VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.lovetha5; contractedstanta74.3 pl.schewena136,halsena148,be(in rime)a92.pres. p.growendea80.strong pp.schape(in rime)a130, besideschapena169.PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.schea32; pl.theia148;herea144;hema112.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.lovetha5; contractedstanta74.3 pl.schewena136,halsena148,be(in rime)a92.pres. p.growendea80.strong pp.schape(in rime)a130, besideschapena169.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.lovetha5; contractedstanta74.
3 pl.schewena136,halsena148,be(in rime)a92.
pres. p.growendea80.
strong pp.schape(in rime)a130, besideschapena169.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.schea32; pl.theia148;herea144;hema112.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.schea32; pl.theia148;herea144;hema112.
Unaccented final-eis treated as in Chaucer, having its full value in the verse when it represents an inflexion or final vowel in Old English or Old French, e.g.
And for he scholdė slepė softėa93An apė, which at thilkė throwėb5
And for he scholdė slepė softėa93
An apė, which at thilkė throwėb5
Sounds:eappears as in Kentish for OE.y:hell'hill'a65, 79, 86;keste'kissed'a178; note the rimesunschette:lettea71-2;pet'pit':letb9-10; and less decisivepet:knet(OE.knyttan)b29-30, 53-4;dreie:beieb23-4.
Spelling:ierepresents closeẹ̄:flietendea157,hierb34;diemedb216.
Syntax: The elaborate machinery of sentence connexion deserves special attention; and many turns of phrase are explained by Gower's fluency in French.
a1. Gower follows Ovid,Metamorphoses, Bk. xi. Chaucer tells the story of Ceix and Alcyone in hisDeath of Blanche the Duchess, ll. 62 ff. This is presumably the early work to which the Man of Law refers:
I kan right now no thrifty tale seynBut Chaucer, thogh he kan but lewedlyOn metres and on rymyng craftily,Hath seyd hem, in swich Englissh as he kan,Of olde tyme, as knoweth many a man;And if he have noght seyd hem, leve brother,In o book, he hath seyd hem in another;For he hath toold of loveris up and dounMo than Ovide made of menciounIn hisEpistelles, that been ful olde.What sholde I tellen hem, syn they ben tolde?In youthe he made of Ceys and Alcione, &c.(Link toMan of Law's Tale, ll. 46 ff.)
I kan right now no thrifty tale seyn
But Chaucer, thogh he kan but lewedly
On metres and on rymyng craftily,
Hath seyd hem, in swich Englissh as he kan,
Of olde tyme, as knoweth many a man;
And if he have noght seyd hem, leve brother,
In o book, he hath seyd hem in another;
For he hath toold of loveris up and doun
Mo than Ovide made of mencioun
In hisEpistelles, that been ful olde.
What sholde I tellen hem, syn they ben tolde?
In youthe he made of Ceys and Alcione, &c.
(Link toMan of Law's Tale, ll. 46 ff.)
Gower's rendering is the more poetical.
a2.Trocinie.Ovid'sTrachinia tellus, so called from the city of Trachis, north-west of Thermopylae.
a23.As he which wolde go: otiose, or at best meaning no more than 'desiring to go'. Cp.b25As he which hadde= 'having' simply; and similarlyb37, 203. It is an imitation of a contemporary French idiomcomme celui qui.
a26.and: the displacement of the conjunction from its natural position at the beginning of the clause is characteristic of Gower's verse. Cp. l. 152Upon the morwe and up sche sterte= 'and in the morning she got up', anda45, 49,b121, 124, 135, 160, 182. See notes to ll. 32, 78 f.
a32. Editors put a comma afterwepende, and no stop afterseileth: but it is Alceoun who weeps. The displacement ofandis exemplified in the notes to l. 26 and ll. 78 f.
a37. 'One had not to look for grief'; a regular formula of understatement, meaning 'her grief was great'.
a53.Hire reyny cope, &c.: the rainbow, which was the sign or manifestation of Iris.
a59 ff.
Prope Cimmerios longo spelunca recessu,Mons cavus, ignavi domus et penetralia Somni.(Metamorphosesxi. 592-3.)
Prope Cimmerios longo spelunca recessu,
Mons cavus, ignavi domus et penetralia Somni.
(Metamorphosesxi. 592-3.)
Much of the poetry of Gower's description is due to Ovid.
a78 f. Editors put no stop aftermayand a comma afterhell. HenceThe New English Dictionaryquotes this passage as an isolated instance ofnoise, transitive, meaning 'disturb with noise'. Butnoiseis intransitive,hellis governed byaboute round, and the position ofbotis abnormal as in l. 105. Cp. notes to ll. 26, 32, and render 'But all round about the hill'.
a105. For the word order see notes to ll. 26, 32, 78 f.
a117.The lif, 'the man', cp.IVa43.
a118.Ithecus: for Icelos. According to Ovid 'Icelos' was the name by which he was known to the gods, but men called him 'Phobetor'.
a123.Panthasas: Ovid'sPhantasos.
a152. See note to l. 26.
