ENGLISH MIRACLE PLAYS
MORALITIES AND INTERLUDES
SPECIMENS AND EXTRACTS
POLLARD
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH
NEW YORK
Frontispiece}
FROM A SARUM HORAE
PARIS, P. PIGOUCHET FOR S. VOSTRE, 1502
ENGLISH MIRACLE PLAYS
MORALITIES AND INTERLUDES
SPECIMENS OF THE PRE-ELIZABETHAN DRAMA
EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION
NOTES, AND GLOSSARY, BY
ALFRED W. POLLARD, M.A.
ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFOR1J
FOURTH EDITION, REVISED
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1904
OXFORD
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BY HORACE HART, M.A.
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
* /& '-—»—.
- ._. V
i -
.
^G
^3^ , , .
REV. WALTER W. SKEAT, LITT.D., LL.D.
ELRINGTON AND BOSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
THIS VOLUME IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED
IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE HELP WHICH ITS EDITOR
IN COMMON WITH ALL STUDENTS OF OUR EARLIER LITERATURE
HAS RECEIVED FROM HIS WRITINGS
PREFACE.
THE small attention devoted to the pre-Elizabethan
drama in all histories of English Literature is the best
excuse for the appearance of the present volume of
Specimens. Of the works from which these Specimens
have been drawn, the greater part are accessible to students
only in the Publications of Societies or in limited editions,
expensive and difficult to procure. It seemed therefore
to the Editor that a volume which should bring together
within a small compass illustrations of the English dramatic
literature of more than two centuries, with an unpretentious
introduction and commentary, might fairly escape the
charge of book-making, and be useful to many lovers of
literature unable to make the subject their special study.
It may be added that, while no sample can ever perfectly
represent the complete work from which it is taken, the
peculiar difficulty in illustrating dramatic work by means
of specimens hardly applies in this case. It is perhaps
ungrateful for one who has derived so much pleasure from
these old plays to accuse them of prolixity and lack of unity,
but a very small acquaintance with them will convince the
student that illustration by means of selected episodes offers
no injustice to the dramatists.
In writing the Introduction and Notes I have endeavoured
to make the best use of the labours of my predecessors, to
viii PREFACE.
most of whom I have made special acknowledgment as
occasion arose. I am also under obligations to Dr. Furni-
vall, Mr. Henry Bradley, Miss Toulmin Smith, Miss Emily
Rickey and Mr. York Powell for much kind help, and to
Mr. Gurney and His Grace the Duke of Devonshire for
permission to consult MSS.
ALFRED W. POLLARD.
May 24th, 1890.
PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION.
IN preparing a second edition in 1894, and a third in 1898,
the text and notes were carefully revised, and some additional
notes added, mainly as the result of suggestions by Dr.
Henri Logeman and Dr. Eugen Kolbing. In this fourth
edition my principal debt is to Mr. E. K. Chambers,
whose fine book on The Mediaeval Stage (Clarendon Press,
1 903) appeared just as I was beginning my revision. Some
illustrations from fifteenth and sixteenth century sources are
now added for the first time. Notes as to them will be
found at the end of the Introduction.
A. W. P.
October, 1903.
CONTENTS.
FACE
INTRODUCTION X1
YORK PLAY.— THE BARKERS '
CHESTER PLAYS —
I. NOAH'S FLOOD 8
II. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC 21
TOWNELEY PLAY—
SECUNDA PASTORUM 31
COVENTRY PLAY-
XL THE SALUTATION AND CONCEPTION .... 44
MARY MAGDALENE 49
THE CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE 64
•
EVERYMAN 77
INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS 97
SKELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE J°6
HEYWOOD'S THE PARDONER AND THE JRERE . . .114
THERSYTES I26
BALE'S KING JOHN I46
APPENDIX '55
MYSTERIUM RESURRECTIONIS D. N. JHESU CHRISTI . 157
LUDUS SUPER ICONIA SANCTI NlCOLAI . . . . l6a
THE HARROWING OF HELL . ... . . .166
BROME PLAY OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC . . . • '73
X CONTENTS.
NOTES— fAGE
YORK PLAY 177
CHESTER PLAYS-
NOAH'S FLOOD 180
THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC 184
TOWNELEY PLAY —
SECUNDA PASTORUM 188
COVENTRY PLAY —
THE SALUTATION AND CONCEPTION .... 191
MARY MAGDALENE 193
THE CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE 197
EVERYMAN 202
FOUR ELEMENTS 204
SKELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE 207
HEYWOOD'S THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE . .210
THERSYTES 213
BALE'S KING JOHN 218
ADDITIONAL NOTES 2 24 a
GLOSSARIAL INDEX . .225
INTRODUCTION.
AT the outset of his enquiries almost every student of the
modern drama is found instinctively peering through long
centuries of darkness for some glimmerings of the brilliant
torch-light of Greek tragedy. In this pious desire to connect
new things with old, to link together the names of ^Eschylus
and Shakespeare, the services of a motley crew are called into
requisition, in which poets, philosophers, saints, mimes, jugglers,
monks, nuns, bishops and tradesfolk have all to play their part;
but the pedigree is like that of many a modern genealogy, clear
at the beginning and the end, with a huge hiatus gaping be-
tween. Under the later Roman Empire the drama died a
natural death, not because the Church condemned it, but by
a lust for sheer obscenity and bloodshed which made true
dramatic writing impossible. Until the theatres in which men
were made to die and women to prostitute themselves, not in
show but in reality, had long been closed and forgotten, the stage
was something too vile and horrible for any attempt to Chris-
tianize it ; nor could the innate dramatic instincts of mankind
again find free play amid the unhealthy surroundings of a dying
civilization. Yet one piece of positive evidence has long been
quoted and re-quoted to the contrary. A drama entitled Xpioroy
Uuax^v, on the subject of the Passion of Christ and the sorrows
of the Blessed Virgin, has been generally attributed to St. Gregoiy
Nazianzene, a writer of the fourth century. Save for the absence
of lyrical choruses, it is cast strictly upon the lines of Greek
tragedy, and it is interesting to classical scholars because,
together with a few verses from y£schylus (chiefly from the
Prometheus Vine/us), the writer has incorporated into his play
several hundred lines of Euripides, many of which have not
xii INTRODUCTION.
been preserved in any other form. A cento such as this is
necessarily destitute alike of dramatic appropriateness and
religious feeling, and it is a pleasure to find some better reason
for denying its authorship to St. Gregory than the doubt as to
its strict orthodoxy, which, until quite recently, alone excited
suspicion. To Dr. J. G. Brambs 1, the latest editor of the
Xpioroy nd<rx<av, belongs the credit of a conclusive proof that
the metre, prosody and grammar of this play are not those of
St. Gregory, nor of any other writer of the fourth century, and
cannot be reasonably attributed to an earlier period than some
six hundred years later. The Xpioro? ndvxw, whether, as
Dr. Brambs conjectures, the work of Joannes Tzetzes, or of one
of his contemporaries, in any case thus ceases to be the dramatic
landmark which it has long been represented, and falls into the
same class with the plays of the learned nun Hroswitha, to
which also a somewhat undue importance is generally at-
tributed.
This Hroswitha2 was a nun of Gandersheim in Saxony, and
her six plays are planned in some measure on the comedies of
Terence. Not that, like the author of the Xpia-ros naa-^ap with
the Greek dramatists, she incorporated his verses into her own
work, or made any attempt to imitate his metres ; but that
Terence, of whom it has been said that he ' bore a charmed life
amid the monasteries of the middle ages,' appeared to the good
nun undeservedly and dangerously popular, and she wished to
show what much better comedies might be written to inculcate
strict moral and religious teaching. That she succeeded in this
attempt it is impossible to allow. What has been justly called
her ' supersensuous modesty ' (Hase) 3, is to modern readers
infinitely more offensive than the license of her original. Her
language is bald, and her characters without life or humanity.
In one of her comedies a wicked Roman Governor goes to visit
1 CAristus Fattens. Tragcedia Christiana. Gregorio Nazianzeno faho
atlributa. Recensuit Dr. J. G. Brambs. Lipsise, 1885.
* Thidtrt de Hrotswitha, religicuse attemande du X" stide. Traduit
en fran9ais avec le texte latin, revue sur le manuscrit de Munich. Par
C. Magnin. Paris, 1845.
8 Miracle Plays. An historical survey. Translated by A. W. Jackson.
1880.
INTRODUCTION. xiii
the Christian virgins, whom, with some improbability, he has
caused to be imprisoned in the scullery of his palace. Suddenly
he is struck with madness, and addresses his embraces to the
pots and pans, covers himself with dirt, and is hustled by his
own bodyguard as a devil. This farcical scene is Hroswitha's
one attempt at humour ; for the rest her plays are written to
display the heroism of martyrs and the glories of chastity, and
deserve the credit due to goodness of intention, and little else.
Whether they were ever acted is a matter of controversy. On
the one hand some of her incidents could hardly have been
represented with modesty ; on the other, the really humorous
situation in the scullery is so baldly treated as to depend largely
upon acting for its effect, and throughout her plays the extreme
brevity of the diction and absence of any attempt at literary
grace, point to an appeal to an audience rather than to readers.
But the audience, it is needless to say, would have been con-
fined to the nunnery and its benefactors, and there is no reason
to suppose that, whether acted or not, the half dozen plays of
the literary nun exercised the smallest influence on the history
of the drama. But what Hroswitha did at Gandersheim other
religious persons were doing in other monasteries, if not con-
temporaneously, at all events within the next hundred years,
but with all-important differences. The comedies of Hroswitha
are exotics, based, at however great a distance, on a heathen
model, coined in the main from her imagination, having nothing
to do with the services of the Church. The dramatic repre-
sentations which we have next to describe are popular in their
aim, liturgical in their origin, taking as their subjects events
which belonged strictly either to sacred history or to accepted
legends.
Anyone who enters a Catholic Church at Christmas time
is likely to see near one of the altars a coloured illumination
representing the infant Saviour in His cradle, St. Joseph and
the Blessed Virgin watching Him, and an ox and an ass munch-
ing their food hard by. The children delight in it, and it brings
home to them the scene at the manger-bed at Bethlehem more
vividly than a thousand sermons. In the thirteenth century St.
Francis of Assisi, at his altar in the forest, represented that scene
still more realistically, with a real child, real men and women, a
xiv INTRODUCTION.
real ox and ass. At any primitive little Italian town, when the
members of the different religious gilds and confraternities walk
in procession on Corpus Christi Day, little children toddle among
them, dressed, some with a tiny sheepskin and staff to represent
St. John the Baptist; others in sackcloth as St. Mary Mag-
dalene ; others in a blue robe, with a little crown, as the Blessed
Virgin ; others again with an aureole tied to their little heads, as
the infant Saviour. Similar instances of the attempt to bring
home to an unlettered people the reality of the chief events con-
nected with the Christian religion might be multiplied indefinitely.
The shepherds who, at Christmas time come into Rome from the
Abruzzi, and pipe before the pictures of the Virgin, or the German
peasants who, down to the beginning of the present century,
used to go round their village in the guise of the Three Kings
from the East, illustrate the way in which the efforts of the
Church were seconded by the common people. Not from vapid
imitations of Euripides and Terence, but from such simple
customs as these did the religious drama take its beginnings.
1 All evidence points to Easter as the festival with which the
earliest religious dramas were most intimately connected, and
it is probable that the first form which the Easter Play assumed
was that of a ceremony in which the crucifix was solemnly buried
on Good Friday, and again disinterred on Easter Day amid a
pompous ritual. Most commonly the ' sepulchre ' in which the
crucifix was deposited was a wooden erection placed within a
recess in the wall or upon a tomb, but according to the interesting
article 'Sepulchre,' in Parker's Glossary of Architecture, several
English churches still contain permanent stone structures es-
pecially built for the purpose. Among the churches which Mr.
Parker mentions are those at Navenby and Heckinton, Lincoln-
shire ; Hawton, in Nottinghamshire ; Northwold, in Norfolk ;
and Holcombe Burnell, in Devonshire. In the temporary struc-
tures the. lower part generally contained a representation of
sleeping soldiers, intended for the Roman guard, and in a curious
account of the delivery by a certain Maister Canynge on July
4th, 1470, of 'a new sepulchre well gilt with golde and a civei
1 The next few paragraphs are mainly quoted from an article on
Easter Plays contributed to the Guardian by the present writer, Mav
22, 1889, improved with the help of Chambers's The Median-al Stagt.
INTRODUCTION. xv
thereto,' to the vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, there is
mention of '4 knights armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their
weapons in their hands ; that is to say, 2 axes and 2 spears, with
2 pave"s.' In this sepulchre both hell and heaven were re-
presented, together with figures of angels and of still more sacred
persons. In Davis's Antient Rites of Durham we are told: —
' Within the church of Durham, upon Good Friday, there was a
marvellous solemn service, in which service time, after the Passion was
sung, two of the ancient monks took a goodly large crucifix all of gold
of the picture of our Saviour Christ, nailed upon the Cross The
service being ended, the said two monks carried the Cross to the Sepul-
chre with great reverence (which Sepulchre was set up that morning on
the north side of the Quire, nigh unto the High Altar before the service
time), and there did lay it within the said Sepulchre with great devotion.'
At the cathedral of Rouen there was a special service for the
occasion called '•Sepukhri Officium? Trace of the ceremony
still lingers in the custom of veiling the crucifix above the altar
from Holy Thursday to the first evensong of Easter. In its
original form it was of long continuance, and we are told that as
late as 1316 its popularity was so dangerous that in that year an
Archbishop of Worms ordained that thenceforth it should take
place within closed doors, and in the presence of the priests
only.
The first appearance of dramatic dialogue in the services of
the Church has been traced to the ninth century, when words
were fitted to the additional melodies (at first sung only to
vowel sounds) which it had become customary to insert, on
high festivals, in the Gregorian music of the Antiphons, more
especially in those of the Introit sung as the priest proceeds to
the altar to celebrate Mass. Of these interpolations or 'Tropes,'
as they were called, the most important in its dramatic influence
was that sung on Easter-day, leading up to the Introit Resur-
rexi et adhnc tecum su»i, Alleluia. This is based on the
colloquy between the Angels at the tomb and the Three Maries
in the narratives of SS. Matthew and Mark ; in its earliest form
it ran :
Quern quaeritis in sepulchro, Christicolae ?
Tesum Nazarenum crucifixum, o caelicolae.
xvi INTRODUCTION.
Non est hie : surrexit sicut praedixerat.
Ite, nuntiate quia surrexit de sepulchre.
In a trope in use at Winchester Cathedral at the end of the
tenth century the form is slightly more elaborate, and the
contemporary Concordia Regularis, an appendix to the Rule
of St. Benedict drawn up at some date between 959 and
979 by Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, shows that at that
Cathedral the colloquy had been transferred from the Easter
Mass, to follow the third lesson at Matins, and describes the
ceremonial the development of which was doubtless the cause of
the transference. I quote the directions as translated by Mr.
Chambers :
' While the third lesson is being chanted, let four brethren vest them-
selves. Let one of these, vested in an alb, enter as though to take part
in the service, and let him approach the sepulchre without attracting
attention, and sit there quietly with a palm in his hand. While the
third respond is being chanted let the remaining three follow, and let
them all, vested in copes, bearing in their hands thuribles with incense
and stepping delicately [pedetemptim~\ as those who seek something,
approach the sepulchre. These things are done in imitation of the angel
sitting in the monument and the women with spices coming to anoint
the body of Jesus. When therefore he who sits there beholds the three
approach him like folk lost and seeking something, let him begin in
a dulcet voice of medium pitch to sing Quem quaeritis. And when he
has sung it to the end, let the three reply in unison Ihesitm A'azarenurn.
So he, Non est hie : surrexit sicut praedixerat . Ite, nuntiate quia surrexit
a mortuis. At the words of this bidding, let those three turn to the
choir and say Alleluia ! resurrexit Dominus ! This said, let the one,
still sitting there and as if recalling them, say the anthem Venite et
•videte locum. And saying this let him rise and lift the veil, and show
them the place bare of the cross, but only the cloths laid there in which
the cross was wrapped. And when they have seen this, let them set
clown the thuribles which they bare in that same sepulchre, and take the
cloth, and hold it np in the face of the clergy, and as if to demonstrate
that the Lord has risen and is no longer wrapped therein, let them sing
the anthem Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro, and lay the cloth upon the
altar. When the anthem is done, let the priest sharing in their gladness
at the triumph of our King, in that, having vanquished death, He rose
again, begin the hymn Te Deum laudamus. And this begun, all the
bells chime out together.
Here we already have a drama, but elaboration once begun
steadily continued, as is proved by the more developed variation
on the same theme printed in our first appendix from Thomas
INTRODUCTION. xvii
Wright's edition of a thirteenth-century manuscript preserved at
Orleans.
An early Christmas p'ay on the subject of the Slaughter of
the Innocents (Interfectio Puerorum), which has been handed
down to us in the same manuscript, is cast upon very similar
lines to the Mystery of the Resurrection printed in our Ap-
pendix. The part of the Holy Innocents (the fact that they were
under two years of age is neglected !) was taken by the choir
boys, the other characters, including the women, would be
played by the monks. In one part of the church (pews, it will
be remembered, were a later invention) is erected a manger;
in another a throne for Herod ; a distant corner is supposed to
represent Egypt. With this simple stage-arrangement the action
proceeds. The story is set forth in the fewest possible words,
interspersed with anthems for the choristers. Towards the end
of the play the boys (having arisen from the dead) enter the
choir; the throne of Herod is taken by another actor, who
represents Archelaus ; an angel bids the Holy Family return
from Egypt, and then the Precentor begins the Te Deum and
the performance is over.
The manuscript which has preserved for us these two plays
contains also eight others, four of which are concerned with the
miracles of St. Nicholas, while the rest have as their respective
subjects the Adoration of the Magi, the Appearance of Christ to
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the Conversion of
St. Paul, and the Raising of Lazarus. All ten plays have the
same characteristics. They are all intended to be performed in
church, introducing anthems and hymns from the office of the
day, and requiring only the simplest stage-machinery. They
are all written with great brevity and simplicity, partly in prose,
partly in classical metres, partly in monkish rimes. A know-
ledge of classical Latin is indicated by adaptations from Virgil
in two of the plays, and by the tag from Sallust (Incendium
meum ruina restinguairi), which is put into the mouth of Herod
in the Interfectio Puerorum ; but the plays themselves have no
pretensions whatever to any literary merit.
As has already been said, the Orleans manuscript, in which
the plays we have been considering are preserved, belongs to
the thirteenth century. Its contents, however, were probably
b
xviii INTRODUCTION.
composed before the year 1200, and may thus be reckoned as
contemporaneous with those of Hilarius, with which we have
next to deal. Of this Hilarius, both of his works and of what
little is known of his life, an excellent account is given in the
third volume of Professor Morley's English Writers, and a
shorter one in his Sketch of English Literature, so that the less
need be said here. He is thought, on good grounds, to have
been an Englishman, and we know from his writings that he
was a pupil of the celebrated Abelard. Of his three plays (all
in Latin), that on the history of Daniel was composed in
collaboration with two other writers, and was probably intended
for representation at Christmas. Another is on the Raising of
Lazarus ; while the third, which is printed in our Appendix, has
for its subject a miracle wrought by St. Nicholas in defence of
the honour of an image of himself, under the care of which a
heathen is supposed to deposit a treasure for safe keeping. The
treasure is stolen by robbers, and the heathen on his return
upbraids and beats the image which has played him so false.
Smarting under the blows, St. Nicholas appears to the robbers,
and in a speech, of which, from what we know of Hilarius, there
is no reason to suppose the humour unconscious, forces them to
restitution. The heathen returns again, and in his joy makes
honourable amends to the saint, and is converted to Christianity.
This play is noteworthy for its refrains in old French. Similar
French refrains are found in Hilarius' play on the Raising of
Lazarus, and are extended to short speeches in the Mystery of
the Ten Virgins, another early French play. Similarly German
and Latin are mingled in the episode of the anointing of the feet
of Christ by St. Mary Magdalene, in a play written about this
time in Germany. These refrains and short speeches paved the
way for the composition of whole plays in the vernacular, of
\vhich in France we find very early specimens, e.g. the Norman
play on the subject of Adam, which belongs to the thirteenth
century.
§2.
Before the Norman Conquest we have no reason to suppose
that dramatic representations were known in England. The
performance of the earliest play of which we have any mention
INTRODUCTION. xix
must probably be assigned to the reign of William Rufus.
According to Matthew of Paris (writing circ. 1240), a certain
Geoffrey, who afterwards became Abbot of St. Albans, while yet
a secular person, was invited from France to take the mastership
of the Abbey School. His arrival was delayed, and in the
meanwhile the school was given to another. He therefore
settled for a while at Dunstable, and while there borrowed from
the sacristan of St. Albans copes (captz chorales) in which to
array the performers of a Miracle Play in honour of Saint
Katharine. During the performance of the play these copes
were destroyed by fire, and Geoffrey took this disaster so much
to heart, that he abandoned the world and entered the Abbey of
St. Albans as a monk. By 1119 he had risen to be its Abbot,
and it is by reckoning back from this year that we arrive at the
end of the eleventh century as the probable date of the perform-
ance of his unlucky play. A century later such representations
had become common. William Fitzstephen, who wrote circ.
1182, in his Life of Saint Thomas a Becket, contrasts with the
theatrical spectacles of ancient Rome the 'holier plays' of
London, in which were represented the miracles and sufferings
of the confessors and martyrs of the Church : repr&sentationes
miraculorum qua sancti confessores operati sunt, sive reprcesen-
tationes passionum quibus claruit constantia martyrum. The
word miraculorum in this quotation, and the phrase quern
miracula vulgariter appellamus, used by Matthew Paris in
writing of the play of St. Katharine, reminds us of a distinction
between Miracle Plays and Mysteries, of which a great deal is
made in all text-books of English Literature, but which in
England had no existence in fact during the centuries in which
the sacred drama chiefly flourished. ' Properly speaking,' says
Professor Ward (English Dramatic Literature, vol. i. p. 23),
'•Mysteries deal with Gospel events only, their object being
primarily to set forth, by an illustration of the prophetic history
of the Old Testament, and more particularly of the fulfilling
history of the New, the central mystery of the Redemption of
the world, as accomplished by the Nativity, the Passion, and
the Resurrection. Miracle Plays, on the other hand, are con-
cerned with incidents derived from the legends of the saints of
the Church.' The distinction in itself is, as Professor Ward
b 2
XX INTRODUCTION.
remarks, a legitimate one, but it is rendered rather confusing by
the fact that, while in England we have no single extant example
of a pure Miracle Playas thus defined, all dramatic representations
on this subject were called by this name, and the word mystery
is said to have been first applied to them in this country by
Dodsley, in the preface to his collection of Old Plays, early in
the eighteenth century1. But the English preference for the
word miracula must have had some basis in fact, and its
predominance gives a certain plausibility to the theory of Pro-
fessor Ten Brink (Gesch. der alt. eng. Litt. § 248), that in the
development of the sacred drama legendary subjects preceded
Biblical, and those drawn from the Old Testament the ones
taken from the New. The theory, however, is not one to be
hastily accepted, partly because the motives of reverence to
which it is assigned appeal far more to the modern mind than
to mediaeval simplicity, and partly because it hardly fits in
with the existence of the liturgical dramas for Christmas and
Easter, to which attention has already been drawn. On the
other hand, it may be taken as certain that the sacred drama
had no independent origin on English soil, but was introduced
into this country after the Norman Conquest. It is thus
probable that towards the beginning of the twelfth century the
miracles of the saints formed the favourite theme of the French
playwrights in England, and that the English preference for the
word miracle over that of mystlre was due to the fact that it
was to this class of play that English audiences were first
introduced.
1 The Ludtis de Sancta Katharina at Dunstable, pageants on the
subject of the lives of St. Fabyan, St. Sebastian and St. Botulf, per-
formed in London, plays at Windsor and Bassingbourne on St. George,
and the Ludi beat& Christina at Bethersden, Kent, are the only Miracle
Plays, in the scientific use of the term, of which I can find mention of
the performance in England, and none of these unfortunately now survive.
The classification of the play of St. Paul in the Digby MS. is perhaps
doubtful ; the play of St. Mary Magdalene, from which extracts are given
in this volume, as introducing the character of Christ and the Resur-
rection, is at least in part a mystery. But, as remarked in the preface
to it in my notes, this interesting play unites in itself all the features
which are commonly assigned respectively to Miracle Plays, Mysteries
and Moralities.
INTRODUCTION. xxi
Of Miracle Plays written in Latin none now exist of which
it can be said with any probability that they were acted in
England. An early play on the subject of the creation and fall
of Adam, which was stated by its first editor, M. Luzarche, to
be written in Anglo-Norman, is now regarded as purely Norman,
and although it is highly probable that French plays were
written and acted in England during the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, we are in possession of no trustworthy evidence on
the subject. According to statements made at the end of the
sixteenth century in the Banes or proclamation of the Chester
Plays, this great cycle dates in some form from the mayoralty
of Sir John Arneway, whose term of office, which really covered
the years 1268-1276, is elsewhere in this connexion transferred
to 1328. Mr. E. K. Chambers has ingeniously suggested that
Arneway's name has been confused with that of a Richard
Erneis or Herneys who held office from 1327 to 1329, and with
this correction the tradition is probable enough. The composi-
tion of the cycle is attributed in the Banns to ' one Done
Rondall, moonke of Chester Abbe,' i. e. to the famous Randall
or Randulf Higden, the author of the Polychronicon, who was
a monk of St. Werburgh's Abbey at Chester from 1299 to his
death in 1364, and whose zeal for the English tongue would
make him a very fitting author of one of the first English
cycles. It is probable, however, that Chester did not stand
alone, but that dramatic composition began at an early date
also in the East-Midlands1. The Harrowing of Hell, an
East-Midland poem in dialogue, quoted in full in our Appendix,
though not itself a Miracle Play, undoubtedly shows that
dramatic influences had been at work before its composi-
tion, and three extant manuscripts of it date from the reign of
Edward II. The East-Midland play of Abraham and Isaac
(also quoted from in the Appendix), discovered by Miss Lucy
Toulmin Smith, at Brome Hall in Suffolk, may be assigned
to the fourteenth century, and about the year 1350 a Ludus
Filiorum Israel was performed at Cambridge. Passing from
the East-Midlands northwards, we are confronted with the
great York cycle of plays dating from about 1360, with the
1 In the geographical grouping of the plays I follow Professor Ten
Brink (Gtsch. der alt. eng. Lit. § -251).
xxii INTRODUCTION.
closely related ' Towneley ' or Wakefield cycle of about the same
period, and with the lost Beverly cycle, some remnants of which
may possibly be preserved in the fragments lately printed by
Prof. Skeat 1 from an early fifteenth century MS. Further north
still we find another at Newcastle, of which one play (The
Building of the Ark) still remains. Westwards, again, in the
fifteenth century, Chester became a kind of dramatic metropolis
for Preston, Lancaster, Kendall and Dublin. Southwards, the
fame of Coventry gradually overshadowed that of all its rivals,
and we hear of plays performed at Tewkesbury, at Reading,
and at Witney. Throughout the fourteenth, the fifteenth and
the sixteenth centuries, we have continuous evidence of the
popularity2 and frequent production of Miracle Plays in nearly
1 Academy, Jan. 4 and n, 1890.
8 The plays did not always meet with approval. I quote from a
Wycliffite sermon against them the apology which the preacher puts
into the mouths of their defenders. It gives a good summary of medie-
val views on the subject, and, inferentially, of the nature of the
preacher's attack.
'But here ajenis thei seyen that they pleyen these myraclis in the
worschip of God, and so dyden not these Jewis that bobbiden [mocked]
Crist. Also, ofte sithis by siche myraclis pleyinge ben men converted
to gode lyvynge, as men and wymmen seyng in myraclis pleyinge that
the devil by ther array, by the which thei moven eche on othere to
leccherie and to pride, makith hem his servauntis to bryngen hemsilf and
many othere to helle, and to ban fer more vylenye herafter by ther
proude aray heere than thei han worschipe heere, and seeynge ferthermore
that al this wor[l]dly beyng heere is but vanite for a while, as is myraclis
pleying, wherthoru thei leeven ther pride, and taken to hem afterward
the meke conversacioun of Crist and of his seyntis, and so myraclis
pleyinge turneth men to the bileve, and not pervertith. Also ofte
sythis by siche myraclis pleyinge men and wymmen, seynge the passioun
of Crist and of his seyntis, ben movyd to compassion and devocioun
wepynge bitere tens, thanne thei ben not scornynge of God but wor-
schipyng. Also, prophitable to men and to the worschipe of God it is
to fulfillen and sechen alle the menes by the whiche men mowen scene
synne and drawen hem to vertues ; and sythen as ther ben men that only
by ernestful doynge wylen be convertid to God, so ther ben othere men
that wylen be convertid to God but by gamen and play ; and now on
dayes men ben not convertid by the ernestful doyng of God ne of men,
thanne now it is tyme and skilful to assayen to convertyn the puple by
INTRODUCTION. xxiii
every part of England. During this period we have record of
the performance of plays in nearly a hundred English towns and
villages, some of them quite small places. In London, in 1378,
the choristers of St. Paul's prayed for the suppression of the
performances of ' unexpert people'; in 1391 the Parish Clerks
played for three days at Skinners' Well near Smithfield, and we
have record of another play at the same place in 1407, which
lasted no less than eight days. In 1416 a play of St. George of
Cappadocia was performed before Henry V. and the Emperor
Sigismund at Windsor, and in the following year the English
Bishops at the Council of Constance entertained first the
Burghers and afterwards their fellow-councillors with a Christ-
mas play, representing the Nativity, visit of the Magi, and
Slaughter of the Innocents. Similar references might be almost
indefinitely multiplied.
From the mention of the ludi sanctiores in William Fitz-
stephen (circ. 1182), to the prayer of the choristers of St. Paul's
in 1378, we have no reference to Miracle Plays in London.
During these two centuries a great change had been wrought
in the plays and the manner of their performance, with the
gradual evolution of which we are only imperfectly acquainted.
Originally, as we have seen, they were acted in, or in the
precincts of, churches, and by the priests and their assistants.
But the apparently instantaneous popularity of the plays led to
a demand for their extension, which gradually resulted in the
exclusion of the original performers from all participation in
them. In the shows and processions which formed so prominent
a feature in medieval life, allegorical personages and symbols
had from very early times played a part. In the procession of
pley and gamen, as by myraclis pleyinge and other maner myrthis.
Also, summe recreatioun men moten ban, and bettere it is, or lesse yvele,
that thei han theyre recreacoun by pleyinge of myraclis than by pleyinge
of other japis. Also, sithen it is leveful to han the myraclis of God
peynted, why is not as wel leveful to han the myraclis of God pleyed,
sythen men mowen bettere reden the wille of God and his mervelous
werkis in the pleyinge of hem than in the peyntynge, and betere thei ben
holden in mennus mynde and oftere rehersid by the pleyinge of hem than
by the peyntynge, for this is a deed bok, the tother a qu[i]ck.' — MS. of
the end of the fourteenth century in library of St Martin's-in-the-Fields,
quoted in Wright and Halliwell's Reliquia Antiqua, vol. ii. p. 45.
xxiv INTRODUCTION.
a gild the patron saint would form a prominent figure, and on
the occasion of royal entries and rejoicings his representative
would act as the spokesman of the craft from one of the gaily
decorated scaffolds, which were erected at different points along
the route. As the Miracle Plays grew in popularity and the
desire arose for greater elaboration in stage-effects, performances
in churches became increasingly impossible. The churchyard,
which was next tried, was equally unsuitable, for the crowds of
spectators desecrated the graves. Gradually, therefore, the
players left the church and its precincts, and performed in any
convenient open spaces about the town. When this practice
became the rule the members of the trade-gilds entered the lists
as competitors with the clergy, while the wandering jugglers or
histriones were ready to supplement by their aid the dramatic
deficiencies of either party. At the same time, now that the
plays were more and more dissevered from the services of
the Church, the Ecclesiastical authorities began to feel grave
doubts as to the advisability of the participation of the clergy in
such performances. Even if the prohibition of clerical 'ludi
theatrales ' by Innocent III in 1207 refers to the Feast of Fools
rather than to plays, it indicates increased strictness, and Church
feeling on the subject is well summed up in a passage in the
Manuel des Pechts, written in Norman-French about the end of
the thirteenth century, and quoted here in its translation under
the name of the Handlyng Synne, by Robert Mannyng of
Brunne, in or about the year 1303.
' Hyt ys forbode hym yn the decre
Miracles for to make or se ;
For miracles, 3yf you begynne,
Hyt ys a gaderynt, a syght of synne.
He may yn the Cherehe, thurgh thys resun,
Pley the resurrecyun ;
That is to seye, how god ros,
God and man yn myght and los,
To make men be yn beleve gode,
That he ros with flesshe and blode;
And he may pleye withoutyn plyght
How god was bore yn thole nyght,
To make men to beleve stedfastly
That he lyght yn the vyrgyne Mary.
INTRODUCTION. xxv
Jyf thou do hyt in weyys or grenys.
A syght of synne truly hyt semys.' Ed. Furnivall.
The compromise which these lines represent was of no long
duration. The spirit of the times was all in favour of the open-
air performances in the highways and public greens, and no
English play which has been preserved to 'us contains any
marks of its representation by clerical actors.
Eight years after the appearance of Robert of Brunne's
Handlyng Synne, a great impetus was given to the Miracle
Plays by a decree of the Council of Vienne (1311). The feast
of Corpus Christi, instituted by Pope Urban in 1264, owing to
his death in the same year, had never been observed. Its
due celebration on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday was now
strictly enjoined, and was adopted by the trade-gilds in many
towns as their chief festival of the year. The custom of linking
several plays on kindred subjects into one grand performance
was now greatly extended, in order to provide each craft, or
group of crafts, with a separate scene. There was nothing in
the nature of the festival, as there is in those of Christmas and
Easter, to limit the thoughts of Christians to particular events
in the Bible narrative, and the fact that the Thursday after
Trinity Sunday mostly falls within a few weeks of the longest
day, also lent itself to the performance of those great cycles ' of
mater from the beginning of the world ' to the Day of Judgment,
four of which have come down to us as the most important
remains of the English religious drama.
The manner of performance of the Miracle Plays has often
been described. In order to enable as large a number of people
as possible to be spectators, each play was repeated several
times in different parts of the town, called ' stations,' and to this
end moveable scaffolds were constructed, which could be drawn
by horses from point to point. With this much premised, there
can be no difficulty in understanding the oft-quoted account
by Archdeacon Rogers (obiit, 1595), who witnessed one of
the last performances of the Whitsun plays at Chester, the year
before his death.
' Every company,' he writes, 'had his pagiant, or parte, which
pagiants weare a high scafolde with two rowmes, a higher and
a lower, upon four wheeles. In the lower they apparelled
xxvi INTRODUCTION.
them selves, and in the higher rowme they played, beinge all
open on the tope, that all behoulders mighte heare and see them.
The places where they played them was in every streete. They
begane first at the abay gates, and when the firste pagiante
was played it was wheeled to the highe crosse before the mayor,
and so to every streete ; and soe every streete had a pagiant
playinge before them at one time, till all the pagiantes for the
daye appoynted weare played : and when one pagiant was
neere ended, worde was broughte from streete to streete, that
soe they mighte come in place thereof excedinge orderlye, and
all the streetes have theire pagiantes afore them all at one time
playeinge togeather ; to se which playes was greate resorte, and
also scafoldes and stages made in the streetes in those places
where they determined to playe theire pagiantes.'
It will be noted that the word pageant, which is ultimately
connected with the Greek TrJJy/za, and is found spelt in every
conceivable way, is primarily applied to the moveable scaffold
on which the play was acted, and only secondarily to the
performance itself. In some cases, e.g. in that of the Trial
of Christ, for the proper performance of a play two scaffolds
would be required, and the actors would go from one to another,
as between the judgment halls of Pilate and Herod. Messengers
also would ride up to a scaffold through the town, and there are
stage directions such as that 'here Herod shall rage on the
pagond and also in the streete.' In the more elaborate per-
formances some attempt was made at scene shifting, as is
indicated by directions in the Coventry Play of the Last Supper.
' Here Cryst enteryth into the hous with his disciplis and etc the
Paschal lomb ; and in the mene tyme the cownsel-hous beforn seyd xal
sodeynly enclose, schewyng the buschopys, prestys, and jewgys syttyng
in here astat, lyche as it were a convocacyon/
And again,
'Here the buschopys partyn in the place, and eche of hem takyn
here leve, be contenawns, resortyng eche man to his place with here
meny to make recly to take Cryst ; and than the place ther Cryst is in
xal sodeynly unclose round abowt, shewyng Cryst syttyng at the table
and hese dyscypules eche in ere degre, Cryst thus seyng,' &c.
In simpler performances a different part of the stage was
accepted as a different scene, and actors who were not taking
INTRODUCTION. xxvii
part in the dialogue remained in view of the spectators. The
dresses, as was long the custom on the English stage, aimed
rather at splendour than appropriateness, save in the hideous
attire assigned to the demons. God was represented in a white
coat, and until the injurious effects of the process were under-
stood, the actor who played this part used to have his face
gilded.
In the accounts of the gilds and municipalities there are
numerous entries for the purchase of these dresses, for the
housing and repair of the pagond, for meat and drink for the
actors during rehearsals, and for their fees for the performance.
In his Dissertation on the Coventry Mysteries (pp. 15, 16),
Mr. Sharp quotes in full the expenses incurred by the Smiths in
1490 in rehearsing and exhibiting their pageant of the Trial,
Condemnation, and Passion of Christ. They are as follows :
' This is the expens of the furste reherse of our players in Ester weke.
Imprimis in Brede, iiij'1.
Itm in Ale, viijd.
Itm in Kechyn, xiijd.
Itm in Vynegre, jd.
Itm payd at the Second Reherse in Whyttson weke, in brede, Ale and
Kechyn, ij". iiijd.
Itm for drynkynge at the pagent in having forth in Wyne and ale.
vij*.
Itm in the mornynge at diner and at Sopper in Costs in Brede, vijd.
Itm for ix galons of Ale, xviijd.
Itm for a Rybbe of befe and j gose, vjd.
Itm for kechyn to dener and sopp, ijs. ijd.
Itm for a Rybbe of befe, iijd.
Itm for a quarte of wyne, ijd.
Itm for another quarte for heyrynge of procula is gowne, ijd.
Itm for gloves ij5. vjd.
Itm spent at the repellynge of the pagantte and the expences of
havinge it in and furthe, xiiijd.
Itm in paper, ob.
Md payd to the players for corpus xisti daye.
Imprimis to God, ijs.
Itm to Cayphas, iijs. iiijd.
Itm to Heroude, iijs. iiijd.
Itm to Pilatt is wyffe, ij».
Itm to the Bedull, iiijd.
Itm to one of the Knights, ij*.
xxviii INTRODUCTION.
Itm to the devyll and to Judas, xviijd.
Itm to Petnr and malchus, xvjd.
Itm to Anna, ij'. ijd.
Itm to Pilatte, iiij«.
Itm to Pilatte is sonne, iiijd.
Itm to another knighte, ij*.
Itm to the Mynstrell, xiiijd.'
To meet these expenses a yearly rate, varying in the different
gilds from a penny to fourpence, was levied on every craftsman.
The spending of this rate (called pageant-silver), and of any
additions to it through fines, &c., was entrusted to pageant-
masters, who were annually elected, and had before leaving
office to account for all monies received. The payments to the
players (supers like the Bedull and Pilate's son, who received
fourpence, being excluded) began at Coventry at fourteenpence,
and reached in some cases as much as four shillings, no
inconsiderable sum in 1490, when a rib of beef could be bought
for threepence, and ale was twopence a gallon. At any rate
there was no lack of candidates for the honour of acting,
and one of the duties of the pageant-master was to examine
into the qualifications of these trade-folk actors. In York
this duty was taken up by the Council itself, who on April 3,
1476, ordained :
' That yerely in the t) me of lentyn there shall be called afore the maire
for the tyme beyng iiij of the moste connyng discrete and able players
within this Citie, to serche, here, and examen all the plaiers and plaies
and pagentes thrughoute all the artificers belonging to Corpus Xti
Plaie. And all such as thay shall fyude sufficiant in personne and
connyng, to the honour of the Citie and worship of the saide Craftes,
for to admitte and able ; and all other insufficiant personnes, either in
connyng, voice, or personne to discharge, ammove, and avoide.
' And that no plaier that shall plaie in the saide Co: pus Xti plaie be
conducte and reteyned to plaie but twise on the day of the saide playc
[i.e. shall not take more than two different characters] ; and that he or
thay so plaing plaie not overe twise the saide day, vpon payne of xlj. to
forfet vnto the chaumbre as often tymes as he or thay shall be founden
defautie in the same.'
From this it will be seen that in the larger towns, at any rate,
the plays were most carefully rehearsed and prepared, and that
Shakespeare's caricature of the tradesman-amateur in Bottom
INTRODUCTION. xxix
and his fellows cannot fairly be applied to these performances.
On this part of our subject it only remains to quote the York
Proclamation as to the performance of the Corpus Christi plays,
which not only illustrates the importance which was attached
to them, but gives us the interesting information that the plays
began between four and five a.m. The Proclamation belongs
to the year 1415, after the performance of the plays had been,
transferred from the festival of Corpus Christi to its vigil. It
is given here as transcribed by Miss Toulmin Smith for her
edition of the York Plays.
' Proclamacio ludi corporis cristi facienda in vigilia corporis cristi.
' Oiez &c. We comand of ye Kynges behalue and ye Mair and ye
Shirefs of yis Citee yat no mann go armed in yis Citee with swerdes ne
with Carlill-axes, ne none othir defences in distorbaunce of ye Kingis
pees and ye play, or hynderyng of ye processioun of Corpore Christi,
and yat yai leue yare hernas in yare Ines, saufand knyghtes and sqwyers
of wirship yat awe haue swerdes borne eftir yame, of payne of forfeiture
of yaire wapen and inprisonment of yaire bodys. And yat men yat
brynges furth pacentes yat yai play at the places yat is assigned yerfore
and nowere elles, of ye payne of forfaiture to be raysed yat is ordayned
yerfore, yatis to say xlj. And yat menn of craftes and all othir menn
yat fyndes torches, yat yai come furth in array, and in ye manere as it
has been vsed and customed before yis time, noght haueyng wapen,
careynge tapers of ye pagentz. And officers yat ar keepers of the pees
of payne of forfaiture of yaire fraunchis and yaire bodyes to prison :
And all maner of craftmen yat bringeth furthe ther pageantez in order
and course by good players, well arayed and openly spekyng, vpon payn
of lesyng of Gr. to be paide to the chambre without any pardon. And
that euery player that shall play be redy in his pagiaunt at convenyant
tyme, that is to say, at the myd howre betwix iiijth and vth of the cloke
in the mornynge, and then all oyer pageantz fast followyng ilk one after
oyer as yer course is, without tarieng. Sub pena facienda camere vij.
viiu/.'
§ 3-
In approaching the consideration of the four great cycles
of Miracle Plays still extant (the York, Towneley, Chester
and Coventry), it must be remembered that no one of them,
in the form in which it has come down to us, can be regarded
as a homogeneous whole, the work of a single author. So little
attention has as yet been devoted to these plays, that the
relations of the different cycles to each other, and of the
xxx INTRODUCTION.
different parts of the same cycle to the whole, have as yet been
very imperfectly worked out1. It is plain, however, that the
dramatists borrowed ideas and sometimes whole scenes from
each other, and that the plays were frequently rewritten, often
to the great detriment of the original metre. The connection of
the plays with the trade-gilds was in itself a great cause of
confusion. Where a city was prosperous new gilds would arise,
and the original plays have to be subdivided in order to give
them a share in the performance. When, on the other hand,
the means or the enthusiasm of the gilds was on the decline, two
or more plays would have to be run together. The manuscript
of the York cycle, which dates from about 1430-40 contains
forty-eight plays : in 1415 there had been fifty-one, and another
list, probably a few years earlier, gives fifty-seven. The process
of subdivision had probably reached its height about the end of
the fourteenth century, and the tendency thenceforward would
be to amalgamation or excision. In the Chester cycle, of
which we have no extant manuscript earlier than 1591, the
number of the plays is only twenty-five, and marks of amal-
gamation are easily traced. Thus each cycle as it has come
down to us must be regarded rather as an organic growth than
as the work of a single author.
From whatever point of view we regard them, whether as
to antiquity, length, or serious interest, the York Plays, which
have been the last to receive the honours of print, have the first
claim on our attention. The date of the composition of the
cycle as a whole is referred by Miss Toulmin Smith to the years
1340-1350. The plays are forty-eight in number, and they
follow the Bible narrative very closely, though with the occasional
introduction of apocryphal legends from the pseudo-gospels and
similar sources. It will be convenient, therefore, to take the
York cycle as our standard of comparison, and in order to give
the fullest idea of its contents the Ordo Paginarum of 1415
is here subjoined in a translation, that of Drake (the author
of the Eboracum\ slightly emended from the Latin text printed
by Miss Toulmin Smith.
1 An article by Dr. A. Hohlfeld in Anglia, Bd. xi. (1889) has recently
given a foretaste of the interesting results which might be obtained from
a systematic study of the relations of the four cycles.
INTRODUCTION.
XXXI
' The order of the Pagents of the Play of Corpus Christi, in the time
of the mayoralty of William Alne, in the third year of the reign of King
Henry V., anno 1415, compiled by Roger Burton, town clerk.
( God the Father Almighty creating and forming the
1. Tanners ... \ heavens, angels and archangels, Lucifer and the
' angels that fell with him to hell.
/ God the Father, in his own substance, creating the
2. Plasterers ... j earth and all which is therein, by the space of five
days.
God the Father creating Adam of the clay of the
3. Cardmakers ^ earth, and making Eve of Adam's rib, and inspiring
them with the breath of life.
iGod forbidding Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of
life.
r Adam and Eve and a tree betwixt them ; the serpent
\ deceiving them with apples ; God speaking to them
1 and cursing the serpent, and with a sword driving
\ them out of paradise.
SAdam and Eve, an angel with a spade and distaff
assigning them work.
( Abel and Cain offering victims in sacrifice.
4. Fullers
5. Coopers
6. Armourers
7. Gaunters
[Glovers]
8. Shipwrights
9. Pessoners
[Fishmongers]
and Mariners
10. Parchment-
makers
Bookbinders
11. Hosiers
( God warning Noah to make an Ark of floatable
1 wood.
Noah in the Ark, with his wife; the three sons of
Noah with their wives ; with divers animals.
Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac on an altar, a boy
with wood and an angel.
( Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness ; King
( Pharaoh ; eight Jews wondering and expecting.
A Doctor declaring the sayings of the prophets of the
future birth of Christ. Mary ; an angel saluting her ;
Mary saluting Elizabeth.
( Mary, Joseph wishing to put her away ; an angel
( speaking to them that they go to Bethlehem.
12. Spicers
13. Pewterers
Founders
,Mary, Joseph, a midwife; the Child born, lying in a
Tylers J manger betwixt an ox and an ass, and an angel
'" I speaking to the shepherds, and to the players in the
* next pageant.
iThe shepherds talking together, the star in the East ;
an angel giving the shepherds the good tidings of the
Child's birth.
XXX11
INTRODUCTION.
1 6, 17. Orfevers /
[Goldsmiths] 1
Qoldbeaters j
Monemakers v
41. [Misplaced in\
the MS.]
Formerly the I
Hospital of f
St. Leonards,
now the Ma-
sons.
1 8. Marshals
[Shoera of
horsss.]
19. QirdeUers
Nailers
Sawyers
20. Spurriers
Lorymers
[Bridle makers]
2 1 . Barbers
[Omitted in the
MS.]
Vintners
22. Fevers
[Smiths]
23. Carriers
[Omitted in the (
MS.]
Ironmongers (
24. Plumbers (
Pattenmakers j
Fouchmakers
Bottlers
Capmakers
25. Skinners ..
The three kings coming from the East, Herod asking
them about the child Jesus ; the son of Herod, two
counsellors, and a messenger. Mary with the Child,
a star above, and the three lungs offering gifts.
Mary with the Child, Joseph, Anna, the midwife with
young pigeons ; Simeon receiving the Child in his
arms, and two sons of Symeon.
Mary with the Child, and Joseph fleeing into Egypt
at the bidding of an angel.
Herod commanding the children to be slain ; four
soldiers with lances ; two counsellors of the king, and
four women lamenting the slaughter of the children.
The Doctors, the Child Jesus sitting in the Temple in
their midst, questioning and answering them. Four
Jews, Mary and Joseph seeking Him, and finding
Him in the Temple.
Jesus, John the Baptist baptizing Him.
Jesus, Mary, bridegroom with bride, the Ruler of the
Feast with his household, with six water-pots, in
which the water is turned into wine.
Jesus upon the pinnacle of the Temple, Satan tempt-
ing Him, with stones, and two angels ministering.
Peter, James and John ; Jesus ascending into the
mountain and transfiguring Himself before them ;
Moses and Elias appearing, and a voice speaking
from a cloud.
Jesus, and Simon the Leper asking Jesus to eat with
him ; two disciples, Mary Magdalen washing the feet
of Jesus with her tears and wiping them with her hair.
Jesus, two Apostles, the woman taken in adultery,
four Jews accusing her.
Lazarus in the tomb, Mary Magdalene, Martha, and
two Jews in wonderment.
Jesus upon an ass with its foal, xii Apostles following
Jesus, six rich and six poor men, eight boys with
branches of palms, singing Benediclus, &c , and
Zacchaeus climbing into a sycamore-tree.
INTRODUCTION.
xxxin
26. Cutlers
Eladesmiths
Sheathers
Sealers
Bucklemakers
Homers
27. Bakers,
28. Cordwaners
29. Bowyers
Fletchers
[Arrow-feather-
ers]
30. Tapisers
Couchers
31. Littesters ...
32. Cooks
Waterleaders
33. Tilemakers
Millers
Turners
Hayresters
[Workers in
Horse Hair?]
Boilers
[Bowlmakers ?]
34. Tunners
35. Pinners
Latouers
Painters
I Pilate, Caiaphas, two soldiers, three Jews, Judas
I selling Jesus.
The paschal lamb, the Lord's supper, the xii Apos-
tels, Jesus girt with a linen towel washing their feet ;
the institution of the Sacrament of Christ's Body in
the New Law ; the communion of the Apostles.
Pilate, Caiaphas, Annas, fourteen armed soldiers,
Malchus, Peter, James, John, Jesus, and Judas kissing
and betraying Him.
Jesus, Annas, Caiaphas, and four Jews persecuting
and scourging Jesus. Peter, the woman accusing
Peter, and Malchus.
) Jesus, Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, two counsellors and
\ four Jews accusing Christ.
i Herod, two counsellors, four soldiers, Jesus and three
1 Jews.
i Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, two Jews, and Judas bringing
back to them the thirty pieces of silver.
Jesus, Pilate, Caiaphas, Annas, six soldiers carrying
spears and ensigns, and four others leading Jesus from
Herod, desiring Barabbas to be released and Jesus to
be crucified, and then binding and scourging him,
placing a crown of thorns upon his head ; three
soldiers casting lots for the vest of Jesus.
Jesus, covered with blood, bearing His cross to Cal-
vary ; Simon of Cyrene, Jews compelling him to bear
the cross ; Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Apostle
John informing her of the condemnation of her
Son and of His journey to Calvary ; Veronica wiping
blood and sweat from the face of Jesus with the nap-
kin on which is imprinted Jesu's face ; and other
women lamenting Jesus.
The Cross, Jesus stretched upon it on the earth, four
Jews scourging and dragging Him with ropes, and
afterwards uplifting the Cross and the body of Jesus
nailed to it, on Mount Calvary.
INTRODUCTION.
,The cross, two thieves crucified, Jesus hung on the
cross between them, Mary the mother of Jesus, John,
36. Butchers I Mary, James and Salome. Longeus with a lance, a
Poulterers ) slave with a sponge, Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, a cen-
turion, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laying
Him in the tomb.
37
Sellers
[Saddlers]
Verrours
[Glaziers]
Fuystours
[Makers of I
Saddle Trees]/
[ Jesus despoiling Hell, twelve spirits, six good and six
f bad.
38. Carpenters
Jesus rising from the tomb, four soldiers armed, and
the three Maries lamenting. Pilate, Caiaphas [and
Annas. A young man clad in white, sitting at the
tomb, talking to the women].
Jesus, Mary Magdalene with spices.
Jesus, Luke and Cleophas in the guise of pilgrims.
Jesus, Peter, John, James and other apostles. Thomas
feeling the wounds of Jesus.
39- "Winedrawers
40. Broggours
[Brokers.]
Woolpackers
42. Escriveners
Luminers
[Illuminators]
Questors
[Pardoners]
Dubbers
[Refurbishers
of cloths]
!Mary, John the Evangelist, two Angels, and eleven
Apostles ; Jesus ascending before them and four
angels carrying a cloud.
!Mary, two Angels, eleven Apostles, and the Holy
Spirit descending on them, and four Jews in wonder-
ment.
Jesus, Mary, Gabriel with two angels, two virgins and
three Jews of the kindred of Mary, eight Apostles,
and two devils.
rn -ff~i • \f c i I Four aP°stles carrying the bier of Mary ; Fergus
Linen weav ) hanSinS nPon the bier» with two other Jews» tand
5rs { one angel].
fi ( Mary ascending with a crowd of Angels, eight Apos-
tles, and Thomas the Apostle preaching in the
Woollen ( desert>
43. Talliaunders
[Tailors]
44. Potters
45. Drapers
INTRODUCTION. xxxv
( Mary, Jesus crowning her, singing with a crowd of
Jesus, Mary, twelve Apostles, four angels with trum-
48. Mercers
pets and four with a crown, a lance and two scourges ;
four good spirits and four evil spirits, and six devils.
The next cycle which we have to consider is that of the
Towneley Plays, so called from the only known manuscript in
which they exist having been long in the possession of the
Towneley family, from whom it has now passed into the hands
of Mr. Bernard Quaritch. This cycle is also frequently quoted
as that of the Widkirk, Woodkirk, or Wakefield plays. The
authority for the name Widkirk is a tradition of the Towneley
family (recorded by Mr. Douce in the Towneley Catalogue for
1814), by which the plays are supposed to have formerly 'be-
longed to the Abbey of Widkirk, near Wakefield, in the County
of York.' Widkirk, however, as Prof. Skeat showed in the
Athenaum of Dec. 2, 1893, is only an earlier spelling for
Woodkirk, the old form naturally surviving in the mouths
of the country people. Woodkirk itself is about four miles
to the north of Wakefield, and here there was a cell of
Augustinian Canons, in dependence on the house of St. Oswald,
at Nostel. To these Canons, therefore, the plays were at
one time assigned, though it would be difficult to find any
reason for the attribution apart from the popular desire to
trace as much medieval literature as possible to 'the monks.'
With Wakefield the connection of these plays is beyond a
doubt. Thus at the head of the first play in the series is
written in a large hand ' Wakefelde, Barkers ' ; at the head of
the second 'Glover Pag[eant]' ; at the head of the third 'Wake-
feld,' and before the play of the Travellers to Emmaus ' Fysher
Pageant.' There is also an allusion (in the second play of the
Shepherds) to the ' shroges,' or rough moorland of Horbery, a
village two or three miles to the south-west of Wakefield.
Plainly, therefore, several of these plays were acted by the
Trades of Wakefield, and the trend of opinion is certainly in
favour of regarding the whole cycle as the trade-plays of that
town. It is certain in any case that the cycle is a composite
one, as five of the plays reproduce, often in a corrupted form,
C 2
xxxvi INTRODUCTION.
Nos. II, 20, 37, 38, 48, in the York cycle, and the plays differ
greatly in style and metre. Their composition must cover a wide
range of time, those in the metre of the Shepherds' Play here
printed being the latest of all. They were probably added at
the beginning of the fifteenth century by a new editor of very
unusual humour and dramatic power. The cycle, as we have
it, consists of thirty-two plays, of which two, The Raising of
Lazarus and The Hanging of Judas, are inserted at the
end of the MS. out of their right order. Twelve quires
have been lost from the MS. at the end of the Creation,
and another twelve after the Ascension, besides other prob-
able losses. We can only note, therefore, that in our text
there is nothing to answer to the York Plays 22, 23, 24
part i, 25-27, 29, 39, 44-47 ; but it is most probable that if a
complete manuscript should ever be recovered its contents
would be found to correspond very closely indeed to the York
cycle. As compared with the other plays which have come
down to us, these two Northern cycles are distinguished by
their vigour and originality. They have little pathos, but much
humour, and are especially rich in those interpolations on the
Scripture narrative, in which the dramatists felt themselves
freed from the restraints by which they were hampered in
dealing with sacred personages.
Of the origin of the Chester cycle something has already
been said, and a short account of the extant MSS. will be found
in the notes to the two extracts here printed. The MSS. are
all of them late, but they appear to be based on a text of the
beginning of the fifteenth century. The composition of the
cycle probably dates from some fifty or sixty years earlier.
The fame of cycles appears to have spread to Chester, and to
have awakened the ambition of a local playwright. As regards
metre and form the cycle shows exceptional unity. It is mainly
written in eight-line stanzas, the author, as Dr. Hohlfeld points
out, at the beginning of each play making a manful attempt to
content himself with two rimes (aaabaaab), but soon drifting
into the use of three (aaabcccb). In some of the Chester plays
1 The Departure of the Israelites from Egypt; Christ -with the
Doctors in the Temple; The Harrowing of Hell ; The Resurrection, and
The Judgment.
INTRODUCTION. xxxvii
(notably in that of Jesus in the Temple) we can trace the
influence of the Yorkshire cycles, and the play on the sacrifice
of Isaac was borrowed either from, or from the same original
as, the Brome play, printed by Miss Toulmin Smith. But if
it be true, as Professor Ten Brink suggests, that the Chester
cycle is both less important and less original than those of
York and Wakefield, and that its best, both of pathos and
humour, appears to be borrowed, it must be allowed on the
other hand that its author was possessed of an unusual share of
good taste. There is less in the Chester plays to jar on
modern feelings than in any other of the cycles. The humour
is kept more within bounds, the religious tone is far higher, and
though the plays are not spoilt by any obtrusive didacticism such
as we find in the Coventry cycle, the speeches of the Expositor
at the end of each play show that a real effort was made to
serve the religious object to which all Miracle plays were
ostensibly directed. On a comparison of the contents of this
cycle with that of York we note that fresh subjects are intro-
duced in the histories of Lot and of Balaam, in the play on
Ezekiel, which contains prophecies of the end of the world
and the Fifteen Signs of Doom, and in the very curious em-
bodiment of the medieval legends on the coming of Antichrist.
On the other hand, there is no play of the Exodus, the plays on
the history of the Blessed Virgin are represented only by a
Salutation and the Nativity of Christ (in the course of which
the Emperor Octavian is introduced giving his orders for all
the world to be taxed), and there is no play on the Assumption.
Like those of York, the Chester plays were enacted by the
members of the Trade- Gilds, not, however, on the feast of
Corpus Christi, but at Whitsuntide.
The fourth cycle of plays which we have to consider is con-
tained in a manuscript, the greater part of which was written in
the year 1468, and which now belongs to the Cottonian Collec-
tion in the British Museum. On the fly-leaf of this manuscript,
which was probably purchased by Sir Robert Cotton about
1630, is written in the handwriting of his librarian, Dr. Richard
James, the following note : — Contenta Novi Testamenti scenice
expressa et actitata olim per monachos sive fratres mendicantes :
vulgo dicitur hie liber Ludus Coventrice, si-ve Lucius Corporis
xxxviii INTRODUCTION.
Christi : scribitur metris Avglicanis. We know from numerous
contemporary allusions that a cycle of Corpus Christi plays was
performed by the Grey Friars at Coventry, and the identifica-
tion of these plays with those of the Cottonian MS. has won a
general, though rather uneasy, acceptance.
The lengthy prologue to these plays contains at its end a
passage —
A Sunday next, yf that we may,
At six of the belle, we gynne oure play
In N towne ;
which points to the performances of a strolling company, and
the upholders of the Coventry theory are driven to conjecture
that the increasing popularity of the plays of the Trade-Gilds of
the city (of which only two specimens have come down to us)
drove the Franciscans to take their cycle elsewhere. In the
present state of our knowledge it is dangerous to dogmatize — I
can only express my own belief that further investigation will
lead to the decisive connection of this cycle, not with Coventry,
but with the Eastern counties. As Prof. Ten Brink has pointed
out (Gesch. der alt. Eng. Litt. § 275), the dialect and scribal
peculiarities of these plays belong rather to the North-East
Midlands than to the neighbourhood of Coventry, and in the
fifteenth century, to the early part of which the composition of
this cycle must be attributed, it was in the East- Midlands that
the writers of Miracle plays and Moralities were most busily at
work. In language, in metre, in tone, in the elaborate stage
directions, in the proclamation of the play by the wandering
banner-bearers or •vexillatores, this cycle appears to bear close
affinities to the later Miracle plays, such as the Croxton play on
the Sacrament, and the play of Mary Magdalen, and with the
early Moralities such as the Caste II of Perseverance, ail of
which are of East-Midland origin, and to the East-Midlands I
feel sure that it will eventually be assigned '. As divided by its
editor, Mr. Halliwell Phillipps, the cycle consists of forty-two
plays, which, as we learn from a passage in the twenty-ninth,
1 It is worth noting in this connection that the beautiful speech of
Christ on the Resurrection morning, beginning ' Earthly man that I have
wrought,' is taken almost word for word from the old East-Midland
dramatic poem of the Harrowing of Hell.
INTRODUCTION. xxxix
were not all of them performed in any one year. Comparing
the plays with those of the York cycle, we note that a long
didactic play on the Giving of the Law takes the place of that of
the Exodus (il), that the thirteenth York play is expanded into
a series of seven, dealing with the history of S. Joseph and the
Blessed Virgin up to the time of the Nativity, that there is no
play on the Transfiguration, and that the three York plays on
the Death of Mary, her Appearance to St. Thomas, Assumption
and Coronation, are represented by a single long play on the
Assumption. In this cycle the didactic speeches elsewhere
assigned to a 'Doctor' or 'Expositor' are delivered by an
allegorical personage called Contemplacio. Death is personi-
fied, and a play on the Salutation is prefaced by a long prologue
in heaven, in which the speakers are (besides Deus Pater and
Deus Fiiius), Veritas, Misericordia, Justicia, and Pax1. This
tendency towards the personification of abstract ideas is a mark
of late date in the history of the Miracle play, and helps to link if
this cycle to the earlier Moralities, of which we shall soon Is
proceed to speak. Taken as a whole 2, these so-called Coventry
plays show the least dramatic power of any of the four cycles
which we have examined. Their interest is mainly didactic,
and they are especially concerned with the doctrine of the Holy
Trinity and of the honour due to the Blessed Virgin. But they
are not without vigour, and their refusal of humorous episodes
is not to be reckoned against them.
§4-
In the English Miracle plays which we have been examining,
as in the religious dramas of other European countries, two
distinct centres of interest offer themselves for examination.
The student of the history of religious thought will investigate
the respective influences in the composition of these plays of the
Bible narrative, the Apocryphal Gospels, and the Medieval
Legends. He will be interested in the position assigned to the
1 This scene, which forms one of our extracts, closely resembles one at
the end of the Castell of Perseverance. A similar heavenly conference
occurs in the French Mystere du Vieil Testament in a play on the
sacrifice of Isaac.
2 Some exceptions must be made. Thus the plays on the Woman
taken in Adultery and the Death of Herod are both vividly dramatic.
xl INTRODUCTION.
Blessed Virgin, in the reality with which the truths of the
Christian Faith have been apprehended, and in the underlying
meaning of the irreverence and prurience with which the most
sacred subjects are occasionally handled. This is a line of
investigation well worthy of pursuit, but which the scope of this
volume absolutely forbids. Such an investigation must take as
its field the whole remains of the religious drama in this
country, viewed in connection with the contemporary literature
both at home and abroad. Nor could its results be adequately
supported except by selections at least ten times as long as
those which are here presented. For us, therefore, the interest
of these plays comes primarily from their dramatic side, and
their importance in the history of medieval thought can only be
made the subject of incidental illustration. It is this principle
which has come to our help in the selection of typical extracts,
which otherwise would have been a task of almost insuperable
difficulty. Thus our first extract (The Creation, and Fall of
Lucifer) may be taken as exemplifying the power of these
primitive playwrights in developing a great historical situation ;
the second, that of Noah's Flood, their development of a
humorous incident (the controversy between Noah and his
wife) within the limits of the Miracle play proper; while our
third extract, on the Sacrifice of Isaac, exhibits the treatment of
the most tragic and pathetic incident, with one exception, with
which the playwrights were concerned. They may thus be
taken as representing the nearest approach which the religious
drama could properly make to the Histories, Comedies, and
Tragedies of the great days of Elizabeth, an approach so
distant as to demonstrate that had all foreign influences been
excluded, the development of the drama in England would have
been almost indefinitely delayed. Yet our fourth extract, the
Shepherd's Play (No. 2) from the Towneley manuscript, may
give us reason to believe that, however great the time which
would have been needed for its unaided evolution, the seed, at
least of Comedy, had reached a considerable stage of develop-
ment before the influence of classical and Italian models quick-
ened the progress of the drama to a speed in which the shares
of its respective factors becomes difficult to distinguish.
In any exhaustive treatment of the history, of the Miracle
INTRODUCTION. xli
play, one of the most important lines of investigation would be
concerned with the characters with whom the medieval dramatist
felt himself free to deal as he pleased. These characters are
almost exclusively those of persons to whom neither Scripture
nor legend ascribed either name or individuality. Cain's
' Garcio ' or Servant, Noah's Wife, the Detractors of the Blessed
Virgin, the Shepherds, the Soldiers sent to slay the Holy
Innocents, the Pharisees who brought before Christ the Woman
taken in Adultery, the Woman's Lover, the Beadle of Pilate's
Court, the Workmen who set up the Cross, the Soldiers who
watch at the Tomb,— it is in the treatment of these nameless
characters that some of the most dramatic touches are be-
stowed. They are obviously introduced for the sake of relief,
and in the York plays it is in the intervals of the torturing and
crucifixion of Christ that these interludes, all more or less
humorous, are most frequently introduced. Pilate toys with his
wife in open court, and to the intense amusement of the
spectators is reproved by his Beadle, just before Jesus is led
in fresh from the buffettings in the Hall of Annas ; the despair
of Judas is followed by a scene in which a Squire is cheated of
his title-deeds to Calvary-Locus; the soldiers who set up the
Cross wrangle together through a hundred lines over their
work. These interludes are to us at times inexpressibly painful,
but dramatically they are good art, and were welcomed by
their spectators as a relief to the extreme tension of feeling
which the protracted exhibition of Christ's Passion could not
fail to excite. On the same principle the rough sport of the
Shepherds is made to introduce the touching scenes of the
Manger Bed at Bethlehem, and it is to this desire for dramatic
relief that we owe the story of Mak and his sheep-stealing, our
first English Comedy.
