For hym that haves the squynansy ['quinsy']:—
For hym that haves the squynansy ['quinsy']:—
Tak a fatte katte, and fla hit wele and clene, and draw oute the guttes; and tak the grees of an urcheon ['hedgehog'], and the fatte of a bare, and resynes, and feinygreke ['fenugreek'], and sauge ['sage'], and gumme of wodebynde, and virgyn wax: al this mye ['grate'] smal, and farse ['stuff'] the catte within als thu farses a gos: rost hit hale, and geder the grees, and enoynt hym tharwith. (Reliquiae Antiquae, ed. Wright and Halliwell (1841), vol. i, p. 51.)
Ȝyf a woud hund hat ybite a man:—
Ȝyf a woud hund hat ybite a man:—
Take tou
A goud oynement for þe goute:—
A goud oynement for þe goute:—
Take þe grece of a bor, and þe grece of a ratoun, and cattys grece, and voxis grece, and hors grece, and þe grece of a brok ['badger']; and take feþeruoye ['feverfew'] and eysyl ['vinegar'], and stampe hem togedre; and take a litel lynnesed, and stampe hit wel, and do hit þerto; and meng al togedre, and het hit in a scherd, and þerwith anoynte þe goute by the fuyre. Do so ofte and hit schal be hol. (Ibid., p. 20.)
a284.Lammasse tyme: August 1, when the new corn (l. 294) would be in. On this day a loaf was offered as firstfruits: whence the name, OE.hlāf-mæsse.
a307 ff. Owing to repeated famines, the wages of manual labour rose throughout the first half of the fourteenth century. A crisiswas reached when the Black Death (1349) so reduced the number of workers that the survivors were able to demand wages on a scale which seemed unconscionable to their employers. By the Statute of Labourers (1350 and 1351) an attempt was made to force wages and prices back to the level of 1346. For a day's haymaking 1d.was to be the maximum wage; for reaping 2d.or 3d.Throughout the second half of the fourteenth century vain attempts were made to enforce these maxima, and the penalties did much to fan the unrest that broke out in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.
a309-10. From Bk. i of theDistichaof Dionysius Cato, a collection of proverbs famous throughout the Middle Ages.
a321. Saturn was a malevolent planet, as we see from his speech in Chaucer'sKnight's Tale, 1595 ff.
a324.Deth: the Plague.
b1.Cornehulle.Cornhill was one of the liveliest quarters of fourteenth-century London, and a haunt of idlers, beggars, and doubtful characters. Its pillory and stocks were famous. Its market where, ifThe London Lickpennyis to be credited, dealing in stolen clothes was a speciality, was privileged above all others in the city. See the documents in Riley'sMemorials of London.
b2.Kytte: In the B-text, Passus xviii. 425-6,Kytteis mentioned again:
and riȝt with þat I wakedAnd called Kitte my wyf and Kalote my douȝter.
and riȝt with þat I waked
And called Kitte my wyf and Kalote my douȝter.
b4.lollares of London: The followers of Wiclif were called 'Lollards' by their opponents; but the word here seems to mean 'idlers' as in l. 31.lewede heremytes: 'lay hermits': hermits were not necessarily in holy orders, and so far from seeking complete solitude, they often lived in the cities or near the great highways, where many passers would have opportunity to recognize their merit by giving alms. See Cutts,Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages, pp. 93 ff.
b5. 'For I judged those men as Reason taught me.' Skeat's interpretation—thatmade ofmeans 'made verses about'—is forced. The sense is that the idlers and hermits thought little of the dreamer, and he was equally critical of them.
b6.as ich cam by Conscience: 'as I passed by Conscience', referring to a vision described in the previous Passus, in which Conscience is the principal figure.
b10 f.In hele and in vnité, 'in health and in my full senses', andRomynge in remembrauncequalifyme.
b14.Mowe oþer mowen, 'mow or stack'. For these unrelated words see the Glossary.
b16.haywarde: by derivation 'hedge-ward'. He watched over enclosures and prevented animals from straying among the crops. Observe that ME. nouns denoting occupation usuallysurvive in surnames:—Baxter 'baker', Bow(y)er, Chapman, Dyer, Falconer, Fletcher 'arrow-maker', Fo(re)ster, Franklin, Hayward, Lister (= litster, 'dyer'), Palmer, Reeve(s), Spicer, Sumner, Tyler 'maker or layer of tiles', Warner 'keeper of warrens', Webb, Webster, Wright, Yeoman, &c.
b20-1. 'Or craft of any kind that is necessary to the community, to provide food for them that are bedridden.'
b24.to long, 'too tall': cp. B-text, Passus xv. 148my name is Longe Wille. Consistency in such details in a poem full of inconsistencies makes it probable that the poet is describing himself, not an imagined dreamer.
b33. Psalm lxii. 12.
b45. 1 Corinthians vii. 20.
b46 ff. Cp. the note toXIb131 f. The dreamer appears to have made his living by saying prayers for the souls of the dead, a service which, from small beginnings in the early Middle Ages, had by this time withdrawn much of the energy of the clergy from their regular duties. See note toXIb140 f.
