Chapter 10

Ecclesiæ tres sunt qui servitium maie fallunt;Momylers, for-scyppers, ovre-lepers, non bene psallunt.Reliq. Antiq.p. 90.Poems of Walter Mapes, p. 148.

Ecclesiæ tres sunt qui servitium maie fallunt;

Momylers, for-scyppers, ovre-lepers, non bene psallunt.

Reliq. Antiq.p. 90.Poems of Walter Mapes, p. 148.

A still more numerous list of such offenders is given in the following lines from MS. Lansdowne, 762, fol. 101, vo:—

Hii sunt qui Psalmos corrumpunt nequitur almos:Jangler cum jasper, lepar, galper quoque, draggar,Momeler, for-skypper, for-reynner, sic et over-leper,Fragmina verborum Tutivillus colligit horum.

Hii sunt qui Psalmos corrumpunt nequitur almos:

Jangler cum jasper, lepar, galper quoque, draggar,

Momeler, for-skypper, for-reynner, sic et over-leper,

Fragmina verborum Tutivillus colligit horum.

Tutivillus was the popular name of one of the fiends (see Towneley Mysteries, pp. 310, 319; Reliq. Antiq. p. 257). According to an old legend, a hermit walking out met one of the devils bearing a large sack, very full, under the load of which he seemed to labour. The hermit asked him what he carried in his sack. He answered that it was filled with the fragments of words which the clerks had skipped over or mutilated in the performance of the service, and that he was carrying them to hell to be deposited among the stores there.

7195. Psal. xlvi, 7, 8.

7264.Briddes I biheld.A similar sentiment is expressed in the following parallel passage of a modern poet:—

But most of all it wins my admirationTo view the structure of this little work—A bird's nest. Mark it well, within, without,No tool had he that wrought, no knife to cut,No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert,No glue to join; his little beak was all:And yet how neatly finished! What nice hand,With every implement and means of art,And twenty years' apprenticeship to boot,Could make me such another? Fondly thenWe boast of excellence, where noblest skillInstinctive genius foils.—Hurdis.

But most of all it wins my admiration

To view the structure of this little work—

A bird's nest. Mark it well, within, without,

No tool had he that wrought, no knife to cut,

No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert,

No glue to join; his little beak was all:

And yet how neatly finished! What nice hand,

With every implement and means of art,

And twenty years' apprenticeship to boot,

Could make me such another? Fondly then

We boast of excellence, where noblest skill

Instinctive genius foils.—Hurdis.

7342. Ecclesiasticus xi, 9.

7344. Instead of ll. 7344-7363, Whitaker's text has the following passage:—

'Ho suffreth more than God?' quath he,'No gome, as ich leyve.He myght amende in a mynt whileAl that amys stondes.Ac he suffreth, in ensaumpleThat we sholde all suffren.Ys no vertue so feyrOf value ne of profit,As ys suffraunce, soveraynliche,So hit be for Godes love,And so wittnesseth the wyse,And wysseth the Frenshe,Bele vertue est suffraunce,Mal dire est petite venjaunce;Bien dire e bien suffrerFait ly suffrable à bien vener.For-thi.' quath Reson, 'Ich rede the,Rewele thi tonge evere;And er thow lacke eny lyf,Loke ho is to preise.For is no creature under Cryst,That can hymselve make;And yf cristene creaturesCouthen make hemselve,Eche lede wolde be lacles,Leyf thow non othere.Man was mad of suche matere,He may nat wel asterte,That som tymes hym titTo folwen hus kynde.Caton acordeth herwith:Nemo sine crimine vivit.

'Ho suffreth more than God?' quath he,

'No gome, as ich leyve.

He myght amende in a mynt while

Al that amys stondes.

Ac he suffreth, in ensaumple

That we sholde all suffren.

Ys no vertue so feyr

Of value ne of profit,

As ys suffraunce, soveraynliche,

So hit be for Godes love,

And so wittnesseth the wyse,

And wysseth the Frenshe,

Bele vertue est suffraunce,

Mal dire est petite venjaunce;

Bien dire e bien suffrer

Fait ly suffrable à bien vener.

For-thi.' quath Reson, 'Ich rede the,

Rewele thi tonge evere;

And er thow lacke eny lyf,

Loke ho is to preise.

For is no creature under Cryst,

That can hymselve make;

And yf cristene creatures

Couthen make hemselve,

Eche lede wolde be lacles,

Leyf thow non othere.