a197. The halcyon, usually identified with the kingfisher, was supposed to build a floating nest on the sea in midwinter, and to have power to calm the winds and waves at that season, bringing 'halcyon weather'.
b2.I finde.Matthew Paris in hisChronica Maiora(ed. Luard, Rolls Series, vol. ii, pp. 413 ff.) gives a similar story, which, he says, King Richard the First often told to rebuke ingratitude. In this version, Vitalis of Venice falls into a pit dug as a trap for wild beasts. The rescued animals are a lion and a serpent; the rescuer is nameless, and the gem given to him by the serpent has not the magic virtue of returning whenever sold. Nearer to Gower is the story told in Nigel Wireker'sSpeculum Stultorum, a late twelfth-century satire in Latin verse, which, from the name of its principal character Burnellus theAss, who is ambitious to have a longer tail, is sometimes calledBurnellus; cp. Chaucer,Nun's Priest's Tale, l. 492:
I have wel rad in Daun Burnel the AsseAmong his vers, &c.
I have wel rad in Daun Burnel the Asse
Among his vers, &c.
The poem is printed in T. Wright'sAnglo-Latin Satirical Poets and Epigrammatists of the Twelfth Century(Rolls Series, 1872), vol. i. At the end the Ass returns disappointed to his master Bernardus (= Bardus). Bernardus, when gathering wood, hears Dryanus (= Adrian), a rich citizen of Cremona, call from a pit for help. The rescued animals are a lion, a serpent, and an ape. The gem given by the serpent in token of gratitude always returns to Bernardus, who, with more honesty than Gower's poor man shows, takes it back to the buyer. The fame of the marvellous stone reaches the king; his inquiries bring to light the whole story; and Dryanus is ordered to give half his goods to Bernardus.
Gower probably worked on a later modification of Nigel's story.
b86.blessed, 'crossed (himself)'.
b89.Betwen him and his asse, i.e. pulling together with the ass. The ass is, of course, the distinguished Burnellus.
b116.his ape: forthis ape(?).
b191.Justinian, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (d. 565), was best known for his codification of the Roman Law, and so is named here as the type of a lawgiver.
Dialect: South-Western, with some Midland forms.
Inflexions:
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.bloweþa7,casteþa8.3 pl.buþa10,habbeþa15.pres. p.slyttyng,frotyngb59.strong pp.yknowea12,ysodea30.NOUN: Note the plural in-(e)n,tren'trees'a44, 51, 53;chyldernb16 is a double plural.PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.hya17;herea61;hama23.Note the unstressed 3 sg. and 3 pl. forma, e.g. ata13, 27.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.bloweþa7,casteþa8.3 pl.buþa10,habbeþa15.pres. p.slyttyng,frotyngb59.strong pp.yknowea12,ysodea30.
VERB: pres. ind. 3 sg.bloweþa7,casteþa8.
3 pl.buþa10,habbeþa15.
pres. p.slyttyng,frotyngb59.
strong pp.yknowea12,ysodea30.
NOUN: Note the plural in-(e)n,tren'trees'a44, 51, 53;chyldernb16 is a double plural.
NOUN: Note the plural in-(e)n,tren'trees'a44, 51, 53;chyldernb16 is a double plural.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.hya17;herea61;hama23.Note the unstressed 3 sg. and 3 pl. forma, e.g. ata13, 27.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl.hya17;herea61;hama23.
Note the unstressed 3 sg. and 3 pl. forma, e.g. ata13, 27.
Sounds: There is no instance ofvfor initialf, which is evidenced in the spelling of early South-Western writers like Robert of Gloucester (about 1300), or ofzfor initials, which is less commonly shown in spelling.ufor OE.yoccurs inhulles'hills'a18 (besidebysynesb24, where Modern English hasuin spelling butiin pronunciation; andlift(OE.lyft)b39, where Modern English has the South-Eastern formleft).
a2-3.Mayster... Minerua... hys: Trevisa appears to have understood 'Minerva' as the name of a god.
a6-49. Higden took all this passage from Book i of the twelfth-century Annals of Alfred of Beverley (ed. Hearne, pp. 6-7). ThePolychroniconis a patchwork of quotations from earlier writers.
a7.Pectoun.Higden hasad Peccum, and Alfred of Beverleyin monte qui vocatur Pec, i.e. The Peak of Derbyshire.ccandctare not distinguishable in some hands of the time, and Trevisa has madePeccumintoPectoun.
a14.Cherdhol.Hearne's text of Alfred of Beverley hasCherole; Henry of Huntingdon (about 1150), who gives the same four marvels in hisHistoria Anglorum, hasChederhole; and on this evidence the place has been identified with Cheddar in Somerset, where there are famous caves.
a22.an egle hys nest: cp.b23a child hys brouch. This construction has two origins: (1) It is a periphrasis for the genitive, especially in the case of masculine and neuter proper names which had no regular genitive in English; (2) It is an error arising from false manuscript division of the genitive suffix-es,-is, from its stem.
a36. <þat> here and in l. 52 is inserted on the evidence of the other MSS. Syntactically its omission is defensible, for the suppressed relative is a common source of difficulty in Middle English; see the notes toV4-6, 278-9;X146;XIVc54;XVII66.