§ 5-
If of all the sacred dramas of whose performance in England
we possess a record the full text had been handed down to us,
the field for investigation would have been so vast as to frighten
rather than attract enquirers l. There is, however, at least one
1 This seems to have happened in France, where, according to
Mr. Stoddart's Bibliography, fifteen MSS. containing plays or cycles,
extending from 4000 to 37,000 lines apiece, are still awaiting a printer.
xlii INTRODUCTION.
play of which the most faint-hearted student must bitterly regret
the loss. ' Once on a time V we are told, ' a play setting forth
the goodness of the Lord's Prayer was played in the city of
York ; in which play all manner of vices and sins were held up
to scorn, and the virtues were held up to praise.' This play is
alluded to by Wyclif 2, and we have a few details respecting a
gild which was formed in York for the special purpose of its
maintenance. In her introduction to the York Plays, Miss Lucy
Toulmin Smith describes a compotus Roll of this gild Oracionis
domini, 'dated Michaelmas, 1399, which shows that there were
then over 100 members and their wives, and that they possessed
rents and receipts amounting to £26 $s. ii^d' The Roll
contains a special mention of a ludus Accidie ' holding up to
scorn* the vice of sluggardy. The gild was dissolved by
Henry VIII, but in 1558 the play was performed at the ex-
pense of the city in place of the Corpus Christi plays, and this
happened again in 1572. In that year, however, Grindal was
Archbishop of York, and demanded that a copy of the play
should be submitted to him. The copy was sent, and its return
requested three years later, but thenceforward we hear of it no
more. The loss is irreparable, for this is the earliest Morality
Play of which we have any mention, and must have been written
nearly a century before the Castell of Perseverance, its earliest
extant successor. Besides the play of the Lord's Prayer, we
know of the performance at York of a Creed Play, which also
must have been rather a Morality than a Miracle play. ' It was
performed,' Miss Smith tells us, 'about Lammas-tide every
tenth year, and five such performances, beginning in 1483, are
recorded; the last of these, in 1535, superseded the usual
Corpus Christi plays. A performance was proposed in 1568,
but the question was referred to Dean Hutton, whose opinion
was adverse, and we know nothing more as to the play.'
The loss of these two plays of the Lord's Prayer and the
Creed cannot be too deeply regretted; we may be grateful,
1 English Gilds, by Toulmin Smith, p. 137, Preamble to ordinances
of Gild of the Lord's Prayer. (Quoted by Miss Toulmin Smith).
2 ' & herfore freris ban taujt in Englond J>e Paternoster in Englijcsh
tunge, as men seyen in )>e playe of Yorke,' De officio pastor ali. Cap. XV.
(written about 1378), ed. F. D. Matthew for E. E. T. S.
INTRODUCTION. xliii
however, even for the bare record of their existence, which helps
us to a clearer notion of the origin and nature of the Morality
play than we could otherwise obtain. In its later development
the Morality became dull, narrow, and essentially sectarian, and
its heavy didactics were only relieved by the insertion of scenes
of low humour, of which the humourousness is far from apparent.
But in its earlier days the Morality was not wholly unworthy to
be ranked with the Miracle plays, to which it formed a comple-
ment. The Miracle play takes as its basis the historical books
of the Bible and the legends of the Church, but these alone do
not furnish a complete answer to the questions 'What must I
do — What must I believe— to be saved ?' and in the two centuries
during which the popularity of the sacred drama was at its
height, various plays were written in which the moral and
sacramental teaching of the Church are assigned the prominence
which in the Miracle play is occupied by its history. We know
that in the play of the Lord's Prayer ' all manner of vices and
sins were held up to scorn, and the virtues were held up to
praise,' and in the contest between the personified powers of
good and evil, the Seven Cardinal Virtues and the Seven Deadly
Sins, for the possession of man's soul, we have the essence of
the Morality play. This contest naturally involved the use of
personifications, for the medieval playwright was too simple-
minded to anticipate the method of Ben Jonson, by representing
men and women living human lives with human relationships,
and at the same time embodying a single humour or quality, to
the exclusion of all others. We must not, however, regard the
use of personification as involving a dramatic advance. It was
essential to the scheme of the Morality, and must have been
present no less in the fourteenth century plays, of which we hear
at York, than in their successors. In itself, as tending to didac-
ticism and unreality, personification is wholly undramatic, and
the popularity of the later Morality significantly coincides with
the dullest and most barren period in the history of English
literature.
It is remarkable that most of the early Morality plays which
have come down to us, together with the contemporary Miracle
plays, to which they exhibit the closest affinity, are connected
with the East-Midland district, throughout which, during the
xliv INTRODUCTION.
fifteenth century, the popularity of the religious drama appears
to have been very great. Reasons have already been assigned
for connecting with this district the cycle of Miracle plays
usually attributed to the Grey Friars of Coventry, and in this
cycle the influence of the Morality is shown in the personifica-
tions in the Council in Heaven (quoted in our specimens), and
in the appearance of Death at the Court of Herod, and also in
the unflinching didacticism which devoted an entire scene to an
exposition of the Ten Commandments. The play of S. Mary
Magdalen, from which also extracts are given in this volume,
shows even stronger proofs of the influence of the Morality in
the appearance of Good Angel and Bad Angel, and of the
World and the Flesh as no less real personages than the Devil
himself. Again, the Croxton play of the Sacrament, which
should certainly be connected with the Norfolk rather than with
any other Croxton, although not a Morality and introducing no
personifications, is yet allied to the Morality in its endeavour to
bring the sacramental teaching of the Church within the scope
of the religious drama. The subject of the play and its treat-
ment by the dramatist are both so painful that it is difficult to
award this drama the attention which, as dealing with a modern
legend and introducing almost contemporary characters, it in
some respects deserves. The medieval hatred of the Jews gave
rise to a succession of legends of their obtaining possession of
the Consecrated Host, and by fire and sword endeavouring to
torture afresh the Christ believed by devout worshippers to be
there present. In a Yorkshire church a fresco has recently
been uncovered in which is commemorated such an attempt on
the part of some Flemish Jews in the fourteenth century. The
Croxton play * deals with a miracle ' don in the forest of Aragon.
In the famous cite Eraclea, the yere of owr lord God m.cccc.lxi.'
It introduces Aristorius, a Christian merchant, who for one
hundred pounds procures the Host for the Jews ; Ser Isoder,
his chaplain ; Jonathas, Jason, Jasdon, Masphat and Malchus,
five Jews, of whom the first is the chief; a Bishop, and a Quack
1 Edited by Mr. Whitley Stokes, from the MS. in Trinity College,
Dublin, in the Appendix to the Transactions of the Philological Society
for 1860, 61.
INTRODUCTION. xlv
Doctor1, with Colle, his servant, who are called in to heal the
hand of Jonathas, withered as a result of his sacrilege, and
indulge in much buffoonery. The play has absolutely nothing
to recommend it. It is without dignity, pathos or dramatic
power, and its incongruous humour is of the lowest kind. Only
one other point need be noted in connection with it, that its
performance, although localised at Croxton (whether perma-
nently or not, we cannot say), was announced throughout the
neighbouring villages by vexillatores or banner-bearers, of the
same kind as those who advertised the plays of the itinerant
actors who represented the ' Coventry ' cycle and the Castell of
Perseverance.
§6.
We at length approach the consideration of the earliest extant
Morality play, the Castell of Perseverance, the importance of
which consists not only in its antiquity, but in the completeness
with which it developes the central ideas underlying all the
plays of their class. Thus in the initial proclamation the second
banner-bearer announces :
The cause of our comynge you to declare
Every man in hymself for sothe he it may fynde,
Whou mankynde into this world born is ful bare
And bare schal beryed be at the last ende;
God hym .yevyth two aungel ful .yep and ful j'are,
The good aungel and the badde to hym for to lende ;
The goode techyth hym goodnesse, the badde synne and sare,
Whanne the ton hath the victory the tother goth behende.
« Be skyll
The goode aungel coveytyth evermore man's salvacion,
And the badde bysyteth hym euere to hys dampnacion,
And God hathe gevyn man fre arbitracion
Whether he wyl hym[self] save hy[s soul?].
His comrades take up the story :
Spylt is man speciously whanne he to synne assent,
The bad aungel thanne bryngeth hym iiij enmys so stout,
The werlde, the Fende, the foul Flesche, so joly and jent ;
Thei ledyn hym fful lustyly with synnys al abowt.
1 The appearance of the Quack Doctor is particularly interesting,
because of his survival in the Christmas .mummings and plays of St.
George and the Dragon, which are still acted in some country villages.
xlvi INTRODUCTION.
To trace the spiritual history of Humanum Genus (Mankind,
or the Typical Man) from the day of his birth to his appearance
at the Judgment Seat of God, to personify the foes by whom his
pathway is beset, the Guardian Angel by whose help he resists
them, and the ordinances of Confession and Penance by which
he is strengthened in his conflict, this was the playwright's object ;
and, however dramatically impossible, it was certainly a worthy
one. The opening pageant of Mundus, Belyal and Caro, the
World, the Devil, and the Flesh, each boasting of his might ; the
appearance of Humanum Genus, naked save for the chrism cloth
on his head, and conscious of his helplessness ; the first struggle
for his soul of his Good and Bad Angels, and the victory of the
latter, make up an impressive prologue, which ends with the
lament of Bonus Angelus, chanted to music :
Mankynde hath forsakyn me,
Alas, man, for love of the !
Ya for this gamyn and this gle
Thou schalt grocchyn and grone.
In the next division of the play Mankind is presented to
Mundus, to whom he professes allegiance, and is confided to the
care of Pleasure, Folly, and Backbiting (Voluptas, Stultitia,
Detraccio), and ultimately to Belial and Caro, and the Seven
Deadly Sins, each of whom enters with an appropriate speech.
Then Mankind's Good Angel calls to his aid Confessio and
Schrift, and with the help of Penitencia the sinner is converted
and reconciled, and safely lodged in the Castle of Perseverance,
there to await the fresh assaults of his enemies. These are not
long delayed. In what we may call Act III, Detraccio brings
the news of Mankind's conversion to Caro, and after brief
counsel they report what has happened to Mundus. But if the
forces of Hell are mustering, those of Heaven are not idle.
Caritas, Abstinencia, Castitas, Solid tudo, Largitas, and Hu-
militas, successively come on the scene, each with his exhortation.
That of Solicitude is perhaps the best worth quoting, and may
serve as a specimen of the rest :
In besynesse man loke thou be
With worth! werkes goode and thykke,
To slawthe if thou cast the
It schal the drawe to thoutes wyckke.
INTRODUCTION. xlvii
It puttyth a man to pouerte
And pullyth hym to peynys prycke.
Do sumwhat alwey for love of me,
Thou thou schuldyst but thwyte a stycke.
With bedys sumtyme the blys,
Sum tyme rede and sum tyme wryte,
And sum tyme pleye at thi delyte;
The devyl the waytyth with dyspyte,
Whanne thou art in Idylnesse.
But the Deadly Sins are advancing to the attack, led by
Belial, whose banner is borne by Pride, while Caro is apparently
on horseback, and Gula flourishes a long lance. The Virtues
meet their assault with roses *, the emblem of Christ's Passion,
and the Vices are driven back. Then Mundus calls Avaritia
or Covetyse to the rescue, and by him Humanum Genus is lured
from the Castle. Old Age is creeping upon him, and he yields
to its besetting sin :
Penyman best may spede,
He is a duke to don a dede;
is his argument, and, despite the laments of his Good Angel and
the warnings of Solicitudo and Largltas, he gives himself over
to sin, and the division of the play ends with the exultation of
Mundus over his fall.
In Act IV (the divisions are my own) Humanum Genus
receives his reward in the shape of a thousand marks. To the
gift, however, there is a stipulation attached :
Lene no man hereof for no karke,
Thou he schuld hange be the throte,
Monk nor frere, prest nor clerke,
Ne helpe therwith chyrche nor cote,
Tyl deth thi body delve.
Thou he schuld sterve in a cave,
Lete no pore man therof have,
In grene gras tyl thou be grave
Kepe sum what for thi selve.
1 Thus Ira, after threatening Patientia with ' styffe stones,' presently
cries out:
I am al beten blak and bio
With a rose that on rode was rent.
xlviii INTRODUCTION.
The money is hid in the ground and there abides. But Death
is making ready to strike Humanum Genus down, and Mundus
sends Garcia to claim the money as his inheritance.
What devyl ! them art not of my kyn,
Thou dedyst me nevere no maner good,
I hadde lever sum nyfte, or sum cosyn,
Or sum man hadde it of my blod :
I trowe the werld be wod
is the exclamation of Humanum Genus, but he laments in vain.
Bereft of his goods and in terror for his soul, he awaits Death,
and amid his prayers to Misericordia and the gibes of his Bad
Angel his spirit takes its flight, to become in the ' fifth Act ' the
subject of an argument in heaven between Misericordia, Justitia,
Veritas, and Pax, similar to the one quoted from the 'Coventry'
plays. 'Lete hym drynke as he brewyit' is the plea of Justice,
but Mercy appeals to Christ's Passion, and the decision of Pater
sedens in trono is merciful.
The Castell of Perseverance cannot escape the charge of
prolixity. At a rough guess it contains about 3500 lines, nearly
as many as all but the longest of Shakespeare's tragedies. The
language, again, is without grace, and too often sacrifices clear-
ness to the desire for alliteration. But with all its faults the play
is a fine one, dealing with man's salvation in no unimpressive
fashion, and distinguished by a logical development and unity
of purpose, which is found in the great cycles of Miracle plays
when regarded as dramatic entities, but nowhere else. As the
stage directions, quoted in the short Introduction in the Notes,
sufficiently show, it was intended to be presented with something
of the elaborateness of the Miracle plays, and it is altogether a
very noteworthy production. The manuscript of which it forms
part, and which by the kindness of its owner, Mr. Gurney, and
of Dr. Furnivall, I hope soon to have the honour of editing for
the Early English Text Society, contains also two other plays,
the examination of which need not detain us long '. They are
full of interesting points, but are inferior in every way to the
1 Both of these plays, as also the Castell of Perseverance, are analysed
in vol. ii. of Collier's History of English Dramatic Poetry. From having
once belonged to Mr. Cox Macro they are often alluded to as the ' Macro
Moralities.'
INTRODUCTION. xlix
play we have been considering. The first of them is called by
Mr. Collier Mind, Will, and Understanding, but by Dr.
Furnivall1 A Morality of the Wisdom that is Christ. Ever-
lasting Wisdom discourses to Anima on the means of grace,
Mind, Wyll, and Understanding declare themselves as the
three parts of the soul, and are seduced by Lucyfer in the guise
of a 'proud gallant.' When they have loudly expressed their
determination to be wicked Wisdom re-enters, and with Wisdom
Anima, now ' in the most horrible wyse, fowlere than a fende,'
and with little devils running from under her skirts. Mind,
Wyll, and Understanding are converted, and Wisdom delivers
a long discourse on the nine works specially pleasing to God.
A curious passage on the evils of the age, especially the practice
of maintenance, forms the most noteworthy portion of the text of
the play, but it is probable that the spectators were best pleased
with the rich dresses of the actors, and the dumb shows by
which the representation was diversified. Thus in one part of
the play a procession was formed of the Five Wyttes (or, as we
should say, five senses] as ' five vyrgynes, with kertyllys and
mantelys, and chevelers and chappelettes,' singing an anthem,
' and they goyng befor, Anima next, and her folowynge Wysdom,
and aftyr hym Mynde, Wyll, and Undyrstondynge, all iii in
wyght cloth of golde, cheveleryde and crestyde in sute ; ' and in
another place there enters a dumb show of ' six dysgysyde in
the sute of Mynde,' viz. Indignation, Sturdiness, Malice, Hasti-
ness, Revenge (or Wrecks) and Discord, ' with rede berdes and
lyons rampaunt on here crestes and yche a warder in his honde.'
Apart from these scenic diversions the play must have been dull
enough, for of dramatic action there is none, and the speeches
are terribly long and didactic.
The third play in Mr. Gurney's MS., called by Mr. Collier
Mankind, is cast upon somewhat more dramatic lines. It
consists of a struggle between Mercy and Mischief for the soul
of Mankind. Mischief is aided by Nought, New Gyse and
Nowadays, whose assaults Mankind repulses by a threat to
' ding ' them with his spade. But when Titivillus, a more potent
devil, appears on the scene, Mankind yields to his temptations,
1 In his edition for the New Shakspere Society of a part of the play
as it survives in the Digby MS.
d
1 INTRODUCTION.
declaring 'Of labure and preyere I am nere yrke of both.'
Mischief triumphs over Mercy, and Mankind is nearly persuaded
to hang himself, but is rescued and reconciled by Mercy. This
play is probably of a later date than its two companions, and
forms a connecting link between the earlier Moralities and
their later development, of which we shall soon have to speak.
Of the plays handed down to us in printed editions, that of
Everyman, though now known to be only a translation from the
Dutch Elkerlijk, claims the first place. It was printed at least
four times early in the I5th century, twice by Richard Pynson
and twice by John Skot. Though planned on a far less extensive
scale than the Castell of Perseverance, it is distinguished by the
same breadth of motive as the earlier play, and both in language
and treatment it is thoroughly dramatic. Its plot, as Prof.
Ten Brink has noted, is derived from the old Buddhist parable
known to Europeans through the legend of Barlaam and
Josaphat The extracts given in the present volume are so long,
comprising nearly half the play, that no further analysis is
needed. It is sufficient here to note its prominent introduction
of Catholic teaching on the subject of the seven sacraments,
and its exaltation of the priesthood.
For preesthode excedeth all other thynge;
To us holy scripture they do teche
And converteth man fro synne heven to reche;
God hath to them more power gyven
Than to any aungell that is in heven.
11. 728, sqq.
And again —
Ther is no emperour, kyng, duke ne baron,
That of God hath commissyon,
As hath the leest preest in the worlde beynge,
For of the blessed sacramentes pure and benynge
He bereth the kayes, and thereof hath cure
For mannes redempcion, it is ever sure.
1L 709, sqq.
Prof. Ten Brink is inclined to place this play as early as the
reign of Edward IV, and it is certain that it must have been
composed before the end of the I5th century.
Only once again, in 'a proper new interlude of the World and
the Child, otherwise called Mundus et Infans,' do we find the
INTRODUCTION. li
Morality concerned with issues that touch the whole of human
nature. Though called a 'new interlude' when printed by
Wynkyn de Worde in 1522, this remarkable play, by its lan-
guage, its strong alliteration, and its bragging speeches, cast
almost in Herod's vein, is manifestly of a much earlier date,
and cannot be assigned to a later reign than that of Henry VII.
It traces the career of man through its successive stages of
Infancy, Boyhood, Youth, Manhood, and Age. In Infancy he
is called by his mother Dalliance, in Boyhood Mundus gives
him the name of Wanton, in Youth he is called Love- Lust and
Liking. When 'one and twenty winter is comen and gone'
Mundus thus addresses him :
1 Now welcome, Love- Lust and Lykynge !
For thou hast ben obedyent to my byddynge
I encreace the in all thynge,
And myghty I make the a man.
Manhode Myghty shall be thy name.
Bere the prest in every game,
And wayte well that thou suffre no shame,
Neyther for londe nor for rente :
Yf ony man wolde wayte the with blame,
Withstonde hym with thy hole entent
Full sharpely thou bete hym to shame
With doughtynesse of dede :
For of one thynge, Manhode, I warne the
I am moost of bounte,
For seven kynges sewen me
Bothe by daye and nyght.
One of them is the kynge of pryde,
The kynge of envy, doughty in dede,
The kynge of wrathe that boldely wyll abyde,
For mykyll is his myght.
The kynge of covet[ise] is the fourte :
The fyfte kynge he hyght slouthe,
The kynge of glotony hath no Jolyte
There poverte is pyght :
Lechery is the seventh kynge,
All men in hym have grete delytynge,
Therfore worshyp hym above all thynge,
Manhode with all thy myght.
1 Quoted from the Roxburghe Club reprint of 1817.
d2
Hi INTRODUCTION.
Manhood promises obedience to Mundus in all things, but now
Conscience comes on the scene and Manhood is persuaded,
though not without considerable reluctance, to profess himself
his servant. His conversion, however, is very half-hearted,
for he says of Mundus,
But yet wyll I hym not forsake,
For mankynde he dothe mery make:
Thonghe the worlde and conscyence be at debate,
Yet the worlde will I not despyse,
For bothe in chyrche and in chepynge,
And in other places beynge,
The world fyndeth me all thynge
And dothe me grete servyse.
Weakened by this determination to serve two masters, Mankind
falls an easy victim to the wiles of Folly, and it is not until his
name is changed to Age that he learns the lessons of Perse-
verance, and receives from him his final appellation, Repentance.
There is little action about the play, and such rough eloquence
as it may have originally possessed, is sadly marred by the
obvious imperfections of the form in which it has come down to
us. It remains, however, a notable play, and stands a head
and shoulders higher than any of its successors.
§7-
In the prologue to Everyman we are told that the drama
is ' by figure a moral play.' As we have already noted, when
Wynkyn de Worde printed the World and the Child, he called
it, according to the fashion of the day, an Interlude. Mr. E. K.
Chambers has shown (The Mediaeval Stage, Vol. II, p. 181 sq.)
that this word was in use as early as the fourteenth century for
any kind of dramatic performance, and that its primary meaning
is that of a play in dialogue between two or more performers,
not as has been generally stated a play introduced in the pauses
of some other entertainment. Nevertheless this second meaning,
or more generally that of a dramatic diversion, seems to have
been foisted on the word, and we can connect the rise of the
Interlude with the movement of the drama towards the close of
the fifteenth century from the publicity of the street to the halls
of colleges and schools, or of the nobility or wealthy citizens.
INTRODUCTION. liii
These later plays seldom greatly exceed a thousand lines in
length, they required no stage accessories, and could mostly be
performed by four or five players dividing the parts amongst
them. In place of the whole of man's life in its relation to its
eternal issues, they deal with mere fragments of it, and their
moral teaching is confined to exhortations against the besetting
sins of youth, and to the praise of learning and studiousness.
In other plays for the sacramental teaching of the Church there
is substituted the Reformation controversy, and these polemics
of the stage were carried to such a length as to draw down on
themselves the royal prohibition. The word Interlude reminds
us of the more trivial nature of these later performances, from
which, however, most of the popular ideas about Morality plays
have usually been derived J.
The 'Enterlude of Hycke-scorner,' which, as printed by
Wynkyn de Worde, may be reckoned as one of the earliest
specimens of the new Moralities, is in many respects a good
example of its class. It opens with a colloquy between Pity
and Contemplation, who are soon joined by Perseverance.
They lament together over the wickedness of the times, and
their place is then taken by Freewill and Imagination, who
recount to each other the pranks they have been playing in
1 An example of this confusion is to be found in the prominence
assigned in all accounts of the Morality to the character of the Vice, to
whom allusion is made by Ben Jonson in his Staple of News, ii. i, and
The Devil is an Ass, i. i, and by other Elizabethan writers. In the
Morality proper the Vice has no part, but when the desire was felt for
some humourous relief in the didactic interludes, a character probably
dressed in the traditional garb of the domestic Fool was introduced and
attained great popularity. The etymology of the name is doubtful, for
in Heywood's Play of the Wether (1534), one of the earliest instances in
which the Vice is specifically mentioned by name, he plays the part of
Mery Report, who is a jester pure and simple, without any connection
with any of the deadly sins. So m Jack Juggler, Jack himself is called
the Vice, and in Godly Queen Hester (1561) the name is given to a jester
called Hardy Dardy. In other plays, however, the part of the Vice is
assigned to characters such as Sin, Fraud, Inclination, Ambition, &c.,
and the list given in the Devil is an Ass (Fraud or Covetonsness, or
lady Vanity, or old Iniquity), confirms the theory that the obvious
etymology is the true one.
liv INTRODUCTION.
very unseemly language. To them enters Hickscorner, a
traveller, who soon proves himself a worthy comrade. He
comes to blows, however, with Imagination, and Pity returns
to help keep the peace. The three knaves, indignant at his
intervention, bind him and go their ways. Pity is released by
Perseverance and Contemplation, and goes in quest of his
adversaries. Meanwhile Freewill has been imprisoned in
Newgate for 'conveying' a cup, but has been delivered by
Imagination. He is now confronted by Perseverance and
Contemplation, who effect his conversion by their arguments.
Imagination again appears on the scene, at first only to scoff,
but in a little while he too is converted, and in this edifying
manner the play ends. Hickscorner, it will be noted, after
whom the interlude is named, disappears altogether unnoticed,
and there is no single dramatic touch in the whole production.
The play, however, must have enjoyed a fairly long life, for the
author of an Interlude of Youth, printed by \\~aley, probably in
the reign of Mary, took it as his model, and incorporated whole
sentences from it into his own work. With Hickscorner and
Youth may be classified 'an enterlude,' printed both by Vele
and by William Copland, ' called Lusty Juuentus, lyuely describ-
ing the frailtie of youth : of natur prone to vyce : by grace and
good counsayll traynable to vertue.' This very dull play, only
relieved by two rather good songs, was the work of a vehe-
mently Protestant author. The characters are — a Messenger,
Lusty Juuentus, Good Counsaill, Knowledge, Sathan the
deuyll, Hypocrisie, Fe low ship, Abhominable Lyuyng, God*s
Merciful Promises, and their names sufficiently indicate the
general course of the plot Juventus is nourished in the strictest
principles of the Reformation, until by direction of Satan,
Hypocrisy, under the name of Friendship, leads him first into
heresy and from heresy into unclean living, from which he is
finally rescued by his former friends Good Counsaill and Know-
Of the second class of the later Moralities, or, as I should pre-
fer to call them, didactic interludes, those namely which were
written in praise, not of religion, but of learning, the Interlude
of the Four Elements, by John Rastell, is the earliest now extant
The only known copy which has been preserved is unfortu-
INTRODUCTION. Iv
nately imperfect, so that the course of the plot cannot be set
forth at length, but the writer's unflinching didacticism and the
expedients by which it is relieved, are sufficiently illustrated in
the short extracts quoted in the present volume. Another inter-
lude in praise of learning is the Wyt and Science of John Red-
ford, written probably towards the end of the reign of Henry
VIII, and first printed in the Shakespeare Society's Publications
for 1848. Though itself so long in obtaining the honours of
print, Redford's play served as a model to the anonymous author
of 'a new and pleasant enterlude, intituled the Marriage of
Witte and Science,' licensed in 1569-7010 its printer, Thomas
Marshe. This is a really amusing play, very brightly and
trippingly written, with scarcely a bad line in it. It was prob-
ably composed by a schoolmaster for performance by his boys,
and traces the mishaps of Wit in his endeavour to win the hand
of his lady Science, the daughter of Reason and Experience. In
all his adventures Wit has a charming companion and page in
Will, whose talk is much wittier, in the modern sense, than his
master's. The play is regularly divided into acts and scenes,
and in this and other respects is so widely removed from the
earlier didactic interludes, as hardly to come within the scope of
the present volume. In the same way the Nice Wanton and
the Disobedient Child, the latter by Thomas Ingelend, both
probably written during the reign of Elizabeth, have passed too
far into the regions of comedy to be treated here, though their
inculcation of the necessity of discipline in youth entitles them
to be ranked with the didactic interludes.
Two famous names recall us to an earlier period. John
Skelton and John Heywood are both of them known to English
literature in other capacities than as dramatists, but Heywood
put his best work into his plays, while Skelton's Magnificence
(c. 1 520 ?), though learned and painstaking, and with some fine
passages, is a dull and lifeless performance, which its author's
fame as a satirist has caused to be somewhat overrated. The
minor characters are numerous and, as nearly all of them change
their names for the purpose of disguise, the thread of the play
(of which a brief summary is given in the Notes) is by no means
easy to follow. The same charge may fairly be brought against
a play by John Haywood, which until Dr. Alois Brandl of Berlin
Ivi INTRODUCTION.
came to its rescue in 1898 had never provoked an editor to
reprint it. The play is on the subject of Love, and its cha-
racters— Loving not Loved, Loved not Loving, Both Loving and
Loved, Neither Loved nor Loving, &c. — are such mere puppets,
that the play is the most confusing the present writer has ever
grappled with. Yet there is much wit in the dialogue, as for
instance in this pitiful complaint of the woman Loved not
Loving, concerning the too pertinacious suit of her admirer:
For it doth lyke me evyn lyke as one
Shold offer me servyse most humbly
With an axe in his hande, contynually
Besechyng me gentylly that this might be sped,
To grannt hym my good wyll to stryke off my bed.
The play is really little more than a disputation (interrupted
by one long and not too pleasant narrative) as to the com-
parative intensities of the happiness and misery to be won from
love. As such it is essentially undramatic, and the only in-
cident by which it is diversified, in which Neither Loved nor
Lovyng pretends to have set Loved not Lovyng on fire, is but
poor stuff. Heywood's other plays are much better, and it is
strange that one of them, the Play of the Wether, which with
some excisions, or slight alterations, would be an excellent play
for a Christmas performance by boys and girls, had also to wait
long for a modern editor. In this ' new and very mery interlude
all maner wethers,' Jupiter deputes Mery Report to hear and re-
count to him all the different prayers that the various characters
offer up for different varieties of weather. Mery Report's
account of his experiences gives so excellent a summary of the
play that I append it below1, with little doubt that its length
1 Merry Report—
Now such an other sorte as here hath bene
In all the dayes of my lyfe I haue not sene,
No sewters now but women, knauys, and boys,
And all theyr sewtys are in fansyes and toys.
Yf that there come no wyser after thys cry
I wyll to the god and make an ende quyckely.
Oyes, yf that any knaue here
Be wyllynge to appere
For wether fowle or clere,
Come in before thys flocke,
INTRODUCTION. Ivii
will be excused. The didactic import of this interlude is obvious,
and it is thus connected with Thersites, that admirable lesson
And be he hole or syckly
Come shew hys mynde quyckly.
All thys tyme I perceyue is spent in wast,
To wayte for mo sewters, I se non make hast.
Wherfore I wyll shew the god all thys procys,
And be delyuered of my symple offys.
Now, lorde, accordynge to your comaundement,
Attendyng sewters I haue ben dylygent,
And, at begynnyng as your wyll was I sholde,
I come now at ende to shewe what eche man wolde.
The fyrst sewter before your selfe dyd appere,
A gentylman desyrynge wether clere,
Clowdy, nor mysty, nor no wynde to blow,
For hurt in hys huntynge ; and then, as ye know,
The marchaunt sewde for all of that kynde
For wether clere and mesurable wynde,
As they maye best bere theyr saylys to make spede;
And streyght after thys there came to me in dede
An other man who namyd hym selfe a ranger,
And sayd all of hys crafte be farre brought in dannger
For lacke of lyvynge, whyche chefely ys wynde fall,
But he playnely sayth there bloweth no wynde at al,
Wherfore he desyreth, for encrease of theyr fleesys,
Extreme rage of wynde trees to tere in peces.
Then came a water myller, and he cryed out
For water, and sayde the wynde was so stout
The rayne could not fall; wherfore he made request
For plenty of rayne to set the wynde at rest,
And then, syr, there came a wynde myller in,
Who sayde for the rayne he could no wynde wyn,
The water he wysht to be banysht all,
Besechynge your grace of wynde contynuall.
Then came ther another that wolde banysh all this,
A goodly dame, an ydyll thynge iwys ;
Wynde, rayne, nor froste, nor sonshyne wold she baue,
But fayre close wether her beautye to save.
Then came there a nother that lyneth by laundry,
Who muste haue wether hot and clere here clothys to dry.
Then came there a boy, for froste and snow contynuall,
Snow to make snowballys and frost for his pytfale,
Iviii INTRODUCTION.
against unseemly boasting, adapted by an unknown author, from
a Latin dialogue by a French professor, Ravisius Textor. In
Heywood's other plays, briefly mentioned and described in the
Notes, no didactic purpose can be traced. They may be classified
as satiric interludes, if the word satire can be rightly applied to
the work of a man whose temper was as genial and sunny as
that of Chaucer himself, to whose writings his own were
largely indebted. In these plays Heywood breaks away
altogether from the Morality, and becomes the precursor of
the modern playwright, who makes it his main business to see
that his audience is amused.
The last play from which extracts are given in the present
volume is the King John of Bishop Bale. Bale was not only a
Protestant controversialist, but an antiquary, and it is charac-
teristic of him that in his God's Promises and Johan Baptystes,
he should have endeavoured to infuse fresh life into the Miracle
play by adapting it to strictly Protestant teaching. In his King
John he again endeavours to unite new and old, by welding the
didacticism and personifications of the moral interlude with the
history of an English king. The play apparently remained in
MS. until printed by Mr. Collier in 1838, and there is no reason
to imagine that it in any way influenced the rise of the English
historical drama, which did not take place until more than a
For whyche, god wote, he seweth full gredely.
Your fyrst man wold haue wether clere and not wyndy;
The seconde, the same saue cooles to blow meanly;
The thyrd desyred stormes and wynde most ext[re]mely;
The fourth, all in water and wolde haue no wynde;
The fyft no water, but all wynde to grynde;
The syxst wold haue non of all these nor no bright son;
The seuenth extremely the hole son wold haue wonne;
The eyght and the last for frost and snow he prayd.
Byr lady we shall take shame I am afrayd!
Who marketh in what maner this sort is led
May thynke yt impossyble all to be sped.
This nomber is smale, there lacketh twayne of ten,
And yet, by the masse, amonge ten thousand men
No one thynge could stand more wyde from the other,
Not one of theyr sewtes agreeth wyth an other.
I promyse you here is a shrewed pece of warke.
INTRODUCTION. lix
quarter of a century after its first composition1. It is thus as
a curious development of the didactic interlude, and not as the
forerunner of Shakespeare's chronicle-histories, that King John
finds a place in the present volume.
§8.
The last performance of the York Miracle plays took place in
1579, when Shakespeare had attained his Roman majority.
The Newcastle plays lasted ten years longer, by which time
his career as a dramatist had begun. The Chester plays were
acted till the end of the century ; the Beverly till 1604, when
Shakespeare's work was already drawing towards its close. Even
later than this we hear of a Passion Play acted before Gondomar,
the Spanish ambassador, but as to this allowance must be made
for foreign influence, and we may regard the Miracle play as
finally dying with the death of Elizabeth. In its prolonged
old age it had overlapped the noblest period of the English
drama, but its direct influence had long passed away2, and
the reminiscence of the Harrowing of Hell in the Porter's
speech in Macbeth, is perhaps the most notable trace which it
has left on the drama of the Shakespearian age. But the
Miracle plays had fostered a love of acting in almost every
county in England. They had prepared the ground from
which the Shakespearian harvest was to spring in all its
glorious abundance, and in this indirect manner their influence
had been potent for good.
The history of the Morality, in its later development as the
didactic interlude, is somewhat different. During the first half
of the reign of Elizabeth plays with many of the characteristic
features of the later Moralities enjoyed much popularity. Such
were the Triall of Treasure (printed 1 567), Like Will to Like
(printed 1568), All for Money (printed 1578), The Three Ladies
of London (printed 1584), and The Three Lords and Three
Ladies of London (printed as late as 1590). The increasing
1 The play seems to have been revised after the accession of Elizabeth,
but was probably written in the reign of Edward VI.
* The influence of the old play of St. George of Cappadocia is remotely
traceable in the Christmas mummings still acted in a few out-of-the-way
villages in different parts of England.
Ix
INTRODUCTION*
INTRODUCTION. Ixi
individuality of the characterization in these plays was doubtless
in part only a natural development, but in part also it was due
to the influence of the comedies and tragedies founded on
classical and Italian models. But though the didactic Interlude
learnt something from these splendid rivals, it could not better
the instruction, and its latent promise of a domestic drama of
purely English growth was never fulfilled. For better or for
worse, however, the transformed Morality at this period takes
its place as one of the threads which went to make up the
wondrous web of the Elizabethan drama, and as such passes
out of the scope of the present volume. Here it must suffice us
to have attempted to follow the dramatic element in English
literature, from a date nearly coincident with the birth of
Chaucer, to the time when Shakespeare was old enough to play
a boy's part in some moral interlude in praise of learning at the
Grammar school of Stratford-on-Avon.
§9-
For the idea of adding to this edition (1904) of my little book
a few illustrations, mostly more quaint than beautiful, I am
indebted to an American critic, who took me rather severely to
task for regretting that we had no authentic representations of
the costumes, &c., in these early plays. The regret, unfortu-
nately, was only too well founded, for the curious cuts which
are found on the title-pages (or the backs of them) of Hyck-
scorner and one or two other plays printed about 1520 were
copies of French or Low Country woodcuts, and therefore
cannot be taken as evidence of the dresses of English players.
The commonest of them, of which I give two examples taken
from Wynkyn de Worde's Hyckscorner, are copied in reverse
from a French edition of Terence published by Antoine Verard
at Paris about 1500, and I give here reproductions of the
originals from which they are taken. The little figure of Every-
man on the title-page of John Skot's edition of that play, which
by the kindness of Mrs. Christie-Miller is reproduced opposite
page 77, is also copied from the French Terence, and the
grotesque figure of Death, which accompanies it, from Guy
Marchant's edition of the Compost des Bergers of 1500. To the
Ixii INTRODUCTION.
best of my belief the only English cut which throws any light
on the English stage of this period is that here reproduced
from ' The pleasant and stately morall of the Three Lordes and
Three Ladies of London,' printed by R. Ihones in 1590. From
its style and its worn appearance it is probable that this was
made for some lost edition of a play printed some twenty years
earlier. ' If I am right in my interpretation of it ' — the quota-
FROM 'THE THREE LORDES AND THREE LADIES OF LONDON,' 1590.
tion is from a paper on ' Woodcuts in English Plays ' in my
Old Picture Books (Methuen, 1902)—' it relates not to the play
itself, but to a performance of any morality in a private hall.
On the right is a philosophical-looking person with a wand in
his hand, whom I take to be the " Doctor" or " Expositor " who
used to interpret to the audience the meaning of the old miracle-
INTRODUCTION. Ixiii
plays and moralities. On the left is a man in the ordinary
dress of the sixteenth century, apparently an actor. Both these
are turning their faces to a group of ladies seated on a dais,
presumably as spectators. The picture is thus taken from the
rear of the actors, and illustrates, though in a rather dull and
conventional manner, the performances of a much earlier
period than 1590.'
To illustrate the Miracle Plays it has been necessary to cross
the Channel and obtain what little light we can from French
sources. The picture of Noah's Ark is taken from Verard's
edition of the Mystere du Vieil Testament, printed about 1 500 ;
those of the Shepherds, of the Fall of Lucifer, and of Justice,
Mercy and Truth, from editions of the Hours of the Blessed
Virgin, printed at Paris between 1490 and 1510. The excuse
for borrowing from these is twofold. In the first place, these
delightfully illustrated prayer-books were largely printed in
Paris for the English market, there being numerous editions for
our English ' Use of Sarum ' ; secondly, the names written on
the labels in the picture of the Shepherds which forms our
frontispiece— Gobin le gay, le beau Roger, Aloris, Alison, &c. —
are those which they and their wives frequently bear in the
contemporary French plays, and the Shepherds are bringing
with them such rustic gifts as are mentioned also in our English
cycles. We may thus fairly imagine that it was a scene from
a Miracle play which the French artist here had in mind, and
that, save for differences in national costume, it was a scene with
which English playgoers were also familiar.
Lastly, to illustrate Thersites there is shown a combat with
a snail from Guy Marchant's Kalendrier des Bergers of 1500.
At least one edition of the Kalendar of Shepherds was printed
in English (of a sort) at Paris for exportation, so that here again
we are not wholly on foreign ground. Moreover Thersites, as
has been recently shown, is based on one of the Latin Dialogues
of J. Ravisius Textor (Jean Texier), educated at and subsequently
one of the professors of the College de Navarre. Now Guy
Marchant's shop was just behind the College, and it is quite
possible that it was from seeing this snail-picture on Marchant's
counter that the Professor was inspired to write this particular
Dialogue. The combat of the man-at-arms and the snail was
Ixiv INTRODUCTION.
a venerable medieval joke, especially levelled against the
Lombards, to whom a reference will be found in the poem which
accompanies the picture in the Kalendrier and which is here
reproduced.
Jniciuty faneff euagefii fc6rtj to^ctnc^. ^foiia.
*T| tfpiinripto etat^ct6fl (i *5et6un? craf apai
bed. (i bate etat 9cr0tl.^oc etat it) puncfpu
i r B apub bed ,^)ia p tpfu ^ fa eta (tit et fine
' i ty ep nic^if . Ci uo8 factuty eff it) ipfo *5 if a erai
FROM HEURES A LUSAIGE DE ROME
PARIS, J. DUPRi, 1489
To face p. i]
ENGLISH MIRACLE PLAYS, &c%
gotfe
THE BARKERS.
THE CREATION AND THE FALL OF LUCIFER.
[SCENE I. Heaven.]
[DEUS.] Ego sum Alpha et O. vita, via, Veritas, primus
et nouissimus.
1. I am gracyus and grete, god withoutyn begynnyng,
I am maker unmade, all mighte es in me,
I am lyfe and way unto welth-wynnyng,
I am formaste and fyrste, als I byd sail it be.
My blyssyng o ble sail be blendyng, 5
And heldand fro harme to be hydande,
My body in blys ay abydande
Une[n]dande withoutyn any endyng.
2. Sen I am maker unmade, and moste so of mighte,
And ay sail be endeles, and noghte es but I, 10
Unto my dygnyte dere sail diewly be dyghte
A place full of plente to my plesing at ply,
And therewith als wyll I have wroght
Many dyvers doynges be-dene,
Whilke warke sail mekely contene, 15
And all sail be made even of noght.
a YORK PLAYS.
3. But onely the worthely warke of my wyll
In my sprete sail enspyre the mighte of me,
And in the fyrste, faythely, my thoghts to full-fyll,
Baynely in my blyssyng I byd at here be 20
A blys al-beledande abowte me;
In the whilke blys I byde at be here
Nyen ordres of aungels full clere,
In lovyng ay lastande at lowte me.
Tune cantant angeli : Te deum laudamus, te dominum
confitemur,
4. Here undernethe me nowe a nexile I neven, 25
Whilke He sail be erthe now, all be at ones
Erthe haly and helle, this hegheste be heven,
And that welth sail welde sail won in this wones.
Thys graunte I .yowe mynysters myne,
To-whils yhe ar stabill in thoghte ; 30
And also to thaime that ar noghte
Be put to my presone at pyne. \To Lucifer.
5. Of all the mightes I have made moste nexte after me,
I make the als master and merour of my mighte,
I beelde the here baynely in blys for to be, 35
I name the for Lucifer, als berar of lyghte.
No thyng here sail the be derand
In this blys sail be .yhour beeldyng,
And have al welth in _youre weledyng,
Ay whils j>he ar buxomly berande. 40
Tune cantant Angeli, Sanctus sanctus sanctus, dominus deus
sabaoth.
6. PRIMUS ANGELUS SERAPHYN.
A ! mercyfull maker, full mekill es thi mighte,
That all this warke at a worde worthely has wroghte
Ay loved be that lufly lorde of his lighte,
That us thus mighty has made, that nowe was righte
noghte ;
FALL OF LUCIFER. 3
In blys for to byde in hys blyssyng, 45
Ay lastande, in luf lat us lowte hym,
At beelde us thus baynely abowete hym,
Of myrthe nevermore to have myssyng.
7. PRIMUS ANGELUS DEFICIENS LUCIFERE.
All the myrth that es made es markide in me,
The bemes of my brighthode ar byrnande so bryghte,
And I so semely in syghte my selfe now I se, 51
For lyke a lorde am I lefte to lende in this lighte,
More fayrear be far than my feres,
In me is no poynte that may payre,
I fele me fetys and fayre, 55
My power es passande my peres.
8. ANG. CHERABYN.
Lord ! wyth a lastande luf we love the allone,
Thou mightefull maker that markid us and made us,
And wroghte us thus worthely to wone in this wone,
Ther never felyng of fylth may full us nor fade us,
All blys es here beeldande a-boute us, 61
To-whyls we are stabyll in thoughte
In the worschipp of hym that us wroghte
Of dere never thar us more dowte us.
9. PRIM. ANG. DEFIC.
O ! what I am fetys and fayre and fygured full fytt !
The forme of all fayrehede apon me es feste, 66
All welth in my weelde es, I wete be my wytte,
The bemes of my brighthede are bygged with the
beste.
My schewyng es schemerande and schynande,
So bygly to blys am I broghte, 70
Me nedes for to noy me righte noghte,
Here sail never payne me be pynande.
B 2
4 YORK PLAYS.
10. ANG. SERAPHYN.
With all the wytt at we welde we wyrschip thi wyll,
Thu gloryus god that es grunde of all grace,
Ay with stedefaste Steven lat us stande styll, 75
Lorde ! to be fede with the fode of thi fayre face.
In lyfe that es lely ay lastande,
Thi dale, lorde, es ay daynetethly delande,
And who so that fode may be felande
To se thi fayre face es noght fastande. 80
11. PRIM. ANG. DEFEC. LUCIFER.
Owe ! certes ! what I am worthely wroghte with wyr-
shyp, i-wys !
For in a glorius gle my gleteryng it glemes,
I am so mightyly made my mirth may noghte mys,
Ay sail I byde in this blys thorowe brightnes of
bemes.
Me nedes noghte of noy for to neven, 85
All welth in my welde have I weledande,
Abowne y\i\\. sail I be beeldand,
On heghte in the hyeste of hewven.
12. Ther sail I set my selfe, full semely to seyghte,
To ressayve my reverence thorowe right o renowne,
I sail be lyke unto hym that es hyeste on heghte; 91
Owe ! what I am derworth and defte. — Owe ! dewes !
all goes downe !
My mighte and my mayne es all marrande,
Helpe! felawes, in faythe I am fallande.
SEC. ANGEL. DEFEC.
Fra heven are we heledande on all hande, 95
To wo are we weendande, I warande.
FALL OF LUCIFER. 5
[SCENE II. Hell.]
13. LUCIFER DEIABOLUS IN INFERNO.
Owte owte ! harrowe ! helples, slyke hote at es here,
This es a dongon of dole that I am to dyghte,
Whare es my kynde be-come, so cumly and clere,
Nowe am I laytheste, alias ! that are was lighte.
My bryghtnes es blakkeste and bio nowe; 101
My bale es ay betande and brynande,
That gares ane go gowlande and gyrnande.
Owte ! ay walaway ! I well enew in wo nowe !
14. SECUNDUS DIABOLUS.
Owte ! owte ! I go wode for wo, my wytte es all wente
nowe 105
All oure fode es but filth, we fynde us beforn,
We that ware beelded in blys in bale are we brent
nowe,
Owte ! on the Lucifer, lurdan ! oure lyghte has thu
lorne.
Thi dedes to this dole nowe has dyghte us,
To spille us thu was oure spedar, no
For thou was oure lyghte and oure ledar,
The hegheste of heven hade thu hyght us.
15. LUCIFER IN INFERNO.
Walaway ! wa es me now, nowe es it war thane it was.
Unthryvandely threpe yhe, I sayde but a thoghte.
SECUND. DIAB. We! lurdane, thu lost us.
Luc. IN INF. Khe ly, owte! alias!
I wyste noghte this wo sculde be wroghte. 116
Owte on ^how ! lurdans, yhz smore me in smoke.
SECUND. DIAB. This wo has thu wroughte us.
Luc. IN INF. Khe ly, y\\Q ly !
SECUND. DIAB. Thou lyes, and that sail thu by.
We ! lurdans, have at _yowe, lat loke. i ao
6 YORK PLAYS.
[SCENE III. Heaven.]
1 6. ANGELUS CHERUBYN.
A ! lorde, lovid be thi name that us this lighte lente,
Sen Lucifer oure ledar es lighted so lawe,
For hys unbuxumnes in bale to be brente.
Thi rightwysnes [redes] to rewarde on rowe.
like warke eftyr [it] is wroghte. 125
Thorowe grace of thi mercyfull myghte
The cause I se itt in syghte,
Wharefore to bale he es broghte.
17. DEUS. Those foles for thaire fayre-hede in fantasyes
fell,
And hade mayne of mighte that marked tham and
made tham, 130
For-thi efter thaire warkes were, in wo sail thai well,
For sum ar fallen into fylthe that evermore sail fade
tham,
And never sail have grace for to gyrth tham.
So passande of power tham thoght tham,
Thai wolde noght me worschip that wroghte tham,
For-thi sail my wreth ever go with tham. 136
1 8. Ande all that me wyrschippe sail wone here, i-wys,
For-thi more forthe of my worke wyrke nowe I will.
Syn than ther mighte es for-marryde that mente all
o-mys,
Even to myne awne fygure this blys to fulfyll, 140
Mankynde of moulde will I make ;
But fyrste wille I fourme, hym before,
All thyng that sail hym restore,
To whilke that his talents will take.
19. Ande in my fyrste makyng to mustyr my mighte, 145
Sen erthe is vayne and voyde, and myrknes emel,
I byd in my blyssyng yhz aungels gyf lyghte
To the erthe, for it faded when the fendes fell.
FALL OF LUCIFER. 7
In hell sail never myrknes be myssande,
The myrknes thus name I for nighte, 150
The day that call I this lyghte.
My after-warkes sail thai be wyssande;
20. Ande now in my blyssyng I twyne tham in two,
The nighte even fro the day, so that thai mete never,
But ather in a kynde courese thaire gates for to go.
Bothe the nighte and the day, does dewly _yhour
deyver, 156
To all I sail wirke be yhe wysshyng.
This day warke es done ilke a dele,
And all this warke lykes me ryght wele,
And baynely I gyf it my blyssyng. 160
Explicit.
C&ester
I. NOAH'S FLOOD.
THE WAITER LEADERS AND THE DRAWERS OF
DEE PLAYE.
GOD. I, God, that all this worlde hath wroughte,
Heaven and eairth, and all of naughte,
I see my people in deede and thoughte
Are sette fowle in synne;
My ghoste shall not linge in mone. 5
That through fleshe-likinge is my fonne,
But tell sixe skore yeaires be comen and gone,
To loke if they will blynne.
Man that I made I will destroye,
Beaste, worme and fowle to flye; 10
For one eairth they doe me nye,
The folke that are theirone;
It harmes me so hurtfullye,
The malice that doth nowe multiplye,
That sore yt greives me hartelye 15
That ever I made mon.
Therefore, Noye, my servante free,
That rightious man arte, as I see,
A shippe sone thou shall make thee,
Of treeyes drye and lighte ; ao
Littill chamberes therin thou make,
And byndinge slyche also thou take,
Within and without thou ne slake
To anoynte yt through all thy mighte.
1. NOAH'S FLOOD. 9
Three hundreth cubettes it shall be longe, 35
And fiftie brode, to make yt stronge ;
Of heighte fiftie the meete thou fonge,
Thus messuer thou it aboute.
One wyndowe worcke through thy wytte,
A cubitte of lengthe and breade make itt, 30
Upon the syde a dore shall sit
For to come in and oute.
Eattinge places thou make alsoe,
Three rowfed chamberes on a roe:
For with waiter I thinke to slowe 35
Man that I can make;
Destroyed all the worlde shalbe,
Save thou, thy wiffe, and children three,
And ther wiffes also with thee
Shall saved be for thy sake. 40
NOYE. O, Lorde, I thanke thee lowde and still,
That to me arte in suche will,
And spares me and my howse to spill,
As I nowe southly fynde.
Thy byddinge, Lorde, I shall fulfill, 45
And never more thee greve nor grill,
That such grace hath sente me till
Amonght all mankinde.
Have done, you men and wemen all,
Hye you, leste this watter fall, 50
To- worche this shippe, chamber and hall,
As God hath bedden us doe.
SEM. Father, I am all readye bowne ;
An axe I have, by my crowne !
As sharpe as anye in all this towne, 55
For to goe therto.
CAM. I have a hacchatt wounder keeyne,
To bitte well, as maye be scene,
10 CHESTER PLAYS.
A better grownden, as I wene,
Is not in all this towne. 60
JAFFETTE. And I can make well a pynne,
And with this hamer knocke it in :
Goe wee worcke boute more dynne,
And I am readye bowne.
NOYES WIFFE. And we shall bringe tymber too, 65
For we mone nothinge elles doe;
Wemen be weeke to underfoe
Any greate travill.
SEMES WIFFE. Hear is a good hacckinge-stoccke,
One this you maye hewe and knocke; 70
Shall none be idle in this floccke ;
Ney nowe maye noe man fayle.
CAMMES WIFFE. And I will goe gaither slyche,
The shippe for to caulke and pyche,
Anoynte yt muste be every stiche, 75
Borde, tree, and pynne.
JEFFETTES WYFFE. And I will gaither chippes heare
To make a fier for you in feare,
And for to dighte youer dynner,
Againste your cominge in. So
Then Noye begineth to builde the Arcke, and speaketh Noye :
NOYE. Now in the name of God, I will begyne
To make the shippe that we shall in,
That we maye be readye for to swyme
At the cominge of the fludde :
Thes bordes heare I pynne togeither, 85
To beare us saffe from the weither,
That we maye rowe both heither and theither,
And saffe be from the fludde.
/. NOAH'S FLOOD. II
Of this treey will I make the maste,
Tyed with cabbelles that will laste, 90
With a saile yarde for iche blaste,
And iche thinge in their kinde :
With toppe-castill, and boe-spritte,
With cordes and roppes, I hold all meete
To sayle fourth at the nexte weete, 95
This shippe is att an ende.
Wyffe, in this vessel we shall be kepte :
My children and thou, I woulde in ye lepte.
No YES WIFFE. In fayth, Noye, I hade as leffe thou slepte !
For all thy frynishe fare, 100
I will not doe after thy reade.
NOYE. Good wyffe, doe nowe as I thee bydde.
NOYES WIFFE. Be Christe ! not or I see more neede,
Though thou stande all the daye and stare.
NOYE. Lorde, that wemen be crabbed aye, 105
And non are meke, I dare well saye,
This is well scene by me to daye,
In witnesse of you ichone.
Goodwiffe, lett be all this beare,
That thou maiste in this place heare; no
For all the wene that thou arte maister,
And so thou arte, by Sante John !
Then Noye with all his familie shall make a signe as though
the wroughte upon the shippe with divers instrumentes
and after that God shall speak to Noye, sayinge :
GOD. Noye, take thou thy meanye,
And in the shippe hie that you be,
For non soe righteous man to me 115
Is nowe one earth livinge;
12 CHESTER PLAYS.
Of cleane beastes with thee thou take,
Seven and seven, or then thou slake,
He and shee, make to make,
Belive in that thou bringe. "o
Of beastes uncleane towe and towe,
Male and femalle, boute moe,
Of cleane fowles seven alsoe,
The he and shee togeither;
Off fowles uncleane twene and noe .more, 125
As I of beastes sayde before ;
That man be saved through my lore,
Againste I sende this weither.
Of all meates that mone be eatten,
Into the shippe loke there be getten ; 130
For that maye be noe waye forgetten,
And doe all this bydene,
To sustayne man and beaste therin,
Tell the waiter cease and blynne.
This worlde ys filled full of synne, 135
And that is nowe well scene.
Seven dayes be yette cominge,
You shall have space them in to bringe;
After that it is my likinge,
Mankinde for to anoye. 140
Fourtye dayes and fortye nightes
Raine shall fall for ther unrightes,
And that I have made through my mightes,
Nowe thinke I to destroye.
NOYE. Lorde, to thy byddinge I am bayne, 145
Seinge noe other grace will gayne,
Yt will I fulfill fayne,
For gracious I thee fynde;
A hundred wyntter and twentye
This shippe makinge taryed have I, 150
I. NOAH'S FLOOD. 13
Yf through amendment thy mercye
Woulde fall to mankinde.
Have donne, you men and wemen alle,
Hye you, leste this waiter fall,
That iich beaste were in stalle, 155
And into the shippe broughte;
Of cleane beastes seven shalbe,
Of uncleane two, this God bade me:
The fludde is nye, you maye well see,
Therefore tarye you naughte. 160
Then Noye shall goe into the Arcke with all his familye, his
wife excepte^ and the Arcke must be borded round about,
and one the bordes all the beastes and foules painted.
SEM. Sir, heare are lions, leapardes, in,
Horses, mares, oxen, and swyne;
Goote and caulfe, sheepe and kine
Heare sitten thou maye see.
CAM. Camelles, asses, man maye fynde, 165
Bucke and doo, harte and hinde,
And beastes of all maner kinde
Here be, as thinketh me.
JAFFETT. Take heare cattes, dogges too,
Atter and foxe, fullimartes alsoe; 170
Hares hoppinge gaylie can goe,
Heare have coule for to eate.
NOYES WIFFE. And heare are beares, woulfes sette,
Apes, oules, marmosette,
Weyscelles, squirelles, and firrette, 175
Heare the eaten ther meate.
SEMES WIFFE. Heare are beastes in this howse,
Heare cattes make yt crousse,
Heare a rotten, heare a mousse,
That standeth nighe togeither. 180
14 CHESTER PLAYS.
GAMES WIFFE. And heare are fowles lesse and more,
Hearnes, cranes, and bittor,
Swannes, peacokes, and them before
Meate for this weither.
JEFFATTES WIFFE. Heare are cockes, kites, croes, 185
Rookes, ravens, manye roes,
Cuckoes, curlues, who ever knowes,
Iche one in his kinde;
Heare are doves, digges, drackes,
Red-shonckes roninge through the lackes, 190
And ech fowle that leden makes
In this shippe men maye fynde.
NOYE. Wiffe, come in: why standes thou their?
Thou arte ever frowarde, I dare well sweare;
Come in, one Codes halfe ! tyme yt were, 195
For feare leste that we drowne.
No YES WIFFE. Yea, sir, sette up youer saile,
And rowe fourth with evill haile,
For withouten [anye] fayle
I will not oute of this towne ; 200
But I have my gossippes everyechone,
One foote further I will not gone :
The shall not drowne, by Sante John 1
And I may save ther life.
The loven me full well, by Christe ! 305
But thou lett them into thy cheiste,
Elles rowe nowe wher thee leiste,
And gette thee a newe wiffe.
NOYE. Seme, sonne, loe ! thy mother is wrawe :
Forsooth, such another I doe not knowe. a to
SEM. Father, I shall fetch her in, I trowe,
Withoutten anye fayle. —
Mother, my father after thee sende,
/. NOAH'S FLOOD. 15
And byddes thee into yeinder shippe wende.
Loke up and see the wynde, 215
For we bene readye to sayle.
NOYES WIFFE. Seme, goe againe to hym, I saie;
I will not come theirin to daye.
NOYE. Come in, wiffe, in twentye devilles waye !
Or elles stand there without. 220
CAM. Shall we all feche her in?
NOYE. Yea, sonnes, in Christe blessinge and myne '
I woulde you hied you be-tyme,
For of this flude I am in doubte.
THE GOOD GOSSIPPE'S SONGE.
The flude comes fleetinge in full faste, 225
One every syde that spreades full ferre;
For feare of drowninge I am agaste;
Good gossippes, lett us drawe nere
And lett us drinke or we departe,
For ofte tymes we have done soe; 230
For att a draughte thou drinkes a quarte,
And soe will I do or I goe.
Heare is a pottill full of Malmsine, good and stronge ;
It will rejoyce bouth harte and tonge ;
Though Noye thinke us never so longe, 235
Heare we will drinke alike.
JEFFATTE. Mother, we praye you all together,
For we are heare, youer owne childer,
Come into the shippe for feare of the weither,
For his love that you boughte ! 240
NOYES WIFFE. That will not I, for all youer call,
But I have my gossippes all.
1 6 CHESTER PLAYS.
SEM. In faith, mother, yett you shalle,
Wheither thou wylte or [nought].
NOYE. Welckome, wiffe, into this botte. 345
NOYES WIFFE. Have thou that for thy note!
NOYE. Ha, ha ! marye, this is hotte !
It is good for to be still.
Ha ! children, me thinkes my botte remeves.
Our tarryinge heare highlye me greves, 350
Over the lande the watter spreades j
God doe as he will.
A ! greate God, that arte so good,
That worckes not thy will is wood.
Nowe all this worlde is one a flude, 255
As I see well in sighte.
This wyndowe I will shutte anon,
And into my chamber I will gone,
Tell this watter, so greate one,
Be slacked through thy mighte. 260
Then shall Noye shutte the wyndvive of the Arcke, and for a
littill space be silent, and afterwards lookinge rounde
aboute shall saye :
[Now* 40 dayes are fullie gone
Send a raven I will anone
If ought-were earth, tree or stone,
Be drye in any place.
And if this foule come not againe 365*
It is a signe, soth to sayne,
That drye it is on hill or playne,
And God hath done some grace.
Tune dimittet corvum et capiens columbam in manibus dicat.
Ah, Lord, wherever this raven be,
Somewhere is drye, well I see ; 370*
* The following 47 lines occur only in MS. Harl. 2134.
tMttte jfammne a
<$0i> comwanbement
pat quo? te commanbc et fi
£5ue fee educe to teti c munbent
iSt ei) tcf quant ite ^a6onbent
£5 u e fa tette et> foit toute p&ne
commence a apfowuow
FROM LE MISTERE DU VIEL TESTAMENT
PARIS, A. V£RARD, c. 1500
To face p. 17]
I. NOAH'S FLOOD. j;
But yet a dove, by my lewtye!
After I will sende.
*****
Thou wilt turne againe to me,
For of all fowles that may flye
Thou art most meke and hend. 2^.*
Tune emittet columbam et erit in nave alia columba ferens
olivam in ore quam dimittet aliquis ex malo per funem
in manus Noe ; et postea. dicat Noe.
Ah lord, blessed be thou aye,
That me hast confort thus to day;
By this sight, I may well saye,
This flood beginnes to cease.
My sweete dove to me brought hase 280*
A branch of olyve from some place,
This betokeneth God has done us some grace
And is a signe of peace.
Ah lord honoured most thou be,
All earthe dryes now, I see, 385*
But yet tyll thou comaunde me
Hence will I not hye.
All this water is awaye
Therfore as sone as I maye
Sacryfice I shall doo in faye 290*
To thee devoutlye.
DEUS. Noe take thy wife anone,
And thy children every one,
Out of the shippe thou shalt gone,
And they all with thee. 295*
Beastes and all that can flie
Out anone they shall hye,
On earth to grow and multeplye ;
I wyll that yt soe be.
c
1 8 CHESTER PLAYS.
NOE. Lord I thanke the through thy mighte,
Thy bydding shall be done in height,
And as fast as I may dighte,
I will doe the honoure
And to thee offer sacrifice,
Therfore comes in all wise,
For of these beastes that bene hise
Offer I will this stower.
Tune egrediens archam cum totafamilia sua acdpiet animalia
sua et volucres et offeret ea et mactabitl\
NOYE. Lorde God, in magestie,
That suche grace hath graunted me,
Wher all was [lorne] salfe to be,
Theirfore nowe I am boune,
My wife, my children, and my meanye, 265
With sacrifice to honour thee
Of beastes, fowles, as thou maiste see,
And full devocion.
GOD. Noye, to me thou arte full able,
And thy sacrifice acceptable, 270
For I have founde thee true and stable ;
On thee nowe muste I myne;
Warrye eairth I will noe more
For mannes synnes that greves me sore,
For of youth mon full yore 375
Has bene inclynde to synne.
You shall nowe growe and multiplye,
And eairth againe to edifye,
Ich beaste, and fowle that maye flye,
Shalbe feared of you; 280
And fish in sea that maye fleete
Shall sustaine you, I thee behett,
I. NOAH'S FLOOD. 19
To eate of them ye ne lette,
That cleane bene, you mon knowe ;
Theras you have eaten before 385
Grasse and rootes, .since you were bore,
Of cleane beastes nowe lesse and more
I give you leve to eate;
Save bloode and fleshe, bouth in feare,
Of rouge dead carrion that is heare, 290
Eate not of that in noe manere,
For that aye you shall lete.
Man-slaughter also you shall flee,
For that is not pleasante unto me;
The that sheedeth blood, he or shee, 295
Oughte-wher amonge mankinde,
That bloode fowle shedde shalbe
And vengeance have, that men shall see ;
Therfore beware now all ye,
You falle not into that synne. 300
A forward, Noye, with thee I make,
And all thy seede, for thy sake,
Of suche vengance for to slake,
For nowe I have my will ;
Heare I behette thee a heste, 305
That man, woman, fowle, ney beste,
With watter, while this worlde shall leste,
I will noe more spill.
My bowe betweyne you and me
In the firmamente shalbe, 310
By verey tocken that you shall see,
That suche vengance shall cease,
That man ne woman shall never more
Be wasted with watter, as hath before ;
But for synne that greveth me sore, 315
Therfore this vengance was.
Wher cloudes in the welckine bene,
c 2
20 CHESTER PLAYS.
That ilke bowe shalbe scene,
In tocken that my wrath and teene
Shall never thus wrocken be. 330
The stringe is torned towardes you,
And towarde me is bente the bowe,
That suche weither shall never shewe,
And this behighte I thee.
My blessinge, Noye, I geve thee heare, 325
To thee, Noye, my servante deare;
For vengance shall noe more appeare,
And nowe fare well, my darlinge deare.
Finis. Deo gratias I per me, George Bellin. 1592. Come
Lorde Jesut come quickly e.
II. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC.
[From the Histories of Lot and Abraham, the fourth of the Chester
Plays, acted by the ' Barbers and the Waxe Chaundlers.' The first part
of the play is occupied with the meeting of Abraham and Lot, God's
covenant with Abraham, and the explanations of these events by the
Expositor.]
GOD. Abraham, my servante, Abraham.
ABRAHAM. Loe, Lorde, all readye heare I am. 210
GOD. Take, Isaake, thy sonne by name,
That thou loveste the best of all,
And in sacrifice offer hym to me
Uppon that hyll their besides thee.
Abraham, I will that soe it be, 715
For oughte that maye befalle.
ABRAHAM. My Lorde, to thee is myne intente
Ever to be obediente.
That sonne that thou to me hast sente,
Offer I will to thee, 320
And fulfill thy comaundemente,
With hartie will, as I am kente.
Highe God, Lorde omnipotente,
Thy byddinge done shalbe.
My meanye and my children eichone 225
Lenges at home, bouth all and one,
Save Isaake, my sonne, with me shall gone
To a hill heare besyde.
a 2 CHESTER PLAYS.
Heare Abraham, torninge hym to his sonne Isaake, saith :
Make thee readye, my deare darlinge,
For we mustfdoe a littill thinge. 230
This woode doe on thy backe it bringe,
We maye no longer abyde.
A sworde and fier that I will take;
[Heare Abraham taketh a sworde and fier.]
For sacrafice me behoves to make :
Codes byddinge will I not forsake, 235
But ever obediente be.
Heare Isaake speaketh to his father, and taketh a burne
of stickes and beareth after his father, and saieth:
ISAAKE. Father, I am all readye
To doe your byddinge moste mekelye,
And to beare this woode full beane am I,
As you comaunded me. 240
ABRAHAM. O Isaake, my darlinge deare,
My blessinge nowe I geve thee heare,
Take up this faggote with good cheare,
And on thy backe it bringe.
And fier with us I will take. 245
ISAAKE. Your byddinge I will not forsake;
Father, I will never slake
To fulfill your byddinge.
\Heare they goe bouth to the place to doe sacrifice. '.]
ABRAHAM. Now, Isaake sonne, goe we our waie
To yender mounte, yf that we maye. 250
ISAAKE. My deare father, I will asaye
To followe you full fayne.
Abraham, beinge mynded to sleye his sonne Isaake, leiftes up
his handes, and saith fowlowinge.
ABRAHAM. O ! my harte will breake in three,
To heare thy wordes I have pittye;
//. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC. 23
As thou wylte, Lorde, so muste yt be, 255
To thee I wilbe bayne.
Laye downe thy faggote, my owne sonne deare.
ISAAKE. All readye, father, loe yt is heare.
But whye make you sucke heavye cheare ?
Are you anye thinge adreade? 260
Father, yf yt be your will,
Wher is the beaste that we shall kill?
ABRAHAM. Therof, sonne, is non upon this hill,
That I see here in this steade.
Isaake, fearinge leste his ffather woulde slaye him, saith :
ISAAKE. Father, I am full sore [affearde] 265
To see you beare that drawne [swerde] :
I hope for all myddel earde
You will not slaye your childe.
Abraham comfortes his sonne, and saieth:
ABRAHAM. Dreede thee not, my childe, I reade ;
Our Lorde will sende of his godheade 270
Some manner of beaste into this [steade],
Either tame or wilde.
ISAAKE. Father, tell me or I goe
Wheither I shalbe harmede or noe.
ABRAHAM. Ah ! deare God ! that me is woe ! 275
Thou breakes my harte in sunder.
