Chapter 8

MostemýghtyMáhòwne |méng you withmýrthe,Both of búrgh and of tówne | byféllys and byfýrthe;Bothkýng withcrówne | andbárons ofbírthe,Thatrádly wyllerówne, | manygréattgrítheShalle be hápp;Taketénderly inténtWhatsóndes arsént,Elshármes shall yehéntAndlóthes you tolap.

MostemýghtyMáhòwne |méng you withmýrthe,

Both of búrgh and of tówne | byféllys and byfýrthe;

Bothkýng withcrówne | andbárons ofbírthe,

Thatrádly wyllerówne, | manygréattgríthe

Shalle be hápp;

Taketénderly intént

Whatsóndes arsént,

Elshármes shall yehént

Andlóthes you tolap.

In this form of stanza the different groups of lines or even single lines are frequently, as e.g. in the so-calledProcessus Noe(thePlay of the Flood), very skilfully divided between several persons taking part in the dialogue. The interlaced rhyme in the long lines connects it with the stanza form of the lyric poem quoted above (p. 100), and the form of the ‘cauda’ relates it to that of the lyric poem quoted (p. 101), and in this respect is identical with that ofThe Pistill of Susan.

The rhythmic treatment of the verses is, both with regard to the relation between rhyme and the remnants of alliteration and to the use of the Middle English types of verse, on the whole the same as was described in §§ 62–4 treating of this form of verse in narrative poetry. The types A and A1, B C and B C1,are chiefly met with; now and then, however, type C1also occurs in the second hemistich, as e.g. in the versesthat wold vówch sáyf172,of the tént máyne487,wille com agáne sóne488, of thePlay of the Floodmentioned above.

But in the ‘cauda’ the difference explained in § 65 between first and second short lines forming the close of a stanza is often very regularly observed.

In other places of theTowneley Mysteriessimilar stanzas are written in lines which have almost an alexandrine rhythm (cf.Metrik, i. 229), while, on the other hand, in theCoventry Mysterieswe not unfrequently meet with stanzas of the same form written in lines which, in consequence of their concise structure, approach even-beat lines of four measures, or directly pass into this metre. The intermixture of different kinds of line is even carried here to such a length that to afronsof four-beat lines is joined acaudaof even-beat lines of four or three measures corresponding to King James VI’s rule quoted above (p. 108) for such stanzas; and on the other hand to afronsof even-beat lines of four measures is joined acaudaof two-beat short lines.

§67.The distinctly four-beat line, however, still forms the staple of the different kinds of verse occurring in these poems, and was also used in them for simple forms of stanza. In the further development of dramatic poetry it remained much in use. Skelton’s Moral PlayMagnificence, and most of the Moralities and Interludes contained in Dodsley’sOld Plays(ed. Hazlitt), vols. i-iv, are written chiefly in this popular metre. As a rule it rhymes here in couplets, and under the influence of the even-beat measures used in the same dramatic pieces it gradually assumes a pretty regular iambic-anapaestic or trochaic-dactylic rhythm. This applies for the most part to the humorous and popular parts; allegorical and historical personages are made to converse in even-beat verses.

Verses of an ascending (iambic-anapaestic) rhythm were especially favoured, as might be expected from the fact that the Middle English alliterative line in the preceding centuries usually begins with one or two unaccented syllables before the first accented one.

Of the different types used in the Middle English alliterative line type C (C1), which does not harmonize well with the even-beat tendency of the rhythm, and which is only very seldom if at all to be met with even in theCoventry Plays, becomes very rare and tends to disappear altogether, type A (A1) and (althoughthese are much less frequent) type B C (B C1) alone remaining in use.

§68.Of the more easily accessible pieces of Bishop John Bale (1495–1563) hisComedye Concernynge Thre Lawes, edited by A. Schröer (Anglia, v, pp. 137 ff., also separately, Halle, Niemeyer, 1882) is written in two-beat short lines and four-beat long lines, and hisKing Johan(c. 1548) (edited by Collier, Camden Society, 1838) entirely in this latter metre. The latter play has a peculiar interest of its own, containing as it does lines which, as in two Old English poems (cf. pp. 123, 124), consist either half or entirely of Latin words. Now, as the accentuation of the Latin lines or half-lines admits of no uncertainty, the four-beat scansion of the English verses of this play and of the long lines inThe Three Lawesis put beyond doubt, though Schröer considers the latter as eight-beat long lines on the basis of the four-beat theory of the short line.