a50.Wynburney.Wimborne in Dorset. Here St. Cuthburga founded a nunnery, which is mentioned in one of Aldhelm's letters as early asA.D.705. The information that it is 'not far from Bath', which is hardly accurate, was added by Higden to the account of the marvel he found in theTopographia Hibernicaof Giraldus Cambrensis (vol. v, p. 86 of the Rolls Series edition of his works).
a54-64. Higden took this passage from Giraldus,Itinerarium Cambriae, Bk. ii, c. 11 (vol. vi, p. 139 of the Rolls edition).
a60-1.be at here aboue, 'be over them', 'have the upper hand'.
a63.Pimbilmere: the English name for Lake Bala.
b6-7.þe Flemmynges.The first settlement of Flemings in Pembrokeshire took place early in the twelfth century, and in 1154, Henry II, embarrassed alike by the turbulence of the Welsh, and of the new host of Flemish mercenaries who had come in under Stephen, encouraged a further settlement. They formed a colony still distinguishable from the surrounding Welsh population.
b11-12. The threefold division of the English according to their Continental origin dates back to Bede'sEcclesiasticalHistory. But the areas settled by Bede's three tribes do not correspond to Southern, Northern, and Midland. The Jutes occupied Kent, whence the South-Eastern dialect; the Saxons occupied the rest of the South, whence the South-Western dialect; and the Angles settled in the Midlands and the North; so that the Midland and Northern dialects are both Anglian, and derive from the same Continental tribe or tribal group.
b26.þe furste moreyn: the Black Death of 1349. There were fresh outbreaks of plague in 1362, 1369, 1376.
b26-42. The bracketed passage is an addition by Trevisa himself, and is of primary importance for the history of English and of English education. See the valuable article by W. H. Stevenson inAn English Miscellany Presented to Dr. Furnivall, pp. 421 ff.
b27-8.Iohan Cornwal, a mayster of gramere.A 'master of grammar' was a licensed teacher of grammar. Mr. Stevenson points out that in 1347-8 John of Cornwall received payment from Merton College, Oxford, for teaching the boys of the founder's kin. His countryman Trevisa probably had personal knowledge of his methods of teaching.
b39-40.and a scholle passe þe se, 'if they should cross the sea'.
b47-8. The bracketed words are introduced by Trevisa.
b50 f.and ys gret wondur:andis superfluous and should perhaps be deleted.
b58-65. Though still often quoted as a fourteenth-century witness to the pronunciation of Northern English (e.g. by K. Luick,Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache, 1914, pp. 40 f.), this passage, as Higden acknowledges, comes from the Prologue to Book iii of William of Malmesbury'sGesta Pontificum, completed in the year 1125: see the Rolls Series edition, p. 209.
a2.Bannokburn.Minot's subject is not so much the defeat of the English at Bannockburn in 1314, as the English victory at Halidon Hill on 19 July 1333, which he regards as a vengeance for Bannockburn.
a7.Saint Iohnes toune: Perth, so called from its church of St. John the Baptist. It was occupied by the English in 1332 after the defeat of the Scots at Dupplin Moor.
a13.Striflin, 'Stirling'.
a15. Hall suggests that this refers to Scotch raids on the North of England undertaken to distract Edward III from the siege of Berwick.
a19 f.Rughfute riueling... Berebag: nicknames for the Scots, the first because they wore brogues (riuelings) of rough hide; the second because, to allow of greater mobility, each man carried his own bag of provisions instead of relying on a baggage train.
a22.Brig=Burghesl. 25, 'Bruges'. At this time Scots, English, and French had all close connexions with the Netherlands. Observe that John Crab, who aided the Scots in the defence of Berwick (note toX15), was a Fleming.
a35.at Berwik.Berwick fell as a result of the battle of Halidon Hill which the Scots fought with the object of raising the siege. For an earlier siege of Berwick, in 1319, see No.X.
a36.get, 'watch', 'be on the look out' (ON.gǽta).
b5-6. Calais was at this time a convenient base for piracy in the Channel.
b19.A bare: Edward III, whom Minot often refers to as 'the boar'.
b24-6. In preparation for the long siege Edward III had built a regular camp beside Calais.
b32.Sir Philip.Philip de Valois, Philip VI of France (1293-1350). His son, John Duke of Normandy (1319-64), who succeeded him in 1350, is of good memory as a lover of fine books. Two are mentioned in the notes toXIa25 ff. andXIb234. A splendid copy of theMiracles de Notre Dame, preserved until recently in the Seminary Library at Soissons, seems also to have been captured with his baggage at Poitiers, for it was bought back from the English by King Charles V. Another famous book produced by his command was the translation of Livy by Bersuire, with magnificent illuminations. The spirit of the collector was not damped by his captivity in England from 1356-60, for his account books show that he continued to employ binders and miniaturists, to encourage original composition, and to buy books, especially books of romance. SeeNotes et Documents relatifs à Jean, Roi de France, &c., ed. by Henry of Orleans, Duc d'Aumale (Philobiblon Soc., London 1855-6).
