as  a  means  of  ascertaining  the  general  literary  taste  of  the 
period  in  this  country. 

It  was  soon  after  the  year  1450  that  the  first  products  of 
the  new  art  appeared  at  Mainz.  In  1465,  two  German  printers, 
Sweynheym  and  Pannartz,  migrated  to  Italy,  setting  up  a 
press  at  Subiaco  and  moving,  two  years  later,  to  Rome.  Switz- 
erland followed  soon  after  Italy,  and,  in  1470  the  first  French 
press  began  work  at  Paris.  In  all  these  cases,  the  first  printers 
had  been  Germans.  The  northern  Netherlands,  which  have 
persistently  claimed  to  be  the  birth-place  of  printing,  have  no 
authentic  date  earlier  than  147 1,  when  two  native  printers 
began  work  at  Utrecht.  Belgium  and  Austria-Hungary  follow 
in  1473  and  Spain  in  1474.  There  are  thus  eight  European 
countries  which  precede  England,  and  at  no  less  than 
seventy  towns  were  printers  at  work  before  Caxton  started  at 

VOL.  n.— 23.  353 


354  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

Westminster.  So,  too,  as  regards  the  quality  and  quantity  of 
books  produced,  England  takes  but  a  poor  place,  the  total 
number  of  books  of  every  kind,  including  different  editions 
printed  here  before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  only 
reaching  the  total  of  about  three  hundred  and  seventy.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  literary  value 
of  the  books  printed  in  England  is  high ;  for,  unlike  other  coun- 
tries, most  of  the  productions  of  the  press  are  in  the  vernacular. 

William  Caxton,  our  first  printer,  was  born  in  the  weald  of 
Kent  between  the  years  1421  and  1428,  probably  nearer  the 
earlier  date.  The  weald  was  largely  inhabited  by  descendants 
of  the  Flemish  clothmakers  who  had  been  induced  by  Edward 
III  to  settle  in  that  district,  and  this  would,  no  doubt,  have 
a  certain  effect  on  the  English  spoken  there,  which  Caxton 
himself  describes  as  "  broad  and  rude."  He  received  a  good 
education,  though  we  are  not  told  where,  and,  having  deter- 
mined to  take  up  the  business  of  a  cloth  merchant,  was  ap- 
prenticed, in  1438,  to  Robert  Large,  one  of  the  most  wealthy 
and  important  merchants  in  London  and  a  leading  member 
of  the  mercers'  company. 

Here  Caxton  continued  until  the  death  of  Large,  in  1441, 
and,  though  still  an  apprentice,  appears  to  have  left  England 
and  gone  to  the  Low  Countries.  For  the  next  few  years  wc 
have  little  information  as  to  his  movements;  but  it  is  clear 
that  he  prospered  in  business  for,  by  1463,  he  was  acting  as 
governor  of  the  merchant  adventurers.  In  1469,  he  gave  up 
this  post  to  enter  the  service  of  the  duchess  of  Burgundy,  and, 
in  the  leisure  which  this  position  afforded  him,  he  turned  his 
attention  to  literary  work.  A  visit  to  Cologne  in  1471  marks 
an  important  event  in  Caxton's  life,  for  there,  for  the  first 
time,  he  saw  a  printing  press  at  work.  If  we  believe  the  words 
of  his  apprentice  and  successor  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  and  there 
seems  no  reason  to  doubt  them,  he  even  assisted  in  the  print- 
ing of  an  edition  of  Bartholomaeus  de  Proprietatibus  Renim  in 
order  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  technical  details  of 
the  art. 

A  year  or  two  after  his  return  to  Bruges,  he  determined  to 
set  up  a  press  of  his  own  and  chose  as  an  assistant  an  illuminator 
named  Colard  Mansion.  Mansion  is  entered  regularly  as  an 
illuminator  in  the   guild-books  of  Bruges  up  to  the  year  1473, 


William  Caxton  355 

which  points  to  Caxton's  preparations  having  been  made  in 
1474.  Mansion  was  despatched  to  obtain  the  necessary  type 
and  other  materials,  and  it  appears  most  probable  that  the 
printer  who  supplied  them  was  John  Veldener  of  Lou  vain. 
Furnished  with  a  press  and  two  founts  of  type,  cut  in  imitation 
of  the  ordinary  book  hand,  Caxton  began  to  print. 

The  first  book  printed  in  the  English  language  was  the 
Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of  Troy,  issued,  about  1475,  ^"t  Bruges. 
The  French  original  was  compiled  in  the  year  1464  by  Raoul 
le  Fevre,  chaplain  to  Philip,  duke  of  Burgundy,  and,  four  years 
later,  Caxton  began  to  translate  it  into  English;  but,  disheart- 
ened, as  he  tells  us  in  his  prologue,  by  his  imperfect  knowledge 
of  French,  never  having  been  in  France,  and  by  the  rudeness 
and  broadness  of  his  English,  he  soon  laid  the  work  aside. 
Encouraged  by  Margaret,  duchess  of  Burgundy,  he,  later,  re- 
sumed his  task  and  finished  the  work  in  147 1.  His  knowledge 
of  French  was  not  perfect,  as  may  be  seen  from  occasional 
curious  mistranslations,  but  his  position  must  have  required 
an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  language.  So,  too,  with  his 
English.  His  education  had  been  good,  and  he  had  served 
as  apprentice  with  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  London 
citizens;  so  that  he  had  every  opportunity  to  acquire  good 
English  and  lose  his  provincialisms.  Nearly  all  his  literary 
work  consisted  of  translations,  but,  to  most  of  his  publications, 
he  added  prologues  or  epilogues  which  have  a  pleasant  personal 
touch,  and  show  us  that  he  had  one  valuable  possession,  a  sense 
of  humour. 

His  Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of  Troy  was  a  popular  book 
at  the  Burgundian  court,  and  Caxton  was  importuned  by 
many  famous  persons  to  make  copies  for  them.  The  copying 
of  so  large  a  book  was  a  wearisome  undertaking;  so  Caxton, 
remembering  the  art  of  printing  which  he  had  seen  in  prac- 
tical use  at  Cologne,  determined  to  undertake  it  on  his  own 
account  and  thus  be  able  to  supply  his  patrons  with  copies 
easily  and  rapidly.  Accordingly,  about  1475,  ^  printed 
edition  was  issued,  followed,  shortly,  by  Caxton's  translation 
from  two  French  versions  of  the  Liber  de  ludo  scacchorum  of 
Jacobus  de  Cessolis,  made  by  Jean  Faron  and  Jean  de  Vignay. 
Caxton,  in  his  Game  and  playe  of  the  Chesse,  made  use  of  both 
these  versions,  translating  partly  from  one  and  partly  from 


356  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

the  other.  The  last  book  he  printed  at  Bruges  was  the  Quatre 
dernieres  choses. 

In  1476,  Caxton  returned  to  England  and  set  up  his  press 
at  Westminster  in  a  house  with  the  sign  of  the  Red  Pale,  situ- 
ated in  the  precincts  of  the  abbey.  In  the  two  years  following 
his  arrival,  he  issued  a  large  number  of  books,  though  very 
little  from  his  own  pen.  We  have  it  on  the  authority  of  the 
printer  Robert  Copland,  who  worked  for  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
Caxton 's  assistant  and  successor,  and  who  might  himself  have 
been  with  Caxton,  that  the  first  products  of  the  Westminster 
press  were  small  pamphlets.  Now  this  description  exactly 
applies  to  a  number  of  tracts  of  small  size  issued  about  this 
time.  These  are  Lydgate's  Temple  of  Glass,  two  editions  of 
The  Horse,  the  Sheep  and  the  Goose  and  The  Churl  and  the  Bird; 
two  editions  of  Burgh's  Cato,  Chaucer's  Anelida  and  Arcite  and 
The  Temple  of  Brass,  the  Book  of  Courtesy  and  the  Stans  puer 
ad  mensam.  From  what  we  know  of  Caxton's  tastes,  these 
are  just  such  books  as  he  would  be  anxious  to  issue.  The  first 
two  large  books  which  he  printed  were  The  History  of  Jason 
and  Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales.  The  History  of  Jason  was 
translated  by  Caxton  from  the  French  version  of  Raoul 
le  Fevre,  and  undertaken  immediately  he  had  finished  the 
Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of  Troy  and  The  Game  of  Chess. 

On  18  November,  1477,  was  finished  the  printing  of  the 
Dictes  and  Sayings  of  the  Philosophers,  the  first  dated  book 
issued  in  England.  The  translator,  Anthony  Wodville,  earl 
Rivers,  while  on  a  voyage  to  the  shrine  of  St.  James  of  Com- 
postella,  in  1473,  was  lent  by  the  famous  knight  Lewis  de 
Bretaylles  a  manuscript  of  Les  ditz  moraulx  des  philosophes  by 
Guillaume  de  Tignoville,  With  this,  the  earl  was  so  pleased 
that  he  borrowed  the  volume  and,  on  his  return  to  England, 
set  about  the  translation.  This,  when  finished,  was  handed 
to  Caxton  to  "oversee."  He  revised  the  book  with  the  French 
version  and  added  an  amusing  epilogue,  pointing  out  that  the 
earl,  for  some  reason,  had  omitted  the  remarks  of  Socrates 
concerning  women,  which  he,  therefore,  had  added  himself. 

In  the  following  February,  Caxton  printed  another  trans- 
lation by  earl  Rivers,  The  Moral  Proverbs  of  Christine  de  Pisan, 
a  small  tract  of  four  leaves.  At  the  end  is  a  short  epilogue  in 
verse,  written  by  Caxton  himself,  giving  some  details  as  to  the 


William  Caxton  357 

author,  translator  and  date  of  printing.  Another  translation 
by  earl  Rivers  appeared  in  1479,  entitled  Cordyale,  or  the  Four 
last  things.  This  was  rendered  from  the  Quatre  dernier es 
choses,  a  French  version  of  the  De  quattuor  novissimis  made 
by  Jean  Mielot,  secretary  to  Philippe  le  Bon  in  1453. 

Two  editions  of  The  Chronicles  of  England  were  printed  in 
1480  and  1482.  This  was  the  history  known  as  The  Chronicle 
of  Brute,  edited  and  augmented  by  Caxton  himself.  The 
Polychronicon  of  Higden  was  also  issued  in  1482,  Caxton  re- 
vising Trevisa's  English  version  of  1387,  and  writing  a  con- 
tinuation, bringing  down  the  history  to  the  year  1460,  this 
continuation  being  the  only  piece  of  any  size  which  we 
possess  of  Caxton 's  original  work. 

In  1 48 1,  no  less  than  three  of  his  own  translations  were 
printed  by  Caxton,  The  Mirror  of  the  World,  Reynard  the  Fox 
and  The  History  of  Godfrey  of  Bologne.  The  origin  of  the  first 
named  is  obscure ;  but  the  English  translation  was  made  from 
a  French  prose  version  by  "Maistre  Gossouin,"  which,  in  its 
turn,  was  rendered  from  a  French  version  in  metre  made,  in 
1245,  from  an  unknown  Latin  original.  Reynard  the  Fox 
was,  apparently,  translated  from  the  Dutch  version  printed 
by  General  Leeu  at  Gouda  in  1479. 

About  1483,  The  Pilgrimage  of  the  Soul  and  Lydgate's  Life 
of  our  Lady,  were  issued,  and,  also,  a  new  edition  of  The  Can- 
terbury Tales.  Caxton 's  prologue  to  this  book  is  extremely 
interesting,  and  shows  in  what  great  esteem  he  held  Chaucer 
and  his  writings.  He  observes  that,  some  six  years  previ- 
ously he  had  printed  an  edition  of  The  Canterbttry  Tales  which 
had  been  well  received.  One  of  the  purchasers,  however,  had 
pointed  out  that  in  many  places  the  text  was  corrupt,  and 
that  pieces  were  included  which  were  not  genuine,  while  some 
which  were  genuine  w^ere  omitted.  He  had  added  that  his 
father  possessed  a  very  correct  manuscript  which  he  much 
valued,  and  he  offered,  if  Caxton  w^ould  print  a  new  edition, 
to  obtain  the  loan  of  it.  This  Caxton  undertook  to  do  and 
issued  the  new  edition,  which,  unlike  the  earlier  one,  contains 
a  series  of  woodcuts  illustrating  the  various  characters.  About 
the  same  time  were  also  issued  Chaucer's  Troilus  and  Criseyde 
and  House  of  Fame,  and,  in  September,  1483,  Gower's  Confessio 
Amantis. 


35^  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

The  Golden  Legend,  Caxton's  most  important  translation, 
was  finished,  if  not  printed,  in  1483.  In  his  second  prologue, 
the  printer  tells  us  that,  after  beginning  his  translation,  the 
magnitude  of  his  task  and  the  probable  great  expense  of  print- 
ing had  made  him  "  halfe  desperate  to  have  accomplissd  it," 
had  not  the  earl  of  Arundel  come  forward  as  a  patron.  With 
this  assistance,  the  book  was,  at  last,  finished.  In  its  com- 
pilation, Caxton  used  three  versions,  one  French,  one  Latin 
and  one  English.  The  French  original  can  be  clearly  identified 
with  an  early  printed  edition  without  date  or  place,  for  Caxton 
has  fallen  into  several  pitfalls  on  account  of  the  misprints 
which  occur  in  it;  for  example,  in  the  life  of  St.  Stephen,  the 
words  feimnes  veuves  have  been  printed  Saine  venue,  which 
the  translator  renders  "hole  comen"  in  spite  of  the  words 
making  no  sense. 

In  1484,  four  more  books  translated  by  himself  were  printed 
by  Caxton:  Caton,  The  Book  of  the  Knight  of  the  Tower,  Aesop's 
Fables  and  The  Order  of  Chivalry.  The  Book  of  the  Knight  of 
the  Tower  is  a  translation  of  the  work  written,  in  137 1,  by 
Geofifroi  de  la  Tour  Landry,  for  the  instruction  of  his  daughters, 
a  medley  compiled  from  the  Bible,  Gesta  Romanorum  and  the 
chronicles  of  various  countries.  The  next  year  saw  the  issue 
of  three  books.  The  Life  of  Charles  the  Great,  The  History  of 
Paris  and  Vienne  and,  most  important  of  all,  Sir  Thomas 
Malory's  Morte  d' Arthur.  The  Life  of  Charles  the  Great  was 
translated  from  an  anonymous  French  version  compiled  at 
the  request  of  Henry  Bolomyer,  canon  of  Lausanne,  the  Paris 
and  Vienne  from  the  French  version  made  by  Pierre  de  la 
Seppade  of  Marseilles  early  in  the  fifteenth  century.  Both 
these  books  are  now  known  only  from  single  copies. 

The  compilation  of  the  Morte  d' Arthur  was  finished  in 
1469,  but  of  the  compiler  little  is  known  save  the  name.  He 
is  generally  believed  to  be  the  Sir  Thomas  Malory  of  Newbold 
Revell  in  Warwickshire  who  died  in  1471.  No  manuscript 
of  the  work  is  known,  and,  though  Caxton  certainly  revised  it, 
exactly  to  what  extent  has  never  been  settled.  The  prologue 
to  this  book  is,  perhaps,  the  best  and  most  interesting  piece 
of  writing  the  printer  ever  composed,  and  still  remains  one  of 
the  best  criticisms  of  Malory's  romance.  Of  the  popularity 
of  the  book  we  have  striking  evidence.     Of  Caxton's  edition 


William  Caxton  359 

two  copies  are  known,  of  which  one  is  imperfect.  The  second 
edition,  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1498,  is  known  from 
one  copy  only,  which  is  imperfect,  while  the  third  edition, 
also  printed  by  de  Worde  is,  again,  only  known  from  one  im- 
perfect copy.  It  may  well  be,  considering  these  facts,  that 
there  were  other  intervening  editions  which  have  entirely 
disappeared. 

While  Caxton  was  busily  at  work  making  and  printing  his 
translations,  he  did  not  neglect  other  classes  of  books  which 
were  in  demand.  His  position  near  the  abbey  would  turn  his 
attention  to  service-books,  and,  of  these,  he  printed  a  large 
number.  One  of  the  first  books  he  issued  was  a  Sarum  Or- 
dinate, and  this  he  advertised  by  means  of  a  little  handbill 
fixed  up  in  prominent  places.  Of  Books  of  Hours  he  issued 
at  least  four  editions.  Besides  these,  he  printed  the  Psalter, 
Directorium  Sacerdotum  and  some  special  services  to  add  to  the 
breviary.  The  larger  service-books  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
attempted.  These  were  always  of  a  highly  ornamental  char- 
acter and  his  own  types  and  material,  intended  simply  for 
ordinary  work,  were  not  equal  to  the  task.  In  1487,  when 
there  was  a  demand  for  an  edition  of  the  Sarum  Missal,  he 
gave  a  commission  for  the  printing  to  a  Paris  printer,  Guil- 
laume  Maynial,  but  added  to  it  his  own  device. 

The  Royal  Book  and  The  Book  of  Good  Manners  were  the 
next  two  of  Caxton 's  translations  to  be  printed.  The  first  is  a 
translation  of  La  Somme  des  Vices  et  des  Vertus,  the  latter  of 
Le  livre  des  bonnes  meurs  by  Jacques  Legrand.  The  Book 
of  Good  Manners,  issued  in  1487,  was  a  popular  book  and  was 
reprinted  at  least  four  times  before  the  close  of  the  century. 

The  Fayttes  of  Arms,  the  next  of  Caxton's  translations  to 
be  printed,  was  issued  in  1489.  It  was  undertaken  at  the 
express  desire  of  Henry  VII,  who  himself  lent  the  manuscript, 
now  in  the  British  Museum,  from  which  the  translation  was 
made.  The  authorship  is  generally  ascribed  to  Christine  de 
Pisan. 

About  this  time,  two  very  popular  romances  were  issued, 
The  History  of  the  Four  Sons  of  Aymon  and  The  History  of 
Blanchardyn  and  Eglantine.  The  first,  of  which  manuscripts 
are  common,  was  printed  in  French  as  early  as  1480,  at  Lyons, 
and  it  was,  no  doubt,  from  this  edition  that  Caxton  prepared 


o^o  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

his  translation.  The  second  was  translated  at  the  request 
of  Margaret,  duchess  of  Somerset,  from  a  manuscript  of  the 
French  version  which  she  had  purchased  from  Caxton  himself 
many  years  previously.  In  this  translation,  Caxton  had 
adhered  to  his  original  far  more  nearly  than  is  usual  in  his 
translations,  rendering  word  for  word  in  the  closest  manner. 

The  Eneydos,  translated  in  1490  and  printed  about  the 
same  time,  is  not  in  any  way  a  translation  of  the  Aeneid,  but, 
rather,  a  romance  founded  on  it.  Caxton 's  version  was  trans- 
lated from  a  French  version,  probably  the  work  called  Le  livre 
dcs  Eneydes,  printed  at  Lyons,  in  1483,  by  Guillaume  le  Roy. 
The  printer's  preface  is  a  most  interesting  piece  of  writing, 
for  Caxton  sets  out  at  length  his  views  and  opinions  on  the 
English  language,  its  changes  and  dialects.  He  points  out 
how  rapidly  it  was  altering.  "And  certaynly  our  langage 
now  used  varyeth  ferre  from  that  whiche  was  used  and  spoken 
when  I  was  borne."  The  difference  in  dialect  is  illustrated 
by  a  story  of  a  London  merchant  who  asked  a  woman  in  "  For- 
land  "  for  some  eggs,  and  was  met  with  the  answer  that  she 
could  not  speak  French,  but  she  understood  when  asked  for 
"eyren."  The  different  styles  of  speech  are  contrasted,  and 
Caxton  ends  up  as  might  have  been  expected,  "And  thus 
b>i:wene  playn,  rude,  and  curious  I  stande  abasshed,  but  in 
my  judgemente  the  comyn  termes  that  be  dayli  used  ben 
lyghter  to  be  understonde  than  the  olde  and  auncyent  eng- 
lysshe."  In  order  to  make  the  style  as  correct  as  possible, 
Caxton  obtained  the  assistance  of  John  Skelton  to  revise  the 
book  for  the  press. 

One  other  translation  by  Caxton  remains  to  be  noticed, 
the  Metamorphoses  of  Ovid.  He  speaks  of  this  work,  along 
with  some  others,  in  the  introduction  to  The  Golden  Legend, 
and,  since  all  the  others  were  printed,  we  may  presume  that 
this  was  also.  No  trace  of  a  printed  copy  remains,  but  there 
is  in  the  Pepysian  library  a  manuscript  of  the  last  six  books 
with  the  colophon  "Translated  and  finished  by  me  William 
Caxton  at  Westminster  the  twenty-second  day  of  April,  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1480,  and  the  twentieth  year  of  the  reign  of 
king  Edward  the  fourth."  This,  like  the  rest  of  Caxton's 
books,  was  rendered  from  the  French. 

In   1 49 1  he  died,  having  just  completed  a  translation  of 


Provincial  Presses  361 

St.  Jerome's  Lives  of  the  Fathers,  which  was  printed  by  his 
successor   in    1495. 

It  is  impossible  for  many  reasons  to  consider  the  books 
issued  by  Caxton  as  quite  representative  of  the  popular  de- 
mand. His  position  was  entirely  different  from  that  of  the 
ordinary  printer  or  publisher.  The  best  part  of  his  life  had 
been  spent  abroad  in  business  connected  with  the  woollen 
trade,  he  had  risen  to  a  high  position  and  was,  doubtless,  a 
man  of  very  considerable  wealth.  When  he  settled  in  Eng- 
land as  a  printer,  he  was  able  to  consult  his  own  tastes  in  the 
matter  of  what  he  should  print,  and  this  clearly  lay  in  the 
direction  of  English  poetry  and  prose  romances.  The  reading 
public  was  not  then  very  large,  and  Caxton  directed  rather 
than  followed  the  popular  taste.  A  third  of  the  books  he 
printed  were  translations  made  by  himself,  and  he  carefully 
edited  all  that  he  printed.  At  the  same  time,  it  cannot  be 
supposed  that  he  neglected  the  popular  demand.  He  printed 
service-books  for  the  clergy,  school-books  and  statutes,  but 
his  own  interest  lay  elsewhere.  In  especial,  he  was  an  ad- 
mirer of  Chaucer.  He  took  pains,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the 
printing  of  his  works,  and  expressed  his  admiration  and  ap- 
preciation in  several  prologues  and  epilogues.  He  did  even 
more,  for,  as  we  learn  from  the  epilogue  to  Boethius,  he  placed 
a  memorial  tablet  to  the  poet  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Soon  after  Caxton  began  to  print  in  Westminster,  presses 
were  set  up  in  1478  at  Oxford,  and,  about  1479,  at  St.  Albans. 
Naturally,  the  books  issued  at  Oxford  were  mainly  scholastic 
and,  of  all  the  books  printed  there  in  the  fifteenth  and  early 
sixteenth  century,  but  one  is  in  English.  This  was  an  edition 
of  the  Liber  Festivalis  of  John  Mirk,  issued  in  March  1486-7. 
It  is  not  a  mere  reprint  of  Caxton 's  edition  issued  in  1483, 
but  has  many  points  of  difference;  and,  when  Caxton  printed 
his  second  edition,  about  1491,  he  copied  this  version  in 
preference  to  his  own. 

The  St.  Albans  press,  like  that  of  Oxford,  was  mainly  em- 
ployed on  learned  works.  Of  the  eight  books  issued,  the  first 
six  are  in  Latin;  but  the  last  two  are  in  English.  The  first. 
The  Chronicles  of  England,  printed  about  1485,  is  mainly 
founded  on  Caxton 's  earlier  editions,  but  with  interpolations 
relating  to  the  popes  and  other  ecclesiastical  matters.     Its 


Z^^  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

compiler  and  printer  was,  as  we  learn  from  a  later  edition, 
"sometime  schoolmaster  of  St.  Albans";  but  his  name  is 
unknown. 

The  last  book  from  this  press  is  well  known  under  the 
title  of  The  Book  of  St.  Albans.  It  contains  three  treatises, 
the  first  on  hawking,  the  second  on  hunting  and  the  last  on 
coat-armour  or  heraldry.  Much  has  been  written  about  the 
authorship  of  this  book,  which  is  probably  not  all  from  one 
hand.  The  part  on  hunting,  which  is  in  verse,  ends  with  the 
words  "Explicit  Dam  Julyans  Barnes  in  her  boke  of  huntyng," 
and  this  is  generally  considered  to  refer  to  a  somewhat  mythical 
Juliana  Bemers,  traditionally  prioress  of  the  nunnery  of  Sop- 
well  near  St.  Albans.  The  treatise  on  heraldry  is  expressly 
said  to  have  been  translated  and  compiled  at  St.  Albans,  and 
is  probably  derived,  in  great  part,  from  a  work  on  the  same 
subject  written,  in  1441,  by  Nicholas  Upton  and  dedicated  to 
Humphrey,  duke  of  Gloucester.  Whatever  part  dame  Juliana 
Berners  may  have  taken  in  the  compilation  of  The  Book  of 
St.  Albans,  it  is  certainly  not  an  original  work,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  books  on  hawking  and  hunting  are  derived  from 
the  Venerie  de  Twety,  a  work  composed  early  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  The  work  on  fishing,  which  was  added  to  succeeding 
editions  of  the  book,  appears,  from  internal  evidence,  to  have 
been  originally  composed  in  English. 

The  first  London  press,  started  in  1480  by  John  Lettou 
under  the  patronage  of  William  Wilcock,  a  wealthy  draper, 
produced  only  two  Latin  books,  a  commentary  on  the  Meta- 
physics of  Aristotle  by  Antonius  Andreae  and  an  exposition  on 
the  Psalms  by  Thomas  Wallensis.  When,  later,  Lettou  printed 
in  partnership  with  William  de  Machlinia,  they  issued  nothing 
but  law-books,  and  it  was  not  until  about  1483,  when  Mach- 
linia was  at  work  by  himself,  that  books  in  English  were  printed 
in  London.  One  of  the  earliest  was  the  Revelation  of  St.  Nicho- 
las to  a  monk  of  Evesham.  It  was  composed  in  1196;  but  the 
author  is  unknown.  In  an  abridged  form,  it  is  found  in  Roger 
of  Wendover's  F lores  Historiarum  under  the  year  1196.  It 
is  a  curious  religious  allegory,  treating  of  the  pilgrimage  of  a 
soul  from  death  through  purgatory  and  paradise  to  heaven. 
The  monk,  conducted  by  St.  Nicholas,  is  taken  from  place  to 
place  in  purgatory,  where  he  meets  and  converses  with  persons 


English  Books  Printed  Abroad  3^3 

of  various  ranks,  who  relate  their  stories  and  their  suffering. 
From  purgatory  he  advances  slowly  to  paradise,  and  finally 
reaches  the  gates  of  heaven;  after  which  he  awakes. 

The  later  press  of  Machlinia  issued  few  English  books. 
Among  them  came  a  reprint  of  The  Chronicles  of  England  and 
three  editions  of  a  Treatise  of  the  Pestilence,  a  translation  of  the 
Regimen  contra  pestilentiam  of  Benedict  Canutus,  bishop  of 
Westeraes,  in  Sweden.  These  can  certainly  be  dated  about 
1485,  in  which  year  London  was  visited  by  the  plague.  One 
other  interesting  book  was  issued  by  Machlinia,  entitled 
Speculum  Christiani.  It  is  a  curious  medley  of  theological 
matter  in  Latin,  interspersed  with  pieces  of  religious  poetry  in 
English.  The  authorship  has  been  ascribed  to  a  certain  John 
Watton,  but  the  book,  without  the  English  verse,  was  also 
printed  abroad.  The  verse,  though  spoken  of  by  Warton  as 
poor,  is,  occasionally,  quite  good;  and  the  hymn  to  the  Virgin, 
reprinted  in  Herbert's  Typographical  Antiquities,  ^  is  a  simple 
and  charming  piece  of  writing,  reminiscent  of  an  earlier  period. 
The  second  part  of  the  book  consists,  mainly,  of  an  exposition 
on  the  Lord's  prayer,  while  the  third  contains  selections  taken 
from  the  works  of  St.  Isidore. 

With  the  death  of  Caxton,  the  character  of  the  English 
press  changed.  Both  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  his  successor,  and 
Richard  Pynson,  the  only  other  printer  then  at  work  in  Eng- 
land, were  practical  printers  only,  depending  on  their  business 
for  their  livelihood,  and  had  to  follow,  not  direct,  the  popular 
demand.  De  Worde  especially  seems  to  have  been  without 
initiative,  most  of  his  early  work  consisting  of  reprints  and, 
for  a  year  or  two,  his  press  was  almost  idle.  A  foreign  printer, 
Gerard  Leeu  of  Antwerp,  took  advantage  of  this  period  of 
inactivity  and  printed  four  books  for  the  English  market. 
Three  were  mere  reprints  of  Caxton's  books,  The  History  of 
Jason,  The  History  of  Paris  and  Vienne  and  The  Chronicles  of 
England;  but  the  fourth  is  unknown  in  any  other  English  ver- 
sion. This  is  the  Dialogue  or  communing  between  the  wise  king 
Solomon  and  Marcolphus,  a  widespread  and  popular  story,  of 
which  there  are  versions  in  many  languages.  The  English 
version  is  translated  from  the  Dutch,  but  there  is  no  clue  to 
the  translator.  The  story  tells  of  the  various  questions  put 
» I,  pp.  1 1 3-4 


3^4  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

by  Solomon,  which  are  answered  by  the  rustic  wit  of  Marcol- 
phus,  and  of  the  various  ruses  and  quibbles  by  means  of  which 
he  escaped  the  punishments  designed  for  him  by  the  king. 
As  the  other  three  of  Leeu's  books  are  reprints  of  Caxton's 
editions,  it  is  just  possible  that  there  may  have  been  an  English 
printed  edition  of  it  also;  but,  if  so,  no  trace  of  it  remains. 

About  1 503,  another  Antwerp  printer,  Adraien  van  Berghen, 
printed  a  book  for  sale  in  England,  which  goes  under  the  name 
of  Arnold's  Chronicle.  Richard  Arnold,  the  compiler,  was  a 
merchant  trading  with  the  Low  Countries  and  his  work  is  a 
miscellaneous  collection  of  stray  facts  relating  to  the  city  of 
London,  copies  of  charters,  examples  of  business  letters,  lists 
of  mayors  and  bailiffs,  of  London  churches  and  quaint  recipes; 
it  is,  in  fact,  the  commonplace  book  of  a  man  with  antiquarian 
tastes.  Its  chief  fame  is  derived  from  its  including,  inserted 
between  a  list  of  the  tolls  of  Antwerp  and  the  difference  between 
English  and  Flemish  coinage,  the  famous  ballad  of  The  Nut 
Brown  Maid.  A  second  edition  of  the  Chronicle  was  issued 
in  which  the  lists  were  brought  down  to  1520. 

When  William  de  Machlinia  ceased  printing,  probably  about 
the  year  1488,  his  place  was  taken  by  Richard  Pynson,  a 
Norman,  who  had  been  educated  at  the  university  of  Paris. 
His  first  object  was  to  print  law-books,  and  here  his  knowledge 
of  French  would  be  of  great  use;  but  he  also  issued  works  of 
general  interest.  Before  November,  1492,  when  his  first  dated 
book  was  issued,  he  had  printed  a  Latin  grammar,  an  edition 
of  The  Canterbury  Tales  and  a  version  of  The  Goste  of  Guy. 

The  Canterbury  Tales  is  an  exact  reprint  of  Caxton's  second 
edition,  and  was  probably  issued  before  Caxton's  death  in 
1 49 1.  The  short  preface,  a  most  confused  and  involved  piece 
of  writing,  shows  that  Pynson  was  not  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  English  language,  and  it  is  rare  to  find  him  making 
use  of  it. 

The  Goste  of  Guy  must  have  been  a  most  interesting  book; 
but,  unhappily,  all  that  remains  of  it  are  two  small  fragments 
of  a  leaf,  containing  altogether  twelve  lines.  On  comparison 
with  manuscripts  of  the  poem,  it  is  clear  that  the  printed  ver- 
sion was  very  much  abbreviated  and  bore  about  the  same  re- 
lation to  them  as  the  early  printed  editions  of  such  books  as 
Sir  Beves  of  Hamtoun  or  Guy  of  Warwick  bear  to  their  earlier 


Richard  Pynson  365 

manuscripts.  The  manuscripts  of  The  Goste  of  Guy,  both  in 
prose  and  verse,  are,  apparently,  derived  from  a  northern 
EngHsh  prose  original.  The  version  in  verse  is  placed  by 
Schleich  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
Pynson  fragment  is  quite  independent  of  any  of  the  known 
English  versions,  and  is  valuable  as  evidence  of  a  lasting  in- 
terest in  the  subject.  A  short  Latin  version  was  printed 
towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  at  Cologne ;  and  this 
may  be  more  nearly  connected  with  the  version  printed  by 
Pynson.  In  June,  1493  >  Pynson  issued  the  first  edition  of  Dives 
and  Pauper,  by  Henry  Parker,  a  Carmelite  monk  of  Doncaster, 
who  died  in  1470.  The  work,  which  is  an  explanation  of  the 
ten  commandments,  points  out  the  duties  of  the  rich  towards 
the  poor,  and  finishes  with  a  treatise  on  holy  poverty. 

In  the  following  year,  Pynson  issued  an  illustrated  edition 
of  Lydgate's  Falls  of  Princes,  translated  from  Boccaccio;  and, 
in  1495,  ^^  edition  of  the  Hecyra  of  Terence,  the  first  printed 
of  a  set  of  the  plays  issued  between  1495  ^^*^  i497-  It  is 
probable  that  these  were  printed  for  William  Horman  for  use 
at  Eton;  and  other  books,  such  as  Dialogus  linguae  et  ventris 
and  one  or  two  grammars  bearing  Horman 's  initials,  were 
issued  about  the  same  time. 

Pynson  seems  to  have  had  little  enterprise  in  printing 
English  books ;  and,  besides  those  already  mentioned,  he  only 
issued  six  in  the  fifteenth  century  which  were  not  mere  reprints. 
He  must  be  credited  with  the  first  edition  of  Mandeville's 
Travels,  and  of  The  History  of  Guy  Earl  of  Warwick.  The 
remaining  four  are  small  poetical  pieces  of  a  few  leaves  each. 
The  earliest.  The  Life  of  St.  Margaret,  is  only  known  from  a 
fragment.  The  next  is  The  Epitaph  of  Jasper  Tudor,  Duke 
of  Bedford.  The  poem  ends  ''Quod  Smerte  maister  de  ses 
ouzeaus" ;  but  it  is  generally  ascribed  to  Skelton.  The  duke 
died  in  1495,  ^^^  "^^^  book  was  printed  very  shortly  afterwards. 
The  Foundation  of  the  Chapel  of  Walsingham  gives  an  account 
in  verse  of  the  miracle  which  led  to  the  building  of  the  shrine 
in  1 06 1,  and  may  have  been  printed  for  sale  to  the  pilgrims 
who  travelled  there.  The  remaining  piece  is  The  Life  of  St. 
Petryonylla. 

The  sixteenth  century  shows  slight  advance.  In  1503, 
Pynson  published  a  translation  of  Imitatio  Christi,  by  William 


3^6  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

Atkynson,  to  which  was  added  a  spurious  fourth  book,  trans- 
lated from  the  French  by  Margaret,  countess  of  Richmond  and 
Derby.  Nothing  further  of  interest  was  issued  until  1509, 
when  Barclay's  translation  of  The  Ship  of  Fools  appeared. 
Barclay  seems  to  have  been  a  favourite  author  with  Pynson, 
who  printed  many  of  his  works.  In  151 1,  appeared  The  Pil- 
grimage of  Sir  Richard  Guilforde,  a  most  interesting  account 
of  a  journey  to  the  holy  land,  written  by  his  chaplain.  A  good 
deal  of  the  book  is  compiled  from  earlier  guide-books;  but 
there  are  several  pieces  of  picturesque  writing,  especially  the 
account  of  the  death  and  burial  of  Sir  Richard  at  Jerusalem. 

In  1 5 16,  Fabyan's  Chronicles  were  printed,  the  first  of  the 
series  of  modern  chronicles.  The  work  was  compiled  by 
Robert  Fabyan,  sheriff  of  London,  who  died  in  15  12.  It  is  a 
compilation  from  previous  writers  of  the  history  of  England 
from  the  days  of  Brutus,  but  the  earlier  parts  are  very  super- 
ficial. The  later  parts  are  only  valuable  where  they  touch  on 
matters  which  came  under  his  own  personal  observation;  but 
much  matter  relating  to  London  is  given  in  detail. 

In  the  same  year  was  issued  the  Kalendar  of  the  new  legend 
of  England,  a  work  treating  of  the  lives  of  British  saints. 

Soon  after  this  date,  Pynson,  as  king's  printer,  found  much 
of  his  time  occupied  in  printing  more  or  less  official  works  and 
books  relating  to  political  affairs;  and  English  books  of  this 
period  are  few.  Between  1523  and  1525,  he  completed  the 
printing  of  the  most  important  of  his  publications,  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Chronicle  of  Froissart  by  John  Bourchier,  Lord 
Berners — a  work  of  great  bibliographical  interest  on  account 
of  the  several  variations  in  the  first  edition.  Its  publication 
introduced  a  new  style  of  historical  writing;  but  it  seems  to 
have  met  with  little  success  and  was  but  once  reprinted  before 
the  nineteenth  century.  Berners's  love  of  romance  led  him 
to  translate  three  books  from  French  and  Spanish,  Huon  of 
Bordeaux,  The  Castle  of  Love  and  The  History  of  Arthur  of 
Little  Britain,  to  which  reference  is  made  elsewhere.  ^  Pynson's 
later  work  was  mainly  confined  to  books  in  Latin  and  treatises 
on  law;  English  books  printed  by  him  are  rare  and,  usually, 
mere  reprints.  In  fact,  during  his  whole  career,  he  did  not 
issue  one  English  book  for  ten  issued  by  de  Worde.     His  taste 

'  See  Chapter  xiv,  p.  384. 


Wynkyn  de  Worde  367 

was  for  serious  literature,  and  he  was  the  favourite  pubhsher 
for  such  learned  writers  of  England  as  chose  to  have  their 
books  printed  in  this  country.  He  was  heavily  handicapped 
by  want  of  type.  He  had  a  fair  Latin  fount,  but  hardly  any 
Greek ;  so  that  scholars  preferred  to  send  their  work  to  foreign 
printers  such  as  Froschover  or  Froben,  who  had  not  only  ade- 
quate type  and  good  correctors,  but  were  well  situated  for 
publishing  the  books  at  the  various  local  fairs,  the  then  recog- 
nised centres  for  circulating  books.  If  success  in  business  may 
be  taken  as  a  sign  of  popular  approval,  Pynson,  with  his 
learned  books  and  the  official  income  derived  from  his  work 
as  king's  printer,  stood  no  chance  against  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
with  his  romances  and  poetical  tracts;  for,  as  we  know  from 
the  subsidy  rolls,  de  Worde  was  by  far  the  richer  man. 

Wynkyn  de  Worde,  who  succeeded  to  Caxton's  press  and 
material,  published  very  little  during  the  first  few  years,  being 
contented  with  a  few  reprints.  In  1495,  he  issued  a  translation 
of  the  Vitae  Sanctorum  Patrum  of  Jerome.  This  translation 
was  the  work  of  Caxton  and  was  only  finished,  as  de  Worde 
writes  in  the  colophon,  on  the  last  day  of  his  life.  It  was 
rendered  from  the  French  edition  printed  at  Lyons  in  i486; 
but,  as  might  have  been  expected,  it  attained  little  popularity 
and  was  never  reprinted. 

About  this  time,  de  Worde  published  an  English  version  of 
"  Bartholomaeus  de  Proprietatibus  Rerum,  made  by  John 
Trevisa."  The  printer,  or  some  one  under  his  direction,  has 
added  an  epilogue  which  contains  some  curious  details  as  to 
the  beginning  of  Caxton's  career  as  a  printer,  and  also  the  in- 
formation that  the  book  was  the  first  to  be  printed  on  English- 
made  paper.  The  year  1496  saw  the  issue  of  new  editions  of 
Dives  and  Pauper  and  The  Book  of  St.  Albans,  the  latter  being 
enlarged  with  a  third  part  containing  the  treatise  of  Fishing 
with  an  angle,  a  book  which  would  seem  to  be  the  work  of  a 
practical  fisherman,  is  much  more  modern  in  feeling  than 
many  books  of  the  same  class  issued  at  a  later  date  and  differs 
much  in  style  from  the  other  treatises.  The  fourth  edition  of 
Chaucer's  Canterbury  Tales,  printed  in  1498,  again  clearly 
shows  de  Worde 's  carelessness  as  a  printer  and  the  absence  of 
editorial  work  on  his  books.  A  large  portion  of  The  Monk's 
Tale  is  omitted;  and,  though  the  printer,  when  he  discovered 


J 


68  The  Introduction  of  Printing 


this,  inserted  an  extra  printed  leaf,  still,  much  is  missing. 
Though  not  skilful  as  a  printer,  de  Worde  was  not  idle:  before 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  he  had  issued  at  least  one 
hundred  and  ten  books.  A  large  number  were  reprints  and 
many  others  of  no  literary  interest,  such  as  grammars,  service- 
books  and  law-books;  but,  among  the  remainder,  are  some 
worthy  of  notice.  The  C ontemplacyon  of  sinners,  written  by 
a  monk,  William  Touris,  and  an  illustrated  edition  of  Mande- 
ville's  Travels  were  issued  in  1499.  Among  the  undated  books 
are  several  romances,  Beves  of  Hamtoun,  Guy  of  Warwick  and 
Rohin  Hood;  the  works  of  John  Alcock,  bishop  of  Ely;  some 
curious  religious  works  such  as  The  Doctrinal  of  Death,  The 
Miracles  of  Our  Lady,  The  Rote  or  mirror  of  Consolation,  The 
Twelve  profits  of  tribulation.  There  is  also  one  work  of  Skelton, 
The  Bowge  of  Court,  a  satire  on  the  court  manners  of  the  time, 
and  a  book  which,  from  the  number  of  editions,  appears  to 
have  been  popular,  The  History  of  the  Three  Kings  of  Cologne, 
a  translation  of  the  Historia  trium  regum  of  John  of  Hildesheim. 
We  have  no  evidence  that  de  Worde  did  anything  in  the  way 
of  editing  or  translating;  but  he  had  in  his  employ  assistants 
who  were  able  to  translate  from  the  French.  Chief  among 
these  was  Robert  Copland,  who  was  responsible  for  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Kalendar  of  Shepherds,  The  mirror  of  the  Church, 
Helyas  Knight  of  the  Swan  and  Kynge  Appolyn  of  Thyre,  while 
he  frequently  added  short  prologues  and  epilogues  in  verse  to 
the  books  he  printed  for  de  Worde.  Copland  printed  also 
several  books  on  his  own  account,  two,  at  least,  being  of  his 
own  composition.  These  are  The  Hye  Way  to  the  Spyttell  Hoiis 
and  lyl  of  Braintford's  Testament.  The  former,  though  it 
cannot  lay  claim  to  any  merit,  is  curious  on  account  of  its 
matter.  It  purports  to  be  a  dialogue  between  Copland  and  the 
porter  of  an  almshouse,  in  the  course  of  which  they  criticise 
all  the  applicants  for  charity  as  they  pass,  and  discuss  the 
various  frauds  and  deceits  practised  by  thieves  and  beggars, 
and,  incidentally,  the  vices  and  follies  w^hich  have  brought 
them  to  ruin.  The  second  piece  is  very  inferior  to  the  first, 
and  coarse  even  for  the  period. 

Another  translator,  an  apprentice  to  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
was  Henry  Watson,  and  his  first  work  was  a  prose  translation 
from  the  French  of  The  Ship  of  Fools.     This  work  must  have 


Wynkyn  de  Worde  369 

been  done  directly  for  the  press,  since  it  is  said  in  the  prologue 
to  have  been  undertaken  at  the  request  of  Margaret,  countess 
of  Richmond,  the  king's  grandmother.  This  must  have  been 
after  21  April,  1509,  and  the  finished  book  was  published  on 
6  July.  His  other  translations  were  The  Church  of  Evil  Men 
and  Women  and  Valentine  and  Orson.  The  first  is  from  a 
French  version  of  a  work  by  St.  Augustine.  Another  trans- 
lation by  Watson  from  the  French  was  The  History  of  Olyver  of 
Castylle  and  the  fayre  Helayne,  issued  in  1 5 18.  In  the  prologue, 
the  translator  speaks  of  the  cheapness  of  books  owing  to  the 
invention  of  printing.  Andrew  Chertsey,  of  whom  nothing 
is  known,  also  translated  a  considerable  number  of  books  for 
de  Worde.  His  earliest  translation  was  The  Ordinary  of 
Christian  men,  which,  like  all  his  other  books,  was  taken  from 
the  French.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  The  Lucydarye, 
The  Flower  of  commandments  of  God,  The  Treatise  of  the  Passion 
of  Christ,  The  Craft  to  live  well  and  to  die  well,  a  complete  trans- 
lation of  a  book  from  which  Caxton  had  already  translated 
extracts  under  the  title  of  The  Art  of  good  living  and  good  dying. 

A  good  idea  of  the  ordinary  demand  for  books  may  be 
obtained  by  examining  the  publications  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde 
in  the  year  1509.  This  was  the  busiest  year  of  his  career,  for, 
no  doubt,  the  funerals  of  Henry  VH  and  the  countess  of  Rich- 
mond, and  the  coronation  of  Henry  VHI,  would  bring  large 
crowds  to  London.  Altogether,  he  issued  twenty-five  books 
and  these,  again,  can  be  arranged  in  an  almost  exact  order. 
Up  to  21  April,  he  had  published  five,  a  York  Manuale,  an 
edition  of  the  Manipulus  Curatorum  and  editions  of  The  Gospel 
of  Nicodemus,  The  Parliament  of  Devils  and  Richard  Cceur  de 
Lion.  Between  21  April  and  12  July,  the  busiest  time,  he 
issued  eleven ;  four  grammatical  books,  two  editions  each  of 
Fisher's  Sermon  on  the  seven  penitencial  psalms  and  Funeral 
sermon  on  Henry  VH,  the  prose  version  of  The  Ship  of  Fools 
and  two  works  by  Stephen  Hawes,  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure 
and  The  Conversion  of  Swearers.  During  the  rest  of  the  year 
he  printed  seven — ^two  service-books,  a  grammar,  Hawes's 
Joyful  meditation  .  .  .  of  the  coronation  of  .  .  .  Henry  VHI, 
Fisher's  Mourning  Remembrance,  and  two  anonymous  books, 
The  Fifteen  Joys  of  Marriage  and  The  Seven  Sheddings  of  the 
blood  of  Jesu  Christ.     Two  more  books  belong  to  this  year 


3  70  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

which  cannot  be  placed  in  any  group,  a  service-book,  and  The 
rule  of  the  Hiding  of  the  hretherne  and  systars. 

The  publications  of  this  year  are  the  most  miscellaneous  of 
any,  and,  ver>^  soon,  the  taste  began  to  change.  New  ro- 
mances continued  to  be  published  for  some  years:  King  Apolyn 
of  Tyre  and  The  Birth  of  Merlin  in  1510,  The  History  of  King 
Ponthus  in  1 5 1 1 ,  The  History  of  Helias,  Knight  of  the  Swan  in 
1 5 1 2  and  Oliver  of  Castile  (probably  a  reprint  of  a  lost  earlier 
edition)  in  1 5 1 8.  Yet  a  gradual  but  marked  change  was  taking 
place.  Educational  books  and  books  on  religious  subjects 
became  more  and  more  in  demand.  The  influence  of  scholars 
like  Erasmus  and  the  general  revival  of  letters  in  the  one  case, 
and  the  growth  of  the  reformation  and  the  influence  of  the 
'  'new  learning"  in  the  other,  were  beginning  to  produce  effects. 
In  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  second  busiest  year,  1532,  out  of 
eighteen  books,  six  were  scholastic,  eleven  religious  and 
the  remaining  one  a  romance,  The  History  of  Guy  star  de 
a-nd  Sygysmonde,  translated  from  the  Latin  by  William 
Walter. 

William  Walter,  "servant"  to  Sir  Henry  Mamey,  chan- 
cellor of  Lancaster  from  1509  to  1523,  translated  at  least  three 
books.  Guystarde  and  Sygysmonde  is  a  version  in  seven-lined 
stanzas  taken,  probably,  from  the  Latin  version  of  Boccaccio's 
story  made  by  Leonardo  Aretino.  This,  like  so  many  of  de 
Worde's  books,  was  edited  by  Robert  Copland,  who  added 
some  verses  of  his  own.  Though  the  earliest  edition  known  is 
dated  1532,  there  must,  most  probably,  have  been  an  earlier 
one.  Another  of  Walter's  books.  The  Spectacle  of  Lovers, 
though  spoken  of  as  '  'newly  compiled,"  is,  apparently,  a  trans- 
lation; while  the  last.  The  History  of  Titus  and  Gesippus  is, 
also,  translated  out  of  Latin. 

In  1 52 1,  de  Worde  printed  a  book  of  carols,  of  which  only 
a  fragment  is  known.  It  contains  the  well-known  carol  on 
the  bringing  in  of  the  boar's  head  beginning  "The  boar's  head 
in  hand  bring  I,"  still  sung  on  Christmas  day  in  Queen's  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  and  another  carol  on  hunting. 

After  this  year,  we  find  hardly  any  new  English  books 
printed ;  the  revival  of  letters  was  beginning  to  make  itself  felt, 
and  half  the  produce  of  the  press  consisted  of  educational 
books.     So  much  had  the  demand  for  this  class  of  book  in- 


The  Minor  Printers  3  71 

creased  that  de  Worde  sometimes  printed  three  or  four  editions 
of  one  grammar  in  the  course  of  a  year. 

Among  some  two  hundred  undated  books  issued  from  this 
press  there  are  many  of  great  interest;  but,  unfortunately, 
many  are  known  only  from  fragments,  and  very  many  more 
from  single  copies  in  private  libraries,  and,  therefore,  difficult 
of  access.  As  examples  of  such  books  may  be  mentioned  the 
metrical  romance  of  Capystranus,  The  Complaint  of  the  too  soon 
married,  The  Complaint  of  the  too  late  married,  The  Complaynte 
of  the  Heart,  Feylde's  Controversy  between  a  lover  and  a  jay, 
The  Fifteen  joys  of  marriage.  The  Jest  of  the  Miller  of  Abingdon, 
The  Pain  and  sorrow  of  evil  marriage  and  many  other  small 
metrical  pieces,  all  of  which  are  in  private  hands. 

The  total  number  of  books  at  present  known  to  have  been  is- 
sued by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  the  sixteenth  century  is  about  six 
hundred  and  forty.  Of  these,  more  than  two  hundred  were 
merely  small  school-books,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  service- 
books  and  religious  treatises  and  the  same  number  of  poems  and 
romances;  the  remainder  consisting  of  chronicles,  law-books, 
accounts  of  passing  events  and  other  miscellaneous  books. 

The  productions  of  the  minor  printers  of  the  period  show 
little  originality,  though,  here  and  there,  we  come  across  books 
which  had  not  already  been  issued  by  de  Worde  or  Pynson. 
Julian  Notary,  w^ho  printed  between  1496  and  1520,  issued, 
out  of  some  forty  books,  only  five  not  previously  printed.  The 
earliest  of  these.  The  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  printed  in  1507, 
evidently  suited  the  popular  taste  and  was  very  frequently 
reprinted.  Besides  this  there  are  two  small  poetical  tracts. 
The  mery  geste  of  a  Sergeaunt  and  Frere,  by  Sir  Thomas  More, 
and  A  mery  gest  howe  Johan  Splynter  made  his  testament.  This 
last  tells  how  John  Splynter,  rent-gatherer  at  Delft  and  Schie- 
dam, having  neglected  his  private  concerns  for  the  sake  of  his 
professional  business,  was  treated  with  contempt  by  the  nuns 
who  employed  him,  but  who,  hoping  to  obtain  as  a  legacy  the 
chest  which  he  pretended  was  full  of  money,  kept  him  in  com- 
fort for  his  life.  Pepwell,  between  15 18  and  1523,  printed 
eight  books ;  The  Castle  of  Pleasure,  by  W.  Neville,  The  City  of 
Ladies,  by  Christine  de  Pisan,  The  Dietary  of  ghostly  health, 
are  all,  probably,  reprints  from  editions  printed  by  Wynkyn 
de   Worde.     Another  book  contains  several  religious  pieces 


3  72  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

printed  together,  some  of  which  had  not  been  issued  before. 
Among  them  are  the  treatise  named  Benjamin,  written  by 
Richard  of  St.  Victor,  The  life  of  St.  Katherine  of  Senis,  The 
book  of  Margery  Kempe,  ancresse  of  Lynn,  The  treatise  of  the 
Song  of  angels  by  Walter  Hylton  and  others. 

Richard  Faques,  out  of  a  total  of  about  twenty  books, 
printed  three  or  four  of  interest.  Two  are  ballads  relating  to 
the  battle  of  Flodden.  Another  is  a  curious  and  hitherto 
unnoticed  work,  entitled  The  booke  of  the  pylgrymage  of  man. 
The  preface  runs : ' '  Translated  from  Le  Pelerinage  de  I'homme  of 
late  drawen  into  prose  by  dane  William  Hendred,  Priour  of 
Leomynstre,  and  now  newly  at  the  specyal  commandement 
of  the  same  father  reverent  I  have  compyled  the  tenure  of  the 
same  in  metre,  comprehended  in  xxvi  chapitours."  The  book 
is  written  in  highly  alliterative  seven-lined  stanzas,  but  there 
is  no  clue  to  the  name  of  the  compiler.  The  date  of  the  printing 
of  the  book  may  be  put  down  to  about  the  year  1 5 1 5 ;  but  no 
authorities  mention  prior  William  Hendred,  so  the  exact  date 
of  his  translation  cannot  be  determined. 

Among  John  Rastell's  productions,  for  the  most  part  legal 
or  religious,  are  a  few  of  a  totally  different  nature.  In  1526, 
he  issued  The  merry  jests  of  the  widow  Edith,  written  by  Walter 
Smith.  This  is  the  story  in  verse  of  the  many  tricks  played 
by  Edith,  the  daughter  of  John  Haukin  and  widow  of  Thomas 
Ellis,  on  various  persons,  innkeepers,  tradesmen  and  the  ser- 
vants of  Sir  Thomas  More  and  the  bishop  of  Rochester.  She 
was  still  alive  when  the  book  was  WTitten ;  and  the  author,  Walter 
Smith,  was,  very  probably,  a  stationer  of  that  name  in  London 
and  a  neighbour  of  Rastell.  The  poem  itself  is  coarse  and  of  no 
merit,  but  interesting  on  account  of  its  references  to  contempo- 
rary persons.  The  other  book  of  the  same  year  is  The  Hundred 
merry  Tales,  of  which  the  unique  copy  is  at  Gottingen.  Rastell . 
was  in  the  habit  of  giving  performances  of  plays  at  his  own 
house ;  and  to  this  we  may  attribute  his  printing  several  inter- 
ludes and  plays  by  Medwall,  Skelton  and  Heywood. 

One  other  book  by  this  printer  is  worthy  of  notice,  The 
Pastime  of  People.  This  is  a  short  chronicle,  carried  up  to  the 
year  1530  and,  apparently,  compiled  by  Rastell  himself,  which 
contains  some  curious  statements  on  recent  events.  It  con- 
tains also  full-page  portraits  of  the  kings  of  England. 


The  Minor  Printers  373 

The  only  other  among  all  the  minor  printers  of  the  period 
to  show  any  originality  in  his  choice  of  publications  was  John 
Skot.  He  issued,  about  1535,  a  curious  religious  imitation  of 
the  celebrated  ballad  of  The  Nut  Brown  Maid,  entitled  The 
newe  Notbrowne  mayd  upon  the  passyon  of  Cryste,  and  also 
printed  two  editions  of  Every-man,  a  morality  of  exceptional 
literary  merit,  closely  connected  with  the  Dutch  Elckerlijk, 
written  by  Petrus  Dorlandus  towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth 
century. 

Another  cause  militating  against  the  production  of  much 
good  work  by  these  minor  early  printers  was  the  smallness  of 
their  resources.  They  had  practically  no  capital,  and,  without 
good  type  and  illustrations,  could  not  venture  upon  the  pro- 
duction of  a  large  work.  A  fount  of  type  discarded  by  some 
other  printer,  and  a  small  collection  of  miscellaneous  and  worn 
wood-blocks,  w^ere  their  sole  stock.  They  could  thus  only 
work  on  small  books,  and  had,  moreover,  to  choose  those 
which,  by  previous  publication,  had  proved  to  be  popular. 

Reference  has  been  made  before  to  the  attempt,  very  soon 
after  Caxton's  death,  to  procure  English  books  abroad  for  sale 
in  this  country.  At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
this  attempt  was  renewed  w4th  greater  success. 

Antoine  Verard,  the  famous  French  publisher,  attempted, 
about  1503,  to  issue  books  for  the  English  market.  In  that 
year,  he  issued  The  Kalendar  of  Shepherds  and  The  Art  of  good 
living  and  dying.  The  former  became  a  very  popular  book, 
and  at  least  sixteen  editions  were  issued  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. It  is  a  translation  of  the  Calendrier  des  Bergers,  of  which 
there  are  many  early  French  editions,  and  is  an  extraordinary 
collection  of  miscellaneous  matter,  "  a  universal  magazine  of 
every  article  of  salutary  and  useful  knowledge."  The  language 
of  this  first  edition  is  even  more  curious  than  its  contents ;  for 
the  translator  was,  manifestly,  a  young  Scotchman  with  a 
very  imperfect  knowledge  of  French.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  this  version  was  intended  for  sale  in  Scotland ;  but  this  is 
hardly  probable,  since  the  language  would  have  been  as  un- 
intelligible to  the  Scottish  as  it  was  to  the  English  reader.  In 
1506,  Pynson  issued  a  new  edition  revised  from  the  "corrupte 
englysshe"  of  the  earlier;  and,  in  1508,  Wynkyn  de  Worde 
published  a  new  translation  made  by  Robert  Copland,  who 


374  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

definitely  speaks  of  the  language  of  the  first  as  Scottish;  and 
this  final  translation  was  frequently  reprinted. 

The  Art  of  good  living  and  dying,  a  translation  from  UArt 
dc  bicn  vivrc  ct  de  bicn  mourir,  was  also  translated  by  the  same 
hand;  and  of  it,  again,  a  new  translation  made  by  Andrew 
Chertsey  was  issued  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1505.  The 
third  of  Verard's  books,  but,  probably,  the  earliest  published, 
is  the  first  edition  of  Alexander  Barclay's  translation  of  Grin- 
gore's  Chasteau  de  labour,  which  may  have  been  printed  under 
Barclay's  own  supervision  when  he  was  staying  in  Paris.  It 
is  known  only  from  fragments,  but  was  fortunately  reprinted, 
once  by  Pynson  and  twice  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde. 

Another  very  remarkable  foreign-printed  book,  clearly 
translated  by  a  foreigner,  is  The  Passion  of  Christ.  The 
strangeness  of  the  language  is  evident  from  the  first  sentence  : 
"  Her  begynnythe  ye  passion  of  dar  seygneur  Jesu  chryste 
front  ye  resuscytacion  of  lazarus  and  to  thende  translatet  owt 
of  frenche  yn  to  englysche  the  yer  of  dar  lorde.  M.v.cviii." 
The  book,  said  to  have  been  translated  at  the  command  of 
Henry  VII,  was  evidently  printed  in  Paris,  probably  by  Verard, 
and  is  illustrated  with  a  number  of  fine  wood-cuts  copied  from 
a  series  by  Urs  Graf  published  at  Strassburg.  The  name  of 
the  translator  is  not  known;  but  many  of  the  words  point  to 
a  native  of  the  Low  Countries. 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  an  Ant- 
werp bookseller  and  stationer,  John  of  Doesborch,  began  to 
print  books  in  English  for  sale  in  this  country.  These  range 
in  date  from  about  1505  to  about  1525  and  are  good  evidence 
of  what  a  speculative  printer  considered  most  likely  to  appeal  to 
popular  taste.  The  earliest  is  a  religious  tract  on  the  subject 
of  the  last  judgment,  entitled  The  Fifteen  Tokens,  a  translation 
by  the  printer  from  some  Dutch  version  of  a  part  of  L  'Art  de 
bien  mourir.  There  are  four  small  grammars  of  a  kind  in  com- 
mon use,  but  the  majority  are  story-books.  These  are  The  Gest 
of  Robyn  Hode,  Euryalus  and  Lucrece,  The  Lyfe  of  VirgiUus, 
Frederick  of  Jennen,  Mary  of  Nemmegen,  Tyll  Howleglas  and 
The  Parson  of  Kalenborowe.  With  the  exception  of  the  first 
two,  all  are  translations  from  the  Dutch.  Douce,  without 
apparently  any  reason,  suggested  Richard  Arnold,  the  com- 
piler of  Arnold's  Chronicle,  as  the  translator;  but  the  work 


English  Books  Printed  Abroad  375 

was  more  probably  done  by  Lawrence  Andrewe,  who  was  then 
living  in  Antwerp  and  was  afterwards  a  printer  in  London. 
The  remaining  English  books  issued  by  Doesborch  are  very 
miscellaneous.  There  are  two  editions  of  the  Valuation  of 
gold  and  silver;  a  work  on  the  pestilence ;  two  tracts  relating  to 
expeditions  against  the  Turks ;  another  on  the  wonderful  shape 
and  nature  of  beasts  and  fishes;  and,  lastly,  what  is  gener- 
ally considered  the  first  English  book  on  America,  Of  the  new 
lands  found  by  the  messengers  of  the  King  of  Portugal  named 
Emanuel.  Only  a  single  leaf  of  the  book,  describing  a  voyage 
made  in  1496,  relates  to  America;  the  rest  is  compiled  from 
various  sources  such  as  the  Tractatus  de  decern  nationibus 
christianorum,  appended  to  the  Itinerarius  of  Johannes  de  Hese, 
and  a  Dutch  book,  also  printed  by  Doesborch,  Van  Pape  Jans 
landendes. 

The  printers  of  Antwerp  always  continued  to  be  connected 
with  the  English  book  trade ;  but  the  year  1525,  which  saw  the 
cessation  of  John  of  Doesborch's  press  with  its  popular  little 
books,  witnessed  also  the  publication  at  Worms  of  Tindale's 
New  Testament,  which  marks  an  entire  change  in  the  character 
of  the  books  printed  abroad.  After  this  time,  the  foreign 
presses  issued  nothing  but  religious  and  controversial  books, 
the  work  of  refugees  whose  religious  or  political  opinions  had 
made  them  outcasts  from  their  own  country.  The  reformation 
seems  to  have  dealt  a  blow  at  both  books  of  amusement  and 
books  of  education,  and  story-books  and  grammars  almost 
ceased  to  be  published. 

In  taking  a  general  survey  of  the  English  press  during  the 
first  fifty  years  of  its  existence,  several  points  stand  out  ver>" 
prominently.  One,  in  especial,  is  the  comparative  scarcity 
of  books  by  contemporary  writers.  Skelton,  who  flourished 
during  this  period,  is  very  badly  represented,  and  Stephen 
Hawes  but  little  better.  But,  when  we  consider  how  very 
many  of  these  early  books  have  come  down  to  our  time  only 
in  single  copies  or  even  fragments  out  of  an  edition  of  some 
hundreds,  it  is  only  natural  to  suppose  that  a  great  number 
must  have  utterly  disappeared.  This  would  be  especially  the 
case  with  small  poetical  books  and  romances;  but  others,  of 
which  copies  might  have  been  expected  to  be  preserved,  are 
lost.     There  is  no  trace  of  The  epitaph  of  the  King  of  Scotland, 


376  The  Introduction  of  Printing 

written  by  Petrus  Carmelianus  and  "stuffed  full  of  womanly 
abuse,"  which,  according  to  Erasmus,  was  printed  by  Pynson  in 
15 13.  Of  the  several  books  relating  to  the  impostures  of  the 
Maid  of  Kent  which  are  known  to  have  been  printed,  not  a 
fragment  now  remains.  Perhaps  their  popularity  was  the 
cause  of  their  destruction.  It  seems  impossible  that  writings 
on  contemporary  events  could  escape  being  printed.  For 
instance,  Dunbar's  poem  "London  thou  art  the  flower  of  cities 
all,"  composed  on  his  visit  to  London  in  1501  and  circulated  in 
manuscript,  is  just  what  an  enterprising  printer  would  have 
seized  upon.  Yet  we  have  no  evidence  of  its  existence  in  a 
printed  form.  The  popular  demand  was  for  reprints  of  older 
works  and  translations  of  French  poems  and  romances; 
there  is  hardly  any  genuine  original  work  printed  in  the 
period. 

Another  point  which  has  been  commented  upon  is  the 
entire  absence  of  any  classical  books.  Apart  from,  books  evi- 
dently intended  for  school  use,  such  as  Cicero  pro  Milone, 
printed  at  Oxford  about  1483,  and  the  Terence  printed  by 
Pynson  in  1495-7,  the  only  book  to  which  we  can  point  is 
Pynson's  edition  of  Vergil,  printed  about  1520.  But  the 
reason  here  is  not  far  to  seek.  There  were  no  restrictions  on 
the  importation  of  foreign  books,  and  English  printers  could 
not  possibly  compete  either  in  accuracy  and  neatness  or  in 
cheapness  with  the  foreign  productions  of  this  class.  Yqvy 
wisely  they  left  them  alone.  Thus,  the  output  of  the  English 
presses  shows  rather  the  popular,  than  the  general,  demand. 
To  discover  this,  it  would  be  necessary  to  find  a  day-book  or 
ledger  of  some  London  bookseller  similar  to  that  of  John  Dome 
the  Oxford  bookseller  of  1520.  This  latter,  being  the  accounts 
of  a  bookseller  in  a  university  town,  furnishes  no  fair  criterion 
of  general  taste;  though,  even  at  the  fairs  where  the  most 
general  trade  was  done  in  books,  his  English  books  formed  but 
a  small  proportion  of  his  sales. 

The  seeming  neglect  by  the  age  of  the  work  of  its  own  more 
important  writers  is  balanced  by  the  precipitancy  of  modem 
writers,  who  have  hitherto  skipped  from  Skelton  to  Surrey 
without  a  pause,  entirely  ignoring  the  minor  authors  and 
translators  whose  books  supplied  the  main  reading  of  the 
English  public. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

English  Prose  in  the  Fifteenth  Century 

II 

Caxton.  Malory.  Berners 

ALTHOUGH  the  introduction  of  printing  brought  about 
no  sudden  renascence,  it  accelerated  and  strengthened, 
under  the  direction  of  Caxton,  the  drift  of  the  current 
of  our  fifteenth  century  literature;  and  this  places  our  first 
printer  in  a  position  wholly  different  from  that  of  his  more 
mechanical  successors.  Caxton  was  quick  to  discern  the 
direction  in  which  taste  was  tending  and,  himself  helping  to 
direct  that  taste,  he  ignored  the  old  metrical  romances,  favour- 
ites for  long,  preferring  to  satisfy  the  chivalric-romantic 
fashion  of  the  times  by  prose  translations  from  French  works 
of  already  established  repute.  That  romances  of  the  kind  of 
The  Four  Sons  of  Aymon,  or  Par-is  and  Vienne,  were  destined  to 
disappearance  early  in  the  next  century  in  no  way  neutralises 
their  importance  as  a  step  in  English  literature.  They  handed 
on  material  not  disdained  by  Spenser,  they  formed  a  link 
between  medieval  and  modern  romance,  and  from  among  them 
has  survived  an  immortal  work,  Malory's  Morte  d' Arthur. 

We  might  have  supposed  Caxton's  publication  of  Chaucer 
to  have  been  epoch-making,  had  it  not  had  to  wait  for  long 
before  kindling  any  fresh  torch;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that 
it  roused  in  others  the  enthusiasm  felt  by  its  editor.  In  truth, 
the  men  of  that  age,  who  had  but  just  emerged  from  a  long  and 
sordid  war,  were  not,  and  could  not  be,  poetical;  and,  save  for 
the  poems  of  Chaucer  and  Lydgate,  Caxton  held  firm  to  prose. 
His  publications,  excluding  church  service-books  and  prac- 
tical manuals,  fall  into  three  groups:  didactic  works,  romances 
and  chronicles.  Of  the  last — large  and,  doubtless,  costly — 
three  proved  sufficient;  of  romances,  he  issued  ten  or  eleven, 

377 


378       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

^probably  for  the  courtly  class  of  readers;  while,  of  moral  and 
didactic  works,  for  the  most  part  small  and  cheap,  he  provided 
no  less  than  twenty-nine,  not  counting  Reynard  the  Fox,  and 
The  Golden  Legend,  which  partake  of  the  entertaining  element 
at  least  equally  with  the  instructive.  As  several  of  these  books 
and  tracts  went  into  two  editions,  they  were,  evidently,  in  con- 
siderable demand  with  the  general  public;  but  the  tinge  of 
utility  is  upon  them,  and  they  have  not  the  literary  interest 
of  the  larger  works. 

As  has  been  observed  already,  the  greater  part  of  Caxton's 
output  was  translated.  Tudor  prose,  like  that  of  the  earlier 
period,  was  chiefly  fashioned  on  French  models,  to  which  we 
owe  nearly  all  the  prose  masterpieces  of  the  epoch,  and  a  pro- 
portionate debt  of  gratitude.  But  Caxton  found  another 
quarry  in  fifteenth  century  prose,  and  in  the  case  of  both 
English  and  French  material  he  acted  as  editor,  translating 
with  the  same  freedom  as  his  predecessors,  and  "embellishing 
the  old  English"  of  Trevisa  or  of  The  Golden  Legend. 

Caxton  had  lived  so  long  abroad  that  he  probably  found 
more  difficulty  than  other  writers  in  selecting  the  most  suitable 
words  to  employ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  one  hand 
alone  turned  out  so  large  a  mass  of  literature  as  he  did,  any 
more  than  it  manipulated  the  printing-press  unaided.  Never- 
theless, his  translations  must,  like  his  press,  be  reckoned  as 
having  the  stamp  of  his  authority,  though  otJiers,  probably, 
helped.  A  comparison  of  his  editions  of  The  Golden  Legend, 
Polychronicon  and  The  Knight  of  the  Tower  with  the  original 
English  versions  leaves  the  older  prose  easily  first.  Again 
and  again,  the  modern  reader  will  find  the  word  rejected  by 
Caxton  more  familiar  than  its  substitute;  again  and  again, 
Caxton's  curtailments,  inversions,  or  expansions  merely  spoil 
a  piece  of  more  vigorous  narrative.  This  is  particularly  evi- 
dent in  The  Knight  of  the  Tower,  which  Caxton  seems  to  have 
translated  entirely  afresh,  unaware  of  the  older  version,  whose 
superiority  is  remarkable.  And  in  his  original  and  interesting 
prefaces  we  may,  perhaps,  see  how  it  was  he  went  wrong.  He 
appears  to  have  been  desirous  of  avoiding  the  colloquially 
simple  manner  of  earlier  writers,  and  to  have  felt  his  way 
towards  the  paragraph,  working  out,  in  those  prefaces  for 
which  he  had  no  French  exemplar,  a  somewhat  involved  style. 


Caxton  as  Editor  3  79 

He  is  fond  of  relative  sentences,  and  sometimes  piles  them  on 
the  top  of  each  other  without  finishing  the  earlier  ones :  ' '  Which 
thing  when  Gotard  had  advertised  of  and  that  he  bare  so  away 
the  bread,  but  he  wist  not  to  whom  ne  whither,  whereof  he 
marvelled  and  so  did  all  his  household."  ^  He  mixes  direct 
and  indirect  speech;  he  uses  the  redundant  which:  "I  fynde 
many  of  the  sayd  bookes,  whyche  writers  have  abrydged  it 
and  many  thynges  left  out."  Only  when  he  has  plain  state- 
ments to  convey,  as  in  his  continuation  of  the  Chronicle,  or  an 
anecdote  to  relate,  such  as  the  tale  of  the  dean  and  the  poor 
parson  in  the  epilogue  to  Aesop,  does  he  become  direct;  but 
then  he  is,  sometimes,  almost  as  vigorous  as  Latimer  himself.  In 
this  power  of  writing  with  a  naive  vivacity,  while  deliberately 
striving  after  a  more  ornate  manner,  Caxton  belongs  to  his 
age.     He  provides,  as  it  were,  a  choice  of  styles  for  his  readers. 

The  mannerisms  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  still  noticeable  in 
Caxton 's  work:  in  his  irrepressible  moralising,  his  quotations 
from  old  authority,  his  conventional  excuse  for  writing  a  book 
(to  keep  himself  from  idleness,  which  is  the  nurse  of  sin),  his 
arrant  inaccuracy  as  to  names,  his  profession  of  incapacity  "to 
smattre  me  in  suche  translacions";  but  his  definite  claim  to 
have  embellished  the  older  authors,  his  quiet  pride  in  his  own 
authorship  and  the  interest  taken  therein  by  his  noble  patrons, 
his  conscious  appreciation  of  language,  are  of  the  new  world, 
not  of  the  old.  The  days  of  anonymous  compiling  are  over; 
and,  henceforth,  not  the  substance,  alone,  but  its  form  will 
challenge  attention.  Prose  is  no  longer  to  be  merely  the 
vehicle  of  information,  but  conscious  literature. 

Caxton's  largest  and  most  popular  book,  The  Golden 
Legend,  is,  also,  the  most  medieval  in  kind.  It  may  almost 
be  called  a  cyclopaedia  of  traditional  sacred  lore,  comprising 
not  lives  of  the  saints  only,  but  explanations  of  the  church 
service  and  homilies  upon  the  feast  days,  as  well  as  a  shortened 
but  complete  chronicle,  Lombard  in  origin,  to  a.d.  1250.  The 
public  decidedly  preferred  it  to  Malory  or  Chaucer,  and  it  went 
through  edition  after  edition.  For  one  thing,  it  was  a  long- 
recognised  classic;  for  another,  it  presented  the  favourite 
mixture  of  morality  combined  with  entertainment.  Many  of 
the  lives  are  copies  from  earlier  English  versions,  more  or  less 

>  Life  of  St.  Rocke,  in  Golden  Legend,  No.  154,  tr.  by  Caxtop 


3So       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

"mollified"  by  their  editor.  Those  of  French  saints  are  a 
new,  and  often  slipshod,  translation.  Others  are  compiled 
from  the  three  renderings  (Latin,  English  and  French)  and 
from  further  sources  such  as  Polychronicon  and  Josephus, 
and  practically  form  a  new  version.  With  regard  to  the  merit 
of  these,  opinions  will  differ.  It  may  be  true  that  Caxton's 
Becket,  for  example,  presents  a  more  compact  story  than  the 
original;  on  the  other  hand,  the  incessant  curtailment  has 
sj^oiled  the  charming  incident  of  the  Saracen  princess.  Cax- 
ton,  moreover,  altered  the  usual  arrangement  of  the  Legend 
to  insert  a  series  of  lives  of  Old  Testament  heroes,  and  it  is  a 
vital  question  in  estimating  his  rank  as  a  prose  writer  whether 
these  lives  are  to  be  reckoned  his  own  or  not.  They  are  so 
far  superior  to  the  mere  translations  that  one  of  his  critics 
takes  it  for  granted  they  must  be  his  own ;  another,  that  they 
must  come  from  an  earlier  English  version  now  lost.  The 
MSS.  of  the  old  version  now  remaining  to  us  contain  none  of 
these  Old  Testament  lives  save  Adam,  from  which  the  Cax- 
tonian  version  differs  entirely.  The  earlier  Adam,^  except 
for  the  usual  legendary  interpolations,  is  strictly  Biblical  in 
language,  adhering  closely,  at  first,  to  the  revised  Wyclifite 
version,  afterwards  to  the  first  Wyclifite  version;  whereas 
Caxton's  Adam  is,  in  the  main,  a  sermon,  and  the  succeeding 
lives,  though  they  follow  the  Bible  closely  as  to  incident,  are 
much  shortened  as  to  wording,  and  not  distinctively  reminis- 
cent of  the  Wyclifite  versions;  indeed,  they  afford  more  points 
of  resemblance  to  the  later  phraseology.  If  it  can  be  supposed 
that  Caxton  actually  rendered  them  into  English  himself,  his 
literary  powers  here  rose  to  a  pitch  far  higher  than  he  attained 
at  any  other  time. 2 

«  In  Lambeth  MS.,  72. 

*  The  English  MSS.  of  The  Golden  Legend  (for  which  see  Pierce  Butler, 
bibliog.  cap.  vii) ,  end  with  a  kind  of  appendix  on  Adam  and  Eve  and  a  sermon 
on  the  five  wiles  of  Pharaoh.  The  Lambeth  MS.  (No.  72)  adds  a  long  account 
of  the  three  kings  of  Cologne,  probably  the  legendary  history  often  issued 
separately.  Though  this  MS.  contains  only  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
chapters  to  compare  with  the  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  of  MS.  Harl. 
4775.  it  contains  several  English  saints  not  included  in  the  latter  or  the 
parallel  MS.  Addit.  11,565.  Caxton  has  not  got  all  of  them :  he  omits  Frides- 
wide,  Chadd  and  Bride,  but  those  he  has  are  nearly  all  exactly  like  the  older 
version,  except  K.  Edmund,  which  he  evidently  obtained  from  some  source 
we  do  not  know. 


**Morte  d'Arthur'^  381 

Like  The  Golden  Legend,  the  Morte  d' Arthur,  the  publication 
of  which  holds  a  chief  place  in  Caxton's  work,  looks  back  to  the 
Middle  Ages.  Based  on  translation,  a  mosaic  of  adaptations,  it 
is,  nevertheless,  a  single  literary  creation  such  as  no  work  of 
Caxton's  own  can  claim  to  be,  and  it  has  exercised  a  far 
stronger  and  longer  literary  influence. 

If,  as  is  possible,  Malory  was  the  knight  of  Newbold  Revell, 
he  had  been  a  retainer  of  the  last  Beauchamp  earl  of  Warwick, 
he  had  seen  the  splendours  of  the  last  efforts  of  feudalism  and 
had  served  in  that  famous  siege  of  Rouen  which  so  deeply 
impressed  contemporary  imagination.  Apparently,  he  was  a 
loyalist  during  the  Civil  Wars  and  suffered  from  Yorkist  re- 
venge; his  burial  in  the  Grey  Friars  may,  possibly,  suggest 
that  he  even  died  a  prisoner  in  Newgate.  In  any  case,  he  must 
have  died  before  the  printing  of  his  immortal  book,  which 
comes  to  us,  therefore,  edited  by  Caxton,  to  whom,  possibly, 
are  due  most  of  the  lacunae,  bits  of  weak  grammar  and  con- 
fusions in  names.  Nevertheless,  the  style  seals  the  Morte 
d' Arthur  as  Malory's,  not  Caxton's.  It  is  as  individual  as  is 
the  author's  mode  of  dealing  with  the  material  he  gathered 
from  his  wide  field.  This  material  Malory  several  times  says 
he  found  in  a  French  book — the  French  book — but  critics  have 
discovered  a  variety  of  sources.  It  is  in  the  course  of  the 
story  that  the  multiplicity  of  sources  is  at  times  discernible — 
in  the  failure  of  certain  portions  to  preserve  a  connecting 
thread,  in  the  interruption  of  the  story  of  Tristram,  in  the 
curious  doubling  of  names,  or  the  confusion  of  generations; 
the  style  reveals  no  trace  of  inharmonious  originals.  The  skil- 
ful blending  of  many  ancient  tales,  verse  and  prose,  French 
and  English,  savage  and  saintly,  into  a  connected,  if  but  loosely 
connected,  whole  is  wrought  in  a  manner  which  leaves  the 
Morte,  while  representative  of  some  of  the  nobler  traits  of 
Malory's  century,  in  other  respects  typical  neither  of  that  nor 
any  particular  epoch,  and  this  is  an  element  in  its  immortality. 
If  such  an  ascetic  purity  and  rapt  devotion  as  glows  in  the 
Grail  story  was  practised  among  the  mystics,  such  a  fantastic 
chivalry  portrayed  by  Froissart,  such  a  loyalty  evinced  by  a 
Bedford  or  a  Fortescue,  yet  the  Morte  assumes  the  recognition 
of  a  loftier  standard  of  justice,  purity  and  unselfishness  than 
its  own  century  knew.     These  disinterested  heroes,  who  give 


3^2       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

away  all  they  win  with  the  magnanimity  of  an  Audley  at 
Poictiers,  these  tireless  champions  of  the  helpless,  these  eternal 
lovers  and  their  idealised  love,  are  of  no  era,  any  more  than 
the  forests  in  which  they  for  ever  travel.  And,  if  the  constant 
tournaments  and  battles,  and  the  castles  which  seem  to  be 
the  only  places  to  live  in,  suggest  a  medieval  world,  the  total 
absence  of  reference  to  its  basic  agricultural  life  and  insistent 
commerce  detaches  us  from  it  again,  while  the  occasional  men- 
tion of  cities  endows  them  with  a  splendour  and  remoteness 
only  to  be  paralleled  in  the  ancient  empire  or  in  the  pictures 
of  Turner. 

Medieval  stories  were,  naturally,  negligent  of  causes  in  a 
world  where  the  unaccountable  so  constantly  happened  in  real 
life,  and  a  similar  suddenness  of  adventure  may  be  found  in 
tales  much  older  than  this.     Malory,  however,  on  the  threshold 
of  an  age  which  would  require  dramatic  motive  or,  at  least, 
probability,  saved  his  book  from  the  fate  of  the  older,  un- 
reasoned fiction  by  investing  it  with  an  atmosphere,  impossible 
to  analyse,  which  withdraws  his  figures  to  the  region  of  mirage. 
This  indescribable  conviction  of  magic  places  Malory's  charac- 
ters outside  the  sphere  of  criticism,  since,  given  the  atmosphere, 
they  are  consistent  with  themselves  and  their  circumstances. 
Nothing  is  challenged,  analysed  or  emphasised;  curiosity  as 
to  causation  is  kept  in  abeyance;  retribution  is  worked  out, 
but,  apparently,  unconsciously.     Like  children's  are  the  sudden 
quarrels   and   hatreds    and    as    sudden   reconciliations.     The 
motive  forces  are  the  elemental  passions  of  love  and  bravery, 
jealousy  and  revenge,  never  greed,  or  lust,  or  cruelty.     Courage 
and  the  thirst  for  adventure  are  taken  for  granted,  like  the 
passion  for  the  chase,   and,  against  a  brilliant  and  moving 
throng  of  the  brave  and  fair,  a  few  conceptions  are  made  to 
stand  forth  as  exceptional — a  Lancelot,  a  Tristram,  or  a  Mark. 
Perhaps  most  skilful  of  all  is  the  restraint  exercised  in  the 
portrayal    of    Arthur.     As    with    Shakespeare's    Caesar    and 
Homer's  Helen,  we  realise  Arthur  by  his  effect  upon  his  pala- 
dins; of  himself  we  are  not  allowed  to  form  a  definite  image, 
though  we  may  surmise  justice  to  be  his  most  distinct  attri- 
bute.    Neither  a  hero  of  hard  knocks  nor  an  effective  practical 
monarch,  he  is  not  to  be  assigned  to  any  known  type,  but 
remains  the  elusive  centre  of  the  magical  panorama. 


Style  of  the  "  Morte  d'  Arthur"  3^3 

The  prose  in  which  is  unfolded  this  scarcely  Christianised 
fairy  tale — for  the  Grail  was  to  Arthurian  legend  something 
as  the  Crusades  to  feudalism — is,  apparently,  of  a  very  simple, 
almost  childlike,  type,  with  its  incessant  "so — and — then," 
but,  unlike  mere  simplicity,  it  never  becomes  tedious.  There 
is  a  kind  of  cadence,  at  times  almost  musical,  which  bears  the 
narrative  on  with  a  gradual  swell  and  fall  proportioned  to 
the  importance  of  the  episodes,  while  brevity,  especially  at 
the  close  of  a  long  incident,  sometimes  approaches  to  epigram. 
But  the  style  fits  the  subject  so  perfectly  as  never  to  claim 
attention  for  itself.  A  transparent  clarity  is  of  its  essence. 
Too  straightforward  to  be  archaic,  idiomatic  with  a  suavity 
denied  to  Caxton,  Malory,  who  reaches  one  hand  to  Chaucer  and 
one  to  Spenser,  escaped  the  stamp  of  a  particular  epoch  and 
bequeathed  a  prose  epic  to  literature. 

Tudor  prose  owes  its  foundations  to  three  men  of  affairs  who 
took  to  literature  late  in  life.  Next  to  Caxton  and  Malory 
stands  Sir  John  Bourchier,  Lord  Berners.  Like  Malory,  he 
was  an  active  soldier,  but,  unlike  him,  a  well-known  and  pros- 
perous man,  a  politician  and  courtier.  He  belonged  to  the 
influential  Bourchier  clan,  Yorkists  till  the  death  of  Edward 
IV,  and  had  earned  and  experienced  the  gratitude  of  Henry 
Vn.  But  he  had  the  less  good  fortune  to  attract  the  favour 
of  Henry  VHI,  and,  late  in  life,  suffered  from  that  monarch's 
customary  harshness.  It  was  partly  to  solace  his  anxieties 
while  captain  of  Calais,  as  well  as  "to  eschew  idleness,  the 
mother  of  all  the  vices,"  that  he  executed  the  series  of  trans- 
lations which  secure  to  him  the  credit  of  a  remarkable  three- 
fold achievement.  Berners  was  the  first  to  introduce  to  our 
literature  the  subsequently  famous  figure  of  Oberon,  the  fairy 
king;  he  was  the  first  to  attempt  in  English  the  ornate  prose 
style  which  shortly  became  fashionable;  and  he  gave  to  his- 
torians at  once  a  new  source-book  and  a  new  model  in  his 
famous  rendering  of  the  Chronicles  of  Froissart. 

Lord  Berners  was  peculiarly  well  fitted  to  execute  this 
translation.  He  had  himself  been  active  at  the  siege  of 
Terouenne  and  on  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  where  Henry 
VIII  regarded  himself  as,  in  some  sort,  reviving  the  glories 
of  old ;  he  had  visited  the  Spanish  court  of  Charles  V  and  knew 


3^4       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

something  of  that  of  France.  He  so  thoroughly  entered  into 
the  spirit  of  his  original  as  to  make  his  work  rather  an  adop- 
tion than  a  translation.  In  his  hands  history  is  still  near  akin 
to  fiction,  but  rather  to  the  heroic  romance  than  to  the  well 
worn  marvels  of  ancient  chronicles.  If  these  remind  us  of 
Gesta  Romanorum  or  of  Sir  John  Mandeville,  Froissart,  in  the 
dress  of  Berners,  may  be  paralleled  with  Malory.  Sir  John  of 
Hainault  champions  the  cause  of  queen  Isabel  as  would  a 
knight  of  Arthur;  and  from  orthodox  romance  comes  the  fancy 
picture  of  Bristol,  the  well  closed  city  on  the  good  port  of 
the  sea,  which  beats  round  its  strong  castle.  While  the  old 
chronicles  are  wearisome,  Berners  conveys  all  the  vigour  and 
freshness  of  Froissart  in  his  descriptions  and  conversations. 
Both  the  human  interest  and  the  chronicler's  personal  attitude 
towards  it  are  preserved.  Berners  is  in  full  sympathy  with 
Froissart's  aristocratic  spirit,  which  places  the  violence  of  a 
duke  of  Britanny  or  a  count  of  Foix  on  a  plane  above  criticism 
though  not  beyond  sympathy,  and  bestows  a  contemptuous 
pity  on  the  crestfallen  burghers  of  Bruges  and  a  lofty  disdain 
on  the  upstart  pride  of  Ghent.  In  language,  Berners  follows 
the  excellent  method  of  earlier  translators :  "  In  that  I  have  not 
followed  myne  authour  worde  by  worde  yet  I  trust  I  have  en- 
sewed  the  true  reporte  of  the  sentence  of  the  mater."  And 
he  varies  his  narration  pleasantly  by  a  not  unskilful  use  of 
inversion. 

But  the  Froissart  of  Berners  taught  something  further  to 
the  Tudor  historians,  of  the  value  of  well  proportioned  detail 
and  occasional  quotation  of  witness  in  impressing  the  sense  of 
actuality.  It  can  hardly  be  said  that  Hall  and  Holinshed,  the 
most  ambitious  of  Tudor  historians,  borrow  much  from  Berners 
in  style ;  but  it  is  evident  that  the  new  model  influenced  their 
aims  and  methods  quite  apart  from  its  value  as  a  new  mine  of 
information. 

In  Arthur  of  Little  Britain  and  Huon  of  Bordeaux,  Berners 
took  up  the  prose  tale,  or  romance,  of  the  ordinary  medieval 
type,  most  of  the  incidents  in  which  are  of  the  wildly  absurd 
order.  But  the  favourite  of  the  two,  Huon,  is  remarkable  for 
its  unusual  pair  of  heroes.  The  uncouthness  of  Charlemagne 
and  his  court  is  in  odd  contrast  to  the  conventional  pictures  of 
Arthur,  and  the  whole  romance  is  treated  on  a  different  and 


"Huon  of  Bordeaux"  385 

lower  level,  whether  because  it  represents  a  fourteenth  or  even 
thirteenth  century  story,  or  because  some  folk-tale  influence 
had  been  at  work  upon  it.  Huon  himself  is  apt  to  remind  us 
of  the  ignobly  born  simpleton  heroes  of  German  peasant  story, 
and  he  is  a  bad  simpleton.  He  runs  headlong  into  danger,  not 
from  extravagance  of  knightly  daring  but  out  of  stupidity,  or 
greed,  or  childish  impatience.  He  complains  querulously, 
tries  to  deceive  his  benefactor  Auberon  and  has  no  notion  of 
either  gratitude  or  morality.  For  instance,  Auberon  has 
warned  him  never  to  tell  a  lie,  but,  so  soon  as  the  paynim  porter 
of  Babylon  asks  whether  he  be  a  Saracen,  "  Yea,"  replies  Huon 
promptly,  and  then  reflects  that  Auberon  will  surely  not  be 
angry  at  such  a  lie,  "sen  I  did  it  not  wilfully  but  that  I  forgat 
it!"  It  is  only  when  he  has  committed  some  offence  against 
the  fairy  that  Huon  prides  himself  upon  being  a  Christian: 
his  Saviour  ought  to  shield  him  from  the  wrath  of  Auberon. 
And  yet  this  perjured  simpleton  is  incongruously  represented 
as  the  only  creature  "sinless"  enough  to  be  able  to  drink  from 
Auberon's  magic  horn. 

Auberon  himself  is  half-way  to  being  the  fairy  of  poetr>^; 
"a  dwarf  of  the  fairy"  is  he,  child  of  a  fairy  mother,  "the  lady 
of  the  isle,"  and  a  mortal  father,  Julius  Caesar  (who,  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  obtained  the  same  magical  reputation  as  Vergil). 
Auberon,  therefore,  is  mortal,  he  can  weep,  he  falls  sick;  but  he 
is  never  of  more  stature  than  a  child  of  three  years,  and  his 
magical  powers  are  so  absolute  that  he  has  only  to  wish,  and 
his  will  accomplishes  itself.  He  knows  all  that  passes  afar  as 
he  rules  in  his  fairy  capital,  Momure,  for  he  is  a  civilised  fair^^ 
with  a  knowledge  of  politics.  He  is  a  much  better  Christian 
than  Huon,  and,  when  he  dies,  his  corpse  is  buried  in  an  abbey 
and  his  soul  is  carried  to  heaven  by  an  innumerable  company 
of  angels. 

Huon  of  Bordeaux  was  so  popular  as  to  obtain  a  reissue  in 
t6oi,  modernised  as  to  wording  and  adorned  as  to  style. ^  As 
Bemers  wrote  it  out,  the  English  is  extremely  straightfor- 
ward, and  bears  hardly  more  trace  of  the  graceful  fluency  of 
his  Froissart  than  of  the  novel  experiment  its  translator  was 
shortly  to  assay. 

To  a  modern  reader,  it  appears,  at  first  sight,  wonderful  that 

I  Cf.  Sidney  Lee's  list  in  his  edition  of  Huon,  E.E.T.S. 

VOL.  II 25 


386       English  Prose  in  the  XVth  Century 

the  most  popular  work  of  the  translator  of  Froissart  should 
have  been  his  rendering  of  a  verbose,  didactic  book  by  the 
Spanish  secretary  of  Charles  V,  Antonio  de  Guevara,  an 
author  whose  involutions  of  language  rapidly  captivated 
fashionable  taste  in  Spain,  France  and  England.  Berners  has 
the  credit  of  first  introducing  him  and  his  style  to  English 
readers  in  The  Golden  Book  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  which  so  much 
delighted  the  polite  world  that  it  went  through  fourteen  editions 
in  half  a  century.  The  substance  of  this  volume  of  tedious 
letters  and  trite  reflections  Guevara  pretended  he  had  dis- 
covered in  an  old  MS.,  claiming  for  himself  only  the  merit  of 
bestowing  "style"  upon  the  emperor's  writing. 

The  desire  to  treat  composition  as  itself  an  art  was  begin- 
ning to  be  felt  in  England,  as  in  other  countries,  and  Berners 
must  have  already  paid  attention  to  that  peculiar  manner  of 
writing  which,  vigorously  introduced  by  translations  of  which 
his  own  was  the  earliest  specimen,  was  to  receive  its  distinctive 
epithet  from  its  most  perfect  example,  Euphues. 

The  prefaces  of  Berners  to  his  Froissart  are  his  first  experi- 
ments in  the  ornate,  and  not  much  more  successful,  though 
more  lavish,  than  the  earlier  groping  of  Caxton.  "As  said  is"  ; 
"I  pray  them  that  shall  default  find,"  result  from  his  pref- 
erence of  inversion  to  direct  speech,  and  relative  pronouns 
are  a  puzzle  to  him. 

Yet  perhaps  these  elaborate  prologues  are  but  a  fresh  out- 
burst of  the  native  love  of  double  terms  which  hampered  every 
prose  writer  between  Chaucer  and  Malory.  The  national  bent 
to  cumulative  expression  must  have  been  a  good  preparation 
to  the  reception  of  the  new  style  when  it  came,  by  the  means  of 
translated  Guevara,  in  a  flood.  What  was  wanting  was  the 
art  to  weave  the  customary  repetitions  of  thought,  the  syno- 
nyms, antitheses  and  alliterative  combinations  into  a  balance 
and  harmony  of  sentences.  To  this,  neither  Berners  nor  his 
nephew  and  literary  disciple  Sir  F.  Bryan  had  attained.  A 
comparison  of  his  Golden  Book  w4th  North's  rendering  of  it,  The 
Dial  of  Princes,  exhibits  the  crudity  of  the  efforts  of  Berners 
in  this  style.  He  can  faithfully  reproduce  the  repetitions  and 
run  the  slight  idea  to  death,  but  the  "sauce  of  the  said  sweet 
style,"  as  his  nephew  terms  it,  lacks  savour. 


CHAPTER  XV 

English  and  Scottish  Education.     Univer- 
sities and  PubHc  Schools  to  the 
time  of  Colet 

IN  an  age  innocent  of  historical  criticism,  champions  of  Ox- 
ford and  Cambridge,  waging  a  wordy  war  for  the  honour 
of  prior  foundation,  referred  the  estabhshment  of  their 
respective  universities  to  Alfred  and  to  Sigebert.  In  these 
days,  the  historians  of  both  are  content  to  look  to  the  twelfth 
century  as  the  birth  period,  not  only  of  the  English  university, 
but  of  the  university  of  Paris  from  which  English  university 
life  drew  its  early  inspiration. 

When  the  twelfth  century  drew  to  a  close,  Paris  was  the 
English  academic  metropolis.  Already,  indeed,  there  were 
masters  and  students  in  Oxford.  What  was  the  attraction 
which  drew  them  to  a  town  that  had  no  well  based  claims  to 
high  antiquity,  and  was,  other\vise,  of  little  consequence,  it  is 
impossible  now  to  point  out  with  certainty.  Looking  to  the 
history  of  continental  universities,  analogy  would  seem  to 
demand,  as  the  nucleus  of  the  concourse,  a  cathedral  or  a 
monastic  school.  But  Oxford  was  not  a  bishop's  seat;  its 
diocesan  was  posted  in  far  distant  Lincoln.  And,  if  monks 
provided  or  salaried  the  first  Oxford  teachers,  they  wholly 
failed  to  obtain,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  retain,  control  over  the 
rising  university;  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of  monastic 
influence  in  the  organisation  or  studies  of  the  earliest  Oxford 
of  historic  times.  The  cloister  school  of  St.  Frideswide  may 
well  have  charged  the  atmosphere  with  the  first  odour  of 
learning ;  but  its  walls  at  no  time  sheltered  the  university  soul. 
Certain,  however,  it  is  that,  in  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth 
century,  a  number  of  famous  names  are  connected  with  Oxford 

387 


388  English  Education 

teaching.  It  may  be  that  if,  as  Gervase  of  Canterbury  testi- 
fies, Vacarius  taught  civil  law  at  Oxford,  in  1149,  he  did  not 
lecture  as  an  Oxford  master,  but  as  a  member  of  the  train 
of  archbishop  Theobald.  But  Theobaldus  Stampensis,  as  a 
recent  historian  ^  has  pointed  out,  in  letters  written  between 
1 1 01  and  1 1 17  styles  himself  master  in  Oxford;  Robert  Pullen, 
afterwards  cardinal  and  the  author  of  Sententiarum  Lihri 
Octo,  is  stated,  on  good  authority,  to  have  taught  in  Oxford 
in  1 133;  and,  when  in  1189  Giraldus  Cambrensis  read  his 
Topographia  Hibernica  at  Oxford,  "where  the  most  learned 
and  famous  of  the  clergy  of  England  were  then  to  be  found," 
he  entertained  "all  the  doctors  of  the  several  faculties  and 
such  of  their  pupils  as  were  of  greater  fame  and  repute." 

In  the  story  of  this  last  incident  we  have  clear  indications 
of  an  existing  and  of  an  organised  Oxford  university. 

Modern  research  points  to  the  year  1167  as  the  date  of  the 
birth  of  Oxford  as  a  studium  generate,  and  offers  a  chain  of 
circumstantial  evidence  to  connect  it  with  an  expulsion  of 
alien  students  by  the  Parisian  authorities  and  the  contem- 
porary recall  by  Henry  II,  then  engaged  in  the  contest  with 
Becket,  of  all  clerks  holding  English  cures. ^  However  this 
may  have  been,  the  last  few  years  of  the  twelfth  century  furnish 
abundant  proof  of  the  presence  in  Oxford  of  students  in  con- 
siderable numbers. 

In  1 192,  Oxford,  according  to  Robert  of  Devizes,  could 
barely  maintain  her  clerks.  In  1197,  the  great  abbot  Samson 
of  Bur>^  entertained  a  large  company  of  Oxford  masters.  When 
the  troubles  of  1209  burst  upon  the  university,  scholars  to  the 
number — according  to  Matthew  Paris — of  three  thousand 
dispersed  in  various  directions. 

It  is  to  this  last  occasion  that  the  Oxford  historian  ^  refers 
the  appearance  of  Cambridge  as  a  studium  generate. 

The  story  is  characteristic  of  the  times.  An  Oxford  clerk 
kills  a  woman — accidentally,  as  it  is  afterwards  said.  But  the 
culprit  flees.  The  town  authorities  search  the  dwelling  wherein 
he  lodged,  and,  in  his  absence,  arrest  two  or  three  of  his  com- 
panions, who  are  perfectly  innocent  of  the  offence,  if  such  it  be. 
King  John,  how^ever,  is  in  the  middle  of  his  famous  quarrel 

>  Rashdall,  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages,  ll,  2,23- 
2  Rashdall,  chap.  xii.  ^  Ibid.,  11,  349. 


Beginnings  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge    3S9 

with  the  pope,  and  is  ready  to  wreak  his  vengeance  on  any 
clerk.  On  the  king's  instructions,  the  innocent  prisoners  are 
hanged.  In  combined  fear  and  indignation,  the  Oxford  mas- 
ters proclaim  a  suspension  of  studies ;  and  the  scholars  scatter. 
Some  merely  retreat  to  Reading ;  others  migrate  further  afield. 
Some  go  to  Paris;  some  to  Cambridge. 

Cambridge,  as  a  town,  dates  back  to  the  days  of  the  Roman 
occupation  of  Britain,  when  it  represented  the  intersection  of 
two  great  military  highways  and  a  consequent  guard-post. 
William  I  made  it  his  base  for  attack  upon  Ely,  and  pulled 
down  eighteen  of  its  387  dwelling-houses  to  secure  a  site  for  a 
castle  which  should  command  the  passage  of  its  important 
ford.  Henry  I  erected  it  into  a  borough  corporate.  The 
establishment  of  a  great  fair  at  Barnwell  about  1103  and  the 
settlement  of  Jews  in  1106  denote  a  growth  of  trade  and  popu- 
lation. At  what  date  students  first  found  their  way  to  its 
narrow^  streets,  and  what  was  the  attractive  force  compelling 
them  thither,  it  is,  as  in  the  case  of  Oxford,  impossible,  abso- 
lutely, to  determine.  Cambridge,  like  Oxford,  was  not  a 
cathedral  city;  and  the  wealthy  priory  of  Barnwell,  founded 
about  1 1 12,  lay  well  away  from  the  district  in  which  the 
students  congregated.  A  story  of  early  lectures  by  a  party  of 
monks  despatched  by  Joffred,  abbot  of  Crowland,  to  his  manor 
of  Cottenham  is,  by  internal  evidence,  demonstrated  to  be  a 
late  invention.  It  is  not  until  the  first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth 
century  that  genuine  history  records  the  presence  in  Cam- 
bridge of  a  concourse  of  clerks;  it  is  in  1231,  when  the  Parisian 
scholars  were  returning  to  their  former  quarters  after  the  fa- 
mous secession  of  1229,  that  we  obtain  our  first  clear  proof  of 
the  existence  in  the  English  fen  town  of  an  organised  society  of 
masters  and  students.  In  that  year  (3  May)  a  royal  writ  com- 
mands the  sheriff  of  the  county  to  proclaim  and,  if  need  be,  take 
and  imprison  certain  pretended  clerks  in  Cambridge  qui  sub 
nullius  niagistri  scholarmn  sunt  disciplina  et  tuitione;  he  is  to 
expel  within  fifteen  days  any  clerk  who  is  not  under  the  con- 
trol of  a  responsible  master.  At  the  same  time,  a  second  writ 
addressed  to  the  mayor  and  bailiffs  recites  that  Satis  constat  vo- 
his  quod  apud  villam  nostram  Cantebr.  studendi  causa  e  diversis 
partibus  tarn  cismarinis  quam  transmarinis  scholarium  con- 
fluit  niultitudo,  and  enjoins  that  the  hostel  rents  chargeable 


sgo  English  Education 

to  scholars  shall  be  fixed  secundum  consuetudinem  Universi- 
tatis  by  two  masters  and  two  good  and  lawful  men  of  the  town. 

The  Oxford  suspendium  clericorum  of  1209  had  at  least 
reinforced  the  numbers  of  the  Cambridge  scholars.  In  1229. 
a  riot  in  Paris  led  to  a  similar  migration  of  students  from  the 
metropolitan  university.  Henry  III  issued  an  invitation  to 
the  migrants  to  come  over  into  England,  and  settle  "  in  what 
cities,  boroughs  and  villages  they  pleased  to  choose";  and 
Cambridge  shared  with  Oxford  in  the  benefits  of  the  Parisian 
exodus. 

Henceforward,  Oxford  and  Cambridge  advance  on  parallel 
lines,  Oxford  enjoying  the  advantage  of  a  start  of  fifty  years. 

The  Oxford  suspendium  came  to  an  end  in  1 2 1 4  under  the 
terms  of  a  settlement  arranged  by  the  papal  legate,  Nicholas 
of  Tusculum.  A  legatine  ordinance  subjected  to  penance 
the  executioners  of  the  unfortunate  victims  of  1209  and,  in 
true  medieval  fashion,  imposed  a  heavy  mulct  upon  the  towns- 
men, present  and  future.  It  further  required  that  a  clerk 
arrested  by  townsmen  should  be  forthwith  surrendered  on  the 
demand  of  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  or  the  archdeacon  or  his 
official,  or  ' '  the  chancellor  or  whomsoever  the  bishop  of  Lincoln 
shall  depute  to  the  office."  And  the  rents  of  halls  were  to  be 
taxed  by  a  joint  board  of  four  burghers  and  four  clerks.  Here 
we  have  the  record  of  the  beginnings  of  a  privileged  academic 
society.  The  first  task  of  an  infant  university  is,  necessarily, 
the  organisation  of  its  constitution.  That  work  was  begun 
in  Oxford  before  1214.  In  a  ven>'  real  sense  the  university  of 
Oxford  was  a  "republic  of  letters."  The  Oxford  constitu- 
tion, as  it  reveals  itself  in  the  course  of  the  thirteenth  centur>% 
is,  essentially,  democratic.  The  centre  of  its  organic  life  is 
the  assembly  of  masters.  For  the  distribution  of  her  members 
into  four  nations,  as  at  Paris,  Oxford  substituted  a  division  into 
northerners  and  southerners;  Scottish  students  combined  with 
English  north  countrymen  to  form  the  boreales,  whilst  Welsh- 
men, "  Marchmen"  and  Irishmen  were  ranked  with  the  au- 
strales.  The  two  proctors  w^ere  the  elected  mouthpieces  of  the 
two  divisions.  The  supreme  legislative  authority  was  the  en- 
tire body  of  masters  of  all  faculties  assembled  in  the  "great 
congregation";  where  the  proctors  brought  forward  proposed 
statutes,    counted   the    votes   and   announced   decisions.     A 


Town  and  Gown  39^ 

"lesser  congregation"  of  regents,  i.e.  of  actually  teaching 
masters,  of  all  faculties,  passed  graces  affecting  studies  or  dealt 
with  minor  finance ;  while  a  yet  narrower  assembly  of  regents 
in  arts  supervised  the  grant  of  the  magisterial  licence  to  teach, 
and  elected  the  proctors  for  the  year. 

The  titular  head  of  the  university  was  the  chancellor.  It 
was  round  this  officer  that  the  struggle  for  university  liberties 
was  destined  to  be  waged. 

The  first  antagonists  of  the  scholars  were  the  townsmen. 
Grasping  burgher  householders  demanded  unconscionable 
rents  or  cheated  the  students  in  the  sale  of  supplies;  mayor 
and  bailiffs  asserted  an  eager  jurisdiction  over  peccant  clerks. 
The  scholars  had  recourse  to  the  ecclesiastical  arm;  and  the 
legatine  ordinance  of  1214  marks  their  first  decisive  victory. 
In  the  taxors  of  hostels  they  obtained  their  tribunes  against 
exaction,  and,  in  the  chancellor  "  or  whomsoever  the  bishop 
of  Lincoln  shall  depute  to  the  office,"  they  secured  a  resident 
protector  against  arbitrary  arrest. 

The  chancellor  was,  in  1214,  apparently,  not,  as  yet,  a 
regularly  appointed  officer.  Grosseteste,  who,  at  a  subsequent 
date,  exercised  the  functions  of  the  office,  was,  in  style,  merely 
rector  scholarum.  When  the  chancellor  appears  as  the  occupant 
of  a  permanent  office,  it  is  as  the  bishop's  officer.  He  was 
chosen,  indeed,  from  amongst  the  masters;  but  it  was  the  bishop 
who  appointed.  He  was,  in  fact,  an  ecclesiastical  official,  who 
wielded  the  weapon  of  the  church's  censure,  whether  for  the 
needful  discipline  of  the  scholars  or  for  their  protection  against 
the  venom  of  the  town. 