Some specimens may serve to illustrate the nature of these ‘macaronic’ verses, e.g.:

A péna etcúlpa | I desíre to beclére.p. 33.In nómine pátris, | of all that éver I hárd.p. 28.Iudicáte pupíllo, | deféndite víduam.p. 6.

A péna etcúlpa | I desíre to beclére.p. 33.

In nómine pátris, | of all that éver I hárd.p. 28.

Iudicáte pupíllo, | deféndite víduam.p. 6.

Other verses of the same kind occur, pp. 5, 6, 53, 62, 78, 92.

But apart from this irrefutable proof of the four-beat scansion of the long line, the rhythmic congruity of it with the rhyming alliterative lines discussed in§ 67can easily be demonstrated by the reoccurrence of the same types, although a difference between the first and the second hemistich no longer seems to exist.

Type A, of course, is the most frequent, and occurs in many sub-types, which are distinguished chiefly by monosyllabic, disyllabic, or polysyllabic anacruses, disyllabic or polysyllabic theses between the first and second arsis, and monosyllabic, disyllabic, or trisyllabic theses after the latter. The most usual form of this type corresponds to the scheme(×)×–́××–́×, while the form–́××–́×is rarer. Type A1likewise admits of polysyllabic anacruses and theses, corresponding mostly to the formula(×)×–́××–́, less frequently to–́××–́. Type B C(×)××–́×–́×is rare, type B C1(×)××–́×–́, on the other hand, very common; type C(×)××–́–́×still occurs now and then, but type C1(×)××–́–́has become exceedingly scarce.

§69.Statistical investigations as to the frequency of occurrence, and especially on the grouping of these different types are still wanting, and would contribute greatly toward the more exact knowledge of the development of the iambic-anapaestic and the trochaic-dactylic metre out of the four-beat verse. Of course in such an investigation the use of anacrusis in the types A and A1should not be neglected. According to the presence or absence of anacrusis in the two hemistichs four different kinds of line may be distinguished:

1. Lines with anacrusis in both hemistichs. These are the most numerous of all, and are chiefly represented by the combinations of types A(A1) + A(A1), A(A1) + B C1(B C):

2. Lines with anacrusis in the first section and without it in the second. These are almost exclusively represented by the combination A(A1) + A(A1); rarely by B C1(B C) + A(A1):

3. Lines without anacrusis in the first section and with anacrusis in the second; likewise chiefly represented by the types A (A1) + A (A1), rarely by A (A1) + B C (B C1):

4. Lines without anacrusis in either section, so that they are wholly dactylic in rhythm, only represented by A (A1) + A1(A):

The numerical preponderance of types A + A1is at once perceptible, and usually these two types of hemistichs are combined in this order to form a long line.

The result is that in the course of time whole passages made up of lines of the same rhythmical structure (A + A1) are common in the dramatic poetry of this period, as e.g. in the Prologue toGammer Gurton’s Needle:

As Gámmer Gúrton, with mánye a wýde stítch,Sat pésynge and pátching of Hódg her mans bríche,By chánce or misfórtune, as shée her gear tóst,In Hódge lether brýches her néedle shee lóst.

As Gámmer Gúrton, with mánye a wýde stítch,

Sat pésynge and pátching of Hódg her mans bríche,

By chánce or misfórtune, as shée her gear tóst,

In Hódge lether brýches her néedle shee lóst.

Possibly this preference of the type A1in the second half line may go back to the influence of the difference between the rhythmical structure of the first and the second hemistich of the alliterative line in early Middle English poetry.

§70.This view derives additional probability from the manner in which lines rhythmically identical with the alliterative hemistich are combined into certain forms of stanza which are used in the above-mentioned dramatic poems, especially in Bale’sThree Lawes.