b40.þe Cardinales.Pope Clement VI had sent cardinals Annibale Ceccano bishop of Frascati, and Etienne Aubert, who became Pope Innocent VI in 1352, to arrange a peace between France and England. But the English were suspicious of the Papal court at Avignon, and accused the cardinals of favouring the French cause.
b82.Sir Iohn de Viene.Jean de Vienne, seigneur de Pagny (d. 1351), a famous captain in the French wars.
c5 f. 'They (friends) are so slippery when put to the test, so
eager to have
c14.And, 'if'.
c47. King John of France was captured at Poitiers in 1356 and held in England as a prisoner until the Treaty of Bretigny in 1360. See note toXIVb32.
c54. Note the omission of the relative: 'which recked not a cleat for all France', and cp. ll. 43-4,XIIIa36 (note).
c59.his helm, 'its helm'—the bar by which the rudder was moved.
c61. 'The King sailed and rowed aright'; onhim, see note toXVg24.
c83.An ympe: Richard II.
c90.sarri: not in the dictionaries in this sense, is probably OFr.serré,sarré, in the developed meaning 'active', 'vigorous', seen in the adv.sarréement.
c103-4. 'If we are disloyal and inactive, so that what is rarely seen is straightway forgotten.'
c108. 'Who was the fountain of all courage.'
c111.los, 'fame'.
d1. SCHEP: here means 'shepherd', 'pastor', a name taken by Ball as appropriate to a priest.
Seynte Marie prest of Ȝork, 'priest of St. Mary's of York' (cp. note toI44), a great Benedictine abbey founded soon after the Conquest; see Dugdale,Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. iii, pp. 529 ff.Mariedoes not take thesinflexion, because it has already the Latin genitive form, cp.Mary-ȝetX163.
d2.Iohan Nameles, 'John Nobody', fornamelesshas the sense 'obscure', 'lowly'.
d6.Hobbe þe Robbere.Hobis a familiar form forRobert, and it has been suggested thatHobbe þe Robberemay refer to Robert Hales, the Treasurer of England, who was executed by the rebels in 1381. ButRobertwas a conventional name for a robber, presumably owing to the similarity of sound. Already in the twelfth century, Mainerus, the Canterbury scribe of the magnificent Bible now in the library of Sainte-Geneviève at Paris, plays upon it in an etymological account of his family:Secundus(sc.frater meus)dicebatur Robertus, quia a re nomen habuit: spoliator enim diu fuit et praedo. From the fourteenth century lawless men were calledRoberts men. InPiers PlowmanPassus v (A- and B-texts) there is a confession of 'Robert the Robber'; and the literary fame of the prince of highwaymen, 'Robin Hood', belongs to this period.
d14.do wel and bettre: note this further evidence of the popularity ofPiers Plowman, with its visions ofDowel,Dobet, andDobest.
a8.Þe clot him clingge!'May the clay cling to him!' i.e. 'Would he were dead!'
a12.Þider: MS.Yider, and conversely MS.Þiif23 forYiif'if'.yandþare endlessly confused by scribes.
b1.Lenten ys come... to toune.In the Old EnglishMetrical Calendarphrases likecymeð... us to tune Martius reðe, 'fierce March comes to town', are regular. The meaning is 'to the dwellings of men', 'to the world'.
b3.Þat: construe withLenten.
b7.him þreteþ, 'chides', 'wrangles' (ON.þrǽta?). See the thirteenth-century debate ofThe Thrush and the Nightingale(Reliquiae Antiquae, vol. i, pp. 241 ff.), of which the opening lines are closely related to this poem.
b11.Ant wlyteþ on huere wynter wele, 'and look at their winter happiness (?)'. This conflicts withhuere wynter woabove; and the explanation that the birds have forgotten the hardships of the past winter and recall only its pleasures is forced. Holthausen's emendationwynne wele'wealth of joys' (cp. l. 35) is good.
b20.Miles: a crux. It has been suggested without much probability thatmilesmeans 'animals' from Welshmīl.
b28.Deawes donkeþ þe dounes.Of the suggestions made to improve the halting metre the best isþiseforþe. The poet is thinking of the sparkle of dew in the morning sun; cp.Sir Gawayne519 f.:
When þe donkande dewe dropeȝ of þe leueȝTo bide a blysful blusch of þe bryȝt sunne.
When þe donkande dewe dropeȝ of þe leueȝ
To bide a blysful blusch of þe bryȝt sunne.
b29-30. 'Animals with their cries (rounes) unmeaning to us (derne), whereby they converse (domes for te deme).' For the weakened sense ofdeme(domes) see note toV115.
c30.Wery so water in wore: the restless lover (l. 21) has tossed all night like the troubled waters in awore; cp.I wake so water in worein another lyric of the same MS. It has been suggested thatwore= Old High Germanwuor'weir'; but the rimes in both passages show that the stem is OE.wār, notwōr.
d2.the holy londe: because Ireland waspar excellence'the Land of the Saints'.
f.I am obliged to Professor Carleton Brown for the information that this poem is found, with two additional stanzas, in MS. 18. 7. 21 of the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh; and that the full text will be published shortly in hisReligious Lyrics of the Fourteenth Century.