Man was mad of suche matere,

He may nat wel asterte,

That som tymes hym tit

To folwen hus kynde.

Caton acordeth herwith:

Nemo sine crimine vivit.

7347. Genes. i, 31.

7363. Cato, Distich. i, 5.

Si vitam inspicias hominum, si denique mores,Quum culpent alios, nemo sine crimine vivit.

Si vitam inspicias hominum, si denique mores,

Quum culpent alios, nemo sine crimine vivit.

It may be observed here, that Whitaker, in his note on this passage, has very much misunderstood Tyrwhitt (in Chaucer, Cant. T. 3227), in making him the authority for calling the author of theDisticha de Moribusan obscure French writer. Tyrwhitt says that the mode in which Chaucer spells his name (Caton) seems to show that the French translation was more read than the Latin original. The same observation would apply to the present poem: but I am very doubtful how far it is correct. The Distiches of Cato were translated into English, French, German, &c., and were extremely popular. The author of these Distiches, Dionysius Cato, is supposed to have lived under the Antonines, and has certainly no claim to the title ofan obscure French writer.

7441-7642. Instead of these lines, Whitaker has the following:—

And wissede the ful ofteWhat Dowel was to mene,And counsailede the, for Cristes sake,No creature to bygyle,Nother to lye nor to lacke,Ne lere that is defendid,Ne to spille speche,As to speke an ydel;And no tyme to tene,Ne trywe thyng to teenen;Lowe the to lyve forthIn the lawe of holy churche,Thenne dost thow wel, withoute drede,Ho can do bet no forse.Clerkes that connen al, ich hope,Thei con do bettere;Ac hit suffuseth to be saved,And to be suche as ich tauhte:Ac for to lovye and lene,And lyve wel and byleyve,Ys y-calidCaritas,Kynde-love in English,And that is Dobet, yf eny suche be,A blessed man that helpeth,And pees be and pacience,And povre withoute defaute.Beatius est dare quam petere.As catel and kynde wittEncombre ful menye,Woo is hym that hem weldeth,Bote he hym wel dispeyne.Scientes et non facientes variis flagellisvapulabunt.Ac comunliche connyngeAnd unkynde rychesse,As lorels to be lordes,And lewede men techeres,And holy churche horen help,Averous and coveytous,Droweth up Dowel,And destruyeth Dobest.Ac grace is a gras therforeTo don hem eft growe;Ac grace groweth nat,Til God wil gynne reyne,And wokie thorwe goode werkesWikkede hertes;Ac er suche a wil wol wexe,God hymself worcheth,And send forth seint espiritTo don love sprynge.Spiritus ubi vult spirat, etc.So grace withoute graceOf God and of good werkes,May nat bee, bee thow siker,Thauh we bid evere.Cleregie cometh bote of siht,And kynd witt of sterres,As to be bore other bygeteIn suche constellacionThat wit wexeth therof,And othere wordes bothe.Vultus hujus sæculi sunt subjecti vultibuscœlestibus.So grace is a gyfte of God,And kynde witt a chaunce,And cleregie and connyng of kyndeWittes techynge;And yut is cleregie to comendeFore Cristes love more,Than eny connynge of kynde witt,Bote cleregie hit rewele.For Moyses wutnesseth that God wrotIn stoon with hus fynger,Lawe of love owre Lorde wrot,Long ere Crist were;And Crist cam and confermede,And holy-churche made,And in sond a sygne wrot,And seide to the Jewes,'That seeth hym synneles,Cesse nat, ich hote,To stryke with stoon other with stafThis strompett to dethe.'Qui vestrum sine peccato est, etc.For-thi ich consaily alle CristeneCleregie to honoure, etc.

And wissede the ful ofte

What Dowel was to mene,

And counsailede the, for Cristes sake,

No creature to bygyle,

Nother to lye nor to lacke,

Ne lere that is defendid,

Ne to spille speche,

As to speke an ydel;

And no tyme to tene,

Ne trywe thyng to teenen;

Lowe the to lyve forth

In the lawe of holy churche,

Thenne dost thow wel, withoute drede,

Ho can do bet no forse.

Clerkes that connen al, ich hope,

Thei con do bettere;

Ac hit suffuseth to be saved,

And to be suche as ich tauhte:

Ac for to lovye and lene,

And lyve wel and byleyve,

Ys y-calidCaritas,

Kynde-love in English,

And that is Dobet, yf eny suche be,

A blessed man that helpeth,

And pees be and pacience,

And povre withoute defaute.