b49.my Seuene Psalmes: the Penitential Psalms, normally vi, xxxii, xxxviii, li, cii, cxxx, cxliii, in the numbering of the Authorised Version. ThePrymer, which contained the devotions supplementary to the regular Church service, included the Placebo, Dirige, and the Seven Psalms: see the edition by Littlehales for the Early English Text Society.
b50.for hure soules of suche as me helpen: combines the constructionsfor þe soules of suche as me helpen, andfor hure soules þat me helpen.
b51.vochen saf: supplymeas object, 'warrant me that I shall be welcome'.
b61. 1 Thessalonians v. 15; Leviticus xix. 18.
b63.churches: here and in l. 110 read the Norse formkirkesfor the alliteration, as ina28, 85. But the English form also belongs to the original, for it alliterates withchata12, 50.
b64.Dominus, &c.: Psalm xvi. 5.
b83.Symondes sone: a son of Simon Magus—one guilty of simony, or one who receives preferment merely because of his wealth.
b90. Matthew iv. 4.
b103-4.Simile est, &c.: Matthew xiii. 44.Mulier que, &c.: Luke xv. 8 ff.
Dialect: South-East Midland.
Vocabulary: A number of French words are taken over from the original, e.g.plee81,ryot83,violastres97,saphire loupe116,gowrdes139,clowe gylofres157,canell158,avaled195,trayne(fortaynere?) 222,bugles256,gowtes artetykes314,distreynen315.
Inflexions: Almost modern.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.schadeweth19,turneth23.3 pl.ben4,han14,wexen22,loue100.pres. p.fle(e)ynge148, 252;recordynge317.strong pp.ȝouen90,begonne171.PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.þei5;here71;hem20.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.schadeweth19,turneth23.3 pl.ben4,han14,wexen22,loue100.pres. p.fle(e)ynge148, 252;recordynge317.strong pp.ȝouen90,begonne171.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.schadeweth19,turneth23.
3 pl.ben4,han14,wexen22,loue100.
pres. p.fle(e)ynge148, 252;recordynge317.
strong pp.ȝouen90,begonne171.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.þei5;here71;hem20.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.þei5;here71;hem20.
Sounds: OE.ābecomesǭ:hoot11,cold31.
OE.yappears asy(=i):byggynge90,kyȝn'kine' 256; except regularleft(hand) 69, 71, 72, where Modern English has also adopted the South-Eastern form of OE.lyft.
21-3. The French original says that the children have whitehairwhen they are young, which becomes black as they grow up.
24-5. The belief that one of the Three Kings came from Ethiopia is based on Ps. lxviii. 31: 'Princes shall come out of Egypt, Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.' In mediaeval representations one of the three is usually a negro.
27.Emlak: miswritten forEuilak, a name for India taken fromHavilahof Genesis ii. 11.
28.þat is: þe more:Yndehas probably fallen out of the text afteris.
34-5.Ȝalow cristall draweth
36-7. The translation is not accurate. The French has:et appelle homme les dyamantz en ceo pais 'Hamese'.
64 ff. It was supposed that the pearl-bearing shell-fish opened at low tide to receive the dew-drops from which the pearls grew.
74.ȝif ȝou lyke, 'if it please you', impersonal = Frenchsi vous plest.
75.þe Lapidarye, LatinLapidarium, was a manual of precious stones, which contained a good deal of pseudo-scientific information about their natures and virtues, just as theBestiarysummed up popular knowledge of animals. A Latin poem by Marbod bishop of Rennes (d. 1123) is the chief source of the mediaeval lapidaries, and, curiously enough, there is a French prose text attributed by so intimate an authority as Jean d'Outremeuse to Mandeville himself. Several Old French texts have been edited by L. Pannier,Les Lapidaires Français du Moyen Âge, Paris 1882. Their high repute may be judged from the inclusion of no less than seven copies in the library of Charles V of France (d. 1380); and it is surprising that no complete ME. version is known. But much of the matter was absorbed into encyclopaedicworks like theDe Proprietatibus Rerumof Bartholomaeus, which Trevisa translated.
97. Mistranslated. The French has:qi sont violastre, ou pluis broun qe violettes.
100-1.But in soth to me: French:Mes endroit de moy, 'but for my part'; the English translator has rendereden droitseparately.
108.þerfore: the context requires the sense 'because', but the translator would hardly have usedþerforehad he realized that ll. 108-9 correspond to a subordinate clause in the French, and do not form a complete independent sentence. He was misled by the bad punctuation of some French MSS., e.g. Royal 20 B.Xand (with consequent corruption) Harley 4383.
136.Cathaye: China. See the classic work of Colonel Yule,Cathay and the Way Thither, 2 vols., London 1866. The modernization of the Catalan map of 1375 in vol. i gives a good idea of Mandeville's geography.
142.withouten wolle: the story of the vegetable lamb is taken from the Voyage of Friar Odoric, which is accessible in Hakluyt'sVoyages. Hakluyt's translation is reprinted, with the Eastern voyages of John de Plano Carpini (1246) and of William de Rubruquis (1253), inThe Travels of Sir John Mandeville, ed. A. W. Pollard, London 1900. The legend probably arose from vague descriptions of the cotton plant; and Mandeville makes it still more marvellous by describing as without wool the lamb which had been invented to explain the wool's existence.