For in this play those halves of tail-rhyme stanzas, whichform the ‘wheels’ of the alliterative-rhyming stanzas previously described (§§ 61 and 66) as used in narrative poetry and in the mysteries, are completed so as to form entire tail-rhyme stanzas (of six or eight lines) similar to those mentioned in § 65. This will be evident from the following examples:

With holye óyle and wátter,I can soclóyne andclátter,That Icán at the látterManye súttelties contrýve.I can worke wýles in báttle,If I do ónes but spáttle,I can makecórn andcáttle,Thatthéy shall neverthrýve.ll. 439–446.I have chármes for the plówgh,And álso for the cówgh,She shall geue mýlke ynówgh,So lóng as I am pléased.Apace the mýlle shall gó,So shall the crédle dó,And the músterde querne alsóNo mán therwith dyséased.ll. 463–470.

With holye óyle and wátter,

I can soclóyne andclátter,

That Icán at the látter

Manye súttelties contrýve.

I can worke wýles in báttle,

If I do ónes but spáttle,

I can makecórn andcáttle,

Thatthéy shall neverthrýve.ll. 439–446.

I have chármes for the plówgh,And álso for the cówgh,She shall geue mýlke ynówgh,So lóng as I am pléased.Apace the mýlle shall gó,So shall the crédle dó,And the músterde querne alsóNo mán therwith dyséased.ll. 463–470.

I have chármes for the plówgh,

And álso for the cówgh,

She shall geue mýlke ynówgh,

So lóng as I am pléased.

Apace the mýlle shall gó,

So shall the crédle dó,

And the músterde querne alsó

No mán therwith dyséased.ll. 463–470.

The difference in rhythm which we have previously pointed out between the lines of the body of the stanza (corresponding to first halves of the alliterative line) and those of the tail (corresponding to second halves) may again be observed in most of the stanzas of this play, although not in all of them.

In other passages the sequence of rhymes is less regular; e.g. in ll. 190–209, which rhyme according to the formulasa a a b c c b,d d b e e b,e e e f g g f

§71.Lastly, we must mention another kind of verse or stave originating in the resolution of the four-beat alliterative line into two sections, and their combination so as to form irregular tail-rhyme stanzas, viz. the so-called Skeltonic verse. This kind of verse, however, was not invented (as is erroneously stated in several Histories of English Literature) by Skelton, but existed before him, as is evident from the preceding remarks. The name came to be given to the metre from the fact that Skelton, poet laureate of King Henry VII, was fond of this metre, and used it for several popular poems.

In Skelton’s metre the strict form of the alliterative four-beat line has arrived at the same stage of development which the freer form had reached about three hundred years earlier inLayamon’sBrut, and afterwards inKing Horn. That is to say, in Skelton’s metre the long line is broken up by sectional rhyme into two short ones. The first specimens of this verse which occur in theTowneley Mysteries, in theChester Plays, and in some of the Moralities, e.g. inThe World and the Child(Dodsl. i), resemble Layamon’s verse in so far as long lines (without sectional rhymes) and short rhyming half-lines occur in one and the same passage. On the other hand, they differ from it and approach nearer to the strophic form of the alliterative line (as occurring in the Miracle Plays) in that the short lines do not rhyme in couplets, but in a different and varied order of rhyme, mostlya b a b; cf. the following passage (l. c., p. 247):

Ha, há, now Lúst and Líking is my náme.Í amfrésh asflówers in Máy,Í amsémly-shápen ínsáme,Andpróudly appáreled ingármentsgáy:Mylóoks been fulllóvely to alády’s eye,And inlóve-lónging my héart is sore sét.Might Ifínd afóode that werefáir andfréeTo lie in héll till dómsday forlóve I would notlét,Mylóve for to wín,Allgáme andglée,Allmírth andmélody,All rével and ríot,And ofbóast will I neverblín,&c.

Ha, há, now Lúst and Líking is my náme.

Í amfrésh asflówers in Máy,

Í amsémly-shápen ínsáme,

Andpróudly appáreled ingármentsgáy:

Mylóoks been fulllóvely to alády’s eye,

And inlóve-lónging my héart is sore sét.

Might Ifínd afóode that werefáir andfrée

To lie in héll till dómsday forlóve I would notlét,

Mylóve for to wín,

Allgáme andglée,

Allmírth andmélody,

All rével and ríot,

And ofbóast will I neverblín,&c.