Beatius est dare quam petere.

As catel and kynde witt

Encombre ful menye,

Woo is hym that hem weldeth,

Bote he hym wel dispeyne.

Scientes et non facientes variis flagellis

vapulabunt.

Ac comunliche connynge

And unkynde rychesse,

As lorels to be lordes,

And lewede men techeres,

And holy churche horen help,

Averous and coveytous,

Droweth up Dowel,

And destruyeth Dobest.

Ac grace is a gras therfore

To don hem eft growe;

Ac grace groweth nat,

Til God wil gynne reyne,

And wokie thorwe goode werkes

Wikkede hertes;

Ac er suche a wil wol wexe,

God hymself worcheth,

And send forth seint espirit

To don love sprynge.

Spiritus ubi vult spirat, etc.

So grace withoute grace

Of God and of good werkes,

May nat bee, bee thow siker,

Thauh we bid evere.

Cleregie cometh bote of siht,

And kynd witt of sterres,

As to be bore other bygete

In suche constellacion

That wit wexeth therof,

And othere wordes bothe.

Vultus hujus sæculi sunt subjecti vultibus

cœlestibus.

So grace is a gyfte of God,

And kynde witt a chaunce,

And cleregie and connyng of kynde

Wittes techynge;

And yut is cleregie to comende

Fore Cristes love more,

Than eny connynge of kynde witt,

Bote cleregie hit rewele.

For Moyses wutnesseth that God wrot

In stoon with hus fynger,

Lawe of love owre Lorde wrot,

Long ere Crist were;

And Crist cam and confermede,

And holy-churche made,

And in sond a sygne wrot,

And seide to the Jewes,

'That seeth hym synneles,

Cesse nat, ich hote,

To stryke with stoon other with staf

This strompett to dethe.'

Qui vestrum sine peccato est, etc.

For-thi ich consaily alle Cristene

Cleregie to honoure, etc.

7453. Luke xii, 38.

7461. Heb. xii, 6.

7464. Psalm xxii, 4.

7470.makynges.7483.make.—There is a curious analogy between the Greek and the Teutonic languages in the name given to the poet—the Greekποιήτης(fromποιεῖν), the Anglo-Saxonscóp(fromsceopan, to make or create), and the Middle-Englishmaker, preserved in the later Scottishmakkar(also applied to a poet), have all the same signification. In the Neo-Latin tongues a different, though somewhat analogous, word was used: the French and Anglo-Normantrouvère, and the Provençaltrobador, signify a finder or inventor.

7484. Catonis Distich. iii, 5.

7500. 1 Cor. xiii, 13. Nunc autem manent fides, spes, charitas, tria hæc: major autem horum est charitas.

7528, &c.Aristotle,Ypocras, andVirgile.—These three names were the great representatives of ancient science and literature in the middle ages. Aristotle represented philosophy, in its most general sense; Virgil represented literature in general, and more particularly the ancient writers who formed thegrammarcourse of scholastic learning, whether verse or prose; Ypocras, or Hippocrates, represented medicine. They are here introduced to illustrate the fact that men of science and learning, as well as warriors and rich men, experience the vicissitudes of fortune.

7534.Felice.Perhaps this name is only introduced for the sake of alliteration.

7536.Rosamounde.I suppose the reference is to "fair Rosamond."

7554. Luc. vi, 38.

7567. John iii, 8.

7572. John iii, 11.

7582. John iii, 8.

7600.thorugh caractes.It was the popular belief in the middle ages, that while the Jews were accusing the woman taken in adultery, Christ wrote with his staff on the ground the sins of the accusers, and that when they perceived this they dropped their accusation in confusion at finding that their own guilt was known. See this point curiously illustrated in Mr. Halliwell's Coventry Mysteries, pp. 220, 221. These are thecharactersalluded to in Piers Ploughman.

7624. Luke vi, 37.

7701. 1 Cor. iii, 19.