f4.bere(OE.bȳr) riming withfere(OE.(ge)fēra) indicates a South-Eastern composition.
g1.Scere Þorsday: Maundy Thursday, the eve of Good Friday.
g1-2.aros:Iudas: the alternative formarasmay have given the rime in the original, but it is not justifiable to accept this as certain and so to assume an early date of composition for the poem. Morsbach,ME. Grammatik, § 135, n. 4, quotes a number of parallel rimes with proper names, and the best explanation is thatoinarosstill represented a sound intermediate betweenāandǭ, and so served as an approximate rime toā̆in proper names.
g6.cunesmen: ascandtare hard to distinguish in some ME. hands, and are often confused by copyists, this reading is more likely thantunesmenof the editors—Wright-Halliwell, Mätzner, Child, Cook (andN. E. D.s.v.townsman). For (1)tunesmanis a technical, not a poetical word. (2) In a poem remarkable for its terseness,tunesmenreduces a whole line to inanity, unless the poet thinks of Judas quite precisely as a citizen of a town other than Jerusalem; and in the absence of any Biblical tradition it is unlikely that a writer who calls Pilateþe riche Ieuwould gratuitously assume that Judas was not a citizen of Jerusalem, where his sister lived. (3) Christ's words are throughout vaguely prophetic, and as Judas forthwithimette wid is soster—one of his kin—cunesmengives a pregnant sense. [I find the MS. actually hascunesmen, but leave the note, lesttunesmenmight appear to be better established.]
g8. The repetition of ll. 8, 25, 30 is indicated in the MS. by 'ii' at the end of each of these lines, which is the regular sign forbis.
g16. 'He tore his hair until it was bathed in blood.' The MS. hastop, notcop.
g24.In him com ur Lord gon.In the MS.c'ist=Cristhas been erased afterLord. Note (1) the reflexive use ofhim, which is very common in OE. and ME. with verbs of motion, e.g.Up him stod27, 29;Þau Pilatus him com30;Als I me rodeXVa4;The Kyng him rodXIVc61; cp. the extended usear þe coc him crowe33, and notes toII289,V86: (2) the use of the infinitive (gon) following, and usually defining the sense of, a verb of motion, where Modern English always, and ME. commonly (e.g.ȝede karolandI117;com daunceingII298), uses the pres. p.: 'Our Lord came walking in'.
g27.am I þat?'Is it I?', the interrogative form ofich hit amorich am hit. The editors who have proposed to complete the line by addingwrech, have missed the sense. The original rime wasþet:spec, cp. note toI240.
g30.cnistes: forcniste=cnihterepresenting the OE. gen. pl.cnihta. On the formsmeist6,heiste18,eiste20,bitaiste21,iboust26,miste29,cnistes30,fiste31, all withstfor OE.ht, see Appendix § 6 end.
h17-18. Difficult. Perhaps 'The master smith lengthensa little piece [sc. of hot iron], and hammers a smaller piece, twines the two together, and strikes [with his hammer] a treble note'.
h21-2.cloþemerys... brenwaterys: not in the dictionaries, but both apparently nonce names for the smiths: they 'clothe horses' (for by the end of the fourteenth century a charger carried a good deal of armour and harness), and 'burn water' (when they temper the red-hot metal).
i4.Þat: dat. rel. 'to whom'; cp.VI64. Butlowteis sometimes transitive 'to reverence'.
i6. This line, at first sight irrelevant, supplies both rime and doctrine. See in Chaucer's Preface to hisTale of Melibeusthe passage ending:
I meene of Marke, Mathew, Luc and John—Bot doutelees hir sentence is all oon.
I meene of Marke, Mathew, Luc and John—
Bot doutelees hir sentence is all oon.
An erasedtafterAwangelysin the MS. shows that the scribe wavered betweenAwangelys'Gospels' andAwangelystes.
i7.Sent Geretrude: Abbess of Nivelle (d. 659), commemorated on March 17. She is appropriately invoked, for one or more rats make her emblem.
i11.Sent Kasi.I cannot trace this saint, or his acts against the rats. But parallels are not wanting. St. Ivor, an Irish saint, banished rats from his neighbourhoodper imprecationembecause they gnawed his books; and the charm-harassed life of an Irish rat was still proverbial in Shakespeare's day: 'I was never so berhymed' says Rosalind (As You Like It, III. ii) 'since Pythagoras' time, that I was an Irish rat'. In the South of France the citizens of Autun trusted more to the processes of the law, and brought a suit against the rats which ended in a victory for the defendants because the plaintiffs were unable to guarantee them safe conduct to the court (see Chambers,Book of Days, under Jan. 17). Even in such little things the Normans showed their practical genius:—A friend chancing to meet St. Lanfranc by the way inquired the cause of the strange noises that came from a bag he was carrying: 'We are terribly plagued with mice and rats', explained the good man, 'and so, to put down their ravages, I am bringing along a cat' (Mures et rati valde nobis sunt infesti, et idcirco nunc affero catum ad comprimendum furorem illorum).Acta Sanctorumfor May 28, p. 824.
Dialect: Yorkshire.
