Chapter V: Front Matter (5)

"Leve thou in oure Loverd God 1585
That al the werld wrought,
{498}
Holy heven eke on hey
Holliche he fourmede,
And is almyghti hymself
Over alle his werkes. 1590
And wrought as his wil was
The werld and the heven;
And on gentil Jesu Christ,
Engendred of hymselven,
His owen onlyche sone,
Lord over all y-knowen,
That was clenlich conceived
Clerli in trewthe
Of the heye Holy Gost,
This is the holy beleve. 1600
And of the maiden Marye
Man was he born,
Withouten synful seed,
This is fully the byleve.
With thorn y-crouned, crucified,
And on the cros dyede,
And sythen his blessed body
Was in a stone byried,
And descended a-doun
To the derk helle, 1610
And fet out our formfaderes,
And hy ful fayn weren.
The thyrd day redeliche
Hymself ros fram deeth,
And, on a ston there he stod,
He steigh up to hevene,
And on his fader ryght hand
Redelich he sitteth,
That almyghti God,
Over alle other whyghtes; 1620
{499}
And is herafter to commen,
Christ all himselven,
To demen the quyke and the dede,
Withouten any doute.
And in the heighe Holy Gost
Holly I beleve;
And generall holy chirche also,
Hold this in the minde;
The communion of sayntes,
For soth I to the sayn; 1630
And for our great sinnes
Forgivenes for to getten,
And only by Christ
Clenlich to be clensed;
Our bodies again to risen
Right as we been here;
And the liif everlasting
Leve ich to habben. Amen.

"Although this flatterynge freres
Wyln, for her pryde, 1640
Disputen of Godes deyté,
As dotardes shulden,
The more the matere is moved
The masedere hi worthen.
Lat the loseles alone,
And leve thou the trewthe;
For these maystres of dyvynité
Many, als I trowe,
Folwen nought fully the feith,
As fele of the lewede. 1650
Whough may mannes wiit,
Through werk of himselve,
Knowen Christes privité,
{500}
That alle kynde passeth?
It mot ben a man
Of also mek an herte,
That myght with his good liif
The Holy Gost fongen;
And thanne nedeth him nought
Nevere for to studyen; 1660
He myght no maistre ben cald,
For Christ that defended,
Ne puten no pylion
On his pild pate,
But prechen in parfit liif,
And no pryde usen.
But al that ever I have seyd,
Soth it me semeth;
And al that evere I have wryten
Is soth, as I trowe; 1670
And for amendyng of thise men
Is most that I write.
God wolde hy wolden ben war,
And werchen the betere!
But for I am a lewed man,
Paraunter I myghte
Passen par adventure,
And in some poynt erren,
I wil nought this matere
Maistrely avowen. 1680
But gif ich have mys-said,
Mercy ich aske,
And pray al mannere men
This matere amende,
Ich a word by hymself,
And al, gif it nedeth.
God of his grete myght,
{501}
And his good grace,
Save alle freres
That feithfulli lybben! 1690
And alle tho that ben fals,
Fayre hem amende,
And gyve hem wiit and good wil
Swiche dedes to werch,
That thei may wynnen the liif
That evere shal lesten."
_Amen._

* * * * *

NOTES AND GLOSSARY

* * * * *

NOTES.

Line 1. Bale, quoting the first two lines, translates them _In æstivo tempore, cum sol caleret_. The printers of the early editions altered _softe_ to _set_.

4, 5. _shroudes ... sheep_. The other text of this poem reads _Yshop into shrobbis | as y shepherde were_. See the Introduction.

28. The text represented in Whitaker's edition here differs much from the other. Our dreamer is there introduced very unadvisedly telling us of this tower, 'truthe was therynne,' a piece of information which he only learns afterwards from dame 'Holy Churche:'

Ich was aferd of hure face,
Thauh hue faire were,
And saide, mercy, madame,
Wat may this be to mene,
_The tour upon toft_, quath hue,
Treuthe ys therynne.
(Passus Secundus, ed. Whit.)

Where there is an evident reference to the "tour on a toft," which has been previously mentioned in the more correct text.

43, 44. Dr. Whitaker, misunderstanding this passage, has printed 'ther' for 'that,' which is in all the MSS. In his gloss, he interprets 'wonnen' by 'to dwell;' and he paraphrases the sentence, 'some destroying themselves by gluttony and excess,' translating it, I suppose, "And there dwell wasters whom gluttony destroyeth." The meaning is, the ploughmen worked hard, "and obtained (wan) that which wasters destroy with their gluttony." The writer of the second Trin. Coll. MS. seems to have understood the meaning of the passage, but not the words, and has 'whom that thise wastours.'

68. I have here to preserve the alliteration, adopted 'giltles,' from the second Trin. Coll. MS., and one of the printed editions, in place of 'synneles,' which the other MS. has. Though we find instances of irregularity in the sub-letters (or alliterative letters in the first line) in Pierce Plowman, the chief letter is not so often neglected. In Whitaker's text the account of the minstrels is very confused. Here the minstrels get gold by their song without sin, but the japers and janglers are condemned as getting their living by what is afterwards called 'turpiloquium,' when they had ability to get it in an honester way.

88. _Roberdes knaves._ These are the same class of malefactors who are named _Roberdesmen_ in the Statutes, 5 Ed. III. c. 14. "Et diverses roberies, homicides, et felonies ont esté faitz eintz ces heures par gentz qui sont appellez Roberdesmen, Wastours, et Draghelatche, si est acordé et establi que si homme eit suspecion de mal de nuls tielx, soit-il de jour soit-il de nuyt, que meintenant soient arestus par les conestables des villes." This law was confirmed by 7 Ric. II. c. 5, where the word is again introduced. Whitaker supposes, without any reason, the 'Roberdes knaves' to be Robin Hood's men. The other Trin. Coll. MS. reads _Robertis knaves_.

93. _Seint Jame._ St. James of Compostello was a famous resort of pilgrims in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. An amusing song on the inconveniences which attended the voyage is printed in the Reliquiæ Antiquæ, vol. i, p. 2.

107. _Walsyngham._ The shrine of the Virgin Mary at Walsingham in Norfolk, also enjoyed an extraordinary celebrity, as a resort of English pilgrims. It appears that the first complaints of the Wicliffite reformers were strongly expressed against this pilgrimage. "Lolardi sequaces Johannis Wiclif ... prædicaverunt peregrinationes non debere fieri, et præcipue apud Walsingham," etc. Th. Walsingh. p. 340.