7709. Luke ii, 15.

7714. Matth. ii, 1.

7721. Luke ii, 7.

7779. Psalm xxxi, 1.

7795. Luke vi, 39. The ignorance and inefficiency of the parish priests appear to have become proverbial in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the latter century a canon of Lilleshul in Shropshire, named John Myrk, or Myrkes, composed an English poem, or rather metrical treatise, on their duties, which he commences by applying to them this same aphorism of our Saviour:—

God seyth hymself, as wryten we fynde,That whenne the blynde ledeth the blynde,Into the dyche they fallen boo,For they ne sen whare by to go.So faren prestes now by dawe,They beth blynde in Goddes lawe, etc.MS. Cotton. Claud.A. II.

God seyth hymself, as wryten we fynde,

That whenne the blynde ledeth the blynde,

Into the dyche they fallen boo,

For they ne sen whare by to go.

So faren prestes now by dawe,

They beth blynde in Goddes lawe, etc.

MS. Cotton. Claud.A. II.

It had previously been applied in the same manner to the parish priests by the author of a long French poem (apparently written in England in the fourteenth century) entitledLe Miroir de l'Ome(Speculum Hominis), as follows:—

Dieus dist, et c'est tout verité,Qe si l'un voegle soit menéD'un autre voegle, tresbucherFalt ambedeux en la fossée.C'est un essample comparéAs fols curetz, qui sanz curerNe voient pas le droit sentier,Dont font les autres forsvoier,Qui sont après leur trace alé.Car fol errant ne puet quider,Ne cil comment nous puet saner,Qui mesmes est au mort naufré.MS. in the possession of Mr. J. Russell Smith.

Dieus dist, et c'est tout verité,

Qe si l'un voegle soit mené

D'un autre voegle, tresbucher

Falt ambedeux en la fossée.

C'est un essample comparé

As fols curetz, qui sanz curer

Ne voient pas le droit sentier,

Dont font les autres forsvoier,

Qui sont après leur trace alé.

Car fol errant ne puet quider,

Ne cil comment nous puet saner,

Qui mesmes est au mort naufré.

MS. in the possession of Mr. J. Russell Smith.

The following picture of the corrupt manners of the parish priests at this time is extracted from a much longer and more minute censure in the same poem:—

Des fols curetz auci y a,Qui sur sa cure demourraNon pour curer, mais q'il sa vieEndroit le corps plus easera.Car lors ou il bargaigneraDu seculiere marchandie,Dont sa richesce multeplie;Ou il se donne à leccherie,Du quoy son corps delitera;Ou il se prent à venerie,Qant duist chanter sa letanie,Au bois le goupil huera.

Des fols curetz auci y a,

Qui sur sa cure demourra

Non pour curer, mais q'il sa vie

Endroit le corps plus easera.

Car lors ou il bargaignera

Du seculiere marchandie,

Dont sa richesce multeplie;

Ou il se donne à leccherie,

Du quoy son corps delitera;

Ou il se prent à venerie,

Qant duist chanter sa letanie,

Au bois le goupil huera.

7802. Psal. xv, 5. We might be led to suppose that this was the "neck verse" in the time of Piers Ploughman. In later times the text which was given to read to those who claimed the benefit of clergy is said to have been the beginning of Psal. lv,Miserere mei, &c.

7840. Eccl. v, 5.

7846.Trojanus.See thenoteon line 6859.

7854. Matth. xvi, 27. Filius enim hominis venturus est in gloria Patris sui cum angelis suis: et tunc reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus.

7915.his flessh is foul flessh.Yet in spite of the "foulness" of its flesh, the peacock was a very celebrated dish at table. For an account of the use made of the peacock in feasts, see Le Grand d'Aussy, Histoire de la Vie privée des Français, tom. i, pp. 299-301, and 361. In the Romance of Mahomet, 13th century, it is said of Dives—

Et dou Riche quitant poonEngloutiet tant bon poisson,Tante piéche de venison,Et but bon vin par grant delit, &c.Roman de Mahommet, l. 301.

Et dou Riche quitant poon

Engloutiet tant bon poisson,

Tante piéche de venison,

Et but bon vin par grant delit, &c.

Roman de Mahommet, l. 301.

7944.Avynet.In the 14th and 15th centuries, as any grammar was called aDonet, because the treatise of Donatus was the main foundation of them all, so, from Esop and Avienus from whom the materials were taken, any collection of fables was called anAvionetor anEsopet. The title of one of these collections in a MS. of the Bibl. du Roi at Paris is,Compilacio Ysopi alata cum Avionetto, cum quibusdam addicionibus et moralitatibus. (Robert, Fabl. Inéd. Essay, p. clxv.) Perhaps the reference in the present case is to the fable of the Peacock who complained of his voice, the 39th in the collection which M. Robert callsYsopet, in the morality to which are the following lines:—

Les riches conterontDes biens qu'il arontEn ce siecle conquis.Cil qui petit ara,De petit conteraAu Roy de paradis.Qui vit en povreté,Sans point d'iniquité,Moult ara grant richesseEs cieux, en paradis,O dieux et ses amisSeront joyeux et aise.