Inflexions:
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.þou royis99,þou is360; besideþou hast69.3 sg.bidis23,comes57.1 pl.we here169.2 pl.ȝe haue124.3 pl.þei make103,þei crie107,dwelle(rime) 102 ; besidemusteres104,sais108.imper. pl.harkens37,beholdes195; butvndo182.pres. p.walkand53 (in rime); besideshynyng94.strong pp.stoken193,brokynne195, &c.Contracted verbal forms aremasepres. 3 pl. (in rime) 116,buspres. 2 sg. 338,tanepp. 172.PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl. nom.þei21; poss.thare18,þer20; obj.þame9; buthemselue307.The demonstrativeþer'these' 97, 399, is Northern.
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.þou royis99,þou is360; besideþou hast69.3 sg.bidis23,comes57.1 pl.we here169.2 pl.ȝe haue124.3 pl.þei make103,þei crie107,dwelle(rime) 102 ; besidemusteres104,sais108.imper. pl.harkens37,beholdes195; butvndo182.pres. p.walkand53 (in rime); besideshynyng94.strong pp.stoken193,brokynne195, &c.Contracted verbal forms aremasepres. 3 pl. (in rime) 116,buspres. 2 sg. 338,tanepp. 172.
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.þou royis99,þou is360; besideþou hast69.
3 sg.bidis23,comes57.
1 pl.we here169.
2 pl.ȝe haue124.
3 pl.þei make103,þei crie107,dwelle(rime) 102 ; besidemusteres104,sais108.
imper. pl.harkens37,beholdes195; butvndo182.
pres. p.walkand53 (in rime); besideshynyng94.
strong pp.stoken193,brokynne195, &c.
Contracted verbal forms aremasepres. 3 pl. (in rime) 116,buspres. 2 sg. 338,tanepp. 172.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl. nom.þei21; poss.thare18,þer20; obj.þame9; buthemselue307.The demonstrativeþer'these' 97, 399, is Northern.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: pl. nom.þei21; poss.thare18,þer20; obj.þame9; buthemselue307.
The demonstrativeþer'these' 97, 399, is Northern.
Sounds:āremains in rimes:are:care345-7,waa:gloria406-8,lawe:knawe313-15,moste(formāste):taste358-60; butō̮is also proved for the original inrestore:euermore:were(forwǭre):before13 ff.
Spelling: Infois(=fǭs) 30, the spelling withiindicates vowel length.
17.were: rime requires the alternative formwǭre.
39.Foure thowsande and sex hundereth ȝere.I do not know on what calculation the writer changes 5,500, which is the figure in the Greek and Latin texts of the Gospel of Nicodemus, in the French verse renderings, and the ME. poemHarrowing of Hell. Cp. l. 354.
40.in þis stedde: the rimeshadde:gladde:saddepoint to the Towneley MS. readingin darknes stad, 'set in darkness', as nearer the original, which possibly hadin þister(nes) stad.
49.we: readȝe(?). For what follows cp. Isaiah ix. 1-2.
59.puplisshid: the rime withCristeshows that the pronunciation waspuplist. Similarly,abasshed:traste177-9. In French these words have-ss-, which normally becomes-sh-in English. It is hard to say whether-ss-remained throughout in Northern dialects, or whether the development was OFr.-ss-≻ ME.-sh-≻ Northern-ss-(notes toI128,VII4).
62.þis: readHis (?) frendis: here 'relatives', 'parents' (ON.frǽndi); see Luke ii. 27.
65-8. Luke ii. 29-32.
73-82. Matthew iii. 13-17, &c.
75.hande: the rime requires the Norse pluralhendas at l. 400; cp.XVII255,IVa65 (Footnote).
86 ff. Cp. Matthew xvii. 3 ff., Mark ix. 2 ff.
113.Astrotte: cp. 2 Kings xxiii. 13 'Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Zidonians'. I cannot identifyAnaballamong the false gods.
115.Bele-Berit: Judges viii. 33 'the children of Israel... made Baal-Berith their god'. ForBelialsee 2 Cor. vi. 15.
122-4. A common misrendering for 'Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors', Psalm xxiv. 7.
125 ff. postulate a precedinget introibit rex glorię, which the writer has not been able to work into the frame of his verse.
128.a kyng of vertues clere=dominus virtutum, rendered 'Lord of Hosts' in Psalm xxiv. 10.
154-6.ware:ferre: the rime indicates some corruption.wareprobably stands forwerre'worse'. The Towneley MS. hasor it be war.
162. John xi.
165. John xiii. 27.
171 ff. 'And know he won away Lazarus, who was given to us to take charge of, do you think that you can hinder him from showing the powers that he has purposed (to show)?' But it is doubtful whetherwhatis a true relative. Rather 'from showing his powers—those he has purposed (to show)'.
188.I prophicied: MS.of prophiciebreaks the rime scheme.
190. Psalm cvii. 16 'For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.'
205 ff. The rimessaide:braide:ferde:grathedare bad. For the last two readflaide= 'terrified', andgraid, a shortened form ofgraithed.
208.and we wer moo, 'if we were more', 'even if there were more of us'.