Supported  by  king  and  bishop,  the  chancellor  secured,  step 
by  step,  his  position  in  and  against  the  town.  By  successive 
royal  writs  he  obtained  the  confirmation  of  the  system  of  con- 
joint taxation  of  lodgings;  the  expulsion  of  irregular  clerks; 
and  the  use  of  the  town  prison  and  of  the  castle  cells  for  the 
confinement  of  his  domestic  recalcitrants.  By  a  series  of 
charters  he  secured  the  limitation  of  the  interest  chargeable 
by  Jew^s  on  the  debts  of  scholars;  his  own  right  of  jurisdiction 
in  actions  of  debt  in  which  one  party  was  a  clerk ;  and  the  right 
to  take  part  in  the  assize  of  bread  and  beer.  In  1255,  he  laid 
the  foundation  of  a  more  extensive  jurisdiction  over  laymen. 
In    1275,  a   royal   writ  gave  him  cognisance  of  all  personal 


392  English  Education 

actions  wherein  either  party  was  a  scholar.  When,  in  1288,  a 
royal  bailiff  engaged  in  altercation  with  the  chancellor,  the  in- 
discreet layman  lost  his  office.  In  1290,  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
chancellor  was  defined  by  parliament  as  covering  all  crimes  com- 
mitted in  Oxford  when  one  of  the  parties  was  a  scholar,  except 
pleas  of  homicide  and  mayhem.  The  ranks  of  privileged  persons 
included,  with  clerks  proper,  their  attendants  {jamilias),  and 
all  writers,  parchment-makers,  illuminators,  stationers  and 
other  craftsmen  who  were  employed  exclusively  by  scholars. 

In  the  struggles  for  these  liberties  the  university  employed 
the  weapon  forged  by  the  Roman  plehs  of  old.  Between  1260 
and  1264,  seceding  masters  foiTned  a  studium  at  Northampton, 
and,  at  a  later  date  (1334),  a  similar  concourse  at  Stamford  ^ 
threatened  the  well-being  of  Oxford. 

On  St.  Scholastica's  Day,  1354,  a  tavern  brawl  between  inn- 
keeper and  dissatisfied  customers  gave  rise  to  a  fierce  three 
days'  "town  and  gown,"  wherein  countrymen  from  the  out- 
skirts reinforced  the  burghers.  The  chancellor  was  shot  at; 
inns  and  halls  were  looted;  scholars  were  slain;  books  were 
destroyed.  The  friars,  coming  forth  in  solemn  procession  to 
play  the  part  of  peacemakers,-  were  maltreated.  The  scholars 
of  ^lerton  alone  were  able  to  resist  a  siege,  thanks  to  the 
strength  of  their  walls. 

But  the  blood  of  scholars  became  the  seed  of  fresh  university 
privileges.  The  university  declared  a  general  suspension  of 
studies,  and  the  town  was  put  under  interdict.  A  royal  com- 
mission made  short  work  of  its  task.  Mayor  and  bailiffs  were 
imprisoned ;  the  sheriff  was  dismissed ;  an  annual  penance  was 
imposed  on  the  burghers;  and  the  chancellor's  prerogative  was 
increased  by  the  transfer  to  him  of  no  inconsiderable  share  of 
the  local  government. 

Yet  once  more,  in  1405,  the  university,  in  amplification  of  a 
charter  of  Richard  II,  secured  the  right  of  trial  before  its  own 
steward  of  a  privileged  person  indicted  for  felony.  The  vic- 
tor>^  over  the  town  was  now  complete. 

At  Cambridge,  in  hke  fashion,  although  without  the  accom- 
paniment of  serious  bloodshed,  the  university  developed  its 

1  So  late  as  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  every  candidate 
for  an  Oxford  degree  was  required  to  take  an  oath  not  to  lecture  at  Stamford- 
Rashdall,  11,  398. 


University  and  Bishop  393 

constitution ;  and  a  long  series  of  royal  writs  and  pariiamentary 
enactments  fortified  the  chancellor  against  the  burghers.  A 
great  riot  in  13 18 — the  year  of  Tyler's  insurrection — when 
the  townsmen  sacked  Bene't  College  and  burnt  charters  and 
title-deeds,  was  the  Cambridge  St.  Scholastica's  Day.  The 
privileges  of  the  Cambridge  chancellor,  though  ample  and,  to 
the  town,  sufficiently  galling,  fell  short  of  the  fulness  of  those 
of  his  Oxonian  fellow-officials ;  and  the  Cambridge  constitution 
differed  in  some  details  from  the  Oxford  model. 

Meanwhile,  bishop's  officer  as  he  was  in  origin,  the  chancel- 
lor, in  Cambridge,  as  in  Oxford,  had,  with  the  episcopal  coun- 
tenance, first  shaken  himself  free  from  the  control  of  other 
episcopal  officials;  and  then,  in  alliance  with  the  archbishop 
and  with  the  pope,  successfully  challenged  the  authority  of  the 
diocesan  himself.  The  contest  against  minor  ecclesiastical 
officials  is  best  illustrated  by  the  award  issued  in  1276  by  bishop 
Hugo  de  Balsham  in  the  dispute  between  the  archdeacon  of 
Ely  and  the  Cambridge  scholars,  who  had  denied  the  juris- 
diction of  the  archidiaconal  court,  and  in  a  contemporary  dis- 
cussion between  the  Cambridge  chancellor  and  the  "  Master  of 
Glomery,"  in  whom  we  may  recognise  the  master  of  local 
grammar  schools,  who  was  a  nominee  of  the  archdeacon.  The 
award  is  conceived  in  the  spirit  at  once  of  liberal  policy  and 
of  strict  justice.  He  adjudges  that  all  disputes  in  which 
a  "glomerel"  is  defendant  shall  be  decided  by  the  M agister 
Glomeriae;  he  thus  enjoying  the  same  privilege  as  that  possessed 
by  the  other  masters,  of  deciding  the  suits  in  which  his  students 
were  involved.  But  this  minor  jurisdiction  shall  not  extend 
(i)  to  the  taxation  of  houses,  or  (2)  to  serious  offences  calling 
for  imprisonment  or  expulsion  from  the  university;  in  which 
cases  the  chancellor  shall  adjudicate.  A  scholar  plaintiff  may 
appeal  to  the  chancellor  from  the  decision  of  the  Magister 
Glomeriae;  but  in  disputes  between  two  glomerels  the  chancellor 
shall  have  no  right  of  intervention,  except  in  the  two  above 
cited  cases.  Persons  doing  services  exclusively  for  scholars 
shall  enjoy  the  privileges  of  scholars,  and  shall  rank  as  exempt 
from  the  control  of  the  archdeacon.  Rectors,  vicars,  parish 
chaplains  and  others  in  the  service  of  local  churches  shall  be 
held  subject  to  the  archdeacon;  but  clergy  residing  in  Cam- 
bridge  merely   for  the   purposes  of  study  shall   be   exempt. 


394  English  Education 

Hugo  concludes  by  approving  and  confirming  a  statute  issued 
by  the  chancellor  and  masters  which  provides 

that  no  one  should  receive  a  scholar  who  has  not  had  a  fixed  master 
within  thirteen  days  after  the  said  scholar  had  entered  the  univer- 
sity, or  who  had  not  taken  care  that  his  name  had  been  within 
the  time  aforesaid  inserted  in  the  matriculation  book  of  his  master, 
unless  the  master's  absence  or  legitimate  occupation  should  have 
prevented  the  same.  ^ 

It  may  be  that  the  equity  of  this  decision  and  the  consequent 
absence  of  local  friction  helped  to  preserve  from  attack  for 
a  long  period  that  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  himself,  which 
Hugo  clearly  reserved.  Moreover,  Hugo  himself  was  the 
founder  of  Peterhouse,  the  oldest  Cambridge  college;  he,  and 
a  long  line  of  his  successors  as  diocesans,  not  only  took  an 
enlightened  interest  in  the  well-being  of  the  scholars,  but  were 
enrolled  among  their  most  conspicuous  benefactors;  and  the 
propinquity  of  Cambridge  to  Ely  gave  little  opportunity  for 
the  unnoted  nursing  of  rebellious  projects.  Certain  it  is  that 
the  bishop  of  Ely  continued  to  exercise  a  regular  jurisdiction 
over  the  university  down  to  the  date  of  the  Barnwell  Process 
in  1430.  And  then  the  chancellor,  John  Holbroke,  master  of 
Peterhouse,  and  his  advisers  turned  against  their  diocesan  and, 
at  the  same  time,  against  his  metropolitan,  the  engine  of  the 
framers  of  the  forged  decretals.  They  submitted  to  the  papal 
arbitrators  at  Barnwell  Priory,  and  secured  a  favourable  verdict 
on,  a  bull  of  Honorius  I  and  a  like  asserted  document  of 
Sergius  I,  which  declared  the  exemption  of  the  university  of 
Cambridge  from  all  archiepiscopal,  episcopal  or  other  ecclesias- 
tical control.  Henceforward,  the  university  was  not  only  a 
regularly  recognised  and  organised  body,  orderly,  legislative 
and  possessed  of  peculiar  powers — in  a  word,  a  privileged 
corporation ;  but  it  was  independent  of  other  control  than  that 
of  king,  parHament  and  pope. 

Oxford  reached  the  same  end  gradually  and  more  rapidly. 
Lincoln  was  far  removed  from  the  university  town.  Between 
the  university  and  bishop  Grosseteste,  a  former  rector  schola- 
rum  and  an  enthusiastic  patron  of  learning,  the  relations  were 
of  the  most  friendly  order;  but  under  his  immediate  successor 

>  Trans,  in  MuUinger,  vol.  i,  p.  226. 


University  and  Bishop  395 

disputes  began.  Prolonged  vacancies  in  the  see  assisted  the 
scholars  in  the  establishment  of  their  independence.  The 
position  of  the  bishop  was,  indirectly,  sapped  by  the  successive 
royal  amplifications  of  the  rights  of  the  chancellor  in  the  town. 
In  1280,  the  privileges  of  the  chancellor  were  strongly  asserted 
against  bishop  Oliver  Sutton,  the  grant  of  probates  of  scholars' 
wills  being,  inter  alia,  claimed.  The  contention  was  boldly 
put  forward  that,  even  in  spiritual  matters,  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  diocesan  was  only  "in  defect  of  the  chancellor,"  or  by 
way  of  appeal  in  the  last  resort  {in  defectu  cancellarii  et  uni- 
versitatis).  In  a  provincial  synod,  Oliver's  episcopal  brethren, 
with  their  metropolitan,  were  induced  to  side  with  the  university 
against  his  lordship  of  Lincoln.  In  future,  an  appeal  was  to  run 
from  the  chancellor's  court  to  the  regent  congregation;  thence, 
finally,  to  the  great  congregation. 

In  1350,  an  application  to  the  pope  resulted  in  the  reduc- 
tion to  a  mere  formality  of  the  episcopal  confirmation  of  the 
Oxford  chancellor,  and,  in  1368,  its  necessity  was,  by  the  same 
authority,  entirely  abrogated.  In  1395,  a  bull  of  Boniface  IX 
exempted  the  university  from  the  jurisdiction  of  all  archbishops, 
bishops  and  ordinaries,  and  when,  in  141 1,  archbishop  Arundel, 
in  pursuit  of  his  anti-Lollard  crusade,  attempted  a  visitation  of 
Oxford,  St.  Mary's  was  fortified  against  him,  and  swarms  of 
armed  scholars  compelled  his  retreat.  In  this  instance,  the 
university  acted  with  more  legality  than  discretion.  The 
king  took  up  the  cause  of  his  offended  kinsman ;  the  chancellor 
and  proctors  were  summoned  to  London  and  compelled  to 
resign ;  and,  when  the  university  decreed  a  cessation  and  boldly 
re-elected  the  deposed  officers,  pope  John  XXIII  ruined  the 
defences  of  the  scholars  by  revoking  the  bull  of  Boniface. 
Parliament  confirmed  their  defeat  by  a  declaration  of  the 
archbishop's  right  of  visitation.  It  was  not  until  1479,  after 
the  extirpation  of  Lollardism,  that,  by  means  of  a  bull  of 
Sixtus  IV,  the  university  recovered  the  lost  ground.  Mean- 
while, the  scholars  had  learned  a  lesson  in  policy;  the  chan- 
cellorship was  erected  into  a  permanent  office  and  conferred 
upon  a  powerful  court  prelate  or  noble;  a  vice-chancellor 
annually  nominated  by  the  chancellor  assumed  the  functions 
of  the  resident  head. 

The  peace  of  both  universities  was,  from  time  to  time, 


396  English  Education 

disturbed  by  serious  domestic  broils.  Irish  students  raised 
commotions;  the  struggles  of  north  and  south  well-nigh  as- 
sumed the  proportions  of  petty  civil  wars,  and  called  for  the 
interference  of  the  king.  Disputes,  more  interesting  from  the 
educational  standpoint,  were  excited  by  the  presence  of  monks 
and  friars.  When  the  successive  barbarian  irruptions  burst 
upon  western  Europe,  learning  had  taken  refuge  in  the  mon- 
asteries. It  might  have  been  anticipated  that,  on  the  return 
of  brighter  days,  scholarship  would  emerge  with  the  Bene- 
dictines. Within  limits  this,  indeed,  had  been  the  case.  The 
Benedictines  never  lost  their  love  of  letters,  and  their  schools 
were  long  and  deservedly  in  high  repute.  The  Benedictine 
monasteries  and  the  episcopal  schools  together  preserved  the 
useful  arts  of  writing,  illuminating  and  mus;ic,  and  in  the  Latin 
tongue  held  the  avenue  to  ancient  stores  of  knowledge.  But 
the  Benedictine  scheme  of  education  was  directed  exclusively 
to  the  requirements  of  the  religious  life.  The  Benedictines 
had  their  schools  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge  before  the  rise  of 
the  two  universities;  but  it  was  not  until  after  the  coming 
of  the  mendicants  ^  that  they  were  roused  to  play  an  active 
part  in  English  university  life. 

In  12 1 7,  within  two  years  after  the  foundation  of  their 
order,  the  Dominicans  planted  a  settlement  in  Paris;  in  1221 
they  invaded  Oxford;  and  in  1274  they  were  in  Cambridge. 
They  were  followed  at  Oxford  in  1224  by  the  Franciscans,  who, 
at  the  same  time,  appeared  in  Cambridge.  Entering  in  the 
guise  of  mendicants,  they  speedily  became  possessed  of  valu- 
able property,  and,  within  fifty  years  of  their  first  appearance, 
their  magnificent  buildings  were  the  envy  of  the  scholars  of 
both  universities.  CarmeHtes,  Augustinians  and  White  Canons 
imitated  the  example  of  the  Black  and  the  Grey  Friars,  and 
their  convents  lined  the  streets  of  the  two  university  towns. 

>  Already,  in  1278,  the  Benedictine  priory  of  Durham  had  begun  to 
despatch  clerks  to  study  in  Oxford;  and,  before  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  the  site  of  Durham  Hall  was  acquired.  The  Benedictines  of 
St.  Peter's  at  Gloucester  established  in  1283  at  Oxford  a  Hall  for  the 
accommodation  of  thirteen  students  of  their  order;  and,  eight  years  later^ 
the  numbers  of  the  students  of  Gloucester  Hall  were  increased  by  a  com- 
bined effort  of  other  southern  Benedictine  convents.  In  1334,  a  bull  of 
Benedict  XII  required  that  each  Benedictine  society  should  send  up 
one  monk  in  twenty  with  a  fixed  allowance  to  pursue  higher  studies  in  some 
university. 


The  Friars  and  the  Universities  397 

Franciscans  and  Dominicans  alike  flung  themselves  with 
enthusiasm  into  university  life. 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  twelfth  centuiy  Irnerius,  the  father 
of  the  glossators,  had  laid  the  foundations  of  the  fame  of 
Bologna  as  a  school  of  civil  law.  Accursius  had  emulated  him 
at  Florence.  Vacarius,  attempting  to  follow  the  example  at 
Oxford,  was,  thanks  to  the  jealousy  of  the  canonists,  silenced 
by  Stephen.  In  1144,  the  Benedictine  Gratian  published  at 
Rome  the  famous  Decretum,  in  which  he  provided  the  students 
of  canon  law  with  a  Corpus  Juris  worthy  to  rank  with  the 
Pandects  of  Justinian.  At  Oxford,  the  opposition  of  the  can- 
onists to  the  civil  law  was  soon  exchanged  for  ardent  pursuit, 
and  doctors  graduated  as  utriusque  juris. 

Meanwhile  {c.  11 60)  Peter  Lombard,  archbishop  of  Paris, 
attempted  to  render  to  theologians  the  service  which  Gratian 
had  rendered  to  the  canonists.  Applying  to  such  subjects 
as  the  Trinity,  free  will,  original  sin,  the  sacraments,  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead  and  final  judgment,  the  methods  of  a  strict 
dialectic,  he  developed  a  scientific  theological  system.  His 
Sententiae  became  the  standard  theological  text-book  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  mendicants,  invading  the  seats  of  Parisian 
teachers,  endeavoured  to  ally  with  Christian  doctrine  an 
Aristotelian  philosophy  which  had  trickled  through  the  schools 
of  Jews  and  Saracens.  Thus  they  became  the  leading  expo- 
nents of  scholasticism. 

At  Oxford,  the  Franciscans  Duns  Scotus  and  William  of 
Ockham  emulated  the  fame  won  for  the  Dominicans  at  Paris 
by  Albertus  Magnus  and  Thomas  Aquinas.  Grosseteste,  before 
his  elevation  to  high  office,  lectured  in  the  Oxonian  Franciscan 
school,  where  he  had  as  pupil  Adam  Marsh,  destined  to  be 
Hugo  de  Balsham's  competitor  for  the  see  of  Ely.  Friar 
Bungay  became  head  of  the  Franciscan  convent  in  Cambridge, 
where  Humphry  Necton,  a  Carmelite,  took  the  D.D.  degree 
in  1259.  The  glory  of  the  Grey  Friars  culminated  in  Roger 
Bacon  {c.  1214-94).  Skilled  in  all  the  recognised  studies  of 
his  age,  he,  in  opposition  to  prevailing  ideas,  though  remain- 
ing a  schoolman,  pointed  to  the  study  of  languages  and 
mathematics  as  affording  the  true  basis  for  a  sound  system 
of  education,  and  incurred  amongst  his  contemporaries  and 
succeeding  generations  the  lasting  suspicion  of  tampering  with 


398  English  Education 

the  illegitimate  by  leading  the  way  in  the  pursuit  of  natural 
science. 

As  a  rule,  the  schoolmen  did  not  amass  knowledge,  but 
trained  ability;  the  real  value  of  their  discussions  lay  in  their 
development  of  the  art  of  expression,  in  the  fostering  of  agility 
of  thought  and  subtle  distinction:  in  a  word,  in  the  develop- 
ment of  pure  dialectical  skill.  Logic  was  their  contribution  to 
the  world's  future.  Chaucer's  Clerk  of  Oxenford  had  "unto 
logik  longe  y-go." 

It  was  not  their  studies  but  their  ambition  which  lost  to  the 
mendicants  the  favour  of  the  medieval  universities.  Starting 
as  assailants  of  the  abuses  of  the  older  orders,  w4thin  a  very 
few  years  they  furnished  to  the  world  a  still  more  striking 
spectacle  of  moral  degradation;  and  the  barefooted  friars 
rivalled  the  Cistercians  as  pure  epicureans. 

I  fond  there  freres,  Alle  the  foure  ordres 
Prechynge  the  peple,  For  profit  of  hemselv-es; 
Closed  the  gospel,  As  hem  good  liked; 
For  covertise  of  copes,  Construwed  it  as  thei  wolde. 

So  Piers  the  Plowman,  voicing  the  experience  of  the  nation  at 
large.  In  the  universities,  whilst  claiming  the  rights,  the  friars 
strove  to  shirk  the  duties,  of  the  non-professed  scholar.  "  It 
was  their  object  to  create  an  iniperium  in  imperio,  and,  while 
availing  themselves  of  these  centres  as  fields  of  propagandism, 
they  were  really  intent  on  the  creation  of  a  rival  if  not  of  a 
hostile  authority."  A  fierce  struggle  ensued.  Already,  in 
1300,  the  chancellor  of  Cambridge,  Stephen  de  Haselfield,  as 
the  outcome  of  a  brawl,  excommunicated  the  friars,  two  of 
whom  were  expelled  from  the  university.  On  an  appeal  to 
the  pope,  the  friars  secured  the  honours  of  the  field;  but  the 
university  authorities  returned  to  the  fray.  In  1336,  a  uni- 
\'ersity  statute  forbade  the  friars  to  admit  into  their  orders  any 
scholar  under  18.  Two  years  later,  a  similar  statute  was 
passed  in  Oxford.  In  1359,  the  Cambridge  houses  enacted 
that  two  members  of  the  same  convent  of  mendicants  should 
not  incept  in  the  same  year.  An  appeal  to  parliament  went 
in  their  favour,  and,  in  1375,  the  friars  actually  obtained  a  papal 
bull  dispensing,  in  their  case,  with  the  statutory  requirement 
of  actual  regency  in  arts  before  the  assumption  of  the  degree 


Medieval  Scholars  399 

of  D.D.  The  mendicants  in  both  universities  had  outstayed 
their  welcome  a  full  century  before  Chaucer  launched  at  them 
the  shafts  of  his  humour,  the  Piers  Plowman  poems:  lashed  them 
with  invective,  or  Wyclif,  himself  a  distinguished  schoolman, 
poured  forth  on  them  the  vials  of  his  vituperation.  In  the 
foundations  of  both  Walter  de  Merton  and  Hugo  de  Balsham, 
admission  into  a  religious  order  was  expressly  declared  incom- 
patible with  membership  of  a  college  society.  With  these  two 
names  and  w4th  the  rise  of  colleges  we  reach  a  new  stage  in 
English  university  history. 

How  was  the  throng  of  medieval  scholars  maintained? 
Many  of  the  students  could  and  did  support  themselves.  The 
lecturers  were  for  generations  maintained  by  the  collectae  of 
their  auditors.  The  fees  levied  for  graces,  the  dues  collected 
from  the  principals  of  halls  and  keepers  of  acts  and  various 
academic  contributions  and  fines,  all  predicate  a  paying 
clientele.  Not  infrequently,  as  it  would  seem,  a  wealthy 
scholar  defrayed  the  charges  of  a  more  needy  companion. 
When  the  colleges  began  to  admit  pensioners,  these  paid 
highly  for  their  accommodation,  and  in  proportion  to  their 
rank.  Henry  Beaufort  at  Peterhouse,  in  1388-9,  paid  the 
sum  of  twenty  shillings  as  pensio  camerae,  while  a  humbler 
contemporary  paid  6s.  Sd.  There  were  scholars  in  both 
universities  who  ruffled  it  after  the  manner  of  courtiers;  who 
affected  lovelocks,  red  hosen  and  long  shoes;  who  wore  rings 
"for  vain  glor^nng  and  jettyng,  pernicious  example  and 
scandal  of  others";  and  otherwise  in  their  attire  came  within 
the  compass  of  the  sumptuary  provincial  constitution  issued 
by  archbishop  Stratford  in  1342.  But  Chaucer's  typical 
clerk  was  of  another  mould.  The  bulk  of  the  students  who 
thronged  the  streets  of  the  medieval  university  were,  un- 
doubtedly, poor.  Many  were  reduced  to  strange  shifts  for 
daily  bread.  The  bursar's  accounts  of  Peterhouse  in  the  early 
fifteenth  century  show  poor  scholars  engaged  in  digging  the 
foundations  of  buildings,  in  carrying  earth  and  bricks  and  in 
other  unskilled  labour.  The  sizars  of  the  following  and  many 
succeeding  centuries  were  regularly  employed  in  menial  tasks. 
Favourite  medieval  stories  introduce  us  to  poor  students 
begging  on  the  highways  or  singing  from  door  to  door.  The 
relief  of  such  was  always  ranked  as  a  peculiarly  meritorious 


400  English  Education 

field  for  medieval  philanthropy.  Noble  personages  and  pre- 
lates supported  poor  scholars  in  the  universities.  Edward  II 
maintained  32  boys  under  their  master  at  Cambridge;  and  his 
example  was  followed  by  his  successor,  who  erected  for  his 
pensioners  a  special  hall  of  residence,  the  King's  Hall.  Wealthy 
religious  houses  defrayed  the  charges  of  selected  students  of 
their  orders.  Benefactors,  even  before  the  college  era,  en- 
dowed loan-chests  from  which  temporary  advances  could 
be  made  on  security  to  hard-pressed  scholars.  Yet  more 
deserving  of  university  gratitude  were  the  founders  of 
"exhibitions." 

William  de  Kilkenny,  ninth  bishop  of  Ely,  dying  in  1256-7, 
bequeathed  200  marks  to  the  priory  of  Barnwell  in  trust  for  the 
payment  of  10  marks  annually  to  two  priests  studying  divinity 
in  Cambridge.  This  was  the  earliest  foundation  of  the  type  in 
the  junior  university.  William  of  Durham,  archbishop-elect 
of  Rouen,  had,  seven  years  earlier,  bequeathed  to  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford  310  marks,  to  be  invested  for  the  maintenance 
of  ten  or  more  masters  of  arts  studying  theology. 

An  all-important  step  forward  was  taken  by  Walter  de 
Merton.  Scholars  not  belonging  to  any  religious  order  had 
hitherto,  necessarily,  either  lodged  with  townsmen  or  in  some 
specially  hired  hostel  or  inn.  Of  these  last,  there  were  many 
in  both  universities.  Fuller  records  the  names  of  thirty-four 
in  Cambridge,  several  of  which  were  still  standing  in  his  day, 
although  with  an  altered  character.  Oxford  claims  a  far 
larger  number.  These  halls  were  managed  by  principals 
recognised  by,  and  usually,  though  not  necessarily,  masters 
of,  the  university.  Some  of  them  were  connected  with  special 
faculties,  as  law,  divinity,  or  the  arts.  But  they  were  mere 
residential  inns,  neither  chartered  nor  endowed. 

In  1263  or  1264,  Walter  de  Merton  founded  "the  House  of 
the  Scholars  of  Merton"  at  Maiden,  in  Surrey,  linking  it  with 
a  company  of  scholars  resident  in  Oxford,  and  there  supported 
on  the  produce  of  the  Maiden  estate.  A  few  years  later,  the 
warden  was  transferred  from  Maiden  to  the  direct  charge  of 
the  Oxford  group,  and,  in  1274,  under  revised  statutes,  the 
college  of  Merton  started  on  its  long  and  brilliant  history  as 
a  permanently  settled,  chartered  and  endowed  foundation. 

In  1280,  Hugo  de  Balsham,  tenth  bishop  of  Ely,  imitated 


The  Beginnings  of  the  Colleges  401 

in  Cambridge  the  example  of  Walter  de  Merton  by  planting 
a  settlement  of  "studious  scholars"  among  the  brethren  of 
the  hospital  of  St.  John;  in  1284,  the  severance  of  the  scholars 
from  the  brethren  gave  rise  to  the  establishment  of  Peterhouse, 
the  oldest  of  Cambridge  colleges. 

The  college,  it  must  be  noted,  was  something  more  than 
a  hall.  In  the  hall,  with  its  ofificially  fixed  rental,  students  of 
all  degrees  found  some  protection  against  the  arbitrary  exac- 
tions of  the  townsmen.  They  were  subjected  to  certain 
disciplinary  regulations.  They  paid  for  their  accommodation. 
The  college,  on  the  other  hand,  was,  in  origin,  the  endowed 
home  of  a  limited  number  of  students  of  a  particular  class. 
Further,  the  college  was  not  a  monastery.  It  had  a  rule, 
which  borrowed  something  from  the  principles  which  expe- 
rience had  approved  in  the  orders;  but  it  was  not  monastic. 
On  the  contrary,  it  was  anti-monastic:  the  scholars  of  Walter 
de  Merton  and  Hugo  de  Balsham  were  directly  prepared  for 
service  in  the  world  as  men  of  affairs.  Finally,  the  college 
was  not,  in  the  first  instance,  a  profit-making  school.  Its 
doors  were  not  open  to  all  seekers  after  knowledge.  Its  schol- 
ars were  members  of  a  close  corporation,  living  on  a  common 
stock,  men  of  approved  ability  pursuing  advanced  studies 
under  discipline.  The  disturbing  guest  and  the  would-be 
perendinant  were,  alike,  repelled. 

This  conception  comes  out  clearly  in  the  statutes  of  Merton 
and  in  the  earliest  Peterhouse  statutes,  which  were  avowedly 
based  upon  the  Merton  rule.  The  Peterhouse  society  was  to 
consist  of  fifteen  scholars,  one  of  whom  was,  as  the  master,  to 
be  the  business  head.  A  candidate  for  a  vacancy  in  the  body 
must  be  vir  honestus,  castiis,  paciflcus,  humilis  et  modestus 
(quatenus  humana  fragilitas  nostra  sinit)  et  indigens,  ac  in  arte 
dialectica  Baccalaureus.  The  field  of  study  for  the  scholars 
was  determined  as  including  the  arts,  the  philosophy  of  Aris- 
totle and  theology.  The  majority  of  the  scholars  must  always 
be  engaged  in  the  diligent  pursuit  of  the  liberal  arts ;  only  with 
the  express  sanction  of  the  whole  body  were  certain  designated 
fellows  to  proceed  to  the  reading  of  theology.  Two,  but  not 
more  at  the  same  time,  might  study  the  canon  or  the  civil 
law,  one,  the  medical  art.  Each  fellow  must  follow  a  regular 
academic  course,  must  prepare  himself  by  hearing  lectures, 


402  English  Education 

reading  and  discussion,  for  a  career  of  activity.  The  aim  of 
the  founder  was  not  the  endowment  of  a  Hfe  of  learned  ease ; 
his  revenues  were  intended,  it  was  clearly  stated,  for  scholars 
aciualiter  studentes  et  proficere  volentes. 

The  college  conception  took  rapid  root.  Before  the  year 
1400,  there  had  arisen  in  Cambridge  six  of  the  present  colleges, 
with  Michaelhouse  (1324)  and  King's  Hall  (1332),  which, 
later,  were  absorbed  in  Henry  VHI's  stately  foundation, 
Trinity;  in  Oxford,  the  college  of  Merton  had  rivals  in  six 
of  the  existing  colleges,  besides  Gloucester  Hall  (now  Wor- 
cester), which  was  erected  by  the  aroused  Benedictines  for 
students  selected  by  their  order,  and  the  dissolved  Canterbury 
Hall. 

The  foundation  of  several  of  these  societies  is  directly 
traceable  to  the  Black  Death  (1349).  Oxford  was  half-depop- 
ulated, whether  by  the  actual  ravages  of  the  plague  or  by  the 
flight  of  the  students.  Cambridge,  likewise,  suffered  terribly. 
Vast  numbers  of  the  country  clergy  were  swept  off.  It  was, 
partly,  at  least,  with  a  view  to  recruiting  the  depleted  ranks 
of  his  diocesan  staff  with  well-equipped  scholars  that  bishop 
Bateman  founded  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge  (1350),  as  a  college 
of  canonists  and  civilians,  and,  in  a  more  catholic  spirit,  com- 
pleted the  labours  of  Edmund  Gonville  on  a  neighbouring 
site.  About  the  same  time  and,  seemingly,  in  the  same  spirit, 
Elizabeth  de  Burgh,  countess  of  Clare,  enlarged  the  earlier  estab- 
lishment (1326)  of  University  Hall,  and  the  guild  brothers  of 
Corpus  Christi  founded  Bene't  or  Corpus  Christi  College  (1352). 
The  generous  founder  of  New  College,  Oxford,  referred  to  the 
repairs  of  the  devastation  wrought  by  the  plague  as  one  of  his 
inciting  motives. 

The  attention  of  the  pious  benefactor,  who,  in  centuries 
past,  would  have  endowed  a  convent,  was  now  drawn  rather 
to  the  university,  and  that  with  the  direct  encouragement  of 
at  least  the  secular  clergy.  So  Mary  de  St.  Paul  founded  in 
Cambridge,  in  1347,  the  college  of  Mary  de  Valentia,  commonly 
called  Pembroke  Hall;  and  Exeter,  Oriel  and  Queen's  arose 
in  Oxford  beside  the  first  period  group,  composed  of  Merton, 
University  and  Balliol. 

The  statutes  of  these  various  societies  set  out  particular 
objects,  and  differed,  accordingly,  in  minor  detail;  but,  in  all 


The  Beginnings  of  the  Colleges  403 

cases,  the  main  purpose  was  the  same,  and  there  was  no  vastly 
significant  departure  from  the  primitive  model. 

The  old  hostels  had  sheltered,  and  continued  for  some  time 
to  send  forth,  famous  men;  but  Oxford  and  Cambridge  scholar- 
ship associated  itself  rapidly  with  the  newer  colleges.  Merton 
claims,  not  only  Duns  Scotus  and  William  of  Ockham,  who 
were  drawn  away  by  the  friars,  but  also  Richard  FitzRalph 
and  bishop  Bradwardine,  the  latter  of  whom  is  ranked  by 
Chaucer  with  Augustine  and  Boethius.  Wyclif  is  variously 
connected  with  Merton,  Balliol  and  Canterbury  Hall.  The 
great  clerical  statesmen  of  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  century 
England  can  be  mostly  identified  with  the  universities  and 
with  colleges.  If  William  of  Wykeham  was  no  trained  scholar, 
and  John  Alcock  was,  possibly,  nurtured  in  a  hostel,  no  men 
were  more  alive  than  they  to  the  advantages  of  college  life. 
Henry  Beaufort  studied  both  at  Peterhouse  and  in  Oxford. 
William  Waynflete,  who  was  master  of  Wykeham's  school  at 
Winchester,  provost  of  Henry  VI 's  foundation  at  Eton  and 
Beaufort's  successor  as  bishop,  was,  if  not  himself  an  Oxonian, 
destined  to  rival  both  his  distinguished  patrons,  episcopal  and 
royal,  by  his  fine  college  of  Magdalen. 

In  the  first  instance,  the  college  was  but  the  chartered  and 
endowed  house  of  a  small  society  of  scolares  or  socii,  pursuing 
advanced  studies  in  a  large  university.  Walter  de  Merton, 
indeed,  from  the  very  first,  provided  for  certain  parvuli,  seem- 
ingly his  kinsmen,  who,  under  the  care  of  a  grammar  master, 
were  to  be  prepared  for  entry  on  a  course  in  arts;  in  most,  if 
not  in  all,  of  the  early  foundations  the  door  was  opened  to  poor 
students,  who,  in  return  for  menial  services,  were  supported  on 
the  superabundance  of  the  victuals  furnished  by  the  founder's 
bounty,  and  assisted  in  the  pursuit  of  learning.  But  neither 
Walter  de  Merton  nor  Hugo  de  Balsham  can  be  supposed  to  have 
contemplated  the  extension  which  was,  ere  long,  given  to  the 
initial  conception  of  the  college  by  the  admission,  in  constantly 
increasing  numbers,  of  the  class  of  undergraduate  pensioners. 
Still  lesscan  they  have  looked  forward  to  the  day  when  colleges 
should  dominate  the  university. 

Development  is,  however,  the  necessary  condition  of  all 
true  life.  Already,  before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
many  of  the  old  inns  had  become  annexed  to  colleges.     It  was 


404  English  Education 

then  decreed  that  no  scholar  should  henceforth  presume,  on 
pain  of  expulsion,  to  dwell  elsewhere  in  the  university  town 
than  in  a  hall  or  hostel.  This  meant  the  disappearance  of 
unattached  students.  By  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
the  system  of  admitting  commensals  had  become  established 
alike  in  the  poorer  and  in  the  more  wealthy  foundations;  and, 
when  that  step  was  reached,  the  English  universities  were  on 
their  way  to  that  strange  confusion  and  distinction  of  college 
and  university  which  is  the  puzzle  of  the  continental  observer. 

To  William  of  Wykeham  is  due  a  fresh  extension  of  the 
educational  conception  of  both  university  and  college. 

Throughout  England,  in  all  the  chief  towns,  were  to  be 
found  grammar  schools,  attached  to  convent  or  to  cathedral, 
where  boys  were  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  learning.  Many 
of  these  schools  were,  probably,  established  in  and  around 
Oxford  and  Cambridge.  In  Cambridge,  the  local  schools  seem, 
as  was  noted  above,  to  have  been  under  the  rule  of  a  M agister 
Glomeriae,  who,  as  a  nominee  of  the  archdeacon,  attempted, 
for  a  time,  to  hold  his  own  against  the  chancellor.  The  pupils 
of  the  grammar  master  were  mere  children.  While  still  juve- 
niles, they  were  wont  to  secure  admission  to  the  university. 

William  of  Wykeham,  bishop  of  Winchester,  the  favoured 
chancellor  of  Edward  III,  whose  personal  literary  acquirements 
papal  supporters  and  the  holy  father  himself  had  not  hesitated 
to  call  in  question,  was  inspired  to  establish  in  Oxford  a  college 
which  should  outrival  the  most  splendid  foundation  of  the  uni- 
versity of  Paris.  In  1379,  he  obtained  a  royal  licence  for  the 
execution  of  his  project;  and,  in  1386,  after  some  years  of  build- 
ing, the  warden  and  society  entered  into  possession  of  the  mag- 
nificent erection  of  "  Seint  Marie  College  of  Wynchester  in 
Oxenford." 

The  "New  College"  was  conceived  on  grand  lines,  alike  in 
its  architecture  and  in  the  numbers  and  life  of  its  students.  It 
combined  the  features  of  a  society  of  learning  with  those  of  a 
collegiate  church.  A  warden  and  seventy  "poor  indigent 
scholars,  clerks"  composed  the  academic  society,  and  were 
assigned  to  the  usual  studies  of  philosophy,  theology  and  canon 
and  civil  law,  with  a  slight  intermixture  of  medicine  and  astron- 
omy. Ten  priests,  three  stipendiary  clerks  and  sixteen  chor- 
isters were  designated  for  the  conduct  of  Divine  service  in  the 


William  of  Wykeham  and  Henry  VI      405 

chapel,  which  was  a  conspicuous  feature  of  Wykeham's  design. 
All  members  of  the  society  were  to  proceed  to  priest's  orders 
within  a  limited  time.  The  allowances  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  scholars  and  the  upkeep  of  the  college  were  fixed  upon  a 
most  generous  scale. 

Had  William  of  Wykeham  proceeded  no  further,  he  would 
have  enhanced  that  reputation  as  an  architect  which  had  won 
him  royal  approval  and  consequent  wealth,  and  would  have 
gained  the  name  of  a  munificent  patron  of  letters  and  of  Oxford. 
He  took,  however,  the  forward  step  which  makes  the  man  of 
genius.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  linking  his  college  with  a 
particular  preparatory  institution,  and,  by  the  creation  of 
"Seint  Marie  College  at  Winchester,"  became  the  founder  of 
the  first  great  English  public  school. 

The  school,  already  in  existence  in  1373,  but  settled,  finally, 
in  buildings  erected  between  1387  and  1393,  reproduced  the 
features  of  Wykeham's  college.  There  were  the  w^arden  and 
the  seventy  poor  scholars,  and  there  were  the  ten  priest  fellows, 
three  priest  chaplains,  three  clerks  and  sixteen  choristers.  But, 
whereas  the  instruction  of  the  junior  members  of  the  society 
was,  at  New  College,  entrusted  to  specially  salaried  senior 
fellows,  the  teaching  of  the  scholars  of  Winchester  was  assigned 
to  a  school  master  and  an  under-master  or  usher.  And  the 
studies  of  Winchester  were  confined  to  grammar  alone.  From 
the  ranks  of  the  Winchester  scholars  were  to  be  filled  up  vacan- 
cies in  the  numbers  of  the  scholars  of  New  College  as  they 
occurred,  each  nominated  scholar  passing  a  two  years'  proba- 
tion in  the  university  before  his  final  admission. 

It  was  as  a  direct  imitator  of  Wykeham  and  copier  of  his 
statutes  that  Henry  VI,  in  1440-1,  founded  the  allied  institu- 
tions of  King's  College,  Cambridge,  and  "  the  College  Roiall  of 
oure  Ladie  of  Eton  beside  Windesor."  Half  the  fellows  and 
scholars  of  Winchester  were  transferred  to  Eton  to  constitute 
the  nucleus  of  the  royal  school,  of  which  William  Waynfiete, 
the  Winchester  school  master,  became  an  early  provost.  The 
royal  school  at  Eton,  rising  under  the  shadow  of  the  palace  of 
Windsor  and  under  the  eye  of  the  gourt,  became,  henceforth, 
the  school  par  excellence  of  the  sons  and  descendants  of  the 
English  nobility.  Whilst  it  owed  much  to  the  collegers  who 
passed  from  its  foundation  to  the  ranks  of  the  fellows  of  King's, 


4o6  English  Education 

it  owed  still  more  in  fame  to  the  wealthy  oppidans,  who 
crowded  to  share  in  its  teaching.  It  is  not  the  least  among 
the  legacies  of  great  men  to  the  future  that  they  excite  emula- 
tion. William  Waynflete  became  the  founder  of  Magdalen 
(1448);  archbishop  Chicheley,  a  Wykehamist,  founded  All 
Souls  (1438). 

In  Cambridge,  queen  Margaret  was  stirred  up  by  the 
labours  of  her  husband  to  lay  the  foundations  of  Queen's  Col- 
lege (1448),  where  her  good  work  was  preserved  and  completed 
by  Elizabeth  Woodville  (1465).  Robert  Woodlarke,  third 
provost  of  King's  College  and  chancellor  of  the  university, 
founded  St.  Catharine's  (1473).  John  Alcock,  bishop  of  Ely, 
who  resembled  Wykeham  in  being  at  once  skilled  architect 
and  prominent  statesman,  erected  Jesus  College  round  the 
chapel  of  the  dissolved  priory  of  St.  Radegund  (1496).  In 
Oxford,  Richard  Fleming,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  having  repented 
the  Wyclifite  errors  of  his  youth,  endowed  Lincoln  College  as 
a  special  bulwark  against  heresy  in  his  diocese  (1429).  When 
Thomas  Wolsey,  papal  legate  and  archbishop,  suppressed 
monasteries  in  order  to  rival  with  his  linked  foundations  of 
Cardinal  College  and  Ipswich  the  creations  of  Wykeham  and 
Henry  VI,  men  might  have  foretold  the  coming  of  a  peaceful 
church  reform.  Kings,  noble  dames  and  princes  of  the  blood 
now  contended  with  prelates  and  grateful  scholars  in  college 
building.  At  Cambridge  the  Lady  Margaret,  countess  of 
Richmond  and  Derby,  mother  of  Henry  VII,  claimed  the 
honours  of  foundress,  not  only  of  Christ's  College  (1505),  in 
which  was  merged  Henry  VI's  grammar  foundation  of  God's 
House  (1439),  but  of  the  larger  college  of  St.  John  (15 11). 
Thomas  Lord  Audley,  chancellor  of  England,  under  licence 
obtained  from  Henry  VIII,  completed,  under  the  name  of 
Magdalene,  the  college  of  which  the  erection  and  endowment 
were  begun  by  the  unfortunate  Edward  Stafford,  duke  of 
Buckingham.  It  remained  for  Henry  VIII  himself  to  combine 
Michaelhouse,  Edward  Ill's  foundation  of  King's  Hall  and  an 
unendowed  hostel  in  the  magnificent  college  of  Trinity  (1546). 
In  the  same  England  in  -^hich  the  supporters  of  rival  houses 
were  wreaking  mutual  destruction  on  the  battle-fields  of  the 
Roses,  men  were  thus  actively  engaged  in  building  colleges. 
It  was  fitting  that  in  the  monarch  who  united  the  contending 


Medieval  Studies.     The  Grammar  School    407 

claims,  and  in  his  son,  should  be  found  active  patrons  of  the 
learning  of  the  renascence. 

What,  we  next  ask,  were  the  subjects  and  the  courses  of 
medieval  academic  study? 

The  early  education  of  the  generality  of  English  youths  in 
the  Middle  Ages  was  found  in  a  school  attached  to  some  cathe- 
dral or  convent.  In  the  old  grammar  schools,  reading,  writing 
and  elementary  Latin  constituted,  with  singing,  the  subjects 
of  instruction.  The  "litel  clergeon,  seven  yeer  of  age"  of 
The  Prioress's  Tale  learned  in  school  "to  singen  and  to  rede, 
as  smale  children  doon  in  hir  childhede."  He  had  his  primer. 
A  school-fellow  translated  and  expounded  for  the  enquiring 
child  the  Alma  redemptoris  from  the  antiphoner  of  an  older 
class.  The  prioress,  doubtless,  here  indicates  the  teaching  of 
the  conventual  schools  of  her  day.  Through  Ave  Maria  and 
Psalms,  learned  by  rote,  the  boy  passed  to  the  rudiments  of 
grammar,  with  Donatus  and  Alexander  de  Villa  Dei  as  guides, 
and  Terence  and  Ovid  as  providers  of  classic  texts.  Latin 
was  the  living  language  of  all  abodes  of  learning,  and  to  its 
acquisition,  as  such,  were  mainly  directed  the  efforts  of  all  the 
old  grammar  schools.  The  same  course  was  pursued  at  Win- 
chester and  Eton.  In  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  boys  at  the 
public  schools  were  "well  entered  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Latin  and  Greek  tongues  and  rules  of  versifying."  But,  for 
William  of  Wykeham  and  Henry  VI,  Greek  was  not  as  yet. 
William  Paston,  in  1467,  desiring  to  quit  Eton,  "lacked  nothing 
but  versifying,"  and  endeavoured  to  convince  his  brother  of 
his  acquirements  by  some  lame  Latin  lines.  A  little  more 
skill  in  such  versifying,  some  knowledge  of  Terence,  of  Ovid 
and  of  Cicero's  letters,  with  the  confidence  derived  from  con- 
stant exercise  in  Latin  conversation,  were  the  equipment  with 
which  his  best  furnished,  contemporaries  went  up  to  the  dis- 
cussions of  the  university.  The  nature  of  the  studies  which 
the  young  aspirants  would,  thenceforward,  pursue  may  be 
gathered  from  the  oldest  extant  university  statutes. 

The  studies  of  the  medieval  university  were  based  upon  the 
trivium  and  quadriviiim,.  Martianus  Capella,  a  Carthaginian, 
in  an  allegory  de  Niiptiis  Philologiae  et  Mercurii,  written  about 
420  A.D.,  introduces  us,  with  the  persons  and  descriptions  of 
the  attendants  of  the  earth-born  bride  of  the  god,  to  the  seven 


4o8  English  Education 

liberal  arts.  Three  of  these,  grammar,  logic  and  rhetoric, 
constituted  the  triviiim;  which  formed  the  course  of  study  of 
the  medieval  undergraduate.  The  bachelor  passed  on  to  the 
quadriviiim — arithmetic,  geometry,  music  and  astronomy — 
his  conquest  of  which  was  denoted  by  the  licence  or  degree  of 
master  of  arts.  To  these  seven  arts,  the  thirteenth  century 
added  the  three  philosophies,  natural,  moral  and  metaphysical. 

An  Oxford  scheme  of  study  of  1426  demands:  one  year's 
reading  of  grammar,  with  Priscian  as  text-book;  next,  three 
terms'  study  of  rhetoric,  with  Aristotle,  Boethius  and  Tully 
as  teachers,  reinforced  by  Ovid  and  Vergil;  finally,  three 
terms'  reading  of  logic  with  Boethius  and  Aristotle,  Topica 
and  Priora  being  expressly  enjoined.  Of  the  subjects  of  the 
quadriviiim,  arithmetic  and  music  require  each  a  year,  while 
geometry  and  astronomy  call  each  for  two.  The  three  philo- 
sophies need  each  three  terms.  Some  of  these  courses  were, 
seemingly,  concurrent,  the  entire  arts  curriculum  covering, 
in  general,  eight  years  of  three  terms  each.  The  Cambridge 
requirements  were,  evidently,  much  the  same.  Sir  Robert 
Rede,  in  15 18,  bequeathed  ;;^i2  per  annum  for  the  payment 
of  three  lecturers  in  logic,  rhetoric  and  philosophy.  Of  these 
three,  one,  whose  style  as  lector  Terentii  reveals  his  function, 
was  assigned,  by  statute,  to  lecture  to  students  of  the  first  and 
second  year  on  "  books  of  humanity" ;  the  second  lecturer  read 
logic  to  third  year  undergraduates ;  the  third  lectured  to  fourth 
year  students  and  bachelors  of  arts  on  books  of  philosophy. 

The  educational  methods  pursued  differed  in  no  small 
degree  from  those  at  present  in  use.  Of  written  examinations, 
the  medieval  student  knew  nothing;  his  progress  was  secured 
by  compulsory  reading  of  set  books  and  enforced  attendance 
on  assigned  lectures;  by  frequent  "posing"  and  debate;  and, 
lastly,  by  the  necessity  of  himself .  delivering  lectures  after 
attaining  the  baccalaureate.  He  might,  indeed,  content  him- 
self with  "inception  in  grammar,"  when,  on  the  strength  of 
the  delivery  of  certain  discourses  on  Priscian  and  of  the  certifi- 
cate of  three  posing  masters  of  his  minor  art,  he  passed  forth 
qualified  to  teach  in  an  elementary  school ;  but,  if  his  ambition 
soared  to  higher  flights,  he  might  assume  obligations  to  his 
university  which  represented  labour  continued  during  up- 
wards of  twenty  years. 


University  Studies.     The  Higher  Faculties.    409 

The  complete  arts  course  was,  in  general,  the  necessary 
prerequisite  to  the  study  of  theology;  but  students  possessed 
of  the  needful  permission  might  pass  directly  from  the  trivium 
to  the  pursuit  of  civil,  and  then  of  canon,  law.  In  Oxford,  as 
in  Paris,  regents  in  arts  asserted  a  claim  to  pre-eminence  in 
the  direction  of  university  reading.  In  1252,  it  was  enacted 
that  no  scholar  should  receive  the  licence  in  theology,  who  had 
not  previously  been  regent  in  arts. 

The  Cambridge  Statuta  Antiqua  set  out  regulations  which 
were  in  force  about  1400  a.d.  The  five  stages  of  the  arts 
student's  career,  therein  indicated,  were  successively  repre- 
sented by:  admission  to  the  question,  by  which,  in  his  fifth  year 
at  earliest,  after  previous  attendance  at  scholastic  discussion, 
he  was  introduced  for  formal  university  testing;  determination, 
a  far  more  serious  ordeal,  involving  an  active  share  in  a  long 
series  of  public  disputations  and  the  duty  of  summing  up  in 
approved  fashion  the  results  of  debate;  cursory  lecturing  on 
the  Posterioria;  inception,  whereby  the  scholar  acquired  the 
licence  of  master  and  was  regularly  authorised  to  teach;  and, 
lastly,  regency,  a  period  of  active  lecturing  ordinarie,  as  officially 
appointed  instructor,  and  of  enforced  attendance  upon  various 
public  gatherings  for  university  business  and  ceremonial. 

No  scholar  might  incept  in  arts  in  Cambridge  in  the  fifteenth 
century  unless:  he  had  previously  determined;  had,  for  three 
years  at  least,  continuously  resided  and  studied  in  his  proper 
faculty;  had  attended  during  three  years  the  lectures  of  his 
own  master  on  Aristotle's  philosophy,  together  with  any  such 
mathematical  lectures  as  might  be  given  in  the  schools;  had 
publicly  opposed  and  responded  in  his  faculty  in  due  form  in 
the  schools;  and,  finally,  unless  he  was  provided  with  certifi- 
cates de  scientia  from  five,  and  de  credulitate  vet  scientia  from 
other  seven,  masters  of  arts. 

Should  he  proceed,  as,  if  ambitious  of  promotion,  he  must, 
to  the  study  of  theology,  of  law  or  of  medicine,  the  master  of 
arts  must  pass  afresh  through  certain  clearly  defined  stages: 

None  shall  be  admitted  to  incept  in  theology,  unless  he  shall 
have  previously  been  regent  in  arts;  unless,  also,  he  shall  have  heard 
theological  lectures  for  at  least  ten  years  in  a  university;  item,  he 
shall  have  heard  lectures  on  the  Bible  biblice  for  two  years  before 
he  incepts ;  he  shall  have  lectured  on  or  in  some  canonical  book  of  the 


4IO  English  Education 

Bible  for  a  year,  for  at  least  ten  days  in  each  term ;  nor  shall  it  be 
permitted  to  any  to  "enter"  the  Bible  before  the  second  year  after 
the  completion  of  his  lectures  on  the  Sentences;  and  he  shall  have 
read  all  the  books  of  the  Sentences  in  that  University,  and  shall 
have  remained  at  least  three  years  in  an  approved  University,  after 
the  lecturing  on  the  Sentences,  before  he  shall  be  licenced.  Fur- 
thermore, he  shall  have  preached  publicly  ad  clerum  and  shall  have 
l)ublicly  in  all  the  schools  of  his  faculty  opposed  and  responded  after 
lecturing  upon  the  Sentences,  in  such  sort  that  he  may  be  in 
\exy  deed  of  known  and  approved  progress,  manners  and  learn- 
ing according  to  the  attestation  de  scientia  by  all  the  masters  of 
that  faculty  in  the  manner  aforesaid;  and,  finally,  he  shall  be 
admitted  when  he  has  sworn  that  he  has  completed  this  set  of 
requirements.^ 

Similar  detailed  provisions  guarded  the  doctorates  of  canon 
law,  civil  law  and  of  medicine.  The  "grace,"  which,  in  later 
times,  became  the  necessary  formality  for  proceeding  to  a 
degree,  was,  in  origin,  a  privilegium  of  the  masters  dispensing 
with  some  special  requirement  in  a  particular  case.^ 

A  comparison  of  the  statutory  requirements  of  the  uni- 
versity with  the  contents  of  a  medieval  college  library  would 
appear  to  furnish  a  sufficient  basis  for  judgment  as  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  studies  indicated. 

Peterhouse  is  fortunate  in  still  possessing,  not  only  a  library 
catalogue  of  1418,  but  the  majority  of  the  volumes  therein 
described.  It  is  clear  from  its  arrangement  that,  unlike  the 
noble  collection  vainly  bequeathed  by  Richard  of  Bury  to  the 
Benedictine  house  of  Durham  in  Oxford,  and  the  great  library 
of  duke  Humphrey  of  Gloucester,  it  was  a  working  library. 
Alaking  allowances  for  entries  on  the  roll  inserted  at  a  some- 
what later  date,  the  collection  of  141 8  contains  over  300 
volumes.  These  are  divided  into  two  classes,  as  being  either 
"  chained  in  the  library"  or  "  distributed  amongst  the  fellows." 
They  are  further  arranged  under  subject-headings  as  represent- 
ing theology,  natural   philosophy,  metaphysics,  moral   philo- 

'  Staiuta  Ajitiqita,  124;  Canib.  Doc.  i,  377. 

2  Friars,  being  prohibited  by  the  rules  of  their  orders  from  graduation  in 
secular  branches  of  knowledge,  required  a  dispensation  to  graduate  in  theo- 
logy. The  stringent  enforcement  against  them  of  university  regulations 
provoked  heated  altercation  and,  as  already  seen,  led  to  parliamentary  and 
papal  interference:  ante,  p.  398;  Rashdall,  11,  379. 


The  Library  of  the  Medieval  Student     4ii 

sophy,  astronomy,  " Alkenemie,"  "Arsmetrice"  (arithmetic), 
music,  geometry,  rhetoric,  logic,  grammar,  poetry,  chronicles, 
medicine,  civil  law  and  canon  law.  Theological  works  occupy 
the  largest  space.  Canon  law  and  civil  law  in  combination 
slightly  exceed  the  three  philosophies.  Of  medical  chained 
books  there  are  fifteen;  but,  amongst  the  fellows,  for  regular 
reading,  logic,  poetry  and  grammar  are  in  greater  request. 
Astronomy  is  studied ;  though  it  is  in  the  chained  library  where 
Ptolemy  reigns  among  a  company  of  Arabians  and  their  Jewish 
translators,  together  with  Bacon  De  multiplicatione  specierum 
cum  perspectiva  ejusdem  and  half  a  dozen  recent  table-makers, 
closing  with  John  Holbroke,  who  was  elected  master  of  the 
college  in  the  same  year.  Of  the  other  subjects  of  the  quad- 
rivium,  music,  arithmetic  and  geometry  are,  under  their  several 
proper  headings,  denoted  each  by  a  single  tome.  A  second 
copy  of  Euclid,  indeed,  elsewhere  appears,  bound  up  with 
astronomical  works,  as  do  two  other  treatises  on  geometry; 
and  there  are  two  copies  of  the  Arithmetica  of  Boethius;  but 
the  weakness  of  the  mathematical  element  is  very  marked,  as 
compared  with  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  philosophy  of 
Aristotle. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  fellows  of  Peterhouse  were 
at  least  bachelors  of  arts,  whose  main  studies  would  be  con-' 
cerned  with  cursory  lecturing  on  Posterior  a.  Of  thirteen 
works  on  logic,  which  the  library  of  1418  contains,  we  find, 
accordingly,  eight  distributed  amongst  the  society.  The  eight 
consist  entirely  of  texts  of  Aristotle,  including  Posteriora, 
Prior  a,  Topica  and  Elenchi,  with  texts  of  Porphyry,  various 
commentaries  and  collections  of  questions  on  both  Aristotle 
and  Porphyry  and  the  Sophismata  of  William  of  Heytesbury 
(fellow  of  Merton,  1330;  chancellor  of  Oxford,  1371).  In  the 
chained  library,  Boethius  joins  Porphyry  and  Aristotle,  to- 
gether with  the  Philosophia  of  the  great  Albert,  the  Smnma 
of  Ockham  and  commentaries  of  Kilwardby  and  St.  Thomas. 
A  later  fifteenth  century  hand  added  to  the  catalogue  the 
Summa  of  Peter  Hispanus  and  the  Quaestiones  of  William  Brito 
(ob.  1356).  Under  the  several  headings  of  natural  philosophy, 
moral  philosophy  and  metaphysic,  the  catalogue  of  141 8  records 
no  fewer  than  eighteen  volumes  of  Aristotelian  texts,  together 
with  commentaries  by  Averroes,  Aquinas,  Egidius  Romanus 


412  English  Education 

(oh.  1 316),  Walter  Burley  (ob.  1345),  Durandus  and  Peter  de 
Alvernia,  and  the  Summa  of  John  Dumbleton  (fellow  of 
Queen's,  Oxford,  1341).  Under  the  same  class  heading  Pal- 
ladius  and  Columella  introduce  agriculture  and  veterinary 
medicine;  Seneca  and  Pliny  instruct  De  Animalibiis;  and  Ca- 
pella  and  Isidore  range  through  all  fields  in  dictionary  fashion. 

In  the  lower  educational  stages  of  the  trivium  we  find,  for 
grammar,  authorities  in  time-honoured  Priscian,  as  edited  by 
Kilwardby,  in  the  Dictionary  of  Hugucio  (bishop  of  Ferrara, 
oh.  1 2 13),  the  Catholicon  of  friar  John  de  Janua,  the  Summa  de 
expositione  verbormn  Bibliae  of  William  Brito,  Bacon  De  Gram- 
matica  and  the  inevitable  Doctrinale  Puerorum  of  Alexander. 
In  rhetoric,  Cassiodorus  and  Tully  are  supported  by  Guido 
delle  GDlonne's  History  of  the  Trojan  War,  Pharaoh's  Dream 
by  John  Lemouicensis,  and  Practica  sive  Usus  Dictam- 
inis,  a  "Complete  Letter  Writer"  ^  by  one  Master  Laurence 
Aquilegiensis. 

The  civilians  were,  in  view  of  statutory  requirements,  neces- 
sarily provided  with  all  the  books  of  the  corpus  juris.  They 
were  furnished,  also,  with  glosses  of  Accursius  and  comments 
of  Bartholus,  Odofredus  and  Peter  de  Bella  Pertica  {ob.  1308). 
The  favourite  text-writers  were,  however,  Cinus  of  Pistoia  {oh. 
1336)  and  Azo  {oh.  1200),  "the  light  of  the  lawyers,"  whom 
Bologna  was  constrained  to  recall  from  Montpellier.  Of  Cynus 
super  Codicem,  as  of  Parvum  Volumen  {e.g.  the  Institutes  and 
Novellae),  Digestum  Vetus,  Digestum  Inforciatum,  Digestum 
Novum  and  of  Codex,  there  were  three  copies,  two  of  each  being 
distributed  to  fellows,  who  borrowed  also  the  Summa  and 
Brocardica  Azcniis.  For  canonists,  with  the  necessary  texts 
of  decrees,  decretals.  Liber  Sextus,  "  Extravagants  "  and  Clem- 
entines, there  were  commentaries  of  Paulus,  of  Joannes  An- 
dreae  {oh.  1348),  of  William  de  Monte  Lauduns  {c.  1346),  of 
William  de  Mandagoto  and  of  Henry  of  Susa,  cardinal  of  Ostia 
{oh.  1 271).  As  English  clerks,  the  Peterhouse  fellows  had, 
doubtless,  frequent  recourse  to  their  several  copies  of  the  Con- 
stitutions  of  Otho  and  Ottobon,  and,  it  may  be  surmised,  to 
Liber  taxarum  omnium  beneficiorum  Angliae,  which  lay  in  the 
chained  library.  But  their  regularly  used  manuals  of  canon 
law  were,  clearly,  the  famous  Summa  Ostiensis,  which  appears 

•  M.  R.  James,  Peterhouse  MSS. 


The  Library  of  the  Medieval  Student     413 

in  both  sections  of  the  library;  the  similarly  honoured  Rosa- 
rium of  archdeacon  Guido  de  Baysio,  which  recalls  the  Bologna 
school  of  1300 ;  and  the  ever  popular  Speculum  Juris,  or  Spec- 
ulum J  udiciale ,  of  William  Durand  {oh.  1296)  to  whom  Boniface 
VIII  vainly  offered  the  archbishopric  of  Ravenna.  Two  copies 
of  Speculum,  with  the  like  number  of  texts  of  decretals,  Liber 
Sextus  and  Clementines,  are  lent  out  to  fellows,  while  another 
copy  of  each  remains  in  the  chained  library.  The  law  fellow- 
ships of  Peterhouse  were,  evidently,  full,  the  statutes  permit- 
ting, as  has  been  noted,  to  not  more  than  two  contemporary 
fellows,  the  study  of  canon,  or  civil,  law. 

The  one  fellow  allowed  by  statute  to  adopt  the  medical  art 
was  pursuing  in  141 8  the  regular  university  course:  he  had 
borrowed  Macer,  De  virtutibus  herbarum,  and  the  prescribed 
texts  of  " Johannicius "  and  of  "Isaac."  Chaucer  recites  the 
qualifications  of  his  Doctor  of  Phisyk : 

Well  knew  he  the'  olde  Esculapius 
And  Deiscorides,  and  eek  Rufus, 
Old  Ypocras,  Haly  and  Galien; 
Serapion,  Razis  and  Avicen; 
Averrois,  Damascien  and  Constantyn; 
Bernard,  and  Gatesden,  and  Gilbertyn. 

The  Peterhouse  chained  library  of  141 8  held  but  thirteen  vol- 
umes of  medicine ;  but  a  brief  examination  of  the  contents  of 
its  shelves  enables  us  to  identify  at  least  ten  of  Chaucer's  clas- 
sical authorities.  The  ruler  of  the  medieval  medical  school 
was,  undoubtedly,  Galen,  whose  commentaries  upon  Hip- 
pocrates must  be  twice  heard  in  lecture  by  the  Cambridge 
would-be  medical  inceptor.  Other  prescribed  books  were  the 
Breviary  of  Constantine,  commonly  known  as  Viaticus,  the  Isa- 
goge  of  Johannicius,  a  general  introduction  to  physic,  the  Anti- 
dotarium  of  Nicholaus,  Theophilus  De  Urinis  and  the  works  of 
Isaac,  a  high  authority  on  dietary  and  fevers.  Amongst  addi- 
tional authors  represented  on  the  Peterhouse  shelves  a  notable 
place  was  claimed  by  Gerard  of  Cremona,  an  indefatigable 
translator,  and  by  Richard,  the  Englishman,  who  is  identifiable 
with  Richard  of  Wendover  (06.  1252),  canon  of  St.  Paul's,  the 
compiler  of  an  encyclopaedic  treatise  covering  the  entire  field 
of  Medicine.     It  is  no  hard  task  to  detect  the  foiites  of  medieval 


4^4  English  Education 

medical  knowledge.  Isaac,  a  Peterhouse  librarian  scribe  in- 
forms us,  fiiit  araabs  nacioiie.  Gerard  of  Cremona  translates 
one  book  of  Galen  in  Toledo  from  the  Arabic  into  Latin;  an- 
other is  introduced  as  ad  tutyrum  translato  johannici  filii  ysaac 
de  grcco  in  arabicum  et  a  marcho  toletano  de  arabico  in  latinum. 
Medicine,  with  astronomy,  passed  to  western  Europe  through 
the  hands  of  the  Arabian  and  the  Jew. 

And  what,  finally,  of  theology,  the  crowning  study  of  the 
medieval  university?  There,  indeed,  the  Latin  held  his  own. 
In  the  Peterhouse  chained  library  of  141 8  an  imperfect  Chry- 
sostom  practically  monopolises  the  representation  of  the  eastern 
church,  with  Cyprian  as  spokesman  for  the  African.  A  mag- 
nificent Latin  Bible,  the  gift  of  archbishop  Whittlesea,  is 
flanked  by  a  host  of  patristic  writers  of  the  western  church. 
Augustine,  Ambrose  and  Jerome  are  followed  by  Gregory  and 
Isidore,  by  Bernard  and  Anselm,  by  Stephen  Langton,  Lyra 
and  Hugo  de  St.  Victor.  There  are  the  inevitable  sermons 
standing  behind  great  names.  There  is,  too,  the  Historia 
Scholastica  of  Peter  Comestor,  Magister  Historiarum.  But 
in  the  list  of  books  distributed  amongst  the  fellows  the  true 
character  of  the  theological  studies  of  the  university  comes  out. 
With  four  more  Bibles,  one  being  specially  assigned  for  daily 
reading  in  hall,  a  glossed  Gospel  of  St.  John,  a  brief  tractate  on 
the  epistles  of  St.  Paul,  two  or  three  books  clearly  designed  for 
private  meditation  and  Grosseteste,  De  Oculo  Morali,  there  are 
two  additional  copies  of  Magister  Historiarum,  six  Psalters, 
four  Latin,  one  Hebrew  and  Latin  and  one  Hebrew^  and  no 
fewer  than  nine  copies  of  the  Master  of  the  Sentences,  reinforced 
by  the  Sumrna  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  the  Quaestiones  of  his  op- 
ponent Henry  of  Ghent  (ob.  1293)  and  John  Bokyngham 
Super  Sententias.  The  ancient  fathers  of  the  church  here  ap- 
pear only  in  the  shape  of  extracts  in  the  much  used  Pharetra, 
a  medieval  Familiar  Quotations.  The  working  theology  of 
fifteenth  century  Peterhouse  was  the  theology  of  Peter 
Lombard. 

The  education  offered  to  the  young  scholar  in  the  Middle 
Ages  was,  essentially,  utilitarian;  he  was  trained  for  service 
in  public  functions.  A  few  rules  of  grammatical  expression; 
some  elementary  calculations;  geometry,  consisting  mainly  of 
ill-informed  geography ;  music  sufficient  to  qualify  for  the  sing- 


The  Library  of  the  Medieval  Student     415 

ing  of  a  mass ;  and  Ptolemaic  astronomy,  directing  to  the  correct 
determination  of  Easter — these,  with  much  skill  in  argument 
derived  from  long  exercise  in  the  use  of  dialetic  forms,  consti- 
tuted the  ripe  fruit  of  the  course  in  trivium  and  quadrivium. 
The  disputants  in  the  schools  wasted  their  energy  in  a  barren 
philosophy.  The  few  followers  of  Roger  Bacon  in  the  domain 
of  a  progressive  natural  science,  more  than  suspected  of  alli- 
ance with  the  Saracen  and  the  Evil  One,  could  find  legitimate 
scope  for  their  research  only  within  the  confines  of  a  crude 
medical  science  which  combined  the  simples  of  the  herb  wife 
with  a  barbarous  surgery.  Unless  caught  in  the  scholastic 
net  of  metaphysics,  the  medieval  student  could  find  substantial 
mental  food  only  in  theology  or  in  law.  And,  in  a  field  where 
to  trip  was  to  be  denounced  as  a  heretic,  the  theology  offered 
was  the  slavish  repetition  of  received  glosses,  the  killing  of  the 
literal  sense  of  Scripture  in  the  drawing  out  of  the  so-called 
allegorical,  moral  and  anagogical  meaning,  or,  at  best,  the  ap- 
plication of  syllogistic  methods  to  the  dicta  of  ancient  fathers. 
Of  the  Humanities  as  such,  the  fourteenth  century  was 
strangely  innocent.  The  cataloguer  of  the  Peterhouse  library 
of  1 41 8  assigned  a  special  place  to  chronicles.  He  placed  un- 
der this  head  Cassiodorus,  Valerius  Maximus  and  Sallust,  with 
Vegetius,  Frontinus,  Aimonius  of  Fleury  and  the  anonymous 
writer  of  a  treatise  De  adventu  Normannorum  in  Angliam  et  de 
jure  quod  habiiit  Willelmus  hastardus  ad  regniim  Angliae.  Quin- 
tilian,  Macrobius  and  Seneca  he  classed  as  natural  philosophers. 
Poetry  he  conjoined  with  grammar;  and,  with  Priscian,  Hu- 
gucio  and  Alexander  de  Villa  Dei  he  ranked  Ovid,  Statius  and 
Lucan.  When,  with  them,  they  bring  the  Epistles  of  Francis 
Petrarch,  we  catch  the  glimmering  light  before  the  dawn. 
Twenty- two  years  later  (1440),  Robert  Alne  lent  to  his  old 
friend  John  Ottryngham,  master  of  Michaelhouse,  who  had 
been  admitted  with  him  as  a  fellow  of  Peterhouse  on  5  October, 
1400,  a  copy  of  Petrarch's  De  Remediis  utriusque  Fortunae. 

It  is  scarcely  thirty  years  ago,  when  all  that  was  taught  in  the 
university  of  Cambridge  was  Alexander,  the  Little  Logicals  (as  they 
call  them)  and  those  old  exercises  out  of  Aristotle,  and  quaestiones 
taken  from  Duns  Scotus.  As  time  went  on,  polite  learning  was 
introduced;  to  this  was  added  a  knowledge  of  mathematics;  a 
new  or  at  least  a  regenerated  Aristotle  sprang  up ;  then  came  an 


4^6  Scottish  Education 

acquaintance  with  Greek,  and  with  a  host  of  new  authors  whose  ver}^ 
names  had  before  been  unknown,  even  to  their  profoundest  doctors.^ 

So  wrote  Erasmus  in  15 16.2 

It  was  to  mefi  well  known  to  Erasmus  that  the  English 
universities  and  English  schools  owed  educational  reform. 
Grocyn  and  Linacre  brought  Greek  to  Oxford ;  but  it  was  John 
Colet  who  introduced  to  that  university  a  sane  and  natural 
method  of  Scripture  exposition,  and  it  was  John  Colet,  too, 
who  took  Greek  to  the  English  public  school.  In  1 5 10,  as  dean 
of  St.  Paul's,  he  foimded  a  school  in  the  churchyard  of  his 
cathedral,  where  153  boys,  who  could  already  read  and  write 
and  were  of  "  good  parts  and  capacities,"  should  be  taught  good 
literature,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  and  be  brought  up  in  the 
knowledge  of  Christ.  "  Lift  up  your  Httle  white  hands  for  me," 
he  wrote  in  the  preface  to  the  Latin  grammar  which  he  com- 
posed for  the  use  of  his  scholars.  The  petition  has  the  ring 
of  the  medieval  founder;  but  with  the  so-called  Lilly's  Gram- 
mar and  with  Colet's  teaching  of  the  catechism,  the  articles 
and  the  ten  commandments  in  the  vulgar  tongue  began  the 
modem  period  of  English  middle  class  education. 

Like  England,  Scotland  had  long  had  her  monastic  schools, 
whence  ambitious  students  passed  to  the  university  of  Paris, 
or  joined  the  horealcs  of  Oxford  or  of  Cambridge ;  but  it  was  not 
until  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  that  the  northern 
kingdom  saw  the  establishment  of  the  first  university  of  its  own. 

At  St.  Andrews,  which  was  destined,  in  1472,  to  be  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  a  metropolitan  seat,  a  conventual  chapter  of 
Augustinian  canons  had  superseded  an  earlier  society  of  Cul- 
dees.  In  1411,3  Henry  Wardlaw,  a  discreet  and  learned  pre- 
late, himself  a  doctor  of  canon  law,  who  had  been,  not  without 
hot  contention,  raised  to  the  bishopric  in  1403,  w^as  inspired 
to  found  a  university  in  his  cathedral  city.  He  was  excited 
thereto,  in  part,  at  any  rate,  by  the  difificulties  experienced  by 
such  of  the  Scottish  clergy  as  were  "desirous  of  being  in- 
structed in  theology,  in  canon  and  civil  law,  medicine  and  the 
liberal  arts"  by  reason  of  the  "dangers  by  sea  and  land,  the 
wars,  captivities  and  obstructions  in  passing  to  and  from  foreign 

'  Trans,  in  Mullinger,  vol.  i,  pp.  515-6.  2  Ibid.,  p.  516. 

J  The  foundation  charter  is  dated  27  February',  141 1. 


St.  Andrews  417 

universities."  That  these  dangers  were  no  Hght  matter  was  de- 
monstrated by  the  conspicuous  object  lesson  of  king  James  I, 
still  in  the  English  captivity,  into  which  he  had  fallen  when 
on  his  way  to  France,  as  a  young  prince  fresh  from  the  teaching 
of  Wardlaw  himself.  The  good  bishop  secured  the  hearty  con- 
currence of  his  prior,  James  Haldenstone;  and,  in  141 3,  a  bull 
of  Benedict  XIII,  the  anti-pope  whom  Scotland  then  acknow- 
ledged and  to  whom  Wardlaw  owed  his  bishopric,  recognised 
the  new  foundation  as  a  studium  generale.  The  constitution 
and  discipline  of  the  university  was  determined  by  the  bishop's 
foundation  charter;  which,  with  the  charters  of  the  prior  and 
the  archdeacons  of  St.  Andrews  and  Lothian,  was  confirmed  by 
king  James  in  1432  after  his  restoration  to  his  kingdom.  The 
founder  constituted  the  bishop  of  St.  Andrews  for  the  time 
being  perpetual  chancellor  of  the  university  and  reserved,  like- 
wise, the  right  of  final  determination  of  disputes  arising  be- 
tween the  university  and  the  town,  saving  the  privileges  of  the 
prior  and  chapter  and  of  the  archdeacon  of  St.  Andrews.  The 
general  government  of  the  university  was  remitted  to  an  elected 
rector,  who  must  be  a  graduate  in  one  of  the  faculties  and  in 
holy  orders. 

The  new  studium  generale  had,  in  the  first  instance,  neither 
special  buildings  nor  endowment.  In  1430,  Wardlaw  granted 
a  tenement  for  the  use  of  the  masters  and  regents  of  the  fac- 
ulty of  arts ;  and  other  well-wishers  in  course  of  time  came  for- 
ward with  similar  benefactions ;  but  the  teachers  of  the  university 
were,  for  a  long  time,  maintained  on  the  fees  of  their  hearers, 
and  on  the  profits  of  benefices  which  they  were  authorised 
to  hold  under  a  general  licence  of  non-residence.  The  "  auld 
pedagogy"  was,  in  fact,  an  unendowed  ecclesiastical  seminary, 
served  by  beneficed  masters,  who  found  their  pupils  among 
youths  resident  or  lodging  in  the  town.  The  institution  was 
much  encouraged  by  James  I,  who  had,  during  his  enforced 
stay  in  England,  imbibed  a  taste  for  literature  in  general  and 
for  poetry  in  particular.  Under  the  royal  charter  of  confirma- 
tion, the  resident  members  of  the  university  were  exempted 
from  every  species  of  taxation.  As  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
the  privileges  of  scholars  were  extended  to  those  who  served 
them. 

In  1458,  bishop  John  Kennedy,  an  able  and  worthy  prelate, 

VOL.   II 27 


41 8  Scottish  Education 

who  was  closely  connected  with  the  throne,  his  mother  being 
a  daughter  of  Robert  III,  enriched  the  university  with  its  first 
college,  that  of  St.  Salvator;  endowing  it  with  parochial  tithes 
"  as  a  college  for  theology  and  the  arts,  for  divine  worship  and 
for  scholastic  exercises."  The  numbers  of  the  society  were 
fixed,  ad  instar  apostolici  numeri,  at  thirteen  persons:  a  provost, 
a  licentiate  in  theology,  a  bachelor  in  theology,  four  masters  of 
arts  and  six  "poor  clerks."  The  college  set  up  a  claim  to 
confer  degrees  independently  of  the  rector  of  the  older  founda- 
tion, and  supported  it  by  a  bull  of  Pius  II,  of  1458;  but  the 
pretension  was  speedily  relinquished  on  the  intervention  of 
Patrick  Graham,  half-brother  of  bishop  Kennedy,  and  the 
first  metropolitan  of  St.  Andrews.  In  15 12,  John  Hepburn, 
prior  of  St.  Andrews,  converted  for  the  purposes  of  a  second 
college  the  buildings  and  property  of  the  ancient  hospital  of 
St.  Leonard,  which  had  been  erected  in  an  earlier  age  for  the 
entertainment  of  the  pilgrims  who  thronged  to  worship  at  the 
shrine  of  St.  Andrews.  Hepburn  enjoyed  the  support,  not 
only  of  James  IV,  but  of  the  king's  illegitimate  son,  the  young 
archbishop,  Alexander  Stewart,  who  was  destined  to  fall  with 
his  father,  a  year  later,  on  the  fatal  field  of  Flodden.  The 
archbishop,  a  pupil  of  Erasmus,  himself  took  in  hand  the  con- 
version of  Wardlaw's  pedagogium  into  the  college  of  St.  Mary; 
but  his  untimely  death  left  the  task  to  be  completed,  with  royal 
and  papal  approval,  by  his  successors,  the  two  Beatons  and 
John  Hamilton  (1553).  The  college  of  St.  Mary,  which,  at 
least  after  1579,  was  given  up  entirely  to  the  study  of  divinity, 
completed  the  three  foundations,  which  remained  the  constit- 
uent colleges  of  St.  Andrews  down  to  1747;  when  failing  reve- 
nues compelled  the  amalgamation  of  St.  Salvator's  with  St. 
Leonard's.  The  historian  John  Major,  in  152 1,  himself  provost 
of  St.  Leonard  s,  marvelled  at  the  incuria  of  Scottish  prelates, 
which  had  left  Scotland  without  a  university  until  141 1.  The 
Scottish  bishops  of  the  fifteenth  century  made  ample  amends 
for  their  supine  predecessors. 

In  January,  1450,  William  Tumbull,  bishop  of  Glasgow, 
obtained  from  Nicholas  V  a  bull,  which  recognised  the  estab- 
lishment in  his  cathedral  city  of  a  stiidium  generale.  The  bull 
was  locally  proclaimed  in  the  following  year,  when  statutes 
were  drawn  up  and  courses  of  study  prescribed. 


Scottish  University  Studies  419 

Yet  again,  in  1500,  bishop  Elphinstone  of  Aberdeen  com- 
pleted the  erection  of  King's  College,  in  "the  granite  city," 
having  obtained  papal  authority  in  1494.  The  third  univer- 
sity of  Scotland  was  formed  on  the  model  of  its  predecessors 
as  a  combination  of  conventual  rule  with  the  special  pursuit 
of  learning.  It  acquired  a  particular  lustre  from  the  person  of 
its  first  principal.  This  was  Hector  Boece,  correspondent  of 
Erasmus  and  historian,  who  had  held  the  appointment  of  pro- 
fessor of  philosophy  in  the  college  of  Montaigu  at  Paris. 

The  Scottish  universities  were  directly  clerical  in  origin; 
and  the  briefest  examination  of  the  statutes  of  their  colleges 
demonstrates  their  thoroughly  ecclesiastical  character.  The 
Scottish  episcopal  founders  worked  hand  in  hand  not  only 
with  monks  but  with  friars.  It  is  noteworthy  that  bishop 
Kennedy  founded  a  Franciscan  convent  in  St.  Andrews,  where 
the  Dominicans  had  been  established  by  one  of  his  early  pre- 
decessors (1272-9);  and  the  provincial  sub-prior  of  the  Do- 
minicans was,  with  the  minister  of  the  Franciscans,  included 
among  the  seven  electors  to  the  provostship  of  St.  Mary's.  In 
the  result,  while  the  Scottish  university  was,  in  its  first 
days,  an  ecclesiastical  seminary,  its  education  assumed,  with 
the  advent  of  colleges,  the  purely  conventual  type.  St.  Leon- 
ard's, which  may  be  selected  as  a  typical  college,  was,  under 
its  canon  regular  principal,  as  a  college  of  philosophy  and 
theology,  a  glorified  monastic  school. 

The  subjects  of  instruction  comprised  grammar,  oratory, 
poetry,  Aristotelian  philosophy  and  the  writings  of  Solomon 
as  preparatory  to  the  study  of  divinity.  Prior  Hepburn  for- 
bade the  admission  of  a  student  under  fifteen  years  of  age ;  but 
the  university  statutes  permitted  determination  at  the  age  of 
fourteen. 

From  mere  boys,  in  the  Scotland  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
no  serious  preparatory  equipment  could  be  demanded.  The 
council  of  Edinburgh,  in  1549,  urged  the  rectors  of  the  univer- 
sities to  see  to  it  ne  ulli  ad  scholas  Dialectices  sive  Artium  recip- 
iantur  nisi  qui  Latine  et  grammatice  loquuntur;  and  called  upon 
the  archdeacon  of  St.  Andrews  to  appoint  a  grammar  school 
master  for  that  city.^  Other  indications  assist  to  show  the 
Jow  standard  of  the  current  Latin.     There  was  no  professor 

'  Herkless  and  Hannay,  The  College  0}  St.  Leonard,  p.  160. 


420  Scottish  Education 

of  the  Humanities  in  St.  Andrews,  "the  first  and  principal 
university"  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

A  reforming  commission,  in  1563,  complained  of  the  lack 
of  teaching  of  sciences  and  "specially  they  that  are  maist 
necessarie,  that  is  to  say  the  toungis  and  humanities."  James 
Melville  testifies  that,  in  1571,  neither  Greek  nor  Hebrew  was 
to  be  "gottine  in  the  land."  When  at  length,  in  1620,  a  chair 
of  Humanity  was  endowed  in  St.  Leonard's  college,  the  local 
grammar  master  complained  that  its  occupant  drew  off  his 
young  pupils  by  teaching  the  elements  of  Latin  grammar. 
There  was  no  professor  of  Greek  in  St.  Andrews  until  1695. 
The  modern  superiority  of  Scotland  in  philosophy  is  traceable, 
in  fact,  to  a  belated  medievalism.  The  Scottish  reformation 
caught  the  universities  of  the  northern  kingdom  still  directly 
under  church  control,  the  clerical  instructors  clinging  to  their 
Aristotle  and  their  Peter  Lombard.  The  results  were  tem- 
porarily disastrous.  In  spite  of  the  assertion  of  Hector  Boece 
that  in  early  days,  the  university  excrevit  in  immensum,  the 
numbers  of  no  Scottish  university  in  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth 
century  exceeded  the  membership  of  one  of  the  smaller  English 
colleges,  such,  for  example,  as  Peterhouse.  In  1557,  there 
were  thirty-one  students  in  the  three  constituent  colleges  of 
St.  Andrews;  in  1558  there  were  but  three.  Glasgow  and  Aber- 
deen dwindled  in  like  fashion.  Yet  the  Scottish  universities 
reproduced  the  Parisian  distribution  into  four  nations  under 
the  local  quarterings  of  Fife,  Lothian,  Angus  and  Albany. 
The  description  which  John  Major  gave  of  his  contemporary 
Glasgow  is,  with  the  variation  of  the  local  reference,  equally 
applicable  to  St.  Andrews  or  to  Aberdeen:  "The  seat  of  an 
Archbishop,  and  of  a  University  poorly  endowed  and  not  rich 
in  scholars;  but  serviceable  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  west  and 
south." 

In  one  particular  the  northern  kingdom  advanced  beyond 
her  southern  sister.  A  Scottish  act  of  parliament  of  1496 
declared  that : 

It  is  statute  and  ordanit  throw  all  the  realme  that  all  barronis  and 
f  rehaldaris  that  ar  of  substance  put  thair  eldest  sonnis  and  airs  to 
the  sculis  fra  thai  be  aucht  or  nine  yeiris  of  age  and  till  remane  at 
the  grammar  sculis  quhill  thai  be  competentlie  foundit  and  have 
perfite  latyne.     And  thereafter  to  remane  thre  yers  at  the  sculis 


Scottish  University  Studies  421 

of  Art  and  Jure  sua  that  thai  may  have  knowledge  and  understand- 
ing of  the  lawis.  Throw  the  quhilkis  Justice  may  reigne  universalie 
throw  all  the  realme.^ 

This  enactment  was  enforceable  by  a  penalty  of  forty 
pounds. 

That  net  of  compulsory  education,  with  which  nineteenth 
century  England  enmeshed  her  lower  orders,  was  endeavoured 
to  be  thrown  over  her  young  nobility  and  lairds  by  the  Scotland 
of  that  gallant  monarch,  whose  courage  disastrously  outran 
his  generalship  on  the  slopes  of  Branxton  Hill. 

>  Acts  of  the  Parliament  of  Scotland,  ii,  239;  Tytler,  rv,  25. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Transition  English  Song  Collections 

IN  France,  a  large  number  of  manuscripts  have  survived 
from  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
to  testify  to  the  songs  that  were  sung  by  the  gallant,  the 
monk,  the  minstrel  and  the  clerk.  English  literature  has  been 
less  fortunate,  and  yet  there  are  extant  a  goodly  number  of 
Middle  English  songs. 

With  the  exception  of  two  notable  anthologies  of  love  lyrics 
and  religious  poems,  these  songs  were  not  committed  to  writ- 
ing until  the  fifteenth  and  early  sixteenth  centuries.  The 
inference  is  not  to  be  drawn,  however,  that  they  were  mainly 
the  product  of  the  late  Transition  period,  since,  evidently, 
they  had  been  preserved  in  oral  form  for  a  considerable  time. 
This  is  proved  by  the  existence  of  different  versions  of  the  same 
song,  by  allusions  to  historical  events  earlier  than  the  fifteenth 
century,  by  elements  of  folk-song  embedded  in  the  songs,  by 
the  essential  likeness  of  the  love  lyrics  and  religious  poems  to 
those  in  the  two  thirteenth  century  collections,  and  by  the  fact 
that  certain  songs  are  of  types  which  were  popular  in  France 
in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  and  were  probably 
brought  to  England  at  the  time  of  their  vogue  at  home.  The 
songs  can  therefore  be  regarded  as  more  or  less  representative 
of  the  whole  Middle  English  period. 

Of  the  folk-song  element,  a  word  may  well  be  said  at  the 
outset,  for,  though  no  pure  folk-songs  have  survived,  the  com- 
munal verse  has  left  its  impress  upon  these  collections. 

The  universal  characteristics  of  folk-poetry  are,  as  to  sub- 
stance, repetitions,  interjections  and  refrains;  and,  as  to  form, 
a  verse  accommodated  to  the  dance.  Frequent  also  is  the  call 
to  the  dance,  question  and  answer  and  rustic  interchange  of 

422 


The  Folk-song  Element  423 

satire.  Though  no  one  song  illustrates  all  of  these  character- 
istics, they  are  all  to  be  found  in  the  songs  taken  collectively. 

The  refrain  is  so  generally  employed  that  a  song  without  it 
is  the  exception.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  it  is  a  sentence  in 
Latin  or  English,  which  has  more  or  less  relation  to  the  theme 
of  the  song,  as  the  refrain : 

Now  syng  we  right  as  it  is, 
Qtwd  puer  natus  est  nobis,  ^ 

which  accompanies  a  carol  of  the  Nativity.  Frequently,  how- 
ever, meaningless  interjections  are  run  into  such  a  refrain; 
thus: 

Hay,  hey,  hey,  hey, 

I  will  haue  the  whetston  and  I  may  ^  ; 

Po,  po,  po,  po, 

Loue  brane  &  so  do  mo.  ^ 

Such  interjections  are  of  great  antiquity,  and,  in  a  far  distant 
past,  were  the  sole  words  of  the  chorus.  Sometimes  the  inter- 
jections are  intelligible  words,  which,  however,  have  been 
chosen  with  an  eye  to  their  choral  adequacy,  as : 

Gay,  gay,  gay,  gay, 

Think  on  drydful  domis  day.* 

Nova,  nova,  ave  fit  ex  Eva  J 

Some  of  the  songs  have  preserved  refrain,  interjection  and 
repetition  as  well,  as  in  the  case  of  the  following  poem: 

I  haue  XII.  oxen  that  be  fayre  &  brown, 

&  they  go  a  grasynge  down  by  the  town; 

With  hay,  with  howe,  with  hay! 

Sawyste  you  not  myn  oxen,  you  litill  prety  boy? 

I  haue  XII.  oxen  &  they  be  ffayre  &  whight, 

&  they  go  a  grasyng  down  by  the  dyke ; 

With  hay,  with  howe,  with  hay! 

Sawyste  not  you  myn  oxen,  you  lytyll  prety  boy.? 

«  MS.  Balliol  354,  flf.  211  b,  227  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  254. 

^  Ibid.  ff.  226  b,  248  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  270. 

3  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  29  b — Percy  Society,  Lxxiii,  42. 

*  MS.  Sloane  2593,  f.  8  a — Warton  Club,  iv,  10. 

'Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  /.  f.  27  a — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  36. 


4^4      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

I  haue  XII.  oxen  &  they  be  fayre  &  blak, 

&  they  go  a  grasyng  down  by  the  lak ; 

With  hay,  with  ho  we,  with  hay! 

Sawyste  not  you  myn  oxen,  you  lytyll  prety  boy? 

I  haue  XII.  oxen  &  they  be  fayre  &  rede, 

&  they  go  a  grasyng  down  by  the  mede ; 

With  hay,  with  howe,  with  hay! 

Sawiste  not  you  my  oxen,  you  Htill  prety  boy?^ 

Presumably  this  song  is  the  product  of  a  conscious  artist,  yet 
it  is  representative  of  that  amoebean  verse  which  invariably 
results  in  the  evolution  of  poetry  when  individual  singers 
detach  themselves  from  the  chorus,  and  sing  in  rivalry.  More- 
over, it  is  representative  of  the  simplest  and  most  universal 
type  of  such  verse,  the  improvising  of  variations  to  accompany 
a  popular  initial  verse  or  phrase. 

Another  common  form  of  the  amoebean  verse  is  question 
and  answer.  This  is  beautifully  illustrated  by  a  song  of  the 
early  fourteenth  century,  a  stray  leaf  of  which  has,  fortunately, 
been  preserved. ^  The  song  is  arranged  in  recitative,  but, 
relieved  of  these  repetitions,  is  as  follows: 

Maiden  in  the  moor  lay 
Seven  nights  full  and  a  day. 
"Well,  what  was  her  meet?" 
"The  primrose  and  the  violet." 
"Well,  what  was  her  dryng?" 
"The  chill  water  of  (the)  well  spring." 
"Well,  what  was  her  bower? " 
"The  rede  rose  and  the  lilly  flour." 

On  the  same  folio  is  a  quaint  poem,  which  has  retained  the 
invitation  to  the  dance: 

Ich  am  of  Irlaunde, 

Am  of  the  holy  londe 

Of  Irlande; 

Good  sir,  pray  I  je. 

For  of  Saynte  Charite, 

Come  ant  daunce  wyt  me  in  Irlaunde. 

»  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  178  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  197. 
s  MS.  Rawlinson,  D.  913,  f.  i. 


The  Folk-song  Element  425 

The  call  to  the  dance  is  also  preserved  in  several  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  century  May  poems. 

A  poem  in  which  "  the  song  of  a  swaying  mass  is  clearly  to 
be  heard"  is  the  familiar  repetitionary  lyric: 

Adam  lay  ibowndyn, 

bowndyn  in  a  bond, 
Fowre  thowsand  wynter 

thowt  he  not  to  long; 
And  al  was  for  an  appil, 

an  appil  that  he  tok, 
As  clerkes  fyndyn  wretyn 

in  here  book. 
Ne  hadde  the  appil  take  ben, 

the  appil  taken  ben, 
Ne  hadde  neuer  our  lady 

a  ben  Hevene  quene. 
Blyssid  be  the  tyme 

that  appil  take  was! 
Therefore  we  mown  syngyn 

Deo  graciasJ 

Many  an  ecclesiastical  denunciation  testifies  to  the  preva- 
lence of  this  communal  singing  in  medieval  England;  but  so 
much  more  potent  are  custom  and  cult  than  authority  that 
women,  dressed  in  the  borrowed  costumes  of  men,  continued 
to  dance  and  sing  in  wild  chorus  within  the  very  churchyards, 
in  unwitting  homage  to  the  old  heathen  deities. 

Some  of  the  song-collections  are  anthologies  taken  from 
the  popular  songs  of  the  minstrel,  the  spiritual  hymns  of  the 
monk  and  the  polite  verse  of  the  court;  others  are  purely  the 
repertoire  of  minstrels;  and  still  others  are  limited  to  polite 
verse. 

Of  the  latter,  fortunately,  there  is  preserved  the  very  song- 
book  that  was  owned  by  king  Henry  VIII,  containing  the  lyrics 
of  love  and  good  comradeship  that  he  composed  when  a  young 
man;  and  there  are,  in  addition,  the  books  which  were  in  part 
compiled,  and  in  part  composed,  by  the  authorised  musicians 
of  the  courts  of  Henry  VII  and  Henry  VIII.  These  have  pre- 
served types  of  chivalric  verse  based  upon  French  models,  as 
well  as  songs  in  honour  of  the  royal  family,  and  songs  composed 

»  MS.  Sloane  2593,  f.  11  a — Warion  Club,  iv,  32. 


426      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

for  the  revels  and  pageants  which  were  a  brilliant  feature  of 
the  court  life  in  the  early  decades  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  collections  of  minstrels'  songs  are  especially  rich.  The 
minstrel  no  longer  confined  himself  to  songs  of  rude  and  hum- 
ble ancestry,  but  encroached  both  on  the  devotional  verse  of  the 
monk,  and  on  the  songs  of  the  gallant.  This  readily  explains 
itself,  if  one  is  mindful  to  identify  these  minstrels  with  that 
class  of  men  who  had  more  and  more  usurped  the  prerogatives 
of  minstrelsy,  the  scolares  vagantes,  those  irresponsible  college 
graduates  and  light-hearted  vagabonds,  who  were  equally  at 
home  in  ale-house,  in  hall,  in  market-place  or  in  cloister,  and 
who  could  sing  with  equal  spirit  a  ribald  and  saucy  love  song, 
a  convivial  glee,  a  Christmas  carol,  a  hymn  to  the  Virgin,  or 
a  doleful  lay  on  the  instability  of  life  or  the  fickleness  of  riches. 
Most  of  them  were  men  who  had  taken  minor  orders,  and  who, 
therefore,  knew  missal,  breviary  and  hymnal;  their  life  at  the 
university  had  given  them  some  acquaintance  with  books,  their 
wayside  intercourse  with  the  minstrel  had  given  them  his  bal- 
lads and  his  jargon  of  washed-out  romantic  tales  and  their 
homely  contact  with  the  people  had  taught  them  the  songs  of 
the  street  and  of  the  folk-festival;  they  were,  therefore,  "the 
main  intermediaries  between  the  learned  and  the  vernacular 
letters  of  the  day,"  and  they  tended  to  reduce  all  to  a  common 
level.  If  they  compelled  the  rude  folk-song  to  conform  to  the 
metres  of  the  Latin  hymns,  they  compensated  for  this  by 
reducing  to  these  same  simple  metres  the  artistically  fashioned 
stanzas  of  highly  wrought  spiritual  songs,  as  well  as  by  intro- 
ducing the  popular  refrain  into  lyrics  of  every  kind.  When 
they  sang  of  the  joys  of  Mary,  of  the  righteousness  of  a 
saint,  or  of  a  prince  renowned  for  his  deeds,  they  received  the 
approbation  of  bishop  or  abbot;  when  they  satirised  his 
cupidity,  or  sang  wanton  songs  at  banquets,  they  called  down 
the  bishop's  indignation ;  but,  bishop  or  no  bishop,  they  never 
lacked  an  audience. 

As  the  ability  to  read  became  more  general,  and  as  taste 
was  refined  by  the  possession  of  books  of  real  poetic  merit,  the 
minstrel,  even  if  one  who  had  tarried  in  the  schools,  found  his 
audience  more  and  more  limited  to  the  common  folk;  but,  even 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  though  his  wretched  copies  of  the 
old  romances,  with  their  sing-song  monotony,  might  be  the 


Carols  42.7 

laughing-stock  of  people  of  taste,  his  Christmas  carols  would 
still  gain  him  admission  to  the  halls  of  the  nobility. 

As  the  minstrel  thus  trespassed  upon  the  provinces  of 
religious  and  polite  poets,  so  each  of  these  in  turn  invaded  the 
fields  of  others,  with  the  result  that  the  monk  adopted  the 
formulary  of  amatory  address  for  his  love  songs  to  the  Virgin, 
and  the  gallant  introduced  elements  from  the  folk-poetry  into 
his  embroidered  lays. 

Considering  this  confusion,  for  purposes  of  discussion  it  is 
more  satisfactory  to  classify  the  songs  with  reference  to  types 
than  with  reference  to  authorship.  Romances  and  tales  have 
been  dealt  with  elsewhere :  though  they  are  to  be  found  in  the 
collections,  and  were,  probably,  chanted  in  humdrum  fashion 
to  the  accompaniment  of  a  harp,  they  are  narratives,  and  not 
at  all  lyrical. 

The  carol  was  brought  to  England  from  France  at  an  early 
date,  and  there  are  extant  Norman  carols  that  were  sung  in 
England  in  the  late  twelfth  century.  In  essentials,  there  is 
little  difference  between  these  carols  and  some  of  those  that 
were  sung  in  England  three  centuries  later.  They  observe 
the  refrain,  which  is  most  commonly  a  repetition  of  the  word 
"noel";  they  open  with  an  invocation  to  those  present, 

Seignors  ore  entendez  a  nus, 
De  loinz  sumes  venuz  a  vous, 
Pur  quere  NoeU; 

and  their  theme  is  the  Nativity  and  the  attendant  gladness. 

It  is  probable  that  the  composition  of  carols  was  widely 
cultivated  in  the  thirteenth  century,  for  most  of  the  carols  are 
in  simple  Latin  metres,  and  Latin  lines  are  employed  either 
as  refrain,  or  as  an  integral  part  of  the  stanzas.  Such  a  tradi- 
tion must  look  back  to  a  period  when  the  English  composer 
felt  the  need  of  relying  upon  the  support  of  Latin  metres,  and 
it  was  in  the  thirteenth  century,  as  extant  religious  poems 
demonstrate,  that  English  metres  were  thus  being  conformed 
to  the  models  of  Latin  hymns. ^ 

The  metre  most  commonly  employed  is  the  simplest,  a  one- 

1  Sandys,  Festive  Songs,  6. 

'  Cf.  Morris,  Old  English  Misc.,  E.E.T.S.  xlix,  1872. 


428      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

rime  tercet  of  iambic  tetrameters,  followed  by  a  refrain,  usually 
Latin.     Thus: 

Gabriell  that  angell  bry3t, 
Brpter  than  the  sonne  is  lyjt, 
Fro  hevyn  to  erth  he  (too)k  hys  fly^t, 
Regina  cell  letare.'^ 

Sometimes  the  Latin  verse  rimes  with  the  English,  making  a 
quatrain,  or  a  Latin  line  may  be  introduced  into  the  tercet 
itself.  The  quatrain  with  alternate  rimes  is  also  used,  though 
less  frequently.  Other  popular  metres  are  the  rimed  couplet, 
and  the  ballade  stanza,  which,  however,  is  confined  to  the 
longer  narrative  carols.  Occasional  carols  are  composed  in 
the  highly  wrought  French  metres,  but  they  seem  exotic. 

The  Latin  lines  in  the  carols  are  familiar  verses  from  the 
hymns,  canticles,  sequences,  graduales  and  other  parts  of  the 
service  in  missal  or  breviary,  relating  to  the  Christmas  season ; 
and  practically  all  can  be  found  in  the  Sarum  Use. 

Of  the  refrain  there  are  various  types.  Sometimes  it  is  a 
stanza  or  verse  from  a  Latin  hymn,  as: 

Ihesiis  autem  hodie 
Egressus  est  de  virgine  ^; 

sometimes  an  English  verse  and  a  Latin  verse  combined : 

Be  mery  all,  that  be  present, 
Omnes  de  Saba  venient  ^; 

sometimes  merely  the  word  "nowel"  or  "noel"  in  recitative; 
and  sometimes  an  invocation  to  be  merry : 

Make  we  mery  in  hall  &  bowr, 
Thys  tyme  was  born  owr  savyowr,* 

There  is  also  a  very  pretty  introduction  of  the  shepherd's  pipe 
in  certain  carols  that  sing  of  the  shepherds  watching  their 
flocks  by  night;  thus, 

>  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  26  a — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  33. 
2  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  178  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  196. 
^  Ibid.  f.  165  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  176. 
*  Ibid.  f.  220  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  231. 


Carols  429 

Tyrly  tirlow,  tirly  tirlow; 

So  merrily  the  shepherds  began  to  blow.^ 

As  the  Christmas  season  was  a  time  for  festivities  and 
merry-making  as  well  as  for  worship,  it  was  natural  that  some 
of  the  carols  should  deal  with  sacred  themes,  and  others  with 
secular  themes ;  indeed  that  some  carols  should  confuse  the  two 
types.  The  services  within  the  church  gave  ample  warrant 
for  such  a  confusion.  Moreover,  as  Christmas  theoretically 
supplanted  a  pagan  festival,  but  practically  compromised 
with  it,  it  was  natural  that  elements  of  pre-Christian  rites 
should  be  reflected  in  carols. 

Religious  carols  are,  for  the  most  part,  narrative  in  content. 
The  Nativity  is,  of  course,  the  dominant  theme,  but,  as  the 
festival  season  lasted  from  the  Nativity  to  Epiphany,  or  even 
until  Candlemas,  the  events  of  Holy  Week,  and  the  lives  of 
the  saints  whose  days  occur  at  this  season,  furnish  many  of 
the  themes. 

It  may  be  that  carols  were  written  to  divert  interest  from 
those  pagan  songs,  with  their  wild  dances,  which,  even  as  late 
as  the  fifteenth  century,  made  Christmas  a  trying  and  danger- 
ous period  for  the  church .^  Certainly,  the  folk-song  element 
in  carols  suggests  the  probability  that  at  one  time  they  were 
accompanied  by  dancing. 

But,  whatever  the  origin  of  carols  may  have  been,  it  is 
clear  that  they  were  much  influenced  by  those  dramatic  ele- 
ments, which,  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  mystery  plays,  were 
a  popular  part  of  the  Christmas  services  in  the  church ;  for  the 
episodes  dramatised  in  the  services  are  the  ones  that  most  often 
figure  in  carols.  It  seems  not  a  little  strange  that  carols  were 
not  more  often  introduced  into  mystery  plays  of  the  Nativity. 
One  of  the  shepherd  carols,  however,  is  like  the  mystery  in 
spirit.  It  introduces  the  character  of  Wat,  and,  with  it,  homely 
half-humorous  touches  such  as  are  characteristic  of  the  plays : 

Whan  Wat  to  Bedlem  cum  was, 

He  swet,  he  had  gon  faster  than  a  pace; 

iMS.  Balliol  354,  f.  222  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  237;  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet. 
E.  I.  f.  60  a — Percy  Society,  Lxxiii,  95. 

2  Cf.  Robert  of  Brunne,  Handlyng  Synne,  8987  ff.,  Chron.  Vilod.  1022. 


430     Transition  English  Song  Collections 


Lull  well  Ihesu  in  thy  lape, 

&  farewell  Joseph,  with  thy  rownd  cape.^ 

The  themes  of  secular  carols  are  the  feasting  and  sports  of 
Yule-tide,  customs  that  were  inseparable  from  the  great  hall 
of  the  nobleman's  residence,  where  the  whole  community  was 
wont  to  assemble  for  the  Christmas  festivities.  To  be  sure, 
these  carols  were  sometimes  sung  at  other  seasons,  for  did  not 
the  Green  Knight  entertain  Sir  Gawain  with 

Many  athel  songez, 
As  coundutes  of  Kr^^st-masse,  and  carolez  newe. 
With  all  the  manerly  merthe  that  mon  may  of  telle?  ^ 

but  Christmas  week  in  hall  was  the  proper  setting.  Several 
carols  relate  to  the  custom  of  bringing  in  the  boar's  head.  The 
classical  example  is  the  familiar  carol, 

The  boar's  head  in  hand  bring  I, 
Caput  apri  differo,  ^ 

but  others,  though  less  well  known,  possess  equal  interest.  In 
one,  the  minstrel  relates  how,  in  "wilderness,"  he  was  pursued 
by  a  "wyld  bor,"  "a  brymly  best."  In  the  encounter  that 
followed,  he  succeeded  in  refting  both  life  and  limb  from  the 
beast,  in  testimony  of  which  he  brings  the  head  into  the  hall. 
Then  he  bids  the  company  add  bread  and  mustard,  and  be  joy- 
ful. ^  In  another,  warning  is  given  that  no  one  need  seek  to  enter 
the  hall,  be  he  groom,  page,  or  marshal,  unless  be  bring  some 
sport  with  him. 5  In  still  another,  the  minstrel  speaks  in  the 
character  of  Sir  Christmas,  and  takes  leave  of 

kyng  &  knyght, 
&  erle,  baron  &  lady  bryght,  ^ 

but  not  without  a  fond  wish  that  he  may  be  with  them  again 
the  following  year.  He  hears  Lent  calling,  and  obeys  the  call: 
a  lugubrious  summons  indeed  to  the  luckless  wanderer  who 

"  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  224  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  243. 

^E.E.TS.  f.  484  ff. 

3  Cf.  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  212  o — Anglia,  xxvi,  257. 

*  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Lit.  E.  /.  f.  23  a — Percy  Society,  Lxxin,  25. 
5  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  223  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  241. 

*  Ibid.  f.  208  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  245. 


Carols  431 

must  turn  his  back  on  this  genial  hospitaUty  for  eleven  months 
to  come,  and  depend  on  the  fortuitous  goodwill  of  the  ale-house. 
Charming,  also,  are  the  songs  of  ivy  and  holly,  which  were 
sung  in  connection  with  some  little  ceremony  of  the  season. 
In  all  the  songs,  ivy  and  holly  appear  as  rivals;  and,  whatever 
the  ceremony  may  have  been,  it  certainly  was  a  survival 
of  those  festival  games  in  connection  with  the  worship  of 
the  spirit  of  fertility,  in  which  lads  invariably  championed 
the  cause  of  holly,  and  lasses  that  of  ivy.  ^  We  can  fancy 
young  men  entering  the  hall  with  branches  of  holly :  ^ 

Here  commys  holly,  that  is  so  gent. 
To  pleasse  all  men  is  his  entent,  etc.  ; 

singing  the  praises  of  the  shrub,  and  warning  their  hearers  not 
to  speak  lightly  of  it  ^ ;  while  young  women  enter  from  an 
opposite  direction,  and  go  through  a  similar  performance  with 
the  ivy.  Thereupon,  both  young  men  and  young  women 
enter  upon  some  kind  of  a  dance,  which  resolves  itself  into  a 
contest  in  which  the  boys  drive  the  girls  from  the  hall : 

Holy  with  his  mery  men  they  can  daunce  in  hall ; 

Ivy  &  her  ientyl  women  can  not  daunce  at  all. 

But  lyke  a  meyny  of  bullokes  in  a  water  fall, 

Or  on  a  whot  somer's  day  whan  they  be  mad  all. 

Nay,  nay,  ive,  it  may  not  be  iwis; 

For  holy  must  haue  the  mastry,  as  the  maner  is. 

Holy  &  his  merry  men  sytt  in  cheyres  of  gold ; 

Ivy  &  her  ientyll  women  sytt  witho-wt  in  ffold. 

With  a  payre  of  kybid  helis  cawght  with  cold. 

So  wold  I  that  euery  man  had,  that  with  yvy  will  hold. 