143-4.Of þat frute I haue eten: This assertion seems to be due to the English translator. The normal French text has simply:et cest bien grant meruaille de ceo fruit, et si est grant oure [= oeuvre] de nature(MS. Royal 20 B.X, f. 70 b).
147.the Bernakes: The barnacle goose—introduced here on a hint from Odoric—is a species of wild goose that visits the Northern coasts in winter. It was popularly supposed to grow from the shell-fish called 'barnacle', which attaches itself to floating timber by a stalk something like the neck and beak of a bird, and has feathery filaments not unlike plumage. As the breeding place of the barnacle goose was unknown, and logs with the shell-fish attached were often found on the coasts, it was supposed that the shell-fish was the fruit of a tree, which developed in the water into a bird. Giraldus Cambrensis,Topographia Hibernica, I. xv, reproves certain casuistical members of the Church who ate the barnacle goose on fast-days on the plea that it was not flesh; but himself vouches for the marvel. The earliest reference in English is No. 11 of the Anglo-SaxonRiddles, of which the best solution is 'barnacle goose'. For a full account see Max Müller'sLectures on the Science of Language, vol. ii, pp. 583-604.
157.grete notes of Ynde, 'coco-nuts'.
163-4.Goth and Magoth: see Ezekiel xxxviii and xxxix. The forms of the names are French.
170.God of Nature: Near the end of theTravelsit is explained that all the Eastern peoples are Deists, though they have not the light of Christianity:þei beleeven in God þat formede all thing and made the world, and clepen him 'God of Nature'.
191-2.þat þei schull not gon out on no syde, but be the cost of hire
lond: the general sense requires the omission ofbut, which has no
equivalent in the original French text:qils ne
199-200.a four grete myle: renders the Frenchiiii grantz lieus. There is no 'great mile' among English measures.
209 ff. In the Middle Ages references to the Jews are nearly always hostile. They were hated as enemies of the Church, and prejudice was hardened by stories, like that in the text, of their vengeance to come, or of ritual murder, like Chaucer'sPrioress's Tale. England had its supposed boy martyrs, William of Norwich (d. 1144), and Hugh of Lincoln (d. 1255) whom the Prioress invokes:
O yonge Hugh of Lyncoln, slayn alsoWith cursed Jewes, as it is notable,For it is but a litel while ago,Preye eek for us, &c.
O yonge Hugh of Lyncoln, slayn also
With cursed Jewes, as it is notable,
For it is but a litel while ago,
Preye eek for us, &c.
Religion was not the only cause of bitterness. The Jews, standing outside the Church and its laws against usury, at a time when financial needs had outgrown feudal revenues, became the money-lenders and bankers of Europe; and with a standard rate of interest fixed at over 40 per cent., debtors and creditors could hardly be friends. In England the Jews reached the height of their prosperity in the twelfth century, so that in 1188 nearly half the national contribution for a Crusade came from them. In the thirteenth century their privileges and operations were cut down, and they were finally expelled from the country in 1290 (see J. Jacobs,The Jews of Angevin England, 1893). The Lombards, whose consciences were not nice, took their place as financiers in fourteenth-century England.
222.trayne: readtaynere, OFr.taignere'a burrow'.
237-8. The cotton plant has already given us the vegetable lamb (l. 142). This more prosaic account is taken from theEþistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem: 'in Bactriacen... penitus ad abditos Seres, quod genus hominum foliis arborum decerpendo lanuginem ex silvestri vellere vestes detexunt' (Julius Valerius,ed. B. Kübler, p. 194). From the same text come the hippopotami, the bitter waters (Kübler, p. 195), and the griffins (Kübler, p. 217). TheLetter of Alexanderwas translated into Anglo-Saxon in the tenth century.
254 ff.talounsetc.: In the 1725 edition there is a reference to 'one 4 Foot long in the Cotton Library' with the inscription,Griphi Unguis Divo Cuthberto Dunelmensi sacer, 'griffin's talon, sacred to St. Cuthbert of Durham'. This specimen is now in the Mediaeval Department of the British Museum, and is really the slim, curved horn of an ibex. The inscription is late (sixteenth century), but the talon was catalogued among the treasures of Durham in the fourteenth century.
260.Prestre Iohn: Old FrenchPrestre Jean, or 'John the Priest', was reputed to be the Christian ruler of a great kingdom in the East. A rather minatory letter professing to come from him reached most of the princes of Europe, and was replied to in all seriousness by Pope Alexander III. Its claims include the lordship over the tribes of Gog and Magog whom Alexander the Great walled within the mountains. Official missions were sent to establish relations with him; but neither in the Far East nor in Northern Africa, where the best opinion in later times located his empire, could the great king ever be found. The history of the legend is set out by Yule in the articlePrester Johnin theEncyclopaedia Britannica.