116. The four orders of friars were, of course, the Franciscans, Augustines, Dominicans, and Carmelites.

131. These four lines stand thus in Whitaker's text, _Bote holy churche and charité | choppe a-doun swich shryvers, | the moste myschif of molde | mounteth up faste._ Whitaker has translated it quite wrong, "May true charity and church discipline knock down these, the greatest pests on earth, who are rapidly increasing!" The simple meaning of the passage, as given by Whitaker, is, "Unless holy church and charity chop down such shrivers (confessors), the greatest mischief of the world is increasing fast." The present text affords a better and equally clear meaning, "Unless holy church and they hold better together, the greatest mischief in the world is increasing, or gaining ground very fast."

141. _of falshede of fastynge_, the comma has slipped in by accident. The meaning is "of breaking fast-days."

147. _He bunchith hem_, MS. Trin. 2.

168. _the pestilence tyme._ See further on, the note on l. 2497. The great plague of 1349 and 1350 had carried off so much people, that hands were wanting to cultivate the lands in many parishes, and the distress which followed, with the failure of tithes which naturally accompanied it, drove the parsons to plead poverty as an excuse for going to London and seeking other occupations.

192. Whitaker's text inserts the following passage between this line and the one following:--

Conscience cam and acusede hem,
And the commune herde hit,
And seide, "Ydolatrie ye soffren
In sondrye places menye,
And boxes ben y-set forth
Bounden with yren,
To undertake the tool
Of untrewe sacrifice,
In menynge of miracles
Muche wex hongeth there,
Al the worldle wot wel
Hit myghte nat be trywe.
Ac for it profitith yow to pors-warde,
Ye prelates soffren
That lewede men in mysbylyve
Leven and deien.
Ich lyve wel, by oure Lorde!
For love of youre covetyse,
That al the worlde be the wors;
As holy wryght telleth
What cheste and meschaunce
To children of Israel
Ful on hem that free were,
Thorwe two false preestes.
For the synne of Ophni
And of Finees hus brother,
Thei were disconfit in bataille,
And losten _Archa Dei_,
And fore hure syre sauh hem syngen,
And aoffred hem don ylle,
And noght chasted hem therof,
And wolde noght rebukie hem,
Anon as it was y-told hyme
That the children of Israel
Weren disconfit in bataille,
And _Archa Dei_ y-lore,
And hus sones slayen,
Anon he ful for sorwe
Fro hus chaire thare he sat,
And brak hus necke a-tweyne;
And al was for venjaunce
That he but noght hus children.
And for they were preestes,
And men of holy churche,
God was well wrother,
And toke the rather venjaunce.
For-thei ich seye, ye preestes,
And men of holy churche,
That soffren men do sacrifice
And worsheppen mawmettes,
And ye sholde be here fadres,
And techen hem betere;
God shal take venjaunce
In alle swiche preestes
Wel harder and grettere,
On suche shrewede faderes,
Than ever he dude on Ophni
And Finees, or in here fadere.
For youre shrewede suffraunce,
And youre owen synne,
Youre masse and youre matynes,
And meny of youre houres, etc.

225. This is the constitutional principle which was universally acknowledged by our early political writers, and of which some strong declarations will be found in my "Political Songs" (published by the Camden Society). The doctrine of "right divine" was certainly not a prevalent one in the middle ages.

291. This fable appears to be of middle-age formation, for it is not found in any of the ancient collections. It does not occur in the fables of Marie. It is however found in the old collection, in French verse of the fourteenth century, entitled Ysopet; and M. Robert has also printed a Latin metrical version of the story from a MS. of the same century. La Fontaine has given it among his fables. It may be observed that the fable is nowhere so well told as in Piers Ploughman. (See Robert, Fables Inédites, des xii^e, xiii^e, et xiv^e siècles, i, pp. 98-101.) The readers of Scottish history will remember the application of this fable in 1481, by the earl of Angus (popularly named, from this circumstance, Archibald Bell-the-cat), in the conspiracy against the royal favourites, which forms an excellent illustration of our text.

381. _Væ terræ, etc._ Ecclesiastes, x, 16. "Væ tibi, terra, cujus rex puer est, et cujus principes mane comedunt."

423. _and pointeth the lawe._ MS. Trin. 2.

429. after this line the following are inserted in the second MS. of Trin. Coll.

I saugh bisshopis bolde,
And bacheleris of devyn,
Become clerkis of acountis
The king for to serve,
Archideknes and denis,
That dignités haven,
To preche the peple
And pore men to fede,
Ben y-lope to Lundone
Be leve of hire bisshop,
And ben clerkis of the kinges bench
The cuntré to shende.

438. _Taillours, tanneris, | And tokkeris bothe._ MS. Trin. 2.

453. The Cottonian MS. Vespas. B. xvi, from which Price has given a long extract in his edition of Warton, has here "With wyne of Oseye | and wyn of Gascoyne." Whitaker's reading is "Whit wyn of Oseye and of Gascoyne." Price observes, in a note, "good wyne of Gaskyne, and the wyne of Osee [is the reading of MS. Harl. No. 875].--The same hand already noticed has corrected _wyn_ to _weyte_ (wheat) _of Gascoyne_;--an obvious improvement." I by no means partake in this opinion: _wine_ of Gascony, and _not wheat_ of Gascony, is perpetually alluded to in the literature of France and England from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. The reading of the text now printed is evidently the original one, which has been corrupted in the others: the wine more particularly known as Gascon, was a red wine. The writer of "La Desputoison du Vin et de l'Iaue," says of it--

Vin de Gascoigne, sa coulour
N'est pas de petite valour;
Les autres vins fet honnorer.
Quant de soi les veult coulourer:
Force donne, aide, et confort,
Et d'un vin foible, fet. i. fort.
Il a de vin plaine sustance;
Il nourrist sans faire grevance:
Aus testes est bons et au flanc.
Et du rouge y a et du blanc.
(_Jubinal, Nouveau Recueil de Contes, &c._, i. 399.)

The 'wyn of the Rochel' (vin de la Rochelle) was also a favourite wine.--

Rochelle, qui tant a de pris,
Que l'en la va de partout querre;
Chascun si l'enclot et l'enserre,
Car il n'est pas à garçonner,
N'en ne la doit q'aus bons donner;--
Por les grans seignors l'en salache.
(_ib._ p. 300).

The "wyn of Oseye" (vin d'Osaie) was a foreign wine, very rare and dear, and sought up by 'gourmands:' it is mentioned with those of Malvoisia, Rosetta, and Muscadet. (Depping Réglemens sur les Arts et Métiers de Paris, p. lxiii.) It is unnecessary to explain what was 'wyn of the Ryn' (Rhine).

456. _of the Reule | and of the Rochel._ Whitaker.

458. These two lines, omitted in the MS. from which our text is printed, have been added from MS. Trin. 2.

489. _fyve wittes._ The five wits were equivalent to the five _senses_. One of the characters in the early interlude of The Four Elements, a production of the earlier part of the sixteenth century, says:--

I am callyd Sensuall Apetyte,
All craturs in me delyte;
I comforte the _wyttys fyve_,
The tastyng, smellyng, and herynge,
I refresh the syght and felynge,
To all creaturs alyve.