Les riches conteront

Des biens qu'il aront

En ce siecle conquis.

Cil qui petit ara,

De petit contera

Au Roy de paradis.

Qui vit en povreté,

Sans point d'iniquité,

Moult ara grant richesse

Es cieux, en paradis,

O dieux et ses amis

Seront joyeux et aise.

7961. Whitaker's text reads here:—

Thus Porfirie and Plato,And poetes menye,Lykneth in here logykThe leeste fowel oute;And whether hii be saf other nat safThe sothe wot not clergie,Ne of Sortes ne of SalamonNo scripture can telle,Wether thei be in helle other in hevene,Other Aristotle the wise.

Thus Porfirie and Plato,

And poetes menye,

Lykneth in here logyk

The leeste fowel oute;

And whether hii be saf other nat saf

The sothe wot not clergie,

Ne of Sortes ne of Salamon

No scripture can telle,

Wether thei be in helle other in hevene,

Other Aristotle the wise.

7961.Aristotle, the grete clerk.From the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries the influence of Aristotle's writings in the schools was all-powerful. It was considered almost an impiety to go against his authority. He was indeed "the great clerk."

7967.Sortes.I suppose this is an abbreviated form of the name Socrates. It occurs again in one of the poems printed among the Latin Poetry attributed to Walter Mapes (Camden Society's Publication), which has the following lines:—

Adest ei bajulus cui nomen Gnato,Præcedebat logicum gressu fatigato,Dorso ferens sarcinam ventre tensus lato,Plenam vestro dogmate, oSortes et Plato.

Adest ei bajulus cui nomen Gnato,

Præcedebat logicum gressu fatigato,

Dorso ferens sarcinam ventre tensus lato,

Plenam vestro dogmate, oSortes et Plato.

7987. 1 Peter iv, 18.

8015. Psalm xxii, 4.

8073.a maister.This word was generally used in the scholastic ages in a restricted sense, to signify one who had taken his degrees in the schools—a master of arts.

8103. Luke x, 7.

8133-8137. These are the indications of different Psalms. Psalm li begins with the words,Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam. The thirty-first Psalm commences with the words,Beati quorumremissæ sunt iniquitates,et quorum tecta sunt peccata.Beatus vir, is the beginning of Psalm i. The fifth verse of Psalm xxxi contains the wordsDixi: Confiteboradversum me injustitiam meam Domino.

8141. Psalm xxxi, 6.

8145. Psalm l, 19.

8153. Isaiah v, 22.

8155. Whitaker's text has—

And ete meny sondry metes,Mortrews and poddynges,Braun and blod of the goos,Bacon and colhopes.

And ete meny sondry metes,

Mortrews and poddynges,

Braun and blod of the goos,

Bacon and colhopes.

The second Trin. Coll. MS. has—

And sette many sundry metis,Mortreux and puddynges,Braun and blood of gees,Bacoun and colopis.

And sette many sundry metis,

Mortreux and puddynges,

Braun and blood of gees,

Bacoun and colopis.

8167. 2 Corinth. xi, 24, 25, 27.

8173,8180. 2 Cor. xi, 26.

8202.Mahoun.Mahoun was the middle-age name of Mohammed, and in the popular writers was often taken in the mere sense of an idol or pagan deity.

8204.justly wombe.MS. Trin. Coll. 2.

8225.in a frayel.Whitaker's text hasin a forel, which he explains by "a wicker basket." The second Trin. Coll. MS. has alsoin a forell.Forelis the Low-Latinforellus, a bag, sack, or purse: afrayel(fraellum) was a little wicker basket, such as were used for carrying figs or grapes.

8273. Matth. v, 19.

8292. Psalm xiv, 1.

8368. 1 John iv, 18.

8416. Luke xix, 8.

8418. Lukexxi, 1-4.

8444.Surré.Syria.