ISAAKE. Father, tell me of this case,
Why you your sorde drawne hase,
And beares yt nacked in this place,
Theirof I have greate wonder. 280
ABRAHAM. Isaake, sonne, peace, I praie thee,
Thou breakes my harte even in three.
ISAAKE. I praye you, father, leane nothinge from me,
But tell me what you thinke.
24 CHESTER PLAYS.
ABRAHAM. Ah ! Isaake, Isaake, I muste thee kille ! 385
ISAAKE. Alas! father, is that your will,
Your owine childe for to spill
Upon this hilles brinke?
Yf I have treasspasede in anye degree,
With a yarde you maye beate me ; 290
Put up your sorde, yf your wil be,
For I am but a childe.
ABRAHAM. O, my deare sonne, I am sorye
To doe to thee this greate anoye :
Codes commaundmente doe muste I, 295
His workes are ever full mylde.
ISAAKE. Woulde God my mother were here with me!
Shee woulde kneele downe upon her knee,
Prainge you, father, if yt may be,
For to save my liffe. 300
ABRAHAM. O ! comelye creature, but I thee kille,
I greve my God, and that full ylle;
I maye not worke againste his will,
But ever obediente be.
O ! Isaake, sonne, to thee I saie, 305
God hath commaunded me to daye
Sacrifice, this is no naye,
To make of thy bodye.
ISAAKE. Is yt Codes will I shalbe slayne?
ABRAHAM. Yea, sonne, it is not for to leane; 310
To his byddinge I wilbe bayne,
And ever to hym pleasinge.
But that I do this dilfull deede,
My Lorde will not quite me in my nede.
ISAAKE. Marye, father, God forbydde, 315
But you doe your offeringe !
Father, at home your sonnes you shall fynde,
That you must love by course of kinde :
//. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC. 25
Be I onste out of your mynde,
Your sorowe maie sone cease; 320
But yet you muste do Codes byddinge.
Father, tell my mother for no thinge.
Here Abraham wrynges his handes, and saith :
ABRAHAM. For sorowe I maie my handes wringe,
Thy mother I can not please.
Ho ! Isaake, Isaake, blessed muste thou be ! 325
Allmoste my witte I lose for thee;
The blood of thy bodye so free
I am full lothe to sheede.
Here Isaake askinge his father blessings one his knyes, and
saith :
ISAAKE. Father, seinge you muste nedes doe soe,
Let it passe lightlie, and over goe; 330
Kneelinge on my kneeyes towe,
Your blessinge on me spreade.
ABRAHAM. My blessinge deere son, give I thee
And thy mothers with hart free
The blessing of the Trinitie 335
My deare sone, on thee lighte.
ISAAKE. Father, I praye you hyde my eyne
That I see not the sorde so keyne,
Your strocke, father, woulde I not scene,
Leste I againste yt grylle. 340
ABRAHAM. My deare sonne Isaake, speake no more,
Thy wordes makes my harte full sore.
ISAAKE. O deare father, wherefore! wherefore!
Seinge I muste nedes be dead,
Of on thinge I will you praie, 345
Seithen I muste dye the death to daie,
As fewe strockes as you well maie,
When you smyte of my heade.
26 CHESTER PLAYS.
ABRAHAM. Thy meeknes, childe, makes me affraye;
My songe maye be wayle-a-waie. 35°
ISAAKE. O dere father, doe awaye, do awaye
Your makeinge so moche mone !
Nowe, trewlye, father, this talkinge
Doth but make longe taryeinge.
I praye you, come and make endinge, 355
And let me hense be gone.
Hence Isaake riseth and cometh to his father^ and he taketh
hym, and byndeth and laieth hym upon the alter to
sacrifice hym, and saith :
ABRAHAM. Come heither, my childe, thou arte soe sweete,
Thou muste be bounde both hande and feete.
ISAAKE. Father, we muste no more meete,
Be oughte that I maie see ; 360
But doe with me then as you will,
I muste obaye, and that is skille,
Codes commaundmente to fulfill,
For nedes soe must yt be.
Upon the porpose that you have sette you, 365
For south, father, I will not let you,
But ever more to you bowe,
While that ever I maie.
Father, greete well my brethren yinge,
And praye my mother of her blessinge, 370
I come noe more under her wynge,
Fare well for ever and aye ;
But father ! crye you mercye,
For all that ever I have trespassed to thee,
Forgeven, father, that it maye be 375
Untell domesdaie.
ABRAHAM. My deare sonne, let be thy mones!
My childe, thou greved me [n]ever ones;
II. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC. 27
Blessed be thou bodye and bones,
And I forgeve thee heare ! 380
Nowe, my deere sonne, here shalt thou lye,
Unto my worke nowe must I hie;
I hade as leeve my selfe to die,
As thou, my darlinge deare.
ISAAKE. Father, if you be to me kinde, 385
Aboute my head a carschaffe bynde,
And let me lightlie out of your mynde,
And sone that I were speede.
Here Abraham doth kisse his sonne Isaake, and byndes a
charschaffe aboute his heade.
ABRAHAM. Fare well, my sweete sonne of grace !
Here let Isaake kneele downe and speake.
ISAAKE. I praye you, father, torne downe my face 390
A litill while, while you have space,
For I am sore adreade.
ABRAHAM. To doe this deed I am sorye.
ISAAKE. Yea, Lorde, to thee I call and crye,
Of my soule thou have mercy e, 395
Hartelye I thee praie !
ABRAHAM. Lorde, I woulde fayne worke thy will,
This yonge innocente that lieth so still
Full loth were me hym to kille,
By anye maner a waye. 400
ISAAKE. My deare father, I thee praye,
Let me take my clothes awaie,
For sheedinge blude on them to daye
At my laste endinge.
ABRAHAM. Harte, yf thou wouldeste borste in three, 405
Thou shake never master me;
28 CHESTER PLAYS.
I will no longer let for thee ;
My God I maye not greeve.
ISAAKE. A ! mercye, father, why tarye you soe ?
Smyte of my head, and let me goe. 410
I pray you rydd me of my woe,
For nowe I take my leve.
ABRAHAM. Ah, sonne ! my harte will breake in three,
To heare thee speake such wordes to me.
Jesu ! on me thou have pittye, 415
That I have moste in mynde.
ISAAKE. Nowe father, I see that I shall dye:
Almightie God in magistie !
My soule I offer unto thee;
Lorde, to yt be kinde. 420
Here let Abraham take and bynde his sonne Isaake upon the
alter ; let hym make a signe as though he woulde cut of
his head with his sorde ; then let the angell come and
take the sworde by the end and state it, sainge :
ANGELLUS. Abraham, my servante dere.
ABRAHAM. Loe, Lorde, I am all readye here !
ANGELLUS. Laye not thy sworde in noe manere
On Isake, thy deare darlinge;
And do to hym no anoye. 425
For thou dredes God, wel wote I,
That of thy sonne has no mercye,
To fulfill his byddinge.
SECUNDUS ANGELLUS. And for hys byddinge thou dose aye,
And spareste nether for feare nor fraye, 430
To doe thy sonne to death to daie,
Isake, to thee full deare:
Therfore, God hathe sent by me, in faye!
77. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC. 29
A lambe, that is bouth good and gaye,
Into this place as thou se may, 435
Lo, have hym righte here.
ABRAHAM. Ah ! Lorde of heaven, and kinge of blesse,
Thy byddinge shalbe done, i-wysse !
Sacrafice here sente me is,
And all, Lorde, through thy grace. 440
A horned weither here I see,
Amonge the breyers tyed is he,
To thee offred shall he be
Anon righte in this place.
Then let Abraham take the lambe and kille hym, and let
God sale :
GOD. Abraham, by my selfe I sweare, 445
For thou haste bene obediente ever,
And spared not thy sonne to teare,
To fulfill my byddinge,
Thou shalbe blessed, that pleased me,
Thy seed I shall so multiplie, 450
As starres and sande so manye het I,
Of thy bodye cominge.
Of enemyes thou shalte have power,
And thy bloode also in feare,
Thou haste bene meke and bonere, 455
To do as I thee bade;
And of all nacions, leve thou me,
Blessed ever more shall thou be,
Through frute that shall come of thee,
And saved be through thy seede. 460
EXPOSITOR. Lordinges, th[e] significacioun
Of this deed of devocion,
And you will, you witten mone,
Maye torne you to moche good.
30 CHESTER PLAYS.
This deed you see done here in this place, 465
In example of Jesu done it was,
That for to wynne mankindes grace
Was sacrifised on the roode.
By Abraham I male understande
The father of heaven that can fand 470
With his sonnes bloode to breake that bande,
That the devill had broughte us to.
By Isaake understande I maie
Jesu, that was obedient aye,
His fathers will to worke alwaie, 475
And death for to confounde.
Here let the docter knele downe, and sate
Such obedience grante us, O Lorde !
Ever to thy moste holye worde,
That in the same we maie accorde
As this Abraham was bayne ; 480
And then al togaither shall we
That worthy kinge in heaven see,
And dwell with hym in greate glorye
For ever and ever, amen.
Here the messinger maketh an ende.
Make rombe, lordinges, and geve us waye, 485
And let Balacke come in and plaie,
And Balame that well can saie,
To tell you of prophescie.
That Lorde that died on Good Frydaie,
He save you all bouth nighte and daie ! 490
Fare well, my lordinges; I goe my waie,
I maye no longer abyde.
finis. Deo gratias t per me, Georgi Bellin. 1592.
Come, Lorde Jesu, come quicklye. Anno 1592.
utoaurn meum intende*
omine ad admuancJtim.^1o:ia
FROM HEURES A LUSAIGE DE ROME
PARIS, P. PIGOUCHET FOR S. VOSTRE. 1497
To fact p. 31]
Cotonelep
SECUNDA PASTORUM.
[Abridged.]
PRIMUS PASTOR. Lord, what these weders ar cold, and
I am ylle happyd;
I am nere-hande dold, so long have I nappyd;
My legys thay fold, my fyngers ar chappyd,
It is not as I wold, for I am al lappyd
In sorow. 5
In stormes and tempest,
Now in the eest, now in the west,
Wo is hym has never rest
Myd-day nor morow.
Bot we sely shepardes, that walkys on the moore,
In fayth we are nere-handys outt of the doore; 10
No wonder, as it standys, if we be poore,
For the tylthe of oure landys lyys falow as the floore,
As ye ken.
We ar so hamyd, 15
For-taxed and ramyd,
We ar mayde hand-tamyd,
Withe thyse gentlery men.
Thus they refe us oure rest, Oure Lady theym wary !
These men that ar lord-fest, thay cause the ploghe
tary. 20
That men say is for the best we fynde it contrary,
Thus ar husbandys opprest, in pointe to myscary,
On lyfe.
32 TO WNELE Y PL A YS
Thus hold thay us hunder,
Thus thay bryng us in blonder, 25
It were greatte wonder,
And ever shuld we thryfe.
For may he gett a paynt slefe or a broche now on
dayes,
Wo is hym that hym grefe, or onys agane says,
Dar no man hym reprefe, what mastry he mays, 30
And yit may no man lefe oone word that he says,
No letter.
He can make purveance,
With boste and bragance,
And alle is thrughe mantenance 35
Of men that are gretter.
Ther shalle com a swane as prowde as a po,
He must borow my wane, my ploghe also,
Then I am fulle fane to graunt or he go.
Thus lyf we in payne, anger, and wo, 40
By nyght and day;
He must have, if he langyd ;
If I shuld forgang it,
I were better be hangyd
Then oones say hym nay. 45
It dos me good, as I walk thus by myn oone
Of this warld for to talk in maner of mone.
To my shepe wylle I stalk and herkyn anone,
Ther abyde on a balk or sytt on a stone
Full soyne. 50
For I trowe, parde,
Trew men if thay be,
We gett more compane
Or it be noyne.
\The second and third shepherd arrive, each with his com-
plaint. To cheer themselves they sing a catch, and are
SECVNDA PASTORUM. 33
then joined by MAK a neighbour of ill repute for thievery.
After some talk they all betake them to sleep, the shepherds
making MAK lie down between them so as to keep him
under guard. Despite this precaution his thoughts are
set on sheepstealing : he rises, while the shepherds sleep,
and says .•]
MAK. Now were tyme for a man, that lakkys what he
wold, 280
To stalk prevely than unto a fold,
And neemly to wyrk than, and be not to bold,
For he myght aby the bargan, if it were told
At the endyng.
Now were tyme for to reylle; 285
Bot he nedes good counselle
That fayn wold fare weylle,
And has bot lytylle spendyng.
Bot abowte you a serkylle, as rownde as a moyn,
To I have done that I wylle, tylle that it be noyn,
That ye lyg stone stylle, to that I have doyne, 291
And I shall say thertylle of good wordes a foyne.
On hight
Over youre heydys my hand I lyft,
Outt go youre een, fordo your syght, 295
Bot yit I must make better shyft,
And it be right.
Lord, what thay slepe harde, that may ye alle here,
Was I never a shepard, bot now wylle I lere.
If the flok be skard, yit shalle I nyp nere. 300
How ! drawes hederward : now mendys cure chere
Fro sorow.
A fatt shepe I dar say,
A good flese dar I lay,
Eft-whyte when I may, 305
Bot this wille I borow.
34 TO WNELE Y PLA VS.
\He steals the sheep and goes home with if.]
How, Gylle, art thou in? Gett us som lyght.
UXOR Ejus. Who makys sich dyn this tyme of the nyght ?
I am sett for to spyn: I hope not I myght
Ryse a penny to wyn: I shrew them on hight. 310
So farys
A huswyff that has bene
To be rasyd thus betwene :
There may no note be sene
For sich smalle charys. 315
MAK. Good wyff, open the hek. Seys thou not what I
bryng?
UXOR. I may thole the dray the snek. A, com in, my
swetyng.
MAK. Yee, thou thar not rek of my long standing.
UXOR. By the nakyd nek art thou lyke for to hyng.
MAK. Do way : 320
I am worthy my mete,
For in a strate can I gett
More then thay that swynke and swette
All the long day.
Thus it felle to my lotte, Gylle, I had sich grace. 325
UXOR. It were a fowlle blot to be hanged for the case.
MAK. I have skapyd, Jelott, oft as hard a glase.
UXOR. Bot so long goys the pott to the water, men says,
At last
Comys it home broken. 330
MAK. Welle knowe I the token,
Bot let it never be spoken ;
Bot com and help fast.
I wold he were flayn ; I lyst welle ete :
This twelmothe was I not so fayn of oone shepe mete.
SECUNDA P AST O RUM. 35
UXOR. Com thay or he be slayn, and here the shepe
blete— 336
MAK. Then myght I be tane : that were a colde swette.
Go spar
The gaytt doore.
UXOR. Yis, Mak,
For and thay com at thy bak — 340
MAK. Then myght I far, by alle the pak,
The dewille of the war.
UXOR. A good bowrde have I spied, syn thou can none.
Here shall we hym hyde, to thay be gone.
In my credylle abyde. Lett me alone, 345
And I shalle lyg besyde in chylbed and grone.
MAK. Thou red;
And I shalle say thou was lyght
Of a knave childe this nyght.
UXOR. Now welle is me, day bright, 350
That ever I was bred.
This is a good gyse and a far cast ;
Yit a woman avyse helpys at the last !
I wote never who spyse : agane go thou fast.
MAK. Bot I com or thay ryse, els blawes a cold blast. 355
I wylle go slepe.
Yit slepys alle this meneye
And I shall go stalk prevely,
As if it had never bene I
That caryed thare shepe. 360
[Mak resumes his place between the shepherds. They awake
and go to look after their flocks ; while Mak returns home.
A sheep is missed, and Mak is suspected. They go to his
house. Bidding them tread softly, he offers them drink : ]
MAK. I wold ye dynyd or ye yode, methynk that ye swette
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Nay, nawther mendys oure mode
drynke nor mette.
36 TO WNELE Y PLA YS.
MAK. Why, sir, alys you oght hot goode? 5^
TERCIUS PASTOR. Yee, oure shepe that we gette
Ar stollyn as thay yode. Oure los is grette.
MAK. Syrs, drynkys !
Had I bene thore,
Some shuld have boght it fulle sore. 520
PRIMUS PASTOR. Mary, som men trowes that ye wore.
And that us forthynkes.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Mak, som men trowys that it shuld
be ye.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Ayther ye or youre spouse ; so say we.
MAK. Now if ye have suspowse to Gille or to me, 535
Come and rype oure howse, and then may ye se
Who had hir.
If I any shepe fott,
Aythor cow or stott —
And Gylle, my wyfe, rose nott 530
Here syn she lade hir.
As I am true and lele, to God here I pray,
That this be the fyrst mele that I shalle ete this day.
\The shepherds search the house, Gyll upbraiding them and
keeping tliem away from the cradle. They find nothing
and take their leave, rather ashamedly. As they go a
thought strikes one of them /]
PRIMUS PASTOR. Gaf ye the chyld any thyng ?
SECUNDUS PASTOR. I trow not oone farthyng.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Fast agayne wille I flyng,
Abyde ye me there. 585
Mak, take it no grefe, if I com to thi barne.
MAK. Nay, thou dos me greatt reprefe, and fowlle has
thou fame.
SECUNDA PASTORUM. 37
TERCIUS PASTOR. The child wille it not grefe, that
lytylle day starne.
Mak, with youre leyfe, let me gyf youre barne
Bot vj pence. 590
MAK. Nay, do way : he slepys.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Me thynk he pepys.
MAK. When he wakyns he wepys.
I pray you go hence.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Gyf me lefe hym to kys, and lyft up
the clowtt. 595
What the dewille is this? he has a long snowte
PRIMUS PASTOR. He is merkyd amys. We wate ille abowte.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Ille spon weft, i-wis, ay commys foulle
owte.
Ay so?
He is lyke to oure shepe. 600
TERCIUS PASTOR. How, Gyb ! May I pepe ?
PRIMUS PASTOR. I trow, kynde wille crepe
Where it may not go.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. This was a qwantt gawde and a far cast.
It was a hee frawde.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Yee, sirs, wast. 605
Lett bren this bawde and bynd hir fast.
A ! fals skawde, hang at the last
So shalle thou.
Wylle ye se how thay swedylle
His foure feytt in the medylle? 610
Sagh I never in a credylle
A hornyd lad or now.
MAK. Peasse byd I : what ! lett be youre fare ;
I am he that hym gatt, and yond woman hym bare.
PRIMUS PASTOR. What dewille shall he hatt? Mak? lo
God! Makys ayre ! 6J5
38 TOWNELEY PLAYS.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Lett be alle that. Now God gyf hym
care,
I sagh.
UXOR. A pratty child is he
As syttys on a woman's knej
A dyllydowne, perde. 620
To gar a man laghe.
TERCIUS PASTOR. I know hym by the eere marke : that is
a good tokyn.
MAK. I telle you, syrs, hark: hys noyse was brokyn.
Sythen told me a clerk, that he was forspokyn.
PRIMUS PASTOR. This is a false wark. I wold fayn be
wrokyn. 625
Gett wepyn.
UXOR. He was takyn with an elfe;
I saw it myself.
When the clok stroke twelf
Was he forshapyn. 630
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Ye two ar welle feft, sam in a stede.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Syn thay manteyn thare theft, let do
thaym to dede.
MAK. If I trespas eft, gyrd of my heede.
With you wille I be left.
PRIMUS PASTOR. Syrs, do my reede. 635
For this trespas,
We wille nawther ban ne flyte,
Fyght nor chyte,
Bot have done as tyte,
And cast hym in canvas. \They toss Mak.
Lord, what I am sore, in poynt for to bryst. 640
In fayth I may no more, therfor wylle I ryst.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. As a shepe of vij skore he weyd in
my fyst.
For to slepe ay whore, me thynk that I lyst.
SECUNDA PASTORUM. 39
TERCIUS PASTOR. Now I pray you,
Lyg downe on this grene. 645
PRIMUS PASTOR. On these thefys yit I mene.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Wherto shuld ye tene
So, as I say you ?
A ngelus cantat ' Gloria in Excelsis ' : posted dicat.
ANGELUS. Ryse, hyrdmen heynd, for now is he borne,
That shall take fro the feynd that Adam had lorne: 650
That warloo to sheynd, this nyght is he borne,
God is made youre freynd : now at this morne
He behestys,
At Bedlem go se,
Ther lygys that fre 655
In a cryb fulle poorely,
Betwyx two bestys.
PRIMUS PASTOR. This was a qwant stevyn that ever yit
I hard.
It is a marvelle to nevyn thus to be skard.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Of Godys son of hevyn he spak up
ward. 660
Alle the wod on a levyn me thoght that he gard
Appere.
TERCIUS PASTOR. He spak of a barne
In Bedlem, I you warne.
PRIMUS PASTOR. That betokyns yond starne; 665
Let us seke hym there.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Say, what was his song? hard ye
not how he crakyd it?
Thre brefes to a long.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Yee, mary, he hakt it.
Was no crochett wrong, nor no thyng that lakt it.
40 TO WNELE Y PL A YS.
PRIMUS PASTOR. For to syng us emong, right as he
knakt it, 6>o
I can.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Let se how ye croyne.
Can ye bark at the mone?
TERCIUS PASTOR. Hold youre tonges, have done.
PRIMUS PASTOR. Hark after, than. 675
SECUNDUS PASTOR. To Bedlem he bad that we shuld gang:
I am full fard that we tary to lang.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Be mery, and not sad : of myrth is
oure sang,
Ever lastyng glad to mede may we fang,
Withoutt noyse. 680
PRIMUS PASTOR. Hy we theder for-thy;
If we be wete and wery,
To that chyld and that lady
We have it not to lose.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. We fynde by the prophecy— let be
youre dyn — 685
Of David and Isay, and mo then I myn;
Thay prophecyed by clergy, that in a vyrgyn
Shuld he lyght and ly, to slokyn oure syn
And slake it,
Oure kynde from wo; 690
For Isay sayd so,
Ecce virgo
Concipiet a child that is nakyd.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Fulle glad may we be, and abyde
that day
That lufly to se, that alle myghtys may. 695
Lord welle were me, for ones and for ay,
Might I knele on my kne som word for to say
To that chylde.
SECUNDA PASTORUM. 41
Bot the angelle sayd
In a cryb was he layde; 700
He was poorly arayd,
Both mener and mylde.
PRIMUS PASTOR. Patryarkes that has bene, and prophetys
beforne,
Thay desyryd to have sene this chylde that is borne.
Thay ar gone fulle clene, that have thay lorne. 705
We shalle se hym, I weyn, or it be morne,
To tokyn.
When I see hym and fele,
Then wote I fulle weylle
It is true as steylle 710
That prophetes have spokyn,
To so poore as we ar that he wold appere,
Fyrst fynd, and declare by his messyngere.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Go we now, let us fare : the place
is us nere.
TERCIUS PASTOR. I am redy and yare : go we in fere
To that bright. 716
Lord, if thi wylles be,
We are lewde alle thre,
Thou grauntt us somkyns gle
To comforth thi wight. \They enter the stable, 720
PRIMUS PASTOR. Haylle, comly and clene : haylle, yong
child !
Haylle, maker, as I meyne, of a madyn so mylde.
Thou has waryd, I weyne, the warlo so wylde,
The fals gyler of teyn, now goys he begylde.
Lo, he merys ; 725
Lo, he laghys, my swetyng,
A welfare metyng,
I have holden my hetyng,
Have a bob of cherys.
42 TO WNELE Y PLA YS.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Haylle, sufferan savyoure, for thou
has us soght : 730
Haylle, frely foyde and floure, that alle thyng has
wroght.
Haylle, fulle of favoure, that made alle of noght !
Haylle ! I kneylle and I cowre. A byrd have I broght
To my barne.
Haylle, lytylle tyne" mop, 735
Of oure crede thou art crop:
I wold drynk on thy cop,
Lytylle day starne.
TERCIUS PASTOR. Haylle, derlyng dere, fulle of godhede,
I pray the be nere when that I have nede. 740
Haylle ! swete is thy chere : my hart wold blede
To se the sytt here in so poore wede,
With no pennys.
Haylle! put furthe thy dalle,
I bryng the bot a balle : 745
Have and play the with alle,
And go to the tenys.
MARIA. The fader of heven, God omnypotent,
That sett alle on seven, his son has he sent.
My name couthe he neven and lyght or he went. 750
I conceyved hym fulle even, thrugh myght as he ment ;
And now is he borne.
He kepe you fro wo :
I shalle pray him so;
Telle furth as ye go, y55
And myn on this morne.
PRIMUS PASTOR. Farewelle, lady, so fare to beholde,
With thy chylde on thi kne.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Bot he lygys fulle cold.
Lord, welle is me : now we go, thou behold.
SECUNDA PASTORUM. 43
TERCIUS PASTOR. For sothe alle redy, it semys to be told
Fulle oft. 761
PRIMUS PASTOR. What grace we have fun.
SECUNDUS PASTOR. Com furth, now as we won.
TERTIUS PASTOR. To syng ar we bun:
Let take on loft. 765
Explicit pagina pastorum.
Cotoentrp
XI. THE SALUTATION AND CONCEPTION.
CONTEMPLACIO. Ffowre thowsand sex undryd foure I
telle,
Man ffor his offens and ffowle foly,
Hath loyn ^eres in the peynes of helle,
And were wurthy to ly therin endlesly, 4
But thanne xulde perysche .your grete mercye.
Good Lord, have on man pyte,
Have mende of the prayour seyd by Ysaie,
Lete mercy meke thin hyest mageste*. 8
Wolde God thou woldyst breke thin hefne myghtye,
And com down here into erthe,
And levyn ^eres thre and threttye,
Thyn famyt fiblke with thi fode to fede. xa
To staunche thi thryste lete thi syde blede,
Ffor erst wole not be mad redempcion.
Cum vesite us in this tyme of nede,
Of thi careful creatures, Lord, have compassyon ! 16
A! woo to us wrecchis that wrecchis be,
Ffor God hath addyd ssorwe to sorwe;
I prey the, Lorde, thi sowles com se,
How thei ly and sobbe, both eve and more we, 20
With thi blyssyd blood ffrom balys1 hem borwe,
Thy careful creaturys cryenge in captyvytd,
1 babys, MS.
XI. THE SALUTATION AND CONCEPTION. 45
A ! tary not, gracyous Lord, tyl it be to-morwe,
The devyl hath dysceyved hem be his iniquite*. 24
A ! quod Jeremye, who xal gyff wellys to myn eynes,
That I may wepe bothe day and nyght,
To se oure bretheryn in so longe peynes ?
Here myschevys amende may thi meche myght ! 28
As grett as the se, Lord, was Adamys contryssyon ryght.
Ffrom oure hed is ffalle the crowne,
Man is comeryd in synne, I crye to thi syght,
Gracyous Lord ! Gracyous Lord ! Gracyous Lord, come
downe ! 33
VIRTUTES. Lord ! plesyth it thin }\\gh domynacion,
On man that thou made to have pyte,
Patryarchys and prophetys han mad supplycacion,
Oure offyse is to presente here prayeres to the. 36
Aungelys, archaungelys, we thre
That ben in the fyrst ierarchie,
Ffor man to thin hy mageste*,
Mercy ! mercy ! mercy ! we crye. 40
The aungel, Lord, thou made so gloryous,
Whos synne hath mad hym a devyl in helle,
He mevyd man to be so contraryous,
Man repentyd, and he in his obstynacye doth dwelle.
Hese grete males, good Lord, repelle, 45
And take man onto thi grace,
Lete thi mercy make hym with aungelys dwelle,
Of Locyfere to restore the place. 48
PATER. Propter miseriam inopum, et gemiium pauperum
nunc exurgatn.
Ffor the wretchydnes of the nedy,
And the porys lamentacion,
Now xal I ryse that am Almyghty,
Tyme is come of reconsyliacion, 52
46 COVENTRY PLAYS.
My prophetys with prayers have made supplicacion,
My contryte creaturys crye alle for comforte,
Alle myn aungellys in hefne, withowte cessacion,
They crye that grace to man myght exorte. 56
VERITAS. Lord, I am thi dowtere, Trewthe,
Thou wilt se I be not lore,
Thyn unkynde creatures to save were rewthe,
The oflfens of man hath grevyd the sore. 60
Whan Adam had synnyd, thou seydest yore,
That he xulde deye and go to helle,
And now to blysse hym to restore,
Twey contraryes mow not togedyr dwelle. 64
Thy trewthe, Lord, xal leste withowtyn ende,
I may in no wyse ffro the go,
That wrecche that was to the so unkende,
He may not have to meche wo. 68
He dyspysyd the and plesyd thi ffo,
Thou art his creatour and he is thi creature,
Thou hast lovyd trewthe, it is seyd evyr mo,
Therfore in peynes lete hym evyrmore endure. 72
MISERICORDIA. O ffadyr of mercye and God of comforte,
That counselle[st] us in eche trybulacion,
Lete .your dowtere Mercy to j>ow resorte,
And on man that is myschevyd have compassyon. 76
Hym grevyth fful gretly his transgressyon,
Alle hefne and erthe crye ffor mercy;
Me semyth ther xuld be non excepcion,
Ther prayers ben offeryd so specyally. 80
Threwthe sseyth she hath evyr be than,
I graunt it wel she hath be so,
And thou seyst endlesly that mercy thou hast kept ffor man
Than mercyabyl lorde, kepe us bothe to, 84
Thu seyst veritas mea et mhericordia mea cum ipso,
Suffyr not thi sowlys than in sorwe to slepe,
FROM HEURES A LUSAIGE DE ROME
PARIS, HARDOUIN, C. 1506
To face p. 47]
XI. THE SALUTATION AND CONCEPTION. 47
That helle hownde that hatyth the byddyth hym ho!
Thi love, man, no lengere lete hym kepe. 88
JUSTICIA. Mercy, me merveylyth what yo\v movyth,
Ye know wel I am .your sister Ryghtwysnes,
God is ryghtfful and ryghtffulnes lovyth,
Man offendyd hym that is endles, 92
Therefore his endles punchement may nevyr sees ;
Also he forsoke his makere that made hym of clay,
And the devyl to his mayster he ches,
Xulde he be savyd ? nay ! nay ! nay ! 96
As wyse as is God he wolde a be,
This was the abhomynabyl presumpcion,
It is seyd, ye know wel this of me,
That the ryghtwysnes of God hath no difrynicion. ico
Therffore late this be oure conclusyon,
He that sore synnyd ly stylle in sorwe,
He may nevyr make a seyth be resone,
Whoo myght thanne thens hym borwe? 104
MISERICORDIA. Syster Ryghtwysnes, ye are to vengeabyl,
Endles synne God endles may restore,
Above alle hese werkys God is mercyabyl,
Thow he forsook God be synne, be feyth he forsook
hym never the more. 108
And thow he presumyd nevyr so sore,
Ye must consyder the frelnes of mankende,
Lerne, and ye lyst, this is Goddys lore,
The mercy of God is withowtyn ende. iu
PAX. To spare jour speches, systeres, it syt ;
It is not onest in vertuys to ben dyscencion,
The pes of God ovyrcomyth alle wytt.
Thow Trewthe and Ryght sey grett reson, n6
Ye.it Mercy seyth best to my pleson;
Ffor yf mannys sowle xulde abyde in helle,
48 CO VENTR Y PLA YS.
Betwen God and man evyr xulde be dyvysyon,
And than myght not I Pes dwelle. 120
Therefore me semyth best ye thus acorde ;
Than hefne and erthe ye. xul qweme,
Putt bothe your sentens in cure Lorde,
And in his hygh wysdam lete hym deme. 124
This is most syttynge me xulde seme,
And lete se how we ffowre may alle abyde,
That mannys sowle it xulde perysche it wore sweme,
Or that ony of us ffro othere xulde dyvyde. 128
VERITAS. In trowthe hereto I consente,
I wole prey oure lorde it may so be.
JUSTICIA. I Ryghtwysnes am wele contente,
Ffor in hym is very equyte". 132
MISERICORDIA. And I Mercy ffro this counsel wole not fie,
Tyl wysdam hath seyd I xal ses.
PAX. Here is God now, here is unyte",
Hefne and erthe is plesyd with Pes.
[11. 1-48. Tiberius Caesar denounces all who murmur against his gods.]
Her entyr Syrus, the fader of Mary Maudleyn.
SYRUS. Emperor and kyngges and conquerors kene,
Erlys, and borons, and knytes that byn bold,
Berdes in my bower, so semely to sene,
I commaund yow at onys my hestes to hold. 53
Behold my person, glysteryng in gold,
Semely besyn of all other men :
Cyrus is my name, be cleffys so cold,
I command you all obedyent to beyn ; 56
Wo-so woll nat, in bale I hem bryng, 57
And knett swyche caytyfys in knottes of care.
Thys castell of Maudleyn is at my wylddyng,
With all the centre, bothe lesse and more, 60
And Lord of Jerusalem, who agens me don dare?
Alle Beteny at my beddyng be;
I am sett in solas from al syyng sore,
And so xall all my posteryte.
Thus for to leven in rest and ryalte, 65
I have her a sone that is to me ful trew, 66
No comlyar creatur of Goddes creacyon,
To amyabyll douctors, full brygth of ble,
Ful gloryos to my syth an ful of delectacyon.
Lazarus my son, in my respeccyon. 70
Here is Mary, ful fayr and ful of femynyte,
And Martha, ful [of] beute and of delycyte,
Ful of womanly merrorys and of benygnyte,
50 MARY MAGDALEN.
They have fulfyllyd my hart with consolacyon. 74
Now Lazarus, my sonne, whech art ther brothyr, 79
The lordshep of Jerusalem I gyff the after my dysses,
And Mary thys castell, alonly, an non othyr ;
And Martha xall have Beteny, I sey exprese:
Thes gyftes I graunt yow withowtyn les, 83
Whyll that I am in good mynd. 84
LAZARUS. Most reverent father ! I thank yow hartely 85
Of yower grett kyndnes shuyd onto me !
Ye have grauntyd swych a lyfelod, worthy
Me to restreyn from all nessesyte. 88
Now, good lord, and hys wyll it be,
Graunt me grace to lyve to thy plesowans,
And a-gens hem so to rewle me
Thatt we may have joye withoutyn weryauns. 92
MARY MAUDLEYN. Thatt God of pes and pryncypall
counsell, 93
More swetter is thi name than hony be kynd !
We thank yow, fathyr, for your gyftes ryall,
Owt of peynes of poverte us to on-bynd ; 96
Thys is a preservatyff from streytnes, we fynd,
From wordly labors to my coumfortyng;
For thys lyfflod is abyll for the dowtter of a kyng, 99
Thys place of plesauns, the soth to seye. 100
MARTHA. O ye good fathyr of grete degre, 101
Thus to departe with your ryches,
Consederyng ower lowlynes and humylyte,
Us to save from worldly dessetres :
Ye shew us poyntes of grete jentylnes, 105
So mekly to meynteyn us to your grace.
Hey in heven a-wansyd mot yow be
In blysse, to se that lordes face,
Whan ye xal hens passe !
MARY MAGDALEN. 51
CYRUS. Now I rejoyse with all my mygthtes; no
To enhanse my chyldryn, it was my delyte :
Now wyn and spycys, ye jentyll knyttes,
On-to thes ladys of jentylnes.
[11. 114-139. Tiberius Caesar sends orders to Herod to search out
rebels. 11.140—228. Herod hears from his 'philosophers 'a prophecy
of Christ's Incarnation and ' rages.' He receives Tiberius' orders
and sends them on to Pilate. 11. 229-264. Pilate receives the
orders and declares he will execute them.]
Syrus takyt his deth.
SYRUS. A ! help ! help ! I stond in drede 365
Syknes is sett onder my syde !
A ! help ! deth wyll aquyte me my mede !
A ! gret Code ! thou be my gyde ; 368
How I am trobyllyd both bak and syde,
Now wythly help me to my bede.
A ! this rendyt my rybbys ! I xall never goo nor ryde !
The dent of deth is hevyar than led. 272
A ! Lord, Lord ! what xall I doo this tyde ?
A ! gracyows God ! have ruth on me,
In thys word no lengar to abyde.
I blys yow, my chyldyrn, God mot with us be ! 376
Her avoydyt Syrus sodenly, and than \comy f\ sayyng, Lazarus.
LAZARUS. Alas, I am sett in grete hevynesse ! 377
Ther is no tong my sorow may tell,
So sore I am browth in dystresse ;
In feyntnes I falter, for this fray fell ; 380
Thys dewresse wyl lett me no longar dwelle,
But, God of grace, sone me redresse.
A ! how my peynes don me repelle !
Lord, with-stond this duresse ! 284
E 2
52 MARY MAGDALEN.
MARY MAGLEYN. The in-wyttissymus God that ever
xal reyne, 285
Be his help, an sowlys sokor !
To whom it is most nedfull to cumplayn ;
He to bryng us owt of ower dolor — 388
He is most mytyest governowr,
From soroyng us to restr[a]yne. 390
MARTHA. A ! how I am sett in sorowys sad,
That long my lyf y may nat indeure !
Thes grawous peynes make me ner mad !
Under clower is now my fathyris cure, 294
That sumtyme was here ful mery and glad.
Ower lordes mercy be his mesure,
And defeynd hym from peynes sad ! 397
LAZARUS. Now, systyrs, ower fatherys wyll we woll
exprese : 298
Thys castell is owerys, with all the fee —
MARTHA. As hed and governower, as reson is :
And on this wyse abydyn with yow wyll wee; 301
We wyll natt desevyr, whatt so be-falle.
MARIA. Now, brothyr and systyrs, welcum ye be.
And ther-of specyally I pray _yow all. 304
Her xal entyr the Kyng of the word, then the Kyng of the
flesch, and then the dylfe, with the seven dedly synnes, a
bad angyll an an good angyl, thus seyyng the word.
[THE KING OF THE WORLD.] I am the word, worthyest
that evyr god wrowth, 305
And also I am the prymatt portatur
Next heveyn, yf the trewth be sowth, —
And that I jugge me to skryptur; — 308
And I am he that lengest xal induer,
And also most of domynacyon;
MAR Y MAGDALEN. 53
Yf I be hys foo, woo is abyll to recure?
For the whele of fortune with me hath sett his sentur. 313
Her xal entyr the Kynge of flesch with slowth, gloteny,
lechery.
I, kyng of flesch, florychyd in my flowers, 334
Of deyntys delycyows I have grett domynacyon,
So ryal a kyng was nevyr borne in bowrys,
Nor hath more delyth ne more delectacyon.
Here xal entyr the prynse of dylles in a stage, and Helle
ondyrneth that stage, thus seyyng the dylfe.
SATAN. Now I, prynse, pyrked, prykkyd in pryde, 358
Satan ower sovereyn, set with every cyrcumstanse,
For I am a-tyred in my tower to tempt yow this tyde;
As a kyng ryall I sette at my plesauns, 361
With wroth [and] invy at my ryall retynawns;
The boldest in bower I bryng to a-baye;
Mannis sowle to besegyn and bryng to obeysauns,
Pa [with] tyde and tyme I do that I may, 365
For at hem I have dysspyte that he wolde have the joye
That Lycyfer, with many a legyown, lost for ther pryde;
The snares that I xal set wher never set at Troye,
So I thynk to besegyn hem be every waye wyde; 309
I xal getyn hem from grace, wher-so-ever he abyde,
That body and sowle xal com to my hold.
Hym for to take, 372
Now my knythtes so stowth, 373
With me ye xall ron in rowte,
My consell to take for a skowte,
Whytly that we wer went for my sake. 376
WRATH. With wrath or wyhylles we xal hyrre wynne.
ENVY. Or with sum sotyllte sett hur in synne. 378
54 MARY MAGDALEN.
DYLFE. Com of than, let us begynne
To werkyn hur sum wrake. 380
Her xal the deywl go to the word with his compeny.
SATAN. Heyle word, worthyest of a-bowndans ! 381
In hast we must a conseyll take;
Ye must aply yow with all your afyauns,
A woman of whorshep ower servant to make.
[11. 384-469. The World recommends recourse to the Flesh, who sends
his servant Luxuria (or Lechery) to Mary as she sits mourning her
father's death. Luxury persuades Mary to amuse herself at Jeru-
salem.]
Here takyt Mary hur wey to Jerusalem with Luxsurya, and
they xal resort to a taverner, thus seyyng the taverner.
I am a taverner wytty and wyse, 47°
That wynys have to sell gret plente.
Of all the taverners I bere the pryse
That be dwellyng withinne the cete; 473
Of wynys I have grete plente,
Both whyte wynne and red that [ys] so cleyr: 475
Here ys wynne of mawt and Malmeseyn,
Clary wynne and claret, and other moo,
Wyn of Gyldyr and of Galles, that made at the grome [?],
Wyn of wyan and vernage, I seye also ;
Ther be no better, as ferre as _ye can goo. 480
LUXSURYA. Lo, lady, the comfort and the sokower, 481
Go we ner and take a tast,
Thys xal bryng your sprytes to fawor.
Taverner, bryng us of the fynnest thou hast. 484
TAVERNER. Here, lady, is wyn, a repast 485
To man and woman, a good restoratyff;
Ye xall not thynk your mony spent in wast,
From stodyys and hevynes it woll yow relyff. 488
MARY MAGDALEN. 55
MARY. I-wys ye seye soth, ye grom of blysse ;
To me ye be courtes and kynde. 490
Her xal entyr a galaunt thus seyyng.
GALAUNT [CURIOSITY].
Hof, hof, hof, a frysch new galaunt, 491
Ware of thryst, ley that a-doune !
What ! wene ye, syrrys, that I were a marchant,
Because that I am new com to town? 494
With sum praty tasppysster wold I fayn rown;
LUXSURYA. Lady, this man is for _yow, as I se can ; 507
To sett yow i sporttes and talkyng this tyde.
MARY. Cal hym in, taverner, as ye my love wyll han,
And we xall make ful mery, yf he wolle abyde. 510
[11. 511-587. Mary departs with the gallant and Satan rejoices over
her fall. We next see Mary sleeping in an arbour, and then Simon
the leper preparing for his feast. Then a good angel appears to
Mary and says :]
GOOD ANGYLL. Woman, woma,n, why art thou so on-
stabyll? 588
Ful bytterly thys blysse it wol be bowth;
Why art thou a_yens God so veryabyll?
Wy thynkes thou nat God made the of nowth?
In syn and sorow thou art browth, 592
Fleschly lust is to ye full delectabyll ;
Salve for thi sowle must be sowth,
And leve thi werkes wayn and veryabyll. 595
Remembyr, woman, for thi pore pryde, 596
How thi sowle xal lyyn in helle fyr !
A ! remembyr how sorowful itt is to abyde
Withowtyn eynd in angur and ire ! 599
Remember the on mercy, make thi sowle clyr!
I am the gost of goodnesse that so wold ye gydde.
56 MARY MAGDALEN.
MARY. A! how the speryt of goodnesse hat promtyt
me this tyde,
And temtyd me with tytyll of trew perfythnesse.
Alas ! how betternesse in my hert doth abyde ! 604
I am wonddyd with werkes of gret dystresse, 605
A! how pynsynesse potyt me to oppresse,
That I have synnyd on every side.
0 lord ! wo xall put me from this peynfulnesse ? 608
A ! woo xall to mercy be my gostly gyde ?
1 xal porsue the prophett, wherso he be,
For he is the welle of perfyth charyte; 6n
Be the oyle of mercy he xal me relyff.
With swete bawmys I wyl seken hym this syth,
And sadly folow his lordshep in eche degre. 614
Hert xal entyr the prophet with his desyplys, thus seyyng
Symont leprus.
Now ye be welcom, mastyr, most of magnyfycens, 615
I beseche yow benyngly ye wol be so gracyows
Yf that it be lekyng onto yower hye presens
Thys daye to com dyne at my hows. 618
IESUS. God a mercy, Symontt, that thou wylt me knowe !
I woll entyr thi hows with pes and unyte; 620
I am glad for to rest, ther grace gynnyt grow;
For withinne thi hows xal rest charyte, 622
And the bemys of grace xal byn illumynows. 623
But syth thou wytystsaff a dyner on me,
With pes and grace I entyr thi hows.
SYMOND. I thank yow, master, most benyng and gracyus,
That yow wol of your hye soverente; 627
To me itt is a jbye most speceows,
Withinne my hows that I may yow se !
Now syt to the bord, mastyrs alle. 630
MARY MAGDALEN. 57
Her xal Mary folow alonge, with this lamentacyon.
MARY. O I, cursyd caytyff, that myche wo hath wrowth
Ayens my makar, of mytes most; 632
I have offendyd hym with dede and thowth,
But in his grace is all my trost, 634
Or elles I know well I am but lost,
Body and sowle damdpnyd perpetuall.
Pet, good lord of lorddes, my hope [is] perhenuall, 637
With the to stond in grace and fawour to se,
Thow knowyst my hart and thowt in especyal ;
Therfor, good lord, after my hart reward me. 640
Her xal Mary wasche thefett of the prophet with the terres of
hur yys, whypyng hem with hur herre, and than anoynt
hym with a precyus noyttment.
IESUS DIGIT. Symond, I thank ye speceally 641
For this grett repast that her hath be;
But Symond, I telle the fectually
I have thynges to seyn to the. 644
Symond, behold, this woman in all wyse 665
How she with teres of hyr better wepyng
She wassheth my fete, and doth me servyse,
And anoyntyt hem with onymentes, lowly knelyng, 668
And with her her, fayer and brygth shynnyng,
She wypyth hem agayn with good entent;
But Symont, syth that I entyrd thi hows, 671
To wasshe my fete thou dedyst nat aplye,
Nor to wype my fete thou wer nat so faworus;
Wherfor in thi conscyens thou owttyst nat to replye. 674
But, woman, I sey to the werely,
I forgeyffe the thi wrecchednesse,
And hoi in sowle be thou made therby.
58 MARY MAGDALEN.
[11. 678-1 133. Mary gives thanks : seven devils are cast out of her, and
in the next scene we see Satan punishing his angels with blows for
their ill-success. The history of the sickness and raising of Lazarus
is then enacted, and at 1. 924 Part I of the play comes to an end.
Part II begins with a boasting speech of the King of Marcylle ; then
we hear the devils crying out because Hell has been harrowed,
upon which follows the scene in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea
on the morning of Christ's Resurrection.]
Here devoyd all the three Maryys ; and the kynge of Marcyll
xall begynne a sacryfyce.
REX MERCYLL. Now, lordes and ladyys of grett a-prise,
A mater to meve yow is in my memoryall, 1134
This day to do a sacryfyce
With multetude of myrth before ower goddes all, 1136
With preors in aspecyall before his presens,
Eche creature with hartt demure. 1138
REGINA. To that lord curteys and keynd, 1139
Mahond, that is so mykyll of myth,
With mynstrelly and myrth in mynd,
Lett us gon ofer in that hye kyngis syth. n4a
Here xal enter an hethenpreste and his boye.
PRESBYTER. Now, my clerke, Hawkyn, for love of me
Loke fast myn awter wer araydj 1144
Goo, ryng a bell to or thre !
Lythly, chyld, it be natt delayd, 1146
For here xall be a grett solera nyte.
Loke, boy, thou do it with a brayd ! 1148
[The boy is impudent, and the priest obeys the stage direction 'bete
him.' Enter the King.]
REX DICITT. Now, prystes and clerkys, of this tempyll
cler 1I?8
Yower servyse to sey, lett me se.
MARY MAGDALEN. 59
PRESBYTER. A, soveryn lord, we shall don ower devyr.
Boy, a boke a-non thou bryng me! 1181
Now, boy, to my awter I wyll me dresse; n8a
On xall my westment and myn aray.
BOY. Now than the lesson I woll expresse,
Lyke as longytt for the servyse of this day: — 1185
Leccyo mahowndys^ viri fortissimi sarasenorum.
Glabriosum ad glumandum glumardinorum,
Gormondorum alocorum, stampatinantum cursorum,
Cownthtes fulcatum, congruryandum tersorum
Mursum malgorum, Mararagorum. 1190
********
Howndes and hogges, in hegges and helles, 1198
Snakes and toddes mott be yower belles;
Ragnell and Roffyn, and other, in the wavys,
Grauntt yow grace to dye on the galows. 1201
PRESBYTER. Now, lordes and ladyys, lesse and more,
Knele all don with good devocyon; 1203
Yonge and old, rych and pore,
Do yower oferyng to sentt Mahownde,
And ye xall have grett pardon, 1206
That longyth to this holy place;
And receyve ye xall my benesown,
And stond in Mahowndes grace. 1209
REX DICITT. Mahownd, thou art of mytes most, 1210
In my syth a gloryus gost;
Thou comfortyst me both in contre and cost
With thi wesdom and thi wytt; 1213
For truly, lord, in the is my trost. 1214
Good lord, lett natt my sowle be lost !
All my cownsell well thou wotst.
Here in thi presens as I sett, 1217
Thys besawnt of gold, rych and rownd, iai8
I ofer ytt for my lady and me,
60 MARY MAGDALEN.
That thou mayst be ower counfortes in this stownd,
Sweth Mahound, remembyr me. 1221
[11. 1222-1375. After two scenes representing the receipt of the news
of Christ's Resurrection by Pilate and Tiberius Caesar, the angel
Raphael is sent from heaven to Mary Magdalen.]
ANGELUS. Abasse the noutt, Mary, in this place; 1376
Ower lordes preceptt thou must ful-fyll,
To passe the see in shortt space
On-to the lond of Marcyll. 1379
Kyng and quene converte xall ye,
And byn amyttyd as an holy apostylesse;
Alle the lond xall be techyd alonly be the;
Goddes lawys on-to hem ye xall expresse. 1383
Therfor hast yow forth with gladnesse,
Goddes commaundement for to fulfylle. 1385
MARI MAWDLEYN. He that from my person vij dewlles
mad to fle, 1386
Be vertu of hym alle thyng was wrowth;
To seke thoys pepyll I wol rydy be.
As thou hast commaunddytt, in vertu they xall be browth.
With thi grace, good lord, in deite, 1390
Now to the see I wyll me hy,
Sum sheppyng to asspy.
Now spede me, lord, in eternall glory 1
Now be my spede, allmyty trenite! 1394
Here xall entyre a shyp with a mery song.
SHEPMAN. Stryke ! skryke ! lett fall an ankyr to grownd !
Her is a fayer haven to se ! 1396
Connyngly in, loke that ye sownd;
I hope good harbarow have xal wee ! 1398
Loke that we have drynke, boy, thou.
MARY MAGDALEN. 6 1
[The shipman's boy is as impudent as the priest's, with a like result.]
MAUDLEYN. Master of the shepe, a word with the. 1423
MASTER. All redy, fayer woman, whatt wol^e?
MARY. Of whense is thys shep ? tell ye me ;
And yf ye seyle with-in a whyle. 1426
MASTER. We wol seyle this same day, 1437
Yf the wynd be to ower pay.
This shep that I of sey
Is of the lond of Marcyll. 1430
MARY. Syr, may I natt with yow sayle ? 1431
And ye xall have for yower awayle.
MASTER. Of sheppyng the xall natt faylle ;
For us the wynd is good and saffe. 1434
Yond ther is the lond of Torke,
I wher full loth for to lye.
Now xall the shep-men syng.
Of this cors we thar nat a-baffe, 1437
Yender is the lond of Satyllye. 1438
Stryk ! beware of sond !
Cast a led, and in us gyde !
Of Marcyll this is the kyngges lond. 1441
Go a lond, thow fayer woman, this tyde,
To the kyngges place ; yonder may ye see.
Sett of, sett of, from lond.
THE BOY. All redy, master, at thyn hand. 1445
Her goth the shep owt of the place.
[Mary Magdalen goes to the King and preaches to him.]
REX. Herke, woman, thow hast many resonnes grett; 1537
I thyngk, on-to my goddes aperteynyng they beth.
But thou make me answer son, I xall the frett,
And cut the tonge owt of thi hed. 1530
62 MARY MAGDALEN.
MARY. Syr, yf I seyd amys, I woll return agayn. 1531
Leve yower encomberowns of perturbacyon,
And lett me know what yower goddes byn,
And how they may save us from treubelacyon. 1534
REX. Hens to the tempyll that we war, 1535
And ther xall thow se a solom syth.
Com on all, both lesse and more,
Thys day to se my goddes myth. 1538
Here goth the Kynge with all his a-tendaunt to the tempyll.
Loke now, qwatt seyyst thow be this syth ? 1539
How pleyeaunttly they stond, se thow how !
Lord, I besech thi grett myth,
Speke to this chrisetyn that here sestt thou. 1543
Speke, god lord, speke ! se how I do bow !
Herke, thou pryst ! qwat menytt all this ?
What ! speke, good lord ! speke ! what eylytt the now ?
Speke, as thow artt bote of all blysse ! 1546
PRYSBYTER. Lord, he woll natt speke whyle chriseten
her is.
MARY. Syr kyng, and it pleze yower gentyllnesse, 1548
Gyff me lycens my prayers to make
On-to my God in heven blysch,
Sum merakyll to shewyn for yower sake.
REX. Pray thi fylle, tyll thi1 knees ake. 1552
MARY. Dominus, illuminacio mea, quern timebo !
Dominus, protecctor vite mee, a quo trepedabo !
Here xal the mament tremyll and quake.
Now, lord of lordes, to thi blyssyd name sanctificatt,
Most mekely my feyth I recummend. 1556
Pott don the pryd of mamentes violatt !
Lord, to thi lover thi goodnesse descend; 1558
1 then, MS.
MARY MAGDALEN. 63
Lett natt ther pryd to thi poste pretend,
Wher-as is rehersyd thi hye name Jhesus.
Good lord, my preor I feythfully send ;
Lord, thi rythwysnesse here dyscus ! 1562
Here xall comme a clowd from heven, and sett the tempyl one
a fyer, and the pryst and the clerk xall synke.
[The remainder of the play shows the voyage of the King and Queen to
the Holy Land, the wonderful restoration to life of the Queen and
her baby by the aid of Mary Magdalen, the feeding of Mary in the
wilderness by angels, her death, and her ascension.]
€6e Cagteil of
HUMANUM GENUS.
After oure forme faderes' kende
This nyth I waus of my moder born ;
Fro my moder I walke, I wende,
Ful feynt and febyl I fare you beforn.
I am nakyd of lym and lende, (5)
As mankynde is schapyn and schorn,
I not wedyr to gon ne to lende,
To helpe my-self mydday ny morn,
For schame I stonde and schende.
I waus born this nyth in blody ble (10)
And nakyd I am as ye may se.
A! Lord God in trinite,
Whow mankende is unchende !
Where-to I waus to this werld browth,
I ne wot but to woo and wepynge. (15)
I am born and have ryth nowth
To helpe my self in no doynge.
I sfYjonde1 and stodye, al ful of thowthj
Bare and pore is my clothynge,
A sely crysme my hed hath cawth, (20)
That I tok at myn crystenynge;
Certes I have no more.
Of erthe I cam, I wot ryth wele,
And as erthe I stande this selej
1 sonde, MS.
THE CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 65
Of mankende it is gret dele, (35)
Lord God, I cry thyne ore.
Two1 aungels bene a-synyd to me:
The ton techyth me to goode,
On my ryth syde ye may hym se,
He cam fro Criste that deyed on rode. (30)
A-nother ordeynyd her to be,
That is my foo be fen and node,
He is a-bout in every degra
To 2 drawe me to the dewylys wode,
That in helle ben thycke. (35)
Swyche to hath every man on lyve,
To rewlyn hym and hys wyttes fyve,
Whanne man doth evyl the ton wolde shryve,
The tother drawyth to wycke.
But syn these aungelys be to me falle, (40)
Lord Jhu to .you I bydde a bone,
That I may folwe be strete and stalle
The aungyl that cam fro hevene trone.
Now lord Jhu, in hevene halle,
Here, whane I make my mone ! (45)
Coryows Criste, to you I calle.
As a grysly gost I grucche and grone,
I wene ryth ful of thowth.
A ! Lord Jhu, wedyr may I goo ?
A crysyme I have and no moo! (50)
Alas! men may be wondyr woo
Whanne thei be fyrst forth browth.
BONUS ANGELUS.
Ya. forsothe and that is wel sene,
Of woful wo man may synge-,
For iche creature helpeth hym self bedene, (55)
Save only man, at hys comynge,
1 Ij, MS. a Do, MS.
66 THE CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
Nevyr-the-lesse turne the fro tene
And serve Jhu, hevene kynge,
And thou shalt, be grevys grene,
Fare well in all thynge. (60)
That lord thi lyfe hath lante!
Have hym alway in thi mynde,
That deyed on rode for mankynde,
And serve hym to thi lyfes ende,
And sertes thou schalt not wante. (65)
MALUS ANGELUS.
Pes aungel, thi wordes are not wyse,
Thou counselyst hym not a-ryth.
He schal hym drawyn to the werdes servyse,
To dwelle with caysere, kynge and knyth.
That in londe be hym non lyche. (70)
Cum on with me, stylle as ston :
Thou and I to the werd schul goon,
And thanne thou schalt sen a-non
Whow sone thou schalt be ryche.
BONUS ANGELUS.
A! pes aungel, thou spekyst folye! (75)
Why schuld he coveyt werldes goode,
Syn Criste in erthe and hys meynye
All in povert here thei stode?
Werldes wele, be strete and stye,
Faylyth and fadyth as fysch in flode, (80)
But hevene ryche is good and trye,
Ther Criste syttyth, bryth as blode,
Withoutyn any dystresse.
To the world wolde he not flyt,
But forsok it every whytt; (85)
Example I fynde in holy wryt,
He wyl bere me wytnesse.
THE CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 6~7
Dividas et paufertatem ne dederis m\iht\ dfte.
MALUS ANGELUS. Pa, _ya, man, leve hym nowth,
But cum with me be stye and strete.
Have thou a gobet of the werld cawth, (90)
Thou schalt fynde it good and swete.
A fayre lady the schal be tawth,
That in bowre thi bale schal bete.
With ryche rentes thou schalt be frawth,
With sylke sendel to syttyn in sete. (95)
I rede late bedys be :
If thou wylt have wel thyn hele,
And faryn wel at mete and mele,
With goddes servyse may thou not dele
But cum and folwe me. (100)
HUMANUM GENUS. Whom to folwe wetyn I ne may:
I stonde in stodye and gynne to rave,
I wolde be ryche in gret aray,
And fayn I wolde my sowle save.
As wynde in watyr I wave: (105)
Thou woldyst to the werld I me toke,
And he wolde that I it forsoke,
Now so God me helpe, and the holy boke,
I not wyche I may have.
MALUS ANGELUS. Cum on, man ! where of hast thou care ?
Go we to the werld, I rede the, blyve; (in)
For ther thou schalt now1 ryth wel fare,
In case if thou thynke for to thryve,
No lord schal be the lyche.
Take the werld to thine entent, (115)
And late thi love be ther on lent,
With gold and sylvyr and ryche rent
A-none thou schalt be ryche.
1 mow, MS.
F 2
68 THE CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
HUMANUM GENUS. Now syn thou hast be-hetyn me so
I wyl go with the and a-say; (12°)
I ne lette for frende ner fo,
But with the world I wyl go play,
Certes a lytyl throwe.
In this world is al my trust
To lyv[y]n in lykyng and in lust: (125)
Have he and I onys cust,
We schal not part I trowe.
BONUS ANGELUS. A ! nay, man ! for Cristes blod !
Cum agayn be strete and style !
The werld is wyckyd and ful wod, (130)
And thou schalt levyn but a whyle,
What coveytyst thou to wynne?
Man, thynke on thyn endynge day,
Whanne thou schalt be closyd under clay,
And if thou thenke of that a-ray, (135)
Certes thou schalt not synne.
Homo memento finis et in eternu non peccabis.
MALUS ANGELUS. Pa, on thi sowle thou schalt thynke al
be tyme;
Cum forth, man, and take non hede,
Cum on and thou schalt holdyn hym inne.
Thi flesch thou schalt foster and fede (140)
With lofly lyvys fode.
With the werld thou mayst be bold,
Tyl thou be sexty wynter hold;
Wanne thi nose waxit cold
Thanne mayst thou drawe to goode. (145)
HUMANUM GENUS. I vow to God, and so I may
Make mery a ful gret throwe—
I may levyn many a day,
I am but yonge, as I trowe.
THE CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 69
For to do that I schulde. (15°)
Myth I ryde be sompe and syke,
And be ryche and lord lyke,
Certes, thanne schulde I be fryke
And a mery man on molde.
MALUS ANGELUS. Yys, be my feyth, thou schalt be a lord,
And ellys hange me be the hals. (156)
But thou muste be at myn a-cord,
Other whyle thou muste be fals
A-monge kythe and kynne.
Now go we forth swythe a-non, (160)
To the werld us must gon,
And bere the manly evere a-mong,
Whanne thou cornyst out or inne.
HUMANUM GENUS. Fys, and ellys have thou my necke
But I be manly be downe and dyche, (165)
And thou I be fals I ne recke,
With so that I be lord lyche
I folowe the as I can.
Thou schalt be my bote of bale,
For were I ryche of holt and hale, (170)
Thanne wolde I jeve nevere tale
Of God ne of good man.
BONUS ANGELUS. I weyle and I wrynge and make mone
This man with woo schal be pylt.
I sye sore and grysly grone, (175)
For hys folye schal make hym spylt.
I not weder to gone,
Pipe up mu\sic\
Mankynde hath forsakyn me !
Alas, man, for love of the !
Ya., for this gamyn and this gle (180)
Thou schalt grocchyn and grone.
70 THE CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
MUNDUS. Welcum, syr, semly in syth !
Thou art welcum to worthy wede, (185)
For thou wylt be my servaunt day and nyth,
With my servyse I schal the foster and fede;
Thi bak schal be betyn with besawntes bryth;
Thou schalt have byggynges be bankes brede;
To thi cors schal knele kayser and knyth,
Where that thou walke be sty or be strete,
And ladys lovely on lere. (190)
But goddys servyse thou must forsake,
And holy to the werld the take,
And thanne a man I schal the make
That non schal be thi pere.
HUMANUM GENUS. Fys, Werld, and ther-to here myn honde
To forsake God and hys servyse, (196)
To medys thou yeve me howse and londe,
That I regne rychely at myn emprise.
So that I fare wel be strete and stronde,
Whil I dwelle here in werldly wyse, (aoo)
I recke nevere of hevene wonde,
Nor of Jhu, that jentyl justyse !
Of my sowle I have no rewthe,
What schulde I recknen of domysday
So that I be ryche and of gret a-ray ? (205)
I schal make mery whyl I may,
And ther-to here my trewthe.
MUNDUS. Now sertes, syr, thou seyst wel!
I holde the trewe ffro top to the too 1
But thou were ryche it were gret dele, (210)
And all men that wyl fare soo.
Tune ascendat Humanum Genus ad Mundum.
Cum up, my serwaunt, trow as stele,
Thou schalt be ryche whereso thou goo,
THE CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 71
Men schul servyn the at mele
With mynstralsye, and bemys bio, (215)
With metes and drynkes trye.
Lust and lykynge schal be thin ese,
Lovely ladys the schal plese,
Who so do the any disese,
He schal ben hangyd hye. (220)
Lykynge, be-lyve !
Late slothe hym swythe
In robys ryve
With ryche aray.
Folye, thou fonde, (225)
Be strete and stronde
Serve hym at honde
Bothe nyth and day.
VOLUPTAS. Trostyly,
Lord, redy! (230)
Je vous pry,
Syr, I say.
In lyckynge and lust
He schal rust,
Tyl dethys dust (235)
Do hym to clay.
STULTICIA. And I, folye,
Schal hyen hym hye,
Tyl sum enmye
Hym over-goo. (24°)
In worldes wyt,
That in folye syt,
I thynke yyt
Hes sowle to sloo.
HUMANUM GENUS. Mankynde I am callyd be kynde,
With cursydnesse in costes knet, (246)
72 THE CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
In sowre swettenesse my syth I sende,
With sevene synnys sadde be-set.
Mekyl myrthe I move in mynde,
With melody [al]1 my mowth is met, (250)
My prowd power schal I not pende
Tyl I be putte in peynys pyt,
To helle hent fro hens.
In dale of dole tyl we are downe
We schul be clad in a gay gowne. (255)
I see no man but the use somme
Of these vij dedly synnys,
For comonly it is seldom seyne.
Who so no[l]2 be lecherous
Of other man he schal have disdeyne, (260)
And ben prowde or covetous,
In synne iche man is founde.
Ther is pore nor ryche, be londe ne lake,
That alle vij wyl forsake,
But with on or other he schal be take (265)
And in here bytter bondes bownde.
BONUS ANGELUS. So mekyl the werse, wele a woo,
That evere good aungyl waus ordeynyd thel
Thou art rewlyd after the fende, that is thi foo,
And no thynge, certes, aftyr me! (270)
Wele away, weder may I goo?
Man doth me bleykyn blody ble,
Hes swete sowle he wyl now slo,
He schal wepe al hes game and gle
At on dayes tyme, (275)
Pe se wel all, sothly in syth,
I am a bowte, both day and nyth,
To brynge hys sowle into blis bryth,
And hym self wyl it brynge to pyne.
1 at, MS. » now, MS.
THE CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 73
MALUS ANGELUS. No, good aungyl, thou art not in sesun,
Ffewe men in the ffeyth they fynde, (281)
For thou hast schewyd a ballyd resun,
Goode syre, cum [get thee me] behynde,
Trewly man hathe non chesun
On thi god to grede and grynde, (285)
Ffor that schuld cunne Cristis lessoun
In penaunce hes body he muste bynde,
And forsake the worldes [mynde]1.
Men arn loth on the to crye,
Or don penaunce for here folye; (290)
Therfore have I now maystrye
Wei ny over al mankynde.
BONUS ANGELUS. Alas, mankynde
Is bobbyt and blent as the blynde,
In feyth I fynde (295)
To Crist he can nowt be kynde.
Alas, mankynne
Is soylyd and saggyd in synne,
He wyl not blynne
Tyl body and sowle parte a-twynne. (300)
Alas, he is blendyd ;
A-mys man's lyf is i-spendyd,
With fendes fendyd;
Mercy, God, that man were a-mendyd!
CONFESSIO What ! man's aungel goode and trewe, (305)
Why syest thou and sobbyst sore ?
Sertes, sore it schal me rewe,
If I se the make mornynge more.
May any bote thi bale brewe,
Or any thynge thi stat astore? (310)
For all felyschepys, olde and newe,
Why makyst thou grochynge under gore,
1 MS. mende.
74 THE CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
With pynynge poyntes pale?
Why waus al this gretynge gunne,
With sore syinge undyr sunne? (3*5)
Tell me, and I schal, if I cunne,
Brewe the bote of bale.
BONUS ANGELUS. Of byttyr balys thou mayste me bete,
Swete Schryfte, if that thou wylt.
For mankynde it is that I grete : (320)
He is in poynt to be spylt.
He is set in sevene synnys sete,
And wyl, certes, tyl he be kylt
With me he thynkyth nevere more to mete,
He hath me forsake and I have no gylt ! (325)
No man wyl hym amende !
Therfore, Schryfte, so God me spede,
But if thou helpe at this nede,
Mankynde getyth nevere other mede
But peyne withowtyn ende. (33°)
******
HUMANUM GENUS. A sete of sorwe in me is set,
Sertys, for synne I sye sore,
Mone of mercy in me is met,
Ffor werldys myrthe I morne more.
In wepynge wo my wele is wet, (335)
Mercy, thou muste myn fatt a-store.
Ffro cure lordys lyth thou hast me let,
Sory synne, thou grysly gore.
Owte on the, dedly synne !
Synne, thou haste mankynde schent, (340)
In dedly synne my lyfe is spent;
Mercy, God omnipotent,
In youre grace I be-gynne.
Ffor, thou mankynde have don a-mys,
And he wyl falle in repentaunce, (345)
THE CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 75
Crist schal hym bryngyn to bowre of blys,
If sorwe of hert lache hym with launce.
Lordyngys, _ye se wel alle thys —
Mankynde hathe ben in gret bobaunce,
I now for-sake the, synne, i-wys, (35°)
And take me holy to penaunce :
On Crist I crye and calle.