Stephen Hawes, in his Pastime of Pleasure (chap. xxiv), belonging to this same age, refines upon this notion, and talks of five "internall wittes," answering to the five external wits, or to those which were commonly understood by that name.

522. Genesis xix, 32. It is very singular that this story of Lot and his daughters was the favourite example of the medieval preachers against drunkenness.

563. Luke xx, 25.

595. _on an eller._ It was the prevailing belief during the middle ages, that the tree on which Judas hanged himself was an elder. Maundevile tells us that this tree was still in existence, when he visited Jerusalem. "Also streghte from Natatorie Siloe is an ymage of ston and of olde auncyen werk, that Absalon leet make; and because thereof, men clepen it the hond of Absalon. And faste by is yit the _tree of eldre_ that Judas henge himself upon for despeyr that he hadde, whan he solde and betrayed oure Lord." The same notion continued to exist in the age of Shakespeare, and is alluded to by Shakespeare himself, Ben Jonson, and others.

_Hol._ What mean you, sir?

_Boyet._ To make Judas hang himself.

_Hol._ Begin, sir; you are _my elder_.

_Biron._ Well followed: _Judas was hang'd on an elder._

_Love's Labours Lost_, v, 2.

681. _Lucifer with legions._ The story of Lucifer's rebellion and fall was extremely popular in the middle ages, and particularly among the Anglo-Saxons, who, in the fine poem ascribed to Cædmon, had given it almost as much detail as Milton had done at a later date. This legend is related in prose in an Anglo-Saxon tract in MS. Cotton. Vespas. D. xiv, fol. 2.

682. The second Trin. Col. MS. has, _Leride it in hevene, | and as the lovelokest | to loke on, aftir oure Lord_.

697-704. Instead of these lines, we find the following in Whitaker's text:

Lord, why wolde he tho,
Thulke wrechede Lucifer,
Lepen on a-lofte
In the northe syde,
To sitten in the sonne side
Ther the day roweth,
Ne were it for northerne men,
Anon ich wolde telle:
Ac ich wolle lacke no lyf,
Quath that lady sotthly.
'Hyt is sykerer by southe,
Ther the sonne regneth,
Than in the north, by meny notes,
No man loyne other.
For theder as the fend flegh,
Hus fote for to sette,
Ther he failede and fuel,
And hus felawes alle.
And helle is ther he is,
And he ther y-bounde,
Evene contrarie suteth Criste,
Cierkus knowen the sothe,
_Dixit Dominus Domino meo, sede a dextris
meis._
'Ac of this matere
No more mene ich nelle,
He was in the halyday
After heten wayten,
They care noght thauh it be cold
Knaves wen thei worchen.'

Whitaker has translated the last four lines of the foregoing extract thus, "Excepting that hyndes on the holyday look out for warm places, but knaves (servants) when working hard, are indifferent to cold."

695. Isaiah xiv, 14. The citation varies a little from the text of the printed vulgate.

707. _Somme in the eyr._ The monks in the middle ages endeavoured to explain the existence of different classes of spirits and fairies, which the popular creed represented as harmless, or even beneficent creatures, by supposing that some of the angels who fell with Lucifer were less guilty than others, and were allowed to occupy the different elements on the earth instead of being condemned to "the pit." In "The Master of Oxford's Catechism," written early in the fifteenth century, and printed in the Reliquiæ Antiquæ, vol. i, p. 231, we have the following question and answer,--"_C._ Where be the anjelles that God put out of heven, and bycam devilles? _M._ Som into hell, and som reyned in the skye, and som in the erth, and som in waters and in wodys."

815. Mark iv, 24. In qua mensura mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis, et adjicietur vobis.

835. Epist. Jac. ii, 17. Sic et fides, si non habeat opera, mortua est in semetipsa.

862. Luke vi, 38.

901. The second Trin. Col. MS. has--

Frettid with rynges,
Of the pureste perreighe
That prince werde evere,
In red scarlet robid
And ribande with gold.
Ther nis no quen queyntere
That quyk is o-lyve,
'What is this womman,' quod I.

934. Matth. vii, 17. _bonus_ (for _bona_) is the reading of the MS. Perhaps it was thought allowable to use the masculine thus before a fem. noun beginning with _a_, for the sake of euphony, as the French still write _mon amie_, instead of _ma amie_, and the like. Whitaker's text has here--

_Talis pater, talis filius._
For shal never brere bere
Beries as a vyne,
No on crokyd kene thorne
Kynde fygys wexe.
_Bona arbor bonum fructum facit._

The lines which follow differ considerably in the two texts.

958. Psalm xiv, 1.

991-994. Instead of these lines, the following are substituted in the second Trin. Coll. MS.:--

Sire Symonye is assent
To asele the chartres,
That Fals and Favel
Be any fyn halden,
And feffe Mede therwith
In mariage for evere.
Ther nas halle ne hous
To herberwe the peple,
That iche feld nas ful
Of folk al aboute.
In myddis a mounteyne
At myd-morewe tide
Was pight up a pavyloun
Proud for the nones,
And ten thousand of tentis
Teldit beside,
Of knightes of cuntrés,
Of comeres aboute,
For sisours, for somonours, etc.

And the rest, as far as line 1100, differs very much in the two MSS.

1103. _of Banneburies sokne, | Reynald the reve, | and the redyngkynges menye, | Munde the mylnere._ Whit.

1128. Luke x, 7.

1177. _With floryns ynowe._ Edward III had issued, not very long before the date of this poem, the first extensive English gold coinage, to which he gave the Italian name of florins, derived originally from that of the city of Florence.

1204. _to Westmynstre_: _i. e._ to the courts of law which were held there.

1404. _A moton of golde._ A mutton (mouton) was a small French coin of gold, which bore the stamp of a lamb or sheep. See Ducange, v. _Multo_.

1501. Matth. vi, 3.

1523. Regrating, or the buying up of provisions and other things to make extravagant profits by retailing them, was one of the great sources of oppression of the poor by the rich in the middle ages, and was a constant subject of popular complaint.

1529. Whitaker's text adds here,--

Thei have no puteye of the puple
That parcel-mele mote biggen,
Thauh thei take hem untydy thyng,
Thei hold it no treson;
And thauh thei fulle nat ful,
That for lawe y-seelde,
He gripeth therfor as grete
As for the grete treuthe.