8474.a mynstrall.The description of the minstrel given here is very curious. For a sketch of the character of this profession see Mr. Shaw's "Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages;" and for more enlarged details of the history of the craft the reader may consult the Introduction to Percy's Reliques, and Chappell's History of National Airs.

8518.a pardon with a peis of leed.The papal bulls, &c., had seals of lead, instead of wax.

8526. Marc. xvi, 17, 18.

8541. Acts iii, 6.

8554. Whitaker's text omits all that follows here to l. 8958 of our text, entering very abruptly upon the subject there treated. Some of the intervening matter had already been inserted in other places in Whitaker's text. See our notes on ll.2846and3030.

8567.cart ... with breed fro Stratforde.Stratford-at-Bow is said to have been famous in old times for its numerous bakers, who supplied a great part of the metropolis. Stowe, in his Survey of London, p. 159 (who appears to have altered the text of Piers Ploughman to suit his own calculation, for all the manuscripts and printed editions I have collated give "twicetwentyand ten"), observes, "And because I have here before spoken of the bread carts comming from Stratford at the Bow, ye shall understand that of olde time the bakers of breade at Stratford were allowed to bring dayly (except the Sabbaoth and principall feast) diverse long cartes laden with bread, the same being two ounces in the pennie wheate loafe heavier than the penny wheate loafe baked in the citie, the same to be solde in Cheape, three or foure carts standing there, betweene Gutherans lane and Fausters lane ende, one cart on Cornehill, by the conduit, and one other in Grasse streete. And I have reade that in the fourth yere of Edward the second, Richard Reffeham being maior, a baker named John of Stratforde, for making bread lesser than the assise, was with a fooles whoode on his head, and loaves of bread about his necke, drawne on a hurdle through the streets of this citie. Moreover in the 44. of Edward the third, John Chichester being maior of London, I read in the visions of Pierce Plowman, a booke so called, as followeth.There was a careful commune when no cart came to towne with baked bread from Stratford: tho gan beggers weepe, and workemen were agast, a little this will be thought long in the date of our Dirte, in a drie Averell a thousand and three hundred, twise thirtie and ten, &c.I reade also in the 20. of Henrie the eight, Sir James Spencer being maior, six bakers of Stratford were merced in the Guildhall of London, for baking under the size appoynted. These bakers of Stratford left serving of this citie, I know not uppon what occasion, about 30 yeares since."

8572.a drye Aprill.This is without doubt the dry season placed by Fabyan in the year 1351, which, as he describes it, began with the month of April. The difference of the date arises probably from a different system of computation. Fabian says, "In the sommer of this xxvii yeare, it was so drie that it was many yeres after called the drie sommer. For from the latter ende of March, till the latter ende of Julye, fell lytle rayne or none, by reason whereof manye inconveniences ensued."

8576.Whan Chichestre was maire.According to Fabyan, John Chichester was mayor only once, in 1368, 1369, which was the period of the "thirde mortalytie." The other authorities seem to agree in giving this as the year of Chichester's mayoralty. He may perhaps have been mayor more than once. SeeIntroduction.

8645. Galat. i, 10.

8685. Psalm x, 7.

8707,8708. The two persons mentioned here (the shoemaker of Southwark and dame Emma of Shoreditch) were probably eminent sorcerers and fortune-tellers of the time.

8769-8778. To understand fully this passage, it must be borne in mind that the corn lands were not so universally hedged as at present, and that the portions belonging to different persons were separated only by a narrow furrow, as is still the case in some of the uninclosed lands in Cambridgeshire.

8812.Brugges.Bruges was the great mart of continental commerce during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries.

8813.Pruce-lond—Prussia, which was then the farthest country in the interior of Europe with which a regular trade was carried on by the English merchants.

8827. Matth. vi, 21.

8858. Luke vi, 25.

8879. Psalm ci, 7.

8891.a lady of sorwe.The old printed edition has alaye of sorow.

8900. Whitaker has no division here, but continues the previouspassus, and omits many lines and has many variations in what follows.

8903.I slepe therinne o nyghtes.This passage is curious, because at the time the poem was written, it was the custom for all classes of society to go to bed quite naked, a practice which is said to have been not entirely laid aside in the sixteenth century. We see constant proofs of this practice in the illuminations of old manuscripts. The following memorial lines are written in the margin of a MS. of the thirteenth century:—

Ne be thi winpil nevere so jelu ne so stroutende,Ne thi faire tail so long ne so trailende,That tu ne schalt at evin al kuttid bilevin,And tou schalt to bedde gon so nakid as tou were [borin].MS. Cotton. Cleop. C.VI, fol. 22, ro.