Nay,  nay,  ive,  it  may  not  be  iwis; 

For  holy  must  haue  the  mastry,  as  the  maner  is.  ^ 

This  debat  of  holly  and  ivy,  like  other  songs  of  winter  and 
summer,  looks  back  to  that  communal  period,  when  dialogue 
was  just  beginning  to  emerge  from  the  tribal  chorus. 

>  Cf.  Chambers,  The  Mediaeval  Stage,  i,  251,  and  chapter  in;  Ellis  and 
Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  i,  68,  519  ff. 

2  Cf.  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  53  b — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  84. 

3  Ibid.  ff.  30  a,  53  b — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  44,  84. 
«  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  229  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  279. 


432       Transition  English  Song  Collections 

Related  to  Christmas  carols  are  spiritual  lullabies,  for  the 
simplest  of  the  three  forms  of  the  lullaby  is,  virtually,  a  carol, 
in  which,  along  with  other  episodes  of  Christmas  Eve  and 
Christmas  Day,  the  spectacle  of  Mary  singing  "lulley"  to  the 
Infant  is  described.  The  refrain  is  all  that  differentiates  this 
carol  from  others: 

Lullay,  myn  lykyng,  my  dere  sone,  myn  swetyng; 
Lulley,  dere  herte,  myn  owyn  dere  derlyng.  ^ 

In  the  second  type  of  lullaby,  Mary  and  the  Infant  talk  to 
one  another.  Mary  regrets  that  a  child,  bom  to  be  King  of 
kings,  is  lying  upon  hay,  and  wonders  why  He  was  not  born 
in  a  prince's  hall.  The  Babe  assures  her  that  lords  and  dukes 
and  princes  will  come  to  worship  Him.  Then  Mary  would 
fain  know  how  she  herself  can  best  serve  Him,  and  He  replies, 
by  rocking  Him  gently  in  her  arms  and  soothing  Him  to  sleep : 

Ihesu,  my  son,  I  pray  ye  say. 

As  thou  art  to  me  dere, 

How  shall  I  seme  ye  to  thy  pay 

&  mak  the  right  good  chere? 

All  thy  will 

I  wold  fifumil,— 

Thou  knoweste  it  well  in  fiPay — 

Both  rokke  ye  still, 

&  daunce  the  yer  till, 

&  synge  "by,  by;  lully,  lulley." 

Mary,  moder,  I  pray  ye, 

Take  me  vp  on  loft, 

&  in  thyn  arme 

Thow  lappe  me  warm, 

&  daunce  me  now  full  ofte; 

&  yf  I  wepe 

&  will  not  slepe, 

Than  syng  "by,  by;  lully,  lulley."  ^ 

The  third  type  is  distinguished  from  this  by  the  melancholy 
character  of  the  conversation.  The  Mother  tries  in  vain  to 
assuage  the  grief  of  her  Child,  and,  when  she  fails  to  do  so, 

>  MS.  Sloane  2593,  f.  32  a — Warton  Club,  iv,  94. 

2  A/5.  Balliol  354,  ff.  210  b,  226  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  250. 


Spiritual  Lullabies  433 

inquires  the  cause  of  His  tears;  whereupon  He  foretells  the 
sufferings  that  await  Him.  ^ 

A  variant  of  this  type  introduces  an  allegory,  in  which  a 
maiden  weeps  beside  the  couch  of  a  dying  knight : 

Lully,  lulley,  lull(y),lulley; 
The  fawcon  hath  bom  my  make  away. 
He  bare  hym  vp,  he  bare  hym  down, 
He  bare  hym  in  to  an  orchard  browne. 
(Ref.) 

In  that  orchard  there  was  an  halle, 
That  was  hangid  with  purpill  &  pall. 
(Ref.) 

And  in  that  hall  there  was  a  bede, 
Hit  was  hangid  with  gold  so  rede. 
(Ref.) 

And  yn  that  bed  there  lythe  a  knyght, 
His  wowndis  bledyng  day  and  nyght. 

(Ref.) 
By  that  bede  side  kneleth  a  may, 
&  she  wepeth  both  nyght  &  day.2 

(Ref.) 

All  these  poems  are  characterised  by  a  lullaby  refrain,  and 
it  is  the  conventional  introduction  for  the  poet  to  describe  the 
scene  as  one  that  he  himself  witnessed  "this  other  night." 
The  device  certainly  savours  of  the  French,  but  I  have  not  yet 
discovered  a  French  poem  of  this  character.  Nor  do  there 
seem  to  be  corresponding  poems  in  Latin  or  German.  The 
metre  of  most  of  the  songs  falters  between  the  Teutonic  four- 
stress  alliterative  verse  and  the  septenarius;  the  original  type 
was,  probably,  English,  and  later  singers  tried  to  conform  it 
to  a  new  metre.  Moreover,  the  word  "lulley,"  which  is  the 
burden  of  the  refrain,  supports  the  theory  of  English  origin, 
and  this  supposition  is  also  borne  out  by  the  character  of  the 
secular  lullaby,  which  has  the  same  lugubrious  tone,  with  its 
regret  that  the  little  Child  is  ushered  into  a  world  of  sorrow.^ 
This  is  characteristically  Teutonic. 

1  Cf.  ibid.  ff.  2IO  a,  226  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  249;  MS.  Bodleian,  Eng.  Poet. 
E.  I.  f.  20  a — Percy  Society,  Lxxiii,  19. 

^MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  165  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  175. 
3  Cf.  Guest,  History  of  English  Metres,  512. 


VOL.   II 28 


434      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

Merging  into  the  lullaby  is  the  complaint  of  Mary,  of  which 
many  examples  have  survived.  The  song  which  blends  these 
two  types  is  one  of  great  beauty.  As  in  other  lullabies,  the 
Virgin  tries  in  vain  to  soothe  the  Babe  to  sleep,  and,  distraught 
at  His  grief,  enquires  its  cause.  Thereupon,  the  Child  foretells 
the  sufferings  that  await  Him,  and  each  new  disclosure  calls 
forth  a  fresh  burst  of  grief  from  the  afflicted  Mother:  "Is  she 
to  see  her  only  Son  slain,  and  cruel  nails  driven  through  the 
hands  and  feet  that  she  has_  wrapped  ?  When  Gabriel  pro- 
nounced her  'full  of  grace,'  he  told  nothing  of  this."  The 
medieval  world  thought  long  upon  the  sorrows  of  Mary,  as 
upon  the  passion  of  Christ,  and  this  poem  portrays  the  crush- 
ing grief  of  the  Virgin  with  the  naive  fidelity  and  tenderness 
characteristic  of  medieval  workmanship. 

The  refrain  of  the  poem  shows  that  it  was  sung  as  a  carol : 

Now  synge  we  with  angelis 
Gloria  in  excel(s)isA 

Conversely,  another  carol,  which  is  concerned  with  the  events 
at  the  cross,  has,  for  its  refrain,  a  complaint  of  Mary: 

To  see  the  maydyn  wepe  her  sonnes  passion, 

It  entrid  my  hart  full  depe  with  gret  compassion. ^ 

Some  of  the  complaints  are  monologues;  others  are  dia- 
logues or  trialogues.  The  monologue  is  usually  addressed  to 
Jesus  or  to  the  cross,  but,  sometimes,  it  has  no  immediate  rela- 
tion to  the  passion,  and  is  not  directed  to  any  particular 
hearer.^  The  dialogue  is  between  Mary  and  Jesus,  or  Mary 
and  the  cross.  4  In  the  trialogues,  Mary,  Jesus  and  John  con- 
verse. John  leads  the  weeping  Mother  to  the  cross,  she  calls 
upon  Jesus,  and  He  tenderly  commits  her  to  the  care  of  the 
beloved  disciple.^ 

These  complaints  are  based  upon  Latin  hymns  and  similar 
writings,  upon  Stabat  Mater,  Ante  Crucem  Virgo  Stahat,  Crux 

>  MS.  Balliol  354,  ff.  209  b,  225  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  247. 

i  Ibid.  ff.  214  a,  230  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  263. 

^  Ibid.  214  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  262;  E.E.T.S.  xv,  233,  xxiv,  126. 

*  Herrig's  Archiv,  lxxxix,  263;  E.E.T.S.  xlvi,  131,  197,  cxvii,  612;  Bod- 
leian MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  34  a — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  50. 

5  MS.  Sloane  2593,  f-  7°  a — Percy  Society ,  iv,  10;  Bodleian  MS., Eng.  Poet. 
E.  7.  f.  27  o — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  38. 


Didactic  Songs  435 

de  te  Volo  Conqueri,  the  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  the  Meditations 
of  Augustine  and  the  Tractat  of  Bernard,  and,  while  the  Enghsh 
poems  display  much  lyrical  excellence,  they  contribute  little 
to  the  tradition. 

A  similar  type  of  poem  is  the  complaint  which  the  crucified 
Christ  makes  to  sinful  man.  This  is  usually  a  monologue,^ 
though  sometimes  a  dialogue,  remorseful  man  responding  to 
the  appeal  of  Christ,  and  pleading  for  mercy. ^ 

Other  poems  which  celebrate  the  Virgin  include  prayers — 
some  in  the  form  of  carols,  aves,  poems  upon  the  five  joys  of 
Mary,  or  upon  the  six  branches  of  the  heavenly  rose.  Some 
of  these  songs  are  translations,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  Latin 
poems;  others  seem  to  be  original.  They  perpetuate  the  in- 
tense ardour  of  devotion,  the  mysticism,  the  warmth  and  rich 
colour  of  the  earlier  English  songs  to  Mary,  and  they  heighten 
the  effect  by  a  superior  melody. 

Apart  from  the  types  of  religious  songs  already  considered, 
there  are  a  large  number  of  moral  and  reflective  poems.  Some 
of  these  are  hortatory,  urging  man  to  know  himself,^  to  beware 
of  swearing  by  the  mass,^  to  make  amends  for  his  sins,^  or  to 
acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to  God.^  Others  are  contem- 
plative, and  reflect  upon  the  certainty  of  death, ^  the  fickleness 
of  riches  or  fortune,^  the  prevalence  of  vice,^  or  the  worldli- 
ness  of  the  clergy.  ^° 

In  their  most  highly  developed  form  these  poems  are  alle- 
gories, with  conventional  introduction  and  conclusion,  and  a 
prelude,  which  is  commonly  in  Latin.  In  some  of  the  songs, 
the  allegory  is  highly  articulated.  For  example,  the  poet  pic- 
tures himself  as  sallying  forth  on  a  bright  summer's  morning  in 
search  of  sport,  with  his  hawk  in  hand,  and  his  spaniel  leaping 
by  his  side.     A  hen  pheasant  is  flushed,  and  the  hawk  gives 

^E.E.T.S.  cxvii,  637. 

2  Add.  MS  5465,  f.  68  a — Herrig's  Archiv,  cvi,  63. 

3  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  156  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  170. 
*  Ibid.  fif.  214  a,  230  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  263. 

5  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  30  b — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  44. 
^  Ibid.  f.  27  b — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  39. 

'  Ibid.  ff.  38  b,  48  a — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  57,  74;  MS.  Balliol  354,  f. 
177  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  191. 

8  MS.  Balliol  354,  fif.  194  a,  206  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  207. 

9  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  60  b — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  96. 

10  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  156  a— Anglia,  xxvi,  169. 


436      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

chase;  but,  while  the  sport  is  at  its  height,  the  poet  suddenly 
finds  himself  entangled  in  a  briar,  on  every  leaf  of  which  is 
written  the  warning  revertere: 

My  hart  fell  down  vnto  my  to, 
That  was  before  full  lykyngly; 
I  lett  my  hawke  &  ^esavnt  fare, 
My  spanyell  fell  down  vnto  my  kne — 
It  toke  me  with  a  sighyng  fare, 
This  new  lessun  "revertere."  ^ 

The  summer's  day  symbolises  the  period  of  youth;  the  hawk, 
its  fierce  passions;  and  the  briar,  conscience.  In  the  majority 
of  the  songs,  the  allegory  is  less  developed  than  in  this. 

Most  often  the  poet  represents  himself  as  wandering  through 
a  forest  on  a  sunny  morning.  As  he  wanders,  he  hears  the  sing- 
ing of  a  bird,  or  of  a  company  of  birds,  and  the  burden  of  their 
song  is  some  moral  reflection  or  some  exhortation. ^  The 
allegory  is  usually  neglected  after  the  introductory  stanza. 
Almost  invariably  the  song  concludes  with  a  prayer  for  suc- 
cour in  death  and  deliverance  from  the  fiend.  ^  The  conven- 
tionalised nature  setting  and  the  allegory  of  these  poems  are 
clearly  French,  and  the  metres  most  often  used  are  the  ballade 
stanza  and  the  rime  royal. 

In  the  forms  in  which  we  have  been  considering  them,  these 
songs  were  ill  adapted  to  the  ordinary  audience  of  the  minstrel, 
and  he,  accordingly,  popularised  them  by  shortening  them, 
introducing  a  refrain  and  substituting  simple  metres,  in  which 
the  rhythm  is  strongly  marked. 

These  moral  songs  shade  into  another  group  of  didactic 
poems,  which  embody  shrewd  practical  wisdom,  of  the  type 
dear  to  Polonius.  They  concern  themselves  with  such  homely 
advice  as  to  hold  your  tongue, ^  to  try  your  friend,^  to  look 
out  for  a  rainy  day  ^  and  to  beware  of  matrimony.^      These 

>  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  155  h — Anglia,  xxvi,  168. 

2  Ibid.  f.  170  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  180;  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  38  b — 
Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  57;  Porkington  MS.,  No.  I — Warton  Club,  11,  i. 

3  Cf.  MS.  Balliol  354,  ff.  156  b,  157  a,  170  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  170,  171,  180 
et  jreq.;  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  ff.  24  a,  38  b,  60  b — Percy  Society, 
LXXIII,  28,  57,  96  et  jreq. 

*  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  ff.  22  a,  28a — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  23,  41. 
» Ibid.  f.  23  b — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  28. 

*  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  26  b. 

» Ibid.  f.  26  a — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  34  etc. 


Satires  against  Women  437 

songs  also  employ  the  prelude  and  refrain,  and,  incongruous 
as  it  may  seem,  often  close  with  a  prayer.  Some  of  them  are 
distinguished  by  quaint  and  picturesque  humour,  as  is  shown 
in  the  following  stanzas : 

Quan  I  haue  in  myn  purs  inow, 
I  may  haue  bothe  hors  &  plow 
&  also  frynds  inow, 

Throw  the  vertu  of  myn  purs. 
Quan  my  purs  gynnyjt  to  slak 
&  ther  is  nowt  in  my  pak, 
They  will  seyn,  "Go,  far  wil,  Jak, 
Thou  xalt  non  more  drynke  with  vs."  ^ 

The  songs  warning  young  men  to  avoid  matrimony  belong 
to  the  satires  against  women,  a  poetical  tradition  which  was 
one  of  the  contributions  of  France  to  Buranic  verse.  In  no 
class  of  songs  is  the  esprit  gaulois  more  evident.  That  sly 
distrust  of  woman  which  early  insinuated  itself  into  French 
romances,  and  which  grew  bolder  and  harsher  as  the  ideals  of 
the  renascence  encroached  upon  medievalism,  in  the  poetry 
of  the  common  people  found  expression  in  blunt  and  broad 
satire.  This  tradition  was  augmented,  however,  by  a  native 
English  contribution,  for  the  satire  which  gives  evidence  of 
the  greatest  antiquity  of  all  is  strongly  alliterative,  and  observes 
the  repetitions  of  early  communal  verse : 

Herfor  &  therfor  &  therfor  I  came, 

And  for  to  praysse  this  praty  woman. 

Ther  wer  iii  wylly,  3  wyly  ther  wer, — 

A  fox,  a  fryyr,  and  a  woman. 

Ther  wer  3  angry,  3  angry  ther  wer, — 

A  wasp,  a  wesyll,  &  a  woman. 

Ther  wer  3  cheteryng,  in  cheteryng  ther  wer, — 

A  peye,  a  jaye,  &  a  woman. 

Ther  wer  3  wold  be  betyn,  3  wold  be  betyn  ther  wer, — 

A  myll,  a  stoke  fysche,  and  a  woman.  ^ 

Several  different  types  of  these  satires  are  to  be  recognised, 
but  the  style  best  designed  to  endear  itself  to  the  popular  taste 
was  that  used  in  little  dramatic  narratives  of  the  Punch  and 

'  MS.  Sloane  2593,  f.  5  b — Warton  Club,  iv,  14. 

2  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  i.  13  a — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  4. 


43^      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

Judy  school  of  comedy,  in  which  the  poet  tells  the  story  of  a 
family  quarrel,  wherein  the  good  man  is  invariably  worsted  by 
his  muscular  and  shrewish  helpmeet.  This  broad  farce  finds 
its  dramatic  counterpart  in  those  brawling  scenes  in  the  mys- 
tery plays  which  pleased  the  rude  populace,  and,  like  the 
scenes  from  the  plays,  the  songs  are  not  without  clever  and 
humorous  touches,  as  when  the  hen-pecked  husband  is  sent 
flying  from  his  door,  only  to  discover  his  doleful  neighbour  in 
a  similar  plight.  ^  Does  not  such  a  song  perpetuate  a  tradition 
of  the  Latin  stage,  which  the  joculatores,  with  their  rude 
performances,  carried  to  the  Gallic  provinces,  and  eventually 
bequeathed  to  the  minstrels? 

In  another  class  of  satires,  women  are  praised  ironically, 
the  refrain  serving  to  turn  the  apparent  praise  to  dispraise; 
thus: 

For  tell  a  woman  all  your  cownsayle, 
&  she  can  kepe  it  wonderly  well ; 
She  had  lever  go  quyk  to  hell 
Than  to  her  neyghbowr  she  wold  it  tell. 

Cuius  contrarium  verum  est. 
To  the  tavern  they  will  not  goo, 
Nor  to  the  ale-howse  neuer  the  moo, 
For  God  wot  ther  hartes  wold  be  woo 
To  sspende  ther  husbondes  money  soo. 

Cuius  contrarium  verum  est.^ 

The  third  type  of  the  satire  against  women  is  pretentious 
and  artificial.  It  consists  in  proposing  impossible  phenomena, 
and  then  concluding  that  when  such  phenomena  actually  exist, 
women  will  be  faithful.  These  poems  are  drawn  out  to  an 
interminable  length;  a  few  specimen  lines  may  suffice: 

Whan  sparowys  bild  chi[r]ches  &  stepulles  hie, 

&  wrennes  carry  sakkes  to  the  mylle, 

&  curlews  cary  clothes  horsis  for  to  drye, 

&  se  mewes  bryng  butter  to  the  market  to  sell, 

&  woddowes  were  wod  kny fifes  theves  to  kyll, 

And  griflfons  to  goslynges  don  obedyence, 

Than  put  in  a  woman  your  trust  &  confidence.^ 

'  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  34  b— Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  51. 
'  MS.  Balliol  354,  fif.  228  a,  250  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  275. 
» Ibid.  f.  250  b — Anglia.  xxvi,  277. 


Convivial  Songs  439 

These  poems  are  scarcely  more  than  translations  of  the  many 
French  poems  of  the  same  kind.  ^ 

Of  all  popular  poems,  convivial  songs,  with  their  festivity 
and  their  rollicking  spirits,  are  the  most  engaging.  For  eight 
hundred  years  students  have  been  singing 

Gaudeamus  igitur, 
Jtwenes  dum  sumus, 

and  it  is  to  these  medieval  student  songs  that  the  youth  of 
to-day  turn  as  to  the  perennial  source  of  convivial  inspiration. 

Some  drinking  songs  are  daring  parodies  of  hymns,  justifi- 
cations of  drinking  by  the  Sacrament,  credos  of  wine,  women 
and  song.  All  these  were  already  venerable  in  the  fifteenth 
century. 

Other  songs  savour  of  the  ale-house  rather  than  of  college 
halls.  These  look  back  to  the  folk-poetry.  Drinking  songs 
were,  assuredlv,  one  of  the  early  types  of  communal  verse,  and 
the  folk-element  is  apparent  in  many  fifteenth  century  con- 
vivial songs,  as,  indeed,  in  the  corresponding  verse  of  the  Eliz- 
abethans. Such  well  known  refrains  as  "  Hey  trolly  lolly  "  and 
"  Dole  the  ale"  are  of  venerable  antiquity,  and  the  songs  which 
consist  of  variations  of  a  common  phrase  show  an  indebtedness, 
of  course,  immediate  or  remote,  to  communal  poetry.  Thus, 
such  a  song  as  the  following  plainly  took  its  cue  from  the  folk- 
song: 

Bryng  vs  in  good  ale,  &  bryng  vs  in  good  ale. 
For  owr  blyssyd  lady  sake,  bryng  vs  in  good  ale. 
Bryng  vs  in  no  browne  bred,  fore  that  is  mad  of  brane, 
Nore  bryng  us  in  no  whyt  bred,  fore  ther  in  is  no  game, 

But  bryng  us  in  good  ale. 
Bryng  vs  in  no  befe,  for  ther  is  many  bonys. 
But  bryng  vs  in  good  ale,  etc.^ 

This  song,  however,  can  hardly  claim  so  remote  an  ancestry 
as  another,  in  which  the  repetitional  phrases  are,  in  themselves, 
of  no  significance,  and  are  merely  used  as  framework.  This 
is  evidence   of  remote    origin,   as  the  study   of   comparative 

>  Cf.  Montaiglon  et  Rothschild,  Recueil  de  Poesies  Frangaises  des  xve  et 
xvie  siecles,  Paris,  1855-78. 

^Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  i.  41  b — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  63. 


440      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

literature  testifies,  and  the  little  Latin  courtesy  with  which 
the  song  introduces  itself  cannot  conceal  its  real  age: 

Ontnes  gentes  plaudite, 

I  saw  myny  bryddis  setyn  on  a  tre; 

He  tokyn  here  fleyjt  &  flo^vyn  away, 

With  ego  dixi,  haue  good  day. 

Many  qwyte  federes  halt  the  pye, 

I  may  noon  more  syngyn,  my  lyppis  am  so  drye. 

Many  qwyte  federes  hajt  the  swan. 

The  more  that  I  drynke,  the  lesse  good  I  can. 

Ley  stykkys  on  the  fer,  wyl  mot  is  brenne ; 

Geue  vs  onys  drynkyn,  er  we  gon  henne.^ 

A  merry  song  that  links  the  convivial  poem  to  the  satire  on 
women  is  the  narrative  of  the  gay  gossips  who  hie  them  to  the 
tavern,  and  there,  tucked  away,  discuss  their  husbands,  though 
not  without  many  an  anxious  eye  on  the  door.^ 

Hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  convivial  songs  are  the 
songs  of  good  fellowship,  of  "  pastyme  with  good  companye," 
which  exhort 

Tyme  to  pas  with  goodly  sport 
Our  spryts  to  rexyve  and  comfort; 
To  pype,  to  synge. 
To  daunce,  to  spryng, 
"With  pleasure  and  delyte 
Following  sensual  appetyte.^ 

Such  songs  were  especially  liked  by  Henry  VIH,  when  he  was 
a  youth,  and  a  group  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  his  song-book. 

The  song  of  the  death  dance  is  represented  in  several  manu- 
scripts by  a  most  melancholy  and  singularly  powerful  poem. 
The  insistent  holding  of  the  mind  to  one  thought,  with  no 
avenue  of  escape  left  open ;  the  inexorableness  of  monotonous 
rimes;  the  irregular  combination  of  monosyllables,  iambics  and 
anapaests,  that  strike  like  gusts  of  hail  in  a  hurtling  storm; 
all  these  aid  in  compelling  heavy-hearted  acquiescence: 

>  MS.  Sloane  2593,  f.  10  a — Warton  Club,  iv,  32. 

2  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  57  b — Percy  Society,  lxxiii,  91;  MS. 
Balliol  354,  ff.  194  b,  206  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  208. 
'  Fliigel,  Neuenglisches  Lesebuch,  148. 


Love  Songs  441 

Erth  owt  of  erth  is  worldly  wrowght ; 

Erth  hath  goten  vppon  erth  a  dygnite  of  nowght; 

Erth  vpon  erth  hath  set  all  his  thowght, 

How  that  erth  vpon  erth  myght  be  hye  browght. 

Erth  vpon  erth  wold  be  a  kyng; 

But  how  that  erth  shall  to  erth  he  thynkith  no  thyng: 

When  erth  biddith  erth  his  rentes  home  bryng, 

Then  shall  erth  for  erth  haue  a  hard  partyng.i 

And  so  the  poem  runs  for  sixteen  stanzas. 

Love  songs  are  varied,  and  they  are  genetically  so  complex 
that  they  often  baffle  analysis.  They  range  from  the  saucy  and 
realistic,  though  always  animated,  songs  of  the  clerks,  to  the 
ornate  and  figured  address  of  the  gallant,  who  imitates  in  his 
ruffled  and  formal  phrases  models  brought  from  over  seas. 
Though  some  songs  have  advanced  little,  if  at  all,  from  the 
rude  amours  of  country  swains,  and  others  are  merely  a  trans- 
planting of  the  graceful  and  artificial  toyings  of  the  court- 
trained  gallants  of  France,  the  majority  fuse  traditions,  so  that 
a  single  song  must  sometimes  look  for  its  ancestry  not  merely 
to  direct  antecedents  in  English  folk-song  and  French  polite 
verse,  but,  ultimately,  to  French  folk- poetry  and  the  trouba- 
dour lays  of  which  this  polite  verse  of  France  was  compounded. 
Indeed,  English  verse  itself  may  have  been  directly  influenced 
by  the  troubadours. 

The  French  types  which  were  translated  or  imitated  with- 
out material  modification  include  the  address,  the  debat,  the 
pastourelle  and  the  ballade. 

The  address  is  a  poem  in  stately  and  formal  language 
wherein  the  poet  addresses  his  lady,  his  "life's  souereign 
pleasaunce."  His  attitude  is  that  of  a  humble  and  reverential 
suppliant,  who,  though  confessing  the  unworthiness  of  the 
service  which  he  proffers,  yet  relies  upon  the  mercy  of  his  lady 
to  accept  it.  Not  uncommonly  the  poem  is  a  New  Year's 
letter,  in  which,  failing  a  better  gift,  the  poet  offers  his  mistress 
his  heart — to  her  a  little  thing,  to  him  his  all. 2 

Though  the  debat  has  a  variety  of  themes  in  French  lyrics, 
in  English  it  is  restricted — save  for  the  song  of  holly  and  ivy — 

J  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  207,  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  217. 

2  E.E.T.S.  XV,  66 — Padelford,  Early  Sixteenth  Century  Lyrics,  xxxiv. 


442      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

to  contentions  between  the  lover  and  his  heartless  lady.* 
These  songs  are  as  unfeeling  as  the  vapid  French  verse  of 
which  they  are  but  echoes. 

Of  the  type  of  pastourelle  in  which  a  gallant  makes  love  to  a 
rustic  maiden  there  are  two  examples.  One  of  these  pasiour- 
dlcs  was  sung  by  Henry  VIII  and  his  companions,  and,  in 
somewhat  revised  form,  is  still  popular  to-day: 

"Hey,  troly,  loly,  lo;  made,  whether  go  you?" 
"I  go  to  the  medowe  to  mylke  my  cowe,"  etc.  ^ 

In  the  other,  a  gallant  urges  a  maid  to  visit  the  wildwood 
with  him  that  they  may  gather  flowers,  and  at  length  she 
yields  to  his  importunity: 

"Come  ouer  the  woodes  fair  &  grene, 
The  goodly  mayde,  that  lustye  wenche; 
To  shadoo  yow  from  the  sonne 
Vnder  the  woode  ther  ys  a  benche." 
"Sir,  I  pray  yow  doo  non  offence 
To  me  a  mayde,  thys  I  make  my  mone; 
But  as  I  came  lett  me  goo  hens, 
For  I  am  here  my  selfe  alone,"  etc.  ^ 

The  more  primitive  type  of  pastourelle  in  which  one  shep- 
herd laments  to  another  the  treatment  of  an  indifferent 
shepherdess  survives  in  a  song  attributed  to  Wyatt,  but 
which  he  can  hardly  more  than  have  revised : 

A!  Robyn,  joly  Robyn, 

Tell  me  how  thy  leman  doeth,  etc.  ^ 

Transferred  to  the  religious  lyric,  it  has  also  survived  in  a 
shepherd's  complaint  of  the  indifference  of  the  clergy  to  the 
welfare  of  their  flocks. ^ 

Of  all  forms  of  French  amatory  verse,  the  ballade  enjoyed 
the  greatest  popularity  in  England.  It  was  the  form  in  which 
the  gallant  most  often  essayed  to  ease  his  bosom  of  the  torments 
of  love.     Every  phase  of  the  conventional  love  complaint, 

'  MS.  Sloane  1710,  f.  164  o. 

*  Add.  MS.  31922,  f.  124  b — Early  Sixteenth  Century  Lyrics,  84. 

*  MS.  Rawlinson,  C.  813,  f.  58  6.  This  MS.  is  being  edited  by  the  writer 
for  Anglia. 

*  Early  Sixteenth  Century  Lyrics,  10. 

»  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  156  a — Anglia,  xxvi,  169. 


Love  Songs  443 

every  chapter  in  the  cycle  of  the  lover's  history,  is  treated 
in  these  ballades  precisely  as  in  the  corresponding  verse  in 
France.  ^ 

Light-foot  measures,  such  as  the  lai  and  the  descort,  exerted 
a  noteworthy  influence  upon  late  Transition  lyrics,  though 
English  poets  were  content  merely  to  adopt  the  characteristic 
common  to  all  the  species — the  long  stanza  of  very  short  verses 
— and  did  not  observe  the  metrical  peculiarities  that  differen- 
tiate one  species  from  another.  This  light-foot  verse  was  cul- 
tivated to  good  effect,  and  furnishes  some  of  the  best  songs. 
They  are  rapid,  miusical  and  enthusiastic.  Any  phase  of  the 
lover's  experience  may  be  treated  in  this  verse,  but  it  seems 
to  have  been  most  employed  in  those  songs  which  deal  with 
the  parting,  the  absence,  or  the  reunion  of  lovers.  The  follow- 
ing verses,  which  open  one  of  these  songs,  will  illustrate  their 
grace  and  spirit : 

Can  I  chuse 

But  refuce 

All  thought  of  mourning, 

Now  I  see 

Thus  close  by  me 

My  love  returning? 

If  I  should  not  joy 

When  I  behould 

Such  glory  shining, 

Sith  her  tyme  of  stay 

Made  me  to  decay 

With  sorrow  pining, 

Silly  birds  might  seem 

To  laugh  at  me, 

Which,  at  day  peering, 

With  a  merry  voyce 

Sing  "O  doo  rejoyce!" 

Themselves  still  cheering. 

Absence  darke 

Thou  dost  marke. 

No  cause  but  fearing, 

And  like  night 

Turnst  thy  sight 

All  into  hearing. 2 

»  MS.  Rawlinson,  C.  813,  contains  a  large  number  of  the  ballades. 
2  MS  Harleian  367,  f.  183 — Herrig's  Archiv,  cvii,  56. 


444      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

A  French  type,  which,  while  having  no  complete  exponent, 
has  yet  influenced  several  English  songs,  is  the  ante,  or  com- 
plaint of  the  lover  at  the  envious  approach  of  morn,  a  motive 
which  Chaucer  used  with  effect  in  Troilus  and  Criseyde,^  and 
which  Shakespeare  immortalised  in  Rotneo  and  Juliet.  In 
one  of  the  songs,  the  refrain  of  an  aube  is  put  into  the  mouth 
of  a  "comely  queen"  (Elizabeth  of  York?)  who,  in  a  "glorious 
garden,  "  is  gathering  roses — 

This  day  dawes, 

This  gentill  day  dawes, 

And  I  must  home  gone.^ 

The  aube  motive  is  also  used  as  the  introduction  to  another 
song,  in  which  a  lover  complains  of  an  inconstant  mistress: 

Mornyng,  m.ornyng, 
Thus  may  I  synge, 

Adew,  my  dere,  adew; 
Be  God  alone 
My  love  ys  gon. 

Now  may  I  go  seke  a  new.^ 

One  of  the  earliest  phases  of  the  aube  tradition,  that  the 
approach  of  day  is  announced  by  the  crowing  of  the  cock,  is 
the  theme  of  a  festive  little  song,  which,  in  other  respects, 
is  not  at  all  like  the  conventional  type.  Indeed,  the  light- 
hearted  spirit  of  this  merry  song  is  a  direct  violation  of  the 
aube  tradition: 

I  haue  a  gentil  cook 

crowyt  me  day. 
He  doth  me  rysyn  erly 

my  matyins  for  to  say. 
I  haue  a  gentil  cook, 

comyn  he  is  of  gret. 
His  comb  is  of  reed  corel, 

his  tayil  is  of  get. 
I  haue  a  gentyl  cook, 

comyn  he  is  of  kynde, 

' 1465,  1702. 

^Add.  MS.  5465.  f.  108  b—Neuenglisches  Lesebuch,  159. 

'  Ritson,  Ancient  Songs,  in,  4,  from  Harleian  MS.  2252. 


Love  Songs  445 

His  comb  is  of  red  scorel, 

his  tayl  is  of  inde ; 
His  legges  ben  of  asour, 

so  geintil  &  so  smele, 
His  spores  arn  of  sylver  quyt 

in  to  the  wortewale; 
His  eyuyn  arn  of  cristal, 

lokyn  al  in  aunbyr; 
&  euery  nyjt  he  perchit  hym 

in  myn  ladyis  chaumbyr.^ 

The  repetitions  in  this  song  show  that  it  is  of  considerable 
antiquity. 

A  more  apparent  influence  is  observable  in  the  case  of  the 
chanson  h  personnages.  This  type  of  poem  finds  its  germ  in  the 
spring  rites  attending  the  pre-Christian  worship  of  Venus, 
when  maidens,  escaped  from  the  tutelage  of  their  mothers, 
and  young  wives,  from  the  exacting  authority  of  their  hus- 
bands, rushed  to  the  meadows,  joined  hands  and  danced  and 
sang  of  their  liberty.  In  the  opinion  of  Jeanroy,  such  festivi- 
ties had  become  an  almost  liturgical  convention.  By  the 
twelfth  century,  these  songs  had  been  incorporated  into  semi- 
polite  poetry,  and  the  resultant  genre  enjoyed  two  centuries 
of  popularity.  In  the  earlier  form  of  the  genre,  the  poet  repre- 
sents himself  as  listening  to  a  young  woman  who  complains 
of  her  tyrannical  mother  or  of  her  cruel  husband,  and,  some- 
times, as  even  protecting  her  in  an  ensuing  quarrel.  In  the 
later  and  more  refined  form,  the  mother  or  husband  is  not  pres- 
ent, and  the  poet  consoles  the  young  woman,  or  even  makes 
love  to  her,  the  emphasis  thus  having  shifted  from  the  narra- 
tive and  dramatic  elements  to  the  lyrical.  The  opening  words 
of  the  chanson  are  the  conventional  L' autre  jour  or  Vautrier, 
and  the  opening  verses  contain  a  description  of  May,  the  scene 
being  placed  in  a  bower  or  a  garden. 

Though  English  songs  furnish  no  complete  example  of  the 
chanson  h  personnages  as  it  existed  in  France,  there  are  a  score 
of  songs  in  which  the  poet  represents  himself  as  chancing  upon 
a  maiden  or  a  man  who  is  lamenting  an  unrequited  love,  or  the 
treachery  of  a  false  lover.  As  in  the  chansons,  these  poems 
open  with  the  words  "This  other  day"  and  a  description  of 

'  MS.  Sloane  2593,  f.  10  a — Warton  Club,  iv,  31. 


446      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

May-time,  and  place  the  scene  in  the  "wilderness,"  the  wild 
wood  supplanting  the  French  bower,  through  the  influence  of 
the  native  English  songs  of  the  spring  to  which  reference  was 
made  in  a  previous  chapter  of  this  work.  ^ 

Whether  this  modification  of  the  theme  of  the  chanson 
began  in  France,  or  whether  it  was  strictly  an  English  devel- 
opment, I  have  not  been  able  to  determine. 

Just  as  other  types  of  love  songs  were  taken  over  and  em- 
ployed in  religious  lyrics,  so  this  type  of  song  was  transferred. 
In  one  song  the  poet  comes  upon  a  maiden  deep  in  the  wood, 
and  she  is  great  with  child.  This  maiden  does  not  lament  her 
condition,  however,  but  rather  sings  for  joy,  since  it  is  given 
her  to  bear  a  Child  in  whom  verhmn  caro  factum  est? 

The  chansons  h  personnages  shade  into  the  English  May 
poems,  the  refrain  of  a  chanson  sometimes  being  taken  from 
popular  English  verse,  as  the  well-known  refrain: 

Colle  to  me  the  rysshys  grene,  colle  to  me.^ 

The  May  poems  that  follow  the  English  tradition  all  breathe 
that  blithe,  out-of-doors  spirit,  that  vernal  enthusiasm  for  the 
greenwood  and  the  fields,  which  consistently  characterises 
spring  songs  from  "  Sumer  is  i-cumen  in"  and  "  Blou  northerne 
wynd"  to  "It  was  a  lover  and  his  lass,"  and  Herrick's  sweet 
summons  to  Corinna.  Every  wisp  of  a  spring  poem  has  this 
odour  of  green  things  about  it,  this  contagion  of  happy  aban- 
don.    One  little  song  has  only  this  to  say, 

Trolly,  lolly,  loly,  lo, 

Syng  troly,  lolo,  lo. 

My  loue  is  to  the  grene  wode  gone, 

Now  [afjter  \\'yll  I  go ; 

Syng  trolly,  loly,  lo,  lo,  ly,  lo, 

yet  how  completely  it  expresses  the  mood !  * 

Of  kindred  spirit  are  hunting  songs,  songs  of  the   "joly 

>  See  Vol.  I,  pp.  402  fT. 

'  Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  I.  f.  47  b.  Cf.  also  Anglia,  xii,  236,  254,  263; 
Herrig's  Archiv,  cvi,  53,  279,  282,  283 ;  Early  Sixteenth  Century  Poems,  12,  83. 

3  Royal  MS.,  App.  58,  f.  2  a— Early  Sixteenth  Century  Lyrics,  83. 

*  Add.  MS.  31922,  f,  43  b.  For  the  licentious  love  songs  of  clerks,  cf. 
Anglia,  xxvi,  273,  278;  Warton  Club,  iv,  35;  Herrig's  Archiv,  cvii,  58  etc. 


Miscellaneous  Songs  447 

fosters"  who  love  the  forest,  the  bow  and  the  horn  and  the 
keeness  of  the  chase.     Who  would  not  fain  be  present,  when 

Talbot,  my  hounde,  with  a  mery  taste 

All  about  the  grene  wode  he  gan  cast. 

I  toke  my  home  and  blew  him  a  blast, 

With  "Tro,  ro,  ro,  ro;  tro,  ro,  ro,  ro!" 

With  hey  go  bet,  hey  go  bet,  how ! 

There  he  gothe,  there  he  goth!  [Hey  go  howe!] 

We  shall  haue  sport  and  game  ynowe.^ 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that,  for  the  most  part,  hunting  songs 
have  only  survived  in  the  more  or  less  modified  forms  in  which 
they  were  adapted  to  pageants,  for  they  were  usually  marred 
in  the  effort  to  accommodate  them  to  some  allegory,  as  when 
the  aged  foster  hangs  his  bow  and  arrows  upon  the  "  greenwood 
bough"  and,  at  the  command  of  Lady  Venus,  leaves  her  court 
in  disgrace  because  his  " hard"  beard  repels  maidens'  kisses. 2 

The  best  of  the  songs  written  by  official  musicians  of  the 
court  are  those  in  praise  of  members  of  the  royal  family.  One 
of  these  is  a  spirited  recital  of  the  prowess  shown  by  Henry 
VIII  in  the  tourney;^  a  second  is  in  praise  of  Katherine  and 
"le  infant  rosary  "j'*  a  third  is  an  animated  trio  in  which  each 
singer  professes  to  love  some  flower,  the  praise  of  which  he 
sings,  the  last  stanza  making  the  disclosure  that  all  three  love 
the  same,  the  rose  which  unites  both  the  red  and  the  white  ;^ 
and  a  fourth  is  a  prayer  with  the  refrain : 

From  stormy  wyndis  &  grevous  wethir 
Good  Lord  preserve  the  estryge  fethir.  ^ 

A  few  songs  that  do  not  come  under  any  of  the  above  classes 
at  least  deserve  to  be  mentioned.  Thus  there  are  a  few  riddles, 
which  perpetuate  a  style  of  poem  popular  in  the  Old  English 

»  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  Christmasse  Carolles,  Douce  Fragment,  94  b — Early 
Sixteenth  Century  Lyrics,  75. 

2  Add.  MS.  31922,  f.  65  b — Anglia,  xii,  244.  Cf.  also  Letters  and  Papers 
of  Henry  VIII,  i,  718,  4622 — Jan.  6,  1514 — for  the  pageant  in  which  the  song 
probably  occurred. 

3  Add.  MS.  31922,  f.  54  b — Early  Sixteenth  Century  Lyrics,  90. 
*  Ibid.  f.  74  b — Anglia,  xii,  247. 

'  Add.  MS.  5465,  f.  41  a;  Early  Sixteenth  Century  Lyrics,  91. 
''Ibid.  f.  104  b — Neuenglisches  Lesebuch,  159. 


448      Transition  English  Song  Collections 

period;^  a  poem  in  light-foot  verse  descriptive  of  a  market-day 
or  a  fair,  where  there  is  a  bewilderment  of  goods  for  sale,  a 
multitude  running  here  and  there,  a  fisticuff,  a  swaggering 
dnmkard  and  a  noisy  auctioneer; 2  a  fragment  of  a  spinning  or 
knitting  song  (?)  ;3  a  pedlar's  song;*  and  a  swaggering  soldier's 
song.  5 

Such,  in  brief  outline,  are  the  types  of  songs  that  constitute 
these  late  Transition  collections.  These  songs  are  all  but  un- 
known to  readers  of  English  verse,  and  they  have  as  yet  been 
all  but  ignored  by  scholars;  yet  they  constitute  an  important 
chapter  in  the  history  of  our  literature.  ^Vhen  they  are  made 
more  accessible,  they  can  hardly  fail  of  appreciation,  for  they 
will  be  enjoyed  for  what  they  are,  and  the  student  of  literary 
movements  will  recognise  in  them  one  of  the  two  great  streams 
that  unite  to  form  the  Elizabethan  lyric. 

«  MS.  Balliol  354,  f.  218  b — Anglia,  xxvi,  228;  MS.  Sloane  2$g$,  f.  11  a — 
Warion  Club,  iv,  33. 

^  Harleian  MS..  7578,  f.  106  a — Herrig's  Archiv,  cvii,  59. 
3  Ibid.  109  b — Herrig's  Archiv,  cvii,  61. 

*  Bodleian  MS,  Eng.  Poet.  E.  /.  f.  26  a — Warton  Club,  iv,  76. 
^  Add.  MS.  5465,  f.  1 01  b — Neuenglisches  Lesebuch,  147. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Ballads 

THE  subject  of  this  chapter  needs  careful  definition. 
Sundry  shorter  poems,  lyrics,  of  whatever  purpose, 
hymns,  "flytins,"  political  satires,  mawkish  stories  in 
verse,  sensational  journalism  of  Elizabethan  days  and  even  the 
translation  of  Solomon's  Song,  have  gone  by  the  name  of 
ballad.  Ballad  societies  have  published  a  vast  amount  of  street- 
songs,  broadsides  and  ditties  such  as  Mme.  de  Sevigne  knew  in 
Paris  under  the  name  of  Pont-neuf;  for  many  readers,  unfortun- 
ately, there  is  no  difference  between  these  "  ballads"  and  Chevy 
Chace  or  Sir  Patrick  Spens.  The  popular  ballad,  however,  now 
in  question,  is  a  narrative  poem  without  any  known  author  or 
any  marks  of  individual  authorship  such  as  sentiment  and 
reflection,  meant,  in  the  first  instance,  for  singing,  and  con- 
nected, as  its  name  implies,  with  the  communal  dance,  but 
submitted  to  a  process  of  oral  tradition  among  people  free 
from  literary  influences  and  fairly  homogeneous.  Conditions 
favourable  to  the  making  of  such  poetry  ceased  to  be  general 
after  the  fifteenth  century;  and,  while  it  was  both  composed 
and  preserved  in  isolated  rural  communities  long  after  that 
date,  the  instinct  which  produced  it  and  the  habit  which 
handed  it  down  by  word  of  mouth  were,  alike,  a  heritage  of 
the  past.//Seen  in  critical  and  historical  perspective,  balladry 
takes  its  distinguishing  marks  mainly  from  this  process  of  oral 
tradition.  Owing  to  this  process,  the  ballad  has  lost  its  dra- 
matic or  mimetic  and  choral  character  and  become  distinctly 
epic;  it  has,  in  many  cases,  even  forfeited  its  refrain,  once  indis- 
pensable ;  but  it  has  kept  its  impersonal  note,  lacks,  last  as  first, 
all  trace  of  deliberate  composition  and  appeals  to  the  modern 
reader  with  a  charm  of  simplicity  quite  its  own.  Nearly  all 
critics  are  agreed  that  no  verse  of  this  sort  is  produced  under 

VOL.  II — 29  449 


45° 


Ballads 


the  conditions  of  modern  life;  and  the  three  hundred  and  five 
individual  ballads,  represented  by  some  thirteen  hundred  ver- 
sions, printed  in  the  great  collection  of  Child,  may  be  regarded, 
practically,  as  a  closed  account  in  English  literature.  Diligent 
gleaning  of  the  field  in  the  ten  years  following  the  completion 
of  that  work  has  brought  little  or  nothing  that  is  new;  and  little 
more  can  be  expected.  Here  and  there  a  forgotten  manuscript 
may  come  to  light;  but,  in  all  probability,  it  will  contain  only 
a  version  of  some  ballad  already  known.  The  sources  of  tradi- 
tion have,  apparently,  at  last  run  dry.  Sir  George  Douglas 
notes  that  the  Scottish  border  shepherds,  at  their  annual  din- 
ners, no  longer  sing  their  old  or  their  own  ballads;  what  are 
known  as  "  songs  of  the  day,"  mainly  of  music-hall  origin,  now 
rule  without  any  rivals  from  the  past.  Remote  and  isolated 
districts  in  the  United  States  keep  a  few  traditional  versions 
alive;  such  is  The  Hangman's  Tree,  a  version  of  The  Maid 
Freed  from  the  Gallows,  still  sung,  with  traces  of  Yorkshire 
dialect,  after  generations  of  purely  oral  tradition,  as  it  was 
brought  over  to  Virginia  "before  the  revolution."  But  these 
recovered  versions  have  revealed  little  that  is  both  good  and 
new. 

Yet  another  line  of  demarcation  must  be  drawn.  English 
and  Scottish  ballads  as  a  distinct  species  of  poetry,  and  as  a 
body,  can  be  followed  back  through  the  fifteenth  century, 
occur  sporadically,  or  find  chance  mention,  for  a  century  or  so 
before  and  then  altogether  cease.  Owing  to  the  deplorably 
loose  way  in  which  the  word  "ballad"  is  applied,  not  only  the 
references  of  early  historians,  like  William  of  Malmesbury.  to 
the  "popular  songs,"  the  cantilenae,  the  carmina  vulgaria,  from 
which  they  draw  for  occasional  narrative,  but  also  the  pas- 
sages of  older  epic  that  tell  a  particular  deed  or  celebrate  a 
popular  hero,  are,  alike,  assumed  to  indicate  a  body  of  ballads, 
similar  to  those  of  the  collections,  extending  back  to  the  Nor- 
man conquest,  back  even  to  the  Germanic  conquest  of  Britain, 
but  lost  for  modem  readers  by  the  chances  of  time  and  the  lack 
of  written  record.  Such  a  body  of  ballads  may,  indeed,  be 
conjectured;  but  conjecture  should  not  pass  into  inference. 
Not  a  single  specimen  is  preserved.  It  is,  to  be  sure,  unlikely 
that  the  primary  instinct  of  song,  the  tendency  to  celebrate 
heroes  and  events  in  immediate  verse,  and  the  habit  of  epic 


The  Canute  Song  45 ^ 

tradition,  main  constituents  of  balladry,  should  cease  as  we 
cross  the  marches  of  the  Transition  period  and  pass  from  the 
modern  speech  and  modern  metres,  in  which  our  ballads  are 
composed,  into  that  more  inflected  language,  that  wholly  dif- 
ferent form  of  rhythm,  which  prevailed  in  Old  English  and, 
with  some  modifications,  in  all  Germanic  verse.     To  claim  for 
this  older  period,  however,  ballads  of  the  kind  common  since 
the  fifteenth  century  in  England,  Scandinavia  and  Germany, 
is  an  assertion  impossible  to  prove.     The  Old  English  folk 
must  have  had  popular  ballads  of  some  sort ;  but  it  cannot  be 
said  what  they  were.     Singing,  to  be  sure,  implies  a  poem  in 
stanzas;  and  that  is  precisely  what  one    cannot  find    in   re- 
corded Old  EngHsh  verse — the  one  exception,   Deor's  song, 
being  very  remote  from  balladry.     It  is  true  that  the  subject 
of  a  popular  ballad  can  often  be  traced  far  back;  Scandinavian 
ballads  still  sing  the  epic  heroes  of  "  Old  Norse."     Community 
of  theme,  however,  does  not  imply  a  common  poetical  form; 
and  it  is  the  structure,  the  style,  the  metrical  arrangement,  the 
general  spirit  of  English  and  Scottish  ballads,  which  must  set  ^ 
them  apart  in  our  literature  and  give  them  their  title  as  an 
independent  species.     We  find  a  relative  plenty  of  "popular" 
verse  in  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries- 
songs  by  a  political  minstrel  of  some  sort,  which  had  their 
immediate  vogue,  were  recorded  here  and  there,   and  soon 
forgotten — but  this  sort  of  thing  should  not  be  confused  with 
songs  made  among  the  people,  passed  down  by  oral  tradition 
and  marked  with  those  peculiarities  of  structure  and  style 
which  are  inseparable  from  the  genuine  ballad  of  the  collections. 
In  the  absence  of  texts,  conjecture  is  useless.     The  earliest 
recorded  piece  of  English  verse  which  agrees  with  balladry  in 
all  these  important  characteristics  is  the  famous  song  of  Canute, 
preserved  in  the  chronicles  of  Ely.^     The  king's  actual  part 
in  the  case  is  doubtful,  and  unimportant.     Coming  by  boat, 
it  is  said,   with  his  queen  and  sundry  great  nobles   to  Ely, 
Canute  stood  up,  bade  his  men  row  slowly,  "called  all  who 
were  with  him  in  the  boats  to  make  a  circle  about  him  .  .  . 
and  to  join  him  in  song;    and  composed  in  English  a  ballad 
(cantilenam)  which  begins  as  follows; 

•  Historia  Eliensis,  ii,  27,  in  Gale,  Hist.  Script,  i,  505. 


452  Ballads 

Merie  sunge  the  muneches  binnen  Ely, 

Tha  Cnut  ching  rew  ther  by. 

Roweth,  cnihtes,  noer  the  land, 

And  here  we  these  muneches  sung.   .  .  ." 

The  verses  are  familiar ;  but  their  significance  is  not  always 
noted.  The  chronicler  turns  them  into  Latin,  and,  with  clear 
reference  to  popular  tradition,  adds — "and  so  the  rest  [of  the 
song]  as  it  is  sung  in  these  days  by  the  people  in  their  dances, 
and  handed  down  as  proverbial.  .  .  ,"  That  is,  the  song  was 
traditional  a  century  and  a  half  after  the  supposed  fact,  and  it 
seemed  natural  to  the  chronicler  that  such  a  cantilena  should 
be  improvised  to  the  singing  of  a  chorus.  Perhaps  songs  of 
this  kind  were  in  Malmesbury's  mind  when  he  apologised  for 
using  as  material  for  his  history  cantilenae  "worn  by  the  fric- 
tion of  time" ;  but  the  political  verse  of  minstrels  like  the  later 
Laurence  Minot  is  a  more  likely  assumption;  and,  whatever 
the  likelihood,  the  verse  itself  has  vanished.  In  Canute's  case 
there  is  a  fragment  of  actual  song,  of  the  highest  value ;  for  it 
is  not  only  one  of  the  earliest  recorded  pieces  of  English  poetry 
to  break  away  from  the  uniform  stichic  order  of  Old  English 
metres,  but  it  is  in  the  rhythm  which  belongs  to  the  best  Eng- 
lish and  Scandinavian  ballads  of  tradition.  Grundtvig  thinks 
that  the  quoted  lines  are  the  burden  or  chorus  of  the  piece, 
which  was  doubtless  narrative  in  its  further  course,  and  told, 
one  may  conjecture,  of  Canute's  own  deeds.  This  desire  of  the 
warrior  to  sing  the  battles  he  has  fought  did  not  pass  away  with 
the  lost  songs.  A  passage  in  bishop  Leslie's  History  of  Scot- 
land, used  in  part  by  Andrew  Lang  for  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  ballad  origins,  declares  that  "our  bordir  men,"  as 
Dalrymple  translates,  delight  in  their  own  music  and  in  the 
songs  that  they  themselves  make  about  their  deeds  and  about 
the  deeds  of  their  forbears.  The  bishop's  Latin  is  unequivo- 
cal :  cantiones  quas  de  majorum  gestis,  aut  ingeniosis  praedandi 
precandive  stratagematis,  ipsi  confingunt.  Gaston  Paris, ^  on 
good  evidence,  has  made  a  similar  assertion  about  the  early 
Germanic  and  English  warriors,  who,  before  the  days  when  the 
minstrel  existed  in  a  professional  class,  sang  their  own  deeds 
and  furnished  the  prime  material  of  later  epics.  /  Even  in  Beo- 

'  In  Romania,  xiii,  6i8,  he  explicitly  defends  the  analogy  of  these  border 
songs  with  the  old  cantilenae  of  Germanic  warriors 


Outlaw  Ballads  and  Political  Songs       453 

wiilf  a  warrior  is  described  improvising  a  song  on  the  defeat  of 
Grendel.  There  is,  thus,  a  presumption  that  border  ballads, 
like  Cheviot  and  Otterburn,  owed  their  earliest  form  to  the, im- 
provisation of  fighting  men  who  could  sing  their  own  deeds ;and 
thus,  too,  one  draws  a  faint  line,  mainly  touching  theme  and 
conditions  of  origin,  from  the  "  old  song  of  Percy  and  the  Doug- 
las ' '  back  to  those  lost  lays  that  inspired  the  poet  of  Beowulf. 

But  this  is  all.  Of  the  actual  structure  and  form  of  those 
old  lays  nothing  is  known;  and  it  must  be  remembered  that 
even  Cheviot  and  Otterburn,  while  of  the  undoubted  general 
type  of  balladry,  are  not,  in  more  exact  analysis,  of  the  typical 
construction  which  one  finds  in  ballads  recovered  from  genuine 
oral  tradition.  All  that  can  be  said  of  material  gathered  from 
older  chronicles,  or  suspected  in  older  poems,  is  that  it  lends 
itself  to  conjecture,  not  to  proof.  The  one  exception  is  this 
song  of  Canute,  which  may  pass  as  a  genuine  ballad  fragment. 

Short  work  can  be  made  of  other  assumptions.  In  the 
fourteenth  century,  "rimes  of  Robin  Hood  and  Randolph,  earl 
of  Chester,"  are  mentioned  in  Piers  the  Plowman  as  known  to 
the  common  men  of  that  day.  Robin  Hood  ballads  are  pre- 
served; the  Randolph  cycle  is  lost.  But  the  outlaw  literature 
must  have  been  popular  long  before  that.  The  story  of  Fulk 
Fitz-Warine,  preserved  m  French  prose  and  paraphrased  by 
Leland  in  fragments  from  "an  old  English  boke  yri  ryme," 
gives  its  hero  traits  and  experiences  not  unlike  those  of  Robin 
Hood.  The  forged  chronicle  of  Croyland  says  that  "ballads" 
about  Hereward  were  still  sung,  in  the  chronicler's  day,  by  the 
common  people  and  by  women  at  the  dance.  The  deeds  of 
Waltheof  at  York,  told  by  Malmesbury,  are  plainly  taken 
"  from  a  ballad" — so  Freeman  declares;  but  f-^om  what  sort  of 
ballad  ?  Waltheof,  it  is  true,  was  sung  "in  the  warlike  songs 
of  the  tongues  of  both  his  parents";  one  of  these  songs,  how- 
ever, the  Danish  one,  is  preserved,  and  has  no  trace  of  balladry 
about  it,  but  all  the  art  and  artifice  of  the  professional  scald. 
Ballads  of  the  outlaw,  indeed,  would  be  of  a  popular  and  tra- 
ditional type,  as  the  Robin  Hood  cycle  shows;  but  political 
songs,  which  also  had  their  vogue,  were  doubtless,  made  by  the 
minstrel,  who,  also,  retouched  and  sang  again  the  rude  verses 
which  warrior  or  outlaw  had  improvised,  taking  them  out  of 
their  choral  conditions,  smoothing,  adding,  connecting,  and 


454  Ballads 

making  them  fit  for  chant  and  recitation  de  longiie  haleinc, 
precisely  as  the  jongleurs  of  early  France,  according  to  Gaston 
Paris,  remade  the  improvisations  of  an  age  that  knew  no  min- 
strel class  at  all  into  the  chansons  de  geste  and  into  the  epic  itself. 
Such  remade  poems  could  again  be  broken  into  ballads,  popu- 
lar enough,  sung  and  transmitted  by  very  humble  folk.  For 
a  late  example,  the  Scottish  ballad  Gude  Wallace  has  its  evident 
source  in  the  Wallace  of  Blind  Harry;  but  "the  portions  of 
Blind  Harry's  poem,"  says  Child,  "out  of  which  these  bal- 
lads were  made,  were,  perhaps,  themselves  composed  from 
older  ballads,  and  the  restitution  of  the  lyrical  form  may 
have  given  us  something  not  altogether  unlike  ^^^hat  was  sung 
in  the  fifteenth,  or  even  the  fourteenth  century."  '  i  Nevertheless 
most  of  the  "ballads"  cited  by  the  chroniclers  seem  to  have 
been  political  songs,  more  or  less  popular — not  what  could  be 
called,  in  strict  use  of  the  term,  a  traditional  ballad.  // 

In  one  case,  we  are  on  sure  negative  ground.  Hehry  of 
Huntingdon  has  a  fiery  piece  of  description  in  which  he  repro- 
duces the  story  of  a  battle ;  as  with  similar  passages,  a  "  ballad  " 
is  his  source;  but  here,  luckily,  that  source  is  known.  He  is 
^  translating  a  poem,  inserted  in  the  Old  English  Chronicle,  on 
the  battle  of  Brunanburh;  and  whoever  will  read  this  poem, 
whether  in  the  original  or  in  Tennyson's  spirited  rendering,  can 
see  at  how  great  a  distance  it  stands  from  any  ballad  of  the 
traditional  kind.'V'  Minstrels,  moreover,  as  actual  authors  of 
the?  ballads  recorded  at  a  later  day,  are  utterly  out  of  the  ques- 
tion-.%  Barring  a  few  wretched  specimens  labelled  by  Child 
with  the  minstrel's  name,  and  inserted  in  the  collection  because 
they  still  may  retain  some  traditional  note,  that  "rogue  by 
act  of  parliament"  to  whom  Percy  ascribed  the  making  of 
practically  all  English  and  Scottish  ballads  is  responsible  for 
none  of  them.  It  has.been  pointed  out  by  Kittredge  as  "  capa- 
ble of  practically  fomrial  proof  that  for  the  last  two  or  three 
centuries  the  English  and  Scottish  ballads  have  not,  as 
a  general  thing,  been  sung  or  transmitted  by  professional  min- 
strels or  their  representatives.  There  is  no  reason  whatever 
for  believing  that  the  state  of  things  between  1300  and  1600 
was  different,  in  this  regard,  from  that  between  1600  and 
1900.  ..."  Still  stronger  proof  lies  in  the  fact  that  we  have 
the  poetry  which  the  minstrels  did  make;  and  it  is  far  removed 


The  Ballad  Question  455 

from  balladry.  "The  two  categories  are  distinct."  When, 
finally,  one  studies  the  structure  and  the  elements  of  the  ballad 
itself  as  a  poetic  form,  a  form  demonstrably  connected  with 
choral  dramatic  conditions  in  its  origin  but  modified  by  a  long 
epic  process  in  the  course  of  oral  and  quite  popular  tradition, 
one  is  compelled  to  dismiss  absolutely  the  theory  of  minstrel 
authorship,  and  to  regard  ballads  as  both  made  and  transmitted 
by  the  people.  This  phrase  is  often  misunderstood  and  chal- 
lenged, but  in  vain.  All  poetry,  good  and  bad,  is  found  by  the 
last  analysis  to  be  made  in  the  same  way;  and  there  is  no  ro- 
mantic mystery  or  "miracle"  about  the  ballad.  What  differ- 
entiates it  from  other  forms  of  poetry  is  the  conditions  under 
which  it  is  made  and  the  agency  by  which  it  is  handed  down. 
We  may  reasonably  infer  for  early  times  such  a  making  and 
such  a  transmission;  but  the  older  product  is  lost,  and  we  are 
restricted  for  our  study  to  the  actual  and  undisputed  material 
at  our  command. 

All  English  and  Scottish  ballads  agree  in  the  fact  of  tradi- 
tion,— tradition,  in  the  main,  oral  and  communal;  and  there 
result  from  this  fact  two  capital  exceptions  to  the  ordinary 
rules  of  literary  investigation.  It  is  well  nigh  useless  to  hunt 
for  the  "  original  document  of  a  given  ballad,  or  to  compare  the 
several  varying  versions,  and  so  establish,  by  whatever  means, 
an  authentic  text.  It  is  also  useless  to  lean  with  any  confidence 
upon  chronology.  Some  of  the  ballads  gathered,  within  a  cen- 
tury or  so,  from  oral  tradition  of  Scotland,  are  distinctly  older 
in  form  than  many  of  the  ballads  of  the  Percy  manuscript, 
written  down  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  are  closer  to  the 
traditional  ballad  type  than  many  pieces  of  even  earlier  date 
of  record  than  the  famous  folio.  This  renunciation  of  authen- 
tic original  texts,  and  of  chronology  in  the  ordinary  sense,  is 
generally  conceded.  A  few  critics,  however,  are  still  of  opin- 
ion that  ballads  are,  after  all,  nothing  but  anonymous  poems, 
and  that  to  trace  a  ballad  to  its  author  is  not,  necessarily,  an 
impossible  task. 

We  touch  here  the  inevitable  "ballad  question,"  not  to 
argue  about  it,  but  simply  to  record  the  fact  that  weight  of 
authority,  as  well  as  numbers,  inclines  to  the  side  of  those  w^ho 
refuse  to  obliterate  the  line  between  popular  ballads  and  let- 
tered verse,  and  who  are  unable  to  accept  writers  like  Villon  in 


456  Ballads 

France  and  Dunbar  in  Scotland  as  responsible  for  songs  which, 
by  this  convenient  hypothesis,  have  simply  come  down  to  us 
without  the  writers'  names.  Child,  cautious  as  he  was  in  com- 
mitting himself  to  any  theory,  signed  an  explicit  confession  of 
faith  in  the  ballad  as  an  independent  poetic  species. 

Tradition  is  something  more  than  a  confusion  of  texts;  a 
choral  throng,  with  improvising  singers,  is  not  the  chance 
refuge,  but,  rather,  the  certain  origin,  of  the  ballad  as  a  poetic 
form;  and,  while  one  is  not  to  regard  the  corpus  of  English  and 
Scottish  ballads  as  directly  due  to  such  singing  and  improvisa- 
tion, it  is  thither  that  one  turns  for  origins,  and  it  is  to  tradition 
that  one  turns  for  the  growth  and  spread  of  the  versions  them- 
selves.\  ^Once  choral,  dramatic,  with  insistent  refrain  and  con- 
stant improvisation,  the  ballad  came  to  be  a  convenient  form 
for  narrative  of  every  sort  which  drifted  into  the  ways  of  tra- 
dition. This  traditional  process  has  been  mainly  epic,  although 
oral  tradition  alone  would  not  and  does  not  force  the  ballad 
out  of  its  choral  structure,  its  dramatic  and  lyric  purpose. 
What  slowly  reduces  the  importance  and,  therefore,  the  func- 
tion of  these  old  elements  is  the  tendency  of  ballads  towards 
^  the  chronicle,  the  story,  the  romance.  Literary  influences 
worked  upon  it  for  these  ends. 

//^  A  close  study  of  the  material  demands  that  we  distinguish 
tw6  general  classes.     One,  demonstrably  the  older  in  structure, 
tends  in  form  to  the  couplet  with  alternating  refrain  or  burden, 
and  in  matter  to  the  rendering  of  a  single  situation.  '/These 
ballads,    often    closely    allied  to    Scandinavian    versions,   are 
printed  by  Child  in  the  forepart  of  his  collection  as  a  tribute 
to  their  undoubted  age./   A  dominating  feature  here,  often 
recorded  and  always  to  be  assumed,  is  repetition;  it  takes  a 
form  peculiar  to  balladry,  is  found  in  all  these  old  pieces  and 
has  even  left  its  mark  on  the  majority  of  the  other  versions  in 
Child's  four  volumes.     As,  however,  epic  purposes  prevailed, 
this  typically  oldest  ballad  was  lengthened  in  plot,  scope,  de- 
tails, and  was  shorn  entirely  of  its  refrain.     Hence  a  second 
class,  the  long  ballad,  recited  or  chanted  to  a  monotonous  tune 
by  a  singer  who  now  feels  it  to  be  his  property,  a  kind  of  en- 
closed common.     Instead  of  the  short  singing  piece,  steeped 
m   repetition,   almost  borne   down  by   its   refrain,    plunging 
abruptly  into  a  situation,  describing  no  characters  and  often 


The  Ballad  Question  457 

not  naming  them,  telling  no  long  story  and  giving  no  details, 
here  is  a  deliberate  narrative,  long  and  easy  of  pace,  free  of 
repetitions,  bare  of  refrain,  abounding  in  details  and  covering 
considerable  stretches  of  time. ''  By  a  happy  chance,  indeed, 
this  epic  process  can  be  followed  into  its  final  stage.  We  have 
a  number  of  ballads  which  tell  different  adventures  in  the  life  of 
Robin  Hood;  and  we  have  an  actual  epic  poem,  formed  upon 
these  ballads  or  their  very  close  counterparts,  which  embodies 
the  adventures  in  a  coherent  whole.  Between  the  style  of  the 
Gest  of  Robyn  Hode,  however,  and  the  style  of  the  best  Robin 
Hood  ballads,  there  is  almost  no  difference  at  all;  and  these, 
for  all  their  age  of  record,  may  well  represent  the  end  of 
the  epic  process  in  balladry."  In  metrical  form,  they  hold  to 
the  quatrain  made  up  of  alternating  verses  of  four  and  three 
measures,  which  is  not  very  far  from  the  old  couplet  with  its 
two  alternating  verses  of  the  refrain.  The  change  in  structure 
is  mainly  concerned  with  loss  of  choral  elements,  especially  of 
incremental  repetition.  'The  well  known  opening  of  Robin 
Hood  and  the  Monk  shows  both  the  change  in  form  and  the 
new  smoothness  of  narrative: 

In  somer,  when  the  shawes  be  sheyne 

And  leves  be  large  and  long, 
Hit  is  full  mery  in  feyre  foreste 

To  here  the  foulys  song; 
To  se  the  dere  drawe  to  the  dale. 

And  leve  the  hilles  hee, 
And  shadow  hem  in  the  leves  grene 

Under  the  grenewood  tre. 
Hit  befel  on  Whitsontide  .   .   . 

Then  the  story  begins  with  a  dialogue  between  Little  John 
and  Robin,  passes  into  the  third  personal  narrative  and  so  tells 
its  tale  with  a  good  plot,  fair  coherence  of  motive,  character 
and  event,  exciting  incident  of  fight,  imprisonment,  disguise, 
escape  and  the  proper  pious  conclusion — 

Thus  endys  the  talking  of  the  munke 

And  Robyn  Hode  i-wysse; 
God,  that  is  ever  a  crowned  king, 

Bryng  us  all  to  his  blisse ! 

not  unlike  the  prayer  that  Chaucer  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the 


458  Ballads 

nun's  priest  when  his  tale  is  told.  There  are  ninety  stanzas 
preserved  in  this  ballad,  and  it  has  suffered  losses  by  mutilation 
of  the  fifteenth  century  manuscript.  Old  as  it  is  by  record, 
however,  it  seems  far  more  finished,  familiar,  modern,  than  a 
ballad  recovered  centuries  later  from  oral  tradition  in  Scotland, 
short,  intense,  abrupt,  with  communal  song  for  every  other 
line  of  it  from  beginning  to  end,  a  single  dominant  situa- 
tion, a  dramatic  and  choral  setting.  Just  enough  epic  detail 
has  been  added  here  to  supply  in  tradition  what  was  lost  by 
transfer  from  actual  choral  rendering;  and,  even  as  it  is,  the 
taking  by  the  hand,  the  turning  round,  seem  little  more  than 
the  stage  directions  of  a  play.  Babylon,  local  only  by  name 
and  place,  is  familiar  in  its  plot  or  situation  "  to  all  branches 
of  the  Scandinavian  race,"  and  has  long  wandered  on  its  path 
of  tradition.  The  reader  should  repeat  or  sing  aloud  both 
the  burden  and  the  stanzas  throughout : 

There  were  three  ladies  lived  in  a  bower, 

Eh  vow  bonnie, 
And  they  went  out  to  pull  a  flower 

On  the  bonnie  banks  o'  Fordie. 

They  hadna  pu'ed  a  flower  but  ane. 

When  up  started  to  them  a  banisht  man. 

He's  taen  the  first  sister  by  the  hand, 

And  he  's  turned  her  round  and  made  her  stand. 

"It 's  whether  will  ye  be  a  rank  robber's  wife, 

Or  will  ye  die  by  my  wee  pen-knife  ? " 

"It 's  I  '11  not  be  a  rank  robber's  wife, 

But  I  '11  rather  die  by  your  wee  pen-knife." 

He  's  killed  this  may,^  and  he  's  laid  her  by, 

For  to  bear  the  red  rose  company. 

He's  taken  the  second  ane  by  the  hand. 

And  he  's  turned  her  round,  and  made  her  stand. 

"It 's  whether  will  ye  be  a  rank  robber's  wife, 

Or  will  ye  die  by  my  wee  pen-knife  ? " 

"I  '11  not  be  a  rank  robber's  wife. 

But  I  '11  rather  die  by  your  wee  pen-knife." 

He  's  killed  this  may,  and  he  's  laid  her  by, 

For  to  bear  the  red  rose  company. 

>  Maid. 


Babylon  459 

-r 

He 's  taken  the  youngest  ane  by  the  hand, 

And  he  's  turned  her  round,  and  made  her  stand. 

Says,  "Will  ye  be  a  rank  robber's  wife. 

Or  will  ye  die  by  my  wee  pen-knife  ? " 

"I  '11  not  be  a  rank  robber's  wife, 

Nor  will  I  die  by  your  wee  pen-knife. 

For  I  hae  a  brother  in  this  wood, 

And  gin  ye  kill  me,  it 's  he  '11  kill  thee."  ^ 

"What  's  thy  brother's  name?   Come  tell  to  me." 

"My  brother's  name  is  Baby  Lon." 

"0  sister,  sister,  what  have  I  done! 

O  have  I  done  this  ill  to  thee ! 

O  since  I  've  done  this  evil  deed. 

Good  sail  never  be  seen  o'^  me." 

He  's  taken  out  his  wee  pen-knife. 

Eh  vow  bonnie, 
And  he  's  twyned^  himsel  o'  his  ain  sweet  life 

On  the  bonnie  banks  o'  Fordie. 

It  needs  no  deep  critical  insight  to  see  how  near  this  little 
ballad  is  to  the  choral  throng.  The  characters,  of  course,  can 
be  "said"  or  told  instead  of  being  presented  and  acted,  and  a 
word  of  information  must  be  given  about  them ;  but  no  attempt 
is  made,  as  later  epic  curiosity  would  demand,  to  tell  more 
particularly  who  and  what  they  were.  The  situation  is  the 
main  thing,  and  it  is  developed  by  a  method  which,  evidently, 
depends  upon  choral  and  dramatic  conditions.  The  refrain 
of  the  throng  is  constant;  and  the  action  advances  not  by  con- 
tinuous narrative  but  by  a  series  of  repetitions,  in  sets  of  three 
stanzas,  each  repetition,  however,  containing  an  increment,  a 
new  phrase  or  word  to  match  the  new  posture  of  affairs.  This; 
incremental  repetition  is  the  main  mark  of  old  ballad  structure  j 
it  is  woven  into  the  stuff,  retained  its  importance  long  after 
the  choral  conditions  which  were  responsible  for  it  had  been 
forgotten  and  occurs  whenever  a  situation  needs  to  be  expressed 
in  an  emphatic  form.  Only  in  the  long  narrative  ballads,  the 
chronicles,  the  pieces  that  have  been  submitted  to  the  most 
urgent  epic  demands,   does  this  incremental  repetition  fade 


'  The  rimes  in  this  and  the  next  two  stanzas  are,  evidently,  disordered. 
2  Of  =  by.  3  Deprived,  parted. 


460  Ballads 

away.  Moreover,  it  furnishes  the  connection  with  that  source 
of  balladry — not  of  mended  ballads — in  improvisation  and 
communal  composition,  with  the  singing  and  dancing  throng 
so  often  described  by  medieval  writers.  Studies  in  old  Portu- 
guese popular  song  show  a  corresponding  growth  of  interlaced 
repetitions,  in  fixed  formula,  out  of  choral  iteration  in  the 
communal  dance.  ^ 

A  ballad  known  in  English  as  The  Maid  Freed  from  the  Gal- 
lows still  has  an  astonishing  vogue  throughout  Europe;  in  Fin- 
land, alone,  there  are  fifty  versions  of  it.  Now  and  then,  a 
narrative  has  been  prefixed  to  explain  the  situation;  but, 
usually,  the  situation  stands  for  itself  and  is,  beyond  all  doubt, 
original.  The  setting,  of  course,  varies;  now  the  girl  is  to  be 
drowned,  or  carried  off  by  pirates,  now,  as  in  the  English  ver- 
sion, she  faces  death  on  the  gallows.  Who  will  save  her?  She 
appeals  to  a  series  of  relations,  all  of  whom  refuse  to  interfere, 
until  a  climax  is  reached,  say  with  the  true-love,  who  is  ready 
to  part  with  all  he  has  and  is,  so  as  to  save  her  life.  For  each 
of  the  relatives  there  is  the  same  stanza  of  request,  the  same 
stanza  of  refusal,  the  increments  being  mere  change  from  father 
to  mother,  to  brother,  to  sister  and  so  on,  till,  with  the  true- 
love,  refusal  turns  to  triumphant  consent.  The  cardinal  facts 
in  this  ballad  are,  first,  the  ease  with  which  it  can  be  sung  to  any 
length,  so  long  as  names  of  relatives  hold  out,  with  no  artistic 
effort  of  composition,  after  the  initial  stanzas  have  once  been 
given,  and,  second,  and  most  significant  fact,  the  actual  use  of 
it  for  dance  and  mimetic  game  in  one  of  the  English  versions, 
in  a  Faroe  version  and  in  sundered  groups  like  the  Danish  and 
the  Magyar.  Not  only  is  the  connection  of  dance  and  ballad 
firmly  established,  but,  as  Kittredge  points  out,  the  making  of 
ballads  in  a  throng  becomes  a  perfectly  intelligible  and  even 
necessary  process.  Of  course,  few  ballads  can  remain  in  this 
initial  stage.  They  are  submitted  to  oral  tradition,  and  are 
sung  as  stories  rather  than  presented  as  action.  More  than 
this,  a  whole  narrative,  often  a  definite  occurrence,  historical 
or  legendary,  or  even,  it  may  be,  a  late  form  of  some  old  classi- 
cal tale,  will  find  its  way  into  the  ballad  structure  and  so  be 
handed  down  in  the  traditional  way.     The  epic  process  changes 

'  See  H.  R.  Lang,  "Old  Portuguese  Songs,"  in  Festgabefur  Adolfo  Mussa- 
fia,  Halle,  1905,  and  his  earlier  Liederbuch  des  Konigs  Denis  von  Portugal. 


The  Making  of  Ballads  461 

this  ballad  structure,  however,  only  so  far  as  the  narrative 
demands;  there  is  a  succession,  rather  than  a  juxtaposition,  of 
events,  smoother  progress,  disuse  of  the  refrain,  pruning  of 
repetition,  and,  above  all,  a  desire  for  better  aesthetic  values. 
Otherwise  the  narrative  complies  with  the  rules  of  its  form. 
The  ballad  remains  anonymous,  objective,  simple.  From  the 
mass  of  stories  drifting  along  the  same  traditionary  stream, 
other  details  may  join  the  old  situation  or  the  borrowed  tale, 
and  make  a  narrative  out  of  it  which  has  counterparts  in  pop- 
ular ballads  all  over  the  world.  A  new  event,  as  in  Scottish 
ballads  like  Captain  Car,  falls  easily  into  the  traditional  form, 
and  finds  half  of  its  phrases,  even  some  of  its  stanzas,  made 
to  hand.  The  versions,  again,  may  vary  with  place  and 
time,  but  not  in  any  premeditated  way.  The  stamp  of  popular 
simplicity  remains;  the  old  formulas,  commonplaces,  epithets, 
traditional  in  balladry,  occur  without  fear  of  restraint  by  the 
poet  or  of  exchange  for  "heightened"  speech f/the  ballad  may 
resemble  literary  poems  in  its  matter,  but  never  in  its  structure 
and  style.  Short  or  long,  old  or  new,  it  shuns  metaphor  and 
all  striving  for  figurative  effect.  It  is  simple  in  the  sense  that 
there  is  no  play  of  fancy  in  epithet,  phrase  or  word,  or  in  the 
arrangement  of  words  and  phrases.  It  is  not  simple  in  all 
senses,  because  it  has  its  own  easily  recognised  style — that 
ballad  "slang"  oftener  mentioned  than  known.  It  adheres, 
when  it  can,  to  dialogue;  it  is  free  from  sentiment;  and  its  mod- 
ifications are  due  to  a  tendency  working  on  purely  traditional 
lines./ The  change  can  often  be  seen  in  a  single  ballad,  where 
the  main  situation,  choral  and  dramatic,  has  been  furnished 
with  opening  and  concluding  verses  of  a  purely  narrative  type. 
A  possible  explanation  which  reverses  this  process,  which  as- 
sumes the  detachable  epic  details  to  be  original  and  the  choral 
verses  to  be  an  addition,  and  a  redaction  to  fit  the  story  for 
dance  or  game,  is  not  to  be  considered  for  a  moment.  A 
mass  of  evidence,  partly  derived  from  the  study  of  European 
ballads  at  large,  partly  drawn  from  the  stores  of  ethnological 
material,  puts  such  a  plea  out  of  court. 

We  may  thus  state  with  confidence  the  general  outlines  of 
ballad  progress.  What  gave  the  ballad  its  existence  as  a  poetic 
species  was  a  choral,  dramatic  presentation.  ^     Refrain  of  the 

'  Any  study  of  ultimate  origins  would  have  to   reckon  with  old  ritual 


462  Ballads 

throng,  and  improvisation  by  various  singers,  leant  heavily, 
as  all  primitive  poetry  teaches  us,  on  repetition.  To  advance 
the  action,  this  repetition  became  incremental,  a  peculiarity  of 
ballads  which  is  radically  different  from  the  repetition  by  varia- 
tion in  Old  English  verse  and  from  the  "thought-rime,"  or 
parallcUsmus  mcmhroriim,  established  by  Lowth  for  Hebrew 
poetry.  The  rhythmic  form  into  which  the  ballad  verse  natur- 
ally ran  is  that  four-accent  couplet  known  all  over  the  world  and 
in  every  age,  as  Usener  has  pointed  out,  in  popular  song.  With 
the  refrain,  this  couplet  formed  a  quatrain ;  in  later  and  longer 
ballads,  as  also  in  some  of  the  short  "situation"  ballads,  the 
refrain  is  replaced  by  a  second  and  fourth  line,  constituents 
of  the  regular  stanza,  which  may  be  an  actual  substitution  for 
the  refrain,  or  else  are  simply  the  three-accent  portion  of  the 
old  septenarius,  a  conclusion  which  merely  sets  us  hunting  for 
the  popular  sources  of  the  septenar.  However  this  may  be, 
the  question  is  not  vital.  Given  the  structure,  the  form,  of 
choral  and  dramatic  balladry,  one  now  reckons  with  its  predom- 
inant epic  contents,  due  to  a  process  common  in  the  poetry 
of  all  races.  It  is  at  this  point  that  a  regrettable  confusion  oc- 
curs: the  sources  of  actual,  recorded  ballads,  their  narrative 
origins,  whether  historic,  legendary,  romantic  or  mythical,  are 
confounded  with  the  sources  of  the  ballad  itself,  of  the  poetic 
species  as  a  whole.  The  narrative  element  in  our  ballads  is,  of 
course,  the  most  obvious  mark  for  grouping  them  and  compar- 
ing them  with  the  popular  verse  of  other  lands ;  but  to  account 
for  English  balladry  as  a  whole,  we  have  to  rely  on  the  forego- 
ing analysis  of  its  constituent  parts.  Analysis  of  theme  is  mis- 
leading for  the  larger  question.  For  example,  there  is  nothing 
in  Celtic  tradition  which  exactly  corresponds  to  the  English 
popular  ballad ;  such  cases  as  the  Lord  Randal  versions  in  Irish 
and  Welsh  must  be  due,  as  E.  G.  Cox  points  out,  to  importa- 
tion. But  there  are  hundreds  of  points  in  narrative,  situation, 
motive  and  what  not,  where  English  ballads  may  touch  Celtic 
tale  or  song.  How  far  these  points  of  contact  concern  the 
origin  of  a  given  ballad  is  to  be  determined  in  the  individual 
case.     On  a  different  plane  entirely  stands  the  ballad  itself  as 

and  the  survival  of  myth,  sources  that  have  been  proved  of  late  for  the  St. 
George  plays  in  England  and  for  the  beginnings  of  medieval  drama 
throughout  Europe. 


Countericit  Ballads  463 

a  poetic  species — a  form  of  wonderful  definiteness  and  stability, 
flourishing  at  one  time  with  great  vigour  in  the  Germanic  and 
other  continental  races,  and  showing  such  vitality  in  survival 
as  to  retain  its  hold  upon  English  and  Scottish  tradition  for  at 
least  five  hundred  years. 

Turning  now  to  the  ballads  as  a  body,  their  sources  both 
textual  and  material,  and  the  classification  of  them,  one  notes 
the  difficulty  with  which  collectors  have  to  contend  on  the 
frontiers  of  their  subject.  A  few  manuscripts  preserve  what 
may  pass  as  ballads,  because,  although  sacred  legend  is  the 
source  of  them  and  a  carol  is  their  evident  form,  they  bear 
the  marks  of  popular  tradition.  Whether  these  inclusions  be 
always  necessary  or  not,  there  is  no  doubt  with  regard  to  cer- 
tain exclusions  which  still  cause  unnecessary  comment.  The 
famous  Nut  Brown  Maid,  for  example,  a  spirited  and  charming 
dramatic  poem  long  ago  laid  to  the  credit  of  some  woman  as 
her  oratio  pro  domo,  her  plea  for  the  constancy  of  the  sex,  has 
not  the  faintest  claim  to  its  position  in  many  a  collection  of 
popular  traditional  verse.  So  it  is,  for  different  reasons,  with 
Tlte  Children  in  the  Wood;  there  is  no  mark  of  popular  tradition 
upon  it.  Still  another  question  rises  over  the  counterfeit  bal- 
lad. By  Child's  reckoning,  Auld  Maitland  is  spurious,  and 
he  drops  it  from  his  list;  but  Andrew  Lang  makes  a  vigorous 
plea  for  it.  It  has  the  marks  of  a  traditional  ballad;  but  are 
they  genuine  ?  Some  of  the  poorer  and  later  pieces  in  his  col- 
lection Child  admitted  only  because  of  the  possibility  that 
they  may  contain  traditional  elements  more  or  less  obscured 
by  the  chances  of  the  broadside  press.  In  general,  however, 
his  path  has  been  fairly  plain.  The  oldest  ballad,  by  record, 
is  Judas,  from  a  manuscript  of  the  thirteenth  century.  An- 
other legendary  piece,  St.  Stephen  and  Herod,  along  with  a 
curious  old  rjddle-ballad,  may  be  dated,  in  their  manuscript 
record,  about  1450,  the  time  also  of  Robin  Hood  and  the  Monk 
and  Rohyn  and  Gandeleyn,  which  are  followed,  half  a  century 
later,  by  Robin  Hood  and  the  Potter,  and  by  the  earliest  printed 
copy  of  the  Gest  of  Robyn  Hode.  From  the  nature  of  the  case, 
these  ballads,  oldest  of  record,  are  all  far  gone  in  the  epic 
process,  or  else,  like  the  riddle-ballad,  are  stripped  of  choral 
features ;  it  was  reserved  mainly  for  tradition  to  hold  in  survival 
that  old  ballad  structure,  and  to  give  to  eighteenth  century 


4^4  Ballads 

collectors  the  stretched  metre  of  an  antique  song  as  unlettered 
folk  still  sang  it  at  work  and  play.  The  legendary  pieces,  how- 
ever, which  have  been  recovered  from  oral  tradition  are  never 
equal  to  the  old  manuscript  copies;  and  one  of  the  very  few 
"  finds  "^  since  the  close  of  Child's  collection  shows  the  dis- 
order in  the  extreme. 

In  print  of  the  early  sixteenth  century  comes  a  long  outlaw 
ballad,  Adam  Bell,  CUm  of  the  Clough  and  William  of  Cloudes- 
ley;  and,  slightly  later,  there  follow  in  manuscript  Cheviot  and 
Otterburn,  Captain  Car — the  latter,  also,  recovered  later  from 
tradition — and  a  version  of  Sir  Andrew  Barton.  Only  eleven 
ballads,  as  Kittredge  notes,  "are  extant  in  manuscripts  older 
than  the  seventeenth  century."  But  then  came  the  Percy 
folio,  written  about  1650,  a  strange  medley  of  poems  good  and 
bad,  with  many  of  the  finest  ballads  interspersed;  it  was  par- 
tially known  through  Percy's  Reliques,  printed  first  in  1765, 
but  its  actual  and  precious  contents  came  to  light  only  in  recent 
years  and  made  possible  the  publication  of  Child's  collection 
itself.  This  folio  is  the  most  important  of  all  the  ballad  sources. 
It  is  supplemented  by  the  Percy  papers — copies  made  at 
sundry  places  in  England  and  Scotland,  mainly  from  recitation ; 
by  a  number  of  broadsides  and  "garlands,"  where  the  task  of 
culling  out  real  traditional  material  becomes  difficult  to  a  de- 
gree; and,  finally,  by  collectors  in  Scotland,  Herd,  Mrs.  Boun 
of  Falkland,  whose  memory  saved  several  sterling  ballads, 
Scott,  the  "old  lady"  whose  manuscript  Scott  obtained, 
Sharpe,  Motherwell,  notorious  Peter  Buchan  and  the  rest. 

Apart,  now,  from  chronology  of  the  record,  this  material 
may  be  grouped  according  to  its  subjects,  its  age  in  tradition 
and  its  foreign  or  local  origins.  Oldest  in  every  way,  and  quite 
independent  of  place,  are  the  riddle- ballads  which  open  Child's 
first  volume.  They  are  far  simpler  than  the  Old  English  riddles 
and  are  closely  related  to  those  ballads  of  question  and  answer 
made  in  many  countries  at  the  communal  dance,  and  used  to 
determine  the  choice  of  a  partner  or  the  winning  of  a  garland. 
One  Scottish  ballad  frames  the  contest  of  youth  and  maid  in 
a  little  story;  the  chorus  of  the  throng  has  become  a  simple 
refrain : 

!  The  Withies,  printed  by  F.  Sidgwick  in  Notes  and  Queries,  Series  10, 
Xo.  83. 


Riddle  Ballads  465 

There  was  a  knicht  riding  frae  the  east, 
Sing  the  Cuther  banks,  the  honnie  brume, 

Wha  had  been  wooing  at  monie  a  place, 
And  ye  may  beguile  a  young  thing  sune. 

This  strange  knight  puts  a  girl  to  the  test  of  riddles.  "  What 
is  higher  nor  the  tree?  What  is  deeper  nor  the  sea?"  he  asks, 
and  ends  with  a  challenge  to  name  something  "worse  than 
a  woman."  The  girl  answers  all,  saying,  at  the  close,  that 
Clootie — the  devil — is  worse  than  woman;  and  off  goes  the 
fiend,  named  and  baffled,  in  fire.  Close  to  this  sort  of  riddle- 
ballad,  very  old,  wide-spread,  still  used  in  many  places  for  the 
dance,  is  alternate  request  for  impossible  things.  A  late  form  of 
this  ancient  sort  of  ballad  or  "  fly  ting"  is  Captain  Wedderburn's 
Courtship,  where  the  maid  is  finally  vanquished;  "and  now 
she's  Mrs  Wedderbum,"  the  ballad  concludes,  with  a  final 
change  in  its  infectiously  vivacious  refrain.  Still  further  from 
the  early  type  is  that  "  base-born"  but  saucy  little  ballad.  The 
Twa  Magicians,  where  alternate  changes  of  form  in  pursuer 
and  pursued  take  the  place  of  the  "  fly  ting"  by  word  and  wit. 

The  epic  tendency,  ahvays  working  out  of  situation  into 
narrative,  now  takes  us  to  a  very  large  group  of  ballads,  which 
seldom  content  themselves  with  the  dramatic  crisis,  but  deal 
in  a  more  intricate  plot,  furnish  the  details  and  even  add  a  store 
of  romantic  incidents.  This  ballad  of  domestic  complications, 
the  tragedy  of  kin,  looms  large  in  all  European  tradition; 
borrowing,  however,  or  a  common  source,  is  not  always  to  be 
assumed  even  where  the  story  is  the  same,  since  certain  primary 
instincts  must  bring  about  like  results  wherever  rnen  are  set, 
in  families  or  clans  and  human  passions  pre  vail. /y  Still,  there 
is,  in  many  cases,  abundant  reason  for  identiflcation,  and, 
even,  for  alliance  with  more  distant  branches  of  balladry  and 
tales.  Bride-stealing  and  its  results,  for  example,  were  common 
experience,  and  the  bare  fact  needed  no  importation ;' but  a  plot 
like  that  of  Fair  Annie  is  found  in  the  Lai  le  Freine  of  Marie 
de  France,  and,  although  it  is  no  very  recondite  affair,  yet  it  is 
stamped  by  its  recognition-motive  at  the  end.  A  knight  from 
over  sea  steals  Annie,  takes  her  home,  makes  her  mother  of  his 
seven  sons  and  then  bethinks  him  to  get  a  lawful  bride  with 
shiploads  of  dower.  Annie  welcomes  the  new  wife;  but  her 
moans  are  overheard,  and  the  two  turn  out  to  be  sisters.     This, 

VOL.  11 30 


466  Ballads 

with  the  ballad  of  Child  Maurice,  on  which  Home  founded  his 
play  of  Douglas  and  which  greatly  moved  the  poet  Gray,  with 
Babylon — already  quoted — with  Hind  Horn,  certainly  related  J 
to  the  gest  and  the  romance  on  the  same  theme,  has,  in  the 
recognition-plot,  a  strongly  romantic  suggestion;  but  it  is  note- 
worthy that  these  ballads  all  tend,  either  by  abundant  repeti- 
tion, or  by  structure  and  refrain,  to  the  oldest  type,  and  can 
be  connected  with  that  simplest  structural  form  which  is  pre- 
served in  The  Maid  Freed  from  the  Gallows.  The  stealing  of  a 
bride,  as  a  familiar  fact,  was  an  obvious  subject  of  a  ballad  of 
situation ;  and  such  a  ballad  lent  itself  easily  to  one  of  two  epic 
processes.  Either  it  was  connected  with  a  local  legend — flight, 
pursuit,  fight  and  the  death  of  all  parties  save  the  bride — and 
resulted  in  an  Earl  Brand,  or,  in  Scott's  version,  a  Douglas 
Tragedy ;  ^  or  else  it  drew  on  international  matter,  on  myth,-  le- 
gend, the  "good  story"  of  commerce,  what  not,  resulting  in  a 
Lady  Isabel  and  the  Elf-Knight,  or  in  a  leisurely  and  elegant  bit 
of  romance  like  King  Estmere.^  Indeed,  these  three  ballads 
will  serve  as  types  of  the  local,  the  half-localised  and  the  unat- 
tached. Tragedy  broods  over  them  all,  but  is  least  suited  to 
the  third  type ;  king  Estmere  must  overwhelm  the  soldan ;  Susy 
Pye  (in  Young  Beichan)  and  Hind  Horn  must  win  their  loves. 
These  are  entertaining  verse.  Earl  Brand,  however,  hke  Baby- 
lon, like  the  Scandinavian  versions,  is  tragic  in  the  matter; 
although  a  closely  related  ballad,  Erlington,  killing  fifteen  of 
the  pursuers,  spares  the  father,  and  lets  the  lovers  go  off 
happy  to  the  greenwood.  Lady  Isabel,  too,  escapes  by  what- 
ever strategem  from  her  savage  wooer;  and  here,  of  course,  are 
borrowed  motives,  as  in  the  "three  cries"  for  help.  There  is 
a  glimpse,  too,  of  supernatural  aid,  as,  in  some  versions,  that 
of  the  talking  birds.  In  a  ballad  of  similar  theme,  but  quite 
prosaic  details.  The  Fair  Flower  of  Northumberland,  it  is  hard 
to  say  whether  the  supernatural  elements  have  been  toned 
down  or  lost,  or  else  were  never  in  the  piece  at  all.  Among 
other  elopement  stories  of  the  primitive  sort,  mainly  situation 
but  with  a  few  romantic  details,  Gil  Brenton,  a  sterling  old 

'  Out  of  the  original  eleven  stanzas  of  the  Child  of  Ell,  in  the  Folio,  a  ver- 
sion of  this  ballad,  Percy  made  a  poem  of  fifty  stanzas  for  his  Reliques. 

=  An  absurd  companion  piece  of  this  ballad,  whether  so  designed  or  not, 
is  Will  Stewart  and  John. 


Balladry  in  Rags  467 

ballad,  is  worthy  of  note;  the  type,  however,  easily  passes  into 
mere  sensation,  into  mawkish  and  cheap  sentiment  and  into 
the  rout  of  tales  about  runaways  fair  or  foul,  mainly  localised 
in  Scotland.  There  is  even  sadder  stuff  than  this.  Brown 
Robin,  Willie  and  Earl  Richard's  Daughter  (purporting  to  ac- 
count for  the  birth  of  Robin  Hood),  Rose  the  Red  and  White 
Lily,  The  Famous  Flower  of  Serving  Men  and  Tim  Potts,  are  a 
descending  series  with  very  low  fall.  The  singing-robes  of  bal- 
ladry are  here  in  rags,  and  tawdry  rags  too.  There  is  recovery 
of  old  traditions,  however,  in  the  Scottish  ballads  of  bride- 
stealing  or  elopement  like  Katharine  J  affray — whether  Scott's 
own  doing,  or  compiled  from  traditional  fragments,  in  any  case 
the  model  of  his  Young  Lochinvar — and  in  like  pieces  of  varying 
merit,  Bonny  Baby  Livingston,  Eppie  Morrie  and  The  Lady  of 
Arngosk — the  last  named  known  in  many  of  its  details,  both 
as  an  event  about  1736  and  as  a  popular  song,  but  unfortu- 
nately recovered  only  in  fragments.  Very  different,  finally, 
is  the  tone  of  two  good  ballads,  Willie's  Lyke-Wake  and  The 
Gay  Goshawk,  where  love  finds  out  the  way  by  stratagem  and 
inspires  robust  verse  of  the  old  kind. 

'  Complications  of  kin  make  up  ballads  of  domestic  tragedy, 
a  most  important  group;  and  even  the  inroads  of  a  doggerel 
poet  upon  the  old  material,  even  the  cheap  "literature"  of  the 
stalls,  cannot  hide  that  ancient  dignity.  The  motive  of  Be- 
wick and  Graham,  outwardly  a  story  of  two  drunken  squires 
near  Carlisle,  their  quarrel,  and  the  sacrifice  of  two  fine  lads  to 
this  quarrel  in  the  conflict  of  filial  duty  with  ties  of  friendship — • 
told,  by  the  way,  in  verse  that  often  touches  the  lowest  levels — • 
redeems  the  ballad  from  its  degraded  form  and  gives  it  the 
pathos  of  a  Cid.     The  cry  of  the  dying  victor — 

Father,  could  ye  not  drunk  your  wine  at  home, 
And  letten  me  and  my  brother  be  ? 

is  not  impressive,  perhaps,  as  a  quotation;  but  in  its  context 
and  climax  it  stands  with  the  great  things  of  the  great  poems. 
Andrew  Lammie,  enormously  popular  in  the  north  of  Scotland, 
represents  another  class  of  homely  ballads,  more  or  less  vulgar- 
ised by  their  form,  their  overdone  sentiment  and  their  efforts  at 
literary  grace,  but  not  without  appeal  and  a  certain  force  of 
tradition.     Tradition  at  its  purest,  and  an  appeal  to  which  few 


468  Ballads 

readers  fail  in   responding,  characterise  the  great  ballads    of 
domestic  tragedy.     Edward,  for  example,  is  so  inevitable,  so 
concentrated,  that  sundry  critics,  including  the  latest  editor 
of  Scott's  Minstrelsy,  would  refer  it  to  art;  but  tradition  can 
bring  about  these  qualities  in  its  own  way.     Lord  Randal,  with 
its  bewildering  number  of  versions:  L-iUleJ\£  us  grave- tmd-ixidy 
Barnard,  a  favourite  in  Shakespeare's  day  and  often  -quoted ; 
Glasgcrion  (who  may  be  the  "Glascurion"  mentioned  in  Chau- 
cer's House  of  Fame  and  may  represent  the  Welsh  Glas  Keraint) , 
a  simple  but  profoundly  affecting  ballad  on  a  theme  which  no 
poet  could  now  handle  without  either  constraint  or  offence; 
Child  Maurice;  The  Cruel  Brother;  The  Twa  Brothers — with  a 
particularly  effective  climax — offer  tragedy  of  the  false  mistress, 
the  false  wife,  the  false  servant,  and  tragedy  of  more  compli- 
cated matter.     Wives  false  and  wives  true  are  pictured  in  two 
sterling  Scottish  ballads,  The  Baron  o'  Brackley  and  Captain 
Car,  both  founded  on  fact.     The  Braes  o'  Jarrow  knew  another 
faithful  wife.     Darker  shadows  of  incest,  mainly  avoided  by 
modem  literature,  fall  in  possibility  on  Babylon,  quoted  above, 
and  in  real  horror  upon  Sheath  and  Knife  and  Lizie  Wan.    The 
treacherous  nurse,   again,   with   that  bloody  and  revengeful 
Lainkin—a  satiric  name — long  frightened  Scottish  children; 
and  a  case  of  treachery  in  higher  station,  involving  trial  by 
combat  and  giving  many  hints  of  medieval  ways,  is  preserved 
in  the  old  story  of  Sir  Aldingar,  familiar  to  William  of  Malmes- 
bury.     Finally,  there  is  the  true-love,  ^  The  adjective  is  beauti- 
fully justified  in  The  Three  Ravens;  un(okunsLte\y  less  known' 
than  its  cynical  counterpart,  The  Twa  Corbies.     True-love  is 
false  in  Young  Hunting;  and  fickle  lovers  come  to  grief  in  Lord 
LovelTair  Margaret  and  Sweet  William,  and  Lord  Thomas  and. 
Fair  Annet.     Fate,  not  fickleness,  however,  brings  on  the  trag- 
edy in  Fair  Janet,  Lady  Maisey,  Clerk  Saunders;  while  fickleness 
is  condoned  and  triumphant  in  ballads  which  Child  calls  "  per- 
nicious":  The  Broom  o'  Cowden  knowes  and  The  Wylie  Wife 
of  the  Hie  Toun  Hie.     Better  is  the  suggestion  of  The  Wife  of 
Bath's  Tale  in  the  popular  Knight  and  Shepherd's  Daughter. 
Child  Waters,  which  both  Child  and  Grundtvig  praise  as  the 
pearl  of  English  ballads,  belongs  to  the  well-known  group  of 
poems   celebrating  woman's  constancy  under  direst  provoca- 
tion; neither  Chaucer's  Clerk's  Tale  nor  that  dramatic  poem  of 


** Child  Waters"  469 

the  Nut  Brown  Maid  pleads  the  cause  of  woman  with  more 
eloquence.  Ellen  in  the  stable,  with  her  newborn  child,  ap- 
peals to  any  heart : 

Lullabye,  my  oune  deere  child! 

Lullabye,  deere  child,  deere! 
I  wold  thy  father  were  a  king, 

Thy  mother  layd  on  a  beere ! 

While  this  ballad  has  wandered  far  from  the  dramatic  and 
choral  type,  the  survival  in  its  structure  is  marked  enough; 
and  its  incremental  repetition,  in  several  sequences,  is  most 
effective. 

Ballads  of  the  funeral,  echoes  of  the  old  coronach,  vocero, 
whatever  the  form  of  communal  grief,  are  scantily  preserved 
in  English;  Bonnie  James  Campbell  and  The  Bonny  Earl  of 
Murray  may  serve  as  types ;  but  the  noblest  outcome  of  popu- 
lar lament,  however  crossed  and  disguised  by  elements  of  other 
verse  it  may  seem  in  its  present  shape,  is  Sir  Patrick  Spens, 
which  should  be  read  in  the  shorter  version  printed  by  Percy 
in  the  Reliques,  and  should  not  be  teased  into  history.  The 
incremental  repetition  and  climax  of  its  concluding  stanzas  are 
beyond  praise.  Less  affecting  is  the  "good  night" — unless  we 
let  Johnny  Armstrong,  beloved  of  Goldsmith,  pass  as  strict 
representative  of  this  type.  Lord  Maxwell's  Last  Good  Night, 
it  is  known,  suggested  to  Byron  the  phrase  and  the  mood  of 
Childe  Harold's  song.  To  be  a  ballad,  however,  these  "good 
nights"  must  tell  the  hero's  story,  not  simply  echo  his  emotion. 

Superstition,  the  other  world,  ghost-lore,  find  limited  scope 
in  English  balladry.  Two  ballads  of  the  sea,  Bonnie  Annie 
and  Brown  Rohyn's  Confession,  make  sailors  cast  lots  to  find 
the  "  fey  folk"  in  the  ship,  and  so  to  sacrifice  the  victim.  Com- 
merce with  the  other  world  occurs  in  Thomas  Rymer,  derived 
from  a  romance,  and  in  Tarn  Lin,  said  by  Henderson  to  be 
largely  the  work  of  Bums.  Clerk  Colvill  suffers  from  his  alli- 
ance with  a  mermaid.  The  Great  Silkie  of  Sule  Skerry,  a  mourn- 
ful little  ballad  from  Shetland,  tells  of  him  w^ho  is  "  a  man  upo' 
the  Ian',"  but  a  seal,  "  a  silkie  in  the  sea."  Other  transforma- 
tion ballads  are  Kemp  Owyne,  Allison  Gross  and  The  Laily 
Worm.  In  Sweet  William's  Ghost,  however,  a  great  favourite 
of  old,  and   in   the   best  of  all  "supernatural"  ballads.   The 


470  Ballads 

Wife  of  Usher's  Well,  dignified,  pathetic,  reticent,  English 
balladry  competes  in  kind,  though  by  no  means  in  amount, 
with  the  riches  of  Scandinavian  tradition. 

Epic  material  of  every  sort  was  run  into  the  ballad  mould. 
King  Orfco  finds  Eurydice  in  Shetland ;  the  ballad  is  of  very  old 
sti-uctural  type.  Sacred  legends  like  that  of  Sir  Hugh,  and 
secular  legends  such  as  Hind  Horn,  occur;  while  Sir  Cawline  and 
King  EsUnere  are  matter  of  romance.  Possibly,  the  romances 
of  Europe  sprang  in  their  own  turn  from  ballads;  and  Sir 
Lionel,  in  the  Percy  folio,  with  its  ancient  type  of  structure, 
may  even  reproduce  the  kind  of  ballads  which  formed  a  basis 
for  Sir  Cawline  itself.  Minstrels,  of  course,  could  take  a  good 
romance  and  make  it  over  into  indiffereni;  ballads;  three  of 
these  are  so  described  by  Child — The  Boy  and  the  Mantle, 
King  Arthur  and  King  Cornwall  and  The  Marriage  of  Sir 
Gawainc.  With  the  cynical  Crow  and  Pie  we  reach  the  verge 
of  indecency,  also  under  minstrel  patronage,  though  it  is  re- 
deemed for  balladry  by  a  faint  waft  of  tradition.  This  piece, 
along  with  The  Baffled  Knight  and  The  Broomfield  Hill,  is  close 
to  the  rout  from  which  Tom  D'Urfey  selected  his  Pills  to  Purge 
Melancholy.  Thoroughly  debased  is  The  Keach  in  the  Creel; 
but  The  Jolly  Beggar,  especially  in  the  "old  lady's"  manu- 
script, is  half-redeemed  by  the  dash  and  swing  of  the 
lines.  Old  ladies,  as  one  knows  from  a  famous  anecdote  of 
Scott,  formerly  liked  this  sort  of  thing,  without  losing  caste,  and 
saw  no  difference  between  it  and  the  harmless  fun  of  Get  Up 
and  Bar  the  Door,  or  the  old  story,  which  Hardy  seems  to  record 
as  still  a  favourite  in  Dorsetshire,  of  Queen  Eleanor's  Confession. 

With  this  ballad  we  come  to  history,  mainly  perverted,  but 
true  as  tradition.  Lord  Delaniere,  debased  in  broadsides, 
Hugh  Spencer's  Feats  in  France  and  the  vastly  popular  John 
Dory;  naval  ballads  like  the  poor  Sweet  Trinity  and  the  excel- 
lent Sir  Andrew  Barton;  Scottish  King  James  and  Brcnvn, 
and  that  sterling  ballad  Mary  Hamiltmt  which  Andrew  Lang 
has  successfully  called  back  from  Russia  to  its  place  at  queen 
Mary's  own  court,  with  twenty-eight  versions  still  extant  to 
attest  its  vogue— all  these  are  typical  in  their  kind.  /  But  the 
historical  ballad,  recited  rather  than  sung,  epic  in  all  its  pur- 
poses and  details,  and  far  removed  from  the  choral  ballad  of 
dramatic  situation,  is  best  studied  in  those  pieces  which  have 


The  Historical  Ballad  471 

become  traditional  along  the  Scottish  border.  Not  all,  how- 
ever, are  of  the  chronicle  type.  In  1593,  a  certain  freebooter 
v/as  hanged,  and  his  nephew  took  good  vengeance  for  him, 
calling  out  a  ballad ;  whatever  its  original  shape,  one  finds  it 
still  fresh  with  the  impression  of  actual  deeds;  and,  in  its  ner- 
vous couplets,  its  lack  of  narrative  breadth,  the  lilt  and  swing 
of  it,  one  is  inclined  to  call  The  Lads  of  Wamphray  a  case  of  ipsi 
confingunt — a  phrase  of  which  Leslie  was  making  use,  not  far 
from  this  date,  as  to  the  Borderers  and  their  songs.  The  dia- 
logue is  immediate,  and  has  the  old  incremental  repetition: 

0  Simmy,  Simmy,  now  let  me  gang, 

And  I  vow  I  '11  ne'er  do  a  Crichton  wrang. 

O  Simmy,  Simmy,  now  let  me  be. 

And  a  peck  o'  goud  I  '11  gie  to  thee. 

O  Simmy,  Simmy,  let  me  gang, 

And  my  wife  shall  heap  it  wi'  her  hand. 