261.Yle of Pentexoire: to Mandeville most Eastern countries are 'isles'.Pentexoirein the French text of Odoric is a territory about the Yellow River (Yule,Cathay, vol. i, p. 146).
262 ff.: For comparison the French text of the Epilogue is given from MS. Royal 20 B.X, f. 83 a, the words in < > being supplied from MS. Sloane 1464:
'Il y a plusours autres diuers pais, et moutz dautres meruailles par de la, qe ieo nay mie tout veu, si nen saueroye proprement parler. Et meismement el pais en quel iay este, y a plusours diuersetes dont ieo ne fais point el mencioun, qar trop serroit long chose a tout deuiser. Et pur ceo qe ieo vous ay deuisez dascuns pais, vous doit suffire quant a present. Qar, si ieo deuisoie tout quantqez y est par de la, vn autre qi se peneroit et trauailleroit le corps pur aler en celles marches, et pur sercher la pais, serroit empeschez par mes ditz a recompter nuls choses estranges, qar il ne purroit rien dire de nouelle, en quoy ly oyantz y puissent prendre solaces. Et lem dit toutdis qe choses nouelles pleisent. Si men taceray a tant, saunz plus recompter nuls diuersetez qi soyent par de la, a la fin qe cis qi vourra aler en celles parties y troeue assez a dire.
'Et ieo, Iohan Maundeuille dessudit, qi men party de nos pais et
passay le mer lan de grace mil cccxxiide; qi moint terre et moint
passage et moint pays ay puis cerchez; et qy ay este enmoint
bone compaignie et en molt beal fait, come bien qe ieo
'Si pri a toutz les lisauntz, si lour plest, qils voillent Dieu prier pur moy, et ieo priera pur eux. Et toutz cils qi pur moy dirrount vnePaternosterqe Dieu me face remissioun de mes pecches, ieo les face parteners et lour ottroie part dez toutz les bons pelrinages et dez toutz les bienfaitz qe ieo feisse vnqes, et qe ieo ferray, si Dieu plest, vncqore iusqes a ma fyn. Et pry a Dieu, de qy toute bien et toute grace descent, qil toutz les lisantz et oyantz Cristiens voille de sa grace reemplir, et lour corps et les almes sauuer, a la glorie et loenge de ly qi est trinz et vns, et saunz comencement et saunz fin, saunz qualite bons, saunz quantite grantz, en toutz lieus present et toutz choses contenant, et qy nul bien ne poet amender ne nul mal enpirer, qy en Trinite parfite vit et regne par toutz siecles et par toutz temps. Amen.'
274.blamed: The Old French verbempeschermeans both 'to hinder, prevent', and 'to accuse, impeach'. But hereempeschezshould have been translated by 'prevented', not 'blamed'.
284-306. This passage, which in one form or another appears in nearly all the MSS. in English, has no equivalent in the MSS. in French so far examined: and, as it conflicts with ll. 313 ff., which—apart from the peculiarities of the Cotton rendering—indicate that theTravelswere written after Mandeville's return, it must be set down as an interpolation.
The art of forging credentials was well understood in the Middle Ages, and the purpose of this addition was to silence doubters by theimprimaturof the highest authority, just as the marvel of the Dancers of Colbek is confirmed by the sponsorship of Pope Leo IX (I 246-9). The different interpretation of the latest editor, Hamelius, who thinks it was intended as a sly hit at the Papacy (Quarterly Reviewfor April 1917, pp. 349 f.) seems to rest on the erroneous assumption that the passage belonged to the French text as originally written.
The anachronism by which the author is made to seek the Popein Romegives a clue to the date of the interpolation. From the beginning of the fourteenth century until 1377 Avignon, and not Rome, was the seat of the Pope; and for another thirty years there was doubt as to the issue of the conflict between the popes, who had their head-quarters at Rome and were recognized by England, and the antipopes, who remained at Avignon and had the support of the French. The facts were notorious, so that the anachronism would hardly be possible toone who wrote much before the end of the century, even though he were a partisan of the Roman court.
From internal evidence it would seem that the interpolation first appeared in French. The style is the uniform style of translation, with the same tags—and ȝee schull vndirstonde=et sachiez;ȝif it lyke ȝou=si vous plest; and the same trick of double rendering, e.g.of dyuerse secte and of beleeve;wyse and discreet;the auctour ne the persone. More decisive is an example of the syntactical compromise explained in the note to l. 329:bethe whiche the Mappa Mundi was madeafter. With so many French MSS. of Mandeville in use in England, an interpolation in French would have more authority than one that could not be traced beyond English; and it can hardly be an insuperable objection that no such French text exists to-day, since our knowledge of the Cotton and Egerton versions themselves depends in each case on the chance survival of a single MS.
The point has a bearing on the vexed question of the relations of the English texts one to another. For brevity we may denote by D the defective text of the early prints and most MSS., which is specially distinguished by a long gap near the beginning; by C the Cotton text (ed. Halliwell, Pollard, Hamelius); by E the Egerton text (ed. Warner). Nicholson (in theEncyclopaedia Britannica) and Warner give priority to D, and consider that C and E are independent revisions and expansions of D by writers who had recourse to the French original. Their argument seems to be this: There is precise evidence just before the gap that D derives direct from a mutilated French text (seeEnc. Brit.), and if it be granted that a single translation from the French is the base of C, D, and E, it follows that C and E are based on D.