220.as my prisounemight be taken closely withhere: 'in this place
as my prison'. The Towneley MS. hasinforas. Better would beprisoune'prisoners'.
240.wolle: readwillefor the rime.
241.God
256. Apparently, 'you argue his men in the mire', i.e. if Jesus is God's Son, the souls should remain in hell because God put them there. But the text may be corrupt.
267 ff. Cp. Ezekiel xxxi. 16, &c.
281 ff.Salamon saide: Proverbs ii. 18-19 taken with vii. 27 and ix. 18. It was hotly disputed in the Middle Ages whether Solomon himself was still in hell. Dante,Paradiso, x. 110, informs a world eager for tidings that he is in Paradise: but Langland declaresIch leyue he be in helle(C-text, iv. 330); and, more sweepingly, coupling him with Aristotle:Al holy chirche holden hem in helle(A-text, xi. 263).
285-8. Perhaps a gloss on Job xxxvi. 18 'Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.'
301.menys, the reading of the Towneley MS. is better thanmouys, which appears to be a copyist's error due to the similarity ofnandu,eando, in the handwriting of the time.
308. Judas hanged himself, according to Matthew xxvii. 3-5; Acts i. 18 gives a different account of his end.Archedefell: Ahithophel who hanged himself (2 Samuel xvii. 23) after the failure of his plot against David.
309.Datan and Abiron: see Numbers xvi.
313-16. 'And all who do not care to learn my law (which I have left in the land newly, and which is to make known my Coming), and to go to my Sacrament, and those who will not believe in my Death and my Resurrection read in order—they are not true.'
338.þou bus, 'you ought';bus, a Northern contracted form ofbehoves, is here used as a personal verb, whereþe bus, 'it behoves thee', is normal. See note toXVII196.
360.moste: readmasteto rime withtaste.
371.Of þis comyng: the Towneley MS. readingof Thi commyngis possible.
378-80: Corrupt. The copy from which the extant MS. was made seems to have been indistinct here. The Towneley MS. has:
Suffre thou neuer Thi sayntys to seThe sorow of thaym that won in wo,Ay full of fylth, and may not fle,
Suffre thou neuer Thi sayntys to se
The sorow of thaym that won in wo,
Ay full of fylth, and may not fle,
which is more intelligible and nearer Psalm xvi. 10:
Nec dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem.
Nec dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem.
405.louyng: 'praise', cp.IVa24 (note).
Dialect: Late Yorkshire.
Vocabulary: Northern arethen108 (note), andat'to' 235.
Inflexions:
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.thou spekis206.3 sg.ligis he84;he settis92;(God)knowes202.1 pl.we swete or swynk195.2 pl.ye carp(in rime) 360.3 pl.thay ryn(in rime) 277, 357; besidehas345,renys351.pres. p.liffand73,bowand76,wirkand120 (all in rime); besidelifyng47, 48;standyng416;taryyng497.strong pp.rysen442;fon'found' 503 is a Northern short form.PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.she186; pl.thay27;thare75;thaym31. (MS.hame143 is miswritten forthame.)
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.thou spekis206.3 sg.ligis he84;he settis92;(God)knowes202.1 pl.we swete or swynk195.2 pl.ye carp(in rime) 360.3 pl.thay ryn(in rime) 277, 357; besidehas345,renys351.pres. p.liffand73,bowand76,wirkand120 (all in rime); besidelifyng47, 48;standyng416;taryyng497.strong pp.rysen442;fon'found' 503 is a Northern short form.
VERB: pres. ind. 2 sg.thou spekis206.
3 sg.ligis he84;he settis92;(God)knowes202.
1 pl.we swete or swynk195.
2 pl.ye carp(in rime) 360.
3 pl.thay ryn(in rime) 277, 357; besidehas345,renys351.
pres. p.liffand73,bowand76,wirkand120 (all in rime); besidelifyng47, 48;standyng416;taryyng497.
strong pp.rysen442;fon'found' 503 is a Northern short form.
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.she186; pl.thay27;thare75;thaym31. (MS.hame143 is miswritten forthame.)
PRONOUN 3 PERS.: sg. fem. nom.she186; pl.thay27;thare75;thaym31. (MS.hame143 is miswritten forthame.)
Sounds: OE.āappears asǭin rime:old:cold:mold(OE.móld) 60-2, and probablydold:old266-70;sore:store:therfor:more91-4; but elsewhere remainsā, e.g.draw(OE.drăgan):knaw245-6. The spelling withois the commoner.
See notes onemong400;grufe463.
Spelling: Note the Northern spellings withi,yfollowing a vowel to indicate length:moyne'moon' 6,bayle'bale' 26,leyde=lede48; and converselyfarest'fairest' 79,fath'faith' 330.