This  was  not  made  at  long  range.  Epic,  on  the  other  hand,  and 
reminiscent,  is  Dick  o'  the  Cow — cited  by  Tom  Nashe — a  good 
story  told  in  high  spirits;  long  as  it  is,  it  has  a  burden,  and  was 
meant  to  be  sung.  Archie  o'  Cawficld,  Hobie  Noble,  Jock  0'  the 
Side  and  others  of  the  same  sort  are  narratives  in  the  best  tra- 
ditional style;  Scott's  imitation  of  these  is  Kinmont  Willie — ■ 
at  least  it  is  so  much  his  own  work  as  to  deserve  to  bear  his 
name.  Still  another  class  is  the  short  battle-piece,  of  which 
Harlaw,  Bothwcll  Bridge  and  even  Flodden  Field,  preserved 
by  Delmey,  may  serve  as  examples.  Durham  Field,  in  sixty-six 
stanzas,  was  made  by  a  minstrel.  Refusing  classification, 
there  stand  out  those  two  great  ballads,  probably  on  the  same 
fight,  Cheviot  and  Otterburn.  The  version  of  the  former  known 
as  Chevy  Chace,  "  written  over  for  the  broadside  press,"  as  Child 
remarks,  was  the  object  of  Addison's  well-known  praise;  what 
Sidney  heard  as  "  trumpet  sound"  is  not  certain,  but  one  would 
prefer  to  think  it  was  the  old  Cheviot.  One  would  like,  too,  the 
liberty  of  bringing  Shakespeare  into  the  audience,  and  of  re- 
garding that  ancient  ballad  as  contributing  to  his  conception 
of  Hotspur.  These  are  no  spinsters'  songs,  but  rather,  in  the 
first  instance  at  least,  the  making  and  the  tradition  of  men-at- 
arms.  A  curiously  interlaced  stanza  arrangement,  here  and 
there  to  be  noted  in  both  the  old  Cheviot  and  Otterburn,  as  vv'ell 


472  Ballads 

as  Richard  Sheale's  signature  to  the  former  as  part  of  his  min- 
strel stock,  imply  considerable  changes  in  the  structure  of  the 
original  ballad.  Shealc,  of  course,  had  simply  copied  a  favour- 
ite song;  but  the  fact  is  suggestive. 

'-Last  of  all,  the  greenwood.  Johnie  Cock,  says  Child,  is 
"a  precious  specimen  of  the  unspoiled  traditional  ballad."  A 
single  situation  and  event,  it  contrasts  sharply  with  a  long  story 
like  Adam  Bell  as  well  as  with  the  various  pieces,  short  or  long, 
which  deal  with  Robin  himself.  From  Johnie  Cock  to  the  Gest 
is  a  process  of  great  interest  to  the  student  of  traditional  verse. 
Had  the  Gest,  indeed,  been  made  by  its  humble  rhapsode  in  an 
unlettered  age,  the  epic  process  would  have  had  even  more 
scope,  and  would  have  drawn  upon  poetic  sources  already 
claimed  for  deliberate  composition  and  the  literary  record. 
As  it  is,  Robin  may  be  proud  of  his  place.  "  Absolutely  a  crea- 
tion of  the  ballad  muse,"  he  is  the  hero  of  a  sterling  little  epic, 
and  of  thirty-six  extant  individual  ballads,  good  and  bad ;  the 
the  good  are  mainly  of  a  piece  with  the  old  epic  material, 
and  the  bad  are  indebted  for  their  badness  to  the  cor- 
ruptions of  the  broadside  press,  the  editing  for  garlands  and 
the  exhausted  vitality  of  late  tradition.  Robin  has  a  definite 
personality  throughout,  though  the  degenerate  ballads,  as  in 
the  case  of  late  poems  about  Charlemagne,  make  him  anybody's 
victim.  Any  local  hero  could  be  exalted  by  the  simple  process 
of  outwitting  and  trouncing  the  old  master  of  that  craft.  One 
of  the  latest  poems,  a  dreary  compilation  called  the  True  Tale 
of  Robin  Hood,  the  only  piece  in  Child's  collection  which  is  not 
anonymous,  is  the  work  of  Martin  Parker.  But  one  forgets 
trash.  Robin  remains  as  the  best  ballads  and  the  Gest  have 
drawn  him — generous,  brave,  pious,  with  a  touch  of  melancholy 
and  a  touch  of  humour  unknown  to  the  strictly  choral  muse. 
The  narrative  art  of  this  good  verse  is  very  high.  No  story  is 
better  told  anywhere  than  the  story  of  Robin's  loan  to  Sir 
Richard  and  its  payment ;  humour  is  held  firmly  in  hand ;  and 
Chaucer  himself  could  not  better  the  ease  and  sureness  of  the 
little  epic.  Nor  does  the  Gest  improve  in  all  ways  upon  its  ma- 
terial. Robin  Hood  and  the  Monk  is  a  sterling  piece  of  narrative. 
The  brief  close  of  the  Gest,  telling,  in  five  stanzas,  how  Robin 
was  "beguiled"  and  slain,  and  rather  awkwardly  quoting  an 
unconnected  bit  of  dialogue,  should  be  compared  with  the  bal- 


Ballad  Sources  473 

lad  of  Robin  Hood's  Death  from  the  Percy  folio.  Here,  in  spite 
of  eighteen  missing  stanzas,  the  story  is  admirably  told.  Every 
incident  counts:  the  testy  humour  of  Robin  at  the  start,  the 
mysterious  old  woman  banning  him  as  she  kneels  on  the  plank 
over  "black  water,"  the  fatal  bleeding,  the  final  struggle, 
revenge,  pious  parting  and  death — good  narrative  throughout. 
It  is  clear  that  a  process  had  taken  place  in  the  gradual  form- 
ation of  this  cycle  which  not  only  brought  its  several  parts 
into  fair  coherence,  but,  also,  exercised  a  reactionary  influ- 
ence upon  tradition  itself.  In  any  case,  with  these  ballads  of 
Robin  Hood,  balladry  itself  crossed  the  marches  of  the  epic, 
and  found  itself  far  from  the  old  choral,  dramatic  improvisa- 
tions, though  still  fairly  close  to  the  spirit  and  motive  of 
traditional  verse. 

A  word  remains  to  be  said  on  the  sources  and  the  values 
of  British  ballads  as  a  whole.  Common  "Ar>^an"  origin, 
though  it  was  still  held  in  a  modified  form  by  Gaston  Paris,  can 
no  longer  be  maintained  so  as  to  account  for  the  community 
of  theme  in  the  ballads  of  Europe.  What  has  been  done  by 
scholars  like  Child  and  Grundtvig,  by  Nigra,  Bugge  and  others, 
is  to  have  established  certain  groups,  more  or  less  definite, 
which,  in  different  lands  and  times,  tell  the  same  general 
story  or  give  the  same  particular  motive  or  detail.  To  account 
for  these  groups  is  another  task.  A  pretty  little  ballad  from 
Shetland  narrates  in  quite  choral,  dramatic  form  the  story 
of  Orpheus  and  Euiydice.  Bugge  has  traced  the  same  story 
from  a  Danish  ballad  far  back  into  medieval  times ;  its  ultimate 
source,  to  be  sure,  is  the  classical  account.  Another  source, 
we  have  seen,  is  legend;  still  another  is  the  direct  historical 
event.  Evidently,  then,  the  matter  of  sources  is  something 
to  be  settled  for  the  narrative  part  of  each  individual  ballad; 
but,  however  great  the  interest  of  this  investigation  may  be, 
however  obvious  its  claims  and  satisfactory^  its  results,  it  does 
not  affect  the  specific  ballad  as  a  literary  form.  The  structure 
of  the  ballad — what  makes  it  a  species,  the  elements  of  it — 
derives  from  choral  and  dramatic  conditions;  what  gives  it 
its  peculiar  art  of  narrative  is  the  epic  process  working  by  oral 
tradition,  and  gradually  leading  to  a  new  structure  with  choral 
and  dramatic  elements  still  surviving,  though  dwindling, 
in  the  guise  of  refrain  and  incremental  repetition.     The  metri- 


474  Ballads 

cal  form  remains  fairly  constant  throughout.  With  certain 
other  formal  characteristics,  the  commonplaces,  the  conven- 
tional phrases  and  motives,  there  is  no  space  to  deal  here. 
So,  too,  with  regard  to  imitations  good  and  bad,  we  can  only- 
re  fer  to  Scott's  Kinmont  Willie  for  one  class,  and,  for  the  other, 
to  that  famous  forgery  the  Hardycnute  of  Lady  Wardlaw. 
//  The  aesthetic  values  of  the  ballad  call  for  no  long  comment. 
They  are  the  values  which  attach  to  rough,  strong  verse  intent 
upon  its  object.  Scope  and  figure  are  out  of  the  question,  and 
all  feats  of  language  as  such; '  No  verborum  artifex  works  here. 
The  appeal  is  straight.  It  is,  indeed,  ridiculous  to  call  the 
ballads  "primitive";  not  only  have  they  a  developed  art  of 
their  own,  but  they  are  crossed  at  every  turn  by  literary 
influences,  mainly  working  for  coherence  of  narrative,  which 
are  indirect,  indeed,  yet  sure.  Nevertheless,  the  abiding  value 
of  the  ballads  is  that  they  give  a  hint  of  primitive  and  un- 
spoiled poetic  sensation.  They  speak  not  only  in  the  language 
of  tradition,  but  also  w4th  the  voice  of  the  multitude;  there 
is  nothing  subtle  in  their  working,  and  they  appeal  to  things 
as  they  are.  From  one  vice  of  modern  literature  they  are  free : 
they  have  no  "thinking  about  thinking,"  no  feeling  about 
feeling.  They  can  tell  a  good  tale.  They  are  fresh  with  the 
open  air;  wind  and  sunshine  play  through  them;  and  the  dis- 
tinction, old  as  criticism  itself,  which  assigns  them  to  nature 
rather  than  to  art,  though  it  was  overworked  by  the  roman- 
tic school  and  will  be  always  liable  to  abuse,  is  practical  and 
sound. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Political  and  Religious  Verse  to  the  Close 
of  the  Fifteenth  Century — Final  Words 

IN  a  previous  chapter,  ^  something  was  said  of  the  changes  in 
language  and  in  thought  which  accompanied  the  Norman 
conquest  of  England,  and  it  was  pointed  out  how  short  a 
time,  comparatively  speaking,  was  needed  for  the  fusion  of 
race  with  race.  The  incorporation  of  a  French  vocabulary 
into  the  vernacular  was,  inevitably,  a  more  prolonged  opera- 
tion ;  or,  to  speak  more  precisely,  it  was  longer  before  that 
fusion  became  apparent  and  was  reflected  in  the  literature 
of  the  people,  the  literary  or  fashionable  language  being, 
for  many  a  long  year,  the  tongue  of  the  conquerors.  The 
influence  of  the  courtly  literature  of  the  ruling  caste  in  more 
than  one  direction  has  already  been  pointed  out.  ^  It  is  no 
part  of  the  scope  of  this  w^ork  to  encroach  upon  what  more 
properly  belongs  to  the  earlier  literature  of  a  modern  language 
other  than  our  own,  or  to  tell  over  again  what  has  already  been 
dealt  with  in  the  pages  of  Gaston  Paris,  in  the  volumes  of 
Petit  de  Julleville  and  elsewhere ;  but  our  interest  in  medieval 
French  letters  must  always  be  more  than  that  of  mere  neigh- 
bours. Thus,  the  period  now  reached  in  the  history  of  our  own 
literature,  when  the  death  of  Gower  points,  approximately,  to 
the  end  of  French  letters  in  England,  offers  an  opportunity  for 
mentioning,  in  the  course  of  a  very  brief  summary,  the  work  of 
one  or  two  Anglo-Normans  whose  writings  either  are  intimately 
connected  with  English  historical  events  and  personages,  or 
have  left  their  impression  on  the  form  and  matter  of  the  rapidly 
growing  body  of   vernacular   literature.     To  some   of   these, 

1  Vol.  I,  pp.  165  ff. 

2  Vol.  I,  Chapter  xiii.      See  also  Vol.  I,  pp.  265,  .497,  498,  512,  518  ff. 

475 


47^  Political  and  Religious  Verse 

special  reference  has  already  been  made — Philippe  de  Thaon, 
whose  Bestiary^  belongs  to  a  popular  and  fascinating  type 
of  didactic  literature,  and  helped  to  furnish  material  for  early 
English  writers  on  similar  themes,  and  whose  guide  to  the 
ecclesiastical  calendar,  Li  Cumpoz,  sets  forth  w^hat  the  ignorant 
clerk  ought  to  know;  Geoffrey  Gaimar  and  Wace,  who  became 
the  mediums  by  which  earlier  English  and  Latin  histories  pro- 
vided material  for  the  w^ork  of  Layamon ;  William  of  Wading- 
ton,  whose  Manuel  was  written,  probably,  for  Normans  in 
Yorkshire,  and  another  "Yorkshire  Norman,"  Peter  of  Lang- 
toft,  who  were  the  literary  god-fathers  of  Mannyng  of  Brunne.^ 

Gaimar' s  Estorie  des  Engles  w^as  based,  mainly,  on  the  Old 
English  Chronicle  and,  apart  from  his  relation  to  Layamon, 
his  chief  value  for  us  lies  in  the  sections  which  deal  with  con- 
temporary matters,  in  his  contributions  to  the  story  of  Havelok 
and  in  his  descriptions  of  social  manners  and  customs.^  Of 
greater  w'orth  is  the  life  of  William  Marshal,  first  earl  of  Pem- 
broke and  Striguil,  regent  of  England,  a  soldier  and  states- 
man who  died  in  12 19,  after  having  served,  for  nearly  half  a 
century,  more  than  one  king  of  England  with  rare  fidelity,  and 
whose  deeds  are  worthily  enshrined  in  the  poem  which  bears 
his  name.  UHistoire  de  Guillaume  le  Marechal,  w^hich  was 
finished  in  1226,  consists  of  some  19,000  octosyllabic  lines,  and 
its  discoverer,  Paul  Meyer,  has  claimed  for  it  a  place  in  the 
front  rank  of  French  medieval  historiography,  and  as  having 
no  superiors  in  its  kind  in  the  writings  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries.* 

Gamier  de  Pont-Sainte-Maxence's  Vie  de  St.  Thomas  Becket, 
a  poem  worthy  of  its  subject,  and  of  great  historic  value ;  Fan- 
tosme's  Chronicle  of  the  Scottish  Wars  of  11 73-4;  Ambroise's 
Histoire  de  la  Guerre  Sainte,  w4th  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  for  its 
central  figure ;  Old  French  psalters  and  saints'  lives ;  moral  tales, 
like  those  told  by  the  Franciscan  Nicole  Bozon  in  the  earlier 
half  of  the  fourteenth  century;  immoral  fables;  pilgrimages 
and  gospels  for  the  laity;  popular  presentations  of  current 

1  Dedicated  to  Adela  of  Louvain,  the  second  wife  of  Henry  I,  for  whom 
Benoit  the  Anglo-Norman  monk  versified  a  St.  Brendan  in  1 12 1. 

*  Vol.  I,  pp.  1 15,  etc.,  189,  etc.,  226,  etc.,  251  ff.,  384  ff.,  498,  512,  etc.,  etc. 

3  See,  for  example,  in  Wright,  T.,  A  History  of  Domestic  Manners  and 
Sentiments  in  England  during  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  84,  etc. 

*L  'Hist,  de  Guillaume  le  Marechal,  ed.  P.  Meyer,  t.  iii,  p.  cii,  Paris,  1901. 


"The  Vows  of  the  Heron"  477 

science  and  works  on  venery,  such  as  those  which  probably 
served  the  somewhat  mythical  Juliana  Bemers;  lais,  as  those 
of  Marie  de  France— all  these  may  be  recorded  as  links  in  the 
direct  chain  which  bound  French  medieval  literature  to  England. 
To  these  may  be  added  books  of  counsel  and  courtesy,  which 
became  models  for  and  directly  inspired  the  popular  literature 
of  the  native  tongue — "the  booke,"  for  example,  "whiche  the 
knyght  of  the  Toure  made  to  the  enseygnement  and  techyng 
of  his  doughters,  translated  oute  of  Frenssh  in  to  our  matemall 
Englysshe  tongue  by  me,  William  Caxton" ;  dialogues,  as  those 
contained  in  a  maniere  de  langage  que  V  enseignera  bien  a  droit 
parler  et  escrire  doulz  frangois,^  which  help  to  make  clearer 
to  us  the  social  relations  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  and  French 
versions  of  the  old  romances  such  as  Caxton  and  his  followers 
popularised,  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  and 
which  will  be  further  discussed  when  the  prose  of  the  sixteenth 
century  is  under  consideration. 

Political  verse  to  the  end,  approximately,  of  the  reign  of 
Edward  II  was  glanced  at  in  a  previous  chapter.  ^  In  addition 
to  the  two  poems  in  the  mixed  languages  therein  mentioned, 
may  be  noted  a  Song  against  the  King's  Taxes,  written  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  II,  in  five-line  stanzas,  the  first  half  of  each 
line,  save  the  fifth,  being  in  Anglo-Norman  and  the  latter 
half  of  each  line  and  the  whole  of  the  fifth  being  in  Latin.  Its 
theme  and  its  form  can  best  be  seen  by  such  a  stanza  as  the 
following : 

Depus  que  le  roy  vodera  tarn  multum  cepisse, 
Entre  les  riches  si  purra  satis  invenisse; 
E  plus,  a  ce  que  m-'est  avys,  et  melius  fecisse 
Des  grantz  partie  aver  pris,  et  parvis  pepercisse. 

Qui  capit  argentum  sine  causa  peccat  egentum.^ 

From  the  reign  of  Edw^ard  III  onwards,  English,  as  the  main 
vehicle  for  political  verse,  apparently  ousts  Anglo-Norman. 
A  late  Anglo-Norman  poem,  written  about  1338,  Leus  veus  du 
hair  on.  The  Vows  of  the  Heron,^  has,  for  its  object,  the  goading 
of  the  young  king  Edward  III  to  war  with  France,  by  com- 

>  See  P.  Meyer,  Revue  Critique,  1870,  p.  371. 

^Vol.   I,  p.  414. 

3  Wright,  T.,  Political  Songs,  1839,  p.  184. 

*  Political  Poems  and  Songs,  ed.  Wright,  T.,  1859,  Rolls  Series. 


478  Political  and  Religious  Verse 

paring  him  with  what  was  held  to  be  a  cowardly  bird.  The 
poem  relates  that  Robert  of  Artois,  who  had  his  own  purposes 
to  serve,  caused  a  heron  to  be  served  at  the  king's  table  and 
called  aloud  the  bird's  virtues  and  vices  as  it  was  carried  in: 

Et  puis  que  coiiers  est,  je  dis  a  mon  avis, 

C'au  plus  couart  qui  soit  ne  qui  oncques  fust  vis 

Donrrai  le  hairon,  ch'est  Edouart  Loeis, 

Dcshiretis  de  Franche,  le  nobile  pais, 

Qu'il  en  estoit  drois  hairs;  mes  cuers  li  est  jalis, 

Et  par  sa  lasquethe  en  morra  dessaisis; 

S'en  dais  bein  au  hairon  voer  le  sien  avis. 

This  is  too  much  for  the  king;  and  he  and  his  courtiers  make 
their  warlike  vows  on  the  heron.  The  war  that  ensued,  to- 
gether with  the  Scottish  war  of  the  earlier  years  of  the  boy- 
king's  reign,  were  sung  by  Laurence  Minot;  and  the  death  of 
the  king,  in  1377,  called  forth  a  tribute^  the  overmastering 
thought  in  which  was  the  very  old  fashioned  sentiment 

That  alle  thing  weres  and  wasteth  away. 

That  the  evils  of  the  time  were  not  absent  from  the  minds 
of  thinking  men  we  see  by  the  writings  of  Gower  and  by  the 
Plowman  poems.  In  these  last,  there  is  no  room  for  the  light- 
hearted  gaiety,  the  easy-going  happiness  that  causes  us  to 
regard  Chaucer,  though  a  contemporary^  as  almost  belonging 
to  another  world.  To  the  writers  of  the  Plowman  poems  the 
times  were  out  of  joint  and  more  than  jesting  was  required 
to  set  them  right;  their  sharp  solemn  rimeless  lines  ring  in 
the  ear  like  the  sound  of  an  alarm  or  the  first  few  strokes 
of  the  passing  bell. 

The  unquiet  reign  of  Henry  IV  saw  the  miserable  game 
of  heresy-hunting  at  work  under  the  statute  De  Heretico 
Comburendo,  and  political  revolt  after  revolt  in  the  north. 
Four  years  after  the  burning  of  William  Sawtrey  the  Lollard,  at 
Smithfield,  a  lay  court  condemned  the  saintly  archbishop 
Richard  le  Scrope  of  York  to  death  for  high  treason  and 
provided  that  the  sentence  should  be  carried  out  as  ignomin- 
iously  as  might  be.  The  virtues  of  the  archbishop  are  cele- 
brated in  Latin  and  in  English  verses;  and  the  political  and 

'  Political  Poems  and  Songs,  ed.  Wright.  T.,  1859,  Rolls  Series,  vol.  i,p.  215. 


On  the  Siege  of  Calais  479 

religious  "crimes"  of  the  Lollards  are  not  forgotten  by  other 
literary  clerks. 

Both  Latin  and  English  poems  against  the  Lollards  and 
songs  against  friars,  are  of  common  occurrence.  One  poet 
sings 

Thai  dele  with  purses,  pynnes  and  knyves. 
With  gyrdles,  gloves,  for  wenches  and  wyves,^ 
while  another,  in  a  fifteenth  century  MS.,  combines  Latin  and 
English,  beginning 

Freeres,  freeres,  wo  je  be! 

ministri  malorum, 
For  many  a  manes  soule  bringe  je 
ad  poenas  infernorum  ^ 
and  continuing,  in  violent  lines  which  cannot  be  quoted,  to  set 
forth  current  crimes.     In  the  Middle  Ages,  popular  singers, 
"westours  and  rimers,  minstrels  or  vagabonds,"  who  followed 
their  calhng  along  the  king's  highway,  helped,  often  enough, 
to  fan  the  flames  of  rebellion,  political  and  reHgious;  it  should 
be  remembered  to  their  credit  that,consciously  or  unconsciously, 
their  work  was  not  without  effect  in  the  emancipation  of  the 
people. 

Ten  years  after  the  "Glory  of  York"  had  been  executed, 
the  victory  of  Agincourt  gave  further  employment  to  song 
writers ;  but  the  specimen  of  their  work  preserved  in  the  Pepys- 
ian  MS.  does  not  bear  comparison  with  later  poems  on  the 
same  theme.  Professional  and  laudatory  verses  on  deaths 
and  coronations  we  can  leave  aside ;  but  the  interest  of  its  satire 
should  preserve  from  forgetfulness  a  poem  on  the  siege  of 
Calais,  1436.  "The  duk  of  Burgayn,"  with  "grete  prid"  set 
forth  "  Calys  to  wyn,"  and  his  preparations  are  told  with  a 
rare  spirit  of  raillery.     In  Calais  itself,  even 

The  women,  both  yung  and  old, 
Wyth  stones  stuffed  every  scaffold. 

The  spared  not  to  swet  ne  swynk; 
With  boylyng  cawdrens,  both  grett  and  smalle, 
Yf  they  wold  assaute  the  walle. 

All  hote  to  gev  them  drynk.^ 

«  Political  Poems  and  Songs,  ed.  Wright,  T. ,  1859,  Rolls  Series,  vol.  i,p.  264. 
s  Reliquiae  AnHquae,  ed.  Wright,  T.,  and  Halliwell,  J.   O.,   1841-3,  vol. 
II,  p.  247.     See  also  vol.  i,  p.  322. 

3  Political  Poems,  ed.  Wright,  T.,  vol.  11,  p.  151. 


48o  Political  and  Religious  Verse 

In  1436-7,  was  written  one  of  the  most  important  and  re- 
markable of  early  English  political  poems,  The  Libel  [or 
little  book]  oj  English  Policy.  The  poem  begins  by  "ex- 
hortynge  alle  Englande  to  kepe  the  see  enviroun,"  and  it  is  an 
early  example  of  the  political  insight  which  recognised  that  the 
natural  source  of  the  greatness  of  a  small  island  lay  on  the  sea ; 
its  influence  on  later  naval  developments  can  scarce  be  doubted. 
English  commercial  relations  wnth  foreign  nations  are  discussed 
by  the  anonymous  author  at  considerable  length;  "the  com- 
modytecs  of  Spayne  and  of  Fflaundres,"  and  of  many  another 
community  are  reviewed,  and  oddly  enough  these  things  read 
in  rime: 

And  lycorys,  S)n/yle  oyle,  and  grayne, 
Whyte  Castelle  sope,  and  wax,  is  not  in  vayne; 
Iren,  wolle,  wadmole,  gotefel,  kydefel  also, 
Ffor  poynt-makers  fulle  nedefulle  be  the  ij. 

The  Irish  question  is  well  to  the  fore,  and  there  is  a  Welsh 
question  as  well: 

W}'th  alle  your  myghte  take  hede 
To  kepe  Yrelond,  that  it  be  not  loste; 
Ffor  it  is  a  boterasse  and  a  poste 
Undre  England,  and  Wales  another. 
God  forbede  but  eche  were  othere  brothere. 
Of  one  ligeaunce  dewe  unto  the  kynge. 

And  then  the  author  turns  to  discuss  ' '  the  comodius  stokfysshe 
of  Yselonde"  brought  by  the  seamen  that  go  out  from  Bristow 
and  from  Scarborowgh  "unto  the  costes  cold";  and  he  harks 
back  to  Calais  and  urges,  in  language  which  sounds  strangely 
modern,  that  there  be 

set  a  governaunce, 
Set  many  wittes  wythoutene  variaunce 
To  one  accorde  and  unanimite, 
Put  to  god  wylle  for  to  kepe  the  see. 
The  ende  of  bataile  is  pease  sikerlye, 
And  power  causeth  pease  finally.  ^ 

'  The  quotations  are  from  T.Wright's  text,  in  Political  Poems  and  Songs, 
but  see  also  the  first  volume  of  Hakluyt  and  The  Libell  of  Englishe  Policye, 
1436,  Text  und  metrische  UbersetnmgvonW.  Hertzberg,  Mit  einer  geschichtlichen 
Einlcitung  von  R.  Pattli,  Leipzig,  1878.  Cf.  also  the  poem  On  England's 
Commercial  Policy,  Wright's  Political  Poems  and  Songs,  vol.  11,  p.  282. 


Lyrics  and  Carols  481 

The  last  political  poem  to  which  reference  need  be  made 
here  is  a  mocking  dirge,  called  forth  by  the  death  of  the  king's 
favourite  the  duke  of  Suffolk,  on  3  May  1450,  "a  dyrge  made 
by  the  comons  of  Kent  in  the  tyme  of  ther  rysynge  when 
Jake  Cade  was  theyr  cappitayn  .  .  .  writn  owt  of  david  norcyn 
his  booke  by  John  stowe."^  The  poem  describes  how  "bis- 
shopes  and  lordes,  as  grete  reson  is,"  took  their  several  parts 
in  his  funeral  service,  and  it  deserves  mention  by  reason  of  the 
prosodic  art  shown  in  the  refrain,  "in  which  the  passing-bel^ 
slowness  of  the  first  half 

For  I  Jack  |  Napes'  |  soul  pla-  \ 

suddenly  turns  head  over  heels  into  a  carillon  of  satiric  joy 
and  triumph  with 

ceho  and  |  diri\ge  /''  2 

A  careful  examination  of  fourteenth  century  religious 
poems  preserved  in  the  Vernon  MS.  and  elsewhere,  of  the  minor 
verse  of  the  school  of  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  of  passages 
in  the  religious  plays  such  as  those  which  tell  the  story  of 
Abraham  and  Isaac  and  of  the  fugitive  verse  of  the  fifteenth 
century  should  convince  the  most  sceptical  of  the  wealth  of 
early  English  anonymous  poetry,  and  of  its  great  prosodic 
interest;  it  should  abolish  the  practice  of  regarding  verse  as- 
sociated with  the  outstanding  names,  and  the  so-called  "court- 
poetry,"  as  the  only  poetry  worth  consideration;  and  it  should 
help  us  to  render  tardy  justice  to  periods  sometimes  dubbed 
barren  wastes. 

The  note  of  simplicity  of  utterance,  often  combined  with 
perfection  of  form,  which  is  struck  in  such  poems  as  the 
thirteenth  or  early  fourteenth  century  lyric  from  the  Egerton 
MS. 

Somer  is  comen  and  winter  is  gon, 

this  day  beginnij  to  longe, 

And  this  foules  everichon 

joye  hem  wit  songe ! 
So  stronge  kare  me  bint, 

^Political,  Religious  and  Love  Poems,  Lambeth  MS.,  etc.,  ed.  Fumivall, 
F.  J.,  E.E.T.S.  1866,  new  edition,  1903. 

2  Saintsbury,  G.,  A  History  of  English  Prosody,  vol.  i,  p.  261. 


482  Political  and  Religious  Verse 

Al  wit  joye  that  is  funde 

in  londe, 
Al  for  a  child 
That  is  so  milde 

of  honde,^ 

is  found  again  in  the  Sayings  of  St.  Bernard  in  the  Vernon  MS. 

Where  ben  heo  that  biforen  us  weren, 
That  houndes  ladden  and  haukes  beeren, 

And  hedden  feld  and  wode; 
This  Riche  ladys  in  heore  hour, 
That  wereden  gold  in  heore  tressour, 

With  heore  brihte  rode  2  ?  3 

It  is  carried  on  by  Michael  of  Kildare,  in  a  hymn  written  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  which  there  are  move- 
ments like  this : 

This  worldis  love  is  gon  a-wai, 
So  dew  on  grasse  in  someris  dai, 
Few  ther  beth,  weilawai! 
that  lovith  Goddis  lore;- 

it  becomes  exquisitely  melodious  in  the  northern  Hampole 
poems  of,  approximately,  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
notably  in  the  alliterative  verses  beginning 

My  trewest  tresowre  sa  trayturly  taken, 
Sa  bytterly  bondyn  wyth  bytand  bandes ; 
How  sone  of  thi  servandes  was  thou  forsaken. 
And  lathly  for  my  lufe  hurld  with  thair  handes.s 

and  in  Eve's  lines  in  the  "Coventry"  play: 

Alas !  that  evyr  that  speche  was  spokyn 

That  the  fals  aungel  seyd  onto  me. 
Alas!  oure  makers  byddyng  is  brokyn 

Ffor  I  have  towchyd  his  owyn  dere  tre. 
Oure  fiiescly  eyn  byn  al  unlokyn, 

Nakyd  for  synne  ouresylf  we  see, 
That  sor}'  appyl  that  we  han  sokyn 

To  dethe  hathe  brouth  my  spouse  and  me.  ^ 

«  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  vol.  i,  p.  100.  2  complexion. 

J  Minor  Poems  of  the  Vernon  MS.,  with  poems  from  Digby  MS.,  vol.  il,  p. 
521,  ed.  Fumivall,  F.  J.,  E.E.T.S.  1901. 

*  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  vol.  ii,  p.  190.  s  Horstman's  ed.,  vol.  i,  p.  72. 

•  Lndus  Covcntriae,  ed.  Halliwell,  J.  O.,  pp.  27,  28,  1841. 


Lyrics  and  Carols  483 

It  exerts  magical  power  in  the  beautiful  carol  from  the  early 
fifteenth  century  Sloane  MS.: 

I  syng  of  a  mayden  that  is  makeles, 
Kyng  of  alle  kynges  to  here  sone  che  ches. 
He  cam  also  stylle  ther  his  moder  was, 
As  dew  in  Aprylle  that  fallyt  on  the  gras. 
He  cam  also  stylle  to  his  moderes  bowr, 
As  dew  in  Aprille  that  fallyt  on  the  flour. 
He  cam  also  stylle  ther  his  moder  lay, 
As  dew  in  Aprille  that  fallyt  on  the  spray;  ^ 

it  shows  itself  capable  of  infinite  pathos  in  the  appeal  of  Isaac 
to  his  father  in  the  Chester  play : 

Alas!  father,  is  that  your  will, 
Your  owne  childe  here  for  to  spill 

Upon  this  hilles  br}mke? 
Yf  I  have  trespassed  in  any  degree, 
With  a  yard  you  maye  beate  me; 
Put  up  your  sword  if  your  will  be, 

For  I  am  but  a  Childe 


Abraham 

Come  hither,  my  Child,  that  art  so  sweete; 
Thou  must  be  bounden  hand  and  f eete ;  ^ 

it  reveals  passion,  strong  though  subdued  to  that  it  works  in,, 
in  the  Quia  amore  langueo  of  the  Lambeth  MS.  c.  1430  ;^  and  it 
finds  an  echo  in  the  poem  to  the  Virgin,  printed  towards  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century  in  Speculum  Christiani,  beginning 

Mary  moder,  wel  thou  be ! 
Mary  moder,  thenke  on  me. 

There  are,  of  course,  duller  and  more  sophisticated  utter- 
ances than  these.  Mysticism  often  acts  as  a  clog  and  didactic 
aim  frequently  achieves  its  usual  end  and  produces  boredom. 
But  that  happy  sense  of  familiarity  with  the  company  of 
Heaven,  which  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  an  age  of  pro- 

^Songs  and  Carols,  ed.  Wright,  T.,  Warton  Club,  1861,  p.  30. 

^Chester  Plays,  ed.  Deimling,  H.,  E.E.T.S.,  1893,  p.  75.  The  extant 
MSS.  of  the  Chester  cycle  belong  to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but 
the  substantial  features  of  the  passage  quoted  above  are  found  in  the  fifteenth 
century  Brome  play  on  the  same  subject  {Anglia,  vii,  pp.  316-337),  with 
which  the  Chester  play  would  seem  to  be  connected. 

3  Political  etc.  Poems,  ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.,  p.  177. 


484  Political  and  Religious  Verse 

found  faith,  finds  delightful  expression  in  hymns  from  Christ 
to  His  " deintiest  damme  ''and,  above  all,  in  the  religious  plays. 
These  last,  which  were  written  to  be  understood  by  the  com- 
mon folk,  are  mirrors  which  reflect  the  tastes  of  the  people,  in 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  An  ingenuous  audience 
wished  to  be  moved  easily  to  tears  and  laughter ;  rough  humour 
and  simple  pathos  jostled  each  other  on  the  booths  or  travelling 
stages  on  which  were  set  forth  the  shrewishness  of  Noah's 
wife,  and  Isaac  submissive  to  his  father's  stroke,  the  boisterous 
comedy  of  quarrelling  shepherds  and  their  criticism  of  the 
angelic  voices.  It  was  not  gold  and  frankincense  and  myrrh 
that  would  appeal  most  to  the  imagination  of  the  idler  in  the 
market  place,  but  a  ball,  a  bird  and  "a  bob  of  cherys,"  which 
the  visiting  shepherds  give  to  the  Child-Christ,  as  they  address 
him  with 

Hayll,  lytyll  tyne  mop! 
Of  oure  crede  thou  art  crop ; 
I  wold  drynk  on  thy  cop, 
Lytyll  day  stame.^ 

Truly  these  writers  and  actors  "served  God  in  their  mirth," 
but  they  were  not  allowed  to  go  on  their  way  unmolested. 
There  are  poems  against  miracle  plays  as  against  friars,  and 
sermons  too ;  and  in  the  mass  of  carols  and  love  lyrics,  whether 
amorous  or  divine,  which  form  a  characteristic  feature  of  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  century  English  poetry,  and  which  are 
treated  in  an  earlier  chapter  in  this  volume,  there  appear  now 
and  then  the  spoil-sports  who  think  "the  worlde  is  but  a 
vanyte"^  and,  when  the  briar  holds  the  huntsman  in  full  flight, 
only  take  it  as  a  warning  to  ponder  on  more  solemn  things. 

Of  the  purely  didactic  literature  that  was  intended  for  daily 
needs,  a  typical  example  may  be  seen  in  John  Mirk's  Instructions 
for  Parish  Priests,  a  versified  translation  from  Latin  of  a  very 
practical  kind,  concerned  with  the  things  that  are  to  be  done 
or  left  undone,  the  duties  of  priests  and  what  they  are  to  teach 
and  all  such  items  as  entered  into  the  daily  religious  life  of  the 
people.4     To  this  we  may  add  "  babees'  books"  and  poems  of 

«  Hymns  to  the  Virgin  and  Christ, ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.,  p.  3,  E.  E.T.S.  1867. 
5  Towneley  plays,  ed.  England,  G.,  and  Pollard,  A.  W.,  1897,  p.  139. 
3  Hymns  to  the  Virgin  and  Christ,  pp.  83  and  91. 
♦  Ed.  Peacock,  E.,  E. E.T.S.  1848  * 


Didactic  Literature  485 

homely  instruction,  in  which  the  wise  man  teaches  his  son  and 
the  good  wife  her  daughter.  For  those  who  were  soon  able  to 
buy  printed  books,  there  w^ere  works  like  the  first  dated  book 
published  in  England,  the  Dictes  and  Sayings  of  the  Philosophers, 
whilst  Caxton's  Book  of  Curtesy e,  addressed  to  "lytyl  John," 
and  his  printing  of  a  Great  and  Little  Cato  sufficiently  indicate 
the  popularity  of  precept  and  wisdom  literature.  The  middle 
of  the  fifteenth  century  gives  us  the  Book  of  Quinte  Essence,  an 
early  treatise  on  "natural  science,"  in  which,  among  other 
wonderful  things,  we  learn  how  "to  reduce  an  oold  feble  evan- 
gelik  man  to  the  firste  strenkthe  of  yongthe"  and  how  "to 
make  a  man  that  is  a  coward,  hardy  and  strong."  And,  in  a 
fourteenth  century  MS.  you  may  run  your  eyes  over  medical 
recipes,^  which  vary  between  cures  "for  the  fever  quarteyn" 
and  devices  to  "make  a  woman  say  the  what  thu  askes  hir." 
Woman  was  ever  a  disturbing  factor,  and  the  songs  of  medieval 
satirists  do  not  spare  her.  One  of  them  ends  his  verses  with 
the  counsel  of  despair: 

I  hold  that  man  ryght  wele  at  ese, 
That  can  turn  up  hur  haltur  and  lat  bur  go. 2 

/y  To  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  belongs  the  figure 
of  Robin  Hood  the  outlaw,  who  was  known  to  the  writers  of 
Piers  Plowman  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  and 
stories  of  whose  deeds  were  first  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde 
at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  in  the  Lytell  Geste;  and 
with  a  reference  to  him  this  brief  summary  of  ' '  rank  and  file ' ' 
literature  must  close.  He  is  the  typical  hero  of  English  medi- 
eval popular  romance,  "open-handed,  brave,  merciful,  given  to 
archery  and  venery,  good-humoured,  jocular,  loyal,  woman- 
protecting,  priestcraft-hating,  Mary-loving,  God-fearing,  some- 

'  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  vol.  i,  p.  51. 

2  Ibid.  p.  77.  A  more  gallant  feeling  is  shown  in  the  records  of  the  Pui,  a 
fourteenth  century  association  established  in  London  originally  by  foreign 
merchants  in  imitation  of  similar  associations  in  France,  en  le  honour  de 
Dieu,  Madame  Seinte  Marie  and  all  saints,  por  ceo  qe  jolietes,  pais,  honestez, 
douceur,  deboneiretes ,  e  bon  amour,  sanz  infinite,  soit  maintenue.  In  that 
society,  no  lady  or  other  woman  being  allowed  to  be  present  at  the  festival 
of  song,  it  was  held  to  be  the  duty  of  members  de  honurer,  cheir,  et  loer 
trestotes  dames,  totes  houres  en  touz  Heus,  au  taunt  en  lour  absence  come  en  lour 
presence.  See  Munimenta  Gildhallae  Londoniensis ,  vol.  11,  p.  225,  Liber 
custuniarum,  Rolls  Series,  i860,  ed.  Rilev,  H.  T. 


486  Political  and  Religious  Verse 

what  rough  withal,  caring  little  for  the  refinements  of  life, 
and  fond  of  a  fight  above  all  things." ^  In  this  combination 
of  qualities  we  may  fitly  see  that  blending  of  Norman  and 
Englishman  which  helped  to  make  the  England  of  the  ages  of 
faith  a  "merric  England."  Akin  in  many  ways  to  Hereward,  , 
the  Englishman  and  Fulk  Fitz-Warin  the  Normam/he'  repre- 
sents, in  the  ballads  that  grew  up  around  his  name,  the  spirit 
of  revolt  against  lordly  tyranny,  and  he  stands  for  the  free 
open  life  of  the  greenwood  and  the  oppressed  folk.  The  ruling 
classes  had  their  Arthur  and  his  knights,  their  "romances  of 
prys,"  the  placid  dream-world  in  which  moved  the  abstrac- 
tions of  Stephen  Hawes  and  the  bloodless  creatures  of  the 
"court  poetry."  /'The  people  had  their  songs  by  the  wayside, 
their  ballads  bom  of  communal  dance  and  their  more  or  less 
pagan  festivals,  at  which  sons  of  the  soil,  maidens  and  ap- 
prentices who  had  been  bidden  to 

Suffer  maister  and  maistresse  paciently 
And  doo  their  biddyng  obediently 


Serv^e  atte  the  tabille  manerly^ 

could,  for  a  while,  escape  from  these  duties  and  enter  into  a 
life  of  their  own. 

A  word  may  be  permitted  by  way  of  postscript,  not 
merely  to  this  chapter  but  also  to  the  present  volume.  It 
has  been  sometimes  urged  that  the  fifteenth  century,  in  the 
matter  of  purely  English  literature,  is  dull  and  uninteresting; 
that  it  is  an  uninviting,  barren  waste,  in  which  it  were  idle  and 
unprofitable  to  spend  one's  time  when  it  can  be  fleeted  carelessly 
in  "the  demesnes  that  here  adjacent  lie,"  belonging  to  the 
stately  pleasure  houses  of  Chaucer  and  the  Elizabethans  on  the 
one  side  and  on  the  other.  It  would  rather  appear  that  a 
century,  the  beginning  of  which  saw  the  English  Mandeville 
translators  at  work,  and  the  end  of  which  saw  one  of  those 
versions  printed;  a  century  to  which  may  be  credited  The 
Flower  and  the  Leaf,  the  Paston  letters,  Caxton's  prefaces  and 
translations,  the  immortal  Malory,  lyrics  innumerable,  sacred 
and  secular,  certain  ballads,  in  the  main,  as  we  now  know 
them.  The  Nut  Brown  Maid  (in  itself  sufficient,  in  form  and 

'  Hales,  J.  W.,  Percy  Folio.  *  Reliquiae  Antiqtiae,  vol.  ii,  p.  223. 


The  Fifteenth  Century  487 

music  and  theme,  to  "make  the  fortune"  of  any  century), 
carols  and  many  of  the  miracle  plays  in  their  present  form, 
can  well  hold  its  own  in  the  history  of  our  literature  as  against 
the  centuries  that  precede  or  follow  it.  At  least  it  is  not 
deficient  either  in  variety  of  utterance  or  in  many-sidedness 
of  interest.  It  is  not  merely  full  of  the  promise  that  all  periods 
of  transition  possess,  but  its  actual  accomplishment  is  not 
to  be  contemned  and  its  products  are  not  devoid  either  of 
humour  or  of  beauty. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  II 


The  following  parallel  passages  from  the  two  Wyclifite  versions  will  show 
some  of  the  differences  between  them.  Broadly  speaking,  these  differences 
are  greatest  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  are  only  small  in 
parts  of  the  New  Testament.  It  should  be  noticed  that  the  order  of  the 
books  in  the  Old  Testament  and  Apocrypha  is  different  from  that  of  the 
A. v.,  following  the  Vulgate. 


Earlier  Version 


Later  Version 


Exodus  XV,  1-5 


'  Synge  we  to  the  Lord,  forsothe 
gloriously  he  is  magnyfied;  the  hors 
and  the  steyer  up  he  threwe  doun  into 
the  see.  ^My  strengthe  andmy  prey- 
syng  the  Lord ;  and  he  is  maad  to  me 
into  helthe.  This  my  God,  and  hym 
Y  shal  gloryfie ;  the  God  of  my  fader, 
and  hym  Y  shal  enhaunce.  ^The 
Lord  as  a  man  fijter,  Almyjti  his 
name;  ■'the  chare  of  Pharao  and  his 
oost  he  threwe  fer  into  the  see.  His 
chosun  princes  weren  turned  vpse- 
doun  in  the  reed  see:  5 the  depe 
watris  couerden  hem;  thei  descen- 
diden  unto  the  depthe  as  a  stoon. 


>  Synge  we  to  the  Lord,  for  he  is 
magnefied  gloriousli ;  he  castide  doun 
the  hors  and  the  stiere  in  to  the  see. 

2  My  strengthe  and  my  preisying  is 
the  Lord;  and  he  is  maad  to  me  in 
to  heelthe.  This  is  my  God,  and  Y 
schal  glorifie  hym;  the  God  of  my 
fadir,   and   Y  schal  enhaunse  hym. 

3  The  Lord  is  as  a  man  fijter,  his 
name  is  Almijti;  *he  castide  doun  in 
to  the  see  the  charis  of  Farao,  and 
his  oost.  Hise  chosun  princis  weren 
drenchid  in  the  reed  see;  ^the  depe 
watris  hiliden  hem ;  thei  jeden  doun 
in  to  the  depthe  as  a  stoon. 


Isaiah  vi,  1-4 


1  In  the  jer  in  which  diede  king 
Osias,  I  saj  the  Lord  sittende  vp  on 
an  hei?  sete,  and  rered  vp;  and  ful 
was  the  hous  of  his  mageste,  and  tho 
thingus  that  vnder  hym  weren,  fulfil- 
den  temple.  ^Serafyn  stoden  vp  on 
it,  sixe  wenges  to  the  oon,  and  sixe 
to  the  other;  with  two  thei  couereden 
the  face  of  hym,  and  with  two  thei 
couereden  the  feet  of  hym,  and  with 
two  thei  flown.  ^And  they  crieden 
the  tother  {var.  toon)  to  the  tother, 
and  seiden,  Hoeli,  hoeli,  hoeli,  Lord 
God  of  ostes;  ful  is  al  the  erthe  of 
the  glorie  of  hym.  ^And  to-moued 
ben  the  thresholdes  of  the  heenglis 
fro  the  vois  of  the  criende,  and  the 
hous  fulfild  is  with  sinoke. 


1  In  the  jeer  in  which  the  king  Osie 
was  deed'',  Y  sij  the  Lord  sittynge 
on  an  hi?  sete,  and  reisid;  and  the 
hous*  was  ful  of  his  mageste,  and 
the  thingis  that  weren  vndur  hym, 
filliden  the  temple.  2  Serafyn  stoden 
on  it,  sixe  wyngis  weren  to  oon,  and 
sixe  wyngis  to  the  tothir:  with  twei 
wyngis  thei  hiliden  the  face  of  hym, 
and  with  twei  wyngis  thei  hiliden  the 
feet  of  hym ,  and  with  twei  wyngis  thei 
flowen.  -iAnd  thei  criden  the  toon 
to  the  tother,  and  seiden,  Hooli,  hooli, 
hooli  is  Lord  God  of  oostis;  al  erthe 
is  ful  of  his  glorie.  ■*  And  the  lyntels 
aboue  of  the  herns  were  moued  to- 
gidere  of  the  vois  of  the  criere,  and 
the  hous  was  fillid  with  smoke. 


4S9 


49^  Appendix  to  Chapter  II 

As  an  illustration  of  the  glosses  on  the  above  extract  (in  the  later  edition), 
the  following  are  given : 

'  was  deed;  not  bi  departing  of  the  soule  from  the  bodi,  but  in  which 
5eer  he  was  smytun  of  God  with  lepre,  for  he  wolde  take  amys  to  him  the 
office  of  priest;  for  fro  that  t\*nie  he  was  arettid  deed  to  the  world,  as  Rabbi 
Salomon  seith. 

*  the  lions;  that  is,  the  temple  bildid  of  Salamon;  netheless  this  clause, 
a}id  the  hous  was  fid  of  his  mageste  is  not  in  Ebreu,  neither  in  bokis  amended. 

Earlier  Version  Later  Version 

St.  Matthew  vi,  1-4 

•  Take  jee  hede,    lest  je  don  50ur  >  Takith  hede,  that  5e  do  not  joure 

rijtwisnesse  before  men,  that  jee  be  rijtwisnesse  bifor  men,  to  be  seyn  of 

seen  of  hem,  ellis  je  shule  nat  han  hem,  ellis  5e   schulen  haueno  meede 

meedeat  jourefadirthatisinheuenes.  at   joure   fadir   that   is   in   heuenes. 

2  Therfore  whan  thou  dost  almesse,  ^  Therfore  whanne  thou  doist  almes 
nyle  thou  synge  before  thee  in  a  nyle  thou  trumpe  tofore  thee,  as  ypo- 
trumpe,  as  ypocritis  don  in  synagogis  critis  doon  in  synagogis  and  streetis, 
and  streetis,  that  thei  ben  maad  wor-  that  thei  be  worschipid  of  men,  sothe- 
shipful  of  men;  forsothe  Y  saye  to  li  Y  seie  to  jou,  they  hau  resseyued 
30U,  thei  hau  resceyued  her  meede.  her  meede.     '  But  whanne  thou  doist 

3  But  thee  doynge  almesse,  knowe  almes,  knowe  not  thi  left  hond  what 
nat  the  left  hond  what  the  ri3t  hond  thi  rijt  hond  doith,  Hhat  thin  almes 
doth,  nhat  thi  almes  be  in  hidlis,  and  be  in  hidils,  and  thi  fadir  that  seeth 
thi  fadir  that  seeth  in  hidlis,  sal  jelde  in  hiddils,  schal  quyte  thee. 

to  thee. 

If  a  passage  such  as  Ephesians  ii  be  taken,  the  differences  between  the 
two  versions  will  be  found  even  slighter  than  in  the  above.  These  extracts 
are  taken  from  the  edition  by  Forshall  and  Madden,  but  its  exhibition  of  the 
textual  evidence  leaves  much  to  be  desired.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
many  different  workers,  in  all  probability,  took  part  in  the  translation  of  each 
version. 

J.  P.  w. 


BIBLIOGRAPHIES 

CHAPTER  I 
PIERS  THE  PLOWMAN  AND   ITS  SEQUENCE 
The  Manuscripts 

Piers  the  Plowman.  The  forty-five  known  MSS.  of  Piers  the  Plowman  are 
described  by  Skeat  in  vols,  i,  ii,  iii  and  iv  of  his  edition  of  the  poem  for 
the  Early  English  Text  Society,  and,  less  fully,  in  vol.  ii  of  his  large 
Clarendon  Press  edition.  In  1865,  Skeat  published,  for  the  E.E.T.S., 
Parallel  Extracts  from  Twenty-nine  MSS.  of  Piers  the  Plowman,  and, 
in  1885,  Pa/allel  Extracts  from  Forty-five  MSS.  of  Piers  the  Plowman. 
A  facsimile  of  MS.  Laud  656  (C-text)  is  prefixed  to  vol.  iii  of  the  E.E.T.S. 
edition;  and  one  of  Laud  Misc.  581  (B-text)  may  be  found  in  Skeat's 
Twelve  Facsimiles  of  Old  English  MSS.  (Oxford,  1892).  It  has  been 
suggested  that  MS.  Laud  Misc.  581  is  the  author's  autograph,  or,  at 
least,  was  carefully  revised  by  him,  but  examination  of  the  corrections 
made  and  the  errors  left  unnoted  indicates  that  this  is  not  probable. 
A  MS.  of  the  poem  (but  of  what  version  is  unknown)  is  mentioned  in 
a  Yorkshire  will  of  1396  as  "unum  librum  vocatum  Pers  Plewman  " 
(Testam.  Eborac.  i,  209,  Surtees  Soc);  another,  in  the  will  of  John 
Wyndhill,  rector  of  Arncliffe  in  Craven,  in  143 1  {ib.  11,  34);  and  still 
another  in  the  will  of  Thomas  Roos,  of  London,  in  1433  (Fifty  Earliest 
English  Wills,  ed.  Furnivall,  Additions,  p.  2). 

Mum,  Sothsegger  (Richard  the  Redeless).  The  only  MS.  now  known  is  that 
marked  LI.  4.  14  in  the  Cambridge  University  Library,  described  by 
Skeat,  The  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman  (E.E.T.S.) 
II,  pp.  XX  f.  and  iii,  pp.  ciii  ff. 

The  Parlement  of  the  Thre  Ages  and  Wynnere  and  Wastoure.  The  MSS. 
are  described  by  Gollancz  in  his  edition. 

Letters  of  the  Insurgent  Leaders.  These  are  in  Knighton's  Chronicon  and 
Walsingham's  Historia  Anglicana,  the  MSS.  of  which  are  described  by 
the  respective  editors,  Luard  and  Riley  (Rolls  Series). 

Peres  the  Ploughmans  Crede.     The  MSS.  are  described  in  Skeat's  editions. 

The  Ploughman's  Tale.     No  MS.  is  known  to  exist. 

Jacke  Upland,  etc.  No  MS.  of  Jacke  Upland  is  known  to  exist.  The  Reply 
of  Friar  Daw  Topias  and  Jack  Upland's  Rejoinder  are  preserved  in  MS. 
Digby  41  of  the  Bodleian  Library,  cf.  Wright,  Political  Poems  and 
Songs,  II,  p.  39  n. 

The  Crowned  King  is  preserved  in  MS.  Douce  95  of  the  Bodleian  Library, 
cf.  Skeat's  E.E.T.S.  ed.  of  Piers  the  Plowman,  iii,  pp.  523  ff. 

491 


492  Bibliography  to 

Death  and  Liffe  and  the  Scotish  Ffeilde  are  preserved  in  the  Percy  Folio 
MS.;  an  imperfect  copy  of  the  latter  is  also  contained  in  a  MS.  of  queen 
Elizabeth's  time  belonging  to  the  Legh  family  at  Lyme  Hall,  Cheshire, 
and  published  in  1855  (see  below). 

Editions 

Piers  the  Plowman 
(B-text.) 

The  Vision  of  Pierce  Plowman,  now  fyrste  imprynted  by  Roberta  Crowley, 
dwellyng  in  Ely  rentes  in  Holburne.  Anno  Domini.  1505  (for  1550). 
Cum  priuilegio  ad  imprimenduw  solum.  Two  other  impressions,  both 
said  to  be  "nowe  the  seconde  time  imprinted,"  were  issued  by  Crowley 
in  the  same  year;  see  Skeat's  editions  for  descriptions. 

The  Vision  of  Pierce  Plowman,  newlye  imprynted  after  the  authours  olde 
copy,  with  a  brefe  summary  of  the  principall  matters  set  before  euery 
part  called  Passus.  Wherevnto  is  also  annexed  the  Crede  of  Pierce 
Plowman,  neuer  imprinted  with  the  booke  before.  ^Imprynted  at 
London,  by  Owen  Rogers,  dwellyng  neare  vnto  great  Saint  Bartelmewes 
Gate,  at  the  sygne  of  the  Spred  Egle.  1[The  yere  of  our  Lorde  God, 
a  thousand,  fyue  hundred,  thre  score  and  one.  The  .xxi.  daye  of  the 
Moneth  of  Februarye.  Cum  priuilegio  ad  imprimendum  solum.  (Ac- 
cording to  Skeat,  this  is  a  careless  reprint  of  Crowley's  third  impression.) 

The  Vision  and  Creed  of  Piers  Ploughman.  Ed.  Wright,  T.  2  vols.  1842. 
Second  and  revised  edition,  1856.     New  edition,  1895. 

The  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman,  together  with  Vita  de 
Dowel,  Dobet,  et  Dobest,  Secundum  Wit  et  Resoun,  by  William  Lang- 
land.     Ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.      E.E.T.S.      1869. 

The  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman  by  William  Langland 
(or  Langley).  [Prologue  and  Passus,  i-vii.]  Ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.  Oxford, 
1896.     See  also  editions  of  various  years  from  1874  to  1893. 

(C-text.) 

Visio  Willi  de  Petro  Ploughman,  Item  Visiones  ejusdem  de  Dowel,  Dobet,  et 
Dobest.  Or  the  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  Ploughman,  and  the 
Visions  of  the  same  concerning  the  Origin,  Progress,  and  Perfection  of 
the  Christian  Life.  Ascribed  to  Robert  Langland,  a  secular  Priest  of 
the  county  of  Salop;  and  written  in,  or  immediately  after,  the  year 
MCCCLXii.  Printed  from  a  MS.  contemporary  with  the  author,  collated 
with  two  others  of  great  antiquity,  and  exhibiting  the  original  text; 
together  with  an  introductory  discourse,  a  perpetual  commentary,  anno- 
tations, and  a  glossary.     Ed.  Whitaker,  T.  D.     1813. 

The  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman,  Dowel,  Dobet,  and 
Dobest,  by  William  Langland  (1393  a.d.)  .  .  .  Richard  the  Redeless,  by 
the  same  author.  (1399  a.d.)  The  Crowned  King,  by  another  hand. 
Ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.     E.E.T.S.     1873. 

(A-text.) 
The  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  Plowman,  together  with  Vita  de 
Dowel,  Dobet,  et  Dobest,  Secundum  Wit  et  Resoun,  by  William  Langland. 
(1362  A.D.)     Ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.     E.E.T.S.      1867. 


Chapter  I  493 

(The  Three  Texts.) 
The  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman  in  three  parallel  texts 
together  with   Richard  the    Redeless.     By   William   Langland   (about 
1362-1399  A.D.)-     Ed.  from  numerous  manuscripts  with  Preface,  Notes 
and  a  Glossary  by  Skeat,  W.  W.     2  vols.     Oxford,  1886. 
The  edition  for  the  E.E.T.S.,  by  Skeat,  was  begun  in  1867  with  the  publi- 
cation of  the  A-text,  and  completed  in  1884  with  the  publication  of  Part  iv, 
containing  General  Introduction,  Notes,  Indexes  and  Glossary. 

Mum,  Sothsegger  {Richard  the  Redeless) 

A  Contemporary  Alliterative  Poem  on  the  Deposition  of  King  Richard  II, 
from  an  unique  MS.  at  Cambridge.  With  the  Latin  Poem  on  the  same 
King  by  Richard  de  Maydestone,  from  a  MS.  at  Oxford.  Ed.  Wright,  T. 
Camden    Soc.     1838. 

Political  Poems  and  Songs  relating  to  English  History,  composed  during  the 
period  from  the  Accession  of  Edward  III  to  that  of  Richard  III.  Ed. 
Wright,  T.      Rolls  Series.      1859.     Vol.  i,  pp.  368-416. 

Also  in  Skeat's  E.E.T.S.  edition  of  Piers  the  Plowman.  Vol.  in  (C-text), 
and  his  Parallel  Text  edition  of  Piers  the  Plowman,  as  above. 

The  Parlement  of  the  Thre  Ages  and  Wynnere  and  Wastoure 

The  Parlement  of  the  Thre  Ages,  an  alliterative  poem  of  the  xivth  century, 
now  first  edited,  from  manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum,  with  Intro- 
duction, Notes  and  Appendixes  containing  the  poem  of  Winnere  and 
Wastoure,  by  Israel  GoUancz.     Roxburghe  Club.     1897. 

Letters  of  the  Insurgent  Leaders 

These  are  given  partly  in  Walsingham,  Historia  Anglicana  (Rolls  Series,  11, 
33-4),  and  partly  in  Knighton,  Chronicon  (Rolls  Series,  11,  138-140). 
The  earliest  edition  of  Walsingham  is  that  by  Matthew  Parker,  1574: 
Historia  Brevis  ab  Edwardo  I  ad  Henricum  V.  The  earliest  edition  of 
Knighton  is  in  Twysden's  Scriptores  X,  1652.  Some  of  the  letters  are 
printed  by  Maurice,  C.  Edmund,  English  Popular  Leaders,  11 :  Tyler,  Ball, 
Oldcastle,  1875,  pp.  157-161  ;  and  by  Trevelyan,  G.  M.,  England  in  the 
Age  of  Wyclifie,  1899  (3rd  ed.  1900),  pp.  203-4. 

Peres  the  Ploughmans  Crede 

Pierce  the  Ploughmans  Crede.  [Colophon:]  Imprinted  at  London  by  Rey- 
nold Wolfe,  anno  Domini  m.d.liii. 

Pierce  the  Ploughmans  Crede.  Printed  at  the  same  time,  1561,  as  The 
Vision,  by  Owen  Rogers,  and  often  bound  up  with  it. 

Pierce  the  Ploughmans  Crede  (about  1324  A.D.)  .  .  .  To  which  is  appended 
God  spede  the  Plough  (about  1500  a.d.).  Ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.  E.E.T.S. 
1867. 

Pierce  the  Ploughman's  Crede  (about  1394  a.d.)  .  .  .  Ed.  Skeat,  W.  W. 
Oxford,  1906.  Also  in  1842,  1856  and  1895  in  Wright's  editions  of  Piers 
the  Plowman  (B-text). 


494  Bibliography  to 

The  Ploughman  s  Tale 

The  first  edition  is  that  in  Thynne's  second  edition  of  Chaucer,  1542.  It  is 
reprinted  in  all  the  old  editions  of  the  Canterbury  Tales.  It  is  also 
printed  in  Wright's  PoHtical  Poems  and  Songs,  i,  304-345,  with  the  title. 
The  Ploughman's  Complaint;  and  in  Skeat's  Chaucerian  and  other 
Pieces,  Oxford,  1897,  PP-  147-19°- 

Jacke  Upland,  etc. 

Jack  vp  Lande  Compyled  by  the  famous  GeofiFrey  Chaucer.  Ezechielis.  xiii. 
^Wo  be  vnto  you  that  dishonour  me  to  me  people  for  an  handful  of 
barlye  8c  for  a  pece  of  bread.  Cum  priuilegio  Regali.  [Colophon:] 
IjPrynted  for  Ihon  Gough.  Cum  Priuilegio  Regali.  Hazlitt  dates  this 
edition  c.  1540;  Skeat,  c.  1536.  It  is,  apparently,  the  same  that  John 
Bale  saw  in  the  shop  of  John  Daye;  cf.  Index,  p.  274;  and  Catalogus, 
p.  454.  Bale  says  it  is  wrongly  ascribed  to  Chaucer;  he  ascribes  it  to 
Wyclif  in  both  places  just  cited.  It  does  not  appear  in  the  list  of 
WycUf's  writings  in  Bale's  Summarium,  though  "Petrum  Agricolam_ 
lib.  i  "  (Piers  the  Plowman?),  is  in  the  list,  fo.  157  ro.  There  have  been 
three  editions  since:  (i)  in  Speght's  Chaucer  (2nd  ed.),  1602;  (2)  in 
Wright's  Political  Poems  and  Songs,  11,  16-39;  (3)  in  Skeat's  Chaucerian 
and  Other  Pieces,  191-204. 

Tlie  Reply  of  Friar  Daw  Topias  and  Jack  Upland's  Rejoinder 

Printed  in  Wright's  Political  Poems  and  Songs,  11,  39-114. 

The   Crowned   King 

The  only  edition  is  that  of  Skeat  in  his  E.E.T.S.  edition  of  Piers  the  Plowman, 
III,  523-534- 

Death  and   Liffe   and   the   Scotish   Ffeilde. 

The  latter  was  first  published  from  an  imperfect  MS.  by  John  Robson  in 
Chetham  Miscellanies,  vol.  11  (Chetham  Soc.  1855);  ^  complete  edition 
from  both  of  the  known  MSS.  is  given  by  Hales  and  Furnivall,  Bishop 
Percy's  Folio  MS.  1867,  vol.  i,  pp.  199-234.  Death  and  Liffe  is  published 
in  the  same  collection,  vol.  in,  pp.  49-75,  ed.  Skeat;  and  a  modernised 
version  is  printed  by  Edward  Arber,  The  Dunbar  Anthology,  1901, 
pp.  126-141. 

Miscellaneous 

Bellezza,  P.     Langland's  Figur  des  "Plowman"  in  der  neuesten  englischen 

Literatur.     EngUsche  Studien,  xxi,  325  f. 
Bernard,  E.     WiUiam  Langland;  a  Grammatical  Treatise.     Bonn,  1874. 
Bradley,  H.     The  Plowman's  Tale.     Athenaeum,  12  July,  1902. 

The  Misplaced  Leaf  of  Piers  the  Plowman.     Ibid.  21  April,  1906. 

Brown,  J.  T.  T.     Huchown  of  the  Awle  Ryale  and  his  poems  examined  in 

the  hght  of  recent  criticism.     Glasgow,  1902.     Reviewed  by  Henderson, 

T.  F.      Englische  Studien,  xxxii,  124  f. 
Courthope,  W.  J.      A  History  of  English  Poetry.     Vol.  i,  p.  160  and  pp.  200  ff. 

[For  a  comparison  of  Piers  the  Plowman  and  Dante's  Vision.] 
Fischer,   J.    and   Mennicken,   F.     Zur  mittelengUschen   Stabzeile.     Bonner 

Beitrage  zur  AngHstik,  xi,  139-154. 


Chapter  I  495 

Giinther,  E.  Englisches  Leben  im  vierzehnten  Jahrhundert.  Dargestellt 
nach  The  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman,  by  William 
Langland.      Leipzig,  1889. 

Hanscom,  Elizabeth  D.  The  Argument  of  the  Vision  of  Piers  Plowman. 
Publications  of  the  Mod.  Lang.  Ass.  Am.  ix,  403-450.      Baltimore,  1894. 

Heath,  H.  F. ,  in  Traill's  Social  England,  vol.  11,  pp.  225  ff. 

Hopkins,  E.  M.  Character  and  Opinions  of  William  Langland,  as  shown  in 
the  Vision  of  William  concerning  Piers  the  Plowman.  Kansas  Uni- 
versity Quarterly,  April,  1894,  pp.  234-288. 

The  Education  of  WiUiam  Langland.    Princeton  College  Bulletin,  April, 

1895- 

Who  wrote  Piers  Plowman?     Kansas  University  Quarterly,  April,  1898. 

Jack,  A.   E.      The  Autobiographical  Elements  in  Piers  Plowman.     Journal 

of  Germanic  Philology,  in,  393-414. 
Jusserand,  J.  J.      Les  Anglais  au  Moyen  Age:  V6pop6e  mystique  de  William 

Langland.      Paris,  1893. 
Piers  Plowman :  a  Contribution  to  the  History  of  Enghsh  Mysticism. 

Translated  from  the  French  by  M.  E.  R.     Revised  and  enlarged  by  the 

author.      1894.     See  also  his  review  of  Skeat,  below. 
Klapprott,  L.      Das  End-e  in  W.  Langland's  Buch  von  Peter  dem  Pfluger, 

Text  B.     Gottingen.  1890. 
Kolbing.    E.     Kleine   Beitrage   zur   Erklarung   und   Text-kritik   englischer 

Dichter.      Englische  Studien,  v.  150  ff. 
Review  of  Gollancz's  edition  of  The  Parlement  of  the  Thre  Ages,  etc. 

Englische  Studien,  xxv,  273-289. 
Kron,  R       William  Langley's  Buch  von  Peter  dem  Pfluger.      Untersuchungen 

•iiber  das  Handschriftenverhaltnis,  den  Dialekt.  die  Unterschiede  inner- 

halb  der  drei  Redaktionen.  sowie  uber  Entstehungszeit  und  Verfasser. 

Erlangen,    1885,    and,    first   two   chapters,    Leipzig,    1885.      Reviewed: 

Academy.  714,  26;  by  Brandl.  A.,  Deutsche  Literaturzeitung,  1886,  518. 
Luick,    K       Die  englische   Stabreimzeile   im    14,    15,   and   16   Jahrhundert. 

Anglia,  xi,  392-443-  533-6i8. 
Geschichte  der  heimischen  englischen  Versarten.      Paul's  Grundriss  der 

germanischen  Philologie  (2nd  ed.),  11,  141-180. 
Manly,  J.  M.     The  Lost  Leaf  of  "Piers  the  Plowman."     Modem  Philology, 

III.  359-366. 
Mensendieck,   O.      Charakterentwicklung  und  etisch-theologische  Anschau- 

ungen  des  Verfassers  von  Piers  the  Plowman.      London    and  Leipzig, 

1900.      Reviewed:  Ph.  Aronstein,  Angha,  Beiblatt,  xii,  292-4;  Deutsche 

Literaturzeitung,    1901,    1434;  Wiilker,    R.,    Englische    Studien,    xxxi, 

285-88. 
Neilson,  G.     Sir  Hew  of  Eglinton  and  Huchown  of  the  Awle  Ryale.      Proc. 

Philos.  Soc.      Edinburgh,  1 900-1. 

The  Parlement  of  the  Thre  Ages.      Athenaeum,  No.  3881  (1901).  559-6i- 

Huchown  of  the  Awle  Ryale.     Glasgow,  1902.    Reviewed  by  Henderson, 

T.  F.     Enghsche  Studien,  xxxii,  124  f. 
Pearson,  C.  H.      Review  (unsigned)  of  Skeat's  edition  of  the  A-text.      North 

British  Review,  April,  1870. 
Rosenthal,  F.     Die  alliterierende  englische  Langzeile  im  xiv  Jahrhundert. 

AngHa,  i,  414-459. 
Schneider,    A.      Die    mittelenghsche    Stabzeile    im    15    u.    16    Jahrhundert. 

Bonner  Beitrage  zur  Anglistik,  xii,  102-172. 


49^  Bibliography  to 

Shute,  Helen  W.     Piers  Plowman,  B,  i,  40  f.     Archiv  fiir  das  Studium  der 

neucren  Sprachen,  c,  155  f. 
Skeat,   W.   W.     Essay  on  Alliterative  Poetry.     Bishop  Percy's  Folio  MS. 

Ed.  Hales  and  Furnivall,  iii,  xi-xxxix.      1868. 
Notes  on  Piers  Plowman.     Part  i.     E.E.T.S.     1877.     Piers  Plowman; 

Notes,    Glossary,    etc.     Part    iv.     E.E.T.S.     1884.     These    and    other 

publications  of  Skeat's  were  later  incorporated  in  his  editions,  see  above. 

Important   reviews  of  his  publications   are:  Jusserand,   J.   J.,    Revue 

Critique,  1879,  Nos.  44,  45;  Garnett,  J.  M.,  Am.  Jour,  of  Philol.,  1887, 

347-55;  Bradley,  Henry,  Academy,  No.   769,  70-71;  Athenaeum,  No. 

3099,  3S0;  Notes  and  Queries,  7th  Series,  in,  99-100. 
Teichmann,  E.     Die  Verbalflexion  in  William  Langley's  Buch  von  Peter 

dem  Pfliiger.     Programm  der  Realschule  zu  Aachen.      1887. 
Zur  Stabreimzeile  in  William  Langland's  Buch  von  Peter  dem  Pfliiger. 

Anglia,  xiii,  140-174. 

Zum  Texte  von  William  Langland's  Vision.     Anglia,  xv,  223-260. 

Wandschneider,  W.     Zur  Syntax  des  Verbs  in  Langley's  Vision  of  William 

concerning  Piers  the  Plowman.      Leipzig,  1887. 
Warren,    Kate   M.     Langland's  Vision   of   Piers  the    Plowman,   done   into 

modern  prose;  with  an  introduction.     1895.     2nd  ed.     1899. 
Ziepel,  C.     The  Reign  of  Richard  11  and  Comments  upon  an  Alliterative 

Poem   on  the    Deposition  of  the  Monarch.     Berlin,  1874.     Reviewed: 

Literarisches  Centralblatt,  1874,  1051;  Academy,  1874,  i,  660,  11,  332. 

Illustrative  Works 

Adami  Murimuthensis  Chronica  sui  Temporis.     Ed.  Hog,  T.     Engl.  Hist. 

Soc.     1846. 
Baumann,  J.  J.     Die  Staatslehre  des  heiligen  Thomas  von  Aquino.     Leipzig, 

1873- 
Brewer,  J.  S.     Monumenta  Franciscana.     2  vols.     Rolls  Series.     1858-1882. 
Brown,  E.     Fasciculus  Rerum  Expetendarum  et  Fugiendarum,  prout  ab 

Orthuino  Gratio  .  .  .  editusest  .    .    .  unacum  Appendice  sive  Tomo  II. 

Scriptorum  Veterum.     2  vols.      1690. 
Capes,  W.  W.     A  History  of  the  English  Church  in  the  Fourteenth  and 

Fifteenth  Centuries.     1903. 
Cowan,  W.     Pre-Reformation  Worthies.     1897. 

Creighton,  C.     A  History  of  Epidemics  in  Great  Britain.     Cambridge,  1891. 
Cunningham,  W.     The  Growth  of  English  Industry  and  Commerce  during 

the  Early  and  Middle  Ages.     Fourth  Edition.     Cambridge.      1905. 
Dene,  W.  de.     Historia  Roflfensis,  in  Wharton,  H.,  Anglia  Sacra.     Vol.  i. 

1691. 

Gasquet,  F.  A.     The  Black  Death  in  1348  and  1349.     New  and  revised  ed. 
1908. 

Goldast,  M.     Monarchia  S.  Romani  Imperii.     2  vols.     Frankfort,   1614.     3 

vols.     1621. 
Jessopp,  A.     The  Coming  of  the  Friars.     1889  [1888].     4th  ed.     1890. 
Lechler,  G.     Johann  von  Wiclif  und  die  Vorgeschichte  der  Reformation. 

2  vols.     Liepzig,  1873.     Translated  and  abridged  by  Lorimer,  P.:  John 

WychflFe  and  his  English  Precursors.     2  vols.  1878;  i  vol.  1881  and  n.  d. 

[1884]. 
Longman,  W.     The  Life  and  Times  of  Edward  III.     2  vols.     i860. 


Chapter  II  497 

Loserth,    J.     Studien    zur    Kirchenpolitik    Englands    im    14    Jahrhundert. 

Part  I.     Sitzungsberichte  der  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften.     Philos.- 

Hist.  Classe,  cxxxvi,  1-135.     Vienna,  1897. 
Lyte,  H.  C.  M.     A  History  of  the  University  of  Oxford  to  1530.     1886. 
Mackinnon,  J.     The  History  of  Edward  III.      1900. 
Poole,  R.  L.     Illustrations  of  the  History  of  Medieval  Thought.     1884. 

Wycliffe  and  Movements  for  Reform.     1889. 

Rashdall,  H.      The  Universities  of  the  Middle  Ages.      2   vols,  in  3  parts. 

Oxford,  1895. 
Riezler,  S.     Die  literarischen  Wiedersacher  der  Papste  zur  Zeit  Ludwigs  des 

Baiers.     Leipzig,  1874. 
Rogers,  J.  E.  T.     Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages.  2  vols.  1884.  3rded. 

I  vol.     1890. 
Wallon,  H.     Richard  II.     Paris,  1864. 

CHAPTER  II 
RELIGIOUS  MOVEMENTS  IN  THE  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY 

Richard  Rolle.     Wyclif.     The  Lollards 
Hampole:    Works 

Explanationes  super  lectiones  illas  beati  Job  quae  solent  in  exequiis  defunc- 
torum  legi  cum  sermone  beati  Augustine  de  misericordia  et  pia  oracione 
pro  defunct  is.  4to.  Oxford,  148 1-5.  (Only  three  copies  known,  which 
were  once  all  in  the  Cambridge  Univ.  Lib.  Sayle,  C,  Early  Eng.  Bks  in 
Univ.  Lib.,  Cambridge,  1900  ff.,  No.  79.  The  same:  Paris,  c.  15 10.  See 
Mattaire,  Annal.  Typ,  11,  93.) 

The  Abbaye  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Printed  by  W.  de  Worde  about  1496. 
Facsimile,  Camb.  Univ.  Press,  1907.  This  is  part  of  the  Charter  of  the 
Abbaye  of  the  Holy  Ghost  with  a  long  insertion  from  the  Abbaye  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  latter  being  a  work  ascribed  in  one  MS.  to  Hampole. 
See  Horstman,  i,  321  and  337.  Sayle,  No.  56.  A  later  edition  by  W.  de 
W.  1531;  see  Mattaire,  Annal.  Typ.  v,  Pt.  i,  p.  22. 

Richard  Rolle  Hermit  of  HampuU  in  his  contemplacyons  of  the  drede  and 
loue  of  God  with  dyuerse  tytles  as  it  sheweth  in  his  table  and  The  remedy 
against  the  troubles  of  temptacyons.  Printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde. 
1506  and  1508  respectively.  Also  reprinted  by  him  c.  1509  and  1519 
respectively.  See  Sayle,  No.  241:  also  Brit.  Mus.  Cat.  English  Printed 
Books,  p.  13 1 7.  The  "contemplacyons"  are  wrongly  ascribed  to  Rolle: 
see  Horstman,  11,  xlii  n.  and  73. 

Speculum  Spiritualiufn.  Additur  insuper  et  opusculum  Ricardi  Hampole  de 
emendacione  vitae.     Paris,  1510.     See  Sayle,  No.  6151. 

D  Richardi  Pampolitani  anglosaxonis  eremitae,  viri  in  diuinis  script uris  ac 
veteri  ilia  solidaque  Theologia  eruditissimi  in  psalterium  Davidicum 
atque  alia  quaedam  sacrae  scripturae  monumenta  compendiosa  juxtaque 
pia  enarratio.     Cologne.      1536. 

English  Prose  Treatises  of  Richard  Rolle  de  Hampole,  edited  from  Robert 
Thornton's  MS.,  c.  1444  a.d.,  by  Perry,  George  G.      E.E.T.S.     1866. 

Fire  of  Love  and  the  Mending  of  Life,  The,  or  the  Rule  of  Living.  The  First 
Englisht  in  1435,  from  the  De  Incendio  Amoris:  the  second  in  1434  from 
the  De  Emendatione  Vitae  of  Richard  Rolle,  by  Richard  Misyn.  .  .  . 
From  MS.  in  Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford.  Ed.  Harvey,  R.  E.E.T.S. 
1896. 

VOL.    11-32 


49S  Bibliography  to 

Pncke  of  Conscience  (Stimulus  Conscientiae),  The,  a  Northumbrian  Poem  by 
Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole.  Ed.  from  MSS.  in  Brit.  Mus.  by  Morris,  R. 
Phil.  Soc.  1863. 
Psalter,  The,  or  Psalms  of  David  and  certain  Canticles,  with  a  Translation 
and  Exposition  in  English,  by  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole.  Ed.  Bramley, 
II.  R.  Oxford,  1884.  [Cf.  the  metrical  Job,  in  the  Harl.  MS.] 
Yorkshire  Writers:  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole — an  English  Father  of  the 
Church  and  his  followers.  Ed.  Horstman,  C.  2  vols.  1895-6.  Contains 
most  of  the  English  prose  and  verse  writings  not  in  the  two  preceding 
works,  along  with  other  writings  by  various  mystics  of  the  School,  and  an 
ample  introduction,  bibliography  and  description  of  Latin  works  still 
in  MS.,  but  copied  by  Horstman  for  publication.  Cf.  Kolbing,  E.,  Engl. 
Stud.  XXIV,  pp.  275-9. 

For  full  bibliography,  see  Horstman,  11,  xxxvi  fif.  [Very  many  "Ham- 
pole "  MSS.  are  in  the  Cambridge  University,  Bodleian  and  British  Museum 
Libraries.] 

Hampole:  Critical  and  Illustrative  Books 

Adler,  M.  and  Kaluza,  M.     Studien  zu  R.  R.  de  H.     E.  S.  x.  1887,  p.  215. 

Andreae,  P.  Die  Handschriften  des  Pricke  of  Conscience  von  R.  R.  of  H. 
im  Brit.  Mus.     Berlin,  1888. 

Bale,  J.  Scriptorum  lUustrium  maioris  Britanniae  Catalogus.  Basel,  1559 
(p.  431).     See  also  Poole,  below. 

Breviarium  Eboracense.  Vol.  11.  Surtees  Society:  Vol.  lxxv,  for  1882. 
Appendix  v.     Officium  de  S.  Ricardo  de  Hampole. 

Bulbring,  K.  D.  Zu  der  Handschriften  von  R.  R.'s  "Pricke  of  Conscience," 
in  Englische  Studien,  xxiii,  pp.  1-30.  See  also  25  MSS.  of  Pricke  of 
Conscience  in  Trans.  Phil.  Soc.  1888-90,  pp.  261  flf. 

Bulbring,  K.  D.  Ueber  die  Hs.  Nr.  491  der  Lambeth  Bibliothek.  Arch. 
vol.  Lxxxvi,  pp.  383-392.  1891.  This  MS.  contains  the  Pricke  of 
Conscience. 

Campbell,  Killis.  A  neglected  MS.  of  the  P.  of  C.  Mod.  Lang.  Notes, 
Baltimore,  xx,  1905,  p.  210. 

Hulme,  Wm.  H.  A  Valuable  Middle  English  MS.  (which  contains  Rolle's 
Rule  of  Living).  Modern  Philology,  iv.  No.  i,  p.  67.  Chicago,  July, 
1906. 

Kdhler,  R.  Quellennachweise  zu  R.  R.  v.  H.'s  Gedicht.  The  P.  of  C.  in 
Jahrbuch  fiir  Romanische  und  Englische  Literatur.  Vol.  vi,  pp.  196- 
212.  Leipzig,  1865.  The  sources  given  are  Innocent  III  De  Contemptu 
Mundi,  and  De  Purgatorio;  Bartholomaeus  Anglicus  De  proprietatibus 
rerum;  Thos.  Aquinas;  and  Honorius  of  Autun,  Elucidarium. 

Kribel  G.  Studien  zu  R.  R.  de  Hampole  E.  S.  viii,  1885,  p.  67.  [Cf.  also 
Hahn,  Quellenuntersuchungen  zu  R.  R.'s  schriften,  1900.] 

Matzner,  Ed.      Altenglische  Sprachproben.      Berlin.      1867-9. 

Middendorf,  H.  Studien  uber  Richard  Rolle  von  Hampole  unter  besonderen 
Beriicksichtigung  seiner  Psalmen-Commentare.     Magdeburg,  1888. 

Nassyngton,  Wm.,  from  Nassington  in  Northamptonshire,  was  a  proctor  at 
York,  and  wrote  in  the  northern  dialect ;  he  translated  some  Latin  works 
such  as  one  of  Waldby's,  on  the  Trinity  and  Unity  (cf.  Horstman,  11, 
334),  and  also  his  Mirror  of  Life,  the  English  of  which  was  read  in  1384 
before  the  Vice-Chancellor  and  University  of  Cambridge  for  four  days, 
and   on    the    fifth    day    pronounced    free    from    heresy  (cf.    Thornton 


Chapter  II  499 

Romances).      Some  of  N.'s  works  in   Perry,   G.   G.,    Religious  Pieces 

in  Prose  and  Verse,  E.E.T.S.  1867  (revised  1889).     Also  some  in  Horst- 

man,  11,  274  f. 
Oudin.     Commentarius  de  Scriptoribus  Ecclesiae  Antiquis  (Frankfort  and 

Leipzig,  1722.      3  vols.).      (See  in,  927.) 
Paues,  A.  C.     A  fourteenth  century  English  Biblical  Version.     Cambridge, 

1902.      (Cf.  also  for  Wyclif.)     This  edition  was  privately  printed,  and 

includes  a  historical  introduction,  which  is  omitted  in  the  reprint  of  the 

text  (1904),  but  will  form  the  basis  of  a  new  work.      "The  English  Bible 

in  the  14th  century."     Much  light  will  be  thrown  by  it  upon  problems 

yet  unsolved. 
Poole,  R.  L.  and  Bateson,  Mary.     Anecdota  Oxoniensia.     Index  Britanniae 

Scriptorum  I.  Bale.     Oxford,  1902.     See  pp.  348-351.     Following  the 

MS.,  Rolle  is  called  by  Bale  Ricardus  Remynton. 
Saintsbury,  G.      A  History  of  English  Prosody.     Vol.  i.      [For  the  prosody 

of  the   "Hampole"   poems  and  especially  the  exceedingly  interesting 

E.I.O.  poem.] 
Simmons,  T.  F.     The  Lay  Folks'  Mass  Book.     E.E.T.S.      1879. 
Simmons,  T.  F.  and  Nolloch,  H.  E.     The  Lay  Folks'  Catechism.     E.E.T.S. 

1901. 
Tanner,   T.     Bibliotheca   Britannico-Hibernica,   p.    374.     Ed.    Wilkins,   D. 

1748. 
Thornton  Romances.     Ed.  Halliwell,  J.  O.     Camden  Society.      1844. 
Ullmann,  J.      Studien  zu  R.  R.  de  Hampole.      E.  S.  vii,  1884,  p.  415. 
Zupitza,  Julius.      Zur  meditacio   Ric.    Heremite   de    Hampole   de   Passione 

Domini  (verbal  emendations  to  Ullmann's  article).      E.S.  xii,  p.  463. 

Wyclif:  Works 

For  bibliography,  see  A  Catalogue  of  the  Original  Works  of  John  Wyclif, 
by  Shirley,  W.  W.,  Oxford,  1865.      See  also  Notes  and  Queries,  6th  series,  xi, 
1885;  Appendix  to  Lechler's  Life  of  W.,  English  edition,  pp.  480  ff . ;  and 
Arnold,  as  below,  iii,  xv-xvi  and,  for  English  Works,  xvii-xx. 
Joannis  Wyclif.     Trialogus  cum  Supplemento  Trialogi.      Gotthardus  Lechler. 

Oxford,  1869. 
Johannis  Wiclevi  Trialogus.     4to.      1525   (Basel?).      Frankfort  and  Leipzig 

(published  as  Dialogorum  Libri  quattuor). 
Wyclif 's   Latin  Works,  published  by  the  WycHf  Society.      1882- .     Among 
the  most  important  are:  De  Ecclesia,  ed.  Loserth,  Johann;  De  Dominio 
Divino,  ed.  Poole,  R.  L. ;  De  Civih  Dominio,  vol.  i,  ed.  Poole,  R.  L.,  the 
other  three  by  Loserth,  J.;  De  Veritate  Sacrae  Scripturae,  3  vols.,  ed. 
Buddensieg,  R. ;  Polemical  works,  2  vols.,  ed.  Buddensieg,  R. 
Wychf 's  Wicket,  which  he  made  in  King  Richard's  days  the  Second.      Nu- 
remberg, 1546.      Reprinted  often  later.      Probably  not  Wychf 's. 
Select  English  Works  of  John  Wychf.     3  vols.     Ed.  Arnold,  T.     Oxford, 

1869-71. 
English  Works  of  Wychf  hitherto  unprinted.     Ed.   Matthew,  F.  D.     E.E.T.S. 
1880.     [Contains  an  important  introduction.] 

Wyclif's  Bible,  etc. 

The  WycHfhte  Versions  of  the  Holy  Bible.  Ed.  Forshall,  J.  and  Madden,  F. 
4  vols.,  impl.  4to.  Oxford,  1850.  (Contains  both  versions:  the  earlier 
based  on  4  MSS.,  19  being  collated,  and  8  used  in  part :  the  later  based  on 


500  Bibliography  to 


I  MS. ,  34  collated  and  1 3  used  in  part.  The  work  contains  much  informa- 
tion, but  is  often  inaccurate,  and  needs  revision  owing  to  its  being 
compiled  without  sufficient  preparation.) 

The  New  Testament.  From  a  MS.  formerly  in  possession  of  Lea  Wilson. 
4to.     Pickering.      1848.     This  is  the  earlier  version. 

The    New  Testament,  translated  out  of  the  Latin  Vulgat  by  John  Wyclif 
about  1378.     Ed.  Lewis,  J.      Fol.   1731.     This  is  the  later  version,  not 
the  one  known  as  Wyclif's. 
See  short  bibliography  in  Fasc.  Ziz.  pp.  529  f.     The  Text  in  the  English 

Hexapla,  1841,  closely  resembles  that  of  Lewis. 

The  New  Testament  in  English  according  to  the  version  by  John  Wycliffe 
about  A.D.  1 380,  and  revised  by  John  Purvey  about  a.d.  i  388.  Formerly 
edited  by  Forshall  and  Madden,  and  reprinted.     Oxford,  1879. 

The  New  Testament  in  Scots,  being  Purvey's  Revision  of  Wycliffe's  Version 
turned  into  Scots  by  Murdoch  Nisbet,  c.  1520.  Ed.  from  the  unique  MS. 
in  the  possession  of  Lord  Amherst  of  Hackney,  by  Law,  T.  G.  Scottish 
Text  Society.  3  vols.  1901-5.  Owing  to  Law's  death,  the  notes  in 
vols.  II  and  iii  are  by  Joseph  Hall,  who  is  also  responsible  for  the  text 
of  all  three  volumes. 

The  Books  of  Job,  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song  of  Solomon, 
according  to  Wycliffite  Version  made  by  Nicholas  de  Hereford  about 
A.D.  1 38 1,  and  revised  by  John  Purvey  about  A.D.  1388.  Formerly  edited 
by  Forshall  and  Madden,  and  reprinted.     Oxford,  1881. 

Gasquet,  Dom  F.  A.  The  Old  English  Bible  and  other  Essays.  1897.  See 
also  Church  Quarterly  Review,  Oct.  1900,  and  Jan.  1901. 

Matthew,  F.  D.  The  authorship  of  the  Wychffite  Bible.  Eng.  Hist.  Rev. 
vol.  X,  p.  91. 

Ortmann,  Franz  J.  Formen  und  Syntax  des  Verbesbei  Wycliffe  und  Purvey. 
Berlin,  1902.      With  linguistic  bibliography. 

Skeat,  W.  W.  On  the  Dialect  of  Wyclif's  Bible.  Philolog.  Soc.  Trans. 
1895-8,  pp.  2 12  f.  The  result  reached  after  much  well  founded  criticism 
of  the  arrangement  of  MSS.  in  Forshall  and  Madden  is  that  most  of  the 
MSS.  are  midland  and  resemble  each  other  so  much  as  to  suggest  a  school 
of  scribes:  the  resemblance  to  dialectal  forms  in  Pecock  (see  Wager) 
suggests  Oxford  as  their  home.  The  MS.  which  has  "Nicholay  de 
Herford  "  written  on  it  has  western  forms.  On  these  points  fresh  light 
may  be  expected  from  Miss  Paues's  coming  work. 

Wyclif   and  the   Later  Lollards:  Biographical  and 

Illustrative   Works 

Bale,  John.   ScriptorumillustriummajorisBritanniae  Catalogus.   Basel,  1559. 

For  Wyclif,  see  p.  450.      See  also  Poole  and  Bateson   under  Hampole. 
A  brefe  chronicle  concemynge  the  examynacyon  and  death  of  the  blessed 

martyr  of  Christ,  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  lord  Cobham.      1  548.     Reprinted : 

1729  (and  other  editions).     See  Brit.  Mus.  Cat.  Early  English  Books,  i, 

p.  93;  also  Sayle,  No.  1038. 
Bigg,  C.  H.     Wayside  Sketches  in  Eccles.  Hist.  (Lect.  v).      1906. 
Buddcnsieg,  R.     Johann  Wichf  und  seine  Zeit.     Gotha,  1885. 
Cannon,  H.  L.     Ann.  Report  Amer.  Hist.  Ass.      1899.     Vol.  i,  pp.  451-482. 

[On  "poor  priests,"  contains  bibliography.] 
Capes,  W.  W.     The  English  Church  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries. 

1900. 


Chapter  II  501 

Capgrave's  Chronicle  of  England.     Ed.  Hingeston,  F.  C.     Rolls  Series.     1858. 
Chronicon  Angliae   (St  Albans).      Ed.  Thompson,  E.  M.     Rolls  Series.    1874. 

[Anti-Lancastrian .  ] 
Cronin,  H.  S.     The  Twelve  Conclusions  of  the  Lollards.     Eng.  Hist.  Rev., 

April,  1907,  pp.  292-304.      From  Roger  Dymok's  MS.,  Against  the  xii 

Conclusions  of  the  Lollards,  in  the  library  of  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge. 
Dymok,  Roger  (/?.  1390),  author  of  Opus  distinctum  Libris  xii  adversus  xii 

haereses  LoUardorum,  which  will  shortly  be  printed  by  H.  S.  Cronin, 

Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge,  for  the  Wyclif  Soc. 
Foxe,  John.     Acts  and  Monuments.     Ed.  Townsend,  G.  and  Cattley,  S.  R. 

8   vols.      1 84 1.     Vols.   11   and   iii  contain  much  upon   Wyclif  and  the 

Lollards. 
Forshall,  J.  and  Madden,  F.     Glossary  to  Wycliffite  versions  of  the  Bible. 

Oxford,  1850. 
Gairdner,    Jas.    and    Spedding,    Jas.      Studies   in    English    History.      Edin- 
burgh, 1881.      (i.  On  early  Lollards;  11,  On  later  Lollards  and  Pecock; 

III,  On  Falstaff  and  Oldcastle.) 
GoUancz,  Israel.     The  Quatrefoil  of   Love  in   An   English  Miscellany:  pre- 
sented to  F.  J.  Furnivall.      Oxford,  1907.      Cf.  also  The  Parlement  of 

Thre  Ages,  ed.  Gollancz,  L,  Roxburghe  Club,  1897. 
Higden,  R.      Polychronicon.    Rolls  Series.    Babington  and   Lumby.    9  vols. 

1865-86. 
James,  T.  (ed.)     Two  short  treatises  against  the  Begging  Friars.     Oxford, 

1608. 
Knighton,  H.     Chronicon.     Rolls  Series.     Ed.  Lumby.     2   vols.     1889-95. 

[Lancastrian.] 
Lechler,   G.     Johann   von   Wiclif  und   die  Vorgeschichte   der  Reformation. 

2   Bde.   Leipzig,    1873.     Trans,   by  Lorimer  as:  John  Wycliffe  and  his 

English  Precursors.   1884.     [The  most  authoritative  work.] 
Lewis,  J.     Life  and  Sufferings  of  .   .   .  Wiclif.      1720  and  Oxford,  1820. 
Littlehales,  H.     Lay  Folks'  Prayer  Book.     c.  1420.     E.E.T.S.  cv  and  cix. 
Pages  in  facsimile  from  a  Layman's  Prayer  Book  in  English  about  a.d. 

1400.      1890. 

English  Fragment  from  Latin  medieval  service  Books.      1903. 

The  Prymer  or  Prayer  Book  of  the  Lay  People  in  the  Middle  Ages  in 

English.    Ed.  with  notes  etc.  from  MS.  in  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge. 

1891. 
Loserth,  J.     Wyclif's   activity   in  ecclesiastical  politics.     Eng.    Hist.    Rev. 

vol.  XI,  p.  319. 
Neue  Erscheinungen  der  Wiclif-Literatur.     J.  L.  in  Historische  Zeit- 

schrift.      1905.     Bd.  95,  pp.  271-7. 
Hus   und   Wyclif.     Prag.     1884.  Trans,  by   Evans,    M.  J.    1884.  The 

best  account  of  the  indebtedness  of  Hus  to  Wyclif. 
Studien   zur   Kirchenpolitik    Englands   im    14   Jahrhundert.     2    Thle. 

Vienna,  1897  and  1907.      (Sitzungsberichte  der  k.  Acad,  der  Wiss.  in 

Wien.) 
Matthew,  F.  D.  (ed.).     Trial  of  Wyche.     Eng.  Hist.  Rev.  vol.  v,  pp.  530-544. 
The  Date  of  Wyclif's  attack  upon  Transubstantiation.     Eng.  Hist.  Rev. 

vol.  v,  p.  328. 
Mombert,  J.  L     English  Versions  of  the  Bible.     A  Hand-book  with  copious 

examples  illustrating  the  ancestry  and  relationship  of  the  several  ver- 
sions, and  comparative  tables.     Enlarged  edition.     London,  1907. 


$02  Bibliography  to 

Morlcy.  II.     English  Writers.    Vol.  v.     1890. 

Nettcr.     See   Walden. 

Pecock,  R.  The  Repressor  of  over-much  blaming  of  the  Clergy.  Ed. 
Babington,  C.    2  vols.    Rolls  Series,     i860. 

Pollard,  A.  W.  Fifteenth  Century  Prose  and  Verse.  1903.  [In  An  Eng- 
lish Gamer.  Contains  Examinations  of  William  Thorpe  and  Sir  John 
Oldcastle.] 

Poole,  R.  L.     WyclifTe  and  Movements  for  Reform.      1889. 

Illustrations  of  the  History  of  Medieval  Thought  in  the  departments  of 

Theology  and  Ecclesiastical  Politics.  1884.  Chapter  x,  on  Wyclif's 
Doctrine  of  Lordship,  is  to  be  read  along  with  the  introductions  to 
Wyclif's  two  treatises  on  Dominion. 

Purvey.  The  General  Prologue  to  the  Bible.  Printed  under  the  title  of  the 
Dore  of  Holy  Scripture,  by  John  Gough.     1536. 

The  True  Copy  of  a  Prolog  written  about  two  C  yeres  past.    Crowley, 

Robert.  1550.  Sayle,  No.  1093.  The  running  title  is  The  Pathway  to 
perfect  knowledge.  The  same  work  as  the  above.  For  Luther's  edition 
of  Purvey  on  the  Apocalypse  (Bale,  542)  see  Wylie,  below,  in,  312  n. 

Remonstrance  against  Romish  corruptions  in  the  Church.     Ed.  Forshall, 

J.      1851. 

Radcliffe,  Nicholas.  Was  present  at  the  Earthquake  Council,  and  also 
argued  with  Aston:  he  was  a  partner  with  the  Carmelite  Peter  Stokes 
in  writing  Viaticum  salubre  animae  immortalis. 

Ramsay,  Sir  J.  H.  Lancaster  and  York.  A  century  of  English  history- 
A.D.  1399-1485.     2  vols.     Oxford,  1892. 

Rashdall,  H.  R.  History  of  the  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Vol.  III.  Oxford,  1895.  [See  also  his  article  on  Wyclif  in  the  D.  of 
N.  B.] 

Repington,  Philip:  an  Oxford  follower  of  Wyclif,  who  recanted,  and  after- 
wards became  Bp  of  Lincoln  and  cardinal.  See  Fasc.  Ziz.,  Lechler  and 
Wylie,  III,  349. 

Shirley,  W.  W.  (ed.).  Fasciculi  Zizaniorum  Magistri  Johannis  Wyclif  cum 
Tritico:  ascribed  to  Thomas  Netter  of  Walden.  Rolls  Series.  1858. 
[An  invaluable  work.] 

Strode,  Ralph.  W^yclif  claims  to  have  known  him  "in  the  schools,"  and  his 
Responsiones  ad  Radolphum  Strodum  remain  in  MS.  in  the  Imperial 
Library  at  Vienna :  they  will  be  published  by  the  Wyclif  Society  proba- 
bly in  191 1.     For  Strode,  see  Bale,  ed.  Poole  and  Bateson,  pp.  334-5. 

Stubbs,  W.     Constitutional  History,  chapters  xvi  and  xix. 

Tanner,  T.  Bibliotheca  Brit.  Hib.  (for  Walden,  Wyclif  (Wiclevus),  John 
Waldby,  Repington  and  Purvey). 

Ten  Brink,  B.  Hist.  Eng.  Lit.  (Eng.  trans.).  1901.  Vol.  11,  pp.  23-24,  for 
the  peasants'  rising. 

Thompson,  E.  M.     WyclifTe  Exhibition.     1884. 

Todd,  J.  H.  (ed.).     Last  Age  of  the  Church.     Dublin,  1840. 

An  Apology  for  Lollard  Doctrines   (attributed  to  Wyclif).     Camden 

Soc.  1842.  The  range  of  reading  is  exactly  that  of  Purvey's  Remon- 
strance and  his  Prologue  to  the  Bible. 

Three  Treatises  by  John  WycklyfTe.     Dublin,  185 1. 

Trevelyan,  G.  M.     England  in  the  Age  of  Wycliffe.      1899.     3rd  edition,  1900. 

Twemlow,  Jesse  A.  Wycliffe's  preferments  and  tmiversity  degrees.  Eng. 
Hist.  Rev.  vol.  xv,  p.  529. 


Chapter  II  503 

Wager,  C.  H.  A.  Pecock's  Repressor  and  the  Wyclif  Bible  (correcting 
Babington's  statement  that  Pecock  quotes  the  Wyclifite  Version),  in 
M.L.N.  Baltimore,  ix,  1894,  pp.  193-197. 

Waldby,  Robert,  archbishop  of  York,  1397  (sometimes  confused  with  his 
brother  John),  was  educated  at  Toulouse,  present  at  the  Earthquake 
Council,  and  wrote  Contra  Wiclevistas.  (See  Raine,  J.,  Historians  of 
the  Church  of  York  and  its  archbishops.  Rolls  Series,  3  vols.,  1879-94; 
andD.  of  N.  B.) 

Waldby,  John,  brother  of  above,  author  of  Speculum  Vitae  (Mirror  of  Life) 
and  Latin  works. 

Walden,  Thomas  de  (Netter).  Netter,  called  Walden  from  his  birthplace. 
Saffron  Walden.  One  of  the  leading  theological  writers  of  the  day, 
and  active  in  England  against  the  Lollards.     See  Fasc.  Ziz.  lxx-lxxii. 

Opera.  Doctrinale  antiquitatum  (contra  Wiclevistas).  3  vols.  Ven- 
ice, 1571.     Also,  Paris,  1521-32. 

Walsingham.  Thomas  of  Walsingham's  Historia  Anglicana  (St.  Albans). 
2  vols.     Rolls  Series.    1863-4. 

Wodeford,  William.  Contra  Trialogum  Wiclevi.  Printed  in  Fasciculus 
Rerum  Expetendarum  et  Fugiendarum  prout  ab  Orthuino  Gratio,  Pres- 
bytero  Daventriensi,  editus  est  Coloniae,  a.d.  mdxxiv.  Opera  et  studio 
Edwardi  Brown.      Londoni,  mdcxcl,  vol.  i.  pp.  190-295. 

Workman,  H.  B.     The  Dawn  of  the  Reformation.     The  Age  of  Wyclif.     1901. 

The  Dawn  of  the  Reformation.     The  Age  of  Hus.     1902. 

Wright,  T.  (ed.).  Political  Poems  and  Songs  relating  to  English  History. 
Rolls  Series.  2  vols.  1859-61.  Especially  John  of  Bridlington,  i,  123- 
215,  a  political  tract  from  end  of  Edward  Hi's  reign;  Against  the  Lol- 
lards, I,  231-249:  connects  Wyclif  with  Peasants'  Revolt;  On  Earth- 
quake Council  (1382),  I,  253-263;  Songs  against  the  Friars,  i,  263-270; 
for  CAIM  see  p.  266:  this  is  a  mixture  of  English  and  Latin;  The  Plow- 
man's Tale,  I,  304-346  (see  chapter  i  of  the  present  vol.,  and  bibliography 
thereto) ;  Jacke  Upland,  11,  16-39  :  a  Lollard  attack  on  the  Friars  with  the 
Reply  of  Friar  Daw  Topias,  and  a  rejoinder  by  Jack  Upland,  11.  39-114; 
Against  the  Lollards  (especially  Oldcastle).  11,  243-7;  Against  the  Friars, 
II,  249,  250. 

Wylie,  J.  H.     History  of  England  under  Henry  IV.    Vols.  i-iv.     1884-98. 

CHAPTER   HI 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  ENGLISH    PROSE 

Trevisa.     The  Mandeville   Translators 

(i)  Trevisa 

Bartholomaeus  Anglicus  (fl.  1230-50),  sometimes  erroneously  designated 
Bartholomew  de  Glanvil  or  Glanville,  one  of  the  friars  minor,  an  English- 
bom  scholar  of  Paris.  His  classic  work  was  first  printed  at  Basel, 
c.  1470.  It  was  translated  into  French  before  Trevisa  translated  it 
into  English.  De  Proprietatibus  Rerum,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  1495; 
Berthelet,  1535,  shortened  and  altered;  Batman  (Batman  on  Bar- 
tholomew), 1582,  much  shortened  and  altered.  MSS.  at  Helmingham, 
Burleigh  House,  Cambridge  Univ.  Library,  Brit.  Mus.  Harl.  614,  Harl. 
4789. 


504  Bibliography  to 


Dialogue,  between  "  Dominus  "  and  "Clericus,"  with  an  epistle  to  Lord 
Berkeley,  being  introduction  to  Polychronicon,  as  in  MS.  Harl.  1900 
and  Marquis  of  Exeter's  MS.  at  Burleigh  House.  Printed  by  Caxton 
with  Polychronicon.  Also  in  John  Smyth's  Lives  of  the  Berkeleys, 
vol.  I,  ed.  Maclean,  Gloucester,  1883. 

Higden's  Polychronicon  (translation).  Caxton,  1482;  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
1495?;  P.  Treveris,  1527;  Rolls  Series,  1865-86:  with  Latin  text:  also 
with  anonymous  translation,  c.  1432-50:  vols,  i,  11,  and  introduction  by 
Churchill  Babington:  vols,  iii-ix  by  J.  R.  Lumby,  with  introduction  to 
vol.  III.  For  most  of  the  work  four  MSS.  of  Trevisa  are  compared. 
MSS.  at  Burleigh  House;  St.  John's  Coll.,  Camb. ;  Brit.  Mus.  Addit. 
24,194,  early  1 5th  century,  once  the  Earl  of  Warwick's;  Cott.  Tib.  D.  vii, 
northern;  Harl.  1900,  dated  1448. 

Works  in  Manuscript 

Begynynge  of  the  World,  The,  and  the  Rewmes  betwixe  of  Folkis  and  the 
Ende  of  Worldes,  translation  of  a  tract  by  pseudo-Methodius.  Included 
in  MSS.  Harl.  1900  and  Bartholomaeus  at  Burleigh  House. 

Dialogus  inter  Militem  et  Clericum.  Translation  from  pseudo-Ockham 
on  temporal  power  of  the  church.  Sermon  by  Richard  FitzRalph 
abp  Armagh,  addressed  to  the  pope,  against  the  mendicant  friars. 
Translation. — These  two  included  with  Polychronicon  in  the  following 
MSS:  Brit.  Mus.  Addit.  24,194;  Harl.  1900;  St.  John's  Coll.,  Camb., 
and  with  Bartholomaeus  at  Burleigh  House.  Probably  anterior  to 
Polychronicon. 

Nicodemus  de  Passione  Christi.     Translation.     Brit.  Mus.  Addit.  16,165. 

(?)  Vegetius  de  Re  Militari  and  (?)  Egidius  de  Regimine  Principum.     Trans- 
lations doubtful.     Bodleian,  Digby  MSS.,  233. 
For  further  bibliographical  information,  see: 

Ames,  J.  Typographical  Antiquities.  1749.  Also,  ed.  Dibdin,  T.  F.  1810. 
Gives  colophon,  discusses  dates. 

Bale,  J.  Illustrium  majoris  Britanniae  Scriptorum  Summarium.  Ed. 
Poole,  R.  L.  and  Bateson,  M.     Oxford,  1903.     Anecdota  Oxoniensia. 

Blades,  W.  Life  and  Typography  of  Caxton.  2  vols.  1861-3.  Vol.  r 
gives  Caxton's  Prohemye  to  Polychronicon,  vol.  11  bibliography  of  MSS. 

Cooke,  J.  H.,  in  Bristol  and  Gloucestershire  Archaeolog,  Society's  Trans- 
actions, 1877,  Account  of  Inscriptions  in  Berkeley  Castle  Chapel;  and  in 
Notes  and  Queries,  5th  Series,  vol.  x  (1878),  p.  261,  on  Trevisa's  Trans- 
lation of  the  Bible. 

Tanner,  T.  Bibhotheca  Britannico-Hibemica.  Ed.  Wilkins,  D.  1748. 
{Sitb  nom.) 

Trevisa's  Life  and  connection  with  Oxford 

Boase.  C.  W.      Register  of  E.xeter  College,  Oxford  Historical  Society,  1894,  or, 

more  briefly,  in  Historical  MSS.  Commission,  2nd  and  3rd  Reports. 
Boase.  G.  C.  and  Courtney,  W.  P.     Bibhotheca  Comubiensis.     3  vols.     1874- 

82.     Vol.  II.  Calendar  Patent  Rolls,  Richard  II,  sub  an.     i^yg,    1380. 

1384.     On  John   Cornwall  and    Richard   Pencrich,   see  the  paper  by 

Stevenson,  W.  H.,  in  An  EngUsh  Miscellany,  presented  to  F.  J.  Furnivall, 

1 90 1. 