A fuller study by Vogels (Handschriftliche Untersuchungen über die Englische Version Mandeville's, Crefeld 1891) brings to light a new fact: the two Bodleian MSS., E Museo 116 and Rawlinson D 99, contain an English translation (say L) made from a Latin text of theTravels. Vogels also shows that E is based on D, because the characteristic lacuna of D is filled in E by a passage which is borrowed from L and is not homogeneous with the rest of E. So far there is no conflict with the view of Nicholson and Warner. But, after adducing evidence in favour of the contention that C, D, and E are at base one translation, Vogels concludes that D derives from C, arguing thus: There is good evidence that C is a direct translation from the French, and if it be granted that a single translation from the French is the base of C and D, it follows that D derives from C.
In short, the one party maintains that C is an expansion of D, the other that D is an abridgement of C; and this flat oppositionresults from the acceptance of common ground: that C and D represent in the main one translation and not two translations.
To return to our interpolation:
(1) Vogels's first piece of evidence that C, D, and E are at base one translation is the appearance in all of this interpolation, which is absent from the MSS. in French. But a passage so remarkable might spread from one to the other of two independent English texts; or if the interpolation originated in England in a MS. of the French text since lost, it might be twice translated.
(2) Vogels assumes that the interpolation first appeared in type C. But C is the form in which it would be least likely to originate, because here the contradiction of statement is sharpest owing to the rendering at ll. 313-14:and now I am comen hom, which is peculiar to C (see the French).
(3) If, in order to eliminate individual peculiarities, we take two MSS. of the D type—say Harley 2386 and Royal 17 C.XXXVIII—we find that their text of the interpolation is identical with that of E. This is consistent with Vogels's finding that the body of E derives from D; and it confirms the evidence of all the defective MSS. that the interpolation in this particular form was an integral part of the D type.
(4) But between the text of the interpolation in D and that in C there are differences in matter, in sentence order, and in phrasing, which, while they do not exclude the possibility of interdependence, do not suggest such a relation. In D the passage is a naked attempt at authentication; in C it is more artfully though more shamelessly introduced by the touch of piety conventional in epilogues. And as the signs of a French original that appear in C are absent from D, it is unlikely that the text of the interpolation in C derives from D.
(5) Again, in D and E the addition follows the matter of ll. 307-20. Unfortunately, though the balance of probability is in favour of the order in C, the order intended by the interpolator is not certain enough to be made the basis of arguments. But such a difference in position is naturally explained from the stage when the interpolation stood in the margin of a MS., or on an inserted slip, so that it might be taken into the consecutive text at different points. And an examination of the possibilities will show that if the interpolation originated in French, the different placing is more simply explained on the assumption that C and D are independent translations than on the assumption that one of them derives from the other.
To sum up: the central problem for the history of the English texts is the relation of C and D. Taken by itself the evidence afforded by the text of the interpolation is against the derivation of C from D; it neither favours nor excludes the derivation of D from C; it rather favours independent translation in C and D.
For the relations of the rest of the text these deductions afford no more than a clue. Against independent translation of C and D stands the evidence adduced by Vogels for basic unity. Much of this could be accounted for by the coincidences that are inevitable in literal prose translations from a language so near to English in vocabulary and word order; and a few striking agreements might be due to the use of French MSS. having abnormal variants in common, or even to reference by a second translator to the first. The remainder must be weighed against a considerable body of evidence in the contrary sense, e.g. several places where the manuscripts of the French text have divergent readings, of which C translates one, and D another.
It is unlikely that any simple formula will be found to cover the whole web of relationships: but any way of reconciling the conclusions of the authorities should be explored; and the first step is an impartial sifting of all the evidence, with the object of discovering to what extent C and D are interdependent, and to what extent independent translations. The chief obstacle is the difficulty of bringing the necessary texts together; for an investigator who wished to clear the ground would have to face the labour of preparing a six-textMandeville, in the order, French, C, D, E, L, Latin.
301.Mappa Mundi: OFr. and ME.Mappemounde, was the generic name for a chart of the world, and, by extension, for a descriptive geography of the world. It is not clear what particularMappa Mundiis referred to here, or whether such a map was attached to the manuscript copy of theTravelsin which this interpolation first appeared.
329.fro whom all godenesse and grace cometh fro: cp. 24-5the lond of the whiche on of the þre Kynges... was kyng offe; 76-8þei... of whom all science... cometh from; and 301-2be the whiche theMappa Mundiwas made after. The pleonasm is explained by the divergence of French and ME. word order. In French, as in modern literary English, the preposition is placed at the beginning of the clause, before the relative (de qui,dont, &c.). ME. writers naturally use the relativethat, and postpone the preposition to the end of the clause: e.g.þat all godenesse cometh fro. The translator compromises between his French original and his native habit by placing the preposition both at the beginning and at the end.
Dialect: Northern (Scots): the MS. copy was made in 1487 more than a century after the poem was composed.