A mercy ! schryfte ! I wyl no more I
Ffor dedly synne myn herte is sore:
Stuffe mankynde with thyne store, (355)
And have hym to thyne halle.
CONFESSIO. Schryffte may no man for-sake :
Whanne mankynde cryeth I am redy,
Whanne sorwe of hert the hathe take
Schryfte prefytyth veryly. (360)
Who-so for synne wyl sorwe make
Crist hym heryth, whanne he wyl crye.
Now, man, lete sorwe thyn synne slake1,
And torne not a-geyn to thi ffolye;
Ffor that makyth dystaunce, (365)
And, if it happe the turne a-geyn to synne,
Ffor Goddes love, lye not longe therinne :
He that dothe alway evyl, and wyl not blynne,
That askyth gret venjaunce.
HUMANUM GENUS. Now, syr Schryfte, where may I dwelle
To kepe me fro synne and woo? (371)
A comly counseyll ye me spelle,
To fende me now fro my foo.
If .these vij synnys here telle
That I am thus fro hem goo, (375)
The werld, the flesche and the devyl of hell
Schul sekyn my soule for to sloo
1 MS. slawe.
76 THE CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
Into balys bowre.
Therfore, I prey you, putte me
Into sum place of surete, (380)
That thei may not harmyn me
With no synnys sowre.
CONFESSIO. To swyche a place I schal the kenne,
Ther thou mayst dwelle withowtyn dystaunse
And al wey kepe the fro synne, (385)
In to the Castell of Perseveraunce.
If thou wylt to hevene wynne
And kepe the fro werldyly dystaunce,
Goo yone castell and kepe the therinne
Ffor [it] is strenger thanne any in Fraunce; (390)
To yone castel I the sende.
That castel is a precyous place,
Fful of vertu and of grace,
Who so levyth there hes lyvys space
No synne schal hym schende. (395)
HUMANUM GENUS. A, Schryfte, blessyd mote thou be !
This castel is here but at honde;
Thedyr rathely wyll I tee,
Sekyr over this sad sonde.
Good perseveraunce God sende me, (400)
Whyle I leve here in this londe !
Ffro fowle fylthe now I fle,
Fforthe to faryn now I fonde
To yone precyous port,
Lord, what man is in mery lyve (4°5)
Whanne he is of hes synnys schreve I
Al my dol adoun is dreve,
Christe is my counfort.
ttnettmtreatpre fcott) p type
faderoftieuenfenfietlj fcetfcetofa*
tnon euerp creature to come ana
gptteacowtteof t&ewljHtcs m
lljis mo;ioe/anfi 10 in matter
oCattuvaupuqft,
FROM AN EDITION BY JOHN SHOT (c. 1530)
77]
C. Here begynneth a treatyse how ye hye | fader of heven sendeth dethe
to so|mon every creature to come and | gyve a counte of theyr
lyves in | this worlde, and is in in maner | of a morall playe .*J*.
[Woodcut of ' Everyman ' and of Death carrying a coffin ; between
them at the back stands a cross.]
MESSENGER. I pray you all gyve your audyence
And here this mater with reverence,
By fygure a morall playe.
The somonynge of Everyman called it is,
That of our lyves and endynge shewes 5
How transytory we be all daye.
This matter is wonders precyous,
But the entent of it is more gracyous
And swete to bere awaye.
The story sayth : man, in the begynnynge 10
Loke well and take good heed to the endynge,
Be you never so gay,
Ye thynke synne in the begynnynge full swete,
Whiche in the ende causeth the soule to wepe,
Whan the body lyeth in claye. 15
Here shall you se how Felawshyp, and lolyte,
Bothe Strengthe, Pleasure and Beaute,
Wyll fade from the as floure in maye.
For ye shall here how our heven kynge
Calleth Everyman to a general rekenynge. ao
Gyve audyence and here what he doth saye.
78 EVERYMAN.
GOD spekyth:
GOD. C. I perceyve here in my maieste
How that all creatures be to me unkynde,
Lyvynge without drede in worldly prosperyte ;
Of ghostly syght the people be so blynde, 25
Drowned in synne they know me not for theyr god;
In worldlye ryches is all theyr mynde.
I se, the more that I them forbere, 42
The worse they be fro yere to yere,
All that lyveth appayreth faste,
Therfore I wyll in all the haste 45
Have a rekenynge of every mannes persone.
They be so combred with worldly ryches 60
That nedes on them I must do justyce,
On every man lyvynge without fere.
Where arte thou, Deth, thou mighty messengere ?
DETHE.
DETHE. Almighty God, I am here at your wyll,
Your commaundement to fulfylle. 65
GOD. Go thou to Every man,
And shewe hym in my name
A pylgrymage he must on hym take,
Whiche he in no wyse may escape,
And that he brynge with him a sure rekenynge 70
Without delay or ony taryenge.
DETHE. Lorde I wyll in the worlde go renne over all
And cruelly out serche bothe grete and small.
Every man wyll I beset that lyveth beestly
Out of Goddes lawes and dredeth not foly. 75
He that loveth rychesse I wylle stryke with my darte,
His syght to blynde and fro heven to departe,
EVERYMAN. 79
Except that almes be his good frende,
In hell for to dwell, worlde without ende.
Loo yonder I se Everyman walkynge, 80
Full lytell he thynketh on my comynge !
His mynde is on flesshely lustes and his treasure,
And grete payne it shall cause hym to endure
Before the lorde, heven kynge.
Everyman, stande styll. Whyder arte thou goynge, 85
Thus gayly? hast thou thy Maker forgete?
EVERYMAN.
EVERYMAN. Why asketh thou?
Woldest thou wete?
DETHE. Ye, syr, I wyll shewe you :
In grete hast I am sende to the 90
Fro God, out of his mageste.
EVERYMAN. What, sente to me?
DETHE. Ye, certaynly.
Thoughe thou have forgete hym here,
He thynketh on the in the hevenly spere, 95
As, or we departe, thou shalte knowe.
EVERYMAN. What desyreth God of me?
DETHE. That shall I shewe the:
A rekenynge he wyll nedes have,
Without ony lenger respyte. 100
EVERYMAN. To gyve a rekenynge longer layser I crave,
This blinde mater troubleth my wytte.
DETHE. On the thou must take a longe journey,
Therfore thy boke of counte with the thou bryng,
For tourne agayne thou can not by no waye ; 105
And loke thou be sure of thy rekenynge,
For before God thou shalte answere and shewe
Thy many badde dedes and good but a fewe,
80 EVERYMAN.
How thou hast spente thy lyfe, and in what wyse,
Before the chefe lorde of paradyse. no
Have ado we were in that waye,
For, wete thou well, thou shalte make none attournay.
EVERYMAN. Full unredy I am suche rekenynge to gyve.
I knowe the not. What messenger arte thou?
DETHE. I am Dethe, that no man dredeth. 115
For every man I rest and no man spareth,
For it is Goddes commaundement
That all to me sholde be obedyent.
EVERYMAN.
0 deth, thou comest whan I had thee leest in mynde !
In thy power it lyeth me to save, 120
Yet of my good wyl I gyve thee, yf thou wyl be kynde.
Ye, a thousande pounde shalte thou have,
And dyfferre this mater tyll another daye.
DETHE. Everyman, it may not be by no waye.
1 set not by golde, sylver, nor rychesse, 125
Ne by pope, emperour, kynge, duke ne prynces,
For, and I wolde receyve gyftes grete,
All the worlde I myght gete;
But my custom is clene contrary.
I gyve the no respyte, come hens and not tary. 130
EVERYMAN. Alas ! shall I have no lenger respyte ?
I may saye deth gyveth no warnynge !
To thynke on the it maketh my herte seke,
For all unredy is my boke of rekenynge.
But, xii yere and I myght have abydynge, 135
My countynge boke I wolde make so clere,
That my rekenynge I sholde not nede to fere.
Wherfore, deth, I praye the, for Goddes mercy,
Spare me tyll I be provyded of remedy.
DETHE. The avayleth not to crye, wepe and praye. 140
But hast the lyghtly that thou were gone the journaye,
EVERYMAN. 8 1
And preve thy frendes, yf thou can.
For, wete thou well, the tyde abydeth no man,
And in the worlde eche lyvynge creature
For Adams synne must dye of nature. 145
EVERYMAN. Dethe, yf I sholde this pylgrymage take,
And my rekenynge suerly make,
Shewe me, for saynt charyte,
Sholde I not come agayne shortly?
DETHE. No, Everyman, and thou be ones there, 150
Thou mayst never more come here,
Trust me veryly.
EVERYMAN. O gracyous God, in the hye sete celestyall,
Have mercy on me in this moost nede,
Shall I have no company fro this vale terestryall 155
Of myne acqueynte, that way me to lede?
DETHE. Ye, yf ony be so hardy
That wolde go with the and bere the company.
Hye the, that thou were gone to Goddes magnyfycence,
Thy rekenynge to gyve before his presence. 160
What, wenest thou thy lyve is gyven the
And thy worldely goodes also?
EVERYMAN. I had wende so veryle.
DETHE. Nay, nay, it was but lende the,
For as sone as thou arte go 165
Another a whyle shall have it and than go1 ther fro,
Even as thou hast done.
Everyman, thou art made ! Thou hast thy wyttes fyve,
And here on erthe wyll not amende thy lyve !
For sodeynly I do come. 170
EVERYMAN. O wretched caytyfe, wheder shall I flee,
That I myght scape this endles sorowe?
1 than thou go, Ed, against the sense.
G
82 EVERYMAN.
Now, gentyll deth, spare me tyll to morowe,
That I may amende me
With good advysement. 175
DETHE. Naye, therto I wyll not consent,
Nor no man wyll I respyte,
But to the herte sodeynly I shall smyte
Without ony advysement.
And now out of thy syght I wyll me hy, 180
Se thou make the redy shortely,
For thou mayst saye this is the daye
That no man lyvynge may scape awaye.
EVERYMAN. Alas I may well wepe with syghes depe,
Now have I no maner of company, 185
To helpe me in my journey and me to kepe,
And also my wrytynge is butt unredy.
How shall I do now for to exscuse me?
I wolde to God I had never be gete !
To my soule a full grete profyte it had be, 190
For now I fere paynes huge and grete !
The tyme passeth, Lorde helpe that all wrought!
For though I mourne it avayleth nought.
The day passeth and is almoost ago,
I wote not well what for to do. 195
To whome were I best my complaynt to make?
What and I to Felawshyp therof spake,
And shewed hym of this sodeyne chaunce?
For in hym is all myne affyaunce,
We have in the worlde so many a daye 300
Be good frendes in sporte and playe.
I se hym yonder certaynely,
I trust that he wyll bere me company,
Therfore to hym wyll I speke to ese my sorowe.
Well mette, good Felawshyp, and good morowe. 205
EVERYMAN. 83
FELAWSHYP speketh.
FELAWSHYP. Everyman, good morowe by this daye.
Syr, why lokest thou so pyteously?
If ony thynge be amysse I praye the me saye,
That I may helpe to remedy.
EVERYMAN. Ye, good Felawshyp, ye, 210
I am in greate jeoparde.
FELAWSHYP. My true frende, shewe to me your mynde,
I wyll not forsake the to thy lyves ende,
In the way of good company.
EVERYMAN. That was well spoken and lovyngly.
FELAWSHYP. Syr, I must nedes knowe your hevynesse.
I have pyte to se you in ony dystresse. 217
If ony have you wronged ye shall revenged be,
Though I on the grounde be slayne for the,
Though that I knowe before that I sholde dye. 220
EVERYMAN. Veryly, Felawshyp, gramercy.
FELAWSHYP. Tusshe, by thy thankes I set not a strawe,
Shewe me your grefe and saye no more.
EVERYMAN. If I my herte sholde to you breke,
And than you to tourne your mynde fro me, 225
And wolde not me comforte whan ye here me speke,
Then sholde I ten tymes soryer be.
FELAWSHYP. Syr, I saye as I wyll do in dede.
EVERYMAN. Than be you a good frende at nede,
I have founde you true herebefore. 230
FELAWSHYP. And so ye shall evermore,
For, in fayth, and thou go to hell
I wyll not forsake the by the waye.
EVERYMAN.
Ye speke lyke a good frende, I byleve you well,
I shall deserve it, and I maye. 235
G 2
84 EVERYMAN.
FELAWSHYP. I speke of no deservynge, by this daye,
For he that wyll saye and nothynge do
Is not worthy with good company to go.
Therfore shewe me the grefe of your mynde
As to your frende moost lovynge and kynde. 240
EVERYMAN. I shall shewe you how it is :
Commannded I am to go a journaye,
A longe waye, harde and daungerous,
And gyve a strayte counte, without delaye,
Before the hye Juge Adonay. 245
Wherfore, I pray you, here me company,
As ye have promysed, in this journaye.
FELAWSHYP. That is mater in dede ! Promyse is duty,
But and I sholde take suche vyage on me,
I knowe it well, it sholde be to my payne; 250
Also it make[s] me aferde, certayne.
But let us take counsell here as well as we can,
For your wordes wolde fere a stronge man.
EVERYMAN. Why, ye sayd, yf I had nede,
Ye wolde me never forsake, quycke ne deed, 255
Though it were to hell, truely.
FELAWSHYP. So I sayd certaynely,
But suche pleasures be set a syde, the sothe to saye,
And also, yf we toke suche a journaye,
Whan sholde we come agayne? 260
EVERYMAN. Naye, never agayne, tyll the daye of dome.
FELAWSHYP. In fayth, than wyll not I come there.
Who hath you these tydynges brought?
EVERYMAN. In dede, deth was with me here.
FELAWSHYP. Now, by God that all ha the bought, 265
If deth were the messenger,
For no man that is lyvynge to daye
I wyll not go that lothe journaye,
Not for the fader that bygate me.
EVERYMAN. 85
EVERYMAN. Ye promysed other wyse, parde. 270
FELAWSHYP. I wote well I say so, truely,
And yet yf thou wylte etc and drynke and make good
chere
Or haunt to women the lusty company,
I wolde not forsake you, whyle the day is clere,
Trust me veryly. 275
EVERYMAN. Ye, therto ye wolde be redy:
To go to myrthe, solas and playe
Your mynde wyll soner apply,
Than to here me company in my longe journaye.
FELAWSHIP. Now, in good fayth, I wyll not that waye,
But and thou wylt murder, or ony man kyll, 281
In that I wyll helpe the with a good wyll.
EVERYMAN. O that is a symple advyse in dede!
Gentyll felawe, helpe me in my necessyte:
We have loved longe, and now I nede ! 285
And now, gentyll Felawshyp, remember me.
FELAWSHYP. Wheder ye have loved me or no,
By saynt John I wyll not with the go.
EVERYMAN.
Yet I pray the, take the labour and do so moche for me,
To brynge me forwarde, for saynt charyte, 290
And comforte me tyll I come without the towne.
FELAWSHYP. Nay, and thou wolde gyve me a newe gowne,
I wyll not a fote with the go;
But and thou had taryed I wolde not have lefte the so,
And, as now, God spede the in thy journaye, 295
For from the I wyll departe as fast as I maye.
EVERYMAN.
Wheder a-waye, felawshyp? wyll thou forsake me?
FELAWSHYP. Ye, by my faye ! To God I betake the.
86 EVERYMAN.
EVERYMAN.
Farewell, good Fellawshyp ! For the my herte is sore!
Adewe forever, I shall se the no more. 300
FELAWSHYP.
In fayth, Everyman, fare well now at the ende,
For you I wyll remembre that partynge is mournynge.
EVERYMAN. Alacke shall we thus1 departe in dede —
A lady ! helpe ! without ony more comforte ?
Lo Felawshyp forsaketh me in my moost nede2. 305
For helpe in this worlde wheder shall I resorte?
Felawshyp here before with me wolde mery make,
And nowe lytell sorowe for me dooth he take.
It is sayd in prosperyte men frendes may fynde
Whiche in adversyte be full unkynde. 310
Nowe whither for socoure shall I flee,
Syth that Felawshyp hath forsaken me?
To my kynnes men I wyll truely,
Prayenge them to helpe in my necessyte.
I beleve that they wyll do so, 315
For kynde wyll crepe where it may not go.
[The 147 lines here omitted are summed up in the following speech.]
EVERYMAN. O to whome shall I make my mone
For to go with me in that hevy journaye?
Fyrst Felawshyp sayd he wolde with me gone; 465
His wordes were very plesaunt and gaye,
But afterwarde he lefte me alone.
Than spake I to my kynnesmen all in dyspayre,
An[d] also they gave me wordes fayre ;
They lacked no fayre spekynge, 470
But all forsake me in the endynge.
1 For thus, the Ed. reads this.
' From 1. 305 we have the help of Pynson's text.
EVERYMAN. 87
Than wente I to my Goodes, that I loved best,
In hope to have comforte, but there had I leest;
For my Goodes sharpely dyd me tell
That he bryngeth many into hell. 475
Than of my selfe I was ashamed,
And so I am worthy to be blamed.
Thus may I well my selfe hate.
Of whome shall I now conseyll take ?
I thinke that I shall never spede 480
Tyll that I go to my Good Dede.
But, alas, she is so weke
That she can nother go nor speke.
Yet will I venter on her now.
My Good Dedes, where be you? 485
GOOD DEDES. Here I lye, colde in the grounde,
Thy synnes hath me sore bounde
That I can nat stere.
EVERYMAN. O Good Dedes, I stande in great1 fere,
I must you pray of counseyll, 490
For helpe now sholde come ryght well.
GOOD DEDES. Everyman, I have understandynge
That ye be somoned a counte to make
Before Myssyas, of Jherusalem kynge, 494
And you do by me the journay with you wyll I take.
EVERYMAN. Therfore I come to you my moone to make.
I praye you that ye wyll go with me.
GOOD DEDES.
I wolde full fayne, but I can nat stand veryly.
EVERYMAN. Why, is there onythynge on you fall ?
GOOD DEDES. Ye, syr, I may thanke you of all. 500
If ye had parfytely chered me,
Your boke of counte nowe full redy had be.
Loke, the bokes of your workes and dedes eke
1 om. Skot.
88 EVERYMAN.
Ase howe they lye here under the fete,
To your soules hevynes. 505
EVERYMAN. Our Lorde Jesus helpe me,
For one letter here I can nat se.
GOOD DEDES.
There is a blynde reckenynge in tyme of dystres.
EVERYMAN. Good dedes, I praye you helpe me in this nede,
Or elles I am for ever dampned in dede, 510
Therfore helpe me to make my rekenynge
Before the Redemer of all thynge,
That kynge is, and was, and ever shall.
GOOD DEDES. Everyman, I am sory of your fall,
And fayne wolde I helpe you, and I were able. 515
EVERYMAN.
Good Dedes, your counseyll I pray you gyve me.
GOOD DEDES. That shall I do veryly,
Thoughe that on my fete I may nat go.
I have a syster that shall with you also,
Called Knowlege, whiche shall with you abyde, 520
To helpe you to make that dredefull rekenynge.
KNOWLEGE.
Everyman, I wyll go with the and be thy gyde,
In thy moost nede to go by thy syde.
EVERYMAN.
In good condycyon I am now in every thynge,
And am holy1 content with this good thynge 535
Thanked be2 God my creatoure.
******
[EVERYMAN is taken to CONFESSION and does penance for his sins.]
GOOD DEDES. Every man, pylgryme, my specyall frende,
Blessyd be thou without ende, 630
For the is preparate the eternall glorye.
1 hole, Skoi. 3 by, Skot.
EVERYMAN. 89
Ye have me made hole and sounde,
Therfor I wyll byde by the in every stounde.
EVERYMAN.
Welcome, my Good Dedes ! Now I here thy voyce
I wepe for very swetenes of love. 635
KNOWLEGE. Be no more sad, but ever rejoyce.
God seeth thy lyvynge in his trone above,
Put on this1 garment, to thy behove,
Which is wette with your teres,
Or elles before God you may it mysse, 640
Whan ye to your journeys ende come shall.
EVERYMAN. Gentyll Knowlege, what do you yt call?
KNOWLEGE. It is called the garment of sorowe,
Fro payne it wyll you borowe,
Gentry cy on it is, 645
That getteth forgyveness,
He pleaseth God passynge well.
GOOD DEDES. Everyman, wyll you were it for your hele?
EVERYMAN. Now blessyd be Jesu, Maryes sone,
For nowe have I on true contrycyon, 650
And lette us go now without taryenge.
Good Dedes, have we clere our rekenynge?
GOOD DEDES. Ye, in dede, I have them2 here.
EVERYMAN. Than I trust we nede not fere.
Now, frendes, let us not parte in twayne. 655
KNOWLEGE3. Nay, Everyman, that wyll we nat certayne.
GOOD DEDES. Yet must thou leade* with the
Thre persones of grete myght.
1 Skot only, rest thy. « cm. Skol. 8 The editions all
assign this line and also 1. 666 to Kynrede, but surely wrongly, since
Kynrede left the stage at 1. 366. 4 led, Skot.
90 EVERYMAN.
EVERYMAN. Who sholde they be?
GOOD DEDES. Dyscrecyon and Strength they hyght, 660
And thy Beaute may not abyde behinde.
KNOWLEGE. Also ye must call to mynde
Your Fyve Wyttes, as for your counseylours.
GOOD DEDES. You must have them redy at all houres.
EVERYMAN. Howe shall I gette them hyder? 665
KNOWLEGE. You must call them all togyder,
And they wyll here you incontynent.
EVERYMAN. My frendes, come hyder and be present,
Discrecyon, Strengthe, my Fyve Wyttes and Beaute.
BEAUTE. Here at your wyll we be all redy, 670
What wyll ye that we shulde do?
GOOD DEDES. That ye wolde with Everyman go,
And helpe him in his pylgrymage.
Advyse you, wyll ye with him or not in that vyage?
STRENGTH. We wyll brynge hym all thyder 675
To his helpe and comforte, ye may byleve me.
DYSCRECYON. So wyll we go with hym all togyder.
[EVERYMAN receives the last Sacrament :]
FYVE WITTES. Peas, for yonder I see Everyman come,
Whiche hath made trewe satysfaccyon.
GOOD DEDES. Me thynke, it is he indede, 770
EVERYMAN. Now Jesu be our l alder spede !
I have receyved the sacrament for my redempcyon,
And than myne extreme unccyon.
Blessyd be all they that counseyled me to take it !
And now frendes, let us go without longer respyte.
1 your, Skot.
EVERYMAN. 91
I thanke God that ye have taryed so longe. 776
Now set eche of you on this rodde his honde,
And shortely folowe me.
I go before there I wolde be.
God be our1 gyde! 780
STRENGTHS. Everyman, we will nat fro you go,
Tyll ye have gone this vyage longe.
DYSCRECYON. I, Dyscrecyon, wyll byde by you also.
KNOWLEGE.
And though this pylgrymage be never so stronge
I wyll never parte you fro. 785
STRENGTH. Everyman, I will be as sure by the
As ever I was2 by Judas Machabe.
EVERYMAN. Alas, I am so faynt I may not stande,
My lymmes under me doth folde.
Frendes, let us nat tourne agayne to this lande, 790
Nat for all the worldes golde,
For into this cave must I crepe,
And torne to the erthe, and there slepe8.
BEAUTE. What in to this grave, alas !
EVERYMAN.
Ye, there shall we consume, more and lesse ! 795
BEAUTE. And what, sholde I smoder here
EVERYMAN. Ye, be my fayth, and never more appere!
In this worlde lyve no more we shall,
But in heven before the hyest lorde of all.
BEAUTE. I crosse out all this ! adewe by saynt Johan I
I take my cappe4 in my lappe, and am gone. 80 1
EVERYMAN. What, Beaute, whyder wyll ye?
1 your, Skot. * dyd, Shot. * And tourne to erth and there
to slepe, Skot. Mr. Hazlitt assigns this line and the next but one to
Beauty, and 11. 794, 796 to Everyman. * cappe, Skot only, rest tappe.
92 EVERYMAN.
BEAUTE. Peas! I am defe, I loke not behynde me,
Nat and thou woldest gyve me all the golde in thy chest.
EVERYMAN. Alas ! wherto may I truste ? 805
Beaute gothe fast awaye fro me.
She promysed with me to lyve and dye.
STRENGTH. Everyman, I wyll the also forsake and denye,
Thy game lyketh me nat at all.
EVERYMAN. Why than ye wyll forsake me all! Sio
Swete Strength, tarry a lytel space1!
STRENGTH. Nay, syr, by the rode of grace,
I wyll hye me from the fast,
Though thou wepe till2 thy hert brast.
EVERYMAN. Ye wolde ever byde by me, ye sayd. 815
STRENGTH. Ye, I have you ferre ynoughe conveyed.
Ye be olde ynoughe, I understande,
Your pylgrymage to take on hand.
I repent me that I hyder came.
EVERYMAN. Strengthe, you to dysplease I am to blame,
Yet promyse is dette, this ye well wot3. 821
STRENGTH. In fayth, as for that4 I care not!
Thou arte but a foole to complayne,
You spende your speche and wast your brayne ;
Go thryst6 the into the grounde ! 825
EVERYMAN. I had wende surer I sholde you have founde,
But I se well6 he that trusteth in his strength
She hym deceyveth7 at the length,
For Strength and Beaute forsaketh me,
Yet they promysed me fayre and lovyngly8. 830
1 Strength, tary I pray you a lytell space, Pynson. a wepe to thy
herte to brast, Skot. 3 Wyll ye breke promyse that is dette (losing
the rime), Skot. * as for that, om. Skot. 5 trusse, Pynson.
B om. Skot. 7 Is greatly disceyved, Pynson. * stedfast to be,
Pynson.
EVERYMAN. 93
DISCRETION. Everyman, I wyll after Strengthe be gone;
As for me, I wyll leve you alone.
EVERYMAN. Why, Dyscrecyon, wyll ye forsake me?
DYSCRECYON. Ye, in good1 fayth, I wyll go fro the,
For whan Strength goth before 835
I folowe after ever more.
EVERYMAN. Yet I pray the, for love of the Trynyte,
Loke in my grave ones pyteously.
DYSCRECYON. Nay, so nye wyll I not come !
Now farewell, fellowes2, everychone. 840
EVERYMAN. O all thynge fayleth save God alone,
Beaute, Strengthe and Dyscrecyon ;
For whan Deth bloweth his blast
They all renne fro me full fast.
FYVE WYTTES. Everyman, my leve now of the I take,
I wyll folowe the other, for here I the forsake. 846
EVERYMAN. Alas, then may I wayle and wepe,
For I toke you for my best frende.
FYVE WYTTES. I wyll no lenger the kepe,
Now farewell, and there an ende. 850
EVERYMAN. O Jesu helpe : all hath forsaken me.
GOOD DEDES. Nay, Everyman, I wyll byde with the,
I wyll not forsake the in dede,
Thou shalte fynde me a good frende at nede.
EVERYMAN.
Gramercy, Good Dedes, now may I true frendes se; 855
They have forsaken me everychone
I loved them better than my Good Dedes alone,
Knowlege, wyll ye forsake me also?
1 om. Shot. » om. Skot.
94
EVERYMAN.
KNOWLEGE. Ye, Everyman, when ye to Deth shall go,
But not yet for no maner of daunger. 860
EVERYMAN. Gramercy, Knowlege, with all my herte.
KNOWLEGE. Nay yet I will not from hens departe,
Tyll I se where ye shall be come.
EVERYMAN. Me thynke, alas, that I must be gone
To make my rekenynge and my dettes paye, 865
For I se my tyme is nye spent awaye.
Take example, all ye that this do here or se,
How they that I love best do forsake me,
Excepte my Good Dedes that bydeth truely.
GOOD DEDES. All erthly thynges is but vanyte, 870
Beaute, Strength and Dyscrecyon do man forsake,
Folysshe frendes and kynnes men that fayre spake,
All fleeth save Good Dedes and that am I.
EVERYMAN. Have mercy on me, God moost myghty,
And stande by me, thou moder and mayde, holy Mary.
GOOD DEDES. Fere not, I wyll speke for the. 876
EVERYMAN. Here I crye, God mercy.
GOOD DEDES. Shorte our ende and mynyshe our payne,
Let us go and never come agayne.
EVERYMAN. Into thy handes, lorde, my soule I commende.
Receyve it, lorde, that it be nat loste ! 88 1
As thou me boughtest, so me defende,
And save me fro the fendes boost,
That I may appere with that blessyd hoost
That shall be saved at the day of dome. 885
In manus tuas, of myghtes moost,
For ever commendo spiritum meum.
EVERYMAN. 95
KNOWLEGE. Nowe hath he suffred that we all shall endure,
The good dedes shall make all sure.
Now hath he made endynge, 890
Me thynketh that I here aungelles synge,
And make grete joy and melody,
Where every mannes soule receyved shall be.
THE AUNGELL. Come excellente electe spouse to Jesu !
Here above thou shalte go, 895
Bycause of thy synguler vertue.
Now the soule is taken the body fro
Thy rekenynge is crystall clere;
Now shalte thou into the hevenly spere,
Unto the whiche all ye shall come 900
That lyveth well before the daye of dome.
DOCTOUR. This morall 1 men may have in mynde :
Ye herers take it of worth, olde and yonge,
And forsake Pryde, for he disceyveth you in the ende,
And remembre Beaute, Five Wyttes, Strength and
Dyscrecyon, 905
They all at the last do Everyman forsake,
Save his Good Dedes there doth he take.
But beware, — and they be small,
Before God he hath no helpe at all.
None excuse may be there for Everyman ! 910
Alas ! howe shall he do than ?
For after dethe amendes may no man make,
For than mercy and pyte doth hym forsake,
If his rekenynge be not clere when he doth come,
God wyll saye Ite maledicti in ignem efemum. 915
And he that hath his accounte hole and sounde
Hye in heven he shall be crounde,
Unto whiche place God brynge us all thyder
That we may lyve body and soule togyder!
1 memoiyall, Pynson.
96 EVERYMAN.
Therto helpe the Trinyte!
Amen, saye ye, for saynt charyte!
FINIS.
C Thus endeth this morall playe of every man
C Imprynted at London in Poules
chyrche yarde by me
John Skot
1 C- Imprynted at London in Flete §trete | by me Rycbarde Pynson |
pijnter to the kynges moost noble grace.
3lnter!uHe of tfre jfout Clements
THE MESSENGER. Thaboundant grace of the power devyne,
Whiche doth illumyne the world invyron,
Preserve this audyence and cause them to inclyne
To charyte, this is my petycyon ;
For by your pacyens and supportacyon 5
A lytyll interlude, late made and preparyd,
Before your presence here shall be declaryd,
Whiche of a few conclusyons is contrivyd,
And poyntes of phylosophy naturall ;
But though the matter be not so well declaryd 10
As a great clerke coude do, nor so substancyall,
Yet the auctour hereof requiryth you all,
Though he be ygnorant *, and can lytyll skyll,
To regarde his only intent and good wyll,
Whiche in his mynde hath oft tymes ponderyd, 15
What nombre of bokes in our tonge maternall
Of toyes and tryfellys be made and impryntyd,
And few of them of matter substancyall ;
For though many make bokes, yet unneth ye shall
In our Englyshe tonge fynde any warkes 20
Of connynge, that is regardyd by clerkes.
The Grekes, the Romayns, with many other mo,
In their moder tonge wrot warkes excellent.
Than yf clerkes in this realme wolde take payn so,
1 yngnorant, Text,
H
98 INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS.
Consyderyng that our tonge is now suffycyent 25
To expoun any hard sentence evydent,
They myght, yf they wolde, in our Englyshe tonge
Wryte workys of gravyte" somtyme amonge ;
For dyvers prengnaunt wyttes be in this lande,
As well of noble men as of meane estate, 30
Whiche nothynge but Englyshe can understande.
Than yf connynge Laten bokys were translate
Into Englyshe, wel correct and approbate,
All subtell sciens in Englyshe myght be lernyd,
As well as other people in their owne tonges dyd. 35
But now so it is that in our Englyshe tonge
Many one there is, that can but rede and wryte,
For his pleasure wyll oft presume amonge
New bokys to compyle and balates to indyte,
Some of love or other matter, not worth a myte : 40
Some to opteyn favour wyll flatter and glose,
Some wryte curyous termes nothyng to purpose.
Thus every man after his fantesye
Wyll wryte his conseyte, be it never so rude,
Be it vertuous, vycyous, wysedome or foly; 45
Wherfore to my purpose thus I conclude,
Why shold not than the auctour of this interlude
Utter his owne fantesy and conseyte also,
As well as dyvers other now a dayes do.
[After the Messenger's speech there enter Natura Naturata (created
Nature), Humanity and Studious Desire. Nature discourses 'of
the situation, of the four elements, that is to say, the earth, the
water, the air and fire, and of their qualities and properties, and of
the generation and corruption of things made of the commixtion of
them.' Humanity thanks her humbly and is left in the hands of
Studious Desire for further instruction.]
STUDYOUS DESIRE. Now, Humanyte, call to your memory
The connynge poyntes that Nature hath declaryd,
INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS. 99
And though he have shewed dyvers pointes and many
Of the elementis so wondersly formed,
Yet many other causys there are wolde be lernyd, 330
As to knowe the generacyon of thynges all
Here in the yerth, how they be ingendryd,
As herbys, plantys, well sprynges, ston and metall.
HUMANYTE. Those thynges to knowe for me be full
expedient,
But yet in those poyntes which Nature late shewyd me,
My mynde in them as yet is not content, 336
For I can no maner wyse parceyve nor see,
Nor prove by reason why the yerth sholde be
In the myddes of the fyrmament hengyng so small,
And the yerth with the water to be rounde withall. 340
STUDYOUS DESIRE. Methynkyth myselfe as to some of
those pointes
I coude gyve a suffycyent solucyon ;
For, furst of all, thou must nedys graunt this,
That the yerth is so depe and botom hath non,
Or els there is some grose thyng hit stondyth upon,
Or els that it hangyth, thou must nedes consent, 346
Evyn in the myddes of the fyrmament.
HUMANYTE. What than? go forth with thyne argument.
STUDYOUS DESIRE. Than marke well, in the day or in a
wynters nyght,
The sone, and mone, and stems celestyall, 350
In the est furst they do apere to thy syght
And after in the west they do downe fall,
And agayne in the morowe, next of all,
Within xxiiij. houres they be come just
To the est pointes again, where thou sawist them furst.
Than yf the erthe shulde be of endles depnes, 356
Or shulde stande upon any other grose thynge,
It shulde be an impedyment, dowtles,
100 INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS.
To the sone, mone and stems in theyr movynge,
They shulde not so in the est agayne sprynge.
Therfore in reason it semyth moste convenyent 360
The yerth to hange in the myddes of the fyrmament.
HUM. Thyne argument in that poynt doth me confounde,
That thou hast made, but yet it provytht not ryght
That the yerth by reason shulde be rounde;
For though the fyrmament with his sterris bryght 365
Compas aboute the yerth eche day and nyght,
Yet the yerthe may be playne, peradventure,
Quadrant, triangle, or some other fygure.
STUDYOUS DESYRE. That it cannot be playne I shall well
prove the,
Because the sterris that aryse in the oryent 370
Appere more soner to them that there be,
Than to the other dwellynge in the Occident.
The eclypse is therof a playne experymente,
Of the sone or mone, which, whane it doth fall,
Is never one tyme of the day in placys all ; 375
Yet the eclyps generally is alwaye
In the hole worlde as one tyme beynge;
But whan we that dwell here see it in the mydday,
They in the west partis see it in the mornynge,
And they in the est beholde it in the evenyng; 380
And why that sholde be so no cause can be found,
But onely by reason that the yerthe is rownde.
HUMANYTE. That reason proveth the yerth at the lest
One wayes to be rownde I cannot gaynesay,
As for to accompt from the est to the west ; 385
But yet, not withstondynge all that, it may
Lese hys rowndenesse by some other waye.
STUDYOUS DESYRE. Na, no dowte yt is rownde everywhere,
Whiche I coulde prove thou shouldest not say nay,
Yf I had therto any tyme and leser; 390
INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS. IOI
But I knowe a man callyd Experyens,
Of dyvers instrumentys is never without,
Cowde prove all these poyntys, and yet by his scyens
Can tell how many myle the erthe is abowte,
And many other straunge conclusions no dowte 395
Hys instrumentys cowde shew them so certayn
That every rude carter shold them persayve playn.
Hu. Now wolde to God I had that man now here
For the contembtacyon of my mynde !
STU. Yf ye wyll, I shall for hym enquere, 400
And brynge hym heder yf I can hym fynde.
Hu. Then myght I say ye were to me ryght kynde.
STU. I shall assay, by God that me dere bought,
For cunnyng is the thynge that wolde be sought.
SENSUAL APPETYTE. Aha ! now god evyn, fole, god evyn !
It is even the, knave, that I mene. 408
Hast thou done thy babelyng?
STU. Ye, peradventure, what then ? 410
SEN. Than hold downe thy hede lyke a prety man, and
take my blyssyng.
Benedicite! I graunt to the this pardon,
And gyve the absolucion
For thy soth saws; stande up, Jackdaw I
I beschrew thy faders sone. 415
Make rome, syrs, and let us be mery,
With huffa galand, synge tyrll on the bery,
And let the wyde worlde wynde!
Synge fryska joly, with hey troly loly,
For I se wel it is but a foly 420
For to have a sad mynd :
For rather than I wolde use suche foly,
To pray, to study, or be pope holy,
102 INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS.
I had as lyf be ded.
By [Jupiter] I tell you trew ! 425
I speke as I thynke now, else I beshrew
Evyn my next felowes bed !
Master Humanyte", syr, be your leve,
I were ryght loth you to greve,
Though I do hym dyspyse ; 430
For yf ye knewe hym as well as I,
Ye wolde not use his company,
Nor love hym in no wyse.
Hu. Syr, he looketh lyke an honest man,
Therfore I merveyll that ye can 435
This wyse hym deprave.
SEN. Though he loke never so well,
I promyse you he hath a shrewde smell.
Hu. Why so? I prey you tell.
SEN. For he saveryth lyke a knave. 440
Sxu. Holde your pease, syr, ye mistake me !
What ! I trowe, that ye wolde make me
Lyke to one of your kyn.
SEN. Harke, syrs, here ye not how boldly
He calleth me knave agayne by polycy? 445
The devyll pull of his skyn !
I wolde he were hangyd by the throte,
For, by the messe, I love hym not,
We two can never agre ;
I am content, syr, with you to tary, 450
And I am for you so necessary,
Ye can not lyve without me.
Hu. Why, syr, I say, what man be ye ?
SEN. I am callyd Sensuall Appetyte,
All craturs in me delyte 455
INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS. 103
I comforte the wyttys fyve,
The tastyng, smellyng, and herynge j
I refresh the syght and felynge
To all creaturs alyve.
For whan the body wexith hongry, 460
For lacke of fode, or ellys thursty,
Than with drynkes pleasaund
I restore hym out of payne,
And oft refresshe nature agayne
With delycate vyand. 465
With plesaunde sounde of armonye
The herynge alwaye I satysfy,
I dare this well reporte;
The smellynge with swete odour,
And the syght with plesaunte fygour 470
And colours I comforte;
The felynge, that is so plesaunte,
Of every member, fote or hande,
What pleasure therin can be
By the towchynge of soft and harde, 475
Of hote or cold, nought in regarde,
Excepte it come by me.
Hu. Than I cannot see the contrary,
But ye are for me full necessary,
And ryght convenyent. 480
STU. Ye, syr, beware, yet, what ye do,
For yf you forsake my companye so,
Lorde Nature wyll not be contente.
Of hym ye shall never lerne good thyng,
Nother vertu, nor no other connynge, 485
This dare I well say.
SEN. Mary, avaunt, knave ! I the defye !
Dyde Nature forbyde hym my company?
What sayst thou therto? Speke openly.
104 INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS.
Hu. As for that I know well nay. 490
SEN. No, by [Jove] ! I am ryght sure ;
For he knoweth well no creature
Without me can lyve one day.
Hu. Syr, I pray you, be contente,
It is not utterly myne intente 495
Your company to exyle ;
But onely to have communycacyon
And a pastyme of recreacyon
With this man for a whyle.
STU. Well, for your pleasure I wyll departe. 500
Hu. Now go, knave, go ! I beshrew thy hart
The devyll sende the forwarde 1
SEN. Now, by my trouth, I mervell gretly
That ever ye wolde use the company
So myche of suche a knave ; 505
For yf ye do non other thynge,
But ever study and to be musynge,
As he wolde have you, it wyll you brynge
At the last unto your grave !
Ye shulde ever study pryncypall 510
For to comfort your lyfe naturall
With metis and drynkes dilycate,
And other pastymes and pleasures amonge,
Daunsynge, laughynge, or plesaunt songe;
This is mete for your estate. 515
Hu. Because ye sey so, I you promyse
That I have musyd and studyed such wyse,
Me thynketh my wyttes wery;
My nature desyreth some refresshynge,
And also I have ben so longe fastynge, 520
That I am somwhat hongry.
INTERLUDE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS. 105
SEN. Well than, wyll ye go with me
To a taverne, where ye shall se
Good pastaunce, and at your lyberte
Have what so ever ye wyll ? 535
Hu. I am content so for to do,
Yf that ye wyll not fro me go
But kepe me company stylL
SEN. Company, quod a? ye, that I shall, poynt devyse,
And also do you good and trew servyce, 530
And therto I plyght my trouthe !
And yf that I ever forsake you,
I pray God the devyl take you !
Hu. Mary, I thanke you for that othe!
SEN. A myschyfe on it ! my tonge, loo, 535
Wyll tryp somtyme, whatsoever I do,
But ye wot what I mene well.
Hu. Ye, no force ! let this matter passe ;
But seydest evin now thou knewyst where was
A good taverne to make solas? 540
Where is that? I prey the tell.
SEN. Mary, at the dore evyn hereby;
Yf we call any thynge on hye,
The taverner wyll answere.
Hu. I prey the, than, call for hym nowe. 545
SEN. Mary, I wyll ! How, taverner, how !
Why doste thou not appere?
g>fcelton'0
Magnyfycence | A goodly interlude and a mery | Devysed and made
by | Mayster Skelton, Poet Laureate.
Here FANCY cometh in.
MAGN. What tydynges with you, syr, that you loke so
sad? 1868
FAN. When ye knowe that I knowe, ye wyll not be glad
FOL. What, brother braynsyke, how farest thou ? 1870
MAGN. Ye, let be thy japes, and tell me howe
The case requyreth.
FAN. Alasse, alasse, an hevy metynge !
I wolde tell you, and yf I myght for wepynge.
FOL. What, is all your myrthe nowe tourned to sorowe?
Fare well tyll sone, adue tyll to morowe.
Here goth FOLYE away.
MAGN. I pray the, Largesse, let be thy sobbynge.
FAN. Alasse, syr, ye are undone with stelyngand robbynge!
Ye sent us a supervysour for to take hede :
Take hede of your selfe, for nowe ye have nede. 1880
MAGN. What, hath Sadnesse begyled me so?
FAN. Nay, madnesse hath begyled you and many mo;
For Lyberte is gone and also Felycyte.
MAGN. Gone ? Alasse, ye have undone me !
SKELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE. 107
FAN. Nay, he that ye sent us, Clokyd Colusyon,
And your payntyd Pleasure, Courtly Abusyon,
And your demenour with Counterfet Countenaunce,
And your survayour, Crafty Conveyaunce,
Or ever we were ware brought us in adversyte
And had robbyd you quyte from all felycyte. 1890
MAGN. Why, is this the Largesse that I have usyd?
FAN. Nay, it was your fondnesse that ye have usyd.
MAGN. And is this the credence that I gave to the letter ?
FAN. Why, coulde not your wyt serve you no better?
MAGN. Why, who wolde have thought in you suche gyle?
FAN. What ? Yes, by the rode, syr, it was I all this whyle
That you trustyd, and Fansy is my name;
And Foly, my broder, that made you moche game.
Here cometh in ADVERSYTE.
MAGN. Alas, who1 is yonder, that grymly lokys?
FAN. Adewe, for I wyll not come in his clokys. 1900
MAGN. Lorde, so my flesshe trymblyth nowe for drede !
Here MAGNYFYCENCE isbeten downe, and spoylyd from all his
goodys and rayment.
ADVER. I am Adversyte, that for thy mysdede
From God am sent to quyte the thy mede,
Vyle velyarde, thou must not nowe my dynt withstande,
Thou must not abyde the dynt of my hande :
Ly there, losell, for all thy pompe and pryde;
Thy pleasure now with payne and trouble shalbe tryde.
The stroke of God, Adversyte, I hyght;
I pluke downe kynge, prynce, lorde and knyght,
1 ' why.' Text.
108 SKELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE.
I rushe at them rughly, and make them ly full lowe,
And in theyr moste truste I make them overthrowe.
Thys losyll was a lorde, and lyvyd at his lust, 1912
And nowe, lyke a lurden, he lyeth in the dust :
He knewe not hymselfe, his harte was so hye;
Now is ther no man that wyll set by hym a flye :
He was wonte to boste, brage and to brace;
Nowe dare he not for shame loke one in the face :
All worldly welth for hym to lytell was;
Nowe hath he ryght nought, naked as an asse :
Somtyme without measure he trusted in golde, 1920
And now without mesure he shall have hunger and
colde.
Lo, syrs, thus I handell them all
That folowe theyr fansyes in foly to fall :
Man or woman, of what estate they be,
I counsayle them beware of Adversyte.
Of sorowfull servauntes I have many scores :
I vysyte them somtyme with blaynes and with sores ;
With botches and carbuckyls in care I them knyt;
With the gowte I make them to grone where they syt ;
Some I make lyppers and lazars full horse; 1930
And from that they love best some I devorse;
Some with the marmoll to halte I them make;
And some to cry out of the bone ake;
And some I vysyte with brennynge of fyre;
Of some I wrynge of the necke lyke a wyre;
Arid some I make in a rope to totter and waiter;
And some for to hange themselfe in an halter;
And some I vysyte to batayle, warre and murther,
And make eche man to sle other;
To drowne or to sle themselfe with a knyfe; 1940
And all is for theyr ungracyous lyfe.
Yet somtyme I stryke where is none offence,
Bycause I wolde prove men of theyr pacyence.
SKELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE. 109
But nowe a dayes to stryke I have grete cause,
Lydderyns so lytell set by Goddes lawes.
Faders and moders that be neclygent,
And suffre theyr chyldren to have theyr entent,
To guyde them vertuously that wyll not remembre,
Them, or theyr chyldren, ofte tymes I dysmembre;
Theyr chyldren, bycause that they have no mekenesse;
I vysyte theyr faders and moders with sekenesse; 1951
And yf I se therby that they wyll not amende,
Then myschefe sodaynly I them sende;
For there is nothynge that more dyspleseth God
Than from theyr chyldren to spare the rod
Of correccyon, but let them have theyr wyll;
Some I make lame, and some I do kyll;
And some1 I stryke with a franesy;
Of some of theyr chyldren I stryke out the eye;
And where the fader by wysdom worshyp hath wonne,
I sende ofte tymes a fole to his sonne. 1961
Wherfore of Adversyte loke ye be ware,
For when I come, comyth sorowe and care :
For I stryke lordys of realmes and landys,
That rule not by mesure that they have in theyr handys,
That sadly rule not theyr howsholde men;
I am Goddys preposytour, I prynt them with a pen;
Because of theyr neglygence and of theyr wanton vagys,
I vysyte them and stryke them with many sore plagys.
To take, syrs, example of that I you tell, 1970
And beware of Adversyte by my counsell,
Take hede of this caytyfe that lyeth here on grounde;
Beholde, howe Fortune of hym hath frounde !
For though we shewe you this in game and play,
Yet it proveth eyrnest, ye may se, every day.
For nowe wyll I from this caytyfe go,
And take myscheffe and vengeaunce of other mo,
1 syme, Text.
HO SKELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE.
That hath deservyd it as well as he.
Howe, where art thou? come hether, Poverte;
Take this caytyfe to thy lore. 1980
Here cometh in POVERTE.
POVER. A, my bonys ake, my lymmys be sore ;
Alasse, I have the cyataca full evyll in my hyppe !
Alasse, where is youth that was wont for to skyppe ?
I am lowsy, and unlykynge, and full of scurfife,
My colour is tawny, colouryd as a turffe :
I am Poverte, that all men doth hate,
I am baytyd with doggys at every mannys gate;
I am raggyd and rent, as ye may se;
Full fewe but they have envy at me.
Nowe must I this carcasse lyft up : 1990
He dynyd with delyte, with Poverte he must sup.
Ryse up, syr, and welcom unto me.
Hie accedat ad levandum MAGNYFYCENCE et locabit eum super
locum stratum.
MAGN. Alasse, where is nowe my golde and fe?
Alasse, I say, where to am I brought?
Alasse, alasse, alasse, I dye for thought !
POVER. Syr, all this wolde have bene thought on before :
He woteth not what welth is that never was sore.
MAGN. Fy, fy, that ever I sholde be brought in this snare !
I wenyd ones never to have knowen of care.
POVER. Lo, suche is this worlde ! I fynde it wryt, 2000
In welth to beware, and that is wyt.
MAGN. In welth to beware, yf I had had grace,
Never had I bene brought in this case.
POVER. Nowe, syth it wyll non other be,
All that God sendeth, take it in gre;
SK ELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE. ill
For, thoughe you were somtyme a noble estate,
Nowe must you lerne to begge at every mannes gate.
MAGN. Alasse, that ever I sholde be so shamed !
Alasse, that ever I Magnyfycence was named !
Alasse, that ever I was so harde happed, 2010
In mysery and wretchydnesse thus to be lapped !
Alasse, that I coude not myselfe no better gyde !
Alasse, in my cradell that I had not dyde !
POVER. Ye, syr, ye, leve all this rage,
And pray to God your sorowes to asswage :
It is foly to grudge agaynst his vysytacyon.
With harte contryte make your supplycacyon
Unto your Maker, that made both you and me
And, whan it pleaseth God, better may be.
MAGN. Alasse, I wote not what I sholde pray ! 2020
POVER. Remembre you better, syr, beware what ye say,
For drede ye dysplease the hygh deyte.
Put your wyll to his wyll, for surely it is he
That may restore you agayne to felycyte,
And brynge you agayne out of adversyte.
Therfore poverte loke pacyently ye take,
And remembre he suffered moche more for your sake,
Howe be it of all synne he was innocent,
And ye have deserved this punysshment. 3029
MAGN. Alasse, with colde my lymmes shall be marde !
POVER. Ye, syr, nowe must ye lerne to lye harde,
That was wonte to lye on fetherbeddes of downe;
Nowe must your fete lye hyer than your crowne :
Where you were wonte to have cawdels for your hede,
Nowe must you monche mamockes and lumpes of
brede ;
And where you had chaunges of ryche aray,
Nowe lap you in a coverlet, full fayne that you may;
112 SKELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE.
And where that ye were pomped with what that ye wolde,
Nowe must ye suffre bothe hunger and colde :
With courtely sylkes ye were wonte to be drawe ; 2040
Nowe must ye lerne to lye on the strawe;
Your skynne that was wrapped in shertes of Raynes,
Nowe must ye be storm ybeten with showres and raynes ;
Your hede that was wonte to be happed moost drowpy
and drowsy,
Now shal ye be scabbed, scurvy and lowsy.
MAGN. Fye on this worlde, full of trechery,
That ever noblenesse sholde lyve thus wretchydly!
POVER. Syr, remembre the tourne of Fortunes whele,
That wantonly can wynke, and wynche with her hele.
Nowe she wyll laughe, forthwith she will frowne 2050
Sodenly set up, and sodenly pluckyd downe :
She dawnsyth varyaunce with mutabylyte ;
Nowe all in welth, forthwith in poverte :
In her promyse there is no sykernesse ;
All her delyte is set in doublenesse.
MAGN. Alas, of Fortune I may well complayne !
POVER. Ye, syr, yesterday wyll not be callyd agayne:
But yet, syr, nowe in this case,
Take it mekely, and thanke God of his grace ;
For nowe go I wyll begge for you some mete; 2060
It is foly agaynst God for to plete;
I wyll walke nowe with my beggers baggys,
And happe you the whyles with these homly raggys.
Discedendo*- dicat ista verba.
A, howe my lymmys be lyther and lame !
Better it is to begge than to be hangyd with shame,
Yet many had lever hangyd to be,
1 Difidendo, Text.
SKELTON'S MAGNYFYCENCE. 113
Then for to begge theyr mete for charyte :
They thynke it no shame to robbe and stele,
Yet were they better to begge a great dele;
For by robbynge they rynne to in manus tuas quecke,
But beggynge is better medecyne for the necke; 2071
Ye, mary, is it, ye, so mote I goo :
A Lorde God, howe the gowte wryngeth me by the too !
t&e Ipartionet ana t&e
jFme,
A mery playe betwene the pardoner and the frere the curate and
neybour Pratte.
THE FRERE. Deus hie, the Holy Trynyte,
Preserve all that nowe here be !
Dere bretherne, yf ye wyll consyder
The cause why I am come hyder,
Ye wolde be glad to knowe my intent. e
For I com not hyther for monye nor for rent,
I com not hyther for meate nor for meale,
But I com hyther for your soules heale,
I com not hyther to poll nor to shave,
I com not hyther to begge nor to crave, 10
I com not hyther to glose nor to flatter,
I com not hyther to bable nor to clatter,
I com not hyther to fable nor to lye,
But I com hyther you[r]e soules to edyfye !
For we freres are bounde the people to teche, 15
The gospell of Chryst openly to preche,
As dyd the appostels, by Chryst theyr mayster sent
To turne the people and make them to repent.
But syth the appostels fro heven wolde not come,
We freres now must occupy theyr rome. 20
We freres are bounde to serche mennes conscyens,
We may not care for grotes nor for pens,
THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE. 115
We freres have professed wylfull poverte,
No peny in our purse have may we,
Knyfe nor staffe may we none cary, 25
Excepte we shulde from the gospell vary.
For worldly adversyte may we be in no sorowe,
We may not care to day for our meate to-morowe ;
Bare fote and bare legged must we go also,
We may not care for frost nor snowe ; 30
We may have no maner care, ne thynke,
Nother for our meate nor for our drynke,
But let our thoughtes fro suche thynges be as free
As be the byrdes that in the ayre flee ;
For why our lorde, clyped swete Jesus, 35
In the gospell speketh to us thus :
Through all the worlde go ye, sayth he,
And to every creature speke ye of me,
And shew of my doctryne and connynge;
And that they may be glad of your comynge, 40
Yf that you enter in any hous any where,
Loke that ye salute them and byd my peas be there;
And yf that house be worthy and electe,
Thylke peace there than shall take effecte ;
And yf that hous be cursyd or parvert, 45
Thylke peace than shall to your selfe revert;
And furthermore yf any suche there be,
Which do deny for to receyve ye,
And do dyspyse your doctryne and your lore,
At suche a house tary ye no more, 50
And from your shoes scrape away the dust,
To theyr reprefe, and I, bothe trew and just,
Shall vengeaunce take of theyr synfull dede.
Wherfore, my frendes, to this text take ye hede,
Beware how ye despyse the pore freres, 55
Which ar in this worlde Crystes mynysters;
But do them with an harty chere receyve,
I 2
1 1 6 JOHN HE YWOOD.
Leste they happen your houses for to leve,
And than God wyll take vengeaunce in his yre.
Wherfore I now, that am a pore frere, 60
Dyd enquere w[h]ere any people were,
Which were dysposyd the worde of God to here ;
And, as I cam hether, one dyd me tell
That in this towne ryght good folke dyd dwell,
Which to here the word of God wolde be glad; 65
And as sone as I therof knolege had,
I hyder hyed me as fast as I myght,
Entendyd by the grace of God almyght,
And by your pacyens and supportacyon,
Here to make a symple colacyon. 70
Wherfore I requyre all ye in this prese[nce]
For to abyde and gyve dew audyence.
But, fyrst of all,
Now here I shall
To God my prayer make, 75
To gyve ye grace
All in thys place
His doctryne for to take.
And than kneleth downe the frere sayenge his prayers and in
the meane whyle entreth the pardoner with all his relyques
to declare what eche of them ben and the hole power and
vertu thereof.
THE PARDONER. God and saynt Leonarde sende ye all
his grace,
As many as ben assembled in this place ! 80
Good devoute people that here do assemble,
I pray [God]1 that ye may all well resemble
The ymage after whiche you are wrought,
And that ye save that Chryst in you bought.
1 Good, Text.
THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE. 117
Devoute Chrysten people, ye shall all wytte 85
That I am comen hyther ye to vysytte,
Wherfore let us pray thus or I begynne;
Our savyoure preserve ye all from synne,
And enable ye to receyve this blessed pardon,
Whiche is the greatest under the son, 90
Graunted by the pope in his bulles under lede,
Whiche pardon ye shall fynde whan ye are dede,
That offereth outher grotes or els pens
To these holy relyques whiche, or I go hens,
I shall here shewe in open audyence, 95
Exortynge ye all to do to them reverence.
But first ye shall knowe well that I com fro Rome, —
Lo here my bulles, all and some,
Our lyege lorde[s] scale, here on my patent,
I bere with me my body to warant, 100
That no man be so bolde, be he preest or clarke,
Me to dysturbe of Chrystes holy warke,
Nor have no dysdayne, nor yet scorne,
Of these holy relyques which sayntes have worne.
Fyrst here I shewe ye of a holy Jewes shepe 105
A bone, (I pray you take good kepe
To my wordes and marke them well,)
Yf any of your bestes belyes do swell,
Dyppe ' this bone in the water that he dothe take
Into his body, and the swellyinge shall slake. no
Here is a mytten eke, as ye may se, 128
He that his hande wyll put in this myttayn,
He shall have encrease of his grayn, 130
That he hath sowne, be it wete or otys,
So that he offer pens or els grotes.
And another holy relyke eke here se ye may,
1 Dyype, Text.
Il8 JOHN HEY WOOD.
The blessed arme of swete saynt Sondaye,
And who so ever is blessyd with this ryght hande
Can not spede amysse by se nor by lande, 136
And if he offereth eke with good devocyon
He shall not fayle to come to hyghe promocyon.
Here is another relyke, eke a precyous one, 153
Of All Helowes the blessyd jawbone,
Which relyke without any fayle 155
Agaynst poyson chefely dothe prevayle;
For whom so ever it toucheth, without dout
All maner venym from hym shall issue out,
So that it shall hurt no maner wyghte.
Lo of this relyke the great power and myghte, 160
Which preservyth from poyson every man.
Lo of saynt Myghell eke the brayn pan,
Which for the hed ake is a preservatyfe
To every man or beste that beryth lyfe,
And further it shall stande hym in better stede, 165
For his hede shall never ake whan that he is dede,
For he shall fele no maner grefe nor payn,
Though with a sworde one cleve it than atwayn,
But be as one that lay in a dede slepe;
Wherfore to these relykes now com crouche and crepe,
But loke that ye offerynge to them make, 171
Or els can ye no maner profyte take.
But one thynge, ye women all, I warant you,
Yf any wyght be in this place now
That hath done syn so horryble that she 175
Dare not for shame thereof shryven be,
Suche folke shall have no power, nor no grace, 179
To offer to my relykes in this place ! 180
And who so fyndeth herselfe out of suche blame
Com hyther to me on Crystes holy name ;
THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE. 119
And bycause ye
Shall unto me
Gyve credence at the full ; 185
Myn auctoryte
Now shall ye se,
Lo here! the popes bull.
Now shall the frere begyn his sermon and cvyn at the same
tyme the pardoner begynneth also to shew and speke of his
bully s and auctorytes com from Rome.
THE FRERE. Date et dabitur vobis :
Good devout people this place of scrypture
PARDONER. Worshypfull maysters, ye shall understand 190
F. Is to you that have no litterature,
P. That pope Leo the x. hath graunted with his hand,
F. Is to say in our Englysshe tonge,
P. And by his bulles confyrmed under lede,
F. As departe your goodes the poore folke amonge, 195
P. To all maner people bothe quycke and dede,
F. And God shall than gyve unto you agayne.
P. Ten thousande yeres and as many lentes of pardon,
F. This in the gospell so is wryten playne,
P. Whan they are dede theyr soules for to guardon, 200
F. Therfore gyve your almes in the largest wyse.
P. That wyll with theyr peny or almes dede
F. Kepe not your goodes : fye, fye on covetyse !
P. Put to theyr handes to the good spede
F. That synne with God is most abhomynable, 205
P. Of the holy chapell of swete saynt Leonarde,
F. And is eke the synne that is most dampnable
P. Whiche late by fyre was destroyed and marde.
F. In scrypture eke; but I say, syrs, how —
120 JOHN HEY WOOD.
P. Ay by the mas, one can not here aio
F. What a bablynge maketh yonder felow !
P. For the bablynge of yonder folysshe frere !
[They resume their respective discourses for a little while, but at length
begin to attack each other.]
F. But, I say, thou pardoner, I byd the holde thy peace !
P. And I say, thou frere, holde thy tonge styl ! 252
F. What standest thou there all the day smatterynge ?
P. Mary, what standyst thou there all day clatterynge?
FRERE. Mary, felow, I com hyder to prech the word of
God, a55
Whyche of no man may be forbode,
But harde wyth scylence and good entent,
For why it techeth them evydent
The very way and path that shall them lede,
Even to heven gatys, as strayght as any threde; 260
And he that lettyth the worde of God of audyence
Standeth accurst in the greate sentence;
And so art thou for enterruptynge me.
PARDONER. Nay thou art a curst knave, and that shall
thou se !
And all suche that to me make interrupcyon 265
The pope sendes them excommunycacyon,
By hys bulles here, redy to be redde,
By bysshoppes and hys cardynalles confyrmed.
And eke yf thou dysturbe me any thynge,
Thou arte also a tray tour to the kynge; 270
For here hath he graunted me, under hys brode scale,
That no man, yf he love hys hele,
Sholde me dysturbe or let in any wyse.
And yf thou dost the kynges commaundement dispise,
I shall make the be set fast by the fete. 275
And where thou saydyst that thou arte more mete
THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE. 121
Amonge the people here for to preche,
Bycause thou dost them the very way teche
How to come to heven above,
Therin thou lyest, and that shall I prove, 280
And by good reason I shall make the bow,
And knowe that I am meter than arte thou.
For thou whan thou hast taught them ones the way,
Thou carest not whether they com there, ye or nay,
But whan that thou hast done all togyder, 385
And taught them the way for to com thyther,
Yet all that thou canst ymagyn
Is but to use vertue and abstayne fro syn,
And yf they fall ones than thou canst no more,
Thou canst not gyve them a salve for theyr sore; 290
But these my letters be clene purgacyon,
All thoug[h]e never so many synnes they have don.
But whan thou hast taught them the way and all,
Yet or they com there they may have many a fall
In the way, or that they com thyther, 295
For why the way to heven is very slydder;
But I wyll teche them after another rate,
For I shall brynge them to heven gate,
And be theyr gydes and conducte all thynges,
And lede them thyther by the purse strynges, 300
So that they shall not fall though that they wolde.
FRERE. Holde thy peace, knave, thou art very bolde !
Thou pratest in fayth even lyke a pardoner !
PARDONER. Why despysest thou the popes mynyster?
Maysters, here I curse hym openly, 305
And therwith warne all this hole company,
By the popes great auctoryte,
That ye leve hym and herken unto me;
For tyll he be assoyled his wordes take none effecte,
For out of holy chyrche he is now clene rejecte. 310
122 JOHN HEY WOOD.
FRERE. My maysters, he clothe but gest and rave:
It forseth not for the wordes of a knave,
But to the worde of God do reverence,
And here me forthe with dewe audyence.
[They again resume their preaching, but after a little while break out
into a fresh quarrel, upon which comes the stage-direction :]
TJian the fyght.
FRERE. Lose thy handes away from myn earys ! 538
PARD. Than take thou thy handes away from my heres !
Nay, abyde, thou [rascal], I am not downe yet ! 540
I trust fyrst to lye the at my fete!
F. Ye, [rascal,] wylt thou scrat and byte?
P. Ye, mary, wyll I, as longe as thou doste smyte!
THE CURATE.
PARSON. Holde your handes ! a vengeaunce on ye bothe
two!
That ever ye came hyther to make this ado 545
To polute my chyrche, a myschyefe on you lyght !
I swere to you, by God all-myght,
Ye shall bothe repente, every vayne of your harte,
As sore as ye dyd ever thynge, or ye departe.
FRERE. Mayster parson, I marvayll ye wyll gyve lycence
To this false knave in this audience 551
To publysh his ragman rolles with lyes.
I desyred hym y-wys, more than ones or twyse,
To holde his peas tyll that I had done,
But he wolde here no more than the man in the mone.
PARD. Why sholde I suffre the more than thou me? 556
Mayster parson gave me lycence before the,
And I wolde thou knewyst it ! I have relykes here
Other maner stuffe than thou dost bere !
THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE. 123
I wyll edefy more with the syght of it 560
Than wyll all the pratynge of holy wryt.
For that, except that the precher hym selfe lyve well,
His predycacyon wyll helpe never a dell,
And I know well that thy lyvynge is nought.
PARSON. No more of this wranglyng in my chyrch ! 570
I shrewe your hartys bothe for this lurche !
Is ther any blood shed here betwen these knaves?
Thanked be God, they had no stavys,
Nor eggetoles1, for than it had ben wronge!
Well ye shall synge another songe ! 575
Neybour Prat, com hether I you pray.
PRAT. Why, what is this nyse fraye?
PARSON. I can not tell you. One knave dysdaynes another,
Wherefore take ye the tone and I shall take the other,
We shall bestow them there as is most convenyent 580
For suche a couple. I trow they shall repente
That ever they met in this chyrche here !
Neyboure, ye be constable, stande ye nere.
Take ye that laye knave and let me alone
With this gentylman. By God and by saynt John 585
I shall borowe upon presthode 2 somwhat !
For I may say to the, neybour Prat,
It is a good dede to punysh such, to the ensample
Of suche other how that they shall mell
In lyke facyon as these catyfes do. 590
PRAT. In good fayth, mayster parson, yf ye do so,
Ye do but well to teche them to be ware.
PARDON. Mayster Prat, I pray ye me to spare;
For I am sory for that that is done;
Wherfore I pray ye forgyve me sone 595
For that I have offendyd within your lybertye,
1 egoteles, Text. a prestholde, Text.
1 2 4 JOHN HE YWOOD.
And, by my trouthe, syr, ye may trust me,
I wyll never come hether more
Whyle I lyve, and God before.
PRAT. Nay, I am ones charged with the, 600
Wherfore, by saynt John, thou shalt not escape me,
Tyll thou hast scouryd a pare of stokys.
PARSON. Tut, he weneth all is but mockes !
Lay hande on hym, and com ye on, syr frere!
Ye shall of me hardely have your hyre, 605
Ye had none suche this vii yere,
I swere by God and by our Lady dere.
FRERE. Nay, mayster parson, for Goddys passyon,
Intreate not me after that facyon.
For yf ye do it wyll not be for your honesty. 610
PARSON. Honesty or not, but thou shall se
What I shall do by and by.
Make no stroglynge ! com forthe soberly!
For it shall not avayle the, I say.
FRERE. Mary, that shall we trye even strayt-way. 615
I defy the, churle preeste, and there be no mo than thou,
I wyll not go with the, I make God a-vow !
We shall se fyrst which is the stronger !
God hath sente me bonys ! I do the not fere !
PARSON. Ye, by my fayth, wylt thou be there? 620
Neybour Prat, brynge forthe that knave,
And thou, syr frere, yf thou wylt algatys rave —
FRERE. Nay, chorle, I the defy!
I shall trouble the fyrst,
Thou shalt go to pryson by and by ! 625
Let me se now ! Do thy worste !
Prat with the pardoner and the parson with the frere.
PARSON. Helpe! helpe! Neybour Prat! Neybour Prat!
In the worship of God, helpe me som what !
THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE. 125
PRAT. Nay, deale as thou canst with that elfe,
For why I have inoughe to do my selfe ! 630
Alas ! for payn I am almoste dede,
The reede blood so ronneth downe aboute my hede,
Nay, and thou canst, I pray the, helpe me !
PARSON. Nay, by the mas, felowe, it wyll not be!
I have more tow on my dystaffe than I can well spyn !
The cursed frere dothe the upper hand wyn! 636
FRERE. Wyll ye leve than, and let us in peace departe?
PARSON and PRAT. Ye, by our Lady, even with all our
harte!
FRERE and PARD. Than adew, to the devyll, tyll we come
agayn.
PARSON and PRAT. And a myschefe go with you bothe
twayne. 640
Imprynted by Wyllyam Rastell the v. day of Apryll
the yere of our lorde M. ccccc xxx in.
Cum privilegio.
A NEW ENTERLUDE CALLED
THERSYTES.
IT Thys Enterlude Folowynge Dothe Declare howe that the
greatest boesters are not the greatest doers.
IF THE NAMES OF THE PLAYERS.
THERSITES A boster.
MULCIBER A smyth.
MATER A mother.
MILES Aknyght.
TELEMACHUS A childe.
Thersites commeth in fyrste havinge a elubbe uppon his necke.
Have in a ruffler foorth of the Greke lande,
Called Thersites, if ye wyll me knowe.
Abacke, geve me roume, in my way do ye not stand,
For if ye do, I wyll soone laye you lowe.
In Homere of my actes ye have red, I trow, 5
Neyther Agamemnon nor Ulysses, I spared to checke,
They coulde not bringe me to be at theyr becke !
Of late frome the sege of Troy I retourned,
Where all my harnes excepte this elubbe I lost
In an olde house, there it was quyte burned, 10
Whyle I was preparinge vytayles for the hoste.
I must nedes get me newe, what so ever it cost.
THERSYTES. 127
I wyll go seke adventures, for I can not be ydle,
I wyll hamper some of the knaves in a brydle.
It greveth me to heare howe the knaves do bragge, 15
But by supreme Jupiter, when I am harnessed well,
I shall make the dasters to renne into a bagge
To hyde them fro me, as from the devyll of hell,
I doubte not but hereafter of me ye shall heare tell,
Howe I have made the knaves for to play cowch quaile.
But nowe to the shop of Mulciber to go I wyll not faile. 21
Mulciber must have a shop made in the place and Ther sites
commethe before it, sayinge a-loude.
Mulciber, whom the Poetes doth call the god of fyer,
Smith unto Jupiter kinge over all,
Come foorth of thy office, I the desyre, 34
And graunte me my petiction, I aske a thynge but small.
I wyl none of thy lightning, that thou art wont to make
For the goddes supernall, for yre when they do shake,
With whiche they thruste the gyauntes downe to hell,
That were at a convention heaven to bye and sell;
But I woulde have some helpe of Lemnos and Ilva, 30
That of theyr stele, by thy crafte, condatur mihi galea.
MULCIBER. What, felowe Thersites, do ye speake Latyn
nowe?
Nay then, farewell ! I make God a vowe
I do not you understande, no Latyn is in my palet.
THERSITES. I say Abyde, good Mulciber! I pray the
make me a sallet. 35
MULCIBER. Why, Thersites, hast thou anye wytte in thy head?
Woldest thou have a sallet nowe all the herbes are dead ?
Besyde that it is not mete for a smyth
To gether herbes, and sallettes to medle with. 39
128 THERSYTES.
THERSITES. I meane a sallet with whiche men do fyght,
MULCIBER. It is a small tastinge of a marines mighte 46
That he shoulde for any matter
Fyght with a fewe herbes in a platter!
No greate laude shoulde folowe that victorye !
THERSITES. [I pray thee,] Mulciber, where is thy wit and
memory ? 50
I wolde have a sallet made of stele !
MULCIBER. Whye syr, in youre stomacke longe you shall
it fele.
For stele is harde for to digest.
THERSITES. Mans bones and sydes, hee is worse then a
beest !
I wolde have a sallet to were on my hed, 55
Whiche under my chyn with a thonge red
Buckeled shall be.
Doest thou yet perceyve me?
MULCIBER. Your mynde now I se,
Why, thou pevysshe ladde, 60
Arte thou almost madde,
Or well in thy wytte?
Gette the a wallette!
Wolde thou have a sallette
What woldest thou do with it? 65
THERSITES. I pray the, good Mulciber, make no mo bones,
But let me have a sallet made at ones !
MULCIBER. I must do somewhat for this knave!
What maner of sallet, syr, woulde ye have?
THERSITES. I wold have such a one that nother might
nor mayne 70
Shoulde perse it thorowe, or parte it in twayne;
Whiche nother gonstone, nor sharpe speare,
Shoulde be able other to hurte or teare.
THERSYTES. 129
I woulde have it also for to save my heade
Yf Jupiter him selfe woulde have me dead ; 75
And if he, in a fume, woulde cast at me his fire,
This sallet I woulde have to kepe me from his yre.
MULCIBER. I perceave youre mynde,
Ye shall fynde me kynde.
I wyll for you prepare. 80
And then he goeth in to his shop, and maketh a sallet
for hym : at the taste, he sayth.
Here, Thersites, do this sallet weare,
And on thy head it beare,
And none shall worke the care.
Then Mulciber goeth into his shop, untyll he is called
agayne.
THERSITES. Now woulde I not feare with anye bull to fyghte,
Or with a raumpinge lyon, nother by daye nor nyghte,
0 what greate strength is in my body so lusty, 86
Whiche for lacke of exercise is nowe almost rustye 1
Hercules in comparison to me was but a boye
When the bandogge Cerberus from hell he bare awaye,
When he kylled the lyons, hydra, and the bere so wylde,
Compare him to me and he was but a chylde. 91
Why Sampson, I saye, hast thou no more wytte?
Woldest thou be as strong as I ? come suck thy mothers
tytte!
Wene you that David, that lyttle elvyshe boye,
Should with his slinge have take my life awaye? 95
Nay ywys, Golyath, for all his fyve stones,
1 woulde have quashed his little boysshe bones
0 howe it woulde do my harte muche good
To se some of the giauntes before Noes floud!
1 woulde make the knaves to crye creke, too
Or elles with my clubbe their braynes I wyll breake I
K
1 30 THERSYTES.
But Mulciber, yet I have not with the do!
My heade is armed, my necke I woulde have to!
And also my shoulders with some good habergyn
That the devyll, if he shote at me, coulde not enter in.
For I am determined greate battayle to make, 106
Excepte my fumishenes by some meanes may aslake.
MULCIBER. Bokell on this habergyn as fast as thou canne,
And feare for the metinge of nother beast nor manne ;
Yf it were possible for one too shote an oke no
This habergyn wyll defende thee frome the stroke.
Let them throwe mylstones at the as thick as haile,
Yet the to kyll they shall their purpose faile.
Yf Malverne hylles shoulde on thy shoulders light
They shall not hurt the, nor suppress thy mighte, 115
Yf Bevis of Hampton, Colburne and Guy,
Will the assaye, set not by them a flye,
To be briefe, this habergyn shall the save
Bothe by lande and water. Nowe playe the lusty knave !
Then he gocth in to his shoppe againe.
THERSITES. When I consider my shoulders that so brode
be, 120
When the other partes of my bodye I do beholde,
I verely thinke that none in Chrystente
With me to medele dare be so bolde.
Now have at the lyons on Cotsolde!
I wyll neyther spare for heate nor for colde, 125
Where art thou king Arthur, and the Knightes of the
Rounde Table?
Come, brynge forth your horses out of the stable.
Lo ! with me to mete they be not able !
By the masse, they had rather were a bable ! 1 29
Where arte thou Gawyn the curtesse and Cay the crabed ?
Here be a couple of knightes cowardishe and scabbed !
THERSYTES. 131
Appere in thy likenesse Syr Libeus Disconius,
Yf thou wilt have my clubbe lyghte on thy hedibus.
Lo ! ye maye see he beareth not the face
With me to trye a blowe in thys place. 135
Howe syrray, approche Syr Launcelot de Lake!
What renne ye awaie and for feare quake?
Nowe he that did the a knight make
Thought never that thou any battaile shouldest take.
Yf thou wilt not come thy self, some other of thy
felowes send, MO
To battaile I provoke them, themselfe let them defende.
Lo ! for all the good that ever they se,
They wyll not ones set hande to fight with me.
0 good lorde ! howe brode is my brest,
And stronge with all, for hole is my chest ! 145
He that should medle with me shall have shrewde rest !
Beholde you my handes, my legges and my feete
Every parte is stronge proportionable and mete.
Thinke you that I am not feared in felde and strete?
Yes, yes, god wote they geve me the wall, 150
Or elles with my clubbe I make them to fall.
Backe knaves ! I saye to them ; then for feare they
quake
And take me then to the taverne and good chere me
make.
The proctoure and his men I made to renne their waies,
And some wente to hide them in broken heys. 155
1 tell you, [yea, I,]
I set not a [fly]
By none of them al.
Early and late I wyll walke,
And London stretes stalke, 160
Spyte of them greate and small.
For I thinke verely,
That none in heaven so hye,
K 2
132 THERSYTES.
Nor yet in hell so lowe,
Whyle I have this clubbe in my hande, 165
Can be able me to withstande,
Or me to overthrowe.
But, Mulciber, yet I must the desyre
To make me briggen yrons for myne armes,
And then I will love the as mine owne syre, 170
For withoute them I can not be safe frome all harmes.
Those once had, I will not sette a strawe
By all the worlde, for then I wyll by awe
Have all my mynde, or elles, by the holye roode,
I wyll make them thinke the devyll caryeth them to
the wood. 175
Yf no man wyll with me battayle take,
A vyage to hell quickely I wyll make,
And there I wyll bete the devyll and his dame,
And bringe the soules awaye, I fullye entende the same.
After that in hell I have ruffled so, 180
Streyghte to olde purgatorye wyll I go.
I wyll cleane that so purge rounde aboute,
That we shall nede no pardons to helpe them oute.
Yf I have not fyghte ynoughe this wayes,
I wyll clymbe to heaven and fet awaye Peters kayes,
I wyll kepe them myselfe and let in a great route. 186
What shoulde suche a fysher kepe good felowes out?
MULCIBER. Have here, Thersites, briggen yrons bright,
And feare thou no man manly to fyghte,
Thoughe he be stronger then Hercules or Sampson, 190
Be thou prest and bolde to set him upon.
Nother Amazon nor Xerxes with their hole rable
The to assayle shall fynde it profytable.
I warrante the they wyll fle fro thy face,
As doth an hare from the dogges in a chase. 195
Would not thy blacke and rustye grym berde,
Nowe thou art so armed, make anye man aferde?
THERSYTES. 133
Surely if Jupiter dyd see the in this gere,
He woulde renne awaye and hyde hym for feare !
He wold thinke that Typhoeus the gyant were alive 200
And his brother Enceladus, agayn with him to strive!
If that Mars, of battell the god stoute and bold,
In this aray shoulde chaunce the to beholde,
He would yelde up his sworde unto the,
And god of battayle (he would say) thou shouldest be.
Now fare thou wel, go the world through, 206
And seke adventures, thou arte man good ynough.
THERSITES. Mulciber, whyle the starres shal shyne in
the sky,
And Phaeton's horses with the sonnes charret shall fly,
Whyle the mornynge shall go before none, 210
And cause the darkennesse to vanysshe away soone,
Whyle that the cat shall love well mylke,
And whyle that women shal love to go in sylke,
Whyle beggers have lyce,
And cockneys are nyce, 215
Whyle pardoners can lye,
Marchauntes can by,
And chyldren crye,
Whyle all these laste and more,
Whiche I kepe in store, 320
I do me faythfully bynde,
Thy kyndnes to beare in mynde.
But yet, Mulciber, one thinge I aske more,
Haste thou ever a sworde now in store?
I would have suche a one that would cut stones, 225
And pare a great oke down at ones1,
That were a sworde, lo, even for the nones.
MULCIBER. Truly I have suche a one in my shoppe
That wil pare yron, as it were a rope.
1 once, Text.
134 THERSYTES.
Have, here it is, gyrde it to thy syde. 230
Now fare thou well, Jupiter be thy guyde.
THERSITES. Gramercye, Mulciber, wyth my hole harte.
Geve me thy hande and let us departe.
Mulciber goeth in to hys shoppe againe and Thersites saith
foorth.
Nowe I go hence, and put my selfe in prease.
I wyll seeke adventures, yea and that I wyll not cease,
If there be any present here thys nyghte 236
That wyll take upon them with me to fighte,
Let them come quickly, and the battayle shall be
pyghte.
Where is Cacus, that knave, not worthe a grote, 239
That was wont to blowe cloudes oute of his throte,
Which stale Hercules kine and hyd them in his cave?
Come hether Cacus, thou lubber and false knave.
I wyll teache all wretches by the to beware,
If thou come hether I trappe the in a snare.
Thou shalt have knocked breade and yll fare. 245
How say you, good godfather, that loke so stale
Ye seeme a man to be borne in the vale,
Dare ye adventure wyth me a stripe or two ?
Go, coward, go, hide the, as thou wast wonte to do.
What a sorte of dasterdes have we here 250
None of you to battaile with me dare appeare!
Well, let all go ! whye, wyll none come in,
With me to fyghte that I maye pare his skyn? 265
The mater commeth in.
MATER. What saye you my sonne, wyl ye fyght ? God
it defende !
For what cause to warre do you nowe pretende?
THERSYTES. 135
Wyll ye committe to battayles daungerous
Youre lyfe that is to me so precious?
THERSITES. I wyll go ! I wyll go ! stoppe not my
waye ! 270
Holde me not good mother, I hartely you pray !
If there be any lyons, or other wylde beest,
What wyll not suffer the husbandman in rest,
I wyll go seeche them, and byd them to a feest. 274
They shall abye bytterlye the comminge of suche a gest !
I wyll searche for them bothe in busshe and shrubbe,
And laye on a lode with this lustye clubbe !
MATER. O my swete sonne, I am thy mother,
Wylt thou kyll me and thou hast none other?
THERSITES. No ! mother, no ! I am not of suche
iniquitye, 280
That I wyll defyle my handes upon the.
But be contente, mother, for I wyll not rest
Tyll I have foughte with some man or wylde beast.
MATER. Truely, my sonne, yf that ye take thys way,
Thys shall be the conclusion, marke what I shall say !
Other I wyll drowne my selfe for sorowe, 286
And fede fyshes with my body before to morowe,
Or wyth a sharpe swerde, surely I wyll me kyll,
Nowe thou mayst save me, if it be thy wyll.
I wyll also cut my pappes awaye, 390
That gave the sucke so manye a daye,
And so in all the worlde it shall be knowen,
That by my owne sonne I was overthrowen.
Therefore, if my lyfe be to the pleasaunte,
That whiche I desyre, good sonne, do me graunte. 295
THERSITES. Mother, thou spendest thy winde but in
wast,
The goddes of battayle hyr fury on me hath cast.
136 THERSYTES.
I am fullye fyxed battayle for to taste.
0 how many to deth I shall dryve in haste !
1 wyll ruffle this clubbe aboute my hedde, 300
Or els I pray God I never dye in my bedde !
There shall never a stroke be stroken with my hande
But they shall thynke that Jupiter doth thonder in the land.
MATER. My owne swete sonne, I, knelynge on my knee,
And bothe my handes holdinge up to the, 305
Desyre the to ceasse and no battayle make.
Call to the pacience and better wayes take.
THERSITES. Tushe, mother, I am deafe, I wyll the
not heare !
No ! no ! yf Jupiter here him selfe nowe were,
And all the goddes, and Juno his wife, 310
And lovinge Minerva, that abhorreth all stryfe,
Yf all these, I saye, would desyre me to be content,
They dyd theyr wynde but in vaine spente.
I wyll have battayle in Wayles or in Kente,
And some of the knaves I wyll all to rent. 315
Where is the valiaunt knighte, Syr Isenbrase?
Appere, Syr, I praye you, dare ye not shewe your face?
Where is Robin John and Little Hode?
Approche hyther quickely, if ye thinke it good.
I wyll teache suche outlawes wyth Chrystes curses 320
How they take hereafter awaye abbottes purses !
Whye, wyll no adventure appeare in thys place?
Where is Hercules with his greate mase?
Where is Busyris that fed hys horses,
Full lyke a tyraunte, with dead mens corses? 325
Come any of you bothe,
And I make an othe,
That yer I eate any breade
I wyll dryve a wayne,
Ye, for neede, twayne, 330
THERSYTES. 137
Betwene your bodye and your heade.
[This1] passeth my braynes !
Wyll none take the paynes
To trye wyth me a blowe?
0 what a fellowe am I, 335
Whome everye man dothe flye,
That dothe me but once knowe !
MATER. Sonne all do you feare,
That be present here,
They wyll not wyth you fyghte. 340
You, as you be worthye,
Have nowe the victorye,
Wythoute tastynge of youre myghte.
Here is none, I trowe,
That profereth you a blowe, 345
Man, woman nor chylde.
Do not set your mynde
To fyghte with the wynde,
Be not so madde nor wylde.
THERSITES. I saye, aryse, who so ever wyll fighte !
1 am to battayle here readye dyghte. 351
Come hyther, other swayne or knyghte,
Let me see who dare presente him to my syghte !
Here with my clubbe readye I stande,
Yf anye wyll come to take them in hand. 355
MATER. There is no hope left in my brest,
To bring my sonne unto better rest,
He wyll do nothinge at my request,
He regardeth me no more then a best.
I see no remedye, but styll I wyll praye 360
To God, my sonne to gyde in his waye,
That he maye have a prosperous journ[y]ynge,
And to bee save at his returnynge.
1 Thus, Ed.
138 THERSYTES.
Sonne, God above graunte thys my oration,
That when in battaile thou shall have concertation 365
With your enemies, other far[r]e or nere,
No wounde in them nor in you may appere,
So that ye nother kyll nor be kylled.
THERSITES. Mother, thy peticion I praye God be
fulfylled,
For then no knaves bloude shall be spilled. 370
Felowes, kepe my counsell, by the masse I doo but crake,
I wyll be gentyll enoughe and no busenesse make.
But yet I wyll make her beleve that I am a man !
Thincke you that I wyll fight ? no, no, but wyth the can,
Excepte I finde my enemye on thys wyse 375
That he be a slepe or els can not aryse.
Yf his armes and his fete be not fast bounde,
I wyll not prefer a stripe, for a thousande pound.
Fare well, mother, and tarrye here no longer,
For after proves of chivalry I do both thyrste and hunger,
I wyll beate the knaves as flatte as a conger. 381
Then the mother goeth in the place which is prepared for her.
What ! how long shall I tary ? be your hartes in your hose,
Will there none of you in battayl me appose?
Come, prove me ! whye stande you so in doubte ?
Have you any wylde bloude, that ye would have let oute ?
Alacke that a man's strengthe can not be knowen, 386
Because that he lacketh ennemies to be overth[r]owen !
Here a snaile muste appere unto him, and hee muste loke
/carefully uppon the snat'/e, satenge :
But what a monster do I see nowe
Cominge hetherwarde with an armed browe?
What is it ? ah, it is a sowe ! 390
No, by [my faith], it is but a grestle,
And on the backe it hath never a brystle.
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To fact p. 139]
THERSYTES. 139
It is not a cow, ah there I fayle,
For then it should have a long tayle.
What the devyll ! I was blynde, it is but a snayle ! 395
I was never so afrayde in east nor in south,
My harte at the fyrste syght was at my mouth.
Mary, syr, fy ! fy ! fy ! I do sweate for feare !
I thoughte I had craked but to tymely here.
Hens, thou beest and plucke in thy homes 400
Haste thou nothynge elles to doo
But come wyth homes and face me so?
Howe, how my servauntes, get you shelde and spere 405
And let us werye and kyll thys monster here !
Here MILES cometh in.
MILES. Is not thys a worthye knyghte
That wyth a snayle dareth not fight
Excepte he have hys servauntes ayde?
Is this the chaumpyon that maketh al men afraid? 410
I am a pore souldiour come of late from Calice,
I trust or I go to debate some of his malyce,
I wyll tarrye my tyme till I do see
Betwixt hym and the snayle what the ende wyll be.
THERSITES. Whye ye [rascal] knavys, regard ye not
my callinge? 415
Whye do ye not come and wyth you weapons brynge?
Why shall this monster so escape kyllinge?
No ! that he shal not, and God be wyllinge.
MILES. I promyse you, thys is as worthye a knyghte
As ever shall brede oute of a bottell byte : 420
I thinke he be Dares, of whom Virgyll doth write,
That woulde not let Entellus alone,
But ever provoked and ever called on,
140 THERSYTES.
But yet at the last he tooke a fall,
And so within a whyle, I trowe I make the shall. 425
THERSITES. By [Jupiter], knaves, if I come I wyll you
fetter !
Regarde ye my callinge and cryinge no better?
Why, [rascals,] I saye, wyll ye not come?
By the masse, the knaves be all from home !
They had better have fette me an errande at Rome !
MILES. By my trouthe, I thynke that very skante 431
This lubber dare adventure to fighte with an ant !
THERSITES. Well, seinge my servauntes come to me
will not,
I must take hede that this monster me spyll not,
I wyll joparde with it a joynte, 435
And, other with my clubbe or my sweardes poynte,
I wyll reche it suche woundes,
As I woulde not have for xl M. poundes.
Plucke in thy homes, thou unhappy beast,
What, facest thou me ? wilte not thou be in reste ? 440
Why? wylte not thou thy homes in holde?
Thinkest thou that I am a cockolde1?
[Nay, truly] the monster cometh towarde me styll !
Excepte I fyght manfully, it wyll me surely kyll !
Then he muste fyghte against the snayle with his dub.
MILES. O Jupiter Lorde ! doest thou not see and heare
How he feareth the snayle as it were a bere ? 446
THERSITES. Well, with my clubbe I have had good
lucke,
Nowe with my sworde have at the a plucke.
And he must cast his club awaye.
I wyll make the, or I go, for to ducke,
And thou were as tall 2 a man as frier Tucke ! 450
1 cocklode, text. 2 tale, text.
THERSYTES. 141
I saye yet agayne thy homes in drawe,
Or elles I wyll make the to have woundes rawe.
Arte not thou aferde
To have thy bearde
Pared with my swearde? 455
Here he must fighte then with his sworde against the snayle
and the snayle draweth her liornes in.
Ah well nowe no more !
Thou mightest have done so before !
I layed at it so sore
That it thoughte it shoulde have be lore.
And it had not drawen in his homes againe, 460
Surely I woulde the monster have slaine.
But now farewell, I wyll worke the no more payne.
Nowe my fume is paste,
And dothe no longer laste,
That I did to the monster cast. 465
Now in other countreis both farre and neare
Mo dedes of chyvalrye I wyll go inquere.
MILES. Thou nedes not seke any further, for redy I am
here.
I wyll debate anone, I trowe, thy bragginge chere.
THERSITES. Nowe where is any mo that wyll me
assay le? 470
I wyll turne him and tosse him, both toppe and tayle,
Yf he be stronger then Sampson was,
Who with his bare handes kylde lyons apas.
MILES. What nedeth this booste ? I am here at hande,
That with the will fighte; kepe the heade and stande!
Surelye for al thy hye wordes I wyll not feare 476
To assaye the a towche tyll some bloude apeare,
I wyll geve the somewhat for the gifte of a new yeare.
142 THERSYTES.
And he begynth to fight with him, but Ther sites must ren
awaye, and hyde hym behynde hys mother's backs sayinge :
THERSITES. O mother, mother, I praye the me hyde!
Throwe some thinge over me and cover me every syde !
MATER. O my sonne, what thynge eldyth the? 481
THERSITES. Mother, a thousande horsemen do perse-
cute me !
MATER. Marye, sonne then it was time to flye !
I blame the not then, thoughe afrayde thou be.
A deadlye wounde thou mightest there sone catche, 485
One against so manye is no indyfferente matche.
THERSITES. No, mother ! but if they had bene but ten
to one,
I woulde not have avoyded, but set them uppon,
But seinge they be so many I ran awaye.
Hyde me, mother, hyde me, I hartely the pray. 490
For if they come hyther and here me fynde
To their horses tayles they wyll me bynde,
And after that fasshyon hall me and kyll me,
And thoughe I were never so bolde and stoute 494
To fyghte againste so manye, I shoulde stande in doubte.
MILES. Thou that doest seke giauntes to conquere,
Come foorth, if thou dare, and in this place appere !
Fy, for shame, doest thou so sone take flighte?
Come forth and shewe somewhat of thy myghte !
THERSITES. Hyde me, mother, hyde me, and never
worde saye. 500
MILES. Thou olde trotte, seyst thou any man come thys
waye,
Well armed and weaponed and readye to fighte?
MATER. No forsothe, Maister, there came none in my
sight.
THERSYTES. 143
MILES. He dyd avoyde in tyme, for withoute doubtes
I woulde have set on his backe some clowtes. 505
Yf I may take him I wyll make all slowches
To beware by him, that they come not in my clowches.
Then he goeth oute, and the mother saith :
MATER. Come foorth my sonne, youre enemy is gone,
Be not afrayed, for hurte thou canst have none.
Then he loketh aboute if he be gone or #<?/, at the last he
sayth :
THERSITES. Ywys thou didest wisely, who so ever thou
be, 510
To tarrye no longer to fighte with me,
For with my clubbe I woulde have broken thy skull,
Yf thou were as bigge as Hercules bull.
Why, thou cowardely knave, no stronger then a ducke
Barest thou trye maystries with me a plucke, 515
Whiche fere nother giauntes nor Jupiters fire bolte,
Nor Beelzebub, the mayster devyll, as ragged as a colte.
I woulde thou wouldest come hyther ones againe,
I thincke thou haddest rather alyve to be flayne.
Come againe and I sweare, by my mothers wombe, 530
I wyll pull the in peeces no more then my thombe,
And thy braines abrode I wyll so scatter
That all knaves shall feare, against me to clatter.
[The play is interrupted here by the incident of the young Telemachus
coming to Thersites' mother, to be cured of a disease. When he
is gone, Thersites resumes his boasting.]
Then Miles cometh in saynge :
MILES. Wylte thou so in deede?
Hye the, make good spede, 876
144 THERSYTES.
I am at hande here prest.
Put awaye tongue shakynge
And this folysshe crakynge, 6So
Let us trye for the best.
Cowardes make speake apase,
S[t]rypes prove the manne.
Have nowe at thy face !
Keepe of, if thou canne ! 885
And then he muste stryke at hym, and Thersytes muste runne
awaye and leave his dubbe and sworde behynde. .
Whye, thou lubber, runnest thou awaye,
And leavest thy swearde and thy clubbe thee behynde ?
Nowe thys is a sure carde, nowe I maye well saye
That a cowarde crakinge here I dyd fynde.
Maysters, ye maye see by this playe in sighte 890
That great barking dogges do not most byte,
And oft it is sene that the best men in the hoost
Be not suche, that use to bragge moste.
Yf ye wyll avoyde the daunger of confusion,
Printe my wordes in harte and marke this conclusion,
Suche gyftes of God that ye excelle in moste, 896
Use them wyth sobernesse and youre selfe never bost.
Seke the laude of God in all that ye doo,
So shall vertue and honoure come you too. 899
But if you geve youre myndes to the sinne of pryde,
Vanisshe shall your vertue, youre honoure away wil slide,
For pryde is hated of God above,
And meekenesse sonest obtaineth his love.
To youre rulers and parentes be you obediente^
Never transgressinge their lawefull commaundemente. 905
Be ye merye and joyfull at borde and at bedde,
Imagin no traitourye againste your prince and heade.
Love God and feare him, and after him youre kinge,
Whiche is as victorious as anye is lyvinge.
THERSYTES. 145
Praye for his grace, with hartes that dothe not fayne, 910
That longe he may rule us without grefe or paine.
Beseche ye also that God maye save his quene,
Lovely Ladie Jane, and the prince that he hath send
them betwen
To augment their joy and the comons felicitie. 914
Fare ye wel swete audience, God graunt you al prosperite.
Amen.
IF Imprinted at London,
by John Tysdale and are to be solde
at hys shop in the upper ende of
Lombard strete in Alhallowes
churche yarde neare
untoo Grace
church.
ISale's Eing 3[ofw*
KING JOHN. For non other cawse God hath kyngs
constytute
And gevyn them the sword, but forto correct all vyce.
I have attempted this thyng to execute 1275
Uppon transgressers accordyng unto justyce;
And be-cawse I wyll not be parcyall in myn offyce
For theft and murder to persones spirytuall,
I have ageynst me the pristes and the bysshoppes all.
A lyke dysplesure in my fathers tyme ded fall, 1280
Forty yeres ago, for ponyshment of a clarke :
No cunsell myght them to reformacyon call,
In ther openyon they were so stordy and starke,
But ageynst ther prynce to the pope they dyd so barke,
That here in Ynglond in every cyte and towne 1385
Excommunycacyons as thonder-bolts cam downe.
For this ther captayn had a ster apared crowne,
And dyed upon yt, with-owt the kynges consent.
Than interdiccyons were sent from the popes renown e,
Whych never left hym tyll he was penytent, 1290
And fully agreed unto the popes apoyntment
In Ynglond to stand with the Chyrches lyberte,
And suffer the pristes to Rome for appeles to flee,
They bownd hym also to helpe Jerusalem cyte
With ij hundrid men the space of a yere and more, 1295
And thre yere after to maynteyne battell free
Ageynst the Sarazens whych vext the Spanyards sore.
Synce my fathers tyme I have borne them groge therfore,
BALE'S KING JOHN. 147
Consyderyng the pryde and the capcyose dysdayne,
That they have to kyngs whych oughte over them to
rayne. 1300
PRIVAT WELTH cum in fyke a CardynalL
God save you, sur kyng, in your pryncly mageste.
K. J. Frynd, ye be welcum : what is yowr plesure
with me?
P. W. From the holy father, Pope Innocent the thred,
As a massanger I am to yow dyrectyd,
To reforme the peace betwyn Holy Chyrch and yow 1305
And in his behalfe I avertyce yow here now
Of the Chyrchys goods to make full restytucyon,
And to accepte also the popes hely constytucyon
For Stevyn Langton, archebysshop of Canturbery,
And so admytt hym to his state and primacy : 1310
The monkes exilyd ye shall restore agayne
To ther placys and londes, and nothyng of thers retayne.
Owr holy fatheres mynde ys that ye shall agayne restore
All that ye have ravyshyd from Holy Chyrche, with the
more.
K. J. I reken yowr father wyll never be so harde,
But he wyll my cawse as well as theres regarde. 1316
I have done nothyng but that I may do well,
And as for ther taxe I have for me the gospell.
P. W. Tushe, gospell or no, ye must make a recompens.
K. J. Yowr father is sharpe and very quycke in sentence,
Yf he wayeth the word of God no more than so; 1321
But I shall tell yow in this what Y shall do.
I am well content to receyve the monkes agayne
Upon amendement, but as for Stevyn Langton playne
He shall not cum here, for I know his dysposycyon : 1325
He is moche inclyned to sturdynesse and sedycyon,
There shall no man rewle in the lond where I am kyng
With-owt my consent, for no mannys plesure lyvyng.
L 2
148 SALE'S KING JOHN.
Never-the-lesse, yet upon a newe behaver
At the popys request here-after I may hym faver, 1330
And graunt hym to have sum other benyfyce.
P. W. By thys I persey ve ye bare hym groge and malyce,
Well, thys wyll I say, by-cause ye are so blunte,
A prelate to dyscharge Holy Chyrche was never wont,
But her custome ys to mynyster ponyshment 1335
To kynges and princes beyng dyssobedyent I
K. J. Avant, pevysh prist : what, dost thow thretten me ?
I defye the worst both of thi pope and the.
The power of princys ys gevyn from God above, 1339
And, as sayth Solomon, ther harts the Lord doth move.
God spekyth in ther lyppes whan they geve jugement :
The lawys that they make are by the Lordes appoyntment.
Christ wylled not his the princes to correcte,
But to ther precepptes rether to be subjecte.
The offyce of yow ys not to bere the sword, 1345
But to geve cownsell accordyng to Gods word.
He never tawght his to weare nowther sword ne sallett,
But to preche abrode with-owt staffe, scrypp or walett;
Yet are ye becum soche myghty lordes this hower,
That ye are able to subdewe all princes power. 1350
I can not perseyve but ye are becum Belles prystes,
Lyvyng by ydolls, yea, the very antychrysts.
P. W. Ye have sayd yowr mynd, now wyll I say myn also.
Here I cursse yow for the wrongs that ye have do 13=4
Unto Holy Churche, with crosse, bocke, bell and candell ;
And by-sydes all thys I must yow other-wyse handell.
Of contumacy the pope hath yow convyt;
From this day forward your lond stond interdytt.
The bysshope of Norwyche and the bysshope of Wynchester,
Hath full autoryte to spred it in Ynglond here. 1560
The bysshope of Salysbery and the bysshope of Rochester
Shall execute yt in Scotland every where.
The bysshope of Landaffe, seynt Assys, and seynt Davy
SALE'S KING JOHN. 149
In Walles and in Erlond shall publyshe yt openly.
Throwgh-owt all crystyndom the bysshopps shall suspend
All soche as to yow any mayntenance pretend ; 1366
And I cursse all them that geve to yow ther harte,
Dewks, erlls, and lordes so many as take yowr parte:
And I assoyle yowr peple from your obedyence,
That they shall owe yow noyther sewte nor reverence.
By the popys awctoryte I charge them yow to fyght 1371
As with a tyrant agenst Holy Chyrchys ryght ;
And by the popes auctoryte I geve them absolucyon
A pena et culpa, and also clene remyssyon.
SEDYCYON extra locum.
Alarum ! Alarum ! tro ro ro ro ro, tro ro ro ro ro, tro
ro ro ro ro! 1375
Thomp, thomp, thomp, downe, downe, downe, to go, to
go, to go!
K. J. What a noyse is thys that without the dore is
made?
P. W. Suche enmyes are up as wyll yowr realme invade.
K. J. Ye cowde do no more and ye cam from the
devyll of hell,
Than ye go abowt here to worke by yowr wyckyd
cownsell. 1380
Ys this the charyte of that ye call the Churche ?
God graunt Cristen men not after yowr wayes to worche !
I sett not by yowr curssys the shakyng of a rod,
For I know they are of the devyll and not of God.
Yowr curssys we have that we never yet demaundyd, 1385
But we can not have that God hath yow commandyd.
P. W. What ye mene by that I wold ye shuld opynly
tell.
K. J. Why know ye it not ? the prechyng of the gospell.
150 BALE'S KING JOHN.
Take to ye yowr traysh, yowr ryngyng, syngyng, pypyng,
So that we may have the scryptures openyng : 1 390
But that we can not have, yt stondyth not with yowr
avantage.
P. W. Ahe, now I fell yow for this heretycall langage ;
I thynke noyther yow nor ony of yowres, iwys,
We wyll so provyd, shall ware the crowne after this.
II.
DISSIMULATION. Wassayle, wassayle out of the mylke
payle, 2065
Wassayle, wassayle, as whyte as my nayle,
Wassayle, wassayle in snowe froste and hayle,
Wassayle, wassayle with partriche and rayle,
Wassayle, wassayle that muche doth avale,
Wassayle, wassayle that never wyll fayle. 2070
K. J. Who is that, Englande ? I praye the stepp
fourth and see.
E. He doth seme a-farre some relygyous man to be.
D. Now Jesus preserve your worthye and excellent grace,
For doubtless there is a very angelyck face.
Now forsoth and God, I woulde thynke my self in heaven,
If I myght remayne with yow but yeares alevyn. 2076
I woulde covete here none other felicyte.
K. J. A lovynge persone thu mayest seme for to be.
D. I am as gentle a worm as ever ye see.
K. J. But what is thy name, good frynde, I praye the
tell me? 2080
D. Simon of Swynsett my very name is per dee.
I am taken of men for monastycall Devocyon,
And here have I brought yow a marvelouse good pocyon,
For I harde ye saye that ye were very drye.
BALE'S KING JOHN. 151
K. J. In dede I wolde gladlye drynke. I praye the
come nye. 2085
D. The dayes of your lyfe never felt ye suche a cuppe,
So good and so holsome, if ye woulde drynke it upp :
It passeth malmesaye, capryck, tyre or ypocras ;
By my fayth I thynke a better drynke never was.
K. J. Begynne, gentle monke : I praye the drynke half
to me. 2090
D. If ye dronke all up, it were the better for ye.
It woulde slake your thirst and also quycken your brayne :
A better drynke is not in Portyngale nor Spayne,
Therfore suppe it of, and make an ende of it quycklye.
K. J. Naye, thu shalte drynke half, there is no remedye.
D. Good luck to ye than ! have at it by and bye ; 2096
Halfe wyll I consume, if there be no remedye.
K. J. God saynt the, good monke, with all my very
harte !
D. I have brought ye half; conveye me that for your
parte. 2099
Where art thu, Sedicyon? by the masse I dye, I dye.
Helpe now at a pynche ! Alas, man, cum away shortlye.
S. Come hyther apace, and gett thee to the farmerye;
I have provyded for the, by the swete saynt Powle,
Fyve monkes that shall synge contynually for thy sowle,
That, I warande the, thu shalt not come in helle. 2105
D. To sende me to heaven goo rynge the holye belle
And synge for my sowle a masse of Scala Celi,
That I maye clyme up aloft with Enoch and Heli:
I do not doubte it but I shall be a saynt.
Provyde a gyldar myne image for to paynt. 2110
I dye for the Churche with Thomas of Canterberye :
Ye shall fast my vigyll and upon my daye be merye.
152 BALE'S KING JOHN.
No doubt but I shall do myracles in a whyle,
And therefore lete me be shryned in the north yle.
S. To the than wyll offer both crypple, halte, and
blynde, 2115
Mad men and mesels, with such as are woo behynde.
[Exeunt.
K. J. My bodye me vexeth : I doubt much of a tym-
panye.
E. Now, alas, alas ! your grace is betrayed cowardlye.
K. J. Where became the monke that was here with me
latelye? 2119
E. He is poysened, sir, and lyeth a-dyenge surelye.
K. J. It can not be so, for he was here even now.
E. Doubtlesse, sir, it is so true as I have tolde yow:
A false Judas kysse he hath gyven and is gone.
The halte, sore, and lame thys pitiefull case wyll mone.
Never prynce was there that made to poore peoples use 2125
So many masendewes, hospytals and spyttle howses,
As your grace hath done, yet sens the worlde began.
K. J. Of priestes and of monkes I am counted a wycked
man,
For that I never buylte church e nor monastery e,
But my pleasure was to helpe suche as were nedye. 2130
E. The more grace was yours, for at the daye of judg-
ment
Christe wyll rewarde them whych hath done hys com-
mandement,
There is no promyse for voluntarye wurkes
No more than there is for sacrifyce of the Turkes.
K. J. Doubtlesse I do fele muche grevaunce in my
bodye. 2135
BALE'S KING JOHN. 153
E. As the Lorde wele knoweth, for that I am full sorye.
K. J. There is no malyce to the malyce of the clergye :
Well, the Lorde God of heaven on me and them have
mercye.
For doynge justyce they have ever hated me.
They caused my lande to be excommunycate, 2140
And me to resygne both crowne and princely dygnyte,
From my obedyence assoylynge every estate;
And now last of all they have me intoxycate.
I perceyve ryght wele their malyce hath none ende :
I desyre not els but that they maye sone amende, 2145
I have sore hungred and thirsted ryghteousnesse
For the offyce sake that God hath me appoynted,
But now I perceyve that synne and wyckednesse
In thys wretched worlde, lyke as Christe prophecyed,
Have the overhande : in me it is verefyed. 2150
Praye for me, good people, I besych yow hartely,
That the Lorde above on my poore sowle have mercy.
Farwell noble men, with the clergye spirytuall,
Farwell men of lawe, with the whole commynalte.
Your disobedyence I do forgyve yow all, 2155
And desyre God to perdon your iniquyte.
Farwell, swete Englande, now last of all to the :
I am right sorye I coulde do for the no more.
Farwell ones agayne, yea, farwell for evermore. 2159
E. With the leave of God I wyll not leave ye thus,
But styll be with ye tyll he do take yow from us,
And than wyll I kcpe your bodye for a memoryall.
K. J. Than plye it, Englande, and provyde for my
buryall.
A wydowes offyce it is to burye the deade. 2164
E. Alas, swete maistre, ye waye so heavy as leade.
Oh horryble case, that ever so noble a kynge
154 BALE'S KING JOHN.
Shoulde thus be destroyed and lost for ryghteouse doynge,
By a cruell sort of disguysed bloud-souppers,
Unmercyfull murtherers, all dronke in the bloude of
marters !
Report what they wyll in their most furyouse madnesse,
Of thys noble kynge muche was the godlynesse. 2171
[Exeunt.
APPENDIX,
I. Mysterium Resurrectionis D. N. Jhesu Christi. From a
MS. of the 1 3th century in the Library of the City of
Orleans, as printed by Thomas Wright.
II. Ludus super iconia Sancti Nicolai. By Hilarius, a pupil of
Abelard, c. 1125. Text from edition of M. J. J. Cham-
pollion Figeac, entitled : Hilarii Versus et Ludi. Lutetiae
Parisiorum apud Techner Bibliopolam. (London, William
Pickering) MDCCCXXXVlll. pp. 34-39.
III. The Harrowing of Hell. From a MS. of the reign of
Edward II. Text from edition of Dr. Edward Mall,
entitled : The Harrowing of Hell. Das altenglische Spiel
von Christi Hollenfahrt. Neue Bearbeitung von Dr.
Eduard Mall. Berlin^ 1871. 8vo.
IV. Extracts from the Brome Play of Abraham and Isaac.
Text from the transcript published by Miss Lucy Toulmin
Smith in Anglia, Band VII. Heft 3.
APPENDIX I.
MYSTERIUM
RESURRECTIONIS D. N. JHESU CHRISTI.
Ad faciendum similitudinem dominici sepulchri, printum pro-
cedant tres fratres prceparati et vestiti in similzttidinem
trium Mariarum, pedetentim et quasi tristes alternantes,
hos versus cantent.
PRIMA earum dicat:
Heu ! pius pastor occidit
Quern culpa nulla infecit!
O res plangenda !
SECUNDA.
Heu ! verus pastor obiit,
Qui vitam sanctis contulit !
O mors lugenda !
TERTIA.
Heu ! nequam gens Judaica !
Quam dira frendens vesania !
Plebs execranda !
PRIMA.
Cur nece pium impia
Dampnasti Jhesum invida ?
O ira nefanda!
SECUNDA.
Quid Justus hie promeruit
Quod crucifigi debuit ?
O gens dampnanda!
TERTIA.
Heu ! quid agemus miserae
Dulci magistro orbatas?
Heu ! sors lacrimanda 1
158 APPENDIX L
PRIMA.
Eamus ergo propere,
Quod solum quimus facere,
Mente devota,
SECUNDA.
Condimentis aromatum
Ungamus corpus sanctissimum :
Quo pretiosa
TERTIA.
Nardi vetet commixtio,
Ne putrescat in tumulo
Caro beata.
Cum autem venerunt in chorum, eant ad monumentum quasi
quarentes, et cantantes omnes simul hunc versum :
Sed nequimus hoc patere sine adjutorio
Quisnam saxum hoc revolveret ab monumenti ostio?
Quibus respondeat Angelus sedens foris, ad caput sepulchri,
vestitus alba deaurata^ mitra tectus caput, etsi deinfula-
fus, palmam in sinistra, ramum candelarum plenum
tenens in manu dextra, et dicat moderata et admodum
gravi voce :
Quern quaeritis in sepulchre
O Christicolae !
MULIERES
Jhesum Nazarenum crucifixum,
O caelicola !
Quibus respondeat ANGELUS :
Quid, christicolce, viventem quaeritis cum mortuis?
Non est hie, sed surrexit, prout dixit discipulis.
Mementote quid jam vobis locutus est in Galilea,
Quod Christum oportebat pati, atque die tertia
Resurgere cum gloria.
MULIERES converses adpopulum cantent:
Ad monumentum Domini venimus
Gementes; angelum Dei sedentem vidimus
Et dicentem quod surrexit a morte.
Post hcec MARIA MAGDALENE, relictis duabus altis, accedat
ad sepulchrum.) in quod scepe aspiciens, dicat :
MYSTERIUM RESURRECTIONIS. 159
Heu dolor ! heu ! quam dira doloris angustia !
Quod dilecti sum orbata magistri praesentia;
Heu ! quis corpus tarn dilectum sustulit e tumulo ?
Deinde pergat -velociter ad illos qui in similitudine Petri et
Johannis pr&stare debent erecti, stansque ante eos quasi
tristis, dicat:
Tulerunt Dominum meum,
Et nescio ubi posuerunt eum,
Et monumentum vacuum est inventum,
Et sudarium cum sindone repositum.
//// autem hoc audientes velociter pergent ad sepulchrum ac si
currentes j sed junior, S. Johannes, perveniens stet extra
sepulchrum, senior vero, S. Peirus, sequens eum, statim
intret, postquam et S. Johannes intret, cum inde exierint,
JOHANNES dicat:
Miranda sunt qua? vidimus !
An furtim sublatus est dominus ?
Cut PETRUS.
I mo, ut praedixit vivus,
Surrexit, credo, Dominus.
JOHANNES.
Sed cur liquit in sepulchro
Sudarium cum linteo?
PETRUS.
Ista quia resurgent!
Non erant necessaria,
Imo resurrectionis
Restant haac indicia.
Illis autem abeuntibus, accedat MARIA ad sepulchrum, et prius
dicat :
Heu ! dolor ! heu ! quam dira doloris angustia !
Quod dilecti sum orbata magistri praesentia.
Heu ! quis corpus tam dilectum sustulit e tumulo ?
Quam alloquantur Duo ANGELI sedentes infra sepulchrum
dicentes:
Mulier, quid ploras ?
MARIA.
Quia tulerunt Dominum meum,
Et nescio ubi posuerunt eum.
160 APPENDIX /.
ANGELUS.
Noli flere, Maria, resurrexit Dominus.
Alleluia !
MARIA.
Ardens est cor meum desiderio
Videre Dominum meum ;
Quaero et non invenio
Ubi posuerunt eum,
Alleluia !
Interim veniat quidam pr¶tus in similitudine horiulani^
stansque ad caput sepulchri, dicat :
Mulier, quid ploras? quern quasris?
MARIA.
Domine, si tu sustulisti eum, dicito michi ubi posuisti eum, et
ego eum tollam.
Et ILLE.
Maria !
Atque procidens ad pedes efus, MARIA dicat:
Rabboni !
At tile subtrahat se, et quasi tactum ejus devitans, dicat:
Noli me tangere, nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem meum et
Patrem vestrum, Dominum meum et dominum vestrum.
Sic discedat Hortulanus, MARIA vero, conversa ad populum,
dicat:
Congratulamini michi omnes qui diligitis Dominum, quia
quern quaerebam apparuit michi, et dura flerem ad monumentum
vidi Dominum meum. Alleluia !
Tune DUO ANGELI exeant ad ostium sepukhri, ita ut appareant
forts, et dicant :
Venite et videte locum ubi positus erat Dominus.
Alleluia !
Nolite timere vos :
Vultum tristem jam mutate:
Jhesum vivum nunciate :
Galileam jam adite :
Si placet videre, festinate :
Cito euntes dicite discipulis quod surrexit Dominus.
Alleluia !
MYSTERIUM RESURRECTIONIS. 161
Tune MULIERES discedentes a sepulchre dicant aa plebem:
Surrexit Dominus de sepulchre,
Qui pro nobis pependit in ligno.
Alleluia !
Hoc factO) expandant sindonem, dicentes ad plebem :
Cernite vos, socii, sunt corporis ista beati
Lintea, quaa vacuo jacuere relicta sepulchre.
Postea ponant sindonem super altare, atque revertentes alternent
hos versus: PRIMA rf/Va/.-
Resurrexit hodie Deus Deorum.
SECUNDA.
Frustra signas lapidem, plebs Judeorum,
TERTIA.
Jungere jam populo christianorum.
Item PRIMA dicat:
Resurrexit hodie Rex angelorura.
SECUNDA.
Ducitur de tenebris turba piorum.
TERTIA.
Reseratur aditus regni caelorum.
Inter ea is gut ante fuit Hortulanus> in similitudinem DOMINI
veniaty dalmaticatus Candida dalmatica, Candida infula
infulatus, phylacteria pretiosa in capite, crucem cum
labaro in dextra^ textum auro paratorium in sinistra
habens, et dicat mulieribus :
Nolite timere vos, ite, nunciate fratribus meis ut eant in
Galileam, ibi me videbunt sicut praedixi eis.
CHORUS.
Alleluia!
Resurrexit hodie Dominus.
Quo finito, dicant OMNES insimul:
Leo fortis, Christus filius Dei.
Et CHORUS dicat:
Te Deum laudamus, etc.
Explicit.
APPENDIX II.
LUDUS SUPER ICONIA SANCTI NICOLAI.
Ad quern he persone sunt necessarie : persona barbari qui conmisit
ei tesanrum ; persona iconic ; iiiior vel sex latronnm ; Sancti Nicholai.
In primis BARBARUS, rebus snis congregatis, ad ichoniam veniet, et
ei res suas conmendans dicet :
Nicholae, quidquid possideo,
Hoc in meo misi teloneo:
Te custodem rebus adibeo,
Serva que sunt ibi.
Meis, precor, adtende precibus;
Vide nullus sit locus furibus ;
Preciosis aurum cum vestibus
Ego trado tibi.
Profiscisci foras disposui :
Te custodem rebus imposui.
Revertenti redde quae posui
Tua sub tutela.
Jam sum magis securus solito,
Te custode rebus inposito ;
Revertenti vide ne merito
Mihi sit querela.
Illo autem profecto, fures transeuntes cum viderint hostium apertum
et nnllnm custodem, omnia diripient, BARBARUS vero rediens, non
invento tesauro, dicet :
Gravis sors et dura!
Hie reliqui plura,
Sed sub mala cura.
Des! quel damage!
Qui pert la sue chose purque rtenrage.
LUDUS SUPER ICONIA SANCTI NICOLAS. 163
Hie res plusquam centum
Misi et argentum ;
Sed non est inventum.
Des! quel damage!
Qui pert la sue chose purque ri enrage.
Hie reliqui mea ;
Sed hie non sunt ea.
Est imago rea.
Des ! quel damage/
Qui pert la sue chose purque rienrage.
Deinde accedens ad imaginem, dicet ei :
Mea congregavi,
Tibi commendavi;
Sed in hoc erravi.
Hal Nicholax!
Si ne me rent ma chose, tu ol comparras.
Hie res meas misi
Quas tibi conmisi;
Sed eas amisi.
Hal Nicholax!
Si ne me rent ma chose, tu ol comparras.
Sumto flagello, dicet :
Ego tibi multum
Inpendebam cultum :
Nun feres inultum.
Hore f end
Qu'are me rent ma chose que g'ei mis ci.
Tuum tester deum,
Te, ni reddas meum,
Flagellabo reum.
Hore f end
Qu'are me rent ma chose que g'ei mis ci,
Tune SANCTUS NICHOLAUS, veniens ad latrones, dicet eis :
Miseri, quid facitis?
Non longua deperditis
Erunt vobis gaudia.
Gustos eram positus
Vosque sum intuitus,
Cum portatis omnia.
M 2
1 64 APPENDIX II.
Flagella sustinui,
Cum ea non potui,
Ut debebam, reddere:
Verba passus aspera
Cumque verbis verbera ;
Ad vos veni propere.
Reportate perdita.
Erant enim omnia
Sub mea custodia,
Que portasti, posita.
Quod si non feceritis,
Suspensi eras eritis
Crucis in patibulo.
Vestra namque turpia
Vestra latrocinia
Nunciabo populo.
Latrones timentes omnia reportabunt. Quibus inventis BARBARUS
dicet :
Nisi visus fallitur,
Jo en at.
Tesaurus hie cernitur.
De si grant merueile en at.
Rediere perdita,
Jo en at.
Nee per mea merita,
De si grant mervegle en at.
Quam. bona custodia
Jo en at
Qua redduntur omnia!
De si grant mervegle en at.
Tnnc accedent ad imaginem et suplicans, dicet ;
Suplex ad te venio,
Nam per te recipio
Tut icei que tu gardas.
Sum profectus peregre,
Nicholax
LUDUS SUPER 1CONIA SANCTI N ICO LAI. 165
Sed recepi integre
Tut ice que tu gardas.
Mens mea convaluit,
Nicholaxj
Nichil enim defuit
De tut cei que tu gardas.
Postea aparens ei beatus NICOLAUS, dicet :
Suplicare mihi noli,
Frater ; inmo Deo soli.
Ipse namque factor poll,
Factor maris atque soli,
Restauravit perditum.
Ne sis ultra quod fuisti.
Solum laudes nomen Christi ;
Soli Deo credas isti
Per quern tua recepisti.
Mihi nullum meritum.
Cui respondens BARBARUS, dicet :
Hie nulla consultacio,
Nulla erit dilacio,
Quin ab erroris vicio
Jam recedam.
In Christum Dei filium,
Factorem mirabilium,
Ritum linquens gentilium,
Ego credam.
Ipse creavit omnia,
Celum, terram et maria;
Per quern erroris venia
Mihi detur.
Ipse potens et dominus
Meum delebit facinus,
Cujus regnum ne terminus
Consequetur.
APPENDIX III.
THE HARROWING OF HELL.
Alle herkne)> to me nou,
A strif wille I tellen ou,
Of Jesu and of Satan,
po Jesu wes to helle gan
For to fette )>enne his 5
And bringen hem to parais ;
pe deuel heuede so michel pouste,
pat alle mosten to helle te;
Nas non so holi prophete,
Sij;)>en Adam and Eue J;en appel etc, 10
And he were at }>is worldes fine,
pat he ne moste to helle pine;
Ne shulde he neuer |>enne come,
Nere Jesu Crist, godes sone ;
For |>at wes seid to Adam and Eue, 15
pat were Jesu Crist so leue,
And so wes seid to Abraham,
pat wes so)>fast holi man,
And so wes seid to Dauid, j>e king,
pat wes of Cristes oune ofspring, 20
And to Johan, J?e Baptist,
pat folewede Jesu Crist,
And to Moyses, }>e holi wiht,
pe heuede ]>e lawe to jeme riht,
And to mani o)>er holi man, 25
Mo )>an ich telle can,
pat weren alle in more wo,
pan I can ou telle fro.
Jesu Crist areu hem sore
And seide, he wolde fette hem J>ore; 30
THE HARROWING OF HELL. 167
He lihte of his ht%e tour
On-to seinte Marie hour;
He wes boren for oure nede
In )>is world in poure wede,
In jris world he wes ded 35
For to lesen ous fram }>e qued.
po Jesu heuede shed his blod
For oure sinnes on J>e rod,
He nam him )>e rihte wei
Unto helle for soj?e to sei; 40
po he cam J»er, \>o seide he,
Asse I shal nou telle }>e.
DOMINUS. Harde gates haui gon,
Sorewes suffred mani on;
pritti winter and jjridde half jer 45
Haui woned in londe her.
Almost is so michel gan,
SiJ>j>en I bicam first man;
Ich haue sij>)>en J>oled and wist
Hot and cold, hunger and }>rist : 50
Man haj) don me shame inoh
\Vi)> word and dede in here woh ;
He nomen me wtyouten sake,
Bounden min honden to mi bake ;
He beten me, )>at I ran on blode, 55
Demden me to deje on rode ;
For Adames sinne, ful iwis,
Ich haue J>oled al )>is.
Adam, )>ou hauest dere aboht,
pat Jiou leuedest me noht; 60
Adam, j>ou hauest aboht sore
And I nil suffre J>at na more ;
I shal j>e bringe of helle pine
And wij> J»e alle mine.
SATAN. Who is }>at ich here )>ore? 65
Ich him rede speke na more,
For he mai so michel do,
pat he shal ous come to,
168 APPENDIX III.
For to ben cure fere,
And fonden,hou we pleien here. 70
DOMINUS. [pou miht wel wite bi mi plei,
pat mine willi haue awei !]
Wost J>ou neuer, what ich am?
Almost J»e J>ridde winter is gan,
pat jxm hauest fonded me 75
For to knowe, what I be ;
Sinne found J>ou neuer nan
In me as in o)>er man ;
And Jxm shalt wite wel to-dai,
pat mine willi haue awei, 80
Whan )>ou bileuest al )>in one,
panne miht J>ou grete and grone.
SATAN. Par ma fei ! ich holde mine
Alle j>o, )>at ben her-inne ;
Resoun wiili telle }>e, 85
per ajen miht )»ou noht be.
Whoso biggeth ani )>ing,
It is his and his ofspring.
Adam hungri cam me to,
Manrede dide I him me do ; 90
For on appel ich jaf him,
He is min and al his kin.
DOMINUS. Satanas, it wes min,
pe appel, )>at )>ou jaue him,
pe appel and ]>e appel-tre 95
Bojje were maked ))ourh me.
Hou mihtest J»ou on ani wise
Of o)>er mannes Jjing make marchandise ?
Si)>)>en he wes boht wij) min,
Wi)> resoun wil ich hauen him. 100
SATAN. Jesu, wel I knowe >e!
pat ful sore rewejj me ;
pou art louerd ouer al,
Wo is him, f>at J>e knowe ne shal !
Heuene and erj>e tak to ]>e, 105
pe soules in helle lef )>ou me !
THE HARROWING OF HELL. 169
Let me haue J>at ich helde,
pat )>ou hauest wel mote J>ou welde !
DOMINUS. Stille be j>ou, Satanas,
pe is fallen ambes as! no
Wendest )>ou, ich were ded for noht?
For mi dej> is mankin boht !
pei, J>at hauen serued me,
WiJ> me he shulen in heuene be ;
pou shall ben in more pine, 1 1 5
pan ani, J>at )>er is her-inne.
SATAN. Ne mai non me werse do,
pan ich haue had hider-to.
Ich haue had so michel wo,
pat I ne recche, whider I go ; 120
3 if J>ou reuest me of mine,
I shal reue )>e of )>ine ;
I shal go fro man to man
And reue f>e of mani an.
DOMINUS. God wot! I shal speke J>e wi}> 125
And do }>e to holde grif> !
So faste shal I binde >e,
Litel shalt }>ou reue me.
[Were J>ou among men,
pou woldest me reuen mani of hem.] 130
pe smale fendes, J>at ben unstronge,
He shulen among men jonge,
For to hauen alle hem,
pat hem ne willen stonden ajen.
Helle jates I come nou to 135
And ich wille, that he undo.
Where is nou ]>is jateward?
Me ]>inke]> he is a coward !
JANITOR. Ich haue herd wordes stronge,
Ne dar I her no lengore stonde ; 140
Kepe J>e jates whoso mai,
I lete hem stonde and renne awei.
DOMINUS. Helle jates her I felle !
And si)>J>en wil ich herwe helle.
170 APPENDIX III.
Satanas, her I }>e binde, 145
Ne shalt }>ou neuer henne winde,
Her shalt thou ben in bondes ai,
Til J>at come domesdai !
ADAM. Welcome, louerd, god of londe,
Codes sone and godes sonde ; 1 50
Welcome, louerd, mote J>ou be,
Longe haue}> ous J>oht after )>e !
Louerd, nou \>ou art comen to ous,
Bring ous of )>is lo}>e hous.
Louerd, vvost }>ou, what ich am? 155
pou me shope of er)>e, Adam ;
For I )>in heste held noht,
Dere ich haue it her aboht.
Haue merci of ous, godes sone,
Let ous na more her wone ; 160
Alle, ]>at her-inne be,
3ore hauen jerned after }>e;
We hopen wel ]>ourh }>i coming
Of oure sinnes hauen froring.
EUA. Knou me, louerd, ich am Eue; 165
Ich and Adam )>e were so leue,
pou jaue ous to jeme parais,
We it jemeden asse unwis !
We J>in heste dide forleten,
po we of f>en appel eten ; 170
So longe haue we ben her-inne,
Dere haue we bet oure sinne.
Louerd, god, jif ous leue,
Adam and me, his wif Eue,
To faren of J>is lo)>e wike 175
To J>e blisse of heuene rike!
DOMINUS. Adam, ich haue 3ouen mi lif
For J>e and for Eue, >i wif;
Wendest J>ou, ich were ded for noht?
For mi dej> wes mankin boht. 180
ABRAHAM. Louerd, Crist, ich it am,
pat J>ou calledest Abraham;
THE HARROWING OF HELL. 171
pou me seidest, }>at of me
Shulde a god childe boren be,
pat ous shulde bringe of pine, 185
Me and wi)> me alle mine.
pou art t>e child, J>ou art J>e man,
pat wes boren of Abraham ;
Do nou j>at )>ou bihete me,
Bring me to heuene up wi}» J>e! 190
DOMINUS. Abraham, ich wot ful wel
What )>ou seidest, euerich del ;
pat mi suete moder wes
Boren and shaped of }>i fles.
DAVID. Louerd, ich am Dauid, ]>e king, 195
pat boren wes of \>'m ofspring ;
Do me also J>ou bihete
pourh J>e la we of J>e prophete;
Nou J5ou art comen to ous,
Bring ous fram }>is dredful hous! 200
DOMINUS. David, j>ou were boren of mi kin,
For j>i godnesse art jiou min,
More for \>i godnesse,
pan for ani sibnesse.
JOHANNES. Louerd, Crist, ich am Johan, 205
pat j>e folewede in flum Jordan;
Tuelue monej> is agon,
pat I jjolede martirdom;
pou sendest me )>e rihte wei
In-to helle for soj>e to sei, 210
pat )>ou, Crist, godes sone,
Sone shuldest f>ider come,
For to lesen of helle pine
Alle, )>at }>ou holdest )>ine.
Nou fou art comen, nou j>ou do, 215
pat jjou seidest me unto!
DOMINUS. Johan, Johan, ich it wat,
pat I sende )>e )>e gat;
pou shall se, J>at I shal do,
pat I seide er }>e to. aao
172 APPENDIX III.
MOYSES. Louerd, }>ou }aue me al wij> skil
pe lawe of Sinay upon J>e hil;
Ich am Moyses, )>e prophete,
Ich held )>e lawes, )>at J>ou hete,
pat men shulde come to bete 225
pe sinne, }>at Adam Jx>hte suete.
DOMINUS. Moyses, )>at ich hihte )>e
In \>e olde lawe, )>ou didest me;
And alle ]>e o]>er, ]>at mine ben,
Shulen to blisse wi}> me ten; 230
pei, J>at nolden on me leuen,
Shulen wij> Satanas bileuen ;
per he shulen wonen ai,
Til J>at come domesdai.
[Auctor\ God, for his moder loue 235
Let ous neuer Jjider come !
Louerd, for }>i michele grace
Graunte ous in heuene one place ;
Let ous neuer be forloren
For no sinne, Crist icoren; 240
Ah bring ous out of belle pine,
Louerd, ous and alle J>ine ;
And jif ous grace to liue and ende
In J>i seruice and to heuene wende.
Amen.
APPENDIX IV.
BROME PLAY OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC.
11. 316-435.
THE ANGELL. I am an angell, thou mayist se blythe, 316
That fro hevyn to the ys senth,
Our lord thanke the an c. sythe,
For the kepyng of hys commawment.
He knowyt thi wyll and also thy harte, 320
That thou dredyst hym above all thyng,
And sum of thy hevynes for to departe
A fayr Ram /ynder I gan brynge,
He standyth teyed, loo ! a-mong the breres 324
Now Abraham, a-mend thy mood,
For Ysaac, thy jowng son that her ys,
Thys day schall not sched hys blood ;
Goo, make thy sacryfece with ^on Rame. 328
Now for-wyll blyssyd Abraham,
For on to hevyn I goo now horn,
The way ys full gayn.
Take up thy son soo free. \Exit AngeL 332
ABRAHAM. A ! lord I thanke the of thy gret grace,
Now am I yeyed on dyvers wysse,
A-rysse up, Ysaac, my dere sunne a-rysse,
A-rysse up, swete chyld, and cum to me. 336
YSAAC. A ! mercy, fader, wy smygth yo. not jyt
A ! smygth on, fader, onys with _yowr knyffe.
ABRAHAM. Pesse, my swet sir ! and take no thowt,
For our lord of hevyn hath grant thi lyffe 340
Be hys angell now.
That thou schalt not dey this day, sunne, truly.
174 APPENDIX IV.
YSAAC. A ! fader, full glad than wer I
I-wys! fader, I sey, i-wys ! 34 \
Yf thys tale wer trew.
ABRAHAM. An hundyrd tymys, my son fayer of hew,
For joy thi mowth now wyll I kys.
YSAAC. A! my dere fader, Abraham, 348
Wyll not God be wroth Mat we do thus?
ABRAHAM. Noo, noo ! harly my swyt son,
For ^yn same Rame he hath us sent
Hether down to us. 352
Kyn best schall dey here in thi sted.
In the worthschup of owr lord a-lon.
Goo fet hym hethyr, my chyld, in ded.
YSAAC. Fader, I wyll goo hent hym be the hed, 356
And bryng ^on best with me a-non.
A ! scheppe, scheppe ! blyssyd mot thou be,
That ever thow were sent down heder,
Thow schall thys day dey for me, 360
In the worchup of the holy Trynyte.
Now cum fast and goo we to-geder,
To my fader of hevyn.
Thow thou be never so jentyll and good 364
Fyt had I lever thow schedyst thi blood,
I-wysse, scheppe, than I.
Loo! fader, I have browt here full smerte
Thys jentyll scheppe, 368
And hym to .you I .gyffe
But lord God, I thanke the with all my hart
For I am glad that I schall leve,
And kys onys my dere moder. 372
ABRAHAM. Now be rygth myry, my swete chyld,
For thys qwyke best that ys so myld,
Here I schall present before all other.
YSAAC. And I wyll fast begynne to blowe 376
Thys fyer schall brene a full good spyd;
But, fader, wyll I stowppe downe lowe,
Ye wyll not kyll me with jowr sword, I trowe ?
BROME PLAY OF ABRAHAM &> ISAAC. 175
ABRAHAM. Noo, harly, swet son have no dred, 380
My mornyng ys past,
YSAAC. Ya! but I woold that sword wer in a glad,
For i-wys, fader, yt make me full yll a-gast.
[Here Abraham mad hys offryng, knelyng and seyyng thus:
ABRAHAM. Now lord God of hevyn in Trynyte, 384
Allmyty god omnipotent,
My offeryng I make in the worchope of the,
And with thys qweke best I the present.
Lord reseyve thow myn intent. 388
As art god and grownd of our grace.
DEUS. Abraham, Abraham, wyll mot thow sped,
And Ysaac, thi _yowng son the by,
Truly, Abraham, for thys dede, 392
I schall multyplye ^owres botheres sede
As thyke as sterres be in the skye,
Bothe more and lesse;
And as thyke as gravell in the see, 396
So thyke multyplyed /our sede schall be,
Thys grant I jow for yowr goodnesse.
Off _yow schall cume frowte gret,
And ever be in blysse with owt ^ynd, 400
For y& drede me as God a-lon,
And kepe my commawmentes everyschon.
My blyssyng I ^effe, wer so ever yt goo.
ABRAHAM. Loo, Ysaac, my son, how thynke _ye, 404
Be thys warke that we have wrogth,
Full glad and blythe we may be
A^-ens the wyll of God that we grucched nott,
Upon thys fayer hetth. 408
YSAAC. A! fader, I thanke our lord every dell,
That my wyt servyd me so wyll,
For to drede God more than my detth.
ABRAHAM. Why! dere- wordy son, wer thow a-dred? 412
Hardely, chyld, tell me thy lore.
176 APPENDIX TV.
YSAAC. Fa, be my feyth, fader, now hath I red,
I wos never soo afrayd before,
As I have byn at _yyn hyll. 416
But be my feyth, fader, I swere
I wyll never more cume there
But yt be a-^-ens my wyll.