In Skelton’sMagnificencethe short lines rhyme in couplets like those ofKing Horn, in a passage taken from p. 257 (part of which may be quoted here):

Nowe lét me se abóut,In áll this rówte,Yf I cán fynde óutSo sémely a snówteAmónge this prése:Éven a hole mése—Péase, man, péase!I réde, we séase.So farly fáyre as it lókys,And her bécke so comely crókys,Her naylys shárpe as tenter hókys!I haue not képt her yet thre wókysAnd howe stýll she dothe sýt!&c., &c.

Nowe lét me se abóut,

In áll this rówte,

Yf I cán fynde óut

So sémely a snówte

Amónge this prése:

Éven a hole mése—

Péase, man, péase!

I réde, we séase.

So farly fáyre as it lókys,

And her bécke so comely crókys,

Her naylys shárpe as tenter hókys!

I haue not képt her yet thre wókys

And howe stýll she dothe sýt!&c., &c.

In other poems Skelton uses short lines of two beats, but rhyming in a varied order under the influence, it would seem, of the strophic system of the virelay, which rhymes in the ordera a a b b b b c c c c d. But the succession of rhymes is more irregular in the Skeltonic metre, as e. g. in the passage:

What cán it auáyleTo drýue fórth a snáyle,Or to máke a sáyleOf an hérynges táyle;To rýme or to ráyle,To wrýte or to endýte,Eyther for delýte,Or élles for despýte;Or bókes to compýleOf dívers maner stýle,&c.

What cán it auáyle

To drýue fórth a snáyle,

Or to máke a sáyle

Of an hérynges táyle;

To rýme or to ráyle,

To wrýte or to endýte,

Eyther for delýte,

Or élles for despýte;

Or bókes to compýle

Of dívers maner stýle,&c.

Colin Cloute (i. 311).

In other cases short bob-lines of one beat only interchange with two-beat rhythms, as e.g. in Skelton’s poemCaudatos Anglos(i. 193):

Gup, Scót,Ye blót:LaudáteCaudáte,Sét in bétterThy péntaméter.This Dúndás,This Scóttishe ás,He rýmes and ráylesThat Énglishman have táyles.Skeltónus laureátus,Ánglicus nátus,Próvocat MúsasCóntra DúndasSpurcíssimum ScótumÚndique nótum,&c.

Gup, Scót,

Ye blót:

Laudáte

Caudáte,

Sét in bétter

Thy péntaméter.

This Dúndás,

This Scóttishe ás,

He rýmes and ráyles

That Énglishman have táyles.

Skeltónus laureátus,

Ánglicus nátus,

Próvocat Músas

Cóntra Dúndas

Spurcíssimum Scótum

Úndique nótum,&c.

The mingling of Latin and English lines, as in this passage, is one of the characteristic features of the Skeltonic verse.

In some passages, as e.g. in the humorous poemsPhyllyp SparoweandElinour Rummyng, the three-beat rhythm seems to prevail. In such cases it probably developed out of the two-beat rhythm in the same way as inKing Horn.

Yet óne thynge ìs behýndeThat nów còmmeth to mýnde;An épytàphe I wold háueFor Phýllỳppes gráue;But fór I àm a máyde,Týmorous, hàlf afráyde,That néuer yèt asáydeOf Elycònys wéll,Whère the Múses dwell;&c.

Yet óne thynge ìs behýnde

That nów còmmeth to mýnde;

An épytàphe I wold háue

For Phýllỳppes gráue;

But fór I àm a máyde,

Týmorous, hàlf afráyde,

That néuer yèt asáyde

Of Elycònys wéll,

Whère the Múses dwell;&c.

Phyllyp Sparowe (i. 69).

Skelton’s verse was chiefly used by poets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries for satirical and burlesque poetry. One of its chief cultivators was John Taylor, the Water-poet. A list of Skeltonic poems is given in Dyce’s edition of Skelton’s poems, i. introduction, pp. cxxviii-cxxix.

§72.If after what precedes any doubt were possible as to the scansion of the verses quoted on p. 113 from the Prologue to the Early Modern English comedy ofGammer Gurton’s Needle, this doubt would be removed at once by the following couplet and by the accents put over the second line of it by the sixteenth-century metrician, George Gascoigne[116]:

Nowight in thisworld | thatwealth can attayne,Unlésse hè bèléve | thàt áll ìs bùt váyne.