Wood,  Anthony.  History  and  Antiquities  (Annals)  of  the  University  of 
Oxford.  Ed.Gutch.J.  5  vols.,  Oxford,  1786.  S«6an.  1379.  Goodac- 
count,  with  references. 


Chapter  III  505 

(2)  Mandeville 

French  version  (?  oldest)  Bibl.  Nat.  Nouv.  Acq.  fr.  4515.     First  printed 
edition,  possibly,  was  that  of  Pietro  de  Comero,  Milan,  1480. 
Editions  of  Cotton  MS.    (Titus  C.  xvi).     Voiage  and  Travaile  of  Sir  John 
Mandeville,    1725,    1727;   reprinted,    with   introduction  and   notes   by 
Halliwell,  J.  O.,  1839  ff.      See  also  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  11,  113,  for  a  poem 
on  "the  commonyng  of  Ser  John  Mandevelle  &  the  gret  Souden"  {c.  early 
1 6th  cent.),  and  Hazlitt,  W.  C,  Remains  of  Early  Popular  Poetry  of 
England,  vol.  i,  p.  153. 
Modernised.      The  Travels  of   Sir  John  Mandeville   (with  three  illustra- 
tive narratives).      Ed.  Pollard,  A.  W.      1900. 
Edition  of  Egerton  MS.,    1982.     The  Buke  of  John  Mandeville.     Ed.   for 
Roxburghe  Club  by  Warner,  G.  F.  1889.     With  a  French  version,  MS. 
Harl.  4383,  apparently  original  of  Cotton  MS.      With  introduction  and 
notes,  on  authorship,  versions,  sources  and  MSS.     The  principal  author- 
ity on  Mandeville. 
Editions  of  defective  text  (as  Brit.  Mus.  Harl.  3954  and  others).      Pynson  (no 
date),  unique  copy  in  Grenville  Library,  Brit.  Mus. ;  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
1499,  A  lytell  Treatise  or  Booke,  named  John  Mandevyll,  Knyht,  borne 
in  Englande,  in  the  towne  of  Saynt  Abone,  and  speaketh  of  the  wayes 
of  the  Holy  Lande  toward  Jherusalem,  and  of  the  Marvyles  of  Ynde  and 
other  diverse  Countries;  and  1503  ;  Este,  i568;T.  Stanby,  1618  (woodcuts) 
and  many  later. 
Outremeuse,  Jean  d'.     Ly  Myreur  des  Histors  [with  La  geste  de  Liege]. 
Ed.  Borgnet  (and  Bormans).      6  vols.      Brussels,  1864-7.      See  especially 
vol.  Ill,  p.  57. 
For  further  bibliographical  information,  see  edd.  Warner  and  Halliwell, 
also  W^arner  in  Dictionary  of  National  Biography;  Vogels,  J.,  Die  ungedruck- 
ten  lateinischen   Versionen   Mandeviles,    Crefeld,    1886;    Schonborn,  C.    G., 
Bibliographische  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  Reisebeschreibung  des  Sir  J.  M., 
Breslau,   1840;  Tobler,  T.,   Bibliographia  Geographia  Palaestinae,  Leipzig, 
1867. 

Critical  Discussions,  etc. 

Bovenschen.     Untersuchungen  iiber  J.  von  Mandevile  und  Quellen  fiir  die 

Reisebeschreibung  des  J.  v.  M.      Berlin,  1888. 
Cordier,  H.     T'oung  Pao,  Archives  pour  I'histoire.   .   .   .     Vol    11.      Leyden, 

1 89 1.      On  French  editions. 
Fife,  R.  H.      Wortschatz.  des  englischen  Mandeville  nach  der  Versionen  der 

Cottonhandschrift.      Leipzig,   1902. 
Leland,   J.      De   Scriptoribus   Britannicis   contains  the   anciently   accepted 

errors. 
Matzner,  E.     Altengl.  Sprachproben.     Berlin,  1867-9. 
Murray,  D.     John  de  Burdens  .  .  .  otherwise  Sir  J.  M.  and  the  Pestilence. 

Privately  pr.  Paisley  and  London,  1891,  and  in  Black  Book  of  Paisley, 

1885,  for  MSS.  of  John  de  Bourgogne. 
Nicholson,   E.   B.,  in  Academy,  vol.   xxv   (1884),  p.   261,  on  Bormans;  in 

Bibliophile  Beige,  1866,  p.  236,  on  Louis  Abry's  quotation  from  Outre- 
meuse. 
Nicholson,  E.  B.  and  Yule,  H.,  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica.     On  authorship 

and  sources. 


5o6  Bibliography  to 

Vogels,  J.     Handschriftliche  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  englische  Versionen 

Mandeviles.     Crefeld,  1891. 
Wright,  T.      Early  Travels  in  Palestine.      1848. 

Yule,  H.      Cathay  and  the  Way  Thither.      Vol.  i.      1866.      For  Odoric  and 
notes  on  journeys. 
[For  examples  of  the  state  use  of  English  in  the  14th  cent,  see  Rotuli 
Parliamentorum,  11  and  iii.] 

CHAPTER    IV 

THE  SCOTTISH  LANGUAGE 

Early  and  Middle  Scots 

Much  remains  to  be  done  in  the  study  of  the  development  of  literary 
Scots  down  to  the  close  of  the  middle  period.  All  earlier  work  (and,  indeed, 
much  of  present-day  effort)  has  been  confined  to  the  elucidation  of  the 
characteristics  of  special  texts.  Books  like  Sinclair's  Observations  on  the 
Scottish  Dialect  (i  782)  have  a  historical  interest,  but  are  not  of  any  scientific 
value.  The  first  important  contribution  was  made  by  James  A.  H.  Murray 
in  The  Dialect  of  the  Southern  Counties  of  Scotland:  its  Pronunciation. 
Grammar,  and  Historical  Relations,  printed,  in  1873,  for  the  Philological 
Society.  In  1902,  the  present  writer  published  Specimens  of  Middle  Scots 
with  an  introduction  dealing  with  the  literary  forms  of  Middle  Scots.  The 
chapter  in  this  volume  is  based  on  that  work,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred 
for  details  of  argument  and  illustration.  Important  contributions  are  being 
made  in  the  articles  in  the  New  English  Dictionary  (ed.  Murray,  Bradley, 
and  Craigie),  and  some  aid  has  been  given  in  the  English  Dialect  Dictionary 
and  Dialect  Grammar  (ed.  Wright,  J.).  Jamieson's  well-known  Scottish  Dic- 
tionary, now  useless  as  a  philological  guide,  may  be  consulted  for  illustrative 
examples;  but  the  best  of  these  have  been  incorporated  in  the  New  English 
Dictionary.  For  the  influence  of  French  on  Scots,  Francisque-Michel's 
Inquiry  (w.  5.)  may  be  referred  to;  but,  for  reasons  stated  in  the  chapter, 
this  work  should  be  used  with  caution.  For  discussion  of  the  language 
of  special  texts,  the  following  references  to  editorial  introductions  may 
be  useful:  Barbour's  Brus,  ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.,  E.E.T.S.  1870-89;  revised 
edition  S.T.S.  1894;  The  Kingis  Quair,  ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.,  S.T.S.  1884, 
Lancelot  of  the  Laik,  ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.,  E.E.T.S.  1865;  The  Complaynt  of 
Scotlande,  ed.  Murray,  J.  A.  H.,  E.E.T.S.  1872;  Bellenden's  Livy,  ed. 
Craigie,  W.  A.,  S.T.S.  1901-3. 

CHAPTER  V 

THE  EARLIEST  SCOTTISH  LITERATURE 

Barbour.    Blind    Harry.    Huchoun.    Wyntoun.    Holland 

Apart  from  books  on  English  literature  which  contain  accounts  of  Scottish 
literature,  the  most  important  works  on  the  whole  subject  are: 

Irving.  David.  History  of  Scotish  Poetry.  Ed.  Cariyle,  J.  A.  Edinburgh. 
1861.  This  posthumously  published  work  had  been  in  preparation  as 
early   as  1828.     Though  a  work  of  great  learning,  it  is  now  out  of  date. 

Henderson,  T.  F.  Scottish  Vernacular  Literature.  Second  revised  edition 
1900. 

Millar,  J.  H.   A  Literary  History  of  Scotland.    1903. 


Chapter   V  507 

MSS.  of  Barbour  and  Blind  Harry 

Barbour.  The  only  edition  of  the  Bruce  which  contains  a  trustworthy  text 
is  that  edited  for  the  Early  English  Text  Society  by  W.  W.  Skeat, 
1870-89  (reprinted,  with  correction  of  errata,  for  the  Scottish  Text 
Society,  1893-95).  The  preface  of  this  edition  contains  an  account 
of  the  two  MSS.,  viz.  C  in  the  library  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge 
(which  is  the  better,  but  has  lost  twenty-five  leaves),  and  E  in  the  Ad- 
vocates' Library,  Edinburgh.  This  MS.  is  in  the  same  volume  with  the 
unique  MS.  of  Blind  Harry's  Wallace.  As  the  colophons  inform  us,  all 
three  MSS.  were  written  by  John  Ramsay;  C  in  1487,  E,  raptim  scriptus, 
for  Simon  Lochmalony  of  Auchtermonsey,  Fife,  in  1489.  The  MS.  of 
Wallace  was  written  in  1488.  Owing  to  the  longer  lines  of  Wallace, 
Ramsay  used  a  larger  page  than  he  had  chosen  for  C  and,  proceeding  to 
copy  the  Bruce  on  the  same  paper,  found  he  had  room  to  write  E  in 
double  columns. 

Editio)is  of  Barbour 

The  unique  copy  of  the  earliest  known  edition,  which  was  published  about 
1570,  and  seems  to  have  been  carefully  collated,  was  No.  11  in  the 
sale  of  W.  C.  van  Antwerp's  books  at  Sotheby's  in  March,  1907.  Hart's 
edition  of  1616  contains  some  lines  missing  from  the  existing  MSS.,  and 
interpolates  others.  Editions  to  some  extent  critical  are:  Pinkertons, 
1790,  Jamieson's,  1820,  and  Cosmo  Innes's,  1856  (Spalding  Club).  The 
last  has  an  interesting  historical  introduction.  J.  T.  T.  Brown  (Wallace 
and  Bruce  restudied,  Bonn,  1900,  pp.  85  ff.)  argues  that  Wyntoun  does 
not  attribute  a  Brut  to  Barbour  but  quotes  from  the  Latin  of  Geof- 
frey of  Monmouth.  For  other  matters  contained  in  Brown's  book  cf. 
Athenaeum  from  Nov.  i  7  to  Dec.  8,  1900. 

Anonymous  Works  sometimes  attributed  to  Barbour 

Two  of  these  were  first  described  and  assigned  to  Barbour  by  Henry  Brad- 
shaw  in  a  communication  to  the  Cambridge  Antiquarian  Society  in 
1866,  reprinted  in  Bradshaw's  Collected  Papers,  pp.  58  if.  They  are 
(a)  fragments  of  a  translation  of  Guido  delle  Colonne's  Siege  of  Troy, 
(6)  the  legends  of  the  Saints.  Both  are  printed  together  (with  the 
exception  of  the  legend  of  St.  Machor  already  published  in  Altenglische 
Legenden,  neue  Folge,  Heilbronn,  1881)  in  Horstmann's  Barbours  des 
schottischen  nationaldichters  Legendensammlung  nebst  den  Fragmenten 
seines  Trojanerkrieges,  Heilbronn,  1882.  The  authorship  has  been 
disproved  by  Koppel,  E.,  Die  Fragmente  von  Barbours  Trojanerkrieg, 
Englische  Studien,  x,  373;  and  by  Buss,  P.,  Sind  die  von  Horstmann 
herausgegeben  schottischen  Legenden  ein  werk  Barbere's,  Anglia,  ix, 
493.      See  also  Skeat's  Barbour,  E.E.T.S.  pp.  xlv  fi. 

(6)  An  edition  of  the  legends,  with  notes  and  glossary  edited  by  Metcalfe, 
W.  M.,  has  been  published  by  the  Scottish  Text  Society  in  six  parts, 
1887-96.  The  same  editor  has  published  separately  The  Legends  of  SS. 
Ninian  and  Machor,  Paisley,  1904.  Some  of  the  lives  are  assigned  to 
Barbour  by  Neilson,  G.  (Scottish  Antiquary,  January,  1897  ;  Athenaeum, 
27  February,  1897). 

ic)  The  Buik  of  the  most  noble  and  vaiheand  Conquerour  Alexander  the 
Great.      Reprinted  from  a  unique  copy  of  about  1580  by  the  Bannatyne 


5o8  Bibliography  to 

Club  in  1 83 1  but  not  published  till  1834.  The  language  is  undoubtedly 
very  close  to  Barbour's,  though  sHghtly  more  modern.  Either  the  book 
is  the  work  of  Barbour  preserved  in  a  somewhat  later  form  or  the  author 
was  saturated  with  Barbour's  diction  so  that  he  continually  repeats  his 
phrases.  The  chief  difficulty  in  assigning  it  to  Barbour,  as  is  done 
by  G.  Neilson,  is  that  the  epilogue  of  the  work,  the  style  of  which 
diflFers  in  no  respect  from  the  rest,  definitely  assigns  it  to  the  year 
1438. 

Do  the  gude  and  haue  louing. 
As  quhylum  did  this  nobill  King, 
that  zit  is  prysed  for  his  bounte, 
the   quhether   thre  hundreth    zeir  was  he, 
Before  the  tyme  that  Gcd  was  borne, 
to  saue  our  saullis  that  was  forlorne. 
Sen  syne  is  past  ane  thousand  zeir. 
Four  hundreth  and  threttie  thair  to  neir, 
And  aucht  and  sumdele  mare  I  wis. 

Neilson's  attempt  to  explain  this  away  is  not  satisfactory  See  his 
paper,  John  Barbour,  poet  and  translator  (reprinted  from  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Philological  Society),  1900;  Herrmann,  A.,  The  Forraye 
of  Gadderis,  the  Vowis,  Berlin,  1 900.  This  latter  (which  I  have  not  seen) 
includes  also  extracts  from  Sir  Gilbert  Hay's  still  unpublished  Buik  of 
King  Alexander,  which  dates  from  1456,  but  is  often  confused  with  the 
older  work  (see  Gollancz,  Parlement  of  the  Thre  Ages,  1897,  p.  xvii,  in 
which  comparative  extracts  of  the  two  works  are  given,  pp.  140-3). 
See  also  A.  Herrmann's  Untersuchungen  iiber  das  schottische  Alexander- 
buch,  Berlin,  1893,  ^"d  the  Taymouth  Castle  manuscript  of  Sir  Gilbert 
Hay's  Buik  of  King  Alexander  the  Conquerour,  which  contains  a 
summary  of  the  story  and  extracts  (Wissenschaftliche  Beilage  zum 
Jahresbericht  der  zwolften  stadtischen  Realschule  zu  Berlin,  Ostem, 
1898).  The  Buik  of  1438  is  assigned  by  J.  T.  T.  Brown  to  David  Rate, 
Confessor  of  James  I  of  Scotland,  and  author  of  Ratis  Raving  (Wallace 
and  Bruce  restudied,  p.  101). 
The  death  year  of  Barbour  is  not  quite  certain.  According  to  the  Registrum 
Episcopatus  Aberdonensis  (11,  p.  212)  he  died  on  13  March,  but  the  year 
is  given  absurdly  as  M.cc.xc.  It  has  been  given  here  as  1396  because  in 
the  accounts  of  the  city  of  Aberdeen  presented  at  Perth  on  5  April,  1395, 
he  is  described  as  Archidiacono  Aberdonensi  ad  presens  and  as  himself 
receiving  his  pension  of  205.  from  the  fermes  (Exchequer  Rolls  of  Scot- 
land, in,  p.  268).  Next  year,  when  the  accounts  are  presented  on  25 
April,  his  death  and  the  terms  of  his  bequest  of  his  pension  to  the  dean 
and  chapter  are  recorded  and  the  205.  are  entered  as  paid  to  them -accord- 
ingly (o/j.  cit.  p.  395).  Now,  either  the  accounts  were  made  up  before  his 
decease  on  13  March,  1395,  or,  owing  to  his  illness  or  to  unpunctual 
payment,  the  pension  for  1395  was  not  paid  at  Martinmas  (11  Nov.)  as 
it  should  have  been,  when,  if  he  died  in  1396,  he  would  have  been  ahve 
to  receive  it.  His  other  pension  of  £10  from  the  customs  of  Aberdeen 
was  paid  half  yearly  at  Whitsunday  and  Martinmas,  and,  as  no  payment 
was  made  in  the  year  from  3  April,  1395,  to  3  April,  1396,  it  is,  perhaps, 
safer  to  put  his  death  in  1395. 


Chapter  V  509 


Blind  Harry 

For  Wallace  the  only  good  text  is  that  of  James  Moir  for  the  Scottish  Text 
Society,  1884-9  (The  actis  and  deidis  of  the  illustere  and  vailjeand 
campioun  Schir  William  Wallace  Knicht  of  EUerslie.  By  Henry 
the  Minstrel  commonly  known  as  Blind  Harry) .  David  Laing  discovered 
twenty  mutilated  leaves  of  an  edition  printed  with  the  types  of  Walter 
Chepman,  and,  therefore,  assigned  by  him  to  somewhere  about  1508. 
The  next  edition,  of  which  only  one  copy  (in  the  British  Museum)  is 
known,  was  published  in  1570,  according  to  the  colophon  "Imprentit  at 
Edinburgh  be  Robert  Lekpreuik  at  the  Expensis  of  Henrie  Charteris, 
&  ar  to  be  sauld  in  his  Buith,  on  the  North  syde  of  ye  gait  abone  the 
Throne."  Jamieson  edited  Wallace  along  with  Barbour's  Bruce  in 
1820.      For  further  details  see  Moir's  edition,  introduction,  pp.  xiii-xviii. 

Blind  Harry  and  John  de  Ramsay 

Moir  in  his  edition  of  Harry  regarded  the  praise  of  Sir  John  de  Ramsay 
(vii,  890  ff.)  as  "due  to  the  fact  that  the  scribe  who  wrote  the  only  existing 
copy  of  the  manuscript  was  a  John  Ramsay."  In  The  Wallace  and  the 
Bruce  restudied  (Bonner  Beitrage  zur  Anglistik,  vi,  1900)  J.  T.  T.  Brown 
argues  that  Ramsay  was  the  real  author  of  the  longer  books  (iv  to  xi) , 
the  composition  being  suggested  by  Blind  Harry's  folk-tales,  which 
survive  in  Books  i  to  iii,  though  elaborated  by  Ramsay. 

Holland's  Howlat 

AsloanMS.  (1515  a.d.),  Bannatyne  MS.  (1568  a. d.).  Only  one  leaf  of  a  black 
letter  edition  of  about  1520  survives.  Editions  by  (i)  Pinkerton,  J.,  in 
appendix  to  vol.  iii  of  Scotish  Poems  reprinted  from  scarce  editions, 
1792;  (2)  Laing,  D.,  for  Bannatyne  Club,  1823,  from  Asloan  MS.,  re- 
printed for  New  Club  Series,  1882,  by  Donaldson,  D.,  with  variant  read- 
ings of  Bannatyne  MS.,  itself  (3)  printed  for  Hunterian  Club,  1880 ;  (4)  by 
Diebler,  A.,  Chemnitz,  1893;  (s)  ^7  Amours,  F.  J.,  in  Scottish  Allitera- 
tive poems,  S.T.S.  1891-2,  with  commentary,  glossary  and  introduction, 
1896-7.  Cf.  also  Gutman,  Jos.,  Untersuchungen  liber  das  mittelenglische 
Gedicht  "The  Buke  of  the  Howlat"  (Berliner  Beitrage  zur  germanischen 
und  romanischen  Philologie,  1893). 

Poems  attributed  to  Huchoun 

(a)  Morte  Arthure  in  Thornton  MS.  of  Lincoln  cathedral.  Editions  by 
(i)  Halliwell,  J.  O.,  1847;  (2)  Perry,  G.  G.,  1865;  (3)  Brock,  E.  (a 
revision  of  (2)  ),  1865,  really  1871  (E.E.T.S.);  (4)  Banks,  MaryMacleod, 
1900.  See  also  Mennicken,  F.,  Versbau  und  Sprache  in  Huchowns  Morte 
Arthure,  Bonner  Beitrage,  v,  1900  ;  Branscheid,  P.,  Die  Quellen  des  Stab- 
reimenden  Morte  Arthure,  Anglia,  viii,  Anz.  178-336. 

(6)  Gest  Hystoriale  of  the  Destruction  of  Troy.  MS.  in  Hunterian  Museum, 
Glasgow.  Edition  by  Panton,  G  A.  and  Donaldson,  D.,  1869,  ^874 
(E.E.T.S.). 

(c)  The  Pistill  of  Susan.  There  are  five  MSS.  (see  Amours,  introduction, 
xlvi  ff.).  Editions  by  (i)  Laing,  D.,  in  Select  Remains  of  the  Ancient 
and  Popular  Poetry  of  Scotland,  1822  (reprinted  1884,  edited  by  Small, 
J.,  with  memorial  introduction  and  additions  1885,  rearranged  and 
revised  by  Hazlitt,  W.  C,  1895);  (2)  Horstmann,  C,  in  Anglia,  i  (1877), 


5IO  Bibliography  to 

pp.  85-101  (Vernon  MS..  Cottonian  and  Cheltenham  MSS.  in  Herrig's 
Archiv.  vols,  lxii  and  lxxiv);  (3)  Koster.  H..  Strassburg,  1895;  (4) 
Amours.  F.  J.  (S.T.S.  as  above). 

(d)  The  Awntyrs  off  Arthure  at  the  Terne  Wathelyne.  MSS.  (i)  Thornton 
in  the  Library  of  Lincoln  cathedral;  (2)  Douce  in  Bodleian;  (3)  Ireland 
at  Hale  in  Lancashire.  Editions  by  (i)  Pinkerton,  J.,  in  vol.  iii  of 
Scotish  Poems.  1792.  from  Douce  MS. ;  (2)  Laing,  D.  (1822,  with  reprints 
as  above)  from  Thornton  MS. ;  (3)  Madden,  Sir  F.,  in  Syr  Gawayne 
(Bannatyne  Club,  1839),  with  variants  from  Douce  MS.;  (4)  Robson,  J. 
(Camden  Society.  1842),  from  Ireland  MS.;  (5)  Amours,  F.  J.  (S.T.S.  as 
above). 

(e)  Golagros  and  Gawane.  No  MS.  authority.  There  is  an  entry  Ye  Buke 
of  Syr  Gologruss  and  Syr  Gawane  in  the  old  index  to  the  Asloan  MS., 
but  the  text  is  lost.  Editions  by  (i)  Chepman  and  Myllar  (Edinburgh, 
1508);  (2)  Pinkerton,  J.,  in  vol.  in  of  Scotish  Poems  (1792  as  above); 
(3)  Laing,  D.,  in  The  Knightly  Tale  of  Golagrus  and  Gawane  and 
other  Ancient  Poems  (1827);  (4)  Madden,  Sir  F.,  in  Syr  Gawayne 
(1839);  (5)  Trautmann,  M.,  in  Angha,  11  (1879),  pp.  395-440;  (6)  Amours, 
F.  J.  (S.T.S.  as  above). 

The  statement  in  the  text  as  to  the  origin  of  this  tale  requires  some 
further  explanation.  Sir  Frederick  Madden  in  Syr  Gawayne  (p.  338)  iden- 
tified the  theme  as  occurring  in  a  prose  version  of  the  Roman  de  Perceval 
first  printed  in  1530.  A  prose  version  of  the  same  tale  is  printed  from  the 
Mons  MS.  in  Potvin's  edition  of  Chretien's  Perceval  le  Gallois.  The  story  is 
contained  in  the  continuation  of  Chretien's  poem,  but,  according  to  most 
authorities,  not  in  the  part  attributed  to  Gautier  de  Doulens,  Gaucher  de 
Dourdan  or  Wauchier  de  Denain  as  he  is  variously  called.  According  to 
these  authorities  the  author  of  this  part  is  unknown.  The  text  of  Chretien 
differs  greatly  in  the  MSS.  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  at  present 
there  is  no  satisfactory  edition,  Potvin's  MS.  being  one  of  the  least  satisfactor5^ 
Much  material  dealing  with  the  Gawain  story  will  be  found  in  vol.  i  of 
Miss  J.  L.  Weston's  Legend  of  Sir  Perceval  (i  906).  Miss  Weston  is  of  opinion 
(p.  214)  that  Chretien  and  his  continuators  had  a  literary  source  in  the 
Gawain  episodes.  The  writer  of  that  part  of  the  continuation  (who,  ac- 
cording to  Miss  Weston,  was  Wauchier),  as  she  points  out  (p.  241)  attributes 
the  tale  to  a  certain  Bleheris  of  Wales  whom  she  identifies  in  Romania,  xxxiii, 
p.  233.  and  Percival,  p.  289,  with  the  Bledhericus  referred  to  by  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  as  famosus  ille  fabulator,  and,  following  Gaston  Paris,  with  the 
Breri  quoted  by  Thomas  as  authority  for  his  Tristan.  This  person  she  is 
inclined  further  to  identify  with  a  Bledri  who  was  bishop  of  Llandaff  between 
983  and  1023  A.D.  For  the  story,  compare  also  Gaston  Paris  in  Histoire 
littdraire  de  France,  xxx.,  41,  and  Grober  in  Grundriss  der  romanischen 
Philologie,  11,  i,  pp.  506  ff. 

The  history  and  nationality  of  Huchoun  have  led  to  much  controversy, 
and  definite  conclusions  have  not  yet  been  reached.  (See  Athenaeum,  12 
Dec,  1900,  and  many  letters  between  January  and  June,  1901;  G.  Neilson's 
numerous  contributions  are  summarised  in  the  work  mentioned  below.  See 
also  GoUancz's  paper  to  the  Philological  Society,  3  Nov.,  1901,  on  "recent 
theories  concerning  Iluchoun  and  others,"  summarised  in  Athenaeum, 
23  Nov.,  1901).  Such  as  seem  probable  are  given  in  the  text.  •  The  opinion 
here  held  is  that  Neilson  goes  too  far  in  assigning  many  other  poems  to 
Huchoun   in  Sir  Hew  of  Eglintoun  and  Huchoun   off  the  Awle   Ryale:  a 


Chapter  V  511 

biographical  calendar  and  literary  estimate  (Philosophical  Society  of  Glasgow, 
1900-T),  and  Huchown  of  the  Awle  Ryale,  the  Alliterative  Poet:  A  His- 
torical Criticism  of  Fourteenth  Century  Poems  ascribed  to  Sir  Hew  of 
Eglintoun  (Glasgow,  1902),  in  which  references  to  other  literature  will  be 
found.  Amours's  introduction  is  most  valuable  for  all  the  poems  edited 
by  him  in  the  two  volumes  for  the  Scottish  Text  Society. 

Rauf  Coihear 

No  MS.  authority  exists.  Though  given  in  the  index  to  the  Asloan  MS.,  the 
text  is  lost.  Editions  by  (i)  Lekpreuik,  Robert  (Imprentit  at  Sanctan- 
drois  be  R.  L.,  Anno,  1572);  (2)  Laing,  D.,  1822  (with  reprints  as  above); 
(3)  Herrtage,  S.  J.  (E.E.T.S.),  1882;  (4)  Tonndorf,  M.,  Berlin,  1894;  (5) 
Amours,  F.  J.  (S.T.S.  as  above);  (6)  Browne,  W.  H.  (Johns  Hopkins 
Press,  Baltimore,  U.S.A.,  1903).  Cf.  later  cognate  legends,  such  as  The 
King  and  the  Barber,  etc.  (Hazlitt,  W.  C,  Remains  of  the  Early  Popular 
Poetry  of  Eng.);  The  King  and  the  Miller  of  Mansfield,  and  see  also 
bibliography  of  Chapters  xiii  and  xiv  in  Vol.  I  of  the  present  work. 

Chronicles,     (a)  Sir  Thomas  Gray 

Scalacronica.  Unique  MS.,  a  vellum  folio  in  the  Library  of  Corpus  Christi 
College,  Cambridge.  The  portion  from  a.d.  mlxvi  to  a.d.  mccclxii  was 
edited  by  Joseph  Stevenson  for  the  Maitland  Club  (1836).  The  reigns 
of  Edward  I,  Edward  II  and  Edward  III  have  been  translated  by 
Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  Baronet,  Glasgow,  1907. 

(6)  Fordun  and  Bower 

Scotichronicon.  The  MSS  are  numerous  (see  Skene's  edition  in  Historians 
of  Scotland,  vol.  i).  (i)  The  complete  work  edited  by  Walter  Goodall 
(Joannis  de  Fordun  Scotichronicon  cum  supplementis  et  continuatione 
Walteri  Boweri,  Insulae  Sancti  Columbae  Abbatis:  E  codicibus  MSS. 
editum,  cum  notis  et  variantibus  lectionibus.  Praefixa  est  ad  historiam 
Scotorum  introductio  brevis  cura  W.  G.,  Edinburgi,  mdcclix)  ;  (2) 
Fordun's  part  of  Scotichronicon  and  Gesta  Annalia  for  1153  to  1385 
were  edited  by  Skene,  W.  F.,  in  the  Historians  of  Scotland  (vol.  i, 
Latin  text,  with  critical  introduction  on  MSS.,  etc.  Johannis  de  Fordun 
Chronica  Gentis  Scotorum,  Edinburgh,  1871;  vol.  iv  in  same  series 
contains  Historical  Introduction  by  Skene,  W.  F.,  and  translation  of 
vol.  I  by  Skene,  F.  J.  H.). 

Wyntoun 

Eight  MSS.  are  known  (see  Amours's  edition  S.T.S.,  vol.  11,  pp.  v  fif .).  Editions 
by  (i)  Macpherson,  David  (only  of  the  part  concerning  Great  Britain), 
1795;  (2)  Laing,  D.  (Historians  of  Scotland  as  above,  vols.  11,  iii,  ix); 
(3)  Amours,  F.  J.,  for  Scottish  Text  Society  (vols.  11,  iii,  iv,  v  contain- 
ing the  text  of  books  i-viii,  chap,  xxiv  already  published). 
W.  A.  Craigie  shows  (Anglia,  xx,  1898,  p.  368)  that  there  were  three 
recensions  of  Wyntoun's  chronicle:  (i)  with  seven  books  and  ending  with  the 
accession  of  Robert  III  in  1390  (Wemyss  and  Harleian  MSS.);  (2)  with  nine 
books  and  ending  at  1408  (Royal  MS.,  from  which  Macpherson's  and  Laing's 
editions  are  printed);  (3)  the  8th  and  19th  chapters  of  Book  iv  are  rewritten, 
and  the  new  matter  in  (2)  is  better  fitted  on  to  the  earlier  portion  by  recasting 


512  Bibliography  to 

and  omitting  some  lines.  The  best  representatives  of  (3)  are  the  Cottonian 
and  First  Edinburgh  MSS.  In  the  S.T.S.  edition  both  the  Wemyss  and  the 
Cottonian  MSS.  are  printed,  (i)  and  (2)  have  different  rubrics,  and  the 
chapters  are  sometimes  differently  divided.  Craigie  corrects  here  and  in 
the  Scottish  Review  for  July,  1897,  some  serious  misstatements  of  Laing 
regarding  the  MSS. 

CHAPTER    VI 
JOHN    GOWER 

Manuscripts 

There  is  good  evidence,  derived  from  the  original  manuscripts  which 
we  possess  of  Gower's  works,  that  he  had  a  regularly  organised  scriptorium, 
for  the  reproduction  of  his  works  under  his  own  superintendence.  As  a 
result,  the  text  of  his  books  has  come  down  to  us  in  a  remarkably  correct 
state,  though  Confessio  Amantis  has  suffered  the  usual  fate  of  being  printed 
from  inferior  manuscripts.  The  following  copies  may  be  regarded  as  having 
been  prepared  under  the  author's  own  supervision : 

Mirour  de  I'Omme,  the  unique  MS.  in  the  Camb.  Univ.  Libr.  Add.  3035. 

Vox  Clamantis  and  other  Latin  poems:  All  Souls  Coll.  98;  Glasgow, 
Hunterian  Museum,  T.  2.17;  Cotton,  Tib.  A.  iv;  and  Harleian  6291. 

Confessio  Amantis:  the  Bodleian  MS.,  Fairfax  3,  and  the  so-called 
Stafford  MS.,  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  EUesmere. 

The  French  ballades,  both  those  on  Marriage  and  the  Cinkante  Balades, 
together  with  the  English  poem  In  Praise  of  Peace:  the  MS.  belong- 
ing to  the  duke  of  Sutherland,  which  was,  till  lately,  at  Trentham 
Hall.  Original  texts  of  the  ballades  on  Marriage  are  also  found  in 
the  Fairfax,  All  Souls  and  Glasgow  MSS. 

Besides  these  original  MSS.,  there  are  six  copies  of  Vox  Clamantis,  of 
which  two  give  us  the  text  which  underlies  the  erasures  of  the  author's  copies 
mentioned  above ;  at  least  thirty-seven  of  Confessio  Amantis,  of  which  twenty- 
four  give  the  earliest  form  of  the  text;  and  six  of  the  ballades  on  Marriage 
(Traiti^  pour  essampler  les  Amantz  Marietz).  Of  the  Cinkante  Balades 
and  the  poem  In  Praise  of  Peace,  no  other  copies  are  known  except  those 
found  in  the  Trentham  MS. 

The  original  copies  of  Vox  Clamantis  had,  at  the  beginning,  a  picture  of 
the  author  with  a  bow  in  hand,  shooting  arrows  at  the  globe  of  the  world,  Ad 
mundtim  mitto  mea  iacula,  and  this  is  still  found  in  the  Glasgow  and  Cotton 
MSS.  The  All  Souls  MS.,  which  has  lost  this  leaf,  has  a  miniature  of  abp 
Arundel  attached  to  the  epistle  addressed  to  him,  this  being,  no  doubt,  the 
actual  presentation  copy. 

Confessio  Amantis  had,  originally,  two  miniatures,  one  in  the  prologue, 
of  the  image  seen  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  one  near  the  beginning  of  the 
first  book,  of  the  confession.  These  are  reproduced  in  many  of  the  manu- 
scripts. A  few,  also,  of  the  later  copies  had  illustrations  throughout,  as,  for 
example,  the  New  College  MS.  266,  and  the  Fountaine  MS. ,  which  has  recently 
been  sold. 

There  is  a  record  of  a  translation  into  Portuguese  of  Confessio  Amantis, 
made  in  the  author's  own  life-iime  or  very  near  it,  which  is  represented  by  a 
prose  version  in  Castilian  existing  in  the  library  of  the  Escurial  (g.  ii.  19). 


Chapter  VI  513 


Editions  of  Separate  Works 

Confessio  Amantis  was  published  by  Caxton  in  1483.  His  text  is  a  com- 
posite one,  taken  from  at  least  three  MSS.,  all  rather  inferior.  Berthelette's 
edition  of  1532  was  printed  from  a  copy  which,  in  form  of  text,  resembled 
MS.  Bodley  294,  but  was  inferior  to  it  in  correctness:  he  supplied  from  Cax- 
ton's  edition  what  he  found  wanting  in  his  own  text,  and  gave  the  two 
alternative  forms  of  the  introductory  lines,  Prol.  24-92.  His  text  is,  on  the 
whole,  decidedly  better  than  Caxton's.  In  1554,  Berthelette  published  a 
second  edition,  a  reprint  of  the  first  in  different  type,  with  a  few  errors 
corrected.  The  text  given  by  Chalmers  in  his  collection  of  British  Poets, . 
1810,  is  that  of  Berthelette's  second  edition.  Reinhold  Pauli,  in  1857,  pub- 
lished a  handsomely  printed  edition,  professing  to  follow  Berthelette's 
first  edition,  with  some  collation  of  MSS.  No  critical  judgment,  however,  is 
shown  in  the  selection  of  authorities  for  the  text,  and  the  result  is  that  most 
of  the  errors  of  Berthelette's  edition  remain  uncorrected,  and,  though  the 
conclusion  of  the  author's  first  recension  is  partly  given  (for  the  first  time), 
it  is  left  incomplete.  H.  Morley,  1889,  followed  Pauli's  text  with  conjectural 
alterations  of  his  own.     His  edition  is  imperfect,  many  passages  being  omitted. 

The  poem  In  Praise  of  Peace  was  printed  in  Thynne's  edition  of  Chaucer, 
1532,  and  reprinted  in  the  subsequent  folio  editions  of  Chaucer,  Gower  being 
always  named  as  the  author.  It  has  also  been  published  by  Wright,  T., 
Political  Poems  (Rolls  Series),  and  by  Skeat,  W.  W.,  Chaucerian  and  other 
Pieces. 

The  two  series  of  French  ballades  were  printed  in  18 18  from  the  Trentham 
MS.  by  the  Roxburghe  Club.  An  edition  has  also  appeared  in  Germany  in 
the  series  of  Ausgaben  und  Abhandlungen  aus  dem  Gebiete  der  romanischen 
Philologie,  ed.  Stengel,  1886. 

The  Roxburghe,  Club  also  published  Vox  Clamantis,  Cronica  Tripertita 
and  some  other  Latin  pieces,  in  1850,  edited  by  H.  O.  Coxe.  This  edition 
follows  the  text  of  the  All  Souls  MS.,  the  deficiencies  of  which  are,  unfortu- 
nately, supplied  from  the  inferior  Digby  MS.  Cronica  Tripertita  and  other 
Latin  pieces  were  printed  in  Wright's  Political  Poems  (Rolls  Series). 

A  small  poem  attributed  in  one  MS.,  Ashmole  59,  to  Gower,  beginning 
"Passe  forth,  thou  pilgrim,"  has  been  printed  by  Kuno  Meyer  and  Max 
Forster,  but  it  is  certainly  not  Gower's. 

Collected  Edition 

An  edition  of  the  whole  of  Gower's  works,  edited  by  G.  C.  Macaulay, 
was  published  by  the  Clarendon  Press,  1899-1902,  in  four  volumes,  of  which 
the  first  contains  the  French,  the  second  and  third  the  English  (these  being 
also  issued  by  the  E.E.T.S.  to  its  subscribers)  and  the  fourth  the  Latin, 
works,  with  introductions,  notes  and  glossaries.  In  this  edition  the  Mirour 
de  rOmme  was  printed  for  the  first  time  (see  also  Academy,  xlviii,  71 
and  91),  and  Confessio  Amantis  was,  for  the  first  time,  published  from  a 
trustworthy  manuscript,  with  sufficient  collation  of  other  copies  to  display 
the  original  variations  of  text. 

A  full  account  of  the  MSS.  and  of  the  condition  of  the  text  of  all  Gower's 
works  to  be  found  in  the  introductions  to  these  volumes,  and  reference  may 
also  be  made  with  regard  to  the  text  of  Confessio  Amantis  to  Easton's 
Readings  in  Gower,  1895,  and  to  the  papers  published  in  Englische  Studien, 
xxviii,  161-208,  xxxii.  251-275  and  xxxiv,  169-181.  by  H.  Spies,  from  whom 
an  edition  is  eventually  to  be  expected. 

VOL.   11-33 


5^4  Bibliography  to 

Critical    Works 

On  the  relations  of  the  Mirour  de  I'Omme  to  possible  French  sources 
and  also  to  Gower's  other  works,  see  the  dissertation  of  l\Iiss  R.  E.  Fowler, 
Une  Source  franfaise  des  poemes  de  Gower,  1905;  and  for  the  connections 
between  Chaucer's  work  and  Confessio  Amantis  refer  to  L.  Beck  in  Anglia,  v, 
313  fl.,  and  to  Liicke  in  Anglia,  xiv. 

For  the  bearing  of  the  Mirour  de  rOmme  on  the  social  conditions  of  the 
time,  see  E.  Flligel  in  Anglia,  xxiv,  437-508. 

The  language  of  Confessio  Amantis  has  been  illustrated  by  F.  J.  Child  in 
his  Observations  on  the  Language  of  Gower's  Confessio  Amantis,  1868  (see 
also  Ellis,  A.  J.,  Early  English  Pronunciation,  pt.  iii,  726-739),  by  G.  Tiete  in 
his  dissertation  on  Gower's  vocabulary,  Breslau,  1889,  and  by  Fahrenberg  in 
Herng's  Archiv,  lxxxix,  392  ff.;  and  the  metre  is  dealt  with  by  Schipper  in 
his  Englische  Metrik,  i,  279  ff.,  and  by  Saintsbury  in  his  History  of  English 
Prosody. 

For  literary  appreciations,  see  Warton's  History  of  English  Poetry  (he 
was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  the  ballades);  Ellis,  G.,  Specimens  of  Early 
English  Poets,  i,  169-200;  the  British  Quarterly  Review,  xxvii,  i;  Morley,  H., 
English  Writers,  iv,  150  flf.;  Ten  Brink,  History  of  English  Literature,  11, 
99-103  and  132-8  (authorised  translation);  Courthope's  History  of  English 
Poetry,  i,  302-320  and  Ker,  W.  P.,  Essays  on  Medieval  Literature,  101-134. 

All  the  above  subjects  are  also  dealt  with,  more  or  less  fully,  in  the 
introductions,  notes  and  glossaries  of  Macaulay's  edition. 

For  biography ,  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  Leland,  Script.  Brit,  i,  414  f. ; 
Thynne's  Animadversions;  Todd,  Illustrations  of  the  lives  and  writings  of 
Gower  and  Chaucer,  1810;  H.  N.  Nicolas  in  the  Retrospective  Review,  2nd 
series,  11,  103-117,  1828;  the  introductory  essay  of  Pa uli's  edition  of  the  Con- 
fessio Amantis;  K.  Meyer's  dissertation,  John  Gower's  Beziehungen  zu 
Chaucer  und  King  Richard  II,  1889,  and  the  biographical  matter  in  the 
fourth  volume  of  the  Clarendon  Press  edition.  For  Gower's  tomb,  reference 
may  be  made  to  the  preface  of  Berthelette's  edition  of  Confessio  Amantis, 
to  Stow,  Survey  of  London,  p.  450  (ed.  1633),  to  Gough's  Sepulchral  Monu- 
ments, II,  24  and  to  Macaulay's  edition,  vol.  iv,  pp.  xix-xxiv. 

CHAPTER  VII 

CHAUCER 

(Bibliography  by  A.  C.  Paues) 

I.    Manuscripts  of  Chaucer's  Works 

The  Chaucer  Society  (1868-  )  has  published  diplomatic  reprints  and  auto- 
type specimens  of  a  great  number  of  the  Chaucerian  MSS.  A  systematic 
list  of  these  has  been  worked  out  by  Koch,  J.,  Angha,  iv,  Anz.  112.  Cf. 
further  critical  accounts  by  him  in  Anglia,  11,  532,  in,  179,  iv,  93,  vi,  Anz. 
80,  93.  VIII,  Anz.  154;  Literaturbl.  f.  germ.  u.  rom.  Phil.  1882,  col.  224; 
1885,  col.  324. 

II      Collected  Works 

Lounsbury,  T.  R.    Complete  Works.     2  vols.    New  York.    1901. 
Nicolas,  Sir  H.     Poetical  works.    Aldine  Edition.     6  vols.     1845.    2nd  ed.  by 
Morris,  R.      1866. 


Chapter  VII  5i5 

Pollard,  A.  W.,  Heath,  H.  F.,  Liddell,  M.  H..  McCormick,  W    S.      Works 
Globe  Edition.      1897.     [Contains  a  long  and  useful  introduction  sum- 
marising sources  and  relations  of  MSS.  to  each  other;  follows,  in  the 
•     main,  the  EUesmere  MS.] 

Skeat,  W.  W.    Complete   Works.     6    vols.     Oxford,    1894-     With    supplem 
vol.  1897.     [The  standard  editon.] 

The   Student's  C,   being  a  complete  edition  of  his  Works.     Oxford. 

1895.     [Orthography,  as  a  rule,  made  uniform.] 

Glossariai  index  to  the  works  of  C.      Oxford,  1899. 

[Speght,  T.]  The  workes  of  our  ancient  and  lerned  English  poet,  G  C. 
newly  printed.  In  this  impression  you  shall  find  these  Additions  i.  His 
Portraiture  and  Progenia  shewed.  2.  His  Life  collected  3  Arguments 
to  every  Booke  gathered.  4.  Old  and  obscure  Words  explained 
5  Authors  by  him  cited,  declared  6  Difficulties  opened  7.  Two 
Bookes  of  his  never  before  printed.     Impensis  G.  Bishop .  Londini.  1598. 

The  workes  of  our  Ancient  and  learned  English  Poet  G    C,   newly 

printed.  To  that  which  was  done  in  the  former  Impression,  thus  much 
is  now  added,  i.  In  the  life  of  C.  many  things  inserted  2  The 
whole  worke  by  old  copies  reformed.  3.  Sentences  and  Proverbs  noted. 
4.  The  Signification  of  the  old  and  obscure  words  prooved,  also  Caracters, 
shewing  from  what  tongue  or  dialect  they  be  derived  5.  The  Latine 
and  French,  not  Englished  by  C,  translated.  6.  The  treatise,  called 
Jacke  Upland,  against  Friers;  and  C.'s  A.  B.  C.  called.  La  priere  de 
nostre  dame,  at  this  impression  added;  A.  Isilp,  London.  1602  Another 
edition,  1687  (to  which  is  adjoyn'd  the  story  of  the  Siege  of  Thebes  by 
John  Lidgate.     Together  with  the  life  of  C). 

[John  Stow.]  The  workes  of  G.  C.  newlie  printed,  with  diverse  addicions, 
whiche  were  never  in  print  before;  with  the  siege  and  destruccion  of 
the  worthy  citee  of  Thebes,  compiled  by  J.  Lidgate,  monke  of  Berie. 
J.  Kyngston,  for  J.  Wight.  London,  1561. 

Thynne,  W.  The  workes  of  Geflfroy  C.  newly  printed,  with  dyvers  workes 
whiche  were  never  in  print  before:  etc.  T.  Godfray:  Lodon,  1532. 
Cf.  Skeat,  W.  W.,  The  works  of  G.  C.  and  others.  Being  a  reproduction 
in  facsimile  of  the  first  collected  edition,  1532,  from  the  copy  in  the 
British  Museum.      With  an  introduction.      1905- 

Tyrwhitt,  T.  Poetical  Works.  With  an  essay  on  his  language  and  versifica- 
tion, and  an  introductory  discourse ;  together  with  notes  and  a  glossary. 
1775-8.      Last  edition,  1843. 

Urry,  J.  The  works  of  G.  C.  compared  with  the  former  editions,  and  many 
valuable  MSS.,  out  of  which  three  tales  are  added  which  were  never 
before  printed:  By  J.  Urry.  student  of  Christ  Church,  Oxon  ;  together 
with  a  glossary  by  a  student  of  the  same  college  [T.  Thomas].  To  the 
whole  is  prefixed  the  author's  life  [by  —  Dart;  corrected  and  enlarged 
by  W.  Thomas,]  and  a  preface,  giving  an  account  of  this  edition  [by 
T.  Thomas.]     B.  Lintot:  London,  1721. 

III.     A  Treatise  on  the  Astrolabe 

Brae,  A.  E.     The  Treatise  on  the  Astrolabe,  with  notes  and  illustrations. 

1870. 
Skeat,  W.   W.     A  Treatise  on  the  Astrolabe;  addressed  to  his  son  Lowys 

by  G.  C,  A.D.  1391.     C.  S.  Series  i,  29,  1872.     Also  in  E.E.T.S.     Extra 

Series,  xvi.     1872. 


51 6  Bibliography  to 

IV.       BOETHIUS 

Early  editions:  Boethius  was  first  printed  by  Caxton,  without  date.     Cf. 

Blades,  W.,  The  Biography  and  Typography  of  Caxton,  1882,  p.  213.      It  is 

included  in  Thynne's  edition  of  1532,  and  in  subsequent  editions  of  Chaucer's 

works. 

Kellner,  L.     Zur  Textkritik  von  C.'s  Boethius.     Engl.  Stud,  xiv  (i),  1-53. 

Liddell,  M.  H.  C.'s  translation  of  Boece's  Boke  of  Comfort.  Acad.  1895, 
No.  1220,  227. 

Morris,  R.  C.'s  translation  of  Boethius's  De  Consolatione  Philosophiae,  from 
the  Additional  MS.  10,340  in  the  British  Museum.  E.E.T.S.  Extra 
Series,  v.  1868.  C.  S.  76  (1886);  cf.  ibid.  75,  C.'s  Boece  from  the  Cam- 
bridge Univ.  Libr.  MS.  li.  3.,  21. 

Petersen,  K.  O.     C.  and  Trivet.     MLA.  xviii,  173-193. 

Skeat,  W.  W.     The  true  source  of  C.'s  Boethius.     Athen.      1891,  No.  3339, 

549-550- 
Stewart,  H.  F.     Boethius,  an  essay.     Edinburgh  and  London,  1891. 

V.     The  Canterbury  Tales 

The  Canterbury  Tales.     W.  Caxton,  Westminster,  1478?  and  1484?. 

The  boke  of  the  tales  of  Canterburie  .  .  .  diligently  ouirsen  &  duely  examined 

by  ...   W.    Caxton.      R.    Pynson   [London,    1493?]. 
The  boke  of  C.  named  Caunterbury  Tales.     Wynkin  de  Word :  Westmestre 

1498. 
[Here  begynneth  the  boke  of  Caunterbury  Tales  .  .  .  corrected,  and  newly 

printed]     R.  Pynson:  London,  1526. 

A  Parallel-text  edition  from  six  of  the  best  imprinted  MSS.  known  [Elles- 
mere,  Hengwrt,  Cambridge  Univ.  Lib.,  C.C.C.  Oxford,  Petworth  and 
Lansdowne]  (the  Six-text).  C.  S.  Series  i,  i  (1868),  14  (1870),  15 
(1871),  25  (1872),  30  (1873),  31  (1874),  37  (187s),  49  (1877),  72  (1884)- 
Separate  issues  of  the  texts  forming  the  Six-text  edition,  ibid.  2-7, 
8-13,  16-20,  26-28,  32-36,  38-43,  50-55,  73,  95,  96.  Parallel-text  speci- 
mens of  all  accessible  imprinted  C.  MSS.,  ibid.  81,  85,  86,  90-94,  97 ;  Auto- 
type specimens  of  the  chief  C.  MSS.,  ibid.  48,  56,  74.  A  temporary 
preface  to  the  Society's  "  Six-text "  edition  of  C.'s  Canterbury  Tales,  Part 
I,  by  Furnivall,  F.  J.,  ibid.  Series  11,  3  (1868). 

Saunders.  Canterbury  Tales.  Annotated  and  accented  with  illustrations 
of  Enghsh  Hfe  in  C.'s  Time.     1845.     ^ev.  ed.     1895. 

Tyrwhitt,  T.  Canterbury  Tales.  To  which  is  added,  an  essay  on  his  lan- 
guage and  versification,  an  introductory  discourse,  notes  and  glossary. 
5  vols.  1775-8.  5th  ed.,  with  a  memoir  by  GilfiUan,  George,  3  vols. 
Edinburgh,  i860.  Tyrwhitt's  text,  notes  and  glossary  were  reprinted 
in  1892. 

Wright,  T.  The  Canterbury  Tales.  A  new  text  with  illustrative  notes. 
3  vols.    Percy  Soc.    1848-51  and  1853. 


Bradshaw,  H.  The  Skeleton  of  C.'s  Canterbury  Tales:  an  attempt  to 
distinguish  the  several  fragments  of  the  work  as  left  by  the  author. 
1868.     And  in  Collected  papers  b>  H.  B.,  Cambridge,  1889. 

Corson,  H.  Index  to  the  Subjects  and  Names  of  the  Canterbury  Tales. 
C.  S.  Series  i,  72.      1884. 


Chapter  VII  517 

Ehrhart,  C.     Das  Datum  der  Pilgerfahrt  nach  Canterbury.     Engl.  Stud,  xii, 

469-470- 
Hales,  J.  W.     The  Date  of  the  Canterbury  Tales.    Athen.  1893,  No.  3415,  443. 
Skeat,  W.  W.     The  Evolution  of  the  Canterbury  Tales.     C.  S.  Series  11,  38 

(1903)- 
WHslocki,  H.  von.     Vergleichende  Beitrage  zu  C.'s  Canterburygeschichten. 

Zeitschr.  f.  vgl.  Litgesch.  11,  182-199. 

Editions  of  Separate  Tales 

Carpenter,  S.  H.     Prologue  and  Knight's  Tale.   Albion  Series.     Boston,  1902. 

Koch,  J.  The  Pardoner's  Prologue  and  Tale.  (Engl,  text  bibl.  hrsg.  von 
J.  Hoops.)     Berlin,  Felber,  1902,  and  in  C.  S.  Series  11,  No.  35.     1902. 

Liddell,  M.  H.  The  Prologue,  the  Knight's  Tale,  the  Nonnes  Prestes  tale, 
with  grammatical  introduction.     New  York,  1901. 

Mather,  F.  J.  The  Prologue,  the  Knight's  Tale  and  the  Nun's  Priest's  tale. 
Boston,  1900. 

Morris,  R.  The  Prologue,  the  Knightes  Tale,  the  Nonne  Prestes  Tale.  Re- 
edited  by  Skeat.     Oxford,  1893. 

Skeat,  W.  W.     The  Prologue.     Oxford,  1891. 

The  Prioresses  Tale,  Sir  Thopas,  the  Monkes  Tale,  the  Clerkes  Tale, 

the  Squieres  Tale.     Ibid.      1897. 

The  Tale  of  the  Man  of  Lawe,  The  Pardoneres  Tale,  The  Second  Nonnes 

Tale,  The  Chanouns  Yemannes  Tale.      Ibid.     1904. 

Wright,  W.  Aldis.  The  Clerk's  Tale.  Printed  from  MS.  D.  4.  24  in  the 
University  Library,  Cambridge.  Privately  printed,  London  (Bungay), 
1-867. 

Zupitza,  J.  The  Book  of  the  Tales  of  Canterbury,  Prolog  1-858.  Mit 
Varianten  zum  Gebrauch  bei  Vorlesungen.     2te  Aufi.     Berlin,  1896. 

The  Pardoner's  Prolog  and  Tale.  C.  S.  Parallel-text  specimens.  Se- 
ries ly  81  (1890),  85  (1892),  86  (1893),  90  (1897),  91  (1891),  the  last  part 
94  (1900)  by  Furnivall,  F.  J.  and  Koch,  J. 

Canterbury    Tales:  Sources  and  Analogues 

Brock,  E.     The  original  of  the  Man  of  Law's  Tale.     C.  S.  Series  11,  7  (1872). 

Cf.  ibid.  The  Tale  of  Merelaus  the   Emperor,   and  part  of  Matthew 

Paris's  Vita  Oflfae  Primi   (illustrating  incidents  in  the  Man  of  Law's 

Tale). 
Clouston,  W.  A.     Originals  and  Analogs  of  the  Canterbury  Tales.     Part  iv., 

Eastern  Analogs.     C.  S.  Series  11,  20  (1886),  22  (1887). 
Forster,  M.  Parallelen  zu  C.'s  Prioresses  tale  and  Freres  tale.     Arch,  ex, 

427. 
Frankel,  L.     Eine  lateinische  Parallele  zu  C.'s  Milleres  tale.     Anglia,  xvi, 

261-3. 
Furnivall,  F.  J.     Originals  and  Analogues  of  C.'s  Canterbury  Tales  (Part  11). 

C.  S.  Series  11,  10  (1875).     6.  Alphonsus  of  Lincoln  (Prioress's  Tale); 

7.  How  Reynard  caught  Chanticleer  (source  of  the  Nun's  Priest's  Tale); 

8.  Two  Italian  Stories,  and  a  Latin  one,  like  the  Pardoner's  Tale;  9.  L, 
dis   de  le   Vescie   a   Prestre,   by  Jakes   de   Basiw   (Summoner's  Tale); 

10.  Petrarch's   Latin    Tale  of    Griseldis    (source   of  the  Clerk's  Tale); 

11.  Five  versions  of  a  Pear-tree  Story   (Merchant's  Tale);    12.   Four 
versions  of  The  Life  of  Saint  Cecilia  (source  of  Second  Nun's  Tale). 


5i8  Bibliography  to 

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Two  French  Fabliaux  like  the  Reeve's  Tale.     C.  S.  Series  11,  7  (1872). 

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Gough,  A.  B.     The  Constance  Saga.     Palaestra,  xxiii. 

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The  Source  of  C.'s  Person's  Tale.     Acad.  No.  1256,  i,  447-8;  No.  1259, 

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Grimm  Libr.  xiii.)      1901. 
Petersen,  K.  O.     On  the  Sources  of  the  Nonne-prestes  Tale.     (Radcliffe 

College  Monographs,  10.)     Boston,  1898. 

The  Sources  of  the  Parson's  Tale.     Boston,  1901.     Cf.  Litbl.  1903,  153 

Skeat,  W.  W.     The  Sources  of  C.'s  Prioresses  tale.     Acad.  1894,  No.  1165 

153;  No.  1167,  195. 
Skeat,  W.  W.  and  E.  H.     Chanticler's  Song.     Athen,  1896,  No.  3600,  566 

No.  3603,  677. 
Sundby,  Thor.     Albertano  of  Brescia's  Liber  Consilii  et  Consolationis,  a.d 
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borrower  from  John  of  Salisbury.     C.  S.  Series  11,  16  (1876). 

Canterbury    Tales:   General   Literature 

Bennewitz,  J.     C.'s  Sir  Thopas,  eine  Parodie  auf  die  altenglischen  Ritter- 

romanzen.     Halle,  1879. 
Boll,  F.     C.  und  Ptolemasus.     Anglia,  xxi,  222-230. 
Brandl,   A.     Uber  einige  historische  Anspielungen  in   den  C.-Dichtungen. 

Engl.  Stud.  XII,  161-186  (i.  The  Sqyeres  Tale;  2.  C.'s  Dream).     Also  in 

C.  S.  Series  11,  29  (1892). 
B[rathwait],  R.     A  comment  upon  the  two  tales  of  S'  Jefiray  Chaucer,  the 

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C.  S.  Series  11,  33  (1901). 
Cook,  A.  S.     The  arming  of  the  combatants  in  the  Knight's  Tale.     J.  Germ. 

Phil.  IV,  50-54.     1902. 
Filers,  Wilh.     Die  Erzahlung  des  Pfarrers  in  C.'s  Canterburygeschichten  und 

die  Somme  de  Vices  et  de  Vertus  des  Frere  Lorens.     Erlangen,  1882. 

Transl.  by  Shirley,  A.,  for  the  C.  S.  Series  11,  19  (1884). 
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Fliigel,  E.     Some  Notes  on  C.'s  Prologue.     J.  Germ.  Phil,  i,  1 18-135. 

• Zu  C.'s  Plorog  zu  C.  T.     Anglia,  xxiii,  225. 

Fumivall,  F.  J.     C.'s  Prioress,  her  Nun  Chaplain  and  3  Priests,  illustrated 

from  the  paper  Survey  of  St  Mary's  Abbey,  Winchester.     C.  S.  Series  11, 

16  (1876). 


Chapter  VII  519 

Holthausen,  F.     Zu  alt-  und  mittelengl .  Dichtungen  28:  Zu  C.'s  Squieres 

Tale.     Anglia,  xiv  (3),  320  f. 
Jusserand,  J.  J.     C.'s  Pardoner:  his  character  illustrated  by  documents  of 

his  time.     C,  S.  Series  11,  19  (1884^. 
Karbeek,  P.  Q.     C.'s  Shipman  and  his  Barge  "The  Maudelayne."     C.  S. 

Series  11,  19  (1884). 
Kirk,  R.  E.  G.  and  Fumivall,  F.  J.     Analogies  of  C.'s  Canterbury  Pilgrimage. 

C.  S.  Series  11,  36  (1903). 
Kittredge,  G.  L.     Supposed  historical  allusi»ns  in  the  Squire's  Tale.     Engl. 

Stud,  xiii  (i).  1-24. 

Coryat  and  the  Pardoner's  Tale.     MLM'.  (7),  385-7  (1900). 

C.  and  the  Roman  de  Carit^.     MLN.  ±1,  113-5. 

A  Friend  of  C.     MLA.  xvi.     Cf.  Litblj  1903,  p.  153. 

Koch.  J.     Die  neapolitanische  Hs  von  C.'s  0erkes  tale.     Schipper-festchrift, 

pp.  257-85.     Vienna,  1902. 
Kohler,  R.    ZuThe  Milleres Tale.    Anglia,  158,  186;  11,  135.    Cf.  Varnhagen, 

ibid.  VII,  Anz.  p.  81. 
Kolbing,  E.     Zu  C.'s  Erzahlung  des  Mullet.     Zeit.  f.  vgl.  Literaturgesch. 

XII,  448-450;  XIII,  112. 

Zur  Knightes  Tale.     Engl.  Stud.  11,  528 

Zu  C.'s  Caecilien-Legende.     Eng.  Stud.    215  ff. 

Zu  Sir  Thopas.     Engl.  Stud,  xi,  495- 

Koppel ,  E.     ijber  das  Verhaltnis  von  C.'s  Pros  werken  zu  seinen  Dichtungen 

und  die  Echtheit  der  Parson's  Tale.     Heig's  Archiv,  lxxxvii,  33-54. 
Leuschner,  B.     Uber  das  Verhaltnis  von  Thtwo  noble  kinsmen  zu  C.'s 

Knightes  Tale.     Halle,  1903. 
Liicke,  E.     Das  Leben  der  Constanze  bei  Tri;t,  C.  and  Gower.     Anglia, 

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404. 
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aus  C.'s  Canterbury  Tales.     Anglia,  vii,  (i),  ^-9.     Cf.  Varnhagen,  H., 

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Wife  of  Bath,  her  Prologue,  zu  den  entsprec^nden  Abschnitten  von 

C.'s  Canterbury  Tales,     i,  Diss.     Breslau,  189    n  (Merchant's  Tale), 

Engl.  Stud.  XXV,  1-130. 
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Simon,  H.     C.  a  Wichffite;  a  critical  examination  of  ;  Parson's  Tale.     C.  S. 

Series  11,  16  (1876).     Also  Schmalkalden,  Wilicii879. 
Varnhagen,  H.     Die  Erzahlung  von  der  Wiege  (C. beeves  Tale).     Engl. 

Stud.  IX  (2),  240-266. 

Zu  C.'s  Erzahlung  des  Kaufmanns.     Anglia,  vii),  j^^.jgj 

Westenholz,  F.  von.     Die  Griseldissage  in  der  Literatjeschichte.     Heidel- 
berg, 1888. 

VL     The  House  of  Fame    \ 

The  book  of  Fame  made  by  G.  C.     Emprynted  by  W.  Cipn :  (Westminster, 
i486?). 


20 


Bibliography  to 


Here  begynneth  the  boke  of  Fame,  made  by  G.  C. :  with  dyvers  other  of  his 
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of  Christyne;  The  complaynt  of  Mary  Magdaleyne ;  The  letter  of  Dydo  to 
Eneas-  A  lytell  exortacion,  howe  folke  shulde  behave  them  selfe  in  all 
copanyes.     R.  Pynson;  London  (1526?). 

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Ford,  H.  C.     Observations  on  tie  language  of  C.'s  House  of  Fame.     Diss. 

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Chapter  VII  521 


VIII.     The  Minor  Poems 

Early  editions :  There  are  two  rare  editions  by  Caxton  of  some  of  the  Minor 
Poems,  viz.  of  Parliament  of  Fowls,  Gentilesse,  Truth,  Fortune,  Envoy 
to  Scogan,  AneHda  and  Arcite,  Purse;  see  Furnivall,  Trial- Forewords, 
C.  S.  Series  ii,  6  (1871),  pp.  116,  118;  Skeat,  Works,  i,  27,  who  gives  a 
detailed  account  of  the  various  separate  and  collected  editions. 

Chaucer  Society:  A  Parallel-text  edition  of  The  Compleynt  to  Pite,  The 
Compleynt  of  Mars,  Seiies  i,  21  (1871);  of  The  A.  B.  C,  The  Mother 
of  God,  The  former  Age,  To  his  Scrivener,  ibid.  57  (1878);  of  Truth, 
The  Compleynt  of  Venus,  The  Envoy  to  Scogan,  The  Envoy  to  Bukton, 
Gentilesse,  Proverbs,  Stedfastness,  Fortune,  C.  to  his  Empty  Purse, 
ibid.  58  (1879). 

Supplementary  Parallel-texts  of  The  ABC,  The  Complaint  of  Mars, 

Truth,  The  Compleynt  of  Venus,  Gentilesse,  Lack  of  Stedfastness, 
Fortune.     Series  i,  59  (1880). 

• One-text  print.   Part  i.   The  Compleynt  to  Pite,   The  Compleynt  of 

Mars,  The  ABC,  with  its  original.      Series  i,  24  (1871). 

Part  II,  Mother  of  God,  The  former  age,  Adam  Scrivener,  Truth, 

Venus,  Scogan,  Marriage,  Gentilesse,  Proverbs,  Stedfastness,  Fortune, 
Purse.      Series  i,  61  (1880). 

Odd-texts :  The  ABC,  The  Complaint  to  Pite,  Truth,  Envoy  to  Scogan, 

Purse,  Series  i,  60  (1880?);  The  Compleynt  to  Pite,  Truth,  Lack  of 
Stedfastness,  Fortune,  Purse,  (The  Balade  of  Pite,  Roundels),  Series  i, 

77  (li 


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Skeat,  W.  W.     The  Minor  Poems.     Oxford,  1888.     2nd  ed.     1896. 


Capone,  G.     I  poemi  minori  di  C. :  saggio  critico.     Modica,  1900. 

Fltigel,  E.    C.'s  kleinere  Gedichte.      I.  Liste  der  Hss.     Anglia,  xxii,  510-528. 

II.    Anmerkungen  zum  Text.     Ibid,  xxiri,   195-224   (i.  Compleinte  to 

Pite;  2.  Adam  Scryveyne;  3.  Truth). 
Hales,  W.  E.     Of  a  Temple.     Athen.  4.  April,  1896,  No.  3571. 
Hammond,  E.  P.     Omissions  from  the  editions  of  C.     MLN.  xix,  35-38. 
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273- 

Koch,  J.  Ausgewahlte  kleinere  Dichtungen  Cs.  Im  Versmasse  des  Originals 
in  das  Deutsche  iibertragen  und  mit  Erorterungen  versehen.  Leipzig, 
1880.  (i.  Klage  an  Frau  Mitleid.  2.  Geleit  an  den  Schreiber  Adam. 
3.  Das  Parlement  der  Vogel.  4.  Wahrheit.  5.  Adel.  6.  Bestandigkeit. 
7.  Fortuna.  8.  Geleit  an  Bukton.  9.  Geleit  an  Skogan.  10.  Klage  an 
meine  leere  borse.) 

A  Critical  Edition  of  some  of  C.'s  Minor  Poems.      Wissenschaftliche 

Beilage  zum  Programm  des  Dorotheen  stadtischen  Realgymnasiums. 
Berlin,  1883.  (i.  A  B  C.  2.  Adam  Scriveyn.  3.  Former  age.  4.  For- 
tune. 5.  Truth.  6.  Gentilesse.  7.  Stedfastnesse.  8.  Bukton.  9.  Skogan. 
10.  Bourse.) 

Das  Datum  von  C.'s  Mars  and  Venus.     Anglia,  ix  (3),  582-4. 

■ Anglia,  iv,  Anz.  95,  vi,  Anz.  91. 


522  Bibliography  to 

Manly,  J.  M.     Harvard  Studies  and  Notes,  v,  107  flf.      (Complaint  of  Mars.) 
Marshall,  T.  and  Porter,  L.     A  Ryme-Index  to  C.'s  Minor  Poems  (for  the 

Parallel-text),  C.  S.  Series  i,  78  (1887);  (for  the  One-text),  80  (1889). 
Piaget,  A.     Oton  de  Granson  et  ses  poesies.     Romania,  xx,  237-259,  403- 

448.      (The  Compleynt  of  Venus.) 
Skeat,  W.  W.     An  unknown  poem  by  C.     Athen,  1891,  No.  3310,  440  and 

472  f. 

C.'s  Virelays.     Athen.   1893,  No.  3410,  281. 

A  Complaint,  possibly  by  C.     Athen.  1894,  No.  3482,  98;  No.  3484,  162. 

(j.  Complaint  to  my  mortal  foe.     2.  Balade  of  no  value.     3.  Complaint 

to  my  lodesterre.) 
Two  more  poems  by  C.     Acad.  1888,  No.  834,  292  and  No.  835,  307. 

(i.  A  Complaynt.     2.  Balade  of  Compleynte.) 
Skeat,   W.    W.   and   Pollard,   A.   W.     An  unknown  balade  by  C.     Athen. 

1894,  No.  3476,  742,  No.  3477.  773  f"  No.  3478,  805  f.,  No.  3479.  837  f. 
Ten  Brink,   B.     Critical  edition  of  Compleynte  to  Pite.     C.   S.   Series  11, 

9  (1874). 
Thurein,  H.     Das  Datum  von  Mars  and  Venus.     Anglia,  ix,  582. 
Zupitza,  J.     Zu  dem  Gedichte  C.'s  Dream  oder  The  Idle  of  Ladies.     Herrig's 

Archiv,  xcii,  68. 

The  Book{e)  of  the  Dtichessie) 

Editions:  Parallel-text  edition,  C.   S.   Series  i,   21    (1871);  One-text  print, 

ibid.  24  (1871),  60  (1880);  Skeat,  Minor  Poems. 
Bradley,  H.     C.  and  Froissart.     Acad.  1895,  No.  1188,  125  f. 
Lange,  Max.     Untersuchungen  iiberC.'sBoke  of  the  Duchesse.    Halle,  1883. 
Kittredge,  G.  L.     C.  and  Froissart  (with  a  discussion  of  the  date  of  M^liador). 

Engl.  Stud.  XXVI,  321-336. 
Klaber,  F.     Traces  of  the  Canticum  (Hohe  Lied)  and  of  Boethius  De  con- 

solatione  philosophiae  in  C.'s  Book  of  the  Duchesse.     MLN.  xii,  338-380. 
Koppel,  E.     Gowers  franz.  Balladen  und  Chaucer.     Engl.  Stud,  xx,  154. 

The  Parliament  of  Fowls 

Early  editions:  First  printed  separately  by  Caxton,  about  1477-8,  by  Pynson 
1526  and  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1530. 

Parallel-text  editions  in  the  C.  S.  Series  i,  21,  22  (1871),  59,  60  (1880);  Odd- 
text,  23  (1871);  One-text,  24  (1871). 

Hammond,  E.  P.  On  the  text  of  C,'s  Parlament  of  Fouls  (Decennial  Publ. 
Univ.  of  Chicago,  vol.  vii).    1902. 

Koch,  J.  Das  Handschriftenverhaltnis  in  C.'s  Parlament  of  Foules.  i, 
II,  Arch.  CXI,  64-92  and  299-315;  in,  Arch,  cxii,  46-69. 

The  Date  (1381)  and  Personages  of  the  Parlament  of  Foules.    C.  S. 

Series  11,  19  (1884). 

Versuch  einer  kritischen  Textausgabe  von  C.'s  Parlement  of  Foules. 

Progr.    Berlin,  1904. 

Koppel,  E.     Gowers  franzosische  Balladen  und  C.     Engl.  Stud,  xx,  154-6. 

Lounsbury,  T.  R.     The  Parliament  of  Foules.     Boston  [Mass.],  1877. 

Seelmann,  W.  Die  Vogelsprachen  (Vogelparlamente)  der  mittelaterlichen 
Litteratur.  (Treats  also  of  C.'s  Assembly  of  foules.)  Nd.  Jahrb.  xiv, 
101-147.     Cf.  Addenda  in  Herrig's  Archiv,  lxxxviii,  370-1. 


Chapter  VII  523 


Anelida  and  Arcite 

Parallel-text  edition,  C.  S.  Series  i,   57   (1878)5  suppl.  Parallel-texts,  ibid. 

59  (1880);  One-text  print,  ibid.  61  (1880),  77  (1886).     Cf.  Koch,  Anglia, 

III,  84;  Engl.  Stud.  I,  290. 
The  Story  of  Queen  Anelida  and  the  false  Arcite.     Printed  at  Westminster 

by  William  Caxton  about  the  year  1477.     Cambridge,  1905. 
Koppel,  E.     C.'s  Anelida.     Engl.  Stud,  xx  (i),  156-8. 
Koch,  J.     On  Anelida  and  Arcyte.     C.  S.  Series  11,  18  (1878). 

IX.     The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose 

Cook,  A.     The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  and  Prof.  Skeat's  vocabulary  test. 

MLN.     1887  (6). 
Fick,  W.     Zur  Frage  von  der  Authenticitat  der  mittelenglischen  IJbersetzung 

des  Romans  von  der  Rose.     Engl.  Stud,  ix  (i),  161-7. 
Fliigel,  E.     tjber  einige  Stellen  aus  dem  Almagestum  CI.  Ptolemei  bei  C.  und 

im  Rosenroman.     Anglia,  xviii  (i),  133-140. 
Furnivall,  F.  J.     The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  from  Thynne's  print,   1532. 

C.  S.  Series  i,  82  (1890). 
Kaluza,  M.     A  parallel  text  of  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  (of  which  the  first 

1705  lines  are  most  probably  C.'s)  from  the  unique  MS.  at  Glasgow,  and 

its  French  original,   Le  Roman  de  la  Rose.     Part  i.     C.   S.   Series  i, 

83  (1891). 
C.   und  der  rosenroman.     Eine  litterargeschichtliche  Studie.     Berlin, 

1893. 
Kaluza,  M.  and  Skeat,  W.  W.    The  Romance  of  the  Rose.    Acad.  1890,  No. 

948,  11-12,  No.  950,  51-52. 
Ker,  W.  P.     The  Dark  Ages.     [See  pp.  27-28,  for  a  passage  summing  up  the 

contrast  between  the  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  and  the  Canterbury  Prologue.] 
Kittredge,  G.   L.     The  authorship  of  the  English  Romaunt  of  the  Rose. 

Harvard  Stud,  and  Notes,  pp.  1-65.      1892. 
Lange,  J.  H.     Zu  Fragment  B  des  ME.  Rosenromans.     Engl.  Stud,    xxxi, 

159-162. 
Lindner,  P.     Die  englische  Ubersetzung  des  Romans  von  der  Rose.     Engl. 

Stud.  XI  (i),  163-173. 
Nicolas,  Sir  H.     Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  Troilus  and  Creseide,  and  the  Minor 

Poems.     With  life  of  the  poet.    3  vols.    1846. 
Pound,  L.     The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose:  additional  evidence  that  it  is  C.'s. 

MLN.  XI,  193-204. 
Skeat,  W.  W.     Why  the  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  is  not  C.'s.     C.  S.  Series  11, 

19  (1884). 

The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose.     C.  S.  Essays,  Series  11,  29  (1892). 

[Cf.  also  Bourdillon,  F.  W.,  The  early  editions  of  the  Roman  de  la  Rose, 
Bibliogr.  Soc.  1906;  Langlois,  E.,  in  Petit  de  JuUeville's  Hist,  dela  .  .  .  Litt. 
fr.,  I,  105  ff.  ibid.,  Origines  et  Sources  du  Roman  de  la  Rose,  Paris,  1890.] 

X.     Troilus  and  Criseyde 

Early  editions:  Troilus  was  first  printed  by  Caxton  in  1482?  (Brit.  Mus. 
11,589,  no  title-page),  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  151 7  and  by  Pynson 
in  1526.  It  was  included  in  Thynne's  edition  of  1532,  and  in  all  subse- 
quent editions  of  C.'s  works. 


524  Bibliography  to 

Parallel-texts  of  C.'s  Troilus  and  Criseyde.     C.  S.  63,  64,  87,  88  (1881-2, 

1894-5). 
A  One-text  print,  79  (1888);  Autotype  specimen,  62  (1880). 
Broatch,  J.  W.     The  indebtedness  of  C.'s  Troilus  to  Benoit's  Roman.     Joum. 

Germ.  Phil.  11  (i),  14-28. 
Hamilton,  G.  L.     The  indebtedness  of  C.'s  Troilus  and  Criseyde  to  Guido 

delle  Colonne's  Historia  Trojana.    New  York,  1903. 
Jung,  K.     Chaucer's  Troilus  and  Boccaccio's  Filostrato  and  Filocolo.     C.  S. 

Series  11,  40  (1904). 
Kittredge,   G.   L.     Observations  on  the  Language  of  C.'s  Troilus.     C.   S. 

Series  11,  28  (1891). 
Kynaston,  F.     Amorum  Troili  et  Creseidae  libri  duo  priores  Anglico-Latini. 

2  parts.      O.xoniae,  1635. 
Macaulay,  G.  C.     Troilus  and  Criseide  in  Prof.  Skeat's  edition.     Acad.  No. 

1 196,  267-9;  No.  1 198,  338-340. 
McCormick,   W.   H.     Specimen-Extracts  from  nine  unprinted  MSS.  of  C.'s 

Troilus,  with  introduction  on  MSS.,  metre  and  grammar.     C.  S.  Series  i, 

98  (1907)- 

Another  Chaucer  stanza.     Furnivall  Misc.  1901,  p.  296. 

Studies  in  C.'s  Troilus.     C.  S.  42  (1906). 

Nicolas,  Sir  H.  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,  Troilus  and  Creseide,  and  the  Minor 
Poems.     1846. 

Price,  Th.  Troilus  and  Criseyde:  a  study  in  C.'s  method  of  narrative  con- 
struction.    MLA.  XI.  307-322. 

Rossetti,  W.  M.  C.'s  Troylus  and  Cryseyde  (from  the  Harl.  MS.  3943)  com- 
pared with  Boccaccio's  Filostrato.      C.  S.  Series  i,  44  (1875),  65  (1883). 

Schipper,  J.     C.'s  Troilus  and  Chriseis.      Oster.  Rundschau,  1884,  Heft  10-12. 

Skeat,  W.  W.     A  Rime-Index  to  C.'s  Troilus.     C.  S.  No.  84  (1891). 

Tatlock,  J.  S.  P.  The  Dates  of  C.'s  Troilus  and  Criseyde  and  Legend  of  Good 
Women.     MPh.  i,  317-329.     See  also  ibid,  iii,  36. 

XL     Life  of  Chaucer 

Godwin,  W.  (the  elder).  Life  of  G.  C.  .  .  .  with  sketches  of  the  manners, 
opinions,  arts  and  literature  of  England  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
2  vols.    1803.    2nd  ed.,  4  vols.     1804. 

Jusserand,  J.  J.     In  Revue  des  deux  Mondes,  15  April,  1893. 

Kern,  A.  A.     The  Ancestry  of  C.     1907. 

Kittredge,  G.  L.      C.  and  some  of  his  friends.      MPh. ,  I,  1-18. 

Lounsbury,  T.  R.     Studies  in  C.     His  Life  and  Writings.     3  vols.     1891. 

Mather,  F.  J.  An  inedited  document  concerning  C.'s  first  Italian  journey. 
MLN.  1896,  419  ff.,  510  f. 

Pollard,  A.  W.     Chaucer.     1893. 

Schipper,  J.     Altenglische  Humoristen :  G.  C.     Oster.  Rundschau,  1883,  Heft, 

6.     Spielmann,  M.  H.     The  Portraits  of  G.  C.     C.  S.  Series  11,  31  (1900). 

Ward,  A.  W.     Chaucer.      (English  Men  of  Letters  Series.)      1878,  1896. 
C.  biographies  occur  further  in  the  editions  of  Tyrwhitt,  Nicolas,  Skeat, 

etc.      See  also  Life-Records  of  C.  in  C.  S.  Series  11,  12  (1875),  14  (1876),  21 

(1886),  32  (1900). 

XII.     Chronology   of   Chaucer's   Works 

Koch,  J.  Uber  die  Chronologic  von  C.'s  Werken.  Herrig's  Archiv,  Lxxxvii, 
69-70.     Also  in  C.  S.  Series  11,  27  (1890). 


Chapter  VII  525 


Tatlock,  J.  S.  P.     The  development  and  chronology  of  C.'s  works.     C.  S. 

Series  ii,  37  (1907). 
Ten   Brink,   B.     C.    Studien   zur   Geschichte   seiner   Entwicklung   und   zur 

Chronologie  seiner  Schriften.     Miinster,  1870. 
Ten  Brink,  B.  and  Koppel,  E.     Zur  Chronologie  von  C.'s  Schriften.     Engl. 

Stud.  VII  (i),  1-22  and  (2),  189-200. 

XIII.     Language    and    Metre 

Cromie,  H.  Ryme-Index  to  the  Ellesmere  MS.  of  the  Cant.  Tales.  In  8vo. 
C.  S.  Series  i,  45,  47  (1875),  in  4to,  46  (1875),  Notes  and  Corrections,  49 

(1877)- 
Ellis,    A.    J.     On    Early    English    Pronunciation,    with   especial    reference 

to  Shakspere  and  C.    .    .    .      Including  a  re- arrangement  of   .    .    .   F.  J. 

Child's  Memoirs  on  the  language  of  C.     Phil.   Soc.    1869.     Also  issued 

by  the  E.E.T.S.  and  by  the  C.  S. 
Lindner,  P.     Alliteration  in  C.     C.  S.  Series  11,  16  (1876). 
McCormick,  W.  S.     Another  C.  stanza?     Furnivall  Miscellany,  pp.  296-300. 
Morton,  E.  P.     C.'s  identical  Rimes.     MLN.  xviii,  73  f. 
Saintsbury,  G.     A  History  of  English  Prosody.     Vol.  i.      1906. 
Skeat,  W.   W.     On  C.'s  Use  of  the   Kentish  dialect.     C.   S.   Series  11,  29 

(1892). 
Ten  Brink,  B.     C.'s  Sprache  und  Verskunst.    Leipzig,   1884.     2nd  ed.   1899. 

Transl.  into  English  by  M.  Bentinck  Smith.      1902. 
Tyrwhitt,  T.     On  the  Versification  of  C.      (See  Introduction  to  his  edition  of 

the  Cant.  Tales.) 
Weymouth,  R.  F.     On  Early  English  Pronunciation,  with  especial  reference 

to  C,  in  opposition  to  the  views  maintained  by  .    .    .  A.  J.  Ellis  in  his 

work  On  Early  English  Pronunciation,  etc.      1874. 
On  "Here"  and  "There"  in  C.     C.  S.  Series  11,  18  (1878). 

XIV.    Translations 

Dryden,  J.  Miscellany,  poems,  etc.  Printed  for  Jacob  Tonson,  London, 
1692.  (January  and  May;  or  the  Merchant's  Tale,  from  C.  by  Mr.  A. 
Pope.) 

Fables   .    .    .   translated  into  verse.     (The  Knight's  Tale,  The  Nun's 

Priest's  Tale,  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf,  and  the  Wife  of  Bath's  Tale.) 
1700.  Another  edition  by  Johnson,  S.,  The  Works  of  the  English  Poets. 
Vol.  XX.      1790.     Another  edition.  Fables  from  Boccaccio  and  C.      1806. 

Steele,  R.  Poetical  miscellanies,  consisting  of  original  poems  and  transla- 
tions. By  the  best  hands.  (The  Wife  of  Bath,  her  Prologue,  from 
C.     By  Mr.  Pope.)  1714.     2nd  ed.     1727. 

XV.     General    Literature 

Ballerstedt,  E.     Uber  C.'s  Naturschilderungen.     Gottingen,  1891. 
Ballmann,    O.     C.'s    Einfiuss   auf   das  englische   Drama   im   Zeitalter   der 

Konigin  Elizabeth  und  der  beiden  ersten  Stuartkonige.     Halle,  1901. 
Bjorkman,  Erik.     G.  C.     Stockholm,  1906. 
Brandl,  A.     Article  on  Middle  English  Literature  in  Paul's  Grundr.  der 

germ.  Philologie.     Vol.  11.      1892.      2nd  ed.      1908. 
• tjber  einige    historische   Anspielungen   in   C.'s  Werken.     Engl.  Stud. 

XII,  161. 


526  Bibliography  to 


Browne,  Matthew,     pseud.     C.'s  England.     2  vols.     1869. 

Browning,  E.  B.     On  C.   (parts  of  her  review  of  the  Book  of  the  Poets, 

1842).     C.  S.  Series  11,  9  (1874). 
Courthope,  W.  J.     A  History  of  English  Poetry.     Vol.  i.      1895. 
Cross,  W.  L.     C.  as  a  character  in  fiction.     Anglia,  xxv,  251-3. 
Flilgel,  E.     Chauceriana  Minora.     Anglia,  xxi,  245-259. 
Gartner,  O.     John  Shirley,  sein  Leben  und  Wirken.     Halle,  1904. 
Hales,  J.  W.,  in  D.  of  N.  B. 

Hammond,  E.  P.     MS.  Pepys  2006,  a  Chaucerian  Codex.     MLN.  xix,  196-8. 
Hazlitt,  W.     On  Chaucer  and  Spenser.     Collected  Works,  ed.  Waller,  A.  R. 

and  Glover,  A.     Vol.  v.     1902. 
Jusserand,  J.  J.     Hist.  Litt.  du  Peuple  Anglais,     Vol.  i.      1896. 
Kington-Oliphant,  T.  L.     On  C.'s  Reputed  Works.     C.  S.  Series  11,  19  (1884). 
Kissner,  A.     C.  in  seinen  Beziehungen  zur  ital.  Literatur.     Bonn,  1867. 
Koch.  J.     Der  gegenwartige   Stand  der  Chaucerforsehung.     Verh.   des  ix 

allg.  d.  Neuphilologentages,  pp.   117-27.     Hannover,   1901. 
Ein  Beitrag  zur  Kritik  C.'s.     Engl.  Stud,  i,  249  ff.     Cf.  Kolbing,  Engl. 

Stud.  II,  528-532. 
Kolbing,  E.     Byron  und  C.     Engl.  Stud,  xxi,  231. 
KOppel,  E.     C.  u.  Alanus  de  Insulis.     Herrig's  Archiv,  xc,  p.  149. 

Boccaccio's  Visione  Amorosa  von  C.  benutzt.     Anglia,  xiv,  233. 

Jehan  de  Meung  (und  C).     Anglia,  xiv,  238. 

Dante  und  C.     Anglia,  xiii,  184. 

Chauceriana.     Anglia,  xxv  (2),  227-267. 

C.  und  Albertanus  Brixiensis.     Herrig's  Archiv,  lxxxvii,  29-46. 

C.  und  Innocenz  des  dritten  Traktat    De  contemptu  mundi  sive  de 

miseria  conditionis  humanae.     Herrig's  Archiv,  lxxxiv,  405-418. 
Littlehales,  H.     Notes  on  the   Road  from  London  to  Canterbury.     C.   S. 

Series  11,  30  (1898). 
Mamroth,   F.     G.   C,  seine  Zeit  und  seine   Abhangigkeit  von   Boccaccio. 

Promotions-Schrift.     Berlin,  1872. 
Morley,  H.     English  Writers.     Vol.  v.      1890. 

Morris,  E.E.     The  Physician  in  C.    Furnivall  Miscellany,  pp.  338-346.    1901. 
Ramsay,  J.  H.     C.  and  Wycliffe's  Bible.     Acad.  No.  554,  pp.  435  f. 
Root,  R.  K.     The  Poetry  of  C. ;  a  guide  to  its  study  and  appreciation.      1906. 
Sandras,  E.  G.     Etude  sur  G.  C.  considere  comme  imitateur  des  Trouveres. 

Paris,   1859.     Ebert's  review  of  the  above   (Jahrb.  f.  rom.  und  engl. 

Lit.  1861,  p.  85)  has  been  translated  and  published  in  the  C.  S.  Series  11, 

2,  1868. 
Smith,  A.     Dreamthorpe.     1863  f. 
Spurgeon,  F.  E.  and  Fox,  E.     Five  hundred  years  of  C.  Criticisms  and 

Allusions,  1387-1900.     Part  i,  C.  S.  Series  11,  41  (1903). 
Skeat,  W.  W.     The  C.  Canon,  with  a  discussion  of  the  works  associated  with 

the  name  of  G.  C.     O.xford,  1900.     [See  also  in  Athenaeum,  1905,  28 

October,  for  works  attributed  to  Chaucer.] 
Snell,  F.  J.     The  Age  of  C.  (1346-1400).     With  an  introd.  by  J.  W.  Hales. 

1901. 

The  Fourteenth  Century.     1899. 

Ten  Brink,  B.     C.  in  Geschichte  der  engl.  Lit.     Vol.  i.     Berlin,  1877.     (2nd 

ed.  by  Brandl,  A.     1899.)     Vol.  11.,  i.    Berlin,  1889.  11.    2.  ed.  by  Brandl. 

Strassburg,  1893.     Eng.  trans.      1883. 
C.     Studien  zur  Geschichte  seiner  Entwicklung,  etc.     See  above. 


Chapter  VIII  527 

Todd,  H.  J.  Illustrations  of  the  Lives  and  Writings  of  Gower  and  C, 
collected  from  authentic  documents.  (Animadversions  upon  the  anno- 
tacions  and  correctons  of  some  imperfectons,  of  impressones  of  C.'s 
workes  .  .  .  no  we  reprinted  in  .  .  .  1598,  sett  downe  by  F.  Thynne), 
1810.  "Animadversions"  edited  by  Kingsley,  G.  H.,  in  E.E.T.S.  ix, 
1865,  and  by  Furnivall  in  the  C.  S.  Series  11,  13,  1875. 

Tapper,  F.  J.     Dryden  and  Speght's  C.     MLN.  xii,  347-353. 

Wood,  H.  C.'s  Influence  upon  King  James  I  of  Scotland  as  poet.  Halle, 
1879. 

Woodb ridge,  E.     C.'s  Classicism.     JGPh.  i,  111-7. 

[For  Guillaume  de  Machault  (i3oo?-i377),  see  P.  Tarbe's  edition,  Reims, 
1849;  and  for  the  poems  of  Eustace  Deschamps,  Machault's  nephew,  see 
ed.  Marquis  de  Queux  de  Saint-Hilaire,  S.A.T.F.,  Paris,  1878  ff.] 

[For  The  Tale  of  Gamelyn,  see  ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.,  2nd  edn,  revised,  1893; 
cf.  the  Robyn  and  Gandeleyn  ballad,  in  Child's  English  and  Scotch  Ballads, 
vol.  V,  1888;  Thomas  Lodge's  Rosalynde:  Euphues  golden  legacie,  1590;  and 
Lindner,  F.,  Englische  Studien,  11,  pp.  94  fi.  and  321  ff.] 

[Edwardes,  M.,  A  Summary  of  the  Literatures  of  Modern  Europe  .  .  . 
to  1400,  1907,  and  Korting's  Grundriss  may  be  consulted  for  bibliographical 
information.  See  also  Notes  and  Queries,  5th  series,  vols,  vi  and  vii,  and 
6th  series,  vols,  viii,  ix  and  x.] 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  ENGLISH  CHAUCERIANS 

Lydgate  (chief  works) 

Aesop.     Ed.  by  P.  Sauerstein  in  Anglia,  ix. 

Albon  and  Amphabel.     Printed  by  John  Hertford.     St.  Albans,  1534. 

Assembly  of  Gods.     Printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1498  and  afterwards. 

Cambridge  fascimile  reprint  of  c.  1500  ed.,  1906.      Reprinted  by  Pynson, 

n.  d.,  and  twice  by  Robert  Redman  in  4to  and  i6mo,  the  latter  dated 

1540.     Edited  for  E.E.T.S.  by  Triggs,  O.  L.     1896. 
Churl  and  the  Bird,  The.     Twice  printed  by  Caxton  (ist  ed.  reprinted  in 

facsimile,  Cambridge,  1906),  twice  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  once  by  Pynson. 

Partly  in  Halliwell. 
Complaint  of  the  Black  Knight.     Printed  by  W.  de  Worde.     Also  in  editions 

of  Chaucer  from  Thynne  (1532)  onwards  till  discovered  to  be  Lydgate's 

by  Shirley's  testimony. 
Court  of  Sapience.     Printed  by  Caxton  c.  1481. 

Divers  ballades  and  shorter  poems.     Also  included  in  older  edd.  of  Chaucer. 
Falls  of  Princes.     First  printed  by  Pynson  in  1494;  later  edd.  1527,  1554 

(Tottel)  and  John  Wayland's  1558. 
Flower  of  Courtesy.     Printed  in  edd.  of  Chaucer  from  Thynne  (1532)  to 

Chalmers. 
Guy  of  Warwick.     Printed  in  part  in  the  Percy  Folio  by  Furnivall,  F  J.  and 

Hales,  J.  W.,  1868;  completely  by  Zupitza,  J.,  Vienna,  1873;  ^ri*^  by 

Robinson,  F.  N.,  Harvard  Studies  and  Notes,  v. 
Horse,  Goose  and  Sheep.     Twice  printed  by  Caxton,  once  at  least  by  Wynkyn 

de  Worde.     Cambridge  facsimile  reprint  of  c.  1499  ed.,  1906.    Reprinted 

partly  in  Halliwell,  Minor  Poems  {v.  inf.)  and  in  Roxburghe  Club  edd. 


5^8  Bibliography  to 


Margaret's  entry  into  London,  Verses  for  queen.     Not  now  extant. 

Minor  Poems  (44).     Ed.  by  J.  O.  Halliwell  for  Percy  Society.      1840. 
Nightingale  Poems,  Two.     Ed.  by  O.  Glauning  for  E.E.T.S.      1900. 

Our  Lady,  The  Life  of.  Printed  by  Caxton  (1484?).  Again  in  1531.  In- 
cluded by  C.  E.  Tame  in  2nd  part  of  Early  English  Religious  Literature. 
1871-9. 

Pilgrimage  of  the  Life  of  Man,  The.  Printed  in  extract  by  Miss  K.  J.  Cust 
after  N.  Hill  in  The  Ancient  Poem  of  Guillaume  de  Guilevile  .  .  .  com- 
pared with  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  of  John  Bunyan.  1858.  Completely 
for  E.E.T.S.  by  F.  J.  Furnivall  and  Miss  K.  Locock  in  three  parts. 
1899-01-04.  [For  Deguileville  himself,  see  ed.  Sturzinger,  J.  J.,  Rox- 
burghe  Club,  1893.] 

Reason  and  Sensuality.     Ed.  by  Sieper,  E.,  E.E.T.S.     2  parts.     1901-3. 

St.  Edmund  and  Fremund.  In  C.  Horstmann's  Altenglische  Legenden. 
Neue  Folge.     Heilbronn,  1881.     No.  20. 

St.  Giles.     In  Horstman,  ibid.  No.  19. 

St.  Margaret.     In  Horstman,  ibid.  No.  21. 

Secreta  Secretorum  or  Secrets  of  Philosophers  (finished  by  Burgh).  Printed 
for  the  first  time  by  E.E.T.S.     Ed.  Steele,  R.      1894. 

Stans  Puer  ad  Mensam  (Rules  of  Breeding).  Printed  by  Caxton  {c.  1479?) 
and  four  (?)  times  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  (n.  d.  ?  1518  and  1524)  as  well  as 
often  in  later  manuals  of  behaviour.  Reprinted  from  MS.  in  Wright  and 
Halliwell's  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  i,  1845,  and  in  Hazlitt's  Early  Popular 
Poetry  of  England,  in,  1866. 

Temple  of  Glass.  Printed  by  Caxton  c.  1477.  Cambridge  facsimile  reprint, 
1905.  Reprinted  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  1498?-! 500?;  and  twice  after- 
wards at  no  great  interval:  by  Pynson,  existing  only  in  fragments,  about 
the  same  time ;  and  by  Berthelet,  J.  with  no  date.  Edited  with  elaborate 
apparatus  (the  fullest  at  present  existing  for  the  study  of  Lydgate)  by 
Schick,  J.,  E.E.T.S.     1891. 

Testament.     Printed  by  Pynson.     Reprinted  in  Halliwell. 

Thebes,  The  Story  of.  Printed  by  W.  de  Worde  n.  d.  but  added  by  Stow  to 
the  1 561  ed.  of  Chaucer  and  thenceforward  included  in  edd.  of  that  poet 
to  the  time  of  Chalmers. 

Troy  Book.  First  printed  by  Pynson  in  151 3;  secondly  by  R.  Braham  in 
1555.  Modernised  by  T.  Heywood  as  Life  and  Death  of  Hector  in 
1614.      Reprint  begun  by  E.E.T.S.  Part  i,  1906,  ed.  Bergen,  H. 

Prose.    The  Damage  and  Destruction  of  Realms.    Printed  by  Tre very s  c.  1520. 

Besides  the  editions  noticed  above  (especially  Schick's  Temple  of  Glass,  and 
Zupitza)  and  the  portions  appurtenant  in  the  various  histories  of  English 
Literature,  including  Moriey's  English  Writers,  vi,  consult  Gray's 
Metrum;  Warton,  History  of  English  Poetry,  iii  (ed.  Hazlitt) ;  Ritson, 
Bibliographia  Poetica  li.s.;  Courthope,  History  of  English  Poetry,  i, 
1895;  Gregory  Smith,  The  Transition  Period,  Edinburgh,  1900;  and  the 
present  writer's  History  of  English  Prosody,  i,  1906.  See  also  Sidney 
Lee's  bibliography  of  Lydgate  in  the  D.  of  N.  B.,  for  MSS.,  fuller  lists, 
etc.,  and  also  H.  N.  McCracken's  Lydgate  Canon,  E.E.T.S.  1908,  referred 
to  below. 

OCCLEVE 

No  eariy  editions  except  The  Letter  of  Cupid,  and  perhaps  one,  or  two 
more,  m  the  early  edd.  of  Chaucer. 


Chapter  VIII  529 

De  Regimine  Principum.     Ed.  Wright,  T.      Roxburghe  Club,  i860. 

Poems      Ed.  Mason,  G.      1796. 

Tale  of  Jonathas,  included  by  W.  Browne  in  the  Shepherds  Pipe.      1614. 

Works.  E.E.T.S.  i  and  11.  1892-7.  Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.  The  editorial 
matter  of  these  contains  the  fullest  information  and  discussion  yet  given 
as  to  O. ;  and  something  as  to  him  will  generally  be  found  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  notices  of  Lydgate,  e.g.  in  Ten  Brink,  Hist.  Eng.  Lit.,  vol. 
II,  Eng.  trans,  pp.  212  flf. 

Benedict  Burgh 

Aristotle's  A  B  C,  in  Babees  Book,  ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.     E.E.T.S.      1868. 
Christmas  Game,  A.,  in  Wright's  Christmas  Carols,  Percy  Society,  1841  (also 

by  Furnivall  in  N.  and  Q.  1868). 
Great  and  Little  Cato.     Printed  three  times  by  Caxton.     Facsimile  reprint  of 

1477  ed.  princeps.     Cambridge,  1906. 
Secrets  of  the  Philosophers  (with  Lydgate).     Ed.  Steele,  R.     E.E.T.S.      1894. 

Part  printed  by  Halliwell  in  Lydgate' s  Minor  Poems  and  by  Ashmole 

in  Treatrum  Chemicum. 

George  Ashby 

Poems.  Ed.  Bateson,  M.  E.E.T.S.  1899.  MSS.  in  Trinity  College  and  Uni- 
versity Libraries,  Cambridge. 

Henry  Bradshaw 

Life  of  St.  Radegund.     Printed  by  Pynson,  n.  d. 

Life  of  St.  Werburgh.    Printed  by  Pynson,  1521.     Reprinted  by  Chetham 

Society  (ed.  Hawkins,  E.,  Manchester,  1848)  and  E.E.T.S.  (ed.  Horst- 

mann,  C),  1887. 

George  Ripley  and  other  Alchemists 

The  standard  collection,  not  superseded  yet,  is  Elias  Ashmole's  Theatrum 
Chemicum  Britannicum.     1652.     More  than  once  reprinted. 

Osbern  Bokenam 

Saints'  Lives.  Ed.  for  Roxburghe  Club  (1835)  and  by  Horstmann,  C.  (Heil- 
bronn,  1883). 

Chauceriana 

In  early  edd.  of  Chaucer  as  above,  more  or  fewer.  The  most  important 
except  the  Tale  of  Beryn  (Chaucer  Society,  ed.  Furnivall  and  Stone,  1884) 
in  the  seventh  and  supplementary  volume  of  W.  W.  Skeat's  Works  of 
Chaucer,  Oxford,  1897. 

For  critical  and  other  apparatus  on  the  minor  poets  after  Occleve  see  edd. 
mentioned  and  the  general  authorities  cited  under  Lydgate,  especially 
Morley's  Enghsh  Writers,  vi,  adding,  for  the  Chauceriana,  the  passages 
appurtenant  in  edd.  of  Chaucer  and  books  on  him.  The  most  important 
monograph  is  that  on  The  Origin  and  Sources  of  the  "Court  of  Love,"  by 
W.  A.  Neilson,  Harvard,  1899. 

[For  Thomas  Usk's  Testament  of  Love,  found  in  Chaucer  edd.  from  Thynne 
onwards,  see  Bradley,  H.,  Athenaeum,  6  February,  1897,  and  Skeat, 
W.  W.,  Chaucerian  and  other  pieces,  1897.] 

VOL.   II. — 34 


530  Bibliography  to 

Since  the  chapter  on  the  Chaucerians  was  printed  and  the  above  biblio- 
graphy was  composed,  the  long  desired  revision  of  Ritson's  list  of  Lydgate's 
works  has  appeared  in  the  form  of  a  lecture  to  the  Philological  Society 
by  Henry  Noble  McCracken.  This  introduces  important  variations  in  the 
canon,  such  formerly  accepted  works  as  London  Lickpenny  being,  for  in- 
stance, excluded.  The  list  must  henceforward  be  taken  into  serious  account 
by  all  Lydgate  students.  Its  author  puts  it  forth  in  no  dictatorial  manner. 
But,  as  it  proceeds  on  the  premiss  that  "Lydgate  was  always  smooth,"  im- 
poses arbitrary  rime  tests  and  disqualifies  such  positive  testimony  as  that 
of  Hawes  to  his  master's  work,  it  is  evident  that  there  must  be  room  for 
considerable  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  probable  correctness  of  this 
revision. 

CHAPTER  IX 

STEPHEN  HAWES 

Editions 

^  Here  begynneth  the  boke  called  the  example  of  vertu.  [Wynkyn  de 
Worde,  15 12.] 

^  Here  foloweth  a  compendyous  story,  and  it  is  called  the  exemple  of  vertu, 
in  the  whiche  ye  shall  fynde  many  goodly  storys  &  naturall  dysputacyons 
bytwene  foure  ladyes  named  Hardynes,  Sapyence,  Fortune,  and  Nature. 
Compyled  by^Stephyn  Hawys  one  of  ye  gromes  of  the  most  honorable 
chambre  of  oure  souerayne  lorde  kynge  Henry  the  .vii.  And  pryted  .xx. 
day  of  Apryll.     Anno  diii.  m.ccccc.xxx.     [Wynkyn  de  Worde.] 

The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure,  or  the  History  of  Graunde  Amoure  and  la  Bel 
Pucel,  conteining  the  Knowledge  of  the  Seven  Sciences  and  the  Course 
of  Mans  Life  in  this  Worlde.     [Wynkyn  de  Worde,  1509.] 

The  History  of  Graund  Amoure  and  La  Bel  Pucell,  called  The  Pastime  of 
Pleasure,  Conteynyng  the  Knowledge  of  the  Seven  Sciences,  and  the 
Course  of  Mans  Life  in  this  Worlde.  Invented  by  Stephen  Hawes, 
Grome  of  Kyng  Henry  the  Seventh  his  chamber.  Anno  Domini,  1555. 
[Richard  Tottel.] 

The  Pastime  of  Pleasure :  An  Allegorical  Poem.  Reprinted  from  the  edition 
of  1555.     Ed.  Wright,  Thomas.     Percy  Society.     1845. 

The  couercyon  of  swerers  (on  a  riband).     [Wynkyn  de  Worde,  1509.] 

1[  A  loyfull  medytacyon  to  all  Englonde  of  the  coronacyon  of  our  moost 
naturall  souerayne  lorde  kynge  Henry  the  eight.  [Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
n.  d.] 

The  Conversyon  of  Swerers:  A  JoyfuU  Medytacyon  to  all  Englonde  of  the 
Coronacyon  of  Kynge  Henry  the  Eyght.  Ed.  Laing,  David.  Abbots- 
ford  Club.     Edinburgh,  1865. 

Comfort  of  Louers.     Emprynted  by  me  Wynkyn  de  Worde.     [n.  d.] 

Illustrative  Works 

Bale,  John.     Illustrium  Maioris  Britanniae  Scriptorum  Catalogus.     i  vol. 

Basileae.     Apud  Joannem  Oporinum.     1557-9.     The   1548  edition  of 

Bale  does  not  mention  Hawes. 
Browning,  E.  B.     The  Greek  Christian  Poets,  and  the  English  Poets.      1863. 
Minto,    W.     Characteristics   of   English    Poets.     Edinburgh    and    London. 

1874,  1885. 
Morley,  Henry.     English  Writers.     Vol.  vii.      1891. 


Chapters  IX  and  X  53  ^ 

Saintsbury,  G.     Flourishing  of  Romance  and  Rise  of  Allegory.     Edinburgh 

and  London.      1897. 

A  History  of  English  Prosody.     Vol.  i.     1906. 

Schick,  J.     Introduction  to  Lydgate's  Temple  of  Glas.     E.E.T.S.     Ex,  Ser. 

LX.      1891. 
Ten  Brink,  B.     History  of  English  Literature.     Vol.  ill.     Eng.  trans,     1896, 
Warton,  T.     The  History  of  English  Poetry,     3  vols.     1774-81.     Ed.  Haz- 

litt,  W.  Carew.     4  vols.     187 1. 
Wood,  Anthony  k.     Athenae  Oxonienses.     2  vols.     169 1-2.     Ed.  Bliss,  P, 

4  vols.     1813-20. 

[For  the  note  on  p.  224  of  the  text,  thanks  are  due  to  Percy  Lubbock,  of 
Magdalene  College.] 

[For  Bernard  Andreas  or  Andrd,  of  Toulouse,  see  Gairdner,  J.,  Memorials 
of  Henry  VII,  Rolls  Series,  1858.] 

CHAPTER  X 

THE    SCOTTISH  CHAUCERIANS 

General  Authorities 

Chambers's  Cyclopaedia  of  English  Literature.     1901. 

Courthope,  W.  J.     History  of  English  Poetry.     Vol.  i.     1895. 

Henderson,  T.  F.     Scottish  Vernacular  Literature.     1898. 

Jusserand,  J.  J.     A  Literary  History  of  the  English  People.     Vols,  i  and  11. 

1895,  1906. 
Millar,  J.  H.     A  Literary  History  of  Scotland.     1903. 
Morley,  Henry.     English  Writers.     Vols,  vi  and  vii.     1890,  1891. 
Smith,  G.  Gregory.     The  Transition  Period.     1900. 

(For  references  to  Sibbald,  Irving  and  other  authorities,  see  under  each 
author,  infra.) 

James  I,  King  of  Scots 

(i)     The  Kingis  Quair 

MS.  Only  extant  MS.,  Bodleian,  Oxford  (Arch.  Selden,  B.  24,  foil.  192-211), 
Date  of  MS.,  after  1488. 

Editions.  Poetical  Remains  of  James  the  First,  King  of  Scotland.  Edin- 
burgh, 1783.  This  anonymous  volume  was  edited  by  William  Tytler 
(father  of  Lord  Woodhouslee).  The  poem,  which  is  described  as  hav- 
ing been  "never  before  published,"  was  printed  from  an  indifferent 
transcript. 

The  Works  of  James  I,  King  of  Scotland,  containing  the  Kingis  Quhair 
(sic:  see  note  infra),  Christis  Kirk  of  the  Grene,  and  Peblis  to  the  Play. 
Perth,  1786.  This  is  one  of  R.  Morison's  publications.  It  follows 
Tjrtler's  very  closely. 

Chalmers,  George,  included  the  poem  in  his  Poetic  Remains  of  the  Scotish 
Kings,  1824.     A  worthless  text. 

Sibbald,  J.,  in  his  Chronicle  of  Scottish  Poetry,  1802,  printed  160  of  the  197 
stanzas  (i,  pp.  14-54). 