ABRAHAM. Fa, cum on with me, my owyn swet sonn, 420
And horn-ward fast now let us goon.
YSAAC. Be my feyth, fader, ther-to I grant,
I had never so good wyll to gon horn,
And to speke with my dere moder. 424
ABRAHAM. A ! lord of hevyn, I thanke the,
For now may I led horn with me
Ysaac, my _yownge sonn so fre,
The gentyllest chyld above all other. 428
Thys may I wyll a-voee.
Now goo we forthe, my blyssyd sonn.
YSAAC. I grant, fader, and let us gon,
For be my trowthe wer I at home, 433
I wold never gon owt under that forme.
I prey God ^effe us grace ever mo,
And all thow that \ve be holdyng to.
NOTES.
YORK PLAY.
SUBJECT.— The Creation of the Universe and the Fall of
Lucifer form the subject of a play, or part of a play, in each of
the four great cycles. The versions followed by the different
authors and by the writer of the Cursor Mundi exhibit only
trifling differences, the chief of which are recorded in the notes.
The York Play on this subject may certainly claim pre-eminence
over its rivals. It is full of dramatic vigour, and is pervaded
by a certain homely grandeur of style, which contrasts very
effectively with the baldness of the Coventry playwright or the
turgidity of the Chester.
DIALECT.— The dialect in which the York Plays were written
was the Northumbrian, but the language of the plays as they
have come down to us is strongly affected by the influence of a
Midland scribe. Note, however, the Northern a for o in
formaste, ane, aivne, etc., the Northern form of the second
person singular in thu has, thou lyes, thou -was, the plural in s
after the substantival subject,
Thi dedes to this dole nowe has dyghte us (1. 109),
and again the imperative plural in es (the pronoun being absent),
Bothe the nighte and the day, does dewly _yhour deyver.
Note also the present participles in and, ande, and the Northern
forms als, whilke, slyke, gyf, sail, etc.
METRE.— The metre of this play, like that of the fortieth
and forty-fifth, consists of eight-line stanzas, of which the first
quatrain rimes abab with four beats to the line, the second
quatrain cddc, with three beats. Each line is alliterative on
three stressed syllables at least.
N
178 NOTES TO YORK PLAY.
TEXT. — The text of this play is taken from the editio princeps
with the following title :
' York Plays. The Plays performed by the Crafts or Mysteries
of York on the day of Corpus Christi in the I4th, i$th and i6th
centuries, Now first printed from the unique manuscript in
the Library of Lord Ashburnham. Edited with introduction
and glossary by Lucy Toulmin Smith. Oxford, at the Clarendon
Press, 1885.'
Ego sum Alpha et O., &°c. This is compounded of two texts :
Rev. i. 8, ' I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,'
and John xiv. 6, ' I am the way, the truth, and the life.' The
Towneley, Coventry and Chester Plays quote only from the
Revelation.
5. My blyssyng o ble sail be blendyng, &*c. : it has been
suggested that ' ble ' here stands absolutely for ' beauty ' ; if not,
we can hardly reject Mr. Joseph Hall's transposition ' O blyssing
my ble,' etc. It seems agreed that ' blendyng ' means ' a blend '
and not ' a blinding.'
17. But onely the ivorthely warke, &C.: i.e. but my spirit
shall breathe my might only into the worthy work of my will.
23. Nyen ordres of aungels. The nine orders are thus summed
up in the corresponding Chester play —
Lord, through thy mighte thou haste us wroughte
Nine orderes heare, that we maye see
Cherubyn and Seraphyn through thy grace,
Thrones and domenaciones in blesse to be.
With principates that order brighte
And potestates in blissful lighte,
Alsoe vertutes through thy greate mighte,
Angell, also arckeangele.
The Cursor Mundi says
Of angels wald he served be
That suld of ordres haf thris thre,
He ches til him that lauerd hend
The men suld mak the ordre tend.
Cotton MS., 429-432.
But in the Towneley Play the tenth order was originally
composed of the Angels who afterwards forfeited their place,
for the Primus demon in reproaching Lucifer says —
Thou has maide IX, there was X.
So also in Ccedmon.
NOTES TO YORK PLAY. 179
25. Nexile : ' an exile, s. aisle, from Lat. axilla, a detached part
of the structure of the world ; here seems to be confounded
with isle.1 (Note in Miss Smith's Glossary, York Plays, p. 546.)
28. And that welth sail -welde, &°c. : i.e. and [they] that shall
enjoy well-being shall dwell in these habitations.
32. Be put : i. e. that they be put.
49. Markide : i. e. is made conspicuous.
71. Me nedes: Le. I have no need to trouble myself in any
way.
92. Owe! deives ! all goes doivne : Lucifer's self-gratulation
is here cut short by his fall from heaven. In the Cursor Mundi
and in the Towneley and Chester Plays his sin is represented as
more heinous than that of mere boasting.
Thus in the Cursor we read —
'Sette,' he said, 'mi sete I sal
Gain him that heist es of all :
In the north side it sal be sette,
O me servis sal he non gette,
Qui suld I him servis yeild ?
Al sal be at myn auen weild.'
Cotton MS., 457-462.
And in the Plays Lucifer seats himself in God's throne.
1 06. All oure fade es but filth, ivefynde us beforn : i.e. all the
food we find before us is but filth.
124, 25. Thi rightwysnes, &c.: I supply [redes] and [it] as
suggested by Dr. Kolbing, and adopt his punctuation.
134. Tham thoght tham : 'Thai thoght tham' would mean
'they thought themselves,' and 'tham thoght thai weren,' 'it
seemed to them they were,' but ' tham thoght tham ' is loose
grammar.
142. Before: i.e. in point of time.
l8o NOTES TO CHESTER PLAYS.
CHESTER PLAYS.
I. NOAH'S FLOOD.
SUBJECT.— The Building of the Ark, the entrance into it of
Noah and his Wife, and the Flood, were among the most
popular subjects in the Miracle Cycles. In addition to the
York, Towneley, Coventry, and Chester plays, a Newcastle play
acted by the Shipwrights' Gild is still preserved, and is printed
in Brand's History of Newcastle, vol. ii. In the Miller's Tale
of Chaucer, where a clerk persuades a foolish carpenter to pass
the night in a basket slung from a window in preparation for a
second flood, there are naturally many allusions to Noah. See
especially lines 348-357.
'Hastow nat herd how saved was Noe,
Whan that our Lord had warned him biforn
That al the world with watir schulde be lorn!'
'Yis,' quod this carpenter, 'ful yore ago.'
'Hastow nought herd,' quod Nicholas, 'also
The sorwe of Noe with his felaschipe,
That he hadde or he gat his wyf to schipe ?
Him hadde wel lever, I dar wel undertake,
At thilke tyme, than alle his wetheres blake,
That sche hadde hadde a schip hirself alone."
The Flood is treated at great length in the alliterative poem
on Noah and in the Cursor Mundi (11. 1625-2000), but there is
no allusion there to the obstinacy of Noah's wife.
METRE. — Stanzas of eight lines, for the most part riming
aaab cccb, but occasionally aaab aaab. The fourth and eighth
lines have only three beats, the rest four. There is much use of
alliteration.
TEXT. — The Chester Plays have come down to us in five
manuscripts, all transcribed within fifteen years, and all late.
The earliest, written in 1591 by 'Edward Gregorie, a scholar of
Bunbury,' is now in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire,
by whose kindness the present editor has had the use of it for
this edition. The next two transcripts were made by George
Bellin in 1592 and 1600 respectively. These are both in the
British Museum, MS. Add. 10,305 and Harl. 2013. The fourth
copy is in the Bodleian (MS. 175) ; it was written by William
NOTES TO CHESTER PLAYS. 181
Bedford in 1604. The fifth and last, dated 1607, was the work
of James Miller, and this also is in the British Museum (Harl.
2124). As to the relations of the five MSS. all that can be said
here is that the transcripts of 1592 (here called B) and 1607 (E)
show, especially in this play, most striking differences, and that
the Devonshire MS. (A) is a link between them, though nearer
to B than to E. Harl. 2013 and Bod. 175 belong to the same
group as B and are of no great importance. For the present
edition I have followed Wright's Shakespeare Society edition
(1843), and take my text from B ; but with important cor-
rections from A and E, and a long passage for which E is our
sole authority. In 1892 the E. E. T. S. issued the first half of
the late Dr. Deimling's critical edition, the text of which is
based on E.
I. /, God, that all this worlde hath 'wrought: 'hath* for
' have ' through the interposition of the word ' God.'
4. Are sette fowle in synne : C reads ' Are fowle sotted.'
5. My ghoste shall not linge in mone . . . but tell, &>c. : my
spirit shall only (not . . . but) continue in man for six score
years. Cp. Gen. vi. 3.
8. They : here and in 11. II, 201, 204, written the in B.
10. Fowle to flye: gerundial infinitive, cp. 11. 57, 58, a
hacchette wounder keyne to bitte well.
I 1. They doe me nye, The Folke, &>c. : 'for on earth they, the
folk that are thereon, do me wrong.' This seems better than to
omit (with Wright) the comma after 'nye,' when we must
render : ' for they cause me to harm the folk that are thereon.'
15. Hartelye. A and E read ' inwardlie,' but see Gen. vi. 6.
17. My servante free : 'free,' i.e. noble.
19. The directions here given are paraphrased from Gen. vi.
14-16 : ' Make thee an ark of gopher wood (treeyes dry and
Tight, 1. 20) ; rooms (littill chamberes, 1. 21) shalt thou make
in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch
(11. 22-24). And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it
of: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the
breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits
(11. 25-28). A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a
cubit shalt thou finish it above (11. 29-30) ; and the door of the
ark shalt thou set in the side thereof (11. 31-32) 5 with lower»
second and third stories (three rowfed chamberes on a roe, 1. 34)
shalt thou make it.'
1 82 NOTES TO CHESTER PLAYS.
21. Thou make : imperative.
27. The meete thoufonge : take thou the measure. ' Meete ' is
the reading of MS. A, for 'nexte ' of B, and ' melt ' of E. The
height as given in Genesis is thirty cubits, not fifty (E) or sixty
(A).
31. A dore shall sit : \. e. shall be placed. This is the reading
of E and rimes with ' wytte ' and ' itt.' A and B both read
' sutte,' the northern spelling of ' shutte.'
34. Three rcnvfed chamberes on a roe. These do not answer
to the 'rooms' of Gen. vi. 14, but to the 'lower, second and
third stories ' of verse 16. ' Rowfed ' is the reading of E, and
shows 'ronette' of A and D to be a mistake for 'rovette,' a
northern spelling of the same word. C reads 'round,' and
gives us also 'on a roe ' instead of the senseless ' one or two ' of
the other MSS.
35. Sloive: i.e. slay, is the reading of E and superior to 'flowe '
(? = flood) of the other manuscripts.
40. Saved be for thy sake : another reading from E instead of
the senseless ' shall fall before thy face,' which loses the rime
with ' make' in 1. 36.
42. To me arte in such will : art so minded towards me.
43. house, B ' howseholde.'
50. Hye you, leste this ivatterfall. E reads ' Helpe for aughte
that may befall.'
75. Every stiche : i.e. every stick. B 'with stiche.'
93. Toppe-castill ': a ledging surrounding the masthead.
94. With cordes and roppes, I hold all meete, E ; the other
MSS. read : ' Bouth cordes and roppes I have all meete.'
115. For non soe righteous man to me: (to me, i.e. in my
sight) A and E. ' For non soe righte, nor non to me,' B.
113-124. Cp. Gen. vii. 1-3.
I25~I33- Cp. Gen. vi. 19-21.
125. more, B 'moe.'
131. Forgetten, B 'forgotten.'
137-144. Cp. Gen. vii. 4.
145. bayne, B ' beane.'
151. Yf through amendment, &»c. : i.e. to see if— an explana-
tion of his slowness. The ' hundred wynter and twentye ' of
line 1 49 are a repetition of the ' six skore yeaires' of line 7, both
being taken from Genesis vi. 3. But according to Genesis v. 32
Noah was apparently over five hundred before the Ark was
NOTES TO CHESTER PLAYS. 183
begun, and according to Genesis vii. 6 only six hundred when
it was finished. The writer reckons by the ' long hundred.'
152. unto, B 'to.'
155. That iich beaste were in stalle: a wish ; cf. Ch2. 388, 'And
sone that I were speede.'
170. Fullimartes: i.e. polecats, A; 'fulmart,' E. 'Fillie,
mare also,' B, which clashes with 'horses, mares,' &c. of 1. 162.
187. Cuckoes, curlues, &*c. For ' cuckoes ' we have in B
' Duckes,' but our reading is supported both by its alliteration
and by the occurrence in 1. 189 of ' digges, drackes.'
Who ever knoives. Perhaps we should only regard this as
a loose way of saying 'for anyone who knows to see,' or
'as any one knows;' but lines 189-191 may be taken as ex-
planatory of ' iche one in his kinde,' and the construction be
completed by line 192.
206. But, ' unless ' ; elles, redundant.
207. Noive. A and E unite in reading Noe in preference to
this (' Els rowe forth Noe whether the liste'). B thy for thee.
220. There without: substituted, to save rime and sense,
on the authority of A and E, for the ' their all daye ' of B.
225. Fleetinge : i.e. floating, AE ; 'flitting,' B.
226. Spreadesfullferre(K'farre'). The transcriber of E, or his
authority, not recognising that the metre of the Gossippes Song
is different from that of the rest of the play, has altered these
words to ' it breadeth (broadens) in haste,' in order to preserve
the triple rime with ' faste ' and ' agaste.' Again in line 228 he
reads : ' Good gossip, let me come in.'
233. Heare is a pottill, &*<;. This and the three following
lines are omitted by E. It will be noted that they are metrically
an excrescence.
238. Childer: retained by A only; other MSS. 'children.'
244. nought, B 'note.'
246. Have thou that for thy note! We are to understand that
Shem has carried his mother by force into the boat, and that
she is replying to her husband's sarcastic welcome with a blow.
The reading 'note' (use) makes good sense, and contains a
possible pun : it is supported by A and B. But there is much
to be said for the 'mote' (argument, speech) which is found in E.
249. Remeves : i.e. removes, moves away, AE. 'Renewes'
of B is plainly a scribes error.
257. Shutte, AB ; steake, E.
1 84 NOTES TO CHESTER PLAYS.
259. So great e one, AE ; so greate wone, B.
[26l*~398*.] The following forty-eight lines are given only
by E. As they closely follow the Bible narrative [Gen. viii.
6 sqq.], and supply what in the other texts is an obvious lacuna,
while the naivet/ of the stage directions is an additional
argument for their genuineness, I have no hesitation in printing
them.
275*. Stage direction: 'Then shall he let loose a dove and
there shall be in the ship another dove bearing an olive in her
mouth, which some one shall let down [the verb should plainly
be demittef\ by a string into the hands of Noah.'
299*. Soe be, text ' be soe.'
305*. Comes in all wise. 'Comes,' the northern imperative
plural ; cp. does Y. 156. 'All wise ' : by all means.
263. Wher all was \lorne\ salfe to be. I have ventured thus
to emend, despite the agreement of the MSS. in favour of
4 borne.' For ' salfe,' A ; safe, E ; MS. B reads ' false.'
268. And full devotion : so AB, but in E the line appears as
' I offer here right sone.'
270. Thy, AE ; to my, B.
276. Has, AE ; halfe, B.
278. And, AE ; on, B.
292. Lete, B leave.
293. Flee, B fleye-
296. Mankinds: the rime in 1. 300 shows that the original
reading was probably ' mankynne.'
305-7. Heste, beste, leste, B heiste, beste,last.
311. Verey, AE ; every, B.
313, 4. That man ne woman, AE; in B the line limps haltingly
as, ' man shall never more.' To make up for this the next line
is much too long, ' Be wasted with waiter, as he hath been
before.' I follow A in omitting 'he' and 'bene,' elliptical
expressions being common in these plays. E reads: 'as is
before.'
318. like, AE ; same, B.
II. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC.
SUBJECT.— Five other English miracle-plays on this subject
have been handed down to us. Of these the least interesting
is that of the Coventry series, in which Isaac bows at once to
NOTES TO CHESTER PLAYS. 185
his fate, and the story is told as baldly as possible. Better than
this, but still with the omission of much of the small incident
and by-play of our text, is the short Towneley version. In
the York Play the charm of the story is marred by the unhappy
freak of making Isaac thirty years of age, apparently that
in this also he should be a type of Christ. In a Dublin
play (isth century), printed by J. P. Collier in 1836 from a
manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin, the distinguishing
features are the introduction of Rebecca and the longer speeches
assigned to Deus. The fifth version is that first printed by
Miss Toulmin Smith in Anglia, Band vii. pp. 323-337, from a
1 5th century MS. found at Brome in Suffolk. This play has
especial interest for us, not only on account of its intrinsic
merit, but from the strong resemblance of its lines 164-314 to
the corresponding 134 lines in the Chester version. This resem-
blance, sometimes of phrase, sometimes only of meaning, is
interrupted by occasional passages in the Brome MS., which
have no equivalents in the Chester. Apparently both editors
worked upon a common original, but the Chester poet com-
pressed the more freely, and in so doing greatly heightened the
effect of the dialogue. But he shewed poor taste in omitting the
charming scene between the Father and the Son after their agony
is over, and I give this in full in an Appendix. It is possible,
however, that the Chester Play has come down to us mutilated.
It was plainly at one time a separate play, and when amal-
gamated with that of Abraham and Lot may well have been cut
down for greater convenience of performance.
230. Doe a littill thinge : i.e. 'go about a little piece of
business,' but the phrase seems to have had some liturgical
associations ; cp. Chaucer's Knightes Tale, 1435, of Emily's
sacrifice to Diana —
Two fyres on the auter gan sche beete,
And dide hire thinges, as men may bibolde;
and in the same way, ' said his thinges ' is used for ' said his
prayers.'
265. [Affearde] . . . [swerde]. Following Wright, I thus
emend 'afrayde' . . . 'sworde' of the MSS.
268. You -will not slaye your childe. The fine scene which
follows, perhaps the most pathetic in our older literature, was
doubtless suggested to the dramatist by the consideration that
1 86 NOTES TO CHESTER PLAYS.
Isaac, as a type of Christ, must have been a willing sacrifice.
The author of the Cursor Mundi had no such inspiration.
'Sir,' he said, 'quer sal we take
The beist of sacrifice to make,
Sin we wit us now broght has nan.'
He said, 'drightin sal send us an.'
Wit this he stod the child nerhand
And demlike [privily] he drou the brand
That the child was not parceveid
Ar the suerd him hade deceveid.
Cotton MS., 3165-72.
271. [Steade] ; fyelde, A; feilde, B ; stydd, E.
281. I prate thee . . . even in three. Here A and E give us
the true reading for B's unmetrical
Isaake, sonne, peace I thee praie
Thou breakes my harte in sunder.
299. If it maye be : after ' she woulde kneele downe ' the
regular construction here requires ' might,' which is actually the
reading of E. But the present tense is full of dramatic vividness.
300. Dr. Kolbing points out that a half stanza has here been
lost, and that we may supply three lines of it from the Brcme MS.
178-80 :
And sythyn that my moder ys not here
I pray yow, fader, schonge yowr chere,
And kyll me not with yowyr knyffe.
314. Will not guile me in my nede, B ; quite me my meede,
AE ; the latter reading is perhaps slightly the better. Neither
takes a very high view of Abraham's motive.
319. Onste. Wright misread this as ' ouste,' a word probably
not in use at this time. A and E read ' once.'
333. My blessinge, &*c. These four lines are printed from
A and E. In B (followed by Wright) they do not appear.
335. The blessing of the Trinitie. Allusion to the Holy
Trinity are frequent in plays on Old Testament subjects.
336. Grylle should rime with lighte. Perhaps we should read
gryghte, murmur (from gntccheri).
369. \Yinge\\ yonge, MSS.
378. Thou greyed me \n\ever ones : Dr. Kolbing's emenda-
tion from Brome MS. 270 ('In all thy lyffe thou grevyd me
neuer onys') ; thou greves me ever ones, B; thou greeves me
every ones, A ; thou greved me but ones, E.
NOTES TO CHESTER PLAYS. 187
388. And sone that I were speede : a wish, cp. C. L. 155.
391. A litill while, -while you have space. B omits the first
' while,' rather to the improvement of the sense. But the word
is more likely to have dropped out in B than to have been
repeated in A and E, and is needed for the sake of the metre.
397. / ivoulde fayne . . . Full loth were me : the subtle
indication by the tenses that Abraham's resolution is faltering
is worth noting.
411. I pray e you ryddme. This reading (from A), though less
forcible than the ' I praye God rydd me ' of E, is supported by
the Brome MS. The disputed word is omitted altogether in B.
435. Into this place as thou se may. Only given in E. Not
a good line, but needed for the metre.
446. ever : pronounced as ' e'er.'
447. To teare, AB ; E weakly reads ' so deare.'
454. And thy bloode, AE ; and of thy bloode, B ; but the
reference is plainly to Gen. xxii. 17, 'and thy seed shall possess
the gate of his enemies.'
456. To do, AE ; And do, B.
457. And of all nations, fs*c. I leave the text of this and the
three following lines as it stands in B because it makes good
sense, without any emendation, viz. that Abraham is to be
blessed of all nations and himself to be saved by his descendant,
Christ. But the text followed is plainly Gen. xxii. 18 : 'And in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' Now in
1. 458 AE omit thou, in 1. 459 they read The for Through, and in
the 1. 460 omit be.
And of all nations, leve thou me,
Blessed evermore shall be
The fruite that shall come of thee,
And saved through thy seede.
The stanza is thus much closer to Gen. xxii. 18, but contains a
most awkward change of construction in the last line.
466. In example, AE ; An example, B.
473. Understands I mate, AE ; I maie understande, B.
476. And death for to confounde, AB ; his death to underfonge,
E. Neither reading, it will be observed, supplies a rime to 1. 472.
477. Suche obedience, &>c. The remaining stanzas are not
given in E.
485. Make rombe, lordinges, &c. Spoken by the herald of
the next play, probably on horseback.
1 88 NOTES TO TOWNELEY PLAY.
TOWNELEY PLAY.
SECUNDA PASTORUM.
SUBJECT. — We have in all six plays treating of the Adoration
of the Holy Child by the Shepherds ; two in the Towneley Cycle,
which must have been used as alternatives ; one each in those
of York, Chester and Coventry ; and a single play acted by the
Shearmen and Taylors of Coventry, probably a part of the lost
Cycle of the Trade Gilds of that town. The Shepherds of the
Coventry (Grey Friars?) Cycle are distinguished irom their
fellows by their superior learning, by their dulness and their
abstinence from gifts. In the other plays the Shepherds are all
genuine rustics, rough in their talk and manners, but full of real
devotion. They talk of their sheep, eat their poor meals, wrestle
(as in the Chester Play) with their lad and are ignominiously
beaten, try to imitate the angels' song, and then betake them to
Bethlehem, there to offer their humble gifts. All these features
appear in the Towneley Play, but inwoven with them is a genuine
farce, which makes it of a great importance in the history of the
development of the English drama.
DIALECT. — In the main that of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
METRE. — A very vivacious stanza of thirteen, with two and
three accents to a line, riming ababababcdddc. This metre
runs through five of the Towneley Plays and appears in four
others. Couplets, alternates, and other metres appear in the
rest of the plays. There is much alliteration.
TEXT. — The MS. of the Towneley Plays (now in the posses-
sion of Mr. Quaritch) was originally copied and collated in 1836
for the Surtees Society. The extracts here given are taken from
the Early English Text Society's recent edition.
II. Nere-hands outt of the doore : nearly homeless.
13. Lyysfalow : i.e. because they could not afford to cultivate
them.
20. Lord-fest, ' strong in lordliness,' Morley ; perhaps rather
' attached to a lord ' (the opposite of lordless), cp. shamefast,
wordfast.
28. May he gett a paynt slefe, £r*c. In the days of Sumptuary
Laws an embroidered sleeve would betoken a man of rank.
NOTES TO TOWNELEY PLAY. 189
32. He can make purveance. Purveyance was the right of
purchasing provisions and necessaries for the royal household
at an arbitrary price in preference to any other buyer. The
first of forty statutes against it was made by Canute, but the
right was not finally surrendered till 1660. On a smaller scale
it would be practised by every feudal lord.
289. Bot abowte you a serkylle. Mak (a character who is
probably adapted from the favourite comic character, the con-
jurer and buffoon Maugis of the Romance of the Four Sons of
Aymon), like a rustic magician, draws an imaginary circle round
the Shepherds, in which they are to sleep until his theft is done
and his protestations of innocence ready prepared.
294. Over your heydys, £r*c. : by way of a charm.
309. / hope not I myght ryse a penny to wyn : I have no
expectation of making anything by getting up.
314. There may no note be sene, &»c, : such small jobs prevent
my having any work to show.
317. A, com in, my sivetyng : she recognizes her husband.
341. Then myght I far, by alle the pak, 6r*c. : then might I fare
much the worse at the hands of all the pack. The reading ykr, by
instead of by, for of text (far in Surtees ed. is corrected in errata
to for) was suggested by Dr. Skeat and (independently) by
Dr. Logeman.
598. We wate ill abowte : we are waiting about to no purpose.
Primus Pastor has not yet discovered Mak's trick.
602. Kynde wille crepe, &*c. A proverb ; cp. Everyman, 1. 31 5.
614. I am he that hym gatt. Mak now pretends that the
sheep is a changeling put in place of his child.
634. With you wt lie I be left: I will stand by your judgment.
639. And cast hym in canvas : i. e. they toss Mak in a blanket.
642. A shepe of mi skore : i. e. of seven score pounds.
655. Ther lyges thatfre. For the use of ' free ' as a substantive
(= noble fellow), cp. York Play of the Entry into Jerusalem,
1. 183—
And than we will go mete that free;
also * To that bright ' in 1. 716 of the present play. In the York
Play of the Shepherds, the Holy Child is called ' that frely foode.'
667. How he crakyd it: 'crakyd,' sang out loud (M. E.
craken, to cry out : cp. ' corn-crake '), occurs in the York Play,
where one of the Shepherds, after imitating the angels' song, says—
I have so craked in my throte
That my lippes are nere drye.
190 NOTES TO TOWNELEY PLAY.
671. I can: so Pastor Primus in the York Play, says —
I can synge itt alls wele as hee
And on a-saie itt sail be sone
proved or we passe.
Yf we will helpe, halde on ! late see,
for thus it was.
And the Shepherds all sing together. In the Chester Play, on
the other hand, Pastor Primus modestly remarks,
He hade a moche better voyce than I have,
As hi heaven all other have so.
685. By the prophecy of David and Isay. In the Processus
Prophetarum in the Towneley Plays the prophets who appear
are Moses, David, the Sibyl and Daniel, but the play has some
signs of being imperfect In the Coventry Play no less than
twenty-seven prophets are made to bear their witness.
692. Ecce virgo, 6r>c. : Isaiah vii. 14 (in the Vulgate : ' Ecce
virgo concipiet et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejus
Emmanuel ')• For Ecce the MS. has Cite, a scribe's error.
703. Patriarkes, &c. : cp. Luke x. 24.
729. A bob of cherys. Only the Shepherds of the Coventry
Cycle bring no gifts ; in the other plays some imagination is
shewn in the choice of rustic presents. Thus in the first
Towneley Play the gifts are a ' lytyll spruse cofer,' a ball and
a bottle ; in the York, a brooch with a tin bell, ' two cobill notis
uppon a band ' (cob-nuts on a riband), and a horn spoon that
will hold forty peas. In the Chester Play double gifts are
offered, a bottle, hood and shepherd's pipe by the ' Boys,' and
a bell, spoon and cap by the Shepherds. In the Coventry Play
of the Shearmen and Taylors, the gifts are a pair of mittens, a
hat, and a stick for hooking down nuts or plums.
735-36. Hay lie lytyll tyne mop, Of our e crede thou art crop.
These phrases are repeated from the corresponding scene in
the Prima Pastorum.
747. The tenys. Tennis was a fashionable game in France at
the end of the I4th century (cp. the Dauphin's gift of tennis
balls to our Henry V.), and was well known in England and
Scotland about the same time. In the romance of The Turke
and Gawin it is alluded to as having been played by Arthur's
Knights ! Thou shalt see a tennisse ball,
That never knight in Arthur's hall
Is able to give it a lout.
NOTES TO COVENTRY PLAY. 191
749. That sett alle on seven: that put all things in order.
The phrase is repeated from the Prima Pastorum, in an
earlier part of which it occurs slightly altered as ' to cast the
world in seven.' In the play of Magnus Herodes the King
threatens to ' sett alle on sex and seven.'
765. Let take on loft : let us deliver on high, let us sing out
loudly.
COVENTRY PLAY.
THE SALUTATION AND CONCEPTION.
SUBJECT. — There is no counterpart to this play in any of the
other cycles, and it is to this fact rather than to any special
merit, whether literary or dramatic, that its selection is due.
We have here a personification of the heavenly virtues of Truth,
Mercy, Justice and Peace, and we thus advance a step towards
the dramatic allegory of the earliest Morality Plays, such as the
Castell of Perseverance, which ends with a precisely similar scene.
METRE. — This play is written throughout J in stanzas of eight
lines, riming ababbcbc, with the occasional substitution of two
more A-rimes for the Cs in the second quatrain. This very
undramatic metre runs through eleven of the Coventry Plays
and appears also in twelve others. The chief variation from it
is a still longer stanza, riming ababababcdddc.
DIALECT. — The chief scribal peculiarity is the appearance
of x in such words as xal, xulde, etc. According to Mr.
Halliwell-Phillipps this is in harmony with the traditional
attribution of the Cycle to Coventry, or its neighbourhood, but
xal, xulde, etc. are usually associated with the East-Midland
dialect, and I have elsewhere stated my belief in the East-
Midland origin of this Cycle.
TEXT.— The text of this extract is taken from Mr. Halliwell-
Phillipps' edition for the Shakespeare Society, the title of which
runs as follows :
' Ludus Coventriae. A collection of mysteries formerly repre-
sented at Coventry on the Feast of Corpus Christi. Edited by
James Orchard Halliwell. London : printed for the Shakespeare
Society, 1841.'
1 There are three half-stanzas of four lines each.
192 NOTES TO COVENTRY PLAY.
The proofs have been read with the unique Manuscript in the
Cottonian Collection at the British Museum, dated 1468.
I. Ffowre thowsand sex undryd foure. (The MS. zddsyere,
but see 1. 3.) As there are nearly 200 computations of the number
of years between the Creation of Man and Birth of Christ it is
hardly worth enquiring to whom this particular calculation
should be credited. It is six hundred years longer than the
reckoning of Archbishop Usher (4004 years), now usually in-
serted in Bibles. According to Jewish chronologists the length
of the period is 3992 years, according to the Samaritan 4293,
while other calculations vary between 3483 and 6984.
7. Seydby Ysaie : Isaiah bciii. 15.
10. Into erthe : a rime is wanted to 'fede.' We should
rather read ' this stede,' and explain ' erthe ' as a gloss.
13. Thi thryste : for ' thi ' we should have expected ' their.'
21. Balys. Mr. Halliwell suggested this as an emendation and
in deference to his authority I have so marked it. But the word
in the MS. looks to me far more like ' balys ' than ' babys.'
25. Quod Jeremy e : Jerem. ix. i.
38. That ben in thefyrst ierarchie : see note to York, 1. 23.
48. Of Locyfere to restore the place : see note to York, 1. 23.
49. Proffer mtseriam, &c. : Ps. xii. 5.
71. Thou hast lovyd trewthe : Heb. i. 9.
85. Veritas mea, &C. : Ps. Ixxxv. 10.
87. Byddyth : imperative, ' Cry " Ho " to that hell-hound who
hates thee.' Cp. Chaucer, Knightes Tale, 1796-98.
And when that Theseus hadde seen his sighte,
Unto the folk that foughten thus echon
He cryde, ' Hoo ! no more, for it is doon.'
93. Therefore his endles punchement. The argument is that
because God is eternal, i.e. with an existence not conditioned
by time, therefore any offence against Him partakes of His
eternity, and provokes an eternal punishment.
95. The devyl to his mayster he ches. For the use of ' to ' cp.
Skelton's Magnificence, 1. 1961 —
I sende ofte times a fole to his sone.
107. Above : i. e. in a greater degree than.
1 08. He: i.e. man.
Befeyth he forsook hym never the more : i. e. though man fell
into sin and so forsook God and presumed on His mercy (1. 109),
none the less he retained his faith in God.
NOTES TO MARY MAGDALENE. 193
114. In vertuys : i. e. among angels of the order of Virtues to
which Mercy and Justice belong.
134. Tyl vjysdam : the heavenly Wisdom, or Christ.
MARY MAGDALENE.
SUBJECT. — The importance of this play consists chiefly in its
union of all the essentials of every kind of religious and didactic
drama. It is a miracle play, according to the current definition,
as treating of the life and death of St. Mary Magdalene. It is
a mystery play, by virtue of the introduction of scenes from the
life of Christ. It is a morality play, as exhibiting the contest
between good and evil, and as introducing upon the stage such
abstract personages as the King of the Flesh.
Dr. Furnivall has divided the play, which has the least possible
dramatic unity, into two parts, with twenty scenes in the first,
and thirty-one in the second. The play must have been an
expensive one to produce, as there are upwards of forty different
characters in Part I. and twenty-six in Part II. Probably only
two pageants were used for its representation, for several of the
scenes appear to be inserted only to give time for a ' shift ' on
the other pageant. But if any attempt were made to depict the
burning temple or the incidents of the voyage of the King and
Queen of Marcylle, realistically, the resources at the command of
the stage manager must have been extensive.
The story of the play is adapted, with very few variations,
from the account of St. Mary Magdalene in the Legenda Aurea
of Jacobus de Voragine, of which an English edition was pub-
lished by Caxton in 1483. The identification of Mary Magdalene
with Mary the sister of Lazarus was accepted by Gregory the
Great, and being supported by his authority was hardly questioned
until the 1 6th century.
DIALECT.— According to Dr. Furnivall the dialect of the play
is East-Midland, probably from the neighbourhood of Lynn in
Norfolk, or from Lincolnshire. The most notable dialectal
and scribal forms are xal (shall) and qwat (what).
METRE. — The metre is very irregular. It seems to have
originally been written in 8- or 9-line stanzas, and to have re-
mained so now and then. Other stanzas, alternates and couplets,
also occur. The line numbers which are taken from Dr.
o
194 NOTES TO MARY MAGDALENE.
Furnivall's edition, show them to some extent. Pt. II. is
mainly in alternates.
TEXT. — The text here given is from Dr. Furnivall's edition of
the Digby Mysteries (see Introduction) for the New Shakspere
Society. The Bodleian manuscript in which these plays are
preserved was the work of three different hands, but the greater
part was probably written between 1480 and 1490.
54. Besyn of all other men : for the use of 'of after 'besyn'
(beseen) cp. I Cor. xv. 5, 'And that He was seen of Cephas,
then of the twelve.'
55. Cyrus is my name. The following is the account of the
Magdalene's parentage in the Legenda Aurea:
' Mary Magdalene had her surname of magdalo a castell |
and was borne of right noble lygnage and parentes | whiche
were descended of the lygnage of kynges | And her fader was
named Sirus & her moder eucharye | She wyth her broder
lazare & her suster martha possessed the castel of magdalo :
whiche is two myles fro nazareth | & bethanye the castel
whiche is nygh to Iherusalenr and also a grete parte of Iheru-
salem. whiche al thise thynges they departed amonge theym in
suche wyse that marye had the castelle magdalo. whereof she
had her name magdalene | And lazare had the parte of the cytee
of Iherusalem : and martha had to her parte bethanye.'
Legenda Aurea. Second Edition (1493), f. 184, ver. 80.
55. Be cleffys so cold: a meaningless tag ; cp. ' in contree and
cost/ 1. 1212.
60. Bothe lesse and more : i. e. the whole of it ; cp. 1. 1 202.
For ' more ' and ' sore ' we should read ' mare ' and ' sare."
84. Why II that / am in good mynd: i. e. in my right senses, in
full possession of my faculties.
89-91. Hys ivy II . . . a-gens hem. There is here a confusion
of pronouns past any certain unravelling. ' Agens hem ' (i. e.
with respect to them) probably refers to Lazarus' sisters.
93. Thatt God of pes. For ' Thatt1 we should probably read
' Thou.'
106. To your grace: to your honour or credit.
269. Bak and syde : a phrase for the whole body, as in the
famous drinking song, ' Back and side, go bare, go bare.'
285. In-wyttissymus. Dr. Furnivall glosses this word in his
margin as ' infinitissimus,' most infinite ; but it clearly stands
for ' invictissimus,' most unconquered.
NOTES TO MARY MAGDALENE. 195
288. He to bryng us : the construction is altered at the end
of the line and the pronoun repeated.
299. Thys castell is owerys : the reply of Martha shows that
in ' ours,' Lazarus is using the royal plural. In 1. 81 the 'castell'
had been given to Mary, and in 1. 303 she seems to claim it as
hers.
308. And that Ijugge me to skryptur : and as to this I refer
my claim to Scripture.
359. Satan ower sovereyn : ? for 'yower sovereyn.'
362. At my ryall retynawns : in my royal train.
377. We xal hyrre wynne. This is the first intimation that the
attack is to be specially against the Magdalen.
476. Wynne of maw t, Qr°c. Even with the aid of Henderson's
Ancient and Modern Wines it is difficult to identify all the
different varieties mentioned in the lists in which medieval
taverners delighted. Wine of Mawt is possibly Maltese wine
rather than wine made from malted barley ; Malmeseyn came
from Malvasia in the Morea ; ' clarry ' wine (vin doulce et
clarre") was red or white wine seasoned with honey (cp.
Chaucer, Knightes Tale, 613) ; it seems to have been a mixture
made as required, as opposed to ' claret ' which was manufac-
tured. ' Gyldyr ' is Guelder ; ' Galles,' Galicia ; ' at the grome '
stands for ' at the Groine,' the port in Spain. ' Wyan ' is our
English way of writing ' Guyenne ' ; ' Vernage ' a wine grown
near Verona, and often mentioned, as in Chaucer's Merchant? s
Tale.
484. Thefynnest thou hast. Note the change from the polite
your and you, with which Satan addresses Mary, to his thou hast
to the Taverner. So Harry Bailey speaks to the Shipman as
thou and to the Prioress as you. In the dialogue in 11. 615-630
of this play, Simon addresses Christ as 'Ye' and is addressed
by Him as Thou.
507. Lady, this man is for yoiv : for you, at your service, cp.
Much Ado, ii. I. 387 ' My lord, I am for you, though it cost me
ten nights' watching.'
590. Agens God so veryabyll. For 'against' meaning 'in
regard to,' cp. Trevisa's tr. of Higden's Polych. vi. ' Merciable
agenst pore men.'
610. The prophett : i.e. Christ, who, however, has not pre-
viously been mentioned.
612. Be the oyle of mercy. The softening and healing properties
O 2
196 NOTES TO MARY MAGDALENE.
of oil have caused it to be regarded as symbolical of mercy and
forgiveness ; cp. its use in the Sacrament of Extreme Unction,
and the legend, narrated in the Cursor Mundi, that Seth, when
Adam lay dying, was sent to Paradise to seek the oil of mercy
for him.
619. That thou tuylt me knowe : because thou art minded to
recognise Me.
638. With the to stand: the infinitive is probably explanatory
of ' my hart and thowt ' in the next line.
670. With good entent, text ' with good in entent.'
1140. Mahond: throughout the Miracle Plays Mahomet is
the common god of all heathens ; cp. in the Coventry Plays the
speeches of the soldiers who guard the sepulchre :
PRIMUS MILES. My head dulleth.
My heart fulleth
Of sleep.
Saint Mahonnd,
This burying ground
Thou kepe.
'Secundus Miles' calls on 'Mahound Whelp' and the third
soldier on ' Mahound of Might.'
1146. Lythly, chyld, it be natt delay d : i.e. it may not lightly
be delayed.
1 1 86. Glabriosum, &*c. It is impossible to extract any
meaning out of this Mahound's Lesson, but the gibberish seems
to have been intended to carry along with it a suggestion of bad
words.
1200. Ragnell and Roffyn. In the Chester Plays of Anti-
christ, Antichristus at his death calls out :
Helpe, Sathanas and Lucifier,
Bellsabube, bolde Balacher,
Ragnell, Ragnell, thou arte my deare.
And in The Fall of Lucifer Primus Demon calls on
Ruffyne, my frinde fayer and free
Loke that thou kepe mankinde from blesse.
1377. Our lordes precept e, 6r>c. The story as given in the
Aurea Legenda here shows some differences from the version
adopted by the playwright. It runs as follows :
' Saint maxyme, marie magdalene : and lazar her brother
martha her suster Marcelle chamberer of martha, and saint
cedonye whiche was born blynde & after enlumyned of oure
NOTES TO CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 197
lorde | alle these to gydre and many other crysten men were
taken of the mescreau«tes and put in to a shippe in the see
without ony takell or rother for to be drowned, but by the
puruyaunce of almyghty god they came all to marcelle | where
as none wold receyue them to be lodged they duellyd and abode
under a porche to fore a temple of the peple of that contree |
And whan the blessyd marie magdalene sawe the peple assem-
bled at this temple for to do sacrefyce to the ydollis she aroos
vp pleasybly wyth a glad vysage & discrete tongue & well
spekynge | And began to preche the faith and lawe of Jhesu
cryst | and wythdrewe them fro the worshyppyng of thy-
dollis.' — Legenda Aurea. Second Edition (1493), f. 185.
1435. The lond of satyllye : Satalie (Attalia), part of Armenia,
was the scene of one of the campaigns of Chaucer's Knight.
1540. Hoiv pleyauntly they stand ; here the king points to his
idols.
1553. DomimiS) illuminacio mea : Ps. xxvii. I.
THE CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
SUBJECT.— The date of the Castett of Perseverance, which
can scarcely be later than the middle of the reign of King Henry
VI, is nearly a half-century earlier than that of any Morality yet
printed in its entirety. A curious sketch at the beginning of the
MS., reproduced in a plate facing p. 23 of Sharp's Dissertation
on the Coventry Mysteries, gives us a good idea of the manner
in which it was played and the machinery used for its per-
formance.
' A reference to the plate,' writes Mr. Sharp, ' will shew a rude
representation of a castle, raised some height from the ground,
upon pillars or supports, and standing in the centre of a circle
formed by two lines one within the other, in the space between
which is written " + this is the watyre a bowte the place, if any
dycke may be mad ther it schal be pleyed ; or ellys that it be
strongly barryd al a bowte : & lete nowth over many stytelerys
[marshalmen ?] be withinne the plase1." Over the castle we
read : " This is the castel of perseveranse that stondyth in the
myddys of the place; but lete no men sytte ther for lettynge of
1 I write out the contractions in full.
198 NOTES TO CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
syt, for ther schal be the best of all." Beneath the castle and
within the supports to it stands a bed, below which are these
words : — " Mankynde is bed schal be under the castel, & ther
schal the sowle lye under the bed tyl he schal ryse & pleye."
On each side of the castle is written the following direction: —
" Coveytyse copbord schal be at the ende of the castel, be the
beddys feet."
'On the outside of the circle five stations for scaffolds are
marked out ; beginning at the top we read : " Sowth, Caro
skaffold— West, Mundus skaffold— Northe, Belyal skaffold—
North Est, Coveytyse skaffold— Est deus skaffold." Underneath
the circle are the following directions to the performers : — " &
he that schal pley belyal, loke that he have gunne powder
brennyng in pypys in his hands and in his ers, etc. whanne he
gothe to batayle . . . the iiij dowters schul be clad in mentelys,
Mercy in wyth, rythwysnesse in red al togedyr, Trewthe in sad
grene, & Pes al in blake, and they schul pleye in the place al to
gedyr tyl they brynge up the sowle." '
A week before the play was acted criers were sent round to
the neighbouring villages proclaiming its subject, and an-
nouncing its performance 'this day sevennyt' 'at N on the
grene in ryall aray.' The play begins with a conference between
the World the Flesh and the Devil (Mundus, Caro and Belyal) ;
and then Humanum Genus comes forth, apparently from under
the bed, and begins as in our extract. From this point our
quotations sufficiently indicate the course of the play until
Humanum Genus enters the Castle of Perseverance, where he
is besieged by the Seven Deadly Sins and defended by the
Virtues in rather a dull war of words. At last Mankind is
tempted forth from his Castle by wiles of Covetyse, the
peculiar sin of old age. He is rewarded with a thousand marks,
but a little later learns his folly on the arrival of Garcio, his
heir, who demands from him everything he has. But his good
angel once more draws near to his side. There is a dispute as in
the Coventry Play between Misericordia, Veritas, Justicia and
Pax, but God the Father (Pater sedens in trono) admits
Mankind to mercy, and the play ends with a warning to the
spectators 'Evyr at the begynnynge thynke on your last endinge.'
[For remarks on the importance of this play see Introduction.]
METRE.— The greater part of the play is written in stanzas
of 13 lines, riming ababababaccca, the ninth and thirteenth lines
NOTES TO CAST ELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 199
having three accents, the rest four. But we find also a nine-
line stanza, riming ababcdddc ; an eight-line stanza, with two
accents to a line, riming aaabcccb, and other varieties.
TEXT. — The text of these extracts is based on a transcript
from Mr. Hudson Gurney's MS., which has been very kindly
placed at my disposal by Dr. Furnivall, for whom it was made
some years ago, when he intended to edit it for the New
Shakspere Society.
5-7. Lende . . . lende. Here, as in Chaucer, who copies the
French rule as to ' rimes riches ' two words identically spelt may
rime together if their meanings are different. Cp. Chaucer's
Prol.
The holy blisful martir for to seeke [seek]
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke [sick],
11. 17, 1 8.
13. Whow mankende is unchende. 'Unchende' can only
mean ' unkende,' unkind, unnatural ; but the spelling is sur-
prising and the sense hardly what is wanted. Prof. Skeat
suggests ' unhende,' unserviceable, clumsy, as a possible emen-
dation, and this exactly suits the sense.
1 6. / am born and have ryth nowth: i.e. now that I am
born I have nothing, etc. It seems better to construe thus
than to put a comma after 'wot' in 1. 15, and connect together
' to woo and wepynge I am born.'
20. Crysme. The ' chrism ' or ' chrisom-cloth ' was properly a
white cloth placed by the baptizing priest on the head of an
infant to prevent the holy oil from rubbing off. It was afterwards
enlarged into a white robe covering the whole body, as a token
of the innocency conferred in baptism ; but the words ' my hed
hath cawth' show that the reference here is to the original
chrisom-cloth.
28. The ton. The apparent doubling of the article is really
a survival of the old thet on, that one ; cp. 1. 38, Hey. 579, and
Chaucer's Legend of Good Women, A. text, 1. 325.
Techyth me to goode. The presence of the preposition is
explained by the old meaning of ' teach ' = show, direct. Cp.
Piers Plowman, i. 81, ' Tech me to no Tresour.'
32. Be fen and fiode : the first of nearly a dozen periphrases
for ' everywhere ' ; cp. be ' strete and stronde,' ' strete and stye,'
' downe and dyche,' ' sompe and syke ' &c.
200 NOTES TO CAS TELL OF PERSEVERANCE.
43. Hevene trone : 'hevene' is a genitive; cp. next line, and
'heven kynge,' Ev. 19.
78. All in povert here thei stode. The pronoun is inserted
because of the intervention of ' all in povert ' between the nouns
and their verb. See Abbott, Shaksp. Gram. §§ 242, 243.
90. Have thou, &*c. : conditional ; cp. 1. 126.
98. Faryn wel at mete and mele : an allusion to the incon-
venience of fasting.
115. Take the werld to thine entent : take the world as the
subject of your thoughts. The construction is as in the phrase
' take to wife.'
137. Thou schalt thynke al be tyme : 'schalt' here is equiva-
lent to ' you are sure to ' ; cp. Richard ///, v. 3. 201,
And, if I die, no man shall pity me;
i.e. 'it is certain that no man will pity me.' See Abbott,
Shaksp. Gram. § 315.
139. Thou schalt holdyn hym inne : you will easily keep
Bonus Angelus in his place.
141. With lofly lyvys fade : with the food of a lovely life, i. e.
with dainty living.
145. Goode : probably a misreading for ' Code ' (God) ; cp.
' fode,' 1. 141.
146. And so I may make mery. The sentence should end ' I
will do what I please yet a while,' but Hum. Gen. slightly alters
his turn of thought in 1. 148.
151. Ryde be sompe and syke. To be possessed of a horse to
carry one dryshod through swamps and streams is taken as a
mark of wealth.
158. Other while thou muste befals. We are tempted at first
to read ' otherwise,' as if Mai. Ang. were explaining that any
failure of 'acord' with him would be treacherous to Hum.
Gen.'s new allies. But 1. 166 shows that 'other while' (occa-
sionally) is right, though a little abrupt.
170. Holt and hale: 'hale' means a 'tent,' a 'pavilion,' and
makes but poor sense in connection with 'holt,' but in these
phrases everything is sacrificed to the alliteration. The dis-
tinction here is between ' land ' and ' house.'
195. And ther to here myn honde. For the omission of the
verb, cp. Ev. 150, 'Farewell, and there an end,' also 1. 207 of
this stanza.
NOTES TO CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE. 201
201. / recke nevere of hevene wonde : I care not whether
I turn aside from heaven.
231. Je vous pry. It has been contended that, inasmuch as
from the reign of Edward III onward French ceased to be the
language of the English Court, the fact that in the Chester
and other Miracle Plays, and in the present Morality Play, the
scraps of French fall exclusively to kings and courtiers, is to
be disregarded, and we are to see in them traces of French
literary originals. But stage traditions in such matters would
be very conservative, and the coincidence is too strong to be
explained away.
246. With cursydnesse in cosies knet : in my manners made
up of cursedness.
259. Who so [«<?/] be lecherous. I have ventured to substitute
nol for MS. now, as the point of the remark is that if a man has
not one sin he has another ; if a man is not lustful he is
proud, etc.
263. Ther is pore nor ryche. For the ellipse of ' neither ' cp.
Shaks. Son. 141 —
But my five wits nor my five senses can
Dissuade one foolish heart from seeing thee.
Abbott, Shaksp. Gram. § 376.
272. Man doth me bleykyn blody ble : man makes my coun-
tenance black and bloody — a strong metaphor.
281. Ffewe men in the ffeyth they fynde. If the text is right,
' they fynde ' must be used for ' men find ' or ' we find,' i. e. one
finds now few men in the faith.
286. For that scJmld cunne Cristis lessottn, 6r*c. : he who is
to learn Christ's lesson must bind his body in penance. For
the use of ' should ' see Abbott, Shaksp. Gram. § 324.
309. May any bate thi bale brewe. The true phrase is given in
1. 317, where Schrift says, ' I schal, if I cunne, Brewe the bote
of bale,' i.e. concoct or devise for thee a remedy out of thy evils.
321. He is in poynt to be spylt : the transcript, my only
authority for the text, reads ' iij poynt,' but the correction ' in,'
suggested by Dr. Skeat, is certain.
323. And wyl certes : i.e. will continue to sit there. Cp.
1. 353-
325. He hath me forsake and I have no gylt. For this use of
'and,' almost with the meaning of 'though,' cp. Apol. for
Lollards, 40 : 'And he was riche He was mad nedy for us.'
302 NOTES TO EVERYMAN.
363. slake. This reading is required to rime with 'make*
in 1. 361. MS. reads 'slawe* = slay.
372. ye me spelle : imperative.
EVERYMAN.
The play of Everyman is perhaps the finest of all the
Morality Plays that have come down to us. Its early popu-
larity is testified by the fact that it was twice printed by
Richard Pynson and twice by John Skot. Neither of the
Pynson editions is now extant in a single perfect copy. Of
one the British Museum possesses a large fragment containing
from 1. 305 to the end, of the other a few leaves only are
preserved at the Bodleian. Skot's editions have been more
fortunate. Of the one identified only by his device a copy is
in the library of Mr. Huth ; while of the edition bearing
his imprint an example was formerly preserved at Lincoln, and
from a transcript of this our extracts have been made. The
original is now at Britwell.
Like the Cast ell of Perseverance, the play of Everyman was
written to persuade men to a life of good deeds and morality,
and it inculcates the sacramental teaching of the Catholic
Church. In 1892 Dr. Henri Logeman shewed that, with the
exception of the prologue, it is a translation, made probably
towards the end of the fifteenth century, of the Dutch play
Elckerlijk, attributed by Dr. Logeman to a certain Petrus
Dorlandus, a native of Diest. (See Elckerlijk and Everyman,
edited by Dr. H. Logeman. Gand, 1892.) The metre of the
play is the rimed couplet with sometimes four, sometimes five,
beats to the line. But for the couplet is sometimes substituted
a quatrain with alternating rimes, and in the Messenger's
prologue after each couplet comes a line of three beats with
rime in -aye.
3. By figure : i. e. as to its form.
7, 8. Mater . . . entent : the ' matter ' is the play, the ' intent '
its didactic purpose.
19. Heven kynge : cp. CP. (43) note.
45. In all the haste. For the presence of the article where we
should now omit it, cp. 'at the lengthe,' 1. 828.
77. Fro heven to departe : to separate him from heaven.
NOTES TO EVERYMAN. 203
104. With the thou brynge : cp. Ch1. 21, 22.
Littill chamberes therin thou make,
And byndynge slyche also thou take.
ill. Ado: the reading is from the 'Salisbury' Skot ; the
Lincoln reads ' have I do.'
116. Spareth. The termination is influenced by 'dredeth' in
the previous line.
132. / may saye deth gyveth no warnynge : for the form of
the assertion cp. 1. 182, and Bale's King John, 2078, 'a lovynge
person thou mayst seeme for to be.' Cp. also Aesch. Agam.
737—
Hap' aura 5' t\9ttv «s 'IA«ov iroA.»v
\«7o<^' &V typovrina. plv vr]V(fj.ov yaXavas, K.T.\.
145. Of nature: i.e. in accordance with nature; cp. the still
current phrase ' of necessity.'
179- Without any adiiysement : Dethe scornfully refers to
Everyman's 'with good advysement' in 1. 175.
194. Ago: gone by. The prefix a- here answers to the
German prefix er. (A.S. agdn, agangan = Ger. ergehen.)
245. Adonay : the Hebrew name for the Deity, a plural form
of Adon, ' lord,' with the pronoun of the first person.
248. Promise is duty: a poor version of the old proverb
'behest is debt.'
272. And yet : i. e. and even now. ' Yet ' here is purely
temporal.
290. To brynge me forwarde : to escort me ; cp. Rich. II, i. 2.
2. ' How far brought you high Hereford on his way ? ' Cp. also
1. 675.
315. For kynde will crepe where it may not go : a proverb; cp.
T.602.
495. And you do by me : if you will act by my advice.
500. / may thanke you of all : not ' of all people I may thanke
you,' but ' I may thank you for everything.' In A.S. the verb
thank takes a genitive of the thing and dative of the person ;
cp. Alis. 7576 : 'And thanked him of his socour.' (Matzner, ii.
23S-)
522. Thy gyde . . .to go by thy syde. For the use of the gerund
cp. Ch1. 10 : 'Beaste, worme and fowle to flye.'
640. Before God: not an oath, but 'when ye come into God's
presence.'
669. Five Wyttes : i. e. the Five Senses.
204 NOTES TO FOUR ELEMENTS.
787. Judas Machabe : cp. I Mace. iii. 3, 4, etc.
795. More and lesse : great people and little. A common
phrase in Chaucer for ' all.'
800. 1 crosse out all this : I make no account of this.
801. J take my cappe in my lappe : ' I doff my cap (so deep
that it comes) into my lap.' Only Mr. Huth's Skot edition reads
' cappe,' the others having ' tappe,' for which no meaning can be
found. The explanation is due to Dr. Logeman.
850. Farewell, and there an ende : for the ellipsis cp. CP. (195.)
902. Memoryall: Mr. Hazlitt prints 'memory all.'
903. Take it of worth: i.e. value it. 'Take in worth' was
the more common phrase ; cp.
When a poore friend a small gift gives to thee
Take it in worth, and let it praysed be.
Baker's Calo Variegatus.
The form ' take it of worth ' occurs again in the Epilogue to this
play —
This moral men may have in mind;
Ye hearers, take it of worth, old and young.
FOUR ELEMENTS.
In one of the speeches of Experience in this play, there occur
the lines —
Till now, within this twenty years,
Westward be found new lands,
That we never heard tell of before this
By writing nor other means.
The discovery of America by Columbus took place in 1492, and
if we may construe ' within this twenty years ' strictly literally,
we must assign the first performance of this play to about 1510.
But in a later passage Experience remarks —
But this new lands found lately
Been called America, because only
Americus did first them find ;
as if he knew nothing of Columbus, but thought that Amerigo
Vespucci's voyage in 1497 was the first discovery of the new
world. This would place our play about five years later, viz.
1515-1520. Its authorship, under the title Natura Naturata,
NOTES TO FOUR ELEMENTS. 305
is ascribed by Bale to John Rastell, a lawyer who owned
a printing-house, and is known to have had plays acted in
his garden. The unique copy (unhappily imperfect) in the
British Museum, from which our text is taken, is generally
ascribed to Rastell's press.
14. To regard his only intent and good wyll : 'only' may
here be an adjective ( = sole), or we may regard it as an adverb
transposed, as in Shaks. Cor. i. I. 40 —
He did it to please his mother, and to be partly proud.
1 6. What nombre of bakes ...be made and imprintyd. Taking
the date of this interlude as about 1510, the number of books
printed in the third of a century, since Caxton's first dated
volume (The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, 1477),
would not have been very large, probably 500 would be a high
estimate. For Caxton is only known to have printed something
under a hundred ; the tale of Wynkyn de Worde's four hundred
would not yet be nearly complete, and his fellow-apprentice
Pynson was much less prolific.
17. Oftoyes and tryfellys. Caxton's tastes lay chiefly in the
direction of works of morality and devotion, but he printed the
works of Chaucer and Gower, and Malory's King Arthur.
Wynkyn de Worde kept much on his master's lines, but added
one or two interludes, some grammars and law books. To call
these works ' toys and tryfellys ' is unjust to our early printers ;
but it is true that they shrank from the labour and expense of
publishing editions of the classics or many of the great works of
medieval learning. In the Day Book of John Dome, an Oxford
bookseller, for 1520, the entries of ' Batets' and Kesmes Kerrells
(ballads and Christmas Carols) sold at a half-penny each, show
a brisk trade in these ' trifles.'
25. Our tonge is now sufficient, &*c. Contrast Chaucer, who
refuses to descant on Canacee's beauty, in the tone of an artist
working in an imperfect material, saying—
I dar not undertake so high a thing.
Myn English eek is insufficient ;
It muste be a rethor excellent,
That couthe his colours longing for that art,
If he sholde hir discryven every part.
And he complains elsewhere of the poverty of the language which
he himself so nobly enriched.
206 NOTES TO FOUR ELEMENTS.
47. Why shold not than, &*c. Our dramatist is of Juvenal's
mind —
Semper ego auditor tantum, numquamne reponam?
330. Other causys there are wolde, be lernyd. For the use of
•would 'for requires to, cp. 1. 404—
For cunnyng is the thynge that wolde be sought.
Also—
Which would be howled out in the desert air.
Macbeth, iv. 3. 194.
And for the omission of the relative—
I have a brother is condemned to die.
Measure for Measure, ii. 2. 33.
See Abbott's Shaksp. Gram. §§ 244, 329.
339. In the myddes of the firmament. According to the Ptole-
maic system the earth was a sphere, immoveable in the centre of
the universe, and the entire heavens revolved round it every four
and twenty hours. The work of Copernicus (De Revolutionibus],
which revived the Pythagorean doctrine of the sun as the centre
of the planetary world, was not published till 1543.
367. May beplayne. The earth was anciently believed to be
a flat disc of land, surrounded by the river Oceanus. The dis-
covery of its sphericity is ascribed to Thales (640 B.C.).
373. The eclypse . . . is never one tyme, &*c. : e. g. an eclipse
not visible at Greenwich until 6.10 a.m. would be visible at
Dublin at 5.35, or a quarter of an hour earlier.
394. How many myle : the circumference of the earth at the
equator is 24,899 miles, its equatorial diameter 7926.6 miles.
402. Then myght I say : i.e. if you were to bring him hither
I should have reason to say, etc.
404. Wolde be sought : cp. note on 1. 330.
417. Synge tyrll on the bery : a fragment of a song ; cp. Ralph
Roister Doister, ii. 3. 36 —
Heigh derie derie Trill on the berie ;
and Browne's Brit. Past. \. 2. 'Piping on thine oaten reede
upon this little berry (some ycleep a hillock).' {Murray's Dic-
tionary^
430. Hym : i. e. S.tudious Desire.
476. Nought in regarde : i.e. the feeling, for what pleasure there
may be in it, is nothing to be esteemed, except it be due to me.
NOTES TO SKELTON.
207
517. Such ivyse, me thynketh : in such a manner that it seems
to me my wits grow weary. For the omission of ' that ' cp.
I am so much a fool it would be my disgrace.
Macbeth, iv. 2. 27.
529. Poynt devise : exactly, faultlessly ; cp. As You Like It,
iii. 2. 351 'Point device in your accoutrements.'
SKELTON'S MAGNIFICENCE.
John Skelton was probably a native of Norfolk, and born about
the year 1460. He studied at Cambridge, and has been identified
with a 'Scheklton' who took his M.A. degree in 1484. Lines
on the death of Edward IV (1483) and the Earl of Northumber-
land (1489) were probably among his earliest writings, and in
1490 Caxton describes him as having translated the Epistles
of Cicero Ad Familiares and Diodorus Siculus. Caxton also
mentions that Skelton had been ' late created poete laureate
in the vnyuersite of oxenforde,' and the same distinction was
conferred on him at Cambridge in 1493. In 1498 Skelton took
Holy Orders, and soon afterwards was appointed tutor to the
future Henry VIII. Before 1504 he had been given the rectory
of Diss in Norfolk. By this time Skelton had engaged him-
self in literary quarrels with Sir Christopher Garnisshe, with
Alexander Barclay, and with William Lily, the grammarian.
As yet, however, he enjoyed the patronage of Wolsey. But
the poet was a born satirist, and shortly after the Cardinal's
appointment as Papal Legate (July, 1518), Skelton drew down
on himself his bitter enmity by a series of scathing satires. Of
these his Colyn Cloute touches Wolsey but slightly, and may
possibly have been written before 1518, but Why come ye
nat to Court and Speke, Parrot, are full of bitter invective, and
Skelton was obliged to take sanctuary at Westminster against
the Cardinal's vengeance, and remained there till his death,
June 21, 1529. Of another satirical work, an allegorical poem
entitled the Bowge of Court, we have no clue to the date.
Skelton also wrote a charming lament of a nun for her pet bird
(Phyllyp Sparrowe), and a coarsely humorous description of an
ale-wife (The Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng}. The Garlande
of Laurell, a poem of sixteen hundred lines in his own honour,
208 NOTES TO SK ELTON.
was composed late in life. Of his four dramatic compositions,
the Enterlude of Vertue, the Comedy callyd Achademios, the
Nigramansir (Necromancer) and Magnyfycence, the first and
second have utterly perished, the third was seen by Warton (in
an edition by Wynkyn de Worde, 1504) in the possession of
William Collins, the poet, but has since disappeared, while
Magnyfycence survives in a folio edition, assigned to the press
of William Rastell, with the title : ' Magnyfycence, A goodly
interlude and a mery deuysed and made by mayster Skelton
poet laureate late deceasyd.'
Skelton's Works were admirably edited in two volumes by
the late Alexander Dyce in 1843. From this edition is taken
the text of our extract, while the foregoing brief memoir is
mainly compiled from Mr. Dyce's Introduction.
Mr. Dyce entertained a higher opinion of the merits of
Magnyfycence than the present editor finds it easy to share. It
is distinctly inferior to the earlier plays, such as Everyman, and
except in a few scenes does not tower greatly above Hickscorner,
Lusty Juventus, and the like. The play begins with a con-
troversy between Liberty and Felicity, who both submit them-
selves to Measure (Aristotle's virtue of the 'mean'), and all
three are taken by Magnificence as his counsellors. They are
superseded, however, by the vices Fancy, Counterfeit, Counten-
ance, Crafty Conveyance, and others, under false names. These
new advisers bring Magnificence to ruin, and he comes under the
blows of Adversity, and is visited by Poverty, Despair, and
Mischief. Only the entrance of Good Hope saves him from
suicide, but by the help of Redress, Sad Circumspection, and
Perseverance he is eventually restored to his high estate. Our
extract exhibits the fall of Magnificence and his visitation by
Adversity and Poverty, and certainly shows Skelton at his
best.
1879. Ye sente us a supervysour. In 1. 1808 Magnificence
had appointed Clokyd Colusyon his supervisor, to direct
Largesse and Liberty in the management of his affairs.
1885. Clokyd Colusyon, &>c. A rather distracting feature in
these plays is the habit of the evil characters taking to them-
selves the names of their contrary virtues. Thus Clokyd Co-
lusyon went by the name of Sober Sadnesse, Crafty Conveyance
as Surveyance, Counterfeit Countenance as Good Demeynaunce,
Courtly Abusyon as Lusty Pleasure, and Fansy as Largesse.
NOTES TO SK ELTON.
209
1893. The letter: a forged letter by which Fansy had won
the favour of Magnificence.
1909. I make them overthrowe : 'overthrowe' is here in-
transitive.
1923. That folowe theyr fansyes in foly to fall. For the use
of 'to' to express a result, cp. Gen. iii. 22, ' Man is become one
of us to know good and evil.'
1938. I vysyte to bataylle. In 11. 1927, 1934 and 1951 we
have ' vysyte with? and this, as Dyce suggests, is probably the
true reading here.
1955. To spare the rod. The writers of Morality Plays were
devout adherents of this text, see The Nice Wanton, which
begins by quoting it ; compare also The Disobedient Child, who
dilates on the cruelties of schoolmasters at great length, and
persuades his father not to send him to school, to his own
subsequent misery. But the brutality of the schoolmasters of
old is well established.
1960. A fole to his sonne. For the use of 'to' cp. Mark xv.
23, ' The seven had her to wife,' and Co. 95 ' The devyl to his
mayster he ches.'
1967. I am Goddys preposytour : ' preposytour,' i. e. a scholar
appointed by the master to overlook the rest. ' I am pre-
posyter of my boke, Duco classem! Hormanni Vulgaria, ed.
1530. \Dyce1 s note.]
1973. Of him hathfrounde. I can find no instance of 'frown '
used with the preposition 'of,' nor does such usage seem reason-
able. Dyce queries on, and probably rightly.
1989. Have envy at me. For the use of ' at ' as ' introducing
what is at once the exciting cause and the object of active
emotions,' cp. Metr. Horn. 78, 'The fende at him had grete
envye.'
2006. For, though you were sometyme a noble estate : i. e.
a person of rank ; cp. 1. 31 1, ' Syr, yf I have offended your noble
estate.'
2042. Shertes of Raynes : i.e. shirts of fine linen from Rennes
in France ; cp. the Romance of Eger and Gryme, 1. 305 —
She gave me 2 shirts of Raines in fere.
2070. In manus tuas. The beginning of the text ' In manus
tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum ' (Lord, into Thy
hands I commend my spirit), used by repentant criminals at
their execution.
P
210 NOTES TO HEY WOOD.
HEYWOOD'S THE PARDONER AND THE FRIAR
John Heywood, if we may believe Wood's Athena, was a
native of London, but he is elsewhere stated to have been born
at North Mimms in Hertfordshire, where he certainly had
property and was a neighbour of Sir Thomas More. He studied
at Broadgate Hall, now Pembroke College, Oxford, and later
on won the favour of Henry VIII and his daughter Mary. A
staunch Catholic, despite his clear perception of the abuses
then present in the Church, Heywood was suspected of treason
during the reign of Edward VI, and narrowly escaped hanging.