Ne be thi winpil nevere so jelu ne so stroutende,

Ne thi faire tail so long ne so trailende,

That tu ne schalt at evin al kuttid bilevin,

And tou schalt to bedde gon so nakid as tou were [borin].

MS. Cotton. Cleop. C.VI, fol. 22, ro.

In the Roman de la Violette, the old nurse expresses her astonishment that her young mistress should retain her chemise when she goes to bed:—

Et quant elle son lit fait a,Sa dame apiele, si se coucheNue en chemise en la couche;C'onques en trestoute sa vieLa biele, blonde, l'escavie,Ne volt demostrer sa char nue.La vielle en est au lit venue,Puis li a dit: 'Dame, j'esgartUne chose, se Dex me gart,Dont je sui molt esmervillieC'onques ne vous vi despoillie,Et si vous ai vij. ans gardée;Molt vous ai souvent esgardéeQue vo chemise ne sachiés!'Rom. de la Viol.l. 577.

Et quant elle son lit fait a,

Sa dame apiele, si se couche

Nue en chemise en la couche;

C'onques en trestoute sa vie

La biele, blonde, l'escavie,

Ne volt demostrer sa char nue.

La vielle en est au lit venue,

Puis li a dit: 'Dame, j'esgart

Une chose, se Dex me gart,

Dont je sui molt esmervillie

C'onques ne vous vi despoillie,

Et si vous ai vij. ans gardée;

Molt vous ai souvent esgardée

Que vo chemise ne sachiés!'

Rom. de la Viol.l. 577.

The lady explains her conduct by stating that she has a mark on the breast which she had promised that no one should ever see.

8906. Luke xiv, 20.

8950.noon heraud ne harpour.Robes and other garments were among the most usual gifts bestowed upon minstrels and heralds by the princes and great barons. See before, ll.8480,8481.

8970. Matth. vi, 25, 26.

8999. John xiv, 13; xv, 16. Matth. iv, 4.

9037. Psalm cxliv, 16.

9039.fourty wynter.During the forty years that the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they did not apply themselves to agriculture.

9049.Sevene slepe.The legend of the seven sleepers was remarkably popular during the middle ages.

9101. Psalm xxxi. 1.

9176. Psalm lxxv, 6.

9178. Psalm lxxii, 20. Whitaker'sPassus sextus de Dowelends with this quotation.

9317. Both in the Vision of Piers Ploughman, and in the Creed, there are frequent expressions of indignation at the extravagant expenditure in painting the windows of the abbeys and churches. It must not be forgotten that a little later the same feeling as that exhibited in these satires led to the destruction of many of the noblest monuments of medieval art.

9344. Mat. xix, 23, 24.

9347. Apocal. xiv, 13.

9352. Matth. v, 3.

9452. Compare the defence of poverty in Chaucer (Cant. T. 6774):—

Juvenal saith of poverte merily:The poore man, whan he goth by the way,Beforn the theves he may sing and play.Poverte is hateful good; and, as I gesse,A ful gretbringer out of besinesse;Agret amenderekeof sapience,To him that taketh it in patience.Poverte is this although it seme elenge,Possession that no wight wol challenge.Poverte ful often, whan a man is low,Maketh his God and eke himself to know:Poverte a spectakel is, as thinketh me,Thurgh which he may his veray frendes see.And therfore, sire, sin that I you not greve,Of my poverte no more me repreve.

Juvenal saith of poverte merily:

The poore man, whan he goth by the way,

Beforn the theves he may sing and play.

Poverte is hateful good; and, as I gesse,

A ful gretbringer out of besinesse;

Agret amenderekeof sapience,

To him that taketh it in patience.

Poverte is this although it seme elenge,

Possession that no wight wol challenge.

Poverte ful often, whan a man is low,

Maketh his God and eke himself to know:

Poverte a spectakel is, as thinketh me,

Thurgh which he may his veray frendes see.

And therfore, sire, sin that I you not greve,

Of my poverte no more me repreve.