Skeat,  W.  W.  The  Kingis  Quair,  together  with  A  Ballad  of  Good  Counsel. 
By  King  James  I  of  Scotland.  Scottish  Text  Society,  Edinburgh,  1884. 
This  edition  supersedes  all  the  others.     Skeat  had  published  previously, 


532  Bibliography  to 


in  187 1,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  Specimens  of  English  Literature  from 
1394  to  1579,  stanzas  152-173  of  the  poem. 
Thomson,  Ebenezer.     The  King's  Quair,  a  poem,  by  James,  K.  of  Scots. 
C  First  edition.     Ayr,  1815.)     Second  edition.     Ayr,  1824. 
[It  is,  perhaps,  scarcely  necessary  to  remind  the  reader  of  D.  G.  Rossetti's 
The  King's  Tragedy.] 

Critical  (including  the  question  of  James  I's  authorship). 

Brown,  J.  T.  T.     The  Authorship  of  the  Kingis  Quair.     A  New  Criticism. 

Glasgow,  1896.     An  attempt  to  disprove  James  I's  authorship. 
Irving,  D.     History  of  Scotish  Poetry,  1861,  pp.  123-160. 
Jusserand,  J.  J.     Jacques  i"  d'Ecosse  fut-il  poete?     Etude  sur  I'authenticit^ 

du  Cahier  du  Roi.     Paris,  1897.     A  reprint  of  an  article  in  La  Revue 

historique,  1897,  vol.  lxiv — a  complete  answer  to  Brown's  criticism. 
The  Romance  of  a  King's  Life.      1896.     An  English  version  of  an  article 

in  La  Revue  de  Paris,  Feb.,  1894,  pp.  172-199. 
Neilson,  W.  A.     The  Origins  and  Sources  of  the  Court  of  Love  (Harvard 

Studies),  1899,  pp.  152  et  seq.,  233  et  seq. 
Ross,  John  M.     Scottish  History  and  Literature,  1884,  pp.  132-159. 
Skeat,  W.  W.     Chaucerian  and  other  Pieces,  1897,  p.  Ixxv.     (Oxford  Chaucer, 

vol.  VII.) 

Introduction  to  text,  u.s. 

Wischmann,  Walther.     Untersuchungen  liber  das   Kingis    Quair  Jakobs    I 
von    Schottland.     Wismar,  1887. 

Note.  The  confusion  of  quhair  (where)  with  quair  {quire,  book)  in 
references  to  the  title  of  James  I's  poem  is  unfortunately  too  common. 
Cf.  Morison's  edition,  u.s.,  and  Ross's  account  of  the  poem,  u.s.  The 
frequency  of  quh-  in  Middle  Scots  sometimes  caused  error  even  in  con- 
temporary texts:  e.g.  quhod  for  quod,  which  occurs  once  in  Lyndsay's 
Dreme  (St.  Andrews,  1554). 

Reference  has  been  made  (p.  92,  note  i)  to  the  stronger  southern  character 
of  the  texts  of  the  Early  Transition  period.  Consideration  of  this  fact 
may  have  suggested  the  ingenious  speculation  that  the  Kingis  Quair  was 
written  by  James  I  in  the  southern  dialect  and  that  the  text  which  we  have 
is  a  copy  by  a  northern  scribe.  James's  authorship  is  not  disputed,  but  there 
would  seem  to  be  some  question  of  the  historical  value  of  the  conclusions 
regarding  the  mixed  character  of  the  language.  The  theory  assumes  that 
James,  having  been  captured  at  an  early  age,  and  having  spent  many  years 
in  England,  must  have  forgotten  his  native  speech.  Against  this  we  place 
Bower's  statement  respecting  the  king's  companions  in  exile  (see  also  Jusse- 
rand, Jacques  P'etc,  U.S.,  pp.  16  et  seq.)  and  the  assumption — not  less  reason- 
able than  the  other — that  in  circumstances  such  as  James's  the  once  familiar 
speech  would  not  be  entirely  forgotten,  and  that  it  would  act  as  a  disturbing 
factor  in  his  efforts  to  reproduce  literary  English.  Further,  it  is  hard  to 
believe  that  a  Scottish  scribe,  bent  on  transforming  the  text,  would,  or  could 
make  any  changes  in  word  or  rime  except  in  accordance  with  Scots  usage. 
(Note  the  evidence  of  "lakketh,"  st.  27;  "stynten,"  st.  117;  "regne" — 
"benigne,"  st.  37;  and  the  northern  rimes  generally.) 

Other  Poems  by,  or  ascribed  to,  James  I 

(ii)  "  Sen  trew  Vertew  encressis  dignytee,"  sometimes  entitled  Good  Counsel. 
MS.     In  Cambridge  University  Library  (Kk.  i.  5,  fol.  5). 


chapter  X  533 

Editions.     In  the  1578,  1600,  and  162 1  issues  (not  in  that  of  1567)  of  Ane 

Compendious  Buik  of  Godly  and  Spirituall  Songis  [known  as  The  Gude 

and  Godlie  Ballatis]. 
Laing,  D.      Reprint  of  the  1578  edition  of  the  above.     Edinburgh,  1868. 
Lumby,  J.  R.      Ratis  Raving  and  other  Moral  and  Religious  Pieces  in  Prose 

and  Verse,  E.E.T.S.  1870,  pp.  vi,  10,  118-119. 
Mitchell,  A.  F.     A  Compendious  Book  of  Godly  and  Spiritual  Songs.     Scottish 

Text  Society,  Edinburgh,  1897,  pp.  Ixxxi,  238. 
Skeat,  W.  W.     Kingis  Quair,  etc.,  u.s.,  pp.  51-54,  94-96. 
(iii)     Peblis  to  the  Play,  and  (iv)  Christis  Kirk  on  the  Grene.     For  discussion 

of  the  authorship  of  these  pieces  see  Irving,  u.s.,  pp.   142-153;  Skeat, 

K.  Q.,  ti.s,  pp.  xvii-xxiii;  Brown,  J.  T.  T.,  u.s.,  pp.  16-20.     See  also 

chapter  xi  of  this  volume, 
(v)      Fragment  B  of  the  Romaunt  of  the  Rose  (11.  1 706-5810)  printed  in  the 

Oxford  Chaucer,  i,  pp.    164-229.     For  Skeat's  reasons  for  suggesting 

the  ascription  of  this  section  to  James  I  see  the  introduction,  pp.  3-6; 

also  his  Chaucer  Canon,  Oxford,  1900,  pp.  75-89.     Cf.  also  Athenaeum, 

22  July,  1899. 

Robert  Henryso.'I 

(i)      The  Morall  Fabillis  of  Esope 

MSS.  Harleian  MS.  3865,  Brit.  Mus.,  with  title-page  bearing  the  date 
1 57 1.  (This  MS.,  containing  the  general  prologue  and  thirteen  Fables, 
is  the  most  complete.)  Bannatyne  MS.  (1568),  Advocates'  Library, 
Edinburgh  (MS.  i.  i.  6),  containing  the  general  prologue  and  ten 
Fables.  Makculloch  MS.  (c.  1500)  in  the  Library  of  the  University 
of  Edinburgh  (Laing  MSS.,  No.  149),  containing  the  general  prologue 
and  the  Fable  of  the  Cock  and  the  Jewel.  Asloan  MS.  (early  sixteenth 
century),  containing  the  Fable  of  the  Two  Mice. 

Editions.  The  Morall  Fabillis  |  of  Esope  the  Phrygi-  |  an,  Compylit  in 
Eloquent,  and  Ornate  Scottis  |  Meter,  be  Maister  Robert  Henrisone,  | 
Scholemaister  of  Dun-  |  fermeling.  | |  Newlie  Imprentit  i  at  Edin- 
burgh, be  Robert  Lekpreuik,  at  the  Ex-  |  pensis  of  Henrie  Charteris: 
and  ar  to  be  |  sauld  in  his  Buith,  on  the  North  syde  |  of  the  gait,  abone 
the  Throne.  |  Anno.  Do.  m.d.lxx.  A  unique  copy  of  this  edition  is 
preserved  in  the  library  at  Britwell  Court,  Bucks. 

The  Fabulous  tales  of  |  Esope  the  Phrygian,  Compiled  |  moste  eloquently  in 
Scottishe  1  Metre  by  Master  Robert  |  Henrison,  and  now  lately  |  Englished 
1  .  .  .  .  London.  |  Richard  Smith  |  Anno.  1577.  The  only  known  copy  of 
this  edition  was  in  the  library  of  Sion  College  (E.B.  ix,  40);  but  it  is 
now  missing  (see  S.T.S.  edition,  injra,  11,  pp.  xi-xvi). 

The  next  extant  edition  is  that  ("  Neulie  reuised  and  corrected")  of  Andro 
Hart,  Edinburgh,  162 1,  reprinted  by  the  Maitland  Club,  Edinburgh,  1832, 
with  an  unsigned  preface  by  David  Irving. 

Laing,  D.  The  Poems  and  Fables  of  Robert  Henrj'son,  now  first  collected. 
With  Notes,  and  a  Memoir  of  his  Life.  Edinburgh,  1865.  The  Fables 
are  printed  on  pp.  101-217. 

Diebler,  A.  R.  Henrisone's  Fabeln  (a  reprint  of  the  Harleian  MS.  text),  in 
Anglia,  ix,  342-390,  453-492. 

Smith,  G.  Gregory.  The  Poems  of  Robert  Henryson.  Vol.  11.  Scottish  Text 
Society,  Edinburgh,  1906.     This  edition  prints  all  the  texts  of  the  Fables 


534  Bibliography  to 


in  extenso    and  gives  a  complete  bibliography.     See  also  Specimens  of 
Middle  Scots,  1902,  pp.  1-7  and  267-9. 

(ii)     Orpheus  and  Eurydice 

MSS.     Asloan  MS.,  u.s.     Bannatyne,  MS.  u.s. 

Editions.  Among  the  fragments  of  the  Chepman  and  Myllar  prints  (the 
earliest  specimens  of  Scottish  printing)  preserved  in  the  unique  volume 
in  the  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh  (19,1.  16).  The  text  is  incomplete. 
A  reprint  (now  rare)  was  issued  by  Laing  in  1827. 

Laing,  D.     Poems,  u.s.,  pp.  49-71. 

(iii)     The  Testament  of  Cresseid 

MS.  It  appears  in  the  Table  of  the  Asloan  MS. ,  u.s.,  but  the  leaves  on  which 
it  was  written  have  been  lost. 

Editions.     In  William  Thynne's  edition  of  Chaucer.      1532. 

The  Testament  of  |  Cresseid,  |  Compylit  be  M.  Robert  |  Henrysone,  Sculemai- 1 
ster  in  Dunfer-  |  meling.  ||  Imprentit  at  Edin-  |  burgh  be  Henrie  Char- 
tens.  I  M.D.xciii.  This  is  the  earliest  known  separate  edition,  and  the 
first  printed  in  Scotland.  A  unique  copy  is  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum. 

Chalmers,  G.     Reprint  of  the  foregoing  for  the  Bannatyne  Club.      1825. 

Laing,  D.     Poems,  u.s.,  pp.  75-99. 

Skeat,  W.  W.  Chaucerian  and  other  Pieces  (Oxford  Chaucer,  vol.  vii), 
1897,  pp.  327-346.  This  text  is  based  on  Chalmers's  reprint,  No.  3, 
supra. 

For  observations  on  early  seventeenth  century  Scottish  editions,  of  which 
no  copies  are  extant,  see  Laing,  u.s.,  p.  259.  In  1635  Sir  Francis  Kynaston 
made  a  Latin  rimed  version  of  Chaucer's  Troilus  and  Henryson's  Cresseid — 
Amorum  Troili  et  Cressidae  Libri  duo  priores,  Anglico-Latini,  Oxoniae, 
excudebat  lohannes  Lichfield,  anno  domini  1635.  F.  G.  Waldron  printed  a 
specimen  of  the  MS.  in  1796.  The  MS.  was  formerly  in  the  possession  of 
S.  W.  Singer.     See  Laing,  u.s.,  p.  260. 

(iv)     Shorter  Poems  {thirteen  in  number) 

MSS.  Twelve  of  the  poems  are  preserved  in  the  Bannatyne  MS. ,  u.s.,  and 
five  are  in  duplicate,  in  the  first  draft,  bound  up  with  the  MS.  Four  are 
in  the  Maitland  Folio  MS.  (Pepysian  Library,  Magd.  Coll.,  Cambridge). 
One,  and  a  fragment  of  another,  are  in  the  Makculloch  MS.,  u.s.,  one  is 
in  the  Gray  MS.,  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh,  and  one  is  in  the  later 
Riddell  MS.  (1636),  preserved  in  the  library  of  Mr.  Chalmers  of  Auldbar. 

Editions.  Two  poems  (Prais  of  Aige  and  Want  of  Wyse  Men)  were  printed 
by  Chepman  and  Myllar,  u.s.  Several  of  the  poems  have  been  reprinted 
at  various  times  (by  Ramsay,  Hailes,  Sibbald,  Pinkerton,  Chalmers  and 
others);  but  the  first  collected  text  appeared  in  Laing,  Poems,  u.s.,  1865. 
Robene  and  Makyne  has  been  reprinted  most  often,  the  latest  version 
(following  the  Bannatyne  text)  appearing  in  Specimens  of  Middle  Scots, 
Edin.  1902,  pp.  21-25. 

Collected  Editions 
The  only  collected  editions  of  Henryson's  poems  are  (i)  Laing,  u.s.,  1865  and 


Chapter  X  535 

(2)  Smith,  G.  Gregory,  Scottish  Text  Society,  in  three  volumes,  in  course 
of  publication.  Vol.  ii  (vol.  I  of  the  texts),  containing  the  Fables,  was 
published  in  Nov.,  1906.  Vol.  in  will  contain  all  the  texts  of  Nos.  11,  in 
and  IV. 

Critical  (general). 

Diebler,  A.  R.     Henrisone's  Fabeldichtungen.     Halle,  1885. 

Henley,  W.  E.,  in  Ward's  English  Poets,  1887,  i,  pp.  137-139. 

Irving,  D.,  u.s.,  1861,  pp.  208-224. 

Laing,  D.,  Poems,  u.s.,  1865,  introduction. 

Morley,  H.     English  Writers,  1890,  vi,  pp.  250-257. 

Neilson,  W.  A.     The  Origins  and  Sources  of  the  Court  of  Love  (Harvard 

Studies),  1899,  pp.  2,  93,  159-163. 
Ross,  J.  M.,  U.S.,  1884,  pp.  159-169. 

Saintsbury,  G.     History  of  English  Prosody,  1906,  i,  pp.  271  e/  seq. 
Sibbald,  J.,  u.s.,  1802,  i,  pp.  87-90. 

William   Dunbar 

MSS.  There  is  no  single  MS.  collection  of  Dunbar's  poems.  They  have  been 
gathered  together  from  the  following:  (i)  The  Bannatyne  MS.,  ti.s.  (60 
poems);  (2)  The  Maitland  Folio  MS.,  u.s.  (60  poems  and  one  fragment); 

(3)  The  Asloan  MS.,  u.s.  (5  poems  and  2  fragments);  (4)  The  MakcuUoch 
MS.,  U.S.  (2  poems);  (5),  (6),  (7)  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  viz.  Cotton. 
Vitellius  A.  xvi,  fol.  200  (i  poem),  Arundel,  No.  285,  fol.  161  (3  poems) 
and  App.  to  Royal  MSS.,  No.  58,  fol.  15  b  (i  poem);  (8)  The  Aberdeen 
Register  of  Sasines  (i  poem);  (9)  The  Reidpath  MS.,  Univ.  Lib.  Cam- 
bridge, MS.  Moore,  LI.  5.  10,  1620  (44  poems  and  3  fragments). 

The  distribution  of  the  poems  among  these  MSS.  is  shown  in  tabular  form 
in  the  Scottish  Text  Society's  edition  (infra),  i,  pp.  cxcvi-cxcviii.  See  also 
introduction  to  Schipper's  edition  (infra),  pp.  5-14.  The  former  edition 
ascribes  10 1  poems  to  Dunbar;  the  latter  103.  Many  of  the  poems  occur 
in  more  than  one  MS.  Thus  of  the  47  poems  represented  in  the  Reidpath  MS. 
only  nine  (eight,  Schipper)  are  not  found  in  any  of  the  other  MSS.  The 
lists  include  the  poems  which  have  been  attributed  to  Dunbar. 
Editions,     (a)  Chief  reprints  of  the  poems  before  the  publication  of  the 

first  collected  edition  by  Laing  (infra). 
Chepman  and  Myllar's  prints,  u.s.     (7  poems.) 
Hailes,  Lord.     Ancient  Scottish  Poems.     Edin.  1770.     (32  poems  from  the 

Bannatyne  MS.) 
Pinkerton,  John.     Ancient  Scotish  Poems.     2  vols.     1786.     (23  poems.) 
Ramsay,  Allan.     The  Ever  Green.    Edin.  1724.     (24  poems,  freely  rendered.) 
Select  Poems  of  Will.  Dunbar.     Pt.  i.      (Morison's  Perth  edition),  1788. 
Sibbald,  J.     Chronicle  of  Scottish  Poetry.    Vols,  i  and  11.      1802.     (45  poems.) 

(b)     Collected  editions. 
Laing,  D.     The  Poetical  Works  of  William  Dunbar,  with  a  Memoir  and 

Notes.     2   vols.      Edin.    1824.     A  supplementary  volume  published  in 

1865   contains  a  selection  of  poems  by  the  minor  Makars. 
Schipper,  J.     The   Poems  of  William   Dunbar,  edited  with   Introductions, 

Various  Readings  and  Notes.     Vienna  (Kaiserliche  Akademie  der  Wis- 

senschaften),  1894.     A  useful  edition,  but  marred  by  misprints. 


536  Bibliography  to 

Small — Mackay — Gregor.  The  Poems  of  William  Dunbar.  3  vols.  Scottish 
Text  Society.  1884-93.  (Vol.  i,  Introduction  by  M.  J.  G.  Mackay; 
vol.  II.  Texts  edited  by  John  Small;  vol.  iii,  Notes  and  Glossary  by  Wal- 
ter Gregor,  with  an  Appendix  by  JE,.  J.  G.  Mackay.)  This  is  still  the 
standard  edition. 

Critical  (general). 

Irving,  D.,  «.5.,  1861,  pp.  225-254. 

Kaufmann,  J.  Traite  de  la  langue  du  poete  ^cossais  William  Dunbar, 
pr^ced6  d'une  esquisse  de  sa  vie  et  de  ses  poemes.     Bonn,  1873. 

Laing,  D.,  U.S.,  1824,  introduction. 

Mackay,  M.  J.  G.  Introduction  to  Scottish  Text  Society's  edition  {supra), 
separate  issue  (privately  printed).      1893. 

Neilson,  W.  A.     Origins  and  sources,  U.S.,  1899,  pp.  2,  163-165,  212,  220  et  seq. 

Ross.  J.  M.,  U.S.,  1884,  pp.  169  et  seq. 

Schipper,  J.     William  Dunbar.    Sein  Lebenund  seine  Gedichte.    Berlin,  1884. 

Sibbald,  J.,  ti.s.,  1802,  i,  pp.  209  et  seq. 

Warton,  Hist,  of  Eng.  Poetry,  sect.  xxx. 

Versification. 

Baildon,  H.  B.  Dissertation  on  the  Rimes  of  Dunbar.  (Freiburg.)  Re- 
printed Edin.  1899. 

McNeill,  G.  P.  Note  on  the  versification  and  Metres  of  Dunbar.  Scottish 
Text  Society's  edition,  u.s.,  i,  pp.  clxxii-cxciii. 

Saintsbury,  G.     History  of  English  Prosody.     Vol.  i.      1906. 

Schipper,  J.     Altenglische  Metrik.     Bonn,  1 882-1 888  passim. 

Gavin  Douglas 
The  Palice  of  Honour 

MSS.     None  extant. 

Editions.  A  reference  in  the  Edinburgh  edition  of  1579  {infra)  to  "the 
copyis  set  furth  of  auld  amangis  ourselfis  "  has  received  confirmation  by 
the  discovery  of  two  fragments  of  an  unknown  edition  (reproduced  by 
Small,  infra,  i,  p.  clxx),  which  Laing  has  dated  c.  1540,  and  accredited  to 
an  Edinburgh  press. 

The  I  Palis  of  |  Honoure  Compyled  by  |  Gawyne  dowglas  Bys-  |  shope  of 
Dunkyll.  ||  Imprinted  at  London  in  |  fletstret,  at  the  sygne  of  |  the  Rose 
garland  by  |  Wyllyam  |  Copland  ||  God  saue  Quene  Marye.  N.d., 
(probably  1553). 

Heir  beginnis  |  ane  treatise  callit  the  Palice  |  of  Honovr  compylit  |  be  M. 
Gawine  Dowglas  |  Bischop  of  |  Dunkeld.  ||  Imprentit  at  Edin-  |  burgh  be 
lohne  Ros  |  for  Henrie  Charter  is.     Anno  1579.     Cvm  privilegio  regali. 

Reprint  of  the  1579  edition,  together  with  the  Prologues  to  Douglas's  transla- 
tion of  the  Aeneid,  in  Morison's  Perth  edition  of  Scottish  Poets.      1787. 

Reprint  of  the  1579  edition  for  the  Bannatyne  Club.      1827. 

Pinkerton,  J.  Reprint  of  the  1579  edition  in  Scottish  Poems,  reprinted  from 
scarce  editions.     Vol.  i.     1792. 

Sibbald.  J.     Chronicle  of  Scottish  Poetry,  1802,  i,  pp.  385-423  (incomplete). 

Small,  J.,  infra,  i,  pp.  1-81. 

King   Hart 
MS.    In  Folio  Maitland  MS.  (Pepysian  Library,  Magd.  Coll.,  Cambridge)  u.s. 


Chapter  X  537 

Editions. 

Pinkerton,  John.     Ancient  Scotish  Poems,  1786,  i,  pp.  3-43-     In  this  edition 

Pinkerton  divided,  unwarrantably,  the  poem  into  two  cantos,  the  first  of 

53  stanzas,  the  second  of  67. 
Small,  J.,  infra.  1.  pp.  83-120. 
Smith,  G.  Gregory,  in  Specimens  of  Middle  Scots,  1902,  pp.  49-64  (stanzas 

1-53)- 
Excerpts  are  printed  by  Eyre-Todd  in  the  Abbotsford  Series,  1892,  i,  pp. 

237-243- 

Conscience 

MS.     In  Folio  Maitland  MS.,  u.s.,  foil.  192-3. 

Edition.     Small,  J.,  infra,  i,  pp.  121-122  (misprinted  124). 

Translation  of  the  Aeneid 

MSS.  In  the  library  of  Trin.  Coll.,  Cambridge  (Gale's  MSS.,  O.  3.  12) 
c.  1525.  In  the  library  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  known  as  the 
Elphynstoun  MS.,  c.  1525.  Another  in  the  same  library,  known  as  the 
Ruthven  MS.,  c.  1535.  In  the  library  of  Lambeth  Palace,  dated  Feb. 
1545  (1546).  In  the  library  of  the  Marquis  of  Bath  at  Longleat,  dated 
1547- 

Editions. 

The  I  xiii  Bukes  of  Eneados  of  |  the  famose  Poete  Virgill  |  Translatet  out  of 
Latyne  |  verses  into  Scottish  me-  |  tir,  bi  the  Reuerend  Fa-  |  ther  in  God, 
May-  I  ster  Gawin  Douglas  |  Bishop  of  Dunkel  &  |  vnkil  to  the  Erie  |  of 
Angus.  Euery  |  buke  hauing  hys  |  perticular  |  Prologe.  ||  Imprinted  at 
Londo  1553.     The  printer  was  W.  Copland,  u.s. 

Virgil's  ^neis  translated  into  Scottish  verse  by  the  famous  Gawin  Douglas, 
Bishop  of  Dunkeld.  A  new  edition.  Wherein  the  many  errors  of  the 
former  are  corrected,  and  the  defects  supplied  from  an  excellent  manu- 
script. To  which  is  added  a  large  glossary.  .  .And  to  the  whole  is  pre- 
fixed an  exact  account  of  the  Author's  Life  and  Writings.  .  .Edinburgh. 
Andrew  Symson  and  Robert  Freebairn  mdccx.  The  responsible  editor 
was  Thomas  Ruddiman;  the  Life  is  by  bishop  John  Sage.  The  MS. 
referred  to  is  the  Ruthven,  ii.s.,  which  did  not  come  to  Ruddiman's 
notice  before  45  pages  of  the  folio  were  in  type.  John  Urry  (see  the 
bibliography  to  the  chapter  on  Chaucer)  gave  some  assistance.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  collated  a  portion  of  the  Bath  MS.  with  the  edition  of  1553 
for  Ruddiman's  volume.  Jamieson  was  largely  indebted  to  the  glossary 
in  the  preparation  of  his  Scottish  Dictionary  (ist  edition,  1808). 

The  .^neid  of  Virgil,  translated  into  Scottish  verse.  Bannatyne  Club. 
2  vols.  1839.  This  edition  is  a  handsome  reprint  of  the  Cambridge  MS. 
{supra),  without  prolegomena  or  notes. 

Small,  J.  (wi  i«/ra).  1874.  Vols,  v,  in  and  iv.  This  edition  is  based  on  the 
Elphynstoun  MS.  {supra). 

Some  of  the  Prologues  have  been  printed  separately: 

Nos.  IV,  VII,  viii  and  xii,  and  a  portion  of  xiii  in  Sibbald's  Chronicle  of 
Scottish  Poetry,  1802,  i,  pp.  428-457. 

Nos.  VII,  xii  and  xiii  in  Eyre  Todd's  Abbotsford  Series,  i,  pp.  249-269  (re- 
printed from  Small). 


538  Bibliography  to 

Nos.  VII  and  xii  in  Hand  Browne's  Selections  from  the  Early  Scottish  Poets. 

Baltimore,  1896.  pp.  154-165  (reprinted  from  Small). 
Nos.  I  and  vii  in  Gregory  Smith's  Specimens  of  Middle  Scots,   1902,  pp. 

107-128  (from  the  Elphynstoun  MS.,  collated  with  the  Ruthven  MS.)- 
Douglas's  Prologues  attracted  students  in  England  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  eighteenth  century.     Cf.  Francis  Fawkes,  Original  Poems  and  Transla- 
tions,  1 761;  T.  VVarton,  who  prints  the  greater  portion  of  No.  xii  in  his 
Hist,  of  Eng.  Poetry,  in. 

Collected  Edition 

The  only  collected  edition  is  The  Poetical  Works  of  Gavin  Douglas,  Bishop 
of  Dunkeld,  with  Memoir,  Notes,  and  Glossary  by  John  Small,  M.A., 
F.S.A.  Scot.,  4  vols.,  Edinburgh,  1874.  (Vol.  i.  Introduction,  etc.. 
The  Palice  of  Honour,  King  Hart  and  Conscience.  Vols,  ii-iv,  The 
Aeneid  and  Glos.^ary.) 

Critical  {general) 

Irving,  D.,  U.S.,  pp.  255-290. 

Lang,  A.     In  Ward's  Eng.  Poets,  1887,  i,  pp.  159-162. 

Lange,   P.     Chaucer's   Einfiuss   auf   die    Originaldichtungen   des   Schotten 

Gavin  Douglas.     Diss.     Halle,  1882. 
Neilson,  W.  A.     Origins  and  Sources,  U.S.,  1899,  pp.  77,  102,  160-163,  214. 
Ross,  J.  M.,  U.S.,  1884,  pp.  293-374. 
Sibbald,  J.,  u.s.,  1802. 
Warton,  «.5.,  section  xxxi. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  MIDDLE  SCOTS  ANTHOLOGIES:  ANONYMOUS  VERSE  AND 

EARLY   PROSE 

The  Manuscript  Collections 

A.     Major 

i.  The  Asloan  MS.,  written  c.  1515  by  John  Asloan,  formerly  in  the 
possession  of  the  Boswell  family  at  Auchinleck,  but  since  1882  in  that  of 
R.  W.  Talbot,  now  Lord  Talbot  de  Malahide.  Inedited,  though  extracts 
have  been  printed  at  various  times. 

ii.  The  Bannatyne  MS,  written  in  1568  by  George  Bannatyne,  now  in 
the  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh  (MS.  i.  i.  6).  Printed,  in  its  entirety,  by 
the  Hunterian  Club  (1873-1902).  See  the  introduction  there,  also  Memorials 
of  George  Bannatyne  (Bann.  Club,  1829). 

iii.  The  Maitland  Folio  MS.,  compiled  c.  1580  by  Sir  Richard  Maitland 
of  Lethington,  Lord  Privy  Seal  of  Scotland,  preserved  in  the  Pepysian  col- 
lection in  the  library  of  Magdalene  College,  Cambridge.  Inedited.  though 
extracts  have  been  printed  at  various  times. 

iv.  The  Maitland  Quarto  MS.,  written  by  Sir  Richard's  daughter  Marie, 
in  1586,  containing  42  pieces  from  the  folio  MS.,  also  preserved  in  the  Pepysian 
collection.     Unprinted. 


Chapter  XI  539 

B.     Minor 

V.  The  Makculloch  MS.,  a  collection  of  lecture-notes  in  Latin  by  Magnus 
Makculloch  at  Louvain  in  1477,  now  in  the  Laing  collection  of  MSS.  in  the 
library  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  The  Scots  pieces  are  written  on 
fly-leaves  and  blank  pages  throughout  the  MS. 

vi.  The  Gray  MS.,  written  c.  1500  by  James  Gray,  notary  public  and 
priest  of  the  diocese  of  Dunblane,  now  in  the  Advocates'  Library,  Edinburgh 
(MS.  34.  7.  3).     The  Scots  pieces  are  interpolated  throughout  the  MS. 

Early  Prints 

Chepman  and  Myllar's  Prints,  printed  in  1508  by  Walter  Chepman  and 
Andrew  Myllar,  preserved  in  a  unique  volume  in  the  Advocates'  Library, 
Edinburgh.  The  collection  (20  pieces)  was  reproduced  in  facsimile  by  David 
Laing  in  1827,  but  copies  are  extremely  scarce. 

Note.  For  a  more  detailed  account  of  the  above  collections  see  the 
bibliography  in  G.  Gregory  Smith's  Specimens  of  Middle  Scots,  pp.  Ixvi-lxxv. 
An  early  account  of  the  Maitland  Folio  and  Quarto  MSS.  will  be  found  in 
Pinkerton's  Ancient  Scotish  Poems,  1786,  11,  pp.  437-471. 

Editions  (Selections) 

Hailes,  Lord.     Ancient  Scottish  Poems.     Published  from  the  MS.  of  George 

Bannatyne,  mdlxviii.     Edinburgh,  1770. 
Laing,  David.     Select  Remains  of  the  Ancient  Popular  and  Romance  Poetry 
of  Scotland.     Re-edited  by  John  Small.     Edinburgh,  1885. 

Early  Scottish  Metrical  Tales.     New  Edition.     Edinburgh,  1889. 

Pinkerton,  John.     Ancient  Scotish  Poems,  never  before  in  Print.     But  now 
published  from  the  MS.  Collections  of  Sir  Richard  Maitland.  ...    2  vols- 
Edinburgh,  1786. 
Sibbald,  J.     Chronicle  of  Scottish  Poetry.     4  vols.     Edinburgh,  1802. 
Smith,  G   Gregory.     Specimens  of  Middle  Scots.     Edinburgh,   1902. 

Note.  The  earliest  reprint  is  Allan  Ramsay's  The  Evergreen,  being  a 
Collection  of  Scots  Poems,  wrote  by  the  Ingenious  before  1600,  2  vols.,  1724. 
The  volumes  are  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  study  of  the  later  vernac- 
ular revival,  but  they  make  no  pretence  to  textual  accuracy. 

Reprints  of  Early  Prose  Texts 

Abacuk  Bysset.     Inedited.     See  extract  in  Specimens,  u.s.,  pp.  239-241,  315. 

Chepman  and  Myllar,  u.s.     See  Specimens,  u.s.,  p.  70. 

Craft  of  Deyng,  etc.     Ed.  Lumby  (see  note  on  p.  284). 

Gau's  Richt  Vay.     Ed.  Mitchell,  A.  F.     S.T.S.     1888. 

Gilbert  of  the  Haye's  Prose  Manuscript  (a.d.  1456).    Vol.  i.    The  Buke  of  the 

Lawof  Armys,  or  Buke  of  Bataillis.     Ed.  J.  H.  Stevenson.     S.T.S.  1901. 

See  Specimens  of  Middle  Scots,  u.s.,  pp.  77-91,  293-4. 
John  of  Ireland.     Text  not  yet  printed.     See  extracts  in  Specimens,  u.s., 

pp.  92-101,  294. 
Murdoch  Nisbet.     The  New  Testament  in  Scots  (c.  1520).     Ed.  T.  Graves 

Law.     S.T.S     3  vols.  1901-5.     See  Specimens,  pp.  101-6,  294-5. 
Schort  Memoriale,  The.     Ed.  Thomas  Thomson.     1827. 
Spectakle  of  Luf,  The.     Ed.  Laing,  Bannatyne  Miscellany,  11.    See  Specimens, 

U.S.,  pp.  17-20. 


540  Bibliography  to 

[For  other  prose  works  referred  to  at  the  conclusion  of  the  chapter,  see 
volume  III  of  the  present  work.] 

CHAPTER  XII 

ENGLISH   PROSE  IN  THE   FIFTEENTH   CENTURY 

Pecock.     Fortescue.     The  Paston  Letters 

Edward,  duke  of  York.  The  Master  of  Game.  Ed.  Baillie-Grohmann, 
W.  A.  and  F.      1904.     Privately  printed. 

Capgrave 

Works  and  Critical  Accounts 

Chronicle  of  England.     Ed.  Hingeston,  F.  C.     Rolls  Series.     1858. 
Liber  de  lllustnbus  Henricis.     Ed.  Hingeston,  F.  C.     Rolls  Series.     1858. 

Also  translation.  Book  of  the  Illustrious  Henries.     Ed.  Hingeston,  F.  C. 

Rolls  Series.      1858. 
Nova  Legenda  Angliae.     MSS.  in  York  Minster  library,  etc.  printed  by  Wyn- 

kyn  de  Worde,  15 16.     [Cf.  the  earlier  writings  of  Goscelin  (ft.  1099),  an 

industrious  collector  of  materials  for  saints'  lives.  Hist  Litt.  de  France, 

VIII.] 

St.  Katharine,  Life  of.     Ed.  Horstmann,  C.      Forewords  by  Fumivall,  F.  J, 

'E.E.T.S.     1893. 
Leland.     De  Scriptoribus  Britannicis,  sub  nam.  for  Latin  Works. 
Tanner.     Bibliotheca  Brit.-Hiberniae.     (See  also  D.  of  N.  B.  for  MSS.,  etc.) 
Ten  Brink,  B.     Hist.  Eng.  Lit.     Vol.  iii,  pp.  17  fT.      1902. 

Capgrave's  Lives  of  St.  Augustine  (of  Hippo)  and  St.  Gilbert  of  "Sempyng- 
ham,"  145 1,  are  extant  in  a  MS.  believed  to  be  holograph.  Brit.  Mus.  Add.  MS. 
36,704.  The  former  he  was  begged  by  a  noble  gentlewoman  to  write  for  her, 
"f>at  is  to  sey  to  translate  hir  treuly";  the  latter  was  "translat  in  the  same 
forme,"  "  saue  sum  addiciones,"  at  the  prayer  of  Nicholas  Reysby,  Master  of 
the  order  of  St.  Gilbert  of  S.,  and  designed  for  the  anchoresses  of  that  order. 
It  is  dated  1451,  by  "J.  C.  amonge  doctouris  lest,"  and  is  mainly  a  string 
of  St.  Gilbert's  miracles.  Neither  of  the  Latin  originals  is  now  known.  The 
style  is  clear,  somewhat  more  colloquial  than  that  of  the  Annals  and  less  com- 
pressed; duplicates  are  few,  e.g.  "the  grave  or  else  the  sepulture"  of  St.  G. 
Spelling  is  remarkably  consistent.  Capgrave  appends  a  translated  summary 
of  his  sermon  on  the  various  Augustinian  orders,  preached  in  Cambridge, 
1422,  but  revised  later,  for  Reysby  and  others  who  wished  to  know  "diffusely" 
of  the  subject.  See  New  Palaeographical  Society's  Publications,  Part  in 
(1905),  with  facsimile.  The  two  lives  are  being  edited  for  the  E.E.T.S. 
by  J.  J.  Munro,  together  with  portions  of  Capgrave's  Life  of  St.  Norbert, 
in  verse,  the  holograph  MS.  of  which  is  in  the  Phillipps  collection. 

Pecock 

A.     Works  {printed) 

The  Book  of  Faith.  Second  part  and  summary  of  first  part,  ed.  Wharton, 
Ily.  Blackletter.  1688.  An  edition  by  Morrision,  J.  L.,  is  in  pre- 
paration, from  MS.  Trinity  Coll.  Camb.  B  1445. 


Chapter  XII  54i 

The  Repressor  of  Overmuch  Blaming  of  the  Clergy.  Ed.  Babington,  C. 
2  vols.  Rolls  Series,  i860.  With  introduction  and  bibliography. 
The  standard  work  on  the  whole  subject  of  Pecock  and  his  works. 

B.     Works  {in  MS.  only) 

The  Donet.     Bodleian  Library,  No.  916.     Also  a  transcript,  James  MSS.  in 

Bodleian,  No.  14. 
The  Follower  to  the  Donet.     Brit.  Mus.  Bibl.  Reg.  17  D.  ix. 
The  Poor  Men's  Mirror,  or  Outdraught  of  the  Donet.     In  the  Library  of  Lord 

Amherst  of  Hackney,  formerly  in  Tennison's.     Excerpts  by  Wharton, 

Hy.,  in  Lambeth  MSS.,  No.  594. 
The  Reule  of  Cristen  Religioun.     Phillipps  collection. 

(For  list  of  lost  works  see  Babington,  Introd.  to  Repressor.) 

C.     Contemporary  Accounts 

An   English   Chronicle.      (Cronycullys  of  England.)     Ed.    Gairdner,   J.,   in 

Three  Fifteenth  Century  Chronicles.     Camden  Soc.     sub  an.  1457.  for 

trial  and  abjuration.     Full  account,  copied  by  Stow,  Annals,  and  from 

Stow  by  Holinshed. 
Chronicle  of  the  Grey  Friars.     In  Monumenta  Franciscana.     Vol.  11.     Ed. 

Howlett.     Rolls  Series.      1882.     sub  an.  1457.  for  Pecock's  abjuration. 

See  also  Wilkins,  Concilia,  vol.  in,  p.  576. 
Gascoigne,  Thomas.     Liber  Veritatum.     MS.    in   Lincoln   College,    Oxford. 

Extracts  in  "Gascoigne's  Loci  e  Libro  Veritatum."    Ed.  Rogers,  J.  E.  P. 

Oxford,  1 881.     Contains  much  information  by  a  bitter  enemy. 
Historical  MSS.  Commission.      12th  Report,  Appendix,  Part  ix  (1891),  pp. 

385.  584- 

Rolls  of  Parliament.     Vol.  v,  p.  279. 

Whethamstede,  Registrum  Abbat.  Johannis.  Ed.  Riley,  H.  T.  2  vols.  Rolls 
Series.  1872-3.  Also,  but  less  correct,  in  T.  Hearne's  Duo  Rerum  Angli- 
carum  Scriptores  Veteres,  1732,  vol.  11.     The  view  of  a  bitter  enemy. 

D.     Works  of  Reference 

(Leland,  Comment,  de  Scriptoribus ;  Foxe,  Comment.  Rerum;  and  Wharton, 

Hist.  Angl.  Ecclesia  are  erroneous.) 
Bale,  J.     lUustrium  majoris  Britanniae  scriptorum  summarium.     Ed.  Poole 

and  Bateson.     Anecdota  Oxon.  Med.  and  Mod.  Ser.  4.     Pt.  ix.     Oxford, 

1902. 
Baronius  Annales  Eccles.  vol.  xxix  {i.e.  Raynaldus,  vol.  x),  sub  an.  1459,  for 

Pius  H's  condemnation. 
Le  Neve.     Fasti  Ecclesiae  Anglicanae.     Ed.  Hardy,  T.  D.     Oxford,    1854. 

Vol.  I,  p.  71,  St.  Asaph;  p. 247,  Chichester.     For  references  to  records  for 

promotion,  etc. 
Tanner,  T.     Bibl.  Britan.  Hibern.     Good  references.     Also  5m6  "Regnum" 

for  Gascoigne. 
Wharton,  H.     Hist.  Episc.  .   .  .  Londin.   .   .  .  Assavensis.     1540.     Has  use- 
ful references. 

E.     Modern   Accounts 

Hook,  W.  F.  Lives  of  Archbishops  of  Canterbury,  sub  Stafford  and 
Bourchier  for  Pecock's  ultramontane  attitude,  and  Sermon. 


542  Bibliography  to 

Lewis.  John.  Life  of  the  Learned  and  Right  Reverend  Reynold  Pecock, 
S.T.P.  Oxford,  1820.  Alsoinsameauthor'sLifeof  Wyclif,  1820.  Full. 
Useful  extracts,  based  on  Waterland. 

Waterland,  D.  Works.  Ed.  van  Mildert.  Oxford,  1856.  Vol.  vi  (Letters 
to  Lewis).     Extracts  and    bibliography  in   notes.     See  also  ed.  1828, 

vol.  X. 
Wood.  Anthony.     Ed.  Gutch.  J.     Hist,  and  Antiquities  (Annals)  of  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford,     sub  an.  1457-     Oxford,  1786-96. 

F.     Critical   Appreciations 

Gairdner,  J.  and  Spedding,  J.  Studies  in  English  History.  Edinburgh, 
1881. 

Jusserand.  J.  J.  Histoire  Littdraire  du  Peuple  Anglais.  Vol.  i.  Paris, 
1894.      English  trans.      1895. 

Morley,  H.  English  Writers.  Vol.  vi.  1890.  [Also  for  Fortescue,  Cap- 
grave,  etc.] 

Ten  Brink,  B.  Geschichte  der  englischen  Literatur.  Vol.11.  2  vols.  Strass- 
burg,  1893.     English  trans.      Robinson,  W.  C.      1893. 

Fortescue 

Sir  John  Fortescue  his  Life  and  Works.     Ed.  Lord  Clermont.      1869.    2  vols. 

(De  Natura  Legis  Naturae  (1461-3) ;  De  Laudibus  legum  Angliae  (1471) ; 

De  Titulo  Edwardi  Com.  Marchiae;    Defensio  juris  Domus  Lancastriae; 

A   Declaration  upon  certayn    Wrytinges    (147 1-3);  Dialogue  between 

Understanding  and  Faith  (147O  etc. 
On  the  Governance  of  England.     Ed.  Plummer,  C.     With  introduction,  etc. 

Oxford,  1885.     The  best  authority  on  Fortescue. 
Foss,  E.     The  Judges  of  England,  1848-64,  9  vols.,  vol.  iv. 
Taine.  H.  A.     History  of  English  Literature.     Eng.  trans,  vol.  i,  bk.  i,  chap. 

II,  §  viii.      1906. 

Devotional  and  Didactic  Works 

De  Imitatione  Christi.  Ed.  Ingram,  J.  K.  E.E.T.S.  Ex.  Ser.  lxiii.  1893. 
The  early  translation,  mid-i5th  century,  also  version  by  Atkynson  and 
the  Lady  Margaret. 

Gesta  Romanorum.  Translation,  c.  1440.  Wynkyn  de  Worde.  1524?  Also 
ed.  by  Madden,  Sir  F.,  Roxburghe  Club,  1838;  Herrtage,  S.  J.,  E.E.T.S. 
E.x.  Ser.  xxxiii,  1879,  with  notes  on  manuscripts.  On  the  whole  sub- 
ject, see  Oesterley.  H.,  Berlin,  1872,  who  discusses  date  of  original 
compilation  and  considers  it  to  be  English. 

Hylton  or  Hilton.  Walter,  i.  Scala  Perfectionis.  2.  Devout  Book  to  a 
temporal  man.  3.  Devout  Treatise  of  the  song  of  angels.  Early  editions 
by  W.  de  Worde  (i  and  2),  1494,  1519,  1525,  1533;  Pynson  (i  and  2), 
1506,  (3)  1521;  Notary,  Julian,  1507;  modern  editions  by  Cressy,  S. 
(i  and  2),  1659;  Guy,  R.  E.  (i  and  2),  London,  Dublin  and  Derby. 
1869  (good  preface  and  notes);  and  Dalgairns,  J.  B.,  1901,  reprint  of 
Cressy 's  text.  See  D.  of  N.  B.  for  MSS. ;  also  Inge,  VV.  R.,  Studies  of 
English  Mystics,  1905. 

Juliana  of  Norwich:  Revelations  of  Divine  Love.  First  printed  by  Cressy, 
Dom  S..  1670.  reprinted  1845  I  modern  editions  by  Warrack.  Grace,  1901 ; 
and  Tyrrell.  Geo..  S.J.,  1902  ;  also  CoUins,  Hy.,  London  and  Derby,  1877. 
See  Blomefield's  Hist.  Norfolk,  iv,  81  ;  Inge.  W.  R.,  Studies  of  English 


Chapter  XII  543 

Mystics,  1905;  Horstman's  Introduction  to  R.Rolle  of  Hampole,  2  vols., 
1895-6. 
Legenda  Aurea.  15th  century  translation  and  additions.  MSS. :  Brit.  Mus. 
Add.  11,565,  Harl.  4775  and  others;  Lambeth  72.  See,  on  the  whole 
subject  and  for  specimens,  Butler,  Pierce,  Legenda  Aurea,  Baltimore, 
1899  (valuable);  also  Horstmann,  C,    Old    English    Legendary,    E.E. 

T.S.    LXXXVII. 

Prymer  {i.e.  Prayer  Book),  c.  1400.     Ed.  Littlehales,  H.     2  vols.     1891-2. 

Chronicles  and  Pamphlets 

Brut  or  Chronicle  of  England.     Ed.  Brie,  F.     E.E.T.S.     1906. 
English  Chronicle,  1377-1461.     Ed.  Davies,  J.  S.     Camden  Soc.     1856. 
English   Chronicle    in   Three    15th   century   Chronicles.     Ed.    Gairdner,   J. 

Camden  Soc.     1880. 
Commodities  of  England  (before  145 1)  in  the  works  of  Sir  John  Fortescue. 

Ed.  Clermont.     Vol.  i. 
Historical  Collections  of  a  London  Citizen,  for  Gregory's  Chronicle,  etc. 

Ed.  Gairdner,  J.     Camden  Soc.  1876. 
Historic  of  the  Arrivall  of  Edward  IV.     Ed.  Bruce,  J.     Camden  Soc.      1838. 

A  valuable  record. 
Lincolnshire,  Rebellion  in.    Ed.  Nichols,  J.  G.    Camden  Soc.  Miscellany  No. 

I.     1847. 
St.  Albans,  First  Battle  at.     Archaeologia,  xx,  519. 
Warkworth,  J.     Chronicle  of  the  first  thirteen  years  of  the  reign  of  Edward 

IV.     Ed.  Halliwell,  J.  O.     Camden  Soc.     1839. 

Letters 

Bekynton,  Correspondence  of.     Vol.  i.     2  vols.     Rolls  Series.      1872. 
Original  Letters.     Two  Series.     Ed.  Ellis,  Sir  Henry.     1827. 
Epistolae  Academiae  Oxon.     Ed.  Anstey,  H.     Oxford  Historical  Soc.     1898. 
Paston  Letters,  The.     Ed.  Gairdner,  J.     4  vols.      1901.     See  also  D.  of  N.  B. 

and  Morley's  English  Writers,  vol.  vi,  chap.  xl. 
PI umpton  Correspondence.     Vol  i.     Ed.  Stapleton,  T.     Camden  Soc.      1839. 
For  other  specimens  of  15th  century  prose,  consult  Early  English  Text 
Society's  publications,  e.g. 

Book  of  Quinte  Essence  (1440-70).     Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.     1866. 
English   Conquest   of   Ireland,   The.     a.d.    1166 — 1185.     Mainly   from   the 

Expugnatio  Hibernica  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis.     Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J. 

[Mid-i5th  cent,  prose.]     E.E.T.S.      1896. 
Lanfrank's  Cirurgie  (1396  and  1420).     Ed.  Fleischhacker,  R.  von.     1894, 
La  Tour  Landry  (c.  1440).     Ed.  Wright,  T.      1868. 
Melusine  (c.  1500).     Ed.  Donald,  A.  K.      1895. 
Religious  Pieces  (c.  1440).     Ed.  Perry,  G.  G.     1867. 
Secreta  Secretorum.     Three  prose  translations  by  Yonge,  J.,   1428.     Ed. 

Steele,   R.      1898. 
Three  Kings'  Sons  (c.  1500).      Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.      1895. 
Two  Fifteenth  Century  Cookery  Books.     Ed.  Austin,  T.     1888. 

Dictionaries : 
Catholicon  Anglicum  (1483).     An  English-Latin  word-book.     Ed.  Herrtage, 

S.  J.      1881.      E.E.T.S.  and  Camden  Soc. 


544  Bibliography  to 

Promptorium  Parvulorum.  Camden  Soc.  1843-65.  New  edition,  Mayhew, 
E.E.T.S.,  forthcoming. 

On  scribes  and  book  trade,  see: 
Kirchhoff,  Albrecht.     Handschriftshandler  des  Mittelalters.     Leipzig,  1853. 
Morley,  H.     English  Writers.     Vol.  11,  chap.  xii.      1890. 
Wattenbach,  W.     Das  Schriftswesen  im  Mittelalter.    3rd  ed.    Leipzig,  1896. 

For  prices,  see  hints  in  Catalogues  of  MSS.  in  College  Libraries,  Cam- 
bridge, ed.  James,  M.  R. 

CHAPTERS  XIII  AND  XIV 
THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  PRINTING  INTO  ENGLAND  AND   THE 
EARLY    WORK  OF  THE   PRESS 

AND 

ENGLISH  PROSE  IN  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.     II 

Caxton.  Malory.  Berners 

General  Authorities,  etc. 

Ames,  J.  Typographical  Antiquities:  being  an  historical  account  of  Print- 
ing in  England.     1749. 

Bigmore,  E.  C.  and  Wyman,  C.  W.  H.  Bibliography  of  Printing.  3  vols. 
1880-6. 

Blades,  R.  H.     Who  was  Caxton ?     1877. 

Blades,  W.     The  life  and  typography  of  William  Caxton.     2  vols.      186 1-3, 

British  Museum  Catalogue  of  books  printed  in  England,  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  and  of  books  in  English  printed  abroad  to  the  year  1640.  3  vols. 
1884. 

Dibdin,  T.  F.  Typographical  Antiquities.  Begun  by  Joseph  Ames,  aug- 
mented by  William  Herbert.     4  vols.      1810-19. 

Dibelius,  W.  John  Capgrave  und  die  Englische  Schriftsprache.  Anglia, 
XXIII,  XXIV  passim. 

Duff,  E.  G.  The  Printers,  Stationers  and  Bookbinders  of  Westminster  and 
London  from  1476  to  1535.     Cambridge,  1906. 

William  Caxton.     Chicago,  1905. 

A  Century  of  the  English  Book-trade.  Bibliographical  Society.    1905. 

Herbert,  W.  Typographical  Antiquities.  Begun  by  Joseph  Ames.  3  vols. 
1785-90. 

Lekebusch,  J.  Die  Londoner  Urkundensprache  von  1430-1500.  Halle, 
1906. 

Lewis,  J.     Life  of  Caxton.     1737. 

Madan,  F.     The  early  Oxford  press.     Oxford,  1895. 

The  Day-book  of  John  Dome.     Oxford  Historical  Society,  Collectanea, 

Vol.  I.     Oxford,  1885. 

Middleton,  Conyers.     The  Origin  of  Printing  in  England.     Cambridge,  1735. 

Morley,  H.     English  Writers.     Vol.  vi.     1890. 

Plomer,  H.  R.     A  short  history  of  English  printing,  1476-1898.      1900. 

Printers,  Handlists  of  English.     Bibliographical  Society.      1 895-1906. 

Proctor,  R.  G.  C.  Jan  van  Doesborch.  Bibliographical  Society  Monographs, 
II.      1894. 

ROmstedt,  H.     Die  englische  Schriftsprache  bei  Caxton.     Gottingen,  1890. 

Sayle,  C.  E.  Early  English  printed  English  books  in  the  University  Library, 
Cambridge.     4  vols.     Cambridge,  1900  ff. 


Chapters  XIII  and  XIV  545 

[Certain  of  Caxton's  prefaces  and  epilogues  are  reprinted  in  A.  W.  Pol- 
lard's Fifteenth  Century  Prose  and  Verse,  1903.] 

Reprints  of  Books  mentioned  in  the  Text,  etc. 

Aesop,  The  Fables  of,  as  first  printed  by  W.  Caxton  in  1484  with  those  of 
Avian,  Alfonso  and  Poggio.     Ed.  Jacobs,  J.     2  parts.    1889. 

Apollyn  of  Thy  re.  The  romance  of  Kynge.  Reproduced  in  facsimile  by 
Ashbee,  E.  W.     1870. 

Arnold,  Richard.  The  customs  of  London,  otherwise  called  Arnold's 
Chronicle.     Ed.  Douce,  F.     181 1. 

Aymon,  The  right  plesaunt  and  goodly  historic  of  the  foure  sonnes  of. 
Englisht  from  the  French  by  W.  Caxton.  Ed.  Richardson,  O.  E.E.T.S. 
Ex.  Ser.  xliv.     1884. 

Bemers:  The  history  of  the  valiant  knight  Arthur  of  Little  Britain,  a  romance 
of  chivalry  originally  translated  from  the  French  by  John  Bourchier, 
Lord  Bemers.     Ed.  Utterson,  E.  V.      1814. 

The  Castell  of  Love.     Printed  c.  1540. 

The  chronicle  of  Froissart,  translated  out  of  French  by  Sir  John  Bour- 
chier, Lord  Bemers,  annis  1523-5.  [Pynson.]  Ed.  Ker,  W.  P.  Tudor 
Translations.  6  vols.  190 1-3.  [A  handy  reduced  edition  of  Berners' 
Froissart  was  published  in  1895,  ed.  with  introduction  and  notes  by 
Macaulay,  G.  C.  Baron  J.  M.  B.  C.  Kervyn  de  Lettenhove's  Froissart: 
^tude  litt.  sur  le  xiv^  siecle,  Paris,  1857,  should  be  consulted.] 

The  boke  of  Duke  Huon  of  Burdeux,  done  into  English  by  Sir  John 

Bourchier,  Lord  Bemers,  and  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  about 
1534.     Ed.  Lee,  S.  L.     E.E.T.S.  Ex.  Ser.  xl,  xli,  xliii,  l.     1882-7. 

The  Golden  Boke  of  Marcus  Aurelius  (trans,  from  Guevara)    1535  ff. 

[See  Ten  Brink,  B.,  Hist.  Eng.  Lit.,  Eng.  trans.  1902,  vol.  in,  187  ff .] 

Bemers,  Dame  Juliana:  The  Boke  of  Saint  Albans.  Reproduced  in  fac- 
simile.    Ed.  Blades,  William.      1881. 

A  treatyse  of  Fysshynge  with  an  Angle :  being  a  facsimile  reproduction 

of  the  first  book  on  the  subject  of  fishing  printed  in  England  by  Wynkyn 
de  Worde  at  Westminster  in  1496.  Ed.  Watkins,  M.  G.  1880.  [See 
also  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  149] 

Blanohardyn  and  Eglantine,  Caxton's.  Ed.  Kellner,  L.  E.E.T.S.  Ex.  Ser. 
Lviii.     1890. 

Charles  the  Great,  The  Life  of,  translated  from  the  French  by  William 
Caxton.  Ed.  Herrtage,  S.J.  English  Charlemagne  romances,  parts  3,  4. 
^1880-1. 

Che^e,  Caxton's  Game  and  playe  of  the,  1474,  a  verbatim  reprint  of  the  first 
edition.     Ed.  Axon,  W.  E.  A.     1883. 

Chivalry,  The  Order  of.  Translated  from  the  French  by  W.  Caxton.  Ed. 
Ellis,  F.  S.     Kelmscott  Press,  Hammersmith,  1892. 

Christine  de  Pisan.  Morale  proverbes  .  .  .  reproduced  in  imitation  of  the 
original  edition.     Ed.  Blades,  W.     1859. 

Complaint  of  a  lover's  life,  The.  Controyersy  between  a  lover  and  a  jay. 
Ed.  Dibdin,  T.  F.     Roxburghe  Club,  xviii.     1818. 

Curial  made  by  maystere  Alain  Charretier,  The.  translated  by  William 
Caxton.  Collated  with  the  French  original  by  Paul  Meyer  and  ed. 
Fumivall,  F.  J.     E.E.T.S.  Ex.  Ser.  liv.      1888. 

Curtesye,  Book  of,  Caxton's.     Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.     E.E.T.S.  Ex.  Ser.  in. 
1868. 
VOL.  n-3S 


546  Bibliography  to 

Dialogues  in  French  and  English  by  William  Caxton.     c.  1483.     Ed.  Bradley, 

H.     E.E.T.S.   Ex.  Ser.  lxxix.     1900. 
Dictes  and  sayings  of  the  philosophers,  The.     A  facsimile  reproduction     Ed. 

Blades.  W.      1877. 
Eneydos,  Caxton's.     Ed.  CuUey,  M.  T.  and  Furnivall,  F.  J.     E.E.T.S.  Ex. 

Ser.  Lvii.      1890. 
Fabyan,   R.     The  new  chronicles  of  England  and  France,  in  two  parts. 

Reprinted  from  Pynson's  edition  of  1516.     Ed.  Ellis,  H.     1811. 
Godeffroy  of  Boloyne  or  the  siege  and  conqueste  of  Jerusalem.  .  .  .  Trans- 
lated from  the  French  by   W.  Caxton.     Ed.  Colvin,  Mary  N.,  Ph.D. 

E.E.T.S.  Ex.  Ser.  lxiv.     1893. 
Golden  Legend,  The.    Caxton's  trans.     Ed.  Ellis,  F.  S.    3  vols.    Kelmscott 

Press,  1892;  also  ed.  Ellis,  F.  S.     7  vols.      1900  ff. 
Legenda   aurea.     A   study   of   Caxton's   Golden   Legend   with   special 

reference  to  its  relations  to  the  earlier  English  prose  translation,  by 

Butler,  Pierce.     Baltimore,  1899. 
Goste  of  Guy,  The  [fragment.]     Reprinted  in  the  Athenaeum,  No.  3852. 

24  August  1901. 
Helyas,  knight  of  the  Swan,  The  history  of.     Thoms'  Collection  of  Early 

Prose  Romances.     Vol.  in.     1828. 
Hundred  Mery  Tales,  A.     Ed.  Hazlitt,  W.  C.     1887. 
Hye  way  to  the  spyttell  hous.  The,  by  Robert  Copland.     Pieces  of  early 

popular  poetry.     Ed.  Utterson,  E.  V.     Vol.11.      1817. 
Jyl  of  Breyntford's  Testament,  by  Robert  Copland,  and  other  short  pieces. 

Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.     1871. 
Kalender  of  Shepherdes,  The.     The  edition  of  Paris  1503  in  photographic 

facsimile;  a  faithful  reprint  of  R.  Pynson's  edition  of  London    1506. 

Ed.  Sommer,  H.  O.     1892.     [See  Warton's  English  Poetry,    §  xxvii.] 
Knight  of  La  Tour  Landry  .  .   .  ,  The  Book  of  the.     Translated  from  the 

original  French  into  English  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI  by  Caxton.      Ed. 

Wright,  T.     E.E.T.S.  xxxiii.      1868. 
Malorj^ :  Le  Morte  Darthur  by  Sir  Thomas  Malory.     The  original  edition  of 

William  Caxton  now  reprinted  and  ed.  Sommer,  H.  O.     3  vols.      1889-91. 

[Contains,  in  vol.  11,  a  long  and  valuable  introduction  on  Sir  Thomas 

Malory  and  the  various  editions  of  Le  Morte  Darthur,  etc.;  and,  in 

vol.  Ill,  a  series  of  studies  on  the  sources,  with  an  introductory  essay  by 

Andrew  Lang.     Other  editions  are  Sir  Edw.  Strachey's,  "revised  for 

modern  use,"  1884  fl[. ;  Rhys's,  with  designs  by  Aubrey  Beardsley,  1892, 

and  reprints  in  the  Temple  Classics,   the   English  Classics,  etc.     For 

criticism,  see  further  Saintsbury,   G.,  The  Flourishing  of  Romance  and 

the  Rise  of  Allegory,  1897;  Smith,  G.  Gregory,  The  Transition  Period, 

1900;  Ker,  W.  P.,  Essays  on  Medieval  Literature,  1905.] 
Mery  Jests  of  the  Wyddow  Edyth,  The.     Hazlitt's  Old  English  Jest-Books. 

Vol.  III.      1864. 
New  lands  found  by  the  messengers  of  the  King  of  Portugal,  Of  the.     Ar- 

ber's  The  first  three  English  books  on  America.      Birmingham,  1885. 
Oliver  of  Castile,  The  history  of,  reproduced  from  the  unique  copy  of  Wynkyn 

de  Worde's  edition  of  15 18.     Ed.  Graves,  R.E.     Roxburghe  Club,  cxxx. 

1898. 
Ovid.     Six    bookes    of    Metamorphoses.     Translated    out    of    Frensshe    by 

William  Caxton.     Ed.  Hibbert,  G.     Ro.xburghe  Club,  xxvi.     1819. 
Paris  and  Vienne.      Ed.  [by  Hazlitt,  W.  C.].      1868. 


Chapter  XV  547 

Parson   of   Kalenborowe,   The.     Jahrbuch   des  Vereins   fiir  niederdeutscha 

Sprachforschung.      1887.     Bd.  xiii,  pp.  129  sqq. 
Petronylla,    The  parfite  life  of.      London  by  R.  Pynson.     Fugitive  tracts 

written  in  verse.     Ed.  Huth,  H.     No.  i.     1875. 
Pylgrymage  of  Sir  Richard  Guylforde  to  the  Holy  Land,  a.d.  1506,  The,  from 

a  copy  believed  to  be  unique  from  the  press  of  Richard  Pynson,     Ed. 

Ellis,  H.     Camden  Society,  LI.      1851. 
Recuyell  of  the  historyes  of  Troyes  .  .  .,  The.     (Caxton's.)     Ed.  Sommer,  H. 

2  vols.      1894. 
Reul,  Paul  de.     The  language  of  Caxton's  Reynard  the  Fox.     Universite  de 

Gand.      Recueil  de  travaux  publies  par  la  faculte  de  philosophie  et  lettres, 

fasc.  26.     Gand,  1901. 
Revelation  to  the  monk  of  Evesham,  The.     Printed  by  W.  de  Machlinia  about 

1482.     Ed.  Arber,  E.      English  Reprints,  xviii.      1869. 
Reynard  the  Fox,  The  History  of,  translated  and  printed  by  W.  Caxton. 

Ed.  Arber,  E.      English  Scholars  Library,  i.      1880. 
Reynard  the  Foxe,  The  History  of,  by  William  Caxton.     Kelmscott  Press, 

Hammersmith,  1892. 
St.  Ursula,  Guiscard  and  Sigismund,  The  life  of.      Roxburghe  Club,  xxiv. 

1818. 
Salomon  and  Marcolphus,  The  dialogue  or  communing  between  the  wise  King. 

Ed.  Duff,  E.  Gordon.      1892. 
Three  Kings  of  Cologne,  The.     An  early  English  translation  of  the  Historia 

trium  regum  by  John  of  Hildesheim.    Ed.  from  the  MSS.  by  Horstmann, 

C.     E.E.T.S.  Lxxxv.     1886. 
Virgilius.     From  the  edition  by  Doesborch.     Thoms'  Early  English  Prose 

Romances.     Vol.  11.      1828. 
Walsingham,  The  foundation  of  the  chapel  of.     Fugitive  tracts  written  in 

verse.     Ed.  Huth,  H.     No.  11.      1875. 

E.  G.  D.  &.  A.  R.  W. 

CHAPTER  XV 

ENGLISH    AND    SCOTTISH    EDUCATION.      UNIVERSITIES    AND 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  TO  THE  TIME  OF  COLET 

(a)    Original  Authorities 

(i)  Manuscripts.  Vast  stores  of  documents  referring  to  the  early  history 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  are  to  be  found  in  the  treasuries  or  muniment 
rooms  of  the  several  colleges,  and  in  the  registries  of  the  two  universities. 

Thomas  Baker  (1656-1 740),  sometime  Fellow  of  St.  John's,  a  laborious  and 
accurate  antiquarian,  left  extensive  writings,  which  are  preserved  in  the 
Harleian  collection  in  the  British  Museum  and  in  the  Cambridge  University 
Library.  In  the  antiquarian  collections  made  by  William  Cole  (1714- 
82),  vicar  of  Milton,  Cambridgeshire,  and  bequeathed  by  him  to  the  British 
Museum,  is  much  useful  material  extracted  by  him  from  original  sources. 

(ii)  Printed  Books,  (i)  Cambridge. 
Documents  relating  to  the  University  and  Colleges  of  Cambridge.  3  vols. 
1852.  These  volumes  contain  the  Statuta  Antiqua  of  the  university, 
together  with  charters,  statutes  and  other  records  furnished  to  the 
university  commission  of  the  time  by  Cambridge  authorities  and  by  the 
custodians  of  various  national  collections. 


548  Bibliography  to 

Statuta  Academiae  Cantabrigiensis.     Cambridge,  1785. 

(2)  Oxford. 

Statutes  of  the  Colleges  of  Oxford,  with  the  Royal  Patents  of  Foundation, 
Injunctions  of  Visitors,  etc.     3  vols.     Oxford  and  London,  1853. 

Corpus  Statutorum  Universitatis  Oxoniensis  (with  Appendix).   Oxford,  1768. 

Anstev,  Henry.  Monumenta  Academica,  or  Documents  illustrative  of  Aca- 
demical life  and  studies  at  Oxford.     2  vols.     Rolls  Series.     1868. 

(3)  Scottish  Universities. 

Fasti  Aberdonenses,   Selections  from  the  Records  of  the  University  and 

King's  College  of  Aberdeen  (1494-1854).     Spalding  Club.     1854. 
Munimenta  Alme  Universitatis  Glasguensis.      Records  of  the  University  of 

Glasgow  from  its  foundation  till  1727.     Ed.  Innes,  C.     Maitland  Club. 

3   vols.     Glasgow.    1854. 
Royal  Commission  on  the  State  of  the  Universities  and  Colleges  of  Scotland. 

Evidence  taken  before  the  Commission,  Papers,  etc.     4  vols.      1826-30. 

(4)  Public  Schools. 

Report  of  Her  Majesty's  Commission  appointed  to  enquire  into  the  Revenues 
and  Management  of  certain  Colleges  and  Schools.      1 864. 

Valuable  occasional  references  to  university  history  and  life  are  made 
by  contemporary  chroniclers  and  poets,  amongst  whom  particular  note 
may  be  made  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  The  Vision  of  Piers  the  Plowman, 
Matthew  of  Paris  and  Richard  of  Devizes.  The  following  editions  may 
be  distinguished; 
Giraldus  Cambrensis.     Opera.    Ed.  Brewer,  J.  S.,  Dimock,  J.  F.  and  Warner 

G.  F.     8  vols.     Rolls  Series.      1861-91. 
Matthaei  Parisiensis  Monachi  Sancti  Albani,  Chronica  Majora.     Ed.  Luard, 

H.  R.     7  vols.     Rolls  Series.      1872-83. 
Chronicon  Ricardi  Divisiensis  de  Rebus  Gestis  Ricardi  Primi.     Ed.  Steven- 
son, J.     Eng.  Hist.  Soc.     1838. 

For  Piers  Plowman,  see  Chapter  i  of  present  volume,  and  bibliography. 

Mention  need  hardly  be  made  of  rich  material  to  be  found  in  the  Prologue 
of  The  Canterbury  Tales,  and  in  The  Prioress's  Tale.  Among  early  Scottish 
chroniclers  may  be  singled  out  John  Major,  whose  De  Historia  Gentis  Scoto- 
rum  Libri  Sex  appeared  at  Paris  in  1521,  and  was  republished  at  Edinburgh 
in  1740.  For  direct  personal  observation  of  Scottish  university  life  in  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  reference  may  be  made  to : 
Melville,  James,  Minister  of  Kilrenny,  The  Diary  of,  1556-1601.     Bannatyne 

Club.     Edinburgh,  1829. 
The  Autobiography  and   Diary  of  the    Rev.    James  Melville,   Minister  of 

Kilrenny.     Wodrow  Soc.     Edinburgh,  1842. 

(b)   Modern  Authorities 
(i)  General. 

Maitre,  L.  Les  ^coles  ^piscopales  et  monastiques  de  I'occident  (768-1180). 

Paris,   1866. 
Rashdall,   H.     The  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages.     2    vols. 

Oxford,  1895.     An  excellent  general  account  of  the  beginnings  and  life 


Chapter  XV  549 


of  the  medieval  universities.  The  history  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
is  dealt  with  in  vol.  ii,  part  2.  The  author  prefixes  a  useful  list  of 
authorities. 

(2)  Cambridge. 

Baker,  T.  History  of  the  College  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  Cambridge. 
Ed.  Mayor,  J.  E.  B.  2  vols.  Cambridge,  1869.  The  belated  issue  of 
the  work  of  an  early  labourer  thoroughly  alive  to  the  requirements 
of  critical  history. 

Brodrick,  Hon.  G.  C.  A  History  of  the  University  of  Cambridge.  1841. 
An  excellent  outline  history. 

Cooper,  C.  H.     Annals  of  Cambridge.     4  vols.     Cambridge,  1852. 

Fuller,  Thomas.     The  History  of  the  University  of  Cambridge.     1655. 

Leathes,  S.  M.  Grace  Book  I,  containing  the  Proctors'  Accounts  and  other 
Records  of  the  University  of  Cambridge  from  the  Years  1454-1488. 
Luard  Memorial  Series.     Cambridge,  1897. 

MuUinger,  J.  Bass.  The  University  of  Cambridge  from  the  earliest  Times 
to  the  Royal  Injunctions  of  1535.  Cambridge,  1899.  A  work  of  inde- 
fatigable industry,  free  and  critical,  and  particularly  valuable  on  the 
literary  and  educational  side. 

Peacock,  G.  Observations  on  the  Statutes  of  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
1841. 

(3)  Oxford.. 

Brodrick,  Hon.  G.  C.    Memorials  of  Merton  College.     Oxford  Hist,  Soc.    1885. 

Edmund,  bishop  of  Nelson.     Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Walter  de  Merton.      1859. 

Fletcher,  C.  R.  L.  and  Burrows,  M.  Oxford  Collectanea,  series  i  and  11. 
Oxford  Hist.  Soc.  1885  ff.  (Catalogue  of  Oriel  College  Library,  15th 
cent.,  the  university  in  the  12th  cent.,  Friars  in  Oxford,  Jews  in  Oxford. 
Linacre's  catalogue  of  Grocyn's  books,  John  Dome,  the  Oxford  book- 
seller, etc.) 

Maxwell-Lyte,  H.  C.     A  History  of  the  University  of  Oxford  to  1530.      1886. 

Wood,  Anthony.  History  and  antiquities  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  Ed. 
Gutch,  J.     5  vols.     Oxford,  1786-96. 

(4)  Scottish  Universities. 

Herkless,  J.  and  Hannay,  R.  K.  The  College  of  St.  Leonard.  Edinburgh, 
1905.     A  useful  work,  containing  original  documents. 

Lyon,  C.  J.  History  of  St.  Andrews,  episcopal,  monastic,  academic  and  civic. 
2  vols.  Edinburgh,  1843.  Utilises  original  documents,  but  unfortu- 
nately these  are  usually  translated  in  an  abridged  form. 

Rait,  R.  S.     The  Universities  of  Aberdeen.     Aberdeen,  1895. 

(5)  Public  Schools. 

Chandler,  R.     Life  of  William  Waynfiete.     1811. 

Creasy,  E.  S.     Some  Account  of  the  Foundation  of  Eton  College.     1848. 

Cust,  L.     History  of  Eton.     1899. 

Heywood,  J.  and  Wright,  T.     The  Ancient  Laws  of  the  15th  century  for 

King's  College,  Cambridge,  and  for  the  Public  School  of  Eton  College. 

1850. 
Knight,  S.    The  Life  of  Dr.  John  Colet,  Founder  of  St.  Paul's  School.     1724. 
Leach,  A.  F.      History  of  Winchester.      1899. 
Lowth,   R.      Life  of  William  of  Wykeham.      1758. 
Lupton,  J.  H.      A  Life  of  John  Colet.       1887. 


55< 


Bibliography  to 


Maxwell-Lyte,  H.  C.     A  History  of  Eton  College.      1873. 
Moberley,  G.  H.     Life  of  William  of  Wykeham.     Winchester,  1887. 
Seebohm,  F.     The  Oxford  Reformers.     3rd  edition.    1887. 

Reference  may  also  be  made  with  advantage  to 

Anstey,  Henry.  Epistolae  Academicae  Oxon. :  a  Collection  of  Letters  illus- 
trative of  academic  life  and  studies  at  Oxford  in  the  1 5th  century.  Pt. 
I.     Oxford  Hist.  Soc.      1898. 

Bateson,  M.     Medieval  England.      1903. 

Brewer,  J.  S.     Monumenta  Franciscana.      1858. 

College  Histories  Series,  published  by  Hutchinson  &  Co.  (formerly  F.  E. 
Robinson).  The  writers  usually  indicate  the  works  of  earlier  college 
historians,  which  are  in  some  instances  (e.g.  Queens',  Gonville  and  Caius, 
and  St.  John's  Colleges,  Cambridge)  of  considerable  historical  importance. 

De  Montmorency,  J.  E.  G.  State  Intervention  in  English  Education. 
Cambridge.  [See  chap,  i.  Education  and  the  State  from  Saxon  times 
to  the  end  of  the  14th  cent.] 

Denifle,  F.  Heinrich  S.  Die  Universitaten  des  Mittelalters  bis  1400.  Berlin, 
1885. 

Heppe,  Heinrich.  Das  Schulwesen  des  Mittelalters  und  dessen  Reform  im 
sechszehnten  Jahrhundert.     Marburg,  i860. 

James,  M.  R.  A  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  the  MSS.  in  the  Library  of  Peter- 
house.  With  an  Essay  on  the  History  of  the  Library  by  J.  W.  Clark, 
M.A.     Cambridge,   1899. 

Kaufmann,  G.  Die  Geschichte  derDeutschen  Universitaten.  2  vols.  Stutt- 
gart, 1888. 

Poole,  R  .L.,  in  Traill's  Social  England.     Vol.  i. 

Sandys,  J.  E.  A  History  of  Classical  Scholarship  from  the  6th  century  B.C. 
to  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.     2nd  edition.     Cambridge,  1906. 

Specht,  F.  A.  Geschichte  des  Unterrichtswesen  in  Deutschland.  Stuttgart, 
1885. 

CHAPTER  XVI 
TRANSITION  ENGLISH  SONG  COLLECTIONS 

BOddeker,  K.     Altenglische    Dichtungen    des   MS.   Harleian    2253.     Weid- 

mannsche  Buchhandlung.     Berlin,  1878. 
Chambers,  E.  K.  and  Sidgwick,  F.     Early  English  Lyrics:  Amorous,  Divine, 

Moral  and  Trivial.     1907.     Contains  a  valuable  essay  on  Some  Aspects 

of  Mediaeval  Lyric.     Published  after  completion  of  present  chapter. 
Fehr,  B.     Die  Lieder  des  Fairfax  MS.  (Add.  5465,  Brit.  Mus.)  Archiv  fiir  das 

Studium  der  Neueren  Sprache  und  Litteraturen,  cvi,  49.     Braunschweig, 

1901. 

Die  Lieder  der  Hs  Add.  5665.     Archiv,  cvi,  262. 

Weitere  BeitrSge  zur  Englischen  Lyrik  des  15  und  16  Jahrhunderts. 

(MSS.  Sloane  2593,  1212,  3501,  Harley  541,  367,  7578.)    Archiv,  cvii,  48. 

Die  Lieder  der  Hs  Sloane  2593.     Archiv,  cix,  33. 

Fhigel,   E.     Liedersammlungen  des  xvi  Jahrhunderts,   besonders   aus  der 

Zeit  Heinrich's  VIII  (MSS.,  Balliol  354,  Add.  31,922,  Royal  App.  58). 

Anglia,  XII,  XVII,  xviii,  XXVI.     Halle,  1889- 

Kleinere  Mitteilungen  aus  Handschriften.     Anglia,  xiv,  463. 

■ Xeuenglisches  Lesebuch.     Halle,  1895. 


I 


Chapter  XVI  551 

Fuller-Maitland,  J.  A.  and  Rockstro,  W.  S.  English  Carols  of  the  Fifteenth 
Century.     Leadenhall  Press,  1891. 

Fumivall,  F.  J.  Political,  Religious  and  Love  Poems  (some  by  Lydgate, 
Sir  Richard  Ros,  Henry  Baradoun,  Wm.  Huchen,  etc.),  from  the  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury's  Lambeth  MS.  306,  and  other  sources,  etc. 
E.E.T.S.  XV.      1866  (1903). 

Hymns  to  the  Virgin  and  Christ :  The  Parliament  of  Devils,  etc.  E.E.T.S. 

XXIV. 

Minor  Poems  of  the  Vernon  Manuscript,  Part  11.     E.E.T.S.  cxvii. 

Halliwell,  J.  O.     Early  English  Miscellanies  in  Prose  and  Verse,  Selected 

from  an  Inedited  Manuscript  of  the  Fifteenth  Century  (Porkington  MS.). 

Warton  Club,  11.      1855. 
Hausknecht,  E.     Vier  Gedichte  von  Charles  D'Orleans.     Anglia,  xvii,  445. 
Hazlitt,  W.  C.      Remains  of  Early  Popular  Poetry.      4  vols.      1864-66. 
Holthausen,  F.     ZuAlt-  und  Mittelenglischen  Dichtungen.    Anglia,  xiii-xxv. 
Horstmann,  C.     Minor  Poems  of  the  Vernon  Manuscript,  Part  i.     E.E.T.S. 

XCVIII. 

Morris,    R.     An   Old  English   Miscellany,   containing  a  Bestiary,   Kentish 

Sermons,  Proverbs  of  Alfred,  and  Religious  Poems  of  the  Thirteenth 

Century.     E.E.T.S.  xlix. 
Padelford,  F.  M.     Early  Sixteenth  Century  Lyrics.     Boston,  1907. 
Rimbault,  E.  F.     Ancient  Poetical  Tracts  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  reprinted 

from    unique  copies,   formerly  in  the  possession  of  the  late  Thomas 

Caldecott,  Esq.     Percy  Society,  xxvii.      1842. 
Ritson,  J.     A  Select  Collection  of  English  Songs.     3  vols.      1783.     Contains 

a  valuable  introduction. 
Ancient  Songs  and  Ballads  from  the  Reign  of  King  Henry  the  Second 

to  the  Revolution.      1790.     Revised  by  Hazlitt,  W.  C.      1877.     Contains 

a  valuable  introduction. 
Sandys,  W.     Christmas  Carols,  Ancient  and  Modern  (many  from  Add.  MSS. 

5465  and  5665).     Percy  Society,  xix. 
• Festive  Songs,  principally  of  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centuries. 

Percy  Society,  lxxvii.      1848. 
Taylor,   G.   W.     Poems  written  in   English  by  Charles,   duke  of  Orleans, 

during  his  captivity  in  England  after  the  battle  of  Agincourt.     Rox- 

burghe  Club,  xxxviii.      1827. 
Wright,  T.     Poems  of  Walter  Mapes.     Camden  Society.      1841. 
Specimens  of  Old  Christmas  Carols,  selected  from  Manuscripts  and 

Printed  Books.     Percy  Society,  xvi. 
Specimens  of  Lyric   Poetry,  composed  in  England  in  the   Reign  of 

Edward  the  First  (MS.,  Harleian  2253).      Percy  Society,  xix.      1842. 
Songs  and  Carols,  now  first  Printed,  from  a  ^Manuscript  of  the  Fifteenth 

Century  (Bodleian  MS.,  Eng.  Poet.  E.L).      Percy  Society,  Lxxiii.     1847. 
Songs  and  Carols,  from  a  Manuscript  in  the  British  Museum  (MS.,  Sloane 

2593).     Warton  Club,  iv.      1856. 
Wright,  T.  and  Hailiwell,  J.  O.     Reliquiae  Antiquae.     2  vols,       1841. 


Bartsch,  K.     Altfranzosische  Romanzen  und  Pastourellen.     Leipzig,  1870. 
Blume,  C.  and  Dreves,  G.  M.     Analecta  Hymnica  Medii  Aevi.     Leipzig, 
in   progress. 


^:)' 


Bibliography  to 


Brand.  J.  and  Ellis,  Sir  II.     Observations  on  Popular  Antiquities.     2  vols. 

1900. 
Brewer.  J.  S..  Gairdner,  J.  and  Brodie,  R.  H.     Letters  and  Papers  of  the 

Reign  of  Henry  VIII.     Calendar  of  State  Papers,  1862-1902.     Contains 

full  accounts  of  the  revels,  etc. 
Chambers,  E.  K.     The  Mediaeval  Stage.     2  vols.     Oxford,  1903. 
Chappell.  W.     Old  English  Popular  Music.     2  vols.     Ed.  Woolridge,  H.  E. 

1893. 
Clement,  F.     Historic  g^n^rale  de  la  Musique  religieuse.     Pans,  i860. 
Conybeare,  F.  C.     The  History  of  Christmas.     Journal  of  American  Theology. 

Vol.  in.     1899. 
Coussemaker,  E.  de.     Histoirc  de  I'Harmonie  au  Moyen  Age.     Paris,  1852. 
Crowcst,  F.  J.     The  Stor>'  of  British  Music,  from  the  Earliest  Times.      1896. 
Dawson,  W.  F.     Christmas:  Its  Origin  and  Associations.      1902. 
Dickinson,  F.  H.     Missale  ad  usum  insignis  et  praeclarae  Ecclesiae  Sarum. 

1884. 
Ebert,  A.     Allgemeine  Geschichte  der  Literatur  des  Mittelalters  im  Abend- 

lande.     Vol.  iii.     Leipzig,  1887. 
Fre>Tnond,  E.     Jongleurs  und  Menestrels,     Halle,  1883. 
Gautier,  L.     Histoire  de  la  Po^sie  liturgique  au  Moyen  Age.     Paris,  1887. 
Gomme,  Mrs.  A.  B.     The  Traditional  Games  of  England,  Scotland,  and 

Ireland,  with  Tunes.     2  vols.     Dictionary  of  British  Folk-Lore.     Part  i. 

1894-8. 
Gummere,  F.  B.     The  Beginnings  of  Poetry.     1901. 
Guest,  E.     History  of  English  Rhythms.     Ed.  Skeat,  W.  W.      1882. 
Heider,  O.     Untersuchungen  zur  mittelenglischen  Erotischen  Lyrik.     Halle, 

1905- 
Jeanroy,  A.     Les  Origines  de  la  Poesie  lyrique  en  France  au  Moyen  Age: 

Etudes  de  Litterature  franjaise  et  comparee,  suivies  de  Textes  inedits. 

Paris,   1904. 

Lais  et  descorts  frangais  du  xiii*  siccle.     Paris,  1901. 

Melanges  d'Ancienne  Poesie  Lyrique.     Extrait  de  la  Revue  des  Langues 

romanes.      1902. 
Jusserand,  J.  J.     English  Wayfaring  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  trans,  by 

Smith,  L.  T.      1892. 
Montaiglon,  A.  de.     Chansons,  ballades  et  rondeaux.     Paris,  1S55. 
Montaiglon,  A.  de,  et  Rothschild,  J.  de.     Recueil  de  Poesies  franpaises  des 

quinzieme  et  seizieme  Siecles.     Bibl.  Elzev.     Paris,  1855-78. 
Paris,  G.     Chansons  du  xv«  Siecle.     Soc.  Anc.  Textes  Fr.     Paris,  1875. 
Les  Origines  de  la  Poesie  lyrique  en  France  au  Moyen  Age.     Extrait  du 

Journal  des  Savants.     1892. 
Petit  de  JulleviUe,  L.     Histoire  de  la  Langue  et  de  la  Litterature  Fran9aise. 

Vol.  I,  pp.  345  flf. :  Les  Chansons,  by  Jeanroy,  M.     Paris,  1896. 
Proctor,    F.   et    Wordsworth.    C.     Breviarum   ad   usum    insignis    Ecclesiae 

Sarum.     3  vols.     Cambridge,   1882-6. 
Raynaud,  G.     Recueil  de  Motets  fran9ais  des  douzieme  fit  treizieme  Siecles. 

2  vols.     Paris,  1882-3. 

Rondeaux  et  autres  Poesies  du  xv^  Siecle.     Paris,  1889. 

Rimbault,    E.    F.        Book   of  Christmas  Carols,   with   Ancient    Melodies. 

1847- 

A  Little  Book  of  Songs  and  Ballads.      1851. 

Sandys,  W.     Christmastide:  its  History,  Festivities  and  Carols.     [No  date.] 


Chapter  XVII  553 

Schipper,  J.  Englische  Metrik,  in  Historischen  und  Systematischer  Ent- 
wickelung  Dargestellt.     2  vols.     Bonn,  1881. 

Schmeller,  J.  A.  Carmina  Burana,  Lateinische  und  Deutsche  Lieder  und 
Gedichte,  einer  Handschrift  des  xiii  Jahrhunderts  aus  Benedictbeuren, 
auf  der  K.  Bibliothek  zu  Munchen.     Breslau,  1904. 

Sharp,  C.  J.     EngHsh  Folk-Song:  some  conclusions.     1907. 

Songs  and  Madrigals  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.     Plain  Song  Society.     1891. 

Thien,  H.     Uber  die  Englischen  Marienklagen.     Kiel,  1906. 

Tiersot,  J.     Historie  de  la  Chanson  populaire  en  France.     Paris,  1889. 

Wallaschek,  R.  Primitive  Music :  an  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  and  Develop- 
ment of  Music,  Songs,  Instruments,  Dances,  and  Pantomimes  of  Savage 
Races.     1893. 

Warton,  T.  History  of  English  Poetry,  from  the  Twelfth  to  the  close  of  the 
Sixteenth  Century.     Ed.  Hazlitt,  W.  C.     4  vols.     1871. 

Wechssler,  E.     Die  romanischen  Marienklagen.     Halle,  1893. 

CHAPTER  XVII 
BALLADS 

Brandl,  Alois.  A  good  account  of  English  and  Scottish  ballads  in  Paul's 
Grundriss  der  germanischen  Philologie,  vol.  11,  Strassburg,  1893. 

Child,  F.  J.  (ed.)-  The  EngHsh  and  Scottish  Popular  Ballads.  5  vols.,  10 
parts.  Boston  and  New  York,  1882-98.  Practically  a  new  work,  and 
in  no  sense  a  second  edition  of  Child's  earlier  collection  in  eight  vols., 
Boston,  1857-8.  The  fifth  volume  (1898)  contains  a  bibliographyi  (pp. 
503-566),  which,  with  the  Sources  of  the  Texts  (pp.  397-405),  the  Titles 
of  Collections  of  Ballads  (pp.  455-469),  indexes,  Hsts  of  ballad-airs  and 
tunes  and  other  helps,  furnishes  a  complete  apparatus  for  the  student 
of  the  particular  subject.  There  is,  however,  no  corresponding  biblio- 
graphy of  the  ballad  at  large ;  for  Child  did  not  Hve  to  write  his  greatly 
desired  general  introduction. 

Child,  F.  J.  (ed.).  Article  on  Ballads,  in  Johnson's  Cyclopaedia.  New  York, 
1893.  While  the  author  wished  no  stress  to  be  laid  upon  this  article 
•with  regard  to  general  questions,  it  gives  a  clear  account  of  the  scope 
and  connections  of  British  ballads  and  a  brief  description  of  those  of 
other  lands. 

Courthope,  W.  J.  A  History  of  English  Poetry.  1895.  Vol.  i,  chap,  xi, 
The  Decay  of  English  Minstrelsy.  Defends  minstrel  authorship,  though 
seemingly  a  lost  cause. 

Gummere,  F.  B.  Introduction  to  Old  English  Ballads.  Boston,  1894.  Sub- 
sequent editions  unchanged:  it  contains  an  account  of  ballad  criticism 
in  England  and  Germany.  See  also,  by  the  same  writer.  The  Ballad 
and  Communal  Poetry,  Child  Memorial  volume  (v)  of  the  Harvard 
Studies  and  Notes  in  Philology  and  Literature,  Boston,  1896;  Primitive 
Poetry  and  the  Ballad,  in  Modern  Philology,  i,  Chicago,  1903-4;  and  The 
Popular  Ballad,  1907. 

Hales,  J.  W.  and  Furnivall,  F.  J.  (ed.).  Percy  Folio  Manuscript.  3  vols,  and 
a  supplement.  1867-8.  This  made  possible  the  collection  now  recog- 
nised as  final. 

•  The  introduction  to  each  of  the  separate  ballads,  with  the  Additions  and  Corrections,  gives 
a  bibliography  for  the  study  of  that  ballad  in  all  its  relations. 


554  Bibliography  to 


Hecht,  H.,  sums  up  the  Neuere  Literatur  zur  Englisch-schottischen  Bal- 
ladendichtung  in  Englische  Studien,  xxxvi,  1906. 

Henderson,  T.  F.  Revised  edition  of  Scott's  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish 
Border.  4  vols.  Edinburgh,  1902.  With  a  general  preface  and  par- 
ticular introductions  which  tend  to  trace  each  ballad  to  individual 
authors  like  Burns  and  Scott. 

Kittredge,  G.  L.  Introduction  to  the  one-volume  edition  of  Child's  Ballads. 
Edited  by  Mrs.  Sargent  and  himself.  Boston,  1904.  This  volume  in- 
cludes one  or  more  versions  of  practically  all  the  ballads,  and  the  in- 
troduction is  a  clear  exposition  of  the  doctrine  that  popular  ballads 
really  belong  to  the  people. 

Lang,  A.  Article  on  Ballads,  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  9th  edition. 
Lang  has  expressed  his  opinion  on  the  ballad-question  in  recent  papers; 
in  ])articular  may  be  noted  his  discussion  of  the  ballad  Auld  Maitland  in 
Folk  Lore,  xiii,  191  ff.  (1902),  and  his  argument  for  communal  author- 
ship, ibid.  XIV,  147  ff.  (1903). 

Sidg\vick,  F.  Popular  Ballads  of  the  Olden  Time.  1903,  1904,  1907.  3 
series.  2  vols,  issued  so  far.  The  introduction  inclines  to  the  theory  that 
ballads  belong  to  the  people,  but  makes  allowance  for  opposing  views 
such  as  those  of  G.  Gregory  Smith  and  T.  F.  Henderson. 

Smith,  G.  Gregory.     The  Transition  Period.      1900.     Chap.  vi. 

Older  criticism,  foreign  and  domestic,  of  English  ballads  is  summarised 
in  F.  B.  Gummere's  Introduction  to  Old  English  Ballads  cited  above.  For 
admirable  discussion  of  ballad  poetry  in  other  lands  see  the  introduction  to 
Constantino  Nigra's  Canti  Popolari  del  Piemonte,  Turin,  1888,  pp.  xi-xxxviii 
and  Gaston  Paris,  De  I'Etude  de  la  Podsie  Populaire,  in  Melusine,  i,  i  ff. 
Opposed  to  their  doctrine  is  John  Meier,  whose  Kunstlieder  im  Volksmunde, 
Halle,  1906,  indicates  its  theory  by  its  title,  and  is  not  very  far  from  Hen- 
derson's point  of  view.  It  must  be  remembered,  finally,  that  the  majority 
of  the  poems  published  by  the  Ballad  Society,  such  as  street-songs,  broadsides 
and  popular  ditties  of  every  sort,  belongs  not  to  the  subject  of  this  chapter, 
but  to  journalism. 

The  following  books  may  also  be  consulted : 
Addison,  J.     The  Spectator.     Nos.  70,  74.     For  Chevy  Chase,  etc. 
AlHngham,  W.     The  Ballad  Book.      1865  ff. 
Aytoun,  W.  E.     The  Ballads  of  Scotland.     2  vols.      1858  ff. 
Bell,  R.     Ancient  Poems,  Ballads  and  Songs  of  the  Peasantry  of  England. 

1857- 
Buchan,  P.     Ancient  Ballads  and  Songs  of  the  North  of  Scotland.     2  vols. 

Edinburgh,  1828.     Reprinted,' 1875,  etc. 
Chambers,  R.     Scottish  Ballads  and  Scottish  Songs.     3  vols.     Edinburgh, 

1829. 
Chappell,  W.  and  Ebsworth,  J.  W.     The  Roxburghe  Ballads.     9  vols.  (27 

parts).     1871-99. 
Popular  Music  of  the  Olden  Time.     2  vols.     1855-9.     New  ed.,  Wool- 

dridge,  H.  E.     2  vols.     1893. 

A  collection  of  national  English  airs  .  .  .  and  essay  on  English  Minstrelsy. 

1840. 

Davidson,  T.,  in  Chambers's  Encyclopaedia.     Vol.  i,  p.  680.      1888. 
Dixon,  J.  H.     Ancient  Poems,  Ballads  and  Songs  of  the  Peasantry  of  Eng- 
land.     Percy  Soc.     1846. 


Chapter  XVII  555 

Dixon,  J.  H.    Scottish  traditional  versions  of  ancient  ballads.     Percy  Soc. 

1845- 

Evans,  T.     Old  Ballads.     2  vols.     1777.     Ed.  Evans,  R.  H.     4  vols.     1810. 

Fehr,  B.  Die  formelhaften  Elemente  in  den  alten  Engl.  Balladen.  Basel, 
1900. 

Finlay,  J.  Scottish  Historical  and  Romantic  Ballads.  2  vols.  Edinburgh, 
1808. 

Fliigel,  E.     Zur  Chronologic  des  Engl.  Balladen.     Anglia,  xxi,  312  ff. 

Frankel,  L.     Zur  Gesch.  von  Robin  Hood.     Eng.  Stud,  xvii,  316. 

Gilchrist,  J.    A  collection  of  Scottish  Ballads,  etc.   2  vols.    Edinburgh,    1815. 

Gorbing,  F.  Beispiele  von  realisierten  Mythen  in  den  engl.  u.  schott.  Balla- 
den.    Anglia,  xxiii,  i  fi. 

Grundtvig,    S.    H.     Danmarks    gamle    Folkeviser.     5    vols.     Copenhagen, 

1853  ff- 
Gutch,  J.  M.     A  Lytyll  Geste  of  Robin  Hode.     2  vols.     1847. 
Hales,  J.  W.     Folio  Litteraria.      1893.     For  Chevy  Chase. 
Herd,  D.     Ancient  and  Modern  Scots  Songs,  etc.     Edinburgh,  1769.  2nd  ed. 

1776. 
Jamieson,  R.     Popular  Ballads  and  Songs.     2  vols.     Edinburgh,  1806. 
Johnson,  J.     The  Scots  Musical  Museum.     6  vols.     Edinburgh,  1 787-1803. 

Ed.  Stenhouse,  W.  and  Laing,  D.     4  vols.    1853. 
Kinloch,  G.     Ancient  Scottish  Ballads.      1827. 
Laing,  D.     Select  Remains  of  the  Ancient  Popular  Poetry  of  Scotland.     1822. 

Ed.  Small,  J.     1885. 
Early  Popular  Poetry  of  Scotland  and    the  Border.      1822-6.     Ed. 

Hazlitt,  W.  C.     2  vols.     1895. 
Lang,  A.     Myth,  Ritual  and  Religion.     2  vols.      1887. 
In  Quarterly  Review,  July,  1898;  Chambers's  Cyclopaedia  of  English 

Lit.,  vol.  I,  pp.  520  fif.,  1901 ;  Blackwood's  Magazine,  clviii,  Sept.,  1895. 
Lemcke,  C,  in  Jahrbuch  f.  rom.  u.  engl.  Lit.     iv,  1,142,  297  ff. 
Maidment,  J.     A  North  Countrie  Garland.     Edinburgh,  1824. 

Scottish  Ballads.     2  vols.     Edinburgh,  1868. 

Motherwell,  W.     Minstrelsy,  Ancient  and  Modern.     Glasgow,  1827. 
Newell,  W.  W.     Games  and  Songs  of  American  Children.     New  York,  1883. 
Percy,  T.    Reliques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry.  3  vols.    1765.    Ed.  Wheatley, 

H.  B.    3  vols.    1876-7.    Ed.  Schroer,  A.    2  Halften.    Heilbronn,  1889-93. 
Pinkerton,   J.     Scottish  Tragic   Ballads.     1781.     See  also   Select  Scottish 

Ballads,  2  vols.,  1783. 
[PhiUips,  A.]     A  Collection  of  Old  Ballads.     3  vols.      1723-5- 
Ramsay,  A.     The  Ever  Green.     2  vols.     Edinburgh,  1724. 

The  Tea  Table  Miscellany.     17245.     4  vols. 

Reliquiae  Antiquae,    ed.    Halliwell,  J.   O.  and  Wright,  T.,  for   the   Judas 

ballad  (p.  144). 
Ritson,  J.     Ancient  Songs  and  Ballads.     2  vols.     1792.     Ed.  Hazlitt,  W.  C. 

1877. 

Ancient  Popular  Poetry.     1791.     Ed.  Goldsmid,  E.     1884, 

Scotish  Song.     2  vols.     1794. 

Select  Collection  of  English  Songs.     1783.     Ed.  Park,  T.     3  vols.  1813. 

Romantic  Scottish   Ballads:  their  epoch   and   authorship,     n.  d. 

Russell,  J.     The  Haigs  of  Bemersyde.     Edinburgh,  1881.     (Chap,  xiv  for 

social  conditions  of  Old  Border  life,  is  quoted   by  Davidson,  T.,   in 

Chambers's  Encyclopaedia.) 


:>:> 


6  Bibliography  to 


Saintsbury.  G.     A  History  of  English  Prosody.     Vol.  i.      1906. 

Sharpe.  C.  K.     A  Ballad  Book.     Edinburgh,  1823.     New  ed.  by  Laing,  D., 

1880. 
Scottish  Minstrel,  The.     1808. 

Songster.  Universal,  The,  or  museum  of  mirth.     3  vols.     [1825-6.] 
Veitch,  J.     History  and  Poetry  of  the  Scottish  Border.     1878.     New  ed. 

2  vols.     Glasgow,  1893. 
Whitelaw.  A.     The  Book  of  Scottish  Ballads.     Glasgow,  18 14. 

See  also  under  Ballads,  in  W.  P.  Courtney's  Register  of  National  Biblio- 
graphy vol.  I,  p.  47,  1905,  for  catalogues  of  broadsides,  etc. 

F.  B.  G.  &.  A.  R.  W. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

POLITICAL   AND   RELIGIOUS    VERSE    TO  THE  CLOSE   OF  THE 
FIFTEENTH  CENTURY— FINAL  WORDS 

Supplementary  Bibliography  and  Notes 

As  in  the  case  of  the  bibliography  to  Chap,  xvii,  Vol.  I,  a  few  works  on  the 
social  and  political  history^  of  England  during  the  Middle  Ages  are  included 
in  the  following  bibliography;  and  advantage  has  been  taken  of  the  op- 
portunity afforded  by  a  concluding  chapter  to  add  a  few  notes  on  books 
and  writers  not  specifically  dealt  with  elsewhere.  References  to  other  his- 
tories of  English  literature  have  been  added  in  cases  where  fuller  details  are 
given  than  has  been  either  possible  or  deemed  desirable  in  this  work. 

In  addition  to  the  general  bibliographies  mentioned  on  p.  419,  vol.  i, 
W.  Swan  Sonnenschein's  Best  Books,  189 1,  and  Reader's  Guide  to  Con- 
temporary Literature,  1895,  may  be  mentioned  as  very  useful  aids,  and,  in 
their  respective  spheres,  G.  K.  Fortescue's  Index  of  Printed  Books  added 
to  the  British  Museum  during  the  past  25  years,  and  C.  Sayle's  Early  English 
Printed  Books  in  the  University  Library,  Cambridge  (1475-1640),  4  vols., 
Cambridge,  1900-7,  are  invaluable.  The  catalogue  of  the  London  Library, 
1903,  and  its  various  supplements,  will  also  be  found  useful. 

The  Appendix  volume  to  W.  T.  Lowndes's  Bibliographer's  Manual,  com- 
piled by  H.  G.  Bohn  (1864),  contains  a  useful  list  of  the  publications  of  the 
Roxburghe,  Bannatyne  and  Maitland  Clubs,  Surtees  Society,  Abbotsford 
Club,  Camden  Society,  Spalding  Club,  Irish  Archaeological,  Parker,  Percy, 
Aelfric,  Chetham,  Philobiblon.  Caxton,  English  Historical  and  Ossianic 
Societies,  Warton  Club,  and  other  literary,  learned  and  scientific  societies;  of 
books  printed  at  private  presses  (Auchinleck,  Lee  Priory,  etc.);  and  of 
privately  printed  series  (J.  Payne  Collier,  Halliwell,  Maidment,  Turnbull. 
Russell  Smith,  etc.).  A  revised  edition  of  Lowndes,  brought  up  to  date, 
would  be  a  very  great  boon  indeed  to  all  workers  in  English  literature. 

English  and  Latin  Writers  and  Texts 

Adam  of  Usk  {fj.   1400),  chronicler  (1377-1404).     Ed.  Thompson,  E.  M. 

1876. 
Audelay,  John.     Poems:  a  specimen  of  the  Shropshire  dialect  in  the  isth 

cent.     Ed.  Halliwell,  J.  O.     Percy  Society.      1844. 
Baker,  Geoffrey  {fl.  1350).     For  Baker's  chronicles  and  for  Sir  Thomas  de  la 

More,  see  Stubbs,  W.,  Chronicles  of  Edw.  I  and  II.  Rolls  Series.  1882-3: 

anded.  Thompson,  E.  M.,  Oxford,  1889. 
Baston,  Robert  {ft-  1300).  scholar  of  Oxford  and  poet,  of  whom  it  is  asserted 


1 


Chapter  XVIII  557 


that,  when  captured  by  Robert  Bruce,  he  was  obliged  to  buy  his  release 
by  composing  poems  of  exultation  over  the  defeat  of  the  English.  Cott 
MS,  Titus  A.  XX. 

Berners,  Dame  Juliana.  Cf.  Le  Venery  de  Twety,  Reliq.  Ant.,  vol.  i,  p.  149, 
and  also  The  Booke  of  Hawkyng,  Rel.  Ant.,  vol.  i.  p.  293. 

Blaneforde,  Henry  (ft.  1330),  chronicler.  Ed.  Riley,  H.  T.,  in  Chronica 
Monast.  S.  Albani.     Rolls  Series.      1866. 

Brampton,  T.  Paraphrase  on  the  Seven  Penitential  Psalms  (1414)-  Percy 
Society.      1842. 

Elmham,  Thomas  (d.  1440?),  chronicler  of  St.  Augustine's  monastery,  Can- 
terbury, and  biographer  of  Henry  V.  Ed.  Hardwick,  C.  Rolls  Series. 
1858.  Memorials  of  Henry  V.  Ed.  Cole,  C.  A.  Rolls  Series.  1858. 
See  also  ed.  Hearn,  T.,  Oxford,  1727. 

Fabyan.  Robert  (d.  15 13),  a  careful  will-maker,  if  a  poor  chronicler,  whose 
Concordance  of  Histories,  printed  by  Pynson,  1516,  ed.  Ellis,  H.,  181 1, 
is  not  without  its  value  with  respect  to  the  history  of  London.  See 
Warton,  T.,  Hist.  Eng.  Poet.,  vol.  11  (1840),  sect,  xxvii. 

Gascoigne,  T.  (1403-58).  Dictionarium  Theologicum.  Extracts  printed  by 
J.  E.  Thorold  Rogers,  Oxford,  1881,  illustrative  of  matters  concerning 
church  and  state, 

Geoffrey  the  Grammarian,  or  Starkey  (/?,  1440),  author  of  an  English-Latin 
dictionary,  Promptorium  Parvulorum  or  Promptuarium  Parvulorum 
Clericorum.  A  work  of  much  importance  with  respect  to  1 5th  cent.  East 
Anglian  English.  Printed  by  Pynson,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  etc.  Ed. 
Way,  A.  3  vols.  Camden  Soc.  1843-65.  The  E.E.T.S.  has  an  edition 
in  hand.  A  Hortus,  or  Latin-English  dictionary,  printed  by  Wynkyn  de 
Worde  in  1500,  may  be  based  on  another  of  Starkey 's  works. 

Grey,  Wm.  (d.  1478),  scholar  of  Oxford,  bishop  of  Ely,  humanist  and  col- 
lector of  books,  many  of  which  are  still  among  the  treasures  of  Balliol. 
See  vol.  Ill  of  the  present  work,  chapter  i. 

Hardyng,  John  (13 78-1465  ?),  chronicler.  Of  the  literary  merit  of  Hardyng's 
English  Chronicle  in  Metre  fro  the  first  Begynning  of  Englande  unto 
the  Reigne  of  Edwarde  the  Fourth  (printed  by  Grafton  in  1543  and 
reprinted  by  Ellis,  H.,  in  1812),  little  can  be  said  save  that,  though  he 
"poisoned  the  wells"  by  manufacturing  certain  of  his  documents,  he 
carried  on  the  work  of  the  earlier  chroniclers.  See  Palgrave,  F.,  Docu- 
ments and  records  illustrating  the  history  of  Scotland,  1837. 

Humphrey,  duke  of  Gloucester  (1391-1447).  The  "good  duke  Humphrey," 
a  lover  of  books  and  a  beneficent  disposer  of  them,  patron  and  friend 
of  many  scholars,  of  Ashley,  Capgrave,  Lydgate,  Pecock,  Whethamstede, 
"kept  such  a  house  as  was  never  yet  kept  in  England"  (Latimer), 
gave  his  books  to  a  university  which  still  cherishes  his  name  in  its  library 
and  should  be  remembered  among  the  "  people  of  importaxice  "  in  the  1 5th 
century.  The  part  taken  by  him  in  the  foundation  of  libraries  will  be 
considered  in  a  later  section  of  the  present  work  devoted  to  book-collec- 
tions. See  Ten  Brink,  B.,  Hist.  Eng.  Lit.,  vol.  11,  Eng.  trans.,  1901,  pp. 
310  S.  and  319  ff. ;  Warton,  T.,  History  of  English  Poetry,  1840,  vol.  11. 
sect.  XX,  pp.  264  ff. ;  and  Pauli,  R.,  Pictures  of  Old  England  (Eng.  trans.), 
1861. 

Ingulph  (d.  1 109),  abbot  of  Crowland  or  Croyland.  For  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  century  chronicle  erroneously  associated  with  his  name,  see 
Savile,  H.,  Scriptores  post  Bedam,  1596;  Riley,  H.  T.,  1854;  Liebermann, 


55«  Bibliography  to 

F.,  tJber  ostenglische  Geschichtsquellen  des  12,  13,  14  Jahrhunderts 
besonders  den  falschen  Ingulf  (N.  Archiv  f.  &\t.  deutsche  Gesch.-Kunde, 
Bd.  XVIII,  Hanover,  1892);  Birch,  W.  de  G.,  Chronicle  of  Croyland 
Abbey,  1883;  Searle,  W.  G.,  Ingulf  and  the  Historia  Croylandensis, 
Camb.  Antiq.  Soc,  1894. 

John  of  Bury  {ft.  1460),  Cambridge  scholar  and  opponent  of  Pecock.  MS.  of 
Gladius  Salomonis  in  Bodleian,  extracts  in  Babington's  ed.  of  Pecock's 
Repressor. 

Knighton  (or  Cnitthon),  Henry  (ft.  1363),  chronicler  (from  the  days  of 
Edgar  to  1366).  The  continuation  of  Knighton's  work,  by  another 
hand,  is  valuable  in  respect  of  Wyclif  and  the  peasants'  revolt.  Ed. 
Lumby,  J.  R.     Rolls  Series.     1889-95. 