Nowight in thisworld | thatwealth can attayne,

Unlésse hè bèléve | thàt áll ìs bùt váyne.

For the rhythm of these lines is perfectly identical with that of the lines of the above-mentioned prologue, and also with that of the alliterative line quoted ten years later (A. D.1585), and called tumbling-verse by King James VI in hisRevlis and Cavtelis, viz.:

Fetching fúde for to féid it | fast fúrth of the Fárie.

This is the very same rhythm in which a good many songs and ballads of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are written, as e.g. the well-known ballad ofKing John and the Abbot of Canterbury, which begins with the following stanzas[117]:

An áncient stóry | I’le téll you anón

Of a nótable prínce, | that was cálled king Jóhn;

And he rúled Éngland | with máine and with míght,

For he díd great wróng, | and maintéin’d little ríght.

And I’le téll you a stóry, | a stóry so mérrye,Concérning the Abbot | of Cánterbúrye;How for his hóuse-kéeping, | and hígh renówne,They rode póst for him | to faire Lóndon tówne.

And I’le téll you a stóry, | a stóry so mérrye,

Concérning the Abbot | of Cánterbúrye;

How for his hóuse-kéeping, | and hígh renówne,

They rode póst for him | to faire Lóndon tówne.

This four-beat rhythm, which (as is proved by the definition King James VI gives of it) is the direct descendant of the old alliterative line, has continued in use in modern English poetry to the present day.

It occurs in the poemThe recured Lover, by Sir Thomas Wyatt, one of the earliest Modern English poets, where it is intermixed sometimes with four-feet rhythms, as was the case also in several Early English poems. The general rhythm, however, is clearly of an iambic-anapaestic nature. Fifteen years after the death of Wyatt Thomas Tusser wrote part of his didactic poemA hundred good points of Husbandryin the same metre. In Tusser’s hands the metre is very regular, the first foot generally being an iambus and the following feet anapaests:

Whom fáncy persuádeth | amóng other cróps,To háve for his spénding, | suffícient of hóps,Must wíllingly fóllow, | of chóices to chóose.Such léssons appróved, | as skílful do úse.

Whom fáncy persuádeth | amóng other cróps,

To háve for his spénding, | suffícient of hóps,

Must wíllingly fóllow, | of chóices to chóose.

Such léssons appróved, | as skílful do úse.

The four beats of the rhythm and the regular occurrence of the caesura are as marked characteristics of these verses as of the earlier specimens of the metre.

Spenser has written several eclogues of hisShepheard’s Calendarin this metre (February, May, September), and Shakespeare uses it in some lyric pieces of hisKing Henry IV, Part II, but also for dialogues, as e.g.Err.III.i. 11–84. In more modern times Matthew Prior (1664–1715) wrote a balladDown Hallto the tune, as he says, ofKing John and the Abbot of Canterbury, which clearly shows that he meant to imitate the ancient popular four-beat rhythm, which he did with perfect success. In other poems he used it for stanzas rhyming in the ordera b a b.Swift has used the same metre, and it became very popular in Scottish poetry through Allan Ramsay and Robert Burns, one of whose most famous poems is written in it, viz.:

My héart’s in the Híghlands, | my héart is not hére;My héart’s in the Híghlands, | a-chásing the déer;Chásing the wíld deer | and fóllowing the róe,My héart’s in the Híghlands | wheréver I gó.

My héart’s in the Híghlands, | my héart is not hére;

My héart’s in the Híghlands, | a-chásing the déer;

Chásing the wíld deer | and fóllowing the róe,

My héart’s in the Híghlands | wheréver I gó.

Sir Walter Scott used it frequently for drinking-songs, and Thomas Moore wrote hisLetters of the Fudge Familyin it.

By Coleridge and Byron this metre was used in the same way as by Wyatt, viz. intermixed with regular four-foot verse according to the subject, the four-beat iambic-anapaestic rhythm for livelier passages, the pure iambic for passages of narration and reflecti—. Byron’sPrisoner of Chillonand hisSiege of Corinthare good specimens of this kind of metre.[118]On the other hand the regular four-foot rhythm, as will be shown below, if it is of a looser structure, develops into a kind of verse similar to the iambic-anapaestic rhythm—an additional reason for their existing side by side often in one poem.