After the death of Mary he thought it wise to quit England, and
settled at Mechlin, where he is said to have died.
Heywood wrote some Centuries of Proverbs and Epigrams,
and an allegory entitled The Spider and the Flie. Of dramatic
or semi-dramatic works, besides the Dialogue of Witty and
Witless (or Wit and Folly) first printed by the Percy Society,
and that Of Gentylnes and Nobylyte (not by any means certainly
his), five interludes are assigned to him, four printed by William
Rastell in 1533-4, and one (The Fo^^re PP.) of which the first
extant edition is some seven or ten years later, though the play
itself is probably early work. The Play of Love deals with the
contrarieties of lovers, The Play of the Weather with the troubles
of Jupiter in bringing the elements into accord with the wishes of
contending petitioners. A Play between John the husband, Tyb
the wife, and Sir John the priest, takes a hen-pecked husband
as its subject, while of The Foure PP. : a very mery enterlude of
a Palmer, a Pardoner, a Potecary and a Pedlar, the humour
consists in the rivalry of the first three characters as to which
can tell the greatest lie, and the prize is won by the Palmer,
who declares that in all his travels he has never yet seen
'any one woman out of patience.' Our extracts are taken
from ''A merry Play between the Pardoner and the frere, the
curate and the neybour Pratte. [Colophon :] Imprynted by
Wyllyam Rastell, the v. day of Apryll, the yere of our lorde
M. CCCCC. xxxni.,' and are reprinted from a facsimile made
about the year 1830 from the original folio in the possession
of the Duke of Devonshire. Sufficient is here given to render
superfluous any analysis of Heywood's plot. For his con-
ception of the play he was undoubtedly greatly indebted to
NOTES TO HEYWOOD. 211
the characters of the Pardoner and the Frere in Chaucer's
Prologue, from which he borrows freely. Further illustrations
of the ill practices of the Pardoners will be found in Jusserand's
English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages.
9. To poll nor to shave : not to bestow the tonsure, for this
ceremony, being part of the rite of ordination, could only be
performed by a bishop, but to shear and shave people of their
money, or, as we should say, to ' fleece ' them.
23. Wylfull poverte. In the decadence of the Mendicant
Orders this vow was evaded by means of an arrangement with
the Pope, in whose name the Friars held property.
36. On the gospell : cp. Mark xvi. 15, and Luke x. 5-12.
79. Saint Leonard: Deacon and Martyr, roasted alive at
Rome, A.D. 258.
97. I com from Rome: cp. Chaucer's Pardoner, whose mail or
bag was ' bretful of pardons com from Rome al hot.'
98. All and some : ' each and all ' ; cp. Chaucer, Anelida and
Arcite, 1. 26—
For which the people blisful, al and somme,
So cryden, etc.
104. These holy relyques. Lists of impossible or ridiculous
relics formed a favourite weapon of satirists against the Par-
doners. Chaucer contents himself with mentioning a veil worn
by the B. Virgin, and a piece of the sail of St. Peter's boat ; but
other lists, and Heywood's among them, are full of medieval
light-hearted irreverence.
173-82. But one thynge, &c. These ten lines, with some verbal
changes, are lifted bodily from Chaucer's Pardoner's Prologue,
11. 377-86.
192. Pope Leo X : Giovanni de' Medici, born 1475, raised to
the papacy March nth, 1513, died December 1st, 1521. This
allusion makes it probable, though by no means certain, that the
play was composed during the pontificate of Leo X, i.e. at least
ten years before it was printed.
195. As departe : for 'as' used to introduce an imperative,
cp. Chaucer, Troilus, 522 —
'For love of God,' ful pitously he seide,
'As go we scene the paleis of Creseide.'
262. Accurst in the greate sentence. This may refer either to
the Final Judgment or to the sentence of Greater Excommuni-
cation, but probably to the former.
289. Yf they fall ones, &*c. There is no reference here to the
P 2
212 NOTES TO HEY WOOD.
subject of Article XVI of the Church of England (Of Sin after
Baptism). The Pardoner does not mean that from sins against
knowledge there is no recovery, but that the knowledge remains,
and there would thus be no need for the Friar to repeat his
instructions.
300. Andlede them thyther by the purse strynges: cp. Chaucer.
Prologue, 225-232 (character of the Friar) —
For unto a poure order for to give
Is signe that a man is well i-schrive.
For if he gaf, he dorste make avaunt
He wiste that a man was repentaunt.
For many a man so hard is of his herte,
He may not wepe although him sore smerte.
Therfore in stede of wepyng and preyeres
Men moot give silver to the poure freres.
552. Ragman's rolles : a long, unintelligible story. 'Ragman
was the name of an old medieval game in which characters of
persons, good or bad, were written on a roll, and a string with a
seal appears to have been attached to each character, so that
when it was rolled up the persons engaged in the game might
draw characters by chance.' (Halliwell.) Hence the application
to any document with many signatures and seals, such as the
roll offering their allegiance to Edward I, subscribed by the
Scots nobility in 1296, and always quoted as the Ragman! s Roll.
But Ragman or Rageman was also a name for the Devil, and
this seems to have given an almost uniformly opprobrious turn
to the phrase, which is quite in keeping with our text.
557. Mayster parson gave me lycence before the. In the
' Merie Tales of Skelton,' the eighth tells us How the Fryer asked
leave of Skelton to preach at Diss, which Skelton wold not grant.
' There was a fryer the whych dydde come to Skelton to have
licence to preach at Diss. What woulde you preache there ?
sayde skelton : dooe not you thynke that I am sufficiente to
preache there in myne owne cure ? Syr, sayde the freere, I am
the lymyter [ = district-beggar] of Norwych, and once a yeare
one of our place dothe use to preache wyth you, to take the
devocion of the people ; and if I may have your good wil, so bee
it, or els I will come and preach against your will, by the
authoritie of the byshope of Rome, for I have hys bulles to
preache in everye place, and therfore I wyll be there on Sondaye
nexte cummyng.'
NOTES TO THEKSITES. 213
Skelton routed this particular friar with a stupid joke about
bulls and calves, but the tale suffices to show that the leave of
the parish priest was merely asked by way of form and could
be dispensed with.
574. Eggetoles, Mr. Hazlitt in his modernized edition quite
rightly renders ' egoteles ' of the text by edgetools. Two lines
of Chaucer give the right spelling :
No flesh ne wiste offence of egge or spere.
Former Age, 1. 19.
But yet it maketh sharpe kervynge toles.
Troilus, 1. 633.
579. The tone: see CP. (28).
596. Within your lybertye : i.e. within the district in which
Pratt acted as a constable. Liberty = ' a place or district within
which certain privileges or franchises were enjoyed.'
620. Wylt thou be there f is that what you are after ?
635. More tow on my dystaffe, &*c. : more work than I can
get through.
THERSITES.
The original of part of the English play of Thersites has been
found in one of the Dialogi of Jean Tissier de Ravisy, better
known as Ravisius Textor, Professor of Rhetoric at the College
de Navarre, and from 1520 to his death in 1524 Rector of the
University of Paris. (See J. Vodoz, Le theatre latin de
Ravisius Textor, Winterthur, 1898, and review by Creizenach
in Zeitsch. fiir Franz. Spr. und Litt., Bd. 21.) Comparison,
however, of the two plays will show that the anonymous adaptor
handled his materials very freely, and added much more than
he took. Thus the prologue (11. 1-21), the punning passage on
the two meanings of ' Sallet ' (32-69), the scriptural allusions
in 11. 91-101, and the English in 11. 109-119, 121-143, 149-167,
171-187, 212-220, 314-322, 410-414, and the greater part (1. 894
to end) of the Epilogue are all new, and the entire episode
(524-874) of Telemachus coming to the mother of Thersites to
be cured of the worms has no counterpart in the Latin text.
The anonymous English adaptor must have been an Oxford
man, since the allusion to the ' proctoure and his men ' in 1. 1 54
214 NOTES TO THERSITES.
points to a University performance ; and that in the next line to
Broken Keys, a piece of waste land between the Castle and the
City Walls (my knowledge of this is due to Mr. Falconer Madan),
localizes it definitely in Oxford. The Epilogue shows that the
text used by John Tysdale (who began to print about 1561) was
that prepared for a performance between the birth of Edward VI
on October 12, 1537, and the death of his mother, Jane Seymour,
on the 24th of the same month. Whether the play was then
acted for the first time, or whether (as is more likely) an old
play (perhaps originally written for a New Year festival, see
1. 478) was revived with a new epilogue, cannot easily be proved.
The earliest complete edition of the Dialogi of Ravisius was
printed in 1530, and it is probable therefore that the English
play was composed subsequently to this, though an Oxford
dramatist might possibly have seen the Latin text in manuscript
during the author's life. In my introduction to John Heywood's
plays in Gayley's Representative English Comedies, I have
raised the question whether Thersites may not have been written
by Heywood. I still think this possible, but the introduction,
though not published till 1903, left my hands early in 1898,
and the facts which have since come to light do not strengthen
the attribution. Our text, which gives substantially the whole
play save for the Telemachus episode, is taken from a fac-
simile-reprint made by Mr. Ashbee (1876) from the unique copy
of Tysdale's edition in the library of the Duke of Devonshire.
The play opens with three seven-line stanzas riming ababbcc.
A fourth is begun, but after the quatrain is abandoned for
couplets, which form the normal metre of the play, though
occasionally relieved by quatrains and triplets. The number of
accents in a line varies from two to five. Occasionally we get
a line that might be read as a perfect heroic couplet, such as —
If Malvern hills should on thy shoulders light,
They shall not hurt thee, nor suppress thy might.
But the succeeding line —
If Bevis of Hampton, Colburn and Guy,
is of a much more typical nature.
5. In Homer of my actes ye have red. The story of the
attempt of Thersites to excite the Greeks against their leaders,
and his reproof and chastisement by Ulysses, is given in the
second book of the Iliad, but the Latin Homer is almost
certainly referred to.
NOTES TO THERSITES. 215
20. To play cowch quaile. Strutt in his Book of Sports
mentions a game called 'Kales,' which is our Ninepins.
' Couch kale ' may have been a term used in the game = lie down
ninepin. But to couch is a term in falconry (' Like a falcon
towering in the skies coucheth the fowl below.' Rape of
Lucrece, 506), and the reference may be to this.
21. Muldber : another name for Vulcan.
24. Office : officina, a workshop. Tysdale's edition prints the
line-
Come forth, of thy office I the desire,
which may be forced into meaning ' I desire the help of your
craft.'
30. Lemnos andllva. It was at Lemnos that Vulcan touched
ground when hurled from Olympus, and here was his workshop.
Ilva (Elba) is mentioned on account of its iron mines. Mr.
Hazlitt proposes to read Ithalia (better Aethalia), another name
for Elba, for the sake of the rime to 'galea.'
31. Condatur mihi galea : a helmet may be fashioned for me.
37. A sallet, nowe all the herbes are dead. For the play on
the two meanings of 'sallet,' cp. Jack Cade's speech at the
beginning of scene 10, act. iv, King Henry VI : 'Now am I so
hungry, that if I might have a lease of my life for a thousand
years, I could stay no longer. Wherefore o'er a brick-wall have
I climbed into this garden, to see if I can eat grass, or
pick a sallet another while, which is not amiss to cool a man's
stomach this hot weather. And I think this word " sallet " was
born to do me good : for many a time, but for a sallet, my brain-
pan had been cleft with a brown bill ; and many a time, when I
have been dry and bravely marching, it hath served me instead
of a quart-pot to drink in ; and now the word " sallet " must
serve me to feed on.'
88. Hercules. The references are to the twelfth, first, second,
and fourth labours of Hercules, viz. his bringing Cerberus from
the lower world, his fight with the Nemean lion, with the
Lernean hydra and Erymanthian boar.
90. Bere so wylde. Bere, i.e. bear, is a misprint or mistake
for bore or boar.
95. Have take: cp. 1. 102, ' have do.'
1 1 6. Bevis of Hampton, Colburne and Guy. Three old
English heroes. Bevis of Southampton performed his exploits
chiefly in Armenia ; Colburn, or Colbrand, was a giant of Danish
21 6 NOTES TO THERSITES.
descent, slain by Guy of Warwick ; and Guy, his slayer, fought
the Saracens, killed the boar of Windsor, the dun cow of
Dunsmoer, and other ferocious beasts. See Drayton's Polyolbion,
Books II, XII, XIII, and Copland's chapbooks of Bevis of
Hampton and Guy, also Ward's Cat. of Romances, i. 471 sqq.
124. Lyons on Cotsolde. 'Cotswold lions' was a cant term
for sheep. Cp. Heywood's Proverbs —
He semeth like a bore, the beaste should seme bolde,
For he is as fierce as a lyon of Cotsolde.
130. Gawyn the curtesse, was Arthur's nephew, and was slair
in error by his friend Lancelot. Cp. Carle of Car/tie, L 28.
Sir Gawaine was steward in Arthur's hall,
Hee was the curteous knight amongst them all.
Percy Folio, vol. ii.
'Kay, the crabbed,' was Arthur's foster-brother, and a mean,
unpleasant person, disliked at Court for his habit of giving nick-
names.
132. Syr Libeus Disconius : Li Biaus Desconneus (Tho Fair
Unknown), whose name is thus corrupted, was a son of Sir
Gawain. He is the subject of an English Romance printed in
the Percy Folio, vol. ii, of which the French original was written
by Renauld de Beaujeu.
136. Syr Lanncelot de Lake. Lancelot was the son of Ban,
King of Benwick, but was brought up by Vivienne, the Lady of
the Lake, from whom he derived his epithet.
150. They geve me the wall : i.e. as a mark of respect, the
road next the wall being cleaner. Cp. Scott's Fair Maid of
Perth, ch. ii. ' More than once, when from chance, or perhaps
from an assumption of superior importance, an individual took
the wall of Simon in passing, the Glover's youthful attendant
bristled up with a look of defiance.'
154. The proctoitr and his men: the police of an English
University.
155. Broken Heys, now Gloucester Green, Oxford. Wood
writes of it as ' full of hillocks and rubbish.' It would thus
offer good cover for rogues to hide in.
181. Olde purgatorye : 'olde' is here a 'colloquial intensive' ;
cp. Macbeth, ii. 3, ' If a man were porter of hell-gate, he should
have old turning the key.'
183. No pardons: i.e. no pardons such as were sold by
Pardoners.
NOTES TO THERSITES. 217
200. Typhoeus : a monster with a hundred heads, killed by
Jove's thunderbolt and buried under Etna.
20 1. Enceladus, like Typhoeus, son of Tartarus and Ge (Hell
and Earth), shared his brother's rebellion and fate.
216. Why -le pardoners can lye: see preface and notes to the
extract from Hey wood.
233. Let us departe: i.e. separate; cp. 'till death us depart'
in the old form of the Marriage Service.
339. Cacus, a giant, son of Vulcan, dwelt in a cave on Mount
Aventine, and stole some of the oxen which Hercules had taken
from Geryon. For the story of his theft and its punishment see
Virgil, ALneid, viii. 193-279.
246. Good godfather : apparently addressed to some one in
the audience. 'Gaffer '(i.e. 'godfather') was till lately still a rustic
mode of address to any elderly man.
247. A man to be borne in the -vale: i.e. of the kind who
would be born in a valley. Dwellers in mountainous districts
have always regarded their neighbours of the valleys as dull-
witted, as the Athenians the Boeotians.
297. Goddes of battayle : Bellona.
315. All to-rent: tear in pieces ; cp. Chaucer, Parl. of Foules,
432, ' That with these foules I be al to rent.' So also ' to-torn,'
' to-shivered,' etc.
316. Syr Isenbrase : a gallant knight of whom his chronicler
tells us —
He was lyvely large and longe,
With shoulders broade and armes stronge.
He fell into the hands of ' the Sowdan,' and nearly suffered
martyrdom for the faith, but eventually by his prowess gained
not only liberty but a kingdom. A romance of ' Syr Isenbras,'
with a very humorous picture of the knight on the title-page, was
published by Copland.
318. Robin John and Little Hode. Hazlitt is probably right
in thinking the transposition is intentional.
324. Busyris : a king of Egypt, who sacrificed strangers to
Zeus, but was slain by Hercules.
399. / had craked to tymely here : had boasted too oppor-
tunely, i.e. when there was some one at hand to accept his
challenges.
421. Dares. See Virgil, sEneid, v. 362-484, for the story of
how Dares, after conquering the boxers of his own age, provoked
21 8 NOTES TO BALE.
the veteran Entellus to fight, and drew down on himself heavy
punishment.
430. They had better havefette me an errand at Rome. The
allusion is probably only to the length of time which any
business at the Papal Court was protracted. It is possible,
however, to read the line as a threat, inasmuch as appeals to
Rome, without the king's leave, were severely punishable under
the statutes of Pramunire.
470. Now, where is any mo f Thersites as yet has not heard
the challenge.
477. Tyll some bloude apeare. Miles challenges Thersites to
try a hit with him (assaye the a towche) to see who can draw
first blood, the usual terms of a match with single-sticks or
quarter-staves.
503. There came none in my sight. If readiness to fight was
of the essence of the description of the foe, Thersites certainly
did not answer to it, and Mater's reply was strictly accurate.
882. Cowardes make speake apase : there appears to be some
confusion between ' may speak ' and ' make speech.'
913. Lovely Ladie Jane : see preface to this Extract.
BALE'S KING JOHN.
LIFE OF BALE. — John Bale was born at Cove, near Dunwich,
in Suffolk, on Nov. 21, 1495. At the age of twelve he was
sent to a Carmelite monastery, and subsequently studied at
Jesus College, Cambridge. Although in Holy Orders, he took to
himself a wife and preached against the celibacy of the clergy.
He was protected by Thomas Cromwell, and given the living of
Thornden in Suffolk. But on Cromwell's execution he was
obliged to flee to Germany, where he remained till 1547. On
his return he was made Rector of Bishopstoke, and in 1552
became Bishop of Ossory, where his stringent measures against
the adherents of the old religion nearly cost him his life. On
the accession of Mary he was again obliged to flee, this time to
Basle, where he remained till the close of her reign. Returning
to England in 1559 he was given a Prebend's stall in Canterbury
Cathedra], and died peacefully in 1563, after an eventful and
turbulent life.
Distinguished in a century of bitter controversy for his
NOTES TO BALE. 219
unseemly virulence, which earned him the epithet of ' Bilious,'
Bale gave the best of his strength to polemics. While in
Germany he published an attack on the monastic system
entitled The Actes of Englyshe Votaries, and also Lives of
Sir John Oldcastle, William Thorpe and Anne Askew and
the scurrilous Pageant of Popes. Another controversial work,
The Image of both Churches, appeared while he was Rector
of Bishopstoke, and after his stormy experiences at Ossory
he printed an account of his ' Vocacyon ' to that see. To a
different category belongs his Illustrium Majoris Britannia
Scriptorum Summarium (1548), an account of five hundred
British authors, which though full of mistakes and largely
founded on the labours of Leland, yet entitles him to the
gratitude of all students of the history of English literature.
But our own interest in Bale has mainly to do with his plays,
of which five out of twenty-two mentioned in his Summarium,
have been preserved. Of these The three Laives of Nature,
Moses and Christ has been printed in Anglia, Bd. v, and The
Temptacyon of our Lorde by Dr. Grosart in the 'Fuller
Worthies Library.' A Tragedy or Interlude manifesting the
chief promises of God unto man by all ages in the old law,
from the fall of Adam to the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the Life of John the Baptist, were published in
1538, and are said to have been greatly admired by Cromwell.
They have been reprinted respectively by Dodsley and in the
Harleyan Miscellany. Plays on 'God's Promises' or ' Pro-
cessus Prophetarum ' have left their traces on each of the four
great cycles of Miracle Plays, but Bale's sermon in seven acts
has a tediousness all its own. The play on St. John the
Baptist, on the other hand, is enlivened by much party spirit
and invective against the Old Church.
KING JOHN. — Bale's fifth surviving play is of later date
than its predecessors. There is a reference to Darvell Gathyron,
a Welsh image supposed to possess miraculous powers, which
was burnt in 1538 ; in the Interpreter's speech at the end of
act i, Henry VIII is alluded to as 'our late Kynge Henrye,' and
the Epilogue, beginning —
Englande hath a queene, thankes to the Lorde above,
\Vhych maye be a lyghte to other princes all,
clearly alludes to Elizabeth. On the other hand, the play is
mentioned in the edition of Bale's lllustr. M. Brytan. Script.
220 NOTES TO BALE.
Summarium, and must therefore have existed in some form
when that work was written. The most probable supposition is
that the first draught of King John should be dated about
1547, when Bale returned from abroad, and that it was revised
in the reign of Elizabeth.
The play opens with a speech by the King, in which he
declares his determination to do justice. England, as a widow,
implores his help against the clergy, but their conference is
interrupted by Sedition, who is strongly clerical in his sym-
pathies. Nobility, Clergy, and Civil Order, come in and discuss
the state of the kingdom, and Clergy makes a hypocritical
submission. Dissimulation and Sedition take counsel, and
bring in Private Wealth and Usurped Power to their aid. They
procure the election of Stephen Langton as Archbishop (here
we touch history), and soon after we have the Pope cursing
King John for his attacks on the Church. This closes act i.
In the second act we find the clergy preparing to resist the
King, and then follows our first extract. In a subsequent scene
we are shown John's submission to Pandulph and the hard terms
exacted of him, but Sedition is not satisfied, and procures a
fanatic monk to murder the King. The scene in which he
effects this forms our second extract. But now come on Verity
and Imperial Majesty. The memory of the King is vindicated,
and the play ends with compliments to Queen Elizabeth.
That Bale took his views of King John and his reign from
any previous historian is unlikely. Holinshed, whose History
was published in 1577, distinctly tells us that all previous
historians had been prejudiced against the King, and that he
had been obliged to base his facts on the testimony of hostile
witnesses. He inclines to Bale's view, though somewhat doubt-
fully. Yet he can write of John : ' Certeinlie it would seem that
the man had a princeiie heart in him, and wanted nothing but
faithful subjects to have assisted him in revenging such wrongs
as were done and offered by the French king and others.'
Quite, too, in Bale's tone is his mention of ' The sawcie speech
of proud Pandulph the pope's lewd legate to King John, in the
presumptuous pope's behalf.'
TEXT.— The text of our extracts is taken from the edition
printed in 1838 for the Camden Society, and edited by Mr. John
Payne Collier, from the unique manuscript, part of which is in
Bale's autograph, in the Library of the Duke of Devonshire.
NOTES TO BALE. 32!
1273. Constytute. For other instances of Bale's use of this
unanglicized form of the Latin past participle, see 1. 1357,
convyt (convictus); 1. 1358, interdytt (interdictus) ; 1. 2141,
excommunycate (excommunicatus) ; 1. 2144, intoxycate in-
toxicatus).
1287. A ster apared crowne. Bale probably wrote these
words intending them to mean 'a star-adorned crown.' But
Mr. Bradley has pointed out to me a verse on the martyrdom of
Becket in No. 46 of the Songs and Carols, edited by Thomas
Wright from Sloane MS. 2593, which runs as follows —
Beforn his auter1 he knelyd adoun,
Ther they gunne to paryn his crown,
He sterdyn the braynys up and down,
Optans celi gaudia.
The prefix a- (=ge-, y-) was not very uncommon in the i$th
century in the formation of past participles, and ' ster apared '
may thus mean ' star-clipped.' In either case the reference is to
Becket's head when covered with wounds, and Bale may have
intended some kind of pun.
1288. Upon it : in consequence of it.
1289. The Pope's renowne : cp. 'the king's majesty.'
1292. Stand with: is consonant with; cp. 1. 1381 —
Yt stondyth not with your avantage.
1294. To helpe Jerusalem cyte. According to Holinshed's
account the third, fourth, and fifth clauses of the agreement ran
as follows.
3. ' Item that within three years after the nativity of our lord
next ensuing he [Henry II] should take upon him the crosse
and personallie passe to the Holie Land.
4. ' Provided that if upon any urgent necessitie he chanced to
go into Spain to warre against the Saracens there, then so long
space of time as he spent in that journie he might defer his
going to the East parts.
5. ' Item he bound himselfe in the meantime by his oth, to
emploie so much monie as the Templers should thinke sufficient
for the finding of two hundred knights or men of armes, for one
yeares terme in the defense of the Holie Land.'
1314. With the more : i.e. with the additional amount payable
as compensation.
1 Text ' aunter,' by a clear mistake of the scribe.
322 NOTES TO BALE.
1318. As for ther taxe : cp. Holinshed, 'Moreover in this
yeare [1207] about Candlemasse the K[ing] caused the 13 part
of everie man's goods, as well of the spiritualtie as of the tem-
poralitie, to be levied and gathered to his use.'
1320. Quyck in sentence : i.e. hasty of judgment.
1340. As saith Solomon: 'The king's heart is in the hand of
the Lord, as the rivers of water : he turneth it whithersoever he
will,' Prov. xxi. I.
1359. The bysshope of Norwyche and the bysshope of Wyn-
chester. Bale seems here to be drawing on his imagination, as
the Bishop of Norwich was appointed in 1210 John's Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, and three years later brought 500 men
to his aid, while the Bishop of Winchester also is expressly
mentioned as having been of the king's party. The Bishops to
whom the Pope's bull was directed were those of London, Ely
and Worcester, who with Jocelyn, Bishop of Bath, and Giles,
Bishop of Hereford, subsequently fled from John's vengeance
over sea.
1366. Any mayntenance pretend : offer you any support.
1374. Absolucyon a pena et culpa, and also dene remyssyon.
Absolution z.pana removes the penalties imposed by the Church ;
absolution a culpa, or 'clean remission,' removes guilt and
reconciles the sinner with God.
1385. Your cttrssys we have that ive never yet demanded,
Bale, who took a great interest in Wyclifs movement, may have
been thinking of the story he tells in the De Officio Regis of the
man who told his priest that, since excommunication was such
an excellent medicine, he might keep it for his own use.
2065. W assay le, w assay le. 'This is probably,' says Mr.
Collier, ' the oldest drinking song in our language.'
2075. Now forsooth and God. Probably the word 'wold' or
' would ' has dropped out of the text (now of a truth if God so
willed), or we may suspect Bale of confusing the 'for' in
' forsooth ' with the ' fore ' in the common oath 'fore or before
God.
2076. Alevyn. The number appears to be dictated only by
the necessities of rime and metre.
2078. Thu mayest seme for to be : a polite affirmative ; cp.
Ev. 130 and note.
2082. / am taken of men for monastycall Devocyon : a very
undramatic line, only to be excused as a kind of clumsy aside to
NOTES TO BALE. 223
the audience. ' Taken of men for ' = interpreted by men as,
taken as the type of.
2087. Malmesaye, capryck, tyre or ypocras. Malmsey or
malvoise is a sweet white wine from Malvasia in the Morea ;
capryck came from Capri near Naples, Tyre from Tyre in
Phoenicia ; hippocras was a mixture of wine, spices and sugar,
said to have derived its name from Hippocrates' Sleeve, the name
for the strainer through which it was passed.
For another list of wines compare the Taverner's speech in the
interlude of the Four Elements —
Ye shall have Spanish wine and Gascon,
Rose colour, white, claret, rampion,
Tyre, Capric and Malvoisin,
Sack, raspice, Alicant, rumney,
Greek, ipocras, new-made clary,
Such as ye never had;
For if ye drink a draught or two,
It will make you, ere ye thence go,
By [Jupiter], stark mad.
Also MM. 470-480, and note.
2090. / praye the drynke half to me. The dozen lines that
follow show that Bale was not quite destitute of dramatic power.
The poor fanatic does what he can for himself, and, when escape is
hopeless, repeats the king's 'there is no remedye' in a wistful aside.
The alternative account of John's death given in Higden's
Polychronicon comes nearest to Bale's version. ' John, kynge of
Ynglonde,' he writes, ' diede of the flix at Newerke . . . Never-
theless the commune fame is that he was poysonede at the
monastery of Swynyshed of White Monkes. For as hit is seide,
he seide ther at a dyner that he sholde make a loofe, that tyme
was worthe an halpenny, to be worthe xijd. by the ende of the
yere, yf he myghte have lyve. Oon of the brethren of that
place, familier with the kynge, herynge that, ordeynede poyson,
and receyvynge the sacrament afore, toke that poyson to the
kynge, and so they dyede bothe by the drynkynge of hit.' In
Holinshed the monk poisons some of a dish of pears, and
knowing himself which to avoid, escapes. In Hardyng the
poison is given in plums.
2107. A masse of Scala Celt. The reference is to a chapel
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin outside the walls of Rome on
the road to Ostia, to which special indulgences were attached.
224 NOTES TO BALE.
It derived its name from a vision of St. Bernard, who, while
celebrating mass, saw the souls for whom he was praying ascend-
ing to heaven by a ladder. See Academy, 974 (Jan. 3, 1891),
where a will is quoted, dated 13 Hen. 7, in which the testator
leaves money ' for j honest prest to syng att Rome att scala
cely by the space of iiij yeres contynually for the soule of the
seid John herwarde,' and references there given.
21 10. Provyde a gyldar, &*c. Another dramatic passage.
Bale doubtless wrote it as a part of his polemic against the old
religion, but the curious detail of the monk's dream suits well
with his fanatic character.
2115. To the than will offer, Gr*c. ' Sedition ' speaks in con-
temptuous irony.
2120. Where became the monke f Another good touch. The
monk has not been mentioned by England, but the King's
thoughts turn to him on the word ' betrayed.'
2127. So many masendewes, &c. Bale was probably applying
his remarks to his own times, of which they were fairly true.
Holinshed gives no mention of any such benefactions made by
John, but alludes to his building or repairing Beaulieu Abbey
and six other monasteries, as a proof that ' he was not so void of
devotion towards the Church as divers of his enemies have
reported.'
2134. Voluntary eworkes : cp. the XlVth Article of the Church
of England, ' Voluntary works, besides, over and above, God's
commandments, which they call Works of Supererogation,
cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety.'
2135. Sacrifice of the Turke : cp. Article XIII. 'Of Works
before Justification.'
2171. Report what they wyll, frc. Bale here shows himself
uneasily aware that his view of King John was not the one
generally accepted. Holinshed, as has been noted, in summing
up John's reign, alludes to the hostility of the witnesses on
whom he had been obliged to rely.
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
[For the majority of the notes here added I am indebted to the printed
suggestions of Dr. Kolbing (K.) and those privately communicated
to me by Prof. Logeman (L.).]
CHESTER PLAYS.— I. NOAH'S FLOOD.
101-2. Reade . . . bydde, read rede . . . bede, K.
135. Ys, B.ye, E. ts.
185. Kites, B. kitte.
195. One Codes halfe, B. one Codes name, halfe, &*c., where
name is plainly a marginal gloss of halfe.
209. Wrawe, read wrowe for the rime, L.
272-3*. A line has dropped out, as K. notes, but I should
be sorry to supply it, as he proposes, by [7 hope, however, so
it be] \ The rimes show that the whole stanza is corrupt.
285. Grasse, B. treeyes.
290. Rouge : Dr. Logeman proposes ranged, ( bitten, gnawed.'
CHESTER PLAYS.— II. THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC.
310. Leane, read layne, K.
336. On thee lighte: Dr. Kolbing would change to 'come the
tille' to rime with 'grylle' in 1. 340. But the correction of
' grylle ' into ' gryghte ' proposed in the Notes is less violent.
446. Ever, read ere, K.
455. Bonere, 'metre would profit by reading debonerej L.
461. Th[e] : K. 's correction for thys of MSS.
472. Had broughte us to : K. would read had us with bounde
to rime with confounde. The text is certainly corrupt, but the
emendation is not convincing.
492. Abyde, read tarry e to rime with profhescie, K.
TOWNELEY PLAY:—
28-36, 37-45. Dr. Kolbing proposes to reverse the order of
these two stanzas, and the improvement is so great that it can
hardly b« doubted that he is right.
335. Twelmothe: K. would print twelmontht, but the dropped
n probably represents the pronunciation, cp. York Plays, IX.
251 (L.).
Q
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
521. That ye wore : K. would read that it ye wore, i. e. that it
was you who did it. But Mak has just cried had I bene there—,
and the shepherd remarks drily som men trowes that ye wore.
582. Gafyt the chyld any thyng? the preceding lines read —
SEC. PAST. Mak, freyndys will we be, for we ar all oone.
MAK. We ! now I hald for me, for mendys gett I none.
Fare well all thre ! All glad were ye gone.
TERT.PAST. Fare wordys may ther be, bot luf is ther none this yere.
Dr. Logeman thinks that the gift to the 'child,' which causes
Mak's downfall, is the direct result of his complaint ' for mendys
gett I none.' It is possible, so I quote the lines, but the
shepherd's generosity was more probably inspired by custom.
658. A qwant: K. would read the qwantest, mending the
construction at the expense of the rhythm.
690. Oure kyndefrom wo : K. would prefix to free or to kepe.
702. Mener: K. would read meke.
722. Maker, as I meyne, of a madyn : K. would insert born
after maker.
COVENTRY PLAY :—
I am indebted to a correspondent for pointing out to me a
passage on the subject of this play in one of Bishop Andrewes's
Sermons on the Nativity, in which a reference is given to the
first Sermon on the Annunciation by St. Bernard of Clairvaux
(Migne's Patrologia, torn, bcxxiii. p. 387 : Opera S. Bemardi,
torn. iii. § 974. 9 to end). In this sermon is set forth how Man
by his Fall lost all the four cardinal virtues, Truth, Justice, Pity,
and Peace, but that the two latter had compassion upon his
misery and besieged the Almighty with prayers for his pardon.
These intercessions resulted in a heavenly conference :—
' Forte enim interpellantibus tale dicitur dedisse responsum : Usquequo
preces vestrae ? Debitor sum et sororibus vestris, quas accinctas videtis
ad faciendam vindictam in nationibus ; lustitiae et Veritati. Vocentur,
veniant, et super hoc verbo pariter conferamus. Festinant ergo legati
coelestes, et ut viderunt miseriam hominum et crudelem plagam, ut
propheta loquitur, Angeli pacis aware fltbant (Isa. xxxiii. 7). Qni
enim fidelius quaererent aut rogarent quae ad pacem sunt, quam angeli
pacis? Sane ex deliberatione communi ascendit Veritas ad constitutam
diem, sed ascendit usque ad nubes : necdum plane lucida, sed subobscura
et obnubilata adhuc zelo indignationis. Factumque est ut legimus in
Propheta : Domine, in coelo miseruordia lua, et veritas tua usqtie ad
[224 b]
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
nubes (Ps. xxxv. 6). Medius autem Pater luminum residebat, et utraqne
pro parte sua utilius quod habebat loquebatur. Quis, putas, illi
colloquio meruit interesse, et indicabit nobis ? quis audivit, et enarrabit ?
Forte inenarrabilia sunt, et nou licet homini loqui. Summa tamen
controversiae totins haec fuisse videtur. Eget miseratione creatura
rationalis, ait Misericordia, quoniam misera facta est, et miserabilis
valde. Venit tempus miserendi eius, quia iam praeteriit tempus.
Econtra Veritas : Oportet, inquit, impleri sermonem, quern locutus es,
Domine. Totus moriatur Adam necesse est, cum omnibus qui in eo
erant, qua die vetitum pomum in praevaricatione gustavit. Utquid
ergo, ait Misericordia, utquid me genuisti, pater, citius perituram ? Scit
enim Veritas ipsa, quoniam misericordia tua periit, et nulla est, si non
aliquando miserearis. Similiter autem e contrario et ilia loquebatur:
Quis enim nesciat quod si praedictam sibi praevaricator sententiam
mortis evaserit, periit, nee permanebit iam in aeternum veritas tua,
Domine ? '
In the end the controversy is referred to Solomon, who ends
it by the prophetic solution, ' Fiat mors bona et habet utraque
quod petit.'
There are numerous references to this colloquy in heaven in
writers of the fifteenth century, and it forms the subject of one
of the pictures in some of the French editions of the Hours of
the Blessed Virgin which often illustrate the Miracle Plays.
MARY MAGDALEN:—
93. K. proposes pryncipall coun sail or counsell fry ncy pall, so
as to secure the rhyme to ryall.
113. I might have added the stage direction Here xal they be
servyd with ivyn and spyces.
301. And: K. would read all, but and on this -wise refers to
the sisters' willingness to remain with Lazarus as their head.
303. Systyrs : systyr, K., but the slip may be the author's.
475. Cleyr: L. suggests cleyn to rhyme with malmeseyn.
613. Syth: perhaps we should emend to nyth.
1136. Two lines, containing a subject to his and rhymes to
presens and demure, appear to have dropped out here.
I200-I. Wavy s . . . galows : L. emends wowes, galowes.
1535-37. War . . . more may be corrected to -ware . . . mare.
1538. Atendaunt: atendaunts, K.
1548-50. Centylnesse . . . blysch may be corrected to gentilisse,
blisse.
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
THE CASTELL OF PERSEVERANCE :—
9. And schende : K. proposes all schende, perhaps rightly.
54. Of woful wo : L. queries of woful wel.
87. He : K. proposes //.
105. As wynde in watyr Iwavt: in previous editions, from
misunderstanding a correction in the transcript of the MS.,
I misprinted this line / wave as wynde in wafer. K. proposes
As watyr in wynde I wave, which is certainly more exact.
125. Lyven: transcript reads lyvng. K. proposed lyve.
179. Man: K. ingeniously suggests that man may stand for
m. an. i. e. malus angelus ! But this rather disregards the metre.
185. To worthy wedt : K. proposes 'to [me] worthy [in]
wede,' but the text (' you are welcome to a good livery ') seems
simpler unemended.
222. Sloth* : K. proposes clothe, taking ' ryve ' as an adjective
(abundant).
272. Man doth me bleykyn blody ble : K. proposes man doth
bleykyn mi blody ble.
336. Fait : K. proposes statt (state) probably rightly.
EVERYMAN :—
87. Asketh, for 'askest,' cp. spareth, 1. 114.
113. Gyve : K. would add now to make a rime with thou.
133. Seke, K. syte (be sorrowful) to rime with respyte.
243. Daungerous : K. would add y-wis to make a rime with is.
301. Ende : K. endynge to rime with mournynge.
SKELTON'S MAGNIFICENCE:—
2043,2045. Ye: K.yt.
HEYWOOD'S THE PARDONER AND THE FRERE : —
608. I follow K. in assigning this line to the Frere, instead of
the Pardoner.
THERSITES : —
139. Take: the sense is 'he who made you a knight never
expected that your courage would be put to the proof, and so
knighted you recklessly.' K. proposes forsake.
182. ^leane that so: K. that so cleane, perhaps rightly.
[224d]
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED.
Ch!. = Chester Play of the Flood.
Ch*. = Chester Play of the Sacrifice of Isaac.
Co. = Coventry Play.
CP. = Castle of Perseverance.
Ev. = Everyman.
FE. = Interlude of the Four Elements.
Hey. = Heywood's Parson, Pardoner, and Neighbour Prat.
Hh. = Harrowing of Hell. (Appendix.)
KJ. = Bale's King John.
MM. = Play of St. Mary Magdalene.
Sk. = Skelton's Magnificence.
T. = Towneley's ' Secunda Pastorum.'
Th. = Thersites.
Y. = York Play of the Creation.
Also adj. adjective ; adv. adverb ; num. numeral ; pr. p. present par-
ticiple ; pp. past participle ; sb. substantive ; sb. pi. substantive plural.
The following abbreviations are used in a particular sense : — v. verb
in the infinitive mood ; pr. s., pt. s. the third person singular of the present
or past tense ; pr. pi., pt. pi. the third person plural of these tenses,
except when the numerals i or 2 are added; imp. s., imp.pl. the second
person singular or plural of the imperative mood.
j^ Abrode, adv. abroad. Th. 522.
Abydande, pr. p. abiding. Y. 7-
A, prep, of; 'maner a way,' man- Abye, v. pay for, atone for. T.
ner of way. Ch3. 400. 283 ; Th. 275.
A/0rhe. FE. 529. Abyll, adj. sufficient. MM. 99.
A for have ; a be = have been, Accompt, v. count, reckon. FE.
Co. 97; God a mercy. MM. 385.
619. Acord, sb. agreement, judgment.
A, for ah. Ev. 304. CP. (157).
A-baffe, v. turn aside, waver. Acqueynt, sb. acquaintance. Ev.
MM. 1437. 156.
Abasse, imp. s. abase. MM. Adeu, Adewe = adieu, farewell.
1376. Hey. 640; Ev. 300, 800.
A-baye, sb. surrender. MM. 363. Adoun, adv. down. MM. 492.
Aboht, //. paid for, atoned for. Adreade, //. dismayed. Ch*.
Hh. 59, 61, 158. 260.
Abowndans, sb. abundance. Aferde,//. afraid. Ev. 25i;Th.
MM. 381. 197-
Abowne, />•<?/. above. Y. 87. Afyauns, sb. affiance. MM. 383.
226
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Agane, prep, against. T. 29.
Agaste,//. afraid. Ch1. 227.
Agens, prep, against. MM. 61,
91, 590, 632.
Ago, pp. gone, past. Ev. 194.
Ai, adv. aye, ever. Hh. 147, 233.
Al-beledande, pr. p. all-shelter-
ing. Y. 21.
Alder, in phr. 'your alder,' of
you all. Ev. 771.
Alevyn, num. adj. eleven. KJ.
2076.
Algatys, by all means, all the
same. Hey. 622.
All and some, anybody. Hey.
98.
All-be, conj. although. Y. 26.
Almyght, adj. almighty. Hey.
68, 547.
Alonly, adv. only, solely. MM.
1382.
Als, adv. as. Y. 4, 13, etc.
Alys, pr. s. ails. T. 515.
Ambes as, double ace, the worst
throw of the dice, and so sym-
bolical of ill-luck. Hh. 1 1 o.
Amytted, //. admitted. MM.
1381.
An, conj. and. MM. 69, 81, 286.
And, conj. if. Commonly in Ev.
and Th., also Co. 113; Ch1.
204; T. 37; MM. 1548; KJ.
1379. etc.
Ane, one. Y. 103.
Anon, adv. at once. MM. 1180;
CP. (73)-
Anoye, sb. harm. Ch*. 294.
Anoynt, //. anointed. Ch1. 75.
Antychrysts, sb. pi. antichrists.
KJ. 1352.
Anythynge, as an adv., in any
manner. Hey. 268.
Apas, adv. apace, quickly. Th.
472, 882.
Apere, v. appear. FE. 351.
Aply, v. apply. MM. 383, 672.
Apon, prep. upon. Y. 66.
Appayreth, pr. s. becomes worse.
Ev. 44.
Appeles, sb. pi. appeals. KJ.
1293-
Apply, v. apply oneself to. Ev.
278.
Appose, v. dispute with. Th.
383-
Approbate, adj. approved. FE.
33-
A-prise, s. enterprise, achieve-
ment. MM. 1133.
Aquyte, v. pay. MM. 267.
Aray, sb. attire. MM. 1183;
CP. (135).
Arayd, pp. arrayed. MM. 1 143.
Are, adv. ere, before. Y. 100.
Aren, had pity on. Hh. 29.
Armony, sb. harmony. FE. 466.
As, sb. ace. See Ambes as. Hh.
no.
Asay, v. try, assay. Cha. 251 ;
CP. 120.
As now, phr. as things are. Ev.
295-
Aspecyall, in aspecyall, espe-
cially. MM. 137.
Assaye, v. try, prove. Th. 117,
477-
Asse, conj. as. Hh. 168.
Assoyle, pr. I. s. absolve. KJ.
1369.
Assoylynge, pr. p. absolving.
KJ. 2143.
Asspy, v. espy, see. MM. 1392.
Astore, v. repair. CP. (310),
(336).
Asynyd, //. assigned. CP. (2?X
At, dem. and rel. pron. that. Y.
73> etc.
At, prep. to. Y. 12, 47, etc. ; T.
654-
Ather,/r<?«. either. Y. 155.
Atter, sb. otter. Ch1. 1 70.
Atwayne, adv. asunder. Ev. 655
note.
At wynne, adv. asunder. CP.
(800).
Atyred, //. prepared, equipped.
MM. 359.
Auctour, sb. author. FE. 47.
Aungelys, sb. pi. angels. CP.
(40).
Autoryte, sb. authority. KJ. 1360.
Avant, imp. s. avaunt. KJ. 1 337.
Avertyce, pr. s. advertise, warn.
KJ. 1306.
Avoyde, v. decamp, run away.
Th. 504 ; avoyded, //. Th. 488.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
227
Avoydyt, pr. s. goes out. MM.
276.
A-wansyd, //. advanced. MM.
107.
Awayle, sb. avail, profit. MM.
1432.
Awctoryte, sb. authority. KJ.
I37I-
Awe, sb. fierceness, rage. Th.
!73-
Awne, adj. own. Y. 140.
Awter, sb. altar. MM. 1 143,
1182.
Ayre, sb. heir. T. 615.
Aythor, conj. either. T. 529.
Ajenj/w/. against. Hh. 134.
B.
Bable, sb. a fool's bauble. Th.
129.
Bable, v. babble. Hh. 12.
Baby s, sb. a scribe's error for
balys, bales, evils. Co. 21.
Bake, sb. back. Hh. 54.
Balates, sb. pi. ballads. FE. 39.
Bale, sb. evil. CP. (309), (317);
Y. 102.
Balk, sb. ridge. T. 49.
Ballyd, adj. bald. CP. (282).
Balys, sb. pi. bales, evils. Co.
21.
Ban, v. curse. T. 636.
Bandogge, sb. a bound or chained
dog, a mastiff. Th. 89.
Barne, sb. child. T. 586.
Bawmys, sb. pi. balms. MM.
613.
Bayne, adj. obedient. Ch1. 145 ;
Ch2. 256, 311, 480.
Baynely, adv. obediently, direct-
ly; Y. 20,35,47, 160.
"Be, prep. by. Ch1. 103 ; Co. 108 ;
M. 55, etc.
•Be,pr.s. is. MM. 62.
Be, //. been. Ev. 201, 502 ; Th.
459-
Beane, adj. obedient. Chs. 239.
Beare, sb. loud noise. Ch1. 109.
Becum, v. become. KJ. 1351.
Bedden,//. bidden. Ch1. 51.
Beddyng, sb. bidding. MM.
62.
Bede, sb. bed. MM. 270.
Bedene, adv. presently, forthwith,
but often without much force.
Y. 14. CP. (55).
Bedys, sb. pi. prayers. CP. (96).
Beeldand, pr. p. living, abiding.
Y. 61, 87.
Beelde, v. build, make, Y. 35,
47;//. 107.
Beeldyng, sb. shelter. Y. 38.
Beestly, adv. like an animal. E.
74-
Behaver, sb. behaviour. KJ.
1329.
Behette, pr. i s. promise. Ch1.
305 ; behighte. Ch1. 324 ; be-
hitte. Chr. 282.
Behetyn, //. promised. CP.
(119).
Behove, sb. behoof, profit. Ev.
638.
Beledande, pr. p. al-beledande,
all-protecting. Y. 21.
Belive, adv. quickly. Ch1. 120;
CP. (221).
Bemes, sb. pi. beams, rays. Y.
50, 68 ; bemys. MM. 623.
Bemys, sb. pi. trumpets. CP.
(215).
Bene,/r.//. are. Ch1. 317.
BenesowB, sb. blessing. MM.
1208.
Benyng, adj. benign. MM. 626.
Benyngly, adv. benignly. MM.
616.
Berande,/r./. bearing, behaving.
Y. 40.
Berar, sb. bearer. Y. 36.
Berdes, sb.pl. maidens. MM. 51.
Besawnt, sb. a gold coin. MM.
1218; besawntes. CP. (186).
Besegyn, v. besiege. MM. 364.
Best, sb. beast. Th. 359 ; teste,
Hey. 164.
Besyoh, pr. i s. beseech. KJ.
2152.
Besyn,//. beseen. MM. 54.
Bet, //. made amends for. Hh.
172.
Betake, v. commit. Ev. 298.
Betande, pr. p. flaming. Y. 102.
Bete, v. heal, amend. CP. (93) ;
Hh. 224.
228
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Beth, pr.pl. are. MM. 1528.
Better, adj. bitter. MM. 666.
Betternesse, sb. bitterness. MM.
604.
Be-tyme, adv. betimes, quickly.
Ch1. 223.
Beyn, v. be. MM. 56.
Bicam, pt. i s. became. Hh. 48.
Biggeth, pr. s. builds. Hh. 87.
Bihete, //. a s. promisedst. Hh.
189, 197.
Bi-le ven, v. remain behind. Hh.
333-
Bitte, v. bite. Chl. 58.
Bittor, sb. bittern. Ch1. 182.
Blakkeste, adj. most black. Y.
101.
Ble, sb. colour, complexion, coun-
tenance. MM. 68; CP. (10),
(272) ; blee. Y. 5.
B lendyng, vb. sb. blending. Y. 5 .
Blendyd,//. blinded. CP. (301 ).
Blent, pp. blinded, deceived.
CP. (294).
Bleykyn, v. turn pale, blench.
CP. (272).
Blinde, adj. confused, 'blind
mater.' Ev. 102 ; 'blind
rekeninge.' Ev. 508.
Bio, adj. blue, livid. Y. 101.
Bio, sb. blow ; ' bemys' bio', the
blowing of trumpets. CP.
("5).
Bloudsouppers, sb. pi. blood-
suppers. KJ. 2169.
Blynne, v. cease. Ch1. 8, 1 34 ;
CP. (299), (368).
Blys, pr. s. bless. MM. 276.
Blysch, sb. bliss. MM. 1540.
Blyssyng, sb. blissfulness. Y. 5.
Blyve, adv. quickly. CP. (i 1 1).
Bob, sb. bunch, cluster. T. 729.
Bobaunce, sb. pride. CP. (349).
Bobbyt,//. cheated. CP. (294).
Bocke, sb. book. KJ. 1355.
Boht, //. bought. Hh. 112.
Boke, sb. book. Ev. 104, 136.
Bokell, v. buckle. Th. 108.
Bokys, sb. pi. books. FE. 39.
Bone, sb. boon, favour. CP.
(40-
Bonere, adj. debonair, com-
plaisant. Ch3. 455.
Boost, sb. boast. Ev. 883.
Borde, sb. board. Ch1. 75.
Bore, pp. born. Ch1. 286.
Borowe, v. redeem. Ev. 644;
borwe. Co. 21.
Bot, conj. but. T. 10.
Bote, sb. salve, remedy, healer.
CP. (169), (309), (317). MM.
921, 1546.
Botte, sb. boate. Ch1. 245.
Boune, see bowne.
Boute, prep, without. Ch1. 63,
122.
Bouth, adj. both Ch1. 234, 289.
Bower, sb. chamber. MM. 363.
Bowne, adj. ready, prepared.
Ch1. 52, 64; boune. Ch1. 264.
Bowrde, sb. jest. T. 343.
Bowrys, sb. pi. bowers. MM.
336.
Bowth, //. bought. MM. 589.
Brace, v. bluster. Sk. 1916.
Bragaunce, sb. boasting. T. 34.
Brage, v. boast, Sk. 1916.
Brast, v. break. Ev. 814.
Brayd, sb. haste. MM. 1148.
Breade, sb. breadth. Ch1. 29.
Brede, adj. broad. CP. (187).
Brefes, sb. pi. short notes. T. 668.
Breke, v. open, declare. Ev.
224; break through. Co. 9.
Bren, v. bum. T. 606.
Brennynge, sb. burning. Sk.
1934-
Brent, pp. burnt Y. 107.
Brewe, v. brew, concoct, prepare.
CP. (309), (3i7)-
Briggenirons, sb. brigandines.
Th. 170, 1 88.
Brighthode, sb. brightness. Y.
50, 68.
Bring forward, v. escort. Ev.
290.
Erode, adj. broad. Ch1. 26; Th.
120.
Browth, //. brought. MM. 279,
592, 1389; CP. (14), (52)-
Brynande, pr. p. burning. Y.
102.
Bryst, v. burst. T. 640.
Bryth, adj. bright. CP. (82);
brygth. MM. 669.
Bun, //. bowne, ready. T. 764.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
229
But, conj. except, unless. Ch1. 7,
206; MM. 1529.
Buxomly, adv. obediently. Y.
40; Hey. 610.
By, i>. for abye, suffer for. Y.
119.
Bydde, v. pray. CP. (41).
Byddyth, imp.pl. bid. Co. 87.
Byde, pr. \ s. bid, command. Y.
22.
Byde, v. abide. Y. 47.
Bydene, adv. immediately. Ch1.
132-
Bygged, //. built, made. Y. 68.
Byggyngys, sb. pi. biggings,
buildings. CP. (187).
Bygly, adv. powerfully. Y. 70.
Byleve, v. believe. Ev. 676.
Byn, v. be. MM. 623, 1381 ; pr.
pi. are. MM. 1533.
Byrnande, pr. p. burning. Y.
5°-
By-sydes, adv. besides. KJ.
1356.
O.
Cabbelles, sb. pi. cables. Ch1.
90.
Cam, ft. s. and //. came. CP.
(23), (30); Hey. 63; KJ. 1285,
1379-
Capcyouse, adj. captious. KJ.
1299.
Carbuckyls, sb. pi. carbuncles.
Sk. 1928.
Carde, sb. 'a sure carde,' a sure
proof. Th. 888.
Careful, adj. full of cares. Co.
16, 23.
Carshaffe, sb. kerchief. Ch". 386.
Cast, sb. contrivance. T. 352.
Catyfes, sb, pi. caitiffs; rascals.
Hey. 590.
Cawdels, sb. pi. caudels, possets.
Sk. 2034.
Cawth, //. caught. CP. (20),
(90).
Caysere, sb. kaiser, emperor.
CP. (69).
Caytyfys, sb. pi. caitiffs, rascals.
MM. 58.
Cete, sb. city. MM. 473.
Charret, sb. car, chariot. Th. aio.
Charys , sb. //.jobs. T. 3 1 5 .
Cheiste, sb. chest, used of Noah's
ark. Ch1. 206.
Chere, sb. countenance, demean-
our. Hey. 57; Th. 469.
Chered,//. entertained. Ev. 501.
Ches, pt. s. chose. Co. 95.
Chesun, sb. enchesun, reason.
CP. (284).
Childer, sb. pi. (northern form\
children. Ch1. 238.
Chriseten, sb. Christian. MM.
1547; Chrisetyn. MM. 1542.
Chrystene, sb. Christendom.
Th. 123.
Chyldyrn,^.//. children. MM.
276.
Chyte, v. chide. T. 637.
Clary, sb. a sweet wine. MM.
Clatter, v. talk, brag. Th. 523,
Hey. 10.
Cleflys, sb. pi. cliffs. MM. 55.
Clergy, sb. science, learning. T.
686.
Clokys, sb. pi. claws, clutches.
Sk. 1900.
Clowches, sb. pi. clutches. Th.
507.
Glower, sb. clover. MM. 294.
Clowtes, **. //. blows. Th. 505.
Clowtt, sb. cloth. T. 595.
Clyme, v. climb. KJ. 2108.
Clyped,//. called. Hey. 35.
Clyr, adj. clear. MM. 600.
Coke, sb.pl. cocks. Ch1, 185.
Colacyon, sb. homily, sermon.
Hey. 70.
Combred,//. cumbered. Ev. 60.
Comeryd, //. cumbered. Co. 31.
Comliar, adj. comelier, hand-
somer. MM. 67.
CommynaltS, sb. commonalty.
KJ. 2155.
Compane, sb. company. T. 53.
Corapas, v. surround. FE. 366.
Concertation, sb. conflict. Th.
365.
Conger, sb. a sea eel, Th. 381.
Connynge, adj. clever. FE. 327.
Connynge, sb. knowledge, ability,
power. FE. 21; Hey. 39-
230
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Connyngly, adv. skilfully. MM.
1397-
Conaell, sb. counsel. MM. 375.
Conseyll, sb. counsel. MM. 382.
Conseyte, sb. conceit, imagina-
tion. FE. 44.
Contembtacyon,j£. contentation,
contentment. FE. 399.
Contene, v. hold together. Y.
15-
Convey, imp. s. stow away. KJ.
2099.
Conveyed, //. escorted. Ev. 816.
Convyt,//. convicted. KJ. 1357.
Cop, sb. cup. T. 735.
Cors, sb. body. CP. (188).
Cors, sb. course, direction. MM.
1437-
Coryows, probably a translitera-
tion from Greek Kvpios, lord:
' Coryows Christe,' Lord Christ.
CP. (46).
Cost, sb. coast. MM. 1212.
Costes, sb.pl. manners. C P. ( 2 46) .
Coule, sb. cabbage. Ch1. 172.
Counte, sb. account, reckoning.
Ev. 104, 493, 502.
Courese, pr. pi. course, run. Y.
155-
Courtes, adj. courteous. MM. 490.
Covetyse, sb. covetousness. Hey.
204.
Cowch Quail, sb. ? a cry used in
the game of Kales, or ninepins.
Th. 20. See note.
Cowde, //.//. could. KJ. 1379.
Cowre,/r. I s. cower. T. 733.
Crake, v. boast. Th. 371.
Craked, //. boasted. Th. 399 ;
pt. s. crakyd, sang noisily. T.
667.
Crakynge, sb. boasting. Th. 880 ;
as/r./. Th. 889.
Craturs, sb. pi. creatures. FE.
455-
Creke, 'to cry creke,' to yield.
Th. 100.
Croes, sb. pi. crows. Ch1. 185.
Crop, sb. head. T. 736.
Crosse out, v. annul, make no
count of. Ev. 800.
Crouche, imp. pi. kneel. Hey.
170.
Crousse, adj. brisk, lively. Ch1.
178.
Groyne, pr. 2 //. croon. T. 672.
Crysme, sb. a chrisom cloth. CP.
20.
Crystyndom, sb. Christendom.
KJ. 1365.
Cum, v. come. KJ. 1325; imp. s.
KJ. 2101; CP. (71), (100),
(110).
Cumly, adj. comely. Y. 99.
Cunne, v. learn. CP. (286);
know, be able. CP. (316).
Cunnyng, sb. knowledge. FE.
404.
Cunsell, sb. counsel. KJ. 1282.
Curlues, sb. pi. curlews. Ch1. 187.
Curssys, sb. pi. curses. KJ. 1385.
Curteys, adj. curteons. MM.
"37-
Gust.//, kissed. CP. (126).
Cyataca, sb. sciatica. Sk. 1982.
Cyte, sb. city. KJ. 1274.
Dale, sb. dole, bounty. Y. 78.
Dalle, sb. fist. T. 744.
Damdpnyd, //. damned, con-
demned. MM. 636 ; dampned,
Ev. 310.
Dar, pr. i s. dare. T. 303.
Dasters, sb. pi. dastards. Th. 17.
Daynetethly, adv. finely. Y. 78.
Debate, vb. abate, diminish. Th.
412,469.
Ded, pt. s. did. KJ. 1280.
Ded, //. dead. Hh. in; Hey.
631.
Dede, sb. deed. MM. 633.
Dedyst,//. 2 s. didst. MM. 672.
Dee, sb. Dieu, God ; ' per dee,'
par dieu. KJ. 2081.
Deed,//, dead. Ev. 255.
Defe, adj. deaf. Ev. 803.
Defte, adj. clever, dexterous. Y.
92.
Delande,/n/. dealing, distribut-
Dele, sb. part, bit. Y. 158.
Dele, sb. pity. CP. (210).
Dele, v. deal, have part with.
CP. (99)-
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Delectabyll, adj. delightful.
MM. 593.
Dell, sb. part, bit, whit. Hey. 563.
Delycows, adj. delicious. MM.
335-
Delycyte, sb. delicacy. MM. 72.
Demdeu, pt. s. condemned. Hh.
56.
Deme, v. judge. €0.124.
Demenour, sb. director. Sk.
1887.
Dent, sb. blow. MM. 272.
Departe, v. (i) depart, go away,
separate. Ev. 96. 296; Th. 233.
Hey. 549. (ii) divide, e.g.
'depart your goodes' = divide
your wealth. Hey. 96. (iii)
part with, e. g. departe with your
riches. MM. 102.
Depnes, sb. deepness. FE. 356.
Deprave, v. depreciate, slander.
FE. 436.
Dere, adj. precious. Y. n.
Dere, sb. harm, injury. Y. 64.
Derand, pr. p. harming. Y. 37.
Derworth, adj. precious. Y. 92.
Descend, v. make descend.
MM. 1558.
Desevyr, v. separate. MM. 301.
Dessetres, sb. distress. MM. 104.
Desyplys, sb. pi, disciples. MM.
614.
Devoyd, pr. pi. go out. MM.
1132,3-
Devyne, adj. divine. FE. i.
Devyr, sb. devoir, duty. MM. 1 180.
Dew, adj. due, fitting. Hey. 72 ;
dewe. H. 314.
Dewes, int. the deuce. Y. 92.
Dewks, sb.pl. dukes. KJ. 1368.
Dewresse, sb. duresse, hardship.
MM. 281 ; duresse. MM. 284.
Dewylys, sb. pi. devils. CP. (34).
Deyver, sb. devoir, duty. Y. 156.
Deje. v. die. Hh. 56.
Diewly, adv. dewly. Y. n.
Diffynicion, sb. definition, limit.
Co. 100.
Digges, sb. pi. ducks. Chl. 189.
Dighte, v. make ready, prepare.
Chl. 79, 301.
Dilfull, adj. sorrowfull. Ch".
Disese, sb. discomfort. CP.
(219).
Do, //. done. KJ. 1354; Th.
102.
Does, imper.pl. do. Y. 156.
Dold, adj. stupid. T. 2.
Dole, sb. sorrow, trouble. CP.
(407) ; Y. 98.
Dome, sb. doom, judgment. Ev.
261, 885, 901.
Don, adv. down. MM. 1203.
Don, pr. pi. do. MM. 61.
Dore, sb. door. KJ. 1377.
Dowtles, adv. doubtless. FE.
358.
Douctors, sfrt pi. daughters.
MM. 68.
Dowtter, sb. daughter. MM. 79.
Doyne,//. done. T. 291.
Drackes, sb.pl. drakes. Ch1. 189.
Drawe,//. drawn over, covered.
Sk. 2040.
Dray, v. draw. T. 317.
Dresse, v. direct. MM. n8a.
Dreve, //. driven. CP. (407).
Dyd, v. did. Ev. 474.
Dyghte,//. prepared. Th. 351;
Y. n, 109.
Dynt, sb. blow. Sk. 1904.
Dysceyved,/^. deceived. Co. 24.
Dyscus, imper. s. spread abroad.
MM. 1562.
Dyspare, sb. despair. Ev. 468.
Dysses, sb. decease. MM. 80.
Dystaunce, sb. distance, estrange-
ment. CP. (384).
Dystres, sb. distress. Ev. 508.
Dyvers, adj. several. FE. 49,
328.
F.
Ech, adj. each. Ch1. 191.
Ben, sb. pi. eyes. T. 295.
Eft-whyte, v. requite again, re-
store. T. 305.
Eftyr, adv. after. Y. 125; efter,
Y. 131.
Egge-toles, sb. pi. edge-tools.
Hey. 574-
Eke, conj. also. Ev. 503; Hey.
208, 210.
Eldyth,/r. *. aileth. Th. 480.
232
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Elfe, sb. oaf, lubber. Hey. 629.
Ellea, adv. else. Chl. 66, 207 ;
MM. 635 ; Th. 101, etc.
Elvysshe, adj. simple. Th. 74.
Emel, prep, among. Y. 146.
Emprise, sb. enterprise. CP.
(198).
Encomberowns, sb. encum-
brance, MM. 1533.
Enew, adj. enough. Y. 104.
Enhanse. v. exalt. MM. 611.
Enmys, sb. pi. enemies. KJ.
1378.
Enquere, v. enquire. FE. 400,
Hey 61.
Entendyd, pp. minded, deter-
mined. Hey. 68.
Entent, sb. will, purpose, mean-
ing. Sk. 1946; MM. 670; Ev.
8. CP.(iis.)
Envy, sb. ill-will. Sk. 1989.
T&&, pr. s. is. Y. a, 10, etc.; art.
Y. 74.
Est, sb. the east. FE. 351, 355.
Estate, sb. class or order in the
commonwealth. KJ. 2143.
Everychone, every one. Ev.
840, 856.
Evyn, sb. evening. FE. 407.
Excommunycate, pp. excom-
municated. KJ. 2141.
Exorte, v. go forth. Co. 56.
Expoun, v. expound. FE. 26.
Exprese, adv. expressly. MM.
82.
Exprese, v. express, read out,
declare. MM. 298, 1184, 1383.
Eylytt,/r. s. aileth. MM. 15^5.
Eynd, sb. end. MM. 599.
Eynes, sb. pi. eyes. Co. 25.
Facyon, sb. fashion. Hey. 590,
609.
Fade, ». make faded. Y. 60, 132.
Pall, sb. case, plight. Ev. 514.
Famyt,//. famished. Co. II.
Fand, v. find. Ch2. 470.
Fane, adj. fain, glad. T. 39.
Fang, v. take. T. 679.
Fantasyes, sb. pi. fancies. Y.
I2<);fanteye. FE. 43.
Fard, pp. feared, afraid. T. 677.
Fare, v. go. T. 714 ; pr. i s. P.
(4) ; faren, v. Hh. 175.
Farmerye, sb. infirmary. KJ.
2102.
Fame, //. fared. T. 587.
Faryn, v. go. CP. (403).
Fastande, pr. p. fasting. Y. So.
Fatherys, sb. gen. case, father's.
MM. 298.
Fatt, sb. fate. CP. (336).
Faver, v. favour. KJ. 1330.
Fawor, sb. fervour. MM. 483.
fawour. MM. 638.
Faworus, adj. desirous. MM.
673.
Faye, sb. faith. Ch1. 290; Ch2.
433 ; Ev. 298.
Fayer, adj. fair. MM. 669.
Fayn, adv. gladly. MM. 495 ;
fayne. Ch1. 147 ; Ch*. 252 ;
Ev. 515.
Fayne, v. feign. Th. 910.
Fayre, adj. fair. Y. 65 ; adv. Ev.
872.
Fayrear, comp. adj. fairer. Y. 53.
Fayrhede, sb. fairness, beauty.
Y. 66.
Fay thly, adv. faithfully. Y. 19.
Fe, sb. possessions. Sk. 1993.
Feare, sb. companion; in fere,
together. Ch1. 78, 289; Ch".
454-
Fearefully, adv. timorously. Th.
387. s. d.
Fectually, adv. effectually, truly.
MM. 643.
Fede, //. fed. Y. 76.
Fee, sb. money, goods. MM. 299.
Felande, pr. p. feeling. Y. 79.
Felawe, sb. fellow. Ev. 284.
Felde, sb. field. Th. 149.
Felescheppys, sb.pl. fellowships.
CP. (311).
Fell, pr. I s. fell, lay low. KJ.
1392.
Fell, adj. cruel. MM. 280.
Felyng, sb. feeling. Y. 60.
Femynyte, sb. womanliness.
MM. 71.
Fende, sb. fiend. CP. (269) ; Ev.
883 ; fendes. CP. (303) ; Hh.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
233
Fende, v, protect. CP. (373).
Fendyd, //. prevented, hindered.
CP. (303).
Fere, v. make afraid. Ev. 253.
Fere, sb. companion. Hh. 69 ; in
fere, together. T. 715 ; feres, 53.
Ferre, adv. far. Ev. 816.
Fest, adj. fast, fixed. T. 20 ; feste,
pp. fastened. Y. 66.
Fet, v. fetch. Th. 185.
Fete, sb. pi. feet. MM. 667.
Fett, sb.pl. feet. MM. 640, i.
Fette, v. fetch. Hh. 5, 30 ; //.
fetched. Th. 430.