Lanercost  Chronicle  (i  201-1346),  useful  for  the  history  of  the  Border,  etc. 
Ed.  Stevenson,  J.  1839.  Imbedded  in  this  chronicle,  under  date  1244, 
is  the  English  couplet 

Wille  Gris,  Wille  Gris, 
Thinche  tvi^at  you  vi^as,  and  qwat  you  es, 
which  refers  to  the  Norfolk  peasant  boy  who  went  to  seek  his  fortune 
possessing  naught  but  a  little  pig.  The  swineboy  married  a  rich  widow 
and  he  kept  his  former  state  before  him  by  a  picture  of  himself  and 
his  pig  inscribed  as  above.  See  Craik,  G.  L.,  Hist,  of  Eng.  Lit.,  vol.  i, 
1869,  p.  226;  and  Chronicon  de  Lanercost,  p.  52. 

Lauder,  William.    Minor  Poems.     Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.     E.E.T.S.  xli,  1870. 

Litchfield,  Wm.  (d.  1447),  poet  and  preacher.  His  poems  are  among  the 
Caius  MSS.,  No.  174,  Cambridge.  He  is  said  to  have  written  over  3000 
sermons. 

Littleton,  Sir  Thomas  (1402-81),  author  of  a  work  on  Tenures,  in  law- 
French,  of  which  it  has  been  said  that  "probably  no  legal  treatise  ever 
combined  so  much  of  the  substance  with  so  little  of  the  show  of  learning, 
or  so  happily  avoided  pedantic  formalism  without  forfeiting  precision 
of  statement"  (J.  M.  Rigg,  in  D.  of  N.  B.).  Littleton's  book  will  be 
further  dealt  with  in  a  later  section  of  the  present  work  dealing  with 
legal  literature.  MSS.  in  Cambridge  University  library.  Mm.  5.  2, 
Ee.  I.  2,  Dd.  II.  60;  first  edition  published  by  Lettou  and  Machlinia; 
later,  by  Pynson,  c.  1495  ff.  See  ed.  Tomlins,  T.  E.,  1841.  Littleton's 
will  throws  interesting  light  on  the  contents  of   his   library. 

Losinga,  Herbert  de  (1054?-!  119),  first  bishop  of  Norwich  and  founder 
of  Norwich  cathedral.  For  his  sermons,  printed  from  a  Cambridge  MS., 
see  Goulburn,  E.  M.  and  Symonds,  H.,  Life,  Letters  and  Sermons  of 
Bp  H.  de  L.,  2  vols.,  1878.  The  letters  throw  much  light  on  current 
monastic  life  and  on  educational  method. 

Lyndwood,  William  (i375?-i446),  Cambridge  and  Oxford  scholar,  canonist 
and  author  of  Constitutiones  Provinciales  Ecclesiae  Anglicanae,  printed 
by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  c.  1496.  There  was  an  earlier  Oxford  printed 
edition,  and  a  later  Oxford  edition  is  the  folio  of  1679. 

Mctham.  John.     Works.     Ed.  Craig,  H.     E.E.T.S.      1906. 

Mirk,  John  {ft.  1403?).  Festial  (sermons,  explaining  feast  days).  Ed.  Erbe, 
T.    E.E.T.S.    1905.    Printed  by  Caxton,  1483. 

Manuale  Sacerdotum.     For  MSS.,  see  Miss  Bateson's  article  in  D.  of  N.  B. 

Duties  of  a  Parish  Priest.     Ed.  Peacock,  E.     E.E.T.S.      1868.     "This 

poem,  which  Mirk  says  he  translated  from  the  Latin  Pars  Oculi,  is 
neither   a   versified   translation   of  John   de   Burgh's   Pupilla   Oculi    (a 


Chapter  XVIII  559 

dictionary  of  theological  subjects  alphabetically  arranged),  nor  of 
Mirk's  Manual,  as  has  been  suggested,  but  of  the  Pupilla  Oculi  by  William 
de  Pagula."     M.  Bateson. 

Murimuth,  Adam  (i275?-i347),  scholar  of  Oxford  and  chronicler  of  the 
period  1303-47.     Ed.  Thompson,  E.  M.      Rolls  Series.      1889. 

Osbern,  a  learned  monk  of  Gloucester.  For  his  "immense  et5anological 
Latin  dictionary,"  see  Bateson,  M.,  Medieval  England,  p.  242. 

Otterbourne,  Thomas  {fl.  1400),  chronicler  (from  the  early  history  of  Eng- 
land to  1420).  MS.  Harl.  3643.  See  T.  Hearne's  Duo  rerum  Angl. 
script.,  Oxford,  1732. 

Ratis  Raving  and  other  moral  and  religious  pieces,  in  prose  and  verse. 
Ed.  fromCamb.  MS.,  Kk.  I.  5,  by  Lumby,  J.  R.     1870.    E.E.T.S.  xliii. 

Richard  of  St.  Victor  (d.  11 73?),  mystic  and  philosopher.  Of  Scotch  birth, 
but  whose  life  was  spent  in  the  Parisian  abbey  of  St.  Victor.  For  a  list 
of  his  works  see  the  article  by  Kingsford,  C.  L.,  in  D.  of  N.  B.  See 
also  Migne,  J.  P.,  Pat.  Latina,  vol.  cxcvi. 

Robert  of  Avesbury  {ft.  1350),  military  chronicler  of  the  deeds  of  Edw.  Ill 
to  1356.     Ed.  Thompson,  E.  M.      Rolls  Series.      1889. 

Rous  or  Ross,  John  (1411  ?-i49i),  Oxford  scholar  and  antiquary,  author 
of  Historia  Regum  Anghae  (Cott.  MS.  Vesp.  A.  xii:  see  ed.  Hearne,  T., 
1745),  from  the  beginning  to  i486.  While  his  history  is  of  little  value, 
the  designs  which  adorn  his  life  of  Richard  Beauchamp,  earl  of  Warwick 
(Cott.  MS.  Jul.  E.  iv),  are  of  some  interest. 

Scogan,  Henry  (1361  ?-i407),  poet  and  friend  of  Chaucer.  He  must  not  be 
confused  with  the  somewhat  mythical  John  Scogan  {ft.  1480?),  court 
jester  to  Edw.  IV,  whose  jests  were  collected  in  the  i6th  cent. 

Stanbridge,  John  (1463-15 10),  scholar  of  Oxford  and  author  of  Vocabula, 
Vulgaria,  etc.,  school  books  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  early  in  the 
1 6th  cent.  See  Hazlitt,  W.  C,  Schools,  School  books  and  Schoolmasters, 
1888. 

Swineshead,  Richard  {ft.  1350),  scholar  of  Oxford  and  mathematician. 
See  Brodrick,  G.  C,  Memorials  of  Merton,  Oxford  Hist.  Soc,  1885. 

Thomas  of  Burton.  Chronica  monast.  de  Melsa  usque  ad  a.  1396,  etc.  Ed. 
Bond,  E.  A.      3  vols.      Rolls  Series.      1 866-8. 

Thorne,  William  {ft.  1397),  author  of  an  important  chronicle  of  the  abbots 
of  St.  Augustine's,  Canterbury.  Ed.  Twysden,  Sir  R.  Hist.  Anglicanae 
script.  X.  1652.  (Twysden  includes  Simeon  Dunelm,  Joh  Hagu- 
stald,  Ricardus  Hagustald,  Ailredus  Rievall,  Radulphus  de  Diceto, 
Joh  Brompton  Jomall,  Gervasius  Doroborn,  T.  Stubbs,  G.  Thorn,  H. 
Knighton.) 

Tiptoft,  John,  earl  of  Worcester  (1427 ?-7o),  patron  of  scholars,  purchaser 
of  books,  translator  of  Cicero  and  as  cruel  a  man  as  any  of  the  tyrants 
of  the  Italian  renascence.  Among  the  scholars  whom  John  Tiptoft 
patronised,  John  Phreas  (d.  1465)  must  not  be  forgotten.  He  was  one  of 
the  remarkable  company  of  students  who  sought  knowledge  in  Italy, 
before  the  revival  of  letters  made  itself  felt  in  England.  And  an  earlier 
patron  of  Phreas  was  William  Grey  of  Balliol,  bishop  of  Ely,  whose 
love  of  classical  learning  had  taken  him  abroad  to  procure  books  and 
whose  college  and  cathedral  benefited  largely  through  his  generous 
gifts. 

Walsingham,  Thomas  (d.  1422),  chronicler.  Chronicon  Angliae  (1328-88),  ed. 
Thompson,  E.  M.,  1874;  Gesta  Abbatum  793-1411,  Rolls  Series,  3  vols  , 


560  Bibliography  to 

1867  ff.;  Historia  AngHcana  (1272-1422),  ed.  Riley,  H.  T.,  Rolls  Series, 
a  vols.,  1S63;  Ypodigma  Neustriae,  ed.  Riley,  H.  T.,  Rolls  Series,  1876. 
As  indicated  in  previous  chapters,  Walsingham  is  of  chief  importance  in 
connection  with  Wyclif  and  the  peasants'  revolt.  He  is  an  adverse 
witness  in  the  matter  of  the  Lollards.  The  relation  of  the  above 
chronicles  to  each  other  and  to  other  chronicles  and  MSS  is  discussed  by 
Leadam,  I.  S.,  in  the  D.  of  N.  B. 

Walton,  John  (/?.  1410),  translator  (in  verse)  of  Boethius.  printed  in  1525  as 
'  The  boke  of  Comfort,  etc."  For  MSS.  see  Pollard  A.  F.,  in  D.  of  N.  B. 
See  also  Warton.  T.,  Hist.  Eng.  Poet.,  vol.  11   sect,  xx  (1840),  pp.  255-6. 

Walter  of  Henley's  Husbandry,  etc.     Ed.  Lamond,  E.      R.  Hist.  Soc.      1890. 

Wey,  The  Itineraries  of  William  (1407  ?-76),  Fellow  of  Eton  College,  to 
Jerusalem,  1458-62,  etc.      Roxburghe  Club,  1857. 

William  of  Drogheda  (d.  1245?),  scholar  of  0.xford  and  canonist.  MSS.  in 
Caius  College,  Cambridge,  etc. 

William  of  Ramsey  {ft.  1219),  monk  of  Crowland,  poet  and  writer  of  saints' 
lives.  His  Guthlac  poem  is  in  the  Cambridge  University  library 
(Dd.  xi.  78). 

Woodville,  A.  For  the  "balet"  or  virelai  on  fickle  fortune,  composed  by  the 
ill-fated  Anthony  Woodville,  second  earl  Rivers  (1442  ?-83),  in  Ponte- 
fract  castle,  shortly  before  he  was  executed,  see  Percy's  Reliques,  Rous's 
chronicle,  ed.  Hearne,  and  Ritson's  Ancient  Songs,  ed.  Hazlitt,  W.  C, 

p.  149- 
Worcester,  Wm.     (1415-82?),  scholar  of  Oxford,  traveller,  chronicler  and 
secretary  of  Sir  John  Fastolf  (see  Paston  Letters).     For  a  complete  list 
of  his  writings,  of  which  an  Itinerarium,  ed.  Nasmith,  J.,  1778,  is,  perhaps, 
the  most  important,  see  the  article  by  Tait,  J.,  in  D.  of  N.  B. 


Agincourt,  poems  on.     See  the  Percy  Reliques,  3rd  ser. bk  i;  Warton  §  xx; 

etc. 
Anecdota  Literaria.  Ed.  Wright,  T.  1844.  Contains,  in  addition  to  items 
previously  discussed,  fabliaux  (The  Miller  of  Abington,  etc.),  Goliardic 
poems,  poems  on  the  Different  Classes  of  Society  and  miscellaneous 
pieces  such  as  Ragman  Roll. 
Babees  Book,  The  (c.  1475),  Aristotle's  ABC  (c.  1430),  Urbanitatis  {c.  1460), 
Stans  Puer  ad  Mensam,  The  Lytille  Childrenes  Lytil  Boke  (c.  1480). 
The  Bokes  of  Nurture  of  Hugh  Rhodes  {temp.  Henry  VIII)  and  John 
Russell  {c.  1460-70),  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  Boke  of  Keruynge  (15 13), 
The  Booke  of  Demeanor  (i6i9),The  Boke  of  Curtasye  (1430-40)  (see  also 
Breul,  K.,  Eng.  Stud,  ix,  51  flf.),  Seager's  Schoole  of  Vertue  (1557),  etc., 
etc.,  with  some  French  and  Latin  poems  on  like  subjects,  and  some 
Forewords  on  Education  in  Early  England.  Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.  1868. 
The  volume  also  contains  some  of  Richard  Hill's  transcriptions,  in  one 
of  which  the  poet  speaks  sympathetically  of  the  schoolboy  of  his  time 
{c.  1500): 

I  wold  ffayn  be  a  clarke; 

but  yet  hit  is  a  strange  werke; 

the  byrchyn  twyggis  be  so  sharpe, 

hit  makith  me  have  a  faynt  harte. 

what  avaylith  it  to  me  thowgh  I  say  nay? 


Chapter  XVIII  561 

Songs,  Carols  and  other  Miscellaneous  Poems  from  the  Balliol  MS.  354 
(Richard  Hill's  Commonplace  Book)  has  just  been  published  (1908)  by 
the  E.E.T.S.,  ed.  Dyboski,  R. 

Barnwell  Priory.  Liber  Memorandorum  Ecclesie  de  Bernewelle.  Ed.  Clark, 
J.  W.,  with  an  introduction  by  Maitland,  F.  W.     1907. 

Camden  Society.  1838  ff.  In  addition  to  the  volumes  referred  to  elsewhere 
under  specific  heads,  may  be  mentioned  the  Plumpton  correspondence, 
ed.  Stapleton,  T.  (Letters,  chiefly  domestic,  temp.  Edw.  IV-Henrj- 
VIII),  1839;  Anecdotes  and  Traditions,  illustrative  of  Early  English 
History  and  Literature,  ed.  Thoms,  W.  J.,  1839;  A  Contemporary  narra- 
tive of  the  proceedings  against  Dame  Alice  Kyteler,  prosecuted  for 
Sorcery  1324,  ed.  Wright,  T.,  1843;  A  Relation  ...  of  the  Isle  of  Eng- 
land c.  1500,  trans,  from  the  Italian  by  Sneyd,  C.  A.,  1847;  ^^^  Letters  of 
Queen  Margaret  of  Anjou,  etc.,  ed.  Monro,  C,  1863. 

Cato.  See  bibliography  to  chap,  viii  under  Burgh.  Also  Warton's  Hist. 
Eng.  Poetry,  1840,  §  xxvii. 

Cookery  Books,  Two  1 5th  cent.  c.  1430  and  1450.  Ed.  Austin,  T.  E.E.T.S 
1888.  For  other  books  of  cookery,  important  for  the  light  they  cast  on 
manners  and  social  life,  see  The  forme  of  Cury,  a  roll  of  ancient  English 
cookery  compiled  c.  1390,  by  the  master  cook  of  king  Richard  II,  ed. 
Pegge,  S.,  1780;  Liber  Cure  Cocorum,  a  cookery  book  in  verse,  c.  1440, 
ed.  Morris,  R.,  Phil.  Soc,  1862;  A  noble  Boke  off  Cookry  (i6th  cent.), 
1882;  Warner,  R.,  Antiquitates  Culinariae,  1791;  and  an  article  in  the 
Quarterly  Review,  Jan.,  1894. 

Early  English  Text  Society.  Practically  all  the  publications  of  both  the 
Original  and  the  Extra  Series  are  referred  to  under  specific  heads. 
The  list  of  works  mentioned  in  the  current  prospectus  as  awaiting  pub- 
lication as  soon  as  funds  permit,  and  of  MSS.  and  old  books  which  need 
copying  or  re-editing,  includes,  inter  alia,  the  following:  Hampole's 
unprinted  works;  Hereford's  Bible  translation;  Lydgate's  unprinted 
works;  early  treatises  on  music;  Skelton's  englishing  of  Diodorus  Siculus; 
T.  Breus's  Passion  of  Christ,  1422 ;  Lollard  theological  treatises;  Hylton's 
Ladder  of  Perfection;  John  Watton's  englished  Speculurn  Christiani; 
Stevyn  Scrope's  Doctryne  and  Wysedome  of  the  Auncyent  Philosophers, 
1450;  Alain  Chartier's  Quadrilogue  englished;  Shirley's  Book  of  Code 
Maners;  The  Court  of  Sapience;  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  English  and 
French  Phrase-book;  the  Craft  of  Nombrynge,  the  earliest  English 
treatise  on  Arithmetic;  the  Book  of  the  Foundation  of  St.  Bartholomew's 
Hospital,  c.  1425;  Caxton's  Mirror  of  the  World,  etc.,  etc.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  Society  may  soon  be  able  to  publish  the  above  and  many 
more  texts  urgently  needed. 

Gy  de  Warewyke,  Speculum.  Ed.  Morrill,  G.  L.  E.E.T.S.  Ex.  Ser.  lxxv. 
1898. 

Hazlitt,  W.  C.  (ed.).  Remains  of  the  Early  Popular  Poetry  of  England. 
4  vols.     1864. 

A  valuable  collection  of  fabliaux,  debates,  tales  in  verse,  etc.  The 
first  volume  contains,  among  other  poems.  The  King  and  the  Barker,  a 
"borde"  of  the  King  and  Miller,  or  Rauf  Coihear  type,  of  a  king's 
adventures  with  one  of  his  subjects;  The  Cokwolds  Daunce,  an  Arthurian 
tale  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made  (Vol.  I,  p.  5 1 5) ;  The  Thrush 
and  the  Nightingale  debate  from  the  Digby  MS. ,  temp.  Edw.  I :  "  Somer  is 
comen  with  love  to  toune";  Ragman  Roll,  a  satire  on  women;  The 
VOL.  11—36 


562  Bibliography  to 

Debate  of  the  Carpenter's  Tools;  Colyn  Blowbols  Testament,  cf.  The 
Testament  of  Mr.  Andro  Kennedy,  by  Dunbar,  referred  to  on  p.  291  of  the 
present  volume;  The  Childe  of  Bristowe,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of 
legends  of  filial  devotion,  a  tale  of  self-sacrifice,  to  save  a  covetous  father 
from  the  pains  of  purgatory,  told  with  a  direct  simplicity  that  reveals 
the  audience  to  which  it  was  probably  addressed.  When  everything  of 
his  father's  illgotten  wealth  has  been  restored,  and  whatsoever  else  is  left 
of  the  inherited  estate  has  been  spent  in  alms  and  masses  to  relieve  the 
pains  sutTered  by  his  father  as  revealed  to  him  in  fortnightly  visions,  the 
"childe"  goes  in  quest  of  more  money  still  to  the  "maister"  whose 
' '  prentys  "  in  "  Bristow  "  he  is,  to  sell  himself  as  a  slave : 

myn  owne  body  y  wil  sella  to  the, 
for  ever  to  be  thy  lad, 

and  the  tale  ends  as  an  unsophisticated  audience  would  wish  it  to  end; 
How  the  Wise  Man  taught  his  Son;  How  the  Good  Wife  taught  her 
Daughter;  How  a  Merchande  dyd  hys  Wyfe  Betray,  or  a  Penniworth  of 
Wit  (a  tale  of  the  testing  of  true  and  false  love,  c.  1335);  A  Merj'  Geste 
how  the  Plowman  lemed  his  Pater  Noster;  the  Lyfe  of  Roberta  the 
De\'>'ll,  etc. 

Volume  II  contains :  Piers  of  Fullham,  or  "  vayne  consviytes  of  folysche 
love  undyr  colour  of  fyscheng  and  fowlyng";  The  Batayle  of  Egynge- 
courte;  Adam  Bel  Clym  of  the  Cloughe  and  Wyllyam  of  Cloudesle, 
a  ballad  of  the  greenwood  (see  p.  463  of  the  present  volume) ;  together 
with  sundry  other  poems  and  The  Nutbrowne  Mayde. 

Volume  III,  among  other  pieces,  contains  The  Debate  and  Stryfe 
Betweene  Somer  and  Wynter;  The  Tale  of  the  Basyn,  a  popular,  coarse 
satire  setting  forth  the  unlucky  adventures  that  happened  to  a  priest  and 
his  paramour  by  means  of  an  enchanted  "basin  ";  A  Mery  Geste  of  the 
Frere  and  the  Boye,  printed  "at  London  in  Fletestrete  at  the  sygne  of  the 
Sonne  "  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  about  the  year  15 12  (Cambridge  facsimile, 
including  the  delightful  woodcut,  1907),  an  amusing  tale  of  enchantment, 
popular  in  many  forms,  of  "  a  good  sturdy  laddie,"  who  became  possessed 
of  a  pipe  the  music  of  which  caused  beast  and  man  to  dance,  even  the 
"frere  "  set  on  by  Jack's  "stepmoder  "  to  beat  him  (cf.  the  version  in  the 
Percy  Folio  MS. ,  ed.  Furnivall  and  Hales) ;  The  Turnament  of  Totenham 
(referred  to  in  Vol.  I  of  the  present  work,  p.  409);  A  Mery  Jest  of  Dane 
Hew  Monk  of  Leicestre,  and  how  he  was  foure  times  slain  and  once 
hanged;  the  Parlament  of  Byrdes;  The  smyth  whych  that  forged  hym 
a  new  dame,  a  tale  of  magic,  relating  how  a  proud  smith,  emulating  a 
miracle  of  the  Lord,  who  had  re-made  his  "old  beldame  "  into  a  "byrd 
bright,"  so  that  she  was 

loveseme  of  chere, 
Bright  as  blosome  on  brere, 
None  in  Egypt  her  pere, 

endeavoured  to  perform  the  same  operation  in  the  case  of  his  wife.  It 
is  a  rough,  comic  tale,  suited  for  a  popular  audience. 

And  volume  iv  contains  The  Hye  Way  to  the  Spyttel  Hous  and  other 
reprints  of  i6th  century  "bokes,"  to  which  reference  will  be  made  in 
Volume  III  of  this  work. 
Hunting  of  the  Hare.     A  rough  and  tumble  tale.     See  Weber,  H.,  Metrical 


Chapter  XVIII  563 

Romances  of  the   xiii,  xiv   and    xv  cent.,  3    vols.,  Edinburgh,  i8io. 

Husbondrie,  Palladius  on.  Trans,  c.  1420.  Ed.  Lodge,  B.  and  Herrtage,  S. 
J.     E.E.T.S.  Lii-Lxii.     1872-9. 

Hymns  to  the  Virgin  and  Christ,  The  Parliament  of  Devils,  etc.  Lambeth 
MS.  853,  c.  1430.  Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.  E.E.T.S.  1867.  Contains  Stans 
Puer  ad  Mensam,  How  the  Good  Wife  taught  her  Daughter,  How  the 
Wise  Man  taught  his  Son.  The  Mirror  of  the  Periods  of  Man's  Life,  etc. 

Kildare,  Satire  on  the  people  of.  (1308.)  See  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  11,  1 74  ff ., 
and  Heuser,  W.,  Die  Kildare-Gedichte,  Bonn,  1904.  An  earlier  work  of 
Irish  interest  is  Dermot  and  the  Earl  (c.  11 70),  ed.  Orpen,  G.  H.,  Oxford, 
1892. 

Lollards.  In  addition  to  the  poems  mentioned  in  the  bibliography  to  Chap, 
II,  see  the  satire  in  Ritson's  Ancient  Songs,  ed.  Hazlitt,  p.  104. 

Miracle  Plays,  Sermon  agst.  See  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  11,  42  ff .,  and  Matzner, 
E.,  Altengl.  Sprachproben,  11,  222. 

Miscellanies,  Early  English,  in  prose  and  verse,  .  .  .  15th  cent.  Ed.  Halliwell^ 
J.O.  1855.  (Contains  The  Frair  and  the  Boy, the  Vision  of  Philibert  re- 
garding the  Body  and  the  Soul,  Earth  upon  Earth  (see  Fiedler,  H.  G. 
Mod.  Lang.  Rev.,  April  1908),  a  schorte  tretice  for  a  mane  to  knowe 
wyche  tyme  of  the  jere  hit  is  best  to  graffe  or  to  plante  treyus,  the  crafte 
of  the  lymnynge  of  bokys,  the  "mornyng"  of  a  hunted  hare,  etc.,  etc.) 

Percy  Society,  1840  ff.  Among  the  volumes  not  referred  to  elsewhere  under 
specific  heads  may  be  mentioned  The  Payne  and  Sorowe  of  Evyll 
Maryage,  in  verse,  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  1509,  ed.  Collier,  J.  P., 
1840;  The  Boke  of  Curtasye  .  .  .  poem,  illustrative  of  the  domestic 
manners  of  the  15th  cent.,  ed.  Halliwell,  J.  O.,  1841;  Paraphrase  on  the 
Seven  Penitential  Psalms,  in  English  metre,  15th  cent.,  ed.  Black,  W.  H. 
1842;  Satirical  Songs  and  Poems  on  Costume,  13th  to  19th  cent.,  ed. 
Fairholt,  F.  W.,  1849;  and  A  Poem  on  the  times  of  Edward  II  from  a  MS. 
in  the  library  of  St.  Peter's  College,  Cambridge,  ed.  Hardwick,  C,  1849. 

Political  and  other  Poems  (26)  from  Digby  MS.  102,  etc.  Ed.  Kail,  J. 
E.E.T.S.      1904. 

Political,  Religious  and  Love  Poems.  Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.  E.E.T.S.  1866. 
Re-edited  1903.  Contains,  among  other  things  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made,  a  sketch  of  the  metrical  romance  of  Amoryus  and 
Cleopes,  by  John  Metham  of  Norwich,  scholar  of  Cambridge  1448-9; 
and  a  poem  by  Henry  Baradoun,  c.  1483,  of  a  wastrel's  life,  from  which 
the  following  stanza  may  be  quoted  as  a  sample : 

In  the  courte,  is  many  noble  Roome; 
But  god  knowith,  I  can  noon  soche  cacche 
ffrom  a  maister,  I  am  be-come  a  grome, 

And  bonde  mysilff  to  waytyng  and  to  wacche; 
With  evere  gadrin,  I  stonde  behynde  the  hacche, 

Gapyng  and  staryng  wanderyng  to  and  fro; 
jhit  for  all  this,  no  good  can  I  cacche : 
Thus  am  I  prentice  and  servaunt  unto  woe. 

Quinte  Essence,  The  Book  of.   c.  1460-70.    Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.    E.E.T.S.  1866. 

Robin  Hood.  See  Sidney  Lee's  article  in  D.  of  N.  B.;  Child,  F.  J.,  English 
and  Scottish  Popular  Ballads,  Boston,  1888;  Hales,  J.  W.,  in  Hales  and 
Fumivall's  edition  of  the  Percy  Folio  MS.,  1867,  and  the  ballads  there 
printed;  Ten   Brink,   B.,   Hist.   Eng.  Lit.,   Eng.  trans.,  vol.   11,  184  ff.; 


564  Bibliography  to 

Ritson,  J.,  Robin  Hood:  a  Collection  of  all  poems,  etc.,  relating  to  him, 
a  vols.,'  1795  (T.;  Thoms,  W.  J.,  Early  English  Prose  Romances,  1828  ff . ; 
Wright,  T.,  Essays  on  subjects  connected  with  the  Literature,  Popular 
Suj^erstitions  and  History  of  England  in  the  Middle  Ages,  2  vols.,  1846, 
vol.  11;  Pollard,  A.  W.,  reprints  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  A  little  geste  of 
Robin  Hood  in  his  Fifteenth  Century  Poetry  and  Prose,  1903. 

For  Fulk  Fitzwarine  see  History  of  Fulk  Fitzwarine,  an  outlawed 
baron,  from  a  13th  cent.  MS.,  with  literal  Eng.  trans,  and  notes,  ed. 
Wright,  T.,  Warton  Club,  1855;  Wright,  T.,  Essays  as  above;  ed.  Michel, 
F.,  Paris,  1834;  and  the  recent  trans,  by  Kemp- Welch,  A.,  in  the  King's 
Classics  Series,  1904.  See  also  Moland,  L.  and  d'Hericault,  Ch.,  in 
Nouvelles  franfoises  en  prose  du  xiv  s=,  Paris,  1858. 

On  the  interesting  race  of  outlaws  generally,  see  Jusserand,  J.  J., 
English  Wayfaring  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  252  flf.  In  T.  Wright's 
Political  Songs  of  England,  Camden  Soc,  1839,  p.  231,  there  is  a  spirited 
"  Outlaw's  Song  of  Traillebaston,"  of  the  time  of  Edw.  II,  the  last  verse 
of  which  shows  how  the  writer  combined  the  arts  of  author  and  pub- 
lisher in  "  le  jolyf  umbray  "  of  the  "  vert  bois  de  Belregard," 

En  le  bois  de  Belregard,  oii  vole  le  jay, 

E  chaunte  russinole  touz  jours  santz  delay. 

Cest  rym  fust  fet  al  bois  desouz  un  lorer, 
Lh.  chaunte  merle,  russinole,  e  eyre  I'esperver; 
Escrit  estoit  en  parchemyn  pur  mout  remenbrer, 
E  gitte  en  haut  chemyn,  qe  um  le  dust  trover. 

On  the  tale  of  the  Eremyt  and  the  Outlawe  see  Kaluza,  M.,  Engl. 

Stud.  XIV,  165-182. 
Rotuli  Parliamentorum.     Rolls  of  Parliament,  comprising  Petitions,  Pleas, 

Proceedings  of  Parliament,  1278-1503.     Ed.  Strachey,  J.     6  vols.     1767- 

77.     Index  vol.     1832. 
Roxburghe  Club  Books,  181 2  fl.     In  addition  to  volumes  referred  to  under 

specific  heads,  may  be  mentioned  the  volume  of  Manners  and  Household 

Expenses  of  England  in  the  13th  and  15th  cents.  1841;  the  Household 

Books  of  John,  duke  of  Norfolk,  and  Thomas,  earl  of  Surrey,  1481-90, 

ed.  Collier,  J.  P.,  1844;  the  Literary  Remains  of  king  Edward  the  Sixth, 

ed.  Nichols,  J.  G.,  2  vols.,  1857-8;  Deguileville,  G.,  The  pilgrimage  of 

the  lyf  of  the  manhode,  ed.  Wright,  W.  A.,  1869. 
St.  Cecilia,  The  life  of.     From  MS.  Ashmole  43  and  MS.  Cotton  Tib.  E.  vii. 

Ed.  Lovewell,  B.  E.     Yale  Studies  in  English.    1898. 
Scotland,  National  MSS.  of.    Vol.  11.     1870.      For  a  letter  from  the  earl  of 

March  to  Henry  IV  of  England,  etc. 
Speculum   Christiani.     Printed  by   W.    de   Machlinia,    attributed  to  John 

Watton.     1482-4?. 
Stacions   of    Rome,    The.     The    Pilgrims    Sea-voyage.     Clene    Maidenhod. 

Ed.  Fumivall,  F.  J.     E.E.T.S.     1867. 
Tales,  An  Alphabet  of.     An  English  15th  cent,  trans,  of  Alphabetum  Nar- 

rationum    (B.M.   Addit.    MS.).     Ed.  Banks,   Mrs.    M.    Macleod.     1904. 

Stories  of  deeds  of  saints,  of  miracles,  of  the  punishments  of  the  wicked 

and  the  rewards  of  the  virtuous.     2  vols.     E.E.T.S.  cxxvi,  cxxvii. 
Three  Kings  of  Cologne,  The.     An  Early  English  [prose  15th  cent]  trans,  of 

the  Historia  Trium  Regum  of  John  of  Ilildesheim.     Ed.  Horstmann,  C. 

E.E.T.S.   1886. 


Chapter  XVIII  565 

Three  Kings' Sons.  Englisht  from  the  French,  c.  1500.  Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J. 
1895. 

Vision  of  the  Monk  of  Evesham.  A  15th  century  rendering  from  the  Latin. 
Ed.  Arber,  E.  1861.  For  other  examples  of  the  popular  vision  litera- 
ture of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  addition  to  those  mentioned  in  Vol.  I  of  the 
present  work  (e.g.  as  recorded  by  Bede,  etc.),  see  The  Visions  of  Tundale 
ed.  Turnbull,  W.  B.,  D.D.,  Edinburgh,  1843;  Wager,  A.,  Halle,  1893, 
which  contains  descriptions  of  the  tortures  of  the  damned  of  the  "two- 
pence coloured"  type. 

Wright's  Chaste  Wife,  The.  c.  1462.  Ed.  Furnivall,  F.  J.  E.E.T.S.  1865. 
A  tale  of  chastity  put  to  the  proof. 

Addit.  Analogs  to.     Clouston,  W.  A.   E.E.T.S.   1886. 

Illustrative  Writings,  etc. 

Barnard,  F.  P.  (ed.).  Strongbow's  Conquest  of  Ireland.  Eng.  Hist,  from 
Contemp.  Writers  Series.      1888. 

Bateson,  M.  Medieval  England,  1066-1350.  1905.  A  scholarly  and  well 
illustrated  book.  See  especially  the  chapter  on  Henry  II,  in  which  his 
court  is  compared  with  "that  of  a  Medici  at  the  time  of  the  greatest 
intellectual  revival,"  and  also  the  chapters  on  the  church,  education  and 
learning. 

Black  Death  and  Peasants'  Revolt.  See  Traill's  Social  England,  vol.  11,  and 
the  bibliography  to  Chapters  xvii,  Vol.  i,  and  i,  Vol.  II, of  the  present 
work. 

Bourne,  H.  R.  Fox.     English  Merchants.   2  vols.    1866. 

Buckle,  H.  T.  Introd.  to  the  History  of  Civilisation  in  England.  Ed. 
Robertson,  J.  M.      1904. 

Burton,  J.  H.  History  of  Scotland,  from  Agricola's  invasion  to  1688.  7  vols. 
Edinburgh.      1867-70. 

Comparetti,  D.     Virgilio  nel  medio  evo.      2nd  ed.      2  vols.     Florence,  1896. 

Darmesteter,  A.  M.  F.     The  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.    1889. 

De  Vitry,  Jacques.  The  Exempla,  or  illustrative  stories  from  de  V.'s  Ser- 
mones  Vulgares.     Ed.  Crane,  T.  F.    Folklore  Soc.     1890. 

Denton,  W.     England  in  the  15th  cent.     1888. 

Depping,  G.  B.  and  Michel,  F.     Wayland  Smith.     1847. 

Digby,  K.  H.     Mores  Catholici.     3  vols.      183 1  ff. 

Dugdale,  W.     Monasticum  Anglicanum.      8  vols.      1655  ff. 

Earle,  J.  English  Plant  Names  from  the  loth  to  the  15th  centuries.  Ox- 
ford.    1880. 

Fairholt,  F.  W.  Costume  in  England  .  .  .  from  the  earliest  period  to  the 
close  of  the  i8th  cent.     2nd  ed.     i860. 

Furnivall,  Dr.  An  English  Miscellany  presented  to,  in  honour  of  his  75th 
birthday.  Oxford,  1901.  Contains,  in  addition  to  other  items  referred  to 
elsewhere,  papers  on  The  Dictes  and  Sayings  of  the  Philosophers  (A. 
Brandl),  The  Gospel  of  Nicodemus  and  the  York  Mystery  Plays  (W. 
A.  Craigie),  The  Origin  of  the  Liturgical  Drama  (P.  Butler),  Old 
English  Dialogue  Literature  (M.  T.  W.  Forster),  The  Sister's  Son  (F.  B. 
Gummere),  Rhetoric  in  the  translation  of  Bede  (J.  M.  Hart),  Emenda- 
tions to  the  text  of  Havelok  (F.  Holthausen),  Pageants  and  Scaffolds  Hye 
(J-  J-  Jusserand),  Some  English  Plays  and  Players,  1220-1548  (A.  F. 
Leach),   Colour  in  the   English  and  Scottish   Ballads     (W.   E.   Mead), 


566  Bibliography  to 


Contributions  to  O.  E.  Literature,  An  Old  English  Homily  on  the  Ob- 
servance of  Sunday,  etc.  (A.  S.  Napier),  Three  Footnotes,  Barbour. 
Morte  Arthure,  etc.  (G.  Neilson),  Amadas  et  Idoine  (G.  Paris),  Beowulf 
and  Watanabe-no-Tsuna  (F.  York  Powell),  John  Audelay's  poem  on  the 
observance  of  Sunday  (R.  Priebsch),  Andreas  and  Fata  Apostolorum 
(W.  W.  Skeat),  The  Introduction  of  English  as  the  vehicle  of  instruction 
in  English  Schools  (John  of  Cornwall  and  Richard  Pencrych)  (W.  H. 
Stevenson). 

Gairdner,  J .  The  historical  collections  of  a  citizen  of  London  in  the  1 5th  cent. 
(John  Page's  poem  on  the  siege  of  Rouen,  Wm.  Gregory's  chronicle  of 
London,  etc.).  Camden  Soc.  1876.  (See  also  his  edition  of  Three 
15th  century  chronicles,  in  the  same  series,  1880.) 

Memorials  of  Henry  VII,  including  B.  Andre's  life  of  Henry  VII  and 

poems,  etc.     Rolls  Series.      1858. 

Letters  and  Papers  illustrative  of  the  reigns  of  Richard  III  and  Henry 

VII.     2  vols.     Rolls  Series.      1861-3. 

Gamett,  R.  English  Literature,  an  illustrated  record.  Vol.  i.  1903. 
Contains  an  admirable  selection  of  specimens  of  MSS.,  old  prints  and 
other  illustrative  material. 

Gayley,  C.  M.     Classic  Myths  in  English  Literature.     Boston.      1893. 

Gibbins,  H.  de  B.      Industrial  History  of  England.      1890. 

Gierke,  O.  Political  Theories  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Trans.,  Maitland,  F.  W. 
Cambridge,  1900. 

Gilds,  English,  their  Statutes  and  Customs.  1389.  Ed.  Smith,  T.  and 
Smith,  L.  T.  E.E.T.S.  1870.  Contains  an  excellent  introductory 
essay  by  Brentano,  L. 

Green,  Alice  S.     Town  life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century.     2  vols.      1894. 

Gross,  C.  The  Sources  and  Literature  of  English  History  .  .  .  to  about  1485. 
1900. 

Hall,  H.     Court  Life  under  the  Plantagenets  (Henry  II).      1890. 

Hallam,  H.  Introduction  to  the  literature  of  Europe  in  the  15th- 17th 
centuries.     4  vols.      1837  ff. 

View  of  the  State  of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages.     2  vols.      18 18  fif. 

Henderson,  E.  F.      Select  Hist.  Documents  of  the  Middle  Ages.      1892. 

Historic  Towns.  Ed.  Freeman,  E.  A.  and  Hunt,  W.  Bristol  (W.Hunt); 
Carlisle  (M.  Creighton);  Colchester  (E.  L.  Cutts) ;  Exeter  (E.  A.  Free- 
man); London  (W.  J.  Loftie);  Oxford  (W.  C.  Boase);  Winchester  (G. 
W.  Kitchin) ;  York  (J.  Raine);etc. 

Hunt,  W.  and  Poole,  R.  L.  (edd.).  Political  History  of  England.  12  vols. 
In  progress. 

Jenks,  E.    Law  and  Politics  in  the  Middle  Ages.     1898. 

Jusserand,  J.  J.  English  Wayfaring  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,  xivth  cent. 
In  Fr.  1884;  trans.  Smith,  L.  T.,  1889  ff. 

Ker,  W.  P.  Essays  on  Medieval  Literature.  1905.  (For  Malory,  Chaucer, 
Froissart,  etc.) 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H.     Hist,  of  European  Morals.      1869  ff. 

London.  For  Fitz-Stephen's  description  of  London  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
for  many  other  documents  illustrative  of  medieval  London  manners  and 
customs,  see  Riley,  H.  T.,  Munimenta  Gildhallae  Londoniensis,  3  vols.. 
Rolls  Series,  1859-62.  Also  Riley,  H.  T.,  Memorials  of  London  in  the 
13th,  14th  and  15th  centuries,  1868;  and  the  Calendar  of  Letter  Books 
preserved  among  the  Archives  of  the   Corporation  at  the  Guildhall, 


Chapter  XVIII  567 

A.  D. 1275-1399,  ed.  Sharpe,  R.  R.,  1899  ff.  London  Lickpenny,  whether 
it  be  Lydgate's  or  not,  and  Occleve's  La  Male  Regie,  are  extremely 
valuable  London  "documents."  And  Lydgate's  Jak  Hare's  begging  let- 
ter beginning  "A  froward  knave  plainly  to  descryve"  (Reliquiae  Anti- 
quae,  i,  13;  Halliwell's  edition  of  Minor  Poems,  pp.  52-5)  should  be  read 
with  them. 

Madan,  F.     Books  in  Manuscript.     1893. 

Maitland,  F.  W.  Records  of  the  Parliament  holden  at  Westminster,  1305. 
Rolls  Series,  1893. 

Township  and  Borough.     Cambridge,   1898. 

Maitland,  S.  R.     The  Dark  Ages.      1844  ft". 

Maury,  L.  F.  Alfred.     Croyances  et  Legendes  du  moyen  age.      1896. 

• — —  Legendes  pieuses  du  Moyen  Age.     Paris,  1843. 

Middle  Ages.  For  general  literary  summaries  see  Jusserand,  J.  J.,  Hist. 
Lit.  du  Peuple  Anglais,  vol.  i,  Deux^  ed.  1896,  chap,  vii  La  fin  du  moyen 
age;  Snell,  F.  J.,  The  Fourteenth  Century,  1899,  last  chapter;  Smith,  G. 
Gregory,  The  Transition  Period,  1900  (see,  for  example,  pp.  15-16); 
Loliee,  F.,  A  Short  History  of  Comparative  Literature,  Eng.  trans., 
1906;  Taine,  H.  A.,  History  of  English  Literature,  Eng.  trans.,  vol.  i. 

Middleton,  J.  H.  Illuminated  MSS.  in  Classical  and  Medieval  Times.  Ox- 
ford, 1892. 

Minstrels  and  Folk-songs.  See  Chambers,  E.  K.,  The  Medieval  Stage,  2  vols., 
Oxford,  1903,  and  the  bibliography  contained  therein.  Cf.  also  the 
chapter  on  Town- verse  and  Folk-song  in  Snell,  F.  J.,  The  Fourteenth 
Century,  1899;  and  the  first  chapter  in  Vol.  IV  of  the  present  work. 

Pauli,  R.     Bilderaus  Alteng.     Gotha,  i860.     Eng.  trans.,  Otte,  E.  C.   1861  ff. 

Gesch.  der  Europ.  Staaten:  England,  vols,  iii-v  (1154-1509).     Gotha, 

1855- 

Poets  Laureate.  For  early  poets  laureate,  see  Warton,  T.,  Hist.  Eng.  Poet., 
vol.  II,  sect.  XXV  (1840),  pp.  330  If.;  and  Dyce,  A.,  in  his  ed.  of  Skelton. 
2  vols,  1843,  vol.  I,  p.  vii. 

Putnam,  G.  H.  Books  and  their  Makers  during  the  Middle  Ages.  2  vols. 
[(1)  476-1600;  (2)  1500-1709.]     New  York.      1896-7. 

Raleigh,  W.     The  English  Novel.      1894. 

Ramsay,  Sir  J.  H.     The  Foundations  of  England  (to  1154).      2  vols.      1898. 

Lancaster  and  York,  1399-1485.     2  vols.     Oxford,  1892. 

Reade,  C.  The  Cloister  and  the  Hearth.  J.  Nield's  Guide  to  the  Best 
Historical  Novels  and  Tales,  1902,  should  be  consulted  for  similar  works. 
Among  the  more  important  of  these,  to  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
may  be  mentioned  Thorpe  Forrest's  Builders  of  the  Waste  (a  well-written 
novel  based  on  the  conflict  of  Britons  and  English  in  Yorkshire),  Lytton's 
Harold  and  Last  of  the  Barons,  Kingsley's  Hereward  the  Wake,  Thomas 
Love  Peacock's  Maid  Marian,  E.  Rhys's  The  Whistling  Maid  (Wales, 
temp.  Edw.  II),  Maurice  Hewlett's  New  Canterbury  Tales,  G.  P.  R. 
James's  Agincourt,  James  Grant's  The  Captain  of  the  Guard,  R.  L. 
Stevenson's  The  Black  Arrow,  Harold  Frederic's  The  Deserter  (Wars  of 
the  Roses)  and  Mary  Shelley's  Perkin  Warbeck. 

Robert,  A.  C.  M.     Fables  inedites  de  xii-xiv  siecles.     2  vols.      1825. 

Rogers,  F.     The  Seven  Deadly  Sins.      1907. 

Rogers,  J.  E.  Thorold.  History  of  Agriculture  and  Prices  in  England.  1259- 
1793.  6  vols.  Oxford.  1866-87.  Vols,  i  and  11,  1259-1400 ;  iii  and 
IV,  1401-1582.     Also  his  Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages,  1884  ff. 


568  Bibliography  to 

Romances.  See  Vol.  I,  Chapters  xiii  and  xiv  and  bibliographies.  Also 
Vol.  Ill  for  the  romances  printed  in  the  i6th  cent.  For  details"of  the 
old  romances  preserved  in  monastic  libraries,  and  minstrels  in  monas- 
teries, see  Warton,  sect.  ii.  He  states  that  William  of  Wykeham  gave  a 
copy  of  Chronicon  Trojae  to  Winchester  College,  c.  1387,  and  that  in  the 
Statutes  of  New  College,  c.  1380,  it  was  provided  that  "  scholars,  for  their 
recreation  on  festival  days  in  the  hall  after  dinner  and  supper,"  were  "to 
entertain  themselves  with  songs  .  .  .  and  to  recite  poems,  chronicles  of 
kingdoms,  the  wonders  of  the  world, "  etc. 
Shirley,  W.  W.    Royal  and  other  historical  letters  illustrative  of  the  reign  of 

Henry  III.     2  vols.     Rolls  Series.     1862-6.     Of  great  value. 
Smith,  G.  Gregory.     Days  of  James  IV.     Scot.  Hist,  from  contemporary 

writers.     1899. 
Steele,  R.     Medieval  Lore:  an  Epitome  of  the  Science,  Geography,  Animal 
and  Plant  Folk-Lore  of  the  Middle  Age.     Pref.  by  Morris,    W.,  1893. 

(ed.).     Kings'  letters:  from  the  days  of  Alfred  to  the  accession  of  the 

Tudors.     King's  Classics.     1903. 
Stevenson,  W.  B.     The  Crusaders  in  the  East.     Cambridge,  1907. 
Strutt,  J.     The  Sports  and  Pastimes  of  the  People  of  England,  1801.     Ed. 

Co.x,  J.  C.      1903. 
Taylor,  H.  O.     Classical  Heritage  of  the  Middle  Ages.     New  York.      1901. 
Thompson,  E.     Wars  of  York  and  Lancaster.     Eng.  Hist,  from  Contempo- 
rary Writers  Series.     1892. 
Wright,  T.     Womankind  in  Western  Europe  to  the  17th  cent.      1869. 

A  History  of  Domestic  Manners  and  Sentiments  in  England  during  the 

Middle  Ages.      1862. 

Biographia   Britannica   Literaria.     2    vols.      1842.     The   Anglo-Saxon 

volume  has  been  referred  to  elsewhere  in  these  bibliographies.  The 
Anglo-Norman  volume  gives  details  of  Latin,  as  well  as  of  English  and 
French,  writings,  from  Lanfranc  to  Layamon. 

Essays  on  subjects  connected  with  the  literature,  popular  superstitions 

and  history  of  England  in  the  Middle  Ages.  2  vols.  1846.  Contains 
interesting  essays  on  "Anglo-Saxon,"  Anglo-Latin  and  Anglo-Norman 
poetry,  Chansons  de  Geste,  Proverbs,  Fairy  Mythology,  Friar  Rush, 
Popular  Stories,  Hereward,  Eustace  the  Monk,  Fulke  Fitz  Warine, 
Robin  Hood  Ballads,  the  Conquest  of  Ireland  by  the  Anglo-Normans, 
Political  Songs,  Dunbar,  etc.,  etc. 

Old  French  writers  and  critical  works  thereon 

Books  mentioned  in  the  bibliographies  of  chapters  viii,  xii,  xiii,  xiv,  etc., 
Vol.  I,  should  be  consulted,  especially  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  France;  Petit 
de  Julleville's  Histoire  de  la  Langue  et  de  la  Litterature  fran^aise  (for  lan- 
guage, see  vol.  II,  pp.  520  flf.),  the  works  of  Gaston  Paris,  G.  Grober's  Grund- 
riss  der  roman.  Philologie,  Romania,  the  publications  of  the  Societe  des 
anciens  textes  fran9ais,  etc.  M.  Edwardes's  Summary  of  the  literature  of 
modem  Europe,  1907,  gives  useful  references  to  MSS.,  etc. 
Adgar's  (or  William  the  trouvere's)  Marien  Legenden    (12th  cent.).     Ed. 

Neuhaus,  C.     Heilbronn,  1886. 
Ambroise.    Hist,  de  la  Guerre  Sainte.     Ed.  Paris,  G.   1897.     Cf.  Itinerarium 

.   .   .  regis  Ricardi.     Ed.  Stubbs,  W.    2  vols.      Rolls  Series.      1864-?. 
Benoit's  St.  Brendan.     1121.     Ed.  Michel,  F.     1878.     See  Paris,  G.,  La  Litt. 

fr.  au  moyen  age,  1890,  p.  283. 


Chapter  XVIII  569 

Benoit,   historiographer.     For  his  history  of  the  Norman  dukes,  see  ed. 

Michel,  F.,  Paris,  1836-44,  and  Langlois,  Ch.  V.,  in  Petit  de  Julleville, 

vol.  II,  pp.  278-9. 
Bibelsworth,  Walter  de  (/Z.  1270).     Author  of  a  French  poem  on  the  crusades 

(Rel.  Ant.  i.  134)  and  other  verses. 
Bozon,  Nicole.     Ed.  Smith,  L.  T.  and  Meyer,  P.     S.A.T.F.     Paris,  1889. 
Calendar,  An  Anglo-Norman.     Chaytor,  H.  J.,  in  Mod.  Lang.  Rev.,  April, 

1907. 
Chardri,  Barlaam  and  Josaphat.    Ed.  Koch,  J.    Heilbronn,  1879.    (See  Vol.  I, 

P-  519)- 

Didactic  literature  (French).  See  Piaget,  A.,  in  Petit  de  Julleville,  vol.  11, 
pp.  162  ff.  and  the  bibliography  on  pp.  214  ff.  (Peter  of  Peckham's 
Lumiere  aux  Laiques,  Petite  Philosophie,  Image  du  Monde,  etc.).  See 
also  Jusserand's  Hist.  Lit.  Peupl.  Ang.  vol.  i,  pp.  126  ff.,  for  works  of 
a  similar  character  and  for  such  writings  as  Geoffrey  of  Waterford's 
(13th  cent.)  translations  and  sermons,  Angier  of  St.  Frideswide's  trans- 
lation of  the  Dialogues  and  Life  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  etc.  (c.  12 12-4). 

Eustache  le  Moigne,  Roman  d',  pirate  fameux  du  xiii  siecle.  Ed.  Michel,  F. 
Paris,  1834,  and  ed.  Forster,  W.  and  Trost,  J.,  Halle,  1891.  See  Wright, 
T.,  Essays  on  .  .  .  the  Literature  ...  of  England  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
Vol.  II.     1846. 

Forster,  W.  Altfranz.  Bibliothek.  Heilbronn,  1879  ff.  Roman.  Bibliothek. 
Halle,  1888  ff. 

Gaimar,  G.  Anglo-Norman  Metrical  Chronicle  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings. 
Ed.  Wright,  T.  Caxton  Soc.  1850.  L'estorie  des  Engles.  Ed.  Hardy, 
T.  D.  and  Martin,  E.  T.  Rolls  Series.  1888-9.  See  Meyer,  P.,  in 
Romania,  xviii,  314. 

Gamier  de  Pont  Sainte  Maxence.  Vie  de  St.  Thomas  le  Martyr  (1173).  Ed. 
Hippeau,   C.      1859. 

Guillaume  le  Marechal,  L'Histoire  de.  Ed.  Meyer,  P.  3  vols.  S.A.T.F. 
1891  ff. 

Ireland,  Norman  French  Metrical  History  on  the  conquest  of.  Ed.  Michel, 
F.  1837.  See  Wright,  T.,  Essays  on  .  .  .  the  Literature  .  .  .  of  England 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  11,  1846. 

Jean  de  Waurin.  Croniques  et  anchiennes  istories  de  la  Grant  Bret.,  a  pre- 
sent nomme  Engleterre  [to  147 1].  Ed.  Hardy,  W.  and  Hardy,  E.L. 
C.  P.  Rolls  Series.  1864-91.  5  vols.  First  3  vols,  also  pub.  in 
English  by  the  same  editors.  Rolls  Series,  1864-91. 

Jehan  le  Bel.     See  Vol.  I,  p.  530. 

Jordan  Fantosme.  Chronique  de  la  Guerre  entre  les  Anglois  et  les  Escos- 
sois,  1 1 73-4.  Ed.  Howlett,  R.,  in  Chron.  Steph.,  Henry  II  and  Richard 
I.     Rolls  Series.     1884  ff.     Michel,  F.     Surtees  Soc.     1840. 

La  Marche,  A.  Lecoy  de.  La  chaire  fr.  au  moyen  age.  2nd  ed.  Paris, 
1886. 

La  Tour  Landry,  Geoffrey  de.  Ed.  A.  de  Montaiglon,  1854.  Wright,  T. 
E.E.T.S.  1868;  rev.  ed.  1906.  An  abridged  edition  of  Caxton's  version 
was  published  in  1902,  ed.  Rawlings,  G.  R. 

Livere  de  reis  de  Brittanie,  le,  et  le  livere  de  reis  de  Engleterre.  Ed.  Glover, 
J.      Rolls  Series.      1865. 

London.     Chroniques  de  (14th  cent.).    Aungier,  G.  J.     Camden  Soc.      1844. 

Marie  de  France.     See  Vol.  I,  pp.  521,  etc. 


570  Bibliography  to  Chapter  XVIII 

Mdon,  D.  M.  Fabliaux  et  contes  des  poetes  fr.  des  xi*-xvc  siecles  (Barba- 
zan's);  new  ed.  4  vols.  Paris,  1808.  Nouveau  recueil.  2  vols.  Paris, 
1823.  See  also  other  works  on  fabliaux  in  the  bibliography  to  Vol.  I, 
Chap.  XVII  of  the  present  work. 

Michel,  F.  Chroniques  anglo-normandes  .  .  .  xi=  and  xii=  siecles.  3  t. 
Rouen.  1836-40. 

Normandy,  Narratives  of  the  expulsion  of  the  English  from  (1449-50).  Ed. 
Stevenson,  J.     Rolls  Series.     1863. 

Peter  of  Langtoft.     See  Vol.  I,  pp.  530,  etc. 

Psalters,  etc.     Ed.  Michel,  F.     Oxford,  i860;  and  Paris,  1876. 

Robert  de  Gretham,  Greetham  or  Greatham  (13th  cent.).  Compiler  of 
religious  works  for  the  use  of  lay-folk.  See  Paris,  G.,  Litt.  du  Moyen 
Age,  §  152;  Meyer,  P.,  Les  MSS.  Franfais  de  Cambridge,  Romania, 
xxxii,  28. 

St.  Auban,  Vie  de.     Ed.  Atkinson,  R.      1876. 

Samson  de  Nanteuil.     Version  of  Book  of  Proverbs.     MS.  Harl.  4388. 

Suchier,  H.  and  Birch-Hirschfeld,  A.     Gesch,  der  franz.  Lit.     Leipzig,  1900. 

Reimpredigt.     Halle,  1879. 

Bibliotheca  Xormannica.     Halle,  1879  ff. 

Thaon,  P.  de.     See  Vol.  I,  p.  512. 

Twic6,  Guillaume  de.  Art  de  V^nerie.  Eng.  trans.  MS.  Brit.  Mus.  Cott. 
Vesp.  B.  xii.     See  also  ed.  MS.  Phillipps  8336,  Middle  Hill  Press,  1840. 

Wace.     See  Vol.  I,  pp.  499,  etc. 

William  the  Clerk.  For  the  various  works  that  have  passed  under  the  name 
of  this  Anglo-Norman  thirteenth  century  poet  see  Le  Roman  des  Aven- 
tures  de  Fregus,  ed.  Michel,  F.,  Abbotsford  Club,  Edinburgh,  1841  (an 
Arthurian  shepherd  boy  story);  Meon's  Fabliaux  (see  above);  Le 
Bestiaire  divin  de  G.  clerc  de  Xormandie,  ed.  Hippeau,  Ch.,  Caen,  1852; 
Das  Tierbuch  des  norman.  Dichters  G.  le  C,  Reinsch,  R.,  Leipzig,  1892; 
Le  Besant  de  Dieu,  ed.  Martin,  E.,  Halle,  1869  ("un  des  plus  beaux 
poemes  moraux  que  nous  ait  laiss^s  le  moyen ^ge,"  Piaget,  A.,  in  Julle- 
ville,  t.  II,  182).  The  Priest  and  Alison  tale  would  appear  to  be  by 
another  Norman  William. 


TABLE  OF  PRINCIPAL  DATES 


1070     Hereward's  rising  at  Ely. 

12th  cent.  ff.     Religious  plays. 

1 100-1135.     King  Henry  I. 

1 1 19     P.  de  Thaun's  Comput. 

C.I  130     P.  de  Thaun's  Bestiaire. 

1135-1154     King  Stephen. 

c.  1 148     Ga.\m.a.v' 5  History. 

(?)  1 149     Vacarius  teaches  civil  law 

at  Oxford. 
1154-1189     King  Henry  11. 
■fl.  1 1 60-1 1 80     Chretien  de  Troyes. 
1 162      St.  Thomas  a  Becket,  abp  of 

Canterbury  (murdered,  11 70). 
c.  1 167     Canute  Song. 
1 167     Oxford  as  a  studium  generale. 
■fl.  1 1 70     Wace. 
c.  1173     Garnier     de     Pont     Sainte 

M axe nee. 
1 1 73-4     Jordan  Fantosme. 
ft.  1180     Marie  de  France. 
1 1 89-1 199     King  Richard  Coeur  de 

Lion. 
1 193-1280     Albertus  Magnus. 
c.  1 196     Ambroise's  Hist,  de  la  guerre 

sainte.  • 

1199-1216     King  John. 
fl.  1200     Layamon. 
I2i4?-i294     Roger  Bacon. 
12 16-1272     King  Henry  III. 
12 1 7     Dominicans  settle  in  Paris. 
1221     Dominicans  at  Oxford. 
1224     Franciscans    at    Oxford    and 

Cambridge. 
c.  1226     Histoire    de    Guillaume     le 

Marechal. 
/Z.  1230-1250     Bartholomaeus  Angli- 

cus. 
i23o?-i298  .  Jacobus  a  Voragine. 
c.  1237      Romance  of  the  Rose,   Wil- 
liam of  Lorris,  continued  (c.1278) 

by  John  Clopinel  of  Meun, 
1253     Death  of  Robert  Grosseteste. 


c.  1263  Foundation  of  Balliol  Col- 
lege. 

c.  1263-1274  Walter  de  Merton's 
foundations  at  Maiden  and  Ox- 
ford. 

1265-1321     Dante. 

/?.  1270-1287     Guido  delle  Colonne. 

12 72-1307      King  Edward  I. 

i272?-i305     Sir  William  Wallace. 

1274     Dominicans  at  Cambridge. 

1274  Foundation  of  Merton  College, 
Oxford. 

1 2 80-1 2 84  Hugo  de  Balsham's  scho- 
lars in  Cambridge  and  founda- 
tion of  Peterhouse. 

1298     Battle  of  Falkirk. 

c.  1300-1349?  Richard  Rolle  of  Ham- 
pole. 

1300-1325     Auchinleck  MS. 

i3oo?-i352?     Laurence  Minot. 

1304-13  74     Petrarch. 

1305-1377     The  Popes  at  Avignon. 

c.  1307   Peter  olLangtoft's  Chronicle. 

1307-1327      King  Edward  IL 

1313-1375      Boccaccio. 

1314     Battle  of  Bannockburn. 

c.  1320-1395     John  Barbour. 

c.  1320-1384     John  Wyclif. 

i325?-i4o8     John  Gower. 

1326-1412     John  Trevisa. 

1327-1377      King  Edward  IIL 

c.  1330     Nicole  Bozon. 

1330-1335     Guillaume    de    Deguile- 

ville's  Pilgrimages, 
c.  1337-1340?     Froissart. 
1338     Vows  of  the  Heron. 
i34o?-i4oo     Geoffrey  Chaucer. 
c.  1340     Tale  of  Camelyn. 
?i342-i442     Juliana  of  Norwich. 
1349,  1361,  1369     The  Black  Death. 
1349?     Death  of  William  Ockham. 
c.  1350     The  alliterative  revival. 


571 


572 


Table  of  Principal  Dates 


c.  1350     Iligden's  Polychronicon. 

135 1      Statute  of  Labourers. 

1355     Gray's  Scalacrotiica. 

1360     Death  of  Richard  FitzRalph, 

abp  of  Armagh. 
1362  ff.     Piers  Plowman. 
1362     Pleadings  in  law  courts  to  be 

conducted  in  English. 
1 362- 1 364     Parliaments  opened  by 

English  speeches. 
1364     Death  of  Ranulf  Higden. 
c.  1368-c.  1450     Thomas  Occleve. 
c.  1370-C.  1450     John  Lydgate. 
1370-80     Vernon  MS. 
1371    Earliest   (French)  MS.    of  the 

Mandeville  travels. 
1373-1393     William    of    Wykeham 

founds  Winchester. 
1376  Barbour's  Bruce, 
c.  1376-1377     Death  of  Sir  Hew  of 

Eglintoun. 
1377-1399     King  Richard  II. 
1378-14 1 7     The  Great  Schism. 
1379-1386     William    of    Wykeham 

founds  New  College,  Oxford. 
1379-1471     Thomas  ^  Kempis. 

1 38 1  Peasants'  revolt:    Wat  Tyler, 
John  Ball. 

1382  The  "earthquake  "  council. 
c.  1382     Gower's  Vox  Clamantis. 

c.  1383     Chaucer's  Troilus  and  Cri- 

seydc. 
c.  1384-1387  Fordun's  Scotichronicon 
c.  1386      Chaucer's  Legend  of   Good 

Women. 
1388     E.xecution  of  Thomas  Usk. 
c.  1387     Canterbury  Tales  begun. 

1387  Trevisa's  translation  of  Poly- 
chronicon. 

1388  Otterbum  (Percy  and  Douglas). 

1390  Conjessio  Amantis  first  com- 
pleted. 

1391-1447    Humphrey  duke  of  Glou- 
cester. 

1391  Chsiucer's  Astrolabe. 
1393-1464     John  Capgrave. 
1396     Death  of  Walter  Hylton. 
1398     Trevisa's  translation  of  Bar- 

tholomaeus. 
1399-1413     King  Henry  IV. 
1401     The  statute  De  Heretico  Com- 

biircndo. 


1 40 1     Execution  of  Sawtrey. 

1401-1402     Jacke  Upland. 

1403    Stationers'  guild  incorporated. 

1405  Archbishop  Scrope's  revolt. 

1406  The  English  capture  Prince 
James  (James  I  of  Scotland). 

1413-1422     King  Henry  V. 

14 1 3  St.  Andrews  recognised  as  a 
stadium  generale. 

14 14  The  Lollard  Act. 

1 4 1 5  The  Crowned  King. 
14 1 5     Battle  of  Agincourt. 

14 1 5     Council    of    Constance     con- 
demns Wyclifite  "errors." 
141 7     End  of  the  Great  Schism. 

14 1 7  Execution  of  Sir  John  Old- 
castle. 

1418  Peterhouse  library  catalogued. 
1422-1471     King  Henry  VI. 

c.  1420  Wyntoun's  Orygynale  Cro- 
nykil. 

1421-1466  John  Paston,  letter- 
writer. 

1421-1428-1491     William  Caxton. 

1422  Yonge's  translation  of  Secreta 
Secretorum. 

c.  1423     The  Kingis  Quair. 

c.  1425-C.  1500     Robert  Henryson. 

1431     Frangois  Villon  born. 

1440-144 1  Henry  VI  founds  King's 
College,  Cambridge,  and  Eton. 

1442-1479  Sir  John  Paston,  letter- 
writer. 

1450-1620     Period  of  Middle  Scots. 

/?.  1450-1482      Richard  de  Holand. 

1450  MS.  of  some  Robin  Hood 
ballads. 

1450     Jack  Cade's  rebellion. 

1450  Glasgow  recognised  as  a  stu- 
dium  generale. 

c.  1450     Printing  at  Mainz. 

1453  Constantinople  captured  by 
the  Turks. 

i45S~i47i     Wars  of  the  Roses. 

c.  1455      Pecock's  Repressor. 

1456    Sir  Gilbert  Hay's  translations. 

c.  1460     Blind  Harry's  Wallace. 

c.  1460-C.  1520     William  Dunbar. 

1461-1483      King  Edward  IV. 

c.  1470  Fortescue's  De  Laudibus 
Legum  Angliae. 

1474-5-c.  1530     Stephen  Hawes. 


Table  of  Principal  Dates 


573 


I 


c.  1475-1522     Gavin  Douglas. 

c.  1475     Recuyell  of  the  Histories  of 

Troy,  the  first  book  printed  in 

the  English  language. 

1476  Caxton  press  at  Westminster. 

1477  Dictes  and  Sayings  of  the 
Philosophers,  the  first  dated 
book  issued  in  England. 

c.  1477     Caxton's  edition  of  the  CaU' 

terbury  Tales. 
1480     The  first  London  press  (John 

Lettou's). 
1483     King  Edward  V. 
1 483-1485     King  Richard  III. 

1483  Caxton's  Golden  Legend. 

1484  Caxton's  Book  of  the  Knight 
of  the  Tower. 

1485  Battle  of  Bosworth. 
1485-1509     King  Henry  VII. 

1485     Sir   Thomas   Malory's   Morte 

d' Arthur     published      (finished 

1469). 
1 486-1 487     John  Mirk's  Liber  Festi- 

valis  published. 
1490     Caxton's  Eneydos. 
1492     Columbus     sets     sail     from 

Spain  and    discovers  the  West 

Indies. 
1494     The  Venetian  press  of  Aldus 

begins  work. 


c.  1495  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  edition 
of  Trevisa's  Bartholomaeus. 

1497  Cabot  reaches  America. 

1498  Execution  of  Savonarola. 
1498     Erasmus  comes  to  Oxford. 
1500     King's     College,      Aberdeen, 

completed. 
1503     Arnold's  Chronicle  (in  which 

was    first    published    The    Nut 

Brown  Maid). 
1505-1506     Hawes's    Passetyme    of 

Pleasure. 
1509-1547     King  Henry  VIII. 

1510  Dean  Colet  founds  St.  Paul's 
school. 

151 1  The  Pilgrimage  of  Sir  Richard 
Guilforde  (Guildford's  dates  are 
i455?-i5o6). 

15 13     Battle  of  Flodden. 

c.  1 5 15     Asloan  MS. 

15 16     Fabyan's  Chronicles  printed. 

1519     Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold. 

1523-1525     Berners's  translation  of 

Froissart's  Chronicle  printed. 
1532     First     collected     edition     of 

Chaucer  (Thynne's). 
1568     Bannatyne  MS. 
c.  1650     MS.  of  Percy  folio. 
1765     Percy's  Reliques  printed. 
1775     Tyrwhitt's  edition  of  Chaucer. 


INDEX 


[Ff.  after  an  entry  implies  that  there  are  references  to  the  same  subject  on 
at  least  two  immediately  succeeding  pages.] 


Aachen,  84 

Abacuk,  in  Douglas's  Police  of  Hon- 
our, 296 

Abbey  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  351 

Abbotsford,  324 

Abbreochy,  Diocese  of  Moray,  132 

Aberdeen,  town  and  county,  98,  113, 
115,  117,  118,  146,  147,  294,  419, 
421 
King's  College,  419 

Abraham,  481 

(or  Faith),  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 31 

Abry,  Louis,  92  n. 

Absence,  Song  of,  323 

Accursius,  397,  412 

Acheron,  301 

Achilles,  in  Confessio  Antantis,   170 

Achitophel,    in    Palice    of    Honour, 

295.  297 
Acis     and     Galatea,     in     Confessio 

Amantis,  169,  174 
Activa-Vita,  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

.  30.  31 
Adam,  119 

in  The  Golden  Legend,  380 

of  Usk  (fi.   1400),  556 

Adam  Bell,  Clim  of  the  Clough,  and 
William  of  Cloudesley,  464,  472,  562 

Adamnan,  St.  (625?-7o4),  151 

Addison,  J.,  187,  219,  471 

Adela   of   Louvain,   476   n. 

Admetus,  in  The  Court  of  Love,  251 

Adraien  van  Berghen,  printer  of 
Antwerp,  364 

Adria,  in  the  tale  of  Colkelbie's  sow, 
146 

Adrian,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 

Aeneid,  200,  360 

Aesop's  Fables,  279,  299,  358 

Agamemnon,  in  Confessio  Amantis, 
I  70 

Age,  in  The  Parlement  of  the  Thre 
Ages,  43 ;  in  The  Passetyme  of 
Pleasure,  257;  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man,  28 

Agincourt,  battle  of,  479;  poems  on, 
560,  562 

Ahab,  339 

Aimonius  of  Fleury,  415 


Ainderby,  near  Northallerton,  51 

Aix-les-Bains,    84 

Alban,  Scottish  settlers  in,  102 

Albany,   nation  of,   in  the  Scottish 
universities,  420 

Albert  of  Aix,  91 

Albertus    Magnus   (i  193-1280),   397 
Philosophia,  411 

Alboin,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  1^4. 

Alceone,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 

Alcestis,  in  The  Legend  of  Good  Wo- 
men, 202,  251 

in  The  Court  of  Love,  251 


Alcock,  John,  bishop  of  Ely  (1430- 

1500),  368,  403,  406 
Alcluyd,  85 

Aldgate,  Chaucer's  house  in,  180,  182 
Aldingar,  Sir,  468 
Alexander    III    (of    Scotland),    115, 

116,  125 
de   Villa  Dei,  407,  415;  Doctri- 

nale   Puerorum,  412 

legends,  128 

Sir  William   (1567  ?-i64o),    169 

the  Great  {Secreta  Secretorum) , 

342 
Alexander,   The  Buik  of,   119 

to  Aristotle,  The  Letter  of,  91 

Alexandri,  Historia,  173 

Alexandria,  15,  151 

Alfred,  king,  387;  Boethius,  212 

of  Beverley   (fl.    1143),   87 

Alithia  (Philosophy),  in  Wyclif's  Tri- 

alogus,  "j^n. 
Allan-a-Maut,  317 
Allison  Gross,  469 
Alma  redemptoris  mater,  in  Chaucer's 

The  Prioress's  Tale,  407 
Alne,  Robert,  Fellow  of  Peterhouse, 

415 
Alps,  the,  137 
Amalekites,  1 1 
Ambroise,     Histoire    de    la    Guerre 

Sainte,  476 
Ambrose  St.,  301 

in  The  Example  of  Virtue,  259 

America,  first  English  book  on,  375 
Amours,  F.  J.,  130,  132,  139,  145 
Amphitryon,   in  Confessio  Amantis, 

I  "JO 


575 


5/6 


Index 


Ancrett  Riwlc,  the,  742 
Andre  of  Toulouse.  Bernard  Andreas 
or,  Lts  Douze  Triiimphcs  dc  Henry 

VII,  255.  531 

Andrea,  Joannes,  412 

Andrcae,  Antonius,  Commentary  on 

Aristotle's  Metaphysics,  362 
Andrew  Lanimie,  467 
Andrewe,  Lawrence  (fl.  1510-1537), 

jiriiitcr,   375 
Andrew  of  Wyntoun  (1350?-! 420?), 

n6,   118,   120,   135,   140,  149;  see 

a\so  Orygyuale  Cronykil,  105,  133, 

272.  320 
Andromeda,  90 
Anelida.     See  under  Chaucer 
Angels,  The  treatise  of  the  Song  of,  372 
Anger,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  169 
Anglo-Xorman   works,   412 
Angus,    nation   of,    in   the    Scottish 

universities.  420 
Animalihiis,  Dc,  412 
Angus,     Archibald,     fifth     earl     of 

(i449?-i5i4),  "Bell-the-Cat,  "  294 
Anima,  in  Piers  the  Plowman  (also 

called    Will,    Reason,   Love,   Con- 
science). 31 
Anima,    Lady    (Life),    in    Piers    the 

Plou'nian,  22 
Anne  of  Bohemia,  71,  195 
Anselm,  St.,  414 
Ante  Criicem  Virgo  Stabat,  434 
Anthony  a  Wood,  255 
Antichrist,  Dunbar's,  291 

in  Piers  the  Plowman,  32 

Antonio  de  Guevara,  386 

Antwerp,  363,  364,  374,  375 

Apocalypse,  69 

Apocrypha,  the  138,  262,  489 

Apollo  Delphicus,  89 

Apollonius    of    Tyre,    in    Confessio 

Amantis,  172,  174 
Apolyn  of  Tyre,  King,  368,  370 
Aquilegiensis,      Laurence,      Practica 

sive    Usiis  Dictaminis  ("Complete 

Letter  Writer"),  412 
Aquinas,     St.    Thomas,    397,     411; 

Suntma,  414 
Arabians,  411,  414 
Archie  o'  Cawfield,  471 
Arcite.     See  under  Chaucer 
Aretino,  Leonardo,  370 
Aristotle,  24,  149,  213,  230,  236,  262, 

^42,  397,  401,  408,  419;  Metaphys- 
ics, 362 

in  Police  of  Honour,  296 

Aristotle,  to  Alexander,  Letter  of,  91 
Arithmetic,    in     The    Passetyme    of 

Pleasure,  256 
Arkinhalm,  130 
Armenia,  15,  91 
Armys,   The  Bake  of  the  Law  of,  or 

Buke  of  BatailHs,  324 
Arngosk,  The  Lady  of,  467 
Arnold,  Matthew,  124,  206 


Arnold,  Richard   (d.   1521),  Chroni- 
cle, 364,  374 
Arrogance,  in  Mirour  de  VOmnie,  162 
Artegall,  in  Faerie  Queene,  267 
Arrivall,   The  History  of  the  (1471), 

344 
Art  de  bien  vivre  et  dc  Men  mourir,  L', 

374 

Arthur,  king,  128,  133,  134  ,136  flf., 
207,  210,  260,  262,  266,  349,  382  flf., 
486.  See  also  under  Golagros  and 
Gawane,  Morte  Arthure,  Awyntyrs 
of  Arthure,  etc. 

Arthur,  bcgynyng  at  Cassabelaun, 
The  Dethe  o/,  315 

a7id  King  Cornwall,  King,  414 

of  Little  Britain,  384 

Arthure,  Gret  Gest  of,  133 

Arundel,  Thomas,  archbishop  (1353- 
1414),  67,  71,  77,  177,  395 

William,  earl  of,  Caxton's  pa- 
tron,  358 

Arviragus,in  The  Franklin" s  Tale,  210 

Aryan  origin  of  ballads,  473 

Ascham,  Roger  (15 15-1568),  The 
Scholemaster,  243 

Ashby,  George  (d.  1475),  209;  Active 
Policy  of  a  Prince,  239 

Ashmole,  Elias,  Theatrum  Chem- 
icum  (161 7-1692),  241,  242 

Asloan  MS.,  53S 

Assyria,  338 

Astronomy,  in  The  Passetyme  of 
Pleasure,  256 

Athanasius,  86,  91,  98 

Atkynson,  W'^illiam  (d.  1509),  trans- 
lator of  Imitatio  Christi,  365 

Auberon,  in  Huon  of  Bordeaux,  385 

Audelay,  John,  556 

Audley,  James  de  (i3i6?-i369),  382 

Augustine,  St.,  59,  61,  262,  351,  369, 
403,  414,  435;  Meditations  of,  435 

Augustinians,  396,  416 

Atdd  Maitland,  463 

Aurelius,  in  The  Franklin' s  Tale,  210 

Aust,  prebend  of,  56 

Austen,  Jane,  219 

Austin  Friars,  327 

Austria-Hungary,  353 

Avalon,  Isle  of,  138 

Avantance,  in  Mirour  de  VOmme,  162 

Avarice,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  167, 
172;  in  The  Passetyme  of  Plea- 
sure, 257;  in  Piers  the  Plcnvman, 
27.  32 

Ave  Maria,  407 

Averroes,  411 

Avignon,  60,  64 

Awntyrs  of  Arthure  at  the  Terne 
Wathelyne,  129,   134,   140 

Aymon,  The  Four  Sons  of,  377 

Azo,  412 

Babees  Book,  560 

Babilon,  Saudan  of,  in  Fortescue's 
Moiiarchia,  339 


Index 


577 


Babylon,  15,  82 

paynim  porter  of,  in  Huon  of 

'  Bordeaux,  385 
Babylon,  466  ff. 
Bachelor,    the    False,    in    Conjessio 

Amantis,  174 
Bacon,  Roger  (c.  1214-94),  58,  397. 

411;  De  Gramatica,  412;  De  mid- 

tiplicatione     specter  um     cum     per- 

spectiva  ejusdein,  411 
Baggily  Hall,  Cheshire,  46 
Ball,  John  (d.  1381),  72 
Ballads,  449 
Ballengeich,  the     Gudeman    of    ( = 

James  V  of  Scotland),  278,  307 
Balliol,   or   Baliol,   John   de    (1249- 

^315).  120 
'QaXovmy  ,]6hn,\nLivesof  the  Saints  ,1  ^"j 
Banff,  115 
Bannatyne,     George     (i  545-1608?), 

322.     See  also  538 
Bannockburn,  battle  of,  117,  125 
Banquo,  119 

Baradoun,   Henry   (fl.    1483),    563 
Barbour,  John  (c.  1320-1395),  105, 

115   fi.,    131,    135,    146,  149;   date 

of  his  death,  10 1.     See  also  under 

Bruce,     272,     319,     508.     Works 

attributed  to  B.:    The  Brut,  118; 

Legends   of   the  Saints,    119,    146, 

272;     Stewardis    Oryginalle,     The, 

118;  Troy,  Siege  of,  119 
Barclay,     Alexander     (1475  ?-i  552), 

240;  trans,  of  Ship  of  Fools,  366; 

trans,    of   Gringore's   Chasteau   de 

labour,  374 
Bardus,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 
Baret,  John,  226 
Barking,  180 

Barlaafn  and  Josaphat,  173 
Barleycorn,    John     {alias  "AUan-a- 

Maut"),   318 
Barnwell  Priory,  389,  394,  408 
Baron  o'  Brackley,  The,  468 
Barton,  Sir  Andrew,  464,  470 
Bartholomaeus   Anglicus    (fl.    1230- 

1250),    De    Proprietatibus    Reriim, 

81,  83,  84,  87,  91,  98,  354,  367 
Bartholus,  412 
Baritch,  69 

Baston,    Robert   (fl.    1300),   556 
Basyn,  The  Tale  of  the,  562 
Bateman,  William,  bishop  of    Nor- 
wich (i298?-i355),  412 
Bear,  the,  in  Mum,  Sothsegger,  42 
Beaton,  James  (d.  1539),  and  Beaton, 

David    (1494-1546),    archbishops 

of  St.  Andrews,  418 
Beauchamp,     Richard    de,    earl    of 

Warwick    (i382-i439),87,  381 
Beaufort,  Henry,  399,  403 

Joan,  277 

Beauty,  in  The  Golden  Targe,  288 
Becket,   St.  Thomas  i,   in  Caxton's 

Golden  Legend,  380 


Bede,  in  The  Exam^ple  of  Virtue,  259 

Bedford,  381 

Bedfordshire,  235 

Bedivere,  Sir,  in  Morte  Arthure,  136 

Beghard  communities,  53,  n. 

Bekynton,  or  Beckington,  T.  (1390?- 

1465),  345 

Belgium,  353 

Bellenden,  John  (fl.  1 533-1 587), 
Livy  and  Scottish  History,  325 

Beltayne,  At,  278 

Benedict  XII,  n.  396 

XIII,  417 

Benedictines,  279,  396,  397,  402,  410 

Benoit  de  Sainte  More,  173;  Roman 
de  Troie,  197 

Benoit,  St  Brendan,  476 

Beoifulf,  I,  452 

Bcrdok,  King,  315 

Bergers,  Calendrier  des,   373 

Berghen.     See  Adraien  van 

Berkeley,  George,  first  earl  of  (1628- 
1698),  86 

Thomas,  Lord,  84,  87,  88 

Gloucestershire,  84,  88 

Bernabo   Visconti,   of   Milan,    181 

Bernard,  St.,  262,  414;  Tractat,  435; 
Sayings  of,  482 

Berners,  Lord,  John  Bourchier  (1467— 
i533)>  377.  Z^:i  ff-;  Castle  of  Love, 
The,  366;  Froissart's  Chronicle, 
366,  386;  Golden  Book  of  Marcus 
Aurelius,  386;  History  of  Arthur 
of  Little  Britain,  The,  366;  Huon 
of  Bordeaux,  366,  384,  385 

Juliana   (d.    1388.^),    The  Book 

of  St.  Albans,  362,  367,  476 

Bernysdale,  351 

Berwick,  siege  of,   117 

Beryn,  The  Tale  of,  or  Second  Mer- 
chant's  Tale,    186,    188,   245,   246, 

529 
Bethlehem,  14 
Betokis  bour,  in  Gyre  Carling,  314, 

316 
Beverley.      See  Alfred  of 
Bcvcs  of  Hamtoun,  Sir,  364,  368 
Bewick  and  Graham,  467 
Bible,  the,   173,   174,  262,  330,  331, 

358,  415,  416 
the  Bassandyne,  108,  325;  the 

Genevan    version,    108;    Wyclifite 

versions,  56  n.,  342,  489,  490  (see 

also    throughout    the    chapter   on 

Wyclif   and    RoUe);   Trevisa   and 

the  Bible,  87 
Bibles,  prices  of,  351 
Billingsgate,  in  Trevisa,  n.  89 
Birnam  wood,  in  Wyntoun's  Crony- 

kil,   152 
Bishop's  wood,   in  Pecock,   331 
Black    Death,   the,   47,    51,   80,   81, 

402,  490 

Friars,  396 

Prince,  26 


578 


Index 


Blair,  John  (fl.  1300),  126 
Blanche  of  Lancaster,  194 
Blaneford,   Henry    (fl.    1300),    557 
Blasour,  in  Gyre  Carling  314 
Blerblowan,    in    Tale   of    Colkelbie's 

sow,  146 
Blou  northerne  wynd,  446 
"John  Blyth, "  in   Bannatyne   MS., 

Boccaccio,  154,  167,  192,  199,  201, 
208,  210,  227,  297,  300,  365,  370; 
Decameron,  203;  II  Filostrato,  197; 
Teseide,  206 

Boece,  Hector  (1465?-!  536),  286, 
420;  History,    119,    132   n.,  420 

Boethius,  275,  281,  403,  408,  411; 
Arithmetica,   411 

Bohemia,   78,  333,  340 

Bohemian  scholars  in  England  in 
Wyclif's  day,   76 

Boice,  Sir,  in  Alorte  Arthure,  136 

Bokenam,  Osbern  (1393-1447?),  244, 
Lives  or  Legends  of  Saints,  226, 
244 

Bokyngham,  John  (d.  1398),  Super 
Sententias,    414 

Bologna,  397,  412 

Bolomyer,  Henry,  canon  of  Lau- 
sanne, 358 

Bonet,   Honor^,   324 

Boniface  VIII,  170,  413 

— -  IX    395 

Bonme  Annie,  469 

Bonnie  James  Campbell,  469 

Bonny  Baby  Livingston,   467 

Bonny  Earl  of  Murray,   The,  469 

Booksellers,   376 

Border,  the,  148,  285 

Borderers,   the,   471 

Boroughbridge,   93 

Bosworth  Field,  battle  of,  46 

Bothwell,  Partick  Hepburn,  first 
earl  of   (d.    1508),   286 

Bothwell  Bridge,  471 

Boughton-under-Blee,    211 

Boun,  Mrs.  of  Falkland,  464 

Bourchier,   John.     See    Berners 

Thomas,    archbishop    (1404?- 

1486),  329 

family,  the,  238 

Bower  or  Bowmaker,  Walter  (d. 
1449),  148,  149 

Boy  and  the  Mantle,  The,  470 

Bozon,  Nicole,  476 

Brabourne,  154 

Bradley,  Hy,  40,  41,  45 

Bradshaw,  Henry  (1831-1886),  n., 
51,  71,  118,  191 

Hy  (d.  1513),  240 

Bradwardine,  Thomas,  Doctor  Pro- 
fundus  (i29oi'-i349),   20,  35,  403 

Braes  o'  Jarrow,  The,  468 

Brampton,  T.,  557 

Branxton  Hill,  421 

Braybrook,    near    Leicester,    76 


Breisach  on  the  Rhine,  84 

Brek,  Simon,  in  Wyntoun's  Crony- 

kil,    150 
Bret  heme  and  sy  stars.  The  rule  of  the 

living  of  the,  370 
Bretts  (or  "Welsh"),  102 
Bride,    in    The    Golden    Legend,    n., 

380 
Bridlington,    241 
Brigham,  Nicholas  (d.  1558),  41 
Briseida.      See  Criseyde 
Bristol,  242,  384,  480 
Britain,  Roman  occupation  of,  389 
Brittany,  duchess   of,  in   Morte  Ar- 
thure, 136 
Brittany,  duke   of,  in  Froissart,  384 
Brito,  William  (d.  1356),  Quaestiones , 

411;    Summa    de    expositione    ver- 

boruni  Bibliae,  412 
Britons,    Caesar   on,    reproduced    in 

Mandeville,   91 
Brocardica  Azonis,  412 
Brome    play,    the     (Abraham    and 

Isaac),  483 
Broomfield  Hill,  The,  470 
Broojn  o'  Cowden  knowes,  The,  468 
Brother,  The  Cruel,  468 
Brothers,    The    Twa,   468 
Brown  Robin,  467 
Brown  Robyn's  Confession,  469 
Browning,  E.  B.,  265 
Bruce,  Ed.  (d.  1318),  loi.     See  also 

in  Barbour's  Bruce,  120,  121,  122 

Robert  (1274-1329),    115,   116, 

117,   118,    125,    131,   149.   320 

Bruges,  62,  354,  384 
Brunanburh,  battle  of,  454 
Brunetto    Latini,  Tresor  91  n.,  172, 

173 

Brunton,  Thomas  (bishop  of   Roch- 
ester, fl.  1373-1389),  62,  66 

Brutus,   366 

Brute,   The,  J.   Maundeville's  trans., 

343 
Bryan,  Sir  Francis  (d.  1550),  386 
Buchan,  Peter  (i 790-1854),  469 

the    harrying    of,    by    Robert 

Bruce,  115 

Buchanan,  George  (1506-1582),  no; 

Chantaeleon,   325 
Bugge,  S.,  473 
Bukton  (Chaucer's),  185,  213 
Bunga)^  Friar,  397 
Bunyan,    John,    230;    The   Pilgrim's 

Progress,  228,  261 
Buranic  verse,  437 
Burbon,   in   The  Faerie  Queene,   267 
Burgh,  Benet  or  Benedict  (fl.  1472, 

d.     1483),    227;    Cato,    239.     356; 

Secrets    of    Philosophers,    238;    A 

Christmas    Game,    239;    poem    to 

Lydgate,     238;     Aristotle's    ABC, 

238 

Thomas,  244 

Burgundian  court,  354 


Index 


579 


Burgundy,  Margaret,  duchess  of 
(1446-1503),  352 

Burley,   Walter   (d.    1345).   412 

Burne,  Nicol  (ft.  1581),  325 

Burnham    Thorpe,    n.    342 

Burns,  Robert  281,  304,  313,  317, 
Address  to  the  Deil,  290;  The  Dying 
Words  of  Poor  Mailie,  290;  John 
Barleycorn,  318;  Scotch  Drink,  317 

Bury  St.  Edmunds,  225,  226,  350 

But,  John  {Piers  the  Plowman),  25, 
40 

Butler,  Pierce,  n.  380 

Byrdes,  Parlanient  of,  562 

Byron,  Lord,  469 

Bysset,  Abacuck,  107;  Rolment  of 
Courtis,  325 

Cade,  Jack,  344,  481 

Cadiou,  Andrew,  325 

Caerleon,  346 

Caesar,  Julius,  91,  128,  385 

Caesar    (Shakespeare's),    382 

CAIM,    Wyclif's   expression,   n.    61, 

^  503 
Cain,  23 

Cairo,  92,  94,  339 
Calais,  383,  479,  480 
Calle,   Richard,  347 
Calliope  in  Palice  of  Hottour,  296 
Cambridge,   77,   118,   119,   150,  227, 
348,350,  387    M.,  415-416,  417; 
Benedictine  school   at,    n.   396; 
StatiUa  Antiqua,  408,  409;  hos- 
pital of  St.  John,  401 
Bene't,  or  Corpus  Chnsti  College, 

393.  402 
Christ's  College,  406 
Clare  College.    See  University  Hall 
Corpus  Christi    College,  402.     See 

also  under  Bene't. 
God's  House,  406 
Jesus  College,  406 
King's  College,  328,  405 
King's  Hall,  400,  402,  405 
Magdalene  College,  406  n.;  Pepys- 

ian  library,  n.  256,  360 
Michaelhouse,  402,  406,  415 
Pembroke  Hall,  402 
Peterhouse,    344,    35i.    394,    399. 
401    if.,  410,  411,  420;    chained 
library  at,  411,  412  fi. 
Queens'  College,  406 
St.  Catherine's  College,  406 
St.  John's  College,  406 
St.  Radegund,  priory  of,  406 
Trinity  College,  402,  406 
Trinity  Hall,   406 
University  Hall,  402 
Cambridgeshire,  225 
Cambuscan,   210 
Camden  Society,  561 
Canace,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 
Candlemas,  429 
Canmore,  Malcolm,  149 


Canterbury,   in  Shakespeare's  King 

Henry    K,   87 
Canterbury,  monk-chronicler  of,  343 
Canticles,  54 
Canute,  song  of,  452 
Cancioneros,  Spanish,  305 
Canutus,    Benedict,   Regttnen  contra 

pestilentiant,   363 
Capgrave,    John    (i 393-1 464),    327, 

"•   ?>J>^'^  guide  to   Rome,   327;  life 

of  St.  Gilbert  of  Sempringhatn,  327; 

chronicle,    327;    Famous    Henries, 

327 
Capgrave's   Lives  of  St.   Augustine, 

St.   Gilbert  and  St.   Xorbert,   540 
Captain  Car,  461,  464,  468 
Captain  Wedderburn's  Courtship,  465 
Capystranus,  metrical  romance,  371 
Carey,  Henry  (d.   1743),  309 
Carlisle,   134,  140,  467 
Carmelites,  396,  397 
Caro  (Flesh),  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

22 
Carols,  423  ff. 

sung  of   Queen's   College,   Ox- 
ford, 370 
Carollcs,    Christmasse    (Wynkyn    de 

Worde's),  n.  447 
Carpenter's  Tools,  Debate  of  the,  562, 
Carthage,  85 
Carthusian  Monks,   69 
Cassiodorus,  412,  415 
Castle  of  Pleasure,  The,  371 
Catiline,  in  Palice  of  Honour,  297 
Cawline,  Sir,  470 

Caxton,  Wm.  (1422  ?-i49i),  83,  88, 
112, 183, 185, 227, 238,  260, 279, 
300,  353  ff.,  359  ff.,  377,  477; 
the   Egg-story,  486 

Aesop's  Fables,  358,  379 

Art  of  good  living  and  good  dying, 

369 
Aymon,    The  History  of  the  Four 

Sons  of,  359 
Blanchardyn    and    Eglantine,    The 

History  of,  359 
Bonne  meurs,  Le  livre  des,  359 
Cato,  n.  238,  358 

Charles  the  Great,  The  Life  of,  358, 
Chesse,  Game  and  playe  of  the,  351, 

356 
Chivalry,  The  Order  of,  260,  358 
Chronicle  of  Brute,  357,  379 
Curtesye,  Book  of,  356,  485 
Eneydos,  360 
Fayttes  of  Arms,  The,  359 
Godfrey  of  Bologne,  The  History  of, 

357 
Golden  Legend,  The,  358 
Good  Maimers,  The  Book  of,  359 
Knight  of  the  Tower,  The  Book  of, 

358,  378,  477 
Mirror  of  the  U  orld,  The,  357 
Paris  and  Vienne,  The  History  of, 

358 


58o 


Index 


Caxton,  Wm. —  Continued 

Rccuyell  of  the  Histories  of  Troy, 

262 
Reynard  the  Fox,  357 
Royal  Book,  Tlie,  359 
Somme  des  Vices  et  des  Vertus,  La, 

359 

Trevisa's  Higden's  Polychronicon, 
Caxton 's  revision  of,  357 

Vitac  Sanctorum  Patrunt,  367 
St.  Cecilia,   The  life  of,  564 
Cecilia  de  Chaumpaigne,   182 
Ceix,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 
Celestine,  poi^e,   170 
Celtic  tales,  462 

Cej)halus,  in  Confessio  Atnantis,  175 
Ceylon,  91 
Chadd,     in       The     Golden     Legend, 

380  n. 
Chalkhill,  John   (fl.i   600),   Thealma 

and  Clcarchus,  249 
Chalmers's  Poets,  227 
Cham,  the  Great,  90,  98 
Chambers,   E.    K.,  Mediaeval  Stage, 

The,  431 
Charity,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  170; 

in    The  Example  of    Virtue,    259; 

in    The    Passetyme     of     Pleasure, 

259 
• the  tree  of,  in,  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 28,  31 
Charles  V,  94,  383,  386 

the  Bold,  349 

the  Great,  Life  of,  358 

Charlemagne,     128,     207,    384;     in 

Rauf  Coihear,  143,  145 
Chartier,  Alain,  188,  246 
Chastity,  tower  of,  The  Passetyme  of 

Pleasure,  263 
Chaucer,  Geoffrey  (i34o?-i4oo),  20, 
45,  47,  82,  105,   118,  126,   154, 
155.   156,    164,    167,    168,    173, 
225,  226,  228,  233,  234,  236, 237, 
240,  241,  243,  253, 256,  258,  259, 
269,  272, 273, 276,  281,  282,  284, 
286,  292, 203, 297, 299,  336,  351, 
357.  361,  377.  379.  i^S,  3^6,  398, 
399.  403, 413. 444,  457. 468, 472, 
478,  486 
A.  B.  C,  184.  186,  188,  192,  195 
Anelida  and  Arcite,  184,  185,  188, 

192,  195,  248,  356 
Assembly  of  Fowls,  The.     See  Par- 
liament, 184,  188 
Assembly  of  Ladies,  The,  185,  188, 

245.  247,  255 
Astrolabe,   180,   184,   185,  212 
Ballade  in    Commendation  of    our 

Lady,  A,  185 
Bocthius,  185  flf.,  212,  364 
Bukton,  The  Envoy  to,  185,  213 
Canterbury    Tales,    156,    165,    167, 
184  ff.,  192,  193,  200,  202,  206, 
211, 214,  221, 245, 246, 249, 356, 
357.  364.  367 


Chaucer,  Geoffrey  —  Continued 
Canon's  Yeoman's  Tale,  The,  241 
Complaint  to  his  Lady,   The,  192, 

195 
Complaint  of  Mars,  The,  184,  185, 

188,  192,  194 
Complaint    unto    Pity,    The,    188, 

192,  194 
Complaint  of  Venus,  The,  185,  188, 

213 
Clerk's   Tale,  The,   210,    215,   219, 

398,  468 
Cook's  Tale,  The,  207 
Circumstance,  186 
Death  of  Pity,  The,  185 
Dream,    The.       See   Duchess,    The 

Book  of  the 
Duchess,  The  hook  of  the  [Death  of 

Blanche],  184    ff,    188,  192,  194 
Empty  Purse,  Complaint  of  Chau- 
cer to  his,  185,  186,  213 
Franklin's    Tale,    The,    210 
Former  Age,  The,  185,  213 
Fortune,  185,  186,  213 
Good    Counsel,    Ballad    of.        See 

Truth,  186 
Goodly  Ballade  of  Chaucer,  A,  185 
Gentilesse,    185,    213 
House  of  Fame,  184  ff.,  191,  199, 

200,  214,  215,  297,  357,  468 
Knight's  Tale,  The,  192,  196,  199, 

201,  203,    206,    215,    218,    221, 
276 

Lack  of    Steadfastness,    185,    186, 

213 
Legend  of  Good  Women,  The,  167, 

173,  184  ff.,  188,  191,   199,  200, 

249 
Lion,  The  book  of  the,  184 
AIa)iciplc's    Tale,    The,    184 
Man  of  Law's  Prologue  and  Tale, 

The,  184,  207 
Melibeus,   The  Tale  of,   206,   208, 

212 
Merchant's  Prologue  and  Tale,  The, 

210,  246 
Alerciles  BeatUe,  213 
JMiller's  Tale,  The,  246 
Monk's  Tale,  The,  205,  367 
Nun's    Priest's    Tale,    The,    210, 

214 
Pardoner's  Tale,  The,  184 
Palamon  and  Arctie,  184 
Parliament  of  Fowls,  The,  184  ff., 

188,  192,  194,  197 
Parson's  Prologue  and  Tale,  The, 

184,  212,  222,  246 
Physician' s  Tale  of  Virginia,  208, 

209 
Phyllis  and  Demophoon,   248 
Praise  of  Women,  A,  185 
Prioress's  Tale,  The,  194,  205  ff., 

217  ff.,  407 
Prologue,   The,   220 


Index 


581 


Chaucer,  Geoflfrey — Continued 

Rosemounde  ballade,  The,  185,  213 

Reeve's  Tale,  The,  246 

Rose,  Romaunt  of  the,  184,185,  188, 

191  ff.,  194,  274,  277 
St.  Cecily.     See  The  Second  Nun's 

Tale,    199 
Scogan,   The  Envoy  to,  213 
Second  Nun's  Tale,  The,  199,  203, 

2 10 
Shipman's  Tale,  The,  207 
Squire's  Tale,  The,  199 
Sapience,   186 
Thopas,  Sir,   191,   206,   207,   215, 

216,  223,  224 
Troilus  and  Criseyde,  155,  167,  184, 

185,  186,   188,  191,  192,   i.^5--ftrr- 

198, 201,  212,  215,  221,  262,  351, 

357.  444 
Truth,  185,  213 

Wife  of  Bath's  Prologue  and  Tale, 
The,  194,  205,  206,  209,  219, 
249,  288, 

Agnes,  wife  of  John  Chaucer, 

179 

Elizabeth,  180 

John,  179,  182 

PhiUppa,  wife  of  Geoffrey  Chau- 
cer, 180 

Robert  le,  179 

Thomas,   180 

■ Society,  190,  246 

Chaucer's    "  little  Lewis, "    180,    212 

Chauceriana,   245   If. 

Chaucerians,  the  English,  225  fi. 

the  Scottish,  272  ff. 

Chepman,  Walter  (1473  ?-i  538?). 
See  Chepman  and  Myllar 

Chepman  and  Myllar,  105,  106,  142, 

324 

Chertsey,  Andrew  (fl.  1 508-1 532), 
369,  374;  Craft  to  live  well  and  to 
die  well,  369;  Flower  of  comtnand- 
■ments  of  God,  The,  369;  The  Lu- 
cydarye,  369;  Ordinary  of  Christ- 
ian men,  The,  369;  Treatise  of  the 
Passion  of  Christ,  The,  369 

Chess,  in  Reason  and  Sensuality,  231 

Chester,  81,  240 

Plays,  483 

St.  Werburgh's,  81,  240 

Chester's  inn.  Strand,  235 

Chevalerie,  L'Ordre  de,  324 

Cheviot,  453,  464,  471 

Chevy  Chace,  449,  471 

Chicheley  or  Chichele,  Henry  (1362?- 
1443),  406 

Chichester,  328 

Child  Christ,  The,  432  ff.,  446,  484 

F.  J.,  450, 454  ff.,  463, 464,468  ff. 

Child  of  Ell,  466  n. 

Maurice,  466,  468 

Waters,    468 

Childe  of  Brisiowe,  The,  561 

Harold,  469 


Childishness    (Fauntelte),    in    Piers 

the  Plowtnan,  28 
Children  in  the  Wood,  The,  463 
China,  90 
Chivalry,  tower  of,  in  The  Passetyme 

of  Pleasure,  257 
Chretien  de  Troyes,  Perceval  le  Gal- 

lois,  143 
Christ,  Hymns  of,  484 
Christ,  The  Passion  of,  374 
Chris tianoruin,    Tractatus    de    decent 

nationihus,  375 
Christine  de  Pisan,  237,  359;  Moral 

Proverbs  of,  356;    City  of  Ladies, 

371 
Christis  Kirk  on  the  Grene,  277,  284, 

307.  309.  3".  312 
Chronicle,   Old   English,   454,   476 

English    (1347-1461),    343 

to  Edwarde  the  Hi,  351 

of  the  Brute,  The,  357 

Chronicles  of  England,  The,  343,  361, 

Chroniclers,  14th  and  15th  centuries, 

556  ff 
Church,  Holy,  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

2,  7  ff.,  13,  19,  37 
Church,  The  Last  Age  of  the,  56 
Chrysostom,  414 
Cicero,   407;   de  Amicitia,   351;  pro 

Milone,  376 
Cid,  467 

Cinus  of  Pistoia  (d.   1336),  412 
Cis,  the  shoemaker's  wife,  in  Piers 

the  Plowman,   18 
Cistercian  nuns,  51 
Cistercians,  398 
Citherea,  palace  of,  in  Court  of  Love, 

251 
Civil  (Civil  Law),  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 8 
Clanvowe,  Sir  Thomas,  The  Cuckoo 

and  the  Nightingale,  186,  188,  190^ 

245  ff. 
Clarice,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  18 
Cleanness,    Lady,    in    The   Example 

of  Virtue,  258,  266 
Clement  VII,   64 
of  Llanthony   (d.   11 90?)   Har- 

m,ony  of  the  Gospels,   69 
Clementines,    412 
Cleobury  Mortimer,  2 
Cleomades,    French   romance,    210 
Cleopatra,   202 
Clergy  (Learning),  in  Piers  the  Plow - 

fnan,  23,  24,  31 
Clerk,  John,   313   n. 

of  Tranent,  140 

Clerk  Colvill,   469 

Saunders,  468 

Clootie  (in  a  Scottish  ballad),  465 

Clouston,  W.  A.,  246 

Clyde,  the,  102 

Cobham,   Lord.     See   Oldcastle,   Sir 

John 


5^2 


Index 


Cock  and  the  Jewel,  in    Hcnryson's 

Fables,  279 
Coku'olds,  Dautice,  The,  561 
Colchester,  23S 

Coleridge.  S.  T.,  212,  218,  234 
Colet,    John    (i467?-i5i9).    54.    7°. 

387,  416 
Colkdbeis  Feist,  316 
Colkelbie.    Stewarton,    Ayrshire,    in 

Talc  of  Colkelbie' s  sow,    145.    m6 
CoUbrande  (Excalibur),  in  Morte  Ar- 

thure,  137 
Cologne,  3S4,  355.  3^5^ 
Cologne,  Three  Kings  of,  368,  380  n., 

564 
Colt,  the.  in  Mum,  Sothsegger,  41 
Columella,  412 

Colyn   Blowbols   Testament,   561 
Comestor,      Peter,      Ma^ister     His- 

toriarum,,  Historia   Scholastica  of, 

414 
Complaynt    of   Scotlande,    The,    107, 

108,  III,  112,  285,  306,  319,  320, 

325 
Cotnplaynte  of  the  Heart,  Tlie,  371 
Comyns.  the,   115 
Concupiscencia-camis,    in    Piers  the 

Plowman,  28 
Conscience,    in    Mirour   de   I'Om-me, 

162,  163;  in  Police  of  Honour,  297; 

in   Piers   the   Plowman,   9  ff.,   18, 

22,  30 
Consolation,   The  Rote  or  mirror  of, 

368 
Constance,  council  of,  78 

in  Confessio  Amantis,   170 

in    The    Man    of    Law's    Tale, 

181,  182,  207,  208 
Constantine,  the  Great,   66,   334 
in  Confessio  Amantis,  170,  174, 

175 

in  Morte  Arthure,  138 

Bre-c'iary  of  (Viaticus),  413 

Constantinople,   151 

Contrition,   in  Hawes'  Passetynie  of 

Pleasure  aiid  Example  of   Virtue, 

259 

Cookery  books,  461 

Copland,  Robert  (fi.  1 508-1 547), 
3.56,  368,  370,  373;  An  of  good 
living  and  dying,  370;  Helyas 
Knight  of  the  Swan,  368;  Hye  Way 
to  the  Spytiell  House,  The,  368; 
lyl  of  Braintford's  Testament,  368; 
Kalendnr  of  Shepherds,  368;  Kynge 
Appolvn  of  Thyre,  368;  mirror  of 
the    Church,    The,    368 

Corinna,  Herrick's,  446 

Cornwall,  John,  80 

Coronation  Stone,  The,  150 

Corpus  juris,  412 

Coruns,  raisins  of,  347 

Cotentin,  the,   136 

Cottenham,  manor  of,  389 

Council,  the  king's,  326 


Counsel,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure, 256 

Countenance,  in  Assembly  of  Ladies, 
247 

Courage,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 

258 

"Court    of    Good    Company,"    237 

Court  of  Love,  The,  186,  188,  191, 
245,  248,  250,  252,  255,  277, 
297 

Courts  of  Love,  273 

Courtesy,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure, 261,  266;  in  Spenser's  Faerie 
Queene,   266 

Courtenay,  William  (1342  ?-i396), 
62,  64 

Courthope,  W.  J.,  Hist,  of  Eng.  Poe- 
try, n.  160 

Coventriae,  Ludus,  482 

Coventry,  69 

"Coventry"  play,  482 

Covetousness,  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

^4 
Covetyse-of-eyes,  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 28 
Cox,  E.  G.,  462 

Cradok,   Sir,  in  Morte  Arthure,   138 
Craft  of  Deyng,  n.  324 
Cramond,  cocks  of,  314 
Cranmer,  T.   (1489-1556),  71 
Crecy,  battle  of,  138 
Cresseid,    in    Henryson's    Testament 

of  Cresseid,  281,  282 
Criseyde  or  Criseida.     See  Chaucer's 

Troilus  and  Criseyde 
Crow  and  Pie,  470 
Crowland,   389 

Croyland,  forged  chronicle  of,  453 
Crowned  King,  The,  46 
Crusades,  the,   383 
Crux  de  te  Volo  Conqueri,  435 
Cuckoo    and    the    Nightingale,    The. 