Vocabulary: Notetill'to' 4, 77 (in rime);syne'afterwards' 35, 112; the formssic'such' 135,begouth94, and theshort verbal formsma(in rime) 'make' 14,tane(in rime) 'taken' 19.
Inflexions:
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.has76.3 pl.has52,mais72; butthai haf16.pres. p.rynand17,vyndland129 (in rime).strong pp.gane84,drawyn124.PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.scho(in rime) 80; pl.thai1:thair28;thame3.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.has76.3 pl.has52,mais72; butthai haf16.pres. p.rynand17,vyndland129 (in rime).strong pp.gane84,drawyn124.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.has76.
3 pl.has52,mais72; butthai haf16.
pres. p.rynand17,vyndland129 (in rime).
strong pp.gane84,drawyn124.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.scho(in rime) 80; pl.thai1:thair28;thame3.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.scho(in rime) 80; pl.thai1:thair28;thame3.
Sounds: OE.āremains:brynstane(in rime) 20,sare51.
OE.ō(closeọ̄) appears asu(ǖ?):gude36,fut57,tume143.
Unaccented-(e)dof weak pa. t. and pp. becomes-(i)t:passit2, &c.
Spelling:i(y) following a vowel indicates length:weill10,noyne'noon' 67.
OE.hw-appears asquh-(indicating strong aspiration):quhelis'wheels' 17,quhar18.
vandware interchanged:vithall9,behevin163,in swndir106.
BookXVIIofThe Brucebegins with the capture of Berwick by the Scots in March 1318. Walter Stewart undertakes to hold the city, and is aided in preparing defences by a Flemish engineer, John Crab. Next year King Edward II determines to recapture the stronghold by an attack from both land and sea. He entrenches his forces and makes the first assault unsuccessfully early in September 1319. In this battle the Scotch garrison capture a clever engineer (see note to l. 71 below). King Robert Bruce meanwhile orders a raid into England as a diversion, and on 20 September 1319, an English army, led by the Archbishop of York, is disastrously defeated by the invaders at Mitton. Our extract gives the story of the second assault on Berwick, which was also fruitless. The fortress fell into English hands again as a result of the battle of Halidon Hill in 1333: seeXIVa35-6.
5-6. 'They made a sow of great joists, which had a stout covering over it.' Thesowwas essentially a roof on wheels. The occupants, under shelter of the roof, pushed up to the walls of the besieged place and tried to undermine them. For an illustration see Cutts,Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages, Pt.VI, chap. vi, where other military engines of the time are described.
15.Crabbis consale: John Crab was the engineer of the garrison. He is no doubt the same as the John Crab who in 1332 brought Flemish ships round from Berwick to attack the English vessels at Dundee. There was an important Flemish colony at Berwick from early times.
36.Schir Valter, the gude Steward: Walter Steward, whose surname denotes his office as Steward of Scotland, was the father of Robert II, the first king of the Stuart line.
42.Rude-evyn: September 13, the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.
49.thame... of the toune, 'the defenders of the town'.
51.or than, 'or else'.
71 ff.The engynour: an English engineer captured by the garrison in the previous assault and forced into their service.
80.scho, 'she', some engine of war not previously referred to: apparently a mechanical sling.
123 ff. The boats were filled with men and hoisted up the masts, so as to overtop the walls and allow the besiegers to shoot at the garrison from above. The same engine that proved fatal to the sow was used to break up the boats.
146.thar wardane with him had, 'their warden
158-61. A confused construction. The writer has in mind: (1) 'Of all the men he had there remained with him only one whom he had not left to relieve', &c.; and (2) 'There were no members of his company (except one) whom he had not left', &c.
Dialect: South Midland.
Inflexions:ufor inflexionale, as inknowuna2,seuna51,aȝenusa29,mannusb114 is found chiefly in West Midland.
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.madistb214.3 sg.groundiþa4.3 pl.seyna1,techenb5.pres. p.brennyngeb67.strong pp.knowuna2,ȝouenb264,takeb271.PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.þey,þei,a3,b9; possessive usuallyþerina1, 23, &c.; buthera52, and regularlyhereinb25, 36, &c.; objectivehema4,b3.
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.madistb214.3 sg.groundiþa4.3 pl.seyna1,techenb5.pres. p.brennyngeb67.strong pp.knowuna2,ȝouenb264,takeb271.
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.madistb214.
3 sg.groundiþa4.
3 pl.seyna1,techenb5.
pres. p.brennyngeb67.
strong pp.knowuna2,ȝouenb264,takeb271.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.þey,þei,a3,b9; possessive usuallyþerina1, 23, &c.; buthera52, and regularlyhereinb25, 36, &c.; objectivehema4,b3.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.þey,þei,a3,b9; possessive usuallyþerina1, 23, &c.; buthera52, and regularlyhereinb25, 36, &c.; objectivehema4,b3.
Sounds: OE.āappears regularly aso,oo:morea7,Hoolya10,tooldea65.
OE.yappears asy,i:synnea61,stirenb93.