Fetys, adj. neat, well-made, ele-
gant. Y. 55. 65.
Fier, sb. fire. Ch1. 78.
Fine, sb. end. Hh. n.
Firrette, sb. ferret. Chl. 175.
Fleete, v. float. Ch1. 281.
Fleetinge, pr. p. floating. Ch1.
225.
Fles, sb. flesh. Hh. 194.
Fleshe-likinge, sb. fleshly lust.
Ch1. 6.
Fleye, v. flee. Ch1. 293.
Florychyd, pp. flourished. MM.
334-
Fludde, sb. flood. Ch1. 84 \flude,
Ch1. 224.
Flum, sb. river. Hh. 206.
Flyt, v. remove, turn aside. CP.
(84).
Flyte, v. scold. T. 636.
Fode, sb. food. Y. 76.
Fole, sb. fool. FE. 407 ; Y. 129.
Folwe, imp. s. follow. CP. (100).
Folysshe, adj. foolish. H. 213 ;
Ev. 872.
Fonde, adj. foolish. CP. (225).
Fonde, pr. i s. try. CP. (403).
Fonded, //. tried, made trial of.
Hh. 75
Fondnesse, sb. folly. Sk. 1892.
Fondon, v. find. Hh. 70.
Fonge, imp. s. take. Ch1. 27.
Forme, sb. pi. foes. Ch1. 6.
Foo, sb. foe. CP. (32).
Forbode, //. forbidden. Hey.
256.
Force, no force, no matter. FE.
538.
Fordo, imp. pi. destroy. T. 295.
Forgang, v. forego. T. 43.
Forgete, //. forgotten. Ev. 86.
94-
Forgeyffe, pr. \ s. forgive. MM.
676.
Forleten, //. forego, abandon,
Hh. 169.
Forloren, //. altogether lost, cast
away. Hh. 239.
Formarryd, pp. completely
spoilt. Y. 139.
Formaste, sup. adj. foremost,
first. Y. 4.
Forme, adj. first. CP. (i).
Forseth, pr. s. it forseth not, it
matters not. Hey. 312.
For-shapyn,//. transformed. T.
630.
For-spoken, //. bewitched. T.
624.
Fortaxed,//. overtaxed. T. 16.
Forthi, adv. therefore. Y. 131,
136.
Forthy, adv. therefore. T. 68 1.
Forthynkes, pr. s. repents,
grieves. T. 521.
Forward, sb. covenant, agree-
ment. Ch1. 301.
Forwhy, adv. because. Hey.
630.
Fote, sb. foot. FE. 473; Ev. 293.
Fott, pt. i s. fetched. T. 528.
Fourme, v. form. Y. 142.
Fowle, adv. foully. Ch1. 4.
Fowle, sb. a fowl. Ch1. 306.
Foyde, sb. child. T. 731.
Foyne, sb. for fone, few. T.
292.
T?T&,prep. from. Y. 95.
Franesy, sb. frenzy. Sk. 1958.
Frawth,//. laden. CP. (94).
Fray, sb. fear. MM. 280.
Frel-nes, sb. frailty. Co. no.
Frend, sb. Ev. 629, 655;
frendes, Hey. 54.
Freres, sb.pl. friars. Hey. 15.
Fro, prep. from. Ev. 644.
Froring, sb. help. Hh. 164.
Fryke, adj. bold, brave. CP.
Frynde, sb. friend. KJ. 2080.
Frynishe, adj. polite, formal.
Ch1. loo.
234
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Frysch, adj. fresh. MM. 491.
Full, v. foul. Y. 60.
Fullimartes, sb. pi. polecats.
Ch1. 170.
Fumishenes, sb. irritability.
Th. 107.
Fun,//*. found. T. 762.
Furst, adv. first. FE. 351, 355.
Fygure, sb. form, image. Y. 140.
Fygured,//. formed. Y. 65.
Fynnest, sup. adj. finest. MM.
484.
65.
Fyr, sb. fire. MM. 597.
Fytt, adj. fit, pretty. Y.
G.
Gaf,//. 2 s. gavest. T. 582.
Qaither, v. gather. Ch1. 73, 77.
Galand, sb. galant. FE. 417.
Gan, pp. gone. Hh. 4, 47, 74.
Gar, v. cause. T. 621 ; gares, pr.
s. Y. 103; gard, pt. s. T.
661.
Gat, sb. gate, road. Hh. 218;
gaits. Hey. 43 ; Y. 155.
Gawde, sb. trick. T. 604.
Gayne, v. avail. Ch1. 146.
Gaynesay, v. contradict. FE.
384-
Gaytt dore, sb. outer door. T.
339-
Gentlery men, sb. pi. gentry. T.
18.
Gere, sb. array. Th. 198.
Gest, v. jest. Hey. 311.
Gete,//. begotten. Ev. 189.
Gotten, //. got. Ch1. 130.
Getteth, pr. s. obtains. Ev. 646.
Getyn, v. get. MM. 370.
Geve, v. give. KJ. 1346; Th.
478; pr. i j. Ch1. 288; //.
KJ. 1341 ; imp. s. Th. 233.
Gevyn, //. given. KJ. 1274,
1339-
Ghoste, sb. spirit. Ch1. 5.
Glad, sb. gladnesse. T. 679.
Glase, sb. slippery place, diffi-
culty? T. 327.
Gle, sb. joy. Y. 82.
Gleteryng, sb. glittering. Y. 82.
Glose, v. speak smoothly. FE.
41 ; Hey. 10.
Go, pp. gone. Ev. 165.
Gobet, sb. piece, morsel. CP.
(9°)-
God, adj. good. MM. 1203,
1543 ; FE. 407.
Goddes, sb. goddess. Th. 297 ;
sb.pl. gods. Th. 310.
Gon, gone, v. go. Ch1. 202 ;
Ch". 227; MM. 1142; Ev. 465.
Gon-stone, sb. bullet. Th. 72.
Goo, imp. s. go. MM. 1145.
Good, sb. goods. Ev. 121.
Goon, v. go. CP. (72).
Goote, sb. goat. Ch1. 158.
Gore, sb. a gusset, 'under gore,'
under the clothes, privily. CP.
(3i a).
Gore, sb. filth. CP. (338).
Goat, sb. spirit. MM. 601, 1211 ;
CP. (47).
Gostly, adv. spiritual. MM. 609.
Gothe, v. goes. Ev. 806, 835.
Gowlande, pr. p. howling. Y.
103.
Gramercy, many thanks. Ev
221, 861.
Gravyte, sb. seriousness. FE.
28.
Grawous, adj. grievous. MM.
293-
Gre, sb. pleasure ; take in gre, take
in good part. Sk. 2005.
Grede, v. cry aloud. CP. (285).
Grestle, sb. young pig. Th. 391.
Grete, v. weep. CP. (320); Hh.
82.
Grete, adj. great. Y. I.
Gretter, comp. adj. greater. T.
36.
Gretynge, sb. weeping. CP.
(3i4)-
Grevys, sb. pi. groves. CP. (59).
Grill, v. grumble. Ch1. 46.
Grith, sb. peace, treaty. Hh.
126.
Grocchyn, vb. grumble, murmur.
CP. (181) \grochynge, murmur-
ing) groaning. CP. (312).
Groge, sb. grudge. KJ. 1298,
!332-
Grom, sb. man. MM. 489.
Grome, sb. for Groine, a port in
Spain. MM. 478.
GLCSSARIAL INDEX.
Grose, adj. gross, substantial.
FE. 345, 357.
Grotes, sb. pi. groats. Hey. 22,
93, IS*-
Grucche, v. murmur, grumble.
CP. (47).
Grudge, v. grumble. Sk. 2016.
Grunde, sb. ground. Y. 74.
Grylle, v. be terrified. Ch3. 340.
Grysly, adj. horrible, dreadful.
CP. (47); *fr.CP.(i75).
Guardon, v. guerdon, reward.
Hey. 200.
Gunne, pp. begun. CP. (314).
Gydde, v. guide. MM. 601.
Gyde, sb. guide. Ev. 522, 780.
Gyde, imp. s. guide. MM. 1440.
Gyf, imp. pi. give. Y. 147 ; pr.
i s. Y. 160.
Gyldar, sb. gilder. KJ. 2 1 10.
Gyler, sb. beguiler. T. 724.
Gylt, sb. guilt. CP. (325).
Gynnyt, pr. s. begins. MM. 6 2 1 .
Gyrnande, pr. p. grinning. Y.
103.
Gyrth, v. protect. Y. 133.
Habergyn, sb. coat of mail. Th.
104, 108, in.
Hade, pt. i s. had. Ch1. 99.
Haile, sb. health. Ch1. 198.
Hakt, pt. s. 'chopped away at,'
and so ' had his will of,' ' master-
ed'? T. 668.
Hale, sb. tent, pavilion. CP.
(170).
Hall, v. haul, drag. Th. 493.
Hals, sb. neck. CP. (156).
Haly, adv. wholly. Y. 27.
Hamer, sb. hammer. Ch1. 62.
Hamyd,//. crippled. T. 15.
Han, v. have. MM. 509; //.
Co. 35.
Happe, v. wrap. Sk. 2063.
Happyd,//. circumstanced. Sk.
2010 ; wrapped, up. T. I.
Harbarow, sb. harbourage. MM.
1398.
Hard, //. I s. heard. T. 658,
667 ; harde,pt. I s. KJ. 2084 ;
pp. Hey. 257.
Hardely, adv. surely. Hey. 605.
Harnes , sb. armour, accoutrements.
Th. 9.
Harnessed,//, armed. Th. 16.
Harrowe, inter/, a cry for help.
Y. 97.
Hart, sb. heart. MM. 74, 640 ;
FE. 501 ; harte. Ch1. 234 ; KJ.
2098 ; hartt. MM. 1 138 ; harts,
hartys, hearts. KJ. 1340. Hey.
57».
Hast, sb. haste. MM. 382.
Hast, v. hasten. Ev. 141 ; imp. s.
MM. 1384.
Hat, pr. s. has. MM. 602.
Hatt, v. be called. T. 614.
Haunt, v. frequent. Ev. 273.
Havi, have I. Hey. 43.
Haveth,/r. s. has. Hh. 152.
He, pron. pi. they. Hh. 53, 55 ;
MM. 366, 370.
Heale, sb. health. Hey. 8. ; hele.
Hey. 273.
Heare, adv. here. Ch1. 156, 180,
etc.
Hearnes, sb. pi. herons. Ch1.
182.
Hed, sb. head. MM. 1530 ; FE.
427; headake, headache. Hey.
163.
Hede, sb. head. FE. 411.
Hede,^.heed. CP. (138). Hey.
54*
Heder, adv. hither. FE. 401.
Hedibus, sb. comic Latinized da-
tive plural for ' heads '. Th. 1 33.
Hee, adj. high. T. 605.
Hefne, sb. heaven. Co. 9.
Hegges, sb. pi. hedges. MM.
1198.
Hegheste, sup. adj. highest. Y.
27.
Heiste, sb. promise. Ch1. 305.
Hek, sb. inner door. T. 316.
Heldand,/r./. descending, alight-
ing. Y. 6 ; heledande. Y. 95.
Hele, sb. health. CP. (96) ; Ev.
648.
Helowes, sb. pi. hallows, saints.
Hey. 154.
Hely, adj. holy. KJ. 1308.
Hem, pron. them. MM. 57, 91,
670 ;CP. (375); Hh.6.
236
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Hend, adj. meek, gentle. Ch1.
276.
Henne, adv. kence. Hh. 146.
Hens, adv. hence. Ev. 130, 862 ;
Hey. 94 ; Th. 400 ; MM. 109,
1535-
Hent, pp. seized. CP. (253).
Her, adv. here. MM. 66, 643,
1396, I597J CP. (31); Hh.
140, 143.
Her, sb. hair. MM. 669.
Here, pass. pron. their. Co. 28,
36 ; CP. (266).
Here, v. hear. Ev. 19, 236, 634,
667, 867 ; Hey. 62, 65, 210,
314, 555 ; T. 298.
Herers, sb. hearers. Ev. 903.
Heres, sb. pi. hairs. Hey. 539.
Herre, sb. hair. MM. 640, I.
Herynge, sb. hearing. FE. 467.
Herwe, sb. harrow. Hh. 145.
Hese, pass. pron. his. Co. 45.
Het,/r. i s. promise. Ch2. 451.
Hete, pt. 2 s. orderedst. Hh.
224.
Hether, adv. hither. Hey. 63.
Hetyng, sb. promise. T. 728.
Hevede, //. s. had. Hh. 7.
Heviar, comp. adj. heavier. MM.
272.
Hevynes, sb. heaviness. MM.
488 ; Ev. 505.
Hey, adj. high. MM. 107.
Heydes, sb.pl. heads. T. 294.
Heyle, imp. s. hail. MM. 381.
Heynd, adj. gentle. T. 649.
Heys, sb. hedges. Th. 155.
Heje, adj. high. Hh. 31.
Hie, imp. s. hasten. Ch1. 115.
Hied, //.//. hastened. Ch1. 223.
Hight, sb. height. T. 295, 310.
Hihte,//. I s. ordered. Hh. 227.
Hof, interj. ho ! MM. 491.
Hoi, adj. whole. Th. 145 ; MM.
677.
Hole, adj. whole. Ev. 632 ; FE.
377; Hey. 306; Th. 192.
Holsome, adj. wholesome. KJ.
2087.
Holy, adv. wholly. CP. (192);
Ev. 525.
Hondo, sb. hand. CP. (228^;
Ev. 777.
Hondon, sb. pi. hands. Hh. 54.
Hoost, sb. host. Ev. 884.
Horse, adj. hoarse. Sk. 1930.
Hote, sb. heat. Y. 97.
How, how. Hh. 70.
How, sb. a yearling sheep. T. 301 .
Howe, interj. ho! Sk. 1979.
Hower, sb. hour, season. KJ.
1349-
Hows, sb. house. MM. 618, 620,
622.
Hunder, adv. under. T. 24.
Hur, pron. her. MM. 378, 380.
Hy, v. hasten. MM. 1391 ; Ev.
1 80.
Hydande, pr. p. hiding. Y. 6.
Hyder, adv. hither. Ev. 665,
669, 819; Hey. 4, 67, 255.
Hye, v. hasten. Ev. 159, 813;
imper. pi. Ch1. 49.
Hye, adj. high. MM. 6i7;CP.
(239) ; on Aye, aloud. FE.
543-
Hyed, //. s. hastened. Hey. 67.
Hyen, v. hasten. CP. (239).
Hyest, sup. adj. highest. Ev. 799.
Hyght, pr. i s. am called. Sk.
1908; Ev. 660; //. act. Y. 112.
Hyng, v. hang. T. 319.
Hyrre, pron. her. MM. 377.
Hys, pass. pron. his. KJ. 2133.
I.
I, prep. in. MM. 508.
Ich,/;w/. I. Hh. 65.
Iche, adj. each. Ch1. 91, 92,
279.
Ichone, each one. Ch1. 108.
Icoren, pp. chosen. Hh. 240.
lich, adj. each. Ch1. 155.
no, sb. isle. Y. 26.
like. adj. each. Y. 125, 158.
Incontynent, adv. incontinently,
at once. Ev. 667.
Indeure, v. endure. MM. 292;
induer, MM. 308.
Indifferent, adj. equal, fair. Th.
486.
Indyte, v. indite, write. FE. 39.
Ingendryd,//. engendered. FE.
332-
Inch, adv. enough. Hh. 51.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
2.37
Inquire, v. enquire, search out.
Th. 467.
Interdytt, pp. interdicted. KT.
1358.
Intoxycate, pp. poisoned. KT.
2144.
Invy, sb. envy. MM. 362.
Invyron,/r<rj>. round about. FE.
2.
Inwyttissymus, adj. invictissi-
mus, most unconquered. MM.
285.
Iwis, adv. certainly. Hh. 57;
iwys, Y. 8 1 ; CP. (350) ; MM.
489; KJ. 1393; i-wysse, Ch3.
438.
Jentylness, sb. gentleness. MM.
105, 114.
Joparde, v. jeopard, risk. Th.
435-
Joynte, sb. joint, limb. Th. 435.
Kayser, sb. Caesar, Emperor.
CP. (188).
Kende, sb. kind, nature. CP. ( i ).
Kenne, v. show. CP. (383).
Kente,//. taught. Cb". 222.
Kepe, sb. heed, care. Hey. 106.
Kinde, sb. nature. Ch1. 92.
Knakt, pt. s. performed cleverly.
T. 670.
Knet, pp. knitted, compounded of.
CP. (246).
Knett, v. knit. MM. 58.
Knocked, //. knocked bread,
bread made of flour only roughly
ground. Th. 245.
Knyth, sb. knight. CP. (69) ;
Knythtes,pl. MM. 673 ; Knyttes.
MM. us.
Kylt,//. killed. CP. (323).
Kynd, sb. nature. MM. 94;
kynde. Y. 99; CP. (245); T.
602, 690 ; kinship. Ev. 315.
Kynnesmen, sb. pi. kinsmen. Ev.
313-
Lache, v. catch. CP. (347).
Lackes, sb. pi. lakes. Ch1. 190.
Laghe, v. laugh. T. 621.
Langyd, pt. s. longed, desired.
T. 42.
Lante, //. lent, given. CP. (61).
Lappyd, //. lapped, enveloped.
Lastand, pr. p. lasting. Y. 34,
46.
Lat, imp. s. let, do. Y. 46, 120.
Late, v. let. Co. 101 ; CP. (96),
(222).
Lawe, adj. low. Y. 122.
Lay, v. wager. T. 304.
Layser, si>. leisure. Ev. 101.
Laytheete, sup. adj. most loath-
some. Y. zoo.
Lazars, sb. lepers. Sk. 1930.
Leane, v. conceal. Ch". 283, 310.
Lease, comp. adj. less. Ch1. 287.
Led, sb. lead. MM. 272; a
sounding-lead. MM. 1440 ; lede,
a leaden seal. Hey. 71, 195.
Leden, sb. speech. Ch1. 191.
Lef, imp. s. leave. Hh. 106.
Lefe, v. believe. T. 31.
Leffe, adj. glad. Ch1. 99.
Leiste, sb. pleasure, desire. Ch1.
207.
Lekyng, adj. liking, pleasing.
MM. 617.
Lele, adj. leal, loyal. T. 532.
Lely, adv. leally, truly. Y. 77.
Lende, v. abide, linger. Y. 53;
CP. 7.
Lende, //. lent. Ev. 164.
Lende, sb. loin. CP. (5).
Lengar, comp. adj. longer. MM.
276; lenger. Co. 100, 131,
849.
Lenges, imp. pi. remain. Ch1.
226,
Longest, sup. adj. longest. MM.
3°9-
Lengore, comp. adj. longer. Hh.
140.
Lent, //. granted, given. CP.
(116).
Lere, v. learn. T. 299.
238
GLOSSARIAL INDEX,
Lere, sb. countenance, features.
CP. (190).
Les, sb. deceit. MM. 83.
Lese, v. lose. FE. 387.
Lesen, v. loose, release. Hh. 36,
213.
Leser. sb. leisure. FE. 390.
Lest, sup. adj. least. FE. 383.
Leste, v. last. Co. 65.
Let, v. hinder, delay. Hey. 273 ;
Chs. 407; //. hindered. CP.
(337).
Lete, v. let, allow. Co. 8 ; CP.
(363); imp. s. KJ. 2114; lett
bren, cause to burn. T. 606.
Lette, v. refrain, abstain from
doing. CP. (121) ; imp. pi. ye
ne lette. Chl. 283.
Lettyth, pr. s. hinders ; lettyth of
audience, hinders from being
heard. Hey. 261.
Leve, v. believe. CP. (88) ; leven,
Hh. 232.
Leve, v. live. CP. (401) ; leven.
MM. 65; levyn. Co. n ; CP.
(131), (394)5 levyth, lives.
CP. (394).
Leve, adj. dear. Hh. 16, 166 ;
lever, more willingly. Sk. 2066.
Leve, imper. s. leave. MM. 595.
Leve, sb. leave, permission, FE.
428; Hh. 173.
Levedest, //. 2 s. believedst.
Hh. 60.
Levyn, sb. lightning. T. 66 1.
Lewd, adj. common, simple. T.
718.
Lewtye, sb. loyalty, faith. Ch1.
276.
Ley, imper. s. lay. MM. 492.
Lidderyns, sb. pi. rascals Sk.
1946.
Lighte, //. s. alighted. Hh. 31.
Linge, v. linger. Ch1. 5, 297.
Litterature, sb. knowledge of let-
ters, learning. Hey. 192.
Lofly, adj. lovely. CP. (141).
Loke, v. look. Ev. 503 ; imp. s.,
Hey. 42.
Lokys,/r. s. looks. Sk. 1899.
Lond, sb. land. MM. 1430 ; KJ.
1327 ; londe. CP. (70) ; londes,
pi. KJ. 1312.
Longyth, pr. s. belongs. MM.
1185, 1207.
Lore, sb. teaching. Ch1. 127;
Hey. 49.
Lore, pp. lost. Co. 58 ; Th. 459.
Lome, pp. lost. T. 650 ; Y. 108.
Lose, imp. s. loose. Hey. 538.
Losell, sb. rascal. Sk. 1905;
/«?//, Sk. 192.
Lothe, adj. loathsome. Ev. 268 ;
Hh. 154, 175.
Louerd, sb. lord. Hh. 103, 149,
165.
Loven, /r. //. love. Ch1. 205.
Lowte, v. bow before. Y. 24, 46.
Loyn, //. lain. Co. 3.
Luf, sb. praise. Y. 46, 57.
Lufly, adj. lovely. Y. 43.
Lurden, sb. clown. Sk. 1914;
Y. 1 08 ; lurdans, Y. 120.
Lust, sb. pleasure. CP. (125),
(217); Sk. 1912.
Lybertye, sb. liberty, jurisdiction.
Hey. 596.
Lyche, adj. like. CP. (70),
(114).
Lydderyns, sb. pi. rascals. Sk.
!945-
Lye, v . used transitively for ' lay*.
Hey. 541.
Lyf, adj. glad. FE. 424.
Lyfelod, sb. livelihood. MM. 87,
99-
Lyg, pr. 2 pi. lie. T. 291, 346.
Lyges, pr. s. lies. T. 655.
Lyght, //. delivered. T. 348.
Lykes me, v. impers. I like. Y.
!59-
Lykyng, sb. delight. CP. (125),
(217).
Lyth, sb. light. CP. (337).
Lyther, adj. bad, inactive. Sk.
2066.
Lythly, adv. lightly. MM. 1 146.
Lyvys, sb. gen. life's. CP. (141).
Lyyn, v. lie. MM. 597.
Mad, //. made. Co. 14 ; //. J.
MM. 1386.
Made, adj. mad. Ev. 168.
Maintenance,^, support. T. 35.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Maiste, pr. a s. makest. Ch1.
no.
Maiste,/;-. 2 s. mayst. Ch1. 267.
Maistre, sb. master. KJ. 2166.
Makar, sb. maker, creator. MM.
632.
Make, sb. mate, partner. Ch1.
119.
Males, sb. malice. Co. 45.
Malmsine, sb. Malmsey wine.
Ch1. 233.
Mament, sb. Mahomet. MM.
1545, 1557-
Mammockes, sb. pi. leavings,
fragments. Sk. 2035.
Maner, sb. manner. Ev. 185 ; no
maner wyghte, no kind of man.
Hey. 159; cp. 167.
Mankin, sb. mankind. Hh. 112.
Mannis, sb. gen. mans. MM.
364; mannys. KJ. 1328.
Manrede, sb. homage, vassalage.
Hh. 90.
Manteyn, pr. pi. maintain. T.
632.
Marde,//. marred, ruined. Hey.
209.
Markide,//. designed, noted. Y.
49. 58.
Marmoll, sb. ulcer. Sk. 1932.
Marrande,/r./. marring. ¥.92.
Marters, sb. pi. martyrs. KJ.
2170.
Mary, sb. by the Blessed Virgin,
an oath. FE. 487.
Mas, sb. the Mass. Hey. an.
Mase, sb. mace. Th. 323.
Masendewes, sb. pi. maisonsdieu,
houses of charity. KJ. 2127.
Massenger, sb. messenger. KJ.
1304.
Mastry, sb. mastery, masterful
behaviour. T. 30.
Mater, sb. matter. Ev. 102, 248.
Mawt, sb. Malta. MM. 476.
May, sb. maid, virgin. T. 695.
Mayne, sb. main, strength. ¥.92.
Mayntenance, sb. support. KJ.
1366.
Mays, pr. s. makes. T. 30.
Maystries, sb. masteries ; to try
maystries, to try conclusions.
Th. 515.
Meanye, sb. company. Ch1. 113,
265 ; Ch2. 225.
Meche, adj. great. Co. 28, 68.
Mede, sb. meed, reward. T. 679 ;
CP. (329) ; to medys, by way of
reward. CP. (197).
Medylle, sb. middle. T. 610.
Meete, adj. meet, fitting. Ch1.
94-
Meke, v. make meek. Co. 8.
Mekill, adj. great. ¥.41.
Mekly, adv. meekly. MM. 106.
Mekyl, adj. much. CP. (249).
Mele, sb. meal. CP. (97).
Mell, v. meddle. Hey. 589.
Memoryall, sb. memory, thought.
MM. 1134.
Mende, sb. mind. Co. 7.
Mene, pr. i s. mean, think. T.
647. FE. 408.
Mener, adj. handsome. T. 702.
Meneye, sb. company. T. 357.
Mente,//. //. thought. Y. 139.
Menytt, pr. s. meaneth. MM.
J544-
Merakyll, sb. miracle. MM.
I55i-
Meroyabyl, adj. merciful. Co.
107.
Merour, sb. mirror. Y. 34.
Merrorys, sb. pi. mirrors, i. e.
shining qualities. MM. 73.
Mery, adj. merry. FE. 416.
Merys, pr. s. grows merry. T.
725.
Mesels, sb. pi. lepers. KJ. 2116.
Messe, sb. the sacrament of the
Mass. FE. 448.
Messuer, imper. s. measure. Ch1.
28.
Mesure, sb. reward. MM. 296.
Met, adj. meet. CP. (250), (333).
Mete, sb. meat. T. 321.
Mete, adj. meet, fitting. Th. 38.
Meve, v. move. MM, 1134;
mevyd, pp. Co. 43.
Meynye, sb. company. CP. (77).
Michel, adj. much, great. Hh.
7, 47, 67, 119.
Mightefull, adj. powerful. Y.
58.
Mightes, sb. pi. powers. Y. 33.
Mo, comp. adj. more. T. 686;
240
GLOSS A RIAL INDEX.
FE.22;Hey. 6i6;Th. 66, 467,
470 ; Sk. 1978.
Moche, adv. much. KJ. 1326.
Mockes. sb. pi. jests. Hey. 603.
Mode, sb. mood. T. 5, 14.
Moder, sb. mother. Hh. 193.
Moe, comp. adj. more. Ch1. 122.
Molde, *>. mould, earth. CP.
(164).
lion, sb. man. Ch1. 275. mont,
dative. Ch1. 5.
Mon, pr. 2 //. may. Ch1. 284.
Mone, pr. pi. may. Ch1. 129, cp.
Ch1. 66 ; Ch'. 463.
Mone, sb. moon. T. 673 ; FE.
374; Hey. 555.
Mone, v. moan. KJ. 2125 ; sb.
T. 47 ; Ev. 461.
Moneth, sb. month. Hh. 207.
Mony, sb. money. MM. 487.
Mop, sb. young creature. T. 735.
Moo, comp. adj. more. MM. 477.
Cot, pr. 2 //. :
276.
must. MM. 107,
Mow, v. may. Co. 64.
Moyn, sb. moon. T. 289.
Mustyr, v. show. Y. 145.
Myche, adv. much. FE. 505 ;
adj. MM. 631.
Myddel earde. sb. the middle re-
gion, the world. Ch7. 267.
Myddes, sb. midst. FE. 361.
Mykyll, adj. great. MM. 1140.
Myle, sb. mile. FE. 394.
Myn, pr. i s. mind. T. 685, cp.
756.
Myne, v. mind, think. Ch1. 272.
Mynstrelly, sb. minstrelsy. MM.
1141.
Mynyshe, v. diminish, lessen.
Ev. 878.
Myrkness, sb. darkness. Y. 146.
Mys, v. fail. Y. 83.
Myschevyd, //. hurt. Co. 76.
Mytes, sb. pi. mights, powers.
MM. 632, 1210.
Myth, sb. might. MM. 1140,
1541 ; v. CP. (151).
N.
Na, adv. no. Hh. 66.
Nacked, adj. naked. Cha. 279.
Nam, pt. s. took. Hh. 39.
Nan, adj. none. Hh. 77.
Nas,_/0r ne was. Hh. 9.
Nat, adv. not. MM. 57, etc.
Natt, adv. not. MM. 1431.
Nawther, conj. neither. T. 514.
Ne, conj. nor. Ch1. 18, etc.
Neemly, adv. nimbly. T. 282.
Ner, conj. nor. CP. (121).
Ner, adv. nearly. MM. 293, 482.
Nere.y^rne were. Hh. 14.
Nerehande, nearly. T. 2 ; nere-
handes, T. 10.
Neven, v. name, proclaim, speak.
Y. 25, 85 ; nevyn. T. 659, 750.
Nexile, sb. an aisle. Y. 25. See
note.
Ney, conj. neither, nor. Ch1. 72,
306.
Nil, for ne will, will not. Hh.
62.
Nolden,y0r ne wolden, would not.
Hh. 232.
Nomen, pt.pl. seized. Hh. 53.
Non, adj. none. CP. (138).
None, sb. noon. Th. 210.
Nones, 'for the nones,' for the
occasion. Th. 217.
TSot,pron. naught. KJ. 2146.
Not, for ne wot, know not. CP.
Note, sb. use. Ch1. 246.
Note, sb. labour, work. T. 314.
Nother, conj. neither. Ev. 483 ;
FE. 485, 506 ; Hey. 32 ; Th. 72,
85, etc.
Noutt, adv. not. MM. 1377.
Nowth, pron. naught. MM. 59 r .
Nowther, conj. neither. KJ.
1347-
Noy, v. annoy, distress. Y. 71,
83-
Noyn, sb. noon. T. 290 ; noyne,
T. 54-
Noys, sb. nose. T. 623.
Noy flier, conj. neither. KJ. 1374.
Noyttment, sb. ointment. MM.
640, 641.
Nyce, adj. foolish. Th. 215.
Nye, adv. nigh. Ev. 839.
Nye, sb. harm. Ch1. 11.
Nyp, sb. approach thievishly. T.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
241
Nyse, adj. foolish. Hey. 577.
Nyth, sb. night. CP. (184).
O.
O,prep. of. Y.5, 90.
Obeysauns, sb. obedience. MM.
364.
Occident, sb. west. FE. 372.
Of, adv. off. MM. 379, 1444;
FE. 446 ; Th. 885 ; KJ. 2095.
Ofer, v. offer, sacrifice. MM. 1219.
Oferyng, sb. sacrifice. MM. 1204.
OS, prep. of. Ch1. 125.
Oke, sb. oak. Th. 109, 226.
O-mys, adv. amiss. Y. 139.
On, adj. one. CP. (265), (275);
Hh. 44, 91.
On-bynd, v. unbind. MM. 96.
Onder, prep, under. MM. 266.
One, prep. on. Ch1. 1 1, 117.
Ones, adv. once. Ev. 150, 837 ;
Hey. 283, 289, 553, 600; Th.
67* i43t 518 ; KJ. 2160.
Onest, adj. honest. Co. 114.
On-lyve, adj. alive. CP. (36).
Onstabyll, adj. unstable. MM.
588.
Onto, prep. unto. MM. 61 7.
Ony, adj. any. Ev. 71, 100, 157,
218.
Onymentes, sb. pi. ointments.
MM. 668.
Onys, adv. once. MM. 52 ; CP.
(126); Th. 29.
Gone, adj. own. T. 46.
Oones, adv. once. T. 45.
Opteyn, v. obtain. FE. 41.
Or, prep, ere, before. Ch1. 103,
118; Hey. 87, 94. 295 ; Th.449.
Oration, sb. prayer. Th. 364.
Ore, sb. grace, favour. CP. (26).
Oryent, sb. the East. FE. 370.
Other, conj. either. Th. 73, 286,
352, etc.
Other whyle, adv. occasionally.
CP. (158).
Otys, sb. pi. oats. Hey. 131.
On, pron. you. Hh. 2, 28.
Oughte wher, adv. anywhere.
Ch1. 296.
Ous, pron. us. Hh. 36.
Overall, adv. everywhere. Ev. 72.
Owles, sb.pl. owls. Ch1. 174.
Owt, prep. out. MM. 96.
Owte, an exclamation of pain.
Y. 104.
P.
Pacyens, sb. pacience. Hey. 69.
Palet, sb. palate. Th. 34.
Parais, sb. Paradise. Hh. 6, 167.
Parceyve, v. perceive, understand.
Th.58; FE.337-
Parde, for pardieu. Ev. 270;
per dee, KJ. 2081.
Parfytely, adv. perfectly. Ev.
Parsayve, v. perceive. FE. 397.
Partriche, sb. partridge. KJ.
2168.
Parvert, adj. perverted, repro-
bate. Hey. 45.
Passande. pr. p. surpassing. Y.
56.
Passeth, pr. s. surpasses. KJ.
2088.
Passynge, adv. surpassingly. Ev.
647.
Pastaunce, sb. pastime. EF. 524.
Pay, sb. pleasure. MM. 1428.
Paynt, pp. painted. T. 28 ;
payntyd, feigned. Sk. 1886.
Payre, v. fade, deteriorate. Y. 54.
Peas, sb. peace. Ev. 768, 803;
Hey. 42 ,554. FE.44I.
Pen, sb. pin. Sk. 1967.
Pende. v. suspend. CP. (251).
Pens, sb. pence. Hey. 22, 93, 132.
Peple, sb. people. KJ. 1369.
Pepyll, sb. people. MM. 1388.
Per, prep, by ; per dee, par Dieu.
KJ. 2081.
Perdon, v. pardon. KJ. 2157.
Peres, sb. pi. peers. Y. 56.
Perfyth, adj. perfect MM. 61 1.
Perfythnesse, sb. perfection.
MM. 603.
Perhenuall, adj. perennial. MM.
637.
Perpetuall, adv. perpetually.
MM. 636.
Perse, v. pierce. Th. 71.
Persecute, pr. pi. pursue. Th.
482.
242
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Pes, sb. peace. Co. 115; MM.
93,625; CP. (66), (75).
Peynes, sb. pi. pains. MM. 96.
Peynfulnesse, sb. painfulness.
MM. 608.
Pine, sb. pain. Hh. 12, 63.
Placys, sb. //. places, benefices.
KJ. 1312.
Pleien, pr. I //. play. Hh. 70.
Flesauns, sb. pleasure. MM.
100, 361.
Pleson, sb. pleasure. Co. 116.
Plesowans, sb. pleasure. MM.
90.
Plete, v. plead. Sk. 2061.
Plejeauntly, adv. pleasantly.
MM. 1540.
Ploghe, sb. plough. T. 38.
Ply, v. turn. Y. 12.
Plye, imp. s. apply oneself to.
KJ. 3164.
Po, sb. peacock. T. 37.
Pocyon, sb. potion, drink. KJ.
2083.
Poll, v. cut short the hair, fleece.
Hey. 9,
Pomped, //. pampered. Sk.
2038.
Pore, adj. poor. MM. 596 ; porys,
of the poor. Co. 51.
Porsue, v. pursue. MM. 610.
Portatur, messenger, angel.
MM. 306.
Post, imp, x. put. MM. 1558.
Poste, sb. might. MM. 1559.
Pottill, sb. pottle, flask. Chl.
233-
Potyt, pr. s. strives ? MM. 606.
Pouste, sb. power. Hh. 7.
Povert, sb, poverty. CP. (78).
Poynt, sb. point ; tnpoynt, about,
ready to. CP. (321).
Prease, sb. readiness. Th. 234.
Predycacyon, sb. preaching.
Hey. 563.
Prefytyth, pr. s. profits. CP.
(360).
Prengnaunt, adj. pregnant. FE.
29.
Preor, sb. prayer. MM. 1561 ;
preors. MM. 1137.
Preparate, //. prepared. Ev.
631.
Preposytour, sb. officer, prefect.
Sk. 1967.
Prese, sb. misprint for presence.
Hey. 71.
Presens, sb. presence. MM. 1137.
Presone, sb. prisons. Y. 32.
Prest, adj. forward, ready. Th.
191, 878.
Pretend, v. offer. KJ. 1366.
Prove, v. prove, try. Ev. 142.
Prist, sb. priest. KJ. 1337 ;
pristes. KJ. 1279.
Promtyt, //. prompted. MM.
602.
Proves, sb. pi. proofs. Th. 380.
Provyd, v. provide. KJ. 1394.
Prykkyd, pp. adorned, set out.
MM. 358.
Prynse, sb. prince. MM. 358.
Pryse, sb. prize. MM. 472.
Pryst, sb. priest. MM. 1544;
prystes. MM. 1178 ; KJ. 1351.
Punchement, sb. punishment.
Co. 93.
Purveance, sb. ' purveyance.' T.
Pyche, v. pitch, tar. Ch1. 74.
Pyghte, //. pitched. Th. 238.
Pylt, //. pushed, knocked. CP.
(174).
Pynande,/r./. torturing. Y. 72.
Pyne,». pine, suffer torture. Y. 32.
Pyninge poyntes, sb. pi. tor-
turing pricks. CP. (313).
Pynne, sb. pin. Ch1. 61.
Pynsynesse, sb. pensiveness.
MM. 606.
Pyrked, //. proud, conceited.
MM. 358.
Quecke, adj. quick. Sk. 2070.
Qued, adj. evil. Hh. 36.
Quod,/.r/./. quoth, said. Co. 25 ;
FE. 529.
Quycke, adj. quick, living. Ev.
255 ; Hey. 197.
Quyte, v. pay, requite. Sk. 1902.
Qwantte, adj. quaint. T. 604,
658.
Qwatt, int. pron. what? MM.
1539. 1544-
Qweme, v. please. Co. 123.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Kamyd, pp. overreached. T. 16.
Bathely, adv. quickly. CP. (398).
Baumpinge, //. ramping. Th.
85.
Bayle, sb. a rail, a small bird.
KJ. 2168.
Baynes, sb. the town of Rennes.
Sk. 2043.
Beade, sb. counsel. Ch1. 101.
Beade, pr. i s. counsel, advise.
Ch'. 269.
Becche, v. reck, care. Hh. 120.
Becure, v. recover. MM. 311.
Bed, imp. s. advise. T. 347.
Bede, v. counsel, advise. CP.
(96), (iu);Hh. 66.
Bedshonckes, sb. pi. redshanks.
Ch1. 190.
Befe, pr. pi. deprive. T. 19.
Beke,/r. i s. reckon. KJ. 1315.
Belyff, v. relieve. MM. 488, 612.
Belykes, sb.pl. relics. Hey. 560.
Bendyt, pr. s. rends. MM. 271.
Benne, v. run. Ev. 72, 846 ; Th.
17,154, etc. ; Hh. 142.
Beprefe, sb. reproof. Hey. 52 ;
T. 587-
Beprefe, v. reprove. T. 30.
Besonnes, sb. pi. reasons, argu-
ments. MM. 1527.
Bespeccyon, sb. regard. MM. 70.
Bessayve, v. receive. Y. 90.
Bestoratyff, sb. restorative. MM.
486 ; return, payment. MM.
651.
Bestore, v. refresh. Y. 143.
Bestryne, sb. restrain. MM. 290.
Bether, adv. rather. KJ. 1344.
Betynawns, sb. retinue. MM.
362.
Beve, v. deprive. Hh. 122.
Bewle, v. rule. MM. 91 ; KJ.
I327«
Bewthe, sb. pity. CP. (203).
Bey lie, v. ramble. T. 285.
Bightwysnes, sb. righteousness.
Y. 124.
Bihte, adj. right, direct. Hh. 39,
201.
Bike, sb. kingdom. Hh. 176.
Bod, sb. rood. Hh. 38.
Bodde, sb. rood. Ev. 777.
Bode, sb. rood, the holy cross.
Ev. 8i2;CP. (so);Sk. 1896.
Bombe, sb. room. Cha. 485.
Borne, sb. room. FE. 415 ; Hey.
20.
Bon, v. run. MM. 374.
Boninge, pr. pt. running. Ch1.
190.
Boode, sb. the holy cross. Th.
174,-Ch3. 468.
Botten, sb. rat. Ch1. 179.
Bowe, sb. row, line ; on rowe, in
order, duly. Y. 124.
Bowfed, //. roofed. Ch1. 34.
Bown, v. whisper. MM. 495.
Bowte, sb. company. MM. 374.
Buffle, v. shake. Th. 300.
Buffled,//. swaggered. Th. 180.
Baffler, s&. swaggering bully.
Th. i.
Bughly, adv. roughly. Sk. 1910.
Buth, sb. pity. MM. 274.
Byall, adj. royal. MM. 95, 361.
Byalte, sb. royalty. MM. 65.
Bybbya, sb. pi. ribs. MM. 271.
Byche, adj. rich. CP. (74).
Byche, sb. kingdom. CP. (81).
Bydy, adj. ready. MM. 1388.
Bype, imp. pi. rip, ransack. T.
526.
Byst, v. rest. T. 641.
Byth, adj. right. CP. (23), (48),
etc.
Byve, v. dress, robe. CP. (223).
S.
Sadly, adv. soberly, steadfastly.
MM.6i4;Sk. 1966.
Saffe, adj. safe. Ch1. 86; MM.
Saggyd,//. oppressed, encumbered.
CP. (298).
Sagh, //. i J. saw. T. 6 1 1 .
Sagh,/M s. say. T. 617.
Sake, sb. cause. Hh. 53.
Ball,/*/, shall. Y. 10, 15, 16, etc.
Ballet, sb. helmet. Th. 35, 43,
etc; sallett, KJ. 1347.
Ballet, sb. a salad. Th. 37, 39.
Sam, adv. together. T. 631.
244
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Santificatt, //. sanctified. MM.
«55S.
Save, adj. safe. Th. 363.
Saveryth, pr. s. savours. FE.
440.
Say,//, said. Ev. 271.
Saynt, adj. holy. Ev. 148, 290,
921.
Saynt, v. give health to. KJ.
2098.
Schemerande,/r./. shimmering,
Y. 69.
Schende, v. destroy. CP. (395) ;
used intransitivelyO) CP. (9).
Schent, pp. destroyed. CP.
(34°).
Schewyng, sb. appearance. Y. 69.
Schreve,//. shriven. CP. (406).
Schryfte, sb. absolution after
confession. CP. (319).
Schul, v. shall. CP. (72).
Schynande,/r./. shining. Y. 69.
Serat, v. scratch. Hey. 542.
Scyens, sub. science, knowledge.
FE. 393.
Se, v . see. Co. 19 ; MM. 507 ;
Ev. 1 6, 42 ; Hey. 611 ; Th. 59,
99-
Se, sb. sea. Co. 29.
See, sb. sea. MM. 1391.
Sees, v. cease. Co. 93.
Sei, v. say. Hh. 40.
S eldest, ft. 2 s. saidest. Hh.
216.
Sekyn, v. seek. CP. (377).
Sekyr, adj. safe. CP. (399).
Sele, sb. time, opportunity. CP.
CM)-
Sely, adj. good, innocent. T. 10;
CP. (20).
Semely, adj. seemly, comely. Y.
52 ; semly. CP. (182).
Sen, v. see. CP. (73).
Sen, adv. since. Y. 9.
Sendel, sb. thin silk. CP. (95).
Sene, gerund, see. MM. 51 ; pp.
seen. CP. (53).
Sens, adv. since. KJ. 2128.
Sentence, sb. proposition. FE.
26; judgment. KJ. 1320; the
greater sentence, probably ' the
Day of Judgment," but possibly
' the greater excommunication.'
Sentens, sb. opinion. Co. 123.
Sentt, adj. saint, holy. MM.
1 205.
Sentur, sb. centre. MM. 312.
SerkyUe, sb. circle. T. 289.
Sertes, adv. certes, certainly.
CP. (307); sertys, CP. (208),
(332).
Sestt,/r. 2 s. seest. MM. 1542.
Set, v. value at ; set not a straws,
Ev. 222 ; cp. Th. 172 ; set not a
Jlye, Th. 117; sett the shakyng
of a rod, KJ. 1383 ; set by, Sk.
1915, 1945.
Sete, sb. seat. CP. (95).
Sett, pr. i s. sit. MM. 1217;
sette, MM. 361.
Seven, set on seven, put things in
order. T. 749.
Sewte, sb. suit. KJ. 1370.
Sey, v. say. MM. 1179; pr. i s.
MM. 675 ; seye, pr. 2. pi. MM.
489.
Seyd, pt. i s. said. MM. 1531.
Seyle,/r.//. sail. MM. 1427.
Seyn, gerund, say. MM. 644.
Beys,pr. 2 pi. seest. T. 316.
Seyst, pt. 2 s. sawest. Th. 501.
Seyth, sb. atonement. Co. 103.
Seyyst, pr. 2 s. saist. MM.
1539-
Shelde, sb. shield. Th. 405.
Shepe, sb. ship. MM. 1423,
1429.
Sheppyng, sb. shipping. MM.
1392, 1431.
Sheynd, v. reprove, shame. T.
651.
Sholde, v. should. Ev. 137, 146.
Shope, //. a s. createdst. Hh.
156.
Shorte, v. shorten. Ev. 878.
Shortely, adv. quickly, without
delay. Ev. 778.
Shote, v, shoot. Th. 105, 109.
Shrew, pr. i s. curse. T. 310;
Hey. 573.
Shrewde, adj. malicious, ill.
FE. 438 ; Th. 146.
Shryve, v. absolve after confes-
sion. CP. (38) ; pp. shryven.
Hey. 176.
Shuld, should. KJ. 1387.
GLOSSAR1AL INDEX
345
Shuyd,//. shewed. MM. 86.
Sibnesse, sb. kinship. Hh. 204.
Sitbthen, adv. since. Hh. 48.
Sitten, v. sit. Ch1. 164.
Skante, adv. hardly. Th. 431.
Skard, pp. scared. T. 300, 659.
Skawd, sb. scold. T. 607.
Skille, sb. wisdom. Ch'. 362.
Skowte, sb. enterprise, scheme
MM. 375.
Skryke, ? misprint for 'stryke.'
MM. 1395.
Slake, v. slacken. Cha. 247;
imp. s. Ch1. 1 8.
Sle, v. slay. Sk. 1939.
Slefe, sb. sleeve. T. 28.
Slo, v. slay. CP. (273).
Slokyn, v. slacken. T. 687.
Sloo, v. slay. CP. (244), (377\
Slowches, sb. lazy fellows. Th.
506.
Slowe, v. slay. Ch1. 35.
Slyche, sb. plaster. Ch1. 17, 73.
Slydder, adj. slippery. Hey.
296.
Slyke, adj. such. Y. 97.
Smoder, v. smother. Ev. 796.
Smore, pr. 2 //. smother. Y.
117.
Snek, sb. latch. T. 317.
Soche, adj. such. KJ. 1366.
Sokor, sb. succour. MM. 286 ;
sokower, MM. 481.
Solas, sb. solace, pleasure. MM.
63 ; Ev. 277.
Somekyl, adv. somewhat. CP.
(267).
Somkyns, some kind of. T.
719.
Somoned, //. summoned. Ev.
493-
Sompe, sb. swamp. CP. (151).
Son, sb. sun. Hey. 90.
Son, adv. soon. MM. 1529.
Sond, sb. sand. MM. 1439.
Sonde, sb. messenger. Hh. 150.
Sonde, sb. message, errand. CP.
(397)-
Sone, sb. sum. FE. 374.
Sone, adv. soon. CP. (74); KJ.
2146.
Sonest, sup. adv. soonest. Th.
Sorde, sb. sword. Cha. 291.
Soroyng, pp. sorrowing. MM.
290.
Sort, sb. company, crew. Th.
250; KJ. 2169.
Sortes, adv. certes, certainly
CP. (65).
Sorwe, sb. sorrow. Co. 18.
Soth, sb. truth. MM. 100.
Sotbfast, adj. truthful. Hh. 18.
Sotyllte, sb. subtlety. MM.
378.
Southly, adv. soothly, truly.
Ch1. 44.
Sowlys, sb. gen. s. soul's. MM.
286.
Sownd, v. take soundings. MM.
I397-
Sowth, pp. sought. MM. 307,
Soyne, adv. soone. T. 50.
Spar, v. fasten. T. 338.*
Spares, pr. 2 s. sparest. Ch1. 43.
Speceows,a<#. special, particular.
MM. 628.
Spede, sb. progress. Hey. 205.
Spede, v. help, forward. Ev.
771 ; CP. (327).
Speede, //. sped, despatched.
Ch'. 388.
Spelle, v. tell, relate. CP. (372).
Spere, sb. sphere. Ev. 899.
Spill, v. destroy. Ch1. 43, 308;
Ch4. 287 ;Y. no.
Sprete, sb. spirit. Y. 18.
Sprytes, sb.pl. spirits. MM. 483.
Spyll, v. kill. Th. 434.
Spylt,//. destroyed. CP. (176),
(331)-
Spyttle-howses, sb. pi. hospitals.
KJ. 2127.
Stale, adj. antiquated. Th. 246.
Stale,//, s. stole. Th. 241.
Standes,/r. 2 s. standest. Ch1.
193.
Starke, adj. stiff. KJ. 1283.
Starne, sb. star. T. 588, 665.
Stat, sb. state, condition. CP.
(31°)-
Stavya, sb. pi. staves, cudgels.
Hey. 573.
Steade, sb. place. Ch». 207, 264.
Stele, sb. steel. CP. (ua).
246
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Stere, v. stir. Ev. 488.
Sterris, sb.pl. stars. T. 658.
Steven, sb. voice. Y. 75.
Steylle, sb. steel. T. 710.
Stiche, sb. stick. Chl. 75.
Stodyys, sb. pi. studies. MM.
488.
Stokys, sb. pi. stocks. Hey. 602.
Ston, sb. stone. CP. (71).
Stond, pr. s. stands. KJ. 1358.
Stondyth,/r. s. stands. FE. 345;
stondyth not, is not consistent
with. KJ. 1391.
Stordy, adj. sturdy. KJ. 1283.
Stott, sb. young bull. T. 529.
Stounde, sb. time, occasion. Ev.
633-
Stower, sb. store. Chl. 307*.
Stownd, sb. time, occasion. MM.
1230.
Stowth, adj. stout. MM. 373.
Strate, sb. strait ; ' in a strate,' at
a pinch. T. 322.
Straytway, adv. straightway, im-
mediately. Hey. 615.
Strayte, adj. strict. Ev. 244.
Strete and stalle, CP. (42);
strete and stronde, CP. (199),
(226) ; strete and stye, CP. (7) ;
strete and style, CP. (12) ;
alliterative phrases with general
meaning ' everywhere.'
Streytnes, sb. straitened circum-
stances. MM. 97.
Sty, sb. a narrow lane, contrasted
with strete, a highway, in the
phrases stye and strete, CP.
(89), (189) ; strete and sty,
CP. (7).
Stylle, adv. silently. CP. (71).
Substancyall, adj. full of matter.
FE. ii, 18.
Sucke, adj. such. Ch1. 259.
Suete, adj. sweet. Hh. 193.
Sum, adj. some. MM. 495.
Supportacyon, sb. tolerance, for-
bearance. FE. 5 ; Hey. 69.
Surely, adv. safely. Ev. 147.
Suspowse, sb. suspicion. T. 525.
Swane, sb. swain, fellow. T. 37.
Swearde, sb. sword. Th. 435, 455.
Swedylle, pr. pi. swaddle, wrap.
T. 605.
Sweme, sb. sorrow. Co. 127.
Swerde, sb. sword. Th. 288.
Swyche, adj. such. MM. 58, 87 ;
CP. (36)/
Swynke, v. labour. T. 323.
Swythe, adv. quickly. CP. ( 160).
Sye, v. sigh. CP. (175), (222),
(333) ; ytst, CP. (306) ; syinge,
CP. (315).
Syke, sb. stream. CP. (151).
Sykenesse, sb. sureness. Sk.
2054.
Symple, adj. simple, foolish. Ev.
283.
Syn, adv. since. CP. (40), (77),
("9)-
Syt, pr. s. sitteth. CP. (242);
is becoming. Co. 113.
Syth., adv. since. MM. 624; Ev.
312; Hey. 19.
Syth, sb. sight. MM. 69, 613,
etc.
Syyng, sb. sighing. MM. 63.
T.
Take, v. give. T. 765 ; take of
•worth, regard highly. Ev. 904.
Tale, sb. count, reckoning. CP.
(170-
Talents, sb. pi. desires, inclin-
ations. Y. 144.
Tane,//. taken. T. 337.
Tappe, sb. ? Ev. 801.
Taspysster, sb. fern, tapster, bar-
maid. MM. 495.
Tast, sb. taste. MM. 482.
Tastinge, sb. trial, proof. Th.
46, 343-
Tawth, //. taught, given in
charge, committed. CP. (92).
Te, v. go, run. Hh. 8 ; tee. CP.
(398).
Techyd, pp. taught. MM. 1382.
Techyth, pr. s. shows, directs.
CP. (28).
Teene, sb. sorrow. Ch1. 319.
Tell, adv. till. Ch1. 7, 134.
Telle, v. reckon. Co. I.
Temtyd, //. tempted. MM. 603.
Ten, v. go, run. Hh. 231.
Tene, sb. sorrow. CP. (57).
Tene,/r. 2 D/. trouble. T. 648.
GLOSSAR1AL INDEX.
247
Tenya, sb. tennis. T. 747.
Teres, sb. pi. tears. MM. 666.
Terestryall, adj. terrestrial. Ev.
155-
Termys, sb.pl. phrases. FE. 42.
Teyn, sb. sorrow. T. 724.
Than, adv. then, Co. 81, 86 ; Ev.
166; Hey. 44, 289; KJ. 2096,
etc.
Thane, conj. than. Y. 113.
Thar, v. need (used impersonally).
Y. 64.; T. 318; MM. 1437.
Thare, pron. their. T. 360.
The, pron. they. Ch1. 8; CP.
6),
nj. than. . 51
Thenne, adv. thence. Hh. 13.
(256), etc.
Then, conj. than. Th. 514.
Ther, adv. where. MM. 621.
Ther, pron. their. MM. 79.
Tho, adv. then, when. Hh. 4.
Tho, dent. adj. those. Hh. 84.
Thole, v. suffer. T. 317 ; //.
tholed. Hh. 49, 58; pt. i s.
tholede. Hh. 208.
Thore, adv. there. Hh. 65.
Thorowe, prep, through. Y. 84.
Thou, conj. though. CP. (344).
Thought, sb. sadness, anxiety.
Sk. 1995.
Thowth, sb. thought. MM. 633 ;
CP. (48).
Thoys, dem. adj. those. MM.
1388.
Thred, num. adj. third. KJ.
1Z°3-
Threde, sb. thread. Hey. 260.
Threpe, pr. a pi. chide, dispute.
Y. 114.
Threttye, num. thirty. Co. n.
Thridde, num. adj. third. Hh.
45, 74-
Thrist, sb. thirst. Hh. 50.
Thritti, num. thirty. Hh. 45.
Throwe, sb. while, time. CP.
(133), (147).
Thryfe, v thrive. T. 27.
Thryst, v. thrust. Ev. 825.
Thryst, sb. thirst. MM. 492 ;
thryste. Co. 13.
Thu,/n>». thou. KJ. 2078, 2100,
2105.
Thyder, adv. thither. Ev. 675,
918.
Thy Ike, adj. that. Hey. 44, 46.
Thynkes, pr. 2 s. thinkest. MM.
Til?,/™/, to. Ch1. 47.
To, num. two. MM. 68; CP.
(34)-
Tocken, sb. token. Ch1. 31 1, 318.
Toddes, sb.pl. toads. MM. 1199.
To-dyghte, //. committed to.
Y.98.
Togyder, adv. together. Ev. 666,
677; Hey. 285.
Toke, pt. took. Ev. 848.
Token, sb. parable. T. 331.
To medys, conj. provided that.
CP. (197).
Ton, adj. the one. CP. (28), (38).
Tone, adj. the one, though used
with the definite article, ' the
tone.' Hey. 579.
Tong, sb. tongue. MM. 278;
tonge. Ch1. 234; MM. 1530.
Too, sb. toe. CP. (209).
Torke, sb. Turkey. MM. 1435.
Tother, the, i.e. that other. CP.
(39)-
Towe, num. two. Ch1. 121.
To-whyls, adv. whilst. Y. 6a.
Traysh, sb. trash. KJ. 1389.
Treey, sb. tree. Ch1. 89.
Tremyll, v. tremble. MM. 1554.
Treubelaoyon, sb. tribulation.
MM. 1534.
Trew, adj. true. MM. 66, 603.
Trobylled, //. troubled. MM.
269.
Trone, sb. throne. Ev. 637 ; CP.
Trost, sb. trust. MM. 634, 1214.
Trotte, sb. old woman. Th. 501.
Trow, adj. true. CP. (2 1 a).
Trye, adj. pure, refined. CP. (81),
(216).
Tryfellys, sb.pl. trifles. FE. 17.
Twyne,/n i s. separate. Y. 153.
Tyde, sb. time, MM. 273, 1442.
Tympanye, sb. dropsy. KJ. 2117.
Tyne, adj. tiny. T. 735.
Tyte, adv. quickly; as tyte, as
quickly as may be. T. 638.
Tytte, sb. teat. Th. 73.
Tytyll, sb. title, name. MM. 603.
248
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
U.
UnbuxTimnes, sb. disobedience.
Y. 123.
Unchende, adj. unkind, unnatural ?
or for unhend, uncourteous. CP.
(13).
Underfoe, v. undertake. Ch.1 67.
412.
TJnderfonge, v. undergo. Cha.
Unkende, adj. unnatural. Co. 67.
Unkynde, adj. unnatural. Co.
59; Ev. 23; unkind. Ev. 310.
TTnlykynge, adj. in poor condi-
tion. Sk. 1984.
Unneth, adv. scarcely. FE. 19.
TJnrightes, sb. unrighteousness.
Ch1. 142.
Unthryvandly, adv. in vain, un-
thrivingly. Y. 114.
TJnyte, sb. unity. MM. 620.
V.
Vagys, sb. pi. strayings. Sk.
1947.
Vayne, sb. vein. Hey. 548.
Velyarde, sb. old man, dotard.
Sk. 1903.
Vengeabyl, adj. vengeful. Co.
105.
Venter, v. venture. Ev. 484.
Vernage, sb. wine of Verona.
MM. 480.
Veryabyll, adj. variable. MM.
59°> 595-
Violatt, //. violated, polluted,
foul. MM. 1557.
Vyage, sb. voyage, Ev. 249, 674.
782.
Vyand, sb. food. FE. 465.
W.
Walter, v. welter, roll about. Sk.
1936.
"Wane, sb. wain, waggon. T. 38.
"War, comp. adj. worse. Y. 113.
War, v. were. MM. 1535.
Warande, pr. i 5. warrant Y.
96; KJ. 2105.
Ware, imp. s. beware. MM. 492.
Ware, ». wear. KJ. 1324.
Warke, sb. work. Y. 15, 17, etc.
•warkes. FE. 20.
Warloo, sb. warlock, wizard. T.
65I> 723-
Warrye, v. curse. Ch1. 273;
•wary. T. 19 ; waryd. T. 723.
Wassayle, s. wassail, 'good
health.' KJ. 7165.
Wast, sb. waste. MM. 487.
Wat, pr. i s. know. Hh. 217.
Waus,/A was. CP. (314).
Waxit, pr. s. waxeth, grows. CP.
044)-
Waye, pr. 2 //. weigh. K J. 2 1 66 ;
•wayeth. KJ. 1321.
Wayn, adj. vain. MM. 595.
Wede, sb. attire. CP. (183); Hh.
34-
Weder, adv. wither. CP. (177),
(270.
Weders, sb. pi. weathers, storms.
T. i.
Wedyr, adv. whither. CP. (49).
Weeke, adj. weak. Ch1. 67.
Weelde, sb. power. Y. 67.
Weendande, pr. p. wending. Y.
96.
Weete, sb. wet, rain. Ch1. 95.
Wei, sb. way. Hh. 39, 209.
Weither, sb. weather. Ch1. 323,
876.
Weither, sb. wether. Chs. 441.
Weke, adj. weak. Ev. 482.
Welde, v. wield, rnle, enjoy. Y.
28, 73; Hh. 108.
Welde, sb. power. Y. 86.
Wele, sb. wealth, well-being.
CP. (79). (335)-
Wele, adv. well. KJ. 2137, 2145.
Weledyng, sb. wielding, rule.
Y. 39 ; weledande, pr. p. Y. 86.
Well, pr. \ s. boil, seethe. Y.
104, 13 r.
Welth, sb. well-being, salvation.
Y. 3, 28, 85.
Wemen, sb.pl. women. Ch1. 48,
67.
Wende, pp. thought. Ev. 163.
Wendest,/r. 2 s. weenest, think-
est. Hey. 179.
Wene, v. think. CP. (48); cp.
Ch1. in; MM. 493; wenest,
Ev. 161.
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
249
Wente,//. gone. Y. 105.
Wepyn, sb.pl. weapons. T. 626.
Wer, pt. 2 s. wast. MM. 673.
Werd, sb. world. CP. (72);
•werdes, CP. (68).
Were, v. wear. Ev. 648; Th.
55. 129-
Werely, adv. verily. MM. 675.
Wery, v. weary, grow tired. FE.
518.
Weryauns, sb. variance. MM. 92.
Werye, v. war against. Th.
406.
Wes,//. s. was. Hh. 4.
Westment, sb. vestment. MM.
1183.
Wete, v. know. Y. 67; Ev. 88,
112, 143.
'Wete, sb. wheat. Hh. 131.
Weth,/«/. with. FE. 522.
Wetyn, v. know. CP. (101).
Wexith, pr. s. waxes, becomes.
FE. 460.
Weyle, v. wail. CP. (173).
Weylle, adv. well. T. 287, 709.
Weyn, pr. i s. ween. T. 706.
Weyscelles, ^.//.weasels. Ch1.
175-
"Whan, adv. when. Ev. 641 ;
whane, CP. (45).
What, adv. how. T. I, 298 ;
CP. (405).
Wheeler, adv. whether. Ev. 287.
Wheeler, adv. whither. Ev. 297.
306.
Wher, pt. pi. were. MM. 369 ;
imp. subj. MM. 1436.
Where, conj. whereas. Hey.
276.
Whyder, adv. whither. Ev. 802.
Who, pron. whoever. MM. 61.
Whorshep, sb. worship. MM.
384-
Who-w, adv. how. CP. (13),
(74)
Whypyng, pr. p. wiping. MM.
640.
Whytly, adv. quickly. MM.
376.
Whytt, sb. bit, atom. CP. (85).
Wiht, sb. wight, man. Hh. 23.
Wike, sb. town, place. Hh. 175.
Winde, v. escape. Hh. 146.
Wist, //. known. Hh. 40.
Wite, v. know. Hh. 71.
With so that, conj. provided that.
CP. (167).
Wo, pron. who. MM. 608.
Wod, sb. wood. T. 661.
Wode, adj. mad, furious. CP.
(34) 5 Y. 105.
Wold, wolde, would. Hey. 558 ;
KJ. 1387; Ev. 274.
Wole, woll, will. Co. 14; MM.
488.
Won, v. dwell. Y. 28.
Wonde, v. turn aside from. CP.
(201).
Wonders, adv. wondrously. Ev.
7 ; -wondersly, FE. 329.
Wondydd, pp. wrapped, en-
veloped in. MM. 605.
Wone, v. dwell. Y. "137; Hh.
1 60; wonen, Hh. 233; waned,
Hh. 46.
Wones, sb. pi. places, dwellings.
Y. 28.
Wondyr, adv. wonderfully. CP.
(50-
Woo, pron. who. MM. 609.
Wood, adj. mad. Ch1. 254.
Worche, v. work. Ch1. 50 ; KJ.
1382.
Word, sb. world. MM. 305, 381.
Worthely, adj. worthy. Y. 17.
Wo so, pron. who so. MM. 57.
Wost, pt. 2 s. knewest. Hh. 73.
Wot, v. know. Ev. 821 ; -wote.
Ev. 195, 271 ; wote,/r. s. Th.
150; -wolst. MM. 1216.
Wounder, adv. wondrously. Ch1.
Wrake, sb. harm. MM. 380.
Wrawe, adj. angry. Ch1. 209.
Wrocken, pp. wreaked. Ch1.
320.
Wrokyn,//. avenged. T. 625.
Wrowth, //. wrought. MM.
305. 631, 1387-
Wrytynge, sb. account. Ev. 187.
Wurkes, sb. pi. works. KJ.
2134.
Wyche,//w*. which. CP. (107).
Wycke, sb. wickedness. CP. (39)-
Wyhylles, sb. pi. wiles. MM.
377-
250
GLOSSARIAL INDEX.
Wylddyng, sb. wielding, power.
MM. 59.
Wylfull, adj. voluntary. Hey.
33-
Wyn, sb. wine. MM. 485.
Wynche, v. kick. Sk. 2049.
Wynde, v. turn, (go its own way).
FE. 418.
Wyndowe, sb. window. Chl. 29.
Wyrk, v . work. T. 282.
"Wyrschlp, sb. worship. Y. 81.
"Wyse, sb. manner. MM. 665.
Wyshyng, pr. p. guiding. Y.
'57-
Wyssande, pr. p. guiding. Y.
152-
Wythly, adv. actively, swiftly.
MM. 270.
Wytt, sb. knowledge, understand-
ing Co. 115; MM. 1213; -wytte,
Ch1. 29.
"Wytte, know. Hey. 85.
Wytystsaff, pr. 2 s. vouchestsafe.
MM. 624.
X.
Xall,/«/. j. shall. MM. 64, etc.
Xulde, //. s. should. MM.
Y.
Y,/r. i. KJ. 1322; MM 292.
Ya, adv. yea, yes. CP. (53).
Yarde, sb. stick, rod. Cha. 290.
Yarde, //. made ready. Ch1. 91.
Yare, adj. ready, prepared. T.
715.
Y-beten,//. beaten. Sk. 2043.
Ydoll.,^.//. idols. KJ. 1352.
Yeinder, adj. yonder. Ch1. 214.
Yender, adj. yonder. Cha. 250 ;
MM. 1438.
Yer, adv. ere, before. Th. 328.
Yerth., sb. earth. FE. 332, 340.
Yf, conj. if. FE. 24.
Yinge, adj. young. Ch8. 369.
Yle, sb. aisle. KJ. 2114.
Ylle, adv. ill. T. i.
Ymagyn, v. imagine. Hey. 287.
Ynough, adv. enough. Th. 207 ;
ynoughe. Ev. 816.
Yode, //. //. went, ran. T. 5 1 7.
Yone, adj. yonder. CP. (391),
(404).
Yower, pron. your. MM. 86.
Yre, sb. ire, wrath. Hey. 59;
Th. 77.
Yrons, sb. pi. irons. Th. 170,
188.
Ya,pr. s. is. KJ. 1313.
Ywys, adv. iwis, certainly. Th.
96, 510; Hey. 553.
Yys, sb. pi. eyes. MM. 640.
Yya, adv. yes. CP. (155), (164).
Z.
3af,//. gave. Hh. 91.
5ates, sb. pi. gates. Hh. 135.
Jateward, sb. porter. Hh. 137.
seme, v. guard, take care of.
Hh. 24, 167.
}er, sb. year. Hh. 45.
gerned, //. yearned. Hh. 162.
Jif, imp. s. give. Hh. 173.
jif, conj. if. Hh. 121.
jonge, adj. young. Hh. 132.
joven, //. given. Hh. 177.
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