See  under  Clanvowe 
Culdees  at  St.  Andrew's,  416 
Culross,   151 
Cupid,  in  The  Testament  of  Cresseid, 

282 
God     of     Love,     in     Confessio 

Atnantis,  168;  in  Palice  of  Honour, 

296 
Cupid  God  of  Love,  The  book  of,  247 
Cursor  Mundi,  216 
Cuthbert  Cutpurse,  265 
Cynus  super  Codicent,  412 
Cyprian,  414 

Dacre,  lord,  friend  of  Gavin  Douglas, 

295 
Dalrymple,  J.,  452 
Dalton  family,  the,  patrons  of  RoUe, 

51 
Dalton,  in  Norton's  Ordinall,  244 
Damasus,  pseudo-,  334  . 
Dane    Hew    Monk    of    Leicestre,    A 

Mery  Jest  of,  562 


Index 


58: 


Danes,  the,  in  Morte  Arthure,  138 

Danse  Macabre,  291 

Dante,  97,  153,  154,  184,  200,  205, 

206,  215,  263,  294 
Dares  Phrygius,  197 
Darnaway  (Moray),  129,  132 
Daughters    of    God,    the    Four,    in 

Piers  the  Plowman,  31 
David,    17,   122 

I,  115,  116,  148 

II,  102,  117,  134,  149 

Davy  Diceplayer,   265 

Drunken-nole,  265 

Daw   Thopias,   The  Reply  of  Friar, 

45 

Death,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 
258;  in  Mirour  de  I'Omme,  161; 
in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 
257;  in  Piers  the  Plowmatt,  25,  31, 
32,  43;  in  The  Parlement  of  the 
Thre  Ages,  43 

■ Dame,  in  Death  and  Liffe,  46 

Death  and  Liffe,  41,  46 

The  Doctrinal  of,  368 

Debates,  562.  See  also  The  Con- 
troversy between  a  lover  and  a  Jay, 

374 
Defoe,  D.,  94 
Deguileville,    Guillaume,    195,    228, 

229 
Deianira,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  170 
Deinling,  H.,  Ed.  of  Chester  Plays, 

483 
Delamere,  Lord,  417 
Deeft,  371 
Delmey,  471 

Delves,  in  Norton's  Ordinall,  244 
Demetrius,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  1 70 
Denis,  St.,  117 
Dear,  451 

Deschamps,  Eustache,  183,  527 
Despair,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  32 
De    quattuor    novissimis,    357 
Detraction,    in    Confessio    Amantis, 

169;  in  Spenser's  Faerie  Queene, 

267 
Devil,  the,  415,  465 

■ in  Mirour  de  l'Omm,e,  161 

Devils,   The  Parliament  of,  369 
Devotion,     in    Mirour    de    I'Omme, 

163 
Diana,  in  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf, 

250;  in  Reason  and  Sensuality,  231 
Dickens,  C,  203 
Dick  o'  the  Cow,  471 
Dictys  Cretensis,  197 
Didache  Literature,  Old  French,  568 
Dido,  in  The  Legend  of  Good  Women, 

300 
D'iCtary  of  ghostly  health.  The,  371 
Dieu  save  Dam,e  Emme,  in  Piers  the 

Plowman,   6 
Digestiitn  Inforciattim,  412 

Novum,  412 

Vetus,  412 


Diligence,  in  The  Assembly  of  Ladies, 
247 

Dialogus  linguae  et  ventris,  365 

Diogenes,  in  Police  of  Honour,  296 

Diomed,   in  Confessio  Amantis,    170 

Diomede,  in  Testament  of  Cressetd, 
The,  282 

Directioun,  in  'Do\ig\a.?,'sAeneid,^oo  n. 

Directorium  Sacerdotiim,  359 

Disciplina  Clericalis,   173 

Discretion,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 
258,  262;  in  Police  of  Honour,  297. 
See  Inwit,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  22 

Disdain,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure,   264 

Disobedience,  in  Mirour  de  I'Omme, 
162 

Diss,  293 

Dives  and  Pauper,  367 

Do-best,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  2  ff., 
21  ff.,  27,  30,  32 

Do-better,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  2  flE., 
21  ff.,  27,  30,  32 

Doctrinal  of  Death,  The,  368 

Doctrine,  tower  of,  in  The  Passe- 
tyme of  Pleasure,  256,  263 

Doesborch.      See  John  of 

Dominicans,  419;  in  Cambridge  and 
Oxford,  396;  in  Paris,  397 

Donaldson,  D.,   135 

Donatus,  407 

Doncaster,  51,  loi,  365 

Dorigen,  in  The  Franklin's  Tale,  210 

Dorlandus,  Petrus,  Elckerlijk,  373 

Dome,  John,  Oxford  bookseller,  376 

Dorsetshire,   470 

Dory,  John,  470 

Douce.   F.   (1757-1834).   1-41,  374 

Douglas,  Gawin,  or   Gavin    (1474?- 
1522),    105,    106,    108,    no    ff., 
145,   272,  278,  283  fi.,  293,  294, 
298  ff.,  313 
Aeneid,  273,  294,  297  ff. 
Aurae  orationes,  294 
Conscience,  294,  298 
King  Hart,  260,  294,  298 
Police  of  Honour,   The,   145,  292, 
294,  295,  297,  302,  305 

Sir  George,  450 

Sir  James  (i286?-i33o),  131 

"James  of  Douglas,"  in  Bruce,  117, 
120 

Douglas,  William,  eighth  earl  (1425  ?- 

1452),  130 
Douglas- Albany    quarrels,    the,    295 
Douglasdale,    121 
Douglas  ballad,  the,  453 

family,  130,  131,  132 

Tragedy,  466 

Do-well,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  2  fi., 

17,  20  ff.,  27,  30,  32 
Dread,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  9 
Drcajn  of  the  Rood,  The,  10 1 
Drummond,  Margaret  (1472?— 1 501), 

286,   320 


;S4 


Index 


Drvden,  J.,  189,  193,  212,  223,  250, 
251;  Tltc  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy, 
187 
Duke  and  the  Emperor,  The  Meeting 

oj  the,  351 
Dumbleton,  John  (fl.  1340),  Summa, 

412 
Dumb  Wyf,  The,  319 
Dunbar,  Elizabeth,  Countess  of  Mo- 
ray, 130 

William,     (1465?-: 530?),     105, 

106, 140, 145,  177,  219,  252,  272, 
278,  284  ff.,  294,  297,  302,  306, 
314,  316,  319.  376,  456 
Beauty  and  the  Prisoner  (Sen  that  I 

am  a  presoneir),  287 
Blithoiiss,  292 
Black  Lady,  291 
Complaint  to  the  King,  293 
Dance  of  the  Sevin  Deidlie  Synnis, 

260,   289,   291 
Epitaph  on  Donald  Owre,  The,  289 
Flyting  of  Dunbar  and  Kennedie, 

The,   103,   113,   285,   302.  351 
Freiris  of  Berwick,  The,  288 
General  Satire,  289 
Golden  Targe,  260,  263,  286,  295 
Good  Counsel,  291 
How  Dumbar  wes  desyrd  to  be  ane 

frcir,  285 
Interlude  of  the  Droichis  Part  of  the 

Play,  The,  288,  290,  314 
Joustis    of   the    Taikeour  and  the 

Sowtar,   290 
Kynd  Kittok,  Ballad  of,  290,  314 
Lament  for  the  Makaris,  126,  134, 

284,  292,  302,  305 
London  thou  art  the  flower  of  cities 

all,  276,  286 
Satire  on  Edinburgh,   290 
Testament  of  Mr.  Andro  Kennedy, 
2QI,  3 '7.  561 

Thrissil  and  the  Rois,  The,  288 
Tidings  from  the  Session,  289 
Trctis  of^  the  Tua  Mariit  Wemen  and 

the  IVedo,  219,  288 
Vision,  290 
Dunblane,  314 
Duncan  I.  103 
Duncan  Gray,  313 
Dunfermline,  278,  285 
Dunkeld,  295 
Dunmow  flitch,  the,  23 
Duns    Scotus    (i265?-i3o8?),    395, 

403 
Dunstan,  St.,  87 
Durand,  William  (d.  1 2 g6).  Speculum 

Juris  or  Speculum  Judiciale,  413 
Durandus,  412 

D'Urfey.  T.  (1653-1723),  470 
Uurham,  Benedictine  priory  at,  396 
Durham  Field,  471 
Durward,  Quentin,  no 
Duszeperez,  i  ^54 
Dymok,  Roger  (fl.  1390),  501 


Eagle,  the,   Henry  of  Lancaster  in 

Mum-,  Sothsegger,  42 
Earl  Brand,  466 
Early  English  Text  Society,  47,  190, 

227,  561 
Earthquake  council,  the,  73,  503 
Earth  upon  Earth,  563 
I^cclcsiastes,  276 
Echecs  amour eux,  231 
Edgar,  king,  87 
Edinburgh,  106,  126,  145,  148,  419; 

St.  Giles,  294 
Edith,  The  merry  jests  of  the  widow. 


372 
idmund,  K. 


in  The  Golden  Legend, 
The   Example   of 


380  n. 
Edmund,    St., 

Virtue,  259 
Education,  early  books  of,  560 

English  and  Scottish,  387  ff. 

Edward,  468 

Edward  I,  118,  150,  152 

II,  93,  400 

Ill,  26,  43,  117,  135.  179.  i8r, 

338,  354,  404,  406;  in  Barbour's 
Bruce,  122 

IV,  241,  327,  340, 360,  383,  477 

the  Confessor  in  The  Example  of 

Virtue,  259 

of  Lancaster,  236 

Prince   of   Wales    (1453-1471), 

239,  338 

Edwy,  86 

Egidia,  step-sister  of  Robert  II,  134 

Egidius  Romanus  (d.  1316),  411 

Eglamour ,  Sir,  208 

Egypt,  90,  99 

Eld  in  Confessio  Amantis,  171 

Eleanor's  Confession,  Queen,  470 

Elgin,  115  _ 

Eliensis  Historia,  n.  451 

Elizabeth,  queen,  407;  trans,  of 
Boethius,  212 

de  Burgh,  Lady  of  Clare  (129 1  ?- 

1360),  402 

of  York,  441 

Elizabethans,  228,  239,  304,  439,  486 

de  Burgh,  779 

Ellen  in  Child  Waters,  469 

Ellis,  Thomas,  in  Merry  Jests  of  the 
widow  Edith,  372 

Elmham,  Thomas  (d.  1440?),  557 

Elphinstone,  Wm.  (1431-1514),  286, 
419 

Ely,  389,  394,  397,  400,  406;  Chron- 
icles of,  457 

Emilie,  in  The  Knight's  Tale,  276 

Eneydes,  Le  livre  des,  printed  by 
Guillaume  le  Roy,  360 

Envy,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  169,  170; 
in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure,  261, 
267:  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  14 

Ephesians,  266,  490 

Epictetus,  351 

Epiphany,  429 


Index 


585 


Eppie  Morrie,  467 

Erasmus,  76,  370,  376,  416,  418,  419 

Erlinton,  466 

"Ersch,"  or  "Yrisch"  speech,  103, 
114 

Essex,  238 

Estmere,  King,  466,  470 

Etats  des  hommes,  160 

Eternity,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure, 257 

Etheldreda,  240 

Eton,  348,  365,  403,  405,  407 

Euclid,  411 

Eidogium,  Latin  compendium,  343 

Euphues,  386 

Euryalus  and  Lucrece,  374 

Eurydice  in  Shetland,  473 

in  King  Orfeo,  470 

Eusebius,  334 

Eustace  the  Monk,  567 

Evander,  262 

Eve,  in  the  Coventry  play,  482  n. ; 
in  The  Golden  Legend,  380 

Every-man,  373 

Evesham,  76 

Evesham,  Vision  of  the  Monk  of,  362, 

565 
Excalibur,  in  Morte  Arthur e,  138 
Exodus,  489 
"  Extravagants,"  the,  412 

Fabliaux,  318,  320 

Fabricius,  121 

Fabyan,  Robert  (d.  1512),  chronicles, 

iiy,  344,  366,  557 
Faery,  king  of,  in  Gyre  Carting,  314, 

315 

Fair  Anme,  465 

Flower  of  Northumberland,  The, 

466 

Janet,  468 

Margaret   and   Sweet    William, 

468 

Fairy  Queen,  208;  in  Spenser,  266 

Faith,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  see 
Abraham,  31;  in  Portuus  of  Nob- 
lines,  etc.,  324 

Faix,  count  of,  in  Froissart,  384 

Falkirk,  battle  of,  125 

False  Bachelor,  the  tale  of,  in  Con- 
fessio  Amantis,  170 

False,  in  Piers  the  Ploughman,  8,  9, 

37 

False  Semblant,  in  Confessio  Aman- 
tis, 170 

Fame,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 
256,  25'/ 

Famous  Flower  of  Serving  Men,  The, 
467 

Fantosme,  Jordan,  Chronicle  of  the 
Scottish  Wars,  476 

Faques,  Richard,  ballads  of  Flodden 
printed  by,  372;  The  booke  of  the 
pylgrymage  of  man  {Le  Pelerinage 
de  I'hoinme),  372 


Faroe  version  of  The  Maid  Freed 
front  the  Gallows,  460 

Faron,  Jean, 356 

Fastolf,  Sir  John,  77,  350,  351 

Fathers,  the  Christian,  149;  Lives  of 
the,  146,  367 

Fauntelte  (childishness),  in  Piers 
the  Plowman,  28 

Favel,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  8,  9 

Fear,  in  Mirour  de  I'Omme,  162 

Fergus's  Gaist,  Laying  of  Lord,  315 

Fergusson,  Robert  (i 750-1 774),  304 

Fethe,  or  Fethy,  Scots  poet,  322 

Fever,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  25 

Few  may  fend  for  falsett,  320 

Feylde,  Thomas,  The  Controversy  be- 
tween a  Lover  and  a  Jay,  255,  371 

Fidelity,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure, 261 

Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  260,  383 

Fife,  102,  151,  420 

Fifteen  Tokens,  The  (L'Art  de  bien 
mourir),  374 

Finland,  460 

Fish-market,  the  Old,  40 

Fisher,  John  (1459-1535),  Funeral 
sermon  on  Henry  VII,  369;  Mourn- 
ing Remembrance,  369;  Sermons  on 
the  seven  penitential  Psalms,  369 

Fishing  with  an  angle,  367 

Fitz-Alan,  house  of,  119 

Fitz-Ralph,  Richard  (d.  1360),  50,  60, 
61,  84,  351,  403;  Defensio  Cura- 
tor um.,  De  Pauper ie  Salvatoris,  60 

Fulk  Fitzwarine,  453,  486,  564 

Flanders,  64 

Flandria  (Flanders),  in  Tale  of  Col- 
kelbie's  sow,  146 

Flannislie,  m  Tale  of  Colkelbie's  sow, 
146 

Flattery,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  32 

Fleance,  son  of  Banquo,  119 

Fleet  Street,  182 

Fleet,  the,  239 

Fleming,  Richd  (d.  1431),  406 

Flemish  clothmakers,  354 

Flesh  of  man,  in  Mirour  de  I'Omme, 
161 

Flesh-shambles,  the,  40 

Flodden,  battle  of,  46,  125,  285, 
372,    418 

Flodden  Field,  471 

Flora,  in  The  Flower  and  the  Leaf, 
250 

Florence,  397 

Florent,  tale  of,  in  Gower,  209 

Flower  and  the  Leaf,  The,  186,  188, 
191,  245,  248  ff.,  252,  255,  486 

Flower  of  Courtesy,  The,  185 

Folly,  in  The  World  and  the  Child, 
265 

Fordoun,  Kincardineshire,  148 

Fordun,  John  (d.  1384?),  148,  152, 
320  n. 

Foresight,  in  King  Hart,  298 


586 


Index 


Forest    of    Reason,    in    Reason    and 

Scnsttalily,  231 
Forme  of  Ciiry,  81 
Form  of  Living,  the,  or  Alcnding  of 

Life  (School  of  Rolle),  52,  54 
"Forland"  (Caxton's  egg-story),  360 
Forres,  1 1 5 
Forshall,    J.,     (1795-1863),    n.     51, 

n.  84,  n.  4QO 
Fortescue,    Sir  Jno.    (i394?-i476?), 
326,  337  ff.,  350;  Declaratioi,  etc., 
340;  De  Laudtbus  Legnm  Angliae, 
338;  De  Natiira  Legis  Naturae,  337 ; 
lUonarchia  (The  difference  between 
an  Ahsohite  and  a   Limited  Mon- 
archy),   339;     Understanding    and 
Faith,  340 
Forth,  the,  loi,  102,  115,  151 
Fortitude,     in     The     Passetyme     of 

Pleasure,  261 
Fortune,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 
258,  259,  267;  in  The  Passetyme  of 
Pleasure,   259,  263,  267;   in  Piers 
the     Plowman,     28,      30,     32;      in 
The   Kiugis   Quair,   274,    276;    in 
Reason  and  Sensuality,  231 
Foxe,  John  (1516-1587),  68,  336 
Framingham,  347 

France,  Guevara's  influence  in,  386 
Franciscans,    75,    81,    289;    in    Cam- 
bridge, 396,  397;  in  Oxford,  396, 
397,  in  St.  Andrews,  419 
Frederick  of  Jennen,  374 
Freeman,  E.  A.,  453 
Freiris  of  Berwik,  318.     See  Dunbar 
French     in     legal     documents,    80 ; 
metres,  427,  436;  poems,  458,  441, 
445;    romances,    441;    verse,    437, 
442,  444 
Frere  and  the  Boye,  A  Mery  Geste  of 

the,  562 
Friars,  poems  against,  503 
Frideswide,  in  The  Golden  Legend,  n., 
,380 
"Frissis,    Duk    of,"    in    Wyntoun's 

Chronicle,  151 
Froben,  J.,  367 

Froissart,  Chronicles,  182,  219,  260, 
366,    381,    383,    385;    Frontinusi 

Frosehover,  C,  367 
Fuller,  T.  (1608-1661),  190,  400 
Fumivall,  F.  J.    190,  246,  n.  481  ff. 
Fyn,  in  Dunbar's  Interlude,  290 
Fyve  Bestis,  Talis  of  the,  319 

Gabriel,  434 

Gabriel,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue 

259 
Gairdner,  J.,  76 
Gaimar,  Geoffrey,  Estorie  des  Engles, 

476 
Galen,  414 
Galeron  of  Galloway,  in  Awntyrs  of 

Arthure,  141 


Galiot,  in  Golagros  and  Gawane,  143 
Galloway,  113,  116,  119 
Game,  The  Master  of,  326 
Gamelyn,  The  Tale  of,  186,  188,  203, 

221  ff.,  240,  246.  527 
Gammer  Gurton's  Needle,  265 
Ganymede,  200 
Garden   of   Delight,    in  Reason  and 

Sensuality,  231 
Gargantua,  291,  293 
Garnier     de      Pont-Sainte-Maxence. 
Vie  de  St.  Thomas  Becket,  476 
Garter,  Order  of  the,  43 
Gascoigne,  Thomas  (1403-1458),  75, 

180,  335 
Gascony,  334 

Gaudifer,  in  Golagros  and  Gawane,  143 
Gaul,  Joculatores  in,  438 
Gau,  John  (1493  ?-i  553?), /Jic/tf  Vay, 

325 
Gawain    Sir,  116;  in  Awntyrs  of  Ar- 
thure,  134,    140,    141;    in  Golagros 
and  Gawane,  142,  in  Morte  Arthure, 
137.  138 
Gawane,  Anteris  of,  134,  140 
Gawaine,  The  Marriage  of  Sir,  470 
Gawayne  and  the  Grene  Knight,  Sir, 

154,  310,  351,  430 
Gawdyfer    at     Gaddris,     Alexander 

story  of,  128 
Gay  Goshawk,  The,  467 
Gaynour,     Queen     (Guinevere),     in 

Awntyrs  of  Arthure,  140 
Gedell-Glaiss,  son  of  Sir  Newill,  in 

Orygynale  Cronykil,  150 
Geikie,  W.  (i 795-1837),  307 
Genesis,  16 

Genius,    in    Confessio   Amantis    {i.e. 

priest  of  Venus) ,  168,  173;  priest  of 

Nature,  in  Roman  de  la  Rose,  172 

Genoa,  91,  136,  180;  treacle  of,  347 

Geoffrey  the  Grammarian  or  Starkey 

(fi.  1440),  557 

of  Monmouth's  Historia  Regum 

Britanniae,  136 
Geoff roi  de  la  Tour  Landry,  358 
Geometry     in     The     Passetyme     of 

Pleasure,  256 
George,  St.,  351 

George  inn.  The  (Paston  Letters),  352 
George  plays,  St.,  n.  461 
Gerard  of  Cremona,  413 
Gesta    Rojnanorum,  97,   173,  «.  236, 
^340,  342,  358,  384 
tret  up  and  Bar  the  Door,  470 
Geta,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  1 70 
Ghent,  384 

Gideon  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 
Gil  Brenton,  466 
Giraldus  Cambrensis  (ii46?-i220?), 

87;  Topographia  Hibernica,  388 
Glasgow     university    of,    278,    418, 

420 
"Glascurion,"  in  Chaucer's  House  of 
Fame,  468 


Index 


587 


Glasgerion,  468 

Glas  Keraint,  the  Welsh,  468 

"Glomery,     Master     of"     (Magister 

Glojneriae),  393,  404 
Gloucester,      Humphrey,      duke      of 

(1391-1447),    327,    557 
duke  of  (Thomas  of  Woodstock) 

(1355-1397),  181 
Gloys,  James,    chaplain  to  Margaret 

Paston,  348 
Glutton,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,   14, 

18,  27 
Gluttony,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  169, 

171 ;  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 

268 
Gobelive  Godfrey,  in  The  Passetyme 

of  Pleasure,  256,  264,  265,  268 
Godfrey  of  Viterbo,  166,  173 
Gog  Magog,  314,  316 
Golagros  and  Gawane,  129,  140,  142, 

143.  145,  510 

Golden  Legend,  The,  91,  146,  342,  358, 
360,  378  ff. 

Goldsmith,  O.,  469 

Goliardic  literature,  291 

Gollancz,  I.,  42 

Gonville,  Edmund  (d.  1351),  402 

Good  Hope,  in  The  Kingis  Quair,  276 

Good  Wife  taught  her  Daughter,  How 
the,  562 

Googe,  Bamabe  (i 541-1 594),  Cupido 
Conquered,  260 

Goscelin  (fl.  1099),  540 

"Gossouin,  Maistre,"  357 

Gottingen,  372 

Gouda,  357 

Governance,  a  greyhound,  in  The 
Passetyme  of  Pleasure,  261 

Governm-ent  of  Princes,  the  pseudo- 
Aristotelian,  324 

Gower,  John  (i325?-i4o8),  153  ff., 
183, 185,  188,  199,  209,  225,  240, 
244,  256,  259,  276,  277,  287,  297, 

475 
{Carmen  de  pads  commendacione) 

In  Praise  of  Peace,  176 
Cinkante  Balades,  159,  176 
Confessio  Amantis,  1545.,  163, 164, 
167  ff.,  178,  244,  249,  262,  357 
Cronica  Tripertita,  158,  177 
Henry  IV,  English  poem  to,   176 
In    Praise    of    Peace    (Carmen    de 

pads   commendacione),    176 
Mirour  del'Ofnme  (Speculum  Hom,- 
inus.  Speculum  Aleditantis),  154, 
158  ff.,  169,  199 
Vox  Clamantis,  156  ff.,  165  ff.,  177 

Sir  Robert,  of  Brabourne,  154 

Go- well,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  22 
Grace,     in     Hawes's     Passetyme     of 
Pleasure andExample  of  Virtue,  2 sg 

a  greyhound,  in  The  Passetyme 

of  Pleasure,  261 
Grace,  State  of,  the,  the  carvel  of, 
in  Palicc  of  Honour,  296 


Graf,  Urs,  374 

Graham,  Patrick  (d.  1478),  418 
Grail  story,  the,  381,  383 
Grammar,   Lady,  in   The  Passetyme 

of  Pleasure,  256 
Gratian's  Decretum,  397 
Graund  Amour,  in  The  Passetyme  of 

Pleasure,  256,  257,  260,  261,  266, 

267,  271 
Gray ,  Thomas,  parson  of  Liberton,  127 

Thos.  (1716-1771),  233,  466 

Sir  Thomas  (d.   1369?),  Scala- 

cronica,  148 
Great    Grace,    in    The    Example    of 

Virtue,  259 
Great  Silkie  of  Sule  Skerry,  The,  469 
Greece,  271 

Greek,  study  of,  407,  416,  420 
Grene  Knight,  The.     See  under  Ga- 

wain. 
Greenwich,  181 
Grendel,  452 
Gregory,  St.,  86,  300,  414 

XI,  56 

Nazianzen,  86 

William  (d.  1467),  344 

Grey,   William   (d.   1478),  bishop   of 

Ely,  345.  557.  559 
Grey  Friars,  381,  396,  397 
Gringore's  Chasteau  de  labour,  374 
Griseida.     See  under  Chaucer's  Troi- 

lus  and  Criseyde 
Griseida  (Petrarch's),  210 
Grocyn,  W.  (i446?-i5i9),  416 
Grose,  Captain,  313 
Grosseteste,    Robert    (d.    1253),    4^' 

50,  35,60,  391,  394,  397,  414;  Co5/;^ 

of  Love,  30 
Groundolf,  Agnes  (Gower's  wife) ,  155 
Grundtvig,  452,  468,  473 
Guevara,  A.  de,  386 
Guido  de  Baysio's  Rosarium,  413, 
delle  Colonne,  Hystoria  Troiana, 

119,  136,  173,  197,  230,  412 
Guilford,  Sir  Richard  (1455  ?-i  506), 

Pilgrimage  of,  366 
Guillaume  de  Lorris,  193,  250 

de  Machault,  527 

le  Marechal,  L'Histoire  de,  476 

le  Roy,  360 

de  Tigroville,  Les  ditz  moraulx 

des  philosophes,  356 
Guillemins,   church   of  the,   Mande- 

ville's  burial  place,  93 
Guinevere,  140,  201 
Gull,  Arctic,  in  King  Berdok,  214 
Guy  &  Colbronde,  351 
of  Warwick,  227,  351,  364,  365, 

368 

The  Goste  of,  364 

Guystarde  and  Sygysmonde,  The  His- 
tory of,  370 
Gy  de  Warewyke,  Speculum,  561 
Gyliane.  in  Rauf  Coihear,  144 
Gyre  Carling,  314 


;8S 


Index 


Haddington,  hens  of,  314 

Hakluyt,  n.  480 

Haldenstone,     or     Haldenstoun,     or 

Haddenston,  James  (d.  1443).  4^7 
Halkirk,  in  Caithness,  132 
Hale  in  Lancashire,  141 
Hales,  J.  W.,  n.  406 
Hall,  Edward  (d.  1547).  3^4 
Hallnvell,  J.   O.,   227,   233,    n.   479. 

n.  482 
Hamilton  of  Gilbertfield,  n.  124 
John  (i5ii?-i57i),  419 

Mary,  470 

Hampole,  near  Doncaster,  51,  53.  ^o^ 

Hangman's  Tree,  The,  450 

Hanseatic  league,  115 

Hardy,  T.,  470 

Harlaw,  471 

Harrowing  of  hell,  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 31 

Hardving,  John  (1378-1465?),  557 

Hartis  Tale,  in  the  Talis  of  the  Fyve 
Bcstis,  319 

Harry,  Blind  (fl.  1470-1492),  M''aZ/ac^, 
115,    118,    124   ff.,    143,    272,   285, 

319.  454 
Hatfield  Broadoak,  226 
Hankin,  John,  in  Merry  Jests  of  the 

widow  Edith,  2,T2 
Havclok,  476 
Hawes,     Stephen     (1474-5?-!  523?), 

254,  256,  263,  302,  369,  375,  486; 
Comfort  of  Lovers,  The,  256;  Con- 
version of  Swearers,  The,  256,  257, 
262,  369;  Example  of  Virtue,  The, 

255,  25S,  259,  266;  Joyful  Medita- 
tion to  all  England  the  Coronation  of 
Henry  the  Eighth,  A,  256,  258,  369; 
Passetyme  of  Pleasure,  The,  255  ff., 
259  ff.,  369 

Hay,  Sir  Gilbert  (fi.  1456),  324;  Buke 
of  the  Law  of  Armys,  The,  or  Buke 
of  Batatllis,  324;  Buke  of  the  Or- 
der of  Knichthood,  The,  324 

Hazlitt,  W.  C,  Remains  of  the  Early 
Popular  Poetry  of  England,  561 

Hear- well,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  22 

Heart,  king,  in  King  Hart,  269 

Heaviness,  in  Golden  Targe,  288 

Hebrew,  study  of,  420;  poetry,  462 

Helen,  Homer's.  382 

Helias,  Knight  of  the  Swan,  The 
History  of,  370 

Helinand  de  Froidmont,  Vers  de  la 
Mart,  161,  164 

Henderson,  T.  F.,  469 

Hendred,  Dane  William,  prior  of 
Leominster,  372 

Henry  I,  389,  n.  476 

n,  388,565 

—  in,  390 

IV,  41,  80,  158,  159,  176,  177, 

233, 247, 324, 327, 345. 478 

V   46,  325.  327,  345 

VI,  239,  337.  339,  403,  405  ff. 


Henry  VII,  254,  255,  258,  260,  359, 

369,  374,  383,  406,  425 
VIII,  185,  255,  369,  383,  402, 

406,  425,  440,  442 

Letters  and  Papers  of,  447 

Henry  of  Ghent  (d.  i2g2),  Questiones, 

414 

of  Huntingdon,  454 

of  Susa  (d.  1 271),  card,  of  Os- 

tia,  commentary  of,  412 
Henryson,      Robert      (1430?-!  506?), 
105, 106, 132, 233, 272,278, 279, 
282,  283,  287  ff.,  299  ff. 

Age,  283 

Bludy  Serb,  The,  283 

Death,  283 

Hasty  Credence,  283 

Morall  Fabillis  of  Esope,  279  ff., 

293 
Orpheus  and  Eurydice,  281,  296 
Prayer  for  the  Pest,  A,  283 
Robene  and  Makyne,  279,  283 
Sum  Practysis  of  Meecyne,  283,  306 
Testament    of    Cresseid,    185,    188, 

274,  279,  281,  287,  300,  303 
Uponlandis  Mous  and  the  Burges 

Mous,  The,  280 
Want  of  Wise  Men,  283 
Hepburn,  John  (d.  1522),  418,  419 
Herbarum,  De  virtutibus,  413 
Herbert  de  Losinga  (1054 .''-11 19) 

Geo.,  Temple,  258 

Herbert's  Typographical  Antiquities, 

Hercules,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  255 
Herd,  David  (i  732-1810),  464 
Hereford,  69 
Nicholas     (fi.     1390),    69,    72, 

83 

Herefordshire,  247 

Heretico  Comburendo,  De,  77,  478 

Hereward,  453,  486 

Hernishowe,  in  Trcvisa,  n.  89 

Heron,  The  Vows  of  the  {leus  veus  du 
hairon),  477 

Herrick,  R.,  446 

Hesternit,  in  Mandeville,  96 

Heton,  Northumberland,  148 

Hew,  Sir,  of  Eglintoun,  118,  134, 
141 

Heywood,  Thomas  (d.  1650?),  230 

John     (1497.?-! 580?),    n.    307, 

^372 

Hick,  in  Piers  the  Plowman.  18 

Higden,  Ranulf  (d.  1364).  Polychroni- 
con.  84  ff.,  89,  357,  378,  380 

Hill,  Richard  (c.  1500),  n.  560 

Hind  Horn,  466,  470 

Hippocrates,  413 

Hobie  Noble,  471 

Hockliffe,  or  Hocelyve,  in  Bedford- 
shire, 235 

Hodge  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  18 

Holborn,  265 

HoJbroke,  John  (d.  1437),  394,  411 


Index 


589 


Holiness,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  29; 

house  of  in  Spenser's  Faerie  Queene, 

267 
Holinshed,  Raphael  (d.  1580?),  119, 

384 
Holland,  Sir  Richard  (fl.  1450).  Buke 

of  the  Howlat,  115,  129,  131,  139, 

310 
^  John,  duke  of  Exeter  (1352?- 

1400),  194 
Holy  Week,  Carols,  429 
Home,  John   (i 722-1808),    Douglas, 

466 
Homer,  109,  no;  Helen,  382 
Honorius  I,  394 
Honour,  in  Portuus  of  Noblines,  etc., 

324 


prince  of,  in  Palice  of  Honour, 
297,  298 
Hooker,  R.,  331 
Hope  (Spes),  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

Horace,  300 

Horman,  William  (d.  1535),  365 

Horn,  John,  75 

Horse,  the,  in  Mum,  Sothsegger,  41 

Hotspur,  471 

Hours,  Books  of,  359 

House  of  Commons,  326,  345 

Huchoun    of    the    Awle    Ryale    (fl. 

14th  cent.).  133  ff.,  139,  141 
Hugh  de  Campden's,  Boctus  and  Si- 

drac,  244 
Hugh,  Sir,  470 
Hugo  de  Balsham  (d.  1286),  393,  394, 

397.  399,  400,  403 

de  St.  Victor,  414 

Hugucio,  bishop  of  Ferrara  (d.  12 13), 

Dictionary,  412 
Humanities,  The  Study  of  the,  415, 

420 
Humanity,  in  Police  of  Honour,  297 
Humber,  the,  loi,  115 
Humility,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 

258,  267;  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  11 ; 

in  Spenser's  Faerie  Queene,  267 
Humphrey,  duke  of  Gloucester  (1391- 

1447),  226,  328,  362,  410 
Hundred  fnerry  Tales,  The,  372 
Hungary,  91 
Hunger,   in  Piers  the  Plowman,  16, 

25  . 

Hunting  of  the  Hare,  562 

Huntly,  earl  of  (Holland's  Howlat), 
130 

Hus,  J.,  67,  78 

Hutchinson,  the  name,  134 

Hye  Way  to  the  Spyttel  Hous,  562 

Hylton,  Walter  (d.  1396),  Ladder  of 
Perfection  (or  The  Devout  book  to  a 
temporal  man),  340,  341;  Song  of 
the   Angels,    The    Treatise   of   the, 

^372 

Hypermnestra,  202 

Hypocrisy,  in  Mirour  de  I'Omme,  162 


Ingulph  (d.  1 109),  abbot  of  Crowland 

or  Croyland,  557 
"  I  mak  it  kend,  he  that  will  spend," 

318 
Imaginative,  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

31 

Incest,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  172 

"Inche  of  Lowchlewyn,"  151 

Inchcolm,  Firth  of  Forth,  148,  149 

India,  90 

Inns  of  Court,  348 

Inverness,  115 

Inwit,  Sir  (Discretion),  in  Piers  the 
Plowman,  22 

Iphis,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  175 

Ipreswel,  or  Hipswell,  near  Rich- 
mond, Yorkshire,  56 

Ipswich,  179,  406 

Ireland,  English  Conquest  of,   543 

Ireland,  poems  on,  562,  568 

See  John  of 

Irish  question,  480 

Isaac,  in  the  religious  plays,  481,  483, 

484 

Arabian  physician,  413 

Isaiah,  122,  489 
Isabel,  Lady,  466 

Lady,  and  the  Elf-Knight,  466 

Isabel  of  Castille,  duchess  of  York, 

194 
Isabella  of  France,  wife  of  Edward  II 

(1292-1358),  384 
Isidore  of  Seville,  91,  98,  363,  412, 

414 
Italy,  271 
It  was  a  lover  this  lass,  446 

Jack,  A.  E.,  39 

Jack  Napes,  The  Dirge  of,  329,  481 

Upland,  The  Rejoinder  of,  46 

Jacke  Upland,  45,  46,  186 

Jacobus   de    Cessolis,   Liber   de   ludo 

scacchorum,  355 
Jacques  de  Vitry  (d.  1240),  n.  91 
Jaffa,  90 
James  I  of  Scotland,  148,  195,  272  ff., 

285,     287,     307,     320,     323,     417; 

Kingis  Quair,  The,  105,  107,  177, 

19s,  250,  273,  274,  277,  284,  287, 

304,  307,  320,  532 

II  (of  England),  88 

II  of  Scotland,  130,  325 

Ill,  324 

IV,  108,  286,  288,  295,  418 

V.  307 

VI,    107;  Ane  Schort   Treatise, 

325 
James  and  Brown,  King,  470 
James,  St.,  14 
of  Compostella,  shrine  of,  St., 

356 
Jason,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 
Jason,  The  History  of,  356,  363 
Jean    h    la    Barbe.     See    Jehan    de 

Bourgoigne 


590 


Index 


Jehan  de  Bourgoigne  autrement  dit 
a  la  Barbc,  Maistre,  92,  94 

Jean  do  Meun,  193 

d'Outremeuse,  Myreur  des  His- 

tors,  92.  93 

de  Vignay.  355 

de  Waurin,  569 

U'anroy,  A.,  445 

Jephthah,  174 

Jerome,  St.,  334,  414;  Vitae  Sancto- 
rum Patrtim,  361,  367 

St.,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 

259 
Jerusalem,  90,  92,  97,  131,  341.  300 
Jesus    (a    Samaritan),    in    Piers    the 

Ploivmait,  31 

in    Douglas's   Aeneid,    300;    in 

transition  songs,  434;  in  Mirour  de 
I'Ommc,  162 

Jcsii  Christ,  The  Seven  Sheddings  of 

the  blood  of,  369 
Jews,  the,  27,  389,  391.  397.  411.  414 
queen  of  the,  in  Gyre  Carling, 

314 
Joan  of  Navarre,  247 

pope,  151 

Jock  o'  the  side,  471 

Joel,  122 

JotTred,  abbot  of  Crowland,  389 

Johannes  de  Hese's  Itincrarius,  375 

Johannes  de  Sacrobosco,  212 

Johannicius,  Isagoge,  413 

John,  king,  388 

king  01  France,  349 

XXIII,  pope,  395 

St.,  4^4;  Gospel  of,  414;  tomb  of, 

90 

St.,  knights  of,  127 

ad  barbam  (in  the  Mandeville 

myth,  92 

de  Janua,  Catholicon,  412 

in  The  Wowingoj  Jokandjynny, 

Lemouicensis,  Pharaoh's  Dream, 

412 
John  of  Bridlington,  503 
John  of  Doesborch,  374,  375 
of  Gaunt  (1340-1399),  62,  69, 

83.  15s.  181 

of  Hainault,  Sir,  384 

of  Hildesheim,  Historia  Trium 

Rcgum,  368,  564 
of    Ireland,     108,     in;    Opera 

Thcologica,  324;  "OnthePassioun," 

324 
John  the  Reeve,  14:;,  320 
John  of  Usk,  abbot  of  Chertsey,  6r 
John  Uponlandis  Complaint,  320 
Johnie  Cock,  472 
Johnny  Armstrong,  469 
Jolly  Beggar.  The,  470 
Jonson's,  Ben,  English  Grammar,  175 
Joseph,  339 
Josephus,  380 
Joshua,  263 


Judas  (ballad),  222,  463 

Judy,  438 

Juliana  of  Norwich  (1343-1443), 
Revelations  of  Divine  Love,  341 

Jupiter.  315 

Jusserand,  J.  J.,  2,  3,  28  ff.,  37,  40 

Justice,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 
258:  in  Fortescue' s  De  Natura  Legis 
Naturae,  337;  in  The  Passetyme  of 
Pleasure,  261,  266;  in  The  Example 
of  Virtue,  259;  in  Spenser's  Faerie 
Qucene.  266 

Justinian's  Pandects,  397 

Joy  for  another's  grief,  in  Confessio 
Amantis,  169 

Kalenborowe,  The  Parson  of,  374 
Kalote,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  39 
Katharine  J  affray,  467 
Katherine  of  Senis,   The  life  of  St., 

372  . 

Katherine,  Q.,  song  m  praise  of,  447 
Kay,  in  Golagros  and  Gawane,  142 
Keach  in  the  Creel,  The,  470 
Kemerton,  near  Evesham,  76 
Kemp  Owyne,  469 
Kempe,  ancresse  of  Lynn,  The  book 

of  Margery,  372 
Kempis,  Thomas  a,  342 
Kennedy, bishop  James  (1406  ?-i465), 

417,  418, 419 
Walter  (1460?-! 508?),  285,  297, 

302,  305;  Ane  Ballot  in  praise  of 

Our  Lady,    302;   Ane  agis   Manis 

invective   against    Mouth-thankless, 

302;  Passioun  of  Christ,  The,  302; 

Pious  Counsale,  302 ;  Prais  of  Aige, 

The,  302 
Kent,  155,  181,  354,  481 

Maid  of,  376 

Kildare,  Satire  on  the  people  of,  563 
Kihvardby,  Robert  (d.  1279),  411 
Kind  (God),  in  Piers  the  Ploivman,  22 
Kind-Wit   (Natural   Intelligence),  in 

Piers  the  Plowman,   11,   24 
King  and  the  Barber,   The,   561 

and  the  Miller,  The,  561 

King  and  the  Barber,  King  and  the 

Miller  of  Mansfield,  511 
Kirchmayer,  Paminachius,  ^^ 
Kitte,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  39 
Kittredge,  G.  L.,  454,  460,  464 
Knichthood,   the   Buke   of   the   Order 

of,   324 
Knight,  The  Baffled,  470 

and   Shepherd' s   Daughter,   468 

Knighton,    or   Cnitthon,    Henry    (fi. 

,  1363).   34,  44,   67,   558 
Knox,   John    (1505-15 72),    History, 

325 
Kalendar  of  Shepherds,  265,  368.  373 
of  the  new  legend  of  England, 

366 
Kirby,  Margaret,  Margaret  of  Ain-  , 

derby,  51,  54 


Index 


591 


Kynaston,  Sir  Francis  (i 587-1642), 
186;  Troilus,  189 

Laban,  334 

Labourers,  Statutes  of,  19 

Lads  of  Wamphray.  The,  471 

Laily  Worm,   The,  469 

Laing,  David,  132,  145,  315 

Lambeth  Palace,  63 

Lafnkin,  468 

Lancaster,  370;  house  of,  337 

Lancelot,    382 

Lancelot  aiid  Guinevere,  199 

Lancelot  of  the  Laik,  105,  107 

Lanercost  Chronicle,  558 

Lang,  Andrew,  452,  463,  470 

Langelye,    Robertus   alias    Robertus 

Parterick,  40 
Langland,     William      (or     Langley) 
{Piers  the  Plowman) ,  2,  39,  40,  44 
Langton,  Stephen  (d.  1228),  414 
Large,    Robert  354 
Lathbury,  near  Newport  Pagnell,  69 
Latimer,   H.    (1485  ?-i555).   379 
Latin,  hymns,  426,  427,  434;  in  15th 
cent.,    326;    in    legal    documents, 
80;     metres,     427;     poems,     435; 
poems      against      Lollards,      479; 
study  of,   407,   416,   419,   420;   in 
intellectual  life  of  Scotland,  323; 
stage,  438 
Latinity,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure, 262 
Lauder,  William,  558 
Lausanne,    358 

Lavenham,  Richard  (fi.  1380),  70 
Law,  in  Piers  the  Plowm^an,  12 
Laws,  Bute  MS.  of,  324 
Layamon,   118,   216,  476 
Layfolk's  Massbook,  The,  54 
Leaf.  The.     See  The  Flower  and  the 

Leaf 
Learning  (Clergy),  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 23 
Lecher,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  14 
Lechery,  in  Piers  the  Plowm.an,  23; 
in  Confessio  Amantis,  169;  in  The 
Example  of  Virtue,  266 
Leeu,  Gerard,  of  Antwerp,  357,  364; 
The   History   of   Jason,    363;    The 
History  of  Paris  and  Vienne,  363; 
The   Chronicles    of   England,    363; 
Dialogue    or    communing    between 
the  wise  king  Solomon  and  Mar- 
colphus,  363 
Legenda  A  urea,  342 
Legrand,  Jacques,  Le  livre  de  bonnes 

meurs,  359 
Leicester.  76 

Philip,    third    earl    of    (1619- 

1698),  186 
Lekpreuik,   Scots  printer,    145 
Leland,  John   (i5o6?-i552),  56,  453 
Lent,  in  Christmas  carol,  430 
Lennox,   in   Barbour's  Bruce,   123 


Leo,  Roman  emperor,  133 
Leslie,  John  (152 7-1 596),  bishop  and 
historian    of    Scotland,    325,    452, 

Lettou,  John  (fl.  1480),  362 

Levite,  the,  334 

Lewis  de  Bretaylles,  356 

J.,  62 

Lewte,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  29,  37 
Lex  Ecclesiae,   in    The  Passetyme  of 

Pleasure,  257 
Liar,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  9 
Libel  of  English  Policy,   The,  480 
Liberton,    127 

Lichtounis  Dreme,   316,   317 
Liege,  92  flF. 
Life,     in     Piers    the    Plowman,    see 

Anima,  Lady,  22,  25,  32 

Dame,  in  Death  and  Liffe,  46 

Lilius,  Giraldus,  183 

Lilly,  or  Lily,  William  (i468?-i522), 

Gramm.ar,  416 
Linacre,  Thomas  (i46o?-i524),  416 
Lincoln,  56,  65,   134,  350,  387,  391. 

394,  406 
Lincolnshire,     Rebellion    in     (1470), 

.344 
Lindesay,  or  Lindsay,  Robert,  of  Pit- 

scottie  (i5oo?-i565  ?),  History,  325 
Lion,  The  book  of  the,  184 
Lion  and  the  Mouse  in  Fables  (Hen- 

ryson's),     279 
Lionel,    duke    of    Clarence,    son    of 

Edward  III  (1338-1368),  179,  194 
Lionel,  Sir,  470 

Litchfield,  William  (d.  1447).  55^ 
Little    John     (in    legend    of    Robin 

Hood),   127,  457 
Little  M  us  grave  and  Lady  Barnard, 

468 
Littleton,      Sir   Thomas    (1402-81), 

558 
Livy  (Bellenden's),  325 
Lizie  Wan,  468 
Lochinvar,   Young,  467 
Logie.  Margaret,  149 
Logic,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 

256 
Lollards,  the,  45,  49,  53,  56,  61,  65, 

70,     71,     75  ,  fif.,     186,     328,    330. 

i3^  ff-  395-  478 

poems  against,  479 

Lollards,  An  Apology  for  the,  56 
Lollius,    in    Chaucer's    Troilus    and 

Criseyde,  197 
Lombards,  The,  in  Confessio  Amantis 

170 
Lombard,  Peter,  53,  397,  414,  415, 

420 
London,  books  about,  566;  chron- 
iclers, 557;  in  Arnold's  Chron- 
icle, 332,  364;  in  Fabyan's 
Chronicle,  366;  printing  press  in, 
362 
Milk  St.,  350 


592 


Index 


London — Continued 
Xeweate,  3S1 
Paul  s  Cross.  328.  345 
Red  Pale,  Westminster,  sign  of  the, 

356 

St.    Benedict's   chapel,    Westmin- 
ster Abbey,  1 82 

St.    Mary's,    Westminster,    Chau- 
cer's house  at,  182 

St.  Paul's,  238.  413.  416 

St.  Stephen's,  Westminster,  238 

Staining-lane,    40 

Strand,   235 

Thames,  166,  265 

Thames  St..  London,  179 

Westminster  Abbey,  Poet's  Corner, 
182 

Munimcnta  GUdhallae  Londonien- 
sis   {Liber  custumarum) ,  485 
Longcastell  (Lancaster),  in  Wallace, 

I  27 
Longing,  the  land  of,   in  Piers  the 

Plou'tnan,  28 
Lord  Lovcl,  468 
Lord's  Prayer,  the,  exposition  on,  in 

Speculum  Christiani,  363;   Rolle's 

explanation  of,  54 
Lord  Randal,  468 

Thomas  and  Fair  Annet,  468 

Loserth.  J.,  62,  78 

Lothians,   the,    102,    103,    109,    294, 

417.    420 
Louis  IX,  324 
Louvain,  279,  355 
Love,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  12,  31, 

32;  the  king  of,  in  The  Example 

of  Virtue,  258 
Lover,    the,    in    Confessio   Amantis, 

168  ff.,  17s 
Low  Countries,  354,  364,  374 
Lowell,  Russell,  284 
Lowth,  R.  (i  710-1787),  462 
Loyalty,  in  Assembly  of  Ladies,  247; 

in    Portuiis   of   Noblines,   etc.;    in 

Piers  the  Plowman,  11,  29 
Lucan.   415 
Lucifer,   35 
Lucius  Iberius  in  Morte  Arthure,  133, 

136 
Lucrece,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  1 74 
Luick,  K.,  36 
Luke,  St.,  17 
"  Lumfanane,  "  in  Wyntoun's  Cro7iy- 

kil,    152 
Lumby,  J.  R.,  324  n. 
Luna,  in  Hawes's  A  Joy  fid  Medita- 
tion, etc.,  258 
Luther,  78 
Lutterworth,  74,  75 
Liivaris  Lament,  The,  322 
Lydgate,   John    (i37o?-i45i  ?),    119, 
183, 185, 187, 188, 190, 200, 225, 
227,  235  flf.,  244,  248  flf..  255  fif., 
263,    270,    272,    279,    280,    287, 
293.  297.  302.  377 


Works     by,     or     attributed     to, 

Lydgate:  Aesop,  227,  233 
Albon  and  Amphabel,  227 
Assembly  of  Gods,  The,  227,  232 
Balade  of  the  Coos,  A  ( ?Lydgate's), 

351 
Ballade   of  the   Midsummer   Rose, 

233 

Bocnas,  John,  Tragedies  of,  231 

Churl  and  the  Bird,  The,  227,  233, 
356 

Complaint    of    the    Black    Knight, 
The,  185,  187,  190,  233 

Court  of  Sapience,  The,  227,  263 

Danse  Macabre,  227 

December  and  Jtdy,  227 

De  Duobus  Mercatoribus,  227 

Edmund  and  Fremund,  227,  232 

Falls   of   Princes,    The,    227     229, 
231,  233,  365 

Flower  of  Courtesy,  The,  227 

Horse,   the   Sheep   and   the   Goose, 
The,  227,  233,  356 

London  Lickpenny,  229,  233,  235. 
556 

J  ok  Hare,  557 

Life  of  our  Lady,  227,  232,  357 

Alinor  Poems,  227 

AHracles  of  St.  Edmtmd,  227 

Nightingale  Poems,  227,  233 

Pilgrimage  of  the  Life  of  Man,  The, 
227,  229 

Prioress    and    her    Three    Suitors, 
The,  233 

Reason  and  Sensuality,  227,  231 

St.  Austin,   227 

St.  Giles,  227 

St.  Margaret,  2'2'j,  232 

Saints'  Lives,  232 

Secrets   of   the   Philosophers,    The, 
227,  238    . 

Stans  puer  ad  mensam,  356 

Temple  of  Glass,    The,   227,    231, 
256.  262,   263,  267,  352,  355 

Testament,  227,  233 

"Thank  God  of  all,  "  233 

Thebes,  Story  of,   188,  227  ff. 

Troy  Book,  227,  231 
Lyndwood,    W.    (1375  ?-i446),    71 
Lyndsay,     Sir    David     (1490-1555), 

105,  108,  283.   284.  301,  318;   Ex- 

clamatiovn     to     the     Redar,     322; 

John  the  Commonweill,  320;  Squyer 

Meldrum,    278;    Testament   of   the 

Papyngo,  302 
Lynn,   Norfolk,   327 
Lyons,  359,  367 
Lyra,  414 

McCracken,  H.  N.,  528,  530 
M'Cutcheon,    the    name,    134 
MacMorough  (i357?-i4i  7).  343 
Macbeth,   89;  in  Wyntoun,   152 
Macdufif,  in  Wyntoun,   152 
Machar  (Mauricius),  St.,   146 


Index 


59: 


Machlinia,  William  de  (fl.  1 482-1 490), 
books  printed  by,  362  ff. ;  Specu- 
lum Christiani,  363;  Pestilence, 
Treatise  of  the,  363 

Macer,  413 

Macrobius,  415 

Madden,     Sir    F.    (1801-1873),    51, 

84 
Mahomet  or  Mahoun,  in  Gyre  Carling, 

Magicians,  The  Twa,  465 
Magyar  versions  of  ballads,  460 
Maid  Freed  front  the  Gallows,   The, 

450,  460,  466 
Mainz,  353 
Maisey,  Lady,  468 
Maitland  MSS.,  538 
Major (Mair), John,  (1469-1550),  125, 

278,   286,   295,  418,  420 
Maknab,  in  Bruce,  120 
Makyne     (Malkin),    in    Robene    and 

Makyne,  283 
Maiden,  Surrey,  400 
Malcolm,  in  Wyntoun,  152 
Malmesbury,  monk  of   (chronicler), 

343 
Malory,  Sir  Thomas,  Morte  d' Arthur, 

262,  358,  359,  377,  379  ff.,  38s 
Malvern,  School  of  Benedictine-mon- 
astery at,  2 
Malvern  Hills,  2,  4,  5,  17 
Man,  in  Mirour  de  I'Omme,  161,  162, 

166 
"Mandeville,  Sir  John,"  Travels,  80 

S.,  89  ff.,  263,  326,  339,  365,  368, 

384,  486 
Maundeville,  J.,  rector  of  Burnham 

Thorpe,  343 
Maniere  de  langage  que  f  enseignera 

bien  a  droit  parler  et  escrire  doulz 

frangois,    477 
Manipulus  Curatorum,  369 
Mannyng,  Robert,  of  Brunne,  Hand- 

lyng  Synne,  153,  160,  173,  429 
Mansion,  Colard,  354 
Mapheus  Vegius,   13th  book  of  Ae- 

neid,  298,  299 
March,  earl  of,  letter  to    Henry  IV 

of  England,  324 
Marcolphus,   364 
Margaret,      duchess     of     Burgundy 

(1446-1503),  349,  354,  355 

of   Anjou,    queen    of    England 

(i43o-i482),_227,  239,  240,  345,  406 
Lady,  i.e.   Beaufort,  Margaret, 

Countess  of  Richmond  and  Derby 

(1443-1509).    342,   352,   366,    369, 

370,406 
Tudor    (1489-1541),    286,    287, 

320 

duchess  of  Somerset,  360 

Margaret,  St.,   The  Life  of,  365 
Marie   de   France,   209,   476;   Lai  le 

Freine,  465 
Marco  Polo,  210 


Marriage,  The  Fifteen  Joys  of,  369, 

370 
The  Pain  and  sorrow   of  evil, 

370 
Married,  The  complaint  of  the  too  late, 

370 

The  Complaint  of  the  too  soon, 

370 

Mark,  king,  382 

Marney,  Sir  Henry,  369 

Mars,  temple  of  (Chaucer),  205 

Marsh,  Adam  (Adam  de  Marisco)  (fi. 

1257?),  397 
Marshall,  William  (d.  1219),  first  earl 

of  Pembroke  and  Striguil,  regent 

of  England,  476 
Martianus  Capella's  de  Nuptiis  Philo- 

logiae  et  Mercurii,  263,  407,  412 
Mary  Alagdalen,  The  Lamentation  of, 

185,  188 

of  Nemmegen,   374 

Mary  de  St.  Paul,  402 

queen  of  Scots,  470 

de  Valentia,  402 

Matthew,  St.,  Gospel  of,   16,  86,  490 
May  poems,  393,  425,  446 
May  in  a  morning.  In,  322 

Welcum  to,  322 

—  with  Flora  quene,  O  Lusty,  323 

Mayiola,  or  Mayok,  in  King  Berdok, 

314 
Maynial,  Guillaume,  359 
Maurice,  C.  E.,  44 
Maxwell's  Last  Good  Night,  Lord,  469 
Medea,  in  Confessio  Atnantis,  1 74 
Medecine,  books  on,  413 
Mediterranean,  86 
Medwall,  Henry  (fi.   i486),  372 
Meed,  Lady,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  2 

ff.,  8ff.,  37 
Melchisedechj   in   Police  of  Honour, 

296 
Melizius,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure, 257,  260,  263,  266 
Melville,    James    (1556-1614),    420, 

548 
Mendacium    (=  Satan),    in    Wyclif's 

Dialogus,  n.  74 
Merchande    dyd    hys    Wyfe    Betray, 

How  a,  562 
Mercia,    240 
Mercury,  315 
Mercy,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleastire, 

259;    in    The  Example   of    Virtue, 

259;  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  15 
Merlin,  The  Birth  of,  370 
Merton.     See  Walter  de 
Messahala,  212 
Metham,    John,    558;   Amoryus   and 

Cleapes,   563 
Metz,  siege  of,  in  Morte  Arthure,  137 
Meyer,   Paul,   470 
Micah,  334 

Michael  of  Kildare,  482 
in  Tlie  Example  of  Virtue,  259 


594 


Index 


Michel,  Francisque,  Critical  Inquiry 
into  the  Scottish  Language,  with 
the  view  of  illustrating  the  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Civilisation  in  Scotland 
(1882),  109,  1 10 

Middle- Age,  in  The  Parlement  of  the 
Thrc  Ages,  43 

Middle  Ages,  49.  58,  59-  7°.  87.  ^39, 
103.  197.  207,  209,  225,  239,  263, 
273.  279.  342,  379.  381,  385.  397. 
407,  414,  479.  567 

Mielot,  Jean,  secy,  to  Philippe  le 
Bon,  357 

Milton,  J.,  223,  247,  2^1 

Miller  of  Abingdon,  The  Jest  of  the, 

371 
Millington,  William  (d.  1466?),  328, 

345 
Minerva,  263 
in   Tlie  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 

257,  267 

in  The  Kiiigis  Qtiair,  276 

Minot,  Laurence,  452,  478 
Minstrels,  567 

Miracles  of  Our  Lady,  The,  368 
Mirk,  John  (fl.  1403  ?),  31  7;  Liber  Fes- 

tivalis,  361 ;  Instructions  for  Parish 

Priests,  484,  t;58 
Mirror  of  the  Church,  The,  368 
of   St.    Edmund,    The    (Rolle's 

translation?),   53 

for  Magistrates,  The,  231 

Misyn,  Richard,  497 

Moderation,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  23 

MotTat,   312 

Mohammadan  law,  333 

Momure,  in  Hiion  of  Bordeaux,  384 

Mont  St.  Michel,  128 

Montpellier,  412 

Moray,  132 

Mordred,  in  Morte  Arthure,  136,  138 

More,  Sir  Thomas    (1478-1535),  71, 

372;     The    mery    geste    of   a    Ser- 

gcaunt  atui  Frere,   371;   Dialogue, 

68 
Morley,   Henry   (i 822-1894),    7,7,,  40 
Moors,  the,  in  Spain,  131 
Morris,  Richard  (1833-1894),  190 
Morsbach,  L.,  i  75 
Morte  Arthure,    134,    136,    137,    140, 

141 

d'Arthur,  358,  381 

Motherwell,  W.   (i  797-1835),  464 
Mounth,  the,  in  Wyntoun,   152 
Mullinger,  J.  Bass,  n.  394,  n.  416 
Mum,  Sothsegger  (i.e.  Hush,  Truth- 
teller)    (Richard  the  Redeless),   41 
Mundus,   in  Confessio  Amantis,   174 
Murimuth,  Adam  (1275  ?-i347),  559 
Murning  Maiden,  Tlte,  321 
Murray,    J.    A.    H.,    Dialect    of    the 

Southern  counties  of  Scotland,  no 

"3 
Music,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasxire, 

256,  261,  262 


Mutability,  in  The  Faerie  Queene,  267 
Mydlerd,    a   mirror   called    (i.e.    the 

World),  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  28 
Myll,  G.  (1492),  325 
Myllar,  Andrew  (fl,  1503-1508),  106, 

142 

Naboth,  339 

Nairn,  1 1 5 

Naples,   315 

Narcissus,    174 

Nashe,    T.    (1567-1601),    471 

Nassyngton,  William  (fl.  1375?),  52, 
,  53.  498 

Nativity,  Carols  of,  423,  427,  429 

Natural  Intelligence  (Kind-Wit),  in 
Piers  the  Plowman,  24 

Nature,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 
258;  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  30; 
in  Reason  and  Sensuality,  231 

Navern   (Strathnaver),  315 

Neckam,  Alexander,  166 

Nectabanus,  86;  in  Confessio  Aman- 
tis, lyi 

Necton,      Humphrey      (d.       1303), 

X  397 

Need,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  32 
Neilson,  George,  119,  120,   134,  135, 
^ 136, 138,  141 
Nessus,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  170 
Netherlands,  353 
Nevill,    or   Neville,    George    (1433?- 

1476),  241 
Neville,  William  (fl.  1518),  TheCastle 

of  Pleasure,  371 
New  Fair,  the,  a  game  in  Piers  the 

Plowman,  18 
Newbold  Revell,  358,  381 
New  lands  found  by  the  messengers 

of    the    King    of    Portugal    named 

Emanuel,  Of  the,  375 
Newport  in  Wales,  85;  in  Berkelev, 

85; 

Pagnall,   69 

New  Year's  Letter,  441 

Nicholas  V,  pope,   130,   131,  418 

St.,  147,  362 

de  Lj^ra  (1340),  71 

of  Tusculum,   390 

Nicholaus,    Antidotarium    of,    413 
Nicodemus,  The  Gospel  of,  369,  371, 

435 
Nicolas,  Sir  N.  Harris  (i  799-1848), 

190 
Nigra,  C.,  473 
iMine    Nobles,    320 
Ninus     ("who      built      Nineveh"), 

Ninian,  St.,   119,   146,   147 
Nisbet,  Murdoch,   325 
Noah,   23,   90,   98,  484 
"  norcey-david, "  481 
Norfolk,  155,  327,  347,  348 
Norman  Carols,  427 
conquest,   450,   475 


Index 


595 


Xomians,  477,  486 

Xornianorum,  De  adventu,  in  An- 
gliam  et  de  jure  quod  habuit  Willel- 
nius  bastardus  ad  regnum  Angliae, 

415 

North  Berwick  Law,  275,  314 

Sir   Thomas    (1535  ?-i6oi  ?), 

Dial  of  Princes,  The,  386 

Petherton  Park,  Somerset,  181 

Northallerton,  51 

Northampton,   392 

Norton,  Thos.  (i4'jy),0rdinall  of  Al- 
chemy, 241  ff. 

Norwich,  65,  347,  349 

Notary,  Julian   (fi.   1496-1520),  371 

Notbrowne  mayd  upon  the  passyon 
of  Cryste,  The  newe,  373 

Nottingham,    351 

Nottinghamshire,    340 

Novels,  historical,   566 

Nurture,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure, 261 

Nut  Brown  Maid,  The,  283,  364,  373, 
463,  469,  486,  562 

Oberon,  383 

Observantines  of  the  Franciscan 
Order,  the,   285 

Occleve,  or  Hoccleve,  Thomas  (1370? 
-1450?),  108,  164,  177,  183, 
188,  234  ff.,  272,  287,  293,  302; 
Ars  Sciendi  Mori,  236;  Complaint 
and  Dialogue,  235,  236;  Cofn- 
plaint  of  the  Virgin,  The,  237; 
Cupid,  The  Letter  of ,  185,  188,  237; 
Jereslaus's  Wife,  The  Emperor, 
237;  Jonathas,  236;  Male  Regie, 
La,  235,  236,  566;  Mother  of  God, 
The,  237;  Regimine  Principum, 
De,  236;  Oldcastle,  Sir  John,  237 

Ockham.     See  William  of 

Oculo  Morali,  De,  414 

Odofredus,  412 

Odoric  of  Pordenone  (1330),  91,  93, 
98,  99 

O'Dymsy,   in  Barbour's  Bruce,   122 

Ogir  the  Dane,  93 

Old  Lady,  Scott's,  464,  470 

Oldcastle,  Sir  John  (Lord  Cobham) 
(d.  1417).  «•  53.  77.  237,  327 

Olyver  of  Castylle  and  the  fayre 
Helayne,  The  History  of,  369,  370 

Omnta-probate ,  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

Orfeo,  King,  470 

Orgoglio,  in  The  Faerie  Queene,  266 

Orkney,   132 

Orm,    216 

Ormonde,  earl  of,  in  Secreta  Secre- 

torunt,  343 
Orpheus,    473 
Osbern  of  Gloucester,  559 
Otho  de  Granson,  213 
Otterburn,   453,   464,   471 
Otterbourne.  Thomas  (fl.  1400),  559 
Otto,  Constitutions  of,  412 


Ottobon,  Constitutio7ts  of,  412 
Ottryngham,  John,  415 
Outlaw's  Song  of   Traillebaston,   564 
Ovid,  166,  173,  174,  201,  214,  295, 
297,  360,  407,  408,  415;  in  Palice 
of  Honour,  296 
Owl  and  the  Nightingale,  The,  247 
Oxford,  earl  of,  in  the  Paston  Letters, 
348 

55.  57.  59.  62,  65,  66,  69,  74  ff., 

78,  84,  117,  150,  212,   226,  233, 
238,  25s,  328,  335,  345,348,  350, 
361,   376,   387   ff. 
All  Souls'  College,  406 
Balliol  College,  50,  56,  57,  403  ff. 
Canterbury  Hall,  402,  403 
Durham  Hall,  Benedictine  settle- 
ment, n.  396,  410 
Cardinal  College,  406 
Exeter  College,  S^,  402 
Gloucester  Hall,  n.   396,  402 
Lincoln  College,  406 
Magdalen  College,  355,  358 
Merton  College,  187,  392,  400  ff., 

411 
New  College,  402,  404,  405 
Oriel  College,  328,  402 
Queen's  College,  82>y  ^4.  37°>  4°^, 

412 
St.  Frideswide,  cloister  school  of, 

387 
St.   Mary's,   395 
University  College,  402 
Worcester  College,  402 

Paisley,  Black  Book  of,  148 
Palamon,  in  The  Knight's  Tale,  276 
Pale,  the  English,  in  Ireland,  342, 

345 
Palestine,  90,  91,  142 
Pallas,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 

257.  263 
Palladius  on  Husbondrie,  412,  562 
Pan,  258 

Pandarus,  198,  200 
Pantagruel,  293 
Pannartz,  printer,  353 
Panton,  G.  A.,  135 
Paradise,  316 
Pardoner  and  Tapster,  The,  186,  188, 

204 
Paris,    8r,    105,    no,    144,    145,    226, 

279,286,353,359,364,374,  387ff-. 

307,  404,  409,  416,  419,  449;  Sor- 

bonne,  286;  College  of  Montaigu, 

419 

Gaston,  452,  454,  473-  475 

Matthew  (d.   1259),  388 

the  judgment  of,  in  Reason  and 


Sensuality,  231 
Paris  and  Vienne,  358,  363,  377 
Parker,    Hy.    (d.    1470),    Dives  and 

Pauper,  365 

John,   69 

Martin    (d.    1656?),    472 


59^ 


Index 


Parliament  of  Devils,  The,  369,  563 

Parlcmcnt  of  Thrc  Ages,  The,  43 

Parliament,    the    Good,    62 

use  of  English  in,  506 

Parterick,  Robertus,  alias  Robertus 
Langelve,  40 

Parvtim  Voltntten  (Institutes  and  No- 
vell ae),  412 

Pastime  of  People,  The,  372 

Paston  family,  the,  346 

Agnes,  348 

Anne,  350 

Clement,  348 

Edmund,  348 

Elizabeth,  348 

Margaret,    346 

John  (1421-1466)  and  Sir  John 

(1442-1479).  34  ff- 

William,  346,  350 

Walter,  351 

Paston  Letters,  326,  346,  486 
Passion  of  Christ,   The,  374 
Patience,    in  Piers  the  Plowman,  30 

IT. 
Paternoster  Row,  350 
Pathclin,  no 
Patrum,  Vitae  Sanctorum,  323.     See 

also  Fathers 
Paues,  A.  C,  67,  n.  74 
Paul,   St.,    149,   230,   259,   263,   266; 

tractate  on  the  Epistles  of,  413 
Paulina,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 
Paulus,   412 
Peace,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure 

and  The  Example  of  Virtue,  259; 

in  Piers  the  Plowman,  11 
Pearl,  20,  154 
Peasants'    Revolt,  53,   61,    72,    156, 

165,  166 
Pearson,  C.  H.,  40 

Pcblis  to  the  Play,  277,  284,  308,  312 
Pecock,      Reginald      (i395?-i46o?), 

326  ff.,   337,   340,   343,   350;  Ab- 

breviatio  R.  Pecock,  328;  Book  of 

Faith,  The,  334;  Donet,  The,  335; 

Filling  of  the  four  tables,  The,  332; 

Poor    Men's    Mirror,    The,    335; 

Repressor  of  overmuch  blam,ing  of 

the  clergy.  The,  329,  330,  334,  335, 

337 
Pedersen,  Christiern,  325 
Peebles,  316 
Pelerinaiges  por  aler  en  Iherusalem 

(c.  1231),  92 
Pelcrinage  de  I'homme,  Le,  372 
Pencrich,   Richard,   80 
Penelope,     in      Confessio     Amantis, 

ns 

Penitence,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 

259 
Penniworth  of  Wit,  562 
Penrith,    134 
Pepwell,  Hy.  (d.  1540),  books  printed 

^^y>  371 

Pepys,  S.,  236 


Percy,  T.  (1729-1811),  454 

Sir  Henry,  ist  Earl  of  North- 
umberland (1342-1408),  62 

Folio    MS.,    45.    46,    455.    464, 

466,    470,    472,    485 

ballad,  452 

papers,  464 

Society,  227,  563 

Percy  Reliques,  464,  n.  466,  469 

Peres  the  Ploughmans  Crede,  44,  45 

Pernel  Proudheart,  in  Piers  the 
Plowman,   14,   18 

Perseus,  in  Confessio  Amantis,   170 

Perseverance,  in  The  Passetyme  of 
Pleasure,  257,  259;  in  The  Ex- 
ample of    Virtue,   259 

Persia,  82 

Pestilence,  Treatise  of  the,  363 

Peter  de  Alvernia,  412 

de    Bella    Pertica    (d.     1308), 

412 

Hispanus,    Summa,   411 

(or  the   Church),   in  Piers   the 

Plowman,  32 

of  Langtoft,  "Yorkshire  Nor- 
man, "  476 

Pratefast,    265 

de  Riga,  166 

St.,  314;  shrine  of,  99 

Peter's,  St.,  Benedictines  of,  Glouces- 
ter, n.  396 

Petit  de  Julleville,  475 

Petrarch,  215 ;  epistles,  366;  Griselda, 
210;  re  Redemiis  utriusque  For- 
tunae,  415 

Petronius,   203 

Petrus  Carmelianus,  epitaph  of  the 
King  of  Scotland,  The,  375 

Petryonylla,  The  Life  of  St.,  365 

Phaer,  Thomas  (1510?-! 560),  243 

Plmretra,  414 

Pharaoh,  Sermon  on  the  five  wiles 
of,  in  The  Golden  Legend,  n.  380 

Philibert,  Vision  of,  563 

Philip,  duke  of  Burgundy,  355 

Philippe  de  Thaon,  Bestiary,  476; 
Li  Cumpoz,  476 

le  Bon,  357 

Philobone,  in  The  Court  of  Love, 
251,  252 

"Philogenet  of  Cambridge,  "  191,249, 
251,  252 

Philomela,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 

Phreas,  John,  559 

Phronesis  (Theology),  in  Wyclif's 
Trialogus,  n.  74 

Phyllis,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 

Picardy,  285 

Pickering,  50 

Pickwick,  Mr.,  203 

Picts,  the,  315 

Piers  of  Fullham,  562 

the  Plowman,  i  fi.,  82,  88,  219, 

245,  265,  336,  398,  453,  478. 
485 


Index 


597 


Pierre  de  la  Seppade  of  Marseilles, 

vers,  of  Paris  and  Vienne,  358 
Pilgrimage  of  the  Soul,  The,  357 
Pills  to  Piirge  Melancholy,  470 
Pinkerton,   John    (i 758-1826),    130, 

134, 306, 323 
Pinkie,  battle  of,  125 
Pistill  of  Susan.     See  Stisan 
Pity,  in  The  Court  of  Love,  251 
Pius,  11,418 
Piano  Carpini,  Historia  Mongolorum, 

of,  91 
Plato,  263 

Pleasance,  queen,  in  King  Hart,  298 
Pliny,  90,  91,  412 
Ploughman's  Tale,  The,  41,  44,  186, 

188,  245 
Plowman    lerned    his    Pater   Noster, 

How  the,  562 
Pluto,  in  The  Merchant' s  Tale,  210 
Pneustis     (Unbelief),     in      Wyclif's 

Trialogus,  n.,  74 
Poets  Laureate,  505 
Poggio,  in  The  Palice  of  Honour,  296 
Poictiers,  382 
Policy,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 

257 
Politics,  in  Confessio  Am.antis,  172 
Polonius,  436 
Polyolbion,  239 

Polychronicon,  81,  82,  84,  88,  90 
Pont-neuf,  395 
Poor  priests,  Wyclif's,  64,  65,  67,  72, 

76 
Porphyry,  411 

Porthus,  The  History  of  King,  370 
Portjafe,  316 
Portugal,  315 
Portuguese  songs,  n.  460 
Portuus  of  Noblines,  324 
Powell,  F.  York,  45 
Praise,  in  Mir  our  de  I'Ontme,  163 
Praise  of  Women,  A,  185 
Prayer,  in   The  Example  of   Virtue, 

259 
Prester,  John,  90,  98,  99;  The  Letter 

of,  91 
Priamus,  Sir,  in  Morte  Arthure,  137 
Pride,    in    Confessio    Amantis,    169, 

1 70 ;    in    The  Example   of    Virtue, 

258,    266;   in    The  Faerie  Queene, 

266;   in   M^rour  de   I'Omme,    162; 

in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure,  263; 

in  Piers  the  Plowman,  32 
Priestis  of  Peblis,  Thrie,  319 
Priscian,  408,  412,  415 
Privy   Malice,   in   The  Passetyme  of 

Pleasure,  257,  267 
Prologue,  The,  192,  204  ff.,  208,  211, 

218 
Prometheus,  n.  90 
Proserpine,  in  The  Merchant's  Tale, 

210 
Proverbs,   16 
Psalm,s,  16,  53,  362,  407 


Psalters,  362,  414;  Hampole's,  53, 
54;  Old  French,  476,  570 

Ptolemy,  411,  415 

Pucell,  La  Bel,  in  The  Passetyme  of 
Pleasure,  256,  257,  261,  264,  266 

Pui,  The  (a  fourteenth  century  as- 
sociation), n.  485 

PuUen,  Robert  (d.  1147),  Senten- 
tiarum  Libri  Octo,  388 

Punch  and  Judy,  437 

Pundler,  The,   in  Lichtounis  Dreme, 

T.  317 

Purvey,   John    (1353  ?-i428?).   Regi- 
men Ecclesiae,  69,  70,  325 
Pynson,  Richard  (d.  1530),  185,  240, 

363.  371.  373 
Pyrrhus,  121 

Quadrivium,  the,  260,  262,  407,  411, 

415 
Quare  of  lelusy.  The,  105 
Quatre  dernier s  c hoses,  356,  357 
Quatrefoil  of  Love,  The,  501 
Quattuor  novissimis,  De,  357 
Quha    hes   gud   malt,    and   makis    ill 

drynk,  318 
Quhen    Flora    had    ourfret   the   firth, 

322 
Quhy  sowld  nocht  Allane  honorit  bef 

^317 

Quia  amore  langueo,  483 
Quinte  Essence,  Book  of,  485 
Quintillian,  415 

Qiiod-bonum-est-tenete,  in  Piers  the 
Plowm-an,  25 

Rabbards,  Ralph,  241 
Rabelais,  108,  iig,  293 
Radclitfe,   Nicholas    (fl.    1368-1396), 

502 
Ragman  Roll.  560,  561 
Ralph,  in  Rauf  Coihear,  143 
Ramsay,  Allan  (1686-1758),  n.  i6r, 

304, '307 

John,  scribe,  126,  509 

Randolf,  earl   of  Chester,   rimes  of, 

453  ^     ^ 

Randolf's  Hall,  in  Awntyrs  of  Ar- 
thure,  141 

Randolph,  Sir  Thomas,  ist  earl  of 
Murray  (d.  1332),  in  Bruce,  121 

Raoul  le  Fevre,  Recuyell  of  the  His- 
tories of  Troy,  262,  355 

Rastell.  John  (d.  1536),  372 

Ratis  Raving,  559 

Rauf  Coihear,   129,   143,   320 

Ravenna,  413 

Rayne,   in  Aberdeenshire,   118 

Reading,  389 

Reason,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  n; 
in  Mirour  de  I'Omme,  162;  in 
Piers  the  Plowman.  30,  31;  in 
The  Goldyn  Targe.  288 

Recklessness,  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 
28,30 


598 


Index 


Reclus  de  Moiliens,  the  Charite  of, 
i6i;  the  Miserere  of,  i6i 

Red  Cross  Knight,  in  The  Faerie 
Queene,  266 

Rede.  Sir  Robert  (d.  1519),  408 

Reformation,    the   Tudor,   336 

Regrets,  in  The  Court  of  Love,  252 

Repentance,  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 
'4.  27 

Repinrton.   Philip  (d.   1424),   502 

Remedy  of  Love,  The,  185 

"Retters,"  Rethel,  or  Retiers,  near 
Reims,   179 

Revolution,  the  French,  93 

Reynard  the  Fox,  279,  357,  378 

Rhetoric,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleas- 
ure, 256,  263 

Rhodes,   127 

Rhone,  the,  142 

Richard  Ccjcur  de  Lion,  in  Histoire 
de  la  Guerre  Sainte,  476 

Richard  II.  3,  41  ff.,  63,  81,  155, 
158,  166,  167,  176,  177,  181,  194, 

392 

de  Holand,  132 

le  Scrope  (i35o?-i405),  478 

of  Armagh.     See  Fitz-Ralph 

of  Bury,  410 

of  St.  Victor  (d.  1173?),  Ben- 

jamin,  372,  559 

Sir,  in  Robin  Hood  legends,  472 

the    Englishman    (Richard    of 

Wendover,  d.  1252),  413 

Richard  II,  A  Poem  on  the  De- 
position of,  ed.   Wright,  T.,  41 

Cceur  de  Lion,  351,  369 

the  Rcdcless,  3,  41 

Riches,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  23 

Richomnd,  Yorkshire,  56 

Ring  of  the  Roy  Robert,  319 

Ripley,  George  (d.  1490?),  The  Cont- 
poioid  of  Alchemy  or  the  Twelve 
Gates,  and  Medtilla.  Alchemiae, 
241  ff.;  Vision,  242;  Scroll,  242 

Ritson,  J.  (i  752-1803),  234,  n.  444; 
Bibliographia  Poetica,  226 

Robene  (Robin),  in  Robene  and 
Makyne,  283 

Robert  II,  118,  119,  134 

Ill,  320,  418 

of  Artois,    478 

of  Avesbury  (fl.  1350),  559 

the  Bruce,  120 

of  Devises,  388 

of  Gloucester,  153,  222,  240 

de  Grctham  (fl.  13th  cent.),  570 

the  Robber,  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 14,  37 

Robin  Hood,  126,  222,  351,  368,  453, 

„  457.  467,  472,  473.  485,  563 

Kobxn  Hood  and  the  Monk,  457,  463, 
472 


and  the  Potter,  463 

Triie  Tale  of,  472 

Robin  Hood's  Death,  473 


Robyn  Hode,  The  Gest  of,  374,  457, 
463,  472,  486 

Robyn  and  Gayideleyn,  463 

Rochester,  bishop  of,  in  The  Merry 
Jests  of  the  Widow  Edith,  372 

Rocke,  Life  of  St.,  in  The  Golden 
Legend,  n.  379 

Roet,  Sir  Payn,  180 

Roger  of  Wendover,  Flores  His- 
toriarum,  362 

Rokayle  (or  Rokesle),  Stacy  de,  40 

Roland,  in  Rauf  Coihear,  145 

Rolle,  Richard,  of  Hampole  (c. 
i300-i349)>  50  ff-.  55.  59.  66,  67, 
71,  loi,  104,  216,  340,  481,  482 

Works    by,    or    attributed    to: 

Ego  dortnio  et  cor  meum,  vigilat, 
54;  E.  I.  O.  poem,  499;  Mending 
of  Life  (or  the  Form  of  Living), 
52,  54;  Mirror  of  St.  Edmund,  The, 
53;  Pricke  of  Conscience,  55; 
Psalter  ( Rolle 's  versions  and  com- 
mentaries), 53 

Rose,  The  Romance  of  the,  230,319,  523 

Romances,  222,  569 

Rome,  57,  62,  69,  76,  82,  86,  88, 
91,  96,  138,  151,  184,  271,  327, 
328,  353,  392,  397 

court  of,  in  Mirour  de  VOnin^e, 

162 

Romeo  and  Juliet,  444 

Ronaldshay,    132 

Roncesvalles,  128 

Ros,  Sir  Richard,  La  Belle  Dame 
sans  Merci,  185,  188,  245,  246 

Rose,  Roman  de  la,  173,  230,  250, 
253,  260,  262,  273,  277,  297 

Rose,  The  Red,  in  The  Example  of 
Virtue,  259 

Rose  the  Red  and  White  Lily,  467 

Rose,  the  White,  in  The  Example 
of  Virtue,  259 

Roses,  Wars  of  the,  260,  381,  406 

Rosemund,    in    Confessio    Am,antis, 

Rosiall,  in  The  Court  of  Love,  251 
Rosiphelee,    in    Confessio    Amantis, 

174.  249 
Ross,  Alexander  (i 699-1 784),  Hele- 

nore,  or  the  Fortunate  Shepherdess, 

127 
Rossetti,  D.  G.,  The  King's  Tragedy, 

T.  532 

Round  Table,  134,  141,  142 

Roet,   or   Rouet,   Philippa,   wife   to 

Chaucer,   180 
Rouet,  or  Swynford,  Katherine,  180 
Rous,  or  Ross,  John   (i4n?-i49i), 

559. 
Rowllis  Cursing,  Sir  John,  306,  319 
Roxburghe  Club,  564 
Ruthwell  cross,   Dumfriesshire,   10 1 

Sackville,  Thomas,  1st  earl  of  Dorset 
(^536-1608),   250;  Induction,   260 


Index 


599 


Sacrament,  songs  based  on  the,  439 
Saints,     Lives    of    the.     See     under 

Barbour 
St.  Albans,  92,  93,  361,  362 

schoolmaster,    printer    of,    362 

St.  Albans,  The  Book  of,  362,  367 
St.  Andrews,  145,  149.  284,  294,  311, 

325,  416,  417  ff. 

St.  Leonard,  418,  419 

St.  Mary's,  418,  419 

St.   Salvator,  418 

St.  Asaph,  328 

St.   Helen's,  349 

St.  Scholastica's  Day,  392,  393 

St.  Serf,  in  Wyntoun,  151 

St.   Serf's  Priory,   Lochleven,   149 

5^.  Stephen  and  Herod,  463 

life  of,   in  The  Golden  Legend, 

358 

Saintsbury,  265;  A  History  of  Eng- 
lish Prosody,  n.  481 

Saladin,  99 

Sallust,  415 

Sally  in  our  Alley,  k.  309 

Samaritan,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  28, 
31 

Samson,  abbot,  of  Bury,  388 

Samuel,  122 

Sandon,  in  Essex,  238 

Sapience,  in  Police  of   Honour,  295 

(Wisdom),  in  The  Passetyme  of 

Pleasure  and  The  Example  of 
Virtue,  259 

Saracens,  397,  415;  Saracen  princess, 
in  The  Golden  Legend,  380 

Sarum-  Missal,  359 

Ordinate,   359 

Use,  the,  428 

Saturn,    315;    in    The    Testam-ent    of 

Cressid,  282 
Saul,  II,  174 

Sawtrey,   William   (d.    1401),  478 
Say- well,    in    Piers    the     Plowman, 

22 
Scalacronica,    147 

Scales,    lord.     See    Woodville,    An- 
thony 
Scarborough,  480 
Schaw,  Quintyne,  305;  Advyce  to  a 

Courtier,  302 
Schiedam,  371 
Schick,   J.,   270 
Schleich,  365 
Schort  Memoriale  of  the  Scottis  cor- 

niklis  for  addicioun.  The,  325 
Schools,     public,     to     the     time     of 

Colet,  387  ff. 
vScogan,  Hy  (1361  ?-i407),  183,  185, 

188,  213,  559 

John    (fi.    1480?),    559 

Scotch  Drink,  317 
Scotichronicon,   147 
Scotish  Feilde,  The,  46 
Scottish  Language,  The,  loi  ff. 
Literature,  The  Earliest,  115  ff. 


Scott,  Alexander  (i525?-i584?),  306, 
320 

Sir  W.,  99,  123,  212,  284,  464  ff., 

470;  Kinmont  Willie,  471,  474 

Scota,  Pharaoh's  daughter,  in  The 
O  Cronykil,  150 

Scripture,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  23, 
24,  29 

Scroope-Grosvenor  suit,  179,  181 

Scrope,  Richard  le  (1350?-!  40  5), 
478 

Scythia,  150 

Second  Merchant's  Tale,  The.  See 
Beryn,  Tale  of 

Secretutn  Secretorum,  n.  172,  342 

See-well,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  22 

Sempill's  Ballot  on  Margret  Fleming, 
callit  the  Fleming  Bark  in  Edin- 
burcht.  Defence  of  Crissell  Sande- 
landis  and  "slicht  wemen  of  lyfe 
and  conversatioun, "  n.  319 

Seneca,  412,  415 

Sensuality,  in  The  Example  of  Vir- 
tue, 258 

Sergius,   394 

Seth,  23 

Setoun,  Christopher,  in  Bruce,  120 

Seven  Deadly  Sins,  117 

Seven  Sages,  The,  173,  203,  351 

Sevigne,  Mme.  de,  449 

Sexburga,  240 

Sextus,    Liber,    412 

Seynt  Albons,  Bellum  apud,  344 

Shafton,  Sir  Piercie,  249 

Shakespeare,  119,  198,  202,  302, 
444,  468,  471;  Julius  Ceasar,  382; 
King  Henry  V,  87;  Pericles,   174 

Sharpe,   C.    K.    (1781  ?-i85i),   464 

Sheale,  Richard,  472 

Sheath  and  Knife,  468 

Shepherds,  Scottish  border,  450 

Shetland,  469,  470,  473 

Ship  of  Fools,  The,  prose  version, 
368,  369 

Shirley,  John  (1366?-! 4 5 6),  184,  190, 
194 

Shipton-under-Wychwood,   40 

Shrewsbury,   2 

Sible  Hedingham,  238 

Sic  P  err  ell  in  Paramotiris  lyis,  319 

Sidgwick,  F.,  n.  464 

Sidney,   Algernon    (1622-1683),    186 

Sir   Philip,   Defence   of   Poesie, 

177.  471 
Sigebert,  387 

Simony,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  8,  9 
Sinai,    14,   90 
Sinclair,    William,    bishop   of    Dun- 

keld  (d.   1337),  127 
Sin,  in  Mirour  de  VOmme,  161,   162 
Sinon,  in  Police  of  Honour,  295,  297 
Sixtus  IV,  395 
Skeat,  W.  W.,  i  ff.,  5,  9,  14,  25,  26, 

30,  ZZ'  34,  39  ff-.  42,  44,  190.  221, 

246,  n.  269 


6oo 


Index 


Skclton,  John  (i46o?-i539),  177. 
243,  2S2,  2^4,  284,  292,  293,  360, 
365,  368;  (Bowge  of  Court),  372, 
375,  376 

Skot,  John  (or  Scott,  or  Scot)  (fl. 
i5]o),  ^73 

Slander,  in   The  Faerie  Qucene,  267 

Sloth,  in  Coufcssio  Amantis,  169; 
in  Dunbar's  Seven  Deadly  Sins, 
290;  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  14,  19, 

27.  32.  37      ,^ 
Smith,  Walter  (fl.  1525).  merry  jests 

0}  the  widow  Edith,  The,  372 
Smith  and  Dame,  562 
Smithficld,  478 
Socrates,  356 
Solomon,  24,  149.  236,  364,  419 

in  Palice  of  Honour,  295 

Solotnon   and   Marcolphus,   Dialogue 

or    communing    between    the    ivise 

king,    36 X 
The    Wisdom    of    (15th    cent. 

tract),  n.  324 
Solomon's  Song,  499 
Somer     and     Wynter,     Debate     and 

Stryfe  Bctwccne,  562 
Sommer,  or  Somer,   Sir   Henry   (fl. 

1407-1413).   237 
Soothness,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  9 
Sopwell,   near  St.   Albans,  nunnery 

at,  362 
Sorcery,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  lyi 
Sorrow   for   another's   joy,    in   Con- 
fessio Aniaiitis,  169 
Soul,  the,  in  Mirour  de  I'Omnie,  161 
Southwark,  265 ;  St.  Saviour's  Church 
Church,    155,    158;   Priory   of   St. 
Mary  Overes,  155 
Spain,  353,  386 
Spcctakle  of  Ltif  or  Delectatioun  of 

Wemcn,    325 
Speculum  Cnristiani,  363,  483 

StuUorum,  166 

Spcght,  Thomas,  (fl.  1598),  186,  248 
Spcns,  Sir  Patrick,  449,   469 
Spencer's  Feats  in  France,  Hugh,  470 
Spenser,  E.,  186,  189,  210,  243,  251, 
265    f[.,    377,    383;   Faerie   Queen, 
260,  265,  266;  Shepheard's  Calen- 
der,  The,  243 

or  Spencer,  or  Despenser,  Henry 

le,  bishop  of  Norwich,  64 
Spes  (Hope),  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

31 

Spinagros,  Sir,  in  Golagros  and  Ga- 
wane,    142 

Splyntcr  made  his  testament,  A  mery 
gest  howe  Johan,  371 

Stabat  Mater,  434 

Stafford,  Edward,  duke  of  Bucking- 
ham  (1478-1521),  406 

archbishop  John  (d.  1453),  328 

Stamford,  392 

Stanbridge,  John  (1463-1510),  559 

Stanley  family,  the,  46 


Stanyhurst,  Richard  (i  547-161 8),  30 1 
Statins,  173,  415 
Steill,  Dean  David,  319 
Stephen,  king,  397 

de  Haselfield,  398 

Stewart,     Alexander     (1493  ?-i5i3), 

418 

in  Blind  Harry's  Wallace,  129 

Stewarton,  Ayrshire,  146 

Storm  of  wind,  the  great  (15  January 

1362),    14 
Stow,  John  (i525?-i6o5),  162,  164, 

248 
Stowe,  John  (scribe  of  Jack  Napes), 

481 
Strangeness,    in    The    Passetyme    of 

Pleasure,  267 
Stratford,  John  de  (d.  1348),  399 
Strathclyde,  102,  113 
Strassburg,  374 
Strode,  Ralph  (fl.   1350-1400),  135, 

502 
Study,  Wit's  wife,  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 21,  23 
Subiaco,  Printing  press  at,  353 
Sudbury,  Simon  of  (d.   1381),  64 
Sufferance,    in    Piers   the   Plowman, 

23 
Suffolk,  155,  179,  225,  244,  255 
Pole,  William  de  la,   ist  duke 

of  (1396-1450),  328,  481 
Sumer  is  i-cutnen  in,  446 
Summa  Ostiensis,   412 
Supplantation,   in   Confessio  Aman- 
tis,  170 
Supplication,  in  Confessio  Amantis, 

176 
Surrey,   400 
earl    of,    Henry  Howard,  243, 

376 

243 

Susanna,  The  Story  of,  138,  139 
Susane,  Epistill  of  Swete,  129,  n.  133, 

138,  139.  310 
Susy  Pye,  in  Young  Beichan,  466 
Sutton,  bishop  Oliver  (d.  1299),  395 
Swallow,     tale     of,     in     Henryson's 

Fables,  280 
Swan,  the,  in  Mum,  Sothsegger,  42 
Sweet  Trinity,  470 
Sweet  William's  Ghost,  469 
Sweynheym,  printer,  353 
Swineshead,  Richard  (fl.   1350),  559 
Switzerland,   353 
Swynderby,     William     (the    hermit 

preacher  of  Lincoln),  69 
Syfn  and  his  Brudir,  311 
Sym  Sadie-gander,  265 

Taine,  H.,  217 

Talbot,   Sir  John   (i388?-i453),   ist 

earl  of  Shrewsbury,  345 
Tales,  An  Alphabet  of,  564 
Tam,  in  Lichtounis  Dreme,  317 
Lin,  469 


Ind 


ex 


60 1 


Tarn     Wadling,     near     Hesket     in 

Cumberland,   134,   140 
Tartary,  n.  91 
Tatlock,  J.  S.  P.,  n.  199 
Taxarunt  omnium  beneficiorum  An- 

gliae.  Liber,  412 
Taxes,  Song  against  the  King's,  477 
Tayis  Bank,  320 

Telegonus,  in  Confessto  Amantis,  171 
Temple  of  Brass,  356 
Tetnpluni  ChrystaUinum,   256 
Temptation,   in  Mirour  de  I'Omme, 

161 
Ten  Brink,  B.,  33 
Tennyson,  A.,  201,  208,  454 
Tervey,  tykes  of,  314 
Terence,  407;  Pynson's,  376;  Hecyra, 

Tereus,  in  Confessto  Amantts,  174 
Terouenne,  siege  of,  383 
Testament,  New,  331,333,341,  489; 

Tindal's,  375;  Wyclif's,  325 

Old,  262,   333,   380,  489 

Tewkesbury,  338 

Thackeray,  W.  M.,  202 

Thaise,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  175 

Thebes,  The  Siege  of,  351 

Theobaldus    Stampensis    (d.    1161), 

388 
Theobald,  archbishop  (d.  1161),  388 
Theology,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  9 
Theophilus,  De   Urinis,  413 
Thomas,   St.,  411 
St.,  of  Canterbury,  96;  shrine 

of,  99 

of  Burton  (fl.  1397).  359 

of  Erceldoune  (fl.  1220  ?-i297  ?), 

(True  Thomas),  116 

Lord  Audley  (1488-1544),  406 

in  Piers  the  Plowman,  14 

Thomas  Rymer,  469 
Thorne,  William  (fl.  1397),  559 
Thorney  abbey,  329 
Thornton-le-Dale,     near     Pickering, 

50 

■ le-Street,  50 

Thorpe,  W.  (d.  1407?),  "jg;  Examina- 
tion of,  n.  342 

Thought,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  22 

Three  Ravens,  The,  468 

Thrush  and  the  Nightingale,  The, 
561 

Thule,   96 

Thurgarton,  in  Nottinghamshire,  340 

Thynne,  William  (d.  1546),  185,  187, 
193,  247,  248 

Tibet  Talkapace,  265 

Time,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 

257 
Timor  mortis  conturbat  me,  292 
Tim  Potts,  467 
Tindale,    or    Tyndale,    William    (d. 

1536),  New  Testament,  375 
Tiptoft,    John,    earl    of    Worcester 

(i427?-i47o),   327,   559 


Tokens,  The  Fifteen,  374 

Toledo,  414 

Tomkin,    the    Tinker,    in    Piers    the 

Plowman,  18 
Tom  Tosspot,  265 
Torrent,  208 

Totenham,  The  Turnament  of,  562 
Tottel,  R.   (d.   1594),  227 
Touns,    William,    Contemplacyon    of 

sinners.  The,  368 
Towton,    348 
Trajan,  86 
Transition  English  Song  Collections, 

422 
Trebizond,   91 
Trevelyan,  G.  M.,  44 
Trevisa,  John  de  (1326-1412),  n.  68, 

80  ft".,  97,  215,  327,  337,  341,  357, 

367.  378 
Tribulation,    The    Twelve    profits    of, 

368 
Tristram,  115,  381,  382 
Tristram  and  Iseiilt,  199 
Tristrem,  Sir,  310 
Troilus,  in  Confessio  Amantis,  170 
in     Henryson's     Testament     of 

Cresseid,  282 
See  Chaucer's  Troilus  and  Cri- 

seyde 
Trol'lope,  Sir  Andrew  (d.  1461),  345 
Troy,   197,   343.      See  also  Barbour, 

Caxton  and  Raoul  le  Fevre 
True  Relation,  in  Palice  of  Honour, 

297 
Truth,  213 
Truth,  in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 

261,   267;   in   Piers   the  Plowman, 

2  ff.,  14,  15,   17 
Trivet,   Nicholas    (i258?-i328),    173 
Trivitim,  the,  260,  262,  408,  412,  415 
Troy,    Gest    Hystoriale    of    the    De- 
struction of,  135,  230 
Tudor,    Jasper,    Duke    of    Bedford, 

The  Epitaph  of,  365 
Tuke,  Sir  Brian  (d.   1545),   185 
TuUy,  408,  412;  in  Palice  of  Honour, 

297 
Tundale,  The  Visions  of,  365 
Tungland,  flying  friar  of,  289 
Turkestan,   90 
Turks,  375 

Turnbull,  William  (d.  1454).  418 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  382 
Tuscany,  137 

Tusculum.     See  Nicholas  of,  390 
Twa  Corbies,  The,  468 
Tweed,  the,   loi,  104,   115 
Twety,  Venerie  de,  362 
Tyler's  insurrection,  393 
Tyll  Howleglas,   374 
Typographical  Antiquities,  363 
Tyrrell  family,  93 
Tyrwhitt,  Thomas  (i 730-1 786),  26, 

183,  187  ff.,  227,  236,  245,  248 
Tytler,  W.  (1711-1792),  274 


6o2 


Index 


Ulysses,   in  Coytfcssio  Amantis,    171 

Una,  in  tlie  Faerie  Qnceuc,  266 

United  States,  ballads  in,  450 

Unity  (a  house),  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 32 

Universities  and  Public  Schools  to 
the  time  of  Colet,  387  ff 

Uponlandis  Complaint,  John,  320 

Upton,   Nicholas   (i4oo?-i457),   362 

Urban  V,  56 

VI,  64 

Urquhart,  Sir  Thomas  (1611-1660), 
iiy 

Urry,  John  (1666-1715),  186 

Uscner,   462 

Usk,  Thomas  (d.  1388),  Testament 
of  Love,  The,   183,   185,   188,  190, 

529 
Utrecht,  353 

Vacarius,  397 

Vain  Glorj',   in   Mirour  de  I'Omme, 

162 
Vainglory,  in  The  Example  of  Virtue, 

258 
Valentine  and  Orson,  369 
Valerius  Maximus,    149,    173,  415 
Valla,  in  Police  of  Honour,  296 
Valuation  of  gold  and  silver,  375 
Van  Pape  Jans  landendes,  375 
Varro,  149 
Vegetius,  415 

Veldener,  John,  of  Louvain,  355 
Venice,  91 
Venus.  2^0,  296,  445,  447 

in  Confessio  Amantis,  155,  168, 

171,  172 

in  Golden  Targe,  287 

in  The  Kingis  Quair,  275 

in  Police  of  Honour,   296 

in   The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure, 

257,  261 

in  Reason  and  Sensuality,  231 

in  The  Temple  of  Glass,  231 

in    Tlie   Testament  of  Cresseid, 

282 
Verard,  Antoine,  books  published 
by:  Art  of  good  living  and  dying, 
^^^<  373'  374;  Kalendar  of  Shep- 
herds, The,  373,  374 
Vergil,  112,  200,  263,  273,  294,  295, 
297.  313. .351.  376,  385.  408 

in  Police  of  Honour,  296 

Polydore    (1470  r-1555  ?),    His- 
tory, 295 
Veritas  (  =  Christ),  in  Wyclif's  Dialo- 

gus,  n.  74 
I'crtcu'is  of  the  Mess,  The,  n.  324 
Vices,    in    Mirour   de    I'Omme,    162, 
163;  seven  deadly,  in  Mirour  de 
rOmme,   161 
Vices  et  des  Vertus,  Somme  des,  160, 

316,  359 
Villon,  Fran9ois,  235,  286,  292,  293, 
455 


Vincent  de  Beauvais,  Speculwn  of, 

91 
Virgilius,  The  Lyfe  of,  374 
Virgin    Mary,    132,    300,    426,     432 

ff.,  483 
Hymn  to,  in  Speculum  Chris- 

tiani,    363,    564 

in  Mirour  de  I'Omme,  162 

Virginia,  U.  S.  A.,  450 

in  Confessio  Amantis,  174 

Virtue,   in    The  Example  of   Virtue, 

259 

Virtues,  the  seven,  in  Mirour  de 
I'Omme,   162 

Vita  de  Do-best,  in  Piers  the  Plow- 
man, 46 

Voltaire,  48 

Vulgate,  the,  68,  71,  168,  490 

Wace,  476 

Wadford.     See    Wodeford,    William 

Wakefield,    Hy.,  Worcester,    Bishop 

of  (1375-1395).  69 
Waldby,  Robert,  503 

John,  563 

Walden,  Thomas  de  (Netter),  503 
Wales,  Joan,  princess  of,  63 
Wallace,   Sir  William   (1272  ?-i305), 

116,  118,   121,  124,   125  ff.,  319 
Wallace.     See  Blind  Harry 

Glide,  454 

Wallensis,  Thomas  (d.   1255),  362 
Walsingham,  John,  Reply  of  Friar 

Daw  T  ho  pas.  The,  45 
Thomas    (d.    1422?),    44,    559; 

Historia    Anglicana,    n.    53 
Walsingham,  The  Foundation  of  the 

Chapel  of,  365 
Walter,  son  of  Fleance,  grandson  of 

Banquo,  119 
de  Bibelsworth   (fl.  1270),  507, 

569 


of  Henley,  560 

de   Merton    (d.    1277),    351    ff., 

399  ff.,  403 
William  (fl.  1520),  books  trans- 
lated by,  370;  The  Spectacle 
of  Lovers,  370;  The  History  of 
Titus  and  Gesippus,  370;  The 
History  of  Guy  star  de  and  Sygys- 
nwnde,  370 
Waltheof,  453 

Walton,  John   (fl.   1410),   560 
Wardlaw,  Henry  (d.  1440),  416 

Walter  (d.   1390),  148 

Elizabeth    Lady     (1677-1727), 

Hardycnute,  474 
Warkworth,  John  (d.   1500),  344 
Warrack,  G.,  342 
Warwickshire,   358 
Warton,  T.,  232,   234,  241,  256,  363 
Waster,  in  Piers  the  Plowmayi,  16 
Wastoure.     See  Wynnere 
Wat,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  14,  18 
in  shepherd  carols,  429 


Index 


603 


Watson,  Henry,  apprentice  to  Wyn- 
kyn  de  Worde,  books  trans,  by: 
Church  of  Evil  Men  and  Women, 
The,  369;  History  of  Olyver  of 
Castylle  and  the  fayre  Helayne, 
The,  369;  Ship  of  Fools,  The,  324, 
369;  Valentine  and  Orson,  369 

(?)  Scots  poet,  317 

Watton,  John,  363 

Wemys,  Schir  lohne,  150 

Waynflete,  William  (1395  ?-i486), 
403,  405,  406 

Waynour  (Guinevere),  in  Morte  Ar- 
thur e,  136 

Welsh  question,  480 

Wenlock,  Sir  John,  baron  Wenlock 
(d.  1471),  345 

Westbury-on-Trym,  56,  84 

Westeraes,  Sweden,  363 

West  Hythe,  Kent,  69 

Westminster,  in  Piers  Plowman,  g, 
37;  Caxton's  press  at,  353;  Abbey, 
182, 354,  360 

Westmoreland,  in  Alum,  Sothsegger 
(the  Greyhound),  42 

Wey,  William  (i407?-i476),  560 

Wharton,  Henry  (1664-1695),  n.  89 

White  Canons,  396 

Harts,  the,  in  Mum,  Sothsegger, 

42 

Whitborn,  in  Galloway,  146,  147 

Whittington,  Richard  (d.  1423),  328 

Whittlesea,  or  Whittlesey,  or  Whit- 
tlesay,  William  (d.  1374),  4^4 

Wife  of  Usher's  Well,  The,  470 

Wilcock,  William,  362 

William  I,  389 

in  Piers  the  Plowman,  14 

Will  (Anima),  in  Piers  the  Plowman, 

Will  Stewart  and  John,  n.  466 
William  of  Baldensele  (1336),  91 

of  Durham  (d.   1249),  4°° 

of  Heytesbury,  Sophismata,  411 

de  Kilkenny,  400 

of  Malmesbury,  450,  452,  453, 

468 
de  Monte   Lauduns   (c.    1346), 


412 


de  Mandagoto,  412 
of  Ockham  (d.   1349?),  48,  59, 

397,  403;  Defensor,  351;  Sumtna, 

411 

de  ShareshuU  (fi.  1360),  43 

of  Wadington,  Manuel  des  Pe- 

chiez,  160,  173,  476 

of  Worcester  (1415-1482?),  351 

of  Wychwood  {Piers  Plowman) , 


40 


ff. 


of  Wykeham  (1324-1404),  403 


William  of  Tyre,  The  continuation  of 

(1261),  71.  91 
Willie  and  Earl  Richard's  Daughter, 

467 


Willie's  Lyke-Wake,  467 

Wilson,  [Sir]  Thomas   (r525?-i58i), 

Rhetoric  (1553),  186 
Wiltshire,    Butler,    James,    earl    of 

(1420-1461),    344 
Winchelsea  (see  fight  off),  138 
Winchester  College,  403,  407 
Windsor,  405 

George's,  St.,  chapel,   181 

Wine-god,  the,  in  Hawes's,  A  Joyful 

Meditation,  etc.,  258 
Winzet,   Ninian   (1518-1592),   Trac- 
tates, 325 
Wisdom,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  1 1 ; 

in  The  Passetyme  of  Pleasure,  259; 

in    The  Example   of    Virtue,    258, 

259,  262 
Wise  Man  taught  his  son.  How  the, 

562 
Wit,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  11,  22, 

23 

Withies,  The,  n.  464 

Wodeford,  or  Wadford,  William  of 
(fi.  1381-1390),  61,  503 

Wolsey,  Thomas   (1475  ?-i53o),   406 

Woodstock,   182 

Woodlarke,  Robert  (d.  1479),  406 

Woodville,  or  Wodville,  or  Wyd- 
ville,  Anthony,  baron  Scales  and 
2nd  earl  Rivers  (i442?-i483), 
345,  360;  books  translated  by: 
Cordyale,  or  the  Four  last  things, 
357;  Dictes  and  Sayings  of  the 
Philosophers,  356,  485;  The  Moral 
Proverbs  of  Christine  De  Pisan,  356 

Elizabeth   (i437?-i492),  406 

Woolwich,    181 

Worcester,  2,  56,  65 

William  (1415-1482  ?),  560 

Wordsworth,   W.,   238 

Work-well,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  22 

World,  the  (Mydlerd,  a  mirror 
called)  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  28 

the,  in  Mir  our  de  I'Omme,  161 

World  and  the  Child,  The,  265 

Worms,  375 

Worthies,  the  Nine,  in  The  Parle- 
ment  of  the  Thre  Ages,  43 

Wowing  of  J  ok  and  Jynny,  The,  311, 
313 

Wrath,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  14,  27 

Wright,  T.  (1810-1877),  41  ff-,  45, 
45,  n.  53,  190,  n.  476,  n.  480,  n. 
483 

Wright's  Chaste  Wife,  565 

Wrong,  in  Piers  the  Plowman,  5,  37 

Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas  (i503?-i542), 
243,  248,  442 

Wyclif  Society,  56 

Wycliffe-on-Tees,  56 

Wyclif,  John  (1320?-! 384),  47,  49  ff., 
83.  84,  88,  97,  325,  327,  340,  399, 
406;  De  Logica,  De  Ente  Predi- 
camentali,  De  Materia  et  Forma, 
De    Benedicta    Incarnacione,    De 


6o4 


Index 


Wyclif,  John — Continued 

Cotnposicionc  Hominis,  6i ;  De  Civ- 

ili    Dominio,    56,    62;    De   Logica, 

61;    De   Ente   Predkamentali,    61; 

De    Materia    et    Forma,    61;    De 

Benedicta  Incarnacione,  61,  72,  75; 

De     Coniposicione     Hominis,     61 ; 

Detcrmiiiatio,     62;     De     Ecclesia, 

62;  De  Vcritate  Sacrae  Scriptiirae, 

64,    66,    67;    Opus    Evangelicum, 

69,  74;  Dialogiis,  n.  74;  Trialogus, 

74;  Cruciata,  64 

Wyclifite  version,  OW  Testament,  380 

II 'v/  0/  Auchiirmuchty,  The,  xii 

Wylie  Wife  of  the  Hie  Toun  Hie,  The, 

468 
Wymond,  in  Rauf  Coihear,  144,  145 
Wynkyn  de  Worde   (d.    1534?),  255, 
«•  341,  354.  356,  359.  2,(^5,  366  it., 
373,  n.  447,  485 
Wynncre  and  Wastoure,  40 
Wyntoun.     See  Andrew  of 

Yarrow,  324 

Yo  Mariners  of  England,  25? 


Yedingham,  51,  54 

Yonge,  James  (fl.  1423) 

York,  56,  82,  369,  453,  478,  479: 
minster,  56 

house  of,  338,  340 

Edward,  duke  of,  326 

Henry   B.    M.   C,   Cardinal  of 

(1725-1807),  88 

Manuale,  a,  369 

Yorkshire,  loi,  476;  dialect,  450; 
Normans,  476 

Youghal,  346 

Young  Beichan,  466 

Hunting,   468 

Youth,  in  Conjessio  Amantis,  171; 
(renamed  Virtue),  in  The  Ex- 
ample of  Virtue,  258,  266;  in  Lyd- 
gate's  Pilgrimage,  230;  in  The 
Parlcment  of  the  Thre  Ages,  43; 
in  Piers  the  Plowman,  25 

Ypocras,  daughter  of,  90 

Ypotis,  Meditations  of  Chylde,  351 

Yuletide  carols,  430 

Zwingli,  78 


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