Meny sondry sorwes
In cyté fallen ofte,
Bothe thorw fyur and flod,
And al for false puple,
That bygylen good men,
And greveth hem wrongliche,
The wiche cryen on hure knees
That Christ hem avenge
Here on this erthe,
Other elles on helle,
That so bygyleth hem of here good,
And God on hem sendeth
Feveres, other fouler hyveles,
Other fur on here houses,
Moreyne, other meschaunce.
And menye tyme hit falleth,
That innocence ys y-herde
In hevene amonge seyntes,
That louten for hem to oure Lorde,
And to oure Lady bothe,
To granten gylours on erthe
Grace to amende,
And have here penaunce on pure erthe,
And noght in the pyne of helle.
And thenne falleth the fur
On false menne houses,
And good men for here gultes
Gloweth on fuyr after.
Al thys have we seyen,
That some tyme thorw a brewere
Many burgages y-brent,
And bodyes therynne,
And thorw a candel cloming
In a cursed place,
Fel a-don and for-brende
Forth al the rewe,
For-thy mayres that maken free-men,
Me thynken that thei ouhten
For to spure and aspye,
For eny speche of selver,
What manere mester
Of merchaundise he usede,
Er he were underfonge free
And felawe in youre rolles.
Hit ys nought semly, for soth,
In cyté ne in borw-ton,
That usurers other regratours
For eny kynne geftes,
Be fraunchised for a free-man,
And have fals name.

1548. Job, xv, 34.

1611. _Youre fader she felled._ An allusion to the deposition and death of Edward II.

1652. Provisors were people who obtained from the pope the reversion of ecclesiastical dignities, and several severe statutes were made against them, one well-known one by Edward III.

1674. _Love-daies._ See further on, the note on l. 5634.

1735. _In Normandie._ 1750. _To Caleis._ Allusions, no doubt, to recent events in the wars of Edward III. See the Introduction.

1769. _Caytiflyche thow, Conscience, | Consailedist the kyng leten | In hus enemys honde | Ys heritage of Fraunce._ Whit.

1827. Psalm xiv, 1.

1835. Ps. xiv, 2.

1845. Ps. xiv, 5.

1862. Psalm xxv, 10.

1875. Matth. vi, 5.

1885. _Regum._ The reference is to 1 Sam. xv, which in the old Vulgate was called _primus liber regum_.

1985, 2019. Isaiah ii, 4.

2043. Prov. xxii, 9. Victoriam et honorem acquiret qui dat munera; animam autem aufert accipientium.

2099. _lernest._ Whitaker's text has _ledest_.

2149. Psalm xiii, 3. The quotation which follows is from the same verse.

2171. _his sone._ The Black Prince, who was a great favourite with the people.

2175-2186. The variation in Whitaker's text deserves notice. This passage there stands as follows:--

Thenne cam Pees into parlement,
And putte up a bylle.
How that Wrong wilfullich
Hadde hus wif for-leyen;
And how he ravysed Rose,
The riche widewe, by nyghte;
And Margarete of here maidenhod,
As he met hure late.
'Both my goos, and my grys,
And my gras he taketh,
Ich dar nouht for is felaweshepe,
In faith!' Pees saide,
'Bere sickerlich eny selver
To seint Gyles doune;
He watteth ful wel,
Wan ich sulfere taketh,
Wat wey ich wende.
Wel yerne he aspieth,
To robbe me and to ryfle me,
Yf ich ride softe.
Yut he is bolde for to borwe,
And baldelich he payeth:
He borwede of me Bayarde,' etc.

2177. _How Wrong ayeins his wille._ What follows is a true picture of the oppressions to which the peasantry were frequently subjected by the king's purveyors, and by others in power. See the Political Songs, pp. 377, 378; and Hartshorne's Ancient Metrical Tales, pp. 41, 42.

2197. _taillé_, a tally. See the Political Songs, as above quoted. Whitaker translates this passage, which stands thus in his edition,

And taketh me bote a taile
For ten quarters other twelve,

by, "and for ten or twelve quarters of it repaid me but _a sheep's tail_!"

2298. _in my stokkes._ In my prison. Prisons were usually furnished with stocks, in which, instead of fetters, prisoners were set.

2323. _Beneyt._ St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order; St. Bernard, of the order of Cistercians; St. Francis, of the Franciscans.

2335. _Galis._ Compostello in Galicia.

2473. _Passus Quintus._ In Whitaker's text, this section, which is called _Passus Sextus_, is prefaced by the following long exordium, intended as a satire against the mendicant friars:--