The formþouþ(=þouȝb190 probably indicates sound-substitution; and inynowþȝ(=ynouȝ)b149 there is wavering between the two forms.
a12.Wit Sunday: the first element is OE.hwīt'white', not 'wit'.
a25 ff. Translations of the Bible were common in France atthis time. No less than six fine copies survive from the library of John, Duke of Berry (d. 1416). About the middle of the fourteenth century King John of France ordered a new translation and commentary to be made at the expense of the Jews, but it was never finished, although several scholars were still engaged on it at the end of the century. The early French verse renderings, which incorporate a good deal of mediaeval legend, are described by J. Bonnard,Les Traductions de la Bible en Vers Français au Moyen Âge(Paris 1884); the prose by S. Berger,La Bible Française au Moyen Âge(Paris 1884). Of the surviving manuscripts mentioned in these excellent monographs several were written in England.
a28 ff. In earlier times, when most of those who could read at all were schooled in Latin, the need for English translations of the Scriptures was not so pressing, and the partial translations that were made were intended rather for the use of the clergy and their noble patrons than for the people. Bede (d. 735) completed a rendering of St. John's Gospel on his death-bed. Old English versions of the Gospels and the Psalms still survive. Abbot Aelfric (aboutA.D.1000) translated the first five books of the Old Testament; and more than one Middle English version of the Psalms is known. Wiclif was perhaps unaware of the Old English precedents because French renderings became fashionable in England from the twelfth century onwards, and he would probably think of the Psalter more as a separate service book than as an integral part of the Bible. But the prologue to the Wiclifite version attributed to John Purvey quotes the example of Bede and King Alfred; and the Dialogue on Translation which, in Caxton's print, serves as preface to Trevisa's translation of Higden, emphasizes the Old English precedents. Both may be read inFifteenth Century Prose and Verse, ed. A. W. Pollard, London 1903, pp. 193 ff. The attitude of the mediaeval Church towards vernacular translations of the Bible has been studied very fully by Miss M. Deanesly,The Lollard Bible and other Medieval Biblical Versions, Cambridge 1920.
a34.þe pley of Ȝork.The York Paternoster Play has not survived, but there are records from 1389 of a Guild of the Lord's Prayer at York, whose main object was the production of the play. It seems to have been an early example of the moral play, holding up 'the vices to scorn and the virtues to praise', and it probably consisted of several scenes, each exhibiting one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The last recorded representation was in 1572. See Chambers,The Mediaeval Stage, vol. ii, p. 154. The association of the friars with the production of religious plays is confirmed by other writings of the time. They were quick to realize the value of dramaticrepresentation as a means of gaining favour with the people, and their encouragement must be reckoned an important factor in the development of the Miracle Play.
a51.wher, 'whether'; cp.b207. In ll. 197, 266, 274, it introduces a direct question; see note toV118.
b20.Gregory, Gregory the Great. See his workIn Primum Regum Expositiones, Bk. iii, c. 28:praedicatores autem Sanctae Ecclesiae... prophetae ministerio utuntur(Migne,Patrologia, vol. lxxix, col. 158).
b44.
b79-80. Cp. Luke xxi. 36 and 1 Thessalonians v. 17.
b89-91. Proverbs xxviii. 9.
b126.as Ambrose: In 386 St. Ambrose, besieged in the Portian Church at Milan by Arian sectaries, kept his followers occupied and in good heart by introducing the Eastern practice of singing hymns and antiphons. See St. Augustine'sConfessionsBk. ix, c. 7.
b131-2.placebo.Vespers of the Dead, named from the first word of the antiphon,Placebo Domino in regione vivorum(Psalm cxiv. 9).
dirige.Matins of the Dead, named from the first word of the antiphon,Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam(Psalm v. 9). Hence our worddirge.
comendacion: an office in which the souls of the dead are commended to God.
matynes of Oure Lady: one of the services in honour of the Virgin introduced in the Middle Ages.
The whole question of these accretions to the Church services is dealt with by our English master in liturgical study, the late Mr. Edmund Bishop, in his essay introductory to the Early English Text Society's edition of thePrymer, since reprinted with additional notes in hisLiturgica Historica(Oxford 1918), pp. 211 ff.
b137 f.deschaunt, countre note, and orgon, and smale brekynge.The elaboration of the Church services in mediaeval times was accompanied by a corresponding enrichment of the music. To the plain chant additional parts were joined, sung in harmony either above or below the plain chant.Descantusually means the addition of a part above,organandcountre-note(= counterpoint) the addition of parts either above or below. All these could be composed note for note with the plain chant. Butsmale brekyngrepresents a further complication, whereby the single note in the plain chant was represented by two or more notes in the accompanying parts.
b140 f. The abuse is referred to inPiers Plowman:
Persones and parsheprests pleynede to the bisshopThat hure parshens ben poore sitthe the pestelence tyme,To haue licence and leue in Londone to dwelle,And synge ther for symonye, for seluer ys swete.Prologuell. 81-4.
Persones and parsheprests pleynede to the bisshop
That hure parshens ben poore sitthe the pestelence tyme,
To haue licence and leue in Londone to dwelle,
And synge ther for symonye, for seluer ys swete.