The definition given in Piers Ploughman is taken from the Dialogues of Secundus, where it is thus expressed:—"Quid est paupertas? Odibile bonum, sanitatis mater, curarum remotio, absque sollicitudine semita, sapientiæ reparatrix, negotium sine damno, intractabilis substantia, possessio absque calumnia, incerta fortuna, sine sollicitudine felicitas." (MS. Reg. 9 A xiv, fol. 140 vo.) See also Roger de Hoveden, p. 816, and Vincent de Beauvais, Spec. Hist. lib. x, c. 71.

9517.the paas of Aultone.Whitaker hasHaultoun, and says that this pass is Halton "in Cheshire, formerly infamous to a proverb as a haunt of robbers."

9529.Cantabit, etc.The author has modified, or the scribes have corrupted, the well-known line of Juvenal,

Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.

9665. These definitions will be found in Isidore, Etymol. lib. xl, c. 1, and Different, lib. ii, c. 29. They are repeated by Alcuin, De Anim. Rat. N. x, p. 149,Animaest, dum vivificat; dum contemplatur,spiritusest; dum sentit,sensusest; dum sapit,animusest; dum intelligit,mensest; dum discernit,ratioest; dum consentit,voluntasest; dum recordatur,memoriaest.

9708. Prov. xxv, 27.

9740. Epist. ad Rom. xii, 3.

9751.the seven synnes.The seven deadly sins were—pride, anger, envy, sloth, covetousness, gluttony, and lechery. "Now ben they cleped chiefetaines, for as moche as they be chiefe, and of hem springen alle other sinnes. The rote of thise sinnes than is pride, the general rote of alle harmes. For of this rote springen certain braunches: as, ire, envie, accidie or slouthe, avarice or coveitise, (to commun understonding) glotonie, and lecherie: and eche of thise chief sinnes hath his braunches and his twigges." Chaucer, Persones Tale, p. 40.

9766. Psal.xcvi, 7; iv, 3.

9828.in Latyn.The monks had collections of comparisons, similitudes, proverbs, &c., to be introduced in their sermons, and even when preaching in English they generally quoted them in Latin. This I suppose to be the meaning of the expression here.

9918. Matth. xviii, 3.

9934. 1 Corinth. xiii, 4.

9946. 1 Corinth, xiii, 12.

9957.a tunicle of Tarse.Tarse was the name given to a kind of silk, said to have been brought from a country of that name on the borders of Cathai, or China. Chaucer (Cant. T. l. 2162), describing "the king of Inde," says—

His coote armour was of a cloth of Tars,Cowched of perlys whyte, round and grete.

His coote armour was of a cloth of Tars,

Cowched of perlys whyte, round and grete.

Ducange (v.Tarsicus) quotes a visitation of the treasury of St. Paul's, London, in 1295, where there is mention of Tunica et dalmatica depanno Indico TarsicoBesantato de auro, and of a Casula depanno Tarsico.

10004. Psal. vi, 7.

10009. Psal. l, 19.

10062. Matth. vi, 16.

10069.Edmond and Edward.St. Edmund the martyr, king of East Anglia, and king Edward the Confessor.

10124. Psal. iv, 9.

10159.Antony and Egidie.Whitaker hasAntonie and Ersenie. St. Antony is well known as the father and patron of monks, and for the persecutions he underwent from the devil. St. Giles, or Egidius, is said to have been a Greek, who came to France about the end of the seventh century, and established himself in a hermitage near the mouth of the Rhone, and afterwards in the neighbourhood of Nismes. Arsenius was a noble Roman who, at the end of the fourth century, retired to Egypt to live the life of an anchoret in the desert.

10174.after an hynde cride.The monkish biographer of St. Giles relates, that he was for some time nourished with the milk of a hind in the forest, and that a certain prince discovered his retreat while hunting in his woods, by pursuing the hind till it took shelter in St. Giles's hermitage.

10183.Haddea bird.This incident is not found in the common lives of St. Antony.

10187.Poul.Paul was a Grecian hermit, who lived in the tenth century in the wilderness of Mount Latrus, and became the founder of one of the monastic establishments there. He was famous for the rigorous severity of his life.

10203.Marie Maudeleyne.By Mary Magdalen here is meant probably St. Mary the Egyptian, who lived in the fifth century, and who, according to the legend, after having spent her youth in unbridled debauchery, repented in her twenty-ninth year, and lived during the remainder of her life (forty-seven years) in the wilderness beyond the Jordan, without seeing one human being during that time, and sustained only by the precarious food which she found in the desert.

10239. Whitaker's text here adds a passage relating to Tobias:—

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