Thus ich awaked, God wot!
Wanne ich wonede on Cornhulle,
Kytte and ich in a cote,
Clothede as a lollere:
And a lytel ich let by,
Leyve me, for sothe,
Among lolleres of London,
And lewede heremytes.
For ich made of tho men,
As Reson me tauhte.
For as ich cam by Conscience,
Wit Reson ich mette,
In an hote hervest,
Wenne ich hadde myn hele,
And lymes to labore with,
And lovede wel fare,
And no dede to do
Bote drynke and to slepe,
In hele and in unité,
On me aposede,
Romynge in remembraunce.
Thus Reson me arated:
'Canstow serven,' he seide,
'Other syngen in a churche?
Other loke for my cokers?
Other to the carte picche?
Mowe, other mowen,
Other make bond to sheves?
Repe, other be a repe-reyve
And arise erliche?
Other have an horne and be hay-warde,
And liggen out a nyghtes,
And kepe my corn in my croft
From pykers and theeves?
Other shap shoon other clothes?
Other shep other kyne kepe?
Eggen, other harwen,
Other swyne other gees dryve?
Other eny kyne craft
That to the comune nudeth,
Hem that bed-reden be
Bylyve to fynde?'
'Certes,' ich seyde,
'And so me God helpe!
Ich am to waik to worche
With sykel other with sythe;
And to long, leyf me,
Lowe for to stoupe,
To worchen as workeman
Eny wyle to dure.'
'Then havest thow londes to lyve by,'
Quath Reson, 'other lynage ryche
That fynden the thy fode?
For an hydel man thow semest,
A spendour that spende mot,
Other a spille-tyme;
Other beggest thy lyve
Aboute ate menne hatches;
Other faitest upon Fridays
Other feste dayes in churches;
The wiche is lollerene lyf,
That lytel is preysed
Ther ryghtfulnesse rewardeth
Ryght as men deserveth.
_Reddit unicuique juxta opera sua._
Ether thow ert broke, so may be,
In body other in membre,
Other y-maymed thorow som myshap.
Werby thow myght be excusede.'
'Wanne ich yong was,' quath ich,
'Many yer hennes,
My fader and my frendes
Founden me to scole,
Tyl ich wiste wyterliche
Wat holy wryt menede,
And wat is best for the body,
As the bok telleth,
And sykerest for the soule,
By so ich wolle continue.
And yut fond ich never in faith,
Sytthen my frendes deyden,
Lyf that me lyked,
Bote in thes long clothes.
Hyf ich by laboure sholde lyf,
And lyflode deserven,
That labour that ich lerned best
Therwhit lyve ich sholde.
_In eadem vocatione qua vocati estis._
And ich lyve in Londene
And on Londen bothe.
The lomes that ich laboure with
And lyflode deserve,
Ys paternoster and my prymer,
_Placebo et dirige_,
And my sauter some tyme,
And my sevene psalmes.
Thus ich synge for hure soules
Of suche as me helpen.
And tho that fynden me my fode
Vochen saf, ich trowe,
To be wolcome wan ich come
Other wyle in a monthe,
Now with hym, and now with hure,
And thus gate ich begge
Withoute bagge other botel,
Bote my wombe one.
And also, moreover,
Me thynketh, syre Reson,
Men sholde constreyne
No clerke to knavene werkes.
For by law of Livitici,
That oure Lord ordeynede,
Clerkes that aren crowned
Of kynde understondyng,
Sholde nother swynke ne swete,
Ne swere at enquestes,
Ne fyghte in no vauntwarde,
Ne hus fo greve.
_Nou reddas malum pro malo._
For it ben aires of hevene,
And alle that ben crounede
And in queer in churches,
Cristes owene mynestres.
_Dominus pars hæreditatis meæ
Et alibi, Clementia non constringit._
Hit bycometh for clerkus
Crist for to serven;
And knaves uncrounede
To cart and to worche.
For shold no clerk be crouned,
Bote yf he y-come were
Of franklens and freemen
And of folke y-weddede.
Bondmen and bastardes,
And beggers children,
Thuse bylongeth to labour.
And lordes children sholde serven,
Bothe God and good men,
As here degree asketh;
Some to synge masses,
Others sitten and wryte,
Rede and receyve
That Reson oughte spende.
And sith bondemenne barnes
Han be made bisshopes,
And barnes bastardes
Han ben archidekenes;
And sopers and here sones
For selver han be knyghtes,
And lordene sones here laboreres,
And leid here rentes to wedden
For the ryght of the reame,
Ryden ayens oure enemys,
In consort of the comune
And the kynges worshep.
And monkes and moniales.
That mendinauns sholden fynde,
Han mad here kyn knyghtes,
And knyght fees purchase.
Popes and patrones
Povre gentil blod refuseth,
And taken Symondes sonne
Seyntewarie to kepe.
Lyf-holynesse and love
Han ben longe hennes,
And wole, til hit be wered out,
Or otherwise y-chaunged.
For-thy rebuke me ryht nouht,
Reson, ich yow praye;
For in my conscience ich knowe
What Crist wolde that ich wroughte.
Preyers of perfyt man,
And penaunce discret,
Is the levest labour
That oure Lord pleseth.
_Non de solo_, ich seyde,
For sothe _vivit homo,
Nec in pane et pabulo_,
The paternoster witnesseth.
_Fiat voluntas tua_
Fynt ous alle thynges.'
Quath Conscience, 'By Crist!
Ich can nat see this lyeth.
Ac it semeth nouht perfitnesse
In cyties for to begge,
Bote he be obediencer
To pryour other to mynstre.'
'That ys soth,' ich seide,
'And so ich by-knowe
That ich have tynt tyme,
And tyme mys-spended.
And yut ich hope, as he
That ofte haveth chaffarede,
That ay hath lost and lost,
And at the latest hym happeth
He bouhte suche a bargayn
He was the bet evere,
And sette hus lost at a lef
At the laste ende;
Suche a wynnynge hym warth
Thorw wyrdes of his grace.
_Simile est regnum coelorum thesauro
abscondito in agro, etc._
_Mulier quæ inveniet dragmam, etc._
So hope ich to have of hym
That his almyghty
A gobet of hus grace,
And bygynne a tyme
That alle tymes of my tyme
To profit shal turne.'
'Ich rede the,' quath Reson tho,
'Rathe the to bygynne
The lyf that ys lowable
And leel to the soule.'
'Ye, and continue,' quath Conscience.
And to the church ich wente.
And to the church gan ich go,
God to honourie,
Byfor the crois on my knees
Knocked ich my brest,
Sykinge for my sennes,
Segginge my paternoster,
Wepyng and wailinge,
Tyl ich was a-slepe
Thenne mete me moche more
Than ich byfor tolde,
Of the mater that ich mete fyrst
On Malverne hulles.
Ich sawe the feld ful of folk
Fram ende to the other;
And Reson revested
Ryght as a pope,
And Conscience his crocer
Byfore the kynge stande.
Reson reverentliche
Byfor all the reame
Prechede and provede
That thuse pestilences
Was for pure synne, etc.
_See_ l. 2497, of the present edition.

2497. _thise pestilences._--There were three great pestilences in the reign of Edward III, the terrible effects of which were long fresh in people's minds, and they were often taken as points from which to date common events. Two of them had passed at the period when the Visions of Piers Ploughman are believed to have been written, and are the ones here alluded to. Of the first, or great pestilence, which lasted from 31 May, 1348, to 29 Sept. 1349, the contemporary chroniclers give a fearful account. In a register of the Abbey of Gloucester (MS. Cotton. Domit. A. VIII, fol. 124), we have the following entry:--"Anno Domini m^o.ccc^o.xlviij^o. anno vero regni regis Edwardi III, post conquestum xxij^o. incepit magna pestilentia in Anglia, ita quod _vix tertia pars_ hominum remansit." This pestilence, known as the _black plague_, ravaged most parts of Europe, and is said to have carried off in general about two-thirds of the people. It was the pestilence which gave rise to the Decameron of Boccaccio. For an interesting account of it, see Michelet's Hist. de France, iii, 342-349. The second pestilence lasted from 15 Aug. 1361, to May 3, 1362, and was much less severe. The third pestilence raged from 2 July to 29 September, 1369.

2500. _The south-westrene wynd | on Saterday at even._ Tyrwhitt, in his Preface to Chaucer, first pointed out the identity of this wind with the one mentioned by the old chroniclers (Thorn, Decem. Script. col. 2122; Walsingham, p. 178; the continuator of Adam Murimuth, p. 115), as occurring on the evening of Jan. 15, 1362. The fifteenth of January in that year was a Saturday. The following is the account given by Walsingham: "Anno gratiæ millesimo trecentesimo sexagesimo secundo, qui est annus regni regis Edwardi a conquestu tertii tricesimus sextus, tenuit rex natale apud Wyndesor, et quinto decimo die sequente ventus vehemens, nothus auster affricus, tanta vi erupit, quod flatu suo domos altas, ædificia sublimia, turres, et campanilia, arbores, et alia quæque durabilia et fortia violenter prostravit pariter et impegit, in tantum quod residua quæ modo extant, sunt hactenus infirmiora." The continuator of Murimuth is more particular as to the time of the day, and in other respects more exact. "A.D. m. ccc. lxii, xv die Januarii, _circa horam vesperarum_, ventus vehemens notus australis affricus tanta rabie erupit," etc.

2529. _And fecche Felis his wyf | Fro wyuene pyne._ MS. Trin. Col. 2.

2547. This was a very old and very common proverb in England. Thus in the Proverbs of Hending (Reliquiæ Antiquæ, vol. i, p. 110):--

Ne bue thi child never so duere,
Ant hit wolle unthewes lerne,
Bet hit other whyle;
Mote hit al habben is wille,
Woltou nultou hit wolle spille,
Ant bicome a fule.
_Luef child lore byhoveth_;
Quoth Hendyng.

The proverb is a little varied in another copy of these "Proverbs," p. 194 of the same work. There is a German proverb closely resembling it, "Je lieberes Kind, je schärfere Ruthe."

2551. Prov. xiii, 24.

2569. After this line Whitaker's text has inserted a passage, answering nearly word for word (except in the few first lines) to the passage in our text, ll. 6218-6274.

2573. In the same text, the following lines are here added:--

'And also,' quath Reson,
'Ich rede yow, riche
And comuners, to acorden
In alle kynne treuthe.
Let no kynne consail
Ne covetyze yow departe,
That on wit and on wil
Alle youre wardes kepe.
Lo! in hevene on hy
Was an holy comune,
Til Lucifer the lyere
Leyved that hymselve
Were wittyour and worthiour
Than he that was hus maister.
Hold yow in unité.
And ye that hother wolde
Is cause of alle combraunce
To confounde a reame.

2586. Matt. xxv, 12.

2594. Whitaker's _Passus Sextus_ ends with this line.

2625. Before Envy's confession, and in the place of Lechery, Whitaker's text introduces the confession of Pride--

Ich, Pruyde, patientliche
Penaunce ich aske;
For ich formest and ferst
To fader and to moder
Have y-be unboxome,
Ich beseche God of mercy;
And unboxome y-be,
Nouht abaissed to agulte
God and alle good men,
So gret was myn herte;
Inobedient to holy churche,
And to hem that ther serven,
Demed for hure yvel vices,
And excited othere
Thorw my word and al my wit
Hure yvel workes to shewe;
And scorned hem and othere,
Yf a skyle founde,
Lauhynge al aloude,
For lewede men sholde
Wene that ich were witty
And wyser than anothere;
Scorner and unskilful to hem
That skil shewede,
In all manere manners
My name to be y-knowe,
Semeng a sovereyn on,
Wer so me byfulle
To telle eny tale.
Ich trowede me wiser
To carpen other to counsaile
Than eny, lered other lewede.
Proud of aparail
In porte amonge the puple,
Otherwise than ich have,
Withynne other withoute,
Me wilnede that men wende
Ich were in aveyr
Riche and resonable,
And ryghtful of lyvynge;
Bostynge and braggynge
Wyt meny bolde othes;
Avauntyng upon my veine glorie
For eny undernemynge;
And yut so syngeler by myself
Ne non so pomp holy,
Som tyme on a secte,
Sam tyme on another;
In all kynne covetyse
Contrevede how ich myghte
Be holde for holy,
And hondred sithe by that encheison;
Wilnede that men wende
My werkes were the beste
And konnygest of my craft,
Clerkes other othere,
And strengest upon my stede,
And styvest under gurdell,
And lovelokest to loken on,
And lykyngest a-bedde;
And lykynge of such a lif
That no lawe preyseth;
Proud of my faire fetours;
And for ich songe shrille;
And what ich gaf for Godes love,
To godsybbes ich tolde,
Ther to wene that ich were
Wel holy and wel almesful.
And non so bold begger
To bydden an[d] crave,
Tales to telle
In tavernes and in stretes,
Thyng that nevere was thouhte,
And yut ich swor ich sauh hit,
And lyed on my lykame
And on my lyf bothe.
Of werkes that ich wel dude
Witnesse ich take,
And syggen to such
That sytten me bysyde,
'Lo! yf ye leyve me nouht,
Other that ye wene ich lye,
Ask of hym other of hure,
And thei conne yow telle
What ich soffrede an[d] seih,
And som tyme hadde,
And what ich knew and couthe,
Of wat kyn ich kam of;
Al ich wolde that men wuste,
When it to pruyde sonede,
As to preised among the puple,
Thauh ich povre semede.'
_Si hominibus placerem, Christi servus
non essem. Nemo potest duobus
dominis servire._
'Now God, of hus goodnesse,
Geve the grace to amende!'
Quath Repentaunce ryght with that;
And thenne roos Envye.

The description of Envy, which follows, is shorter in Whitaker's text, and differs much from our text.

2819-2822. The discipline here described seems to have been peculiar to the chapter-house of the monasteries. Matth. Paris, p. 848, has an anecdote which illustrates curiously this passage of Piers Ploughman. In speaking of the turbulent Falcasius de Breuté, who had been warned in a vision to offer himself to suffer penance in the monastery of St. Albans, in the reign of Henry III, he says, "Vestibus igitur spoliatus cum suis militibus, similiter indumentis spoliatis, ferens in manu virgam quam vulgariter _baleis_ appellamus, et confitens culpam suam, ... a singulis fratribus disciplinas nuda carne suscepit."

2846. In the text which Whitaker has printed, the confession of Wrath was followed by that of Luxury or Lechery. It stands as follows in the copy of the same text in MS. Cotton. Vespas. B. xvi. (_See_ l. 8713, of our present text.)

Thanne seide Lecherie, Alas!
And to oure Ladi criede,
'Ladi, for thi leve sone,
Loute for me nouthe,
That he have pité on me, putour,
For his pure merci.'
'With that I schal,' quod that schrewe,
'Saterdaies, for thi love,
Drynke with the doke,
And dine but ones.'
I, gulti in gost,
To God I me schrive,
As in likyng of lecherige
My licames gultes,
In wordes, in wedes,
In waityng of eyen,
To eche maide that I mette
I made here a sigge,
Semyng to synne-ward,
And summe can I taste
Aboute the mouth, and binethe
Bigon I to grope,
Til bothe oure wil was on,
To werke we yeden,
As wel fastyng daies,
And hi festes eves,
And wel in Lente as out of Lente,
Al tymes i-liche;
Swiche werkes with us
Weren nevere out of seson,
Til we mighten ne more,
Tho hadde we muri tales
Of putrige and of paramours,
And provede thorw speche,
Handelyng, and halsyng,
And also thorw cussyng,
Excityng heither other
To oure elde synne;
Sotilde songes,
And sente out elde baudes
For te wynne to my wil
Wemmen with gile;
Bi sorcerie sum time,
And sum time be maistrie,
I lai bi the lovelokest,
And lovede hem nevere aftur.
Whan I was eld and hor,
And hadde i-lorn that kynde,
I hadde likyng to lige
Of lecherous tales.
Now, lord, for thi lewté,
On lecheres have merci.

2850. _Sire Hervy._ Whitaker and Price (in Warton) suppose that there is here a personal allusion, which at the time had become proverbial.

2874. _Symme at the Style._ Whit.

2881. _To Wy and to Wynchestre | I wente to the feyre._ Warton (Hist. of Eng. p. ii, 55, edit. 1840) supposes Wy to be Weyhill, in Hampshire, "where a famous fair still subsists." In fact it is one of the greatest fairs in England, lasting ten days. For anecdotes of the celebrity of the great fair at Winchester in former times, and for some interesting observations on fairs in general, _see_ Warton, loc. cit.

2933. _The Roode of Bromholm._ At the Priory of Bromholm, in Norfolk, there was a celebrated cross, said to be made of fragments of the real cross, and much resorted to by pilgrims. It was brought from Constantinople to England in 1223. The history of this cross, and the miracles said to have been performed by it at Bromholm, are told by Matthew Paris (p. 268). In the MS. Chronicle of Barthol. de Cotton, it is recorded at the date 1223, "Eo tempore Peregrinatio de Bromholm incepit."

2949. _Frensshe ... of Northfolk._ Norfolk, it would appear by this, was one of the least refined parts of the island.

3030. In this part of the poem, the smaller variations between the present text and Whitaker's are very numerous. After this line, the following passage is inserted:--

With false wordes and writes
Ich have wonne my goodes,
And with gyle and glosynge
Gadered that ich have;
Meddled my merchaundise,
And mad a good moustre,
The werst lay withynne,
A gret wit ich let hit.
And yf my neyhgebore had an hyne,
Other eny best ellys,
More profitable than myn,
Ich made meny wentes,
How ich myght have hit
Al my wit ich caste;
And bote ich hadde hit by othes away,
At last ich stal hit,
Other pryvyliche hus pors shok,
Unpiked his lokes.
And yf ich yede to the plouh,
Ich pynchede on hus half acre,
That a fot londe other a forwe
Fetchen ich wolde
Of my neyhgeboris next,
Nymen of hus erthe,
And yf y repe, over reche,
Other gaf hem red that repen
To sese to me with here sykel,
That ich sewe nevere.
In haly dayes at holy churche
Wenne ich hurde messe,
Ich hadde nevere witerlich
To byseche mercy
For my mysdedes,
That ich ne mornede ofter
For lost of good, leyve me,
Then for lycames gultes.
Thauh ich dedliche synne dude,
Ich dradde hit nat so sore
As wenne ich lenede and leyvede hit lost,
Other longe er hit were paied.
And yf [ich] sente over see
My servaunt to Brugges,
Other into Prus my prentys,
My profit to awaite,
To marchaunde with monye
And maken here eshaunge,
Myght nevere man comforty me
In the meyn time,
Neither matyns ne masse,
Ne othere manere syghtes,
And nevere penaunce performede,
Ne paternoster seyde.
That my mynde ne was
More in my goodes,
Than in Godes grace,
And hus grete myghte.
_Ubi thesaurus tuus, ibi cor tuum._
_See_ ll. 8751-8827.

3039. Psa. l, 8.

3083. The confessions of the robber and the glutton are reversed in Whitaker's text, and present many variations. The robber's confession is there preceded by the following curious lines:--

Then was ther a Walishman
That was wonderlich sory,
He hight Yyvan Yeld ageyn;
'If ich so moche have,
Al that ich wickedlich wan
Setthen ich hit hadde;
And thauh my liflode lache
Leten ich nelle
That ech man shal have hus,
Er ich hennes wende.
For me ys levere in this lif
As a lorel beggen,
Than in lysse to lyve,
And lese lyf and soule.'

3162. Between this line and the next, MS. Trin. Col. 2, inserts _Bargoynes and beverechis | Begonne for to arise._

3277, 3278. _rymes of Robyn Hood | and Randolf erl of Chestre._ This seems to be the earliest mention of the ballads of Robin Hood which can now be found. Ritson was quite mistaken (Robin Hood, Introd. p. xlix) in the supposed mention of him by the prior of Alnwick, the title of the Latin song being modern. The passage of Fordun, in which Robin Hood is spoken of, is probably an interpolation.

I am not sure that Ritson is right in taking the _Randolf erl of Chester_ of Piers Ploughman, to be Ranulf de Blundevile: it is quite as probable that he was the Ranulf of Chester of the days of Stephen, whose turbulent deeds may have been the subject of popular ballads. Warton (H. E. P. ii, 373), quoting the passage of Piers Ploughman with the word _erl_ omitted, conceives it to mean Ralph Higden, and imagines the _rymes_ to be the Chester Mysteries, of which he conjectured that Ralph Higden was the author.

3311. _Ite missa est._ The concluding sentence of the service of the Mass.

3408. _the Rode of Chestre._ There was a celebrated cross or rood at Chester, which was long an object of great veneration, and even of pilgrimage, among our Roman Catholic forefathers. "I do not recollect any thing remarkable (says Mr. Pennant, speaking of Chester) on the outside of the walls which has been unnoticed, unless it be the Rood-eye, and the adjacent places."--"The name of this spot is taken from _eye_, its watery situation, and rood, the cross which stood there, whose base is still to be seen." Pennant's Tour in Wales, edit. 1778, p. 191. According to Gough's Camden, the base was still remaining in 1789.

3410. _Roberd the robbere._ This name is rather curious in conjunction with the term _Roberdesmen_ mentioned in the note on l. 88. It was no uncommon practice to give punning names in this way to people or classes of people. In a Latin song of the reign of Henry III (Political Songs, p. 49), we have a very curious instance of it, one of the names being, as here, _Robert_:--

Competentur per _Robert_, _robbur_ designatur; Robertus excoriat, extorquet, et minatur.-- Vir quicunque rabidus consors est Roberto.

Still earlier (12th cent.) a scribe says of one of his brothers, "Secundus dicebatur _Robertus_, quia a re nomen habuit, _spoliator_ enim diu fuit et _prædo_." (Polit. Songs, p. 354.)

3419. _Dysmas._ In middle-age legends, Dismas and Gestas were the names of the two thieves who were crucified with Christ. The former was the one who believed in the Saviour, and received a promise of paradise.