Prologuell. 81-4.
and by Chaucer in his description of the Parson:
He sette nat his benefice to hyre,And leet his sheepe encombred in the myre,And ran to Londoun, unto Seint Poules,To seken hym a chaunterie for soules.Prologuell. 507-10.
He sette nat his benefice to hyre,
And leet his sheepe encombred in the myre,
And ran to Londoun, unto Seint Poules,
To seken hym a chaunterie for soules.
Prologuell. 507-10.
b183.Ordynalle of Salisbury.An 'ordinal' is a book showing the order of church services and ceremonies. In mediaeval times there was considerable divergence in the usage of different churches. But after the Conquest, and more especially in the thirteenth century, there was developed at Salisbury Cathedral an elaborate order and form of service which spread to most of the English churches of any pretensions. This was called 'Sarum' or 'Salisbury' use.
b209.þei demen it dedly synne a prest to fulfille, &c. For this construction, cp. Chaucer,Prologue502No wonder is a lewed man to ruste; Shakespeare,Two Gentlemen of Verona, V.. iv. 108 f.It is the lesser blot... Women to change their shapes, &c. The same construction, where we now insertfor, is seen inGawayne(v. 352-3)hit were a wynne huge... a leude, þat couþe, to luf hom wel, &c.
b221-3. 'They say that a priest may be excused from saying mass, to be the substance of which God gave Himself, provided that he hears one.'
b228 f.newe costy portos, antifeners, graielis, and alle oþere bokis.Portos, Frenchporte hors, represents Latinportiforium, a breviary convenient for 'carrying out of doors'. Theantifenercontained the antiphons, responses, &c., necessary for the musical service of the canonical hours. Thegraiel, orgradual, was so called from the gradual responses, sung at the steps of the altar, or while the deacon ascended the steps of the pulpit: but the book actually contained all the choral service of the Mass.
b230.makynge of biblis.Wiclif in hisOffice of Curates(ed. Matthew, p. 145) complains of the scarcity of bibles.But fewe curatis han þe Bible and exposiciouns of þe Gospelis, and litel studien on hem, and lesse donne after hem. But wolde God þat euery parische chirche in þis lond hadde a good Bible!&c.
b234. At this time books, especially illuminated books, were very dear. The Missal of Westminster Abbey, which is now shown in the Chapter-house, was written in 1382-4 at a cost of £34 14s.7d.—a great sum in those days, for the scribe, Thomas Preston, who took two years to write it, received only£4 for his labour, 20s.for his livery, and board at the rate of 21s.8d.the half year. The inscription in British Museum MS. Royal 19 D.II, a magnificently illustrated Bible with commentary, shows that it was captured at Poitiers with King John of France, and bought by the Earl of Salisbury for 100 marks (about £66). Edward III gave the same sum to a nun of Amesbury for a rich book of romance. In France John, Duke of Berry, paid as much as £200 for a breviary, and the appraisement of his library in 1416 shows a surprisingly high level of values (L. Delisle,Le Cabinet des Manuscrits, vol. iii, pp. 171 ff.). These were luxurious books. The books from the chapel of Archbishop Bowet of York (d. 1423) sold more reasonably: £8 for a great antiphonar and £6 13s.4d.pro uno libro vocato 'Bibill', were the highest prices paid; and from his library there were some fascinating bargains: 4s.for a small copy of Gregory'sCura Pastoralis; 5s.pro uno libro vocato 'Johannes Andrewe', vetere et debili, which would probably turn out to be a dry work on the Decretals; and 3s.4d.for a nameless codex,vetere et caduco, 'old and falling to pieces'. (Historians of the Church of York, ed. J. Raine, vol. iii, pp. 311, 315.)
But the failing activity of the monastic scriptoria, and the formation of libraries by the friars and by rich private collectors, made study difficult for students at the universities, where at this time a shilling per week—a third of the price of Bowet's most dilapidated volume—was reckoned enough to cover the expenses of a scholar living plainly. The college libraries were scantily supplied: books were lent only in exchange for a valuable pledge; or even pawned, in hard times, by the colleges themselves.
These conditions were not greatly improved until printing gave an easy means of duplication, and for a time caused the humble manuscripts in which most of the mediaeval vernacular literature was preserved to be treated as waste paper. As late as the eighteenth century Martène found the superb illuminated manuscripts left by John, Duke of Berry, to the Sainte Chapelle at Bourges serving as roosting places to their keeper's hens (Voyage Littéraire, Paris 1717, pt. i, p. 29).
b261-3. The reference is to Acts vi. 2, 'It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.'
b266.wisere þan.After these words the Corpus MS. (p. 170, col. i, l. 34 mid.), without any warning, goes on to the closing passage of an entirely unrelated 'Petition to the King and Parliament'. By way of compensation, the end of our sermon appears at the close of the Petition. Clearly the scribe (or some one of his predecessors) copied without any regard for the sense from a MS. of which the leaves had become disarranged.
b285. Cp. Acts iii. 6.
Dialect: London (SE. Midland) with Kentish features.
Inflexions: