Marie MagdaleneBy mores levede and dewes;Love and leel byleyveHeeld lyf and soule togedere.Maria EgyptiacaEet in thyrty wynterBote thre lytel loves,And love was her souel.Ich can nat rekene hem ryght now,Ne reherce here names,That lyveden thus for oure Lordes loveMeny longe yeres,Whitoute borwyng other beggyng,Other the boke lyeth;And woneden in wildernesseAmong wilde bestes;Ac dorst no beste byten hemBy daye ne by nyghte,Bote myldeliche whan thei mettenMaden louh chere,And feyre byfore tho menFauhnede whith the tayles.Ac bestes brouhte hem no mete,Bote onliche the fouweles;In tokenynge that trywe manAlle tymes sholdeFynde honeste men in holy menAnd other ryghtful peuple.For wolde never feithful goudThat freres and monkes tokenLyflode of luther wynnyngesIn al here lyf tyme;As wytnesseth holy writtWhot Thobie deydeTo is wif, whan he was blynde,Herde a lambe blete,—'A! wyf, be war,' quath he,'What ye have here ynne.Lord leyve,' quath the lede,'No stole thyng be here!'Videte ne furtum sit. Et alibi, Meliusest mori quam male vivere.This is no more to mene,Bote men of holy churcheSholde receyve ryght nauthBot that ryght wolde,And refuse reverencesAnd raveneres offrynges;Thenne wolde lordes and ladiesBe loth to agulte,And to take of here tenauntsMore than treuthe wolde;And marchauns merciable wolde be,And men of lawe bothe.Wold religeouse refuseRaveneres almesse,Then Grace sholde growe yutAnd grene-leved wexe,And Charité, that child is now,Sholde chaufen of hem self,And comfortye all crystene,Wold holy churche amende.Job the parfit patriarchThis proverbe wrot and tauhte,To makye a man lovye mesure,That monkes beeth and freeres.Nunquam dicit Job, rugiet onager, etc.
Marie MagdaleneBy mores levede and dewes;Love and leel byleyveHeeld lyf and soule togedere.Maria EgyptiacaEet in thyrty wynterBote thre lytel loves,And love was her souel.Ich can nat rekene hem ryght now,Ne reherce here names,That lyveden thus for oure Lordes loveMeny longe yeres,Whitoute borwyng other beggyng,Other the boke lyeth;And woneden in wildernesseAmong wilde bestes;Ac dorst no beste byten hemBy daye ne by nyghte,Bote myldeliche whan thei mettenMaden louh chere,And feyre byfore tho menFauhnede whith the tayles.Ac bestes brouhte hem no mete,Bote onliche the fouweles;In tokenynge that trywe manAlle tymes sholdeFynde honeste men in holy menAnd other ryghtful peuple.For wolde never feithful goudThat freres and monkes tokenLyflode of luther wynnyngesIn al here lyf tyme;As wytnesseth holy writtWhot Thobie deydeTo is wif, whan he was blynde,Herde a lambe blete,—'A! wyf, be war,' quath he,'What ye have here ynne.Lord leyve,' quath the lede,'No stole thyng be here!'Videte ne furtum sit. Et alibi, Meliusest mori quam male vivere.This is no more to mene,Bote men of holy churcheSholde receyve ryght nauthBot that ryght wolde,And refuse reverencesAnd raveneres offrynges;Thenne wolde lordes and ladiesBe loth to agulte,And to take of here tenauntsMore than treuthe wolde;And marchauns merciable wolde be,And men of lawe bothe.Wold religeouse refuseRaveneres almesse,Then Grace sholde growe yutAnd grene-leved wexe,And Charité, that child is now,Sholde chaufen of hem self,And comfortye all crystene,Wold holy churche amende.Job the parfit patriarchThis proverbe wrot and tauhte,To makye a man lovye mesure,That monkes beeth and freeres.Nunquam dicit Job, rugiet onager, etc.
Marie Magdalene
By mores levede and dewes;
Love and leel byleyve
Heeld lyf and soule togedere.
Maria Egyptiaca
Eet in thyrty wynter
Bote thre lytel loves,
And love was her souel.
Ich can nat rekene hem ryght now,
Ne reherce here names,
That lyveden thus for oure Lordes love
Meny longe yeres,
Whitoute borwyng other beggyng,
Other the boke lyeth;
And woneden in wildernesse
Among wilde bestes;
Ac dorst no beste byten hem
By daye ne by nyghte,
Bote myldeliche whan thei metten
Maden louh chere,
And feyre byfore tho men
Fauhnede whith the tayles.
Ac bestes brouhte hem no mete,
Bote onliche the fouweles;
In tokenynge that trywe man
Alle tymes sholde
Fynde honeste men in holy men
And other ryghtful peuple.
For wolde never feithful goud
That freres and monkes token
Lyflode of luther wynnynges
In al here lyf tyme;
As wytnesseth holy writt
Whot Thobie deyde
To is wif, whan he was blynde,
Herde a lambe blete,—
'A! wyf, be war,' quath he,
'What ye have here ynne.
Lord leyve,' quath the lede,
'No stole thyng be here!'
Videte ne furtum sit. Et alibi, Melius
est mori quam male vivere.
This is no more to mene,
Bote men of holy churche
Sholde receyve ryght nauth
Bot that ryght wolde,
And refuse reverences
And raveneres offrynges;
Thenne wolde lordes and ladies
Be loth to agulte,
And to take of here tenaunts
More than treuthe wolde;
And marchauns merciable wolde be,
And men of lawe bothe.
Wold religeouse refuse
Raveneres almesse,
Then Grace sholde growe yut
And grene-leved wexe,
And Charité, that child is now,
Sholde chaufen of hem self,
And comfortye all crystene,
Wold holy churche amende.
Job the parfit patriarch
This proverbe wrot and tauhte,
To makye a man lovye mesure,
That monkes beeth and freeres.
Nunquam dicit Job, rugiet onager, etc.
Throughout this part of the poem, Whitaker's text differs very much in words and phraseology from the one now printed, but it would take up too much space to point out all these variations.
10247. Job vi, 5.
10270. 2 Corinth, ix, 9.
10303. These sentences appear to be quotations from the fathers of the Latin Church.
10322.lussheburwes.A foreign coin, much adulterated, common in England in the middle of the fourteenth century. Chaucer (C. T. 15445) uses the word in a very expressive passage:—
This maketh that oure wyfes wol assayeReligious folk, for thay may bettre payeOf Venus payementes than may we:God woot! nolusscheburghespaye ye.
This maketh that oure wyfes wol assayeReligious folk, for thay may bettre payeOf Venus payementes than may we:God woot! nolusscheburghespaye ye.
This maketh that oure wyfes wol assaye
Religious folk, for thay may bettre paye
Of Venus payementes than may we:
God woot! nolusscheburghespaye ye.
Among the foreign money, mostly of a base quality, which came into this country in the fourteenth century, the coinage of the counts of Luxemburg, or, as it was then called, Lusenburg (hence calledlussheburwesandlusscheburghes), seems to have been the most abundant, and to have given most trouble. These coins were the subject of legislation in 1346, 1347, 1348, and 1351; so that the grievance must have been at its greatest height at the period to which the poem of Piers Ploughman especially belongs. Many of these coins are preserved, and found in the cabinets of collectors; they are in general very much like the contemporary English coinage, and might easily be taken for it, but the metal is very base.
10368.Grammer, the ground of al.In the scholastic learning of the middle ages, grammar was considered as the first of the seven sciences, and the foundation-stone of all the rest. See my Essay on Anglo-Saxon Literature, introductory to vol. i. of theBiographia Britannica Literaria, p. 72. The importance of grammar is thus stated in theImage du Mondeof Gautier de Metz (thirteenth century):—
Li primeraine des vij. ars,Dont or n'est pas seus li quars,A ichest tans, chou est gramaire,Sans laquele nus ne vaut gaireQui à clergie veut aprendre:Car petit puet sans li entendre.Gramaires si est fondemensDe clergie et coumenchemens;Cou est li porte de science,Par cui on vient à sapience.De lettres en gramaire escoleQui ensegne et forme parole,Soit en Latin ou en Roumans,Ou en tous langages palans;Qui bien saroit toute gramaire,Toute parole saroit faire.Par parole fist Dius le monde,Et sentence est parole monde.
Li primeraine des vij. ars,Dont or n'est pas seus li quars,A ichest tans, chou est gramaire,Sans laquele nus ne vaut gaireQui à clergie veut aprendre:Car petit puet sans li entendre.Gramaires si est fondemensDe clergie et coumenchemens;Cou est li porte de science,Par cui on vient à sapience.De lettres en gramaire escoleQui ensegne et forme parole,Soit en Latin ou en Roumans,Ou en tous langages palans;Qui bien saroit toute gramaire,Toute parole saroit faire.Par parole fist Dius le monde,Et sentence est parole monde.
Li primeraine des vij. ars,
Dont or n'est pas seus li quars,
A ichest tans, chou est gramaire,
Sans laquele nus ne vaut gaire
Qui à clergie veut aprendre:
Car petit puet sans li entendre.
Gramaires si est fondemens
De clergie et coumenchemens;
Cou est li porte de science,
Par cui on vient à sapience.
De lettres en gramaire escole
Qui ensegne et forme parole,
Soit en Latin ou en Roumans,
Ou en tous langages palans;
Qui bien saroit toute gramaire,
Toute parole saroit faire.
Par parole fist Dius le monde,
Et sentence est parole monde.
10398.Corpus Christi feeste.Corpus Christi day was a high festival of the Church of Rome, held annually on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in memory, as was said, of the miraculous confirmation of transubstantiation under pope Urban IV.
10418.This Makometh.This account of Mohammed was the one most popularly current in the middle ages. According to Hildebert, who wrote a life of the pseudo-prophet in Latin verse in the twelfth century, Mohammed was a Christian, skilled in magical arts, who, on the death of the patriarch of Jerusalem, aspired to succeed him:—
Nam male devotus quidam baptismate lotus,Plenus perfidia vixit in ecclesia.. . . . . .Nam cum transisset Pater illius urbis, et issetIn cœlum subito corpore disposito,Tunc exaltari magus hic et pontificariAffectans avide; se tamen hæc pavideDixit facturum, nisi sciret non nociturumSi præsul fiat, cum Deus hoc cupiat.
Nam male devotus quidam baptismate lotus,Plenus perfidia vixit in ecclesia.. . . . . .Nam cum transisset Pater illius urbis, et issetIn cœlum subito corpore disposito,Tunc exaltari magus hic et pontificariAffectans avide; se tamen hæc pavideDixit facturum, nisi sciret non nociturumSi præsul fiat, cum Deus hoc cupiat.
Nam male devotus quidam baptismate lotus,
Plenus perfidia vixit in ecclesia.
. . . . . .
Nam cum transisset Pater illius urbis, et isset
In cœlum subito corpore disposito,
Tunc exaltari magus hic et pontificari
Affectans avide; se tamen hæc pavide
Dixit facturum, nisi sciret non nociturum
Si præsul fiat, cum Deus hoc cupiat.
His intrigues being discovered, the emperor drives him away, and in revenge he goes and founds a new sect. The story of the pigeon (which is not in Hildebert) is found in Vincent of Beauvais, Spec. Hist. lib. xxiii, c. 40. This story is said to be founded in truth. Neither of them are found in the Roman de Mahomet (by Alexander du Pont), written in the thirteenth century, and edited by MM. Reinaud and Michel, Paris, 1831, 8vo, a work which contains much information concerning the Christian notions relative to Mohammed in the middle ages.
10478. John xvi, 24.
10481,10486. Matth. v, 13.
10499.Ellevene holy men.The eleven apostles who remained after the apostasy of Judas and the crucifixion of their Lord.
10550.Ne fesauntz y-bake.The pheasant was formerly held in the same honour as the peacock (see before the note on l. 7915), and was served at table in the same manner. It was considered one of the most precious dishes. See Le Grand d'Aussy, Hist. de la Vie privée des François, ii, 19. The Miroir de l'Ome (MS. in the possession of Mr. Russell Smith) says (punning) of the luxurious prelates of the fourteenth century,—
Pour le phesant et le bon vinLe bien-faisant et le divinL'evesque laist à nonchalure;Si quiert la coupe et crusequin,Ainz que la culpe du cristinPour corriger et mettre en cure.
Pour le phesant et le bon vinLe bien-faisant et le divinL'evesque laist à nonchalure;Si quiert la coupe et crusequin,Ainz que la culpe du cristinPour corriger et mettre en cure.
Pour le phesant et le bon vin
Le bien-faisant et le divin
L'evesque laist à nonchalure;
Si quiert la coupe et crusequin,
Ainz que la culpe du cristin
Pour corriger et mettre en cure.
10553. Matth. xxii, 4.
10581. Mark xvi, 15.
10585.So manye prelates.10699.that huppe aboute in Engelond.The pope appointed many titular bishops of foreign sees in which, from the nature of circumstances, they could not possibly reside, and who therefore were a burthen upon the church. Some of these prelates appear to have resorted to England, and to have exercised the episcopal functions, consecrating churches, &c. The church of Elsfield, in Oxfordshire, was consecrated by a foreign bishop. (See Kennett's Parochial Antiquities.)
10593. John x, 11.
10599. Matth. xx, 4, 7.
10606. Matth. vii, 7.
10617. Galat. vi, 14.
10632.That roode thei honoure.A cross was the common mark on the reverse of our English money at this period, and for a long time previous to it. The point of satirical wit in this passage of Piers Ploughman appears to be taken from the old Latin rhymes of the beginning of the thirteenth century. See the curious poemDe Cruce Denarii, in Walter Mapes, p. 223. Another poem in the same volume (p. 38) speaks thus of the court of Rome:—
Nummis in hac curia non est qui non vacet;Cruxplacet, rotunditas, et albedo placet.
Nummis in hac curia non est qui non vacet;Cruxplacet, rotunditas, et albedo placet.
Nummis in hac curia non est qui non vacet;
Cruxplacet, rotunditas, et albedo placet.
10637.Shul torne as templers dide.The suppression of the order of the Templars was at this time fresh in people's memories. It was the general belief, and not without some foundation, that the Templars had entirely degenerated from their original sanctity and faithfulness, and that before the dissolution of the order they were addicted to degrading vices and superstitions; and they were accused of sacrificing everything else to their grasping covetousness.
10659.Whan Constantyn.The Christian church began first to be endowed with wealth and power under the emperor Constantine the Great.
10649. Luke i, 52.
10695-10699. Instead of these lines, Whitaker's text has the following:—
And bereth name of Neptalym,Of Nynyve and Damaske.For when the holy kynge of heveneSende hus sone to eerthe,Meny myracles he wroughte,Man for to turne,In ensample that men sholdeSee by sad reysonThat men myghte nat be savedeBote thorw mercy and grace,And thorw penaunce and passioun,And parfyght byleyve;And bycam a man of a mayde,AndmetropolitanusAnd baptisede an busshoppedeWhit the blode of hus herte,Alle that wilnede other woldeWhit inwhight byleyve hit.Meny seint sittheSuffrede deth alsoo,For to enferme the faitheFul wyde where deyden,In Inde and in Alisaundrie,In Ermanye, in Spayne;An fro mysbyleveMeny man turnede.In savacion of mannys sauleSeynt Thomas of CauntelburyAmong unkynde CristeneIn holy churche was sleye,And alle holy churcheHonourede for that deyinge:He is a forbusur to alle busshopes,And a bryghthe myrour,And sovereynliche to alle sucheThat of Surrye bereth name,And nat in Engelounde to huppe aboute,And halewen men auters.
And bereth name of Neptalym,Of Nynyve and Damaske.For when the holy kynge of heveneSende hus sone to eerthe,Meny myracles he wroughte,Man for to turne,In ensample that men sholdeSee by sad reysonThat men myghte nat be savedeBote thorw mercy and grace,And thorw penaunce and passioun,And parfyght byleyve;And bycam a man of a mayde,AndmetropolitanusAnd baptisede an busshoppedeWhit the blode of hus herte,Alle that wilnede other woldeWhit inwhight byleyve hit.Meny seint sittheSuffrede deth alsoo,For to enferme the faitheFul wyde where deyden,In Inde and in Alisaundrie,In Ermanye, in Spayne;An fro mysbyleveMeny man turnede.In savacion of mannys sauleSeynt Thomas of CauntelburyAmong unkynde CristeneIn holy churche was sleye,And alle holy churcheHonourede for that deyinge:He is a forbusur to alle busshopes,And a bryghthe myrour,And sovereynliche to alle sucheThat of Surrye bereth name,And nat in Engelounde to huppe aboute,And halewen men auters.
And bereth name of Neptalym,
Of Nynyve and Damaske.
For when the holy kynge of hevene
Sende hus sone to eerthe,
Meny myracles he wroughte,
Man for to turne,
In ensample that men sholde
See by sad reyson
That men myghte nat be savede
Bote thorw mercy and grace,
And thorw penaunce and passioun,
And parfyght byleyve;
And bycam a man of a mayde,
Andmetropolitanus
And baptisede an busshoppede
Whit the blode of hus herte,
Alle that wilnede other wolde
Whit inwhight byleyve hit.
Meny seint sitthe
Suffrede deth alsoo,
For to enferme the faithe
Ful wyde where deyden,
In Inde and in Alisaundrie,
In Ermanye, in Spayne;
An fro mysbyleve
Meny man turnede.
In savacion of mannys saule
Seynt Thomas of Cauntelbury
Among unkynde Cristene
In holy churche was sleye,
And alle holy churche
Honourede for that deyinge:
He is a forbusur to alle busshopes,
And a bryghthe myrour,
And sovereynliche to alle suche
That of Surrye bereth name,
And nat in Engelounde to huppe aboute,
And halewen men auters.
In the remainder of this passus, Whitaker's text differs much from the one I have printed, but in such a manner that to give here the variations it would be necessary to reprint the whole. In the remainder of the poem, the variations are not great or important, being only such as we always find in different copies of poems which enjoyed considerable popularity.
10716. Isai. iii, 7.
10721. Malach. iii, 10.
10733. Luke x, 27. Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex omni mente tua, et proximum tuum sicut teipsum.
10755. John xi, 43.
10787.litlum and litlum, by little and little, gradually. It is the pure Anglo-Saxon phrase. In the Anglo-Saxon version of Genesis xl, 10, the Latinpaulatimis rendered bylytlum and lytlum.
10844. Psal. xxxvi, 24.
10891. Matth. xii, 32.
11000. Luke i, 38.
11023. Matth. ix, 12. Mark ii, 17. Luke v, 31.
11033. Matth. xxvi, 37.
11044. Matth. xi, 18.
11075. Matth. xxi, 13.
11121. Matth. xviii, 7.
11238. Matth. xxvii, 46, and Mark xv, 34.
11300. Rom. iv, 13.
11322. John i, 29 and 36.
11396. Matth.xx, 40.
11518,11520.lo! here silver ... two pens.It must be remembered that at this period the mass of the coinage, including pence, halfpence, and farthings, was of silver; copper came into use for the smaller coinage at a later period. Two pence of Edward III would be worth about two shillings of our modern money.
11670.Johnxii, 32.
11708.tu fabricator omnium.This was one of the hymns of the catholic church.
11866. Luke xiii, 27.
11883. 1 Corinth. xiii, 1.
11894. Matth. vii, 21.
11998.Thre thynges.This proverb is frequently quoted by the satirical and facetious writers of the middle ages. Thus in Chaucer (C. T. 5860):—
Thou saist, that droppyng houses, and eek smoke,And chydyng wyves, maken men to fleOut of here oughne hous.
Thou saist, that droppyng houses, and eek smoke,And chydyng wyves, maken men to fleOut of here oughne hous.
Thou saist, that droppyng houses, and eek smoke,
And chydyng wyves, maken men to fle
Out of here oughne hous.
In the poem entitled Golias de Conjuge non ducenda, in Walter Mapes, p. 83, the proverb is alluded to in the following words:—
Fumus, et mulier, et stillicidia,Expellunt hominem a domo propria.
Fumus, et mulier, et stillicidia,Expellunt hominem a domo propria.
Fumus, et mulier, et stillicidia,
Expellunt hominem a domo propria.
There was an old French proverbial distich to the same effect,—
Fumée, pluye, et femme sans raison,Chassent l'homme de sa maison.
Fumée, pluye, et femme sans raison,Chassent l'homme de sa maison.
Fumée, pluye, et femme sans raison,
Chassent l'homme de sa maison.
12040. 2 Corinth.xii, 9.
12097.to be dubbed.These and the following lines contain a continued allusion to the ceremonies of knighthood and tournaments.
12106. Psal. cxvii, 26.
12211. Matth. xxvii, 54.
12232,12244.Longeus ... this blynde bacheler.This alludes to one of the many legends which the monks engrafted upon the scripture history. Longeus is said to have been the name of the soldier who pierced the side of Christ with his spear; and it is pretended that he was previously blind from his birth, but that the blood of the Saviour ran down his spear, and a drop of it touching his eye, he was instantly restored to sight, by which miracle he was converted. See, in illustration of this subject, Halliwell's Coventry Mysteries, p. 334; The Towneley Mysteries, p. 321; Jubinal, Mystères inédits du quinzième Siècle, tom. ii, pp. 254-257; &c.
12319,12418,12420.Mercy and Truthe, ... Pees ... Rightwisnesse.Lydgate seems to have had this passage in his mind, when he described the four sisters in the following lines at the commencement of one of his poems (MS. Harl. 2255, fol. 21):—
Mercy and Trouthe mette on an hih mounteynBriht as the sonne with his beemys cleer,Pees and Justicia walkyng on the pleyn,And with foure sustryn, moost goodly of ther cheer,List nat departe nor severe in no maneer,Of oon accoord by vertuous encrees,Joyned in charité, pryncessis moost enteer,Mercy and Trouthe, Rihtwisnesse and Pees.
Mercy and Trouthe mette on an hih mounteynBriht as the sonne with his beemys cleer,Pees and Justicia walkyng on the pleyn,And with foure sustryn, moost goodly of ther cheer,List nat departe nor severe in no maneer,Of oon accoord by vertuous encrees,Joyned in charité, pryncessis moost enteer,Mercy and Trouthe, Rihtwisnesse and Pees.
Mercy and Trouthe mette on an hih mounteyn
Briht as the sonne with his beemys cleer,
Pees and Justicia walkyng on the pleyn,
And with foure sustryn, moost goodly of ther cheer,
List nat departe nor severe in no maneer,
Of oon accoord by vertuous encrees,
Joyned in charité, pryncessis moost enteer,
Mercy and Trouthe, Rihtwisnesse and Pees.
12361.a tale of Waltrot.This name, like Wade in Chaucer, appears to have been that of a hero of romances and tales, or a personage belonging to the popular superstitions. Perhaps it may be connected with the old GermanWaltschrat(satyrus,pilosus). See Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 270.
12438. Psal. xxix, 6.
12566. Matth. xiv, 28.
12599.a spirit speketh to helle.The picture of the "Harrowing of Hell," which here fol, bears a striking resemblance to the analogous scene in the old Mysteries, particularly in that edited by Mr. Halliwell under this title, 8vo, 1840. Compare the play on the same subject in the Towneley Mysteries, p. 244.
12601. Psal. xxiii, 7, 9.
12645,12669,12676.sevene hundred wynter ... thritty wynter ... two and thritty wynter.Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers always counted duration of time bywintersandnights; for so many years, they said so many winters, and so many nights for so many days. This form continued long in popular usage, and still remains in our wordsfortnightandse'nnight.
12663.Gobelyn.Goblin is a name still applied to a devil. It belongs properly to a being of the old Teutonic popular mythology, a hob-goblin, the "lubber-fiend" of the poet, and seems to be identical with the Germankobold. (See Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 286.)Gobelinoccurs as the name of one of the shepherds in the Mystery of the Nativity, printed by M. Jubinal in his Mystères inédits, vol. ii, p. 71. It occurs as the name of a devil in a song of the commencement of the fourteenth century, Political Songs, p. 238:—
Sathanas huere syreSeyde on is sawe,Gobelyn made is gernerOf gromene mawe.
Sathanas huere syreSeyde on is sawe,Gobelyn made is gernerOf gromene mawe.
Sathanas huere syre
Seyde on is sawe,
Gobelyn made is gerner
Of gromene mawe.
12679.to warne Pilates wif.This is an allusion to a popular legend prevalent at this time that the devil wished to hinder Christ's crucifixion, and that he appeared to Pilate's wife in a dream, and caused her to beseech her husband not to condemn the Saviour. It was founded on the passage in Matthew xxvii, 19. Sedente autem illo pro tribunali, misit ad eum uxor ejus, dicens: Nihil tibi et justo illi: multa enim passa sum hodie per visum propter eum. The most complete illustration of the passage of Piers Ploughman will be found in Halliwell's Coventry Mysteries, p. 308, "Pilate's Wife's Dream."
12691.And now I se wher a soule | Cometh hiderward seillynge, | With glorie, &c.With this beautiful passage may be compared a very similar one in the Samson Agonistes of Milton:—
But who is this, what thing of sea or land?Female of sex it seems,That so bedeck'd, ornate and gay,Comes this way sailingLike a stately shipOf Tarsus, bound for th' islesOf Javan or Gadire,With all her bravery on, and tackle trim.
But who is this, what thing of sea or land?Female of sex it seems,That so bedeck'd, ornate and gay,Comes this way sailingLike a stately shipOf Tarsus, bound for th' islesOf Javan or Gadire,With all her bravery on, and tackle trim.
But who is this, what thing of sea or land?
Female of sex it seems,
That so bedeck'd, ornate and gay,
Comes this way sailing
Like a stately ship
Of Tarsus, bound for th' isles
Of Javan or Gadire,
With all her bravery on, and tackle trim.
12753.y-lik a lusard.In the illuminations of manuscripts representing the scene of the temptation, the serpent is often figured with legs like a lizard or crocodile, and a human face.
12759. Matth. v, 38.
12781. Matth. v, 17.
12801.thorugh a tree.Some of the medieval legends go still farther, and pretended that the tree from which the wood of the cross was made was descended directly from a plant from the tree in Paradise of which Adam and Eve were tempted to eat the fruit.
12805. Psal. vii, 16.
12840. Psal. l, 6.
12876. 2 Corinth. xii, 4.
12886. Psal. cxlii, 2.
12896.Astroth.This name, as given to one of the devils, occurs in a curious list of actors in the Miracle Play of St. Martin, given by M. Jubinal, in the preface to his Mystères inédits, vol. ii, p. ix. It is similarly used in the Miracle Play of the Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul, Jubinal, ib. vol. i, p. 69. In one of the Towneley Mysteries (p. 246), this name is likewise given to one of the devils:—
Calle upAstarotand Anaballe,To gyf us counselle in this case.
Calle upAstarotand Anaballe,To gyf us counselle in this case.
Calle upAstarotand Anaballe,
To gyf us counselle in this case.
12937. Psal. lxxxiv, 11.
12943. Psal. cxxxii, 1.
13222. 1 Sam. xviii, 7.
13274. Luke xxiv, 46.
13317. John xx, 29.
13375.Veni creator spiritus.The first line of the hymn at vespers, on the feast of Pentecost.
13412. 1 Corinth. xii, 4.
13550. Cato, Distich. 14, lib. ii:—
Esto forti animo cum sis damnatus inique;Nemo diu gaudet qui judice vincit iniquo.
Esto forti animo cum sis damnatus inique;Nemo diu gaudet qui judice vincit iniquo.
Esto forti animo cum sis damnatus inique;
Nemo diu gaudet qui judice vincit iniquo.
13789.I knew nevere cardynal.The contributions levied upon the clergy for the support of the pope's messengers and agents was a frequent subject of complaint in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
13807.At Avynone among the Jewes.In the middle ages there was a large congregation of Jews at Avignon, as in most of the principal cities in the south of France. In the civil dissensions which disturbed Italy during this century, the pope was frequently obliged to take shelter at Avignon and other places within the French territory.
13825. Matth. v, 45.
13855. Rom. xii, 19; Hebr. x, 30.
14142.Kynde cessede.The lines which follow contain an allusion to the dissipation of manners which followed the pestilence.
14191,14196.Westmynstre Halle ... the Arches.The law courts have been held at Westminster from the earliest Anglo-Norman times, it being the king's chief palace. The court of the arches was a very ancient consistory court of the archbishop of Canterbury, held at Bow church in London, which was called St. Mary de Arcubus or St. Mary le Bow, from the circumstance of its having been built on arches.
14211.leet daggen hise clothes.An account of the mode in which the rich fashionable robes of the dandies of the fourteenth century were dagged, or cut in slits at the edges and borders, will be found in any work on costume: it is frequently represented in the contemporary illuminations in manuscripts. Chaucer, in the "Persones Tale," when treating of pride and of the "superfluitee of clothing," speaks of "the costlewe furring in hir gounes, so moche pounsoning of chesel to maken holes, so mochedagging of sheres," &c. And again, "if so be that they wolden yeve swiche pounsoned anddaggedclothing to the povre peple, it is not convenient to were for hir estate," &c. In the Alliterative Poem on the Deposition of Richard II (printed for the Camden Society), p. 21, the clergy is blamed for not preaching against the new fashions in dress:—
For wolde they blame the burnesThat broughte newe gysis,And dryve outthe daggesAnd alle the Duche cotis.
For wolde they blame the burnesThat broughte newe gysis,And dryve outthe daggesAnd alle the Duche cotis.
For wolde they blame the burnes
That broughte newe gysis,
And dryve outthe dagges
And alle the Duche cotis.
Whitaker gives the following singular explanation of this passage:—"Let dagge hus clothes, probably, let them fall to the ground, or divested himself of them; for warriors are 'succinct' for battle as well as 'for speed!'"
14269.A glazene howve.I suppose this means that, in return for his gold, Physic gave him a hood of glass,i. e.a very frail protection for his person.
14367.of the Marche of Walys.Whitaker's text reads,of the Marche of Yrelonde. The clergy of the Welsh border appear, from allusions in other works, to have been proverbial for their ignorance and irregularity of life.
14438. Psal. cxlvi, 4.
14444.wage menne to werre.This is a curious account of the composition of an army in the fourteenth century.
14482. Exod. xx, 17.
14511.suffre the dede in dette,i. e., The friars persuade people to leave to them, under pretence of saving their souls, the property which was due to their creditors, and thus, after their death, their debts remain unpaid.
14615,14617.this lymytour ... he salvede so oure wommen.The whole of this passage, taken with what precedes, is an amusing satire upon the limitour. Compare the description of the limitour given by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales, ll. 208-271, who alludes to his kindness for the women. The limitour was a friar licensed to visit and beg within certain limits. His pertinacity and inquisitiveness in visiting, alluded to in the name given him in Piers Ploughman (Sir Penetrans-domos), is admirably satirized by Chaucer, in the opening of the "Wif of Bathes Tale:"—
In olde dayes of the kyng Arthour,Of which that Britouns speken gret honour,Al was this lond fulfilled of fayrie;The elf-queen, with hir joly compaignye,Daunced ful oft in many a grene mede.This was the old oppynyoun, as I redeI speke of many hundrid yer ago;But now can no man see noon elves mo.For now the grete charité and prayeresOf lymytours and other holy freres,That sechen every lond and every streem,As thik as motis in the sonne-beem,Blesynge halles, chambres, kichenes, and boures,Citees and burghes, castels hihe, and toures,Thropes and bernes, shepnes and dayeries,This makith that ther ben no fayeries:For ther as wont was to walken an elf,Ther walkith noon but the lymytour himself,In undermeles and in morwenynges,And saith his matyns and his holy thinges,As he goth in his lymytacioun.
In olde dayes of the kyng Arthour,Of which that Britouns speken gret honour,Al was this lond fulfilled of fayrie;The elf-queen, with hir joly compaignye,Daunced ful oft in many a grene mede.This was the old oppynyoun, as I redeI speke of many hundrid yer ago;But now can no man see noon elves mo.For now the grete charité and prayeresOf lymytours and other holy freres,That sechen every lond and every streem,As thik as motis in the sonne-beem,Blesynge halles, chambres, kichenes, and boures,Citees and burghes, castels hihe, and toures,Thropes and bernes, shepnes and dayeries,This makith that ther ben no fayeries:For ther as wont was to walken an elf,Ther walkith noon but the lymytour himself,In undermeles and in morwenynges,And saith his matyns and his holy thinges,As he goth in his lymytacioun.
In olde dayes of the kyng Arthour,
Of which that Britouns speken gret honour,
Al was this lond fulfilled of fayrie;
The elf-queen, with hir joly compaignye,
Daunced ful oft in many a grene mede.
This was the old oppynyoun, as I rede
I speke of many hundrid yer ago;
But now can no man see noon elves mo.
For now the grete charité and prayeres
Of lymytours and other holy freres,
That sechen every lond and every streem,
As thik as motis in the sonne-beem,
Blesynge halles, chambres, kichenes, and boures,
Citees and burghes, castels hihe, and toures,
Thropes and bernes, shepnes and dayeries,
This makith that ther ben no fayeries:
For ther as wont was to walken an elf,
Ther walkith noon but the lymytour himself,
In undermeles and in morwenynges,
And saith his matyns and his holy thinges,
As he goth in his lymytacioun.
———
NOTES TO THE CREED.
65.a Minoure.These were the Gray or Franciscan Friars, founded at the beginning of the thirteenth century by St. Francis of Assise. They are supposed to have come to England in 1224, when they settled, first at Canterbury, and afterwards at London.
75.a Carm.95.Maries men.The Carmelites, or White Friars, pretended to be of great antiquity, and were originally established at Mount Carmel, from whence they were driven by the Saracens about the year 1238. They were brought into England in 1244, and settled first at Alnwick in Northumberland, and at Ailesford in Kent.
About the date (or a little before) of our poem, the Carmelites appear to have been very active in asserting in a boasting manner the superiority of their order over the others. An anecdote told by Fuller (History of Cambridge, p. 113), under the year 1371, affords a curious illustration. "John Stokes, a Dominican, born at Sudbury, in Suffolk, but studying in Cambridge, as champion of his order, fell foul on the Carmelites, chiefly for calling themselves 'The brothers of the Blessed Virgin,' and then by consequence all knew whose uncle they pretend themselves. He put them to prove their pedigree by Scripture, how the kindred came in. In brief, Bale saith, 'he left red notes in the white coats of the Carmelites,' he so belaboured them with his lashing language. But John Hornby a Carmelite (born at Boston in Lincolnshire) undertook him, called by Bale Cornutus, by others Hornet-bee, so stinging his stile. He proved the brothership of his order to the Virgin Mary by visions, allowed true by the infallible popes, so that no good Christian durst deny it."
130.Freres of the Pye.The Fratres de Pica, or Friars of the Pye, are said to have received their name from the circumstance of their wearing their outer garment black and white like a magpie. Very little is known of their history. They are said to have had but one house in England.
143.Robartes men.See before the notes on the Vision,ll. 88andll. 3410.
155.miracles of mydwyves.The monks had many relics and superstitious practices to preserve and aid women in childbirth. One of the commissioners for the suppression of the monasteries mentions among the relics of a house he had visited, "Mare Magdalens girdell, and yt is wrappyde and coveride with white, sent also with gret reverence to women traveling:" he had previously spoken of "oure Lades gyrdell of Bruton, rede silke, wiche is a solemne reliquie sent to women travelyng wiche shall not miscariein partu." (MS. Cotton. Cleop. E. iv, fol. 249.) See the account of a gem, which had a similar virtue, in Matthew Paris's History of the Abbots of St. Albans.
305.the Prechoures.The Black Friars, or Dominicans, were founded by St. Dominic, a Spanish monk of the end of the eleventh century. They were called Friars Preachers, because their chief duty was to preach and convert heretics. They came into England in 1221, and had their first houses in Oxford.
327.posternes in privité.These private posterns are frequently alluded to in the reports of the Commissioners for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. One of them, speaking of the abbey of Langden, says, "Wheras immediatly descendying fro my horse, I sent Bartlett your servant, with all my servantes to circumcept the abbay and surely to kepeall bake dorres and startyng hoilles, and I myself went alone to the abbottes logeying joyning upon the feldes and wode,evyn lyke a cony clapper full of startyng hoilles." (MS. Cotton. Cleop. E. iv, fol. 127.) Another commissioner (MS. Cotton. Cleop. E. iv, fol. 35), in a letter concerning the monks of the Charter-house in London, says, "These charterhowse monkes wolde be callyde solytary, but to the cloyster dore ther be above xxiiij. keys in the handes of xxiiij. persons, and hit is lyke my letters, unprofytable tayles and tydinges and sumtyme perverse concell commythe and goythe by reason therof. Allso to the buttrey dore ther be xij. sundrye keys in xij. [mens] handes wherin symythe to be small husbandrye."
351.merkes of merchauntes.Their ciphers or badges painted in the windows. For examples, see the note in Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. ii, p. 98, last edition.
481.euelles.Perhaps forevel-les,i. e.without evil.
534.the Austyns.The Austin Friars, or Friars Eremites of the order of St. Augustine, came into England about the year 1250. Before the end of the fourteenth century they possessed a great number of houses in this island.
566.the foure ordres.The four principal orders of Mendicant Friars. Seenoteon the Vision, l. 116.
721.harkne at Herdforthe.This appears to be an allusion to some event which had recently occurred among the Franciscans at Hertford, or at Hereford: if the latter, perhaps they had been active in the persecution of Walter Brut.See below, l. 1309.
745.than ther lefte in Lucifere.Than there existed in Lucifer, before his fall. See before, thenoteon l. 681 of the Vision.
771.couuen. Probably an error of the old printed edition forconnen.
869.lath.Perhaps an error of the printer of the first edition forlay.
911. Matth. vii, 15.
913.werwolves.People who had the power of turning themselves into, or were turned into, wolves. This fearful superstition, which is very ancient, was extremely prevalent in the middle ages. In French they were calledLoup-garous. The history of a personage of this kind forms the subject of the Lai de Bisclaveret, by Marie de France. Sir Frederick Madden has published a very remarkable Early-English metrical romance on the subject of "William and the Werwolf." See on this superstition Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 620-622.
954.Golias.There is perhaps here an allusion to the famous satire on the Monkish orders entitled Apocalypsis Goliæ, printed among the poems of Walter Mapes.
967.the kynrede of Caym.In the popular belief of the middle ages, hob-goblins and evil spirits (which haunted the wilds and the waters) literally, and bad men figuratively, were represented as being descended from the first murderer, Cain. In Old-English poetry,Caymes kynis a common epithet for very wicked people. In the Anglo-Saxon romance of Beowulf, the Grendel is said to be of "Cain's kin."
1051.wytnes on Wyclif.In the persecutions to which Wycliffe was subjected for his opinions in 1382, his most violent opponents were the Mendicants. He died in 1384, quietly at his living of Lutterworth.
1189.a lymytoure.See before, thenoteon l. 14615 of the Vision.
1178.stumlen in tales.An allusion to the idle and superstitious tales with which the monks filled their sermons, in place of simple and sound doctrine.
1309.Water Brut.Walter Brut (or Bright) was a native of Herefordshire, and was prosecuted by the Bishop of Hereford for heresy in 1393. A long account of his defence will be found in Foxe's Acts and Monuments.
1401.Hildegare.I suppose this refers to St. Hildegardis, a nun who flourished in the middle of the twelfth century, and who was celebrated among the Roman Catholics as a prophetess. Her prophecies are not uncommon in manuscripts, and they have been printed. Those which relate to the future corruptions in the monkish orders are given in Foxe's Acts and Monuments, book vi, and in other works.