3443. Before this line, Whitaker's text has the following passage:--

Ac whiche be the braunches
That bryngeth me to sleuthe,
Ys wanne a man mourneth nat
For hus mysdedes;
The penaunce that the prest enjoyneth
Parfourmeth uvele;
Doth non almys-dedes,
And drat nat of synne:
Lyveth ayens the byleyve,
And no lawe kepeth;
And hath no lykynge to lerne,
Ne of houre Lord hure,
Bote harlotrie other horedom,
Other elles of som wynnyng.
Wan men carpen of Crist
Other of clennesse of soule,
He wext wroth, and wol not huyre
Bote wordes of murthe,
Penaunce and povre men,
The passion of seyntes,
He hateth to huyre therof
And alle that therof carpen.
Thuse beth the braunches, be war,
That bryngeth man to wanhope.
Ye lordes and ladyes,
And legates of holy churche,
That feden fool sages,
Flaterers and lyers,
And han lykynge to lythen hem,
In hope to do yow lawe--
_Væ! vobis qui ridetis, etc._
And geveth suche mede an mete,
And povre men refusen;
In youre deth deynge,
Ich drede me sore
Lest tho maner men
To moche sorwe yow brynge.
_Consensientes et agentes pari pæna punientur._
Patriarkes and prophetes,
Prechours of Godes wordes,
Saven thorgh here sermons
Mannes soule fro helle:
Ryght so flaterers and foles
Aren the fendes procuratores,
Entysen men thorgh here tales
To synne and to harlotrie.
Clerkus that knowen this,
Sholde kennen lordes
What David seide of suche men,
As the Sauter telleth:
_Non habitabit in medio domus meæ qui
facit superbiam, qui loquitur
iniquum._
Sholde non harlot have audience
In halle ne in chaumbre,
Ther that wys men were.
Whitnesse of Godes wordes;
Nother a mys-prout man
Among lordes alouwed.
Clerkus and knyghtes
Wolcometh kynges mynstrales,
For love of here lordes
Lithen hem at festes:
Muche more, me thenketh,
Riche men auhte
Have beggers byfore hem,
Wiche beth Godes mynstreles,
As he seith hymself,
Seynt Johan berith whittnesse:
_Qui vos spernit, me etiam spernit._
Therfor ich rede yow, riche,
Reveles when ye maken,
For to solace youre soules,
Suche mynstrales to have,
The povre for a foul sage
Syttynge at thy table,
Whith a lered man to lere the
What oure Lord suffrede,
For to savy thy saule
Fram Satan thyn enemye,
And fitayle the withoute flateryng
Of Good Friday the feste:
And a blynde man for a bordiour,
Other a bed-reden womman
To crye a largesse byfor oure Lord,
Youre good loos to shewe.
Thuse thre manere mynstrales
Maken a man to lauhe;
In hus deth deyng
Thei don hym gret comfort,
That by hus lyfe loveth hem,
And loveth hem to huyre.
Thuse solaceth the soule,
Til hymself be falle
In a wele good hope, for he wroghte so,
Among worthy seyntes,
Ther flaterers and foles
Whith here foule wordes
Leden tho that lithen hem
To Luciferes feste,
With _Turpiloquio_, a lay of sorwe,
And Lucifers fitele,
To perpetual peyne
Other purgatorye as wykke,
For he litheth and loveth
That Godes lawe despiteth.
_Qui histrionibus dat, dæmonibus sacrificat._

3466. _qui manet, &c._ Epist. Joan. iv, 16.

3477. Epist. Paul, ad Ephes. iv, 8.

3484. Isai. ix, 2.

3496. Matt. ix, 13.

3502. John i, 14.

3520. Psalm xxxv, 8.

3545. _Signes of Synay, | and shelles of Galice ... keyes of Rome._ It is perhaps hardly necessary to remark that the articles mentioned here were borne by the pilgrim to indicate the particular holy sites which he had visited. The reader will readily call to mind the lines of a modern poet:--

The summon'd Palmer came in place,
His sable cowl o'erhung his face;
In his black mantle was he clad,
With _Peter's keys_ in cloth of red
On his broad shoulders wrought;
The _scallop shell_ his cap did deck;
The crucifix around his neck
Was from Loretto brought.

3622. _Seint Thomas shryne._ St. Thomas of Canterbury. It may not perhaps be generally known that an interesting description of this shrine, when in its glory, is given by Erasmus, Colloq. _Peregrinatio Religionis ergo._

3713. _eten apples un-rosted._ One of the many specimens of the burlesque manner in which scripture was frequently quoted in these times. A very singular passage (but in a tract professedly burlesque) occurs in the Reliquiæ Antiquæ, vol. i, p. 83:--"Peter askud Adam a full greyt dowtfull question, and seyd, 'Adam, Adam, why ete thu the appull unpard?' 'For sothe,' quod he, 'for y had no wardyns fryde.'"

3826. _leven_, should be _lenen_.

3890. Luke xiv, 10.

3944, 3948. Psalm lxviii, 29.

3997. _the rode of Lukes._ The second Trin. Col. MS. has _be the rode of Chestre._ There was a famous cross at Lucca, but whether a part of the real cross, I have not ascertained. Calvin, in his most able and entertaining _Admonitio de Reliquiis_, declines undertaking a list of all the places where pieces of the real cross were shown. "Denique si congesta in acervum essent omnia quæ reperiri possent, integrum navis onus efficerent: cum tamen evangelium testificetur ab unico homine ferri potuisse. Quantæ igitur audaciæ fuit, ligneis frustis sic totum implere orbem, quibus ferendis ne trecenti quidem homines sufficiant?" _Calvini_, _Opusc._ p. 277. There was also at Lucca one of the impressions of our Saviour's face on the handkerchief of Veronica. The peculiar oath of William Rufus was by the holy face at Lucca.

4027. _with hey trolly lolly._ MS. Trin. Col. 2.

4154. In the second Trin. Col. MS. the passage stands as follows:--

Ne hadde Peris but a pese lof,
Thei preyede hym beleve,
And with a bene batte
He hadde betwene,
And hitte hunger therwith
Amydde hise lippes,
And blodde in it the bodyward
A bolle ful of growel,
Ne hadde the fisician ferst
Defendite him watir,
To abate the barly bred,
And the benis y-grounde,
Thei hadde be ded be this day,
And dolven al warm.
Faitours for fer, etc.

4194. _Thei corven here coppes, | and courtepies made._ Whitaker, who translates it, "They _carved wooden cups_, and made themselves short cloaks." It ought to be, "They cut their copes to make courtpies (a kind of short cloaks) of them."

4242. Paul Epist. ad Galat. vi, 2.

4251. Scimus enim qui dixit, mihi vindicta, et ego retribuam. Paul. ad Heb. x, 30; conf. Paul. ad Rom. xii, 19.

4256. Luke xvi, 9.

4272. Propter frigus piger arare noluit. Prov. xx, 4.

4306. Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis, beatus es et bene tibi erit. Psal. cxxvii, 2.

4336. _His mawe is alongid._ MS. Trin. Coll. 2.

4336. Whitaker's text inserts here the following passage, which is curious as containing the same word, _latchdrawers_, that occurs in Edward's statute, quoted before in the note to l. 88:--