The maritime associations of the play ofNoahmade it a special favourite with the Trinity House guild of master mariners and pilots at Hull; and some of their records of payments for acting and equipment are preserved, although the text of their play is lost (Chambers,Mediaeval Stage, vol. ii, pp. 370-1):
anno 1485.To the minstrels, 6d.To Noah and his wife, 1s. 6d.To Robert Brown playing God, 6d.To the Ship-child, 1d.To a shipwright for clinking Noah's ship, one day, 7d.22 kids for shoring Noah's ship, 2d.To a man clearing away the snow, 1d.Straw for Noah and his children, 2d.Mass, bellman, torches, minstrels, garland &c., 6s.For mending the ship, 2d.To Noah for playing, 1s.To straw and grease for wheels, ¼d.To the waits for going about with the ship, 6d.1494.To Thomas Sawyr playing God, 10d.To Jenkin Smith playing Noah, 1s.To Noah's wife, 8d.The clerk and his children, 1s. 6d.To the players of Barton, 8d.For a gallon of wine, 8d.For three skins for Noah's coat, making it, and a rope to hang the ship in the kirk, 7s.To dighting and gilding St. John's head, painting two tabernacles, beautifying the boat and over the table, 7s. 2d.Making Noah's ship, £5. 8s.Two wrights a day and a half, 1s. 6d.A halser [i.e. hawser] 4 stone weight, 4s. 8d.Rigging Noah's ship, 8d.
anno 1485.To the minstrels, 6d.
To Noah and his wife, 1s. 6d.
To Robert Brown playing God, 6d.
To the Ship-child, 1d.
To a shipwright for clinking Noah's ship, one day, 7d.
22 kids for shoring Noah's ship, 2d.
To a man clearing away the snow, 1d.
Straw for Noah and his children, 2d.
Mass, bellman, torches, minstrels, garland &c., 6s.
For mending the ship, 2d.
To Noah for playing, 1s.
To straw and grease for wheels, ¼d.
To the waits for going about with the ship, 6d.
1494.To Thomas Sawyr playing God, 10d.
To Jenkin Smith playing Noah, 1s.
To Noah's wife, 8d.
The clerk and his children, 1s. 6d.
To the players of Barton, 8d.
For a gallon of wine, 8d.
For three skins for Noah's coat, making it, and a rope to hang the ship in the kirk, 7s.
To dighting and gilding St. John's head, painting two tabernacles, beautifying the boat and over the table, 7s. 2d.
Making Noah's ship, £5. 8s.
Two wrights a day and a half, 1s. 6d.
A halser [i.e. hawser] 4 stone weight, 4s. 8d.
Rigging Noah's ship, 8d.
10.is: readesfor the rime. Cp. note toI128-9.
42.and sythen: MS.in sythen. Cp. note toVI36.
49.syn: 3 pl. becauseeuery liffyng leydeis equivalent to a plural subject 'all men'.
52.coueteis: MS.couetous.
56.alod: a shortened form ofallowed, apparently on the analogy of such words asleadinfin.,ledpa. t. and pp. For a parallel see note toI254-5.
57.Sex hundreth yeris and od: theodthrown in to rime, as Noah was exactly 600 years old according to Genesis vii. 6.
66.and my fry shal with me fall: 'and the children
88.for syn sake: 'because of sin'. Until modern times a genitive precedingsakeusually has nos, e.g.for goodness sake. The genitive ofsinhistorically had nos(OE.synne), but the omission in a Northern text is due rather to euphony than to survival of an old genitive form. Cp.for tempest sakeI177.
108.then: 'nor', a rare Northern usage, which is treated as an error here in England and Pollard's text, though it occurs again at l. 535. Converselynoris used dialectally forthan.
109.Hym to mekill wyn: 'to his great happiness'.
137.take: 'make', and so in l. 272.
167-71.knowe:awe. The rime requiresknāweorǭwe.
191. 'The worse
196.what thou thynk: 'what seems to you best', 'what you like';thou thynkforthee thynk—the verb being properly impersonal; see notes toXVI338 andVI192.
200.Stafford blew: from the context this line might mean 'you are a scaremonger', for blue is the recognized colour of fear, and it might be supposed that 'Stafford blue' represents a material like 'Lincoln green'. But Mätzner is certainly right in interpreting the line 'you deserve a beating'.Stafford blewwould then be the livid colour produced by blows. The reference, unless there is a play onstaff, is obscure.
202.led: 'treated'.
211.sory: the rime requiressary.
220.Mary: the latermarry!= 'by (the Virgin) Mary!' cp. l. 226. SoPeter!367 = 'by St. Peter!'
246.to knaw: 'to confess'.
247-8.daw to ken: 'to be recognized as stupid', 'a manifest fool'.
272.castell: note the rime withsayll:nayll:fayll, whichmay be due to suffix substitution on the analogy ofcatailbesidecatel'cattle'. Fortakesee note to 137.
281.chambre: the rime points to a by-formchamb(o)ur, but the uninflected form is awkward. Cp.thre chese chambres'three tiers of chambers' 129, where the construction is the same as the obsoletethree pair gloves.
289-92. Readlider,hider,togider.
292.must vs: cp. l. 334 and note toVI192.
298. 'There is other yarn on the reel', i.e. there is other business on hand.
320.brether sam: 'brothers both'. Some editors prefer to readbrother Sam'brother Shem'.
336 ff. Chaucer refers to the quarrels of Noah and his wife in theMiller's Tale(ll. 352 ff.):—