A few variations of this metre remain to be mentioned, which occur as early as Tusser. The first variety arises from interlaced rhyme, by which the two four-beat verses are broken up into four two-beat verses rhyming in the ordera b a b.

If húsbandry brággethTo gó with the bést,Good húsbandry bággethUp góld in his chést.

If húsbandry brággeth

To gó with the bést,

Good húsbandry bággeth

Up góld in his chést.

On the model of these stanzas others were afterwards formed by Tusser consisting of three-beat verses of the same rhythm. The same verse was used for eight-line stanzas rhyminga b a b c d c dby Nicholas Rowe, Shenstone, Cowper, and in later times by Thackeray in one of his burlesque poems (Malony’s LamentinBallads,the Rose and the Ring, &c., p. 225). For examples of these variations see the sections treating of the iambic-anapaestic verses of three and two measures.

§73.In modern times a few attempts have been made to revive the old four-beat alliterative line without rhyme, but also without a regular use of alliteration. These attempts, however, have never become popular.

The following passage from William Morris’s dramatic poemLove is enoughmay give an idea of the structure of this kind of verse:

Fáir MasterÓliver, | thóu who atáll times

Maystópen thy héart | to our lórd and máster,

Téll us whattídings | thou hást to delíver;

For ourhéarts are grownhéavy, | and whére shall we túrn to,

If thús the king’sglóry, | ourgáin and salvátion,

Mustgó down the wínd | amidglóom and despáiring.

The rhythm, together with the irregular use of alliteration, places these four-beat alliterative lines on the same level with those of the dramatic poems of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The same kind of versification is found in Longfellow’s translation of the late Old English poem onThe Grave, and in James M. Garnett’s translations ofBeowulfand Cynewulf’sElene. On the other hand, George Stephens, in his translation of the Old English poem onThe Phoenix, published 1844, not only adheres strictly to the laws of alliteration, but confines himself to Germanic words, sometimes even using inflexional forms peculiar to Middle English.

§74.We shall conclude this survey of the development of the four-beat alliterative line by giving a series of examples in reversed chronological order, beginning with writers of the present day and ending with the earliest remains of Old English poetry, in order to illustrate the identity in rhythmic structure of this metre in all periods of its history.

Nineteenth Century, End:

For níne days the kíng | hath slépt not an hóurAnd táketh no héed | of soft wórds or beseéching.W. Morris.

For níne days the kíng | hath slépt not an hóur

And táketh no héed | of soft wórds or beseéching.

W. Morris.

Nineteenth Century, Beginning:

So thatwíldest ofwáves, | in their ángriest móod,Scarcebréak on theboúnds | of the lánd for a róod.

So thatwíldest ofwáves, | in their ángriest móod,

Scarcebréak on theboúnds | of the lánd for a róod.

Byron, Siege of Corinth, 382–4.

Eighteenth Century, End:

Myhéart’s in theHíghlands, | myhéart is nothére;Myhéart’s in theHíghlands, | a-chásing the déer.Burns.

Myhéart’s in theHíghlands, | myhéart is nothére;

Myhéart’s in theHíghlands, | a-chásing the déer.Burns.

Eighteenth Century, Middle:

A cóbbler there wás, | and he líved in a stáll.[119]

Eighteenth Century, Beginning (1715):

I síng not old Jáson | who trável’d thro’ GréeceTo kíss the fair máids | and posséss the rich fléece.

I síng not old Jáson | who trável’d thro’ Gréece

To kíss the fair máids | and posséss the rich fléece.

Prior, Down-Hall, to the tune of King John and the Abbot.

Seventeenth Century, Beginning (or Sixteenth Century, End):

An áncient stóry | I’le téll you anónOf a nótable prínce, | that was cálled king Jóhn.

An áncient stóry | I’le téll you anón

Of a nótable prínce, | that was cálled king Jóhn.

King John and the Abbot of Canterbury.

Sixteenth Century, End (1585):

Fetchingfúde for toféid it | fastfúrth of theFárie.[120]

Montgomery.

Sixteenth Century (1575):

Nowíght in thiswórld | thatwéalth can attáyneUnlésse hè bèléve | thàt áll ìs bùt váyne.[121]

Nowíght in thiswórld | thatwéalth can attáyne

Unlésse hè bèléve | thàt áll ìs bùt váyne.[121]

G. Gascoigne.

Sixteenth Century (before 1575):

AsGámmerGúrton, | with mánye a wyde stýche,Satpésynge andpátching | of Hódg her mans brýche.

AsGámmerGúrton, | with mánye a wyde stýche,

Satpésynge andpátching | of Hódg her mans brýche.

Gammer Gurton’s Needle.

Sixteenth Century, Middle (about 1548):

Such lúbbers asháth | dysgysedhéads in their hóods.

Bale (died1563), King Johan, p. 2.

Thýnke you a Róman | with the Rómans cannot lýe?

ibid. p. 84.

For asChríste ded say to Péter, |Cáro et sánguisNon revelávit tíbi | sedPáter meus celéstis.

For asChríste ded say to Péter, |Cáro et sánguis

Non revelávit tíbi | sedPáter meus celéstis.

ibid. pp. 92–3.

A péna etcúlpa | I desýre to beclére,And thén all the dévylles | of héll I wold not fére.

A péna etcúlpa | I desýre to beclére,

And thén all the dévylles | of héll I wold not fére.

ibid. p. 33.

Judicáte pupíllo, | deféndite víduam:Defénde the wýdowe, | whan she ís in dystrésse.

Judicáte pupíllo, | deféndite víduam:

Defénde the wýdowe, | whan she ís in dystrésse.

ibid. p. 6.

Sáncte Domínice, | óra pro nóbis.Sáncte pyld mónache, | I be-shrów vóbis.Sáncte Francísse, | óra pro nóbis.

Sáncte Domínice, | óra pro nóbis.

Sáncte pyld mónache, | I be-shrów vóbis.

Sáncte Francísse, | óra pro nóbis.

ibid. p. 25.

Sixteenth Century, Beginning:

Apón themídsummer évin, |mírriest of níchtis.

Dunbar, Twa Mariit Wemen, 1.

Fifteenth Century, Second Half:

In thechéiftyme ofChárlis, | thatchósinchíftane.

Rauf Coilȝear, 1.

Fifteenth Century, ? First Half:

In thetýme of Árthour, | astréw men metáld.

Golagras and Gawane, 1.

Fourteenth Century, End:

MostemýghtyMáhowne |méng you withmýrthe,Both of búrgh and of tówne, | byféllys and byfýrthe.

MostemýghtyMáhowne |méng you withmýrthe,

Both of búrgh and of tówne, | byféllys and byfýrthe.

Towneley Mysteries, p. 140.

Oute, alás, I am góne! | oute apón the, mans wónder!

ibid. p. 30.

Fourteenth Century, Second Half:

In asómerséson, | whansóft was thesónne.

Piers Plowman, Prol. 1.

Þen com avóis to Jóseph | and séide him þisewórdes.

Joseph of Arimathie, 21 (about 1350).

Fourteenth Century, Beginning:

Ich herdemén vpomóld |máke muchmón.

Wright’s Pol. Songs.

LýstneþLórdynges, | a newe sóng ichulle bigýnne.

ibid. p. 187.

Thirteenth Century, Middle:

Állebèon heblíþe | þat tò my sóng líþe:Asóng ihc schàl yousínge | of Múrry þe kínge.

Állebèon heblíþe | þat tò my sóng líþe:

Asóng ihc schàl yousínge | of Múrry þe kínge.

King Horn, 1–4.

Thirteenth Century, Beginning:

And swá heo gùnnen wénden | fórð tò þan kínge.

Layamon, 13811–12.

Vmbefíftene ȝér | þatfólc is isómned.

ibid. 13855–6.

Twelfth Century:

þat þechíriche hàbbe grýþ | and þechéorl bèo in frýþhissédes tosówen, | hismédes tomówen.

þat þechíriche hàbbe grýþ | and þechéorl bèo in frýþ

hissédes tosówen, | hismédes tomówen.

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